Several Discourses Considering the Providence of God, Discourse · Part 2 · Sermon 24
SERMON XXIV.
Pſalm CVII. 43.
Whoſo is wiſe, and will obſerve theſe things: even they ſhall underſtand the loving-kindneſs of the Lord.
I Am ſtill communicating to you, ſome Obſervations which I have made, concerning the motions of Divine Providence, not only for your inſtruction, but to quicken you alſo to make Obſervations your ſelves upon the motion of it, that you may increaſe in ſpiritual Wiſdom. I proceed to a Tenth Obſervation.
Obſerv. 10. That the Providence of God is eminently ſeen in the preſervation and protection of his faithful Miniſters; and ſuch, both amongſt them, and other orders of men, who keeping themſelves within the latitude of their duty, have been great adventurers for God in their generations.
1. The Providence of God preſerveth both man and beaſt; it is God that upholdeth our ſouls in life, and there is no man but in him lives, moves, and hath his being.
2. Nor is there any man that liveth any conſiderable time in the world, and keepeth any ordinary record of his life; but will ſee reaſon, as to ſay (with David) O Lord! I am fearfully and wonderfully made; ſo alſo, Lord, I have been fearfully and wonderfully preſerved. But yet (as I have ſhewed you) there are ſpecialties of Divine Providence: ſome perſons that the Lord ſeemeth to carry upon eagles wings, and to preſerve in a more eminent and ſpecial manner; ſometimes in a way of miraculous Providence, ſometimes in a way of extraordinary Providence, in a way beyond other men. Now I have long ſince hinted you three ſorts of men, whom God thus preſerveth.
1. Such as are Gods Vicegerents, Magiſtrates, and Rulers of others. This I have abundantly ſhewed you, when I ſhewed you how eminently the Providence of God is ſeen, both in diſcovering, and bringing to light; and alſo in puniſhing ſuch ſins, as tend to the eminent diſturbance of humane Societies.
2. Such as God uſeth for the Miniſters of his Word. 3. Such as make the boldeſt adventures for God, and in his ſervice, keeping themſelves within the latitude of their duty. I am to juſtifie now this Obſervation to you. I will open it, and prove it, then ſhew you the reaſonableneſs of Divine Providence in theſe extraordinary motions. And laſtly, I ſhall make ſome Applications. Firſt, let me open it to you.
1. It is to be underſtood of godly, faithful, and painful Miniſters, and moſtly of ſuch, of whom God hath made, or doth make, or intend to make an eminent uſe in his Church. As there are no perſons more juſtly a hatred in the houſe of God, abominable to all men of any ſobriety, then leud, or lazy Miniſters; ſo there is nothing of any ſpecial Providence promiſed to them, and it is more than I have obſerved, if God, as to their iſſues in the concerns of this world, hath not left them to a common ſhare with others; and if there hath been any difference made by his Providence, it hath been to their diſadvantage; they are more vile than others, and diſhonour God more than others; and God often makes them and their families to ſmart more than others. It is that which God hath ſaid in the caſe, Them that honour me, I will honour: and they that deſpiſe me, ſhall be lightly eſteemed, 1 Sam. 2.30. We have had a great deal of enquiry in the times wherein we live, into the cauſes of the contempt of the Clergy, Lev. 10.2, 3, 4; one hath gueſt this thing, another that; for my own part, I have been young, and am growing old, I never yet knew a painful able preacher, living an holy and exemplary life, be his perſwaſion what it would, under a greater contempt than other men: there are ſome Sons of Belial will contemn all that are not as much Atheiſts as themſelves. If Miniſters will regard nothing but ſtriking their fleſh-hook with three teeth into the Lords pot, to feed themſelves; if they will heap up parſonage upon parſonage, till there be no room left in the Earth; and graſp more ſouls than they can manage, putting out ſome to pitiful nurſes, where they are ſtarved, and affording the other but dry beaſts; if they will make themſelves vile, like Hophni and Phineas; it is no wonder if they be contemned by men of any ſobriety. The Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 15.4. makes it the mark of one that ſhall dwell in Gods holy hill, in whoſe eyes a vile perſon is contemned, but he honoureth them that fear the Lord; for others, God ſecureth their honour eminently.
