hath no reason to boast of to morrow for the morrow may bring forth the death of the Plot and the burial of the Plotter There are Contingencies which to man's apprehension at the first seem no otherwise than so many loose straws but with these straws artificially twisted together by the hand of Providence a Rope is made no less strong to bind than Chains and Fetters of Iron 3. There is great encouragement to live in dependance on God for provision and protection Contingent-dispensations are oftentimes the Saints Exchequer and Life-guard If one had ask'd a godly Israelite in the Wilderness saying Where is your food He must have answered Above in the Clouds a very high Cupboard out of the Children's reach but on the morrow it will be had out from thence Again if it had been said What if an Enemy shall fall on you It might have been replied That such a blow happened to the Egyptians behind as no need to fear them for one Forty years and such fears had fallen in upon the hearts of the Canaanites before them so that there 's little ground to be dismayed Thus through Providence the Egyptians Frenzy at the Red-sea and the Canaanites Palsey was the means of the Israelites safety 4. Take notice of Mercies conveyed on the wings of Contingent-dispensations In this Treasure-house are Mercies of all sorts The woman of Samaria happened to come in a good time to Jacob's Well where the Fountain of Life was open for her Joh. 4. 6 7. Ruth goes a gleaning and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz as it is said Ruth 2 3. and from a Gleaner she becomes a Mistress in Boaz his Family to whom she married and at marriage hath the prayers of the good people in Bethlehem which prayers of her neighbours had a glorious issue no less than Grandfather to a King is born to the joy of Naomi Boaz Ruth and the rest of the people of Bethelehem See Ruth 4. 11. to the end SECT 4. That the Providence of God extendeth to the deaths of men may be illustrated 1. More generally 2. Particularly First In the general It appears from these and the like Arguments 1. God giveth life and no longer than he upholds life doth it last Thou saith Moses carriest them away as with a flood Psal 90. 5. The Jews went about to kill Paul yet their design was ineffectual as Paul giveth the reason saying Having therefore obtained help of God I continue unto this day Acts 26. 21 22. 2. If the Providence of God stoops to a Sparrow's falling on the ground why not to the grave of a Man and yet Sparrows are not long-liv'd birds as Naturalists observe they are birds of little value too To deny then the inference from Sparrows to Men is to asperse our Saviour's Logick for so is the scope of the Argument urged Mat. 10. 29. with 31. 3. Death is an Evil of smart and shall there be any evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it Amos 3. 6. 4. On the death of some persons the adversity of a whole Nation is ushered in that is a significant place of Scripture for this purpose in Lam. 4. 20. The breath of our nostrils the anointed of the Lord was taken in their pits of whom we said Vnder his shadow we shall live among the heathen And thus briefly in the general Secondly In the next place more particularly Consider the extent of Providence 1. To the Kinds of death 2. To the Timing of death First As for the Kinds of death they may be distinguisht thus 1. Natural as being affixt to nature since the fall of our first Parents Gen. 3. 19. By natural death here is understood the dissolution of man from Principles of Mortality within though there should not be any violence from without Thus some according to the Providential disposition of the Almighty come to the grave in a full age like as a shock of corn cometh in his season Job 5. 26. see for this Deut. 34. 5. Psal 90. 10. 2. Violent when the candle of life burns not out but is puft out and that by the hot breath of a raging Enemy or the sentencing-mouth of the Magistrate Job's servants were slain by the Chaldeans and Sabeans but not without the Providence of God as Job acknowledgeth chap. 1 15 17 21. Achan is stoned to death and yet glory is due to the Lord whom Achan had offended Josh 7. 19 25 26. 3. Casual which though it may be violent yet is here considered as not intended by men as Agents or Instruments God's Providence reacheth to Chance-medly The slaying of man accidentally is said to be God's delivering a man into the hand of the slayer see Exod. 21. 13. Deut. 19. 5. Secondly The timing of the deaths of men hath its reference to the Providence of God for as he sets bounds to the sea Job 38. 8. and hath determined the bounds of mens habitations Acts 17. 26. so he hath not left the lives of men boundless The truth of this will appear 1. From plain places of Scripture affirming so Job 7. 1. Is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth Are not his days like the days of an hireling Job 15. 5. Seeing his days are determined the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass Eccles 1. 1 2. To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven a time to be born and a time to dye According here to Solomon's Divinity time or season for things fall under the Providence of God and particularly birth and death are in the front of the catalogue of the instances there which we are as one observeth to understand only according to the event what things fall out after God's appointment not the lawfulness or unlawfulness of them what things should be by God's commandment 2. From the reason rendered in Scripture why some are not sooner removed out of the world by the hands of violence notwithstanding promissory or rather comminatory probabilities John 7. 30. Then they sought to take him but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come The same reason is repeated John 8. 20. Christ backs the same reason as solid and true when he said to his apprehenders When I was daily with you in the Temple ye stretched forth no hands against me but this is your hour and power of darkness Luk. 22. 53. 3. From the verity of God in timing the deaths of persons according to particular predictions So in Isa 7. 16. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil and chuse the good the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings Pekah the son of Remaliah was one of those Kings and his death is recorded 2 King 15. 30. It is said of the Assyrian Isa 37. 7. I will cause him to fall by the sword in
