Concerning Gods Judgments — Simon Ford

Concerning Gods Judgments · Simon Ford

PSAL. ix. 16. the former part.

The Lord is known by the Judgment which he executeth.

THE Diſcourſe that I ſhall make to you upon this Text, (as I ſuppoſe you will eaſily gheſs, if I ſhould not tell you) is occaſioned by as remarkable an Inſtance of Gods juſt Providence, (which moſt of you know to have lately faln out in our neighbourhood, and that ſo notoriouſly, as to fill all mens Tongues and Ears with the diſcourſe of it, and the Eyes of many hundreds, if not thouſands of them with the beholding it;) as it may be, in all the circumſtances, is hardly to be parallei'd in any Hiſtory.

And that which induced me to make ſuch a diſcourſe on this occaſion, was, partly, becauſe I thought it needful (at this convenient diſtance of Time wherein the common talk concerning it as News, is almoſt ſpent) to recall it again to your thoughts in a more ſerious and edifying way; leſt it ſhould die, as to its beſt uſe among you, as nine days wonders, (according to the Proverb) are wont to do? And partly, that (ſeeing the apprehenſions of men have been ſo different, and their diſcourſes ſo various about it, moſt men judging of it according to their particular Tempers and Humours, in compliance with the Principles they are governed by;) I might, ſo far as ſuch works of God, the main ſprings whereof are concealed in his own breaſt, may be underſtood by us, help you in ſome competent meaſure ſo to underſtand it, as to turn it to your greateſt benefit and advantage: And laſtly, that having now gained the ſight of a juſt and impartial Narrative of that ſad Story from a Reverend Perſon of great Integrity, and a diligent enquirer into all the circumſtances thereof, (to moſt of which he was an eye and ear-witneſs) I might diſpoſe you to receive it when it comes to publick view with more readineſs, and give it the better entertainment, being inſtructed before how to make uſe of it.

And the Text I have choſen for this purpoſe, is part of a Verſe made remarkable by two unuſual words in the cloſe of it; which, though Interpreters agree not in the expounding of them, yet they generally concur in this, that they have ſomething extraordinary in them, [viz. Higgaion, Selah.] For, whatever the latter may mean; or whether it be a bare Note in Muſick, which is an undetermined diſpute: the former of them, by the ſignification of the*Ab foreign locutus eſt ore; vel corde, meditatus eſt. root whence it is derived, evidently recommends to us a matter of ſerious meditation.

And ſuch indeed the Verſe is, being a ſolemn and weighty atteſtation of the holy Pſalmiſt to the Divine Providence, upon occaſion of ſome remarkable appearance of it, on the behalf of his Church againſt ſome of their heathen Enemies; which is the ſubject of the preceding part of the Pſalm: the account whereof he ſeals up with this Epiphonematical Inſtruction to all the world, [The Lord is known by the Judgment which he executeth] and eſpecially, by this oftentimes moſt remarkable circumſtance accompanying it, that he makes offenders themſelves the executioners thereof upon themſelves, and enſnares them in the work of their own hands.

From the former part of which Divine Teſtimonial, (as I may properly call it) I intend, on this occaſion, to handle this plain obſervation.

That Gods publick ſignal Judgments upon any offender or offenders are evident Teſtimonies by which he is known to mankind.Doct.

In the handling of which Obſervation, I ſhall endeavour theſe ſeven things:

1. To ſhew you, what I mean, by theſe publick ſignal Judgments of God upon offenders.

2. To evince, by ſuch evidence, as I hope will be ſatisfactory to all rational men, that there are ſome ſuch penal ſtrokes inflicted by God on offenders in this life, as deſerve the name of ſignal Divine Judgments; and that ſuch events are not (as Atheiſts pretend) the meer products of chance, or caſualty.

3. To prove, that God is (or ought to be) known by ſuch Judgments as theſe.

4. To explain, what of God it is, which may be, and uſually is made known by them.

5. To give you the proper Characters, by which ſuch Divine Judgments are differenced from like Providences befalling men on other accounts.

6. To direct you in the application of ſuch Judgments to particular perſons and caſes, ſo as that you may not offend againſt Juſtice or Charity.

7. And laſtly, to cloſe up this whole Diſcourſe with ſome uſeful practical Inferences.

1. Firſt, To ſhew you, [What I mean by theſe publick ſignal Judgments of God on offenders.] And here you are firſt to underſtand, that Gods Judgments in the notion of the Holy Scriptures, are of two ſorts, to wit,

His Judicia

Judicantia, &

Judicata.

1. His Judicia Judicantia; or Judgments pronounced in the Sentence of his Law, dooming offenders to ſuch penalties for their offences againſt it. And it is uſual with the Scripture to call the Laws of God, on this account, his Judgments, and to joyn them with Statutes, as words of like import, as I could ſhew in very many places.

2. His Judicia Judicata; or Judgments (in the phraſe of the Text) executed, which are the former dooms actually inflicted; and are therefore called by the name of thoſe, according to which they do befall men. Now, though it be true, that no evil of ſuffering befalls any ſinner, but what (to ſpeak properly) is ſuch a Judgment of God, becauſe all evils penal are before denounced in Gods Law, which every ſinner breaks: yet the Scripture is not wont to call them all by that name. For that is uſually applyed to thoſe penal ſtrokes of God, which have ſome ſpecial Characters of his Vindictive Juſtice upon them; to wit, ſomething in the nature of them, that is not foreign, common to men; or in the Circumſtances, ſomething of ſurprizing ſuddenneſs from the unexpectedneſs or unlikelyhood of their befalling men, in reſpect of the Time, Place, Condition, Imployment, Company, &c. or ſomething unuſual in the Inſtruments by which, or manner in which they are inflicted, &c. and eſpecially, if there be any thing in them, that appears to be either above, or contrary to, or but beſides the wonted courſe of Nature, and ſo is either miraculous, or prodigious.

Now theſe Two, are either inflicted on ſinners in a private way, ſo as few or none know of them, but ſuch as feel them, and thoſe who are intimately converſant with them: or elſe they are laid on them in a publick notorious manner, (as the Judgments amongſt us pronounced upon great offenders are wont to be executed) ſo as to call in, and invite Spectators to behold them. And ſuch Judgments, as theſe laſt, the Text muſt be meant of; and of ſuch I deſire to be underſtood, in what follows on this Argument.

And this ſhall ſuffice for my firſt undertaking.

II. The ſecond deſerves to have more Time ſpent on it, becauſe it contains the main foundation of the whole following Diſcourſe. For, if there be no ſuch Judgments executed by God at all;Eccleſ. 9.11. but Time and Chance, (in this caſe as well as others) not only happen to all, but govern all too: then there can be no knowledge of God drawn from them. Yea, if there be no ſuch things as Divine Judgments; then the very God they are ſuppoſed to atteſt to, (which is that the Atheiſt would have) may, for all their Teſtimony, not be. Whereas, if we evince by Reaſon, that any, though never ſo few, of thoſe Events, cannot be produced but by a Divine Providence; we do both prove the being of ſuch a Providence, and withal vindicate Religion, from the imputation of being ſuperſtitious, in attributing all others of like nature to the ſame cauſe.

And therefore on this Head, I take my ſelf to be obliged to make good theſe Two things.

1. That there are ſome penal Events which can by no rational Perſon be juſtly attributed to meer chance or caſualty, or any like cauſe not capable of choice or deſign, in its actings.

2. That ſuch penal Events, as theſe, muſt therefore be the effects of a Providence, and that Providence Divine.

I. The firſt of theſe Propoſitions, I prove by the following Arguments.

1. There are ſome penal Events befalling men in this world, which have been punctually threatned and foretold, as they have in the Iſſue faln out: and many of them ſo threatned and foretold in the very Circumſtances, with which they were accompanied in the Event. As for inſtance,

(1.) In reference to the generality of Mankind. So in the firſt Threatning annexed to the Law given to our firſt Parents in Paradiſe;Gen. 2.17. the daily experience of all Humane Nature, (taken notice of by Heathens themſelves) ſhews it to have been punctually fulfilled, in the corruption and calamities generally befalling the whole race of Men. And that other, in the Law given to Noah, Gen. 9.6.that whoſoever ſheds mans blood, by man ſhall his blood be ſhed; is continually (in the almoſt miraculous diſcoveries of Murders, and bringing Murderers to condign puniſhment) verified in the obſervation of the generality of Mankind to this very day. As alſo is that, of the wonderful ways by which Conſpiracies againſt Sovereign Princes are brought to light, according to the notable threatning to that purpoſe, Eccleſ. 10.20.

(2.) And in reference to particular Perſons, and Nations. See, and compare Num. 20.12, 27, 28.24.27.12.15. Deut. 32.49.34.5.So in the excluſion of Moſes and Aaron from Canaan, it is taken notice of expreſly in the account given of their deaths, (of Aarons, by Moſes, his own Brother, and of Moſes his own, by him that fills up his Story after his deceaſe) that it fell out to both of them according to what God had denounced. And it were eaſie to add many more of the ſame kind, to particular Perſons. But,1 Kings 13. that of the old Prophet to the diſobedient Prophet at Bethel; 2 Kings 7.19, 20.that of Eliſha to the incredulous Lord in Samaria; thoſe of Elijah and Micaiah to Ahab and Jezebel, 2 Kings 21.19.23.22, 28.ſhall ſuffice, inſtead of all the reſt, whereof the Hiſtorical part of Scripture is full, becauſe they are ſo notoriouſly evident, to all that know the Bible.

And as to Nations. To omit the long Catalogue of all the plagues of Egypt, threatned and inflicted in the circumſtances mentioned in the relation of them: that one great Inſtance of the often foretold Captivity of the whole Jewiſh Nation; is ſo obſervable, and ſo atteſted beyond all exception by the publick Records of that Nation held to this day by all their Poſterity in veneration, that there is no more (nay not ſo much) cauſe to doubt it, then there is, that England was conquered by William the Norman.

I ſhall cloſe this Argument with two Inſtances, ſo punctual in a circumſtance of all others moſt unlikely to be lighted on by chance; that I know not what can be objected againſt them to invalidate the force of them, but an Exception againſt the Records themſelves, whence they are taken: to which I ſhall therefore add a word or two anon.

The one, is that of the Judgment denounced againſt Jeroboams Altar, 1 Kings 13.2.and the Prieſts that offered on it, to be executed (as it was) by Joſiah, 2 Kings 23.16.mentioned by his very Name, about 300 years before the performance.

The other, is that of the deſtruction of Babylon (in order to the reſtitution of the Jewiſh Nation;) wherein Cyrus is alſo, by his very Name,Iſa. 44. ult. & 45.1, 2. foretold to be the Perſon that (as he did) was to effect it. Which Propheſie, by the learned Grotius his computation, was uttered 170 years, and by that of Junius and others, above 200, before he accompliſhed it, or probably was in being. And the very manner how he was to take that great Imperial City, (to wit, by the turning away and drying up Euphrates) is ſo lively deſcribed by the Prophet Jeremy; that the Heathen Authors, (Herodotus, Jer. 50.38.51.31, 32.and others) who give us an account of the event, juſtifie the verification of the prediction the ſame way.

Now in theſe and the like Predictions of future Events, with ſuch circumſtances, there is no man but muſt allow a greater certainty, (with reſpect to the cauſes on which they depend) then there can be in any products of meer Caſualty. Which is my firſt Argument.

2. The ſecond is this. There are Inſtances of ſome penal Events, that have been brought upon offenders in a way of formal Proceeding; yea, ſuch as is uſual even in Humane Judicatures. For Inſtance. When Joſhua had forbidden the embezelling any part of the ſpoil of Jericho under the penalty of a Divine Curſe, Joſh. 6.18.7 16, 17, 18.Achan, the offender, falls under the danger of it: Upon the diſcomfiture of the Hoſt before Ai, enquiry is made after the unknown Tranſgreſſor of that Law. Then he is found out by the direction of a four-fold Lot, that brought all the people (down to his very family) under a ſcrutiny, till the Lot takes him. Then follows his Examination, Confeſſion, Judgment, and Execution. And not much unlike was the Proceſs, Jon. 1.by which Jonah was caſt into the Sea, and there impriſon'd in the belly of a Whale, till his Repentance procured his Releaſe. Now, abating the extraordinary way of diſcovery in theſe two caſes; the reſt of the Procedure in theſe Judgments in formed Methodically, according to the order of Humane Juſtice. And muſt theſe proceedings (in ſo exact a Method too) be attributed to meer Caſualty? May not the perſons who have the confidence to aſſert this, as well affirm that Malefactors are hanged at Tyburn by meer Caſualty, when they have been ſeized by order of Law, committed to Newgate by warrant, tryed at the Seſſions-houſe, and having received their Sentence upon the Verdict of a Jury, been conducted to the place of Execution, and there turned off the Cart, by the known Officers thereunto by Law appointed?

