other in its operations Is not this more admirable than to be the work of chance which is uncapable to settle such an order and fix particular and general ends causing an exact correspondency of all the parts with one another and every part to conspire together for one common end One thing is fitted for another The Eye is fitted for the Sun and the Sun fitted for the Eye Several sorts of food are fitted for several Creatures and those Creatures fitted with Organs for the partaking that food 1. Subserviency of Heavenly bodies * Lessius The Sun the heart of the world is not for it self but for the good of the World as the heart of man is for the good of the body How conveniently is the Sun placed at a distance from the Earth and the upper Heavens to enlighten the Stars above and enliven the Earth below If it were either higher or lower one part would want its influences T is not in the higher parts of the Heavens the Earth then which lives and fructifies by its influence would have been exposed to a perpetual Winter and chilness unable to have produced any thing for the sustenance of man or beast If seated lower the Earth had been parch'd up the world made uninhabitable and long since had been consumed to ashes by the strength of its heat Consider the motion as well as the Situation of the Sun Had it stood still one part of the World had been cherished by its beams and the other left in a desolate Widow-hood in a disconsolate darkness Besides the Earth would have had no shelter from its perpendicular beams striking perpetually and without any remission upon it The same incommodities would have followed upon its fixedness as upon its too great nearness By a constant day the beauty of the Stars had been obscured the knowledge of their motions been prevented and a considerable part of the Glorious wisdom of the Creator in those choice works of his fingers * Psal 8.3 had been vail'd from our eyes It moves in a fixed line visits all parts of the Earth scatters in the day its refreshing blessings in every creeke of the Earth and removes the mask from the other beauties of Heaven in the night which sparkle out to the glory of the Creator It spreads its Light warms the Earth cherisheth the Seeds excites the Spirit in the Earth and brings Fruit to maturity View also the Air the vast extent between Heaven and Earth which serves for a Water-course a Cistern for water to bedew the face of the Sun-burnt Earth to satisfie the desolate ground and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth * Job 38.25 27. Could Chance appoint the Clouds of the Air to interpose as fans between the scorching heat of the Sun and the faint bodies of the Creatures Can that be the Father of the Rain or beget the drops of dew * Job 38.28 Could any thing so blind settle those ordinances of Heaven for the preservation of Creatures on the Earth Can this either bring or stay the bottles of Heaven when the dust grows into hardness and the Clods cleave fast together * Job 38.37.38 2. Subserviency of the lower World the Earth and Sea which was Created to be inhabited Isa 45.18 The Sea affords water to the Rivers the Rivers like so many veins are spread through the whole body of the Earth to refresh and enable it to bring forth fruit for the sustenance of man and beast Psal 104.10.11 He sends the Springs into the Vallies which run among the Hills they give drink to every Beast of the Field the wild Asses quench their thirst He causes the Grass to grow for the Cattle and the herb for the service of man that he may bring forth food out of the Earth v. 14. The Trees are provided for shades against the extremity of heat a refuge for the panting beasts an habitation for Birds wherein to make their nests ver 17. and a Basket for their provision How are the Vallies and Mountains of the Earth disposed for the pleasure and profit of man Every year are the Feilds covered with Harvests for the nourishing the Creatures no part is Barren but beneficial to man The Mountains that are not cloathed with grass for his food are set with stones to make him an Habitation they have their peculiar services of metals and minerals for the conveniency and comfort and benefit of man Things which are not fit for his food are medicines for his cure under some painful sickness Where the Earth brings not forth Corn it brings forth Roots for the service of other Creatures Wood abounds more in those Countries where the cold is stronger than in others Can this be the result of Chance or not rather of an infinite Wisdom Consider the usefulness of the Sea for the supply of Rivers to refresh the Earth Which go up by the Mountains and down by the Vallies into the place God hath founded for them Psal 104.8 A store-house for fish for the nourishment of other Creatures a shop of Medicines for cure and Pearls for ornament The band that ties remote Nations together by giving opportunity of passage to and commerce with one another How should that natural inclination of the Sea to cover the Earth submit to this subserviency to the Creatures Who hath pounded in this fluid mass of Water in certain limits and confin'd it to its own Channel for the accommodation of such Creatures who by its common Law can only be upon the Earth Naturally the Earth was covered with the deep as with a Garment the waters stood above the Mountains Who set a bound that they might not pass