OF THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD. S3
the good hand of his providence he doth not govern and sus- tain.
Now, this general extent of his common providence to all doth no way hinder but that he may exercise certain special acts thereof to- wards some in particular, even by how much nearer than other things they approach unto him and are more assimilated unto his goodness. I mean his church here on earth, and those whereof it doth consist; "for what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them?" Deut. iv. 7. In the government hereof he most eminently showeth his glory, and exerciseth his power. Join here his works with his word, what he hath done with what he hath promised to do for the conservation of his church and people, and you will find admirable issues of a more sjDecial providence. Against this he promiseth " the gates of hell shall not prevail," Matt. xvi. 18; — ■ amidst of these he hath promised to remain, chap, xxviii. 20; sup- plying them with an addition of all things necessary. Matt. vi. 33 ; desiring that " all their care might be cast upon him, who careth for them," 1 Pet. v. 7; forbidding any to "touch his anointed ones," Ps. cv. 15, and that because they are unto him as "the apple of his eye," Zech. ii. 8. Now, this special providence hath respect unto a supernatural end, to which that, and that alone, is to be conveyed.
For wicked men, as they are excepted from this special care and government, so they are not exempted from the dominion of his almighty hand. He who hath created them " for the day of evil," Prov. xvi. 4, and provided a " place of their own" for them to go unto. Acts i. 25, doth not in this world suifer them to live without the verge of his all-ruling providence; but by suffering and enduring their iniquities with great patience and " long-sutiering," E.om. ix. 22, de- fending them oftentimes from the iojuries of one another. Gen. iv. 15, by granting unto them many temporal blessings. Matt. v. 45, dis- posing of all their works to the glory of his great name, Prov. xxi. 1, 2, he declareth that they also live, and move, and have their being in him, and are under the government of his providence. Nay, there is not the least thing in this world to which his care and know- ledge doth not descend. Ill would it become his wisdom not to sus- tain, order, and dispose of all things by him created, but leave them to the ruin of uncertain chance. Jerome^ then was injurious to his providence, and cast a blemish on his absolute perfection, whilst he thought to have cleared his majesty from being defiled with the knowledge and care of the smallest reptiles and vermin every moment ; and St Austin is express to the contrary: ^" Who," saith he, " hath
' "Majcstatcm Dei cledecct scire per momenta singula, quot nascantur culices, qiiaa pulicum et muscarnm in terra nuiltitudo."- — Hieron. in cap. i., Hab.
2 " Qiiis disposnit membra pulicis ac culieis, nt liabcant ordinem suum, liabcant vitam suam, babeant motum suum," etc. " Qui fecit in cado angelum, ipse fecit in terra vei-mi- VOL. X. 3
34 A DISPLAY OF AllMINIANISM.
disposed the several members of the flea and gnat, that hath given unto them order, life, and motion?" etc., — even most agreeable to holy Scriptures: so Ps. civ. 20, 21, cxlv. 15; Matt. vi. 26, 30, "He feedeth the fowls, and cloth eth the grass of the field;" Job xxxix. 1, 2; Jonah iv. 6, 7. Sure it is not troublesome to God to take notice of all that he hath created. Did he use that great power in the produc- tion of the least of his creatures, so far beyond the united activity of men and angels, for no end at all? Doubtless, even they also must have a well-disposed order, for the manifestation of his glory. "Not a sparrow falleth on the ground without our Father;" even " the hairs of our head are all numbered," Matt. x. 29, 30. " He clotheth the lilies and grass of the field, which is to be cast into the oven," Luke xii. 27, 28. Behold his knowledge and care of them ! Again, he used frogs and lice for the punishment of the Egyptians, Exod. viii.; with a gourd and a worm he exercised his servant Jonah, chap. iv. ; yea, he calls the locusts his "terrible army;" — and shall not God know and take care of the number of his soldiers, the ordering of his dreadful host?
That God by his providence governeth and disposeth of all things by him created is sufficiently proved; the manner how he worketh all in al], how he ordereth the works of his own hands, in what this governing and disposing of his creatures doth chiefly consist, comes now to be considered. And here four things are principally to be observed : — First, The sustaining, preserving, and upholding of all things by his power; for " he upholdeth all things by the word of his power," Heb. i. 3. Secondly, His working together with all things, by an influence of causality into the agents themselves; " for he also hath wrought all our works in us," Isa. xxvi. 12. Thudly, His power- ful overruling of all events, both necessary, free, and contingent, and disposing of them to certain ends for the manifestation of his glory. So Joseph tells his brethren, " As for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is at this day, to save much people alive," Gen. 1. 20. Fourthly, His determining and restraining second causes to such and such eftects: " The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water : he tumeth it whithersoever he will," Pro v. xxi. 1.