in Scripture I find three Answers to this Question The one is that of St. Peters Acts 2.31 Repent and be Baptized another is that of St. Paul Acts 16.31 Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved The other is that of our Saviour to the young Man asking him What good thing he should do that he might inherit Everlasting Life Saith our Saviour Keep the Commandments Those three Texts will give you compleat directions 1. Keep the Commandments You will reply but you tell us that no Man is able to keep the Commandments but because you cannot do all which God doth require can you do nothing Well but you will say Shall we be saved if we do all that we can to keep the Moral Law I Answer No What then 2. St. Peter tells you Acts 2.38 Repent and be Baptized you will reply but it is God who must give repentance unto life True we say God must change the heart the Blackamore cannot change his skin nor the Leopard his spots But cannot you consider your sins Cannot you turn from open sins Do what in you lieth in order to your Repentance Well but you will say If we do this Is this enough I Answer No What then 3. St. Paul telleth you Act. 16. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved Still you will say But is not Faith the gift of God Have we a power to believe We Answer No It must be given to men on the behalf of Christ to believe But cannot you read the Word of God Cannot you come and hear the Word preached When you have heard it Cannot you meditate therein Cannot you apply your souls to the Word though it be Gods work to apply the Word to your souls and make it to dwell in you Cannot you beg of God a power to believe God will not be wanting to that soul that is not first wanting to it self The difference betwixt us and the bold Patrons of free-will lies here They hold that a man hath a natural power and ability to actions formally and spiritually good This we deny but yet say That man hath a power to actions that are morally and materially good and if he would go about as far as his Natural power would help him though indeed he could merit nothing at the hand of God We do not believe that God would be wanting to him as to habits of spiritual and effectual grace Now this is that which I am pleading with you for that you might not destroy you selves 1. That you would not give your self a liberty and let your selves loose to do things contrary to the Law of God wherein you might restrain your selves 2. That you would not neglect to do those things which God requireth of you and which are in your power to do I shall conclude this but with Two very weighty considerations 1. No punishment is more justly and smartly inflicted than that which a man hath chosen and wilfully brought upon himself when a man hath chosen death rather than life and judged himself unworthy of everlasting life and despised his own mercy certainly every man must say he is justly punished and adjudged to that portion which he hath chosen to himself 2. Secondly As no punishment is so justly and smartly inflicted so none is more intolerable to be born There will be in Hell another fire which shall never go out but this will be the worm that shall never die I have done and shall shut up my Discourse with the words of Moses I have this day set before you life and death blessing and cursing I have told you which way you must go down into the pit of destruction if ever you come there you must of your selves go into it O let not your destruction be of your selves especially considering what God hath done and what he is daily doing to evidence that in him is your help if you will apply your selves unto him SERMON LI. Rom. 2.12 For as many as have sinned without the Law shall also perish without the Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law THE business I am upon as you know is the expounding some hard Chapters in the Book of Divine Providence I am upon the last head upon which I propounded to speak to some appearing difficulties viz. Gods unequal dispensations of Grace whether such as are more common or such as are more special and saving as a basis to this Discourse I have premised and handled Two preliminary Propositions 1. Prop. That God in the dispensations of his grace acteth by Prerogative in a way of Soveraignty freely and unaccountably 2. Prop. That in his paenal dispensations of this nature he never proceedeth but justly upon the previous demerits of sinners I now come to speak to some Questions relating to these dispensations of Divine Providence The Two first of this nature which I shall speak to relate to Gods unequal distributions of common grace but such as are spiritual means in order to the obtaining of special and effectual grace and his unequal distributions of special and effectual grace without which none can be saved I shall put both these together and for a short Discourse upon these I have made choice of this Text. The business of the Apostle in this excellent Epistle is to establish the great Doctrine of the Gospel concerning the Justification of the soul before God by the righteousness of Christ on Gods part imputed and reckoned to sinners and on mans part apprehended and applied by Faith in opposition to the Doctrine of the Doctors of the Jews who held the Justification of the Soul by the works of the Law In opposition to whom he had laid down his grand Proposition Rom. 1.17 That the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith That is That righteousness wherein a Soul another day must stand just and righteous before God is not a righteousness of our own arising from our performance of the Law but the righteousness of Christ revealed in the Gospel which is apprehended and made ours by Faith His first Argument by which he proveth this is obvious to any considerate Reader If any be justified by works they must either be the Gentiles or the Jews but neither are the works of the Gentiles such as will justifie them Nor are the works of the Jews such as will justifie them As to the Gentiles he proveth at large Chap. 1. That their works were such as were so far from Justifying them That the wrath of God was revealed against them for the wrath of God is revealed against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men and as he at large sheweth the works of the Heathen were works of most notorious ungodliness and unrighteousness and therefore could not possibly justifie them So in this Chapter he proveth that the works of the Jews were not such as could justifie them before God for though they condemned
men are subdued under them by him that they have wisdom to make Laws and liberty to execute them that men in their dominions are disposed into their several orders ranks and stations so as mutually to serve one another and to uphold the whole Oh that Subjects would praise the Lord for his goodness that they have wise Magistrates good Laws that their lives are not Sacrificed to murtherers that their houses are not fired that their Wives and Virgins are not ravished that they are disposed to Trades and Occupations that they have wisdom for them a spirit to them Let every Citizen every Subject see and acknowledg the hand of the Lord in these things and bless his holy name But lastly Let the Redeemed of the Lord particularly Vse 3 see and acknowledg the Providence of God in the preserving of them in their spiritual capacities Were it not for the preserving Providence of God our spiritual life would be extinguished every moment God preserveth it by repeating his Gracious Acts in the remission of our sins in the imputation of Christs righteousness Our habits of grace would weaken we aâ—â— preserved and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation It is a great mercy and deserves a great acknowledgment that we have our lives preserved our estates preserved our wives and daughters preserved But oh how much greater is it that we have our state of Justification maintained Our principles of Spiritual Operations our habits of Grace our power to repent believe love God preserved that the influences of Grace are continued that we have the Word and Ordinances preserved Let the redeemed of the Lord say his mercy endureth for ever let them adore preserving-Providence let them consider what a subtil adversary they have Who goeth about like a roaring Lion seeking whom he may devour What abundance of lusts and corruptions they have in their own hearts what a law in their members warring against the law of their minds and they will say that the seed of God which is in them is wonderfully preserved But thus much may serve to have spoken of the first great act of Providence which I called Preservation My next work is to speak concerning Government SERMON VIII Psal CIII 19. The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all I AM as you know discoursing concerning the Principal Acts of Actual Providence which I told you were two 1. Preservation 2. Government All things were at first created by a Divine word of Power all things are preserved by a Divine Power He upholdeth all things by the word of his Power saith the Apostle This I have done with but Gods actual Providence doth not extend only to the upholding and the preserving of all his creatures but he governeth them also Preservation respecteth their several beings and capacities Government respecteth their motions and actions For a Discourse upon this I have made choice of this Text and chusing it with that design only I do not take my self so much concerned to enquire into its relation to what went before or followeth I shall only consider it in it self and so it giveth you an account 1. Of the Royal Seat of the Divine residence or place where God more gloriously manifests that Presence which yet filleth Heaven and Earth He hath saith the Psalmist his throne prepared in the heavens 2. The vastness of his Imperial royal influence and dominion His Kingdom saith the Text ruleth over all I shall not meddle with the first part it is the second only which I have to do with The Proposition shortly is this Prop. That he whose Throne is in Heaven governeth the whole Creation The Scripture speaketh plentifully to this point of Gods Universal dominion 1 Chron. 16.31 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoyce and let men say amongst the Heathen The Lord reigneth Psalm 96.10 Say amongst the heathen the Lord reigneth Psalm 93.1 The Lord reigneth he is clothed with Majesty c. Psalm 97.1 The Lord reigneth let the earth rejoyce Psalm 99.1 The Lord reigneth let the people tremble An Heathen Prince acknowledgeth it Dan. 4.3 34. But not to multiply Texts Reason will evince it every Superiour being hath a kind of natural right to rule over those that are inferiour to it and God being the Supreme Being and the Creator of all other beings too hath a natural right to extend a Kingdom and Dominion over all and that not only as he is Superior to them and greater than they are but also as he is the efficient cause of all the Creator of all things But to speak more particularly we will enquire 1. What Government is 2. What are the Objects of this vniversal Government and Dominion which the Proposition ascribeth unto God 3. What are those special acts by which God exerciseth this Dominion and Government Government implieth three things 1. The fixing of some ends 2. A power invested in some one or more persons upon others ordering and directing them in order to that end 3. The exercise of this Power The end of Government amongst men is usually the peace quiet and settlement of a place Gods End is his own glory He hath made all things for himself and he doth all things for himself for the fulfilling of his own Counsels and Will in order to the glorifying of his holy Name The Apostle saith Of him and for him are all things 2. Secondly Government implieth a power invested in one or more persons in order to an end Now that God hath such a power none can deny and acknowledg him to be God Once have I spoken yea twice have I heard it saith the Psalmist that power belongeth unto God He who confesseth God to be almighty and able to do whatsoever he pleaseth must own him to have a power sufficient for an Universal Government If we take Power for Authority i. e. a Right to exercise a power over such and such objects that also God hath by the very law of Nature Hath not the potter a power over the clay and is not the creature the clay and God the potter 3. But thirdly Government implieth yet something more viz. an actual exercise of this power and indeed this is the main Actual Government is the exercise of a power wherewith a person or persons are invested over some persons or things in order to some wise ends But let me come to the second Question viz. Quest What are the particular Objects of this Divine providential Government The Text saith His Kingdom ruleth over all I think that term all is to be expounded by three general heads 1. The beings and existences of his creatures 2. The motions and actions of his creatures 3. The omissions and obliquities of his creatures all these as I shall shew you fall under the government of Providence 1. The Beings and existences of his creatures the production and cessation of them the giving of them Being belongs to Creation
not with Observation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that 's the Original phrase we translate with Observation There are divers interpretations given of that Text Not with a superstitious observation of days months and years so some make the sense according to that of the Apostle to the Galatians You observe days and months and years I am afraid of you c. And Rom. 14 17 The kingdom of God is not in meat and drink but righteousness and peace Some understand it of external Observations of meat and drink such as God had commanded to the Jews but the most and most valuable Interpreters agree in one of these two senses which indeed well considered both make but one 1. So as it may or can be observed Thus Brugensis Piscator and Beza who indeed translates it Ita ut observari possit so as it can be observed Theophylact understands it of the time so as the time cannot be fixed nor the place neither It followeth Neither shall they say Lo here is Christ or lo there 2. Not with a worldly Pomp Splendor or Ceremony Thus Stella Chemnitius Erasmus Piscator c. This is the same indeed with the other and therefore they generally add ut observari possit we do not use to observe the coming of a Kingdom but by observing some Pomp Splendor c. preliminary to it Now saith Christ the Kingdom of God cometh not so as it can be observed it stealeth upon men and surprizeth them it cometh not by observation Christ indeed hath given us general signs of his second coming and of the end of the World c. But he hath also added Of that day and hour knoweth no man I suppose the same thing is to be said as to the Promises for calling the Jews for the expected peace and tranquillity of the Church of God when the usual years shall begin c. Believe the thing pray wait that is all which we have to do in the case SERMON XIX Psalm CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am yet proceeding in recommending to you some further Observations I have made upon the motions of Actual Providence in the execution of the eternal Counsels and Purposes of God and fulfilling his Word whether of Promise or Threatning Four I have done with A Fifth I shall now offer and discourse a little upon it 5th Observ The Actual Providence of God in the production of its great works relating to his Church or the particular members of it doth ordinarily suit or fit the circumstances of the world or the circumstrances of particular persons to the work he intendeth to produce I say Ordinarily Every Rule must have some Exception especially such Rules as upon observation we fix concerning the methods of Divine Providence The infinitely wise God treadeth not always in the same steps I say in his great works relating either to the Church or to such particular persons as are members of it These two I before told you were the great Objects of Special Providence As Canaan of old was the Land which God cared for upon which his Eye was from the beginning of the year to the end of it so his Church still is and to the end of the World will be the object of his more special care and with reference to which Providence produceth its most remarkable works Hence you shall observe throughout all the Scripture though mention be made of such other Sons as the Patriarchs had and other Nations and Princes contemporary with those of the Jews are named yet very little of their story is recorded and that only subservient to the story that was to keep a Record of Gods dealings with his own people This makes me restrain the Observation to the Church and Members of it and that which I recommend to your remark is Gods ordinary fitting the circumstances of the adjacent world which lyes round about the Church as the mountains about Hierusalem or the Nations of old about Canaan to what he is producing in his Church and the particular circumstances of persons to the work God hath to produce more eminent with relation unto them 1. I will shew you this with reference to the productions of Providence relating to the collective body of his people which we call the Church 2. With reference to particular persons that have relation to this body in matters of an outward concern 3. With reference unto the souls of his people in matters of a more inward and spiritual concern 1. With reference to the great products of Providence relating to the body of his people called the Church 1. The Jews you know under the Old Testament were the only people that could lay claim to this great Name To whom God was nigh in the midst of whom he dwelt whom he so often delivered and for whom he so signally engaged Great works of Providence we read of relating to them their deliverance out of Egypt and conduct through the wilderness their bringing out of Babylon after their seventy years Captivity and re-building their Temple and City The sending of the Messiah When the Providence of God sets about these works let us observe how God fitted circumstances to these great products making every thing beautiful in his time as Solomon saith in Eccles 3.11 In the bringing of the Children of Israel out of Egypt God did two things 1. He brought out the Jews out of a Nation where they had been bred and lived some hundreds of years His Providence now fitteth circumstances to this it suffereth the King of Egypt most miserably to oppress them so as they were weary of their lives It is hardly else conceivable that they would willingly have quitted their possessions and their Native-Countrey to obtain a land promised 400 years before and that not without overcoming the difficulties of an houling wilderness and many years fighting The Providence of God also destroyeth Egypt by Ten successive plagues else the King and his Servants would never have let so many 100000 persons go out of their Dominions Circumstances were fitted by God to the design of his Providence they must be grievously oppressed that they may be made willing to go and Pharaohs People and Nation must be destroyed that he may suffer them to get into a body for a march and furnish them with a viaticum for their journey Pharaoh and his Army must be destroyed alas the Israelites are in no circumstances fit to fight them the Sea shall divide it self they shall see the Israelites go through safely as on dry ground this shall allure them to follow them then the waters shall return and swallow them up 2. God brings this people out of Babylon he had promised that after 70 years they should come out Cyrus he conquers Babylon just at that time and it was his interest to let them go as much as it was the interest of the Kings of Babylon
Shunamite 2 King 4.10 that provideth a little chamber a bed a table a stool and a candle-stick for Elisha And another widow for Elijah that had faith enough to believe that in the time of famine her little meal should not fail from her barrel nor her oyl from her cruse He commanded the Ravens to feed the same Prophet by the brook Chereth 1 King 17.14 4.6 When the brook was dried up then the Lord commanded the widow to sustain him vers 9. The whole time of the Kingdom of Israel from the time that Jeroboam revolted until they were carried away captive was a sad time to faithful Ministers for all such stood for the instituted worship of God in opposition to that at Dan and Bethel but of all that time the time of Ahabs reign was the most perillous time but then God had provided an Obadiah who took an hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water 1 King 18.5 Under the Gospel God also declared his will for the maintenance of his Ministers That tythes under the Gospel are due jure divino to the Minister I dare not say but that a certain and honourable maintenance is due to them the Apostle puts beyond all dispute 1 Cor. 9. And if the government of a nation settleth it by way of tythes there is no question to be made of the lawfulness either of giving or taking them but as the best establishments are subject to mens corruptions so is this The story of Merline a French Minister is a known story being forced several days to save his life by hiding himself in a hay-mow God sends an Hen every day that laid an egg by him upon which he lived The story of Junius I told you relieved by a Taylor when he was put to work in the Town-ditch for a livelihood God raised up a rich Matron to provide for Origen and his family But what need we look back so far for instances of which all Ecclesiastical story is full when we have such a plentiful testimony at home There is no order of men that God in all ages of the Church hath so strangely and miraculously almost provided for as to the necessaries of life as for such who have been faithful and painful labourers in the work of his Gospel they have not been forsaken their seed have in no scandalous manner begged their bread but this is but one particular 2. A second head of instances which I shall give you to prove this specialty of Divine Providence shall be the preventing Providences of God warning them some way or other of evil that hath been towards them so as they have been able timely to prevent or escape it Elijah was you know an eminent Prophet of the Lords and his life was often in danger but God hid him one while at the brook Cherith 1 King 17 after he had delivered that unpleasing Prophecy to Ahab another time at Beersheba after he had made such an havock amongst the Priests of Baal Chap. 18 19. God gave him warning of his dangers and prevented Jezebel's designs A boy overhears Pauls Enemies conspiring his death and revealeth it and he is sent away at another time he is let down in a basket Infinite instances might be given you out of other story Athanasius amongst the ancients and Luther amongst more modern Divines were eminent instances of this nature God indeed as I told you before doth not make all his Ministers in times of dangers such instances of special Providence but only such as he hath designed to make great and eminent use of 3. I might also give you as large a proof of this special Providence of God for the Ministers of his Gospel in his deliverance of them out of trouble when they have been within the paws of the Lyon and ready to be devoured And this not always in the same method nor by the same way and means sometimes miraculously as in the case of Elisha and Elijah more than once striking their Enemies with blindness causing fire to come down from Heaven and to destroy their Enemies In the case of Daniel stopping the mouths of the Lyons In the case of Peter the very night before that Herod was fully intended to have murthered him In later story we have infinite instances of Gods strange deliverance of faithful Ministers whom it afterward appeared God designed to make eminent use of out of their Enemies hands I remember in the History of the persecution of the Church of Bohemia we read of an Edict made by Ferdinand to apprehend all the Protestant-Ministers upon which many fled into Moravia and hid themselves three were taken and kept prisoners in a deep dungeon at Prague but God by his Providence wrought the escape of one of them whom he made use of to plant not less than twenty Protestant-Churches afterwards in Poland But there would be no end if I should begin to recite to you all we find in his story of this nature there can be none so meanly acquainted with Scripture or History but may confirm himself in this observation But I added That the Providence of God hath been also eminently seen in the preservation of those who have been great adventurers in the cause of God within the latitude of their duty A man may adventure in the cause of God and miscarry in his adventure and that in two cases 1. When he adventures without a call from God 2. When he governeth not himself in his adventure by the reasonable rules of prudence Peter made an adventure when he drew out the sword and cut off the highest Priest's servants ear But our Saviour bid him put up the sword into its sheath again for he that draweth the sword being a private person shall perish by the sword Peter had no call to use the sword in the case The Magistrate hath a call to use the sword in the execution of just laws The Minister hath a call to use another sword the sword of the spirit which is the word of God Every Christian hath a call to serve and obey Magistrates in what is just and lawful and to perform those duties which in his private capacity he oweth unto God to worship God in his family and to meet often together in the congregation of Gods People to hear the word to partake of the Ordinances of God c. Now there are times when a godly Magistrate cannot do his duty in punishing of sin without the adventure of his reputation in a wicked world the adventure of his estate his life when the Minister of the Gospel cannot do his duty nor the people theirs without the like adventures but you shall observe this very ordinary in the Providence of God he strangely watcheth over and protecteth such as have a spirit to make boldest adventures and as strangely rewardeth such You see it in the whole story of Scripture Moses and Aaron were called to go in
designed Discourse In my first I asserted the Doctrine of Divine Providence against ancient and modern Atheists I opened it in the nature and principal Acts of it In the Second I 1. shewed you the specialties of it 2. Wherein you must stand still and admire it in the depths and unsearchable things of it 3. I directed you how to make some observations upon the more ordinary and intelligible motions of it I am now come to open some hard Chapters in this great and excellent book and to reconcile this great work of God to his most holy nuture and that infinite justice goodness wisdom and truth which are inseparable from it I take it to be a work worthy of a Divine to make a rationale divinorum operum to give a reasonable account of the Divine works humbly adoring God in them yet inquiring into them and that non tam ad mentis otium quam ad cordis usum as Nierembergius saith not so much for the exercise of our wits as for the use of our souls It advantageth the works of God to our souls when they appear no other than reasonable to us and I think the same Author speaketh well when he saith Nullum puto consilium Divinum cujus non aliqua ratio reddi potest nullum cujus omnis reddatur ita inscrutabilia sunt divina opera digna ut scrutemur facilia that is I do not think any Divine Counsel can be named of which we may not give some reasonable account though there be likewise none of which we can give a perfect account so as the Divine works are at the same time both unsearchable and also worthy and easie to be searched out I shall not so much as propound to my self or you to resolve all the seeming riddles and difficulties of Actual Providence I shall only discourse some of them which seem most obvious and readiest to stumble our thoughts and those which I shall speak to shall chiefly refer to these heads 1. The exhibition of the Covenant of works after the establishment of the Eternal Covenant of Redemption and Grace and the exhibition or tender of grace indefinitely to all after the decree of election and the fall of man 2. The permission of sin and so much sin in the world 3. The punitive Providence of God 4. The dispensation of the external or internal more effectual means of grace I shall speak to divers seeming difficulties that will fall under these four heads and at this time begin with the first of these It was one of the first acts of Divine Providence that we read of immediately succeeding the creation Gen. 2.15 And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou maist freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Under that threatning is a promise of life upon condition of obedience as to the Law of God written in Adams heart So to that positive Law given him for the trial of his obedience I shall not engage my self deeply in the question what death it is which God there threatneth to Adam I am aware of the varieties of opinions I take it for granted that whatsoever falleth under the notion of death in Scripture is all comprehended under that threatning In dying thou shalt dye saith the Hebrew phrase which we translate Thou shalt surely dye The threatning mentioneth neither one death nor another but is indefinite and of the same force as if universal and it is accordingly used in Scripture to signifie all kind of death as Ezek. 18. and in many other places and out of doubt there falleth under that threatning whatsoever was contrary to the felicity of Adam in that estate I do therefore agree with the ancient and modern Divines who understand death Corporal Spiritual and Eternal there threatned in case of disobedience and life Corporal Spiritual and Eternal there promised in case of obedience Now hence ariseth a great difficulty there were two great Acts of God with relation to man passed before this Act of Providence 1. The decree of Election by which God had not only stated the number of those that should be saved but chosen us in him before the foundation of the world Ephes 1.6 2. The eternal Covenant of Redemption and Grace By which the salvation of man was setled to be obtained not by working but by believing in him that justifieth the ungodly that is not to be obtained by the merits of our own works but by the merits of Christ imputed to us for righteousness and to be by faith apprehended and applied Now here ariseth the difficulty Quest How it could consist with the wisdom and truth of God having thus in his eternal counsels resolved that there should be no other name under heaven no other way or means of salvation but by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ to propound a way of salvation to be obtained by mens working and obedience to the Law of God especially when he did aforeknow that man would break this first Covenant and no man should be saved upon the terms of it That I might speak something to shew you the reasonableness of this motion I have made choice of this Text in which you have 1. An assertion The Scripture hath concluded all under wrath 2. The end or reason of the thing asserted That the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe A text much parallel to that Rom. 11.32 He hath concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all This Text saith the Scripture hath done it that text saith God hath done it there 's no contradiction in it the Scriptures are the word of God if the Scripture hath concluded all under wrath God hath done it Now how hath the Scripture done this or how hath God done it but by first making man in his own image writing his law in his heart then adding that positive law forbidding him to eat of the tree of forbidden fruit after this suffering him to eat by which not Adam only but all mankind then in him lost the Image of God and all were concluded under sin and to what purpose was all this The text telleth us That the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to all that believe If you please I shall make my whole discourse but a demonstration of this Proposition Prop. That God in infinite wisdom by his Providence gave out the Law or Covenant of works suffering the first man to fall and all in him by the fall to be concluded under wrath My business must be to shew you the exceeding reasonableness and wisdom of God in this dispensation I shall open this to you in five or six particulars 1. It neither was nor could be Gods
shall not fall Mat. 16.18 The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Psal 94.14 For the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance Mica 4.4 11 12. So quite through this Psalm there are many promises of the same import Now the work of faith is to perswade the soul of the certainty and undoubted verity of these words of God to settle the soul in this perswasion That sooner shall Heaven and earth pass away than any of these things shall fail which God hath spoken Then the work of faith is further to carry out the soul without any carping trouble or disputing to rest wholly upon these words A Christian seeth the word of God what he hath said for its relief now faith teacheth the soul to agree this as the word of him who cannot lye or repent and calleth upon the soul to trust in God for the fulfilling of it to roll it self upon the promise and to commit it self its cause its way unto the Lord the soul of a Christian is very solicitous and careful for the concern and interest of God in the world faith teacheth the soul to cast its care the burthen of its spirit upon the Lord assuring it that God careth for it Faith speaketh to the soul in the language of Solomon Eccles 5.8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of Justice and Judgment in a Province marvel not at the matter for he that is higher than the highest regardeth and there be higher than they I say this is a great piece of the Child of Gods duty in such a time when the vilest men are exalted and the wicked walk on every side and the people of God are troden under foot as the mire in the streets It is the Will of God concerning them The just shall live by faith This is the proper time for the exercise of Faith when the eye of sense faileth Faith is the evidence of things not seen the substance of things hoped for The proper operation of Faith is where sense faileth where God is trusted and not seen Blessed are they saith our Saviour who have not seen and yet believe This is Opus diei in die suo Though the people of God ought to be careful of all duty at all times yet they ought to have a special regard to the duty of their day the seasonableness of a duty addeth much to the weight and importance of it The foundations are shaken saith the Psalmist Psal 11.3 4 What shall what can the righteous do Mark what follows The Lords Throne is in Heaven his eyes see his eye-lids try the children of men This is that life which the Saints have lived yea and they have lived well upon it When David had lost all the Amalekites had taken Ziglag and in it all that he had 1 Sam. 30.6 the Text saith David encouraged himself in God the Truth Power and Goodness of God nor did he hope in God in vain as you shall read in that story What had Hezekiah to live upon but Faith when Sennacherib had besieged him with his mighty Army and ranted against him and the God of Heaven too after that rate you read What had all the Patriarchs all the Saints and Servants of God to live upon but Faith of whom you read Heb. 11. Nor is there any life which so glorifieth God as this it eminently glorifieth three Attributes of his his Power Goodness and Truth No man will trust in a bruised Reed or lean upon a broken Staff therefore the Apostle speaking of Abrahams faith Heb. 11. saith He believed that God was able to raise him from the dead and again Rom. 3 He believed that he who promised was able to perform It giveth God the glory of his goodness for the expectation of his soul is the Mercy and Goodness of God and it also giveth God the glory of his truth for the proximate object of Faith is the Word and Promise of God O therefore let this be your care when you cannot live by sense live by Faith It is the happiness of a Child of God he hath something to live on in the worst of times Psal 34.10 The young Lions shall be hunger-bit but there is no want to them that fear the Lord. One would think that of all creatures the Lion should be most out of danger of being hunger bit The Lion the King of the Forest all other Beasts are subject to this Beast yet if an old Lion that cannot run for its prey that hath lost much of its strength may be hunger-bitten one would think a young-Lion that is in its full strength should not Yes saith the Psalmist a young Lion may be hunger-bitten those that have most of the world wicked men that have greatest honours greatest power great advantages to provide for themselves they may be hunger bitten they may come to want but there shall be no want to them who fear the Lord there shall be no time so ill but they shall live if they cannot live upon bread they shall feed upon truth How much better is the estate of a godly man than that of his neighbour It is a great point this a great piece of duty Let me therefore a little further enlarge upon it three ways 1. Shewing you how a Christian may know if he liveth this life 2. Directing you in order to it 3. Perswading it by Arguments 1. Will some Christian say how shall I know if I live this life Suffer me to give you five or Six Characters of it 1. It is a Spiritual life Our life saith the Apostle is hid with Christ in God What Christ sometimes said to his Disciples when they would have had him to have eaten something that a Child of God may say to all the world I have meat to eat you know not of His life is a spiritual life such is the life of Faith both with respect to the subject and to the object of it As to the subject of it it is the soul that lives the body lives by bread the soul lives by truth by the promise There are many that in evil days their bodies have enough to feed upon but their souls have nothing hence their hearts become like Nabals dead as a stone yea and as to the object it is spiritual too he that feedeth upon truth feedeth upon Jehovah It is the truth of God in the word which the soul liveth upon the soul of a Believer can no more live upon Words and Syllables than another soul No but it is the truth of God in these words his power and ability to perform what he hath said his inclination and good-will to the performance and his truth and faithfulness Every life in an evil day is not a life of faith some may live upon fancy and foolish hope some may live upon means with which their eye feedeth them another may live upon a Roman spirit of his own Tu
produced to demonstrate to the world and that we cannot see this before is our weakness and imperfection The malice of men in the persecutions of Gods People looketh upon us with an horrid aspect these indeed God doth not effect but he hath willed they should be and hath told us they must come yea and he worketh too permitting others to bring them about and suffering them in the execution of their malice whom he could easily hinder but when these things are over we often see both infinite wisdom and goodness too in them How should the salvation of Sinners have been purchased if God had not permitted Judas to have betrayed his Master Pilate to have condemned him and the Jews to have nailed him to the Cross had it not been for the persecution of the Jews how should the Gospel have gone to the Gentiles But yet for a close of this discourse and that we may not mistake our Duty we ought not to be so far satisfied upon the Contemplation of this great truth but that 1. We must be piously affected with the sad Providences which God measureth out to his Church and People What saith the Psalmist If I forget thee O Hierusalem let my right hand forget her cunning The sad rebukes of Gods Providence ought by us to be laid to heart Though persecutions and other punishments be contrivances of infinite wisdom and products of certain and infinite love yet to the present sufferers they may be punishments of sin and marks of Divine displeasure and therefore ought not to pass over our heads without our taking some notice of them and the causing of some sad thoughts within us the crucifying of Christ was the product of infinite wisdom and goodness to the People of God but yet a just cause of sadness to the Disciples of Christ We must take things as they appear to us being not able to see to the end and bottom of Gods designs That they shall at last issue in the Glory of God and the good of his People is indeed matter of faith and will be matter of joy to us when we see it but in the mean time it is matter of sadness to us to see Gods Vineyard rooted up his People eaten up like bread and wicked men suffered to devour those that are more righteous than themselves 2. Again We have reason to be afflicted both for our own sins and the sins of others Although it be as to the event true that both our own and others sins shall issue in Gods Glory yet it is as true that God hath no need either of ours or any others lyes for his Glory and that God is both by our sins and the sins of others actually dishonoured That they are made to issue in Gods Glory is the product of Gods Wisdom not our oblique and irregular action or intention and therefore they ought to be causes of sad reflexion to us But thus far we may satisfie our selves 1. That as I said before the event was necessary and nothing that hath come to pass could with our utmost care and diligence have been otherwise than it is We may talk after the manner of men and reason after the measures of humane probabilities If such a thing had not been another had not followed but there is nothing issued in time but was ordered from all eternity 2. We ought again in this to be satisfied That of whatsoever the Lord hath promised nothing shall fail We are full of unbelief and when we see Gods Providence working as we judg directly contrary to what he hath promised we are presently giving up all for gone and lost but if every thing be wrought according to the Counsel of the Divine Will and the Holy Scriptures be such part of this will as he hath pleased to reveal to us God knoweth both what he hath said and how he hath laid things in his eternal thoughts and sooner shall Heaven and Earth pass away than any word he hath spoke Prov. 19.21 Isa 40.8 The counsel of the Lord shall stand and the word of our God shall stand for ever 3. And lastly As I have before told you we may be thus far satisfied That whatsoever doth or ever shall come to pass in the world shall serve Gods great ends because it is ordered by the Counsel of the infinitely wise God and therefore must necessarily serve his designs In the end of the world we shall say God could not have had so much Glory but for such a persecution such a disorder Surely the wrath of man shall praise him SERMON II. Heb. XI 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear THE last time I shewed you That God hath from eternity setled all events by an eternal purpose according to the Counsel of his Will nothing cometh to pass in time but what was determined before time I told you my design was to discourse concerning Gods Acts of Providence which are acts in time and particularly to discourse some things relating to actual Providence which do not fall into ordinary discourse and often give occasion of trouble to the spirits of Christians but in order to that I thought it reasonable First to discourse a little of Gods Settlement of all futurities things which were to be fulfilled in their season by an act of his eternal Counsel Nor can I yet come fairly at my intended subject without speaking to Gods first Act in time that was Creation concerning which we must suppose a Decree of God according to that known Rule in Divinity Decretum Dei ejus executio exquisitissime conveniunt nihil est in Dei opere quod non fuit in decreto nihil fuit in decreto quod non sequitur in opere That is the Decree of God and the execution of that Decree most exquisitely agree God worketh nothing but what he first decreed and he decreed nothing but hath had or shall have its issue in his working and when we say God doth any thing we by it do understand no more than a new effect of his eternal Will According therefore to the Counsel of his Will God first made of nothing the world and all that is therein And indeed according to some notion of Providence amongst Divines this is a part of it Now for a foundation of a short Discourse upon this subject I have chosen this Text. The Apostle subjoyneth the words of my Text to a description of Faith which he had given vers 1. Where he had told us That faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen In the second verse he had told us That by this the Elders had obtained a good report Here he saith By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God c. In the Text you have 1. A Divine assertion The worlds were framed by
