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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A62636	Several discourses upon the attributes of God viz. Concerning the perfection of God. Concerning our imitation of the divine perfections. The happiness of God. The unchangeableness of God. The knowledge of God. The wisdom, glory, and soveraignty of God. The wisdom of God, in the creation of the world. The wisdom of God, in his providence. The wisdom of God, in the redemption of mankind. The justice of God, in the distribution of rewards and punishments. The truth of God. The holiness of God. To which is annexed a spital sermon, of doing good. By the most reverend Dr. John Tillotson, late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury. Being the sixth volume; published from the originals, by Raph Barker, D.D. chaplain to his grace.	Tillotson, John, 1630-1694.; Barker, Ralph, 1648-1708.	1699 (1699)	Wing T1264; ESTC R219315	169,861	473

in the Kingdom of God but the Children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into utter Darkness And however Men may bear up themselves now upon their worldly Greatness and Power certainly there is a time a coming when the greatest Persons in the World those who overturn Kingdoms and lay wast Countries and oppress and ruin Millions of Mankind for the gratifying of their own Lusts and Ambition I say there is a Day coming when even these as much nay more than others shall fear and tremble before the impartial Justice of God Rev. 6.15 And the Kings of the earth and the great Men and the rich Men and the chief Captains and the mighty Men and every Bond-man and every Free-man hid themselves in the Dens and in the Rocks of the Mountains for the great Day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand The impartial Justice of God will treat the greatest and the meanest Persons alike Rev. 20.12 I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works All judged according to their Works I should next proceed to vindicate the Justice of God in the Distribution of Rewards and Punishments from those Objections which seem to impeach it But before I enter upon this it will be convenient to satisfie one question which hath occasioned great disputes in the World and that is how far Justice especially as to the Punishment of Offenders is essential to God And for the clearing of this matter I shall briefly lay down these Propositions First I take this for a certain and undoubted Truth that every Perfection is essential to God and cannot be imagined to be seperated from the Divine Nature because this is the Natural Notion which Men have of God that he is a Being that hath all Perfection Secondly The actual constant exercise of those Divine Perfections the effects whereof are without himself is not essential to God For instance tho' God be essentially powerful and good yet it is not necessary that he should always exercise his Power and Goodness but at such times and in such a manner as seems best to his Wisdom and this is likewise true of his Wisdom and Justice because these are Perfections the effects whereof are terminated upon something without himself Thirdly It is essential to God to love Goodness and hate Sin wherever he sees them It is not necessary there should be a World or reasonable Creatures in it but upon supposition that God makes such Creatures it is agreable to the Divine Nature to give them good and righteous Laws to encourage them in the doing of that which is good and to discourage them from doing that which is evil which cannot be done but by Rewards and Punishments and therefore it is agreable to the Perfection of the Divine Nature to reward Goodness and to punish Sin Fourthly As for those rewards which the Gospel promiseth and the Punishments which it threatens there is some difference to be made between the rewarding and punishing justice of God 1. As for that abundant reward God is pleased to promise to good Men the promise of it is founded in his goodness and the performance of that promise in his justice for it is justice to perform what he promises tho' the promise of so great and abundant a reward was meer goodness 2. As for the punishing justice of God about which hath been the great Question whether that be essential to God or not it seems very plain that it is not necessary that God should inflict those judgments which he threatens because he hath threatned them for there is not the like obligation upon Persons to perform their threatnings that there is to perform their promises because God by his promise becomes a Debtour to those to whom he makes the promise but when he threatens he is the Creditour and we are Debtors to his Justice and as a Creditor he may remit the Punishment which he hath threatned But then if we consider God as loving goodness and hating Sin if we look upon him as Governor of the World and concerned to preserve good Order to encourage Holiness and Righteousness and to discountenance Sin under this consideration it is essential to him to punish Sin at such times and in such manner and circumstances as seems