Introduction. NOt to detain you long upon matter of Preface or Introdu­ction to these words, let thus much in short suffice for that.

This Holy man JOB, whose course it was now to speak, he is here in this Chapter upon a very high [Page 2]discourse concerning the most high God: He was upon an Argument of the highest nature, and his meditations are elevated or lifted up accordingly.

Chapter. If you please to look back upon some former passages of the Chapter, you shall see what mighty things are therein ascribed to God: From the 16. ver. and so on, With him is strength and wisdom, says he, The deceived and the deceiver are his; He leadeth counsellers away spoiled, and maketh the judges fools; He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged; He poureth contempt upon Princes, and weakeneth the strength of the mighty; which are all great things, ye know, mighty works, and such as none but a God can do.

Text.But here in these words that I have read, Iob declares the Soveraign Power and Command that God hath over Nations and Kingdoms, to change and alter them, to give them a Being or no Being, even at his pleasure; He increaseth the Nations, and destroyeth them; he inlargeth the Nations, &c.

In which words you have three things chiefly considerable: Divided into three parts.

1 First, ye see here are very great changes spoken of, Augmentation, and Destruction, Inlargement, and Restraint.

2 Secondly, Here are also the Subjects of these changes, or the Stages whereupon they are acted, and they are, the Nations of the world, or the Kingdoms of the earth; they are sometimes increased, & sometimes destroyed; sometimes inlarged, and sometimes straitned.

3 Thirdly, Here is the Author of these great and mighty Changes, and that is God, such a God as we shall afterwards describe; He it is that increaseth the Nations, and destroyeth them; that inlargeth the Nations, and straitneth them again.

The sum of all is this, you may take the whole matter of the Text along with you in this one Conclusion or profitable Observation,

This is both a very comfortable, and a very seasonable Truth, to put us upon considering, That States and Kingdoms are not managed by men onely, or accord­ing as they please, but they are managed, and ordered, and disposed of, by the Lord our God, and according as he pleases, so do things succeed or come to pass in them.

And for the proof or confirmation of this Truth, Proved by se­veral Argu­ments drawn That God hath this Soveraign Power or Command over Nations, not onely over particular persons, but over whole Nations, to deal with them as he pleases, I shall confirm this, or make it good unto you, by these Arguments fol­lowing:

First, 1. From the greatness of God. It may appear to be so, if we se­riously view the greatness of God, his un­searchable greatness, as the Psalmist calls it, Psal. 145.3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; yea, his greatness is unsearchable: he had need to be a very great God, that should have this Soveraign Command and Au­thority over Nations, to increase them at [Page 5]his pleasure, and to destroy them at his pleasure; to inlarge them at his pleasure, and to straiten them at his pleasure; to build them at his pleasure, and to break them down at his pleasure: And yet this ye will easily apprehend to be feasible, if ye do but consider the extent, or view the latitude of the greatness of God. True it is, that the utmost bounds or limits of this greatness, cannot be discerned or com­prehended by us; But yet by that which we may see, and by that which the Scri­pture plainly and clearly holds forth un­to us about it, we may perceive, That our God, the God whom we pretend at least to worship, all of us, he is so great, and so glorious, and so incomprehensible a Being, as to dispose of whole Kingdoms and Na­tions on this maner.

To this purpose, Isa. 40.15. opened. be pleased but onely to look upon that one place of Scripture, that I may trouble you with no more, Isa. 40.15. Behold (says the Prophet there) the Nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are [Page 6]counted as the small dust of the ballance: Pray observe; for here are two Similitudes, that do very excellently adumbrate or sha­dow out the greatness of God.

Similitude. 1 First, he says, that the Nations are as the drop of a bucket: Now ye know, that the bucket it self, a whole bucket of water, is no great matter, in comparison of the main Ocean, it is but as a thing of no­thing; but then the drop that falls from the bucket, as it comes out of the well, thats so poor a thing, that no body makes any reckoning, or any account of it; and behold (says the Prophet) the Nations are no more, they are unto God but as the drop of a bucket.

