and not only restored Peace to the Christian Church but made Christianity the Religion of the Empire And if the Wisdom of Providence consists in giving us wise Instructions I am sure this furnishes us with many When things are reduced to that extremity as to be past Human relief it makes it visible to all the world that it is God's doing Where there is Force against Force and Counsels against Counsels though Providence determines the Event Human Power and Counsels very often monopolize the Glory and leave God out but when God does that which men are so far from being able to do that they can't think it possible to be done this awakens a sense of an Invisible Power and makes the Divine Glory and Providence known to the world When God exposes his own Church and People to such a suffering state and threatens them with Final Ruin it is a severe Summons to repentance and warns them not to trust in vain words crying The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord for God will purge his own House and no External Relation or Priviledges shall secure us from Vengeance if we walk not worthy of that holy vocation wherewith we are called But such Deliverances as these give us great reason never to despair they teach us That no case is desperate when God will save and therefore the less expectation we at any time have of Human Succors the more earnestly ought we to implore the Divine Protection and learn to live upon Faith and Trust in God When Good men are reduced to such Extremities it makes them more fervent and importunate in their Prayers more serious in their Repentance more sensible how much they stand in need of God and such surprizing and unexpected Deliverances inflame their Devotions make their Praises and Thanksgivings more hearty and sincere which gives great glory to God and betters their own minds 5thly The sudden Revolutions of the world and the various and unexpected Changes of mens Fortunes which is thought one great Calamity of Human Life is intended by God to instruct us in some necessary and excellent parts of Wisdom Some Crafty Politicians like Mariners steer their course as the Wind blows and change as it changes They have no other Rule for their Actions but to guess as well as they can where their advantage or safety lies but Providence very often disappoints them in this by such hasty changes and short turns as make them giddy and this teaches us to act by Rule not by a politick foresight of Events our Rule can never deceive us what is just and right and true is always safe but our Politicks may for things may not go as we expect The various changes of mens Fortunes teach us to treat all men with great humanity not to be insolent when we are prosperous nor to despise our Inferiors for we know not what they nor we may be before we die Civility and modesty of conversation is always safe but pride and insolence may create us Enemies who may in time how mean soever they are at present be able to return our insolence The Divine Providence so orders Human Affairs as to teach us most of the wisest Rules of Human Life both for our Religious and Civil Conversation and this I take to be a manifest proof of the Wisdom of Providence 6thly The Wisdom of Providence is often seen in the wise mixture and temperament of Mercy and Judgment when he corrects but not destroys humbles but does not cast down when he makes us sensible of his displeasure and gives us just reason to fear but without despair when as the Psalmist speaks He lifts up and casts down keeps us under the discipline of hopes and fears and tries our Faith and Patience and Submission and both threatens and invites us to repentance by the interchangeable Scenes of prosperous and adverse Events Thus the Psalmist tells us it is with good men The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way though he fall he shall not utterly be cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand 37. Psal. 23 24. Thus 94. Psal 14 15. For the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance but judgment shall return unto righteousness and all the upright in heart shall follow it And he proves this by his own Experience Vnless the Lord had been my help my soul had almost dwelt in silence When I said my feet slippeth thy mercy O Lord held me up 17 18 Verses An Example of this ye have 27. Isaiah Hath he smitten them that is Israel as he smote those that smote him He smote Israel but not as he smote the Enemies of Israel Or is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him In measure when it shooteth forth wilt thou debate with it He stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind This is to sing to God of Mercy and of Judgment to learn righteousness by the things which we suffer but still to trust in his help CHAP. IX Concerning those Duties which we owe to Providence I Have now finished what I intended with relation to the Nature and Justification of Providence and all that remains is to explain and enforce those Duties which we owe to Providence Natural Religion is founded on the belief of a God and a Providence for if there be no God there is no Object of our Worship if there be no Providence there is