of them this must be either out of Sloth but how incompatible is laziness to a pure and infinite activity or out of Majesty but 't is no less for the glory of his Majesty to conduct them than it was for the glory of his Power to erect them into Being he that counts nothing unworthy of his Arms to make nothing unworthy of his Understanding to know why should he count any thing unworthy of his Wisdom to govern If he knows them to neglect them it must be because he hath no Will to it or no Goodness for it either of these would be a stain upon God to want Goodness is to be Evil and to want Will is to be negligent and scornful which are inconsistent with an Infinite Active Goodness Doth a Father neglect providing for the wants of the Family which he knows or a Physician the cure of that Disease he understands God is Omniscient he therefore sees all things he is good he doth not therefore neglect any thing but conducts it to the end he appointed it There is nothing so little that can escape his Knowledg and therefore nothing so little but falls under his Providence nothing so sublime as to be above his Understanding and therefore nothing can be without the compass of his Conduct nothing can escape his Eye and therefore nothing can escape his Care nothing is known by him in vain as nothing was made by him in vain there must be acknowledg'd therefore some end of this knowledg of all his Creatures Instruct 3. Hence then will follow the certainty of a day of Judgment To what purpose can we imagine this Attribute of Omniscience so often declared and urg'd in Scripture to our consideration but in order to a government of our practise and a future Tryal Every Perfection of the Divine Nature hath sent out brighter Rays in the World than this of his Infinite Knowledg his Power hath been seen in the Being of the World and his Wisdom in the Order and Harmony of the Creatures his Grace and Mercy hath been plentifully poured out in the mission of a Redeemer and his Justice hath been elevated by the Dying-Groans of the Son of God upon the Cross But hath his Omniscience yet met with a Glory proportionable to that of his other Perfections all the Attributes of God that have appeared in some beautiful glimmerings in the World wait for a more full manifestation in Glory as the Creatures do for the manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 But especially this since it hath been less evidenced than others and as much or more abused than any it expects therefore a publick righting in the eye of the World There have been indeed some few sparks of this Perfection sensibly struck out now and then in the World in some horrors of Conscience which have made men become their own Accusers of unknown Crimes in bringing out hidden Wickedness to a publick view by various Providences This hath also been the design of sprinklings of Judgments upon several Generations as Psal 90.8 We are consumed by thy Anger and by thy Wrath we are troubled thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the light of thy Countenance The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Youth as well as secret i.e. Sins committed long ago and that with secrecy By this he hath manifested that secret Sins are not hid from his eye Tho' inward Terrors and outward Judgments have been let loose to worry men into a belief of this yet the corruptions of men would still keep a contrary notion in their minds that God hath forgotten that he hides his face from Transgression and will not regard their Impiety Psal 10.11 There must therefore be a time of Tryal for the publick demonstration of this Excellency that it may receive its due Honour by a full Testimony that no secrecy can be a shelter from it As his Justice which consists in giving every one his due could not be Glorified unless men were called to an account for their actions so neither would his Omniscience appear in its illustrious colours without such a manifestation of the secret motions of mens hearts and of Villanies done under Lock and Key when none were conscious to them but the committers of them Novv the last Judgment is the time appointed for the opening of the Books Dan. 7.10 The Book of Gods Records and Conscience the counter-part were never fully opened and read before only novv and then some some pages turn'd to in particular Judgments and out of those Books shall men be judged according to their Works Rev. 20.12 Then shall the defaced Sins be brought vvith all their circumstances to every mans memory the Counsels of mens hearts fled far from their present remembrance all the habitual knovvledg they had of their ovvn actions shall by Gods knovvledg of them be excited to an actual revievv and their vvorks not only made manifest to themselves but notorious to the World All the Words Thoughts Deeds of men shall be brought forth into the light of their ovvn minds by the infinite Light of Gods understanding reflecting on them His Knovvledg renders him an unerring Witness as vvell as his Justice a swift Witness Mal. 3.5 a svvift Witness because he shall vvithout any circuit or length of Speech convince their Consciences by an invvard illumination of them to take notice of the blackness and deformity of their hearts and vvorks In all Judgments God is somevvhat knovvn to be the searcher of hearts the time of Judgment is the time of his remembrance Hos 8.13 Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins but the great instant or now of the full glorifying it is the grand day of account This Attribute must have a time for its full Discovery and no time can be fit for it but a time of a general reckoning Justice cannot be exercis'd without Omniscience for as Justice is a giving to every one his due so there must be knowledg to discern what is due to every man the searching the heart is in order to the rewarding the works 4. This Perfection in God gives us ground to believe a Resurrection Who can think this too hard for his Power since not the least Atome of the Dust of our Bodies can escape his Knowledg An infinite Understanding comprehends every mite of a departed Carcass this will not appear impossible nor irrational to any upon a serious consideration of this excellency in God The body is perished the matter of it hath been since clothed with different forms and figures part of it hath been made the body of a Worm part of it returned to the Dust that hath been blown away by the Wind part of it hath been concocted in the Bodies of Cannibals Fish ravenous Beasts the Spirits have evaporated into Air part of the Blood melted into Water what then is the matter of the body annihilated is that wholly perished no the
