by the way of efficiency Therefore God must be the Author or these Divines make him the Author Or because God is the Author of his own judgments and paenal dispensations and God sometimes punisheth sin with sin therefore God must be the Author of sin taken properly as it is an oblique action contrary to his Law This is forsooth their proof of that crimination when-as there are no Divines in the world but think it not only blasphemy but non-sense to talk of God as the Author of sin which must be an action contrary to the will liking and approbation of God as the very nature of sin doth import 2. Their second Crimination is That God hath damn'd his creatures out of his meer Prerogative and Soveraignty We do indeed think and must so think till our Adversaries can possess us with other Idea's and notions of God than either Scripture or reason will help us with That there is nothing which either hath or shall come to pass in the world but God did know from all eternity neither can we conceive how God should know any thing but because he willed it either in a way of efficiency or to permit it We do say that God had a jus absolutum from eternity an absolute right over his creatures to determine how he pleased concerning them But we also say That in his paenal dispensations he acteth not according to his Soveraignty and absolute right and that every mans destruction is of himself and the proximate and meritorious cause of the punishment and eternal ruin of any Soul is his own sin God doth not condemn any Soul but for sin recompensing their own iniquities upon their heads and whatsoever is absolute and Soveraign right his Law from which he never varieth in the motions of his Providence is The soul that sinneth shall die Where is the difference then What maketh this great clamour and odious representation of eminent Divines as to the method of Gods proceedings in his actual Providence Papists Arminians Calvinists all are agreed That the wages of sin is death The soul that sinneth shall die God will condemn none but for sin Only it seems they are not agreed as to the Nature and Attributes and Prerogatives of God Those Divines whom they call Calvinists must assert God to have the same Power over his creatures which a Potter hath over the clay This the other will not understand though God expressly told it the Prophet Jeremy and the Apostle from him hath expressly told it us and this is all the difference that I can understand 3. Vse Thirdly you may from hence learn How the Righteousness of God shall be cleared in the last day in the condemnation of sinners although it hath not pleased him to give to all a power to that which is truly and Spiritually good This is a point which very many in this Generation also will not understand but the fault is in themselves If God say they hath not given to all men a power to repent and to believe how shall he be righteous in the condemning of Sinners There is no consequence at all in this but upon this Hypothesis That except men have a power to do that which is Spiritually good they are in no capacity to do that which is morally evil Whether they have a power to repent or to believe without the effectual Grace of God yea or no Certainly they have a power in a thousand things to break the Law of God yea and to do also many things which are contained in the Law of God and although the doing of these things would not save them yet certainly the omiting of them or doing contrary to them may give God a righteous cause to condemn them Suppose one of you who are Fathers to have two Sons both of them wild and fond of their play and eager at it you call them both to come to you and tell them that if they will come you will give them both mony to go and buy such things but if by such a time they have not those things and appear to you in and with them you will certainly whip them One of these Children hearkens to you leaves his play comes running to you and begs the money you promised him then procures the things and appeareth to you in the habit you desired and you are well pleased with him The other Child is mad of his play which if he would he might leave he could not have the things without mony out of his Fathers Purse but he will not leave his play nor stir a foot towards his Father nor so much as ask his Father for mony his Father indeed sends him no mony but shuts him out of his sight and ordereth him to be severely whipt because that he would not leave his idle game and come to him and ask the mony of him which he promised and because he had not bought the things and appeared before him in that habit and dress which he had commanded will not one say this foolish Child is right served shall his Father be judged unrighteous or severe because he gave the Child no mony as he did the other and the Child could come by the things without mony and if it had them not could not appear in or with them before his Father The case is much the same betwixt God and us God seeth two Men or Women both his Creatures alike in Adam both born in Trespasses and Sins wildly playing over the hole of the Asp and the den of the Cockatrice sporting themselves in Sin and in an hourly danger of Hell-fire God calleth them by his Ministers to leave their Sins and to turn unto him he saith let him that hath been drunk be drunk no more let him that hath been unclean be unclean no more let him that hath told a lye that hath broke my Sabbaths lye and break my Sabbaths no more let him read my Word and hear my Word and let him come and pray unto me and beg of me an heart to believe and to repent and I will give it him and he that believeth shall be saved but in the great day it shall be found That he who hath not repented and hath not believed shall be damned One of these sinners leaveth off his leud courses falls to an external Discipline readeth the Word heareth the Word of God applyeth himself to God by Prayer beggeth of God an heart to repent and to believe his Gospel God hears him gives him a power gives him repentance unto Life and a saving Faith in Christ and he obtaineth everlasting Salvation The other is mad of his Lusts and after them he will go let what will be the issue of it he will not read the Word not hear that his Soul may live nor so much as ask special Grace of God not to plead with God for Faith or Repentance God giveth them not to him he dieth in his impenitency and unbelief God throweth him into Hell
them This is no observing of them Observing them argues a fixing of the eye of the mind as well as the body upon them without which a transient view of them is of very little significancy and import unto men 2. In a diligent reposing them in our minds this is that which we call a remembring of them The Lord doth his great work to be had in remembrance This is a consequent of the other we remember little of those things we only cursorily view as they come before us but when we six our eyes upon them and apply our minds to the knowledg of them then we remember them 3. In a continued and repeated view of them and reflexion upon them That man that suffereth not the great and daily workings of Divine Providence to pass by his eyes as a tale passeth through his ears which he heedeth not nor applieth his mind unto but fixeth his eye and mind upon them lodgeth them in his memory frequently reflecteth upon them repeateth and re-considereth them in his thoughts that is a wise man and he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord And that brings me to the second Question in the Explication of the Proposition Quest 2. How is he wise how is it an argument of wisdom and doth he appear to be a wise man who observeth these workings of Providence Wisdom is sometimes taken in a larger sense so a knowing understanding man is a wise man sometimes in a stricter sense as it signifieth a practical habit directing the life and conversation sometimes as comprehending both and so I shall take it in the Proposition He is a wise man he will have more knowledg and understanding than another man and will know better how to order and direct himself in the several parts of his Conversation 1. He will be a more knowing and understanding man We use to say Experience is the mistris of fools Experience maketh a fool wise and indeed without it notions give little wisdom we speak in the commendation of the ablest persons in any art or profession such a one is an experienced man and the more experienced any one is in his art or course the better you account him in it Nothing is so well learned by rule and precept as by example and president Hence it is a common maxim of these times That the study of books accomplisheth none so much as the study of men doth Knowledg is much increased by experimental observation By this Much of the knowledg of God will be let into the soul We cannot see God as he is in his own light we must behold him in his word and in his works From the Word of God we get a great knowledg of God what he is as to his Divine Being and in his glorious Attributes but the knowledg which we have of God from his Word is both confirmed in us and increased by his works of Providence and our observation of them as well as of his great work of Creation And that 1. As they establish the Proposition of the word and confirm our faith in it Psal 48.8 As we have heard so haeve we seen in the city of our God God will establish it for ever Demonstration confirms us in our notions The Church had before learned it that God would establish his Church but now they were confirmed in it when they had seen it in the Works of Providence what they had before heard from the mouth of Gods Prophets and Messengers indeed a notion is but a probationer in our souls until we come to have it established by Faith and Demonstration 2. An observation of Providence doth also increase knowledg as it expounds to us the word of God and giveth us a more certain clear and distinct knowledg of the revelations of it We do not know how to expound some words of God but as we are taught the meaning of them by his Providential Dispensations in the fulfilling of it Gods dispensations in the world both toward his Church and the enemies and persecutors help us to understand both his promises and his threatnings 2. He who observeth the motions of Divine Providence will also know better how to order and direct his life I told you that Wisdom strictly taken is a practical habit directing this He that thus observeth will best know how to order his Conversation But will some say Is not this to make Providence our rule I answer It is one thing to make the Providence of God an argument to justifie our actions which the word condemneth Another thing to take occasions from Providence for the performance of our duty Providence alone is no rule of our actions but the word which is the rule of our actions is more sealed and confirmed to us by Providence Though Providences give no rule yet they wonderfully confirm and establish a rule when what we have read and heard in the word we see in the dealings of God it giveth a new life and makes a new impression of the rule upon our hearts God hath said Blood-thirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days and honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God give thee Now when we see God cutting off cruel and bloody men in the strength of their years or cutting off a stubborn and rebellious Child in his youth it wonderfully confirmeth the word to us and helpeth us to guide our Conversation so as we may not tread in their steps and be partakers of their Judgments 2. Again Though Providence be no rule as to particular actions yet it is a great help to us as to the three great principles of all our spiritual actions which are Faith Fear Love It is true the Proposition of the word is the object of our Faith when a soul giveth assent to the Proposition of the word because of the Authority of God who hath revealed it and this is the reason why wicked men though they have the Scriptures as well as others yet walk not in the light of them because they believe them not they assent not to the Propositions of Truth that are revealed in them but either say in their heart That it is but the fancy and invention of men or else flatter themselves with the hopes of impunity saying with those in Deuteronomy That they shall have peace although they walk according to the imaginations of their own hearts But now when a man observeth the Providence of God exemplifying and verifying the Word of God it much helps his faith in the word especially as to those in whose heart God hath wrought a previous habit of Faith It is true in this case the Providences of God will do little alone we have the words of Christ They have Moses and the Prophets if they will not believe they will not believe if one should rise from the dead But where a soul is first taught of God to give
designs which he carrieth on at the same time God designs to bring the Jews into Canaan but a-long with this to carry on the destruction of the Egyptians the Amorites whose sins in Abrahams time were not come to the full the destruction of the rebellious and disobedient amongst the Israelites Now in order to this the Egyptians must ripen themselves for their ruin by their oppression of Israel The Amalekites and Amorites and the other Nations by their falling upon them at their coming out of Egypt and in their journey Now upon these accounts the Providence of God often seemed to move quite contrary to the word of Promise The people of Israel at the Red-sea and in the Wilderness looked very unlike a people that should have a quiet possession of Canaan Therefore I say Providence is to be observed in its Motions which seem contrary to the Word but the Indications of it are only to be determined from the Word God hath appointed wicked men to slaughter notwithstanding this we see most vile and wicked men thriving prospering growing great in the World and trampling the righteous servants of God under their foot Observe this but take heed of determining the Indication of this but from the Word which saith There is no peace to them keep therefore thine Eye upon their Tabernacles and thou shalt see the Lords Sun go off it and the Threatning verified 2. Compare present Providences with those that are past As those who will understand the letter of Scripture must compare Text with Text so those who will be wise by understanding the motions of Providence must compare Providences of a present age with Providences of former ages Thou art offended possibly at the Providences of God towards wicked men they thrive and prosper they grow mighty and encrease and do what they list Or at the Providences of God towards those who if thou canst judg are such as walk closest with God and are most severe worshippers and servants of him they are hated maligned exposed to all manner of injuries which may make their lives bitter to them Thou cryest out here O the depth I cannot understand the ways of God I cannot see his loving-kindness towards his people Compare now Christian Gods dealing in thy age with his dealings both with wicked men and with his sincere servants in former ages and see if they be not much alike with what they were In Jobs time and Davids time and Jeremiah's time Yet it is not hard for thee to understand how the servants of God in those times found the loving-kindness of God and experienced that all the ways of the Lord were mercy and truth believe that the Hand of the Lord is not weakned nor his Arm shortened nor his Truth failed 3. Lastly If you would by observing the Providence of God understand his loving-kindness and gain a spiritual wisdom Let your eye affect your heart I hinted to you before that Mollerus telleth us such an observation of Providence is here intended unde ad pietatem exuscitemur ut inde meliores evadamus as will quicken us unto piety and help to make us better There are many careless observers of Providence that indeed see Events rather than Providences they see much that comes to pass in the World but consider nothing of God in them they see great fires laying populous Cities wast and possibly see a villain putting the first coal to them or a careless person accidentally occasioning them but they do not see God throwing such a wretch off his hand of restraint nor blowing the coals that turn the Cities into ashes by his winds which men could not cause Others are curious observers of Providences these are wonderfully busily employed in searching out the natural causes of such thunders lightnings inundations devouring pestilences c. They do by the book of Providence as Augustine complain'd of himself that in his unregenerate state he did by the book of Scripture he rather brought to it discutiendi acumen than discendi pietatem So men bring to the great Works of God rather an acute Eye and wit to find out the immediate causes and reasons natural or political than a trembling humble heart that they might learn by them more to acknowledg love fear adore and revere the great and mighty God whose works these are let not yours be such an observation but let your Eye beholding God in his providential Dispensations affect your hearts with that adoration and veneration that love and fear of the great and mighty God which such works of God do call to you for But for the further hopes and consolation of the people of God in their states of affliction I intend to commend to you some principal Observations upon the motions of Divine Providence which shall be the work if God pleaseth of some succeeding Exercises SERMON XV. Psalm CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am discoursing concerning Divine Actual Providence as the Object of good mens observation I shewed you in my last Discourse That the observation of the motions of it is both an Indication of spiritual Wisdom and an excellent step towards it and that by it duly made men and women shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Now to advantage you a little in this Observation I shall give you an account of some observable things in the motions of Providence which possibly you may parallel in the present or future dealings of God both with his Church and with particular Souls I shall lay down my first Observation thus 1. Observ The Actual Providence of God in bringing about that word to which it is a certain servant doth rarely move in a direct line but sometimes obliquely sometimes to our appearance quite contrary but at last it fulfilleth the word and is all the while faithfully executing the Eternal Counsel There are three things in this Observation each of which I will open in a few words and then endeavour to justifie the observation by particular instances after which I shall give you some reasonable account of it and then make some short Application First I say The Providence of God is a certain servant to the word the word either of Promise or of Threatning for Providence serveth to the execution of them both As we have heard so have we seen in the City of our God saith the Psalmist Psal 48.8 the Promise is but providentia occultata and Providence is but promissio explicata the Promise fully explained and opened and this is no more than you shall find recognized by the holy Servants of God both in all their thanksgivings for mercies they had received and in all their humiliations upon any judgments which the Lord had brought on them as also in all the Narrative parts of Scripture declaring any great motions of Providence how often do you meet with it in the Gospel such or such a thing was
than to will iniquity and of purer hands than to work iniquity But the difficulty lyeth here It is plain from this discourse that God useth peoples sins as a medium to his glory he having willed the end must needs have willed the means for though a thing may be fortuitous to man yet nothing is fortuitous or casual to God A man now in order to the accomplishment of some design of his may make use of some things which fall in and he never foresaw nor fore-thought nor design'd as a means in order to his accomplishment but it were blasphemy to suppose any such thing of God A great question there is amongst Divines what influence God hath upon the sinful actions of men It falleth not so fully in my way at present as to engage me in any full discourse upon it Certain it is that the holy God putteth malice into the heart of no man nor doth at all incite him to any sinful actions This were indeed to make God the Author of sin he commands it not that is impossible he approveth it not he inclineth not the will of man unto it But as certain it is 1. That he assisteth the faculties and members of a man to those natural actions which his own lust and malice maketh sinful He assisted the tongues of Ananias and Saphira to speak but it was their own lust and malice which inclined them rather to speak that which was false than the truth In him we live move and have our being 2. As certain it is That he permitteth and suffereth men to execute their lusts otherwise they could not execute them he could most certainly hinder them Forty years he suffered the Jews manners in the wilderness Acts 13.18 He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways Act. 14.16 Now for this sufferance I think it is well expressed by an eminent Divine of our own Gods permission of sin saith he lyes in the suspension of his own efficiency and the removal of the impediments Pelagians dream that God gave unto man a perfect freedom of will and so did as it were Dormitare in operibus suis sleep while his Enemies sowed the tares of sin but no such thing must be imagined of God Nor doth God only remove those impediments by which the sinner might be hindred in his acts of sin he is properly said to be hindred in an action who cannot do what he hath a mind to do now God doth something more in his permission of mens sins than not hinder their commission of it he suspendeth that efficiency by which they were restrain'd or which should incline them to do otherwise 3. He willeth that the sin should be though he doth not will to effect it Indeed for God to will the effecting or committing of sin is not consistent with the purity and holiness of God God's permission of sin and willing it in the effect doth ponere effectum non causam it doth assert the effect not the cause his willing it in this sense doth by no means imply his procuring it inciting to it or approbation of it It is not procurans volitio and here Divines say rightly Deus absque jactura sanctitatis offendiculo velle potest peccata vult rem effici non effectum dare He willeth the thing should be done but he doth not will the doing of it Who shall dare to say that God did not will that Judas should betray Christ and Pilate condemn him and that the Jews should crucifie him When the Apostle saith That they did but according to whatsoever Gods hand and counsel had determined before to be done Act. 4.28 And that he was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledg of God Act. 2.23 If God did not will that most vile action should be done how did his hand and counsel determine it How was he delivered by the counsel of God which the Scripture expresly affirms And this is all that I know that Mr. Calvin or any that tread in his steps have said which many now a-days have so clamoured against as if he made God the Author of sin and willed acts of sin Mr. Calvin and all sober Divines will grant them that it is inconsistent with the holy nature of God to infuse malice into the hearts of any or to incite any to any malicious and sinful action or to assist them in the sinfulness and obliquity of their action but those who have read Pareus's disputes with the Jesuites at Swalbach will easily understand what Divines these men read and with whose heifers they plow and out of whose quivers they draw their arrows of bitter words To whom the best answer is that of the Archangel to the Devil The Lord rebuke them 4. Then lastly God governeth the wicked actions of men when they are done to his own praise and glory and maketh an eminent use of them but yet a spotless use Take Pharaoh in his hardening of his heart against the Will of God revealed to him for the dismission of the Israelites God had purposed that Pharaoh's heart should harden he tells Moses so long before it came to issue God removed what might have hindred the hardening of his heart he would believe from time to time that God had done his worst and he should keep them let the mighty God do what he could he suspended his own efficiency he could have softned Pharaohs heart if he had pleased he assisted him to his natural actions he could never else have spoken the words he did nor made ready a Chariot When the action was done he governed it to his own praise and glory he said I will get me glory upon Pharaoh and he did get himself glory upon him and made Pharaoh's wrath to praise him But I will add no more to the Explication or proof of this Observation Vse 1. This now in the first place may convince us of the infinite power wisdom and goodness of God Omnipotency is usually thought to be most discovered in Creation the production of things out of a meer not-being into a being where there is no pre-existent matter for God to work upon but here seemeth yet to be a greater demonstration of Divine Power for God to make the wrath of man to praise him to bring forth the great designs of his glory out of mens sins It sheweth us also the infinite wisdom of God The natural sagacity of the bee is seen in sucking honey out of poysonous herbs and flowers a thing of the sweetest taste out of flowers and herbs of bitterest taste and in doing it it by its chymistry commendeth the wisdom of its Maker who hath given it this natural skill The acquired art and skill of the Apothecary and Chymist who make the desperatest poysons which have the greatest contrariety to humane nature to serve for medicines to heal mens diseases commendeth the wisdom of God for their God hath taught them this discretion But oh the wisdom of God! to make
and patience of his people but that is not the subject of my present discourse I remember when they asked our Saviour concerning him that was born blind whether it were for his own sin or for his parents Our Saviour replys for neither but that the glory of God might appear So I doubt not but Gods end in afflicting his people is neither at all times the punishment of the persons late sins nor former sins but that both the grace and glory of God might appear in strengthning supporting and upholding of his poor creatures and that he might be glorified by them in the fires by the exercise of their faith and patience c. Vse 2. This speaketh loud to all especially to young men to take heed of presumptuous sinnings against God Presumption of mercy is that which much enticeth out the lusts of our hearts there are some that will fancy God an Idol of mercy and will say Let them do what they list yet it shall be well with them they will not believe any such thing as Hell or a Revelation of the wrath of God against sinners God did not make them to damn them c. God of old foresaw there would be a generation that when they heard the words of his curse would bless themselves in their hearts saying They should have peace although they walked after the imaginations of their own hearts adding drunkenness to thirst Deut. 29.19 Observe v. 20. what God saith as to such The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this book shall lye upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven c. But blessed be God there are not many of these in the age wherein we live not many but will acknowledg an Heaven and an Hell and profess to believe that there is a reward for the righteous and for the unrighteous for the Saint and for the sinner So that what incourageth the most of men in sinful courses is not any hope of a total and final impunity but a presumption of pardon and obtaining mercy with God before they dye They are taught by some wild teachers that it is in the power of man to repent to believe to turn to God when he pleaseth and this imboldneth them to out-stare all the terrors of the Lord and to put off all the tenders of the Gospel to indulge their lusts and to say It is not yet time to turn unto God if they obtain pardon at last they shall be well enough if they turn to God and they are told they can do it when they please it is but taking up a resolution in their old age when they have had the fill of their lusts in their youth Now if this Doctrine had any truth in it it would quite destroy an old argument we had to press men to a speedy repentance because that God who always giveth pardon to them who truly repent will not always give unto sinners an heart to repent No need of that say our new Teachers man hath a freedom in his own will he may repent whensoever he can but get himself of the mind he labours under no more than a moral impotency his lusts are so strong that he cannot obtain leave of himself that is all But friend admit this were true that thou hadst repentance in thy own hand and that thou shouldest upon thy repentance obtain pardon of thy sins from God yet God may as to the punishments of this life make thee go mourning to thy grave for the sins of thy youth he may plague thee in thy own person and plague thee in thy posterity God had pardoned Davids sin Nathan told him The Lord had put away his iniquity yet the child dyed the sword never departed from his house Absolom requited him by going into his Concubines in the sight of the Sun he was weary with his groaning all the night long he made his bed to swim and watered his couch with his tears his eyes were consumed with grief Psal 6. His bones waxed old through his roaring all the day-long Gods hand was heavy upon him night and day so as his moisture was turned into the drought of summer Psal 32. Who would not fear such kind of dispensations Alas there is no such thing as mans having a power in himself to repent and turn to God Can the Blackamore change his skin or the Leopard his spots Everywhit as soon as he who is accustomed to do evil can do well but admit you could I say it is a thousand to one but God in the punishments of this life will visit your youth-sins upon you young men that are wise will take heed of wounds and strains in their youth or surfeits which though they feel little of in the heat of their youth they will be sure enough to feel in their bones when old age overtaketh them and certainly if sensual sinners would give but their reason leave to guide them it would guide them also to take heed of those sins in their youth for which they may so severely smart by wounds and terrors of Conscience by doubts and horrors and fears by diseases and other kind of punishments there is a great deal of difference betwixt being saved smoothly and a being saved but through fire O let me plead with you who have little else to say for the cares and pains of your youth but that by it you are but providing quiet and rest for your selves when you come to be old that you would admit the force of that Argument also to perswade you to remember your Creator in the days of your youth and to take heed of the sins of youth which God often so severely punisheth upon gray-hairs yea and that to his own people whose iniquities yet he hath pardoned so as they shall not eternally condemn him Vse 3. But that I may shut up this discourse what you have heard upon this Observation may offer the best of us some matter which possibly we have not thought of both of daily humiliation and particular humiliation when the rod of God is upon us I say 1. Of daily repentance and humiliation We are ready to speak after the language of Agag whom Saul had spared upon the slaughter of the Amalekites surely the bitterness of death is past If we find that God hath changed our hearts that we are not what we were we are very prone to think that all the follies and vanities of our youth are forgotten But let us not mistake God sealeth up the sins of impenitent sinners in a bag for to be brought forth to their eternal ruine in the day of the revelation of Gods wrath he sealeth up the sins of his redeemed ones in a bag to chasten them oft-times in this life with the rods and stripes of men God wrought bitter things against Job for the sins of his
can it do If the Jewish Child had dyed before the 8th day its want of circumcision doubtless did not endanger its salvation but the deferring it beyond that time might for ought I know endanger the wrath of God upon the Parent and that wrath might be executed in cutting off the Child I take the case to be much the same under the Gospel I am sure the Covenant is the same take heed of neglecting to instruct your Children betimes or to reprove and admonish them God may cut them off betimes and then your neglects will be a grief of heart to you Finally This calleth to all young ones not to neglect the remembrance of their creator in the days of their youth O let your tender years be no temptation to you to put off your duty towards God and your own souls in the morning of your life be plowing up the fallow ground of your hearts and sowing the seed of righteousness indeed in the evening our hands should not be slack but who knoweth whether he shall see an evening yea or no SERMON XLI Rom. I. 26. For this Cause God gave them up to vile Affections MY business is to clear up the equity of the Lord in the ways of his Actual Providence and to vindicate the justice and holiness of God from those who by the Sophistry of their humane wisdom seek to darken Divine knowledg I am resolving the difficulties relating to the motions of Divine Providence in punitive dispensations I have shewed you how just and reasonable it is that God should be the Author of the evil of punishment And that 1. to his own people notwithstanding the satisfaction of Christ accepted for them and the remission of their sins as to eternal punishment 2. As to those whom yet he knows to be such as will be worse for their afflictions and not better 3. As to children who have not been guilty of actual sins I proceed now a step further God doth not only punish sin with smart with pain diseases crosses c. but he sometimes punisheth sin with sin for sin giving men up to be led captive by their lusts The Text speaketh of such a Providence It relateth to the Heathens of whom the Apostle had been before speaking vers 19 20 he had been declaring what means they had to know God they had not indeed the light of the Gospel but they had the light of nature That which might be known of God was manifest in them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead Then he sheweth how they abused and misimproved these means for v. 21 when they knew God in some measure as the light of nature and works of creation would discover him to them they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man to birds to four-footed-beasts and creeping things The business was this The Heathens had indeed but an imperfect knowledge of God no more than the light of nature and the works of God in nature shewed them but yet this was enough to have let them know that God could not be like a man or a beast or a creeping thing yet such images and representations of God they made and worshipped wherefore saith the Apostle vers 24. God also gave them up to lusts of uncleanness c. and so again in my Text vers 26. For this cause God gave them up to vile affections and so again vers 28. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are inconvenient Being filled with all unrighteousness c. Now the Question is Quest How it can consist with the holiness and purity of God thus to punish sin with sin for their committing of some sins to give them up to commit others The difficulty is because it is hard to conceive how God should do this without a willing of sin Although therefore it is plain enough in the Text and twice more repeated in the Chapter it be said God gave them up to uncleanness and God gave them up to a reprobate mind yet it will not be amiss for us from other Scriptures to take some auxiliary help for the proving of this That there hath been and doubtless are still such dispensations of God Then I shall attempt to reconcile these Providences to the justice holiness and goodness of God after that I shall make some application of my Discourse upon this Argument It is a known Text which you have Isaiah 6.9 10. Go and tell this people hear you indeed but understand not and see you indeed but perceive not make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and convert and be healed It is a Text which you find quoted six times in the New-Testament Mat. 13.14 Mar. 4.12 Luk. 8.10 Joh. 12.40 Act. 28.26 Rom. 11.8 In the first place Mat. 13. it is said that in them is fulfilled the Prophecy of Isaias By hearing you shall hear and not understand and seeing you shall see and not perceive For this peoples heart is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing c. That Text plainly makes it out that Gods judicial giving them over to their blindness was consequent to their sinful stopping of their ears and shutting of their eyes But Christ there saith that for this he spake to them in parables Mat. 13.13 but Rom. 11.8 it is said God hath given them the spirit of slumber eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear and certain it is Isaiah had Gods commission chap. 6. and Acts 28.26 Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaias the Prophet to our Fathers saying Go unto this people and say Hearing you shall hear and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and not perceive For the heart of this people is waxed gross and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes have they closed By all which it clearly appears that God punished the former sins of the Jews in their wilful shutting their eyes and stopping their ears against the revelation of the Divine will by a judicial giving them up to a blindness of mind and hardness of heart To this purpose is that 2 Thess 2.11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lye for what cause vers 10. Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved Many other texts there are speaking of Gods hardning the heart of Pharaoh and the hearts of others but
