He will have variety to encrease delights and eternity to perpetuate them This will be the fruit of the enjoyment of an infinite an eternal God He is not a Cistern but a Fountain wherein water is always living and never putrifies 4. If God be eternal Here is a strong ground of comfort against all the distresses of the Church and the threats of the Churches Enemies Gods abiding for ever is the Plea Jeremy makes for his return to his forsaken Church * Lament 5.19.20 Thou O Lord remainest for ever thy Throne from Generation to Generation The Church is weak created things are easily cut off What prop is there but that God that lives for ever What though Jerusalem lost its Bulwarks the Temple were defaced the Land wasted yet the God of Jerusalem sits upon an eternal Throne and from everlasting to everlasting there is no diminution of his Power The Prophet intimates in this complaint that it is not agreeable to Gods Eternity to forget his People to whom he hath from Eternity bore good will In the greatest confusions the Churches eyes are to be fixed upon the Eternity of Gods Throne where he sits as Governour of the world No Creature can take any comfort in this perfection but the Church other Creatures depend upon God but the Church is united to him The first discovery of the Name I am which signifies the Divine Eternity as well as Immutability was for the comfort of the opprest Israelites in Egypt * Exod. 3.14 15. It was then publisht from the secret place of the Almighty as the only strong Cordial to refresh them It hath not yet it shall not ever lose its vertue in any of the miseries that have or shall successively befall the Church 'T is a comfort as durable as the God whose name it is He is still I am and the same to the Church as he was then to his Israel His spiritual Israel have a greater right to the glories of it than the carnal Israel could have No oppression can be greater than theirs what was a comfort suted to that distress hath the same sutableness to every other oppression It was not a temporary name but a name for ever his memorial to all Generations * v. 15. and reacheth to the Church of the Gentiles with whom he treats as the God of Abraham ratifying that Covenant by the Messiah which he made with Abraham the Father of the Faithful The Churches enemies are not to be fear'd they may spring as the grass but soon after do wither by their own inward principles of decay or are cut down by the hand of God * Psal 92.7 8 9. They may be instruments of the anger of God but they shall be scatter'd as the workers of inquity by the hand of the Lord that is high for evermore v. 8. and is engaged by his promise to preserve a Church in the World They may threaten but their breath may vanish as soon as their threatnings are pronounc'd for they carry their breath in no surer a place than their own Nostrils upon which the eternal God can put his hand and sink them with all their rage Do the Prophets and instructors of the Church live for ever * Zach. 1.5 No. Shall then the Adversaries and Disturbers of the Church live for ever They shall vanish as a shadow their being depends upon the eternal God of the faithful and the everlasting Judge of the wicked He that inhabits Eternity is above them that inhabit Mortality and must whither they will or no say to Corruption thou art my Father and to the Worm thou art my Mother and my Sister * Job 17.14 When they will act with a confidence as if they were living Gods he will not be mated but evidence himself to be a living God above them Why then should mortal men be fear'd in their frowns when an immortal God hath promised protection in his word and lives for ever to perform it 5. Hence follows another comfort since God is eternal he hath as much power as will to be as good as his word His promises are established upon his eternity and this perfection is a main ground of trust * Isa 26.4 Trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 His name is doubled that name Iah and Jehovah which was always the strength of his people and not a single one but the strength or rock of Eternities not a failing but an eternal truth and power that as his strength is eternal so our trust in him should imitate his Eternity in its perpetuity and therefore in the despondency of his people as if God had forgot his promises and made no account of them or his word and were weary of doing good he calls them to reflect on what they had heard of his Eternity which is attended with immutability who hath an infiniteness of power to perform his will and an infiniteness of understanding to judge of the right seasons of it * Isa 40.27.28 His Wisdom Will Truth have alway's been and will to Eternity be the same He wants not life any more then love for ever to help us since his word is past he will never fail us since his life continues he can never be out of a capacity to relieve us and therefore when ever we foolishly charge him by our distrustful thoughts we forget his love which made the promise and his eternal life which can accomplish it As his word is the bottom of our trust and his truth is the assurance of his sincerity so his Eternity is the assurance of his ability to perform His word stands for ever * Isa 40.8 A man may be my friend this day and be in another world to morrow and though he be never so sincere in his word yet death snaps his life asunder and forbids the execution But as God cannot die so he cannot lie because he is the Eternity of Israel * 1 Sam. 15.29 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 perpetuity or eternity of Israel Eternitie implies immutability we could have no ground for our hopes if we knew him not to be longer liv'd than our selves The Psalmist beats off our hands from trust in men because their breath goes forth they return to their earth and in that day their thoughts perish * Psal 146.3 4. And if the God of Jacob were like them what happiness could we have in making him our help As his Soveraignty in giving precepts had not been a strong ground of Obedience without considering him as an eternal Law-giver who could maintain his rights So his kindness in making the promises had not been a strong ground of confidence without considering him as an Eternal promiser whose thoughts and whose life can never perish * Crellius de Deo cap. 18. p. 44. 45. And this may be one reason why
at the Presence of the Council that had their hands yet reeking with the Blood of his Master but being filled with the Holy Ghost seems to dare the Power of the Priests and Jewish Governours and is as confident in the Council Chamber as he had been cowardly in the High Priests Hall †Acts 4.9 c. the efficacy of Grace triumphing over the Fearfulness of Nature Whence should this Ardor and Zeal to propagate a Doctrine that had already born the Scars of the Peoples Fury be but from a mighty Power which changed those Hares into Lions and stript them of their Natural Cowardize â—o cloath them with a Divine Courage making them in a moment both Wise and Magnanimous alienating them from any Consultations with Flesh and Blood As soon as ever the Holy Ghost came upon them as a mighty rushing Wind they move up and down for the Interest of God as Fish after a great Clap of Thunder are rowz'd and move more nimbly on the top of the Water therefore that which did so fit them for this undertaking is called by the title of Power from on high Luke 24.49 III. The Divine Power appears in the Means whereby it was propagated 1. By Means different from the Methods of the World Not by force of Arms as some Religions have taken root in the World Mahomets Horse hath trampled upon the Heads of Men to imprint an Alcoran in their Brains and robb'd Men of their Goods to plant their Religion But the Apostles bore not this Doctrine through the World upon the Points of their Swords they presented a Bodily death where they would bestow an Immortal life They employ'd not Troops of Men in a Warlike posture which had been possible for them after the Gospel was once spread they had no Ambition to subdue Men unto themselves but to God they coveted not the Possessions of others design'd not to enrich themselves invaded not the Rights of Princes nor the Liberties and Properties of the People They rifled them not of their Estates nor scar'd them into this Religion by a fear of losing their Worldly happiness The Arguments they used would naturally drive them from an entertainment of this Doctrine rather than allure them to be Proselytes to it Their design was to change their Hearts not their Government to wean them from the love of the World to a love of a Redeemer to remove that which would ruine their Souls It was not to enslave them but ransom them they had a warfare but not with Carnal weapons but such as were mighty through God for the pulling down of strong holds 2 Cor. 10.4 they used no weapons but the Doctrine they preach'd Others that have not gained Conquests by the Edge of the Sword and the Stratagems of War have extended their Opinions to others by the strength of Humane Reason and the Insinuations of Eloquence But the Apostles had as little flourish in their Tongues as edge upon their Swords Their Preaching was not with the enticing words of Mans wisdom * 1 Cor. 2.4 their Presence was mean and their Discourses without varnish their Doctrine was plain a Crucified Christ a Doctrine unlac'd ungarnisht untoothsom to the World but they had the demonstration of the Spirit and a mighty Power for their Companion in the work The Doctrine they preached viz. the Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ are called the Powers not of this World but of the World to come †Heb. 6.5 No less than a Supernatural Power could conduct them in this Attempt with such weak Methods in Humane appearance 2. Against all the Force Power and Wit of the World The Divisions in the Eastern Empire and the feeble and consuming State of the Western contributed to Mahomets Success ‖ Dailâ—é 15. Serm. p. 57. But never was Rome in a more flourishing condition Learning Eloquence Wisdom Strength were at the highest pitch Never was there a more diligent Watch against any Innovations never was that State governed by more severe and suspicious Princes than at the time when Tiberius and Nero held the Rains No time seemed to be more unfit for the entrance of a New Doctrine than that Age wherein it begun to be first publish'd never did any Religion meet with that Opposition from Men. Idolatry hath been often setled without any Contest but this hath suffered the same Fate with the Institutor of