The Eye and Wheel of Providence, Chapter 2
Chap. 2. That there is a providence, proved by divers Arguments.
Argument 1.
Anſw. FOr our more orderly proceeding in this point, we ſhall enquire, Whether there be ſuch a thing as Providence?
Argum. 1 Beſides thoſe many places of Scripture which might eaſily be marſhalled and muſtered together, for the proof of the point, as ſhall (God willing) appear hereafter, it is manifeſt;
There is a God, therefore there is a Providence. In a Ship there is a Governour; among Souldiers a Generall; in the Heavens a Sun; in a Kingdome a Law;Non negans Eſſentiam, ſed Providentiam Dei. Aquin. in Pſal. 14. Cicero. Tuſcul. quaeſt. 1. Zanch. lib. de tribus Elohim. and in the World a God; and it's all one upon the point to ſay there is no God, as to deny the providence of God. The fool hath ſaid in his heart there is no God, Pſal. 14.1. not with his mouth, for ſhame or fear, ſaith Aquinas, but in his heart, viz. by his evil deeds and wicked life, he declareth that he is more than half perſwaded that there is no God; or if he doth acknowledge the eſſence of God, yet he denieth the providence of God. The wicked mans heart denieth the eſſence and being of God, and his life denieth the providence of God: and indeed his life is as far from God as his heart. But the common conſent of all Nations proveth that there is a God: and Zanchy ſhewing the vanities and varieties of opinions concerning God, affirmeth that there was no Creature ſo vile and baſe, but vain men (wanting the knowledge of the Scriptures, and being deſtitute of the Spirit of God to guid them) would rather make any …hing their God, than have no God. Now then much more we that are inſtructed not only by the light of nature, but alſo by the light of the Scriptures that there is a God, muſt needs confeſs that there is a Divine Providence.
There are three ſpeciall properties of God, that manifeſt his Providence;
The Soveraignty of God.
The Goodneſs of God.
The Righteouſneſs of God.
1. The Omnipotency of God ſheweth his power is abſolute, and ſo he can do all things without exception; of which power John Baptiſt ſpeaketh, going about to throw down the carnall confidence of the Phariſees, I tell you that God is able out of theſe ſtones, to raiſe up children unto Abraham, Mat. 3.9. If he would, he could turn ſtones into men, and theſe men into believers: but omnipotency and ſoveraignty thus differ:Rutherf. infl… ences of Grace. c. 7. omnipotency looks ſimply to effects phyſically, what the Lord can do: he can create many worlds; but his ſoveraignty is, that he may do what he will, and de jure do all things, and not give account of his matters to any one, Job 33.13. as Elihu ſpeaketh; by his ſoveraignty he doth what he pleaſeth, and none can ſay, What doſt thou? Job 9.12. Thus ſometimes he taketh away health from ſome, life from others: ſickneſs cometh and goeth at the command of God, it is not the fogs and vapours of the Air can cauſe ſuch great and epidemicall diſeaſes, as ſometimes are ſpread over City and Countrey, nor yet the influences of the Stars as Aſtrologers tell us, and if there be any influences of conſtellations, it is the Lord that by his Providence ordereth theſe conſtellations, making them to meet in ſuch and ſuch conjunctions, ſo that if health be taken away from any perſon or people, it is the Lord that taketh it away; and if God ſnatch any man out of the world; Si rapuerit hominem è mundo. August.if he ſtop thy breath, and deliver thee up to death, who can hinder him, ſaith Auſtin. Thus ſometimes he taketh away the ſpirits and courage of men, that though they have opportunities of doing this or that, yet their hearts ſhall fail them, they ſhall not be able to effect it; therefore he is ſaid to cut off the spirit of Princes, Pſal. 76. ult. that their heart ſhall melt, their ſpirits faint, and their hands be feeble. God hath as well a Bow to ſtrike afar off, and ſet in young Gallants, that ſeem to themelves luſty and ſtrong, Bp King.and in the courſe of nature far from their ends, as a Sword to ſtrike at hand, and cut down old user, that are even ready to drop into deaths mouth, and ſeem to have one foot in their graves; as one hath wittily noted. Nay admit we live as long as in courſe of nature we can; yet as the longeſt day hath night attending it, ſo death ever ſucceedeth the longeſt life; even Methuſelahs laſt Epitaph was, Mortuus eſt, he died, Gen. 5.27. Sometime God ſhoots over and beyond us, at Princes and Nobles, and great Perſonages; ſometime below us, at poor people of the loweſt rank; ſometime on the right hand he hits our friends, and ſometimes on the left hand our enemies, but at laſt the dart will light upon our ſelves. Yea, he hath divers wayes to bring men to their ends: ſome are drowned with Pharaoh and his Princes in the Sea: ſome go to the Gallows, as Haman: ſome have their bones burnt into Lime, as the King of Edom: ſome are ſwallowed up of the earth, as Corah, Dathan, and Abiram: ſome are eaten of Dogs, as Jeſabell: ſome of Worms, as Herod: ſome periſh by famine, as divers in Samaria: ſome by peſtilence, as ſeventy thouſand in Davids dayes: ſome by the ſword, as in the time of the Warrs: one cryes out of his head with the Shunamites Son, 2 King. 4.19. another of his feet with Aſa, 2 Chron. 