be such a sufficient grace granted to all It must be sufficient either as a Physical or Natural cause or as a Moral cause Physical causes we know act necessarily All that can be pretended is a sufficiency as a Moral cause Now certainly in the Gospel and the preaching of it there is only a proposition of things to be believed and done and arguments used to perswade the belief or doing of them the Question still is by what power it is that a man doth believe and do What is in the word written propounded in the word preached so persuaded and argued We say it is not of our selves it is the gift of God and it is given to them who believe on the behalf of Christ to believe Phil. 1.29 Now this means is not given unto all the Habits are not infused from whence as from their Roots and Principles these actions must proceed To this they have nothing to say but that these actings flow from a Principle in mans will yet all men have the same reasonable Souls thus God giveth Faith and Holiness no more to Paul than to Judas The upshot is therefore That there is in man a self sufficiency to his own Salvation and need not to be beholden to Father Son or Holy Ghost for it being once brought forth into the World and possessed of a reasonable Soul he hath a sufficiency to his own Slavation and may be a God unto himself but it is not proper to call this means we are otherwise taught from the Holy Scriptures and therefore cannot agree it That all men have an auxilium sufficiens a sufficiency of grace and gracious assistances in order to their obtaining Eternal life and Salvation 2. Quest But the Second Question still remains viz. How can God be just in the condemnation of any Sinner to whom he hath not given a sufficient aid and assistance of grace in order to his Salvation To this in my former discourses I have spoken sufficiently But yet I will speak something to it here falling so fully in my way Answ 1. I answer first God did give unto Adam sufficient aids and assistances of Divine grace to have carried him and all his posterity to Heaven What was given unto him was given to him and his to him as a publick Person in whom we all were Arnoldus contra Mol. c. 6. Sect. 2. Episcopius disp 5. thes 6. and fell Arminians stifly deny That Adam in his state of innocency had a power to believe in Christ because say they there was need of any Faith in Christ in that estate no Episcopius saith it is a silly Question considering we make Faith a Supernatural habit and such a one as in that state there was no need of This is no better then trifling and equivocating surely all habits of grace since the fall are Supernatural habits we must be taught of God to love God and to love one another to fear God to delight or to hope in him had Adam therefore no such powers in his state of innocency think we Further I would gladly know whether Adam had not a power in innocency to do whatsoever was necessary in order to the obtaining of everlasting Salvation If God doth not give now to every man such a sufficiency of power and Spiritual assistance yet he is just in the condemnation of Sinners Man had such a sufficiency of power and lost it but God hath not lost his right to require the exercise of it and to condemn Sinners for sin though they now want it 2. Especially considering that God hath given unto all such a sufficiency of external means as is sufficient to render them without excuse This the Apostle expresly saith Rom. 2.1 But you will say If God hath not given to all a sufficiency of means how shall man be without excuse shall not one say Lord I never heard of Christ I never saw thy Law how should I believe on him of whom I never heard how should I obey that Law which I never saw nor heard of Again shall not another say Lord I did indeed hear of a Saviour the Scripture I read I beard but I had no power to believe I could not chonge my own heart thou wouldst not change it thou indeed Lord didst stand at the door of my heart and knock but thou didst never put in thy hand at the hole of the door I answer these Sinners yet shall be inexcusable because they walked not up to that light and mercy which God gave them This is what the Apostle giveth in plea for God concerning the Heathen Rom. 1.18 21. The wrath of God saith he is revealed against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men for saith he That which may be known of God is manifested in them for God hath shewed it to them v. 21. Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned It is true we say the Heathens have not a light shining amongst them they have nothing but the light of Nature to guide them and this light maketh no discovery of Christ but yet the light shineth with them a light which will shew them there is a God and discover to them that this God is Eternal and powerful So that saith the Apostle they are without excuse because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations they improved not what light they had nor became thankful for it nor obedient to it Christians are much more inexcusable for besides that they have an equal share in Natural light and have the same dictates of Natural conscience with others there is much more of Christ and his Gospel manifested to them Christ telleth the Jews Mat. 21.32 That John came unto them in a way of righteousness and they believed not but Publicans and Harlots believed in him and you saith he when you had seen it repented not afterwards that you might believe Christians have the preaching of the Gospel the preaching of Faith and of repentance and they repent not that they might believe you will say but it is God that must give a power to repent he gave unto Gentiles repentance unto life I answer repentance is taken either more largely or more strictly More stricty it signifieth the turning of the heart from all Sin unto God this indeed is the work of God he alone hath an hand upon the heart of man but more largely it is taken for the turning from some sin and the performance of external discipline now as to this the Lord denieth unto none a sufficiency of grace and if men do not what in them lyeth they are without excuse 3. Finally It is most certain that God whether he giveth sufficient grace to all or no condemneth none but for sin I have shewed you at large that a sinners destruction is of and from himself as
execution of that purpose hath given his Son for you to purchase a certainty of Salvation for your Souls who hath sent the Ministers of his Gospel to you publishing this Salvation by Christ when others never heard of the Gospel nay who hath done much more than this when others sate under the Gospel and their hearts were never wrought upon by the preaching of it God hath especially changed and wrought upon your hearts and conquered your souls into the obedience of his Gospel I shall conclude with that of the Psalmist Psal 107.1 2. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever Let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy SERMON LII Rom. 11.33 His ways past finding out I Have as you know in this Discourse formerly made use of this Text to found a Proposition upon concerning the unsearchableness of the ways of Divine Providence for of those ways it is that this Text speaketh I beheld saith Solomon Eccl. 8.17 all the words of God that a man cannot find out the ways of God which are done under the Sun yea though a man labour to find it out yet be shall not find it yea though a wise man think to know it yet he shall not find it I have shewed you that the ways of Divine Providence cannot be found out 1. As to the Compass and Latitude of them 2. As to the Tendencies of them 3. As to the Method and Tract of them 4. As to the Indication of them 5. Lastly As to the Reason of them This is as true with reference to the motions of special and effectual grace as to the workings of Providence in its more ordinary and common motions relating to the affairs of the World Now one of the Reasons why the ways of the Lord cannot be found out is because he doth not always tread the same steps God doth not always do the same work in the same method and this is true as to the motions of Providence in the distribution of special grace as well as with reference to its motions respecting the affairs of this life I shall not pretend to find out these depths I shall only Discourse some of these distributions so far as to shew you that they are reasonable motions I shall first Discourse shortly concerning the works of Divine Providence in the bringing home of Souls unto himself in the work of Conversion and Regeneration 2. Secondly In Gods carrying on of his work in the souls of his Saints thereby preparing and making them meet for the Inheritance of light That which I intend at this time to speak to is the variety of Gods ways in bringing home souls to himself Even there the way of God is like the way of an Eagle in the Air a Serpent on a Rock and a Ship on the Sea which can none of them be trackt nor found out in the methods of their motions God in the Converting of souls unto himself doth not keep an uniform motion nor tread certain steps but sometimes he worketh one way sometimes another sometimes by one means sometimes by another For some order in this Discourse I shall Discourse 1. Concerning the varieties of Divine Providence in the Conversion of souls 2. What reasonable account may be given of that variety of Gods motions in this thing 3. What practical conclusions may be drawn from hence or inferred upon this Discourse I begin with the first of these Quest 1. What varieties of Divine Providence are observable in this great work of changing hearts and the Conversion of souls unto God The truth is there are some that will understand none at all poor souls they will understand no other Conversion nor Regeneration but in Baptism every one that is Baptized is Regenerated There was indeed such a thing as Conversion when the world was all Jews and Heathens and to be brought to imbrace the Doctrine of the Gospel But for any such thing as the turning the heart from sin unto God this they understood not and indeed by their lives one would judg they did not But I am speaking to those whom I believe taught better things and who believe other things surely conversion or turning from Idols and erronious Opinions is not all that we read in Scripture of the change of the heart and turning unto God But in the Converting of sinners you shall observe a great variety chiefly remarkable in Three things 1. As to the time the particular time of mans life when God is pleased to call home souls unto himself some in their youth some in their age c. 2. As to the External means which God maketh use of in this work 3. As to the manner of Gods dealing with souls in the Converting Regenerating and bringing home souls unto himself 1. First As to the time This our blessed Lord excellently setteth out to us in that Parable Mat. 20. Where he telleth us That the Kingdom of heaven is like unto an housholder who went out early to find out labourers whom he might send into his Vineyard some he called early in the morning some about the sixth hour some about the ninth hour some at the eleventh hour he called them in at several hours The Kingdom of God is the Church of God which properly consisteth only of such as are Saints by effectual-calling though others that are visibly and professionally such have that denomination being mixed with others who are the true members of the Lord Jesus Christ Gods calling men into his Vineyard is his adding to the number of such as shall be saved Now God calleth some early in their youth some in their middle-age some but very few in their old age some even at their dying hour though of them there be of all the rarest examples As God had Nazarites from the womb so he sanctifieth some from the womb Samuel was from the very womb Dedicated to God and accepted of God God telleth Jeremiah Jer. 1.5 That before he came out of the womb he sanctified him I am a-ware that Sanctifying in that Text may be taken in another sense as it signifieth a Separation to the Office of a Prophet and so it may be understood to be interpreted by the following words and ordained thee to be a Prophet but why it should be limited to that sense I do not understand St. Paul saith He was separated from his Mothers womb and called by his grace but there separating must be understood of Gods design and purpose for we know Paul was a blasphemer a persecutor But certain it is that God calleth some very young Timothy from a child was acquainted with the Scriptures Josiah 2 Chron. 34.1 2. at eight years old began to reign and ver 2. did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and ver 3. at sixteen years of age he set upon his famous reformation It is said of Abijam the young Son of
it ordering it and ruling it to his pleasure is to fancy that may be done casually in so vast a place as the whole world which we see cannot be in a little City or Family than which nothing is more unreasonable 3. Nor thirdly is any thing more contrary to the Scripture for there is no one proposition of truth that hath a more plentiful evidence of Scripture than this Doctrine of Providence hath I beseech you therefore to take heed of suffering any such suggestion any such thought or imagination to possess your hearts look upon it as a very great piece of Atheism to deny or to dispute it besides that as I shall shew you by and by There is no Doctrine of greater use to settle and compose our Spirits under all the varieties of the world nor to keep us in a more holy quiet patient temper and in a dependency upon God under all accidents which occur to us than this Doctrine of Providence Let this therefore be the first use and application of this excellent Doctrine to settle your hearts in this point so consequential to a just and due notion and a right apprehension of him who is the living and true God In the second place Vse 2 Let me apply this by way of caution You have heard that there is a Divine Influence upon all Beings Motions Actions Events c. But take heed of two things 1. Of thinking that the Providence of God necessitates all motions and actions of voluntary Agents Or 2. That it gives any supersedeas to our own endeavours with reference to Events Some Agents indeed act necessarily all but rational Agents do so they have no reason and consequently no counsel deliberation or election But reasonable creatures such as men and women are have a Will and act from it as from their principle these the Providence of God influenceth but doth not compel or necessitate The Providence of God influenceth a man to good actions suggesting them to him moving him and inclining him unto them but not enforcing him As to evil actions the influence of Divine Providence is otherwise God doth not suggest not move not incline the heart to them It upholdeth the creature to the meer natural action 2. It suffereth the sinner to vent the malice and wickedness of his heart in the action 3. It governeth the action when done to the wise end of Gods glory The influence of Providence neither necessitateth the child of God to do good nor the sinner to do that which is evil This is one thing you must warily understand Secondly Take heed of thinking that the influence of Providence as to all events supersedeth any thing of lawful endeavours in order either to the obtaining a good or preventing a bad event or issue The influence of Gods Providence doth by no means justifie mans improvidence There is a great deal of reason for this if we duly weigh it 1. Providence is not our rule We are to walk by the Precept and to depend upon Providence So that whatsoever the word of God maketh our duty to be done or used as a mean in order to the obtaining of any event remaineth still our duty without respect to the influence which Providence hath upon events 2. Again The Providence of God doth ordinarily bring about events by our endeavours as means It is an extraordinary working of Providence when it bringeth about an event without humane means it ordinarily brings them about in and by the use of means hence it is that we cannot regularly depend upon Divine Providence without the use of proper means So far is the influence of Providence from superseding the use of means Thus the Providence of God neither destroyeth nature nor discourageth industry In the third place Vse 3 I know no Doctrine of further use than this for the comfort and relief of the spirits of Gods people under any of the afflictions of this life The wheels of the world sometimes run very cross not only to the expectations of Gods people but to their sensible interests I say to their sensible and appearing interests for contrary to what is their true and real interest they cannot run All things shall work together for the good of them that love God All things must be theirs for their good profit and advantage But Gods dispensations to them in this life are sometimes very afflictive very ingrateful to their sense Now what a relief is this to a child of God to be assured of this to be rooted and confirmed in this That there is a Divine Providence extending it self to all the motions and actions of creatures To all the suspensions omissions and cessations of creatures action Hence follow divers things which may be of great relief to us under our disquietudes 1. That the omissions suspensions cessations of actions in means yea their workings contrary to our expectation are things ordered by Divine Providence It is wonderful how great an affliction this thing sometimes gives persons of more thoughtful and reflexive tempers We lose a friend and fancy if such or such means had been used or if such or such a thing had not been done our husband child wife had not died you know what Martha said to our Saviour Joh. 11 Lord if thou hadst been there my brother had not died But now suppose this that if such or such a thing had not been done in a natural course thy friend had lived for that is all thou canst say yet was not the hand of God in it had the Providence of God thinkest thou no influence upon the omission of such a means as was omitted or the use of such things as thou conceivest to have been pernicious Doth not a sparrow fall to the ground and is thy friend thinkest thou fallen to the ground without thy Father thy Father ordering the omission of such a mean as might have preserved his life or the use of such things as hastened their dissolution God often hides from us what shall be the proximate cause of our end and so as to our friends It is true if we have knowingly and wilfully omitted or neglected probable means we have cause of some reflection but yet even in that case the providence of God reaching to all events is some relief to us In this sense it is no blasphemy to say God often deceiveth the Physitian and the sollicitous friend that is suffereth them to err under false apprehension There is not an omission but Providence hath influenced not a suspension or cessation of an usual action in a natural agent nor a contrary operation of it but the Providence of God hath influenced it We our friends are of more worth than many sparrows and fall not to the ground but by the will of our heavenly Eather so as we do but torment and disquiet our selves in vain Secondly If the Providence of God influenceth all events and that too by effecting them if not sinful They must as to
is joyous but grievous It is the great effect of Faith to make us glory in tribulations But certainly although this Doctrine of Providence doth not shew us a sufficient ground to glory in tribulations which is an exercise of grace most proper in such Tribulations as we suffer for the name of Christ as the Apostles went away rejoycing that they were thought worthy to suffer any thing for the name of Christ But surely the consideration of this Doctrine of Gods Influence upon all events all motions all actions c. of his Creatures sheweth us a great reason why we should be submissive and patient possessing our souls with patience under the most afflictive contingencies of this life I remember Rabshakeh would not have the men of Hierusalem think that he was come out without God against that place Is affliction come upon thee Are crosses in thy estate in thy relations come upon thee Think not that any of them are come upon thee without God the hand of God is in this sickness in this pain in this depriving of thee of thy near relations in this poverty that hath overtaken thee like an armed man None of these things are come upon thee without God 1. Willing them 2. Nor without God influencing them ordering the causes of them now if we do but consider the wisdom and infinite goodness of this God if we do but look upon him as our Father how cogently doth the Apostle speak Heb. 12.10 11. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of our spirits and live For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be made partakers of his holiness How many arguments are there in two verses to perswade us to this submissive patience The main argument is from our reverent subjection to the Fathers of our flesh Hence the Apostle concludes that we ought much rather to be subject to the Father of our Spirits 1. They were but the Fathers of our flesh he the Father of our spirits 2. They chastened us after their own pleasure but he for our profit But I say here is argument enough God is in the affliction It is the Lord said that good man let him do what seemeth to him good Nothing can seem good to God to bring upon his people but what truly and really is for their good he cannot but give good things dispense and deal out good things unto his people submit your selves therefore unto God under his severest Dispensations Remember he is in the storm and whirlwind 5. This Doctrine of Providence may convince you of the reasonableness of your duty of Prayer 1. Daily Prayer 2. More extraordinary and solemn Prayer I say first daily Prayer Every day is pregnant with new designs The world is a place full of a variety of Beings and those are in daily motion and action hence we are subject to infinite accidents and as our Saviour saith Who can tell what a day may bring forth This speaketh our subjection to ingrateful changes and mutations Now certainly the same reason that teacheth us if at any time we have any business of concernment to us that may if it goeth for us be much for our advantage if against us much to our prejudice to be dispatched in Parliament or any Court of Judicature to apply our selves to those persons to whom in those cases we may have access to intreat them to be our friends and to lend us their assistance should also direct us to be as constant and diligent in our Applications unto God by Prayer We have great concerns in the world every day the concerns of our lives our health our success and prosperity in our affairs the concerns of all our friends and relations above all the concerns of our immortal souls The good prosperity and welfare or the evil and mischief of them all doth very much depend upon the motions and actions of other beings as well as our own upon the omissions cessations and suspensions of their actions upon the events c. Now you have heard that the great God of Heaven and Earth filleth the world influenceth all beings motions actions cessations suspensions or omissions of action all events he is ever present seeing and considering the matters of the world Will not now Reason evince it to be our duty to be much in Prayer alone with our Families morning and evening to be crying to God Prosper thou the works of our hands upon us Restraint of Prayer from God argues Atheism in our hearts either that with the fool in the Psalm we say in our hearts There is no God or else that we say Tush God seeth us not the Almighty doth not regard us 2. But it lets us see the more especial reasonableness of more solemn and earnest Prayer upon more especial Emergencies I told you that every day is big of events and who can tell what any day may or will bring forth But there are some more especial times when we have more high and eminent concerns upon some special undertakings or when some eminent danger threateneth us In reason here our sense of a Divine Providence influencing all events all Beings all motions and actions of Beings and all omissions cessations or suspensions of such actions doth more particularly oblige us upon the emergency of such affairs to be more earnest and importunate with God It is the precept of Solomon Acknowledg him in all thy ways and he shall direct thy steps And accordingly hath been the practice of the people of God as you see it in the whole story of holy Writ and is the practice of the people of God still Now this Doctrine of Divine Providence justifieth this practice of the children of God as a very reasonable practice and evinceth as daily Prayer so this more set and solemn prayer to be the reasonable practice of all those that have any knowledg of God or any desire to maintain fellowship and communion with him 6. Lastly As it evinceth the duty and reasonableness both of daily and of solemn and extraordinary prayer so it evinceth also the duty both of daily and more solemn and extraordinary praises We have not a good thing happeneth unto us but there is an hand of God in it it may be some created Being hath been the instrument to bring it to our hand but the action or motion of that created Being hath been influenced by God The event or issue hath been ordered governed and directed by God the hand of God is in every days health and protection in every nights sleep and preservation But this is obvious enough to every Christian of how mean a capacity soever I shall therefore add no more to this part of my discourse I have you see hitherto proceeded no farther than to prove That there is a Providence 2.
them to make and to agree in Laws proper for their Government as to this he upholdeth the reason of Legislators Laws are the rules of Government 1. God hath given unto men a Divine Law for a Copy the Book of this the King of Israel was always to have before him and he was to read in it all the days of his life Deut. 17.19 Jos 1.8 The Divine Law concerns some generals but there must be many particular Laws respecting the complexions of several Kingdoms and bodies of people In the making of which the Providence of God and his influence is wonderfully seen upholding the reason of the Law-makers to the making of such Laws as are necessary and expedient and proper for the government of such a people It is true as the Hebrew Doctors were wont to say That the Spirit of God did not always touch the hearts of the Prophets so neither doth the Spirit of God always touch and direct the hearts of Legislators God suffereth sometimes the wisdom of the wise to fail them impious and wicked Laws foolish and insignificant Laws may sometimes be made to which it were blasphemy to intitle God in any efficient causation God will by these instances let us see men are but men but yet there is such an ordinary influence of Divine Providence that although some Kingdoms and Common-wealths in a Superfoetation of Laws may have some wicked and impious others foolish and insignificant yet they are not deficient in such as are necessary to maintain Justice and preserve civil order and peace Now although we must by no means intitle God to the wicked effects of men which he only permits nor to the follies and impertinencies of men yet he is justly to be entitled to the wise and prudent effects of his creatures for good useful and necessary Laws they are from the Lord who is wise in counsel from whom cometh every good and perfect gift If the Plowman be instructed by God with discretion and taught and the Thresher be instructed as to the discretion he useth by the Lord of Hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working which the Prophet asserteth Isa 28.23 24 25 26 27 28. Then certainly the hearts of those who are instructed to the making of Rules for the Government of the great bodies of his people are instructed also from the Lord who is great in Wisdom and wonderful in Counsel And herein is the mighty Power and Wisdom of God seen in the preservation of Political Societies 3. A third thing wherein the Providence of God is seen in the preserving of these Societies is In the ordinary silencing of those passions in men which disorder and disturb all Government We justly look upon it as a merciful piece of Divine Providence to conceal from some beasts of great use in our lives their own strength which if known to them would make them our masters The multitude in any Polity is as an unruly beast and all Governments are preserved by their ignorance of their own strength and the bridle of Divine Providence by which God keeps them in and silenceth their passions which if let loose would quickly turn all into a tumult and confusion The Individuals of all Societies are full of boisterous and brutish passions so as a considerate man when he looketh upon such a City as this or any other great Political Body and considereth how many persons are in it of unruly tempers and passions who either know not the rules of natural Justice and Equity or if they know any thing of them their lusts and passions will not suffer them to live in any just observance of them will see reason to wonder how people of such heterogeneous tempers and different passions should ever live together a year or a month in peace and any degrees of order nor is there any thing which holds them together but the wonderful influence of Divine Providence silencing their passions and restraining those lusts in men which otherwise would set any Kingdom City or Nation on a fire and bring it quickly to an heap of rubbish and confusion It was said of old that in the degenerate state of man Homo homini lupus one man is a Wolf to another and nothing but the Divine Hand keeps them from biting and devouring each other the Lord by his Providence holds them in as the Horse and the Mule with bit and bridle When God thinks fit for the punishment of persons or Nations but a little to let loose the Reins we see what brutish passions do discover themselves in men what envy malice revenge oppression and other lusts and vices directly tending to destroy Societies So as we are only preserved because these disorders are but fits of distemper not abiding diseases in the bodies of people and the reason why they are no more is from Gods restraining influence upon unruly turbulent spirits He that ruleth the raging of the Sea and stilleth the waves thereof when they arise ruleth also the passions of men keeps them generally still and stilleth them if at any time they rise to any exorbitant heighth 't is the same power that doth them both Psalm 65.7 Thou stillest the noise of the Sea the noise of its waves and the tumults of the people It is God that saith Be still O ye inhabitants of the Islands Whence is it but from this that there are so few murthers rapes c. no more thefts and acts of Violence We see the fear of punishment will not restrain them as soon as God but takes off his restraint from them and the consideration how unreasonable multitudes appear in their fits of disorder is enough to convince men that the general tie of people have not reason enough to be a law unto themselves but are meerly governed and over-ruled by the influence of Gods restraint upon them for the preservation of his people in their political Societies 4. A fourth thing wherein the power of Divine Providence is eminently seen in the preservation of Men in their Political Societies is in discovering the secret devices and conspiracies of men tending to the disturbance and dissolution of Government in the places where they live I still understand this in ordinary causes When God hath a design to punish a Senacherib he suffers the plottings of his own sons to take effect against him God sometimes punisheth Rulers sometimes he punisheth People by such sufferances but ordinarily he doth not You have an hundred Treasons discovered for one that takes effect Here I might enlarge strangely how God brings to light those hidden works of darkness wherein the welfare of States and Kingdoms are concerned Solomon therefore gives good counsel Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King in thy thoughts nor the rich that is the Ruler I conceive in thy Bed-chamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter that is it shall be discovered strangely and swiftly What eminent
Providence calleth to us for and sheweth us the reasonableness of is Prayer We have reason in our distresses to seek unto God by Prayer because the Lord reigneth and it is an encouragement to us to seek him because he reigneth Whither should we go but unto him who hath power to help save and deliver Prayer therefore hath in all times of distress been the Refuge of Gods people It was a sad time with David Psalm 109.4 The mouth of the wicked and of the deceitful saith he v. 2 3. are opened against me they have spoken against me with a lying tongue They compass me about also with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause for my love they are my adversaries but I give my self unto Prayer v. 4. Luther when he was in any strait was wont to say I will go and tell my God of it Prayer hath been the constant mean which the people of God have used for rescue out of any troubles You see it is upon a good foundation viz. The Dominion which God hath over all and his daily exercise of it 3. It calleth to you for praise and thanksgiving Prayer solliciteth for a mercy when we want it Praise acknowledgeth the gift when received and giveth unto God the glory of it Nor can it without robbery be paid at any other than Gods Altar Is there any good done by thee Let God have the glory of that thou hast done it by vertue of a power or gift which is given to thee from above yea and it is from his Governing-Power of Providence ruling directing and influencing thy heart to it His Kingdom is over our hearts our hands our tongues inclining them to every good thought word action without him we can do nothing Doth any good come unto thee Let God also have the glory of that The earthly Prince looketh that you should acknowledg your peace your trade to his Government but he is but the instrument of God in bringing these things It is the Kingdom of the Lord that ruleth over all he gives thee power to get riches saith Moses I am sure the people of God have more special reason to acknowledg God in all their peace and prosperity They are men of peace their hands are against none but the world hates them they are as sheep amongst wolves if they have any months or years of peace they are beholden to the power and ruling of God for it Is any evil kept from you It is God that doth it he that ruleth the raging of the Sea he stilleth the tumults of the people he hath the hearts of Kings in his hand and turneth them as the Waters of the South It is because the Mountain of the Lord is full of Chariots and Horses that they are not swallowed up by their Enemies every moment O see and praise the Lord for the Governance of his Providence 4. This Doctrine calleth to you for patience in adversity The people of God are subjected to trials of adversity yea â—o fiery trials as well as other men yea in greater degrees than others hence the Apostle calleth to them to let patience have its perfect work Patience is nothing else but a quiet submission to the will of God under any adverse dispensation of his Providence in obedience to his command and because it is his will and he layeth it upon us we have need of patience and the exercise of it is our duty and this Doctrine will shew you that it is but a reasonable duty Let me shew it you in two or three particulars 1. As it showeth you that all your afflictions be they of what sort and kind they will are from the Lord Job 5.6 Afflictions cometh not out of the dust nor doth trouble spring out of the ground Is there saith God by the Prophet any evil in the City and I have not done it Affliction comes not by chance or fate it comes from God and is the wise issue of his Providence in the Government of the World we have therefore no reason to fret and vex our selves against instruments They are but instruments Perhaps said David of Shimei God hath bidden him curse They possibly do ill and at last will know it but God is righteous in their unrighteousness I held my peace saith David I knew it was thy doing It is the Lord saith that good man let him do what seemeth him good 2. As it assureth us that all things shall work together for good to them that love God If God ruleth and governeth the world he certainly doth it for himself and for his own glory which glory of his being the highest design of his people all things must necessarily tend to their good to that which they above all things desire and seek after This God who ruleth the World is his peoples father and doth what-ever he doth as a father for the good and advantage of his children 3. Lastly It is a good Argument of patience As it letteth them know that their afflictions are ordered and governed by God The Afflictions Oppressions Persecutions of the people of God are not things excepted out of the Dominion of God It was you know the Centurions faith That diseases were to Christ as his servants were to him He said to one go and he went to another come and he came and to another do this and he did it So God speaketh to diseases and not to diseases only but to all sorts of afflictions Isa 27.8 In measure when it shooteth forth thou wilt debate with it God first causeth then ruleth and governeth all our troubles afflictions and trials Fifthly This Doctrine calleth to all the people of God for love to him This is the Psalmists Exhortation and upon this very Argument Psal 31.23 O Love you the Lord all you his Saints for he preserveth his Saints and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer All the earth is bound to love the Lord for the exercise of his Governing-power If the Lord did not reign the worst of men would quickly find the ill effects of it they need no worse enemies than their own brethren and companions in wickedness did the Lord lay the reins upon the necks of their lusts and suffer them as they would to devour one another For as we see the ravenous Birds Fishes and Beasts do not only prey upon other but their own species so were it not for the Restraining-Providence of God in governing the world the wicked of it would see their brethren in iniquity not only preying upon the Saints and people of God but also upon those like unto themselves if lesser than themselves But I say above all the people of God as being the least flock are more especially bound to love the Lord for the Government of his Providence but this will more eminently appear when I come to discourse concerning the Specialties of his Providence with reference to them 6. Lastly This Doctrine calleth unto all for a willing
