man that understands the disposition of his Child or Servant knows before what he will do upon such an occasion may not God much more who knows the inclinations of all his Creatures and from Eternity run with his eyes over all the works he intended Our Wills are in the number of causes and since God knows our Wills as causes better than we do our selves why should he be ignorant of the effects God determines to give Grace to such a man not to give it to another but leave him to himself and suffer such temptations to assault him now God knowing the corruption of man in the whole mass and in every part of it is it not easy for him to foreknow what the future actions of the Will will be when the Tinder and Fire meet together and how such a man will determine himself both as to the substance and manner of the action Is it not easy for him to know how a corrupted Temper and a Temptation will suit God is exactly privy to all the gall in the hearts of men and what Principles they will have before they have a Being He knows their thoughts afar off Psal 139.2 as far off as Eternity as some explain the words and thoughts are as voluntary as any thing he knows the power and inclinations of men in the order of second causes he understands the corruption of men as well as the Poyson of Dragons and the Venom of Asps this is laid up in store with him and sealed among his Treasures Deut. 32.33 34. Among the Treasures of his foreknowledg say some What was the cruelty of Hazael but a free act yet God knew the frame of his heart and what acts of murder and oppression would spring from that bitter fountain before Hazael had conceived them in himself 2 Kings 8.12 as a man that knows the Mineral through which Waters pass may know what rellish they will have before they appear above the earth so our Saviour knew how Peter would deny him he knew what quantity of Powder would serve for such a Battery in what measure he would let loose Satan how far he would leave the Reins in Peters hands and then the issue might easily be known and so in every act of man God knows in his own Will what measure of Grace he will give to determine the Will to good and what measure of Grace he will withdraw from such a person or not give to him and consequently how far such a person will fall or not God knows the inclinations of the Creature he knows his own Permissions what degrees of Grace he will either allow him or keep from him according to which will be the degree of his Sin This may in some measure help our Conceptions in this tho' as was said before the manner of Gods foreknowledg is not so easily explicable 3. Gods foreknowledg of mans voluntary actions doth not necessitate the Will of man The foreknowledg of God is not deceived nor the liberty of mans Will diminisht I shall not trouble you with any School distinctions but be as plain as I can laying down several Propositions in this case Proposition 1. 'T is certain all necessity doth not take away liberty Indeed a compulsive necessity takes away liberty but a necessity of immutability removes not liberty from God why should then a necessity of Infallibility in God remove liberty from the Creature God did necessarily create the World because he Decreed it yet freely because his Will from Eternity stood to it he freely Decreed it and freely created it as the Apostle saith in regard of Gods Decrees who hath been his Councellor Rom. 11.34 so in regard of his actions I may say who hath been his compeller he freely decreed and he freely created Jesus Christ necessarily took our flesh because he had covenanted with God so to do yet he acted freely and voluntarily according to that Covenant otherwise his Death had not been efficacious for us A good man doth naturally necessarily love his Children yet voluntarily 'T is part of the happiness of the Blessed to love God unchangeably yet freely for it would not be their happiness if it were done by compulsion What is done by force cannot be called felicity because there is no delight or complacency in it and tho' the Blessed love God freely yet if there were a possibility of change it would not be their Happiness their Blessedness would be dampt by their fear of falling from this Love and consequently from their nearness to God in whom their happiness consists God foreknows that they will Love him for ever but are they therefore compell'd for ever to love him If there were such a kind of constraint Heaven would be rendered burdensome to them and so no Heaven Again Gods foreknowledg of what he will do doth not necessitate him to do he foreknew that he would create a World yet he freely created a World Gods foreknowledg doth not necessitate himself why should it necessitate us more than himself We may instance in ourselves When we Will a thing we necessarily use our faculty of Will and when we freely Will any thing 't is necessary