God things which are seen were not made of things which do appear You have the work of Creation described in its Causes Negatively the world did not make it self one part of it did not make another then Positively it was framed by God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word used 2. You have the way described how we come to comprehend this in our understanding By faith The Proposition of the Text is this Prop. That by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by God and the things which are seen were not made by those things which do appear Here are two things 1. The worlds were framed by the Word of God the things seen were not made of those things which do appear 2. We understand this Through faith In the opening of these I must enquire 1. What is here meant by the Worlds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 What is the meaning of this That the worlds were made by the Word of God 3. What is the meaning of this That the things which are seen are not made of those things which do appear 4. What is here meant by faith or through faith 5. How do we understand it by faith that the worlds were framed by God After this I shall come to the Application Quest 1. What is here meant by the Worlds The word here used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth often signifie an age sometimes and so generally in St. John's Gospel Eternity but is sometimes in Scripture translated World Matth. 12.32 The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven neither in this world nor in the world to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So Matth. 13.32 39 40 49. The harvest is the end of the world Heb. 1.2 By whom he made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worlds The term properly signifieth The duration of the world but in Heb. 1.2 and here it must signifie the Mass the things of it It carries here its own Interpreter with it in the other part of the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The things which are seen but neither is that term adequate to it the object of Creation is larger than the objects of Sense Spirits are not seen but yet they are created Let Moses expound it Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the heaven and earth In short all the Creatures whatsoever is not the Creator must here fall under the notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the world and all that is therein excepting him who as the Creator made all and filleth heaven and earth the world and the things thereof the world and the persons therein heaven and earth the world of things and the world of persons this world was made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. The word in the Greek signifies to make to joynt or fit together to restore it signifieth to make or rather to make up according to our English Idiom to perfect It is used Matth. 21.16 Thou hast perfected praise we translate it perfect or perfected Luk. 6.40 And be you perfect 2 Cor. 13.11 1 Thes 3.10 That we might perfect that which is lacking in your faith Heb. 10.5 A body hast thou prepared or made me So Heb. 13.21 The world was made established made perfect by God Vt totum quidpiam quod suis omnibus partibus apte inter se cohaerentibus componitur The worlds gave not a being to themselves they were not eternal and of an original from themselves nor made of any casual concurrence of Atoms according to the Heathens Philosophy but they had their Original their perfection their establishment from God 2. The word signifieth to be made perfect to joynt to be put together The world is a beautiful composition it hath not only a Being but a beautiful Being all the parts of it being fitted and joynted together this is also from God it oweth not only its Being and Original unto God but whatsoever it hath of Beauty and Ornaments that one part of it is fitted to another the beautiful composition of it the subordination of the parts of it one to another all this is owing unto God This is part of the sense of it 1 Cor. 1.10 That you may be perfectly joyned together Whoso looketh upon the Creation wistly must see it consist of a great variety of things but all fitted together so as there is no discord but a beautiful subordination of things in that vast composition so as they serve one another and notwithstanding all their different affections and qualities yet they destroy not nor invade each other this also is from the Lord. The world was not only by God made and produced out of a not-being into a being but it was fitted ordered joynted together by God 3. The word signifieth also to restore and bring again into order what is disordered and so it is used sometimes to mend nets Rem lacer am aliquam resarcire collapsam reparare And this seemeth to be the primary and most proper signification of the word Thus it is translated restore Gal. 6.1 If a brother be fallen restore such a one A Metaphor say some taken from Chyrurgions putting a bone out of order into its place again The world at first made perfected established and joynted by God in the Fall of Adam was disordered and put out of joynt God by sending his Son put the world in joynt again set its broken bones created a new heaven and a new earth Thus also the worlds were made as it were made again and restored by God But I take the two former senses rather to agree to this place where the Apostle rather speaks of the first Creation of the world by God than of the Redemption of it by Jesus Christ The world then was made that is it had its first Original its Order Ornaments beautiful composure from a Divine creating Power it did not give a Being nor a Beauty and Perfection to it self The Verb is passive it had its Original from another and this other was he whom we call God But Quest 2. What is the meaning of this that the worlds were made by the Word of God None can understand here by the Word of God the Holy Scriptures which are called the Word that is the revealed will of God spoken by holy men as they were inspired by God Nor do I think that the same is meant here by the Word of God that is understood John 1.1 In the beginning was the word of that word it is said That it was with God in the beginning that it was God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made that is to be understood of Christ Of him our Apostle saith Heb. 1.2 By whom also he made the worlds but besides that the Gospel of John seemeth to be the only Scripture in which the second person in the Trinity is stiled the Word neither is he there call'd the Word of God it is there said The word was God and in
his Book of the Trueness of Christian Religion Chap. 13. where he sheweth Providence a bundantly owned by Plato Plotinus Hierocles Aristotle Cicero Seneca and others I shall therefore only add one passage of Seneca not I think particularly by him mentioned it is in his Book of Natural Questions Chap. 45. where he calleth God The keeper and governour of the whole world Custodem rectoremque universi animum spiritum mundani hujus operis Dominum artificem cui nomen omne convenit Vis illum fatum vocare non errabis Hic est ex quo suspensa sunt omnia causa causarum Vis illum Providentiam dicere rectè dices Est enim cujus consilio huic mundo providetur ut inconcussus eat actus suos explicet Seneca Nat. Qu. l. 2. cap. 45. a Mind a Spirit the Lord and Artificer or Creator of all the world he to whom every name agreeth Will you call him Fate you will not be out For he it is on whom all things depend Will you call him Providence you will say right for by his Counsel the world is provided and taken care for that it remains steady and performeth its operations Salvian upon this Argument tells us that the Heathens acknowledged God to be in the world as the Master of a great Ship is in that abiding always in it and stirring up and down Whence he cryeth out Quid potuerunt de affectu diligentiâ Dei religiosius sentire Salvian l. 1. What could they more religiously judg and speak of God than to compare him to the Governour of a Ship who is never in the Ship idle but continually at work either in one kind or another The Pythagoreans compared God to the Soul in the body filling each part and actuating each part of the body The Platonists call him the moderator of all things The Heathen Poets speak as well and fully Virgil telleth us God is continually moving throughout all the Earth Tractusque maris coelumque profundum and the Waters and the Heavens In short none but some of the most sensual and brutish Epicureans ever so much as called this in question 5. But hitherto I have been arguing this point with you as men to convince you of it if you were Heathens and had no knowledg of the Holy Scripture When I consider you in that notion I must say to you as the Apostle speaks in another case We have a more sure word of prophecy As we by faith understand that the worlds were at first made by God so by faith also we plentifully understand that the created worlds are upheld preserved protected and governed by God I shall hereafter more distinctly prove this in my following discourse when I shall come to speak of the distinct and particular acts and objects of this Divine Providence I shall only here make use of a few instead of very many Scriptures which might be produced Heb. 1.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vpholding all things by the word of his power He at first made all things by the word of his Power and he upholdeth all things by the word of his Power My Text saith He preserveth both man and beast Our Lord telleth us that he cloatheth the grass of the field and feedeth the Ravens Matth. 6. The Psalmist tells us that his kingdom ruleth over all And again Matth. 10.29 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing yet not one of them falls to the ground without the will of your heavenly father Acts 17.28 In him we live move and have our being Prov. 15.13 The eyes of the Lord are in all places beholding the evil and the good John 5.17 My father worketh hitherto and I work In short the places of Scripture confirming this Doctrine of Divine Providence are very many and will most of them fall under some part or other of my ensuing discourse referring to the particular objects and acts of Divine Providence And I therefore shall not in this place further enlarge upon them but come next to consider the extent or particular objects of Divine Providence I proceed therefore to a second Question Quest 2. What are the objects of Divine Providence or how far doth the Divine care extend Though the Epicureans of old would acknowledg no Providence and many of the Stoicks asserting a Fate destroyed it yet the wiser Peripateticks would grant it though but a limited one extended to some particular Beings and things and too many amongst those who are called Christians seem to inherit something of their spirit I remember that when Pharaoh saw Egypt almost destroyed he calls for Moses and Aaron and bids them go and serve the Lord but adds Exod. 10.8 But who are they that shall go When Moses replyed We will go with our young and with our old with our sons and with our daughters with our flocks and with our herds will we go He replyeth vers 10. Let the Lord so deal with me as I let you go and your little ones Thus many deal with God When they consider the vast bodies of the Creatures the great varieties of their beings and qualities their motions c. they are forced to acknowledg a Divine Providence That the world could not stand nor the parts of it hold together unless a Superior hand ruled upheld and governed them They therefore will acknowledg a Providence as to the great bodies of the Heavens c. But say they How far will you extend it When they hear us assert it as to all things the sound of the little ones in nature troubles them yea and as to the wills of men they are wonderfully disturbed We must therefore enquire what the Scripture saith which certainly cannot err as to the bounds and extent of Gods Providential care The Scripture tells us Heb. 4.13 That all things are naked and open before him with whom we have to do That the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Prov. 15.3 My Text saith He preserveth both man and beast The Apostle to the Hebrews saith He upholdeth all things by the word of his power But to speak more distinctly we extend the Divine Providence 1. To all Beings 2. To all motions and actions of Beings 3. To all omissions suspensions or cessations of action 4. To all events of things 1. First I say to all Beings Beings are usually distinguished into such as have no life or such as have life Or if you please we may make use of that plain division of Beings into 1. Such as have no more than a meer Being neither life nor sense nor reason Such are the Heavens the Earth the Waters Or 2. Such as have Being and life but no sense Such are herbs and plants Or 3. Such as have Being and life and sense Such are Beasts Birds Fishes Insects c. Or Lastly Such as have not only Being life sense but Reason also Such are Angels and Men. I shall shew you that
by him every member we have moves and we are all kept in being may I not therefore with the Apostle conclude Rom. 12.1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service It is reasonable that he who hath given you the Sacrifice should smell the sweet savour of it He hath provided the sacrifice for you He hath provided it for that end to be a sacrifice for him it is therefore but a reasonable Service It is reasonable that he who planteth a Vineyard who dresseth keepeth and preserveth it every day should have some of the fruit thereof Which of you planteth a Vineyard and Orchard c. and eateth not of the fruit thereof But I shall add no more to this first part of my Discourse concerning Gods preserving Providence SERMON VII Psal XXXVI 6. O Lord thou preservest man and beast I AM discoursing concerning the first mentioned great Act of Providence in the Preservation both of man and beast Vpholding all things by the word of his power I shewed you in my last Discourse by what particular acts God preserveth individuals of all kinds But Man is to be considered yet in two notions further Man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sociable a political creature and so as one of a multitude formed into political bodies called by the names of Kingdoms Common-wealths c. He is further to be considered as a spiritual creature capable of Divine Grace and divers spiritual Habits things which accompany salvation and make him fit for the Kingdom of God and preparing him for that blessed Eternity which is the end of our hopes These also must be upheld and maintained by the power of Providence We are saith the Apostle kept by the power of God through faith to salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 My last Discourse shewed you no more than the particular workings of Divine Providence in preserving and upholding the natural world Let me now shew you the workings of it in preserving and upholding the Political and Spiritual World I begin with the former and so the preserving Providence of God worketh several ways 1. In disposing the minds of all people unto Government There are indeed some Anomalies here some sons of Belial in all places that will endure no yoke but generally it is not so And the minds of men are disposed to order and Government without Government Polities could not stand the World would quickly be in confusion there can be no order without Governours and governed Governours must be spirited for the exercise of Government and the Governed must be spirited for obedience Both these are from the Lord who is wonderful in working Every one is not fit to govern he hath not parts for it he hath not a spirit for it Some are like Issachar fit for nothing but to couch under the burthen Others like Judah who have hands fit to be upon the necks of their Enemies and their fathers children shall bow down before them 1. God by his Providence influenceth some for the exercise of Government either from the womb or from the time they are called to that exercise as it is said of Saul 1 Sam. 10.9 when Samuel had anointed him to be King over Israel God gave him another heart Every man hath not a spirit of Government there is much goeth to the making up of that spirit It was prophecied of Christ Isa 9.6 That the Government should be uppon his shoulders And Isa 11.2 The Spirit shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledg and fear of the Lord. A spirit of knowledg and of the fear of the Lord is necessary to a religious Government A spirit of understanding and wisdom a spirit of counsel and might is necessary for a good civil Government Joshua the Son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom Deut. 34 9. Every man in a Kingdom or a City or Common-wealth hath not knowledg and understanding nor wisdom and counsel nor might and courage fit for Government God giveth it only to some persons whom he designeth to rule over men And herein is the Providence of God mightily seen and that both in Hereditary Kingdoms and States and in those also which are Elective 1. In such as are hereditary ordinarily the sons of Princes are not like other men though under equal circumstances of Education When Gideon asked Zeba and Zalmunna Judg. 8.18 What manner of men they were that they killed They answered him thus As thou art so were they each one resembled the children of a King There is something that ordinarily appears in the faces of Princes more of Majesty than in other men which shews another spirit I know that this is not universal there have been Princes in the World of mean parts courage c. which ordinarily happens when God hath a quarrel with a people Eccl. 10.16 17 Wo to thee O Land when thy King is a child and thy Princes eat in the morning Blessed art thou O Land when thy King is the son of Nobles and thy Princes eat in due season for strength and not for drunkenness 2. It is much seen in Elective governments God by his Providence directeth and disposeth the Electors to the choice of such persons as he hath prepared with such a spirit or except in cases where God hath a design by unworthy Governours to chastise a sinful people when they are chosen he giveth unto them such a spirit and by his extraordinary Providence correcteth the errours of those that choose them to that employment This is a wonderful working of Divine Providence We often see persons in Government shewing quite another spirit and temper than they before appear'd to us to have Nor is the Providence of God less seen in disposing the spirits of the Governed That thousands yea millions of people should consent to a subjection to one chief Ruler as in a Monarchy or to the Government of a few as in Commonwealths and be willing to be ruled and governed by him or them yet this we ordinarily see It is the Lords doing and it should be marvellous in our eyes and it would be so if we would but be so considerate as to think of the variety of mens humours fancies and passions Sometimes indeed God in judgment against a people suffers a perverse spirit to mingle it self with the governed there are rebellions and mutinies yet those for the most part are originated in oppression and violence But supposing no errours in Governours that yet multitudes of people should be so willingly subject and yet few of them for conscience sake must needs come from the Lords influence who is wonderful in the working for the preserving of the Politick Societies of men which without a Political order or Government could not stand 2. Secondly God preserveth men in their Political Societies by directing
subjection and obedience unto God This is that which we call holiness There are two Arguments arising out of the former discourse which ought to have a force here 1. Let us do what we will God will be our Governour Let Assyria mean or not mean so he shall be the Lords Servant and execute his pleasure and no more Pharaoh may huff a little and ask Who is the Lord that he should serve or obey him but God will at last be glorified on Pharaoh and make him know his Kingdom is over all God will disappoint the devices of the crafty so as their hands shall not find their enterprises God will at last be glorified and make all the wrath of man at last to praise him 2. None shall be rewarded by God or be his favourites but only such as yield him free willing and chearful obedience Let us do what we can we cannot resist his will but unless our obedience be free voluntary and chearful it shall never be rewarded by a just and righteous God There is nothing more ordinary in the Prophets than to read the denunciation of Gods judgments against Assyria and Babylon which were yet Gods servants in executing vengeance upon the hypocritical and rebellious Jews Let this therefore mind us to be obedient to to the will of God freely and willingly and sincerely that so we may hear that joyful voice Well done thou good and faithful Servant Enter thou into thy masters joy A DISCOURSE Concerning ACTUAL PROVIDENCE PART II. Concerning the Specialties of Providence 1 Cor. IX 9. Doth God take care for Oxen I Have been for some time discoursing concerning Providence that is Actual Providence which is nothing else but Gods taking care for his creatures made as you heard by the word of his power I have discoursed this care of God more generally opening to you those two more general Acts of God by which this care is expressed 1. In preserving of them 2. In the rule and governance of them I have shewed you the workings of Divine Providence in the preserving of his creatures in general in their Beings and use of their several faculties with which he created them of man in particular considered singly as an individual or in his Political capacity or 3. In his Spiritual capacity as the subject of Divine Grace I have also discoursed generally concerning the Government of Divine Providence and by what particular acts God exerciseth this Government and declareth his Dominion over all the Creatures which he hath made but besides the general care of God concerning all his Creatures there is also a special Providence For the beginning of a discourse concerning that I have made choice of this Text Doth God take care for Oxen saith the Apostle Non est vox dubitantis saith Pareus It is not the language of one that doubteth The Apostle knew well enough that our Saviour had said That God cloatheth the Lillies the grass of the field and that a sparrow though two of them are sold for a farthing falleth not to the ground without the will of our heavenly father The words therefore only signifie an inequal care viz. That God taketh a greater and more special care for some of his Creatures than he doth for others and so it layeth a foundation for this Proposition Prop. That God exerciseth a special Providence for and concerning some of his creatures He taketh a general care concerning them all but a more special care concerning some of them That is the Proposition which I shall handle in this method 1. I shall shew you that there is such a special Providence i.e. though the Lord taketh a general care of all his Creatures according to their natures yet he taketh a more particular and special care concerning some more than others 2. I will enquire Which of his Creatures they are as to which he exerciseth a special Providence and concerning which he taketh such a more especial care 3. We will enquire by what acts God exerteth putteth forth and declareth this his especial care 4. Lastly I will make some Application of the whole 1. That God doth exercise a more particular care in the Preservation and Government of some of his Creatures than he doth of others will appear 1. By express Scriptures which assert it 2. By promises made to some in which others are not concerned 3. By experience and matter of fact 1. By express Scriptures thus Deut. 11.12 Canaan is called a Land which the Lord careth for so Matth. 6.30 If God so cloath the grass of the field which to day is and to morrow is cast into the Oven Shall he not much more cloath you O you of little faith Matt. 10.31 Fear you not therefore you are of more value than many sparrows ver 29. Christ had let them know that the Providence of God extended to the sparrows two of them were sold for a farthing but not one of them fell to the ground without God but saith he you are better than many sparrows God will more regard you and take more care of you 1 Tim. 4.10 He is the Saviour of all men but especially of them who believe Psal 33. v. 13 He beholdeth all the sons of men but Verse 18 The eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him upon them that hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive from famine so this Text Doth God saith the Apostle take care for Oxen or doth he say it altogether for our sakes for our sakes no doubt It is true there are degrees and differences as to this special Providence as I shall shew you hereafter I am only as yet evincing the thing in general 2. All the promises of God made to some men not to others are a proof of this for what is a promise but the Revelation of Gods Will to bestow some good things in the way of his Providence so as if there be any special promises there must be a special Providence Now there is none so meanly versed in the holy Scripture that he is not aware of a multitude of promises in them made to the people of God promises that concern this life and that also which is to come the 91 Psalm is made up of such promises 3. Lastly The experience of all times proves it that some have been preserved upheld directed and governed by a Providence in a more special manner than others have been So that none can modestly deny or doubt a special Providence The next Question is Quest 2. Who are the objects of it It is generally answered by Divines that reasonable creatures are the objects only of special Providence These are only Angels and Men for the Specialty of Divine Providence so far as they relate to Angels as we know little of it so neither doth the knowledg of it much concern us of that therefore I shall say nothing being not desirous to intrude into those things which man hath
made so big as falling down upon their Enemies-heads they killed more than his peoples swords At the sound of Rams-horns the walls of Jericho fall down It is for this people that the clouds rain down bread and the Rock gusheth out water There was no people that God so assayed to take from the midst of another Nation by temptations by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm and by great terrors Deut. 4.34 and although God hath not been so seen in miraculous operations for his Gospel-Church yet how often hath one chased ten ten an hundred an hundred a thousand and a thousand put ten thousand to flight There have been no such instances in the World of the Providence of God working for the salvation and deliverance of Heathens as of that body of his people which are his Church or of Gods workings in a miraculous manner for the preservation of others as of that his little flock 4. But 4thly It is a great specialty of Providence that unto this people are committed the Oracles of God they are the only people which have the ordinary means of salvation This is that Much advantage every way as the Apostle speaketh which the Jews had Rom. 4.2 beeause unto them were committed the Oracles of God It hath been a question Whether God giveth unto all sufficient means for salvation Some affirm it others with better reason deny it at length some of the Patrons for it are forced to yield That none but the Church hath sufficient means In Judah is God known in the Church Christ is preached the glad tidings of salvation are published the Heathens have only the light of Nature a light sufficient if not walked up to to make them inexcusable but by no means sufficient to direct men to Heaven it sheweth men nothing of Christ and there is no other Name under Heaven but the Name of Jesus by which we can be saved neither is there salvation in any other Christ is only ordinarily preached in the Church of God This is a great Priviledg a great Specialty of Providence towards the Church of God But yet There is a more special Providence attends the members of the invisible Church particular Saints and that is plain from the Promises of God in Scripture There are indeed many Promises which concern the whole visible Church but the most of the Promises are made unto Godliness the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 4.8 that hath great promises both of this life and a life to come and as the great variety of Promises evinceth a special providence in the preservation and government of them so also Gods Dispensations upon those Promises do abundantly evince it but let me open it in a few particulars 1. It is for them that God ordinarily goeth out of the common road of his Providence for their preservation Thus Daniel is preserved in the Lions Den The three Children in the fiery Furnace Moses in a little ark of Bul-rushes Noah when the whole World was swallowed up in a Deluge of waters they are those that dwell in the secret place of the most High that shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty these he delivereth from the snare of the Fowler and from the noisom Pestilence and to whom all the Promises are made Psalm 91. I do not say but others may sometimes meet with strange and miraculous preservations but the instances of them are rarer The Promises are not made to them they can expect no such thing and usually it is for the sake of such as fear God indeed these Providences are not the portion of all the children of God God will have us know that these are not the good things which he hath prepared for them that love him though the power and goodness of God shall be thus declared for some of them yet it shall not be so for all that we may not think them the Believers portion but things which God addeth unto them who are the heirs of salvation and seek first the Kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof 2. These are those whom God gives special warnings to of evils to come and whom he prompts to hide themselves What saith God shall I hide from Abraham the thing I intend to do to Sodom Noah being warned of God prepared an Ark saith the Apostle you know what a warning Lot had of the destruction of Sodom They tell us of a Voice which the godly Jews heard a little before the fatal destruction of Jerusalem Ite Pellam Go away to Pella It is true those extraordinary warnings are much now ceased but the Providence vf God yet continues God told David that the men of Keilah would deliver him up God gives warning still by secret impressions upon the spirits of his people by causing them more steadily than others to believe the threatnings of his Word and to give credit to his Ministers speaking from him These secrets of the Lord are mostly with them that fear him while simple wicked men will believe nothing take no warning at any thing but pass on and are punished 3. For these it is that he commandeth inanimate creatures to move for their service The stones of the field shall be at peace with them the Sun the Moon shall serve them the stars shall fight against Sisera in their order The dust shall fly in the face of their Enemies The winds shall serve them tibi militat aether Et conjurati veniunt ad classica venti saith the Poet of that eminent Christian Emperour But I have touched a little upon this under the first Head 4. For these fourthly it is that God commandeth the sensitive creatures that they shall not hurt them that they shall serve them the Lions shall not hurt Daniel it is to them the Promise is made Psalm 91.13 Thou shalt tread upon the Lion and the Adder and the Dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet It is a famous story of that Protestant in the Parisian massacre that was saved by a Spider that had woven a web before the entrance of a hole in which he hid himself from the murtherers that sought his life which made them conclude that he was not there 5. For these it is that he bridleth the rage of wicked and ungodly men The Providence of God if I may say so hath its hardest task with wicked men These alone have an enmity to Gods people there is and ever will be an implacable Enmity between the seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent God holds them in as we hold in an unruly Horse with bit and bridle and oftentimes of Enemies they are made friends Gallio stands up and pleadeth for them Cyrus becomes Gods servant for the deliverance of the Jews Nebuchadnezzar shall be a friend to Daniel Darius to Nehemiah Paul shall meet with Friends in the Court of Nero. 6. For these it is that he over-ruleth the most malitious actions
they see nothing of God in these effects They say not this is the Lords doing and therefore it is not marvellous in their eyes They see Pestilences sweeping away Cities and Families fires laying populous Cities waste Enemies breaking in upon Countries and strangely over-running them the hand of God sweeping away whole Families but they see nothing of God in them they consider these as terrible things as misfortunes to which the state of Humane affairs is subjected their Eyes are upon the visible wheels that turn these things but they see not the wheel within the wheel the Psalmist calleth to us to come and behold the works of the Lord what desolations he hath wrought in the earth Men see desolations wrought in the Earth but they see them not as the work of the Lord as desolations wrought by him This is what the Psalmist complained of and for which he prayeth against them Psalm 28.4 5 Give them according to the works of their hands c. Because they regard not the work of the Lord nor regard the operations of his hands he shall destroy them and not build them up This is a sign of an Atheistical heart to see great changes and not to see God in them the Heathens had more of Religion than this came to I remember the Poet in his description of the ruine of Troy bringeth in Venus taking Aeneas of his mettal in the last defence of his Country and from taking Revenge on Helena the cause of it by shewing him the gods at every corner and post of the City helping the Grecians to fire it and to over-turn the walls of it It is very sad that amongst Christians there should be any that in the great changes which God worketh in Nations Cities Families cannot see the great and living God at work and using creatures but as instruments in his hand but this is but a seeing and beholding the works of Providence highly useful for the production of pious affections and such acts of duty as God requireth We have a further Duty than this incumbent upon us 2. It is not only our Duty to see and behold but wistly to consider and observe these things Psalm 107.43 Whoso is wise will observe these things and he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord a Text which in this discourse I shall make a further use of Observation implieth the application of our minds unto the passages of Divine Providence which are before our eyes as we must not be careless and forgetful hearers of the word of God so we must not be careless and forgetful observers of the works of God It is said Gen. 37.11 that Jacob observed the saying Josephs saying in the repetition of his Dream relating to eminent providential workings So it is said Luke 2.19 That when upon the birth of our Saviour the Angels had spoke to the Shepherds and the Shepherds had published the glad tidings which they had brought to the City That all who heard it wondred at those things which were spoken by the Shepherds Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart To see a thing is one thing to make our minds to stand upon it to consider it and to ponder upon it is another thing This is also our Duty as to meditate on the Lords words so to meditate on the Lords works twice the Psalmist hath it I will meditate on all thy works Psalm 143.5 I muse on the works of thy hands So Psalm 77. v. 12 I will meditate also on all thy works and talk of thy doings It is our great fault that we suffer the impression of Gods works to go off our hearts too soon We hear of great changes we see great desolations God works in Kingdoms Cities and Families at first they make a little impression upon us we startle at them but by the next day they are as a tale that is told the sound is out of our ears the impression is off our minds this is now not to observe the works of the Lord not as we ought to consider the operation of his hands 3. It is thirdly our Duty modestly and humbly to search out the causes of Providences towards our selves especially We are commanded to hear the Rod and who hath appointed it Thus did Josephs brethren Gen. 42.21 when they were in prison they said one to another We are verily guilty concerning our Brother when we saw the anguish of his soul when he sought to us and we would not hear therefore is this distress come upon us Job prays Job 10.2 Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me this is but a searching and trying our ways an excellent help and necessary medium in order to a true repentance Indeed it is our great errour that we are very prone to search out the causes of severe Providences upon others The Barbarians seeing a Viper cleave to Pauls hand conclude him a Murtherer but we are very slow and backward to enquire into the meritorious causes of Gods severe Dispensations to our selves Yet as to others as it is our Duty to observe the Providences of God to them so we may modestly and humbly search out the causes of them Thus did Jeremiah venia praefata having first recognized God in the Justice and righteousness of his proceedings Jer. 12.1 Righteous art thou O Lord in thy Judgments when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgments why doth the way of the wicked prosper c So the Prophet Habbakuk ch 1.13 Wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he But as to this searching into the causes of Divine Providences I put in those two words modestly and humbly Indeed God is so plain and open in his Judgments sometimes that the provocation is wrote and that in capital Letters in the front of the punishment Thus it was in the case of the Sodomites the Egyptians the Benjamites Sauls bloody house Haman the final destruction of the Jews c and thus it is still very often The Drunkard dies in his drunkenness but it is not always so The Judgments of the Lord are a great deep This enquiry therefore into causes must be modest and humble we must no more caecutire in revelatis as to the works of God than as to the word of God if we see a blood-thirsty and deceitful man not living out half his days a Dart striking through the liver of the Adulterer these are open things And when we see prophane vile wretches devouring those that are more righteous than they when we see God plaguing men according to his own heart chastening them every moment not giving them time to swallow their spittle These are secrets of Divine Providence of which we must be careful that we pass no ungrounded censure yea and we must search humbly too Our judgment in these cafes will amount to no more than a