his own land Here was a prediction of death the kind of it and the place where and accordingly it was fulfilled as it is recorded in the 37 38 verses of the same Chapter 4. From the peculiar Prerogative of God as he is 1. the God of Mercies and so he hands Mercies to men 1. by their own deaths they are taken away from the evil to come God houseth them in Heaven before the black storms fall out on the earth See 2 King 22. 20. Isa 57. 1. 2. By the deaths of others who are thorns in the sides of his people the burning up of these thorns is a joyful bonfire So in 2 King 13. 22. Hazael oppressed Israel in ver 23. The Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them c. Now how the Lord shews himself thus gracious and compassionate we have in v. 24. So Hazael the King of Syria died Thus the Lord is a God of Mercies even in the deaths of men But then 2. as the God of Judgment and so not only wrath but great wrath comes forth on the stage of the World in timing the deaths of persons The glorious terribleness of Justice is here seen as 1. when Providence suddenly snatcheth a man from his fancied Paradise Thou fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee c. Luke 12. 20. Death as Providence doth judicially time it hath a sting in its sting so in that Monarch who was slain in his Royal City by his own Sons and while at his devotions in the House of Nisâ—och his god Isa 37. 37 38. 2. When the deaths of many thousands are timed together The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth Psal 9. 16. We read of Seventy thousand men who dyed of the Plague in three days time 2 Sam. 24. 15. And in 1 King 20. 29. the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand foot-men in one day Now if there were not a Providence in the timing the deaths of persons the glory of Divine Justice would have its grave with the vast multitudes who fall by Famine Sword or Pestilence all which are the Lord's Arrows as the Prophet Gad informeth David in 2 Sam. 24 12 13. 5. From the success and non-success of means used in order to the proroguing or lengthning forth of life The preservatives of life are conservative of it no otherwise than as the Lord pleaseth This may be evidenc'd in three things 1. In the use of Medicinal means which sometimes very improbable to reason avail to the recovery of health and that though the person were mortally sick in the judgment of the most accurate Physicians There seemeth to be something of Providence by way of proportion to that Cure wrought on Hezekiah by the lump of Figs as Isa 38. 21. I acknowledg that Cure extraordinary and shall not dispute the question Whether the lump of Figs might not have something of natural tendency by way of cure This is that I contend for That Providence is very much seen if not in elevating improbable means in themselves considered in order to a cure yet in bringing to light such means which are improbable to mans reason though very proper for the recovery of the Patient who like Epaphroditus was sick nigh unto death but God had mercy on him Phil. 2. 27. And as the Lord's mercy and Providence is displayed in the raising of persons from the grave so no less may the hand of Providence be seen in rendering the means us'd for health succesless A Colledg of Physicians are Physicians of no value when and where the Lord the great Physician withdraws his manutenancy or succeeding hand of Providence witness this in Asa who had his Physicians but not his cure dye he must his disease lodgeth him in his grave 2 Chron. 16. 12 13. But 2 dly in the matter of Diet some Creatures have more of a restorative virtue than others and yet some are healthier fairer live longer with their Pults than others who eat their portion of the King's meat Dan. 1. 12 15. Whence is this the word doth plainly lesson Exod. 23. 25. He shall bless thy bread and thy water and I will take sickness away from thee And Mat. 4. 4. Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Lastly In the greatest caution or circumspection men use to preserve themselves in dangers The King of Israel disguiseth himself and hath his Armour yet an Arrow finds its passage between the joynts of his Harness 1 King 22. On the other hand Jehosaphat who was in the same fight and in greater danger than King Abab is preserved It came to pass saith the Text when the Captains of the Charives saw Jehosaphat in his Royal Robes that they said It is the king of Israel therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehosaphat cried out and the Lord helped him and God moved them to depart from him 2 Chron. 18. 31. 6 thly and lastly From the absurdity which would otherwise follow For if the timing of men's lives here in the world be not according to the bounds which the Lord sets then to whom shall the glory in point of preservation be attributed Shall men think themselves or acknowledg Fortune in contradistinction to Providence The Scripture otherwise teacheth Psal 31. 15. My times are in thy hand deliver me from the hand of mine enemies and from them that persecute me And Psal 68. 20. He that is our God is the God of salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death In the next place it remains that some reply be made to the Objections which look and do but look the matter here asserted in the face and they are as followeth 1. Fifteen years are said to be added to the days of Hezekiah Isa 38. 5. Ans The addition there is no new Addition as it respects the Purpose of God it is rather a new Edition of the Purpose of God a discovery of what lay hid before and is now made manifest notwithstanding the contrary might be concluded in respect of the malignity of Hezekiah's disease To assert that there was a new Purpose of God because of the declaration of the Prophet there were to make a new God who is still the Ancient of days and with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning as the Scripture affirms Him to be Dan. 7. 9. James 1. 17. 2. It may be objected That in Psal 55. 23. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days Ans The days of men are considered according to the course of nature Psal 90. 10. The days of our years are threescore years and ten c. and according to the course of Divine Providence which holds an exact accord with the Purpose or Determination of God I know saith the Prophet to Amaziah that God hath determined to destroy thee because thou hast done this and hast not