3. My third Argument is this. In the actual puniſhing of offenders, many times the Inſtruments made uſe of have been irrational Creatures; and yet have by an unknown Influence been directed to act, as if they were governed by Principles of Juſtice, as well as Reaſon: as putting an evident diſcrimination and difference betwixt them and the innocent, when both of them have equally been within their Power. In the famous caſe of the plagues of Egypt, how came the Frogs, the Flies, the Hail, and the Plague, &c. to ſeize only the Houſes, Cattle, bodies of Egyptians, and not touch an Iſraelite, or any of his concerns, when (as it appears, by the order for the ſprinkling of the Jews houſes with the blood of the Paſchal Lamb for diſtinction) they lived, for the moſt part,Exod. 12.22. and converſed intermixedly each with other? How was it, that the waters of the Red Sea ſtood as a wall on both ſides, whilſt the Iſraelites were marching through it; and returned to their courſe,Exod. 14. ſo ſoon as they came on dry land, to overwhelm Pharaoh and his Hoſt, who were in purſuit of them? When the three glorious Confeſſours were adjudged to the fiery Furnace by Nebuchadnezzar, whence came it that the fire (ſo ragingly hot as it was) abſtained from touching ſo much as one hair of their heads, or ſinging their Garments, and to burn only their bonds aſunder, and ſet them at liberty to walk in it,Dan. 3.22. to 27. who were caſt in bound: and yet to lick up and devour (even without the mouth of the Furnace) thoſe who caſt them in? And when Daniel himſelf was caſt into the Lions Den, and lodged among them in the bottom of the Den, one whole night, whence was it, that the hungry and cruel beaſts did not the leaſt hurt to him; and yet the very ſame Lions, when his Accuſers and their Relations were caſt in thither, had the maſtery of them, Dan. 6.22, 23, 24.and brake all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the Den? Laſtly, (to name no more Examples of this nature) when the Lion, according to the prediction of the old Prophet at Bethel, 1 Kings 13.ſlew the Man of God that againſt Gods Commandment had eaten and drunk there; was he directed by meer chance ſo to do? Did he (being hungry, and ſeeking for Prey) light on him caſually only? If ſo, why (according to the uſual wont of ſuch beaſts of prey, as they obſerve who have been in thoſe Countries, to forbear falling on Men, but when they can light on no other food) did he not ſeize on his Aſs rather; but kill him, and not touch his Aſs, that (as unconcerned in the danger) was afterwards found ſtanding by his ſide? Verſe 28.Why did he only kill him, and not devour him, and then withdraw to his Den: but rather chooſe to ſtand by him, as reſolved to avouch the fact: and that all the while the news was carrying to the City, and came by report to the old Prophet, and his Horſe ſadling, and he and his company travelling to the place of that ſad ſpectacle? And when they came, why did he ſuffer them to carry away his prey ſo tamely as it ſeems he did? Do theſe things look like meer Caſualties? Is it not rather evident, that ſuch Agents acting ſo differently from their own nature and inclination, (ſo as to puniſh only the guilty, and ſingle them out among others equally within their reach) were directed by an Intelligent Cauſe, by whoſe order and Commiſſion they made this difference? And this is our ſecond Propoſition to be proved upon this Head; [That ſeeing theſe things cannot fall out by meer chance, or any thing elſe of like nature, they muſt be governed by Divine Providence] which I make good by theſe ſteps of rational Argumentation. Such Events as fall not out by chance, fall out according to choice or contrivance. That choice and contrivance (in matter of puniſhment) muſt either be the choice and contrivance of the Sufferer or Inflicter. Sufferers are not wont to chooſe and contrive their own harms: but rather to avoid, and uſe what means they can to guard themſelves from them. If the Inflicter (then) chooſe and contrive the puniſhmenes mentioned; then, as the contrivance argues him to be a rational Being; ſo the bringing his contrivances to paſs by ſuch Inſtruments as have been mentioned, and with ſuch certainty, argues him to be ſuch a Being, as hath a predominant power over Nature it ſelf: which can be no other then Divine; and theſe effects mentioned, and the like, can be no other then the products of his Infinite Power and Wiſdom, as you will ſee more anon.

Againſt the force of theſe Arguments, I cannot imagine how the Atheiſt can guard his Principles, but by excepting againſt the Evidence of the matter of fact in the Inſtances before mentioned: Seeing there is no clear proof of them, in moſt of the caſes, but from the H. Scriptures; which, though we own and reverence, yet he looks on with contempt and ſcorn, as not owning the Authority we allow them.

But he ought to conſider, that it is not in this whole proceſs of Argumentation in Queſtion before us, whether theſe writings be divinely inſpired or no? There is, herein, no other eſteem required to be given them, by him, but only what is due to credible Hiſtories. And it is enough for our preſent purpoſe, if they can juſtifie themſelves to be true Records of thoſe matters which fell out in thoſe Ages which they undertake to account for. And ſo much I can hardly imagine, how any man can have the forehead to deny: conſidering that they have all thoſe Motives of credibility for them, (with the advantage of indiſputable Antiquity, and the having been owned by ſo great a part of the World for ſo many Ages) which other Hiſtories whatſoever can pretend to. Whence it muſt appear to all unbiaſſed Judges, that he that will allow (upon the Motives mentioned) Plutarch, and Thucydides, and Livy, and Tacitus, and other ſuch Hiſtorians to be competent witneſſes of the matters of fact related by them; muſt needs be governed by prejudice rather then Reaſon, if he deny the ſame to Moſes and other Jewiſh Hiſtorians, concerning the matters falling out among them, who are, and have been always in greater eſteem in their own Nation, (who beſt knew their own ſtory) then thoſe mentioned ever were either in Greece or Rome.

But if yet (notwithſtanding all that hath been ſaid to the contrary) the Atheiſt will ſtill perſiſt in denying the matters of fact upon which the former Arguments are bottomed, becauſe they are (for the greateſt part) only recorded in that book, which it is the Intereſt of his Irreligion to disbelieve: What will he ſay to two Inſtances, (which I have purpoſely reſerved to this place, becauſe they are ſo great, as to prove themſelves to be the effects of a Divine Providence;Vid. H. Grot. Annot. ad libros ſuos de ver. Rel. Chr. and becauſe they are confirmed by ſeveral Heathen Authors too, as well as related in the Holy Scripture) I mean the univerſal Deluge, and the deſtruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? For if theſe Inſtances de facto be true; to which there is ſuch a concurring Evidence; he will find it very difficult to perſuade himſelf, (that I ſay not others) that ſo vaſt a quantity of waters as ſo covered all the face of the earth, and overflowed the higheſt Mountains, could be collected by any power leſs then Divine; and much leſs, come together by chance: and will be no leſs puzled, to ſhew by what inferior Agent ſuch a fire as burnt thoſe Cities could be kindled; and burn with that vehemence, as to preſerve its remembrance without alteration in a Lake of ſulphurous water for ſo many thouſand years; (though that Lake continually for ſo long together hath ſwallowed all the Streams of ſo great a River as Jordan falling into it) which is the conſtant wonder of all Travellers to this day.

And ſo I diſcharge my ſecond undertaking, to prove, [That there are ſome ſuch Judicial Providences that have been executed by God.]

III. I come now to the third, to ſhew, [That God is, or ought to be, known by them] as he that works them upon that deſign. And here I ſhall be but brief, as indeed I need not to be large in a matter ſo plain and evident both from Reaſon and Scripture.

For (1.) in Reaſon, what can be the end of Sovereign Providence in ſuch extraordinary appearances, but to manifeſt it ſelf and its Author? An end, for which even men are wont to do thoſe great things which at any time they have attained to, in publick Theaters, or other great concourſes of people, as our Saviours kindred tell him.

(2.) And the Scripture alſo declareth no leſs in other places.Jo. 7.4. So, when the Royal Pſalmiſt prophetically imprecateth thoſe dreadful Judgments which make up the greateſt part of the 83. Pſalm; in the laſt Verſe he aſſigns the intended uſe of them to all the world; to wit, That men may know that he alone whoſe Name is Jehovah,Pſal. 83. ult. is the moſt High over all the Earth? And God himſelf is elſewhere brought in, upon the Deſolations which he had made by his penal Providences in the Heathen world for oppreſſing his people, as calling on all men to behold thoſe his works, and be ſtill, (i. e. to ceaſe from farther hoſtilities againſt his Intereſts) as knowing by experience already dearly bought, that he is God, and (will they, nill they) reſolved to be ſo,Pſal. 96.8, 9, 10. and to be exalted in the earth.

In a word, (to add no more Texts for proof of that which almoſt every Page in the Bible atteſts unto) the whole Church are by the Author of the Apocalyps repreſented (upon ſuch notable Judicial Providences) as ſinging the Song of Moſes and the Lamb, (i. e. a Chriſtian Song, like that of Moſes after the drowning of the Egyptians) and therein inſtructing all the world in this Duty.Rev. 15.3, 4. Who (ſay they) ſhall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy Name; for all Nations ſhall come and worſhip before thee, for thy Judgments are made manifeſt? Even as Moſes and the Iſraelites in the Song to which this is parallel, infer from the Judgments of God on Pharaoh and his Hoſt, Who is like thee, O Lord, among the Gods? Who is like thee, Exod. 15.11.glorious in Holineſs, fearful in Praiſes, (or the Actions whence thou gathereſt thy Praiſe) doing Wonders? And this opens the way to my ſourth Head.

IV. The Enquiry concerning [What of God it is, which is known or to be known by theſe ſignal Judgments?]

And to this Enquiry I anſwer Two things.

1. His Being, and Exiſtence. [That there is a God.] For he that executeth Judgment ſo, as no finite limited Being, no created Power can, muſt needs be a Supreme uncreated Being; that is, God. And this is an Argument ſo ſtrongly concluſive againſt the Atheiſt, that he is forced (to ſecure his Principles) to fly to that ſorry refuge of lyes, which I have before refuted; to buoy up his reputation among thoſe who know not the difference betwixt Reaſon and Noiſe, and judge no diſputant baffled, that hath any thing to ſay, though what he ſays be next to nothing. For, as he that is a meer ſtranger in England, if yet he ſee Courts of Judicature, conſtantly kept in the Kings Name, and Criminals continually puniſhed by a Power deputed and commiſſioned by him; cannot rationally doubt, whether there be a King in England: ſo neither can any man, with any colour of Reaſon; ſeeing Gods Judicial Providences continually executing his known Laws, make it a Queſtion, Whether there be a God that judgeth the Earth. Thus is Jehovah known by his Judgments, to be Jehovah.

2. His eminent Divine Perfections and Glorious Attributes are illuſtriouſly manifeſted by his Judgments executed. As for Inſtance,

(1.) His Juſtice; Which in theſe remarkable Providences always juſtifies it ſelf; as ordinarily lighting upon thoſe offenders, concerning whom not only their own Conſciences, (as in the confeſſion of Pharaoh himſelf, crying out [The Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.] Exod. 9.27.) but alſo the whole world are, or may be, abundantly ſatisfied they have deſerved it: yea, and among them, even they who not only commit thoſe crimes which they ſee puniſhed in others, but promote them, by ſhewing the pleaſure they take in thoſe that do them, yet know that they who do ſuch things are worthy of death; Rom. 1. ult.and approve the Judgment of God, even in thoſe Sentences and Executions wherein they themſelves are implicitly condemned.

(2.) His Mercy and Goodneſs; In many particulars.

As 1. when he ſpares ſo many for every one that he ſmites, though equally criminal: and is as remarkable in his patience and long-ſuffering to ſome, as he is in his ſeverity to others.

2. In puniſhing leſs then mens iniquities deſerve, Ezra 9.13.by how much the greateſt temporal ſuffering, that can be, is leſs than Hell.

3. In making the greateſt evils men ſuffer here, occaſions and means to preſerve them from greater Judgments hereafter.

4. And laſtly, in making his ſeverities to the worſt of men the means of ſignal preſervations and deliverances to thoſe that are eminently good; and ſhewing thereby, that he as well knows how to deliver the righteous, 2 Pet. 2.9.as to puniſh the wicked.

(3.) His Omnipotent Power, and Sovereign Greatneſs, whilſt

[1.] he reacheth thoſe Malefactors that are too high for Humane Juſtice, and pride themſelves in their uncontrolableneſs by Humane Laws. Thus, by his dealing with Pharaoh, Exod. 5.2.who would own no Lord but himſelf, he draws an acknowledgement from Jethro, that he was greater than all Gods, becauſe in the thing wherein the proud Tyrant and his people dealt proudly, Exod. 18.11.he was above them. And

[2.] whilſt he ſummons in the poſſe of the whole Creation to bring ſuch over-ſized Malefactors to Execution, and arms the very meaneſt and moſt contemptible of them, (as flies, and lice, and frogs) with weapons to ſubdue and conquer them. And

[3.] laſtly, whilſt he ſometimes makes a kind of new Creation, to ſerve his juſt ends, by altering the very courſe of Nature. as in the general deluge, when the very Fountains of the great Deep were broken up, i. e. The waters which were in the bowels of the Earth, with thoſe of the vaſt Ocean it ſelf, left their proper ſeat naturally appointed for them, and came up to cover the face of the Earth.Gen. 7.11.

(4.) His Verity or Truth; Often, in the performance of particular threatnings and predictions in particular caſes, as thoſe before mentioned: and always, (even in them too) in fulfilling the general Curſes and denunciations of his wrath againſt the Tranſgreſſors of his Laws. So that men are hereby convinced, that his Judgments are not only righteous, but true.Apoc. 15.3.16.7.19.2.

(5.) His Omniſcience, or certain knowledge of all the Words and Actions of men, though never ſo much concealed in all imaginable ſecreſie: and yet oftentimes by the proceſs of his Judicial Providences he brings them to light.

