17, 18, 19.) Absurdities so shocking, that I never can believe them.

B. And absurdities, let me tell you, that if you did but understand the scheme you are opposing, you would know, are so far from following from it, that they are absolutely inconsistent with it.

For the doctrine of the wisdom of God in the permission of sin, supposes sin in itself, and in all its natural tendencies, to be infinitely evil, infinitely contrary to the honour of God, and good of the system. For herein consists the wisdom of God in the affair, not in bringing good out of good, but in bringing infinite good out of infinite evil, and never suffering one sin to happen in all his dominions, but which, notwithstanding its infinitely evil nature and tendency, infinite wisdom can and will over-rule to greater good, on the whole. So that all these objections are without weight.

For sin in itself, and its natural tendencies, being just as evil as though God never meant to, and in fact never did, bring any good out of it, is as much to be hated for its evil nature and tendency, to be repented of in ourselves, and lamented in others, mourned for, watched, and prayed, and preached against, as if no good was ever to be brought out of it.

Just as if it was in the affair of Joseph. It was a vile, an impious and barbarous thing, for his brethren to do as they did. Hateful in itself, and in the eyes of God, and of all good beings. And to be mourned for, and lamented, and testified against, as such. It was dishonourable to God, whose authority they despised, and whose design to advance Joseph they intended to frustrate. Cruel to their aged pious father, and barbarous to their brother. And in fact, they were verily guilty; as their consciences testified, in the day of their distress. (Gen. xlii. 21.) And if after all this, contrary to their intentions, great good comes out of this affair, no thanks to them for that. They were still verily guilty; and even every whit as much to blame, as ever; and had as great reason for godly sorrow, and true repentance; as is plain to the weakest capacity. I appeal to the common sense of all mankind.*

* In Gen. xlv. 5. Joseph speaking to his brethren, says, now therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither. For God did send VOL. II.

19

A. Sir, I am of another opinion. I affirm, that, "if sin is the occasion of greater good, in the whole, there is no rea son to repent of it." (p. 18.) "For it ceases to be sin.” (p. 19.) "Be not grieved,

me before you to preserve life. Which Pool thus explains : to wit, immoderately, &c. he doth not dissuade them from godly sorrow. Nor angry with yourselves. In the Hebrew it is, neither let there be anger in your eyes; i. e. neither excessively torment yourselves with the remembrance of the fact, neither break forth into contentions and wrath, and upbraidings of one another. For God did send me before you to preserve life; i. e. God by his wise, powerful, and gracious providence, over-ruled your evil intentions to an happy end, &c. which though it doth not lessen your sin, yet ought to qualify your sorrow." See Pool on the place.

N. B. Joseph's brethren had been for some time in external circumstances very distressing; their minds full of heaviness and grief from that quarter; and they ready sometimes in their anguish to be angry at, and upbraid one another, for what was past. Which kind of grief was not of the nature of godly sorrow. And this was what Joseph referred to He would not have them grieve and afflict themselves, &c. in that sort; for that all was brought to a happy issue. He did not mean to dissuade them from godly sorrow. He knew, the more they saw of the wisdom, holiness, and goodness of God in this affair, the more would they love him, and loath themselves; and mourn after a godly sort, that they had endeavoured to counteract him. The more beauty they saw in God's scheme, the more would they hate their own, which was designed to frustrate his. God's scheme was to advance Joseph, &c. Their proud hearts could not endure it. They viewed him as having a native tincture of vanity. They envied him, and wanted to keep him down, and laid a scheme for it, which God overruled, directly contrary to their very hearts. Now for them to look upon God's scheme as glorious, must imply in its very nature, that they looked upon their own scheme with the utmost abhorrence; which must suppose deep humiliation and sincere repentance. They could not really and heartily like God's scheme, without a sincere abhorrence of their own. Nor can any one being in the system heartily like God's scheme in permitting sin in general, without a sincere abhorrence of sin in general; and a hearty desire that all sinful schemes may be frustrated, just as this was, which Joseph's brethren had laid; for this is God's design. Had Joseph's brethren, before they were deeply humbled, been let into God's scheme, to see what he had done to advance their brother, their envy would have revived; and they felt an inclination to lay some new scheme to take him down. They must be deeply humbled, before they would heartily approve God's scheme, and be willing to bow to Joseph. But let their proud hearts be humbled, and they love their brother as they ought; and they would be glad to see him exalted, and would be ashamed to think of what they had done, and cheerfully pay him the honour which was his due. So a perfectly humble and holý temper would lead us perfectly to acquiesce in God's universal plan, which is designed to exalt God, and make all his happy subjects feel their comparative nothingness, to the highest possible degree, that God may be all in all See this illustrated at large in my Sermons.

B. You affirm so, it is true. But it is impossible, if you will consider the case, that you should believe so. Pray, tell me, was it not a sinful thing for Joseph's brethren to sell their brother? Or for the Jews to crucify the Lord of glory? Because God, in both cases contrary to their design, brought great good out of these great evils. I appeal to your own

conscience.

