A Prospect of Eternity, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Concl. 11 Mans eternall condition admits of no events or iſſues of Providence.
NOW to clear this propoſition, Univerſalis Providentia eſt, qua Deus creaturas omnes dirigit ſecundum arcanum inſtinctum, quem ſingulis in creatione indidit, & ita naturae ordinem a ſe poſitum conſervat. Bucan.ye muſt conceive that I do not annihilate that univerſall providence, by which all created beings are ſupported in their natures, and ſubſiſtencies; for from ſuch providentiall influxes, neither are the glorious Angels, nor the glorified Saints to be excluded; but they are preſerved by a common ſuſtentation. In a word, there is a double Providence which ceaſeth not for ever.
1. Providentia ſustentationis, by which all created beings are ſuſtained in their power and nature till the Almighty ſpeak abolition, and command annihilation, and by which thoſe eſſences which God hath determined for eternity Heb. 1. 3. Niſi deus impulſum ſuum aeterna cura, & providentia proſequeretur, omnis natura rerum non conſiſteret. Pet. Martyr.are ſupported; as men and Angels; for we muſt not, I ſay, exempt theſe renowned creatures from their dependence upon God; even when they ſhine in the moſt glorious ſublimities, and when illuſtrious in their richeſt excellencies: for this is an everlaſting truth, That there is unum independens, one independent being, and all other beings have their totall reliance and dependence on him: and to aſſert the contrary is a moſt Ʋnum eſt primum mobile. Ariſt.blaſphemous reproach caſt upon God himſelf. So that the moſt excellent creatures are maintained in their eſſence by the omnipotency and wiſdome of God. And
2. There is Providentia operationis, a Providence of operation; by which Deum omnia quidem regere, nil aliud eſt quam rebus omnibus communem influxum ſuppeditare. Pet. Mart.the Lord doth not only ſupport, but guide and rule all created beings, according to their determinate natures; that all their actions or naturall propenſions ſhall end and iſſue in the glory of the Creatour. For as Divines Providentia non eſt nuda cognitio, ſed efficientia. Iſid.obſerve, Gods providence both here, and ſo for ever, is not only a bare inſpection of that variety he hath formed; but a continued and virtuall influx, Creatoris potentia, & virtus cauſa eſt ſubſiſtendi omni creaturae, quae virtus, ſi aliquando ceſſaret rerum creatarum ceſſaret ſpecies, & omnis natura concideret.by which the creature is enabled to move in the ſphear of his own nature; for all beings would ſoon wither, and be dryed up, did they want the animation of Gods providentiall influences. All humane actions receiving life and power from a diſtilled virtue of Gods univerſall providence; and ſo in heaven the moſt glorious inhabitants of it, ſhall be guided for ever, and maintained in their felicity, and purity, and praiſes by the neceſſary providence of God. I make not mention of this diviſion of Gods providence, as if it argued a diverſity of acts in God; and they were two diſtinct Providences, but they are identicall and the ſame in God; his ſuſtaining providence being operative, and his operative ſuſtaining: but only for explication ſake, that we may view the varieties of the ſame perpetuated and eterniz'd providence; which ſhall not ceaſe, while God himſelfe is independent, and his nature continues; which is certainly eternall. I ſay, from this government, rule, and influence of Providence eternity is not freed; and it is impoſſible it ſhould, conſidering the everlaſting relation the creature Act. 17. 28.hath to the Creatour, the fountain of its life and being. But to purſue the preſent Concluſion. All events and iſſues of Providence ſhall be outdated in eternity, and Providence ſhall ceaſe:
Ratione obſcuritatis, in relation to the darkneſſe and obſcurity of it. There ſhall be no myſteries of Providence in eternity. No want of prayer Ibi quicquid nos nunc latet, manifeſtum erit. Aug. de trip. habit.for the unmasking of Providence, and the unveiling of Gods mind in his obnubilated diſpenſations. We ſhall not in eternity lie at Gods feet, and cry, Lord, what is thy meaning in Gen. 37. 11.this affliction, in this ſcourge, in this indulgence? what is the interpretation of the rods, or the roſes of Providence? Providence in eternity ſhall Ezek. 1. 16.not be a ſun in a cloud, a taper in a Quod beati hic crediderunt, ibi videbunt, ſui creatoris ſubſtantiam mundis cordibus contemplantes. Proſp.dark lanthorne. Eternity ſhall take away the maske from the face of Providence. We ſhall not turn queſtioniſts in the thoughts of God concerning us, when ſtrange and unexpected Providences, like the Angels, Gen. 18. 1, 2. to Abraham, come to our door. The Saints in glory ſhall not turne Sceptickes, to obſerve the traces, Meanders, Labyrinths and bowers of Providence; but all things ſhall be cleare to the glorified and perfected Saint, who ſhall ſee the whole intentions 1 Cor. 13. 12.of God concerning Man, written in text and golden letters. In Gods O quanta felicitas Deitatis viſioni inter Angelorum choros adeſſe perpetuo, ſi tanta transfigurata Chriſti humanitas duorumque ſocietas ſanctorum ad punctum viſa delectat! Beda.face his mind ſhall be apparent: whatever may amplifie the joy, perfect the underſtanding, or enrich the apprehenſions of the glorious believer, ſhall be unridled to him; or elſe his happineſſe was yet in its growth. And ſo the damned ſhall be fully acquainted with all the righteous, yet ſevere Providences concerning them; they ſhall now ſee, what Gods intent was to leave them to obduration and impenitency: when all his commands could not confine, nor his promiſe melt them, was it not for this, That Iſa. 6. 9.their ſins being ripe, they might be overwhelmed with everlaſting calamity, and he might draw his arrowes to the head, and eternally ſhoote at them? Not that God delights to contrive, or bring about the ruine of his creature; Ezek. 18. 23.but the damned ſhall ſee the juſtice, righteouſneſſe, and wiſdome of God in their perpetuall executions; and they ſhall obſerve the clear deſigne of divine Providence in all the difficulties and abſtruſes of it; which they could not unravell in this life.
Providence ſhall ceaſe ratione varietatis, in reference to its variety: the wheele of Providence ſhall not turne in eternity; the ſmiles and frownes of Providence ſhall ceaſe, quod eundem, in reference to the ſame perſon; the upper nail ſhall not be lowermoſt. There ſhall be no inconſtancy, flitting, and volubility in Providence. And as it is here, the Sunſhines of Providence ſhall not be turned into a ſtorme. Haman ſhall not be now in Court, and Eſt. 3. 1. & 7. 10.preſently on the gallowes: the alternations and altercations of Providence ſhall ceaſe. The changes, turnings, and embroydery of Providence ſhalll end in eternity. Providence in eternity ſhall not be as the Rainbow of changeable and divers colour; but it ſhall be a skie alwayes full of ſtormes or ſerenity; whoſe face is alwayes of the ſame complexion: The reprobates alwayes lying under the frownes, and the bleſſed lying under the embraces of Providence.
Ratione diſciplinae Providentiae, in reference to the diſcipline and inſtruction of Providence. The counſels of In gloria ſapientia ex ipſo fonte bibetur. Aug.Providence ſhall ceaſe in eternity; thoſe ſacred ſuggeſtions which here are often pictured in the complexion of a providence, ſhall be at an end. Providence as a Schoolmaſter ſhall Mic. 6. 9.ceaſe. God here indeed makes Providence Pſal. 119. 67.the Tutour of his people, and they are often bettered by doctrinall providences. God here educates his children in the School of Providence. Corrective Providences become corraſives to their luſts, and bounteous are made incouragements to their graces. Providence is oft the bellowes of love, joy and thankſgiving, and not only cals for, but guides the exerciſe of the Saints graces: but in eternity providentiall inſtructions ſhall be at an end. Nor ſhall the Saints in glory, who are arrived at perfection and incapable of miſcarriage, ſtand in need of the guidance and tuition of Providence. Nor ſhall the damned be capable of providentiall directions, they being paſt the happineſſe and hopes of recovery.
