Providence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth order and appoint the cause to the effect the means to the end for the good of his people which all the creatures could not do he brings food out of the earth and he doth cause rain and reserve the appointed weeks of the harvest Jer. 5.24 it is he that orders every thing unto its end for the good of his people Mat. 4.3 Psal 127.1 2. He doth Bless the means man lives not by Bread only but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God c. Vnless the Lord build the house they labour in vain that build it He gives all things richly to enjoy 1 Tim. 6.17 It 's the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and it 's he that blesseth the labours of our hand that we labour not in the fire Hab. 2.13 and therefore the creatures are said to be sanctifi'd by the Word and Prayer 1 Tim. 4.5 by a blessing attained thereupon Eccles 5.17 that they shall prosper for their ends 3. He doth raise up means when we can see none unexpectedly Mic. 6.4 he sent before them Moses and Aaron Zac. 9.13 When I have bent Judab for me and filled the bow with Ephraim and raised up thy sons O Sion against thy sons O Greece c. So for the deliverance of Mordecai and he rais'd up the Spirit of Cyrus and stirred it up so that he made a Proclamation for the good of Jerusalem Ezra 1.1 and Zac. 1.8 he stood among the Myrtle-trees that were in the bottom c. In the evening it shall be light Zac. 14.7 an Angel stops the Lyons mouths and opens the prison-doors when all hope is gone and they cannot see from what quarter supply shall come then do means appear unexpectedly and therefore the people of God do believe in hope against hope upon this ground because the hand of the Lord is not shortned 4. The most unlikely Means Isa 41.15 The Worm Jacob shall thresh the Mountains c. He doth open Rivers in high places Isa 41.18 waters shall break out in the wilderness and streams in the desert the enemies shall turn their Swords against one another that they shall destroy themselves Judg. 9.7.22 And their own breath shall be as fire to devour themselves Isa 33.11 And so the ten Kings shall destroy the Whore who set her up and God will act means contrary to their own nature or above their nature for his People Ravens to feed Elijah and the Heavens to give bread and flesh and the Rocks water out of the Eater shall come meat and the waters shall be a wall unto them and the Sun shall stand still for the wheels of Providence are sometimes lifted up he doth not always goe in an ordinary way but useth means that they know not of as in the work of Redemption so in a work of Providence also and beyond their intention as the instances are many which might be given Isa 44.25 that frustrates the tokens of the lyers and maketh Diviners mad that turneth wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolish the fiery furnace shall not consume Shadrack Meshack and Abednego but their enemies c. § 2. We come now unto the Third Distinction of Providence it is either circa necessaria vel contingentia about necessaries or contingents That is said to be necessary which could not otherwise be but the effect hath a necessary dependance upon its cause that it doth from an inward principle ex necessitate naturae produce such an effect and so the Sun doth naturally and therefore necessarily enlighten and the Fire doth naturally and therefore necessarily warm such causes as have a natural and therefore a necessary influence and causality And things contingent are such as have no necessity in their causes but in respect of us they might have been otherwise such of which we are able to give no reason but their causes are to us unknown and so the event unexpected That is said to be contingent and to fall out beyond our expectation Aust cujus ratio causa secreta est the seed whereof we are not able to foresee in second Causes Fatum nil aliud est quà m series implexa causarum So that if we look upon all things in reference to the first cause so all things are necessary and there is nothing that is contingent or falls out by chance or accident but all contingency is in reference unto second causes for they are known of God and appointed by him by a necessary and infallible Providence as if a man hewing wood the Axes head falls off and smites his Neighbour that he dye or if a man cast a stone unawares and it light upon his Neighbour Deut. 19.5 Num. 35.23 that which is beyond the intention of the man yet God is said to deliver him into his hand Exod. 21.13 that is God has jus vitae necis ad altissimam ejus providentiam refertur And so it was in the death of Ahab there was a man that drew a bow at a venture or in simplicity not aiming at him not intending his death more than any other mans but it smote the King of Israel between the Harness there was a Providence that infallibly guided it though in reference to the second cause it was meerly contingent and accidental and therefore the Lord foretells things that are meerly casual before they come to pass as that to Saul upon the plain of Tabor There shall meet thee three men one carrying three kids and another three loaves of bread and he shall salute thee and give thee two loaves and thou shalt receive them at his hand Luk. 22.10 There shall meet