cc. 2 3. the Jewish Historian also acquaints us Who tells likewise L. 20. c. 6. of certain Magicians and Impostours about the same time that led the people out into the Wilderness upon pretence of shewing them great signs and wonders wrought by the finger of God but who being seized by Felix the Governour 's order were made to suffer for their presumption As also he makes mention of another L. 20. c. 7. who had deceived the people with promises of Safety and Deliverance from all their evils so they would but attend him into the Wilderness and hereby brought destruction upon himself and his deluded followers As Buxt Synag Jud. c. 50. Barchocabh and others did afterwards Which it is very reasonable to suppose they would not all have done but that they were encouraged to it by the disposition they found in the people at that time to hearken to every one that set up for the Messiah whom they were eagerly waiting for And the best account therefore of these several pretences was that which the fore-cited Josephus gives of their War with the Romans that they were tempted to it by the information their Sacred Writings gave them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De bello Jud. l. 6. c. 31. of one to be born amongst them at that time who should be Ruler of the whole habitable World And for the further confirmation of this opinion the learned Buxtorf recites a Tradition amongst them that erred not much in this point Prisci Judaei ante Christi nativitatem non procul a termino aberrarunt quum Elias dixit Mundam sex mille annos duraturum nempe per duos mille annos mundum fore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inanem vacuum hoc est absque lege Divinâ per duos mille annos 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sub lege reliquos vero duos mille fore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dies Messiae Synag Jud. c. 50. dividing the Space of this World's duration into three parts each consisting of two thousand years the one before the Law the next under it and the other in the days of the Messiah Which plainly discovers that from their several Prophecies relating to the coming of the Messiah the properest time they could fix upon for it was about the four thousandth year of the World the very year in which Archbishop Annal. Tom. poster Vsher places our Saviour's Birth This was the time when the Gen. 49.10 Scepter was upon departing from Judah now were Dniel's Dan. 9.24 weeks either fully compleated or at least drawing near a conclusion and now was the Temple yet standing to which the Prophet Malachi had foretold Mal. 3.1 The Lord whom they sought should suddainly come and which was to be made Hag. 2.0 more glorious than the former as the Prophet Haggai had foretold namely by his Presence in it for in all other respects it was far inferiour And this therefore was the time when the Jews most reasonably might and when in fact they certainly did expect the promised Messiah howsoever because he came not with that pomp and splendour they had hoped for but on the contrary put on a mean garb and was attended with a small and very ordinary retinue and exposed to the most ignominious of deaths that of the Cross they would by no means own him for the person they had waited for However their incredulity is no confutation of the truth of what was thus signally accomplished our blessed Lord S. Matt. 1.18 19 20. S. Lu. 1.34 35. condescending to be born of a Virgin as had been Isa 7.14 foretold of him and at the time as I have shewed and in the very S. Matt. 2.5 6. S. Luk. 2.11 place pre-signified S. Matt. 11.14 having had the promised Elias for his fore-runner that is to say John the Baptist who was S. Luk. 1.17 to go before him in the spirit and power of Elias having S. Joh. 7.16 S. Lu. 4.43 44. preached his Father's Will to Mankind and having in all points lived and died as had been before declared concerning him as might easily be shewn Here is such an admirable complication of Events in the accomplishment of divers sorts of Prophecies as can never be hoped for in any one besides And by consequence we have here a very peculiar and unquestionable proof of that divine Providence I have undertaken to assert Especially considering that this our Saviour's appearance at the time pointed at in these Predictions that is to say that he lived and died a little before the dissolution of the Jewish Polity and Temple is testified not only in Scripture but which perhaps may signifie more with some Men by Antiq. l. 18. c. 4. Josephus the Jew who in his relation concerning him questions Whether he may call him a Man or not if that passage in him be genuine as Catal. Scriptor Eccles S. Jerome supposes and Dr. De Sibyll orac c. 11. Vossius has undertaken to prove it is and by Impulsore Chresto Suet. in vit Claud. c 25. Sic etiam Perperam Chrestianus pronunciatur Tertull Apol. c. 3. Suetonius and Auctor nominis ejus Christus qui Tiberio imperitante per Procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat Tac. Annal. l. 15. Tacitus And our selves who bear his Name and make profession of his Religion are a notorious instance of the Belief of it But to make the matter yet more plain to the conviction of the most incredulous I will descend a step lower and only demand that the holy Scriptures be admitted not to have been any late fiction but to have been written about the times they are ordinarily ascribed to the Old Testament before the time of our Saviour Jesus Christ's appearance in the World and the New during the Lives of his Apostles For even so I may observe two farther Prophecies the visible and lasting accomplishment whereof is a manifest token of their coming from God and so at once proves the divine Authority of the Scriptures and that which I now produce them for an over-ruling Providence 1. The former is the Pre-assurance that was given of the vast Extent of our Saviour's Kingdom which he was to erect in the World Psal 2.8 The heathen were to be given him for his inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession Isa 2.2 Mic. 4.1 The Mountain of the Lords house was to be established in the top of the mountains and to be exalted above the hills and all nations to flow unto it Mil. 1.11 From the rising of the Sun unto the going down thereof his Name was to be great among the Gentiles and in every place incense to be offered in his Name and a pure offering Isa 42.4 He was to set judgment in the earth and the Isles were to wait for his Law Ver. 6 7. was to be given for a covenant of the people for a light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes to bring out the prisoners from the prison and
parts of the Creation * S. Matt. 6.25 c. Take no thought for your life saith our Saviour what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink or for the Body what ye shall put on for these following Reasons 1. Because the Life is more than Meat and the Body than Raiment Whereby is intimated that God who hath already vouchsafed us the better will not refuse us the less having given us life he will not deny us those things which are requir'd for its support He spake the word and we were made he commanded and we were created and dare any say that he will not condescend to order a due provision for those to whom he hath thus bountifully given a Being It is easie to believe that his intent in producing us was not that we might pine away with insuperable hunger or parch with insupportable thirst or that we might starve for want of something to shelter us from the cold and that therefore he will not let us languish under any of these Inconveniencies longer than he sees very good reason for it Having bestowed upon us Life which is a much greater blessing than Meat for it and a Body which is far more valuable than the Raiment we put upon it and the production whereof was a far greater work of his Omnipotence than a supply of these things is there is no cause to fear that these shall not also be added to those other in a due proportion 2. Because he takes care of the Birds to give them their Meat in due season For so it follows Behold the fowls of the air they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them are ye not much better than they As much as to say Since you are certainly of far more account with God than the Fowls and yet he makes such plentiful provision for them your own Reason will enform you that he will much less neglect your selves 3. Because his Providence extends it self to the Flowers of the Field as well as to the Birds for these also are delicately cloathed by him Consider the Lilies of the Field how they grow they toyl not neither do they spin and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these Wherefore if God so cloath the Grass of the Field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven shall be not much more cloath yeu O ye of little faith Where our Saviour still proceeds à fortiori as in the former case only that he doth it with more advantage arguing that the Wisdom and Goodness of God manifested in this lower rank of Creatures ought to convince every one what reason there is to conclude that he will much rather multiply his Blessings upon Mankind whom he hath created of a nobler Race and to whom he hath all along professed much greater kindness And indeed it is not conceiveable that he will take care not only of the Beasts but of the Birds too and even of those little inconsiderable Birds the Sparrows as I noted before that * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 D. Chrysost in loc not one of them falls to the ground or is ensnared and perishes without his Providence and of the Flowers to array them in such gorgeous Attire and that he will yet be regardless of Man the master-piece of this lower World It is not to be thought that he will have a constant respect to the Creatures that were made for our sake and †Psal 8.6 put in subjection under our feet and will neglect us for whose sake they were made and to whom they were thus subjected The consideration of a general Providence sustaining these inferior Beings is on the contrary a powerful Argument for engaging Men to hope for a greater Interest in his care because of the nearer relation they bear to him And what our Saviour here proves by a very rational method of deduction the holy Scriptures at other times expresly affirm declaring That * 1 Tim. 6.17 God giveth us all things richly to enjoy †Act. 17.25 giveth us life and breath and all things ‖ S. Ja. 1.5 giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not that is that he giveth all necessary things and this not with a sparing Hand but bountifully richly and liberally and not to some select number of Favourites only but to all men of whatsoever Age Language Nation or Religion that it is in him or by his assistance that * Act 17.28 we live move and have our being and again That if †S. Matt. 7.11 we being evil know how to give good gifts unto our Children our Father which is in Heaven will much more give good things to them that ask him And again That he ‖ Job 5.11 setteth up those that be low and those that monrn he exalteth to safety * v. 18. He maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole †v. 20. In famine he redeemeth from death and in war from the power of the sword Sometimes he represents himself ‖ Exod. 15.3 as a man of war and the Lord of hosts is his name and again * Psal 46.9 he maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth he breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder and burneth the chariot in the fire †1 Sam. 2.6 He killeth and maketh alive bringeth down to the grave and bringeth back ‖ Psal 146.7 8 9. 107.9 and 68.5 He executeth judgment for the oppressed suiting his Relief to theirs as he doth also to other Men's Necessities If People be hungry he giveth them Food if Prisoners he looseth them from their Confinement if blind it is he that openeth their Eyes if bowed down he is ready to raise them up nor is he wanting to preserve the Stranger or to help the Fatherless and Widows in their streights When any are in the wost disconsolate condition to all outward appearance and are neither able to help themselves nor have any Friend that will stand by them and assist them they have yet this comfort left that the God of Heaven sees their Distress and hears the Sighs and Groans which they send forth in the anguish of their Souls and when * Psal 27.10 Father and Mother forsake them and all other hope fails he will take them up and will provide for them Neither are they only matters of greater concernment that he attends to as Balbus in †Magna Dii curant parva negligunt De nat Deor. l. 2. c. 66. Tully supposes of the Heathen Deities but those likewise of least importance even the very ‖ S. Matt. 10.30 Hairs of our Head all which our blessed Saviour assures us are numbred by him There is nothing about us that escapes his notice nothing in all our Affairs that he is not privy to or wherein we may not
