A Di[courfc upon Providence. grief, which in a\1 Ages of the Worl.d bath been compla.incd of. And though at firrt fight i[ fecms to confute the Provtdence of God, yet 1f we more narrowly confider it, •'ds a !tron?; confirmation of it. For fince Virtue and Goodnefs is fo defpicablc a thing in the World; fincc holy and good Men have been always injured and perfccuted, certainly were there not an all-wife Providence that finds out ways and means of its own to counterpoife thefe Difadvantages, and to prefcrve them amidft the rage and .hatred of their implacable Enemies, long e're thili there had been none of them left, either to have fuffet:ed or complained. Were there no ether Argument to prove that qod governs the \¥o.rld, this would fuffice, even.. That his Servants have been continually oppreffed m n, yet never could be rooted out of it. Thoug'h Men and Devils ha\'e combined together againft them, and God (as they have complained) have feemed to abandon them; yet fuch a fencelefs and forlorn Generation as this, bath been hitherto, and !hall fti\1 be prefervcd to the very end of the World. Doth not this fpeak forth the Power and Care of Almiohty God, thus to keep a Bufh unconfumed in the midft of Fire? To preferve Fuel ~ntouch'd in the very embraces of Flames? Secondly, Gcd doth cbaltife his own People, and profper the \Vickcd, that he might thereby reltifie our judy)llents, and teach us not to account Adverlicy the greatcft Evil, nor yet Profr:e:ity the chiefeft Good. For certainly wer~ they fa, only the Righteous Ihould enJOY the Grandeur, Pomr>, and Glory of this World, and only the 'Nicked and Un~odly become miferable. Conce roing this, St. Attjtin fpeaks excellently in .his 70th EpHUe, '\ Worldly Things, faith he, are in them- " felves but indifferent, and good and evil only as they are improved; but left they " {hould be thought always evil, therefore God fometimes gives them to thofc who u are good, and left they Ihould be thought the hiEheft and the chiefeft good, they " are fometimes given to thofe who are evil. And a like Saying to this hath Smcca, in his Book de PrQ'Uident. cap. 5· There is no fuch way to traduce the Riches, the Honours, the Pleafurcs of this Life, thofe vain Nothings which are fo earneftly defired, and eagerly purfucd by the rnoft, no fuch way to beat down their Price in the efteem of all wife and good Men, as for God to beftow thofe upon the Vilefr, which he fometimes denies to the Beft and Holieft. Thirdly, When God beftows any temporal good thing upon wicked and ungodly Men, he gives it as their Portion; and when he brings any Calamity on his own Children, he infti6:s it for their tryal. Is it not ordinary that a Servan t receives more for Wages, than a Son may have for the prcfcnt at his own command ? God is 'the Father, and bountiful Maintainer of the whole Family both in Heaven ar1d Earth; a Father to the Faithful, a Lord and Mafter over all. He may give his Slaves large Wages, when his own Children poffibly have not fo much in }1and. Is he therefore hard or unjuft? No: The Inheritance is theirs, and that is kept in reverfion for them. What wicked Men po[li;:fs of this \Vorld, is all that ever they can hope for. Why Jhould we e,rudge them filled Bags, or .fwelling Titles? 'Tis their whole Portion. They now receive their good Things. Haft thou Food and Clolthing? That is Childrens Fare: Envy not ungodly Men, who fbunt it in the Gallantry of the World. They have more than you; but 'tis all they are like to have. The Pfahnift gives us an account of their Eftate, Pfal. I?· q. They are the Mm of thi.s World, who have their Portion m thU Life, whofe BeUit.s God filletb with hi1 hid Treafure: Whereas thou, 0 Chriftian, who poJfeffeft nothing, art Heir appar·ent of He3ven, Co-heir with Jefus Chrift, who is the Heir of all things, and haft an infinite Mafs of Riches laid up for thee: So great and infimte that all the Stars of He.aven are·too few to account it by. You have no reafon to complain of being kept fuort; for all that God bath is yours: WhetherProfpcrity or Adverfity, Life or Death, all is yours. What God gives is for your comfort, what he denies or takes away is for your tryal; it is for the increafe of thofe Graces which arc far more graciom than Any Temporal Enjoyment, If by feeing wicked and ungodly Men flow in Wealth and Ea{e, when thou art forced to ftruggle againft the lnconveniencieJ and Difficulties of a poor Eftate, thou haft learnt an Holy Contempt and Difdain of the World. believe it God bath hereingi1.•en the_e more, than if he had given thee the World it foif. Fourthly, God doth Rlany times even in the World expound the Myftery of his ProvidCllle, by the fatal and dreadful overthrow of thofe wicked Men whom he for a while fuffered to profper. The triumph of the wicked, faith 1ob, 20. ~- i5 Jhorr. At longeft it is but ibort, becaufe meafured out by a fuort Life. Now is t heir TriT t t t t 2 nmi)h,
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