be a comparing it with the draught or pattern of the house or embroidery, and he will be satisfied. Psal. lxxiii. 16, 17.

Ye will never observe providences aright, if ye do not observe their harmony with the word; for the word is the instituted means of the conveyance of influences, Isa. lix. ult. By neglecting of this, some dispensations prove stumblingblocks, over which some break their necks, Mal. iii. 15. Many draw harsh and ungodly conclusions against others, whereby they only discover their own ignorance of the scriptures, and of the method of providence, Luke xiii. 1.—5. John ix. 2, 3. like Job's censorious uncharitable friends, Job v. 1.

O Sirs, learn this lesson, that all providences which you, or I, or any person or society in the world meet with, are accomplishments of the scripture. And they may be reduced to and explained by one of these five things. Either they are accomplishments of,

As we have

(1.) Scripture-doctrines, Psal. xlviii. 8. heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.' May not every one see, that few great men are good men? Do not stumble at it; it is but a fulfil ling of the scripture, 1 Cor, i. 26. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called,' That the safest condition for the soul is the medium between great wealth and pinching poverty, according to Augur's prayer, Prov. xxx. 8, 9. Give me neither poverty, nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain'.-That Sa tan and the corruptions of the heart are sometimes most busy, when people are setting themselves to serve the Lord, agreeable to Paul's experience, Rom. vii. 21. I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me.'-That the generality of the hearers of the gospel are not savingly wrought on by it, according to these scripture-passages, Isa. liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?' Matt, xxii. 14. Many are called, but few are chosen,' And so in other cases. Or of,

(2.) Scripture-prophecies, 1 Tim. 18. This I commit unto thee, O Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee.? What astonishing providences were the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, the expulsion of the

Canaanites, Cyrus' overturning the Babylonian empire, and loosing the captivity, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans? But all these were but a fulfilling of scripture-prophecies. What an astonishing providence was the rise, reign, and continuance of the Antichristian kingdom, and the reformation of religion in many nations, after they had lain many hundreds of years under Popish darkness; These are the fulfilling of the apocalyptic prophecies. And what an astonishing providence was the introduction of the gospel into Britain, and the preservation of it hitherto, amidst so many attempts to destroy it? It is an accomplishment of that prophecy, Isa. xlii. 4. The isles shall wait for his law.' Or of,

(3.) Scripture-promises, Josh. xxi. 45. There failed not out of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel: all came to pass,' Psal. cxix. 65. 'Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.' You see the orderly revolutions of the year, and seasons thereof; that is the fulfilling of the scripture, Gen. viii. 22.-That those who have suffered loss in the cause of Christ, have been bountifully treated with so much in hand, that they have had more content and inward satisfaction in that, than any other time of their life, is a fulfilling of scripture, Mark x, 29, 30. There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundred-fold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.'That the way of duty has been not only the most honourable but the safest way, is an accomplishment of scripture-pro mises, Prov. x. 9. He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely.' Chap. xvi. 7. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.'— That communion with God is to be had in ordinances, is conformable to promise, Exod. xx. 24. In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.' Or of,

(4.) Scripture threatenings, Lev. x. 3. This is that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the congregation I will be glorified.' Hos vii. 12. I will chastise them, as their congregation

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hath heard.'-You may observe how dangerous it is to med dle for the ruin of the work and people of God, from that passage, Micah. iv. 11, 12. Now also many nations are thered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor.'-How their faces are covered with shame that despise the Lord, from 1 Sam. ii. 30. The Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me, I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.'-How the faster people clave to their temporal comforts, they have the looser hold, from Ezek. xxiv. 25. I will take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters.'How people may run long in an evil way, but their foot will slip at length, from Deut. xxxii. 35. Their foot shall slide in due time for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste."

