Is it not a considerable honour to be the friends of our SERM. Lord? So is every poor soul, which hath the conscience to LXX. serve him faithfully; for Ye are my friends, if ye do what- John xv. soever I command All are citizens, free denizens of the heavenly common- Phil. iii. 20. wealth; συμπολῖται τῶν ἁγίων you. 14. Heb. xiii. 20. xii. 22. Deut. x. 17. (Col. iii. 6. All men are liable to the same judgment, at the same Eph. ii. 19. tribunal, before that one impartial, inflexible Judge, who cannot be corrupted with gifts, or dazzled with shows, or 25.) moved by any sinister regards. All persons must stand before that bar upon equal ground; without any advantage; according to that representation of St. John; I saw the dead, small and great, Apoc. xx. stand before God, and the books were opened—and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. 12. 17. The greatest monarchs, the mightiest potentates, the most redoubtable warriors, and successful conquerors, (the men, who made the earth to tremble, that did shake king- Is. xiv. 16, doms,) that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed' the cities thereof; who affected to ascend into heaven, and v. 13, 14. to exalt his throne above the stars of God, to ascend above the heights of the clouds, and to be like the Most High. There shall they stand bare and divested of all their phantastry; their splendid pomp, their numerous retinue, their guards, their parasites. No consideration there will be had of their windy titles, of their gay attire, and glittering pomp. No respect will be had to the dread of their name, to the fame of their prowess; to that spurious glory, for which they unsettled mankind, and overturned the world; their actions will be strictly scanned according to the rules of God's law and common equity. They will be put to answer for all the violences and outrages, for all the spoils and rapines, for all the blood and slaughters, for all the ruins, devastations, and desolations, their cruel ambition hath caused; for all the sins they have committed, and all the mischiefs they have done. (v. 11.) SERM. LXX. Luke xvi. 19, 20. They who now have so many flatterers and adorers, will not then find one advocate to plead for them. Thus it may appear that God is impartial. But there are divers obvious exceptions against this doctrine. As, Obj. 1. Is it not apparent that the gifts of God are distributed with great inequality? Doth not one swim in wealth and plenty, while another coucheth under the burden of extreme want and penury? Are not some perched aloft in high dignity, while others crawl upon the ground, and grovel in despicable meanness ? Are not some clothed with purple and fine linen, and fare deliciously every day; while others scarce finds rags to cover them, and lie at the door begging for relief? Do not some thrive and prosper in their affairs, while others are disappointed and crossed in their undertakings? Was it not truly observed of some persons, (and those Psal. xvii. least deserving good fortune,) They are inclosed in their Job xxi. 7. own fat-Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more 10. lxxiii. 7. -xii. 6. Jer. xii. 1. Hab. i. 16. than heart could wish? And whence doth this difference come, but from God's 1 Cor. iv. 7. hand? Who, as the Apostle asketh, maketh thee to differ from another, but God, the disposer of all things? Rom. viii. 18. To this exception I answer: 1. That temporal things are so inconsiderable, that they scarce deserve to come into the balance, or to be computed; Λογίζομαι yari for they have but the same proportion to spiritual things, 2Cor. iv.17. as time hath to eternity; or a finite to an infinite; which is none at all. αξία What partiality therefore is there, if God in mercy and patience bestow on bad men a farthing in the temporal conLuke vi. 24. solations of this life, (if the universal Father give a small Ps. xvii. 14. portion in this life to untoward children,) while he reserveth infinite millions for his obedient children? xvi. 25. 2. The goods of fortune commonly are dispensed not by a special hand of God, but according to the general course of providence: and what partiality is he guilty of who scattereth money into a crowd of poor people; al though in scrambling some get more than other; and often SERM. the worst (being most bold and fierce) do get most? LXX. 1, 2. 3. Indeed the receiving those gifts is no sign of God's special regard; as the Preacher well observed; No man Eccles. ix. knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them. All things come alike to all; there is one event to the righte ous and to the wicked. 4. God, as St. Austin saith, purposely doth sparingly deal these things to good men, and freely bestoweth them on bad men, to shew how little we ought to value them; how much inferior they are to spiritual goods. For surely he would give the best things to his friends, and the worst to his enemies. 