wheel we see nothing in it that resembleth God the great workman we see in it nothing of the Divine Wisdom possibly nothing of the divine goodness and loving-kindness but could we have patience till the Lords work came off the wheel we should easily see it in quite another representation we often see in Gods works of Providence nothing but confusion and blood and trouble and multiplied troubles and disturbances to those who most fear him and desire to walk most closely with him But in the evening of that day saith the Prophet Zech. 14.6 it shall be light The day neither light nor dark but in the Evening it shall be light Gods peoples days sometimes are plainly darkness thick darkness but would we have patience to the evening of them we should see light The Evening is the close and making up of the day When God cometh to close up his days work did we but observe Divine Providence we should easily understand that it would be light Sorrow may be for a night but joy shall be in the morning So as I say again This is one great reason why at all times we cannot understand the loving-kindness of the Lord to his Church and his people because we do not observe the motions of Divine Providence but take only a slight and superficial view of them I shall conclude this Discourse with an Exhortation to the duty of the Text The observation of the motions of Divine Providence Vse 2 In my last discourse I discovered to you some unsearchable things in Divine Providence and cautioned you against too curious an Enquiry into them My business now is to call upon you non caecutire in revelatis not to be blind as to those things which God hath revealed This also is your duty as well as the other by the former you acquit your selves from an unwarrantable curiosity by this from a wretched unthankfulness The Providence of God is daily working in order to the fulfilling of Gods great end the glorifying of his great and holy Name the establishing of his people c. 1. Do not rest in a meer view of what is done in the World but fix your eyes upon it Lay up the things in your heart let your thoughts dwell upon them the remarkable passages of them especially You see and hear of Wars and rumours of Wars inundations fires changes and over-turning in Nations of powers and Dominions you at present understand not the tendencies and indications of them you cannot make up a judgment of them and prophecy what will and shall be from them but yet observe them lay up these things in your minds yea and let them not pass out of your minds as we are to hear for the time to come so we are to behold and observe the motions of Providence with a respect unto a time to come too Do not think you can expound every Providence presently the vision oft-times is for an appointed time and is to be expounded by time in the mean time only to be diligently marked and observed taken notice of as a great work of God the meaning of which we shall understand hereafter Divines say That the meaning of many Providences and our clear understanding of them is one of those things wherein our knowledg shall be bettered and perfected in the day of Judgment and till that time when the hidden things of God as well as of men shall be made manifest we must be content to know but in part 2. Do not secondly observe meer single acts of Divine Providence but let your Eye follow it in its motions God sometimes hath his works a long time upon the wheel especially those relating to his Church I will give you two famous instances 1. The establishing of his ancient Church of the Jews in Canaan The promise was out for it Gen. 12 to Abraham it was more than five hundred years before this work was off the wheel of Providence four hundred years before they went out of Egypt where they were in bondage forty years they travelled in the wilderness then during all the time of the Judges yea and in Sauls time too they were but in a very unquiet condition In David and Solomon's time they came to a setled estate in the promised Land There was a Promise given out unto Christ for having the ends of the earth for his possession David mentioneth it Isaiah prophesieth much of it After this Christ comes was crucified c. And it was three hundred years after this before these Promises had any considerable accomplishment Indeed as to particular persons their beings are of shorter duration and the Providence of God brings about the promises to them in much shorter periods or they could see nothing of Gods loving-kindnesses in the issues or contextures of them but take heed there of resting your Eye upon the observations of some single acts of providence relating to them those who should thus have observed the motions of Providence with reference to Abraham Jacob Joseph David Daniel Job would have seen little of that loving-kindness of the Lord to them which yet is evident enough to all that keep their Eye upon their story to the winding up of their bottoms Now to this observation of Providence you have two great Arguments in the Text 1. It is an Indication of spiritual Wisdom A wise man looketh not only at present things but at things past and yet to come Now Wisdom is a lovely thing It is justified of her children saith our Saviour Every man desireth the reputation of a wise man and studiously avoideth the reproach of a fool Two things speak a fool 1. To observe and mind nothing Or 2dly Meerly to take notice of things present and gather conclusions from them 2. Thus you shall understand the loving-kindness of God Then you will see that all the paths of God towards his Church are mercy and truth Truth not a word failing of the promise and mercy working for the good of them that love God yea thus you that fear the Lord shall understand the loving-kindness and truth of God to your particular souls A thing the evidence of which is and ought to be of more value to you than the whole World I will conclude my Discourse by giving you three Cautions to direct your observation 1. Observe the Providence of God when it seemeth to move contrary to his Word but never determine the Indication of it without the Word Indeed the Providence of God never moveth contrary to the Word it is always a servant to some Declaration of the will of God in some promise or threatning but it often seemeth to us to move contrary which made the Psalmist cry out Doth the promise fail for evermore The reason of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that deceiveth us is our imperfect knowledg or understanding of the Word of God and non-acquaintance with the Counsels of God and contrivances of his Wisdom and the variety of those
take away his life pursueth him with an Army from place to place David had a pitiful company with him is forced to flee to Gath there to dissemble himself mad would any one have thought that had seen David among the Philstines scrambling on the walls that he should ever have been King over Israel and Judah At length Saul and Jonathan the next heir are slain in Battel then Ishbosheth is set up but yet after all these oblique and seemingly contradictory motions of Providence it cometh home to the promise David is setled in the Throne of Israel and Judah 4. Let a fourth instance be that of the Gospel Church God had promised that he would set his King upon the holy hill of Zion Psalm 2.6 v. 8 That he would give him the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession and promises of this nature are everywhere multiplyed by the Prophets Isaiah especially Our Lord when he ascended up into Heaven gave out a Commission to his Disciples in order to this effect Go preach and baptize all Nations c. Now at the first the Providence of God seemed to move as if the thing should presently have been done You read Acts 2 That the Spirit of God descended and there were then at Jerusalem saith the Text devout men of every Nation under Heaven Parthians Medes Elamites Mesopotamians Jews Cappadocians men of Pontus Asia Phrygia Pamphilia Egypt Lybians Cyrenians Romanes Cretes Arabians and heard the Apostles in their own language speaking of the great works of God Here were now Preachers made for all the World would not one have thought that surely at this time all the ends of the Earth should have been given unto Christ Peter at one Sermon converts two thousand soon after there were five thousand added to the Church But all on the sudden the Providence of God turneth the Gospel groweth out of repute and the Apostles that preached it too both with Jews and Gentiles James is put to death Peter hardly escapes The Church the only Gospel church God had at that time at Jerusalem was scattered and broken the Apostle complains That they were made as the filth of the world and as the off scouring of all things The Jews persecute them the Gentiles in all places rise up against the Preachers of the Gospel bonds stripes and imprisonments waited for the Apostles in all places where they came Paul saith he thought that God had set them forth as men appointed unto death spectacles to the World Angels and men Few of the great Ministers of the Gospel died their natural death the Christians were a sect everywhere spoken against all courses almost imaginable taken to root them out of all places for three hundred years together But at length the Providence of God cometh in a great measure to work up to the direct fulfilling of the many promises of this nature Constantine an Emperour of a great part of the World ariseth and commandeth and encourageth the preaching of the Gospel And thus it came to be spread and accepted in most known parts of the World Indeed there is hardly any instance can be given of any great work of Providence respecting Churches Nations or particular persons as to which this Observation will not justifie it self 5. For another instance may we not bring in if not all yet very many of your particular Souls who fear the Lord. You also upon believing receive the promises The promises are made of old but we receive them we come to have a title to them in the day when God opens our eyes and opens our hearts to a receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ turning our hearts from dead lusts and sins to serve the living God In that day I say we have a first right to all the Promises whether respecting joy and peace or spiritual strength and assistances Now very-often at the first of our conversion the Providence of God moves directly towards them the Soul finds a great life to Duty a great zeal against sin great joy and peace in believing glimpses of the glory of God But after this very ordinarily follow very dark hours and the Soul like Jonah cryes out of the belly of Hell The Soul that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his Servant yet walketh in the dark and seeth no light cryeth out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and hath a thousand fair and foul days in its journey to Heaven I know particular cases must here be excepted but I speak of the ordinary Methods of Divine Providence with Souls whom God bringeth to glory 6. I will conclude this Discourse with the instance of the great work of Providence in the Reformation of his Church in this latter age whether you look upon it in Germany France or England In Germany it began with Luther an eminent Servant of of God though like Elias of like passions and infirmities with other men how strangely did the Providence of God in the beginning work towards the accomplishment of it That Luther who was a poor Monk should be preserved to plant the Doctrine of the Gospel and should diffuse it so far as he did and be preserved to do it against all the rage both of the Pope and Emperour 28 or 29 years was a great favour of Providence to the infantile Reformation but afterwards how the Providence of God gave check to it is sufficiently known yet it kept its ground and gained For England we know from our story That King Hen. 8 laid the first stone we also know how Providence at first favoured the work during all the reign of Edward the sixth but in Queen Maries time for five years together it seemed to move directly cross the Popish Superstitions were restored in all parts of the Nation Multitudes burnt for the profession of the Gospel others fled into foreign parts to secure their lives But the Providence of God returned again to its work in the time of Queen Elizabeth But I have spoken enough to justifie the Observation Let me in the next place endeavour to give you a reasonable account of these transverse motions of Providence not that I dare presume to give you the reasons why God moveth thus or thus for who hath been his Counsellor at any time but so far forth as to shew you that these motions of Providence are approvable to our Reason so as we may judg the Lords ways but proportioned to his wise and great designs 1. In the first place certainly one reasonable account to be given of these motions must be the variety of designs which the Providence of God ordinarily carries on together I have hinted this to you before suffer me here to enlarge a little upon it again I then compared Providence to a man of great business and dealings in the World who though London or some other great place be in his Eye as the end of his Journey where his business lies
God thus speaking to you under its darkest Dispensations Think you that I am about to destroy the Promise or by my motions to make it of no effect No I am come not to destroy a tittle of a promise Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not a tittle of the promise shall fail I am not by these motions destroying the promise whatever your sense may dictate to you or whatsoever your reason may prompt to you I am but fulfilling the promise Therefore I say at such a time look to your hearts that they abide by the promise Let it be the case of the Church in which we live or the case of any particular Soul still keep to the Word the promise to the Church is sure the promise to the particular Soul is sure Providence is not moved out of its way it is only got a little out of thy sight if thou canst but wait for it it will come into thy road again and go with thy expectation most certainly to the fulfilling of the Promise Take that one word Eccles 8.12 13 Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him But it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he feareth not before God Consonant to which is that Isa 3.10 11 Say ye to the righteous it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him Now these words both of Promise and of Threatning are sure words yet such as to which the Providence of God makes our faith stagger more than as to any other It often goes out of what we take to be its road in order to the accomplishment of these words we see wicked men prospering growing great in power honour riches yet their ways are such as he that runneth may read that the fear of God is not before their eyes Well be it so yet let not your hearts fail as to the promise keep close to it you will see Providence return to what you call its Road again If a Sinner do evil an hundred times if he liveth an hundred years yet the Word of the Lord shall be justified upon him So if a child of God be chastened an hundred times if Religion and Reformation and the interest of God in the World be brought under the hatches an hundred times yet Magna est Veritas praevalebit Truth shall prevail at last and Gods people shall have the day at last Consider O Christian thou canst not give God a greater honour than to believe when thou doest not seee This is a faith like Abraham's who believed in hope above hope or contrary to hope Rom. 4 who believed when he had nothing else to trust to but that God was able to raise up and save from the dead Say in the prosperity of Sinners I will have nothing to do with them For I know it shall be ill with them though they thrive and prosper some months and years yet I know the reward of their hands shall be given them In the adversity and afflicted estate of Gods people say with those will I cast in my lot for I know it shall be well with them Take heed that the Providence of God draw you not from the Promise Lastly will some say What is our duty with reference to Providence at such a time I will open this in four or five particulars with which I will shut up my Discourse upon this Observation 1. Search and see whether some miscarriages of thy own hath not carried Providence out of thy sight and turned it out of its right line I told you before that Providence is never out of its way it is always moving upon Gods Errand but it is often out of our sight and our sins are the cause of that its motion You know under what a multitude of Promises the Jews were as the seed of Abraham Isaac and Jacob as the posterity of David c. Promises for great measures of outward prosperity notwithstanding which they were carried captives into Babylon and there endured an hard bondage of seventy years Isaiah tells them the Reason Your iniquities have separated betwixt God and you and your sins have made him to hide his face from you What do the godly amongst the Jews under this Dispensation Lam. 3.39 40 Let us say they search and try our ways and return again to the Lord this is undoubtedly the duty of the Church the duty of every particular Soul When thou seest God turned out of his way as thou thinkest and not doing by thee as thou didst expect search and see whether thy miscarriages have not caused that withdrawing or turning aside It is true Gods punishments of his people are not always for sin he may sometimes do it to try their faith their patience their adherence to him but this is a secret to us Two things are certain in this case 1. That God doth most ordinarily punish them for their sins 2. That he never punisheth them but they have sin'd enough to warrant it an act of justice and to give them cause of suspicion and of Soul-humiliation so as a searching and trying of their ways in the day of divine chastenings can never be improper or out of season 2. Look to your faith in the Promise It is the Promise is the object of Faith and Providence no further than it relateth to the Promise A time of dark Providences is usually a time of great temptations It is so oftentimes on Gods part that is God designs his peoples trial It is so often from Satan who takes the advantage of those hours to suggest to the Soul It is so as to the World they pierced Davids heart in such an hour as with a sword when in it they said unto him Where is thy God become Psalm 42. It is so in it self considering that we are but flesh and how ready the language of that is Surely I have cleansed my hands in vain I have washed mine hands in innocency for nothing Or that of Saul This evil is of the Lord why should I wait for him any longer Therefore I say Look to your Anchor-hold in such a day Thus doth David Why art thou cast down O my Soul why art thou disquieted within me trust thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God Psalm 42. So doth the Church Micab 7.8 Rejoyce not over me O mine Enemy when I fall I shall rise when I sit in darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me The Heathen Poets have a story that Vlysses in his sailing home being to pass the Syrens who were wont to allure Mariners with their melodious tunes towards them while their ships were dashed in
abideth for ever If two be walking together they had never more need to take heed that they lose not one anothers company than in a dark and blustring night when the darkness keeps them that they cannot see one another and the wind hindereth that they cannot hear the sound each of others feet The Believer and the Promise are Relates companions each to other there is never more danger of their being parted each from other than in a night of dark and blustring Providence Now a Christian stands concerned to be often applying his Soul to the Promise often calling upon his Soul as David in Psalm 42 Trust thou in God for I shall yet praise him Nor is there any thing more conducive to make a Christian at such a time hang upon the Promise than to hear that it is the usual method of Divine Providence then to remember Gods people when they are in the lowest condition Fourthly As this calleth to the people of God for faith in the Promise so it calls to them for hope Faith and Hope are so near of kin that they are oft put one for another Indeed Hope is nothing else but Faith looking out at the windows of the soul in expectation of the coming of the thing believed There is an hope that worketh upon the encouragements of sense when the mercy hoped for is seen coming in a way of probable means but there is an Hope that proceedeth meerly upon the Evidence of Faith when the Soul hopeth for some good thing but seeth no encouragement from any sensible thing the former is but a natural affection working upon an absent probable good This latter is a supernatural habit and an exercise of grace The Apostle calls it an hoping against hope or a believing in hope against hope This is that which I am calling to you for This is that which keepeth the heart alive in the deadest time We use to say If it were not for hope under evils the heart would break Faith is the acquiescence of the Soul in the World Hope is the motion of the Soul consequent to this acquiescence Faith saith the thing is sure Hope seeth it coming and relieveth the Soul with that Hope is the Souls watchman The Soul cryes out Watchman what of the night Watchman what of the night Hope saith The morning is coming Now this Observation advantageth Hope It assures you that God is coming at Midnight When you see these things come to pass saith our Saviour Luke 21.28 lift up your heads for the day of your redemption draweth nigh It hath reference to all that went before where our Saviour had been telling them of the great Evils that were to precede his coming Now saith our Saviour when you see things at this miserable despicable pass then lift up your heads Fifthly This Notion calleth to the people of God for fervent and constant prayer for the Church and people of God when they are at the lowest ebb Never give over the case of the Church and people of God for desperate it is never less so than when it most appeareth to you to be so I remember it is particularly remarked concerning Daniel in the 9th Chapter of his Prophesie That when he understood by books that the time was come for the fulfilling of the Jewish captivity then he made that excellent Prayer which you have upon record in that Chapter with a great deal of fervor and zeal for the people of which you will find it full Daniels certain knowledg that that was the time for their deliverance did not supersede his duty of Prayer but more abundantly quicken him to it In such a state of the Church and people of God as I have been describing to you a Christian hath two great arguments to perswade him to a more constant diligent and fervent application of himself to the throne of Grace 1. The Churches misery and low condition calling to him for pity and what help he can give it 2. The knowledg he hath or may have that it is now about the time when God useth to arise and help Lastly This Observation calleth upon all that fear the Lord especially at such a time when they or the Church of God is lowest to watch unto holiness to wait upon the Lord and keep his way and to be wary of sin To deter all that fear God from sinning especially at such a time I might mind you of that precept of God to the Jews When the Host goeth forth to battel then take heed of every wicked thing But I shall conclude with that known story of the Israelites You know they had an old Promise made four hundred years before that they should inherit the land of Canaan they had served in Egypt many years they were now come over the Red-sea and had encountred and overcome the long and many difficulties of the Wilderness they were brought within a prospect of the promised Land nothing wanted but a taking possession they murmur against God retard their entrance forty years until all that generation was destroyed except Caleb and Joshuah I shall conclude Hath the Church been a long time under great pressures things still as to its interest growing worse and worse that they seem to be brought to as low a pass as they can be Now begins her hope to dawn according to that Method of Providence which I have observed to you Only now let the people of God look to themselves that by some defection they do not set back their own mercies You may take the Exhortation in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.6 Now these things happened unto them for our ensamples to the end that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them c. But I shall add no more to this Second Observation SERMON XVII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Have both shewed you the duty of the people of God to make Observations upon the motions of Divine Providence and the advantage accrewing to them that perform it 1. It is an indication of spiritual Wisdom 2. Those that do it shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. My work at present is to give you some observations upon the motions of Actual Providence which is the work of God in the World fulfilling his purpose and fulfilling his Word both of Promise and of Threatning Two of those Observations I have given you discoursed upon them and made some futable Applications I proceed to a third 3d Observ Providence ordinarily doth its greatest works in the day of mans smallest things It is truly observed that the greatness of Divine Power and Wisdom is most seen in the Creation and Preservation of the least creatures As a Workman is most magnified that can bring most art into the least room and it is as true that the greatness of Divine Providence
same as of my former observation Because thus he gets himself most glory The Glory of God is the great end of all his actions he worketh for himself for the Honour and Glory of his own great Name Now God hath more Honour and Glory by these accomplishments than if he should bring them to pass by greater and more probable means The Apostle gives this very reason 1 Cor. 1.29 Why God chose weak things to confound those that are mighty c. That no flesh should glory in his presence 1. His power is thus more magnified He thus appears to be a great God a mighty God though it be true that the Power of God is equally exerted when he worketh by great means as by small had we spiritual eyes or did we look upon means as we ought to do as deriving all their efficacy from God yet de facto it is not so to us and therefore you shall in Scripture observe God often declaring that he would work this or that in this or that manner that his People might not say that they had done this by their own might or power The lesser appearance there is of second Causes the more the efficiency of the first Cause is evident so God getteth himself a great deal of Glory by working in the day of mans smallest things 2. As I also told you under the former head God getteth himself more Glory by the praises of his people he is more admired in his workings more praised and adored for his workings The Enemies are also hereby enforced to confess the works of the Lord and to acknowledg the greatness of his Power But having enlarged upon these things under the former observation I shall add no more here but come to the Application Vse 1. The first Use I shall make of this point shall be what the Prophet Zechariah hath made before me Zech. 4.10 Who hath despised the day of small things The Prophet propoundeth it by way of Interrogation but it contains a Precept in the bowels of it Learn not to despise the day of small things it is usually Gods day It may be a day of small things as to the Church the state of it may be very sad the case of it very low little humane means or probabilities may appear of the amendment of its state all things may seem to make against the interest of God and Religion Now I say let no man despise this day of small things It may be a day of small things with the particular soul the case of it may be very sad it may be full of dejections full of despondencies hurried with temptations it may have hope and but a little hope light shining in upon it at a poor crevice let none now despise this day of small things Two things I would press upon you 1. Not to despise this day 2. To perform what is your positive duty with reference to such a day 1. I say first Despise not such a day Persons or things may be despised two ways 1. Directly 2. Interpretatively Take heed of despising it directly Take heed of despising it interpretatively We despise a person or thing directly when in our hearts we contemn him or it and have a low and poor estimate of him or it and express it by any outward sign as words gestures c. Thus the Enemies of the Jews scorned the Jews employed in re-building the City and Temple when they said What will these feeble Jews do if a fox go up he will break down what they have builded It was it seems a day of small things with the Jews their Enemies despised them and mocked at them Thus Sennacherib despised Hezekiah when he offered his Commissioners two hundred horses if his master could set riders on them Take heed of this despising Thus the Popish party in Germany despised the day of small things in the beginning of the Reformation by Luther when they bid him go into his Cell and pray Lord have mercy upon me The issue in all three cases shewed that they had no reason as to any of them to have despised the day of small things Providence usually brings forth its greatest works in such a day But besides this despising 2. There is an interpretative despising of such a day Take heed of this also thus we may despise things 1. When we do not give that due regard to them which we ought Thus our Saviour telleth you A man cannot serve two masters but he will cleave to the one and despise the other that is not give that due regard which he ought to give to the other He that neglecteth what ought not to be neglected doth interpretatively despise when we have not that due value for a thing we ought to have we despise it Thus Esau despised his birth-right saith the Apostle we no where read that he spake contemptuously of it but he did not duly value it he sold it for a contemptible price a mess of pottage 2. When because of the smallness of means our hearts fail in the use of the means we have or as to the promise this is a despising of the day of small things Now I say take heed of despising such a day any of these ways it is usually Gods day Let your rule be this If a work or issue of a work be for Gods Glory if it be the matter of a Divine Promise though there may be but a small appearance of means for the accomplishment of it take heed of despising it either directly or interpretatively Who hath despised such a day saith the Prophet intimating that none ought to despise it none hath any just reason to despise it 2. But secondly Do what is your duty in such a day you will say What is that I will open it in three things 1. Vse the means you have 2. Exercise a faith in God beyond the probable effect of those means 3. Make up in prayer what you will want in action through a want of means Of each of these a word or two 1. Vse those means and grounds of hope which you have If David hath but a sling and a stone to go out against Goliah with yet he will use them Means that have a natural vertue in them or a divine institution have Gods stamp upon them and must be used leaving the event and success unto God we must neither idolize means by attributing the divine Efficiency to them nor yet tempt God by a neglect of them when God affords us them You shall observe God sometimes commanding the use of means which had no rational tendency to the production of the effect as what influence could the Israelites blowing with Rams-horns and the Army encompassing the City seven days have upon the walls of Jericho yet the Israelites were bound to use them because they had the stamp of a divine Institution upon them It is much the same case when they have a natural vertue or a rational tendency there
to us as a God that may at any time under any face of things be trusted We cannot see a worser face of things than when wickedness is at the heighth men in the heighth of rage and malice against the People of God when all kind of filthiness and sensuality abounds in a place when the vilest men are exalted and the wicked walk on every side they are put together Psal 12.8 But under such dispensations Christians trouble not your selves as to Gods care of his Church indeed it is and ought to be an afflicting dispensation 1. For the glory of God Under such a face of things the holy Name of God is blasphemed the honour of God is at present laid in the dust 2. Such a time must needs be a time of great suffering to the holy and innocent servants of God Many particular servants of God must be made great sufferers under such a Providence But yet incourage your self in God he that can bring light out of darkness can and will bring good out of such an evil as this is The Providence of God doth ordinarily compel even the worst of men to do his work howbeit that they mean not so one way or other they shall do the Lords work if no other way yet by making their own folly manifest to all men God often brings wicked men upon the stage to make them more abominable There are many in the world men of sobriety and vertue would not have believed there had been such horrible injustice and oppression such horrible and insatiable avarice such merciless cruelty in the hearts of many sinners if they did not see them play their parts upon a stage in the world In the mean time know that you trust in a God that knoweth how to make use of mens malice and to make the maddest and desperatest sinner serve his purposes Vse 2. In the second place what a foundation doth this notion lay for an Exhortation to all to break off their sins by true repentance and to give unto God a voluntary chosen service 1. To break off their sins by a true repentance I remember our Lords words to Saul out of Heaven Saul Saul saith he why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks Suppose a person whose heart the Devil hath filled with all malice that if he could he would pluck God out of Heaven and root out the Name of God from the Earth yet methinks this should discourage him in his fullest career and madness to think that he that sitteth in the Heavens laugheth him to scorn and when he hath done all he can he shall but have effected the Lords counsels and done the Lords work although he meant not so Let therefore the sinners of the Earth be instructed and learn wisdom they cannot do what they list and many times wherein they think and talk proudly God sheweth himself above them and they do Gods work quite besides and contrary to their own intentions There is no encountring with a God who can make the wrath of man to praise him and restrain the remainder of it when he pleaseth 2. If this be so certainly it is wisdom in men designedly and intentionally to serve God otherwise they lose their reward at least their spiritual and eternal reward We find God with temporal rewards sometimes rewarding men that do some things at his command though their hearts in the action be not right with God so Jehu was rewarded his Sons inherited the Throne to the 4th generation but God at last visited the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu But no man hath a spiritual reward inward joy and peace of conscience nor shall have an eternal reward but that man who with purpose of heart serveth the Lord. SERMON XXII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Proceed yet in making some Observations concerning the motions of Providence in the preservation and government of the world An eighth Observation which I shall make and a little enlarge upon is this Observ 8. That the Providence of God is wonderfully seen in bringing to light hidden counsels of darkness and punishing of sins which tend to the disturbance of civil societies Indeed there are not many sins but have an ill influence upon humane society and the reason is because there is no law in the world so fitted to the prosperous beings of Societies as the law of the Lord is but yet there are some which tend to a more eminent disturbance and confusion in them Such are now plottings and treasons against Princes whom God hath made the heads of these Societies Seditions and raising up mutinies murthers c. These make great gaps and disorders in political bodies and you shall observe the Providence of God bearing an eminent testimony against them Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King nō not in thy thought and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter it shall be discovered it shall be suddenly discovered and by ways that one would never think of Two things you shall observe in the workings of Divine Providence as to this thing 1. That it is very rarely that the Providence of God suffereth any such designs to come to any effect and issue 2. That if at any time he doth for the punishment of flagitious rulers suffer them to come to issue he very rarely suffereth the actors in them to go down to their graves in peace This abundantly justifieth it self in the story of Scripture and in all other story 'T is very rarely that the Providence of God suffereth conspiracies to take effect Of an hundred plots that you read of in story to take away the lives of Princes and make disturbances in political affairs it is very rare to read of any that take effect Job 5.12 either the Lord makes their own hearts to fail them or weakneth their hands that they cannot find their enterprize or put 's it into the hearts of some of the conspirators to reveal the matter or causeth some strange impression and jealousies in those whose lives are aimed at some way or other the Providence of God worketh to crush the cockatrices egg before it hatcheth into a serpent Our Queen Elizabeth was a famous instance of the special Providence of God in this kind over such as God maketh rulers over others What a strange discovery had we of the Powder-treason in this Nation But this is but the first thing which I commended to you under this Observation 2. Sometimes the Providence of God for his wise ends doth suffer such conspiracies to come to issue either for the personal sins of such rulers or for the sins of the people over whom God hath set them but when he doth he rarely suffereth the actors in them to go down to their graves in
