A practical discourse concerning a future judgment by William Sherlock ...

SECT. VIII. Fourth Inference: To refer all Difficulties to the Day of Iudgment.

IV. IF God will Judge the World, let us refer all Difficulties to the Day of Judgment. It must be confessed, that there are very great Difficulties in Provi∣dence, such as the wisest Men cannot un∣derstand; and I can by no means say it is a Fault, for Men to search into Provi∣dence, and to be very inquisitive into the reasons of it; for what can more become a reasonable Creature then to study the Works of God? and what Works more worth our study, then the Divine Provi∣dence, and the wonderful Mysteries of God's governing the World?

But the Difficulty is to set Bounds to the Curiosity of Mankind, to teach them to study Providence with the Modesty of Creatures, and with the just Reverence which we owe to God, whose Wisdom is infinite and unsearchable; to be content∣ed to discover what we can, to admire and adore the Wisdom, and Goodness, and Justice of Providence in what is plain; and there is enough plain to exercise our devout Meditations, to be matter of our

Praise and Thanksgivings, anda sure foun∣dation of our Trust in God.

And this wise and good Men are con∣tented with; but most Men take least no∣tice of what is plain, as if that were of no use, and not worth notice, but puzle their thoughts, and lose themselves in those vast Depths and Abysses which no Humane Un∣derstanding can fathom: To Correct this Miscarriage would do great service to Re∣ligion, would give great peace and satis∣faction to Mens minds, and prevent a great many scandalous Disputes about the Di∣vine Providence: and therefore if I dis∣course this a little more at large, then my present Argument requires, I hope it will be no great Fault. Now to set Bounds to our Curiosity, and to make us Modest in our Inquiries into Providence, I shall shew you,

• I. How dangerous it is to search too narrowly into the Secrets of Provi∣dence.
• II. How unreasonable it is to disturb our Minds with such Difficulties as we cannot answer.
• ...

• III. That what cannot be known in this World, it is time enough for us to know in the World to come.
• IV. That we have all the reason in the World to believe, that what we can∣not know in this World, will be made very plain and easie at the Day of Judgment.

I. As for the first, How dangerous such curious Inquiries into Providence are, this is plain in the evil Effects of it:

1. For first, this either makes Men A∣theists, or at least is made a pretence to justifie Atheism. The Natural Notion all Men have of God is, That he is an infi∣nitely Wise, and Good, and Just, and Pow∣erful Being: now when Men observe such things, either in the Make or Frame of the World, or in the Conduct and Go∣vernment of it, as they cannot reconcile with the Notions they have of Wisdom and Justice, and Goodness, they presently conclude, that there is no God, or that he is nothing to them, that he neither made nor governs the World.

This indeed is a very rash and hasty Conclusion, to deny the Being of God, because we cannot find out God to Per∣fection; when we must confess, that it is impossible for a finite Understanding to comprehend all the reasons of an infinite Mind: but thus it must be, when Men wont be contented to be ignorant of any thing, nor permit God to do what they can't understand, but will have a reason of every thing God does, or will not al∣low him to be God: A modest Inquirer sees enough in the Works of Creation and Providence, to satisfie him, that the World was made, and is governed by a wise Be∣ing; but those who think themselves wise enough to make and govern a World, a great deal better then this World is made and governed, or are upon other accounts averse to the Belief of a God, and have a mind to quarrel with him; take no no∣tice of what is wise and good, and proves God to be infinitely Wise, and infinitely Good, tho' they cannot open their eyes without seeing a thousand such instances of Wisdom and Goodness; but imploy the little Wit they have to find Faults, and account every thing they can't understand a Fault. This is such irreverence to God, such Presumption and Arrogance, and such

Impiety, that they seem to be Atheists first, and then to quarrel with God's Works to find out some Pretence to de∣ny his Being: it is certain, whoever in∣dulges himself in this, has in a great mea∣sure lost his Reverence for God, and A∣theism is a natural consequence and just punishment of that; and such a terrible punishment it is, as should make us afraid of being over-curious in matters so far a∣bove us.

