Several Discourses Considering the Providence of God, Discourse · Part 1 · Sermon 7
SERMON VII.
Pſal. XXXVI. 6.
—O Lord! thou preſerveſt man and beaſt.
I AM diſcourſing concerning the firſt mentioned great Act of Providence, in the Preſervation both of man and beaſt, Ʋpholding all things by the word of his power. I ſhewed you in my laſt Diſcourſe, by what particular acts, God preſerveth individuals of all kinds. But Man, is to be conſidered yet in two notions further: Man is foreign, a ſociable, a political creature; and ſo as one of a multitude, formed into political bodies, called by the names of Kingdoms, Commonwealths, &c. He is further to be conſidered, as a ſpiritual creature; capable of Divine Grace, and divers ſpiritual Habits, things which accompany ſalvation, and make him fit for the Kingdom of God, and preparing him for that bleſſed Eternity, which is the end of our hopes. Theſe alſo muſt be upheld, and maintained by the power of Providence; We are (ſaith the Apoſtle) kept by the power of God through faith to ſalvation, 1 Pet. 1.5. My laſt Diſcourſe ſhewed you no more than the particular workings of Divine Providence, in preſerving and upholding the natural world. Let me now ſhew you the workings of it, in preſerving and upholding the Political, and Spiritual World. I begin with the former, and ſo the preſerving Providence of God worketh ſeveral ways. 1. In diſpoſing the minds of all people unto Government. There are indeed ſome Anomalies here, ſome ſons of Belial in all places, that will endure no yoke, but generally it is not ſo. And the minds of men are diſpoſed to order and Government; without Government Polities could not ſtand, the World would quickly be in confuſion; there can be no order without Governours, and governed. Governours muſt be ſpirited for the exerciſe of Government, and the Governed muſt be ſpirited for obedience. Both theſe are from the Lord, who is wonderful in working. Every one is not fit to govern; he hath not parts for it, he hath not a ſpirit for it. Some are like Iſſachar, fit for nothing but to couch under the burthen. Others like Judah, who have hands fit to be upon the necks of their Enemies, and their fathers children ſhall bow down before them.
1. God by his Providence influenceth ſome for the exerciſe of Government, either from the womb, or from the time they are called to that exerciſe, as it is ſaid of Saul, 1 Sam. 10.9, when Samuel had anointed him to be King over Iſrael, God gave him another heart. Every man hath not a ſpirit of Government; there is much goeth to the making up of that ſpirit. It was prophecied of Chriſt, Iſa. 9.6, That the Government ſhould be uppon his ſhoulders. And Iſa. 11.2, The Spirit ſhall reſt upon him, the ſpirit of wiſdom, and underſtanding, the ſpirit of counſel, and might, the ſpirit of knowledg, and fear of the Lord. A ſpirit of knowledg, and of the fear of the Lord is neceſſary to a religious Government. A ſpirit of underſtanding and wiſdom; a ſpirit of counſel, and might, is neceſſary for a good civil Government. Joſhua the Son of Nun, was full of the ſpirit of wiſdom, Deut. 34 9. Every man in a Kingdom, or a City, or Commonwealth, hath not knowledg, and underſtanding, nor wiſdom, and counſel, nor might, and courage fit for Government: God giveth it only to ſome perſons, whom he deſigneth to rule over men. And herein is the Providence of God mightily ſeen, and that both in Hereditary Kingdoms and States, and in thoſe alſo which are Elective: 1. In ſuch as are hereditary: ordinarily the ſons of Princes are not like other men, though under equal circumſtances of Education. When Gideon asked Zeba and Zalmunna, Judg. 8.18, What manner of men they were that they killed? They anſwered him thus, As thou art, ſo were they; each one reſembled the children of a King: There is ſomething that ordinarily appears in the faces of Princes, more of Majeſty than in other men, which ſhews another ſpirit. I know that this is not univerſal; there have been Princes in the World of mean parts, courage, &c. which ordinarily happens when God hath a quarrel with a people, Eccl. 10.16, 17, Wo to thee, O Land, when thy King is a child, and thy Princes eat in the morning: Bleſſed art thou, O Land, when thy King is the ſon of Nobles, and thy Princes eat in due ſeaſon, for ſtrength, and not for drunkenneſs. 