or need these or such kind of Punishments or Corrections and such vast numbers of bad men who are ready every day to commit such outrages did not God restrain them is it not very visible how easily God can order and appoint such sufferings for men without ordering or appointing any man's sins It requires no more than to bring those whom God appoints for suffering into the reach of such men and to put them into their power and their own malice and wickedness will do the rest It is like exposing Condemn'd Malefactors to Wild Beasts whose nature and inclination is to devour and if God chains up bad men as we do wild beasts that they cannot touch any one but whom God delivers up to them and lets them loose only to execute his own Just and Righteous Judgment can any thing be more Honourable to Providence or a greater Security to Mankind To form an Idea of this in our minds let us suppose this to be the case of an Earthly Prince That he perfectly understood all the Deserts and all the Inclinations of his Subjects and had such an invisible and insensible Authority over them that without giving them any directions or letting them know any thing of his Intentions or offering any violence to their own Inclinations he could determine them to do that hurt which they had a mind to do to those and to those only whom he intended to punish and to do the good they are desirous to do to those and to those only whom he intends to reward in case such a Prince took care that no man should suffer more from the wickedness of others than what he deserved and the Reasons of Government required would any man charge such a Prince with all the Wickedness that is committed in his Kingdom only because he so wisely orders it that some bad men shall execute his Vengeance upon other bad men and serve instead of Judge and Jury and Executioners Nay would not every man say That this is the most Perfect and Absolute Form of Government in the world Earthly Princes indeed cannot do this but this is the Government of God who accomplishes his own Wise Counsels by the Ministries of Men. And this may satisfie us in what sense all the good and all the evil that happens either to private Men or to Kingdoms and Nations is said to be God's will and God's doing and what pleaseth him because no Man or Nation is rewarded or punished but by God's order and appointment That as many good men as there are in the world who are ready to do good to all they can and as many bad men as there are who are ready to do all the mischief they can none of them can do either good or hurt to any but to those whom God has appointed for either which makes God the Absolute Lord and Sovereign of the world since whatever men intend all mens Fortunes and Conditions depend upon his Will And since God absolutely orders and appoints nothing but the Event if the Event be holy just and good that is if men be rewarded and punished according to their works as far as the Justice and Goodness of Providence is concerned in this world there can be no reasonable Objection against Providence for by what wicked means soever men be rewarded or punished if the Reward or Punishment by holy just and good this vindicates the Holiness and Justice and Goodness of Providence of which more hereafter Let mens Wickedness be to themselves for that is their own but that the Wickedness of men is over-ruled by an Invisible Hand to accomplish Wise and Just Decrees that is the Glory of Providence And this suggests another evident Reason why all the good or evil that befals men is called God's will and God's doings because in a strict and proper sense it is not man's Will nor man's Doings What is done is either what those who did it never intended to do or else serves such ends and is ordered by God for such ends as those who did it never thought of which proves men to be only Instruments but God the Supreme Disposer of all Events If we must attribute all things that are done either to God or Men then what is not done by Men must be done by God and Men can't be properly said to do what they never intended and therefore whatever is either beyond or contrary to what Men intended must either be attributed to Chance or to a Divine Providence I observed before what different Intentions God and men have in the same actions what is intended by men is their doing what is intended by God is his doing and wholly his doing when what God intended was not intended by men For this reason Ioseph tells his Brethren that it was not they but God that sent him into Egypt 45. Gen. 4 5 6 7 8. for they thought nothing of sending him into Egypt but this was what God intended when he permitted them to sell him to the Ishmaelites This was their sin as he adds 50. Gen. 20. But as for you ye thought evil against me but the good that was done was wholly God's doings but God meant it unto good And thus it is in other cases which shows us what the Scripture calls God's doings The punishment of sinners and those evils he brings on them is God's doings but not the sins whereby they are punished The Punishment of David's Adultery by the Incest of Absalom was God's doing but not Absalom's Incest The sending Ioseph into Egypt and advancing him into Pharaoh's Throne was God's doing but not the Sin of his Brethren in selling him for a Slave And thus it is throughout the Scripture nothing is called God's Will or God's doing which has any Moral Evil in it all wicked actions are mens own will and own doings which God permits for wise ends but never orders or appoints but the good or evil which is done by mens sins that is God's doing and I hope by this time you all know how to distinguish between God's government of mens Actions and his government of Events and then we may safely attribute all Events to God's order and appointment without danger of charging God with the sins of men whereby such Events are brought to pass 3dly Let us now consider What difference there is between God's Absolute Government of all Events and Necessity and Fate for many men are very apt to confound these two If no good or evil befals any men but what God orders and appoints for them this they think sounds like Fate and Destiny that every man's Fortune is writ upon his Forehead and that it is impossible for any man by all his Care and Industry and Prudence to make his Condition better than what God has decreed it to be in the Irreversible Rolls of Fate And yet an Unrelenting Immutable Fate is so irreconcilable with the liberty of human actions with the nature of good and evil of rewards and
good may come This St. Paul rejects with the greatest abhorrence and tells us that such mens Damnation is just 3. Rom. 8. for it is the greatest contradiction in the World to do evil in order to do good for how can a Man who can for any reason be persuaded to do evil be a hearty and zealous lover of Goodness It is certain that he who does any evil does not heartily love that goodness to which the evil he does is opposed and he who does not heartily love all goodness is a hearty lover of none There is no reconciling good and evil no more than you can reconcile contradictions a good man will love and do that which is good and an evil man will do that which is evil and though the Divine Wisdom can bring good out of evil yet evil is not and cannot be the natural cause of good no more than Darkness can be the cause of Light and therefore a Good Design can never justify a Bad Action For that Bad Actions should do good is contrary to the nature of Bad Actions and whatever men may intend I 'm sure no man can alter the nature of things and therefore can never justify himself in doing evil that good may come It is certain a Wise and Holy God requires no such thing of us and though he very often brings about great and admirable Designs by mens Sins yet no man knows how to do it nor knows when God will do it nor did ever any man who ventured upon sin in order to do some greater good ever do the good he intended though many times he runs himself into more and greater sins than ever he intended Nay I dare boldly say That no man ever deliberately ventured upon a known sin to do some greater good by it but there was always some base worldly Interest at the bottom coloured over with a pretence of doing good either to deceive the world or sometimes to deceive their own Consciences The Church of Rome among whom there are those who teach and practise this Doctrine are an undeniable Example of it and we have had too many sad Examples of it nearer home This seems to me one reason why those Prophesies which concern future Ages are generally so obscure that no man knows when nor how they shall be fulfilled that no man may be tempted to any sin to serve Providence and to fulfil Prophesies As obscure as these Prophesies are yet we see some heated Enthusiasts very forward to venture on any thing to fulfil Prophesies to pull down Antichrist to set up the Kingdom of Christ especially when they hope to set up themselves with him But God