and two Children which mocked the Prophet of the Lord 2 Kings 2. 23 24. Those new Colonies placed by the King of Assyria in the Cities of Samaria feared not the Lord therefore the Lord sent Lions amongst them which slew some of them 2 Kings 17. 24. Deborah and Barak in their song of Victory descant on this wise They fought from heaven the starrs in their courses fought against Sisera the river of Kishon swept them away that ancient river the river of Kishon O my soul thou hast trodden down strength Judg. 5. 20 21. 2. Other Creatures wherein they are defective in regard of annoyance by virtue comparatively to other Creatures may notwithstanding in regard of co-incident circumstances prove very afflictive Balaam's Asse was none of the wildest for the Asse said unto Balaam Am not I thine asse upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day Was I ever wont to do so unto thee And he said Nay Numb 22. 30. We have here the appeal of the Asse and the acknowledgment of the Master both accord in the truth of the premises and yet we find an harsh conclusion for she crusht Balaam's foot against the wall v. 25. So calm a Creature as Balaam's Asse at such a place where a wall being on this side and a wall on that side together with the Angel of the Lord standing in the path of the Vineyards v. 24. becomes a scourge to the Rider CHAP. II. 1. FROM the Creatures being made friends to us 1. Forget not whence it is that the Creatures smile on thee and do not frown It 's from the pleasure of their Lord or Master that these servants in the general and those of them which are of rough temper in particular do bespeak you fairly and run to and fro willingly to do you service I will says the Psalmist both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only makest me to dwell in safety Psal 4. 8. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want Psal 23. 1. The Lord hears the heavens ere the corn wine and oyl hear Jezreel Hos 2. 21 22. 2. Labour to demean thy self in all godliness and honesty suitably to thy mercies There is good reason for such to serve God who have the Creatures as so many good servants to wait upon them There is an obligation on man to obey his God and the more his mercies are the stronger is the obligation He hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Micah 6. 8. 2. From the Creatures being Corrosives or Scourges one way or other 1. Observe How the sweetest Wine may become the sharpest Vinegar and this 1. With respect to Things 2. With respect to Persons 1. With respect to Things The good things of this life may be matter of affliction Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things therefore shalt thou serâ—e thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and thirst and in nakedness and in the want of all things Deut. 28. 47 48. Hezekiah a good Prince yet what a thundering-message was sent him Behold the days come that all that is in thine house and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day shall be carried to Babylon nothing shall be left saith the Lord Isa 39. 6. 2. With respect to Persons as Magistrates Ecclesiastical Ministers Family-relations choice Friends or Acquaintants All these instead of Roses may become pricking-briers some way or other as may be instanced in 1. Magistrates who are the Ministers of God for good according to their institution Rom. 13. 4. these may be snatch't away by death to the grief of a People who sate under their refreshing-shadow Their deaths and burials become the resurrection of the Subjects sorrows Witness this in the case of good Josiah who dies and is buried and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him and Jeremiah lamented for him as is recorded 2 Chron. 35. 24 25. Or if they be not seized on by death they may prove the death or bane of a Nation by their follies Instances enough there are for this in Holy-Writ and History 2. Ecclesiastical Ministers become afflictive and that many ways When sins abound amongst a people pride barrenness under the means slighting Ministers and idolizing of them for these are sad extreams do with others sins provoke the Lord to afflict in and by Ministers Sometimes they are taken away by death John's Disciples had too high thoughts of their Master they began it seems to make a party against Christ himself John 3. 25 26. it 's observable ver 24. John was not yet cast into prison Afterward he was and beheaded too Sometimes though God continue them in the world yet he may make their tongues cleave to the root of their mouths They shall be dumb and not be reprovers as Ezek. 3. 26. The pipes shall be stopt and the Conduits in the Towns shall not run as formerly with that plenty of the Water of Life There is a time when the Prophets of the Lord are in their caves and not upon the house-top 1 King 18. 4. Again some may become afflictive by their slips falls apostacies Tertullian turn'd a Montanist and flies out against the Orthodox Scult Annal dec 1 p. 161. One Speicer in Germany was so powerful in preaching that Whores left the Stews and betook themselves to another course of living and yet after he return'd to the Tents of the Papists and miserably perisht Ibid. p. 269. It is said of Swenckfield who did beguile many with great swelling-words of illumination revelation deification of the inward and spiritual man that he had a well-meaning heart but a very irregular or erroneous head God is righteous as in the digging of a grave for some in the Vineyard and the binding of others hand and foot so in the permission of others to leap over the hedg of the Vinyard and to be be-wilder'd in wild and extravagant fancies and conceits See Acts 20. 30. 1 Cor. 3. with 2 Cor. 11. 13 14. 3. Family-relations become Gall and Wormwood 1. The Husband is sometimes a Nabal and folly is with him 1 Sam. 25. 25. or if he be otherwise his death gives life to the Wife's sorrows as 2 Kings 4. 1. Thy servant my husband said that Widow to Elisha is dead and thou knowest that thy servant did for the Lord and the Creditor is come to take to his my two sons for bond-men 2. The Wife if she be not more or less a chiding Zipporah Ezra 4. 25. a mocking-Michol 2 Sam. 6. 20. a sullen Vashti Esth 1. 12. or some otherway afflictive yet there was never a Marriage but there must be a Funeral and a vertuous beautiful Sarah must away out of an Abraham's sight Gen. 23. 4. 3.