2. It is much ſeen in Elective governments. God by his Providence directeth, and diſpoſeth the Electors to the choice of ſuch perſons as he hath prepared with ſuch a ſpirit; or (except in caſes where God hath a deſign by unworthy Governours to chaſtiſe a ſinful people) when they are choſen, he giveth unto them ſuch a ſpirit, and by his extraordinary Providence correcteth the errours of thoſe that chooſe them to that employment. This is a wonderful working of Divine Providence. We often ſee perſons in Government, ſhewing quite another ſpirit and temper than they before appear'd to us to have. Nor is the Providence of God leſs ſeen in diſpoſing the ſpirits of the Governed; That thouſands, yea millions of people ſhould conſent to a ſubjection to one chief Ruler (as in a Monarchy) or to the Government of a few (as in Commonwealths), and be willing to be ruled and governed by him, or them: yet this we ordinarily ſee. It is the Lords doing, and it ſhould be marvellous in our eyes: and it would be ſo, if we would but be ſo conſiderate as to think of the variety of mens humours, fancies and paſſions. Sometimes indeed God in judgment againſt a people, ſuffers a perverſe ſpirit to mingle it ſelf with the governed; there are rebellions, and mutinies, yet thoſe for the moſt part are originated in oppreſſion and violence. But ſuppoſing no errours in Governours, that yet multitudes of people ſhould be ſo willingly ſubject (and yet few of them for conſcience ſake) muſt needs come from the Lords influence, who is wonderful in the working for the preſerving of the Politick Societies of men, which without a Political order or Government could not ſtand.
2. Secondly, God preſerveth men in their Political Societies, by directing them to make, and to agree in Laws proper for their Government; as to this he upholdeth the reaſon of Legiſlators. Laws are the rules of Government. 1. God hath given unto men a Divine Law for a Copy; the Book of this, the King of Iſrael was always to have before him, and he was to read in it all the days of his life, Deut. 17.19. Joſ. 1.8. The Divine Law concerns ſome generals; but there muſt be many particular Laws, reſpecting the complexions of ſeveral Kingdoms and bodies of people: In the making of which the Providence of God, and his influence is wonderfully ſeen, upholding the reaſon of the Lawmakers to the making of ſuch Laws as are neceſſary and expedient, and proper for the government of ſuch a people. It is true, as the Hebrew Doctors were wont to ſay, That the Spirit of God did not always touch the hearts of the Prophets; ſo neither doth the Spirit of God always touch and direct the hearts of Legiſlators. God ſuffereth ſometimes the wiſdom of the wiſe to fail them: impious and wicked Laws, fooliſh and inſignificant Laws may ſometimes be made, to which it were blaſphemy to intitle God in any efficient cauſation. God will by theſe inſtances let us ſee men are but men; but yet there is ſuch an ordinary influence of Divine Providence, that although ſome Kingdoms and Commonwealths in a Superfoetation of Laws may have ſome wicked and impious, others fooliſh and inſignificant; yet they are not deficient in ſuch as are neceſſary to maintain Juſtice, and preſerve civil order and peace. Now although we muſt by no means intitle God to the wicked effects of men (which he only permits), nor to the follies and impertinencies of men: yet he is juſtly to be entitled to the wiſe and prudent effects of his creatures; for good uſeful and neceſſary Laws they are from the Lord, who is wiſe in counſel, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift. If the Plowman be inſtructed by God with diſcretion, and taught, and the Threſher be inſtructed, as to the diſcretion he uſeth, by the Lord of Hoſts, who is wonderful in counſel, and excellent in working (which the Prophet aſſerteth, Iſa. 28.23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28.) Then certainly the hearts of thoſe who are inſtructed to the making of Rules for the Government of the great bodies of his people, are inſtructed alſo from the Lord, who is great in Wiſdom, and wonderful in Counſel. And herein is the mighty Power and Wiſdom of God ſeen, in the preſervation of Political Societies.