in the second place This discourse concerning the unsearchable things of Divine Providence may serve to direct us as to much spiritual duty I will shew you this in four or five particulars 1. The first is that of the Apostle Rom. 12.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be wise to sobriety We translate it Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly It may as well be translated Not to be wise above what we ought to be wise but to be wise soberly The Apostle Col. 2.18 makes an intruding into things which we have not seen but a sign of ones being puft up with a fleshly mind Augustine saith when a thing is obscure Et aperte divina Scriptura non subvenit temere aliquid definire humana conjectura praesumit Aug. And the Scripture doth not plainly help humane Wisdom doth but presume rashly to define any thing about it 'T is an excellent thing for a Christian to know his measures not to reach at further degrees of knowledg about the secret things of God than it hath pleased God in his Word to communicate unto us that is the true boundary of spiritual knowledg But I shall not inlarge upon this This is now opposite to that curiosity which I largely reflected upon under the first head of Application 2. This in the second place calleth to us for a deep adoration and veneration of God This is one reason why the Lord hath made his judgments so unsearchable his ways past finding out An holy and humble admiration of God is one piece of that homage which our souls owe to God He is to be admired of all them that believe 2 Thes 1.10 All admiration is the daughter of some ignorance we seldom or very little admire what we fully and perfectly understand The unsearchableness of God in his ways makes him the true and proper object of our admiration and admiration giveth God the honour of his unsearchableness Take heed of denying or disputing what the Scriptures reveal of God because you cannot comprehend and fathom it Where you cannot comprehend him there it is your duty to adore and to admire him 3. This Proposition calleth aloud to all To take heed of making the motions and issues of Providence the rule and guide of their actions We are to follow the rule of the word not the windings of Providence I told you before that Providence is like a man of business that carrieth a great many designs in his head at once and seldom keepeth his road he that will bear such a man company to London or any other place which is the ultimate end of his journy may go a great deal out of his way and where he hath nothing to do and be a great while longer than he need before he cometh there neither must the opportunities which Providence offereth be always taken nor conclusions be made from the successes or frowns of it 4. Learn hence to take heed of raising either too sweet or too bitter conclusions for or against your selves from the Providences of God The indications reasons tendencies of Providence are all unsearchable things Love or hatred cannot be concluded from what is before you in this life Providence carrieth many to hell by a gale of prosperity and others into heaven by a whirlwind of adversity the way to heaven is by much tribulation some are scourged into heaven others go leaping and dancing into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone 5. Lastly Though it be our duty to be wise unto sobriety and not to search curiously into what God hideth from us though we cannot make either the motions or issues of Providence the rule of our duty or action because in our appearance it sometimes pointeth one way when the rule of the word directeth us another yet it is our duty to observe the motions and passages of Divine Providence to behold observe ponder them and to lay them up in our hearts Now what observation of Providence is our duty or what observable things there are in the workings and motions of Divine Providence must be the subject of a far larger discourse SERMON XIV Psal CVII 43. Who so is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. WHoso wistly casteth his eyes upon this Psalm will find it from first to last a Song of Providence intermixed with frequent exhortations or wishes That men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men My Text is the conclusion of this excellent Song Whoso is wise observeth these things The Prophet Hosea hath much such a conclusion of his Prophecy Hos 14.6 Who is wise and he shall understand these things prudent and he shall know them The Proposition of the Text is plainly this Prop. It is an argument of spiritual wisdom in men to observe the motions of Divine Providence and those that do it shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. The Proposition you see hath two Branches 1. That it is an argument of spiritual wisdom to observe the motions of Divine Providence 2. That he who doth observe them shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. The work commended to us is the observation of Providence The honour and reward of the work is expressed in two things 1. It speaketh a man wise truly spiritually wise 2. He shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. The word which we translate observeth is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word that signifies to keep and to observe it is often used in Scripture to signifie a keeping safely and translated by the LXX by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He shall keep me in the way wherein I shall walk and he that keepeth Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth Psal 121.4 And he shall give his angels charge over thee and they shall keep thee Psal 91.11 In all those Texts the same word is used sometimes it is used to signifie such a keeping of Gods Commandments as sheweth it self in practice as in Deut. 6.17 and chap. 8.2 sometimes a keeping of them in our mind as in that Text Gen. 37.10 Jacob kept the saying the LXX interpret it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pagnine saith of it Curam sollicitudinem diligentiam denotat ne quid emittatur elabatur aut excutiatur It denotes care sollicitude and diligence that nothing slip out or be let go or shaken out In short I conceive this duty of observing the works of the Lord his great and various works of Providence may be dispatched in three things 1. In a considerate beholding and looking upon them Works of Providence pass before our eyes every day but the truth is for the most part we see and do not see them that is we do not considerately and deliberately fix our eyes upon them and see them as the Lords works we see them as events in the world but consider not the operation of Gods hands in
them This is no observing of them Observing them argues a fixing of the eye of the mind as well as the body upon them without which a transient view of them is of very little significancy and import unto men 2. In a diligent reposing them in our minds this is that which we call a remembring of them The Lord doth his great work to be had in remembrance This is a consequent of the other we remember little of those things we only cursorily view as they come before us but when we six our eyes upon them and apply our minds to the knowledg of them then we remember them 3. In a continued and repeated view of them and reflexion upon them That man that suffereth not the great and daily workings of Divine Providence to pass by his eyes as a tale passeth through his ears which he heedeth not nor applieth his mind unto but fixeth his eye and mind upon them lodgeth them in his memory frequently reflecteth upon them repeateth and re-considereth them in his thoughts that is a wise man and he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord And that brings me to the second Question in the Explication of the Proposition Quest 2. How is he wise how is it an argument of wisdom and doth he appear to be a wise man who observeth these workings of Providence Wisdom is sometimes taken in a larger sense so a knowing understanding man is a wise man sometimes in a stricter sense as it signifieth a practical habit directing the life and conversation sometimes as comprehending both and so I shall take it in the Proposition He is a wise man he will have more knowledg and understanding than another man and will know better how to order and direct himself in the several parts of his Conversation 1. He will be a more knowing and understanding man We use to say Experience is the mistris of fools Experience maketh a fool wise and indeed without it notions give little wisdom we speak in the commendation of the ablest persons in any art or profession such a one is an experienced man and the more experienced any one is in his art or course the better you account him in it Nothing is so well learned by rule and precept as by example and president Hence it is a common maxim of these times That the study of books accomplisheth none so much as the study of men doth Knowledg is much increased by experimental observation By this Much of the knowledg of God will be let into the soul We cannot see God as he is in his own light we must behold him in his word and in his works From the Word of God we get a great knowledg of God what he is as to his Divine Being and in his glorious Attributes but the knowledg which we have of God from his Word is both confirmed in us and increased by his works of Providence and our observation of them as well as of his great work of Creation And that 1. As they establish the Proposition of the word and confirm our faith in it Psal 48.8 As we have heard so haeve we seen in the city of our God God will establish it for ever Demonstration confirms us in our notions The Church had before learned it that God would establish his Church but now they were confirmed in it when they had seen it in the Works of Providence what they had before heard from the mouth of Gods Prophets and Messengers indeed a notion is but a probationer in our souls until we come to have it established by Faith and Demonstration 2. An observation of Providence doth also increase knowledg as it expounds to us the word of God and giveth us a more certain clear and distinct knowledg of the revelations of it We do not know how to expound some words of God but as we are taught the meaning of them by his Providential Dispensations in the fulfilling of it Gods dispensations in the world both toward his Church and the enemies and persecutors help us to understand both his promises and his threatnings 2. He who observeth the motions of Divine Providence will also know better how to order and direct his life I told you that Wisdom strictly taken is a practical habit directing this He that thus observeth will best know how to order his Conversation But will some say Is not this to make Providence our rule I answer It is one thing to make the Providence of God an argument to justifie our actions which the word condemneth Another thing to take occasions from Providence for the performance of our duty Providence alone is no rule of our actions but the word which is the rule of our actions is more sealed and confirmed to us by Providence Though Providences give no rule yet they wonderfully confirm and establish a rule when what we have read and heard in the word we see in the dealings of God it giveth a new life and makes a new impression of the rule upon our hearts God hath said Blood-thirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days and honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God give thee Now when we see God cutting off cruel and bloody men in the strength of their years or cutting off a stubborn and rebellious Child in his youth it wonderfully confirmeth the word to us and helpeth us to guide our Conversation so as we may not tread in their steps and be partakers of their Judgments 2. Again Though Providence be no rule as to particular actions yet it is a great help to us as to the three great principles of all our spiritual actions which are Faith Fear Love It is true the Proposition of the word is the object of our Faith when a soul giveth assent to the Proposition of the word because of the Authority of God who hath revealed it and this is the reason why wicked men though they have the Scriptures as well as others yet walk not in the light of them because they believe them not they assent not to the Propositions of Truth that are revealed in them but either say in their heart That it is but the fancy and invention of men or else flatter themselves with the hopes of impunity saying with those in Deuteronomy That they shall have peace although they walk according to the imaginations of their own hearts But now when a man observeth the Providence of God exemplifying and verifying the Word of God it much helps his faith in the word especially as to those in whose heart God hath wrought a previous habit of Faith It is true in this case the Providences of God will do little alone we have the words of Christ They have Moses and the Prophets if they will not believe they will not believe if one should rise from the dead But where a soul is first taught of God to give
a credit to his word if his faith be weak and languid the exemplifying of the thing revealed in the Word of God by the issues of Providence tendeth much to the confirmation of the souls faith and assent and therefore it is laid to the charge of the Israelites as a great aggravation of their sins That they believed not for all his wondrous works And this was the great aggravation of the sin of the Pharisees and the Jews that lived in the time when our Saviour was upon the Earth that although the Providence of God had declared Christ to be the Son of God by his doing such works as no man ever did and by such evident signs and tokens as never before were declared as to any man yet they believed him not to be the Son of God 2. As Faith is one great principle of all our spiritual actions so Fear is another Now the observing of Divine Providences much conduceth to this It is particularly remark't by the Holy Ghost upon the sudden death of Ananias and Saphira That a great fear came upon all the Church and upon as many as heard of those things And in the Law of Moses you shall find God commanding exemplary Justice to be done upon some remarkable offenders for this very end That all Israel might hear and fear It is particularly said Jonah 1.16 When Jonah had told them the cause of the storm and they had thrown him over-board Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly and offered sacrifices and made vows Severe Providences without the word make men startle and put them into a passion of fear but when they follow a word of threatning and they do but see God doing what in his word he hath said he will do this must needs have a great power and influence upon the heart especially upon the hearts of such as before had an habit of Divine Fear wrought in them though it were smothered with the ashes of too much carnal security 3. Love to God is a third principle of spiritual action an habit wrought in the soul of every Child of God but not at all times so lively and quick and working as it ought to be Now the observation of Gods good and gracious Providences serves hugely to excite it and to blow up the Coals of it in the soul Psal 37.23 O love you the Lord all his Saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer But this will be further enlarged upon in my discourse upon the second branch of the Proposition which I now come to discourse upon Mem. 2. Whoso observeth the Providences of God he shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I take the word understand here to signifie three things 1. Knowledg 2. A more clear and distinct knowledg 3. A more demonstrative and experimental knowledg 1. He shall know the loving-kindness of the Lord understand it with reference to the Church and People of God for Gods Providence is like the Cloud which conducted the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red-sea it hath a light-side which hath an aspect upon Gods Israel and it hath a black and dark-side towards his enemies Now he who observeth Divine Providence will know this That all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth to those that fear God Psal 25.10 A slight and transient view of Divine Providence will not bring a man to the knowledg of this but a wist view and observation of Divine Providence in the course and series of it will do it The word of God speaketh much of the Love and Favour of God to his People Providence to the strict and constant observer of it will confirm all these words God himself speaking after the manner of men to Abraham speaks as if he had not known his love and obedience to him till he had made an experiment of it and saw that he would not have withheld from him his Son even his only Son We know nothing of the loving-kindness of God before we see it experimented and brought into demonstration in comparison with what we know upon such an evidence and this we gain by our considerate observation of the motions of Divine Providence 2. He who observeth the motions of Providence shall have a more distinct knowledg of the loving-kindness of God He shall not only know that God is good to Israel and to all that are of a clean heart but he shall also see something of the Methods of God in the exercise of his loving-kindness When we speak of the Love and Favour of God to his People we are prone to understand by it nothing but pleasing Providences grateful to our senses now the loving-kindness of God is not only seen in pleasing dispensations but in adverse Providences also Whom he loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every child whom he receiveth All things are yours saith the Apostle This knowledg must be gained by observation Sense looks upon cross dispensations of Providence and it may be Reason judging of them from present appearances and effects cryeth out All these things are against me Here is nothing of promised loving-kindness in all this Is his mercy clean gone doth his promise fail for evermore But whoso observeth Divine Providence will in these things also understand the loving-kindness of the Lord and know that it is the method of Divine Providence to deal out the loving-kindness of God to the Souls of his People through crosses and tryals and afflictions in a way which at present they do not understand and know but shall know hereafter No affliction saith the Apostle is joyous at present but grievous but it bringeth forth afterward the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby Heb. 12.11 3. Vnderstanding thirdly may signifie experience and indeed there is no such understanding as experience gives Every Child of God that observeth Divine Providence shall find it let the wind of it blow which way it will giving him an experiment and demonstration of the Love of God to his Soul But thus much shall serve to have spoken to the Explication of this Proposition in both branches I come to the proof of it to shew you how it appeareth That he who observeth the motions of Divine Providence and he alone shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. It will appear to you if you but consider 1. That however things go in the course of Providence yet it is most certain that they are mercy and truth to them who fear God For this we have a certain word Psalm 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his Covenant and his Testimonies And again Psalm 73.1 Truly God is good to Israel In my former Discourse I shewed you three Objects of special Providence 1. Rational creatures are a more special object of Providence than either inanimate or brute creatures 2. Amongst rational Creatures those men and women in the World which make
designs which he carrieth on at the same time God designs to bring the Jews into Canaan but a-long with this to carry on the destruction of the Egyptians the Amorites whose sins in Abrahams time were not come to the full the destruction of the rebellious and disobedient amongst the Israelites Now in order to this the Egyptians must ripen themselves for their ruin by their oppression of Israel The Amalekites and Amorites and the other Nations by their falling upon them at their coming out of Egypt and in their journey Now upon these accounts the Providence of God often seemed to move quite contrary to the word of Promise The people of Israel at the Red-sea and in the Wilderness looked very unlike a people that should have a quiet possession of Canaan Therefore I say Providence is to be observed in its Motions which seem contrary to the Word but the Indications of it are only to be determined from the Word God hath appointed wicked men to slaughter notwithstanding this we see most vile and wicked men thriving prospering growing great in the World and trampling the righteous servants of God under their foot Observe this but take heed of determining the Indication of this but from the Word which saith There is no peace to them keep therefore thine Eye upon their Tabernacles and thou shalt see the Lords Sun go off it and the Threatning verified 2. Compare present Providences with those that are past As those who will understand the letter of Scripture must compare Text with Text so those who will be wise by understanding the motions of Providence must compare Providences of a present age with Providences of former ages Thou art offended possibly at the Providences of God towards wicked men they thrive and prosper they grow mighty and encrease and do what they list Or at the Providences of God towards those who if thou canst judg are such as walk closest with God and are most severe worshippers and servants of him they are hated maligned exposed to all manner of injuries which may make their lives bitter to them Thou cryest out here O the depth I cannot understand the ways of God I cannot see his loving-kindness towards his people Compare now Christian Gods dealing in thy age with his dealings both with wicked men and with his sincere servants in former ages and see if they be not much alike with what they were In Jobs time and Davids time and Jeremiah's time Yet it is not hard for thee to understand how the servants of God in those times found the loving-kindness of God and experienced that all the ways of the Lord were mercy and truth believe that the Hand of the Lord is not weakned nor his Arm shortened nor his Truth failed 3. Lastly If you would by observing the Providence of God understand his loving-kindness and gain a spiritual wisdom Let your eye affect your heart I hinted to you before that Mollerus telleth us such an observation of Providence is here intended unde ad pietatem exuscitemur ut inde meliores evadamus as will quicken us unto piety and help to make us better There are many careless observers of Providence that indeed see Events rather than Providences they see much that comes to pass in the World but consider nothing of God in them they see great fires laying populous Cities wast and possibly see a villain putting the first coal to them or a careless person accidentally occasioning them but they do not see God throwing such a wretch off his hand of restraint nor blowing the coals that turn the Cities into ashes by his winds which men could not cause Others are curious observers of Providences these are wonderfully busily employed in searching out the natural causes of such thunders lightnings inundations devouring pestilences c. They do by the book of Providence as Augustine complain'd of himself that in his unregenerate state he did by the book of Scripture he rather brought to it discutiendi acumen than discendi pietatem So men bring to the great Works of God rather an acute Eye and wit to find out the immediate causes and reasons natural or political than a trembling humble heart that they might learn by them more to acknowledg love fear adore and revere the great and mighty God whose works these are let not yours be such an observation but let your Eye beholding God in his providential Dispensations affect your hearts with that adoration and veneration that love and fear of the great and mighty God which such works of God do call to you for But for the further hopes and consolation of the people of God in their states of affliction I intend to commend to you some principal Observations upon the motions of Divine Providence which shall be the work if God pleaseth of some succeeding Exercises SERMON XV. Psalm CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am discoursing concerning Divine Actual Providence as the Object of good mens observation I shewed you in my last Discourse That the observation of the motions of it is both an Indication of spiritual Wisdom and an excellent step towards it and that by it duly made men and women shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. Now to advantage you a little in this Observation I shall give you an account of some observable things in the motions of Providence which possibly you may parallel in the present or future dealings of God both with his Church and with particular Souls I shall lay down my first Observation thus 1. Observ The Actual Providence of God in bringing about that word to which it is a certain servant doth rarely move in a direct line but sometimes obliquely sometimes to our appearance quite contrary but at last it fulfilleth the word and is all the while faithfully executing the Eternal Counsel There are three things in this Observation each of which I will open in a few words and then endeavour to justifie the observation by particular instances after which I shall give you some reasonable account of it and then make some short Application First I say The Providence of God is a certain servant to the word the word either of Promise or of Threatning for Providence serveth to the execution of them both As we have heard so have we seen in the City of our God saith the Psalmist Psal 48.8 the Promise is but providentia occultata and Providence is but promissio explicata the Promise fully explained and opened and this is no more than you shall find recognized by the holy Servants of God both in all their thanksgivings for mercies they had received and in all their humiliations upon any judgments which the Lord had brought on them as also in all the Narrative parts of Scripture declaring any great motions of Providence how often do you meet with it in the Gospel such or such a thing was
take away his life pursueth him with an Army from place to place David had a pitiful company with him is forced to flee to Gath there to dissemble himself mad would any one have thought that had seen David among the Philstines scrambling on the walls that he should ever have been King over Israel and Judah At length Saul and Jonathan the next heir are slain in Battel then Ishbosheth is set up but yet after all these oblique and seemingly contradictory motions of Providence it cometh home to the promise David is setled in the Throne of Israel and Judah 4. Let a fourth instance be that of the Gospel Church God had promised that he would set his King upon the holy hill of Zion Psalm 2.6 v. 8 That he would give him the heathen for his inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession and promises of this nature are everywhere multiplyed by the Prophets Isaiah especially Our Lord when he ascended up into Heaven gave out a Commission to his Disciples in order to this effect Go preach and baptize all Nations c. Now at the first the Providence of God seemed to move as if the thing should presently have been done You read Acts 2 That the Spirit of God descended and there were then at Jerusalem saith the Text devout men of every Nation under Heaven Parthians Medes Elamites Mesopotamians Jews Cappadocians men of Pontus Asia Phrygia Pamphilia Egypt Lybians Cyrenians Romanes Cretes Arabians and heard the Apostles in their own language speaking of the great works of God Here were now Preachers made for all the World would not one have thought that surely at this time all the ends of the Earth should have been given unto Christ Peter at one Sermon converts two thousand soon after there were five thousand added to the Church But all on the sudden the Providence of God turneth the Gospel groweth out of repute and the Apostles that preached it too both with Jews and Gentiles James is put to death Peter hardly escapes The Church the only Gospel church God had at that time at Jerusalem was scattered and broken the Apostle complains That they were made as the filth of the world and as the off scouring of all things The Jews persecute them the Gentiles in all places rise up against the Preachers of the Gospel bonds stripes and imprisonments waited for the Apostles in all places where they came Paul saith he thought that God had set them forth as men appointed unto death spectacles to the World Angels and men Few of the great Ministers of the Gospel died their natural death the Christians were a sect everywhere spoken against all courses almost imaginable taken to root them out of all places for three hundred years together But at length the Providence of God cometh in a great measure to work up to the direct fulfilling of the many promises of this nature Constantine an Emperour of a great part of the World ariseth and commandeth and encourageth the preaching of the Gospel And thus it came to be spread and accepted in most known parts of the World Indeed there is hardly any instance can be given of any great work of Providence respecting Churches Nations or particular persons as to which this Observation will not justifie it self 5. For another instance may we not bring in if not all yet very many of your particular Souls who fear the Lord. You also upon believing receive the promises The promises are made of old but we receive them we come to have a title to them in the day when God opens our eyes and opens our hearts to a receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ turning our hearts from dead lusts and sins to serve the living God In that day I say we have a first right to all the Promises whether respecting joy and peace or spiritual strength and assistances Now very-often at the first of our conversion the Providence of God moves directly towards them the Soul finds a great life to Duty a great zeal against sin great joy and peace in believing glimpses of the glory of God But after this very ordinarily follow very dark hours and the Soul like Jonah cryes out of the belly of Hell The Soul that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his Servant yet walketh in the dark and seeth no light cryeth out My God my God why hast thou forsaken me and hath a thousand fair and foul days in its journey to Heaven I know particular cases must here be excepted but I speak of the ordinary Methods of Divine Providence with Souls whom God bringeth to glory 6. I will conclude this Discourse with the instance of the great work of Providence in the Reformation of his Church in this latter age whether you look upon it in Germany France or England In Germany it began with Luther an eminent Servant of of God though like Elias of like passions and infirmities with other men how strangely did the Providence of God in the beginning work towards the accomplishment of it That Luther who was a poor Monk should be preserved to plant the Doctrine of the Gospel and should diffuse it so far as he did and be preserved to do it against all the rage both of the Pope and Emperour 28 or 29 years was a great favour of Providence to the infantile Reformation but afterwards how the Providence of God gave check to it is sufficiently known yet it kept its ground and gained For England we know from our story That King Hen. 8 laid the first stone we also know how Providence at first favoured the work during all the reign of Edward the sixth but in Queen Maries time for five years together it seemed to move directly cross the Popish Superstitions were restored in all parts of the Nation Multitudes burnt for the profession of the Gospel others fled into foreign parts to secure their lives But the Providence of God returned again to its work in the time of Queen Elizabeth But I have spoken enough to justifie the Observation Let me in the next place endeavour to give you a reasonable account of these transverse motions of Providence not that I dare presume to give you the reasons why God moveth thus or thus for who hath been his Counsellor at any time but so far forth as to shew you that these motions of Providence are approvable to our Reason so as we may judg the Lords ways but proportioned to his wise and great designs 1. In the first place certainly one reasonable account to be given of these motions must be the variety of designs which the Providence of God ordinarily carries on together I have hinted this to you before suffer me here to enlarge a little upon it again I then compared Providence to a man of great business and dealings in the World who though London or some other great place be in his Eye as the end of his Journey where his business lies
abideth for ever If two be walking together they had never more need to take heed that they lose not one anothers company than in a dark and blustring night when the darkness keeps them that they cannot see one another and the wind hindereth that they cannot hear the sound each of others feet The Believer and the Promise are Relates companions each to other there is never more danger of their being parted each from other than in a night of dark and blustring Providence Now a Christian stands concerned to be often applying his Soul to the Promise often calling upon his Soul as David in Psalm 42 Trust thou in God for I shall yet praise him Nor is there any thing more conducive to make a Christian at such a time hang upon the Promise than to hear that it is the usual method of Divine Providence then to remember Gods people when they are in the lowest condition Fourthly As this calleth to the people of God for faith in the Promise so it calls to them for hope Faith and Hope are so near of kin that they are oft put one for another Indeed Hope is nothing else but Faith looking out at the windows of the soul in expectation of the coming of the thing believed There is an hope that worketh upon the encouragements of sense when the mercy hoped for is seen coming in a way of probable means but there is an Hope that proceedeth meerly upon the Evidence of Faith when the Soul hopeth for some good thing but seeth no encouragement from any sensible thing the former is but a natural affection working upon an absent probable good This latter is a supernatural habit and an exercise of grace The Apostle calls it an hoping against hope or a believing in hope against hope This is that which I am calling to you for This is that which keepeth the heart alive in the deadest time We use to say If it were not for hope under evils the heart would break Faith is the acquiescence of the Soul in the World Hope is the motion of the Soul consequent to this acquiescence Faith saith the thing is sure Hope seeth it coming and relieveth the Soul with that Hope is the Souls watchman The Soul cryes out Watchman what of the night Watchman what of the night Hope saith The morning is coming Now this Observation advantageth Hope It assures you that God is coming at Midnight When you see these things come to pass saith our Saviour Luke 21.28 lift up your heads for the day of your redemption draweth nigh It hath reference to all that went before where our Saviour had been telling them of the great Evils that were to precede his coming Now saith our Saviour when you see things at this miserable despicable pass then lift up your heads Fifthly This Notion calleth to the people of God for fervent and constant prayer for the Church and people of God when they are at the lowest ebb Never give over the case of the Church and people of God for desperate it is never less so than when it most appeareth to you to be so I remember it is particularly remarked concerning Daniel in the 9th Chapter of his Prophesie That when he understood by books that the time was come for the fulfilling of the Jewish captivity then he made that excellent Prayer which you have upon record in that Chapter with a great deal of fervor and zeal for the people of which you will find it full Daniels certain knowledg that that was the time for their deliverance did not supersede his duty of Prayer but more abundantly quicken him to it In such a state of the Church and people of God as I have been describing to you a Christian hath two great arguments to perswade him to a more constant diligent and fervent application of himself to the throne of Grace 1. The Churches misery and low condition calling to him for pity and what help he can give it 2. The knowledg he hath or may have that it is now about the time when God useth to arise and help Lastly This Observation calleth upon all that fear the Lord especially at such a time when they or the Church of God is lowest to watch unto holiness to wait upon the Lord and keep his way and to be wary of sin To deter all that fear God from sinning especially at such a time I might mind you of that precept of God to the Jews When the Host goeth forth to battel then take heed of every wicked thing But I shall conclude with that known story of the Israelites You know they had an old Promise made four hundred years before that they should inherit the land of Canaan they had served in Egypt many years they were now come over the Red-sea and had encountred and overcome the long and many difficulties of the Wilderness they were brought within a prospect of the promised Land nothing wanted but a taking possession they murmur against God retard their entrance forty years until all that generation was destroyed except Caleb and Joshuah I shall conclude Hath the Church been a long time under great pressures things still as to its interest growing worse and worse that they seem to be brought to as low a pass as they can be Now begins her hope to dawn according to that Method of Providence which I have observed to you Only now let the people of God look to themselves that by some defection they do not set back their own mercies You may take the Exhortation in the words of the Apostle 1 Cor. 10.6 Now these things happened unto them for our ensamples to the end that we should not lust after evil things as they lusted neither be ye Idolaters as were some of them c. But I shall add no more to this Second Observation SERMON XVII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Have both shewed you the duty of the people of God to make Observations upon the motions of Divine Providence and the advantage accrewing to them that perform it 1. It is an indication of spiritual Wisdom 2. Those that do it shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. My work at present is to give you some observations upon the motions of Actual Providence which is the work of God in the World fulfilling his purpose and fulfilling his Word both of Promise and of Threatning Two of those Observations I have given you discoursed upon them and made some futable Applications I proceed to a third 3d Observ Providence ordinarily doth its greatest works in the day of mans smallest things It is truly observed that the greatness of Divine Power and Wisdom is most seen in the Creation and Preservation of the least creatures As a Workman is most magnified that can bring most art into the least room and it is as true that the greatness of Divine Providence
he was able to perform Abraham that he might keep up his heart fixed on the promise he considered not the nothingness or improbability of the means he considered nothing but the power and faithfulness of God God had said it there was a promise for it a promise from him who could not lye then he considereth that he who had promised was able also to perform an honest faithful man may sail in his promise because he may not be able to perform but as God was faithful so he was also able he keeps his Eye off means fixed upon God So again Heb. 11.17 18 19 By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promise offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead Abraham had a promise that in Isaac his seed should be called God calls Abraham with his own hand to slay Isaac he could not but have such thoughts as these Lord if Isaac be gone where is thy promise what becomes of thy word how shall my seed be called in him how shall I be the father of the Jewish Nation if Isaac be he in whom my seed must be called and he be dead before he hath a child He had nothing to relieve him under these thoughts but this That God was able to raise him from the dead hither he flies and keeps up his faith in the Promise by turning his eye off from the means and meerly considering the power and faithfulness of God You shall find Asa doing thus 2 Chron. 14.9 10 11 Asa had but an Army of five hundred thousand Zerah the Ethiopian cometh out against him with an Army of a million and three hundred Chariots there was double the number he had If he had look'd upon the means he must have desponded how should five hundred thousand deal with ten hundred thousand but he looks off the means and fixeth his Eye upon God Ver. 11 He cryeth unto the Lord and saith Lord it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power help us O Lord our God for we rest on thee and in thy Name we go against this multitude O Lord thou art our God let not man prevail against thee Secondly In such a day consider the experiences of Gods people consider what they did and how they sped What they did that you heard in the instance both of Abraham and Asa They shut the Eyes of their sense and natural reason they took off their Eyes from all consideration of means and eyed only the certainty of the Promise the faithfulness of God and the power of God So did Abraham so did Asa Then 2. Consider how they sped Abraham had a Son at the set-time Abraham had his Son reprieved when the knife was at his throat and his seed was called in Isaac The Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Juda c. saith the Text 2 Chron. 14.12 13 14. Now it is a great encouragement to us in the exercises of our faith to consider the experiences of other of the Servants of God in their exercises of Faith Our father 's trusted in thee saith David Psalm 22 they trusted and were delivered The strength of this lieth in the stedfastness and unchangeableness of God he is the same his name is I am David as to Goliah raised up his faith upon his former experiences in slaying the Lion and the Bear 1 Sam. 17 and upon the experience of others Psalm 22 nothing is more conducive to help and relieve a Christian weak as to his faith in the day either of small things as to the Church of God in which he is considered as a member or in the day of small things as to his own personal concerns God chuseth the day of small things to be seen in it is the day which Providence chuseth to shew it self great in And you may thus advantage your faith in God in such a day Now for your further encouragement in this exercise of faith in God beyond the visibility or apparent probability of means I shall offer these things to your consideration 1. That it is Gods ordinary time and method of working This is that which I discoursed to you in justification of the Observation and proved it to you from a plenty of instances and therefore shall not enlarge here 2. That God never worketh with so much advantage to his own glory as in such a time when he fulfilleth his Word in the day of mans small things We never need doubt Gods pursuing of the great ends of his glory He doth all things for himself his glory is the end of all his great works Now I say God never worketh more for the advantage of his glory than in such exigents then is his power and the greatness thereof most eminently made known Then shall his people more see and confess the Arm of the Lord. 3. Consider thirdly this is the proper work of faith It is true we ought to exercise Faith in the use of means let them be never so great never so probable for the accomplishment of the the End but the proper place for faith is where means are weak or wanting to put the Soul in hope against hope It is the evidence of things not seen as patience is an habit of grace given the Soul for a day of adversity so faith is made for an hour of sensible darkness 4. Lastly Nothing so pleaseth and engageth God as such an exercise of faith Asa 2 Chron. 14.11 useth it as an argument with God Help us O Lord for we rest on thee and in thy Name we go against this great multitude The next Verse saith God smote the Ethiopians 2 Chron. 13.18 You will find that Jeroboam's Army was full double to the number of Abijah's and could not have been conquered without some extraordinary influence of God upon Abijah's side Now would you know what engaged the Lord of Hosts ver 18 Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time and the men of Judah prevailed because they relied upon the Lord God of their fathers See the contrary 2 Chron. 16.7 Hanani the Seer cometh to Asa and telleth him Because thou hast relied on the King of Syria and not relied on the Lord thy God therefore the Host of the King of Syria is escaped out of thy hands Thus I have shewed you a second thing in which I conceive the duty of a Christian lies in the day of small things viz. The exercise of a faith in God beyond the vertue and probability of the means 3. A third piece of his duty is To beware of the use of sinful means in order to the accomplishment of what he desireth It is a great vanity to which through our misapprehension of means we are very subject if we want lawful means to make use of
