exalted with the King's Favour and that Queen Esther had admitted none to the Banquet with the King but himself but still Mordecai who refused to bow before him was a great Grievance and by the advice of his Friends he built a Gallows Fifty Cubits high and resolved that night to beg of the King That Mordecai might be hanged on it and had he come in time his Petition had been certainly granted but it so happened that that very night the King could not sleep and he called for the Book of the Records of the Chronicles and there they found written That Mordecai had discovered the Treason of two of the King's Chamberlains against him and finding upon enquiry that he had never been rewarded for it he resolved to do him Honour and made Haman who was at the door to beg that Mordecai might be hanged his Minister in doing him Honour This prepared the King to grant Queen Esther's Request and hanged Haman upon the Gallows he had built for Mordecai and preserved the Iews from that Destruction he had designed against them And thus it is almost in all the Remarkable Passages of Providence there is so much appearance of Chance and Accident which has the greatest stroke in some wonderful Events as may satisfie considering men That the world is governed by a Divine Wisdom and Counsel and an Invisible Power and that the immediate and visible Causes have always the least hand in it For can we think otherwise when we see as many visible marks of Wisdom and Goodness and Justice in what we call Chance as in any other acts of Providence Nay when the Wisdom of Providence is principally seen in the government of Fortuitous Events When we see a World wisely made tho we did not see it made yet we conclude That it was not made by Chance but by a Wise Being and by the same reason when we see Accidental Events nay a long incoherent Series of Accidents concur to the producing the most admirable effects we ought to conclude That there is a Wise Invisible Hand which governs Chance which of it self can do nothing wisely When the Lives and Fortunes of Men the Fate of Kingdoms and Empires the Successes of War the Changes of Government are so often determined and brought about by the most visible Accidents when Chance defeats the Wisest Counsels and the Greatest Power when Good men are rewarded and the Church of God preserved by appearing Chances when Bad men are punished by Chance and the very Chance whereby they are punished carries the marks of their sins upon it for which they are punished I say can any man in such cases think that all this is mere Chance when how accidental soever the Means are or appear to be whereby such things are done there is no appearance at all of Chance in the Event but the Changes and Revolutions the Rewards and Punishments of Chance are all as wisely done as if there had been nothing of Chance and Accident in it This is the great security of our lives amidst all the uncertainties of Fortune That Chance it self can't hurt us without a Divine Commission This is a sure foundation of Faith and Hope and Trust in God how calamitous and desperate soever our external condition seems to be that God never wants means to help that he has a thousand unseen ways a whole Army of Accidents and unexpected Events at command to disappoint such designs which no visible Art or Power can disappoint and to save those whom no visible Power can save This is an undeniable Reason for a perpetual Awe and Reverence of God and an entire submission to him and a devout acknowledgment of him in all our ways That we have no Security but in his Providence and Protection for whatever provision we can make against foreseen and foreknown evils we can never provide against Chance that is wholly in God's hands and no human Wit or Strength can withstand it which may abate the Pride and self-confidence of men and teach the Rich and Great and Mighty a Religious Veneration of God who can with so much ease pull down the mighty from their seat and advance those of low degree 3dly The next thing to be explained is God's government of Moral Causes or Free Agents that is the government of men considered as the Instruments of Providence which God makes use of for the accomplishment of his own Wise Counsels Most of the good or evil which happens to us in this world is done by Men if God rewards or if he punishes us usually Men are his Ministers in both to execute his Vengeance or to dispence his Blessings and therefore God must have as Absolute a Government over Mankind of all their Thoughts and Passions and Counsels and Actions as he has of the Powers and Influences of Natural Causes or else he cannot reward and punish when and as he pleases If men could hurt those whom God would bless and reward or could do good to those whom God would punish both good and bad men might be happy or miserable in this world whether God would or not our Fortunes would depend upon the Numbers and Power of our Friends or Enemies upon the good or bad humours and inclinations of those among whom we live and Providence could not help us Now this is the great Difficulty How God can exercise such an Absolute Government over Mankind who are Free Agents without destroying the Liberty and Freedom of their Choice which would destroy the nature of Vertue and Vice of Rewards and Punishments The necessity of allowing this if we will acknowledge a Providence and the plain Testimonies and Examples of this Absolute and Uncontroulable Government which we find in Scripture have made some men deny the Liberty of Human Actions and represent Mankind to be as mere Machines as a Watch or Clock which move as they are moved And then they know not how to bring Religion and the Moral Differences of Good and Evil and the Natural Justice of Rewards and Punishments into their Scheme for nothing of all this can be reconciled with Absolute Necessity and Fate Others to avoid these Difficulties are afraid of attributing too much to Providence or have such confused and perplex'd Notions about it that there are few cases wherein they can securely depend on God But I think this Difficulty will be easily removed if we distinguish between God's government of Men as Reasonable Creatures and Free Agents and his government of them as the Instruments of Providence the first considers them in their own private and natural Capacity the second in relation to the rest of Mankind which makes a great difference in the Reason and in the Acts of Government Man considered in his own nature is a reasonable Creature and free Agent and therefore the proper government of Man consists in giving him Laws that he may know the difference between good and evil what he ought to chuse and what to refuse
and in annexing such rewards and punishments to the observation or to the breach of these Laws as may reasonably invite him to obedience and deter him from sin and as this degenerate state requires in laying such external restraints on him and affording him such internal assistances of Grace as the Divine Wisdom sees proportioned to the weakness and corruption of Human Nature and when this is done it becomes God to leave him to his own choice and to reward or punish him as he deserves for a forced Vertue deserves no Reward and a necessity of sinning will reasonably excuse from Punishment The nature of a reasonable Creature of Vertue and Vice of Rewards and Punishments represent it as very becoming the Wisdom and Justice of God to leave every man to the freedom of his own choice to do good or evil to deserve Rewards or Punishments as far as he himself is only concerned in it But when we consider man in Society the case is altered for when the good or evil of their actions extend beyond themselves to do good or hurt to other men the Providence of God becomes concerned either to hinder or to permit and order it as may best serve the Wise Ends of Government as those other men who are like to be the better or the worse for it have deserved well or ill of God Tho God has made man a free Agent yet we must not think that he has made such a Creature as he himself can't govern No man doubts but that God can when he pleases by an Irresistible Power turn mens hearts and chain up their Passions and alter their Counsels the only Question is When it is fit for God to do this And no man can question the fitness of it when the good Government of the world requires it God makes no man good or bad vertuous or vicious by a perpetual and irresistible force for this contradicts the nature of Vertue and Vice which requires a Freedom and Liberty of Choice but God may by a secret and irresistible influence upon mens minds even force them to do that good which they have no inclination to do and restrain them from doing that evil which otherwise they would have done which does not make them Good men but makes them the Instruments of Providence in doing good to men and God who is the Soveraign Lord of all Creatures may when he sees fit press those men if I may so speak to his Service who would not do good upon choice This shows the difference between the Government of Grace and Providence the first has relation to Vertue and Vice to make men good to change their Natures and sinful Inclinations into habits of Vertue and therefore admits of no greater force than what is consistent with the freedom of Choice and the nature of Virtue and Vice but the Government of Providence respects the external Happiness or Misery Rewards or Punishments of Men or Nations and to this purpose God may use what Instruments he pleases and exercise such Authority over Nature or Men as is necessary to accomplish his own Wise Counsels of Mercy or Judgment And it was necessary to premise this distinction because the confounding these two has occasioned great difficulties and mistakes both in the Doctrine of Grace and Providence Let us then now more particularly consider How God governs Mankind so as to make them the Instruments and Ministers of his Providence in the world The Methods of the Divine Wisdom are Infinite and Unsearchable and we must not expectfully to comprehend all the Secrets and Mysteries of God's Government but something we may know of this enough to teach us to reverence God and to trust in him and to vindicate his Providence from the Cavils of Ignorance and Infidelity which is as much as is useful for us to know And I shall reduce what I have to say to Two General Heads 1. The Government of mens Minds of their Wills their Passions and Counsels 2. The Government of their Actions 1. God's Government of the Minds of Men their Wills and Passions and Counsels for these are the great Springs of Action and as free a Principle as the Mind of man is it is not ungovernable it may be governed and that without an Omnipotent Power against its own Byas and without changing its inclinations and what may be done certainly God can do and when it is necessary to the Ends of Providence we may conclude he will do it Let a man be never so much bent upon any Project yet hope or fear some present great advantage or great inconvenience the powerful intercession of Friends a sudden change of circumstances the improbability of success the irreparable mischief of a defeat and a thousand other considerations will divert him from it and how easie is it for God to imprint such thoughts upon mens minds with an irresistible Vigor and Brightness that it shall be no more in their power to do what they had a mind to than to resist all the Charms of Riches and Honours than to leap into the Fire and to chuse Misery and Ruin That thus it is the Scripture assures us 21. Prov. 1. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of waters he turneth it whither soever he will And if the King's heart be in the hand of the Lord we cannot doubt but he hath all other mens hearts in his hand also and can turn and change them as he pleases Thus the Wise man tells us A man's heart deviseth his ways but the Lord directeth his steps 16. Prov. 9. Men consult and advise what to do but after all God steers and directs them which way he pleases for tho there are many devices in a man's heart nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand 19. Prov. 21. Which made the Wise man conclude Mans goings are of the Lord how then shall a man understand his own ways 20. Prov. 24. That is God has such an Absolute Government of the hearts and actions of men when his Providence is concerned in the Event that no man can certainly know what he himself shall chuse and do for God can in an instant alter his mind and make him steer a very different course from what he intended as the Prophet Ieremiah assures us I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps 10. Jer 23. And Solomon tells us something more strange than this The preparation of the heart in man and the answer of the tongue is of the Lord. 16. Prov. 1. or as the Hebrew seems to signifie the preparation of the heart is from man a man premeditates and resolves what he will say but notwithstanding that the answer of the tongue is of the Lord. When he comes to speak he shall say nothing but what God pleases Which sayings must not be expounded to an universal sense that it is always thus but that