said as of old O Ephraim what shall I do unto thee O Judah what shall I do unto thee for your goodness is as the morning cloud and as the early dew it passeth away Hos 6. 4. 4. What ground of support is there from hence for the Church of God under all threats contrivements attempts of men and devils God will have a people let men and devils say and essay the contrary No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper Isa 54. 17. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it Mat. 16. 18. God is not changeable in his Purpose Prediction An plus existimemus ad impugnandum posse humana conamina quam quod ad protegendum praevalet divina tutela Cypr. lib. 1. Epist 3. Promise and though men may rage and be as the great Mountain as it is said Zech. 4. 7. yet the Christian hath Mountains to oppose against the worlds Mountains what the Christians Mountains are the place before quoted Zech. 6. 1. doth give to understand they are Mountains of Brass and so afford two Meditations 1. That wicked ones will find these Mountains of Brass too firm for their weak shoulders to overturn 2. That the Arrows which the sons of Belial shoot against these Mountains will recoil back and mischief themselves in the end The Doegs of the world whose fingers itch to be medling with God's Davids will have their hands full of Wo one day A black prophecy there is for such Psal 52. 5 6 7. and they themselves take the course to have it accomplish't as Doeg did for if the Lord did not pour forth wrath on Doeg before David came to the Throne what could Doeg expect from a David but to be the instrument of God's wrath towards him who had belied David and murdered the Priests of the Lord as 1 Sam. 22. It is often to be observed That the way wicked men take to ruin others ruins themselves Pharaoh who will kill the Israelites or down them perisheth with his Host in the waters Exod. 14. 23 with 28. OBSERVATION VI. God hath His Secrets or Depths but is never unjust in His Providential Dispensations CHAP. I. THAT the Lord hath his Secrets may be made manifest if we consider 1. How this is symbolically or mystically insinuated in Scripture That of God to Moses Exod 33. 23. Thou shalt see my back-parts but my face thou shalt not see doth intimate we have not full view of the Lord as when a man comes up face to face but see him in part at a distance as the Apostle Paul hath it 1 Cor. 13. 9. We know but in part We read how when the Lord appeared he vailed himself with a cloud Exod. 16. 10. 1 King 18. 10 11. And in Isa 6. 1. there is mention made of the train or skirts nothing of the upper ornaments Nec caret ratione quod nihil meminit Propheta de superioribus Divinae Majestatis ornamentis sed de simbriis tantum Exprimitur consternatio animi religiosi qui in visionibus divinis non superiora sed vix insima contemplatur Et admodum essemus soelices si vel simbrias Divinae Majestatis pie ac religiose contemplaremur Musculus as one observeth and what may this import but our seeing of the Lord after a poor low imperfect sort in comparison of what He is 2. How otherwise were there such ground for admiration if the Lord had not His Secrets or Depths to be admired If there were no knots to unty how could it be so said O the finger of God The Angels are said to cover their faces with their wings Isa 6. 2 Paul cries out O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledg of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out Rom. 11. 33. Here by the way let it be noted That if so skilful a Pilot as Paul cries out O the depth shall such who may be scarce reckoned common Fore-mast-men pretend to find out a Northwest passage a new way in the Decrees of God and the Providence of God and such a way as that it may be said Behold the Plains according to their model which yet is a Labyrinth where they lose themselves and whilst they labour to Tinker up one hole they make two 3. The Scripture plainly asserts how it is the glory of God to conceal a thing Prov. 25. 2. For the better understanding of this place I shall annex what pious and judicious Cartwright saith God verily is to be honoured inasmuch as he hath revealed his counsel and will in many things But such mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven whose causes and reasons are unsearchable yield to him the richer crop of honour such are the Mysteries of the Trinity The threefold distinction of Persons in one Essence The eternal generation of the Son The procession of the Holy Spirit The eternal predestination of some to life others to death The incarnation of the Son of God or the assumption of our frail flesh into the unity of his Person Of God all things whatsoever are done both decreeing and his Providence so ruling that out of the evil which is done he contracts no guilt Of Parents sins to be punisht on posterity to many generations Of just judgment to be executed by the unjust Of the burning of the Wife for the Husband's sin and the Children for the Parents Josh 7. 25. Of which and all such kind it may be truly affirmed They do each afford to men a large field of praising and glorifying God yea he is the more amply and with fuller mouth in these to be extolled than in other matters whose causes and principles with our minds and understanding we do in some measure take in for first of all it is apparent from hence That God's Wisdom is infinite and unsearchable to the Creature Moreover That God is to be believed upon his own testimony and according to his pleasure may do whatever he will and so far condescends from his right when he vouchsafeth to render a reason of his doings or sayings That though the Lord hath his Secrets Depths yet he is never unjust in his Dispensations The Lord hath his Throne of righteous Judicature The judgment was set and the books were opened as Daniel beheld in that Vision chap. 7. 10. It is said there v. 9. that the Ancient of days did sit whose garment was white as the snow and the hair of his head like pure wool there is not the least spot or taint of injustice in his management of matters for so much may be denoted by this description though I deny not but the whiteness of the garment may likewise betoken supream dignity as being an Ensign of Honour as is observed by Junius on the place Besides this graphical description Majestati Dei proponuntur ista 1. quod antiquissimus diebus est ad notandam aeternitatem illius 2. Quod vestimentum ejus nivei coloris
