see how their hearts are broken for sin under this severe rebuke Lam. 2. 17 18 19. And then 2. For caution against sin for the time to come it 's plain that the rebukes of Providence leave that effect also upon gracious hearts Ezra 9. 13 14. Psal. 85. 8. Sometimes he cheers and comforts the hearts of his people with smiling and reviving Providences both publick and personal There are times of lifting up as well as casting down by the hand of Providence The Scene changes the aspects of Providence are very cheerful and encouraging their Winter seems to be over they put off their garments of mourning and then Ah what sweet returns are made to heaven by gracious souls Doth God lift them up by prosperity they also will lift up their God by praises See Psal. 18. Title and v. 1 2 3. So Moses and the people with him Exod. 15. when God had delivered them from Pharaoh how do they exalt him in a song of thanksgiving which for the elegancy and spirituality of it is made an Emblem of the doxologies given to God in glory by the Saints Rev. 15. 3. Upon the whole whatever effects our Communion with God in any of his Ordinances doth use to produce upon our hearts the same we may observe to follow our conversing with him in his Providences For It is usually found in the experience of all the Saints that in what Ordinance or duty soever they â—ave any sensible communion with God it naturally produces in their spirits a deep abasement and humiliation from the sense of divine condescensions to such vile poor Worms as we are Thus Abraham Gen. 18. 27. I am but dust and ashes The same effect follows our converse with God in his Providences Thus when God had in the way of his Providence prospered Jacob how doth he lay himself at the feet of God as a man overwhelmed with the sense of mercy See Gen. 32. 5 10. And Jacob said I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercJes and of all the truth which thou hast shewed thy servant for with my staff I passed over this Jordan and now am become two bands Thus also it was with David 2 Sam. 7. 18. Who am I and what is my Fathers house that thou hast brought me hitherto And I doubt not but some of you have found the like frame of heart upon you that these holy men here expressed Can you not remember when God lifted you up by Providence how you cast down your selves before him and have been viler in your own eyes than ever Why thus do all gracious hearts What am I that the Lord should do thus and thus for me O that ever so great and holy a God should thus be concerned for so vile and sinful a Worm 2. Doth Communion with God in Ordinances melt the heart into love to God Cant. 2. 3 4 5. Why so doth the observation of his Providences also Never did any man conversâ— with Gods works of Providencâ— aright but fâ—â—nd his heart at some times melted into love to the God of his mercies Psal. 18. 1. compared with the Title When God had delivered him from the hand of Saul and all his Enemies he said I will love thee O Lord my strength Every man loves the mercies of God but a Saint loves the God of his mercies The mercies of God as they are the fewel of a wicked mans lusts so they are fewel to maintain a good mans love to God not that their love to God is grounded upon these external benefits Not thine but thee O Lord is the motto of a gracious soul but yet these things serve to blow up the flame of love to God in their hearts and they find it so Doth Communion with God set the keenest edge upon the soul against sin You see it doth and have a pregnant Instance of it in Moses when he had been with God in the Mount for forty dayes and had there enjoyed communion with him when he came down and saw the Calf the people had made see what an holy paroxysm of zeal and anger it cast his soul into Exod. 32. 19 20. Why the same effect you may discern to follow the Saints converse with God in his Providences What was that which pierced the heart of David with such a deep sense of the evil of his sin which is so abundantly manifested in Psalm 51. throughout Why if you look into the Title you shall find it was the effect of what Nathan had laid before him and if you consult 2 Sam. 12. 7 8 9 10. you shall find it was the goodness of God manifested to him in the several endearing Providences of his life which in this he had so evilly requited the Lord for that broke his heart to pieces in the sense of it and I doubt not but some of us have some times found the like effects by comparing Gods wayes and our own together Doth Communion with the Lord enlarge the heart for obedience and service Surely it is as oyl to the wheels that makes them run of freely and nimbly their course Thus when IsaJah had obtained a special manifestation of God and the Lord askt whom shall I send he presents a ready soul for the employment Isa. 6. 8. Here am I Lord send me Why the very same effect follows sanctified Providences as you may see in Jehosaphat 2 Chron. 17. 5 6. and in David Psal. 116. 12. O when a soul considers what God hath done for him he cannot chuse but say what shall I return how shall I answer these engagements And thus you see what sweet Communion a soul may have with God in the way of his Providences O that you would thus walk with him How much of Heaven might be found on Earth this way And certainly it will never repent the Lord he hath done you good when his mercies produce such effects upon your hearts he will say of every savour thus improved It was well bestowed and will rejoyce over you to do you good for ever Second Motive A Great part of the pleasure and delight of the ChristJan life is made out of the observatJons of Providence It is said Psal. 111. 2. The works of the Lord are great sought out of all them that have pleasure therein i. e. the study of Providence is so sweet and pleasant that it invites and allures the soul to search and dive into it How pleasant is it to a well tempered soul to behold and observe 1. The sweet harmony and consent of divine Attributes in the issues of Providence They may seem sometimes to jarr and clash to part with each other and go contrary wayes but they only seem so to do for in the winding up they alwayes meet and embrace each other Psal. 85. 10. Mercy and Truth have met together Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other It is spoken with an immediate reference to that signal Providence of Israels deliverance out of the
