Welcome to Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, translated by Henry Beveridge. We are continuing with Book 1, Chapter 17, Section 3. This Reformation Audio Resource is a production of Stillwaters Revival Books. Many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog containing classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, CDs, and much more, at great discounts, are on the web at www.swrb.com. Also, please consider, pray, and act upon the important truths found in the following quotation by Charles Spurgeon, as the Apostle says to Timothy, So also he says to everyone, give yourself to reading. He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritanic writers and expositions of the Bible. The best way for you to spend your leisure is to be either reading or praying. And now to SWRB's reading of Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin, which we hope you will find to be a great blessing, and which, we pray, draws you nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. John 14, 6 Section 3. Those who have learned this modesty will neither murmur against God for adversity in time past, nor charge Him with the blame of their own wickedness, as Homer's Agamemnon does. I will hide me to a rock, and there end my fortune with my life." Nor will they, after the example of another, use the name of God as a cloak for their crimes. For in another comedy, Laconides thus expresses himself, God was the impeller. I believe the gods wished it. Did they not wish it? It would not be done, I know. They will rather inquire and learn from Scripture what is pleasing to God, and then, under the guidance of the Spirit, endeavor to attain it. prepared to follow whithersoever God may call, they will show by their example that nothing is more useful than the knowledge of this doctrine, which perverse men undeservedly assail because it is sometimes wickedly abused. The profane make such a bluster with their foolish purelities that they almost, according to the expression, confound heaven and earth. If the Lord has marked the moment of their death, it cannot be escaped. It is vain to toil and use precaution. When one ventures not to travel on a road which he hears is infested by robbers, when another calls in the physician and annoys himself with drugs for the sake of his health, a third abstains from coarser food that he may not injure a sickly constitution. and a fourth fears to dwell in a ruinous house, when all, in short, devise, and, with great evidence of mind, strike out paths by which they may attain the objects of their desire. Either these are all vain remedies laid hold of to correct the will of God, or his certain decree does not fix the limits of life and death, health and sickness, peace and war, and other matters which men, according as they desire and hate, study by their own industry to secure or avoid. Nay, these trifles even infer that the prayers of the faithful must be perverse, not to say superfluous, since they entreat the Lord to make provision for things which he has decreed from eternity. And then, imputing whatever happens to the providence of God, they connive at the man who is known to have expressly designed it. Has an assassin slain an honest citizen? He has, say they, executed the counsel of God. Has someone committed theft or adultery? The deed having been provided and ordained by the Lord, he is the minister of his providence. Has a son waited with indifference for the death of his parent without trying any remedy? He could not oppose God, who had so predetermined from eternity. Thus all crimes receive the name of virtues as being in accordance with the divine ordination. Proverbs 16 9 Intimating that the eternal decrees of God by no means prevent us from proceeding under His will to provide for ourselves and arrange all our affairs. And the reason for this is clear. For he who has fixed the boundaries of our life has at the same time entrusted us with the care of it, provided us with the means of preserving it, forewarned us of the dangers to which we are exposed, and supplied cautions and remedies that we may not be overwhelmed unawares. Now our duty is clear, namely, since the Lord has committed to us the defense of our life, to defend it. Since he offers assistance, to use it. Since he forewarns us of danger, not to rush on heedless. Since he supplies remedies, not to neglect them. But it is said, a danger that is not fatal will not hurt us, and one that is fatal cannot be resisted by any precaution. But what if dangers are not fatal? Merely because the Lord has furnished you with the means of warding them off and surmounting them. See how far your reasoning accords with the order of divine procedure. You infer that danger is not to be guarded against, because, if it is not fatal, he shall escape without precaution. Whereas the Lord enjoins you to guard against it, just because He wills it not to be fatal. These insane camelers overlook what is plainly before their eyes, these, that the Lord has furnished men with the arts of deliberation and caution, that they may employ them in subservience to His providence and the preservation of their life. While, on the contrary, by neglect and sloth they bring upon themselves the evils which he has annexed to them. How comes it that a provident man, while he consults for his safety, disentangles himself from impending evils, while a foolish man, through unadvised temerity, perishes unless it be that prudence and folly are, in either case, instruments of divine dispossession. God has been pleased to conceal from us all future events that we may prepare for them as doubtful, and cease not to apply provided remedies until they have either been overcome or have proved too much for all our care. Hence I formally observed that the providence of God does not interpose simply, but, by employing means, assumes, as it were, a visible form. Section 5 By the same class of persons, past events are referred improperly and inconsiderately to simple providence. As all contingencies whatsoever depend on it, therefore neither thefts nor adulteries nor murders are perpetrated without an interposition of the divine will. Why then, they ask, should the thief be punished for robbing him whom the Lord chose to chastise with poverty? Why should the murderer be punished for slaying him whose life the Lord had terminated? If all such persons serve the will of God, why should they be punished? I deny that they serve the will of God, for we cannot say that he who is carried away by a wicked mind performs service on the order of God when he is only following his own malignant desires. He obeys God who, being instructed in his will, hastens in the direction in which God calls him. But how are we so instructed unless by His Word? The will declared by His Word is, therefore, that which we must keep in view in acting. God requires of us nothing but what He enjoins. If we design anything contrary to His precept, it is not obedience, but