SEVERAL DISCOURSES UPON THE EXISTENCE AND ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. By that late Eminent Minister of Christ Mr. STEPHEN CHARNOCKE B. D. And sometimes Fellow of New-Colledge in Oxon. LONDON Printed for D. Newman T. Cockerill Benj. Griffin T. Simmons and Benj. Alsop M DC LXXXII TO THE READER THIS long since promised and greatly expected Volume of the Reverend Authour upon the Divine Attributes being Transcribed out of his own Manuscripts by the unwearied diligence of those worthy Persons that undertook it Mr. J. Wichens Mr. Ashton is now at last come to thy hands Doubt not but thy Reading will pay for thy waiting and thy satisfaction make full compensation for thy patience In the Epistle before his Treatise of Providence it was intimated that his following Discourses would not be inferiour to that and we are perswaded that ere thou hast perused one half of this thou wilt acknowledge that it was modestly spoken Enough assure thy self thou wilt find here for thy entertainment and delight as well as profit The sublimeness variety and rareness of the Truths here handled together with the elegancy of the Composure neatness of the Style and whatever is wont to make any Book desirable will all concur in the recommendation of this What so high and noble a Subject what so fit for his Meditations or thine as the highest and noblest Being and those transcendently glorious Perfections wherewith he is clothed A meer Contemplation of the Divine Excellencies may afford much pleasure to any man that loves to exercise his Reason and is addicted to speculation But what incomparable sweetness then will holy Souls find in viewing and considering those Perfections now which they are more fully to behold hereafter and seeing what manner of God how wise and powerful how great and good and holy is he in whom the Covenant interests them and in the enjoyment of whom their happiness consists If rich men delight to sum up their vast Revenues to read over their Rentals look upon their Hoords if they bless themselves in their great Wealth or to use the Prophets words Jer. 9.23 glory in their Riches well may Believers rejoyce and glory in their knowing the Lord vers 24. and please themselves in seeing how rich they are in having an immensely full and All-sufficient God for their Inheritance Alas how little do most men know of that Deity they profess to serve and own not as their Soveraign only but their Portion To such this Author might say Acts 17.23 as Paul to the Athenians Whom you ignorantly worship him declare I unto you These Treatises Reader will inform thee who he is whom thou callest thine present thee with a view of thy chief good and make thee value thy self a thousand times more upon thy interest in God than upon all external Accomplishments and worldly Possessions Who but delights to hear well of one whom he loves God is thy Love if thou be a Believer and then it cannot but fill thee with delight and ravishment to hear so much spoken in his Praise David desired to dwell in the House of the Lord that he might there behold his beauty How much of that beauty if thou art but capable of seeing it mayest thou behold in this Volume which was our Author's main business for about three years before he died to display before his hearers True indeed the Lord's Glory as shining forth before his heavenly Courtiers above is unapproachable by mortal Men but what of it is visible in his Works Creation Providence Redemption falls under the cognizance of his Inferiour Subjects here and this is in a great measure presented to view in these Discourses and so much we may well say as may by the help of Grace be effectual to raise thy Admiration attract thy Love provoke thy Desires and enable thee to make some guess at what is yet unseen and why not likewise to clear thy Eyes and prepare them for future sight as well as turn them away from the contemptible Vanities of this present Life Whatever is glorious in this World yet as the Apostle in another case hath no glory by reason of the glory that excels 2 Cor. 3.10 This excellent Glory is the Subject of this Book to which all Created Beauty is but meer shadow and duskyness If thy Eyes be well fixed on this they will not be easily drawn to wander after other Objects If thy heart be taken with God it will be mortified to every thing that is not God But thou hast in this Book not only an excellent Subject in the general but great variety of Matter for the employment of thy Understanding as well as enlivening thy Affections and that too such as thou wilt not readily find elsewhere many excellent things which are out of the rode of ordinary Preachers and Writers and which may be grateful to the Curious no less than satisfactory to the Wise and Judicious It is not therefore a Book to be play'd with or slept over but read with the most intent and serious Mind for though it afford much pleasure for the Phancy yet much more work for the heart and hath indeed enough in it to busie all the Faculties The Dress is compt and decent yet not garish nor Theatrical the Rhetorick masculine and vigorous such as became a Pulpit and was never borrowed from the Stage the Expressions full clear apt and such as are best suted to the weightiness and spirituality of the Truths here delivered 'T is plain he was no empty Preacher but was more for sense than sound filled up his words with matter and chose rather to inform his Hearers Minds than to claw any itching Ears Yet we will not say but some little things a Word or a Phrase now and then he may have which no doubt had he lived to Transcribe his own Sermons he would have altered If in some lesser matters he differ from thee it is but in such as Godly and Learned Men do frequently and may without breach of Charity differ in among themselves in some things he may differ from us too and it may be we from each other and where are there any two Persons who have in all especially the more disputable Points of Religion exactly the same Sentiments at least express themselves altogether in the same terms But this we must say that though he treat of many of the most abstruse and mysterious Doctrines of Christianity which are the Subjects of great Debates and Controversies in the World yet we find no one material thing in which he may justly be called Heterodox unless old Heresies be of late grown Orthodox and his differing from them must make him faulty but generally delivers as in his * Treatise of Providence and of Thoughts former Pieces what is most consonant to the Faith of This and other the best Reformed Churches He was not indeed for that Modern Divinity which is so much in vogue with some who would be counted the
made whither stone or brass this nature therefore must have some superior by whose influx it is preserved Since therefore we see a stable order in the things of the world that they conspire together for the good and beauty of the universe that they depend upon one another There must be some principle upon which they do depend somthing to which the first link of the chain is fastened which himself depends upon no superior but wholly rests in his own essence and being T is the title of God to be the preserver of man and beast * Psa 36.6 The Psalmist elegantly describeth it Psal 104.24 c. The Earth is full of his riches all wait upon him that he may give them their meat in due season when he opens his hand he fills them with good when he hides his face they are troubled if he take away their breath they die and return to dust he sends forth his Spirit and they are Created and renews the face of the Earth the glory of the Lord shall endure for ever and the Lord shall rejoyce in his works Upon the consideration of all which the Psalmist v. 34. takes a pleasure in the Meditation of God as the cause and manager of all those things which issues into a joy in God and a praising of him And why should not the consideration of the power and wisdom of God in the Creatures produce the same effect in the hearts of us if he be our God Or as some render it my Meditation shall be sweet or acceptable to him whereby I find matter of praise in the things of the world and offer it to the Creator of it Thirdly III. Reason The third Reas. T is a folly to deny that which a mans own nature witnesseth to him The whole frame of bodies and Souls bears the impress of the infinite power and wisdom of the Creator A body framed with an admirable Architecture a Soul endowed with Understanding Will Judgment Memory Imagination Man is the Epitome of the World contains in himself the substance of all natures and the fulness of the whole universe not only in regard of the universalness of his knowledge whereby he comprehends the reasons of many things but as all the perfections of the several natures of the world are gathered and united in man for the perfection of his own in a smaller volum In his Soul he partakes of Heaven in his body of the earth