our sin God can arm them against us so upon our obedience he can make them serviceable even against their natures as if he had made a Covenant with them and they had both the reason and virtue to observe it I do not remember any instance in Scripture that God went out of the usual tract of his providence and acted in an extraordinary manner but where his people where one way or other concerned It was for Joshua's and the Israelites sake that the Sun was arrested to stand still in the Valley of Ajalon that they might have light enough to defeat their Enemies and pursue their victory * Josh 10.12 13. The Sea shall against its natural course stand in heaps like walls of brass to assist the Israelites escape * Exod. 14.22 The fire is restrained in the operation of its nature even whilst it retains its burning quality when the lives of the three valiant believing Children are in danger * The mouths of Lyons are muzled when the safety of his beloved Daniel is concerned * Dan. 6.22 And the shadow goes back upon the Dyal for Hezekiah's sake * 2 King 20.11 When God would at any time deliver his people He can muster up Lightnings and Thunders for their assistance * 1 Sam. 7.10 He can draw all the Regiments of Heaven into Battel array and arm the Stars to fight against Sisera when Israels condition needs it and make even the lowest Creatures to list themselves as Auxiliaries in the service God hath not a displeasure with sensless Creatures neither is transported with strains of fury against such objects when he alters their natural course Hab. 3.8 Was the Lord displeased against the Rivers was thy wrath against the Sea that thou didst ride upon thy Horses and Chariots of Salvation No but he made those Creatures the Horses and Chariots to speed assistance and salvation to his people which the Psalmist elegantly describes Psal 114. All Creatures are his Host and that God that Created them hath still the Soveraign command over them and can imbodie them in an Army to serve his purpose for the deliverance of his people as he did against Pharaoh 3. The interest of Nations is ordered as is most for the Churches good He orders both the course of natural things and of civil affairs for their interest He alters the state of things and changeth Governors and Governments for the sake of his people For these causes God sent Elisha to Crown Jehu King 2 King 9.6 7. I have anointed thee King over the people the Lord c. that I may avenge the blood of of my Servants the Prophets and the blood of all the Servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezabel For the sakes of the Godly in that Nation and the revenging the blood of the Prophets which had been shed was he raised up by the Lord. He sent such judgments upon Egypt that it was as much the interest of that Nation to let Israel go as it was before to keep them their vassals God orders the interest and affairs of Nations for those ends and according to this disposition of affairs Christ times his intercessions for his Church The Angels had been sent out to view the state of the World and found it in peace Zach. 1.11 behold all the Earth sits still and is at rest there had been Wars in Artaxarexes and Xerxes his time but in the time of Darius that part of the World had an universal peace which was the fittest time for the restoration of the Jews and building the Temple because it could not be built but by the Kings cost whose treasure in the time of War was expended another way nor would it consist with their policy to restore the Jews to their government at such a time when they had Wars with the Neighbour-parts of Egypt See how God orders the state of the World in subserviency to his gracious intentions towards his Church The time of the Jewish captivity was now out according to the promise of God and God gives that part of the World a general peace that the restauration of the Jews and the rebuilding of the Temple might be facilitated and the truth of his promise in their deliverance accomplished Upon the news of this general peace in that part of the World Christ expostulates with God for the restauration of Jerusalem vers 12. How long O Lord wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the Cities of Judah against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years The time of the Captivity determined by God was now expired The first reformation in Germany was back'd by reasons of state as it was then altered it being the interest of many Princes of that Countrey to countenance Luther's Doctrine for the putting a stop to the growing greatness of Charles the fifth who had evident designs to enslave them I might mention many more only by the way let me advise those that have an inclination to read histories of former transactions to which men naturally are addicted to make this your end to observe the strange providences of God in the World and how admirably he hath made them subservient to the interest of the Church which will be the most profitable way of reading them whereby they will not only satisfie your curiosity but establish your Christianity Calvin understands that place Deut. 32.8 He sets the bounds of the people according to the number of the Children of Israel that in the whole ordering of the state of the World God proposeth this as his end to consult for the good of his people and his care extends to the rest only in order to them and though they are but a small number yet he orders his whole government of the Worlds affairs as may best tend to their Salvation Therefore God sets the people bounds or enlargeth them according as they may be serviceable one way or other to this end And the reason is rendered v. 9. For the Lords portion is his people and Jacob is the Lot of his inheritance Therefore God orders all the rest of the World in subserviency to the maintaining and improving his portion and inheritance Secondly 2. As the World so the gifts and common graces of men in the World are for the good of the Church which is a great argument for providence in general since there is nothing so considerable in government as the disposing of places to men according to their particular endowments and abilities for them And the bestowing such gifts upon men is none of the meanest arguments for Gods providential government of the World As 1. The gifts of good men The gifts conferred upon Paul were deposited in him not only to be possessed by him but used and laid out for the good of the Church Col. 1.25 Whereof I am made a Minister according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you The manifestation of the
own torments might not be increased Do not the Saints in Heaven desire the presence of the whole Church that there happiness in that of the whole body may be compleated If the Head Christ be not compleat without the body the members of the body cannot be compleat without one another The Souls of them that were slain for the word of God cry under the Altar for vengeance on them that dwell on the Earth as Revel 6.9 and 10. How long O Lord holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth Will not their kindness to their fellow-members be as strong as their justice And their love for the good of their friends draw out their prayers as well as their desire of vengeance on their Enemies Why may they not as well pray for us as we praise God for them Had they not some likeness to their great Master whilst they were on Earth and shall they not be more like to him now they are in Heaven and behold his face and feel all the stirrings of his heart And if they have no sence at all of the Churches sufferings how shall they be like to him who hath As their bodies shall be like the glorious body of Christ at the resurrection are not their Souls now like his glorious Soul merciful and compassionate and sympathizing in all the afflictions of the Church and can this be without some breathings for a full compleating of the Churches freedom Are such desires and pleas any hindrance to their present happiness 'T is so far from that that it doth rather further their glory which cannot be compleat as the glory of Christ as head is not mounted to the highest pitch of glory till his mystical body be all gathered in and lodged with him If it be thus will God do any thing prejudicial to the Church and contrary to the combin'd desires of all those that are so neer him If God doth sometimes stir up himself upon the supplication of one man and grant an order upon his petition according to his mind and if the prayers of one faithful Moses or Elias or Samuel have such a kind of Almighty power in them much more is the joynt force of so many prayers twisted together Use Vse 1. For information Is it is so that all providence is for the good of the Church Then The Text. 1. God will alwaies have a Church in the World he will have some to serve him The whole course of his providence being designed for it As long as the world which is the object of his providence doth endure he will have a Church God would otherwise lose the end of the motion of his eyes the operation of his providence since it is to shew himself strong for the Church and every member of it As long as the candle and light of the Gospel burns and shines God will have a candlestick to set the candle in * Cham. les trais verit liv 3. Chap. 1. p. 16. His great design in making a World was not to have Sun Moon and Stars but a Church a company of men that might bear his mark and honour him to whom he might speak and extend his grace abroad which he was so full of within As a Limner who would draw an excellent draught draws his design in the midst of the cloth and fills the void places with clouds and landskips and other fancies at his plea-sure which communicate some beauty and lustre to the work But that was not the principal design of the Workman That redeemer which bears the Church upon his heart will create a stability for it 't is a part of his Priestly Office to have a care of the Lamps 'T is one of his Titles to be he that walks in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks * Revel 2.1 Priests under the Law were to look to the great Candlestick in the Temple supply the Lamps with Oyl and make them clean * Levit. 24.3 4. Chap. 27. 20. Chap. 30. 