best to his Wisdom And I am not at all moved by that which is urged by some learned Men to the contrary that if punishing justice were essential to God then he must punish the Sinner immediately so soon as he hath offended and to the utmost of his Power because whatever Acts naturally Acts necessarily and to the utmost for I do not suppose such a justice essential to God as Acts necessarily but such a justice which as to the time and manner and circumstances of its Acting is regulated and determined by his Wisdom and there is the same Reason likewise of his goodness I come now to the Objections which are taken partly from the dispensations of God in this World and partly from the punishments of the other First As to the dispensations of God in this World there are these two things Objected against the justice of the Divine Providence I. The inequality of God's dealings with good and bad Men in this World II. The translation of Punishments punishing one Man's Sin upon another as the Sins of the Fathers upon the Children of the Prince upon the People I begin with the I. Objection the inequality of God's dealing with good and bad Men in this World In this life things happen promiscuously there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked if the Wicked suffer and are afflicted so are the Righteous if the Righteous sometimes flourish so do the Wicked and is not this unjust that those who are so unequal as to their Deserts should be equally dealt withal or if there be any inequality it is usually the wrong way the Wicked do many times prosper more in the World and the Righteous are frequently more afflicted This was the great Objection of old against the Providence of God which the Heathen Philosophers took so much pains to answer nay it did often shake the faith of Holy and Good Men in the old Testament Job 12.6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper and they that provoke God are secure into whose hand God bringeth abundantly and chap. 21.7 8 9. he Expostulates the same matter again and David says this was a great stumbling-Block to him Psal 73.2 3. and the like we find in the Prophets Jer. 12.1 and Hab. 1.13 This Objection I have else-where considered I shall now very briefly offer two or three Things which I hope will be sufficient to break the force of it 1. It must be granted that it is not necessary to justice to shew it self immediately

would it produce what untoward Combinations of Effects would there be if infinite Power were let loose to act without the Conduct of Knowledge and Vnderstanding And consequently we take away his Providence for without Knowledge there can be no Counsel no fore-cast of Events no provision for the future no Government of the World And this is not all for without Knowledge there could be no such thing as Goodness for he is not good that does good out of Ignorance or from a blind Necessity There could be no Veracity nor Justice nor Mercy in God for all these suppose Knowledge He that speaks Truth must know it he that is Just must understand right from wrong he that shews Mercy must know who are miserable and how they may be relieved and not to labour in a thing so plain and casie take away the Knowledge of God and you render him incapable of any Honour from his Creatures for if he know not what Honour we do him it is lost labour to give him any And that we may see these are the deductions of Natural Reason without the advantage of Revelation we shall find the Heathens who were destitute of Divine Revelation did attribute this Perfection to God Tully tells us that Thales was wont to say Deos omnia cernere and we know the Heathens were wont to swear Diis immortalibus testibus interpositis which is an owning of his Omniscience Quis enim non timeat Deum omnia pervidentem cogitantem animadvertentem curiosum negotii plenum Deum de Nat. Deor. l. 1. 2. From Scripture and Divine Revelation I will not heap up all those Testimonies of Scripture which might be gathered together upon this Argument I will only instance in two or three Job 36.4 He that is perfect in Knowledge is with thee 37.16 Dost thou know the wondrous works of him who is perfect in Knowledge Hither we may refer those Texts which represent God by way of condescension to our infirmity as having Eyes and Ears which signifie his Knowledge of what is done in the World and those which speak of him as communicating to us all the Knowledge which we have he giveth Wisdom to the Wise and Vnderstanding to them that know Vnderstanding Dan. 2.21 And those which speak of God as knowing the most secret things the hidden things of darkness the Hearts and the Thoughts of Men and those things which are at the greatest distance as future things and of the greatest uncertainty as the contingent Acts of free Creatures each of these I shall particularly consider for in proving that God knows all these his Knowledge of all other things will be proved with advantage for if any thing be out of the reach of the Divine Vnderstanding it must in all probability be either those things which are secret and hidden as Mens secret Actions