be negligent you cannot be innocent And yet Be not so intent upon your particular Callings as to make them interfere with your general Calling Beware you lose not your God in the Crowd and hurry of Earthly business Mind that solemn warning 1 Tim. 6. 9. But they that will be rich fall into TemptatJon and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destructJon and perditJon The inhabitants of O Enoc a dry Island near Athens bestowed much labour to draw in a River to water it and make it fruitful but when the Sluces were opened the waters slowed so abundantly that it overflowed the Island and drowned the Inhabitants The application is obvious It was an excellent saying of Seneca rebus non me trado sed commodo I don't give but lend my self to business Remember alwayes the success of your Callings and earthly Imployments is by Divine blessing not humane diligence alone Deut. 8. 18. Thou shalt remember the Lord they God for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth The Devil himself was so far Orthodox as to acknowledge it Job 1. 10 Hast not Thou made an hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side Thou hast blessed the work of his hand c. Recommend therefore your affairs to God by prayer according to Psal. 37. 4 5. Delight thy self also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart Commit thy way unto the Lord trust also in him and he shall bring it to pass And touch not with that which you cannot recommend to God by Prayer for a blessing Be well satisfied in that Station and Imployment in which Providence hath placed you and do not so much as wish your selves in another 1 Cor. 7. 20. Let every man abide in the same Calling wherein he was called Providence is wiser than you and you may be confident hath suited all things better to your Eternal good than you could do had you been left to your own option The Sixth Performance of Providence VI. THus you see the care Providence hath had over you in your youth in respect of that Civil Imployment to which it guided us in those dayes We will in the next place consider it as our Guide and the Orderer of our RelatJons for us That Providence hath a special hand in this matter is evident both from Scripture assertions and the acknowledgements of holy men who in that great concernment of their lives have still owned and acknowledged the directing hand of Providence Take an instance of both The Scripture plainly asserts the dominion of Providence over this affair in Prov. 19. 14. A prudent Wife is from the Lord and Prov. 18. 22. Who 's findeth a Wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord. So for Children see Psal. 127. 3. Lo Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the Womb is his reward And it hath ever been the practice of holy men to seek the Lord for direction and counsel when they have been upon the change of their condition No doubt but Abraham's encouragement in that case was the fruit of prayer Gen. 24. 7. His pious servant also who was imployed in that affair did both earnestly seek counsel of God Gen 24. 12. and thankfully acknowledge his gracious Providence in guiding it Ver. 26 27. The same we may observe in Children the fruit of marriage 1 Sam. 1. 20. Luke 1. 13 14. Now the Providence of God may be divers wayes displayed for the engaging of our hearts in love to the God of our mercies 1. There is very much of Providence seen in appointing the Parties each for other In this the Lord goes oftentimes beyond our thoughts and projections yea and oftentimes crosses mens desires and designs to their great advantage Not what they fancy but what his infinite wisdom judges best and most beneficial for them takes place Hence it is that probabilities are so often dashed and things remote and utterly improbable are brought about in very strange and unaccountable methods of Providence 2. There is much of Providence seen in the harmony and agreeableness of tempers and dispositions from whence a very great part of the tranquillity and comforts of our lives results or at least though natural tempers and educations did not so much harmonize before yet they do so after they come under the Ordinance of God Gen. 2. 24. They two shall be one flesh not one only in respect of Gods institutJon but one in respect of love and affectJon that those who so lately were meer strangers to each other are now endeared to a degree beyond the nearest relations in blood Vbi supra For this cause shall a man leave Father and Mother and shall cleave to his Wife and they two shall be one flesh 3. But especially Providence is remarkable in making one instrumental to the eternal good of the other I Cor. 7. 16. How knowest thou O Wife but thou maist save thy Husband or how knowest thou O Man whether thou shalt save thy Wife Hence is that grave Exhortation to the Wives of unbelieving Husbands 1 Pet. 3. 1. to win them by their conversation which should be to them in stead of an ordinance Or if both be gracious then what singular assistance and mutual help is hereby gained to the furtherance of their Eternal good Whilst they live together as Heirs of the grace of life I Pet. 3. 7. O blessed Providence that directed such into so intimate relation on Earth who shall inherit together the common SalvatJon in Heaven 4. How much of Providence is seen in Children the fruit of MarrJage To have any Posterity in the Earth and not be left altogether as a dry tree To have comfort and joy in them is a special Providence importing a special mercy to us To have the breaches made upon our Families repaired is a Providence to be owned with a thankful heart When God shall say to a man as he speaks in another case to the Church Isa. 49. 20. The Children which thou shalt have after thou hast lost the other shall say again in thine ears the place is too strait for me c And these Providences will appear more affectingly sweet and lovely to you if you but compare its allotments to you with what it hath allotted to many others in the world For do but look abroad and you shall find 1. Multitudes unequally yoked to the imbittering of their lives whose Relations are clogs and hinderances both in Temporals and Spirituals Yea we find an account in Scripture of gracious persons a great part of whose comfort in this world hath been split upon this Rock Abigail was a discreet and vertuous Wâ—man but very unsuitably matched to a churlish Nabal see 1 Sam. 25. 25. What a temptation to the neglect of a known duty prevail'd upon the renowned Moses by the means of Zipporah his
friends as Paul did among the CorinthJans and all this to keep down the swelling of their spirits at the sense of those excellencies that are in them The design of these Providences being nothing else but to hide pride from man Yea it deserves a special remarque that when some good men have been engaged in a publick and eminent work and have therein it may be too much sought their own applause God hath withheld usual assistance at such times from them and caused them to salter so in their work that they have come off with shame and pity at such times how ready and presential soever they have been at other times It were easie to give divers remarkable examples to confirm this Observation But I pass on 5. The corruption of the heart shews it self in raising up great expectations to our selves from the Creature and projecting abundance of felicity and contentment from some promising and hopeful enjoyments we have in the world This we find to have been the case of holy Job in the dayes of his prosperity Job 28. 19. Then I said I shall dye in my nest I shall multiply my dayes as the sand But how soon were all these expectaâ—ions dasht by a gloomy Providence that benighted him in the Noon-tide of his prosperity and all this for his good to take off his heart more fully from creature expectations We often find the best men to over-reckon themselves in worldly things and over-act their confidences about them They that have great and well-grounded expectations from Heaven may have too great and ungrounded expectations from the Earth But when it is so it 's very usual for Providence to undermine their Earthly hopes and convince them by experience how vain they are Thus Haggai 1. 