■ifrtllan?, 
 
 THECENT1NEL. 
 
 v was wrote and published imrr.e- 
 >.ao, i 760, an ! is now 
 • late Cauft-igratiou ] 
 
 Tf human life, the tranfitory nature 
 ! klesofthis prehnt Hate of being 
 and poilVthons in it, are truths fo 
 . mw\i to every ihnug' tful perfuh.arii have fo ofu <* 
 i :.':..- ii writers i 1 all ages, that the 
 
 . . perhaps fcarcl.fi ;id any thing ricifr 
 Mafia with ftljuc^ance undertakes 
 
 • . . \ ^i i'.c ! < is the t"r..il: v of human nature, that 
 a I'w.lvl- n Catafcrophe in noun .is us the mind Uflat- 
 
 k tVted, and devs not readily collet^ thofe 
 
 ible to the occafion, or elie by having 
 
 & fuch rcfl;cVi >ns. from a conception 
 
 ' jy mufl needs flow naturally from fuel) calamities 
 
 :e tir:m, the mi::d through -ufafc, may 
 
 conceive them when wanted. It is 
 
 . ce of nature has always bsen t)xc fame, 
 
 ■ itinually (bunding, and understood by all ; yet 
 
 • to fay, what we hear the oftcneft, v\'e attend to 
 
 i 1 what we ai e the rrnft certain of, we give 
 ft heed to ; hut there are tirrv-S when g>> n.1 pre,-;-. 
 fends a loader fummonsby th.-* ftra&?les of natorej 
 and proclaim* thofer truths, whichtho^^h they could not ' 
 
 • -:;e imp >ri mcc of tiki, natuft, yet may force 
 : ■ '. I by rojziug the pafDons ; but here frailty a- 
 
 g-\ia tak.es> place", from extreme ^houghtleflneTs, tk'e pat 
 .. rotizcdj we n'Oi <in to confufjtVn and error ; : 
 owing carelcfs by a long calm, we ffeei; by th.e i 
 •i, inftsnd of the crimpafs of ci-ndei ilanding, 
 ' the port of truth, aud negligent of thofe du- 
 i which tiu paffi ms were only designed to urge c . 
 To poinj foith and f iroilimife tliefe truth', has been the 
 well h indled fubje£i of the bell write** ; but while na- 
 ontip jcs to fu*n non, and t!ie wifdom of her voice 
 any nuenfure negle&ed, the theme ennnot be 
 exbaafted, nor the repetition of it neillefs. 
 rlltefe pads, lhh> ElTiy is prefented to the public 
 . .f it pafs under the ju Igmcnt of aide minus, they 
 jfee in any truth, and .at ler-.fi n.ny from hence 
 It for nobler thoughts."; bende-;, .there is a fat- 
 >u we ill feel in saving vent to the thrtfb&jrigs of 
 
 • md in collecting to fpme order, thofe tjiov.ghts 
 : through the mind or. fuch occafirfns. 
 
 then he '.he apology ; but if fXift any one 
 
 ceofui .* m? for treading in thij unacquftoroed path 
 
 , I ruuft onittho difpute and (often ntyfelfh'*- 
 
 , 'he horrors of £ hat never to be forgotrcn night, When 
 
 ■ - • on our hcufc, and hud fo large a 
 
 capita! in rhns: I am fcnfible that painted 
 
 - re it furrow, and are never to be ufed 
 
 • c paflions r.re fluggpth j r.nd therefore paf- 
 ; ■• ■' '• •■ fi ' for description, which the late 
 
 itafknaphe afror H, fhfdl confine myfelf to thofe 
 i no holy jhonld be igiqrant of, and 
 body nvifl ne^dsbe affeclod. 
 
It was then in the firft Watch's s of the mnrmng, v> hen 
 ©iti* bodies were f*ft fettered with found eft fleep, that 
 x'ie five was firft difcove'red, and the town alarmed with 
 ftn out-cry ; the inhabitants were fpeedily collecfed, 2nd 
 though the fire was found in the cellar of a brick houfe, 
 yet it foon eat through its prifoti ; the wind blowing 
 frefh urged on the flames, and with furprifittg fury they 
 ravaged in fpite of all opposition or means to fopprefs 
 ihsm ; the cinders and burning ruins were carried to the 
 leewardmoft part of the town, by means of which fome 
 who thought themfelves in no dagger, were the fconeft 
 confumed, and the inhabitants of them being gathered to 
 aftift at the he id of the fire,fuffered the greateftloffes at 
 their, own houfes j the like evil happened to numbers of 
 tradefmen, whofe fnops iverefo quick fuel fofthe flames, 
 that their tools and ftock were .all confumed before they 
 could repair to them ; in fome places we heard the i 
 jhricks of mothers and children rouzed from their beds I 
 l>y the furrounding flames, and no man to. help ; here j 
 'we might behold the aged, thefick and the bed. rid, whofe \ 
 (.hdance from the feat of tfita fire gave them hopes of fe- 
 c/.rity, driven forth to Che inclemencies of the weatheiyiot 
 knowing where to fhelter; there we might feethofs 
 whofe leaft thoughts were placed on their fubftance, 
 and whofe greateft anxiety was to fave their lives : Thus 
 raged this fire, forcing its way at the windows of brick 
 houfes, whofe flatecl roofs were thought a fuifi.-ient de- 
 fence, thui adding burning to burning, till it left no 
 building unconfumed where the wind would let it pa fo 
 The natural horrors of the night added terror to this 
 cataftrophsj and at once rendered it more difnial to the 
 eye, more grevious to be born, and more difficult to be 
 faprelfed, till the odious night wore out, and with it 
 ranifhsd the height of our f^ars ; hut not (i the reality 
 of our forrow, t!ie rifen fun afiuaged the gloom of the 
 night, but gave us a difmal profpec! of its havock 5 a 
 foeftacle mocking to fenfibility ! Like the blafted trees 
 
 »f fummer, or the fkeleton of fome delightful bodv 
 
 yet 
 
 far lefs ungrateful to the fight than forrowfu! to be re- 
 flected on. Take a furvey then of thefe extended ruins , 
 here once lived the loyal fubjedt, the tender father, 
 t.lie obliging friend, awe! a goad commonwealths-man; 
 but their habitations, as with one fweep .of a fey the, are 
 all cut off, and they thrown on the charity o'f their 
 friends : And is this all ? Alas there aieilill more, heari- 
 jnercing-fcer.es ; walk througli the ruin?, and take a 
 n-.ore particular account ; here lived the laborious tradef- 
 maaj on whofe daily induftry depended the fuftenance 
 of a iHimerous family ; there lived one whofe citcum- 
 ltances were ftraitened with poverty, and diftreffed by 
 ficknei's ; here lived one juft eKiCfgjrig i\QW indigence, 
 .and reapingthe firft fruits of honeft mduiTry ; there lived 
 tbofe whofe comfoi table circumrtances afforded a refuge 
 for the needy, and an habitation fot the friendlefs ; here 
 lived th:>fe whofe fabfiftence depended on their fituation i 
 for bafuiefs ; fhere lived thole whole all was in their 
 houfes, and here thofe who are ftill unhappily aafwera- 
 nle for all they loft ; there lived, and there was the fub- 
 fiftence of th« aged and infirm, whofe frugal induftry in 
 youth, had procured them the merited fupport of eafy 
 old age, when the body unftrung for labor can no longer fup- 
 port vtfelf- — But all cut off, their induftry appears no more, 
 and the fatigues of youth overtakes them, when age fhould 
 be at reft ; the children muft bug, and the indubious 
 rnuft be dependent, the forehanded repeat his toil anew, 
 and the debtor lay at mercv ; the friendlefs rnuft feek 
 for other patrons, and they who patronized implore coin- 
 pafuon ; the affluent aged muft forget their eafe, and 
 too foon lofe the bench: of that fabftance which they 
 could not carry hence. 
 
 E % 
 
 i* rt*g = 
 
 ^ P s — '7- 
 
 £ 1 1 '•£ - 8 
 
 c ~ 2 c > ~ 
 
 - C = <L> _c ~ 5 
 « .- s. « b — — 
 
 3 _y o ~ ~ 
 
 ~£lf 
 
 3 _y 
 
 "S O "5 
 
 — 02 
 < = 
 
 v ~> 1 
 
 E 7 " 
 
 I r- <Z >. 
 
 
? cx- 
 !-.c worldly 
 Kind them ? 
 
 "•S to 
 tlS and 
 it.)' ni- 
 ce! tun atenure we hoi 
 
 e we 
 
 fthe wind that it did 
 
 I -An. With 
 
 fhift the fccna arm foppofe - 
 
 : diftr< fled ; v. . 
 
 • prOtc&e* us ! And if 
 
 •. ; being Co 
 
 . ■ • |f c with fympathy ? and 
 
 benevolent appli- 
 
 ble ;r: :it now feel it, and the n.oft 
 
 I he who on this oc^a- 
 
 illy in the relief oftha imme- 
 
 fl .tur I iffcfelf with fon-.c pe- 
 
 iHible protection, or being defperate in 
 
 r.cd, biJ a bold defiance to all calamity. Nor 
 
 not immediately cxpofed to this 
 
 .. m this Capital, f.nmife that 
 
 ■ivcnopyi :r. its general admonition ; 'tis nature's 
 
 el! 1 .11 herald of the Almighty which 
 
 I iere, yet echoes every where ; 'tis 
 
 i of that amazing fcourge, brandifhed by tlte 
 
 ■• a guilty world ; the famu fire 
 
 at land which it does not confume, ami 
 
 ition worfe than the prefent; 
 
 imon ten?."ts of a ftats variegated 
 
 '• natural v. c fhOutd in 
 
 .re the good of it which We all want, 
 
 :.d to the tvih. of it, under 
 
 v. . d . 
 
 [lit arifes ! cap. it with truth be 
 
 th«l any i.i human fhape, though their da!',y fdppar.t 
 
 k foi the CDnfuflonoJ a public calara* 
 
 •rty of the d i ftrefled ; or that any 
 
 - beration, u^on whatloevei; pretence, Ihould ei- 
 
 ir.teoance that relief to (he 
 
 all arfo.ne time want,and which hu- 
 
 n ! 
 
 rs, forrow on every fide 
 
 I tails for ihofe duties which we he I im- 
 
 .riesfu endeliably engraven, th t a 
 
 inp do we more imrnitate the ithmor- 
 
 than io doing »€ts of Iri-dncfs," the voice of rcve- 
 
 explicit, and fo plain, that Ic who run* 
 
 PotTcflions take to thesnfelves win??,; to what 
 
 we diilrrfs, perplex and corrupt our 
 
 :alth, the po&flion of which is fo preca- 
 
 ih what f.icc can w: Iwell with the conceit of riches 
 
 • importance, Ciflai-, rpprris, rnd ty.-ar.- 
 
 -eail. us (perhtps only] in fortune, wl.cn a 
 
 ur» may fet us all on a lev;! } Hcwmucb does it become 
 
 e to drmesn cuil'elves with lu< h honefty, 
 
 rfceence, a that if calamity ihould oyer- 
 
 n'ciTcdly the worthy objects of need- 
 
 ■ Irophe is big with in(iru<ftion, 
 
 rebavock produced from fo fmaU « 
 
 . we owe to the community in 
 
 but Jevourine elemnt, an.i kA 
 
 fi:cl fcr thefasM ? for as our pof« 
 
 etc rjrrtj ne'e, the duty 
 
 ' may 1 b»- p-i :.-.itted totuhc a 
 
 itioti, and point it forth aj an 
 
 l fr v hich the path.; ; whea I i icofc 
 
 w hen the fir ft r ■ - r f, i? no t lun. 
 
 rwge.increift by runainp.i^d 
 
 em the mind ; may eittiri |y 
 
 re which only can ft, n d ui ii 
 
 1 fcltC this earth, when vvc 
 ' ''vr our liver, is rr.any latelv 
 
Dr. Mayhew's 
 
 TWO 
 
 Thankfgiving 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 December 9 th - 1762. 
 
// 
 
 T W O 
 
 SERMONS 
 
 On the Nature, Extent and Perfe&ion 
 of the Divine Goodnefs. 
 
 Delivered December 9. 1762, 
 Being the 
 
 Annual THANKSGIVING 
 
 Of the Province, 8cc. 
 
 On PSALM 145. 9: 
 
 Published with feme Enlargements. 
 
 By Jonathan Mayhem^ D. D. 
 
 Pallor of the Weft Church in Bojlon. 
 
 BOSTON: N. E. 
 
 Printed and Sold by D. and J. Kneeland, oppofitc 
 to the Probate-Office,, in Queen-Street. 1 763. 
 
Sermon I. 
 
 Of the Nature, Extent and Per- 
 fection of GOD's Goodnefs. 
 
 PSALM CXLV. 9. 
 
 THE LORD is good to all ; 
 his tender Mercies are over al 
 Works. 
 
 and 
 l his 
 
 §£0!|O great variety either of fubjedt or fen- 
 timent, can well be expected in fermons 
 on thefe common annual occafions. A 
 minifter who has preached on them fta- 
 (gs|| tedly twice a-day, in the lame place, for 
 fifteen or fixteen years fucceiHvely,wiil probably have 
 little or nothing that is new, to gratify the curiofity 
 of his hearers. Neither is this what he ought chiefly 
 to aim at, or they to defire, at any time j particularly 
 not on fuch occafions as the prefent. 
 
 A 
 
6 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 A day of religions thankfgiving, calls for fin cere 
 gratitude, love and praiie to almighty God, with 
 hearty refolutions, by his grace aflifting, to make a 
 proper return to him for all his benefits & unmerited 
 favors, by obeying his commandments, and living to 
 his glory. The divine goodt-jess is, accordingly, a 
 fubjedt to which One's thoughts ought to be, and are 
 naturally turned, on fuch occafions. This can never 
 be an unfutable fubjec% whatever be the more fpecial 
 ground of our thankfulnefs •, fince we can enjoy no 
 good, whether public and common, or private and 
 perfonal, whether pertaining to the preftnt life, .or to 
 the future, but what flows from the fame eternal and 
 inexhauftible fountain of divine goodnefs. " Every 
 " good gift, and every perfect, gift, is from above, 
 " and cometh down from the Father of lights, with 
 " whom is ho variablenefs, neither madow of turn- 
 <c ing."* A clay of thankfgiving cannot, indeed, be 
 properly obferved at any time, unlefs the meditations 
 of the worfhippers are in a great meafure, if not prin- 
 cipally, employed upon this divine attribute, and the 
 manifeftatiGns of it in and towards the works of 
 God. 
 
 It is therefore fuppofed that no apology needs to 
 be made, for the choice of fo common a fubjecl or 
 text, as that which Ijuftnow mentioned •, even tho' 
 1 mould have formerly difcourfed upon the fame 
 words, as 1 may have done, but am uncertain. My 
 method of treating the fubiect at prefent, however, 
 will at leaff. be different : Which is mentioned to 
 obviate the prejudices of fome perfons, who cannot, 
 perhaps, at ail relifh a fermon the fecond time, which 
 they might not have wholly difapproved of the 
 firft. 
 
 Let 
 * James I. 17. 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 7 
 
 Let me add, that I have a farther defign at pre- 
 fers, in the choice of this fubject, than merely to 
 lead you to fuch refle&ions on the divine goodnefs, 
 as may be particularly iu table to this occafion. I 
 have it in my view, by God's help, to give you 
 fuch a reprefenration and idea of his goodnefs, as 
 ought to be habitual to you ; to animate your 
 piety, to fupport and rejoice your hearts at all 
 times, and to have a powerful influence on your 
 whole lives. Right conceptions, I mean rational and 
 truly fcriptural ones, of God's adorable attributes, are 
 the foundation of all true religion. And thefe con- 
 ceptions, if, initead of floating in the brain, they fink 
 into the heart, and are formed into a fixed principle 
 there, called Faith in the language of fcripture ; 
 are really the fubftance of religion, and not mere- 
 ly the foundation of it, as being necelTary in order 
 thereto. No man that has thefe conceptions of, or 
 is thus rightly and habitually affected towards God, 
 as being what he is, can pofiibly live a wicked life. 
 He will as certainly bring forth good things out of 
 this good treafure in his heart, as a good tree will 
 bear good fruit in the feafon. And this will be at 
 once delightful to himfelf, and pleafing and honarary 
 to God. We mall then indeed, and not till then, 
 " offer up fpiritual iacrilices, acceptable to God by 
 " Jefus Chrift :" Who has himfelf laid, " Herein is 
 " my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit \ io 
 *' fhall ye be my difcipies." 
 
 What has now been obferved concerning the at- 
 tributes of God in general, is very particularly and 
 efpeciaily true of his goodnefs. A fcriptural idea or 
 conception of, and a firm faith in ic, habitual to the 
 mind, thro 5 the influences of the Spirit of grace, will 
 be at once the fource of great peace and comfort to 
 ourfelves, of hope and confidence towards God, of 
 holinefs in life, of happinefs in death, and like 
 
8 Of the Extent and PerfeElion 
 
 " a well of living water within us, fpringing up into 
 " everlafting life :" 'As our Lord faid of " the water 
 " which he mould give." Which the evangelift ex- 
 plains by faying, " This he fpake of the fpirit which 
 " they that believe on hirn fhould receive." Let all 
 then, not only believe, but, in the language of fcrip^ 
 ture, " tafte and fee, that the Lord is good ;" with- 
 out fear that they may err by thinking him better, 
 or more extenfively good, gracious and merciful than 
 he actually is. This is impoffible. For if we can 
 believe thofe holy men who fpake, wrote and pro- 
 phefied as they were moved by the Holy Ghofl - 9 or, 
 in other words, if we can believe God himfelf, who 
 " cannot lie," The Lord is indeed " good to 
 " all ; and his tender mercies are over all 
 " his works !" — And, furely, no One's ideas can 
 exceed, no One's conceptions go beyond, fuch a 
 goodnefs and mercy as this ; a goodnefs, which is it- 
 ielf without meafure, without bounds ; eternal, un- 
 limited, immutable goodnefs •, and a mercy, that is 
 from everlafting to everlafting. Your moft exalted 
 ideas will fall far below this goodnefs. Man that is 
 a worm, tho' he may have feme general and juft, can 
 yet have no adequate, no perfect conception of it •, 
 which is true of this, in common with the other at- 
 tributes of God, which are all infinite ; and therefore 
 not to be comprehended by the high e ft angels, thofe 
 heavenly minifters, who, as a flame of fire, do his 
 will with alacrity and ardor, hearkening unto 
 the voice of his word. Canft thou then, a mortal 
 man, C4 find out the Almighty unto perfection !" Can 
 thy conceptions rife lo high as his goodnefs ! " It is 
 " as high as heaven, what canft thou do ? Deeper 
 " than hell, what canft thou know ? The meafure 
 " thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than 
 " the fea ! " * 
 
 That 
 * Job XI. 7 ? 8 3 9, 
 
vf GOD's Goodmfs* g 
 
 That the true fcriptural doctrine of God's good- 
 xiefs, may be abufed and perverted •, that there is 
 great danger of this •, yea, that it is actually per- 
 verted and abufed by many, to the molt impious 
 and deftructive purpofes ; all this, I fay, is very 
 readily allowed. But what follows from hence ? 
 that it mould not be preached to the world ? But: 
 why then, preach the gofpel to the world ? Is not 
 that perverted and abufed alfo ? Indeed the gofpel 
 itfelf cannot be preached as it ought to be ; — as jefus 
 Chrht and his apofiles themfelves preached it, with- 
 out preaching, at the fame time, the boundlefs good- 
 nefs of God. Wrong inferences from, and perver- 
 lions of the truth, ought indeed, as far as may be, 
 to be guarded againft. But the truth, efpecially the 
 moft important and glorious truths, ought not to be 
 even fuppiefTed, and much leis denied, left bad mea 
 ihould abufe them. The total fuppreiiion, at leaft 
 the denial of them, in thofe whofe bufinefs it is to 
 declare the truth, is as criminal, in my opinion, as 
 any perverfion of them by their hearers could poffibly 
 be. If any will, thro' the wickednefs of their hearts, 
 " wreft" this doctrine,, as they fometimes alio " do 
 " the other fcriptures," it will be " to their own 
 " definition" But I humbly hope in God, that ic 
 v/ili not be to mine 9 to preach any doctrine contained 
 in his holy word ; and particularly this, " That the 
 " Lord is good to all •, and his tender mercies. 
 " over all his works :" Which, my honored and 
 beloved hearers, 1 mail, in his fear, or rather in 
 his love, endeavour more diftinctly to explain 
 to you. 
 
 It will b^ proper, 
 
 I. To make fome obfervacions On the good nefs 
 X)f God in general. 
 
 B II. To 
 
io Of the Extent and PerfeEiion 
 
 II. To confider the extent and perfection of if, 
 according to the reprefentation in the text : Wherein 
 the Lord is declared to be " good to all," &c. 
 
 III. To take a curfory notice of fome of the prin- 
 cipal objections againit the divine goodnefs. And, 
 
 IV. To make fome application of the fubjecl:, by 
 Reminding you of the great goodnefs of God to Us, 
 both in temporal and fpiritual relpecls -, and by fuch 
 inferences and reflections, as may at once tend to 
 the honor of God, and Ihew what influence the con- 
 fideration of his goodnefs ought to have upon our 
 hearts and manners. Let me then, 
 
 I. Make fome obfervations on the goodnefs of 
 God in general. And here, 
 
 i. By the gpodnefs of God is primarily intended 
 the kindnefs, benevolence and bounty of his nature 9 
 or goodnefs as it is an attribute, or property, inherent 
 in, and ejfential to him. All beings whatfoever, exirt 
 after fome determinate manner, having certain attri- 
 butes, qualities or properties inherent in them, which 
 make them to be what they are. This is equally 
 true of all beings without exception,whether animate 
 or inanimate, rational or irrational, created or in- 
 created. We cannot fpeak, or think of any 
 particular being or thing, but as it exifts, or is fup- 
 pofed to exift, under certain determinate properties, 
 which diftinguifh it from all others. For no man, 
 furely, can conceive of any thing abftracted from, or 
 ftripped of, all its known properties, qualities and 
 attributes ; which are its efTe/ice, or all that is known 
 of it. Derived, dependent beings are, indeed, mu- 
 table or changeable as to their properties. They 
 may either lofe fome which they originally had, or 
 receive others which they had not j and yet, in com- 
 mon 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs. i % 
 
 mon. language, remain the fame. And whatfoever 
 may be thus toft, or acquired, is confidered as an 
 accident^ or a non-effential property, in con trad ifti net- 
 ion from thofe which cannot be loft without the de- 
 itrucYion of the being itfelf ; and which are therefore 
 called its ejfential properties, as being neceifary to its 
 very exiftence. 
 
 But in God, of whom we ought ever to think and 
 ■fpeak with the profoundeft reverence : In God, I 
 fay, there is no fuch diftincliion, or diftnbution of at- 
 tribute?, into effential and non-efiential, In him 
 nothing, whether power, knowledge or goodnefs, or 
 any other quality, is accidental or adventitious, ac- 
 quired or derived from without." " For who hath 
 *' firft given unto him !" All is eternal, all effential, 
 all equally neceffary : And nothing that is fo, can 
 ever be loft. And if God can neither acquire any 
 property or attribute, which did not originally and 
 neceffarily belong to him as part of his efTence, nor 
 lofe any thing which did, he is of confequence, in the 
 ftricteft fenfe, as the fcriptures exprefs it, " without 
 " variablenefs, or hhadow of turning y — wholly and 
 abfolutely, necefTarily and immutably the fame, even 
 " from everlafting to everlafting." Accordingly, 
 whenGod is fpoken of as good, the primary meaning 
 is, that he is fo in his very nature, or eftentially good ; 
 as necefTarily & effentially good, as he is eternal,wife, 
 powerful or omniprefent : And confequently, equal- 
 ly good at all times, and in all parts of the univerfe ; 
 tho' the appearances, or manifestations of his good- 
 nefs are, indeed, very various, as they muft needs be, 
 if there is a great variety of creatures produced in 
 time, to behold, or to partake of his goodnefs. But 
 of the extent of God's goodnefs hereafter : At pre- 
 fent it is confidered only in general, as one of his 
 effential attribures, or as a property of his nature, 
 equally underived and unalienable *, no borrowed or 
 B 2 precarious 
 
12 Of the Extent and PerfeElion 
 
 precarious excellency, as the goodnefs of men and 
 angels is iii them, but as neceiiary as his being. In- 
 deed, One need not fcruple to call it a fart of God 
 himfeif, only as there may be an impropriety in that 
 manner of expreffion concerning the infinite God, in 
 all other refpe&s in general : But it is no doubt as 
 truly and as properly & part of him, as any other di- 
 vine perfection, 
 
 2. The goodnefs of God comprehends his btnefi- 
 e:ence, or his good and bountiful affs, as well as the 
 goodnefs of his nature. All beings act, at lead in 
 general, according to their refpective natures, or the 
 qualities inherent in them. And if the greatGod be, 
 iuppofed to be effentially good, it is hardly, if at all 
 fuppofeable, that he mould not alfo do good : 1 ho' 
 to fay, it was or is neceilary for him to do it, 
 would be an improper way of fpeaking •, llnce 
 we very feldom, if ever, fpeak of what is done by 
 choice, or with defign, as done neceiTariiy. Be that 
 as it may, flill this diftinclion betwixt the goodnefs 
 of God in his nature, or as it is an attribute inherent 
 in him, and his goodnefs as manifested in his works 
 or doings, is by no means an mfignificant and un- 
 icriptural one, like many others in common ufe ; and 
 more eipecially with reference to religious fubjecls, 
 where fuch trifling is the mod inexcufeable. " Thou 
 " art good," fays the royal Pfalmift, " and doeft 
 cc good." 1 he fame diftin&ion frequently occurs in 
 the holy fcriptures. j^\nd indeed, what is more na- 
 tural, than from contemplating goodnefs in its fource, 
 to defcend in our thoughts to the apparent effects of 
 it in the works and providence of God ? Or, on the 
 other hand, whrat is more natural, than from confi- 
 dering the effects of divine goodnefs and mercy, 
 which we either experience or behold, or rather both, 
 to afcend in our imaginations to that foun- 
 tain of goodnefs in the divine nature itfelf, from 
 whence they Row ? I'A 
 
of GOD'S Goodnefs. J 3 
 
 It is by what creatures do, that we form the beft 
 and fureft judgment of their natures, qualities and 
 difpofitions reflectively. For we have not the faculty 
 of looking immediately at the heart or fpirit, and 
 feeing what is therein, as God does, clearly, perfecrly,, 
 and without the leaft difficulty : A faculty, however^ 
 which fome orders of creatures above us, may in a de- 
 gree he poiiciil-d of, tho' not of omnifcience. Nay, 
 we know that God has, on certain occafion&, endowed 
 even men with this faculty. For the " difcerning 
 " of fpirits" was one of the miraculous powers con- 
 ferred on the apoftles, and, moil probably, on fome 
 other chriftians in the apoftolic age. But,as was faid 
 before, we judge of the internal characters and qua- 
 lities of other men, chiefly at leaft by what they do ; 
 by their actions and conduct. And this is one way 
 in which we arrive at the knowledge of the divine 
 goodnefs. God " doeth good y and therefore we 
 juilly infer that he cc is good," even effentially fo. 
 This way of reafoning is at once ccnclufive and plain, 
 being accommodated to people of all capacities in 
 general. But I am far from faying or thinking, that 
 this is the only method of attaining to the know- 
 ledge of God's goodnefs. On the contrary, the di- 
 vine goodnefs admits of firict demonftration, a priori, 
 to fpeak in the language of metaphyficians. And 
 tho' this latter kind of reafoning & proof, is much lefs 
 adapted to the underilandings of people in general, 
 than the former •, yet it has its ufes, and is really o£ 
 vail importance. Yea, in fome cafes it is much the 
 beft, and moil convincing, to thofe who are accuftom- 
 cd to fpeculations of this nature. So that tho' it is 
 not fo proper to be introduced into a common popu- 
 lar difcourie, as the other ; yet it is by no means to 
 be given up as unfolid, or inconclufive. Which is 
 what would, to be lure, highly gratify men of a fcep- 
 tical turn -, who might Matter themfelves, that if this 
 argument were out of the wajr, they could find ob- 
 jections 
 
14 Of the Extent and Perfection 
 
 je<5lions enough againft the vifible, apparent works of 
 God, to diiprove the elTentiai goodnefs of his nature, 
 or at lead to make others very dubious about it. 
 
 The reafon why I do not mention revelation as a 
 ftridt, proper proof of the divine goodnefs, is this : 
 That none who believe the fcriptures pretend to 
 doubt of it, however wrong their conceptions, in 
 fome refpecls, may be concerning it. And to pro- 
 duce the teftimony of fcripture in the cafe, could 
 anfwer no end with thofe who difbelieve and deny 
 their authority. It may be added, that whofoever 
 believes any thing to be true, upon the teftimony or 
 authority of God fpeaking in his holy word, pre- 
 fuppofes him to be good, and to be before proved 
 fo, by arguments of another kind. For veracity, or 
 truth, is certainly one branch of goodnefs. If God 
 were not good, he might deceive his creatures, and 
 delight therein. He that fuppofes any thing is actu- 
 ally true, merely becaufe God hath declared it, " hath 
 " let to his feal that God is true." He takes it for 
 granted herein, that God himfeif is a moft faith- 
 ful, and therefore a good being ; not a falfe or evil 
 One, or One of a jufrly fufpecled character. For, 
 upon the impious fuppofition of his being fo, who 
 could rely upon — who believe his own word ? even 
 tho' the " Lord fpake face to face unto him, as a 
 man fpeaketh unto his friend £ and as he is faid to 
 have fpoken to Mofes. * 
 
 3. The goodnefs of God, as it is a property of his 
 nature, fhould always be coniidered as infeparabiy 
 connected with his wifdom •, and regulated thereby 
 in all its operations. It is not to be confidered as a 
 fort of blind inflincl, or good-nature, detached from 
 reafon and right, or a regard to fitnefs and propriety. 
 The goodneis of God is not limply a difpofition ia 
 
 hi$ 
 f Exod. XXXIII. II. 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs. 13 
 
 nis nature to do good, uncontrolled, undirected by 
 wifdom i fimilar to what is obferved in fome of his 
 creatures in certain inftances. Infinite wifdom, or 
 the moft consummate, the mod perfect reafon, is in- 
 diiTolubly connected with goodnefs in the great God : 
 And the former is, undoubtedly, if One may fo ex- 
 prefs it, the leading, regulating, and all-directing 
 attribute of his nature -, in fuch fort, that there are 
 no exertions of mere power, or of mere goodnefs and 
 benevolence in him ; but every thing rhat is done 
 by him, is done according to rhe immutable rule of 
 wifdom, or perfect reafon ; of which He himfelf, and 
 only He, is in all cafes an adequate judge. If God 
 be indeed an infinitely knowing, reafonable, and wife 
 being \ it is furely no prefumption to fay, and even 
 a duty firmly to believe, that he never, in any cafe 
 whatever, acts unreafonably, or unwifely. And if 
 this be the cafe, as, I fuppofe, is univerfally acknow- 
 ledged in words at leaft, by all profeffed chrifhans ; 
 what was faid above, undeniably follows ; viz. that: 
 none of the actions of the great God, are merely and 
 folely the exertions either of power or of goodnefs - s 
 but all conducted by a wifdom that cannot err. 
 
 It is well for the creatures of God, for the whole 
 creation,that this is the cafe. For,in fo wide-extend- 
 ed, not to fay boundiefs an univerfe of things, fo 
 various and complicated, what might be the confe- 
 quence — 1 fpeak it with reverence and awe — 
 what might be the confluence of omnipotence ex- 
 erting and giving a-loofe to itfelf, without wifdom to 
 direct its operations ! Yea,what might be the confe- 
 quence, if goodnefs or benevolence itfelf, accom- 
 panied with irrefiftible power, but not under the 
 conduct of wifdom, were to exert itfelf in the ma- 
 nagement of fo various, extended and complicated a 
 fyftem ? What diforders and confufions ? what 
 dreadful confequences might naturally be expected 
 
 from 
 
16 Of thz Extent and Perfection 
 
 from the exertions of omnipotence without wifdom-, 
 even tho' it were accompanied by fuch a blind, iii- 
 Jtinctive benevolence as that fpoken of above ? What 
 mifchiefs and miferies do we often fee produced in 
 this world, by weak mortal men that mean well, but 
 have little or none of that wifdom which is " profi- 
 table to direct," to regulate their benevolent in- 
 tentions ? How often do very kind parents deflroy 
 their children, even by their kindnefs itfelf, for want 
 of reafon and difcretion proportioned thereto ? What 
 prodigious mifchiefs are fometimes produced, almoit 
 to the deftruction of whole countries, kingdoms and 
 mighty empires, by well-intention'd governors, kings 
 and emperors, who really jegard the people under 
 them with a paternal affection •, but yet want wifdom 
 adequate to their high ftations,&the bufinefs of ruling 
 and directing nations ? From hence we may in feme 
 nieafure conjecture, if we are not afraid even to think, 
 what might be the confequence of boundlefs power, 
 tho' accompanied with univerfal benevo!ence,but not 
 adequate wifdom, exerting itfelf at once thro'out the 
 unherfe. The very tho't is fufneient to fill One with 
 dread and terror ! 
 
 It may admit of fome doubt, whether the effects 
 of benevolence thus exerted by an almighty Being 
 deftitute of wifdom, might not be near as fatal to 
 the univerfe in the end, as pofitive malevolence, ill- 
 will and cruelty, exerted after the fame manner. For 
 even in this latter cafe, fome good might polfibly be 
 done, contrary to the intention of the doer ; as evil 
 would certainly be done contrary thereto,in the former 
 cafe. I do not indeed afTert, that the mifchiefs pro- 
 duced on the former fuppofition, would be equally 
 great with thofe done in the latter. But, that they 
 mud needs be very great and terrible, is obvious. 
 What would become of laws, orcter and, in a word, 
 of good government, without wildorrt to conftitute 
 
 them 
 
of GOUs Goodnefs. 17 
 
 them at firft, and to fupport them afterwards ? Every 
 thing of this fort, on which the good of che univerfe 
 efTen dally depends, mult foon come to an end, if he 
 that rules it were not wife, as well as good and power- 
 ful : Or, which comes nearly to the tame thing, if 
 he did not govern wifely. For there is no material 
 dirTerence,as to the effects and confequernces, in thefe 
 fuppofed cafes, betwixt not having, and not exercifing 
 wifdom. What is not ufed, is as nothing : He thac 
 has wifdom, but does not employ it in what he does 
 (tho' this very fuppufition feems abfurd in itfelfj will 
 act altogether as wrong and irrationally, as if he had 
 none. And a blind man will find his way thro* an 
 unknown country, altogether as well as one that has 
 good eyes, but will not ufe them. We have there- 
 fore, as was intimated before, the greater!: reafon to 
 rejoice, when we reflect that the goodnefs of almighty 
 God, is neceffarily and immutably connected with 
 unerring wifdom •, always directed thereby in its ope- 
 rations ; never exerted without it, and much lefs 
 contrary to it \ which it were blafphemous to flip- 
 pofe. It is becaufe the Lord of hofts is fo " wonder- 
 " ful in counfel," that he is fo " excellent in work- 
 " ing." * 
 
 4. The goodnefs of God is what all men are nearly 
 toncerned and interefied in. It is perhaps, ftnctly 
 fpeaking, the moil amiable of the divine perfections ; 
 fince God may be loved on account of it, without 
 particularly taking his other attributes into confide- 
 ration, in a manner in which he cannot be loved for 
 any of the reft, without the confideration of this. 
 Even wicked men may think with fome fort of plea- 
 fure, on that goodnefs of God which they abufe ; 
 tho' the thought of his other attributes rather mi- 
 nifters difquietude and terror to them, than comfort 
 and delight. If it were proper to make any com- 
 C panfon 
 
 f Ifai. 28. 29. 
 
1 8 Of the Extent and Perfection 
 
 parifon betwixt the divine attributes, or to fay that 
 one of them is more glorious than another, mankind 
 in general, to before, would not hefitate much at 
 calling this the moil glorious. In a relative con- 
 fideration of them, this might not, perhaps, be juftly 
 liable to any exception. Indeed, God himfelf leems 
 to allow us toconfider his goodnefs in this view •, or 
 as having, with reference to us, a peculiar prehemi- 
 nence and glory. For divine revelation dwells much 
 longer upon, and treats far more fully and diftinctly 
 of this attribute of God, and the various manifefta- 
 tions thereof in his works and providence, and par- 
 ticularly in the redemption of the world by his Son, 
 than of any of his other perfections, tho' all glorious 
 and adoreable. It is alio worthy of particular obfer- 
 vation, as, indeed it has often been remarked, that 
 when Mofes befought God to manifeft his glory to 
 him, faying, " I beleech thee, fhew me thy glory •," 
 the anfwer which he received was, " I will make all 
 " my goodnefs pais before thee, and — will be gracious 
 " to whom I will be gracious, and will fhew mercy on 
 <c whom 1 will fhew mercy. 55 * By which anfwer it 
 is plainly intimated, that the glory of God does in 
 an eminent manner confiil in his goodnefs, grace and 
 mercy : So that the prayer of Mofes would be mod 
 effectually granted, by God's giving him a manifefla- 
 tion hereof. 
 
 The eternity, immenfity & immutability of God ; 
 his infinite knowledge, wifdom and boundlefs power ; 
 his perfect purity, holinefs, and punitive juftice ; tho* 
 all adoreable attributes, yet being confidered inde- 
 pendently of his bounty, clemency and mercy, rather 
 aftonifli and confound, than pleafe or delight us, by 
 appearing amiable to us : Elpecially when we con- 
 fider, not only our own weaknefs, dependence, and 
 abfolute need of continual fupport and fuccour from 
 
 the 
 * Exvd, 33. i8 3 19. 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs* 19 
 
 the guardian care, and kind providence of God, but 
 our fmfulnefs and guilt, which* at once render us un- 
 worthy thereof, & naturally excite dirtruft, diffidence 
 and fear in us. What confolarion can weak and fm- 
 ful creatures draw from a consideration of thofe 
 other divine attributes alone, or independently of 
 goodnefs and mecy ? They rather infpire fuch crea- 
 tures with terror and amazement, than with comfort, 
 hope and joy. Whereas, being confidered as infepa- 
 rably connected with goodnefs, which is equally effen- 
 tial to the divine nature, and exercifed towards all 
 the works of God ; thofe otherwife formidable attri- 
 butes, are, in a great degree, irripped of their terror. 
 And not only fo, but goodnefs does, if One may fa 
 exprefs it,communicate its own amiable luflre & glory 
 to them : So that even we guilty creatures, if peni- 
 tent, may contemplate them, as well as goodnefs it- 
 felf, with delight and joy •, as being a firm fupport 
 to our hope, and fuch a foundation of fecurity and 
 happinefs to us, as even the mofl perfect goodnefs 
 could not be without them. The divine goodnefs, 
 therefore, being fo interelting a fubjeft to us •, the 
 ground of all our hopes ^as to time and eternity, it 
 demands a very particular attention. And let me 
 add, that it would be very unnatural, as well as im- 
 pious in any, to reftrairi, limit or confine it, in a 
 manner not warranted either by reafon or the holy 
 fcriptures. * 
 
 5. It mould be obferved that the goodnefs of God, 
 
 when fpoken of in a general way, comprehends many, 
 
 if not ftridtly all of his particular moral attributes : 
 
 Such, for example, as are diftinguiihed by the terms 
 
 C 2 mercy, 
 
 * It is 10 or 12 Years fince the Author faw the learned Dr. 
 S. Clarke's Sermon on the Goodnefs of God : But, if 
 he miftakes not, there is a PafTage in it, of which fome 
 Things in this Paragraph may appear an imperfect imi- 
 tation. 
 
20 Of the Extent and PerfeEtion 
 
 mercy, clemency, kindnefs, companion, pity, grace, 
 patience, forbearance,, long-fuffenng, and even juftice 
 itfelf. That all thcie, except the lait-mentioned, are 
 oiilyfo many different branches or modes ofgoodnefs, 
 denominated refptctively with reference to the perlbns 
 to whom,or the particular manner and circumftances 
 in which, God manifefts that goodnels to his crea- 
 tures, which in him is one fimple, uniform principle : 
 That this is true, 1 lay, is very eafy to fee ; and, in- 
 deed, fo generally allowed, that it feems quite need- 
 leis to fpend time in the proof of it. But there are 
 many perlbns, who fee.n to conceive and fpeak quite 
 differently of the juftice of God ; as if it were not a 
 mode or branch of goodnefs, and comprehended 
 therein, but an attribute diftinct from, if not in a 
 degree repugnant to goodnels. Thefe different con- 
 ceptions of the matter, tho' they may at fir ft appear 
 immaterial, are yet refpectively followed by confe- 
 quences of a very important nature. I fhall there- 
 fore very briefly explain, and endeavour to eftablifh, 
 that lentiment refpecting this point, which was hinted 
 above. This 1 would do at once with all reverence 
 to God, and with all due refpect to thofe, who have 
 different conceptions of the matter. 
 
 And here it may be obferved, 
 
 (r.) That in a wife and good earthly parent,there 
 is really no fuch distinction as that which has been 
 mentioned, betwixt goodnefs and juftice, not even 
 in punifhing \ but the former includes the latter, as 
 being one mode or manner of exerting itfelf, and at- 
 taining its end. For example -, why does a truly 
 wife & good parent, when under the influence, not of 
 mere paflion and refentment, but of reafon only, 
 correct his children, or punifh them for their faults ? 
 Is it not in order to reform, and do them good ? 
 — or at leaft with a view to the benefit of his other 
 
 children, 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 2 I 
 
 children, or thofe of the houfhold ; that they 
 may be kept under due fubjection, and reftrained 
 from the like evil and hurtful practices ? In this 
 cafe, inflicting adequate punifhment, or fuch as is 
 adapted to the good ends propofed, is plainly good- 
 nefs. Tho* it is, and may properlv be called juttice ; 
 yet it is fo far from being either oppohVc to, or any 
 thing really diftinct from kindnefs and goodnefs, that 
 the parent would be lets kind and good than he is, 
 if he did not punifh. If any parent examines him- 
 felf, upon what principle he corrects his children, he 
 will either find that it is this of goodnefs, or elfe find 
 reafon to cenfure himfelf as having been actuated 
 therein by fome impotent, irrational and unjuftifiable 
 paflion ; mere cruelty, anger, refentment, or the like. 
 And, indeed, the frail " fathers of our flefti," tho' in 
 general kind and good, may yet fometimeshave cor- 
 rected us thus, " after their own pleafure," or from 
 a fudden, tranfient refentment, rather than with any 
 formal and poflitive good defign. In which cafe,they 
 muft needs cenfure themfelves upon reflexion, as 
 having acted unreafonably. So that in a good pa- 
 rent, as was faid before, there is no fuch quality as 
 juftice, really diftinct from goodnefs ; not even in 
 punifhing : For it is goodnefs itfeif that gives the 
 blow. 
 
 (2.) The cafe is the fame in civil government. 
 The mod abfolute fovereign on earth, fuppofing him 
 to be wife & good, makes no laws but fuch as he at 
 lead thinks for the benefit of his fubjects ; whom he 
 alfo confiders as his children, to be governed by him 
 for their good. Neither does he inflict any punifh- 
 ments, but what he confiders as needful for the fup- 
 port of his government ; — if not for the particular 
 good of thofe that fuffer, as in capital cafes, yet for 
 the good of his people in general, by way of example 
 and terrorjthat good order may be preferved. So that 
 
 evea 
 
2 2 Of the Extent and Perfe&ion 
 
 even in this cafe of excifion, or capital punifhmenf, 
 the juflice of the fovereign is no real quality in him, 
 diftinct from goodnefs. It is goodnefs, or a regard to 
 common good,that takes offthe head of thetraitor,that 
 hangs the robber or murderer,& that "punifhes other 
 evil-doers :?' Without which, the fovereign would 
 " bear the fword in vain •," i. e. would not anfwer the 
 good and important end of his bearing it, the prefer- 
 vation of order, public good and happinefs. There 
 is not the leafl color, in this cafe, for fuppofing any 
 diflinction betwixt goodnefs and juflice in the prince ; 
 only as the former is a general principle, which com~ 
 prehends the latter as one particular mode of it. 
 And the earthly prince, in the fenfe of all mankind, 
 degenerates into a tyrant, if he punifhes his fubjects 
 for no better end, than to gratify his own anger and 
 refentment. This leads me to obferve, 
 
 (3.) That truly wife and good parents and prin- 
 ces, always overlook or pardon the faults or their 
 children and fubjects refpectively, whenever they fup- 
 pofe this may be done, as in fome cafes it may, con- 
 fitrently both with the good of the offenders them- 
 felves, and of others ; or both with private and com- 
 mon good. In thefe cafes, what wife and good pa- 
 rent, or fovereign prince of the fame character, thinks 
 himfelf bound in juftice to punifli the tranfgreffor ? 
 nay, does not think himfelf obliged in reajbn to re- 
 mit the fault, or to fhew clemency ? Would it not be 
 apparently contrary to true goodnefs, in thefe fup- 
 pofed cafes,to punifh for no good end,either with re- 
 fpect to the delinquent himfelf or others ? Would 
 not this be, to give another pain and forrow merely 
 for the fake of doing it ? And what is this called a- 
 mongft men, but cruelty ? which is in truth contrary 
 both to goodnefs and juflice. It being therefore 
 manifefl, that in all wife and good earthly parents 
 and fovereigns, juflice even in punifhing, is only a- 
 
 nother 
 
of GOD's Goodmfs* 23 
 
 nother name for goodnefs in one particular view, or 
 under a certain modification of it, inftead of being 
 either oppofite to, or any thing really diftinct in na- 
 ture from goodnefs itfelf : This, I fay, being evident 
 and undeniable, I proceed to obferve, 
 
 (4.) That the great and bleffed God is pleafed, 
 in his word, to reprefent himfelf to us very often un- 
 der the character both of a Father and of a King. 
 For, " There is One God and Father of all, who is 
 " above all, and thro' all, and in you all," faith the 
 apoflle. " We are the Offspring of God," faith the 
 the fame apoflle : And " of Him the whole family 
 " in heaven and in earth is named." — The title of 
 King, is one of his ufual titles in fc.ipture. He is 
 called emphatically by our Saviour, " the greatKing" 
 He is ftiled the " King of heaven," as well as " King 
 " over all the earth." And in my context, the " glo- 
 " ry of his kingdom" is fpoken of ; which is an 
 " everlafling kingdom." 
 
 (5.) Though the analogy will not hold in all re- 
 fpects betwixt an earthly parent or king, and our 
 " Father who is in heaven," or that great " king 
 " eternal, immortal, invifible, the only wife God," 
 who hath " prepared his throne in the heavens ;* 
 yet there can be no doubt in general, but that, 
 when theie titles are given to God in his word, 
 the defign is,to reprefent him under the character of 
 the wifeft & beft Father, the wifeft & beft King ; not 
 that of an unreasonable, unnatural, and cruel parent - 9 
 not that of an unwife and unreafonable, a cruel and un- 
 merciful king. None can doubt of this. 
 
 (6.) We may therefore conclude from hence, 
 That that wifdom and goodnefs, which are very im- 
 perfect in the beft earthly parents and kings, are in 
 perfection in the bleffed God. And that he governs 
 
 his 
 
24 Of the Extent and PerfeEiion 
 
 his great family, his univerfal kingdom, according 
 to thofe general rules and maxims which are in them- 
 felves moft wife and good ; fuch as the wifeft and 
 left kings govern by ; only, as was intimated before, 
 in an infinitely more perfect manner. From whence, 
 1 think, (tho' it doth not become a mortal man to 
 fpeak confidently in fuch cafes) that it follows, 
 
 (7.) That there is not really in the great and 
 glorious God, any fuch diftinclion betwixt goodnefs 
 and juftice, as has been objected againft. For if any 
 earthly parent or king mould act according to what 
 that diftinction fuppofes, and fo punifh his children 
 or fubjects, not as goodnefs directs, or without a 
 pofitively good and valuable end, fuch parent or 
 king would be reckoned therein, neither wife nor 
 good, nor even juft, but unreafonable and cruel 
 What ground is there then to imagine, that there is 
 any fuch kind of juftice in God, diitinct from, or 
 rather oppofite to goodnefs ? Does reafon fuggeft 
 any fuch thing ? No. Do the holy fcriptures affert 
 or fuppofe it ? No : nothing like it. There is there- 
 fore, great ceafon to think, that this is a diftinction 
 only of man's making. There can, I think, be no 
 conceivable fitnefs, propriety or congruity in inflicting 
 punifhment, independently of an end to be anfwered 
 thereby. Thofe terms, when ufed with reference 
 to punifhing tranfgreffors, fuppofe and refer to fome 
 end •, otherwife they are unintelligible. And this end 
 muft be either pofitively bad, or pofitively good : 
 For what is, in every reipect, indifferent, can be no 
 end worthy even of human, much lefs of divine wif- 
 dom. And to fay that the all-wife and good God, 
 has a bad or evil end in any thing which he does, 
 were impious indeed ! The conclufion from which 
 premifes, is too obvious to need mentioning. 
 
 (8.) That 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 25 
 
 (8.) That God, our heavenly Father, chafteneth 
 #nd punifheth his children in this world for their good* 
 is evident from numberlefs paffages in fcripture. And 
 there is one which deferves a more particular attention 
 here, on account of the reference therein to the 
 conduct of earthly parents, who fometimes correct 
 their children only for their own " pleafure :" Where- 
 as God corrects his for their " profit" — " Whom 
 " the Lord loveth he chafteneth — We have had fa- 
 " thers of our nefh, which co reded us, and we gave 
 ^ c them reverence : Shall we not much rather be in 
 4C fu ejection unto the Father of fpirits, and live ? For 
 " they verily for a few days chaltened us after their 
 cc own pleafure ; but He for our profit > that we might 
 " be partakers of his holinefs — Afterward it yieldeth 
 * c the peaceable fruit of righteoufnefs.* " No Man 
 will deny, but that God is at once juft and good in 
 thefe chaftenings. Goodnefs and juftice in him, 
 therefore, are not to be confidered as oppofites : They 
 may, in all other cafes without exception, be co-inci- 
 dent ; the latter being, perhaps, only a particular 
 modification of the former, and tending to pofitive 
 good, at lead the public or common. 
 
 (9.) Shall we ? — can we really fuppofe, That 
 He who is good to all, and whofe tender mercies are 
 over all his works, ever punifhes his creatures with- 
 out any good end, either with refpect to themfelves, 
 or to the other members of his houfhoid and king- 
 dom ? Would .not this be in effect making his crea- 
 tures miferable, either for no end at all, or a pofitive- 
 ly bad and e\il one ? Would not this be, what is al- 
 ways called unreafonable and cruel amongft men ? 
 To fay that the infinitely wife and good God, punifhes 
 any of his creatures merely for his own glory, with- 
 out any regard to the preservation of order and hap- 
 pinefs, and even contrary to the common good of 
 D thofe ? 
 
 * Heb. 
 
2 6 Of the Extent and PerfeEtion 
 
 thdfe, to whom he was pleafed to give being, appears 
 to me at bed very irrational. For what glory could 
 poifibly redound to any being by acting unrea- 
 sonably, or contrary to the dictaes of true goodnefs ? 
 It is peculiarly abfurd to fuppofe that He, who ac- 
 counts goddnejs his glcry, mould aim at advancing it 
 by jucb a conduct ! 
 
 (10.) Tke great, blefTed and glorious God, is in- 
 deed an abfolute Sovereign : He has an indifputable 
 right as well as power, to difpoie of all his creatures 
 according to his own pleafure. But it ought not to 
 be inferred from hence, that he is an arbitrary being, 
 in that ill fenfe in which the word arbitrary is ufed 
 refpecYmg tyrants ; implying that they govern in art 
 unreafonable, linjuft and cruel manner. Tho' God 
 is, in the higheft fenfe, an abfolute fovereign •, yet in 
 that ill fenfe, he is not certainly an arbitrary Being ; and 
 it were blafphemous to think him fo. /The bleffed 
 God, tho' omnipotent, tho' over all, and not accoun- 
 table to any, yet exercifes no power, no authority, 
 but according to his infinite wifdom and goodnefs. 
 To act contrary to them, would be to " deny himfelf," 
 and to act contrary to his own glory inftcad of 
 advancing it \ which are both impotable. So that 
 the great and bleffed God may, with the ftfidteft pro- 
 priety, be filled* A fovereignly wife and good Being. 
 If his power and dominion, on one hand, are without 
 bounds, without limits, his wifdom and goodnefs are 
 equally unbounded, unlimited, on the other , and 
 no lels effential to him than exiilence itfelf. And 
 " let him that gloricth, 55 faith the moil High, " glory 
 " in this, that he underitandeth and knoweth me, 
 <c that I am the Lord, which exerciie loving-kindncfs, 
 "judgment and rigbteoufnefs in the earth : for in thefc 
 " things I delight, faith the Lord."* 
 
 But 
 Jen IX. 24, 
 
of GO Us Gocdnefs. 27 
 
 But I proceed to confider more particularly, 
 
 II. The extent and perfection of the divine good- 
 nefs, according to the representation in the text ; 
 Wherein it is declared, that tc the Lord is good to 
 tc all," &c. And there are feveral obfervations to 
 be made here, preparatory to a diitinci explanation of 
 thefe words. The firft is, 
 
 1. That the creatures and works of God, rational 
 and irrational, animate and inanimate, are exceeding 
 numerous. How vail is the number and variety of 
 them, only in this lower world ? How many differ- 
 ent ranks and orders of living creatures, exclufive of 
 men, people this earth, air and water, from the moun- 
 tainous elephant, and enormous whale, down to the 
 mite, too fmall to befeen but by a borrowed microfco- 
 pic eye ? And how prodigioufly numerous are the indi- 
 viduals of almoil every of thefe different fptcies r But 
 when we ratfe our eyes and imaginations from this 
 comparatively little globe, to the numerous and ftu- 
 pendous world above and around us, to whofe extent 
 in j pace there are no apparent limits, any more than 
 to fpace itlelf -, and when we reaibn analogically from 
 this to thofe, we may with great probability conclude, 
 that they are alio peopled by a number and variety of 
 creatures, proportioiiably greater than are in our own. 
 How aftoniihing ? — how lurpaffing imagination itfelf, 
 then, muli their variety & number be ! : — " O Lord, 
 how manifold are thy works ? in wifdom hail thou 
 made them all !" — * 
 
 2. The exercife of benevolence or gocdnefs, in 
 the ftrict notion of it, fuppofes creatures that are at 
 lean: fenfttivs and perceptive^ tho 5 they may be irra- 
 tional. None befides fucb^ are in nature capable of 
 enjoying the divine goodneis, the effects of it, or of 
 
 D 2 having 
 
 * Pfal. 104. 24. 
 
28 Of the Extent and PerfeElion 
 
 having goodnefs and mercy exercifed towards them, 
 God cannot properly be faid to be good or kind to 
 the earth and water, or to mere inanimate, lifelefs, 
 unperceiving matter. 
 
 3. On the other hand you will obferve, that 
 all fuch creatures as are endowed either with rea- 
 fon, or a perceptive faculty only, in how low 
 a degree foever, are actually capable of happinefs, or 
 agreeable fenfations. They are therefore naturally 
 capable objects of the divine goodnefs and mercy. 
 I mean, it is fuppofeable, or implies no natural im- 
 pofiibility, that all fuch creatures may actually ex- 
 perience the effects of God's beneficence. As to the 
 fact, I do not at prefent concern myfelf with it : But 
 it is manifeft that the Creator and Lord of all, may y 
 without any inconfiftency or abfurdity, be fuppofed 
 actually good to all that are, by the nature which 
 he has given them, rendered capable of participating 
 in the effects of his goodnefs. 
 
 4. Of thofe creatures that are capable of enjoy- 
 ment or pleafure, fome are doubtlefs capable of it in 
 far higher degrees than others. Some have apparently, 
 not only quicker fenfes, but more in number than 
 others. Some are but one little remove from lifelefs, 
 unfenfed matter : And the capacity for happinefs in 
 all, is probably in proportion to the number 
 and quicknefs of their fenfes, or perceptive faculties. 
 It mould be added here, that all the inhabitants of 
 this earth, men excepted, are apparently incapable of 
 the greateft & fublimeft pleafures that we know of ; 
 thofe of reflexion, moral virtue, religion, the know- 
 ledge and love of God, and hope in him. Thefe are 
 pleafures of a peculiar kind, belonging only to rea- 
 sonable creaturcs e 
 
 5. From 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs. 29 
 
 5. From hence it follows, that tho' all are, in a 
 degree, capable objects of the divine beneficence ; 
 yet fome may be fo in a far higher and more eminent 
 fenfe than others. God may eafily be conceived actu- 
 ally good to all,& yet not equally fo to all. Or rather, 
 it is evident that he is not fo ; as certain, almoft, as 
 it is, that he is actually good to any, in any degree. 
 
 6. God may properly be faid to be good and 
 merciful to all thofe, for whofe welfare he pro- 
 vides according to their refpective natures and capa- 
 cities, however inferior. If thefe are upon the whole 
 happy, or if thofe of an higher order might be fo, did 
 they not abufe the divine goodnefs, God is certainly 
 good to them : And this, tho' a degree of pain mould 
 attend their enjoyments ; yea, tho* an end mould be 
 put to the exiitence of fome of them (o foon after 
 they began to be, that their term of life would be but 
 as a moment. There is real goodnefs and kindnefs 
 fhewn them, even upon this iuppofition, however 
 little : For whatever any enjoy, be it more or lefs, it 
 is from the mere goodnefs of the Creator. 
 
 7. It is fuppofeable, that in producing fuch a 
 wonderful, and almoft infinite variety of worlds and 
 creatures ; — creatures with fuch different capacities 
 of enjoyment, the infinitely wife Author of all, had a 
 view to the general, common good of his creation •, 
 and confequently, that this variety itfelf may contri- 
 bute thereto. Even we, who are fo fhort-fighted, can 
 in many cafes clearly fee how variety, due fubordina- 
 tion of parts, &c. actually contribute to the beauty, 
 perfection and real benefit of an whole, or what is 
 confidered as fuch. May not then, the amazing va- 
 riety obferved in the one real whole, the universe, 
 poffibly tend to the beauty, advantage and perfection 
 thereof ? Or muft we conclude, that becaufe we can- 
 not particularly fee and comprehend ail the relations 
 
 and 
 
30 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 and connexions of things thro'out the univerfe, fo as 
 to perceive how this variety in every inirance actually 
 contributes to the perfection thereof, therefore HE 
 that made it cannot, or did not defign it "for that 
 end ? A prefumptuous conclufion indeed ! 
 
 8. There is pofitive and ttrongreafon to think in 
 general, that this is actually the truth : And the man- 
 ner of realcning is fuch, — fo plain, that all in general 
 may eafily perceive the force of it. The argument 
 may be reduced to a very few words, thus : — This 
 variety was not undtfigned, or produced for no end. 
 Nor can it be fuppoied an indifferent, thing in itfei£ 
 whether it mould be, or not : No man of the kali 
 reflexion can imagine io. If then, it was neither uft- 
 dejigned^ nor a matter of indifference in its own nature, 
 it muft have bc^n intended either for a pofitivtly 
 wife and good or a politively unreafonable and malevo- 
 lent end. There is no medium •, this is the dilemma. 
 To fay the latter, is nothing faort of a blafphemous 
 imputation of folly and malevolence to the Creator. 
 The former therefore, is even demon ft ratively the 
 truth ; viz. That this almoft infinite variety among:! 
 the creatures of God, was defighed by him for, and 
 therefore actually tends to, the ornament, perfectien 
 and real good of the univerfe. — ct And God faw every 
 " thing that he had made, and behold, it was very 
 fcC good •" fuperlatively, perfectly good. 
 
 9. This variety, order, & particular arrangement 
 of the creatures and works of God, being fuppoied 
 in the whole " very good •," all fuch queftions as 
 thefe, Why one was not made another ? Why men 
 were made men, rather than brutes or angels ? Or 
 angels,angels, rather than either of the other ? Why- 
 birds were not made bealts, & beads birds ; & fifhes 
 were made fifhes, inftead of bealts or fowles ? Why 
 the loweft fc -~ - ,: -^**--Laf the loweft fpecies, was not 
 
 made 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs. 31 
 
 made the higheft of the higheft -, and vice verfd, the 
 higheft,not the lowefc ? — Allfuch queries, I fay,carry 
 their own futility & felf-repugnance in their very face. 
 They imply a plain contradiction, as much as it would 
 be to afk, Why Noah's dove was not originally made 
 the ocean, the moon or a comet ? Cr, Why the fun 
 that now lightens the heavens, was not made a glow- 
 worm ? — Is it not plainly impoffble, that a dove mould 
 have been an ocean^ a moon or comet \ or the fun a 
 glow-worm ! And is it not equally impofnble, that 
 men mould have been angels, or angels men, &c ? 
 There is, therefore, as much folly as impiety, in " the 
 " thing formed faying to Him that formed it, Why 
 " haft thou made me thus ?" 
 
 10. Although fuch creatures as are in their na- 
 tures capable of pleafure, are alone capable objecls of 
 the divine beneiicence, ftrictly fpeaking ; yet the 
 goodnefs of God may be made manifeft in and by ail 
 his other works in general ; — tho' inanimate and fenfe- 
 lefs. Thus the earth, the fea and this lower air, with 
 all that is therein, may ferve to manifeft the good- 
 nefs and mercy of the Creator, while the heavens 
 declare his glory. 
 
 These things being premifed, we may now pro- 
 ceed to a more particular conuderation of the text. 
 And the doctrine of the infpired P'almift here, com- 
 prehends the following particulars ; viz* 
 
 First, That the Lord of all is actually good and 
 kind to all the different ranks, orders or fpecies of his 
 intelligent and fenfitive creatures ; all the fpecies that 
 are capable of happinefs, in whatever degree. 
 
 Secondly, That he is likewife good and kind to 
 dll the individuals of which thefe fpecies conmt. 
 
 Thirdly, 
 
32 Of the Extent and PerfeEiion 
 
 Thirdly, That all his other works in general, tho' 
 incapable of enjoying his goodnefs and mercy, or the 
 effects of them, yet ferve for the manlfeftation there- 
 of. And, 
 
 Fourthly, That God is therefore an abfolutely^ 
 a perfectly good and merciful Being, or good in the 
 higheft conceiveable fenfe. 
 
 These proportions are very fairly contained in the 
 general doctrine, or afTertion of the text ; That " the 
 " Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies over 
 " all his works." Accordingly, I propofe to con- 
 fider and illuftrate thefe points, rather as being the 
 expreis doctrine of rfaeUtion, and to be believed on 
 the authority thereof^ than as things which are demon- 
 flrable by natural reajon^ obfervation and experience, 
 For tho' this is in general a moft rational doctrine, 
 for the proof whereof, arguments of the latter kind 
 are not wanting, fome of which may be briefly hinted 
 at ; yet a proper difcuflion of it in this way, would 
 require many difcourfes, and fuch a kind of reaion^ 
 jng alfo, as is not io convenient for the pulpit. 
 
 To return then : 
 
 First, The Lord of all is actually good and kind 
 to all the different ranks ', orders or /pedes of his in- 
 telligent and fenfitive creatures ; all the fpecies that 
 are capable of happinefs, in whatever degree. That 
 God is good to angels, is doubted by none ; and, 
 that he is good and merciful to mankind, is, in words, 
 allowed by all. The principal defign of the holy 
 fcriptures, is indeed to mew the " riches of his good- 
 nefs" to the children of men •, efpecially in their re- 
 demption by his Son. He is good to the beaft3 of 
 the field and foreft, to the fowies of the air, to the 
 fifti of the fea, to all the fpecies pf reptiles, to ^cvery 
 
of GOD* s Goodnefs. 33 
 
 kind of infers, the mod inferior not excepted ; fuch 
 as fhun the naked eye. All thefe he upholds in the 
 being which he gave. He preferves the refpective 
 orders didmct, from age to age. He makes futable 
 provifion for them all, and opens to them his (lores* 
 The holy fcriptures, particularly the book of Job, of 
 Pfalms, and the writings of Solomon, abound with 
 reflexions upon the provifion which the Author 
 of nature has made, for the fubfiftence and com- 
 fort of the animal and fenfitive creation. The 1 04th 
 Pfalm, which is a pret-y long one, is chiefly taken 
 lap with reflexions of this kind. The beads, fowles 
 and fifhes a*e particularly mentioned as the objects 
 of God's providential care : " Thefe wait all upon 
 " thee," fays the Pfalmift, " that thou mayett give 
 " them their meat in due feafon — Thou opened thine 
 " hand, they are filled with good."* So in my con- 
 text (ver. 15 and 16.) " The eyes of all wait upon 
 " thee, and thou giveft them their meat in due fea- 
 " fon. Thou opened thine hand, and fatisfied the 
 " defire of tv try living thing." Many forts of beads, 
 fifli and fowle, and even more infignifica >t creatures 
 are particularly indanced in, in the holy fcriptures, 
 as examples of God's univerfal care, & objects of his 
 kindnefs : Whale>, oxen, flieep, horfes, the odritch, 
 dork, &c. An J our Saviour himfelf difdains not to 
 fpcak more than once, of the goodnefs of God to 
 u ravens" and " fparrows." 
 
 If there are other planets or worlds inhabited, we 
 may be certain that God takes a fimilar care of the 
 various orders of creatures in them, aniwerable to 
 their refpeclive natures and wants. It were h.ghly 
 irrational to fuppoie, that He na^ made any one fpe- 
 cies of creatures, capable of fenfation in any deg ee* 
 and then negle^ed it as below his providential care. 
 All kinds of living creatures that we know of, maui j 
 E fed 
 
 * Pfal. 104. 27, 28. 
 
34 Of the Extent and Ferfe&ion 
 
 feft the wonderful wifdom of the Creator in their 
 frame and flruclure. And if he thought proper to 
 exercife fuch a truly divine art in the formation of 
 them, furely he would not leave them unprovided 
 for, and lb, to unavoidable mifery, when formed. 
 Nothing, no fpecies, furely, which God has created, 
 is too infignihxant for God to take care of. And 
 how could it be faid with any propriety, that his ten- 
 der mercies are over all his works, if any one whole 
 fpecies were neglected and abandoned by him ? 
 
 But is it only the various fpecies, that God is good 
 and kind to ? — not the particulars of which they con- 
 fifl ? That would be ftrange indeed ! And this brings 
 us to the fecond thing implied in the text •, viz. 
 
 Secondly, That God is likewiie good and kind 
 to all the individuals of which thefe fpecies confifl. 
 Every whole being made up of parts, and every fpe- 
 cies confiding of individuals only -, it is not very eafy 
 for common fenfe to conceive how an whole, or a fpe- 
 cies can be kindly provided for by the God of all, as 
 fome have fuppofed,* and yet the parts, the individu- 
 als, be difregarded & neglected by him. Is God the 
 maker of the fpecies only, not of the individuals ? 
 That were a very myfterious pofition ; a curious dif- 
 eovery to match the other ! Indeed, they muft needs 
 go together. For if God is fuppofed to be the 
 maker of the individuals, it follows as undeniably 
 from hence, that he will take care of individuals, as 
 it does from his creating the fpecies, that he take care 
 of the fpecies. The reafoning that will hold with 
 refpect to one, will hold equally with refpeel to the 
 other : If it fails in one, it will fail in the other alfo. 
 And, as was hinted before, if individuals are neg- 
 lected or overlooked, it is plain that the fpecies them- 
 fevlves are not provided for, unlefs the fpecies can 
 
 be 
 
 * LcL BoUnbroke, &c. 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 35 
 
 be preferved, when all the individuals are left to pe- 
 nfh ! A providential care of the fpecies, evidently 
 involves the like care of the individuals thereof; at 
 lcaft of fome of them. And if God takes care of 
 fome, why not of all ? Is this too laborious a tafk for 
 Him that is at once omniprefent, omnifcient and 
 omnipotent ? 
 
 But how can God be faid to be good to all ? — • 
 how could it be affirmed, that his tender mercies are 
 over all his works, if there were fome of his creatures, 
 his works, originally unprovided for ? To fay that 
 this means only all the fpecies of creatures, but not 
 the individuals, is taking an unnatural and unwarran- 
 table liberty with the holy fcriptures, befides the ab- 
 furdity of the very fuppoiition itfelf, and the fetting 
 of bounds and limits to the divine goodnefs. Nay, 
 would not this be to fuppofe God pofitively cruel to 
 fome of his creatures ? There is no medium betwixt 
 his being actually kind and merciful to all, and his 
 being pofitively cruel and unmerciful to fome. For, 
 pleaie to confider, that when God makes creatures 
 capable of happinefs and mifery, in whatever degree ; 
 if he does not alio make provifion for their comfor- 
 table fubfitlence, and take a kind care of them, he 
 of coniequence dooms them to inevitable pain and 
 mifery, even without any fault of theirs ; fince if a 
 creature is actually made, and preferved in a Hate of 
 fenfibility, it murt be either in a degree of pleafureor 
 pain. If it be not the former, it mull of courfe be 
 the latter. And, upon the prefent fuppofition, this 
 is wholly owing to God's not making that provifion 
 for the creature, which was abfolutely necelTary for 
 its well-being, according to the nature given it by 
 himfelf. Now, let fome very acute diftinguifher 
 mew the difference betwixt this and pofitive cruelty : 
 It would be in vain for an ordinary genius to at- 
 tempt it. And when any One has fairly made out 
 
 E 2 this 
 
36 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 this distinction, he will probably be able to reconcile 
 fuch a conduct in the Creator, w th the exprefs doct- 
 rine of fcripture, that he " faasfietb the de^re of every 
 Jiving thing.' 7 But 
 
 It will perhaps be faid, that the univerfal terms 
 all, every, and the like, are fomeiimts uied in a re- 
 trained, limited fenie : And that there are plain rea- 
 fons for, and an abfolute necefllty or, understanding 
 them in this limited fenfe in many places of fenp- 
 ture. This is granted : But then, they ought never 
 to be thus limited, but understood in their proper, 
 natural and unconfined fenfe, unlefs there is pofitive 
 reafon, or fome real neceffity for fuch a limitation 
 of them. Let any One who thinks it reafonable and 
 necefFary to limit the goodnefs and mercy of his Creator, 
 Shew it to be actually fo, and I wdi then acknowledge 
 the reafonablenefs and necefiity of limiting the Sig- 
 nification of thole univerfal terms, in which he is de- 
 clared to be good and merciful to all, to every living 
 thing. Fcr unlefs you can prove the former, it is 
 impofiiblc you mould ever be able to prove the lat- 
 ter. Limiting the fenfe of thefe teims in the prefent 
 cale, is plainly limiting and letting bounds to that 
 goodnefs, which is declared in and by them to be 
 unlimited in its extent. Neither will any man, who 
 really believes God to be good to all, ever defire to 
 find out any reafon for putting a reftramed fenfe upon 
 the term all in the text. 
 
 But let us, for a few minutes, take it for granted 
 that all, here, does not literally mean all, or every 
 individual ; but rhat there are fome individuals of 
 every fpecies, to which God is not good •, — fome of 
 his works, over which his mercy is not extended. 
 How many then, of each fpecies, fhall we fuppofe in 
 this Situation ; — thus forgotten or neglected by him 
 that made them ? 
 
 Let 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 37 
 
 Let us, for example, fuppofe one half of every 
 fpecies, thus abandoned by the " God and Father of 
 all." I afk then, Whether all theie individuals, to 
 which God is not good and merciful, muft not inevi- 
 tably be wretched ; each of them being left deftitute 
 of a proper lupply to its natural wants ? No One can 
 doubr of this. All, for vvhofe well-being God makes 
 no provifion, muft of courfe be miferable : For who 
 bcfides Him can provide for them ? I afk,in the next 
 place, Whether this fuppjfition is confident with the 
 fpirit, and mamfeft defign of the text, even tho 5 the 
 term all, twice uied therein, did not literally intend 
 every individual ? I afk, in the next place, Whether 
 the fuppofition, that one half oi every Ipecies are thus 
 abandoned to unavoidable mifery by their Creator, is 
 confident with h:s acknowledged general character, as 
 a good and merciful Being P Is not this fuppofition 
 highly, and very obviouily repugnant to that 
 character •, and therefore, to the honor of God ? It 
 may be again demanded, W 7 hether they who think 
 this to be the truth (if any fuch there are) do not, in 
 effect, unite in their imaginations tht two independ- 
 ent and oppofite principles of the Manichasans, the 
 one good, the other evil, into one felf-contradictory 
 being, whom they call, and whom they worffiip under 
 the name of, the " One God and Father of all !" — 
 Let me afk once more, Whether this' fuppofition of 
 one half of every fpecies thus abandoned, be not a 
 very moderate and modefi fuppofition, according to the 
 reprefentations which tome perlons have given of 
 God's conduct towards one of the moil confiderable 
 fpecies that we have any particular knowledge of ? 
 
 But you will allow, perhaps, that the fuppofition 
 oi out half is too large ; that it is not agreeable to the 
 text, to realon, or to the general idea of God as a 
 good, kind and merciful be\ng — " Half 'is, indeed, too 
 many, and fhocks the mind at once !' ? — I underftand 
 you well. Inilead of faying one bafihen, we will 
 
 lav 
 
38 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 fay only, one quarter. Will this fuppofition ftand the 
 teil ? What ! One quarter part of every fpecies, both 
 of fenfitive and rational creatures, abandoned thus to 
 ineviable mifery by their Creator ; and yet this fame 
 Creator declared in his own holy word, to be good 
 to all ! — A quarter of all God's creatures of every 
 kind and order, are a great many, furely, to be thus 
 caft off and fcrfaken by Him, whofe tender mercies 
 are faid to be over all his works ! — If you confider, 
 and recollecl yourfelves, I believe you will think the 
 number ftill iomewhat too large — What ! a quarter 
 part of the whole ! But if you will not yet give this 
 up, let me vary the language of the text alitrie, and 
 paraphrafe it lo as precifely to exprefs your fenle of 
 it, thus — " The Lord is good to three quarters of his 
 " creatures, and his tender mercies are over three 
 " quarters of all his works : But to the other quarter 
 " he is not good, kind or merciful ; but leaves them 
 " to unavoidable mifery and deilruclion."— Will you 
 allow this to be a natural praraphrafe, or to give ihe 
 genuine fenfe of the text ? — " No : \i founds harihiy j 
 " and feems too much to limit the divine goockveis." 
 
 Well then, let us fuppofe only a tenth, twentieth, 
 fiftieth, hundredth, or, to cut the matter ftill fhorter, 
 only one thoufandth part of the whole rational and 
 fenfitive creation, doomed to inevitable mifery in the 
 ner before expreffed — Will you abide by this ? 
 Will you abate nothing of it ? — When you confider 
 the innumerable millions or creatures, many of them 
 rational ones, that muft, even on this fuppofition, be 
 wretched, does it lit eafy upon your minds ?— Is not the 
 number, in the whole, too large ftill ? — A thousandth 
 part of all, of every fpecies, in all worlds •, — probably 
 enough to people thoufands of fuch worlds as this ! — 
 How can that be •, and yet God be an exceed- 
 ing good, kind and merciful being ? I am perfwaded 
 that, upon reflexion, you will not ftand to this. 
 
 Suppose 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 39 
 
 Suppose then, but ten individuals, or five, nay, 
 two only of every fpecies, nay, but one •, yet thefe 
 muft amount to a vafl number. For the number of 
 the fpecies even in this little globe, is great ; how 
 prodigious then, muft it probably be in all worlds 
 taken collectively ? And will not one individual of 
 each of them, amount in the whole to too great a 
 number to be thus doomed to unavoidable mifery, by 
 Him who gave them being ? Is even this confident 
 with his acknowledged general character as a good 
 and merciful Being ? If you think foberly and im- 
 partially, you will chufe rather to kffen the number 
 Hill, than to defend this fuppofition. 
 
 Well then, fuppofe but a fingle individual of one 
 fpecies — -Only let that be a reafonable creature, capa- 
 ble by nature of knowing and enjoying God eternally, 
 whom he never difpleafcd by any act of his ! — No — 
 It mail be but an irrational creature, and that of the 
 very loweft, the moll inferior fpecies, that is thus 
 doomed to all the pain which it is in its nature capa- 
 ble of enduring. — And can you feriouOy think that 
 the Creator and " Father of all," has pitched upon 
 this poor mite, to make the exiftence which himfelf 
 gave, wretched ! Why ? fin it could not : And is it 
 agreeable to wifdom, goodnefs and mercy, to make 
 an innocent creature miferable thro' the whole term of 
 its exiftence, whether longer or fhorter ? — If you 
 are reiblved to defend even this loweft of all fuppo- 
 fitions which the nature of the queftion admits, you 
 mould, I think, paraphrafe the text thus — " The 
 " Lord is good to all but one, and his tender mercies 
 " are over all his works, excepting a fingle infignificanc 
 <c creature, which either efcapes his notice, or ac 
 m which he is angry, and fo makes it miferable, tho' 
 <c it neither has, nor is capable of offending Him." 
 How do you like this paraphrafe ? You muft needs 
 adopt one to this purpofe, if you oppofe what I am 
 
 endeavouring 
 
4o Uj the Extent and PerfeElion 
 
 endeavouring to eftablifh •, — the univerfal goodnefs 
 and mercy of God, in the highelt and moft literal 
 fenie of the terms " all, 5 ' and " every living thing," 
 uled in fciipture with exprefs reference to the extent 
 of his goodnefs. 
 
 Our Lord Jefus Chrift fpeaking of thofe fparrows^ 
 "five of which were fold for two farthings," fays that 
 "'not one of them is forgotten before God."* This 
 may doubtlefs be faid with equal truths even of crea- 
 tures inferior to fparrows. And One need not fcru- 
 pit to fay, that the fuppofition of any of them being 
 forgotten, forfaken and abandoned by him, in the 
 fenfe fo often mentioned, is difhonourable to God ; 
 an unworthy imputation upon his wiidom, goodnefs, 
 mercy, & his providential care refptclmg a creature 
 which he thought proper to call into exiitence. So 
 that tho' fome things and creatures, of which I have 
 been fpeaking, are in one view, indeed, very incon- 
 fiderable ; yet the end purfued all along is of the laft 
 importance. But if it would be diilionourable to 
 God, to charge him with treating only one of the 
 molt inferior of his creatures in fuch a manner, what 
 mall we think of that doctrine, which reprefents him 
 as treating millions of millions of his rational creatures 
 after the fame' manner ! — or rather, after a manner 
 almoft infinitely harder to be reconciled with wifdom 9 
 goodnefs and mercy ! — I will not fay, what ought 
 to be thought of it \ but leave it to your calm and 
 ferious reflexions. To proceed, 
 
 Thirdly, All God's other works in general, tho* 
 incapable of enjoying his goodnefs and mercy, or the 
 effects of them,, yet ferve for the manifeftation there- 
 of In agreement hereto* by thofe words, tc all his 
 works," we may fairly underffarid, not only his rea- 
 fonable and fenfitive creates; es, but all his other works- 
 
 without 
 
 * Lkl.u 12. 6s 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs* 41 
 
 without exception. As if it had been faid, that God 
 is not only kind to all his creatures that are capable 
 objects of his kindnefs, but hath lef c the veftiges, 
 the marks, and plain indications of his goodnefs, even 
 of his tender mercies, impreffed upon all parts of 
 the creation ; all things being adapted to anfwer be- 
 nevolent purpofes refpecting the creatures that are 
 capable of enjoying good. This is no harm con- 
 flruction of the words : But whether it is juft or not, 
 in point of criticifm, it is undoubtedly true -, and 
 this fentiment correfponds to what is declared 'in 
 many other places of fcripture. " God faw every 
 thing that he had made ; and behold, it was very good.'* 
 All his works are,accordingly,faid to be made by him 
 in wifdorn, to praife him^ and the like. Such paffages 
 muft be fuppofed to have fome reference to the good- 
 nefs of God's inanimate works, confidered with re- 
 lation to his reafonable & fenfitive creatures, to v/hofe 
 pleafure and ufe they are adapted ; either by afford- 
 ing fubfiftence to them, or pleafing the eye, ear and 
 imagination ; or being really beneficial in fome 
 other refpect. It is not eafiy to conceive, why they 
 mould be called " very good," or faid to " praife 
 him," but upon the fuppofition of their being wifely 
 and kindly adapted to afford fubfiftence, pleafure and 
 delight to creatures capable of enjoyment. 
 
 It is indeed evident to fenfe and reafon, that the 
 whole vifible creation is the work of a good and mer- 
 cifulBeing,not merely of a mod intelligent & power- 
 ful One. The ftrufture, the admirable order and 
 adjuflment of the various parts, nothing fuperfluous, 
 nothing wanting, from whence refults the harmony 
 and beauty of the whole, prove the former as cer- 
 tainly as they do the latter ; loudly proclaiming at 
 once the power, wifdom and goodnefs of the adore- 
 able Creator. The air, heavens, earth and fea, be- 
 fides affording habitation and fubfiftence to fo many 
 
 F millions 
 
42 Of the "Extent and PerfeBion 
 
 millions of other creatures, are all adapted in fome 
 degree at leaft, to the life and delight of man in par-> 
 ticular. Here are hamony to ravilh his ear, beauty 
 to feaft his eye,grateful odors to regale his nofe, delici- 
 ous fruits, liquors, &c. to gratify almoft all his fenfes 
 at once. So that ample provifion is made, not only 
 for his necefTary fupporf, but his plealure and delight 
 alfo, within the bounds of reafon, or a virtuous mode- 
 ration. And if nature, or rather its Author, fends 
 difeafes, he alfo fends remedies : Nor are there few- 
 er antidotes than poifons in the natural world ; tho y 
 there is, indeed, now no " tree of life" to be feen 
 therein, of which we may " eat, and live forever 5 ' 
 here. But " wifdom is a tree of life to them 
 ** that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one 
 " that retaineth her -," — even immortally happy thro' 
 the fecond Adam, the Lord from heaven, who hath 
 ** abolifhed death, and brought life and immortality 
 " to light thro' the gofpel." — But not to digrefs. — ■ 
 There is no one fenfe, natural appetite or want, either 
 in man, or in the other inferior inhabitants of the 
 earth, but the beneficentAuthor of all, has made pro- 
 vifion for the regular gratification and fupply thereof. 
 Every vifible object in the natu-al world, has a bene- 
 ficent end •> if not with relation to man, yet with 
 refpect to the other creatures ; not one of which is 
 below the care of, or " forgotten beforeGod." Even 
 the extended barren fands and deferts in fome parts 
 of the earth, the equally barren rocks $c promontories 
 in others, and the inaccefTible precipices, mountains 
 and wildernefTes in others, have their good and 
 merciful ends, or ufes. They lerve at leaft for 
 fhelter, and a fecure retreat to the fowles of heaven, 
 where they may hatch and nurfe their young : And 
 alfo for four-footed beads, and creeping things, left 
 their fpecies mould, perhaps, be otherwife deitroyed 
 by Man, that "mighty hunter before the Lord." 
 
 The 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 43 
 
 The benevolent ufes and ends of almoft all parts 
 of the vifible creation, are very obvious. And as 
 to thofe particular things, the final caufes, or good 
 ends whereof lie Jefs open to common view \ the 
 more attentively they are examined, and the better 
 underltood, the more clearly do they maniteit both 
 the wifdom and goodnefs of God; fhewing that the 
 " earth is (indeed) /«// of his riches," while the hea- 
 vens proclaim his glory. In which view particular- 
 ly, the writings of King David, Solomon, and many 
 other men of philolbphic, comtemplative minds, are 
 of fingular advantage, and redound greatly to the 
 honor of God. " The works of the Lord are great, 
 " fought out of all thofe that have pleafure therein. 
 " His work is honourable and glorious, and his 
 " righteousness endureth for ever. He hath 
 " made his wonderful works to be remembered." * 
 The works of God, as has been intimated before, are 
 honourable, and declare his glory more efpe- 
 cially,conlidered as Ct good," and as having his " ten- 
 der mercies" manifefted in and by them. Yea, it may 
 be questioned whether they are truly glorious at all, 
 confidered merely as the effects of great knowledge 
 and power 3 or without any relation to benevolent ends. 
 Certainly, no One could thinl: the works of a male- 
 volent or unmerciful being, tended to his praife and 
 honor, whatever art, contrivance and power appeared 
 in them. This art, contrivance and power, being 
 applied to evil and malicious purpofes, would be ra- 
 ther a proper ground for reproaches and execrations, 
 than for fuel) praife and glory as are juftlydue to the 
 ever-bleffed God, who is good to all, and whofe ten- 
 der mercies are *' over all his works." 
 
 Fourthly, God is therefore an abfolutely, a per- 
 fectly good and merciful Being •, or good in the high- 
 eft conceivable fenfe. This follows evidently from 
 F 2 the 
 
 * Pfalm III. 
 
>J4 Of the Extent and Perfection 
 
 the text, and what has been difcourfed upon it. 
 According to this character of him and his works, 
 goodnefs and mercy are the moft pre-eminent, the 
 moftdiftingufhed attributes of God : For his unfearch- 
 able wifdom and infinite power, if One may fo ex- 
 prefs it, are but the minijiers of his infinite goodnefs, 
 being wholly employed to accomplifh his good and 
 gracious purpofes refpecting his creatures. Accord- 
 ingly, the conftruction which fome learned men have 
 put upon the latter part of the text, is this, that God's 
 tender mercies are above all his other works, or the 
 moft confpicuous, great & excellent. However the 
 critics may fettle this point, {till the important con- 
 clusion is equally obvious and certain ; That God is 
 abfolutely, univerfally and perfectly good. It is ac- 
 cordingly faid of him, by One that came down from 
 heaven to declare and make him known to the in- 
 habitants of the earth, that there is " none good but 
 One, that is God." Agreeably whereto St. John 
 fays, " God is love :" Words which exprefs, in 
 the ftrongeft and moft emphatical manner, his etTeh- 
 tial, boundlefs and perfect goodnefs. And it is wor- 
 thy of particular remark, that tho J God is infinitely 
 wife and powerful, &zc. as well as good, yet he is ne- 
 ver ftiled in {cripture^wifdom or power in the abftract,as 
 he is here ftiled love. Perfect goodnefs, love itfelf,is 
 his very elTence, in a peculiar fenfe ; immeafurable, 
 immutable, univerfal and everlafting love. And 
 nothing that is in any manner or degree inconfiftent 
 with fuch love, has any place in God : For " God is 
 light, and in him there is no darknefs at all." * 
 
 To me it feems at once impious and abfurd, as in- 
 volving a contradiction, to fuppofe that we can even 
 conceive, or have any idea of, a goodnefs afid mercy 
 more confummate, more perfect than any which aftu- 
 ally exifts in nature, or the God of nature. From 
 
 whence 
 • i John L s, 
 
of GO Us Goodnefs. 4 5 
 
 whence mould this idea, this conception of abfolute, 
 perfect and unchangeable goodnefs come ? Or how 
 could we have it, any more than thefe of unbounded 
 fpace, and of time without beginning, i. e. of im- 
 menfity and eternity, if there were in nature no fuch 
 thing ? In thefe cafes, there doubtlefs is, and muft 
 be, fomething which anfwers to the ideas -, at lead, 
 our mental conceptions, the copies, cannot furpafs 
 and exceed, cannot be greater or more perfect than 
 any exifting original. 
 
 God being fuppofed all-knowing, independent and 
 almighty, the abfolute perfection of his goodnefs may 
 be deduced from hence, together with all moral qua- 
 lities in the higheft poffibie degree. Such a Being 
 muft know what is in itfelf good^s an End,«wz. happi- 
 nefs ; and alio know whatever is right and reafonable, 
 excellent and glorious : Which may all be compre- 
 hended in doing good. He muft alfoknow all the poffi- 
 bie means, or ways of doing it •, and, which are the beft, 
 propereft, and moft effectual ; fo as to be fubject to 
 no miftake or error. Moreover ; being independent 
 and all-powerful, he cannot be under any wrong bias, 
 or have any difficulties to difcourage him in purfuing 
 what is right ; — any end truly great, noble and ex- 
 cellent. From thefe premifes, which I do but hint 
 at, it follows undeniably, that fuch an ail knowing, 
 independent and infinitely powerful being, muft alio 
 be infinitely, perfectly good. The htnefs and rea- 
 fonableneis of being fo, would undoubtedly determine 
 him to be jo. By which laft exprefllon, I am far from 
 defigning to fuggeft,either that there was a time when 
 God was not good, or that he might poflibly have 
 been otherwife. I mean the direct contrary in both 
 refpects, viz. that as this htnefs was eternally feen, 
 God was eternally good ; and as he faw it ncceffarily, 
 he was as neceftarily good •, and yet not contrary to 
 his own will or choice, which were a contradiction •, 
 
 but 
 
46 Of the Extent and Perfe&ion 
 
 but in conformity thereto, even from eternity. For 
 nothing was prior, not even the exiitence of God, to 
 his will to be good ; or, in other words, to his goodr 
 nefs : For thefe are the fame thing in the ever-glo- 
 rious God. 
 
 Besides : If God is allowed to be now gcoq in any 
 degree, itwillfrom hence follow demonftrably, that he 
 is eternally and neceffarily, univerfally and perfectly 
 fo ; eiTentially and equally good in all times & places, 
 Nothing is now a property in God, which was not fo 
 from eternity. If he had ever been deftitute of 
 goodnefs, whence mould it be derived to him ? He 
 mull have eternally remained deititute of it, unlefs 
 you fuppofe fome other being greater and better 
 than Him, " of whom are all things," to communi- 
 cate an excellency to him, which he originally wanted 
 in himfelf ! — God was, therefore, both eternally and 
 independently good. And if fo, tjien ntcefiarily. 
 For there was not a profiibility of that which is eter- 
 nal, underlved and independent, being otijerwife than 
 it is. The fuppofition that it might have been other- 
 wile, would involve the abfurdity of fuppofing fome- 
 thing prior to eternity, able to make it otherwiie : So 
 that it would be ? flrieily, neither eternal nor indepen- 
 dent, tho' it is fuppofed to be both. God is therefore 
 eternally, independently and neceffarily good, at 
 lead mjbme degree. And if in any degree, then abfe- 
 lutely, infinitely and perfectly good. For whatever 
 is neceffary in God, is effential to him, or a part of 
 his very nature : And God being himfelf infinite, or 
 unlimited, all his properties or attributes muft be fo 
 likewife ; fince it would be a repugnancy,to iuppofe 
 finite and limited effential qualities in a Being, who 
 is himfelf neceffarily infinite. God is then, not only 
 eternally, neceffarily and effentially, but infinitely or 
 perfectly good. And if fo, then equally, univerfally 
 and immutably good in all times and places. For 
 
 it 
 
of GOD's Goodnefs. 47 
 
 it were a contradiction tofuppofe what is eternal, ne- 
 ceffary, effential, infinite and perfect in God, to be 
 various or changeable \ — different in one time or place, 
 from what it is in all ethers. Such variety, fuch mu- 
 tability and changeablenefs, are demo nitrations of 
 a temporary, precarious, dependent, unneceffary, fi- 
 nite and imperfect nature. — Thus it follows from 
 God's being now in any degree good, that he is 
 eternally, neceffarily, eflentially, univerfally, perfectly, 
 invariably and immutably good. 
 
 That the appearances, ormanifeftations of divine 
 goodnefs,are various and manifold in different times 
 and places, is not the leaft objection againft the ab- 
 folute perfection and famenefs of that goodnefs itfelf, 
 in all others. This is no more than the natural, ne- 
 ceffary confequence of perfect goodnefs, in calling fuch 
 a wonderful variety of creatures into existence ; who, 
 if they exift at all, muft exift in certain particular 
 times and places. And the external manifestations 
 of God's goodnefs, muftbejuft as various as the 
 creatures which he has made to partake of it. Which 
 latter variety among the creatures being pofitively 
 good, right and belt, the former variety in the ap- 
 pearances of goodnefs, are fo like wife ; in (lead of be- 
 ing any fort of objection againft the univerfality, per- 
 fection or unchangeablcnefs thereof. The manifesta- 
 tions of divine power and wifdom, are alfo different 
 in different times and places. And yet no one is fo 
 abfurd as to infer from hence, that God is not effen- 
 tially and equally, perfectly and invariably wife and 
 powerful in all others : Tho' the inference would be 
 altogether as juftly drawn in the latter cafes, as in the' 
 former : Or rather, in 'both it would be wmolly 
 groundlefs and irrational. 
 
 Leaving the particular objections that were to 
 be taken notice of, and the propofed reflexions up- 
 on 
 
48 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 on this fubject to the afternoon \ I fhall beg leave to 
 conclude this difcourfe with two or three fliort re- 
 marks. And, 
 
 1. Though it is demonflrably certain upon prin- 
 ciples reafon, thatGod is perfectly good and merciful ; 
 yet, whatever fmful creatures might imagine, they 
 could not, without an exprefs revelation from heaven, 
 know that God would certainly pardon their fins on 
 repentance. This might feem probable ; but it 
 could not be intirely depended on, to the exclufion 
 of doubt, and all juft caufe for uneafy apprehenfions. 
 The reafon is, that punitive jujlice is a branch of good- 
 nefs, in fuch fort that a perfectly good and merciful 
 being may in many cafes be obliged to punifh tranf- 
 greffors, in purfuance of his general benevolent de- 
 figns towards his creatures -, for the fupport of order, 
 right, &c. on which the common good effentially de- 
 pends. And how mould a vicious man, efpecially One 
 who has been fo to a great degree, know, upon prin- 
 ciples of reafon only, that he is not himfelf One of 
 thofe whom it is, in this view, neceflary for an infi- 
 nitely wife and good God to punifh, for a terror and 
 warning to others ? None butGod himfelf,who know- 
 eth all things, certainly knowethwho may, or may not 
 be pardoned, confidently with the eternal rule of 
 right, of wifdom and goodnefs ; and under what par- 
 ticular circumftances. The light of nature leaves us 
 mote at a lofs refpecting this matter, than his own 
 reafon leaves a common mechanic, (who is quite ig- 
 norant about affairs of ftate and policy) whether his 
 Prince mould, in purfuance of the public good, par- 
 don a rebel, or ftnke off his head. A man may, in- 
 deed, very probably leap to this comfortable 
 conclufion, that he himfelf is One of thofe 
 who may, and certainly fhall be, forgiven of God. 
 Pride, felf-love and mere vanity, may buoy up his 
 hopes, and preferve him from any great concern 
 
 about 
 
of GOUs Goodnefs. 49 
 
 about futurity. But if he goes no fafter nor farther 
 than reafon, or the light of nature actually leads him, 
 he muft at beft be left (like an half-founder'd veffel) 
 to be toifed upon the billows of anxious doubt and 
 uncertainty, if not to fink into the abyfs of an hor- 
 rible defpair ! 
 
 2. One principal end of Jefus (Thrift's coming 
 into this apoftate world, was to proclaim the glad 
 tidings of pardon and eternal life to finners, as the 
 free gift of God thro' his mediation -, particularly 
 thro' the atonement to be made by his blood, when 
 he mould " offer himfelf up to God, as a lamb with- 
 out blemifh and without fpot" : Thereby fupporting 
 the honour of God's violated commandments, and 
 the dignity of his government •, in fuch fort, that 
 guilty creatures might receive the forgivenefs of fins 
 and eternal life, in a way the moft agreeable to infi- 
 nite wifdom ; and therefore really more agreeable to 
 infinite goodnefs and mercy alfo, than if they had 
 been pardoned and faved without any intervening 
 facriflce for fin. Thus, by the chriftian revelation, — ^ 
 a light indeed from heaven, finful men are delivered 
 from that date of darknefs and perplexity refpecting 
 pardon and a future (late, in which the mere light 
 of -nature actually leaves them. In this difpenfati- 
 on of grace, the goodnefs of God to, and his tender 
 mercies over the finful children of men, are moft clear- 
 ly and glorioufly manifested. It is both a faithful fay- 
 ing, my brethren, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
 JeTus Chrift came into the world to fave even the 
 chief of finners. Take heed therefore, that ye re- 
 ceive not the grace of God in vain •, for he is not 
 willing tHat " any "mould perifh, but that all 
 Jhould come to repentance. 5 * 
 
 G 3. It 
 
50 Of the Extent and PerfeSiion 
 
 3. It is greatly to be lamented, that this gofpel 
 of the kingdom, — the glad tidings of great joy to 
 all people ; fo full of heavenly peace, comfort and 
 hope, and fuch a wonderful manifeftation of the love 
 of God to mankind : It is much to be lamented, I 
 fay, that this " glo;ious gofpel of the blefied God," 
 mould be fo perverted by many -, fo reitrained as to 
 the number of thofe, for whole falvation it was de- 
 figned ; fo narrowed, fo clogged with needlefs diffi- 
 culties and unfcriptnral myfteries, by dark fyftems of 
 divinity produced in dark and corrupt ages, as to 
 become rather an engine for difturbing truly pious 
 and good chriftians with doubts and fears, than to be 
 an adequate relief to awakened finners, by really ma- 
 nifefting the riches of God's goodnefs to a guilty 
 world in its proper extent, thro' Him that " gave 
 " himfelf a ransom for all, to be teftified in due 
 "time."* And I ferioufly declare, that if I were 
 to form my conceptions of God's moral character, by 
 fuch difcourfes as I have fometimes heard and read, 
 and fuch as were, by many, thought to be truly evan- 
 gelical •, inftead of thinking Him really " good to 
 all, and his tender mercies over all his works •," — 
 effentially good, and infinitely the beft of Beings, I 
 could not but conclude Him to be infinitely moie 
 unjuft and cruel, than any other being in the uni- 
 verfe ! 
 
 To conclude : It is to hoped that the bleffed God, 
 the Father of all, has no children here before him, 
 fo depraved as to fufpedt that I have extolled his 
 goodnefs too much, or represented him. better 
 than he is ! — O that I could praife him more ! For 
 " who can mew forth all his praife !"f — But if there 
 are any perfons fo degenerate, as to think their Fa- 
 ther in heaven too much honoured j inftead of telling 
 them, there is another title better adapted to perfons 
 
 of 
 
 * 1 Tim. IT. i. f Pfalm 106. 2. 
 
of GO Us Gocdnefs 51 
 
 of luch a depraved mind, than that of Sons, I mud 
 again refer them to my text, to the apoftle John, 
 to our Lord Jeius Chrift, and to the holy fcriptures in 
 general. I have faid nothing, as to the extent and 
 perfection of God's goodnefs, but what 1 firft learnt 
 from them ; nothing more than God has re- 
 vealed as truth. And if it is truth at all, it is cer- 
 tainly mod interefting, important truth 5 to be 
 known, and joyfully received by all, to the glory of 
 God ; at once to mew men what fentiments, difpo- 
 fitions and affections, ought to poffefs their hearts 
 with relation to Him, and to form their temper and 
 behaviour towards others — Thus mall ye be, indeed, 
 " the, children of the Highest •, for he is kind un- 
 " to the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye there- 
 " fore merciful, as your Father alfo is merciful."'* 
 
 * Luke 6. Chap. 
 
 The end of the firft Sermoa. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
Sermon II. 
 
 Some Obje£Hons againft the 
 Goodnefs of GOD confidered 5 
 and the Subject applied to the 
 Occafion, with practical Infe- 
 rences and Reflexions. 
 
 PSALM CXLV. 9. 
 
 THE LORD is good to all ; and 
 his tender Mercies are over all his 
 Works. 
 
 H^milUHE firft thing propofed in handling this 
 $&*### important iubjed:, was, 
 T 
 
 cOb C 
 
 
 il#ll w* I ft - To make fome obfervations on the 
 ll^|#wll goodnefs of God in. general : And the 
 
 lid. To confider the extent and perfection of it, 
 according to the reprefentation in the text : Wherein 
 the Lord is declared to be " Good to all/' &c. 
 
 These 
 
54 Objections againjl the 
 
 These things were done in the morning. I pro- 
 ceed therefore, by divine aiTiltance, without repeat- 
 ing any thing fa*d under thefe two heads, to the third 
 propofed -, viz. 
 
 Ill^ly- To take a curfory notice of feme of the 
 principal objections againft the divine goodnefs. 
 
 However demonfhable it may be from certain 
 known and acknowledged principles, that the great 
 and glorious God is perfectly good ; cr how fre- 
 quently and clearly fbever it may be declared in the 
 holy fcriptures, that he is thus good ; yet it cannot 
 be denied, that there are many things, both in the 
 vifible world, and in the fcriptures themfelves, which 
 may, at firft view at lead, have the appearance of 
 confiderabje objections againft it. This is not, indeed, 
 a proper occafion for entering very minutely into iuch 
 matters as thefe. There is not time for it, if One 
 were fo difpofed. But yet it might, perhaps, be 
 thought a material omiiTion, if I pafled over all the 
 difficulties that occur with reference to what is afTer- 
 ted in the text, in total filence. And the prefent 
 feafon of the year * itfelf, fuggefts one objection j 
 with which I iliall therefore begin. 
 
 t. Some have found fault with the conftitution of 
 the world, or that courie of nature which fubjects the 
 inhabitants of this earth, both man and bead, to the 
 extremes of heat and cold. A great part of the year, 
 it is faid, we are half frozen •, and another consider- 
 able part of the year, we are parched with exceffive 
 heat. Is not this a great infelicity ? And how came 
 fuch a courfeof nature to be eftablifhed,if the Author 
 of it is " good to all," ? &c. 
 
 Let it be here briefly obferved, 
 
 That 
 * December, 
 
Divine Goodnefs conjidered. 55 
 
 That if this is any real fault or defect, it might be 
 attributed as properly to a want either of wifdom or of 
 power, as of goodnefs. Why mould it be imputed 
 rather to a defect of the latter, than of either of the 
 former, in the Author of nature ? But, 
 
 The objection does, in effect, amount to no more 
 than this : That we are not placed in lb agreeable a 
 fituation, or in fo delightful a world, as we may our- 
 felves imagine and defire. Which, tho' true, is not 
 a more iolid objection againft the goodnefs of God, 
 rhan that we are not angels inftead of men, and were 
 not oiiginally placed in heaven inftead of earth ; or 
 that there is variety inGod's works. That this variety 
 is the coniequence of his being infinitely wife and 
 good, and therefore no objection againft either, was 
 obferved in the foregoing difcourfe. And if that 
 which falls to our lot, is not the moft agreeable fitu- 
 ation of any ; yet, furely, we had not originally any 
 right to a better. * 
 
 God mercifully provides us fewel and cloathing 
 to defend us from the frofts of winter, and rains and 
 breezes to refrefli us in the heats of fummer ; there- 
 by mitigating the feverity,& the fuppofed inconveni- 
 ence hi theie alternate extremes. Befides ; this vi- 
 ciffitude in the feafons,the gradual changes from one 
 to the other, are in lbme refpects very agreeable. 
 This is a pleafing variety. According to my own 
 taire at lea(l 3 . it is much more grateful than any one 
 conftant, uniform, unvaried temperature of the air 
 would be. This variety is probably much bcft upon 
 the whole, even for thofe that complain of it. Na- 
 turahfts and learned bhyficians have made it appear 
 beyond doubt, that theie vicifTitudes in the feaibns 
 contribute very much, upon the whole, to the health, 
 
 (Irength 
 
 * See the 7th, 8th and 9th obferyatiqas in the proceeding 
 ilileourfe, p. 29, Szc. 
 
56 Ob] eft ions againft the 
 
 ftrength and vigor of mankind, and other terreftrial 
 animals ; and, at the fame time, to the promoting of 
 vegetation, and the increafe of thofe fruits, &c. which 
 are needed for their fubfiftence. Moreover : 
 
 By means' of that particular oblique pofition of the 
 earth's axis, from whence, in her annual courfe, this 
 variety in the feafons proceeds, a large proportion of 
 the earth is render'd habitable, comfortable and fruit- 
 ful, which would othcrwife beabfolutely uninhabita- 
 ble, barren and defolate. If the fun, to fpeak ac- 
 cording to the appearance, did not depart from the 
 equinox/and alternately pay a friendly vifit towards 
 the two poles, a much greater part of the earth about 
 and towards them, would be uninhabitable by ex- 
 ceffive cold •, and the courfe of vegetation would be 
 intirely flopped. At the fame time, that part of the 
 earth under and about the equator, would be render'd 
 equally uninhabitable and barren, by the fun's con- 
 ftantly beating upon it : And, as fome have com- 
 puted, at leail five fi xths of the whole globe * would, 
 by this means, .have been . intirely ufelefs. There 
 would not have been provifion made for fo many 
 men, and other animals, by many millions, yea mil- 
 lions of millions, if God had placed the earth, and 
 given it fuch a direction, as ibme pcrfons in their pre- 
 fumtuous folly would have had him done, to pre- 
 ftrve them from the imaginary inconvenience of the 
 feafons ! Thefe reflexions on them are, 1 think, fufn- 
 cient, no: only to reconcile us bo:h to fummer and 
 winter, but to oive us exalted ideas of the infinite 
 witdom and gooJneis of God in thefe vicifTitudes of 
 nature. 
 
 2. One 
 
 * Vid. Dr. Che yke's Phil. Prhi. of ReUf Ch. V. Sett, 
 25 and 26. Wher< there aft k -:ny curious obierva- 
 tions on the fen!'' 
 
Divine Goodnefs conjidered. 57 
 
 2. One might here naturally take occafion to 
 fpeak of ftorms ,tempefts, droughts, peftilence,earth- 
 quakes, and fome other phenomena in the natural 
 world, which fome perfons may confider as objecti- 
 ons againft the goodnefs of God. But I mud only 
 obferve in general, that fome of the foregoing re* 
 marks on the feafons, are equally applicable to thefe 
 other appearances. If they render life lefs fecure 
 and comfortable ; yet it mufl be remembered that 
 God, tho' infinite in goodnefs, is not obliged to put 
 all his creatures into fituations equally defireable ; 
 efpecially finful creatures. Nay, infinite wifdomand 
 goodnefs require the contrary. But fome of the 
 things abovementioned, evidently contribute, irt 
 their places, to the perfection of the natural world. 
 Others of them are adapted to anfwer the mod im- 
 portant moral ends, considering the nature of man, 
 who needs to have his attention frequently roufed to 
 religious and moral fubjetts. And if there are any of 
 thofe things, as I am far from thinking there are, 
 which are not pofitively beneficial in either of thefe 
 ways ; yet they at leaft proceed from fuch general 
 laws of nature, as are upon the whole mofl wife, good 
 and excellent ; and which could not, probably, be 
 broken in upon, or fufpended in their operations, 
 without great detriment, perhaps deftruction to the 
 world. 
 
 3. It may be objected, that there are many poifo- 
 nous, and other noxious vegetables & animals. But, 
 
 There are alfo many natural means of preferva- 
 tion from, and remedies of, thefe fuppofed evils. 
 And moil things that have certain poifonous quali- 
 ties, being properly prepared by the art of the phy- 
 fician and chimift, are themfelves the bell antidotes 
 and remedies that are known in nature, 
 
 H As 
 
58 Object ions again ft the 
 
 As to thofe animals that are troublefbme & noxious 
 to mankind, they may yet enjoy pleafure in life thera- 
 Jllves: And who told us, that they ought to be wholly 
 fubiervient to the happinefs of man ! Befk!e3 ; mankind, 
 in the prefent Hate, actually need trials and affiicYions, 
 as a means of promoting their moral good, and fu- 
 ture happinefs. There is no doubt, but that this is 
 one end which the infinitely wife and good Creator 
 has, in the production and prefervation of fuch ani- 
 mals. It feems probable, from fome paffages of 
 fcripture, that had mankind pcrfevered in their ori- 
 ginal innocence, as they would not have needed fuch 
 afflictions, fo neither would they have had them ; the' 
 nature of the inferior creatures before the fall, hav- 
 ing been different in fome refpecfs from what it has" 
 been fince. Nor is it an impoffible fuppofition, 
 whatever a falfe, minute and fpurious phjlofophy may 
 fuggeft, that at the " time of the reftitution [or reno- 
 " vation] of all things, fpoken of by the mouth of all 
 " the prophets fince the world began," * thefe mif- 
 chievousand noxious creatures may ceafe to be fuch. — 
 " The wolf alfo fhall dwell with the lamb, and the 
 " leopard fhall lie down with the kid : And the calf, 
 " and the young lion, and the fading together, and 
 " a little child fhall lead them. And the cow and 
 cc the bear fhall fetd^ their young ones fhall lie down 
 " together : And the lion fhall eat ftraw like the ox. 
 " And the fucking child (hall play on the hole of the 
 '"' afp, and the weaned child fhall put his hand on the 
 "•cockatrice den. They mall not hurt nor deftroy 
 " in all my holy mountain : For the earth fhall be 
 <c full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters 
 cc cover the fea."f 
 
 ■ 4. What has jufl now been faid, naturally brings 
 to' mind another objection. How many millions of 
 the inferior creatures on the earth, in the air and 
 
 water, 
 JJ Afts in. 2* t Dai, XI. 6— -9. 
 
Divine Goodnefs confidered. *g 
 
 water, feem to live and die in a miferable manner, 
 preying continually on one another • while all of 
 them are, in fome degree, the prey of man, who tho s 
 fo much lefs and weaker than many of them, yet 
 out-wits, and fo plays the tyrant over them all ? How 
 does it confift with the goodnefs of God, to make 
 fuch creatures, and leave them in fuch a date ! 
 
 It may be anfwered, that thefe animals, birds, fifli, 
 infedts, &c. appear in general to enjoy no imall de- 
 gree of pleafure in life, while they are preferved in 
 it, according to their refpeclive natures & capacities. 
 The bountiful Author of nature feeds them all, and 
 fupplies their wants. Leviathan, and all the watry 
 tribes play, difport themfelves, and rejoice for a time 
 in the great deep, the lakes, ponds and rivers. The 
 birds and fowles of heaven do the like in the air, 
 the water, or on the earth, as fu its them be ft. The 
 beafts do iht fame in the pallures, woods and forefts. 
 The fmaller animals, reptiles, and all infedts do the 
 like. And men generally take a kind care of do- 
 meftic animals, and of all 'hofe which they either em- 
 ploy in their fervice, or defign for their food ; libe- 
 rally feeding and feafting them. 
 
 Most of the untamed animals, &c. die a natural 
 death without fear, and probably without much pain, 
 when they have run thro' the courfes and flages. 
 arTigned to them refpectively. And as to thofe of 
 them that become the prey of man, or of one ano- 
 ther •, this is feldom, if ever, till they have enjoyed 
 much more pleafure in life, than they endure pain 
 in being deprived of it : Efpscially when it is con- 
 fidered, that their death is commonly almoft inftan- 
 taneous ; and without any fuch uneafy reflexions on 
 what is pall, or apprehenfions refpecYing futurity, as 
 mankind experience, So that all thefe living crea- 
 H 2 tures, 
 
60 ObjeBions againft the 
 
 tures, whether wild or tame, in all probability enjoy 
 a furplufage of pleafurable fenfations, according to 
 their natures and capacities : And if fo, the Author 
 of their being is good and merciful to them. It 
 fhould likewife be confidered, that thofe living crea- 
 tures, which afford food and fuftenance to man, or to 
 other creatures, at the expence of their own lives, 
 thereby do good to their devour ers \ and fo, in a fenfe, 
 add to the common happinefs even by their tragical 
 end. 
 
 But if there are any of them, which do not enjoy 
 a fhare of pleaiure fuperior to their pains in life and 
 death ; (an unsupported hypothecs) yet how came 
 you to know, that there is certainly an end of all, or 
 any of them at death? Who told you that they do not 
 tranfmigrate into, or affume other bodies fuccefiively, 
 in which they enjoy life in a more perfect manner 
 than in the preceeding ftate ? Has God plainly re- 
 vealed any thing to the contrary, in his word ? No. 
 Does reafon difcern any impofiibility, abfurdity, or 
 even improbability in this fuppofition ? Neither of 
 them. Nay •, there is fome natural and pofitive 
 ground of prefumpiion, or a degree of probability, 
 that this is really the truth. It is certain that every 
 livings fenfttive creature, is endowed with fome prin- 
 ciple diftincl: from matter ; call it foul, fpirit or what 
 you pleafe, it is of no confequence. All matter, all 
 that is properly and folely fuch, is evidently void of 
 animal life and fenfadon, of all feeling and perception, 
 in every degree. The living, fenfitive, feeling and 
 perceptive principle, therefore, in all animals, infects, 
 &c. is immaterial, or fomething abfolutely and in- 
 tirely diftincl in nature from matter. And this may 
 furvive the body, be continued after the diffolutwn 
 of the prefent organs of fenfation, and live in another 
 body, if the Author of its being pleafes it fhould : 
 
 Tho* 
 
Divine Goodnefs conjtdered. 61 
 
 Tho' I do not prefume to aflert pofitively, that it 
 will. But there is nothing abfurd, unfcriptural or 
 irrational in the fuppofition : Nay ; the transforma- 
 tions, or tranfmigrations that are actually obferved in 
 fome living creatures, render it credible in itfelf, and, 
 in a degree, probable. But if the fuppofition is bare- 
 ly a pojfible one, it is a fufficient anfwer to the ob- 
 jection drawn from the fufFerings of brutes and in- 
 fects, againft the exprefs doctrine of fcripture, That 
 the " Lord is good to all," &c. Though, by the 
 way, if this laft, hypothetical folution mould be given 
 up as indefenfible •, yet, as was intimated before, it 
 can never be proved that any one of thefe living 
 creatures endures either more, or as much pain, as it 
 enjoyed pleafure, in life and death. 
 
 5. It will not be unnatural to proceed from hence 
 to that capital objection, which is grounded on the 
 many fufFerings and pains of mankind in the prefent 
 ftate, too well known to need defcribing. 
 
 To which I anfwer, That mankind alfo enjoy many 
 pleafures ; and, as is generally fuppofed, many more 
 than are equivalent to the pains which they endure 
 in this ftate. If we are fubject to difeafes, the Author 
 of nature has alfo in mercy provided remedies. He 
 feeds and cloaths us, and fupplies our natural wants ; 
 as to mod of us, in a very liberal manner. Mod of 
 the pains, both mental and corporeal, which mankind 
 futfer in this world, are of their own creating ♦, they 
 are the natural effects of intemperance,and other vices. 
 And it would be very injurious to object thefe againft 
 that goodnefs of God, which we thus abufe to our 
 own hurt* * 
 
 At lead: fome of the fufFerings of this life, are ju- 
 dicial and corrective -, brought upon us by the pro- 
 vidence 
 * See page 29, Remark 6th of Serm. I. 
 
62 ObjeSiions againjl the 
 
 viclence of God for our fins, to chaftize, and thereby 
 to reform us, in order to our prefent and future good. 
 And all fuch evils, as we may call them when conr 
 fidered merely in themfelves, are actually effects of 
 the divine goodnefs, inftead of being folid objections 
 againfl it. * 
 
 But there are fome children, who are born, live, 
 and foon die, in pain ; before they have actually done 
 any evil, or committed any fault. Be it fo. But do 
 you certainly know, that what they enjoyed in the 
 womb before their birth, was not more than equiva- 
 lent to what they fuffered at the time of, or after it, 
 in life and death ? You have no proof of this, how- 
 ever poftiive you may be. But, allowing you to be 
 certain, as well as confident, that thefe infants endure 
 more than they enjoy, antecedently to their dying ; 
 yet are not their fouls immortal ? And are they not 
 flill in the hands of Him, who has faid, " Behold, all 
 cc fouls are mine, as the foul of the father, fo alio the 
 " foul of the fon is mine — The fon fhall not bear the 
 " iniquity of the father ?"f Is it not then, at lead 
 fuppofable that fuch infants, never having fmned in 
 any ftri6l or proper fenfe, go to an happier date than 
 that, out of which they were taken ? And if fo, their 
 momentary pains here, are no folid objection againlt 
 the goodnefs of God. Indeed, if there are any per- 
 fons who alien, that befikfe's thefe pains, they iuner 
 the " wrath and curie" of God, and ct the pains of 
 hell for ever •," it is doubtlefs impoffible to reconcile 
 this, not only with infinite goodnefs and mercy, but 
 even with a very fmall degree thereof. To fuppofe 
 that they either properly committed any fin, long 
 before they were conceived in the womb -, or that 
 the fin of Adam and Eve, is or can be fo imputed to 
 
 them, 
 * See p. 25. Remark 8th of Serm. L 
 
 f Ezek. 18. 4, 20. 
 
Divine Goodnefs conjtdered. 63 
 
 them, as to render them jujily liable to eternal mifery, 
 without any offence of their own, is one of the grofeft 
 of all abfurdities. They who are capable of believ- 
 ing fuch unfcriptural and irrational doctrine, and of 
 thinking juftice fo much at variance with goodnefs, 
 wifdom and mercy, as this fuppofes, are to be pitied 
 -as peribns of a fadly depraved judgment. But if it 
 were allowed that thefe " infants of a fpan long, 5 * 
 were juftly liable to eternal torments, as fome have 
 afiferted •, yet upon their own principles, and even ac- 
 cording to their own falfe idea of divine juftice, God 
 may (hew mercy to them. They do not pretend to fay, 
 that God is obliged to go as far in punilhing as he 
 might go, according to their conceptions of juflice. 
 So that thefe infants, upon any principles which fup-i 
 pofe the immortality of the foul, may be eternal monu- 
 ments of that goodnefs and mercy, againft which 
 their untimely death is thought an objection. And 
 the bare poffibility of this, is a fufticient anfwer to 
 that objection, unlefs it could be proved that fome of 
 diem are certainly devoted to future torment . ; — an 
 opinionequally irrational,uhfcriptural & antichriftian. 
 
 6. It may perhaps be objected, that the fcripture 
 doctiine of Chnft's atonement^ or facrifice, is mcon- 
 fiftent with what has been laid concerning the per- 
 fection of God's goodnefs ; and particularly with that 
 idea of it which was given in the preceedingdifcourfe, 
 as comprehending juftice in it ; which latter is not 
 there fuppofed to be any attribute of God, diftinct 
 from, but one branch or mode of, his erTential good- 
 nefs. If God be thus perfectly good and merciful in 
 his nature, why did he not forgive the fins of men 
 without any facrifice ? without any reconciliation 
 for fin ? efptcially if divine juftice is nothing diftinct 
 in nature from divine goodnefs. What occafion was 
 there for any atonement, upon thefe principles ?-*- 
 7 Whereas 
 
64 ObjeElions againfl the 
 
 Whereas the fcriptures conftantly fuppofe the Deed 
 of it in order to the pardon of fin. 
 
 Upon the principles of the foregoing difcourfe, 
 infinite goodnefs itfelf, confidered in connection with 
 infinite wifdom, requires that order, and the higheft 
 veneration for the majefly of God, his laws and go- 
 vernment, fhonld be preserved amongft all his rea- 
 ionable creatures. Their own good effentially de- 
 pends upon it. And this important end is moft 
 effectually attained by the facrifice of Chrift, " by 
 whom we have received the atonement." We are 
 afiured in the holy fcriptures, that God forgives the 
 fins of men thro* this great facrifice intervening, ra- 
 ther than without any, not becaufe he is in his own 
 nature deficient in goodnefs, or not perfectly merci- 
 ful, but becaufe he is infinitely wife as well as mer- 
 ciful ; taking fuch a method herein, as is in its na- 
 ture admirably adapted to " magnify the law, and 
 make it honourable •," i. e. to beget and preferve in 
 the minds of reafonable creatures, a juftfenfe of God's 
 authority, the dignity of his laws and government : 
 Which, as was intimated before, is evidently beft 
 even for themfelves. In this fenfe the apoftle, hav- 
 ing obferved that Chrift by the grace of God tafted 
 death for every man, adds, " For it became Him, 
 " for whom are all things, &: by whom are all things, 
 *' in bringing many fons unto glory, to make the 
 " Captain of their falvation perfect thro' fufferings."* 
 It became his wifdom, it became his goodnefs, it be- 
 came his mercy, even that very " grace of God, by 
 which Chrift tafted death for every man." There 
 was a fitnefs and congruity in it, as the wifeft and beft 
 method for faving finful men, without any kind of 
 reference to that common, but yztftrange fuppofition, 
 of divine juftice being intircly diftinct from divine 
 goodnefs. Befides ; 
 
 The 
 * Heb. XI. 9, 10. 
 
Divine Goodnefs conjtdered. 65 
 
 The fcriptures uniformly fpeak of Chrift's media- 
 tion, and his dying for finners, as the effect, or con- 
 fequence of God's original goodnefs and mercy, 
 " God fo loved the world, that he gave his only be- 
 - gotten Son,"*' &c. " In this was manifefled the love 
 " of God towards us — He loved us, and fent his Son 
 " to be the propitiation for our Jins"f Thefe repre- 
 fentations of Chrift's dying, u the juft for the unjuft," 
 as confequential to, and the effecl of, God's love, mercy 
 and grace, are fo far from fuppofing any fuch jnflice 
 in God as is often ipoken of, diftin6t in nature from 
 goodnefs, and to fatisfy which, it is faid, Chrift died ; 
 that they appear to me abfolutely irreconcileable 
 therewith. Neither does it feem even poffible to 
 affert, and folidly to maintain, this moft important 
 do&rine of our redemption by the blood of Chrift, 
 but upon the fuppofition of its being the wifeft and 
 beft, i. e. the moft be'nevolent and gracious method 
 of difpenfing pardon and life to finners ; in fuch a 
 fenfe as wholly and forever to exclude any fuch idea 
 of divine juftice, as is often given us. — Tho', by the 
 way, thefe things are not faid by me, but with aa 
 high veneration for thofe many wife and excellent 
 men, who either have, or feem to have, different con* 
 ceptions of this matcer. But, 
 
 7. How fhall we reconcile the fuppofition of God's 
 leaving the whole heathen world to unavoidable and 
 eternal mifery, with infinite goodnefs and mercy ? 
 
 To this it will be fi:*ricient to anfwer in genera], 
 firft, That it is by no means a clear and certain point, 
 either from reafon or revelation, that all the heathen 
 will actually be miferable in the world to come : And, . 
 fecondly, That if they (hall be fo, they will be punifh- 
 ed only for their fins \ a-nd in due meaiure only. And : 
 
 I to 
 
 * John 3. 16. t 1 John IV. 9, 10. 
 
66 Qbje&ions a gain ft the 
 
 to puniih them thus, is not, certainly, inconfiftent 
 with the moft perfect goodnefs. 
 
 8. What fnall we lay to the doctrine of God's 
 having reprobated a great proportion of mankind > 
 or, from eternity devoted them in his abfolute deciee 
 and purpofe, to eternal torments, without any refpect 
 or regard to any fins of theirs, as the procuring 
 and meritorious caufe of their perdition ? and this, 
 at the fame time, to make manifeft and glorify his 
 justice ! What can be faid to this ? and how fhall 
 it be reconciled with the fuppofition, that God's ten- 
 der mercies are over all his works ? 
 
 Twill tell you, in a very few words, what I have 
 to fay to it at prefent. And that is, firft, That if 
 any perfons really hold fuch a doctrine, neither any 
 man on earth, nor angel in heaven, can reconcile it 
 with the goodnefs of God. And, fecondly, 1 hat. I 
 have not my felf the lead inclination to attempt a re- 
 conciliation of thefe doctrines ; being periwaded, 
 that they are j aft as contrary as light and darknels, 
 Chrift & Belial ; — that one of them is moft true and 
 fcriptural, joyful to man, and honourable toGod •, and 
 the other moft falfe and unfcriptural, horrible to the 
 laft degree, to all men of an undepraved judgment, 
 and blafphemous againlt the God of heaven and 
 earth. Neither is it poiTible for any man, who really 
 believes what the fcriptures teach concerning the 
 goodnefs of God, even to think of this other e.octrine, 
 but with great indignation. But, 
 
 9. How can what the holy fcriptures unqueftion- 
 ably teach, refpecting the greatnefs of the punifhment 
 of thofe who die impenitently under the gofpel, be 
 reconciled with God's goodnefs & mercy as declared 
 in the fame fcriptures . p To- this it is anfwered, 
 
 1. That 
 
Divine Goodnefs confidered. 67 
 
 I. That God certainly exercifes great goodnefs 
 and mercy towards fuch finners in this world •, not 
 only in lupplying their temporal wants, but in afford- 
 ing them fuch means of knowledge and eternal hap- 
 pinefs, as nothing but their own wilful blindnefs and 
 perverfenefs can render ineffectual to that end. All 
 are invited and perfwaded, in the mod gracious and 
 pathetic terms, to accept of eternal life, thro' Him that 
 " crave hirhfelf a ranfom for all." 
 
 o 
 
 2 It is not inconfiftent with the mod perfect 
 goodnefs, efpecially in certain cafes, to punifh wicked 
 men. No earthly fovereign is accounted the iefs good 
 or merciful for punifhing rebels, traitors and felons 
 even capitally, wnen the fupport of his government, 
 and the common good of his kingdom require it. 
 Nay, mould he neglect to do it in this cafe, he would 
 be the lefs good and merciful ; becaufe it would be 
 a fort of cruelty to his other fubjects : At bed it 
 would be a great weaknefs in hirn. Why then mould 
 God, the great and only Potentate, be thought the 
 lefs good or merciful for inflicting fuch punifhment 
 on wicked men, as the fupport of his govern ment,and 
 the great end thereof, cail for ? Goodnefs, perfect 
 goodnefs, nay, tender mercy itfelf requires this : God 
 would not be perfectly good- and merciful, if he did 
 not inflict fuch punifhment, how terrible foever in its 
 nature and duration, as is requifite to this end. 
 
 3. The. light of nature afcertains neither the 
 kind, the degree, nor the duration of that punifh- 
 ment, which is neceffary to be inflicted on the wicked 
 in another world, in order to the due fupport of 
 God's government •, or, in other words, in order to 
 the attaining the good, great and glorious end there- 
 of. Men may, if they pleafe, prefume and be con- 
 fident, that this or that, and no more, is neceffary in 
 
 I 2 order 
 
68 ObjeElions againjl the 
 
 order to the end propofed ; and therefore conclude, 
 not unjuftly, if the premifes were true, that no more, 
 greater or more durable pains and penalties, will be 
 inflicted. But after all this confidence, mere human 
 reafon is as inadequate a judge of the matter, as a 
 child of ten years old is, what courfe his King ought 
 to take with thofe that have broken the Jaws. The 
 light of nature leaves mankind altogether as much 
 in the dark in one cafe, as this child's reafon leaves 
 him in the other. Which, by the way, fhews the 
 necefiity of an exprefs revelation from heaven, if it 
 Were only to give finners the ajfurance of a -pardon. 
 
 4. Tke obvious conclufion from thefe principles, 
 is, that it becomes us to fit down contented with 
 what God has actually revealed, reflecting this fub- 
 ject. He, and only He, knows particularly, how great 
 or durable punilhments are nccefTary to aniwer the 
 good ends of his univerfal government ; or how it 
 becomes infinite wifdom and goodnefs to diipofe of 
 (infill creatures. Human reafon knows not what is 
 wifeft and befl in this cafe. So that, 1 fee not what 
 any lober man has to do in it, but to info/m himfelf 
 what the real doctrine of fcripture upon the fubject is ; 
 and to acquiefce in whatever God has declared to be 
 his purpofe. Whatever that be, we may reft aiTured 
 that it is at once moil for the glory of God, and for 
 the good of his univerfal kingdom \ fuch punifhment 
 as it becomes the God and Father of all to inflict. 
 For " fhall not the Judge of all the earth do right !" 
 
 Having faid thus much concerning the future 
 punifhment of wicked men, the duration of which, 
 you know, is divers times expreffed by the words, 
 eternal, everlafting, for ever and ever, and the like •, it 
 is needlefs to fuijjoin any thing particularly about that 
 of the rebel-angels : For the fame principles and 
 general way of reafoning, are equally applicable to 
 both. There 
 
Divine Goodnefs confidered. 69 
 
 There is no juft and Efficient caufe to doubt, 
 either from any appearances in nature, or from any 
 real doctrine of revelation, but that God is good and 
 merciful in the higheft conceivable fenfe. But there 
 are pofitive, conclufive and demonftrative proofs of 
 his being fo. Let me add here, that if this 
 doctrine of the perfect goodnefs of God, is not ftrictly 
 true in the higheft imaginable fenfe, ftho' 1 almoft 
 tremble even at making fuch a fuppofition, which I 
 abhor as impious,) there is not fufficient ground for 
 an unreferved truft and confidence in him. For if 
 he may be fuppofed to act unreasonably, cruelly, or 
 contrary to the dictates of goodnefs in any one cafe, 
 why not in others ? why not in many ? why not in 
 any fuppofed cafe ? Where then is your fafety ? 
 "What Security has any man on earth, or angel in hea- 
 ven, that he mail not, even without reafon, without 
 jufl caufe, become the object of God's infupportable 
 wrath ! Will you fay, that you are effectually fecured 
 by his own gracious promife ? But what firm, unre- 
 ferved confidence can be placed in his word and pro- 
 mife, unlefs he is fuppofed to be perfectly good and 
 faithful ? If he is not fo, he may deceive you ; and, 
 inftead of exalting you to heaven hereafter, " thruft 
 you down to hell !" If he deals arbitrarily, capricioufly 
 •and cruelly by others, may he not do the fame by 
 you, notwithflanding his fuppofed word and promife ? 
 No doubt : For any being that acts fuch a part in 
 one cafe, may do the like in another. Where then 
 . is your " Rock" of peace ? On what is your hope, 
 your confidence grounded, upon the prefent fuppofi- 
 tion ? — Alas ! on nothing better than the word and 
 promife of a being, who is capable of acting unrea- 
 sonably, arbitrarily and cruelly •, or contrary to the 
 dictates of goodnefs ! — A miferable fupport to Att 
 immortal foul, that mud be either happy or mifc?f- 
 able while it exifts, and is abfolutely dependent upon 
 
 Him 
 
70 tte Application 
 
 Him that made it ! — It is, therefore, at leaft for the 
 inter eft of all, that God fhould be as perfectly good 
 and merciful, as he has been reprefented : Which, 
 tho' it is no direct proofs is yet fufficient to fhew, that 
 no man can in reaion be prejudiced againft this doct- 
 rine, or have any diflike to it, even upon fuppofition 
 that he does not at prefcnt fee fufficient evidence of 
 it. Tho', how any One can poffibly doubt of it, and 
 yet believe the holy fcriptures, is quite unaccounta- 
 ble. For is it not therein declared — " The Lord is 
 " good to all, and his tender mercies are over all 
 " his works ?" But I proceed, 
 
 IV. To make fome application of this fubject, by 
 reminding you more particularly of the great good- 
 nefs of God to Us, both in temporal and fpiritual 
 refpects •, and by fuch inferences and reflexions, as 
 may at once tend to the honor of God, and fhew 
 what influence the consideration of his goodncis, 
 ought to have upon your hearts and manners. 
 
 Now, if we confider ourfelves as Men, we aie a 
 diitinguifhed order of creatures* and under great ob- 
 ligations to our Creator. However inferior we may 
 be to many creatures in other parts of the univerfe ; 
 (inferior indeed !) yet there is no preemption,* 
 no vanky in faying, that we are much fuperior to 
 any of the other inhabitants of this world. For which 
 pre-eminence of nature and rank, we are indebted 
 only to Him that made us thi's ; " of whom, and 
 thro' whom, and to whom are all things." 
 
 If we confider ourfelves, in the next place, as crea- 
 tures redeemed from fin and death by the Son of God 
 in human fiefh, we are (till more wonderfully favour- 
 ed and diitinguifhed. God is in Chrift reconciling, 
 not a comparatively fmall part of mankind to him- 
 
 felf, 
 
of the SubjeSt. 7 c 
 
 felf, according to the reprefentations of fome, but'the 
 " World" itfelf. For Chrift " is the propitiation — 
 for the fins of the whole world." And it 4C pleafed 
 the Father — by him to reconcile all things unto 
 himfelf, by him, I fay, whether things in earth, or 
 things in heaven." — " Behold, what manner of love 
 the Father hath beflowed upon us," in this refpect ! 
 
 If we confider ourfelves as having been born and 
 brought up in the ihriftian world, had the advantages 
 of a religious education, and " even from children 
 known tne holy fcriptures, which are able to make 
 us wife unto falvation •," we muft acknowledge the 
 particular kindnefs & goodnefs of God to us in thefe 
 regards. Had we been born in a land of Pagan or 
 Mahometan darknefs, or had we been born and edu- 
 cated Jews •, we might probably have been Pagans, 
 Mahometans or Jews to this day : Whereas we are 
 now Chridians, by profeffion at lead -, and if we are 
 not practically fuch, the fault is our own. 
 
 We are dill farther didinguifhed and favoured of 
 God, by having been born and bred in a proteftant 
 country, and a reformed part of the chridian church ; 
 inftead of a roman -catholic country, & in the errors, 
 fu perditions and idolatries of the church of Rome. 
 For had the latter been our lot, we mould probably, 
 the mod of us, have been enflaved to thofc delufions, 
 " and the papal tyranny to this day. And thofe of us, 
 whom God mould have given light and courage e- 
 nough to caft them off, might have fuffered a cruel 
 perlecution, and " for conicience towards God en- 
 dured grief ;" as protedants now do, even in France 
 itlelf, from a pretended mod polite, humane and re- 
 fined, but really barbarous people in fome refpedb. 
 And yet they are by far the lead bigotted to the pa- 
 pacy, of any roman-catholic nation ! 
 
 If 
 
72 The Application 
 
 If wc confider ourfelves as Britifh fubje&s, and en- 
 titled to the liberties and privileges of fuch, both 
 civil and facred •, we muft acknowledge that provi- 
 dence has, in this refpecl, favoured us above moft 
 other proteftants : Very few of whom, I might per- 
 haps fay none, live under fo happy and excellent a 
 form of government as ourfelves. 
 
 We are alfo favoured of God, the univerfal 
 Sovereign, in having a good King, as well as an excel- 
 lent conftitution of government. Bad Kings may 
 prove a fore fcourge even in a free government, tho* 
 there is an old paradox, that they " can do no wrong ;'* 
 of which our own nation had repeated and dreadful 
 experience, before the ever-memorable and glorious 
 revolution. Since that, we have had goodPrinces : 
 And his prdent Majefty is doubtlefs one of the beft- 
 intentionM Monarchs in the world. We may fay, 
 upon good grounds, that " becaufe the Lord loved 
 us, therefore made he him King over us, to do juftiee 
 and judgment." This he has hitherto done \ and 
 will doubtlefs continue to do it, if the Achitophels and 
 Machiavels. are kept from, and poflibly even tho* 
 they fhou.ld furround, the throne. 
 
 We muft farther acknowledge the goodnefs of 
 God in lately giving the King a Son and Heir ; and 
 thereby confirming to all his loyal fubje&s, the agree- 
 able hopes of the proteftant fucceffion being perpe- 
 tuated in his illuftrious houfe. — Heaven preierve the 
 King, the Queen and the royal Infant : The two 
 former,to be illuftrious examples of conjugal affection 
 and happinefs •,. — of all piety and virtue, not only to 
 their own fubjecls, but to other Kings and Queens : 
 And the latter, to inherit his Father's virtues with 
 his throne, whenever it fhali pleafe Him who " ruleth 
 iri the kingdom of men," to exalt the One above, 
 and raife the Other to it \ 
 
 We 
 
of the SabjeSi. 73 
 
 We are, moreover, to acknowledge the goodnefs 
 of God in continuing to fucceed the King's aims, in 
 the courfe of the year paft, after having crowned them 
 with fo many iliuftrious fucceifes and victories for fe- 
 veral years before. Two very fignal acquifuions 
 have been made by the Britifh urns, fince our laft 
 annual thankigiving ; — thofe of Martinico and 
 the Havannah. And fince theie, the principal 
 place in Newfoundland, which the enemy had in 
 fuch a myfienous manner poffeflld themfelves of, has 
 been refcued out of their hands. This important 
 recovery was effected with admirable difpatch and 
 faclity, highly to the honor of thofe who had the 
 immediate planning, conduct and execution of the 
 enterprize. And, upon the whole, we have the great- 
 eft reaibn to expect an honorable, advantageous 
 and lafting peace For I will not— cannot fuppofc, 
 that either folly or pufillanirmty, private avarice or 
 treachery, in the cabinet, will relinquiih thofe figna! 
 advantages which wifdom and valor, which public 
 fpirit and loyalty obtained in the field, and on the 
 mighty ocean, thro 5 Him that has "rode upon the hea- 
 vens for our help,andin his excellency upon the fkies */* 
 tho' fimilar things have been done in former reigns !* 
 
 If we come to our own country in particular «, we 
 
 have he;e enjoyed, of late, almoit all tho blefTings of 
 
 peace, in a time of war & tumuli among the nations 
 
 of Eurone. We have alfo been favoured with gene- 
 
 K rfd 
 
 * N. B. Since the delivery of this clifcourfe, we have had 
 the important advices of the King of PrufBa's, Prince 
 Henry's and Prince Ferdinand's fuccefles ', of the Spaniards 
 retreat out of Portugal, and the ngning the Prelimina- 
 ries for a Peace betwixt Great Britian and Portugal or* 
 one fide, and France and Spain on the other. But it wa 
 tho't proper to leave the paragraph above, as it wa^ 
 delivered — May the God of peace and love perj^ft thp 
 good wPxk cf peace thus begun 1 w m m 
 
7+ PraBkal Inferences 
 
 ral Health. Our invaluable civil rights and privileges 
 are preTerved to vis. I do not lay, that they have 
 even been flruck ar, in any inftance or degree— But 
 if they have, they are not wrefted from us : And m/y 
 righteous heaven blaftthe defigns, tho* not the foul or 
 the body of that man, whoever he be amongtt us, 
 that fhall have the hardinefs and prefumption K) 
 attack them ! 
 
 Let me add, that tho' we were vifited with a 
 pretty fevere drought in the fummer pail, yet the 
 rains which fucceeded, came fofeafonably, and in fnch 
 competent meafure, that there is a fupply of the ne- 
 ceflaries, and very many of the comforts of life : So 
 that, to fay the leaft, there is no danger of famine 
 or diftrefs amongft us for want of them. And we 
 have alfo been, and fliii are, greatly favoured in the 
 temperate and moderate weather, continued this year 
 lo much beyond the ufual time : Which is, in divers 
 refpects, a great mitigation of the calamity in the 
 drought before-mentioned. 
 
 Thus, my brethren, I have briefly reminded you 
 of fome of the many inftances of God's goodnefs to 
 mankind in general, and to ourfelves in particular : 
 All which it becomes us gratefully to acknowledge 
 to the glory of Him, who is " good to all, and whofe 
 tender mercies are over all his works." It now re- 
 mains,to draw fome practical inferences & inftrnitions 
 from this fubjecl. It affords many important ones : 
 And, indeed, I (hall mention a. considerable number, 
 tho' but briefly, for fear of being tedious. And, 
 
 i. The confideration of God's goodnefs, fhews 
 the reafon and proper ground of love to God, anel 
 complacency in him. To love, or delight in an evil, 
 cruel, arbitrary and unrighteous being, as fuch, is im- 
 
 pofilbk 
 
and InJiruStlons. 75 
 
 poflible to any, except unreafbnable and depraved 
 minds. But fuch a being as God is reprefented in 
 fcripture ; One ib good and meciful to Ail, muft 
 needs be loved by every perfon that is not hirnielf 
 unreafonable, corrupt and depraved to a mon- 
 ftrous degree. For what is it but, I had almofl faid, 
 infinite foliy, perverfenefs and wickedncfs, not to love 
 infinite, goodncfs ! 
 
 2. What has been faid concerning the divine 
 goodncfs, as comprehending juftice, and the other 
 moral perfections of God in it •, fhews that he ought 
 to be loved on account of thefe alio. That is, he is 
 to be loved, confidered under the character, not mere- 
 ly of a benevolent Being, in the common reftrained 
 fenle of the word benevolence \ but under the 
 character of a mod holy, juft and righteous, as well 
 as kind and beneficent Being. God's moral character 
 is to be taken all together ; thefeveral branches of it 
 are to be confidered as united by and in the bond of 
 love, and infeparably connected with infinite wiidom. 
 And then, God h to be loved as a Being of fuch a, 
 character •, a character, in its own nature infinitely 
 amiable. Nor is there any true, proper and genuine 
 io/e to God, but what refpects him in the whole of 
 this character. Even wicked men may and do, often 
 at leait, love him as a kind, bountiful and merciful 
 Being, in a reftrained, partial fenfe of thofe words, 
 while they hate him confidered as a juft, righteous 
 and holy One. But this is not to love God in the 
 fenfe of fcripture. Good men, and only fuch, love 
 him as the fource and centre of all moral perfection 
 in general. 
 
 3. Hence it is eafy to fee, not only the reafon why, 
 to love God is fpoken of as the firft and greateft of 
 $11 the commandments ; but alfo the ground cf that 
 
 K 2 intire 
 
76 PraElkal Inferences 
 
 ifttife and ardent, I had almoft faid, that infinite and 
 boundlefs love to him, which is required of us. For 
 if God is indeed iuch a Being as the fcriptures re- 
 prefent him, it is at once manifeit that we ought to 
 love him firit and laft \ and not only fincerely, but "with 
 all our heart & with all our foul, with all our ftrength. 
 and with all our mind." Even of luch a love irom 
 all, that Being is manifeftly the proper object, who 
 is himfelf " good to all, arid whofe tender mer- 
 cies are over all his works." And the more largely 
 God has caufed us to partake of his goodnefs, whe- 
 ther in temporal or fpintual regards, the ftronger is 
 our obligation to love him thus -, and the more in- 
 excufable we are, if we do not. 
 
 4. From hence we may clearly fee the reafon, why, 
 to " love our neighbour as ourfelves," is fpoken of 
 by our Saviour as the next, the fecond commandment* 
 and like unto the fifffi •, why love is reprefented as the 
 <c fulfilling of the law," &c. For if God is thus good, 
 it is evident that, next to loving himfelf, he muft 
 require his intelligent creatures to love one another ; 
 and this as the fum of all the duties which they mu- 
 tually owe to each other. No particular duty of the 
 moral law, I mean, of the fecond table, can naturally 
 and reafonably claim fuch a pre-eminence, fuch a 
 glorious precedence in the order of offices, as chanty, 
 which does in a fort comprehend them all •, even as 
 God's goodnefs comprehends his other moral per- 
 fections. And love muft needs be the fupreme, uni- 
 verfal, unchangeable law of fuch a Being, to all his 
 reafonable creatures : to ang-els in htaven, as well as 
 men on earth ; and to creatures inferior to men, 
 if any fuch there are, capable fubjects of moral go- 
 vernment y as it is highly probable there are. 
 
 5. From 
 
and InflruElions. 77 
 
 5. From hence appears the unreafonablenefs, and 
 great fin of indulging anger, revenge, difpropon ion- 
 ate refentment, and an implacable fpint \ together 
 with the wifdom and importance of thofe numerous 
 precepts in the gofpel, relative to meeknefs, forbear- 
 ance, forgiving injuries, and the like. Tne in- 
 dulgence of any of thole paflions, any farther than 
 may realbnably be fuppofed conducive to fome po- 
 fitively good end, is not merely contrary to the fpirit 
 and precepts of the gofpel, but 't renders men pecu- 
 liarly unlike to the infinitely good & merciful God. 
 Nor is there any thing greater, more glorious and 
 god-lik~, than to love them t u at hate us, and to do 
 good to them that defpitefully ufe us. Neither is it 
 without a very pecular emphafis, that He who died 
 for us as finners and enemies, enjoins us to do thus, 
 " that we may be the children of our Father in hea- 
 ven, who is himfelf good to the unthankful and to 
 the evil." 
 
 6. It may from hence be inferred, that all God's par- 
 ticular commandments, a3 diftinguimed from thofe 
 two grand, mod fundamental & compreheniive ones 
 before-meniioned, are not only holy an J juft, but 
 good ; actually kind and beneficial in their nature, 
 defign and tendency ; adapted to promote the great 
 end of his univcrial government, the good of his 
 creatures, and therein his own glory ■! For thele are 
 inseparably connected Or, if any chufe rather to 
 exprefs it thus, — That God's view is, to promote his 
 cwn glory by doing goed, making the latter the means y 
 and the former the end \ I have no objection, except 
 that it may, perhaps, feem to reprefent him rather as 
 an ambitious Being, whodefires the praife& homage 
 of his creatures, than an infinitely good One, who 
 aims at making them happy without any felfijh end, 
 incompatible with a perfect character, and with ab- 
 
 folute 
 
7 8 PraBtical Inferences 
 
 folutefelf-fufHcience — But I offer t nothing upon this 
 point. However that may be, yet it is certain that 
 none of the commands of a perfectly good and mer- 
 ciful Being, can be mere arbitrary injunctions and 
 impofitions, without any good end : Much lefs can 
 they have a contrary tendency. Of this we may be 
 certain in general, even tho' we mould not be able 
 particularly to difctrn the benevolent defign and ten- 
 dency cf fome of God's revealed commands ; as,for ex- 
 ample, fome branches of the ceremonial law. There 
 is nogoodreaion to doubt, but that they were all wife- 
 ly and kindly intended. And as to all the precepts 
 of chriltianity without exception, One need not Tem- 
 ple to fay pofitivcly, that the good end and tendency 
 of them is eafily and clearly difcernable. 
 
 7. We learn from hence, how liberal, ingenuous 
 and chearful, as well as how univerfal an obedience 
 they who believe in God, ought to yield to his com- 
 mandments. Does it become us, my brethren, to 
 obey Him with reluctance, and grutchingly, who is 
 good to all, and all whole commandments are in 
 their very nature kind and good, as if we were obey- 
 ing a tyrant, or cruel tafk-mafter, who cared not what 
 became of us, fo that his own felfifh ends were but 
 anfwered ? If God governs us according to the rules 
 of wifdom and benevolence, even as a father doth his 
 children, only in an infinitely mere gracious and per- 
 feci manner, fhould our obedience be gloomy, reluct- 
 ant, fertile and flavifh, as if we only feared a Bajlile 
 and the torture ! How incongruous were this ! Such 
 an obedience may be fuitable enough for fome nations 
 ro pay to the edicts of their tyrannical and cruel 
 Monarchs •, but, furely, it is altogether unbecoming 
 chriftiaris to their God, their Father in heaven ! Your 
 obedience to Him ought to be, in the highefl fenfe, 
 liberal, chearful, filial, joyful. It becomes you, in 
 
 other 
 
and InftruElions. 79 
 
 other words, to be cc followers of God as dear chil- 
 " dren •, and to walk in love, as Chrift alfo hath loved 
 " us, and given, himfelf for us, an offering, and a 
 ft facrihxe to God, for a fweet-fmelling favour."* 
 This is the (pint of genuine chriiiianity ; the defign, 
 tendency ami fruit of the gofpel. Whoever is wholly 
 -a ftranger to this, does not yet " know the grace of 
 God in truth, " how often foever he may have read or 
 heard the gofpel. For fays our Lord, " If ye con- 
 " tinue in my word, then are ye my difciples indeed : 
 " And ye mail know the truth, and tne truth /half 
 " mch you fret — Ye fhall be free indeed "-f 
 
 8. All parents mould copy after the goodnefs of 
 God, our heavenly Father, in providing for, and go- 
 verning their children. They are unnatural parents 
 indeed, who do not love their own. offspring : God 
 is good and merciful to all his. Bur, as has been ob- 
 ferved, God's goodnefs is not a blind fondnefs, or 
 mere inltinctive benevolence : It is inseparably con- 
 nected with reafon, and under the direction of wifdom 
 in all its operations. Under a fimilar direction fhould 
 the love and affections of all parents be. They 
 ought to look forward to coniequences, to confult 
 the real good of their children, and purfue that as 
 their object ; on one hand, by gratifying, as far as 
 may be, all their reafonabie deiires, and on the other, 
 by oppofing fuch as are unreafonable, vicious and 
 hurtful ; not indulging them in any wrong way ; 
 not fparing reproof, or even correction, when thac 
 is really neceffary to anfwer the benevolent end pro- 
 pofed. There are probably many more children 
 hurt, and almo-t ruined, by the indifcrete k.indnefs, 
 and exceffive indulgence, than by the too great 
 rigor and feverity of parents ; tho* examples of the 
 latter may not be wanting — " Whom the Lord loveth 
 
 ^ he 
 
 * Eph. V. 1, 2. t J ohn viiL 31, 32, 36. 
 
80 PraSiical Inferences 
 
 " he chafteneth, and fcourgeth every Ton whom he 
 * c receiveth " And the following counfel, is that of 
 a very tender father, as well as the witeftof men and 
 Kings, I mean Solomon : "Chaften thy fon while there 
 is hope -, and let not thy foul fpare for his crying. 
 
 a* 
 
 9. From what has been faid concerning the uni- 
 verfal gcodnefs of God, not only to mankind, but 
 even to the inferior orders of creatures, it appears to 
 be unreaibnable and finful, and contrary to true good- 
 nefs, to exerciie cruelty towards the animal creation. 
 Thofe creatures which are adapted to human ufe, 
 whether for labor, food, cloathing, or in any other 
 way, we have indeed a right to u!e thus ; not from the 
 mere light of nature, which gives no fuch right, but 
 by the exprefs grant of God •, whofe are all the fowles 
 of heaven, the fifh of the fea, " every bead of the 
 foreft, and the cattle upon a thoufavd hills." (This 
 was one, tho' it is far from being the only end of 
 their creation } And, from thole animals that are 
 noxious and mifchievous to us, we may doubtlefs 
 defend ourfelves even by destroying them, tho' they 
 fbould be of no ufe to us afterwards. But to kill or 
 torture any of the brute-creation, merely for the fake 
 of deftroying or vexing them •, or even to ufe them 
 tjifh unneedfary rigor and feverity in our fervice, can- 
 not be juftified upon the principles of reafon and be- 
 nevolence Solomon fays, Ck a righteous man regard- 
 eth the life of his bead." There have doubtlefs been 
 many and great immoralities committed by men, in 
 abufmg the creatures of God, even very inferior ones. 
 There is alfo a degree of impiety therein. And cruelty 
 to thefe animals, cannot but be ofTenfive to Him that 
 made them, their Lord and Proprietor as well as 
 ours ; and whofe " tender mercies are over ail his 
 works.* 
 
 jo, Goe 
 
and InJlfuSiions, St 
 
 10. God being good and merciful to all men* 
 none, not even the pooreft, meaneft and lowed of 
 the human race, have any ground to complain of, or to 
 murmur againft Him and his providence: But, on the 
 contrary, ail have reafon to be thankful for their be- 
 ing and pretention •, efpecially when it is confidered, 
 that they will be immortally happy in another world, 
 unlefs their own wickednefs and perverfenefs mould 
 deflroy them. 
 
 ii. The greater! and happieil men in this world, 
 tho* they are under fome peculiar obligations to gra- 
 titude, have yet no right, no caufe, to defp.fe the 
 -poor and low, or to glory in themfelves. Either of 
 thefe things, would be at once foolifh and impious. 
 He that constituted the members in the natural body, 
 and afugned them their refpe: live offices as plea r ed 
 him ; He that appointed the foot to tread in the 
 duft, and to bear the load of the body \ He that 
 made the lead comely parts and members, to 
 anfwer valuable ends, and to participate in the hap- 
 pinefs of the body -, while He made the ear to hear, 
 the eye to fee, and the head to direct and govern the 
 whole, has put an honor upon them all in their re- 
 fpedtive places : And neither of them can fay to ano- 
 ther, " I have no need of you." Thus -it is alfo in 
 the church, and in the greater fociety of mankind. 
 For in both refpects, we are " members one of ano- 
 ther ;" and each, inch a member as the infinitely wife: 
 and good Author of the whole, pleafed to make him. 
 What ground is there then, for glorying or defpifmg ? 
 For <c what halt thou, O man, that thou didfl noc 
 receive !" 
 
 12. It is at once the bafeft ingratitude, and the 
 great, ft folly, not to love and obey the blerTeci God j 
 lb good, merciful and tender a Father. ungrate- 
 
 L ful 
 
82 PraSlical Inferences 
 
 ful and degenerate children of the mod High ! Foi* 
 you are ftill his offspring, tho 5 you have forgotten 
 your Father, and " lightly efteemed the rock of your 
 falvation." In this refpect wicked men are not lefs 
 imprudent, thandinfigenuous. To difobey the holy, 
 juft and good commandments of Gud, which are in 
 their very nature adapted to promote your happi- 
 nefs, is to bring mifchief on yourfelves. Such a con- 
 duct, if continued in, cannot but end in your ruin, 
 even without the confideration of that future punifh- 
 ment, which God has exprefly threatned as the re- 
 ward of unrighteoufnefs. There is no fubflantial 
 happinefs, but in God, in knowing and doing his 
 will. They that are far from him, the fountain of 
 light, life and joy, — that refufe to return to him, and 
 to walk in his righteous ways, mult needs perifh. 
 
 13. What great encouragement does the confi- 
 deration of God's goodnefs afford to fmners, to con- 
 fefs and forfake their fins ? to "arife and go to their 
 Father " ? Efpecially, what encouragement does this 
 afford, when the goodnefs of God is confidered as it 
 is manifefted in the gofpel of Chrift ; who appeared 
 to " take away the fins of the world," and whole pro-' 
 feffed defign in coming into it, was to " feek and to 
 fave that which was loft ?" Can you pofiibly doubt 
 of a kind reception, or a gracious pardon from Him, 
 who is not only in general declared to be good and 
 merciful to all \ but who has " fo loved the world, 
 as to give his only begotten Son" to fave it ! Confider 
 the parables of the prodigal Ion, of the left fieep, and 
 of the loft piece of money \ in the gofpel : They will 
 all fhew you, that it is not the will of your Father, 
 that any of you fhould perifh ; but that he " would 
 have all men to be faved." The gofpel makes no 
 exception. It affords an adequate relief to all, and 
 is " the power of God unto falvation 3 to every one 
 
 thai; 
 
and InfturSliom. §3 
 
 that believeth" with all his heart. The greatnefs of 
 your pad fins, will be no objection againftyour being 
 accepted in Chrift, if you come unto God by him. 
 God expects no righteoufneis in or of you, in order 
 to your being forgiven of Him •, but only a truly 
 penitent and humble fenfe of your unrighteoufnefs y and 
 an hearty confent to receive " eternal life as his gift, 
 thro' Jelus Chrift our Lord." — " Ho, every One that 
 4i thirfteth, [then] come ye to the waters, and he 
 " that hath no money •, come ye — without money 
 " and without price — Incline your ear, (faith the 
 " Lord of life,) and come unto me: Hear, and 
 " your foul mail live." *— But, 
 
 L 2 14. If 
 
 * Ifai. LV. 1,3. There is an expreflion in the learned Mr. 
 Calvin's commentary upon my text, which feems juftly 
 exceptionable, as conveying an ilea contrary to what is 
 molt clearly revealed in the holy fcriptures; andfetting un- 
 warrantable bounds to the grace, and pardoning mercy 
 of God. Let the reader judge— " Quamvis ergo pecca- 
 4C tcrum remimo thefaurus fit claufus reprobis, non tamen 
 <i Deum impeditipforum malitia et pravitas, quo minus in 
 ** eos quoque bonitatem effundat Deus ; fed quam fine 
 « fenfu devorant." In Englifli — Altho', therefore, the 
 remimon of fins is a treafure jhut up from the repro- 
 bate, yet their malice and wickednefs does not 
 prevent God's fhowering down goodnefs upon them 
 alio ; but which they devour without fenfe or confide- 
 ration. 
 
 If by the reprobate y the learned author had here meant only 
 wicked and ungodly men, confidered as fuch ; and if by 
 the remijfion of fins being a treafure fiut up, or clofely locked 
 with refpecl: to them, he had intended no more, than that 
 it was inacceilible or unattainable by them, while hardened 
 in their fins ; this would have been quite unexceptionable, 
 and perfectly agreeable to fcripture. But the words natu- 
 rally convey a different idea ; viz. That there are many 
 perfons who, by a fuppofed eternal decree of reprobation, 
 are abfolutely excluded from the benefit of pardon, or the 
 grace of God revealed to the world, This was the known 
 
 opiaica 
 
84 PraSiical Inferences 
 
 14. If, in reading the holy fcriptures, we friould 
 find any representations or expreftiois relative to the 
 divine conduct, which feem at firft view to militate 
 againft the infinite goodnefs and mercy of God, we 
 fliould not too readily admit them in that feemingly 
 havih fenfe : I mean, not till we have well examined 
 them, compared them with other parts of fcripture, 
 and find that they will not bear any oher con ft ructi- 
 on without maniivft force and violence. There is 
 nothing fo frequently and clearly declared in fcrip- 
 ture, as the perfect, univerfal goad nek and mercy 
 of God. Th-s is a doctrine infinitely precious and 
 important, and to which we mult always adhere, as 
 our Hi eet- anchor, whatever becomes of any com- 
 monly-received opinions which interfere with it. 
 To let fome obicure expreftions which ieidom occur, 
 lead in the interpretation of fcripture, as if they were 
 prime, fundamental articles ; inftead of clear ones 
 which occur almoft in every page of the bible, is the 
 nioft unnatural and prepoiterous thing in the world ; 
 a common w rror, of the moft pernicious coniequence. 
 This is moreabfurd than for the " blind to be leaders 
 cf the blind : ? ' It is like the blind leading thofe that 
 have their eyes cpen 9 and that fee clearly — But, on the 
 prher hand, we ought to be very cautious left we re- 
 ject any doctrine really revealed in fcripture, under 
 
 a 
 
 opinion of that learned man : A fentiment, at once un- 
 fupported by rcafon or fcripture ; nay, contrary to both » 
 highly derogatory to the goodnefs and grace of God," 
 and of dangerous tendency. Nor is it a little Grange, 
 that fuch a fentiment mould be found in a commentary 
 upon words, which fo ftrongly exprefs the univerfal good- 
 nefs and tender mercies of God, as thofe of the text 
 do : Efpecially confidering the words immediately pre- 
 ceeding, — viz. "The Lord is gracious and full of 
 4C compaffton^ flow to anger, and of great mercy." And 
 it plainly appears that the learned man had thefe very 
 words in his mind, when he v/rote — " Pcccatorum remijfio 
 thefaurus eji cl:yfusi\£.vxoBls 1 " — Pardon, atreafure locked 
 up againft millions, in the decree ofabfolute reprobation /■*— 
 
and InftruElions. 85 
 
 a falfe pretence that it contradicts the goodnefs of 
 God, with which it is confident. Our not well know- 
 ing how to reconcile it therewith, is no certain proof 
 in all cafes, that it is irreconcileable. For we muft be 
 vain indeed, or allow ourfelves to be very im- 
 perfect and fhort-fighted creatures. However, it is 
 not my intention here, to make a retreat into total 
 darknefs, or to refolve every thing into myftery, and 
 humaO ignorance ; as if men were incapable judges 
 of goodnels, juitice and mercy in any cafe : \Vhich 
 is the fhameful method that many have taken to get 
 over all difficulties, and toanfwerall objections againft 
 their unfcriptural, abfurd and blafphemous doctrines. 
 We may be altogether as certain that fome doctrines 
 fathered upon the fcriptures, arecontrary to them, and 
 inconfiftent with mercy, goodnefs and juftice, as we 
 can poflibl-y be,thatany others are confonant to them \ 
 or, indeed, that there is in nature any fjch thing as 
 goodnefs, juftice or mercy. - ~ 
 
 15. If, therefore, my brethren, you know of any 
 particular fcheme orfyftem of cluiftianity (fo called), 
 two or three of the moll diftinguifhing and leading 
 principles of which, and the bafis on which the whole 
 nth, are plainly and certainly repugnant to the doct- 
 rine of God's univerfai goodnefs, and his tender mer- 
 cies over all his works ; you may be certain that-fuch 
 fcheme oriyilem is falfe \ — abfolutely and wholly falfe, 
 io far as it has any connexion with, or dependence 
 upon, thofe leading, fundamental & mod diftinguifh- 
 ing principles. Let me add, that if the fautors and 
 afferters of fuch a fuppofed fyftem, mould cry it up 
 as peculiarly the doctrine of evangelical grace, and 
 as tending to give us exalted ideas of the goodnefs 
 and mercy of God, in contradistinction to all other 
 fyftems ; it would only make the matter fo much the 
 warfe : h would be fo much the more impious •, 
 
 the 
 
86 PraElkal Inferences 
 
 the greater abufe of the holy fcriptures, and 
 an iniuk upon the common fenfe of mankind. If 
 you know of no Juch fcheme as is here fuppofed, then 
 be fo kind as to let thefe remarks pafs for nothing. — 
 But if you do ; yet remember that human nature is 
 frail and fallible ; and that men may have upiigh; 
 hearts, while they have very wrong and pernicious 
 notions in their heads : So that there is an evident 
 call for mutual candor, forbearance and charity, be- 
 twixt thofe that differ even widely in opinion ; that 
 they may, if pofiible, " keep the unity of the fpirit 
 in the bond of peace." 
 
 1 6. Let me, in the next place, caution wicked 
 men againft abufing the fcripture-doclrine of God's 
 goodneis ; (for there is very little danger that any 
 others will do fo.) Do any imagine that they are 
 fafe in their evil courfes, becaufe God is good and 
 merciful ? That were a vain imagination ; fince thofe 
 courfes, in their own nature, tend to mifery and ruin, 
 as was intimated before. Bur, perhaps, you fat- 
 ter yourfelves, that however' you may break God's 
 commandments, yet He will not pir.ijh you in ano- 
 ther world, if he is infinitely good and merciful ; but,, 
 at the word, leave you to take the natural confequence 
 of your evil doings. This would be an equally faife 
 and groundlefs inference ; tho' even that, would be 
 ruinous and fatal. But God has eflablimed a moral 
 government in the univerfe, as belt adapted to pro- 
 mote his own glory, and the common felicity of his. 
 intelligent creatures. And fuch a kind of govern- 
 ment, in its very nature, fuppofes that the obftinateiy 
 wicked and impenitent under it. mail be punifhed by 
 Him, astheLordand Judge of all : And is it not de- 
 clared, that at the great day, the wicked mail " goa- 
 wayiinoeverlafting^a/z/yta^/, "in the ip\3.ce"prepared 
 for the devil and his angels !" In fhort, the certainty 
 
 of 
 
and InJlruSlions. 87 
 
 of your ptinimment, if you perfevere in breaking 
 God's commandments, may be clearly inftr'd from 
 his goodnefs itfelf ; fo far is that from beingany fort 
 of fecurity to you ! Again : Do any of you rely 
 upon the divine goodnefs and mercy, not in the 
 practice of grofe immoralities, but in the practice of 
 your fuppofed duties, and moral virtues, while you 
 reject the gofpel of Chrid, or that method of falvation 
 which is x revealed therein ? This is alfo a groundlefs 
 prefumpticn, unlefs you can plead a finlefs innocence 
 and perfection ; to which you will not pretend. 
 What ! will you rely on the goodnefs and mercy of 
 God, while you defpife his truth fufHciently attefted, 
 and clearly proved to be fuch ? — while you tread 
 under foot his Son .from heaven, who came to re- 
 deem you ; and refill his Spirit ! To do thus, is 
 actually renouncing that very goodnefs, and thofe 
 tender mercies, on which you. pretend to rely. Will 
 you rely on the mercy of God, while you continue 
 in that impenitence and unbelief, which God himfelf 
 has declared fliall terminate in ruin and perdition ? 
 How abfurd were this ! It is the g-eateft prefumption 
 and madnefs for any, to whom the gofpel is preached, 
 to rely on the mercy of God in any other way, courfe 
 or practice, than that which God Himfelf has marked 
 out. To depend upon it in any other way, is at 
 once abfard & impious; this being,iuefTcct," making 
 God a liar •, " and affuming to yourfelves a right 
 of prefcribing to the Almighty, what channel his 
 goodntfs and mercy mall flow in, even contrary to 
 his own declared will and purpofc ! — Know, that the 
 counfel of God fhali {land ; and Hand more immuta- 
 ble than the foundations of the earrh, or the pillars 
 of heaven, with whatever prelum pruous hopes vain 
 men may amufe and deceive themfelves ! And if he 
 that defpifed even Mofes's law, died without mercy, of 
 how much forer punifnment fuppofe ye ! — But I for- 
 bear 5 
 
8 8 PraSiical Inferences 
 
 bear ; remembering that inflicting terrible punifh- 
 ments, is fpoken of in fcripture as God's ftrange work ; 
 and therefore, certainly, not be made the theme of 
 common declamation, as it is by many. There would be 
 a peculiar impropriety in infift.ing long upon it in a 
 difconrfe on the goodnefs and tender mercies of God. 
 But yet there feemed to be a necefiity of faying fome- 
 thing upon this point, by way of warning to wicked 
 men, who fo grofly abufe that very goodnefs on 
 which they prefume. Let the wicked therefore for- 
 fake his way, and return unto the Lord, that he may 
 have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will 
 then abundantly pardon, thro' jefus Chrift •, whom 
 he hath " fet forth to be a propitiation, thro' faith in his 
 " blood, to declare his righteoufnefs for the re million 
 " of fins that are paft, thro' the forbearance of God." 
 
 17. What folid ground have thofe that love God, 
 and fincerely do his commandments, for hope, and 
 intire confidence in him ? Is it pofiible for you, 
 my brethren, who do thus, to doubt of his love to 
 you ? — What ! a fin cere believer in Jefus Chrift, and 
 the promifes of the gofpel,— a truly good man, doubt 
 the love and care of Him, who is good to all, and 
 whofe tender mercies are over all his works ? — of 
 Him, who is good even to the evil and unthankful ! 
 This is a kind of paradox : But yet it is not an ab- 
 solute impoflibility. And if you mould, in any mea- 
 fure, diftruft the particular kindnefs and love of God 
 to you, let the following paffages in our Saviour's 
 difcourfes, infpiro you with a firm, and truly filial 
 confidence in Him — " Behold the fovviesof the air ; 
 " for they low not, neither do they reap, nor gather 
 "into barns : Yet your heavenly Father feedeth 
 " them. Are not ye much better than they ?" * And 
 gain : " Are not five fparrows fold for two farthings ? 
 " and not one of them is forgotten before God. But 
 
 44 the 
 * Matth, Chap'. VL 
 
and Inftru&ions. 89 
 
 55 the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear 
 ** not therefore ; ye are of more value than many 
 
 PARROWS." * 
 
 18. The confederation of God's goodnefs and 
 mercy, particularly as mahifefted in the holy fcrip- 
 tures, in the redemption of the world by Chnft, na- 
 turally fuggefb very plealing hopes, and a glorious 
 profpeel, with reference to the conclufion, or final re- 
 fult of that moft wonderful iriterjDofition of grace. 
 It cannot be denied, that ever fince the apcilacy 
 of our firft parents, there have been, and flill 
 are, fDtne things of a dark and gloomy appear- 
 ance, when considered by themfeives.— So much folly, 
 fuperflition and wicked nefs there is, " in this pre- 
 fent evil world !"-— But when we confider the declared 
 end of Chrifl's manifeftation in the flefli,- — to 
 g»ve his life a ranfom for all, and to deflroy the works 
 of the devil : When we confider the numerous pro- 
 phecies reflecting the deftructioii of fin and death, 
 and the future glory of ChrifYs kingdom on earth : 
 When we confider, that he muft reign tiii he hath 
 put all enemies under his feet, the latt of v/hich is 
 death ; and till he hath fubdued all things un- 
 to himfelf : When we reflect, that according to the 
 apoftle Paul, where fin has abounded, grace does 
 much more abound ; and that the fame creature 
 [or creation] which was originally made fubje6fc to 
 vanity, is to be delivered from the bondage of cor- 
 ruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of 
 God : When we confider the parallel which is infli- 
 tuted and carried on by the fame apoltle, betwixt the 
 firft and fecond Adam, in his epiflle to the Romans ; 
 and hisexprefs alTertion in another, that Cfc as in Adam 
 all die, even fo in Chrift fhall all be made alive ; but 
 every man in his own trier :" * In a word, when we 
 duly confider that there is a certain "reflitution of all 
 
 M " THINGS, 
 
 ? Luke Chap. XII. f 1 Cor. XV. 22, 23. 
 
90 PraSikal Inferences 
 
 €C THiNGS,fpoken of by the mouth of all the holy pr©~ 
 cc phets fince the world began :" When we duly con- 
 fider thefe things, 1 lay, light and comfort ariie out 
 of darknefs and forrow. .And we may, without the 
 lead preemption, conclude in general that, in the 
 revolution of ages, lbmething far more grand, impor- 
 tant and glorious than any thing which is vulgarly 
 imagined, mail actually be the refult of Chrift's com- 
 ing down from heaven to die on a crofs, of his refur- 
 rection from the dead, and of his being crowned with 
 glory and honor, as Lord both of the dead and of the 
 Irving. — The word of God, and his mercy, en- 
 dure for ever : Nor will he leave any thing which 
 is truly his own work, unfinished. — u As the heavens 
 4C are higher than the earth, 55 faith the Lord, " fo are 
 " my ways higher than your ways ; and my thoughts 
 6C than your thoughts — My word — that goeth forth 
 *■* out of my mouth* — fhall not return unto me void, 
 " but it (hall accomplim that which 1 pleafe ; and it 
 f {hall pro/per in the thing whereto Ifent it."* 
 
 To conclude then : Let us all, young men and 
 maidens, old men and children, love ancj honor, ex- 
 tol and obey the God and Father of all, whole tender 
 mercies are over all his works ; and who has been 
 fp gracious and bountiful to ourfelves in particular. 
 If we fincerely do thus, as becometh the children of 
 the Higheft, \ve (hall, in due time, partake of his 
 goodnefs in a far more glorious manner & meafure, 
 than we can in the earthly houfe of this taberna- 
 cle. We fnali doubtlefs alfo have a far more clear 3 
 diftincl: and perfect knowledge, than we can porTibly 
 have at prefent,of what is intended in fome apparent- 
 ly grand and fublime, and yet difficult paflages in the 
 facred oracles •, particularly that of John the Divine, 
 with which I clofe : " And every creature which 
 
 "is 
 
 J JfaL LV. 9, ii. 
 
and Injiru&ions. 
 
 91 
 
 f? is in heaven, and on the earth, and under 
 " the earth, and fuch as are in the sea, and all 
 J c that are in them, heard I faying, Bieaing, and 
 " honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that 
 " fnteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb fcr 
 P ever and ever." * Amin ! 
 
 * Rev. V. 13. 
 
 T H E E N Z3, 
 
 
 PSALM XL. 9- 11, 
 
 IN full Affemblies I have told 
 Thy Truth and Righteoufnefs at large \ 
 Nor did, Thou know'fc, my Lips with-hold 
 From uttering what thou gav'ft in Charge : 
 Nor kept within my Brcaft connn'd, 
 Thy Faithmlncfs, and faving Grace ; 
 But preach'd thy Love, for all defign'd 
 That all might That, and Truth embrace, 
 Then let thofe Mercies I declar'd 
 To others, Lord, extend to me : 
 Thy loving Kindnefs my Reward, 
 Thy Truth my fafe Protection be ! 
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 worlds 
 will take 
 LUKE 
 Pfalm CXI. 
 than thofe 
 of reafon, 
 being,in effect, 
 a^ain 
 
 K. B, Some lefs material errors are omitted.