The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 1, Part 2 · Chapter 4 · Section 1

The Christian Life Part 2 Volume 1 · Part 2 · Chapter 4 · Section 1

p. 199SECT. I. What it is we are to believe of the divine Providence.

IN General, it is not sufficient that we believe this or that Part or Branch of it, but we must acknowledge the Whole; every Part whereof the Whole consists being pregnant with very powerful Obligations to Religion. Now the Whole of Providence consists in Gods continual Conservation, Possession, p. 200Inspection, and Disposal of all things, and Government of the rational World. So that the Whole of it includes these five Parts or Branches,

1. Gods continual Conservation of all things.

2. His continual Possession of all things.

3. His continual Inspection of all things.

4. His continual Ordering and Disposal of all things.

5. His continual Government of the rational World. All which, as I shall shew, are highly necessary to be believed in order to our being truly Religious.

I. To oblige us to be truly religious, it is necessary we should believe that God continually upholds and conserves all things. That he alone is the great Atlas on whose almighty Shoulders the whole Frame of things depends. For tho the works of Humane Art do often stand many Ages after the Workmans Hand is withdrawn from them, yet the reason is because there is Something between them and Nothing, viz, the pre-existing Matter of which they are formed; whereas the Works of God being all produced out of Nothing, have nothing between them, but that creative Power which produced them. And therefore as Mans Works would necessarily perish were p. 201that pre-existing Matter taken away, which stands between them and Nothing, so Gods Works would necessarily resolve into nothing, should that creative Power be withdrawn which stands between them and nothing. In short pre-existing Matter is the Basis of our Works, and creative Power of Gods; and therefore as our Works must cease to be were their pre-existing Matter withdrawn, so Gods Works must cease to be were his creative Power withdrawn. So that 'tis the same almighty Power which raised the World out of Nothing that keeps it from sinking into nothing; and that it is this Moment is as much the Effect of divine Power, as that it was that Moment when it was first created. For the World was no more able to give it self the second Moment of Being than it was the first, nor the third than the second, and so on through all the past and future Moments of its Being. For one Moment of Being is as much as another, and therefore to give a second requires the same Power as to give a first; and if so, then each succeeding Moment of the Worlds Duration and Continuance, must be derived from the Cause of the first Moment of its Being. So that the Creation and Conservation of the World, is only the same Act continuing and flowing on p. 202(like a Line from a Mathematical Point) from the first Instant of its Being to the last Period of its Duration. And so the Scripture represents it; thus Nehemiah 9.6. Thou, even thou art Lord alone, thou hast made Heaven, the Heaven of Heavens with all their Hosts, the Earth and all things that are therein, and thou preservest them all; and Acts 17.25, 28. he giveth to all life and breath and all things, in him we live, and move, and have our being; and Heb. 1.3. he is said to uphold all things by the word of his Power.

WHICH is a Truth of that vast Importance to Religion, that it is hardly conceivable how it can subsist without it. For while we look on our selves as Beings that are independent from God, that do live, and breath, and subsist of our selves, without any new Supplies of Being from him, why should we serve and worship him? What reason have we to trust in a Being from whom we expect no Support? Or to render Homage to a Being on whom we have no Dependence? So that by disbelieving this Part of the divine Providence, we do in effect cut off all Intercourse between God and our selves, and lay an Imbargo on Religion. For if we depend not on him, what have we to do with him? And if we p. 203owe not our Lives and Beings to his Power, what right hath he to exact our Obedience? But while we look upon our selves as Beings that hang upon him, and derive every Breath and Moment of our Beings from him, so that should he withdraw from us that almighty Arm that susteins us, and leave us to subsist of our selves, we must presently drop into nothing, how can we forbear without infinite Stupidity and Ingratitude to devote our selves and all our Powers and Faculties to his Service? For what a stupid Wretch should I be should I not study to please him upon whom I know my Life and Being depends, and who merely by withdrawing his Hand from underneath me can let me sink into nothing when he pleases; and what an ungrateful Wretch should I be should I refuse to honour, worship and obey him, from whom I draw every Breath I breath and derive new life and Being every Moment?

II. IT is also necessary we should believe that God possesses all things; that he hath not given away this World from himself, and cast it out of his own Disposal as a common Scramble among Men; but that he hath reserved to himself an absolute, unalienable and independent Propriety in all that we enjoy and possess. For all things p. 204owe their Being to him as he is the Creator and Vpholder of them; and therefore whatsoever is must necessarily be his, because it is by his Power and Providence. And if we who act by the Power of God and can do nothing without him, may claim a Right to the Effects of our Invention and Industry, how much more may God who contrived and produced all things by his own independent Wisdom and Power? For our Wisdom and Power being Gods, he hath a Sovereign Right to all the Effects of them; but his Wisdom and Power are absolutely his own without Dependence on any superior Cause; and therefore whatsoever are the Effects of them must necessarily be his by a most absolute and independent Propriety. And accordingly he is stiled the possessor of Heaven and Earth, Gen. 14.19. and Moses tells his People, behold the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords, the Earth also and all that is therein, Deut. 10.14. and the Earth saith the Psalmist is the Lords and the fulness thereof, the World and they that dwell therein; for he hath founded it upon the Sea and prepared it upon the Floods, Psal. 24.1. and 50.12. and the Heavens saith he again are thine, the Earth also is thine; as for the World and p. 205the fulness thereof thou hast founded them, Psal. 89.11.