you a man bearing a Pitcher of water follow him c. for all things are unto him certain and infallible not only ex praevisione but ex praeordinatione he did order them that they should so come to pass 1. Gods Providence regards all Necessaries and such are all natural causes they work necessarily because ex necessitate naturae from a necessity of nature and so ad ultimum potentiae to the utmost of their power Now there is even in the ordering of these a gracious hand of God for the good of his People and that will appear in these six instances 1. In the Sun it riseth naturally and therefore necessarily and so it shines yet it is God makes it shine so Math. 5.45 He maketh the Sun to rise c. But it will be said that this is an act of common grace for it riseth upon the evil and the good the just and the unjust but it 's â—ar that the Lord makes it to rise and to shine for Job 9.7 he commands the Sun and it riseth not he can cause it to put on sackcloth for he has a negative voice upon the motions of all the creatures and although it riseth upon the evil as well as upon the good
man to seek out curious ways of sinning against it to avoid the power of the law as we see in Gaming c. sin takes occasion by the Commandment that it may sin more artificially and such men are hardly convinced 2 The Law discovers sin and men will not see it and so sin takes occasion by the Commandment and vents it self by refusing knowledge And they stop their ears that they may not be charmed by the voice of the charmer Joh. 3.20 c. 3 Sin takes occasion from hence in that men hate the light of the law and they wish that there were no such law in the world He that does evil hates the light neither cometh he to the light lest his deeds should be made manifest and reproved As the law discovers that to be evil in which the soul placeth its greatest good so this discovery draws out a hatred in the soul a-against that law which does as a glass discover the spots which the sinner would have hidden 2. The law does restrain sin and puts a stop to it and shuts up the sinner as we may read Gal. 3.23 Whence sin breaks forth more violently men being prone to sin and cannot live without it for the comfort of their life comes in by it The Law may restrain and keep in lust for a while Mat. 12.43 but it breaks forth as fire when you suppress it outwardly it burns the hotter within and spreads the more by a restraint 1 It spreads the more in the man by the restraint of the Law a man that hath forborn a sin long there comes seven worse spirits at the last and makes him more the child of the Devil than he was before the former restraint that was upon him makes his inward man the more exceeding sinful As it was with Judas a Devil though a Disciple The restraint of sin by the Commandment causes it to defile his inward man the more 2 The more sin is enraged as Psal 2. They say let us break their bonds and cast their cords from us Chains put not a fierceness into a beast but yet it does outwardly draw forth that fury that was in its nature As a potion in some diseases given for the cure irritates the peccant humour and kills the man the sooner not that it puts a new sickness in but only the humours being stirred are the more enraged 3 So in this case it does not only enrage sin and so make it more fierce but it improves it by this enraging as the presence of an injury doth heighten a mans anger as we see Goliah did David s his brags drew forth David's courage and it rose to the greater height and so any difficulty would Alexander's so that it was an exploit fit for Alexander if none else would undertake it and so a damm in the water it does cause it to swell and foam the more and the coldness of the circumstant air in the winter does not put more heat into the fire and yet by an Antiperistasis it excites it so that it is felt the more And therefore men living under the clearest discoveries of the Law their sins do rise to the greatest height men by the light of nature cannot sin against the Holy Ghost the great and the unpardonable transgression but this sin is by Gospel-light and this draws forth to direct enmity a mans spirit against the light so that he sins wilfully after that he hath received the knowledge of the truth and with despight for it is this being under the irritating power of the Law that is the great occasion of the sin against the Holy Ghost 3. There is a condemning power of the Law it passes a sentence upon a man and upon his estate and let 's into his soul by the spirit of bondage fear of death and dreadful apprehensions of wrath fearful expectations of judgment and of violent fire to devour him And from this also sin takes occasion 1 By reason of terrours that a man should destroy himself and become the instrument of his own mercy and be his own executioner as Judas and Achitophel and many others have done And 2 hence sin takes occasion to drive them to despair and draws it forth fastning their eyes upon the vengeance of God and never shewing them the remedy and the pardon and then with Cain men say mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven 3 Hence follows a giving up themselves unto all excess of riot there is no hope and therefore I will enjoy the good things that are present and not have a Hell here and