There is the life of Plants the sense of beasts and the intellectual nature of Angels * Gen. 2.7 The Lord breathed into his Nostril the breath of life and man c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of lifes Not one sort of lifes but several not only an Animal but a Rational life a Soul of a Nobler extract and nature than what was given to other Creatures So that we need not step out of doors or cast our eyes any further than our selves to behold a God He shines in the capacity of our Souls and the vigour of our Members We must flie from our selves and be stript of our own humanity before we can put off the Notion of a Deity He that is ignorant of the Existence of God must be possessed with so much folly as to be ignorant of his own make and frame 1. In the parts whereof he doth consist Body and Soul First I. Take a prospect of the Body The Psalmist counts it a matter of praise and admiration Psal 139.15 16. I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth in thy book all my Members were written The Scheme of man and every Member was drawn in his book All the Sinews Veins Arteries Bones like a peice of Embroidery or Tapestry were wrought by God as it were with deliberation like an Artificer that draws out the model of what he is to do in writing and sets it before him when he begins his work And indeed the Fabrick of mans Body as well as his Soul is an argument for a Divinity The artificial structure of it the Elegancy of every part the proper Situation of them their proportion one to another the fitness for their several functions drew from Galen * Lib. 3. de usu partium Petav. Theol. Dog Tom. 1. lib. 1. cap. 1. pa. 6. a Heathen and one that had no raised sentiments of a Deity a confession of the admirable Wisdom and Power of the Creator and that none but God could frame it 1. In the order fitness and usefulness of every part The whole model of the body is grounded upon reason Every member hath its exact proportion distinct office regular motion Every part hath a particular comliness and convenient temperament bestowed upon it according to its place in the Body The Heart is hot to enliven the whole The Eye clear to take in objects to present them to the Soul Every member is fitted for its peculiar service and action Some are for sense some for motion some for preparing and others for dispensing nourishment to the several parts They mutually depend upon and serve one another What small strings fasten the particular members together as the Earth that hangs upon nothing * Job 26.7 Take but one part away and you either destroy the whole or stamp upon it some mark of deformity All are knit together by an admirable Symmetry all orderly perform their functions as acting by a setled Law none swerving from their rule but in case of some predominant humor And none of those in so great a multitude of parts stifled in so little a Room or justling against one another to hinder their mutual actions none can be better disposed And the greatest wisdom of man could not imagine it till his eyes present them with the sight and connexion of one part and member with another 1. The Heart * Theod. de providentiâ Orat. 3. How strongly it is guarded with ribs like a Wall that it might not be easily hurt It draws blood from the Liver through a channel made for that purpose Rarifies it and makes it fit to pass through the Arteries and Veins and to carry heat and life to every part of the body And by a perpetual motion it sucks in the blood and spouts it out again which motion depends not upon the command of the Soul but is pure natural 2. The Mouth takes in the meat the teeth grind it for the stomack the stomack prepares it nature strains it through the milky veins the liver refines it and mints it into blood separates the purer from the drossy parts which go to the heart circuites through the whole body running through the Veins like Rivers through so many channels of the world for the watering of the several parts Which are framed of a thin skin for the straining the blood through for the supply of the members of the body and framed with
consist before we can beleive any means which conduct us to him Moses begins with the Author of Creation before he treats of the Promise of Redemption Paul preached God as a Creator to a University before he preached Christ as Mediator * Acts 17.24 What influence can the Testimony of God have in his Revelation upon one that doth not firmly assent to the truth of his Being All would be in vain that is so often repeated thus saith the Lord if we do not beleive there is a Lord that speaks it There could be no aw from his Soveraignity in his Commands nor any comfortable taste of his Goodness in his Promises The more we are strengthened in this Principle the more credit we shall be able to give to divine Revelation to rest in his Promise and to reverence his Precept the Authority of all depends upon the Being of the Revealer To this purpose since we have handled this discourse by natural Arguments 1. Study God in the Creatures as well as in the Scriptures The primary use of the Creatures is to acknowledge God in them they were made to be witnesses of himself and his Goodness and Heralds of his Glory which Glory of God as Creator shall endure for ever Psal 104.31 that whole Psalm is a Lecture of Creation and Providence The World is a sacred Temple Man is introduced to contemplate it and behold with Praise the Glory of God in the pieces of his Art As Grace doth not destroy Nature so the Book of Redemption blots not out that of Creation Had he not shewn himself in his Creatures he could never have shewn himself in his Christ The order of things required it God must be read where ever he is legible The Creatures are one book wherein he hath writ a part of the excellency of his name * Psal 8.9 as many Artists do in their Works and Watches Gods Glory like the Filings of Gold is too precious to be lost where ever it drops Nothing so vile and base in the World but carries in it an instruction for Man and drives in further the Notion of a God As he said of his Cottage Enter here Sunt hic etiam Dij God disdains not this place So the least Creature speaks to Man every Shrub in the Field every Fly in the Air every Limbin a Body consider me God disdains not to appear in me he hath discovered in me his Being and a part of his Skill as well as in the highest The Creatures manifest the Being of God and part of his Perfections We have indeed a more excellent way a Revelation setting him forth in a more excellent manner a firmer Object of Dependence a brighter Object of Love raising our hearts from self confidence to a confidence in him Though the appearance of God in the one be clearer than in the other yet neither is to be neglected The Scripture directs us to Nature to view God it had been in vain else for the Apostle to make use of natural Arguments Nature is not contrary to Scripture nor Scripture to Nature unless we should think God contrary to himself who is the Author of both 2. View God in your own experiences of him There is a taste and sight of his Goodness though no sight of his Essence * Psal 34.98 By the taste of his Goodness you may know the reality of the fountain whence it springs and from whence it flows This surpasseth the greatest Capacity of a meer natural Understanding Experience of the sweetness of the ways of Christianity is a mighty preservative against Atheism Many a Man knows not how to prove Hony to be sweet by his reason but by his sense and if all the reason in the world be brought against it he will not be reasoned out of what he tasts Have not many found the delightful illappses of God into their Souls often sprinkled with his inward blessings upon their seeking of him had secret warnings in their approaches to him