eventually proved notorious folly Come on saith the King of Egypt let us deal wisely with them Exod. 1. 10. That Wisdom was steep'd in the blood of the Israelites and that Court-Sophism had another kind of conclusion than intended The Israelites are multiplied get out of Egypt carry away wealth with them and the Egyptian Prince with the Chivalry of Egypt perish in the Red-sea Achitophel is a reputed Oracle for Policy and yet his Policy like a Musket recoiling beats him with his earthly wisdom to the earth so that it might be said at his funeral Earth to earth he was first entangled in the working of violent affections as Pride in that his counsel was refused and black fears sorrows despondencies in that his counsel being refused Absolom's Design would miscarry And what would become then of the great Abettor of such an horrid Design No Clemency for himself might be the Conclusion and being thus entangled in the black thoughts of his heart no wonder if he be further ensnared with an halter as is recorded 2 Sam. 17. 23. Herod plays the Politician a fair Glove is drawn over a foul hand Bring me word said he to the Wisemen that I may come and worship him Mat. 2. 7 8. However he is defeated for the Wisemen are not such fools as to give him notice being warned of God in a dream to the contrary Neither hath Herod reason to storm at the Wise-men for if there were a Promise the Promise was made to a Worshipper not a Murderer and no Contract of men must exclude the Lord who is to have his negative voice and this sounded loud enough in the Wise-mens heads though they were asleep for being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod they departed to their own Countrey another way 3. From Demonstrations and that 1. In the general 2. In particular 1. In the general Whoso shall place in the one Scale God's Wisdom and in the other the Quintessence Extracts Abridgments of men's deepest Policies shall find all the Policies of men too leight to counterbalance Infinite Wisdom True is that of Solomon There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord Prov. 21. 30. 2. In particular let a view be taken 1. Of the Agents 2 Of the Action Medium or Way which is taken to accomplish the end intended by men As for the Agents these are of two Orders 1. Principal or Primary 2. Ministerial or under-Agents and each of these fall and that in another sense too under consideration 1. The principal or primary Agents have oftentimes Providence so counterworking them as that there is a suspension of action what is propounded is as it were thunder-struck and the Plot stumbles at the threshold and this comes to pass divers ways 1. By the interposition of some one or other who in regard of civil station is amongst them and so wisely knocks in the head that Project which otherwise might knock down some professors of the truth An instance for this we have in John 7. An assembly there is of the chief Priests and Pharisees v. 45. Nicodemus interposeth saying Doth our law judg any man before it hear him and know what he doth v. 51. Hereupon Nicodemus hath a check given v. 52. and the Assembly is broken up for every man went to his own house v. 53. 2. By means of some calming-counsel dropt by one or other who is of the same feather with the parties themselves Principles of Humanity and Ingenuity are not banish't from all and these check bloody-conclusions which otherwise had been the birth of Debates and Consultations Gamaliel stopt the Process from coming forth against the Disciples However his advice were for the Christian's ease yet it was not consonant to the constitution of the Jews Church for a wild Toleration was no Slip in that enclosed Garden Whatever Principles Gamaliel did act from I determine not the issue of his speech is recorded for to him they agreed Acts 5. 40. It may be observed how some of the Heathen have interceded for the Christians and so there hath been a stop more or less put to the persecution of the Christians 3. By reason of a sharp division or contest amongst the parties themselves Two men with a long beam carry it not a-thwart into the house if they shall essay to carry it cross over they both sit down as fools without doors Even so it is with the Adversaries of Lord's people they are not at an accord with themselves This man as it was said by some is not of God because be keepeth not the sabbath-day others said How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles and there was a division amongst them Joh. 9. 16. So a bone of contention is thrown amongst the Pharisees and Sadduces There arose a dissention between the Pharisees and Sadduces and the multitude was divided Acts 23. 6 7. 4. By means of men's own fears Some would be more mischievous but they fear where the wind may sit Herod holds his hands from slaying the Baptist for a while fear cramps them when he would have been doing he feared the multitude because they counted him as a prophet Mat. 14. 5. The chief Priests and Pharisees storm at Christ's Sermon but when they sought to lay hands on him they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet Mat. 21. 45 46. 5. By reason of some diversion their hands being full of other work The Child is going to school and by the way a dog grins and is ready to fall on the Child another Dog happens to come by and together the Dogs are by the ears and so the Child passeth by unhurt That instance of the Philistines invading the land by means whereof Saul was diverted from the pursuit of David is full proof 1 Sam. 23. 27 28. The Protestants in Germany had a Writ of Ease and that by reason of the Turks finding work for the Emperor 6. By the death 's of persons Here the action falls to ground with the person Death is the death of men's Projects and Designs In that very day his thoughts perish Psal 146. 4. The Angel tells Joseph saying They are dead which sought the child's life Mat. 2. 20. 7. By means of some other course which Providence takes when it doth not take away the chief Agents by death Thus when God works a wonderful change on persons whether by the infusion of grace or some notable conviction The Heathen-fury had a stop put to it by Constantine becoming Christian Nebuchadnezzar's frowns are turned into smiles on Shadrack Mesech and Abednego Dan. 3. And thus for Agents principal how in regard of them the Design falls to the ground 2. Agents Ministerial or under-Agents which are as hands employed to mischief others become handless and that divers ways too 1. By the position or implantation of grace in the hearts of such He who becomes a man of other Principles is a man
