in Contriving Man'; Redemption. . we are in the f:1ddel1 Clrcmnfhmces, our Saviour commands uS to PoJflfl _o11r ?OU!s i,z_ Pa- ~ timcc, Luk. 12. 19. to preferve a catm Conrtitution of Spiri t, whic~ no _Storms. from~· without can difcompofe. For this end he atfures us that nothing cbmes to pafs Wtthout the Knowledge and Efficiency, or at leaf\, Permiffion of God: Th:it _the Hairs of om· Head ttre 11umbred, dltd 1101 one [d!h to the Earlh witho11t hi.t Licwce. Now the ~enous belief of a Wife, Jurt, and Powerful Providence, that governs all Things, hatli a migHty efficacy to maintain a conrtant tranquility and equal temper in the Sotil amidfl the confnGonsof the World. God work.! aU things accordiltg to the C01mjil of his ow,HViU : Epbe[. I. 1 1. and if we could difcover rhe immediate Rea(ons of every Providence, we cannot have more fatisfal:tion than· from this General Principle, that is appl icable to ~ll as Light to every Colour, That what God doth is always bert. this refolves all the Doubts of the mort intangled Minds, and reClines our falfe Jtidgments. from hence a Believer bath as true content in complying with God's Will , as if God had complied with his, and is reconciled to every Condition. BeGdes, the Gofpel affures ns, That aU things work.together for thegood ofthoji tha( love God, R.om. 8. 28. For theic Spiritual Good at prefent, by weakening their Corruptions; for Affiitlion is a kind of manage, by which the (enfual part is exercifed and made pliable to the motions of the Spirit: And by increaGng their Graces, the unvaluable Treafures of Heaven. If the deareft Objetls of our AffeCts, the mofr worthy of our Love and Grief, are taken away, 'cis for thisrea·- fon, that God may have our Love himfelf in its moft intenfe and inflamed degree. And · Affiitlions are in order to their Everlafting Good. Now the certain expetlation of a bltlled itfue out of all Troubles, is to the Heart of a Chriftian as the putting a Rudder to a Ship, which without it is expofed to the fury of the Winds and in continual dangers, but by its guidance makes ufe of every Wind to convey it to its Port. Hope produces not only Acquie(cence, (Rom. 12. 12.) but Joy in the !barpeft Tribulations. For every true Chrirtian being ordained to a Glorious and Supernatural Bletfedne(s hereafter; all things that befall them here below as Means, are regula_ted and transformed into the nature of the End to which they carry them. Accordingly the Aport le atfures us, 2 Cor. 4· 17. That011r lightAJ]lil1iolu which are but fora mommt, wor/zfor 1u a far more eAceeding and eternal weight ofGlory. To confider this Life as the patfage to another that is as durable as Eternity, and as bletfed as the Enjoyment of God can make it; that the prefent Miferies have a final refpetl to future Happinefs, will change our Opinion about them; and render them not only tolerable, but fo far amiable as they are inrtrumental and preparatory for it. If the Bloody, as well as the Milky way, leads to God's Throne, a Chriftian willingly walks in it. In !bort, A lively Hope accompanies a Chriftian to his !aft expiring Breath, till it is confummated in Celeftial fruition. So that Death it felf, the univerfal Terror of Mankind, is made defirable as an entrance into Immortality, and the firrt day of our Triumph. Thus I have confidered fome particular Precepts ot Chrift, which are of greatdl: ufe for the government of our Hearts and Lives; and the Reafons upon which they are grounded to make them effetlual. Now to difcover more fully the compleatnefs of the Evangelical Rule, I will confider it with refpetl to the Law of Mojis, and the Philofophy of the Heathens. CHAP.
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