3. A third thing wherein the Providence of God is ſeen in the preſerving of theſe Societies, is, In the ordinary ſilencing of thoſe paſſions in men, which diſorder and diſturb all Government. We juſtly look upon it as a merciful piece of Divine Providence, to conceal from ſome beaſts of great uſe in our lives their own ſtrength, which if known to them, would make them our maſters. The multitude in any Polity is as an unruly beaſt, and all Governments are preſerved by their ignorance of their own ſtrength, and the bridle of Divine Providence, by which God keeps them in and ſilenceth their paſſions, which if let looſe, would quickly turn all into a tumult and confuſion. The Individuals of all Societies are full of boiſterous and brutiſh paſſions; ſo as a conſiderate man when he looketh upon ſuch a City as this, or any other great Political Body, and conſidereth how many perſons are in it of unruly tempers and paſſions, who either know not the rules of natural Juſtice and Equity; or if they know any thing of them, their luſts and paſſions will not ſuffer them to live in any juſt obſervance of them; will ſee reaſon to wonder how people of ſuch heterogeneous tempers and different paſſions, ſhould ever live together a year, or a month, in peace and any degrees of order: nor is there any thing which holds them together but the wonderful influence of Divine Providence, ſilencing their paſſions, and reſtraining thoſe luſts in men, which otherwiſe would ſet any Kingdom, City or Nation on a fire, and bring it quickly to an heap of rubbiſh and confuſion. It was ſaid of old, that in the degenerate ſtate of man, Homo homini lupus, one man is a Wolf to another, and nothing but the Divine Hand keeps them from biting and devouring each other; the Lord by his Providence holds them in as the Horſe and the Mule with bit and bridle. When God thinks fit for the puniſhment of perſons or Nations but a little to let looſe the Reins, we ſee what brutiſh paſſions do diſcover themſelves in men; what envy, malice, revenge, oppreſſion, and other luſts and vices directly tending to deſtroy Societies. So as we are only preſerved becauſe theſe diſorders are but fits of diſtemper, not abiding diſeaſes in the bodies of people; and the reaſon why they are no more is from Gods reſtraining influence upon unruly turbulent ſpirits: He that ruleth the raging of the Sea, and ſtilleth the waves thereof when they ariſe, ruleth alſo the paſſions of men, keeps them generally ſtill, and ſtilleth them if at any time they riſe to any exorbitant heighth: 'tis the ſame power that doth them both: Pſalm 65.7, Thou ſtilleſt the noiſe of the Sea, the noiſe of its waves, and the tumults of the people. It is God that ſaith, Be ſtill, O ye inhabitants of the Iſlands: Whence is it but from this, that there are ſo few murthers, rapes, &c. no more thefts and acts of Violence? We ſee the fear of puniſhment will not reſtrain them, as ſoon as God but takes off his reſtraint from them; and the conſideration how unreaſonable multitudes appear in their fits of diſorder, is enough to convince men, that the general tie of people have not reaſon enough to be a law unto themſelves, but are meerly governed and over-ruled by the influence of Gods reſtraint upon them, for the preſervation of his people in their political Societies.
4. A fourth thing wherein the power of Divine Providence is eminently ſeen in the preſervation of Men, in their Political Societies, is in diſcovering the ſecret devices, and conſpiracies of men, tending to the diſturbance and diſſolution of Government in the places where they live: I ſtill underſtand this in ordinary cauſes. When God hath a deſign to puniſh a Senacherib, he ſuffers the plottings of his own ſons to take effect againſt him. God ſometimes puniſheth Rulers: ſometimes he puniſheth People by ſuch ſufferances, but ordinarily he doth not. You have an hundred Treaſons diſcovered, for one that takes effect. Here I might enlarge ſtrangely, how God brings to light thoſe hidden works of darkneſs, wherein the welfare of States and Kingdoms are concerned. Solomon therefore gives good counſel, Eccleſ. 10.20, Curſe not the King in thy thoughts, nor the rich (that is, the Ruler I conceive) in thy Bed-chamber: for a bird of the air ſhall carry the voice, and that which hath wings ſhall tell the matter; that is, it ſhall be diſcovered ſtrangely and ſwiftly. What eminent inſtances of Divine Providence of this nature we had in our own Nation, eſpecially in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and the beginning of King James his reign.
