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day of his coming? The Lord have mercy upon us, and bring us all to repentance, that we experience not what the power and duration of his wrath shall be !-But,

Fourthly.-God's dominion also takes in his providence. He is not an indolent and unconcerned, but an observant and active governor. He ordereth all things. Hear what the Scripture saith of the kingdom of Providence; the counsel of the Lord shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure. See this in his government of the inanimate world. He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not, and he sealeth up all the stars. God thundereth marvellously with his voice, he directeth his lightnings unto the ends of the earth. He causeth the vapours to ascend, he bringeth forth the winds out of his treasures. He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth. Fire and hail, snow and vapour, wind and storm, fulfil his word: he turneth them round about with his counsel, that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them he causeth them to come, whether for correction or mercy. The Lord giveth rain, the former and latter in his season, that men may gather in their corn, their wine, and their oil: he shutteth up the heavens, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit. He turneth a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.' Well, all this God doth. How say then the wise men of the world that there is no such thing as a particular Providence, searching into second causes for the springs of all things? But see it also in the animal world. Things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts, wait upon him, and he giveth them their meat in due season he giveth it them, and they gather it: he openeth his hand, and they are filled with good: he hideth his face, and they are troubled when he taketh away their breath, they die and return. to their dust. He feedeth the fowls of the air, and not a sparrow falleth to the ground without him.' What! is there all this too, and yet no such thing as a particular Providence? But see it in the government of kingdoms. The Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The Lord increaseth the nations, and destroyeth them: he enlargeth the nations, and straiteneth them again, and at what instant he speaketh concerning a nation or a kingdom, to build and to plant it, or to pluck up, and pull down and to destroy it, it shall be

done.' See it also in particular persons.

From him cometh every good and perfect gift, neither is there any evil in the world, and the Lord hath not done it. He killeth, and he maketh alive. He numbereth the hairs of our head. Unto God the Lord belong the issues from death if he gather unto himself the spirit of man, and his breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust. The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, are from the Lord. He hideth from the wise and prudent what he revealeth unto babes. He maketh poor, and maketh rich he bringeth low, and lifteth up. Riches and honour come of him. He maketh the barren woman to be a joyful mother of children. In his hand our breath is, and his are all our ways.' Thus you see how in the kingdom of Providence all things are under God's direction. He ruleth over all, and guideth all things as he pleases. Things great and little are under his care. Nothing comes by chance; and all things, even the most free and voluntary actions, even the deeds of evil men, serve him, and he presides over all to make everything issue to his glory. We are always for reasonings, always full of presumptuous murmurings, and care not that God should rule over us. We are ready to disavow God's dominion, we are ready to debate his commands, we like not his distributive justice, we would be disengaged from his interfering with the things of the world. This is the way of proud sinful But it is not the way of our believer; Jesus has taught him a better lesson. And he says, in correspondence with the whole of God's government, "I believe in God the Father Almighty." And his full meaning is this:

man.

I believe that God the Father holds an absolute, uncontrollable, rightful, and eternal dominion over all creatures, both in heaven and earth; and, as one of his subjects, however rebellious I have been, yet now, brought back again unto him by Jesus Christ, and emboldened to call him my Father, I do humbly and reverently own his dominion over me; and I do sincerely desire to regard and respect him as my King, Lord, and Master, while I have any being in this world and that which is to come; sincerely purposing, by his grace, that no other Lord shall ever any more have dominion over me, and yielding myself with the full and free choice of my heart, and with all readiness, gladness,

