I. The caution or admonition; Be instructed..

II. The ground and reasons thereof; left my foul depart from thee; left I make thee defolate, a land not inhabited.

I. Concerning the former, the caution or admonition, there are three enquiries to be made. First, Whereby we are to be inftructed? Secondly, Wherein we are to be instructed? Thirdly, What it is to be inftructed? or the import of the words.

First, For the first, whereby we are to be inftruct ed? I answer,..

By the ftate of affairs, and by the reafon of things, or the right of cafes.

Things themselves fpeak to us; Hear the rod, and him that hath appointed it; and this the prophet calls the Lord's voice crying to the city, Mic. vi. 9. and tells us, that the man of understanding will be inftructed by it. Cafes and things, and the ftate of affairs, gives us hints and intimations of what may befall us; they give notice and presages of future events, and by these, offer notions to our minds, not to be neglected by these, Solomon's prudent man is inftructed, and he doth foresee the evil, and shunneth it, Prov. xxii. 3. He forefeeth the evil confequences in their antecedents. Now, this is to be fuppofed, that God teacheth us, by the state of affairs, or by the reafon of things, because all things are fome way or other, under God's management. Some things are appointed, ordered, and disposed

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by God; in these he takes pleasure, he declares his will, purpose and intention; and here our fubfervience is required and commanded. Things not allowed nor warranted by God, yet are permitted by him, else they could not be ; for God could hinder them, if he pleased; but God permits them for reafons of great wisdom and prudence, and doth not please, by his irrefiftible power, to hinder them. By these we may alfo be inftructed; and we do not enough acknowledge God in the world, if we do not think that he doth interpose where he is concerned and wherein is he not concerned? Since we are required, that whatsoever we do in word or deed, to do all to the glory of God, 1 Cor. x. 31. Since God makes overtures to us, and gives us intimations of what becomes us to do, and how we ought to behave ourselves in the various occurrences of human life. This is a great point of divinity, and it ftands upon these foundations.

1. That God is a being of all perfection, of infinitely vaft comprehenfion and understanding and power and therefore he is able to attain those effects, and to teach men by all things that fall under his government.

2. That things managed by divine wisdom are intenfely virtual, fignificative, expreffive of notions, because they do partake of the excellency and fufficiency of their cause.

3. That God doth nothing in vain, nor to fewer, or leffer purposes than the things are capable to promote, or be fubfervient unto. For it concerns the wifdom of any agent to make the best improvement

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of his means: for a means is inconfiderable but as it is conducible to its end, which in itself may be four, or coftly; only confiderable, as in respect to it's end.

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4. Because the affairs of mankind are the choice piece of the administration of providence and God doth in a special manner, charge himself with teaching the mind of man knowledge. Wherefore we may gather fomething directive of us, from all God's operations, or permiffions in the world. In that day (faith the prophet, Ifa. xxii. 12.) did the Lord of Hofts call to weeping and mourning, andto baldness,&c. viz. by the state of things. And it is this our Saviour complains of, Luke xii. 56. Ye hypocrites, ye can difcern the face of the sky, and of the earth: but how is it that ye cannot difcern this time? Upon this account it is said, that the goodness of God leads men to repentance; and therefore he complains, Rev. ii. 21. That he gave them fpace to repent, but they repented not. The patience of God, in not inflicting punishment, was an intimation to repent. And because men were wanting herein, the Pfalmift faith, Pfal. xxviii. 5. They understood not the works of God, nor the operation of his hands; but went on to tempt the Lord, and to provoke him to anger. In this sense it is said, Job v. 6. That afflictions rife not out of the duft no man's afflictions are wholly cafual or contingent, but are directed by an intelligent agent; ‹ of which he may make a certain interpretation to his own advantage; and may make the interpretation to a determined ufe: for all things, fome way or other, refer to God; and as God is con cerned

cerned in them, they are inftructions of righteousness, whether God does them, or only fuffers them to be done; whether he rewards or punishes; as I might instance in several things. When Joseph's brethren fold him into Egypt, in respect of second causes, there is one account of it; and in respect of the first, another; they did it for harm, but God defigned it for good, Gen. xlv. 5. There was a very different intention in our Lord and Saviour's death as it referred to the malicious Jews: in thefe 'twas an expreffion of the greatest malice and wickedness; But God turned it to good, intending it as an expiatory facrifice to all thofe that repent. Sodom and Gomorrah were not barely punished for their own fakes, but for an example to all generations that afterwards fhould live ungodly, Jude vii. and Heb. iv. 11. and 1 Cor. x. 6. These things are our examples, to the intent that we should not luft after evil things, as they also lufted. I will fatisfy myself with one place more, and that is the answer which our Saviour returned to John Baptift's queftion whether he was the person that was to come, or they were to look for another? Our Saviour doth not anfwer them that John fent, as it may be they expected, by words, but by things, Go and tell John what things you have seen and heard, (Luke vii. 22.) how the blind fee, the lame walk, the lepers are cleanfed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raifed. Our Saviour would have him to understand by things, as well as by words; by things done, rather than by words fpoken; and by thefe, John might understand who he was. And our Saviour upbraids thofe cities where his mighty works were done

done, because they believed not: and tells them that Tyre, and Sidon, yea, even Sodom would have re pented, if the mighty works had been done among them, which had been done in thofe cities, Matt. xi. 20. This therefore is a certain truth, and of great ufe; and fhews that a man hath fomething to do to know God in the world, that a man hath reason whereby to make interpretation of occurrences that happen; for if a man would know God in the world, he muft both obferve and take notice of his providence, and what falls out in the world, and make interpretation of what is under God's management and government. But becaufe there may be great danger of making false interpretations of providence, I will lay down this-caution.

All fuch interpretations of occurrences of providence are to be made according to the principles of common reafon, and the plain guidance of the holy fcripture not particular fancy, but the plain guidance of the holy fcripture: fo fhall we be fecure from rafh cenfure, and uncharitablenefs on the one hand; and from the folly of fuperftition, and wild enthusiasm on the other hand; which hath been fo remarkably prejudicial to the world, and broughť fuch scandal on religion.

And for this we have our Saviour's example, Luke xiii. 2. When they came and ask'd him how great finners they were, whofe blood Pilate mingled with their facrifices; he told them, that the import of that, and all other occurrences of like nature served For their admonition and to inftruct them that unless they did repent they should perish. But he rejects their

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