are not only the whites and blacks in regard of Temporals but also in regard of Spirituals Our Saviour tells the Jews saying The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof Mat. 21. 43. A wonderful change and that reciprocal or mutual as it respects different subjects there is this way according to that in Hos 1. 10. And it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them Ye are not my people there it shall be said unto them Te are the sons of the living God Again these whites and blacks not only in respect of persons singly considered but in respect of a Community or Society of persons That passage that there be no complaining in our streets Psal 144. 14. doth imply the different state of a Nation in regard of Temporal Mercies We read in Acts 9. 31. Then had the Churches rest thorowout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria And we read likewise how the Rest there was not an everlasting one Acts 12. 1. 4. Long then for an Heaven or the Everlasting Rest There is no such Checker-table there Be willing however that this Sacred Game of Providence be at an end Beware of foolish passion and irregular desires of death Let God alone to time all The longest Game of Providence here in matters will have its end Meditate on that of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened not that we would be uncloathed but cloathed upon that mortality might be swallowed up of life OBSERVATION XXXV One and the same Providence hath sometimes its Blacks and Whites or There is both Honey and Gall wrapt up in a Dispensation considered as a mixt one CHAP. I. THIS Observation however it may seem a Paradox yet is such an one which may be cleared up as Orthodox and that if we consider 1. Exemplifications from Scripture 2. The various wise Ends which God hath in mix't Dispensations 1. There are many Exemplifications of this Verity Noah must change his habitation he shut up in the Ark as in a Prison There are beasts within for his fellow-Prisoners and sad desolations without amongst the Beasts and Men the worse Beasts in a moral sense all this is afflictive But yet his being in the Ark in order to his preservation was a signal favour for so the Lord gives him to understand Gen. 7. 1. with Gen. 6. 8. Lot is taken prisoner but not slain Gen. 14. 13. Joseph had a Prison-palace or a Palace-prison for the Lord was with him and shewed him mercy and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison Gen. 31. 21. Moses is cast as an Exile into the Land of Midian and there God provides for him Exod. 2. 21. God takes away David's Child by death who might have proved as an upbraiding Monument of David's shame so an occasion of Warr in the Kingdom 2 Sam. 12. Jonah is swallowed by a Whale Jon. 1. 17. the fish's belly is his house of prayer and Jonah's prayer is a prevailing-one he who had a providential ingress hath a glorious egress The Lord spake unto the fish and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land Jon. 2. 10. Our Saviour tells his Disciples saying It is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter shall not come unto you but if I depart I will send him unto you Joh. 16. 7. Paul must suffer shipwrack and yet none of their lives in the Ship are lost Acts 27. 44. The same Man of God hath a thorn in the flesh a Messenger of Satan to buffet him yet this thorn is to open a passage for whatever Imposthumed-pride was gathered to an head The Devil an unclean Spirit becomes providentially a sanctifying-one in a sense God knows how to make the Devil do a good choar for a Saint whilst the Devil intends his own work Paul was of this belief as he professeth 2 Cor. 12. 7. 2. There are various wise ends in such mix't Dispensations Amongst others we may cast an eye on these 1. Sometimes he makes a display of fatherly displeasure There is a Rod but it is a gentle one Thou shalt not dye but the child shall surely dye said Nathan to David 2 Sam. 12. 13 14. 2. God will hereby wisely exercise the graces of his people as their faith and patience by the bitter part of the Dispensation and their love to him admiration of him and thankfulness for favour by the sweeter part of the Dispensation Thus Epaphroditus sickness yet not death and Paul's danger of being devoured by the Roman Lion had their influences on their graces according to the interwoven mixture in these Dispensations Phil. 2. 27. 2 Tim. 4. 16 17. 3. Hereby the Lord wisely consults an Antidote and Remedy against two Evils namely Pride and Despondency Jacob is not to be dejected he is a Prevailer he is not to be elated for he halted upon his thigh Gen. 32. 28 31. God's Dispensations are like well-levell'd Cannons which beat upon Pride and Despondency and so make sweeping-work with each of these files at once 4. The Lord teacheth the correspondency of his Providence with his Word We are lesson'd not to slight Heaven's Rod which hath its smarting-blow and not to faint for its blow is from a Father not an implacable Enemy see Prov. 3. 11 12. 5. Hereby God will put a difference betwixt Earth and Heaven Paul will have no need of a Thorn in the flesh when he is taken Tenant to the Heavenly Inheritance The joys of Saints in Heaven will run like a Crystal River without mixture of mud or dirt God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes Rev. 7. 17. CHAP. II. 1. LEARN what a wise God the Christian hath for his God The great Physician of Heaven so attemperateth the Physick as that it shall bear upon various ill humours With one and the same Beesom Providence sweepeth the Saints house clean to the joy and rejoycing of the Saint The Ship is so managed as that it neither overturns for want of ballast nor sinks into the sea by reason of burthen God doth balance the hearts of men as well as balance the clouds over the heads of men as is said Job 37. 16. He is excellent in power and in judgment and in plenty of justice he will not afflict v. 23. And in Jer. 10. 24. O Lord correct me but with judgment not in thine anger lest thou bring me to nothing 2. Beware then of fixing an eye only on the more gastly part of a Dispensation View the bright side as well as the dark side of thy Cloud There are two things here considerable 1. It is very rational or equitable that a proportionable surveigh should be taken of a Dispensation Hezekiah after he had heard the Prophet's heavy tydings saith Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken for there shall be peace