no Reason for our Worship But a God that made the world and takes care of all the Creatures that are in it deserves the Praises and Adorations of all A God who neither made the world nor governs it is nothing to us we have no relation to him he has nothing to do with us nor we with him but a God in whom we live and move and have our being is the Supream Object of our love and fear and reverence and hope and trust and of all those religious and devout Affections which are due to our Maker and Soveraign Lord. This is so plain that it is enough to name it but the nature and extent of those Duties which we owe to Providence deserves a more particular consideration As to instance in some of the chief 1. To take notice of the Hand of God in every thing that befalls us to attribute all the Evils we suffer and all the good things we enjoy to his Soveraign Will and Appointment This is the foundation of all the other Duties which we owe to Providence and the general neglect of this makes us defective in all the rest Now if the Divine Providence has the absolute government of all Events you must confess it your duty to take notice of Providence and to acknowledge God in every thing for this is only applying the general Doctrine of Providence to particular Events without which particular application the general belief of a
fears and aversions submit to the Divine Will for the more what we suffer is against our own will the greater is our submission to the Will of God Submission to God does not consist in courage and fortitude of mind to bear Sufferings which men may have without any sense of God and which the profoundest Reverence for God will not always teach us but he submits who receives the Bitter Cup and drinks it though with a Trembling heart and hand This ought to be observed for the comfort of those who have a very Devout sense of God and Reverence for his Judgments but betray great weakness of Mind and disorders of Passions under their Sufferings who are very impatient of Pain and have such soft and tender Passions that every Affliction galls them and when they reflect upon these Disorders this creates new and greater Troubles to them for they conclude that all this is want of a due Submission to the Will of God But Religion was never intended to extinguish the Sense and Affections of Nature to reconcile us to Pain or to make all things indifferent to us and while there is any thing that we love it will be grievous to part with it and while there is any thing that we fear it will be grievous to suffer it Religion will rectify our Opinions of things and cure our fondnesses and set bounds to our Passions but when all these flattering or frightful disguises are removed which magnified the Good or Evil that is in things yet Good and Evil they are and will excite in us either troublesome or delightful Passions and this will exercise our Submission to God to part with what we love and to suffer what we fear and were not this the case there were no use of Submission To explain this in a few words let us consider how that man must suffer who suffers with Submission to God and that is the Submission which we owe to Providence Now a man who suffers with Submission must not reproach and censure the Divine Providence but think and speak honourably of God how hardly soever he deals with him he may complain of what he suffers both to God and men but he must not complain of God This was Iob's Behaviour Naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away and blessed be the name of the Lord in all this Iob sinned not nor charged God foolishly I Job 21 22. And the Prophet David was an Example of the like Submission I was dumb I opened not my mouth because thou didst it 39. Psalm 9. He submitted silently and patiently as to God's hand opened not his mouth against God though he complains of the Wickedness of men and of the severity of his Sufferings Deliver me from all my transgressions make me not the reproach of the foolish remove thy stroke away from me I am consumed by the blow of thine hand 8 10. To reproach and revile Providence to fret against God or as Iob's Wife advised him to curse God to be weary of his Government and impatient to think that we cannot resist and cast off so uneasy a yoke this is directly contrary to Submission Such men suffer God's Will because they cannot help it but they would Rebel if they could those who are so outragious against what God does and so impatiently angry with God for doing it only want power to stay his hand and to pull him from his Throne Submission to God is the Submission of our Wills to the Will of God Now though no man can absolutely chuse sufferings for suffering is a natural Evil and therefore not the object of a free choice yet men may chuse suffering against the natural byass and inclination of their own wills in Subjection to the will of God Of this our Saviour is a great Example who express'd a great aversion against suffering Prayed earnestly Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thy will be done Our own wills will draw back and recoil at suffering For no affliction is for the present joyous but grievous but yet a will that is subject to