severe manner as he did to those Rusticks that so much disturbed the Civil peace in Germany but generally punisheth by disappointments to bring us to a regular trust and confidence in him where we have a plain and sure word to fix our foot upon Thus I have shewed you the reasonableness of these cross motions of Divine Providence in point of Divine Justice that God might punish peoples sinnings in them and caution others against the like guilt 2. Let me in the second place shew you the reasonableness of it in order to the glory of God which I have often told you is the great end which God aims at in all his great Works whether of Creation or of Providence 1. The work is more eminently seen to be the Lords although he in effecting it maketh use of instruments and humane means God doth not always yea he doth not ordinarily work miraculously but maketh use of rational means and worketh in with and by them Now if God in these workings should make use of means and instruments and circumstances which our fancies prescribe unto him we should be apt to overlook the mighty Power and Efficiency of God in the means for the more we have a prospect of an event in the second Causes before it comes the less we see of the first Cause in it But when we see our selves disappointed in all our expectations as to time persons means circumstances and the thing brought about by persons we thought not of at a time we looked not for it by means not at all in our eyes as probable to effect it the more is the hand and power of God seen in the effect while we cry out This is the Lords doing and it is marvelous in our eyes 2. Again God hath more Glory from the Prayers Humiliations and Praises of his people By these things God is glorified as his Will is done as his Power is recognized Disappointments produce more extraordinary Prayers and Humiliations when we meet with them we see the folly of our rashness ungrounded confidences and see reason to lye low before the Lord with more fervent Prayers to God to take his work into his own hand and having manifested to us our follies now to declare his own wisdom that having broken our arms of flesh he would now make bare his own holy arm and the fulfilling of his word at last by means and circumstances not known to us produce praises adorings and admirings of his infinite wisdom and further confidences in God for the time to come when we see arms of flesh broken and find our bruised reeds and broken staffs but running into our hands and wounding us instead of helping us I have done with the Doctrinal part of this Observation I come now to the Application of it Vse 1. The first Use may be Not to wonder at disappointments of this nature and to take heed they be no temptations to us Here are you see two branches 1. Not to wonder at them There is nothing more ordinary it is not often that a Church or body of people or a particular soul or person obtaineth any great mercy or deliverance in the way they looked for it or at that moment of time they expected it in God delights to surprize his peoples hearts with joy and gladness we are sick and we are ready to think such a person and by such a means must heal us the cure comes quite another way Naaman thought the Prophet would have come and laid his hand upon his leprous body the Prophet bids him go and wash in the waters of Jordan We are in terrors in troubles of mind c. and we are ready to think such or such a Minister must speak to us and then we shall be relieved he cometh and applieth what help he can we are yet disquieted and find no relief at all the mercy comes at last quite another way Mercy comes to Gods People as Judgment ordinarily comes upon sinners in a way and upon a day they looked not for it when with Agag they say Surely the bitterness of death is past I say so mercies ordinarily come to Gods People in an unlooked-for time in a way and by persons they looked not for it by 2. Let not such disappointments be temptations to you Let them not be temptations to make you distrust the promises or to use any unlawful and indirect means to obtain your desires It is not God that hath deceived you you have but deceived your selves God hath made you certain promises of the things you will limit him to do it by such a time by such means by such persons and instruments The promises express no such things but have left God to his liberty You have no reason to distrust Gods word because you have disappointed your selves Vse 2. Let us make this use of the Observation To embrace the promises and to depend upon God for the fulfilling of them without limiting him as to circumstances Let us do this as to those great promises which are behind to be fulfilled as to the destruction of Antichrist the calling of the Jews the second coming of Christ the more happy and calm state of the Church c. The Scripture seems clear as to the things that they shall be but it is far from being clear that it shall be in such a year or by such a mean or instrument there is nothing particular of this nature for a good Christian to set the foot of his faith upon I have shewed you there is a great vanity of Christians in these things I know Christians have a very great curiosity to search dark Prophecies to find out the particular circumstances for these things I cannot commend their diligence it is much like the hard labour and study of those that have been studying the Philosophers stone a great deal of money and much more precious time hath been spent about it nothing yet effected no more hath there been in these things men have wearied themselves in vain and their study hath been but labour and travel 2. Again As to promises that concern our particular souls for comfort for a victory over temptations c. they are many they are exceeding sweet but they are general not to this or that individual person but to such as love and fear the Lord to persons under such or such qualifications they are exceeding sweet but they are not made with circumstances God will have his people trust him he will have them wait for him Take heed either of saying These things shall never be this is to give the lye to the God of Truth God says thou shalt live thou sayest I shall dye I shall fall by the hand of this temptation and take heed of saying If it ever be it must be by such a time by such a Minister it would have been by such a Minister c. This is to limit the Holy One of Israel thou knowest not the ways of God it is
a knowledg too high too deep for thee Providence usually bringeth home both the promises to the Saints and the threatnings to the Sinners in a way quite different from what they looked for or it may be expected it in I have spoken enough already to take Christians off this but yet because it is a great point a thing wherein we are prone to slip and wherein our slipping is more than ordinarily dangerous let me spend a little time further to argue you out of this vanity and to direct your Souls in the expectation of the fulfilling of Divine Promises 1. Consider how much the strength of your souls is spent and how vainly in the expectations of your own fancies As the expectation of that for substance which God never promised is but the expectation of our own fancy so neither is the expectation of what God hath promised under such circumstances as are no part of the promse Now the strength of our Souls runneth much out in such expectations Let a man but fancy that in such a year Babylon shall fall The Jews shall be called The thousand years shall begin That by such a time the Church in distress or his Soul in distress shall be delivered It is strange to observe how the Soul will spend it self upon such a Notion the thoughts of men run upon it their wits are bent to interpret dark Scriptures into their own fancies it presently becomes the main article of their faith and the great argument of their hope and the whole subject of their discourses and at last possibly they are enforced to acknowledg that they had a lye in their right hand The Prophet useth the expressions upon an higher argument but yet they are applicable here Why spend you your strength for that which is not bread and your labour for that which will not profit There is nothing that is bread for a Soul but the Word of God it hath pitied my Soul many times to observe many otherwise I hope serious persons how they have spent themselves in such Enquiries and expectations as these Consider secondly how the faith of your souls is often endangered and shaken by your disappointments in these things I do but name this again for I before enlarged upon it How ready are we to dis-believe the Promise wholly because it comes not in the circumstances that we fancied it would come The Apostle was aware of this great Evil and therefore when some had been prophecying in the Church of the Thessalonians of a sudden coming of Christ to Judgment he writeth to that Church 2 Thess 2.1 2 Now we beseech you brethren by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him that you be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us as if the day of Christ were at hand Let no man deceive you by any means The Apostle saw that this hasty and ungrounded expectation of Christs coming under such circumstances as he had now here revealed did not only tend to the troubling of Christians when they saw themselves disappointed but also to the shaking of their faith as to the thing it self and therefore beseecheth them by the coming of our Lord Jesus and by their gathering together unto him what can be the meaning of that but this If ever you expect the joyful coming of Christ and would keep your faith steady as to it if ever you would be with us gathered unto him concern not your selves in those who would limit the Promises to the circumstances of their own fancying Let them pretend Revelations of the Spirit or wrest the word of God yet faith the Apostle let them not deceive you You have an eminent instance of this shaking of Christians faith so consequential to this limiting of God to circumstances Luke 22.31 There was a Promise of redeeming Israel Christ had been crucified and three days were passed and they had heard nothing tending to their expectation say they We trusted it had been he which should have redeemed Israel and besides all this to day is the third day since these things were done Their faith began to shake as to the main Promise because Providence in the accomplishment of them did not fit it with the circumstances which they had fancied Thirdly Consider it much hindereth that duty of waiting upon God which the Scripture so often presseth upon us I need not mention particular Scriptures there is hardly any one duty more pressed upon Christians in Scripture than this patient waiting upon and for God Now how doth that Soul wait upon God that limits God to his circumstances of time place means persons he indeed waiteth upon those circumstances a while but when he is disappointed as to them he knoweth not how to wait upon God any longer The Soul which truly waiteth on God leaveth circumstances unto him You will say unto me in the next place What then is the duty of a Christian with respect to the Promises whether concerning the Church or his own soul in particular I answer to receive and embrace them and be perswaded of the truth of them and leave unto God the way time manner and circumstances for fulfilling of them which he hath not revealed going on in the way of our plain duty till God shall please to give a being to his Word You shall see your duty Heb. 11.13 These all died in the faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth What promises were these The promises of Canaan of the Messias Abraham saw Christs day and rejoyced saith our Saviour They received these promises in their ears God revealed his will for these things they saw them afar off as things like to come to pass many years after they were perswaded of them of the truth of them that God would give them a being they embraced them with thankful believing hearts and lived so as that they confessed themselves strangers and pilgrims of the Earth in a constant course of self-denial and fulfilling the will of God and in a crucifixion to the World they never stood troubling themselves to search out the particular time and circumstances when and which way God would do these things but kept in the faith of the Promise leaving circumstances unto God Let us go and do likewise I shall conclude this discourse with a Text of our Saviours Luke 17.20 21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God should come He answered and said the Kingdom of God cometh not with observation Neither shall they say Lo here or Lo there for behold the Kingdom of God is within you Let me a little open these words to you The Kingdom of God that is the great things which concern the Kingdom of God these are not brought to pass and come
the ignorance and sottishness of the Popish-Clergy together with their covetousness ambition and debauchery to grow to that heighth that they grew an abomination to all men And as it is in the Political and Ecclesiastical body so it is as to the particular persons of Christians the Providence of God ordinarily disposeth the body according to the work which he hath to do upon the soul But that is more forreign to my observation therefore I shall not inlarge upon it Besides that I spake something to it under the former observation which hath some cognation with this this only differing from it in this shewing you that the Providence of God doth not make the Church lacquey to the world but he makes the world lacquey to the Church and subordinateth the business of the world to his own great designs relating to the Church Now if you ask me the reason of this it doubtless lyeth Reas In the peculiar favour of God to that people in the world which bear the name of his Church You have an expression Psal 87.2 The Lord loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Sion was the place at the foot of which the Temple was built where all the worship which God had in the world performed according to his will was performed The tabernacle in Shiloh was forsaken Psal 78.60 God hath a particular kindness for any place for any persons amongst whom his true worship is and where he hath placed to himself a Tabernacle though God had a kindness for the whole seed of Jacob yet he loved the gates of Sion above all the dwellings of Jacob because that was the place where his worship was regularly performed It holds still under the New Testament and will hold to the end of the world wheresoever God hath a Church or people he hath a particular kindness for that people they are in Scripture called the house of God God is said to dwell and walk amongst them and God hath yet a more particular favour to those that are the invisible part of the visible Church I mean such as truly belong unto God that worship him in spirit and in truth that fear the Lord and hope in his mercies as the Psalmist expresseth it Psal 33.18 All the world is nothing to God in comparison of this little flock to whom it is his will to give a Kingdom He hath given them his Christ and shall he not with him give them all things This were easily to be proved to you from a variety of Scripture and arguments drawn from thence Now supposing this it is no wonder if he subordinateth his works in the world to his designs here This is that Canaan which the Lord careth for and upon which his eyes are from one end of the year to another Deut. 11. His heritage the dearly beloved of his soul Jer. 12.7 His peculiar treasure his sister his spouse the redeemed and ransomed of the Lord his portion in short there is a multitude of expressions by which God hath shewen that his Church the whole body of people owning and professing him and especially those of them that worship him in spirit and truth and walk up to the rule of his word are dearer to him than all the world besides He calls them his bride Rev. 21.9 His beloved Psal 108.6 His building 1 Cor. 3.9 His City Heb. 12.22 His chosen generation 1 Pet. 2.9 His family Eph. 3.15 His husbandry 1 Cor. 3.9 His Kingdom the lot of his inheritance Now considering this it is no wonder at all that the Providence of God should manage all the affairs of the world in subordination to his designs for the good of this body All the relation of God to others is but that of a Creator and they are no better than the synagogues of Satan as to the Divine Worship that is in them and the throne of Satan with respect to the homage of their Conversation They are called children of wrath of disobedience of the curse strangers and forreiners If God sometimes gives up his people into the hands of wicked men it is either 1. For his peoples good to purge away their dross and take away their tinn as the Prophet expresseth it or for to ripen sinners for their destruction that they may by it fill up the measure of their iniquities Methinks you have a full proof of this Observation in the 105 Psalm the Psalmist in that Psalm is calling the Church of the Jews to give thanks unto the Lord to sing unto him to talk of all his wondrous works Then followeth a recapitulation of those great things which God had done for them amongst which this is reckoned that he subordinated his motions of Providence amongst the men and the nations of the world to his gracious designs for them Vers 14. He suffered no man to do them wrong yea he reproved Kings for their sake saying Touch not mine anointed do my prophets no harm and so he goes on almost quite through that Psalm Now I say the reason of all this was his love set upon this people As most of us have some particular persons that our heart is most set upon some particular interest and design that we drive on now whoever those persons be or whatever that design be we make all the rest of our actions to be subordinate to that So the great God having set up his glory as his great interest and design and set apart him and them that are godly for himself it is no wonder at all if he ruleth all the world and governeth all the affairs of it in subordination to this great interest and the good of this people I now come to the Application of this Observation Vse 1. In the first place as I said before upon the other Observation so I say here From hence a wise and observing Christian may in a great measure know what weather it is like to be in the Climate of the Church How it is like to fare with them that are the People of God They are and always were the far lesser part of the world and their quiet and tranquillity to look with a rational eye doth much depend upon the complexion of the men of the world and their inclinations if God intends a calm and tranquillity to the Church he usually so ordereth the world that the earth helps the woman the men of the world either out of good nature or which indeed mostly is the business out of interest shew them kindness Hence you shall observe that when God intendeth the tranquillity and prosperity of the Church his Providence ordinarily bringeth one of these things to pass 1. He sometimes raiseth up some eminent servant of his to do great services for the men of the world this you see in the case of Joseph God had designed the Jews a prospering multiplying time in the land of Egypt he raiseth up Joseph makes him a Privy-Counsellor to Pharaoh yea the second man
to us as a God that may at any time under any face of things be trusted We cannot see a worser face of things than when wickedness is at the heighth men in the heighth of rage and malice against the People of God when all kind of filthiness and sensuality abounds in a place when the vilest men are exalted and the wicked walk on every side they are put together Psal 12.8 But under such dispensations Christians trouble not your selves as to Gods care of his Church indeed it is and ought to be an afflicting dispensation 1. For the glory of God Under such a face of things the holy Name of God is blasphemed the honour of God is at present laid in the dust 2. Such a time must needs be a time of great suffering to the holy and innocent servants of God Many particular servants of God must be made great sufferers under such a Providence But yet incourage your self in God he that can bring light out of darkness can and will bring good out of such an evil as this is The Providence of God doth ordinarily compel even the worst of men to do his work howbeit that they mean not so one way or other they shall do the Lords work if no other way yet by making their own folly manifest to all men God often brings wicked men upon the stage to make them more abominable There are many in the world men of sobriety and vertue would not have believed there had been such horrible injustice and oppression such horrible and insatiable avarice such merciless cruelty in the hearts of many sinners if they did not see them play their parts upon a stage in the world In the mean time know that you trust in a God that knoweth how to make use of mens malice and to make the maddest and desperatest sinner serve his purposes Vse 2. In the second place what a foundation doth this notion lay for an Exhortation to all to break off their sins by true repentance and to give unto God a voluntary chosen service 1. To break off their sins by a true repentance I remember our Lords words to Saul out of Heaven Saul Saul saith he why persecutest thou me it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks Suppose a person whose heart the Devil hath filled with all malice that if he could he would pluck God out of Heaven and root out the Name of God from the Earth yet methinks this should discourage him in his fullest career and madness to think that he that sitteth in the Heavens laugheth him to scorn and when he hath done all he can he shall but have effected the Lords counsels and done the Lords work although he meant not so Let therefore the sinners of the Earth be instructed and learn wisdom they cannot do what they list and many times wherein they think and talk proudly God sheweth himself above them and they do Gods work quite besides and contrary to their own intentions There is no encountring with a God who can make the wrath of man to praise him and restrain the remainder of it when he pleaseth 2. If this be so certainly it is wisdom in men designedly and intentionally to serve God otherwise they lose their reward at least their spiritual and eternal reward We find God with temporal rewards sometimes rewarding men that do some things at his command though their hearts in the action be not right with God so Jehu was rewarded his Sons inherited the Throne to the 4th generation but God at last visited the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu But no man hath a spiritual reward inward joy and peace of conscience nor shall have an eternal reward but that man who with purpose of heart serveth the Lord. SERMON XXII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Proceed yet in making some Observations concerning the motions of Providence in the preservation and government of the world An eighth Observation which I shall make and a little enlarge upon is this Observ 8. That the Providence of God is wonderfully seen in bringing to light hidden counsels of darkness and punishing of sins which tend to the disturbance of civil societies Indeed there are not many sins but have an ill influence upon humane society and the reason is because there is no law in the world so fitted to the prosperous beings of Societies as the law of the Lord is but yet there are some which tend to a more eminent disturbance and confusion in them Such are now plottings and treasons against Princes whom God hath made the heads of these Societies Seditions and raising up mutinies murthers c. These make great gaps and disorders in political bodies and you shall observe the Providence of God bearing an eminent testimony against them Eccles 10.20 Curse not the King nō not in thy thought and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber for a bird of the air shall carry the voice and that which hath wings shall tell the matter it shall be discovered it shall be suddenly discovered and by ways that one would never think of Two things you shall observe in the workings of Divine Providence as to this thing 1. That it is very rarely that the Providence of God suffereth any such designs to come to any effect and issue 2. That if at any time he doth for the punishment of flagitious rulers suffer them to come to issue he very rarely suffereth the actors in them to go down to their graves in peace This abundantly justifieth it self in the story of Scripture and in all other story 'T is very rarely that the Providence of God suffereth conspiracies to take effect Of an hundred plots that you read of in story to take away the lives of Princes and make disturbances in political affairs it is very rare to read of any that take effect Job 5.12 either the Lord makes their own hearts to fail them or weakneth their hands that they cannot find their enterprize or put 's it into the hearts of some of the conspirators to reveal the matter or causeth some strange impression and jealousies in those whose lives are aimed at some way or other the Providence of God worketh to crush the cockatrices egg before it hatcheth into a serpent Our Queen Elizabeth was a famous instance of the special Providence of God in this kind over such as God maketh rulers over others What a strange discovery had we of the Powder-treason in this Nation But this is but the first thing which I commended to you under this Observation 2. Sometimes the Providence of God for his wise ends doth suffer such conspiracies to come to issue either for the personal sins of such rulers or for the sins of the people over whom God hath set them but when he doth he rarely suffereth the actors in them to go down to their graves in
them under some restraints as to those horrible sins of murther persecution defiling their neighbours wives c. To consider that these are some of the sins which go ordinarily before-hand to judgment and which God usually revengeth by some special remarkable Providences in this life But it is time to finish this discourse Let us beg Gods blessing upon it SERMON XXIII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am in a discourse about the observable things of Divine Providence When do you think shall I have finished it Day unto day uttereth speech night unto night declareth knowledg When I have said all that I can I must conclude with Job Lo these are parts of his ways but how little a portion of him do we understand However it is wonderfully sweet to know the least of God If a learned man could think it worth his while to write a book of the admiranda Nili the admirable and observable things of the famous River of Nile What a book might be written and how much worth a pen-mans hand would it be to write a book and call it Admiranda or Observanda Providentiae Divinae the admirable and observable things of Divine Providence But leaving Prefaces I proceed to a ninth Observation which is this Observ 9. The Providence of God often repayeth both good and evil and especially charity and cruelty in this life in its own kind 1 Cor. 3.8 2 Cor. 5.10 That God will reward every man according to his works is most certain and is a piece of Divine Justice he cannot condemn the innocent nor clear the guilty there will be a now when God will visit for all sin and though sinners do evil an hundred years yet the day of vengeance will come And to let us know the certainty of it oftentimes the Prophets of God in the denouncing of judgments yet a far off cryed out It is come It is come and gave the alarum as if the enemy had already entred the gates But God doth not recompence all sinners in this life Judgment comes afterward But for those whom God doth chastise in this life he doth not punish them all the same way some are punished with temporal judgments and those some of them of one sort some of another others he punisheth with spiritual judgments blindness of mind hardness of heart And it is the same case for rewards of grace some have little reward for all their service for God until they come in Heaven others are rewarded in this life but in different manners The Observation which I am making concerneth charity and mercy and the vices opposite to it such as are cruelty hardheartedness to those in want and misery In these cases I observe Gods Providence often retaliates I say 1. The Providence of God doth often recompence other sins in this manner but especially sins against charity and brotherly love God many times repayeth other sins in their kind our Saviour by this argument dissuades from rash censuring and censorious judging of others Matth. 7.1 2. For with what judgment you judg you shall be judged and with what measure you mete it shall be meted to you again A text which if well thought upon should deter Christians from the too common practice of censuring and judging one another especially in doubtful things where they are not of a mind as if sincerity and uprightness were the Prerogative of a party in Religion or annexed to some particular forms You know God threatned David for his adultery with Bathsheba That he would take his wives before his eyes and give them to his neighbour and he should lye with his wives in the sight of the Sun 2 Sam. 12.11 and it was fulfilled by the permission though not by the instigation of Divine Providence in 2 Sam. 16.22 Spoiling and plundering of others taking away their goods without a just warrant from God is another sin we find thus threatned Isa 33.1 Wo to thee that spoilest and thou wert not spoiled those that thou so rifledst never did thee any wrong and dealest treacherously and they dealt not treacherously with thee when thou shalt cease to spoil thou shalt be spoiled and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously they shall deal treacherously with thee But that indeed referreth to the more special observation as to sins opposite to that Charity we should exercise to our brethren to which I now come I say it is very observable that God punisheth sins against charity and rewardeth deeds and acts of charity in their kind secundum legem Talionis ordinarily giving the Authors of both like for like I will first shew it you in the motions of Providence as to the execution of Vindicative Justice in the punishment of sins against Charity Against which men may sin either by omissions hardening their hearts from their brother in distress not relieving him when it is in their power according to their ability or by commissions murders oppressions cruelty are all sins against Charity 1. For omissions It is a dreadful text Prov. 21.13 He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor he also shall cry himself and shall not be heard A text worth deliberating upon by those who find their hearts so shut up in cafes of Charity not that we are bound to hear the cry of all that are poor There are some poor that the greatest act of Charity we can shew them is not to relieve them that they may learn not to be idle and wander up and down begging refusing to work The poor we are concerned in are Gods poor I hope we favour none that are lazy idle or leud and by that means bring themselves to and continue themselves at a morsel of bread far be it from me or any Minister of Jesus Christ to plead for such You from us hear the cries of the Lords poor take heed of stopping your ears at their cry remember Solomons word Gods word by Solomon He that doth so he also shall cry and not be heard you may also come into such a condition or you may have a child may come to it through age through Gods hand upon him You remember the story of Naomi she went out full she returned empty the story of Job and others in Scripture I could tell you the stories of Belisarius of divers persons of far greater estates some of them than any that hear me this day yet brought to live upon the baskets of others who knows what you or yours may come to Do you think the great fire at London 1666 that at Northampton but the last year That at a Town in this County two or three years ago at Cottenham in Cambridg-shire the other day hath not given many instances of this nature for God of late hath very remarkably contended with England as by such a plague as our forefathers never knew so by a multitude of such
taken them off from that pursuit of the world by which others procure themselves a livelihood he hath told them they should live upon his Altar he hath told us 1 Cor. 9.7 That no man goeth to a warfare at his own charge none planteth a vineyard and eateth not the fruit thereof nor feedeth a flock and eateth not the milk thereof he seeth them out of obedience and conscience to him refusing the bread they might have men will not provide for them he will Ravens shall bring them meat every day but they shall be fed This is but a reasonable motion of Divine Providence I shall make a short Application of this discourse Vse 1. This in the first place lets you see the fountain of that bounty which the many painful and faithful servants of Christ have experienced in all times and even in the days wherein we live It hath pleased God in all times to raise up friends to his faithful Ministers I remember when Abigail came to meet David coming against her husband and had stopt his journey David saith unto her 1 Sam. 25.32 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee to meet me this day and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou c. First he blesseth God then he blesseth her the faithful servants of God yea the Churches of God who by this means enjoy any thing of the labours of their shepherds have reason to bless those whom God hath made his instruments to support those upon whom others had no pity Yea verily and what our Saviour said of the woman that spent her box of Oyntment upon him I think I may apply here Wherever the Gospel is preached what they have done shall be told for a memorial of them If a cup of cold-water for a thirsty Prophet shall obtain a Prophets reward the greater kindnesses of many shall certainly be rewarded they have but put a little money into the bank which God keeps in Heaven But we have more reason to look upward to him who hath the hearts of all men in his hand and openeth them as he pleaseth God hath in it shewed his special Providence for his faithful Ministers let us therefore say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel who hath stirred them up It was the grace of God bestowed upon the Churches in Macedonia 2 Cor. 8.1 2 3. which taught them in a great tryal of affliction and deep poverty to abound in riches of liberality and willingly of themselves to give to their power yea and above their power Let it be written to posterity for a memorial of the people in England that for so many years together in the midst of a devouring pestilence many consuming fires expensive wars and a deadness of trade they have refreshed the bowels of so many hundreds if not thousands of Gods messengers but let God have all the glory who hath given the heart though their hands distributed the money Vse 2. In the second place Let me cry out O house of Aaron trust in the Lord O house of Levi trust in the Lord Trust in the Lord and do good saith David so shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed Psal 37.3 Let us be faithful to our masters service and do the work which he hath given us to do and verily we shall be fed I cannot say God will provide Coaches and delicate things for us but necessaries we shall not want Herein let us exercise our selves to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men and as to other things we may trust a Providebit Deus God will provide for us and ours The experience of these times if wistly attended to certainly is enough to keep any from being tempted through fear of want to debauch their consciences by doing any thing which is apparently sinful or but so judged and suspected by them We see some fed with great provisions faring deliciously every day whiles others like Daniel and his partners have been fed with little more than pulse and water and at the end of some years it appeareth they look fairer as to worldly circumstances than those who have had far better commons Vse 3. Lastly This observation commendeth confidence and courage to all in the Lords work in opposition to fear and cowardise I would not be mistaken be sure in the first place you be in Gods work that which by his word appeareth to be the duty of one in thy circumstances nothing but the conscience of having been surprised in the way of our duty will bear us up under sufferings be therefore in that point well satisfied having done that observe those rules of Prudence which reason directs thee in such cases this done fear nothing Remember the Providence of God most eminently watcheth over the boldest adventurers in the way of their duty They are the words of our blessed Lord Mar. 8.35 Whosoever will save his life shall lose it but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the Gospel shall save it They observe in war that the soldier that turns his back and flyes is in much more danger than he who stands to it and that nothing makes a conqueror so much as resolution and bold adventuring it is so in our spiritual fight with the world be then of good courage in it and quit your selves like men remember God is with you and if so there 's more with you than can be against you God indeed in our combats with the world doth not always keep us shot-free and bring us off without a scratch but those whom he doth bring off are ordinarily those who are most valiant and adventurous however it is better to fall valiantly than cowardly and our Lord hath told us That if a man will save his life he shall lose it if he hath such a mind to sleep in a whole skin that he will neglect his duty and do that which his heart condemneth him for doing he shall lose what he hoped to save by it be it life reputation estate c. It speaketh great unbelief and distrust in God to be cowards in plain and certain duties Be prudent but take heed of forbearing necessary duty out of prudence or being faint in the performance of it That can be no prudence If a man fainteth in the day of adversity Solomon saith that his strength is but small his faith is but small and his observation of Gods Providence in such cases hath been very small too But I shall add no more upon this Argument SERMON XXV Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Have done with the Tenth thing in the motions of Divine Providence which I commended to your observation I proceed now to another Observ 11. The Providence of God maketh a very frequent and remarkable use of the sins of people though it be always spotless in making such use of
