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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B08803	Several discourses concerning the actual Providence of God. Divided into three parts. The first, treating concerning the notion of it, establshing the doctrine of it, opening the principal acts of it, preservation and government of created beings. With the particular acts, by which it so preserveth and governeth them. The second, concerning the specialities of it, the unseachable things of it, and several observable things in its motions. The third, concerning the dysnoēta, or hard chapters of it, in which an attempt is made to solve several appearances of difficulty in the motions of Providence, and to vindicate the justice, wisdom, and holiness of God, with the reasonableness of his dealing in such motions. / By John Collinges ...	Collinges, John, 1623-1690.	1678 (1678)	Wing C5335; ESTC R233164	689,844	860

the work of the Son and the work of the Holy-Ghost So that when we assert a Divine Providence extensive to the whole Creation this is that which we mean That as the blessed Trinity did at first by an Almighty power bring the worlds both Heaven and Earth and all creatures therein out of a Not-being into a Being so he doth still wisely and powerfully influence the whole creation preserving their Beings and several faculties of all his creatures and so far directeth permitteth and governeth their actions that they shall answer the ends for which he created and so qualified them especially the great end of his glory For saith Solomon he made all things for himself and for him as well as of him are all things saith the Apostle The School-men say that Gods Being is esse fixum a fixt and unalterable Being in which there can be no variableness no shadow of change his name is I AM he is the same yesterday to day and for ever But the creatures Being is esse fluxum a mutable Being we see changes and varieties every day in their Beings in their Motions the whole creation is but one great Sea in a continual flux and reflux Now as God by his Decree of Providence from eternity determined these successions varieties and motions so like a great King mighty in Counsel and wonderful in working he upholdeth them to them and he governeth them in their effects So that as the former Doctrine of creation excluded the Pagan conceits either of the worlds eternity or casual composition of it and gave God the glory of that his first and great work of creation so this is opposed to the Atheistical conceits of those who would have the created world to be either a principle to it self of its standing or preservation in the order it is or as a great Machine or Engine moving from some great wheels that move all the rest which is said to be the Peripatetick Doctrine and much suits our Judicial Astrologers or moving from any other first principle than the will command or influence of God This is a great point giving God the glory of His and his Sons hitherto working We live in a generation when Atheism aboundeth otherwise it were needless to establish so great a principle Aristotle thought he deserved to be answered with a Gallows that denied it Suffer me a little to confirm your faith in it by arguing it 1. From the Creation 2. From the Nature of the Divine Being 3. From the effects which are our daily objects of sense in the World 4. From the more sure word of Prophesie 1. That the worlds were first made by God I before shewed you Our eyes are continually exercised in the view of a vast Theater and 't is but a little of it that we behold The Heavens that are visible to us are replenished with great and vast bodies the Sun Moon and Stars in the Heavens are great Clouds containing vast quantities of water The Earth is full of multitudes of species infinite individuals of all sorts all indued with a variety of contrary faculties and qualities so are the wide Seas The Earth hangs in the midst of the air These things have lasted some thousands of years The inanimate creatures still keep their Stations The Sun is not wearied nor worn out in its course though it runs it with a strange swiftness every day The Moon is where and as it was the fixed Stars keep their abodes and the wandring Stars yet go not out of their road The Earth drops not down under us nor doth the Sea invade the Earth not a species of creatures is lost from the first Creation Individuals indeed perish but as one generation goeth another comes the species in competent numbers is preserved The creatures move and work in a subordination to the good each of others the production and being of no creature antedates the being or production of another upon which it lives Those that renew their lives with the year have their table spread before they appear The silk-worms egg quickens not but in proportion to the budding of the Mulberry Each creature knows its season when to fly from colder Countreys in which it could not endure the winter into what is warmer Creatures have a care provided for them while they are not able to provide for themselves which then as naturally leaveth them as it before wrought for them The Bee and Ant provide for the winter in short a thousand such instincts and inclinations might be insisted on Countreys that have most poysons have most antidotes few Countreys have sufficiency for themselves but must be beholden to their neighbours Take any one body but especially that of Man who is a little world in himself study but your selves and consider how many Vessels how many limbs and instruments must daily be kept clean and entire How many humours