contumacy and transgression. But if he did not will it, we could not do it. I admit this. But do we act wickedly for the purpose of yielding obedience to him? This assuredly he does not command. Nay, rather we rush on, not thinking of what he wishes. But so inflamed by our own passionate lust that, with destined purpose, we strive against him. And in this way, while acting wickedly, we serve his righteous ordination, since in his boundless wisdom he well knows how to use bad instruments for good purposes. And see how absurd this mode of arguing is! They will have it that crimes ought not to be punished in their authors, because they are not committed without the dispensation of God. I conceive more, that thieves and murderers and other evildoers are instruments of divine providence being employed by the Lord Himself to execute the judgments which He has resolved to inflict. But I deny that this forms any excuse for their misdeeds. For how? Will they implicate God in the same iniquity with themselves, or will they cloak their depravity by His righteousness? They cannot exculpate themselves, for their own conscience condemns them. They cannot charge God, since they perceive the whole wickedness in themselves, and nothing in Him save the legitimate use of their wickedness. But it is said, He works by their means. And once, I pray, the fetid odor of a dead body, which has been uncoffined and putrefied by the sun's heat, all see that it is excited by the rays of the sun. But no man therefore says that the fetid odor is in them. In the same way, while the matter and guilt of wickedness belongs to the wicked man, Why should it be thought that God contracts any impurity in using it at pleasure as his instrument? Have done, then, with that dog-like petulance which may indeed bay from a distance at the justice of God, but cannot reach it. Section 6 These calumnies, or rather frenzied dreams, will easily be dispelled by pure and holy meditation on Divine Providence, meditation such as piety and drawings, that we may thence derive the best and sweetest fruit. The Christian, then, being most fully persuaded that all things come to pass by the dispensation of God, and that nothing happens fortuitously, will always direct his eye to Him as the principal cause of events, at the same time paying due regard to inferior causes in their own place. Next, he will have no doubt that his special providence is awake for his preservation and will not suffer anything to happen that will not turn to his good and safety. But as its business is first with men and then with other creatures, he will feel assured that the providence of God reigns over both. In regard to men, good as well as bad, he will acknowledge that their counsels, wishes, aims, and faculties are so under his hand that he has full power to turn them in whatever direction and constrain them as often as he pleases. The fact that a special providence watches over the safety of believers is attested by a vast number of the clearest promises. ìCast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.î ìCasting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.î ìHe that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.î He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of thine eye. We have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Can a woman forget her suckling child? that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb, yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Nay, the chief aim of the historical books of Scripture is to show that the ways of the saints are so carefully guarded by the Lord as to prevent them even from dashing their foot against a stone. Therefore, as we a little ago justly exploded the opinion of those who feign a universal providence which does not condescend To take special care of every creature, so it is, of the highest moment that we should specially recognize this care towards ourselves. Hence, our Savior, after declaring that even a sparrow falls not to the ground without the will of his Father, immediately makes the application that being more valuable than many sparrows, we ought to consider that God provides more carefully for us. He even extends this so far as to assure us that the hairs of our head are all numbered. What more can we wish if not even a hair of our head can fall, save in accordance with His will? I speak not merely of the human race in general. God having chosen the Church for His abode, there cannot be a doubt that in governing it, He gives singular manifestations of His paternal care. The Servant of God, being confirmed by these promises and examples, will add the passages which teach that all men are under His power, whether to conciliate their minds or to curb their wickedness and prevent it from doing harm. For it is the Lord who gives us favor, not only with those who wish us well, but also in the eyes of the Egyptians, Exodus 3.21, in various ways defeating the malice of our enemies. Sometimes he deprives them of all presence of mind, so that they cannot undertake anything soundly or soberly. In this way he sends Satan to be a lie in the mouths of all the prophets in order to deceive Ahab. Sometimes, when he leads them in possession of intellect, he so fills them with terror and dismay that they can neither will nor plan the execution of what they had designed. Sometimes, too, after permitting them to attempt what lust and rage suggested, He opportunely interrupts them in their career and allows them not to conclude what they had begun. Thus the council of Ahithophel, which would have been fatal to David, was defeated before its time, 2 Samuel 17, verses 7 and 14. Thus, for the good and safety of his people, he overrules all the creatures, even the devil himself, who, we see, dares not attempt anything against Job without his permission and command. This knowledge is necessarily followed by gratitude in prosperity, patience in adversity, and incredible security for the time to come. Everything, therefore, which turns out prosperous, and, according to his wish, the Christian will ascribe entirely to God, whether he has experienced his beneficence through the instrumentality of man, or been aided by inanimate creatures. For he will thus consider with himself, Certainly it was the Lord that disposed the minds of these people in my favor. attaching them to me so as to make them the instruments of his kindness. In an abundant harvest he will think that it is the Lord who listens to the heaven, that the heaven may listen to the earth, and the earth herself to her own offspring. In other cases, he will have no doubt that he owes all his prosperity to the divine blessing, and, admonished by so many circumstances, will feel it impossible to be ungrateful. Section 8 If anything adverse befalls him, he will forthwith raise his mind to God, whose hand is most effectual in oppressing us with patience and placid moderation of mind. Had Joseph kept his thoughts fixed on the treachery