will not see To deceive those with signs and lying wonders and all deceivableness of unrighteousness who do not love the trath but have pleasure in unrighteousness who endeavour to deceive themselves and desire to be deceived For this is all that is meant by sending them strong delusions to believe a lie that God suffers the Man of sin to erect his Kingdom after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders When men are in love with their Sins and therefore do not love the Truth because it discovers and reproves their Sins they are out of the protection of Gods Grace and are delivered up to the Cheats and Impostures of Crafty Men or of Wicked Spirits This is the rule and method of God's Grace he forces truth on no man but those who love the truth shall find it Those who cry after knowledge aud lift up their voice for understanding who seek her as silver and search for her as for hid treasures they shall understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God 2. Prov. 2 3 4 5. But if men wilfully shut their own eyes against the light God suffers the God of this world to blind them as St. Paul teaches 2 Cor. 4. 3 4. But if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which belive not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them Which should make us all afraid of prejudice and the love of this world which bar up the mind against truth and by degrees betray us to a judicial blindness There are some other Texts which do indeed attribute the supreme Disposal of all Human Actions to God but without charging his Providence with mens sins 16. Prov. 9. A mans heart deviseth his ways but the Lord directeth his steps 19. 21. There are many devices in a mans heart nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand 20. 24. Mans goings are of the Lord how then can a man understand his own ways The meaning of which is that men advise and deliberate and choose freely what they intend to do but when they come to action they can do nothing they can bring nothing to pass but what God will God can change their Counsels or can disappoint them when they are ripe for action or can make what they do serve quite another end than what they intended Now this only proves what I have already observed That the Issues and Events of all things are in God's hands as they must be if he governs the World Men may choose what they please but they shall do only what God sees fit and what he orders for wise ends God does not act immediately but makes use of Natural causes or of the Ministries of men both good and bad men Men choose and act freely and pursue their own Designs and Imaginations and therefore the moral Good or Evil of the action is their own and God does as freely with unsearchable Wisdom over-rule all Events which are therefore God's doing as well as mens being directed by him to serve the wise ends of Providence in rewarding or punishing Men or Nations as they deserve Thus I have as briefly as I could examined most of those Texts which have been thought to attribute to God some kind of Causality and Efficiency in the Sins of Men and I hope have made it appear that there is no such thing intended in them And for the conclusion of this Argument concerning the Holiness of Providence I shall only add some few Practical Inferences by way of Application 1. Not to attribute our own or other Mens sins to God 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 But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed 1. James 13 14. This is absolutely necessary to be observed for without it there is an end of all Religion If God can influence mens Minds to wicked Purposes and Counsels it is impossible he should hate Wickedness or be so Holy as many Holy men are who would no more incline or tempt other men to sin than they would sin themselves And who will hate sin or think that God will love him ever the less for being a Sinner who believes this If God want the Sins of Men to accomplish his own Counsels they must either be very unholy Counsels which cannot be accomplished without the Sins of Men or he must be a weak or unskilful Being which is down-right Blasphemy for a wise and powerful Being can do whatever is Wise and Holy without the Sins of Men. It is excellent Wisdom indeed when men do and will Sin for God to accomplish his own wise and gracious Counsels by their Sins but to incline or tempt or over-rule or determine men to sin on purpose to serve himself by their Sins this would be a just Impeachment both of his Holiness his Wisdom and his Power and a God who is neither Holy Wise nor Powerful would be no very fit Object of Religious worship To say that God decrees the Sins of men for his own Glory to magnifie his Mercy and Justice in saving some few and in condemning the greatest part of Mankind to eternal Miseries is so sensless a Representation both of the Glory of the Mercy and of the Justice of God as destroys the very Notion of all For if Man be a meer Machine who moves as he is moved how can he deserve either Well or Ill Necessity destroys the very Notion of Vertue or Vice both which suppose a free Choise