joynts and members must be kept in order to keep you alive and in any degree of health and capacity to the operations of humane life I would now fain know whence all this is Will any ascribe all this to a fate or order at first set Suppose any would say so he must needs conceive an omnipotent Divine Being at first setting the joynts of the world in such an order and surely it were as easie for him to suppose the same being upholding and preserving them in order yea and in acknowledging the former he must be forced to acknowledg the latter We see a skilful workman making a Clock or Watch consisting of many wheels and little instruments that shall have and keep their several motions 24 48 hours suppose it were two or three months suppose it were so many years yet we see at last it must not only be wound up but by daily motion the wheels and other parts though made of hardest mettals decay How is it that in so many thousand years the Sun Moon and Stars are not worn nor abated in their light That by the daily motions of mans body his instruments of motion are not sooner worn out his bones are not of Brass nor his sinews of Iron if they were less than seventy years would wear them out Will any say things are not under a fate but are left to move at their pleasure We know there are multitudes of natural Agents that move not upon election or counsel but naturally and necessarily how come these influenced For those that do move from Counsel and have a Will to guide them Let but any consider what a confusion would presently be by the wayward actions of Children and Servants in his own house if they had nothing but their own wills to guide and govern them What an heap of confusions every City or Town would make if all inhabitants were left to their own wills and government and he will easily conceive what a place of ataxy mischief and disorder the world would be if God did not daily work and rule in the midst thereof

his Book of the Trueness of Christian Religion Chap. 13. where he sheweth Providence a bundantly owned by Plato Plotinus Hierocles Aristotle Cicero Seneca and others I shall therefore only add one passage of Seneca not I think particularly by him mentioned it is in his Book of Natural Questions Chap. 45. where he calleth God The keeper and governour of the whole world Custodem rectoremque universi animum spiritum mundani hujus operis Dominum artificem cui nomen omne convenit Vis illum fatum vocare non errabis Hic est ex quo suspensa sunt omnia causa causarum Vis illum Providentiam dicere rectè dices Est enim cujus consilio huic mundo providetur ut inconcussus eat actus suos explicet Seneca Nat. Qu. l. 2. cap. 45. a Mind a Spirit the Lord and Artificer or Creator of all the world he to whom every name agreeth Will you call him Fate you will not be out For he it is on whom all things depend Will you call him Providence you will say right for by his Counsel the world is provided and taken care for that it remains steady and performeth its operations Salvian upon this Argument tells us that the Heathens acknowledged God to be in the world as the Master of a great Ship is in that abiding always in it and stirring up and down Whence he cryeth out Quid potuerunt de affectu diligentiâ Dei religiosius sentire Salvian l. 1. What could they more religiously judg and speak of God than to compare him to the Governour of a Ship who is never in the Ship idle but continually at work either in one kind or another The Pythagoreans compared God to the Soul in the body filling each part and actuating each part of the body The Platonists call him the moderator of all things The Heathen Poets speak as well and fully Virgil telleth us God is continually moving throughout all the Earth Tractusque maris coelumque profundum and the Waters and the Heavens In short none but some of the most sensual and brutish Epicureans ever so much as called this in question 5. But hitherto I have been arguing this point with you as men to convince you of it if you were Heathens and had no knowledg of the Holy Scripture When I consider you in that notion I must say to you as the Apostle speaks in another case We have a more sure word of prophecy As we by faith understand that the worlds were at first made by God so by faith also we plentifully understand that the created worlds are upheld preserved protected and governed by God I shall hereafter more distinctly prove this in my following discourse when I shall come to speak of the distinct and particular acts and objects of this Divine Providence I shall only here make use of a few instead of very many Scriptures which might be produced Heb. 1.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vpholding all things by the word of his power He at first made all things by the word of his Power and he upholdeth all things by the word of his Power My Text saith He preserveth both man and beast Our Lord telleth us that he cloatheth the grass of the field and feedeth the Ravens Matth. 6. The Psalmist tells us that his kingdom ruleth over all And again Matth. 