of his brethren, he never could have resumed fraternal affection for them. But, turning toward the Lord, he forgot the injury, and was so inclined to mildness and mercy that he even voluntarily comforts his brethren, telling them, Be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither, for God did send me before you to preserve life. As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good. Genesis 45, 5 In 5020, had Job turned to the Chaldees, by whom he was plundered, he should instantly have been fired with revenge. But recognizing the work of the Lord, he solaces himself with this most beautiful sentiment, quote, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord, unquote. Job 1, 21. So when David was assailed by Shimei with zones and curses, had he immediately fixed his eyes on the man, he would have urged his people to retaliate the injury. But perceiving that he acts not without an impulse from the Lord, he rather calms them. So let him curse, says he, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. With the same bridle, he elsewhere curbs the excess of his grief. I was dumb. I opened not my mouth, because thou didst it. Psalm 39 9 If there is no more effectual remedy for anger and impatience, he assuredly has not made little progress who has learned so to meditate on divine providence, as to be able always to bring his mind to this. The Lord willed it. It must therefore be born. Not only because it is unlawful to strive with him, but because he wills nothing that is not just and befitting. The whole comes to this. When unjustly assailed by men, overlooking their malice, which could only aggravate our grief and wet our minds for vengeance, let us remember to ascend to God and learn to hold it for certain that whatever an enemy wickedly committed against us was permitted and sent by his righteous dispensation. Paul, in order to suppress our desire to retaliate injuries, wisely reminds us that we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with our spiritual enemy, the devil, that we may prepare for the contest. Ephesians 6.12 But to calm all the impulses of passion, the most useful consideration is that God arms the devil, as well as all the wicked, for our conflict, and sets as umpire that he may exercise our patience. But if the disasters and miseries which press us happen without the agency of men, let us call to mind the doctrine of the law, Deuteronomy 28.1, that all prosperity has its source in the blessing of God, that all adversity is his curse. And let us tremble at the dreadful denunciation. And if ye will not be reformed by these things, but will walk contrary unto me, then will I also walk contrary unto you. Leviticus 26, verses 23 and 24. These words condemn my talker, when, according to our carnal sense, deeming that whatever happens in any way is fortuitous, we are neither animated by the kindness of God to worship him, nor by his scourge stimulated to repentance. And it is for this reason that Jeremiah, in Lamentations 3.38, and Amos, Amos 3.6, expostulated bitterly with the Jews for not believing that good as well as evil was produced by the command of God. To the same effect are the words in Isaiah, quote, I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things, unquote. Isaiah 45, 7. Section 9. At the same time, the Christian will not overlook inferior causes. For while he regards those by whom he has benefited as ministers of the divine goodness, he will not, therefore, pass them by as if their kindness deserved no gratitude, but feeling sincerely obliged to them, will willingly confess the obligation and endeavor, according to his ability, to return it. And fine, in the blessing which he receives, he will revere and extol God as the principal author, but will also honor men as his ministers, and perceive, as is the truth, that by the will of God he is under obligation to those by whose hand God has been placed to show him kindness. If he sustains any loss through negligence or imprudence, he will indeed believe that it was the Lord's will it should so be, but at the same time he will impute it to himself. If one for whom it was his duty to care, but whom he has treated with neglect, is carried off by disease, although aware that the person had reached a limit beyond which it was impossible to pass, he will not, therefore, extenuate his fault, but, as he had neglected to do his duty faithfully towards him, will feel as if he had perished by his guilty negligence. far less where, in the case of theft or murder, fraud and preconceived malice have existed, will he palliate it under the pretext of divine providence, but in the same crime will distinctly recognize the justice of God and the iniquity of man, as each is separately manifested. But in future events, especially, will he take account of such inferior causes. If he is not left destitute of human aid which he can employ for his safety, he will set it down as a divine blessing. But he will not, therefore, be remiss in taking measures, or slow in employing the help of those whom he sees possessed of the means of assisting him. Regarding all the aid which the creatures can lend him, his hands offered him by the He will avail himself of them as the legitimate instruments of divine providence, and as he is uncertain what the result of any business in which he engages is to be, save that he knows that in all things the Lord will provide for his good, he will zealously aim at what he deems for the best, so far as his abilities enable him. In adopting his measures, he will not be carried away by his own impressions, but will commit and resign himself to the wisdom of God that under his guidance he may be led into the right path. However, his confidence in external aid will not be such that the presence of it will make him feel secure, the absence of it fill him with dismay, as if he were destitute. His mind will always be fixed on the providence of God alone. and no consideration of present circumstances will be allowed to withdraw him from the steady contemplation of it. Thus, Joab, while he acknowledges that the issue of the battle is entirely in the hand of God, does not, therefore, become inactive, but strenuously proceeds with what belongs to his proper calling. Be of good courage, says he, and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God, and the Lord do that which seemeth him good." 2 Samuel 10, 12 The same conviction keeping us free from rashness and false confidence will stimulate us to constant prayer, while at the same time filling our minds with good hope, it will enable us to feel secure and to bid defiance to all the dangers by which we are surrounded. Here we are forcibly reminded of the inestimable felicity of a pious mind. Innumerable are the ills which beset human life, and present death in as many different forms. Not to go beyond ourselves, since the body is a receptacle, nay, the nurse of a thousand diseases. A man cannot move without carrying along with him many