are in the World either the Disorders of Nature or the Wickedness of Men By the Disorders of Nature I mean unseasonable Weather Earthquakes excessive Heat or Cold great Droughts or immoderate Rains Thunders Lightnings Storms and Tempests which occasion Famines and Plagues great Sickness or a great Mortality these may very reasonably be attributed to the more immediate Hand of God who directs and governs Nature but besides that in such Cases the visible Corruption of Mankind justifies such Severities how rarely do these happen and how few suffer by them in comparison with those many and constant Evils which the wickedness of men every day bring upon themselves and others For most of the other Evils and Calamities of life are visibly owing to mens Sins Bodily Sickness sharp and painful Distempers which shorten mens lives or make them miserable are the common effects of Intemperance Luxury or Wantonness Children inherit the Diseases of their Parents and come into the World only to cry and die or to struggle some few years in the very Kingdom and Territories of Death and to languish under those mortal Wounds which they received with the first beginnings of life Another great evil is Poverty which many men bring upon themselves by Idleness or Prodigality and some expensive Vices It is not in every man's power by the greatest Prudence and Industry to make himself rich for time and chance happeneth to them all but in ordinary Cases Prudence and Industry joined with a religious regard for God and his Providence will preserve a man from the pressing Wants and Necessities of Poverty Others who do not make themselves poor by their own Sins are many times reduced to great poverty by the Sins of other men by Injustice and Oppression and Violence by the Miseries and Calamities of War which brings a thousand Evils with it which makes many helpless Widows and Orphans deprives men of their Patrons and Benefactors drives others from their plentiful Fortunes to seek their Bread in a strange Land plunders Poor and Rich lays a flourishing Countrey desolate puts a stop to Trade makes Provisions dear and leaves no work for the Poor Some others are reduced to Poverty more immediately by the Providence of God without their own fault Those who have no other support but their daily labour are quickly pinched by a long and Expensive Sickness or by the Infirmities of Age or by the loss of their Eyes or Hands or Legs others are undone by Fire or Shipwrecks or the various Accidents of Trade which the most wary and cautious men cannot escape but besides that there are few of these in comparison with the throngs and crowds of Idle Prodigal Self-made Poor God has made provision for all such Cases that no man shall suffer extreme want by commanding the Rich especially to supply the want of such Poor who are properly God's Poor or the Poor of God's making and commanding this under the penalty of their Eternal Salvation and the forfeiture of their own Estates if they prove unjust and unfaithful Stewards So that though God makes some men poor it is the fault of other men if they suffer want The poverty they suffer is owing to the Providence of God the wants and miseries they suffer are owing to the Sins to the Uncharitableness of Men For though the World be unequally divided of which more presently yet there is enough to supply the wants of all the Creatures that are in it and God never intended that any of his Creatures should want necessaries that one man's plenty and abundance should cause another man to starve And thus it is in most of the other miseries of life it is the sin and the folly of Mankind which makes them miserable which is so obvious to every one who will consider it that I need not expatiate on every particular I believe there is no man but will confess that were all men good and vertuous this World would be a very happy place and if the practice of moral and sociable Vertues would make Mankind happy it is no hard matter to guess what it is that disturbs the Peace and Happiness of the World 2dly Let us now consider how unreasonable it is to reproach the Divine Providence with those Evils and Miseries which Mankind bring upon themselves And laying down this as a Principle that most men make themselves miserable it is very easy to defend and justify the Goodness of Providence For these Evils which men complain of are not justly chargeable upon Providence and therefore are un unreasonable Objection against Providence God does not bring these Evils upon Mankind but men bring them upon themselves Supposing the nature of things and the nature of man to be what they now are and that men lived just as they now do there must be the same Miseries in the World that there now are though there were no Providence Though God did not interpose in the government of the World yet Intemperance Luxury and Lust would destroy mens health Sloth and Prodigality and expensive Vices would make men poor Pride Ambition and Revenge would make Quarrels raise Wars and bring all the Calamities of War upon the World if there were no Providence thus it must be for excessive eating and drinking will oppress Nature and those who will take no honest pains to get Money or will spend what they have upon their lusts must be poor and those who will quarrel and fight must take what follows these evils are not owing to Providence because Providence does not bring them no more than Providence makes men wicked Men make themselves wicked and wickedness makes them miserable and we may as well charge the Providence of God with all the wickedness of men as with those miseries which their own wickedness brings upon them Now since most of those evils which are in the World are not justly chargeable upon Providence the Goodness of God is very visible in those very Evils and Calamities which Mankind suffer For 1. God has in ordinary Cases put it into every man's power to preserve himself from most of the greatest evils and miseries of life even from all those which men bring upon themselves by their own sins What could be done more than this for a reasonable Creature to make it his own choice and to put it into his own power whether he will be happy or miserable God has not only in his Laws but in the nature of things set before us life and death happiness and misery All men see what the visible and natural punishments of Sin are and have a natural aversion to those evils and may avoid them if they will this is a plain proof not only of the Holiness of Providence as I observed before in deterring men from sin by those natural evils which attend it but also of the Goodness of Providence by shewing men a plain and natural method how to avoid the miseries of life and to make themselves easy and
most acquainted with without any certain and periodical returns prove that it is not all Mechanism for Mechanical Motions are fixt and certain and either always the same or regular or uniform in their Changes It is of great use to us to understand this which teaches us what we may expect from God and what we must attribute to him in the government of Nature We must not expect in ordinary Cases that God should reverse the Laws of Nature for us that if we leap into the fire it shall not burn us or into the water it shall not drown us and by the same reason the Providence of God is not concerned to preserve us when we destroy our selves by Intemperance and Lust for God does not work Miracles to deliver men from the evil Effects of their own Wickedness and Folly But all the kind Influences of Heaven which supply our wants and fill our hearts with food and gladness are owing to that good Providence which commands Nature to yield her encrease and those disorders of Nature which afflict the world with Famines and Pestilence and Earthquakes are the effects of God's Anger and Displeasure and are ordered by him for the punishment of a wicked world We must all believe this or confess that we mock God when we bless him for a healthful Air and fruitful Seasons or deprecate his Anger when we see the visible Tokens of his Vengeance in the disorders of Nature For did not God immediately interpose in the government of Nature there would be no reason to beg his Favour or to deprecate his Anger upon these Accounts 2dly Let us consider God's Government of Accidental Causes or what we call Chance and Accident which has a large Empire over human Affairs not that Chance and Accident can do any thing properly speaking for whatever is done has some proper and Natural Causes which does it but what we call Accidental Causes is rather such an Accidental Concurrence of different Causes as produces unexpected and undesigned Effects as when one Man by Accident loses a purse of Gold and another Man walking in the Fields without any such expectation by as great an Accident finds it And how much of the Good or Evil that happens to us in this World is owing to such Undesigned Surprizing Accidental Events every man must know who has made any Observations on his own or other mens Lives and Fortunes The Wise Man observed this long since 9. Eccl. 11. I returned and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all Some unusual and casual Events change the fortunes of men and disappoint the most proper and natural means of Success What should conquer in a Race but Swiftness or win the Battel but strength What should supply mens wants and increase Riches but Wisdom and Understanding in Human affairs What more likely way to gain the Favour of Princes and People than a dextrous and skilful Application and Address And yet the Preacher observed in his days and the observation holds good still that it is not always thus Time and chance some favourable Junctures and unseen Accidents are more Powerfull than all Human Strength or Art or Skill Now what an ill state were Mankind in did not a Wise and Merciful Hand Govern what we call Chance and Fortune How can God Govern the World or Dispose of mens Lives and Fortunes without Governing Chance all unseen unknown and surprizing Events which disappoint the Counsels of the Wise and in a moment unavoidably change the whole scene of Human Affairs Upon what little unexpected things do the Fortunes of Men of Families of whole Kingdoms turn And unless these little unexpected things are Governed by God some of the greatest Changes in the World are exempted from his Care and Providence This is reason enough to believe That if God Governs the World he Governs Chance and Fortune that the most unexpected Events how Casual soever they appear to us are foreseen and ordered by God Such Events as these are the properest Objects of God's Care and Government because they are very great instruments of Providence many times the greatest things are done by them and they are the most visible demonstration of a Superiour Wisdom and Power which Governs the World By these means God disappoints the Wisdom of the Wise and defeats the Power of the Mighty Frustrateth the tokens of the liars and maketh diviners mad turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish 44. Isai. 25. Did Strength and Wisdom always prevail as in a great measure they would were it not for such unseen disappointments Mankind would take less notice of Providence and would have less reason to do it since they would be the more absolute Masters of their own Fortunes a powerful combination of Sinners managed by some crafty Politicians would govern the World But the uncertain turnings and changes of Fortune keep Mankind in awe make the most prosperous and powerful Sinners fear an unseen Vengeance and give security to Good men against unseen Evils which cannot befall them without the order and appointment of God That there are a great many accidental and casual Events which happen to us all and which are of great consequence to the Happiness or Miseries of our Lives all men see and feel that we cannot defend our selves from such unseen Events which we know nothing of till we feel them is as manifest as that there are such Events and what so properly belongs to the Divine Care as that which we our selves can take no care of The Heathens made Fortune a Goddess and attributed the government of all things to Her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereby they only signified the government of Providence in all casual and fortuitous Events and if Providence governs any thing it must govern Chance which governs almost all things else and which none but God can govern As far as Human Prudence and Foresight reaches God expects we should take care of our selves and if we will not he suffers us to reap the fruits of our own Folly but when we cannot take care of our selves we have reason to expect and hope that God will take care of us in other Cases Human Prudence and Industry must concur with the Divine Providence in Matters of Chance and Accident Providence must act alone and do all it self for we know nothing of it so that all the Arguments for Providence do most strongly conclude for God's government of all Casual Events And the Scripture does as expresly attribute all such Events to God as any other Acts of Providence and Government In the Law of Moses when a man killed his Neighbour by accident God is said to deliver him into his hands 21. Exod. 12 13. He that smiteth a man so that he die shall
must be punished then they must allow that God may spare a sinner a great while and then very great sinners may be prosperous a great while and if they repent at last may finally escape the Judgments of God and then the Prosperity of Sinners can never be an Argument against Providence unless they can prescribe to God just how long and no longer he may justly spare sinners It is an easy matter to complain of any thing and to start Difficulties and Objections but it is impossible for the Wit of man to reduce Providence to such a Certainty as these men desire Tho God govern the world by never such fixed and steady Laws we can never see it in external Events so as to be able to assign a reason of all that good and evil which happens to particular men For would they have God reward every good man and punish every wicked man or reward and punish every man for the good and evil that he does There is a great mixture of good or bad in most men that for different reasons they may deserve both Rewards and Punishments and tho God knows when it is fit to reward or punish such men yet it is impossible we should and therefore whether they be rewarded or punished we can give no account of it There is also a great mixture of good and bad in most actions some very bad actions may not deserve Punishment as being the effect of Ignorance or Surprize or such invincible Temptations as Human Nature without an extraordinary measure of Grace cannot conquer and there are a great many good actions which deserve no Reward as being done by Chance besides the intention of the doer or done from a very bad Principle or for very bad ends now we only see the good or evil that is in the action and Human Laws can punish or reward nothing but what is seen but I suppose you will not say that God ought to regard nothing else but the material and visible action and then it may be very Wise and Just in God neither to punish men for very bad actions nor to reward them for very good actions and this is another Uncertainty of Events which men ignorantly complain of Thus some men are guilty of a great many secret sins or do a great many good actions which no man knows of but only God and their own Consciences and when God visibly rewards or punishes men for the secret good or evil they have done the reasons of such rewards or punishments must be unknown to us because the good or evil for which they are rewarded or punished is unknown All these things make the Reasons and Events of Providence very uncertain and unaccountable to us and yet we see there may be very wise Reasons for them which we cannot understand and which no man in his Wits would desire should be understood For would you desire that every sin you commit should be immediately punished without any time to repent without any hope of Mercy Would you have God reward and punish as Human Laws do to consider only what is done without making any allowances for ignorance and surprize or without taking any notice of the Principles or Ends of our actions Would you have a Casement into every man's breast or have all their secret Sins or Vertues written upon their Foreheads that every man may be as perfectly known to all the world as he is to himself If you do not desire this you must be contented to be ignorant of the Reasons of Providence of those good and evil Events which happen to men why God punishes one man and spares or rewards another why he does not punish those whom we judge to deserve Punishment nor reward those whom we think worthy of a Reward God has wise Reasons for all this but we cannot understand them and it is happy for us all that they are not understood This shews how absurd it is for us to demand a Reason and to complain that we cannot give a Reason of all the Events of Providence And I shall only observe this by the way That if men would in other cases take the same course that I have done in this they would quickly perceive how vain and senseless all their Objections against Providence are That is Whatever they object against Providence let them turn the other side of it and try whether that would be better Let them consider how they would have what they call the Defects and Blemishes of Providence rectified and whether it would be more for the wise and happy Government of the World if it were so I dare challenge the greatest Pretenders to Wit and Reason to give any one Instance of this nature to name any one thing which they quarrel at which they know how to mend And if the world be so wisely ordered already that those who complain most can't tell how any thing could be better done it is Ridiculous and Impudent to find fault which are no hard words in such a Cause as this But this is not all I intend merely to shew That this is an Unreasonable Objection against Providence That the Events of it are many times very uncertain hidden and mysterious and such as we cannot give the particular Reasons of but likewise to satisfy you That the Wise Government of Mankind requires it should be so and to represent to you The great and excellent Advantages of it Now I suppose you will all grant That what is most for the Glory of God for the advancement of true Piety and the Restraints of Wickedness is the Wisest way of Governing the World And if you will grant this I doubt not but I shall presently satisfy you That the Wise Government of the World requires secret and hidden Methods of Providence such uncertain and surprizing Events as at least we can give no account of till it comes to its last and concluding Issue 1. For what is there that excites in us a greater Admiration of God than to see great and glorious things brought to pass by a long and winding Labyrinth of surprizing and perplex'd Events which we know nothing of nor whither they tend till we see where they end Mankind never greatly admire what is plain and obvious and every man's thought because there is nothing in it which shews any extraordinary Contrivance But when unexpected Events are brought to pass by unsuspected means and yet designed and directed by a steady and unerring Counsel When great things are done by such means as have no Natural Causality to produce such Effects and therefore can give no notice nor the least suspicion of what is a-doing When our very Fears are turned into Triumphs and that which seemed to threaten us with some great evils is made the Instrument of some great and surprizing Blessings When bad men are ensnared in their own Counsels and fall into the Pit which they have digged for others When God turns their Curses into Blessings
he beget a wicked son his son shall surely dye and if this wicked son beget a just and righteous son he shall live The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him That if the wicked man turn from his wickedness he shall live and if the righteous man turn from his righteousness he shall dye and appeals to them to judge whether this be not equal Yet ye say The way of the Lord is not equal Hear now O house of Israel are not my ways equal are not your ways unequal This plainly proves That all the administrations of Providence are very just and equal and that to attribute any thing to God which contradicts the common Notions of Justice and Righteousness is a very great Reproach to him and is thought so by God himself And therefore when the Prophet Ieremiah complained of the Prosperity of bad men as a great difficulty in Providence he lays this down in the first place as an unshaken Principle That God is very Just and Righteous Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously 12. Jer. 1. This very Complaint That there are great Difficulties in Providence That the ways and judgments of God are unsearchable and past finding out is a plain proof that all mankind expect from God that he should govern the world with great Justice and Equity for otherwise tho such a Providence it self would be a great Difficulty there could be no Difficulties in Providence if God were not by the Holiness and Justice of his own Nature obliged to observe the Eternal and Immutable Laws of Justice and Righteousness in governing the world For upon this supposition What could the unaccountable Difficulties of Providence be Is it that we observe such Events as we know not how to reconcile with the common Rules of Justice And what then This is no Difficulty nor unaccountable if God observes no Rules of Justice in his Government if he act by such an unaccountable Will as has no Law or Rule by such a Will as regards not what we call right and just but makes every thing just it wills The Difficulty and Unsearchableness of Providence consists not in the Rules of Providence but in the Events not in reconciling the Rules of Providence to the common Notions of Justice and Righteousness but in reconciling some Events to the acknowledged Justice and Righteousness of God's Government This is the Atheists Objection against God's governing the world because they think that the world is not justly and wisely governed and tho we can vindicate the Providence of God notwithstanding a great many difficult and unaccountable Events which the Atheists object yet we can never vindicate the Providence of God against Unjust and Arbitrary Rules of Government which the reason of all mankind conclude to be arbitrary and unjust As for Instance Tho we see good men afflicted and wicked men prosperous and it may be can give no particular account why this good man is afflicted and such a wicked man prosperous yet we can vindicate the Wisdom and Justice of Providence notwithstanding this and the Unsearchable Wisdom of God is a good answer to it But should any man turn this into a Rule of Providence That by the Sovereign and Unaccountable Will of God some good men shall be finally miserable and some bad men shall be finally happy this we can never