God will deny it self and chuse that God's will should take place And this is our Submission to the Will of God in suffering yet how uneasie soever it be to us we are so far from complaining against God that we would not have it otherwise when God sees fit it should be so that though we do not and cannot chuse sufferings yet we chuse that the Will of God should be done though it be to suffer Another act of Submission to God is when we wait patiently on God till he think fit to deliver us when notwithstanding all we suffer our hope and trust and dependance is still on God To submit to God is to submit in Faith and Hope to submit as to the Corrections and Discipline of a Father for it is impossible for any man to submit without Hope as impossible as it is to be contented with final Ruin When we cast off our Hope in God there is an end of our Submission then we shall come to that desperate conclusion Behold this evil is of the Lord why should I wait on the Lord any longer 2 Kings 6. 33. But never was there a greater expression of Submission than that of Iob Though he slay me yet will I trust in him he also shall be my salvation for a hypocrite shall not come before him 13. Job 15 16. This the Psalmist has fully express'd 27. Psalm 13 14. I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart wait I say on the Lord. To Hope in the Mercy and Goodness of God even when he strikes to wait Patiently till he will be Gracious to make our complaints to him and to expect our Deliverance and Salvation only from him this is to Submit to the Will of God to make his Will our Will to attend all the motions of his Providence as patiently and diligently as a Servant does the commands of his Lord as it is elegantly represented 123. Psalm 1 2. Vnto thee lift I up mine eyes O thou that dwellest in the heavens Behold as the eyes of servants look upon the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us This is that Submission which we owe to Providence under all the Evils and Calamities of Life and if we would make this Submission easy and chearful we must possess our Souls with a firm perswasion of the Wisdom and Goodness of God We must not look upon him a meer Soveraign and Arbitrary Lord for to submit to meer Arbitrary Will and Power is and will be very grievous
for God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out Secondly Let us now consider the Wisdom of Providence in some more common and ordinary Events especially such as are made Objections against Providence I have already upon other Occasions taken notice of several things of this nature but it will give us a more transporting sense of the Divine Wisdom to see as much of it as we can in one view In general whoever considers what it is to govern a World and to take care of all the Creatures that are in it must confess it to be a work of Infinite and Incomprehensible Wisdom The Epicureans for this reason rejected a Providence because they thought it too much trouble for their gods full of care solicitude and distraction to observe all that is done in the World and to over-rule and determine all Events as Wisdom Justice and Goodness should direct and indeed nothing less than an Infinite Mind can do this which sees all things at one view judges infallibly at first sight and orders all things with a powerful thought But my chief design at present is to shew you the Wisdom of Providence in some particular Cases which either are not sufficiently observed or not rightly understood Some of the great Objections against Providence are the troublesome and tempestuous state of this world the uncertainty of all Events the fickleness and inconstancy of Human Affairs the promiscuous dispensation of the good and evil things of this life both to good and to bad men And I have already vindicated not only the Justice and Goodness but the Wisdom of God upon these accounts by shewing what wise ends God serves by them and what a wise use we may make of such Providences And therefore the principal thing I shall now insist on shall be some of those wise Methods God uses in Rewards and Punishments wherein the great Wisdom of Government consists And I shall briefly mention some few 1. That God rewards and punishes men in their Posterity This is so plainly taught in Scripture that it will admit of no dispute though some men venture to dispute the Justice at least of one part of it that God should visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children which the Iews objected against God in that Prophane Proverb the Fathers have eaten sower grapes and the Childrens teeth are set an edge 18. Ezek. and by the answer God there makes we may learn in what sence God threatens to punish the Posterity of Bad men and to reward the Posterity of Good men for their Fathers sakes which does not extend to the other World where every man shall be Judged according to his own Works and the soul that sinneth it shall dye and as to this World where we may allow more to the Sovereignty of Providence without impeaching the Divine Justice yet God assures us that a Righteous Son shall not be punished merely because he had a Wicked Father nor a Wicked Son be rewarded merely because he