A Discourse of the Judgments of God, Chapter 17
CHAP. XVII. An Inquiry into the Freedom of God in his diſtribution of Judgments; with a ſolution of doubts concerning it.
WE have thus far endeavoured to ſpeak the reaſon of Scripture, touching the Judgments of God, which are all holy, juſt, and good, faithful to his own Glory, and the true intereſt of the world. There remains nothing within our preſent intention, that may either eſtabliſh, or clear from the objections raiſed againſt it, this grand Poſition, That all the evils we endure are righteous Judgments of God; but to reconcile with it the liberty and arbitration God uſes in over-looking and paſſing by ſome times and perſons that are free from thoſe ſtrokes, upon which yet the main reaſons of Judgments we have aſſigned, are concurrent.
This is firſt to be reſolved into the uncontrollable Counſel of God, who giveth no ſuch account of his matters; but that his paths are ſtill hid in the Sea, and his foot-ſteps in the great waters. This we know, he is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, what he does is therefore to conclude our thoughts; who being but upon the ſkirts and borders of knowledge, underſtand much more what is fit to be done, by what we ſee him do, then by our own conjectures, which if not ſo bounded, are vain, and rove incertainly in the wild of things. His actions are the great marks by which our underſtandings are to be guided, that they may not dangerouſly miſcarry. If then we obſerve a void place of Judgments, let us rebuke our own apprehenſions (when we take upon us to think it fit, Juſtice ſhould there have planted it ſelf) with the acknowledges of the Dominion it hath over all times and perſons; when we ſee its diſplays in the world, we may then underſtand God is giving ſome preſent check to ſin, and its graſſant impurity, that carries ſuch efficacies along with it, as ſeem meet to himſelf.
But though we thus aſcribe greatneſs to God, yet may we ſecondarily obſerve thoſe moments of ſatisfaction we receive out of his Word, and the reaſon of it, which are enough to anſwer any ſcruples concerning the non-appearance of his Juſtice in a ſeaſon, when it ſeems requiſite it ſhould be ſeen, and to free us out of that maze of doubts that falls in therewith, viz. the inequality of his dealings either with good men, compared with evil men, or towards good and evil men, compared each ſort among themſelves; for when either the evil paſs peaceably through, and out of the world, and feel no bands in their death; but good men have waters of a full cup wrung out unto them; or when one good man hath the candle of God ſhining in his Tabernacle, waſhes his ſteps in butter, and hath the Rock pouring out oyl to him; and another, though fearing God, eats in darkneſs all his days, diſconſolate either with publick or private calamities: or laſtly when one evil man fares wel in the common proſperity, and another of the ſame ſtamp is covered with a cloud all his days, either in the general adverſity or his particular infelicity; there is an appearance of partiality: and ſeeing all of both qualities arrive each at their own ends, any ſolution taken from thoſe ends ſeems inſufficient. All theſe are ſo many ſcandals to this Doctrine, which yet true reaſon of Scripture plentifully removes. There is enough too to reſolve us, how the diſadvantage of living out of the diſcipline of affliction, is recompenſed to thoſe, who poſſibly had they lived under it, would have repented in ſack-cloth and aſhes.
All theſe, I ſay, to him who reverences Gods Ark, is wiſely converſant in the things revealed, that pertain to us, and repines not that the dark waters and thick clouds of the sky are Gods Pavillion; are ſo far unridled, that he finds the benefit of that promiſe; The humble he will guide in Judgment, and the meek he will teach his way: the ſecret of the Lord is communicated with them that fear him; for he leads them into more, who expect his admiſſion, then they can obtain, who cutting their way to themſelves, raviſh the cloud of an empty imagination; when they moſt pleaſe themſelves with what they think they have found out and comprehended. The Scriptures ſpeak wiſdom, but not the wiſdom of this world, which is brought to nought; not that which he towres into, who is vainly pufft up with his fleſhly mind; but that which is to ſobriety: let us then meaſure by the line of it to theſe foregoing thoughts, to which it reaches, ſo as to bring them into ſubjection.