conceals Times and Seasons from us and though he many times fulfils Prophesies by the Sins of men yet he allows no man to sin to fulfil Prophesies And therefore never lets us know when nor by what means Prohesies shall be fulfilled Let us lay down this as a certain Principle That God needs not our Sins and that we can never please him by doing evil whatever the Event be He makes use of the Sins of men to serve his Providence but he will punish them for their Sins CHAP. VII The Goodness of Providence 3. THE next Inquiry is concerning the Goodness of Providence Though methinks it is a more proper Subject for our devout Meditations than for our Inquiries for we need not look far to seek for proofs and demonstrations of the Divine Goodness The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord We see and feel and taste it every day we owe our being our preservation and all the comforts of our lives to it There is not so mean nor so miserable a Creature in this world but can bear its testimony to the Divine Goodness Nay if you would pardon the harshness of the expression I would venture to say That the Goodness of God is one of the greatest Plagues and Torments of Hell I mean the remembrance of God's Goodness and their wicked and ungrateful abuse of it This is that Worm that never dieth those sharp Reflections men make on their Ingratitude and Folly in making themselves miserable by affronting that Goodness which would have made them happy Whatever other Objections fome wanton and sporting Wits make against Providence one would think it impossible that any man who lives in this world and feels what he enjoys himself and sees what a bountiful provision is made for all Creatures should question the Goodness of Providence by which he lives moves and has his being We should think him an extraordinary Benefactor who did the thousandth part for us of what God does and should not challenge his goodness though he did some things which we did not like or did not understand but Atheism is founded in Ingratitude and unless God humour them as well as do them good he is no God for them Nay I cannot but observe here the perverse as well as the ungrateful Temper of Atheists when they dispute against the Justice of Providence then God is much too good for them though he give us Examples enow of his Severity against Sin yet his Patience and Long-suffering to some few Prosperous Sinners is thought a sufficient Argument that God is not just or that he does not govern the world When they dispute against the Goodness of Providence then God is not good enough for them Though they see innumerable Instances of Goodness in the government of the world yet this is not owing to a Good God but to Good Fortune because they think they see some of the careless and irregular Strokes of Chance and Fortune intermixt with it in the many Evils and Calamities of life Now it is impossible for God himself to answer these two Objections to the satisfaction of these men and that I think is a sufficient answer to them both For should God vindicate his Justice to the satisfaction of these men by punishing in this world every sin that is committed according to its desert there would be very little room for the exercise of Goodness If every man must suffer as much as he sins the very best men will be great Sufferers much greater Sufferers than any of them now are tho their Sufferings are made another Objection against Providence and there will be as many formidable Examples of Misery as there are Atheists and Profligate Sinners and this would be an unanswerable Objection against the Goodness of Providence for how good soever God might be if he must punish every sin he has no opportunity to shew his Goodness And on the other hand should God be as good as these men would have him that is that to prove himself good he should not inflict any Evils or Calamities on men whatever their Sins or Provocations are that whereas God planted Paradise only for man in innocence the whole world should be now a Paradise though there is not an innocent man in it this would be as unanswerable an Objection
we owe to Providence 345 A particular Acknowledgment of Providence in all Events Ibid. Submission to the Providential Will of God 347 Concerning Submission to God under Afflictions and Sufferings 348 Submission to the Will of God with respect to our several states and conditions of life 354 Concerning Hope and Trust in the Divine Providence 366 Concerning the Duties of Prayer and Thanksgiving 378 A DISCOURSE OF THE Divine Providence The INTRODUCTION MY Chief Design in this following Treatise is So to Explain the Nature of Providence as to reconcile men to the Belief of it and to possess them with a Religious Awe and Reverence of the Supreme and Absolute Lord of the World For it is very evident That the Mistakes about the Nature of Providence are the principal Objections against it which tempt some men to deny a Providence or so weaken the sense of it in others that they are very little the better for believing it That a Divine Providence does Govern the World I have proved largely enough for my present Design in the Discourse concerning a Future Iudgment which I refer my Reader to But that this Work might not seem to want a Foundation I have not wholly omitted the Proof of a Providence but have at least said enough to convince those of a Providence who believe That there is a God which must be supposed in a Discourse of Providence The Whole is divided into Nine Chapters I. The necessary Connection between the Belief of a God and of a Providence II. The General Notion of Providence and particularly concerning a Preserving Providence III. Concerning God's Governing Providence IV. The Soveraignty of Providence V. The Justice of Providence VI. The Holiness of Providence VII The Goodness of Providence VIII The Wisdom of Providence IX The Duties we owe to Providence The Explication of these Things will not only answer many Difficulties in Providence but will give us a clearer Notion of the Divine Attributes and of some of the principal Duties of Religion CHAP. I. The necessary Connection between the Belief of a God and of a Providence INstead of other Arguments to prove a Providence I shall at present insist only on this That the Belief of a God infers a Providence That if we believe there is a God who Made the World we must believe that the same God who Made the World does Govern it too 1. For first It is as absurd and unreasonable to think That the World is Governed by Chance as to think That it was Made by Chance for Chance can no more Govern than it can Make the World One principal Act of Providence is to uphold all things in being to preserve their Natures Powers Operations to make this lower World again every Year by new Productions For Nature seems to decay and dye and revive again in almost as wonderful a manner and as unintelligible to us as it was first made Now tho it is very absurd to say That Chance which acts by no Rule nor with any Counsel or Design can make a World which has all the Marks and Characters of an admirable Wisdom in its Contrivance yet it seems more absurd to say That Chance can preserve that it can uphold the things it has made that it can repair the decays of Nature nay restore it when it seems lost That it can not only do the same thing twice but repeat it infinitely in new productions That Chance can give Laws to Nature and impose a Necessity on it to act regularly and uniformly that is That Chance should put an end to Chance and introduce Necessity and Fate Were there not a Wise and Powerful Providence it is Ten thousand times more likely that Chance should unmake and dissolve the World than that it should at first make it for a World that came together by Chance and has nothing to keep it together but the Chance that made it which is as uncertain and mutable as Chance is will quickly unmake it self Should the Sun but change his place come nearer this Earth or remove farther from it there were an end of this lower World and if it were placed there by Chance it is wonderful that in so many Ages some new unlucky Chance has not removed it And therefore the Psalmist attributes not only the Creation but the Preservation of all things to God Praise him sun and moon praise him ye stars of light Praise him all ye heavens and ye waters that are above the heavens Let them praise the name of the Lord for he spake the word and they were made he commanded and they were created He hath made them fast for ever he hath given them a law which shall not be broken 148. Psal. 3 4 5 6. 