been accomplished by divine providence, famine is one of God's arrows shot out of the bow of providence, Amos iv. 6. Hag. i. 11. and pestilence is another concerning which he says, I will send or I have sent the pestilence among them, Jer. xxix. 17. Amos iv. 10. Other calamities are of a more private nature and are either inflicted on wicked men by way of punishment for sin; wherefore should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Lam. iii. 39. or they are inflicted on good men in love, and as fatherly corrections and chastisements; for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son that he receiveth, Heb. xii. 6. wicked men, though they prosper are not so happy as they may be thought to be; for as our Lord says, A man's life, that is the happiness of it, consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Luke xii. 15. Some have much, and have not a power to make use of it, either for their own comfort or the good of others ; and where is the difference, between having and not hav ing it? others on the contrary are profuse and extravagant, and live very luxurious and debauched lives, and bring upon themselves painful or nauseous diseases, and distress of mind: so that they have neither ease of body nor peace of conscience, but racking pain and dreadful remorses; some, their abundance will not suffer them to sleep, either through fear of losing what they have by thieves, &c. or through care, contriving schemes to encrease it; and some, envy seizes them and gnaws upon them, and they cannot enjoy themselves because a neighbour exceeds them in grandeur and wealth. A good man, though afflicted, is not so unhappy as is imagined; he has more peace, than the wicked rich man in all his abun dace; see Psal. xxxvii. 16. Prov. xv. 16. 17. besides, the good man, though poor in one sense, is rich in a better; he is possessed of the riches of grace, and is entitled to the riches of glory. Hereafter the wicked rich man, will have his evit things; and Lazarus, the afflicted man will have his good things; the one will be tormented, and the other comforted; and then justice will shine in its true lustre and glory.

D D

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. 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 not; 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 gome sense or another. That God is not the author of sin is most certain, there is nothing sinful in his nature; wherefore let no man say, when he is tempted, Iam 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, 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; Let the following things be observed for the set. tling of this point, and the removing of the above difficulty,— 1. God supports men in their being, whilst they are sinning. He could have struck Ananias and Sapphira dead, before they committed the sin they did; but he did not.-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, 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 Baalam 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 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. This permis

sion 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 were careless and indifferent about it: nor is it aymere naked permission, but a voluntary one. 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, but God sent him thither. 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; 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. The sun in the firmament, when it exhales a nauseous scent from a dunghill, is the cause of the exhalation; but it is not the cause of the ill scent of it, that arises from the dunghill 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 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, and gave them an opportunity to form and execute evil against him. 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 passions, to an opposition to it, and it becomes the savour of death

1

unto death unto them, 2 Cor. ii. 16, &c. 7. The concern of prov idence about sinful actions further appears in limiting and set. ting bounds; as to the waves of the sea, saying, hitherto shalt thou come, and no further. Thus Joseph's brethren were 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 him into a pit, and let him starve there; from this also they were diverted by a motion of Judah's.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 overrules 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. 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,-1. That all the providences of God are executed in the wisest manner; though they may not sometimes appear clear to us, O the depth of the riches, &c. Rom. xi: 33. 2. They are all done in the most holy and righteous man. ner, The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works, Psal. cxlv. 17. 3. They are executed with power ir. resistable; 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. 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 righte in time and to all eternity.

ous,

OF THE CONFIRMATION OF THE ELECT, AND THE FALL OF THE NON.ELECT ANGELS.

W

HEREAS there was a distinction made between them, of elect and non-elect, as has been shewn in a preceding chapter.

I shal

l take notice,

I. Of the confirmation of the elect angels. 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, nor a law in the form of a covenant; but it was a law implanted in their nature, the same in substance with the moral law written, 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. The obedience of angels was due to God, and could merit nothing of him; nor was their confirmation owing to the e merits of Christ. But to the free favour and good will of God choosing them to a state of holiness and happines; and to his putting them under the care and charge of Christ, as the Head of all principality and power, 1 Tim. v. 21. In this state of constant obedience and perfect holiness, they are immutably fixed by the will of God, as appears by their enjoy. ment of the presence of God perpetually, they are called the angels of heaven; their constant and perfect obedience to the will of God, is made the pattern of obedience to it in men, Matt. vi. 10. The consummate happiness of the saints at the resurrection, being like to theirs ; which supposes them to have continued in their original state. At the second coming of Christ, he shall descend from heaven with his mighty angels; the wicked will be tormented with fire and brimstone in their presence; and consequently the holy angels will be free from that

torment.

II. The next remarkable event respecting angels, is the sin and fall of the non-elect angels. The heathens seem to have had some notion of the fall of the evil angels; for Plutarch