it and endured the Contradictions of Sinners against it self And those that publish'd it were not only without any Worldly prop but expos'd themselves to the Hatred and Fury to the Racks and Tortures of the strongest Powers on Earth It never set foot in any place but the Country was in an uproar †Acts 19.28 Swords were drawn to destroy it Laws made to suppress it Prisons provided for the Professors of it Fires kindled to consume them and Executioners had a perpetual employment to stifle the progress of it Rome in its Conquest of Countries chang'd not the Religion Rites and Modes of their Worship They alter'd their Civil Government but left them to the liberty of their Religion and many times joyned with them in the Worship of their Peculiar gods and sometime imitated them at Rome instead of abolishing them in the Cities they had subdued But all their Councils were assembled and their Force was bandied against the Lord and against his Christ and that City that kindly receiv'd all manner of Superstitions hated this Doctrine with an irreconcileable hatred It met with Reproaches from the Wise and Fury from the Potentates it was derided by the one as the greatest Folly and persecuted by the other as contrary to God and Mankind the one were afraid to lose their Esteems by the Doctrine and the other to lose their Authority by a Sedition they thought a change of Religion would introduce The Romans that had been Conquerors of the Earth feared Intestine Commotions and the falling asunder the Links of their Empire Scarce any of their first Emperors but had their Swords dy'd Red in the Blood of the Christians The Flesh with all its Lusts the World with all its Flatteries the Statesmen with all their Craft and the Mighty with all their Strength joyn'd together to extirpate it Though many Members were taken off by the Fires yet the Church not only lived but flourish'd in the Furnace Converts were made by the Death of Martyrs and the Flames which consumed their Bodies were the occasion of firing Mens hearts with a Zeal for the Profession of it Instead of being extinguish'd the Doctrine shone more bright and multiplied under the Sickles that were employed to cut it down God ordered every Circumstance so both in the Persons that publish'd it the Means whereby and the Time when that nothing but his Power might appear in it without any thing to dim and darken it IV. The Divine Power was conspicuous in the great success it had under all these difficulties Multitudes were Prophecied of to
attempters and often oversets the disturbers of the peace of the World 3. Information God can do no wrong since he is absolute soveraign Man may do wrong Princes may oppress and rifle but it is a crime in them so to do Because their power is a power of Government and not of propriety in the goods or lives of their subjects but God cannot do any wrong whatsoever the clamours of Creatures are Because he can do nothing but what he hath a soveraign right to do If he takes away your goods he takes not away any thing that is yours more than his own since though he intrusted you with them he devested not himself of the propriety When he takes away our lives he takes what he gave us by a temporary donation to be surrendred at his call We can claim no right in any thing but by his will He is no debtor to us and since he owes us nothing he can wrong us in nothing that he takes away His own soveraignty excuseth him in all those acts which are most distastful to the Creature If we crop a medicinal plant for our use or a flower for our pleasure or kill a Lamb for our food we do neither of them any wrong Because the original of them was for our use and they had their life and nourishment and pleasing qualities for our delight and support and are not we much more made for the pleasure and use of God than any of those can be for us Of him and to him are all things Rom. 11.36 Hath not God as much right over any one of us as over the meanest Worm Though there be a vast difference in nature between the Angels in Heaven and the Worms on Earth yet they are all one in regard of subjection to God he is as much the Lord of the one as the other as much the proprietor of the one as the other as much the Governour of the one as the other Not a cranny in the World is exempt from his jurisdiction Not a mite or grain of a Creature exempt from his propriety He is not our Lord by election he was a Lord before we were in being he had no terms put upon him who capitulated with him and set him in his Throne by Covenant What Oath did he take to any subject at his first investiture in his Authority His right is as natural as eternal as himself As natural as his existence and as necessary as his Deity Hath he any Law but his own will What wrong can he do that breaks no Law that fulfils his Law in every thing he doth by fulfilling his own will which as it is absolutely soveraign so it is infinitely righteous In what soever he takes from us then he cannot injure us 't is no crime in any man to seize upon his own goods to vindicate his own honour and shall it be thought a wrong in God to do such things Besides the occasion he hath from every man and that every day provoking him to do it He seems rather to wrong himself by forbearing such a seizure than wrong us by executing it 4. If God have a soveraignty over the whole World then merit is totally excluded His right is so absolute over all Creatures that he neither is nor can be a debtor to any not to the undefiled holiness of the blessed Angels much less to poor earthly worms those blessed Spirits enjoy their glory by the title of his soveraign pleasure not by vertue of any obligation devolving from them upon God Are not the faculties whereby they and we perform any act of obedience his grant to us Is not the strength whereby they and we are enabled to do any thing pleasing to him a gift from him Can a vassal merit of his Lord or a slave of his Master by using his tools and employing his strength in his service though it was a strength he had naturally not by donation from the man in whose service it is employ'd God is Lord of all all is due to him how can we oblige him by giving him what is his own more his to whom it is presented than ours by whom it is offered * Austin He becomes not a debtor by receiving any thing from us but by promising something to us 5. If God hath a soveraign dominion over the whole World then hence it follows that all Magistrates are but soveraigns under God He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords all the Potentates of the World are no other than his Lieutenants moveable at his pleasure and more at his disposal than their subjects are at theirs Though they are dignified with the title of Gods yet still they are at an infinite distance from the supream Lord. Gods under God not to be above him not to be against him The want of the due sence of their subordination to God hath made many in the World act as soveraigns above him more than soveraigns under him Had they all bore a deep conviction of this upon their spirits such audacious language had never dropt from the mouth of Pharoah who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go Exod. 5.2 Presuming that there was no superior to controul him nor any in Heaven able to be a match for him Darius had never publisht such a doting Edict as to prohibit any petition to God Nero had never fir'd Rome and sung at the sight of the devouring flames nor ever had he ript up his mothers belly to see the Womb where he first lodg'd and received a life so hateful to his Country Nor would Abner and Joab the two Generals have accounted the death of men but a sport and interlude 2 Sam. 2.14 Let the young men arise and play before us what play it was the next verse acquaints you with thrusting their Swords into one anothers sides They were no more troubled at the death of thousands than a man is to kill a fly or a flea Had a sence of this but hover'd over their Souls People in many Countries had not been made their foot-balls and used worse than their dogs Nor had the lives of millions worth more than a World been expos'd to Fire and Sword to support some sordid lust or breach of Faith upon an idle quarrel and for the depredation of their Neighbours estates the flames of Cities had not been so bright nor the streams of blood so dâ—ep nor the cries of innocents so loud In Particular 1. If God be soveraign All under-Soveraigns are not to rule against him but to be obedient to his Orders If they rule by his Authority Prov. 8.15 they are not to rule against his interest they are not to imagine themselves as absolute as God and that their Laws must be of as soveraign Authority against his honour as the Divine are for it If they are his Leiutenants on Earth they ought to act according to his Orders No man but will account a Governour or a
there but to behold the beauty of the Lord * Psal 27.4 and taste the ravishing sweetness of his presence No doubt but Elijah's desires for the enjoyment of God while he was mounting to Heaven were as fiery as the Chariot wherein he was carried Unutterable groans acted in worship are the fruit of the Spirit and certainly render it a spiritual service * Rom. 8.26 Strong appetites are agreeable to God and prepare us to eat the fruit of worship A spiritual Paul presseth forward to know Christ and the power of his Resurrection and a spiritual Worshipper actually aspires in every duty to know God and the power of his Grace To desire worship as an end is carnal to desire it as a means and act desires in it for communion with God in it is spiritual and the fruit of a spiritual life 5. Thankfulness and admiration are to be exercised in spiritual services This is a worship of Spirits Praise is the adoration of the blessed Angels * Isa 6.3 and of glorified Spirits Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy oh Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power And Rev. 5.13.14 they worship him ascribing Blessing Honour Glory and Power to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Other acts of worship are confined to this Life and leave us as soon as we have set our foot in Heaven There no notes but this of Praise are warbled out The Power Wisdom Love and Grace in the dispensation of the Gospel seat themselves in the thoughts and tongues of blessed Souls Can a worship on Earth be spiritual that hath no mixture of an eternal heavenly duty with it The worship of God in Innocence had been chiefly an admiration of him in the works of Creation and should not our