that we freely Will but this necessity doth not exclude but include liberty or more plainly when a man writes or speaks whilst he writes or speaks those actions are necessary because to speak and be silent to write and not to write at the same time are impossible yet our writing or speaking doth not take away the power not to write or to be silent at that time if a man would be so for he might have chose whether he would have spoke or writ So there is a necessity of such actions of man which God foresees that is a necessity of infallibility because God cannot be deceived but not a coactive necessity as if they were compelled by God to act thus or thus 2. No man can say in any of his voluntary actions that he ever found any force upon him When any of us have done any thing according to our Wills can we say we could not have done the contrary to it were we determin'd to it in our own intrinsick nature or did we not determine our selves Did we not act either according to our reason or according to outward allurements did we find any thing without us or within us that did force our Wills to the embracing this or that Whatever action you do you do it because you judg it fit to be done or because you will do it What tho' God foresaw that you would do so and that you would do this or that did you feel any force upon you did you not act according to your nature God foresees that you will Eat or Walk at such a time do you find any thing that moves you to Eat but your own appetite or to Walk but your own Reason and Will If Prescience had impos'd any necessity upon man should we not probably have found some kind of
succession of propagating For there is no Eternal continuation of time Time is always to be conceived as having one part before another But that perpetuity of Nativities is always after some time wherein it could not be for the weakness of age If no man then can conceive a propagation from Eternity there must be then a beginning of Generation in time and consequently the Creatures were made in time * To express 〈◊〉 in the words of one of our own Wolscley of Atheism pa. 4◠If the World were Eternal it must have been in the same posture as it is now in a state of Generation and Corruption And so Corruption must have been as Eternal as Generation and then things that do generate and corrupt must have Eternally been and Eternally not have been There must be some first way to set Generation on work We must lose our selves in our conceptions we cannot conceive a Father before a Child as well as we cannot conceive a Child before a Father And reason is quite bewildred and cannot return into a right way of Conception till it Conceive one first of every kind One first man one first animal one first Plant from whence others do proceed The argument is unanswerable and the wisest Atheist if any Atheist can be called wise cannot unlose the knot We must come to something that is first in every kind and this first must have a cause not of the same kind but Infinite and Independent otherwise men run into unconceivable Labyrinths and contradictions Man the Noblest Creature upon Earth hath a beginning No Man in the World but was some years ago no man If every man we see had a beginning then the first Man had also a beginning then the World had a beginning For the Earth which was made for the use of man had wanted that end for which it was made We must pitch upon some one man that was unborn that first man must either be Eternal * Petav. ut supr p. 10. that cannot be for he that hath no beginning hath no end or must spring out of the Earth as Plants and Trees do That cannot be Why should not the Earth produce men to this day as it doth Plants and Trees He was therefore made and whatsoever is made hath some cause that made it which is God * Damason If the World were uncreated it were then immutable but every Creature upon the Earth is in a continual flux always changing If things be mutable they were Created if Created they were made by some Author whatsoever hath a beginning must have a maker if the World hath a beginning there was then a time when it was not it must have some cause to produce it That which makes is before that which is made and this is God Secondly II. Which will appear further in this proposition No Creature can make it self The world could not make it self If every man had a beginning every man then was once nothing he could not then make himself because nothing cannot be the cause of something Psa 100.3 The Lord he is God he hath made us and not we our selves whatsoever begun in time was not and when it was nothing it had nothing and could do nothing And therefore could never give to it self nor to any other to be or to be able to do For then it gave what it had not and did what it could not * Petav. Theo. Dog tom 1. lib. 1. cap. 2. pag. 14. Since reason must acknowledge a first of