over that they return not again to cover the Earth * Psa 104.6.9 Was it blind Chance or an Infinite Power that shut up the Sea with doors and made thick darkness a swadling band for it and said hitherto shall thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be staid * Job 38.8.9.11 All things are so ordered that they are not propter se but propter aliud What advantage accrues to the Sun by its unwearied rouling about the World Doth it increase the perfection of its nature by all its Circuits No but it serves the inferior world it impregnates things by its heat Not the most abject thing but hath its end and use There is a strait connexion the Earth could not bring forth fruit without the Heavens the Heavens could not water the Earth without vapours from it 3. All this Subserviency of Creatures centers in man Other Creatures are served by those things as well as our selves and they are provided for their nourishment and refreshment as well as ours * Amirald de Trinitate pa. 13. and pag. 18. yet both they and all Creatures meet in man as lines in their Centers Things that have no life or sense are made for those that have both life and
cap. 1. § 4. Who can behold the Sun rising in the morning the Moon shining in the night increasing and decreasing in its due spaces the Stars in their regular motions night after night for all ages and yet deny a President over them And this motion of the Heavenly bodies being contrary to the nature of other Creatures who move in order to rest must be from some higher cause But those ever since the setling in their places have been perpetually rounding the world * Whether it be the Sun or the Earth that moves it is all one Whence have either of them this constant and uniform motion What nature but one powerful and intelligent could give that perpetual motion to the Sun which being bigger than the Earth a hundred sixty six times runs many thousand miles with a mighty swiftness in the space of an hour with an unwearied diligence performing its dayly task and as a strong man rejoycing to run its race for above five thousand years together without intermission but in the time of Joshuah * Josh 10.13 T is not natures Sun but Gods Sun which he makes to rise upon the just and unjust * Mat. 5.45 So a Plant receives its nourishment from the Earth sends forth its juyce to every branch forms a bud which spreads it into a blossom and flower the leaves of this drop off and leave a fruit of the same colour and tast every year which being ripened by the Sun leaves seeds behind it for the propagation of its like which contains in the nature of it the same kind of buds blossoms fruit which were before and being nourished in the Womb of the Earth and quickened by the power of the Sun discovers it self at length in all the progresses and motions which its predecessor did Thus in all ages in all places every year it performs the same task spinns out fruit of the same colour tast vertue to refresh the several Creatures for which they are provided This setled state of things comes from that God who laid the foundations of the Earth that it should not be removed for ever * Psal 104.5 and set ordinances for them to act by a stated law * Job 38.33 according to which they move as if they understood themselves to have made a Covenant with their Creator * Jer. 33.20 3. Add to this union of contrary qualities and the subserviency of one thing to another the admirable variety and diversity of things in the World What variety of Metals living Creatures Plants what variety and distinction in the shape of their leaves flowers smell resulting from them Who can number up the several sorts of Beasts on the Earth Birds in the Air Fish in the Sea How various are their motions Some Creep some Go some Fly some Swim And in all this variety each Creature hath Organs or members fitted for their peculiar motion If you consider the multitude of Stars which shine like Jewels in the Heavens their different magnitudes Or the variety of colours in the Flowers and Tapestry of the Earth you could no more conclude they made themselves or were made by chance than you can imagine a peice of Arras with a diversity of figures and colours either wove it self or were knit together by hazzard How delicious is the sap of the Vine when turned into Wine above that of a Crab Both have the same Womb of Earth to conceive them both agree in the nature of Wood and Twigs as Channels to convay it into fruit What is that which makes the one so sweet the other so sower or makes that sweet which was a few weeks before unpleasantly sharp Is it the Earth No They both have the same soil the Branches may touch each other the strings of their Roots may under ground entwine about one another Is it the Sun both have the same beams Why is not the tast and colour of the one as gratifying as the other Is it the root The tast of that is far different from that of the fruit it bears Why do they not when they have the same Soil the same Sun and stand near one another borrow something from one anothers natures No reason can be rendred but that there is a God of infinite Wisdom hath determin'd this variety and bound up the nature of each Creature within it self * Amirald de Trinitate pa. 21. Everything follows the Law of its Creation and it is worthy observation that the Creator of them hath not given that power to Animals which