' ----------~----------------~----------------------- upon the Epi{Uc of JAM B s. VBitS.I). lofs, that God may be acknowledged a8 Lord (jf fuccefs, and the firft MtJver in all means and caufes, wtthout whom they have no terce and efficacy. 2. Confider the frailty .:~nd uncertainty ofyour own lives; our being is as uncertain as the eventsof Providence. : If We lzve, and Gnd I>.'ill, are thf exceptionsof the Text, and do imply that there mufl: be a fenfible impreffion ofour own frailty, as well as of thefoveraignty of Providence, that the heart may the better !ub– mit to God.. 'Tis faid, Pfa1.146.4- Hu breath goe.th forth, he re– turneth to hi& earth, in that very day hi& thoughts perijb. ·. Frail men·are full of thought-s and proiecl's,this they will do,and that they ·will do,go to fuch aCity,promote their int@refrs by fuch an alliance, gain fo much by fuch a purchafe, and then they willraife up fome fiattly fabr.ick which fuall continue their name and memory to fuc– ceeding generations, and all this becaafe they do not mind the cart h which they carry about them,and how foon the hand of Providence is able to crumble it into dufl:. Certainly man will never be Wife, till he is able to mtmber hu days, and cloth fufficiemly poflefs his Soul of the uncertainty of his abode in the world, Pfa!. 5.20. 1 2. T¥e (ball live, t~tnd do this, ur that.] Mark; 'tis not enough that Ol{trvat•. God fufferus to live, but he mufi alto by the fame Will fuffer us to do,or ai..l. The Point is, That Gods Will concurreth not ontj to our l1ves,but aflions. We may live,and yet not be able to do any thing for the promotion of our defigns :.For ifGod fulpend his concurrence, the creatures cannot act, at leafl: not- with any towardlin~ls and fuccefs; which quite croffeth the Doctrine of the Heathen Philofophers. SenecPe faid, ~od vivam,u,deorum munm eH; quod be.11e viv11mm, noftrum; That \\>e live, 'tis by the benefit of the godJ>;that \\'e live Well,'tis of our[elves. So Tul!y ;. Judicium hoc omnium mortalium e{t,&c. This is the {udgment ofall mm_, that Prosperity is to be.(ought ofGod, but Wifdom to begotten by o#r [elves. But in the Scriptures we are taught orherw1fe; not only !o [e:ekfucce(r of God, but direflion; he giveth abilitin ro perform; and ablejfing when the action is finilbed: Without the effic,acious, as well as permiffive Will of God, we can do nothiFJg ;_he mufl:giv.e us life, and .all . things·neceffary to atlion. We mufi not only look up to him as the cAuthor r;fthefuccefs, but the DireElor ofthe aCtion: 'Tis by his conduft and blejfi>tg that all things come to p:tfs; Our very counfels and - ~ills are fubjeCl to the divine Go– v.ernmenh_and_he cao a turn them tU it pleafeth him ,; and the.refore aProv. :~..ur. - ~ ~ t l . yvt;,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=