GOD therefore being the Supreme Proprietor of the World, there is nothing can be justly ours but by his Will and Grant; and nothing can be ours by his Will, but what is honestly and justly ours. So that for us to seise upon any Part of the World by Fraud, or Violence, or Oppression, is to trespass upon God and invade his Property, and to tear his World from him against his Will. Thus whatsoever we possess by Wrong, we possess as Robbers and Invaders of God, and whatsoever we enjoy by Right, we enjoy as Tenants to the great Landlord of the World; and without owning and acknowledging this we cannot be truly Religious. For if the World be not his, why should we pray to him for what we want of it, or praise him for what we enjoy? Why should we patiently submit to his Disposal when he deprives us of what we have? Or thankfully acknowledg his Goodness when he supplies us with what we need? Why should we employ our Possessions in his Service, or think our selves obliged to return him any Part of them in pious or charitable Works? In a word, why should we be contented with a small share, and abide by that unequal Division of things p. 206that is made in the World, and not endeavour to increase our own poor Heap by pilfering from other Mens that are ten times bigger than ours? Whence are these Obligations but from this Supposal, that God is the supreme Proprietor and Possessor of all things; which being denied there remains no solid Foundation of Reason for any of these great and necessary Duties of Religion.

III. To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that God is present with and inspects all things; that his divine Substance is diffused through and circumfused about all things, so as to penetrate them within as an universal Soul, and contain them without as an universal Place. For so the Jewish Doctors are wont to call God Hamakom, that is to say, the Place or Continent of all things; because all things are incompassed by him, and do live and move within his infinite Bosom. For so in Scripture the divine Substance is described, as spreading it self through and a round the World, even to the utmost possibility of Extension. Whither saith the Psalmist, shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there, if I make my bed in Hell, behold thou art there; p. 207if I take the Wings of the Morning, and dwell in the uttermost Parts of the Sea, even there shall thy Hand lead me and thy right Hand shall hold me, Psal. 139.7, 8, 9, 10. And Behold, saith Solomon, the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee, 1 Kings 8.27. yea do not I fill Heaven and Earth? saith the Lord himself, Jer. 23.24.

NOW tho Gods Omnipresence be strictly an Attribute of his Essence, and not a part of his Providence, yet 'tis such an Attribute as includes his universal Providence, and without supposing of which an universal Providence can hardly be conceived. For if he co-exists and be present with all things, he must be supposed to operate upon them; because where ever he is, his infinite Wisdom and Power and Goodness are; which in their own Nature are such active Perfections as cannot be present where such a world of things are to be done, and sit still and do nothing. For how can we conceive that infinite Wisdom should be present where a world of things are to be ordered, and yet order nothing? That infinite Power should be present where a world of things are to be done, and yet do nothing? Or that infinite Goodness should be present where a world of good is to be done, and do no good at all? p. 208Such an idle, restive Presence as this, is utterly inconsistent with such active Perfections. So that the Omnipresence of an infinite Power and Wisdom, and Goodness necessarily supposes an universal Providence, and without such an Omnipresence an universal Providence can hardly be conceived. For how can God be present by any Power, or Virtue or Efficacy of his Nature, in any Place from whence the real Substance of his Divinity is excluded? How can he operate by his own immediate Efficiency where he is not? Or extend his divine Power, and Wisdom, and Goodness over all things, except his divine Substance in which these Attributes are, be co-extended with them. Every Agent must be where it acts, because it acts from its Being, and it is as possible for that which is not to operate, as for that which is to operate where it is not; and hence Socrates being asked how it was possible for one God to order all the Affairs of the World? returns this Answer, foreign, i. e. God is so great and vast a Being, as that he hears and sees all things together, and is present every where, and takes care of all things at the same time. p. 209Thus Gods Omnipresence, you see, doth so include his universal Providence that with it 'tis necessary and without it inconceivable.

AND then from his Presence with all things, necessarily follows his Inspection of all things; because where ever he is, his infinite Knowledg is, which is inseparable from his Being; and were ever his infinite Knowledge is, it must necessarily have a through Prospect of all things round about him, so that nothing can be concealed from its Inspection. For so the Scripture assures us that the Eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth, 2 Chron. 16.9. and that the Eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and good, Prov. 15.3. and in a word, that all things are open and naked to the Eyes of him with whom we have to do, Heb. 4.13.

BOTH which are Truths of vast Importance to Religion. For while Men look upon God as a Being that dwells at a great Distance from them, they will be ready enough to conclude Procul à Jove procul à Fulmine, that being far off from him, they are out of his reach, and beyond the Danger of his Thunderbolts; and that he is too far removed from them either to succour them when they want his Aid, or to punish p. 210them when they deserve his Displeasure; which must needs extinguish both their Hope and Fear, which are the Master-Springs of their Religion. And tho we should believe him to be present with us, yet unless we also believe that he hath a full Inspection into all our Actions and Affairs, we shall have no Regard to him. For if he sees not into our Affairs, how can he succour and relieve us? And if he cannot relieve us, to what end should we hope in him, depend upon him, or pray to him? And unless he hath a perfect Insight into all our Actions, how should he reward or punish us; and if he cannot reward us what should encourage, if he cannot punish us, what should terrifie us to our Duty to him? But if we look upon him as a Being that is always with us, and where ever we are surrounds us wirh his boundless Presence▪ that includes and penetrates every part of our Substance, sees into our inmost Thoughts and Purposes, and ransacks every Corner of our Souls with his allseeing Eye, and hath a through and perfect Prospect of all our Affairs and Concerns, we cannot without infinite Force to our Reason forbear fearing and reverencing, serving and adoring him.