devouring fires for number and greatness not to be parallel'd God make us to understand his Rod and how many ways he is as a moth unto England secretly and gradually and almost irreparably devouring and destroying us This maketh our days full of the cry of the poor God grant we be not also full of such as stop their ears at the cry of the poor either giving nothing or in no proportion to relieve them I wish we could consider and remember that Text and think what may be our portion and do as we would be done by and remember God often punisheth this uncharitableness in its kind Men of hard-hearts in prosperity ordinarily meet with hard-hearts in their adversity with what measure they mete to others it is meted unto them again The Apostle Gal. 6.1 perswadeth the restoring of a brother fallen in the spirit of meekness and useth this Topick Considering thy self lest thou also be tempted And to the Hebrews he speakes To remember them that are bound as bound with them and them which suffer adversity as being your selves in the body Heb. 13.2 There 's much in those words Lest thou also be tempted and those as being your selves in the body In cases of true charity Christians as they should consider other things so they should consider that they themselves are in the body they may lose their estates their health their limbs they are not in Heaven yet they are in the world and they are in the body they are not meerly spirits invulnerable impenetrable Men should think my house may be fired and all I have lost in an hour or two I may lose my eyes my limbs as this poor creature hath I am in the body So in those words there 's a great Emphasis Lest thou also be tempted Tempted sometimes signifies as much as afflicted though indeed in that Text it seems to signifie sollicited to sin and overcome God saith the Apostle for thy rigid dealing with thy brother over-born with a temptation to sin may suffer the Devil to give thee a foil would'st thou in such a case be roughly dealt with thy self With what measure men mete to others God measureth to them again Let me say to you take heed of omitting your duty in a charitable act lest thou also comest to be so afflicted as to need others charity and when thou art so God should repay thee in thy own kind so straiten mens hearts towards thee that from persons from whom thou mightest have expected pounds thou hast not so many pence think with thy self how such a thing would please you Let me here give you two rules which I think your Reasons will all concur with 1. It is a foolish thing for any person in circumstances of mortality so to govern himself in his conversation as if he were not subject to the common accidents of that state The Apostle saith of Elijah That he was a man subject to like passions with other men The Apostle speaks of humane weaknesses sinful infirmities and God considereth that and gives us allowances for it and therefore though Job had many ill fits of impatience when the hand of God was heavy upon him yet God saith Behold the patience of Job We are all of us also subject to the same sufferings and the Apostle from this Topick comforteth his Corinthians in those first and furious times of the Gospel 1 Cor. 10.13 There hath no temptation taken you but what is common to men Now I say there is nothing more foolish than for any of us in our conversation to govern our selves as if we were not so but out of the gun shot of the chastising Providence of God Our bodies are subject to death to sicknesses to old age and impotencies our estates are exposed to the fire to the thief to the merciless soldier to the oppressor Now for a man in his conversation to govern himself so as if he were never to dye as if he were never to be sick as if it were not possible that a fire should devour his pleasant things that he or his should not be brought to straits is no better than folly and madness 2. It is as foolish a thing for a man to promise himself that in case of such accidents others should be kinder to him than he hath been to others in the same circumstances We cannot so much as fancy such a thing without supposing them better-natured or more gracious either of which is at best a reproach to our selves And this is but reasonable for us to think although we consider not the influence of God in the case who hath told us That he who stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor he also shall cry and not be heard and hath the hearts of all men in his hand and can easily shut them up in judgment against the cries of those who have sinfully stopped their ears against the cries of those who have cried to them in their distress Hence it follows that it is but reasonable for us in these cases thus to conclude I have now a fair estate but it is subject to decay a fire may consume it in a moment soldiers may devour it either in my or my childrens days I have now an healthy body sound and perfect limbs I may grow sickly lose my limbs my senses and be brought into the condition of a receiver who am now a giver Why should I think that any should consider me or mine in such circumstances more than I consider others Let me therefore do unto others as I would have others do unto me I have no reason to look that it should be meted to me again better measure then I measure unto others But I have dwelt too long upon this first shewing you how the Providence of God doth often retaliate hard heartedness by suffering the hearts of others to harden against men in straits who have stop't their ears against the cries of others to them in distress 2. But there are other kinds of uncharitableness which God doth ordinarily repay in their kind Those are acts bearing the highest opposition to charity tending to the utter ruin and destruction of their brethren such as murthers cruelties and barbarous and inhumane usage of others We shall find in the old Law that God in divers cases established a law of Retaliation If any mischief followed such a striking a woman with child as caused a miscarriage God ordained they should give eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burning for burning wound for wound stripe for stripe Exod. 21.23 24 25. and in the case of a false witness there was such a law Deut. 19.16 17 18 19 20 21. which you may read at your leisure It was Gods will that a witness who had testified falsly against any man if he were once found a false witness should suffer the very same thing that the other should have suffered So that throughout all the Jewish period the
to Pharaoh and to demand the dismission of the Israelites God suffereth not Pharaoh nor any of his Courtiers notwithstanding their threats to do them any hurt Caleb and Joshuah adventure to bring up a good report of the land of Canaan God protecteth them from the mutiny of the people and they are the only two are suffered to go over into the promised land Numb 14.6 7 10 24. Elijah the three children and Daniel were great adventurers in the case of God so was Esther in her going in to the King to speak for the Jews so were the Apostles in the first Plantation of the Gospel The Providence of God strangely watched over them and delivered them as you read in the story of their Acts. A man cannot be too bold if he keeps within the latitude of his duty Indeed we read of some whom God strangely watched over in the doing of some actions that we cannot evince to have been their duty as that of Phinehas Numb 25.7 8. in killing the Moabitish-woman and the Israelite in the act of adultery That of Elijah's killing Baals Priests 1 King 18 yet God protected them and rewarded them there are many things said in the defence of Phinehas and Elijah to reduce their actions to the ordinary rule of Justice It is certain that by the Laws of God the adulterers ought to have dyed so also the false Prophets but for the persons that executed the vengeance of God upon them all that we can say is this Their call was doubtless clear to themselves their actions were most certainly approved by God he protects them upon the doing of them he rewards them for doing of them but non fueâ—unt ordinaria sed facta quaedam extra usum ordinem communem they were not ordinary actions but depended upon a special call of God By vertue of such a call too it doubtless was that Moses slew the Egyptian for which St. Stephen justifieth him Acts 7. But a man cannot be too bold for God if he keeps within the latitude of his certain duty 2. Provided secondly He keepeth to reasonable rules of prudence our rule obligeth us to be wise as serpents But I will not enlarge upon this Theme for the truth is the Providence of God strangely watcheth over bold adventurers in his cause and service who have acted under such circumstances as are hardly reconcileable to what our reason calls Prudence yet certainly that will not warrant a rash and imprudent managery of a good cause I need not give you more instances than I have done to justifie this Observation in sacred History Moses and Aaron Caleb and Joshuah Elijah and Elisha Esther Daniel the three Children all the Apostles afford a plentiful proof of this Observation and in other stories the instances are without number Luthers whole life was an instance of this the Archers shot sorely at him he ventured as high as any in opposition to them yet his bow abode in his strength Luther dyed in his bed in peace Nor doth this seem an unreasonable motion of Divine Providence if we either consider how far the honour of God is concerned in the upholding and maintaining his Embassadors and rewarding his servants or the faithfulness of God in justifying his promises or the further use that God will make of men in the accomplishment of his designs in the world 1. Let us but consider the relation wherein the Ministers of Christ stand to him they are his Missionaries be hath sent them as the father hath sent him so he hath sent them nay they are no ordinary servants they are the Lords Embassadors they come in Christs name and as in Christs stead they intreat men to be reconciled unto God It is beneath the honour of a Prince to suffer an Embassador to starve or any way to perish for want of that protection which he is able to afford him indeed if any run before they are sent or instead of Gods work to their own Gods honour is not concerned in them unless to chastise their presumption and to take vengeance upon them as in such a case no Prince would think himself further concerned but supposing Ministers of the Gospel to be sent by him and to be ready faithfully to deliver their masters messages and this we must suppose and believe or disown the Scriptures which expresly assert this God is highly concerned in point of honour having power in his hand and the command of all the hearts of men to provide for his faithful Ministers and they shall not want 2. God secondly is not only concerned in honour as a great King and God above all but as a God of truth and faithfulness that can sooner suffer Heaven and Earth to pass away then a word to fail of what he hath spoken he hath made many promises to his faithful servants in the Ministry and to those that he hath employed in hazardous employments for him he of old promised to satiate the souls of his priests with fatness Jer. 31.14 He of old appointed no inheritance to the sons of Levi amongst their brethren because he was their inheritance as he had promised them Deut. 10.9 he hath told them he will cloath them with salvation Psal 132.16 he told Jeremiah and Ezekiel he would be with them to deliver them Jer. 1.7 8 18 19. Ezek. 2.6 He hath told Gospel Ministers he will be with them to the end of the world Matth. 28. he hath bidden them take no thought what they should eat drink or put on when he sent out the twelve Matth. 10.9 10. he bid them to provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in their purses nor scrip for their journey nor two coats nor shooes for the workman is worthy of his meat Now after all this if God should suffer his Ministers to want bread to sustain their lives or their families what would men say of the faithfulness of God 3. Lastly Let us but consider God as having many designs yet to accomplish a great deal of work yet to be done in the world to be done by the hands of men who can imagine God should not eminently protect and provide for those that are and have been faithful who would work for that Master that will not find them bread What subject would be free to go as an Embassadour for that Prince that would never protect him in the faithful discharge of his trust or reward him proportionably to his affronts or losses Now God knows that we are flesh and much led by our sense and reason and must not be encouraged to our duty only by rewards which are the objects of our faith but by sensible rewards at least to such a proportion as is necessary to uphold us to our work It is therefore not to be wondred at that God should in a way of special Providence eminently take care of the Ministers of his Gospel he hath call'd them and sent them to his work he hath by that call
taken them off from that pursuit of the world by which others procure themselves a livelihood he hath told them they should live upon his Altar he hath told us 1 Cor. 9.7 That no man goeth to a warfare at his own charge none planteth a vineyard and eateth not the fruit thereof nor feedeth a flock and eateth not the milk thereof he seeth them out of obedience and conscience to him refusing the bread they might have men will not provide for them he will Ravens shall bring them meat every day but they shall be fed This is but a reasonable motion of Divine Providence I shall make a short Application of this discourse Vse 1. This in the first place lets you see the fountain of that bounty which the many painful and faithful servants of Christ have experienced in all times and even in the days wherein we live It hath pleased God in all times to raise up friends to his faithful Ministers I remember when Abigail came to meet David coming against her husband and had stopt his journey David saith unto her 1 Sam. 25.32 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee to meet me this day and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou c. First he blesseth God then he blesseth her the faithful servants of God yea the Churches of God who by this means enjoy any thing of the labours of their shepherds have reason to bless those whom God hath made his instruments to support those upon whom others had no pity Yea verily and what our Saviour said of the woman that spent her box of Oyntment upon him I think I may apply here Wherever the Gospel is preached what they have done shall be told for a memorial of them If a cup of cold-water for a thirsty Prophet shall obtain a Prophets reward the greater kindnesses of many shall certainly be rewarded they have but put a little money into the bank which God keeps in Heaven But we have more reason to look upward to him who hath the hearts of all men in his hand and openeth them as he pleaseth God hath in it shewed his special Providence for his faithful Ministers let us therefore say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath stirred them up It was the grace of God bestowed upon the Churches in Macedonia 2 Cor. 8.1 2 3. which taught them in a great tryal of affliction and deep poverty to abound in riches of liberality and willingly of themselves to give to their power yea and above their power Let it be written to posterity for a memorial of the people in England that for so many years together in the midst of a devouring pestilence many consuming fires expensive wars and a deadness of trade they have refreshed the bowels of so many hundreds if not thousands of Gods messengers but let God have all the glory who hath given the heart though their hands distributed the money Vse 2. In the second place Let me cry out O house of Aaron trust in the Lord O house of Levi trust in the Lord Trust in the Lord and do good saith David so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed Psal 37.3 Let us be faithful to our masters service and do the work which he hath given us to do and verily we shall be fed I cannot say God will provide Coaches and delicate things for us but necessaries we shall not want Herein let us exercise our selves to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men and as to other things we may trust a Providebit Deus God will provide for us and ours The experience of these times if wistly attended to certainly is enough to keep any from being tempted through fear of want to debauch their consciences by doing any thing which is apparently sinful or but so judged and suspected by them We see some fed with great provisions faring deliciously every day whiles others like Daniel and his partners have been fed with little more than pulse and water and at the end of some years it appeareth they look fairer as to worldly circumstances than those who have had far better commons Vse 3. Lastly This observation commendeth confidence and courage to all in the Lords work in opposition to fear and cowardise I would not be mistaken be sure in the first place you be in Gods work that which by his word appeareth to be the duty of one in thy circumstances nothing but the conscience of having been surprised in the way of our duty will bear us up under sufferings be therefore in that point well satisfied having done that observe those rules of Prudence which reason directs thee in such cases this done fear nothing Remember the Providence of God most eminently watcheth over the boldest adventurers in the way of their duty They are the words of our blessed Lord Mar. 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel shall save it They observe in war that the soldier that turns his back and flyes is in much more danger than he who stands to it and that nothing makes a conqueror so much as resolution and bold adventuring it is so in our spiritual fight with the world be then of good courage in it and quit your selves like men remember God is with you and if so there 's more with you than can be against you God indeed in our combats with the world doth not always keep us shot-free and bring us off without a scratch but those whom he doth bring off are ordinarily those who are most valiant and adventurous however it is better to fall valiantly than cowardly and our Lord hath told us That if a man will save his life he shall lose it if he hath such a mind to sleep in a whole skin that he will neglect his duty and do that which his heart condemneth him for doing he shall lose what he hoped to save by it be it life reputation estate c. It speaketh great unbelief and distrust in God to be cowards in plain and certain duties Be prudent but take heed of forbearing necessary duty out of prudence or being faint in the performance of it That can be no prudence If a man fainteth in the day of adversity Solomon saith that his strength is but small his faith is but small and his observation of Gods Providence in such cases hath been very small too But I shall add no more upon this Argument SERMON XXV Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Have done with the Tenth thing in the motions of Divine Providence which I commended to your observation I proceed now to another Observ 11. The Providence of God maketh a very frequent and remarkable use of the sins of people though it be always spotless in making such use of
to heaven ordinarily with broken bones and a bleeding heart So that you see that Gods getting himself glory from his peoples sin gives no man a ground of presumption to go on in a course of sin against God Vse 4. In the last place Let this observation mind us in this case to be workers together with God Have we sinned and come short of the glory of God Let us do our indeavour to make our sins to turn to the furtherance of the glory of God Let us indeavour to make the best of our own bad markets What is done we cannot re-call let us indeavour if possible to make an advantage of our former miscarriages You will say How should that be Answ 1. Let the sense of your sins hasten your pace to the Lord Jesus Christ God hath a great deal of glory from our believing in him whom he hath sent The soul that accepteth of the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour giveth unto God the glory of his Power Wisdom Justice Goodness Truth it gives him the glory of the exceeding riches of his free-grace 2. Make use of your sins to increase your Confession your Repentance and Humiliation Confession giveth glory to God my Son saith Joshua Confess and give glory to God Let your former sins give you the further advantage for sorrowing after a godly sort that will bring forth carefulness indignation fear vehement desires zeal revenge as it did in the Church of Corinth 2 Cor. 7.11 3. Let the remembrance of them cause you to walk softly all the days of your life This is that which God requireth of all to walk humbly with their God The remembrance of your sins may be of notable use to you for this to keep down that pride which is naturally in all our hearts that swelling in an opinion of our selves of our own duties and performances that uncharitable judging and censuring and triumphing over others when we see them fallen in the day of temptations 4. Lastly Let the consideration of how many sins God hath forgiven you make you love much Thus the woman Luk. 7.37 47 made an improvement even of her former sins her much that was forgiven ingaged her to love that God much who had forgiven her so much This improvement St. Paul made 1 Cor. 15.9 10. I am saith he the least of all the Apostles and not meet to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God But by the grace of God I am that I am and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all O this will be an excellent improvement even of your sins if your former unholiness shall now help to make you more holy your former unrighteousness shall help to make you more righteous for the time to come your reflexions upon how much you have done against God and his Saints shall now engage you to do more for God and the cause and people of God A good husband and house-wife will lose nothing but make some advantage of every rag every bit of wood c. I would have you be like them you have been formerly great sinners and done much to the dishonour of God your consciences can shew you a great dunghil of sin which you made in your state of vanity God hath changed your state changed your hearts let not that dunghil be lost look upon it often to help to raise up your hearts in the praises and admiration of Gods free-grace and the engaging your hearts more for God in your contrary duties for the time to come But so â—uch shall serve for this Observation also SERMON XXVI Psalm CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am still going on instructing you to that spiritual Wisdom which the Text telleth you may be gained by and is declared in the Observation of the motions of Actual Providence I am now proceeding to a Twelfth Observation of this nature which I shall give you thus Observ 12. The Providence of God in the distribution of the good things of this life doth in a great measure move circularly though mostly to the seeming advantage of ungodly men In my enlargments upon this notion I shall keep much to the same method which I observed in the former 1. Opening it unto you 2. Justifying the observation by instances 3. Shewing you the reasonableness of this motion of Divine Providence And lastly Making some suitable Application 1. My observation as you see concerneth the motions of Actual Providence as to its distribution of the portions of this life The Pagan Philosophers distributed all the good things they had any knowledg of into three sorts The good things of the body amongst which they reckoned long-life health strength beauty c. The good things of the mind the rich endowments of it such as knowledg invention judgment wit memory and moral vertue c. and the good things of fortune such as birth ingenuous education honours riches All these have a goodness in them which lyeth in their suitableness to the use of humane life or society The blind Heathen not seeing the fountain-head of these beautiful streams ascribed them to fortune But they are all in the hand of Providence that giveth to one a longer to another a shorter life to one greater to another lesser measures of health and strength c. to one more judgment wit c. than to another But I chiefly understand my Observation of the good things which the Heathen called Bona fortunae the good things of fortune such as honours riches c. These also are the Lords he it is saith Moses That gives us power to get wealth And the Holy Ghost by another pen-man telleth us That promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west but God pulleth down one and setteth up another Promotion doth mostly depend upon the favour of the great men of the Earth and you shall observe the Scripture everywhere maketh God the Author of the favour and grace which persons have found in the eyes of the Princes of the world 2. Now I observe in the first place That the wheel of Providence in making this distribution doth for the most part move circularly My meaning is that good and evil of this nature hath as all humane things its turns and vicissitudes sometimes to good men sometimes to bad men The Heathen had some prospect of this though what we call Providence they ascribed to fortune to whom they gave a wheel to signifie the rotation of all these sublunary contentments in which you know the same spokes are not always up nor down but sometimes these spokes are uppermost by and by they are at the ground and those that but now were below are up in their place And this is most perspicuous in bodies of people which are made up of those two sorts of men that divide the world godly
nothing till he had advised with the Prophet Nathan Nathan bids him to go and to do all that was in his heart for saith he the Lord is with thee The good man was but a man and was mistaken God did not allow of the action 1. Because he had not directed as yet any such thing ver 7. In all the places wherein I have walked saith he with the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel or Judges of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people Israel saying Why build you not me an house of Cedar he repeateth the same reason again 1 Chron. 17.6 Indeed there is another reason given 1 Chron. 22.8 Thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast made great wars thou shalt not build an house to my name because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight So 1 Chron. 28.3 For those two reasons God disapproved the action and reserved it for Solomon his son then it became an institution Solomon might lawfully undertake it and did do it But yet you shall find that God eminently rewarded this good intention and purpose of Davids heart as you shall read at large 2 Sam. 7.10 11 12 13 14 15 16. and to that degree that David ver 18. thought himself obliged to offer up unto God a particular sacrifice of thanksgiving and to offer up those praises to God which you shall read at large in that Chapter from the 18th verse to the end of the Chapter It is plain that God only rewarded his general purpose and good intention for the act or issue of that intention and purpose the Lord accepted not but accepted his good will for the deed which he rejected For an instance on the other side take Jehu Jehu did a good act that is the thing which God commanded him he indeed did it possibly in an ill manner with ill circumstances which caused God to threaten that he would avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu 2 King 9.7 When the Prophet anointed him that was his Commission Thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master that I may avenge the blood of my servants the Prophets and the blood of all the righteous servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel when it was done God rewarded him for it 2 King 10.30 Because saith God thou hast done well in my eyes in executing that which is right in mine eyes and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart thy children to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel But yet Jehu's design and intention in all this was naught he intended no more than to make himself King he pretended indeed a zeal for the Lord but intended nothing but the advancement of himself and his family for the Scripture saith ver 31. of that 10th Chapter That Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin God here rewarded the action done at his command and in the execution of his will but abhorred the intentions and designs that were in Jehu's heart upon the undertaking and performance of it Take another instance it is that which I have formerly insisted upon in the 10th of Isaiah v. 5 6 7 8 9. It is plain that God approved of the Assyrian's actions against Israel he calls them the rod of his anger ver 5. he saith ver 6. That he would send him against an hypocritical nation and against the people of his wrath he would give him a charge to take the spoil and take the prey and to tread them down like mire in the streets Howbeit saith God he meaneth not so neither doth his heart think so but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few The Assyrian had nothing but sinful intentions he aimed at nothing but spoil and plunder and accordingly executed Gods Will upon which ver 12. God threatneth That when he had performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon Hierusalem he would punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of all his looks and ver 16. That he would send amongst his strong ones leanness and under his glory kindle a burning the burning of a fire More instances might be given of either sort but these are enough Let me proceed in shewing you the reasonableness of Divine Providence in these motions 1. On the part of wicked men it is but reasonable Because in such actions they do God service and it is not reasonable they should serve God for nothing You have a remarkable text for this Ezek. 29.18 19. Son of man saith God to Ezekiel Nebuchadnezzar King of Babilon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus every head was made bald and every shoulder was peeled yet had he no wages nor his army for Tyrus for the service that he served against it Therefore thus saith the Lord God behold I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar King of Babilon and he shall take her multitude and take her spoil and take her prey and it shall be the wages for his army I have given him the land of Egypt for the labour wherewith he served against it because they wrought for me saith the Lord. The King of Babilon never intentionally wrought for God undoubtedly what the Lord said of Assyria was applicable to Nebuchadnezzar King of Babilon spoil and plunder and dominion was all which he aimed at he never intended to work for God but yet the work was what was Gods Will should be done and what God had incited him to do he wrought for me saith God he did service and a great service he hath had no wages for it none shall work for me and be unpaid I will give him the land of Egypt for his pay So Jehu he wrought for God and did a great service against the house of Ahab I will pay him saith God Jehu shall never say he wrought for nothing his sons shall sit upon the Throne to the fourth generation Nay upon this account oft-times God rewardeth wicked men for some actions and afterwards punisheth them for the manner of their doing of those actions it is possible men may do what God commandeth them and yet not obey God God may reward men for their action as it is a service to him and yet punish them for their ill-doing of the action 2. On the part of good men where God rewardeth the good design intention and purpose whiles yet he disalloweth the action the motion of Providence seemeth yet more reasonable if we but consider that it is the heart which God principally requires looketh at and accepteth And where the heart is right the mistake in the action can be but a lapse of humane frailty and weakness Now where the sincere purpose and design
troubled considering he hath done nothing as he ought to do he hath prayed but with a wofully wandring distracted and distempered heart his heart hath not bled while he hath been confessing of sins nor believed enough while he hath been putting up his supplications to the God of Heaven nor been raised enough in the Meditations of the Divine Goodness whiles his tongue hath been uttering the good things which God hath done for him To what purpose should he do any thing more who doth nothing as he ought to do it I would but ask a poor Christian thus troubled upon any performance Was it in thine heart to honour God in what thou didst thou camest to hear the word of God or thou camest to humble thy self before God by fasting or thou camest to prayer or to receive a sacrament thou reflectest upon the action done thou seest it full of imperfections thou hast not honoured God as thou desiredst thy heart hath not been perfect with God But what was in thine heart in these undertakings was it in thine heart to mock God or to serve God was not this thy design to humble thy soul before the Lord to pay an homage which thy soul owed unto God was it not in thine heart to serve God If it were believe that thou hearest God saying to thee Whereas it was in thine heart to pray to praise to humble thy self before me to do what I commanded thee to do thou didst well that it was in thine heart it may be thou didst not well in the action it was not well done in thine hand but this was well that it was in thine heart As we sometimes refuse something from our friend and say I thank you as much as if you did it but it is needless I desire you to spare your pains I care not for it or I desire not it should be done yet but yet I take it as kindly as if you did it Or as we sometimes accept of what a poor child or servant hath done for us though we do not like it as done to our minds and excuse it by saying Poor child it intended well so God doth with us methinks what he said to David was as much as if he had said I do not yet need any other house then I have I do not care for it but this thou didst not know David Thou didst well that it was in thine heart thou hadst a good general design and intention and so to us this prayer this service this homage is not every way perfect but yet it was in my childs heart to honour me and to obey my commands In this he hath done well I will accept it because it was in his heart 2 Cor. 8. If there be a willing mind saith the Apostle it is accepted not according to what a man hath not but according to what he hath The Apostle speaketh there with reference to alms but it is as true as to all other duties if there be a willing mind a true heart it is accepted of God I shall only caution you that you mistake not this willing mind for a pitiful wish and velleity without a setled steady purpose and resolution of heart and such an indeavour as is within the reach and compass of our power so that there wanteth not a desire and indeavour but only a strength and ability to perform But if there be that it is of wonderful comfort to us under all our accusations and judgings of our selves There is no child of God but it is in his heart to do better than he doth it is in his heart to glorifie God in every duty in every action in the whole of his conversation why if it be in his heart God saith to him Thou hast done well that it was in thine heart Nay this Meditation hath this advantage That God will reward the good that is in his peoples hearts not only with temporary but with eternal rewards and for this the Lord Jesus Christ is to be praised who hath satisfied Divine Justice for us and perfectly fulfilled the law for us and procured this of his Father That the will should be accepted for the deed Do not therefore think ever to live in any view of your own perfection you will never do that Study only to live in the view of your own sincerity to find that your hearts are right in the sight of God take heed of heart-falshood ah that is dreadful to find our hearts false with God Ah! but will some jealous soul say How shall I know this how shall I know if my heart be right with God in any action when I see the action is not right but cometh short of the glory of God I answer thou shalt easily know if thou doest but consider what the heart does in humane actions and that you shall understand in three particulars 1. It is the eye that takes the aim at the mark 2. It is that which giveth strength to the bow 3. It is that which gives a man pleasure in the action 1. The heart is that which as the eye in shooting gives or takes the aim at the mark The tongue speaks in prayer and the outward man moves in actions of religious worship but the heart now takes the aim and directeth the intention of the action The end of all our actions is either 1. The glory of God or 2. Our selves our own honour c. If the heart be right with God in actions the scope design and intention of the soul is to glorifie God Psal 38.9 All my desire is toward thee Psal 25.15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord. 2. The heart is that which in humane actions gives strength to the bow The strength of a spiritual action lyes in the zeal or heat of affection which attendeth the action now the heat of this is in the heart Where a mans heart is not in an action he acts coldly he moveth slowly the wheels of a soul are in the heart Where the heart is in an action it runs it makes haste and delayeth not it acteth with vigour and fervency 3. Lastly The heart is that which gives a soul delight and pleasure in an action Where the heart is not in prayer in hearing there is no pleasure no sweetness no delight affecting the soul Examine now thy self by these things thou doest that which is materially good but thou doubtest whether in thy actions thy heart be right with God Search and see what thy aim and scope was What didst thou propose to thy self in the action with what life vigour and strength didst thou set upon thy action what pleasure and delight didst thou take in the action though indeed much of the last may be kindled in an hour of temptation or desertion where the soul feeleth not those incomes of divine assistance nor that freedom of spirit which it hath at other times experienced yet always the heart aims right and puts on with what strength it