and Election and if ther be no Vertue nor Vice there can be no Rewards nor Punishments and then there is no place neither for Justice nor Mercy and then God can neither glorify his Mercy nor his Justice in forgiving Sins or in punishing the Sinner How can any man who believes that he is over-ruled by God to do all the Evil he does ever be a true Penitent or heartily beg God's Pardon or reverence his Judgments or endeavour to do better All Religion is founded in this Persuasion That God hates every thing that is wicked for if there be no Essential difference between Good and Evil there is no pretence for Religion and if God makes none there is none and if he can be the Author of what is Evil as well as of what is Good he makes no difference between them 2dly The Holiness of Providence teacheth us never to do any Evil to serve Providence under pretext of doing some great Good by it which we think may be acceptable to God God never needs the Sins of men and can never approve them whatever good ends they are intended to serve God indeed does many times bring Good out of Evil but he allows no Man to do evil that
of particular Creatures but of the good of the whole And this in some Cases may make the greatest and most terrible Acts of Severity such as are enough to afright and astonish the World Acts of the greatest Goodness and Mercy too which will vindicate the Goodness of Providence when God seems to be most severe and to have forgot all Goodness and Compassion As to explain this in some particular Cases The good government of the World requires the defence and protection of Mankind from violent and unjust Oppressions and the most exemplary Vengeance executed upon such private or publick Oppressors is a great Act of Goodness and a great deliverance to the Oppressed 136. Psalm the Psalmist exhorts us To give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And among other Expressions of the Divine Goodness and Mercy he mentions the Plagues of Egypt and the Deliverance of Israel by the overthrow of Pharaoh in the Red-Sea To him that smote Egypt in their first-born for his mercy endureth for ever And brought out Israel from among them for his mercy endureth for ever With a strong hand and with a stretched-out arm for his mercy endureth for ever To him which divided the Red-sea into parts for his mercy c. and made Israel to pass through the midst of it but over-threw Pharaoh and his host in the Red-sea for his mercy c. To him who smote great kings and slew famous kings Sihon king of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashan and gave their land for an heritage even for an heritage to Israel his servant for his mercy endureth for ever This ought to be well considered before we object the Evils and Calamities which befall Bad men against the Goodness of Providence For there are few Bad men who suffer any Remarkable Vengeance but that their Sufferings are a great kindness and deliverance to others and it may be to the Publick in breaking their Power or taking them out of the World And in all such Cases the Psalmist has taught us a very proper Hymn I will sing of mercy and judgment unto thee O Lord will I sing 101. Psal. 1. Thus the good government of the World requires some great and lasting Examples of God's Justice and Vengeance against Sin And as terrible as such Examples are they are a great publick Good to the World Some few such Examples as these will serve to warn an Age nay many succeeding Ages and Generations of men which prevents the more frequent Executions of Vengeance and justifies the Patience and Long-suffering of God to Sinners If such Examples in any measure reform the World as God intends they should it makes this World a much happier place for the better men are the less hurt and the more good they will do and the less evil there is committed in the World the less Mankind will suffer and the greater Blessings God will bestow on them And though there be a great deal of Wickedness committed in the World after such Terrible Warnings as these God may exercise great Patience and Forbearance towards Sinners without the least blemish to his Holiness or Justice For such Frightful Executions convince the World of God's Justice and when God has publickly vindicated the Honour of his Justice he may try gentler Methods and glorify his Mercy and Patience towards Sinners And thus God punishes that he may spare is sometimes very terrible in his Judgments to prevent the necessity of striking often that Sinners may have sufficient warning and that he may be good to Sinners without encouraging them in sin Thus the destruction of the Old World by a Deluge of Water when they were past being reformed is a warning to all Sinners as long as this World lasts and is a publick and standing Confutation of Atheism of such Scoffers as say where is the promise of his coming for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation The constant and regular course of Nature without any Supernatural Changes and Revolutions tempts men to think that there is no God in the World who changes Times and Seasons but this St. Peter tells us is visibly confuted by the destruction of the Old World for this they are willingly ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished And this is reason enough to fear and expect what God has threatned That this present World shall be burnt by fire But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men 2 Peter 3. 