2. Nor is it to be extended to every godly Miniſter, and at all times. The beſt of Miniſters have their perſonal ſin, for which God may puniſh them by the common fate of others; God eminently ſhewed himſelf for Moſes and Aaron in the caſe of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram: he made the Earth to open its mouth, and to ſwallow up their oppoſers; but when they had provoked the Lord at the waters of Meribah, they took their common fate with the reſt of the Iſraelites, and dyed in the wilderneſs, when they had had no more than a proſpect of the promiſed land. Several inſtances might be given of eminent Prophets of old, and Miniſters of the Goſpel, that have periſhed in common judgments: more eſpecially when it hath pleaſed God to pick out ſome of them for Martyrs, and to make them witneſſes with their blood, to ſeal the Truths they have preached. And indeed this ſpecial Providence of God hath been moſt remarkable, in times, when God hath been beginning ſome great work, which was the caſe of the Apoſtles in the firſt Plantation of the Goſpel; and of thoſe eminent ſervants of God, which ſince that time he hath made uſe of in the reformation of the Church, or upholding the intereſt of pure and true Religion in a time of great Apoſtacy and defection.
3. The ſpecial Providence of God hath not been ſeen uniformly in thoſe caſes, but ſeveral ways.
1. Sometimes in providing food for them, and theirs, whereas otherwiſe they muſt have ſtarved, or at leaſt been ſo employed, as they could not have attended the work of God upon their hands.
2. Sometimes in keeping them from ſuch dangers, which have been very near to them, plucking them as brands out of the fire.
3. Sometimes in the delivering of them out of their Enemies hands, reſcuing them from the Lyon, when they have been in his paws: ſometimes one way, ſometimes another, accordingly as it hath pleaſed the infinite wiſdom of God to work for them.
1. The Providence of God hath been eminently ſeen in the providing of neceſſaries for his Miniſters. I need not tell you what ſpecial Laws God made in the caſe of his Miniſtry among the Jews; his Prieſts and Levites were particularly taken care of: but this being the ſetled maintenance for thoſe that were employed about the Tabernacle, and the Temple, when the Prieſts were generally corrupted, and God to uphold a faithful Miniſtry amongſt his people, raiſed up ſome extraordinary Prophets, that ſhould faithfully reveal his will unto people, they had little or no advantage, but the Lord never failed to provide for them. He provideth a Shunamite, 2 King. 4.10, that provideth a little chamber, a bed, a table, a ſtool, and a candle-ſtick for Eliſha. And another widow for Elijah, that had faith enough to believe, that in the time of famine her little meal ſhould not fail from her barrel, nor her oyl from her cruſe: He commanded the Ravens to feed the ſame Prophet by the brook Chereth, 1 King. 17.14. & 4.6. When the brook was dried up, then the Lord commanded the widow to ſuſtain him, verſ. 9. The whole time of the Kingdom of Iſrael, from the time that Jeroboam revolted, until they were carried away captive, was a ſad time to faithful Miniſters; for all ſuch ſtood for the inſtituted worſhip of God, in oppoſition to that at Dan and Bethel; but of all that time, the time of Ahabs reign was the moſt perillous time: but then God had provided an Obadiah, who took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water, 1 King. 18.5. Under the Goſpel, God alſo declared his will for the maintenance of his Miniſters. That tythes under the Goſpel are due, jure divino, to the Miniſter, I dare not ſay; but that a certain and honourable maintenance is due to them, the Apoſtle puts beyond all diſpute, 1 Cor. 9. And if the government of a nation ſettleth it by way of tythes, there is no queſtion to be made of the lawfulneſs, either of giving or taking them: but as the beſt eſtabliſhments are ſubject to mens corruptions; ſo is this.
The ſtory of Merline, a French Miniſter, is a known ſtory; being forced ſeveral days to ſave his life, by hiding himſelf in a haymow, God ſends an Hen every day, that laid an egg by him, upon which he lived. The ſtory of Junius I told you, relieved by a Taylor, when he was put to work in the Town-ditch for a livelihood: God raiſed up a rich Matron to provide for Origen and his family. But what need we look back ſo far for inſtances, of which all Eccleſiaſtical ſtory is full; when we have ſuch a plentiful teſtimony at home. There is no order of men, that God in all ages of the Church hath ſo ſtrangely and (miraculouſly almoſt) provided for, as to the neceſſaries of life, as for ſuch who have been faithful and painful labourers in the work of his Goſpel; they have not been forſaken, their ſeed have in no ſcandalous manner begged their bread: but this is but one particular.
