as is imagined; he has more peace, satisfaction and contentment in what he has, though mean and little, than the wicked rich man in all his abundance; see Psal. xxxvii. 16. Prov. xv. 16, 17. besides, the good man, though poor in one sense, he is rich in a better; and is not only heir of a kingdom, but is possessed of one which cannot be moved, the kingdom of grace; he is possessed of the riches of grace, and is entitled to the riches of glory; and in the mean while has the love of God shed abroad in his heart, communion with God, and joy and peace unspeakable, which none can take away; and even his very afflictions work together for his good, temporal, spiritual and eternal; and he has the presence of God, and a rich experience of his grace in them; so that he has reason to count it all joy when he falls into temptations, that is, into afflictions: for though they are not in themselves joyous but grievous, yet they yield to them to whom they are sanctified the peaceable fruits of righteousness; so that the balance is now on the afflicted good man's side. Hereafter, in a future state, this difficulty will be quite removed, and entirely vanish, when the wicked rich man, that was clothed in purple and fared sumptuously every day, and had his good things here, will have his evil things; and Lazarus, the afflicted man, that was cloathed with rags, and covered with ulcers, and had his evil things, will now have his good things; the one will be tormented, and the other comforted; the wicked will go into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal; and then justice will shine in its true lustre and glory.

2. There are the evils of fault, or sinful actions, from which the providence of God is not to be excluded. This is the greatest difficulty to be met with in the article of providence, how it should have a concern with sinful actions, or with actions to which sin is annexed, as some choose to express themselves. There are two things to be set down for certain and eternal truths, whether we are capable of reconciling them to our own satisfaction and that of others, or no; the one is, that God is not and cannot be the author of sin; the other is, that the providence of God has a concern with and in all sinful actions in some sense or another: that God is not the author of sin is most certain, there is nothing sinful in his nature; Plato says of good things there is no other cause but of evil things we must seek for any other cause but God: he is without iniquity, is of unspotted purity and holiness; there is nothing but good in him, and therefore nothing sinful can come from him, nor be done by him; he takes no pleasure in sin, nor in those that do it, which the authors of sin do; he cannot look upon it with approbation and delight, it is abominable and hateful to him; for he has not only forbidden it by his law, but is the avenger of it; indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish come from him on every soul that does evil; wherefore let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, James i. 13. and on the other hand, to exclude the providence of God from all concern in the sinful actions of men, is contrary to the independency of God, in whom all live and move and have their being, and of whom, through whom, θεοις (κακον) εκ εσιν, επειδε πας θεος αγαθος, Sallust. de Diis, c. 18.

C εν μεν

and to whom all things are: creatures depend upon God, as in their being so in their operation, or they would be in action independent of him, and so there would be other independents besides him: moreover to exempt the providence of God from all concern in all sinful action, or in actions to which sin is annexed, would be to banish providence, in a good measure, out of the world; for, comparatively speaking, what is done in the world but what is sinful? for these are the all, or the chief things in the world; The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, 1 John i. 16. Let the following things be observed for the settleing of this point, and the removing of the above difficulty,-1. God supports men in their being, whilst they are sinning. This is certain; he up. holds them in life, his visitation preserves their spirits; was he to withdraw his power and providence from them, they would cease to be, and become incapable of action; but this he does not; he could have struck Ananias and Sapphira dead, before they committed the sin they did, and so have prevented it; but he did not; but when they had committed it, then he did it. 2. God; in innumerable instances, does not hinder the commission of sin, when he could do it, if he would: that he can do it is certain, because he has done it; he withheld Abimelech from sinning against him, as he told him, Gen. xx. 6. and he that withheld Abimelech, could have withheld Adam, and any of his sons, from sinning, whom he has not. He restrained Laban from hurting Jacob, as Laban himself owned; and hindered Balaam from cursing Israel, which he would gladly have done. And so God could prevent the innumerable sins of men, which yet he does not. We, as creatures, are bound to hinder all the evil we can; but God is under no such obligation.—3. God permits sin to be done, or suffers it to be, in his providence. This is the language of scripture; Who in time past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways; and these ways were sinful ones, Acts xiv. 16. And this permission is not a connivance at sin; nor a concession or grant of it; much less does it express any approbation of it: nor is it barely a leaving men to the liberty of their wills, to do as they please; as Moses suffered the Jews to put away their wives when they pleased; as though he was careless and indifferent about it: nor is it a mere naked permission, but a voluntary one, yea, an efficacious one; God's will is in it, and efficacy attends it.-4. God is represented as active in things relative to it; he not only suffers men to walk in their sinful ways, but he gives them up to their own hearts' lusts; he gives them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; he sends them strong delusions, that they may believe a lie, Psal. lxxxi. 12. Rom. i. 28. 2 Thess. ii. 11. Joseph's brethren sold him into Egypt, bat God sent him thither; he bid Shimei curse David; he gave the evil spirit a commission to go forth and do what he proposed, to be a lying spirit in the mouths of Ahab's prophets.-5. It will be proper to distinguish between an act, and the obliquity of it; every action, as an action, a natural one, is of God, the first Mover, in whom all move; the creaVOL. I.