forms of destruction. His life is in a manner interwoven with death. For what else can be said where heat and cold bring equal danger? Then, in what direction soever you turn, all surrounding objects not only may do harm, but almost openly threaten and seem to present immediate death. Go on board a ship, you are but a plank's breadth from death. Mount a horse, the stumbling of a foot endangers your life. Walk along the streets, every tile up on the roofs is a source of danger. If a sharp instrument is in your own hand, or that of a friend, the possible harm is manifest. All the savage beasts you see are so many beings armed for your destruction. Even within a high-walled garden, where everything ministers to delight, a serpent will sometimes lurk. Your house, constantly exposed to fire, threatens you with poverty by day, with destruction by night. Your fields, subject to hail, mildew, drought, and other injuries, Denounce barrenness, and thereby famine. I say nothing of poison, treachery, robbery, some of which beset us at home, others follow us abroad. Amid these perils must not man be very miserable? As one who, more dead than alive, with difficulty draws an anxious and feeble breath, just as if a drawn sword were constantly suspended over his neck? It may be said that these things happen seldom, at least not always. are to all certainly never all at once. I admit it, but since we are reminded by the example of others that they may also happen to us, and that our life is not an exception any more than theirs, is it impossible not to fear and dread as if they were to befall us? Why can you imagine more grievous than such trepidation? Add that there is something like an insult to God when it is said that man, the noblest of the creatures, stands exposed to every blind and random stroke of fortune. Here, however, we were only referring to the misery which man should feel were he placed under the dominion of chance. But when, once the light of divine providence has illumined the believer's soul, he is relieved and set free, not only from the extreme fear and anxiety which formerly oppressed him, but from all care. For he justly shudders at the idea of chance, so he can confidently commit himself to God. This, I say, is His comfort, that His Heavenly Father so embraces all things under His power, so governs them at will by His nod. So regulates them by his wisdom that nothing takes place save according to his appointment, that received into his favor, and entrusted to the care of his angels, neither fire, nor water, nor sword, can do him harm except insofar as God their Master is pleased to permit. For thus sings the psalm, Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. And from the noisome pestilence he shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness. nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday, etc. Psalm 91, verses 2-6. Hence the exalting confidence of the saints. Quote, The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me. Unquote. Quote, Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Unquote. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Psalm 118, verse 6 Psalm 27, 3 Psalm 23, 4 How comes it, I may ask, How comes it, I ask, that their confidence never fails, but just that while the world apparently revolves at random, they know that God is everywhere at work, and feel assured that His work will be their safety. When assailed by the devil and wicked men, were they not confirmed by remembering and meditating on providence, they should of necessity forthwith despond. But when they call to mind that the devil and the whole train of the ungodly are, in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle, So that they can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how much soever they may have planned, move a single finger to perpetrate, unless, insofar as he permits, nay, unless, insofar as he commands, that they are not only bound by his fetters. But are even forced to do him service, when the godly think of all these things, they have ample sources of consolation. For as it belongs to the Lord to arm the fury of such foes, and turn and destine it at pleasure, so it is His also to determine the measure and the end, so as to prevent them from breaking loose and wintering as they list. Supported by this conviction, Paul, who had said in one place that his journey was hindered by Satan, 1 Thessalonians 2.18, and another resolves with the permission of God to undertake it, 1 Corinthians 16.7. If he had only said that Satan was the obstacle, he might have seemed to give him too much power, as if he were able even to overturn the counsels of God. But now, when he makes God the disposer, on whose permission all journeys depend, he shows that however Satan may contrive, he can accomplish nothing except far as he pleases to give the word. For the same reason, David, considering the various turns which human life undergoes as it rolls, and in a manner whirls around, betakes himself to this asylum, quote, My times are in thy hand, unquote. Psalm 31, 15. He might have said the course of life, or time, at the singular number, but by times he meant to express that how unstable soever the condition of man may be, The vicissitudes which are ever and anon taking place are under divine regulation. Hence, Rezin and the king of Israel, after they had joined the forces for the destruction of Israel, and seen torches which had been kindled to destroy and consume the land, are termed by the prophet, quote, smoking firebrands, unquote. They could only emit a little smoke, Isaiah 7, 4. So Pharaoh, when he was an object of dread to all by his wealth and strength, and the multitude of his troops, is compared to the largest of beasts, while his troops are compared to fishes. And God declares that he will take both leader and army with his hooks and drag them whither he pleases. Exodus 29 4 In one word, not to dwell longer on this, give heed, and you will at once perceive that ignorance of providence is the greatest of all miseries, and the knowledge of it the highest happiness. On the providence of God, insofar as conducive to the solid instruction and consolation of believers, far as to satisfying the curiosity of foolish men, it is a thing which cannot be done, and ought not to be attempted. Enough would have been said, did not a few passages remain, which seem to insinuate, contrary to the view which we have expounded, that the counsel of God is not firm and stable, but varies with the changes of sublunary affairs. First, in reference to the providence of God, it is said that He repented of having made man, Genesis 6.6, and of having raised Saul to the kingdom, 1 Samuel 15.11. and that he will repent of the evil which he had resolved to inflict on his people as soon as he shall have perceived some amendment in them. Jeremiah 18.8. Secondly, his decrees are sometimes said to be annulled. He had, by Jonah, proclaimed to the Ninevites, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." But