vindicate because it contradicts the common Notions of Justice and Righteousness And tho we cannot always judge of the Righteousness and Justice of a particular Event yet we can judge of the Rules and abstracted Notions of Justice and Righteousness Thus God had often threatned the Iews That he would visit on them not only their own sins but the iniquities of their Fathers which in some cases may be very wise and just of which more hereafter but when by an ignorant or spiteful mistake they turned this into an unjust Proverb which all men acknowledged to be unjust God declared his Abhorrence of it What mean ye that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel saying The fathers have eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge As if Children who had never eaten sowre Grapes themselves should have their teeth set on edge by their Fathers eating them that is that those who had not deserved to be punished for their own sins should yet be punished for their Fathers sins This appears manifestly unjust and God himself rejects it as a Reproach to his Providence And how difficult soever some passages of Providence may be we must own no Rules of Providence which are manifestly unjust Thus it is too certain that much the greatest part of mankind will be finally miserable and this is very reconcilable to the Justice of God if the greatest part of mankind are very wicked and deserve to be miserable But to say That God created the greatest part of mankind nay that he created any one man under the Absolute Decree of Reprobation that he made them to make them miserable can never be justified by the Unaccountable Will and Pleasure of God because it is notoriously unjust if mankind are competent Judges of what is just and unjust The Sum is this That the Providence of God is Unsearchable Incomprehensible Unaccountable is no reason to attribute any thing to God which when reduced into abstracted Notions and general Rules of action is notoriously unjust but the true use of it is to reverence the Judgments of God and not to charge any particular Events of Providence with Injustice merely because we do not understand the reasons of them The general Notions and Rules of Justice are not unaccountable things for we understand very well what they are for Justice is the same thing in God and Men but the unsearchable Wisdom of God can do a great many things wisely and justly which our narrow minds cannot comprehend the Wisdom and Justice of Now this makes Infinite Wisdom a sufficient reason why we should acquiesce in the Wisdom and Justice of Providence notwithstanding such Events as we cannot understand the reasons of But an Unaccountable Will which acts by no Rules of Justice as far as we can understand what Justice means can give no reasonable satisfaction to any man for it is no reason to be satisfied with Providence That God does such things by a Sovereign and Arbitrary Will as the reason of mankind condemns as unjust for this does not answer our Complaints but justifies them This is all the Atheist endeavours to prove and all that he desires should be granted him to confute the belief of a God and a Providence That God does such things
than to command every thing that is Holy and to forbid all kinds and degrees of Wickedness and to encourage the practice of Vertue and to discourage all Wicked practices as much as the Wisdom of Government and the freedom of human Actions will allow That God does all this wherein the Holiness of Government consists I know no man that denies As wicked as Mankind is it is not for want of holy and just and good Laws The law of the Lord is an undefiled law converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure and giveth wisdom unto the simple the statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes The fear of the Lord is clean and endureth for ever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether 19. Psal. 7 8 9. The great complaint is That the Laws of God are too Holy for the Corrupt state of this World and most men think to excuse their Wickedness by the degeneracy of human Nature and the too great Purity and Perfection of the Divine Laws which they have no Ability to perform Now the Holiness of God's Laws are an undeniable Argument of the Holiness of his Providence and Government whether we consider these Laws as a copy of his Nature or a declaration of his Will much more if we consider them both as his Nature and his Will as all Moral Laws which have an eternal and necessary Goodness in them are for the Divine Nature and Will must be the rule and measure of his Providence and Government unless he Govern the World contrary to his own Nature and Will Nay Laws themselves are not only the Rule of Obdience to Subjects but of Government to the Prince and it is universally acknowledged to be as great a miscarriage in a Prince not to Govern by his own Laws as it is in Subjects not to obey them Princes may be guilty of such miscarriages but God can't and therefore the Laws he gives to us are the Rules of his own Providence and then the Holiness of his Laws prove that his Government and Providence must be very Holy And indeed we have very visible and sensible proofs of this in that care he takes to encourage the Practice of Vertue and to discourage Wickedness This he has done by those great Promises which he has made to the Observation of his Laws and by those terrible Threatnings which he has denounc'd against the breach of them both in this World and in the World to come But this is not what I mean for men can despise both Promises and Threatnings if they do not see the Execution of them and the Promises and Threatnings of the other World which are much the most considerable are out of sight and do not so much affect Bad men and that which is most proper for us to consider here is how the external Administrations of Providence encourage Vertue and discourage Wickedness and Vice Now those who believe that all the Miseries that are in the World are the effects or rewards of Sin as all men must do who believe the Scripture nay as all men must do who believe that a Just and Good God governs the World must confess that the Divine Providence has done abundantly enough to discourage Wickedness For it is visible enough how many Miserie 's there are in the World So many and so great as are commonly thought a reproach to Providence but if they be the just recompence of Sin they are only an Argument of the Justice and Holiness of Providence If we believe the Scripture Mortality and Death and consequently all those Infirmities and Decays of Nature all those Pains and Sicknesses and Diseases which are not the effect of our own Sins or which we do not inherit from our more immediate Parents as an entail of their Sins are owing to the Sin of Adam which brought Death upon himself and all his Posterity and such a curse upon the earth as has entail'd Labour and Sorrow on us As for many other Miseries and Calamities of life they are visibly owing to our own or to other mens Sins Such as Want and Poverty Infamy and Reproach Seditions and Tumults violent Changes and Revolutions of Government and all the Miseries and Desolations of War Take a survey in your thoughts of all the several sorts of Miseries which are in the World and tell me what place they could find here by what possible means they could enter into the World were Sin banished out of it What Miseries could disturb Human life were all men Just and Honest and Charitable did they love one another as themselves Perfect Vertue is not only an innocent and harmless but a very beneficial thing it does no hurt but all the good it can both to it self and others and when there is nothing to hurt us neither within nor without we can suffer no hurt And is not this a sufficient proof of the Holiness of Providence that God has so ordered the nature of things and the circumstances of our life in this World that if men will be Wicked they shall be Miserable Can any thing in this World more discourage men from Sin or make them more zealous to reform themselves and the rest of Mankind than so many daily and sensible proofs that there is no expectation of a secure state of rest and happiness while either they themselves or other men with whom they must of necessity converse or have something to do are Wicked For you must remember that I am not now a vindicating the Justice but the Holiness of Providence and therefore it is no Objection against what I have now said That many times vertuous and innocent men suffer very greatly by the Violence and Injustice of the wicked Tho this may be an Objection against the Justice of Providence which I have already accounted for yet it is no Objection against the Holiness of Providence but a great justification of it for the more effectual care God has taken to give all mankind an abhorrence of all Wickedness both in themselves and others the more undeniable proof it is of the Holiness of God's Government and this is more effectually done by the evils which we suffer from other mens wickedness than from our own Men who are very favourable to their own Vices when they feel the Pleasures and Advantages of them learn to hate to condemn to punish them by feeling what they suffer from other mens sins When they lose their own Estates by Injustice and Violence or their Good Names by Reproaches and Defamations or are injur'd in the Chastity of their Wives and Daughters by other mens Lusts this gives them a truer sense of the evil of Injustice Defamation and Lust and makes them condemn these Vices in themselves how well soever they love them This is the foundation of Human Government which keeps Mankind in order and lays great Restraints upon
mens Lusts for did not all Mankind suffer by one another's sins I doubt neither good nor bad men would be so zealously concerned to punish and suppress Vice and therefore the Divine Providence could not have taken a more effectual course to discourage Wickedness than to make all Mankind sensible of the evil of sin by making them all at one time or other feel the evil of sin in what they suffer by their own or other mens sins For were all men convinced and it is strange that their own sense and feeling will not convince them that all the evils and miseries of life are owing to sin and that it is impossible to be happy without reforming themselves and others as far as they can what more powerful Argument could Providence offer to us to reform the world There are another sort of Calamities and very terrible ones too which those who believe a Providence can attribute to nothing else but the just Judgment and Vengeance of God upon a wicked world Such as Plague and Pestilence and Famine Deluges and Earthquakes which destroy Cities and Countries and more ordinary Accidents when they act in such an extraordinary manner as if they were directed and guided by an unseen hand A great many such Instances are recorded in Scripture and expresly ascribed to the Judgment of God God has threatned such Judgments in Scripture and therefore when we see them executed we must conclude That they are inflicted by God as the just Punishment of Sin Nay those very evils and miseries which we suffer by other mens sins are in Scripture attributed to God who has the Supreme Disposal of all Events For as I observed before it is not sufficient proof that these Judgments are not ordered by God that we can find some immediate Causes for them that some of them are owing to Natural Causes others to Men others to some surprizing and unusual or it may be usual Accidents for whoever believes a Divine Providence does not therefore believe that God does every thing immediately by his own Power without the Ministry of any Second Causes either Natural or Free Agents or what we call Accidents but he is only obliged to believe That God governs all Second Causes to produce such Effects as he sees fit That all Nature moves at God's Command That fire and hail snow and vapours wind and storm fulfil his word 148. Psal. 8. v. That both good and bad men are under his Government and the Ministers