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Library of Ithe theological Seminary
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY
Miss Sarah Stockton
v.2.
DISCOURSES
O N
VARIOUS SUBJECTS,
By the late Reverend
JOHN LELAND, D. D.
THE SECOND VOLUME.
LONDON:
.Printed for W. Johnston, in Ludgate-Streei i a|n d J. Dodsley, i'rh Pall-Mall*
M DCC LXVlii,
*
CONTENTS
O F T H E
SECOND VOLUME.
DISCOURSE I.
The Proofs of a Divine Providence. Romans xi. 36.
Of Mm, and through him, and to him, are all Things: to whom be Glory for ever. Amen. P^ge *•
DISCOURSE II.
The World preferved by Divine Provi- dence.
Nehemiah ix. 6. Thou prefervejl them all,
p. 1*
a 3
The CONTENT S,
DISCOURSE III.
On God's Government of the World : And firft, of his Dominion over the inanimate Creation.
PSAL. CXXXV. 6.
Whatfoever the Lord p leafed, that did he in Heaven, and in Earth, in the Seas, and in all deep Places. P. 37 v
DISCOURSE IV,
God's Government and Care as extending to the fenlitive Brute Animals.
Matt. x. 29.
Are not two Sparrows fold for a Farthing f And one of them fhall not fall to the Ground without your Father. P. 59.
DISCOURSE V.
On God's providential Government with regard to his reafonable Creatures, mo- ral Agents.
Psalm ciii. 19.
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens 5 and his Kingdom ruleth over all.
P,8j,
The CONTENTS.
DISCOURSE VI.
On God's providential Government to- wards good and evil Angels.
Psalm ciii. 19.
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens, and his Kingdom rideth over all.
P. 101.
DISCOURSE VII.
General Obfervations concerning God's providential Government towards Man- kind.
Psalm ciii. 19.
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens-, and his Kingdom ruleth over all.
P. 121.
DISCOURSE VIII.
Concerning God's providential Govern- ment as refpecting large Communities.
Psalm xxii. 28. •9 He is the Governor among the Nations,
p. 145.
The CONTENT S.
DISCOURSE IX.
God's providential Government with re- gard to particular Perfons coniidered : And firft, as extending to their Hearts and Thoughts.
Psalm xxxiii. 15. He fafiioneth their Hearts alike, P. 173.
DISCOURSE X.
On God's Infpe&ion and Government of human Actions.
Prov. v. 21.
'The Ways of Man are before the Ryes of the Lord, and he ponder eth all his Goings.
P. 201.
DISCOURSE XL
On God's Government and Difpofal of the Events which befall us.
Matt. x. 30.
tfhe very Hairs of your Head are all num- bered* P. 225.
The CONTENTS.
DISCOURSE XII.
Concerning the Wifdom of Divine Provi- dence.
Isaiah xxviii. 29.
Sfifctr alfo cometh from the Lord of Hcjfs, who is wonderful in Counfel, and excellent in Working. P. 249.
DISCOUPvSE XIII.
On the Goodnefs of Divine Providence. Psalm cxlv. 9.
'The Lord is good to all, arid his tender Mercies are over all his Works. P. 277.
DISCOURSE XIV.
Objections againft the Gocdnefs of Provi- dence confidered.
Psalm cxlv. 9.
The Lord is good to all, and his tender Mer- cies are over all his Works. P. 303.
The CONTENTS.
DISCOURSE XV.
On the Righteoufnefs of Divine Provi- dence.
Psalm cxlv. 17.
The Lord is righteous in ail his Ways, and holy in all his Works. P. 327.
DISCOURSE XVI.
Objections againffc the Righteoufnefs of Providence confidered.
Psalm cxlv. 17.
The Lord is righteous in all his Ways, and holy in all his Works. P. 347.
DISCOURSE XVII, XVIII.
Concerning a future Judgment and State of final Retributions, when the Admi- nistrations of Providence towards Man- kind mall be compleated.
Eccles. iii. 17.
1 /aid in mine Hearty God fiall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a cIrme therefor every Pwpofe and for every Work. P. 365.
The CONTENTS.
DISCOURSE XIX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII.
On the Univerfal Deluge.
2 Peter ii. 5.
And /pared not the old World, but faved Noah the eighth Perfon, a Preacher of Righteoufne/s, bringing in the Flood upon the World of the ungodly. P. 407.
DISCOURSE XXIV, XXV.
On the General Conflagration.
2 Peter iii. 10, 1 1.
Tie Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night, in which the Heavens Jhall pafs away with a great Noi/e, and the Elements fiall melt with fervent Heat -, the Earth alfo, and the Works that are therein, flail be burnt up. Seeing then that all thefe Things Jhall be difbhed, what Manner of Perfons ought ye to be in all holy Converjution and Godlinefs / P. 485.
Tie
"The Proofs of a Divine Providence.
DISCOURSE I.
Romans xi. 36,
Of him, a?id through him, and to him, are all Things ; to whom be Glory for ever. Amen*
TH E Do&rine of Divine Pro- vidence, which comprehendeth God's Prefervation and Government of the World, is of the highefl Importance. If we mould profefs to believe never fo firmly, that there is a God who gave Being to the World -, yet if we mould at the fame Time believe, that he doth not concern him- felf about his Creatures after he hath made them, and, .particularly, that he taketh no Vol. I. B Care
2 DISCOURSE I.
Care of Men or their Affairs, this would be to all the Purpoies of Religion as if we did not acknowledge a God at all. It may be juftly faid, therefore, that the Belief of the Providence of God is no lefs neceflary than the Belief of his Exiftence. And if the Matter be rightly confidered, it will be found that the one of thefe is infeparably connected with the other : For if there be a fupreme, original, eternal Caufe, a God that made this vaft Univerfe, and all Things that are therein, he muft be poffefTed of in- finite Perfections, of almighty Power, of unfearchable Wifdom, and boundlefs Good- nefs. And how can it be reconciled with thefe Perfections, to make fuch a World as this, and then to abandon it, and throw afide all Care and Concern about it ? And efpecially to make reafonable Beings, moral Agents, capable of being go- verned by Laws, and endued with a Senfe of Good and Evil, and yet be utterly regard- lefs how they behave, and whether Virtue or Vice, Order or Confufion, Happinefs or Mifery, prevails among them ? Whatever Reafons induced him to create the World, which may be fuppofed to have been for the Exercife and Difplay of his own Perfec- tions, the Manifestation of his Glory, and the Communications of his Goodnefs, muft equally induce him to preferve and govern it
when
DISCOURSE I. 3
when made. To lay out fuch a Profufion of Glory and Excellency in the Formation of this vaft, beautiful, and well-ordered Syftem, and then leave it to Chance and Confufion, would be to act. fo capricious, fo unaccountable a Part, as no wife Man would be guilty of, and which cannot, without great Abfurdity, be afcribed to the abfolutely perfect Being. And fuch a Conduct would be as in con- fident with his Goodnefs as with his Wif* dom. That he mould make numberlefs Orders of Beings, and afterwards take no farther Care of them, as if he were abfo- lutely indifferent what became of them, would be in no wife reconcileable to the Character of the beneficent Parent of the Univerfe.
Thefe Things are fo evident and obvi- ous to the common Senfe and Reafon of Mankind, that all thofe who believe that the Formation of the World was owing to a fu- preme intelligent Caufe, mull, if they be confident with themfelves, believe, that the fame infinitely wife, good, and powerful Mind governs the World when made, and exercifeth a conftant Care over it. And ac- cordingly, the Epicureans, who denied a Providence, did alfo deny that the World was made by God, and attributed the For- mation of it, not to the Wifdom and Power of an intelligent Caufe, but to Chance, or B 2 a for-
4 DISCOURSE I.
a fortuitous Concourfe and Jumble of Atoms. And fo far their Scheme, however falfe and abfurd, was confiftent with itfelf: For they could find no effectual Way to exclude God from the Government of the World, which was what they wanted to get rid of, but by excluding him from the making of it too. But if the fuppofing this stupendous Syftem, which beareth fo many illuftrious Characters of the moft amazing Skill and Contrivance, and the various Orders of rea- fonable and intelligent Beings it contains, to have been produced by a blind unde- figning Chance, or by any unintelligent Caufe or Nature, be, as it certainly is, the moft abfurd and ridiculous Conceit that ever en- tered into the Mind of Man ; if there be infinitely greater Reafon to believe, that the World was contrived and formed by a moil wife, as well as powerful Being, than there is to believe that any the moft. exquifite Productions of human Skill and Genius are the Effects of Contrivance and Defign ; then we are almoft irrefiftibly led to conclude, that the fame infinite Power and Wifdom, which gave Exiftence to the World, ftill main- taineth and prefideth over the univerfal Frame in all its Parts. It is with the greateft Pro- priety that the Apoftle Paul declares con- cerning God, that of 'him, and through him, and to him, are all 'Things. As all Things are of
God,
DISCOURSE I. 5
God, as the fupreme original Caufe, mod powerful, wife, and good, from whom this vaft Univerfe, and all the Orders of Be- ings in it, derived their Exiftence; fo through him are all Things, i. e. on him all Things continually depend, by him they are all maintained, difpofed, and governed, and are under his conftant Direction and Superintendency, who, as the fame Apoftle fpeaks, worketh all Things according to the Counfel of his own Will. Eph. i. 1 1 . And then it follows, that to him are all Things : they are all for him, and to him, as their fupreme and ultimate End. And who- foever believes this, will readily join in the apoftolical Doxology, To him be Glory for ever. Amen.
That, if there be a God who made the World, there muft be a Providence, may be farther argued thus. If God doth not ex- ercife a providential Care over his Crea- tures, it muft be either becaufe he cannot, or becaufe he will not do it. To pretend that he cannot do it were to the laft de- gree abfurd. For why fhould he not be as able to preferve and govern the World as he was to create it ? He could not have made the World, if he had not been porTeffed of infinite Wifdom and almighty Power ; and the fame divine Underftanding and Power would equally qualify him to preferve and govern the World when B 3 he
6 DISCOURSE I.
he had formed it. And it would be no lefs irrational and abfurd to pretend that he will not do it. For upon what Foundation can this be alledged ? Is it that he thinks it beneath him ? But furely it cannot be un- worthy of his divine Majefty, to take care of thofe Things which he did not think it beneath him to create. On the contrary, to neglect them would be much more unworthy and unbecoming him. Or is it that he will not be at the Trouble of looking after them? As if the Happi- nefs of the Supreme Being confifted in an eternal unactive Indolence ; or as if it could be any Trouble or Difficulty to an al- mighty and infinite Mind, who is effential Life and Activity, and who is every where prefent, and knoweth all Things, to pre- ferve and govern every Part of the World which he himfelf created, and to which he is always prefent. Or mall we fuppofe that the kind Parent of the Univerfe, who hath implanted in all Creatures a natural Love to their own Offspring, and hath caufed them to approve fuch a Temper as is proper and becoming, doth yet himfelf caft off all Re- gard and Affection towards his Creatures, the Productions of his own Power and Good- nefs ? If therefore it cannot be pretended either that God cannot, or that he will not take care of the World which he hath made,
we
DISCOURSE * I.
/
we have the higheft Reafon to ac- knowledge that he actually doth take care of it, and doth preferve and go- vern it. And indeed this may be juft- ly concluded from the beautiful Order which is ilill maintained in this univerfal Syftem. The Frame of Nature, fo grand and ftupendous, and confifting of fuch numberlefs Parts, continueth to be pre- ferved and conducted with fuch a fteady and wonderful Regularity, as manifeftly fhews the conftant Superintendency of a moil: wife and powerful prefiding Mind. Some indeed, by a ftrange Way of Reafoning, have endeavoured to draw a contrary Conclufion from this. Ob- ferving that Things generally go on in a fettled Courfe, and according to ftated Laws, agree- ably to what is called the Nature of Things, they have imagined that this is owing to a blind Neceffity and Fate, and to a ne- cefTary Connection of natural Caufes, inde- pendent on the Will of a fupreme Gover- nor. But this is highly abfurd. It is in effect: to fay, that becaufe Order prevails, and Things are conducted by wife and fteady Rules, therefore they are not under the Direction of Wifdom and Intelligence, when on the contrary, this is one of the ftrongefr. Proofs of it. And if Things were otherwife, it would look as if they were not wifely directed, but were left to an
B 4 uncer-
8 DISCOURSE I.
uncertain giddy Chance. When inanimate Nature proceedeth in a regular fixed Way, this cannot be owing to itielf; for blind un- intelligent Nature is not properly capable either of prefcribing or following Rules. It muft therefore be afcribed to a wife and powerful Intelligence, which appointed what is called the Courfe of Nature, and continu- ally directeth and prefideth over it.
Rational and moral Agents, which, by the Condition of their Natures, have a Power of determining their own Actions, cannot be fuppofed to be governed in the fame manner as the material and inanimate World. There muft be Allowance made for the Exercife of their Liberty, as free Agents, yet ftill under the conftant Superin- tendency of the fuperior Being w}io firft formed them, and on whom they con- tinually depend. And, with refpecl to them likewife, there are general Rules, according to which Providence ordinarily proceedeth in the Government of the mo- ral World, and which manifeft a prevail- ing wife and righteous Administration; as I (hall have Occafion to fhew in the farther Profecution of this Subject. There are alfo many particular Incidents and Ap- pearances in the Courfe of human Affairs, which naturally lead confidering Minds to the Acknowledgment of a wife and So- vereign
DISCOURSE I. 9
vereign Providence : fuch as, That the mofl important Events are fometimes brought about by the feemingly fmalleft and moft unlikely Means: That Things are conducted, as by a fuperior invifjble Agen- cy, through many intricate Turns, to pro- duce Events contrary to all human Expecta- tion -, and Actions are over-ruled to Effects and Iffues quite contrary to the Intentions of the Actors : That hidden Things, and the darker!: Defigns, are often ftrangely brought to Light, and thereby great Mif- chiefs prevented, and the mofl artful Schemes of human Policy baffled and dis- appointed: That furprifing Changes are wrought upon the Spirits of Men, and Re- ftraints laid upon their Paffions, in a man- ner that can fcarce be accounted for, and upon which great Events have depended. Many fuch Things have happened in all Ages and Nations. And any one that is ac- quainted with the Hiftory of Mankind, or who hath made wife and juft Reflections upon Events, will eafilyobferve many Things, not only in the Affairs of Nations, but of particular Perfons, yea, and relating to himfelf and his own Concernments, which can fcarce be reafonably attributed to any Thing but an over-ruling Providence, both in a Way of Mercy and of Judgment.
The
io DISCOURSE I.
The Infpeclion and Superin tendency of Divine Providence may be farther argued from previous Significations of future Events, which no human Sagacity could forefee ; Infbances of which may be met with in the mofl credible Accounts of Antiquity, but no where fo fully as in the Holy Scrip- tures. There we have many exprefs Pre- dictions recorded, relating to the State of the World and of Mankind, the Rifeand Fall of Empires, furprifing public Revolutions, and national Blemngs or Calamities, as well as many remarkable Incidents with regard to particular Perfons, fome of them fore- told many Ages before they came to pafs. This mews that there is a moft wife and comprehenfive Mind which fu peri n ten deth the Affairs of Men. The fame Thing may be concluded from feveral Things that have been done from Time to Time out of the natural and ordinary Courfe, for wife and excellent Purpofes : of fome of which we have as much Reafon to be afTured, as of any Facfts whatfoever; fince they come to us with an Evidence that can fcarce be rejected, without rejecting and deflroying all hiflori- cal Evidence.
Finally, What a miferable World would this be without a Providence ! If a King- dom, a City, or Family, without a Head or Director, is apt to fall into Confufion ;
what
DISCOURSE I. ii
what ftrange Diforder would enfue, if this vaft Univerfe, confiding of fuch unconceiv- able Variety of Parts, were without a fu- preme Director ! What could keep together the wonderful Frame ? Or, what Security- could we have, but that fome fudden wild Chance would overturn all? This were a moft (hocking and unnatural State of Things, which a good Man could fcarce think of without Horror. It muft therefore be a bad Mind that can cherifh or take Pleafure in fuch a Thought. The Pfalmift obferves that the Fool hath f aid in his Hearty 'There is no God. Pfal. xiv. i. The word Elohim, there ufed to lignify God, is that which is particularly deligned to denote him as a Governor and Judge; fo that it is as if it had been faid, the Fool hath faid in his Heart, There is no God that governeth and will judge the World; i. e. there is no Pro- vidence. And this is certainly an Argu- ment of great Folly as well as Corruption of Heart.
Upon the whole, it may be juftly con- cluded, that there is the fame Reafon to be- lieve, that God in his Providence preferveth and governeth the World, that there is to believe, that there is a God who gave Being to the World. And accordingly, fome No- tion of a Divine Providence feems to have ob- tained almoft univerfally among Mankind.
All
12 DISCOURSE I.
All the Prayer which have been offered, the Vows that have been made, the Oaths and folemn Appeals to Heaven, fo ufual in all Ages, fuppofe a Providence. Yea, every Man may in effect be faid to have a Witnefs for Providence in his own Breafl. Confci- ence is a kind of perpetual Monitor, and as it were God's Vicegerent in the Soul, telling Men, whether they will or no, that there is a fupreme Governor and Judge, who con- tinually obferves them, and to whom they muft be accountable. And there have been few who have been able fo entirely to ex- tinguiih and filence its Remonftrances and Admonitions, but that fome Fears and Ap- prehenfions of this have ftill remained.
But no where is the Doctrine of Divine Providence fo fully and itrongly inculcated as in the facred Writings. And it muft certainly be a peculiar Satisfaction and Ad- vantage to be allured in the Name, and by the Word of God himfelf, of the Care he condefcendeth to exercife towards all his Creatures, particularly towards Mankind. To have this plainly and exprefsly declared to us in a well-attefted divine Revelation, hath a happy Tendency to remove the Doubts and Sufpicions which might be apt to arife in our Minds, from the Confideration of God's fupereminent Majefty and Glory, and our own Meannefs and Unworthinefs. i We
DISCOURSE I. 13
We are every where directed in holy Writ, to confider ourfelves and all Things as under the conftant Infpection and Government of the Supreme Being, to regard his Hand in all the Events which befal us, in every good Thing we receive, and in every Affliction we meet with. The hiftorical Part of Scripture containeth an Account of remarkable Acts of Providence carried down from the Begin- ning of the World, through along Succeffi- on of Ages; and the moral and doctrinal Parts every where fuppofe it and build upon it, and it is frequently defcribed in the mofl lively and {hiking Manner. Nor is it with- out good Reafon that this is fo much infix- ed upon in Writings defigned for the Direc- tion and Regulation of our Faith and Prac- tice. For, if the Belief of a Providence were banimed from among Men, there would" be no fuch Thing as Religion, or the Fear and Love of God : no Place would be left for Trufi: in him, or Dependence upon him. Who would think themfelves obliged to ferve and wormip a God that gives himfelf no Concern about them, and takes no Notice of their Actions or Affairs ? To whatpurpofe would it be to pray to him for the good Things they ftand in need of, or to praife and blefs him for the Benefits they enjoy? Every Man would then be left to do what is right in his own Eyes, and a wide Door would be
opened
i* DISCOURSE 1.
opened for all manner of Licentioufnefs. Accordingly, it is often reprefented in Scrip- ture as an Ingredient in the Character of the worft and wickedeft of Men, that they en- deavour to perfuade themfelves that there is no Providence, or that God doth not ob- ferve, nor concern himfelf about the Actions of Men, or the Events which befal them. Thus, after the Pfalmift had defcribed, in ftrong Terms, a Man that abandoneth him- felf to all manner of Wickednefs, and es- pecially to Injuftice, Infolence, and Oppref- fionj he reprefenteth him as faying in his Heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth his Face, he will never fee it. Pfal. x. it. See to the fame Purpofe, Pfal. lxxiii. 1 1. — xciv. j. So alfo, it is obferved concerning the Men that were fettled on their Lees, i. e. who were fecure and hardened in their evil Courfes, and were for making themfelves eafy in their Vices, that they faid in their Hearts, The Lord will not do Good, neither ivill he do Evil. Zeph. i. 12. There are few indeed that will openly declare this in plain Words, but there are many that fay in their Hearts, i. e. who would be glad to have it fo, and would fain argue themfelves into a Belief that fo it is. Or if they can- not bring themfelves abfolutely to believe that there is no Providence, yet they indulge Doubts and Sufpicions about it, they fix
DISCOURSE I. Jc
their Views wholly on fecond Caufes, and overlook the Providence of God, and for the moft part confider it as little as if there were no fuch Thing, or as if it had no Con- cernment with human Affairs.
But there is no oneThing of greater Con- fequence to a Life of Piety and Virtue, than to get our Hearts poffeffed with a firm Per- fuafion of God's all-governing and all- difpofing Providence, and to have a con- ftant Regard to it in our whole Courfe. Our Belief of this mould not be a cold wavering Affent, which will have but fmall Influence; it mult be ftrong and vigorous, deeply rooted in our Hearts, and eftablimed on folid Evidence. Nor muft we fuffer it to lie as a fpeculative dormant Principle, but muft endeavour frequently to exercife it, and then it can fcarce fail to have an hap- py Influence upon our whole Temper and Conduct. How folicitous, how earneftly defirous would this make us to approve ourfelves to God in our general Practice, to walk always as in his Sight, and to commit ourfelves and all our Concernments to him with a meek Refignation and fteady Dependance! How afraid mould we be of offending him ! It would be the moft ef- fectual Prefervative againft Impatience and Difcontent and an immoderate Dejection un- der Adverfity, as well as againft Infolence and
Abufe
i6 DISCOURSE I.
