they run into the sea again. All we have is from God; let us honour our Creator, and live to him that made us.

create the world? let us wisely observe those works of creation. God hath given us not only the book of the scriptures to read in, but the book of the creation; look up to the 3. Did God make our bodies out of the dust, heavens, they show much of God's glory, and that dust out of nothing? Let this keep the sun gilds the world with its bright beams, down pride. When God would humble Adam -behold the stars, their regular motion in he useth this expression, “Out of it (the their orbs, their magnitude, their light, their dust) was thou taken," Gen. iii. 19. Why influence. We may see God's glory blazing art thou proud, O dust and ashes? Thou art in the sun, twinkling in the stars. Look into made but of course metal. Cum sis humi the sea, and see the wonders of God in the limus, cur non humilimus? BERN. David deep, Ps. cvii. 24. Look into the air, there saith, "I was curiously wrought," Ps. cxxxix. the birds make melody, and sing forth the 15. Thy being curiously wrought, may make praises of their Creator. Look into the earth, thee thankful; but being made of the dust, there we may wonder at the nature of mine-may keep thee humble. If thou hast beauty, rals, the power of the loadstone,-the vir- it is but well-coloured earth. Thy body is tue of herbs; see the earth decked as a bride but air and dust mingled together, and this with flowers; all these are the glorious ef- dust will drop into the dust. When the Lord fects of God's power. God hath wrought had said of the Judges, they were gods, Ps. the creation as with curious needle-work, lxxxii. 6. Lest they should grow proud, he that we may observe his wisdom and good- tells them, they were dying gods, v. 7, "Ye ness, and give him the praise due to him, Ps. shall die like men." civ. 24, "O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all." 2. Did God create all things? Let us obey our Maker. We are his jure creationis; we owe ourselves to him; if another gives us our maintenance we think ourselves bound to serve him, much more should we serve and obey God who gives us our life, Acts xvii. 28, "In him we live and move." God hath made every thing for man's service,-the corn for nourishment, the beasts for usefulness,-the birds for music, that man should be for God's service. The rivers come from the sea, and

4. Did God create our souls after his image, but we lost it? let us never rest till we are restored to God's image again. We have now got the devil's image in pride, malice, envy; let us get God's image restored, which consists in knowledge and righteousness, Col. iii. 10. Grace is our best beauty, it makes us like God and angels; as the sun is to the world, so is holiness to the soul. Let us go to God to repair his image in us. Lord! thou hast once made me, make me anew; sin hath defaced thy image in me, O draw it again by the pencil of the Holy Ghost!

OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

QUEST. XI. WHAT are God's works of his works :" and therefore this scripture Providence?

Ans. God's works of Providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

The work of God's providence, John v. 17, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The great God hath rested from the works of creation, he doth not create any new species of things, Gen. ii. 2, "He rested from all

must needs be meant of God's works of providence, "My Father worketh, and I work.” Ps. ciii. 19, "His kingdom ruleth over all;" i. e. His providential kingdom. Now, for the clearing of this point, I shall,

1. Show you that there is a providence. 2. What that providence is. 3. Lay down some maxims or propositions concerning the providence of God.

1st. That there is a providence: there is

and pismires; providence feeds the young raven, when the dam forsakes it, and will give it no food, Ps. cxlvii. 9. Providence reaches to the very hairs of our head, Matt. x. 30, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered ;" and surely if providence reaches to our hairs then much more to our souls. And thus you have seen that God's providence reaches to all places, to all persons, to all occurrences and affairs. Now there are two objections against this doctrine.

OBJ. 1. But some say, There are many things done in the world which are eccentrical, they are very disorderly and irregular; and surely God's providence doth not these things.

order; aye, but God, in his providence, sees good sometimes that the worst of men should be exalted; they may do some work to God, though against their will, Isa. x. 7. God will be in no man's debt. God makes use of the wicked sometimes to protect and shield his church: he makes use of them to refine and purify his people, Hab. i. 12, “Thou hast established them for correction." As if the prophet had said, 'Thou hast ordained the wicked to correct thy children.' And indeed, as Austin saith well, "We are beholden to wicked men, who against their wills do us good." As the corn is beholden to the flail to thrash off its husks, or as the iron is beholden to the file to brighten it, so the godly are beholden to the wicked, though it be against their will, to brighten and refine their graces. Now, then, if the wicked do God's own work, though against their will, God will not let them be losers by it, he will raise them in the world, exalt them, and wring out the

ANS. Yes, these things that seem to us irregular, God makes use of to his own glory. For instance: suppose you were in a smith's shop, and there should see several sorts of tools, some crooked, some bowed, others hooked, would you condemn all these things for nought, because they do not look hand-waters of a full cup to them. Thus you see some? the smith makes use of them all for these providences are wise and regular, which the doing of his work. Thus it is with the to us seem strange and crooked. providences of God, they seem to us to be very crooked and strange, yet they all carry on God's work. I shall clear this to you in two particular cases:

OBJ. 2. But, may some say, if God hath a hand in ordering all things that fall out, why then he hath a hand in the sins of men.