For (1.) by them he ſometimes draws out of the boſoms of offenders, by their own Confeſſion, (as in the caſes of Achan, Jonah, and others) thoſe things which were not otherwiſe diſcoverable. And

(2.) by ſtrange and unuſual accidents he ſets the inquiſitive humor of men on work, to lay odd and uncouth paſſages and circumſtances together, till at laſt they make a ſufficient concurrent Evidence, to convict Malefactors of ſecret and unknown Crimes; than which there is nothing more uſual in ordinary Courts of Juſtice. So that it comes frequently to paſs, as Zophar obſerves, that the Heavens firſt reveal mens iniquities, Job 20.27.and then the earth riſes up againſt them.

(6.) And laſtly, (not to multiply more particulars on this Head) his Infinite Wiſdom, and moſt Prudent Counſel; whereby he manageth thoſe penal Providences ſo, as to out-wit the wiſeſt of men, when they imploy all their Policy to ſecure themſelves: by which he ſhews himſelf wonderful in Counſel, and gives the world daily occaſion wiſely to conſider his doings, Pſal. 64.9.to find out the admirable contexture of the wheels and ſprings, by which that great Engine is moved, which takes the wiſe in their own craftineſs, Job 5.13.and ſnares the wicked (as the following part of my Text expreſſeth it) in the work of their own hands.

And in many of thoſe great works, when Ages have ſtudied them all they can, yet ſtill there is ſomething remaining undiſcoverable to exerciſe the wonder of the moſt curious Enquirers, and make them cry out with the holy Apoſtle,Rom. 11.33. O the depth! How unſearchable are Gods Judgments, and his ways paſt finding out! And this ſhall ſuffice to be ſpoken to my fourth Head.

V. The fifth follows, to wit, To give you the beſt account I can, of [The diſtinguiſhing Characters by which ſuch Divine Judgments are differenced from like Providence befalling men upon other Accounts.]

The reaſon of which diſquiſition is, becauſe God many times either actively inflicts, or (at leaſt) paſſively permits great afflicting evils, to befall men, yea, the beſt men; which are not to be ranked by us under this Head of Judicial Executions, as being intended by God to promote holy Deſigns of his own of quite a different Nature, and tendency.

Now in the purſuance of this great Enquiry, I ſhall firſt adventure to your conſideration ſome general obſervations concerning Divine Judgments, which may conduce to the governing our ſelves in it with due caution: and then give you the Characters I promiſed.

1. The general obſervations are theſe.

[1.] That ſuch publick ſignal Judgments as my Text and Doctrine ſuppoſe, are a ſort of Divine Providences which God doth more rarely than is ordinarily believed, exhibit to the world. For he himſelf calls the execution of Judgment in ſuch publick and notorious manner,Iſa. 28.21. his ſtrange work. And (ſpeaking after the manner of men) tells us,Lam. 3.33. 'tis that which he doth not willingly, i. e. not of his own natural propenſion, but upon the urgency of ſome ſpecial occaſions, which indiſpenſably require it. Wherefore it is, that the obliging Inſtances of his Mercy and Bounty, his Patience and long ſuffering, and other expreſſions of his Goodneſs, (his moſt natural Attribute) are the daily and hourly exerciſe of his Providence: but thoſe other harſh aad unwelcome Iſſues of it (like unnatural Births) are produced but now and then. And that

(1.) partly, becauſe this world is not properly ſeculum Mercedis, Rom. 2.9.the ſeaſon for the revelation of the righteous Judgment of God, wherein to render to every man according to his works; but that buſineſs is reſerved for the world to come, and the Day in which he hath appointed to judge the world by the man whom he hath ordained: Acts 17.31.and he thinks it (therefore) not fit to leſſen the expectation thereof, by a ſeeming anticipation of the imployment proper thereunto: and

(2.) partly, becauſe he is deſirous to keep up the juſt value of ſuch great occurrences by the rarity of them; which if they were common, would grow into like diſeſteem with other things that come under daily obſervation: and

(3.) partly, becauſe, as a bountiful Benefactor, he is not willing to ſtreighten his liberality to the very worſt of men; but to give them a plentiful ſhare of the good things of this life, whoſe portion is laid out here: Luke 16.25.And laſtly, Pſal. 17.14.becauſe it conduceth to the glory of his Juſtice in another world, to give bad men (of themſelves inclined to grow inſolent upon his forbearance) the occaſion of hardening their hearts in evil, by not executing Sentence againſt every wicked work ſpeedily.Eccleſ. 8.11.

[2.] That it is highly probable, that theſe ſorts of unuſual Providences are yet rarer in the latter Ages of the world, than in the earlier: and under the Goſpel, and among Chriſtians, then under the Law, and among the Jews. Becauſe there was in thoſe times more occaſion for them, and uſe of them, than now there is. Before the Scripture in any part was written, Tradition, with the reliques of the light of Nature, ſometimes aſſiſted with extraordinary Revelation, was the Rule whereby the world was governed. But becauſe the two former were much corrupted, and the third afforded but now and then to a few eminently good men; the generality had need to be often taught their Duty, as Gedeon taught the men of Succoth with thorns and briars, ſharp and ſevere Providences.Judges 8.16. And even after ſo much of it was written, as ſerved to govern the Jewiſh Church under that Adminiſtration, God was pleaſed to keep up ſtill, in great part, the ſame Method of adminiſtring his Kingdom upon earth by exemplary Providences. As (probably) conſidering,

(1.) that what was ſo written, was to be kept among them to whom it did principally pertain; Rom. 9.4.and that the reſt of the world was to be left generally in the ſame condition they were in before. And

(2.) that (by the difference put betwixt the Jews and them, by a peculiar diſcriminating Religion) the reſt of the world were generally like to be exaſperated againſt them; ſo, that had they not been kept in awe by ſuch penal Providences now and then, they would continually have been attempting the extirpation of a ſort of men ſo odious: and had not the Jews themſelves been encouraged in their ſingular Religion, by ſuch frequent miraculous appearances of God for the puniſhment of their perſecutors, they would have been the more tempted to have purchaſed their peace with their Neighbours, by waving their Religious obſervations to purchaſe their good will. And

(3.) that this Law, to the Jews themſelves, was for the moſt part like a book ſealed; in that the greateſt encouragements to obedience, (the great Promiſes of the Goſpel) were obſcured under dark expreſſions, and typical ſhadows,2 Cor. 3.14. till the vail on Moſes his face was taken away by Chriſt, and life and immortality by him were brought to light: 2 Tim. 1.10.and therefore even they had ſtill much need to be quickned to their duty by ſenſible Motives, And

(4.) laſtly, that they were, by the very conſtitution and temper of the Nation, a very ſtiff-necked and unmanageable People; and ſo not eaſily to be kept in obedience by bare written Rules, without a Rod of ſevere Temporal Judgments, frequently laid on the backs of ſome amongſt themſelves, to keep the reſt in awe.

And if we alſo conſider theſe Particulars, (as God probably did) and ſome others that might be ſuggeſted of the like nature; we may very well (I think) be ſatisfied, that if we do not now hear of ſuch frequent notorious Executions of Divine Juſtice as then were the ſtate of the Church ſince Chriſt, and that Church ſpread over all the world; the clearneſs and perſpicuity of his Doctrine in the main inducements to a good life; and the more plentiful effuſions of the Holy Spirit upon all fleſh to produce a more filial obedience thereunto; render it leſs neceſſary that we ſhould do ſo: Eſpecially, ſeeing we have all thoſe great Inſtances of Divine ſeverity which were exhibited in thoſe ancient Ages, delivered down even to us upon whom the ends of the world are come, 1 Cor. 10.11.by holy Pen-men in writing, for our admonition.

[3.] That the certain Interpretation of ſuch rare Judicial Providences, when they now adays fall out, is to us in theſe latter Times more difficult, that it was to the men of thoſe days, in which they were more frequent. The Reaſon whereof is, becauſe God, ſince the Scriptures were compleated, and generally received, hath put a ſtop to that Spirit of Propheſie, which in former Times raiſed up Prophetical Men, to predict and threaten Judgments before they came, and interpret them infallibly when they came. So that the moſt perfect Judgment we can now make of them, though we uſe all the means left us to that purpoſe with the greateſt and moſt conſcientious exactneſs, will fall very ſhort of Infallibility, and amount, at moſt, only to a great Moral certainty, in moſt caſes of that nature.

[4.] That it is therefore very eaſie to miſtake in this affair, and be deceived by the making ſuch Interpretations of Divine Providences of this nature as Phancy and Paſſion, (continually ready herein to interpoſe) may be apt to ſuggeſt to us: and the moſt of men (and too many good men too) are very prone to be miſled by them themſelves, and to miſlead others.

[5.] That ſuch errours and miſtakes, are not more eaſie and frequent, than (as they are commonly made uſe of) ſinful and dangerous. Becauſe, by our aptneſs to avouch them, and (in a ſort) impoſe them on the belief of others, we too often render our ſelves guilty of prophaning Gods Name, (of which his great works are a conſiderable part) by ſtamping our own fond conceits with his Image and Superſcription, which is no leſs a crime in this caſe againſt God, than the minting and vending adulterate Coin in worldly dealings and payments is to the temporal Prince, under whom we live.

[6.] And yet, laſtly, (notwithſtanding all that hath been ſaid to beget a new caution in us in a matter of ſo great an import) I muſt avouch, that I do not believe God hath altogether tyed up his hands from executing ſignal Judgments, even in theſe days, or in thoſe Regions where the Goſpel is preached with greateſt clearneſs and moſt powerful Evidence: Eſpecially, in caſe the ſubſtantial corruptions of ſo pure a Religion be at any time ſo groſs, or the general debauchery of mens lives under ſuch excellent Inſtructions be ſo foul and ſcandalous to the holy Doctrine of our Saviour, as to call for them: and when any new Impieties of the largeſt dimenſions, and prodigious Immoralities, become bold and audacious beyond the examples of the former Ages of Chriſtianity, (with impunity, if not countenance and encouragement, from thoſe that ought to ſuppreſs them) among thoſe that are the noted Profeſſors of it. Nor do I think that we are, in ſuch caſes, ſo deſtitute of direction, partly, from parallel Inſtances of Scripture; and partly, from the general motions of Mankind in all Ages concerning ſuch Providences; and partly, from the concurring Evidence of the circumſtances of them when they ſo fall out, &c. but that we may, even in theſe days, by the ordinary aſſiſtance of Gods Spirit (even without a Revelation) diſcern ſufficient marks and tokens of Divine Judgments upon many of them, to lay a foundation for the improvement of them to the ends which God generally deſigns by them, both to our ſelves and others. For a moral certainty, in ſuch matters wherein a Duty is to be inferred from the various accidents of this life, hath (to us) the force of a Divine Command. A Principle, which if it be not owned, we muſt neceſſarily be endangered to be governed, in moſt of the ordinary actions of our preſent callings and imployments, by that wild and extravagant Rule of exſpecting ſpecial Scripture-determinations in all the particularities of our worldly conditions; which no ſober man will own as the meaſure to govern his Actions by.

2. And ſuch (in the ſecond place) as I have deſcribed, I hope, will the characters of remarkable Divine Judgments be, that follow.

(1.) The greatneſs and publickneſs of a Divine ſtroke, beyond what is common to men; eſpecially, if ſo great, as in common repute to be above the power of man to inflict, (as I have before intimated) gives the firſt glimpſe of light in this Caſe. Which puts us, (as it lawfully may, nay, more in duty ought where the concern is ſome way our own) upon enquiry into the Nature of it. For we are wonted to do ſo in Humane Societies. If a ſtranger come by a Gallows or a Whipping-poſt, and ſee a man hanged, and drawn, and quartered at the one, and another ſeverely whipped at the other; he will preſently be enquiring, wherefore ſuch perſons are handled with ſuch ſeverity in ſo notorious a manner? And when ſeverities, it may be far greater from God, befall any with as publick circumſtances, it is equally rational for the ſpectators, and much more the ſufferers, to enquire what he means by them; and even to ſuſpect the worſt, that they may be Judicial Executions, till he be informed otherwiſe. Yea, God himſelf intimates his approbation of mens inquiſitiveneſs, in ſuch caſes: when he tells the Jews, that he would inflict ſuch ſore plagues on them, as ſhould move all Nations to ask, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this Land? Deut. 29.24.What meaneth the heat of this great Anger?

(2.) But this alone, is not a ſufficient character to warrant us to pronounce ſuch a ſtroke to be a Divine Judgment, how ſevere ſoever it be; except there appear as evident and notorious a crime in conjunction with it. For the judging by the former mark ſingly, miſled Jobs friends in his Caſe: and the men of Melita in the cenſure they paſſed upon St. Paul, Acts 28.4.when they ſaw the Viper hanging on his hand. And it may miſlead us in like caſes. For if we interpret all ſuch great and remarkable ſeverities, on whomſoever they fall, to be Divine Judgments, we ſhall be often endangered unjuſtly to condemn the Generation of Gods beſt Children. Pſal. 73.15.But where both theſe in the ſame perſons meet, with equal Evidence; we can hardly be miſtaken, (except all Mankind be ſuppoſed to be ſo too, who commonly argue in ſuch caſes from this character) in calling ſuch Providences Judgments of God: or, if we be miſtaken, it is (in a ſort) a ſafe errour; as that which (if we make a religious uſe of our apprehenſions about it) will miſlead us only into ſuch affections and actions as tend to Gods glory, and our own benefit and advantage.

