his Children they stand in such a Relation to him as engages him to be careful of them They are born unto him by Regeneration Now we cannot think that the God of Nature who hath imprinted this upon every Creature to take care of its own will himself be found wanting in this The tenderness and care of men and beasts to their little ones is all derived from him and will not then his Love and Care much more exceed theirs He tells us himself that the Mother may forget the Son of her Womb that she should not have compassion on him but the Lord will not forget his people Isa 49.15 Reas 2. They are his Jewels of the greatest price to him his peculiar Treasure Exod. 19.5 He sets a higher price upon them than he does upon all the world beside This he confirms by actions and renders as the reason of some remarkable Providences of his Psal 105.14 He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sakes He values their Ransome at a higher rate for he gives whole Countries and Kingdoms for them Isa 43.3 I gave Egypt for thy ransome Ethiopia and Seba for thee This is a sufficient proof of the high esteem that God hath of them and things which we highly prize we tenderly care for Reas 3. They are his Portion his Inheritance all that he hath set apart for himself in the World Psal 4.3 The Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself Deut. 32.9 The Lords portion is his people Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance These are mighty expressions enough to astonish us That God who is Lord of of all the World who hath Heaven and Earth and all that is therein should as it were quit his Interest in all the rest and count it inconsiderable and little worth in comparison of a few that he hath chosen out of it who were as bad as the rest excepting in what they are beholding to him for and are made better by his choice Reas 4. His Honor depends upon these they are the only people that lay his Concernments to heart and take care of his glory others do serve and help forward his designs in the world but they do it not out of design they mind only their own things but his people design to serve and honor him and mind his glory as their greatest interest in the world Phil. 1.20 21. As always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or death for to me to live is Christ and to dye is gain The glory of Christ is that which a Christian aims at in life and death yea he makes every particular action subservient to this 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink or whatever ye do do all to the glory of God Now it is no wonder if God take care for those who take care for him if they design his glory much more does he their preservation Reas 5. Because he hath dearly purchased them he hath bought them at a dear rate he hath bought them at first with a great price not of filver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Beside this he oftentimes makes a providential purchase of them by giving men and people for them Isa 43 3. Now we know that the things which we purchase dearly we lay up safely and keep them carefully because we will not lose the cost and charge we have been at Thus God reasons from former mercies to future preservations Isa 43.4 Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee therefore will I give men for thee and people for thy life Reas 6. He is careful of them because they love him these are the people of all the world that love God therefore they are the people that he minds above all the world he hath their hearts and therefore they have his Psal 91.14 When God had spoken of his care of his people and their safety from the Pestilence he adds this as the Reason Because he hath set his love upon me therefore will I deliver him Reas 7. The Reason of all Reasons is He hath set his love upon them Psal 146.8 The Lord loveth the righteous John 16.27 The Father himself loveth you Nay so great is the Love of God to his people that he is called Love 1 John 4.16 Now those whom we love we take care of we consider not so much their merit or demerit if they be in danger but we feel in our selves what they suffer and we can no more forbear to prevent an evil that we see coming upon them or labour to remove it when it is come than we can forbear to seek out for help for our selves if we were in the same case God's Love makes him sympathize with his people in all their sufferings therefore he sayes by the Prophet Isa 63.9 In all their afflictions I was afflicted with them wonder not then at what follows the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the dayes of old Where Love is so powerful to cause such a sense of affliction it must needs awaken our care and stir up all our circumspection to prevent or remove the evil which fall upon us in falling upon those we love Thus I have endeavoured to make this Truth clear yet before I improve it I must remove some objections out of the way Obj. 1. How does the Care of God appear for his people seeing we find that they have often been made a prey to the wicked and the Scripture gives an account of hard things that they have suffered under them Ans The Scripture which gives us account of their sufferings tells us also of their preservation under those troubles so that rightly considered they do not darken but clear the Providence of God How did God preserve Israel in Egypt Exod. 3.2 though the bush burned with fire it was not consumed And as the Apostle says concerning himself and the Primitive Christians 2 Cor. 4.9 Though they were persecuted yet they were not forsaken 2. God's Care of his people appears in this That he encreased them by their Troubles as well as preserved them under them Exod. 1.12 the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew and it hath been the experience of the Christian Church That the blood of the Martyrs hath been the Seed of the Church 3. His Care appears greatly in caring for their souls he sanctifies these troubles to them and does them a great deal of good in the trying and strengthening of their Graces 1 Pet. 1.7 The tryal of your Faith being much more precious than Gold Rom. 5.3 4 5. We glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope Nay he does not only do them good at present but makes way for