5 6 7. Such Destructions as these can be attributed to no Natural Causes but the same Word which made the World destroyed the Old World by Water and will destroy this by Fire which makes it a visible Demonstration of the Power and Justice of God The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by Fire from Heaven is not only a general Warning to Sinners but an Example of a Divine Vengeance against all Uncleanness and Unnatural Lusts. As St. Iude tells us Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire v. 7. Thus the Destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans which was attended with the most terrible Circumstances that we ever meet with in Story is a lasting Confutation of Infidelity and a glorious Testimony to Christ and his Religion So that most of the terrible Examples of God's Vengeance how terrible soever they were to those who suffered are Acts of great Goodness to the World and therefore belong to the Goodness of Government by some severe Executions to protect and defend the Innocent and reclaim other Offenders without the necessity of terrifying the World in every Age with such repeated Severities Nay we may observe farther That when the World is grown very corrupt and degenerate and such Sinners if they be suffered to continue in it will certainly propagate their Atheism Infidelity and Lewdness to all Posterity it is great Goodness to all succeeding Generations to cleanse the World of its impure Inhabitants by some great Destruction by Sword or Plague or Famine to lessen the number of Sinners and to possess those who escape with a greater awe and reverence of God's Judgments Nay to observe but one thing more Many times these terrible Shakings and Convulsions of the World are intended by God to open some new and more glorious Scene of Providence Thus it was in the Four Empires which preyed upon each other and were at last swallowed up by the Roman Powers though they made great Destructions in the World yet they carried Learning and Civility into
mankind now is would destroy the good Government of the world and most of the Pleasures and Conveniences of Life and yet without this the Providence of God is not so uniform towards men as it is towards beasts and those who fare worse than others of the same nature with them will still complain If then Providence must not deal alike by all men do they mean by the Uniformity and Stability of Providence That mens Fortunes whatever they are shall always be the same That the Rich and Prosperous shall always be Rich and Prosperous and the Poor always Poor and Beggars and Slaves Unless these Objectors be all Rich and Happy I doubt they will never agree to this for the Poor and Miserable must needs think it hard usage to be always poor without room for better hopes But such a Stability of Providence as this would destroy the Wise and Just Government of the World for how should God restrain and punish Wickedness and reward and encourage Vertue if the Rich must always be Rich and the Poor always Poor Nay how can the Providence of God do this without making men Vertuous and Vicious too by Necessity and Fate When Wantonness and Prodigality Idleness and Folly will spend or lose an Estate and Frugality Prudence and Diligence will get one And when all men in this world must not be equal does it not more become the Wisdom and Justice of Providence that mens own Vertues and Vices shall in a great measure make the distinction and carve out their own Fortunes for them So that when men complain of the Uncertainty and Instability of Fortune as they call it they complain of they know not what and were it put to their own choice what to have in the room of it they would not know how to mend the matter The wise government of free Agents who so often change themselves requires very frequent sudden surprizing Turns of Providence the reasons of which must of necessity be as invisible to us as the thoughts of mens hearts and their most secret intrigues and counsels till we can make men all move alike as regularly and uniformly as the Heavenly Bodies do it is an absurd and unreasonable complaint That Providence does not act regularly and that the Events of Providence are not always the same Another great Complaint against Providence is That good men are not always rewarded nor bad men punished according to their deserts That many bad men are prosperous in this world and some good men great sufferers That all things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not as is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath 9. Eccl. 2. This makes the Events of Providence very sudden mysterious and unaccountable that no man knows what course to take to make his life easy and prosperous for whether he be good or wicked he may be happy or miserable as it