arise from different species to propagate the like to themselves As Mules that arise from different species No reason can be rendred of this but the fixt determination of the Creator that those species which were Created by him should not be lost in those mixtures which are contrary to the Law of the Creation This cannot possibly be ascribed to that which is commonly called nature but unto the God of nature who will not have his Creatures exceed their bounds or come short of them Now since among those varieties there are somethings better than other yet all are good in their kind and partake of Goodness * Gen. 1.31 there must be something better and more execellent than all those from whom they derive that goodness which inheres in their nature and is communicated by them to others And this excellent Being must inherit in an eminent way in his own nature the goodness of all those varieties since they made not themselves but were made by another All that goodness which is scattered in those varieties must be infinitely concentred in that nature which distributed those various perfections to them Psal 94.9 He that Planted the Ear shall not he hear he that formed the Eye shall not he see he that teacheth Man knowledge shall not he know The Creator is greater than the Creature and whatsoever is in his effects is but an Impression of some excellency in himself There is therefore some cheif fountain of goodness whence all those various goodnesses in the world do flow From all this it follows if there be an Order and Harmony there must be an Orderer one that made the Earth by his Power established the world by his Wisdom and stretched out the Heavens by his Discretion Jer. 10.12 Order being the effect cannot be the cause of it self Order is the disposition of things to an end and is not intelligent but implies an intelligent Orderer And therefore it is as certain that there is a God as it is certain there is order in the world Order is an effect of Reason and Counsel this reason and Counsel must have its residence in some being before this order was fixed The things ordered are always distinct from that Reason and Counsel whereby they are ordered and also after it as the effect is after the cause No Man begins a peice of work but he hath the Model of it in his own mind No Man
that Gods acting by means doth rather strengthen his Essential Presence than weaken it since there is a necessary dependance of the Creatures upon the Creator in their Being and Acting and what they are they are by the Power of God what they act they act in the Power of God concurring with them they have their Motion in him as well as their Being and where the Power of God is his Essence is because they are inseparable and so this Omnipresence ariseth from the simplicity of the Nature of God the more vast any thing is the less confin'd All that will acknowledg God so great as to be able to work all things by his Will without an Essential Presence cannot imagine him upon the same reason so little as to be contain'd in and bounded by any place 3. Reason Because of his Supream Perfection No Perfection is wanting to God but an unbounded Essence is a Perfection a limited one is an Imperfection Tho' it be a Perfection in a man to be Wise yet it is an Imperfection that his Wisdom cannot rule all the things that concern him tho' it be a Perfection to be present in a place where his affairs lye yet is it his Imperfection that he cannot be present every where in the midst of all his Concerns if any man could be so it would be universally own'd as a prime Perfection in him above others Is that which would be a Perfection in man to be deny'd to God * Amyrald de Trinitat p. 74. 75. as that which hath life is more perfect than that which hath not life and that which hath sense is more perfect than that which hath only life as the Plants have and what hath reason is more perfect than that which hath only life and sense as the Beasts have so what is every where is more perfect than that which is bounded in some narrow confines if a Power of motion be more excellent than to be Bed-rid and swiftness in a Creature be a more excellent endowment than to be slow and Snail like Then to be every where without motion is unconceivably a greater excellency than to be every where successively by motion God sets forth his readiness to help his People and punish his Enemies or his Omnipresence by swiftness or flying upon the Wings of the Wind Psal 18.10 the Wind is in every part of the Air where it blows it cannot be said that it is in this or that Point of the Air where you feel it so as to exclude it from another part of the Air where you are not it seems to possess all at once If the Divine Essence had any bounds of place it would be imperfect as well as if it had bounds of time where any thing hath limitation it hath some defect in Being and therefore if God were confined or concluded he would be as good as nothing in regard of Infiniteness Whence should this restraint arise there is no Power above him to restrain him to a certain space if so then he would not be God but that power which restrained him would be God Not from his own nature for the being every where implies no contradiction to his nature if his own Nature determin'd him to a certain place then if he removed from that place he would act against his Nature to conceive any such