9. the peoples hearts were intently set upon prosperous Providences full Harvests and great Increase whilst in the mean while no regard was had to the Worship of God and the things of his House therefore Providence blasts their hopes and brings them to little 6. Corruption discovers it self in dependance upon Creature comforts and sensible props Oh how apt are the best men to lean upon these things and stay themselves upon them Thus did Israel stay themselves upon Egypt as a feeble man would lean upon his staff but God suffered it both to fail them and wound them Ezek. 29. 6 7 8. So for single persons how apt are they to depend upon their sensible supports Thus we lean on our Relations and the inward thoughts of our hearts are that they shall be to us so many springs of comfort to refresh us throughout our lives but God will shew us by his Providence our mistake and error in these things Thus an Husband is smitten to draw the soul of a Wife nearer to God in dependence upon him 1 Tim. 5. 5. So for Children we are apt to say of this or that Child as Lamech of Noah Gen. 5 29. This same shall comfort us but the wind passes over these slowers and they are withered to teach us that our happiness is not bound up in these enjoyments So for our Estates when the world smiles upon us and we have got a warm nest how do we prophesie of rest and peace in those acquisitions minding with good Baruch great things for our selves but Providence by a particular or general calamity over-turns our projects as Jer. 45. 4 5. and all this to reduce our hearts from the Creature to God our only rest 7. Corruption discovers its strength in good men by their adherence to things below and lothness to go hence This often proceeds from the engaging enjoyments and pleasant fruitions we have here below Providence mortiâ—ies this inclination in the Saints 1. By killing those ensnaring comforts before-hand making all or most of our pleasant things to dye before us 2. By imbittering this world to us by the troubles of it 3. By making life undesirable through the pains and infirmities we feel in the body and so loosing our root in order to our more easie fall by the fatal stroke And thus I have finished the Second General Head but before I pass from this I cannot but make a pause and desire you with me to stand in an holy amazement and wonder at the dealings of God with such poor worms as we are Surely God deals familiarly with men his condescensions to his own clay are astonishing All that I shall note at present about it shall be under these three heads wherein I find the matter of my present meditations summed up by the Psalmist Psal. 144. 3. Lord what is man that thou tâ—kest knowledge of him or the son of man that thou makest account of him And in this Scripture you have represented The immense and transcendent goodness of God who is infinitely above us and all our thoughts Job 11. 7 8 9. Canst thou by searching find out God canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection It is as high as Heaven what canst thou do deeper than Hell what canst thou know The measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea 2 Chron. 2. 6. The Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him Exod. 15. 11. He is glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders When the Scripture speaks of him comparatively see how it expresses his greatness Isa. 40. 15 16 17. Behold the Nations are as the drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance behold he taketh up the Isles as a very little thing And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn nor the Beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering All Nations before him are as nothing and they are accounted to him less than nothing and vanity When the holJest men have addrest themselves to him see with what humility and deep adoratJon they have spoken of him and to him Isa. 6. 5. Wo is me for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for mine eyes have seen the King the Lord of Hosts Nay what aspects the very Angels of Heaven have of that glorJous Majesty you may see Ver. 2 3. Each one had six wings with twain â—e covered his face and with twain he covered his feet and with twain be did fly And one cryed unto another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his glory The baseness vileness and utter unworthiness of Man yea the holiest and best of men before God Psal. 39. 5. Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Every man take where you will and every man in his best estate or standing in his freshest glory is not only vanity but altogether vanity Col Adam col Hebel every man â—s every vanity For do but consider the best of men in their ExtractJon in their ConstitutJon and in their outward ConditJon 1. In their ExtractJon Eph. 2. 3. By nature Children of wrath
vulgar that will enable them to penetrate the Mysteries and relish the sweetness of Providence better than others for doubtless many that live immediately upon Providence for daily bread do thereby gain a nearer acquaintance with it than those whose outward enjoyments flow to them in a more plentiful and stated course but those that excel in grace and experience those that walk and converse with God in all his dispensations towards them these are the persons who are most fully and immediately capable of these high pleasures of the Christian life The daily flow and increase whereof in your Lordships Noble Person and Family is the hearty desire of From my Study at Dartmouth Aug. 10. 1677. Your Lordships most humble servant JOHN FLAVELL To the ingenuous Readers those especially that are the heedful Observers of the wayes of PROVIDENCE Reader THERE are two wayes whereby the blessed God condescends to manifest himself to men His Word and his Works Of the written Word we must say No words like these were ever written since the beginning of Time which can as one speaks take life and root in the Soul yea doth it as really as the seed doth in the ground and are fitted to be engraffed and naturalized there so as no coalition in nature can be more real than this James 1. 21. This is the most transcendent and glorious medJum of manifestation God hath magnifJed his word above all his name Psal. 138. 2. However the manifestations of God by his Works whether of CreatJon or Providence have their value and glory but the prime glory and excellency of his ProvidentJal works consists in this that they are the very fulfillings and real accomplishments of his written word By a wise and heedful attendance hereunto we might learn that excellent Art which is not unfitly called by some ScJentJa architectonica an Art to clear the Mysterious occurrences of Providence by reducing them to the written word and there lodge them as Effects in their proper Causes And doubtless this is one of the rarest essayes men could pursue against Atheism to shew not only how Providences concurr in a most obvious tendency to confirm this great Conclusion Thy word is Truth but how it sometimes extorts also the confession of a God and the truth of his Word from those very tongues which have boldly denyed it Aeschyles the PersJan relating their discomfâ—ture by the GrecJan Army makes this not able observation When the GrecJan Forces hotly pursued us saith he and we must needs venture over the great water Strymon then frozen but beginning to thaw when a hundred to one we had all dyed for it with mine eyes I