or their Thoughts or else those things which are to come and depend upon no certain cause as future contingencies and the proving of this may be of great use to us as having a great influence upon Practice it tends very much to the advancement of Religion and the good Government of our Lives I begin with the I. Of these viz. That God takes very exact and particular notice of all the Actions of Men even those that are most secret And in handling of this I shall speak distinctly to these three Things 1. That God takes knowledge of all our actions his Eyes are upon the ways of man and he seeth all his goings Job 34.21 2. That he is a curious observer of them he seeth all his goings he marks all his steps takes very exact and particular notice of all that we do 3. He takes notice of those actions which are most secret and hidden there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves Job 34 22. 1. That God takes notice of all our actions And that this Notion was planted in the Mind of Man and a Beam of the Light which comes with us into the World will appear by the general agreement of Heathens in it I will but produce one or two Testimonies to this purpose Tully lays down this Principle as that which makes Men regular and orderly and fit for Society sit igitur hoc persuasum civibus qualis quisque sit quid agat quid in se admittat deos intueri Socrates as Xenophon tells us was wont to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian in his Discourse upon Epictetus tells us it is necessary that every one should be perswaded of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that every thing that is done by Men is seen of God The Scripture frequently mentions this Psal 139.1 c. Prov. 5.21 The ways of Man are before the eyes of the Lord and he pondereth all his goings Jer. 32.19 Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the Sons of men to give every one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings 2. He is a curious Observer one that takes exact notice of all that we do Job saith he seeth all our steps and Solomon that he pondereth all our goings the word is he weighs them in a ballance So 1 Sam. 2 3. The Lord is a God of knowledge by him actions are weighed Job 31.4 Doth he not see my ways and count all my steps which doth not imply the difficulty but the Perfection and exactness of God's Knowledge he kn●ws the quality of our actions and all the circumstances of them all the degrees of Good and Evil that are in them whatever may commend an action or blemish it whatever may aggravate a Sin or excuse it Isa 26.7 Thou most upright dost weigh the path of the just There 's not a good word that we speak but God hears it Mal. 3.16 And the Lord hearkened and heard and a book of remembrance was written before him and all we do is noted in his Book Psa 56.8 3. He takes notice of those Actions which are most secret and hidden the good as well as the bad when we do our alms in secret when we enter into our Closets and shut the doors our Father seeth in secret Mat. 6. Nor can we retire our selves to any place where we can sin so as God shall not see us where we can hide our sins from his sight or our selves from his wrath Hear how sensibly a Heathen speaks of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arrian in Ep. l. 1. c. 14. The Scripture is full of Testimonies to this purpose Psal 90.8 Thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance those sins which we commit in the Dark are in the Light of the Divine Knowledge darkness and light are all one to him Psal 139.11 12. Jer. 16.17 23 24. Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him II. God knows the hearts and thoughts of Men which implys these two things 1 st

His perfect Knowledge of them 2 ly That this is his peculiar Prerogative 1 st God perfectly knows the hearts of Men Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the hearts and try the reins where by heart and reins which are the most inward parts of the Body and lie least open to discovery are signified the most secret Thoughts and Motions of the Soul these God is said to search and try not as if it were a work of Labour and Difficulty to the Divine Knowledge to penetrate the hearts of Men and to dive into their Thoughts but to signifie to us the Perfection and Exactness of the Divine Knowledge as when Men would know a thing exactly they search into every part of it and examine every thing narrowly so God is said to search the heart to signifie to us that he knows the hearts of Men as throughly as we do any thing upon the strictest Search and most diligent Examination upon the same account he is said elsewhere in Scripture to weigh the Spirits of Men Prov. 16.2 All the ways of Man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the Spirits that is he hath as perfect a Knowledge of the secret Motions and Inclinations of Mens hearts as Men have of those things which they weigh in a Ballance with the greatest exactness Now that God hath this perfect Knowledge of Mens hearts the Scripture frequently declares to us that he knows the hearts of all Men 1 Kings 8.39 For thou even thou knowest the hearts of all the Children of Men. 1 Chron. 