(3.) And a far greater evidence is given in this Caſe many times, to make Divine Judgments manifeſt, by the fair and legible Impreſſion and Image of the very offence it ſelf, upon the puniſhment inflicted.Exod. 14. The drowning of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Red Sea, was a puniſhment ſo like their ſin in drowning all the male Children of the Iſraelites in the River: Exod. 1.20. Levi…. 10.1, ….the burning Nadab and Abihu with a ſtrange fire from Heaven, was a Divine ſtroke ſo aptly ſuted to their offence in offering Incenſe with ſtrange fire to Heaven: the inceſtuous defilement of Davids Concubines by Abſalom, 2 Sam. 12.11.had ſo expreſs a ſignature of the defilement of Ʋriahs wife by David: and (to mention no more Examples at preſent) the cutting off the Thumbs and great Toes of Adonibezek himſelf,Judges 1.7. was ſo ſignal a requital of the like cruelty ſhewed by him to 70 Kings before: that no man needs to doubt the lawfulneſs of calling them by the Name they have always born, that of remarkable Divine Judgments. And it can rationally be no matter of ſcruple to any one, to give Providences of the like ſtamp the ſame name ſtill.

(4.) And it makes much to the ſtrengthning the Evidence in ſuch matters, when ſuch remarkable Divine ſtrokes tread cloſe upon the heels of ſome notorious offence, as oftentimes they do: yea, ſo cloſe, as to ſurpriſe the offender in the very Act.Gen. 19.11. The ſtriking the Sodomites blind in the very attempt of a foul ſin not to be named; and the firing of the whole City the next morning with a ſtorm of flaming Brimſtone;Num. 16.32. the cleaving of the Earth to ſwallow Korah and his company, even whilſt they ſtood daringly in the face of God and the Congregation, to avouch a foul Rebellion againſt Moſes, and a ſacrilegious uſurpation of Aarons Prieſthood; the running through of Zimri and Cosbi,Num. 25.8. in the very act of bold and audacious uncleanneſs; the ſlaying of Belſhazzar the very night following his profane debauch, acted by the abuſe of Gods Conſecrated Veſſels to drunkenneſs, Dan. 5.30.at an Idols feaſt; the turning of his Grandfather Nebuchadnezzar a-grazing among oxen, when that vaunting brag was ſcarce out of his mouth,Dan. 4.31, 32, 33. Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the houſe of the Kingdom, by the might of my power? Acts 5.5, 10.12.22, 23.the ſmiting Ananias and Saphira dead, with a lye in their mouths to cover their ſacrilege; the eating up Herod by worms, ſo cloſely attending upon his owning the blaſphemous flattery of the people: and many more like Inſtances to theſe, none ever gave a ſofter Title to, than that of Divine Judgments. And wherefore the drunkards breaking his neck in his drunkenneſs, and the hectoring challengers being ſlain in a Duel, and the perjured perſons being ſmitten dumb or dead in his perjury, and the like penal events befalling other ſinners in the very act of other ſins of as hainous a nature; may not ſtill, by a parity of Reaſon, paſs for Providences of the ſame denomination, I cannot imagine.

(5.) When ſuch penal Providences are the evident and notorious conſequents of provoking and daring Appeals, Applications, or Addreſſes to God of any kind; or of conteſts with him: there is all the Reaſon in the world why we ſhould take them for Divine Judgments, extorted by an impious importunity, or provoking Inſolence.

1.) In caſe of Appeals to God, implicit or explicit. When the bitter water, under the Law, envenomed by the imprecation of the diſloyal wife againſt her ſelf, in caſe ſhe was guilty of the fact ſhe was ſuſpected of, cauſed her belly to ſwell, and her thigh to rot; Num. 5.22.the implicit Appeal to Gods Deciſion in this caſe, made the event evidently to be a Divine Judgment. When Korah and his Complices dare put it to a Divine determination,Num. 16.5. whether they had not as much right to offer Incenſe as Aaron and his Sons: The Event in this Caſe declared that God judged the cauſe in which he was thus appealed to againſt them? And when the wicked Jews by tumultuous out-cries call on Pilate to crucifie Jeſus for a Malefactor, and encourage him, when his Conſcience boggles at ſo foul an act of Injuſtice, with this fearful imprecation, (in the nature of ſuch an Appeal) that if he were not guilty, God would lay his blood on them and their children; and the Event of ſo many Ages hath declared the ſaid guilt not to be yet waſhed off from their whole Poſterity: None but an hardened Jew will ever doubt, whether there be a Divine Judgment in this caſe or no. Laſtly, When holy Job (againſt the unjuſt charges of his cenſorious friends, who among other crimes, taxed him with breaking the arms of the fatherleſs: Job 22.9.i. e. That by his power he had ſo cruſhed them that they were diſabled to maintain their right againſt him) had appealed to God for his vindication, and imprecated againſt himſelf, that if he were guilty of this Crime, his Arm might fall from his Shoulder-blade, Job 31.21, 22.and be broken from the bone; i. e. That the fleſh might rot from the bone, till his Arm fell from his Shoulder; if a little after, that Arm had dropped off according to ☜ his Execration, and ſome concurring evidence withal had appeared to prove him guilty of the fact which he ſo diſclaimed, (I ſay, if it had ſo faln out, which it did not, becauſe he was innocent) had not his friends been juſtified, if they had cryed out in the words of the Pſalmiſt, Behold! the Lord is known by the Judgment that he executeth!

2.) In caſe of Addreſs or Application to him, in matters of another nature. As in promiſſory Oaths, (or which in ſubſtance is all one) Imprecations of Gods vengeance, upon non-performance of what men undertake to do. Which Addreſſes are either ſerious or cuſtomary. And in both ſorts, Gods Judgments may be manifeſted, as the circumſtances may be.

(1.) In ſerious addreſſes of this kind. As in the Caſe of the Children of Iſrael, when they were obliged to ſay Amen to the fearful Curſes annexed to the Law;Deut. 29. from 15. to 26. they did therein implicitly addreſs themſelves to God, and pray, that all thoſe curſes, in caſe of diſobedience to that Law, might befall them; which Curſes are therefore called the Curſes of the Covenant, Deut. 29.21.becauſe they covenanted with God upon that penalty to keep his Commandments there mentioned. And therefore, afterwards, when God had executed thoſe ſeverities upon them, which made all the Neighbour-Nations to enquire, [Wherefore the Lord had dealt ſo with them.] Men are directed by God to anſwer, Becauſe they have forſaken the Covenant of the Lord, Ver. 25. to 29.the anger of the Lord was kindled againſt this Land to bring upon it all the curſes written in this Book. And he moreover tells them, that they need not fear offending by a raſh cenſure, where Gods Judgments with the Cauſes of them were ſo manifeſt. For though ſecret things belong to God; i. e. in dark caſes, we muſt not be too forward to paſs our ſentence upon Gods providential proceedings; yet things revealed, (as ſuch Judgments inflicted upon ſuch a forfeiture by Covenant betwixt God and a People are) belong to us and our children, to interpret and improve them. And the like may be the caſe of particular perſons, when they vow and ſolemnly Covenant with God to leave ſuch vices, and amend their lives; and to bind themſelves the more firmly, imprecate ſuch evils upon themſelves, in caſe they fail in performance. Of which there is a notable Inſtance in one of our late Writers, of Sir Jervaſe Ellowis, Wilſon Hiſt. of K. James.(as he calls him) who at the place of Execution took notice to all the people preſent of Gods juſt Judgment that brought him to that end: for that he had ſolemnly (being given to gaming) upon ſome ſpecial occaſion, prayed to God, That if he did ſo any more, be might be hang'd: and having broken promiſe with God, he had brought his own wiſh upon him.

(2.) In cuſtomary Addreſſes of that nature; when men upon every ſlight occaſion imprecate in the form of a cuſtomary wiſh, (as a vain Parentheſis in diſcourſe, with ſome perſons too frequent) any evil upon themſelves, to back every ſlight purpoſe or trivial Promiſe that drops unadviſedly from their lips: Theſe men, though they uſe not Gods Name explicitly in ſuch forms of diſcourſe, (and yet too often even that is done, [I wiſh to God, &c.] is too frequent a Phraſe) yet they do imply it, and it hath the force of an application to God, to inflict ſuch an evil on them. Now, if when men fail, as too often they do, in thoſe unadviſed promiſes of theirs, and God brings the calamity they wiſhed upon them; I ſhould not ſcruple in ſuch a caſe to look on it as the execution of a Divine Judgment, to warn people, how they uſe any expreſſions wherein Gods Name is concerned, in a ſlight and cuſtomary manner. And I am perſwaded, if it were well obſerved, God doth to very many perſons of lewd Tongues, perform in earneſt, what they ſo often inconſiderately imprecate in this world: and doubt the doth ſo to many more in another world, where their [God-damnme's] and [The-Devil-take-me's] and the like familiar forms of cuſtomary diſcourſe, with prophane men, are (with the ſtinging atteſtations of their own Conſciences to Gods Juſtice therein) ſadly verified upon them to all eternity.

3.) In caſe of Conteſts with God, Gods Judgments are often manifeſted and made known to be what indeed they are. As,

(1.) When they light upon the furious maintainers of a falſe Religion againſt the true: eſpecially, if in a publick and notorious competition, God be (as it were) challenged to appear in the vindication of his Truth. Which was the caſe of Baals Prieſts in their notable conteſt with Elijah, wherein God brought them to publique Execution,1 Kings 18. by a miraculous Confutation in the preſence of all Iſrael.

(2.) When ſuch Divine ſeverities befall the profeſſours and propugners of Atheiſm and Irreligion, in oppoſition to all Religion. If ſuch perſons die not the common death of other men, the common vote of Mankind pronounceth them to be executed by a Divine Judgment. Vid. Cic. de N…t. Deor m. I. 1, & 2. L…ert in vit. Prot. Ariſtip. Epic. B…nis. Athen. I. 13. Aelian. I. 4.As appears, by the cenſures paſſed by Heathens, themſelves upon the ſtrange ends of Diagoras, Protagoras, Bion, Theodorus, Epicurus, Pherecides, and others, who either were, or were generally reputed, Atheiſts among them: And by thoſe of the Holy Scriptures on Pharaoh: and of the Eccleſiaſtical Writers on Caligula, Maximinus, Julian, and many other Atheiſtical and prophane promoters of Irreligion.

(3.) When the like ſevere Providences befall ſuch, as though they profeſs the true Religion, yet becauſe they make uſe of that Profeſſion only as a mask, to cover thoſe deſigns againſt it, (which they dare not carry on with open face) God fore-dooms in the Scripture (as guilty of moſt pernicious oppoſition againſt it) to a notable and ſignal Ruine and Deſtruction. As in the caſe of the great Antichriſt; when God, having revealed that wicked one fully, ſhall finally deſtroy both him, and his Seat, where ſitting in the Temple of God, he acts the Devil in Gods Name, 2 Theſ. 2.4. to 12.by Satanical ſigns and lying wonders: Apoc. 15.2, 3, 4, 19.1, 2.both the Church Militant and Triumphant are called on to acknowledge and rejoyce in the juſt Judgments of God executed on him and his Adherents.

(6. It is no ſlight Evidence to a Divine Judgment, when (as it often falls out) an offenders Conſcience under ſuch a remarkable ſtroke of Gods Hand, owns it as the juſt puniſhment of ſuch a particular notorious Crime: and gives glory to God, (with Achan) by confeſſing it before the world. When Adonibezek, convicted by his own Conſcience, cryes out,Jud. 1.7. as I have done, ſo hath God requited me: and Joſephs Brethren, in the danger they were in to be executed for Spies in Egypt, charge themſelves with the guilt of their envy and cruelty againſt their Brother;Gen. 42.21. and acknowledge, that therefore that diſtreſs came upon them: And when Malefactors at the place of Execution; and debauched livers in ſome notable Calamities, and eſpecially in the near proſpect of Death and Eternity under ſome ſignal ſtroke of Gods Hand, accuſe themſelves, and attribute thoſe ſeverities to their particular Crimes: What Reaſon hath any man to give their ſufferings a milder name than they give them themſelves?

And thus have I given you the beſt Characters I could, by which to diſcern Divine Judgments from Providences of a like ſeverity, befalling men on other accounts: my fifth Head.

VI. The ſixth follows: to wit, [To give you directions in the making application of Divine Judgments to particular Caſes, without offending againſt Juſtice or Charity.]

The Reaſon why ſuch directions are needful, is very evident. For we are forbidden by our Saviour,Mat. 7.1. to judge our Brethren, leſt we alſo be judged. And in the noted Caſes of thoſe on whom the Tower in Siloe fell, Luke 13.1, 2, 3.and thoſe whoſe blood Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices; our Lord ſeems to take the part of the Sufferers againſt their Cenſures. And the miſcarriage of Jobs friends in their dealings with him,Iob 42.7. is by God himſelf expreſly condemned. Wherefore, it is meet this Caſe ſhould be carefully ſtated, that we may (in the preſent Argument) be ſatisfied, how far we may lawfully go in applying Gods Judgments, ſo as to preſerve our ſelves from ſuch Errours. And in Anſwer to this Caſe, I ſhall (as I did on the former Head) firſt premiſe ſome Grounds to proceed on; and thence proceed to the direct ſolution of it according to them.

[1. The Grounds which I ſhall premiſe, are theſe.

1.] That it follows from what was ſaid on the former Head, that in ſuch Applications of Divine Judgments to particular Caſes, we are to be very cautelous and circumſpect.

2.] And yet it does not follow, that we are totally obliged to forbear them. Yea, rather, there are divers Arguments from Scripture, which give great countenance, and (in ſome Caſes) great encouragement, to the making of them.