Seasonable THOUGHTS Of Divine PROVIDENCE Affording Comfort to those who are in Danger Instruction to all that are delivered from the late sad VISITATION Wherein we are inform'd Whether our Preservation be a fruit of God's Special Love or of his Common Providence London Printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the three Crowns at the lower end of Cheap-side over against the Conduit 1666. For the Honourable my very good FRIENDS Sir ROBERT HANSON Sheriff and ALEXANDER HOLT Esquire Alderman of the City of LONDON THE common danger of the approaching and spreading Pestilence which was sufficient to awaken every heart made some impressions upon me but especially the number of youth in my Family did stir up a quicker sence both of danger and duty to discharge the trust reposed in me in caring for their preservation as mine own Amongst all the Remedies I could think of I found none so efficacious to quiet my heart from the fear of evil as Meditation and reliance upon Divine Providence And the experience that I have had heretofore That awakening Judgements do make way for Counsel hath induced me to make these Thoughts publick hoping that what hath been useful to me may be profitable to others In this endeavour I could not pass you by without special observation and respect A great part of the mercy vouchsafed to my Family being yours having four Sons preserved in it Besides your Interest in the famous City of LONDON for whom this is chiefly publisht of which you have the Honour not onely to be Members but Magistrates where by your residence in this time of its Visitation you have had advantages above many to furnish your selves with instances of Gods Providence towards the City your own and other Families which have been wonderfully preserved in the Valley of the shadow of Death To which I may add your interest in me by which you may entitle your selves to what ever I may be serviceable to your selves or Families in Now that in the perusal of this you may find that your lives and the lives of your Relations were given to you in mercy and that the City in the midst of which you have been preserved may experience That you have been kept alive to be blessings to it shall be the Prayer of Your affectionate Servant in the LORD Jo. Chishull Enfeild Jan. 25 1665. Seasonable Thoughts OF Divine Providence DEUT. 33.29 Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord. MOses the Servant of the Lord having finished his course and conducted Israel out of Egypt and led them through the red Sea and the Wilderness being not permitted to go into Canaan though he seriously begged it of God receives the sentence of Death with particular command to go up into Mount Nebo and dye Though he strugled a little in this and would fain have gotten a Dispensation to go over into Canaan yet perceiving that God had otherwise determined concerning him he lets fall his suit and he chearfully sets himself to obey the Command of God when he had first taken care for his Successor and prayed for and blest his people In this Chapter we have Moses his farwel he takes leave of Israel as Christ did of his Disciples his last words are as full of Love and Consolation as possibly they could be He deals out a blessing to every Tribe in particular and then blesses them in the whole lump and not only them but all the people of God And being lifted up in his spirit he hath a far better prospect than he had of Canaan upon Mount Nebo he takes a view of what God had done and of what he had promised to do for them and he breaks out in consideration of this into a serious admiration at their happy estate in these words Happy art thou O Israel Who is like unto thee Oh people saved by the Lord In which we have First Moses his judgement concerning Israel's state Happy art thou O Israel Secondly The confirmation of this in which he notes the eminency and singularity of their happiness Who is like to thee i. e. there is none like to thee Thy Priviledg and Blessing is remarkable because thou enjoyest it alone none can boast of it but thy self Thirdly He explains this his assertion and shews wherein the happiness of God's Israel lies in these words Saved of the Lord. The Reason why Moses pronounces them happy is Because God hath such a special care of them to keep them and save them in all times of trouble and danger The words might be broken into many Propositions but they may be best taken in this one Proposition Doct. Gods peculiar Care and Providence toward his people is their peculiar happiness Or It is the happiness of the people of God alone that they are under the special Care and Providence of God he hath a p culiar regard to them they are the saved of the Lord for whose safety he provides above all others and in comparison of whom he cares for none in the world besides To make this Proposition clear I am to prove First That God hath a people of whom he hath a special Care Secondly The people who are the subjects of this peculiar Care and Providence are happy above all others But I know if I prove the former the latter will be granted all men agreeing in this That Preservation and Safety in time of private or publick danger is a great happiness and I think all men that have not given up themselves to gross Atheism will agree That the best Security that a man can have against all kind of Evils is an Interest in Divine Providence I shall therefore endeavour to shew you That God hath a peculiar Care of his People in all conditions to save them from the many evils that they are compassed about withall this being the only thing that needs any proof In prosecution of this I shall shew you First Some instances of this Care and Providence both in reference to the Church in general and to particular persons Secondly How this is exprest what terms the Holy Ghost uses to communicate the notions of it to us that our conceptions of it may be regulated Thirdly Wherein this Care for the safety of God's people is exprest how it appears in its particulars and is proved by actions as well as words Fourthly Some Reasons for this That though this be far above what we can rationally expect considering our unworthiness yet there is nothing built more reasonably upon Scripture Suppositions Fifthly The improvement that may be made of this Truth First Then for the instances which may be given of this Truth We may see it in the Care that he takes of his whole Church when it was confined to the people of Israel What Care did God take of them in Egypt when they were near to ruine Pharoah and his people had consulted and determined their destruction But what sayes God Exo. 3.7 I have
glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory 4. Though he hath often given them up into the hands of wicked men that they might shew their malice and hatred against them yet he never gave them up to the wills of such he hath not left wicked men at their own liberty to do as they pleased but God hath reserved to himself the ordering and proportioning of their troubles to their strength he hath appointed what they shall suffer for number how many blows they shall bear for weight how heavy they shall be and for time how long they shall continue 5. God hath always had such a Care of them that they have never perished under their afflictions Though they have fallen yet they have not perished They have laid down their lives but they have not lost them Their lives have not been taken away but upon such terms as they have been willing to part with them and in which they are gainers Phil. 1.21 He that could say To him to live was Christ could also say to dye is gain therefore he comforted himself in this That though he might lay down his life in those troubles which he underwent at Rome yet he should have a considerable value for it for Christ should be manifested in his body whether it were by life or death Obj. 2. Scripture and Experience both tell us That all things fall alike to all Eccles 9.2 3. so that love or hatred is not to be known by any thing before us Ans 1. This must be understood of outward things only thus far That wicked men have their shares in the good things of this life and good men have their part in the evil things of it There is no outward good but the wicked have enjoy'd nor no outward trouble and affliction but hath befallen the righteous and as they have their shares of these so they have but a share of them the good have not all the evil nor the wicked all the good of this world and there is reason for this because the wicked have their good things here and the good have their evil things 2. Though all things do fall alike to all yet all things do not work alike to all God's care is seen in ordering those things which befall his people for their good in making those things good in the conclusion which are evil in themselves whereas those things which are good in themselves or at least reputed so among men are for the hurt of those who enjoy them when they fall into the hands of wicked men Psal 11.6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares There is nothing that such a one enjoys but it is a snare to him to entangle and hold him fast till God cast him into Hell whereas the same things are helps to a good man to bring him to Heaven Rom. 8.28 All things work together for good to those that love God So that although Good and Evil be dispensed promiscuously among good and bad and they seem to fare all alike yet does God under these carry on distinct and different works of Mercy and Judgment of Mercy to the good for their Salvation and of Judgment to the wicked for their hardning So that herein is seen the Providence of God towards his people that he furthers their Salvation by those things which are an occasion of hardening others and by those Providences which are common to them and others he carries on a special design of Grace and Mercy to them So that there is a vast difference betwixt those things which seem to be the same For though the godly have all the troubles in the World which any other do meet withall yet they have not the Wrath and Displeasure of God in them but a secret assistance and support under them and though the wicked have all the outward blessings that God bestows upon his own yet they have not the Love of God in and through them and his Blessing with them as the godly have 3. Though outward things are not sufficient to discover Love or Hatred they alone are not proofs of one or other yet it is unquestionably true That the Love and Hatred of God do run thorough these things also God orders and disposes outward things in his love to the Godly and though sense cannot discern his Love by these yet Faith can often see it thorow them and the outward Providences of God speak his displeasure to the wicked yea he often times gives them those things in wrath in which they blessed themselves and when they have both finished their races and they shall both look back upon their lives from Eternity they will both agree in this That they were in nothing more unlike than in that in which they seemed to be alike Obj. 3. But we see that not only the godly do partake of the same Judgements which befall the wicked but the wicked also do share in the same mercies and preservations with the righteous they also are preserved in time of danger with the other no judgement but takes away as good as it leaves behind it and leaves as bad as it takes away where then is seen God's care of his people Ans There is a great difference betwixt the Judgments and Mercies of the good and bad though they seem to be the same and to sence without difference For the Mercies of the godly are indeed sent in Mercy to his people he orders one Mercy towards another a temporal Mercy towards a spiritual one and one Mercy is a pledg of another so that a good man can say often times by Faith as Leah did Gen. 30.11 Behold a troop cometh And as David reasoned from his deliverance from the Lyon and the Bear to his deliverance from the Philistins so can a good man reason from one Mercy of any kind to another but if God give any thing to a wicked man that seems a Mercy it is but to prevent a greater Mercy a Temporal to prevent a Spiritual he gives them temporal Rewards here for any service they do him to take off their claim to any hereafter Again if he send any Judgment upon his people it is not to destroy but to prevent destruction he sends temporal judgments to prevent spiritual he afflicts them here that they might not perish with the World but to the wicked he sends one judgment to make way for another thus all the Judgments which fell on the Egyptians in their own Land made way for their overthrow at the Red Sea For this must be observed That though publike Judgments do spare bad as well as good and both seem to be alike wonderfully delivered from it yet it is with a great difference One is a preservation from the Evil and the other a reservation for some greater Evil. We read That the Mourners in Jerusalem were marked Ezek. 9 4. that they might be