happens As for the Objection it self I shall consider it more hereafter but at present I will only ask these Objectors Whether to remove these Difficulties and Uncertainties of Providence and that they may the better understand the Reasons of all Events they do in good earnest desire That God would reduce this matter to a Certainty by punishing all bad men and rewarding all good men in this world according to their deserts If they do I must tell them as Christ told the two Brethren who desired that they might sit one on his Right hand and the other on his Left in his Kingdom Ye ask ye know not what They ask the most dangerous thing that could possibly befal mankind and what they ask would be Ten thousand times a greater Objection against Providence than what they complain of Should every Sinner be punished in this world according to his deserts what man is there so just and innocent as to escape the Divine Vengeance If thou Lord shouldest mark iniquity O Lord who shall stand 130. Psal. 3. Were every Sinner punished as he deserves I doubt there would be no good man left to be rewarded for where is the man that doth good and sinneth not What room does this leave for Patience and Forbearance for the Repentance of Sinners for God's Pardoning-Grace and Mercy and what a Terrible Providence is this How contrary to all the Notions we have of God and his kind and gracious Government of his Creatures I grant God may exercise great Patience and Long-suffering towards sinners he may forgive the sins of true Penitents and yet punish sinners and reward good men even in this world these things are very reconcilable in God's Government of the world for thus he does govern the world but they are very irreconcilable with such a Providence and Government as these men desire which requires a present and visible Punishment of every sin as soon as committed and as present and visible a Reward of every good action for unless these Punishments and Rewards are present all the time they are delayed bad men may be prosperous and good men afflicted which is their very Objection against Providence which can never be removed but by speedy and visible Executions which leave no place for the Patience and Forgiveness of God or for the Repentance of Sinners And is it not much more desirable for ever to be ignorant of the Reasons of Providence than to have such Proofs and Demonstrations of Providence as this Let me desire these unthinking Cavillers at Providence to review their Objection over again and consider what is the meaning of every word in it and how upon second thoughts they like it themselves That they may have a plain and certain Reason of God's Judgments they desire that no man may suffer any external Calamity but only for sin and that every sinner may be punish'd in this world according to his deserts and then they will believe That there is a Providence that governs the world tho it is better for the world that they should continue Infidels than be thus convinced Well then who in the first place are these sinners whom they would have punished Do they mean every one who does a wicked action or every impenitent and incorrigible sinner If every one who at any time does any wicked action must be punished for it then it is plain that no man can escape then there is no place for Repentance or Forgiveness but a speedy Vengeance must pursue the sinner and God knows we are all sinners and must all be punished and if this removes one Objection against Providence I 'm sure it will very much encrease another from the many evils and miseries that are in the world which will be many more and much greater if every sin must receive its just punishment If they mean only That impenitent and incorrigible sinners
meaning of it from what Noah had often told them and this must needs convince them of the terrible Justice and Vengeance of God And the gradual increase of the Flood gave them some time to repent in and to beg God's pardon and I 'm sure this makes a glorious representation both of the Goodness and Wisdom of God in the most terrible Judgment that ever was executed upon the world if we had sufficient reason to believe as there want not some fair appearances of it that God intended the Deluge as well to convince and save all that could be brought to repentance in the Old World as to reform the New Thus since God had determined to destroy that wicked Generation of men and to preserve only Noah and his three Sons to destroy the Earth by a Deluge and to shut up Noah in the Ark was as great or a greater mercy to Noah than his preservation was Let us suppose that instead of drowning the world God had at once destroyed all Mankind by Plague or Thunder from Heaven or some other sudden stroke excepting Noah and his Sons who should be Eye-witnesses of this Terrible Execution and live to see the Earth covered with dead Bodies and none left to bury them and their Cities lie waste and desolate without Inhabitants who can conceive what the horror of such a sight would have been who would have been contented to live in such a world to converse only with the Images of Death and with