8. The Church indeed may be eclipst but not extinguished if it be not conspicuous on the mountain yet it shall be hid in the Wilderness There shall be sprinklings of professors among all people God will leaven the places where they are into Christianity and cause them to fructify and grow up in purity and glory * Micah 5.7 And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord as the showers upon the grass that tarrieth not for man nor waiteth for the Sons of men It tarries not for man It attends not the power of man the precepts of man or inventions of man but whose descent is from Heaven and is carried on not by humane power but by the divine Spirit and providence It shall be firmer then all worldly power and the strongest Kings Isa 2.2 And the Mountain of the Lords house shall be established upon the top of the Mountains and shall he exalted above the hills Above Mountains and Hills to which sometimes the powers of the World are compared Zach. 4.7 Zach. 4.7 That providence which gave the Church at first a footing in the world upon a weak foundation to outward appearance in spight of Men and Devils will preserve it and not suffer it to be blown up he will shadow the Church with his wings in a perpetual succession of the choicest mercies 2. God will in the greatest exigencies find out means for the protection of his Church This will be till his providence be at an end When God hath removed one instrument of his Churches protection he hath his choice of others whom he can raise and spirit for his work When those upon whom the Churches hopes hang are taken off he can raise things that are unlikely to supply the place As the Lutenist accidentally had a Grasshopper leapt upon his instrument to supply by its noise the place of a string which had newly crackt whereby his Musick was continued without interruption God can Spirit men against their own natural fears It was very improbable that Nicodemus one of a fearful disposition who came to our Saviour by night for fear of the Jews should have the courage to assert his cause in the face of a whole counsel of Pharisees contriving his death and at present blunt the edge of their malice though we read of none at that time in the counsel to second him * Joh. 7.50 51. The holy Ghost takes perticular notice that it was he that came to Jesus by night Joseph of Arimathea whose name we meet not with in the Catalogue of any of our Disciples till the time of his death and then he appears boldly to beg the body of Jesus of Pilat God will never want instruments for the preserving that Church which he owns as his 'T is observed by some that God so ordered it that the same day that Pelagius the great poysoner
by his providence He is the great General of Armies 'T is observed that in the two Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah God is called the Lord of Hosts no less then a Hundred and Thirty times Arrowsmith Chaâ—â— oâ— Principles Exercit 1. §. 1. 3. To preternatural actions God doth command Creatures to do those things which are no way suitable to their inclinations and gives them sometimes for his own service a writt of ease from the performance of the natural Law he hath impressed upon them A devouring Raven is made by the Providence of God the prophets Caterer in a time of Famine * 1 King 17.4 God instructs a ravenous Bird in a lesson of abstinence for Elijah's safety and makes it both a Cook and a Serving man to the Prophet The Whale that delights to play about the deepest part of the Ocean approaches to the shore and attends upon Jonah to transport him to the dry Land * Jonah 2.10 The fire * Dan. 3. was slacked by God that it should not singe the least hair of the three Childrens heads but was let loose to consume the Officers of the Court The mouths of the ravenous Lyons which had been kept with an empty stomach were muzled by God that they should not prey upon Daniel in a whole nights space God taught them an Heroical temperance with so dainty a dish at their mouths and yet they tore the accusers in a trice 4. To all supernatural and miraculous actions of the Creatures which are as so many new Creations As when the Sun went backward in Hezekiah's time when it stood still in the valley of Ajalon that Joshuah might compleat his Victory on the Canaanites The boysterous waves stood on a heap like Walls to secure the Israelites passage but returning to their natural motion were the Aegyptians Sepulchre When Creatures have stept out of their natural course it could not be the act of the Creature it being so much against and above their natures but it must be by the order of some Superior Power 5. To all fortuitous actions What is casual to us is ordained by God as effects stand related to the second cause they are many times contingent but as they stand related to the first cause they are acts of his Counsel and directed by his Wisdom God never left second causes to straggle and operate in a Vagabond way though the effect seem to us to be a loose act of the Creature yet it is directed by a Superior cause to a higher end then we can presently imagine The whole disposing of the lot which is cast into the lap is from the Lord. Pro. 16.33 A Souldier shoots an arrow at random and God guides it to be the Executioner of Ahab for his Sin * 1 King 22.34 which Death was foretold by Micajah v. 17 28 God gives us a certain Rule to judge of such contingencies Exod. 21.13 And if a man lye not in wait but God deliver him into his hand A man accidentally kills another but it is done by a secret commission from God God delivered him into his hands Providence is the great Clock keeping time and order not only hourly but instantly to its own honour * Fuller Eccles Hist Câ—nt 6. book 2. p. 51. 6. To all voluntary actions 1. To good actions Not by compelling but sweetly inclining determining the Will so that it doth that willingly which by an unknown and unseen necessity cannot be omitted It constrains not a man to good against his will but powerfully moves the will to do that by consent which God hath determined shall be done The way of man is not in himself the motion is mans the action is mans but the direction of his steps is from God Jer. 10.23 'T is not in man that walketh to direct his steps 2. To evil actions 1. In permitting them to be done Idolatries and follies of the Heathen were permitted by God He checked them not in their course but laid the reins upon their necks and suffered them to run what race they pleased Acts 14.16 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own wayes Not the most execrable villany that ever was committed in the world could have been done without his permission Sin is not amabile propter se and therefore the permission of it is not desireable in itself but the permission of it is only desireable and honestatur ex sine God is good and wise and righteous in all his acts so likewise in this act of permitting sin and therefore he wills it out of some good and righteous end which belongs to the manifestation of his glory which â—s that he intends in all the acts of his will of which this is one Wicked men are said to be a staff in Gods hand as a man manages a staff which is in his own power so doth God manage wicked men for his own holy purposes and they can go no further then God gives them licence 2. In ordering them God governs them by his own unsearchable Wisdom and Goodness and directs them to the best and holiest ends Contrary to the natures of the sins and the intentions of of the sinner Joseph's Brothers sold him to gratifie their revenge and God ordered it for their preservation in a time of famine Pharaoh's hardness is ordered by God for his own glory and that Kings destruction God decrees the delivering up Christ to Death and Herod Pilate the Pharisees and common rout of People in satisfying their own passion do but execute what God had before ordained Act. 4.28 for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy Counsel determined before to be done Judas his Covetousness and the Devils malice are ordered by God to execute his decree for the redemption of the World Titus the Emperour his ambition led him to Jerusalem but Gods end is the fulfilling of his threatnings and the taking revenge upon the Jews for their murdering of Christ The aim of the Physician is the Patients health when the intent of the Leeches is only to suck the blood God hath holy ends in permitting sin while man hath unworthy ends in committing it The rain which makes the Earth fruitful is exhaled out of the Salt-waters which would of themselves spoil the ground and make it unfruitful The deceiver and the deceived are his Joh. 12.16 Both the action of the Devil the Seducer and of wicked men the seduced are restrained by God within due bounds in subserviency to his righteous will for with him is strength and wisdom Second Proposition 2. As Providence is universal so it is mysterious Who can trace the motions of Gods eyes in their race He makes the Clouds his Chariot in his motions about the Earth * Psal 104.3 and his throne is in the dark He walks upon the wings of the wind His providential speed makes it too quick for our understanding His wayes are mysterious and put the reason and wisdom of
may bring to his own ends As in some Engines you shall see wheels have contrary motions and yet all in order to one and the same end God cured those by a Brazen Serpent which were stung by the fiery ones whereas Brass is naturally hurtful to those that are bit by Serpents * Grotius Mat. 20.16 Aes naturaliter nocet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Afflictions Joseph is sold for a slave and God sends him as a Harbinger his Brothers sold him to destroy him and God sends him to save them Pauls Bonds in the opinion of some might have stiffled the Gospel but he tells us that they had fallen out to the furtherance of the Gospel 1 Phil. 12. 