not so slow with all but either immediately by his own hand as in the case of Ananias and Saphira Acts 5. or else by the sword of the Magistrate he cuts them off presently and giveth them a sudden recompence of their evil deeds Now it may possibly be asked by some what are those sins or in what case is God so quick with sinners nor may the inquiry be unprofitable for us for because judgement is not executed speedily the heart of man is set in him to do evil Gods deferring judgment and giving day for the execution of his wrath doth much embolden sinners Let us therefore see in what cases God seldom grants reprieves but is very quick with sinners and sendeth them down to Hell reeking with their lusts this I shall indeavour to shew you in several particulars 1. It is hard to name any species of sins as to which God hath not made or doth not make some present examples of his vengeance So as no sinner can promise himself the reprieve of an hour or day 1. In the case of Idolatry which is a grievous sin against the first and second commandment you will find that God proceeded very slowly to judgment for this sin both in the Canaanites and in the Israelites with the Canaanites though they were abominable idolaters God bare many hundreds of years With the ten tribes who were idolaters from the time of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin unto the time when they were finally destroyed and carried away captives God bare with them a long time but you shall find God quicker at another time Exod. 32. The people make themselves a golden Calf Moses comes down from the Mount and findeth them at their idolatrous worship Moses commandeth the sons of Levi to put every man his sword by his side and to go in and out from gate to gate throughout the Camp and to slay every man his Brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbour and v. 28. it is said that the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men There God was very quick with idolaters Blaspheming Cursing and swearing is a sin against the third commandment God as to the punishment of these sins sometimes proceedeth very slowly but not alwaies Look into Levit. 24.10 There was the son of an Israelitish woman that blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed he was put in prison God presently giveth order concerning him v. 14. That he should be brought forth without the Camp and stoned to death presently Sabbath-breaking it is a sin against the fourth precept of the Decalogue God is ordinarily very slow in the punishing of this sin many a Sabbath-breaker goeth on year after year and yet is not punished but God doth not do thus with all The man that did but gather sticks upon the Sabbath-day was stoned to death by Gods express order and command Numb 30.35 Rebellion against Parents cursing them and dishonouring them is a very great sin yet God beareth with many wretches a long time that are guilty of it as we see in the experience of our own lives A wretched Child is a plague to his Parents many years but God doth not always bear with sinners in this case See what a Law God gave the Israelites in this case Deut. 21.18 19 20 21. God ordered That he should be presently stoned to death that would not obey the voice of his Father and Mother For Murther which is a sin against the sixth Commandment I shall not inlarge I shall shew you anon that it is a sin which God rarely suffereth to go long unpunished The Law of God determined present death for wilful murder and the laws of most nations are accordingly and we daily see the providence of God strangely working to make murtherers examples of his vengeance Adultery is a sin against the seventh Commandment God sometimes is very patient and proceedeth very slowly but yet not always sometimes he strikes a dart through his liver sooner God established a law in the Jewish polity That the Adulterer should be put to death Lev. 20.10 Deut. 22.22 and you know Phinehas presently took a Javelin and ran it through an Adulterer and an Adulteress and had an ample reward given him from God for it In the case of theft God may sometimes be very patient and doubtless there are many old Thieves in the world who yet will not escape the vengeance of God at last But God is not always patient with all these sinners Achan was an eminent Thief he laid his hands upon Gods goods God had first seized upon the goods of the Canaanites and set them a part for a sacrifice by fire to himself Achan steals a wedge of Gold and a Babilonish garment God presently revengeth it first upon all the Army of Israel of which he was a member then upon himself and his family who were stoned to death with stones For lying and bearing a false testimony witnessing against the life of another as a criminal who was not a criminal they are sins against the ninth Commandment God is often very patient with these sinners he doth not presently enter into judgement with every liar every Informer and accuser of the servants of God Some he reserveth in the chains of an hard and impenitent heart unto the judgement of the great day but yet with some of these sinners God is much quicker Ananias and Saphira as you know fell down dead with a lye in their mouths and the Accusers of the three children and Daniel were presently destroyed the first by the heat of that Furnace which they had made so hot for others the second by those Lions which they had procured Daniel to be thrown unto But this is enough to have said in justification of my first conclusion That it is hard to name any species of sinners but God hath been very quick with some individuals of their company 2. I find some Divines observing That God is ordinarily most severe upon the first violators of his laws and this is the reason that is given by some why the Sabbath-breaker was ordered to be stoned to death God had newly revealed his will upon Mount Sinai Exod. 31.14 and repeated it Exod. 35. Now God picks out one of the first open presumptuous violators of it to make him an example you know this is after the manner of men who are usually very severe upon the first execution of their laws Ananias and Saphira were not the first that had told a lye but they were the first that we read of who had told a lye in that business It was the Will of God that to supply the necessities of his Church at that time the Christians should have all things for a time common amongst them and it was not without a divine instinct at least that so many of them sold their goods and came
for nothing or to allude to the Apostles phrase We have been fishing all day and caught nothing The error lyeth in your misapprehensions thinking you have no reward unless it be made to you personally yea and sensibly too 1. Is it nothing that he who feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him And that you have as to this the continual feast of a good conscience no recoilings of your own breast no sowre reflections from thence surely this is something you have Christs peace when-as to the wicked there is no peace This is a reward unspeakable passing all understanding 2. If your sufferings be any testimony for Christ are they not rewards in themselves doth not the Lord honour that person whom he calleth out to be a witness for his name few are called to suffer for Christ Luther was troubled that God did not think him worthy of such a Crown The Apostles rejoyced that the Lord thought them worthy to suffer for the Name of Jesus Christ 3. But satisfie thy self It may be God hath laid up the reward for thy posterity and thy children and childrens children shall possibly reap what thou hast sown be assured good actions shall not be without their reward but rewards are not all of a kind no man shall ever say he hath waited upon the Lord in vain or sought his face for nothing Vse 3. This calleth upon us all to take heed of sinning against the living God especially such sins as I have before instanced in there are many arguments to be used to defame sin and to disswade from it To them all let this be added the curse which sin entails upon our posterity our sins are sometimes hid with God and sealed up in a bag and the vengeance of God for them falls not upon our selves but upon those that come after us Now the force of this argument lyes in that natural affection which every man hath for his posterity he must be a very debauched person that hath no regard to his posterity every one almost is careful to lay up something for his children take heed of laying up a treasure of Divine wrath for them If you will not regard your own bodies the peace of your own breasts nor your eternal welfare yet fear sinning against God because of the vengeance which may for your sin come upon your posterity It is a terrible Meditation to consider how many the threatnings of God against children are for the parents sins Job 5.3 4. Eliphaz saith I have seen the foolish taking root but suddenly I cursed his habitation His children are far from safety and they are crushed in the gate neither is there any to deliver them And again Job 17.5 He that speaketh flattery to his friends even the eyes of his children shall fail the triumphing of the wicked is but short and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment Job 5.20 vers 10. His children shall seek to please the poor and his hands shall restore their goods And Job 21.19 speaking of the wicked he saith God layeth up iniquity for his children And Job 27.13 14. This is the portion of a wicked man with God and the heritage of oppressors which they shall receive from the Almighty If his children be multiplied it is for the sword and his off-spring shall not be satisfied with bread David who was a Prophet and by the spirit of Prophecy did but see and foretel what should come to pass having to do with wicked and deceitful men who Psal 109.2 3 4 5. opened their mouths against him and spake against him with a lying tongue compassed him about with words of hatred and fought against him without a cause for his love were his adversaries rewarding him evil for good and hatred for his love prayeth vers 9 10. Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow let his children be continually vagabonds and beg let them seek their bread also out of desolate places Isa 14.21 In the threatning against Babel you find these words Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquities of their fathers that they do not rise nor possess the land nor fill the face of the world with cities and Psal 137.8 9. O daughter of Babylon who art to be destroyed happy shall he be that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones The Scripture is full of such prophecies and threatnings especially in the case of some eminent oppressions or cruelties used by any parents or some eminent corruptions in worship c. Now should not this lay a law upon parents who are so sollicitous for the good and prosperity of their children when they shall not be God layeth up the iniquities of parents many times for their children In short as there is no man that can provide better for his children than he that worketh righteousness and eminently serveth God in his generation I never saw the righteous forsaken saith David nor their seed begging their bread so none can provide worse for their children than by laying up a stock of sin to be revenged upon them Children are bound by law to pay their Fathers debts to man that often proves heavy but this is more dreadful they often as to temporal punishments pay their Fathers debts also to the Justice of God and this by the way sheweth us the high advantage of godly parents as the disadvantage of those who have had wicked and profane parents the former inherit blessing the latter cursing and judgment very ordinarily upon the account of their parents Vse 4. This observation calleth aloud to those that are children descended from wicked and ungodly parents it may be the case of some that are before me to be humbled for the sins of their parents and predecessors And 2. To take heed of continuing in the sins of their predecessors Josia was thus humbled and the Lord turned away his wrath that it came not upon him though it came upon his posterity when he was gone to his grave in peace Daniel in his humiliation chap 9. vers 16. forgets not this Because for our sins and the iniquity of our fathers Hierusalem hath been made a reproach The Church complaineth Lam. 5.7 Our fathers have sinned and are not and we have born their iniquity Is there any here whose heart it may be is otherwise but they have had a Father or Predecessor who hath been a cruel bloody man a persecutor of the People of God an hater and enemy of Religion and Godliness I would have such a one think that although his heart be otherwise yet it is possible his fathers iniquity may be laid up for him The only way to prevent it and to turn it off is to get a tender broken heart for thy forefathers sins to confess them and to be humbled before the Lord for them 2. But let all men take heed that they continue not in them
alive thou shalt live and that eternally if thou fittest still if thou goest on in thy sinful courses thou shalt certainly dye 4. Hast thou not as much encouragement to repent and to believe as ever any had Have not thousands and ten thousands of the Saints of God upon no other encouragement than thou hast broken off sinful courses and sought the Lord while he might be found and have they not succeeded and found rest for their souls Did God yet ever from the beginning of the world encourage any soul in its first motions by faith and repentance toward him by assuring them that their names were written in the Book of Life Or that Christ did dye for them in particular Is it not encouragement enough to thee to tell the thou hast as good a ground of hope and encouragement as the three thousand that were converted at St. Peters Sermon as any of those servants of God had of whose conversion thou readest in the Acts of the Apostles what art thou that thou shouldst look for more 5. Consider That there is no other way for thee to know that thou art elected and that Christ hath paid a price for thee but by thy turning unto God and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ The election of God is in it self sure and certain but it must be made sure and certain unto us by our repentance and faith Did ever any one hear of any soul reaking in its lusts and going on in its course of sin ascertained that God had chosen it unto life that Christ was the head and surety of a better Covenant for it or dyed for it first our calling then our election must be made sure and we must not think to pervert Gods order 6. What hast thou to do with Gods effectual Grace until thou hast improved his common Grace There is a common Grace which God denieth to no man by vertue of which men may read hear pray live a civil life and conversation leave gross and flagitious courses of sin why complainest thou of God for not giving thee his special distinguishing grace inabling thee to exert true spiritual acts while thou dost not use his common Grace and do what in thee lies to reform and amend thy ways and to turn unto God 7. Lastly Though no exercise of common grace can be meritorious of the special Grace of God yet I dare assure thee that God neither ever yet was nor ever will be wanting in his further grace unto those souls that have made a due improvement of his common grace and done what in them lay towards their own salvation Let us therefore leave our enquiring into the Counsels of God and disputing questions which are insignificant to our greatest concerns Let us leave quarrelling with his truths and our little foolish and vain indeavours to argue an inconsistency of his Counsels with his Actual Providence when we have done and said all we can it will be found that God is consistent to himself and that his ways are equal and the iniquity and crookedness is only in our own hearts and ways We cannot with our spoon comprehend it may be the Ocean the great Ocean of his Wisdom and Counsel Let us apply our selves to our own duty and do what he commandeth us for which as you have heard we have encouragement enough SERMON XXXVII Rom. V. 20. Where Sin abounded there Grace did much more abound I Am indeavouring to open to you the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hard Chapters in the book of Divine Providence solving those Phaenomena's or appearing difficulties which Atheistical Wits have raised to make the holy God appear otherwise than he is his Counsels Truths and Works other than indeed they are I have already spoken to one relating to the making and establishing a Covenant of Works with Adam after the settlement of mans salvation upon the Covenant of Grace The other relating to the dispensation of Providence in the exhibition and publication of the Covenant of Grace I come now to some relating to the Actual Providence of God in the permission of sin and sinners so much sin and so many sinners in the world And for this discourse as an head to it I have chosen this text which in it containeth two great points The abounding of sin and the aboundings of grace The Apostle brings in these words in a magnifying of Christ whom he had compared with the first Adam The first Adam brought mankind under sin and guilt The second brought him under a state of Redemption and Salvation bringing life and immortality to light First the Apostle sheweth whence sin came then whence grace came Paraeus telleth us that the Apostle in this part of the Chapter openeth to us the use of the Law lest any one upon what he had before said should ask Wherefore the law was given he telleth us That the law entred that sin might abound for though the law of it self doth not cause sin yet by accident it doth for where there is no law there is no transgression and the corruption of mans nature enclineth him the more to what is forbidden him Nitimur in vetitum sed hic de actione peccati sermo est quae fit per manifestationem saith a learned Author upon my Text The law maketh sin to abound by way of manifestation as the glass maketh the spots in a man or womans face to abound that is discovereth them that are P. Martyr reckons five ways by which the Law contributeth to the aboundings of sin 1. By forbidding it 2. By increasing the guilt of it 3. By assigning the punishment of it 4. Multiplying it by the variety of the precepts in it 5. By accusing him and condemning him for it Well But why should the law enter that sin might abound hath God then any pleasure or delight in the aboundings of sin The text telleth you that Gods design was to advance grace that where sin abounded grace might much more abound But my design is not largely and strictly to handle my text but only to make use of it in pursuit of my further design to open to you the difficult things of Actual Providence which is by all confessed to have an influence upon mens sins that is to permit them and to govern them the first of these is what I have here to do with What the Providence of God doth or doth not in the permission of sin I have before shewed you and may by and by again speak shortly unto it The Question is Quest How it can consist with the holiness of a pure and mighty God having it in his power to restrain and hinder sin yet to permit it and so much of it in the world The difficulty of our apprehensions in this matter ariseth from these things 1. That God in his own nature is a most pure and holy being Who as he hath nothing in him that defileth so neither can he abide any iniquity This seemeth to have stumbled
moneth in which God may take them The Children by adoption are picked out of the Children of wrath Reservat Deus injustos misericordiae per inducias justitiae God by the truce of his justice as Nierembergius phraseth it that is by forbearing the execution of his punitive and vindicative Justice reserveth unrighteous persons for mercy This is one end doubtless of Gods enduring so many sinners in the World that he might bring some of them even so many as he hath chosen unto life to obtain eternal Salvation But yet some will say why doth God permit such as he knows his long suffering and patience will never lead to repentance let me a little answer thy curiosity in this and shew thee that even in this the Lords ways are equal and his wisdom infinite 2. Whether they well repent and turn or no it is but reasonable that that God who hath sworn by his life that be desires not the death of a sinner but had rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live should give them a time to repent and how should this be if God should not bear with them and give them a space of life If they never were suffered to think a thought how should their own thoughts another day accuse them It is an aggravation of judgment against sinners That God gives them a space of repentance and they do not repent How should God condemn them for their filthy speeches their hard speeches their Oathes and Blasphemies if God should not suffer them to vent these things How should they repent if they had no time to repent If they will abuse the patience of God and after the hardness and impenitency of their hearts treasure up wrath against the day of wrath their blood is upon their own heads God is vindicated in his Justice 3. The permission of sinners in the world seemeth reasonable that if they will not be made better others may be made good by Gods patience toward them and forbearance of them If there were none of these Briars and Thorns in the world how could God teach his people by them Indeed this is one of Gods great ends in the permission of sinners But let me open this a little in two or three particulars 1. God by the exemplary punishment of them for their sins oft-times turns others from their sins It is true God doth not make all prodigious sinners examples of his judgment in this life but some he doth and by it makes others to fear and tremble and to avoid those Rocks upon which their Souls split If I remember right it is reported of Waldus the Father of the Waldenses that he was converted by the sudden death of one of his companions I know that examples of judgments are not Gods ordinary means of conversion nay they are rare instances of converts that are made that way especially where the word is ordinarily preached When Dives in the gospel fancied that if one were sent to his brethren from the dead they would believe and avoid those flames he was told by Abraham they had Moses and the Prophets and if upon the reading and hearing of them they would not believe if one should go from the dead they would not believe Those that harden their hearts under the word are ordinarily judicially hardned against judgments or other means that to the eye of reason seem probable means to change their hearts but are not under a Divine institution for that end as the word of God is But yet to some they are so far sanctified God sometimes goeth out of his ordinary road Besides though such examples of judgment seldom prove sole and principal causes or means yet they often prove partial causes and social means and together with the word conduce much to such a blessed end I have known one my self that hath owned the ringing of Bells giving notice of persons that he knew who probably died in their sins as a great means to awaken him to a consideration of his ways and a change of heart and life whiles his Soul reflected upon the sound and he said to himself what should become of me if this Bell now rang for me if my Soul as this poor wretched creatures Soul were now before the Judgment seat of Jesus Christ Princes the time they go to School use to have their Vmbraes some other person I forget it may be the name they use to give them that they may be corrected for them and their Prince by their correction might learn to take heed of errors The elect of God those whom he hath foreordained to eternal life they cannot die in their sins but God suffers some vile and wicked neighbours they have to perish in their reaking lusts and maketh this a means to awaken them to consider what sin will at last bring them to 2. God defameth sin by a plenty of sinners It is one of the idle pretences men in this age have for their filthy stage-plays that sin is there discredited by the representation of it and shewing the Spectators how ill it becomes men to be debaucht the truth is vertue and sobriety is discredited there for in the debauchery of them our age hath exceeded all Heathens But for those that will see the vileness and ugliness of sin they need not see it in a play in effigy they may see it more livelily in the converse of their neighbours and I doubt not but much sin is restrained in the world by the much sin that is committed in the world the reeling of the drunkard from one side of the street to another defameth drunkenness and the indecent immoralities of others both in their words and actions make sin more abominable to many considerate Souls as they say the fire is hotter in winter by the Antiperistasis of the cold so the heat of love to God and zeal for him is advantaged by the excess of hatred to God and his ways which they see in others 3. There is yet a third way by which the sinners of the world do good to the Saints and that is augendo fidem ampliando patientiam increasing their faith and patience every sinner is a grieving thorne and a pricking briar to the house of Israel and by these briars and thorns God teacheth them as it is said that Gideon taught the men of succoth It was the saying of an ancient writer Nullus bonorum habet inimicum nisi malum qui ideo esse permittitur ut vel ipse corrigatur vel per ipsum malus exerceatur that is no good man hath any enemy but a wicked man whom God doth therefore permit that either himself may be amended or the good man may by him be exercised Thou that wondrest why God permits so many sinners in the world wonder why there are so many rods and ferulars for Children why there are so many whipping-posts and racks so many bride wells c. Assyria is the rod of Gods anger Isa 10.
Application recapitulate a little 1. For the sins of others which we see permitted in the World 1. Let us be quickened upon the view of them to adore the patience and long-suffering of God Dost thou hear a wretch curse and blaspheme and profane the great and dreadful name of God and defie the God of Heaven challenging his own damnation and doest thou see God suffering him to live from year to year and to go on in this course Doest thou see another in the heighth of rage against the people of God endeavouring if it were possible to root out all Religion and dayly devouring those that are more righteous than himself Let it help thee to recognize the patience of God do thou upon occasion of others profaneness and blasphemy give God the glory of his patience Let it make thee many a time reflect and say O what a patient God is the God in whom I trust he seeth these vile wretches he could as easily crush them as I with my foot can crush a worm yet he spareth them and with much long suffering endures the vessels of wrath fitted for Hell 2. Let the view of the sins of others which thou seest God permitting for his own wise ends make thee adore the wisdom of God Thou art posed to think what glory God can procure to himself from the profaneness and blasphemy of wicked men but God will certainly do it and would never suffer their profaneness if he did not know how to do it O! the infinite wisdom of God that can make the wrath of man to praise him Let thy heart be affected with that meditation 3. Again Doest thou see the world of sin that abounds doest thou hear of prodigious lusts blasphemies cruelties c. which make thy soul tremble Let God upon this occasion have the glory of his free-mercy and grace towards thy soul Bless God that he hath given thee another spirit Say Lord why was not I as one of these I had the same seed of sin in me my heart was as full of original lust and corruption as theirs Oh! what reason have I to adore the free grace of God that I am not as this beastly drunkard as this unclean wretch as this monstrous blasphemer If it had not been for free and rich grace I had been as bad as they It is that which made me to differ 2. But let God have glory from us upon the occasion of his so long suffering us to walk in our own ways Now that may be many ways let me a little particularly direct here also 1. Let it make thee live in a dayly admiration of free-grace both in pardoning thy former guilt and in renewing and changing thy heart This this is a work not for a rapture not for an hour or a day but for eternity It will doubtless be a great piece of our work when we come to Heaven to cry salvation to our God and to the Lamb. Blessing and glory and honour and wisdom and thanksgiving be to the Lord for ever and ever It should be much of our work upon the earth if we have either obtained the sense of the pardon of our sins or a good hope through grace you shall find St. Paul beginning most of his Epistles with such a blessing of God O you redeemed of the Lord you that are come out of a state of deep guilt you can never think nor speak enough what God hath done for your souls It is a great work of God and he doth his great works that they may be had in remembrance Let God have some glory from thee for pardoning those sins by which he hath been much dishonoured by thee and as for his pardoning so for his sanctifying grace Admire God bless God upon the view of thy former hard heart profane and unclean spirit say Ah Lord that ever such an Ethiopian as I was should through grace change my skin that ever such a rebellious spirit should be made obedient such a profane wretch should ever have an heart toward Heaven that ever one that loved his lusts so well as I have done should be taught of God to love him and fear him and delight in him that a Saul should be amongst the Prophets a Paul a persecutor a blasphemer should be amongst the Apostles a Mary Magdalen should wash her Lords feet and be so humbled as to wipe them with the hairs of her head the offering up of these praises glorifieth God 2. Let thy former sins make thee more abundant in penitential tears and in confessions of thy sin unto God God delighteth to hear a soul acknowledg its iniquities and take shame to it self Let thy reflection upon thy former ways make thee with Peter to weep bitterly make thee go alone and confess thy sins unto him that hath forgiven them the more vile thou makest and ownest thy self the more thou glorifiest God as a God of free grace and infinite mercy 3. Let thy former sins ingage thee to love God more Hath much been forgiven thee O love much Say with thy self O I can never love God enough I can never do enough for him I that have done so much against him I that have been so profane so vile that have spent my youth and strength in the service of my base lusts and pleasures and am yet received to mercy at last What shall I render unto the Lord Let my burning love to God and whatsoever beareth his image and superscription make some amends for my burning lusts which had consumed my poor soul if God had not mercifully quenched them 4. Let thy former sins and thy reflections upon them make thee to walk softly and humbly with God all the days of thy life Doest thou find thy heart at any time begin to swell in an high opinion of thy self Say my soul What hath a sinner to be proud on what hast thou that hast been so filthy so polluted to glory in High thoughts become not one that hath been so dirty so polluted and unclean as thou hast been 5. Let your reflections upon your sins bring forth that brood of graces which the Apostle mentioneth 2 Cor. 7.11 Indignation carefulness fear vehement desires revenge Indignation at your selves for your former errors Anger never hath a truer object than when it is exercised upon our selves for our miscarriages Revenge a revenge upon our selves this doubtless lieth much in acts of mortification and self denial mens denying themselves in the lawful use of the liberty of those things which they had before smfully abused Fear a fear of again salling into such remptations as they had before been overcome with A Care in looking to your ways and vehement desires in all things to please God and to walk more perfectly before him 6. Finally You shall make an improvement of your sins if your reflexions upon your former sins both of omission and commission shall engage you to more frequent acts of homage to him to be
and soul must be for ever and ever when all the Vials of Divine wrath shall be poured out upon them I do not doubt but many a soul in glory is this day blessing God for its life of trials pains and afflictions and could we hear them speak they would tell us they were beholden in a great measure to the thousands of little hells they suffered here for the Heaven to which they have crouded through much tribulation and waded through many waters of Marah which they found it difficult while they were in their delicate flesh to drink of because their tast was bitter 2. By afflictions and troubles the saints are fitted for the Kingdom of God They are such good things as accompany salvation and make the heirs of salvation fit for the Kingdom of God We must be made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light before we come to it Col. 1.12 and we are made so by afflictions in a great measure Do you sometimes see some beautiful stones in a famous structure shining with variety of Colours and adorning the places where they are How came they think you by this beauty were they only beholden to the Painter for an ingenious mixture and laying on of colours This would never have made them so without hewing and smoothing and polishing but both these together complete their beauty The Stone-cutter first hews off their roughness and polisheth them then the Painter layeth his colours upon them Amongst other expressions by which the Scripture expresseth the blessed state of the saints this is one promise Rev. 3.12 I will make him that overcometh a pillar in the house of my God To make a Soul a Pillar a beautiful glorious Pillar in the House of God it is not enough that the holy spirit comes and like a Painter adorneth the soul with its varieties of gracious habits but the Providence of God especially as to some of them who are of courser rougher constitutions must also come and hew and cut and polish them with varieties of trials and afflictions and thus they become at last beautiful Pillars beautiful for faith and patience for self denial and meekness strong to bear the cross and submissive to the burthen of it Thus by many tribulations they enter into the Kingdom of God by many tribulations not only as the road to Heaven the dark entry into that place of light but as means fitting them for Heaven Files filing off that rust with which they could never enter in there Even the man according to Gods own heart confessed that before he was afflicted he went astray and that his afflictions had contributed to his learning of the Lords Statutes We sillily call afflictions evils but consider thy self saith an acute Author how often hast thou been made better by those things those afflictions which thou defamest with the name of evils Augustine lamented that a Fever had corrected that lust in him which the love of God and the meditation of that could not extinguish Certainly the same reason which forbids us to call that good which maketh us worse will likewise restrain us from calling that evil which maketh us better God doth ex dispendio naturae parare compendium gratiae in the phrase of an ingenious Writer he maketh the outward man decrease that the inward man may by it increase so that troubles and afflictions seem but Divine inventions to make the saints both more holy and more happy How should we have lien grovelling on the earth if God had not prepared us there a bed of thorns and lien always sucking at the worlds breasts if God had not rubbed them with this wormwood How often would the pitifully wanton heart of a good Christian have been priding it self at a Looking-glass if God had not spoiled her smooth face with the Small Pox or some other deforming disease How often is the love and delight of a soul canton'd out to a Wife or an Husband to a Child or a Friend and how little a share hath God of it until he cuts off these suckers from the roots of our souls How little time can a man or woman oft times find for Meditation or Prayer for examining his heart and reflecting upon his ways till God shutteth him up in a Prison in a sick Chamber c. that he hath nothing else to do then he cries with the Church Let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. How little how seldom should we with any seriousness or in any solemn manner remember God if God sometimes did not forget us When should we be willing to entertain thoughts of a better life of a more enduring substance if we always had full measures of the contentments of this life The uncertainty we have of earthly riches makes us look for the more enduring substance A banishment from our Country or daily persecution and vexation in it makes us think of and prepare for a better Country By dying daily we become willing to dye and to be with Christ If we did not see the gourds that refresh us and keep the heats of the world from our heads come up in a night and go down by an East wind the next night we should cry it is good for us to be here let us build us Tabernacles We should be married to the world and unwilling ever to think of a divorce or a being married to Christ if God did not sometimes let us experience that we had a lye in our right hand were fond of a picture and embraced a shadow The Gaols and prisons of the earth make the earth more bitter and the liberty of the sons of God more sweet The pains of the earth and the labours of the world make the rest of Heaven and the joys thereof more desirable Besides that faith and patience are no Summer-graces if we should never have any Winters when should they have any exercise Tribulation worketh patience and the hour of trial is the time for its perfect work But this were almost an infinite Theme to discourse in its latitude the variety of good which floweth to the souls of Gods people from afflictions and troubles they are by them tried purged made white they are by them made more holy and humble all which good justly entituleth God to a being the Author of them they do not only flow from his justice as the just punishments of sin but they are the noble effluxes of his goodness and are so far from derogating from the glory of that that they exceedingly tend to the commendation of it and we are mistaken in the notion of them when we call them evils and make up the judgement meerly from sense which indeed so nick-nameth them I know indeed there is another Phaenomenon of difficulty here and that is how it can stand with the justice of God to punish his people for those sins for which he hath accepted a satisfaction from the Lord Jesus Christ and given an