of his Providence and that what seems perfect Chance to us is directed by his Wisdom and Counsel and then whatever evils we suffer and whatever the immediate Causes of them be we must ascribe them all to God especially when the same kind of Judgments which had the same kind of immediate Causes are attributed to God in Scripture it is reason enough for us whenever such Judgments befal us to ascribe them to the Providence of God But I need not dispute here Whether all those Evils and Calamities which befal sinners are ordered and appointed by God for till they can prove à priori by direct and positive Arguments That there is no God nor a Providence which none of our Modern Atheists pretend to do while they dispute only by way of Objection they must prove that things are not so ordered as they ought to have been ordered did God govern the world and if we can prove that they are their Objection is answered Now with respect to my present Argument to vindicate the Holiness of Providence it is plain beyond all contradiction that things are so ordered for the discouragement of Wickedness and the encouragement of Vertue as if they had been so ordered on purpose by the greatest Wisdom and the most perfect Holiness and therefore we have reason to believe that they were so ordered by a Wise and a Holy Providence As far then as to command and encourage all Holiness and Vertue and to forbid and discourage all Wickedness and Vice is a Proof of the Holiness of Providence I hope I have sufficiently cleared this Point and I must desire you to observe That these are direct and positive Proofs such as every man may understand and cannot avoid the evidence of and therefore are not to be shaken by every Difficulty objected against them For our knowledg is so imperfect that there is nothing almost which we so certainly know but is liable to such Objections as we cannot easily and satisfactorily answer but one plain positive Proof is a better Reason to believe any thing than a hundred Objections against it are not to believe it because since it is confessed on all hands that our knowledg is very imperfect it is no reason to disbelieve what we do know and what we are as certain of as we can be of any thing because there are some things relating to the same subject which we do not know and therefore unless the Objection be as positive and evident as the proof is and I am sure there are no such Objections against the Holiness of Providence we may very reasonably acknowledge that there are some difficulties which we do not understand and yet may very reasonably believe on as we did 2dly Let us now consider What the Holiness of God's Providence and Government does not require of him And I shall name but one thing which some men make a great Objection against Providence viz. That there is so much Sin and Wickedness daily committed in the World Now if the being of Sin in the World or if the Wickedness of men were irreconcilable with the Holiness of Providence this were an unanswerable Objection against it for it cannot be denied but that Mankind are very wicked But what consequence is there in this that God can't be Holy nor his Providence Holy because Men are wicked We may as well prove that there is no God because there is a Devil Such conceits as these tempted some ancient Hereticks to assert Two Principles a Good and a Bad God because they thought that if there were but one God and he very good there could be no such thing as evil in the World But would any man think this a good Argument against the Holiness of a Prince and his Government that he has many Wicked Subjects and how then do the Sins of men come to be an Argument against the Holiness of Providence To state this in a few words When we speak of God's permitting Sin we either mean the internal or the external Acts of Sin 1. The internal Act of sin which is nothing else but the choice of the Will When men chuse that which is wicked and fully resolve and purpose as they have opportunity to do it This is the sin this makes us guilty before God who knows our hearts though Human Laws can take no cognizance of it as our Saviour tells us He that looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his
confess that they cannot tell by their own sense and feeling that they are thus moved and inclined by God but only charge their Sins on God to excuse themselves Every man feels what it is that tempts him his love of Riches of Pleasures or Honours and that the temptation and impulse is weaker or stronger in proportion to his fondness and passion for these tempting Objects but yet he feels himself at liberty to chuse and determine himself and finds a Principle within him which resists and opposes his compliance with the temptation as contrary to the Will and Law of God and the dictates of right Reason and that for which God will Punish him And is there any reason for men to charge their Sins upon God when the only thing that gives check to them and makes Sin uneasy is the conviction of their own Consciences that it is what God has forbid and what he will punish This I think is no evidence of God's tempting and inclining men to Sin that he has imprinted on our minds such a natural sense of his abhorrence of all Evil and such a natural awe and dread of his Justice that while we preserve this sense strong and vigorous no temptation can fasten on us If we appeal to Reason the Reason of all Mankind proves That God does not and cannot tempt incline and over-rule men to chuse or to act any Wickedness for this is a direct contradiction to the Holiness and Purity of his Nature and the Justice of his Providence All mankind believe God to be perfect Holiness which is essential to the very notion of a God and Reason tells us that such a Pure and Holy Being cannot be the Author of Sin nor were it possible to vindicate the Justice of Providence in the punishment of sin did men sin by Divine Impulses or by Necessity and Fate And the Scripture teaches this in express words Let no man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God For God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man 1. James 13. And all the Laws and Promises and Threatnings Exhortations Reproofs and passionate Expostulations which we meet with in Scripture if they mean any thing sincere do necessarily suppose that men sin freely and that God is so far from inclining and tempting men to sin that he does all that becomes a Wise and Holy Being to restrain and deter them from it Now when we have such direct and positive Proofs that God is not and cannot be the Author of Sin it is certain that we can have no direct and positive Proof that he is nor is any such Proof pretended and then some remote and uncertain Consequences which are owing to our Ignorance or confused and imperfect notions of things or to some obscure Expressions of Scripture are not and ought not to be thought sufficient to disprove a direct and positive Evidence no more than the difficulties about the nature of motion are a just reason to deny that there is any motion when we daily see and feel our selves and the whole world move And yet such kind of Difficulties as these is all that is pretended to charge the Providence of God with the Sins of men the most material of which I intend at this time to examine 1. One and that the most plausible pretence to destroy the Liberty of Human Actions and to charge the Sins of men upon God is his Praescience and Foreknowledge of all Future Events That God does foreknow things to come is generally acknowledged by Heathens Jews and Christians and Prophesy is a plain demonstration of it for he that can foretell things to come must fore-know them Now from hence they thus argue What is certainly fore-known must certainly be and what is thus certain is necessary and therefore if all future Events are certain as being certainly foreknown then all things even all the Sins of men are owing to Necessity and Fate And then God who is the Author of this Necessity and Fate must be the Cause and Author of mens Sins too Now in answer to this I readily grant That nothing can be certainly fore-known but what will certainly be but then I deny that nothing will certainly be but what has a necessary Cause For we see ten thousand effects of free or contingent Causes which certainly are though they might never have been for whatever is certainly is and whatever certainly is now was certainly though not necessarily future a thousand years ago That man understands very little who knows not the difference between the necessity and the certainty of an Event No Event is necessary but that which has a necessary Cause as the rising and sitting of the Sun but every Event is certain which will certainly be though it be produced by a Cause which acts freely and might do otherwise if it pleased as all the free Actions of men are some of which though done with the greatest freedom may be as certain and as certainly known as the rising of the Sun Now if that which is done freely may be certain and that which is certain may be certainly known then the certainty of God's Fore-knowledge only proves the certainty but not the necessity of the Event And then God may fore-know all Events and yet lay no necessity on mankind to do any thing that is wicked In the nature of the thing fore-knowledge lays no greater necessity upon that which is fore-known than knowledge does upon that which is known for fore-knowledge is nothing but knowledge and knowledge is not the cause of the thing which is known much less the necessary cause of it We certainly know at what time the Sun will rise and sit every day in the year but our knowledge is not the cause of the Sun 's rising or sitting Nay in many cases in proportion to our knowledg of men we may with great certainty foretel what they will do and how they will behave themselves in such or such circumstances and did we perfectly know them we should rarely if ever mistake for though men act freely they do not act arbitrarily but there is always some byass upon their minds which inclines and draws them and the more confirmed habits men have of Vertue or Vice the more certainly and steadily they act and the more certainly we may know them without making them either vertuous or vicious Now could we certainly know what all men would do before they do it yet it is evident that this would neither make nor prove them to be necessary Agents And therefore though the perfection of the Divine Knowledge is such as to know our thoughts afar off before we think them yet this does not make us think such Thoughts nor do such Actions How God can foreknow things to come even such Events as depend upon the most free and contingent Causes we cannot tell but it is not incredible that Infinite Knowledge should do this when Wise men whose Knowledge is so very