28.9 The Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts How close and reserved soever Men may be what disguise soever they may use to hide their purposes from Men yet God sees them the things which are most dark and secret are open to his view Psal 44.21 He knoweth the secrets of the hearts Prov. 15.11 Hell and Destruction are before him how much more the hearts of the Children of Men Whatever pretences Men may make God sees through them and discovers the very intentions of their hearts Psal 7.9 The righteous Lord tryeth the hearts and reins Heb. 4.13 It is said there of the Word of God that it is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the Heart for all things are naked and open to the Eye of him with whom we have to do and there is no Creature that is not manifest in his sight nay he knows our thoughts at a distance what they will be before they actually are Psal 139.2 Thou knowest my thoughts afar off 'T is true indeed every Man is conscious to his own Thoughts and privy to the Motions of his own Mind when they are present and when they are past if he have not forgot them but no Man knows what he shall think to morrow but this God knows for he knows us more intimately and throughly than we do our selves God is greater than our hearts and knows all things 1 John 3.20 And tho' the Scripture had not revealed this so plainly yet we had not been wholly ignorant of it it is a Principle implanted in us and born with us as being part of that natural Notion which Men have of God the Reason of our Minds tells us that God knows our Hearts and the Fears and Jealousies of our Minds are an Evidence of it 1 st The Reason of every Man's mind tells him that the Supreme Being whom we call God is endowed with all Perfection and among his other Perfections that he excels in Knowledge and to the Perfection of Knowledge it is required that it extend it self to all Objects and that nothing be exempted from it The Knowledge of God in respect of all Objects is like the Sun in respect of this lower World nothing is hid from the light of it We have naturally this Apprehension of God that he is an immense Being every where present that he intimately penetrates all places and things and consequently that he is present to our Spirits and sees all the motions of our Minds and discerns the very secrets of our Hearts and there can be no such thing as secresie and retirement from an Eye that is every where and a Knowledge that pierceth into all things And to convince us that these are the dictates of Natural Reason without the help and assistance of Divine Revelation we shall find that the Heathen who had only the advantage of Natural Light were firmly possest with this apprehension that God knows the hearts of Men. This may be sufficiently Collected from the frequent sayings of the wiser Heathens to this purpose that the best and most acceptable worship of the Deity is that which is inward that of the Heart and Mind To this Sense Tully speaks Cultus autem deorum est optimus idemque castissimus atque sanctissimus plenissimusque pietatis ut eos semper purâ integrâ atque incorruptâ mente voce veneremur The best and holiest worship of the Gods is to worship them with a pure and upright and sincere Mind To the same purpose is that known saying of the Poet Compositum jus fasque animi sanctosque recessus Mentis incoctum generoso pectus honesto Haec cedo ut admoveam templis farre litabo Do but offer to God a mind inwardly resolved to be just and honest and the plainest sacrifice will please him Now from hence that they judged the purity of our Hearts and Thoughts and an honest disposition of Mind to be most acceptable to their Gods we may certainly conclude that they did most firmly believe that God knows the Secrets of Mens Hearts otherwise there had been no need for Men to endeavour to recommend themselves this way to the Divine acceptance But we need not argue this by consequence there are many express passages in their Writings which do sufficiently signifie their belief of this Principle Thales one of their most ancient Philosophers being askt if an unjust Man could conceal himself from God he answer'd he cannot so much as hide from him the very thoughts and design of it Socrates as Xenophon tells us was wont to inculcate this Principle upon his Scholar that the Gods know all things what we say and what we do and what we think in silence To the same purpose Arrian in his Dissertations upon Epictetus laying down the Principles of a virtuous life first of all saith he we must learn this that there is a God who takes care of the World and that there is nothing hid from him not only what we do but not so much as what we think and design So likewise Tully in his Book of Laws let every Man be firmly perswaded of this that the Gods see what every Man is and with what Mind and Devotion they serve them I will add but one Testimony more and that is of Seneca in his Epistles nihil Deo clausum est interest animis nostris cogitationibus mediis intervenit we can