p. 211IV. To fasten the Obligations of Religion upon us it is also necessary that we believe that God continually orders and disposes of all things; that he is the Spring of all the Motions of this great Machine of the World, that sets every Wheel and Cause agoing, and by his all-commanding Influence maintains, directs and over-rules their Motions; and that there is nothing happens in the World, whether by Nature, or Chance, or Design, but by his Ordination and Disposal; that even those natural Causes which are necessarily determined to such particular Courses and Effects, are influenced and conducted by him, and that whensoever they stray from their Courses, suspend or precipitate their Motions, or move counter to their natural Tendencies, it is by his Order and Direction; that 'tis he who drives and guides the heavenly Bodies, impresses the Degrees and chalks out the Paths of their Motions, and by his own Almighty Hand turns round those stupendous Wheels in a perpetual Revolution. For so the Scripture tells us that he makes his Sun to shine upon the good and bad, Mat. 5.45. that it is at his Beck and Command that those vast Bodies of Light exhale the Vapours of the Earth and Sea, and dissolve them down again in Hail, p. 212and Rain and Snow. For so we are told that 'tis he who covers the Heavens with Clouds, and prepares the Rain for the Earth; that sends forth his Commandment unto the Earth, and giveth Snow like Wool, and scattereth the hoar Frost like Ashes, and casteth forth his Ice like Morsels, and sendeth forth his Word and melteth them, and causes the Wind to blow and the Waters flow, Psalm 147.8, 15, 16, 17, 18. that the Fire, and Hail, and Snow, and Vapours, and stormy Winds do fulfil his Word, Psalm 148.8. And in a word, that 'tis by his Order and Influence that the Earth sends up its Sap into the Seeds and Roots of Herbs, and Corn and Plants, and causes them to spring and grow, and that all Animals do propagate their Kind, and still replenish the Store-houses of Nature; for so we are told that he cloaths the Grass of the Field, and arrays the Lillies in all their glory, Mat. 2.28, 29, 30. and that he causes the Grass to grow for the Cattel, and Herb for the use of Man, that he may bring forth Food out of the Earth, Psal. 104.14.

AND then as for fortuitous and casual Events, which depend upon Accidental and irregular Causes, as a Mans being hit with an Arrow let fly at random, or brained with a Stone falling from the Top of an p. 213House, we must believe that they are all ordered, directed, and over-ruled by God; so as that to him there is nothing casual or contingent; and tho there are many things happen of which there was no Necessity in their immediate Causes, yet do they as necessarily depend upon the Will and Power of the first Cause of all, as the Rising and Setting of the Sun, and Ebbing and Flowing of the Sea. So that how fortuitous soever these things may be in respect of the Design and natural Tendency of second Causes, yet none of them ever happen besides the Purpose and Intention of God, who foresees and designs them before they come to pass, and directs and levels them to his own most wise and holy Ends and Purposes. For so the Arrow which the Soldier let fly at Random was levelled by God at Ahabs Breast, so that his Death was Chance in respect of the Soldier who shot the Arrow, but Design in God who directed it; and accordingly, Prov. 16.33. we are told that the Lot is cast into the Lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And so in the Case of Chance-Medley when a Man accidentally kills another without any Design or Intention, tho it be mere Accident in him, 'tis Council and Design in God, who, as the Scripture expresses it, delivers the p. 214Man he slays into his Hand, Exod. 21.13.

And then Lastly, As for those Events which happen by the Design of free and rational Agents, it is necessary we should believe that they are all over-ruled by God too; that whatever befalls us in this World whether it be by the good or ill Design of Men or Angels, is for good, and just, and holy Ends, either permitted or determined by the sovereign Disposer of all Events; so that without his wise Permission or Determination, neither Angels, nor Men, nor Devils can do us either good or hurt; that every good thing we receive from them, only passes to us through their Hands from God, and that they are only the Channels and Conveyances of the overflowing Streams of his infinite Bounty; and that when ever we suffer any ill from them, they are but the Rods in Gods Hand wherewith he chastens and corrects us; that he hath the over-ruling Disposal of all the Ills which they inflict upon us, and can render their Stings a Sovereign Balm, and their ranckest Poyson Medicinal to us; so that their Malice being in Gods Disposal, can effect nothing but what he will have it; and if it doth us hurt 'tis his Executioner, but if he pleases it shall do us good, and like p. 215Leaches applied by a skilfull Physician, shall draw away our Disease while it is sucking our Blood. For so God made the Malice of Joseph's Brethren the means of his Advancement in Egypt; and by the Covetousness of Judas and Cruelty of the Jews advanced the holy Jesus to his own right Hand, and executed his Purpose to redeem Mankind. Thus God over-rules the Actions of Men, and when he pleases directs them quite contrary to their Intentions; for the way of Man, saith the Prophet, is not in himself, it is not in Man that walketh to direct his steps, Jer. 10.23. It is the Man that walks and acts, but it is God alone that leads his Way, and directs his Actions to what End he pleases.