(1. As firſt, the Text it ſelf, which aſſerts ſuch Judgments to be means whereby God is made known, will neceſſarily infer, that in order to the making this uſe of them, we muſt be allowed the liberty of diſcreet and conſiderate Application of them. For to ſuppoſe a notable Judgment executed with ſignal manifeſtation of a Divine Hand therein, and of purpoſe deſigned for men to take notice of it: and yet, not to allow them to obſerve it in thoſe circumſtances which render it moſt obſervable, (all which circumſtances are neceſſarily annexed to particular Caſes) implies a contradiction.

(2. The Scripture tells us of Holy Men who have made ſuch particular Applications, and have not been blamed, but rather commended for it: and their examples left on ſacred Record for the imitation of future Times. It is given as an honourable character in general of good and holy men, that becauſe they have pleaſure in that imployment,Pſal. 111.2. they ſeek out the great works of the Lord, of which theſe judicial Providences are a ſpecial part. And holy David propounds himſelf in particular, as an encouraging example to patient expectation of the Iſſue in that ſtumbling Caſe of Divine Providence, [The notable proſperity of ſome notorious wicked men] telling us, that he himſelf had ſeen ſome ſuch in great power, Pſal. 37.35, 36.(probably Saul and his profane Courtiers and Favourites) flouriſhing like a green Bay-tree; whom yet he obſerved in the Iſſue notably extirpated, ſo that they could not be found. And that notable ſpeech of Hezekiah to the Levites, is recorded to his commendation, (as a conſiderable part of that which gave him juſt Title to that honourable character, that he did that which was right in the ſight of the Lord, according to all that his father David bad done) wherein he obſerves particularly, (though with reflection upon his father Ahaz) that the Lord had lately delivered Judah to trouble and aſtoniſhment, 1 Chron. 29.2, 6, 7, 8, 9.and hiſſing and that their fathers fell by the Sword, and their ſons, and daughters, and wives, were yet in captivity, for the neglect of Gods Houſe; which he thence quickens the Prieſts and Levites for the future to take more care of.

(3. Good men in general are encouraged with the promiſed proſpect of Divine Judgments on ſome notorious wicked men. When the wicked (ſuch whoſe proſperity was a tentation to good men to fret and be envious againſt them) are cut off, thou (ſays the Pſalmiſt to the man whom he encourageth to wait on the Lord and keep his way) ſhalt ſee it, Pſal. 37.34.i. e. ſo as to take notice of it to thy great ſatisfaction and encouragement to depend on God for the future. And elſewhere, the righteous is told, that when the notorious oppreſſing Judges, againſt whom that Pſalm is directed, ſhall be taken away as with a whirlwind living, and in Gods wrath, i. e. brought in the prime of their proſperity to a ſudden and violent end;Pſal. 58.10. that he ſhall rejoyce when he ſeeth the vengeance: and waſh his feet in the blood of the wicked, i. e. in a kind of holy Triumph for the manifeſtation of Divine Juſtice, ſhall even trample upon them when they lye in their blood, without fear of defilement, (to which in other caſes the Jews by the Law for touching any thing of a dead Corps were liable) any more than if they had waſhed their feet in water.

(4. And ſinners are blamed, for not drawing Arguments of caution and reformation from the particular Inſtances of Gods Judgments in their days. As Belſhazzar, for that when he ſaw and knew how God had dealt with his proud Grandfather Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. 5.18, 19, 20, 21, 22.he notwithſtanding lifted himſelf up againſt the ſame God, before whom he ought on that conſideration to have been humbled. And the remaining Tribes of Judah and Benjamin are ſeverely taxed, for that when they ſaw that God had rejected and ſent into Captivity the Ten Tribes, their brethren, for their Idolatry; yet they feared not, but went on confidently in the ſame provoking ſin themſelves And it is not to be underſtood how any perſons can be obliged to take warning from particular Examples, if they be not allowed to apply ſuch Providences of God to them, in thoſe particulars from whence that caution is to be gathered.

3.] Wherefore we muſt find out ſome other Interpretation of thoſe Scriptures, which ſeem totally to prohibit all applications of Divine Judgments to particular Caſes: and particularly of thoſe before mentioned. And that (as to them at leaſt) is a matter of no great difficulty. For the firſt of them forbids one Chriſtian indeed to judge another: Mat 7.1.but it is only a raſh and a harſh cenſuring Chriſtian brethren (as the Phariſees were wont to do) even for the ſmalleſt faults; and that when the cenſurers themſelves, it may be, (as they) indulge themſelves in greater, (ſuch as are like beams to the others motes, as appears, v. 2.) that is there forbidden.Luke 13.1, 2. And the blame which in the ſecond Text, the relaters of the fall of the Tower of Siloe, and the mixing the blood of the Galileans with their Sacrifices by Pilate, did incur; was not barely for taking notice of theſe Events as Divine Judgments, but for judging the perſons (in a like Phariſaical pride) greater ſinners than others, and than themſelves in particular; having no other evidence to ground that cenſure, than that what they ſuffered was more ſevere than what uſually befell others; which indeed was none at all. And Jobs friends (the third Text) were cenſured by God for making the like uncharitable and unwarrantable Inference from his Providential ſeverities upon Job. So that all theſe Scriptures thus interpreted, (as indeed they muſt be) make nothing againſt the lawfulneſs of a modeſt, ſober, prudent, and diſcreet application of Divine Judgments to particular caſes; ſeeing in an application ſo qualified, we ſhall be ſecure from offending againſt Juſtice or Charity.

[2. And therefore I proceed, in the next place, to give you the Directions promiſed you to preſerve you from ſo offending, in like applications of Divine ſeverities.

(1. Firſt then, Privately and in our own boſoms, we may with more freedom and latitude make ſuch applications, than we may diſcourſe them withal to others: if withal we take care to turn our inward ſentiments only to thoſe uſes, which reflect Glory to God, and benefit to our ſelves; without gratifying any unlawful Paſſion, apt on ſuch occaſions to be ſtirred towards our ſuffering brethren, and neighbours. And yet,

(2. When Gods Providence it ſelf makes any Caſe notorious by producing an offender, as it were, and chaſtiſing him upon a publick Theater, the caſe being clear and evident of it ſelf in the eyes of all men; no man is then bound up from bearing his part in the publick diſcourſe: but (as he hath a call either by office, or occaſional charity to the ſouls of men to take notice of it) every one may, nay ought, to ſerve Gods deſign therein, by making uſe of it for others, as well as his own, edification. And it is related as a thing imitable in the primitive Chriſtians, that they interpreted the ſudden deaths of Ananias and Saphira, as remarkable Judgments of God, and not only were poſſeſſed with great fear themſelves on that occaſion,Acts 5.11. but alſo derived that fear to many others, by publiſhing it, ſo that they feared likewiſe as many as heard of it.

(3. We are not ſo much in danger of offending againſt Juſtice or Charity in the application of Divine Judgments, when they befall great Communities and Societies of men, as when they light only on particular Perſons, or ſmaller Parties. For when Nations and other great Communities fall under great Epidemical calamities, wherein every member ſome way or other ſuffers, or at leaſt is endangered to ſuffer; there God himſelf expects his hand ſhould be publiquely acknowledged, and due means uſed by religious Addreſſes to him ſolemnly and generally made for the removing of them; and in them requires that each Member bear a part, and accuſe himſelf and be deeply humbled, as being a partaker in that guilt which procured them: So that what every one is obliged to own, is without injury or breach of charity imputable to them all. Whereas there are very few private Caſes, wherein the Perſons ſuffering can be convincingly brought by others under a like obligation, to own and acknowledge the particulars charged on them by their Cenſurers, as the Cauſes for which they ſo ſuffer: and ſo we are endangered to charge them at adventure, and therein to be unjuſt and uncharitable.

(4. We run leſs hazard of violating Juſtice and Charity, in applying ſuch Divine ſtrokes, as Judgments to ſome perſons, than to others. For whereas there are ſome notoriouſly bad men, Iſa. 3.9.who publiſh their ſin as Sodom, and proclaim themſelves to have no fear of God before their eyes, Rom. 3.18. Pſal. 14.3.being altogether become filthy or ſtinking (as the Margin hath it) in the noſtrils of all ſerious and ſober perſons; ſo that no Charity, be it never ſo large, (except it be wilfully blind withal) can judge better of them: when any remarkable hand of God finds theſe perſons out, to ſeize them for publique Exemplary puniſhment, I cannot ſee, why we may not, without any heſitation in a caſe ſo plain, think and ſay, This is a remarkable Judgment of God; and a fair warning to all men to avoid ſuch courſes. And eſpecially if ſuch perſons have arrived to that height of profeſſed wickedneſs as to glory in their ſhame at that rate,Phil. 3.19. Pſal. 1.1. as to ſet themſelves down in the ſeat of the ſcornful, and ſcoff Religion and Vertue out of countenance, as a thing deſpicable and contemptible; and to own themſelves in all companies, as the publique Hectors and Champions of prophaneneſs and impiety, and profeſſed perſecuters of all perſons that dare appear on the ſide of God and goodneſs. For in ſuch caſes, as I told you before, the opinion of all the world juſtifies us, in making the ſevereſt reflections upon their ſufferings.

But when ſufferers, though the hand of God lie heavy upon them, are either eminently good men, or ſuch as in the judgment of rational charity we are bound to think well of for the main, though they have their allay of humane frailty, and are Gold, though mixed with droſs; yea, or ſuch, as there is hope they may become better, becauſe there is nothing that declares them deſperately and incorrigibly bad: We are towards all theſe ſorts of men to proceed in cenſuring with far greater Caution, and the better they are, the more muſt be obſerved; according to the following meaſures.

1.) That we endeavour to be as ſparing in applying theſe ſorts of Divine Providences, to the caſes of particular perſons under the former characters as God is in inflicting them; and appear as loth and unwilling to do the one, as he to do the other. For it is very uncharitable for any man to be over-forward in crying out, upon every unuſual ſtroke upon another, A Judgment, a Judgment; becauſe thereby he cruelly vexeth his brothers ſores; a thing which is done by nothing more than by exaggerating his calamities with the repreſentation of Gods diſpleaſure teſtified in them. Beſides, that the haſtineſs of men in ſuch applications, looks too much like that diſpoſition which Charity diſclaims,1 Cor. 13.6. of rejoycing in iniquity, i. e. in the opportunity of colourable laying a criminal matter to ones brothers charge, without ſtaying to examine what ground there is for it: as on the contrary, to rejoyce in the Truth, i. e. to be glad when by the diſcovery of the truth, our own and others ſuſpicions or miſapprehenſions concerning him are removed, and he vindicated, is a charitable Temper, as the Apoſtle deſcribes it.

2.) That we do not firſt fancy a Divine Judgment in our own thoughts to have befaln ſuch a Perſon or Party as we do not affect; and then ſearch out iniquities, Pſal. 64.6.(in the Pſalmiſts Phraſe) or make a ſtrict Inquiſition, to find out criminal matters in him to apply it unto, for the juſtification of our own cenſure. For this is a prepoſterous inverting of the Rules of Juſtice, which is never wont to pronounce ſentence firſt at all adventure, and then examine the Cauſe, or rather, whether there be any cauſe: and a great breach of Charity alſo, as implying a malicious deſign againſt our brother, which we ſeek an opportunity to execute.

This ſeems to be the fault of thoſe Diſciples themſelves, who enquired of Chriſt concerning the man that was born blind: for they firſt reſolve upon it, that this was a Judgment of God on him for ſome ſin; and then they came to our Saviour to reſolve them,Joh. 9.2. for whoſe ſin it was, his own, or his Parents? And it ſeems evident, by the whole carriage of their diſcourſes, that Jobs friends, though they unanimouſly firſt conclude among themſelves, that his ſufferings were Divine Judgments upon him for ſome foul crime; yet they are at a loſs what crime of that nature to find him guilty of, and therefore they tax him at all adventure, with all the horrid Crimes they can imagine, to draw a confeſſion from him at leaſt of ſome of them, for the juſtification of their own uncharitable cenſure.

3.) That we do not haſtily call ſuch ſevere Providences of God towards ſuch particular Perſons, Judgments, whom we can charge with nothing that is notoriouſly ſinful, in the general Judgment of all Mankind, or at leaſt, of all Chriſtians. For it is a great piece of uncharitableneſs, as well as injuſtice, which is too ordinarily practiſed in ſuch places where the common Chriſtianity is crumbled into Sects and Parties; for diſſenters of all ſides to impute the ſufferings befalling their oppoſites, to Divine diſpleaſure againſt them for holding ſuch opinions as differ foom theirs, or practiſing in ſome particulars otherwiſe than they do. Now this ariſeth ordinarily from a partial fondneſs which every one hath for his own opinion or way: which inclines him to think God hath as great a kindneſs for it as himſelf, and his Party have: and to conclude all his Providences to be accordingly engaged to ſerve under thoſe banners of diſtinction, under which he hath liſted himſelf: whence ſuch perſons find it eaſie (upon every unuſual ſtroke of God upon any that are not every way agreeable to their humour) to conclude, that the very point in difference betwixt them is judged by God and their oppoſites, confuted from Heaven by a Demonſtration of Divine diſpleaſure againſt them. And ſuch an unhappy Paralogiſm as this, we are told by our Hiſtorians, it was, which in the dark times of Popery gave the cauſe, in the opinion of an whole Synod, againſt the married Clergy, when the ſide of the Room where the maintainers of it ſat fell down, killing ſome, and burting others. For thereupon they that were for Prieſts ſingle life, cryed down the Cauſe of the faln Party with them, as witneſſed againſt by God himſelf; and by that ſorry Argument and Noiſe prevailed. Now againſt this great miſtake (by the way) we ſhall never be ſufficiently armed except we govern our Apprehenſions by theſe Two Principles.

