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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A29049 A brief treatise about the spiritual nature of God and of His worship by Edw. Bagshaw ... Bagshaw, Edward, 1629-1671. 1662 (1662) Wing B405; ESTC R9965 16,963 38

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of his Infinity then what they conceive is ascribable unto the highest strain of Humane Excellence This Erronious sleight opinion we are by all means to be armed and fortified against for besides the mean and poor esteem it begets of God in our Thoughts it doth necessarily draw along with it this conceit that God is beholding to Man and that we do oblige him by our Service And therefore the Scripture is very express in declaring Psal 16.2 c. Job 35.7 that our Righteousnesse is nothing to him and that when God requires to be worshiped he challengeth it onely as the Devout Homage of an Humble Soul and not thereby in the least to encourage the Vanity and Pride of Boasters since his greatnesse is incapable of any Addition God indeed doth in Scripture describe himself by such Names as are of greatest Esteem and Reverence with men such as are King Lord Father Master and the like yet herein he is far from prescribing a meer Bodily and Outside Worship such as those would have who are as yet far from knowing or at least from considering that God is a Spirit But the meaning of all those Expressions is this that what kind of Outward Reverence we show unto persons to whom we are so related as a Subject is to his Prince or a Son to his Father or a Servant to his Master the same by way of Analogy and Proportion we should show to God in the Inward Frame and Deportment of our Spirits when we appear before him in any solemn way of Worship Now to advance and raise up the mind unto this necessary pitch of Devotion there can be no better expedient given then fixedly to contemplate the Spirituality of Gods Nature unto which our worship must bear some proportion and that will be by fastning upon those Attributes which do most represent his Spiritual Nature unto us What those Attributes are from what hath been said may easily be gathered for since Power Presence and Knowledge are these Actions of the Soul which do demonstrate it to be a Spirit it will follow then since God is a Spirit the Attributes which do most declare him to be so are these three 1. His Omnipotence 2. His Omnipresence 3. His Omniscience which ought most intently to be eyed by us in our Worship of and Addresses to Him 1. First The first Attribute we should fix upon in our Worship of God is his Omnipotence which is in many and several Forms expressed in Scripture all which like so many lines pointing at one Center do but speak this Truth that God can do what he will and that nothing can withstand his VVill because the Will of the Creature is onely Gods Creature it is his Wheel in the VVatch and moves onely as he will turn it And the Potter cannot have more absolute power over or lesse resistance from the Clay then God our Maker hath if he so please to order it from us his VVorkmanship The consideration of this at that time when we come to VVorship God besides that it gives God the Honour of his Power which he desires should be Magnified will be of Infinite use to us in all the Course of our Lives and in those several scenes of Providence we may fall under As 1. This will be a wonderful encouragement unto us to put up our Prayers to God and to attend with Comfort the Successe and Issue of them For what should we despair of if we can engage Omnipotence on our behalf If therefore we miss of what we Petition for if we Ask and Have not It is not because God is not able to do even more then we Ask but because we Ask a miss and not with that Faith which is requisite to so Sacred an Action It is our Unbelief of Gods Power which ties his hands for did we pray with Full Assurance that he whom we deal with could answer our most Laboured and Intense Requests that he could satisfie our most Enlarged and Heightned Expectations we should not depart so often as we do without a Blessing But God scorns a Suitor that hath low thoughts of him For what do we else but tacitly contemn God if we think that it lies in a poor Creatures power to Ask what the Great Creator cannot do Yet this as easie a matter as it may be supposed to be hath been the great miscarriage of the Saints of Old Gen. 18.12 What made Sarah laugh i. e. Inwardly make a sport and jest of the Promise God made to give her a Son in her Old Age but her doubting of this Attribute After I am waxed Old saith she shall I have pleasure my Lord being old also In which words she musters up all manner of Arguments to augment the Difficulty and therefore the Lord to satisfie her is fain to have recourse unto his own Omnipotence Is any thing saith he too hard for the Lord Intimating that whatever she pretended yet indeed that was the Fundamental Article she doubted of Exod. 4 1● 11. So what made Moses raise up so many Scruples and urge so many Objections against his being sent to Pharaoh alleadging that he was not Eloquent but slow of Speech and slow of Tongue intimating that God could certainly do no great matter by him who was laden with so many Imperfections and withal insinuating that God might do well to make a better choice thereby laying a secret imputation upon Gods Wisdom as well as his Power as if God had not chose a fit Messenger to do his Errand God therefore doth answer all his Objections by raising him from looking down upon himself that was sent to look up to him that sent him Who saith he hath made Mans mouth or who makes the Dumb or Deaf or Seeing or Blind is it not I the Lord i. shall God do the greater and shal not he do the less Shall he be able to make man and shal he not be able afterwards to fit him for what Ends and Uses he pleases In the very same manner we find afterwards that David and Zachary and the Disciples of our Saviour did often miscarry So that as our Saviour tells them They could not cast out the Devil Mat. 17.20 because of their Vnbelief but if they had the least grain of Faith in God they should presently be able even to remove Mountains and nothing should be impossible for them so say I the great cause why we thrive so ill in our Prayers and Supplications to God it is because we are faint and timerous Askers We do not by Faith set Gods Omnipotence on Work but in a Dubious and Unresolved manner we pray according to the Compass of what we see and can Naturally hope to And whilest we do so it is no wonder if we obtain no great Matters from the Hands of God for as we undervalue a Prince if we ask Trifles of him so doth he disesteem God who asks any thing below the Immediate Work