And if that will not serve the turn to diminish the Creature, and to set up God in his greatness, you have another Simi­litude used; Similitude. 2 The Nations, says he, are as the drop of a bucket, and they are counted as the small dust of the ballance: Now ye know that the ballance it self that hangs in the Shop to weigh things by, is no great matter, no [Page 7]very ponderous or weighty thing; but the dust that lyes upon the ballance, thats so poor, and mean, and inconsiderable a thing, that it does not cast the ballance either this way or that way; and, Behold, says the Prophet, the Nations are no more, they are unto God but as the drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the ballance.

And if neither of these will satisfie, see a lower expression yet, then either of both these, at the 17. ver. of the same Chapter; Verse 17. says he there, All Nations before him are as no­thing, and they are counted unto him as less then nothing, and vanity: I say, do but view the greatness of God, according to these ex­pressions, and according to these propor­tions, and then ye will not think it strange that he should dispose of Nations at his pleasure, since he is so infinitely above them, and they so infinitely below him.

It is no more for the great God to have the command and disposition of all Na­tions, then it is for the greatest man upon earth to have the disposition of a peny: [Page 8]nay, it is not so much; for a peny is some­thing in the great mans purse, but all Na­tions to God are as nothing, says the Pro­phet, and they are counted unto him as less then nothing, and vanity.

Secondly, 2. From the Power of God Another proof or demon­stration of the point, shall be drawn from the Power of God, which is fully as unlimited and as incomprehensible as his greatness; so great is his Power, that if he do but onely speak the word, presently the thing's done; as at the first he said, Let there be light, and presently there was light; and so all other things were created but with a word speaking, as it were; By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, Psal. 33.6. says the Psalmist, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth; He spake and it was done, he commanded, and it stood fast, ver. 9. of that Psalm: He can speak a Nation into a pro­sperous condition, and he can again speak it into a ruinous condition.

So exceeding great is Gods Power, that he can increase the Nations with a word, [Page 9]and destroy them with a word, inlarge them with a word, and straiten them with a word. If he do but say, Let things be ordered thus and thus in the world, let such Na­tions be planted, or let them be plucked up, let them be built, or let them be broken down, it shall certainly succeed, and come to pass accordingly; for there is no resisting of his will, in any of these cases, when his power concurs or goes along with it. Lord, says the Centurion, Matth. 8.8, 10. I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the word onely, and my servant shall be healed. I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel, saith Christ. Great is the power of God, and great was the Centurions faith in the power of God. On the other side, those rebel­lious Israelites that are spoken of, Psal. 78. They turned back, and tempted God, and limited the holy One of Israel; and they said, Can God do this? or can he do that? Can he furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, Psal. 78.19, 20. he smote the rock, indeed say they, that the wa­ters gushed out, and the streams overflowed: But [Page 10]can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people? Can he do it? yes, what cannot he do, that is not onely potent, but omnipo­tent; not onely mighty, but Almighty? Is there any thing too hard for him?

Thirdly, 3. From the Wis­dom of God. Another proof, or demonstrati­on of the point, shall be drawn from the wisdom of God, which is also influential upon Nations, as well as upon particular persons. Vere apud Deum sapientem est sapientia, qui [...] in sapiente Deo est sapientia; & vere apud Deum vioam est vita, quia in Deo vi­vo est Deus vita; & vere apud Deum verum est Deus veritas, quia in Deo vero est Deus veritas; & vere apud Deum fortem est Deus virtus, quia in Deo forti est Deus virtus. Fulgent. ad Mon. lib. 3. cap. 6. God orders all things here below, accord­ing to the exactest way of wisdom. And some­times Nations in their Counsels, and in their Proceedings, are so wise and so happy as to comply with the Wisdom and Counsel of God, and by that means they are increased, and inlarged abundantly; by and by again, you shall have them to dash against the Counsel of God, his Wisdom, and there to stand in competition, one with another, and then they are in danger at least to be either destroyed or straitned.