thing of God is highly absurd It cannot be thought God should voluntarily impose any such restraint or confinement upon himself this would be to deny himself a Perfection he might have if God have not this Perfection it is either because it is inconsistent with his nature or because he cannot have it or because he will not The former cannot be for if he hath imprest upon Air and Light a resemblance of his Excellency to diffuse themselves and fill so vast a space Is such an Excellency inconsistent with the Creator more than the Creature whatsoever Perfection the Creature hath is eminently in God * Psal 94.8 9. Vnderstand O ye brutish among the people and ye fools when will you be wise He that planted the ear shall he not hear he that formed the eye shall he not see he that teacheth man knowledge shall not he know By the same reason he that hath given such a Power to those Creatures Air and Light shall not he be much more filling all spaces of the World 'T is so clear a Rule that the Psalmist fixes a folly and brutishness upon those that deny it 't is not therefore inconsistent with his Nature it were not then a Perfection but an Imperfection but whatsoever is an Excellency in Creatures cannot in a way of eminency be an Imperfection in God if it be then a Perfection and God want it 't is because he cannot have it Where then is his Power How can he be then the Fountain of his own Being If he will not where is his love to his own Nature and Glory since no Creature would deny that to it self which it can have and is an Excellency to it God therefore hath not only a Power or fitness to be every where but he is actually every where 4. Reason Because of his Immutability If God did not fill all the spaces of Heaven and Earth but only possess one yet it must be acknowledg'd that God hath a Power to move himself to another It were absurd to fix God in a part of the Heavens like a Star in an Orb without a power of motion to another place If he be therefore Essentially in Heaven may he not be upon the Earth if he please and transfer his Substance from one place to another to say he cannot is to deny him a Perfection which he hath bestow'd upon his Creatures the Angels his Messengers are sometimes in Heaven sometimes on the Earth the Eagles meaner Creatures are sometimes in the Air out of Sight sometimes upon the Earth If he doth move therefore and recede from one place and settle in another doth he not declare himself mutable by changing places by being where he was not before and in not being where he was before He would not fill Heaven and Earth at once but successively no man can be said to fill a Room that moves frome one part of a Room to another if therefore any in their imaginations stake God to the Heavens they render him less than his Creatures If they allow him a power of motion from one place to another they conceive him changeable and in either of them they own him no greater than a finite and limited Being limited to Heaven if they fix him there limited to that space to which they imagine him to move 5. Reason Because of his Omnipotency The Almightiness of God is a Notion setled in the minds of all That God can do whatsoever he pleases every thing that is not against the purity of his Nature and doth not imply a contradiction in its self he can therefore create Millions of Worlds greater
of his goodness and wisdom †Lessius Winds are fitted to purifie the Air to preserve it from Putrefaction to carry the Clouds to several parts to refresh the parched Earth and assist her Fruits And also to serve for the Commerce of one Nation with another by Navigation God in his wisdom and goodness walks upon the wings of the Wind Psal 104.3 ‖ Daille melan part 2. p. 472 473. Rivers are appointed to bathe the Ground and render it fresh and lively they fortifie Cities are the limits of Countreys serve for Commerce they are the Watring-pots of the Earth and the Vessels for Drink for the living Creatures that dwell upon the Earth God cut those Chanels for the wild Asses the Beasts of the Desart which are his Creatures as well as the rest Psal 104.10 12 13. Trees are appointed for the Habitations of Birds Shadows for the Earth Nourishment for the Creatures Materials for Building and Fuel for the relief of man against Cold. The Seasons of the Year have their use the Winter makes the Juice retire into the Earth fortifies Plants and fixes their Roots It moystens the Earth that was dried before by the heat of Summer and cleanseth and prepares it for a new fruitfulness The Spring calls out the Sap in new Leaves and Fruit The Summer consumes the superfluous moisture and produceth Nourishment for the Inhabitants of the World * Daille melang part 1. p. 477 c. The Day and Night have also their usefulness The Day gives Life to Labour and is a guide to Motion and Action Psal 104.23 The Sun ariseth man goeth forth to his labour until the Evening It warms the Air and quickens Nature without Day the World would be a Chaos an unseen Beauty The Night indeed casts a Vail upon the bravery of the Earth but it draws the Curtains from that of Heaven though it darkens below it makes us see the Beauty of the World above and discovers to us a glorious part of the Creation of God the Tapistry of Heaven and the Motion of the Stars hid from us by the eminent light of the Day It procures a Truce from Labour and refresheth the Bodies