every kind a first Man c. it must acknowledge him Created and made not by himself why have not other men since rise up by themselves not by Chance why hath not Chance produced the like in that long time the World hath stood If we never knew any thing give being to it self how can we Imagine any thing ever could If the chiefest part of this lower World cannot nor any part of it hath been known to give being to it self then the whole cannot be supposed to give any being to it self Man did not forme himself His body is not from himself it would then have the power of moving it self but that is not able to live or act without the presence of the Soul Whilst the Soul is present the body moves when that is absent the body lies as a senseless log not having the least action or motion His Soul could not form it self can that which cannot form the least mote the least grain of dust form it self a nobler substance than any upon the Earth This will be evident to every Mans reason if we consider 1. Nothing can act before it be The first Man was not and therefore could not make himself to be For any thing to produce it self is to act if it acted before it was it was then something and nothing at the same time it then had a being before it had a being it acted when it brought it self into being How could it act without a being without it was So that if it were the cause of it self it must be before it self as well as after it self it was before it was it was as a cause before it was as an effect Action always supposeth a priciple from whence it flows as nothing hath no Existence so it hath no operation there must be therefore something of real Existence to give a Being to those things that are and every cause must be an effect of some other before it be a cause To be and not be at the same time is a manifest contradiction which would be if any thing made it self That which makes is always before that which is made Who will say the House is before the Carpenter or the Picture before the Limbner The world as a Creature must be before it self as a Creature 2. That which doth not understand it self and order it self could not make it self If the first Man fully understood his own nature the excellency of his own Soul the manner of its operations why was not that understanding conveyed to his posterity Are not many of them found who understand their own nature almost as little as a Beast understands it self or a Rose understands its own sweetness or a Tulip it s own Colours The Scripture indeed gives us an account how this came about viz. by the deplorable Rebellion of Man whereby Death was brought upon them a Spiritual Death which includes ignorance as well as an inability to Spritual action * Gen. 2.17 Psal 49.8 Thus he fell from his Honour and became like the Beasts that perish and not retaining God in his knowledge retained not himself in his own knowledge But what reply can an Atheist make to it who acknowledges no higher cause than nature If the Soul made it self how comes it to be so muddy so wanting in its knowledge of it self and of other things If the Soul made its own understanding whence did the defect arise If some
be of an eternal duration then Christ is God Eternity is the Property of God but it is ascribed to Christ He is before all things * Col. 1.17 i. e. all created things He is therefore no Creature and if no Creature eternal All things were created by him both in Heaven and in Earth Angels as well as Men * Col. 1.16 whether they be Thrones or Dominions If all things were his Creatures then he is no Creature if he were all things were not created by him or he must create himself He hath no difference of time for he is the same yesterday to day and for ever * Heb. 13.8 Rev. 1.8 He which is and which was and which is to come The same with the Name of God I am which signifies his Eternity He is no more to day than he was yesterday nor will be any other to morrow than he is to day And therefore Melchisedeck whose Descent Birth and Death Father and Mother Beginning and End of days are not upon Record was a Type of the Existence of Christ without difference of time * Heb. 7.3 Having neither beginning of Days nor end of Life but made like the Son of God The suppression of his Birth and Death was intended by the Holy-Ghost as a Type of the excellency of Christ's person in regard of his Eternity and the duration of his Charge in regard of his Priest-hood As there was an appearance of an Eternity in the suppression of the Race of Melchisedeck so there is a true Eternity in the Son of God How could the Eternity of the Son of God be exprest by any resemblance so well as by such a suppression of the Beginning and End of this great Person different from the custom of the Spirit of God in the Old-Testament who often records the Generations and Ends of holy Men and why might not this which was a