2. If this does not make us Atheists, yet it is apt to give us very wrong Noti∣ons concerning God, which is a very great Evil, next to Atheism itself.

This we know tempted some Men to assert two Principles, or two Gods, a good and a bad God; for when they observed such a mixture of Good and Evil in the Nature of Things, they thought it impos∣sible, that a good God should be the Au∣thor of so much Evil as is in the World; and because they could not answer this Difficulty, nor give an account how a good God should make and govern the World, and yet there be so much Evil and Wickedness in it; they concluded that there was a bad God, who was the Author of all the Evil in the World, and a good

God of all the Good. But this starts a much more unaccountable Difficulty, how a good and a bad God should agree toge∣ther in making and governing the World: for can any thing be more opposite to each other, than essential Good and essen∣tial Evil? They can never agree, and therefore they must be either equal in power, or must destroy each other; if they be equal, neither of them are Om∣nipotent, for two Omnipotents is a Con∣tradiction; and then neither one nor both could make the World, which is a Work of Omnipotence: At least since it is im∣possible they should agree togther to make a World; as impossible, as that essential Goodness should consent to any thing that is evil; or essential Evil consent to any thing that is good: they must necessarily hinder each other in making the World, if their power were equal; and then the World had never been made. But I shall not trouble you with the Confutation of this, but only point you to the Source and Origine of this Mischief, which in its Con∣sequence overthrows all Religion.

Others to ease themselves of these Dif∣ficulties of reconciling all the Passages of Providence to God's Wisdom and Justice, set them both aside, and resolve all into

God's Arbitrary and Soveraign Will and Pleasure; who makes himself, and the ad∣vancement of his own Glory his sole end. They lay it down indeed as an agreed Principle, That all that God does is wise, and good, and just; but we must not ex∣amine this by Humane Rules and Mea∣sures of Goodness and Justice; for God is an Absolute Soveraign, and unaccounta∣ble to his Creatures; his Will is the Rule of Justice, and he wills what is most for his own Glory; he magnifies his Good∣ness and Grace in a free and arbitrary Kindness to some of his Creatures; and magnifies his Justice in as free and arbi∣trary Severities to others: he makes some Creatures to be the Objects of his Love, and others to be the Objects of his Ven∣geance and Displeasure: and thus they cut the Knot which they can't untie.

But this is a greater Difficulty then all the rest, to a considering Man, who would much rather chuse to give no account of the Divine Providence, then to give so ill an account of the Nature of God: Arbi∣trary Will and Power is the very worst Notion we can have of God; it destroys our Love to him, and our Hope and Con∣fidence in him, unless we can fancy him, as partial to us as we are to ourselves;

it turns Religion into a superstitious Dread of God, or Hypocritical Flatteries; de∣stroys the Notions of Good and Evil, or all regard to them, while we think God takes no notice of them himself.

This may satisfie us, how dangerous it is to be too inquisitive into the Misteries of Providence, which God hath thought fit to conceal from us; which should make us careful to keep our distance, and humbly to reverence and adore God, and trust his Wisdom beyond our own Under∣standing of things; and in order to Cure this Curiosity, consider,

II. How unreasonable it is to disturb our Minds with such Difficulties of Pro∣vidence, as we cannot answer; or to draw any such Conclusions from it, as shall ei∣ther shake our Faith as to the Being or Providence of God, or corrupt our Noti∣ons of Him; and there are two things which may satisfie any Man in this:

1st, That there are a great many things which are called Difficulties, which may be very fairly accounted for; and there∣fore the difficulty is not in the things, but owing to our want of Understanding; which is reason enough to presume, that

thus it may be in other cases too, since as Mens Knowledge increases, so the Diffi∣culties of Providence lessen; which should make us never quarrel at Providence, but bewail our own Ignorance, and grow mo∣dest under a sence of it.