and gentle rebukes in their Consciences upon their swervings from him Have not many found sometimes an invisible hand raising them up when they were dejected some unexpected providence stepping in for their relief and easily perceived that it could not be a work of chance nor many times the intention of the instruments he hath used in it You have often found that he is by finding that he is a rewarder and can set to your seals that he is what he hath declared himself to be in his word Isa 43.12 I have declared and have saved therefore you are my witnesses saith the Lord that I am God The secret touches of God upon the heart and inward converses with him are a greater evidence of the Existence of a supream and infinitely good being than all nature Vse 4 4. Is it a folly to deny or doubt of the being of God T is a folly also not to worship God when we acknowledge his Existence T is our Wisdom then to Worship him As it is not indifferent whether we beleive there is a God or no So it is not indifferent whether we will give Honour to that God or no. A worship is his right as he is the Author of our being and fountain of our happiness By this only we acknowledge his Deity Tho we may profess his being yet we deny that profession in neglects of worship To deny him a Worship is as a great folly as to deny his being He that renounceth all homage to his Creator envies him the being which he cannot deprive him of The natural inclination to worship is as universal as the Notion of a God Idolatry else had never gained footing in the world The Existence of God was never owned in any Nation but a Worship of him was appointed And many people who have turned their backs upon some other parts of the Law of nature have paid a continual homage to some superior and invisible being The Jews give a Reason why Man was Created in the Evening of the Sabbath because he should begin his being with the worship of his Maker As soon as ever he found himself to be a Creature his first solemn act should be a particular respect to his Creator * Eccl. 12. To fear God and keep his Commandment is the whole of man or is * Heb. whole man he is not a man but a beast without observance of God Religion is as requisite as reason to compleat a man He were not reasonable if he were not Religious because by neglecting Religion he neglects the chiefest dictate of reason Either God framed the world with so much Order Elegancy and variety to no purpose or this was his end at least that reasonable Creatures should admire him in it and Honour him for it The Notion of God was not stampt upon men the shadows of God did not appear in the Creatures to be the Subject of an idle contemplation but the motive of a due homage to God
in bringing in a Carved Image into the House of God 1 Chron. 33.7 had it been a good Answer to the Charge God is present here and therefore every thing may be Worshipped as God if he be only Essentially in Heaven would it not be Idolatry to direct a Worship to the Heavens or any part of it as a due object because of the Presence of God there Though we look up to the Heavens where we Pray and Worship God yet Heaven is not the object of Worship the Soul abstracts God from the Creature 6. Nor is God defil'd by being present with those Creatures which seem filthy to us Nothing is filthy in the Eye of God as his Creature he could never else have pronounced all good whatsoever is filthy to us yet as it is a Creature it ows it self to the Power of God His Essence is no more defild by being present with it than his Power by producing it No Creature is foul in it self tho' it may seem so to us Doth not an Infant lye in a Womb of filthiness and rottenness yet is not the Power of God present with it in working it curiously in the lower parts of the Earth are his eyes defil'd by seeing the Substance when it it is yet imperfect or his hand defiled by writing every Member in his Book †Psal 139.15 16. Have not the vilest and most noisom things excellent Medicinal Vertues How are they endued with them How are those qualities preserved in them by any thing without God or no every Artificer looks with Pleasure upon the work he hath wrought with Art and Skill can his Essence be defil'd by being present with them any more than it was in giving them such vertues and preserving them in them God measures the Heaven and the Earth with his hand is his hand defil'd by the evil influences of the Planets or the Corporeal Impurities of the Earth nothing can be filthy in the Eye of God but Sin since every thing else owes its Being to him What may appear deform'd and unworthy to us is not so to the Creator he sees Beauty where we see Deformity finds goodness where we behold what is nauseous to us All Creatures being the effects of his Power may be the objects of his Presence Can any place be more foul than Hell if you take it either for the Hell of the Damned or for the Grave where there is rottenness yet there he is †Psal 139.8 When Satan appear'd before God and God spake with him †Job 1.7 Could God contract any impurity by being present where that filthy Spirit was more impure than any corporeal noysom and defiling thing can be No God is purity to himself in the midst of noysomness a Heaven to himself in the midst of Hell Who ever heard of a Sun-beam stain'd by shining upon a Quag mire any more than sweetned by breaking into a Perfum'd Room Shelford of the Attributes p. 170. Tho' the Light shines upon pure and impure things yet it mixes not its self with either of them so tho' God be present with Devils and Wicked men yet without any mixture he is present with their essence to sustain it and support it not in their defection wherein lies their defilement and which is not a Physical but a Moral evil Bodily filth can never touch an incorporeal substance Spirits are not present with us in the same manner that one body is present with another bodies can by a touch only defile bodies Is the Glory of an Angel stained by being in a Coal-mine or could the Angel that came into the Lions Den to deliver Daniel be any more disturb'd by the stench of the place * Dan. 6.22 than he could be scratcht by the Paws or torn by the Teeth of the Beasts their Spiritual nature secures them against any infection when they are ministring Spirits to Persecuted Believers in their nasty Prisons * Acts 12.7 The Soul is straitly united with the Body but it is not made white or black by the whiteness or blackness of its habitation is it infected by the corporeal impurities of the Body while it continually dwells in a Sea of filthy Pollution If the Body be cast into a Common-shore is the Soul defil'd by it Can a Diseased body derive a Contagion to the Spirit that animates it Is it not often the purer by Grace the more the body is infected by nature Hezekiah's Spirit was scarce ever more fervent with God than when the Sore which some think to be a Plague Sore was upon him * Isa 38.3 How can any Corporeal filth impair the purity of the Divine Essence it may as well be said That God is not present in Battels and Fights for his People Joshua 23.10 because he would not be disturbed by the noise of Canons and clashing of Swords as that he is not present in the World because of the ill scents Let us therefore conclude this with the Expression of a Learned man of our own Dr. More To deny the Omnipresence of God because of ill scented places is to measure God rather by the nicety of Sense than by the sagacity of Reason IV. VSE I. Of Information 1. Christ hath a divine nature As Eternity and Immutability two incommunicable properties of the Divine nature are ascrib'd to Christ so also is this of Omnipresence or Immensity John 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven Not which was but which is He comes from heaven by incarnation and remains in heaven by his Divinity He was while he spake to Nicodemus locally on earth in regard of his humanity but in heaven according to his Deity as well as upon earth in the union of his divine and human nature He descended upon earth but he left not heaven He was in the World before he came in the flesh John 1.10 He was in the world and the world was made by him He was in the world as the light that enlightens every man that comes into the world In the world as God before he was in the world as man He was then in the world as man while he discoursed with Nicodemus yet so that he was also in heaven as God No creature but is bounded in place either circumscribed as body or determin'd as Spirit to be in one space so as not to be in another at the same time to leave a place where they were and possess a place where they were not But Christ is so on earth that at the same time he is in heaven he is therefore infinite To be in heaven and earth at the same moment of time is a property solely belonging to the Deity wherein no creature can be a partner with him He was in the world before he came to the world and the world was made by him * John 1.10 His coming was