1. Sometimes God ſetteth their own Conſciences on work, and they ſhall betray and diſcover themſelves; before they fall to their work, God ſmiteth one of their Conſciences, and they come and diſcover their Complices and confeſs their own errours: how often have we had this in our own ſtory? 2. Sometimes their Countenances ſhall betray them, while they are juſt ready to ſtrike the fatal ſtroke. 3. Sometimes a terror ſhall ſeize them, and their Daggers ſhall drop out of their hands. 4. Sometimes their own Letters ſhall deſtroy them (of which we had an eminent inſtance in the Powder-Treaſon, hatched by Papiſts in this Nation); ſometimes the powder ſhall not take fire: another time it ſhall miſs the mark. The Monſters are ſometimes brought to the birth, and the parents of them want a ſtrength to bring forth. How often was Queen Elizabeth in this Nation ſo preſerved to fulfil the word of the Lord? Job 5.12, He diſappointeth the devices of the crafty, ſo that their hands cannot perform their enterpriſe.
5. A fifth thing I ſhall inſtance in, is Gods defeatings of the counſels of Ahitophels. All men are not alike in wiſdom and counſel: God fitteth ſome more eminently, who are to have ſtations in the publick Government and Councils of a Nation. Amongſt theſe, ſome are men of integrity and ſincerity, men of publick ſpirits and deſigns, who uſe all their wits, parts and abilities, for the general good and proſperity of people. Others are men of more private ſpirits, driving ſelfiſh deſigns; and theſe ofttimes are men of great craft and ſubtilty, whoſe counſels yet, ſhould they take effect, would ruin the body politick, which they pretend to ſerve, whiles they ſerve but their own bellies, or families, or the luſts of ſome others in order to that end. Here now the Providence of God is often ſeen, in defeating their counſels, and that various ways: Sometimes by making them unacceptable, as was in the caſe of Ahitophel: his counſels ordinarily, were taken and followed as Oracles; but God makes the counſel of Huſhai, though (as appeareth by the ſtory, a friend at firſt ſuſpected by Abſolom) to be more accepted. Sometime God doth it by ſome more extraordinary ways, as in the caſe of Haman, who had both given counſel, and obtained a decree againſt the Jews. The King ſhall not ſleep, but ſpend his waking times, reading the book of the Chronicles; there he ſhall fall upon the place where a record is of the good ſervice Mordecai had done. The King ſhall miſtake Haman's Courtſhip to the Queen, while he is making ſuit to the Queen for his life, for an attempt to force her: Thus Haman ſhall be defeated in his deſigns, and it ſhall be his own lot to be hanged upon the Gallows which he had prepared for Mordecay: nor are theſe the only inſtances. There is no Kingdom, no Age, in which obſerving perſons will not obſerve ſome inſtance or other of this nature, for the preſervation of the Political ſocieties of men.
Sixthly, The power of divine Providence in preſerving Political ſocieties, is eminently ſeen in ballancing and diverting oppoſite powers. It is wonderful to obſerve how God ballanceth one Nation againſt another; ſometimes by natural ſcituation, ſometimes by voluntary aſſociations. We in England are an inſtance of the former. All the Kingdoms about us are larger and more mighty than we are; France, Spain, &c. far more populous. God hath ballanced us with them by our ſcituation. We are an Iſland, we are powerful in Shipping, they cannot march an army by land againſt us: that keeps us at ſome proportion with them, and from being a prey to them, often gaping for us. Others God hath ſcituated in Countries full of Rocks, and Mountains, and Waters; by which natural Fortifications they are ballanced with the far greater fleſhly power of their Enemies. Thus God preſerved his people in Epirus from the overflowing flood of the Turkiſh Power: In Holland, from the attempts of the Spaniard 40 years together, a Nation far more great and mighty than they. Thus he hath preſerved his Church, his little flock in the Valleys of Piedmont and Lucerne. As Solomon ſaith, becauſe the Conies are a feeble people, they have their habitation in the Rocks: So where God hath had a little people, a feeble people, his Providence hath for their habitation allowed them the natural defences of mountains, and the inacceſſible paths of Rocks. Others he ballanceth with the far greater power of their adverſaries, by voluntary confederacies and conſociations: were they ſingly to be encountred, they would quickly be ſwallowed up; but they join in league with others, and ſo make a proportion to their Potent Adverſaries. Some he ballanceth by giving them a more extraordinary ſtrength, ſpirit, courage; that one will chaſe ten, and ten an hundred, and an hundred a thouſand, and a thouſand ſhall put ten thouſand of their Enemies in flight. Some are ſtronger in Land-forces, but weak as to Naval-forces; others ſtrong in Naval-forces, but weaker in Land-forces: till the period of a Nation comes (for Nations have their periods) he ballanceth all Political Societies one way or other, according to the variety of his infinite wiſdom. 2. Another way is by Diverſion; you have many inſtances of this in Scripture. How often hath God thus preſerved us in Europe, from the overflowing flood of the Turks, by ſtirring up the Perſians to invade him, by ſuffering rebellions amongſt tho…e that are his own Subjects. But I ſhall contract this diſcourſe, much will fall into my following diſcourſe of Governing Providence.
