Serm. CC. God's lignai Judgments upon others. 667 into the depth of his judgments : but there is one ufe which I am fore it concerns me nearly tomake of it, to look into my felf, to fearch and try my ways, tv, repent ofmyfins and toforfake them, left whilft I am gazing upon others, I fall into the like or greater Calamities. It may be thofe perfons and places, whichhave been fo . feverelyvrfited with theJudgments of God, were no more obnoxious to him, than I am ; and when this hath been done to others, in all appearance not guiltyof grea- ter fins than I am, what maynot I fear who am in the farne condemnation ? It may be theywere not fo great (inners asI am, this should awaken Inc fo much themore to a confideration of my own danger : nay, pofhbly many of thofe whom the rod, of Godhath fmitten, were his own dear Children. This fhould ftartle Men molt of all : for ifthis have been done to the green Tree; whatJba11 be done to the dry ? If this have been the lot of thofe whom God loves ; what (hall be the portion of thofewhom he hates? If judgment begins at the Houfe ofGod; where (hall the ungodly and thefanner appear? TheJudgments of God which are.executed`upon particular Places and Perfons, are defigned by him to be fo many admonitions to the inhabitants of the world to, learn Righteoufnefs, That fearful ruinwhich befel Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Cities about them, was not only intended for the Punilhment of the Inhabitants of thofe wicked Cities; but for a ftanding Example and a laftingTerrour to all Ages of the World. So Sr. Jude tells us, ver. 7. thar Sodom and Gomorrah, and the. Cities about them, arefet forth for an example, fuffering the vengeance of eternal. fire. 'Tis the advice of the Prophet Micah, 6, y, Hearye the rod, and him that bath appointed it. Everyrod of God, every atiliftionbath a voice, which Both notonly fpeak to the fufferers, but to the fpeftators alfo; not only to thofe who are fink- ten, but to thofe who Rand by and look on: and if, when God fendsJudgments upon others, we do not take warning and example by them 3 if in fteàd of reflé- &ing upon our felves, and trying our own ways, we fall a cenfuring ofothers; if we will pervert the meaningof God's Providences, and will not underftand the de- fign and intention of them; then we leave God no other way .to awaken us, and to bring us to a confideration of our evil ways, but by pouring down his wrath upon our heads, that fohe may convince us to be fanners by the fame Argument, from whence we have concluded others to be fo: or ifwe continue impenitent, he may ruine us as incorrigible. And thus 1 have done with the fecond Obfervation I propounded, viz. The right ufe we ought to make of theJudgments of God upon others, which is, to retied upon our felves, and to repent of our evil ways, left the like or greater Judgments overtake us. I fhall only draw an Inference or two, fromwhat I have already difcourfed upon thefe two heads. I. Let us adore theJudgments of God, and inftead of fearching into the parti- cular reafons and ends ofthem, let us fay with St. Paul, Rom. I I. 33. How unfearch- able are his judgments, and his ways pad finding out ! If he whowas taken up into the third Heaven, and had fuch multitudes of Revelations , and was admitted fo much nearer to the ferrets of God than we are, durit not fearch into them, how much lefs fhould we, we only converfe here below, Let us not then trouble our felveswith nice enquiries into thefe things ; nor one another withmutual Cenfures and uncharitable refle&ions upon one another: but let us all agree in this, to acknowledge the Righteoufnefs of God in all Provi- dences to us and others, to humble our felves under his mighty hand, a'o-vciCeOa{ ste oopcCairor"fa , to kifs al 'events ofthe divineProvidence, and, to believe, that ifwe be good, they fhall turn to our good. Let us, every one of us, complywith the open andvifible ends ofGod's Judgments upon our felves and others, which, is tofearch and try our ways, and to return unto the Lord; and for the reft, let us believe that it is belt for us, that things are as they are that his 7u4ments are unfearchablé, and bis wayspallfinding out. 2. Let us not be rash in our Cenfures and Determinations concerningthe Judg- ments ofGod upon others; let us not wade beyond our depth into the ferrets of God : for. Who bath known the mind ofthe Lord , or who bath been his Counfellor ? Q.ggq 2 Let
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