had a Righteous Father for thus much the words must signifie if they relate to this Life as they certainly do as well as to a Future State Now if neither a Righteous Son shall suffer for the Wickedness of his Father nor a Wicked Son receive the rewards of his Father's Vertue this can afford no pretence to impeach the Justice of Providence but it gives occasion to inquire in what sence God is said to visit the Sins of the Fathers upon their Children and to Bless and Prosper the Posterity of Good men for their sakes 1. As for the First If God does not punish a Righteous Son for the sins of his Father then to visit the iniquities of the Father upon the Children must be confined only to such Children as inherit the Vices and imitate the Wickedness of their Parents That is God has threatened to punish the Wicked Children of Wicked Parents This you 'll say has nothing extraordinary in it for God has threatned to punish all Wicked men whatever their Parents are and if they are punished only because they are Wicked How is this to visit the iniquities of their Fathers on them But the Answer of this seems as obvious as the Objection that the Wicked Children of Wicked Parents shall be more certainly and more severely punished than other Bad men ordinarily are 1. As for the certainty of their punishment We know a great many Bad men very often escape the Divine Vengeance in this world for all Wicked men are not punished here as their Wickedness deserves The Justice of the Divine Providence as I have already observed does not require a sudden and hasty Execution Bad men may be prosperous many years and be severely punished at last or may be prosperous all their Lives and go down to their Graves in peace and only Answer for their Wickedness in the next World But then God threatens that a more speedy Vengeance shall overtake their Posterity if they are Wicked that God will then remember that they are the wicked Children of wicked Parents and not exercise the same Patience and Long-suffering to them And this is in a proper sence to visit the iniquities of their Fathers on them for though they are punished only for their own sins yet the iniquities of their Fathers are the reason why God punishes them in this world for their sins and makes them the Examples of his Justice while other men as wicked as themselves escape 2. As for the severity of their punishments No man shall be punished more than his own sins deserve but yet the wicked Children of wicked Parents may be and very often are punished more severely than other Wicked men God does not punish all Bad men alike For the punishments of this life are more properly acts of Discipline than acts of Judgment and therefore are not proportioned to the nature of the Crime but to the circumstances and condition of the Person and to the Wise ends of Government and if the wicked Children of wicked Parents are punished though for their own sins yet the more severely for their Fathers sake this is to bear the iniquity of their Fathers To understand this we must observe that the Scripture takes notice of a certain measure of iniquity which is filling up from one Generation to another till a last it makes a Nation or Family ripe for destruction and although those persons on whom this final Vengeance falls suffer no more than their own personal Sins deserved yet because the sins of former Generations which they equal or out do make it time for God utterly to destroy them the punishments due to the sins of many Ages and Generations are all said to fall upon them This account our Saviour gives of the Destruction of Ierusalem 23. Matt. 29 30 31 32 34 35
them the Types and Prophecies of the Messias and punished them very severely when they worshipped any other Gods sent them into captivity and by various Providences scattered them almost over the face of the whole Earth and thereby propagated the knowledge of himself and of his Laws and the Prophecies of the Messias made numerous Proselites to the Worship of the One Supream God and made ready a people prepared for the Lord and then Christ came And what sooner time you fix on for the appearance of Christ you will find it either before God had tried all other Methods for the reforming the world or before the world was prepared for the receiving of Christ. And having thus in the best manner I could represented to you the wonderful Wisdom of Providence from the beginning of the World to the appearance of Christ in the Flesh in some of the most remarkable Events which have happened I shall here break off for though the Wisdom of Providence is not less wonderful in those various Events which have happened to the Christian Church yet that is so large a Subject and the Accounts of many things so imperfect or doubtful that I shall leave it to men of greater leisure and better skill and judgment in Secular and Ecclesiastical Story But I hope that imperfect Account I have now given will teach you to reverence not to censure the Wisdom of Providence for if we who understand so little of God's ways can see such Excellent Wisdom in them what unsearchable depths and mysteries of Wisdom are there which we can't discover But yet to compleat the