hereafter too And therefore they refrain not from any evil way but resolve to take their fill of sin while they are here for they are sure they can be but damned as many a wicked wretch when he is condemned to die he cares not what he does then for he knows he can be but hanged Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die 4 The rage of their spirits does rise from hence even to blasphemy and revenge against God He saith O that I were above God! for I know that he will not have mercy upon me And so the Damned in Hell do blaspheme God by way of revenge because they are shut up under wrath and know that there is no mercy for them And this is the ground also of the great rage and revenge against God that is acted by the Devil ever since the fall Thus men seeing themselves condemned by the Law and being in a continual expectation of this wrath the revenge and rage of their spirits against God is by this means drawn forth and in all these respects sin does take occasion by the Commandment and becomes the more exceeding sinful SECT II. Whence it is that the Law exasperates and encreases Sin § 1. LET us now come having proved the Point to look into the grounds of it How it should come to pass that that which discovers sin and forbids it should exasperate and increase it and that that which is a means to lead the people of God into ways of holiness and to sanctifie them converting the soul making wise the simple should occasion sin and death to others We must lay this as a ground That the cause is not in the Law the Apostles care is to remove any blemish that may be cast on the Law of God as if God had given a Law to this end to add unto the sin of man whereas indeed before the Law sin was in the world and it was out of measure sinful but it did not appear so without the Law There is a twofold cause that the Apostle does here point us unto 1 There is causa per se a formal cause which does of it self and of its own nature properly produce the effect from some inward and intrinsecal power and efficiency and so the Law is not the cause of sin in a man neither is there any thing in the Law that should
produce any such effect but rather the contrary for it doth forbid sin upon the highest penalties it has upon it an impress of the Holiness of God and is contrary to sin in all things being holy and just and good and in its proper causality does work holiness in the hearts of men and a conformity unto the will of God as the rule of Goodness as it appears in the Saints all the grace that they have is nothing else but the Law written in their hearts which is the grand promise of the new Covenant 2 There is causa per accidens an accidental cause when the effect flows not from the nature of the cause but from something else that does by accident cleave to it so the Apostle says knowledge puffs up all true knowledge is humbling and there is nothing that a man can know either of God or himself but it does afford him great ground of abasement and self-denial but yet through the lusts of men sin takes occasion by the knowledge that should humble him to lift him up so fountains are hottest in the Winter and the fire by reason of the cold of the circumstant air not that the Winter does add heat to either by its own nature but by accident and occasionally inclose the one and draw forth the other so the Gospel meeting with the lusts of men who either reject the Gospel or else do turn the grace of God into wantonness thence it becomes the savour of death unto death not of it self nor in its own nature for it is the word of life and salvation so does the Law draw forth sin not of its own nature for it forbids it and curseth it but yet sin takes occasion by the Law and through many things that do adhere and cleave to the man by the Law it does become the more exceeding sinful Let us therefore come unto the proper causes how it comes to pass that sin by the Law which is good should take such an occasion of evil The causes are many 1. One cause of it is lust There are in lust many things from whence it flows but especially these 1 Lust is carried towards its object with earnestness violence and vehemency there is a lifting up of the soul to vanity and the hearts going after covetousness and therefore some render that of Laban when Jacob departed and he saw that the hope of his gain was gone Gen. 31.20 Deut. 29.19 Amos 2.7 Eph. 4.19 Jude 11. that he stole away the heart of Laban And as a godly mans desires are for God and Grace so a wicked mans desires are after sin and he thirsts and pants after it and it is therefore exprest by greediness as we may see it in Shechem Amnon and Ahab after Naboth's Vineyard All these set forth the violence of lust how fully the soul of man is carried after sinful objects and the ground is because sin looks upon sinful objects as the husband of the soul as the chief good and therefore is carried after them modo infinito in an infinite manner as a God therefore they are said to serve mammon and their God is their belly and they are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God Rom. 7. and therefore desire them infinitely the sinner is never satisfied but like the barren womb crys give give his desire is as Hell and the Grave it never has enough Now whatever comes in the way