5. Even temporal gifts are dispensed with a very even hand; for if, barring injudicious fancy and vulgar opinion, we rightly prize things, we compare the conveniences and inconveniences of each state, it will be hard to judge which hath the advantage, Wealth hath more advantages for pleasure; but it hath also more cares, more fears, more crosses, more dangers, more troubles, more temptations. It hath more plenty; but withal it hath less safety, less ease, less liberty, less quiet, less real enjoyment. Set the distraction of the rich man's mind against the toil of the poorest man's body; the nauseous surfeits of one against the griping hunger of the other. That which really doth constitute a state happy, content, may be common to both, or wanting to either, as the person is disposed. 6. The goods of fortune are not purely gifts, but talents deposited in trust for God's service, for which a proportionable return is expected; so that he that hath less of them, hath a less burden to bear, and an easier account to render. 7. Many gifts are not dispensed with personal regard, but for public good; and therefore all have an interest in them. The wealth, the power, the reputation, the prosperity of a prince, of a nobleman, of a gentleman, are not his, SERM. but his neighbour's; for governing, for protecting, for enLXX. couraging, for assisting whom, they are conferred: the world not being able to subsist in order and peace without subordinate ranks, and without answerable means to maintain them. Luke i. 79. Obj. 2. It is apparent, that God dispenseth his grace, Eph. iv.18, the light of knowledge, and means of salvation, very unii. 1. equally; some nations living in the clear sunshine of the 1 Pet. iv. 3. Gospel, while others sit in darkness and the shadow of death; whole nations being detained in barbarous and brutish ig Tit. iii. 3. norance. To answer this exception fully would require much discourse; it being a dark and difficult point: but briefly we may say, 1. That God dispenseth measures of grace according to a just, yet inscrutable wisdom, knowing what use will be made thereof, and what fruit men will bear. It may therefore be a favour not to dispense light to them, who are not prepared to embrace and improve it well. grace. 2. No man can tell what God doth in preparation, and what obstructions are made by men to his 3. As lower means of grace are conferred, so proportionably less returns are expected. 4. How hard soever it may be to descry the reason of God's proceedings in this case, yet assuredly it is just; and our ignorance of it should not prejudice the belief of those general truths, which are so plainly declared, concerning the universal benignity and impartial equity of God. Obj. 3. Is it not in holy Scripture sometimes asserted, that God doth act arbitrariously and absolutely: dispensing his bounty and mercy without regard to any quality in men, or deed committed by them, either in whole, or in Rom. ix. proportion-God saith, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and, Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? 15. Matt. xx. 15. Rom. ix. 11, 12, 13. Is not a plain instance of this dealing alleged by St. Paul concerning Jacob and Esau, that before the children were born, or had done either good or evil, God said, The elder shall serve the younger; and in regard thereto, in the SERM. Prophet, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated? LXX. We answer briefly, that Such expressions do import, not that God acteth absolutely in the thing itself, but quoad nos: not that he acteth without reason, but upon reasons (transcending our capacity, or our means to know it) incomprehensible or un- Rom. xi. discernible to us; not that he can give no account, but is 33. not obliged to render any to us; that the methods of his providence commonly are inscrutable; that his proceedings are not subject to our examination and censure; that his acting doth sufficiently authorise and justify itself; that it is high presumption and arrogance for us to scan, sift, or Rom. ix. contest, or cavil at the equity or wisdom of God's acting. That God doth not act according to necessity, but is free in dispensing his mercy, and applying it to any person, so that they have nothing to challenge upon account of their own deserts or works; but must refer all to his mere bounty. However, there can be nothing in these mysteries of predestination and providence, which really doth subvert an assertion so often clearly expressed, and so well grounded in reason, or the consideration of God's nature, attributes, ordinary way of acting, &c. Whatever expressions are repugnant thereto in sound, whatever instances (depending on occult causes) in appearance do cross it; it yet must stand, that God is impartially merciful, benign, just, &c. 20. 1.5.) Jer. i. 5. Obj. 4. Had not Jeremy, St. John Baptist, St. Paul, (Isa. xlix. absolute favours and graces conferred on them, who were sanctified, and separated from the womb to be prophets Luke i. 15. and apostles? Gal. i. 15. Luke i. 16. Resp. These favours were in design not so much parti- Jer. i. 10. cular and personal, as general and public; those persons Acts ix. 15. being raised up by God upon occasions as needful instru-xxvi. 16. ments (elect vessels) of his providence, to instruct men, and to reduce them to God; so that God, in raising up such extraordinary persons, did express his common goodness to mankind. |