and afflictions to cry out O God help me c. I remember the saying of our Divine English Poet. My heart did heave and there came forth My God By which I knew that thou wert in the rod. The word of God directeth it Is any man afflicted let him pray saith the Apostle Call upon me saith God in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt praise me This was the practice of the Saints in all times It was Asa's fault in his Affliction that he sought unto Physitians more than unto God it is the condition upon which help and deliverance is promised be the species of the trial and affliction what it will Vse 3. In the last place let us learn from hence instead of quarrelling at Divine Providence and Justice in afflicting so to behave our selves under our troubles as we may see cause to bless God for them and to admire Divine goodness in them Nazianzene telleth us a story of one Philagrius who in his affliction brake out into this expression Gratias ago tibi Pater tuorumque hominum conditor qui nos invitos reluctantes beneficiis afficis per externum hominem purgas internum that is I thank thee O Father and maker of man thy servant for that thou dost us good against our wills and while we reluct to it and by the outward purgest the inward man And I have read a remarkable passage of Plinius Secundus an Heathen too in an Epistle of his to Maximus The sickness of a friend saith he hath lately informed me that we are best when we are weak for who is there who while he is sick is covetous or proud or wanton who then serveth his amours who is ambitious Then saith he a man remembreth that there is a God and that he is but a man then he admireth none envieth none despiseth none then he neither heareth nor carrieth false tales O saith he that we could be as well when we are well as when we are sick This is that I could wish too But the worst is we are very religious and innocent when we are in affliction but when we are got out of the net we are as foolish and wanton as before God by trouble and affliction for the time doth us good Subtilissima ejus beneficia saith an ingenious Author Sponte dantur sed non sponte recipiuntur But for the most part that goodness proveth like a morning-dew But in order to the improving trouble and affliction let me only commend to you four things with which I shall shut up my discourse on this argument 1. The first is Meditation Affliction is a seasonable time for much Meditation It is a fit time for thee to meditate wherefore it is that God contendeth with thee Job 10.2 I will say unto God do not condemn me shew me wherefore thou contendest with me The time of affliction is a fit time when man sits alone and keepeth silence and the noises and hurries of the World do not disturb him to be thinking what he hath done communing with his own heart upon his bed and certainly this will have a good influence upon thee if thy sickness will make thee avoid eating a dish of meat for the time to come which appeareth to thee the proximate cause of thy disease surely it will lay some Law upon thee as to the favouring of such lusts which appear to have been the more remote cause provoking God in that dispensation against thee It is also a fit time for thee to meditate of the vanity of all the contentments of the world Non domus fundus non aeris acervus auri Aegroto domini deduxit corpore febrim Experience then teacheth a man That Riches profit not in the day of wrath all a mans house and Land and Gold and Silver will not relieve him in a Fever what a pitiful thing is beauty or strength which one fit of sickness depriveth us of what a lamentable excrement is well set hair which a cough turns into baldness what vain things are fine clothes which in sickness are exchanged for rags It is a seasonable time also for thee to meditate of Divine goodness what a mercy it is that the Rattle snake hath a rattle The Tyger another beast to give warning of 't is being near that thou hast diseases to put thee in remembrance of thy latter end It is a fit time also for thee to meditate of the power of Divine wrath 2. Vow unto God in the day of thy trouble Jacob did so Gen. 28.20 So did David Psal 132.2 Lord saith the Psamist remember David and all his afflictions how he sware unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Jonah did so Jonah 2.9 3. But then remember to pay thy vows Vow and pay unto the Lord your God Psal 76.11 Better you should not vow than that you should forget to pay what you have vowed This were to snare thy self in the words of thy own lips 4. To this end lastly Pray that you may keep your sick bed impressions upon your hearts In your troubles you had thoughts of your eternal state upon your hearts then you were thinking what you should do if you should be called to Gods judgment-seat Then you were saying If I live I will be another man I will keep Sabbaths better be more in Prayer more in reading and hearing the word more watchful over my heart more careful of my ways more conscientious in my dealings more strict in my Family If ever I recover I will by the grace of God never be so worldly so carnal as I have been well thou art recovered now pray that thou mayest fulfil thy vows and that these impressions may not be off thy heart for ever SERMON XXXIX Job 5.6 7. Although Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground IS there any evil in the City and I have not done it saith God by his prophet Amos. The interrogation is an undoubted Negation Vain man would be wise though saith Job ch 11.12 he be born like a wild Asses colt Hence it employeth it self in traducing the equal ways of God as if they were unequal Hence he saith how can that God who is infinite in goodness be the Author of evil Is it good for him to oppress to despise the work of his hands Job 10.2 In my last discourse I shewed you that it was consistent enough with the goodness of God to be the Author of the evil of punishment We look upon a staff in the water and it appeareth to us crooked when the fault is not in our staff but only in the weakness and imperfection of our sight and the unquietness of the water pull the staff out of the water and look upon it by a due medium and that is straight We look upon things with blood shotten Eyes and they appear of strange colours but when our Eyes are rectified
that it is such a creature as by his rebellions hath reproached the Sovereignty of his maker but this is but one good which God obtaineth by those punishments 2. Again God by the punishment of sinners though he obtaineth not their amendment and reformation obtaineth yet another more Vniversal good and that two ways 1. In the reformation and preventing at least the wickedness of others 2. In the upholding of the government and discipline of the world This is one end of punishment by mens Laws therefore are some malefactors hang'd up in chains by the way-side that all who pass by may take notice and be afraid of committing such wickedness God by punishing and troubling sinners strikes a terror into the hearts of others that if he pleaseth not to sanctifie their affliction to their salvation yet by it much sin is hindred in the world from whence his name had been dishonoured Yea and Lastly Government and discipline is in some measure kept in the world and Gods authority is upheld These ends now God obtaineth in the punishment of the vilest and worst of men though it may be they instead of being reformed and amended do but blaspheme because of their plagues yet others seeing them are afraid and take heed of such courses O! what a place of murthers and frauds and beastly lusts and all sorts of disorders would the sordid passions of men make the world were it not for the troubles and afflictions with which God followeth some sinners for though some are to be corrected and restrained by nothing yet doubtless multitudes of people are at least restrained by the exemplary vengeance which they see God taking upon some sinners either immediately by his own hand or by the hands of magistrates who do not bear the Sword in vain but are a terror unto evil doers Now let us but consider the great God as willing his own glory and that in every attribute that of justice as well as that of mercy or consider God as the great and mighty soveraign of the world whose interest it is to keep up his authority amongst men and an aw and reverence of those rules which he hath pleased to prescribe for the regulation of mens lives Or as he is a most pure and holy God offended and injured by the sins of men whose concern it is to restrain the exorbitancies of creatures or finally as an only wise and prudent governor to whom it belongeth so to carry himself observing rules of justice still towards individuals as may best conduce to the peace good and tranquillity of the whole I say which way soever an intelligent person doth consider God it appears but an exceeding reasonable motion of Providence that he should plague and chastise some sinners though he knows they will get no good but instead of being amended will be made worse like Ahaz Vse 1. Let us observe from hence in the first place how just and reasonable the ways of Divine Providence are O house of Israel saith God are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal The reason of our quarrellings at the motions of Divine Providence is our weighing them with false weights and a deceitful ballance or our superficial and perfunctory consideration of them The truth is we do ordinarily accuse God as inequal in those things wherein he acteth after the manner of men whose equity yet we never question we will allow the Potter to have power over the clay and to make this piece of clay a vessel of dishonour and that a vessel of honour yet we will not allow the Lord of the whole earth the Potter to the whole world of men who are but so many pieces of clay in his hand to do the like we will allow a soveraign Prince a power to kill and to save alive whom he pleaseth but we will not allow that Princes maker to have the same jus absolutum the same soveraign power though it be granted that he never executeth it but upon the demerits of his creature we can allow an earthly Prince a power to punish Wives for the errors of their Husbands and to disinherit Children for the treasons of their Parents but we think it much to allow a power to God justly to punish relations for the sins of their correlates We can understand the justice and reasonableness of men in punishing some malefactors with such punishments as leave no room for repentance and amendment but must call Gods justice holiness and goodness in question if he doth but the same thing we do every day But O you sons of men are not the Lords ways equal Let us learn under tremendous dispensations of vindicative justice to lay our hands upon our mouths to acknowledg and confess the Lords righteousness and instead of disputing the issues of Divine Justice to adore them and fulfil the Lords ends in them Vse 2. This in the second place may shew us one cause of rejoycing in the executions of Divine Justice upon mischievous and incorrigible sinners The truth is it speaketh both an ill temper and worse Christianity to rejoyce meerly in the evils that befall the worst of men Charity wisheth well unto all and obligeth men to mourn with those that mourn But upon other accounts the cutting off of sinners is matter of joy Psal 58.10 The righteous shall rejoyce when he seeth the vengeance and he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked Gods coming with vengeance is made the matter of a promise Psal 35.4 It hath been made the matter of Gods peoples prayer Jer. 11.20 But O Lord of hosts that judgest righteously that triest the reins and the heart let me see thy vengeance on them for unto thee have I revealed my cause so Jer. 20.12 And certainly it is also matter of praise and thanksgiving and that upon more accounts than one 1. As God by it gaineth the glory of his justice and gets himself honour Gods glorifying of himself and making his name great is what the people of God ought continually to rejoyce in We see sometimes persons and parties in the world opening their mouths against Heaven and bidding a bold defiance to the God that reigneth there and daring Divine Justice a long time we cannot but stand and tremble at it The patient God at last taketh these wretches so doing and cuts them off in the midst of their bold defiances They have it may be some years as complements of their discourse challenged God to damn them and the Devil to take them God at length falleth upon them teareth them in pieces makes them to know there is a God in Heaven that judgeth the earth Now when the righteous man seeth this vengeance he hath reason to rejoyce that God hath made known himself vindicated his glory c. It is matter of trouble to them to see any go down into the pit but it is matter of rejoycing that by this they are made to know that there is a God 2.
more than its own iniquity Arminius I remember telleth us that he can see no reason but that Children may be equally punished eternally for the sins of their Parents as well as the whole posterity of Adam for his sin but certainly there is a vast difference the first Adam was a publick person with whom God made a Covenant for life or death for himself and for his posterity and he had a power as well to have conveyed life as death to all his posterity but surely none will assert this as to any Parent since his time 5. Consider how much comfort there is laid for parents mourning in that speech of our Saviour for of such is the kingdom of God Men that have large Gardens and Orchards have places for slips and Inlays as well as for old Stocks Nurseries for Plants as well as places for full-grown fruit-trees God hath his garden of Grace that is his Church and he hath his garden of Glory to both belong Nurseries The Children of believers are though imperfect members yet members of his Church and they may be heirs of Glory though they go out of this world under age as to any earthly inheritance Yet they may be of full age for the inheritance that is immortal incorruptible and which fadeth not away they will be of age in that Country where is no infant of days nor old man of years The possibility of little Childrens entering into the Kingdom of God yea the probability that the seed of such as fear God dying in infancy are so entred ought to be a wonderful relief to Godly parents mourning upon this account Some Mothers only people the earth with sinners God puts an honour upon thee if thou stockest Heaven with Saints and bringest forth to the kingdom of Glory 6. Consider Thou canst never lose a Child with more hope than in its infancy Some have thought that the death of Christ hath as to all expiated the guilt of Adams sin both the Socinians and Arminians seem so to judge Others think that by vertue of the New Covenant the water of Baptism washeth away original sin Augustine was called Durus pater infantum an hard Father to Infants because he thought all unbaptized Infants were damned by which it seems he deferred much to Baptism but I do not remember that I ever read in him or heard from him that he held that all baptized Infants should be saved if dying in infancy I durst not fix the comfort of mourning Parents upon these foundations But yet this is certain the Infant within the pale of the Church the Child of the believing the true believing Parent especially is in Covenant with God It hath not yet been defiled with wilfull presumptuous sinning we cannot say so of our Children when they are grown up to years A godly Parent can never lose a Child with more hopes of its eternal Salvation than in its infancy 7. Again Possibly what God hath done he hath done in mercy to thee to thy soul that thy affections may be more entirely upon him God knew thy heart better than thy self it may be by such a stroke he hath secured thy heart more unto himself it may be in mercy as to the comforts of thy life Zedekiah could better have followed his Children in their infancy to their grave than have seen them slain by a barbarous enemy before his face Thou knowest not what evil is coming upon the world 8. Lastly consider That for those that keep the Lords Sabbaths and chuse the things that please him and take hold of the Lords Covenant God hath Isa 56.45 promised a better name than that of sons and daughters even an everlasting name which shall never be cut off But I shall digress no further on this Argument 4. Lastly Having stilled thy impatience what hast thou to do but to fulfil the Lords will and ends under such a dispensation Let those do it that are patients under such providences Let us all do it who are spectators of them Are any of us patients under such Providences let us fulfil the Lords ends in them You will say what are they I Answer 1. Submission to his good will is doubtless one thing God by all afflictions of his people designeth to humble and to prove his people that he may do them good in the latter end Such dispensations are the rod of God upon us and his rod hath a voice and we are bound to hear his rod. God is now trying thy obedience Abraham's trial was a greater trial he had but one Child him a Son the Child of the promise God required him to kill him with his own hand he submitted and the Lord accepted his will for the deed Thy hearing the voice of one rod may prevent the Lords taking of another to scourge thee with 2. Humiliation for those sins which thou suspectest to have been the provoking cause of such a dispensation that 's another end which thou maist probably think that God aimeth at Afflictions are to humble us and to prove us 3. God calleth aloud to thee to take thy heart off thy creature-comforts Thou seest what gourds what blossoms they are what shadows they are which thou huggest what lyes thou hast in thy right hand he calls now to thee to fix thy heart and thine eyes upon him alone and to make him alone thy portion to fix all thy delight upon him For us that are spectators of such Providences let us also by them learn wisdom 1. By taking heed of such sins as may provoke God to such dispensations we stand concerned if we love our children to love God and to fear him to walk closely with him the wicked life of a Parent may shorten the life of a Child for that God in judgment may write him childless a man who shall not prosper nor his name out-live a present generation Take heed of those particular sins which may provoke God to such a stroke Take heed of murmuring at the blessing of a numerous off spring and distrusting the Providence of God as to a providing for them Take heed if Children be given you that you do not set your heart upon them Look upon them as fading flowers and such flowers as never fade sooner than while they are worn too near your heart Take heed of sins by which the enemies of God shall be made to blaspheme David for such sins lost his new born Child from his beloved Bathsheba 2. More especially take heed of neglecting your children Neglect not the ordinance of Baptism as to them I do not think that is damnable but I do think it is provocative of God I remember God met Moses in the Inn and was about to kill him for his omission of Circumcision Circumcision was in it self a pitiful thing but it was Gods ordinance it was his Covenant in the flesh with the seed of Abraham We are not upon a Divine institution to say To what purpose is it or what good
these are sufficient to evince that there is such a dreadful dispensation of God St. John reciting the afore-mentioned text of Isaiah Joh. 12.39 saith Therefore they could not believe because that Isaias said again that he hath blinded their eyes and hardned their hearts that they should not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts and be converted and I should heal them So as I say it is clear there is such a penal act of Divine Providence and now that we are upon this argument it will not be amiss for us to enquire what sins those are which provoke God to such a degree In the general they were sins against light sins against the light of nature The Apostle speaketh of such sinning Rom. 1. When they knew God they glorified him not as God they knew God by the light of nature and sinned against that light All the other texts speak of sinning against the light of Revelation God for mens bold and impudent sinning against natural light or against the light of his word doth many times deliver up men in this manner But the great question is Quest How is this reconcilable to the goodness purity and holiness of God God in Scripture doth frequently declare that he delights not in the blood of sinners his willingness that all should be saved c. He doth as plentifully declare that he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity that he tempteth no man and cannot be the author of sin Now how can God give up men to blindness of mind to hardness of heart without willing it and if he willeth it how shall he be excused from being the author of it To which I answer 1. If we mean by the goodness of God his kindness unto sinners in order to their conversion and healing and being saved there is nothing of that nature to be expected from God under this dispensation It is the seal of reprobation and damnation those poor souls are left to the judgement and condemnation of the last day without any great hopes of mercy they have had their time their means their mercies the patience of God hath a long time waited upon them their glass is now run out Gods day of grace is come to an end as to them Lest saith God by the Prophet they should convert and be healed Gods frequent declarations that he desireth not the death of sinners do not oblige God for ever to strive with sinners shutting their eyes and stopping their ears and hardning their hearts It is enough that God hath a long time waited upon these sinners and hath had no fruit of his patience with them But now if by the goodness of God we understand his justice purity and holiness so I doubt not but to evidence to you that under such tremendous dispensations yet God is a just pure and holy God To this purpose 2. In the second place let us consider 1. What God doth under these dispensations 2. Vnder what circumstances those sinners are whom God brings under them Let us understand What God doth in these dispensations 1. Negatively We say God doth not infuse any malice into a sinners heart this indeed were to make God the author of sin God putteth no malice into the heart of sinners he excites no malice in their hearts and this both the Jesuits and Arminians who conspire together to reproach Calvin and other eminent servants of God with the odious reproach of making God the author of sin have been told by as many as have treated upon this argument but they have a mind to revile The Lord rebuke them This is the meaning of the Schoolmen when they say that God doth not harden any quantum ad rationem defectus but only quantum ad rationem ordinis Now how they should make God the author of sin who freely grant this they should do well to make us understand and I would fain have them shew me where either Calvin or Beza or Zuinglius or Pareus or P. Martyr or any other whom Bellarmine and Tilenus or any other so boldly traduce as making God the author of sin have said any thing of this nature they all agree with Augustine in saying that God hardneth none impertiendo malitiam but this only telleth you what God doth not 2. In the second place God doth undoubtedly withdraw those means which should effectually keep them from such sins and certainly this is not unrighteous with God for he may do with his own what pleaseth him Had not the Lord with-held this grace from the Angels and from our first Parents neither had the first fallen from their glorious state nor the second from the state of innocency by which it appeareth that this is no more than the Lord might have done if the sinner had not sinned to say the contrary were to make God a debtor to his creature but this is no more than Bellarmine himself and all the Arminians will grant 3. God doth undoubtedly leave this poor wretch whom he thus punisheth to act according to the impetus of his original lust and corruption according to that lust which is in his heart No man can deny but this is consistent with the justice purity and holiness of God If for God to leave or suffer men to walk in their own ways not to quench the original lust which is in their heart but to suffer them to put it forth in actual sin and wickedness would make God the author of sin God must be concluded the author of all that sin which is committed in the world But it is written He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy and his grace could not be grace if it were not free But thus far all are agreed that God doth harden negatively and permissively I hope there is none will doubt but that if a traytor deserved to dye and to starve to death though a Prince had it in his power to pardon him or supply him with bread to keep him from dying in that manner yet the Prince were just if he did neither of these but suffered him to perish according to his deserts but as I said before this is denied by none All the dispute is whether God doth any positive act in the hardning and blinding of sinners this is denied by Bellarmine and the Jesuits and by the Arminians also In opposition to which I say 4. Though God doth not positively harden nor blind any sinners yet he doth do some positive acts that relate to the hardning and blinding of them I say he positively hardneth none he doth not make their soft hearts hard nor positively blind any he doth not shut their eyes and of seeing make them blind Here now the difference lies betwixt Bellarmine with Arminius and those eminent Divines whom they would asperse with this imputation of making God the author of sin because these Divines cannot allow God to be a meer spectator an idle looker upon his works of Providence
and patience to them in his waiting upon them all the days of their life giving them his Gospel sending them his Ministers beseeching them to be reconciled unto God knocking by his Spirit at the doors of their hearts Thus the merciful God extendeth his goodness unto all sinners a long time he declareth that he desireth not the death of any sinner but is willing that all should be saved by coming to the acknowledgment of the truth The vile sinner through the pride of his heart will not seek after God but vexeth grieveth resisteth his holy Spirit from time to time refuseth to repent and to turn unto God defieth him mocketh at the tenders of Divine grace thus he liveth thus he dieth yet hath heard of and knoweth the threatnings of eternal destruction he looketh upon them as bug-bear things not to fright such men as he is but children only he drinks he swears he curseth and blasphemeth God lyes breaketh Sabbaths he will venture it Who is that God that shall restrain the lusts of his heart He will try whether there be such an Hell such an eternal destruction yea or no. What do we talk of mercy after this to such a bold defier of the Divine Majesty What kind of being must we fancy the eternal God if we should imagine him to have one drop of mercy for such a contemner and defier of Divine goodness Surely he that made this man will have no mercy on him he that formed him can shew him no favour without a dethroning himself and making himself the contempt of his creature This every sinner doth one more openly and boldly another more secretly and tacitly Every fool if he doth not speak it with his tongue yet saith in his heart there is no God Whiles vain man talks of mercy in God in this case I am afraid he fancieth mercy in God to be a passion as it is in us which necessarily stirs to compassionate every object of misery Alas it is no such thing it is nothing else but the good will of God to do good to sinners if they will be made partakers of his goodness The same will moveth and that justly too otherwise after this life the red flag is then held out The last grains of sand in the glass of mercy are dropt out when this life is determined There is no more sacrifice for sin remaining but a dreadful looking for of Judgement and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries He that despised Moses law died without mercy of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy who have trodden under foot the blood of the Son of God and have counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified as an unholy thing Heb. 10.26 27. These men have done despight to the Spirit of Grace and we know who hath said vengeance is mine and I will repay it I will recompense saith the Lord and again the Lord shall judge his people I conclude then with the Apostle in that place It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God There is a time for all things and as it is so with men so it is with God There is a time for mercy that is the time of this life and there must be a time for the execution of Justice when God shall declare his righteousness upon sinners who have despised his goodness and patience that is the time after this life The inch of Candle is out when the sinners life is expired no more coming to the waters and buying then what before was offered without money and without price Mercy hath done its utmost as to such sinners no more mercy is to be found in God for them no more compassion in that God who is full of mercy and tender compassion Nor shall we need at all to stumble at this for to oblige Magistrates to be always pitiful to them that are in misery though they have been the causes of it to themselves and have brought themselves into misery by the highest contempts of Authority and Government yea and of the clemency and patience of the Magistrate were quickly to prostitute all Government and to expose those that manage it to the basest contempt and scorn imaginable and if the Princes and Judges of the earth and Generals of Armies upon the prospect of this see a necessity of setting limits to their bowels of compassion and no one judgeth them either unjust or cruel in so doing why may not the same be allowed to the holy and righteous God But I have spoken enough to convince those who observe the principles of justice allowed in the practice of all States and Governments with the general observation of the wiser sort in the world That God is neither cruel nor unrighteous in punishing with an eternal destruction those that know not God and obey not his Gospel although their time and pleasure of sinning hath born no proportion either to the time or degree of their torments I shall apply it but in a word or two 1. The first To sinners who are yet impenitent who have not yet by repentance and faith saved themselves from this wrath to come 2. The second to those who through grace have saved themselves from this wrath Vse 1. To the first I shall only speak after the great Apostle of the Gentiles We knowing the terrors of the Lord perswade you 1. Not to stand disputing with God about the justice and equity of his ways 2. While your time lasteth to save your selves from these eternal burnings from this worm which never dieth this fire which never goeth out 1. Dispute not then Divine Justice as to the eternal Destruction of sinners You see if you do you will fall in judgement though you should be tried by the common laws of men by the customs and practices of all Nations Flatter not your selves that whatever your Ministers tell you the goodness and mercy of God will not allow him to see his creatures eternally tormented or that the justice of God cannot allow him to punish the sinnings of a few hours or years with an eternity of torments What have they to do with mercy who have out-sinned their days and years of mercy and despised the long-suffering patience and forbearance of God that for twenty thirty forty years together was leading them to repentance and waiting for their conversion and turning to him who had a day and time of repentance but repented not an eternal life and happiness offered them but refused it and have judged themselves unworthy of eternal life O let all sinners cease disputing Divine Justice and presuming upon I know not what mercy in God and let them to day while it is called to day not harden their hearts but study to save themselves from this wrath that is to come Let me but offer you one or two Meditations 1. Consider with your selves how often you have deserved this eternal destruction from the presence of
honour successes c. David himself never had a slip like that he had when he came into the highest state Even the best of Gods people have great reason to rejoice with trembling in the midst of full cups but sinners have far more reason when they are not plagued as other men when there are no bands in their death when their eyes stand out with fatness and they have more than heart could wish that is the time when their mouths are set against Heaven then their day of destruction is not far of and indeed those are the two dreadful considerations and therefore they have reason to fear and tremble 1. Lest their prosperity should slay their souls There is a latent poyson in sinners hearts at all times but poverty and adversity keeps it in The poor man useth intreaties saith Solomon but the rich man speaketh proudly honour and power are great temptations to oppression Riches and abundance to all sorts of Luxury So as if a man be a fool and hath no spiritual wisdom to rule and to govern himself in a prosperous state his prosperity slayeth him giving advantages to those lusts that are in his heart to discover themselves It is the prosperous sinner that oppresseth his neighbour that does acts of injustice and thinks by his power to defend himself 2. Again Prosperity bodes ill The sinner is never so near a fall as when he is upon a pinacle of honour and power When the worldling saith Soul take thine ease thou hast goods laid up for many years then comes the voice Thou fool this night shall thy soul be taken from thee and one reason of this is because that is the time when his sin ripeneth when he lifteth up his heart highest and openeth his mouth widest and lifteth up his hands most fiercely against the God of Heaven O then let the prosperous sinner fear and tremble 3. Lastly You have heard that it is but a righteous thing with God to give unto the worst of men the good things of this life because they have something in them of the nature of means to convince sinners both of their sins against God and also of their duty to God Indeed they ordinarily prove the quite contrary but this is not of themselves or from their own nature but from the lust and corruption of sinners hearts O then let the goodness of God lead you to repentance Rom. 2.4 The Apostle lets us know that the patience long-sufferance and goodness of God leads us to repentance The long-suffering and patience of God if there were no more ought to do it And certainly were there any ingenuity in the heart of a sinner it would do it For him to sit down and think I have been a drunkard a lyar a swearer a Sabbath-breaker these Twenty Thirty Forty years God hath seen and known me all this time there hath not been a thought of my heart but hath been naked before him I have not told a lye nor sworn an oath but as soon as the word hath been out of my mouth the news of it hath been in Heaven and it hath been written in Gods Book of remembrance God hath all this while been an Almighty God and hath had it in his power every moment of this time to throw me to Hell He could have struck me dead with my lye in my mouth as he did Ananias and Saphira Acts 5 or with my oath my curse my blasphemy in my mouth but God hath been long-suffering and patient with me willing that I should at last be saved Shall I yet go on in my sinful courses Shall all this patience of God be lost upon my desperate soul Surely I am bound humbly to acknowledg thus many years of patience and to sin no more lest I turn Divine patience into fury But then the riches of Gods goodness though it be but in the things of this life adds great weight to the argument for a poor creature to sit down and think that he hath not been plagued as other men he hath not had such a sickly body nor such a scant estate but God hath made his cup to overflow he hath had success in his trading whiles others have been blasted O shall not this goodness of God lead thee to an acknowledgment of God Shall it not lead thee to a repentance for thy sin wilt thou treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and the Revelation of the most righteous Judgment of God Consider that the good things thou hast enjoyed have a natural tendency to change thee if thou hadst not banished that common ingenuity which teacheth all to love those that love them and most certainly it will make thee worse if not better if it doth not soften thy heart it will harden thy heart if these things tend not to make thee more holy they will certainly make thee more leud and profane And think with thy self what an aggravation of thy eternal misery it will be to fall into it out of as high a state of content and external felicity as thou wert capable of I would have every prosperous sinner say with himself What hath God done to me that I should be thus vile and so presumptuously sin against him There are very many that if they would listen a little to their own consciences might hear God by them speaking to them and saying What could God have done more for you than he hath done Would you have strong and healthy bodies God hath given you them Would you have large possessions great and plentiful estates God hath given you such Would you have desired a loving Wife hopeful Children You have had them God aggravateth the sin of David from the outward blessings he had blessed him with he had raised him to be King over Israel from following the sheep he had given him his Masters Houses and his Masters Wives into his bosom 1 Sam. 11. Will not God think you from hence aggravate your sins another day Will not this make Hell twice more Hell to you will it not add more heat to the fire that never shall go out and pain to the gnawings of that worm that shall never dye Oh harden not your hearts to day while it is called to day hearken to God speaking to you not only by the voice of his Word but by the voice of his Mercies O let not that riches of Divine goodness make you worse which in reason ought to make you better Let not your honours your riches damn you Take heed that there be not cause to say of you that if God had not been so good to you you had not been so leud and profane so wicked and abominable in his sight Thus far I have applied this discourse as to wicked men it remaineth yet that I should apply it as to the people of God shewing them their duty under such dispensations of providence but it is a point fit in our times to be further enlarged upon
