A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 43 (Question 11 cont.)
SERMON XLIII.
II. NOW let us conſider of the Nature of Providence in General; which may be gathered out of the Diſtribution offered in the Anſwer, in this Deſcription:
IT is that Efficiency of God, whereby He doth, after a moſt eniment Manner, take care of & watch over all His Creatures, in all reſpects, according to His own Counſel. This Deſcription is comprehenſive; And in it obſerve,
[1.] IT is one part of God's Efficiency: An external Tranſient Act, the Operation of the Firſt Being with relation to the Second. In Creation there was a Beginning of Efficiency; In Providence there is a Continuation of it. Hence that, Joh. 5.17. My Father worketh hitherto, & I work.
[2] IT is that wherely He takes care of, and …c…ethover His Creatures. This is the ſpecial Nature of it, and that wherein it differs from Creation; that made them, & this looks after them. The word tranſlated, to provide, Gen. 22.8. ſignifies, to ſee, or look to …fineſs; and this watching (which is alſo aſcribed to God, Gen. 31.49.) implys, That the glorious Attributes of God are always awake, and that they are at work in the Frame of the World, managing of the Affairs thereof, and that with greateſt Warineſs. The World is a great Veſſel; He looks to it and Steers it, takes care that it do not through Negligence ſuffer Shipwrack: Hence the Providence of God is deſcribed after ſuch a manner; Pſal. 33.13, 14. The Lord loo…th from Heaven, He beholdeth all the Sins of men; From the Place of his habitation be …beth upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
[3.] THIS Care & Watch extends to all things in …t reſpects, and that after a most eminent man… find herein the Glory of Divine Providence appears: And we may take a diſtinct account of the Excellency of it in a few particulars.
1. IT extends it ſelf Univerſally. It reacheth far and wide, throughout the whole Frame of Beings: it graſps within it all the Works of God; and there is Nothing out of the Watch of it: As the whole received its Being from Him, ſo it all con… under His Watch: Hence that, Pſal. 145.15, 16. The eyes of all wait upon thee, and chou giveſt … their meet in due ſeaſon. Thou openeſt thine and, & ſatisfieſt the deſire of every living thing. And there are Two Things here conſiderable,
(1) IT reacheth to all Times. It is a continued, with tempted Providence: There is no Moment … which His wonderful Care is not exerted, or His …rful Hand is not at work about the Creature. … is afferted of his Special Care of his Church, … Truth concerning his Univerſal Care about the whole World, Pſal. 121.4 He that keepeth …, will neither Number nor ſleep. He ſet this find to the Creature as ſoon as He had given it its Being, and hath continued it hitherto, & will …o ſo as long as it hath a Being: it is altogether without the leaſt Intermiſſion.
(2) IT reacheth alſo to all Floces. He views every Part & Corner of the Creation, and pries i… every Place: there is none ſo remote as to be out of his Watch; there is no where, where the Eye of Providence doth not view & obſerve. Pr… 15.3. The Eyes of the Lord are in every place: beholding the evil and the good. And it is no idle Speculation, but it is Operative: There is no Place ſo dark as to ſhut his Eyes out: Pſal. 120.12. The Darkneſs dideth not from Thee. Hence the Pſalmiſt could diſcover no Place, where to get out of the reach of it, v. 7. &c Whether ſhall I go from Thy preſence?—If I aſcend up into Heaver, Thou art there: If I make my bed in Hell, behold, Thou art there: &c.
2. IT extends it ſelf to All Things Individually: not only to the Kinds or Species of things, but each Individual in the Kind, Pſal. 145 15.16. It is not determined or bounded by ſuch & ſuch Beings, but it determines all Second Cauſes; & is not only the Univerſal, but alſo the Particular Firſt Cauſe of all things. God doth not ſo look to ſome things, as to neglect others; and therefore, what was obſerved of Efficiency in general, is applicable to this part of it; It reacheth to the Greateſt things, (Joh 7.12.) It Rules over the Kingdoms &c Empires of the World, (D…n. 4.17.) And it doth not Over-look the Leaſt things, but is concerned in the Numbring of the very Hairs of our Head, (Mat. 10.30.) There are no Beings ſo high, but He that is higher than they, manageth them with His Providence; not any Beings ſo contemptible, but He who Cares for the Works of his own Hands, ſees to them, and looks after their Affairs.
