Serm. CC. God's figndlJudgmentsupon others. 66i I. That Men are very apt to make this bad ufe ofthe fignal Judgments of God upon others. This our Saviour plainly intimates in the Text, Suppofe ye that thefe G'rtlileans were(inners above all the Galilean:, becaufe they fuffered firth things ? or thofe eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, thinkye that they werefanners above ad that dwelt in yerufalem? By which manner of (peaking, our Saviour fig- Mlles, that Men are very apt thus to fu(tpofe, that thofe upon whom the extraor- dinaryJudgments ofGod fall, are no ordinary {inners, but are guilty of fomewbat above the common rate of Men. Thus we find yob's Friends, when they faw him afifted by the hand of God, in fo ftrange and extraordinary a manner, from hence prefently concluded, he muff needs be a prodigious firmer, and becaufe they could find no evidence of this in his life and actions, therefore they concluded that his wickednefs was ferret, and that it lay there where they could not fee it, in his heart and thoughts : for this they laiddown for a certain conclufion, that being fo remarkable a fufferer, he mutt needs be a great inner and becaufe they could difcern no fuch thing in his outward converfation, they charged him with Hypocrifie, and concluded all his external profeflionofPiety and Religion, to be falfe and counterfeit. So likewifc, when the Man that was born blind was brought to our Saviour,' John9. 2. The Difciples prefently afk'dhint, Mailer,who didfin, thisMan, or his pa- rents, that he Was bornblind?This was that which lay uppermoft in their minds, the very firft thing that fuggefted it felf to their thoughts; Surely this Judgment was inflicted upon this Man, for foine particular and extraordinary fin, which either he, or (becaufe that was not fo likely) his Parents had been guilty of. And we find in common experience, how prone Men are to make uncharitable conftrudions of the Judgments of God upon others, and grievoufly to cenfure thofe whom God hathSmitten ; partly becaufe it looks like a vindication of them- felves from the guilt of the like Crimes, fine they are not involved in the like fufferings; partly to gratifie their pride and curiofrty, in kerning to underffand the reafon and end of God's Judgments, as if they hadbeen of his Council, and faw farther into the Reafons of his Providence than other Men ; like fume prag- matical people in civil 'natters, who rho' they think no more than their neigh- bours, yet will needs feem to underffand thofe hidden and fecret fprings which move publick affairs: and which is yet worfe, many times to gratifie their awn paiions, and foolifh conceits, that God is angry with thofe things and perfons which difpleafe them, and that God's Judgments are expreflìons of his particular diflike of thofe whom they difaffed, and would certainly punifh, if the govern- ment ofthe Worldwere in their hands. Or laffly, Men think it a piece of Piety, and affeftionate Zeal for God, and a taking ofhis part, to cenfure thofe heavily, whomGod afflicts feverely ; like foine foolifh Parafites, who if they fee a great Man beangry with anyone and alike him, they think themfelves bound to fall upon him, and out of an officious flattery will beat him too. But fromwhatever eaufe it proceeds, it is certainly a very bad thing, and our Saviour here in the Text does with great vehemency deny, that any fuch conclufion can certainly be collected from the Judgments of God upon others ; I tell you, Nay. And to exprefs this more vehemently , he repeats it again , I tell you, Nay. Let us therefore, Il..More particularly confider foine of the rafh conclufions, which Men areapt to draw from theJudgments of God upon others, whether upon publick Societies and Communitiesof Men, or upon particular Perfons. r. h is rafh, where there is no divine Revelation in the cafe, to be peremptory as to the particular fin or kind of it, fo as to fay, that for fuch a fin God fent fuch a Judgment upon a particular Perfon, or upon a company of Men, unlefs the Judgment be a natural effect and confequent offuch a fin ; as if a drunken Man die of a furfeit, or a lewd Perron of a difeafe that is the proper effect of fuch a vice, or if the punithment ordained by Law for fuch a crime overtake the offender; in thefe and fuch like cafes, it is neither rafh nor uncharitable, to fay, Sucha mifchief befel a Man for fuch a fault ; becaufe filch an evilis evidently the effe& of fuch a fin : but in other cafes, peremptorily to conclude, is great rafhnefs. 5 Thus
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