ALL which it is necessary we should believe in order to our being truly religious. For while we look upon God as a Foreiner to the World, that hath altogether retired himself from the Affairs of it, and abandoned it to the Disposal of blind Chance or Necessity, he must stand for a Cypher in our Esteem, and signifie no more to us than the Emperor of the World in the Moon, who for all we know may be a glorious and puissant Prince, but is so far removed from us and our Affairs, that he can do us neither good nor hurt. And if God intermeddle p. 216not with those Goods and Evils which happen here below, what doth he signifie to us who live apart from him in another World, from which he is wholly retired and withdrawn? But if we firmly believe that there is nothing befalls us, whether it be in the Course of Nature or by Chance, or Design, but by his Order and Direction, we must lay aside our Reason and Humanity, if for every Good we want or do receive, we do not apply our selves to him with humble, and submissive, thankfull and ingenuous Minds; and if under every Evil that we feel or fear, we do not resign up our Wills and lift up our Eyes to him, as to the sole Arbitrator of our Fate. For where should we pay our Thanks, or whence should we expect our Supplies and Deliverances, but to him who is the Fountain of all Good, and from him who is the supreme Moderator of all Events? Who is there in Heaven or Earth whom we are so much concerned to please, and so much obliged to acknowledge and submit to, so much engaged to trust to and rely on, as him who hath all our Fortunes in his Hands, and the absolute Disposal of every thing in which we are or may or can be any way interested or concerned? So that the Belief of Gods over-ruling Providence hath p. 217every Link of our Duty fastened to it in a strong and rational Concatenation, and if it be loosened from this Principle, the whole Chain must necessarily fall in sunder.

V. and Lastly, To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that God is the Supreme Governor of the rational World; which is a distinct Branch of Providence from the former. For all things whatsoever are subject to Gods Order and Disposal, but in strictness of Speech 'tis only rational Beings that are subject to his Government. For Government supposes Laws, and Laws Rewards and Punishments, of which rational Beings alone are capable, they alone having the power to deliberate, and upon Deliberation to choose what is good and refuse what is Evil, without which no Being can deserve either to be rewarded or punished. So that the Government of God in strictness of Speech, respects only the rational World consisting of Angels and Men.

As for the Government of Angels 'tis impossible we should understand any more of it than what God hath revealed; because tho they converse with us and our Affairs, yet we do not converse with them; our Spiritual Nature by which we are near p. 218allied to them being shut up in Matter, which like a Wall of Partition divides us from them, and hinders us from looking over into their World, and from seeing their Nature and Operations, and surveying their Polity and Government. Indeed so far as we understand their Natures, we may easily understand the Laws by which God Governs them; because we know Gods Laws are always adapted to the Natures of things; and consequently since we know that they are rational Creatures, we may conclude from thence, that whatsoever is fit and decorous for rational Creatures, as such, they stand obliged to by the Law of their Natures. But since there are particular Powers and Properties in their Natures which we understand not, 'tis impossible we should understand all the particular Laws by which they are Governed. Only thus much in general we know, that the whole Order of Angelical Beings were from the first Moment of their Creation subjected to Laws fitted to their Nature; by which natural Laws they stood obliged to obey their Creator in all his positive Commands and Institutions; and that these Laws whatsoever they were both natural and positive were established in Rewards and Punishments, by which if they p. 219continued obedient they were to continue for ever in their most blissful Ranks and Stations; but if they rebelled were immediately to be banished thence into everlasting Wretchedness and Misery; that a certain Order of these Angelical Beings, excited either by their Pride, or Envy, or sensual Affection, did under their Head or Chieftain revolt from God by transgressing some natural or positive Law, for which they were expelled the high Territories of Happiness, and driven into these lower Parts of the World, where under the Prince of their Rebellion they have ever since waged War against God and Man; that in this state of War they are under the Restraint of Gods almighty Power, who sets Bounds to their Power and Malice which it cannot pass, and determins it to what Ends and Purposes he pleases; employing it sometimes to try and chasten good Men, sometimes to execute his Wrath upon the Children of Disobedience, and sometimes again letting it loose, merely to display his own almighty Power in its Defeat and Overthrow; in which State they are reserved as Prisoners at large to the Judgment of the great Day, whereby together with wicked men they shall be sentenced and confined to everlasting Flames and Darkness; p. 220that the good Angels in reward of their constant Obedience are continued and fixed in a most blissful Condition, in which they enjoy the constant Smiles of God, and the unspeakable Pleasure of being entirely resigned to his Will, who upon all Occasions sends them to and fro the World, as the great Messengers and Ministers of his Providence, to Minister to the Recovery of recoverable Sinners, and to pour out the Vials of his Wrath upon the obstinate and unreclaimable; to assist, protect and comfort good Men while they live, and when they depart from hence to conduct their Spirits through the aery Territories of the wicked Angels into those blissful Mansions that are prepared to receive them till the Resurrection; at which time their Part will be to summon and gather both the good and bad before the Tribunal of Christ, to receive their final Sentence to everlasting Weal or Wo.

THIS is the main of what we know concerning Gods Government of Angels; the sincere Belief of which will be of vast Advantage to us in the whole Course of our Religion. For since there is such a mighty Colony of evil Angels roving about the World, watching all Opportunities to lay Snares in our Way, and to tempt us into their Revolt and Ruin; and since their Design p. 221in tempting us now, is only to get us into their Power, that so they may torment us hereafter, how much doth it concern us to guard and defend our selves against their evil Motions and Suggestions, left by complying with them we give them opportunity to train us on from one degree of Wickedness to another, till they have made us provoke the Almighty to cut us off, and abandon us for ever to their Rage and Fury; and since they are all of them under his Restraint, and can proceed no farther in their mischievous Designs against us, than he lets loose his Chain to them, how should this encourage us manfully to struggle and contend against them; since if we do, we may depend upon it, that God in whose Power they are, will either command them off, or at least not permit them to over-power us with Temptation. And since by Gods Permission there are great Flocks of good Angels always hovering about us, to guard us against those malignant ones, and to prompt us to good, as they prompt us to evil, and with their holy Inspirations to countermine their impure Suggestions, how much doth it import us to cherish and reverence every pious Thought and Motion, since for all we know it may be the Whisper of some Angel of God, who by these p. 222and such like holy Injections is now strugling with the Powers of Darkness, to rescue our Souls out of their hands. And since these blessed and benevolent Spirits do by Gods Appointment pitch their Tents about good Men while they live; and convoy them safely to the Seat of the Blessed when they die, how should this encourage bad Men to be good, and good Men to persevere in Well-doing; since they place and continue themselves under the blessed Patronage of Angels, to be conducted safely by them through this perillous Sea to the calm Regions of eternal Light? Thus the Belief of Gods Government of Angels, so far as he hath thought good to reveal it to us, very much conduces to a hole Life.