meek of the earth it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger Ten righteous persons would have saved Sodom Besides evil times being usually times of suffering as to the people of God it is unquestionably their great concern to take heed that they suffer not as evil doers 1 Pet. 3.14 If you be reproached for the name of Christ saith the Apostle happy are you for the Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you On their parts he is evil spoken of but on your parts he is glorified but let none of you suffer as a murtherer or as an evil doer c. We ordinarily call suffering-times evil times now it is the great wisdom of a Christian to make the best of the worst of times that they may suffer with comfort and not lose their Crown in suffering there is no such way to secure this as to suffer in and for doing of our duty Again there is no such way as this to convince or condemn Adversaries who are the Instruments of evil towards you It is our duty as much as may be so to live as to reconcile the world to the ways of God at least so to live as if we cannot win and gain them yet we may shame and condemn them This you shall find the Apostle did who lived in the first and most furious times 1 Pet. 2.13 Having your conversation honest amongst the Gentiles that whereas they speak evil of you as evil doers they may behold your good works and glorifie God in the day of their visitation As there is an error of Opinion and an error of Practice so there is a double way of conviction The first is by Argument as Paul convinced the Jews Acts 18.28 The second is by a contrary Practice The first reacheth the Judgment the second the Conscience Joh. 8.9 They who heard Christ were convicted by their Consciences If by doing good thou doest not convince sinners and reform them thou wilt most certainly condemn them Heb. 11.7 Noah condemned the old world Further yet by this means thou shalt have peace within In the world saith Christ to his Disciples Joh. 16. you shall have trouble but in me you shall have peace we are sure enough in and from the world to meet with trouble it is our great concern to secure our peace within now there is no other way to secure this but to keep a Conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men If a man hath a troublesome Neighbour if yet he hath a quiet Wife he will do well enough he hath peace at home If he lives in wicked and disturbed times yet if he hath a quiet indisturbed Conscience this is something and he will the better graple with his other troubles I say this is the way for a man to keep a quiet Conscience to depart from evil and to do that which is good Finally thus a Christian shall evidence his Faith in God's rewarding him for that man who in an evil day doth evil or neglecteth to do good cannot be said regularly to trust in God because he useth not the means in the use of which he may expect Gods fulfilling his Promise Take heed saith the Apostle that there be not in any of you an evil heart of unbelief to depart from the living God All departing from the living God in an evil day is a certain sign of unbelief or distrust in God as to the issues of his Providence Let me therefore beseech you that fear God and are brought under such a dispensation of this to take care as to this Let not the evil of others be a temptation to you to omit doing good I will yet further open it in a few particulars 1. Be sure you keep close with God in the duties of his Worship It is a sad thing for a state of affliction to drive a man from God God chasteneth his people to make them better In their affliction they will seek me early Hos 5.13 'T is very sad when affliction hath a quite contrary effect upon us when as the Scripture speaks of Ahaz when he was afflicted he did more wickedly So God hath reason to say of any person This is that person who when he was in affliction left prayer reading hearing left his closet-walking with God c. It is a mark of an ill Servant not dutiful Son when he is beaten for his faults not to ask his Fathers blessing but to run out of his doors 2. Be not ashamed nor afraid to appear for the interest of God in evil times St. Paul in the worst of times was not ashamed of the Gospel Our Lord speaketh dreadfully in this case when he telleth us that he who is ashamed of him before men of him he will be ashamed when he cometh with his Angels This is a particular Service every good Christian oweth unto God not to be ashamed of the cause and interest of God in an evil time own thy self a Servant of God when his Name is most blasphemed his truths and ways most disparaged his people most exposed 3. Perform all that duty which thou owest to the worst of men It is a woful error for any Christian to think that he can do no wrong to wicked and ungodly men as if they had no civil rights doubtless the Apostle spake chiefly with relation to Heathens when he commanded the Romans that were Christians to give unto all their dues honour to whom honour c. 4. Do good to them that hate and persecute thee bless them that curse thee It is our Saviours lesson Mat. 5.44 I remember God gave his people a charge Jer. 29.7 To seek the peace of that City whither they were carried captive and to pray unto the Lord for it It was an evil time when they were in Captivity and the Babylonians were very evil persons yet God commandeth his people to pray for them and to seek their peace Let them curse but bless you let them persecute but do you pray Thus David did for his Enemies when they were sick he humbled himself with fasting and with mourning as for his Brother he tells you he lost nothing by it his prayer returned into his own bosom 5. Take heed finally of using any unlawful means to be rid of the evil that is upon you This is a temptation will much molest us in an evil time and to which all our hearts are too too prone this is a pecular evil which a child of God in such a time should study and make it his business to depart from but I shall have occasion to speak more to this under the next head of Duty upon which I shall enlarge as it is contrary to the duty of Patience and the fruit of a Soul making too much haste But I know this is an hard saying we have many temptations to the contrary for a man to do good to others when they are doing evil to and against him this
confess to be the supream and most free agent the liberty which we will yet claim and challenge for our selves Nor is this more unreasonable pride and arrogance than it is folly and Vanity It is searching for a bottom in an Abyss searching for a cause Antecedent to the first cause God they say from all Eternity foresaw that such and such would believe would obey would incline their hearts to his Testimonies it must be then certain that that they would do so God could have no certain knowledg of that of which there was no certainty Now I would fain understand whence this certainty should be otherwise than from the will of God determining their wills to these certain good inclinations more than the wills of others all others have Souls reasonable Souls as well as they whence is it that their Souls incline to that which is good and the wills of others to that which is evil Surely to will and to do are both from God Thus vain Man would be wise when as he indeed is but like a wild Asses Colt Proud men torture themselves in vain to find out a principle of good and of life in themselves And how unreasonable a thing is it to charge God with unrighteousness upon this hypothesis Shall a man be master of his own favours who is yet a debtor to the Law of God and under an obligation to do good to all because God hath so commanded him and shall not God who cannot in any wise become a debtor to his Creature farther than he is so made by his own Covenant and promise Shall it be a reasonable thing for a Man to say I will be kind to such a one because I will and doth he think he is not further to be accountable to his fellow Creature And shall not the Soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth say I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and because I will have mercy but Man shall for it call him before the Tribunal of his own Reason Vse 2. In the second place what reason have we who are made partakers of this mercy of God which bringeth salvation to adore admire and be thankful to him for it Now this concerneth either all of us in general or else some particular Souls 1. Let us first consider this so far as it respecteth all of us whosoever liveth within the pale of the Church under the preaching of the Gospel may see reason 1. To adore and admire the goodness of God towards them 2. To tremble and fear lest we be found unprofitable under the means of grace The Apostle propoundeth the question concerning the Jews Rom. 3.1 2. What advantage then hath the Jew above the Gentiles Or what profit is there of Circumcision He answereth Much every way because unto them are commited the Oracles of God Whether the Gospel in the preaching of it be a sufficient means of Salvation having such a constant operation of the Spirit attending it that if men will they may believe and be saved and the ministration of the Spirit be little differing from the ministration of the Gospel and inseparable or at least never separated from it though affirmed by some may be justly doubted But that it is a great and high means of Salvation and there is no man living under the faithful and powerful preaching of it but if he misseth of Life and eternal happiness it will be his own fault and the proximate cause of damnation will be in himself I do not doubt Now God hath not dealt thus with every Nation O consider how many Nations and People there are in the World who never heard of Christ amongst whom the joyful sound of the Gospel did never come People that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death whom the day-star from on high did never yet rise upon Doth any say But what good doth the Gospel or how is the preaching of the Gospel such a mercy if God doth not give unto them that are under the sound of it effectual Grace so as their hearts are changed upon the preaching of it and they converted and eternally saved I answer The Apostle thought it a mercy and no small mercy that the Jews had the Oraeles of God committed to them to them and not to other People yet for all this it is most certain That there were many amongst the Jews who kept not the Laws Statutes and Ordinances of God the Jews might have said the same thing yet Moses crieth out Deut. 4.8 What Nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them as the Lord your God is to you in all things That hath Statutes and Judgments so righteous Again as I have oft told you though I dare not say with some That all men sitting under the sound of the Gospel have a sufficiency of grace given them that if they will they may turn unto God and live yet I do think that there is such a sufficiency of Light and means that if men will do what in them lies God will not be wanting to them in his effectual Grace Men shall never have this to say Lord I did what was in my power to do I would have repented believed but thou deniedst me that Grace which was necessary to it Now herein appeareth the greatness of the Grace of the Gospel The Heathen walk in darkness and in the shadow of Death they have not a sufficient Light to guide their feet into the way of Peace But where the Gospel is Preached there a great Light shineth a Light sufficient to direct men into the way of Life But 2. This looketh dreadfully upon all those who wilfully shut their eyes against Gospel-light and stop their Ears against this joyful sound This saith our Saviour is the condemnation that when Light is come into the World men love Darkness more than Light because their deeds are evil Matth. 11. Our Saviour upbraideth the Cities where his mighty works had been done and his Gospel preached Capernaum and Bethsaida he saith they had been lifted up to Heaven but they should be thrown down into Hell that it should be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah yea for Tyre and Sydon in the day of judgment than for them when the Gospel hath been long in a place faithfully preached it is much to be feared that God hath had mercy in that place upon as many Souls of that Age as he will have mercy But this is but a Digression we have reason to adore God for his free mercy to us in giving us the Gospel the faithful and powerful preaching under the Gospel many may and do perish but where the Gospel comes not there is no hope Now whence is it that the rain of the Gospel falleth upon one City not upon another Upon one Country not upon another That some Nations have not so much as the sound of it the feet of them which bring the glad tidings of Peace come not amongst them
and in the same Nation where the Gospel is preached some have a sound and little more Preachers in some places in stead of preaching the Gospel Preach human Philosophy or the lusts of their own hearts In other places the Word of God is preached faithfully and powerfully so that the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force Men are compelled to come in This difference in the external ministration which let me tell you hath no small influence upon the eternal concern and interest of men for God doth not ordinarily work by way of miracle and heal the eyes of the blind with Clay and Spittle is fountain'd only in the free-will and Grace of God Vse 2. But I trust I speak to some who have tasted further of the mercy and Grace of God than receiving the general Dispensation of the Gospel with their outward ears God hath by his holy Spirit upon the preaching of the Gospel effectually moved their hearts and conquered their Souls into a subjection to Christ They have embraced the Lord Jesus Christ by a Gospel-faith they are brought by a mighty hand out of darkness into marvelous Light and translated out of this Kingdom of Sin and Satan into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus I have this day been discovering to you the Fountain of this Grace of which God hath made you partakers you have heard that it is the will of God only which hath distinguished betwixt you and others It is not because you were more nobly born than others nor because you were more rich more honourable or by nature better complexioned than others God saw no more goodness in your natures than in the natures of others you were all the same flesh he infused into all Souls of the same nature and species only he hath willed rather to shew mercy unto your Souls than to the Souls of others because he hath set his love upon you There are three duties that hence lie very obvious 1. The First is Praise Thankfulness and Admiration Certainly every such Soul stands highly obliged with the Psalmist to cry out Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits If free Grace will not affect our hearts and fill our mouths with a new Song nothing will It must certainly be an amazing consideration for a Soul to sit down and think I was in the same mass and lump of lost man-kind that others are I was by Nature a Child of wrath as much as any my Childhood and Youth were Vanity as much as any others I was grinding at the same Mill it may be in actual sins I outstripped many others Now that the Lord should look upon me and pluck me as a brand out of the Fire that God should open my eyes and change my heart What did God see in me Possibly my more external circumstances were far less and more unvaluable than those of thousands of others my House was of small account and little esteem there are many more great and noble more wise and prudent than I am many who in all appearance so far as man can judg might have been more serviceable to God than I am or am ever like to be now that the Lord should pass them over and shew mercy to me certainly no Soul can seriously think of these things but must be ravished with the apprehensions of the inaccountable love of God in these things and say What shall I render unto thee O Lard what shall I render unto thee 2. This notion of Gods Soveraignty freedom and inaccountbleness in the dispensations of his Grace should teach every Soul that hath been or shall be made a partaker of it the great lesson of humility The Apostle Rom. 3.27 giveth this as the reason why God hath setled the justification of a Sinner upon a bottom of free Grace and hath excluded works that he might also exclude boasting and teach those who glory to glory in the Lord upon this Argument the Apostle exhorteth the Gentiles not to boast against the Jews Rom. 11.22 Behold the goodness and the severity of God saith he to those who abide in their unbelief severity to thee goodness Pride is a sinful habit disposing the Soul to swell in the opinion of some excellency in it self and a little thing will swell our corrupt hearts The Apostle propoundeth this very consideration as a cure for that tumour in the Souls of Christians 1 Cor. 4.7 For who maketh thee to differ from another And what hast thou which thou didst not receive Now if thou didst receive it why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it It is nothing but the will of God that hath made a difference betwixt thee and the vilest Sinner breathing betwixt thee and the most filthy Drunkard the most furious Persecutor c. It was not for any worth any goodness or holiness which the Lord saw in thee but of his meer free will and Grace God hath shewed mercy to thy Soul what hast thou now of thy own to boast or glory in Thou hast indeed reason to glory and to make thy boast in the Lord and to bless God for what he hath done for thy Soul more than for a thousand others but there is no thanks to thee his will his own will was the fountain of his Grace extended to thee God hath had mercy upon thy Soul only because he would have mercy O therefore be not high-minded but fear and walk humbly before God 3. Lastly this calleth upon all of you who have tasted of this free and unaccountable Grace to live a distinguishing life and conversation There is a Generation that fancyeth that the Doctrine of Free-Grace opens a door to Liberty It is but the old Cavil in Saint Pauls time there were those that thus accused the Doctrine of Free-Grace as if it gave men a liberty to go on in sin as appeareth by the Apostles anticipation of that Cavil Rom. 6.1 What saith he shall we then continue in sin that Grace may abound God forbid and so he goeth on shewing that any such conclusion from his principles was unreasonable How shall we saith the Apostle who are dead unto sin live any longer therein Special distinguishing Free-Grace both deadneth the Soul to Sin and inflameth the Soul with a love to God who hath made the Soul to differ so as that Soul cannot live as other men the love of God constraineth him he must apprehend himself obliged to do more for God than others because God hath shewen more mercy to him than unto others and that meerly because he would shew mercy What can possibly be imagined to have a greater and lay an higher obligation upon the Soul to all manner of holiness in conversation to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord as the Apostle speaketh SERMON L. Hosea XIII 9. O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but
for his not repenting not believing according to his Word Is there any unrighteousness with God in this case more than in the Fathers dealing with the Child upon the former Supposition What pretence is there for it The Sinner you will say could not repent could not believe without the special Grace of God which was never given him No more could the Child buy those things the Father willed it to have and come before him with unless the Father first gave it mony the Child had no mony of its own But the Child might have left its play it might have read and heard the Word he might have come to God by Prayer and begg'd of him a soft and contrite heart and a believing heart he had power to do all this and had he done this God had not been wanting to him in his further Grace To him that hath shall be given saith our Saviour that is to him that hath and useth and proveth what Gifts and Graces he hath as he ought to do shall be given more Grace But this the poor wretch hath not done but dieth an hard-hearted an impenitent and unbelieving wretch what unrighteousness is there with God in his condemnation he perisheth in his own iniquity his blood is upon his own head his damnation lieth at his own door his destruction is of himself his help might have been from God if he had not been wanting to himself O sinful men are not the Lords ways equal Yes yes they are our own ways that are unequal the straight ways of the Lord are only made crooked by our idle fancies our proud hearts and corrupt reasons and foolish misprisions Vse 4. In the last place let me apply this discourse by way of Exhortation it will afford matter of Exhortation 1. To the people of God 2. To the men of the World those I mean that are not yet converted unto God 1. To Gods People 1. To you it speaketh to make you more afraid of sin for the time to come Sin in Scripture is ordinarily resembled by sickness and a disease Now what is true of sickness is true of Sin every sickness is not unto death but every sickness hath something of death in it it leadeth to the Grave it is not the last stroke at the giving of which the Tree falleth but it is a blow in order to the fall of it Every sin doth not bring forth death yea as to you No sin shall bring forth death because Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Jesus Christ but every sin hath something of the nature of a self-ruining and destruction in it The wages of every sin is death the natural tendency of every sin is unto death It is the Gift and Free-Grace of God that as to you prevents it and although your sins do not bring forth an Eternal ruine and destruction to you because the Blood of Christ and the Intercession of Christ hath prevented and will prevent that yet your sins may bring forth many lesser deaths to you for them you may be in deaths often for them there may be a death of your peace and comforts as there are no temporal Evils which sin may not bring upon the people of God so there are few spiritual Evils on this side of Hell to which it doth not subject them So that although you be not under the danger of an Eternal ruine yet you are under the danger of so many deaths so many destructions as may justly lay a Law upon you and make you afraid of sinning against God 2. But Secondly This calleth to all of you to admire the Divine Grace by which you are saved I hope it is the portion of many of you to whom I am speaking you are not yet got up to the new Hierusalem but you are in the right way that leadeth thereunto O cry Grace Grace unto the hand which set you upon that Shore It is true of you you also by sin had destroyed your selves by Grace you are saved you were once Fire-brands as well as any others are you now brands pluckt out of the Fire It was the hand of Grace that pluck'd you out You hath he quickned saith the Apostle Ephes 2.1 who were dead in Trespasses and sins Amongst whom also we had our conversation of old according to the Lusts of the Flesh you also were once acted by the Prince of the Air who yet worketh in the Children of Disobedience and were by Nature the Children of Wrath as much as others It is a sweet though in some sence a bitter meditation to cast a thought back and think Lord How had I also destroyed my self How near was I going to the Pit of Eternal ruine and destruction Nay how often yet is our Salvation from God We are every day destroying our selves we lye down with sin enough to justify God in destroying us before the Morning and rise up every day with sin enough to justify God in destroying us before the Evening By Grace we are saved 2. But Secondly let me speak to those which can have no such good hope through Grace They yet are in their natural State and condition in the Gall of bitterness and in the very bands of iniquity Sirs it is that which I have often told you and I wish the sound of it may never be out of your Ears you are Creatures ordained to Eternity when you dye you dye not like brute-Beasts Death will not determine your beings you shall be either Eternally happy or Eternally miserable All that I have to say to you is to plead with you that you would not ruine your selves and let me tell you that if ever you perish it must be because you have destroyed your selves Do not fright your selves with thoughts of Gods eternal decrees secret things belong to God revealed things to us Whatever Gods secret counsels and purposes be this is his revealed will The Soul that sinneth and that alone shall dye Trouble not your selves with any such thoughts as these If I be not elected do what I will I shall be damned If God hath cast me off I shall labour in vain It is the Sluggard saith Solomon which saith There is a Lion in the way We cannot ascend up into Heaven to search Gods Books there is no need of it The Word is near us even in our mouths that telleth us that God never destroyeth any Soul but the meritorious cause of it is in himself and this we know that all sin is voluntary O then take heed of destroying your selves by wilful and presumptuous sinning against God Nature teacheth every Man to look to himself as to his Life Health Estate and shall not our reasonable Nature instructed by the Word of God prompt us to take care of our selves as to our Eternal Interest You will say unto me what shall we do that we may not de destroyed for who liveth and sinneth not against God I have before told you that
the meritorious cause If indeed God did either condemn any righteous person or were any way obliged to give out effectual grace to all and did not this indeed would argue unrighteousness with God but he doth neither of these his wrath will indeed one day be revealed against them to whom Christ and his Gospel were never revealed to whom grace sufficient to bring them to Heaven and Eternal life was never given but it shall never be revealed but as the Apostle saith against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men now certainly God cannot be unrighteous in punishing unrighteousness or ungodliness If God indeed were a debtor for his grace to his creature he might be charged with unrighteousness if he did not give it out but he doth not deal out death and destruction but as a wages nor Salvation and Eternal life but as free gift Who asketh a reason why August Caesar did not bestow gifts upon all his Courtiers in proportion with those bestowed on Maecenas We may say of God as to all his dispensations of grace Placuit hoc satis est ubi non aliud jus aut ratio ipsa voluntas jus ratio est that is It so pleased God that is enough where there is no other right or reason the very will of God is Law and reason enough Besides if the distributions of Divine grace were equal how should God to any shew forth the riches of his Grace Let me but acquaint you with a passage of Augustine upon this Argument Doest thou ask saith he why grace is not given to all according to desert I answer because God is merciful you will say Why is not God merciful to all I answer saith he because he is just In this saith he that grace is given freely he sheweth what grace doth and worketh in those to whom it is given Let us not therefore be unthankful to God that according to the good pleasure of his will and for the praise of the glory of his grace he hath delivered us from so great a death whereas if he should deliver none yet he would not be unjust Let him therefore who is delivered love grace let him who is not delivered acknowledg justice if Divine goodness be understood in remitting the debt Justice also may be understood in exacting of it no way is there any iniquity found with God But you will say then Why is there in the case of Infants yea of Twins such a difference Is it not saith he the like Question why in a diverse cause there is the same judgment and the Workmen in the Vineyard who wrought the whole day had but a Penny as they had who had wrought but one hour The Case was different the judgment the same they murmured what saith the Master of the Vineyard to them Volo I will make the last like unto the first Thus because bounty was shewed to some there was no iniquity toward others so far as respecteth Justice and Grace As to the guilty person that is saved God saith I will As to others he saith Take what is thy own and go thy way I will give unto this man that which I do ow unto him Is thine eye evil because mine is good If he shall say and why not unto me Here he shall hear Who art thou who disputest with God Whom thou findest as to one man a bountiful giver as to another a just exactor as to none at all unjust for whereas he should be just if he should punish both he that is saved hath indeed reason to give thanks he that is damned hath no cause to find fault I wish all those who so talk of Fathers would shew us that they were the Children of this ancient Father to whom that name is usefully given But I come to the Application of this discourse 1. Vse In the first place let this Caution you against an hasty listing your selves in the Number of those who so cry up Vniversal grace and a sufficiency of the means of grace for all both the means of purchase and of Application I must confess it is a plausible point and appears to us very pleasing as well as reasonable that God should not punish any nor condemn any to whom he hath not given a sufficiency of grace and assistances in order to their Salvation but as smooth and plausible as it appeareth take heed of too hasty imbracing it it leadeth to strange notions in Divinity as you may partly learn from this discourse the maintaining ordinatam sufficientiam an ordained sufficiency for we are not now speaking of the value of the merits of the blood of Christ in it self in the Death of Christ for all those who shall perish as well as for those who shall be saved it will lead you either to deny that Christ's death was any purchase at all or to affirm that Christ purchased a possibility for some to be saved but under an impossible condition let it be Natural or Moral the absurdity is the same for so it must be if there were an Eternal Election or except man hath a power of himself to repent and believe c. And the maintaining of a sufficiency of grace given to all for the Application of Salvation will lead you to maintain That there is a Salvation may be had without a Christ That the Heathens may be saved by the light of Nature And that any Christians may be saved without any special operation of the Spirit of grace indeed without any grace at all taken in a strict and proper sence Doctrines of that consequence that although it may be possible that those who hold such things may be saved as having some further work of God upon their hearts than they understand and will own yet I fear it will be found impossible that any who have tasted the grace of God no further should ever come in the Kingdom of God Let not therefore the smoothness and plausibility of such notions in the sound of them deceive any of you for it is but a sound and no more And if the consequences of those notions be throughly considered and examined they will be found at last to bottome in such strange notions and apprehensions of the Nature of God as do no way sute the perfect nature of the Divine and Supreme being and what the Scripture revealeth concerning God yea and the very light of Nature and natural reason will evince it to us upon the Hypothesis of Gods being the first and Supreme being and the Fountain of all good and the Lord Jesus Christ's being Eternal God and equal with the Father 2. Vse This discourse calleth once more aloud unto all To walk up to the light which they have Though we deny that God giveth unto all yea that he giveth to any unless such as are ordained unto life a sufficiency of grace and gracious assistances in order to their eternal Salvation yet we say God granteth to all though in very different degrees
God made us any promise that he will convert and Eternally save all our Children on whose behalf we labour and wrestle with God but as Hannah obtained her Child by Prayer upon which account it was that she named him Samuel Beg'd of God so I doubt not but that there are many good Parents that by Prayer have from God obtained the Conversion and Regeneration of their Children and that early that the Lord might as it were shew them that he gave in the Souls of their Children to their prayers and their godly instructions exhortations reproofs catechizing c. If we should never see grace appearing in tender years we should conclude it in vain during those years to use any means with them tending to such an end The Apostle telleth Timothy 2 Tim. 3.15 That from a Child he had known the Scriptures and 2 Tim. 1.5 He mentioneth an unfained faith that was both in his Grandmother Lois and in his Mother Eunice and he was perswaded in him also in him doubtless in great measure by their means God honouring their labours with the conversion of Timothy 2. Secondly Possibly God doth intend some elect vessels of his no long time in the World God intended Abijam the Son Jeroboam but a short time in the World and therefore there was early found in him some good thing I observed that amongst all the Patriarchs which are reckoned up Gen. 5. He of them who before Enos lived the shortest time lived 895 years the rest lived longer only Enoch lived but 365 about a third part of the time of the other It is said He walked with God and was not for God took-him and we see this of times in our experience God taketh away those in their youth whom he calleth in their Childhood and youth You have an observation that beautiful Children or Children of composed serious countenances when very young or such as being very young are very toward and fond of their Books seldome live long how true that is I cannot say but you shall I believe more certainly observe it of such who earlily have their hearts changed and are converted unto God God setteth those to work young to whom he hath not appointed long time to work of all whom God hath given unto Christ he must lose none and though Infants elect are saved upon the Covenant of grace before it appeareth to the World that they have laid hold upon it or are in a capacity in order to it to exercise their reason yet that is not Gods usual way where he alloweth to any a longer life till they come to exercise their reason he expecteth they should keep the ordinary road to Heaven by repentance and faith and in order to this he worketh upon their hearts betimes giving them repentance unto life and faith to lay hold upon the Lord Jesus Christ 3. Thirdly Possibly God doth intend some a longer time in the World but hath designed them for some great and eminent service in it such the Lord useth to call betimes I will shew it you in two or three eminent instances The first is that of Samuel Samuel was to be a great Prophet yea and a Judge in Israel God accordingly betimes took him unto his more special tutorage he was designed by his Mother and from the very time of his weaning by her dedicated unto the Lord and the Lord while he was yet a Child eminently communicated his mind to him as you read in the story 1 Sam. 2.3 chap. Josiah was a Second God had designed him for a great and eminent service he was Prophesied of many years before he was born and that by name as who should work a great and eminent Reformation and he did do that God earlily prepares him for it he was but 8 years old when he began to reign and he began to seek the Lord God of his Fathers and when was but 16 years of age he began a work of Reformation of a long and most grosly corrupted state Timothy is a third God had designed him for an Evangelist to have a great hand in settling the Gospel-Church God called him very young from a Child he knew the Holy Scriptures which are able to make the man of God wise unto Salvation To these I may add an instance of an eminent Prince in our own Nation King Edward the Sixth who laid the first Principles of our reformation King Henry the 8th did little and what he did seemed rather to be out of interest so biassing him than otherwise God was pleased in his very young and tender years to seize upon his heart He had intended him as the event proved but a short life and he had laid out for him a very great work to purge such an Augean Stable as the Popish rabble had left Two observations I have made upon reading the Scripture 1. That when God had long kept some women his servants barren they ordinarily proved the Mothers of very eminent Children Rachel Manoahs wife Hanna and Elizabeth are instances of that 2. That God very often when he designed Persons for some eminent work prepared them for it by an early seizing upon their hearts and sanctifying them from the Womb unto himself And this will appear to you very reasonable upon a double account 1. Those which do a great deal of work for God must have a great deal of time to do it in All humane actions you know require time and a proportion of time according to the work 2. Those who are to excel in work must not be much blotted in their previous conversation Jacob in his blessing of Reuben Gen. 49. v. 4. hath this expression Reuben shall not excel because he went up unto his Fathers bed he went up unto my Couch God seldome alloweth any one eminently to excel whose youth hath been stained with many eminent and notorious blots they may come to Heaven upon their conversion but they shall not excel in the world I can think but of one instance in Scripture to the contrary which is that of Saul he was a persecutor himself telleth us and a blasphemer yet received to mercy but he saith it was because he did it ignorantly St. Paul's persecution was not rooted in a malice against godliness and holiness but in an error of judgment he saith of himself that he verily thought that he ought to do many things against Jesus of Nazareth There is a great deal of difference betwixt scandalous sinners one man is prophane and a persecutor only by a mistake another man is so by principle St. Paul was of the former sort 't is true he was a prophane and mischievous persecutor a prophane blasphemer but it was by a mistake not that he had any prejudice or ill Opinion of the ways of holiness which Christs Doctrine led to for he was never that we read of scandalous in those things which the light of Nature Reason or the Law of Moses required or forbad but only as