2dly The same Wisdom and Power which Made the World must Govern it too It is only a Creating Power that can preserve That which owes its very Being to Power must depend upon the Power that made it for it can have no principle of Self-subsistence independent on its Cause It is only Creating Wisdom that perfectly understands the Natures of all things that sees all the springs of Motion that can correct the Errors of Nature that can suspend or direct the Influences of Natural Causes that can govern Hearts change mens Purposes inspire Wisdom and Counsel restrain or let loose their Passions It is only an Infinite Mind that can take care of all the World that can allot every Creature its portion that can adjust the Interests of States and Kingdoms that can bring Good out of Evil and Order out of Confusion In a word the Government of the world requires such Wisdom and such Power as no Being has but he who made it and therefore if the World be governed it must be governed by the Maker of it 3dly If there be any such Being as we call God a Pure Infinite Eternal Mind it is a Demonstration That he must Govern the world Those who deny a Providence will not allow that God sees or takes notice of what is done here below The Epicureans tho in Civility and Compliment to the Superstition of mankind rather than from a real belief and sense of a Deity they did own a God nay a great many Gods such as they were yet never allowed their Gods to know any thing of our affairs which would have disturbed their profound Ease and Rest the sole Happiness of the Lazy Unactive Epicurean Deities and this secured them from the fear of their Gods who lived at a great distance from them and knew nothing concerning them And in the same manner this is represented in Scripture That wicked men would not believe that God saw or heard or took any notice of what they did 64. Psalm 5. They encourage themselves in an evil matter they commune of laying snares secretly they say Who shall see them 10. Psalm 11. He hath said in his heart God hath forgotten he hideth his face he will never see it
Works of Nature prove that the World was at first made by a wise and powerful Being the continuance and preservation of all things the regular motions of the Heavens the uniform productions of Nature prove the World is upheld directed and governed by the same Omnipotent Wisdom and Counsel As St. Paul tells us The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead 1 Rom. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Dominion and Soveraignty or his governing Providence this visible World does not only prove an Eternal Power which made it but a Soveraign Lord who administers all the Affairs of it And 14. Acts 17. He proves the Being of God from his Providence Nevertheless he left not himself without witness in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness And 17. Acts 28. He proves that God governs the World and takes care of all the Creatures that are in it because he made it For in him we live move and have our being as certain of your own Poets have said for we are also his off-spring which is very improperly alledged by St. Paul if we may be the Off-spring of God and yet not live and move and have our Being in him that is if God's making the World does not necessarily prove his constant care and governmet of it But the Apostle knew in those days that no man who confessed that God made the World questioned his Providence and therefore makes no scruple to prove that we live and subsist in God because he made us This is a noble Argument to prove both the Being and Providence of God which cannot be separated from the Works of Nature and the Wise Government of the World It would give us a very delightful entertainment to view all the Curiosities and suprizing Wonders of Nature with what beauty art and contrivance particular Creatures are made and how the several parts of this great Machine are fitted to each other and make a regular and uniform World How all particular Creatures are fitted to the use and purposes of their several Natures and yet are made serviceable to one another and have as mutual a connexion and dependance as the Wheels of a Clock What an equal and steady Hand governs the World when its motions seem most excentrick and exorbitant and brings Good out of Evil and Order out of Confusion when things are so perplext that it is impossible for any one but a God to disentangle them There is no need of the subtilty of Reason and Argument in this Cause would but men attentively study the Works of God and dwell in the contemplation of Nature and Providence for God is as visible in his Works as the Sun is by its Light when all the Wonders of Nature are unfolded and exposed particularly to our view it so over-powers the mind with such infinite varieties of that most Divine Art and Wisdom that modest men are ashamed to ascribe such things to a blind Chance which has no Design or Counsel Indeed to say that a World full of Infinite Marks and Characters of the most admirable Art a World so made that no Art could make it better was not made by a wise Mind but by Chance by a fortuitous concourse of Atoms which without any Design after infinite fruitless Trials happened into this exact useful beautiful Order that now they are in know when they are well and in despight of Chance move as constantly regularly artificially in all new Productions as the divinest and most uniform Wisdom could direct I say to affirm this is to put an end to all Disputes by leaving no Principles of Reason and Argumentation to dispute with An Atheist is the most vain Pretender to Reason in the World The whole strength of Atheism consists in contradicting the universal Reason of Mankind They have no Principles nor can have any and therefore they can never reason but only confidently deny or affirm They can assign no Principles of Reason which the rest of Mankind allow to be Principles from whence they can prove that there is no God and no Providence but they only reject those Principles which all other men agree in and from whence it must necessarily follow that there is a God and a Providence It will be of great use briefly to explain this which will teach you to reject Atheism and Atheists without troubling your selves to dispute with them for they have no common Principles with the rest of Mankind to reason upon nor indeed any Principles of Reason at all A few words will suffice for this purpose Mankind who have been used to thinking and reasoning have universally agreed That there must be something that had no beginning and no cause for nothing can produce nothing that had there ever been a time when there was nothing there never could have been any thing unless there can be an effect without a cause which is too absurd for Atheists themselves to say in express words who do not boggle much at Absurdities and therefore they make their Atoms and their Vacuum to be eternal It is agreed also That whatever had a beginning had a cause and the most easy and natural progress of Human Understandings is to reason from one cause to another till we ascend to and center in a first Cause For it is as easy and natural to believe one first Eternal Cause as to believe an Eternal Being but though it is natural to believe something Eternal it is as unnatural to believe all things to be so we have no notion of all things being Eternal though we have of an Eternal Cause for the very reason why we are forced to confess something Eternal is because there must be an Eternal Cause of all other things that is because all things are not eternal But if any thing which has not an eternal and unchangeable Nature but is capable of being made and unmade changed and altered as all the things of this World are might be without a Cause then every thing may be without a Cause and if the Eternity of all things be a natural Notion it cannot be a natural Notion that there is a first Cause For that very Notion supposes that something had a beginning and was originally made when it was not before and therefore that all things are not eternal For to be made in this Axiom primarily relates to the being of things and is so understood by all men And how can such a notion of the making and giving being to any thing be natural if it be a natural notion that all things are eternal and that nothing was made Hence it is that seen and visible Effects which have no visible Cause adequate to the producing such Effects are allowed by all Mankind to be a sufficient proof of some Invisible Cause as St. Paul tells us