2. Sins * Hall contempl book 3. p. 806 807. God doth often effect his just Will by our weakness neither thereby justifying our infirmities nor blemishing his own action Jacob gets the blessing by unlawful means telling no less then two lies to attain it I am Esau and this is venison But hereby God brings about the performance of his promise which Isaac's natural affection to Esau would have hindred Jacob of The breach of the first Covenant was an occasion of introducing a better Mans sinning away his first stock was an occasion to God to enrich him with a surer The loss of his original righteousness made way for a clearer and more durable The folly of man made way for the evidence of Gods wisdom and the sin of man for the manifestation of his grace and by the wise disposal of God opens a way for the honour of those attributes which would not else have been experimentally known by the Sons of men 3. Casual means The Viper which leapt upon Pauls hand out of the bundle of sticks was a casual act but designed by the providence of God for the propagation of the Gospel Pharaoh's Daughter comes casually to wash her self in the river but indeed conducted by the secret influence of God upon her to rescue Moses exposed to a forlorn condition and breed him up in the Aegyptian learning that he might be the fitter to be his kindreds deliverer Saul had been hunting David and at last had lodged him in a place whence he could not well escape and being ready to seize upon him in that very instant of time a Post comes to Saul and brings the news that the Philistines had invaded the Land which cut out other work for him and David for that time escapes * 1 Sam. 23.26 27 28. Thirdly 3. Reason Such actions and events of things are in the world which cannot rationally be ascribed to any other cause then a supreme providence 'T is so in common things Men have the same parts the same outward advantages the same industry and yet prosper not alike One labours much and gets little another uses not altogether such endeavours and hath riches flowing in upon him Men lay their projects deep and question not the accomplishment of them and are disappointed by some strange and unforeseen accident And sometimes men attain what they desire in a different way and many times contrary to the Method they had projected This is evidenced 1. By the restraints upon the passions of men the waves of the Sea and the tumults of the People are much of the same impetuous natures and are quelled by the same power * Psal 65.7 which stilleth the noise of the Sea and tumult of the People Tumults of the People could no more be stilled by the force of a man then the Waves of the Sea by a puff of breath How strangely did God qualify the hearts of the Aegyptians willingly to submit to the sale of their Land when they might have risen in a tumult broke open the Granaries and supplied their wants * Gen. 47.19 21. Indeed if the World were left to the conduct of chance and fortune what work would the savage lusts and passions of men make among us How is it possible that any but an Almighty power can temper so many jarring Principles and rank so many quarrelsom and turbulent Spirits in a due order If those bruitish passions which boyl in the hearts of men were let loose by that infinite power that bridles them how soon would the World be run headlong into unconceivable confusions and be rent in pieces by its own disorders 2. By the sudden changes which are made upon the Spirits of men for the preservation of others God takes off the Spirit of some as he did the wheels from the Egyptian Chariots in the very act of their rage Paul was struck down and changed while he was yet breathing out threatnings c. God sees all the workings of mens hearts all those cruel intentions in Esau against his Brother Jacob but God on a sudden turns away that torrent of hatred and disposeth Esau for a friendly meeting * Gen. 33.4 And he who had before an exasperated malice by reason of the loss of his birth-right and blessing was in a moment a changed man Thus was Sauls heart changed towards David and from a Persecutor turns a justifier of him confesseth Davids innocence and his own guilt 1 Sam 24.17 18. thou art more righteous then I for thou hast rewarded me good whereas I have rewarded thee evil c. What reason can be rendred for so sudden a change in Saul's revengeful Spirit which had all the force of interest to support it and considered by him at that very time For vers 24 he takes special notice that his Family should be disinherited and David be his Successor in the Throne How suddenly did God turn the Edge of the Sword and the heart of an Enemy from Jehosaphat 2 Chron. 18.31 Jehosaphat cried out and the Lord helped him and God moved them to depart from him The holy Ghost emphatically ascribes it to Gods motion of their wills by twice expressing it But stranger is the preservation of the Jews from Hamans bloody designs after the decree was gone out against them Mordecai the Jew is made Ahasuerus's Favourite by a strange wheeling of Providence First The Kings Eyes are held waking and he is inclined to pass away the solitariness of the night with a Book rather then a game or some other Court past-time no book did he fix on but the Records of that Empire no place in that voluminous book but the Chronicle of Mordecai's service * Esther 6.1 2. in the discovery of a treason against the Kings life he doth not carelesly pass it over but enquires what recompence had been bestowed on Mordecai for so considerable a service and this just before Mordecai should have been destroyed had Ahasuerus slept Mordecai and all his Countrey-men had been sacrificed notwithstanding all his Loyalty Could this be a cast of blind chance which had such a concatenation of Evidences in it for a superior power 3. In causing Enemies to do things for others which are contrary to all rules of policy 'T is
serviceable to their Countrey So let us enquire into the Providence of God to understand the mind of God the interest of the Church the wisdom and kindness of God and our own duty in conformity thereunto 6. Ascribe the Glory of every providence to God Abraham's Steward petitioned God at the beginning of his business Gen. 24.12 and he blesses God at the success of it ver 26 27. We must not thank the tools which are used in the making an engine and ascribe unto them what we owe to the Workmans skill Man is but the instrument God's Wisdom is the Artist Let us therefore return the Glory of all where it is most rightly placed We may see the difference between Rachel and Leah in this respect when Rachel had a Son by her maid Bilhah she ascribes it to God's care and calls his name Dan which signifies judging Gen. 30.6 God hath judged me and heard my voice That the very Name might put her in remembrance of the kindness of God in answering her prayer And the next Napthali she esteems as the fruit of prayer vers 8. Whereas Leah takes no notice of God but vaunts of the multitude of her Children vers 11. behold a troop comes She imposeth the name of Gad upon them which also signifies fortune or good luck And the next Asher vers 13. which is fortunate or blessed And we find Leah of the same mind afterward vers 17. It is said God harkned unto her so that her Son Issachar was an answer of Prayer but she ascribes it to a lower cause which had moved God because she had given her maid to her Husband vers 18. Not unto us not unto us O Lord but to thy name be the glory Doct. 2. All the motions of providence in the World are ultimately for the good of the Church of those whose heart is perfect towards him Providence follows the rule of Scripture Whatsoever was written was written for the Churches comfort * Rom. 15.4 Whatsoever is acted in order to any thing written is acted for the Churches good All the providences of God in the World are conformable to his declarations in his word All former providences were ultimately in order to the bringing a Mediator into the World and for the glory of him then surely all the providences of God shall be in order to the perfecting the Glory of Christ in that mystical body whereof Christ is head and wherein his affection and his Glory are so much concerned See the Proof of this by a Scripture or two Psal 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies Not one path but all the works and motions not one particular act or passage of providence but the whole tract of his proceedings not only those which are more smooth and pleasant but those which are more rugged and bitter All mercy and truth sutable to that affection he bears in his heart to them and sutable to the declaration of that affection he hath made in his promise There is a contexture and a friendly connexion of kindness and faithfulness in every one of them They both kiss and embrace each other in every motion of God towards them As mercy made the Covenant so truth shall perform it And there shall be as much mercy as truth in all Gods actings towards those that keep it Rom. 8.28 We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose we know we do not conjecture or guess so but we have an infallible assurance of it All things even the most frightful and so those that have in respect of sense nothing but Gall and Wormwood in them work together they all conspire with an admirable harmony and unanimous consent for a Christian's good One particular act may seem to work to the harm of the Church as one particular act may work to the good of wicked men but the whole series and frame of things combine together for the good of those that are affectionate to him Both the Lance that makes us bleed and the plaister which refresheth the Wounds Both the griping purges and the warming Cordials combine together for the Patients cure to them who are called according to his purpose Here the Apostle renders a reason of this position because they are called not only in the general amongst the rest of the world to whom the Gospel comes but they are such that were in Gods purpose and counsel from Eternity to save and therefore resolved to encline their will to Faith in Christ Therefore all his other Counsels about the affairs of the world shall be for their good Another reason of this the Apostle intimates vers 27. The Spirit makes intercession for the Saints according to the will of God The intercessions of the Spirit which are also according to Gods will and purpose will not be fruitless in the main end which both the intercessions of the Spirit and purpose of God and the will and desire of the Saints do aim at which is their good Indeed where any is the object of this grand purpose of God he is the object of God's infinite and innumerable thoughts Psal 40.5 Many O Lord my God are thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts which are to-us-ward they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee if I would declare and speak of them they are more then can be numbred The Psalmist seems to intimate that in all the wonderful works which God hath done his thoughts are toward his people He thinks of them in all his actions and those thoughts are infinite and cannot be numbred and reckoned up by any Creature He seems to restrain the thoughts of God towards his people in all those works of wonder which he doth in the World and which others are the Subjects of But his thoughts or purposes and intentions in all for the word signifies purposes too are chiefly next to his own glory directed toward his people those that trust in him which vers 4. he had pronounced blessed They run in his mind as if his heart was set upon them and none but them Here I shall premise two things as the ground work of what follows 1. God certainly in all his actions has some end that is without question because he is a wise agent to act vainly and lightly is an evidence of imperfection which cannot be ascribed to the only wise God The Wheels of Providence are full of Eyes * Ezek. 1.18 There is motion and aknowledge of the end of that motion And Jesus Christ who is Gods Deputy in the providential government hath Seven Eyes as well as Seven Horns * Revel 5.6 a perfect strength and a perfect knowledge how to use that strength and to what end to use it Seven being the number of perfection of Scripture 2. That certainly is Gods end which his