Ham which would quickly have endangered as general a corruption of Mankind as there was before the Flood Let us then consider what Course God took to prevent this and the excellent wisdom of it which we have an account of 11. Genes 7 8. That God confounded their language so that they could not understand one another's speech and by this means scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth and they left off to build the city Now not to take notice that this was the most ready way to people the whole Earth even the remotest Corners of it which was for the great good of Mankind found them work to do forced them upon the invention of Ingenious Arts and by the benefit of Trade and Commerce made every Country which was not wanting to it self a little World and every part to enjoy all the pleasures and advantages of the whole I say besides this it was the most likely way that could be used at that time to prevent the Universal Corruption of Mankind For 1. This separated the Families of Sem and Iaphet from the Family of Ham where the Infection was already begun and would have spread apace by the advantage of Power and Empire When Cain had slain his Brother Abel God sent him away out of Adam's Family that his presence and Example might do no hurt and if by the daughters of men in 6. Genes we understand as some good Expositors do those who descended of Cain and by the sons of God the Posterity of Seth in whose Family the Worship of the True God was preserved we may observe that Moses dates the general Corruption of Mankind from the union of these two Families When the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and took them wives of all which they chose And had the Universal Empire been established in the Family of Ham and the Posterity of Sem and Iaphet been brought into subjection to them as they must in a short time have been what less could have been expected from such a Union and Government but another Antediluvian corruption of all Flesh This dispersion then was necessary to prevent a general Corruption but we see in the Example of Cain that a meer local separation is no security for they may come together again as the Sons of God and the Daughters of men in process of time did And therefore 2dly The most lasting dispersion and separation is by a confusion of Languages which hinders all intercourse and communication at least till there be a remedy found against it by learning each other's Language which was a work of time and was never likely to be so general as to be the means of a common intercourse This effectually divided them at first and would always keep Nations divided till Foreign Arms should give new Laws and a new Language to a Conquered People 3dly I observe farther That the more divisions of Languages were made and the greater the dispersion was the greater security was it against a general Corruption which is a reason not only for separating the Family of Ham from the Families of Sem and Iaphet but for separating them from each other and dividing them into smaller Bodies For the more Divisions there are whatever part were infected the less could the Corruption spread when there was no communication between them 4thly This also divided Mankind into several little Independent Monarchies under the government of the Heads of their several Families which kept all Mankind under a stricter government than if the whole world had been one great Empire which would have proved a Tyrannical Domination but could have taken little care of the Manners of Subjects especially if the Government it self was corrupt the whole world must be corrupt with it But when so many distinct Societies were formed this gave them distinct Interests and made their Laws and Customs the very humour and genius of the People so different from each other as would keep them distinct And this would necessarily occasion mutual Emulations and Jealousies to rival their Neighbours in Riches and Power and this cannot be done without wise Laws and a strict Discipline and the encouragement of Labour and Industry of liberal Arts and all social Vertues and the suppression of such Vices as weaken Government and emasculate mens Spirits This effect we know in a great measure it had as we learn from the most early Accounts of the Graecian Commonwealths where we meet with so many excellent Laws and such great Examples of Frugality Temperance Fortitude and a generous love of their Country which may in a great measure be attributed to their mutual Emulations which taught them prudence and justice at home and abroad and forced on them the exercise of many Civil and Military Vertues It had indeed been more for the peace and quiet of the world that all Mankind had been but one People and one Kingdom without divided Interests and Governments but such a profound state of ease is apt to loosen the Rains of Government and to corrupt mens minds with sloth and luxury and therefore is no more fit for a corrupt and degenerate State than it would have been that the Earth should have brought forth Fruit of it self without Humane Labour and Industry But Jealousies and Emulations the necessity of defending themselves against Potent Neighbours or the ambition to equal or to outdo them restrains publick Vices and is a spur to Verture 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is true this is the occasion of many Miseries to Mankind of all the Calamities and Desolations of War and therefore we must consider 5thly That this is so far from being an Objection against Providence while God keeps the Sword in his own hand that it is an admirable Instrument of Government and a signal demonstration of the Divine Wisdom God had promised that he would not again any more smite every living thing as he had done 8. Genes 21. And yet Mankind could not be governed without some restraints and punishments and it did not become God to punish Men and Nations as often as they deserved it by an immediate hand and what then could be more wisely designed than so to order it that if Men and Nations were wicked they should scourge and punish one another By this means God can chastise two wicked Nations by each other's Swords without destroying either He can so lessen their Numbers and exhaust their Treasures and impoverish their Countries as to force them to peace and to reduce them to a laborious and frugal life which will cure the wantonness and luxury of Plenty and Ease If a Nation be grown incurably wicked he can by this means destroy them without embroiling the rest of the world he can carry them captive into Foreign Countries or make them Slaves at home and subject them to the Yoke of a Conqueror who shall correct them and teach them better In a word The dispersion of
whom they supposed intrusted with the immediate Care of particular Countries And how could God give a more sensible demonstration to the world That he would not allow the paying Divine Honours to any but himself than by raising up a new People distinguished and separated from all the rest of the world by the sole Worship of the One Supreme God and owned by him for his peculiar People by as distinguishing Providences for this not only proves a Divine Power and Providence but that there is but One God whom we ought to worship And this may satisfy us That God is not so partial in his Favours as to prefer one Nation before all the rest of Mankind for they were no Nation nor People when God chose them for God entred into Covenant with Abraham and his Seed when there was none but himself but when all the rest of the world were Idolaters God promised to multiply Abraham's Seed into a great Nation and to make them his own peculiar People that is he made a New People and Nation in great kindness to mankind to preserve the Knowledge and Worship of the One Supreme God and by degrees to extirpate Idolatry out of the World But besides this it was one of the peculiar Privileges of the Iews That to them were committed the Oracles of God and it is certain it was for the great good of the world that these Divine Oracles a System of Laws both for Religious Worship and Civil Conversation should be deposited somewhere for their Idolatry did every day corrupt the Manners of men and was likely in time to destroy all the Natural Notions of Good and Evil which made a Written Law necessary from whence men might learn their Duty whenever they pleased and it is evident these Laws could be given to no other People but the Iews who alone acknowledged and worshipped the One Supreme God For it is not to be conceived That God should give Laws to Idolaters who did not own and worship him for their God or that they should receive Laws from him And tho these Laws were immediately given only to the Iews because there was no other Nation at that time which owned and worshipped the One Supreme God yet as the Knowledge and Worship of God prevailed in the world so these Laws would be of more universal use as we see it is even to this day Nay even while Idolatry prevailed the Writings of Moses and the Prophets very much reformed the Pagan Philosophy gave them better Notions of God and of Religious Worship and more Divine Rules of Life as is visible in the Philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato who are generally thought to have learnt some of their best Notions from their Conversation with Iewish Priests But yet the Question is not What use the World did make of this But What use they might have made of it And whether as the state of the world then was any thing could be more wisely designed than to preserve the Knowledge and Worship of the One True God and a System of Divine Laws in a Nation raised up on purpose to season the world and to preserve it from an universal Apostacy But God had a more glorious Design than all this in entring into Covenant with Abraham and chusing his Seed for his peculiar People He had promised That the seed of the woman should break the serpents head which contains the Promise of the Messias who in the fulness of time was to appear in the world to destroy the works of the Devil And this is the Covenant which God made with Abraham That in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed It was not fitting that the Messias and Saviour of the World should descend from Idolaters and that when he came into the world he should find no Worshippers of the One Supreme God in it and therefore God entred into Covenant with Abraham who seems to have been the only Man of that Age who was free from Idolatry and promises to multiply his Seed and to preserve his Name and Worship among them and that the Messias should descend from his Loins And if we consider what necessary Preparations were required for the coming of the Messias and for his reception in the world when he should appear it will satisfy us how wisely this was designed by God The Appearance of the Son of God in the world was very surprizing and it could not be thought that any one who made such Pretences should find credit unless the world had before-hand been prepared to expect him and had some Infallible Marks and Characters whereby to know him when he came And this was the principal end of all the Types and Figures and Prophesies of the Law to contain the Promises and Predictions of the Messias and the Characters whereby to know him The Temple it self and the whole Temple-Worship was little more than Types and Figures of Christ of his Incarnation or living among men in an Earthly Tabernacle of his Priesthood and Sacrifice his Death and Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven there to intercede for us at God's Right Hand as the High-Priest entred once a Year into the Holy of Holies Now this could not have been done had not the One Supreme God had a Temple and Priesthood and Sacrifices on earth that is a People peculiarly devoted to his Worship and Service for the Temples and Priests and Sacrifices of Idols could not be Types of the Son of God who came to confound all the Pagan Gods and their Idolatrous Worship Thus there could have been no Prophesies of Christ had there been no Prophets of the True God and these Prophecies would have met with little Credit had they been found in Idols Temples So that God's chusing the Posterity of Abraham for his peculiar People was not only necessary to preserve the Knowledge and Worship of the One True God in the world but also to receive and to convey down to Future Ages with an unquestionable Authority all the Types and Prophecies of the Messias This gives us a general View of the Divine Wisdom in that Covenant God made with Abraham and his Posterity and this will enable us to discover the wonderful Wisdom of all the various Dispensations of the Divine Providence towards the Iewish Nation which will be both so useful and entertaining a Meditation that I cannot pass it over without some short Remarks Now God having chosen the Posterity of Abraham to be his peculiar People on purpose to make them a visible Confutation of Idolatry and to establish and propagate the Knowledge and Worship of the One Supreme God in the world in order to effect this Four things were manifestly necessary 1. That it should be visible to all that knew them that God had chosen Israel for his peculiar People 2. That it should be as visible That the God of Israel is the One Supreme God the Maker and Sovereign Lord of the whole World 3.