and he spoke the Language of Human Nature in it That the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made 1. Rom. 20. For if that which is made must have a Cause if there be no visible Cause there must be an invisible Maker And therefore this World which has no visible must have an invisible Cause And as it is natural to the Reason of Mankind to conclude the Cause from the Effect so is it to learn the Nature of the Cause from the Nature of the Effect for whatever is in the Effect must be either specifically or virtually in the Cause for whatever is in the Effect which is not in the Cause that has no Cause for nothing can be a cause of that which it is not it self And therefore whatever has life and understanding must be made by a living and understanding Cause whatever has art and skill and wise contrivance in its frame as every Worm and Fly has must have a wise designing Cause for its Maker And then it is certain that this whole World was not made by chance or the fortuitous concourse of Atoms but by an infinitely wise Mind This way of reasoning is easy and natural to our minds all men understand it all men feel it Atheists themselves allow of this kind of proof in all other cases excepting the proof of a God or a Providence and therefore it is no absurd foolish way of reasoning for then it must not be allowed of in any case and they have no reason to reject it in this case but that they are resolved not to believe a God and a Providence And yet this way of reasoning from Effects to Causes must be good in all Cases or in none For the Principle is universal That nothing can be made without a Cause and if any thing can be made made without a Cause this Principle is false and can prove nothing And I challenge the wisest and subtilest Atheist of them all to prove from any Principle of Reason that the most beautiful and regular House that ever he saw which he did not see built for that is a proof from Sense not from Reason was built by men and is a work of Art and that it did not either grow out of the Earth nor was made by the accidental meeting of the several Materials which without knowledge art or design fell into a regular and uniform Building Had these men never seen a House built I would desire to know how they would prove that it is a work of Art built by a skilful Workman and not made by chance and by what medium soever they will prove this I will undertake to prove that God made the World though we did not see him make it But the present Enquiry is only this Whether this be Human Reason the natural Reason of Human Minds If it be then men who will be contented to reason like men must acknowledge and assent to this Argument from Effects to Causes which unavoidably proves a God and a Providence and this is all I desire to be granted That those who will follow the Notices and Principles of Human Reason must believe that God made and governs the World for I know not how to reason beyond Human Reason those who do may please themselves with it Those who have found out a Reason which contradicts the natural Principles of Reason must reason by themselves for Mankind cannot reason with them But let us consider how Atheists reason when they have laid aside this Principle of Reason from Effects to Causes They tell us That a most Artificial World may be made without Art or any wise Maker by blind Chance without any designing Efficient Cause That Life and Sense and Reason may result from dead stupid sensless Atoms Well! we hear this and bear it as patiently as we can but how do they prove this why they say it may be and they can go no farther But how do they know this may be Have they any such notion in their minds have they any natural sensation that answers these words does Nature teach them that any thing can be without a Cause adequate to the Effect that any thing can be wisely made without a wise Cause that one contrary can produce the other that sensless stupid Matter can produce Life Sensation and Understanding Can they then tell me what it is that can't be I desire to know by what Rule they judge what may be and what can't be And if they can find any can't be more absurd and contradictious than their may be I will renounce Sense and Reason for ever If nothing can be without a Cause according to the Reason of Mankind this can't be and therefore all that their may be 's can signify is this That if the Reason of Mankind deceive us such things may be as the most unquestionable Principles of Reason tells us can't be And this is the glorious triumph of Atheistical Reason it can get no farther than a may be and such a may be as is absolutely impossible if the Reason of Mankind be true Set aside the relation between Causes and Effects and all the Arguments from Causes to Effects and from Effects to Causes and there is an end of all Knowledge and set aside all those first Principles and Maxims of Reason which all men assent to at the first Proposal the truth of which they see and feel and there is an end of all Reason For there can be no reasoning without the acknowledgment of some first Principles which the mind has a clear distinct and vigorous perception of And if men will distrust their own minds in such things as they have an easy natural perception of and prefer some Arbitrary Notions which seem absurd Contradictions and impossible to the rest of Mankind and which they can have no Idea of beyond the sound of words they may be Atheists if they please at the expence of their Reason and Understanding that is they may be Atheists if they will not judge and reason like Men But if we are as certain of the Being of a God and of a Providence as we are that nothing can be without a Cause we have all the certainty that Human Nature is capable of CHAP. II. The general Notion of Providence and particularly concerning a Preserving Providence HAving proved as largely as my present Design required That the same God who made the World is the Supream Lord and Governour of it I proceed to consider the Nature of Providence The general Notion of Providence is God's care of all the Creatures he has made which must consist in preserving and upholding their Beings and Natures and in such Acts of Government as the good Order of the World and the Happiness of Mankind require which divides Providence into Preservation and Government which must be carefully distinguished in order to answer some great Difficulties in Providence I
most acquainted with without any certain and periodical returns prove that it is not all Mechanism for Mechanical Motions are fixt and certain and either always the same or regular or uniform in their Changes It is of great use to us to understand this which teaches us what we may expect from God and what we must attribute to him in the government of Nature We must not expect in ordinary Cases that God should reverse the Laws of Nature for us that if we leap into the fire it shall not burn us or into the water it shall not drown us and by the same reason the Providence of God is not concerned to preserve us when we destroy our selves by Intemperance and Lust for God does not work Miracles to deliver men from the evil Effects of their own Wickedness and Folly But all the kind Influences of Heaven which supply our wants and fill our hearts with food and gladness are owing to that good Providence which commands Nature to yield her encrease and those disorders of Nature which afflict the world with Famines and Pestilence and Earthquakes are the effects of God's Anger and Displeasure and are ordered by him for the punishment of a wicked world We must all believe this or confess that we mock God when we bless him for a healthful Air and fruitful Seasons or deprecate his Anger when we see the visible Tokens of his Vengeance in the disorders of Nature For did not God immediately interpose in the government of Nature there would be no reason to beg his Favour or to deprecate his Anger upon these Accounts 2dly Let us consider God's Government of Accidental Causes or what we call Chance and Accident which has a large Empire over human Affairs not that Chance and Accident can do any thing properly speaking for whatever is done has some proper and Natural Causes which does it but what we call Accidental Causes is rather such an Accidental Concurrence of different Causes as produces unexpected and undesigned Effects as when one Man by Accident loses a purse of Gold and another Man walking in the Fields without any such expectation by as great an Accident finds it And how much of the Good or Evil that happens to us in this World is owing to such Undesigned Surprizing Accidental Events every man must know who has made any Observations on his own or other mens Lives and Fortunes The Wise Man observed this long since 9. Eccl. 11. I returned and saw under the Sun that the race is not to the swift nor the battel to the strong neither yet bread to the wise nor yet riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill but time and chance happeneth to them all Some unusual and casual Events change the fortunes of men and disappoint the most proper and natural means of Success What should conquer in a Race but Swiftness or win the Battel but strength What should supply mens wants and increase Riches but Wisdom and Understanding in Human affairs What more likely way to gain the Favour of Princes and People than a dextrous and skilful Application and Address And yet the Preacher observed in his days and the observation holds good still that it is not always thus Time and chance some favourable Junctures and unseen Accidents are more Powerfull than all Human Strength or Art or Skill Now what an ill state were Mankind in did not a Wise and Merciful Hand Govern what we call Chance and Fortune How can God Govern the World or Dispose of mens Lives and Fortunes without Governing