2dly, That in such matters as we can give no account of, there may be plain Reasons assigned why no account can be given of them in this World:

1. As for the first, it is easie to give many Instances of it: There are many things which Mankind greatly complain of, and for which they think themselves very hardly used by God, which upon a true Estimate of things, considering the corrupt State of Humane Nature, are great∣ly for the Happiness of the World; and though they were inflicted as Punishments by God, yet have an excellent tempera∣ment of Wisdom and Goodness.

This I have formerly shewed you, as to that Sentence of Death, which God pro∣nounced against Mankind, after the Fall of our first Parents,* 1.1 Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return; and as to his short∣ning the Lives of Men after the Flood; and I shall now give another Instance in

that Curse God pronounced upon the Earth for the Sin of Man, to which we owe most of that Pain, and Toyl, and La∣bour which is under the Sun, and most of the Miseries and Calamities of Hu∣mane Life: and if in this also the Wis∣dom and Goodness as well as the Justice and Severity of God appears, I hope it will convince us, how reasonable it is to be modest in our Censures of Providence, and to conclude, that God is equally wise and good in those things which we do not understand.

The Justice of this is very evident: for when Man who was the Lord of the Creation, had rebelled against God, it was very just for God to punish him; and the most proper Punishment which he could inflict on him, next to his own Mortali∣ty, was to Curse those Creatures which were made for his use and delight: as God told Adam, when he had eaten the forbidden Fruit, Because thou hast heark∣ened to the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee: and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In

the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return, 3 Gen. 17. For I need not tell you, this Curse upon the Ground was no punishment to the Ground, which was sensible of no hurt, but to Man, who was to live upon it; it defaced the Beauty and Glory of the Cre∣ation, and entailed a toilsome and painful Life on him; it made his Food less whol∣some, and more hard to come by: and whereas all Creatures before were in per∣fect subjection to Man, according to the grand Character of the Creation, Have d••∣minion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth, 1 Gen. 28. Now we find by experience that they have cast off this Yoke, and very often revenge the Quarrel of their Maker upon apostate Man. Thus Man fell from the Glory and Happiness of his Nature; and yet if we wisely consider things, we shall find ex∣cellent Wisdom and Goodness even in this Curse.

For Man having corrupted himself, the best State he could be put into, was an in∣dustrious and laborious Life; to force him to work hard to get his living, and to earn

his Bread with the sweat of his Brows, which was the necessary and immediate Effect of God's cursing the Ground; that whereas before the Earth would have sup∣plied Man with all things for his Necessi∣ty and Delight, without his care and la∣bour, now it would not yield its Increase of itself, but brought forth Briars and Thorns. And as difficult a State as this is, it was very fit for fallen Man:

1. A laborious Life is of great use to subdue the fleshly Principle, and to pre∣vent the opportunities, and occasions, and temptations to Sin. The experience of the World tells us, that nothing more corrupts Mens Manners than Idleness, the Flesh grows rampant with Sloth and Lux∣ury; and Time it self is so uneasie and troublesome when we have nothing to do, that Men rather chuse to be wicked then to be idle: and therefore God who fore∣saw the Degeneracy of Mankind by the Fall, hath provided work for us, that with the sweat of our Brow we must eat our Bread.

2. This does not only imploy the Bo∣dies, but the Minds of Men: Puts them upon the study of Philosophy, and the in∣vention of Arts and Sciences; upon ob∣serving the Works of Nature, and Depen∣dence

of Causes and Effects; to observe the Motions of the Heaven, the Sun, and Moon, and Planets, thereby to know the Seasons of the Year, and to fix the time of their return; it is this Necessity to which we owe the most useful Discove∣ries in Nature, which is not only very be∣neficial to the World, but a very delight∣ful Entertainment, and the most natural Ornament and Perfection of our Minds.

3. The Necessities of Humane Life are the foundation of Humane Societies, and make Men combine together for mutual Help and Comfort: for though Man is a sociable Creature, and delighted with Hu∣mane Conversation, yet in this degene∣rate State, nothing is a greater endear∣ment than our mutual Dependence upon each other, that we cannot live single and apart, because we want a great many things which the Skill and Labour of o∣ther Men must supply us with.