them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house and Isa 49.6 to be salvation unto the end of the earth He was in the time of the Roman Empire Dan. 2.44 to have a Church or spiritual Kingdom set up that should never be destroyed but should break in pieces and consume that is should prevail over all the other Kingdoms and should stand for ever And there was to be Dan. 7.14 given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him even an everlasting Dominion that should not pass away and his Kingdom that which should not be destroyed The plain meaning of which Declarations and divers others to the same purpose which I shall not stand to recite was that by his appearance in the World at the time appointed of the Father he should break down the partition-wall betwixt Jews and Gentiles and settle one spiritual Kingdom consisting of both which should be of very large extent and should continue as long as the Sun and Moon endure Which Prediction our blessed Lord also himself repeats to let his Enemies the Jews see how vain all their attempts for the suppression of his Doctrine would be inasmuch as though they should proceed to vent their utmost malice against him by lifting him upon the Cross they would certainly find this to prove contrary to their expectation a means of gaining him Proselytes amongst all sorts of people S. Joh. 12.32 If I be lifted up from the Earth saith our Saviour I will draw all Men unto me Hereby declaring that his cruel and barbarous Death would be sufficient to prevail upon all that would be perswaded to attend to it and would undoubtedly engage a very great part of Mankind to become his Disciples He would be ready to receive them all Gentiles as well as Jews and one remarkable effect of his Sufferings was to be this That great numbers of both should flock to him and embrace his Religion and hope for Salvation only through his Mediation This might seem a strange paradox to those who fansied that our Saviour's death must necessarily put an end to all his pretences But it was no more than God the Father had pre-determined should be and therefore had so frequently presignified than our Saviour himself here promised and than was afterwards made good to the Conversion or Confusion of all who had set themselves against him For immediately upon his Ascension into Heaven and the Descent of the Holy Ghost his Apostles ◠Mar. 16 20. went forth and preached every-where the Lord working with them and confirming their words with signs following Whence it came to pass that his Doctrine was much sooner made known in the several parts of the World than could have been imagined and prodigious numbers were quickly brought over to it S. Peter converted no fewer than Act. 2.41 three thousand Souls at one Sermon in Jerusalem And presently after Com. in Act. Apost 3.1 Dr. Lightfoot thinks on the same day which he conjectures too might most probably be the same Harm Act. 3 4. great day of Pentecost wherein they were thus miraculously inspired or some other day of the same feast the number of Proselytes were reckoned to be Act. 4.4 five thousand And when the Word had been preached a-while in this and other Jewish Cities and met not with a due reception from this obdurate Nation the Apostles thought it time to Act. 13.46 turn themselves to the Gentiles Accordingly they took their several courses as might seem best to answer the great End of their Ambassage both to preach the Word and minister about holy things and to ordain others to the same Office And it pleased God to give them that success that by their Ministry the Word of God grew and prevailed against all the opposition and all the most inveterate malice and most exquisite cruelties of its Enemies Insomuch that both the Scriptures and other Writers inform us of divers Churches they had planted in their life-life-time to some of which S. Paul directed his Epistles and S. Peter his first to some others of them and others again are mentioned in S. John's Revelation And near about the time of this Apostle's death Pliny Propraetor of Bithynia wrote to the Emperor Trajan acquainting him that his Orders against the Christians could not be pursued L 10. Ep. 97. without bringing many of every age rank and sex into danger forasmuch as the infection as he expresses it had reached not only the greater Cities but their lesser Towns and Country-Villages To which I should also have added the testimony of Tiberianus President of Palaestine Usserii Append Ignat. professing all his severities unable to overcome the Galileans that is the Christians but that I think the singularly learned Mr. Dodwell Dissert de pauc Martyr par 23 24. has said enough to prove his Letter spurious However Justin Martyr who flourished as Eccl. Hist l. 2. c. 13. Eusebius testifies and the beginning of his own second Apology evinces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not long after the Apostles affirms that no sufferings could affright the Christians of his time from the profession they had taken upon them but the more they were persecuted the more they encreased and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ep. ad Diognet as they that rose up against them multiplied so did those on the other hand that were brought over to them And Clement of Alexandria who lived about sixty years after him declares that in his days 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Strom. l. 6. p. 667. the Doctrine of our Master was not confined to Judea as Philosophy was to Greece but spread it self over the face of the Earth both Greeks and Barbarians in each City and Village and Nation sometimes whole Houses together and at other times single persons only being converted by it and not a few of the Philosophers themselves So his Contemporary Tertullian professes that Pars penè major civitatis cujusque in silentio modestia agimus Ad Scap. the greatest part of almost every City were Christians and that their Enemies grew jealous of them and made Obsessam vociferantur civitatem in agris in castellis in infulis Christianos c. Apol. c. 1. complaint that their City was beset with them and that in the Countries in the Castles in the Isles were Christians and that it grieved them to see how every sex age condition and dignity was inclined to this Name And again Vestra omnia implevimus c. Apol c. 37. We saith he have filled all places amongst you your Cities Isles Castles Burroughs Councils Tents Tribes Decuries the Palace the Senate the Forum and we leave you only your Temples free from us And after these Origen for the next Century and Arnobius and Lactantius for the former part of the following teach that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. Philocal c. 1. all about both Greeks and Barbarians in great multitudes forsaking the Precepts of their Fathers and
this Support and consequently obnoxious to those Sufferings which call for it but besides it were to reflect upon Almighty God as if he had not that regard for our welfare which he has declared himself to have And we are not therefore to persuade our selves that he will never permit his faithful Servants to endure any kind of Afflictions though never so necessary and expedient but only that he will consider their condition and will not let them groan under more and heavier Calamities than he knows to be useful for them For to keep them from necessary Sufferings is not a favour to them but may prove a very great diskindness and cannot therefore be the meaning of those many professions which he makes from time to time of this willingness to take care of them Thus much then and no more we may conclude from these and the like Declarations of God's concern for them that conscientiously serve and depend upon him that he will take continual care of them and will give them as much ease and quiet as is agreeable to their Circumstances as much ease from Sufferings and as much quiet under them * Divitiae quippe atque fastigia dignitatum caeteraque hujusmodi quibus se foelices esse putant mortales verae illius foelicitatis expertes quid afferunt consolationis cum sit eis non indigere quà m eminere praestantius D. August Ep. 121. c. 2. And what great matter is it whether of these two be our portion whether we be wholly kept from Sufferings or be enabled to bear them comfortably whether we have Riches or be taught to live contentedly without them whether we be honoured or disgraced if we can welcome either condition and whether we be healthy and strong if we can but be as happy as those that are A great part of our Troubles proceed only from our own Fancies and Apprehensions of things and others are much heightened or diminished by them And if we can but conquer our selves so far as not to be rufled and discomposed at the Inconveniencies we meet with our Case may be much better than many others who abound in the things we most want but are uneasie in their own Minds Wherefore if Almighty God condescend by the influence of his holy Spirit thus graciously to prepare us for Sufferings we need not be dismay'd though the World frown never so much upon us and we have never so cross a passage through it Wo could think the first professors of our Faith miserable when they meet with those Tribulations their Saviour had forewarned them of and yet were not only patient under them but could rejoice at and glory in them or * Henry Voes and John Esch went joyfully and merrily to the place of Execution and joyfully embraced the Stake and one of them seeing the Fire was kindled at his Feet said Methinks you do straw Roses under my â—eet â—ox's Acts and Monuments Vol. 2. p. 102. James Bainham at his Execution protested That in the Fire he felt no more pain than if he had been in a Bed of Down that it was to him as a Bed of Roses p. 301. Anthony Pearson with a chearful Countenance embraced the Post in his Arms and kissing it said likewise Welcome mine own sweet Wife for this day shalt thou and I be married together in the love and peace of God p. 554. Henry Filmer said to Pearson and Testwood his fellow-sufferers Be merry my Brethren and lift up your Hands unto God for after this sharp Breakfast I trust we shall have a good Dinner in the Kingdom of Christ our Lord and Redeemer p. 555. Lawrence Saunders took the Stake to which he should be chained in his Arms and kiss'd it saying Welcome the Cross of Christ welcome Everlasting Life Vol. III. p. 144. Thomas Hawkes when his Speech was taken away by the violence of the Flame his Skin also drawn together and his Fingers consumed in the Fire so that now all Men thought certainly he was gone suddenly and contrary to all expectation reached up his Hands burning on a light sire over his Head to the Living-God and with great rejoicing as seem'd strook or clapp'd them three times together p. 266. Mr. Bradford took a Faggot in his Hand and kissed it and so likewise the Stake p. 307. See the like also of T. Thomkins p. 187 188 189. Bp Farrar p. 216. Mr. Denley p. 396. Spicer Denny and Pool p. 704. and others Beati Martyres nostri Hus Hieronymus in mediis flammis cantabant hymnos Deo Jo. Comenii Paraenes ad Ecclesias nominatim Anglicanam p. 122. Eos inter qui necati sunt vidimus puerulum sex vel septem annorum qui tanto animi gaudio gestiens praedicans cantans Christianos Psalmos Japonico sermone ad mortem praparabat ut in tali aetate mirati id valdè simus Varen de religione in regnis Japon c. 11. those later Martyrs who could profess in the midst of their Flames That they felt themselves as upon a Bed of Down or of Roses could embrace and welcome the Stake and shew other tokens of joy to the Beholders Not much unlike what Socrates relates of one Theodorus †Socrat. Hist Eccles l. 5. c. 19. who being tormented with sundry kinds of punishments and wounded all over his Body and then dismissed because he was thought to be past all possibility of recovery yet being through the Goodness of God restored to his former Health acquainted Ruffimis that his Pains were not like what the Beholders imagined for that there stood by him a certain young Man who wiped away his Sweat and strengthened his Soul and made his Sufferings a pleasure to him rather than a punishment And if they instead of complaining of their hard their fiery-tryal seemed rather to be pleased with and delighted in it what reason can our selves have to be afraid of lesser Evils whilst our God is ready by his Almighty Power either wholly to preserve us from them or at least to prevent their smart and take away their pungency that they shall not hurt us And that this is not a vain hope but what we have abundant encouragement to depend upon is so evident that none who is but tolerably versed in the holy Scriptures can have the least pretence to doubt of it I confess God may and often doth suffer wicked Men to proceed in their Iniquities for a long time together and perhaps without any visible harm attending them but his Patience and Clemency to these is no sign that he puts not a real difference betwixt such and those that are heartily intent upon the observance of his Will or that he is not much more concerned for the one than he is for the other For that he is so the Wise-man assures us delivering it as a Truth of which he had sufficiently enformed himself and which we may therefore certainly depend upon * Eccles 8.12 Though a sinner do evil a