as a bar unto that which his soul does so infinitely desire it is no wonder if his heart rise against it with an answerable violence If Naboth come in the way of Ahab's Covetousness his life is little enough to make satisfaction and if any man stand in the way of Haman's honour his life and the life of a whole Nation is but a fit sacrifice to expiate so great an offence Now the Law of God putting a stop upon such vast desires therefore the hearts of men do rise up against the Law in opposition answerable to the desire that sin hath unto the object from which it is stopt by the prohibition of the Law 2 Lusts are proud and do swell the heart and cause it to be lifted up Psal 10.4 The wicked through the pride of his countenance doth not seek after God Obed. 3 The pride of thy heart has deceived thee And this fills the heart with a great deal of obstinacy and stoutness of spirit against God and contempt and scorn of whatever comes in his way to resist it as we see in Pharaoh even against the Lord himself Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice And answerable unto a mans pride and exaltation of spirit such is the rising of his heart against any thing that makes against him and the more full of lust any man is the more the pride of his heart is drawn forth for he is thereby made the more conformable to the Devil who saith I am a God and so do all mens lusts say and therefore the heart is lifted up as a God answerable to the pride of a man such is his impatience 3 Lust is resolute this proceeds from the two former it will go on whatever come of it Ephes 2.3 Hos 9. in despight of all opposition There are wills of the flesh as great resolutions as if there were many wills in one as a wild ass alone by it self i. e. that has neither rider to command it nor bridle to restrain it will venture any-where Jer. 8.7 They go on in their own ways as the horse rushes into the battel Christ warns Judas The son of man goeth indeed as it is written but wo to him by whom the son of man is betrayed it had been good for that man that he had never been born And yet Judas went forth and from that time he sought an opportunity to betray him If the Lord make hedges about a soul yet he will labour to tread down all with the greatest resolution and with the highest contempt as we may see it in Pharaoh after all his plagues yet his heart was hardened that is his will remained obstinate and he resolved not to yield unto God come what will come yea though death to himself and destruction upon his Kingdom did ensue And therefore they say What thou speakest to us in the name of the Lord we will not do Jer. 44.16 but we will do whatever proceeds out of our own mouths And if any thing come in the way to cross them in this resolution men resolve to oppose it see it in Saul 1 Sam. 22.17 Go and kill the Priests of Jehovah which some have made to be the sin against the Holy Ghost and Job 15.26 They do prepare themselves thick-bossed bucklers they resolve to make resistance they harden their hearts and stiffen their necks though the law of God set the sin and the evil before them yet men despise it and fear not the danger let it be of temporal judgment they say
Heaven we shall but enter into our Masters joy Thus every thing that concerns the Covenant belongs first unto him and then unto us and therefore we may safely conclude that the Covenant made with the Saints of Christ it is with Christ primarily and principally and with us at second hand 7. Lastly the great and principal respect that God hath in this Covenant is to him alone and unto us only as we are in him in all the transactions of the Covenant 1 In all the service that we tender unto God by vertue of this Covenant God doth not primarily respect it as it comes from us but as it comes from Christ as fruit in him Joh. 15.2 1 Pet. 2.5 as the Lord doth not meerly make that a ground for Christ says I do not say that I will pray the father for you Jo. 16.27 for the father himself loves you he would thereby pitch their faith upon another ground to assure them that the prayers he makes in our behalf are answered and that it is the love of the Father as well as the mediation of the Son but he loves them in him also and therefore respects their prayers principally as they do proceed out of the Angels hand 2 In all the mercies of the Covenant the primary respect is unto him and it is bestowed upon you only for his sake For thine own sake and for thy words sake 2 Sam. 7.21 Which Glassius and some others do apply unto Christ that Word of the Father though it may be meant as others do expound it for his own promise sake respecting his truth Mic. 7. last therefore Zach. 1.14 though they pray never so long Seventy years yet it is never accomplished till Christ prays and then the Lord answers the Angel with good words and comfortable words he is by and by zealous for Jerusalem And therefore Daniel says Dan. 9.17 Hear the prayer of thy servant cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate for the Lords sake Now if all things that concern the Covenant be in this manner made unto Christ primarily and unto us only as we are in him to him for his own sake and unto us only for his this doth plainly show that the Covenant of Grace though it be made with the Saints yet it