BUT that which more nearly concerns us, and hath a more immediate Influence on our Practice, is his Government of Men; the Belief of which is indispensably necessary to render us truly religious. Now concerning this Government of God over Men, there are seven things necessary to be believed.

1. That the great End of Gods Government is the Welfare of Mankind.

2. That in order to this End, God hath given us Laws for the Regulation and Government of our Actions.

p. 2233. That to secure our Obedience to these Laws he hath derived his Authority upon all lawful Sovereignties to Govern us according to them.

4. That he is ready to contribute to us all necessary Assistance, to enable us to observe these Laws.

5. That the Assistance he contributes to us is such as supposes us free Agents, and concurs with and maintains our natural Freedom.

6. That he takes particular Cognisance of the good and ill Use which we make of our natural Freedom.

7. That he will certainly reward or punish us accordingly.

I. To oblige us to be truly religious it is necessary we should believe that the great End of Gods Governing us is our Welfare and Happiness. That being infinitely raised above all Want and Indigence, he doth not assume the Government of us to advance himself, or to gratifie any boundless Ambition of his own, which is a Vice that springs out of Poverty and Indigence, and therefore can have neither Root nor Room in a Nature so infinitely happy as his; but that all his Design in reigning over us is to do us good and to consummate our Happiness; to restore and rectifie our disordered p. 224Nature, and to advance and raise it to the utmost Perfection, and Bliss and Glory it is capable of; to protect and defend us against present Evils, and support us under them, and convert them into Instruments of good, and to rescue us from that worst of Evils, Sin, and from all those endless Miseries it is pregnant with. This we ought to believe is the great Scope of all his Acts of Government, and even of the direct Punishments he inflicts; which are always intended either to reclaim the Offenders themselves, or to warn others by the sad Example of their suffering not to follow the ill Example of their Sin. And that this is the great End of his Government he himself hath expresly declared. So Psal. 145.9. we are assured that the Lord is good to all, and that his tender Mercies are over all his Works; and Verse 13.14. that in the Exercise of his everlasting Kingdom, he upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all that are bowed down; and tho in the Administration of his Government, he hath decreed to cut off all such obstinate Rebels as will not be reduced by the Methods of his Love, yet he hath declared that he is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance, 2 Pet. 3.9. and that he would have all men to p. 225be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the Truth, 1 Tim. 2.4. And unless we believe him to be a benevolent Governor, that aims at the Good of his Subjects, we shall look upon his Government as a cruel Tyranny, erected for no other End but to squeeze and oppress us, to inthrall our Liberty, and rob us of the Rights of our Nature, and to chain us down to an endless and easless Toil and Wretchedness; and whilst we thus look upon it, it is impossible we should ever submit to it with that generous Freedom and Chearfulness that true Religion requires. But if we firmly believe that the great Design of it is to promote our Welfare both here and hereafter, we have all the reason in the World to covet to be Governed by God, and to receive his Yoke as a mighty Grace and Favour.

II. To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that God hath given us Laws for the Regulation and Government of our Actions. For without Laws to direct Men what to do and what to avoid, there can be no such thing as Government, the proper business of which is to regulate Mens Actions, and without a Rule there can be no Regulation; so that divine Rules or Laws are necessarily included in the divine Rule or Government; p. 226and as God cannot be supposed to give Laws without Governing, so neither can he be supposed to Govern without giving Laws; so that unless we believe that God governs us by Laws, we are utterly destitute both of all Reason why and of all Direction wherein to obey him, and have neither Motive to inforce nor Measure to regulate our Obedience. And as it is necessary we should believe that he hath given us Laws, so it is also necessary we should believe that those Laws are for our good; that he neither imposed them on us pro imperio, as arbitrary Tests and Trials of our Obedience, nor exacts them of us to serve himself and advance his own Interest and Greatness, but that the great Design of them is to do us good, and to direct our Actions to our own Interest; to render our Lives placid and easie, and to perfect and glorifie our Natures. For while we look upon the Matter of Gods Law either as indifferent in it self, and imposed upon us by him for no other End but to shew his absolute Sovereinty over us, or as beneficial only to him and imposed upon us merely to promote his Interest, it is impossible we should ever comply with it with a free and chearful Mind. We may haply obey him out of Fear and Dread, because p. 227he is too mighty for us, and not to be contended with without infinite Peril and Disadvantage; but 'tis impossible we should obey those Laws with a resigned and chearful Will, from which we only fear ill but expect no benefit. Wherefore to oblige us to render a free and unforced Submission to Gods Laws, it is absolutely necessary we should believe that the great Design of them is the good of those they are imposed on; and so the Psalmist assures us that the Statutes of the Lord are perfect, converting the Soul and making wise the simple; right, rejoycing the Heart; pure, enlightning the Eyes, true and righteous altogether, more to be desired than Gold, yea than much fine Gold, sweeter also than the Honey and the Honey-comb, and that in keeping them there is great Reward, Psalm 19.7, 8, 9, 10, 11. and that the Law of Gods Mouth was better to him, that is, for the good it did him than thousands of Gold and Silver, Psalm 119.72.

