[1.] God gives us the possession of them, for he is the absolute Lord of all things both in heaven and in earth, and whatsoever is possessed by any creature, it is by his indulgence ; for the primitive and original right was in him: Ps. xxiv. 1, ' The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof ; the world, and they that dwell therein.' It is all God's ; we hold it in fee from him, for he is the great landlord who hath leased out all these blessings to the sons of men. The earth is first the Lord's, and then by a grant he hath given it to men to enjoy : Ps. cxv. 16, ' The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's ; but the earth hath he given to the children of men.' He hath given it to men partly by a general grant, and leave given to enjoy and occupy it as the place of our service. But that is not all ; he doth not only give the earth in general to men, but he makes a particular allotment ; the particular designation of every man's portion of what he shall enjoy in the world, it is of God. And so it is said. Acts xvii. 26, ' He hath determined the bounds of their habitation,' God hath not only appointed in general the earth to be the place of our service for a while, but he hath determined how much every one shall possess, what shall fall to his share. These things come not by chance, or by the gift of others, or by our own industry, but by the peculiar designation of God's providence. However they come to us, God must be owned in the possession ; whether they come to us by donation, purchase, labour, or by inheritance, yet they are originally by God, who by these means bestoweth them upon us. If they come by donation, or the gift of others, the hearts of men are in God's hands, and he it was that disposed them to be bountiful to us, that appointed them to be instruments of his providence, to nourish us. He that sends a present, he is the giver, not the servant which brings it. So, though others be employed as instruments, it is the
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Lord which made them able and willinc^ to do us good. If they come to us by inheritance, it is the providence of God that a man is born of rich friends and not of beggars : Prov. xxii. 2, ' The rich and poor meet together ; the Lord is the maker of them all' He that hath cast the world first into hills and valleys, it was he that disposed of men, some into a high, and some into a low condition. If they come to us by our own labour and purchase, still God gave it to us : Deut. viii. 14-18, ' Take heed that thine heart be not lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God ; for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.' He doth not leave second causes to their own power and force, as if he were only an idle spectator in the world. No, he gives the skill and industry to manage affairs, and success upon lawful undertakings ; the faculty and the use, it is all from God. Though a man hath never so many outward advantages, yet, unless the Lord concur with his blessing, all would be to no purpose.
[2.] As God gives us the possession, so he gives us a right and title to them. There is a twofold right to these common blessings ; a provi- dential and a covenant right. Bommium 'politicum fimdatur in pro- videntia ; ' Our civil right to things is founded upon God's providence: ' but Dominium evangelicum fundatur in gratia; 'Our gospel right to things is founded upon God's grace.' (1.) He gives the providential right, and thus all wicked men possess outward things, and the plenty they enjoy is as the fruits and gifts of God's common bounty ; it is their portion, he hath given it to them : Ps. xvii. 14, ' Which have their portion in this life,' whatever falleth to their share in a fair way, and in the course of God's providence ; they are not usurpers merely for possessing, but for abusing, what they have. They have not only a civil right by the laws of men, to prevent the incroachment of others, but a providential right before God ; and are not simply responsible for possession, but for their ill use and administration. (2.) There is a covenant right to these blessings : so only believers have a right to creature comforts by God's special love ; and so, ' That little that a righteous man hath is better than the treasures of many wicked,' Ps. xxxvii. 16; as the mean fare of a poor subject is better than the large allowance of a condemned traitor. Every wicked man is a traitor to God, and hath only an allowance until he be destroyed. But that little which a man hath, seasoned with God's love, is better than all the mighty increase of wicked men. Now, this covenant right we have by Christ, who is ' heir of all things,' Heb. i. 2 ; Christ hath the original right to them, and we by him come to have a covenant right. So it is said, 1 Cor. iii. 23, ' Things present, and things to come, all are yours.' As things to come, the day of judgment is theirs ; so things present are theirs by a new title from him. So it is said, 1 Tim. iv. 5, marriage, meats, and drinks, and all creatures, are made for them that believe. They that believe have only a gospel right to them. To draw it to the present thing, we do not only beg a possession of these things, but a right ; not only a providential, but a covenant right, that we may enjoy them as the gifts of God's fatherly love and compassion to us, that we may take our bread out of Christ's hands, that we may look upon it as swimming to us in his blood, and all our mercies as wrapt