there was a Power and therefore a God above them all whom all Mankind ought to fear and worship This convinc'd Nebuchadnezzar of the Power of the God of Israel when he had delivered Shadrach Meshach and Abed-nego from the fiery Furnace he made a Decree That every people nation and langage which spake amiss against the God of Shadrach Meshach and Abed-nego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort Thus when God had delivered Daniel from the Lion's Den Darius made a Decree That in every dominion of his kingdom men should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel For he is the living God and stedfast for ever and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his dominion shall be even unto the end He delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth who hath delivered Daniel from ihe power of the lions Both these Kings were convinced by these great and wonderful Works that the God of Israel was the Supream God but Nebuchadnezzar's Decree only forbids men to blaspheme God Darius seems to command all People to worship him for to tremble and fear before him signifies a religious veneration but neither of them appointed any solemn Worship to be paid him much less did they forbid the Worship of any other Gods But a little consideration would have carried them farther for those mighty Works which proved a Power superior to all Gods proved a Sovereign Providence too that this Supream God had not so committed the Government of the world to any Ministers or inferior Deities but that he reserved the supream disposal of all things in his own hands as Nebuchadnezzar was convinced that His dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What dost thou This cut off all reasonable Pretences of paying Divine Worship to their Country-goods for if there be a Superior Power and Providence over them at most they could be only Ministers of the Divine Will and therefore could have no title to Divine Honours no more than Ministers of State have to the Royal Dignity And it was very reasonable to conclude this when they saw that this Supream God would not suffer Israel whom he had chosen for his peculiar People to worship any other God besides himself This was not unknown to the Egyptians but was more manifest in After-ages when God so severely punished them for their Idolatry and was made evident to Nebuchadnezzar and Darius when God delivered Shadrach Meshach and Abednego out of the fiery Furnace who refused to worship the Golden Image which he had set up and delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions when he was cast into the Lions Den for praying to his God This shews the strange power of Prejudice and Custom but yet we must confess that this was wisely designed by God for the cure of Polytheism and Idolatry Having thus vindicated and explained the Wisdom of Providence both with respect to the removal of Israel out of the Land of Canaan into Egypt and the hard bondage they suffered there and their deliverance out of Egypt with a mighty hand and out-stretched arm with Signs and Wonders and Miracles let us now follow them into the Wilderness God having chose Israel for his peculiar People and delivered them out of Egypt before he shewed them openly to the world under such a peculiar Character it was necessary first to form their Manners to take care that they should own him for their God and behave themselves as it became so glorious a Relation this could not be done in Egypt where they were oppressed by hard bondage and therefore God first leads them into the Wilderness remote from the conversation of all other People and upon all accounts a fit place both to instruct and try them I do not intend as I said before to inquire into the Mystical Reasons of those various Providences with which God exercised them in the Wilderness to which our Saviour and his Apostles so often refer and which they apply to the Gospel-state but shall only consider the Wisdom of Providence as to the external and visible conduct of that People to make them fit to be owned before all the World for his peculiar People They had lived two hundred years in Egypt and were tinctur'd with the Idolatries and had learnt the corrupt Manners of that People and had all that meanness and stupidity and perverseness of humour that a state of Servitude and Bondage is apt to create of which we have too many visible Instances in their behaviour towards Moses All this was to be corrected before their entrance into Canaan which will give us the reasons of some very wonderful Providences The first remarkable thing to this purpose to be observed is God's delivering the Law to them with all the most formidable Solemnities in an audible Voice from Mount Sinai Which Moses tells them was such a thing as was never known before since the day that God created man upon the earth Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as thou hast heard and live And the use Moses makes of it is very natural to confirm them in the Belief and Worship of the One Supream God Vnto thee it was shewed that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God there is none else besides him Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice that he might instruct thee and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire Know therefore this day and consider it in thine heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath there is none else For what can convince men that there is One Supream God if such a terrible Appearance as that on Mount Sinai and the Law delivered in an audible Voice from Heaven will not convince them Numa pretended to receive his Laws from the Goddess Aegeria as some other Lawgivers pretended to do the like but no man knew any thing of it but themselves but here a whole Nation heard God speak to them and saw such an Awful Appearance upon the Mount as made Moses himself fear and tremble I desire any man to tell me how God who is a Pure Invisible Mind could possibly give a more visible Demonstration of his Presence and Power I desire the Wittiest and most Philosophical Atheists only for Experiment sake to suppose the Truth of that Relation which Moses gives us of this matter and that they themselves had been present at Mount Sinai had seen the Smoke and Fire
my anger shall be kindled against them in that day and I will forsake them and I will hide my face from them and they shall be devoured and many evils and troubles shall befal them so that they will say in that day Are not these evils come upon us because the Lord our God is not amongst us This the Psalmist tells us was the effect of such Judgments though not always so lasting as it ought to have been When he slew them then they sought him and returned and enquired early after God and they remembred that God was their rock and the high God their redeemer 78. Psal. 34 35. By these means God made them sensible of his Justice and Power and reclaim'd them from their Idolatries and restored his own Worship among them for they certainly knew by the threatnings of their own Law for what reasons they were thus punish'd and indeed their own experience was sufficient to satisfie them in this for they no sooner forsook the God of their Fathers and worshipped others gods but they were Oppressed by their Enemies and when they repented of their Idolatries and returned to God he raised up Saviours and Deliverers who vanquished their Enemies and restored them to Liberty and Peace Especially since those wonderful Deliverances which God wrought for them by the hands of their Judges gave that Generation of men which knew not the Wars of Canaan new and visible proofs of God's Power and Presence among them And we know what effect this Discipline had It did not wholly prevent their Idolatries which they were very prone to when the memory of such Judgments was worn out by a long Peace and Prosperity but then the repetition of such Judgments as they repeated their Provocations joined with the admonitions of their Prophets whom God raised up in several Ages did generally bring them to Repentance and restore the Worship of God amongst them till at last the Ten Tribes grew incurable and were therefore utterly rejected by God and carried into a perpetual Captivity never to return more into their own Land and Iudah who would not take warning by the Punishment of Israel was carried Captive into Babylon for Seventy years which so perfectly cured their Idolatry that we hear no more complaints of that after their return from Captivity And this answered God's design with respect to the rest of the World as much as if they had never been guilty of Idolatry For notwithstanding their several relapses into Idolatry it was well known that Israel was Consecrated to the Worship of the Lord Iehovah and when the Nations round about were witnesses of God's Judgments against Israel when they forsook the Lord their God and of their Happy and Prosperous State while they kept his Covenant it was a convincing proof of the Power and Justice of the God of Israel especially when they should see the Ten Tribes utterly rooted out for their Idolatry and Iudah carried Captive into Babylon and the City and Temple of Ierusalem destroyed and the Land laid waste and desolate without Inhabitants the Justice and Power of God in driving them out of their Land would then be as much taken notice of as his wonderful Providence in Delivering them out of Egypt and placing them in that good Land was as God himself tells Solomon in answer to his Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple 2 Cor. 7. 19 20 21 22. But if ye turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you and shall go and serve other gods and worship them Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them and this house which I have sanctified for my name will I cast out of my sight and will make it to be a proverb and a by-word among all nations And this house which is high shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it so that he shall say Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land and unto this house And it shall be answered Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshipped them and served them therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them For we must observe That God had as well chose the Land of Canaan to be the Seat of his Worship as Israel to be his Worshippers and the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan was bestowed on them in vertue of God's Covenant to be their God and they to be his People that is that they should worship no other Gods besides him And the breach of Covenant on their part by declining to Idolatry was a Forfeiture of their Right to the Promised Land and the proper Punishment of it was either Oppression at home which made them servants and strangers in their own Land or Captivity in Foreign Countries and this was so publickly known that when any such evils befel Israel the Nations round about were able to give the Reason of it Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers So that the very Oppression and Captivity of Israel published the Supreme Power and Glory of the God of Israel who is a Jealous God and will admit of no Partners in Worship but when his own People forsake him and serve strange gods in the land which he had given them and separated to his own Worship he makes them serve strangers in a land which is not theirs 5. Jer. 19. 2dly These Captivities and Dispersions of Israel especially the long Captivity of Iudah in Babylon served other ends besides the Punishment and the Cure of their Idolatry for into what Country soever they were carried Captive they carried the Knowledg of the God of Israel along with them While they lived at home in their own Countrey and had little Commerce with any other people the very Name of Israel was known only to their Neighbours and the God of Israel could be known no farther than Israel was But when they were carried Captive to Babylon and dispersed through all the Provinces of that vast Empire this spread the Knowledge of God too who by many wonderful Providences owned these Captives for his People and made the Heathens see and confess his Glory and Power But the better to understand this we must consider that wise Preparation God made for it in those great Revolutions of States and Empires which began about this time To prevent the general Corruption of Mankind as I observed before God confounded their Languages and thereby separated them from each other and formed them into several distinct Independent Societies and Kingdoms which was an effectual means to prevent the spreading of the Infection and to force them to the practice of a great many Moral and Political Virtues But when the whole world was corrupted by Idolatry and God saw a proper season to begin a Reformation to make the Cure more easy and universal it