kind of a shadow of Eternity be a representation of the true Eternity of Christ as well as the restoration of Isaac to his Father without death is said to be a figure of the Resurrection of Christ after a real death * Mestraezat in loc Melchisedeck is only mentioned once without any record of his extraction in his appearance to Abraham after his victory as if he came from Heaven only for that action and instantly disappeared again as if he had been an eternal person And Christ himself hints his own eternity * John 16.28 I came forth from the Father and am come into the world again I leave the world and go to the Father He goes to the Father as he came from the Father He goes to the Father for everlasting so he came from the Father from everlasting there is the same duration in coming forth from the Father as in returning to the Father But more plainly * John 17.5 He speaks of a Glory that he had with the Father before the world was when there was no Creature in being this is an actual glory and not only in Decree For a decreed glory Believers had and why may not every one of them say the same words Father glorify me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was if it were only a glory in decree Nay it may be said of every man he was before the world was because he was so in decree Christ speaks of something peculiar to him a Glory in actual possession before the world was glorify me embrace honour me as thy Son whereas I have now been in the eyes of the world handled disgracefully as a Servant If it were only in decree why is not the like expression used of others in Scripture as well as of Christ Why did he not use the same words for his Disciples that were then with him who had a glory in decree His Eternity is also mentioned in the Old-Testament * Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old If he were the work of God he existed before himself if he existed before all the works of God 't is so not properly meant of the essential wisdom of God since the discourse runs in the name of a Person and several passages there are which belong not so much to the essential wisdom of God as v. 13. The evil way and the froward mouth do I hate which belongs rather to the holiness of God than to the essential wisdom of God besides it is distinguisht from Jehovah as possessed by him and rejoycing before him Yet plainer * Mica 5 2. Out of thee i. e. Bethlehem shall he come forth to be Ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the wayes of Eternity There are two goings forth of Christ described one from Bethlehem in the days of his incarnation and another from Eternity The Holy-Ghost adds after his prediction of his incarnation his going out from everlasting that none should doubt of his Deity If this going out from everlasting were only in the purpose of God it might be said of David and of every Creature And in Isa 9.6 He is particularly called the Everlasting or Eternal Father Not the Father in the Trinity but a Father to us yet eternal the Father of Eternity As he is the mighty God so he is the everlasting Father Can such a title be ascribed to any whose being depends upon the Will of another and may be dasht out at the pleasure of a Superior As the Eternity of God is the ground of all Religion so the Eternity of Christ is the ground of the Christian Religion Could our Sins be perfectly expiated had he not an eternal Divinity to answer for the offences committed against an eternal God Temporary sufferings had been of little validity without an infiniteness and eternity in his person to add weight to his passion 2. If God be eternal he knows all things as present * Petav. All things are present to him in his Eternity for this is the notion of Eternity to be without succession If Eternity be one indivisible point and is not diffused into preceding and succeeding parts then that which is known in it or by it is perceived without any succession For knowledge is as the substance of the person knowing if that hath various actions and distinct from it self then it understands things in differences of time as time presents them to view But since Gods Being depends not upon the revolutions of time so neither doth his Knowledge it exceeds all motions of years and days comprehends infinite spaces of past and future God considers all things in his Eternity in one simple knowledge as if they were now acted before him * Acts 15.18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 à seculo from eternity Gods Knowledge is coeternal with him If he knows that in time which