to heaven ordinarily with broken bones and a bleeding heart So that you see that Gods getting himself glory from his peoples sin gives no man a ground of presumption to go on in a course of sin against God Vse 4. In the last place Let this observation mind us in this case to be workers together with God Have we sinned and come short of the glory of God Let us do our indeavour to make our sins to turn to the furtherance of the glory of God Let us indeavour to make the best of our own bad markets What is done we cannot re-call let us indeavour if possible to make an advantage of our former miscarriages You will say How should that be Answ 1. Let the sense of your sins hasten your pace to the Lord Jesus Christ God hath a great deal of glory from our believing in him whom he hath sent The soul that accepteth of the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour giveth unto God the glory of his Power Wisdom Justice Goodness Truth it gives him the glory of the exceeding riches of his free-grace 2. Make use of your sins to increase your Confession your Repentance and Humiliation Confession giveth glory to God my Son saith Joshua Confess and give glory to God Let your former sins give you the further advantage for sorrowing after a godly sort that will bring forth carefulness indignation fear vehement desires zeal revenge as it did in the Church of Corinth 2 Cor. 7.11 3. Let the remembrance of them cause you to walk softly all the days of your life This is that which God requireth of all to walk humbly with their God The remembrance of your sins may be of notable use to you for this to keep down that pride which is naturally in all our hearts that swelling in an opinion of our selves of our own duties and performances that uncharitable judging and censuring and triumphing over others when we see them fallen in the day of temptations 4. Lastly Let the consideration of how many sins God hath forgiven you make you love much Thus the woman Luk. 7.37 47 made an improvement even of her former sins her much that was forgiven ingaged her to love that God much who had forgiven her so much This improvement St. Paul made 1 Cor. 15.9 10. I am saith he the least of all the Apostles and not meet to be called an Apostle because I persecuted the Church of God But by the grace of God I am that I am and his grace which was bestowed on me was not in vain but I laboured more abundantly than they all O this will be an excellent improvement even of your sins if your former unholiness shall now help to make you more holy your former unrighteousness shall help to make you more righteous for the time to come your reflexions upon how much you have done against God and his Saints shall now engage you to do more for God and the cause and people of God A good husband and house-wife will lose nothing but make some advantage of every rag every bit of wood c. I would have you be like them you have been formerly great sinners and done much to the dishonour of God your consciences can shew you a great dunghil of sin which you made in your state of vanity God hath changed your state changed your hearts let not that dunghil be lost look upon it often to help to raise up your hearts in the praises and admiration of Gods free-grace and the engaging your hearts more for God in your contrary duties for the time to come But so â—uch shall serve for this Observation also SERMON XXVI Psalm CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Am still going on instructing you to that spiritual Wisdom which the Text telleth you may be gained by and is declared in the Observation of the motions of Actual Providence I am now proceeding to a Twelfth Observation of this nature which I shall give you thus Observ 12. The Providence of God in the distribution of the good things of this life doth in a great measure move circularly though mostly to the seeming advantage of ungodly men In my enlargments upon this notion I shall keep much to the same method which I observed in the former 1. Opening it unto you 2. Justifying the observation by instances 3. Shewing you the reasonableness of this motion of Divine Providence And lastly Making some suitable Application 1. My observation as you see concerneth the motions of Actual Providence as to its distribution of the portions of this life The Pagan Philosophers distributed all the good things they had any knowledg of into three sorts The good things of the body amongst which they reckoned long-life health strength beauty c. The good things of the mind the rich endowments of it such as knowledg invention judgment wit memory and moral vertue c. and the good things of fortune such as birth ingenuous education honours riches All these have a goodness in them which lyeth in their suitableness to the use of humane life or society The blind Heathen not seeing the fountain-head of these beautiful streams ascribed them to fortune But they are all in the hand of Providence that giveth to one a longer to another a shorter life to one greater to another lesser measures of health and strength c. to one more judgment wit c. than to another But I chiefly understand my Observation of the good things which the Heathen called Bona fortunae the good things of fortune such as honours riches c. These also are the Lords he it is saith Moses That gives us power to get wealth And the Holy Ghost by another pen-man telleth us That promotion cometh neither from the east nor from the west but God pulleth down one and setteth up another Promotion doth mostly depend upon the favour of the great men of the Earth and you shall observe the Scripture everywhere maketh God the Author of the favour and grace which persons have found in the eyes of the Princes of the world 2. Now I observe in the first place That the wheel of Providence in making this distribution doth for the most part move circularly My meaning is that good and evil of this nature hath as all humane things its turns and vicissitudes sometimes to good men sometimes to bad men The Heathen had some prospect of this though what we call Providence they ascribed to fortune to whom they gave a wheel to signifie the rotation of all these sublunary contentments in which you know the same spokes are not always up nor down but sometimes these spokes are uppermost by and by they are at the ground and those that but now were below are up in their place And this is most perspicuous in bodies of people which are made up of those two sorts of men that divide the world godly
Observation to caution them against 1. That they would not promise themselves a perpetuity in this state As the child of God may say of his adversity and afflictions these things are not Eternity so the sinner may say of his prosperity There is a circulation in the motions of Providence in its distribution of these things The same spokes of the wheel are not always uppermost you are now spokes in the upper part the wheel will turn and you will be lower most sinners have their day but it is but a day Day and night summer and winter light and darkness follow one another in humane conditions as well as in time some have a summers-day others a shorter winter-day but none hath more than their hour or day It was Babilon's error to say That she sate like a Lady and should never see widowhood or loss of children God tells her both these should come upon her in one day It is the weakness of humane nature to look upon any thing here as permanent Are you therefore in a state of prosperity Is it your hour think not you shall never be moved David Psal 30. said in the day when his mountain stood strong That he should never be moved God did but hide his face and he was troubled You may possibly meet with particular persons that are exceptions to this general rule but hardly any body of people 2. Let what you have heard admonish you not to glory and triumph in your prosperous state if you will rejoyce let it be with trembling The observation affords two reasons why the prosperous sinner should not excessively rejoyce 1. Because there is a circulation in these motions of Providence This was that which quieted Davids spirit disturbed at the prosperous state of ungodly men Psal 73.18 Surely thou hast set them in slippery places thou castedst them down into destruction 2 I have told you that the Providence of God in these dispensations seemeth to incline most to favour the worst of men David Psal 17.13 14. prayeth to be delivered from wicked men who have their portion in this life and whose belly God filled with his hidden treasure It hath been an ordinary thing for good men to suspect the love of God to them when they have met with no changes Luther was afraid God intended to put him off with the good things of this life But saith he I protested that I would not be so satisfied 3. Lastly This speaketh aloud to sinners on the pinacles of the world not to harden their hearts Sin gives a man a base spirit you shall ordinarily observe that the worst of men are most proud and haughty in their prosperity and the most cowardly and low in their spirits when an hour of adversity comes How ordinarily do we see it If vile and abject men get a little power on their side there is no living by them their insolencies oppressions and cruelties are so intolerable but let them be a little under hatches there 's none will crouch so basely But O you fools when will you be wise O that in their days of health they would but think they may be sick when they are rich that they may be poor that when they are the head they would consider they may be the tail Prosperity then would not harden them but it is true which the Holy Ghost tells us That prosperity slayeth the fool It seldom doth a child of God good Before I was afflicted saith holy David I went astray but it ordinarily slayeth the fool I shall advantage this with this further observation As it is usually observed that men who have had a long and non-interrupted health seldom escape the first acute sickness they meet with So it is very rare that God entereth into judgment with a sinner that hath enjoyed a long prosperity but he utterly consumeth him you cannot but observe in reading the Prophets that as they denounced the Judgments of God against his own People so they also denounced them against the Enemies of God and with this remarkable difference They seldom threaten judgment to them but it was utter ruin God would make a full end of them But saith God as to his own people Thou shalt not go utterly unpunished I will make a full end of the Nations that have carried thee away captive but I will not make a full end of thee Jer. 30.11 c. But secondly Let me turn my self to them that fear the Lord and improve my observation as to them in three or four words 1. Fret not then at the prosperous state of wicked men It is the great argument of the 37 Psalm where it is pressed from a great variety of arguments Remember that the motions of Providence are circular There are two sorts of things that use mightily to affect us 1. Strange and unusual things 2 Things which appear to us against reason It is no strange thing Job 12.6 Job complained that the tabernacles of robbers prospered and they that provoked God were secure the men into whose hands God bringeth abundantly Disturb not your selves then if you see men of prodigious wickedness great in power and honour and riches and flourishing 't is but what hath always been and trampling under foot the people of the Lord. It is no new thing that happeneth to you A second sort of things we usually startle at are those things which seem to us unreasonable we cannot reconcile them to our thoughts and such a thing is this prosperity of sinners but this fancy speaketh only 1. The weakness of our faith 2. And the shallowness of our reason If we had faith but as a grain of mustard-seed that we could believe a life to come and the joys of an eternal state in which these men shall have no portion we should not think these things of that value but that God might reasonably give them to wicked men We are like ordinary people that never were out of the Town where they live or the Nation wherein they were born that take that Town or that Nation to be all the world and think there is no place better than that which they see and live in Did we believe that there is a more enduring substance an house in the Heavens not made with hands an inheritance that is immortal incorruptible that fadeth not away to none of which the ungodly man hath any right at all we should never trouble our selves that the Sun shineth a little upon the Tabernacles of ungodly men we should think it but reasonable that God should allow something of the good things of this life to vile and profligate livers Remember how the Father of the prodigal quieted the Son that had been always with him troubled that his brother who had devoured his living with Harlots had the fatted calf killed for him Luke 15.31 Son remember thou art ever with me and all that I have is thine The People of God have God always with them and are admitted
uniform This must be true Shall not the judg of all the earth do right Gen. 18.25 It is in the nature of God to do justly far sooner shall a good tree bring forth corrupt fruit than a righteous God do an unrighteous act It is written in the Will and Promises of God and in the threatnings which declare the Will of God against sinners Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with them for they shall eat the fruit of their doings Wo unto the wicked it shall be ill with him for the reward of his hands shall be given him Isa 3.9 10. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely it shall be well with them that fear God that fear before him But it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days Eccles 8.12 But it may be better for your edification that I should open the Observation in the branches of it The subject of my discourse you see is the vindicative and remunerative Justice of God considered as in the hand of Actual Providence I say of both 1. That it is certain both the one and the other is certain for the sinner that swears and drinks and wallows in his beastly lusts that lies and cheats and oppresseth and breaks Sabbaths that murthereth and committeth adultery and lives in the violation of the Commandments of God his Judgment is certain his damnation sleepeth not the Providence of God shall most certainly meet him as a Bear robbed of her whelps to tear him in pieces and there shall be none to deliver On the contrary for him that worketh righteousness that herein exerciseth himself to keep a conscience void of offence both towards God and towards men that liveth an holy life and conversation his reward is certain The certainty of both these depends 1. Vpon the immutable nature of God The righteous God loveth righteousness and hateth iniquity he cannot clear the guilty he cannot but reward the righteous as soon shall God cease to be God as the persisting sinner go unpunished or the persevering Saint be unrewarded 2. It dependeth upon the irrevocable will of God God hath said it the Lord hath spoken it and it shall come to pass Heaven and Earth shall pass away before a word shall fail of all which the mouth of the Lord has spoken 3. It dependeth upon the faithfulness of Divine Providence in acting conformably to the Divine Nature in the execution of the Divine Counsels and in pursute of the Divine Will Providence is Gods action in time God cannot act contrary to himself nor contrary to his revealed Will. But this is what none without great impiety can so much as doubt But I added 2. That both the punishment of the sinner and the reward of the righteous man is constant This is not now a matter of so sensible demonstration but equally true with the other Psal 7.11 The holy Psalmist tells us He judgeth the righteous and is angry with the wicked every day Anger in God signifieth nothing of passion as it doth in us It only signifieth Gods just will to punish sinners and the execution of this his just will and pleasure Now I take that phrase God is angry with the wicked every day to be true in both senses not only that God hath an immutable will purpose and resolution to punish resolved and impenitent sinners but also that he is every day doing of it and so he is every day rewarding the righteous man But this will better appear in my Explication of the third thing where I told you 3. That neither the reward of the one nor the punishment of the other are uniform or always sensible And indeed the not-attending to this is all that gives the least advantage to the complaints of Job David Jeremiah and Habakkuk concerning the prosperity of the wicked God sometimes punisheth sinners by temporary afflictions and judgments these now are obvious to every eye and incur into all mens senses All men take notice of mens being afflicted in their persons crossed in their relations in their estates c. But thus God doth not always punish the worst of men 2. He hath another way of punishing and that more dreadful that is by spiritual judgments ubi poenalis nutritur impunitas a punishing them by suffering them to go unpunished God never more smartly threatned the ten Tribes than when he told them by the Prophet Hos 4.14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom nor your spouse when they commit adultery He never spake more severely than when he said Why should they be smitten any more they will revolt more and more Isa 1.5 Hence impenitency hardness of heart hence they bless themselves in their sinful courses this makes them shut their eyes and stop their ears This is indeed an insensible judgment but as it is with the wounds of the body the more secret they are and inward the worse they are so it is with judgments upon a man the more inward and insensible the more desperate and dangerous is the case The giving of sinners up to a blindness of mind as in the case of the Israelites Isa 6.9 to an hardness of heart as in the case of Pharaoh Exod. 4.21 to vile affections as in the case of the Heathen Rom. 1.26 to a reprobate mind c. These are of all other the greatest punishment one or other way God is angry with the wicked every day Although he is not every day plaguing them with sensible judgments yet when he is not doing this he is letting them alone as God spake concerning Ephraim Ephraim is joyned to idols let him alone suffering them to go on in their own ways by which means their hearts grow more hard and impenitent more blind and insensible and this is the reason that wicked men grow worse and worse more vile in their affections more sottish and reprobate in their minds and judgments more vile and abominable in their lives And as the punishment of the sinner so the reward of the righteous man though it be always certain and constant yet it is not uniform nor always sensible especially to others The certainty of their reward standeth upon the very same foundations that the certainty of the sinners punishment doth and so doth the constancy of it for as God is angry with the wicked every day so God is well-pleased with the righteous every day he can every day go to God and say unto him Thou art my father God is every day well-pleased with him and delighted in him But I say these rewards are not always uniform our heavenly Father hath more than one blessing sometimes he blesseth him that worketh righteousness after one manner sometimes after another but he always blesseth them Let me a little open to you the plenty of blessings which our heavenly Father hath and shew you how variously he rewardeth him that worketh righteousness
and patience of his people but that is not the subject of my present discourse I remember when they asked our Saviour concerning him that was born blind whether it were for his own sin or for his parents Our Saviour replys for neither but that the glory of God might appear So I doubt not but Gods end in afflicting his people is neither at all times the punishment of the persons late sins nor former sins but that both the grace and glory of God might appear in strengthning supporting and upholding of his poor creatures and that he might be glorified by them in the fires by the exercise of their faith and patience c. Vse 2. This speaketh loud to all especially to young men to take heed of presumptuous sinnings against God Presumption of mercy is that which much enticeth out the lusts of our hearts there are some that will fancy God an Idol of mercy and will say Let them do what they list yet it shall be well with them they will not believe any such thing as Hell or a Revelation of the wrath of God against sinners God did not make them to damn them c. God of old foresaw there would be a generation that when they heard the words of his curse would bless themselves in their hearts saying They should have peace although they walked after the imaginations of their own hearts adding drunkenness to thirst Deut. 29.19 Observe v. 20. what God saith as to such The Lord will not spare him but the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this book shall lye upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven c. But blessed be God there are not many of these in the age wherein we live not many but will acknowledg an Heaven and an Hell and profess to believe that there is a reward for the righteous and for the unrighteous for the Saint and for the sinner So that what incourageth the most of men in sinful courses is not any hope of a total and final impunity but a presumption of pardon and obtaining mercy with God before they dye They are taught by some wild teachers that it is in the power of man to repent to believe to turn to God when he pleaseth and this imboldneth them to out-stare all the terrors of the Lord and to put off all the tenders of the Gospel to indulge their lusts and to say It is not yet time to turn unto God if they obtain pardon at last they shall be well enough if they turn to God and they are told they can do it when they please it is but taking up a resolution in their old age when they have had the fill of their lusts in their youth Now if this Doctrine had any truth in it it would quite destroy an old argument we had to press men to a speedy repentance because that God who always giveth pardon to them who truly repent will not always give unto sinners an heart to repent No need of that say our new Teachers man hath a freedom in his own will he may repent whensoever he can but get himself of the mind he labours under no more than a moral impotency his lusts are so strong that he cannot obtain leave of himself that is all But friend admit this were true that thou hadst repentance in thy own hand and that thou shouldest upon thy repentance obtain pardon of thy sins from God yet God may as to the punishments of this life make thee go mourning to thy grave for the sins of thy youth he may plague thee in thy own person and plague thee in thy posterity God had pardoned Davids sin Nathan told him The Lord had put away his iniquity yet the child dyed the sword never departed from his house Absolom requited him by going into his Concubines in the sight of the Sun he was weary with his groaning all the night long he made his bed to swim and watered his couch with his tears his eyes were consumed with grief Psal 6. His bones waxed old through his roaring all the day-long Gods hand was heavy upon him night and day so as his moisture was turned into the drought of summer Psal 32. Who would not fear such kind of dispensations Alas there is no such thing as mans having a power in himself to repent and turn to God Can the Blackamore change his skin or the Leopard his spots Everywhit as soon as he who is accustomed to do evil can do well but admit you could I say it is a thousand to one but God in the punishments of this life will visit your youth-sins upon you young men that are wise will take heed of wounds and strains in their youth or surfeits which though they feel little of in the heat of their youth they will be sure enough to feel in their bones when old age overtaketh them and certainly if sensual sinners would give but their reason leave to guide them it would guide them also to take heed of those sins in their youth for which they may so severely smart by wounds and terrors of Conscience by doubts and horrors and fears by diseases and other kind of punishments there is a great deal of difference betwixt being saved smoothly and a being saved but through fire O let me plead with you who have little else to say for the cares and pains of your youth but that by it you are but providing quiet and rest for your selves when you come to be old that you would admit the force of that Argument also to perswade you to remember your Creator in the days of your youth and to take heed of the sins of youth which God often so severely punisheth upon gray-hairs yea and that to his own people whose iniquities yet he hath pardoned so as they shall not eternally condemn him Vse 3. But that I may shut up this discourse what you have heard upon this Observation may offer the best of us some matter which possibly we have not thought of both of daily humiliation and particular humiliation when the rod of God is upon us I say 1. Of daily repentance and humiliation We are ready to speak after the language of Agag whom Saul had spared upon the slaughter of the Amalekites surely the bitterness of death is past If we find that God hath changed our hearts that we are not what we were we are very prone to think that all the follies and vanities of our youth are forgotten But let us not mistake God sealeth up the sins of impenitent sinners in a bag for to be brought forth to their eternal ruine in the day of the revelation of Gods wrath he sealeth up the sins of his redeemed ones in a bag to chasten them oft-times in this life with the rods and stripes of men God wrought bitter things against Job for the sins of his
You shall observe it often repeated in Scripture Such a one did evil and walked in the steps of his Father in all the sins of his Fathers c. you shall constantly observe that it is set as a mark of dishonour upon those that did so and they perished in their transgressions God according to what he threatned the Jews Isa 65.7 punished upon them their iniquities and the iniquities of their fathers together We are very prone to walk in the steps of our Fathers especially if they have trodden awry and turned aside from the Commandments of God and usually in matters of Religion though we have nothing to say for the superstition and vanity of former generations yet we think it a sufficient plea that our fathers did thus or thus and indeed this was the old plea of the woman of Samaria Joh. 4. Our father 's worshipped in this mountain Thus the Heretick said in one of the Councils but was well answered Immo errantes ab errantibus yes erring children from erring parents The wickedness of a preceding generation especially in the matters of Divine Worship is so far from being a plea for us or excusing us that it doth but increase and aggravate guilt upon us The most righteous persons may without due and seasonable humiliation smart for the sins of their Fathers but if they go on in the same sins they have nothing to expect but that God should punish their sins and the sins of their Fathers together Vse 5. In the last place This observation layeth upon us all a new engagement to holiness and serviceableness to God in the stations in which the Lord hath set us As sin entaileth a curse so holiness and eminent service for God entaileth a blessing to our posterity Godliness hath not only the promise of this life and of that which is to come to our own persons but it hath promises of blessing to those that shall come after us God sheweth mercy to thousands of those who love him and keep his Commandments Jehu was no godly man yet his service he did for God procured him a reward to the fourth generation Abraham was a godly man David a perfect man a man according to Gods own heart Blessings for their sakes came upon their posterity to many generations But I shall add no more to this Observation SERMON XXXIII Psal CVII 43. Whoso is wise and will observe these things even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord. I Proceed yet to offer you some further Observations concerning the motions of Actual Providence I have already made many Last of all some with reference to its distributions of rewards and punishments Let me now go on to a Observ 20. When God calleth any to any new work or relation he ordinarily giveth them a spirit suited to it Every work and relation requires some particular dispositions fitting the persons for it Now I say you shall observe in the motions of Actual Providence that it fitteth those persons for work whom God calleth to it you shall see it in several instances God called Moses to go in to Pharaoh to require him to let the children of Israel go and so to conduct the children of Israel out of Egypt Moses saith to God Exod. 3.11 Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt God saith vers 12. I will be with thee Again chap. 4.10 Moses excuseth himself that he was not eloquent but slow of speech and of a slow tongue see what God saith to him ver 11. Who hath made mans mouth or who maketh the dumb or deaf or seeing or blind Now therefore ver 12. go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say When God called Saul to be King over Israel the text 1 Sam. 10.9 saith That God gave him another heart When God called David to the Kingdom what a spirit of government did God give him What courage and valour that coming from keeping of sheep he durst adventure to encounter Goliah Concerning Solomon the case is plain 1 King 3.8 9. he begged of God a wise and understanding heart to judg his people The text telleth you that God gave it him Lo saith God ver 12. I have given thee a wise and understanding heart As to the Ministry the case is plain as to Jeremiah God ordained him to be a prophet to the nations Jer. 1.5 Jeremiah excused himself he was a child and could not speak vers 6. But the Lord said to him Say not I am a child for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee saith the Lord then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said to me Behold I have put my words into thy mouth vers 7 8. The like you have concerning Ezekiel Ezek. 2. The like you find upon Christs sending out the seventy and the twelve It is true God doth this several ways and by several rites and ceremonies but God never yet call'd any to any new relation or new work but he gave them a spirit fit for it But let us a little understand what the meaning of that is Quest Wherein lyeth the sutableness of a persons spirit to his work or relation I answer It lyes in two things 1. An inclination or willingness to it 2. A fittedness or preparedness for it 1. An inclination or willingness to it Indeed Gods first call of a person to a work doth not always meet with a willing mind it did not in Moses in Jeremy in Saul but God always makes those willing whom he calls to any service Whom shall I send here am I send me saith the Prophet Isaiah God made Moses and Jeremy willing before he sent them The gravity and burthen of the work to which God calleth may discourage flesh and blood at first but God makes them willing before they take their Commission Hence that in Timothy He that desireth the office of a Bishop c. 2. But this is not all God never sendeth any to any work but he fitteth and prepareth them for it giving them a frame of spirit and abilities of mind capacitating them for the parts of their work or duties of that relation several callings require several gifts and endowments For the magistracy courage and wisdom is necessary for the ministry is necessary not only courage and wisdom but knowledg utterance c. a sound understanding in the holy Scriptures which he is to open to the people and apply to their consciences and so in inferiour relations even Bezaliel the son of Vri whom the Lord called by name to the building of the Tabernacle Exod. 35.31 Was filled with the spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledg and in all manner of workmanship and to devise curious works to work
life as they can I say which way soever men will consider themselves or whatsoever they will place their ultimate felicity in whether it be in the enjoyment and vision of God to eternity or in living long and happy Still it is their highest wisdom both in their personal capacities and in their relative capacities as they stand related to others in their political or oeconomical relations as Princes Subjects Husbands Wives Parents Children Masters or Servants to govern them according to the rules and by the square of the word of God Now the observation I say of these ordinary dispositions of Divine Providence must therefore be exceedingly conducive to the increase of spiritual wisdom in our souls 2. This Observation will also teach us to understand the loving kindness of the Lord. The glory of God is by all Christians confessedly the end of mans creation and ought to be made the end of his action but herein appeareth the transcendent goodness of God That no man can act for his glory but he must also by the same actions consult his own good and be wise for himself So that in truth there is no man serveth God for nothing but in the same action by and in which he obeyeth God he also consulteth his own life health riches success in business and whatsoever can contribute not only to his eternal felicity but to his felicity and happiness in this life Now how wonderfully doth this speak the love of God to the children of men Every mans reason will tell him that there is a duty of homage and honour which is due from man unto God God is our Creator we are his creatures In him we live move and have our being and equally depend upon him for our preservation and sustentation from his Providence as derive from him as our Creator and the first Author of beings to us Now as it is in the power of any man in the cause to prescribe the honour and homage which shall be grateful and acceptable to him so undoubtedly it was in the power of God and free to him to have prescribed us an homage and service that should have impeached and prejudiced or some way disadvantaged us as to our external felicity and the accommodations of this life which should make it sweet to us But in this see the great loving kindness of the Lord That no man can possibly at more advantage serve himself and the good of his Family or City or Country than by serving God and indeavouring to square his whole converse to the rule of Gods word governing himself by the Scriptures and the rules of life which it gives nor doth God require any thing of us that is ungrateful to that true Reason which is in every man All the commands of God do but pinch us in the exercise of our Lusts and Passions the exercise of which if they have their liberty and were not by a Divine Law restrained would have no better an effect from their natural tendency than the imbittering of our lives by aches and pains and grievous diseases by the rebellion crosness and undutifulness of our relations by a liberty to injustice fraud deceit and oppression This is a great demonstration of Gods loving kindness that in his rules for the government of us he hath twisted our interest with his own and made it necessary for those who most consult his honour and glory most to consult their own good and happiness and that not only as to a life to come but as to this life also Vse 2. We may learn from hence the true reason why the most of men are cursed with the want of temporal blessings I say the most of men for what I told you before must be remembred that from these general rules we must always except those particular causes where God either for the punishment of some sins in his people or for the trial of their faith and patience having reserved a better portion for them in the world to come doth think fit to exercise them with the denial of the sensible blessings of this life But setting aside those cases the general cause is their not living up to that conformity or square to the Divine rule to which they ought to live but either failing in the duties of piety and exercise of Religion to which the Divine law bindeth them or in the duties of probity and moral honesty justice temperance sobriety unity and amity which the same Law doth require of them What wonder is it to see the lazy sluggard poor Hath not God said to him Prov. 6.9 How long wilt thou sleep O sluggard when wilt thou arise out of sleep v. 11. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed man Or to see Oppressors and Gripers of their neighbour-poor God hath told them Prov. 10.15 The destruction of the poor is their poverty Or to see the penurious man grow poor hath not God told us That to withhold more than is meet tendeth to poverty Prov. 11.24 What wonder is it to see Drunkards and Gluttons poor Hath not God said The Drunkard and Glutton shall come to poverty and drousiness shall cloth a man with rags Prov. 23.21 what wonder is it to see those that are companions of leud persons drunkards adulterers Gamesters c. grow poor Hath not God again said Prov. 28.19 That he who followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough O Israel saith God by the Prophet Hoseah Thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hos 13.9 it is true as to mens eternal ruine but the Prophet there primarily speaks of mens destroying themselves by being the causes of punishments in this life to themselves men destroy their own lives healths bodys by drunkenness gluttony uncleanness their estates by sloth and luxury the comforts of their own lives by giving an unbridled liberty to their lusts and passions indulging the lustings of their flesh The righteous God is not to be accused for any of these things He hath given men a righteous law which to their reason approveth it self to be holy spiritual just and good but they are carnal sold unto sin slaves to their appetites to their sensual faculties and either ruine themselves by their irreligious or immoral behaviours and doing those things over which if God had not by his severe threatnings in his word hung a sword of Divine Vengeance yet in themselves and of their own nature they have a tendency to destroy life health to wast and consume estates and to deprive them of all those good things which may accommodate their lives and make them sweet and pleasant to them and in the day of their affliction they must lay the fault upon themselves and excuse God in the motions of his Providence acknowledging that it hath but fulfilled his word and brought to pass the just threatnings of his word nay not so only but that it hath only brought natural things to
which it is called the Covenant of Grace God in and by it relaxing the rigour of the Law which required personal satisfaction to Divine Justice from the persons offending and a perfect performance of the whole Law and accepted the satisfaction given to Divine Justice by the nature offending hypostatically united to the person that was the Son of God and accepting from us sincerity instead of perfect obedience the sincerely willing mind instead of the perfect deed Such a Covenant we suppose and believe to have been made 2. We believe it not made for all but conformably to the purpose of Election if it had been made for all we could not understand but that all men must be saved 3. Nor can we think it was made for an uncertain number but as there are individual names written in the Book of Life so we believe the same concerning the rolls of this Covenant The Lord as the Apostle tells us knoweth who are his Christ was not Sponsor incerti foederis a surety of an incertain but of a certain Covenant Some would make Christs Covenant with his Father not to have been for these or those persons but indefinitely for those that should believe and so to have been conditional But certainly no considerate Christian can allow this who observeth that amongst men nothing but ignorance of future contingencies is the cause of incertain and conditional bargains the Parent that dieth and gives his Child a Portion conditionally that he or she marrieth so and so or be subject to such or such Governors would have left out that condition if he or she had certainly known what the Child would have done and it seems to us strangely to derogate from the eternal perfection of the Divine Being in point of Knowledge so much as to fancy that God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who both from eternity knew who would or would not repent and believe and needs must know it because they could do neither but by vertue of special grace infused by and derived from God should make a Covenant each with other that such or such persons who they knew would not repent nor believe if they believed and repented should have a share in the satisfaction and death of Christ 4. We do suppose and believe the blood of the Covenant that is the blood of Jesus Christ was intentionally poured forth according to the Covenant and for the persons concerned in it The blood of Christ is called the blood of the Covenant Zech. 9.11 Heb. 10.29 Heb. 13.20 and the Antitype to those ancient types of the blood of Beasts which was so called Exod. 24.8 So that we think it a very unreasonable assertion to extend the blood of the Covenant beyond the persons concerned in the Covenant But yet notwithstanding all this there is nothing more evident in the issues of Divine Providence than that this Covenant is held out to all indefinitely Mar. 16.15 Christs commission to his Apostles runs thus Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every Creature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Here both the benefit of the New Covenant eternal life and salvation is offered to all and the terms believing and being baptized are also propounded unto all and according to that direction and commission is all our Preaching Now hence ariseth the difficulty If there be not a possibility of salvation for all men if they all be not within the verge of the Covenant If Christ hath not died for all why is the Gospel preached to every creature how can it consist with the truth and honour of that God who cannot lie by his Ministers to tell men that if they will but repent and believe they shall be saved To what end is the Gospel preached unto them To which I answer 1. That the Gospel only asserteth the infallible connexion of faith and salvation What saith the Gospel He that believeth shall be saved and will any say that a believer shall be damned or did ever any penitent and believing soul perish if there had then indeed we might have quarrelled at the truth of God but God will be true though all men be found liars What though ten thousand be told and have it rung in their Ears That he who believeth shall be saved and but ten of those ten thousand should believe provided that they be saved God I hope is true and what he hath said is to a tittle made good But you will say why then are all told if they believe they shall be saved The Minister of the Gospel may go to every particular soul and say to him or her if thou repentest and believest thou shalt be saved I answer 2. God is pleased to hide from his Ministers his secret counsels concerning the salvation of individual souls They therefore may and must say whosoever believeth shall be saved and God will confirm in Heaven whatsoever they deliver on Earth and by vertue of this Commission they may say to every individual soul Believe and thou shalt be saved they know not who are ordained to life and shall have effectual grace bestowed upon them inabling them to believe but they know the general proposition of the Gospel is true But still you will say why hath God by his Providence so ordered it to what end should the Providence of God order the publication and tender of the Covenant of Grace to a greater number than are concerned in it 3. What if we should say It is O Father so because it pleaseth thee and be forced here to cry out with the great Apostle Rom. 9.33 O the depth of the ri hes both of the wisdom and know ledge of God how unsearchable are his judgements and his ways past finding out vers 34. For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his Counsellor Who is able to give a just account of Gods designs and intentions to what purpose he doth things It is enough for us to know that God doth them and that God may do them and there is no unrighteousness with him if he doth do it We ought to believe that God hath wise ends in what he doth though we are not able to find out what they be Yet it may not be amiss to tell you what Divines do say in the case though they cannot by searching find out God nor find out the Almighty unto perfection 1. There are those that say that Reprobates are only called to faith and repentance as they are mixed with the elect and the exhortations reach them only by way of concomitancy and possibly it may be doubted if there were any society or company of people in the world amongst whom there were not any ordained to everlasting life whether God would at all send his Gospel to them or direct any of the Messengers of his word to go and call them to repentance God incouraging Paul Act.