submission is due to God in the changes of our Fortune and Condition and that whether it be from low to high or from high to low As for the first There are few men who find any difficulty in submitting to Providence when it advances them to a higher station but some few such there are who love their ease and retirement and the conversation of their Friends and the security of a private life before noisy greatness and the endless Fatigues of Publick Ministries who had rather enjoy themselves and be Masters of their own time and thoughts and actions than to be admired and flattered Slaves to be envied by some to be courted by others to be Servants to all to be exposed to Censorious Tongues to the Frowns of Princes to the Emulations of their Equals and to all the changes and vicissitudes of Fortune It is not often that men of this temper are in any great danger of such troublesome Honours there are enow that snatch at them before they are offered to secure those who have no mind to have them but sometimes this does happen and then it is matter of duty and conscience for men to sacrifice their own ease and private satisfactions to the Service of God and of their Countrey And it would be as great a fault obstinately to decline such Services as the Providence of God call them to as it is vanity and ambition to affect them for God has a right to the Services of all his Creatures and may imploy them in what station he pleases then we may certainly conclude that Providence chuses our station for us when it is what we did not and would not chuse for our selves 2dly But the greater and more common difficulty is in submitting to the other Change from a high to a low Fortune There are many who suffer such a change as this though most of them may thank their own Lusts and Vices for it but there are very few who submit to it I do not only mean that they do not bear such a change of Fortune with that patience and submission which is due to the Divine Will when this change is manifestly owing to Providence and not to their own fault but that they will not submit to their condition that they will not submit to be poor when the Providence of God has made them so Some men if they meet with misfortunes will be sure to make their Creditors pay for it and be their own Carvers too and raise an Estate out of forced and Knavish Compositions Others though they are very poor will not submit to the state of Poverty will not bring their minds to their condition they cannot stoop to the mean and frugal and industrious life of Poverty They have always lived well and easily and they expect to live still as they have lived and to be maintained according to their quality and the figure they have formerly made in the world they cannot work but to beg they are not ashamed though a truly great mind would prefer the meanest employment before it for that is no dishonour to any man to live by his own industry when the Providence of God has brought him low All that I have now to say is only this that when men are reduced to poverty submission to Providence requires that they should submit to their condition imitate the humility and modesty frugality and industry of poor men and not expect to live still as rich men do for charity was never intended for the rich nor to excuse the industry of the poor There is indeed great regard to be had to the honour of mens birth and character Those who have any humanity must needs be very tenderly and compassionately affected to see men of great honour reduced to want or forced to mean and servile Employments to supply their wants and we owe so much to the modesty of Human Nature and to a sense of Honour to be as ready to defend some men from meanness as others from want but yet submission to Providence requires all men to comply with their condition as far as their rank and character and the rules of decency will permit That a man has been once rich is no reason why he should not work or find out some honest though mean way of living when he grows poor This is certain Those who do not submit to the condition which Providence has put them into and behave themselves as that conditon requires do not submit to Providence and therefore if Providence make us poor we must consider not how we lived when we were rich but how it becomes a poor man to live 3dly There is another very material question How far we must submit to Providence but the answer is very plain We must submit as far as the condition Providence puts us into requires our submission Providence creates no new duty but by putting us into new circumstances and what the circumstances we are in make our duty that is our submission to Providence and we owe no other submission As for instance If a Thief breaks open my House or robs me upon the Road submission to Providence does not hinder me from pursuing and taking him and recovering my own of him and bringing him to punishment if I can for my being robbed lays no obligation upon me patiently to lose what is unjustly taken away if I have any honest way left of recovering it nor of suffering such a Criminal to escape if I can bring him to punishment And thus it is in all the Injuries we receive from men though we must own the Divine Providence in whatever we suffer yet submission to Providence requires no more of us than what the Laws of God and men require in such circumstances and therefore allows us to right our selves as far as the Laws of God and the Laws of men if they be just and equal will allow us But if the Providence of God should put us into the hands of our Enemies and make it necessary to contract with them for our Lives and Liberties we must humbly submit to Providence which brought us into this necessity and religiously observe our Contracts how disadvantageous soever they are because Providence has now altered our condition and brought us under new obligations This is the usual way whereby God brings about the great Changes and Revolutions of the world by such Power as forces a compliance and translates Kingdoms and Empires and though nothing is more grievous than unjust force yet Nature teaches men to submit when they cannot resist and Power will absolve us from all former obligations unless in such cases as we are expresly commanded by God not to submit to Power though we sacrifice our lives for it and I know no such case but the true Worship of God and the Profession of our Faith in Christ. We may defend our selves against private Injuries as far as Law and Justice will defend us we may resist unjust and
of trusting in God they trust in him without hope or any comfortable expectations unless they have some more visible assurances to rely on This makes most mens hopes ebb and flow as their external circumstances change if they are prosperous and have great numbers of Friends and have their Enemies at their feet then they are full of hope and can trust securely in God when they have the means of helping themselves in their own hands and see no body that can hurt them but if their condition be perplext and calamitous and they see no prospect of human relief their spirits sink and as much as they talk of Providence and Trusting in God they find no support in it To understand this aright wherein the Glory of God and our own Peace and Security is so nearly concerned we must consider That our Faith and Hope and Trust in God must either rely on the Word and Promise of God or on the general Belief and Assurance of his Care of us and of the Goodness and Justice of his Providence as to trust in men is either to trust their Promise or their Friendship 1. As for the first we may and ought securely to rely on the Promises of God as far as they reach for he who hath promised is able also to perform But then we must have a care of expounding Temporal Promises to a larger sense than God intended or than Providence ordinarily makes good which calls the Truth of God or his Providence into question and discourages our Faith and Trust in God when we see Events not to answer God's Promises nor our Expectations To state this matter plainly we must proceed by degrees and distinguish between the Promises made to States and Kingdoms and to Private and Single Men or rather to men in their private and single capacities Most of the Temporal Promises under the Law of Moses concerned the Publick State of the Iewish Church and Nation that if they walked in the Laws and Statutes of God he would bless them with great Plenty and Peace or give them Victory over their Enemies That he would have respect unto them and make them fruitful and multiply them and establish his Covenant with them 26. Lev. which are Publick and National Blessings And tho there is a great difference between the Iewish and Christian Church with respect to Temporal Promises yet there does not seem to be any great difference between a Christian Nation and the Iewish State When a Nation has embraced Christianity and the Church is incorporated into the State and true Religion and Vertue is encouraged and Vice suppressed such a Religious Nation has a title to all the National Blessings which God promised to the Iewish Nation if they observed his Laws for Solomon's Observation is universally true That righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is the reproach of any people And excepting what was typical in the Iewish State there is much the same reason for God to protect and bless a Religious Christian Nation viz. for the publick encouragement of Religion and for the reward of a National Piety and Vertue and therefore as the Christian Church inherits all those Spiritual Blessings which were typified in the Iewish Church so a Christian Nation succeeds to all those Temporal Promises which were made to the Iewish State or else all these Promises of the Law would be of no use to us now So that these National Promises we may securely rely on as to their utmost extent and signification and I am satisfied there cannot be one Example given wherein these Promises have failed God has oftentimes suffered a wicked Nation to be prosperous to scourge their wicked Neighbours but he never suffers a truly righteous and religious Nation to be oppressed Now the largest and most comprehensive Promises in Scripture are of this nature such as concern the publick state of Kingdoms and Nations but even in the most flourishing state of the Iewish Church the case of particular men was very different some bad men were prosperous and good men afflicted and therefore those Promises which concern good men in their private and single capacities must be more cautiously expounded to a more restrained and limited sense accommodated to the different states and conditions of good men in this world and to their different attainments in Vertue As for example When Solomon tells us of Wisdom Length of days is in her right hand and in her left riches and honour 3. Prov. 16. Will any man expound this to signify That all wise men who are truly religious and prudent shall live till old age and attain to riches and honours Did God then intend that there should be no different ranks and degrees of men in the world that there should be no poor men as well as rich or did he intend that no poor men should be wise Wisdom indeed will advance a Prince to great riches and honour as Solomon tells us his Father David instructed him He taught me also and said unto me Let thine heart retain my words keep my commandments and live Get wisdom get understanding Forget her not neither decline from the words of my mouth Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee love her and she shall keep thee Wisdom is the principal thing therefore get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding Exalt her and she shall promote thee she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her she shall give to thine head an ornament of grace a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee 4. Prov. 4 9. This was the best Advice that could be given to a young Prince to make him rich and great for religious Wisdom will certainly advance him beyond all the Politicks of Machiavel and if Solomon in imitation of his Father David directs his Instructions to his Children and particularly to that Son who was to inherit his Throne as he himself seems to intimate 1 2 3. Verses we must not conclude that because he tells his Son that Wisdom will make him a glorious Prince that therefore Wisdom will advance all men to riches and honour Wisdom will give a lustre even to poverty it self and sometimes advances the poor to riches and honours and encreases the riches and honours of the Rich and Honourable but we must not always expect this much less pretend a promise for it for there always were and always will be poor wise men Thus when the Wiseman tells us That the hand of the diligent maketh rich 10. Prov. 4. And seest thou a man diligent in his business he shall stand before kings he shall not stand before mean men 22. Prov. 29. No man can think that the meaning is that every diligent man shall be rich for there are such mean Employments as can never raise an Estate by the greatest industry much less can we think that diligence in such mean Employments shall make men known to Princes or that all diligent men whatever their