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ture is dependent on God. as the Creator, in every action, as well as in his being; but the obliquity and irregularity of the action, as it swerves from the rule of God's law, is from man: this is sometimes illustrated by divines, in such an instance as this; a man that rides on a lame horse, he by whipping and spurring is the cause and occasion of his motion of going forward; but he is not the cause of his going lamely; that arises from a disorder in the creature itself: also the sun in the firmament, when it exhales a nauseous scent from a dunghill, it is the cause of the exhalation; but it is not the cause of the ill scent of it, that arises from the dunghill; the heat and force of the sun may be the occasion of the ill scent being drawn forth, but not of that itself. So,- 6. God in his providence may put in the way of persons things that are good in themselves; which may give an opportunity, and be the occasion of drawing out the corruptions of men's hearts; thus God in his providence directed Joseph to dream, and to tell his dreams; which drew upon him the envy of his brethren; and God put it into the heart of Jacob to send him to visit them in the fields, where they were feeding their flocks, which gave them an opportunity to form and execute evil against him. David was brought by providence into afflicted circumstances, which obliged him to flee, and pass by the way where Shimei lived; and which gave him an opportunity of doing that with his mouth, which very probably he had done in his heart before; and now it was, as it were, saying, Go curse David; the object was presented, and a fit opportunity in providence offered. There is sometimes a concurrence of things in providence, which in themselves are not sinful, yet are the occasion of sin; as in the affair of David and Bathsheba. Various things met together, which gave an opportunity, and were the occasion of committing sin, which David fell into, not being restrained by the grace of God; and to be preserved from opportunities, the occasion of sinning, is owing to the kind providence of God. Of this an heathen was sensible, and therefore gave thanks to God, that when he had a disposition to sin, and should have committed it, had an occasion offered; yet, SEW EUToua, by the good providence of God, no such occasion, from the concourse of things, did offer for his commission of it. God gives to some men wealth and riches, and these are the occasions of much sin to them. He gives a law, which forbids men to sin; but as the apostle says, Sin taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence, Rom, vii. 8. the gospel also sent to men, is the occasion of stirring up the corruption of their nature, their pride and passion, to an opposition to it, and it becomes the savour of death unto death unto them, 2 Cor. ii. 16, &c. 7. The concern of providence about sinful actions further appears in limiting and setting bounds; as to the waves of the sea, saying, hitherto shalt thou come, and no further. Thus Joseph's brethren would have run greater lengths in sin, had they not been restrained by the over-ruling providence of God; their first scheme was to put him to death; this was disconcerted by Reuben, who proposed putting

d Antoninus de Seipso, 1. 1. s. 17.