Evangelical worship be an admiration of him in the works of Redemption which is a restoration to a better State After the petitioning for pardoning Grace * Hos 14.2 there is a rendring the Calves or Heifers of our lips alluding to the Heifers used in Eucharistical Sacrifices The Praise of God is the choicest Sacrifice and Worship under a dispensation of redeeming Grace This is the prime and eternal part of worship under the Gospel The Psalmist Psalm 149. and 150. speaking of the Gospel times spurrs on to this kind of worship Sing to the Lord a new Song Let the Children of Zion be joyful iâ—â—â—â—ir King Let the Saints be joyful in glory and sing aloud upon their beds Let the high praises of God be in their mouths He begins and ends both Psalms with praise ye the Lord. That cannot be a spiritual and evangelical worship that hath nothing of the praise of God in the heart The consideration of Gods adorable perfections discovered in the Gospel will make us come to him with more seriousness beg blessings of him with more confidence fly to him with a winged Faith and Love and more spiritually glorify him in our attendances upon him 7. Spiritual Worship is performed with delight The Evangelical worship is prophetically signified by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles * Zach. 14.16 they shall go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles Why that Feast when there were other Feasts observed by the Jews That was a Feast celebrated with the greatest joy typical of the gladness which was to be under the exhibition of the Messiah and a thankful comemmoration of the Redemption wrought by him It was to be celebrated five days after the solemn day of Atonement Levit. 23.34 compared with v. 27. wherein there was one of the solemnest types of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ In this Feast they commemorated their exchange of Egypt for Canaan the Manna wherewith they were fed the Water out of the Rock wherewith they were refresht In remembrance of this they poured water on the ground pronouncing those words in Isaiah they shall draw waters out of the Wells of Salvation which our Saviour referrs to himself John 7.37 inviting them to him to drink upon the last day the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles wherein this solemn Ceremony was observed Since we are freed by the death of the Redeemer from the Curses of the Law God requires of us a Joy in spiritual priviledges A sad frame in worship gives the lye to all Gospel-liberty to the Purchase of the Redeemers Death the Triumphs of his Resurrection 'T is a carriage as if we were under the influences of the legal Fire and Lightning and an entring a Protest against the Freedom of the Gospel The Evangelical worship is a Spiritual worship and Praise Joy and Delight are prophecied of as great ingredients in attendance on Gospel Ordinances Isa 12.3 4 5. What was occasion of terror in the worship of God under the Law is the occasion of delight in the worship of God under the Gospel The Justice and Holiness of God so terrible in the Law becomes comfortable under the Gospel since they have feasted themselves on the active and passive obedience of the Redeemer The approach is to God as gracious not to God as unpacified as a Son to a Father not as a Criminal to a Judge Under the Law God was represented as a Judge remembring their Sin in their Sacrifices and representing the punishment they had merited in the Gospel as a Father accepting the Atonement and publishing the Reconciliation wrought by the Redeemer Delight in God is a Gospel frame therefore the more joyful the more spiritual The Sabbath is to be a delight not only in regard of the Day but in regard of the Duties of it * Isa 58.13 in regard of the marvelous work he wrought on it raising up our blessed Redeemer on that day whereby a foundation was laid for the rendring our persons and services acceptable to God Psal 118.24 This is the day which the Lord hath made we will be glad and rejoyce in it A lumpish frame becomes not a day and a duty that hath so noble and spiritual a mark upon it The Angels in the first act of worship after the Creation were highly joyful Job 38.7 They shouted for joy c. The Saints have particularly acted this in their Worship David would not content himself with an approach to the Altar without going to God as his exceeding joy Psal 43.4 My triumphant joy When he danced before the Ark he seems to be transformed into delight and pleasure 2 Sam. 6.14 16. He had as much delight in Worship as others had in their Harvest and Vintage And those that took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods would as joyfully attend upon the Communications of God Where there is a fullness of the Spirit there is a waking melody to God in the heart * Eph. 5.18.19 and where there is an acting of love as there is in all spiritual services the proper fruit of it is joy in a neer
Interpretation God repented that is he did not bring the punishment upon them according to those days the Prophet had exprest and therefore forty natural days are to be understood and if it were meant of forty years and they were destroyed at the end of that term how could God be said to repent since according to that the punishment threatned was according to the time fixed brought upon them And the destruction of it forty years after will not be easily evinced if Jonah lived in the time of Jeroboam the second King of Israel as he did * 2 Kings 14 2â— And Niniveh was destroyed in the time of Josiah King of Judah But the other Answer is plain God did not fulfil what he had threatned because they reformed what they had committed When the threatning was made they were a fit Object for Justice but when they repented they were a fit Object for a merciful Respite To threaten when sins are high is a part of Gods Justice not to execute when sins are revok'd by Repentance is a part of Gods Goodness And in the Case of Hezekiah * 2 Kings 20.1 5. Isaiah comes with a Message from God that he should set his house in order for he shall dye that is the Disease was mortal and no outward Applications could in their own nature resist the Destemper Behold * Isa 38.1 5. I will add to thy days fifteen years I will heal thee It seems to me to be one intire Message because the latter part of it was so suddenly after the other committed to Isaiah to be delivered to Hezekiah for he was not gon out of the Kings house before he was ordered to return with the news of his health by an extraordinary indulgence of God against the power of Nature and force of the Disease Behold I will add to thy Life noting it as an extraordinary thing He was in the second Court of the Kings House when this word came to him * 2 Kings 20.4 the Kings House having three Courts so that he was not gon above half way out of the Palace God might send this message of Death to prevent the Pride Hezekiah might swell with for his deliverance from Senacherib As Paul had a Messenger of Satan to buffet him to prevent his lifting up * 2 Cor. 12.7 and this good Man was subject to this sin as we find afterwards in the Case of the Babylonish Embassadors And God delayed this other part of the Message to humble him and draw out his Prayer and as soon as ever he found Hezekiah in this temper he sent Isaiah with a comfortable message of recovery So that the Will of God was to signify to him the mortality of his distemper and afterwards to relieve him by a message of an extraordinary Recovery 5. Proposition God is not changed when of loving to any Creatures he becomes angry with them or of angry he becomes appeased The change in these cases is in the Creature according to the alteration in the Creature it stands in a various relatition to God an innocent Creature is the Object of his Kindness an offending Creature is the Object of his Anger there is a change in the dispensations of God as there is a change in the Creature making himself capable of such dispensations God always acts according to the immutable nature of his Holiness and can no more change in his Affections to good and evil than he can in his Essence When the Devils now fallen stood as glorious Angels they were the Objects of Gods love because holy When they fell they were the objects of Gods hatred because impure the same reason which made him love them while they were pure made him hate them when they were criminal The reason of his various dispensations to them was the same in both as considered in God his immutable holiness but as respecting the Creature different the nature of the Creature was changed but the Divine holy nature of God remain'd the same * Psal 18.26 With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward He is a refreshing light to those that obey him and a consuming fire to those that resist him Tho the same Angels were not always loved yet the same reason that moved him to love them moved him to hate them It had argued a change in God if he had loved them alway in whatsoever posture they were towards him It could not be counted love but a weakness and impotent fondness the change is in the object not in the affection of God For the object loved before is not beloved now because that which was the motive of love is not now in it So that the Creature having a different state from what it had falls under a different affection or dispensation It had been a mutable affection in God to love that which was not worthy of love with the same love wherewith he loved that which had the greatest resemblance to himself Had God loved the fallen Angels in that state and for that state he had hated himself because he had loved that which was contrary to himself and the image of his own holiness which made them appear before good in his sight The Will of God is unchangeably set to love righteousness and hate iniquity and from this hatred to punish it And if a righteous Creature contracts the wrath of God or a sinful Creature hath the Communications of Gods love it must be by a change in themselves Is the Sun changed when it hardens one thing and softens another according to the disposition of the several subjects Or when the Sun makes a flower more fragrant and a dead carcass more noysome There are divers effects but the reason of that diversity is not in the Sun but in the subject the Sun is the same and produceth those different effects by the same quality of heat So if an unholy Soul approach to God God looks angrily upon him If a holy Soul come before him the same immutable perfection in God draws out his kindness towards him As some think the Sun would rather refresh than scorch us if our bodies were of the same nature and substance with that Luminary As the Will of God for Creating the world was no new but an Eternal Will tho it manifested it self in time so the Will of God for the punishment of sin or the reconciliation of the sinner was no new Will Tho his wrath in time break out in the effects of it upon sinners and his love flows out in the effects of it upon penitents Christ by his death reconciling God to man did not alter the Will of God but did what was consonant to his Eternal Will He came not to change his Will but to execute his Will Lo I come to do thy Will oh God * Heb. 10.7 And the grace of God in Christ was not a new grace but an old grace in a
