Of Pre[umptuous Sins. ;;ave Strength tO commit thofe Sins, that if bu' will'd, will damn t!lem; but if executed, will fink their Souls feven.fo~d deeper mco Condem-?ano.n. Now the Providence of God, by raking_away rhetr P~wer, prevents rhetr Wtckedncfs, and fo mercifully mitigates rhetr Condemnation. Thirdly, Sometimes God keeps Men from the Commijjion of Sin, by raijing up auother Provid~mi p 01 z:e1· againfl that b] which the Sinner u to execute his Sin. Thus when Sa ut would raifetb up have pur.Jon(lthan_ t? Death for breaking a rafhY_ow that himfelfh_ad ma~e,~od ;~~;;'to raifeth up the Spmrs of the People to refcue lum; and they plamly tell hun, op ofi s· • 'Jonathan {ludl no& die, The Jews hatecl.~hrift, and would have kill 'cl him, bm ~~fr •. e m i:har they fc:ctr'd the People; whom his Miracles had ob!ig'd to him; fo char (hey dudl: no t v~nture upori him, till his Hour was come. . . Fourthly, Sometimes Pro'?idence caJl:s in{ome {ea{orlnbleDwerjion, that tt~:~s them ofJ~O::~f::~~ from the Commijfion of that Sm that they tntended. '!I hen they are horly plll·futng the1r{~evenrs ·WickednefS Provirlence fiarts fome other Game from them, and fees them upon Sinbyfome fome other \vork. Thus it far'd with Antiochus, in Dan. I I. 30. He fees himfelffoajimahle againll the Holy CO'Uenant ; bur for all his Rage againft ic, he !hall return into Diwrfio• his own l.:1nd, fays God; for the Ships of Shittim Jball come againft him, and the Ship1 oft he Romans ; and inftead ?f invad~ng ethers.Dominions, .h~ muft remrn eo defend his own; thus God dtverced hm1 from h1sDefignof rutntngthe Je,vs. And fomecimes where God dorh not dry _up the Spring of Corruption, yet he turns the Streams of ir which way he pleaferh : As a skilful Phyjician, when one Pare of the Body is opprefs'd with ill Humours, he ~raws ic eo another Parr that is lefs dangerous; fo God, by his Providence, turns Men from the Commiffiort of a grearer eo a leifer Sin. Thus he over-rul'd Jofoph's Brethren; they confulted ro caft him into a Pie, and there ro lee him ftarve, unlefs he could feed upon his Dream of Wbeat -jheaves; but God by his?rovidence foorders it, chat Merchants pafs by that Way, and t9 them they fell him. There are, I believe, but few Men, who, if they will examine back their I.ives, cannot produce many Infl:ances both of the Devil's Policy, in fitting them with Occafions and Opporrunir ies of Sin, and of God'; frO'Vidence, caufing !Ome emergent Affairs, fome unexpetl:ed Action to incerpofe and hinder them from rhofe Sins that they purporcd. Lafily, God{ometimes ke'/J Men from Sin, b1 removing the ObjeE! againf! 7vhich Providen•e tbey intended to commit it. .. hus, when Herod intended ro put Peter to De arh rhe~evzmJ" next N!orning, that very N.ighr God fends an Angel, and makes his Efcape, ~:v!n;~i:: and fo prevents char Sin; and fO truly in all Ages, God hides away his Chit. Obje£C dren from the Fury of ungodly Men. There are do!.lbtlefs many other various and myfierious Pr(J'Vidences, whereby God hinders the Sins of Men ; bur thefe are the mofi common and moft remarkable \Vays, by fhorm.ing their Lives, by leffeningrheir Power, by raifing up another Power to oppofe them, by diverting another \V ay, and by removing the Objects of their Sins. The nexr Thing is, to fl1ew you how God hinders the CommHiion of Sin in a \V:1y of Grace; bur I fhall leave this rill another Time., and make fome Application of what harh now been fpoken. . And Firfi then, See here the{ad and 7vofi~lEftate of 7vicked Men, 'vhom Grace doth not change, but only Providence rejlrain. A mecr Rdlrainr from Sin, when the Heart continues fully fet and bene upon it, muft needs caufe Torment and Vexation; their own Corruptions urge them forward; bur God's Provirlrncc, chat meets them_, and croffes chem ac C\'ery 'turn; and thac DHitppoincmenr chat rheymeec with, when they fully refolve upon Sin, cau1es .e;rear Vexation of Spirit; as God will to rmem them hereafter for their Sins, fo he torments them here by keeping them from their Sins. AI! the Wicked in the World arc ftrangely hamper'd by God'sProvidence, as fo many Bull; in a Net; chat rho' they flrug~ gle, yet rhey cannot poffib!y break through; and by rheir ftruggling, they o~ly vex and weary the~11felves . G~d doth_, as it were, give up the Hearts of v.:_1cked Men to the Devd, only he t·1es their Hands ; let them intend and ima- ~tne as much Evil and Mifchief as they can, yea, as much as Hell can infpire mro them, yec none of rhefe fhall execute any of it, orherwife than as God permits them. Now, if there be any real Pleafure in Sin, ic is in the ExecuL lll z tion
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