then saw many of those Gallants whom I had heard before so boldly maintain there was no God every one upon their knees with eyes and hands lifted up begging hard for help and mercy and entreating that the Ice might hold till they got over Many thousand seals hath Providence forced the very Enemies of God to set to his Truths which greatly tends to our confirmation therein but especially to see how the Word and Providences of God do enlighten each other and how the Scriptures contain all those Events both great and small which are disposed by Providence in their seasons And how not only the Promises of the Word are in the general faithfully fulfilled to the Church in all her Exigences and Distresses but in particular to every member of it they being all furnished by Providence with multitudes of Experiences to this use and end O how useful are such observations And as the profit and use so the delight and pleasure resulting from the observations of Providence is exceeding great It will doubtless be a part of our entertainment in Heaven to view with transporting delight how the designs and methods were laid to bring us thither and what will be a part of our blessedness in Heaven may well be allowed to have a prime ingrediency into our Heaven upon Earth To search for pleasure among the due Observations of Providence is to search for water in the Ocean for Providence doth not only ultimately design to bring you to Heaven but as intermediate thereunto to bring by this means much of Heaven into your souls in the way thither How great a pleasure is it to discern how the most wise God is providentially steering all to the Port of his own Praise and his peoples Happiness whilst the whole world is busily employed in managing the Sails and tugging at the Oars with a quite opposite design and purpose To see how they promote his design by opposing it and fulfil his will by resisting it enlarge his Church by scattering it and make their rest to come the more sweet to their souls by makeing their condition so restless in the world This is pleasant to observe in general But to record and note its particular designs upon our selves with what profound wisdom infinite tenderness and incessant vigilancy it hath managed all that concerns us from first to last is ravishing and transporting O what an History might we compile of our own Experiences whilst with a melting heart me trace the footsteps of Providence all along the way it hath led us to this day and set our Remarques upon its more eminent performances for us in the several Stages of our Life Here it prevented and there it delivered Here it directed and there it corrected In this it grJeved and in that it relJeved Here was the Poison and there the Antidote This Providence raised a dismal Cloud and that dispelled it again This straitned and that enlarged Here a want and there a supply This Relation withered and that springing up in its room Words cannot express the high delights and gratifications a gracious heart may â—ind in such employment as this O what a world of rarities are to be found in Providence The blind heedless world makes nothing of them they cannot find one sweet bit where a gracious soul would make a rich feast Plutarch relates very exactly how Timoleon was miraculously delivered from the conspiracy of two Murderers by their meeting in the very nick of time a certain person who to revenge the death of his Father killed one of them just as they were ready to give Timoleon the fatal blow though he knew nothing of the business and so Timoleon escaped the danger And what did this wonderful work of Providence think you yield the Relator Why though he were one of the most learned and ingenious among the Heathen Sages yet all he made of it was only this The Spectators saith he wondered greatly at the Artifice and contrivance which Fortune uses This is all he could see in it Had a spiritual and wise Christian had the dissecting and Anatomizing of such a work of Providence what glory would it have yielded to God! What comfort and encouragement to the Soul The Bee makes a sweeter meal upon one single flower than the Ox doth upon the whole Meadow
they design to cross it Seventh Demand If these things be contingent How is it that they fall out in such remarkable nicks and junctures of time which makes them so greatly observable to all that consider them We find a multitude of Providences so timed to a minute that had they fallen out never so little sooner or later they had signified but little what now they do Certainly it cannot be casualty but counsel that so exactly nicks the opportunity Contingenâ—â—â— keep to no Rules How remarkable to this purpose was the tidings brought to Saul that the Philistines had invaded the Land 1 Sam. 23. 27. just as he was ready to grasp the prey The Angel calls to Abraham and shews him another Sacrifice just when his hand was giving the â—atal stroke to Isaac Gen. 22. 10 11. A Well of water is discovered to Hagar just when she had leâ—t the Child as not able to see its death Gen. 21. 16 19. Rabshakâ—h meets with a blasting Providence hears a rumour that frustrated his design just when ready to give the shock against Jerusalem Isa. 27. 7 8. So when Haman's plot against the Jews was ripe and all things ready for execution On that night could not the King sleep Esth. 6. 1. When the horns are ready to gore Judah immediately Carpenters are prepared to â—ray them away Zech. 1. 18 19 20 21. How remarkable was the relief of Rochell by a Shoal of Fish that came into the Harbour when they were ready to perish with famine such as they never observed before nor after that time Mr. Dod could not go to bed one night but hath a strong impulse to visit though unseasonably a neighbour Gentleman and just as he came he meets him at his door with an halter in his pocket just going to hang himself Dr. Tate and his Wife in the Irish RebellJon flying through the Woods with a Sucking-Child which was just ready to expire the Mother going to rest it upon a Rock puts her hand upon a bottle of warm Milk by which it was preserved A good Woman from whose mouth I received it being driven to a great extremity all supplies failing was exceedingly plunged into unbelieving doubts and fears not seeing whence supplies should come when lo in the nick of time turning some things in a Chest unexpectedly lights upon a piece of Gold which supplied her present wants till God opened another door of supply If these things fall out casually how is it they observe the very nick of time so exactly as that it is become proverbial in Scripture Gen. 22. 14. In the Mount of the Lord it shall be seen Eighth Demand Lastly Were these things casual and contingent how can it be that they should fall out so immediately upon and consonantly to the prayers of the Saints So that in many Providences they are able to discern a very clear answer to their prayers and are sure they have the petitions they asked of him 1 John 5. 15. Thus when the Sea divided it self just upon Israels cry to Heaven Exod. 14. 10. When so signal a victory is given to Asa immediately upon that pathetical cry to Heaven Help us O Lord our God 2 Chron. 14. 11 12. When Ahitophel shall go and hang himself just upon that prayer of distressed David 2 Sam. 15. 31. When Haman shall fall and his plot be broken just upon the Fast kept by Mordecai and Hester Esth. 4. 