good evil is present with me * Rom. 7.21 Never more present than when we have a mind to do good and never more present than when we have a mind to do the best and greatest good How hard is it to make our thoughts and affections keep their stand place them upon a good Object and they will be frisking from it as a Bird from one bough one fruit to another We vary postures according to the various objects we meet with The course of the World is a very airy thing suted to the uncertain motions of that Prince of the power of the Air which works in it * Eph. 2.2 This ought to be bewail'd by us Tho we may stand fast in the truth tho we may spin our resolutions into a firm web tho the Spirit may triumph over the flesh in our practice yet we ought to bewail it because inconstancy is our nature and what fixedness we have in good is from grace What we find practised by most men is natural to all * Lawrence of Faith p. 262. As face answers to face in a glass so doth heart to heart * Pro. 27.19 a face in the glass is not more like a natural face whose image it is than one mans heart is naturally like another 1. 'T is natural to those out of the Church Nebuchadnezzar is so affected with Daniels prophetick Spirit that he would have none accounted the true God but the God of Daniel * Dan. 2.47 How soon doth this notion slip from him and an image must be set up for all to worship upon pain of almost cruel painful death Daniels God is quite forgotten The miraculous deliverance of the three Children for not worshipping his Image makes him settle a Decree to secure the Honour of God from the reproach of his Subjects * Dan. 3.29 yet a little while after you have him strutting in his Palace as if there were no God but himself 2. 'T is natural to those in the Church The Israelites were the only Church God had in the World and a notable Example of inconstancy After the Miracles of Aegypt they murmured against God when they saw Pharaoh marching with an Army at their Heels They desired food and soon nauseated the Manna they were before fond of when they came into Canaan They sometimes worshipped God and sometimes Idols not only the Idols of one Nation but of all their Neighbours In which regard God calls this his Heritage a Speckled Bird * Jer. 12.9 a Peacock saith Hierom inconstant made up of varieties of Idolatrous colours and Ceremonies This levity of Spirit is the root of all mischeif it scatters our thoughts in the Service of God it is the cause of all revolts and Apostacies from him it makes us unfit to receive the communications of God whatsoever we hear is like words writ in sand ruffled out by the next gale whatsoever is put into us is like precious liquor in a palsie hand soon spilt It breeds distrust of God when we have an uncertain judgment of him we are not like to confide in him an uncertain judgment will be followed with a distrustful heart In fine where it is prevalent it is a certain sign of ungodliness to be driven with the wind like chaffe and to be ungodly is all one in the judgment of the Holy Ghost Psal 1.4 the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away which signifies not their destruction but their disposition for their destruction is inferred from it ver 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment How contrary is this to the unchangeable God who is alwayes the same and would have us the same in our religious Promises and Resolutions for good 4. If God be immutable 't is sad news to those that are resolved in wickedness or careless of returning to that duty he requires Sinners must not expect that God will alter his will make a breach upon his nature and violate his own Word to gratifie their lusts No 't is not reasonable God should dishonour himself to secure them and cease to be God that they may continue to be wicked by changing his own nature that they may be unchanged in their vanity God is the same goodness is as amiable in his sight and Sin as abominable in his eyes now as it was at the beginning of the world Being the same God he is the same Enemy to the Wicked as the same Friend to the Righteous He is the same in Knowledge and cannot forget sinful acts He is the same in Will and cannot approve of unrighteous Practices Goodness cannot but be alway the Object of his Love and Wickedness cannot but be alway the Object of his Hatred And as his aversion to Sin is alway the same so as he hath been in his Judgments upon Sinners the same he will be still for the same perfection of Immutability belongs to his Justice for the punishment of Sin as to his Holiness for his disaffection to Sin Though the Covenant of Works was changeable by the crime of man violating it yet it was unchangeable in regard of Gods justice vindicating it which is inflexible in the punishment of the breaches of his Law The Law had a preceptive part and a minatory part When man changed the observation of the Precept the righteous nature of God could not null the execution of the threatning He could not upon the account of this perfection neglect his just word and countenance the unrighteous transgression Tho there were no more rational Creatures in being but Adam and Eve yet God subjected them to that death he had assured them of and from this immutability of his Will ariseth the necessity of the suffering of the Son of God for the relief of the apostate Creature His Will in the second Covenant is as uncâ—aâ—â—eable as that in the first only repentance is settled as the condition of the second which was not indulged in the first and without repentance the sinner must iâ—â—voâ—â—bly pâ—rish or God must change his nature There must be a change in man there can be nâ—â—â—e in God his bow is bent his arrows are ready if the wicked do not turn * Psal 7.11 There is not an Atheist an hypocrite a prophane person that ever was upon the Earth but Gods Soul abhorred him as such and the like he will abhor for ever While any therefore continue so they may sooner expect the Heavens should roul as they please the Sun stand still at their order the Stars change their course at their beck than that God should change his nature which is opposite to prophaness and vanity Who hath hardned himself against him and hath prospered * Job 9.4 Use 2. Of comfort The immutability of a good God is a strong ground of consolation Subjects wish a good Prince to live for ever as being loath to change him but care not how soon they are rid of an Oppressor
Pet. 1.12 It was publish'd in Paradise but in such words as Adam did not fully understand It was both discover'd and clouded in the Smoke of Sacrifices It was wrapped up in a Vail under the Law but not open'd till the Death of the Redeemer It was then plainly said to the Cities of Judah Behold your God comes The whole Transaction of it between the Father and the Son which is the Spirit of the Gospel was from Eternity the Creation of the World was in order to the manifestation of it Let us not then regard the Gospel as a Novelty the consideration of it as one of Gods Cabinet Rarities should enhance our Estimation of it No Traditions of Men no Inventions of vain Wits that pretend to be wiser than God should have the same Credit with that which bears date from Eternity 8. Observe That Divine Truth is Mysterious According to the revelation of the mystery Christ manifested in the flesh The whole Scheme of Godliness is a Mystery No Man or Angel could imagine how two Natures so distant as the Divine and Human should be united how the same Person should be Criminal and Righteous how a Just God should have a Satisfaction and Sinful Man a Justification how the Sin should be punish'd and the Sinner saved None could imagine such a way of Justification as the Apostle in this Epistle declares It was a Mystery when hid under the Shadows of the Law and a Mystery to the Prophets when it sounded from their Mouths they searched it without being able to comprehend it †1 Pet. 1.10 11. If it be a Mystery 't is humbly to be submitted to Mysteries surmount Human Reason The study of the Gospel must not be with a yawning and careless frame Trades you call Mysteries are not learned sleeping and nodding Diligence is required we must be Disciples at Gods Feet As it had God for the Author so we must have God for the Teacher of it the Contrivance was his and the Illumination of our Minds must be from him As God only manifested the Gospel so he only can open our Eyes to see the Mysteries of Christ in it In Verse 26. we may observe 1. The Scriptures of the Old Testament verifie the substance of the New and the New doth evidence the Authority of the Old By the Scriptures of the Prophets made known The Old Testament credits the New and the New illustrates the Old The New Testament is a Comment upon the Prophetick part of the Old The Old shews the Promises and Predictions of God and the New shews the Performance What was foretold in the Old is fulfilled in the New the Predictions are cleared by the Events The Predictions of the Old are Divine because they are above the Reason of Man to foreknow None but an Infinite Knowledge could foretell them because none but an Infinite Wisdom could order all things for the accomplishment of them The Christian Religion hath then the surest Foundation since the Scriptures of the Prophets wherein it is foretold are of undoubted Antiquity and owned by the Jews and many Heathens which are and were the great Enemies of Christ The Old Testament is therefore to be read for the strengthning of our Faith Our Blessed Saviour himself draws the Streams of his Doctrine from the Old Testament He clears up the Promise of Eternal Life and the Doctrine of the Resurrection from the words of the Covenant I am the God of Abraham c. Mat. 22.32 And our Apostle clears up the Doctrine of Justification by Faith from Gods Covenant with