Spirit to any man is given to profit withal 1 Cor. 12.7 And this is the great end for which men should seek to excel viz. for the edifying of the Church 1 Cor. 14.12 For as much as you are zealous of Spiritual gifts seek that you may excel to the edifying of the Church 2. The gifts and common graces of bad men There is something that is amiable in men though they have not grace As in Stones Plants and Flowers though they have not sense there is something grateful in them as colour and smell c. And all those things that are lovely in men are for the Churches good the best life and the worst death things present let who will be the possessor all things between Life and Death are for the good of Believers because they are Christs 1 Cor. 3.22 Whether Paul or Apollo or Cephas or the world i. e. Whether the gifts of the prime lights in the Church or the common gifts of the world Are all yours and ye are Christs and Christ is Gods God is the dispenser of them Christ is the Governour of them and all for your sakes As the medicinable qualities of waters are not for the good of themselves but the accommodation of the indigencies of men By the common works of the Spirit God doth keep men from the evil of the World For it cannot be supposed that the Spirit whose mission is principally for the Church should give such gifts out of love to men which hate him and are not the objects of his eternal purpose but he hath some other ends in doing it which is the advantage of his Church and People And this God causes by the preaching of the Gospel which when it works gracious works in some produceth common works in others for the good of those gracious ones As a seed of corn hath straw husks and Chaff come up with it which are shelters to that little seed which lies in the midst so in the preaching of the Gospel there are some husks come up among natural men which God makes to be shelters to the Church as those common works and restraining men through the knowledge of Christ God gives gifts to them not out of love to them but love to his Church As Nurses of great mens Children are fed with better meat then the other Servants not out of any particular personal respect to them but to their office that the milk whereby the Child is nourished may be the sweeter and wholesomer were it not for that Relation she must be content with the Diet allowed to the rest of the Servants Some stinking plants may have medicinal virtues which the Physician extracts for the cure of a disease and flings the rest upon the Dunghil God bestows such qualities upon men otherwise unsavoury to him which he draws forth upon several occasions for the good of those that are more peculiarly under his care and then casts them away These gifts are indeed the ruine of bad men because of their pride but the Churches advantage in regard of their excellency and are often as profitable to others as dangerous to themselves As all that good which is in plants and animals is for the good of man so all the gifts of natural men are for the Churches good for they are for that end as the principal next the glory of God because every inferior thing is ordained to something superior as its end Plants are ordained for the nourishment of Beasts and both Plants and Beasts for Men. The inferior men for the service of higher and all for the community yet still there is a higher end beyond those viz. the glory of God to which they are ultimately ordained which is so connected with the Churches good that what serves one serves the other 3. Angels the top Creatures in the Creation are ordered for the good of the Church If the Stars are not Cyphers in the World only to be gaz'd upon but have their influences both upon Plants and Animals As the Sun in impregnating the Earth and enlivening the Plants and assisting the growth of fruits for the good of mankind If the stars have those natural influences upon the sensible world the Angels which are the morning stars have no less interest as instruments in the government of it The Heathens had such a notion of Daemons working those things which were done in the world but according to the will and order of the supream God The Angels are called watchers Dan. 4.13 a Watcher and an holy one vers 17. this is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones they watch for Gods orders and watch for Gods honour and the Churches good There are orders of state among them for we read of their decree 't is called their decree ministerially as they execute it By way of approbation By way of Authority approbative as they subscribe to the equity and goodness of it As the Saints are said to judge the world not authoritative as incommission with Christ but as they approve of Christs sentence They seem to request those things of God which may make for his glory and they decree among themselves what is fit to be presented to God in order to his glory They cannot endure that men should trample upon Gods authority despoil him of his right and tread down his inheritance and therefore they send such requests to God to act so as men may acknowledg him and his government to the intent that the living may know that the most high rules in the kingdoms of men Their care therefore must be for the Church since God rules all things in order to that and since that is Gods portion and inheritance so that as they have a care of Gods glory they must also have a care of Gods portion and his peculiar treasure Exod. 25.1 The inward part of the Temple was to be adorned with Cherubims to note the special attendance of the holy Angels in the assemblies of the Saints As evil Angels plot against the Church Trap. on Numb p. 58. so good Angels project for it Though in the Scripture we find Angels sometimes employed in affairs of common providence and doing good to them that are not of the Church as one is sent to comfort Hagar and relieve Ishmael upon his cry though he had scoffed at Isaac the heir of the covenant when he was in Abraham's Family * Gen. 21.17 yet for the most part they were employed in the concerns of some of his special Servants Angels thrust Lot out of Sodom * Gen. 19.15 16. An Angel stopt the Lyons mouths when Daniel was in the Den Dan. 6.18 My God hath sent his Angel and hath shut the Lyons mouths God emploies Angels in the preserving and ruining of Empires which is clear in the prophecy of Daniel and some understand Isa 10.34 And Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one of an Angel As the Soul sends
Dan. 9.21 Revel 10.8 9. Revel 22.8 9. And when by the course of time those turnings are to happen in the World the Angels must have their share of service in them The Trumpets are sounded by Angels and the Vials which are filled with the causes of such alterations are poured out by the hands of Angels Some indeed by the Angels there mentioned understand the visible instruments of reformation not excluding the Angels who are the invisible Ministers in the affairs of the World * Light-foot Temple Chap. 38. p. 253 256. 5. They engage in this work for the Church with delight They act as Gods Ministers in his providence with a unanimous consent * Ezek. 1.9 Their wings were joyned one to another So that they perform their office with the same swiftness and with the same affection without emulation to go one before another which makes many actions succeed ill among men but they go hand in hand They do it with affection both in respect of the kind disposition of their natures and as they are fellow-members of the same body for they are parts of the Church and of the Heavenly Ierusalem Heb. 12.22 Ye are come to the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels to the general Assembly and Church of the first born and therefore act out of affection to that which is a part of their body as well as out of obedience to their head They do it in respect of their own improvement too and increase of their knowledge which is the desire of all intellectual Creatures For they compleat their understandings by the sight of the methods of infinite wisdom in the perfecting his gracious designs And it is Gods intent that they should grow in the knowledge of his great mystery by their employment Eph. 3.10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God i. e. By the gracious works of God towards the Church and in the behalf of it for the security and growth of the Church and in the executions of those decrees which as instruments they are imployed in For I do not understand how it can be meant of the knowledge of Christ for that they know more then the Church below can acquaint them with for without question they have a clear insight into the offices of Christ who is their Head and whom they are ordered to worship They understand the aim of his death and resurrection and can better explain the dark predictions of Scripture then purblind man can But by observing the Methods which God uses in the accomplishment of them they become more intelligent and commence Masters of knowledg in a higher degree which it is probable is one reason of their joy when they see Gods infinite Wisdom and Grace in the conversion of a sinner without affection to them their employment about them they could not rejoice so much And their rejoicing in their first bringing in to God argues their joy in all their employments which concerns their welfare Secondly 2. As all good things so all bad things are ordered by providence for the good of the Church That which in its own nature is an injury by Gods ordering puts on the nature of a mercy and what is poyson in it self by the Almighty art becomes a Soveraign medicine Are Gods dispensations in their own nature destructive That wise Physician knows how to make poysons work the effect of purges Are they sharp It is to humble and purge the Church As shadows serve to set out the pictures so the darkest passages of providence are made by God to commend the beauty of those glorious things he works for his Church We may see this in 1. Bad persons As 1. The Devil God manageth him for his own glory and the strengthning of Believers * Math. 8.31 32. The Devils desired to enter into the herd of swine with an intent probably not only to destroy the swine but to incense the Gadarens against him out of whom they had been cast to do him some considerable mischief But what is the issue As they discover their malice so they inhance the value of Christs kindness to the distressed man whom he had freed from this tyranny Hereby also was the Law of God justified in commanding the Jews to abstain from Swines Flesh which the Gadarens being Apostate Jews had broken he magnified his own power in the routing such a number of unclean Spirits which had not been so conspicuous in the turning them out of one man had not this regiment discovered themselves among the Swine and brought such a loss upon the Gadarens whereby as they shewed their own strength and malice so they discovered occasionally the greatness