him into a pit, and let him starve there; from this also they were diverted by a motion of Judah's, to take him from thence, and sell him to the Ishmaelites, who were coming that way. And though it is amazing to observe how much sin is committed in the world; yet considering the wretched depravity of human nature, the temptations of Satan, and the snares of the world, it is most amaz ing that no more is committed; which can only be ascribed to the restraining providence of God.-8. God, in the affairs of providence, is to be considered as the Rector and Governor of the world, and the Judge of the whole earth; and in this branch of it, respecting sin, which he over-rules either for the punishment of those who commit it, or of others, or else for good; he sometimes punishes one sin with another. Plato says, a licence to sin, is the greatest punishment of sin. So dis obedient Israel, because they would not hearken to the voice of God, and would have nothing to do with him, therefore he gave them up to their own heart's lust: and the heathens, because they liked not to retain God in their knowledge, therefore he gave them up to a reprobate mind, to commit things sinful; and because the followers of antichrist believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness; therefore he sent them strong delusions to believe a lie; and when he is said to harden the hearts, and blind the minds of men, it is done in a judicial way, by giving them up to greater hardness and blindness, for their wilful obstinacy, and affected ignorance, Psal. lxxxi. 11. Rom. i. 28. Thus God corrected David's sin with Bathsheba, by the incest of his son with his wives and concubines; and punished the hypocrisy and idolatry of Israel, through the pride, ambition, and cruelty of the Assyrian monarch, who was in his hand the rod of his anger, and the staff of his indignation. Sometimes God over-rules the sins of men for good; as the sin of Adam, for the glorifying of his perfections; the crucifixion of Christ for the salvation of men, and Joseph's being sold into Egypt, for the saving many persons alive, Gen. 1. 20.

To conclude this article of providence; let it be observed, That all the providences of God are executed in the wisest manner; though they may not sometimes appear clear to us, and are inscrutable by us, and the causes and reasons of them not to be accounted for; yet even in such a view of them it should be said with the apostle, O the depth of the riches, &c. Rom. xi. 33.-2. They are all done in the most holy and righteous manner; even such as are concerned about sin, are clear from any imputation of it; The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, Psal cxlv. 17.-3. They are executed with power irresistible; they are immutably performed, according to the unchangeable will of God, who works all things in providence after the counsel of his will; he does what he pleases; his counsel always stands; and he does all his pleasure. Wherefore, we should give to him the glory of all; observe with wonder and gratitude, the several steps of it respecting ourselves and others; and put our trust in him for things temporal and spiritual; and at all times cast

our care upon him, who cares for us; seeing it is, and always will be, well with the righteous, in time and to all eternity.

OF THE CONFIRMATION OF THE ELECT,

AND THE FALL OF THE NON-ELECT ANGELS.

HAVING AVING considered at large the doctrines of creation and providence; I proceed to observe the first and principal events of providence relating to angels and men; and shall begin with the angels, the first of rational creatures that were created, and in whom the providence of God first took place; and whereas there was a distinction made between them, of elect and non-elect, as has been shewn in a preceding chapter. I shall take notice.

I. Of the confirmation of the elect angels; for as God chose them to a state of holiness and happiness; as soon as he created them, he confirmed them in that state; the providence of God was not only concerned in the preservation and sustentation of them in their being when created, but in the government of them, which are the two parts and branches of providence. Now the government of rational creatures is in a moral way, by giving a law to them, as the rule of their obedience; and such a law was given to angels, not of a positive nature, similar to what was given to Adam, forbidding him on pain of death, to eat of the fruit of a certain tree, as a trial of his obedience to the whole will of God; since we read of no such law, or like it, given to angels; nor a law in the form of a covenant, as to men, since the angels do not appear to have had any federal head, they standing singly and alone, and each for themselves; nor do we ever read of good angels keeping covenant; nor of the evil angels being charged with the breach of covenant; but it was a law implanted in their nature, concreated with them in like manner, as the law of nature was inscribed on Adam's heart, some remains of which are to be observed in his fallen posterity, and even among the Gentiles, Rom. ii. 14, 15. which is the same in substance with the moral law written; and with which angels are concerned, so far as the precepts of it are suitable to spiritual substances; for such of them, and so much of them, as relate to the body, and to corporeal actions, cannot agree with angels, who are incorporeal; as the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eigth commands: but such as relate to the fear and worship of God in a spiritual manner; to love to God, and love to fellow-creatures; these are binding on angels, and are perfectly obeyed by the good angels; and in this their perfect obedience and holiness, are they immutably confirmed, from the moment of their creation, for this their confirmation is not owing to any merits of theirs, through the good use of the freedom of their wills: some have fancied that they were first in a state of probation, and having stood some time in their obedience through the power of their free will, merited confirmation in that state from God; but a creature, even of the highest rank, can merit nothing at the hand