of mens Wills whereby many of his Predictions were fulfilled and some remain yet to be accomplisht 2. God foreknows the voluntary sinful motions of mens Wills 1. God hath foretold several of them Were not all the minute sinful circumstances about the Death of our Blessed Redeemer as the piercing him giving him Gall to Drink foretold as well as the not breaking his Bones and parting his Garments What were those but the free actions of men which they did willingly without any constraint And those foretold by David Isaiah and other Prophets some above a thousand some eight hundred and some more some fewer years before they came to pass and the events punctually answered the Prophecies Many sinful acts of men which depended upon their Free-Will have been foretold The Epygtians voluntary oppressing Israel Gen. 15.13 Pharaoh's hardening his heart against the Voice of Moses Exod. 3.19 That Isaiah's Message would be in vain to the People Isa 6.9 that the Israelites would be rebellious after Moses his Death and turn Idolaters Deut. 31.16 Judas his betraying of our Saviour a voluntary action John 6. ult he was not forced to do what he did for he had some kind of Repentance for it and not violence but voluntariness falls under repentance 2. His Truth hath depended upon this fore-sight Let us consider that in Gen. 5.16 but the fourth Generation they shall come hither again that is the Posterity of Abraham shall come into Canaan for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Vid Rivet in loc exerci 86. p. 329. God makes a Promise to Abraham of giving his Posterity the Land of Canaan not presently but in the fourth Generation if the Truth of God be infallible in the performance of his Promise his Understanding is as infallible in the foresight of the Amorites sin the fulness of their iniquity was to precede the Israelites Possession Did the Truth of God depend upon an uncertainty did he make the Promise hand over head as we say How could he with any Wisdom and Truth assure Israel of the Possession of the Land in the fourth Generation if he had not been sure that the Amorites would fill up the measure of their Iniquities by that time If Abraham had been a Socinian to deny Gods Knowledg of the free acts of men had he not had a fine excuse for unbelief What would his reply have been to God Alas Lord this is not a Promise to be relied upon the Amorites iniquity depends upon the acts of their Free-Will and such thou canst have no Knowledg of thou canst see no more than a likelihood of their iniquity being full and therefore there is but a likelihood of thy performing thy Promise and not a certainty Would not this be judged not only a sawcy but a Blasphemous Answer And upon these Principles the Truth of the most faithful God had been dasht to uncertainty and a peradventure 3. God provided a remedy for mans Sin and therefore foresaw the entrance of it into the World by the fall of Adam He had a Decree before the Foundation of the World to manifest his Wisdom in the Gospel by Jesus Christ an Eternal purpose in Jesus Christ Eph. 3.11 and a Decree of Election past before the foundation of the World a separation of some to redemption and forgiveness of Sin in the Blood of Christ in whom they were from Eternity chosen as well as in time accepted in Christ Eph. 1.4 6 7. which is called a purpose in himself v. 9. had not Sin entred there had been no occasion for the Death of the Son of God it being every where in Scripture laid upon that score a Decree for the shedding of Blood supposed a Decree for the Permission of Sin and a certain foreknowledg of God that it would be committed by man An uncertainty of foreknowledg and a sixedness of purpose are not consistent in a wise man much less in the only Wise God Gods purpose to manifest his Wisdom to men and Angels in this way might have been defeated had God had only a conjectural foreknowledg of the fall of man and all those solemn purposes of displaying his Perfections in those methods had been to no purpose Mares cont Volkel lib. 1. cap 24. p. 343. the Provision of a remedy suppos'd a certainty of the Disease If a Sparrow fall not to the ground without the Will of God how much less could such a Deplorable ruine fall upon mankind without Gods Will permitting it and his Knowledg foreseeing it 'T is not hard to conceive how God might foreknow it Amyrald de Praedestin cap. 6. he indeed decreed to Create man in an excellent State the goodness of God could not but furnish him with a Power to stand yet in his Wisdom he might foresee that the Devil would be envious to mans happiness and would out of Envy attempt his subversion As God knew of what temper the faculties were he had endued man with and how far they were able to endure the assaults of a Temptation so he also foreknew the grand subtilty of Satan how he would lay his Mine and to what Point he would drive his Temptation how he would propose and manage it and direct his Battery against the sensitive appetite and assault the weakest part of the Fort might he not foresee that the efficacy of the Temptation would exceed the measure of the resistance cannot God know how far the malice of Satan would extend what