at God is an old humour of corrupt hearts O house of Israel saith God Ezech. 18.25 Is not my way equal are not your ways unequal When a righteous man turneth from his righteousness and committeth iniquities and dieth in them for his iniquity that he hath done shall he dye again when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed and doth that which is right he shall save his soul alive When a sinner repenteth and believeth he shall live he shall be saved when he apostatizeth from his profession and returneth with the Dog to his vomit or goeth on impenitently in his course of sin and dieth in it his soul shall perish What then are not the Lords ways equal is not God in all this holy and righteous and just and good O but it is not equal say some that God should offer life and the benefits of the Covenant of Grace to those to whom he intendeth not to give them How doth it appear that God offers any such thing to them why may not Gods offer be only to the elect and others no further concerned than as they are in the company of those to whom such grace is offered But the Ministers of the Gospel who are Gods Messengers do offer life to all that will believe they do so and God will make it good where now is the inequality of Gods ways But why is the Gospel at all preached to those who shall have no benefit by it I answer What if God please to make use of this as a means the better to restrain the lusts of men and to keep the world in order and a temper fit for mutual society But why are they commanded to repent and believe that have no power to do either Had they never a power in Adam If they had surely God may require his debt although they be not able to pay Have they a power to do nothing toward these things If they would do what in them lay would God deny his grace Did ever any soul perish think you that did what was within its power in order to its salvation If there did not why do men quarrel with God their destruction is of themselves Vse 2. What remaineth then but that leaving our disputing with God or quarrelling either with the truths of his word or motions of his Providence all men apply themselves to be obedient to the Heavenly Command The days of ignorance God winked at but now saith my Text God commandeth all men to repent Supposing an election of grace and that not of qualities but of persons Supposing an eternal Covenant and that certain made betwixt the eternal Father and the Son of his Love for those that shall be saved Supposing that Christ did not dye intentionally for all but for such only as were fore-ordained of God to eternal life and salvation Supposing lastly that man in his lapsed estate hath no power to repent or savingly to believe Yet I shall shew you there is incouragement enough for any that will mind their eternal interest to do what in them lies that they may repent and believe to that end I beg of you to consider these things 1. That God commandeth all men to repent It was John Baptists work to call to all to Repent because the Kingdom of God was at hand It was the Apostles Doctrine it is our doctrine and the substance of our Preaching certainly the commands of God are the measures of our duty and every creature by the law of his creation standeth obliged to obey his Creator If God commandeth him to do something which he cannot do by his natural power yet surely he is bound to do what he can do and then to cry to God to help him where he is at a loss God commands you all to repent and to believe certainly none can pretend but he is under the highest obligation imaginable to go as far as he can or else his blood will lye upon his own head and his own Conscience will fly in his face and in the great day he will have nothing to say why the sentence of eternal death should not pass upon him 2. God hath prepared an object for the faith of every soul that will believe This is that now that some keep a mighty stir with that if Christ hath not died for all then they have not objectum paratum not an object prepared for their faith As if the counsels of God or Christs intention in dying were the object of our faith not the proposition and promise of the Gospel that is held forth indefinitely whosoever believeth shall be saved Now what is that which God requireth of man But that he should search and try his ways and acknowledge his offences and disclaim his own merits and righteousness and hearing the proclamation of the Gospel that whosoever believeth shall be saved that he should lay hold upon the promise Is not here an object prepared is not the indefinite propounding of the grace of the Gospel ground enough to encourage a soul to trust God upon his word 3 As thou dost not certainly know that thy name is written in the Book of Life that Christ hath covenanted and dyed for thee so neither dost thou know nor any one tell thee that thou art not chosen unto life or that Christ hath not covenanted or died for thee The Lepers in the famine which you read the story of 2 Kings 7. they did not know that the Syrians were fled nor that they should find any victuals amongst them but this they knew that if they sate still at the entring in of the gate they should dye and if they entred into the City they should dye vers 3.4 Now therefore come say they let us fall into the host of the Syrians if they save us alive we shall live if they kill us we shall but dye It was encouragement enough to these poor Lepers that it was possible they might save their lives by that motion Esther did not know that the King would hold out the Golden-Scepter to her if she went in to the King but she knew that if she did not go in she and her people would all be cut off and that in a short time she ventureth in Thou knowest that if thou fittest still in thy sinful state thou shalt perish if thou goest on from sin to sin thou shalt certainly perish without hope of mercy But thou hast heard that the number of them that God hath chosen unto life for whom God hath made a Covenant with his Son and his Son hath died and satisfied Divine-justice is a certain definite number and thou dost not know that thou art one of that number but thou dost not know on the other side that thou art none of that number thou maist be one for ought thou knowest there is no law against thee certainly this is ground and encouragement enough for thee to make the adventure if God will save thee
alive thou shalt live and that eternally if thou fittest still if thou goest on in thy sinful courses thou shalt certainly dye 4. Hast thou not as much encouragement to repent and to believe as ever any had Have not thousands and ten thousands of the Saints of God upon no other encouragement than thou hast broken off sinful courses and sought the Lord while he might be found and have they not succeeded and found rest for their souls Did God yet ever from the beginning of the world encourage any soul in its first motions by faith and repentance toward him by assuring them that their names were written in the Book of Life Or that Christ did dye for them in particular Is it not encouragement enough to thee to tell the thou hast as good a ground of hope and encouragement as the three thousand that were converted at St. Peters Sermon as any of those servants of God had of whose conversion thou readest in the Acts of the Apostles what art thou that thou shouldst look for more 5. Consider That there is no other way for thee to know that thou art elected and that Christ hath paid a price for thee but by thy turning unto God and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ The election of God is in it self sure and certain but it must be made sure and certain unto us by our repentance and faith Did ever any one hear of any soul reaking in its lusts and going on in its course of sin ascertained that God had chosen it unto life that Christ was the head and surety of a better Covenant for it or dyed for it first our calling then our election must be made sure and we must not think to pervert Gods order 6. What hast thou to do with Gods effectual Grace until thou hast improved his common Grace There is a common Grace which God denieth to no man by vertue of which men may read hear pray live a civil life and conversation leave gross and flagitious courses of sin why complainest thou of God for not giving thee his special distinguishing grace inabling thee to exert true spiritual acts while thou dost not use his common Grace and do what in thee lies to reform and amend thy ways and to turn unto God 7. Lastly Though no exercise of common grace can be meritorious of the special Grace of God yet I dare assure thee that God neither ever yet was nor ever will be wanting in his further grace unto those souls that have made a due improvement of his common grace and done what in them lay towards their own salvation Let us therefore leave our enquiring into the Counsels of God and disputing questions which are insignificant to our greatest concerns Let us leave quarrelling with his truths and our little foolish and vain indeavours to argue an inconsistency of his Counsels with his Actual Providence when we have done and said all we can it will be found that God is consistent to himself and that his ways are equal and the iniquity and crookedness is only in our own hearts and ways We cannot with our spoon comprehend it may be the Ocean the great Ocean of his Wisdom and Counsel Let us apply our selves to our own duty and do what he commandeth us for which as you have heard we have encouragement enough SERMON XXXVII Rom. V. 20. Where Sin abounded there Grace did much more abound I Am indeavouring to open to you the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the hard Chapters in the book of Divine Providence solving those Phaenomena's or appearing difficulties which Atheistical Wits have raised to make the holy God appear otherwise than he is his Counsels Truths and Works other than indeed they are I have already spoken to one relating to the making and establishing a Covenant of Works with Adam after the settlement of mans salvation upon the Covenant of Grace The other relating to the dispensation of Providence in the exhibition and publication of the Covenant of Grace I come now to some relating to the Actual Providence of God in the permission of sin and sinners so much sin and so many sinners in the world And for this discourse as an head to it I have chosen this text which in it containeth two great points The abounding of sin and the aboundings of grace The Apostle brings in these words in a magnifying of Christ whom he had compared with the first Adam The first Adam brought mankind under sin and guilt The second brought him under a state of Redemption and Salvation bringing life and immortality to light First the Apostle sheweth whence sin came then whence grace came Paraeus telleth us that the Apostle in this part of the Chapter openeth to us the use of the Law lest any one upon what he had before said should ask Wherefore the law was given he telleth us That the law entred that sin might abound for though the law of it self doth not cause sin yet by accident it doth for where there is no law there is no transgression and the corruption of mans nature enclineth him the more to what is forbidden him Nitimur in vetitum sed hic de actione peccati sermo est quae fit per manifestationem saith a learned Author upon my Text The law maketh sin to abound by way of manifestation as the glass maketh the spots in a man or womans face to abound that is discovereth them that are P. Martyr reckons five ways by which the Law contributeth to the aboundings of sin 1. By forbidding it 2. By increasing the guilt of it 3. By assigning the punishment of it 4. Multiplying it by the variety of the precepts in it 5. By accusing him and condemning him for it Well But why should the law enter that sin might abound hath God then any pleasure or delight in the aboundings of sin The text telleth you that Gods design was to advance grace that where sin abounded grace might much more abound But my design is not largely and strictly to handle my text but only to make use of it in pursuit of my further design to open to you the difficult things of Actual Providence which is by all confessed to have an influence upon mens sins that is to permit them and to govern them the first of these is what I have here to do with What the Providence of God doth or doth not in the permission of sin I have before shewed you and may by and by again speak shortly unto it The Question is Quest How it can consist with the holiness of a pure and mighty God having it in his power to restrain and hinder sin yet to permit it and so much of it in the world The difficulty of our apprehensions in this matter ariseth from these things 1. That God in his own nature is a most pure and holy being Who as he hath nothing in him that defileth so neither can he abide any iniquity This seemeth to have stumbled
for destruction there is a great deal in that verse 1. The Apostle hinteth us in that text that we are Clay and God is our Potter it was what God had said of old by his Prophet Jeremiah chap. 18. vers 6. and Isaiah chap. 45. vers 9. and what the Apostle himself had said in the two verses immediately preceding upon this account it is that he here calls such as perish vessels of wrath Earthen-vessels with relation to the Potter before-mentioned 2. Being such Potters vessels God had undoubtedly a jus absolutum an absolute right and dominion over the Sons of men vers 21. Hath not the Potter power over the Clay of the same lump to make one a vessel of honour another a vessel of dishonour 3. He sheweth that God doth destinate some to dishonour not using his absolute right and prerogative meerly but for just and righteous causes and he instanceth in three things 1. Gods will to shew his wrath The wrath of God is nothing else but his just will to punish Violaters of his Law God is willing to shew his hatred of sin in the just punishment of it 2. Gods will to make his power known that is in breaking the stubbornness of sinners thus ver 17. it is said of Pharaoh For this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might shew my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth and this God calleth a getting himself glory upon Pharaoh Exod. 14.17 18. 3. The third reason he gives is That they are fitted for destruction Divines start a question from these words How or from whom they are fitted for destruction Some say of God as their Potter others will have it to be from Satan others from themselves the different notions may be reconciled Paraeus telleth us there are three things to be considered in these vessels of wrath their nature their sin the end as to their nature they are not from themselves nor from Satan but from God he is the Maker of all As to their pravity and natural corruption that is not from God but from themselves and from the Devil the end is either preximate that is their own dishonour and destruction or remote and ultimate that is the shewing forth the Justice and Power of God Neither of these saith that learned Author is from themselves for they do not ordain themselves to destruction nor design the manifestation of the Lords Power and Justice Thus therefore saith he are the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction according to nature they are created and made by no other than by God as to their sin and corruption by which they are made children of wrath guilty of sin and subject unto wrath they are made so by Satan by their own spontaneous fall and that sin which followed it as to the ends they are from God and according to his eternal Counsel of predestination And this is the reason as is not only observed by Paraeus but by P. Martyr probably why the Apostle only saith fitted and not by whom fitted for destruction that fittedness referring partly to God partly to themselves as they are by sin fitted it is their own act Now when he speaks of the vessels of mercy he speaks in the active voice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 v. 23. Which he had before prepared unto glory So that it being the work of the sinner to fit himself for destruction by the multiplyings and aboundings of sin and God glorifying his Justice and Power in breaking and destroying sinners it is easie to understand how Gods suffering the aboundings of sin tendeth to the glorifying of his Power and Vindicative Justice And thus I have shewed how the various Attributes of God are glorified by his permission of sin But this is but one way by which God hath glory from the permission of sin 2. He hath glory from it from those exercises of grace which are occasioned by it from his own people and these are more internal or more external for such as are more internal repentance faith humility several other graces have either their Original motions from this Providence or are greatly advantaged in their exercise by it 1. For repentance that is considerable either in the inward affection or more external act As to the former if no sin were permitted how could there be any humiliation for sin any godly shame or sorrow any bleeding or brokenness of heart in the sense of sin Were no sin permitted there could be no repentance no godly sorrow for sin c. 2. God hath a great deal of glory by mens believing on the Lord Jesus Christ It is a great piece of the Will of God that men should believe on him whom God hath sent and God is glorified by our doing his Will It were a large Theme to discourse to you how variously God is glorified by mens receiving of the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in him But God had had none of this glory if there had been no permission of sin in the world what is it to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ but to accept of him as our Saviour to expect Salvation from free grace through the merits of Christ and to depend upon him for it Now should God permit no sin there would be no need of a Saviour no occasion for a redeemer no need of going out of our selves relinquishing all confidences in the flesh and in our selves Believing in Christ as our redeemer and Saviour supposeth sin making us lost undone Creatures to stand in need of such a Salvation 3. Again Humility is another habit of grace in the exercise of which God is glorified it is one of those things which God by his Prophet telleth us that he requires of man to walk humbly with his God nothing more contributes to this than a Child of Gods continual walking in a view of his own past and renewing Sins Thus far even the best of Gods people are beholden to their sins they make them walk more softly and to have more humble and mean opinions of themselves and to be more low in their own eyes neither exalting themselves against God nor censoriously and rashly judging their brethren and the more or less that any Christian looks at home and considereth himself and his own ways the more or less he walks humbly towards God and charitably towards his brethren 4. Finally in the 2 Cor. 7.11 You shall find a whole quire of graces all singing forth the praises of God and all occasioned by sin The Corinthians had offended in the business of the incestuous person the Apostle in his former Epistle had brought them to a sense of their sin and to a godly sorrow for it Now saith he this self-same thing that you sorrowed after a godly sort what carefulness it wrought in you Yea what clearing of your selves Yea what indignation what fear what vehement desire yea what zeal what revenge these now are all exercises of
hang himself that his friend may shew him kindness to cut the halter or commit Treason against his Prince to give him occasion to pardon him We use to account it no prudence to lye at the mercy of another either as to our lives estates or reputations Who will give away his estate that the charity of his friends may appear in relieving him The mercies of God are indeed beyond the mercies of men but as infinite as they are presumptuous sinners have no reason to lean upon them Oh consider sinner that it must be through grace if thou ere be saved And though where sin hath abounded God sometimes doth make grace to abound yet it is not thy wisdom to sin that grace may abound 1. Because Grace pardoning grace doth not abound towards all in whom the aboundings of sin are found grace aboundeth but to some that have sinned How knowest thou seeing grace is nothing else but love acting freely that it shall abound towards thee If it doth not thou perishest for ever that it shall thou dost not know Thousands sin towards whom grace never aboundeth in the pardon of their sins 2. Because presumptuous sinning is as great a block as it is possible for thee to lay in the way of Divine grace The soul that doth ought presumptuously the same reproacheth the Lord and hath broken his commandment that soul shall be cut off from his people because he hath despised the word of the Lord and hath broken his commandment that soul shall be utterly cut off his iniquity shall be upon him Numb 15.30 Now what soul can possibly sin presumptuously if he doth not who saith in his heart I will sin that grace may abound Cons 2. Secondly Consider duty is never to be measured by the event of our actions but by the rule of our actions If thou sinnest thou breakest the Law of the Lord thou violatest his commandment and despisest his word Sin in it self is an inordinate action and therefore to be avoided though the Providence of God ordereth these actions very often both to his own glory and for the particular good of sinners we are to measure our actions by the Divine rule and by that to square them not from the event of them which Divine Grace and Power maketh Certainly thou wilt say that Judas and Pontius Pilate and Herod and the rest of those who were in a confederacy against the life of Christ were all exceeding guilty before God and will some of them in the great day most righteously be turned into Hell for crucifying him who was the Lord of life though God used their action as a means to procure the expiation and atonement of the World thousands shall be saved by the effusion of that blood for the spilling of which yet they will be damned What though God will suffer sin to abound that his Grace may much more abound yet this is no license for thee to suffer sin to abound thou art to guide thy action by the Divine rule God governeth his by his own infinite Wisdom God makes the best of thy bad market but yet it is thy concern to make the best market thou canst both for thy own soul and for the glory of God Cons 3. Thirdly What if God may get himself glory and may get himself glory from peoples sins yet this glory 1. May be from others not from thee 2. It may be only a glory gotten upon thee 1. I say first possibly the glory which God will get from thy sins shall be from others not from thy self Many times the sin which maketh the sinner worse subjecting him to the wrath and vengeance of God debauching and defiling his soul makes others better so God hath a glory from his sin The persecutor tries the faith and patience of the Saints and is a means to help them to the Kingdom of Heaven and so God hath glory from his sin but it is from others not from the sinner he in the mean time damneth and destroyeth his own soul 2. Possibly God will get himself glory upon thee upon occasion of thy sin as he said I will get me honour upon Pharaoh That was by breaking him in pieces by destroying both him and his Army in the Red Sea This is small encouragement to thee to go on in sinning because God will get glory from thy sins thou canst not assure thy self that he will get himself the glory of his pardoning or sanctifying grace from them 4. Wilt thou say But if I may bring glory to God I ought to do it though it be by my damnation Consider That no man can in any sincerity pretend to the willing of the glory of God by sinning The Reason is because sin is directly opposite to Gods Glory What sense is it to will the glory of God by dishonouring him Sin is a thing which of its own nature dishonoureth and reproacheth God Canst thou pretend to design the honour and glory of God by doing that which is directly contrary to it It is a question whether our reasonable natures will suffer us to will the glory of God in our own damnation but it is impossible that any should sincerely wish the glory of God and pursue this wish by wilful and presumptuous sinning Object But still will the poor creature say Why am I judged as a sinner What reason hath God to condemn me for my sins if he getteth glory by them Sol. 1. I answer Because the judgment of God is a righteous judgment he proceedeth against men according to their actions and the merit of them not according to the event of their actions wisely ordered besides and beyond their natural tendency to the glory of his own holy name That the sinners works issue in the glory of God is Gods work not theirs and they can therefore expect no reward upon that account Besides the eventual necessity which the Providence of God puts upon things doth by no means justifie the obliquity of the actions Our Saviour tells us it must needs be that offences come but woe be to those by whom they come It must needs be that sin should be committed in the World God hath determined to permit them mens lusts hurry them into the commission of them Gods Providence must fetch him a great deal of glory from them but yet woe be to the sinner without a timely repentance Vse 3. In the last place Doth God in infinite Wisdom as you have heard permit sin in the World and that for the end that I have shewed you that he might be glorified Let us then make it our business to make such uses of the sin that we see in the world and the sins our selves have committed in the world as by occasion of them God may be more glorified by us If you ask me how this may be it may easily be gathered from my preceding discourse but yet for the sake of those who are of meaner capacity let me in this branch of
and afflictions to cry out O God help me c. I remember the saying of our Divine English Poet. My heart did heave and there came forth My God By which I knew that thou wert in the rod. The word of God directeth it Is any man afflicted let him pray saith the Apostle Call upon me saith God in the day of trouble and I will deliver thee and thou shalt praise me This was the practice of the Saints in all times It was Asa's fault in his Affliction that he sought unto Physitians more than unto God it is the condition upon which help and deliverance is promised be the species of the trial and affliction what it will Vse 3. In the last place let us learn from hence instead of quarrelling at Divine Providence and Justice in afflicting so to behave our selves under our troubles as we may see cause to bless God for them and to admire Divine goodness in them Nazianzene telleth us a story of one Philagrius who in his affliction brake out into this expression Gratias ago tibi Pater tuorumque hominum conditor qui nos invitos reluctantes beneficiis afficis per externum hominem purgas internum that is I thank thee O Father and maker of man thy servant for that thou dost us good against our wills and while we reluct to it and by the outward purgest the inward man And I have read a remarkable passage of Plinius Secundus an Heathen too in an Epistle of his to Maximus The sickness of a friend saith he hath lately informed me that we are best when we are weak for who is there who while he is sick is covetous or proud or wanton who then serveth his amours who is ambitious Then saith he a man remembreth that there is a God and that he is but a man then he admireth none envieth none despiseth none then he neither heareth nor carrieth false tales O saith he that we could be as well when we are well as when we are sick This is that I could wish too But the worst is we are very religious and innocent when we are in affliction but when we are got out of the net we are as foolish and wanton as before God by trouble and affliction for the time doth us good Subtilissima ejus beneficia saith an ingenious Author Sponte dantur sed non sponte recipiuntur But for the most part that goodness proveth like a morning-dew But in order to the improving trouble and affliction let me only commend to you four things with which I shall shut up my discourse on this argument 1. The first is Meditation Affliction is a seasonable time for much Meditation It is a fit time for thee to meditate wherefore it is that God contendeth with thee Job 10.2 I will say unto God do not condemn me shew me wherefore thou contendest with me The time of affliction is a fit time when man sits alone and keepeth silence and the noises and hurries of the World do not disturb him to be thinking what he hath done communing with his own heart upon his bed and certainly this will have a good influence upon thee if thy sickness will make thee avoid eating a dish of meat for the time to come which appeareth to thee the proximate cause of thy disease surely it will lay some Law upon thee as to the favouring of such lusts which appear to have been the more remote cause provoking God in that dispensation against thee It is also a fit time for thee to meditate of the vanity of all the contentments of the world Non domus fundus non aeris acervus auri Aegroto domini deduxit corpore febrim Experience then teacheth a man That Riches profit not in the day of wrath all a mans house and Land and Gold and Silver will not relieve him in a Fever what a pitiful thing is beauty or strength which one fit of sickness depriveth us of what a lamentable excrement is well set hair which a cough turns into baldness what vain things are fine clothes which in sickness are exchanged for rags It is a seasonable time also for thee to meditate of Divine goodness what a mercy it is that the Rattle snake hath a rattle The Tyger another beast to give warning of 't is being near that thou hast diseases to put thee in remembrance of thy latter end It is a fit time also for thee to meditate of the power of Divine wrath 2. Vow unto God in the day of thy trouble Jacob did so Gen. 28.20 So did David Psal 132.2 Lord saith the Psamist remember David and all his afflictions how he sware unto the Lord and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob. Jonah did so Jonah 2.9 3. But then remember to pay thy vows Vow and pay unto the Lord your God Psal 76.11 Better you should not vow than that you should forget to pay what you have vowed This were to snare thy self in the words of thy own lips 4. To this end lastly Pray that you may keep your sick bed impressions upon your hearts In your troubles you had thoughts of your eternal state upon your hearts then you were thinking what you should do if you should be called to Gods judgment-seat Then you were saying If I live I will be another man I will keep Sabbaths better be more in Prayer more in reading and hearing the word more watchful over my heart more careful of my ways more conscientious in my dealings more strict in my Family If ever I recover I will by the grace of God never be so worldly so carnal as I have been well thou art recovered now pray that thou mayest fulfil thy vows and that these impressions may not be off thy heart for ever SERMON XXXIX Job 5.6 7. Although Affliction cometh not forth of the dust neither doth trouble spring out of the ground IS there any evil in the City and I have not done it saith God by his prophet Amos. The interrogation is an undoubted Negation Vain man would be wise though saith Job ch 11.12 he be born like a wild Asses colt Hence it employeth it self in traducing the equal ways of God as if they were unequal Hence he saith how can that God who is infinite in goodness be the Author of evil Is it good for him to oppress to despise the work of his hands Job 10.2 In my last discourse I shewed you that it was consistent enough with the goodness of God to be the Author of the evil of punishment We look upon a staff in the water and it appeareth to us crooked when the fault is not in our staff but only in the weakness and imperfection of our sight and the unquietness of the water pull the staff out of the water and look upon it by a due medium and that is straight We look upon things with blood shotten Eyes and they appear of strange colours but when our Eyes are rectified
they insist upon this Argument which certainly is not to be answered In all acts of punishment God doth something positively But the Scirpture mentions the giving up of soms sinners to vile affections to a reprobate mind c. as acts of punishment Therefore God as to them doth something positively The minor is evident from the stile of the Scripture Now for the major Certainly in all all punishments God acteth as a Judge and therefore must do something positively The infliction of a punishment argueth a positive judgement of God Besides which is noted by Pareus God is said seven or eight times over to harden Pharaohs heart and many others who never had any grace to be withdrawn Besides it is very observable that the words which the Scripture maketh use of to signifie Gods penal action in hardning sinners Exod. 4.21 7.3 10.1 are such as cannot be expounded by a bare permission or desertion and signifie a vehement intension of the action being verbs of the second and third Conjugation in the Hebrew This is a great point in Divinity let me therefore tell you what our Divines say in their own words and then examine if it be not reconcileable by our reason to the justice and holiness of God Parens saith That it is sufficient that God in these tremendous dispensations acting as a Judge by way of punishment which as the Scripture plentifully affirms so Bellarmine himself granteth God must act in it not meerly privatively but positively we need not be curious to examine the manner how he acteth Fit illa traditio explicabili sive inexplicabili occulto quidem sed semper justo modo whether we be able to open or not open the manner God doth it always by a just although a secret judgment but saith he in three things it seems to be explicable 1. By leaving men to the impetus and force of their own lusts This saith he is a general way for all that perish are thus left to themselves yet it cannot be said properly of all such that God hath delivered them up to hardness of heart c. 2. By giving them means of softning such are precepts miracles his works c. which they through the wickedness of their hearts only use to their further hardening Thus it was in the case of Pharaoh Sihon c. This on their part was a sin on Gods part a just judgment but it may be this is not the case of all and seemeth hardly applicable to the Gentiles whom God so gave up Rom. 1 26. 3. A third way saith he which is more universal is by delivering them up to their lusts and to Satan to be further blinded seduced and hardned as in the case of Ahab and the Gentiles mentioned in this first Chapter of the Romans and 2 Cor. 4.4 The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of those that believe not Now that Satan seduceth souls by command from God appeareth by the story of Ahab 1 King 22.22 23. The Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets Another great Divine opens it in these particulars God saith he hardneth sinners 1. Alesbury de eterno Dei decreto p. 226. By immediately depriving them of reason and counsel or punishing them so as their rage is increasod against God for this he giveth us the instance of Pharaoh whose heart was the more hardened by the plagues which he felt and for this he quoteth Gregory the Great one of the Popes 2. God immediately hardneth the hearts of sinners saith he by giving them up to Satan that they may be by him hardned as in the case of Saul and Ahab and those mentioned in the second Epistle to the Thessalonians 3. Saith he he hardneth them per se ipsos by themselves giving them up as my Text faith to vile affections Thus Pharaoh is said thrice to have hardned his own heart Pharaoh by his own free-will hardned his heart and God hardned it by his just judgment God permitted the Heathens to sin yet more and more and by an actual motion moved them to an act of sin so far forth as it was an act 4. Lastly saith he God positively hardneth sinners By giving occasions which through the lust that is in them incline them to evil God proposeth to them what things in their own nature should induce and perswade them to that which is good but they through their lust and malice make them an occasion to evil Thus saith he God provoked the Jews to emulation by a foolish nation by shewing grace and mercy to the Gentiles the rage of the Jews against Christ grew greater Thus Christs Preaching and Miracles were occasion to the Pharisees of further blaspheming But saith that excellent Author if we rightly understand it it is not of so much moment whether we say that God hardneth men positively or negatively for though as to the execution in the event the act be negative yet this event floweth from the positive purpose of God It is therefore all one whether we speak in the words of Moses Deut. 29.4 and say God hath not given them an heart to perceive or eyes to see and ears to hear or in the phrase of the Apostle Rom. 11.8 God hath given them the spirit of slumber eyes they should not see and ears they should not hear until this day for the will of God is as effectual in his negative as positive actions And now I think I have told you the utmost our Divines have said in this cause unless some of them have said that God is the Author of his own judgments and punishments which I think none can with modesty deny Twiss Vind. gratiae 3.163 it being no more than the Scripture saith of all those things which are of a positive nature but not of those things which are of a privative nature which yet he may will should be done by his permission though not by his efficiency and this is no more than Arminius himself confesseth that God is effector actus though no more than permissor peccati The sum is if we understand by the punishment of sin with sin Gods judicial act by which he withdraweth his grace or his leaving of sinners to the satisfaction of their own lusts there is no question but God for mens former sins may do this yea more than this he may judicially deliver men up to their lusts and to Satan to be seduced at his pleasure and offer them occasions in their own nature leading to good which they through their corruption may turn to further sinning But God cannot punish the former sins of any by putting any lust or malice into their hearts by which they become more evil or otherwise than accidentally stirring up that lust and malice which is in their heart This is the sum so far as I know of what Divines say as to Gods acts in the punishment of sin by delivering them up to farther sinnings