AND this if we firmly believe it will infinitely encourage our Obedience. For when I am sure that God commands me nothing but what my own Health and Ease and Happiness requires, and that every Law of his is both a necessary and a Soverein Prescription against the Diseases of my Nature, and that he could not have prescribed me p. 228less than he hath without being defective in his Care of my Recovery and Happiness, with what Prudence or Modesty can I grudg to obey him? How can I think much to serve him, when I serve my self by it to the best Purpose in the World? Or why should I so much as wish that he had not imposed this or that Law on me, when I know he imposed it to no other End but to oblige me to be happy, and that he cannot Dispense with any Duty he requires of me without giving me leave to be miserable. When therefore Gods Authority doth thus strike in with our Interest, and walk hand in hand with it through every Duty it imposes, by refusing to obey him we fight against our selves, and renounce his Authority and our own Happiness together.

III. To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should believe that to secure our Obedience to these Laws, God hath derived his own Authority upon all lawful soverein Powers, to govern us according to them. That to promote our Happiness which is the End of his Government, and to secure our Obedience to his Laws, which are the Means to that End, he hath established a visible Authority upon Earth to represent his own invisible Majesty, and in his Name to exact our Obedience p. 229to his Laws, so far as it is liable to their Cognisance; and that the Persons vested with this Authority are exalted by it above all Controll or Resistance, and in their several Dominions placed next to and immediately under God, by whose Commission alone they act, and to whose Tribunal alone they are accountable; so that by resisting them, we do as much resist God, whose Deputy Governors they are, as a Neopolitan doth the King of Spain by levying Arms against his Vice-roy of Naples; and by refusing to obey their just and lawful Commands we demur to Gods Authority, who in every just thing they impose or require, speaks to us by their Mouths, and Commands us by their Laws. For so the Scripture tells us not only that they are ordained of God, and that to resist them is to resist the Ordinance of God; not only that they are the Ministers of God, and that therefore for Conscience sake, or in Reverence to Gods Authority which they bear, they are to be obeyed, Rom. 13.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. but that they judge for God and not for Men, 2 Chron. 19.6. and that therefore their Judgment is Gods, Deut. 1.17.

THE Disbelief of which excludes Gods Government out of the World, and consequently dissolves all our Obligations of Duty p. 230and Allegiance to him. For how can he be supreme Governor of the World, if all other Governments are not immediately under him? And how can they be immediately under him if they are not immediately authorized by him? And by what other Right can any Person or Persons pretend to govern in Gods Kingdom under him, but by Commission from him? For every supreme Authority is the Head and Fountain of all other Authorities, so far as it extends; and if it be not so, it cannot be supreme. And therefore unless all Authority be derived from God, he can have no such thing as a supreme Authority in the World. And this I doubt not is very well understood by our Atheistical Politicians, who in pursuance of their Denial of God, derive all Authority from the People; being truly aware that if the Authority of the Governors can be derived from the People, it will necessarily follow that both must be independent upon God, and that to derive Authority to govern from any other Head but God, is to deny him to be the supreme Governor of the World, which is the thing they would be at. If it be said, that God hath given Authority to the People to authorise their Governors, and so he is still Head of all Authority tho it be derived p. 231from him immediately through the People; I answer, That this doth very little mend the matter. For if God hath given Authority to the People to authorise their Governors, he hath in Effect given the Reins out of his own Hands, and left the People to govern the World. For I would fain know, do Governors govern by Gods Authority or the Peoples? If by the Peoples, 'tis the People that govern by them and not God; if by Gods, 'tis God that governs by them and not the People. In short, If they govern by the Peoples Authority, they are, as Governors at least, independent from God, and accountable only to the Tribunal of the People; if by Gods Authority, they are Independent from the People and accountable only to the Tribunal of God. So that whether he authorises them immediately or by the People it is all one, the Question being not so much how they are authorised, as by what Authority they govern; if it be by Gods, to God alone they are accountable if by the People, Gods Authority is quite excluded from having any hand in the Government of the World. In short, If the Choice of the People makes their Governor without Gods authorising him, he is the Peoples Vice-roy and not Gods; but if it be God that authorises him, he is Gods Vice-roy p. 232and not the Peoples. So that their choice even in Elective Governments can signifie no more than the bare presenting of a Person to God to be authorised his Vicegerent by him: who, if their Choice be just and lawful, is supposed to consent to and approve it, and thereby to authorise the Person so presented. For sovereign Authority in the Abstract is ordained and instituted by God; but abstract Authority cannot govern unless some Person be vested with it; and to vest him with it, he must not only be applied to the Authority, but the Authority must also be applied to him; but where the People have the Right of Election, they only apply the Person to the Authority, but 'tis Gods Consent and Approbation that applies the Authority to the Person, who thereupon commences Supreme under God, and hath no superior Tribunal but Gods to account to.

AND thus according to the Prophet Daniel, the most High rules in the Kingdoms of Men; Because as Lord of all the Lords, and King of all the Kings of the Earth, he rules and governs by their Ministry, and they rule and govern by his Authority. So that to secure and maintain the Obligations which Gods Government of the World devolves upon us, it is necessary we should believe that all rightful Sovereigns are his p. 233Vicegerents, and do rule by his Commission and Authority, and that the Sword which they bear is Gods, who hath delivered it into their Hands, to protect his faithful Subjects, and to execute his Wrath, and avenge his Authority upon Evil-doers. So that we cannot rebel against them, nor wilfully disobey their just Commands, without giving a Defiance to God himself, and rejecting the Yoke of his Government. Whilst therefore we behave our selves Factiously and Seditiously towards those whom God hath set over us, we live as Out-laws in the Kingdom of God, without any respect to that visible Authority by which he governs the World; and whilst we do so, all our Pretences to Religion are impudent lies and Impostures.