16. Our own Speed in his History of Britain tells us that Richard the First besieged a Castle with his Army they offered to surrender if he would save their lives he refuses and threatens to hang them all upon this an Arbalaster charged his Bow with a square Arrow making first his prayer to God that he would direct the shot and deliver the Innocent from oppression it struck the King himself whereof he dyed and they were delivered Abraham's servant prayed for success and see how it was answered Gen. 24. 45. Peter was cast into prison and prayer was made for him by the Church and see the event Acts 12. 5 6 7 12. I could easily add to these the wonderful examples of the return of prayers which was observed in Luther and Dr. Winter in Ireland and many more but I judge it needless because most Christians have a stock of experience of their own and are well assured that many of the Providences that befal them are and can be no other than the return of their prayers And now who can be dissatisfied in this point that wisely considers these things Must we not conclude as it is Job 36. 7. He withdraweth not his eye from the Righteous and as 2 Chron. 16. 9. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro through the whole earth to shew himself strong in tho behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him His providences proclaim him to be a God hearing prayers The Second General Head HAving proved That the Concernments of the Saints in this World are certainly conducted by the wisdom and care of special Providence my next work is to shew you In what Affairs and Concerns of theirs the Providence of God doth more especJally appear or what are the most remarkable performances of Providence for them in this world And here I am not led directly by my Text to speak of the most internal and spiritual performances of Providence immediately relating to the souls of his people though they all relate to their souls mediately and eventually but of the more visible and external performances of Providence for them and it is not to be supposed I should touch all these neither they are more than the sands but that which I aim at is to discourse to you some more special and more observable performances of Providence for you And we shall begin at the beginning The first Performance of Providence I. ANd First Let us consider how well Providence hath performed the first work that ever it did for us in our formatJon and protectJon in the womb Certainly this is a very glorious and admirable performance it 's that the Psalmist admires Psal. 139. 15. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curJously wrought in the lower parts of the earth The Womb is so called upon this account because as curious Artists when they have some choice piece in hand perfect it in private and then bring it into the light for all to gaze at so it was here And there are two things admirable in this performance of Providence for us The rare structure and excellent composition of the body I am wonderfully made that word Ruâ—hampti is very full The Vulgar renders it painted as with a needle i. e. richly embroidered with nerves and veins Oh the curious workmanship that is in that one part the eye How hath it forced some to acknowledge a God upon the examination of it Providence when it went about this work had its model or
mentioned Examples and you shall see the blessed work of Conversion begun upon those souls when they minded it no more than Saul did a Kingdom that morning he went out to seek his Fathers Asses 1 Sam 9. 3 20. Providence might truly have said to you in that day as Christ said to Peter John 13. 7. What I do thou knowest not now but hereafter thou shalt know it Gods thoughts are not as our thoughts but as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are his thoughts higher than ours and his wayes than our wayes Little did Zacheus think when he climbed up into the Sycamore-tree to see Christ as he passed that way what a design of mercy Christ had upon him who took thence the occasion of becoming both his Guest and SavJour Luke 19. 5 6 7 8. And as little did some of you think what the aim of Providence was when you went some out of custom others out of curiosity if not worse ends to hear such a Sermon O how stupendious are the wayes of God! What a distinguishing and seasonable mercy was usher'd in by Providence in that day It brought you to the means of salvation in a good hour At that very nick of time when the Angel troubled the Waters you were brought to the Pool to allude to that John 5. 4. Now the accepted day was come the Spirit was in the Ordinance or Providence that converted you and you were set in the way of it It may be you had heard many hundred Sermons before but nothing would stick till now because the hour was not come The Lord did as it were call in the Word for such a man such a woman and Providence said Lord here he is I have brought him before thee There were many others under that Sermon that received no such mercy You your selves had heard many before but not to that advantage as it is said Luke 4. 27. There were many Lepers in Israel in the days of Elizeus but to none of them was the Prophet sent save unto Naaman the SyrJan So there were many poor unconverted souls beside you under the Word that day and it may be to none of them was salvation sent that day but to you O blessed Providence that set you in the way of mercy at that time What a weighty and important mercy was Providentially directed to your souls that day There are mercies of all sizes and kinds in the hands of Providence to dispense to the sons of men its left hand is full of blessings as well as its right It hath health and riches honours and pleasures as well as Christ and Salvation to dispense The world is full of its left hand favours but the blessings of its right hand are invaluably precious and few there be that receive them It doth thousands of kind offices for men but among them all this is the chiefest to lead and direct them to Christ. For consider 1. Of all mercies this comes through most and greatest difficulties Eph. 1. 19 20. 2. This is a spiritual mercy excelling in dignity of nature all others more than gold excels the dirt under your feet Rev. 3. 18. One such gift is worth thousands of other mercies 3. This is a mercy immediately slowing out of the fountain of Gods electing love a mercy never dropt into any but an Elect Vessel 1 Thess. 1. 4 5. 4. This is a mercy that infallibly secures Calvation for as we may argue from Conversion to Election looking back so from Conversion to Salvation looking forward Heb. 6. 9. 5. Lastly This is an Eternal mercy that which will stick by you when Father Mother Wife Children Estate Honours Health and Life shall fail thee John 4. 