of Christs charity and his power over them so that in granting the malicious petition of this exasperated Legion the Law of God is justified our Saviours love glorified his power manifested And a foundation laid for the gaining Proselytes in that Country to which purpose he left the man he had cured * Luk. 8 39. and to strengthen the faith of those poor Believers which then followed him God makes use of the Devils by the Soveraignty of providence to bring about ends unknown to themselves for all their wisdom The malice of the Devil againct Job hath rendred him a standing miracle of patience for ever They are the rulers of the darkness of this World * Eph. 6.12 not of the light of the World they are the rulers of the wicked and the scullions of the Saints to scour and cleanse them They are the rulers of the World but subordinate to serve the providence of God wherein God declares his wisdom by serving himself of the worst of his Enemies The Devil thought he had brought a total destruction upon mankind when he perswaded our first Parents to eat of the forbidden fruit but the only wise God ordered it to bring about a greater glory to himself and a more firm stability to his people in introducing an everlasting covenant which could not be broken and establishing their happiness upon surer terms then it was settled in Paradise And afterwards in filling the heart of Judas to betray Christ and the hearts of the Jews to crucifie him Even by that way whereby he thought to hinder the good of mankind he occasionally promotes their perpetual redemption And I do not much question but those very principles which the Devil had distilled into the gentile World of shedding humane blood in sacrifices for expiation of guilt and the Gods conversing with men in humane shapes and the imagination of the intercession of Daemons for them the first out of rage against mankind and both that and the other to induce them to Idolatry might facilitate the entertainment of Christ as the great expiatory sacrifice and the receiving of him as the Son of God though in an humane shape and the belief
of his intercession God over-reaches the Devil and makes him instrumental for good where he designs hurt and mischief 2. Wicked men All the wicked in the midst of the Church are for the good of it either for the exercise of their grace or security of their persons or interest Pro. 16.7 When a mans ways please the Lord He will make his enemies to be at peace with him Sometimes he will incline their hearts intentionally to favour or order even their actions against them to procure their peace contrary to their intentions Sometimes God makes them his Sword to cut his people sometimes Physick to purge them sometimes Fire to melt and refine them sometime Hedges to preserve them sometimes a ransom to redeem them * Pro. 21.18 A Traveller makes use of the mettle of a head-strong Horse to carry him to his journeys end That wind which would overturn a little Boat the skilful Pilot makes use of to drive his Ship into the Harbour and the Husbandman to cleanse his Corn from the Chaff Though the ends of the workers viz. God and wicked men are different yet the end of the work is but one which is ordered by Gods Soveraign pleasure It was promised in the promise of the Gospel to the Gentiles Gen. 9.27 God shall enlarge Japhet and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant God shall allure Japhet the Gentiles of Europe to dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan the head of the cursed posterity shall be Servants to the Church beside their will and sometimes against it by an over-ruling hand And Christ hath bought them to be his Servants 2 Pet. 2.1 denying the Lord that bought them and therefore hath the disposing of them whether they voluntarily give up themselves to him or no. He is a Lord by purchase over them who own him not as a Saviour The hatred of the Churches enemies sometimes conduceth more to her good then the affections of all her worldly Friends Now this appears Helvicus contra Judaeos 1. In furthering the Gospel The Jews who speak not of Christ among themselves but with opprobrious terms have been the exact preservers of the Old Testament even to the very number of the letters wherein Christians have sufficient to confirm them in the belief of Christs being the Messiah and unanswerable arguments against their adversaries Whereupon St. Austin terms them capsarios Ecclesiae such that carry the Books of the Children of great men after them to School When the Authority of the Revelation was antiently questioned the Church of Rome was instrumental to keep it in the number of the Canonical books not thinking they should find their own Church so plainly Deciphered in it to be the mother of abominations To this we may refer the action of Ptolemy Philadelphus King of Egypt in causing the Scripture to be translated about three hundred years before the coming of Christ through which the Nations * Jackson vol. 1. Fol. p. 62. might better discern as it were through a prospective glass the new star of Jacob which was shortly to arise No doubt but many of the Gentiles by comparing the old Scripture Prophecies which they now could read in the Greek language might be more easily induced to an embracing the Gospel and acknowledging Christ to be the Messiah when it came to be divulged among them Herod is the cause of the consultation about the place of Christs birth not for any good-will he had to him whom he intended to murther but God makes use of this to clear up the truth of the prophecy concerning Bethlehem the place of his birth Mat. 2.5 6. Out of thee shall come a Governour that shall rule my people Israel And they certainly were not very good who preached Christ out of envie and propagated the Gospel wherein Paul rejoyced not in their sin but in the providential fruit of it Phil. 1.15 18. Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife what then Notwithstanding every way whether in pretence or truth Christ is preached and I therein do rejoyce yea and will rejoyce 2. In furthering the temporal good of the Church 1. In its preservation Wicked men are often serviceable to the Church as the filthy Raven was to holy Elijah or as the Lyon which would have devoured Sampson is a store-house to provide him food for in his hunger he finds a table spread in the belly of his Eenemy Pharaoh's design was to destroy Israel and the Daughter of that irreconcilable Enemy is directed by God to preserve Moses who was to be the ruine of her family the destruction of the Egyptian glory and the Deliverer of the Church She saves him out of charity and God out of a wise design She by his Education in the Egyptian learning fits him for the Court and God for the deliverance of his Church Egypt had corn to relieve first Abraham * Gen. 12.10 afterward Jacob in a time of famine the family wherein the Church of God was only then bound up Herod lies in wait for Christs destruction and Egppt the most Idolatrous Country in the world and an ancient Enemy to Gods Church affords him shelter God makes Moab to hide his out-casts and be their covert from the face of the spoiler * Isa 16.3 4. Some think Gods design in sending Jonah to Nineveh to work so remarkable a change by repentance was to soften some of their hearts and the hearts of their posterity to deal more tenderly with those gracious Israelites who in the captivity of the ten Tribes some years after should be their guests God making thereby provision for his own people in that common judgment which should come upon the Nation This God doth sometimes by reviving the law of nature and the common sentiments of Religion in the hearts of natural men whereby their own consciences bearing witness to the innocency and excellency of the Church of God put them upon thoughts for its security Sometimes it is above their own Sphere and besides their own intentions The Whale which swallowed Jonah intended him as a morsel to quell his hunger but proves his security and disgorgeth him upon the shoar They understand their own aim but not the design of God The Leech that sucks the Patients blood knows not the Chirurgions design who useth it for the cure of a disease Sometimes their rage proves their own ruine and the Churches safety as the Leech bursts it self sometimes and saves the Patient The very Earth whereby is meant the carnal world is said to help the Woman the Church by swallowing up the flood which the Dragon casts out of his mouth against her * Revel 12.16 Just as the old rags were the instruments whereby Jeremiah was drawn out of the Dungeon 2. In the advancement of the Church or persons eminent Abner had a Plot for bringing Israel to David's Scepter which concurred both with Gods purâ—â—â— and promises but
sprung from an ill cause a disdain to be checked by Ishbosheth though his King for an unjustisiable act for having too much familiarity with one of Sauls Concubines * 2 Sam. 3.6 7 8 9 10. And from this animosity he contrives the deposing of Ishbosheth and the exaltation of David yet dissembles the ground and pretends the promise of God to David v. 18. For the Lord hath spoken of David by the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of the Philistines He is the first Engine that moves in this business and by him and his correspondents after his death v. 17. the business is brought about by Gods over-ruling hand wherein Gods promise is accomplished and David a type of Christ and the great Champion for the Church against its enemies round about is advanced Very remarkable is the advancement of Mordecai in order to the advancing the Jews as well as preserving them when the necks of all the visible Church God had in the World were upon the block Haman ignorantly is the cause of this preferment of Mordecai and at that time too when he came to petition for his death Esther 6.4 He was come to speak to the King to hang Mordecai upon the Gallowes which he had prepared for him The King asks him what should be done to the man whom the King delights to honour v. 16. He imagineth that the Kings question did respect himself lays out a Scheme of what honour he was ambitious of v. 8 9. which was by the King designed for Mordecai and Haman made the Herald to proclaim him Here Haman not only a wicked man in himself but the greatest Enemy Mordecai and the whole Church of God had is made unwittingly an instrument to exalt Mordecai and in him the whole Church of God 3. In enriching the Church or some persons in it whereby it may become more serviceable to God How wonderful was it that when the Israelites were abominated by the Egyptians God should so order their hearts that the Egyptians should lend them Gold and Jewels * Exod. 12.35 36. and dismiss them with wealth as well as safety and not so much as one person molest them till they arrived at the Red Sea The very gain and honour of the Enemies is sometimes consecrated to the Lord of the whole Earth Micah 4.13 Arise and thresh oh Daughter of Sion I will make thy horn Iron and thou shall beat in pieces many people and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance to the Lord of the whole Earth This was when many Nations were gathered against Sion v. 11. the wealth of the Sinner is laid up for the just Pro. 13.22 And God sometimes makes the wicked unwittingly to themselves in their carking be the factors for good men into whose lap providence poures the fruit of their labour God gave Cyrus the spoils of Babylon and the treasures of Croesus to enable him to furnish the Jews with materials for building the Temple Isa 45.3 Isa 45.3 4. 