Good and Evil, and the inflexible Juftice and Holiness of the Divine Will; That God never can will any thing but what is Juft and Good, and never wills any thing for any other Reason, but because it is Juft and Good: Whereas to make Juftice and Goodness to depend wholly upon the Will of God, that therefore any thing is Juft and Good becaufe God wills it, fuppofes that Justice and Goodness has no ftable Nature of its own, but may at any time change its Nature with the Will of God; and it is impoffible to prove, that the Will of God can't change as the Wills of Men do, if it have no Eternal and Unchangeable Rule, or be not Eternal and Unchangeable Juftice and Goodness it self.

When we speak of God after the manner of Men, our Words must be expounded to the fame Senfe, excepting Metaphorical and Figurative Expreffions, as when they are ufed of Men: Now we all know what a vaft difference there is. between these two Expreffions, when used of Men. Such a Man always wills and chufes what is Good and Juft; and he makes every thing Good and Juft by willing it; the first fuppofes a certain and invariable Rule of Good and Evil; the second refolves the Nature of Good and Juft into Arbitrary Will and Pleasure.

And it is the very fame cafe, when we speak of God's Power, which is nothing else but the Execution of his Will. God's Abfolute Power can do nothing but what is Juft and Good; but we must not therefore fay, That Abfolute Power makes every thing it does, Juft and Good; as if Power were not regulated by Juftice and Goodnefs, but were the Rule of it.

There is great Reafon curioufly to diftinguish in this matter, because there are a fort of Chri

ftians,

tians, who attribute fuch Things to God, as are irreconcilable with all the Notions we have of Juftice and Goodnefs; and think to filence all Objections, and to justify all, by the Sovereign Dominion and Abfolute Power of God, which can do no wrong: But if it be a wrong to Creatures, to be eternally, miferable for no other Reafon but the Will and Pleasure of God, I cannot but think the Abfolute Decrees of Reprobation to be very unjuft, and the Execution of fuch Decrees to be doing wrong, how Abfolute foever the Power be that does it.

And I confess I cannot but wonder, that Men who make the Glory of God the End of all his Actions, (as certainly it is, when rightly underftood) fhould attribute fuch Things to God, as all the reft of Mankind think very inglorious. That when the trueft and greatest Glory of Abfolute Power, as you have already heard, is to do the greatest Good, they fhould think it fufficient to juftify fuch Actions as they have no other way to prove good and juft, merely by Abfolute Power. The Glory of Abfolute Power, is to do what all the World acknowledges to be good and juft; and therefore Abfolute Power cannot prove thofe Actions to be good and juft, nor make it felf glorious, by doing fuch Actions as Mankind think very infamous and unjuft.

Let us then lay down this as the Foundation of all, That how Unaccountable foever Sovereign and Abfolute Will and Power is, it neither can, nor will do any wrong; for it is nothing else but Abfolute and Sovereign Juftice and Goodness. We have no Reason to be afraid of the Abfolute Power of God, no more than we have to be afraid of his Abfolute Goodness

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Abfow

Abfolute Power is the only Security we have against fuffering wrong; for it will do no wrong it felf, but will rectify all the Wrongs which are done by Inferior Powers, which none but a Sovereign and Abfolute Power can do. The firm Belief of this, will give great Relief and Satisfaction to our Minds, under all the unaccountable Paffages of Providence; for tho' Abfolute Power be always juft and good, yet its ways are fometimes paft finding out.

Secondly, Let us now confider, How unfearchable the Wisdom of Providence is, which doth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number, 9. Job ro. Which may fatisfy us, how impoffible it is for fuch ignorant Creatures as we are, to comprehend all the Wife Reasons of Providence; and how impious it is to reproach and cenfure what we do not and cannot understand.

We all know the Hiftory of Job, and the Difpute betwixt him and his Three Friends. God exercifed Job with very fevere and amazing Sufferings, for the Trial of his Virtue : His Friends conclude from his great Sufferings, that tho' his Life were vifibly very innocent and virtuous, yet he had been a fecret Hypocrite, because God did not ufe to punifh Good Men, but only the Wicked in fuch a manner. On the other Hand, Job juftifies his own Innocence, and afferts more truly, That Bad Men were many times very profperous, and Good Men great Sufferers in this World: He complains very tragically of his Sufferings, and that he could not understand the Reafon why God dealt thus with him: And this feems to be Job's Fault, that he infifted too much on his own Juftifica

tion, and inftead of vindicating the Divine Providence, feems to accufe God of a cauflefs and unaccountable Severity; for which Elibu fo feverely reproved him. At laft God anfwers Job himfelf, as he had often defired he would; buc instead of a particular Juftification of his Providence , or of giving Job the Reafons for which he had thus afflicted him, he gives him fome fenfible Proofs of his own Great and Admirable Wisdom and Power in the Works of Nature; which Job was fo far from being able to imitate, that he could not understand how they were done. The Force of which Argument is this; That fo weak and ignorant a Creature as Man is, ought not to cenfure the Divine Providence, how myfterious and unaccountable foever it be; when the very Works of Nature convince us, That God is infinitely Wifer and more Powerful than we are: This fhould teach us great Modefty and Humility, to adore the Divine Judgments, not to cenfure what we cannot understand; for the Power and Wisdom of God can do Great and Excellent Things, above our Understandings.

Vain man would be wife, tho' man be

born like a wild affes colt. They are 11. Job 122 impatient to think, that God fhould

do any Thing, which they cannot understand; and yet there is not any one Thing in Nature, which they do understand And if we cannot understand the Myfteries of Nature, why fhould we expect to understand all the unfearchable Depths and Myfteries of Providence? If the Wisdom of God be unfearchable, why should we not allow his Wifdom in Governing the World, to be as unfearchable as his Wifdom in Making it? For an Incomprehenfible Wisdom

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will do Incomprehenfible Things, whatever it employs it felf about; and when we know, that if the World be governed at all, it is governed by an Infinite and Incomprehenfible Wisdom, there is no Reafon to wonder, that there are many Events of Providence which we cannot fathom, and much less Reason to deny a Providence, because we cannot comprehend the Reasons of all Events.

But this is a Matter of fuch vaft Confequence, to filence the Sceptical Humour of the Age, and to fhame those trifling and ridiculous Pretences to Wit and Philofophy, in Cenfuring the Wifdom and Justice of Providence, that it deferves a more particular Difcourfe: For could we make Men confefs, what all modeft confidering Men muft blush to deny, That the Wisdom of God is unfearchable; this would put an end to all the Difputes about Providence, and teach us humbly to Adore and Reverence that Wisdom which we cannot comprehend.

And to prepare my way to give fuch full Satisfaction in this Matter, as you may fecurely acquiefce in, without Difputing the Reasons of . Providence, or being tempted to deny a Providence, when you meet with any Difficulties too hard for you; I fhall fhow you how impoffible it is that it fhould be otherwise, both from the Infinite Wisdom of God, and our own great Ignorance of Things, which makes the Providence of God in many Cafes fo much above our Understandings, that we are not capable of fuch Knowledge.

And I. I fhall fhew you, What Reafon we have fecurely to acquiefce in the unfearchable Wifdom of Providence, and to truft God be

yond