Abufe of Profperity ; and would make us careful to fill up every Station and Relation with the proper Duties of it. And finally, it would be a Source of Satisfaction and Comfort amidft. all the Fluctuations and Commotions of this prefent World. There is no Confideration fo fitted to produce an inward folid Peace and Joy of Heart as this, that all Things are under the Di- rection and Government of the moft. per- fect Wifdom and Goodnefs. All Nature then puts on a pleafing Afpect, and every thing appears to the Mind in a fair and amiable Light, and Order and Harmony are fpread through the whole. Nothing therefore could be worfe founded than the Boafts of Epicurus and his Fol- lowers, who entertained an high Opinion of themfelves, and expected to be ap- plauded by others, as the Friends and Bene- nefactors of Mankind, on the Account of their Endeavours to deliver them from the Apprehenfions of a Providence. This might indeed be fome Relief to very bad Men, and tend to make them eafy in their Sins ; but was an Attempt to rob good Men of that which is the chief Support and Comfort of their Lives, and the moll: powerful Encouragement to the fteady uniform Prac- tice of Virtue. It is true, that the Doctrine
of
DISCOURSE I. 17
of Providence has been mifreprefented and abufed. Men have been apt to lay the Blame of their own Faults and Follies upon Providence : And among many of the Heathens, their Notions of Providence were like thofe they form- ed of their Deities, whom they reprefent- ed as capricious, envious, and revenge- ful, actuated by human Paffions and Pre^ judices. But the Belief of Providence rightly underftood, is the moffc ufeful and delightful Thing in the World, and is fo far from leading to Superftition, that it is the beft and mod effectual Prefer- vative againfl: it.
Accordingly, this is what I propofe difUnctly to confider, and {hall endea- vour in feveral Difcourfes to explain the Doctrine of Divine Providence, by which I underftand the Doctrine of an all-perfect Mind, preferring and governing this van: Univerfe, guiding the Courfe of Nature, prefiding over all the Creatures, efpeci- ally rational moral Agents, and fliperintend- ing and ordering the Events which be- fal them, in the befl and fitteft Manner, with infinite Wifdom, Righteoufnefs, and Equity. I fhall endeavour to direct you to a right Ufe and Improvement of this important Doctrine, and to obviate ibme
Vol. I. C of
18 DISCOURSE I.
of the principal Difficulties and Objecti- ons which are raifed againft it. And, I think, I can hardly propofe any Subject that is of greater Confequence, or which may be of more fignal Advantage.
Ihc
The World preferved by Divine Providence,
DISCOURSE II,
Nehemiah ix. 6. Thou preferveft them all.
N my former Difcourfe, fome Obfer- vations were made concerning the Pro- vidence of God in general. It was fhewn by feveral Arguments that there is a Providence, or that this vaft World, and every Thing in it, is under the conftant Care and Superintendency of that mofl wife, and benign, and powerful Being that created it. Let us now proceed to a more diftinct Confideration of this im- portant Subject.
C 2 The
20 DISCOURSE II.
The Providence of God may be regard- ed as exercifed either in the Prefervation of the World, or in the Government of it, to which two main Heads all the Acts of Divine Providence are reducible.
Firft, That which comes nrft to be confi- dered, is God's Prefervation of the World. In that admirable Addrefs that is made to God in the Name of the Jewi/h Church, after celebrating him as the great Creator of the Univerfe in thofe no- ble Expreffions, Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hajl made Heaven •, the Heaven of Heavens, with all their Hoft, the Earth, and all Things that are therein-, it is added, and thou preferve/l them all. Where it is iigni- fied, that the preferving this van: Frame of Nature, and all Things that are there- in, is owing to the fame omnipotent Be- ing that created them. As by creating them he brought them into Exiftence when they had none before, and endued them with fuch and fuch Faculties and Powers ; fo by his preferving them, we are to un- derftand his upholding them in that Exif- tence, and in the Ufe of thofe Faculties and Powers which he hath given them. We mud not imagine that Things, when once put into Being, continue to exift indepen- dently of him that firft created them. For, an independent Exiflence is not compati- ble
DISCOURSE II. 21
b!e with the Nature or Condition of Creatures, which owe their Existence wholly to the Will and Power of a fu- perior Caufe. It is eaiily conceivable that the felf-exiftent Jehovah, who exifted ne- cefTarily from everlafting, muft certainly exift to everlafting, by the intrinfic Excel- lency of his own mod perfect Nature, But the Cafe is otherwife as to contingent Beings, who have the Source and Bafis of their Exiftence without them. As they did not exift originally and necerTarily of them - felves, but merely by the Will of the Crea- tor, who willed that they mould exift, and they exifted accordingly ; fo neither do they continue to exift of themfelves, and by the mere Force and Virtue of their own Nature, but by the powerful Will of the fupreme original Caufe that gave them Be- ing. It is true, that Machines which were contrived and formed by human Art, may fubfift for a Time independently of the Man that formed them : Nor is this to be wondered at, fince the Matter o: Subftance out of which they were form- ed exifted before, and did not owe its Be- ing to the Artificer. But no Confequence can be drawn from this, to prove that, therefore, Things which owe their very Exiftence and Subftance entirely to thi Will and Power of the firft Caufe, may C 3 afterwards
22 DISCOURSE II.
afterwards continue to exift independently of the firft Caufe. The Works of Mens Hands may fubfift at a Diftance from the Hands which fafhioned them: But the Creatures can never exift in an abfolute Se- paration from God, who is always mod intimately and effentially prefent with his own Works ; fo that it may be faid with the greater!: Propriety, that in him they have their Being, as St. Paul exprefleth it, Atts xvii. 28. or, as he elfewhere fpeaks by him, or as it might be rendered, in him all 'Things conjift. Col. i. 17.
That we may treat this Subject more diftinctly, we may confider this Prefervati- on of all Things, which is an eminent Act of Divine Providence, as extending,
Firft, To the whole inanimate Creation :
Secondly, To all Things that have Life in their different Degrees, both to the inferior Brute Animals, and to the higher Orders of rational intellectual Beings.
Firft, God, by his conftant powerful In- fluence, upholdeth the inanimate Creation, this huge material Syftem, in all its. Parts. As at the firft Formation of it, he put Things into a certain Order, fo it is by his Power and Wifdom that this Order and Conftitution of Things is maintained ac- cording to the firft Eftablifhment. Not only the greater heavenly Bodies are pre-
ferved
DISCOURSE II. 23
ferved in their appointed Courfes or Stati- ons, but with regard to the leffer Bodies and Particles of Matter, the Laws of Mo- tion and Gravitation, to which, by the di- vine Ordination, they are fubje£t, conti- nue the fame that they were from the Be- ginning, and produce the fame Effects in the fame Circumftances. Thus all Things in the material World proceed accordinp- to a fettled Rule or Method : This we are apt to pafs over, with a flight Regard, as a Thing of Courfe; whereas, it ought to engage our Admiration, and lead us to the Acknowledgment of a conftant fuperin- tending Providence. To this it is owing, that the Sun ftill fervethy^r a Light by Day, and the Ordinances of the Moon and Stars for a Light by Night. Jer. xxxi, 35. and that the orderly Returns of Seafons are maintain- ed, fo that Seed-time and Harveji, and Cold and Heat, and Summer and Winter, and Day and Night, do not ceafe. Gen. viii. 22. It is God that, by his powerful Influence, fuf- taineth this huge terreftrial Globe which we inhabit, which hangeth upon nothing, as fob expreffeth it, fob xxvi. j. By his Power, and according to his fettled Order it is, that the Earth ftill preferveth its Fertility, that the Minerals continue to be generated and ripened in its Bowels, and that the vege- C 4 table
24 DISCOURSE II.
table Kingdom flourimeth in all its Glory. As God laid at the fir ft Creation, Let the Earth bring forth Grafs, the Herb yielding Seed, and the Fruit-tree yielding Fruit after his Kind, whfe Seed is in itfelf upon the Earth. Gen. i. 11. fo, by his providen- tial Concourfe, and according to his Ap- pointment, the Plants, the Herbs, the Trees, the Flowers in all their Tribes, and the various Kinds of Grain, fpring up from their feveral Seeds, and gradually grow up into Maturity. The Species of them are ftill continued and kept diftincl:, and they uniformly preferve their feveral Virtues, their diftincl; Forms and Appear- ances, and bring forth their feveral Pro- ductions in the appointed Seafons. When we thus behold the regular Courfe of Things in the World about us, we mould raife our Thoughts to God, to whofe conftant Care and Influence this is owing. If left to themfelves without a preliding Mind, we could have no Security for their continuing in Being, much lefs for their be- ing maintained in their regular Order. It is the Power, Wifdom, and Influence of the fir ft Caufe ever prefent with his own Work, and leaving nothing to Chance or Caprice, that is the Foundation of all our Hopes. It is this that giveth us any
Securitv,
DISCOURSE II. 25
Security that the Sun or Moon fhall continue to mine, that the Stars fhall main- tain their Courfes or Stations, that the Air, the Sea, the Earth, and the Things which are therein, (hall preferve their Natures and proper Situations, and produce the feveral Effe&s, and anfwer the Ufes, to which they were originally deiigned.
Secondly, God preferveth the Beings that have Life and Senfe, with their feveral Powers, Capacities, and Inftincls. He up- holdeth them by his providential Concourfe in that kind of Life, which according to his own Appointment, and the Order fettled by himfelf in the Beginning, belongeth to them. And this holdeth good both of the inferior Brute Animals, and the higher Order of rational and intellectual Beings. And to this probably the Words of the Text have a fpecial Reference ; for what we render, thou preferveji them all, might be rendered, thou quickenefl them all, or, main- taineth them all in Life.
Firft, God preferveth and upholdeth the inferior Brute Animals in their feveral Spe- cies, which by a wonderful Provilion are fucceffively propagated according to efta- blifhed Laws, and continue to be furnimed in all Ages with the fame Organs, Powers, and Appetites, and the fame admirable Inflinds.
By
26 DISCOURSE II.
By thefe they are enabled to exercife the various Functions of the fenfitive Life, and are directed to what is mort proper for their Nourifhment, their Defence, and their Pleafure. To his Providence it is owing, that even the feveral Tribes of Infects are preferved, and go through their orderly Tranfmutations, and come forth in their proper Seafons in numberlefs Swarms, and in all the Beauty of Colours. To this it is to be afcribed that the Ants continue in all Ages to be the fame provident and in- dustrious Tribe, and fo dexteroufly manage the Affairs of their little Commonwealth -, that the Bees fo artfully build their waxen Cells, and make their Honey, and main- tain their well-ordered Polity ; that the Silk-worm undergoeth its feveral won- derful Changes, is provided in its Seafon with proper Food, and fpinneth fo pre- cious a Thread out of its Bowels ; that the Waters ftill bring forth abundantly after their Kind, and the Rivers, Lakes, and Seas continue to be plentifully ftored with innumerable Quantities of Fimes, in their various Forms, from the huge Whales to the fmalleft living Creatures which in- habit the watery Element : To which may be added the feveral Species of Birds, which with great Agility wing the airy
Region,
DISCOURSE II. 27
Region. The Hawk is faid to fly by his Wifdom ; the Ragle monnteth up at his Com- mand, and maketh her Nefi on high ; jrom whence fie feeketh her Prey, and her Eyes be- hold it afar off. Job xxxix. 26, 27, 29. The Stork in the Heaven knoweth her appointed Times; and the Turtle, the Crane, and the Swallow, and other Birds of PafTage, obferve the Time of their coming. Jer. viii. 7. And the^ feveral Sorts of iinging Birds chaunt forth their melodious Notes, and fing among the Branches. To the Care of his powerful Providence it is to be afcribed that the feveral Kinds of Cattle are pre- ferved, and provided with their proper Suf- tenance ; that the Dogs retain their Saga- city and wonderful Inftin&s, and the Horfe his Strength and Swiftnefs, for the Ufe and Delight of Mankind. Yea, to this it is owing that the wild Beads of the Defarts are provided for. As it manifestly tended to the Beauty and Perfection of the ani- mal Creation, that there mould be fuch Creatures formed, and endued with extra- ordinary Degrees of Fiercenefs, Strength, and Courage, fo there is the fame Reafon for continuing, that there was for creating them. Thus are the feveral Species of Brute Animals maintained and kept dif- tinct, and are provided for fuitably to their refpedtive Natures and Circuniftances, and 1 the
28 DISCOURSE II.
the Individuals of each Species preferve their feveral Shapes and Forms, Organs and Appetites, and when they go off leave others to fucceed them, fo that the admi- rable Scheme is ftill carried on. The con- tinuing Things in fuch an eftabli fried Courfe and Order, which we behold without Afto- nimment, becaufe we are accuftomed to it, exhibiteth a manifeft Proof of a wife and powerful Providence conftantly preferving and watching over the various kinds of fenlitive Beings. We may therefore on this Occafion juftly apply thofe Words of fob : AJk now the Beajls, and they jhall teach thee ; and the Fowls of the Air, and they Jloall tell thee ; and the Fifes of the Sea Jhall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all thefe, that the Hand of the Lord bath wrought this? Job xii. 7, 8, 9.
But fecondly, Let us efpecially confider God's Providence as exercifed in the Prefer - vation of the higher Orders of rational and intellectual Beings. It is he that pre- ferveth the Angels in their feveral De- grees. None of them have an inde- pendent Exigence. Strong and mighty as they are, they cannot uphold themfeives in Being, merely by the Force of their own excellentNatures, but are maintained in that noble and fublime Life which he hath given them, and in the Ufe and Exercife of their
admi-
DISCOURSE II. 29
admirable Faculties and Powers, by the conftant fuftaining Power and Influence of the Almighty.
But what we are mod nearly concerned to confider, is the Care of Divine Providence in preferving Man. This is what St. Paul iignifieth, when in his excellent Difcourfe to the Athenians, ABs xvii. he declareth that God giveth to all, (/. e. to all Men,) Life, and Breath, and all 'Things. Ver. 25. and that in him we live, and move, and have our Being. Ver. 28
In him we exift or have our Be- ing. As he gave us our Exiftence at firft, and made us of fuch a particular Order of Beings, fo by him we are conti- nued in Exiftence, and in that kind of Ex- igence which belongeth to us as Creatures of fuch a Species. To his Providence it is to be afcribed, that one Generation of Men rifeth up after another in the Manner and according to the Laws wifely eftablifhed by him in the Beginning; that the curious Structure of the human Body is preferved and maintained in it3 proper Form, and with all its admirable Organs ; and that the human Soul continueth to retain its noble Faculties.
In God we not only exift or have our Being, but in him we live. As it was he that firft eftablimed the wonderful vital
Union
3o DISCOURSE II.
Union between Soul and Body in Man, fo it is by his Care and Influence that it fub- fifteth. To this it is owing that our Food nourifheth and refrefheth us, that the vi- tal Functions are carried on, and that we are enabled to exercife our feveral Senfations. Juftly, therefore, doth the Pfalmift call him the God of his Life. Pfal. xlii. 8. and Job declareth, that in his Hand is the Soul of every living Thing, and the Breath, or Life, of all Mankind. Job xii. 10. And again, Thou hajl granted me Life and Fa- vour, faith he, and thy Vifitation hath pre- ferved my Spirit. Ch. x. 12.
And as it is in God that we exift and live, fo it is in or by him that we move. It was he that originally gave us the Power of Motion, and Organs admirably fitted for carrying it on, and it is through him that we are continued in the Ufe and Ex- ercife of thofe Organs ; fo that it may be juftly faid, that we cannot move a Foot, or lift up a Hand without him. And this holdeth equally with regard to the Opera- tions of our Souls, as the Motions of our Bodies. As he hath endued our Souls with the admirable Faculties of Under- ftanding, Will, Memory, free Agency, and hath implanted in us Affections of various Kinds, fo by his providential Concourfe, and Support of our Faculties, we apprehend,
JudSe»
DISCOURSE IL 31
judge, reafon, remember, and freely determine our own Actions. It is he that upholdeth the Powers which he gave us, and enableth us to exert thofe Powers, and put them forth to Action. And this he doeth not only when we do Good, but when we em- ploy our Powers in acting wickedly. A id yet this doth not derive the leaft Stain of Guilt upon God, or make him the Author of our Sins. The natural active Power, and the Ufe of it, which is in itfelf good, is from God ; the Abufe of it to linful Purpofes is wholly owing to ourfelves, and to the Corruption of our Wills. God fuftaineth the Sinner in Being, and in the Exercife of his natural Powers, whilft he is committing the linful Action, but the Obliquity of the Action is wholly from the Sinner himfelf. And indeed, on Sup- polition that God hath created reafonable Beings capable of acting freely, and of do- ing Good and Evil, it is proper that he mould uphold them in Being, and in the Ufe and Exercife of their natural Powers, even whilft they do evil Actions as well as good. For if he fhould withdraw his fuf- taining Influence from them the Moment they attempt to abufe their natural Powers, this would be abfolutely to hinder them to exercife their Liberty, nor could they in that Cafe be accounted free Agents at all.
As
32 DISCOURSE II.
As the God of Nature, he ordinarily up- holdeth or continueth them in Being, and in the Ufe of their natural Powers, in what Manner- fbever they act; and then after- wards, as the moral Governor, he will call them to* an Account for their Actions, and will, reward, or punifh them accord- ingly. < ■
I mail' conclude with fome fuitable R.e- flections.
Firft,Whenwe confider the univerfal De- pendence of the whole Creation upon God, what admiring Thoughts mould it caufe us to entertain of God, and what dimi- nifhing Thoughts of ourfelves, and all created Beings ! Who would not adore the great Jehovah, whofe everlafting Existence is the folid Balis and Support of the Ex- igence of all other Beings whatfoever ? Should not we be even as nothing in our own Eyes, whilft God is all in all ? Let us with the profoundefl Veneration proftrate ourfelves before his Divine Majefty, who is the great I am, the Fountain of Being and Perfection, and be ready to fay, Wor- thy art thou to receive Honour, and Glory, and Blejjing ; jor thou haft created all Things, and for thy T* leaf are they are, and were created! And not only fo, but thou prefervert them all ; thou upholdeft them by thy moft
powerful
DISCOURSE If. 33
powerful Word ; and in and by thee all Things confift. !
Secondly, We may hence fee, what a jud Propriety and Dominion God hath in and over us, fince it is he that both gave us our Being, and all our Powers and Facul- ties, and who upholdeth us in Life, and in the Ufe and Exercife of thofe Powers. Thefe two taken together, his Creation and Prefervation of us, certainly give him the mofl: full and abfolute Property in us, and in all our Services, that can be conceiv- ed; a Property and Dominion infinitely ex- ceeding what one Creature can poflibly have over another. He made us, and not we our- felves; he preferveth and fuftaineth us in Be- ing, and not we ourfelves ; and therefore it is mofl: fit and reafonable, that we mould live unto him, and not unto ourfelves ; and that we mould employ our Powers and Facul- ties according to his Will, and for fuch Purpofes as he prefcribeth. Nor can any Thing be more unjuft, than to turn the Beings we derive from him to his Difho- nour -, to ufe thofe bodily Members he hath furnifhed us with, and which he continu- ally upholdeth, as the Inftruments of Un- righteoufnefs unto Sin, inftead of ufing them as Inftruments of Righteoufnefs unto God ; and to employ thofe reafoning thinking Powers, and that Gift of Speech which he hath beftowed upon us, to Purpofes quite
Vol. I. D different
34 DISCOURSE II.
different from thofe which he gave them to us for. This certainly involveth in it a very heinous Guilt, and is a facrilegious Alienation of ourfelves from his Service, to whom we do of Right belong. That is a heavy Charge which Daniel bringeth againft Beljkazzar, "J he God in whofe Hand thy Breath is, and whofe are all thy Ways, Im'l thou not glorified. Dan. v. 23.
Thirdly, Another Reflection that is pro- per to be made on this Occaiion is this, that iince God preferveth us every Moment, fmce we cannot move a Limb, nor think a Thought without him, he muft needs be perfectly acquainted with all our Thoughts, Words, and Actions, and all the Events which befal us. Juftly may every one of us fay with the devout Pfalmilt, Lord, thou knoweft my Down-fitting and mi?te Up- rifing, thou under jlamUJl my Thoughts afar of'. Thou comfajfcft my Path, and my Lying-? down, and art acquainted with all my Ways. For there is not a Word in my Tongue, but lo, 0 Lord, thou knowejl it altogether. Pfal. cxxxix. 2, 3, 4. God knoweth every the lealt good Action we perform, and every good Motion which arifeth in our Hearts. Nor, on the other Hand, can any of our moft fecret Sins pombly efcape his No- tice. For it is by his Influence that we are upheld in Being, even whilil we are
committing
DISCOURSE II. 35
committing thofe Sins againft him. Our being able to commit them, our being pre- ferved in Life whilft we do fo, is a Proof that he is prefent with us, and, confe- quently, that he muft know whatfoever we are doing in every Circumftance.
Fourthly, How ftrange and inexcufable will our Conduct be, if we allow ourfelves in an habitual Neglect and Forgetfulnefs of the Deity ! Shall we be unmindful of him, without whom we cannot fubfift a Mo- ment, by whom we are conftantly upheld in Being, and in the Ufe of all our reafon- ing and active Powers ? As foon ought we to forget that we ourfelves exift. And yet fo it is, that a great Part of Mankind go on from Day to Day, without ever think- ing of that God to whom they owe it that they are able to think; and without fpeaking of him who gave, and continueth to them, the Faculty and Ufe of Speech. They act in too many Inftances, as if there were no fuch Being at all, though with- out him they could not be. Amazing Per- verfenefs! What a flrange Depravation of a reafonable thinking Mind doth this argue! Let us carefully guard againft it, and often realize God to our Minds, endeavouring: to maintain a conftant Senfe of our abfo- lute Dependence upon him, fo as to ftand in Awe of his Power, to be thankful to D 2 him
36 DISCOURSE II.
him for his great Goodnefs, and to be defi- rous above all Things of his Favour. For how great muft his Power be which con- flantly upholdeth this vaft univerfal Frame, and all the numberlefs Orders of Beings in it ! What Folly therefore would it be, for fuch Creatures as we are to dare to offend him, and provoke his juft Difplea- fure ! How eafily could he deftroy us in a Moment, and put an utter End to our Exiftence ! Or, if he doth not think fit to do fo, as not being confident with the De- figns of his mofl wife and righteous Provi- dence, he can continue and uphold us in Being under thofe Punifhments and Mife- ries we had brought upon ourfelves by our Difobedience.
The laft Reflection I would make upon this Subject is this, That fince God conti- nually preferveth us, he hath an undoubted Right to govern us. And this leadeth to the other main Work of Divine Providence," m. The Government of the World, which is what I propofe next to confider.
On
On God's Government of the World : And firft) of his Dominion over the inanimate Creation,
DISCOURSE III.
PSAL. CXXXV. 6.