4. and I will give thee the treasure of darkness and hidden riches of secret places speaking of Cyrus that thou mayest know that I the Lord which call thee by thy Name am the God of Israel for Jacob my Servants sake c. That he might acknowledge him the God of Israel and lay his wealth out in the service of God and the service of Jacob his servant 2. As bad persons so bad things are ordered to the good of the Church whether they be sinful evils or afflictive 1. Sin 1. A mans own sin Onesimus runs from his Master and finds a spiritual Father his being a runnagate is the occasion of his being a convert By slying from his Master he becomes a Brother in the Lord. * Phil. 10 12 16. What Joseph's brethren sinfully intended for revenge against their brother and security from their Fathers checks who acquainted Jacob with their miscarriages God ordered for the preservation of them who were the only visible Church in the World Their sin against their Brother contrary both to their intentions and expectations became the means of their safety God makes the remainders of sin in a good man an occasion to exercise his grace discover his strength and shew his loyalty to God 2. Other mens sins That might be in Sarah but a heady passion for hearing her Son mocked by Ishmael that made her so desirous to have the bondwoman and her first son thrust out * Gen. 21.10 but God makes use of it to make a separation between Isaac the heir of the Covenant and Ishmal that he might not be corrupted by any evil example from him God orders Abraham to harken to her voice because in Isaac his seed should be called * ver 12 And the revengeful threatning of Esau was the occasion of Jacob's slight whereby he was hindred from marrying with any of the people of the Land by whom he might have been induced to Idolatry * Gen. 2 7.3 46. Why should we misturst that God that can make use of the Lusts of men to bring about his own gracious purposes 2. Commotions in the World There is the eye of God that eye which runs to and fro throughout the whole Earth in the Wheels of worldly motions even in the most dreadful providences in the World that stare upon men with a grim countenance * Ezek. 1.18 their wings were dreadful and their wings were full of eyes All the overturnings in the World are subservient to the Churches interest though they are not visibly so unless diligently attended * Broughton on Revel 13. §. 177. God orders the confusions of the world and is in the midst of the tumults of the people Psal 29.10 11. The Lord sits upon the floud yea the Lord sits King for ever the Lord will give strength to his people the Lord will bless his people with peace He sits upon the floud as a Charioteer in his Chariot guiding it with holy and merciful intentions to his people to give them both strength and peace in the midst of them and as the issue of them By Water and Flouds is frequently meant tumults and confusions in the World If it were not so why should our Saviour encourage his Disciples and all their Successors in the same profession to lift up their heads when they hear of wars if their redemption * Luk. 21.25 26 27 28. were not designed by God in them they are all testimonies of the nearer approaches of Christ in power and glory to judge the Earth and glorifie his people Gods great end in the shaking of Nations is the performing those gracious promises to his Church which yet remain unaccomplisht These earthquakes in the world will bring Heaven to the Church The great revolutions in the Eastern part of the world the ruine of the Babylonian Empire the erecting the Persian and all the means whereby
and Commotions in the World for the overthrow of the Romish power were ordered not to let the Winds go till the servants of God were sealed in their Foreheads 3. Reason God takes particular notice of the meanest of his People and mightily condescends to them much more of the Church 'T is strange to consider that the Scripture mentions none of those great Potentates among the Heathen but either as they were instruments of his Peoples good or executioners of his Justice upon them or subjects of his Peoples Triumph Cyrus and Darius are mentioned as their friends Nebuchadnezzar and Senacherib and others as Gods instruments in scourging them * Gen. 14.9 10. Chedorlaomer and the other Kings with him as they were the subjects of Abrahams Valour and Triumph He takes no notice of the Names of any in his Word but upon such Accounts Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar had done no doubt many actions before but none taken notice of but those But he takes notice of the meanest wherein was Grace and the meanest of their concerns and actions * Rivet in Gen. exercit 129. He mentions in his Word Jacob's Flocks c. things of no great moment the actions speeches gestures of his People to shew how his Providence wrought for them and how much he is concern'd in the least of their Affairs But the great Empires of the World their Original and Progress and the magnified Founders of them he speaks not of but as they have some relation or other to his People As we love to use the names of our Friends so doth God love the rellish of the names of his servants The name of Noah is repeated several times as the Jews observe * Gen. 7. Gen. 8. The Spirit of God loves the very mention of their names he delights to dwell upon the Catalogue of their names The Scripture uses to reckon the Genealogies of wicked Men in short characters Cains Generation is numbred in haste as if God had no care at all of them * Gen. 7.17 18. he puts them off with a kind of c. But he insists much upon the Generation of the Godly Seths Posterity are written in a larger scroul and more legible hand * Gen. 5.6 7 8 9. c. with the number of the years which they lived which in Cains Posterity there is no notice taken of His whole Respect his Heart his Eye his All is fixed upon them And Christ himself stands more astonished and wondring at the Faith of the Centurian the importunity of the Canaanitish Woman condescends to them to grant them what they would have You never find him taking notice of the Learning of the Rabbies the Magnificence of Herod or the glorious Building of the Temple See how condescending God is to work a Miracle for the support and strengthning of a weak Faith and the peevish distrust of his People Gideons Faith was weak yet how compassionate is God towards him * Judg. 6.36 c. He would have one time the Fleece dry another time wet God condescends to them in all in ordering his Providence as Gideon would have it without upbraiding him just as a tender Mother cherishes a weak Child And this Miracle was in order to the Churches Deliverance from a present oppressive Enemy Certainly when we find God taking care and ordering even the very Pins Snuffers and Basins of the Temple the place of his Worship as well as the more stately Ornaments of it we may say doth his Care extend to the meanest Utensils in his Temple and not much more to the Worshippers in it Doth he give order for the Candlesticks and will he not have much more care of the lights in them His care to the least implies his care of the greatest too In a building the little stones must be well laid as well as the greatest Every Believer is a stone in the Spiritual building 4. Reason God reveals often to his people what he will do in the World as if he seemed to ask their advice and therefore surely all his providences shall work for their good God would not surely acquaint them and advise with them what he should do did he intend to do any thing to their hurt There is not any thing in the heart of Christ wherein the Church is concerned but he doth reveal it to them John 15.5 I have called you friends for all things I have heard of my Father I have made known to you he discovered all to them the ends of his coming his Fathers love his death and resurrection what he would do after his ascension the progress of his affairs and the glory of Heaven and the end of all John must be the Pen-man of the Revelation which concerned the future state of the Church in all ages Joseph must know the interpretation of dreams in order to the Churches preservation Moses must be acquainted with Gods methods in the Israelites deliverance with the Egyptians ruine Dan. 10.11 19 20. Daniel must know the future state of the Eastern parts of the world he must know the turnings of the times and the end of the World 'T is to Noah and none else that he immediately discovers his intended destruction of the World And all those revelations ended in his peoples advantage nay he doth not only reveal but as it were consult with him in his affairs God doth as it were unbosom himself to Abraham as one friend to another as it were adviseth with him concerning his intention on Sodom Gen. 18.17 And the Lord said shall I hide from Abraham the thing which I do i. e. I will by no means do it it will not consist with my Love and Friendship to him to hide any thing from him And see the reason of it v. 18. Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty Nation and all the Nations of the Earth shall be blessed in him It was first his great affection to him because he had advanced him and promised that a mighty Nation should spring out of his Loyns And he had not withheld from him the secret of giving the Messias which was a universal blessing and so many ages were to run out before it was to be accomplisht he had discovered to him his acts of mercy and therefore would not hide from him his acts of justice he would know his mind in it and what he thought of it And you know the story how God regulated himself by Abraham's prayer and denyed him nothing till Abraham left off sueing any more It would make one conjecture that if Abraham had proceeded farther he had quite diverted the judgment from Sodom And when the Israelites had provoked God by a Golden Calf he would not do any thing against them till he had consulted Moses and therefore lays the whole case before him and seeks to take him off from pleading with the Lord and promising to make of him a great Nation * Exod. 32.9 10.