and joyfulness, to be his subject, to serve him only, from this moment unto all ages of eternity.-I do heartily consent to his authority over me, to command me in whatever way he chooses, and I am determined to do whatever he bids me, and to forbear whatever he shall forbid me to do; respecting, as I do, his command, as the only measure of my duty, and as the grand obligation to my obedience. And I am steadfastly purposed never to dispute his injunctions, be they what they will, but always in a dutiful manner to be satisfied with them, and according to my power to put them into practice, without gainsaying, and however contrary they may be to my carnal interest or inclinations; being certainly assured that God has an unlimited title to enjoin me whatever he pleases, nor less persuaded that he cannot command ine anything but what is exactly fittest for his glory and my happiness. And I do further declare, that, as I am perfectly satisfied our Almighty Father has a right to deal with his rebellious subjects in such a manner as he pleases, and as shall best correspond with the honour of his sovereignty and the ends of his government, so he both has dealt and will deal with us all in such manner, as that both they who serve him have and shall have infinite reason to adore his mercy and goodness, and they who perish in their disobedience shall not have the least cause of accusing him of cruelty or injustice. I acknowledge him to be righteous in all that he has brought upon me, and it is of his mercies that I am not consumed. And I am so far from thinking his present or future judgments severe, that I cannot complain, whatever he should do with me, having forfeited all right to his favour by my sins, and doing so every day. For which reason I hold it my bounden duty, and what is a debt to his justice and mercy, that I should never murmur under any of his dispensations, that I should receive all his favours as undeserved acts of bounty, and eternal life as his free gift to me in Jesus Christ my Lord.-And, finally, seeing I am assured this eternal King my Father actually ordereth, disposeth, and ruleth all things great and little, not only in heaven, but also here upon earth, according to his pleasure, and in such a wise and sovereign way as his government over us demands, I do therefore heartily desire to submit quietly, thankfully, and observantly, to all his disposals of me in all things and all circumstances; wishing never

to be displeased with any of his dispensations, but to leave myself for life or death, health or sickness, prosperity or adversity, in all places, times, changes, and conditions, to his guidance; and being purposed by his help so to demean myself under all his providential will, as both not to dishonour him, and also to testify to my own conscience and to the world that I really believe the providence of my God, that I trust upon him as my Father, and submit to him as his servant. And this is what I honestly intend, and sincerely mean, when I make my confession, and say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty."

Here you see, brethren, the faith of a Christian concerning the dominion of God. And you cannot but observe that every tittle of it goes into the practice of the heart and life.

Now could you, as I went along, adopt the confession here read before you? Or, if you could not as you wished, yet did you really desire to do so, and honestly purpose by the grace of God that you would never cease your endeavour of coming nearer and nearer to this temper and conduct of a subject of God? Then I must say, "Peace be unto you. And I pray that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." But did you find this faith was not in you? That from point to point, as we went on, there was a grievous opposition between your temper and that described ? That you knew not God's dominion, and were and had been subservient to selfish and worldly aims, standing out in rebellion, and affecting still to be your own master, and independent of God in all your views and prospects? That you had not subjected your spirit, soul, and body, to God's government, irreverently disregarding his commanding will, or calling the fitness of it in question, or living at your own discretion, or framing a religion from your own head, suited to your own fancy, and conforming to the will of God so far only as you pleased? That you could not digest God's distributions of rewards and punishments, being dissatisfied that everything was not just according to your mind, displeased because there was no other way to heaven besides that disagrecable one of Gospel-obedience, and

your heart rising with peculiar aversion against the sentence of everlasting damnation? That you had been disinclined to God's providential disposals, had always wished to have the management of yourself, being continually displeased with what was ministered unto you, never rich enough and great enough, things never to your mind, always dissatisfied, always complaining, always unthankful? Have you found, I say, that you have been thus perversely minded, quite another thing in heart and life from what a believer is, and every reasonable creature of God should be? Do you find that you have never owned God's dominion, nor subjected your conduct to his authority, nor paid any reverence to his tremendous threatenings or gracious promises, nor given yourself up to the guidance of his Providence, but have been in the temper of your heart, and behaved in the actions of your life, as if you had been your own master, and there had been no God to rule over you; as if you had been sent into the world to do as you list, and there was never any account to be taken; as if the world was made for you, and not you and it for God? I say, have you led an ungodly, idle, wicked, unhumbled, selfish life? If this be your case, it is plain you cannot say, "I believe in God the Father Almighty;" for you do not at all believe in him as Lord over you. No, you are a rebel, and so you have always been; and, let me tell you, so God regards you. That indeed may seem a light matter now; but, when the Almighty shall set the terrors of his indignation and vengeance in array against you, it will then not be so indifferent a thing as you at present make it. Why, my friends, what in the name of God do you mean to do?

You will not

surely stand it out in defiance? If so, you will infallibly fall into the hands of the living God; and that is a terrible thing. You cannot, can you, fight against him that made the worlds, and will burn them up with the breath of his mouth? You are not, you know you are not, stronger than he. What then will the end of this be? Who do you really think will prevail? What! you, against God? See if you can stand forth now, make the few following trials. Stop the course of yonder sun. Stop the advance of age. Say, I will never grow old. Keep sickness at a distance. Drive all disappointment before you. Arrest the hand of Death, and, with an authority that he dares

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