Chance all unseen unknown and surprizing Events which disappoint the Counsels of the Wise and in a moment unavoidably change the whole scene of Human Affairs Upon what little unexpected things do the Fortunes of Men of Families of whole Kingdoms turn And unless these little unexpected things are Governed by God some of the greatest Changes in the World are exempted from his Care and Providence This is reason enough to believe That if God Governs the World he Governs Chance and Fortune that the most unexpected Events how Casual soever they appear to us are foreseen and ordered by God Such Events as these are the properest Objects of God's Care and Government because they are very great instruments of Providence many times the greatest things are done by them and they are the most visible demonstration of a Superiour Wisdom and Power which Governs the World By these means God disappoints the Wisdom of the Wise and defeats the Power of the Mighty Frustrateth the tokens of the liars and maketh diviners mad turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish 44. Isai. 25. Did Strength and Wisdom always prevail as in a great measure they would were it not for such unseen disappointments Mankind would take less notice of Providence and would have less reason to do it since they would be the more absolute Masters of their own Fortunes a powerful combination of Sinners managed by some crafty Politicians would govern the World But the uncertain turnings and changes of Fortune keep Mankind in awe make the most prosperous and powerful Sinners fear an unseen Vengeance and give security to Good men against unseen Evils which cannot befall them without the order and appointment of God That there are a great many accidental and casual Events which happen to us all and which are of great consequence to the Happiness or Miseries of our Lives all men see and feel that we cannot defend our selves from such unseen Events which we know nothing of till we feel them is as manifest as that there are such Events and what so properly belongs to the Divine Care as that which we our selves can take no care of The Heathens made Fortune a Goddess and attributed the government of all things to Her 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereby they only signified the government of Providence in all casual and fortuitous Events and if Providence governs any thing it must govern Chance which governs almost all things else and which none but God can govern As far as Human Prudence and Foresight reaches God expects we should take care of our selves and if we will not he suffers us to reap the fruits of our own Folly but when we cannot take care of our selves we have reason to expect and hope that God will take care of us in other Cases Human Prudence and Industry must concur with the Divine Providence in Matters of Chance and Accident Providence must act alone and do all it self for we know nothing of it so that all the Arguments for Providence do most strongly conclude for God's government of all Casual Events And the Scripture does as expresly attribute all such Events to God as any other Acts of Providence and Government In the Law of Moses when a man killed his Neighbour by accident God is said to deliver him into his hands 21. Exod. 12 13. He that smiteth a man so that he die shall
than to command every thing that is Holy and to forbid all kinds and degrees of Wickedness and to encourage the practice of Vertue and to discourage all Wicked practices as much as the Wisdom of Government and the freedom of human Actions will allow That God does all this wherein the Holiness of Government consists I know no man that denies As wicked as Mankind is it is not for want of holy and just and good Laws The law of the Lord is an undefiled law converting the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure and giveth wisdom unto the simple the statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the heart the commandment of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes The fear of the Lord is clean and endureth for ever the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether 19. Psal. 7 8 9. The great complaint is That the Laws of God are too Holy for the Corrupt state of this World and most men think to excuse their Wickedness by the degeneracy of human Nature and the too great Purity and Perfection of the Divine Laws which they have no Ability to perform Now the Holiness of God's Laws are an undeniable Argument of the Holiness of his Providence and Government whether we consider these Laws as a copy of his Nature or a declaration of his Will much more if we consider them both as his Nature and his Will as all Moral Laws which have an eternal and necessary Goodness in them are for the Divine Nature and Will must be the rule and measure of his Providence and Government unless he Govern the World contrary to his own Nature and Will Nay Laws themselves are not only the Rule of Obdience to Subjects but of Government to the Prince and it is universally acknowledged to be as great a miscarriage in a Prince not to Govern by his own Laws as it is in Subjects not to obey them Princes may be guilty of such miscarriages but God can't and therefore the Laws he gives to us are the Rules of his own Providence and then the Holiness of his Laws prove that his Government and Providence must be very Holy And indeed we have very visible and sensible proofs of this in that care he takes to encourage the Practice of Vertue and to discourage Wickedness This he has done by those great Promises which he has made to the Observation of his Laws and by those terrible Threatnings which he has denounc'd against the breach of them both in this World and in the World to come But this is not what I mean for men can despise both Promises and Threatnings if they do not see the Execution of them and the Promises and Threatnings of the other World which are much the most considerable are out of sight and do not so much affect Bad men and that which is most proper for us to consider here is how the external Administrations of Providence encourage Vertue and discourage Wickedness and Vice Now those who believe that all the Miseries that are in the World are the effects or rewards of Sin as all men must do who believe the Scripture nay as all men must do who believe that a Just and Good God governs the World must confess that the Divine Providence has done abundantly enough to discourage Wickedness For it is visible enough how many Miserie 's there are in the World So many and so great as are commonly thought a reproach to Providence but if they be the just recompence of Sin they are only an Argument of the Justice and Holiness of Providence If we believe the Scripture Mortality and Death and consequently all those Infirmities and Decays of Nature all those Pains and Sicknesses and Diseases which are not the effect of our own Sins or which we do not inherit from our more immediate Parents as an entail of their Sins are owing to the Sin of Adam which brought Death upon himself and all his Posterity and such a curse upon the earth as has entail'd Labour and Sorrow on us As for many other Miseries and Calamities of life they are visibly owing to our own or to other mens Sins Such as Want and Poverty Infamy and Reproach Seditions and Tumults violent Changes and Revolutions of Government and all the Miseries and Desolations of War Take a survey in your thoughts of all the several sorts of Miseries which are in the World and tell me what place they could find here by what possible means they could enter into the World were Sin banished out of it What Miseries could disturb Human life were all men Just and Honest and Charitable did they love one another as themselves Perfect Vertue is not only an innocent and harmless but a very beneficial thing it does no hurt but all the good it can both to it self and others and when there is nothing to hurt us neither within nor without we can suffer no hurt And is not this a sufficient proof of the Holiness of Providence that God has so ordered the nature of things and the circumstances of our life in this World that if men will be Wicked they shall be Miserable Can any thing in this World more discourage men from Sin or make them more zealous to reform themselves and the rest of Mankind than so many daily and sensible proofs that there is no expectation of a secure state of rest and happiness while either they themselves or other men with whom they must of necessity converse or have something to do are Wicked For you must remember that I am not now a vindicating the Justice but the Holiness of Providence and therefore it is no Objection against what I have now said That many times vertuous and innocent men suffer very greatly by the Violence and Injustice of the wicked Tho this may be an Objection against the Justice of Providence which I have already accounted for yet it is no Objection against the Holiness of Providence but a great justification of it for the more effectual care God has taken to give all mankind an abhorrence of all Wickedness both in themselves and others the more undeniable proof it is of the Holiness of God's Government and this is more effectually done by the evils which we suffer from other mens wickedness than from our own Men who are very favourable to their own Vices when they feel the Pleasures and Advantages of them learn to hate to condemn to punish them by feeling what they suffer from other mens sins When they lose their own Estates by Injustice and Violence or their Good Names by Reproaches and Defamations or are injur'd in the Chastity of their Wives and Daughters by other mens Lusts this gives them a truer sense of the evil of Injustice Defamation and Lust and makes them condemn these Vices in themselves how well soever they love them This is the foundation of Human Government which keeps Mankind in order and lays great Restraints upon