and the Lord said to Moses I have seen this people and blhold it is a stiff-necked people now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them and in such terms that one would wonder at Now therefore let me alone As if God did fear Moses's interposition would prevent him and disswade him from it Do not you stand in the way my wrath will cool if you interpose your self as much as to say God could not do it unless Moses gave his consent Moses would not be quiet but pleads the providences of God which had been all for him the promise of God made to Abraham concerning them And he would not leave till God repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people v. 14. If Angels as Calvin saith are Gods counsellours in Heaven Believers are as it were his Counsellors on Earth 5. God has given the choicest things he hath to his people He hath given his Law The Church is the Sphere wherein the light of the Gospel is fixed and wherein it shines from whence its beams do dart out to others Isa 2.3 out of Sion shall go forth the Law The oracles of God the great things of the Law as it is phrased Hosea 8.12 his Covenant and the counsel of his will are intrusted with the Church Now this being a mercy which exceeds all other things in the World is therefore comprehensive of all other as the greater comprehends the lesser And the Psalmist considers it as the top-stone of all blessings for after summing up the Providences of God he shews how God had distinguished Jacob by more eminent marks of his favour Psal 147.19 20. He shews his word to Jacob his statutes and his judgments unto Israel he hath not dealt so with any Nation he hath not left so rich a Legacy to any or given any so much of his heart Others are ordered by the word of his power for that is meant by word in the foregoing verse but Jacob hath the word of his grace too And this being the choicest piece of affection which God hath shewn to the Church implies the making all lesser providences subservient to it The Church wherein God hath laid up his Gospel and those Souls which are as the Ark wherein God hath deposited his Law shall be shadowed with the wings of his merciful providence in a perpetual succession of all true blessings All the providences of God are to preserve his Law in the World his severest judgments are to quicken up the Law of nature in men that know no other and the Law of his Gospel in men that sit under it And he hath given Christ to his Church and thereby hath given an earnest that still their good shall be promoted 'T is not to be thought that God will spare any thing else when he hath given them his Son Secondly The Second thing It must needs be that all providences is for the good of the Church First 1. All the providence of God is for the glorifying his grace in Christ The whole Oeconomy or dispensation of the fulness of time to the latter ages of the World is for the gathering all things together in him Eph. 1.10 that in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in Heaven and which are on Earth even in him In him as their head This was the design in all his dispensations both before his coming and since ever since the promise made to Adam though it be more manifest in the latter Age. This the Apostle represents as the main purpose of God v. 9. This was the mystery of his will which according to his good pleasure he had purposed in himself that is purposed in himself as a thing he was mightily pleased with and ver 11. saith he he works all things after or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Counsel of his own will or of that purpose which he had purposed in himself to gather all things in one in Christ All the things that God acts are referred to this as their end and ordered by this Counsel as their rule As it was the design of Gods providence to make way for Christs entrance into the World and all the prophecies in the old Testament tended to the discovery of it so since the coming of Christ the end of all is to advance him in respect of his headship Eph. 1.22 23. and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church which is his body the fulness of him that fills all in all God would advance Christ to the highest pitch v. 21. far above all principality and power both in this world and in the world to come and there is still a fulness wanting to Christ to compleat him not any personal fulness but a fulness belonging to him as Head which is the advancement God designs him He is already advanced above all principality and power He is already given as a Head to the Church but the compleatness of it is not till all his members be perfected to which all his providence in the world doth ultimately tend Therefore if the design of God be to honour Christ and if the spiritual happiness of the Church be part of that Glory and fulness of Christ it must needs be carried on by God else he will want part of his compleatness as a Head But this shall not be wanting since as all things are squared according to that Counsel of glorifying Christ as Head so all things are acted for believers by that power whereby he raised Christ from the grave to be their Head which power is the Copy according to which all acts which respect the Church are framed v. 19. and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe according to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him up from the dead God intended the good of the Church in this very act of glorifying Christ for he is made the head over all things to the Church As if God then had prescribed him that order that the glory he gave him should be also managed for the Churches interest Christ is Lord of the rest of the World but Head of the Church All things are under his feet but are not his members He is Head over all things to the Church and therefore to every member of the Church the least as well as the greatest and to the whole Church even that part of it which is on Earth as well as that part which is in Heaven who are compleated This Church is the fulness of Christ he would be bodyless without it therefore since Christ will be a head without a body if the Church be not preserved in order to the preservation of it all things must necessarily concur by the wise disposal of affairs Therefore since they are
travelling to be where their head is he having the government of the world will make all things contribute assistance to them in their journey that Christ may have that compleatness of glory which God intends him he expresly tells his Father John 17.10 that he is glorifyed in his people * John 17.10 And I am glorifyed in them And at the sound of the seventh Trumpet the Kingdoms of this world are to become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ and he shall raign for ever and ever * Revel 11.15 Now since all the motions in the world are that the Kingdoms of the world may become the Kingdoms of his Christ peculiarly his as being anointed King by him It must needs be that all things must be subservient one time or other to this end wherein the good of his people doth consist otherwise they would not bless God so highly for it as they do * Revel 11.17 We give thee thanks O Lord God almighty because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast raigned And where there is a resistance of this glory of Christ it is a natural effect of that decree whereby Christ is constituted King that the resisters should be broken in pieces and dasht like a Potters vessel Psal 2.6 9 and the issue of all is the blessedness of those that put their trust in him v. 12. The care that God hath of Christ and the Church in the types of them seems to be equal The Ark which was a type of Christ and the Table of shew-bread a figure of the Church had three coverings whereas all the rest of the Vessels c. belonging to the ceremonial part had but two * Numb 4.5 6 7 8. On the Ark there was the vail and covering of badgers skins and a covering of blew On the Table of shew-bread there was a cloth of Blew a cloth of Scarlet and a covering of badgers skins God orders as much for the security of the Church as for the security of Christ therefore the same things that tend to the glorifying of Christ shall tend to the advantage of the Church 2. God has given the power of the providential Administration of things to Christ to this very end for the good of the Church If God hath constituted him Head over all things to the Church can there be any doubt but that he will manage the Government for that which is the principal end of his Government which he hath shed his Blood for and which is chiefly intended by God who appointed him 1. All power of Government is given to Christ. Matth. 11.27 All things are delivered to me of my Father And the Father judges no man but hath committed all judgment to the son Joh. 5.22 that is the whole Government and Administration of Affairs 'T is not to be understood of the last Judgment for then it would be a limitation of that word all not that the Father lays aside all care of things but as the Father discovers himself only in him so he governs things only by him All this power was committed to him upon his interposition after the Fall of Man He was made Lord and Christ that is anointed by God to the Government of the World For upon the Fall God as a Rector had overturned all Man could not with any Comfort have treated with the Father had not Christ stept in and pleaded for the Creation whereupon God commits all judgment to the Son that he might temper it It was by Christ as a covenanting Mediator that the Earth was established * Isa 49.8 He had this Government Anciently and it was confirmed to him upon his death Heb. 1.3 Who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power Calvin understands the first word not only of the Deity of Christ but of the discovery the Father made of himself in and through him as Mediator The latter words some understand both of his Providential and Mediatory Kingdom by the word of his power this say some is referred to the Father whose image Christ is as acting by a delegated Authority and Commission from his Father others to Christ as that Christ upholds or bears up all things by his own powerful word Calvin thinks both may be taken but embraceth the second as being more generally received I may offer whether it may not be meant also of the powerful interposition of Christ as Mediator whose interest in God was so great that he kept up the World by his powerful Intercession when all was forfeited and God put it upon that interposition into his hands as heir of all things who having a hand with him in Creation understood both the Rights of God and the Duty of the Creature upon the condition of purging sin by his Death which he did and thereupon went to Heaven to take Possession of the Government at the right hand of God sat down took his seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high as due to him by Covenant and Articles agreed on between them I know nothing at present against such an interpretation of the words but I will not contend about it All this honour was confirm'd unto him upon his Death For having perform'd the Condition requisite on his part God deputes him and intrusts him with the Government of things that he might order all things so as to see the full Travel of his Soul 2. All this power was intended by God for this End the good of the Church As God appointed Christ a Priest for his Church to sacrifice for them a Prophet to teach them so the other Office of King is conferred upon him for the same end the advantage of the Church God acquaints us of this End aimed at by him in the Promise of the Government to him Jer. 33.15 16. In those dayes and at that time will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up to David and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land what is the end In those dayes shall Judah be saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely He should execute Judgment that is Administer the Government for the salvation of Judah and security of Jerusalem It was his Office both to build the Temple and to bear the Glory and to Rule upon his Throne to be a Priest upon his Throne to Rule as King and Priest Zach. 6.12 13. He shall build the temple of the Lord even he shall build the temple of the Lord. The erecting a Church is the sole work of Christ by Gods appointment And he was to bear up the Glory of it He should rule to this End for the Counsel of peace shall be between them both If by both be meant the Lord and the Man whose name is the Branch it then chiefly aims at our Reconciliation as wrought by Covenant between them If by both be meant the two Offices of