2. A ſecond head of inſtances, which I ſhall give you to prove this ſpecialty of Divine Providence, ſhall be the preventing Providences of God, warning them ſome way or other, of evil that hath been towards them, ſo as they have been able timely to prevent or eſcape it. Elijah was you know an eminent Prophet of the Lords, and his life was often in danger; but God hid him one while at the brook Cherith, 1 King. 17, after he had delivered that unpleaſing Prophecy to Ahab; another time, at Beerſheba, after he had made ſuch an havock amongſt the Prieſts of Baal, Chap. 18, 19. God gave him warning of his dangers, and prevented Jezebel's deſigns. A boy overhears Pauls Enemies conſpiring his death, and revealeth it, and he is ſent away: at another time he is let down in a basket. Infinite inſtances might be given you out of other ſtory. Athanaſius amongſt the ancients, and Luther amongſt more modern Divines, were eminent inſtances of this nature. God indeed (as I told you before) doth not make all his Miniſters in times of dangers, ſuch inſtances of ſpecial Providence, but only ſuch as he hath deſigned to make great and eminent uſe of.
3. I might alſo give you as large a proof of this ſpecial Providence of God, for the Miniſters of his Goſpel, in his deliverance of them out of trouble, when they have been within the paws of the Lyon, and ready to be devoured. And this not always in the ſame method, nor by the ſame way and means; ſometimes miraculouſly, as in the caſe of Eliſha, and Elijah, more than once, ſtriking their Enemies with blindneſs, cauſing fire to come down from Heaven, and to deſtroy their Enemies. In the caſe of Daniel, ſtopping the mouths of the Lyons. In the caſe of Peter, the very night before that Herod was fully intended to have murthered him. In later ſtory we have infinite inſtances of Gods ſtrange deliverance of faithful Miniſters (whom it afterward appeared, God deſigned to make eminent uſe of) out of their Enemies hands. I remember in the Hiſtory of the perſecution of the Church of Bohemia, we read of an Edict made by Ferdinand, to apprehend all the Proteſtant-Miniſters; upon which many fled into Moravia, and hid themſelves; three were taken and kept priſoners in a deep dungeon at Prague: but God by his Providence wrought the eſcape of one of them, whom he made uſe of to plant, not leſs than twenty Proteſtant-Churches afterwards in Poland. But there would be no end, if I ſhould begin to recite to you all we find in his ſtory of this nature; there can be none ſo meanly acquainted with Scripture or Hiſtory, but may confirm himſelf in this obſervation. But I added, That the Providence of God hath been alſo eminently ſeen in the preſervation of thoſe, who have been great adventurers in the cauſe of God, within the latitude of their duty. A man may adventure in the cauſe of God, and miſcarry in his adventure, and that in two caſes: 1. When he adventures without a call from God. 2. When he governeth not himſelf in his adventure, by the reaſonable rules of prudence. Peter made an adventure, when he drew out the ſword, and cut off the higheſt Prieſt's ſervants ear: But our Saviour bid him put up the ſword into its ſheath again; for he that draweth the ſword (being a private perſon) ſhall periſh by the ſword. Peter had no call to uſe the ſword in the caſe: The Magiſtrate hath a call to uſe the ſword in the execution of juſt laws. The Miniſter hath a call to uſe another ſword, the ſword of the ſpirit, which is the word of God. Every Chriſtian hath a call to ſerve and obey Magiſtrates, in what is juſt and lawful, and to perform thoſe duties, which in his private capacity he oweth unto God; to worſhip God in his family, and to meet often together in the congregation of Gods People, to hear the word, to partake of the Ordinances of God, &c. Now there are times when a godly Magiſtrate cannot do his duty in puniſhing of ſin, without the adventure of his reputation in a wicked world; the adventure of his eſtate, his life: when the Miniſter of the Goſpel cannot do his duty, nor the people theirs, without the like adventures: but you ſhall obſerve this very ordinary in the Providence of God, he ſtrangely watcheth over, and protecteth ſuch as have a ſpirit to make boldeſt adventures, and as ſtrangely rewardeth ſuch. You ſee it in the whole ſtory of Scripture, Moſes and Aaron were called to go in to Pharaoh, and to demand