Whatfoever the Lord pleafed, that did he in Heaven, and in Earth, in the Seas, and in all deep Places.
A V I N G confidered the Providence of God as exercifed in the Prefer- vation of the World, let us now proceed to that which deferveth to be confidered more at large, viz. His governing that World which he hath made, and which he con- tinually upholdeth. And this providential Government of God may be regarded as D 3 extending
38 DISCOURSE III.
extending to every Part of this vafl Uni- verfe, and all the Orders of Beings in it. The feveral Kinds of Beings in the Crea- tion, as far as they come under our Ob- fervation and Notice, may be diftributed into three great Ranks, the inanimate, the fenfitive, and the rational or moral. The Government of Providence, in the proper- eft Senfe, is to be underftood of God's Administrations towards reafonable Crea- tures, moral Agents. But it may be alfo applied to his Dominion over the merely fenfitive or Brute Animals ; and in a ftill lefs proper Senfe to his Dominion over the inanimate Creation, which is always fub- ject to his Will, and ordered by him as feemeth moil: fit to his infinite Wifdom. All thefe muft be joined if we would form a juft Notion of the Dominion and Sovereignty of the great Lord of the Uni-
verfe,
Firft, I mail begin with confidering the Government of God as extending to the inanimate Creation. \ As by his fuilaining Influence he preferveth and maintaineth this vaft material Syftem in all its Parts, fo by his Government of it, I here underftand his directing and regulating the natural Caufes and Effects of Things, fo as to ap- ply them to the wife Purpofes of his Pro- vidence. How a Spirit or immaterial Be- ing
5
DISCOURSE III. 39
ing operate th upon Matter, we are not able diftinctly to conceive or explain. But the Thing itfelf is pad: all Doubt. An Image of God's Government of the ma- terial World we have in our own Souls governing our Bodies, that little World, or material Syflem, to which we are more immediately related. We only will, and it is done, an Arm, a Leg, the Tongue is moved in an Inftant. We have alio a Power over feveral Parts of the World a- bout us, though not in fo immediate a Way; a Power of moving, combining, feparating the Parts of Matter, and ap- plying them to various Ufes, for anfwering our Neceiiity, Convenience, or Pleafure. Man can, in many Inftances, exert a won- derful Power in producing Effects in the material World. He can dig into the Bowels of the Earth, and extract Metals and Minerals ; he can blow up Rocks, and turn afide the Channels of Rivers. And we may reafonably fuppofe that there are other created Beings fuperior to Man, that have a much greater and more ex- tenfive Power over the material World than any Man, or all the Men upon Earth. So the Scriptures lead us to think concern- ing the Angels good or bad. And there is no Abfurdity in fuppoiing that a created Spirit might be made fo powerful as to be D 4 able
4o DISCOURSE HI.
able to wield this whole earthly Globe, or any Part of it, by only willing to do fo, with as much Eafe as we move our Bodies, or any Limb of them. But ftill there muft be an infinite Difference between the Power of any created, derivative, dependent Being, in ordering and governing the material World, and that of the fupreme, felf-exiftent, in- dependent Jehovah, who is infinite, origi- nal, effential Life, Activity, and Intelli- gence. We find, in fact, with regard to the inanimate World about us, that it is fub- ject to our Direction and Management on- ly in a certain Proportion, and within a li- mited Sphere ; and that even our own Bo- dies, which are more immediately under our Power, are fubject to us no farther than according to the Laws which the Creator hath appointed. And as our Power, fo that of every Creature, with refpect to the material World, is limited \ but the Power of God hath no Bounds or Li- mits. Matter hath fome Influence upon us, and we are fubject to Imprefiions from it, pleafant or painful ; but the infinite Mind moveth, actuateth, and govern- eth the whole Mafs of Matter, without being himfelf impreffed and affected by it ; he governeth it, not as a Soul the Bo- dy to which it is vitally united, but as the abfolute Lord of his own Work, which he at firft created, and which continually de-
pendeth
DISCOURSE III. 41
pendeth upon him for its Existence. What Ufe it may pleafe him to make of in- ferior Spirits in moving and governing the material Syftem, we cannot tell ; but this we are fure of, that they all act in Subor- dination to him, and under his fovereign Direction, and that he ftill hath the whole in his own Hands, and is as immediately prefent to every Part of it, as if he made ufe of no Inftrament at all.
This abfolute Dominion of God over the material and inanimate World, and his making ufe of it to anfwer his mofr. wife Purpofes, is frequently reprefented in Scrip- ture in a flrong and noble Manner of Ex- preflion. This is what the Pfalmifl ligni- neth in the Words which I have chofen for the Subject: of this Difcourfe, Whatfoever the Lord p leafed, that did he in Heaven, and in Earth, in the Seas, and in ail deep Places. And then it follows : He caufeth the Va- pours to afce?id from the "Ends of the Earth ; he maketh Lightnings for the Rain ; he bringeth the Wind out of his 'Treafuries. Pfal. cxix. 91. fpeaking of the Frame of Heaven and Earth, he faith, They continue this Day according to thine Ordinances : for all are thy Servants, i. e. all Things in the World ferve thy Purpofes, and execute thy Pieafure. Hence God is reprefented as if- fuing out his Word and Commandment even to the inanimate Creation. Pfal. cxlvii.
42 DISCOURSE III.
I i;. He fendeth forth his Commandment up- on Earth ; his Word runneth very fwiftly. And then it is added : He giveth Snow like Wool; he fcattereth the Hoar-frojl like Afes. Or, as Elihu expreffeth it, He faith to the Snow, Be thou upon the Earth ; likewife tothefmall Rain, and to the great Rain of his Strength. Job xxxvii. 6. And Ver. 12, 13. the Cloud is faid to be turned about by his Counfels, that they, i. e. the Snow, Rain, Meteors of which he had been fpeaking, may do whafoever he commandeih them upon the Face of the World in the Earth ; He caufeth it to come, whether for Correffiien, or for his Land, or for Mercy.
The inanimate Creation is itfelf inca- pable of Perception and Enjoyment. It cannot, therefore, be fuppofed to be or- dained merely for its own Sake, but to ferve the Ufes of fenfitive, perceptive Be- ings ; and efpecially to anfwer the Pur- pofes of God's moral Administration to- wards reafonable Creatures, particularly to- wards Mankind. It is in this Light that we are chiefly to confider God's Govern- ment of the inanimate material World, and to this it is that the Scripture principally directeth our Views.
As God perfectly knew from the Begin- ning all the Caufes and Effects of Things in the natural World; fo, upon Suppolition of his alfo fore-knowing the free Actions
of
DISCOURSE III. 43
of moral Agents, which Reafon, as well as Scripture, leads us to acknowledge, it was not difficult for him to adjufr. the one to the other, fo as to make up one great and univerfal Plan of Government, which is fucceffively executed in the proper Sea- fons ; and indeed none could exercife a perfect Government over the moral Part of the Creation, but one who had alio the material Syftem under his Direction and Influence, and could manage it according to his Will.
Whilft Man continued in his State of Innocence, God in his Providence fuited the ConfHtution of Things in the natural World to that State; which ConfHtution would no doubt have continued, if Man had continued in his original Purity. But when he fell, and Sin entered into the World, God ordered it fo in his mofr, wife governing Providence, that the State of Things in the natural World, the ConfH- tution of the Earth and Air, as well as Body of Man, fuffered an Alteration which bore the Tokens of the divine Difpleafure againft Sin. And yet, as Man is flill con- tinued here on Earth in a State of Trial and Difcipline, there are many Things in the ordinary Courfe that plainly mew God's great Goodnefs and Patience, and Forbearance towards him ; the Defign of which is to train him up in a Meetnefs
for
44 DISCOURSE III.
for a better World, where the whole Face of Nature fhall be fo ordered, as to be fuit- ed to a State of confummate Holinefs and Virtue.
When all Flefh had corrupted his Way, and the Earth was full of Wickednefs and Violence, God in his Providence fo dif- pofed Things in the natural World, as to bring in the Flood upon that ungodly Race. And at another Time, as the Lord of Nature, he poured forth a fiery Tem- per!: from Heaven upon Sodom and Go- morrah , and the neighbouring Cities, which kindling the combuftible Materials which abounded in that fulphureous Soil, brought a dreadful Ruin upon them, as a juft Pu- nifhment for their abominable Wickednefs. And not only in fuch extraordinary Cafes, but when Things feem to go on in their ufaal Way, God in his Providence fo go- verneth the natural World, and difpofeth the Courfe of material Caufes, as to cor- refpond with, and fulfil his Intentions to- wards Mankind, whether of Judgment or of Mercy. According to the Scripture, all thcle Things execute the Orders of his Providence. The Lightnings are repre- fented, by a noble Figure, as faying unto him, Here ive are, i. e. as offering them- felves like Servants to wait his Directions, and fulfil his Commands. "Job xxxviii. 35. When thofe nitrous, fulphureous Particles
are
DISCOURSE III. 45
are gathered together in the Air, which, ac- cording to the Courfe of Things which God hath eftablifhed, produce the dreadful Roar of Thunder, and Blaze of Light- nings, they are fo governed as to ferve the Ends of his Providence, and to produce thofe Effects which it is his Intention they mould produce. Stormy Wind is faid to fulfil his Word. Pfal. cxlviii. 8. The Winds are for the molt part fo ordered by Divine Providence, as to be of great Ufe and Be- nefit; but they are fometimes made to blow in furious Tempefts, and are Inftru- ments in the Hand of God for executing his righteous Judgments upon Men. In like Manner, when God feeth fit to order it fo, the Materials which are prepared in the Bowels of the Earth meet together in fuch a Manner as to produce violent Con- cuffions and Earthquakes there. They fometimes break forth into dreadful Erup- tions, which fpread Defolation far and wide ; at other Times they are fo govern- ed as to do little more than threaten and terrify. Of this were the alarming Shocks that were felt in the neighbouring Kingdom, which, if carried to an higher Degree, might have produced the mod difmal Effects, but were happily fo moderated, that they feem to have been defigned only to ferve for Warnings to awaken us to ferious Re- flections,
46 DISCOURSE III.
flections, and to ftrike us with an Awe of the divine Power. God fo ordereth the Seafons in their general Courfe, that there is iufficient Proviiion made for Man and Bealt; and he frequently fendeth great Plenty, fo as to produce that Appearance of Things which the Pfalmift fo beautifully defcrib- eth, Pfal. lxv. 9, 11, 12, 13. 'Thou vifiteft the Earthy and water eft it ; thou greatly en- richeji it with the River of God, which is full of Water ; thou prepareft them Corn, when thou haft fo provided for it. — Thou crow?ieft the Tear with thy Good?iefs ; and thy Paths drop Fatnefs. They drop upon the Pafiures of the Wilder nefs ; and the little Hills rejoice on every Side. The Pafturcs are clothed with Flocks -, the Vallies alfo are covered with Corn ; they fiout for Joy, they alfo Jing. But fome- times it is fo ordered, that there are great Droughts and Dearth. The Heaven is as Iron, and the Earth Brafs, and the Ram of the Land is as Powder and Diift , fo that the Land doth not give her Encreaje, neither do the Trees of the Land yield their Fruit, Lev. xxvi. 19, 20. Deut. xxviii. 23, 24. In like Manner, there are frequently very healthful Seafons : At other Times there is a fickly Conftitution of the Air, venemous Exhalations arife, or peftilential Contagions fpread a mortal Influence. In all thefe Cafes
fecond
DISCOURSE III. 47
fecond Caufes may well be admitted -, but thefe Caufes are under the Government of a fovereign Providence, which difpofeth and applieth them to wife and righteous Purpofes. And accordingly thefe Things are actually made the Matter of the divine Promifes and Threatnings to the Ifraelites in the Law of Mofes : See efpecially the 26th Chapter of Leviticus t and the 28th Chapter of Deuteronomy, And it appeareth, from the Accounts given us in Scripture of the Hiftory of that People, that thefe Promifes and Threatnings were actually accomplimed to them in the Event ; and that the Courfe of natural Caufes was fo directed and over-ruled by Providence, as to reward them for their Obedience, and punifh them for their Difobedience to the divine Laws. And fo it hath often been in God's Dealings with other Nations. And both Reafon and Religion teach us, in Things of this Nature, to raife our Views to the fupreme Difpofer, and to ac- knowledge and reverence a divine Agency.
In order to our having a right Notion of God's Government of the inanimate Crea- tion, it is proper to obferve,
Firit, That he ordinarily maketh ufeof it for anfwering his Purpofes, without at all altering the ufual Courfe of Things. And
this
48 DISCOURSE IH.
this is a manifcft Proof of his great Wifdom, when we cannot fay that any Thing hath happened but what is natural, /. e. agree- able to the ordinary Powers and Properties of Things ; yet the Time and Circum- flances are fo conducted, as to produce great Events, and anfwer particular impor- tant Purpofes. Thus the Winds have been fo ordered, that mighty Fleets have been fcattered, or detained in Port ; im- portant Expeditions or Invafions have been prevented or forwarded; upon which, E- vents of great Confequence, and even the Fates of Kingdoms have depended. Innu- merable Cafes happen, both of a public and a more private Nature, in which, though there is nothing in them that can be faid to be contrary to the Order of Nature, yet they are directed and over-ruled to efpe- cial wife and important Ends. And the adjufting thefe Things to one another is not to be looked upon as a mere Contin- gency, or the Effect: of Chance, but as the Work of a fovereign fuperin ten ding Provi- dence.
Secondly, Sometimes God may over- rule natural Caufes contrary to their ftated Courfe, as in the Cafe of what are called Miracles. Thus the Fire had no Power over the Bodies of Sbadracby Meftacb, and AbednegOy nor finged fo much as an
Hair
DISCOURSE III. 49
Hair of their Heads, though it immediate- ly confumed thofe that caft them into the Furnace. Dan. iii. 22, 27. The Waters of the Sea flood upright as an Heap, whilft the Ifraelites pafTed, and were a Wall unto them on their right Hand, and on their left, but foon returned to their natural Courfe, and overwhelmed the Hoft of the Egyptians. Exod. xiv. 22, 28. xv. 8. But however extraordinary thefe Things may appear to us, they carry no greater Difficulty in them to the divine Power, than the continuing Things in their ordinary Courfe. It is indeed high- ly proper, that what are ufually called the Laws of Nature, and which are really the Ordinances of Divine Providence, mould be generally maintained. Without fuch flated Rules, and an eftablifhed Courfe of Things, there could be no regular Study or Knowledge of Nature; no Men could tell what to do or what to expect, or how to make a Progrefs in any Art or Science, or in the Conduct of Life : nor would there be any Advantage of Experi- ence ; fince the fame Things might pro- duce one Effect this Day, and, the next, a quite contrary one in the fame Cir- cumftances. And yet, on the other Hand, there is no Neceffity of fuppofing that thefe Laws are fo constantly and in *ari- Vol. I. E ably
5o DISCOURSE III.
ably obferved and executed, and the na- tural Courfe of Things fo fixed, as never in any Inftance to be fufpended, or admit any the leaft Deviation. It is fufficient that thefe Laws, or this Courfe of Things, ge- nerally take Place. For this layeth a Foundation for an high Probability; and we may juftly act and form Schemes upon fuch a Probability, though not amounting to an abfolute Certainty. It is a fufficient Security that we have an ArTurance that this Courfe mail always take Effect, ex- cept where infinite Wifdom feeth fit for valuable Purpofes to order it otherwife. But it would be an inexcufable Prefump- tion to affirm, that God, having eftablifh- ed thofe Laws, and this Courfe of Nature, hath bound himfelf never to acl: otherwife than according to thofe Laws. There may be very good Reafons worthy of his great Wifdom, for his acting fometimes contrary to the ufual Order of Things ; and, even in that Cafe, it may be juftly faid that thofe Things which appear moft unufual and anomalous to us, are all comprehended within the general Plan of his univerfal Providence, They are not to be looked upon as mere fudden Expedients, unfore- feen, and unthought of before, but are to be regarded as Parts of the original Scheme. The fame Wifdom which appointed or
efta-
DISCOURSE III. 51
eftablifhed thofe natural Laws, appointed the Deviations from them, or that they mould be over-ruled on fuch certain particular Oc- cafions, whether brought about by the im- mediate Power of God, or by the Power of fubordinate Agents, which are Inftruments in the Hand of God for this Purpofe. Jf Things were always to go on without the leaft Variation in the ftated Courfe, Men would be apt to overlook or queftion a wife governing Providence, and to afcribe Things to a fixed immutable Fate, or blind Ne- ceffity, which they call Nature. So the Scoffers, mentioned 2 Pet. iii. 4. were rea- dy to conclude, that the Earth and the prefent State of Things would continue for ever without Alteration, becaufe, as they pretend- ed, Jince the Fathers feila/leep, all Things con- tinue as they were from the Beginning of the Creation. Whereas fuch Changes and extra- ordinary Operations and Appearances, tend to awaken in Mankind a Senfe of a fu- preme Difpofer and Governor of the World, and may anfwer important Ends, for difplaying God's Mercy and Juftice, and for giving an Atteftation to the divine MifTion of thofe whom he feeth fit to fend on extraordinary Errands, for in- structing and reforming Mankind.
This Subject may furnifh feveral ufe- ful Reflections.
E 2 Firft
52 DISCOURSE III.
Firft, What an awful Idea mould this give us of the Greatnefs and Majefty of God, confidered as the Lord of Nature ! The vaft inanimate material World, the Extent of which no human Imagination is able to conceive, is under his Direction, and he employeth every Part of this unwieldy Mafs, as it pleafeth him, to fubferve the wife Purpofes of his Providence. How huge a Body is this terraqueous Globe; compared with which, the loftieft and moil extended Mountains, the View of which is apt to ftrike us with Aftonimment, are fmall and inconiiderable Things! And yet this Earth is but a very minute Part of this ftupend- ous material Syftem, all of which is under the conrlant Influence of the almighty uni- verfal Sovereign, moved, actuated, and guided according to his Will. He can, with the fame Eafe, continue Things in the fettled Courfe and Order, or alter and change the whole Frame of Nature, or any Part of it. This is often reprefented in Scripture in the ftrongefl and moil magnificent Expreffions, the more effectually to imprefs our Hearts with a facred Awe and Veneration of his infinite Majefty. He is wife in Hearty and mighty in Strength : who hath hardened hitn- fcff againfi him, and hath profpered? Which removeth the Moimtains, and they h:ow not ; which overturneth them in his Anger : Which
psaketh
DISCOURSE III. 53
foaketh the Earth out of her Place, and the Pillars thereof tremble : Which commandeth the Sun, and it rifetb not -, andfeakth up the Stars : Which alone fpreadeth out the Hea- vens, and treadeth upon the Waves of the Sea. Job ix. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. He looketh to the Ends of the Earth, and feet h under the "whole Heaven, to make the Weight for the Winds ; and he weigheth the Waters by Mea-
fure : And hath made a Decree for the Rain, and a Way for the Lightning of the Thunder. Chap, xxviii. 24, 25, 26. The Sea, that boifterous Element, is defcribed, by a noble Figure, as in the Hand of God like an In- fant bound in fwaddlingBands. Chap, xxxviii. 8, 9. He is reprefented as having meted out Heaven with a Span, and co?nprehended the Duf of the Earth in a Meafnre, and weigh- ed the Mountains in Scales, and the Hills in a Balance. If. xl. 12. The Lord hath his Way in the Whirlwind, and in the Storm -, and the Clouds are the Duf of his Feet. He rebuketh the Sea, and maketh it dry, and dryeth up the Rivers : Bafhan languifijcth, and Carmel, and the Flower of Lebanon lan- guifheth. The Mountains quake at him, and the Hills melt. Nah. i. 3, 4, 5. He it is that commandeth the Morning, and caufeth the Day-fpring to know his Place. He can bind the fweet Influences of Pleiades, and loofe the Bands of Orion -, and can bring forth Maz- E 3 zarcth
54- DISCOURSE III.
zarotb in his Seafon, and guide Ar Slur us with his Sons: For he hath appointed the Ordi- nances of Heaven, and Jet the Dominion thereof in the Earth. Jobxxxviii. 12, 31,32, 33. This prefent Courfe of Things de- pendeth wholly upon his Will, and (hall continue while he feeth fit, and no longer ; and then, when it hath anfwered the De- figns of his Providence, this vaft Frame, or at leaft that Part of it to which we are more nearly related, fhall be taken down. For the Day of the Lord cometh, in the which the Heavens Jkall pafs away with a great Noife, and the Elements Jhaff melt with fer- vent Heat, the Earth alfo, and the Works that are therein, Jhall be burnt up. And this great Cataftrophe of Nature (hall be fucceed- ed by a new Face of Things, a new Heaven, and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth Righte- oufnefs. 2 Pet. iii. 10, 13. Surely when we confider all this, we fhould proftrate our- felves before him, filled with the moft ador- ing Thoughts of his incomprehenfible Ma- jefty. How mould fuch feeble Creatures as as we are be able to refift him, or ftand be- fore him when once he is angry ? Shall not we ftand in Awe of his Power, and dread his Difpleafure, who can wield and manage the whole Courfe of Nature as he pleafeth ?
But fecondly, God's fovereign Dominion over the whole material World may alfo let us
fee
DISCOURSE III. 55
fee what a proper Object he is of our fleady Truft and Dependence. How happy (hall we be if our Help be in the Name of the Lord, who at firft made, and itill governeth Hea- ven and Earth, and hath this vaft univerfal Frame, and every Part of it, under his Direction, and at his Difpofal ! What can we want, or of whom mould we be afraid, if the Lord of Nature be our Friend ? What a comforting Confideration is it to a good Man, that the whole Series of natural Caufes is in the Hand of God, directed and over-ruled by infinite Wifdom, Righteoufnefs, and Goodnefs ! Whofoever coniidereth with Attention the State of Things, may eafily obferve a wife and be- nign Difpofition in the ordering and governing the inanimate material World, for the general Good of the vital, fenfitive, and rational Creation. It is made in num- berlefs Ways fubfervient to the Enjoyments and Happinefs even of the inferior Brute Animals, but efpecially of Mankind. And may we not then juftly conclude, that he will upon the whole over-rule and order the Courfe of Things, for the Benefit of thofe who love and ferve him in Sinceri- ty ? And if, for the prefent, he frequently maketh ufe of thefe Things to chaften them in this State of Trial and Difcipline, yet all mail in the Iflue be fo ordered, as to E 4 contribute
56 DISCOURSE III.
contribute unto, and terminate in their great Happinefs.