the incouragement of all persons set in relation to others to a faithful performance of their duties and a watching over and for souls committed to their trusts It discourageth all sorts of labours when we see nothing of that fruit from it which we expected or intended But of this I have spoke before Further yet to shew you the reasonableness of the variety of Providence in the manner of converting and bringing home of souls unto himself I noted it to you in Two things 1. God sometimes makes his way by the head to the heart sometimes by the heart to the head This appears exceeding reasonable 1. That God may commend knowledg of spiritual things to us and as I said before encourage duty We are persons whose understandings are pittifully imperfect in the things of God and are very prone to take up false notions and measures and because the influx and operation of the Spirit of God is by all men of sound judgment in the things of God determined necessary to conversion we are apt to think that we have nothing to do with our children and servants but only to wait until God shall move the waters I mean change their hearts and all Instruction and Catechising is needless and that bringing up youth to a knowledg of the form of sound words is only to learn them to be Hypocrites c. God therefore to shew us the advantage of spiritual knowledg and to mind us of and encourage us to our spiritual duty is pleased sometimes to make his way to the head by the heart reflecting the notions of truth which have been instilled into us while we are young upon our consciences making that knowledg instrumental to our conversion and eternal Salvation and so letting the governours of others know that they have not laboured in vain with the souls committed to their charge 2. On the other side God sometimes making his way by the heart to the head making impressions upon the hearts of some poor blind ignorant Souls and setting them on work to inquire after Salvation lets us know that the conversion of a Sinner is a work of grace and divine power not a meer rational effect of notions imprinted upon the understanding nor of moral Suasion alas these poor creatures possibly are not fit objects for such a thing but the finger of God is in it who hath the hearts of all men in his hand and turneth them as it pleaseth him thus by this variety of his Providence he doth both honour his own ordinance and shew the profit and usefulness of means and also the mighty power that is put forth in the changing of the heart by effectual grace both which it is necessary the World should be convinced of And this is enough for a reasonable account of the second variety The last variety which I observed was Gods keeping some Souls a longer time under the Spirit of bondage than others Some he is pleased to draw to himself more sweetly rather by arguments of love than terrors and arguments of wrath others he is pleased more to fill with terrors yea and to keep their Souls a long time under them and this we find by experience is oftimes matter of some trouble to others whom God hath dealt more gently with they begin to doubt and suspect whether God hath wrought any real change in them because they have not been in the belly of Hell as others have been now there may be a reasonable account also given of this difference though we must not pretend to find out the bottome of the Divine counsels in this dispensation of his Providence I shall say little of the difference of Natural complexions and constitutions which is not inconsiderable in this case He is little read in men and women in the World who doth not observe that as in the earth of which man is made there is a great difference of Soil that one Soil doth more easily suck up a showre of Rain and digest it than others So in man there are some complexions that are far more tenacious of grief and impressive by fear than others are such are chiefly Melancholick and some Flegmatick complextons Now it is true God in his work of conversion could cure this but he ordinarily doth not work miraculously and where God begins a work upon the Souls of any who have bodies which they inform of these sad and dark constitutions it is not at all to be wondered they being Naturally more prone to fears and jealousies to doubts and suspicions and more tenacious of grief and sorrow if by the working the Natural working of these passions to which their Natural complexion and constitution more fully subjecteth them if they be longer under the Spirit of bondage than others You will see at the same case with them in other things exciting those passions and unless you would suppose that God in the conversion of such should work miraculously and alter their natural complexion and constitution it is not reasonable to suppose that it should be otherwise it is but according to the natural workings of their Spirits who can get off no occasions of sorrow and trouble so soon as others can who are of more airy chearly constitutions 2. But a Second reason of this variety may reasonably be conceived to arise from a difference of guilt It is true every sin deserved the Eternal and utmost wrath of God Every sin is against an infinite God and hath a kind of infinity and unmeasurableness of guilt in it but it is as true that every sin doth not lay a like load and burthen upon the conscience nor is every sin equally hainous in the sight of God but is very much varied by the circumstances of it both by the circumstances of the fact and of the persons that commit it Some sins do more Vastare onerare conscientiam and consequently a Christian finds it an harder matter to persuade himself that God will forgive him than others and hence it is not at all to be wondered that when God cometh to call home such a Soul a Manasses a Saul a Mary Magdalen c. He makes them to feel more of his power and terrors and keeps them at a longer distance from any apprehensions of his love they have more highly provoked him and possibly been a more eminent scandal and it is but a righteous thing with God to make them feel the smart of it 3. A third thing which may make this variety of God Providential dealings appear unto us not unreasonable may be The design which God hath upon such a converted Soul and that either with respect unto others or with respect to the carrying on of his work in his own Soul 1. With respect unto others when God hath a design to make some Soul eminently useful to the Souls of others The Apostle tells us Heb. 2.18 That Christ was himself tempted that he might be able to succour those that are tempted
it can hardly be expected that they should ordinarily be freed from that natural incumbrance by special and eminent assistances of Divine grace 2. In the second place Mens different sinnings may make this also appear but a reasonable motion of Providence It is true it is a dreadful punishment of sin for God to punish the sins of people by suffering them to be led into temptation It is a dreadful curse or imprecation of David upon the enemies of the Church Psal 109.6 Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand God doth thus often punish peoples sins by letting Satan loose upon them the effects of this are sad enough none need a greater evil than to have Satan always at his right hand assiduously and violently moving him unto evil and though it be not so ordinary yet God may thus punish his own people Satan was at David's right hand when he would number the people St. Paul had a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him what that messenger of Satan was is not so easie to determine it was certainly some great affliction in which Satan had a particular ministery 2 Cor. 12.7 Some Divines do think it was some great temptation indeed the Scripture doth not mention it as the punishment of Paul's sin but as preventive of sin lest saith he I should be exalted above measure Undoubtedly temptations may be punishments of sin and in those desperate temptations to self-murther c. which have prevailed against men the sin hath been often made evident and possibly as to St. Paul God might discern Paul's heart begin to swell upon occasion of his Revelations and might send him a messenger of Satan to buffet him as well for the beginnings of the workings of Pride which he had discerned in him as to prevent the further increases of it It is not so easie to determine what Davids sin was but in probability it was pride Davids heart was lifted up upon the view of the great number of people which God had put under his Government God letteth loose Satan upon him he moveth David to number the people by which he knew God would be sufficiently provoked to abate that wherein he glory'd The case was much the same with Hezekiah though we do not read of so eminent and immediate a ministry of Satan The Text saith God left him it was in the pride of Hezekiahs heart that he would shew his Treasure to the King of Babylon God leaves him the temptation prevails upon him This by the way doth not only let us see that God sometimes by temptations punisheth his own people for their sin but that pride and swelling of our hearts upon the account of our enjoyments is one of those sins for which God suffereth Satan to stand at our right hand Guriosity is another sin an itch after knowledg which God hath hidden from us It is a sad story how many have been thus catched in the snare of the Devil indeed our first Mother Eve was thus catched but this were too large a Theme to instance in all those particular sins which God hath thus punished or may thus punish Now in regard that the sins of all Gods people are not equal but they may fall some of them into more great and hainous sins than others It is but a reasonable motion of Divine Providence that such as do so should be more troubled with Satan at their right hand with messengers of Satan sent to buffet them than others 3. A third reasonable account of this may be Gods Prerogative God may do it for the trial of their graces I know not what other account we can give than this of Gods dispensations to Job God himself gives thus this account of him then he was a just and upright man Yet he giveth Satan leave to stand at his right hand he tells him all that he had was in his power but only his life It is said that God left Hezekiah to try what was in his heart to try that he might know all that was in his heart Divines dispute about that Pronoun He whether it referreth unto God or to Hezekiah 2 Chron. 32.31 The matter I do not conceive much whether it referreth to one or to the other That God might know what was in his heart Did not then you will say God know what was in the heart of Hezekiah Doubtless he to whom all contingencies were naked who knew all things past present and to come could not be ignorant what was in Hezekiah's heart and what he would do when he left him But the Scripture often speaketh of God after the manner of men they know not secret hidden things till they be brought to demonstration God left him that he might know that is that he might in matter of fact see what was in his heart This could be no matter of pleasure and delight to the Holy God but only a just medium in order to the punishment which he intended Israel in the posterity of that good man But God leaveth many of the Souls of his People that they may be tempted and in the hour of their temptation put forth exert and exercise their grace in the exercise of which the Lord hath a great deal of pleasure and delight This seemeth to be the case of Job the second time that you read Job 1. of Satans appearance before God God glorieth in Job Job 2.3 Hast thou saith he considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the Earth a perfect and upright man one that feareth God and escheweth evil and still he holdeth fast his integrity although thou movedst me against him to destroy him without cause Job 2.3 God delights in the combates of his People where they come off conquerors yea more than Conquerors I remember those two great Commanders Joab and Abner once said Let the young men arise and play before us that was a bloody game for they mutually kill'd each other so were the Romans Gladiators games and the combates with wild Beasts to which they exposed some miserable Creatures yet those men of blood took a pleasure in them God knoweth the good fight shall have no such issue Christ was not tempted for nothing the Apostle telleth us he was therefore tempted that he might be able to succour them that were tempted himself told Peter that although Satan had desired to winnow him like Wheat yet he had prayed that his faith might not fail This being secured God delighted to see Satan and a believing Soul play before him to see his People exercising their knowledg faith love patience courage and fortitude in resisting Satans temptations and making him to flee from them Now who can deny unto God the satisfaction and pleasure which he taketh in the exercise of those habits of grace which he hath given them The use of that Spiritual armour which he hath armed them with 4. Fourthly It is but a reasonable motion of
are humbly and meekly managed there is nothing imaginable of greater advantage to settle and ground the Soul in truth For after them the Soul gives assent to Propositions not as Dictates of others and Traditions of men but because it seeth certain and unmoveable grounds upon which they are bottomed and hears those things made to appear of no value which are objected and can be said to the contrary and so becomes rooted and grounded in the faith as the Apostle speaketh Truth yet never lost in the end by any shaking but hath come out of every field a Conqueror Magna est veritas praevalebit It is great and it will prevail at last Different Apprehensions of Propositions especially when they have been amongst such as truly feared God have ordinarily caused great searchings of the Scripture ventilation of Arguments and tended much to the furtherance of the Faith although at present they have made but ill founds and noises in the Church of God 2. The Wisdom of God is much seen in permitting these Diversities To convince us that The Kingdom of God is not Meat and Drink but Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approveable to Men Rom. 14.17 18. It is a great vanity in men to entail Religion yea and the Kingdom of Heaven too to a particular opinion yet we are so vain as we should most certainly do it if God by his Providence did not so order it that we should see many of whom we cannot say but that they fear God and walk closely with him yea that they are more righteous than our selves of different opinions and judgments from us in some particular things you cannot but observe in the world how fond and zealous some persons are for a particular opinion more than for the great things of Righteousness and Holiness which are certainly the far more weighty things of the Divine Law and how warm and zealous and bitter men are more against their Brethren for their differences from them in some matters of opinion wherein if they sin yet their sins proceed from meer infirmity and the weakness of their understandings must be sins of the least magnitude for it is not in the power of man to believe what he will than against those that are open and notorious transgressors of the Law of God in things as to which every man is condemned by his own Conscience 3. Thirdly The Wisdom of God is much seen in the permission of these different apprehensions in the Souls of his own People In his thus directing us to the exercise of charity We use to say That Precepts lead us to Duty but Examples draw us There is no duty more pressed upon us in Scripture than the duty of Charity and Brotherly Love nor any to which our hearts prejudiced by Pride Envy and Lust are more awke the heart of man naturally seeks some higher ground on which he may stand and triumph over his Neighbour and be able to say in this or that thing I am better and God! I thank thee I am not as others are amongst other things it sometimes finds an Opinion which it Christens with the name of Orthodox Catholick Truth and this shall distinguish him all that dissents from him shall be Hereticks or Schismaticks or Ignorant Persons he and his party onely shall make up the Catholick Church others know not the Law if you will believe him and are accursed Now though this may prevail very far with men of Carnal Principles and Designs yet when Gods People see that those who differ in some particular opinions from them yet walk so as they dare not but say God hath loved and accepted them this overcometh their hearts into their duty Should not say they we love those whom our Heavenly Father loveth Who are Sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus Christ as well as we Justified by the Grace of God and Sanctified through the Holy Spirit even as we It were an easie thing to assign many other things wherein the Wisdom of God is apparent in this permission of different Apprehensions of Truth in the Souls of his own People as to shew us our weakness and the imperfection of our state and what need we have to be daily flying to him to teach us and to guide us c. But this is sufficient both to have given you a reasonable account of the thing it self and also of the motion of Divine Providence in the permission and allowance of it I shall now shut up this whole Discourse with a few words more for the practical Application of my whole Discourse upon these five last Questions which to shorten my Discourse I have handled together The sum of my whole Discourse is this That God according to his infinite Wisdom never did nor yet doth unto the Souls of his own People dispense out equal measures of Grace 1. Strengthening them to Spiritual Duty Nor 2. Quickening them in the performance of it 3. Nor Comforting and refreshing their Souls with the sensible consolations of his spirit 4. Nor causing them all alike to grow nor giving them equal degrees of light to discern the truth of Propositions of Truth and then that these motions of Divine Providence are exceeding reasonable and God in them is infinitely wise and just the evidencing of this hath been all my Work Which I have done from several Topicks My whole Application shall be reduced to two Heads shewing you how useful this Discourse may be for the promoting of 1. Charity towards men 2. Of Piety towards God The later is indeed first in excellency I have put it in the last place because I intend my largest Discourse upon it and with it to shut up this whole Discourse concerning Actual Providence ' This whole Discourse must certainly teach us Charity towards men and that particularly toward such as we discern Vse 1 1. Weak unto their spiritual duty 2. More dull and heavy in the performance of it 3. Sad and dejected 4. Not growing so fast in the wayes of God as others 5. That dissent from our selves in some matters opinions that are not fundamental Towards all these we had need of an Exhortation to Charity Censoriousness and Judging are things that are too natural to us and to which we are too prone We judge others and in the mean time forget to judge our selves All this is indeed rooted in a Natural Pride We would fain find something in which we excel others for that onely will be matter of boasting and glory to us but this Discourse may learn us Charity The general argument arising from this Discourse is the same which the Apostle maketh use of in Rom. 14. v. 3. v. 1. He commandeth us to receive those that are weak in the faith though with prudence and caution not to doubtful disputations His argument is in the latter part of the third verse For God hath received
life and peace A carnal mind doth not onely bring a Soul to eternal death in the last issue of it but it puts a great death upon his Life and Peace I mean his Spiritual Life and Peace It is impossible that the Soul that is intangled in the businesses of the World in a more than ordinary manner should find his Soul either so free for or so strong in the performances of spiritual duty as that Soul who hath less of the cares and business or concerns of the world upon it The Soul of a Man is not infinite in its powers and cannot be with equal degrees of intention employed upon two different much less contrary things While we are in the world we must be conversing with the men of the world and handling the things of the world we must else as the Apostle speaks in the case of converse with sinners Go out of the world but the less the Soul is ingaged in them the less the Heart is set upon them and its intention and affections taken up with them therefore it will be more free as to its spiritual business and stronger in the performance of it Let every one therefore learn that excellent lesson of the Apostle 1 Cor. 7.29 30. Let those that have Wives be as though they had none and they that weep as though they wept not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as they that possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it 3. Thirdly Be diligent in waiting upon God in the institutions of his publick worship and consciencious in such attendance The Preaching of the Word of God is the great Ordinance of God for perfecting the Saints both as to their number by the work of Conversion and as to their graces by giving out further measures and manifestations of himself to his peoples Souls he createth the fruit of the Lips peace Christians therefore who wait for these influences are concerned to wait upon the Lord in his own way It was Gods ancient promise That wheresoever he recorded his name to dwell there be would meet his people and bless them And considering that although the blessing of Grace doth not depend upon the Instrument let Paul plant and Apollos Water God must give the increase and he that planteth is nothing nor he that watereth any thing yet God dealing with reasonable Souls useth to deal with them in reasonable wayes I do not think it enough for Christians to go to Church and hear Discourses out of Pulpits but to wait upon God under such Preaching of his Word as may appear and approve it self to them as having a rational tendency to the improvements of their Soul in Grace There are kinds of Preaching under which a Christian may sit long enough before he find his Soul quickened or strengthened or improved by them You may remember I gave you that as one reason why some receive more gradual manifestations of Divine Love than others because they have better means than others have or make a better use of means than others do I take a consciencious use of the more external means to lie much in three things 1. In a good election of them 2. In a sincere and diligent attendance upon them 3. In an after repetition of them to our selves and a more private application of them to our own hearts 1. I say first in a good election of them Though Preaching of the Word be the general means yet the Preacher and way of Preaching makes a vast difference in this means and the concurrence of God to all the purposes of Grace is upon experience found to be evidently more where the means appear in the eye of reason more proper If the Preacher ordinarily preacheth not to the understanding and capacity of the hearer or not to the conscience and hearts of hearers but fills up his time with other things impertinent to the Souls Spiritual Duty or wraps up his Duty in such Parables and Mysteries of Phraise and Abstruseness of Notions that the hearer can make nothing of it he can have little hope to profit by it and he will shew little conscience in attendance upon them Our Saviour you know gives this account why he spake to the Scribes and Pharisees and ordinary Jews in Parables but to his Disciples opened those Parables and spake more plainly and intelligibly Mat. 13.13 14. Therefore speak I to them in Parables because they in seeing see not and in hearing bear not neither do they understand and in them is fulfilled the Prophecy of the Prophet Isaias c. but v. 16. Blessed are your Eyes for they see and your Ears for they hear 2. Secondly In a sincere and diligent attendance upon them That Soul which will meet God in his Ordinances must in hearing hear he must go out with a design to meet God and he must hoc agere while he is waiting upon God Our Saviour asks his Disciples when they had been hearing John the Baptist What they went out for to to see It is a question we should all propound to our selves when we go to wait upon God in his Ordinances Now what doth my Soul go out for to do what is its end in this motion God ordinarily meeteth his People according to the sincerity of their designs which indeed maketh their attendances upon God seekings or not seekings of Gods Face 3. It lies in a practical application and whetting the Word hard upon our hearts and consciences This is the digesting of the Word this now is a piece of Holiness of great import to those that seek after the further manifestations of God and higher measures of Grace any growing whether it be in Faith or Love Nor is the Reading andPreaching of the Word onely to be attended but the Holy Sacraments also Baptism which we have generally received in our Infancy to be improved And the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to be conscienciously attended There is a great improvement to be made of Baptism in order to our Spiritual Strength and Vigour I have handled that in a particular Discourse in some of your hearing and must not now enlarge upon it it is our great error that we make no more use of our Baptism than we do The Apostle Rom. 6. draweth great arguments from it to strengthen us unto Holiness The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is called by the Apostle The Communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ The meaning of that I do not understand if it doth not signifie That it is an Ordinance wherein if it be duly and conscienciously attended upon Christ doth communicate the vertue of his death Now I am sure all Christs manifestations to the Souls of his People are a part of that purchase It is true it doth not necessarily work these effects nor is God bound necessarily in this manner to concurre with it he is a free agent in all his effluxes of Divine
kept in order knitted and jointed together and the qualities and affections of one creature may not work to the ruin and prejudice of another and so to the ruin and destruction of the whole And thus I have opened to you my first Conclusion shewing you the Method and order of Gods working in the preservation of his creatures in their beings stations and orders and in upholding the useful qualities of them that they do not waste or decay and the restraining and governing of their opposite qualities that they shall not work according to their natural tendencies and inclinations to destroy the World or spoil the beauty comeliness and order of it Nor do they transgress but upon Gods withdrawing this Providence this ordinary Providence Whence come inundations of Waters infections in the Air strange motions of Celestial bodies in some places as the just and wise God at any time will please to make use of any part of the hosts of his Creatures to execute his Vengeance either upon particular Persons Countries or places But thus much shall serve to have been spoken for the illustration of the first Conclusion The others will respect such creatures as have life and sense I proceed to a second Concl. 2. God preserveth his creatures which have life or life and sense or life sense and reason by a daily providing for them food and nourishment and directing them to their proper food and an ordinary avoiding of what is noxious and destructive to their bodies Of living Creatures there are three orders 1. Such as have nothing but being and life such are Plants and Herbs 2. Such as have not only being and life but also Sense Such are Birds in the Air Beasts and creeping things in the Earth Fishes in the Sea Insects and other creatures that live on the Earth and in the Air which the Birds and Fowls also do 3. Such as have not only being and life and sense but also Reason These are upon the Earth only Men and these only have Bodies All these creatures having life and that in a bodily substance and so being in continual motion are of mutable perishing and decaying beings and the lapses and decays of their Natures must be daily repaired by nourishment to the taking of which they are naturally inclined by the passions of Hunger and Thirst and by this Nourishment all know that all sorts of creatures are preserved and without this they cannot live Now as to this the Providence of God is eminently seen in three things instanced in in this second Conclusion 1. God provideth it for them All Vegetables Trees herbs plants are nourished by heat and moisture The moisture is either the natural fatness of the Earth or the adventitious dew of Heaven or falling of water from thence either in a more fluid form which we call Rain or congealed as Snow and Hail The heat is from the Sun There is a natural moisture in the Earth it is also in part watered from the Springs and fountains of water into it from the contiguity of the waters to it but we see in a time of drought how all these fail The Earth is parched and dry God reneweth its moisture by showers from Heaven by Rain and Snow and Dew c. Moisture alone will feed sew plants if any They must have heat as well as moisture Some and the most must have the beams of the Sun all must have the heat of it diffused through the Air. Now who is he who in the Heavens hath set a Tabernacle for the Sun which as a Bridegroom cometh out of his Chamber and rejoyceth as a strong man to run his Race Is it not Gods Psalm 19.4 5. Our Saviour tells us Matth. 5 He maketh his Sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust The Heathens lay under so much conviction of this that their Poets feigned a Chariot of the Sun which none but their God Phoebus could drive without burning the World For the Rain how plentifully doth the Scripture give unto God the Prerogative of it Hath the rain a father or Who begot the drops of dew Job 38.28 He causeth it to rain upon the earth 26. He giveth rain Jer. 5.24 He maketh lightnings with rain Jer. 10.3 Yea and none but he can do it Jer. 14.22 Are there any amongst the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain or can the Heavens give showers Art not thou he O Lord our God therefore will we wait upon thee for thou hast made all these things Thus the Lord provideth food for vegetables The sensitive Creatures are the Birds and Fowls of the air the beasts and creeping things of the Earth the Fishes of the Sea These live partly upon herbs and plants and the seed grain and fruit of them partly upon each other the greater devouring the lesser God in providing a nourishment for herbs and plants provides a nourishment for the most of them as also by upholding the procreating virtue of some creatures he provideth food for others Man liveth upon the creatures of inferiour order to him partly upon vegetables herbs roots the fruits of plants partly upon sensitive creatures God hath given him a commission to Kill and Eat God provideth food for Man by upholding the budding germinative seed-bearing qualities of plants and the growing vertues of them and by upholding the procreative vertue of birds beasts fishes c. without which those species would fail from the Earth and Man who lives upon them would perish also 2. Secondly The workings of Divine Providence are seen in directing them to their proper food Whence is it that each creature knoweth its proper food and is inclined by its appetite to that only Let me as to these two things shew you how plentifully the Scripture speaketh God takes the glory of this Job 38 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the Lion or fill the appetite for the young Lion V. 39 Who provideth for the Raven his food when his young ones cry unto God when they wander for want of meat Our Saviour telleth us Matt. 6.26 That it is God who feedeth the young Ravens The Psalmist giveth God the glory of this Psalm 104.27 These wait all upon thee that thou maist give them their meat in due season That which thou givest them they gather thou openest their hand they are filled with good These all wait upon thee Who are these the wild asses V. 11 He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run amongst the hills they give drink to every beast of the field the wild asses quench their thirst V. 14 He causeth the grass to grow for the Cattel and herbs for the service of man that he may bring forth food out of the Earth and wine that maketh glad the heart of man and oyl to make his face to shine and bread which strengtheneth mans heart V. 21 The young Lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God V. 30 Thou renewest
the face of the Earth God at first said Let the earth bring forth grass Gen. 1.11 He sendeth the grass of the field Deut. 11.15 He causeth it to grow for the cattel and herb for the service of man He multiplyeth the beasts of the field the birds and fowls of the air He leaveth us not without witness but giveth fruitful times and seasons filling the hearts of men with food and gladness 3. From whence is it but from the influence of God upon his Creatures that Creatures universally and ordinarily avoid the eating of such things as would be noxious to them and many creatures if they be distempered are directed to such things as will cure them But this is enough to have spoken to the second Conclusion 3 Concl. Thirdly God preserveth living Creatures by upholding those faculties in all living creatures upon the operations of which their lives are preserved their species are propagated and they are to propagate their species and to perform those actions which are proper to their several Beings and natures To uphold the Creation as to those things in it which have life there are divers faculties necessary which must be upheld here are four sorts mentioned in the Conclusion Let me speak a little to each of them It will be of excellent use to convince you of the necessity of a Divine influence or Providence upon you every moment 1. The first sort are those By which the Beings the lives and beings of Creatures are preserved and encreased to their due proportion These are those which belong to those principal faculties which the Philosophers calls Facultatem altricem auctricem I will put them together and instance in divers particulars We are craving changeable creatures subject to wasts and decays in our beings and we must have a Nutritive faculty or we could not live The action of this faculty is called Nutrition or Nourishing Now our nourishing depends upon our food the change of our food in our stomachs by the natural heat of our stomachs and this dependeth upon several powers which God hath created in all sensitive creatures in the upholding of which the daily Providence of God is wonderfully experienced although possibly not so wistly observed and considered by us as it ought to be Let me a little awaken you to a due consideration of it by instancing in several Particulars 1. In the first place We have a power a natural power to crave and desire food Without an appetite the creature desires no food can take none though it be set before him but instead of it the very sight of it maketh him sick he loatheth and abhorreth it and calleth to have it taken away out of his sight as we see in daily experience Now I would know by what this faculty is upheld but by the concourse and daily operation of Providence I do not intend to divert here into a Philosophical discourse concerning the causes of a decay of our appetite It is sufficient to tell you that the causes may be various and the variety of the causes which may produce such an effect is sufficient evidence that nothing but the upholding power of Divine Providence can hinder it It is God that must give us our daily food and it is God that must give us a stomach or appetite to it and the causes are so many which may abate and destroy our appetite that did not God daily watch over us and influence us as to this very thing it were an hard thing to conceive how it should keep preserved a few days much less as it is with many to very many years 2. But suppose us to have an appetite to say nothing of our power to take and chew and swallow our food We see by a daily experience if we have not a power to digest it if the natural heat of our stomachs be from any cause abated so as it will not change our food and this continueth upon us for any time and no remedy can be apportioned to it the creature dyeth whether it be man or beast If the nap of the stomach be but worn off our bodies soon appear thredbare we pine away and presently sink into our graves by which we learn that a natural faculty power or ability to digest our food is necessary to the preservation of our beings As I said before of the Appetite so I shall say again of this I intend no discourse of the variety of causes from which such a thing may proceed but the possibility of such a thing and that as an effect of various causes evinceth a necessity of a daily influence of God upon us to uphold this faculty in its vigour and efficacy which ministreth to our nutrition 3. But thirdly suppose our food taken into our bodies concocted and digested in our stomachs that it may nourish the whole body it must be by several vessels and channels distributed to the several parts of the body So as there must be supposed a freedom from obstructions in those passages and an attractive vertue and faculty in the several parts If these passages be any way stopped or the attractive vertue abated the parts are not nourished but decay and wither the creatures being destroyed Of such obstructions we have daily examples and indeed whoso considereth the various passages in our bodies through which that part of our food which proves for nourishment passeth and the variety of obstructions to which we are subject must needs again acknowledg that our Souls must be kept in life our bodies in health meerly by a Divine Power 4. Again What we take into our bodies for our proper food being in part found either not proper for us or in too great a proportion when the stomach hath done its office there is a separation made that not proper for us or in a superfluous proportion for that end must be voided and cast out and a natural faculty to do it must be supposed which if it ceaseth but for a while or the freedom of the passages by which it passeth be obstructed the life of the creature quickly determineth Now whoso considereth the variety of powers and faculties in a living body which must be all upheld and the variety of causes from which they may be incumbred yea and quite destroyed will be forced to acknowledg the incessant influence of Divine Providence in upholding and preserving both the being and well-being of every creature that hath a sensitive life 2. But yet here is not all For in order to our nourishing not only those faculties in the body nourished which I have mentioned must be upheld But also the faculties and vertues in the bodies nourishing by which they are made nourishing to us In all nourishing there must be a body giving the nourishment as well as a body receiving it each of these must have its faculties upheld or there will be no nutrition and consequently no preservation of life Philosophy telleth us that the nourishment