(5.) Lastly, Or they are the parallels of scripture-ex amples. Psal. cxliii. 5. I remember the days of old. The serious observer will find a surprising fulness here, as in the other parts of scripture. I will instance in three very astonishing pieces of providence, which often put good men to their wits end, to know how to account for them; yet being brought to the glass of scripture-examples, such a harmony appears betwixt the one and the other, as cannot but be extremely satisfying.

(1.) Sometimes we see men walking contrary to God, and yet providence smiling on them, and caressing them, as if they were the darlings of heaven. This has puzzled the best of men. It put Jeremiah sore to it, chap. xii. 1. 2,

Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit; thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.' It was near carrying Asaph quite off his feet, Psal. lxxiii. 13. "Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my

hands in innocency. But, O! is there not a beautiful harmony in this with scripture-examples? How did all Israel as one man back Absalom in his rebellion? How did Haman rise till he could come no higher, unless he had got the throne? And the tyrant Nebuchadnezzar carries all before him according to his wish, &c. And scripture-doctrine unriddles the mystery, Psal. xcii. 5, 6, 7. O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not: neither doth a fool understand this. When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish: it is that they shall be destroyed for ever.'

(2.) How often do astonishing strokes light on those that are dear to God, as if God selected them from among the rest of the world, to shew his hatred of them? Eccl. viii. 14, "There is a vanity which is done upon the earth, that there be just men unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked: again, there be wicked men to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous.' O Sirs, this has been very puzzling to those that have met with it. But behold the harmony with scripture-examples; as in Job's case. Eli loses his two sons at one blow, his daughterin-law dies, and himself breaks his neck. Aaron the saint of God has two sons slain by fire from heaven. The apostles were set forth as appointed for death, &c. 1 Cor. iv. 9. Babylon is at ease when Zion lies in ruins. See Lam. ii. 20. But further,

(3.) How often has it been the lot of some of God's people to meet with heavy strokes from the hands of the Lord, when they have been going in the way which God himself bade them take? That will try people to purpose that observe these things. But blessed be God for the Bible, that lets us see this is no untrodden path. Jacob has an express command to return to Canaan, Gen. xxxi. 13. But what a train of heavy trials attend him! Laban pursues him as a thief, Esau meets him with four hundred men to slay him, the angel puts the knuckle of his thigh out of joint, his daughter is ravished by the Shechemites, his sons murder the Shechemites, Deborah dies, and his beloved wife Rachel dies, and Reuben defiles Bilhah. It was no wonder he said, • Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been,' Gen. xlvii. 9.

2dly, There is a harmony of providences among them. selves. It is observed of the wheels, that the four had one likeness,' Ezek. i. 16. The dispensations of providence of the same kind, at the greatest distance of time from one another, have a beautiful likeness to one another. And therefore Solomon observes, Eccl. i. 10. 'Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been al ready of old time, which was before us.' Did ever any meet with such a temptation and trial as I have met with? say some. But says the apostle, 1 Cor. x. 13. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man.' Was ever any afflicted at the rate that I am? says another. But hear what the apostle says, 1 Pet. iv. 12. Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial; which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you.' See how Solomon accounts for this, Eccl. i. 9, 10, 11. The Thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come, with those that shall come after.'

(1) They are all wrought after the same pattern, namely, the word, in the various parts thereof. The same word which was accomplished on a nation or person thousands of years ago, is accomplished on others at this very day. The same word fulfilled in one's case some time ago, may be fulfilled over again when their case comes to be the same it was then.

(2) They have all the same specific end, to reward or pu nish, check, direct, &c. And where the ends are alike, it is no wonder the measures be so too. God designed to make his enemies fall, and to deliver his church at the brink of ruin, in Esther's days; and so in ours of late. Hence the plot was suffered to succeed; and when all seemed to be done, providence struck a sudden stroke, and turned the wheel on the wicked: But is there any thing new here? was it not just so in Esther's days?

It is good to observe this harmony; for by these means one sees himself in a paved road, and so may the better know how to steer his course. When one finds himself in