immediately, on the repentance, he inclined to a more merciful sentence. Jonah 3, verses 4-10. After he had, by the mouth of Isaiah, given Hezekiah at the mission of his death, He was moved by his tears and prayers to defer it. Isaiah 38.15 2 Kings 20.15 Hence, many argue that God has not fixed human affairs by an eternal decree, but, according to the merits of each individual, and as He deems right and just, disposes of each single year and day and hour. As to repentance, We must hold that it can no more exist in God than ignorance or error or impotence. If no man knowingly or willingly reduces himself to the necessity of repentance, we cannot attribute repentance to God without saying either that he knows not what is to happen or that he cannot evade it, or that he rushes precipitately and inconsiderately into a resolution and then, forthwith, regrets it. But so far as this from the meaning of the Holy Spirit, that in the very mention of repentance he declares that God is not influenced by any feeling of regret, that he is not a man that he should repent. And it is to be observed that, in the same chapter, both things are so conjoined that a comparison of the passages admirably removes the appearance of contradiction. When it is said that God repented of having made Saul king, the term change is used figuratively. Shortly after, it is added, quote, The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent. For he is not a man that he should repent." 1 Samuel 15 29 In these words, his immutability is plainly asserted without figure. Wherefore, it is certain that, in administering human affairs, the ordination of God is perpetual and superior to everything like repentance. That there might be no doubt of his constancy, even his enemies are forced to bear testimony to it, for Balaam, even against his will, behoved to break forth into this exclamation. God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the Son of man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23, 19 Section 13 What then is meant by the term repentance? The very saying that is meant by the other forms of expression by which God is described to us humanly. Because our weakness cannot reach His height, any description which we receive of Him must be lowered to our capacity in order to be intelligible. And the mode of lowering is to represent Him not as He really is, but as we conceive of Him. Though He is incapable of every feeling of perturbation, He declares that He is angry with the wicked. Wherefore, as when we hear that God is angry, we ought not to imagine that there is any emotion in Him. but ought rather to consider the mode of speech accommodated to our sense, God appearing to us like one inflamed and irritated whenever he exercises judgment, so we ought not to imagine anything more under the term repentance than a change of action, men being wont to testify their dissatisfaction by such a change. Hence, because every change, whatever among men, is intended as a correction of what displeases, and the correction proceeds from repentance, the same term applied to God simply means that His procedure is changed. There is no inversion of his counsel or will, no change of his affection. What from eternity he had foreseen, approved, decreed, he prosecutes with unvarying uniformity, how sudden soever to the eye of man the variation may seem to be. Nor does the sacred history, while it relates that the destruction which had been proclaimed to the Ninevites was remitted, and the life of Hezekiah, after an intimation of death, prolonged, imply that the decrees of God were annulled. Those who think so labor under delusion as to the meaning of threatenings, which, though they affirm simply, nevertheless contain in them a tacit condition dependent on the result. Why did the Lord send Jonah to the Ninevites to predict the overthrow of their city? Why did he, by Isaiah, give Hezekiah intimation of his death? He might have destroyed both them and him without a message to announce the disaster. He had something else in view than to give them a warning of death which might let them see it at a distance before it came. It was because he did not wish them destroyed, but reformed, and thereby saved from destruction. When Jonah prophesies that in forty days Nineveh will be overthrown, he does it in order to prevent the overthrow. When Hezekiah is forbidden to hope for longer life, it is that he may obtain longer life. Who does not now see that, by threatenings of this kind, God wished to arouse those to repentance whom he terrified that they might escape the judgment which their sins deserved. If this is so, the very nature of the case obliges us to supply a tacit condition and a simple denunciation. This is even confirmed by analogous cases. The Lord rebuking King Abimelech for having carried off the wife of Abraham, uses these words, QUOTE, Behold, thou art but a dead man for the woman which thou hast taken, for she is a man's wife, UNQUOTE. But after Abimelech's excuse, he thus speaks, QUOTE, Restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that art thine." Genesis 20, verses 3 and 7. You see that, by the first announcement, he makes a deep impression on his mind that he may render him eager to give satisfaction. and that by the second he clearly explains his will. Since the other passages may be similarly explained, you must not infer from them that the Lord derogated in any respect from his former counsel because he recalled what he had promulgated. When, by denouncing punishment, he admonishes to repentance those whom he wishes to spare, he paves the way for his eternal decree, instead of varying it one whit either in will or in language. The only difference is that he does not express in so many syllables what is easily understood. The words of Isaiah must remain true. The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? Isaiah 14, 27 Chapter 18 The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God While He Continues Free from Every Taint There are four sections. Section 1 From other passages in which God is said to draw Arben's Satan himself, and all to reprobate to his will, a more difficult question arises. For the carnal mind can scarcely comprehend how, when acting by their means, he contracts no taint from their impurity, nay, how, in a common operation, he is exempt from all guilt, and can justly condemn his own ministers. Hence a distinction has been invented between doing and permitting, because to many it seemed altogether inexplicable how Satan and all the wicked are so under the hand and authority of God that He directs their malice to whatever end He pleases, and employs their iniquities to execute His judgments. The modesty of those who are thus alarmed at the appearance of absurdity might perhaps be excused that they not endeavor to vindicate the justice of God from every semblance of stigma by defending an untruth. It seems absurd that man should be blinded by the will and