the diſmiſſion of the Iſraelites; God ſuffereth not Pharaoh, nor any of his Courtiers (notwithſtanding their threats) to do them any hurt. Caleb and Joſhuah adventure to bring up a good report of the land of Canaan, God protecteth them from the mutiny of the people, and they are the only two are ſuffered to go over into the promiſed land, Numb. 14.6, 7, 10, 24. Elijah, the three children, and Daniel were great adventurers in the caſe of God: ſo was Eſther in her going in to the King, to ſpeak for the Jews: ſo were the Apoſtles in the firſt Plantation of the Goſpel. The Providence of God ſtrangely watched over them, and delivered them, as you read in the ſtory of their Acts. A man cannot be too bold, if he keeps within the latitude of his duty. Indeed we read of ſome whom God ſtrangely watched over, in the doing of ſome actions, that we cannot evince to have been their duty, as that of Phinehas, Numb. 25.7, 8. in killing the Moabitiſh-woman, and the Iſraelite in the act of adultery. That of Elijah's killing Baals Prieſts, 1 King. 18; yet God protected them, and rewarded them; there are many things ſaid in the defence of Phinehas and Elijah, to reduce their actions to the ordinary rule of Juſtice. It is certain, that by the Laws of God, the adulterers ought to have dyed, ſo alſo the falſe Prophets; but for the perſons that executed the vengeance of God upon them, all that we can ſay, is this: Their call was doubtleſs clear to themſelves, their actions were moſt certainly approved by God: he protects them upon the doing of them, he rewards them for doing of them; but non fue…unt ordinaria, ſed facta quaedam extra uſum, & ordinem communem; they were not ordinary actions, but depended upon a ſpecial call of God. By vertue of ſuch a call too, it doubtleſs was, that Moſes ſlew the Egyptian, for which St. Stephen juſtifieth him, Acts 7. But a man cannot be too bold for God, if he keeps within the latitude of his certain duty.
2. Provided ſecondly, He keepeth to reaſonable rules of prudence: our rule obligeth us to be wiſe as ſerpents. But I will not enlarge upon this Theme; for the truth is, the Providence of God ſtrangely watcheth over bold adventurers in his cauſe and ſervice, who have acted under ſuch circumſtances, as are hardly reconcileable to what our reaſon calls Prudence; yet certainly, that will not warrant a raſh and imprudent managery of a good cauſe. I need not give you more inſtances than I have done, to juſtifie this Obſervation in ſacred Hiſtory. Moſes and Aaron, Caleb and Joſhuah, Elijah and Eliſha, Eſther, Daniel, the three Children, all the Apoſtles afford a plentiful proof of this Obſervation; and in other ſtories the inſtances are without number. Luthers whole life was an inſtance of this, the Archers ſhot ſorely at him, he ventured as high as any in oppoſition to them; yet his bow abode in his ſtrength, Luther dyed in his bed in peace.
Nor doth this ſeem an unreaſonable motion of Divine Providence, if we either conſider how far the honour of God is concerned in the upholding and maintaining his Embaſſadors, and rewarding his ſervants; or the faithfulneſs of God in juſtifying his promiſes, or the further uſe that God will make of men in the accompliſhment of his deſigns in the world.
1. Let us but conſider the relation wherein the Miniſters of Chriſt ſtand to him, they are his Miſſionaries, be hath ſent them; as the father hath ſent him, ſo he hath ſent them; nay, they are no ordinary ſervants, they are the Lords Embaſſadors, they come in Chriſts name, and as in Chriſts ſtead they intreat men to be reconciled unto God. It is beneath the honour of a Prince to ſuffer an Embaſſador to ſtarve, or any way to periſh for want of that protection which he is able to afford him; indeed, if any run before they are ſent, or inſtead of Gods work to their own, Gods honour is not concerned in them, unleſs to chaſtiſe their preſumption, and to take vengeance upon them, as in ſuch a caſe, no Prince would think himſelf further concerned: but ſuppoſing Miniſters of the Goſpel to be ſent by him, and to be ready faithfully to deliver their maſters meſſages (and this we muſt ſuppoſe and believe, or diſown the Scriptures, which expreſly aſſert this), God is highly concerned in point of honour (having power in his hand, and the command of all the hearts of men) to provide for his faithful Miniſters, and they ſhall not want.