sayest thou O Christian that the Lords ways are not equal or that the Lord dealeth hardly with thee God dealeth with thee but as every wise and prudent father dealeth with the Child of his dearest love and thus I have spoken to two of the Questions which fall under this head But there is yet a third would be spoken to and the rather because it may be a temptation that seized the hearts of many of Gods people in former times that is How it consisteth with the justice wisdom and goodness of God in the motions of his Providence to make the vilest and worst of men his Instruments to chasten the best and dearest of his own people it was Habbakuks complaint Hab. 1.13 why holdest thou thy peace when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he and maketh men as fishes of the Sea as the creeping things which have no ruler over them But that will be my next Text where I shall speak something relating to that dispensation of God and afterwards shall more largely apply both what I have spoken and what I shall further speak on this Argument SERMON XLIV Habbakuk I. 13. Thou art of purer Eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou on them that deal treacherously and holdest thy Tongue when the wicked man devoureth the man that is more righteous than he And makest men as the Fish of the Sea as the creeping things that have no ruler over them I Begin as you see where I left in my last exercise I left with a quotation out of the prophecy of Habbakuk which is now my Text nor could any thing be more proper for you see it containeth in terms the Question I am this day speaking to In the beginning of this Chapter and Prophecy the Prophet had been complaining unto God of the exceeding wickedness and incorrigibleness of the Jews God replying to him had told him what possibly he did not expect desiring not the ruin but reformation of his people that he was about to put an end to their wickedness v. 6. Raising up the Caldeans a bitter and hasty nation which should march through the breadth of the land to possess the dwellings which were not theirs terrible and dreadful c. An enemy every way qualified to execute Gods utmost vengeance upon this people This quite surpriseth and astonisheth the good prophet and sends him in hast unto God again v. 13. saith he Art not thou from everlasting O Lord my God mine holy one we shall not dye O Lord thou hast ordained them for Judgment and O mighty God thou hast established them for correction then follow the words of my Text Thou art of purer Eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou on them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous then he Habbakuk lookt upon this as a very sad dispensation and what stumbled him as to the righteousness of God therefore he puts it in that phrase the man that is more righteous than he and addeth and makest men as the fishes of the Sea as creeping things of the Earth which have no ruler over them Those brute sensitive creatures are not ruled by any rules of justice or righteousness those of them that have most natural strength and power devour those who have less but now men are reasonable creatures and should be acted by principles of reason and justice amongst them might should not overcome right But O Lord in this dispensation of thy Providence thou seemest to govern the reasonable part of the world like the brutish and sensitive part of it The Jews though they be a sinful people yet they are more righteous than the Caldeans they are a brutish people and have no right against the Jews shall thy Providence so order the affaires of the world that those who have most power in their hand though they have no right shall trample down thy people and eat them up like bread Lord this were to make men like the fish of the Sea like the creeping things of the Earth which have none over them to govern them by any rules of justice or righteousness Lord why doth thy Providence thus govern humane affaires This I conceive the sense of the words The question which remains to be spoken to is this Quest How it can consist with the Justice of God in the motions of his Actual Providence to suffer wicked men to devour those who are more righteous than themselves I am the more willing to speak to this because it is a dispensation under which many of those that fear the Lord in this nation have suffered we have seen good men rifled their goods taken from them we cannot say but they have deserved this and far more than this from the hand of Divine Justice but though they have deserved this yet we are ready to think it is hard that they should suffer this from such miscreants as take the Spoil and God will certainly one day fetch the blood of his people and their abominations out of their mouths We are prone to think that God should not suffer his people to be devoured by those who are more unrighteous then they are The Text gives you an account 1. Of a great disorder in the world at least a dispensation of Providence which Habakkuk thought so Men dealt treacherously the wicked devoured the men who were more righteous than themselves 2. It gives you an account of Gods carriage under this disorder God looked upon men that is he seemed to look upon the men that dealt treacherously and to hold his peace while Sinners devoured the more righteous persons God by the motions of his Providence seemed rather to favour than frown upon these disorders Hence might be observed these two propositions 1. Prop. That it is no unusual dispensation of Providence for God to suffer the wicked to devour those that are more righteous than themselves 2. Prop. That this dispensation hath been matter of stumbling and a very sore temptation even to the servants of God For the first as to matter of fact there is nothing more demonstrable look over the whole History of Scripture the History of all times you will find it true the world began with Cains killing Abel it went on with the Egyptians the Amalekites the Philistines the Babilonians devouring of the only people which God had in the world Now I say this hath been heretofore and doubtless is at this time a great temptation to Gods people Habakkuk complains of it in the Text. Job complained Job 30.1 That those who were younger than he had him in derision even those whose Fathers he would have disdained to have set with the dogs of his table Shemei a dead dog as he called him cursed David and Doeg the Informer prevails against all the Lords Priests Judas another Informer devoureth him who is the
Lord of life It is a dispensation that hath often put the servants of God into unseemly passions James and John would have had fire come down from Heaven as in Elijahs time to have destroyed the Samaritans Peter was out of patience to see the Informer come with a company with Swords and Staves to take his Master and in his passion draweth a Sword and with it cuts off the ear of the servant of the high priest David himself when God offered him the choice of three Judgments desired rather to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men I say it is and hath often been a very sore temptation advantaged partly from Nature partly from some Religious reflections That which in humane nature advantageth this temptation is 1. The disdain every man naturally hath to suffer an injury from one beneath himself when Gideon would have had his Son Jether have fallen upon those two Eastern Princes Zeba and Zalmuna they said rise thou up and fall upon us men have a natural disdain and scorn to suffer from their inferiours we see it in every days experience Now although every child of God is low in his own eyes and in honour preferreth every Saint before himself yet as St. Paul sometimes magnified his office against the false Apostles and counterfeits of his age though he judged himself the least of the Apostles and unworthy of that great Name so they cannot but magnifie themselves in comparison of open profane miscreants that are the scum and off scouring of the place in which they live such as are common drunkards lyars swearers Sabbath-breakers and guilty of other debaucheries the very scabs of the body politick and spots of the Assemblies to which they are united 2. Every man naturally hath a regret at the receiving of injuries from those from whom he hath deserved no such thing Now the People of God are persons of innocence who have done no wrong to their worst Enemies they have loved their Enemies prayed for them been ready to do any offices of love to them and know not how to bear an injury from those to whom they have done no wrong This was that which troubled Davids Spirit Psal 35.12 13. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my Soul but as for me when they were sick my cloathing was sackcloath I humbled my Soul with fasting and my prayer returned into my own bosom I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother I bowed down heavily as one that mourned for my mother But in mine adversity they rejoyced and gathered themselves together yea the abjects gathered themselves together against me and I knew it not yea they did tear me and ceased not with hypocritical mockers at feasts they gnashed upon me with their teeth Lord how long wilt thou look on Rescue my Soul from their destructions 2. This temptation is likewise advantaged from some Religious reflections 1. From a reflection upon the purity and holiness of God O Lord saith our Prophet in my Text thou art of purer Eyes then to behold iniquity How a just and pure and holy God should look on and hold his peace to see a company of vile wretches tearing and devouring his own people this is a knowledg at first view too wonderful for them 2. From a reflexion upon the promises and threatnings of God they look into the holy word of God and find that full of promises of good to Gods People of threatnings of wrath and vengeance to wicked men instead of this they see vile men building up Palaces to themselves upon their ruins and adorning themselves with their Ornaments the houses of the profane furnished and adorned with that which is not theirs instead of the wicked mans preparing garments and the just mans putting them on as Job speaketh they see good and righteous men preparing garments and leud and ungodly men put them on they see the spoil of such as fear the Lord in the tents of leud and ungodly men 3. From a reflexion upon the Decrees of God O Lord saith our Prophet thou hast ordained them for destruction O mighty God thou hast established them for correction they consider leud and wicked men as men whom God by a fixed act of his Will hath ordained to judgment as persons who by the established counsel of God are to be destroyed and they cannot expound the Providence of God into a consistency with his eternal purpose when they see them not only live prosper and grow old but also live by the death of such as fear God and build their nests on high with feathers which they have plucked from their wings From these and other causes ariseth this trouble and coil in the spirits of Gods people Fluctus est Tentatio est as Augustine saith it is a great wave a great temptation and trouble and even Gods own people here are ready to think they see a knot in the thred of providence a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence in the even ways of the Lords dealing Let me indeavour in a few words to unty this knot to remove this stone Four or five things I shall speak one or other of which or all together will make this way of the Lord plain to every sober and understanding Christian 1. How is God to his people more hard or unrighteous in such a dispensation than he was to the son of his dearest love Our blessed Lord hath taught us That the Disciple is not above his Master nor the servant above his Lord it is enough for the Disciple that he be as his Master and the Servant as his Lord Matt. 10.24 25. 'T is true the chief Informer against our Lord was one of his hoshold Judas but he was a son of perdition the only ill member of all the 12. Who were his witnesses but a company of perjured wretches who could not agree in their testimony Who mockt him and scourged him Herod a monster for all manner of wickedness Who were they that spit upon him that cried out crucifie him crucifie him that gave him Gall and Vinegar to drink were they not the abjects of the people Thou art not able to conceive of Gods righteousness in giving thee over and thy estate over to a Renegado an apostate from his former profession to wretches who make no conscience what they say what they swear what they do How was he righteous in giving over the Son of his love to such wretches We are never so like to our Lord and Master as when we are betrayed by a Judas informed against and testified against by false and perjured wretches mockt and abused by the abjects and off scouring of the people If God might be a just and righteous God in suffering these things to be done to the green tree surely he may suffer them to be done unto us who are dry trees Thou art troubled that God should suffer profane scoffers to call thee
Spirit for tolluntur in altum ut lapsu graviore ruant they are set in slippery places they are mounted up to Heaven but they shall be thrown down to Hell It will be a great piece of a sinners infelicity in Hell that he hath had an external felicity upon earth But I have shewed you this largely in the opening of the Doctrine This is enough to have spoken to the first thing in a Christians duty under such a dispensation 2. I proceed to a second thing wherein the duty of a child of God lieth under such a dispensation of Providence as I have been discoursing of That is living a life of faith This is called Trusting in the Lord vers 3. Committing our way unto the Lord vers 5. Resting on the Lord vers 7. Trust in the Lord vers 3. and verily thou shalt be fed it may be read and is read by some Feed upon truth the words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Psalmist useth three or four words here expressive of this Duty 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some translate hope so the LXX 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that all translate feed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 devolve it is also translated dirige detege confide the last word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some translate expect some beg or desire The first word is used vers 3. which as I told you some translate hope some translate trust there is no great difference for all hope doth imply trusting and no man trusteth but he will hope I will turn you to some other texts where the same word is used Psal 25.2 O my God I will trust in thee let me not be ashamed Prov. 28.26 He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool Jer. 7.8 Behold you trust in lying words that will not profit Psal 118. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man In short it signifieth to repose a confidence in another for the effecting of something for our advantage from which act of the mind proceedeth another which is hoping which is the souls motion in expectation of a thing The second expression as we translate it is verily thou shalt be fed as others feed on truth It is the word that is ordinarily used in Scripture and translated truth the word translated feed is also what is ordinarily so translated those that translate it verily take it adverbially but how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is translated thou shalt be fed I do not understand and therefore prefer the other reading of some learned men and feed upon truth so truth is the object and feeding signifies the act And thus it beareth a proportion to that Text Hab. 2.4 The just shall live by faith wicked men feed upon the wind Hos 12.1 upon Ashes Isaiah 44.20 But saith the Psalmist feed thou upon truth the truth of Gods word It may be thou canst not feed upon bread thou haste not that to eat but if thou canst not feed upon bread feed upon the promises feed upon truth O doctrinam auream saith a grave Author debere 〈…〉 â—â—stram alimoniam omnem vitam in hac terra conjunctam habere fidem O golden sentence that all our livelihood in this world is faith A third expression is Commit thy way unto the Lord Ar. Montanus translateth it roul the Arabick version discover thy way unto the Lord the word is used Gen. 29.38 and they shall roul the stone Prov. 26.27 He that rouleth a stone it shall return upon him The fourth time is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate it rest in the Lord others be silent to the Lord So Lam. 3.26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait I shall not much insist on that word there is a double rest 1. A rest of confidence 2. A rest of silence of which more when I come to speak of the duty of patience under this dispensation You have heard the words expressive of the Act there are two words in these verses that express the object of this Act Truth The Lord Jehovah God is the objectum quod Jer. 17.3 4. Cursed be he that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm God is the object which the soul is to trust in The word of truth is the next object the object by and through which and upon the account and incouragement of which we trust in God at such a time The object of faith is the truth power and goodness of God revealed to the child of God in the word There are usually mentioned two acts of faith The first is called Assent by which the soul agreeeth to the Proposition of the word as a true saying The second is an Act of recumbency a resting upon the promise a resting upon Gods truth power and goodness as declared and held forth in his word This is that which prophane persons in our age to shew their Atheism as well as wit call a lolling upon Christ and his promise Rolling our selves and resting upon Jehovah and upon the word of truth are as you see Scripture-terms of which we need not be ashamed Hence if you ask me what it is for the soul of a Christian to live by faith in an evil time I answer it lyeth in two things 1. In the souls fixed and steady assent unto those Promises which God hath made to his People suted to such a dispensation These are many and more than one sort they are written in the Scripture and brought to our minds by reading and by hearing the word of God the business of faith is to unite the soul to these words and to command the soul into a fixed and steady assent to them that the soul shall no more doubt of the fulfilling them than of any thing of more sensible demonstration These Promises might be brought under several heads I intend not to inlarge this discourse so far as to treat of all I shall only instance in two sorts and speak something to them 1. The first is those promises which God hath made for the destruction of wicked men though set upon the highest pinacle of honour power and prosperity of which you have divers in this very Psalm vers 2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither like the green herb vers 9. For evil doers shall be cut off vers 10. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be yea thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be So vers 13 15 17 20 22 28 38. Psal 1.4 They shall be as the chaff which the wind bloweth to and fro The Scripture is full of such words as these 2. The second sort are those Promises which God hath made for the protection and preservation of his people under the pressures of ungodly men Psal 125.3 The rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous Psal 46.5 God is in the midst of his Church therefore it
ne cede malis sed contra audentior ito These men may live at Sea in the midst of troubles and never think of God and Christ nor upon the power goodness and truth of God but upon an O socii neque enim ignâ—ri sumus ante malorum O passi graviora c. or some such thing but this is not to live upon faith if thy soul liveth the life of faith thy heart is alive in an evil time and the life and courage of it is maintained from God thy heart is maintained from the Truth Power and Goodness of God 2. This life of Faith is a quiet life It is a quiet life as to passions Faith hath a wonderful power to keep the mind in a calm serene temper It is the unbelieving soul that fretteth and sumeth and vexeth all turbulent passions upon Gods providence are the products of unbelief The Prophet telleth us He that believeth maketh not haste Faith dryeth up immoderate tears scatters the storms of fears maketh the soul to cease from anger and forsake wrath It quieteth the tongue so as it doth not charge God foolishly it keeps a man from all murmuring and flyings out against God from all indecent and extravagant flying out against men who are Gods instruments I held my peace because I knew it was thy doing David believed that God had done what was done he dust not mutter or repine because the Lord had done it And so as to action I mean irregular actions Take an unbeliever and let him be in any streight or distress he is unquiet and turbulent and makes no conscience what means he useth to set himself at liberty but he that believeth maketh not haste he who by faith eveth the promise gives credit to it and hath committed himself to the Power Goodness and Truth of God for the accomplishment of it as he is not hasty with his spirit to murmur fret and vex because it is not presently made good to him so he is not hasty with his tongue to charge God foolishly nor in his action He dareth not use any sinister or unlawful means to quit himself of any difficulty in which he is entangled he believeth that God will preserve uphold deliver him and in his own time find out some lawful way and means and the belief of this restraineth him from impatience or any thing which should be a fruit and indication of it 3. Again The life of Faith is an expectant life The Apostle telleth us that Faith is the evidence of things not seen Hence Faith hath always two daughters which are its genuine off spring 1. Hope which is the souls looking up or looking out for those things of which Faith giveth an evidence or assurance Faith assureth hope expecteth and this is so inseparable from Faith that it is often in Scripture put for Faith and only differeth in this that Hope is an expectancy upon faith's evidence and the certainty which it giveth the soul of the thing promised in the word Every hope indeed doth not speak faith but every grounded hope doth there is an hope of an hypocrite which groweth up like the rush without mire and the flag without water Patience is another daughter of Faith I shall have occasion to speak to that more fully hereafter Faith assureth the thing to the soul Hope looketh out for it and expects it Patience keeps the soul still and waiting for it If you ask me what the soul expecteth what it waiteth for it must needs be that of which Faith hath given the soul an evidence that is the Promise The Promises are of various natures for outward mercies such as Protection Deliverance c. Spiritual mercies such as inward Support Strength Consolations Eternal happiness 4 Again The life of Faith is an active life The operation of Faith doth not terminate in a meer speculation The activity of Faith lieth 1. In the diligent use of all natural and rational means which God hath appointed in order to the obtaining of the mercy of which faith hath given the soul an evidence and assurance As Faith doth quiet the soul and restrain it from the use of all unlawful means so it doth quicken and engage the soul in the use of all lawful and proper means The reason of which is because Faith can assure the soul of no mercy but in that manner and order and under those circumstances in and under which God hath promised to bestow it Now God hath promised mercies in the use of means so it quickeneth and engageth the soul to the use of means as a piece of the Will of God in order to the obtaining of our desired mercy 2. It lyeth in the use of all spiritual means and here Prayer in a special manner Prayer being the general spiritual means to be used for the obtaining of any mercy Daniel chap. 9 understood by Books that the time was come for the fulfilling of the 70 years captivity and this faith of his as to what he read in the Books quickned him up to pour out that fervent prayer unto God Dan. 9. 5. The life of Faith is a cheerful and joyous life you read in Scripture of a joy and peace which attendeth believing Rom. 15. Believing the glory of God is a great means to make the soul to rejoyce in the hopes of it Now the reason of this joy is the strength of that evidence which faith doth give the soul for joy is nothing else but the complacency of the soul or rather the expression of this complacency upon the souls union to its desired object Now according to the nearness and fulness of this union so is the joy Faith giving the soul a great and unquestionable evidence of the thing doth also give unto the soul a proportionable joy 6. The life of Faith is a crucifying dying life to the world This is the victory saith the Apostle by which we overcome the world even our faith Faith looketh up to the Cross of Christ and by it the heart of a Christian is crucified to the world and the world is crucified to his heart The proper operation of Faith is to work against hope for indeed if once the mercy cometh in sight so as sense cometh in play faith ceaseth as well as hope Hence the operation and exercise of Faith must needs crucifie the heart of a Christian to the world to sense and to all sensible objects Faith made Abraham overlook his own body which was now dead and Sarahs dead womb it made him to overlook the Knife and the Altar and the loss of Isaac's natural life and only to consider that God was able to raise him up from the dead it maketh a Christian overlook all seeming difficulties in regard of sense and all contrarieties whatsoever indeed seemeth to be in his way Now by these things you may try your selves whether you live the life of Faith under sad and dark Providences yea or no. By this time methinks
apprehending these things and likewise it s own propriety and interest in God and being put into some possession of this Propriety in a day of evil makes its application to such promises and portions of his word as he hath revealed his will in proper to such a State as the Soul is in hence it comes to be well-pleased with God in his dispensations it is brought to a sweet and pleasing rest and triumpheth in its portion in the day of greatest Evils and singeth with David Psal 73.25 Whom have I in Heaven hut thee and there is none upon the Earth that I desire besides thee My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my Portion for ever v. 26. Now this is both the duty and priviledge of every Child of God and indeed these are both great arguments to perswade it It is their priviledge for though there be a Power a Sufficiency an infinite goodness in God which is inseparable from his Divine beeing yet this not being enough to bring the Soul to a pleasure delight and complacency in an object without a Propriety Possession and Application of it it is manifest that only those Souls who have such a propriety interest and possession and are in capacity to make such an Application can delight themselves in the Lord and as this is their Priviledge so it is also their duty which will appear to you if you please to consider 1. That there is enough in God for the Soul of a Child of God to please it self with under all dispensations Shall I shew you what that is 1. Whatsoever is done in the World is done by him It is the Lord who lifteth up one and throweth down another there is no Evil in the City which he hath not done 2. In all God doth pursue the noble good and wise ends of his own glory Whatsoever the intentions of men are whether Assyria mean so or so God pursueth still the same design of his own glory being his own end in all his Efficiencies and in all his permissions and to this end he ordereth all things 3. That he is a God infinitely wise and it must be said of all his works of Providence as well as creation In wisdom he hath made them all His Judgments are indeed a great deep but they are a deep of Divine wisdome and all that God doth or suffereth to be done in the World he doth he suffereth all to be done according to his infinite wisdome and counsel 4. That he is the same in power that ever he was Once have I spoken yea twice have I heard it saith the Psalmist that power belongeth unto God so as if he pleased he could when he pleased alter the state and complexion of things and turn the wheel that now runs upon the lot of his people upon the neck of his Enemies and put wicked men in the stead of his afflicted people 5. That his love is the same that ever it was toward his people and is working towards and for them under the darkest and most gloomy dispensations of Divine Providence God loveth his children in Prisons as well as in Palaces in a poor and low as well as in a more high and prosperous condition upon dunghils as well as upon Thrones now lay all this together and Judg if a child of God hath not ground enough to delight himself in the Lord under all dispensations of Divine Providence It is not enough to please his Soul and to bring it to a rest for him to think what is now done in the World or in that part of the World where my Lot is cast my heavenly Father doth it all and he ordereth all things for his own Glory he is infinitely wise and knoweth how to fetch out his honour from all he hath all power in his hand and can turn his hand upon the little ones upon the poor and afflicted of his flock whensoever he pleaseth and he loveth me as well in this low afflicted poor despised estate as he did when the world went better with me and I had more credit and repute in it more of the riches honours power and enjoyments of it than I now have Is not here ground enough for a Soul under such dispensations to delight himself in the Lord especially considering the promise in the Text Delight thy self in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart But besides this how often doth God call to us for this duty Psal 33. v. 1. Rejoyce in the Lord O you righteous Joel 2.23 Fear not O land be glad and rejoyce for the Lord will do great things v. 21. Be glad then you children of Sion and rejoyce in the Lord your God Phil. 3.1 ch 4.4 Rejoyce in the Lord. Rejoyce in the Lord and again I say rejoyce We shall find this hath been the constant refuge and practice of the people of God David his third Psalm was composed when he fled from Absolom his 7th Psalm when he was afflicted with the words of Cush the Benjamite his 34. Psalm when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech the Philistim King his 52. Psalm upon occasion of the villany of Doeg the Edomite his 54. when the Ziphites made a discovery of them to Saul his 56. Psalm when the Philistines took him in Gath. The former part of his life until the Lord setled him upon the Throne of Israel and Judah was indeed nothing else but a time of trouble and great afflictions when his enemies were very high and he was very low he had little or nothing in the creature to delight in now at this time the Psalmes tell you his relief and practice which was to delight himself in God Thus Habbackkuk ch 3. v. 17. Although the fig-tree shall not blossome neither shall be fruit in the Vine the labour of the Olive shall faile and the fields shall yield no meat the flocks shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stall that is though all sensible relief and comfort shall fail yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my Salvation To press you to this duty I shall only mind you of what I have already told you 1. That there can be no such providences befal any Child of God but he may find enough under them still to delight in God when he can see nothing for a Sensual eye to delight in he may yet find enough for his Spiritual eye to delight in Is it not matter of pleasure to thee to think Well let times goe how they will I have a God to go to though saith Job Wormes shall eat this body yet in my flesh I shall see God To think that now God is but doing his own work and though men oppress yet he that is higher then the highest considereth the matter To think that God is able to turn the ball when he pleaseth that in the