3. IT extends to all the Accidents or Circumſtances depending upon things: Not only the things themſelves, but all the Contingencies of them. Thoſe things which fall out to the Creature, to an Eye of humane Obſervation, with the moſt Caſualty, that look as if they were meerly Fort…tous, yet they have a moſt abſolute dependance upon His Providence: As is inſtanced in a Lot; Prov. 16.33. The whole diſpoſing thereof, is of the Lord: A Sparrow accidentally falling to the ground; Mat. 10.29. Not one of them fall to the ground without your Father. There can be no Action done by, or Chance befull any of the Creatures, but what are diſpoſed by this all-doing Providence of God.
4. THIS Providence is very Exert in Inſpecting and Ordering of theſe Affairs. God exerts a great deal of Carefulneſs therein: There is no Being goes wrong, ſo as to miſs the Deſign He hath about it: There is nothing falls but amiſs or beſides the Scope he Aims at. All things are made by it Serviceable to the Advancement of his own great Ends: Nothing is omitted which is of Conſequence; nothing miſtaken or inſupplied. Among Men, there are great and fair Deſigns which are loſt and miſcarry upon a little Miſtake; many a Plot becomes Abortive: but God's Providence is ſo heedful in all his Affairs, as to Antedate all Miſcarriage; and without any Indiſcretion, to bring about His Eternal Porpoſes: Job 23.13. He is of one mind, and who can curn Him? And what his Soul atſ…eth, even that he doth.
5. THE Exquiſiteneſs of this Providence farther appears in thoſe Curious Con…es, and Secrets of … Wiſdom, whereby God advanceth His Deſigns in the World. This is ſet forth, and deciphered in the Prophet's Viſion: Ecek. 1. The Wheels there mentioned, ſignify the Providence of God: The Rings of theſe Wheels are, the ſeveral Turnings of this Providence: Of theſe it is aſſerted,
(1.) THAT they were High, & Dreadful. The Myſteries of Providence are ſtupendious and unſearchable: Such things as are too Intricate for the Creature's Skill to Analyſe, or to be able to Soar in his Contemplation to the height of them: They afford Matter of Admiration rather than deep Inquiſition.
(2.) THAT they were full of Eyes: Intimating the Curiouſneſs, Exactneſs, and great Wiſdom, that is Converſant about God's Providence. And there are Three Things in ſpecial, to Name no more, which ſhew the Exquiſiteneſs of God's Providence on this Account. 1. THE Cauſing of Occurrences, though ſeemingly never ſo Creſs & Oppoſite, in the Iſſue to Work moſt Harmontouſly to the Advancement of His Deſigns, and ſuiſ…ing of His Ends. Example may be particularly given in the Caſe of Joſeph: God deſigned to make him a Preſerver of His People; and what ſtrange Changes is he carryed thro' in Order to the Accompliſhment of this: And who would have tho't of thoſe foregoing Paſſages that befell him, that they had the leaſt Aſpect towards that Advancement which afterwards he arrived unto? And yet there was never an One but what was a Step towards it. 2. IN the bringing of Good out of Evil. In Creation God Made ſomething out of Nothing: Thus the World was produced from a Negative Contrary, and that was Wonderful. But in Providence, God brings Good out of Evil, from a Poſitive Contrary, which is more Wonderful. Jacob thought that thoſe Croſſes he met with, made againſt him, (Gen. 42.36.) Yet all proved in the End to have been for him. Aſaph is Plagued all the Day long; and he thinks he hath Laboured in vain, (Pſal. 73.13.) but the Sanctuary informed him, that the Counſel of Wiſdom, was Guiding of him unto Glory, in all this Courſe it led him in Ver. 24. 3. IN His having to do with Sin it ſelf, without any the leaſt Spot or Unholineſs, Wonderful is the Working of God's Providence. Here, He can ſo permit Sin, as that it ſhall infallibly be; and yet not ſo effect it, as that it ſhall be any Stain to His Holineſs in the leaſt: As the Sun is not defiled by ſhining upon the moſt Dirty ſtinking Places, tho' they Stink the more for it's ſhining upon them, ſo God is then moſt Holy, when He is giving of Men up to Sin. He can ſo Order it, that Abſalom ſhall Commit the moſt horrid Abomination, without being a blameable Cauſe of it: He can harden Pharoah's Heart; and yet very juſtly Puniſh him for that Hardneſs of his.