Of Trust in God OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the DUTY of Casting our Care upon God In all our DIFFICULTIES Together with An EXHORTATION to Patient Suffering for Righteousness In a SERMON on 1 S. Pet. III. 14 15. BY NATHANIEL SPINCKES M. A. A Presbyter of the Church of England LONDON Printed by J. Heptinstall for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1696. THE PREFACE AMongst the great variety of excellent Practical Discourses this present Age has produced I have often wondered that no more has been written concerning the Duty here treated of Than which though no sort of Vertue is more usefull for all Estates and Conditions of Life and especially for teaching how to bear Afflictions with a truly Christian Patience and Resignation to the Divine Will yet I know none that has ever set himself to a particular Consideration of it The admirable Author of the Whole Duty of Man the Learned Dr. Hammond Dr. Scott and some others have recommended it as a necessary and comfortable Branch of Christianity But their more general Designs allowed them not to enlarge upon it to the prejudice of those other Duties they were to insist upon also at the same time And none else having undertaken it unless perhaps within the compass of a Sermon I perswaded my self that I could not do God and Religion better service than by offering what Meditations seemed to me most proper for inviting to it nor could propose any Expedient that might tend more to Men's Quiet and easie Passage through this troublesome World Psal 27.13 I should utterly have fainted saith the devout Psalmist but that I believe verily to see the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the living And even the very Atque etiam Jovem quum Optimum Maximum dicimus cúmque eundem salutarem hospitalem statorem hoc intelligi volumus salutem hominum in ejus esse tutelà Cic. de fin bon mal l. 3. c. 20. Heathens could rejoice to think that Almighty God was their compassionate Protector and Defender having condescended to take upon him the Guardianship of Mankind Nor can any thing be a greater refreshment to an afflicted Soul than to remember that not Fortune nor Chance nor Fate nor the Malice the Ambition the Revenge the Avarice the Treachery of wicked Men nor even the Power and Spight and Subtility of the Devil governs the World but all our affairs are ordered by an infinitely Wise and Good God who knows our Condition much better than our selves do and loves us much better than we love our selves and will be sure to make a far better choice for us than we could for our selves For my own part I must confess to my Maker's Glory that it having been my portion of late years to have met with troubles of different kinds I have always found a serious Reflexion upon his good Providence the best support under them and the more sensibly so by how much the more firmly I have fixed my thoughts upon him and endeavoured to comfort and encourage my self in him This put me upon drawing up the following Discourse and now upon presenting it to the Christian Reader in hope that it may not prove wholly useless to others in the like or worse circumstances or at least that its Defects may tempt some abler Author to resume the Argument and supply what is wanting here And if it shall have either of these effects I shall not reckon my time or pains to have been mis-employed And because a constant and conscientious Dependance upon God is an excellent Preparative for Suffering for Righteousness whensoever he in his wise Providence sees fit to call us to it I have ventured to subjoyn a Discourse also upon that subject that as the former I hope may be of use for enabling so this other may be a means of engaging us to take up our Cross and follow our Blessed Lord through all the Impediments we may at any time have occasion to encounter with in doing it fighting manfully under his banner despising all terrestrial Advantages in comparison of the inestimable unconceivable Glories of the other State and studying to express our hearty Sense of what our Redeemer has so graciously done and suffered for us by conforming our selves to his Image who was made perfect through sufferings treading in his steps and resigning our selves entirely to our heavenly Father's Will patiently undauntedly and meekly to bear whatsoever is brought upon us for his sake I confess I have all along in what I have written proceeded upon Christian Principles taking it for a sufficient Proof of a super-intending Providence to order our affairs for us that the Holy Scriptures bear such undeniable testimony to it Greater Authority cannot be had for any Truth than the express Word of God declaring it And this therefore I have rested upon as the best foundation for whatsoever Doctrines I have laid down or Arguments I have urged in behalf of them Yet considering the shamefull degeneracy of our Times wherein too many that bear our Saviour's Name stick not however to decry all Divine Revelation and set up for bare Reason and the Light of Nature as their only Guide I was once Chap. 3. Sect. 1. about to have addressed my self to these in their own way to shew that besides the abundant Evidence we have from Scripture their so much admired Reason pleads loudly for nay undoubtedly evinces the Certainty of an over-ruling Providence But finding this undertaking like to swell to a much greater length than I had expected and fearing lest it might cause too great a breach in the thread of my Discourse and might be tedious and unseasonable to the better sort of Christians who are already sufficiently satisfied of this great Truth and need not to have it thus inculcated I altered my design and sent the Sheets to the Press as they now appear intending only to give some short intimation of the Arguments I had suppressed in this Preface But I have since been perswaded to perfect what I had thus begun and to publish it in this place where coming by it self it will make no interruption in the body of the Discourse and besides will leave the Reader the more perfectly at liberty either to peruse or pass it by as he shall think most proper Now the Arguments which I designed to have urged in this Case and which I here propose to the serious Consideration of all that are not sufficiently and undoubtedly convinced of the certainty of a super-intending Providence and the just ground they therefore have to rest upon it are such as arise from these five following Heads I. The Nature of Almighty God and the Perfection of his Divine Attributes II. The Creation of the World III. The Continuance of things in the state we see them in IV. The excellent Order and Harmony of the several Parts of the World V. And Lastly The many extraordinary Effects that have been observed at any
to breathe in and whose transparency conveighs to us a due proportion both of heat and light that the many different species of Animals are propagated with the same Shape the same natural Instincts the same ways of seeking their own Provision and the same Care of their Young that Mankind are fearfully and wonderfully made have an excellent contexture of parts have so much likeness and yet together with it so much Eadem figura omnibus sed quaedam unicuique lineamenta deflexa sic similes universi videmur inter se singuli dissimiles invenimur Min. Fel. difference in their Countenances that they and other Creatures grow to a certain Stature there continue and then at length decay and die and so make room for others to succeed them that our food digests and becomes our nourishment and that in all respects we are thus admirably accommodated with what our condition calls for Manil. Astron l. 1. Non casus opus est magni sed Numinis ordo this cannot be the work of chance but of a wise and good God who is pleased most graciously to manifest his kindness through the Universe It is not possible that a fortuitous jumbling of uncertain Causes should ever produce such a train of singular Events as carry in them the plain footsteps of a divine Disposal And he must be blind or worse that having this daily experience of the good hand of God over himself and his fellow-creatures will not yet be perswaded to own his Providence There is none says Instit Div. l. 1. c. 2. Lactantius so rude or so brutish but that when he lifts up his Eyes to Heaven though he know not the God by whose influence all that we see is governed he will however understand that there is a God from the large extent of the things he beholds and their motion disposition continuance usefulness beauty and temperature And Quem vero astrorum ordines quem dierum noctiumque vicissitudines quem mensium temperatio quemque ea quae gignuntur nobis ad fruendum non gratum esse cogunt hunc hominem omnino numerare neque decet De legibus l. 2. c. 7. Quis enim hunc hominem dixerit qui cum tam certos coeli motus tam ratos astrorum ordines tamque omnia inter se connexa apta viderit neget in his ullam inesse rationem eaque casu fieri dicat De nat Deor. l. 2. c. 37. Tully will hardly allow him the Name and Qualifications of a Man that can observe the certain motions of the Heavens the fixed courses of the Stars and the aptitude and mutual connexion of all things and not be forced to confess that not Chance but Reason is the cause of these And elsewhere Esse praestantem aliquam aeternamque naturam eam suspiciendam admirandamque hominum generi pulchritudo mundi ordoque rerum coelestium eogit confiteri De divinat l. 2. he affirms the beauty of the World and the order of the heavenly things to be an undeniable proof of an excellent and eternal Nature and that is to be honoured and admired by Mankind And yet the heavenly bodies are not singular in their testimony for there is not a Praesentemque refert quaelibet herba Deum Spire of Grass Here below not an herb in the Field much less a stately Tree in the Wood or a delicious Flower in the Garden but are witnesses to this great Truth Wherefore if upon sight of a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Theoph. Antioch ad Autol. l. 1. Ship under sail holding on her course and making readily towards the shore it is presently concluded that this vessel comes not of it self but is steered by its Mariners howsoever none of them as yet appear above deck or Siquis in domum aliquam aut in gymnasium aut in forum venerit cum videat omnium rerum rationem modum disciplinam non possit ea sine causà fieri judicare sed esse aliquem intelligar qui praesit cui pareatur multo magis statuat necesse est ab aliquà mente tantos naturae motus gubernari Cic. de nat Deor. l. 2. c. 5. if observing a House a School or a Court where all things look well and with a due decorum we easily perswade our selves that this comes not to pass by chance but by the care of some prudent Master or Governour much rather should we attend to the hand of God in the management of the World when we observe the manifold instances of his Providence that each day presents us with Not to believe in him upon this undeniable evidence is a height of perverseness that may justly prevail with him to withdraw his Protection from us and teach us by sad experience what it is to want it Lord Bacon Ess 16. I had rather believe all the Fables in the Legend and the Talmud says a noble Author than that this universal Frame is without a Mind and adds that therefore God never wrought a Miracle to convince Atheism because his ordinary Works convince it And yet these are not the only proof we have of a Powerfull Supreme Being that orders all our affairs for us For if we proceed to V. The many Extraordinary Interposals that have been taken notice of in the World these also loudly testifie that Almighty God interests himself in the concerns of his Creatures directing and disposing all things according to his own good pleasure and the wise ends of his Government Of this kind are all the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Salust Phil. de Diis Mundo c. 9. Predictions of future Events long before they came to pass or could possibly be foreseen without the help of some supernatural Revelation and all the Miracles that have from time to time been wrought contrary to the wonted methods and Laws of Nature which whether any of them were done purposely to confute Atheism or not are yet a most palpable confutation of it Each of these demonstrate all things to act in subordination to God's Will because otherwise he could neither over-rule them contrary to their usual course nor could foretell what should happen long after without his concurrence And therefore if it can be made appear that there has been variety of Prophecies which have been in due time and perhaps after many Ages accomplished exactly as had been foretold and of Miracles that have been wrought to the certain knowledge and astonishment of the beholders who could not but own the hand of God to be in them I presume nothing more can be wanting to put it beyond all pretence of doubt that God not only is but that he continually concerns himself in the Government of the World And for the proof hereof I desire only this one reasonable Postulate to be granted me which yet can with no shew of justice be denied namely That the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament and the Writings of the Christians in the first Ages of
