hast ordained the wicked to correct thy children.' And indeed, as Austin saith well, " We are beholden to wicked men, who against their wills do us good." As the corn is beholden to the flail to thrash off" its husks, or as the iron is beholden to the file to brighten it, so the godly are be- holden to the wicked, though it be against their Avill, to brighten and refine their graces. Now, then, if the wicked do God's own work, though against their will, God will not let them be losers by it, he will raise them in the world, exalt them, and wring out the waters of a full cup to them. Thus you see these providences are wise and regular, which to us seem strange and crooked.
Od.i. 2. But, may some say, if God hath a hand in ordering all things that fall aid, why then he hath a hand in the si7is of men.
1 answer. No, by no means, he hath no hand in any man's sin. God cannot go contrary to his own nature, he cannot do any nnlutly action, no more than the sun can be said to be darkened. Here you must take heed of two things; as you must take heed of making God ignorant of men's sins, so you must take heed of making God to have a hand in men's sins. Is it a tiling likely, that God is the author of sin, that is an avenger of it? Is it a likely thing that (iod should make a law against sin, and then have a hand in breaking his own law ? Is that likely? And therefore to answer the objection, God in his providence doth permit men's sins: Acts xiv. 16., " He suffered all nations to walk in their own ways." God permitted their sin, and he would never permit their sin if he could not bring good out of it ; a.s the apothecary can make a treacle of poison. Had not sin been at all permitted, God's justice in punishing sin, and his mercy in pardoning sin, had never been so well known. The
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Lord is pleased to permit it, but he hath no hand in sin.
Obj. But is it not said, that God harden- ed Pharaoh's heart ? Here^s more than God's bare permitting of sin.
Ans. God doth not infuse evil into men, only he withdraws the influence of his g^races, and then the heart hardens of itself; even as the light being- withdrawn, dark- ness presently follows in the air; but it were absurd to say, that therefore the light darkens the air ; and therefore you will ob- serve, that Pharaoh is said to harden his own heart, Exod. viii. 15. God is the cause of no man's sin ; it is true God hath a hand in the action where sin is, but no Iiand in the sin of the action. A man may play upon a jarring instrument, but the jarring is from itself: so it is here, the ac- tions of men, so far as they are natural, are from God ; but so far as they are sinful, they are from men themselves, and God has no hand at all in them. And so much for the first position, that God's providence reaches to all places, to all persons, and to all occurrences.
2. A second position is this : there are providences that are casual and accidental to us that are pre-determined by tlie Lord : the falling of a tile upon one's liead, the breaking out of a fire, to us is casual, but it is orderedby a providence of God. You have a clear instance of this, 1 Kings xxii. 34., " A certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between tlie joints of the harness." This accident was casual as to the man that drew the bow ; but it was divinely ordered by the provi- dence of God ; God's providence directed the arrow to hit the mark. Things that seem to fall out casual, and by chance, they are the issues of God's decrees, and the in- terpretation of his will.
3. God's providence is greatly to be ob- served, but we are not to m;ike it the rule of our actions, Ps. cvii. 43., " Whoso is wise will observe these things." It is good to observe providence, but we must not make it our rule to walk by; providence is a Cliristian's diurnal, but not liis IJible. Sometimes a bad cause prevails and gets ground; it is not to be liked because it doth prevail; we must not think the bet-
ter of what is sinful, because it is success- ful ; here is no rule for our actions to be directed by.
4. Divine providence is irresistible, there is no standing in the way of God's pro^-i- dence to hinder it; when God's time was come for Joseph's release, the prison could hold him no longer, " The king sent and loosed him," Ps. cv. 20. When God would indulge the Jews with liberty in their reli- gion, Cyrus, by a providence, puts forth a proclamation to encourage the Jews to go and build their temple at Jerusalem, and worship God, Ezra i. 2, 3. If God will shield and protect Jeremiah's person in cap- tivity, the very king of Babylon shall nurse up the prophet, give charge concerning him thathe want nothing, Jer. xxxix. 1 1, 12.