Abraham Rom. 4. It must be read and it must be read as it is writ It was writ to a Gospel End it must be studied with a Gospel Spirit The Old Testament was writ to give Credit to the New when it should be manifested in the World It must be read by us to give strength to our Faith and establish us in the Doctrine of Christianity How many view it as a bare story an Almanack out of date and regard it as a dry Bone without sucking from it the Evangelical Marrow Christ is in Genesis Abrahams Seed in Davids Psalms and the Prophets the Messiah and Redeemer of the World 2. Observe the Antiquity of the Gospel Is made manifest by the Scriptures of the Prophets It was of as Ancient a date as any Prophesy The first Prophesy was nothing else but a Gospel Charter it was not made at the Incarnation of Christ but made manifest It then rose up to its Meridian lustre and sprung out of the Clouds wherewith it was before obscur'd The Gospel was preached to the Ancients by the Prophets as well as to the Gentiles by the Apostles Heb. 4.2 Vnto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them To them first to us after to them indeed more cloudy to us more clear but they as well as we were Evangeliz'd as the word signifies The Covenant of Grace was the same in the Writings of the Prophets and the Declarations of the Evangelists and Apostles Though by our Saviours Incarnation the Gospel Light was clearer and by his Ascension the Effusions of the Spirit fuller and stronger yet the Believers under the Old Testament saw Christ in the Swadling Bands of Legal Ceremonies and the Lattice of Prophetical Writings they could not else offer one Sacrifice or read one Prophesy with a Faith of the right stamp Abrahams Justifying Faith had Christ for its Object though it was not so Explicit as ours because the Manifestation was not so clear as ours 3. All Truth is to be drawn from Scripture The Apostle refers them here to the Gospel and the Prophets The Scripture is the Source of Divine Knowledge not the Traditions of Men nor Reason separate from Scripture Whosoever brings another Doctrine coyns another Christ nothing is to be added to what is written nothing detracted from it He doth not send us for Truth to the Puddles of Human Inventions to the Enthusiasms of our Brain not to the See of Rome no nor to the Instructions of Angels but the Writings of the Prophets as they clear up the Declarations of the Apostles The Church of Rome is not made here the Standard of Truth but the Scriptures of the Prophets are to be the Touch-stone to the Romans for the Trial of the Truth of the Gospel 4. How great is the Goodness of God The Borders of Grace are enlarged to the Gentiles and not hid under the Skirts of the Jews He that was so long the God of the Jews is now also manifest to be the God of the Gentiles The Gospel is now made known to all Nations according to the Commandment of the Everlasting God Not only in a way of Common Providence but Special Grace in Calling them to the Knowledge of himself and a Justification of them by Faith He hath brought Strangers to him to the Adoption of Children and lodged them under the Wings of the Covenant that were before alienated from
acknowledgment of the Immensity of Divine Power Miracles are such effects as have been wrought without the assistance and cooperation of Natural Causes yea contrary and besides the ordinary course of Nature above the reach of any Created Power Miracles have been and saith Bradwardine * Lib. 1. cap. 1. p. 38. To deny that ever such things were is uncivil 'T is inhuman to deny all the Histories of Jews and Christians whosoever denies Miracles must deny all possibility of Miracles and so must imagine himself fully skill'd in the extent of Divine Power How was the Sun suspended from its Motion for some hours Josh 10.13 The Dead raised from the Grave Those reduc'd from the brink of it that had been brought near to it by prevailing Diseases and this by a word speaking How were the famisht Lions bridled from exercising their rage upon Daniel Dan. 6.22 expos'd to them for a Prey The activity of the Fire curb'd for the preservation of the Three Children Dan. 3.15 Which proves a Deity more powerful than all Creatures No power upon Earth can hinder the operation of the Fire upon combustible Matter when they are united unless by quenching the Fire or removing the Matter But no created Power can restrain the Fire so long as it remains so from acting according to its Nature Exod. 3.2 This was done by God in the case of the Three Children and that of the Burning Bush It was as much miraculous that the Bush should not consume as it was natural that it should burn by the efficacy of the Fire upon it No Element is so obstinate and deaf but it hears and obeys his Voice and performs his Orders though contrary to its own Nature All the violence of the Creature is suspended as soon as it receives his Command †Damianus in Petar He that gave the original to Nature can take away the necessity of Nature He presides over Creatures but is not confin'd to those Laws he hath prescrib'd to Creatures He framed Nature and can turn the Channels of Nature according to his own pleasure Men dig into the bowels of Nature search into all the Treasures of it to find Medicines to cure a Disease and after all their Attempts it may prove Labour in vain But God by one Act of his Will one Word of his Mouth overturns the Victory of Death and rescues from the most desperate Diseases * Fauch in Acts Vol. 2. §. 56. All the Miracles which were wrought by the Apostles either speaking some Words or Touching with the Hand were not effected by any virtue inherent in their Words or in their Touches For such Virtue inherent in any created finite Subject would be created and finite it self and consequently were incapable to produce effects which required an infinite Virtue as Miracles do which are above the power of Nature So when our Saviour wrought Miracles it was not by any quality resident in his humane Nature but by the sole Power of his Divinity The Flesh could only do what was proper to the Flesh but the Deity did what was proper to the Deity God alone doth wonders Psal 136.4 Excluding every other cause from producing such things He only doth those things which are above the power of Nature and cannot be wrought by any Natural causes whatsoever He doth not hereby put his Omnipotence to any stress 'T is as easie with him to turn Nature out of its setled course as it was to place it in that station it holds and appoint it that course it runs All the Works of Nature are indeed Miracles and Testimonies of the Power of God producing them and sustaining them But Works above the Power of Nature being Novelties and unusual strike Men with a greater admiration upon their appearance because they are not the products of Nature but the convulsions of it I might also add as an Argument The Power of the Mind of Man to conceive more than hath been wrought by God in the World And God can work whatsoever Perfection the Mind of man can conceive Otherwise the reaches of a created Imagination and Fancy would be more extensive than the Power of God His Power therefore is far greater than the conception of any Intellectual Creature else the Creature would be of a greater capacity to conceive than God is to effect The Creature would have a power of Conception above Gods Power of Activity and consequently a Creature in some respect greater than himself Now whatsoever a Creature can conceive possible to be done is but finite in its own nature and if God could not produce what Being a created Understanding can conceive possible to be done he would be less than Infinite in Power nay he could not go to the extent of what is Finite But I have touched this before That God can create more than he hath created and in a more perfect way of Being as considered simply in themselves III. The Third general thing is to declare How the Power of God appears in Creation in Government in Redemption 1. In Creation With what Majestick Lines doth God set forth his Power in the giving Being and Endowments to all the Creatures in the World Job 38. All that is in Heaven and Earth is his and shews the greatness of his Power Glory Victory 1 Chro. 29.11 and Majesty The Heaven being so Magnificent a piece of work is called emphatically The Firmament of his Power * Psal 150.1 his Power being more conspicuous and unvail'd in that glorious Arch of the World Indeed God exalts by his Power †Job 36.22 that is exalts himself by his Power in all the Works of his hands in the smallest Shrub as well as the most glorious Sun All his Works of Nature are truly Miracles though we consider them not being blinded with too frequent and customary a sight of them yet in the neglect of all the rest the view of the Heavens doth more affect us with astonishment at the Might of Gods Arm These declare his Glory and the Firmament shews his handy work Psal 19.1 Psal 8.3 And the Psalmist peculiarly calls them His Heavens and the work of his Fingers These were immediately created by God whereas many other things in the World were brought into Being by the Power of God yet by the means of the influence of the Heavens 1. His Power is the first thing evident in the story of the Creation In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth Gen. 1.1 There 's no appearance of any thing in this declaratory Preface but of Power The Characters of Wisdom march after in the distinct formation of things and animating them with suitable qualities for an Universal good By Heaven and Earth is meant the whole mass of the Creatures By Heaven all the Aery Region with all the Host of it by the Earth is meant all that which makes the intire inferior Globe The Jews observe that in the