2. God (ſecondly) is not only concerned in honour, as a great King and God above all; but as a God of truth and faithfulneſs, that can ſooner ſuffer Heaven and Earth to paſs away, then a word to fail of what he hath ſpoken: he hath made many promiſes to his faithful ſervants in the Miniſtry, and to thoſe that he hath employed in hazardous employments for him; he of old promiſed to ſatiate the ſouls of his prieſts with fatneſs, Jer. 31.14. He of old appointed no inheritance to the ſons of Levi, amongſt their brethren, becauſe he was their inheritance, as he had promiſed them, Deut. 10.9. he hath told them he will cloath them with ſalvation, Pſal. 132.16. he told Jeremiah and Ezekiel he would be with them to deliver them, Jer. 1.7, 8, 18, 19. Ezek. 2.6. He hath told Goſpel Miniſters, he will be with them to the end of the world, Matth. 28. he hath bidden them take no thought what they ſhould eat, drink, or put on, when he ſent out the twelve, Matth. 10.9, 10. he bid them to provide, neither gold, nor ſilver, nor braſs in their purſes, nor ſcrip for their journey, nor two coats, nor ſhooes, for the workman is worthy of his meat. Now after all this, if God ſhould ſuffer his Miniſters to want bread to ſuſtain their lives, or their families, what would men ſay of the faithfulneſs of God?
3. Laſtly, Let us but conſider God, as having many deſigns yet to accompliſh, a great deal of work yet to be done in the world, to be done by the hands of men, who can imagine God ſhould not eminently protect, and provide for thoſe that are, and have been faithful? who would work for that Maſter, that will not find them bread? What ſubject would be free to go as an Embaſſadour for that Prince, that would never protect him in the faithful diſcharge of his truſt, or reward him proportionably to his affronts or loſſes? Now God knows that we are fleſh, and much led by our ſenſe and reaſon, and muſt not be encouraged to our duty only by rewards, which are the objects of our faith; but by ſenſible rewards, at leaſt to ſuch a proportion as is neceſſary to uphold us to our work. It is therefore not to be wondred at, that God ſhould in a way of ſpecial Providence, eminently take care of the Miniſters of his Goſpel: he hath call'd them, and ſent them to his work, he hath by that call taken them off from that purſuit of the world, by which others procure themſelves a livelihood; he hath told them they ſhould live upon his Altar; he hath told us, 1 Cor. 9.7. That no man goeth to a warfare at his own charge, none planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof, nor feedeth a flock, and eateth not the milk thereof: he ſeeth them out of obedience and conſcience to him, refuſing the bread they might have: men will not provide for them, he will; Ravens ſhall bring them meat every day, but they ſhall be fed. This is but a reaſonable motion of Divine Providence. I ſhall make a ſhort Application of this diſcourſe.
Ʋſe 1. This in the firſt place lets you ſee the fountain of that bounty, which the many painful and faithful ſervants of Chriſt have experienced in all times, and even in the days wherein we live. It hath pleaſed God in all times to raiſe up friends to his faithful Miniſters. I remember when Abigail came to meet David, coming againſt her husband, and had ſtopt his journey, David ſaith unto her, 1 Sam. 25.32. Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, which ſent thee to meet me this day: and bleſſed be thy advice, and bleſſed be thou, &c. Firſt, he bleſſeth God, then he bleſſeth her; the faithful ſervants of God, yea the Churches of God, who by this means enjoy any thing of the labours of their ſhepherds, have reaſon to bleſs thoſe whom God hath made his inſtruments to ſupport thoſe upon whom others had no pity. Yea verily, and what our Saviour ſaid of the woman that ſpent her box of Oyntment upon him, I think I may apply here, Wherever the Goſpel is preached, what they have done ſhall be told for a memorial of them. If a cup of cold-water for a thirſty Prophet ſhall obtain a Prophets reward, the greater kindneſſes of many ſhall certainly be rewarded; they have but put a little money into the bank which God keeps in Heaven. But we have more reaſon to look upward to him, who hath the hearts of all men in his hand, and openeth them as he pleaſeth. God hath in it ſhewed his ſpecial Providence for his faithful Miniſters; let us therefore ſay, Bleſſed be the Lord God of Iſrael, who hath ſtirred them up. It was the grace of God beſtowed upon the Churches in Macedonia, 2 Cor. 8.1, 2, 3.which taught them in a great tryal of affliction, and deep poverty, to abound in riches of liberality, and willingly of themſelves to give to their power, yea and above their power. Let it be written to poſterity, for a memorial of the people in England, that for ſo many years together, in the midſt of a devouring peſtilence, many conſuming fires, expenſive wars, and a deadneſs of trade, they have refreſhed the bowels of ſo many hundreds (if not thouſands) of Gods meſſengers; but let God have all the glory, who hath given the heart, though their hands diſtributed the money.