their supposed Deities betook themselves to the Laws of Moses and the words of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. though with the apparent hazard of their lives 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. both wise and unwise Philosophers and others in all places embracing his Religion that Nulla jam natio est tam barbari moris mansuetudinem nesciens quae non ejus amore versa molliverit asperitatem â—â—am c. Arnob. adv Gent. l. 2. Christianity had spread it self throughout the World softening men's manners and teaching them Candour Meekness and Condescension that the greatest Wits Orators Grammarians Rhetoricians Lawyers Physicians Philosophers entertained it renouncing their former opinions and practices and choosing rather to study the Precepts of the Gospel that Servants could be content to endure all the severities of their merciless and enraged Masters Wives to be parted from their implacable Husbands Children to be dis-inherited by their incensed Parents than forsake the Christian Faith and treacherously withdraw themselves from that spiritual Warfare wherein they had engaged that when dreadfull punishments were decreed for all that adhered to the Laws of this Religion it grew by this means and people were only the more vigorous and the readier to proceed undauntedly against all the Menaces and all those Interdicts which were designed to work upon their fears and all the Prohibitions they met with served but to fix them the firmer in the Faith that the divine Law was received Cum vero ab ortu solis useque ad occasum lex divina suscepta sit omnis seuxs omnis aetas gens regio unis ac paribus animis Deo serviant c. Lactant. Instit l. 5. c. 13. from the rising to the setting of the Sun and every Age Sex Nation and Country set themselves to serve God with one and the same Mind and every-where was the same readiness to suffer and every where the same contempt of death insomuch that it was above the power of racks or sires to overcome Deest illis inspirata patientia Nostri autem ut de viris taceam puerr mulierculae tortorer suos tacitè vincunt exprimere illis gemitum nec ignis potest Ibid. not Men only but Women and Children or but to squeeze a groan from them by reason of that inspired Patience whereby their God had condescended to prepare them for this holy Conflict and in a word that Ut jam nullus esser tetrarum angulus tam remotus quo non Religio Dei penetrasset nulla denique natio tam feris moribus vivens ut non suscepto Dei cultu ad justitiae opera mitesceret Lact. de mort Perseq c. 3. there was none of the remotest corners of the Earth whither this divine Religion had not penetrated no Nation living so void of all humanity as not to be mollified and brought to a better temper by it Notwithstanding that it came to pass as our Saviour had fore-warned his Disciples that the Profession of his Name was attended with frequent Tribulations and Afflictions and Persecutions and the cruellest and most barbarous Tortures and Deaths such was the Courage and Resolution of the Christians in those early Ages of our Religion that there were added to the Church daily such as should be saved Till at length Kings became its nursing Fathers and Queens its nursing Mothers and they that before had met together to worship God in Mountains and in Desarts and in Dens and Caves of the Earth that by this means they might escape the discovery of their Enemies were encouraged to do it publickly in places purposely dedicated to his Service and the greatest and the wisest and the best of Men gloried in the Cross of Christ So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed against all the impediments it had to contest with and settled it self in the World to the Honour of God and the comfort and encouragement of its Professors but to the shame and terrour of its obstinate Adversaries And though divers of the Churches that were then and afterwards have since provoked God by their iniquities to deliver them up to their own blindness and hardness of heart and either to let them be over-run with Mahometans or perhaps to relapse into Paganism yet the many Christian Nations that are at this day are a sufficient indication that God is not forgetfull of this his Promise And these together with all those Parts that formerly have been Christian and might still have continued so had they but minded to walk worthy their most holy Profession and those others that will probably be hereafter brought over to the flock of Christ are a sensible proof of the accomplishment of this memorable Prediction that our blessed Saviour should draw all Men after him and that the heathen should be given him for his Inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession None of those Pseudo-christs before mentioned were able to plant a Doctrine or leave a Sect behind them that should continue any time after them But our blessed Lord the true Messiah had the number of his Followers soon encreased to a Miracle his Gospel proving wonderfully prevalent wheresoever it was preached His saving Word like a Sun-beam saith Hist Eccl. l. 2. c. 3. Eusebius enlightned the whole World the sound of the holy Evangelists and Apostles going out as had been foretold of them in the holy Scriptures into all Lands and their speech unto the ends of the Earth So that throughout all Cities and Villages sprang up Churches abounding with an immense multitude of believers and they that had from their Infancy been addicted to Superstition and the worship of Devils betook themselves to the service of the one God the Maker of all things according 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the divine and sober Religion that our Saviour had sown amongst mankind So much concerning the former of these Prophecies namely of the vast Extent of our Saviour's Kingdom 2. The other was the Destruction of Jerusalem and Dispersion of the Jews that they should be no more a People should no more have any Polity or settled Government amongst them And this consists of two branches 1. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple 2. The Dissolution of the Jewish Polity and Dispersion of the Jews into all parts to continue a lasting Monument of God's just vengeance upon them for all their impieties and especially for their intolerable rage and malice in procuring the Crucisixion of our ever-blessed Saviour 1. The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple This the Prophet Ch. 9.26 Daniel had long before so plainly intimated that their own Historian concludes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Joseph Antiq. l. 10. c. 12. they who should consult his Writings could not but admire the singular honour God had done him in giving him thus to understand his Will which he had manifestly declared before-hand to the confusion of all those Epicureans
the Truth and Certainty of the Predictions both of our blessed Saviour and of the Prophets who had been before him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. Whilst they only abused affronted and slew the Servants of God the Messengers that he had commissioned to warn them of their sins and the punishments due to them killing the Prophets and stoneing those that were sent to them he was ready to be reconciled and to pass by their iniquities but since they had dared to crucifie his Son his dearly-beloved Son the case has been altered with them and their wound has been incurable they have not been in a capacity to regain their former station nor to make any figure in the World As of old he most wonderfully manifested his Providence over them in conducting them into and settling them in the good Land of Canaan in vouchsafing them his especial Presence in magnifying them above their Enemies round about and in all the Miracles he wrought for them so doth he it now also in a very eminent manner in thus signalizing them from amongst the rest of the World to Deut. 28.37 become an astonishment a proverb and a by-word among all nations whither the Lord shall lead them as he had threatned by Moses to deal with them upon their disobedience Which I have the rather chosen to insist upon because being plain matter of fact at this time it leaves no room to doubt whether God has been mindfull to make good his Predictions in this respect and by consequence the consideration hereof administers an irrefragable Argument for the proof of an over-ruling Providence Thus much of Prophecies and their suitable accomplishments 2. Miracles are another extraordinary and very convincing and satisfactory evidence of the interposition of Providence and which may well silence all its most audacious Adversaries These are what no natural Power can possibly effect And therefore when we either see them or are otherwise well assured that they have been wrought it is intolerably unreasonable not to believe them to have proceeded from a supernatural Operation Whatsoever evasions may be found out in divers other cases for avoiding the force of whatever Arguments are brought for a Providence there is no pretence for it here For Miracles are an ocular Demonstration that there is some supream uncontroulable Power that can upon occasion invert the usual course of things bringing its ends about in an unwonted manner But no-where is this sort of evidence set forth with that advantage as in the holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament each of which abound with very surprizing instances of this nature Such in the first place was the universal Deluge which washed away the old World but whereof Gen. 6.17 Noah had been fore-warned and from which Gen. 7.23 2 S. Pet. 2.5 himself and his family were wonderfully preserved to re-people the Earth Such was the destruction Gen. 19.24 c. of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire from Heaven And such also though in yet a less degree were the divers Exod. 7 c. sorts of Plagues that were brought upon Egypt by the Ministry of Moses and most of them removed again at his request and his Ch. 14.21 22. dividing the Sea and making it stand up as a Wall on each side while the Israelites passed through and then causing it to return to its wonted course and so to Ver. 27 28. overwhelm Pharaoh and all his Host Such was God's immediate Presence with his people Ch. 13.21 22. in a Pillar of Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night to direct them in their journey to the promised Land Such likewise were Numb 20.11 Moses's bringing forth water out of the hard Rock meerly by the stroke of a Rod Josh 10.13 Joshua's stopping the Sun in the midst of its career 1 King 17.16 Elijah's multiplying the Widow's cruise of oyl and barrel of meal Ch. 18 38 39. and his confuting Baal's Prophets by a fire from Heaven that both consumed the Sacrifice and dried up the water upon the Altar and in the trenches that were about it Jud. 5.20 the Stars fighting in their courses against Sisera and his Army when as Antiq. l. 5. c. 6. Josephus relates the Heavens poured down a prodigious storm of water and hail which beating in their faces discomposed them to that degree as to render their bows and slings and swords useless for their defence the falling of the Walls of Jericho Josh 6.20 upon the People's shouting and the Priests blowing with Trumpets Exod. 16.14 15. the raining of Manna from Heaven for six days in the week Ver. 27. and not the seventh Ver. 13. Numb 11.31 the Quails that came up from the Sea and covered the Camp and many other instances of God's Almighty Power together with 1 King 17.22 2 King 4.35 13.21 some few raised from death to life amongst the Jews And if we descend to the time of our blessed Saviour's incarnation and the following Ages it would be almost an endless task to recount what sick were restored to health only with a word speaking what lunaticks were recovered to a soundness of understanding what lames what leprous what paralyticks what deafs what dumbs what blinds were cured what Demoniacks were dispossessed how the dead were raised to life the graves were opened the rocks were split the vail of the Temple was rent the Earth quaked the prison-doors unlocked and the chains fell off from the prisoners of their own accord how Act. 9.3 c. S. Paul was converted by a voice and a light from Heaven as he was travelling to Damascus how our blessed Lord appeared to Ch. 7.55 S. Stephen at his Martyrdom in what a wonderfull manner Ch. 2.1 c. the Holy-Ghost descended upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost and what were the stupendous effects of this descent such as speaking with tongues the interpretation of tongues discerning of spirits healing the sick and infirm of divers diseases casting out Devils and the like Some of which continued afterwards in the Church for some Ages untill our Religion was sufficiently propagated and confirmed As the generality of the Writers of those times inform us and amongst others Apol. 1 2. Justin Martyr L. 2. c. 57. Irenaeus Apol. c. 5 c. 32. ad Scap. c. 2. Tertullian P. 89 90. Minucius Felix C. Cels l. 7. p. 334. Origen Adv. Gentes l. 2. Arnobius Retract l. 1. c. 13. de civ Dei l. 22. c. 8. alibi S. Augustine De viro perfecto To. 9. S. Jerome and L. 5. c. 7. Eusebius Whereto if we add that a great part at least of these Miracles were wrought in the sight as well of Heathens as of Christians and many times for their advantage and upon their persons and again that they were not done privately or in a corner but openly and before the Sun in the high-ways and the streets at feasts and marriage-entertainments in the fullest assemblies and before the greatest numbers