to do a dishonest action in the sight of a grave and holy man one of great reputation for Wisdom and Integrity how much more should we lift up our selves in the ways of God who is Infinite and Immense is every where and infinitely superior to man and more to be regarded We could not seriously think of his Presence but there would pass some entercourse between us we should be putting up some Petition upon the sense of our Indigence or sending up our Praises to him upon the sense of his Bounty The actual thoughts of the Presence of God is the Life and Spirit of all Religion we could not have sluggish Spirits and a careless Watch if we consider'd that his Eye is upon us all the day 3. It will quell Distractions in Worship The actual thoughts of this would establish our thoughts and pull them back when they begin to rove The mind could not boldly give God the slip if it had lively thoughts of it the consideration of this would blow off all the Froth that lies on the top of our Spirits An eye taken up with the presence of one object is not at leisure to be fill'd with another He that looks intently upon the Sun shall have nothing for a while but the Sun in his Eye Oppose to every intruding Thought the Idea of the Divine Omnipresence and put it to silence by the awe of his Majesty When the Master is present Scholars mind their Books keep their Places and run not over the Forms to play with one another The Masters Eye keeps an idle Servant to his Work that otherwise would be gazing at every Straw and prating to every Passenger How soon would the remembrance of this dash all extravagant fancies out of Countenance just as the News of the approach of a Prince would make the Courtiers bustle up themselves huddle up their vain sports and prepare themselves for a Reverent Behaviour in his sight We should not dare to give God a piece of our heart when we apprehended him present with the whole we should not dare to mock one that we knew were more inwards with us than we are with our selves and that beheld every motion of our mind as well as action of our body 2. Let us endeavour for the more special and influential Presence of God Let the Essential Presence of God be the ground of our Awe and his gracious influential Presence the Object of our Desire The Heathen thought themselves secure if they had their little petty Houshold-Gods with them in their Journeys such seem to be the Images Rachel stole from her Father Gen. 31.19 to company her Travel with their Blessings she might not at that time have cast off all respect to those Idols in the acknowledgment of which she had been Educated from her Infancy and they seem to be kept by her till God called Jacob to Bethel after the Rape of Dinah Gen. 35.4 when Jacob called for the strange Gods and hid them under the Oak The â—â—â—â—cious Presence of God we should look after in our actions as Travellers that 〈◊〉 a Charge of Money or Jewels desire to keep themselves in Company that may protect them from High-way men that would rifle them Since we have the concerns of the Eternal Happiness of our Souls upon our hands we should endeavour to have Gods Merciful and Powerful Presence with us in all our ways Psal 14 In all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy Paths acknowledg him before any action by imploring acknowledg him after by rendring him the Glory acknowledg his Presence before Worship in Worship after Worship 'T is this Presence makes a kind of Heaven upon Earth causeth affliction to put off the nature of misery How much will the Presence of the Sun out-shine the Stars of lesser Comforts and fully answer the want of them The Ark of God going before us can only make all things successful It was this led the Israelites over Jordan and setled them in Canaan Without this we signify nothing tho' we live without this we cannot be distinguisht for ever from Devils his Essential Presence they have and if we have no more we shall be no better 'T is the enlivening fructifying presence of the Sun that revives the languishing Earth and this only can repair our ruin'd Soul Let it be therefore our desire That as he fills Heaven and Earth by his Essence he may fill our Understandings and Wills by his Grace that we may have another kind of Presence with us than Animals have in their brutish state or Devils in their Chains His Essential Presence maintains our Beings but his gracious Presence confers and continues a Happiness A DISCOURSE UPON Gods Knowledg Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great Power his Vnderstanding is Infinite 'T IS uncertain who was the Author of this Psalm and when it was Penn'd some think after the return from the Babylonish Captivity 'T is a Psalm of Praise and is made up of matter of Praise from the beginning to the end Gods benefits to the Church his Providence over his Creatures the Essential excellency of his Nature The Psalmist doubles his Exhortation to Praise God v. 1. Praise ye the Lord sing Praise to our God to praise him from his Dominion as Lord from his Grace and Mercy as our God from the Excellency of the Duty it self 't is good 't is comely some read it comely some lovely or desirable from the various derivation of the Word Nothing doth so much delight a gracious Soul as an opportunity of Celebrating the Perfections and Goodness of the Creator The highest Duties a Creature can render to the Creator are pleasant and delight-lightful in themselves 't is comely Praise is a Duty that affects the whole Soul The Praise of God is a decent thing the Excellency of Gods nature deserves it and the Benefits of Gods grace requires it 'T is comely when done as it ought to be with the Heart as well as with the Voice a Sinner Sings ill tho' his Voice be good the Soul in it is to be elevated above Earthly things The first matter of Praise is Gods erecting and preserving his Church v. 2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem he gathers together the out-casts of Israel The Walls of demolish'd Jerusalem are now re-edified God hath brought back the Captivity of Jacob and reduced his People from their Babylonish Exile and those that were disperst into strange Regions he hath restor'd to their Habitations Or it may be Prophetick of the calling of the Gentiles and the gathering the out-casts of the Spiritual Israel that were before as without God in the World and strangers to the Covenant of Promise Let God be praised but especially for Building up his Church and gathering the Gentiles before counted as out-casts * Isaâ— 11.12 he gathers them in this World to the Faith and hereafter to Glory Obs 1. From the two first Verses observe 1.