Evermore observe this, That when the power of Nations, or the wisdom that they pretend to, when these things are carry­ed [Page 11]on in a way of subordination to the power and wisdom of God, then they do increase, in­large, and prosper.

But when men will be so bold, as to set their power not above the power of God, or their wisdom above the wisdom of God (for that, I suppose, they dare not do knowing­ly) but when they shall but set the one of these in competition with the others; when they shall but set their posts by Gods posts, or their thresholds by his threshold, in either of these cases, now the onely wise and powerful God, is ingaged, even in point of honor, to do himself right, and to turn all that wisdom into foolishness, and all that strength into weakness, that is either imploy­ed against himself, or not imployed according to himself.

It is a remarkable passage, that of the Apostles, 1 Corinth. 1. verses 23, 24, 25. We preach Christ crucified, unto the Iews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness: But unto them which are called, both Iews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom [Page 12]of God. Because the foolishness of God, is wiser then men; and the weakness of God is stronger then men. 1 Cor. 1.25. opened. Pray mark that expression, the Apostle doth not say, That the foolishness of God is wiser then the foolishness of men, or that the weakness of God is stronger then the weakness of men; for the truth is, Had he onely said so, he had said but little:

But he says, That the foolishness of God is wiser then men, and that the weakness of God is stronger then men; that is, Take the best of men, the quintescence of their wisdom, the excellency of their strength, and that which they count foolishness in God, and weakness in God, says the Apostle, It is wiser then their wisdom, and stronger then their strength. The foolishness of GOD is wiser then wis­dom of men, and the weakness of GOD is stronger then the strength of men. And he there gives instance in the foolishness of Preaching, Verse 21. that is, in that way of Preach­ing, which the wisdom and strength of this world have always looked upon, as a poor, mean, pedantick thing; and yet, [Page 13]how many millions of souls have been con­verted, and brought home to God, by that very way of preaching, which vain men have always looked upon as foolishness and weakness.

Fourthly, 4. From the Ho­liness of God. Another proof or demonstra­tion of the point may be drawn from the holiness of God, as thus, Sometimes a whole Nation will pretend holiness to the Lord, and say, that they are set part for his service, and sanctified to his use, and have his Name called upon them, &c.

Or else, if not all, yet some of part of the Nation may pretend this relation unto God, and say, That he is their God, and that they are his people. But now when this neer relation is not duly observed, but highly polluted and profaned. Then, as on the one side, it increases and inlarges a Nation, when the Name of God is hallowed and sanctified by a people, according to their ingagements; so on the other side, when people make no conscience of polluting and defiling the ho­liness of the Lord, care not how much [Page 14] filth and dirt is cast upon his holy Name, this is it, that either destroys a Nation, or that exceedingly straitens it, very frequent­ly, Mal. [...].11, 12. as Mal. 2.11, 12. Iudah hath dealt treache­rously, and an abomination is committed in Israel, and Ierusalem: for Iudah hath profaned the holi­ness of the Lord which he loved, and hath marryed the daughter of a strange god. The Lord will cut off the Per [...]e est a [...] si diceret pro­phe [...], Deum fore vindicem buyus perfidia absque excepti [...] ut ne­que pleb [...]iis hominibus, ne­que pro [...]eribus ipso p [...]t. Calvin in Lo­cum. man that doth this, the master and the scholler out of the Tabernacles of Iacob, and him that offereth an offering to the Lord of hosts.

Fifthly, From the pro­vidence of God. Another demonstration may be drawn from the providence of God. Na­tions are either increased and inlarged, or else destroyed and straitned, that it may appear, to whom the providential administration and disposition of all things do appertain and belong. As thus, whensoever God hath a purpose to increase and inlarge a Nation, then he by his providence will order things accordingly, he will appoint wholesom Laws to be established, and he will also appoint wise governors, to see unto the faithful and due execution of those laws.