7. The laſt thing which I ſhall inſtance in, wherein the Providence of God is ſeen in the preſerving of men in their Political Societies, is, in giving unto men wiſdom, and diſpoſing of them to ſeveral Arts, Trades, Myſteries, and Occupations, by which they become mutually ſerviceable one to another, and contribute to the upholding the ſocieties in which they live. Here are two things, in both which, the Providence of God is eminent to every eye which wiſtly obſerveth it. There is nothing more evident than that there is a variety of Arts, Myſteries, Trades, and Occupations uſeful for man, by ſome of which he is ſupplied with things neceſſary for food and rayment; by others of them, with things for delight and ornament: both the one and the other, if not neceſſary for individuals, yet are neceſſary for preſerving a Polity conſiſting of multitudes.
Now, 1. The wiſdom, by which men work in theſe ſeveral Arts, Myſteries, and Occupations, and by which men follow theſe ſeveral Trades, is from the Lord. The Prophet Iſaiah tells us, the diſcretion of the Plow-man, and of the Threſher is from him. God called by name Bezaliel, the Son of Uri, and he was filled with the Spirit of God, in wiſdom, and in underſtanding, and in knowledg, and in all manner of workmanſhip: and to deviſe curious works, to work in gold, in ſilver, and in braſs: And in cutting of ſtones, to ſet them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work, Exod. 35.31, 32, 33, 34. and it is ſaid, that God filled him and Aholiab with wiſdom of heart to work all manner of work of the engraver, and of the cunning workman; and of the embroiderer, in blue, purple, and in ſcarlet, and in fine linnen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and deviſe any cunning work, v. 35.
2. The Providence of God in this thing is eminently diſcerned, in diſpoſing men to theſe ſeveral employments. So that as in the natural body, there are ſeveral members, and every member is inclined, and naturally diſpoſed to its particular office; by which the ſeveral uſes and neceſſities of the body-natural are ſupplied. So in bodies politick, as there is a great variety of members, ſo the ſeveral members of it are, by the wiſe Providence of God, diſpoſed and inclined to the learning and practice of ſeveral Arts and Sciences, Trades and Occupations; by which, the uſes of the whole are ſupplied, as well as the ſeveral individuals in the Society enabled to get themſelves a ſubſiſtence, yet in the ſervice of the publick: This is a great piece of Divine Providence. One man is diſpoſed to huſbandry; unleſs ſome were ſo diſpoſed, however ſlaviſh and dirty the employment be, the Nation could not be fed: others to the making of Cloaths, and Stuffs, and Linnens; if none were ſo diſpoſed, though the whole might be fed, they could not be cloathed. One works in iron and braſs for more neceſſary uſes; another in gold and ſilver for Ornaments, and more fine and delicate uſes. One man is diſpoſed to ſtudy Phyſick, Law, Divinity, and cannot endure hard labour: another is of a more ſlaviſh and ſervile diſpoſition, no ways diſpoſed to learning and ſtudies: All this is from the Lord, and by this working of his Providence, the uſes of all are ſupplied, and ſo Political Societies are by this means preſerved. We have now conſidered man, 1. In his ſingle and individual capacity: And. 2. In his Social and Political capacity; and ſhewn you ſeveral acts of Divine Providence, by which God, in either, preſerveth him. But we have yet a third capacity to conſider him in, that is, his ſpiritual capacity, as a creature poſſeſſed of the grace of God, the Grace of Juſtification, and the Grace of Sanctification. As to this he is in a peculiar ſenſe Gods creature, often, by Saint John, ſaid to be born of God: and as to this likewiſe he is preſerved by God, 1 Pet. 1.5, You are kept by the power of God, through faith to ſalvation. Indeed, a diſcourſe upon this properly belongs to the ſpecialties of Providence, of which, I may poſſibly hereafter ſpeak diſtinctly; but not knowing whether I ſhall reach to that, ſomething (though more ſhortly and generally) I ſhall ſpeak to it here. Grace in the Soul of a man, or woman, is a noble creature, and one of thoſe things that are upheld by the mighty power of God. Now that which I have to do is to conſider, How the Providence of God worketh in upholding this noble creature in thoſe individual ſouls, into which he hath breathed this breath of ſpiritual life. Let me ſhew you this in a few particulars.