inspection of his Works God hath given full Testimonies of this Perfection in the Heavenly Bodies dispersing their Light and distributing their Influences to every part of the World In framing Men into Societies giving them various Dispositions for the preservation of Governments making some Wise for Counsel others Martial for Action changing Old Empires and raising New Which way soever we cast our Eyes we shall find frequent occasions to cry out Oh the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God Rom. 11.33 To this purpose we must not only look upon the bulk and outside of his Works but consider from what Principles they were raised in what order disposed and the exact symmetry and proportion of their parts When a Man comes into a City or Temple and only considers the surface of the Buildâ—ngs they will amaze his Sense but not better his Understanding unless he considers the Methods of the Work and the Art whereby it was erected 1. This was an End for which they were created God did not make the World for Mans use only but chiefly for his own Glory for Mans use to enjoy his Creatures and for his own Glory to be acknowledged in his Creatures that we may consider his Art in framing them and his Skill in disposing them and not only gaze upon the Glass without considering the Image it represents and acquainting our selves whose Image it is The Creatures were not made for themselves but for the service of the Creator and the service of Man Man was not made for himself but for the Service of the Lord that created him He is to consider the Beauty of the Creation that he may thereby glorifie the Creator He knows in part their excellency the Creatures themselves do not If therefore Man be idle and unobservant of them he deprives God of the glory of his Wisdom which he should have by his Creatures The Inferiour Creatures themselves cannot observe it If Man regard it not what becomes of it his Glory can only be handed to him by Man The other Creatures cannot be Active Instruments of his Glory because they know not themselves and therefore cannot render him an active Praise Man is therefore bound to praise God for himself and for all his Creatures because he only knows himself and the Perfections of the Creatures and the Author both of himself and them God Created such Variety to make a Report of himself to us we are to receive the Report and to reflect it back to him To what purpose did he make so many things not necessary for the support and pleasure of our Lâ—ves but that we should behold him in them as well as in the other We cannot behold the Wisdom of God in his own Essence and Eternal Idea's but by the reflection of it in the Creatures As we cannot steadily behold the Sun with our Eye but either through a Glass or by reflection of the Image of it in the Water God would have us meditate on his Perfections he therefore chose the same Day wherein he reviewed his Work and rested from it to be celebrated by Man for the contemplation of him Gen. 2.2 3. that we should follow his Example and rejoyce as himself did in the frequent reviews of his Wisdom and Goodness in them In vain would the Creatures afford Matter for this study if they were wholly neglected God offers something to our Consideration in every Creature Shall the Beams of God shine round about us and strike our Eyes and not affect our Minds Shall we be like Ignorant Children that view the Pictures or point to the Letters in a Book without any sense and meaning How shall God have the homage due to him from his Works if Man hath no care to observe them The 148 Psalm is an Exhortation to this The view of them should often extract from us a wonder of the like nature of that of Davids Psal 104.24 Oh Lord how wonderful are thy Works in wisdom hast thou made them all The World was not Created to be forgotten nor Man created to be unobservant of it 2. If we observe not the Wisdom of God in the views of the Creatures we do no more than Brutes To look upon the Works of God in the World is no higher an act than meer Animals perform The Glories of Heaven and Beauties of the Earth are visible to the sense of Beasts and Birds A Brute beholds the motion of a Man as it may see the Wheels of a Clock but understands not the inward Springs of Motion the End for which we move or the Soul that acts us in our motion much less that Invisible Power which presides over the Creatures and conducts their motion If a Man do no more than this he goes not a step beyond a Brutish Nature and may very well acknowledge himself with Asaph a foolish and ignorant Beast before God Psal 73.22 The World is viewed by Beasts but the Author of it to be contemplated by Man Since we are in a higher rank than Beasts we owe a greater Debt than Beasts not only to enjoy the Creatures as they do but behold God in the Creatures which they cannot do The Contemplation of the Reason of God in his Works is a noble and sutable employment for a Rational Creature We have not only Sense to perceive them but Souls to mind them The Soul is not to be without its operation Where the operation of Sense ends the work of the Soul ought to begin We travel over them by our Senses as Brutes but we must pierce further by our Understandings as Men and perceive and praise him that lies Invisible in his visible Manufactures Our Senses are given us as Servants to the Soul and our Souls bestowed upon us for the knowledge and praise of their and our Common Creator 3. This would be a means to increase our Humility We should then flag our Wings and vail our Sails and acknowledge our own Wisdom to be as a drop to the Ocean and a Shadow to the Sun We should have mean thoughts of the Nothingness of our Reason when we consider the sublimity of the Divine Wisdom Who can seriously consider the Sparks of Infinite Skill in the Creature without falling down at the feet of the Divine Majesty and acknowledging himself a dark and foolish Creature Psal 8.4 5. When the Psalmist considered the Heavens the Moon and Stars and Gods ordination and disposal of them the use that results from it is What is Man that thou art mindful of him We should no more think to mate him in Prudence or set up the spark of our Reason to vye with the Sun Our Reason would more willingly submit to the Revelation when the Characters of Divine Wisdom are stampt upon it when we find his Wisdom in Creation incomprehensible to us 4. It would help us in our acknowledgments of God for his Goodness to us When we behold the Wisdom of God in Creatures below
together No Perfection of the Divine Nature is more eminently nor more speedily visible in the whole Book of the Creation than this His Greatness shines not in any part of it where his Goodness doth not as gloriously glister Whatsoever is the Instrument of his Work as his Power Whatsoever is the Orderer of his Work as his Wisdom yet nothing can be Ador'd as the Motive of his VVork but the Goodness of his Nature This only could induce him to resolve to Create His VVisdom then steps in to dispose the Methods of what he resolved And his Power follows to execute what his VVisdom hath disposed and his Goodness design'd His Power in making and his VVisdom in ordering are subservient to his Goodness and this Goodness which is the end of the Creation is as visible to the Eyes of Men as legible to the Understanding of Men as his Power in forming them and his VVisdom in tuning them And as the Book of Creation so the Records of his Government must needs acquaint them with a great part of it when they have often beheld him stretching out his Hand to supply the Indigent relieve the Oppressed and punish the Oppressors and give them in their Distresses what might fill their Hearts with Food and Gladness 'T is this the Apostle * 1 Rom. 20 21. means by his Godhead which he links with his Eternity and Power as clearly seen in the things that are made as in a pine Glass For the invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal Power and Godhead The Godhead which comprehends the whole Nature of God as discoverable to his Creatures was not known yea was impossible to be known by the VVorks of Creation There had been nothing then reserv'd to be manifested in Christ But his Goodness which is properly meant there by his Godhead was as clearly visible as his Power The Apostle upbraids them with their Unthankfulness and argues their inexcusableness because the Arm of his Power in Creation made no due impressions of fear upon their Spirits nor the Beams of his Goodness wrought in them sufficient sentiments of Gratitude Their not glorifying God was a contempt of the former and their not being thankful was a slight of the