of Spectators and even of the most avowed Adversaries to our Saviour and his Religion and this not in one or some few Countries but Enumerari enim possunt atque in usum computationis venire ea quae in Indiâ gesta sunt apud Seras Persas Medos in Arabiâ Aegypto in Asia Syria apud Galatas c. Arnob. adv Gent. l. 2. as far as India and amongst the Seres and the Persians and the Medes in Arabia in Egypt in Asia in Syria amongst the Galatians the Parthians the Phrygians in Achaia Macedonia Epirus and in all the Isles and Provinces that either the rising or the setting Sun beholds and in Rome it self with that success that notwithstanding its inhabitants had been accustomed to Numa's rites and superstitions yet overcome hereby they made no delay to forsake their wonted manner of Worship and betake themselves to our most holy Religion which they had seen thus wonderfully attested if we reflect I say upon these things it must unavoidably argue a great measure of folly in any one to require farther Evidence for the proof of what they are alledged for For he that will not yet be convinced might as well put us to prove that it is day at noon that the whole is greater than a part that a Cube a Cylinder and a Triangle are not all one that two and two make four or any other the plainest Axiom whatsoever Thus to stand out against the clearest light is a sign only of a perverse mind and unwilling to be satisfied not of any real want of satisfaction And they must be besides themselves that could behold these and other the like amazing operations and not be affected with a sense of that most mighty hand by which they were wrought Especially if they should observe with-all that these were not done casually or at random but when there was some singular occasion for them and they might tend in a peculiar manner to God's glory They were frequentest and most conspicuous amongst the Israelites about the time of their Deliverance out of Egypt and whilst they were under the conduct of their Law-giver Moses and his Successour Joshua And after this People were enured to the Law they had received and were settled in the promised Canaan they grew more rare and seem to have been wrought only upon some singular emergencies as in the case of 1 King 12 28. Jeroboam's Calves which he had set up in imitation of the Egyptian manner of Worship which therefore gave occasion for a Prophet to be sent to Bethel to prophecy against his Idolatrous Altar there and to confirm his Prophecy by a succession of Miracles 1 King 13.4 5 6. Josep Antiq. l. 8. c. 3. the rending of the Altar and the withering of Jeroboam's hand and the restauration of it upon his submission or the case of Elijah and Elisha in whose time 1 King 16.30 31 32 33. Idolatry was grown to that height under Ahab that there was need of some extraordinary method to convince them that not Baal but the Lord was God and that therefore their worship was due to him alone and only in the way that himself had appointed And again they were more illustrious at the first planting of our Religion by our blessed Redeemer and his Apostles and Disciples and then abated as that came to be propagated and settled in the World and so to stand in less need of their assistance Whence both 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 1 Tim. 3.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 4. S. Chrysostome and Cum enim Ecclesia Catholica per totum orbem diffusa atque fundata sit nec miracula illa in nostra tempora durate permissa sunt De verâ religione c. 25. S. Augustine who lived in the latter part of the fourth and beginning of the fifty Century acknowledge them to have ceased by their time Not that God was not still as able to work them as ever nor as ready if he had seen it proper but because their business being already done there was less need of them These therefore are another very convincing Proof of an over-ruling Providence Nor is it of any great importance which is here objected That the silence of Heathen Authors concerning these Miracles is a great obstruction to their credibility and makes it very questionable whether ever they were wrought or not For how could it be that so many and so prodigious effects should have been brought to pass and no more notice taken of them Might it not rather have been expected that the World astonished at them should have taken care constantly to transmit their memory from generation to generation at least that as much regard should have been had to them as has been had to preserve the remembrance of other less surprizing occurrences And this method not having been observed except by some whose interest it was to pretend something of this nature for carrying on their own designs there is too just reason to suspect the traditions that are of them not to be of that authority the weaker and more credulous sort of people or those that are under the power of strong prejudices may imagine This is the Objection and the Answer to it is very easie considering the much greater authority we have for these Miracles than for other historical Relations which yet none seem to question the truth of Who doubts whether Diog. Laert. l. 5. in vit Aristot Alexander the Great had Aristotle for his Tutor or Q Curt. l. 4. took upon him to be called the Son of Jupiter Ammon Whether Plutar. in vita Cicer. Cicero were ever Conful of Rome or afterwards sent into banishment and after that beheaded Whether L. Flor. l. 3. c. 10. Sueton. in vitâ ejus c. 25. Jul. Caes de bello Gall. c. 4. Plut. in vita J. Caes Julius Caesar ever conquered this Island or was Liv. Epit. 116. L. Flor. l. 4. c. 2. Plut. Suet. afterwards barbarously massacred by Brutus and his accomplices Who doubts of these or other the like relations since they are mentioned by Authors of good credit and against whom there is no just exception Yet we have much greater Authority for the Miracles I have been insisting upon For if those be recorded by some of the Historians who wrote of the times wherein they were done we have the testimony of the holy Scriptures of the Fathers and of Historians for these If their Authors were Men of credit and veracity ours much more If they had no temptation to byass them in what they related much less had ours when they knew their testifying these things and adhering to the Doctrines confirmed by them was the ready way to set all the World against themselves And it is therefore an egregious instance of Partiality to be willing to believe the former and yet not believe the latter whose authority if duly attended to will be found to be incomparably the greater And this will be made yet more
apparent if we proceed farther to consider the Objection 1. As it respects the times of the Old Testament 2. As it respects the times of Christianity 1. As it respects the times of the Old Testament that is from the Creation to the coming of our blessed Lord it will need no other answer than what is contained in these two following Propositions 1. Divers of the Miracles of those times are recorded also by Heathen Writers The first and most remarkable that I have mentioned was the universal Deluge which overwhelmed the Earth in the days of Noah and from which himself only and his wife and children were preserved And that a tradition of this was continued amongst the Heathens must be owned till some other account can be given of what Metamorph. l. 1. Ovid and Georg. l. 1. Virgil and Carm. l. 1. Od. 2. Horace and Sat. 1. Juvenal and the rest of their Poets so commonly relate concerning Deucalion and his Wife Pyrrha re-peopling the Earth after a mighty Flood which themselves only had escaped 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. De Dea Syr. Lucian gives such an account of it as shews plainly to what it relates telling us that they had escaped by getting into a great Ark whither swine and borses and lions and serpents came to them by pairs and were preserved whâ—â—â— the rest of the World were drowned And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. de Solertia animalium Platarch from the Mythologists speaks of a Dove sent forth by this Deucalioâ— cut of his Ark which informed him of the increase of the waters by its return to him for shelter and again of their abatement by forsaking him to shift for it self The dismal and stupendous overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrha is attested by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. l. 16. Strabo Hand procul inde campi quo ferunt olim uberes magnisque urbibus habitatos fulminum jactu arsisse manere vestigia c. Histor l. 5. Tacitus and Longo ab Hierosolymis recessu tristis finus panditur quem de coelo tactum testatur humus nigra in cinerem soluta due ibi oppida Sodoma nominatum alterum alterum Gomorrum c. Pelyhist c 48. edit Basil 1538. Solinus to name no more And the learned Count du Plessi collects from Artabanus or Artapanus as Strom. l. 1. Clemens Alexandrinus calls him an account of a certain appearance to Moses De veritat Rel. Christ c. 26. of Fire without fewel to support it and that he also heard a voice informing him that he should deliver the Israelites out of Egypt and that afterwards he caused so great an Earthquake in Egypt that King Pharaoh hereupon let them go but afterwards pursuing them as some of the Egyptian Priests themselves related Moses by God's direction touched the Sea with his Rod and presently its Waves stopped and made a way for him and his whole People to pass through but that the Egyptians perished part by the multitude of Thunderbolts that were discharged against them and the rest by the return of the Waters upon them Which account varies so little from what the holy Scriptures teach concerning this whole affair that none can doubt but it is a corruption of their truer and more compleat Relation And this saith he Ibid. is testified also by Demetrius and Eupolemus amongst the Greeks with divers other circumstances not mentioned here as there are moreover in Numenius the Pythagorean So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Josep Antiq. l. 8. c. 7. Menander spake of the excessive drought in Elijah's time And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 B. Cyril c. Julian l. 10. Julian himself acknowledges that fire descended from Heaven in the time of Moses and again in this Prophet's days to consume the Sacrifice upon the Altar So that from this Specimen it appears that these kind of relations are not wholly without the countenance of others besides Jewish and Christian Writers 2. I come now in the next place to shew that where Heathen Authors say nothing of them a fair account may be given of this omission For 1. The Jews were but a single People a Nation of no great extent and which kept at a distance from all other Nations and Credat Judaeus Apella Horat. l. 1. sat 5. Curtis Judaeis Id. sat 9. Judaeis querum cophinus foeaumque supellex Juv. sat 3. Qualiacunque voles Judaei somnia vendunt sat 6. Quaefitum ad fontem solo deducere verpos Sat. 14. Recutitaque Sabbata palleâ— Pers sat 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orig. c. Cels l. 4. p. 181. was again despised by them Which makes it no wonder if many things very remarkable in themselves and of a very extraordinary nature were done amongst them and either not known to the greatest part of the World or not attended to by reason of the aversion the Gentiles had to this People They that lived in Greece or Italy at Athens or Rome might have no account of many things that had passed in Palaestine or if they heard of them might not think it worth their while to certifie themselves of them and commit them to writing because of the People amongst whom they were done 2. Besides if it be remembred that a long time since there were but very rare if any footsteps of any credible History either amongst the Graecians or Romans concerning any Persons that lived or Actions that were done much before the Cur supra bellum Thebanum funera Trojae Non alias alii quoque res cecinêre poetae Lucret. l. 5. Trojan Wars this is a sufficient Answer to any pretence that can be drawn from the silence of Heathen Authors in relation to what passed in those early times with which they were so little acquainted Those obscure aenigmatical intimations of some of them which occurr in some of their Poets and other Authors are more than could necessarily have been required considering the little notice they had of these things 3. And yet again had never such care been taken to transmit the memory of these things who knows not what multitudes of Authors have been wholly lost or preserved only in some small fragments just enough to let us see that once there were such Writers And if this has been the fate of many that have wrote since our Saviour's time it were easie to conceive how divers good Historics that had been composed many Ages before might have perished long ere this and the memory of what was contained in them might have been past recovery And now if we put these things together that divers of the Miracles recorded in the Old Testament are mentioned also in some sort by Heathen Writers that the Jews were a people of no great reputation amongst the rest of the World and about whose affairs other Nations did not much concern themselves that we have a very imperfect account of any thing done in any part of the World in the times when these Miracles were wrought except what