IV. IN order to our being truly Religious it is also necessary we should believe that God is ready to contribute to us all that Assistance which is necessary to enable us to observe his Laws. That whereas in this corrupt State of our Nature, we are so indisposed to all good by our carnal Affections and vicious Habits, as that without some foreign Aid it is morally certain we shall never be reduced to a through Compliance with our Duty, God is always ready not only to second but to prevent our Endeavours, p. 234to inspire good Thoughts into our Minds, and by them to kindle devout Affections in our Wills, and by them to excite us to a constant Course of pious and virtuous Endeavours; and that when he hath proceeded thus far with us, he doth not presently abandon us to our selves, and leave us to contend and struggle in vain with insuperable Difficulties, but all along cooperates with us, aids and assists our Faculties, and with his holy Inspirations cherishes our languishing Endeavours, till they have wrought their way through all the Difficulties of Religion into a permanent State of Piety and Virtue. So that unless we either turn a deaf Ear to those good Thoughts he suggests to us, and refuse to listen to their Perswasions, or quench those holy Affections which they kindle in us with earthly Cares and Pleasures, or by wilful sinning harden our Hearts against all the Impressions of his Grace, we shall not fail of being frequently and powerfully excired by him to Piety and Virtue; and when he thus excites us, if we do not wilfully slacken our Endeavours, and basely surrender back our selves to our Lusts, in despight of all our Resolutions and his Perswasions to the contrary, we shall be so effectually and constantly assisted by him, as that it p. 235will be impossible for us to fail of Success. For thus the Scripture assures us that he gives Grace to the humble, 1 Pet. 5.5. and thereby works in them to will and to do, Phil. 2.13. and that to this End he gives his holy Spirit to every one that asks, Luke 11.13. The Belief of which is absolutely necessary to oblige us to submit to Religion. For tho we are naturally free to Good as well as Evil, yet through the vicious Habits we have generally contracted either through youthful Levity and Inconsideration, or ill Education and Example, our Liberty to good is so streightned and confined, that whenever we attempt to exercise it, we find a prevailing Byass on our Natures, that carries us the contrary way, bearing before it all our good Resolutions, and tiring out our short-breath'd Endeavours, so that the good we would, we do not, and the evil we would not, we do. And therefore unless we can depend upon God for Assistance against the Violence and Outrage of our bad Inclinations, after we have once strugled with them in vain, and thereby made a woful Experiment of our own Impotence, we shall out of mere Despair of prevailing against them, give over attempting it and utterly abandon our selves to their Tyranny.

BUT if we firmly believe that God who p. 236knows our Weakness and our Enemies strength, will in Proportion to both readily assist us, whensoever we heartily invoke his Aid, and in Concurrence therewith exert our own Endeavour, we have all the Encouragement in the World to undertake our Duty maugre all the Difficulties that attend it. For being assured that God will concur with our Endeavours, we may depend upon it, that not only our own Endeavours are in our Power, but Gods Assistance too, and that the Corruptions of our Nature do not so much over-match our Endeavours as Gods Assistance over-matches those Corruptions. So that if we heartily exert our Endeavour, we are sure we cannot fail of Success; because we know that God will assist our Endeavour, and that with his Assistance we cannot but be victorious. Since therefore the Grace of God is as much under the Command of our Will as our own Principles of Action, it is as much in our Power to do that which we cannot do without Gods Grace, as to do that which we can. And therefore if Gods Grace be sufficient to supply the Defect of our natural Power, and enable us to conquer the Difficulties of our Duty, we are sure there is nothing in it can be too hard for us; because now we can do not p. 237only all that we can do by our selves, but also all that we can do by the Grace of God.

V. To oblige us to be truly Religious it is also necessary we should believe that the Assistance which God affords us, is such as supposes us free Agents, and concurs with and maintains our natural Freedom. That it doth not necessarily determine us to good, but leaves it to our own free Choice to determine our selves which way we please; that as he acts upon necessary Agents by a necessary Influx and Causality which they cannot resist, and determines those things to act by his Will, which have no Will of their own to determine them, so he acts upon free Agents by a free and unconstraining Influence, i. e. by suggesting Arguments to their Minds, to incline and perswade them, but leaves it to their own Liberty to consider those Arguments or not, and to comply with those Perswasions or reject them; and that tho as he hath sometimes suspended the Powers of necessary Agents and interrupted the natural Course of their Motion, as when he forbad the Sun to move, and the Fire to burn, so he hath at other times restrained the natural Liberty of free Agents, and determined them by an over-ruling Necessity, yet both the one and the other are p. 238extraordinary and miraculous: but that in the ordinary Course of his Government, he doth as well leave free Agents to that natural Freedom with which he first created them, as necessary ones to those Necessities which he first impressed upon their Natures. For his Providence is succedaneous to his Creation, and did at first begin where that ended, and doth still proceed as it began, ordering and governing all things according to the several Frames and Models in which he first cast and created them. Nor can he order and govern them otherwise without unraveling his own Creation, and making things to be otherwise than he first made them. For how can he ordinarily necessitate those Agents whom he first made free without changing their Natures from free to necessary, and making them a different kind of Being than he made them? So that tho in the Course of his Government God doth powerfully importune and perswade us, yet he lays no Necessity on our Wills, but leaves us free to choose or refuse; and as the Temptations of Sin incline us one way, so the Grace of God inclines us another, but both leave us to our own Liberty to go which way we please. And this the Scripture plainly asserts, where it makes mention of Mens resisting the Holy p. 239Ghost, Acts 7.51. and grieving and quenching the Spirit of God, Eph. 4.30. 1 Thes. 5.19. and refusing to hear when God calls, and to regard when he stretches forth his Hand, and of their setting his Counsel at naught and rejecting his Reproofs, Prov. 1.24, 25. and in a word, where it makes mention of some Mens baffling and defeating that very Grace which would have conquered and perswaded others, Mat. 11.21. Which plainly imply that all that Assistance to do our Duty, that God ordinarily vouchsafes us in the Course of his Government, is such as no way determins or necessitates us.