I fhall conclude this Difcourfe with ob^ ferving, that a due Confideration of God's Dominion and Sovereignty over the inani- mate Creation may convince us, that when the Courfe of Things in the natural World is difpofed to our Comfort and Advantage, e. g. when we enjoy healthful and fruitful Seafons, and the like, it is our Duty to give God the Praife. And, on the other Hand, when Things have a contrary Af- pect, we mould reverence his Hand, and humble ourfelves deeply before him. And it is very proper and reafonable for us, in all fuch Cafes, to apply to him by devout Prayer and Supplication. It is the Com- mand of God by the Prophet, A[k ye- of the Lor d Rain in the 'Time of the latter Rain, fo the Lord Jhall make bright Clouds % and give the??i Showers of Rain, to every one Grafs in the Field. Zech. x. i. And in the admirable Prayer which Solomon of- fered up at the Dedication of the Temple, particular Notice is taken of this : When Heaven is jhut up, and there is no Rain, be- caufe they have finned againjl thee ; if they ■pray towards this Place, and confefs thy Name, and turn from their Sin, when thou affliclejl them: Then hear thou in Heaven, and for- give the Sin of thy Servants, and of thy People
Ifrael,
DISCOURSE III. 57
IfraeJ, that thou teach them the good Way wherein they ftoould walk, and give Rain up- on thy Land, which thou haft given to thy People for an Inheritance. I Kings viii. ^5, 36. And, in the following Words, If there be in the Land Famine or Pejlilence, Blafting or Mildew, they are directed to apply to God by Prayer and Repentance, that thefe Plagues may be removed. There is no- thing in this but what is highly agreer.Me to Reafon, and to the Practice of all Na- tions, among whom any Face of Religion hath been preferved. For though in fuch' Cafes fecond Caufes are not to be excluded, yet they are ftill to be regarded as under the Direction and Superintendency of the fupreme Governor, who fo condudteth and over-ruleth them, as to carry on the De- figns of his moral Administration towards Mankind. When therefore we are taught in Scripture to regard humble Prayer, and a fincere Repentance, as proper Means for procuring Blefiings and averting Calami- ties; it mud be acknowledged, that fuch a Conftitution is worthy of God, and is wifely fitted to keep up a Senfe of Religion, and of their abfolute Dependence upon God, on the Minds of Men. And God's having a gracious Regard to fuch Prayer and Repentance, fo as to confer thofe Blef- fings, and avert thofe Evils on the account
of
58 DISCOURSE III.
of it, is perfectly agreeable to the Scheme of his wife and righteous Providence, and is a remarkable Inftance of his adj lifting na- tural Good and Evil to the Conftitution of the moral World. Prayer in fuch Cafes Is a very proper Act of Homage to God, and a fignificant Expreffion of our Dependence upon him, as well as tendeth to exercife and improve good and religious Affections and Difpolitions, that pious and devout Temper of Soul which becometh reafona- ble Creatures, towards the great and uni- verfal Lord of the Creation ; to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Gofs
God's Government and Care as ex- tending to the fenjitive Brute Animals.
DISCOURSE IV.
Matt. x. 29.
Are not two Sparrows fold for a Farthing f And one of them fhall not fall to the Ground without your Father.
AVING confidered the whole in- animate Creation, this vaft material World, as under the conftant Direction and Superintendency of Divine Providence; I fhall now proceed to confider God's provi- dential Care and Government as exercifed towards the Brute Animals, which are en- dued with Life and Senfation, but have not
a Prin-
6o DISCOURSE IV.
a Principle of Reafon, nor are capable of moral Agency. And thefe are certainly of an higher and more valuable Kind than any Part of the inanimate Creation. Life in its lowed: Notion, as including Self- motion, and even the fmalleft Degree of Senfation, hath fomething in it more won- derful than the whole inanimate materia! World can furnifh. There is an amazing Difplay of the Wifdom and Power of God in the Formation of feniitive Beings, both in the Fabric of their Bodies, which is contrived and formed with a Skill that ex- ceedeth all human Imagination, and in the feveral Powers, Appetites, and Inftincts, which they are furnifhed with. And it is reafonable to believe that he that firft formed them exercifes conitant Care over them. How many different Species there may be of living Creatures which have Senfe and Perception, and yet are not moral Agents, difperfed throughout the feveral Regions of this vaft Univerfe, we cannot tell ; but that there are various Kinds of them here en Earth we well know. The great Au- thor of Nature feems to delight in dif- fering Life every where : The whole Earth is full of Vitality ; it Is as it were one vaft Mafs or Collection of living Creatures -y every Clod fwarms with Inha- bitants. And what a noble Aflonimment
(ho ul d
DISCOURSE IV. 61
mould poflefs our Minds, to regard all thefe various Kinds of living fenfitive Beings, from the greater!; to the leaft and meaneft of them, as under the Inflection and Go- vernment of the univerfal Parent, and Lord of all !
The Government of Divine Providence, as exercifed towards inferior fenfitive Beings, or the irrational Brute | Animals, may be confidered either as more immediately re- fpecting themfelves and their own Benefit. As they are all of them, through the Good- nefs of Divine Providence, furnifhed with Organs and i^ppetites fuited to the different Kinds of Life for which thev are deiiened ; fo the very loweft and mean eft of them are in their Degree capable of an Happineis and Enjoyment, which is as truly fitted and accommodated to them, as higher Enjoy- ments are to Creatures of a higher Kind, and of more enlarged Capacities and Powers. And even with regard to thofe of them that appear to be moft minute and inconfiderable, and whofe Lives are of the fhorteft'Duration, it muft be confidered that their fliort Lives may be as well proportion- ed to them, as a much longer Life to Crea- tures of a greater Bulk. There may, for ought we know, be Creatures of fuch a Kind, that a Day may be to them a fufficient Time of Exiftence, and yield them as full Enjoyment
as
62 DISCOURSE IV.
as their Natures are capable of. And the ihorter their Lives are, there is a more quick Succemon of Individuals. And con- cerning the lea.fl of them it muft be owned , that their vital Exiftence and Enjoyment, fhort as it may feem to be, is certainly bet- ter than Non-exiftence, or than an inani- mate unperceptive Exiftence, deftitute of Life and Senfation.
With regard to all thofe Animals which we are beft acquainted with, the Care of Divine Providence over them manifeftly ap- peareth in the Proviiion that is made for maintaining their fenfitive Life, for grati- fying their Appetites, and fcr enabling them to attain to the End for which they are de- figned. They are all carried by ftrong In- ftincls to ufe the propereft Methods for preferving Life, and to . fhun whatever is deftruftive to it, to feek after and to take that Kind of Food which is moft fuited to their Nature, to provide themfelves conve- nient Habitations, to propagate their Kind, and to take Care of their young in the fitteft Manner, whilft that Care is necef- fary, and no longer. Thefe feveral In- ftin<fts by which they are guided, and ac- cording to which they act wifely and fteadi- ly in certain Cafes, are not owing to any Contrivance or Reafon of their own, but to the fuperior Wifdom and Power of him I that
DISCOURSE IV. 63
that firft formed them, and ftill governeth them, and exercifeth a conftant Care over them. To this Care it is owing, that the feveral Species of them are ftill preferved and continued diftinct, and that a due Ba- lance among them is maintained.
And as Reafbn and Obfervation, if duly attended to, lead us to acknowledge the conftant Care of Divine Providence to- wards the Brute Creatures, mere fenfitive Beings, fo it is very clearly and exprefly aflerted in the facred Writings. We are there told, that God giveth to the Beafi his Food, and to the young Ravetis which cry. Pfal. cxlvii. 9. The whole Brute Creation are reprefented as belonging to the Family of God, for whofe Suftenance he continually provideth. The/e all wait upon thee, that thou mayefi give them their Meat in due Seafon. That thou givejl them, they gather : Thou openejl thine Hand, they are filled with Good. It is added, Thou hidejl thy Face, they are troubled ; thou takefi away their Breath, they die, and return to their Duft. Thou fendejl forth thy Spirit, they are created ; and thou renewe(l the Face of the Earth. Pfal. civ. 27, 28, 29, 30. Among the Laws which God gave by Mofes, there are fome that prefcribe a kind Treatment even of the Brute Animals. And it is par- ticularly as one Defign of the Appoint- ment
64 DISCOURSE IV.
ment of the weekly Sabbath, that theirCattle might reft as well as themfelves. Exocl. xxiii. 12. God giveth it as a Reafon for having Compaffion on Nineveh, that not only there were Sixfcore Thoufand Perfons, that could not difcern between their right Hand and their left, i. e. Infants; but that there was alfo much Cattle there. Jonah iv. 1 1 . And it is to lignify his Care even of the Brute Creation, that he is reprefented after the Deluge as making Covenant not only with Men, but with every living Crea- ture, of the Fowl, of the Cattle, and of eve- ry Beaft of the Earth, that he would not any more fend a general Flood to deflroy the Earth. Gen. ix. 10, 1 1 . He ftill fo governeth the Earth and its Productions, that there is ordinarily fufficient Provifion made not only for Men but for the inferior Ani- mals. He caiifeth Grafs to grow for the Cattle, as well as Herb for the Service of Man. Pfal. civ. 14. O Lord, thou prefervefi Man and Beaji, faith the devout Pfalmift, when celebrating God's univerfal Goodnefs and Benignity, Pfal. xxxvi. 6.
But no where is the Care of Divine Providence towards the Brute Creatures more ftrongly exprefTed than by our Savi- our in thole remarkable Words, where fpeaking of fuch inconfiderable Creatures as the Sparrows, he faith, that not one of
them
DISCOURSE IV. 65
them falleth to the Ground without our hea- venly Father ; or, as he elfewhere ex* preiTeth it, Not one of them is forgotten be- fore God. Luke xii. 6.
This Doctrine of our great heavenly Teacher deferveth fpeeial Notice. It hath indeed been cavilled againft, as if it were a degrading the divine Majefty to repre- fent him as concerning himfelf about fuch inconfiderable Things as thefe. And it is true, that, ftrictly fpeaking, the higher!: and molt, excellent of his Creatures may be faid to be beneath his Notice. Yet fince he hath thought fit to create fuch number- lefs Orders of Beings, it is no more unwor- thy of him to exercife a providential Care over them all from the higheft to the meaneft, than it was at firfl to create them. But we are apt to form a very wrong Judg- ment in this Matter. Many of the Crea- tures which appear mean and inconfider- able to us, and unworthy of our Notice or Regard, are not really fo in themfelves ; and it is only owing to our Imperfection or Ignorance, that we are apt to defpife them. We are prone to meafure all Things by the Relation they bear to us, and by their immediate Ufefulnefs to us, or the Appear- ance they make to our Senfes ; which, though wifely accommodated for our Con- venience, are not fitted for penetrating into Vol. I. F the
66 DISCOURSE IV.
the Natures and Effences of Things. Even the meaneft living Creatures have a Life and Enjoyment of their own, fuited to the Rank they hold in the Scale of Beings, and may have many Ufes both with, regard to themfelves, and other Beings, that we know nothing of. And to fuperior Intelligences, that do not judge by grofs Senfes, as we do, but have a clear Difcernment of their nice and curious Mechanifm, the numberlefs Va- riety and exact Adjuftment of their feveral Parts, their Appetites and Inftincts, and the Ufes to which they are defigned, they may appear far from defpicable, and may reveal many "Wonders and Beauties; and fo they would do to us if we had more en- larged Views. All the living Creatures are admirable in their feveral Ways ; and the great Author of Nature, and Parent of the Univerfe, who feeth not as Man feeth, but looketh with a benign Eye upon all his Works, delighteth in communicating Hap- pinefs to them in their feveral Gradations, and is pleafed with their feveral Enjoy- ments. The Sun, which dirTufeth its Rays to the meaneft Infects and Reptiles, as well as to the nobler Kind of Animals, and imparteth its Light and Warmth to them all, and which, were its Beams intellectual, might be fuppofed to extend its Care and Cognizance to the frnalleft as well as the
greater!:,
DISCOURSE IV. 67
greateft, exhibiteth a fignificant Emblem of the univerfal Care of Divine Providence ; which reacheth to all the living Creatures, not neglecting or defpifing the meaneft of them. As the making a World full of Be- ings that have Life, fo the exercifing a con- tinual Care over them in all their various Kinds and Degrees of Life, giveth a noble Idea of the immenfe Power, Wifdom, and Goodnefs of the Supreme Being. The Ob- jection that is made againft this, as if it were beneath the Majefty of God to con- cern himfelf about fuch trifling Matters, which even Men themfelves would think unworthy of their Notice ; I fay, this Ob- jection, though varnifhed over with aPretence of confulting the divine Honour, doth in Reality argue very narrow and unworthy Conceptions of his infinite Majefty. It is in effect a judging of God by ourfelves. Man's not concerning himfelf about fuch Things is owing to his Imperfection. He is not capable, in this prefent State, of dis- cerning their real inward Natures and Ef- fences. His Views are narrow and limited, and he cannot take in many Things at once. If therefore he were to attend very clofely to fuch minute Matters, he muft neglect Things which are of greater Confequence to his Happinefs; and his Mind would foon be diftracted and overwhelmed with a F 2 Mul-
68 DISCOURSE IV.
Multiplicity of Cares. But it is otherwise with a Being of infinite Perfection, who is intimately prefent to every Part of this vaft Creation, and knoweth, and taketh Care of all Things at once, with the fame Eafe as if he had only one fingle Thing to mind. His noticing the leaf! Things doth not at all take him off from thofe Things which appear to be of greater Importance ; nor doth his attending to the higher!:, caufe him to neglect: the meaneft. He taketh Care of ally in a Way fuited to their feveral Natures, Conditions, and Circumftances. And as he hath wifely eftablimed general Laws, according to which he proceedeth in his Dealings with the feveral Orders of fenfitive Beings, fo in his conftant Providence he feeth to the Ex- ecution and Accomplifhment of thofe Laws. The Events relating to them, their begin- ning to exift, their continuing in Life, and having an End put to their Life and Exiftence, are all known to him, and or- dered by him, agreeably to thofe general Laws and Conftitutions ; except where in extraordinary Cafes he may think fit to ap- point otherwife.
Secondly, God's Government of the Brute Animals may be alfo confidered as reipecl:- ing Man, in as much as he frequently maketh Ufe of them for carrying on and executing his wife, his benevolent, or
righteous
DISCOURSE IV. 69
righteous Purpofes towards Mankind. It is an Inftance of the Wifdom and Good- nefs of Divine Providence, that as there is a near Relation between the feveral Orders of Beings, fo the lower, befides their own proper Exercifes and Enjoyments, are often made to contribute to ferve the Ufes of Creatures of an higher Rank in the Scale of Beings. The merely fenfitive are in many Inftances fubordinate and fubfervient to the rational and moral ; and as Man is the chief Inhabitant of this lower World, the inferior Brute Animals are manifeftly defigned to be fubfervient to his Ufe. And indeed, with regard to many of them, it feems evident that the peculiar Inftincts given them are intended not merely for their own Benefit, but to render them more ferviceable to Man, that they may contribute in various Ways to his Necef- fities, his Convenience, or Pleafure. They are frequently made Ufe of by the wife and righteous Governor of the World, to anfwer the Ends of his moral Adminif- tration towards Mankind, in a Way of Reward or Punifhment. It is a Promife of the Law of Mofes to the Ifraelites, that if they hearkened diligently unto the Voice of the Lord, bleffedftio\j\&be the Fruit oft\it\v Cattle, the Increafe of their Kme, and the Flocks of their Sheep. Deut. xxviii, 4. and
F 3 the
7£> DISCOURSE IV.
the contrary is denounced againft them in Cafe of their Difobedience. Ver. 18. It is mentioned as a great Inftance of national Profperity, when their Sheep bring forth Thoi/fands, and their Oxen are fir on g to la- bour. Pial. cxliv. 13, 14. And on the contrary, it is juftly looked upon as a grievous Judgment upon Mankind, when the Beajls groan, and the Herds of Cattle are perplexed, becaufe there is no Tafiure ; yea, the Flocks oj Sheep are made dcfolate, Joel i. 18. In thefe Cafes the Hand of God muff be acknowledged governing and difpoling the Events that immediately relate to the Brute Creation, fo as to turn to the Benefit or Punifh- ment of Men. How often has it hap- pened that a contagious Diflemper among the Cattle has proved a very heavy Ca- lamity upon a Nation. This ought to awaken ferious Reflections. Divine Pro- vidence mould be awfully reverenced in fuch Difpenfations. And if Care be not taken to improve them, it may pro- voke a righteous Gcd to inflict ftill fe<- verer Judgments.
Among the Things threatened in the Law of Mofes againff. the Jfraelites, as Punifhments to be inflicted upon them for their Idolatry and Wickednefs 5 one was, that they Ihould be infeiled by wild Beafts,
of
DISCOURSE IV. 7r
of which there were great Numbers in the Deflirts adjoining to the Land of Canaan. I will fend wild Beafls among you, which Jhall rob you of your Children, and dejiroy your Cattle, and make you few in Number ; and your Highways Jhall be de folate. Lev. xxvi. 22. And in fuch Cafes it mufr. be faid that the wild Beads acted according to their Nature; but the Direction of them at fuch a Time, to this or that Part of the Country, and to fuch particular Per- fons, was the Work of Providence for ex- ecuting its wife and juft Purpofes : On the contrary, it is promifed, that if they walked in his Statutes, he would rid evil Beajls out of the hand. Ver. 6. God can, when he feeth fit, reftram their Fury, and over-rule their natural Inftin&s and Ap- petites. So the hungry Lions, contrary to their Nature, were restrained from hurting Daniel, for God fent his Angel and Jhut their Mouths, as it is expreffed, Dan. vi. 22. Yet, immediately after, when his Accufers, with their Wives and Children, were caff into the Den, the Lions fell upon them with the utmofl Fury, and brake all their Bones in Pieces before they came at the Bottom of the Den. Ver. 24. The Plagues of Egypt fitrnifh remarkable Inftances of God's making ufe of divers Kinds of living Creatures for executing his Judgments. F 4 And
72 DISCOURSE IV.
And the Prophet Joel fpeaking of the Lo- cufts, the Caterpillars, and other devouring Infects, reprefenteth them as a mighty Army fent by God in his righteous Judgments to lay wafte the Land. See the firft and fecond Chapters of Joel. It were eafy to produce Inftances from the moft credible Hiftorians, of great Devaluations commit- ted by the moft inconfiderable Creatures, which have been Inftruments in the Hand of God for chaftifing Nations*. With re- gard to particular Perfons, even in Cafes that are ufually called Accidents, it may pleafe God to make ufe of Brute Creatures for executing the Purpofes of his Provi- dence. Thus, e. g. if a Man be bitten by a Dog, or gored by a Bull, or thrown and killed by an Horfe, though there is nothing in fuch Inftances but what is agreeable to the Courfe and Order of natural Caufes, yet the applying them at that Time, and to that particular Perfon, is to be regarded as under the Direction of God's moft wife Providence, who hath all the Creatures at his Difpofah
I mall conclude with a few Reflections.
Firft, What an amiable Idea Ihould it give us of the Goodnefs and Benignity, the
* See feveral Inftances of this kind colle&ed by Becbart Hieroz : Par. I, lib. 3. cap, 32, 34.
5 Kindnefs
DISCOURSE IV. 73
Kindnefs and Condefcenfion of the fupreme univerfal Lord, that he exercifeth a con- usant Care over the various Orders of the brutal Kind, the meaneft not excepted ! He who humbleth himfelf in beholding the Things which are done in Heaven, doth not defpife or overlook the leaft, the feemingly moft defpicable of all feniitive Beings : He fo ordereth the inanimate World, that every Part of it affordeth Food, Habitation, or Entertainment, to fome Beings that have Life. And if we had but 3 diftant View of all the innumerable Kinds of fenfitive Beings, and knew the Provifion made for them all according to their feveral Capacities, furely it would fill us with Aftonifhment, to confider the inexhauftible Benignity df the kind Pa- rent of the Univerfe, who every where fpreadeth Life and Enjoyment in uncon- ceivably various Degrees. The wife Man obferves, that the righteous Man regardeth the Life of his Beaft. Prov. xii. 10. He is not for treating even the lower Orders of living Creatures with unnecefTary Harfh- nefs and Cruelty. And in this he is an Image of the fupreme Goodnefs. God is introduced as declaring, Every Beaji of the Forejl is mine, and the Cattle upon a thoufand Hills : I know all the Fowls of the Mountains-, and the wild Beajls of the Field are mine.
Pfal.
74 DISCOURSE IV.
Pfal. 1. 10, ii. They are all, even to the leaft of them, under his benign Care ; and all this without Diffraction or Con- fufion. And he ordereth it fo, that they have fuitable Relifhes of fenlitive Happinefs, and are carried by the Attractions of Plea- flire to perform thofe Actions which are moft necerTary for the Support of their Be- ings, for fupplying themfelves with Food, for continuing their Kind, and taking Care of their Young : And, whether their Lives be longer or fhorter, they are furnifhed with Enjoyments proper for them whilft they live, and have not a Forefight of Death to make them uneaiy , fo that, upon the whole, their Exiflence is an Ad- vantage to them : And if fome of them prove Food to other Animals, there is nothing in this Conftitution that can juflly be found fault with. For in this Cafe it mud be faid, that as during the Time of their Lives, they have Enjoy- ments fuited to their Natures ; fo the Kind of Death they iliffer, is generally lefs grie- vous and lingering, than if they died of themfelves in the natural Way; and at the fame Time is rendered fubfervient to the maintaining the Lives of other Ani- mals, and contributes to their Pleafure and Enjoyment. How mould we, when we cpiifider thefe Things, call upon the whole
Creation
DISCOURSE IV. 75
Creation around us, to adore and blefs the univerfal Lord, and fupreme Governor of the World ! And fince the Brute Crea- tures are unable to do it of themfelves, let us offer up a Tribute of Praife on their Account as well as our own, and lend them a Voice and Songs ; a noble Speci- men of which we have in the rapturous Strains of the devout Pfalmift in the 148th Pfalm, where he calls upon Beafts and all Cattle, creeping Things and flying Fowl, to praife the Lord.