sovereign Antidote against that endless Solicitude which the worldly-wise Men too often labour under And whosoever sets himself in good earnest to make tryal of it besides that he acts like a good Christian and takes care for Eternity he will find himself to have moreover laid the best Foundation for his own Happiness in this World Wherein though he cannot expect to be wholly freed from Troubles he will certainly be enabled to bear them with much the greater alacrity by reason of the assurance he has that God on whom he trusts knows how to over-rule them all to his advantage Wherefore it was no unaccountable flight of fancy in the Emperor Antoninus but the result of a serious Contemplation of the Instability of all earthly Enjoyments that he professes * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 2.8 He should not desire to live in the World were it not for a good God and a Providence and the inestimable Benefits that hence arise to Mankind And in truth whosoever weighs with himself the infinite variety of Accidents whereto this Life is obnoxious and the need there is of an Almighty Hand to direct them as may best serve the Ends of living will find abundant cause with this Royal Philosopher * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 L. 6.8 to adore and confide in and rely upon the guidance of that infinite Wisdom which incessantly exerts it self for the good of the Creation And being thus made sensible of his own Insufficiency and taught to place his Confidence in God as a sure Defence against all assaults it is hardly conceivable that whatever Misfortunes should make any lasting impression upon him For having learned to betake himself to God for shelter whensoever any thing of this nature appears he is soon convinced that he needs no longer perplex himself about it because his God having undertaken for him he knows assuredly it shall never hurt him Perhaps he may have it speedily removed but if not he will not suffer himself to be terrify'd at it but will rather consider that it would never be permitted to lie upon him but for some just and weighty Reason and some way or other for his own benefit Thus therefore we are to cast our Care upon God by doing what we are able for our own Relief and then humbly and faithfully depending upon his Providence for the Event We must see to moderate and restrain our Desires and to use the best means we can for obtaining them must do what is in our power must pray to God for what is above it and must be sure to serve and obey him and to shun as much as in us lies whatever might with-hold him from granting our Requests And then but not till then may we safely comfort our selves with a firm persuasion that God will certainly be mindful of us and of our Affairs and that we need not therefore torment our selves upon either of these accounts For although he will not be pleased with a fruitless reliance upon him a stupid neglect of all our concerns that he alone may take care of us yet if we labour aright to entitle our selves to his Protection that is to say if we curb our unreasonable Desires and in all respects use the best means we can for getting those satisfied that are reasonable we need not doubt but his Kindness will be extended to us Let us but acquit our selves well in these Particulars and we may thenceforward freely depend upon it that he will bestow upon us all that he shall see necessary for us and therefore that we shall have no cause to be overwhelmed with Fear or Grief sorrowing as men without hope how hard soever our Condition be but at our lowest ebb may look upon it as a mighty Consolation that we have a most gracious God to concern himself for us and on whom we may at any time cast our Care and rest secure that he will take Care of us when we do so CHAP. II. The Necessity of Casting our Care upon God I Come now in the Second place to observe our indispensible Obligation to this Duty of putting our Trust in God and casting all our Care upon Him A Duty which not only Almighty God may justly expect at our Hands as we are his Creatures and have our whole Subsistence from him but which he hath likewise frequently and very expresly required in the Holy Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament In the former of which the holy Psalmist professes in multitudes of places * Psal 4.5 36.7 37.3 5. 62.8 115.9 c. That his own Trust was constantly in the Lord and earnestly invites others in like manner †Ps 55.22 to commit their ways to God and put their trust in him ‖ Ps 50.15 to cast their burden upon him that he may sustain them * Ps 34.8 22. 40.4 and to call upon him in the day of trouble that he may deliver them And again for their Encouragement herein †Ps 31.19 he promises a Blessedness to the man that maketh the Lord his trust And again he ‖ Ps 91.3 c. 112.7 admires the great Goodness which God had laid up for them that fear him and which he had wrought for them that put their trust in him before the sons of men and undertakes for such that they shall be secure whether from outward dangers or from inward fears and that mercy * Ps 32.10 shall compass them about and * Ps 125 â—â— they shall be even as the Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever And his Son Solomon speaks also to the same purpose exhorting †Prov. 3.5 to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not to lean to our own understanding as if we could carve better for our selves and assures us that ‖ 28.25 he who putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat and * 29.25 shall be safe and †16.3 shall have his thoughts established The Prophet Isaiah likewise excites to a ready dependance upon God as the best support in all conditions as a help that will never fail ‖ Isa 26.4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength as a help at hand even in the lowest Estate * 50.10 Who is he among you that feareth the Lord that obeyeth the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God as a help in whom whosoever trusted †57.13 was to possess the Land and to inherit God's holy Mountain and lastly as a help that could secure from all hurt and even from the fear of it ‖ 12.2 Behold God is my salvation I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song he also is become my salvation And at another time * 26.3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee And God himself by the Prophet Jeremiah encourages to a reliance upon his care even in behalf of those whose condition is oftentimes the most helpless in this World the Widows and the Orphans whom he condescends to promise that he will look after when they have none other to take care of them †Jer. 49 1◠Leave thy fatherless Children and I will preserve them alive and let thy Widows trust in me ‖ 17.7 8. And blessed saith the same Prophet is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out her Roots by the River and shall not see when heat cometh but her Leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of draught neither shall cease from yielding Fruit. And again it is declared of God * Lam. 3.25 that he is good unto them that wait for him to the Soul that seeketh him that he is †Nah. 1.7 a strong hold in the day of trouble and that he doth not over-look the wants of them that flee to him in their streights but knoweth them that trust in him And in the New Testament our Blessed Saviour divers times inculcates the Necessity of this Duty and presses it by Arguments obvious and intelligible enough to the meanest Capacity inferring from our own Inability to help our selves in that we can no more preserve our own Lives or provide for their support without God's Blessing than we ‖ S. Matt. 6.27 can add to the height of our stature and from the Providence of God manifested in the production and preservation of * v. 26 28 29. Birds and Flowers and from the reflexion it would be upon his Disciples to be as Diffident of God's Goodness †v. 32. as the Gentiles who had never known our Saviour or his Gospel and again from the wonted affection of natural Parents to their Children inasmuch as ‖ S. Matt. 7.11 if these being evil know how to give good gifts unto their Children it is an easie conclusion that our Father which is in heaven will much more give good things to them that ask him And in a word our Blessed Saviour accounted it a sufficient Preservative against a solicitous Care of our selves * c. 6.32 that our heavenly Father knoweth what things we have need of The force of all which arguings of our Saviour is this That the best way to free Men from their Anxieties upon the account of this Life's inconveniences is to remember and lay seriously to heart that all our own contrivances and endeavours will never stand us in stead of themselves and it is Gods Blessing only that can render them effectual to our support and by consequence that it is both our Duty and our Interest to be entirely at his disposal hoping for whatsoever we need from him alone And after our Blessed Saviour his Apostles in like manner direct us * 2 Cor. 1.9 not to trust in our selves but in God who raiseth the dead †1 S. Pet. 4.19 to commit the keeping of our souls to him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator ‖ 1 Tim. 6.17 and not to trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God who giveth us all things richly to enjoy and at other times require us * Phil. 4.6 to be careful for nothing but in every thing to let our requests be made known to him †1 S. Pet. 5.7 to cast all our care upon him and not to cast away our confidence in him which we are certainly informed in the Epistle to the Hebrews ‖ Heb. 10.35 hath great recompence of reward Where we have also that gracious and comfortable Promise made first to * Gen. 28.15 Jacob in his Journey towards Haran and afterwards more expresly †Jos 1.5 to Joshua when he was sent to conduct the Israelites over Jordan applied for the benefit of Christians in general and delivered in very emphatical and significant Terms ‖ Heb. 13.5 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will never leave thee nor forsake thee So that each one may boldly say The Lord is my helper and I will not shall fear what man shall do unto me And the rather to engage us to behave our selves accordingly the Holy Scriptures present us with numerous instances of God's Saints and even of our Blessed Lord himself who in their several Generations have trusted in God and have been comfortably rewarded for it There we have the Faith of * Rom. 4.18 Abraham who against hope believed in hope or as it is related more largely in the Epistle to the †Heb. 11.17 18 19. Hebrews who when he was tried offered up his only-begotten son Isaac in whom the promised seed was to be called accounting that God was able to raise him even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure or for a Type of the Blessed Jesus who was to rise again from the Grave as certainly as Isaac was saved from off the Wood whereon he was about to have been slain We have the Faith of Moses ‖ v. 24 25. who when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh 's Daughter and chose rather to suffer affliction with the People of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season We have the Faith of Job who after all his dreadful losses enough to have utterly overwhelmed one of less patience and resignation than himself * Job 1.22 sinned not nor charged God foolishly and under all the farther sufferings he endured behaved himself with that continual observance of Almighty God and dependance upon him that God at length saw fit to look more favourably towards him and to turn his sorrows into joy by †c. 42.12 blessing his latter end more than his beginning We have the Faith of David and the admirable benefit he so frequently boasteth himself to have found by it throughout his Book of Psalms And to omit multitudes of others we have the Faith of our ever Blessed Redeemer himself professing even at the time of his apprehending that he could easily have obtained of his Father * S. Mat. 26.53 more than twelve Legions of Angels for his rescue but that he chose rather to undergo the utmost cruelty of his Adversaries in obedience to the Father's Will and who readily submitted to die upon the Cross as knowing that he should quickly rise again †Phil. 2.9 10 11. whence also he was highly exalted and had a Name given him which is above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in earth and things under the Earth and that every Tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the Glory of God