heart He who intends and resolves it and wants nothing but an opportunity to commit adultery is an Adulterer If God then must not permit sin he must not suffer men to will and to chuse any thing that is wicked for this is the sin herein the immorality of the Act consists Consider then what the meaning of this is that God must not leave men to the liberty of their own choice but must always over-rule their minds by an irresistible Power to chuse that which is good and to refuse the evil But will any one say that this is to govern men like men Is this the natural government of free Agents to take away their liberty and freedom of choice Does government signify destroying the nature of those Creatures which are to be governed does this become God to make a free Agent and to govern him by necessity and force This I confess is a certain way to keep Sin out of the world but it thrusts Holiness out of the world too for where there is no liberty of choice there can be neither moral good nor evil and this would be a more reasonable objection against the Holiness of Providence that it banishes Holiness out of the world I grant that God governs the minds of men as well as their external Actions directs and influences their Counsels suggests wise thoughts to them excites good men to great and vertuous Actions and lays invisible restraints upon the Lusts and Passions of Bad men turns their Hearts changes their Counsels and diverts them from ill-laid Designs especially when they have no external restraints on them and the pursuing such Counsels would be very hurtful to the world or to the Church of God nay I deny not but in such cases God may by an irresistible power and influence govern the minds of men not to make them good but to make them the instruments of Providence in doing such good as they have no inclination to do and to chain up their Passions that they may not do that hurt which they intended to do as I have shewn at large above And I see nothing in this which unbecomes the Wise and Soveraign Lord of the world sometimes by an immediate power to govern the minds as well as the bodies of men that they shall no more be able to will and chuse than they are to do what they themselves please For though God has made man a reasonable Creature and free Agent he has not wholly put him out of his own power but that when he sees fit he can lay invisible restraints upon him or clap a counter byass upon his mind which shall lead him contrary to the natural tendency of his own Will and Lusts Thus it is in the natural World though God has endowed all Creatures with natural Vertues and Qualities and in the ordinary course of his Providence suffers them to produce their natural effects yet he has reserved to himself a Sovereign Authority over Nature to reverse its Laws or suspend its influences by an immediate and supernatural Power and I see no reason why God may not do this in the moral as well as in the natural world when the good government of the world requires it But though God may thus sometimes by a Supernatural Power influence the minds of men and chain up their Lusts and Passions yet this is not the natural government of mankind consider'd as free Agents and it would no more become God always to over-rule mens Wills in this manner than it would always to over-power Nature and to govern the natural world not by its natural Vertues and Powers but by constant Miracles And if the ordinary and natural government of mankind considered as reasonable and free Agents requires that God should leave men to the liberty and freedom of their own choice which is the only thing that can be judged and that is capable of Rewards and Punishments then it is no reasonable objection against the Holiness of Providence that God permits men to chuse wickedly that he does not always by an Irresistible and Sovereign Power hinder the internal acts of Sin Especially when we consider that God gives men all those internal assistances of his Grace and lays all those internal restraints upon their Lusts and Passions which are consistent with the liberty of Human Actions Though we know not in what manner the Holy Spirit works upon the minds of men yet this we know if we believe the Gospel of our Saviour That God worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure That he gives his holy spirit to those who ask him to be a principle of a spiritual life in them And Bad men themselves if they will but confess what they feel must tell you what strugglings they find in their own minds before they can yield to the temptations of sin How in some cases especially at their first entrance upon a sinful course of life natural modesty in others natural pity and compassion in others a natural greatness and generosity of mind gives check to them how at first they blush at the thoughts of any wickedness and are reproached by their own Consciences for it how they tremble at the thoughts of a future Judgment or some present Vengeance to overtake them and can never sin securely till they have laughed away the thoughts of God and of another world Such care God has taken to make Sin uneasy to the minds of men and to reconcile them to the love of Vertue and if after all they will be wicked as free Agents may be if they will this can be no blemish to the Holiness of Providence because it is no fault of Providence to leave free Agents to the freedom of their own choice 2dly As for the external Acts of Sin it must be confessed that God permits a great deal of wickedness to be actually committed such as Thefts Murders Adulteries Perjuries and the like Now this requires a different consideration for in Human Governments this is thought a great miscarriage to suffer any wickedness to be actually committed which we can hinder the commission of No man would be thought innocent much less a Prince who should see a man murthered a Virgin deflowered a Robbery or any other Villanies committed without interposing to hinder the commission of such wickedness when it was in his power to do it and how then can we vindicate the Holiness of Providence which sees and observes and could easily hinder the commission of such wickedness as it daily permits Now rightly to understand this matter we must consider 1. That God cannot always by an immediate Power hinder the actual commission of sin without a perpetual violation of the order of Nature and therefore this does not properly belong to an ordinary Providence which is the government of all Creatures according to their Natures We know indeed That when Ieroboam in great anger stretched out his hand against the Prophet
had so grievously oppressed Israel that God was resolved to punish them for it And therefore he sent Moses to inflict a great many Miraculous Judgments on them not intending thereby to convince Pharaoh who had hardened himself against the power of Miracles to convince him and whom he had resolved to destroy but only to lay Egypt waste and to take a signal Vengeance upon that Cruel Persecutor by overthrowing him and his Host in the Red Sea And therefore he so ordered the execution of these Judgments that the hardened heart of Pharaoh should grow more hardened by them Thus when God had determined to cut off Ahab as his grievous Sins had long before deserved he intended to harden him to go up to Ramoth Gilead and fall there and for that purpose suffered a lying Spirit to enter into his Prophets to encourage the King in that Fatal Expedition and as God had foretold they did prevail against Micaiah the Prophet of the Lord who plainly told him that he should fall in it 1 Kings 22. Thus when God was so provoked with the Sins of Iudah that he had resolved to deliver them into the hands of the Chaldaeans who should destroy their City and Temple and carry them captive to Babylon he pronounced this hardening Sentence on them Go and tell this people Hear ye indeed but understand not and see ye indeed but perceive not Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears heavy and shut their eyes lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and convert and be healed What this means ye shall hear more hereafter all that I observe at present is That this Sentence was not pronounced against them till God had resolved to carry them into captivity and to lay their City and Countrey desolate as the Prophet tells us in the next Verse Then said I Lord how long And he answered until the cities be wasted without Inhabitants and the houses without man and the land be utterly desolate 6. Isaiah 9 10 11. And this was the state of the Iews in our Saviour's days when God had determined the final destruction of the Iewish Nation their City Temple and Polity for their great Sin in crucifying their Messias as Christ tells us 23. Matth. 