6. THE Eminency of this Providence further appears. In that He is always intimately Preſent with the Creature. It doth immediately reach every Creature with its Influence: Acts 17.28. He is not far from every one of us: For in him we Live, Move and have our Being. He is Omnipreſent with every Second Cauſe; and at Work Himſelf with all things that do Work. He is the Great Efficient, and Creatures are but His Tools that He Works by: (Iſa. 10.15.) There is nothing doth or can Stir without Him: It is not Bread alone that Nouriſheth a Man, but His Efficacious Word that goes along with it. The Action is the Creature's: It is the Man that Believes and Obeys, but it is He that Works it in him: Phil. 2.13. For it is God that worketh is you, both to Will & to Do of his good Pleaſure. Nor is there only the Immediacy of Vertue deriving from him; but alſo of His Preſence with the thing: Go whither we will, He is there; Pſal. 139.7, &c.
[4.] AND this Providence doth all this according to His Counſel. That which God by an Immanent Act did Decree, that by a Treaſure Act He doth Effect; and that according as He did Decree it: Eph. 1.5, 11. Being Predeſt…a…d according to the Purpoſe of Him, who worketh all things according to the Counſel of His own Wi…. This is One of thoſe Works in which God Exe… teth His Decrees: And Providence is exceeding Exact in following the Pattern laid out in … Purpoſe: Thoſe Seven Hundred Benjamites that could Sling a Stone to an Hair's Breadth, was not ſo Exact in hitting the Mark, as God's Providence is in anſwering His Decree: He doth not Vary in the leaſt from it, nor doth one J… or Tittle of it fail; but all comes to paſs preciſely as it was intended.
I cannot paſs from this Doctrine of Providence in General, without making ſome particular Glances upon it, that may be as ſo many Practical Inferences from it, viz.
USE I. THAT there are no Fortuitous … Caſual Events in the World, falling out by Furtune or beſides the Intention of the Firſt C…: No, not in the leaſt decidents or Circumſtami… Caſualties which happen to the Creature. Furtune was a Blind Idol devis'd by the Heathen; and is by the Devil ſpit upon the Face of Divine Providence. That there is a Contingency … things with reſpect to Second Cauſes, is a Truth: But to ſay there is any thing meerly Caſual, referring to the Firſt Cauſe, is Blaſphemy. Accidents are Caſual to us, becauſe in reſpect … Second Cauſes, they are equally like to be, and not to be; but in reſpect to God they are not ſ…: We are therefore here taught to ſee a Hand of God in all Caſual Events. Men are apt to … them off with a Slight or Contempt, and …, They might have befallen others, as well es us: True, as to the things themſelves; but if the … of God Orders all things, then there was a Finger of God Diſpoſing of thoſe Caſualties … befall us in particular: And this ought to be ſtudied and conſidered. The Man Drew a … at a Venture; but God directed the Arrow to his Ahab, and Kill him, according as He had Thr… ned.
2. THAT we can never be from out of God's Sight, nor from under his Hand. His Eye prys into every Corner; His Providence extends to every Place: And it did not only do ſo formerly, but it doth ſo ſtill. His Hand is at Work in the moſt Remote as well as in the Neareſt Places; for there is nothing Remote to Him: And this tells us,
(1) THAT there is no Place where we may Sin Secretly. Atheiſtical Men think to get out of God: Sight, and from his Watch, and there to Sin without Controll: but this is a grand Cheat of themſelves: Hence,
(2) THERE is no Place that can bide us from the Anger of God. If we Sin & Provoke Him, any where, there is His Providence at work, and Wo will be to us. David was Conſcious of this, and it put an aw upon him, (Pſal. 139.7.)
(3). THERE is no Place where we may not truſt and rely on God's Providence. If we be but ſure we be in that Place, and about that Employment which God calls us unto, we may ſecure our ſelves in this, That God is there, and He is taking Effectual Care for us; if it be in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, it matters not, becauſe He is with us to Conduct us, Pſal. 23.4.
3. LEARN hence God's great Condeſcendence and Benignity to the Creatures, in that He Himſelf cooks after them all. It is a ſond Objection which ſome make againſt God's Univerſal and Particular Providence; that it ſeems to be a Diſgrace to Him, and contrary to His Great Majeſty, to ſtoop ſo low, as to intermeddle with theſe mean things here below, eſpecially the more Inferiour & Deſpicable Creatures: But it may ſuffice to ſay, That tho' among Men Greatneſs and Goodneſs ſeldom meet, yet in God they are inſeparable: And it is ſo far from being a Diſcredit to His Super-excellent Majeſty, that by thus doing. His Power and Goodneſs do ſo much the more appear and ſhine forth. Proud Man may think it …at… of ſcorn to meddle with ſuch or ſuch Occaſions; but God doth but ſo, nor will he contemn, ſo as to account ſuch Things unworthy of his looking to as he himſelf hath made for ſhe Illuſtration of his Glory by: And this may encourage the Pooreſt & moſt A baſed Souls to Rely on him, and put their Truſt in his Providence.