Shots he would according to his nature use how high he would charge his Temptation without his powerful restraint as well as an Engineer judg how many shots of a Cannon will make a breach in a Town and how many Casks of Powder will blow up a Fortress who never yet built the one nor founded the other We may easily conclude God could not be deceived in the Judgment of the issue and event since he knew how far he would let Satan loose how far he would permit man to act and since he dives to the bottom of the nature of all things he foresaw that Adam was endued with an ability to stand as he foresaw that Benhadad might naturally recover of his Disease but he foresaw also that Adam would sink under the allurements of the Temptation as he foresaw that Hazael would not let Benhadad live 2 Kings 8.10 Now since the whole race of mankind lies in Corruption and is subject to the power of the Devil 1 John 3.18 may not God that knows that corruption in every mans nature and the force of every mans spirit and what every particular nature will encline him to upon such objects proposed to him and what the reasons of the Temptation will be know also the issues is there any difficulty in Gods foreknowing this since man knowing the nature of one he is well acquainted with can conclude what sentiments he will have and how he will behave himself upon presenting this or that object to him If a
as considered in the Gospel Covenant his Power as well as his other Perfections are ingredients in that Cordial of Gods being our God We should never think of the Excellency of the Divine Nature without considering the Duties they demand and gathering the Hony they present 2. Obs The stability of a gracious Soul depends vpon the Wisdom as well as the Power of God It would be a disrepute to the Almightiness of God if that should be totally vanquish'd which was introduc'd by his Mighty Arm and rooted in the Soul by an irresistible Grace It would speak a want of Streng h to maintain it or a change of Resolution and so would be no honour to the Wisdom of his first design 'T is no part of the wisdom of an Artificer to let a work wherein he determin'd to shew the greatness of his Skâ—ll to be dash'd in pieces when he hath power to preserve it God design'd every gracious Soul for a piece of his workmanship * Eph. 2.10 What to have the Skill of his Grace defeated If any Soul which he hath graciously conquer'd should be wrested from him what could be thought but that his Power is enfeebled If deserted by him what could be imagin'd but that he repented of his labour and alter'd his Counsel as if rashly undertaken These Romans were rugged Pieces and lay in a filthy quarry when God came first to smooth them for so the Apostle represents them with the rest of the Heathen Rom. 1.19 and would he throw them away or leave them to the power of his Enemy after all his pains he had taken with them to fit them for his Building Did he not foresee the designs of Satan against them what stratagems he would use to defeat his Purposes strip him of the honour of his work and would God so gratifie his Enemy and disgrace his own Wisdom The deserting of what hath been acted is a real Repentance and argues an Imprudence in the first resolve and attempt The Gospel is called the Manifold wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 the fruiâ— of it in the heart of any Person which is a main design of it hath a Title to the same Character and shall this Grace which is the product of this Gospel and therefore the birth of Manifold Wisdom be supprest 'T is at Gods hand we must seek our fixedness and establishment and act Faith upon these two Attributes of God Power is no ground to expect stability without Wisdom interesting the Agent in it and finding out and applying the Means for it Wisdom is naked without Power to act and Power is useless without Wisdom to direct They are these two Excellencies of the Deity the Apostle here pitches the Hope and Faith of the Converted Romans upon for their stability 3. Obs Perseverance of Believers in Grace is a Gospel Doctrine According to my Gospel My Gospel Ministerially according to that Gospel Doctrine I have taught you in this Epistle for as the Prophets were Comments upon the Law so are the Epistles upon the Gospel This very Doctrine he had discours'd of Rom. 8.38 39. where he tells them that neither death nor life the Terrors of a cruel death or the Allurements of an honourable and pleasant life nor Principalities and Powers with all their subtilty and strength not the things we have before us nor the Promises of a future felicity by either Angels in Heaven or Devils in Hell not the highest Angel nor the deepest Devil is able to separate us us Romans from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus So that According to my Gospel may be according to that Declaration of the Gospel which