command of God and yet be forthwith punished for his blindness. Hence recourse is had to the evasion that this is done only by the permission and not also by the will of God. He himself, however, openly declaring that he does this, repudiates the evasion, that men do nothing save at the secret instigation of God, and do not discuss and deliberate on anything but what he has previously decreed with himself, and brings to pass by his secret direction, is proved by numberless clear passages of Scripture. What we formerly quoted from the Psalms, to the effect that he does whatever pleases him, certainly extends to all the actions of men. If God is the arbiter of peace and war, as is there said, and that without any exception, who will venture to say that men are born along at random with a blind impulse, while he is unconscious or quiescent? But the matter will be made clearer by special examples. From the first chapter of Job, we learn that Satan appears in the presence of God to receive his orders, just as do the angels who obey spontaneously. The manner and the end are different, but still the fact is that he cannot attempt anything without the will of God. But though afterwards his power to afflict the saint seems to be only a bare permission, yet as the sentiment is true, the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. As it pleased the Lord, so it hath been done. We infer that God was the author of that trial of which Satan and wicked robbers were merely the instruments. Satan's aim is to drive the saint to madness by despair. The Sabians cruelly and wickedly make a sudden incursion to rob another of his goods. Job acknowledges that he was deprived of all his property and brought to poverty because such was the pleasure of God. Therefore, whatever men are Satan himself devised, God holds the helm, and makes all their efforts contribute to the execution of his judgments. God wills the perfidious Ahab should be deceived. The devil offers his agency for that purpose, and is sent with a definite command to be a lying spirit in the mouth of all the prophets. 2 Kings 22.20 If the blinding and infatuation of Ahab is a judgment from God, The fiction of their permission is at an end, for it would be ridiculous for a judge only to permit, and not also to decree, what he wishes to be done at the very time that he commits execution of it to his ministers. The Jews purposed to destroy Christ. Pilate and the soldiers indulged them in their fury, yet the disciples confessed in solemn prayer that all the wicked did nothing but what the hand and counsel of God had decreed. Acts 4, 28 Just as Peter had previously said in his discourse that Christ was delivered to death by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, Acts 2.23 In other words, that God, whom all things are known from the beginning, had determined what the Jews had executed. He repeats the same thing elsewhere. Those things which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should fulfill, he hath so fulfilled. Acts 3.18 Absalom, incestuously defiling his father's bed, perpetrates a detestable crime. God, however, declares that it was his work, for the words are, quote, Thou didst it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun, unquote. The cruelties of the Chaldeans in Judea are declared by Jeremiah to be the work of God. for which reason Nebuchadnezzar is called the servant of God. God frequently exclaims that by his hiss, by the clang of his trumpet, by his authority and command, the wicked are excited to war. He calls the Assyrian the rod of his anger and the axe which he wields in his hand. The overthrow of the city and downfall of the temple he calls his own work. David, not murmuring against God, but, acknowledging him to be a just judge, confesses that the curses of Shimei are uttered by his orders. The Lord, says he, has bidden him curse. Often in sacred history whatever happens is said to proceed from the Lord as the revolt of the Ten Tribes, the death of Eli's sons, and very many others of a similar description. Those who have a tolerable acquaintance with the Scriptures see that, with a view to brevity, I am only producing a few out of many passages, from which it is perfectly clear that it is a merest trifling to substitute a bare permission for the providence of God, as if he sat in a watchtower, waiting for fortuitous events, his judgments meanwhile depending on the will of man. With regard to secret movements, what Solomon says of the heart of a king, that it is turned hither and thither as God sees meet, certainly applies to the whole human race, and has the same force as if he had said that whatever we conceive in our minds is directed to its end by the secret inspiration of God. And certainly, did he not work internally in the minds of men, it could not have been properly said that he takes away the lip from the true, and prudence from the aged, takes away the heart from the princes of the earth, that they wander through devious paths. To the same effect, we often read that men are intimidated when he fills their hearts with terror. Thus David left the camp of Saul while none knew of it, because a sleep from God had fallen upon all. But nothing can be clearer than the many passages which declare that he blinds the minds of men, and smites them with giddiness, intoxicates them with a spirit of stupor, renders them infatuated, and hardens their hearts. Even these expressions many would confide to permission, as if, by deserving the reprobate, he allowed them to be blinded by Satan. But since the Holy Spirit distinctly says that the blindness and infatuation are inflicted by the just judgment of God, the solution is altogether inadmissible. He is said to have hardened the heart of Pharaoh, to have hardened it yet more, and confirmed it. Some evade these forms of expression by silly cavil, because Pharaoh is elsewhere said to have hardened his own heart, thus making his will the cause of hardening it. As if the two things did not perfectly agree with each other, though in different senses these that man, though acted upon by God, at the same time also acts. But I report the objection on those who make it. If to harden means only bear permission, the contumacy will not properly belong to Pharaoh. Now could anything be more feeble and insipid than to interpret as if Pharaoh had only allowed himself to be hardened? We may add that scripture cuts off all handle for such camels. I, sayeth the Lord, will harden his heart, Exodus 4, 21. So also Moses says of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan that they went forth to battle because the Lord had hardened their hearts. Joshua 11, 20. The same thing is repeated by another prophet. He turned their hearts to hate his people, Psalm 105, 25. In like manner, in Isaiah, he says of the Assyrian, quote, I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take the prey, unquote. Isaiah 10.6. Not that he intends to teach wicked and obstinate man to obey