Ʋſe 2. In the ſecond place, Let me cry out, O houſe of Aaron, truſt in the Lord: O houſe of Levi, truſt in the Lord: Truſt in the Lord, and do good (ſaith David) ſo ſhalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou ſhalt be fed, Pſal. 37.3. Let us be faithful to our maſters ſervice, and do the work which he hath given us to do, and verily we ſhall be fed. I cannot ſay God will provide Coaches, and delicate things for us; but neceſſaries we ſhall not want. Herein let us exerciſe our ſelves to keep a conſcience void of offence, both towards God, and towards men; and as to other things, we may truſt a Providebit Deus, God will provide for us and ours. The experience of theſe times, if wiſtly attended to, certainly is enough to keep any from being tempted through fear of want, to debauch their conſciences, by doing any thing which is apparently ſinful, or but ſo judged and ſuſpected by them. We ſee ſome fed with great proviſions, faring deliciouſly every day, whiles others (like Daniel and his partners) have been fed with little more than pulſe and water; and at the end of ſome years it appeareth, they look fairer, as to worldly circumſtances, than thoſe who have had far better commons.
Ʋſe 3. Laſtly, This obſervation commendeth confidence and courage to all in the Lords work, in oppoſition to fear and cowardiſe. I would not be miſtaken, be ſure in the firſt place you be in Gods work, that which by his word appeareth to be the duty of one in thy circumſtances: nothing but the conſcience of having been ſurpriſed in the way of our duty, will bear us up under ſufferings; be therefore in that point well ſatisfied: having done that, obſerve thoſe rules of Prudence which reaſon directs thee in ſuch caſes: this done, fear nothing. Remember the Providence of God moſt eminently watcheth over the boldeſt adventurers in the way of their duty. They are the words of our bleſſed Lord, Mar. 8.35. Whoſoever will ſave his life, ſhall loſe it: but whoſoever ſhall loſe his life for my ſake, and the Goſpel, ſhall ſave it. They obſerve in war, that the ſoldier that turns his back, and flyes, is in much more danger, than he who ſtands to it; and that nothing makes a conqueror, ſo much as reſolution, and bold adventuring: it is ſo in our ſpiritual fight with the world; be then of good courage in it, and quit your ſelves like men; remember God is with you, and if ſo, there's more with you, than can be againſt you. God indeed in our combats with the world, doth not always keep us ſhot-free, and bring us off without a ſcratch; but thoſe whom he doth bring off, are ordinarily thoſe who are moſt valiant and adventurous: however, it is better to fall valiantly, than cowardly; and our Lord hath told us, That if a man will ſave his life, he ſhall loſe it; if he hath ſuch a mind to ſleep in a whole skin, that he will neglect his duty, and do that which his heart condemneth him for doing, he ſhall loſe what he hoped to ſave by it, be it life, reputation, eſtate, &c. It ſpeaketh great unbelief, and diſtruſt in God, to be cowards in plain and certain duties. Be prudent, but take heed of forbearing neceſſary duty out of prudence, or being faint in the performance of it. That can be no prudence: If a man fainteth in the day of adverſity, Solomon ſaith, that his ſtrength is but ſmall, his faith is but ſmall, and his obſervation of Gods Providence in ſuch caſes hath been very ſmall too. But I ſhall add no more upon this Argument.