37 38 39. O Ierusalem Ierusalem Thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not Behold your house is left unto you desolate For I say unto you ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord 19. Luke 41 42 43 44. And when he came near he beheld the city and wept over it saying If thou hadst known even thou in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes For the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side and shall lay thee even with the ground and thy children within thee and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another Because thou knowest not the time of thy visitation Now with respect to this final Sentence which God had pronounced against them though he delayed the execution of it for forty years St. Paul applies to them the Case of a hardened Pharaoh whom God spared also a great while as he did them though he had determined to destroy him by a signal overthrow to shew his power and that his name might be declared throughout all the earth And there was no reason to quarrel with God though he delayed to destroy them for some years after he had determined to destroy them to make them also a more remarkable Example of a just Vengeance and more glorious Power What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endureth with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction That is delays for many years the Execution of those whom he has decreed to destroy for their great sins by an irreversible Sentence For such only are the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction 9. Rom. 17 22. And for the same reason he applies to them the Prophesy of Isaiah concerning the judicial blindness and deafness of the Iewish Nation when God had determined to deliver them into the hands of the King of Babylon which was a Prophesy of them also and received its full accomplishment in the final destruction of Ierusalem by the Romans 28. Acts 26 27. So that it is plain from all these Examples and I know no Example in all the Scripture to the contrary that God never hardens men till he has first determined to punish or to destroy them And I shall only add That this hardening which is the effect of God's Decree to punish or to destroy relates only to some Temporal Evils and Calamities which God intends to bring on them not to the Eternal Miseries of the next world God is never said to harden any men that he may eternally damn them that is wholly owing to their own hard and impenitent hearts but God does sometimes harden men in order to take a more exemplary Vengeance on them in this world which serves the wise Ends of Providence and makes his Power and Glory known 2dly This will more evidently appear if we consider That God is never said to harden any men in sin but he only hardens and confirms them in such Ruinous Counsels as will bring that destruction on them which God has ordained and determined for them They harden themselves in sin and make it wise and just for God to punish or destroy them and when God resolves to do so then sometimes he hardens them in such Courses as will bring a Terrible Vengeance on them I need instance only in the Case of Pharaoh which is the most express Text we have for God's hardening men Now what did God harden Pharaoh in Did he harden him against believing Moses and those Miracles which he wrought in the Name and by the Power of the God of Israel No such matter there is no such thing said but he hardened him not to let the People go Pharaoh hardened himself against believing Moses and the Miracles he wrought against owning and submitting to the Power and Sovereign Authority of the God of Israel though when he felt the Judgments inflicted on him they were so uneasy as to make him relent and to promise to send Israel away But his great concernment was how to keep Israel and to get rid of these Plagues and his firm Resolution was never to part with Israel as long as he had any hopes that he might keep them safely Now though it was indeed a very great evil to disbelieve Moses and to disobey God's Command attested and confirmed by
this kind Father to keep such a watchful eye over them and to take such prudent and effectual care as not to suffer them utterly to undo themselves to make their condition hopeless and desperate but only to let them feel the smart of their own folly to bring them to more sober thoughts not to perish under it till there is no hope left of reclaiming them What could a kind Father do more for Prodigals unless you would have him maintain them in their luxury and lewdness which a wise and good Father can't do He brought none of these miseries upon them and it is kindness to let them smart under them to prevent their undoing as long as he can he turns the miseries they bring upon themselves only into a state of discipline he suffers them to injure one another to make them all sensible of their folly and those who are past recovery he makes Examples of greater Severities to reform the rest If this would be thought a kind merciful and wise Conduct in earthly Parents apply it to the Providence of God and you have an answer to most of the miseries of Human Life 3dly In answer to this Objection against the Goodness of Providence from the many evils and miseries that are in the World we may consider further That as most of these evils are owing to our own or to other mens sins so it is we our selves who give the sting to them all As many external Calamities as there are in the World and as the present state of this World requires there should be in it God has made abundant provision for the support of good men under them It is not always in our power to avoid many of the Sufferings and Calamities of life but it is our own fault if we sink under them Natural Courage and strength of mind the powers of Reason and a wise consideration of the nature of things the belief of a Good Providence which takes care of us and orders all things for our good and the certain hopes of immortal life will support good men under their sufferings and make them light and easy And if God enable us to bear our sufferings and to enjoy our selves under them to possess our Souls in patience and to rejoyce in hope though we may suffer we are not miserable and Sufferings without misery are no formidable Objections against Providence this is like the Bush that was on fire but was not burnt a signal token of the Divine Presence and Favour and that can be no objection against the Goodness of Providence What is merely external may afflict a good man but cannot make him miserable for no man is miserable whose mind is easy and chearful full of great hopes and supported with Divine Joys But the disorders of our Passions make us miserable and make us sink under external Sufferings An immoderate love of this World Pride Ambition Covetousness Anger Hatred Revenge make every Condition uneasy and any great Sufferings intolerable It is this that makes Poverty and Disgrace the loss of Estate and Honours the Frowns of Princes and the Clamours of the People such unsufferable Evils which a wise and good man cannot only bear but modestly despise It is this that terrifies us with the least approach of danger and distracts us with fear and care and solicitude and with all the imaginary evils and frightful appearances which a scared fancy can raise in the dark Especially when guilt makes men afraid and look upon every misfortune disappointment affliction as a token of the Divine Vengeance and a terrible presage of the endless miseries of the next life External Evils and Calamities as far as they are good can be no objection against the Goodness of Providence and they are good as far as the Providence of God is concerned in them for they are permitted and ordered by God for wise and good ends and if they do not prove good to us it is our own fault who will not be made better by them Whatever men suffer if their sufferings do not make them miserable this is no just reproach to Providence for God may be very good to his Creatures whatever they suffer while they can suffer and be happy not perfectly and compleatly happy which admits of no sufferings but such a degree of self-enjoyment as reconciles external Sufferings with inward peace contentment patience hope which