moth and to the house of Judah rottenness Both the Moth and Worm do by degrees consume the Garment and Tree whose corroding Tenants they are In Rev. 16. the Angels there have the vials of the wrath of God these vials are poured forth not all at once but gradually and each vial may have its degrees too for so the form of a vial imports What is contained in a vial is not poured forth as water out of a Pail or Bucket the brim whereof in regard of its latitude is commensurate with its bottom 2. From Exemplifications Before Israel was carri'd away captive by Salmaneser 2 King 17. they had not only warnings by the Prophets of the Lord v. 13. but also knocks before the killing-blow by Salmeneser We read of their intestine broils and forreign ones too 2 Kings 15. That of Jeremiah is full Israel is a seattered sheep the lions have driven him away first the king of Assyria hath devoured him and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones Jer. 50. 17. And not only so of old but in the Calamity fore-told by Christ Luke 21. there were doleful harbingers and fore-runners of the destruction of the Jewish people Josephus a Jew hath written a Commentary on Christ's Prophecy Gamaliel tells of two by-blows and they bloody ones which happened to their State Acts 5. 36 37. 3. From the various wise ends of God as 1. To testifie the patience and long-suffering of God towards men God doth not by and by fall in he bears and forbears There are Rods before Scorpions O Israel thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah Hos 10. 9. How shall I give thee up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee O Israel How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim Hos 11. 8. The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah while the Ark was a preparing as is said 1 Pet. 3. 20. 2. To render men without excuse who notwithstanding preambulatory Dispensations of Providence are still vile and impenitent The people turneth not unto him that smiteth them neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts therefore will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail branch and rush in one day Isa 9. 13 14. See further Luke 13. 7. Rev. 16. 9 10. In the next place There is a gradual process of Providence in Mercies And this appears three ways 1. From Promises which do imply so much Thus Moses tells the Israelites saying The Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little Deut. 7. 22. And so in Hos 2. 15. I will give her vineyards from thence and the valley of Achor for a door of hope 2. From Instances and that in Temporals and Spirituals 1. In matters referring to this life there is first the blade then the ear after that the full corn in the ear to allude to that in Mark 4. 28. Riches are oftentimes given in gradually It is said of Jacob The man encreased exceedingly and had much cattel and maid-servants and men-servants and camels and asses Gen. 30. 43. Joseph had two petty exaltations before the great one God did let him understand that he who could exalt him in Potiphar's Family and in the Prison could when he pleased give him favour in the sight of others It is noted how David waxed stronger and stronger and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker 2 Sam. 3. 1. Abraham had first a promise of a child after Ismael is born after an Isaac after a posterity like the Starrs for number Hezekiah was sick unto death Isa 38. 1. a promise he hath for health v. 5. direction for the means v. 21. and the means prove succesful 2. In Spirituals The kingdom of heaven saith Christ is like to a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field which indeed is the least of all seeds but when it is grown up it is the greatest amongst herbs and becometh a tree so that the birds of the air come and lodg in the branches thereof Mat. 13. 31 32. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed Acts 19. 20. I might here more particularly shew the gradual process of Providence in Spirituals it shall suffice to point out the way rather than travel on it We may observe the extent of this Observation 1. In the conversion of man from the state of nature to a state of grace There is a gradual procedure in nature though not in time distinguishable for as in the creation Let there be light and there was light Gen. 3. so in the spiritual creation God sets up light in the understanding see Acts 2. 37. Acts 26. 18. Eph. 5. 8. Moreover before the reception of grace in the heart there is much of Providence in providing the Spiritual Seeds-man in the disposal of persons here and there in order to their acquaintance with God in rouzing some by afflictive dispensations and the like precursory dealings of Providence But 2. In the mortification of sin The Apostle sets forth this by Crucifixion a lingring death Rom. 6. 6. We are willed by the same Apostle to mortifie the members which are upon earth Col. 3. 5. 3. In growth of grace The very term doth imply the thing An Acorn is not by and by an Oak The Mustard-seed becomes a tree in time and the smoaking Flax a flame We read of children young men and fathers 1 John 2. 13. The Trees are not all of equal height and bigness in the Lord 's Lebanon 4 In Victory over Satan So in that last Scripture mentioned that is said there of young men Ye have overcome the wicked one which is not at least in like degree applied to children and they who are the young men in grace are not so well vers'd in Satan's methods as the wise and sage fathers in grace are We are not ignorant of his devices saith Paul 2 Cor. 2. 11. The same Apostle speaks of bruising or treading Satan under the Romans feet shortly Rom. 16. 20. 5. And lastly In a perception sense or spiritual feeling of the love of God and this may be considered with respect to two sorts of persons 1. The new Convert who lately of a slave to Satan is made a free subject to Christ The dust of sin raised by 〈◊〉 convictions do cover the copy of grace 〈◊〉 on his heart by the hand of his Spirit so that it is not by and by legible A sense of the party 's own vileness makes him or her hang the head till Christ revive by some passage or other as he did that poor Woman saying to her Thy faith hath saved thee go in peace Luke 7. 50. with 44. 2. The old Saint but now in a desert Christ for wise ends stands aloof from the Saint's dores The Lord is a chastizing-Father or trying-One and no wonder if the Child be not quiet till the Father smile Thus David who had defiled his Conscience by sin