Justice abus'd his Goodness done injury to all those Attributes which are necessary to his relief It was not so in Creation nothing was uncapable of disobliging God from bringing it into Being The Dust which was the Matter of Adams Body needâ—d only the extrinsick Power of God to form it into a Man and inspire it with a living Soul It had not render'd it self obnoxious to Divine Justice nor was capable to excite any disputes between his Perfections But after the entrance of Sin and the merit of Death thereby there was a resistance in Justice to the free Remission of Man God was to exercise a Power over himself to answer his Justice and pardon the Sinner as well as a power over the Creature to reduce the Run-away and Rebel Unless we have recourse to the Infiniteness of Gods Power the infiniteness of our Guilt will weigh us down We must consider not only that we have a mighty Guilt to press us but a mighty God to relieve us In the same act of his being our Righteousness he is our Strength In the Lord have I righteousness and strength Isai 45.24 2. In the sense of Pardon When the Soul hath been wounded with the sense of sin and its Iniquities have star'd it in the face the raising the Soul from a despairing condition and lifting it above those Waters which terrified it to cast the light of Comfort as well as the light of Grace into a heart covered with more than an Egyptian Darkness is an act of his Infinite and Creating Power Isai 57.19 I create the fruit of the lips peace Men may wear out their Lips with numbring up the Promises of Grace and Arguments of Peace but all will signifie no more without a Creative Power than if all Men and Angels should call to that White upon the Wall to shine as splendidly as the Sun God only can create Jerusalem and every Child of Jerusalem a rejoycing * Isai 65.18 A Man is no more able to apply to himself any word of Comfort under the sense of Sin than he is able to Convert himself and turn the proposals of the Word into gracious Affections in his heart To restore the joy of Salvation is in Davids Judgment an act of Soveraign Power equal to that of creating a clean heart Psal 51.10 12. Alas 't is a state like to that of Death as Infinite Power can only raise from Natural death so from a Spiritual death also from a Comfortless death In his favour there is life in the want of his Favour there is death The Power of God hath so placed Light in the Sun that all Creatures in the World all the Torches upon Earth kindled together cannot make it Day if that doth not rise so all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth are not competent Chirurgions for a wounded Spirit The cure of our Spiritual Ulcers and the pouring in Balm is an Act of Soveraign Creative Power 'T is more visible in silencing a Tempestuous Conscience than the Power of our Saviour was in the stilling the stormy Winds and the roaring Waves As none but Infinite Power can remove the Guilt of Sin so none but Infinite Power can remove the Despairing sense of it III. This Power is evident in the preserving Grace As the Providence of God is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Creation so the preservation of Grace is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Regeneration To keep a Nation under the Yoke is an act of the same Power that subdu'd it 'T is this that strengthens Men in suffering against the Fury of Hell †Colos 1.13 't is this that keeps them from falling against the force of Hell the Fathers hand John 10.29 His strength abates and moderates the violence of Temptations his Staff sustains his People under them his Might defeats the Power of Satan and bruiseth him under a Believers feet The Counterworkings of Indwelling Corruption the reluctances of the Flesh against the breathings of the Spirit the fallacy of the Senses and the rovings of the Mind have ability quickly to stifle and extinguish Grace if it were not maintain'd by that Powerful blast that first inbreathed it No less Power is seen in perfecting it than was in planting it ‖ 2 Pet. 1.3 no less in fulfilling the work of Faith than in ingrafting the Word of Faith 2 Thess 1.11 The Apostle well understood the Necessity and Efficacy of it in the preservation of Faith as well as in the firâ—t infusion when he expresses himself in those terms of a Greatness or Hyperbole of Power his Mighty Power or the Power of his Might Ephes 1.19 The Salvation he bestows and the Strength whereby he effects it are joyned together in the Prophets Song Isai 12.2 The Lord is my strength and my salvation And indeed God doth more magnifie his Power in continuing a Believer in the World a weak and half-rigg'd Vessel in the midst of so many Sands whereon it might split so many Rocks whereon it might dash so many Corruptions within and so many Temptations without than if he did immediately transport him into Heaven and cloth him with a perfectly Sanctified Nature To Conclude What is there then in the World which is destitute of Notices of Divine Power Every Creature affords us the Lesson all acts of Divine Government are the marks of it Look into the Word and the manner of its propagation instructs us in it your Changed Natures your Pardoned Guilt your Shining Comfort your quell'd Corruptions the standing of your staggering Graces are sufficient to preserve a sense and prevent a forgetfulness of this great Attribute so necessary for your support and conducing so much to your comfort Vses I. Of Information and Instruction 1. If Incomprehensible and Infinite Power belongs to the Nature of God then Jesus Christ hath a Divine Nature because the Acts of Power proper to God are ascribed to him This Perfection of Omnipotence doth unquestionably pertain to the Deity and is an incommunicable Property and the same with the Essence of God He therefore to whom this Attribute is ascribed is essentially God This is challenged by Christ in conjunction with Eternity Revel 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty This the Lord Christ speaks of himself He who was equal with God proclaims himself by the Essential title of the Godhead part of which he repeats again verse 11. and this is the Person which walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks the Person that was dead and now lives vers 17 18. which cannot possibly be meant of the Father the first Person who can never come under that denomination of having been dead Being therefore adorn'd with the same Title he hath the same Deity and though his Omnipotence be only positively asserted v. 8. yet his Eternity being asserted v. 11 17. it inferreth
besides As he sent Jesus Christ to satisfie his Justice for the expiation of the Guilt of Sin so he sends the Holy Ghost for the cleansing the filth of Sin and overmastering the power of it Himself is the Fountain the Son is the Patern and the Holy Ghost the immediate Imprinter of this stamp of Holiness upon the Creature God hath such a value for this Attribute that he designs the glory of this in the renewing the Creature more than the happiness of the Creature though the one doth necessarily follow upon the other yet the one is the principal Design and the other the consequent of the former Whence our Salvation is more frequently set forth in Scripture by a Redemption from Sin and Sanctification of the Soul than by a Possession of Heaven †Tit. 2.11 12 13 14 and many other places Indeed as God could not create a Rational Creature without interesting this Attribute in a special manner so he cannnt restore the Fallen Creature without it As in creating a Rational Creature there must be Holiness to adorn it as well as Wisdom to form the design and Power to effect it so in the restoration of the Creature as he could not make a Reasonable Creature unholy so he cannot restore a Fallen Creature and put him in a meet posture to take pleasure in him without communicating to him a resemblance of himself As God cannot be Blessed in himself without this Perfection of Purity so neither can a Creature be blessed without it As God would be Unlovely to himself without this Attribute so would the Creature be unlovely to God without a stamp and mark of it upon his Nature So much is this Perfection one with God valued by him and interested in all his Works and Ways The third Thing I am to do is to lay down some Propositions in the defence of God's holiness in all his acts about or concerning sin It was a prudent and pious advice of Camero Not to be too busie and rash in Inquiries and Conclusions about the reason of God's Providence in the matter of sin The Scripture hath put a bar in the way of such Curiosity by telling us that the ways of God's Wisdom and Righteousness in his Judgments are unsearchable * Rom. 11.33 Much more the ways of God's Holiness as he stands in relation to Sin as a Governour of the World we cannot consider those things without danger of flipping Our Eyes are too weak to look upon the Sun without being dazled Too much Curiosity met with a just check in our first Parent To be desirous to know the reason of all God's proceedings in the matter of Sin is to second the Ambition of Adam to be as wise as God and know the reason of his actings equally with himself 'T is more easie as the same Author saith to give an Account of God's Providence since the Revolt of Man and the Poyson that hath universally seiz'd upon Human Nature than to make guesses at the manner of the fall of the first Man The Scripture hath given us but a short Account of the manner of it to discourage too curious Inquiries into it 'T is certain that God made Man upright and when Man sinned in Paradice God was active in sustaining the substantial nature and act of the Sinner while he was sinning though not in supporting the sinfulness of the Act He was permissive in suffering it He was Negative in withholding that Grace which might certainly have prevented his Crime and consequently his Ruin though he withheld nothing that was sufficient for his Resistance of that Temptation wherewith he was assaulted And since the Fall of Man God as a wise Governour is directive of the Events of the Transgression and draws the choicest Good out of the blackest Evil and limits the sins of men that they creep not so far as the evil Nature of men would urge them to and as a righteous Judge he takes away the talent â—rom idle Servants and the Light from wicked ones whereby they stumble and fall into Crimes by the inclinations and proneness of their own corrupt Natures leaves them to the Byas of their own vitious habits denies that grace which they have forfeited and have no right to challenge and turns their sinful actions into punishments both to the Committers of them and others 1. Proposition God's holiness is not chargeable with any blemish for his creating man in a mutable state 'T is true Angels and Men were created with a changeable Nature and though there was a rich and glorious stamp upon them by the Hand of God yet their Natures were not uncapable of a base and vile Stamp from some other Principle As the Silver which bears upon it the Image of a great Prince is capable of being melted down and imprinted with no better an Image than that of some vile and monstrous Beast Though God made Man upright yet he was capable of seeking many inventions Eccl. 7.29 yet the hand of God was not defiled by forming Man with such a Nature It was sutable