SER M. man glory in his Might: For all these AdXIII. vantages are frequently defeated, and Time and Chance happeneth to them All. I will not truft in my Bow, faith the Pfalmist, neither shall my Sword fave me ; But it is Thou that faveft us from our Enemies, Pf. xliv. 6. Wife therefore was the Answer of the King of Ifrael, to an insulting meffage from the King of Syria, 1 Kings XX. 11. Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness, boaft himself, as he that putteth it off. The Event fhowed, that his Admonition was reasonable; And the Syrian's Pride, was but the immediate fore-runner of his Deftruction. For the fame purpose, it is recorded of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon, that when his Greatness was grown and reached unto Heaven, and his Dominion to the End of the Earth, Dan. iv. 22. it was faid unto him, ver. 25. They shall drive thee from Men, and thy dwelling shall be with the Beafts of the Field, and they fhall make thee to eat grafs as Oxen, and they shall wet thee with the Dew of Hsaven, ('tis the de scription of a very fevere and mortifying Diftemper of Mind ;) 'till thou know that the moft High ruleth in the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomfoever be will. This is SER M. the plain Defign of Providence, in fuch XIII extraordinary Events; to bring men to an Acknowledgment, of Him on whom they depend; to bring them to a right Knowledge, of God and of themselves : That he may with-draw Man from his Purpose, Job xxxiii. 17. and hide Pride from Man, Well (indeed) may Pride be faid to be hid from Men, when not only the Success of their greatest Advantages, but even their very Life itself, is uncertain every moment. Boaft not thyself of to morrow, Prov. xxvii. 1; for thou knoweft not what a day, what an Hour, may bring forth. For as the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net, and as the Birds that are caught in the Snare; fo are the Sons of Men fnared in an evil time, when it falleth fuddenly upon them; Ecclef. ix. 12. The rich man in the Gofpel, refolved to pull down his barns, and build bigger; and then it was faid unto him, Thou Fool, this night fhall thy Soul be required of Thee. In the Days of Noab; Men eat and drank, they married and were given in marriage, until the day that Noah en tered SER M.tered into the Ark: And then the Flood . XIII. came and deftroyed them All. Likewise in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they fold, they planted, they builded: But the fame day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimftone from Heaven, and deftroyed them All. And fo alfo fhall it finally be in the Great Day, when the Son of Man is revealed; Luke xvii. 30. 2dly, IF nothing happens in the World, without the divine Providence; then good Men have a fufficient Ground of Trust and Reliance upon God, at all times and under All Dangers. Not, that God will always deliver them, or cause them to profper in the prefent World; For he often fees it better, to determine otherwife: But they may rely with affurance, that nothing can befal them but what He judges fit; feeing all the Powers of Nature and of fecond Causes, are nothing but Inftruments in His hand, and under His direction. Trust therefore in the Lord, with all thine heart, in all thy ways acknowledge Him; Prov. iii. 5. He can fave, whenever he pleases; 2 Chr. and 2 Chr. xiv. 9, 11: and xvi. 8, 9.1 Sam. SER M. . xiv. 6; with many, or with Few; caufing all the Accidents, which we call Time and Chance, to fulfil his Word; Pf cxlviii. 8; and execute his Pleasure: So that, if He thinks fit, even five shall be able to chase an hundred, and an bundred shall put ten thousand to flight; Levit. xxvi. 8; and Deut. xxxii. 30. 3dly and Laftly; FROM This Notion of Providence, may be given a plain and direct Anfwer to that Question of the profane Fatalift; Job xxi. 15; What is the Almighty, that we should ferve bim? and what Profit should we have, if we pray unto him? Indeed, if the Course of Nature, and thofe things which we call fecond Caules, were independent upon Providence; there would be good Reafon to ask, what Benefit could there be either in Prayer or Thanksgiving. But if, as has been fhown, Nature is nothing, and second causes are nothing, but mere Inftruments; then it is very plain, that Prayer and Thanksgivings are as much due to God for whatever is brought about by Natural causes, as if he had XIII. done SER M.done the Thing by any Other Inftruments raculous ones; Which, in That cafe, be- a very disheartening dochine if tere, as A leaves the mind thope powerlessn Acannot emalay all effortis 4. own judg. if Mahometans Creed is as this arguing of t. C. "all as til. SERMON Mlease god" Left consequently they exert themselves not to sto even the dreadful conflagration that soften occan amonjet them surely if a man "slip in the race breaker big day" god dogs not cause it his cate the does not the attributes of God to fed w does not inphit the daily evils & Wechat |