spontaneously, but because he bends them to execute his judgments, just as if they carried their orders engraven on their minds. And hence it appears that they are impelled by the sure appointment of God. I admit, indeed, that God often acts in the reprobate by interposing the agency of Satan, but in such a manner that Satan himself performs his part, just as he is impelled, and succeeds only insofar as he is permitted. The evil spirit that troubled Saul was said to be from the Lord, 1 Samuel 16, 14, to intimate that Saul's madness was a just punishment from God. Satan is also said to blind the minds of those who believe not, 2 Corinthians 4, 4. But how so, unless that a spirit of error is sent from God Himself, making those who refuse to obey the truth to believe a lie? According to the former view, it is said, If the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lord have deceived that prophet. Ezekiel 14 9 According to the latter view, he is said to have given men over to a reprobate mind. Romans 1 28 Because he is the special author of his own just vengeance. For as Satan is only his minister, But as in the second book, chapter 4, section 3 and 4, in discussing the question of man's freedom, this subject will again be considered. The little that has now been said seems to be all that the occasion requires. The sum of the whole is this. Since the will of God is said to be the cause of all things, all the counsels and actions of man must be held to be governed by his providence, so that he not only exerts his power in the elect who are guided by the Holy Spirit, but also forces the reprobate to do him service. Section 3. As I have hitherto stated only what is plainly and unambiguously taught in Scripture, those who hesitate not to stigmatize what is thus taught by the sacred articles had better beware what kind of censure they employ. If under a pretense of ignorance, They seek the praise of modesty. What greater arrogance can be imagined than to utter one word in opposition to the authority of God, to say, for instance, quote, I think otherwise, unquote, I would not have this subject touched, unquote. But if they openly blaspheme, what will they gain by assaulting heaven? Such petulance, indeed, is not new. In all ages there have been wicked and profane men who rabidly assailed this branch of doctrine. But what the Spirit declared of old by the mouth of David, They will feel by experience to be true. God will overcome when He is judged. David indirectly rebukes the infatuation of those whose license is so unbridled that from their groveling spot of earth they not only plead against God, but arrogate to themselves the right of censuring him. At the same time, he briefly intimates that the blasphemies which they belch forth against heaven, instead of reaching God, only illustrate His justice when the mists of their calumnies are dispersed. Even our faith, because founded on the sacred word of God, is superior to the whole world, and is able from its height to look down upon such mists. Their first objection, that if nothing happens without the will of God, he must have two contrary wills, decreeing by secret counsel what he has openly forbidden in his law, is easily disposed of. But before I reply to it, I would again remind my readers that this cavil is directed not against me, but against the Holy Spirit, who certainly dictated this confession to that holy man Job, quote, the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, unquote, when, after being plundered by robbers, he acknowledges that their injustice and mischief was a just chastisement from God. And what says the Scripture elsewhere? The sons of Eli, quote, hearkened not unto the voice of the Father, because the Lord would slay them, unquote. 1 Samuel 2.25. Another prophet also exclaims, quote, Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased, unquote. Psalm 115 verse 3. I have already shown clearly enough that God is the author of all those things which, according to these objectors, happen only by His enacted permission. He testifies that He creates light and darkness, forms good and evil. Isaiah 45 7 That no evil happens which He hath not done. Amos 3 6 Let them tell me whether God exercises his judgments willingly or unwillingly. As Moses teaches that he who is accidentally killed by the blow of an axe is delivered by God into the hand of him who smites him, Deuteronomy 19.5, so the gospel by the mouth of Luke declares that Herod and Pontius Pilate conspire, quote, to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before it to be done, unquote, Acts 4, 28. And in truth, if Christ was not crucified by the will of God, where is our redemption? Still, however, the will of God is not a variance with itself. It undergoes no change. He makes no pretense of not willing what he wills, but while in himself the will is one and undivided, To us it appears manifold, because from the feebleness of our intellect we cannot comprehend how, though after a different manner, he wills and wills not the very same thing. Paul terms the calling of the Gentiles a hidden mystery. and shortly after adds that therein was manifested the manifold wisdom of God. Ephesians 3.10 Since, on account of the dullness of our sense, the wisdom of God seems manifold, or, as an old interpreter rendered it, multiform, are we, therefore, to dream of some variation in God, as if He either changed His counsel or disagreed with Himself. Nay, when we cannot comprehend how God can will that to be done which He forbids us to do, let us call to mind our imbecility, and remember that the light in which He dwells is not without cause termed inaccessible. 1 Timothy 6, 16 Because shrouded in darkness. Hence all pious and modest men will readily acquiesce in the sentiment of Augustine. Man sometimes with a good will wishes something which God does not will, as when a good son wishes his father to live, while God wills him to die. Again it may happen that man with a bad will wishes that God wills righteously, as when a bad son wishes his father to die. And God also wills it. The former wishes what God wills not. The latter wishes what God also wills. And yet the filial affection of the former is more consonant to the goodwill of God, though willing differently, than the unnatural affection of the latter, though willing the same thing. So much does approbation or condemnation depend on what is befitting in man, and what in God to will, and to what end the will of each has respect. For the things which God rightly wills, He accomplishes by the evil wills of bad men. " He had said a little before that the apostate angels, by their revolt and all the reprobate, as far as they themselves were concerned, did what God willed not. But in regard to His omnipotence, it was impossible for them to do so. For while they act against the will of God, His will is accomplished in them. Hence he exclaims, Great is the work of God, exquisite in all he wills, so that in a manner wondrous and ineffable, that is not done without his will which is done contrary to it, because it could not be done if he did not permit, nor does he permit it unwillingly, but willingly, nor would he whose good permit evil to be done, were he not omnipotent to bring good out of evil. In the same way is solved, or rather spontaneously vanishes, another objection. These, if God not only uses the agency of the wicked, but also governs their counsels and affections, He is the author of all their sins. And therefore men, in executing what God has decreed, are unjustly condemned because they are obeying His will. Here, will is improperly confounded with precept. Though it is obvious from innumerable examples that there is the greatest difference between them. When Absalom defiled his father's bed, though God was pleased thus to avenge the adultery of David, he did not therefore enjoin an abandoned son to commit incest unless perhaps in respect of David, as David himself says of Shimei's curses. For while he confesses that Gemini acts by the order of God, he by no means commends the obedience, as if that petulant dog had been yielding obedience to a divine command. But, recognizing in his tongue the scourge of God, he submits patiently to be chastised. Thus we must hold that while by means of the wicked God performs what he had secretly decreed, They are not excusable, as if they were obeying his precept, which of set purpose they violate according to their lust. How these things, which men do perversely, are of God, and are ruled by his secret providence, is strikingly shown in the election of King Jeroboam, 1 Kings 12, 20, in which the rashness and infatuation of the people are severely condemned for perverting the order sanctioned by God, and perfidiously revolting from the family of David. And yet we know it was God's will that Jeroboam should be anointed. Hence the apparent contradiction in the words of Hosea. Hosea 8.4 and 13.11. Because while God complained that that kingdom was erected without his knowledge and against his will, he elsewhere declares that he had given King Jeroboam and his anger. How shall we reconcile the two things? That Jeroboam's reign was not of God. And yet God appointed him king. In this way the people could not revolt from the family of David without shaking off a yoke divinely imposed on them. And yet God himself was not deprived of the power of thus punishing the ingratitude of Solomon. We therefore see how God, while not willing treachery, with another view justly wills the revolt. And hence Jeroboam, by unexpectedly receiving the sacred unction, is urged to aspire to the kingdom. For this reason, the sacred history says that God stirred up an enemy to deprive the gnoss of Solomon of part of the kingdom, 1 Kings 11.23. Let the reader diligently ponder both points. How, as it was the will of God that the people should be ruled by the hand of one king, their being rent into two parties was contrary to his will, and yet how this same will originated the revolt. For certainly when Jeroboam, who had no such thought as urged by the prophet verbally, and by the oil of unction, to hope for the kingdom, the thing was not done without the knowledge or against the will of God, who had expressly commanded it. And yet the rebellion of the people is justly condemned, because it was against the will of God that they revolted from the posterity of David. For this reason, it is afterwards added, that when Rehoboam haughtily spurned the prayers of the people, the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying which the Lord spake by a hijack. 1 Kings 12.15 See how sacred unity was violated against the will of God, while, at the same time with His will, the ten tribes were alienated from the son of Solomon. To this might be added another similar example, these, the murder of the sons of Ahab, and the extermination of his whole progeny by the consent, or rather, the active agency of the people. G. Hugh says, Truly, there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah. 2 Kings 10.10. And yet, with good reason, he upbraids the citizens of Samaria for having lent their assistance. Ye be righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him. But who slew all these? If I mistake not, I have already shown clearly how the same act at once betrays the guilt of man and manifests the righteousness of God. Modest minds will always be satisfied with Augustine's answer, quote, Since the Father delivered up the Son, Christ his own body, and Judas his master, how in such a case is God just and man guilty? But just because in the one act which they did, the reasons for which they did it are different." If any are not perfectly satisfied with this explanation, V's, that there is no concurrence between God and man, when by his righteous impulse man does what he ought not to do, Let them give heed to what Augustine elsewhere observes. Who can refrain from trembling at those judgments when God does according to his pleasure, even in the hearts of the wicked, at the same time rendering to them according to their deeds? And certainly in regard to the treachery of Judas. There is just as little ground to throw the blame of the crime upon God, because he was both pleased that his son should be delivered up to death, and did deliver him as to ascribe to Judas the praise of our redemption. Hence Augustine, in another place, truly observes that when God makes his scrutiny, he looks not to what men could do, or to what they did, but to what they wished to do, thus taking account of their will and purpose. Those to whom this seems harsh had better consider how far their captiousness is entitled to any toleration, while, on the ground of its exceeding their capacity, they reject a matter which is clearly taught by Scripture and complain of the enunciation of truths which, if they were not useful to be known, God never would have ordered His prophets and apostles to teach. Our true wisdom is to embrace with meek docility and, without reservation, whatever the Holy Scriptures have delivered. Those who indulge their petulance, a petulance manifestly directed against God, or undeserving of a longer reputation. SWRB.com, by phone at 780-450-3730, by fax at 780-468-1096, or by mail at 4710-37A Avenue, Edmonton, AB, Canada, T6L3T5. If you do not have a web connection, please request a free printed catalog. If you do have a web connection and would like to be added to our email list, please send an email to add at SWRB.com or SWRB at SWRB.com with the word add in the subject line. SWRB's email list is a double opt-in list. So once you've sent us your email address, you will be asked by email to confirm that you want to join our list using the email address you have supplied. Your email information will be kept confidential and you can easily remove yourself from our email list by simply emailing us at swrb at swrb.com with the word remove in the subject line. 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