later God is the Object of Honor as he is Powerful and the Object of Thankfulness properly as he is bountiful All the Idolatry of the Heathens is a clear testimony of their common sentiment of the Goodness of God Since the more eminently useful any person was in some advantagious Invention for the benefit of Mankind they thought he merited a Rank in the number of their Deities The Italians esteemed Pythagoras a God because he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 †Iamblych vit Pythag. lib. 1. col 6. p 43. To be Good and Useful was an Approximation to the Divine Nature Hence it was that when the Lystrians saw a resemblance of the Divine Goodness in the charitable and miraculous Cure of one of their Crippled Citizens presently they mistook Paul and Barnabas for Gods and inferred from thence their right to Divine VVorship inquiring into nothing else but the visible Character of their goodness and usefulness to capacitate them for the Honor of a Sacrifice †Acts 14 8 9 10 11. Hence it was that they adored those Creatures that were a common Benefit as the Sun and Moon which must be founded upon a praeexistent Notion not only of the Being but of the Bounty and Goodness of God which was naturally implanted in them and legible in all Gods VVorks And the more beneficial any thing was to them and the more sensible advantages they received from it the higher station they gave it in the rank of their Idols and bestow'd upon it a more solemn VVorship An absurd mistake to think every thing that was sensibly good to them to be God cloathing himself in such a form to be adored by them And upon this account the Aegyptians worshipped God under the figure of an Ox and the East Indians in some parts of their Country Deifie a Heyfer intimating the Goodness of God as their Nourisher and Preserver in giving them Corn whereof the Ox is an instrument in serving for Plowing and preparing the Ground 2. The Notion of Goodness is inseparable from the Notion of a God VVe cannot own the Existence of God but we must confess also the Goodness of his Nature Hence the Apostle gives to his Goodness the Title of his Godhead as if Goodness and Godhead were convertible terms * Rom. 1.20 As it is indissoluby linkt with the Being of a Deity so it cannot be sever'd from the Notion of it We as soon Undeify him by denying him Good as by denying him Great Optimus Maximus the Best Greatest was the name whereby the Romans entitled Him His Nature is as Good as it is Majestick so doth the Psalmist join them * Psal 145.6 7. I will declare thy Greatness they shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great Goodness They considered his Goodness before his Greatness in putting Optimus before Maximus Greatness without Sweetness is an unruly and affrighting Monster in the VVorld like a vast turbulent Sea always casting out Mire and Dirt. Goodness is the brightness and loveliness of our Majestical Creator To fancy a God without it is to fancy a miserable scanty narrow-hearted savage God and so an unlovely and horrible Being For he is not a God that is not Good he is not a God that is not the highest Good Infinite Goodness is more necessary to and more straitly joined with an infinite Deity than infinite Power and infinite VVisdom We cannot conceive him God unless we conceive him the highest Good having nothing superiour to Himself in Goodness as he hath nothing Superiour to Himself in Excellency and Perfection No man can possibly form a Notion of God in in his Mind and yet form a Notion of something better than God for whoever thinks any thing better than God fancieth a God with some defect By how much the better he thinks that thing to be by so much the more imperfect he makes God in his thoughts This Notion of the Goodness of God was so natural that some Philosophers and others being startled at the Evil they saw in the World fancy'd besides a good God an evil Principle the Author of all Punishments in the World This was ridiculous for those two must be of equal Power or one inferiour to the other If Equal the Good could do nothing but the Evil one would restrain him and the Evil one could do nothing but the Good one would contradict him So they would be always contending and never conquering If one were inferiour to the other then there would be nothing but what that Superiour order'd Good if the Good one were Superiour and nothing but Evil if the Bad one were Superiour In the prosecution of
breach of it He summons Adam to the Bar indicts him for his Crime finds him guilty by his own Confession and passeth sentence on him according to the rule he had before acquainted him with 4. The means whereby he punisheth shews his dominion Sometimes he musters up Hail and Mildew sometimes he sends regiments of wild Beasts so he threatens Israel Levit. 26.22 Sometimes he sends out a party of Angels to beat up the quarters of men and make a carnage among them 2 King 19.35 Sometimes he mounts his Thundring battery and shoots forth his Ammunition from the Clouds as against the Philistines 1 Sam. 7.10 Sometimes he sends the slightest Creatures to shame the Pride and punish the sin of man as Lice Froggs Locusts as upon the Egyptians the 8 9 10. chap. of Exodus 2. This Dominion is manifested by God as a proprietor and Lord of his Creatures and his own Goods And this is evident 1. In the choice of some persons from Eternity He hath set a part some from Eternity wherein he will display the invincible efficacy of his Grace and thereby infallibly bring them to the fruition of Glory Eph. 1.4 5. According as he hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World that we should be Holy and without blame before him in Love having Predestinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will Why doth he write some names in the Book of Life and leave out others why doth he enroll some whom he intends to make Denizons of Heaven and refuse to put others in his register The Apostle tells us 't is the pleasure of his Will You may render a reason for many of God's actions till you come to this the top and Foundadation of all and under what head of reason can man reduce this act but to that of his Royal Prerogative Why doth God save some and condemn others at last Because of the Faith of the one and unbelief of the other Why do some men beleive Because God hath not only given them the means of Grace but accompanied those means with the efficacy of his Spirit Why did God accompany those means with the efficacy of his Spirit in some and not in others Bccause he had decreed by Grace to prepare them for Glory But why did he decree or choose some and not others Into what will you resolve this but into his soveraign pleasure Salvation and Condemnation at the last upshot are acts of God as the Judge conformable to his own Law of giving life to Believers and inflicting death upon unbeleivers for those a reason may be rendered but the choice of some and preterition of others is an act of God as he is a soveraign Monarch before any Law was actually transgrest because not actually given When a Prince redeems a Rebel he acts as a Judge according to Law but when he calls some out to pardon he acts as a soveraign by a Prerogative above Law into this the Apostle resolves it Rom. 9.13.15 When he speaks of Gods loving Jacob and hating Esau and that before they had done either good or evil It is Because God will have Mercy on whom he will have Mercy and Compassion on whom he will have Compassion Though the first scope of the Apostle in the beginning of the Chapter was to declare the reason of God's rejecting the Jews and calling in the Gentiles had he only intended to demolish the pride of the Jews and flat their opinion of merit and aim'd no higher than that Providential act of God he might convincingly enough to the reason of men have argued from the Justice of God provoked by the obstinacy of the Jews and not have had recourse to his absolute Will but since he asserts this latter * Amyrald dissert p. 101 102. the strength of his argument seems to lie thus if God by his absolute soveraignty may resolve and fix his love upon Jacob and estrange it from Esau or any other of his Creatures before they have done good or evil and man have no ground to call his infinite Majesty to account may he not deal thus with the Jews when their demerit would be a barr to any complaints of the Creature against him If God were considered here in the quality of a Judge it had been fit to have considered the matter of Fact in the Criminal but he is considered as a Soveraign rendring no other reason of his action but his own Will whom he will he hardens ver 18. And then the