1. God preſerveth man in his ſpiritual life and capacity, by a daily repeating to him his gracious acts, in the pardon of ſin, and reckoning of Chriſts righteouſneſs to him. It hath been a Queſtion betwixt Arminians, Papiſts, and Calviniſts, Whether there can be an interciſion of the ſtate of Juſtification? Whether a ſoul once juſtified can again be not juſtified? We ſay No. The gifts and callings of God are without repentance; whom he loveth he loveth to the end: Well, but how can this be? for who liveth and ſinneth not? The righteous falleth ſeven times in a day. If Juſtification be not repeated, how can a ſoul be juſtified? We ſay, Though the ſtate abide, yet Gods gracious acts are repeated. Sin is not pardoned before it is committed; but when commited, it is pardoned by a repetition of an act of Grace. Juſtification ſpeaks a ſtate; this is not repeated: but remiſſion of ſin, is an act of Grace frequently repeated; and the imputing of Chriſts righteouſneſs is an act often repeated. We are not daily created or born, as to our natural life, but we are daily preſerved: ſo God puts the believer once into a ſtate of Juſtification, that abides and faileth not; but we ſhould fall from it every day, did not God continue us in it, by the repetition of theſe gracious acts. We need a continual pardoning, a continual imputation of the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, to preſerve our ſpiritual life, as we need continual acts of Providence to preſerve and to uphold our ſouls in their natural life. Thus every day it is God that juſtifieth.
2. God preſerveth his Church and particular ſouls, as to their ſpiritual life, by a daily infuſion of thoſe habits of grace, which are neceſſary in thoſe ſouls that are ordained unto life, as the principles of thoſe operations by which they muſt attain this life, and by increaſing theſe habits in them. In a word, by perfecting, 1. The number of his Saints. 2. By perfecting their graces. The firſt reſpecteth the collective body of his Church, and is called in Scripture, an adding to the Church ſuch as ſhall be ſaved; a working of faith in all them that are ordained unto eternal ſalvation: without this the Church of God muſt periſh, and fail from the earth in a ſhort time. Gods people are mortal, even as others. Now God ſo ordereth it in his Providence, that there is a ſucceſſion. One generation of believers paſſeth, another cometh; and thus God hath a ſeed kept alive in the Earth. 2. God alſo doth it as to individuals, by a daily infuſion of gracious habits, further ſtrengthening and quickening them to their ſpiritual operations, Phil. 4.13, I can do all things (ſaith the Apoſtle) through Chriſt that ſtrengtheneth me: believers, Eph. 3.16, are ſtrengthened with might by his Spirit. God upholdeth his own ſeed in the ſoul, and bloweth up the ſparks which himſelf hath kindled.