(1.) That God never appointed the dark Rule of Providence (to us it is no other) to judge Canſes by, whether right or wrong, good or bad.Judg. 20. 21, 25. Oftentimes, for ſecret ends of his own, he blaſts a good, and proſpers a bad cauſe, as the had Cauſe of the Benjamites, in two ſet Battels, againſt the good Cauſe of the Eleven Tribes: and the horrid and blaſphemous Impoſture of the Mahometans hath now for many Ages, by the permiſſion of Providence, proſpered wonderfully againſt the greateſt part of the Chriſtian world.

(2.) That Gods great and ſignal Judgments, of which we are diſcourſing, are now adays rarely inflicted, but for ſuch Crimes as are generally condemned in the Judgment of all Mankind, or at leaſt, the generality of Chriſtians, according as he deſigns the notice of them to be ſpread in a greater or narrower compaſs. And the Reaſon is evident, to wit, becauſe it cannot otherwiſe be rationally expected, the Juſtice of them ſhould be clearly and convincingly owned, and ſo the good they are intended for muſt needs be hazarded to ſo many as are diſſatisfied in the merit of the Cauſe that is taken to procure them. But when a Divine ſeverity juſtly makes an example of any perſon in the general opinion notoriouſly criminous; they are all inexcuſable, who thenceforward do the ſame things they condemned in another, Rom. 2.1.(as the Apoſtle ſaith) and confeſs Gods Judgment to have righteouſly befaln him for.

4.) That we publiſh not on the houſe tops (in our Saviours phraſe on another occaſion) that which is,Mat. 10.27. it may be, whiſpered in our ears only; and few, poſſibly no other perſons know of. For it may ſo fall out, that our intimate acquaintance with ſome men, and their circumſtances, may give us knowledge of their particular vices, ſecret as to all the reſt of the world; and of Gods ſecret ſtrokes befalling them in their perſons or private concerns, which we in our own thoughts may rationally conclude to be Divine Judgments inflicted for them. Now in ſuch Caſes, though we may with great charity declare our apprehenſions hereof to the parties concerned themſelves, and admoniſh, and exhort them on that occaſion; yet it were great uncharitableneſs to publiſh to others either the one or the other.

For, when God intends (as appears by his way of proceeding therein) only a private correction; it muſt proceed from a defect of charity in us, if we by divulging it, turn it into a publique Execution, to the expoſing our Brother to an open ſhame. And the very juſtice of every petty School may convince us of the evil of ſo doing; wherein the corrections given within thoſe walls are forbidden to be divulged, under a like penalty to that which the diſgraced School-fellow ſuffered.

5.) That we apply not the ſevere ſtrokes of God upon our neighbour to the ſatisfaction of our private ſpleen and revengeful Humour: which is too ordinary when we think ſuch as lie under them have wronged us, (or it may be they really have ſo) and we conclude, their ſufferings are Divine Judgments befalling them on our Quarrel. This was the uncharitable Conſure of Shimei againſt David, when he tells him that God had avenged on him the blood of the Houſe of Saul, by the Rebellion of Abſalom. For it is plain by the Text,2 Sam. 16.5, 6, 7, 8. that Shimei was of the very family of Saul: and it may be looked upon himſelf, as in ſome probable vicinity to the Crown, if the ſucceſſion of it had continued in that family. At leaſt 'tis probable, that by the tranſlating it from thence, he found his hopes (as to thoſe preferments and other advantages which uſually are attained at Court by thoſe of the Royal Blood) blaſted and defeated. It is true indeed that Gods Juſtice doth ſometimes appear in the remarkable vindication of eminently good mens, and his uſeful Inſtruments. Cauſes: but for every ordinary perſon upon every petty trifling injury, to expect that he ſhould do the like for him, or ſuppoſe he doth it, is too great a Preſumption.

6.) That we judge not our Brethrens eſtate towards God, and much leſs their future eſtate from the moſt evident Judgments temporally befalling them.

(1.) Not their preſent eſtate towards God. For a ſore Judgment may befall a man greatly in Gods favour, for a foul Crime; as in the caſe of the Death of Davids child, inflicted, even after his Repentance, for thoſe hainous ſins of Adultery and Murder; becauſe he had by them cauſed the Enemies of God to blaſpheme; 2 Sam. 12.14.doth evidently appear.

(2.) And much leſs muſt we thence judge their future eſtate in another world. For there is no ſufficient cauſe to judge even Nadab and Abihu, Lev. 10.3. 1 Sam. 6.19. 2 Sam. 6.7.the inquiſitive Bethſhemites, Ʋzzah, and others, damned; though God ſmote them dead in unwarrantable actions. Yea, even Moſes and Aaron themſelves died by a Divine Sentence in the Wilderneſs for their ſin at Meribah: and yet one of them (Moſes) we have ſufficient evidence is in glory:Mat. 17.3. and have no reaſon to doubt the caſe of the other. Yea, men may be judged of the Lord, (in the Apoſtles ſuppoſition) when chaſtened with ſickneſs and death extraordinary, that they may not be condemned with the world: 1 Cor. 11.30, 31, 32. 1 Cor. 5.5.and an offender delivered even to Satan, may ſuffer to the deſtruction of the fleſh, that his ſpirit may be ſaved in the day of the Lord, i. e. in the private Judgment which he undergoes from the Lord at his death.

7.) That we aſſign not particular ſins as the ſpecial Cauſes of a Divine Judgment too peremptorily; except where the circumſtances notoriouſly evince it by the Rules before given, or ſome of them at leaſt. For if we be therein miſtaken in our Judgment; yea, if there be no moral certainty that we are not miſtaken, (ſuch as may rationally convince the perſons concerned and others thereof) the end which we are ſuppoſed to deſign by ſuch application, (to wit, to render the particular ſin to which we attribute the procuring that Judgment more formidable) is loſt upon thoſe whom we particularly intend to benefit by it, and others too: and we our ſelves are liable to be cenſured, for putting an uncharitable brand upon our brother without a cauſe.

8.) That we vaunt not, or magnifie our ſelves againſt our ſuffering Brother, by comparing our ſelves with him, as if we were therefore the better men, becauſe we fare better at Gods Hands he. This is one property of Charity, (among the many excellent characters given it by the Apoſtle) that it vaunts not it ſelf, 1. Cor. 13.4.(i. e. with the diminution of a mans brethren, for elſe it were rather a deſcription of Humility than Charity) nor is, upon ſuch an account, puffed up. And the moſt uncharitable account upon which any man can vaunt to the leſſening of his brother; is, when it is done meerly upon the difference that Gods only pleaſure makes betwixt the one and the other. This (among many others) was one great piece of uncharitableneſs in Jobs friends, that having in his ſad ſufferings taxed him with being of the number of thoſe whom God had ſignally branded with remarkable Judgments, and a partner in guilt with thoſe of the old world whoſe foundation was overflown with a flood, Job 22.15, 16, 20, 21, 29, 30.though he were differenced in his puniſhment, being a ſufferer by the contrary Element of fire; they in the mean while boaſt, that their ſubſtance was not cut down, as being men more acquainted with God, more humble, more innocent; as they imply, when they adviſe Job upon their experience to become ſo too.

9.) That we make no mans religious living formerly, or eminent profeſſion of it, (no not though we have ſome cauſe to think him declined from it now) by objecting it to him under ſuffering, a part of his calamity: nor occaſion him whilſt he ſuffers under Gods hand to ſuffer for his ſake too: A thing too uſual, when bad men apply the Judgments of God (or thoſe which they interpret to be ſuch) to good men, or thoſe who have had a reputation to be ſuch, beyond their neighbours. For this is to give them (as the Perſecutors did to our Saviour) gall and vinegar to drink, when they have already bitterneſs enough upon their ſpirits from the Cup of their Croſs, that God appoints them to drink off. This was to David, as he tells us, like a Sword in his bones, when profane men ſaid to him in his affliction, Where is now thy God? Pſal. 42.10.and when they caſt in his Teeth, (as their ſucceſſors did afterwards in our Saviours) his former truſting in God, as if it had either been Hypocritical,Pſal. …2.1, 8, 9. or (if real) miſplaced on one that had thus forſaken him. Now to deal thus with our neighbour, is at all times greatly uncharitable. For it either argues an hard cenſure of him that he is an hypocrite; or a greater and fouler affront, if we do not ſo eſteem him; for then we turn (as the ſame Pſalmiſt elſewhere taxeth men of the ſame uncharitable temper) his glory into ſhame, Pſal. 4.2.and endeavour to make that a matter of diſgrace to him which is really moſt commendable.

10.) In a word: That we do not rejoyce, inſult, or triumph over any man under Gods hand, upon any account; much leſs revile, and reproach him; but really pitty, bewail, and condole with him rather; and (as we have opportunity) inſtruct, admoniſh, comfort, and pray for him. For to do the former, is the conſtant guiſe of thoſe that (in the character of Gods Holy Spirit in the Scripture) are marked for wicked men. The Heathen Edomites were ſuch;Obad. 1…. and they rejoyced in the day of Judah's diſtreſs. Davids Enemies, (being ſo to him on Gods account) were ſuch; and in his adverſity they rejoyced. Pſal. 35.13.Our Saviours Perſecutors were ſuch; and as they judged him ſmitten of God, they ſhaked their heads at him upon the Croſs,Iſa. 53.4. See Mat. 27.40, 41, 42, 43, 44. Mark 15.29, &c. and reviled him with moſt unſavoury and reproachful ſpeeches.

And although there be ſeveral Paſſages in Scripture which ſeem to propound Gods Judgments as a glad ſpectacle to good men, and a matter of rejoycing, when they befall thoſe that are notoriouſly wicked: As when it is propheſied, That the righteous ſhall rejoyce when he ſeeth the vengeance, &c.Pſal. 58.10. And when God calls on all the Saints even in glory,Apoc. 18.2. (the holy Prophets and Apoſtles eſpecially) to rejoyce and triumph over Antichriſtian Babylon.

Yet it is to be obſerved, that theſe and the like Texts relate only to ſuch as were Gods publique and notorious enemies: and the joy and triumph required or allowed, in their deſtruction, is only upon account of the ſucceſs of his cauſe againſt them, and the vindication of his Glory and Intereſts. As appears remarkably in the Pſalm quoted, wherein he tells us, how the obſervers ſhould expreſs their joy, to wit, by taking notice, that verily there is a reward for the righteous, Pſal. 58.11.and that verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

But the latter diſpoſitions and deportments are recommended to us by the Examples of the beſt men, and moſt eminent of Saints. When Jobs friends had dealt ſo uncharitably with him, he tells them what a different uſage they ſhould have found from him, if their ſouls had been in his ſouls ſtead; and aſſures them, that though he could in ſuch a caſe have ſpoken as they did to him now, and heaped up words againſt them, and ſhaken his head at their calamity, as they uſed him: yet he would have ſtrengthned them with his mouth, and the moving of his lips ſhould have aſſwaged their grief. Job 16.4, 5.And when Davids very bitter enemies, that inſulted over his calamity, were ſick, he cloathed himſelf with ſackcloth, Pſal. 35.13.and his prayers, though ungratefully received by them, and thrown back in ſcorn into his boſom, whence they proceeded, were heartily and ſincerely from that boſom poured out to God for them. And our Saviour, the moſt perfect of men, to the many ſufferers under Gods hand whom he relieved, was generally ſo compaſſionate; that he took on him, by a merciful Sympathy, all the Infirmities that he cured, and bare all his Patients ſickneſſes. Mat. 8.17.Yea, he could not forbear weeping over the very proſpect of thoſe Tragedies he foretold himſelf againſt Jeruſalem, though the Shambles of his Prophets, and his own Slaughter-houſe. Luke 19.41.And God expects, (as well as the ſufferers themſelves) that to him that is afflicted pity ſhould be ſhewn; Job 6.14.19.21, 22.eſpecially, if the hand of the Lord hath touched him: and diſlikes that men (in their brethrens calamities) ſhould perſecute like him, i. e. take the ſame liberty of harſh and ſevere uſage towards them, as God does, as if they could do it with like right and juſtice as he. In a word, it is his expreſs command, that to ſhew our ſelves to be of the ſame mind one towards another, we not only rejoyce with them that rejoyce, Rom. 12.15, 16.but weep alſo with thoſe that weep. And thus I diſcharge this ſixth Head alſo.

VII. Come we now to the ſeventh and laſt, to draw ſuch Inferences from this whole diſcourſe as may be of uſe and advantage to us.