16.12. one hath the Gout, another the Stone, another the Palſey, another the Dropſie; ſome die ſuddenly, others leiſurely, by long lingring languiſhing ſickneſs, but all meet in the grave: for as it was ſaid, 1 King. 19.17. that he that eſcaped the ſword of Hazael, Jehu ſhould ſlay, and he that eſcaped the ſword of Jehu, ſhould be ſlain by Eliſha: ſo he that eſcapeth death by one diſeaſe, ſhall firſt or laſt die by another, as it is ſaid, Jer. 48.44.God may take away from us what he pleaſeth, without croſſing his juſtice, for he is righteous in all his wayes: and without croſſing his mercy and goodneſſe, which is not due to any: he hath mercy on whom he will, and therefore may take away what he will from any: and without croſſing his truth, for the p…omiſes by which he engageth to us in theſe externals are conditional; and who can ſay he hath ſo exactly performed his conditions, that God can take nothing from him without breach of promiſe? He that fleeth from the fear ſhall fall into a pit, and he that eſcapeth the pit ſhall be taken in a ſnare: or as a man that fleeth from a Lion and meeteth with a Bear, or getting into an houſe and leaning to a wall, and a Serpent biteth him, Amos 5.19. Thus God to ſhew his ſoveraignty in the courſe of his Providence, takes away wealth and riches from ſome, and giveth it unto others: God hath taken away the Cattell of your Father, and given them to me, ſaith Jacob to Labans ſons, Gen. 31.9. Sometimes he gives wealth to and takes it away from the ſame perſon, as Job confeſſeth, Job 1.21. Sometimes he giveth rains and ſhowers, and fruitfull ſeaſons, Act. 14.17. and at other times he with-holdeth the rain, cauſing it to rain upon one City and not upon another, Amos 4. The Lord likewiſe ſetteth up and pulleth down, he advanceth and abaſeth: promotion cometh not from the Eaſt, nor from the Weſt, nor from the North, nor from the South, but God is the Judge; he putteth down one, and ſetteth up another, Pſal. 75, 6, 7. all which are notable declarations of Gods Providence.
2. Gods goodneſs doth further manifeſt his Providence: the Lord is truly good, and the chiefeſt good, and no evil (as evil) cometh from him; his goodneſs is like an Ocean, you read of the riches of his goodneſs, Rom. 2.4. the whole earth is full of the goodneſs of the Lord, ſaith the Pſalmiſt, and that which is moſt good is moſt communicative; the Lord is good, and doth good unto all,Eccl. 9.2. cauſing his Sun to ſhine on the evil and the good, and his rain to fall upon the juſt and the unjuſt. Theſe common outward bleſſings are often beſtowed indifferently upon all alike, good and bad, juſt and unjuſt; and the reaſon is, becauſe God is a common Father to them all; and therefore as every Father will beſtow ſome things upon all his children, though he reſerve the inheritance for one, as Abraham for Iſaac, Gen. 25.6.giving other meaner gifts to the reſt: ſo God reſerveth ſpirituall and heavenly bleſſings, and Heaven it ſelf for the Elect onelyonly, but outward earthly bleſſings he uſually beſtoweth upon all; as a learned man upon that place,De Dieu in Act. 17. The times obey, the Elements ſerve, the Corn abundantly groweth, the fruits of the Vine do ripen in ſeaſon, the Trees abound with apples, the Woods ſpring, the Meadows flouriſh as well to the uſe of the ſinfull, as to the good. Cypr. de bono patient. Dionyſ. de divin. nominib. Act. 17.30. [the times of this ignorance God winked at] ſaith, that the Greek word [foreign] is uſually from the Hebrew tranſlated by the Septuagint, to hide ones ſelf from; and ſo that being the meaning of the word [foreign] here, it ſtandeth in oppoſition to the following words. God then hid himſelf from the Nations, hid the means of grace from them, but now in the times of the Goſpel doth more open and declare himſelf to the Nations, commanding every man every where to repent; and yet even then when he ſuffered all Nations to walk in their own wayes, he nevertheleſs left not himſelf without witneſs, in that he did good, giving them rain from Heaven, and fruitfull ſeaſons, filling their hearts with food and gladneſs, as Paul and Barnabas told the men of Lystra, Act. 14.16, 17. One ſaith, That the chief title that God giveth to himſelf, is Bonitas goodneſs, becauſe it is the property of all good things to communicate themſelves to others, therefore moſt agreeable to God, who raineth down all his bleſſings upon us, and that therefore all other names of God, are but commentaries and expoſitions of this name.
