dy, both among ministers and professors; but it is likely the wind and sift may cast up much more yet ere all be done.

2dly, God's purging work is advanced among his own children by the wrath of man; there is much of the dross of corruption cleaves to the Lord's people while in the wilderness. Now, the Lord heats the furnace of man's wrath, and casts his people into it, that when he has tried them, he may bring them forth as gold. "By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged. He washes away the filth of the daughter of Zion, and purges the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning."

3dly, God's uniting work is thus advanced in a time of peace, and external tranquillity. The sheep of Christ scatter and divide among themselves; but God lets loose the dogs upon them, and then the flock runs together; or, like pieces of metal cast into the fire, they run together in a lump.

4thly, God's enlarging work, or his work of spreading the gospel, is sometimes advanced by the wrath of man, Acts viii. 1-5. The gospel, like the camomile, the more it is trodden upon, the more it spreads.

3. The wrath of man praises God, by ministering matter of praise to the saints of God in the wilderness. The wrath of Pharaoh and of the Egyptians made up a part of Israel's song, Exod. xv.: "The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil: my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them:" and, oh! what praise did it beget, when the heat of their wrath was quenched in the deeps of the sea, and they were made to “sink like lead in the mighty waters!"

4. God many times extorts praise to himself out of the mouths of his enemies, especially when they see God taking the field against them in a way of terrible majesty. Exod. xiv. 24, 25. Pharaoh, and his armies and chariots, pursue Israel into the midst of the Red sea; thereupon the Lord looks upon the host of the Egyptians with a frown, through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and takes off their chariot wheels, makes them to drive heavily, and so troubles them; upon which they are forced to praise the God of Israel by a solemn acknowledgment, "Come," say they, "let us flee before Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them." And thus you see how it is that the wrath of man doth praise the Lord. And if you ask me, Why is it that the wrath of man shall pay this tribute of praise to God? I answer,

1. Because all beings must pay this tribute to the Supreme Being on whom they depend. "Of him, and through him,

and to him are all things;" and therefore to him must "be glory and praise for ever," Rom. xi. "God made all things for himself; and the wicked for the day of evil," says Solo

mon.

2. Because God loves to frustrate and baffle the devil and all his instruments. They design to dishonour God, and to ruin his interests in the world; but even that which was intended for their hurt, is turned about to their advantage. Thus in the death of Christ, the devil and his agents intended no less than the total defeat of the design of his incarnation, and they thought, that when they got him in the grave, all was safe and sure; and yet the very cross and death of Christ is made a triumphant chariot, in which Christ "spoils princi palities and powers, making a show of them openly in it."

3. God will have it so, that his people may trust him and glorify him in a way of believing, waiting and depending on him even in the worst of times; like Abraham, the father of the faithful," who against hope believed in hope, and stag-, gered not at the promise through unbelief." The day of the wrath of man, is a day when God is especially calling us to put our trust in him, according to the example of David, Psal. lix. 9: "Because of his strength (that is, the strength, power, and rage of the enemy) will I wait upon thee: for thou art my defence."

III. The third thing in the method was, to inquire how is it that God restrains the remainder of man's wrath? Answ. He has various ways of doing it. As,

1. He sometimes restrains their wrath, by converting them; a cast of converting grace will make the "wolf to dwell with the lamb, and the leopard to lie down peaceably with the kid." So Saul, Acts ix., when he is breathing out death and slaughter against the disciples and followers of Christ, God meets him in his way to Damascus, and gives him such a turn, that persecuting Saul becomes a preaching Paul. It is with God to wrest a weapon out of the devil's hand, and turn it against him and his kingdom.

easy

2. Sometimes by diverting them from their design, as he did Sennacherib for awhile, when his wrath was bent against God's Israel: God raises up the inhabitants of Libnah against him, a rumour of which obliged him to desist from his wrathful enterprise at that time, 2 Kings xix. 7. So, 1 Sam. xxiii. 27, 28, in the case of David and Saul, God sends the Philistines to give him a diversion from pursuing after David. It is easy for God to give wicked men another tow in their rock, than to molest the Lord's people, whom they otherwise would swallow up quick.

3. Sometimes by destroying them, as he did Pharaoh and the Egyptians when pursuing Israel, as we observed just now: "Envy slays the silly one."

4. By putting favourable thoughts of God's people in the hearts of their enemies, by which their wrath is stayed; for "when a man's ways please the Lord, he" many times causes "their enemies to be at peace with him." Thus the heart of Nebuchadnezzar was turned toward the three children, whom he threw into a furnace one seven times heated, Dan. ii. 46-48. See the like, Dan. v. 29: "The hearts of kings are in the hand of the Lord, and he turns them as the rivers of waters." How easy is it for God to give orders even to the earth to help the woman, and befriend her.

5. Sometimes by disclosing their secrets, and revealing their angry and wrathful plots against the church and people of God. Thus the secret plots of the king of Assyria were disclosed and revealed to the king of Israel, by the prophet Elisha, by which his design against Israel was baffled, and his rage stayed.