was taken then the family and then the person of the family Josh 7. 16 17. and so likewise in Saul see 2 Sam. 10. 21 22. Thus we have the testimony of Solomon and yet behold a greater than Solomon doth witness the same for what more contingent than for a Sparrow to be taken in net or killed otherwise and yet saith Christ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father Mat. 10. 29. Secondly If Contingents were without the bridle of Providence God should be some petty Lord not an Absolute and Universal Governour over the World yea remove Contingents and farewel to the Government of the World Let these be dumb Cyphers in the Table of Providence and the speaking Figures will become silent ones To judg by way of proportion let there be a survey taken of the Providence of God in the case of Joseph set by the Contingencies and what becomes of that Map or Landskip of Providence Certainly the Province of Contingents is of vast extent so much may be gathered from that passage whether of the wise man or the foolish man brought in by the Wise man yet speaking truth in regard of the extent of Contingencies Eccles 9. 11. Time and chance happeneth to all Thirdly Matters of considerable and great consequence hang on this nail of Contingencie As 1. The prevention of great dangers A contingent-dispensation doth set a guard to wonder Joseph his life was in an ordinary way if not somewhat extraordinary saved by the empty pit and the Merchants who did traffick with his brethren for such living Goods And so Moses his life did hang on the cord of Contingencies see Exod. 2. 5 6. 2. An in-let to great stirrs tumults and combustions is by virtue of a Contingency The coal of an intestine warr was blown by Sheba who happened as it is said to be there 2 Sam. 20. 1. see also Judg. 8 1 2 3. 3. Great advancements are brought about by Contingencies The Butler opens his mouth at Court for Joseph he was before silent ingratitude had set a Padlock on his lips as himself acknowledgeth Gen. 41. 9. Esther passed to her Royal Palace through several doors of Contingencies Mordecai likewise he finds Contingencies to be the golden stirrop to his Honours see Esth 2. 21 22 23. and chap. 6. 1 2 3. 4. The invention of Arts and things of considerable consequence have drawn their first breath by Contingency The invention of Guns that deadly instrument in warr which some think to be hinted in that of Rev. 9. Brightm In locum 17. is reported to be ushered into the world by a spark of fire falling into a Mortar of sulphureous matter and so gave an occasion for an essay what Powder would do in a more exact Engine Acosta relates how the Golden History of the Indies lib. 3. c. 6 Mines of the Mountain Potozi were found out by an Indian going to hunt for Venison in the pursuit of the Beast the Indian laboured to ascend a steep place and laying hold on certain Plants which yeilding he espied in the hole or root metal and so by this means that Golden Mountain was discovered 5. By Contingent-dispensations the Lord afflicteth the sons of men as he pleaseth The blustering wind of distress gets in at this hole Jonah's Wind Whale Gourd Worm were all Contingents Job in like sort drank deep of the Lord 's bitter cup Contingent Providence held forth the cup to that servant of the Lord. Thou breakest saith the Psalmist the ships of Tarshish with an east-wind Psal 48. 7. Lastly Notable exploits victories are hereby brought about That Egyptian by whose discoveries made David became so victorious 1 Sam. 30 might not have been so left by his Master or else have had some killing-potion of Soldier-like Physick administred to him to put him out of pain his not being knock't on the head proves the means for David's knocking down the Amalekites who as it happened were eating drinking and dancing when David falls foul on them 1 Sam. 30. 16 17. It is observable how in Naval-fights the Wind which is a Contingent at such a nick of time is of great consequence And not only at sea but at land doth Victory hang on Contingency The Prophet Isaiah gives a description of an happy concurrency of Contingencies in order to a triumphing-conquest and all this with subordination to Divine Providence And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth and behold they shall come with speed swiftly none shall be weary nor stumble amongst them none shall slumber nor sleep neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed nor the latchet of their shooes be broken Isa 5. 26 27. Fourthly In the glass of Contingent-dispensations may be seen the Attributes of God in a glorious equipage As 1. The Power of God which is notably displayed in the Winds Seas c. Psal 147. 18. 2 Chron. 20. 37. 2. Mercy of God as in the preservation of Joseph Moses and David with others 3. The Justice of God as when the two Bears came out of the Wood and devour'd forty and two Children 2 King 2. 23 24. 4. The Verity or Truth of God Samuel anoints Saul Captain over the Lord's Inheritance 1 Sam. 10. 1. After this the Lot findeth out Saul though he hid himself amongst the stuff v. 20 21 22. The Land of Canaan was divided by lot and the division holdeth correspondence with the Prophecy of Jacob before as may be instanced in Zebulun Gen. 49. 13. with Isa 9. 1. Josh 9. 10 11. 5. The Wisdom of God By unthought-of Contingencies matters are brought to pass in God's time In Joseph's case all the Contingents were the Bridg of Providence for the Dreams to pass over into the Land of Egypt for their real accomplishment Having thus given the proof for the extent of Providence to contingent matters there are these Lessons or Instructions which are of use 1. There is no reason to slight Contingent-dispensations The same Will of God is the foundation of Contingents which is of Necessaries or things which are not so in themselves considered as Contingent A Sparrow hath not the like principle of life as an Angel or Man and yet the Sparrow falls not to the ground without the will of the Father Mat. 10. 29. Moreover as hath been intimated God doth notably display his glory by a confederation or concatenation of Contingents Make not leight then of the least link of the Chain Remember who couples all together and how he useth it 2. Here is a check for the proud and insulting Adversaries of the Church How easily can God by a Contingent-dispensation present them with such a snarled knot which shall be too hard for mortal fingers to unty Haman was wonderfully baffled in his Projects and that by a juncture of Contingencies The proudest Child of Haman