And on the other side, when he hath a purpose either to straiten or destroy a people, then he will also order things accordingly, by leaving men to themselves, to follow their own ways, and to walk in their own counsels, and to be filled with their own devices, and foolish conceits, and fond imaginations so long, until they have made themselves ripe for ruine, Sole clarius elu­cet, quem vis hominem ita di­vinae providen­tiae gubernationi subjectum esse ut sinc câ nihil possit, & illius vi omnia agat, omnesque illius & interiores & exteriores motus & actio­nes, tam malas quam bonas, tam a [...]imi quam cor­poris, divinâ providentiâ regi. Zanch. de Nat. Dei. lib. 5. cap. 1. and have both fitted and fatted themselves for the day of slaughter and destruction.

For although we do not say, That God doth infuse any positive, objective malice, or wickedness, into the hearts of men; yet we say, that he hath the ordering of all that wickedness, that either hath been, or shall be committed in the world; and that he doth either restrain, or let it loose here and there, in one place and another, accord­ing as he hath a purpose, either to save or to destroy.

Sixthly and lastly, Another proof or demonstration of the point, 6. From the Iu­stice and Mercy of God. may be drawn from the Iustice and Mercy of God. I'le put them both together, because they have [Page 16]both a mighty influence upon these par­ticulars that are mentioned in the Text here. Sometimes mercy out-cryes justice, and then ye hear of nothing but augmentation and enlargement; At other times again, justice out-cryes mercy, and then ye hear of nothing but straitning, and destroying, and scattering such a people; not that there is any kinde of inequality or disproportion be­tween these attributes, for they are both of the same extent or latitude. God he is not more just then he is merciful, or more merci­ful then he is just; but infinitely just, and infinitely merciful, and every way as full of justice as of mercy. Quoad Deum omnes hae per­fectiones seu proprietates una res sunt eaque simplicissima, licet quoad nos videantur esse diversae. Zanch. de Nat. Dei. l. 1. cap. 8.

And therefore it is an error in people to think, when a person or a people are saved, either temporally or eternally, that now the mercy of God in such a case, is greater then his justice: No such matter; for all the at­tributes of God are equal, and mercy cannot any where take place, until justice be first satisfied, and fully satisfied too.

True it is, The Scripture speaks of God, [Page 17]as very propense, or inclinable unto Mercy, and so he is doubtless: But then he al­ways carries his dispensations of mercy, with­out any the least impeachment or violation of his Iustice: And although the Gospel speaks nothing but Grace and Peace; and Mercy and Salvation to you primarily and intentionally, yet this is in and through Christ, by whom the Iustice of God is both fully and exactly satisfied, before ever any dram of grace, or sample of mercy can come to us.

Thus, I say, that Attributes of God well studied, The greatness of God, and, The power of God, and, The wisdom of God, and, The holiness of God, and, The providence of God, and, The justice and mercy of God; a due pondering of these Attributes, may be suffi­cient to satisfie us about this Truth, That the Nations of the earth are either increased or destroy­ed, inlarged or straitned, according as God pleases. Examples il­lustrating the Doctrine.

I might farther evidence the truth of this by Examples, and shew you by many remarkable Instances, how God hath in­creased [Page 18]the Nations, and destroyed them, inlarged the Nations, and straitned them again.

That Image spoken of Dan. Dan. Image. 2. it is ge­nerally conceived to have respect, not unto particular persons, Omnia imaginis [...]ius epitheta pertinent ad osten [...] amplitud [...]m, gloriam, & majestatem ty­rannicam REGNO­RUM quae per membra il­lius adumbrata sunt. Iun. in loc. but unto whole Kingdoms: The golden Head, and the sil­ver Arms, and the brazen Thighs, and the iron Legs, and the clayey Feet, what became of all these? Thou sawest, says Daniel to Ne­buchadnezzar, till a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces: Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth, Dan. 2.34, 35.

Instance might be given more par­ticularly in the Iewish Nation; Jewish Nation ye know how God was pleased to increase and inlarge that Nation, what mighty Priviledges he did conser and bestow upon that People; [Page 19] For to them, as the Apostle says, Rom. 9.4, 5. pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises: Whose were the Fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. And yet after all these mighty Priviledges, you see what a sad dispersion hath been upon that Nation, for many hundreds of years already past and gone. Other Instances of the like nature might also be given, but I hasten to the Application of the Point.

And, First, Application to us of this Nation, since the Nations of the earth are either increased or destroyed, either in­larged or straitned, according as God pleases, 1. by way of In­struction. This may teach us of this Nation, to look sadly upon the business, and even to fear and tremble, lest after all our liftings up, there should yet be a casting down; lest after all these shakings of the Rod over us that are yet living, God should still go on to destroy us utterly, and even make us to be a perpetual desolation.

Who can tell, Rev. 2.5. whether the Candlestick [Page 20]may not yet be removed; Matth. 21.43. Whether the Kingdom of GOD may not yet be taken from us, and given to a Nation that will bring forth the fruits of it in a better maner then we have done; 1 Sam. 4.21. whether God may not yet write Ichabod upon all our present glory, and us sadly to sit down, and say, That it is quite departed from us. Evil sym­ptomes upon us of this Na­tion.

Give me leave to tell you, That there are at present three or four evil Symptomes upon us, which may cause us not onely to look sadly for a time, or to hang down the head like a bulrush for a day, Isa. 58.5. Micah 6.8. but to walk Humbly and Mournfully with our GOD. Evil sym­ptome, A Spi­rit of oppositi­on against goodness.

The first is, that old Spirit of opposition against holiness and goodness it self, that still remains amongst us, untaken away; not­withstanding all the late mighty pleadings of God with the Nation both by Word and Sword, it does not appear but that the hearts of the people are generally as much bent upon, and as violently carried after their old ways of Superstition, & Formality, and pro­faneness, [Page 21]and dedolency in holy performances, as ever they were; and as they of old, that were weary of the wilderness, and wish­ed themselves back again in Egypt, so do many now in effect speak the very same language, Let us make us a captain, Num. 14.4. and return into Egypt.

Secondly, Evil sym­ptome, Vn­thankfulness. Besides that old unsavory Spi­rit of Opposition against goodness, that still remains untaken away, Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris. Sen. we are deeply guilty of the sin of Vnthankfulness (a sin odious among the very Heathen) And be­cause we have not presently all we would have, like froward children, we are ready to throw away that which is in our hands already.

I shall briefly point at a threefold Vn­thankfulness, A threefold unthankfulne at this time amongst us: which mightily reigns amongst us at this time, and for which, we may justly fear sad and heavy things to come upon us, if not timely prevented.

The first is, 1. Mental. An inward mental unthank­fulness, as I may call it, which consists in a secret grudging, or repining at the very [Page 22] Providence of God himself, for ordering things as he pleases amongst us: The foolish­ness of man perverteth his way, Prov. 19.3. says Solomon, and his heart fretteth against the Lord: And this I am perswaded is a sin which many lie under, and yet feel not the weight of it; nay, they never so much as dream that they are under the guilt or weight of it: But the truth is, when we murmure at any thing that we conceive to be amiss, and are extremely discontented at it, and vexed at Instruments, and are continually minding the Burthens that are upon us, and in the mean time never consider what variety of Mercies we do enjoy: I say, that in all these murmurings, we shamefully o­verlook many thousands of Mercies, and we do secretly curse God in our hearts, or that hand of his Providence which wisely order things thus and thus unto us; and it may be for our good too, and for our greatest benefit: For, God delights many times to bring things about for the good of his peo­ple, in unknown ways, and in such methods as [Page 23]they have not yet been acquainted with: And do we well to murmure, or to be discon­tented at that whereby good is intended to us, and it may be a greater good then we can imagine?

Secondly, There is besides this, a verbal unthankfulness, whereby men do not onely grudge inwardly, 2. Verbal. at Divine Dispensa­tions and Providences of the Almighty, but openly profess a dislike of them; and say, That it was better with them former­ly then now, &c. But surely this is not right neither, this should not be the lan­guage of Christians, when burthens are upon them; discontented impatient lan­guage is then out of season: Eccles. 7.10. opened. Ecclesiastes 7.10. Say not thou, says Solomon there, that is, speak it not tumultuously, unquietly, dis­contentedly, say not thus, What is the cause that the former days were better then these? for says he, thou dost not enquire wisely concern­ing this.

Why not wisely? Not wisely, for this Reason, Because a wise man he will not only [Page 24]look upon things in their effects, but he will also consider them in their causes; Scire est per causas scire. and from thence he is always able to satisfie himself concerning the times.

For, O melibaee Deus nobis Haec otia fecit. Virg. Iob 34.29. if the times be good, the man of Wisdom he blesses God for making them so. And when others complain of bad times, and hard times, and dead times, yet he that is truly wise, — Ut penes te sit quovis tempore felicem esse mo­dò Pietati in cumbas. Cartw. in loc. vid. pl. ib. he can satisfie himself with this, That nothing can come amiss to him, in regard of his own parti­cular, but all maner of Providential Ad­ministrations, they shal some way or other work for his good, being one of those that love God, and that are effectually called, according to his purpose, Rom. 8.28. And when he hears others that are foolish, and that are unwise, to complain of the badness of the times, and of the hardness of the times, and of the deadness of the times, he wishes them seriously to consider their own estates and ways, and not to complain of the badness of the times, but of the badness of their own harts, that have made the times to be so bad; [Page 25]not to complain of the hardness of the times, but of the hardness of their own hearts, that have made the times to be so hard; not to complain of the deadness of the times, but of the deadness of their own hearts, that have made the times so dead; bad hearts make bad times, dead hearts, dead times, hard hearts, hard times. If mens hearts were good, then their lives would be good, and then the times would be good: But so long as mens hearts continue rotten and corrupt, and unsound inwardly, how can it in reason be expected, that the times should be better outwardly?

But Thirdly, 3. Real. there is yet a more desperate kinde of unthankfulness, then either of these, and that is real unthankfulness, when men are ready to put forth their hands unto wickedness, and to joyn with evil doers, to comply with workers of iniquity, thereby to help themselves out of pretended straits and troubles; which is a marvellous strange kinde of distemper, to be so angry, and vexed, and discontented at present providential Administra­tions, [Page 26]as to think, That Satan and his Agents, Antichrist and his followers, would be more faithful amongst us, and more helpful to us, then God and his people are: And yet I wish we had not cause to say, That even this Abomination also is now to be found, and indeed too palpably to be seen a­mongst us.

There is yet another thing, Evil sym­ptome, Spirit of Division. that looks upon us very sadly; and that is, the di­vided heart and Spirit that is amongst us, and every body almost striving as it were to widen the Breach, and either very few, or no body studying to heal the Breach: A di­vided Kingdom cannot stand, Matth. 12.25. says Christ; and this we know to be our own case; and yet we lay it not to heart as we should do, nei­ther say we one to another in our private consultations and meetings, How shall the sad breaches of the City and Kingdom be healed, that yet there may be a lengthning out of our tran­quility: Every one talks of the Malady, and too many there be that fret, and fume, and storm at it, but few there be that think of [Page 27]any Remedy against this Malady of Distraction, that it may not prove Destruction to us all.

But will ye suffer a few words, by way of humble Advice and Counsel, Inference by way of Ad­vice and Counsel. con­cerning that which may do us good, through the blessing of heaven upon it.