[1. And firſt, I infer the great Reaſon that there is for a general Judgment in another world. For, ſeeing God is known by the Judgment that he executeth; and all that which he executeth here, extends but to a few offenders; and it may be, the notice taken of thoſe Executions that are made, reacheth but a ſmall part of Mankind: it ſtands with the higheſt Reaſon, that there ſhould be a Time wherein all the world may ſee (even thoſe that while his hand was lifted up on earth would not ſee) that juſt and true are his Judgments. Iſa. 26.11.Beſides, by the rareneſs of the Judgments he executeth here, inſtead of being known as he ought, he is by many apt to be miſunderſtood; whilſt they are generally ſtumbled at his letting ſo many notorious offenders eſcape for one that he puniſheth: and thoſe that eſcape he…e, many times are the greateſt and moſt proſperous of men, that even dare his juſtice, by ſetting their mouths againſt the Heavens themſelves.Pſal. 73.9. Wherefore, that he may make it known, that he ſpareth not ſo many high and mighty offenders, either through impotency, or partiality; it is eaſie to infer, that there muſt be ſuch a day, wherein all men, whether they be ſmall or great, ſhall ſtand before him, Apoc. 20.12.and be judged according to their works.

[2. I infer, that thoſe men do God great diſſervice, who either careleſly overlook, or deſignedly endeavour to ſuppreſs and keep from the notice of the world, theſe remarkable Divine Judgments: or (when by reaſon of their own publique circumſtances they cannot but be taken notice of by others) attempt to ſlur, and ſtifle as much as they can, the evidence of thoſe particularities which ſo much conduce to the preſerving and propagating the knowledge of God in the world. Thoſe of the former ſort are injurious in an high degree to God; who, when he expoſeth his glorious Attributes to view as on a Theater, will not vouchſafe to be ſpectators of them. But thoſe of the latter rank are prodigiouſly wicked. And yet too many even of theſe are to be found in all ages of the world, who ſtudy to darken Gods glory in ſuch remarkable Judgments, and to lead the apprehenſions that people naturally are apt to have of them, as far from God and Providence as they can find any colour to do. Thus the Egyptian Magicians (encouraged by a prophane Atheiſtical King, as well as prompted thereto, by their own malice) emulated the miracles that Moſes did, and by frequent attempts to do the like; endeavoured to perſuade the People, that there was nothing in them beyond the power of created beings to effect; till God at laſt in the plague of the Lice, drew from them an unwilling confeſſion, that neither they nor their maſter the Devil could imitate it,Exod. 8.19. and that therefore it was the finger of God. And it ſeems to me, that the Prieſts and Diviners of the Philiſtines, were willing (when they were called into conſultation what to do with the Ark of God) to have carried on as bad a deſign, and to have perſuaded both themſelves and the people that it was a diſputable caſe, whether the God of Iſrael had inflicted thoſe Judgments upon them,1 Sam. 6.9. which they had ſuffered; or whether it were a meer chance that had befaln them. And therefore, though they ſpeak ſome good words concerning the God of Iſrael, and give their advice, that if they returned the Ark, they ſhould make him ſome Preſents too, (it may be forced thereunto, as Caiaphas propheſied, by a Divine impulſe) yet they contrive to put the determination of that great Queſtion upon the iſſue of ſuch an odd Experiment, as without a miraculous influence of the Lord of all the Creatures upon thoſe that they imployed, would in all rational probability have determined it againſt God. For it was ten thouſand to one odds, but that the Kine (being milch Kine, and their Calves newly taken from their ſides, and ſhut up in their ſight, juſt as they were put into the Cart, that was by their advice to carry the Ark) being let looſe without a driver, had turned, as nature would prompt them, the ſame way their young ones had gone, rather than towards the Land of Iſrael. And a foul ſcandal it is to the Chriſtian Name, that too many of thoſe who bear it, do herein act, as if they joyned in deſign with the fore-mentioned Heathens. For, beſides the downright Atheiſts, (too many of whom paſs muſter now adays under Chriſts colours) whom I have before confuted; the ſottiſh and prophane generation of men are deſirous to look beſide God in all ſuch ſtrokes; leſt by confeſſing his hand in them, they ſhould be obliged to be more Religions, than ſutes the Intereſt of their Luſts. Whence, in the calamities which at any time befall themſelves or others, thoſe of them who pretend to but the leaſt ſmattering in Philoſophy, ſeek for cauſes to aſſign them to, either in the general order of Nature, moved when once ſet a going, without any ſpecial hand of God governing the motion of it ſelf; or in the Influence of ſuperiour Bodies upon the inferiour, by the Conjunctions and Oppoſitions, or other Aſpects of Planets, in imaginary Houſes, which the inventions of jugling Aſtrologers have built for them in the Heavens to conſult and quarrel in, about the government of the lower world; or to the diſtempers at ſome ſeaſons naturally corrupting the Elements, and by them the bodies, yea and the very minds of men. Others of a lower rank in their Intellectuals, through an ignorant malice ſuſpect the evil Tongues of ſome perſons who have ſome way or other (and often undeſervedly) gotten an evil Name among their Neighbours; or it may be, accuſe the Devil himſelf for paying them ſome ill turns he owed them, though they were never known to have carried themſelves ſo towards him as to deſerve any ſuch uſage from him. In all which, and the like conjectures, it is the main buſineſs of the champions of Ignorance and Prophaneneſs, to caſt a miſt before their own eyes and other mens, to obſcure the Providence of God in thoſe Judgments which he executeth, leſt he ſhould be known by them. Which certainly is a crime of the greateſt magnitude: for it argues an envy at the glory which Gods wonderful Providences are wont to procure him in the world: than which there can hardly any attempt be conceived more Satanical.

[3. We may hence infer, How great Reaſon there is, that ſuch Judicial Providences ſhould be exactly taken notice of, and with all the notable circumſtances which moſt manifeſt God, recorded, and tranſmitted to Poſterity. The learned and judicious Lord Verulam takes notice of it as a defect in the hiſtorical part of Learning,De aug. …. ent. l. 2. that there is not extant an impartial and well-atteſted Hiſtoria Nemeſeos, (as he calls it) an account of the moſt remarkable Judgments of God on notorious offenders; and complains of it. And it were to be wiſhed, that God would put it into the heart of ſome ſupreme Magiſtrates to promote ſo godly a Deſign by their Authority, that the great Judgments of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords might be preſerved in publique avowed Records, as their own Judgments are. For certainly it would be a great check to the Atheiſm that ſo reigns in the world at this day, to have ſuch publique teſtimonies preſerved againſt them to ſtop their prophane mouths withal, when they take liberty to cry down God and Providence. And ſuch a work cannot be done effectually to ſuch a purpoſe, but with their encouragement and aſſiſtance, who are able to oblige the Relators of ſuch ſignal Providential ſtrokes, by the ſacred tye of an Oath, to ſpeak the Truth, all the Truth, and nothing but the Truth, in Gods cauſe, as well as mens: and ſeverely to puniſh thoſe perſons, who ſhall appear upon due examination to lye for God, or againſt him. But ſeeing ſuch a deſign is rather to be wiſhed, than hoped to be carried on, in ſuch an Age as this; I forbear to inſiſt longer on this Point; and in the fourth place infer,

[4. That thoſe private Perſons, in the defect of more publique endeavours in this kind, do God good ſervice, and much oblige Poſterity; who take what honeſt pains they can, in ſo profitable a diſcovery, by enquiring into, and informing themſelves and others from good Evidence, of ſuch Inſtances of Gods juſt Providence, as their Ages and the places they live in afford. For however ſome Atheiſtical ſpirits are, according to their wont, apt to ſlight and deſpiſe them: yet, abundance of ſerious and conſidering Perſons, do, and 'tis to be ſuppoſed, will, in after-Ages, make great advantages by them.

[5. And yet this muſt be attempted with great care and caution, as a thing which we cannot lay out too much circumſpect diligence and induſtry. Which alſo follows from my Text and Doctrine. For thoſe Judgments by which the Lord is known, muſt be firſt known to be, and to be his Judgments; that is, it muſt be known that ſuch things, as to matter of Fact, are certain; and that they are accompanied with ſuch circumſtances as carry in them a moral certainty alſo, (as I before told you) that they are inflicted by God upon ſuch an account: becauſe if there be a rational doubt of the one, or the other, there muſt be an equal uncertainty in the concluſions drawn from ſuch uncertain Premiſes.

Wherefore, it is certainly a foul and hainous crime, and a thing highly injurious both to God and man, for any Perſon or Perſons, either out of a miſguided zeal for God, or out of a particular fond affection to any Party in Religion, and much more, upon the account of any more unjuſtifiable Paſſion; to become a forger of Divine Judgments: or a buſic reporter and ſpreader of ſuch Forgeries. For this is to ſpeak wickedly for God, Job 1….7.and talk deceitfully for him; which Job chargeth with great abhorrency upon his friends; as judging it a moſt unbecoming thing to endeavour to prop up the Cauſe of the God of Truth with falſhoods. Nor indeed is it leſs miſchievous, than it is unſutable, to the intereſt it pretends to defend. For though one or two ſuch pious frauds may prove at the firſt, (in ſome juncture of Time wherein ſimple and well-meaning devotion prevails over the inquiſitive humour of Mankind) to be ſome way ſerviceable to the Deſign they were coined for: yet in proceſs of Time, as the ſtate of Religion alters, and men (having it, may be diſcovered the fallacy) grow more nice of belief in ſuch matters; the caſe is quite different. For then ſtrikes in (ordinarily) the ſubtil Atheiſt or misbeliever, and aggravates the flaws he finds in ſuch ſtories, as are really obnoxious, to the blemiſhing the Reputation of the moſt undoubted Records of Chriſtianity it ſelf. And it can hardly be imagined what a foul imputation upon that holy Religion of our bleſſed Saviour amongſt Atheiſts and other Infidels, thoſe Cart-loads of Monkiſh ſtories in the Romiſh Church have occaſioned; wherein the Miracles of their fictitious Saints, and the Judgments of God upon their pretended Adverſaries, are equally numerous; and yet both ſo groſly contrived, that the unskilfulneſs of the bungling Inventers ſaves the confuters of them the pains of any ſtudied Arguments to diſprove them. And yet with ſuch a fottiſh credulity are the generality of that Religion poſſeſſed, that there is hardly any one who was eminently inſtrumental in the Reformation, but they can tell you of ſome miraculous Judgment of God that brought him to his End; which they believe with equal faith to what they have for the Goſpel it ſelf: even that of Luthers body being carried away out of his Coffin by the Devil, which he himſelf lived to diſprove by his own Pen.

And it were well if it could be ſaid of them only, that they prop up a cauſe with lying wonders (as is propheſied of them) that needs it:2 Theſ. 2.9. and that the indiſcreet zeal of others, who would be thought to have better Conſciences, as they have (wherein they differ from them) a better Cauſe, did not make uſe of their Example too much, and treat their Brethren of different Judgments in the petty diſputes that divide them into Parties, in the ſame uncharitable manner. At leaſt it were to be deſired, if ſuch hot ſpirits will needs continue (with Solomons Mad-man) to caſt Fire-brands one at another;Prov. 26.18. that they would not (with the Poets Prometheus) ſteal fire from Heaven to kindle them withall, by forging miraculous Providences to blaſt the Reputation of thoſe Cauſes they are prejudiced againſt, in the Perſons of thoſe that defend them.

[6. Laſtly, we may learn hence, on all hands, to make a more beneficial uſe of Gods Judicial Providences: to wit, that of the Text, to endeavour to advance in the knowledge of God by them. Which Duty (according to the uſual extent of that Phraſe in Scfipture) includes many particulars.

(1. As firſt, If any of us be ſufferers under any ſuch ſtrokes, as our own Conſciences ſuggeſt to us are Divine Judgments: we are betwixt God and our own ſouls to endeavour to take up the Controverſie which he ſeems to have with us betimes: and in order thereunto to acknowledge and bewail thoſe known ſins which we are convinced of; and in a more ſpecial manner, thoſe which our own hearts ſeize on in freſh purſuit as the particular cauſes of that diſpleaſure from God, under which we lie: to humble our ſelves under his mighty Hand, and remove by ſerious reformation and amendment of life, out of his ſight, whatever is offenſive to thoſe pure eyes which cannot behold evil, Hab. 1.13.or look on iniquity.

And if it be not clear to us what particular quarrel God hath with us; or that he hath an eſpecial cauſe given him beyond the ordinary frailties of humanity; ſo that (as to any known great crime) we are as clear as Job himſelf; yet we are (as he is well adviſed, and alſo of himſelf reſolves before that advice) to ſay to God, Job 10.2.34.31, 32.ſhew me wherefore thou contendeſt with me: and that which I ſee not, teach thou me: and if I have done iniquity, I will do ſo no more.

This is to be done betwixt God and our own Conſciences, if none but God and they be acquainted with our circumſtances.

But if our Caſes and our Crimes too be already by Gods Providence expoſed to the publique notice, it is our duty in this Caſe to go farther; and to evidence our true Repentance to the world, by a true, free, and ingenious acknowledgement, juſtifying God, and giving glory to him, Pſ. 51.4, Joſh. 7.19.as David and Achan did; and warning others not to offend him in like manner, by our Example.

And in all theſe caſes, if the preſent Judgment be upon ſuch courſes taken, removed; and Gods Hand turned away from us: we are our ſelves to take heed we ſin thus no more, leſt a worſe thing come unto us: and not provoke him,John 5.1…. (by a feigned humiliation whilſt we are under his correcting hand, deſtitute of real amendment) to do as he threatens, i. e. puniſh us ſeven times more, and augment his ſeverities, till our wound become incurable, Lev. 26. Jer. 15.18. 2 Chron. 26.16.and paſt remedy.