is primarily and principally made with Christ § 2. Now we come to the Grounds why this Covenant must be made with Christ first and with us only as we are members of Christ and in him 1. Because the Covenant of Grace is a transcript of the eternal purpose of God in election and doth fully set forth the way how the ends of Gods electing love should be effected Now the ends of Gods electing love are 1 The praise of the glory of his Grace 2 The glory of his Son 3 The holiness and happiness of the Saints These ends are suitably accomplished by this Covenant Ephes 1.3 4 5. Ephes 1.3 4 5. He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ according as he has chosen us in him Here three things are observable 1 It is spoken of Christ as Mediator as God-man for in him we are blessed in him we are chosen but our blessings proceed from Christ as Mediator 2 The order of the election we are chosen in him that is in him as the head and therefore he is first elected as he is first beloved In whom I am well pleased well pleased with his people Matt. 3.17 all the members of Christ but first with Christ and with them only as they are in him and one with him 3 According to this order so are all the blessings of the Covenant of Grace dispensed for he hath blessed us in him as he hath chosen us in him according to the order of election such is the order also of benediction Now the blessing of the Covenant of Grace being only in pursuance of the Election of God the Order of God therein must be answerable to the Election which is first of Christ and afterwards of all the Saints of God in him It 's true there is but one Election as there is but one Covenant but yet there is an Order in Election as well as there is in the Covenant first Christ is elected and we in him as the Lord entred into Covenant first with him and with us in him as a head Here consider 1 that the great and the highest end of the counsel of God in Election next unto his own glory was the glory of his Son for this is the Order of God that the Father may be glorified in his Son and the Son glorified in the Saints and in the last day Christ shall be admired in them that believe 2 Thes 2.10 and that in the glory of Christ God the Father may be glorified and that God may be all in all when the Son also is subject to him Therefore they that make Christ to be chosen only in remedium peccati 1 Cor. 15. and bring him in only by accident for the reparation and restitution of man fallen I think entertain an opinion dishonourable to Christ and far below that great plot of God in Christs Election He is said to be the first-born of every creature Col. 1.15 which I conceive not to be spoken simply of Christ as God but as Mediator it is said before that he is the image of the invisible God If it be spoken of him as God then he is equally invisible with the Father but as Mediator in whom all the glorious Attributes of God do shine forth so he is the Image of God and so I conceive it to refer to the Election of Christ as being Jesus the first-born in the womb of Election the like unto that is Prov. 8.23 c. and in the first going forth in his Decrees towards the creature therefore Christ was first elected and the highest ends of God in the counsels of Election next unto the glory of himself was the glory of his Son 2 This glory of the Son he doth intend to accomplish two ways 1 He will in the fullest manner communicate himself to the Son he will in the highest way delight in him there could not be towards any creature the fullest communication and communion because all communion is founded in union and the higher the union the more glorious the communication Now between God and the creature there was a natural union as between the cause and the effect and there was a voluntary union by Covenant and answerable to these was the communication of God to the creature either ordine naturae or gratiae but yet there being a higher union this must make way for a higher communication and therefore God intending to communicate himself to his Son in the highest way he doth first in order priviledge him to be personally united to a created nature and in this nature he can take full delight which he could not do
yet amongst the Israelites not a Dog did move his tongue Signum est magni silentii dum canes silent A great love may be seen in an ordinary Providence to a man as Grapes to be had in a wilderness as a Messenger sent one of a thousand a word spoken in due season a Scripture opened to me when I had need it was directed to me in my necessity such a comfort administred at such a time when I was in extremity and it came in the season of it it is an argument of great love as when David was besieged and Saul thought that he had them sure now a report must be brought that the Philistins had invaded the Land and so change his Counsels and divert the forces from pursuing David 6. Small and ordinary things shall be for their preservation Exod. 23.25 He shall bless thy bread and thy water and will take sickness away from the midst of thee that whereas other mens food breeds and nourishes diseases his food shall be blest unto him that it shall be healthful and not hurtful and when Sennacherib is come to besiege Jerusalem after all his ranting and threatning he shall hear a rumour