is the happiness of a suffering state and a much greater happiness than the most prosperous Fortune without it and if we be not thus happy under all our Sufferings it is our own fault Thus the Wise-man tells us That it is not so much external Sufferings which is all that can be charged upon the Divine Providence which makes men miserable but the inward guilt and disorders of their own minds 18. Prov. 14. The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity but a wounded spirit who can bear And if all that God inflicts on us may be born our misery is owing to our selves But I have so particularly discoursed this upon another occasion that I shall enlarge no farther on it 2dly Another Objection against the Goodness of Providence is God's partial and unequal care of his Creatures and I confess Partiality is a very great Objection both against Justice and an Universal Goodness and such the Goodness of Providence must be The foundation of the Objection is this That there are very different ranks and conditions of men in the World Rich and Poor High and Low Princes and Subjects and a great many degrees of Power and Honour and Riches and Poverty and we cannot say that God deals equally by all these men whose Fortunes are so very unequal But there is no great difficulty in answering this For 1. The Goodness of Providence consists in consulting the general good and happiness of Mankind and of particular men in subordination to the good of the whole and this fully answers the Objection For though there are too many who are not well satisfied with their own Station and never will be unless they could be uppermost yet I dare appeal to any man of common sense whether it be not most for the good of Mankind that there should be very different Ranks and Orders of men in the World There is not any one thing more necessary to the happiness of the World than good Government and yet there could be no Government in an equality and there is nothing makes such an inequality like an unequal Fortune Were all men equally rich and great there would be neither Subjects nor Servants for no man will chuse to be a Subject or a Servant who has an equal title to be a Lord and Master And then no man could be rich and great which are only comparative terms and which is worse than that no man could be safe And if an inequality in mens Fortunes be as necessary as Government that is a sufficient justification of Providence for Humane Societies
for God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out Secondly Let us now consider the Wisdom of Providence in some more common and ordinary Events especially such as are made Objections against Providence I have already upon other Occasions taken notice of several things of this nature but it will give us a more transporting sense of the Divine Wisdom to see as much of it as we can in one view In general whoever considers what it is to govern a World and to take care of all the Creatures that are in it must confess it to be a work of Infinite and Incomprehensible Wisdom The Epicureans for this reason rejected a Providence because they thought it too much trouble for their gods full of care solicitude and distraction to observe all that is done in the World and to over-rule and determine all Events as Wisdom Justice and Goodness should direct and indeed nothing less than an Infinite Mind can do this which sees all things at one view judges infallibly at first sight and orders all things with a powerful thought But my chief design at present is to shew you the Wisdom of Providence in some particular Cases which either are not sufficiently observed or not rightly understood Some of the great Objections against Providence are the troublesome and tempestuous state of this world the uncertainty of all Events the fickleness and inconstancy of Human Affairs the promiscuous dispensation of the good and evil things of this life both to good and to bad men And I have already vindicated not only the Justice and Goodness but the Wisdom of God upon these accounts by shewing what wise ends God serves by them and what a wise use we may make of such Providences And therefore the principal thing I shall now insist on shall be some of those wise Methods God uses in Rewards and Punishments wherein the great Wisdom of Government consists And I shall briefly mention some few 1. That God rewards and punishes men in their Posterity This is so plainly taught in Scripture that it will admit of no dispute though some men venture to dispute the Justice at least of one part of it that God should visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children which the Iews objected against God in that Prophane Proverb the Fathers have eaten sower grapes and the Childrens teeth are set an edge 18. Ezek. and by the answer God there makes we may learn in what sence God threatens to punish the Posterity of Bad men and to reward the Posterity of Good men for their Fathers sakes which does not extend to the other World where every man shall be Judged according to his own Works and the soul that sinneth it shall dye and as to this World where we may allow more to the Sovereignty of Providence without impeaching the Divine Justice yet God assures us that a Righteous Son shall not be punished merely because he had a Wicked Father nor a Wicked Son be rewarded merely because he had a Righteous Father for thus much the words must signifie if they relate to this Life as they certainly do as well as to a Future State Now if neither a Righteous Son shall suffer for the Wickedness of his Father nor a Wicked Son receive the rewards of his Father's Vertue this can afford no pretence to impeach the Justice of Providence but it gives occasion to inquire in what sence God is said to visit the Sins of the Fathers upon their Children and to Bless and Prosper the Posterity of Good men for their sakes 1. As for the First If God does not punish a Righteous Son for the sins of his Father then to visit the iniquities of the Father upon the Children must be confined only to such Children as inherit the Vices and imitate the Wickedness of their Parents That is God has threatened to punish the Wicked Children of Wicked Parents This you 'll say has nothing extraordinary in it for God has threatned to punish all Wicked men whatever their Parents are and if they are punished only because they are Wicked How is this to visit the iniquities of their Fathers on them But the Answer of this seems as obvious as the Objection that the Wicked Children of Wicked Parents shall be more certainly and more severely punished than other Bad men ordinarily are 1. As for the certainty of their punishment We know a great many Bad men very often escape the Divine Vengeance in this world for all Wicked men are not punished here as their Wickedness deserves The Justice of the Divine Providence as I have already observed does not require a sudden and hasty Execution Bad men may be prosperous many years and be severely punished at last or may be prosperous all their Lives and go down to their Graves in peace and only Answer for their Wickedness in the next World But then God threatens that a more speedy Vengeance shall overtake their Posterity if they are Wicked that God will then remember that they are the wicked Children of wicked Parents and not exercise the same Patience and Long-suffering to them And this is in a proper sence to visit the iniquities of their Fathers on them for though they are punished only for their own sins yet the iniquities of their Fathers are the reason why God punishes them in this world for their sins and makes them the Examples of his Justice while other men as wicked as themselves escape 2. As for the severity of their punishments No man shall be punished more than his own sins deserve but yet the wicked Children of wicked Parents may be and very often are punished more severely than other Wicked men God does not punish all Bad men alike For the punishments of this life are more properly acts of Discipline than acts of Judgment and therefore are not proportioned to the nature of the Crime but to the circumstances and condition of the Person and to the Wise ends of Government and if the wicked Children of wicked Parents are punished though for their own sins yet the more severely for their Fathers sake this is to bear the iniquity of their Fathers To understand this we must observe that the Scripture takes notice of a certain measure of iniquity which is filling up from one Generation to another till a last it makes a Nation or Family ripe for destruction and although those persons on whom this final Vengeance falls suffer no more than their own personal Sins deserved yet because the sins of former Generations which they equal or out do make it time for God utterly to destroy them the punishments due to the sins of many Ages and Generations are all said to fall upon them This account our Saviour gives of the Destruction of Ierusalem 23. Matt. 29 30 31 32 34 35