Secondly, Another Reflection which may be made upon this Subject is, that if God governs and takes Care even of the in- ferior Brute Animals, this ought to ftreng- then our Faith with Relation to the Care he exercifeth towards Mankind, and fhould convince us, that all our Concernments and Affairs are, in a particular Manner, under the Superintendency of Divine Pro- vidence. This is what our Saviour hath efpecially in View, when he declares to his Difciples concerning the Sparrows, not one of them falleth to the Ground without your Father; or is forgotten before God : For he adds, Fear ?tot thereforey ye are of more Value than many Sparrows. Mat. x. 29, 3 1 . And to the fame Purpofe, in his admirable Difcourfe again (I anxious tor- menting Cares and Solicitude, Mat. vi. Behold, faith he, the Fowls of the Air ;
for
76 DIS COURSE IV.
for they fow not, neither do they reap, tier gather into Bams ; yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they ? Ver. 26. The Argument is clear and ftrong, that if the Care of God's Provi- dence extendeth even to the irrational Brute Creatures, we may be fure he will not neglect the rational and much no- bler Part of his Creation. This is not to be underftood, as if we were not to fbw or reap any more than the Brute Animals, who are incapable of doing this ; but the Meaning is, that as he provideth for the Brutes in a Way fuited to their Na~ tures, fo he will much more provide for Men in a Way fuited %o the rational Na- ture he hath given them, which requireth, that they mould apply themfelves to the Ufe of all proper Means according to their Ability. If they do this, they may, with- out anxious Solicitude, commit themfelves to Divine Providence, depending^ upon it, that he who negleð not the inferior fenfitive Beings, will take Care of the hu- man Race, efpecially thofe of them that exercife a regular Trufl: in him, and will grant what he feeth to be really good and needful for them.
Thirdly, From what hath been offered concerning the Dqminion and Sovereignty of Divine Providence over both the in- animate
DISCOURSE IV. 77
animate and Brute Creation, we may fee how careful we mould be to pleafe and ferve God, and how much it concerneth us to fecure an Intereft in his Favour. We live in a World where every Thing above, beneath, on every Side of us, is in the Hand of God, and under his Direction. If we be rebellious and difobedient to his Voice, he can arm all the Creatures againft us. He can caufe the Earth we tread upon to (hake under us, and fwallow us up ; he can point his awful Thunder at our Heads, or can taint the Air we breath in with a poifonous Influence ; he can commiflion the Water to overwhelm us, or the Fire to confume us ; or he can make the Brute Beafts the Inftruments of our Puniihment. And that he doth not fo, is only owing to his wonderful Patience and Forbearance, becaufe he is not willing that any mould pe- riih, but that all mould come to Repentance. On the other Hand, if we lay hold of his offered Mercy upon the moil gracious and reafonable Terms of his Covenant, and are careful to walk before him unto all pleafing, he can make the whole Creation to be as it were in a Covenant of Friend- ship with us, and to fubferve his own kind and gracious Intentions towards us. This is beautifully expreffed by Elipbazt when he exhorteth Job to return to God,
and
y8 DISCOURSE IV.
and be at Peace with him : Thou Jljalt be in League, faith he, with the Stones cf the Field-, and the Beafis of the Field, faith he, flail be at Peace with thee: And thou flalt know that thy Tabernacle jhall be in Peace ; and thou flak vijit thy Habitation, and flalt not Jin. Job. v. 23, 24. And to the fame Purpofe, Hof. ii. 18. God is introduced as declaring con- cerning his People, In that Day will I make a Covenant for them with the Beajls of the Field, and with the Fowls of Heaven, and with the creeping 'Things of the Ground, And Ver. 21, 22. And it flail come to pajs in that Day, I will hear? faith the Lord, I will hear the Heavens, and they Jhall hear the Earth : And the Earth Jhall hear the Corn, and the Wine, and the Oil, and they flail hear JezreeL Where there is held forth to us a wonderful Concatenation of fecond Caufes, all co-operating, under the Direction and Influence of God, the fu- preme Difpofer, for the Good of his People. Let us, therefore, learn to yield a willing and entire Subjection to the great Lord of the Univerfe. Let us make him our Friend, and all Things mall work toge- ther for our Good. Either none of the Creatures mall be fuffered to hurt us, or, if they do, we may be fure this is ordered for wife Ends, and mail be over-ruled for 2 our
DISCOURSE IV. 79
our greater Benefit. For they can do no more to us than he feeth proper to per- mit. Him, therefore, let us reverence and adore ; on him let us place our Confidence, and not be afraid what any Creature can do unto us. And to this bleffed and only Potentate, the Sovereign Lord of the Crea- tion, who doth whatfoever he wills in Heaven and in Earth, be Glory and Do- minion for ever and ever. Amen.
On
On GocTs providential Government with regard to his reafonable Crea- tures > moral Agents.
DISCOURSE V.
Psalm ciii. io>
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens ; and his Kingdom ruleth over all.
rip
H E Dominion and Government of Divine Providence hath been con- iidered as extending to the inanimate Crea- tion, or the material World, and alfo as extending to the fenfitive Part of the Crea- tion, or the Brute Animals : Let us now take a View of it as exercifed towards rea- fonable Beings, moral Agents, which are undoubtedly the nobleft and moil excel- Vol.I. G lent
82 DISCOURSE V.
lent of God's Creatures. The material Syftem, whatever Order or Beauty may be found in it, is not itfelf confcious of that Beauty and Order; nor are mere fen- iitive Beings capable of making proper Re- flections upon it, or of admiring, obeying, adoring the great Parent and Lord of the Univerfe. This is the fole Privilege of ra- tional, intelligent Beings. If therefore the Providence of God extendeth to any Crea- tures at all, we may be lure that he exer- cifeth a fpecial Care over his reafonable Creatures; and, lince he hath given them fuch noble Faculties and Powers, will go- vern them in a Way fuitable to thofe Facul- ties and Powers. And this certainly is the moll admirable Part of the divine Admini- strations. For to govern numberlefs Millions of active intelligent Beings, fo unconceivably various in their Thoughts, Inclinations, and Counfels, and who have each of them a Will of their own, and a Power of deter- mining their own Actions ; to exercife a conftant Superintendency over them, and direct and order the Events relating to them, and to difpenfe to them proper Re- tributions, not only according to their out- ward Conduct, but the inward Thoughts and Diiporitions of their Flearts; I fay, thus to govern them without infringing the Liberty which belongeth to them as
moral
DISCOURSE V. 83
moral Agents, muft needs argue a Wifdom as well as Power, that exceed eth our Compreheniion, and which can only be found in the infinite Mind.
It is God's Government of reafonable Creatures, which the Pfalmift appears to have principally in View, when he faith that the Lord hath prepared, or, as it might be rendered, hath eftablifhed his throne in the Heavens ; and his Kingdom ruleth over all. Heaven is the rnofc magnificent Part of his Dominion; there he exhibiteth the brighteft Difplays of his Majefty and Glo- ry j and therefore it is reprefented in Scrip- ture under the glorious Epithet of the Throne of God, and his Dwelling-place. There he reigneth over all the Hofts of Angels in their feveral bright Orders and Degrees. And accordingly the Pfalmift, in the Words immediately following, calleth upon the Angels to blefs and adore the great univerfal Sovereign : Blefs the Lord, ye his Angels, that excel in Strength, that do his Commandments, hearkening to the Voice of his Word. But though God reigneth moft illuftrioufly in Heaven, yet his Pre- fence and Dominion is not confined there. His Kingdom ruleth over all. This vaft Univerfe is his Empire, the Extent of which tranfeendeth all human Imagination. How many different Orders of reafonable G 2 Beings
84 DISCOURSE V.
Beings there may be, which inhabit the feveral Parts of this ftupendous Frame, we cannot tell ; but whatever they be, they are all under the Government of God, from the higheft of them to the meaneft. But efpecially he ruleth over all Mankind, of whatfoever Tribe or Tongue, or Family or Nation : They are all equally the Subjects of his Kingdom.
Before I enter into a diftincl: Considera- tion of the Kingdom or Government of God, with regard to the rational moral Part of the Creation, it may be proper to premife fome general Obfervations con- cerning it.
Firft, God hath an indifputable Right to the Dominion or Government over all reafonable Beings throughout the Univerfe, in as much as they are all his Creatures, who to him owe their Exiftence, and by him are continually upheld in Life. He made them what they are, and hath af- figned them the Rank they hold in the Creation. He gave them their admirable Faculties and Powers, and maintaineth them in the Ufe of thofe Faculties and Powers; and- therefore he is by neceffary Right their abfolute Proprietor and {ove~ reign Lord, who hath the mod juft Claim to their higheft Love, Reverence, Subjec- tion, and Obedience. His Dominion over
them,
DISCOURSE V. 85
them, and Right to rale and govern them, is not derived merely from any Compact or Covenant with them, nor doth it de- pend upon their own Confent, but is founded in the Nature of Things, and can never be alienated. As they are all the Creatures of his Power, fo they are all the Subjects of his Government, whether they will or no : And in this refpect, his Domi- nion is of a peculiar and unequalled Kind, the like of which cannot poffibly be found in any created Beings with regard to one another.
Secondly, It flrengtheneth this farther, when we confider how well qualified he is for the Government of the rational mo- ral World, by the infinite Perfection of his Nature. As his Creation and Prefer- vation of all Things giveth him an un- doubted Right to rule them, fo his infinite Excellency rendereth it fit and reafonable that he mould rule. Yea, it may be faid to give him an additional Right to it, fince it is, in the Nature of Things, fit that the moft perfect and excellent of Beings mould prefide over Beings that are infinitely in- ferior. So that if we mould, by an im- pofiible Suppofition, put the Cafe, that this World, and the Things of it, had come into Being by Chance, yet when once they did exift, the abfolutely perfect Being G 3 would
86 DISCOURSE V.
would have a Right to govern and order them, on the Account of the tranfcendent Excellency of his Nature; and no other could be fit, or have a Right to do it : Forajmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord, faith the Prophet, thou art great, and thy Name is great in Might : Who would not fear thee, thou King of 'Nations f For to thee doth it appertain: Forafmuch as among all the wife Men of the Nations, and in all their Kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. Jer. x. 6, 7. Becaufe there is none like unto God in Might and Wifdom, therefore to him doth the Dominion appertain. He, and he alone, hath almighty Power, whereby he can do whatfoever he willeth, and is every Way able to execute all the Purpofes of his Government. And his Underftand- ing and Wifdom is infinite, whereby he knoweth, in every pomble Inftance, what is belt and fitted: to be done ; and hath a perfect Knowledge, not only of all the Ac- tions of all reafonable Beings, but of the mod: fecret Counfels and Intents of their Hearts, without which' he might commit Miftakes in Government, and reward or puniiri Perfons or Actions that did not deferve it. The Eyes of the Lord are in every Place, be- holding the Evil and the Good. Prov. xv. 3. He is prefent to the whole Creation, and is therefore capable of feeing and ordering
every
DISCOURSE V. 87
every Thing with his own. Eyes : Add to this, ' that he is of boundlefs Goodnefs and Benignity, and delighteth in the Happinefs of his Creatures. The Lord is good to all ; and his tender Mercies are over all his Works, Pial. cxlv. 9. He is alio a Being of im- partial Righteoufnefs and fpotlefs Purity. Right eoufnefs and Judgment are the Habita- tion, or, as it is rendered in the Margin, the Eftablifhment of his Throne. Pfal xcvii. 2. Taking all thefe Things in Conjuncti- on, it appeareth, that God, and he alone, is qualified for the Government of the World; Co that if we were to wifh for ourfelves, for our own Happinefs, and that of all the Orders of Beings throughout the vaft Univerfe, we mould be defirous that the univerfalAdminiftration of Thines mould be in the Hands of God. And there could not be a more unnatural or monftrous Thought, nothing that could poffibly argue greater Folly, as well as Depravity of Heart, than to wifh that there were no Providence, or that God did not rule. If we could fuppofe it to be left, to the free Vote and Ele&ion of all intelligent Beings, they muft all concur in this as their una- nimous Defire, if they followed the Dic- tates of Reafon and Nature, that God mould govern the World, and all Things that are therein, becaufe it is for the uni- G 4 verfal
88 DISCOURSE V.
verfal Good that it fhould be fo, and be- caufe no other is fit to govern it but he alone.
Thirdly, As to the Nature of God's Government of the World, it is, in the ftrkleft and propereft Senfe, independent, fupreme, and abiblute, though at the fame Time moft juft and righteous. This ap- peareth, if we confider what hath been al- ready obferved, that his Right to Govern- ment dependeth, not upon the Confent of his Creatures, or upon any original Com- pacl:, but upon his Creation and Preferva- tion of all Things ; in confequence of which, he hath an entire and abfolute Property and Dominion over them : and that he is alfo pofTeifed of infinite Power and Perfection; and infinite Power and Perfec- tion muft, in the Nature of Things* have abiblute Sovereignty. He hath no Supe- rior to control him, or give him Laws j no Counfellor to guide him : For who hath direBed the Spirit of the Lord} or being his Counfellor hath taught bimf I fa. xl. 13, Nor is there any Tribunal to which he can be accountable. And that Power, above which there is no other, and beyond which there can be no Appeal, muft be truly and properly abfolute. This cannot be faid of any created Beings, however exalted they may appear to be. There is a Power
aboye
DISCOURSE V. 89
above them, and infinitely greater than theirs, that is able to limit and control them, and an higher Tribunal to which they are accountable. Hence the wife Man mentioneth it as a Conlideration which fhculd fupport us againft the Op- prerlion of earthly Princes or Magistrates, that he that is higher than the hightjl, re~ gardeth, and there be higher than they. Eccl. v. 8. God is faid to be the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. 1 Tim. vi. 15. and to be a great King above all Gods. Pfal. xcv. 3. The mightieft earthly Monarchs cannot be faid to be ftrictly abfolute and in- dependent : For, as they all depend upon God, fo they all have fome Dependence upon their Fellow-creatures, and even upon their own Subjects ; they need the Aififtance of their Inferiors ; nor can they properly govern or execute their Laws by themfelves. But God's Dominion and Sovereignty is independent as his Exiftence. His Authority is felf-derived, and centring in himfelf alone. As he is all -fufficient and felf- fufficient, fo he needeth no exter- nal Affiftance or Support for any Thin? without him to maintain and eftablifh his Government. And if he ufeth Inftru- ments in the Management or Admini- stration of it, it is not that he ftandeth in {he leaft need of their Counfel or Affift- ance.
go DISCOURSE V.
ance. Juftly therefore is he called, not only the bleffed, but the only Potentate, i Tim vi. 15. becaufe there is no other that is properly lupreme, and an abfolute Potentate, but he alone.
This abfolute Sovereignty of God and of his Government, is frequently and ftrongly defcribed in the holy Scriptures, and feem- eth to be one Thing particularly intended here, when it is faid that the Lord hath eflablifhed his 'Throne in the Heavens. To the fame Purpofe it is declared, Pfal. cxv. 3. Our God is in Heaven, he hath done whatfoever he pleafed. We are allured, that all things were created not only by him, but for him. Col. i. 16. and that for his Pleafure they are, and were created. Rev. iv. 1 1 . And as his good Pleafure was the Caufe of their being made, fo according to his good Pleafure they are difpofed and governed : He is faid to work all Things according to the Counfel of his own Will. Eph. i. 1 1. He doeth all Things according to his own Will; but it is called the Coun- fel of his Will, to fignify, that though it is fovereign abfolute Will, it is not mere ar- bitrary unreafonable Will, but proceedeth upon the wifefl Reafons, always known to himfelf, though often hidden from us. Nebuchadnezzar, that haughty Monarch, was brought to fuch a Senfe of God's abfo- 3 lute
DISCOURSE V. 91
lute Dominion and Sovereignty, that he made that noble Acknowledgment, All the Inhabitants of the Earth are reputed as no- thing , and he doeth according to his Will in the Army of Heaven, and among the Inhabi- tants of the Earth ; and none can Jlay his Hand, or fay unto him, What docjl thou? Dan. iv. 35. His Power over us is com- pared to that of the Potter over his Clay. Jer. xviii. 6. O Houfe of Ifrael, cannot I do with you as this Potter ? faith the Lord. Behold, as the Clay is in the Potters Hands, Jo are ye in mine Hand, O Houfe of Ifrael. And Ifa. xlv. 9. Wo unto him that f rivet h with his Maker : Let the PotJJjerd ftrive with the Potfierds of the Earth : Shall the Clay fay unto him that fajlnoneth it, What makejl thou ? or thy Work, He hath no Hands f
God hath a Right to do many Things towards his Creatures, which they have no Right to do towards one another. Earthly Princes are of the fame Kind of Beings with their Subjects, Flefli and Blood as well as they; and as they did not give them Exigence, fo they have not a proper abfolute Right over their Lives, to take them away at their own Pleafure. But God is the abfolute Lord of the Lives and Properties of his Creatures, and can difpofe of them as feemeth fit to his infi- nite
92 DISCOURSE V.
nite Wifdom. The Lord killeth, and mak- eth alive ; he bringeth down to the Grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich ; he bringeth low, and lift- eth up. i Sam. ii. 6, 7. As the Creature de- riveth all from his Will and Pleafure, and abfolutely dependeth upon him, fo no Creature can have a proper Claim againft him, either for Life or Property, which it is in his Power to withdraw or to conti- nue, as beft anfwereth the Ends of his Pro- vidence. And in this he tranfgrerTeth no Rule of Juftice : For he is not bound by the Laws made for fecuring Mens Lives and Properties againft one another. The Juftice of God's Government and Provir dence is of a tranfcendent Nature, and is not tied down to our fcanty Rules; but is meafured by a much fuperior Rule, the Reafon of his all-comprehending Mind, which will ever carry him to do what is, all Things confidered, beft and fitteft upon the whole, and what becometh his own glorious Perfections, and the Relations he fuftaineth towards his Creatures.
From this abfolute and independent Do- minion and Sovereignty of God, it fol- loweth, that there muft needs be many Things in the Courfe of his Adminiftra- tions, which are above our Reach, and of which we cannot pretend to be competent
Judges,
DISCOURSE V. 93
judges. Even with regard to earthly So^ vereigns, it would be juftly looked upon as contrary to the Duty of good Subjects, and to the Reverence they owe to Authori- ty, to find Fault with every Thing in the Princes Actings they do not know the Reafon of, and to expect to be let into all the Secrets of Government. Many Cafes there are, in which it would be account- ed highly arrogant to demand a Reafon from an earthly Prince or Matter, for his acting after this or that Manner in Matters that depend upon his own Prerogative and free Pleafure. And much more inex- cufably infolcnt would it be for fuch Crea- tures as we are, or for any created Beings, to pretend to demand a Reafon for all God's Proceedings, as if we had a Right to cen- fure every Thing in the Courfe of his Difpenfations which we cannot precifely account for. Why doft thou Jlrive againjl him f (faith E/ihu) for he giveth not an Ac- count of any of his Matters. Job xxxiii. 13. Who can fearch the Depths of his facred Counfels, or undertake exactly to define what he> in his infinite Wifdom and abfo- lute Sovereignty, may rightfully ordain and appoint ? If we would but allow God the Rights of a Sovereign, in the free Diftribu-" tion of his Favours, in ordering the Times, Seafons, Manner, Degrees of conferring I Benefits,
94 DISCOURSE V.
Benefits, or of forbearing, delaying, inflict- ing Corrections and Punifhments, and in talcing thofe Meafures which he judgeth to be the fitted and beft, it would prevent many of the Objections that are made againft his Providence and Government. He hath undoubtedly (as was hinted be- fore) wife and good Reafons for acting as he doth, even in Things which feem to depend upon mere Prerogative and fove- reien Will and Pleafure; but we have not the leaf! Right to demand to know thofe Reafons. Or, if he mould fee fit at fome Time or other to let us into the Reafons of his Proceedings, yet he may not think it proper to difcover them to us at prefent, becaufe we cannot be rightly capable of judging of them till the whole Scheme mall be compleated.
Fourthly, The laft general Obfervation I would make concerning God's Govern- ment towards reafonable and moral Agents, is, that the great End of it is to promote their real Happinefs, in a Way worthy of himfelf, and fuited to their rational Na- tures. The principal End of all good hu- man Governments, is the public Happi- nefs, or the Good of the governed. And Reafon and Juftice require that it mould be fb. For, fince thofe that govern, are them- felves of the fame Species of Beings with
thofe
DISCOURSE V. 95
thofe that are governed by them, it is manifeft that the Good of the whole Com- munity is, in the Nature of the Thing, of greater Worth and Advantage than the Will and Pleafure, or Intereft of a fingle Perfon, or of a few. This, indeed, can- not properly be faid with regard to God and his Government. As he himfelf is the Fountain of all Perfection, infinitely fuperior to the whole rational Creation, and hath infinitely greater Worth and Ex- , cellency than they altogether, fa it cannot be faid that he is under an Obligation to promote the univerfal Good of the rational . Creation, on the Account of his being inferior to the whole, or comprehended in it. But though he is not, on that Ac- count, obliged to purfue the general Good of the rational Creatures, which are the Subjects of his Government, yet he is de- termined to it by his own infinite Goodnefs and Benevolence. That Goodnefs which inclined him to create them, and to give them all their excellent Faculties and Ca- pacities for Happinefs, will alfo incline him to govern them fo as to promote their Happinefs in a Way fuited to the Natures he hath given them, /. e. in a Way fuited to moral Agency. This, therefore, may be regarded as the great End to which all his Adminiitrations towards them are uni- formly
g6 DISCOURSE V.
formly directed, to promote the Happinefs of the whole rational Creation, and that of particular Beings in Subordination to, and as far as is confiftent with the univer^ fal Good j not to make them happy in whatever Way they behave, and however they act, but to make them happy in the right Ufe of their rational moral Powers, and to train them up by juft Degrees, and a proper Difcipline, to the true Perfection of their Natures. And God's thus having the univerfal Good and Happinefs in View* is no way inconfiftent with his inflicting grievous Punifhments upon fuch of his reafonable Creatures as violate the Laws which he hath given them ; fince even the general Good of the whole moral World requireth that the divine Laws mould be enforced with proper Sanctions* and that juft Punifhment mould be inflict^ ed on the obftinately wicked and impeni- tent : And to iuffer fuch Perfons to tranf- grefs the divine Laws with Impunity* would be a Defect in governing Wifdom* and in Goodnefs too, as that fignifieth the promoting the general Happinefs.