I have made in this Epistle which doth not only promise the first creating Grace but the perfecting and crowning Grace for not only the being of Grace but the health liveliness and perpetuity of Grace is the fruit of the New Covenant Jer. 32.40 4. Observe That the Gospel is the sole Means of a Christians Establishment According To my Gospel that is By my Gospel The Gospel is the Instrumental cause of our Spiritual life 't is the cause also of the Continuance of it 't is the Seed whereby we were born and the Milk whereby we are nourish'd †1 Pet. 1.23 't is the Power of God to salvation ‖ 1 Pet. 2.2 and therâ—fore to all the degrees of it John 17.17 Sanctifie them by thy Truth or through thy Truth by or through his Truth he sanctifies us and by the same Truth he establisheth us The first Sanctification and the progress of it the first lineaments and the last colours are wrought by the Gospel The Gospel therefore ought to be known studied and considered by us 'T is the Charter of our Inheritance and the security for our standing The Law acquaints us with our Duty but contributes nothing to our strength and settlement 5. Observe The Gospel is nothing else but the Revelation of Christ Verse 25. According to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ The discovery of the Mystery of Redemption and Salvation in and by him 'T is Genitivus objecti that Preaching wherein Christ is declared and set out with the Benefits accruing by him This is the priviledge the Wisdom oâ— God reserved for the latter Times which the Old Testament-Church had only under a Vail 6. 'T is a part of the Excellency of the Gospel that it had the Son of God for its Publisher The Preaching of Jesus Christ It was first preached to Adam in Paradise by God and afterwards publish'd by Christ in Person to the Inhabitants of Judea It was not the Invention of Man but Copied from the bosom of the Father by him that lay in his Bosom The Gospel we have is the same which our Saviour himself preached when he was in the World He preached it not to the Romans but the same Gospel he preached is transmitted to the Romans It therefore Commands our respect who ever slights it 't is as much as if he slighted Jesus Christ himself were he in Person to sound it from his own Lips The validity of a Proclamation is derived from the Authority of the Prince that dictates it and orders it yet the greater the Person that publisheth it the more dishonour is cast upon the Authority of the Prince that enjoyns it if it be contemn'd The Everlasting God ordain'd it and the Eternal Son publish'd it 7. The Gospel was of an Eternal Resolution though of a temporary Revelation Verse 25. According to the Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began 'T is an Everlasting Gospel It was a Promise before the world began Tit. 1.2 It was not a new Invention but only kept secret among the Arcana in the Breast of the Almighty It was hidden from Angels for the depths of it are not yet fully made known to them their desire to look into it speaks yet a deficiency in their Knowledge of it * 1
Instruments for the glory of his Justice Isa 10.5 6 7. Thus he served himself of the Ambition and Covetousness of the Assyrians Chaldeans and Romans for the Correction of his People and Punishment of his Rebels Just as the Roman Magistrates used the fury of Lions and other wild Beasts in their Theatres for the Punishment of Criminals The Lions acted their Natural temper in tearing those that were expos'd to them for a Prey but the intent of the Magistrates was to punish their Crimes The Magistrate inspir'd not the Lions with their Rage that they had from their Natures but served themselves of that Natural Rage to execute Justice 3. Gods Wisdom is seen in bringing good to the Creature out of Sin He hath ordered Sin to such an end as Man never dreamt of the Devil never imagin'd and Sin in its own Nature could never attain Sin in its own Nature tends to no good but that of Punishment whereby the Creature is brought into order It hath no relation to the Creatures good in it self but to the Creatures mischief But God by an act of Infinite Wisdom brings good out of it to the Creature as well as glory to his Name contrary to the Nature of the Crime the Intention of the Criminal and the Design of the Tempter God willed Sin that is he willed to permit it that he might communicate himself to the Creature in the most excellent manner He willed the Permission of Sin as an occasion to bring forth the Mystery of the Incarnation and Passion of our Saviour as he permitted the Sin of Josephs Brethren that he might use their Evil to a good end He never because of his Holiness wills Sin as an End but in regard of his Wisdom he wills to permit it as a Means and Occasion And thus to draw good out of those things which are in their own Nature most contrary to Good is the highest pitch