King and Priest and that the counsel of Peace be between them it will extend to all the Blessings of the Church to the good and Glory of the Church which is the fruit of his Kingly as well as the first Reconciliation was the fruit of his Priestly Office By Peace in Scripture is meant the confluence of all Blessings so that the intent of God in bestowing those Offices upon Christ and so great a Rule was for the good and advantage of that Church or Temple which he appointed him only to build And in Isaiah 11.9 where the Prophecy of the Government of Christ is the End is exprest to be that none should hurt or destroy in all his holy mountain And certainly since God set him at his right hand and confirm'd this power unto him after he had purged our sins it was certainly out of the high value God had for him and therefore must be the intent of God that he should govern all things in reference to the design of that death and for the good of those whose sins he had by himself purged For the possessing this Government was the very end why Christ died and rose again Rom. 14.9 For to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living If this were Christs End in dying and rising it was his Fathers End too who appointed him to Death and raised him by his mighty power And since he was delivered for our offences and rose again for our justification Rom. 4.25 The Government he is invested with being Lord of the dead and of the living must be for the sakes of those for whom he was delivered and for whom he rose His Regal power which was one end of his Death cannot cross the other main end the constituting a church and carrying on the good of them that believe The Government being in the hands not of God as Creator but in and through the hands of a Mediator and that Mediator which both died and rose again peculiarly for them therefore it cannot in the least be for their hurt but advantage The whole management of Christs Kingly Office in relation to the Church is prescrib'd unto Christ by God God reveals to him what shall be done in the World what acts he shall performe for the Church and gives him a History of all that was to be done upon the stage together with an order to communicate it unto his Servants Revel 1.1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to shew unto his Servants to be communicated to the whole Church things that must shortly come to pass Whether this Revelation was made to the humane nature of Christ at his incarnation as Tirinus thinks or rather upon his ascension is not material The whole Scheme of what was to be done in the World is revealed here by God to Christ And you find all the motions in the World relating to the Church and the end of all is the good of the Heavenly Jerusalem 3. All power thus given and intended for this end is actually administred by Christ for this end Christ as the head of the Church doth like a natural head It never sees nor hears nor exerciseth any act of sence only for it self but for the good of the whole Body The eye watches for the body the Tongue speaks for it the understanding contrives for it every part of the head is active for the whole body Now Christ as head is more bound to act for the Church militant then for the Church triumphant because the greatest part of his work for the Church triumphant viz. the bringing them to Heaven is already performed And they are above the reach of all things in the World and all the actions and motions in the world cannot touch or disorder them But the command of God concerning the other part behind is not yet performed and even they are the members of Christ as well as those in Heaven The Apostle * Col. 1.16 17 18. seems to refer both Christs creation and the preservation of things to this title of headship All things were created by him and for him and by him all things consist and he is the head of the body the Church and therefore the conservation and government of all things shall be subservient to the Church which is the body of this governing Head The chief seat of Christs Soveraignty is the Church Psal 2.6 yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion And he stands upon Mount Sion Rev. 14.1 The Church is the proper Seat and Metropolis of his Empire the Royal Chamber of this Great King All the conquests of Princes redound to the advantage of that place where they six their Residence He is King of the World but for the sake of Sion Christ did manage this charge anciently for his People when Joshuah had passed over Jordan and first entered upon the conquest of Canaan he sees a man over-against him with a sword drawn in his hand Joshua 5.13 14. And Joshua said unto him Art thou for us or for our adversaries And he said Nay but as Captain of the hosts of the Lord am I now come This was Christ that came armed for his People according to his charge as their Captain and General It was not an Angel because Joshua worshipped him ver 14. An Angel did not use to receive any Worship from Men and he accepts the Worship and commands him to loose his shoe from his foot for the place whereon he stood was holy ver 15. And the same Person Josh 6.2 is called Jehovah and there he gives him orders how he should manage his War Christ came here to direct his People in their concerns He employs his Wisdom for his Church as well as his other excellencies He is called a Counsellor * Isa 9.6 't is one of the great Letters in his Name and this as the rest there mentioned hath a relation to the Church For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given And the first use he makes of his Power after the confirmation of it to us upon his Resurrection is for the Church Matth. 28.18 All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth all Authoritative Power over Angels and the affairs of the World Go you therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them c. and lo I am with you alwayes even unto the end of the world He commands the Apostles to gather a Church among all Nations and doth by Vertue of this Authority committed to him promise his Presence with them in all such services they should do to this End even to the end of the World He promises his Spirit and his Providential Presence as his Power should endure to the end of the World so the exercise of it for this End should run Parallel with the continuance of it There should be no alteration or change in this great end of
Sion his Throne is in the Church when the great things in the World shall be acted for the Ruine of Antichrist * Revel 14.1 Gods Presence in his Church is the Glory and Defence of it As the presence of the King is the Glory of the Court Zach. 2.5 For I saith the Lord will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her His presence is a Covenant-presence Isa 41.10 Fear not I am with thee be not dismayed for I am thy God whence follows Strength Help and Support I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my Righteousness that is with my Righteous Power with my power engaged to thee in a Righteous Covenant His Presence and Providence in the World is in a way of Absolute Dominion but in his Church in a way of Federal Relation He is the God of Israel and God to Israel or for Israel * 1 Chro. 17.24 yea and a God in the midst of Israel Every one of them suffficient engagements to protect Israel and provide for Israel and govern every thing for Israels good God is under an Oath to do good to Israel will he violate his Oath tear his Seal break his Covenant who never broke his League with any of his people yet Eightly 8. The Prayers of the Church have a mighty force with God to this end God is entitled a God hearing Prayer and what prayers should God hear if not the prayers of his Church which aim at Gods Glory in their own good Though the prayers of the Church may in some particular fail yet in general they do not because they submit their desires to the Will of God which always works what is best for them When God would do any mighty work in the World he stirs up his people to pray for it and their prayers by his own appointment have a mighty influence upon the Government of the World For when they come before him in behalf of the Church in general he doth indulge them a greater liberty and boldness and as it were a kind of Authority over him then upon other occasions of their own Isa 45.11 Thus saith the Lord the holy one of Israel and his maker ask of me things to come concerning my Sons and concerning the work of my hands command you me God would be more positively confidently and familiarly dealt with about the concerns of his sons though they were things to come to pass in after Ages And indeed the prayers of the Church have a powerful and invisible Efficacy on the great actions and overturnings which are in the World The Being of the World is maintained by them from sinking according to the Jews saying sine stationibus non subsisteret mundus standing in prayer was their usual prayer-gesture And that they have actually such a force is evident Rev. 8.3 4. An Angel hath a golden Censer with Incense to offer it with the prayers of the Saints upon the Altar which was before the Throne And ver 5. the Censer wherein their prayers were offered was filled with the fire of the Altar and cast into the Earth and there were Voices Thundrings Lightnings and Earthquakes When the prayers of the Saints were offered to God and ascended up before him that is were very pleasing to him The issue is the Angel fills the Censer with fire of the Altar and thereby causes great commotions and alterations in the world signifying that the great changes of the World are an answer unto those prayers which are offered unto God for fire is taken from that altar upon which they were offered and flung into the World And it must needs be that the prayers of the Church should have an influence on the government of the World 1. Because God hath a mighty delight in the prayers of his people The prayer of the upright is his delight and he loves to hear the Churches voice Cant. 2.14 O my dove let me hear thy voice for sweet is thy voice Chaldee thy voice is sweet in prayer In the times of the Gospel God promises that the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem should be pleasant to him Mal. 3.4 When Christ shall sit as a refiner v. 3. what is the issue of those prayers v. 5. I will come near to you to judgment and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers c. Prayer awakes providence to judge the Enemies of the Church A Parent delights not in the bare crying or the voice of his Child simply considered in it self but in the significations and effects of it He delights in the matter of their prayers it being so agreable to his own heart and will and in the sence they have of the sufferings of the whole body 2. Because Prayer is nothing else but a pleading of Gods promises Unto this they are directed by that Spirit which knows the mind of God and marshals their petitions according to his will Now as God turns his own decrees and purposes concerning his Church into promises to them so the Church turns those promises into prayers for them So that promises being for the good of the Church and there being an exact harmony between those promises and the Churches prayers all those providences which are the issue of those promises and the answer of the Churches prayers must needs be for the Churches good 3. Because there are united supplications and pleadings both in Heaven and Earth all the hands of the whole Family in Heaven and Earth are concerned in their petitions 1. Christ intercedes for the Church who alwaies desires mercy and deliverance for them in the appointed time Zach. 1.12 How long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the issue is alwaies gracious For v. 13. God answers him with good and comfortable words and thereupon Carpenters are raised to cut off the horns which had scattered Judah v. 20. 2. Angels in all probability plead for the Church as we have already heard 'T is likely they offer and present that to God which makes for his glory and that is the good of the Church Angels surely desire that which their Head doth which is * Zach. 1.12 described as one of their own order and called an Angel Do they rejoyce at the repentance of a sinner and do they not likewise triumph at the happiness of the Church which is part of that Family they are of And we know that the greatness of our joy is suted to the mercies of our desires where our joy is most triumphant it implies that our desires before were most vehement 3. Glorifyed Saints are not surely behind The rich man in the Parable desired his Friend on Earth might not come into that place of torment * Luk. 16.28 If there be so much charity in Hell can there be less in Heaven If he desired it that by the presence of his Companions in sin his