Upon this View of the Nature and Ends of God's Government of the ratio- nal moral Part of the Creation, we may fee that the abfolute independent Power
' and
DISCOURSE V. 97
and Sovereignty of the divine Dominion hath not any Thing in it, if it be rightly confidered, that mould be Matter of Ter- ror and Difcouragement, but rather layeth a Foundation for the moft folid Confidence and Joy; No Being is properly qualified for abfolute Sovereignty, but one of infallible Wifdom* and of infinite Righteoufnefs and Goodnefs, becaufe fuch an One can never abufe his Power : And this is unqueftiona- bly true of God, and of him only. Though therefore his Power and Dominion be really, and in the ftricteft Senfe> abfolute and unlimited, without any external Law to guide or bind him, this mould give us no Uneafinefs, for the Perfection and Excel- lency of his own Nature may be faid to be an eternal Law to him, which he can never counteract without denying himfelf. Abfolute Power and Sovereignty, when in Conjunction with the moft perfect Wif- dom, Holinefs, and Goodnefs, is the moft comfortable Thing in the World. The more abfolute it is in that Cafe the bet- ter, and the greater is our Security, He that is pofTeiled of a Power that is truly and properly independent and infinite, and to which no other Power is fuperior or equal, can have no poffible Temptation to do Wrong, and is raifed by his own tran- II fcendent
98 DISCOURSE V.
fcendent Excellency, above all narrow, felfifh, malevolent Affections and Views. He muff needs be porTefied of an infinite Generality of Temper, and muft be ever exercifed in doing the greater!: Good, which is the nobleft Act of abfblute Power and Dominion. Far be it from God that hejhoulddo 7Vkkednefsy and from the Ahnighty that he fiould commit Iniquity. Job xxxiv. 10, Beings that have a Mixture of Weak- nefs may be wicked, cruel, or unjuft ; but he who is abfolutely fupreme, al- mighty, and all-fufficient, cannot be rea- fonably fuppofed to be capable of doing a cruel or unjuft Thing. For what mould induce him to do fo, who hath no Advan- tage to procure to himfelf, no Evil to guard againit, no Competitor to fear, no private Interefts to fecure ? So that the very abfo- lutenefs of his Dominion, as it is in Con- junction with infinite Perfection, is a Ground of the higheft Confidence and Af- furance.
Let us therefore rejoice in this, that the Lord reigneth. Infinite Wifdom, Righ- teoufr.efs, and Goodnefs reigneth. Let the Heavens rejoice, and let the Earth be g1 id. Let all rational Beings, in every Part of this vail Univerfe, form one uri-
verial
DISCOURSE V. 99
verfal Confort, and break forth into ringing.
To this glorious univerfal Lord let us yield a willing and abiblute SutijriHSionj As there are no Limits to his Authority, there muft be no Bounds to our Obedi- ence. We do not obey him as God, and acknowledge him to be what he is, the fupreme and abfolute Sovereign Lord, if we do not endeavour to obey all his Laws without Referve, fo as not to allow ourfelves in the habitual Needed. or Violation of any of them.
And as we muft yield an unreferved Obedience to all his Commands, fo we muft yield an entire Resignation to his difpoling Will in all Things. For fince he is our abfolute Sovereign and Lord, he hath not only an indifputable Right to give us what Laws he thinks proper, but to order and appoint our Condition and Circumftances as he pleafeth. We muft never, therefore, in any In fiance, allow ourfelves to murmur or repine at his Difpofals, but muft refolve to ac- quieice in whatever Lot it (hall feem fit to him to appoint us ; ftill carrying this along with us, that whatever his pre- fent Difpenfations may appear to be, yet all Things {hall be ordered for the be ft LI 2 upon
ioo DISCOURSE V.
upon the whole, fo as in the final IfTue to turn to the greater Benefit of thofe who fincerely love and obey him. For though he be an abfolute Sovereign, yet he is infinitely holy, wife, and good, and never doeth any Thing but with the mod wife and benevolent Views, worthy of himfelf, and of his own infinite Per- fection.
On
On God's providential Government towards good and evil Angels.
DISCOURSE VI.
Psalm ciii. 19.
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens-, and his Kingdom ruleth over all.
' I s H E R E is fcarce any Thing of great- er Importance to us, than to endea- vour to getjuft Notions of God's Government of the rational moral Part of the Creation : Some general Obfervations were made con- cerning it in our former Difcourfe. It is proper now to coniider it more diftinct- ly, as exercifed towards the feveral Orders pf reafonable Beings, the moll remarkable H 3 of
102 DISCOURSE VI.
of which, as far as they come under our Notice, are Angels and Men.
I (hall besrin with confiderine the Go-
o o
vernment of Divine Providence towards the Angels.
Whoibever duly confidereth what im- perfect Creatures we are, will be naturally led to conclude, that we are not of the hig-heft Order in the Scale of created Be- i~£s. Mm is of a middle Nature, a Com- pound of Fleih and Spirit; and, as there are inferior Animals, that have Life and Senfation, and Bodies of Fleih, as we have, but are not endued with rational and in- tellectual Souls, fo it is congruous to Rea- fon, and the juft Order of Things to fup- pofe, that there are Spirits and Intelligen- cies, which either are not united to Bo- dies at all, or are not encumbered with fuch grof- corruptible Bodies as ours. Since this lower Earth is replenished with fuch a Variety of living Creatures, can it reafonably be imagined, that all the other Parts ' of this vaft Univerfe are deftitute of Inhabitants ? And of thefe there may be various Orders and Degrees, many of which are probably of an higher and more ex- cellent Kind than any that dwell in the inferior Regions. And accordingly, fome Notion of fuch Kind of Beings hath obtain- ed in all Nations and Ages, almoft as uni-
verfally
DISCOURSE VI. 103
verfally as the Belief of a God and a Pro- vidence. The holy Scriptures are very clear and exprefs to this Purpofe. There we are informed of great Numbers of An- gels, or fpiritual intellectual Beings fupe- rior to Man, many of whom are holy and happy, employing their vail Capacities in doing Good, and are called the elect An- gels, and holy Angels ; others of them, by wilful Difobedience, and an Abufe of their noble Powers, have fallen from their ori- ginal Purity and Glory, and are reprefent- ed as evil and malevolent Beings, Put both the one and the other are under the Dominion of God, and the Government of his Providence.
Firft, God exercifeth a fovereign Rule over the good Angels; this is one Thing the Pfalmift feems to have efpecially in View, when he here declares, that the Lord hath prepared his 'Throne in the Heavens ; and his Kingdom ruleth over all. For he im- mediately adds, Blefs the Lord ye his Angels, that excel in Strength, that do his Command- ments, hearkening to the Voice of his Word. Blefs the Lord, all ye bis Hofis, ye Minijlers of his that do his Pleafure. They are faid to excel in Strength, and are elfewhere called mighty Angels, tofignify that they are of great Power and Activity, compared with whom, the Sons of Men that dwell in Houfes of Clay, are weak and feeble Beings. They H 4 are
104 DISCOURSE VI.
are alfo represented as doing his Commands ments, hearkening to the Voice of his Word, to Signify that they are ever obe- dient to the Will of God, whom they ferve with a perfevering Conftancy, and with an unwearied Alacrity and Diligence. They are of great Splendor and Glory, and are reprefented as the immediate Attendants of the divine Majefty, employed by him in frequent Services and Miniftrations, and are therefore called the Holts of God, liis Minifters that do his Pleafure. They are probably of different Orders and De- grees : This feems to be intimated by the different Names and Titles by which they are defcribed, viz. Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Pow- ers, &c. As to the Nature of that celeftial Polity, the Methods of God?s Government towards the feveral Orders of bleffed Angels, and the Laws and Constitutions they are under, we rauft be content to be in a great Meafure ignorant of them, till we arrive to the heavenly World. But it is reafonable to believe, that thefe glorious Beings are fre- quently employed as the Inftruments of Divine Providence in feveral Parts of this vail: Univerfe. For God, who can do all Things immediately by himfelf, as being always intimately preient to every Part of the Creation, yet choofeth ordinarily to i wprl>
DISCOURSE VI. 105
work by intermediate fecond Caufes and In- ftruments, of which the Angels are the no- bleft. How far it pleafeth him to make ufe cf them in ordering and governing the Mo- tions of the inanimate material Syftem, we cannot tell ; but that they are employed for carrying on the Deiignsof his Providence to- wards Mankind, is evident from many exprefs Teftimonies of holy Writ. Angels were made ufe of in that amazing Manifestation of the divine Glory, when the Law was delivered at Mount Sinai. This is fignified by the Pfalmift, when he faith, The Chariots of God are 'Twenty Tboufand, even Thou- fands of Angels, the Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the holy Mount. Pfal, lxviii. 17. The Law is called the Word fpoken by An- gels. Heb. ii. 2. And St. Stephen faith, it was given by the Di/poftion of Angels, a- mong Troops or Ranks of Angels, as fome render the Words. Affis vii. ^> There are Inflances recorded, both in the Old Teftament and the New, of Angels appear- ing here on Earth in a vifible confpicuous Form and Splendor. But there are not many Inftances of this Kind through folong a Succeffion of Ages. It is wifely ordered that their Miniftrations towards us mould ordinarily be in a Way of invifible Agency. They are capable, in this Way, of doing us all the Services and good Offices that
we
io6 DISCOURSE VI.
we ftand in need of from them, without thofe Inconveniences which their vifible Appearance would bring along with it, which we could not well bear in this pre- fent State of Frailty. The Angels are faid to be miniftering Spirits fent forth to be Mi-» nifters for them who Jhall be Heirs of Salva- tion. Heb. i. 14. They are helpful to us in a thoufand Ways which we do not now diftinctly know. We have Reafon to believe that they are often made ufe of in preventing Dangers which we do not forefee, or in de- fending and carrying us fafe through them, and disappointing the Rage and Malice of Devils and wicked Men. Many a Deliver- ance, which we perhaps attribute to a lucky Chance or Accident, is owing, under God, to the vigilant Care of thofe holy and power- ful Guardians which invifibly watch around us. The Angel of 'the Lord, faith the Pfal- mift, encampeth round about them that fear him, and deliver eth them. Pfal. xxxiv. 7. The fame Thing is fignined in thofe re- markable Words, Pfal. xci. 10, 11, 12. There fiall no Evil befal thee, neither Jloall any. Plague come nigh thy Dwelling. For he fiall give his Angels Charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy Ways. They fiall bear thee up in their Hands, lejl thou dajh thy Foot again ft a Stone. The Angels may alfo be fuppofed to be inftrumental on feveral Oc-
cafions,
DISCOURSE VI. 107
cations, in fuggefting good Thoughts and falutary Counfels ; for fpi ritual Beings may have a near Accefs to our Souls, and many Ways of operating upon them, which we are not able diftinclly to explain. And fi- nally, they minifter to good Men imme- diately at, and after their Death, in con- veying their departed Spirits to the heaven- ly Manlions. Thus our Saviour reprei the Soul of Lazarus, after his Death, as carried by the Angels into Abrahams . font. Luke xvi. 22. And he allures us that, at the End of the World the Angels jhall come fort hi and fiall fever the wicked from a??io?ig the juft. Matt. xiii. 49, 50. God's thus making ufe of Angels in his Adminiflra- tions towards Mankind, is fuited to the admirable Oeconomy of his Providence, whereby he ordinarily maketh ufe of the Creatures as Inftruments in executing his Defigns towards one another. And it is wifely fo ordered, that the better Founda- tion may be laid for cultivating a facred Amity between Angels and Men, which mall be compleated in the heavenly World, where they mail be for ever united in ho- ly Love and Concord. And what a n Idea doth this give us of the Extent d Order of the divine Government ! This is one Inflance among many, where by ip- pears how much the Gofpel enlarge [ 1 our
Views,
io8 DISCOURSE VI.
Views. It teacheth us to regard ourfelves as nearly allied to the blelTed Angels, and as all belonging to the fame glorious uni- verfal Family of God. It lets us fee that there is a Correfpondence and Intercourfe continually carried on and maintained be- tween the invifible World and this Earth of ours; and that it is the Will of God that there mould be a happy Harmo- ny between the feveral Parts of his intel- lectual Syftem. With what Pleafure mould we raife our Views to that nobleft. Part of the rational Creation! How mould our Hearts flow towards them in Love, when we confider them as united to us in the facred Bonds of a pure and difinterefted Friendfhip, and join with them in bleffing and adoring the univerfal Sovereign !
But fecondly, Let us confider the Go- vernment of God as extending to the evil Angels. Thefe, as the Scripture informs us, kept not their firft Eftate, but left their own Habitation; though, what were the particular Occafions and Circumstan- ces of their Fall, is not diftinctly revealed to us. They are reprefented as of great Power and Sagacity, full of Malice and Envy, Falfhood and Deceit. Some No- tion of fuch malevolent Beings fuperior to Man, has generally obtained in the World; and there have been, from Time to Time,
Facts
DISCOURSE VI. 109
Facts and Events of an extraordinary Nature, which can fcarce be accounted for upon any other Suppofition. But though they are in a State of Difobedience and Apoftacy from God, yet they are ftill fub- ject to his Dominion, and under his fb- vereign Cognizance and Control. They are faid to be referved unto Judgment ; they are even now under the penal Effects of the divine Difpleafure : but there is a farther Punifhment prepared for them; and, in the mean Time, God fuffereth them to acl: according to their Nature, only that he fetteth Bounds to their Rage, and over- ruleth their Defigns and Attempts to the wife Purpofes of his Government. And if we had a diftinct View of this Part of the divine Adminiftration, it would un- doubtedly open a moft furprifing Scene. What can be more admirable, than to con- sider vail Numbers of evil Spirits, of great Might, Subtilty, and Induftry, who, if left to themfelves, would fpread Ruin and Mifery far and wide, yet all under the Control of the fupreme univerfal Lord, who, by a Wifdom which exceeds all Com- prehension, defeateth their Malice, and confoundeth their Devices ; and often or- dereth it fo, that they really execute his Will, whilft they think only of gratifying their own corrupt Inclinations.
It
no DISCOURSE VI.
It appears from Scripture, that evil Spi- rits are made ufe of as Inftruments for ferving the Ends of the divine Govern- ment. Remarkable to this Purpofe is that parabolical Virion of the Prophet Micaiah ; i Kings xxii. 19 — 23. in which God is re- prefented as on a Throne feated in awful Majefty, and that a Spirit prefented himfelf before him, offering to be a lying Spirit in the Mouth of A/jab's Prophets, to perfuade him to go up to Ramoth-Giiead, and was allowed to do it accordingly. The feveral Circumftances in this Reprefentation are not to be ftridily urged, or taken in a literal Senfe. But the general Defign of it is manifeft -, which is to lignify, that God, as the righ- teous Governor of the World, did, in his juft Judgment, fufFer Ahab to. be deceived by a lying Spirit in the Mouth of his falfe Prophets; in confequence of which he went up to Ramotb-Gilead, where Providence ordered it f6, that he was flain by the Sy- rians, as a juft Punifhment for his great Wickednefs. And yet it is to be obferved, that in this Cafe Ahab was not laid under a Neceffity of being deceived, nor would have been fo, if it had not been his own Fault. For he was faithfully warned of it by one whom he knew to be a true Pro- phet of the Lord, though he hated him for telling him ungrateful Truths. But he 3 rejected
DISCOURSE VI. in
rejected the Warning which was given him, and gave himfelf up to the Deluiions of the falfe Prophets, whom he himfelf maintain- ed to footh and flatter him ; becaufe what they fpake, and the Advice they gave, was agreeable to his own Inclinations andViews.
It may reafonably be fuppofed, that God makes ufe of evil Angels in fome of thofe Plagues and Calamities, which are from Time to Time laid upon the human Race, and efpecially in inflicting Punimments upon the wicked. Thus particularly with re- gard to the Egyptians we are told, that he cafi upon them the Fiercenefs of his Anger, Wrath and Indignation and "Trouble, by j end- ing evil Angels among them. Pfal. lxxviii. 49. And they are alfo fufFered to affault and harafs good Men, which they do fe- veral Ways ; though God, in his wife Pro- vidence, over-rules their pernicious Coun- fels and Attempts to the real Advantage of his chofen.
Any one that is acquainted with the facred Writings both of the Old Teftament and the New, mufl be fenfible, that evil Spirits are frequently reprefented there as tempting, moving, and inciting Men to Sin. Thus it is obferved concerning Judas Ifcariot, that the Devil put it into his Heart to betray Jefus. John xiii 2. And concerning Ananias and Sapphira3 that Sa- tan
ii2 DISCOURSE VI.
tan filled their Hearts, that they mould lie again ft the Holy Ghoft. AJs v. 3. This is not to be underftood as if the one or the other were compelled by Satan to do what they did. It was really and properly their own Fault, and was originally owing to their covetous Difpofition ; and Satan took Advantage from it to urge them forward for executing his malicious Purpofes. Yet Providence ordered it fo, that Good was brought out of thefe Evils. For, in the Cafe of Ananias and Sapphira, their Sin* and the Punifhment inflicted on them for it, was over-ruled to the better Eftablifhment of the Gofpel, and the procuring a greater Reverence and Sanction to the apoftolical Authority, which was of mighty Importance at the firft founding of the Chriftian Church : And, in the other Cafe, Satan's Malice and Subtilty in tempting Judas to betray JeJiiSj was over-ruled, contrary to his Intention, to the Overthrow of his Kingdom, and to the promoting the Salvation of Mankind.
It hath been frequently urged as an Ob* jedlion againft the holy Scriptures, that the weak and helplefs human Race is there reprefented as expofed a Prey to evil Spi- rits, Adverfaries mighty and powerful, fubtile and malicious, ever feeking to de- flroy ; and that this can fcarce be reconcil- ed to the Notion of a wife and good Provi- dence,
DISCOURSE VI. 113
dence, prefiding over the World, and mull needs give a ftrange Idea of God, and fill the Minds of Men with continual Anxieties and Terrors. But if the Matter be fairly coniidered, it will appear that there is no juft Foundation for fuch an Objection, and the Clamours which have been raifed upon it.
That there are Spirits of a fuperior Or- der to Man, not tied down to fuch grofs flefhly Bodies as ours are, is, as hath been already hinted, agreeable to Reafon and to the common Sentiments of Mankind. And that fome of thefe Angels or Spirits are evil and wicked, is as fuppofable, as that by an Abufe of their Liberty many of the hu- man Race are fo. And fuppoling that there are fuch evil Angels or Spirits, it may be expected that they will exert their bad Difpofitions in fuitable Actions; and that if they have Accefs and Intercourfe with our World, they will endeavour to employ their Powers and Abilities in doing what Mifchief they can among Mankind. Nor is it any more inconfiftent with the Wifdom andGoodnefs of God to permit fuch evil Spirits to act according to their wicked Purpofes and Inclinations in endeavouring to tempt Men to fin, than it is inconfiftent with his Wifdom and Goodnefs, to fuffer wicked Men to tempt, harafs, perfecute their Fellow-creatures in this State of
Vol. I. I Trial;
ii4 DISCOURSE VI.
Trial; provided that he ftill takes Care, that thofe evil Spirits be not fuffered to tempt Men above what the human Nature is able to bear; and that there are fuffi- cient Helps afforded, by which, if duly improved, they may be enabled to refift their Temptations. Now this is the Re- prefentation which is given us in the holy Scriptures. It is there plainly fignified, that thofe evil Spirits, however formidable in themfelves, are all under the fovereign Control of the wife and almighty God and Father of Mankind, and cannot tempt or affault farther than for wife Ends he feeth fit to permit. We are there likewife affured, that he is ever ready to commu- nicate his Holy Spirit, with his divine In- fluences and Aids, to affift and ftrengthen us; and that there are alfo Numbers of good Angels that minifter to good Men, and who are equal or fuperior to the evil Angels in Power and Sagacity, and are as full of Love and beneficent Goodnefs, as the others are of Malice and Envy. And laftly, it is to be confidered, that Satan can only tempt, or endeavour to feduce us to fin, but is not fuffered to compel or neceflitate us; nor can he deftroy us but by our own Confent. We are furnifhed with fufficient Means and Helps for repel- ling his AiTaults, if it be not our own 2 Fault.
DISCOURSE VI. 115
Fault. Hence we are exhorted to re- Jift the Devil, ftedfaft in the Faith. 1 Pet. v. 9. and are affured, that if we rejift him, he will flee from us. James iv. 7. It appears then, that there is nothing in the Doctrine of the holy Scriptures, on this Head, that is contrary to Reafon, and in- confiftent with the Conduct of a wife and good Providence. On the contrary, this Part of the divine Administrations anfwer- eth many valuable Ends, and the Coniidera^ tion of it may be of no fmall Ufe to Man- kind. It giveth us an enlarged View of the Divine Providence, as permitting evil Angels, as well as wicked Men, to act ac^ cording to their Natures ; and, at the fame Time, over-ruling their Subtilty and Ma- lice in a Subferviency to the wife Defigns of his Government. It reprefenteth the Chriftian Life in a noble Light, as an im- portant Warfare, carried on not merely againfl Flefh and Blood, but againfl the Powers of Darknefs, and lets us fee what great Need we have of exercifing a conflant Vigilance and Care over ourfelves, and of applying to God for the Aids of his Spirit, which, in that Cafe, he is always ready to bellow. And, in the Iflue, it will contri- bute very much to the Honour and Advan-* tage of good Men, and will render their Reward more glorious, as well as mightily I z heighten
n6 DISCOURSE VI.
heighten their Love and Gratitude to God, through whofe gracious Affiftances they were enabled to overcome fuch formidable Adverfaries. What a glorious Scene will open, when in the great Day of final Re- tributions, they fhall celebrate a joyful Triumph over the Devil and his Angels, who fhall then receive the juft Punifhment of their Crimes, and mail never have it in their Power to tempt or difturb God's faith- ful Servants any more.