1. As to the Juſtice of God it can have no injury, becauſe there is an Eternal Judgment, ſo high and ſubſtantial, that it doth infinitely honour, ſatisfie, and recompenſe whatever Juſtice can ſeem to ſuffer. Nothing is under a neceſſity to ſhew it ſelf, but that which is confined to ſuch a moment; and if it loſes that, lyes hid for ever. Things which are poor, that have only an appearance, and not a retired treaſure, are in haſte to be known; ſmall revenges are haſtily executed, but nullum tempus occurrit Regi. The deep waters run ſilently, and what hath Eternity to give it room and ſpace, ſlumbers not, though it make no preſent noiſe; God hath the higheſt reaſons of his patience, the perfect ſtrength of his Being, and the vaſtneſs of everlaſting Ages to explain himſelf and his diſpleaſure in. All opinations of men againſt him and his Judiciary Providence, vaniſh like a dream when he appears, for his coming conſtrains belief, commands full aſſent, and nothing contrary dares then be ſeen; nor can it be traced, but in that horrour and condemned diſappointment, to which it hath betrayed the maſters of it.
The apprehenſions that have footing only in time, are not to be valued; for time it ſelf is ſo little and inconſiderable a thing, that though it is greater or leſs, when it is meaſured by its own line; yet it is but the duſt of the ballance, the drop of the Bucket, nothing, & leſs then nothing when it is ſet by Eternity; when any immortal Being, eſpecially the prime Being, who only hath immortality, hath the graſping of it, it is ſqueezed to nothing: while it is within it ſelf, judged by its own Rules, and the creatures of it, it is ſomewhat; but to God the Grandeur and pride of it a thouſand years are but as yeſterday when it is paſt, and as a watch in the night; the contempt God and his Juſtice endure from it, as ſoon as ever it ſinks into Eternity, are as if they had never been; one glance of that Judgment immediately conſumes it.
This conſideration doth alſo abundantly remove the inequalities of time, if we ſuppoſe them never ſo great, and level good men among themſelves, and bad men among themſelves; and ſo preciſely diſtinguiſhes good and bad one from another, that there remain no poſſible remembrances of the ſtate of this world, nor any thing that ſhould call in queſtion, or diminiſh ought from the clearneſs of Gods dealing. Eternal rewards and puniſhments ſwallow up all diſtinctions of time, which hereupon become no more then imagination or opinion, when true Judgment takes place; or then thought and fancy, when knowledge and reality enter; the pleaſures and happineſſes, the torment and complaint of it are all gone; all that is great in time is the manner and temper of an immortal Spirit in and upon it, which is an inchaſement of Eternity into it, and makes it valuable for the ordinableneſs of it to an everlaſting condition of things: all of it elſe is but like infancy and child-hood, compared with manly eſtate; that is vanity and folly: whatever puerile age ſeems to it ſelf, it is known to have nothing worthy in it, but the beginnings and dawns of that mind, which education improves, and ripens to a ſtrength in elder years, for which it is formed: The contempt it hath of ſeverer Judgment, detracts nothing from the ſolidity and dignity of true reaſon, but is imputed to its ſillineſs and imperfection; the pleaſures of it are condemned, as unworthy a man. The very ſame Soul cenſures, and even deſpiſes it ſelf in its childiſh eſtimations, diſcourſes and actions, when it feels it ſelf man, and remembers them not but with diſlike or compaſſionate ſcorn. If after-time then blots out the things fore-going with ſo ſtrange an oblivion; if manhood doth ſo efface paſt child-hood, and death yet expunges much more then theſe, how exceedingly more doth another world wipe out all things pertaining to this? Moralities only remaining, and tranſmitted through all without loſs; from whence accrues to good men greater glory through their ſufferings, and increaſe of torment to the evil from their pleaſures, with which they are upbraided hereafter; and very probably each of theſe ariſing to both ſorts, proportionable to the difference they have met with here in the world.
Further, different preſences of God, and the conſolations of his Spirit, may be a preſent reward to good men in the worſt times; ſervice of God, even to a kind of Martyrdom, ſpeedier tranſlations to Heaven, greater degrees of Honour, and bleſſed Immortality, are much better to them then an eaſe and quiet, that muſt within ſuch a number of years expire however: Even as ſtings of conſcience, and longer heaping up guilt and wrath, may make it leſs tolerable for evil men, who have lived in proſperous times, then for others of the ſame kind, who have been preſerved from ſo much ſin, and awakened to ſome ſenſe of God by adverſity; their preſent trouble thus leſſening an eternal puniſhment, except to thoſe who have been brawned to a greater contempt of God, and hardned in the fire againſt him, whoſe caſe deſerves no conſideration.