Providence ſhall ceaſe in eternity, ratione plenitudinis providentiae, in reference to the accompliſhments of Providence; which ſhall no more be as the midwife to bring forth Gods decrees; and to be the uſher of Gods counſels. All the diſcoveries and executions of Providence ſhal be outdated in eternity. Providence in eternity ſhall not be the interpreter of Gods everlaſting intentions; the womb to bring forth thoſe determinations of God, which had their riſe from eternity. Providence in this life is the herald of Gods will, and denotes to us what his mind was from everlaſting. Thus the Jews Act. 2. 23.and Judas conſpire together in a foreign. Greg. Naz.curſed combination to deliver up our Lord Chriſt to death; which Providence did but explain to the world Gods eternal determination, that Chriſt ſhould die for ſinners, and is but the execution of Gods decree. Now executive Providence as it doth finiſh and unmaske the intentions of God, ſhall be at an end in eternity; and it ſhall be ſaid of Gods decrees in our eternall eſtate, as Chriſt ſaid when he was giving up the ghoſt, It is finiſhed; Joh. 19. 30.ſo they are finſhed. In a word, the Saints In futura vita, dei & divinorum myſteriorum perfecta cognitio ſuccedet; tunc plene & perfecte intelligemus ea, ad quorum claram intuitivam notitiam in hac vita penetrare non potuimus. Gerard.ſhall not fear the checkes or changes of Providence, tremble at the arreſts of it; admire the quintos actus, the laſt acts of Providence, ſhall not labour to read the cypher of Providence, or take paines to trace the prints and footſteps of it; but all ſhall be ſerene and clear to a Saint in glory; all Gods decrees ſhall be legible in a faire Character. Providence is here oft a clouded firmament, but in eternity it ſhall be a clear skie. Nor ſhall the damned be capable of the ſmiles of Providence, which often here ſo captivated the wicked, that they did pretend a title to God himſelf. Theſe providentiall prizes, which often beſpangle the wicked in this life, ſhall ceaſe and wear the mourning of eternall wrath. Nor ſhall the miſtakes of providence finde place in eternity; Providence ſhall not be wrackt and tortured to ſpeak the fancies of men, and made corrivall with, if not ſuperiour to Scripture. It ſhall no more be the implicit faith of man, and panderiz'd to mens ſinfull machinations: But all various, and uncertain iſſues and accompliſhments of providence ſhall be at an end in eternity; now all providences, which are but the Alphabet of Gods will, muſt ceaſe in our everlaſting eſtate.
Reaſ. 1 Becauſe the plot of all Providence is ended. All thoſe interwoven, mixt, myſterious, yet efficacious Providences, which have been ſubſervient to the converſion and happineſſe of a believer in this life, they are all finiſht in heaven. Manaſſes his priſon, and the 2 Cron. 33. 12.brightneſſe that ſhone about Paul; all Act. 9. 3, 37, 39, 40.theſe are conſummate in glory. Joſephs Providences, Peter Waldoes Providences, Gen. 41.ſhall all have their plot in eternity. What God aimed at in the ſtrange circumferences, and rare circuits of Providence, for the advantage, and emolument of his people here, ſhall be all clear and viſible in eternity; and the deſigne of all the artifices of Providence ſhall be eternized. And ſo thoſe ripening providences which fatten and ſear the wicked for the ſlaughter of miſery. Hamans Providences, and thoſe Prodences which waited on the ruine and deſtruction of Herod, ſhall all be finiſhed in eternity, and the deſigne of them conſummate: thoſe juſt, yet rare paſſages of Providence which often with a conviction confute and confound the wicked, ſhall ceaſe in eternity, when the intention of them ſhall be eternally viſible.