Thefe general Hints may fuffice, with regard to the Administrations of Divine Providence towards good and evil Angels. So much is revealed to us concerning this Matter as may be of Ufe to our Conduct in this prefent State ; and this is all that is neceffary for us now to know.
I fhall conclude with a few Reflections-. And firft, How awful and glorious is God the univerfal Sovereign, as extending his mighty Sway over all the angelic Orders, the moft eminent and powerful of created Beings ! It would be too mean and narrow a Notion of the divine Dominion, to regard Men as the only or principal Sub- jects of his Empire. Thoufmds of An- gels ftand before him, and Ten Thoufand Times Ten Thoufand minifter unto him; compared v/ith whom, the mightieft earth- ly Potentates, and all the Force of their
dreaded
DISCOURSE VI. 117
dreaded Armies, are mean and defpicable Things. With what deep Veneration and SubmifTion mould we proftrate ourfelves before his infinite Majefty, who doeth whatfoever he willeth, not only among the Inhabitants of the Earth, but among the Ar- mies of Heaven, whom the Thrones and Dominions, the Principalities and Powers in heavenly Places, with the profoundeft Reverence adore, and before whom the Devils themfelves do tremble ! How great muft he be who giveth Laws to the vafl World of Spirits, and governeth them in all their Claries and Degrees, and accord- ing to their various Circumftances and Ca- pacities ! And what inexcufable Folly and Prefumption would it be in fuch Creatures as we are, that dwell in Houfes of Clay, whofe Foundation is in the Duft, to op- pofe ourfelves to his rightful Authority, who hath all the Hofts of Angels under his Direction and Command !
Secondly, Since the holy Angels in their feveral Degrees are under the Dominion and Government of God, let us rejoice in them as our Fellow-fervants, Subjects with us of the fame glorious Lord ; we muft not adore them, but join with them in adoring the great God and Father of all. Tranfr ported with a divine Ardor of Spirit, let us with the devout Pfalmift call upon the I 3 Angels,
n8 DISCOURSE VI.
Angels, the moft eminent Part of the rati- onal Creation, to blefs the Lord, and endea- vour to awaken in our Souls the holy Affec- tions of Love, Joy, and Admiration, to the great Sovereign and Benefactor of the Uni- verfe. How mould we exult to think that we are under his happy Government, to whom numberlefs Myriads of holy and glorious Spirits pay their glad united Homage. We mould not only as far as we are able join our Praifes to theirs, and bear our Part in the glorious Confort, but mould endea- vour to imitate and refemble them more and more in their perfect Loyalty and Submiffion, and their chearful active Obe- dience to the divine Will. They readily apply themfelves to whatever Services he puts them upon, and eft.ee m it their Glory to be thus employed, even when fent to minifler to us of the human Race, who are Creatures of an inferior Order. And mall we think it beneath us to minifter to thofe of our own Blood, and who are Partakers of the fame Nature with ourfelves ? Like the blefTed Angels, let us engage with Alacrity and Delight in whatfoever Ser- vices God requireth of us, endeavouring to do his Will on Earth, as it is done in Heaven. By fuch a Temper and Con- duct we fhall cultivate a Harmonv with thofe glorious Spirits, and fhall have them
to
DISCOURSE VI. n9
to afTifr. and befriend us here on Earth, and be fitted for the heavenly 'Jerufalem, the City of the living God, where we mall be affociated to an innumerable Company of Angels, and mall be Sharers with them in the fame blifsful Exercifes and Enjoy- ments for ever.
Thirdly, This Subject may be improved for fupporting and fortifying our Hearts againfl the flavifh Fears of evil Spirits. Some there are who, through Fear of this Kind, are all their Life-time fubjedt to Bondage. But the befh Prefervative againfl this, is a fteady Belief of God's univerfal Government as extending to the evil An- gels themfelves. They are all under the Check and Control of his wife and righ- teous Providence, and can do no more than he permitteth. Let us therefore place our Confidence in him, and endeavour to fecure an Intereft in his Favour, and then we need not fear what all the Powers of Hell can do againfr. us.
Laflly, Let us take Warning from the Fall and Punifhment of the evil Angels. In them we may fee, that no Eminences of Power, Abilities, or Splendor, can fecure any Creatures againfl: the Wrath of God, or can hinder them from being miferable if they allow themfelves in a Courfe of wil- I 4 frl
120 DISCOURSE VI.
ful Sin and Difobedience. Let us not there- fore be high-minded but fear, and make it our continual Care and Endeavour to pleafe and ferve the great Lord of the Uni- verfe, the blefTed , and only Potentate, to whom be Honour and Power everlafting. Amen.
General
General Obfervations concerning God's providential Government towards Mankind*
DISCOURSE VII.
Psalm ciii. 19.
The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens-, and his Kingdom ruleth over alL
THESE Words of the Pfalmift make a noble Reprefentation of the Greatnefs and univerfal Extent of the di- vine Dominion ; but they feem to have a fpecial Reference to God's Government of the rational moral Part of the Creation. The principal of thefe, as far as we have
any
122 DISCOURSE VII.
any Notion of them, are Angels and Men. Some Obfervations have been made upon the Government of Divine Providence with regard to the Angels. Let us now confider the Government of God as exer- cifed towards Mankind, which is that Part of the divine Adminiftration in which we are more immediately concerned, and which it moll nearly importeth us to know.
Man is undoubtedly the moft excellent of all God's Works in this lower vifible Part of the Creation -, the only Being here on Earth capable of knowing and contem- plating his Maker, of obeying and adoring him, and rejoicing in a Senfe of his Fa- vour and Approbation. The Wifdom, Power, and Goodnefs of God is eminently confpicuous in the wonderful Frame of his Body, but efpecially in the noble Faculties of his Soul, whereby he is vaftly fuperior to the Brutes, and is capable of rifing in his Affections and Views beyond Things prefent, and fenfible to Things fpiritual and eternal, to the fupreme, the infinite Good -, which fhews that he was defigned for a fublime Felicity. And can it then be thought, that Providence, which extendeth its Care even to the inferior Animals, neg- ledteth Man, the principal Inhabitant of this lower World, and to whom all the
other
DISCOURSE VII. 123
t)ther Claffes of Beings here on Earth are fubfervient and fubordinate ? Surely we have great Reafon to think that the moft wife and powerful and benevolent Lord and Parent of the Univerfe, whofe King- dom ruleth over all, doth in a fpecial Manner exercife his Government and Care towards the human Race.
I mail firft make fome general Obferva- tions concerning the Nature and Methods of God's providential Adminiftrations to- wards Mankind : And then lhall proceed more diftinctly to confider the Influence and Agency of Divine Providence as ex- tending both to Communities and to parti- cular Perfons, to the Hearts and Thoughts of all Men, to their outward Actions, and to the Events which befal them.
With regard to the Nature and Me- thods of God's providential Adminiftrations towards Mankind, it is proper to obferve in general,
Firft, That as Men are moral Agents, Co God governeth them as fuch, and confe- quently hath given them a Law to be the Rule of their Conduct. That Man is a ' moral Agent is as evident as it is that he is a reafonable Creature, or that he is capa- ble of Virtue and Vice, of Praife and Blame. And whatever fome Perfons may ■difpute in Speculation, moral or free A-
gency
124 DISCOURSE VII.
gency is what all Men are intimately con- icious of. The felf-condemning and felf- approving Reflections of every Man's own Heart and Confcience plainly ftiew it to be fb. God hath not only given Man a Body, and animal Perceptions, whereby he is nearly connected with the material World, and is capable of fenfitive Delights, but he hath given him a higher Principle of Reafon and Underftanding to direct him what is right and fit to be done, a felf- determining, and felf- reflecting Power, whereby he is capable of governing his Ap- petites and Paflions, of chooiing and act- ing for himfelf, and of pafling a Judgment upon his own Actions. The human Con- stitution is an admirable Effect of the divine Wifdom ; and God's having made Men Creatures of fuch a Kind, /. e. moral A- gents, is a demonftrative Proof that he will govern them in fuch a Way as is fit for moral Agents to be governed, viz. by giving them Laws enforced by proper Mo- tives, to direct and engage them to their Duty, in fuch a Manner as is confident with Liberty and Free-agency.
That there is a Law which all Man- kind are placed under, a little Reflection may convince us. This is ufually called the Law of Nature, and hath a real Foun- dation in the very Nature and Relations of
Things,
DISCOURSE VII. 125
Things. Thus if we coniider the Nature of God,and the Relation between him and us, it is manifeft that we owe him the higheii Love, Reverence, Affiance, Adoration, and Obedience. From the kind and focial Af- fections implanted in our Hearts, and the Relation we bear to one another, it may- be fairly concluded, that we are defigned to exercife Juftice, Charity, Benevolence, and Fidelity. And if we duly coniider the Conilitution of our own Nature, as conlifting of FlefTi and Spirit, it mould make us fenfible that we are obliged to fhun all Intemperance and Excefs, and by the Exercife of Patience, Temperance, Prudence, and Fortitude, to keep our Ap- petites and Paffions in a regular Subjection to the Government of right Reafon ; and that it is our Duty to afpire after pro- greffive Improvements in Knowledge and Virtue, as that in which the true Per- fection of our Nature doth confift. There is nothing in all this but what will ap- pear to a Mind that is not corrupted and depraved with vicious Prejudices, to be fit and right, and founded in the very Nature of Things : and whatfoever clearly appeareth from the Nature and Relations of Things to be fit and right for reafon- able Creatures to perform, we may be fure it is the Will of God they mould per- form :
126 DISCOURSE VII.
form , fince by thus conftituting the Na- ture of Things, and placing them in fuch Relations, he hath conftituted their Duty, and fhewed that it is his Will that they mould act fuitably to thofe Natures and Relations. And when it is thus confidered as the Will of the fupreme Lord, it be- cometh a Law to them in the ftricteft and properefl Senfe of the Word.
But God hath not left Men merely to find out their Duty by the Deductions of Reafon in confidering and comparing the Natures of Things ; he hath alfo im- planted in the Heart of Man a kind of confcious Perception of Right and Wrong, an inward Senfe of Good and Evil, and of the moral Differences of Things, fome Re- mains of which continue in the human Mind even in its moft degenerate State, and can fcarce ever be utterly erafed. Who would bear the Man that would pretend ferioufly to affirm, that there is no real Difference at all between Affections and Actions ; and that no one of them is more blamable or praife-worthy than another ? That there is no Evil in Injuftice, Cruelty, Falfhood, Perfidy, Ingratitude , and that Piety, Gratitude, Generofity, Benevolence, Sincerity, hath no Beauty or Amiablenefs in it ? That to hate and blafpheme the Deity is as proper and becoming a rea- fon able
DISCOURSE VII. 127
fonable Creature, as to love, to reverence, and adore him ? That to envy and calum- niate our Neighbours, to wound, or even kill them without Caufe, is as good an Action, as to do them friendly Offices, and affift them in their Need ? That it is as honourable and praife- worthy for a Man to be falfe to his Word, Promifes, and En- gagements, as to have a flrict and firm Re- gard to Truth and Fidelity ; to betray his Country, as to fave and deliver it -, to neg- lect and defpife his Parents, as to treat them with Kindnefs and Refpect ; to re- turn an Injury for a Benefit, as to recom- pence one Benefit with another ? With re- gard to thefe and other Cafes that might be mentioned, the Mind of Man is fo confli- tuted that it can fcarce help approving fome Affections and Actions, and difapproving the contrary. From whence it appeareth, that there is in the Minds of Men a com- mon Senfe of Right and Wrong, of moral Beauty and Deformity, of Duty and Ob- ligation, which it is fcarce poffible en- tirely to make off. There are few but have had Experience of an inward Satis- faction or Remorfe, and the Workings of a confcious Principle within, paffing a Judgment on their Actions, and acquitting or condemning them according as they
have
128 DISCOURSE VII.
have been fenfible of their having per- formed their Duty or the contrary.
Taking all thefe Confiderations together, it is manifeft that Mankind are placed un- der a Law •, which the Brutes are not, as being deftitute of a confcious Principle, and incapable of a Senfe of moral Obliga- tion. And it is one of the clearer!: Princi- ples of Reafon, that if God hath given Men a Law, it mull: be his Will that his Law mould be obeyed ; and as a moral Go- vernor he will deal with Men according to their Obedience or Difobedience to the Laws which he hath given them. Ac- cordingly we find in fact that as Mankind in all Ages and Nations have had fome Senfe of a Deity, fo they have had fome Notions of their being accountable to him as their fupreme Governor and Judge for their Conduct. St. Paul obferveth con- cerning the Heathens who had not the Ad- vantage of extraordinary Revelation, that they had the Work of the Law written in their Hearts, their Confciences alfo bearing Witnefsy and their 'Thoughts the mean while accufmg or elfe excufing one another. Rom. ii. 15. And Ipeaking of fome of the mofr. profligate among them, who perpetrated great Acts of Wickednefs, he reprefenteth them as knowing the Judgment of God, 5 that
DISCOURSE VII. 129
that they which do fuch 'Things are worthy of Death. Rom. i. 32.
But fecondly, As God hath given Men a Law to be the Rule of their Conduct, fo the great and principal Defign of his pro- vidential Adminiftrations towards Man- kind is, that by Obedience to his Law, and by the Practice of Holinefs and Vir- tue, they may attain to the true Perfec- tion and Happinefs of their Natures. This will appear, whether we coniider the ordinary ftated Conftitution of Things as ordered by his Providence, or his more extraordinary Difpenfations towards Man- kind from the Beginning.
Firft, In the ordinary Courfe and Con- ftitution of Things as eftablifhed and car- ried on by Divine Providence, it is fo or- dered that a good and virtuous Conduct hath many Advantages attending it, and that the Practice of Vice and Wickednefs fubjecteth Men to many Evils ; fo that it may be juftly laid, that God hath made onr prefent Welfare to depend in a con- fiderable Degree upon our Obedience to his Law, and Performance of the Duties it bindeth upon us ; and that there is a Con- nection eftablifhed between Virtue and Happinefs, Vice and Mifery, even in the prefent Conftitution of Things, as far as is fuitable to a State of Trial and Dif-
Vol. I. K. cipime.
i3o DISCOURSE VII.
cipline. For that this prefent State is to be regarded in this View, and as prepara- tory to a State of final Retributions, I fhall afterwards have Occafion diftinctly to fhew, and is what we muft always bear in Mind in order to our forming a juft Notion of the divine Administrations. We are fo confti- tuted, that a truly pious and devout Tem- per of Mind towards God, and the Ex- ercife of holy and good Affections, and the doing virtuous and benevolent Actions, hath an inward confcious Satisfaction at- tending it, a real Self-approbation and Self- enjoyment. This layeth a folid Founda- tion for an habitual Chearfulnefs and Peace of Mind, which will greatly contribute to render a Man eafy and contented in the various Circumftances and Conditions of Life. And even with regard to the exter- nal Bleflings of Providence, the Practice of Religion and Virtue both tendeth to pro- cure them in a proper Degree, and to give a jufler Relifh and Enjoyment of them. The Exercife of Juflice, Fidelity, and ge- nerous Honefty, Charity and Benevolence, Sobriety and prudent Induftry," hath a Ten- dency in the ordinary Courfe of Things to promote the bodily Health, to prolong Life, to eilablim a Man's Credit and Re- putation which contributeth not a little to the Succefs of his Affairs, to procure him t; the
DISCOURSE VH. i3r
the Efteem of his Fellow-creatures, and, in general, to caufe a Man to pafs through Life more fafely and inoffennvely, more honourably and creditably, with greater Eafe to himfelf, as well as Ufefulnefs to others, than he would other wife do.
And on the other Hand, a vicious and finful Courfe not only is attended with in- ward Diffatisfaction and Remorfe, with the Stings and Agonies of a Man's own guilty Mind, than which, where it is in any great Degree, nothing can have a greater Tendency to render a Man miferable here on Earth ; but it frequently expofeth him to outward Evils and Troubles. Pride and Envy, Malice and Revenge, Cruelty and Injuftice, Idlenefs and Debauchery, and DiiTolutenefs of Manners, tend to deflroy the bodily Health, to wafte the worldly Subftance, to hurt a Man's Credit, to ex- pofe him to Poverty and Indigence, to Shame and Contempt, to many Conten- tions and Vexations, and frequently bring great Evils and Mifchiefs, not only upon himfelf, but upon his Family and Chil- dren too. Such is the prefent Constitution of Things. The Proverbs of Solomon abound with wife Obfervations to this Pur- pofe, drawn from Experience, concerning the good Effects of Wifdom and Virtue, and the pernicious Confequences of Vice K 2 and
132 DISCOURSE Vir.
and Wickednefs in this prefent State. And this holdeth not only with refped: to parti- cular Perfons, but to large Communities, and may be juftly regarded as the Appoint- ment and Conftitution of the great Ruler of the World, who hath thereby given a fenfible Proof to confidering Minds of his Approbation of Righteoufnefs and Virtue, and his juft Difpleafure againft Vice and Wickednefs ; that he is the Re warder of the one, and Punifher of the other. As to the contrary Appearances arifing from the Sufferings of the righteous, and the Prof- perity of the wicked, this mall be fully confidered afterwards, when we come to anfwer the Objections that are urged againft the Goodnefs and Righteoufnefs of Divine Providence.
But fecondly, Befides this ordinary ftated Courfe and Conftitution of Things, which mews that we are under a wife and righ- teous Government, let us take a brief View of fome of the more extraordinary Difpen- fations of Providence towards Mankind from Time to Time, whereby it will appear that from the Beginning of the World various Methods have been taken, in the Courfe of the divine Administrations, for promoting Religion and moral Improve- ment among Men. The Views which the Scriptures give us of God's various Diipen- 3 fations
DISCOURSE VII. i33
lations towards Mankind from the Begin- ning, furnifh convincing Proofs of his Con- cern for human Happinefs, and that he hath done a great deal to inftruct and di- rect Men in the Knowledge and Practice of their Duty, to maintain a Senfe of Re- ligion and Virtue in the World, and to difcourage and reftrain Vice and Wicked - nefs. It appeareth from the Accounts there given us, that the nrft Parents of the hu- man Race were brought into the World, not in an helplefs infant State, but in a State of Maturity, and were placed in an happy Situation, and in advantageous Cir- cumftances for preferving their Purity and Innocence ; that to fupply their Want of Obfervation and Experience, God vouch- fafed to admit them to a near Intercourfe with him, and gave them extraordinary Notices of his Will and of their Duty : that when they violated the particular Com- mand given them for a Trial of their Obe- dience, and Sin entered into the World, it pleafed him to make fome Alterations in their Circumftances, fuited to their lapfed State, and fitted to reclaim, to exercife, and difcipline them : and that, as he gave awful Indications of his jiift Difpleafure againfl Sin, fo he mewed his Readinefs to receive them to Favour upon their Re- pentance, and gave them encouraging Inti- K 3 mations
i34 DISCOURSE VII.
mations of his gracious Defigns for reco- vering them from their fallen State.
The Knowledge of thefe Things, as well as of God's Creation of the World, and of his Formation of the firft human Pair, might be eafily tranfmitted and preferved freih and uncorrupted in thofe early Ages of the World, and tended to furnifri great Advantages for Religion, additional to the common Light of Nature and Reafon. To which were added, the fetting apart the feventh Day to facred Purpofes ; the Infti- tution of Sacrifices, both in Acknowledg- ment of the divine Dominion, and as a Rite of Atonement, for keeping alive upon the Minds of Men a Senfe of God's Juf- tice, and of their own Guilt, and of his Reconcileablenefs to penitent Sinners ; the open Declaration God was pleafed to make of his Acceptance of righteous y^^/and his Offering, and his rejecting Cain and his Oblation -, the diftinguifhed Piety of Enoch, and the rewarding him by tranflating him from Earth to Heaven, which exhibited an illuftrious Proof of a future State; and finally, the railing up eminent Perfons to be Preachers of Righteoufnefs : All thefe Things, which are plainly intimated in the ihort Account given us in Scripture of the divine Administrations during that firft Period of the World, had a manifeft Ten- dency
DISCOURSE VII. 135
dency to maintain a Senfe of God and his Providence, and of the Importance of religious and moral Obligations on the Minds of Men.
When, notwithstanding thefe Advan- tages, all Flefh had corrupted his Way, and Mankind in general were funk into an amazing Degree of Vice and Wicked- nefs, beyond any Hope of being reclaimed by ordinary Methods, it pleafed God to fend a deftrudtive univerfal Deluge to fweep away that whole wicked Race from off the Face of the Earth ; which fignal Act of Vengeance made a moil awful Difplay of God's righteous Providence, and his Deteftation againfl Vice and Wickednefs, and was defigned for the Benefit of Man- kind in all fucceeding Generations to the End of the World. And at the fame Time he gave a moft remarkable Proof of his diflinguifhing Regard to Piety and Virtue in the Prefervation of Noah and his Family, to be the Seed of a new Genera- tion of Men. The Remembrance of this great Event, fome Traditions of which have fpread almoft univerfally among the Nations, the renewed Revelations of the divine Will, and the Publication of the Law of God in its main Principles, which was then made to this fecond Father of Mankind, and in him to the whole hu- K 4 man
136 DISCOURSE VII.
man Race ; together with the former Traditions concerning the Creation, the Fall, the original Promife, &c. all which Noa.b was well acquainted with ; and the farther Alterations made in the Face of the Earth by the Deluge, and the fhortening the Lives of Men, the Length of which had through their Abufe of it probably contributed to that great Corruption of Manners in the old World ; all thefe Things manifeftly tended to revive and maintain a religious Senfe of the Deity, and a juft Regard to his wife and holy Providence. And in this State of Things, it cannot be denied, that enough was done on God's Part in his Difpenfations towards Men, to keep up the Knowledge and Practice of Religion and Virtue in the World. And if he had done no more in an ordinary Way for Mankind, but had after this left them wholly to the Light of Nature and Reafon, ftrengthened with thefe traditional Helps, none could reafonably have found fault. It is probable, that when Mankind came to be fcattered abroad, fome Time af- ter the Flood, all over the Face of the Earth, the Heads of the Families carried the main principles of the patriarchal Religion, which they had received by Tradition, and which were alfo highly agreeable to Rea- fon, with them into the feveral Places of
their
DISCOURSE VII. 137
their Difperfion. And there is Reafon to think that confiderable Remains of it were for a long Time preferved among the Na- tions. This may be gathered from the beft Accounts that are given us of the ancient Perfians and Arabians, and other People of the Eaft. And the fame would proba- bly appear concerning many other Nations, if we were better acquainted with the an- cient Hiftory of Mankind. Even among the Greeks there had been old Traditions relating to the Providence of God, the Immortality of the Soul, and other Things probably derived from the firft. Ages, as appeareth from the Teftimony of fome of their own moft celebrated Writers. It was in Chaldea, Canaan, Egypt, and the neigh- bouring Countries. And accordingly it pleafed God in his wife and good Provi- dence to take proper Methods for putting an early Check to the growing Corruption, even in thofe Parts of the World where it chiefly prevailed. For this Purpofe he called Abraham, and made extraordinary Difcoveries of his Will to him, who was a Perfon of great Eminence, and an if- luftrious Example of Faith, of Piety, and Goodnefs. He fojourned in Chaldea, in Egypt, and above all in Canaan, where at that Time alfo was Melchifedek and others, among whom the primitive patriarchal Re- ligion
138 DISCOURSE VII.
ligion was ilrill preferred. About the fame Time, the extraordinary Judgment inflicted upon Sodom and Gomorrah for their great Wickednefs had a manifest Tendency to awaken in Men, and particularly in the Inhabitants of Canaan, and the neighbour- ing Countries, a juft and affecting Senfe of God's holy and righteous Providence, and of his Debellation againlt Vice and Wick- ednefs. From Abraham by Hagar and Ke- turah proceeded feveral great Nations ; among whom the Knowledge and Practice of Religion derived from their great An- ceftor, who was very careful to initruct his Children and his Houfhold after him, Gen. xviii. 19. was probably continued for a confiderable Time ; of which there are noble Specimens in the Book of Job. But efpecially particular Care was taken to preferve the true Religion in the Line by Ifaac, who was the Heir of Abraham's Faith, from whom came Efau and Jacob, and their numerous Defcen dents.