From all which we ſee, there is no ſuch neceſſity upon God to puniſh now, nor any ſo complainable inequality in his diſtributions to good and bad men. For when either of theſe ranks of men know themſelves in that unchangeable ſtate, they will reflect upon nothing in time, but as it hath paid ſomething to Eternity, and conveyed thither what remains and abides. If then any thing aggrandizes that happineſs, or aſſwages that miſery, however it hath been reſented with grief and deploration here, it is then put on as a crown, or applyed as a Lenitive to pain; but that which is bleſſed with no addittament of Glory, is laid aſide as worthleſs, how pleaſant ſoever in the world; and that which inflames torment, always bewailed, though it was carried as a priviledge here. All things elſe loſe themſelves more perfectly in that ſtate, then whatever we can imagine moſt trivial here, when it is utterly out of date, and ſucceeded by a contrary, however it preſumed before in the moment of its flouriſh.
With this Judgment then God infinitely aſſoils his Juſtice, from the ſcoffes of men that ſay, When is the promiſe of his coming? from the ſenſuality of men that put the evil day far from them: with this he divides the world, that all may diſcern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that feareth and ſerveth God, and the prophane and him that ſerveth him not. By this he adjuſts to every of both theſe their due portion, honour to whom honour, ſtripes to whom ſtripes, with their degrees and number; however they lye huddled now, and the beſt oft-times in the darkeſt place. And this Judgment is plentifully declared to the world, that every one may make a right uſe of it, in giving Glory to God, and prejudging things not againſt, but with that day. If any do otherwiſe, he that ſits in the Heaven obſerves their folly, and laughs at it: For he ſeeth that this day is coming, as he that is ſure of his revenge upon a contumacious ingrate, firſt in compaſſion warns him, and that rejected with a ſecret deriſion, obſerves him in his fooliſh boldneſs, and with a contented patience bears his continued affronts; expecting quietly the ſeaſon of his puniſhment: or as a wiſe man that knows his own grounds in a point of truth, tranquilly reſts upon them, and bears with a merciful diſdain the clamour of a conceited Opinioniſt; ſo God having ſetled things with an unmoveable Righteouſneſs, and a patience alſo, that yet carries dread with it, ſays to thoſe that will not believe ſuch a Judgment, He that is filthy and unrighteous, let him be ſo ſtill.
2. Whereas God may ſeem by the ſuſpenſion of his Judgments, careleſs of that purgation of the world by their preſent execution, let us obſerve what other proviſions his Holineſs, Wiſdom, and Goodneſs have made herein.
1. That Eternal Sacrifice of Jeſus Chriſt, that in one act of offering himſelf gives that perpetual glory to Juſtice, that doth not only countervail, but infinitely preponderate and effect more then thoſe daily repeated Sacrifices, or thoſe more ſolemn ones; to which yet the reaſon of all the world hath ever made recourſe for luſtration of themſelves.
The life and actions of our Bleſſed Saviour, of ſuch incomparable innocency & divine perfection, hath ſet Holineſs at ſuch an elevation, that no depreſſion of it by the iniquities of men, are at all comparable with the exaltations of it in him. He as our foreign hath contracted upon himſelf all our guilt, an… being made a curſe for us, hath devoured our curſe, and paid an uttermoſt compenſation to punitive Juſtice. He by a moſt Chryſtalline purity reſplendent in our Nature, hath diſcovered the beauties of Holineſs beyond all poſſible obſcurations of ours, the efficacies of which his mediatory negotiation are much clearer in Heaven, the proper Region; whither he carried his merit to be ſeated in an unintermitted Interceſſion, and whence he pours down the benefits of it upon Earth.
As God therefore is well pleaſed, and always ſmells a ſavour of reſt in Jeſus Chriſt, upon which he cannot only ſtay his ſeverity but bleſs the world without injury to his Juſtice, or diſhonour to his Holineſs; ſo is the world it ſelf ſeaſoned by ſo great a Sanctity, & perfumed with the odour of it. This indeed eminently is the ſafety of them that believe, but extends it ſelf to all, for he is the Saviour of all, though eſpecially of them that believe; and taſted death for every man: which therefore avails for the reprieve of thoſe, whom yet it doth not protect from condemnation.
That which relieves good men from eternal ſufferings due to ſin, with the perfect atonement of Juſtice and Holineſs, can without the offence of thoſe Attributes continue under patience and long-ſuffering thoſe, that at the laſt, through impenitency, pay themſelves to the glory of vengeance in the day of wrath.