Iewish History as far as the Scripture-account goes it will be necessary to take notice of the final Destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans which put an end to their State and Government and dispersed them into so many different Countries for it seems very surprizing that God should cast off his People who were in Covenant with him and to whom the Promises of the Messias were peculiarly made so soon after the appearance of the Messias in the world And therefore to vindicate both the truth and faithfulness of God's Promise to Abraham and the Wisdom of his Providence in the final overthrow and dispersion of the Iewish Nation we must distinguish as St. Paul frequently does especially in Rom. 9. between the Carnal and the Spiritual Seed of Abraham the Children of the Flesh and the Children of the Promise Those who descended from Abraham by Carnal Generation and those who were the Children of Abraham by faith in Christ Jesus 3. Galat. 26 29. The Carnal Posterity of Abraham were chosen by God for his peculiar People to preserve his own Name and Worship among them and for this purpose they were to be a distinct Nation separated from the rest of the world and had the Land of Canaan given them to live in and they were to continue so till the coming of the Messias according to Iacob's Prophesy The scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come and to him shall the gathering of the people be 49. Genes 10. But the Blessings of the Messias were promised only to the Spiritual Seed of Abraham as St. Paul proves 9. Rom. 3. Gal. That is to all those whether Iews or Gentiles who believe in Christ Jesus for Christ was the true promised Seed and in Christ are all the Promises of God Yea and Amen and therefore nothing but faith in Christ can entitle us to the Promise of Abraham as the Apostle in these places confirms by several Arguments which I cannot now insist on Now if we thus distinguish between Abraham's Carnal and Spiritual Seed and those Promises which belong to Abraham's Carnal Posterity and those which peculiarly belong to his Spiritual Seed there will appear no great difficulty in God's destroying the City and Temple of Ierusalem and dispersing the Iews into all parts of the Earth God had accomplished what he intended by the Carnal Posterity of Abraham that is he had preserved and propagated the knowledge of the One True God in the world and prepared men to receive Christ when he should be preached to them and now Christ was come the Spiritual Covenant took place which was not confined to Abraham's Carnal Posterity but extended to all that believed in Christ all the world over So that God had no longer any one Nation for his peculiar People but those only were his peculiar People whatever Nation they were of who believe in Jesus The Iews then considered as Abraham's Carnal Posterity were God's peculiar People no longer nor did God's Promise oblige him to preserve them a distinct Nation any longer and therefore the Divine Providence might now as justly destroy them as any other Nation if they deserved it and certainly the Crucifixion of their Messias and their obstinate Infidelity did deserve it And when they had thus justly deserved a final Excision the Divine Wisdom had admirable Ends to serve by it This gave a glorious Testimony to Christ and his Religion in that terrible Vengeance which befel his Murtherers which Christ himself had so expresly and punctually foretold That no man who knew what he had foretold with so many particular circumstances could be ignorant why Ierusalem was destroyed The obstinate Infidelity of the Iews who blasphemed the Name and persecuted the Disciples of Christ did in some degree hinder the progress of the Gospel among the Gentiles but the Destruction of Ierusalem and the miraculous Preservation of the Christians was so visible a Testimony to Christianity and delivered the Christian Church from such bitter and implacable Enemies that the Gospel had a freer passage and prevailed mightily in the world And the Dispersion of the Iews into all Countries as before it spread the Knowledge of the One True God so now it made them unwilling Witnesses to Christianity as being the visible triumph of the Crucified Jesus In a word When all Mankind were Idolaters God chose the Posterity of Abraham and multiplied them into a great Nation to preserve and propagate the Knowledge and Worship of the One Supreme God and to prepare men to receive the Gospel which would in time extirpate all Pagan Idolatries Wen Christ was come and the Gospel preached to the world God rejected that Nation for their Infidelity and by that means gave a freer passage to the Gospel among the Gentiles and St. Paul intimates That the time will come when the Sincere Faith and Exemplary Piety of the Christian Church shall contribute as much to the Conversion of the Iews as they formerly did to the Conversion of the Gentiles for this seems to be the sum of the Apostle's reasoning with which I shall conclude this Argument 11. Rom. 30 c. For as ye in times past have not believed God yet now have obtained mercy through their unbelief Even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy