rewarding them, and the profpect of Preferment to be attain'd by their Favours? This feldom fails to fecure to them thofe Duties, which are due from Dependants, Honour and Service.

And if we would but raise our Souls from the Earth, and carry them beyond the Objects of Senfe, it would no less effectually fecure what is due to God from us; Adoration of his Majefty, and Obedience to his Laws. The Rewards to be attained are far greater, fuch as the Donor will not, and fuch as all the other Powers of the World cannot take away from us; fuch as fhall not be determined by Time, nor restrained by any Limitation. The affurance alfo of obtaining them is far more certain, being founded on the Promife of him, who can give what he pleaseth, and will give what he promifeth; whereas the Favours expected from Men may be defeated by Forgetfulness, by Unfaithfulness; may be intercepted by others, may become impoffible to be beftowed. If then God by his Infinite and most certain Rewards, cannot procure what Men obtain by their petty and uncertain Favours, Fear and Reverence; we muft deplore the Ingratitude and obftinate Perversenefs of Men, who refufing to hearken to the Arguments of Obedience propos'd by God, yeild to thofe propofed by Men, which yet affect the fame Paffion (that of Desire) but in a much lower Degree.

Lastly,

us.

Laftly, to fecure in our Minds fuch Thoughts of God, as are befitting his Majefty and Holinefs, left our Adoration of him should be corrupted with any Sufpicions of Injustice entertained at the fame time, it is added in the end of the Verfe, He will not afflict. In this Life, the Rules and Method, whereby God dispenseth his Rewards and Punishments, may be very obfcure to He may fuffer the Righteous to be afflicted; he may permit the Wicked to profper; he may in appearance cut off the Hopes of good Men by prefent Miferies, and encourage the Difobedience of bad Men by temporal Felicity; His ways may be un fearchable, and his judgments paft finding out. But from hence we must not conceive any Opinion of Injustice in God, or Imperfection in the Administration of his Government.. Although the Secrets of Providence be unknown to us, this we are affured of, that he is infinitely Juft and Holy, and that being fuch, he will not afflict.

The Myfterious Obfcurity of Providence herein, was the occafion of the Miftakes of Job and his Friends, which I propofed,, and come now to confider, in the Second place.

To folve this Difficulty, every one of them formed a different Opinion; yet all came fhort of Truth. Eliphaz, who fpake first, afferted that God inflicted temporal Misfortunes on no Man, but by way of Pu

nishment

nifhment for fome enormous Sins; and there fore urged Job to confefs his fecret Sins, and give Glory to God, as it is xxii. 5. Is not thy wickedness great, and thine iniquities infinite? and fo on: Where he affirmeth Job to be the greatest of Sinners, only becaufe God had heaped extraordinary Calamities upon him.

Bildad maintained, that God might, as the fupreme and abfolute Governor of the World, afflict Man without any respect to antecedent Sins; but then that he was bound in Justice to recompenfe it to him by fubfequent Profperity. For thus he expreffeth himself, viii. 6, 7. If thou wert pure and upright; furely now he would awake for thee, and make the Habitation of thy Righteousness profperous. Though thy beginning was fmall, yet thy latter end fhould greatly increafe.

Zopbar delivereth his Opinion throughout the whole xi. Chapter: That God might in right of his Supreme Power, lay the heaviest Afflictions upon Men, without any respect either to antecedent Sin, or fubfequent Recompence.

Elihu thought that God might afflict good and bad Men indifferently; but that if good Men received the Affliction humbly and with fubmiffion, and addreffed themfelves to God by Prayer for the removal of it; and if bad Men were moved to repent through it, God would remove the Affliction, and reftore

Profperity to them, especially if an Angel interceded for them, as he expreffeth himself at large in the xxxiii. Chapter.

Laftly, Job, whatever his Opinion might be, while his Calamity was yet fresh, and any hopes remained of the speedy removal of it; or however he might alter his Judg ment after the Revelation of God, in the end of the Book; yet in the midst of his Troubles, when the Disease grew inveterate, and no hope of Delivery yet appeared, he feems to have thought, that God intermeddled not in the proceedings of the World, and reserved neither Rewards for the Good, nor Punishments for the Bad. Which Opinion he proposeth chiefly in the xxi. Chap

ter.

All these Opinions were alike Erroneous, and yet all founded upon the Attributes of God; thofe of Eliphaz, Bildad and Elihu, upon his Juftice; thofe of Zophar and Job, upon his Power. The Errors of the Three first, plainly arose from hence, that they pretending to determine Matters above their knowledge, confined the Exercife of Divine Judgment, and confequently the Difpenfation of Rewards and Punishments, to this Life only: Had this, which they all fuppofed, been indeed true, one at least of their Opinions must neceffarily have been received; otherwife the Juftice of God could not be cleared.

VOL. II.

G

Bur

But what ground had they to conclude, that God exercifed his Judgments in this Life only? Might not the Nature of Man, the quality of the Rewards and Punishments to be inflicted on an immaterial and immortal Soul, teach them that another World was a far more convenient Tribunal for this Judicature? Or if they knew not the Nature of the Rewards for want of Revelation, yet at least the Example of the Patriarchs, with which they were not unacquainted, and wherewith our Saviour afterwards convinced the Jews; might not I fay, the experience of their Afflictions and Troubles, have taught them, that God did not ultimately beftow his Rewards, and confequently not his Punishments, in this Life? They had received glorious Promises of fome extraordinary Benefits to be received from God; Promifes, which might juftly make them expect fome eminent Advantages beyond the reft of Mankind, yet none of all thefe juft Expectations were fatisfied in this World, wherein they were Strangers and Pilgrims, exposed to Injuries, and troubled with frequent Afflictions, and that till Death; an invincible Argument, that God referved the Confummation of their Hopes and his Promises to another Life.

As to the Opinion of Zophar, that God might bring Afflictions on Men for no other end, than to demonstrate his abfolute and arbitrary Power over Mankind, that overthroweth