I answer, No, by no means, he hath no hand in any man's sins. God cannot go contrary to his own nature, he cannot do any unholy action, no more than the sun can be said to be darkened. Here you must take heed of two things; as you must take heed of making God ignorant of men's sins, so you must take heed of making God to have a hand in men's sins. Is it a thing likely, that God is the author of sin, that is an avenger of it? Is it a likely thing that God should make a law against sin, and then have a hand in breaking his own law? Is that likely? And there

1st. God's people are low; why, this seems to be very much out of order, that these that are best should be in the lowest condition; but there is much wisdom to be seen in this providence, as appears thus: 1. Perhaps the hearts of the godly were lifted up with riches, or with success: now God comes with an humbling providence to afflict them and fleece them; better is the loss that makes them humble, than the success that makes them proud. Again, 2. If the godly were not sometimes afflicted, and suffered an eclipse in their outward comforts, how could their graces before to answer the objection, God in his proseen, their faith and patience? If it were always sunshine, we should see no stars; if we should have always prosperity, it would be hard to see the actings of men's faith. Thus you see God's providences are wise and regular, though to us they seem very strange and crooked.

2dly. Here's another case, the wicked flourish; this seems to be very much out of

vidence doth permit men's sins: Acts xiv. 16, "He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways." God permitted their sin, and he would never permit their sin if he could not bring good out of it; as the apothecary can make a treacle of poison. Had not sin been at all permitted, God's justice in punishing sin, and his mercy in pardoning sin, had never been so well known. The Lord is

pleased to permit it, but he hath no hand is successful; here is no rule for our actions in sin. to be directed by.

OBJ. But is it not said, that God hardened Pharaoh's heart? Here's more than God's bare permitting of sin.

ANS. God doth not infuse evil into men, only he withdraws the influence of his graces, and then the heart hardens of itself; even as the light being withdrawn, darkness presently follows in the air; but it were absurd to say, that therefore the light darkens the air; and therefore you will observe, that Pharaoh is said to harden his own heart, Exod. viii. 15. God is the cause of no man's sin; it is true God hath a hand in the action where sin is, but no hand in the sin of the action. A man may play upon a jarring instrument, but the jarring is from itself: so it is here, the actions of men, so far as they are natural, are from God; but so far as they are sinful, they are from men themselves, and God has no hand at all in them. And so much for the first position, that God's providence reaches to all places, to all persons, and to all occur

rences.

2. A second position is this: there are providences that are casual and accidental to us that are pre-determined by the Lord: the falling of a tile upon one's head, the breaking out of a fire, to us is casual, but it is ordered by a providence of God. You have a clear instance of this, 1 Kings xxii. 34, “ A certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness." This accident was casual as to the man that drew the bow; but it was divinely ordered by the providence of God; God's providence directed the arrow to hit the mark. Things that seem to fall out casual, and by chance, they are the issues of God's decrees, and the interpretation of his will.

3. God's providence is greatly to be observed, but we are not to make it the rule of our actions, Ps. cvii. 43, "Whoso is wise will observe these things." It is good to observe providence, but we must not make it our rule to walk by; providence is a Christian's diurnal, but not his Bible. Sometimes a bad cause prevails and gets ground; it is not to be liked because it doth prevail; we must not think the better of what is sinful, because it

4. Divine providence is irresistible, there is no standing in the way of God's providence to hinder it; when God's time was come for Joseph's release, the prison could hold him no longer, "The king sent and loosed him," Ps. cv. 20. When God would indulge the Jews with liberty in their religion, Cyrus, by a providence, puts forth a proclamation to encourage the Jews to go and build their temple at Jerusalem, and worship God, Ezra i. 2, 3. If God will shield and protect Jeremiah's person in captivity, the very king of Babylon shall nurse up the prophet, give charge concerning him that he want nothing, Jer. xxxix. 11, 12.

5. God is to be trusted when his provi dences seem to run contrary to his promises. God promised David to give him the crown, to make him king, but providence runs contrary to his promise. David was pursued by Saul, was in danger of his life, but all this while it was David's duty to trust God. Pray observe, the Lord doth oftentimes by cross providences bring to pass his promise. God promised Paul the lives of all that were with him in the ship; but now the providence of God seems to run quite contrary to his promise, the winds blew,-the ship splits and breaks in pieces; and thus God fulfilled his promise, upon the broken pieces of the ship, they all came safe to shore. Trust God when providences seem to run quite contrary to promises.

6. The providences of God are chequerwork; they are intermingled; in the life to come, there shall be no more mixture,-in hell there is nothing but bitter,-in heaven there is nothing but sweet-but in this life the providences of God are mixed, there is something of the sweet in them, and something of the bitter. Providences are just like Israel's pillar of cloud that conducted them in their march; it was dark on one side, and light on the other; so the providences of God are a dark part and a light part. In the ark there was laid up the rod and manna, so are God's providences to his children; there is something of the rod, and something of the manna; so that we may say with David, "I