3. Gods Providence in the preſervation of men in their ſpiritual capacity, is ſeen, in the upholding and maintaining his word and ordinances, upon which the ſouls of his people live. As the body liveth by bread, as to its natural capacity; ſo the ſoul liveth by the word of God, as to its ſpiritual capacity. By theſe things men live (ſaith Hezekiah). I know ſome interpret that paſſage concerning afflictions: but others concerning the promiſes. Now the Providence of God hath been, and is eminently ſeen, in maintaining of his word; the written word, the word preached; in taking care that his people have had a ſucceſſion of Miniſters. Before the Books of Moſes were written, God provided for the ſouls of his people by a word not written: ſince, by a written word, and that moſt eminently, ſince the whole Scripture was written, ſince which time Prophecy; and unwritten Revelations are much ceaſed, not further to be expected. God may yet reveal himſelf to ſome particular ſervants of his: but we are not to expect ſuch Revelations, nor are they the object of faith. Now herein hath the ſtupendous Providence of God been eminently ſeen; that when ſo many thouſand books wrote ſince the Scriptures were written, are loſt, and there is no memorial almoſt of them; and the Scriptures have had more enemies than any of them, more that have endeavoured to corrupt them, and to deſtroy them; yet God hath preſerved this ſtorehouſe of ſpiritual food, and kept it from corruption by the extraordinary care of the Jewiſh Church; the multiplying of tranſlations, guiding and governing of thoſe who have been employed in them: Nor hath the Providence of God been leſs ſeen in maintaining Miniſters and Teachers of his word. In the Jewiſh Church, when the ordinary officers failed, and were corrupted, God from time to time raiſed them up Prophets, who were his extraordinary Embaſſadors to teach his people. In Chriſts time, he calls Fiſhermen to the Apoſtleſhip: and in all ſucceeding Ages, though there have been ſometimes more, ſometimes fewer able, and faithful Miniſters; yet God hath ſo ordered, that there never have wanted ſome, and a competent number to break the bread of life, and to feed his people with wiſdom, and with ſpiritual underſtanding. No ſort of men have been more maligned, hated, perſecuted, yet God hath upheld the order, and taken care for the ſouls of his people, that they have continually had faithful ſtewards of the myſteries of God.
4. The Providence of God is admirable in preſerving man in his ſpiritual capacity, in the daily influence of his ſpirit attending his word, and ſanctifying his inſtitutions. The word is in it ſelf but a dead letter; the Preaching of the word is far from a mean adequate to ſo great an effect as is the converſion and edification of ſouls: God is therefore pleaſed to join his quickening ſpirit to the word, where he pleaſeth, bleſſing and ſanctifying it. I am not of their judgment, who think that there is ſuch a conſtant concurrence and influence of the Spirit with the preaching of the Goſpel, that if men will do what in them lies, they may repent, believe, &c. I know no Scripture which will juſtifie that notion; but certain it is, that the holy Spirit doth ordinarily join it ſelf with the preaching of the word, like the wind blowing where it pleaſeth, and none knoweth the motion of it, convincing men of ſin, of righteouſneſs, and of judgment.
5. Laſtly, The Providence of God preſerveth men in their ſpiritual capacities, by ſupplying them with ſtrength and ſuccour againſt their ſpiritual enemies; their own fleſh, the world, the Devil; all which with a variety of temptations ſtrike at our ſpiritual welfare. But this is much of kin to what I ſaid before. I ſhall add no more to this diſcourſe concerning Gods Act of Providence, as in the preſervation of beaſts, ſo of men, and that in their ſingle natural capacities; In their Social and Political capacities, and finally in their Spiritual capacities. I ſhall only add ſome few words of application.
This in the firſt place may inform us, Ʋſe 1 How great that God muſt neceſſarily be whom we ſerve; he is the Creator of the ends of the Earth, of the Heavens, of the Seas, of all things, and it is he who preſerveth both man and beaſt: he preſerveth all men in their ſingle and natural capacities; this I opened before. He preſerveth all men in their Political capacities, all his people in their Spiritual capacities. It is an ordinary obſervation in the Kingdoms and Empires of the world, that when they have grown to a great bigneſs, they have periſhed with their own bulk and weight. No Monarch hath been found ſufficient to preſerve them by his wiſdom and Counſels. And I remember the Hiſtorian ſpeaks of it to the great honour, and as a wonderful thing, in one of the firſt Roman Kings, that he put the Roman Kingdom (it was no more then) into ſuch an order, that it was governed as if it had been but one Family. But how much doth it ſpeak the Glory and Majeſty, the Immenſity and Omnipreſence, the Efficiency and Activity of God, who at the ſame time is working over all the Earth, in all the Empires and Kingdoms, in all the Cities and Towns in it, defeating Ahitophels, diſcovering Plots and Conſpiracies, ruling the ſpirits of unruly men; ſo as the whole Univerſe is kept in order: and the thouſands and ten thouſands of men in it, that know not the yoke of Reaſon and Religion, are yet bridled by his Providence, and kept in ſome juſt order and decorum, and made, in ſtead of running one upon another, and deſtroying one another, mutually to be ſubſervient one to another? I ſay, how great? how wiſe? how infinite? how glorious in power muſt this God be?