A. Nay, but if you appeal to me, I must frankly tell you, that if greater good is brought out of evil, we are not to be sorry, but rather to rejoice that we have sinned. This principle I take for granted, as self-evident. And on this hypothesis I build my reasoning. (p. 17, 18.)

B. Then, it seems you think, that Joseph's brethren had no cause to repent of their sin, in attempting to frustrate God's design to advance their brother; because in spite of all their malice and envy, God over-ruled all they did to bring about his designed advancement to the best advantage. Their sin, you say, "God in infinite wisdom over-ruled for the advancement of Joseph; the preservation of Jacob and his family; and a train of the most happy events to the church of God, from that day to this." (p. 6.) To which you add, "It must be confessed, much of the divine power, wisdom, goodness, &c. was displayed in bringing so much good from such treachery." Therefore Joseph's brethren ought, instead of sorrow, rather to "keep an everlasting jubilee," in remembrance of their malice, envy, cruelty, and impiety, exercised in that deed. This is one of the "pernicious consequences," not of mine, but of your own scheme. Nor can it be got rid of, as to those instances of sin, which you acknowledge God has over-ruled to greater good. And as you own "you cannot prove to a demonstration but that greater good will finally be brought out of all sin, in general; so upon your scheme you cannot be certain, that you or any other sinner has reason to repent of sin. You do not know, as yet, whether to be sorry, or glad. Yea, according to you, "it is above your, or perhaps any human talents," to decide this question. (p. 5, 6.) Therefore, upon your scheme, all sinners must put off their repentance, until, by some new revelation from heaven it is declared, that God never will over

.

rule all to greater good. And as soon as ever we are assured, that God does not intend to over-rule all things to his glory and to the good of the system; then, and not till then, must we begin to be sorry that we have sinned: that is, to be sorry that we have not sought the glory of God and good of the system, with all our might. But why should we be sorry now? For, if God does not seek his own glory, why should we? If he does not aim at the general good, why should we? ought we to be more holy than God himself? No: the utmost extent of our duty is only to be perfect, as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. So that, finally, your scheme, in whatever light considered, will exclude true repentance out of the world. However, there is this comfort by the way, that your scheme is so plainly inconsistent with common sense, that it can never be believed by a rational creature. To suppose that my sin is lessened, because, contrary to my design, good is brought out of it by another Being, let the good be ever so great, instead of being self-evidently true, is really self-evidently false.

A. "Can that be evil which exactly coincides with the divine will?" (p. 19.)

B. The Jews did nothing, but what God's counsel determined before to be done; as the apostles, full of the Holy Ghost, expressly declare, and that even in their prayer to God. (Acts iv. 28.) And they tell the Jews in so many words, Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and fore-knowledge of God, ye have taken, and by WICKED hands have crucified and slain. (Acts ii. 23.) Which very doctrine the spirit of God set home on the consciences of their hearers, and they were pricked at the heart, in a sense of their sin and guilt; and cry, what shall we do? and the apostles call upon them to repent. But do you, sir, verily think, that the Holy Spirit, these divinely inspired apostles, and their converts, were all inconsistent with themselves! and will you contradict the spirit of God, the apostles, the primitive converts, and the universal sense of mankind, rather than not oppose the wisdom of God in the permission of sin!

A. "How an infinite holy Being could lay a plan, which

was infinitely wrong and wicked to execute,” I cannot conceive. (p. 16.)

B. You will doubtless readily own, that the following plan was laid by "an infinitely holy Being :" because you have it from his own mouth. Exod. xiv. 1, 2, 3, 4. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel; that they turn, and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, betwven Migdol and the sea over against Baal-Zephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea. But why? For, (says the holy One of Israel, who knew what the consequence would be,) Pharaoh, when he hears where you are encamped, will say of the children of Israel, they are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. They cannot escape. I have them at my mercy. And I will, by this circumstance, harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them, and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host that the Egyp tians may know that I am the Lord. Here was a plan laid by an infinitely holy Being, which was infinitely wrong and wicked for Pharaoh to execute." However, he did execute it. Ver. 5. And it was told the king of Egypt, that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? And he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. And what was the issue? They sank like lead in the mighty waters. And Israel sang, the Lord hath triumphed gloriously. And thus God ordered things as he did, professedly on design, that Pharaoh might do as he did. And when he had done what God intended he should do, he wrought a miracle to destroy him. And Moses, without the least difficulty, saw the holiness and wisdom of God in laying this plan, and the wickedness of that bloody tyrant in executing it, and the righteousness of his destruction.

So again, the whole plan of Christ's crucifixion was laid by the holy ONE of Israel, before the world began; and was so very particularly described in the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, some hundreds of years before it was accomplished; and so plainly foretold by our Saviour before