6. Sometimes by blunting their courage, and taking away both heart and hand from them: "The stout-hearted are spoiled, and none of the men of might find their hands," when God binds them, Sometimes he just confuses and confounds the enemies of his church and people, by things which can do them little or no harm. Thus the Midianites, Judg. vii., are disordered and confounded with the sound of the trumpets, and the breaking of Gideon's pitchers; and the Moabites are confounded and defeated by the shining of the sun upon the waters, 2 Kings iii. &c.

IV. The fourth thing was the Use of the whole. Use first may be of Information, in the few following particulars. Is it so, as you have heard, that wicked men are so full of wrath against God, his people, and interest? Then,

1. See hence the corruption and depravation of nature: "The wicked are estranged from the womb, they go astray as soon as they are born." When we see a wicked world full of envy, wrath, and malice, against Christ and his interest, taking all imaginable ways they can think upon to ruin and rase it, we may clearly see in this, that man's nature is not now what it once was; every thought and imagination of the heart is only evil, and continually evil." And hence it is, that there is so much of the foam of profanity, cursing, lying, swearing, drinking, uncleanness, Sabbath-breaking, and other evils break out of it, to the dishonour of God, and the scandal and reproach of our holy religion. Oh! how

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much need of converting work in our day, which, alas ! is at such a melancholy stand!

2. See, from what is said, the folly and madness of sinners who fight against God, and his cause and interest: why, they can never prevail; for God turns matters about so in the event, that the wrath of man shall praise him; God's end shall be reached, and not theirs. So that they who fight against God, are like madmen, rushing their heads against a wall of brass; they may well dash themselves in pieces, but they shall never do any hurt to the cause of God: The wrath of man shall praise him.

3. See hence, that there is a holy and over-ruling providence in the most gloomy and threatening dispensations that befall God's people. The wrath of man, that would seem to swallow up the poor people of God, is under the check and management of a holy and wise providence. We are ready, when God's way is in the sea, and in the whirlwind, to cry out, Now all is gone, the interest of Christ will sink, and God will be dishonoured; but stay a little, "He that believes shall not make haste;" there is a wheel within a wheel, which will turn matters about so, as the wrath of man shall praise God, and advance his interest, instead of ruining it.

4. See hence a notable antidote against the slavish fear of man's wrath, which causes a snare, especially in a day when the wicked walk on every side, and the vilest of men are advanced to power and authority; and they employing their power to oppress God's people, and to ruin his interest. Why, what ground is there to fear the wrath of man, when God has said, that the wrath of man shall praise him, and the remainder of it he will restrain? "Who art thou, that art afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall be as grass? and forgettest the Lord thy Maker?" Sirs, let us never step out of God's road through the fear of man, great or small. Why, the wrath of man shall praise the Lord. In shunning the wrath of man by any sinful shift, we “ bosses of God's buckler."

run upon

the

5. See hence, that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men: better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes." By trusting in the Lord, we are under his protection, who has devils and men under his command; and by trusting in man, we throw ourselves out from under the care and providence of God. "Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord."

6. See whence it is that the church of Christ has been preserved, in all ages, amidst the greatest storms, when hell and earth have been raging, and plotting her ruin, Why, here is

the ground of it, God has always so ordered matters, as to make the wrath of man to praise him, and to advance his interest; and what of man's wrath did not praise God, that God has restrained. The church of Christ is like a ship at sea, meeting with a great variety of winds; but the skilful pilot, by his wise management, makes an advantage of every wind that blows, to carry him forward to the desired haven, and to a safe landing at last. Our skilful pilot, the Lord Jesus, on whose shoulders the government is laid, well knows how to gather the winds, and to manage the sails of the ship, so as to bring his people at last to the eternal wished for haven of glory, through the stormy and contrary winds of man's wrath, and the rage of devils; for the wrath of man shall praise him, &c.

7. This doctrine should teach us to bear injuries, especially for the cause of Christ, with a great deal of meekness, patience, and quietness of spirit, and to refer our cause to the Lord, when suffering wrongfully at the hand of man. Why, you see that the wrath of man is in the hand of the Lord, and whenever he sees it for his glory, and our good, he will restrain it, and likewise repay it; "for vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." When we resent our quarrels with our own hand, we take it out of the hand of God; and therefore let us follow the example of Christ, who, " when he was reviled, reviled not again, and when he suffered, he threatened not," leaving his cause in his Father's hand; and we see now what is to come of it: the poor Jews, who imprecated his blood to be upon them and their children, have been smarting under the weight of God's hand these seventeen hundred years.

Use second may be of Exhortation. Is it so that the wrath of man shall praise the Lord? namely, in a passive way, does he levy this tribute of praise out of the wrath and wickedness of man? Then let us all be concerned to praise and glorify him in an active way and manner.

Mot. 1. This is the end and design of our very being; it is the chief end of man, that we should be to the glory of him that made us; and God will levy glory to himself upon us one way or another; and therefore let us study the end of our being, by being active to advance his glory in our day.

Mot. 2. This is the end of our effectual calling and new creation in Jesus Christ: "This people have I formed for myself, that they should show forth my praise. Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood," &c. 1 Pet. ii. 9.

Mot. 3. This is the end of our redemption by Christ: "Ye are not your own, but ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God with your bodies and spirits, which are his,