mean time he is in the love and favour of God he may have communion with God and God will provide for him These and an hundred such things as these afford matter enough for the child of God to delight himself in the Lord at all times 2. Consider again how equitable it is that Children should at all times delight themselves in him because he at all times delighteth himself in them whom the Lord loveth he chastneth as a Father his Son in whom he delighteth his chastening is not a dispensation of wrath but of wisdome Observe how he speaketh to his afflicted Church Isa 54.11 O thou afflicted tossed with tempests and not comforted behold I will lay thy stones with fair colours and lay thy foundations with saphires Christ was anointed to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oyl of joy for mourning and the garment of gladness for the spirit of heaviness Isa 64.1 3. Though his people have lien amongst the Pots as the Psalmist expresseth it yet he hath a pleasure in them 3. Let me Thirdly offer to your consideration the advantage of this delighting your selves in the Lord in a day of Evil. It would arme the Soul against all the temptations of an evil time 1. It would abstract the mind from the world we see if the Husband delights in his Wife or a Father on his Child how it draweth off their hearts from all other objects that all are nothing to them in comparison of that object in which the great delight of their heart is 2. It would fill the mind of a man so as it should say to all the world as Esay I have enough I have enough keep what thou hast unto thy self or as Jacob whose delight was in Joseph It is enough is Joseph yet alive It is enough 3. It would give the Soul a rest The mind of a man resteth in the object of its delight 4. Finally it would wonderfully quiet the mind as to the Will of God we are usually satisfied with what is done by those persons whom we principally love and delight in Let this therefore be our study our great labour and business to bring up our hearts to a delight in the Lord. Study his attributes that you may know what he is in his Power Goodness Truth Wisdom c. Study his promises which concern this life or that which is to come particularly those which more specially sute thy circumstances Consider the examples of the Saints and Servants of God in thy circumstances meditate upon these things whet them upon thy heart say often to thy self This God is in himself Thus and thus he hath revealed himself and he who hath said it is Power Goodness Truth c. But this is enough to have spoken to this other piece of a Christians duty under such dispensations of Divine Providence I proceed to another piece of Duty 4. Depart from evil and do good You have it vers 8. Fret not thy self in any wise to do Evil. And vers 3. Trust in the Lord and do good you have them both together Psal 34.12 and 1 Pet. 3.12 Now this doing of good is a very large term according to the intent of all that duty which is required of us by the precepts of the first and second table There is a duty which we owe unto God all which is comprehended under the first and great commandement Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy Soul and all thy Strength Thus that man doth good that loveth and feareth God that prayeth unto him and performeth all those acts of homage and worship which God hath in his word required as much and as zealously and warmly in the worst as in the best of times this is properly a doing of good it is honest and just and what God requireth of us it bringeth profit and advantage to our selves it will bring comfort sweetness and peace to the Soul So that take good in what notion you will this is a true doing good Again there is a good which may be done to our selves or to others the Apostle commandeth us to do good to all Gal. 6.10 thus our Saviour commandeth us to do good to them that hate us and the Apostle Heb. 13.16 commands us not to forget to do good and to distribute and it is one piece of our doing good Isa 1.17 to judge the fatherless and relieve the oppressed Further yet there is a good of our general calling This is comprehensive of the whole duty of a man considered in no further capacity than that of a creature towards God or that of a Christian relating to the Lord Jesus Christ and owning him There is a good of our particular calling respecting us with reference to our Relations as Magistrates or Subjects Husbands or Wives Ministers or flock Parents or children Masters or Servants Finally there is a good of a particular season the works and business of our day relating to the particular circumstances and dispensations of Providence under which it pleaseth God to bring us Having thus far discoursed of good and distinguished of that it is easie to understand what Evil is It is either the omission of some of these duties or the commission or doing some things which are opposite to them I take the precepts of the text in the large sence A Christian ought to do all manner of good and to abstain from all omissions of any duty or commissions of any thing which is contrary to that duty which God expecteth from him either in his general calling or in his particular Relation he is at all times to eschew evil and to do good The precepts of God Psal 37.26 Isa 1.16 17. 1 Pet. 3.12 concern him and oblige him at all times but it is their more especial duty with reference to evil times and indeed this is the readiest way to make times better Evil times are so called upon a double account either with respect to sin or to punishment These times are evil times wherein sin aboundeth and the love of many groweth cold now our sins contribute to the aboundings of sin in the time wherein we live we use to say that if every man would sweep his own door the streets would be clean Times are also called evil with respect to punishment to some judgments of God that are abroad in the world now for us to do good to depart from evil and do good is the way to have the judgments of God averted from us Wash you saith God Isa 1.16 17. make you clean put away the evil of your doings from you come let us reason together though your sins be as scarlet you shall be as snow though they were as crimson you shall be as white as wooll You have it vers 6. Do good and thou shall dwell in the land and as we Translate it verily thou shalt be fed Zeph. 2.3 Seek you the Lord all you
is very hard and much a cross to the grain of flesh and blood Let me therefore conclude with a few Motives or Arguments to enforce what I have been speaking unto you For 1. Consider First That not to do this is to be overcome with evil It is the Apostolical Precept Rom. 12.21 Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good Consider first how dishonourable it is for one that is a Christian to be overcome with evil whether the evil of Punishment or the evil of Sin that the lust wickedness and sin of another should make him also sin against God I would fain know what it is that should in an evil time make the Christian to be worse than at another time It must either be the prosperous state of the wicked or the sadness of his own condition for when the wicked are exalted God's people usually mourn to be overcome either of these ways is to be overcome of evil For the lusts of another to overcome me to make me sin as much one way by fretting fuming vexing omitting duty doing what is contrary to it as they do another through the pride lust and cruelty of their hearts here now the sinful evil of anothers heart plainly overcometh me Is this this temptation because it fareth so ill with thee this is yet worse for then thou proclaimest that thou didst only serve God for the loaves he gave thee 2. But Secondly Consider how honourable it is for thee to overcome thy neighbours evil with thy good For me to have so confirm'd and healthy a Soul that let a boisterous sinner do what he can he shall not make me worse he shall not make me fret fume vex or be impatient or to do any thing short of or contrary to my duty do what he can he shall not turn me from my course of duty either towards God or Man how honourable a thing this is for one who nameth the name of a Christian to be certain and constant and unmoveable in the work of the Lord so as a wicked mans wretched usage of him shall make him but more holy to walk more close with God and to pray more for him and be ready to shew him more kindness and to do more offices of love for him I have heard it given as the Character of an excellent Person That the way to have a kindness from him was to do him some injury 3. Confider again There is nothing which more than this will distinguish one that is a child of God from one that is not It is a great piece of self-denial for a man or woman to deny himself in his passions especially those of lust and revenge Observe the difference betwixt Job and his Wife Job suffered much from the hand of God yet he would not charge God foolishly he did not speak unadvisedly with his lips his Wife presently would have him to curse God and die 4. Again Think with your self what a base thing it is for a Christian to walk beneath his Principles or to change his Principles with his condition There is nothing more unworthy of a Christian than to walk beneath his professed Principles or to change his Principles and course of life with his condition 5. Lastly consider How great an Argument it will be for thee to use with God to bring thee out of that state of affliction and misery into which his Providence hath cast thee when thou canst plead That God's severe Providences to thee have been to thee no temptation to depart from him or from any part of thy duty you shall find the Church pleading this as an Argument with God Psal 44.9 Thou hast cast off and put us to shame and goest not forth with our armies Vers 10. Thou makest us to turn back from the Enemies and those that hate us spoil for themselves Vers 11. Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat and hast scattered us amongst the heathen Vers 12. Thou sellest thy people for nought and doest not increase thy wrath by their price c. Vers 17. All this is come upon us yet have we not forgotten thee neither have we dealt fasly in thy covenant Our heart is not turned back neither have our steps declined from thy way Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death If we have forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god Shall not God search this out for he knoweth the secrets of the heart Yea for thy sake are we killed all the day long we are counted as sheep for the slaughter Awake why sleepest thou O Lord arise cast us not off for ever Thus I have opened to you a fourth branch of a Christians duty under such a dispensation of Providence as I have been discoursing of I shall add but one thing more 5. Lastly then It is the duty of a Christian to rest in the Lord and to wait patiently for him or in short under such dispensations quietly and silently to wait upon and for God The performance of this duty will I conceive lie much in Four things 1. A quiet submission to Gods present dispensation a submission and a quiet submission this is implied in the command of keeping silence to God There is a manifold silence There is a natural silence which is opposed to speaking thus he is silent that hath nothing to say or saith nothing Thus Lam. 1.10 The Elders of Zion sat upon the ground and kept silence There is a prudent and politick silence which is good or evil as it is circumstanced Amos 5.13 The prudent man shall keep silence in that time for it is an evil time There is a sinful silence which is a with-holding prayer from God or forbearing to stand up and speak for God Isa 62.6 You that make mention of the name of the Lord keep not silence Lastly There is an holy and Religious silence Isa 41.1 Keep silence before me O you Islands Hab. 2.20 The Lord is in his holy Temple let all the earth keep silence before him Zech. 2.13 Be silent O all flesh before the Lord for he is raised up out of his holy habitation Now this is that silence which the people of God ought to keep before the Lord in an evil time But to open it yet a little more fully The Philosopher distinguisheth betwixt an internal and external speech there is the Language of the heart as well as of the lips for the words that we utter with our lips are first formed and conceived in our hearts our hearts speak first It is not a natural silence upon either account that is our duty but an holy and Religious silence not a silence from thoughts but from passion not a silence from speaking but a silence from speaking unadvisedly Such a silence as Job kept of whom it is said That he did not charge God foolishly nor speak unadvisedly with his lips
1. A silence from passion mourning within our selves fretting vexing c. a man breaketh this silence when he is overborn with fear or grief or anger These three ways the Soul is disturb'd and maketh a noise under the dispensations of God which breaketh this Religious silence 1. By Anger fretting fuming and vexing himself at Gods dispensations This was Moses and Aarons failing at the waters of Meribah and Jonas his error when the Gourd failed him as to its shelter But of this I have spoken fully already when I handled the Negative part of a Christians duty under Gods dispensations of nature 2. Fear Immoderate fear is another passion that spoileth this silence of the Soul fear maketh an Earthquake within us and causeth great unquietness in our Spirits The Soul that is overborn with fears never keepeth silence 3. A third passion is immoderate grief this also breaketh the Souls silence and quiet Psal 42. Why art thou cast down O my soul why art thou disquieted within me So as that Soul that under Gods dispensations of this nature either fumeth vexeth or fretteth at God because of them or is overwhelmed with immoderate or unreasonable fears or is overwhelmed or drowned in immoderate grief that Soul doth not keep silence but that Soul only keepeth a due silence to God which under such Providences abideth in a calm and quiet temper neither shaken with fear nor overcome with immoderate grief or sorrow This is now silentium animae the silence of the Soul before and unto God 2. But there is also a silence of the Tongue this is a piece of this Religious silence this is opposed to murmuring cursing and blaspheming of God to speaking hardly of God as if he were an hard Master and did not deal justly or equally with us to any speaking which is derogatory to the honour and glory of God all this now falleth under the first general duty by which I open a silent waiting for God which I call a free and voluntary submission to the good will and pleasure of God without any disturbance of passion or any sinful expressions of our Tongues 2. A Second thing wherein this duty lyeth is A steady dependance upon God for the fulfilling of his Promises made to his people in such a condition he that hath nothing to depend upon or trust to will not wait so as there can be no patient waiting where there is no secret trust and dependance This is indeed the proper exercise of Faith I have spoken fully to it when I opened the life of Faith in such a time 3. A Third thing in which this duty lies is in the Souls expectation and looking out for God Early in the morning saith David Psal 5.3 I will direct my prayer unto thee and will look up Thus when Habakkuk in the first Chapter of his Prophecy had put up his Prayer to God he saith Chap. 2. that he would go up to his watch-Tower A man goeth up to a Tower or to some high place to see whether a friend or an enemy be coming yea or no It is a piece of our duty in our waiting upon God under his dark dispensations of Providence while we are waiting to be also looking up and living in the expectation of the fulfilling of those promises which we have discerned and fixed our souls by Faith upon and which we have been praying for Our hearts should not be dead we must take heed of saying I look for no good the heart is dead when it comes to that The Soul that waits upon God under dark Providences must be looking for good and confident in its expectations of it from God 4. Lastly This waiting must be in the use of such means as God hath appointed us for the obtaining of the mercy design'd and promised and therefore Psal 37. v. 34. they are put together wait upon the Lord and keep his way Now you have this duty of silent waiting upon God opened to you The Sum of it is this It is the duty of a child of God under these Providences to keep his Soul from being overmuch shaken and overcome with fears or drowned in grief from fretting fuming and vexing at Gods dealings to keep his tongue from all murmuring all foolish and unadvised speaking with his lips to keep his Soul in a quiet dependance upon God for the fulfilling of his word daily looking up for him after the use of such means as he by the Law of Nature or in his revealed will hath appointed for the obtaining of the mercy or good thing which is the matter of our desires and he hath made the Subject of his Promise and consequently the Object of our Faith You have heard your duty Now give me leave to plead with all you that hear me this day for the Practice of it I have in this Discourse been exhorting to several duties of a child of God under dark dispensations of Providence when wicked men have been set up high increased in riches honour every way prospered and the people of God are kept in low despised afflicted states and conditions I remember the Apostle calls to us to add to our faith knowledg to both vertue to vertue temperance c. Do you also add to your not fretting not being angry and envious a steady exercise of Faith and dependance on God to your dependance on God and trusting in him an universal departing from evil and doing that which is good and to that a patient quiet waiting for God I shall in order to your better performance of this offer some counsel and then press it with some arguments and so shut up this Discourse 1. In the first place There are three things which in order to your fulfilling this point of duty I shall commend to you to get a through acquaintance with 1. Be acquainted with Gods name It is David's expression Psal 52.9 I will wait upon thy name for it is good before thy Saints It is the Name of God which we wait upon now it is reasonable in order to our waiting upon his name that we should know his name for as the Psalmist saith They that know thy name will put their trust in thee and truly they that do not know the Lords name will never wait upon him Well you will say What is his name I answer whatsoever he hath revealed and made himself known by or to be that is his name I might instance in many particulars His name is God allsufficient Gen. 17.1 I am the Almighty God His name is I am the unchangeable God His name is Jehovah the soveraign Lord God and therefore we ought to wait upon him His name is The Lord the Lord Gracious Merciful c. they that know the Lords name that are throughly acquainted with the nature of God as he hath in his word made himself known to us they will wait upon God they will see it a reasonable thing that they should wait upon God 2. In the
be such a sufficient grace granted to all It must be sufficient either as a Physical or Natural cause or as a Moral cause Physical causes we know act necessarily All that can be pretended is a sufficiency as a Moral cause Now certainly in the Gospel and the preaching of it there is only a proposition of things to be believed and done and arguments used to perswade the belief or doing of them the Question still is by what power it is that a man doth believe and do What is in the word written propounded in the word preached so persuaded and argued We say it is not of our selves it is the gift of God and it is given to them who believe on the behalf of Christ to believe Phil. 1.29 Now this means is not given unto all the Habits are not infused from whence as from their Roots and Principles these actions must proceed To this they have nothing to say but that these actings flow from a Principle in mans will yet all men have the same reasonable Souls thus God giveth Faith and Holiness no more to Paul than to Judas The upshot is therefore That there is in man a self sufficiency to his own Salvation and need not to be beholden to Father Son or Holy Ghost for it being once brought forth into the World and possessed of a reasonable Soul he hath a sufficiency to his own Slavation and may be a God unto himself but it is not proper to call this means we are otherwise taught from the Holy Scriptures and therefore cannot agree it That all men have an auxilium sufficiens a sufficiency of grace and gracious assistances in order to their obtaining Eternal life and Salvation 2. Quest But the Second Question still remains viz. How can God be just in the condemnation of any Sinner to whom he hath not given a sufficient aid and assistance of grace in order to his Salvation To this in my former discourses I have spoken sufficiently But yet I will speak something to it here falling so fully in my way Answ 1. I answer first God did give unto Adam sufficient aids and assistances of Divine grace to have carried him and all his posterity to Heaven What was given unto him was given to him and his to him as a publick Person in whom we all were Arnoldus contra Mol. c. 6. Sect. 2. Episcopius disp 5. thes 6. and fell Arminians stifly deny That Adam in his state of innocency had a power to believe in Christ because say they there was need of any Faith in Christ in that estate no Episcopius saith it is a silly Question considering we make Faith a Supernatural habit and such a one as in that state there was no need of This is no better then trifling and equivocating surely all habits of grace since the fall are Supernatural habits we must be taught of God to love God and to love one another to fear God to delight or to hope in him had Adam therefore no such powers in his state of innocency think we Further I would gladly know whether Adam had not a power in innocency to do whatsoever was necessary in order to the obtaining of everlasting Salvation If God doth not give now to every man such a sufficiency of power and Spiritual assistance yet he is just in the condemnation of Sinners Man had such a sufficiency of power and lost it but God hath not lost his right to require the exercise of it and to condemn Sinners for sin though they now want it 2. Especially considering that God hath given unto all such a sufficiency of external means as is sufficient to render them without excuse This the Apostle expresly saith Rom. 2.1 But you will say If God hath not given to all a sufficiency of means how shall man be without excuse shall not one say Lord I never heard of Christ I never saw thy Law how should I believe on him of whom I never heard how should I obey that Law which I never saw nor heard of Again shall not another say Lord I did indeed hear of a Saviour the Scripture I read I beard but I had no power to believe I could not chonge my own heart thou wouldst not change it thou indeed Lord didst stand at the door of my heart and knock but thou didst never put in thy hand at the hole of the door I answer these Sinners yet shall be inexcusable because they walked not up to that light and mercy which God gave them This is what the Apostle giveth in plea for God concerning the Heathen Rom. 1.18 21. The wrath of God saith he is revealed against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men for saith he That which may be known of God is manifested in them for God hath shewed it to them v. 21. Because when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkned It is true we say the Heathens have not a light shining amongst them they have nothing but the light of Nature to guide them and this light maketh no discovery of Christ but yet the light shineth with them a light which will shew them there is a God and discover to them that this God is Eternal and powerful So that saith the Apostle they are without excuse because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations they improved not what light they had nor became thankful for it nor obedient to it Christians are much more inexcusable for besides that they have an equal share in Natural light and have the same dictates of Natural conscience with others there is much more of Christ and his Gospel manifested to them Christ telleth the Jews Mat. 21.32 That John came unto them in a way of righteousness and they believed not but Publicans and Harlots believed in him and you saith he when you had seen it repented not afterwards that you might believe Christians have the preaching of the Gospel the preaching of Faith and of repentance and they repent not that they might believe you will say but it is God that must give a power to repent he gave unto Gentiles repentance unto life I answer repentance is taken either more largely or more strictly More stricty it signifieth the turning of the heart from all Sin unto God this indeed is the work of God he alone hath an hand upon the heart of man but more largely it is taken for the turning from some sin and the performance of external discipline now as to this the Lord denieth unto none a sufficiency of grace and if men do not what in them lyeth they are without excuse 3. Finally It is most certain that God whether he giveth sufficient grace to all or no condemneth none but for sin I have shewed you at large that a sinners destruction is of and from himself as
that it may live and not dye God calleth into his Vineyard at several hours some he calleth at the Sixth some at the Nineth some at the Eleventh hour Happy thrice happy are they whom God findeth at the Sixth hour in their youth and persuadeth to go into his Vineyard they ordinarily find not so hard a labour of the new-birth they have the priviledg of a longer familiarity and acquaintance with God they have more opportunities of doing God service God often honoreth them to do him some more eminent service but if you have slipped that hour if it be the Ninth hour nay if it be in the wane of your life if it be towards Evening with you that you have nothing to do but to repent and dye singing the Song of old Simeon Now Lord let thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy Salvation yet thou hast no cause to discourage thy self God doth not work upon all Souls at one and the same period of time Great sinners have no reason to discourage themselves the gate to Heaven may appear something straiter to you than unto others you may have an harder work of it it is an hard thing for those that are accustomed to do evil to do well but yet if God will give you an heart to repent if the Lord shall change your hearts and incline you to turn unto him there is mercy with God even for you God can men make to bring forth fruit in their old age Vse 3. Lastly and with that I shall shut up this discourse This speaketh aloud unto all such as have the charge of others as Parents Masters Tutors and Governours to be daily labouring with them for the good of their Souls using all possible means to bring them unto God It is Solomons advice Ecc. 11.6 In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening let not thy hand be slack for thou knowest not which shall prosper this or that or whether both shall be alike good you that are Parents of Children Masters of Servants in any relation Governours of youth see what an ingagement lyeth upon you to bring up your Children to Reading the word Catechizing to bring them to hear faithful Preachers sow the seeds of Spiritual learning and instruction in them in the Morning of their lives hearken not to those who would perswade you that Catechizing in your families is useless and that a Notional knowledg signifieth nothing until God come to work in their hearts that is true but ill applyed when used as a discouragement to the use of the means of knowledg God doth his work by the use of means on our parts and Preaching is not the only means God sometimes in the conversion of sinners maketh his way to their hearts by their heads sanctifying notions of truth dropt into Souls of persons in their tender years and reflecting them many years after upon the conscience you know not which shall prosper this or that use them to read the Scriptures to be examined questioned and catechised out of the Scriptures to hear lively and powerful preaching you know not which shall prosper in order to the conversion of their Souls and turning them to God this or that whether reading or preaching or Family-instruction God that can work without means useth as you have heard a variety of means and doth not limit himself to this or that Or whether both may not prove alike good God may use one means to begin another to perfect one to plant another to water one for laying the foundation another for building thereon and laying the corner-stone and yet when the building is finished you shall see reason enough to cry Not unto us O Lord not unto us but to thy name be given the glory to cry Grace Grace unto it The Knowing person when converted hath usually if not guilty of notorious sins against his light the easiest new-birth and the most quiet and peaceable life Many more doubts and fears trouble those that are more imperfect in their knowledg of the things of God than trouble others O let it not be said of you as it was said of Herod upon occasion of the killing of his own Child amongst the rest of the Infants That it was better to be Herods Hog than his Child Let it not be said of any of you that it is better to be your Horse or Swine or other Beast than your Child or Servant or Scholar For your Beasts you provide all things sutable to their Natures and capacities O remember your Children have Spiritual beings and are born into the World with a capacity of Eternity nay under a certain ordination to a miserable or blessed Eternity SERMON LIII Isaiah 28.29 This also cometh from the Lord who is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in working THE Particle This in the front of my Text is relative to what went before where the Prophet had been speaking of some works of Divine Providence and those but of an inferiour Nature if compared with others the discretion by which men having divers sorts of Grain and Seeds are taught to get them out of their husks and ears by instruments not always the same but suted to the respective Grain or Seed they intend to get out Of this it is that the Text speaks This discretion and saith it cometh from the Lord who is wonderful in Counsel So that I desire you to observe that my following discourses which I shall bottom on this Text are not founded on the first words and the relative Particle This but upon the latter where Gods wonderfulness in Counsel and excellency in working are join'd together Gods excellency in the workings of Providence floweth from his wonderful Counsel and if such little instincts as the foregoing verses speak of be from the Lord the Lords workings and from a wonderful Counsel an easie argumentation will conclude that Gods dispensations of special grace by the hand of his Providence must needs be the effects of infinite wisdom and proceed from the Lord who is wonderful in Councel which is the point I have in hand and to vindicate Divine wisdom from our exceptions against it because of the variety which God useth in his dispensations of it and the inequal distributions of it to the Children of men I have spoken already to the varieties of Providence in the dispensations of the first grace by which a Soul is converted and turned from sin unto God in which work the Soul is meerly passive I come now to speak to those dispensations of Spiritual grace wherein the Soul is not meerly passive but active as to these also we shall observe a great variety in the motions of Divine Providence and a great inequality in the distributions of it of which I shall give you some account and then shut up the discourse To this inequality of distribution good Christians often find it an hard thing to reconcile their thoughts and although God must be allowed to have
Grace but yet these are Holy Institutions upon which he hath recorded his name and we are bound in order to our receptions of his Grace to lie at these Pools 4. Be much fourthly in Prayer especially in secret Prayer there it is that the Soul can be freest with God both in the confession of its sins and in the spreading of its particular case before the Lord and wrestlings with him All that is to be obtained of God either with reference to the first Grace or the further manifestations of God unto the Soul is in one place or other of Holy Scripture promised unto Prayer 5. Lastly Let not Meditation and Holy Conference be neglected Meditation is the souls Soliloquy with God a piece of piety often commanded and practised with great success Holy converse and conference is our conversation with Saints who are to meet often together to consider and to provoke one another to love and to good works Converted souls Luke 22.32 have an obligation upon them to strengthen their brethren Men of knowledge do not only themselves increase in strength for their own use but they increase strength in others as Gods instruments for the principal efficiency of spiritual strength is from the Lord. Converse also with the people of God is of great use to increase spiritual life and vigor as one coal kindleth another and oft-times God maketh use of his more private servants to speak a word in season to the weary in short for all the purposes of special grace I shall add no more for the promise of divine manifestations and the abode of the spirit of God with the soul being limited to those who love Christ and evidence that love by a keeping of his commandements it must necessarily follow that the keeping the commandements of Christ in all things must be an adequate means and indeed all that lieth upon our hand to do in order to the obtaining of these manifestations Now what greater argument to press holiness can there be than this He that hath my commandements and keepeth them saith our blessed Lord John 14.21 he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him And again v. 23. If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him Who is there that understandeth not the difference betwixt a strong and a weak Christian weak in the resistance of sin and temptation weak in the performance of all holy and spiritual duties betwixt a Christian who feels himself in a free lively temper for the service of God ready to run the way of Gods Commandments and a dull heavy uncheerly temper for duty while in the mean time the conscience is pressed with a necessity of doing of it betwixt a sad dejected disquieted troubled spirit and a soul full of that joy and peace that is consequent to believing betwixt a soul flourishing and daily shooting forth in more perfect acts of grace and a soul that seems to stand still and not to thrive in the wayes of holiness If therefore there be any advantage from further degrees of spiritual strength if any goodness in a spiritual liveliness freedome and alacrity if any consolation in Christ or sweetness arising from those consolations if any comfort in the love the spiritual love of God O study Holiness some gradual neglects of it are the greatest causes of all that weakness dulness sadness unthriftiness under which your souls labour God sometimes acteth by Prerogative shewing these mercies where he will and because he will and with-holding them for the probation and tryal of his People but generally it is in justice to punish his Peoples omissions of their duty or commissions of something which is contrary to their duty And here now I shall put an end to my Discourses in which I have been exercised so long relating to the Providence of God I shall conclude with that of Job Chap. 26.14 Lo these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him To which you may add that Job 11.7 Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto Perfection v. 8. It is as high as Heaven What canst thou do Deeper than Hell What canst thou know v. 9. The measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea SOLI DEO GLORIA FINIS An Alphabetical TABLE Containing the principal Matters contained in this Book Note In some places through the mistake of the Printer in figuring the pages thou art directed to the Contents by the Sermon Ser. 44. Ser. 55. c. A. ACtual Providence vide Providence Acts of Grace elicited by the motion of Divine Providence in its timings the destruction of Gods enemies and the salvation of his people 210 211 212. Actions good rewarded when the intention by God is disallowed 362 363. The reasonableness of it 364 365. It is only with limited and temporal rewards 366 367. Actions of piety how elicited by Providence 208 209 210 211. Adam why he first had salvation offered him upon a Covenant of works 453 454 455 456 457. Adoration of God in the unsearchable things of Providence our duty 171. Affairs in the world ordinarily subordinated to the designs God hath upon his Church 258 258 260 261. The reasonableness of it 263 What use to be made of it 265 266 267. Afflictions of this life may be punishments of past and pardoned sins 398 399. How this is just and reasonable 404. What use to be made of it 405. God the Author of them this consists with his holiness and goodness 404 405 406. The Portion of Gods people not of all 588 589. They are not truly Evils proved 589 590 591 592 593 594. Aids and Assistances of Grace whether given to all if not how God is just in condemning such as have them not 650 651 652 653 654 655 Anger what Serm. 45. How not to be used in the prosperity of sinners Serm. 45. Arguments to perswade the restraint of it Ibid. Application of God in what it lieth 103. necessary to render God the object of our delight 603 604. Application of the whole discourse about varieties of further Grace 692. The variety of Christians growth c. 727 728 729 730 731. Apprehensions of truth how different 721 722. Whence the difference is 723. The reason of it 724 725. What improvement is to be made of it 727 728 729 730 731 c. Attributes of God what how glorified by the timings of Providence 208 209 210. and by the permission of sin 480 481 482. B. Blessings sensible most upon those who live most exactly up to the Divine rule 438 439 440 441 442. C. Casual nothing to God p. 113 114. Calling to faith and repentance how universal 466. Why if all have not a power to believe and obey 467 468. How the