10.29 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing yet not one of them falls to the ground without the will of your heavenly father Acts 17.28 In him we live move and have our being Prov. 15.13 The eyes of the Lord are in all places beholding the evil and the good John 5.17 My father worketh hitherto and I work In short the places of Scripture confirming this Doctrine of Divine Providence are very many and will most of them fall under some part or other of my ensuing discourse referring to the particular objects and acts of Divine Providence And I therefore shall not in this place further enlarge upon them but come next to consider the extent or particular objects of Divine Providence I proceed therefore to a second Question Quest 2. What are the objects of Divine Providence or how far doth the Divine care extend Though the Epicureans of old would acknowledg no Providence and many of the Stoicks asserting a Fate destroyed it yet the wiser Peripateticks would grant it though but a limited one extended to some particular Beings and things and too many amongst those who are called Christians seem to inherit something of their spirit I remember that when Pharaoh saw Egypt almost destroyed he calls for Moses and Aaron and bids them go and serve the Lord but adds Exod. 10.8 But who are they that shall go When Moses replyed We will go with our young and with our old with our sons and with our daughters with our flocks and with our herds will we go He replyeth vers 10. Let the Lord so deal with me as I let you go and your little ones Thus many deal with God When they consider the vast bodies of the Creatures the great varieties of their beings and qualities their motions c. they are forced to acknowledg a Divine Providence That the world could not stand nor the parts of it hold together unless a Superior hand ruled upheld and governed them They therefore will acknowledg a Providence as to the great bodies of the Heavens c. But say they How far will you extend it When they hear us assert it as to all things the sound of the little ones in nature troubles them yea and as to the wills of men they are wonderfully disturbed We must therefore enquire what the Scripture saith which certainly cannot err as to the bounds and extent of Gods Providential care The Scripture tells us Heb. 4.13 That all things are naked and open before him with whom we have to do That the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Prov. 15.3 My Text saith He preserveth both man and beast The Apostle to the Hebrews saith He upholdeth all things by the word of his power But to speak more distinctly we extend the Divine Providence 1. To all Beings 2. To all motions and actions of Beings 3. To all omissions suspensions or cessations of action 4. To all events of things 1. First I say to all Beings Beings are usually distinguished into such as have no life or such as have life Or if you please we may make use of that plain division of Beings into 1. Such as have no more than a meer Being neither life nor sense nor reason Such are the Heavens the Earth the Waters Or 2. Such as have Being and life but no sense Such are herbs and plants Or 3. Such as have Being and life and sense Such are Beasts Birds Fishes Insects c. Or Lastly Such as have not only Being life sense but Reason also Such are Angels and Men. I shall shew you that

kept in order knitted and jointed together and the qualities and affections of one creature may not work to the ruin and prejudice of another and so to the ruin and destruction of the whole And thus I have opened to you my first Conclusion shewing you the Method and order of Gods working in the preservation of his creatures in their beings stations and orders and in upholding the useful qualities of them that they do not waste or decay and the restraining and governing of their opposite qualities that they shall not work according to their natural tendencies and inclinations to destroy the World or spoil the beauty comeliness and order of it Nor do they transgress but upon Gods withdrawing this Providence this ordinary Providence Whence come inundations of Waters infections in the Air strange motions of Celestial bodies in some places as the just and wise God at any time will please to make use of any part of the hosts of his Creatures to execute his Vengeance either upon particular Persons Countries or places But thus much shall serve to have been spoken for the illustration of the first Conclusion The others will respect such creatures as have life and sense I proceed to a second Concl. 2. God preserveth his creatures which have life or life and sense or life sense and reason by a daily providing for them food and nourishment and directing them to their proper food and an ordinary avoiding of what is noxious and destructive to their bodies Of living Creatures there are three orders 1. Such as have nothing but being and life such are Plants and Herbs 2. Such as have not only being and life but also Sense Such are Birds in the Air Beasts and creeping things in the Earth Fishes in the Sea Insects and other creatures that live on the Earth and in the Air which the Birds and Fowls also do 3. Such as have not only being and life and sense but also Reason These are upon the Earth only Men and these only have Bodies All these creatures having life and that in a bodily substance and so being in continual motion are of mutable perishing and decaying beings and the lapses and decays of their Natures must be daily repaired by nourishment to the taking of which they are naturally inclined by the passions of Hunger and Thirst and by this Nourishment all know that all sorts of creatures are preserved and without this they cannot live Now as to this the Providence of God is eminently seen in three things instanced in in this second Conclusion 1. God provideth it for them All Vegetables Trees herbs plants are nourished by heat and moisture The moisture is either the natural fatness of the Earth or the adventitious dew of Heaven or falling of water from thence either in a more fluid form which we call Rain or congealed as Snow and Hail The heat is from the Sun There is a natural moisture in the Earth it is also in part watered from the Springs and fountains of water into it from the contiguity of the waters to it but we see in a time of drought how all these fail The Earth is parched and dry God reneweth its moisture by showers from Heaven by Rain and Snow and Dew c. Moisture alone will feed sew plants if any They must have heat as well as moisture Some and the most must have the beams of the Sun all must have the heat of it diffused through the Air. Now who is he who in the Heavens hath set a Tabernacle for the Sun which as a Bridegroom cometh out of his Chamber and rejoyceth as a strong man to run his Race Is it not Gods Psalm 19.4 5. Our Saviour tells us Matth. 