act like Christians nor shew themselves wise for this or for the other World CHAP. III. The Reasonableness of Casting our Care upon God THE third thing I propounded was to enforce the Practice of this so necessary a Duty from the Assurance we have of God's continual Care of us that observing what Regard he has for us what a good Providence he exercises over us and how willing he is to multiply his Benefits upon us we may hence also be invited to cast all our Care upon him And this I shall endeavour to do from these three following Considerations 1. Of the Providence of God in general and the Care he takes of all his Creatures 2. Of the peculiar Offers of Protection that are made in Scripture to the Righteous 3. Of the Experience we have had of his Goodness hitherto and the Reason we therefore have still to depend upon him SECT I. First OF the Providence of God in general and the Care he takes of all his Creatures Concerning which the Holy Scriptures teach us that God * Ps 119.68 is good and delights in doing good that †147.5 great is our Lord and great is his Power and his Wisdom is infinite ‖ Isa 40.28 neither is there any searching of his understanding and consequently that he knows how to maintain and to govern the World and all things therein that as He at first * Jer. 10.12 made the Earth by his Power established the World by his Wisdom and stretched out the Heavens by his Discretion so he still †Heb. 1.3 upholds all things by the word of his Power and ‖ Job 12.10 hath in his hand the soul of every living thing and the breath of all mankind so that nothing can ever happen to any of us without his Order or at least his Permission All Creatures of whatever sort are his he made them and he is their true Proprietor and what then can be more natural than for his kindness to be extended to them He is the Author of all things as Minutius Felix * Octav. p. 317 318. speaks and he observes all things nor can ought be concealed from him for he is in the darkness and in our thoughts as in a second darkness insomuch that we not only live under him but may in a manner be said to live together with him Whatever good things any partake of they are wholly owing to the Bounty of this †S Ja. 1.17 Father of Lights from whom cometh every good and every perfect gift and ‖ Omne enim bonum nostrum aut ipse est aut ab ipso B. August de Doctrina Christianâ l. 1. c. 31. without whose benign Influence there is no subsisting one Moment He is every where present in the Heavens the Earth the Seas the Air or whatsoever part of the World sees all things whether animate or inanimate takes notice of what relation and dependance one of them has upon another beholds the whole Order of second Causes and wisely over-rules them all that they may serve to the best purposes * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. sâ—r l. 4. p 489. His goodness diffuses it self through all the Corrers of the Universe and by his unwearied Providence and Protection all kinds of Beings are sustained there being nothing in all the World too great to need his Care nor any thing so little that he doth not think fit to take care of it Particularly the excellent Beauty admirable Order and singular Usefulness of the Heavenly Bodies loudly proclaim a stupendous Hand of Providence preserving that Harmony amongst them and those regular Motions and Vicissitudes wherein we see them The contemplation whereof deeply affected the Holy Psalmist and made him break forth into that Divine Goodness * Ps 19.1 2 3. The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy Work Day unto day uttereth Speech and Night unto night sheweth knowledge There is no speech nor language where their Voice is not heard There is no place even in the remotest parts of the World where these glorious Tokens of his incessant Care do not abundantly manifest themselves †Job 9.9 10. He maketh Arcturus Orion and the Pleiades and the Chambers of the South and doth great things past finding out yea and wonders without Number Or if we change the Scene and look down upon this lower World this Terraqueous Globe the Scriptures abound with instances of his Care over it in divers Respects They tell us that (a) Ps 104.24 the Earth is full of his Riches (b) 1 Sam. 2.8 that the Pillars of it are the Lords and he at first set the World upon them and that he yet continues (c) Ps 75.3 to bear them up least it together with all its Inhabitants should be dissolved that (d) Ps 104.9 he prescribes the Waters of the Sea their bounds and (e) Psal 65.9 10 11. sends refreshing showers upon the Earth making it very fruitful that it is by his Order (f) Job 28 25. the winds blow and (g) Ps 107 25. the storms arise (h) Ps 77.18 the lightnings break forth and the thunders roar so terribly that (i) Psal 18.7 the Earth trembles at any time and the Foundations of the Hills are moved and shaken and again that he takes care of (k) Ps 104.11 the wild Asses (l) v. 18. the wild Goats and the Coneys (m) v. 21. the young Lions (n) 1 Cor. 9.9 the Oxen (o) Ps 29.9 the Hinds (p) Ps 50.11 and every Beast of the Field (q) Ps 104.20 and of the Forest (r) S. Matt. 6.28 most curiously adorns the Flowers (Å¿) v. 26. feeds (t) Ps 104.12 17. and provides Nets for the Birds (u) Ps 104 16. replenishes the Trees with Sap (w) v. 25 27. sustains the Fishes (x) Ps 145.16 opens his Hands and satisfies the Desire of every living thing and (y) S. Matt. 10.29 suffers not a Sparrow to fall to the Ground without his observation and to conclude (z) Ps 145.9 the Lord is good unto all and his tender mercies are over not this or that sort of Creature or in this or that part of the Earth or at one time and not at another but absolutely and indesinitely over all his Works But then as Mankind are more nearly related to himself being made after his likeness and designed for the perpetual enjoyment of his Divine Presence it is very reasonable to suppose that they should have a particular Interest in his Care And thus much therefore our Blessed Saviour as I have already hinted in part teaches in his Sermon upon the Mount dissuading from an eager solicitude for the things of this Life as from the Experience we have had of God's Goodness to our selves in giving us our Beings so likewise from the regard he has for the Birds and other meaner
a confident Expectation of his Protection even under our most pressing Fears or Sufferings SECT II. II. HOwever for our greater encouragement herein I proceed further to consider Secondly The peculiar offers of Mercy and Protection that are made in Scripture to the Righteous whereby they have an especial assurance given them that the Almighty will watch over them for good and will never suffer them to be moved For though Mankind in general are invited to depend continually upon him from that good Providence which he daily exercises over the several parts of the World they that have heartily laboured to serve and honour him have far greater reason to do it as because of the love he bears to them that fear him so likewise upon the account of the many gracious Promises he hath been pleased to make to such that he will not permit them to be overwhelm'd by any Troubles or Calamities but will either keep them all off from them or will enable them to bear up against those that shall befall them His unspeakable bowels of Compassion will provoke him to hearken to the Cries of any who are intirely devoted to his service and how deaf soever he may be to others who have less pretence to his Favour these shall not be rejected by him If they with Faith and Humility display their wants before him and whenever they find themselves in streights if they presently make their applications to him hoping for safety from him alone he has declared * Psal 50.15 S. Ja. 5.16 1 S Jo. 5.14 15. That their Prayers shall not return without effect but shall find him readily disposed to attend to them So that Storms may arise and Dangers threaten them Fears may surprize Losses and other Disasters may alarm them yet none of these shall be able to make them miserable for they are in the hands of a most affectionate Father who is heartily desirous of their welfare and has accordingly declared for their comfort That he will in a particular manner take care of them and will be with them in their Necessities sometimes to save them from Dangers and at others both to uphold them under and bring them out of any Affliction he sees fit to lay upon them And though †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arr. Epictet l. 2. c. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Clem. Alex. Str. l. 4. whilst we remain in this present state and carry mortal Bodies about us and have need of temporal good things for our support and converse with a treacherous and ill-natur'd World it is not to be expected but that even the very best of Men will be liable to Sickness and Diseases Losses and Disappointments and the rest of those Troubles to which as Eliphaz the Temanite professes and each one 's daily Experience shews ‖ Job 5.7 Man is as naturally born as the Sparks fly upward this hinders not but that the good Man's share of these Troubles may be considerably less than he would otherwise have met with and that when they do come they may both be the more tolerable and he may the easier get rid of them And indeed it is very reasonable to suppose that he who is so munificent as to bestow continual Blessings though where the Severities of his Wrath are justly due and who many times gives a plentiful portion in this World to such who shall have eternal Vengeance allotted them in the World to come will much rather watch over his own Children to comfort and encourage them in the ways of Holiness and so convince them from their observation that even in relation to this present life it is not in vain to serve the Lord. Such is the Affection he bears to them that fear him that he cannot but find himself inclined to take pity upon them when in the anguish of their Souls they make their Complaints to him And whereas there are but three ways wherein they are capable of relief against Sufferings and Afflictions either by Preservation from them or support under them or Deliverance out of them he has therefore given his word that he will be helpful to them in each of these respects that either his Judgments shall not overtake them or if they do they shall neither prevail against them nor continue longer upon them than may make for his Glory and their own Advantage either in this or in the other World as I come now to prove 1. And that he will be mindful of the Righteous to protect them from Evils may be collected amongst many other passages in Scripture from those words of the Psalmist * Ps 41.1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy the Lord will deliver him in the time of trouble The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon earth and thou wilt not deliver him into the will of his Enemies * Ps 91.3 c. And those other Surely he shall deliver thee from the Snare of the Fowler and from the noisome Pestilence he shall cover thee with his Feathers and under his Wing shalt thou trust his Truth shall be thy Shield and Buckler Thou shalt not be afraid for the terrour by Night nor for the arrow that flieth by Day A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand but it shall not come nigh thee Only with thine Eyes shalt thou behold and see the Reward of the Ungodly Together with that profession of the Wiseman who having been speaking of Wisdom that is of the fear of God and having declared what shall be the deplorable condition of those that regard her not concludes with the great benefit of attending to her Counsel †Prov. 1.33 Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from fear of evil Whereby he gives us to understand that such shall be still and possess what they have in peace when the wicked who are out of God's Favour come to ruine Nay they shall not so much as be disturbed with the fear of Mischief but may rest secure of a watchful Providence over them for their good how many soever may be the Miseries of the Ungodly ‖ Eph. 3.13 And who is he saith St. Peter that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good As much as to say You need not fear that any will do it for whilst you faithfully discharge your duty in pursuing that which is good you may reasonably expect to be preserved as from other evils so particularly from the malice of your most outrageous Adversaries that they shall either be content to let you live in quiet or else that all their mischievous Designs against you shall prove abortive This is the first sort of Security that God has promised to the Righteous That he will preserve them from Evils 2. He will support them under any Evils that befall them so as that if they cannot escape Afflictions