noisome Carkasses But God in great mercy shut up Noah in the Ark that he should not see the Terror and Consternation of Sinners when the Flood came and he washed away all their dead Bodies into the Caverns of the Earth with all the marks and signs of their Old Habitations that when Noah came out of the Ark he saw nothing but a new and a beautiful World nothing to disturb his imagination no marks or remains of that Terrible Vengeance This indeed destroyed all other living Creatures as well as Sinners excepting those that were in the Ark with Noah but this I suppose is no great objection against Providence that the Creatures which were made for man's use were destroyed with man since God preserved some of each Kind for a new increase and yet the Wisdom of God was very visible in this for had the World been full of Beasts when there were but four men in it the whole Earth would quickly have been possessed by Wild and Savage Creatures which would have made it a very unsafe habitation for men To conclude this Argument the sum of it in short is this When the wickedness of Mankind was grown universal and incurable it became the Wisdom of God to put an end to that Corrupt State and to propagate a new Race of men from a Righteous Stock and to take the most effectual course to possess them with a lasting belief of his Being and Providence and with a religious awe of his Justice and Power To this end he destroyed the Old World with a Deluge of Water and preserved Noah and his Sons in the Ark which had all the advantages imaginable to deter men from sin which brought a Deluge upon the Old World and to encourage the practise of true Piety and Vertue which preserved Noah from the Common Ruin We see in this Example that numbers are no defence against the Divine Justice and therefore no security to Sinners when all flesh had corrupted his ways God destroyed them all nay we see that the more wickedness prevails in the world the nearer it is to destruction that the great multitude of Sinners is so far from being a reasonable temptation and encouragement to sin that it is a fair warning to considering men to separate and distinguish themselves from a wicked world by an exemplary Vertue that God may distinguish them also when he comes to Judgment which an universal corruption of manners shews to be very near and it is a dangerous thing to sin with a multitude when the multitude of Sinners will hasten Vengeance Here we see that though Sinners may be very secure they are never safe as our Saviour observes it was in the days of Noah they were eating and drinking marrying and giving in marriages until the day that Noah went into the Ark and knew not until the flood came and took them all away 24. Matth. 37 38 39. God may delay punishment a great while and seem to take no notice of what is done below till Sinners begin to think that he is such a one as themselves but their Judgment all this while neither slumbers nor sleeps there may be the greatest Calm and the serenest days before the most terrible Earthquakes and the longer God has kept silence the more reason have we to expect a severe and surprizing Vengeance which makes the Psalmist's Advice in such Cases very seasonable Now consider this ye that forget God lest I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver And who would be afraid or be ashamed of Noah's singularity to be good alone and to be the single Example of Piety and Vertue that remembers that he alone with his three Sons were saved from the Deluge and he that would be a Noah in the Ark must be a Noah in a wicked World But this is sufficient to justify the Wisdom of Providence as to Noah's Flood which put an end to the Old World and now let us take a view of the New Notwithstanding that late terrible Example of God's Power and Justice in the destruction of the Old World that new Generation of men began to grow very corrupt as God foresaw they would but resolved to try some new methods and not to drown the world any more When Noah had offered a Burnt-offering to the Lord of every clean beast and of every clean fowl after his coming out of the Ark The Lord smelled a sweet savour and the Lord said in his heart I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth Neither will I again smite any more every living thing as I have done 8. Gen. 20 21. The first Exploit we hear of them was their building the Tower of Babel which Story is so briefly related by Moses that we cannot give a perfect account of the Reasons and Circumstances of it The most probable Account seems to be this that Nimrod the Son of Cush and Grandson of Ham in which Line True Religion and Piety first decayed affecting an Universal Empire to prevent the dispersion of the People persuaded them to build a magnificent Seat for his Empire which should be a center of Union for them at what distance soever they should be forced to remove That the whole Earth should be but one Kingdom and Babel the Royal Palace Had this Design succeeded the whole world would have been but one People and the Universal Monarchy in the Line of
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