(2. If we be (as in Epidemical Judgments) ſufferers in common with others; our duty is, (inſtead of ſhifting off the blame upon others) each man in particular to own his own ſhare in the common guilt,1 King. 8.38. (as knowing the plague of his own heart) and by true Repentance and amendment to leſſen the publique Load which he hath contributed to greaten; and call on others, as he hath opportunity, to do the like: and laſtly, when he hath rendred himſelf fit for that charitable office to the publique, by having recovered his own Innocence, to intercede earneſtly and affectionately, (uſing his renewed Intereſt with a reconciled God) for the ſociety to which he doth belong.

(3. If we be bare hearers or beholders of Gods great ſeverities upon others, and our ſelves free; we are then,

(1.) Wiſely to conſider his doings: Pſ. 64.….ſo as to obſerve carefully what of God more than ordinary appears in them: that we may give him the glory of thoſe perfections, which he hath thereby rendred moſt conſpicuous, for which thoſe that have pleaſure in his works ſpecially ſtudy them.

(2.) And particularly, to endeavour to reduce Gods Providences of this kind (as well as all others) to the Rule of his written word; and obſerve the correſpondency they bear each to other. For this will ſerve us to very great purpoſes, in order to a firm faith in him, and fear of him, when we can ſay,Lev. 10.3. (with Moſes in the caſe of Nadab and Abihu) This is that which the Lord hath ſaid.

(3.) To lay them up in memory as a choice treaſure, to be made uſe of when occaſion ſerves. For God expects his great works ſhould make deep Impreſſions in the minds of men. And therefore ſome Interpreters read that clauſe of Pſal. Pſala 111. A. Verſ. Tig.111. which we render, He hath made his wonderful works to be remembred, [Memorioe conſecravit] he hath devoted or conſecrated them to remembrance. Wherein they imply, that it carries in it a kind of ſacrilege, to let them ſlip through our memories as common and inconſiderable things. And he takes notice of it himſelf as a great crime in the Iſraelites, That they remembred not his hand, Pſal. …8. … 43.how he wrought his ſigns in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan.

(4.) And to improve that remembrance, as occaſion is offered, by applying it to our ſelves and others, according to the ſutableneſs that thoſe Providences bear to the caſes to which they are applicable. So when the Iſraelites were apt to be afraid of the mighty and numerous Enemies they were to encounter, at their entrance into Canaan; God ſutably recalls to their memories,Dent. 7.16, 17. what he did to Phaaoh and all Egypt. And when our Saviour would fortifie his Diſciples againſt the Tentations to compliance with the obſtinate and unbelieving Jews, in holding out the ſiege of Jeruſalem, out of affection to their concerns there; having before told them of that great day of the Revelation of the Son of Man in his Judgments on that City,Luke 17. and that there wanted nothing to compleat its deſtruction in proportion to Sodom, but only the removing the Chriſtians thence,29, 30, 31, 34. (as they went afterwards to Pella out of the City) in conformity to Lots going out of Sodom: he bids them to remember Lots wife, whoſe tenderneſs of her concerns in Sodom, made her look back, and therefore by Gods juſt Judgment, in the very place, ſhe was turned into a Statue of Salt. And the Pſalmiſt comforted himſelf againſt Gods preſent Enemies, and their outragious inſolences; by remembring Gods Judgments of old.Pſal. 119.52.

(5.) And to be ſenſible of the ſpecial Mercy and Goodneſs of God to us, whom, it may be he hath as ſignally delivered when we were in equal guilt and danger with others, who no leſs ſignally periſhed: yea, poſſibly, when our own Conſciences told us, that we our ſelves better deſerved to have been made Examples of Divine ſeverity, than they that were ſo.

Thus the returning Jews acknowledge with gratitude the Mercy of God to them, that in the common deſtruction of Jeruſalem, Ezra 9.8.he had left them a remnant to eſcape; and to give them a nail in his holy place, i. e. a little, though but a weak faſtning there. And ſo ought all thoſe whom Gods Judgments have left, in publique calamities eſpecially, like a few gleaning grapes after the Vintage, Iſa. 27.6.as Iſaiah expreſſeth the ſaid Remnant of returning Jews.

(6.) To poſſeſs our hearts with a reverend and awful fear of that God,Pſ. 66.5. who is terrible in his doings toward the children of Men. This uſe David made of Gods ſtroke upon Ʋzzah; 2 Sam. 6.9.he was afraid of the Lord that day. And the whole Chriſtian Church, yea, the generality of men that heard of the unuſual deaths of Ananias and his wife, Acts 5.11.(as I before obſerved) were ſurpriſed with a great fear. When God as a Lion, does but roar in his threatnings, who will not fear? ſays Amos, and much more,Amos 3.8. when (as his contemporary Prophet expreſſeth it) he tears like a young Lion, Hoſ. 3.14does he expect, certainly, that all men ſhould ſerve him with fear, Pſ. 2.11.and even thoſe that rejoyce before him, (in the moſt feſtival exerciſes of Religion, wherein joy was part of the ſervice required) ſhould do it with trembling? Thus are Chriſtian Gentiles taught, upon conſideration of the noted ſeverities of God towards his former people the Jews, Rom. 11.….not to be high-minded, but fear; as alſo the Chriſtian Jews, upon the remembrance of the ſeverities of God towards their fore-fathers under the Law, in the very delivery whereof Moſes himſelf ſaid, I exceedingly fear and quake; are called on by the ſame Apoſtle, to ſerve him with reverence and godly fear: as conſidering, that not only Mount Sinai, but Mount Sion alſo had its thundrings, and the Goſpel its terrours, as well as the Law: So that offenders againſt him that ſpeaks from Heaven, ſhall not eſcape, more than they that deſpiſed him that ſpake on Earth; nay, ſhall rather be puniſhed with more ſeverity, becauſe the God of Chriſtians, Heb. 17. …1. to v. 2….as well as Jews, is, if provoked, a conſuming fire; and not to be met (as Iſaiah expreſſeth it) by thorns and briars ſet in array againſt him, …. 27.4.left he go through them, and burn them together.

(7.) Laſtly, to improve that fear for our future Caution; that taking warning by his noted ſeverities towards others, we give him no occaſion, by the ſame or like provocations, to take us in hand next. But eſpecially, are we to take heed of thoſe ſins in particular, againſt which we are evidently convinced God hath given publique Teſtimonies by any remarkable Judgments. Which is the uſe the Apoſtle tells us we ought to make of the great Judgments of God, againſt the old Iſraelites left us upon Record in Scripture.… Cor. 1…. …om 6. to 11. All thoſe things (which there he reckons up) befell them, ſays he, for examples, and were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come: to the intent, as he implies it in ſeveral Inſtances, that we ſhould not luſt, or commit Idolatry, or Fornication, or tempt Chriſt, or murmur, as they did, for fear of the ſame or like Judgments.

And the like End ſurely God aims at, in thoſe Judgments, which fall out in any Age or part of the world, to admoniſh men to repent of, and for the future, abſtain from thoſe Courſes which (as it were) after violence to his Patience and long-fuſſering, and extort thoſe notable ſeverities from him, by the audacious importunity of their notorious Impieties.

And in all ſuch caſes the wiſe man (in Solomons Phraſe) will hear and increaſe in learning, Prov. 1.5.by fortifying himſelf againſt all Tentations to thoſe ſins, againſt which he ſeeth the Hand of God ſo notably lifted up. So that if among all the jolly crew of ſottiſh drunkards, but now and then one break his neck in his drunkenneſs, or by a cup-quarrel loſe his life; (though withal many ſuch ſhould eſcape ſuch ends, even ſo many as to give countenance to the profane Proverb, that drunken men come by no harm) yet the prudent man will lay thoſe few contrary Inſtances to heart; and ſay in himſelf, Why ſhould I not fear, if I deſpiſe ſuch warnings, that I may be made the next Example in that kind? If there be a ſignal Inſtance in his Age, and within his obſervation of a noted cruel oppreſſor, upon whoſe eſtate and houſe the curſe of God remarkably deſcends, ſo that his poſterity are either all buried in death, i. e. die obſcurely,Job 27.15, &c. ſo as to be miſſed by ſcarce any body: or if any of them ſurvive, they are not ſatisfied with bread; but the great eſtates gotten by unlawful means, melt away like wax before the Sun, e're inherited by the third Generation; Prov. 3.31, 33.the ſerious obſerver will learn, not to envy him, nor chooſe any of his ways.

If the Examples ſhould be more rare, than in theſe days they are,Luke 15.30. of a debauched Prodigal, ſpending all his living with harlots, and by means of whoriſh women reduced from an ample Eſtate to a piece of bread: Prov. 6.26.or of ſome ſinners in the ſame kind,Prov. 5.11. whoſe fleſh and body are conſumed with a loathſom diſeaſe, thereby receiving in themſelves (in the Phraſe of the Apoſtle, concerning uncleanneſs in another kind) that recompence of their errour which was meet: Rom. 1.27.the conſidering man will ſay with himſelf, What ſecurity have I, that the ſame ſin, if I follow it, will not reduce me to the ſame Caſe? If but the field of a ſluggard be overgrown with thorns, and nettles cover the face thereof, &c. (i. e. his worldly eſtate goes backward for want of honeſt Induſtry) a wiſe Solomon will conſider it, Prov. 25.32.and receive inſtruction. If the daring and audacious Appeals of a bold ſinner to God in fearful Curſes upon himſelf; or profane affectations of a new uncouth way of gallantry, by inventing new Imprecations againſt himſelf: or the malicious ſhooting of bitter words as arrows in evil wiſhes againſt others; amongſt men that love curſing, do but once or twice in an Age meet with a ſutable ſtroke of Divine ſeverity, and curſing come into the curſers bowels like water, Pſal. 109.18.and as oyl into his bones: a conſiderate Chriſtian will take heed,Pſ. 39.1. that he offend not thus with his tongue; and by a ſolemn purpoſe, as with a bridle, keep his mouth from tranſgreſſing in that manner.

In a word, when all the places of Execution in a Nation become Pulpits, whence the miſerable Malefactors from their own woful experience, preach Recantation Sermons, wherein they renounce the evil Principles they have lived by, and warn all men of the dangerous conſequences of licentious and debauched Courſes: and the ſame Doctrine be alſo as frequently preached from the death-beds of other ſinners, wherein the curſes written in Gods book are verified in the eyes and ears of all men, except they wilfully ſhut them both: who, but a deſperately forlorn wretch, will dare ſay in his heart, I ſhall have peace, Deut. 29.19, 20.though I walk in the imagination of mine own heart: i. e. gratifie my own ſinful inclinations to ſatiety, as one that adds drunkenneſs to thirſt? Againſt ſuch an one, ſurely, (if any ſuch there be) the anger of the Lord and his jealouſie may well ſmoke, yea and burn (as he elſewhere threatens) to the loweſt Hell; 32.22.the place appointed for them (ſays the Verſe following my Text) that under ſuch evident tokens to remember him by, forget God. Pſ. 9.17.And juſtly may God make them Examples themſelves, whom the Examples of others will not amend: as being guilty of tempting his Juſtice beyond all poſſibility of forbearance, by the ungrateful abuſing of that Patience that ſhould have led them to Repentance; of daring preſumption upon that lenity and goodneſs which only hath given them that merciful reprieve,Pſ. 66.9. by which their forfeited ſouls are held in life; of monſtrous hardneſs and impenitency of heart, whereby they treaſure up to themſelves wrath againſt the day of wrath, Rom. 2.5.and the revelation of the righteous Judgment of God; and laſtly, of prodigious madneſs, and deſperate foolhardineſs, when as (notwithſtanding the fearful Inſtances in all Ages by which God hath taught the world that none ever hardned himſelf againſt him, Job 9.4.and proſpered, yet) as if they would wreſtle a fall, or fight a duel with the Almighty, they run upon him even on his neck, Joh 1 15.25, 26.and on the thick boſſes of his bucklers.

Believe it, ſinner, believe it, (for Truth it ſelf hath ſpoken it) though God ſpare thee a while,Eccleſ. 8.11. Neh. 9.17and execute not ſentence ſpeedily againſt thy wicked works; Rom. 9.22.though he be ſlow to anger, and endure with much long-ſuffering the Veſſels of wrath fitted for deſtruction; 2 Pet. 3.9.as not being willing that any ſhould periſh, but that all ſhould come to repentance: yet will he not finally ſuffer his holy ſpirit to be vexed, his patience to be trampled upon, his word and its warnings to be deſpiſed, and his Exemplary Executions to be entertained only as news without any farther effect; but if the wicked turn not, he will whet his Sword, Pſal. 7.1….13.he will bend his bow and make it ready, and prepare for him the Inſtruments of death: and (when he hath ſtirred up all his wrath, Pſal. 78.38.which yet in his great compaſſion he forbears) he will wound the head of his Enemies, Pſal. 68.21.and the hairy ſcalp of all ſuch as go on ſtill in their treſpaſſes; and either here or hereafter make them feel by experience, who without feeling would not believe it, what a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb. 10.31.From which doleful experience God keep us all, for Jeſus Chriſt his ſake. Amen.

FINIS.

A Juſt NARRATIVE, OR, ACCOUNT Of the Man whoſe Hands and Legs rotted off: In the Pariſh of KINGS-SWINFORD, IN STAFFORD-SHIRE, Where he died, June 21. 1677.

Carefully Collected by JA. ILLINGWORTH, B. D. An Eye and Ear-Witneſs of moſt of the material Paſſages in it.

LONDON: Printed by A.C. for Henry Brome, at the Gun at the Weſt-end of St. Pauls, 1678.

Concerning Gods Judgments, Text – Title page