Now this obliges us to the exercise of all friendly and sociable Vertues; brings us under Government, without which Hu∣mane Societies cannot subsist; and this lays great Restraints upon the Lusts of Men, and by a strict Discipline trains them up to the practice of Moral Vertues, which is a good means to correct the Degenera∣cy

of Humane Nature; it inspires us with Principles of Love and Humanity, of Ju∣stice and Charity, and softens and polishes our Natures by the mutual Endearments of Conversation; it makes us Friends to Mankind; gives us a sence of Injuries, and an Abhorrence of them; and which is more then this, it gives publick Counte∣nance and Encouragement to Religion; for Publick Government must encourage Religion, because Religion is its greatest Defence and Support; and this makes some Men sincerely Religious and Devout, and forces some external signs of Honour from those who have little sence or reve∣rence of a Deity, which though it does no good to them, is for the advantage of the World.

So that this Curse in the necessary Con∣sequences of it, is the greatest Blessing to Mankind, which is an abundant Justifica∣tion of the Wisdom and Goodness of God in it. A more easie State of Life did bet∣ter become a State of Innocence; but since the Fall, such an easie, careless, un∣concerned Life, would have sunk him low∣er into Sensuality, and made his Recovery more desperate and hopeless.

It were easie to give many Instances of this nature, to justifie the Divine Wisdom

and Goodness in such passages of Provi∣dence, as seem very harsh and severe to us; but this may suffice at present to make us modest in our Censures of Pro∣vidence, and not to perplex our Minds with such Difficulties as we cannot un∣riddle.

2. Especially if we add, That there is a plain and evident Reason, why we can∣not, and never shall be able to under∣stand a great many Difficulties of Provi∣dence in this World, and therefore ought not to censure the Divine Providence, be∣cause we cannot in all cases comprehend the reasons of it. As for instance:

We are very ignorant of Men, and therefore can never be able to give an account of GOD's Providence towards them: we can in general justifie the Di∣vine Providence both as to the Afflictions and Sufferings of good Men, and the Pro∣sperity of the wicked; but when we de∣scend to particulars, we are at a loss; why such a good Man is a great Suffer∣er, and another good Man prosperous; why such a bad Man reaps the just Re∣wards of his Villanies in this World, while another Man, equally bad, escapes, and prospers by his Wickedness. We cannot know this, because we do not sufficient∣ly

know Men. We may mistake those for good Men, who are secret Hypocrites, and carry on wicked Designs under a Masque of Religion; and then when we complain, that such a good Man suffers, God may be very just in punishing an Hypocrite. We know not what the se∣cret Distempers of good Men are, which may require a severe Remedy; nor what good there may be even in bad Men, which may make their Recovery hope∣ful, and make it reasonable for God to spare.

Thus we know not how particular Mens Interests are interwoven with each other, or with the Publick, which may make it reasonable for God to spare, or to punish them, upon more accounts then their own; for good Men may suffer in the Sufferings of the wicked, and be bles∣sed in their Prosperity: The Sufferings of good Men, and the Prosperity of the wicked, may be of publick use to the World; and it is very just and reasona∣ble in the wise Governour of the World, to make the Interests of private Men sub∣ordinate to a publick Good. But when this is necessary, we know not, and there∣fore are very incompetent Judges of the Divine Providence: Nay, we see but a

very little part of God's Providence to∣wards particular Men; but a Scene or two of their Lives, or it may be but a little piece of a Scene, and therefore it is impossible we should make a true Judge∣ment of God's Providence towards them, the Beauty of which consists in the pro∣portion of Parts, and adapting every thing to the end it serves. The History of I••∣seph taken altogether, is a Demonstration of God's tender Care of him, though there were some doleful Scenes of his Life; the hard Usage he met with from his Bre∣thren, who sold him for a Slave into AE∣gypt; and from a wicked Mistress there, whose false Accusations condemned him to a Jaol, from whence God raised him to Pharoah's Throne. There are very few Men can make any Objection against the Divine Providence, with respect to themselves, because they know themselves, and the several stages of their Lives, what good and evil they have done, and what they have deserved, and what they have received from God; which is a good Ar∣gument, that we should find as little to ex∣cept against the Providence of God to o∣ther Men also, did we know them as per∣fectly as we know ourselves.