14. O therefore set a special Mark upon that Providence that set you in the way of this mercy It hath performed that for thee which all the Ministers on Earth and Angels in Heaven could never have performed This is a Mercy that puts weight and value into the smallest Circumstance that relates to it The Fifth Performance of Providence V. THus you hear how instrumental Providence hath been in ordering the Means and Occasions of the greatest Mercies for your souls Let us now take into consideration another excellent Performance of Providence respecting the good of your bodies and souls too in respect of that Imployment and Calling it hath ordered for you in this world for it hath not only an Eye upon your well being in the world to come but upon your well being in this world also and that very much depends upon the Station and Vocation to which it calls you Now the Providence of God with respect to our civil Callings may be displayed very takingly in the following particulars In directing you to a Calling in your Youth and not suffering you to live an idle useless and sinful life as many do who are but burthens to the Earth fruges consumere nati the Wens of the body politick serving only to disfigure and drein it to eat what others earn Sin brought in sweat Gen. 3. 19. but now not to sweat increaseth sin 2 Thess. 3. 12. He that lives idly cannot live honestly as is plainly enough intimated 1 Thess. 4. 11 12. But when God puts men into a lawful Calling wherein the labours of their hands or heads is sufficient for them it is a very valuable mercy for thereby they eat their own bread 2 Thess. 3. 12. Many a sad Temptation is happily prevented and they are ordinarily furnished by it for works of mercy to others and surely it is more blessed to give than to receive In ordering you to such Callings and Imployments in the world as are not only lawful in themselves but most suitable to you There be many persons imployed in sinful Trades and Arts meerly to furnish other mens lusts they do not only sin in their Imployments but their very Imployments are sinful they trade for Hell and are Factors for the Devil DemetrJus and the Crafts-men at Ephesus got their Estates by makeing Shrines for DJana Acts 19. 24 25. i. e. little cases or boxes with folding leaves within which the Image of that Idol sate enshrined These were carried about by the People in Procession in honour of their Idol And at this day how many wicked Arts and Imployments are there invented and multitudes of persons maintained by them meerly to gratifie the pride and wantonness of a debauched age Now to have an honest lawful imployment wherein you do not dishonour God in benefiting your selves is no small mercy But if it be not only lawful in it self but suited to your genJus and strength there is a double mercy in it Some poor Creatures are engaged in Callings that eat up their time and strength and make their lives very uncomfortable to them they have not only spending and wasting Imployments in the world but such as allow them little or no time for their general Calling and yet all this doth but keep them
even as others The blood that â—uns in our veins is as much tainted as theirs in Hell 2. Consider them in their ConstitutJon and â—atural temper and it is no better yea in many a worse temper than in Reprobates and though grace depose sin in them from the Throne yet Oh what offensive and God provoking corruptions daily break out of the best hearts 3. Consider them in their outward ConditJon â—nd they are inferiour for the most part to â—thers 1 Cor. 1. 26 27 28 c. and Matth. 1. 25. I thank thee O Father saith Christ that â—ou hast hid these things from the Wise and Prudent â—nd hast revealed them unto Babes And now let us consider and admire that ever his great and blessed God should be so much â—â—ncerned as you have heard he is in all his Proâ—â—dences about such vile despicable Worms as â—â—e are He needs us not but is perfectly blessed â—nd happy in himself without us We can add â—othing to him Job 22. 2. Can a man be profitable God No the holiest of men add nothing to him yet see how great account he makes of us For Doth not his eternal electing love bespeak the dear account he made of us Eph. 1. 4 5. How ancient how free and how astonishing is this act of grace This is that design which all Providences are in pursuit of and will not rest till they have executed Doth not the gift of his only Son out of his bosome speak this truth That God makes great account of this vile thing Man Never was man so magnified before If David could say Psal. 8. â— When I consider the Heavens the work of thy hands the Moon and Stars which thou hast ordained Lord what is man How much more may we say when we consider thy Son that lay in thy bosome his infinite excellency and unspeakable dearness to thee Lord what is man that such a Christ should be delivered to death for him for him and not for fallen Angels Heb. 2. 16. for him when in a state of enmity with God! Rom. 5. 8. Doth not the assiduity of his Providential care for us speak his esteem of us Isa. 27. 3. 〈◊〉 any hurt it I will keep it night and day Hâ— withdraweth not his eye from the righteous Job 36. 7. no not a moment all their dayes for did he so a thousand mischiefs in that moment woulâ— rush in upon him and ruine him Doth not the tenderness of his Providencâ— speak his esteem of us Isa. 66. 13. as one whom his Mother comforteth so will I comfort you He comforts his viz. by refreshing Providences aâ— an indulgent Mother her tender Child So Isa 31. 5. As birds flying viz. to their nests when their young are in danger so he defends his No 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tenderness in the Creature can shadow forth the tender bowels of the Creator Doth not the variety of the fruits of his Providence speak it Lam. 3. 23. Our mercJes are new every morning See Psal. 40. 5. It is a fountain from which do stream forth spiritual and temporal ordinary and extraordinary publick and personal mercies mercies without number Doth not the ministration of Angels in the Providential Kingdom speak it Heb. 1. ult Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth c. Doth not the Providence which this day calls us to celebrate the memory of bespeak the great account God hath for his people O if not so why had we not been given up as a prey to their teeth See Psal. 124. If the Lord had not been on our side then wicked men there compar'd to fire water wild beasts had devoured us O blessed be God for that teeming Providence that hath already brought forth more than seventy years liberty and peace to the Church of God I shall move in behalf of this Providence that you would do by it as the Jows by their Purim Esth. 9. 27 28. and the rather because we seem now to be as near danger by the same Enemy as ever since that time and if such a mercy as this be forgotten God may say as Judges 10. 13. I will deliver you no more The Third General Head HAving proved the Concernments of the people of God to be conducted by the care of special Providence and given Instances in the ten last named Heads what influence Providence hath upon those Interests and concerns of theirs among the rest we come in the next place to prove it to be the duty of the people of God to reflect upon these performances of Providence for them at all times but especially in times of straits and troubles This I will evidence to be your unquestionable duty by the following particulars This is our duty because God hath expresly commanded it and called his people to make the most serious reflections and animadversions upon his works whether of mercy or judgement So when that dreadfullest of all Judgements was executed upon his professing people for their Apostasie from God and God had removed the Symbols of his presence from among them the rest are bid to go i.e. by their meditations to send at least their thoughts to Shiloh and see what God did to it Jer. 7. 