to the Wisdom of God to give the Rational Creature whom he had furnisht with a power of acting righteously the liberty of choice and nor fix him in an unchangeable state without a trial of him in his Natural that if he did obey his obedience might be the more valuable and if he did freely offend his offence might be more inexcusable 1. No Creature can be capable of immutability by Nature Mutability is so essential to a Creature that a Creature cannot be supposed without it You must suppose it a Creator not a Creature if you allow it to be of an Immutable Nature Immutability is the property of the Supream Being God only hath immortality 1 Tim. 6.16 Immortality as opposed not only to a natural but to a sinful death the word only appropriates every sort of Immortality to God and excludes every Creature whether Angel or Man from a Partnership with God in this by Nature Every Creature therefore is capable of a Death in sin None is good but God and none is naturally free from change but God which excludes every Creature from the same Prerogative and certainly if one Angel sinned all might have sinned because there was the same root of Mutability in one as well as another 'T is as possible for a Creature to be Creator as for a Creature to have naturally an incommunicable property of the Creator All things whether Angels or Men are made of nothing and therefore capable of defection * Suarez Vâ—l. 2. p. 5.8 because a Creature beâ—ng made of nothing cannot be good per essentiam or essentially good but by participation from another Agaâ—n every Rational Creature being made of nothing hath a Superior which created him and governs him and is capable of a Precept and consequently capable of Disobedience as well as Obedience to the Precept to transgress it as well as obey it God cannot sin because he
support our security by something which might appear more formal and solemn than a bare word By this the Divine Goodness provides against our Spiritual faintings and shews us by real Signs as well as Verbal Declarations that the Covenant sealed by the Blood of Christ is unalterable and thereby would fortifie and mount our hopes to degrees in some measure suitable to the kindness of the Covenant and the dignity of the Redeemer's Blood And it 's yet a further degree of his Goodness that he hath appointed us so often to Celebrate it whereby he shews how careful he is to keep up our tottering Faith and preserve us constant in our obedience obliging himself to the performance of his Promise and obliging uâ— to the payment of our Duty 2. His Goodness is seen in the Sacrament in giving us in it an union and communion with Christ There is not only a Commemoration of Christ dying but a Communication of Christ living The Apostle strongly asserts it by way of Interrogation * 1 Cor 1â— The Cup of Blessing which we bless is it not the Communion of the Blood of Christ The Bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ In the Cup there is a communication of the Blood of Christ a conveyance of a Right to the Merits of his Death and the Blessedness of his Life We are not less by this made one Body with Christ than we are by Baptism †1 Cor. 12.13 And put on Christ living in this as well as in Baptism * Gal. 3.27 That as his taking our infirm Flesh was a real Incarnation so the giving us his Flesh to eat is a Mystical Incarnation in Believers whereby they become one Body with him as Crucified and one Body with him as Risen For if Christ himself be receiv'd by Faith in the Word †Colos 2.6 He is no less received by Faith in the Sacrament When the Holy Ghost is said to be receiv'd the Graces or Gifts of the Holy Ghost are receiv'd So when Christ is receiv'd the Fruits of his Death are really partaked of The Israelites that eat of the Sacrifices did partake of the Altar * 1 Cor. 10.18 i. e. had a communion with the God of Israel to whom they had been Sacrificed and those that eat of the Sacrifices offer'd to Idols had a fellowship with Devils to whom those Sacrifices were offer'd Verse 20. Those that partake of the Sacraments in a due manner have a communion with that God to whom it was Sacrificed and a communion with that Body which was Sacrificed to God Not that the Substance of that Body and Blood is wrapped up in the Elements or that the Bread and Wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ but as they represent him and by vertue of the Institution are in Estimation himself his own Body and Blood by the same reason as he is call'd Christ our Passeover he may be call'd Christ our Supper †1 Cor. 5.7 For as they are so reckon'd to an unworthy Receiver as if they were the real Body and Blood of Christ because by his not discerning the Lords Body in it or making light of it as common Bread he is judged guilty of the Body and Blood of Christ guilty of treating him in as base a manner as the Jews did when they Crown'd him with Thorns * 1 Cor. 11.27.29 By the same reason they must be reckon'd to a worthy Receiver as the very Body and Blood of Christ So that as the unworthy Receiver eats and drinks Damnation the worthy Receiver eats and drinks Salvation It would be an empty Mystery and unworthy of an Institution by Divine Goodness if there were not some communion with Christ in it There would be some kind of deceit in the Precept Take Eat and Drink this is my Body and Blood a conveyance of Spiritual vital influences to our Souls For the natural End of eating and drinking is the nourishment and increase of the Body and preservation of Life by that which we eat and drink The infinite Wise gracious and true God would never give us empty Figures without accomplishing that which is signified by them and suitable to them How great is this Goodness of God he would have his Son in us one with us straitly joyn'd to us as if we were his proper Flesh and Blood In the Incarnation Divine Goodness united him to our Nature in the Sacrament it doth in a sort unite him with his purchas'd Priviledges to our Persons we have not a communion with a part or a Member of his Body or a drop of his Blood but with his whole Body and Blood represented in every part of the Elements The Angels in the Heaven enjoy not so great a priviledge They have the honour to be under him as their Head but not that of having him for their Food they behold him but they do not taste him And certainly that Goodness that hath condescended so much to our weakness would impart it to us in a very glorious manner were we capable of it But because a Man cannot behold the Light of the Sun in its full splendor by reason of the infirmities of his Eyes he must behold it by the help of a Glass and such a communication through a coloured and Opake-glass is as real from the Sun it self though not so glorious but more shrowded and obscure 'T is the same light that shines through that Medium as spreads it self gloriously in the open Air though the one be maskt and the other open-fac'd To conclude this by the way we may take notice of the neglect of this Ordinaâ—â—â— If it be a token of Divine Goodness to appoint it 't is no sign of our estimation of Divine Goodness to neglect it He that values the kindness of his friend will accept of his invitation if there be not some strong impediments in the way or so much familiarity with him that his refusal upon a light occasion would not be unkindly taken But though God put on the disposition of a Friend to us yet he looseth not the authority of a Soveraign and the humble familiarity he invites us to doth not diminish the conditiâ—n and duty of a Subject A Soveraign Prince would not take it well if a Favourite should refuse the offer'd honour of his Table The Viands of Godare not to be slighted Can we live better upon our poor pittance than upon his Dainties Did not Divine Goodness condescend in it to the weakness of our Faith and shall we conceit our Faith stronger than God thinks it If he thought fit by those Seals to make a Deed of Gift to us shall we be so unmannerly to him and such enemies to the security he offers us over and above his word as not to accept it Are we unwilling to have our Souls enflamed with love our Hearts filled with comfort and arm'd against the attempts of our Enemies 'T
the gates of Hell shall not prevail against them That in all things they shall be more than Conquerors through him that lov'd them That the most raging Malice of Hell shall not wrest them out of his hands His Goodness is not less in performing than it was in promising And as the care of his Providence extends to the least as well as the greatest so the watchfulness of his Goodness extends to us in the least as well as in the greatest Temptation 1. The Goodness of God appears in shortening Temptations None of them can go beyond their appointed times * Dan. 11.35 The strong blast Satan breaths cannot blow nor the Waves he raises rage one minute beyond the time God allows them when they have done their work and come to the period of their time God speaks the word and the Wind and Sea of Hell must obey him and retire into their Dens The more violent Temptations are the shorter time doth God allot them The assaults Christ had at the time of his Death were of the most pressing and urging nature The Powers of Darkness were all in Arms against him the Reproaches and scorns put upon him questioning his Sonship were very sharp yet a little before his Suffering he calls it but an hour * Luke 22.53 This is your hour and the Power of Darkness A short time that Men and Devils were combin'd against him and the time of Temptation that is to come upon all the World for their trial is call'd but an hour * Rev. 3.10 In all such attempts the greatness of the rage is a certain Prognostick of the shortness of the Season Revel 12.12 2. The Goodness of God appears in strengthening his People under Temptations If he doth not restrain the Arm of Satan from striking he gives us a Sword to manage the Combat and a Shield to bear off the blow * Eph. 6.16 17. If he obscures his Goodness in one part he clears and brightens it in another He either binds the strong Man that he shall not stir or gives us Armour to render us victorious If we fall it is not for want of provision from him but for want of our putting on the Armour of God * Eph. 6.11 â—3 When we have not a strength by Nature he gives it us by Grace He often quells those Passions within which would joyn hands with and second the Temptation without He either qualifies the Temptation sutably to the force we have or else supplies us with a new strength to mate the Temptation he intends to let loose against us He knows we are but Dust and his Goodness will not have us unequally matcht The Jews that in Antiochus his time were under great Temptation to Apostacy by reason of the violence of their Persecutions were out of weakness made strong for the Combat * Heb. 11.34 The Spirit came more strongly upon Sampson when the Philistines most furiously and confidently assaulted him His Spirit is sent to strengthen his People before the Devil is permitted to tempt them * Matth. 