3.Jus comes Jovis. Ambroſ. in Rom. 3. The righteouſneſs of God is alſo a demonſtration of Gods Providence: Ambroſe calleth the mercy of God the juſtice of God, becauſe he ſaith, God declareth himſelf righteous by performing his promiſes, Iſa. 53.11, 22. and God in his works of juſtice uſeth mercy, Prov. 3.12. Heb. 12.6. but the juſtice of God is more manifeſted in his judgements. The Lord is known by the judgements which he executeth, Rom. 9 16. i. e. known to be juſt and righteous. We read, Rev. 16.4, 5. that the third of the ſeven Angels poureth out his vial upon the fountains, and rivers of waters, that is, upon a part of Antichriſts followers, and thoſe that are figured by the fountains of water, are thought to be the teachers of that corrupt Church; and the Text ſaith, they became bloud, that is, their bloud was ſhed; an there is a notable declaration of the righteouſneſs of God, by the Angel of the waters, Thou art righteous O Lord, which art,A wiſe Heathen ſaid, foreign. All that God doth is full of providence, and he can do nothing that is unjuſt. Antonin. l. 2. §. 2. and waſt, and ſhalt be, becauſe thou haſt judged thus: and ver. 6. for they have ſhed the bloud of Saints and Prophets, and thou haſt given them bloud to drink, for they are worthy: and ver. 8. another ſucceedeth him; Even ſo O Lord, true and righteous are thy judgements: true] becauſe thou haſt laid on them no more than thou threatnedſt before; and righteous] becauſe done according to their deſert: and Rev. 19.11, 12. Chriſt is mounted on his white Horſe, and deſcribed very gloriouſly; here's a deſcription full of terrour and Majeſty, and his execution is ſo dreadfull, that there is a ſolemn invitation to a ſtrange Feaſt, ver. 17, 18. to eat the fleſh of Kings and Captains, and of mighty men, and the fleſh of Horſes, and them that ſit on them, and the fleſh of all men, both free and bond, both ſmall and great. By the fleſh of theſe, I conceive, is meant the ſpoil of the Antichriſtian party, when this great Battell ſhall be fought in Armageddon: but how this is …ged, appeareth in the latter part of ver. 11. it is ſaid, He that ſate upon the white Horſe is called faithfull and true, and in righteouſneſs doth he judge and make Warre. It is one of the hardeſt things in the world to manage the Sword-military, according to the rule of juſtice: ſouldiers uſe to put all to the Sword that ſtand in their way, plundering both friend and foe; but Chriſt acteth the part of a valiant Warriour, and of a juſt Judge; in righteouſneſs doth he judge and make Warre. It is ſaid, Pſal. 97.2. that clouds and darkneſs are round about him, righteouſneſs and judgement are the habitation of his Throne. Ver. 33. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. When fire is kindled in Gods anger, as fire inkindled in a thicket of thorns, ſpreading it ſelf every way, flying from buſh to buſh, yet doth it not burn at random, but breaks our from the Throne of God, which is founded on righteouſneſs, or compoſed of righteouſneſs. Men in their anger are uſually tranſported with violent paſſions, and are very irregular; but when … is incenſed by the worſt of … enemies, he acteth regularly; his Throne is upon judgement and righteouſneſs, and Heaven and earth, Angels and men, are witneſſes thereof. Ver. 6. The Heavens declare his righteouſneſs, and all the people ſee his glory. Now theſe terrible actings of God in righteouſneſs, are great proofs of his providence.