Apostle concludes Ver. 20. Who art thou O Man that replyest against God If the reason drawn from Gods Soveraignty doth not satisfie in this enquiry no other reason can be found wherein to acquiesce For the last condemnation there will be sufficient reason to clear the Justice of his proceedings But in this case of Election no other reason but what is alledg'd viz. The Will of God can be thought of but what is liable to such knotty exceptions that cannot well be untyed 1. It could not be any merit in the Creature that might determine God to choose him If the decree of Election falls not under the merit of Christ's passion as the procuring cause it cannot fall under the merit of any part of the corrupted mass The decree of sending Christ did not precede but follow'd in order of nature the determination of choosing some When men were chosen as the subjects for Glory Christ was chosen as the means for the bringing them to Glory Eph. 1.4 Chosen us in him and predestinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ The choice was not meerly in Christ as the moving cause that the Apostle asserts to be the good pleasure of his will but in Christ as the means of conveying to the chosen Ones the fruits of their Election What could there be in any man that could invite Gpd to this act or be a cause of distinction of one branch of Adam from another Were they not all hew'd out of the same Rock and tainted with the same corruption in blood Had it been possible to invest them with a power of merit at the first had not that venom contracted in their nature degraded all of power for the future What merit was there in any but of wrathfull punishment since they were all considered as Criminals and the cursed brood of an ungrateful Rebel what dignity can there be in the nature of the purest part of clay to be made a Vessel of Honour more than in another part of Clay as pure as that which was form'd into a Vessel for mean and sordid use What had any one to move his mercy more than another since they were all Children of wrath and equally dawb'd with Original guilt and filth Had not all an equal proportion of it to provoke his Justice What merit is there in one dry bone more than another to be inspir'd with the breath
Why did he give Grace to Abel and not to Cain since they both lay in the same womb and equally deriv'd from their Parents a taint in their Nature But that he would show a standing example of his Soveraignty to the future ages of the World in the first posterity of man Why did he give Grace to Abraham and separate him from his Idolatrous Kindred to dignifie him to be the root of the Messiah Why did he confine his promise to Isaac and not extend it to Ishmael the Seed of the same Abraham by Hagar or to the Children he had by Keturah after Sarahs death What reason can be alledged for this but his Soveraign Will Why did he not give the fallen Angels a moment of Repentance after their sin but condemned them to irrevocable pains Is it not as free for him to give Grace to whom he please as Create what Worlds he please to form this corrupted clay into his own Image as to take such a parcel of dust from all the rest of the Creation whereof to compact Adam's body Hath he not as much jurisdiction over the sinful mass of his Creatures in a new Creation as he had over the Chaos in the old And what reason can be rendered of his advancing this part of matter to the nobler dignity of a Star and leaving that other part to make up the dark body of the Earth To compact one part into a glorious Sun and another part into a hard Rock but his Royal Prerogative What is the reason a Prince subjects one Malefactor to punishment and lifts up another to a place of truth and profit That Pharoah honoured the Butler with an attendance on his Person and remitted the Baker to the hands of the Executioner It was his pleasure And is not as great a right due to God as is allow'd to the worms of the Earth What is the reason he hardens a Pharoah by a denying him that Grace which should mollifie him and allows it to another 'T is because he will Rom. 9.18 Whom he will he hardens Hath not man the liberty to pull up the sluce and let the water run into what part of the ground he pleases What is the reason some have not a heart to understand the beauty of his ways Because the Lord doth not give it them Deut. 29.4 Why doth he not give all his converts an equal measure of his sanctifying Grace some have Mites and some have Treasures Why doth he give his Grace to some sooner to some later some are inspir'd in their infancy others not till a full age and after some not till they have fallen into some gross sin as Paul some betimes that they may do him service others later as the Thief upon the Cross and presently snatcheth them out of the World Some are weaker some stronger in nature some more beautiful and lovely others more uncomely and sluggish 'T is so in supernaturals What reason is there for this but his own will This is instead of all that can be assigned on the part of God He is the free disposer of his own Goods and as a Father may give a greater portion to one Child than to another And what reason of complaint is there against God may not a Toad complain that God did not make it a man and give it a portion of reason Or a Fly complain that God did not make it an Angel and give it a Garment of Light had they but any spark of understanding as well as man complain that God did not give him Grace as well as another Unless he sincerely desir'd it and then was denyed it he might complain of God though not as Soveraign yet as a promiser of Grace to them that ask it God doth not render his Soveraignty formidable he shuts not up his Throne of Grace from any that seek him he invites man his Arms are open and the Scepter stretched out and no man continues under the arrest of his Lusts but he that is unwilling to be otherwise and such a one hath no reason to complain of God 3. His Soveraignty is manifest in disposing the means of Grace to some not to all He hath caus'd the Sun to shine bright in one place while he hath left others benighted and deluded by the Devils Oracles Why do the Evangelical dews fall in this or that place and not in another Why was the Gospel publisht in Rome so soon and not in Tartary Why hath it been extinguisht in some places as soon almost as it had been kindled in them Why hath one place been honoured with the beams of it in one age and been covered with darkness the next One Country hath been made a sphear for this Star that directs to Christ to move in and afterwards it hath been taken away and placed in another Sometimes more clearly it hath shone sometimes more darkly in the same place what is the reason of this 'T is true something of it may be referred to the Justice of God but much more to the Soveraignty of God That the Gospel is publisht latter and not sooner the Apostle tell us is according to the Commandement of the Everlasting God Rom. 16.26 1. The means of Grace after the Families from Adam became distinct were never granted to all the World After that fatal breach in Adam's Family by the death of Abel and Cain's separation we read not of the means of Grace continued among Cain's Posterity it seems to be continued in Adam's sole Family and not publisht in Societies till the time of Seth. Gen. 4.26 Then began men to call upon the Name of the Lord. It was continued in that Family till the Deluge which was 1523 years after the Creation according to some or 1656 years according to others After that when the World degenerated it was communicated to Abraham and setled in the posterity that descended from Jacob Though he left not the World without a witness of himself and some sprinklings of revelations in other parts as appears by the book of Job and the discourses of his Friends 2. The Jews had this priviledge granted them above other Nations to have a clearer Revelation of God God separated them from all the World to honour them with the depositum of his Oracles Rom. 3.2 To them were committed the Oracles of God In which regard all other Nations are said to be without God as being destitute of so great a priviledge Eph. 2.12 The Spirit blew in Canaan when the Lands about it felt not the saving breath of it He hath not dealt so with any Nation and as for his Judgments they have not known them Psal 147.20 The rest had no warnings from the Prophets no dictates from Heaven but what they had by the light of Nature the view of the works of Creation and the Administration of Providence and what remain'd among them of some ancient Traditions deriv'd from Noah which in tract of time were much defaced We read but