4. THAT there is nothing comes to paſs in the World that could have been otherwiſe, when all Cauſes are put together. If God doth every thing, and that according to His Counſel, which is fixt & unalterable; then there is a Neceſſity or an Infallibility of the Futurition: There was a Certainty of the thing altho' this doth not hinder the Contingency of it as to ſecond Cauſes, or put any Violence upon it, to enforce it thus to Act: There is no Fatal Neceſſity laid upon God. as the Stoicks dreamt: He Acts with the greateſt Liberty in all: but there is an Immutability in his Nature; and his Will having freely determined and … out all his Works, He is now engaged, and He will not very from it, (Job 23.13.) … is the ſecond Being, eſpecially, rational and voluntary Agents, under any Compulſion, but Act according to their own Choice, and yet no otherwiſe than in Subordination to the Rules of Providence; ſo that if they Act againſt the Rules of Moral Obedience, they are not for this Reaſon to be excuſed.
5. THAT there is Infinite Wiſdom in all that beſ…s the Creature in this Worth. It is not blind Fortune, but Al-ſeeing Providence that doth every thing: and all which that doth is according to Counſel, & that of Him who is the Al… he God From whence we may infer,
(1) THAT there is no Liberty J…r us to care to lay any thing of B…me upon God, whatever we meet with: They are Holy Providences, becauſe contrived by Him for His Glory: They are Wiſe, becauſe, deliberated in His eternal Counſel: For us therefore to find fault with them, or Charge f…lly or indiſcretion upon them, as a daring contempt of God: The conſideration that it is His Doing muſt-ſtop our Mouths, Pſal. 29.9, 22, 23.
(2). THAT we may, in having …pe our Duty, reſt in God's Providence, let it be what it will. Tho' Senſe and carnal Reaſon are diſquieted and ready to Murmur at it; yet, be it never ſo abſtruſe, and dark, this is enough to ſatisfy us, That there is a Hand of God in this Event, and that He brought it to paſs according to His determinate Counſel: And with this the Pſalmiſt ſtop this own Mouth, and quieted his tumultuous Thoughts, Pſal. 72.23.24. Nevertheleſs,—Thought holden me by my right Hand: Thou ſhall guide me with thy cauſel, &c.
6. THAT we are to acknowledge our Being all our Comforts, and a…ut Hopes of a well Being to have their Dependance upon God's Providence. And this calls upon us to wait upon Him for the Continuance of all to us, with Faith; hence that, Job 10.12. Thou bad granted me Life and Favour; & thy Viſitation hath preſerved my Spir…. Is Job Preſerved to the next hour? It is becauſe God extends His careful Providence to him. If God ſhould keep us by Day. and not by Night, the laſt hour, and not this, we ſhould never get thro' i…: We could not ſo long ſtand alone. That is an excellent Watchman indeed, that ſo watcheth as not ſo much as to ſlumber: How ſhould we then be continually bringing home the Acknowledgment of all unto God?
7. THIS tells us that we are to ſub…it all our Concerns and Actions unto the Providence of God. As we can do Nothing without Him; unleſs we have the Concourſe of His Efficiency to enable us to do all our Works, we muſt ſit ſtill and do nothing; ſo muſt all our Dependance be upon His Operation: We have no command of Events, we may do our utmoſt, uſe our beſt Prudence, take Care and Caution, be very diligent, & omit nothing that is rationally tending to further our Deſign; but after all, it will be juſt as God will: This tells us then, that we have nothing to do, but to ſtudy Duty, and faithfully to attend upon it and then commend it unto God: This Doctrine is the Ground of all ſuch Counſels as are given us, Prov. 16.3. and Pſal. 37 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord: Truſt alſo … Him, and He ſhall bring it to paſs. And this is the only way to keep our Comforts, in a duly compoſed frame of Spirit under all the Viciſſitudes of Providence that paſs over us.
8. IF God he ſo careful in His Providence for l…s, it tells us, That we ought to be very Careful in Serving of Him. Whom ſhould we Serve, but Him in whom … Live, Move, and have our Being? All that Good and Benefit we enjoy, all this Succeſs which we meet with in our Aff…s, all the Comforts that we … another, do with one Voice call upon us to make it our Study & Endeavour to Honour & Glorify this God; and without intermiſſion to purſue the Duties he hath laid us under; and of every good Thing we now taſte, to make it our Buſineſs to inquire with the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 116.12. What ſhall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits towards me?
[JUNE, 16. 1691.]