4.2 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit Then When When the Spirit had in an extraordinary manner descended upon him Matth. 3.16 Then and not before As the Angels appeared to Christ after his Temptation to Minister to him so they appear'd to him before his Passion the time of the strongest Powers of Darkness to strengthen him for it He is so Good that when he knows our Pot-sheard strength too weak he furnisheth our Recruits from his own Omnipotence * Eph. 6 1â— Be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might He doth as it were breath in something of his own Almightiness to assist us in our wrestling against Principalities and Powers and make us capable to sustain the violent Storms of the Enemies 3. The Goodness of God is seen in Temptations in giving great Comforts in on after them The Israelites had a more immediate provision of Manna from Heaven when they were in the Wilderness We read not that the Father spake audibly to the Son and gave him so loud a Testimony that he was his beloved Son in whom he was well pleased till he was upon the brink of strong Temptations * Mat. 3.17 Nor sent Angels to Minister immediately to his Person till after his success * Mat. 4.11 Job never had such evidences of Divine Love till after he had felt the sharp strokes of Satans Malice he had heard of God before by the hearing of the Ear but afterwards is admitted into greater familiarity * Job 42.5 He had more choice appearances clearer illuminations and more lively instructions And though his People fall into Temptation yet after their rising they have more signal Marks of his favour than others have or themselves before they fell Peter had been the Butt of Satans rage in tempting him to deny Christ and he had shamefully comply'd with the Temptation yet to him particularly must the first news of the Redeemers Resurrection be carried by Gods order in the mouth of an Angel * Mar. 16.7 Go your ways tell his Disciples and Peter We have the greatest Communion with God after a Victory The most refreshing truths after the Devil hath done his worst God is ready to furnish us with strength in a Combat and Cordials after it 4. The Goodness of God is seen in Temptations in discovering and advancing inward Grace by this means The issue of a Temptation of a Christian is often like that of Christs the manifesting a greater vigor of the Divine Nature in affections to God and enmity to Sin Spices perfume not the Air with their scent till they are invaded by the Fire the truth of Grace is evidenced by them The assault of an Enemy revives and actuates that Strength and Courage which is in a Man perhaps unknown to himself as well as others till he meets with an Adversary Many seem good not that they are so in themselves but for want of a Temptation This many times verifies a Vertue which was own'd upon trust before and discovers that we had more Grace than we thought we had The sollicitations of Josephs Mistress clear'd up his Chastity We are many times under Temptation as a Candle under the Snuffer it seems to be out but presently burns the clearer Afflictions are like those Clouds which look black and Eclips the Sun from the Earth but yet when they drop refresh that Ground they seem to threaten and multiply the Grain on the Earth to serve for our Food and so our troubles while they wet us to the Skin wash much of that dust from our Graces which in a clearer day had been blown upon us Too much rest Corrupts Exercise teacheth us to manage our Weapons The Spiritual Armour would grow rusty without opportunity to furbish it up Faith receives a new heart by every Combat and by every Victory like a Fire it spreads it self further
Oh Judah what shall I do unto thee 'T is an Addubitatio a figure in Rhetorick as if God were troubled that he must deal so sharply with them and give them up to their Enemies I have tried all means to reclaim you I have used all ways of kindness and nothing prevails What shall I do my Mercy invites me to spare them and their ingratitude provokes me to ruine them God had born with that people of Israel almost three hundred years from the setting up of the Calves at Dan and Bethel sent many a Prophet to warn them and spent many a rod to reform them And when he comes to execute his threatnings he doth it with a conflict in himself Hosea 11.8 How shall I give thee up Oh Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel As if there were a pull-back in his own Bowels he solemnizeth their approaching funeral with a hearty groan and takes his farewell of the dying Malefactor with a pang in himself How often in former times when he had sign'd a warrant for their Execution did he call it back Psal 78.38 Many a time turn'd he his anger away Many a time he recall'd or order'd his Anger to return again as the word signifies as if he were irresolute what to do He recall'd it as a man doth his Servant several times when he is sending him upon an unwelcome message or as a tender hearted Prince wavers and trembles when he is to sign a Writ for the death of a Rebel that hath been before his favorite as if when he had sign'd the Writ he blotted out his name again and flung away the Pen. And his method is remarkable when he came to punish Sodom though the cry of their sin had been fierce in his ears yet when he comes to make inquisition he declares his intention to Abraham as if he were desirous that Abraham should have helped him to some arguments to stop the outgoings of his judgment He gave liberty to the best person in the World to stand in the gap and enter into a treaty with him to shew saith one * Pierce sinner implead Pag. 227. how willingly his mercy would have compounded with his justice for their Redemption And Abraham interceded so long till he was ashamed for pleading the cause of patience and Mercy to the wrong of the rights of divine Justice Perhaps had Abraham had the courage to ask God would have had the compassion to grant a reprieve just at the time of Execution 2. His Patience is manifest in that when he begins to send out his judgments he doth it by degrees His Judgments are as the Morning Light which goes forth by degrees in the Hemisphere Hos 6.5 He doth not shoot all his thunders at once and bring his sharpest judgments in array at one time but gradually that a people may have time to turn to him Joel 1.4 First the Palmer-worm then the Locust then the Canker-worm then the Caterpillar What one left the other was to eat if there were not a timely return A Jewish Writer * Kimchi saith these judgments came not all in one year but one year after another The Palmer-worm and Locust might have eaten all but divine Patience set bounds to the devouring creatures God had been first as a moth to Israel Hos 5.12 Therefore will I be to the house of Ephraim as a Moth Rivet translates it I have been in the Hebr. 't is I without adding I have been or I will be and more probably I have been I was as a Moth which makes little holes in a garment and consumes it not all at once And as rottenness to the house of Judah or a worm that eats into wood by degrees Indeed this people had consum'd insensibly partly by civil combustions change of Governours Forreign Invasions yet they were as obstinate in their Idolatry as ever At last God would be no longer to them as a Moth but as a Lyon tear and go away ver 14. So Hos 2. God had disowned Israel for his Spouse ver 2. She is not my Wife neither am I her Husband yet he had not taken away her Ornaments which by the right of divorce he might have done but still expected her Reformation for that the threatning intimates ver 3. let her put away her Whoredom least I strip her naked and set her as in the day when she was born If she returned she might recover what she had lost if not she might be stript of what remained Thus God dealth with Judah Ezek. 9.3 The Glory of God goes first from the Cherub to the Thresh-hold of the house and stayes there as if he had a mind to be invited back again then it goes from the Threshold of the house and stands over the Cherubims as if upon a penitent call it would drop down again to its antient Station and Seat over which it hoverd Ezek. 10.18 And when he was not sollicited to return he departs out of the City and stood upon the Mountain which is on the East part of the City Ezek. 11.23 looking still towards and hovering about the Temple which was on the East of Jerusalem as if loath to depart and abandon the place and people He walkes so leasurely with his Rod in his hand as if he had a mind rather to fling it away than use it His Patience in not pouring out all his Vials is more remarkable than hiâ— wrath in pouring out one or two Thus hath God made his slowness to anger visible to us in the gradual punishment of us First the Pestilence on this City then Firing our Houses Consumption of Trade these have not been answered with such a carriage as God expects therefore a greater is reserved I dare prognosticate upon reasons you may gather from what hath been spoke before if I be not much mistaken the 40 yeares of his usual Patience are very near expired he hath inflicted some that he might be met with in a way of Repentance and omit with honour the inflicting the remainder 4. His Patience is manifest in moderating his judgments when he sends them Doth he empty his Quiver of his Arrows or exhaust his magazines of thunder No he could roul one Thunder-bolt successively upon all Mankind 'T is as easie with him to Create a perpetual motion of Lightning and Thunder as of the Sun and Stars and make the World as terrible by the one as it is delightful by the other He opens not all his store he sends out a light party to skirmish with men and puts not in array his whole Army He stirs not up all his wrath Psal 78.38 he doth but pinch where he might have torn asunder When he takes away much he leaves enough to support us If he had stirred up all his anger he had taken away all and our lives to boot He rakes up but a few sparks takes but one firebrand to fling upon men when he might discharge the whole Furnace upon them