a report shall be brought him that the King of Ethiopia had invaded his Land and so change his purpose and it shall be for the preservation of the people of God 7. Ordinary things shall tend unto the destruction of the enemies and they shall fall by the turning of an ordinary providence the smallest things shall even ruine persons and nations as Pharaoh and all Egypt were even destroyed by flies and lice c. the Sun shines upon the water and they shall say that it is blood The Kings have destroyed one another 2 King 3.22 23. Sometimes by the turning of the wind great things have been done for the people of God great battels have been won both by Land and Sea and sometimes by rain strange things have been wrought for the defeating of the counsels of enemies Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an East-wind c. And we know what small providences have cast the balance for the people of God against the enemies and that in many doubtful cases when they had nothing but providence to work for them 8. Consider how by small and ordinary things the Lord doth preserve the lives and support his people in the world by causing the Sun to shine and the rain to fall the earth to bring forth the fig-tree to blossom and we see he gives them food out of the earth and the beasts do them service and they do it willingly and readily Now what a miserable life were the life even of a Saint here if it were not for such common and ordinary refreshments if the Lord should as a Lion watch over us as he doth threaten them he would be as a Lion and a Leopard in the way to observe them There is a providence that hath given these unto the sons of God as their inheritance so that they do injoy the comfort of them and eat the fruit of them day by day the service of thy hand maid and of thy beast all act for thee as being made by God to be thy servants It is true that the service of the Angels is comfortable but it would not be sufficient without these which are ours in a way of ordinary providence Cogita te esse in regione deserti in peregrinatione vitae Aug. and such as we account less though we taste the good of them from day to day Surely therefore all things even the smallest things shall work together for good to them that love the Lord for the good of their spiritual and temporal state also SECT IV. The Saints Interest in Gods Providential Kingdom both mediate and immediate necessary and contingent § 1. WE have gone thorow the first distinction of the providential Kingdom we come now to the second which is that Providence is either immediate or mediate The one is when the Lord works without means putting forth his own power immediately to the producing of any effect without the concurrence of any means or help of second causes and this is called making bare his arm or making it naked Esa 52.10 So long as the Lord doth work by means though there be his hand yet his hand is hid and covered under the appearance of creatures so that our eyes are either wholly or mainly upon them but when the Lord lays creatures aside and his own arm doth appear to bring salvation so that nothing else is seen but the hand of God in it without the concurrence of creatures the Lord is then said to make bare his own arm that is to shew forth his own power Hab. 3.9 purely and nakedly so Hab. 3.9 His bow was quite made naked c. he speaks it of the discoveries of Gods power in an immediate way and his bow is vis tua robur tuum Drus he speaks it of the dividing of the red Sea and the turning back of Jordan in its own chanel the power of God did immediately appear without any concurrence of means and any instrument or second causes and therefore his bow was naked c. the Scripture doth speak of the Lords smiting with the rod and with his fist c. And here there are three Propositions that I must lay down 1. That whatever the Lord does by means he can work immediately by his own hand without all means he that did give being unto the second causes can without those causes produce their effects he is independent in his working as well as in his being and doth not depend upon means and second causes in any thing that he doth and therefore if he do deprive his people of the means and will supply it in himself it shall be infinitely better they shall have a hundredfold more in this life eminenter the Sun shall be no more thy light by day but the glory of the Lord shall be the light thereof if he deprive them of the light of the Sun yet he gives them his own glory to be instead thereof and it shall abundantly answer it He hath indeed bound us in duty to use the means but he hath not bound himself he is still at liberty either to work by his own immediate hand or in the way that he hath set in the order and subordination of causes yea as much as if no such order had been made by him and therefore the time will come when God shall be all in all and this order of causes shall surely cease and then all effects shall be produced by God immediately and that in a far more glorious manner than now they are by the influences of their causes amongst the creatures 2. In the means which he doth use there is an immediate concurrence of his own power to the producing of the effect concurrit immediatè c. and without this the second cause could do nothing men