Secondly, Obſerve how much mercy paſſeth over our heads, Ʋſe 2 which we do take little or no notice of: We are fearfully and wonderfully preſerved, and that in every capacity. I ſhewed you it before as to our natural capacity, few think of that; what a ſtrange working of Providence there muſt be to keep our ſouls in life but one day: It is as much remarkable in our Political capacity. I remember, when Chriſt ſent out his Diſciples to Preach, he told them, That he ſent them out as lambs amongſt wolves. It is true indeed, not only of Goſpel-Preachers, but of all ſober and vertuous men, that would live in the world but according to the Laws of Reaſon and Moral vertue. They are in the world as lambs amongſt wolves: Let but any one conſider how many lewd, unrighteous, debauched men are in all places, ſuch whoſe only rule is their luſts: how full the world is of men that make no conſcience of murthers, rapes, thefts, oppreſſion, and other enormities, and then ſtand and wonder at the Providence of God, that in any part of the world there is any thing of order and decorum obſerved, that men have any thing which they can call their own, that the lives of Princes or ſober people are ſecured. What can it be attributed to, but the mighty power of Divine Providence, that we have no more murthers, rapes, thefts, &c. we ſee laws, puniſhments will not reſtrain all, nor the ſame men at all times; how, or whence is it, that they reſtrain any, or at any time? I will conclude this with what the Pſalmiſt ſo often maketh the foot in that his admirable ſong of Providence, Pſal. 107, Oh! that men would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſs, for his wonderful works to the children of men! Oh that Princes would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſs! It is by him that they reign, that they have a days liberty to decree juſtice; by him that the Counſels of Ahitophel are defeated, the conſpiracies of ungodly men are diſcovered; that the ſpirits of unruly and unreaſonable men are ſubdued under them: by him that they have wiſdom to make Laws, and liberty to execute them: that men in their dominions are diſpoſed into their ſeveral orders, ranks and ſtations, ſo as mutually to ſerve one another, and to uphold the whole. Oh that Subjects would praiſe the Lord for his goodneſs! that they have wiſe Magiſtrates, good Laws, that their lives are not Sacrificed to murtherers, that their houſes are not fired, that their Wives and Virgins are not raviſhed, that they are diſpoſed to Trades and Occupations: that they have wiſdom for them, a ſpirit to them. Let every Citizen, every Subject, ſee and acknowledg the hand of the Lord in theſe things, and bleſs his holy name.
But laſtly, Let the Redeemed of the Lord, particularly, Ʋſe 3 ſee and acknowledg the Providence of God, in the preſerving of them in their ſpiritual capacities. Were it not for the preſerving Providence of God, our ſpiritual life would be extinguiſhed every moment: God preſerveth it by repeating his Gracious Acts in the remiſſion of our ſins, in the imputation of Chriſts righteouſneſs. Our habits of grace would weaken: we a… preſerved and kept by the power of God through faith unto ſalvation. It is a great mercy, and deſerves a great acknowledgment, that we have our lives preſerved, our eſtates preſerved, our wives and daughters preſerved. But oh! how much greater is it, that we have our ſtate of Juſtification maintained? Our principles of Spiritual Operations, our habits of Grace, our power to repent, believe, love God, preſerved; that the influences of Grace are continued, that we have the Word and Ordinances preſerved. Let the redeemed of the Lord ſay, his mercy endureth for ever; let them adore preſerving-Providence: let them conſider what a ſubtil adverſary they have, Who goeth about like a roaring Lion, ſeeking whom he may devour. What abundance of luſts and corruptions they have in their own hearts; what a law in their members, warring againſt the law of their minds; and they will ſay, that the ſeed of God, which is in them, is wonderfully preſerved. But thus much may ſerve to have ſpoken of the firſt great act of Providence, which I called Preſervation. My next work is to ſpeak concerning Government.