they may however be enabled to endure them with so little concernment and with that Courage and Alacrity that they may appear to be powerfully armed against them Agreeably to this sence the holy Psalmist proclaims that he had innumerable perplexing Thoughts and anxious Cares that had extreamly discomposed him yet he no sooner reflected upon the Divine Attributes and began to taste the Comforts that hence arise to Mankind but they all vanish'd and he suddenly felt an alteration in his Soul and his dejected Spirits were presently revived * Ps 94.19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy Comforts have refreshed my soul But in the 37th Psalm †v. 33 34. he is more express saying The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand Now God upholds and supports Men under Sufferings partly by the gracious Promises that are to be met with in Scripture for their Consolation both of his Presence with them in this World and of those incomparable Glories for which they are designed in a future state and farther by the assistance of his holy Spirit quickening their Graces and encreasing their Strength and hereby preparing them to bear up chearfully in times of Affliction Which he did to a very extraordinary degree in the Apostles and first Disciples of our Lord inspiring them with that wonderful Magnanimity and Constancy amidst their heaviest pressures that when they were troubled on every side S. Paul enforms us * 2 Cor. 4.8 9. That they were not yet distressed though they were perplexed yet not in despair they were persecuted but not forsaken were cast down but not destroyed And at other times we read how they rejoiced that they †Act. 5.45 were accounted worthy to suffer for our Saviour's name and were so little afraid of Persecutions and Death it self that they could willingly undergo the utmost Cruelties rather than either renounce or dishonour the holy Religion they were sent forth to propagate And although the numerous difficulties whereto they were appointed required a much greater measure of the Divine Assistance than is usually to be hoped for yet need we not doubt of a proportionable support if we but seriously labour after it For what S. Paul speaks to the Philippians is of more general influence and concerned not the first Disciples only but all Christians without distinction requiring the same Duty of all according to their Circumstances and propounding the same Encouragement to all according to their needs ‖ Phil. 4.6 Be careful saith the Apostle for nothing but in every thing by Prayers and Supplications with Thanksgivings let your requests be made known unto God and then the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your Hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus As likewise what the same Apostle saith at another time if rightly applied may be a means of no small comfort to all afflicted Christians though in an especial manner to any who are called to suffer for God and his Cause * 2 Cor. 12.9 My Grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness Especially if to this be added another Assertion of the same Apostle professing that * 1 Cor. 10.13 God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that we may be able to bear it Which brings me to the other Particular implied in God's Promises of Protection to the Righteous that 3. He will deliver them from those Evils which possibly may for the present lie heavy upon them He may permit them for a while to labour under Pressures and Disturbances for the trial of their Faith or the exercise of their Patience or the mortification of their Lusts or the quickening their Devotions or to teach them how to value his Mercies when they have them or to humble them under a sense of their own Weakness and Insufficiency or to wean their Affections from this Life and its Enjoyments and put them upon a diligent preparation for a better or for whatsoever other wise Purpose and Design as I shall shew †Chap. 4. Sect. 2. hereafter but when he doth it they have this for their encouragement that he will set them again at ease so soon as his End is obtained and a Deliverance will be a real Kindness to them For not only the Apostle S Peter teaches that ‖ 2 S Pet. 2.9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation but God Almighty himself by the Mouth of the Psalmist invites to address our selves to him for relief from all our Sorrows with hopes of a gracious answer from him * Ps 50.15 Call upon me in the day of trouble I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorifie me And the same Psalmist upon another occasion proclaims from his own Experience what singular Interest he had observed good Men to have in the Divine Protection * Ps 34.17 18 19 20 21 22. The Righteous cry and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and will save such as be of a contrite spirit Many are the afflictions of the Righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of all He keepeth all his bones not one of them is broken Evil shall slay the wicked and they that hate the Righteous shall be desolate The Lord redeemeth the Soul of his Servants and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate Here is a plain Declaration of God's concern for those that faithfully cast their Care upon him together with a full and free Promise of his Protection that he is and will be their Keeper and they shall not be destitute of help be the troubles that encompass them never so many And thus I have instanced in some few of those many Texts of Scripture which might have been urged to prove That God will have an especial regard to them that love and fear and put their trust in him and will in his wise Providence so over-rule natural Causes and Events as †Rom. 8.28 that all things shall be made to work together for their good I grant that these forementioned or other the like Expressions in Scripture do not import that good Men are to meet with no Troubles or Afflictions whilst they remain in this World and partake of the same nature with other Men and according to the ordinary course of things are in some respects and especially at some times more exposed to them than others and have ever and anon great need of them For to affirm this were not only to contradict each one's daily Experience and all those Promises of support under Sufferings which plainly suppose the best of Men liable to stand in need of
Necessities and the Difficulties wherein they have been set This must needs be acknowledged to God's Glory and the shame of our selves his unworthy Creatures who have made no better use of all his most gracious Dispensations towards us 1. For if we look upon our selves as a National Church and seriously lay to heart our singular happiness in this respect what People under Heaven can compare with us in it We have a Religion purified from the Innovations and delivered from the Encroachments of Popery on the one hand and yet withall preserved from those Enthusiastick Principles on the other which have infected so many other parts of the Reformation We are allowed the free use of the holy Scriptures and in a Language that we all understand and have them recommended to our study and expounded to us and their Instructions pressed upon us by the best and most important Arguments for the orderly government of our Lives We have the truly Orthodox Faith professed amongst us that * S. Jud. 3. Faith which was once delivered to the Saints without the Superstructure of other Articles unknown to all the purest Ages of Christianity are Members of a Church that faithfully teaches our Duty to God to the King as his Minister and Representative to all other our regular and lawful Superiors whether Civil or Ecclesiastical and to each other in whatever capacity and moreover have the ancient †Meminisse autem Diaconi debent quoniam Apostolos id est Episcopos Praepositos Dominus elegit D. Cypr. Epist 3. Ad omnes Praepositos qui Apostolis vicariâ ordinatione succedunt Epist 66. alibi Apostolical form of Episcopal Government preserved amongst us and have an admirably pious and well-composed Liturgy and only such innocent Ceremonies as are very becoming the service of God and may tend rather to heighten than any way obstruct our Devotions In short it is our happiness to have been taught to reverence Antiquity as the best Expositor of the Word and Will of God and to depart no farther from any modern Churches than they appear to have departed from the truly Ancient and Catholick Church And as we retain the same Form of Ecclesiastical Government that the Primitive Church had and the same Principles upon which they retained it so have we also our Worship ordered suitably to the Worship of the first and best Christians And yet this is not all for as we have been blessed with a Prudent and Orthodox Reformation we have likewise been preserved from the Attempts of those who have sought either violently to overturn or secretly to undermine it We have had our Adversaries on either hand endeavouring to supplant us by various Artifices as might suit best with their Circumstances and might seem most for their Interest but blessed be God they have not had their Ends upon us Our gracious Lord hath often frustrated their Counsels and brought their subtilest Devices to nought and hath from time to time as we hope he will now again put a period to our Destractions 2. If we look upon our selves as Members of a lately flourishing Kingdom we have great reason to be thankful also upon this account We have been very ready to complain of our Abundance as a burden such plenty of worldly Blessings has been vouchsafed us And what Plots and Contrivances have been on foot for our overthrow have generally proved abortive and for the most part have fallen upon the Authors own Heads It is true we were suffered not very long since to prevail against our selves till we had made an unhappy interruption of our Peace and Settlement for divers years together Yet behold the Goodness of our God he then heard at length the cry of his distressed Servants and restored quiet to our Land together with all those outward Comforts that usually attend it And since this we may remember that not many years agoe scarce any part of Europe enjoyed so long and advantageous a Peace as we did there being very few of our Neighbours who were not embroyled in an expensive War whilst we sate securely to use the Prophet's Expression * Mich. 4.4 under our own Vines and under our Fig-trees We grew wealthy and proud by these Advantages and if it please God now to humble us under his afflicting Hand this is no more than our abuse of his former Mercies has too justly deserved And when by his Chastisements he shall have fitted us for his more favourable Dispensations it is to be hoped he will be graciously pleased to let us partake of them again as heretofore 3. Or if again we look upon our selves in our private personal Capacity who amongst us can recount the abundant Goodness of God to him every day We have in this respect likewise been honoured with store of such Blessings and such Deliverances as may well fill our Hearts with Gratitude and our Mouths with Songs of Praise to the God of our Salvation †Quoniam pravitas fragilitas insufficientia nostra ineffabilis est multaque nimis ex parte nostri summa requiritur gratitudo Dionys Carthus de vitâ spiritali Art 12. We are nothing we have nothing we can do nothing nor be secure of any thing without his good Providence taking care of us and to him therefore we are heartily to ascribe the Honour and Glory for all the Blessings we receive and for all the Misfortunes and Evils we escape And yet oh our gracious our compassionate God how boundless is thy Loving-kindness to us upon each of these accounts Our Lives and Limbs our Memory and Understanding our Health and Strength our Food and Raiment and all the common Mercies we receive we are too too apt to undervalue because of our so constant enjoyment of them yet these are Blessings that they who want or are about to lose them know how to esteem at a great rate And how plentifully I had almost said how incessantly are these continued to us If we have now and then a restless Night have we not many very many good ones for it If we have lost one Child or other dear Relation how many more have we yet remaining If we have been deprived of any other outward Enjoyment or Advantage are not divers others continued to us or else succeed in the room of what is lost Or if we have one Limb distorted or in pain or perished are not all our other parts preserved in health and good order Or if our Condition be yet harder if we have lost an only Child or have lost our best Friends upon whom possibly we had great dependance or have lost our whole Estate or Employment or whatsoever we are wont to value most or have our whole Body disordered with Pains or Sickness how hard soever our Lot may be in any one or more of these Particulars are we not safe as to the rest Why then should any amongst us suffer his Wants or Disappointments in one kind to