5 He maketh his Sun to shine and his rain to fall upon the just and upon the unjust The Heathens lay under so much conviction of this that their Poets feigned a Chariot of the Sun which none but their God Phoebus could drive without burning the World For the Rain how plentifully doth the Scripture give unto God the Prerogative of it Hath the rain a father or Who begot the drops of dew Job 38.28 He causeth it to rain upon the earth 26. He giveth rain Jer. 5.24 He maketh lightnings with rain Jer. 10.3 Yea and none but he can do it Jer. 14.22 Are there any amongst the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain or can the Heavens give showers Art not thou he O Lord our God therefore will we wait upon thee for thou hast made all these things Thus the Lord provideth food for vegetables The sensitive Creatures are the Birds and Fowls of the air the beasts and creeping things of the Earth the Fishes of the Sea These live partly upon herbs and plants and the seed grain and fruit of them partly upon each other the greater devouring the lesser God in providing a nourishment for herbs and plants provides a nourishment for the most of them as also by upholding the procreating virtue of some creatures he provideth food for others Man liveth upon the creatures of inferiour order to him partly upon vegetables herbs roots the fruits of plants partly upon sensitive creatures God hath given him a commission to Kill and Eat God provideth food for Man by upholding the budding germinative seed-bearing qualities of plants and the growing vertues of them and by upholding the procreative vertue of birds beasts fishes c. without which those species would fail from the Earth and Man who lives upon them would perish also 2. Secondly The workings of Divine Providence are seen in directing them to their proper food Whence is it that each creature knoweth its proper food and is inclined by its appetite to that only Let me as to these two things shew you how plentifully the Scripture speaketh God takes the glory of this Job 38 Wilt thou hunt the prey for the Lion or fill the appetite for the young Lion V. 39 Who provideth for the Raven his food when his young ones cry unto God when they wander for want of meat Our Saviour telleth us Matt. 6.26 That it is God who feedeth the young Ravens The Psalmist giveth God the glory of this Psalm 104.27 These wait all upon thee that thou maist give them their meat in due season That which thou givest them they gather thou openest their hand they are filled with good These all wait upon thee Who are these the wild asses V. 11 He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run amongst the hills they give drink to every beast of the field the wild asses quench their thirst V. 14 He causeth the grass to grow for the Cattel and herbs for the service of man that he may bring forth food out of the Earth and wine that maketh glad the heart of man and oyl to make his face to shine and bread which strengtheneth mans heart V. 21 The young Lions roar after their prey and seek their meat from God V. 30 Thou renewest

not seen It is certain that by the special Providence of God they are more eminently upheld confirmed in their state of integrity governed in their motions and actions by God and that in a more eminent manner than other inferiour creatures but I intend no discourse of that 2. The second object of special Providence is Man 1. Mankind considered in the general All men and women are under more special acts of Providence as to Preservation and Government than the grass or the beasts the inanimate creatures or the brute creatures but neither shall I make this the subject of my discourse The Psalmist speaks of man in the general Psal 8.5 Thou hast made him a little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his foot All sheep and oxen yea and the beasts of the field 2. But Secondly The Church of God and more especially those that are the invisible part of it that glory not in appearance only but in reality and have not only a name to live but live indeed are the more eminent objects of special Providence I say first 1. The whole visible Church by which I mean the whole body of people whom God by the Preaching of the Gospel hath called out to an external profession and visible owning of the Lord Jesus Christ The Church of the Jews of old Amos 3.2 the whole body of that Nation circumcised and visibly owning and serving the true God were under more special Providence than all the world besides The Christian Church is so Canaan of old was the land which God cared for and he hath a Canaan now his whole Church which he doth care for and for whom he exerciseth a more special Providence both in the preservation and Government of them 2. But yet the invisible part of the visible Church that is that number of Professors whose Profession is not only visible to men Psal 33.18 but