God the fountain of all Providences communicates himſelf immediatly Videbit Sanctus deum ad voluntatem, habebit ad voluptatem, fruetur ad jucunditatem. Bern.in eternity: Providence is here mans proſpective, the umbrage, and darke diſcovery of the minde of God; and poor man gheſſeth at the will of God by reading Providence. But now God acts immediately in eternity, Heb. 12. 29.without ſhewing his minde in the looking-glaſſe of Providence; God is an immediate flame of love to the Saints, and a flame of fire to the Reprobate. God uſeth in eternity no more the medium of Providence to ripen the ſinner for ruine, or the Saint for glory; but all the Conduit pipes and conveyances of Providence ceaſe, thoſe effluxes of his will, Gods boſome ſhall be open to the Saints: It is the face of God, not of Providence in glory.
All Providences imply a mutability. We read of no Providences in this life, which have not been alterable and various, ſometimes ſoured into a rod, and ſometimes guilded with a ſmile. Now thus Joſephs Providences which attended him, were the very embroydery of variation; we finde him now fettered in a dungeon, Gen. 30. 20.not illuſtrious in the Chariot. Such Providences which encompaſſed Gen. 41. 33.Belliſarius that famous Captain, now Da obolum pauperi Belliſario.the terrour of the world, and preſently interred alive in the coffin of poverty. Thus Providence in this life is the map of changes; the picture of mutability. But all change ceaſeth in eternity, (as fully before). Here indeed promiſes are ſure, but Providences are moſt uncertain. Jeremiah, Moſes, Daniel, Job and other Pillars and Patriots of Religion have been the very tennisbals of Providence. Our eternity ſhakes off both the feares, and the hopes of uncertainty.
The Word, which is the interpreter of Providence, ſhall ceaſe in eternity; the more ſure word, as the Apoſtle cals it, ſhall reſigne up its 2 Pet. 1. 19.office, Verbum dei fiet viſio dei, the Saints in glory ſhall not hear of God, but behold his face. They ſhall ſee verbum eſſentiale, the eſſentiall word. Joh. 1. 1.Indeed the Goſpell, Rev. 14. 6. is called an Everlaſting Goſpell
1. In the Originall of it: the Ideaes which have been in the minde of God for ever concerning man, are written and recorded in the Goſpell.
2. In regard of the effect of it; the Goſpell converts the ſoul to eternall life, and by the preaching of it, drawes the believer to heaven, the place of everlaſting joy; it is everlaſting in the fruites of it: But yet the Goſpell ſhall ceaſe in eternity.Tunc plene, & perfecte cauſas divinorum conſiliorum, & operum intellegemus. Gerard.
1. In reference to the inſtructions of it, the bleſſed in glory ſhall not need the diſcoveries of it; nor ſhall the damned enjoy them: eternity ſhall draw the curtain of all difficulty to the glorified ones; and there ſhall need no Goſpell-diſpenſations, no Goſpell-beams to ſcatter the cloud of ignorance.
2. The Goſpell ſhall ceaſe in the converſion of it. No ſoul-converting Preaching in eternity, the transforming power of the Goſpell ſhall be at end, the day of grace ſets in the grave, and is buried in the night of death. And
3. The Goſpell ſhall ceaſe in the comforts and cordials of it; the refreſhings of the Goſpell ſhall be at an end in eternity, that honey that here is found in the ſtrong, in the ſtrength of a truth, or in the hive of a promiſe.
And now if the ſtable, ſtuddy, immutable word, that Goſpell which is the inalterable rule of Saints, Rom. 3. 2.the Oracles and irreverſible counſels of God, if this word ceaſe; how much more Providence which is oftentimes coloured with ſo many varieties, and is the wombe of ſuch multifarious uncertainty: So that we may reaſſume our former aſſertion, and ſay, that all iſſues, events, varieties and clouds of Providence ſhall all be ſwallowed up in immediate and clear appearances of immutable love, and inalterable wrath in eternity.