12. So for mercies God calls us to consider and review them Micah 6. 5. Remember O my people from Shittim unto Gilgal that ye may know the faithfulness of the Lord q. d. if you reflect not upon that signal Providence my faithfulness will be covered and your unfaithfulness discovered So for Gods works of Providence about the Creatures we are called to consider them that we may prop up our faith by those considerations for our own supplies Matth. 6. 28. consider the Fowls and Lillies It 's plain that this is our duty because the neglect of it is every where in Scripture condemned as a sin To be of an heedless inobservant temper is very displeasing to God and so much appears by that Scripture Isa. 26. 11. Lord when thy hand is lifted up they will not see Nay it is a sin which God threatens and denounces woe against in his Word Psal. 28. 4 5. and Isa. 5. 12 13. Yea God not only threatens but smites men with visible Judgements for this sin Job 34. 26 27. And for this end and purpose it is that the Holy Ghost hath affixed those notes of attention to the narratives of the works of Providence in Scripture all which do invite and call men to a due and deep observation of them So in that great and celebrated work of Providence in delivering Israel out of EgyptJan bondage you find a note of attentJon twice affixed to it Exod. 3. 2 9. So when that daring Enemy Rabsheka that put HezekJah and all the people into such a consternation was defeated by Providence there is a note of attentJon prefixt to that Providence 2 Kings 19. â— Behold I will send a blast upon him c. So when God glorifies his wisdom and power in delivering his
God hath helped 1 Sam. 7. 12. We never found him wanting to us in any case hitherto this â—s not the first strait we have been in the first time that our hearts and hopes have been low Surely he is the same God now as heretofore his hand is not shortned neither doth his faithfulness â—ail O recount in how great extremities former experience hath taught you not to despair The conjectures Christians may make of the way of Providence towards them from what its former methods have been towards them is exceeding quieting and comfortable It 's usual with Christians to compare times with times and to guess at the issue of one Providence by another The Saints do know what course Providence usually holds and accordingly with great probability collect what they may expect from what in like cases they have formerly observed Christian examine thine own heart and its former observations and thou wilt find as Psal. 89. 30 31 32. that it's usually the way of God to prepare some smart rods to correct thee when either thy heart hath secretly revolted from God and is grown vain careless and sensual or when thy steps have declined and thou hast turned aside to the commission of iniquity And then when those rods have been sanctified to humble reduce and purge thy heart it 's usually observed that those sad Providences are then upon the change and then the Lord changes the voice of his Providence towards thee Jer. 3. 12 13. Go and proclaim these words towards the North and say Return thou backsliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and I will not keep anger for ever Only acknowledge thine iniquity c. If therefore I find the blessed effects of the rod upon me that it hath done its work to break the hard heart and pull down the proud heart and awaken the drowsie heart and quicken the slothful negligent lazy heart now with great probability I may conjecture a more comfortable aspect of Providence will quickly appear the refreshing and reviving time is nigh It is usual with Christians to argue themselves into fresh reviving hopes when the state of things is most forlorn by comparing the Providences of God one with another 1. It is a mighty composing meditation when we compare the Providences of God towards the inanimate and irrational Creatures with his Providences towards us Doth he take care for the very Fowls of the air for whom no man provides as well as those at the door which we daily feed Doth he so clothe the very Grass of the field hear the young Ravens when they cry for meat and can it be supposed he should forget his own people that are of much more value than these 2. Or if we compare the bounty and care that Providence hath expressed to the Enemies of God how it feeds and clothes and protects them even whilst they are fighting against him with his own mercies it cannot but quiet and satisfie us that surely he will not be wanting to that people upon whom he hath set his love to whom he hath given his Son and for whom he hath designed Heaven it self 3. Or Lastly It must needs quiet us when we consider what the Lord did for us in the way of his Providence when we our selves were in the state of nature and enmity against God Did he not then look after us when we knew him not provided for us when we owned him not in any of his mercies bestowed thousands of mercies upon us when we had no title to Christ or any one promise and will he now do less for us since we are reconciled and become his Children Surely such considerations as these cannot but fill the soul with peace and preserve the tranquillity of it under the most distracting Providences The Ninth Motive DVe observations of the wayes of God in his Providences towards us have an excellent usefulness and aptitude to advance and improve Holiness in our hearts and lives For The Holiness of God is manifested to us in all his works of Providence Psal. 145. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works The Instruments used by Providence may be very sinful wicked they may aim at base ends make use of wicked mediums to attain them but it 's certain Gods designs are most pure and all his workings are so too Though he permits limits orders and over-rules many unholy persons and actions yet in all he works like himself and his Holiness is no more defiled and stained by their impurity than the Sun-beams are by the noisome exhalations of a dunghill Deut. 32. 4. He is the rock his work is perfect for all his wayes are judgement a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he So that in all his Providences he sets before us a perfect pattern of holiness that we might be holy in all our wayes as our Father is in all his wayes But this is not all His Providences if duely observed promote Holiness by stopping up our way to sin Oh if men would but note the designs of God in his preventive Providences how useful would it be to keep them upright and holy in their wayes For why is it that the Lord so often hedges up our way with thorns as it is Hosea 2. 6. but that we should not â—ind our paths to sin Why doth he clogg us but to prevent our straying from him 2 Cor. 12. 7. Lest I should be exalted above measure there was given me a thorn in the slesh a messenger of Satan to buffet me O 't is good to attend to these works of God and study the meaning of them Sometimes Providence crosseth a hopeful thriving project to advance our estate and frustrates all our labours and cares Why is this but to hide pride from man Shouldst thou prosper in the world that prosperity might be thy snare and make thee a proud sensual vain â—oul the Lord Jesus sees this and therefore withdraws the food and fuel from thy corruptions It may be thou hast a crazy diseased weak body thou labourest under often infirmities in this the Wisdom and Care of God over thy soul is manifested for wert thou not so clogged how probable is it that much more guilt might be contracted Your poverty doth but clog your pride reproaches clog your ambition want prevents wantonness sickness of body conduces to the prevention of many inward gripes of conscience and groans under guilt The Providences of God may be observed to conduce to our holiness not only by preventing sin that we may not â—all into it but also by purging our sins when we are fallen into them Isa. 27. 9. By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his sin So Dan. 11. 33 34 35. they are of the same use that fire and water are for