III. As for what cannot be known in this World, it is time enough for us to know it in the World to come.

Indeed this knowledge is not fit for us in this World; it is not fit we should know one another so perfectly, as is ne∣cessary to vindicate every passage of God's Providence towards other Men; for this would be to have a Casement into each o∣thers Breasts, to understand all the Intri∣gues and Secrets of Families; and were it put to our own choice, I am apt to think, we should rather be contented to be ig∣norant of a great many things, than to be so well known our selves to all the World.

Nor is it fitting in this state, that we should so perfectly understand all the Se∣crets of the Divine Counsel, for what rea∣son he afflicts or prospers private Men, or publick Societies, as is necessary to make a Judgment of the Divine Provi∣dence: One great Mystery of Govern∣ment is to conceal Counsels; and this is the Glory of the Divine Providence, by dark and misterious Methods to bring about glorious Designs, to surprize the World with unexpected Blessings, or un∣seen

seen Evils, to keep them in constant awe and dependence on himself.

And then, of what use is it to us to be able to give a reason of every particular Passage of Providence; we have nothing to do to sit in Judgment upon God; and therefore if we know enough to be a stea∣dy Foundation of our Faith and Hope, we know all that is needful in this Life: God does not intend to gratifie our Curiosity, or our Scepticism: we must not perfect∣ly know God in this World, for we must live by Faith here, which supposes an im∣perfect Knowledge; but perfect Sight and Knowledge is the Reward and Happiness of Heaven.

It is the last Act, which explains the whole Plot, the rest is Amuzement and Surprize, and therefore the proper time to understand the whole Mystery of Pro∣vidence is, when all is finished: When God puts an end to this World, he will think fit to display that infinite variety of Wisdom and Goodness, which governed the World from the beginning to the end.

IV. And this we may expect to un∣derstand at the Day of Judgment; for I know no other reason, why God should

in so solemn a manner Judge the World, but to justifie the Wisdom, and Justice, and Goodness of his Providence to all his Crea∣tures.

God does not thus publickly Judge the World to inquire into Mens Lives, and A∣ctions, and Deserts, which is the reason of Humane Judgments, to convict Sinners by Witnesses and Evidences, and to inform the Judge in Matters of Fact; but God per∣fectly knows us all, and every Man's Con∣science is a Witness against himself, that God might without any farther Solemni∣ty adjudge every Man to his proper Place and Reward: but he consults his own Glory in this, and summons all his Crea∣tures together, that Men and Angels may understand, and be Witnesses of his Mer∣cy and Justice.

Now it is impossible God should justi∣fie his Providence without expounding the Reasons of it; and therefore then we may expect to understand the Case of the fal∣len Angels, which now we know nothing of, and all the Passages and various Scenes of Providence from the Fall of Adam till the end of the World: then the State of Nations, of Kingdoms, of Churches, and of private Men, will be explained; the

Secrets of Hearts will be disclosed, a••d the hidden Works of Darkness brought to light.

Let us then stay till this Day come••▪ when God will justifie his Providence a∣gainst all the Reproaches and evil Sur∣mizes of Men, for he will appear just when he judgeth, and overcome when 〈◊〉〈◊〉 contendeth. Let us not disturb our He•••••• with such Difficulties as we cannot un∣derstand now; we know enough to be∣lieve, that God is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works; enough to mak•• us devout Worshippers of God: and t•• enquire farther, is a dangerous Curiosity▪ like looking into the Ark of God.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Practical Discourse of Death. Ch. 2. Sect. 1.