comes with a comfort in its belly; and the sweet is so great as swa!h»ws up the bitter; it is an hundred fold that the saints jrain by all their losses in this life, but how great shall their reward be in heaven ! 2 Cor. iv 17., " Our light affliction, which is hut for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex- ceeding and eternal weight of glory." They shall not only have weight for weight, — measure for measure, — their load of glory for their load of sufferings, — hut tlu'V shall have over-weight, over-measure ; good mea- sure, pressed down, heaped togetlier, and running over, shall then be given unto them : according to their deep i)overty, shall be the height of their riches ; accord- ing as their blackness hath been in their houses of bondage, shall be their briglitness in the land of promise ; " for all thy shame thou shalt have double," — *lie double of thy reproach in renown, the double of thy tears in triumphs ; all thy bottled tears shall be returned in flagons of joy, yea, in rivers of eternal pleasure.
By this time, Christians, you see what glory there is in this good word : " All things shall work together for good to them that love God." And that none may have the face to say all this is but conceit, I shall, in the next place, bring in clear and undeniable evidence, that it is certainly and unquestionably so as hath been said : and therefore know,
5^//, That all things do, and shall cer- tainly work ' for good to them that love God.' This, (besides the testimony of the scripture,) I shall make evident from these three propositions :
1 . There is a Divine providence that go- verns the world.
2. The design of providence is the ac- complishment of the good purpose and pro- mise of God.
3. The providence of God shall never fail of accomplishing its end.
\. There is a Divine providence which governs the world. The Ej)icureans, who deny providence, and leave all on chance and fortune, may as well deny that there is a God, which yet they are ashamed to stand to. Of Epicurus himself it was said, Que7n nihil jmdenduin pudet^ pudet tamen Deum negare.
670
SELECT SERMONS.
It can be no way reconcileable to the in- finite wisdom of God, who made this glori- ous fabric, with the various creatures there- in, either not to determine them to their ends, or else to take no care for their ac- complishing those ends they are determined to. The whole current of scripture is so plain in these matters, that he that runs may read. Let the following scriptures, a- mongst others, be considered : Ps. xcvii. 1., " The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice, let the isles be glad." Ps. clxv. 15, 16., " The eyes of all wait upon thee, and thou givcst them their meat in due season : thou openest thy hand, and satisfiest the desires of every living thing." Ps. xxxvi. 6., " Thou preservest man and beast." Ps. Ixxv. 6, 7., " Promotion cometh, neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south ; but God is the judge, he putteth down one, and setteth up another." Amos iii. 6., " Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?" Ps. xvii. 13, 14., " Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword ; from men which are thy hand." The confessions of those infi- dels, Nebuchadnezzar and Darius speak the same : Dan. iv. 35., " All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth ; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him. What doest thou ?" Dan. vi. 26., " I make a decree, that in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble, and fear, be- fore the God of Daniel ; for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever ; and his king- dom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the end : lie delivereth and rcscueth, and he worketh Kigns and wonders in heaven and earth ; who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions."
But more distinctly, the Lord governs all inanimate and sensitive creatures in their actions ; he orders the stars in their courses. The stars in their coui'ses he made to ficrht against Sisera. He governs the winds and the floods ; he bringeth forth the winds out his treasures, he rides upon the wings of the wind. He maketh the clouds his cha- riots, he sitteth on the floods ; the thunder, and the hail, and the rain, and the frosts.
are all at his command. He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth the ice like mor- sels : he sets bounds to the sea, wliich it shall not pass; the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea, yea, the stones and dust of the earth, are all at his beck.