THE Belief of which is highly necessary to engage us in the Service of Religion. For while Men imagine that their Duty is such as they cannot heartily comply with, without being compelled to it by an irresistible Grace, and that no Assistance of God can be sufficient to this End, but that which suspends their Liberty to Evil, and fatally determins them to Good, what should move them to exert their own Endeavour? Why should they watch and pray and strive, and contend against a corrupt Nature? For if God will make them good irresistibly, their Endeavour is needless; but if he will not, it is Labour in vain. To p. 240what End should they ply the Oar to stem the Tide of a degenerate Nature, since without an irresistible Gale from Heaven they shall never succeed, and with it they shall whether they ply or no? So that while Men live in Expectance of an irresistible Grace to make them good, they quit themselves of all their Obligations to a pious and virtuous Endeavour; but so long as they believe that Gods Grace is such as supposes and leaves them free, such as they may defeat or prosper by the good or ill use of their Liberty, they cannot but discern themselves infinitely obliged to co-operate with it, to listen and consent to its blessed Motions and Perswasions, and constantly to endeavour to comply with them in their Actions, or at least not to resist them, and harden and fortifie themselves against them, by acting counter to and flying in the face of their own Convictions. For since the Grace of God doth not determin us to good, but leaves us to our own Freedom, we can never expect to be determined to good without our free Concurrence; which if we refuse we shall certainly perish in our Sin, and have not only the Blood of our own Souls to answer for, but all that Grace too which we have baffled and defeated.

VI. To oblige us to be truly Religious it is necessary that we should believe that p. 241God takes particular Cognisance of the good and ill Use we make of our natural Freedom; that he doth not merely gaze upon our Actions as an indifferent and unconcerned Spectator, but beholds them with the highest Concern and Regard, with infinite Complacency or Detestation, and treasures them up in his all-comprehending Mind, to be produced for or against us in the day of fearful Reckonings and Accounts; that he doth not inspect our Actions with a passant and cursory View, as things of little or no Moment, but lays them up in everlasting Remembrance, so that every good or ill thing we do stands upon Record in the Mind of God in order to our final Acquittal or Condemnation. For so the Scripture tells us, not only that Gods Eyes are upon the Ways of Man, and that he seeth all his goings, Job 34.21. and that his Eyes run to and fro throughout the Earth, and are in every Place beholding the good and Evil, 2 Chron. 16.9. and Prov. 15.3. but that he sees good Actions tho done in secret, and will reward them openly, Matth. 6.6. and that he will bring every work into Judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or evil, Eccles. 12.14.

THE Belief of which is absolutely necessary to found the Obligations of Religion. p. 242For if we suppose either that God sees not our Actions, or looks upon them with an indifferent Eye, without taking any Notice or Cognisance of them, there is no religious Consideration can oblige us. For upon this Supposal, our Actions must all be indifferent to him; and if they are indifferent to him, what reason have we to make any difference between them? 'Tis true, good Actions are in themselves beneficial and evil ones prejudicial to us, and therefore for our own Interest-sake we ought to choose the one and refuse the other; but this abstracted from all Respects to God, is only a Prudential and not a religious Obligation; but why should we do any good or avoid any evil upon Gods account, if Good and Evil are alike to him? But if we firmly believe that God not only sees whatsoever we do, but takes particular Notice of all our good and evil Actions, and out of an high Complacency in the one and Abhorrence of the other treasures up both in everlasting Remembrance, we cannot but discern our selves obliged by all the Reason in the World ▪ to choose what is good, and eschew what is evil. For what an infinite Encouragement is it to do good, to consider that while we are doing it Gods Eye is upon us, regarding us with high p. 243Applause and Approbation, and entering it with all its acceptable Circumstances into the eternal Record of his own Mind, from whence it shall be produced in the last Day, and proclaimed before Men and Angels to our everlasting Honour and Glory? So that when our Memory is lost upon Earth, and all that we did is swallowed up in the deep Abyss of Oblivion, all our Pieties and Virtues shall be famed in the Records of Heaven, and have everlasting Memorials in the Mind of God. As on the contrary, what an infinite Discouragement is it from sinning, to consider that the Eye of that God to whom Vengeance belongs, is intent upon us, following us through all our Retreats and Concealments, and Recording every ill Deed with all its foul Aggravations in the eternal Volumes of his own Remembrance, which he will one Day most certainly open and read out before all the World to our everlasting Shame and Confusion? So that when the pleasure of our Sin is gone, and all that rendred it tempting or desirable for ever vanisht and forgotten, the Shame and Infamy of it shall stand upon Record, and be transmitted down to eternal Ages.

VII. and Lastly, To oblige us to be truly religious it is also necessary we should p. 244believe that God will reward and punish us according to our doings; that he is neither an idle nor an impotent Spectator of our Actions, that merely pleases and vexes himself with the Contemplation of them; but that all the Notice he takes of them is in order to his rewarding and punishing them, which he will one day most certainly do to our everlasting Joy or Confusion. But because this Argument will be the Subject of the ensuing Chapter, I shall insist no farther on it here.