of Wisdom 1. The Redemption of Man in so excellent away was drawn from the occasion of Sin The greatest Blessing that ever the World was blest with was usher'd in by Contrarieties by the Lust and irregular Affection of Man the first Promise of the Redeemer by the Fall of Adam Gen. 3.15 and the bruising the heel of that Promised Seed by the blackest Tragedy acted by wicked Rebels the Treachery of Judas and the Rage of the Jews the highest Good hath been brought forth by the greatest Wickedness As God out of the Chaos of rude and indigested Matter framed the first Creation so from the S ns of Men and Malice of Satan he hath erected the Everlasting Scheme of Honour in a New Creation of all things by Jesus Christ The Devil inspir'd Man to content his own fury in the Death of Christ and God order'd it to accomplish his own design of Redemption in the Passion of the Redeemer The Devil had his Diabolical Ends and God over-powers his Action to serve his own Divine ends The Person that betrayed him was admitted to be a Spectator of the most private Actions of our Saviour that his Innocence might be justified to shew that he was not afraid to have his Enemies Judges of his most retir'd Privacies While they all thought to do their own Wills Divine Wisdom orders them to do Gods Will. Acts 2.23 Him being delivered by the determinate Counsel and Fore-knowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands have Crucified and slain And wherein the Crucifiers of Christ sinned in shedding the richest Blood upon their Repentance they found the expiation of their Crimes and the discovery of a superabundant Mercy Nothing but Blood was aimed at by them The best Blood was shed by them but Infinite Wisdom makes the Cross the Scene of his own Righteousness and the Womb of Mans Recovery By the occasion of Mans Lapsed state there was a way open to raise Man to a more excellent Condition than that whereinto he was put by Creation And the depriving Man of the happiness of an Earthly Paradise in a way of Justice was an occasion of advancing him to a Heavenly Felicity in a way of Grace The Violation of the Old Covenant occasionally introduc'd a better The loss of the first Integrity usher'd in a more stable Righteousness an Everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 And the falling of the First Head was succeeded by one whose standing could not but be Eternal The Fall of the Devil was ordered by Infinite Wisdom for the good of that Body from which he fell 'T is supposed by some that the Devil was the Chief Angel in Heaven the Head of all the rest and that he Falling the Angels were left as a Body without a Head and after he had Politically beheaded the Angels he endeavoured to destroy Man and rout him out of Paradise But God takes the opportunity to set up his Son as the Head of Angels and Men. And thus whilst the Devil endeavoured to spoil the Corporation of Angels and make them a Body contrary to God God makes Angels and Men one Body under one Head for his Service The Angels in losing a defectible Head attained a more excellent and glorious Head in another Nature which they had not before though of a Lower Nature in his Humanity yet of a more glorious Nature in his Divinity From whence many suppose they derive their Confirming Grace and the stability of their standing All things in Heaven and Earth are gathered together in Christ Eph. 1.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All united in him and reduced under one Head That though our Saviour be not properly their Redeemer for Redemption supposeth Captivity yet in some sense he is their Head and Mediator so that now the Inhabitants of Heaven and Earth are but one Family Ephes 3.15 And the Innumerable Company of Angels are parts of that Heavenly and Triumphant Jerusalem and that General Assembly whereof Jesus Christ is Mediator Heb. 12.22 29. 2. The Good of a Nation often by the skill of Divine Wisdom is promoted by the Sins of some Men. The Patriarchs selling Joseph to the Midianites Gen. 37.28 was without question a Sin and a breach of Natural Affection yet by Gods Wise Ordination it proved the Safety of the whole Church of God in the World as well as the Egyptian Nation †Gen. 45.5 8. Gen. 50.20 The Jews Unbelief was a step whereby the Gentiles arose to the knowledge of the Gospel As the setting of the Sun in one place is the rising of it in another ‖ Mat. 22 9◠He uses the Corruptions of Men Instrumentally to propagate his Gospel He built up the True Church by the Preaching of some out of envy Phil. 1.15 as he blessed Israel out of the Mouth of a False Prophet Numb 23. How often have the Heresies of Men been the occasion of clearing up the Truth of God and fixing the more lively Impressions of it on the Hearts of Believers Neither Judah nor Tamar in their Lust dreamt of a
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