The Advancement of Jqfeph in Egypt, and the fettling Jacob and his Family there, who foon were remarkably bleifed, and grew up into a Nation, and among whom, though many of them degenerated, the true ancient Religion was in a great Meafure preferved, ought to have had a gtfbd fiffeft upon the Egyptians, to recover
them
DISCOURSE VII. 139
ihem from their growing Corruption and Idolatry. And when all this proved ineffectual, the bringing the Jfraelites out of Egypt with fuch amazing Difplays of the divine Power, and the dreadful Plagues and Judgments inflicted upon the Egyp- tians, and their Gods, which was a vifible Triumph over Idolatry in the principal Seat of it; thefe Things had certainly a great Tendency, where-ever the Knowledge of them reached (and no Country feems then to have been better known than Egypt) to awaken Mankind, and reclaim them from the Prevalence of Vice and Ido- latry, to the true Fear and Worfhip and Obedience of the Deity. This alfo was one principal Defign of Providence, in the erecting the Ifraelites into a peculiar Polity, the fundamental Principle of which was the Acknowledgment and pure Adoration of the only true God, and in the giving them a Body of fuch holy and excellent Laws, in which the main Duties of Religion and Morality, which, through the Corruption of Mankind had been very much defaced, were plainly laid down in clear and exprefs Precepts. All this was defigned, not merely for the Benefit of that particular Nation, to whom thefe Laws were imme- diately delivered, but to be of extenfive Advantage. And it is very probable, that,
as
140 DISCOURSE VII.
as fome learned Men have obferved, they were the Original of feveral of the Laws that were afterwards publifhed in other Nations. The fettling the Ifraelites in the Land of Canaan in fuch an extraordinary Manner, the awful Punifhments inflicted upon the Canaanites, and which were ex- prefly declared to be upon the Account of their abominable Wickednefs and Vices of all Kinds, as well as Idolatry ; and God's whole fubfequent Proceedings towards the People of Ifrael; the Profperity and Hap- pinefs they enjoyed according to the Pro- mifes that were made them, whilft they adhered to the true Worfhip of God, and obferved his holy Laws ; and the great Ca- lamities inflicted upon them, when they relapfed into Idolatry and Wickednefs : all thefe Things were vifible amazing Proofs of a mod: wife and righteous Providence, and fhould have had a great Effect, not only upon the Israelites, but upon all the Nations around them, to bring them to the Knowledge and Worfhip of the only true God, and to the Practice of Righte- oufnefs. Their Captivities and Difperiions, which had been foretold in their Law, all tended to the fame End ; and their being fcattered abroad in the latter Times of their State in fuch vail Numbers in Bafy/onia, Perjia, and throughout the Eafl, as well as in
the
DISCOURSE VII. 141
the feveral Parts of the wide extended Roman Empire, contributed to fpread the Know- ledge of Religion, which had been in a great Meafure loft among, the Nations. And finally, the whole Frame of the Jewift Oeconomy was defigned to prepare the Way for the Chriftian Difpenfation, which was the moft admirable Scheme of Divine Pro- vidence for recovering Mankind from the amazing Corruption into which they were fallen, to the Knowledge, Obedience, and pure Adoration of the Deity, and to the Love and Practice of Holinefs and Virtue. God, in his great Love to Mankind, fent his own Son into the World, a Perfon of unparalleled Dignity and Excellence, to bring a more clear and full Difcovery of his divine Will and Counfels for our Sal- vation, and a more perfect Syftem of pure Morals than ever had been made known to Mankind before ; to exhibit a bright Ex- ample of univerfal Goodnefs and Purity for our Imitation ; to make Atonement for our Sins by his Sufferings and Death ; and to give the fulleft ArTurances of a blerTed Immortality, and a vifible Pledge of it by his own Refurrection from the Dead. This whole Difpenfation exhibiteth the moft glo- rious Difplays of God's marvellous Grace and Goodnefs towards Mankind, and at the fame Time of his perfect Holinefs and
Purity,
i42 DISCOURSE VIL
rity, and is moft excellently fitted to pro- mote real Piety, and the Practice of uni- verfal Righteoufnefs. We have there the moft admirable Directions, the moft power- ful Motives, the moft effectual Helps and Encouragements to a holy Life. This was made known to the World at a Time when it was moft wanted, and when Idolatry and Corruption of all Kinds had arrived to the greateft Height ; and in Circumftances that feemed beft fitted for the univerfal Diffufion and Propagation of it. For it made its firft Appearance in the Roman Empire, which had brought a great Part of the then known World under its Dominion. And it was introduced in a Manner that was very proper for engaging the Attention and Admiration of Mankind, as being at- tended with the moft illuftrious Proofs and Evidences of a divine Power, Prefence, and Glory. This Religion hath fpread very far, and if Chriftians had been as careful both to preferve it in its Purity, and to propagate and recommend it by their Instructions and Example, as they are bound by the ftrongeft Obligations to be, it would have been probably before now diffufed through the Earth. And from the Jeivifi and Chriftian Revelation is derived whatever of Good there is in Mo- hometaniim, which hath been over-ruled
by
DISCOURSE VII. 143
by Divine Providence for freeing fome Na- tions from grofs Pagan Idolatry.
Thus it appeareth, that God hath in the Courfe of his Providence done a great deal for preferving and promot- ing the Knowledge and Practice of Re- ligion and Virtue among Men, and for recovering it when it was in a great Mea- fure loft. And this mould fill our Hearts with a grateful Senfe of his infinite Goodnefs as well as Purity, and of his Concern for human Happinefs. How ma- ny Ways hath he ftriven with the Per- verfenefs of Men ! Of this the Scripture giveth us a noble and affecting View, where we have the beft Account of the various Difpenfations of God towards Mankind. And what farther extraordinary Means it may pleafe God to make Ufe of for dif- fuiing and eftablifhing true Religion in the World, we cannot tell ; but fomething of this Kind we are taught to expect by feveral Pafiages of Scripture, which feeni to refer to a future more general Con-, verfion of the Jews to the ChrifKan Faith, and the bringing in the Fulnefs of the Gentiles. And whenever this mall happen, it will difclofe a furprifing Scene that will fill us with a pleafing Aftonim- ment, and tend mightily to illuftrate the Glory of Divine Providence. In the mean
time
i44 DISCOURSE VII.
time let us be thankful to God for the Advantages we enjoy for religious and mo- ral Improvement, and be careful to make a proper Ufe of them, and to anfwer the End for which they are given us, by de- nying Ungodlinefs and worldly Lufts, and living foberly, righteouily, and godly, in this prefent World.
Con-
Concerning God's Providential Go- vernment > as refpe&ing large Communities,
DISCOURSE VIII.
Psalm xxii. 28. — He is the Governor among the Nations.
TH E univerfal Adminiflration of Di- vine Providence, as extending to the whole Creation, furnifheth a noble Subject for our Thoughts. But that which is of neareft Concernment to us is God's providential Government as exercifed to- wards Mankind. Some general Considera- tions were offered concerning it in our laft Difcourfe. Let us now proceed to confider it more diftinctly, as extending both to Communities, and to particular Perfons, to the Hearts and Thoughts of Vol. I. L all
146 DISCOURSE VIII.
all Men, to their Actions, and to the E- vents that befal them.
Firft, Let us coniider the Providence of God as refpecting Communities. I chufe to begin with this, becaufe, if Providence concerneth itfelf about Mankind at all, it mufl be fuppofed to fuperintend the Affairs of Communities and Nations ; the Events relating to which are of confide- rable Importance, and upon which the Welfare and good Order of the World very much depends.
And with regard to this I would firft obferve in general, that the Formation and Eflablifhment of human Societies muft be considered as the Work and Appointment of Divine Providence. God, as the Au- thor of Nature, hath implanted in us, not only the Principles of Self-love and Self- prefervation, but the kind and focial or public Affections, whereby we are carried to ferve and affift one another in mutual good Offices, and to love our Friends, our Neighbours, and our Country. So ftrong is the Inclination that Man naturally hath to Society, that he cannot be happy without it. A great Part of the choicer! Pleafures of Life arife from focial Affections and En- joyments. And this natural Inclination which is in all Men to Society, is very much Strengthened by the mutual Need
they
DISCOURSE Vlir. 147
they ftand in of each others Affiftance. Nothing is plainer than that Men are . formed and defigned to be helpful to one another, and that it is but a fmall Part of the Bleffings and Advantages of Life which can be obtained, and but a fmall Progrefs that can be made in valuable Improvements and Accomplimments, with- out focial xA-fTiftances. So that it is evi- dent, that he that made us defigned and fitted us for Society.
Families and fmaller Societies were firfl formed ; from the Combination of which, and for their mutual Security and Benefit, larger Societies and Commu- nities arofe. And for the preferving Or- der among them, it is agreeable to the Will of God the fupreme Ruler, that there mould be Government and Magi- flracy eftablifhed, and that Men mould be Jubjeft to the higher Powers. Thefe Powers are faid to be ordained of God, or- dained for the Punijh?nent of evil Doers, and the Praife of them that do well." Rom. xiii. 1, 3, 4. 1 Pet. ii. 13, 14. The Au- thority they are inverted with, is properly and originally derived from God the Foun- tain of all Power, but not ordinarily in an immediate Way, but mediately by the Choice, Confent, or Submiffion of the People. And it may be juftly regarded as L 2 owing
148 DISCOURSE VIII.
owing to the Influence of Divine Provi- dence, that fuch a Number of boifterous unruly Spirits are made willing to live, in Subjection to the Government of a few. It is alfo to be afcribed to a wife Provi- dence, that there is fuch a Variety of na- tural Genius's or Inclinations obfervable among Mankind, whereby they are difpofed and qualified for acting different Parts, and filling different Stations and Offices in the Community. All are not Heroes, or Statefmen, or Philofophers, endued with great political or intellectual Abilities. Some are ffrongly inclined to the Purfuits of Learning and Science : others have a turn for Bufinefs ; and thofe again are of various Kinds : fome inclined and fitted to one Sort of Employment, fome to another. Some are for Confultation, fome1 for Ac- tion : fome have cool Spirits, flow and de- liberate ; others are quick, fervent, and active. And it is fo ordered, that the Ge- nerality of Mankind are of moderate Ge- nius and Abilities, fitted for the common Affairs of Life, and they are all capable in their different Ways of being ferviceable to the Community. And from hence arif- eth focial Dependence, and mutual Ufeful- nefs, by which Societies are cemented toge- ther, and without which the Order and Har- mony of them could not well be maintained. i Secondlv,
DISCOURSE VIII. 149
Secondly, Another Thing which I would obferve here, is, that all Bleffings and Calamities of a public Nature, and the Revolutions of Kingdoms and States, are to be regarded as under the fpecial Direction and Superintendency of Divine Providence.
That Providence hath a particular Con- cernment in public Revolutions, the Rife and Fall of Empires, the flourishing and declining of Cities and Nations, can fcarce be denied by any one that believeth a Pro- vidence at all. It is what Reafon and Ob- fervation will lead a confidering Mind to ac- knowledge ; and it is very exprefsly afTerted in the holy Scriptures. We are told, that God increafetb the Nations, and defiroyeth them, he enlargeth the Nations, and Jirai- teiieth them again. Job. xii. 23. Sometimes he bleffeth them, Jo that they are multiplied greatly, again ^ they are minified and brought low through OppreJJion, Affliffiion, and Sor- row. Pfal. cvii. 38, 39. He changeth the 'Times and the Seafons ; he removeth Kings, and fetteth up Kings. Dan. ii. 21. And in general, the Interpofition of Providence muft be acknowledged, both in all Bleffings, and in all Evils and Calamities, of a pub- lic Nature.
All the Bleffings and Advantages which are bellowed upon Societies, mufl be thank-
L 3 fully
ijo DISCOURSE VIII.
fully afcribed to Divine Providence. If Arts and Sciences flouriiTi among a People, and they are furnifhed with valuable Means of Improvement in ufeful Knowledge; if they have Peace and Plenty, and are free from foreign Invafions and domeftic Con- fpiracies and Tumults, or have Succefs in juft and necerTary Wars ; if they be blefied with a good Constitution of Government, and have the Advantage of wife and honeft Governors to rule over them; if they be preferved in the Enjoyment of their Liber- ties and Privileges civil and religious; if they have healthful and fruitful Seafons, and other Inftances of public Profperity; in all thefe and the like Cafes the Goodnefs of Divine Providence is to be acknowledo--
o
ed, not excluding fecond Caufes, but over- ruling and directing them; and devout and grateful Minds will find abundant Matter of Thankfulnefs. To which it may be add- ed, that Providence hath eminently ap- peared in railing up, from Time to Time, Perfons of extraordinary Abilities, and rare Qualifications, who have been infpired with great Wifdom, Fortitude, and Zeal for the public Good; whereby they have been rendered fignally infrrumental for doing great Service to the Community, for deli- vering oppreffed Nations, and reftoring the difordered State of Things, And though
in
DISCOURSE VIIL 15 1
in fuch Cafes we ought to have a jufl Senfe of our Obligations to the worthy Inflruments, yet we mould principally carry our Views to a moll wife fuperintending Providence, and give God the Glory of all.
On the other Hand, the Divine Provi- dence is alfo to be feriouily confidered in all public Evils and Calamities. It hath often happened that there have been vifi- ble Marks of God's Difpleafure againfl a People. Their Counfels have been infatu- ated, or their Forces enfeebled and difpi- rited ; their foreign Enemies have been fuffered to prevail againft them, or they have been given up to domeftic Tyrants and Oppreffors, or they have been rent afunder by Tumults and Commotions, and have been abandoned to the leading of am- bitious and factious Men, who have contri- buted to the Ruin of their Country, whilft they pretended a great Zeal for its Intereits. The Hand of God is to be acknowledged in thefe Things, as well as when a Peo- ple fuffer by Famine, Peftilence, Earth- quakes, inclement Seafons, epidemical Dif- tempers, &c. which are ufually regarded as the more immediate Work of Provi- dence.
This leads me to obferve,
Thirdly, That in all thefe Cafes of pub- lic Bleffings and Calamities, or of natio- L 4 nal
i52 DISCOURSE VIII.
nal Revolutions, Providence proceedeth not merely in a Way of arbitrary Sove- reignty, but according to fteady and righ- teous Rules, and for wife Ends and Pur- pofes. It may be juftly faid, that the Ad- miniftrations of Divine Providence in dif- penfing Rewards and Punifhments towards Nations or large Communities, are gene- rally more conftant and uniform than the Diftributions of outward Rewards and Pu- nifhments towards particular Perfons in this Life. The Reafon is, that particular Perfons mail receive their principal Re- wards and Punifhments in a future State -y whereas, if Communities or Nations as fuch be rewarded or punifhed at all, it muft be in this prefent State in which alone they fubfift:. The Promifes of tem- poral Bleffings made to the Ifraelites in the Law of Mofesm cafe of their Obedience to the divine Commandments, and the Threatenings of temporal Evils denounc- ed againfl: them in cafe of their Difobe- dience. Lev. xxvi. and Deut. xxviii. re- lated chiefly to them as a Community. For they did not always hold with regard to particular Perfons, as is evident from the Complaints made by good Men under that Difpenfation concerning the Afflictions of the righteous, and Profperity of the wicked. But with regard to the Public,
they
DISCOURSE VIII. 153
they never failed of being accomplished. When Religion and Virtue flourifhed among them, and they walked in Obedi- ence to the divine Laws, they were raifed to a high Degree of Glory and Reputa- tion, they were fuccefsful in their Wars, and had great Plenty and Affluence, and every Thing that could contribute to the public Profperity and Happinefs. And on the contrary, when they revolted from God, and fell into a great and general Depra- vity and Corruption, they became abject, defpifed, miferable, and were a Prey to the neighbouring Nations. And in general it may be faid, that whenever any public Calamities were inflicted upon them, whe- ther by the more immediate Hand of Hea- ven, as Famine, Drought, Peftilence, &c. or by the Hands of their Enemies and Op- preffors ; it was always as a juft Punish- ment for their national Iniquities, their Idolatry, Impiety, and abounding Wick- ednefs and Corruption of Manners. And upon their Repentance and Reformation thefe Calamities were removed, and their Profperity reflored. ' This was the general Courfe of God's providential Difpenfations towards them, as is manifeft from the whole Hiftory of that Nation.
Nor was this peculiar to the Jews. The Hated Rule of the divine Procedure towards
Nations
154 DISCOURSE VIII.
Nations is laid down, Jer. xviii. 7, 8, 9, 10. At what Lift ant IJloallfpeak concerning a Na- tion, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to dejlroy it, if that Nation againjl whom I have pronounced, turn from their Evil, I will repent of the Evil that 1 thought to do unto them; and at what ^time I fiall fpeak concerning a King- dom, to build, and to plant it, if it do Evil hi my Sight, that it obey not my Voice, then 1 will repent of the Good wherewith I faid I would benefit them. It is an Obfervation which hath generally held in all Nations and Ages, that Right eoufnefs exalteth a Na- tion, but Sin, i. e. abounding Vice and Wickednefs, is a Reproach to any People. It bringeth Difgrace and Mifery upon them, Prov. xiv. 34. If we confult the Hiftory of Mankind, we fhall find that it hath ufually happened, that when a People have been remarkable for Juftice, Temperance, Induftry, and a Zeal for the public Good, they have preferved their Liberties, they have profpered in their Undertakings, and have been in high Reputation and Efteem. Nor can «any Inflance be brought of a Nation's being given up to exterminat- ing Plagues and Calamities, whilfl Reli- gion, Probity? and Virtue fiourifhed among them. But when they have degenerated from their national Virtue, when Falfhood
c and
DISCOURSE VIII. i5S
and Perfidy, Injuftice and Violence, Lux- ury and Debauchery, and a Diffolutenefs of Manners, with a Contempt of Religion, have generally prevailed among them, they have fallen into many Calamities, they have been cafl down from their Profperity and Glory, and have been deprived of thofe Advantages they fo much abufed. God may indeed, in his great Wifdom and Pa- tience, long bear with a finful degenerate People. He may naffer them to enjoy great Profperity for a while, and may pour forth many Bleffings upon them, even when they are in a corrupt State. For the Methods of Providence towards Societies are generally flow though fure ; and the Punifhments that are inflicted up- on -Nations feldom come in a fudden and extraordinary Way, but are for the moft part fo ordered, as to appear to be the proper Effects of their own Conduct. The Corruption ufually cometh on by Degrees, and doth not become univerfal at once. And there is often a Remnant of good Men ftill continued among them, even in a Time of great and general Depravity, and for their Sakes Judgment may be de- ferred. God firil ufually fen deth leffer monitory Judgments upon a People, and if they are not reclaimed by thefe, he meweth his Juftice and Righteoumefs
by
156 DISCOURSE VIII.
by fending more grievous and dreadful Calamities, and fometimes by utterly fub- verting their State and Polity : And it is obfervable, that in fuch Cafes God is re- prefented in Scripture as having a Refpect to the Sins of former Generations as well as the prefent ; fince it is the fame Nation or Body politic which ftill fubfifteth in thefe different Generations ; and when the Iniquities of that Body are grown up to fuch a Height, and have continued fo long, that he doth not fee fit to bear with them any longer, the Meafure of their Iniqui- ties is faid to be Jul/, the Time is come for executing a fevere Vengeance upon them, and the Punifhment falls the heavier for having been fo long delayed.
It doth not at all call: a Reflection upon the Righteoufnefs of God, that it frequent - ly happeneth, that thofe whom he maketh ufe of for executing his Judgments upon guilty Nations, are themfelves chargeable with InjufKce and Cruelty, and have no- thing in View but the gratifying their own Ambition, Avarice, and Lufl: of Power. This doth not hinder, but that thofe Evils and Calamities which they are the Inftru- ments of infli&ing, are juft and right, as proceeding from the fupreme Governor of the World. And it is ufually fo ordered, that they who have been Inftruments in
punifhing
DISCOURSE VIII. i57
punifhing others, are afterwards, at that Time which appeareth fittefb to infinite Wiidom, juftly punifhed in their Turn for their Vices, their Pride, their Violence and Injufiice. Thus God threatens, that after the Aflyrian, whom he calls the Rod of his Anger, had performed his whole Work upon Mount Zion, a?id on ferufakm, he would pvi fh the Fruit of the flout Heart