their faith their sincerity their true holiness is seen by God who love and fear the great God in truth and holiness these are the most special objects of special Providence Only one thing let me more add in an answer to this Question that neither all mankind not members of the Church nor all Churches nor all Saints are under the same or equal influences of Providence and therefore Divines have distinguished special Providences into those which are more extraordinary or ordinary the former are more miraculous or little differing from miracles the latter are more equal and ordinary and so will be the more the subject of our discourse All men are not restrained as Abimelech was All Churches are not preserved in a red Sea a wilderness have not Manna rained from heaven to feed them nor Waters brought out of a rock to satisfie their thirst as the Jewish Church had All Saints are not taken up to Heaven in a fiery Chariot as Elijah nor preserved in the Lions Den as Daniel or in the fire as the three children But there is 1. A special Providence attends every visible Church of Christ 2. And every one who is a true believer and puts his trust in the Lord. I come more particularly to shew you by what more particular acts the Providence of God discovereth Gods special care for his Church and for particular Souls Quest 3. By what more particular acts doth the Providence of God discover Gods special care for the visible Church and for particular believing souls 1. As to the Church of God 1. He preserveth it so as it shall never perish You know the promise The gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matt. 16.18 God preserveth the individual Being of every particular man He holdeth our souls in life but yet his being shall fail there will come a time when he shall not be Our Prophets are gone our fathers where are they God preserveth the Beings of Polities the Kingdoms and Empires of the World but these also have their periods where are the great Empires of the Medes and Persians the Grecians the Romans c He so preserveth his Church that it shall never fail this is a Specialty of Providence Men shall dye Kingdomes shall dye Empires shall come to nothing the Church shall not dye This woman may flee into the Wilderness from the red dragon as in Rev. 12. Where she hath a place prepared of God but there she shall be fed 1260 days the earth shall help the woman Rev. 12.16 Christ will be with them to the end of the world God so preservetth no creatures no Polities no Societies of men whatsoever 2. A second specialty of Providence relating to the Church seems to be a special Ministry of Angels Heb. 2.14 Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who are heirs of salvation Who are those that are heirs of salvation but the Church of God Acts 2.47 And the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved 1 Cor. 11.10 The woman ought to have power over her head or a covering over head because of the Angels There have been many Divines who have thought that in the Government of Providence some particular Angels have the charge of particular Kingdoms and Provinces and Churches You read Dan. 10.12 The Prince of the Kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty one days but lo Michael one of the chief Princes came to help me and ver 21 There is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your Prince There are some also that interpret thus The Angels of the Asian Churches mentioned in the Revelation but most interpret them of the Pastors over them but certain it is the Angels whether one more specially or no have a special Ministry towards the Church of Christ Psalm 91.11 He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways I shall not enlarge upon this for though this seemeth to be plainly enough in Scripture revealed yet the particulars of their Ministration are not so clearly revealed as we can assert much distincty concerning them Dan. 12.1 At that time saith the Prophet shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people The Angels stand up for the Church that is a Specialty of Providence 3. Thirdly All Gods extraordinary acts in the Government of his Creatures have been for his Church It was in revenge of their oppressions that God sends ten plagues one after another upon Pharaoh it is for them he suspendeth the Laws of Nature for them the waters of the red-Red-sea then the waters of Jordan divide for them it was that the Sun stood still in Gibeon and the Moon in the Valley of Ajalon in the time of Joshuah That the earth opened Numb 16 and swallowed up Corah Dathan and Abiram It is for his Church that natural Beings have acted beyond their ordinary capacities Hail-stones are

of God that upholds these qualities that they neither waste nor abate from their continual motion The candle is fed from the tallow and wax the torch and taper from pitch wax rozin and other combustible matter when that fails it expireth Whence is the Sun Moon and Stars fed but from the immediate upholding power and hand of God Again these great bodies are not indeed so gross and heavy as mere sublunary and terrene bodies are but yet they must not be denied something of weight especially the Waters in the Heavens We know weight and heaviness is of the nature of Water yea of that Water which falleth from Heaven how come the Clouds which are a thin body to contain and restrain it and keep it as in bottles how come those vast bodies of Water to be contained in the thin body of the Clouds and to diffuse themselves so gradually upon the Earth 2. Let us look upon the Air from the agitation of which