been foreseen by us our own projects have come to nothing and that which we never thought on or contrived hath taken place not our choice of the ground or skill in weighing and delivering the Bowl but some unforeseen Providence like a rub in the Green was that which made the cast Second Help Deeply consider the sinfulness and vanity of torturing your own thoughts about the issues of doubtful Providences 1. There is much sin in so doing for all our anxious and solicitous emotions what are they other than the immediate issues and fruits of pride and unbelief There is not a greater discovery of pride in the world than in the contests of our wills with the Will of God It 's a presumptuous invading of Gods Prerogative to dictate to his Providence and prescribe to his Wisdom 2. There is a great deal of vanity in it all the thoughtfulness in the world will not make one hair white or black all our discontents will not prevail with God to call back or as the word may be rendered make void his Word Isa. 31. 2. he is in one mind Job 23. 13. the thoughts of his mind are from everlasting Psal. 33. 11. Third Help Set before you those châ—ice Scripture patterns of sâ—bmission to the Lords Will in as deep yea much deeper points of self-denyal than this before you and shame your selves out of this quarrelling temper with Providence You know what a close tryal that Providence was to Abraham that called him from his native Countrey and Fathers house to go he knew not whither and yet it 's said in Isa. 41. 2. he came to Gods foot as readily obeying his call as a servant when his Master knocks for him with his foot Paul's voyage to Jerusalem had a dismal aspect upon himself he could expect nothing but bonds and prisons as he tells us Acts 20. 23. and a great tryal it was to the Saints who could not tell how to give up such a Minister yet he resigns up his will to Gods Acts 20. 22. and so do they Acts 21. 14. The Will of the Lord be done But far beyond these and all other patterns what an example hath our dear Lord Jesus set before us in the deepest point of self-denyal that ever was in the world When the Father gave the Cup of sufferings into his hands in the garden Mark 14. 36. a cup of wrath the wrath of the great and terrible God and that without mixture the very taste whereof put Nature into an Agony and astonishment a sore amazement a bloody sweat and forced from him that vehement and sad cry Father if it be possible let this cup pass yet still with submission nevertheless not my will but thine be done O blessed pattern of obedience and resignation to the pleasure of God! What is your case to this Fourth Help Study the singular benefits and advantages of a Will resigned up and melted into the Will of God 1. Such a Spirit hath a continual Sabbath within it self the thoughts are established Prov. 16. 3. and truly till a man come to this he doth but too much resemble the Devil who is a restless Spirit secking rest but finding none It was an excellent expression of Luther to one that was much perplexed in his spirit about the doubtful events of some affairs of his that were then depending Dominus tua omnJa facJat tu nihil facJas sed sis Sabbatum Christi i. e. The Lord shall do all for thee and thou shalt do nothing but be the Sabbath of Christ. It is by this means that the Lord gives his beloved sleep Psal. 127. 2. he means not the sleep of the body but of the Spirit Fideles saith One upon that place etsi vitam agant laborJosam composiris tamen tranquillis animis in fidei silentJo se continent ac si dormirent i. e. Though believers live in the midst of many troubles here yet with quiet and composed minds they keep themselves in the silence of faith as though they were asleep 2. Besides it fits a mans spirit for communion with God in all his afflictions and this alleviates and sweetens them beyond any thing in the world 3. And surely a man is never nearer the mercy he desires or the deliverance he expects as One truly observes than when his soul is brought into a submissive temper David was never nearer the Kingdom than when he became as a weaned Child Fifth Help Lastly Think how repugnant an unsubmissive temper is both to your prayers and professions You pray that the Will of God may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and yet when it seems to cross your wills or interests you struggle and fret against it You profess to have committed your souls to his keeping and to leave your eternal concerns in his hands and yet cannot commit things infinitely less valuable unto him How contradictory are these things Your Profession as Christians speaks you to be led by the Spirit but this practice speaks you to follow the perverse counsels of your own spirits O then regret no more dispute no more but lye down meekly at your Fathers feet and say in all cases and at all times the Will of the Lord be done ANd thus I have through the Aid of Providence performed what I designed to speak from this Scripture I acknowledge my performances have been accompanied with much weakness yet have endeavoured to speak of Providence the things that are right Blessed be the Lord who hath thus far assisted and protected me in this work How Providence will dispose of my life liberty and labours for time to come I know not but I cheerfully commit all to him who hath hitherto performed all things for me FINIS Postscript IN consideration of the great and maniâ—old advantages resulting from an humble and heedful observation of Providence I can not but judge it the concernment of Christians that have time and ability for such a work to keep written Memorials or Journals of Providences by them for their own and others use and benefit For want of collecting and communicating such observations not only our selves buâ— the Church of God is damnified and impoverished Some say the Art of Medicine was thus acquired and perfected when any one had met with some rare Physical Herb and accidentally discovered the vertues of it he would post it up in some publick place and so the Physiâ—Jan attained his skill by a Collection of those posted Experiments and Receipts I am not for posting up all that a Christian knows or meets with in his Experience for as I have said before Non est religJo ubi omnJa paâ—ent Religion doth not lay all open but yet there is a prudent humble and seasonable communication of our Experiences and observations of Providence which is exceeding beneficial both to our selves and our brethren If Christians in reading the Scriptures would judiciously collect and record the Providences they shall meet with there