3. Under the wing of this Prieſthood lye the humiliations, obediences, and interceſſions of gracious men, who are alſo the Prieſts of the world, and obtain pardon upon Earth in the virtue of the Mediator in Heaven. They who giving God no reſt day or night, prevail for mercy, and live the Horſemen and Chariots of Iſrael, the great ſecurity and defence of their Country, of which when any City or Nation is naked, they are immediately the prey of Juſtice; their Righteouſneſs being from the Grace of God, a ſalt that preſerves their time from putrefaction. To this we may ſubjoyn the happineſs of ſome times, that are fuller of the days of the Son of Man (that is) have clearer effuſions of the Goſpel and Divine Truth upon the world; which carrying a ſway upon the conſciences of men, give univerſal eſtimation to God and his ways, and have a train of moral Virtues attendant; which may make general Judgments leſs neceſſary vindications of contemporary ſins, and may at leaſt delay Judgments till after-times. Examples of which we obſerve in Sacred Story.
Laſtly, we have already ſaid, inſtances of Judgment do not breathe out themſelves in the preſent moments, nor ſo much as in the preſent Age; but derive themſelves upon following time, and are accepted for ſuch a period: Like the great expiation, that in one day purged the whole year. In all times there are yet foot-ſteps of Judgment, though in more private and retired walks that continually fall out, like thoſe Sacrifices that were daily offered, though of leſs ſolemnity, and thoſe that were appointed in particular caſes of a more ordinary occurrence.
3. If it ſeem the diſadvantage of any time, that it is not diſciplined by theſe chaſtiſements; we muſt know, that Judgments are not equal with thoſe Ordinances of God, or like his Word, that have in their inſtitution an immediate accommodation to ſuch ends; but are uſeful through the intervening inſtruction of that Law that God teaches out of, when he chaſtiſes; without which men dye under thoſe ſtrokes unreformed. Other courſes of Providence have alſo their witneſs of God, and peculiar fitneſſes to be managed by his truth to the ends of converſion and repentance; for thither the patience and goodneſs of God lead, att…mpered to the more ingenuous Elements of mans Soul, that are touched with the magnetiſms of love: Even as Judgments take eare of thoſe that are moved by fear, and therefore have their operation in the more corrupted parts of degenerate Nature.
To ſum all: Suſpenſion of Judgments is a beautiful place in the contexture of Providence, and illuſtrates that Being to us, whom we know in the various diſcoveries of himſelf, but chiefly in his goodneſs; which yet would be unknown, if he did not thus adminiſter things: His patience and long-ſuffering in which he ſo much delights, would be covered; the loving kindneſs he exerciſes in the Earth, and the tender mercies wherewith he fills it, would be concealed, ſo that his preſent Government would want that conſiderable piece of honour, which it eſpecially chuſeth and prefers it: For his mercy rejoyceth againſt Judgment, and accordingly he hath taken care theſe kinder Attributes ſhould have faireſt impreſſions on mans Soul, and be the cleareſt teſtimonies of him; whereas Judgment being his ſtrange act, hath leſſer prints of it on our hearts, and raiſes doubts concerning him. No man wonders, or is in amaze at the goodneſs and benignity of God, whenever he hears it; but is ſtartled at his ſeverity, and calls for his ſaddeſt thoughts to reſolve it into the ſinful and guilty ſtate of man.
Without this gracious Manu-tenency there could be no condition of things; Kingdoms and Empires could grow up to no flouriſh, nor ſettle in any greatneſs; the proſperity of them, which is ſo great a glory of Providence, were an impoſſibility; the whole Scene would repreſent nothing but Judgments, till all run into an univerſal deſolation, and many of the moſt remarked methods of Judgment it ſelf loſt; moſt of the freer motions of mans will had been concluded and ſhut up by them which afford ſo large a ground to Providences both of Mercy and Judgment. God as an Inſtance of his Juſtice eſſayed the uſe of an univerſal deſtruction in the Flood of Noah, when he repented he had made man, as if he had done a diſhonour to his own Holineſs, in bringing forth a Nature that ſhould defile it ſelf, and all it touched: and that he might relieve againſt a miſchief as it were unexpected, and right himſelf, makes haſte to deſtroy that degenerate Nature, with the parts of the Creation moſt uſed and corrupted by it.
But then, as if he diſallowed the experiment, determines againſt it for the future, and reſtores the ſeeds of mankind he had to that purpoſe preſerved, to much of their former condition, and renews the Charter of their Dominion over the Creatures.
This piece of Sacred Hiſtory repreſents to us in a Land-ſkip (thus flouriſhed to take our apprehenſions) this truth, That God with a Salve to that Holineſs (in honour to which he delivered things to ſo great a ruine) would now conſerve the world under his patience and long-ſuffering; and not roll it up any more in an univerſal devaſtation, till that greateſt and laſt of Judgments, in which he will abſolve the whole Scheme of his Juſtice, and fill up whatever ſeems wanting in it now.