proceed the great and boisterous stormy winds The Air is cold and moist only heated and warmed from the Sun how comes it to pass that it is not in that continual agitation which we see it in sometimes sometimes we hardly discern it moved at all sometimes more violently and that sometimes from one quarter sometimes from another is this a natural a meer natural motion then it is necessary and would be uniform so we see it is not Who can give a reason sufficient to satisfie an inquisitive Philosopher of the heat and cold in the Air in several Countrys nay in our own Country or a sufficient reason of drought and moisture in the Air whence is it think you that it is not always dry nor always moist not always stormy nor always calm none of which would suit the conservation of the world but from Gods upholding those qualities in those bodies which influence it and by which these things are caused so that unless when the ordinary Providence of God is not withheld from the creatures in some particular places for the chastisement of the wickedness of them that dwell therein The Air keeps its motion and courses the winds their courses for the preservation of our bodies and the advantage of humane affairs God I say by a daily providence upholds these Beings to those motions and measures of motion which he at first set for them in order to keeping the World in joint The Air putrifieth not nor groweth infectious the Winds sometimes blow sometimes are still c. The Psalmist giveth God the great glory of his Providence in this particular very plentifully He raiseth the stormy winds Psalm 107. v. 25. He walketh upon the wings of the wind Psalm 104.3 He bringeth the winds out of his treasures Psalm 133.7 He causeth his winds to blow Psalm 147.18 The stormy winds fulfil his word Psalm 148.8 The Heathens had such a sense of the Necessity of a Divine Providence to rule this Creature that they devised a God on purpose whom they called Aeolus whom they feigned to have a care and dominion over them and the Poet saith That if he did not they would confound Heaven and Earth 3. From the Air let us come to the Earth a great and vast body Job saith It hangeth upon nothing Job 26.7 upon nothing but the Almighty power of divine Providence It hangeth in the midst of the Air and that upon nothing God did hang it there in the day of Creation the Seas are contiguous to it both of them make but one Globe or round body of a great weight We see it is of the nature of weighty Bodies to incline and press downward Suppose God did at first hang it there What is it keeps it there We should conclude it a great Miracle not to be effected by other than a divine Power to see but a great stone or Canon-bullet hang in the air how would a whole City come out and be astonished at so great a sight especially if it should hang there a month or a year or any considerable proportion of time But who sufficiently contemplateth this great sight Who thinks on the immense weight of the Earth and the Seas hanging in the midst of the thin body of the air Let the Atheists of this generation come near and see this great sight If there be no God or if this God exerciseth no Providence in the upholding and governing created Beings How cometh the Earth to hang upon nothing or how doth it abide one day in that station Let any of them in an open field climb up and hang up a Cannon-bullet so if they can I know the Philosophers tell us it is in its Center and every thing naturally rests there The Poet tells us That Ponderibus librata suis But this is all but an idle and an impertinent muffling us with unintelligible terms for what do they mean by the center of things the center of the Heavens or the center of the Earth or of the Waters unless they understand the place which God ordained for them or wherein God fixed them in Creation in that they abide and we say there Providence keepeth them Let them try if the art of all the men in the World can so poise a great weight in the air that it shall not fall but abide hanging there any considerable time 4. Lastly let us view the great body of the Waters in continual flux and reflux whether they be placed higher than the Earth is a little question But suppose they be not certain it is that the winds oft raise them much higher than the Earth they are of a fluid Nature of a great weight in continual motion whence is it that they do not drown the World or at least a great part of it It is a matter of demonstration that in many places they rise higher every side than the Earth next adjacent to them How comes it that the Sands check them that in many places they bring their bridle in their mouth an huge quantity of small stones or sands which make a bank on every side to protect the adjacent Earth against their rage certainly no reason can be given but what the holy servants of God have long since given Job 26.10 He hath compassed the waters with bounds until the day and night come to an end And Jer. 5.22 He hath placed the sand for a bound to the sea by a perpetual decree that it cannot pass Now suppose such a Decree these inanimate Creatures obey it not out of election and choice but being natural Agents they work and move necessarily according to the affections and inclinations which God hath created them with So as the water being fluid and heavy would from a necessity of natural working overflow and drown the Earth did not God by his Providence continually work establishing his Decree and seeing to the execution of it and to that end governing these inanimate Creatures contrary to their natural inclinations that the World may be