of Creatures by recruiting the Spirits which are scattered by watching It prevents the ruin of Life by a reparation of what was wasted in the Day It takes from us the sight of Flowers and Plants but it washeth their Face with Dews for a new Appearance next Morning The length of the Day and Night is not without a Mark of Wisdom were they of a greater length as the length of a Week or Month the one would too much dry and the other too much moisten and for want of Action the Members would be stupified The perpetual Succession of Day and Night is an Evidence of the Divine Wisdom in tempering the travel and rest of Creatures Hence the Psalmist tells us Psal 74.16 17. The day is thine and the night is thine thou hast prepared the light of the Sun and made Summer and Winter i. e. they are of God's framing not without a wise counsel and end Hence let us ascend to the Bodies of living Creatures and we shall find every Member fitted for use What a Curiosity is there in every Member Every one fitted to a particular use in their situation form temper and mutual agreement for the good of the whole The Eye to direct the Ear to receive Directions from others the Hands to act the Feet to move Every Creature hath Members fitted for that Element wherein it resides And in the Body some parts are appointed to change the Food into Blood others to refine it and others to distribute and convey it to several parts for the maintenance of the whole The Heart to mint vital Spirits for preserving Life and the Brain to coin Animal Spirits for Life and Motion the Lungs to serve for the cooling the Heart which else would be parcht as the ground in Summer The Motion of the Members of the Body by one act of the Will and also without the Will by a natural Instinct is an admirable Evidence of Divine Skill in the Structure of the Body so that well might the Psalmist cry out Psal 139.14 I am fearfully and wonderfully made But how much more of this Divine Perfection is seen in the Soul A Nature furnisht with a Faculty of Understanding to judge of things to gather in things that are distant and to reason and draw Conclusions from one thing to another with a Memory to treasure up things that are past with a Will to apply it self so readily to what the Mind judges fit and comely and fly so speedily from what it judges ill and hurtful The whole World is a Stage every Creature in it hath a part to act and a Nature suted to that part and end 't is design'd for and all concur in a joint Language to publish the Glory of Divine Wisdom they have a Voice to proclaim the Glory of God Psal 19.1 3. And it is not the least part of God's Skill in framing the Creatures so that upon Man's Obedience they are the Chanels of his Goodness and upon Man's Disobedience they can in their Natures be the Ministers of his Justice for the punishing of offending Creatures 4. Fourthly This Wisdom is apparent in the linking all these useful parts together so that one is subordinate to the other for a common end All parts are exactly suted to one another and every part to the whole though they are of different Natures as Lines distant in themselves yet they meet in one common Center the good and the preservation of the Universe they are all joynted together as the word translated framed * Heb. 11.3 signifies knit by fit Bands and Ligaments to contribute mutual Beauty Strength and Assistance to one another like so many Links of a Chain coupled together that though there be a distance in place there is a unity in regard of connexion and end there is a consent in the whole Hosea 2.21 22. The Heavens hear the Earth and the Earth hears the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl The Heavens communicate their qualities to the Earth and the Earth conveys them to the Fruits she bears †Dalle 15. Serm. p. 17◠The Air distributes Light Wind and Rain to the Earth the Earth and the Sea render to the Air Exhalations and Vapours and all together charitably give to the Plants and Animals that which is necessary for their nourishment and refreshment The Influences of the Heavens animate the Earth and the Earth affords matter in part for the Influences it receives from the Regions above Living Creatures are maintain'd by Nourishment Nourishment is conveyed to them by the Fruits of the Earth the Fruits of the Earth are produced by means of Rain and Heat Matter for Rain and Dew is raised by the heat of the Sun and the Sun by its motion distributes heat and quickning vertue to all parts of
sense and those that have life and sense are made for those that are endued with reason When the Psalmist admiringly considers the Heavens Moon and Starrs he intimates man to be the end for which they were Created Psal 8.3 4. What is man that thou art mindful of him He expresseth more particularly the Dominion that Man hath over the beasts of the field the fowl of the Air and whatsoever passes through the paths of the Sea vers 6.7.8 and concludes from thence the excellency of Gods Name in all the Earth All things in the World one way or other Center in an usefulness for man some to feed him some to clothe him some to delight him others to instruct him some to exercise his wit and others his strength Since man did not make them he did not also order them for his own use If they conspire to serve him who never made them they direct man to acknowledge an other who is the joynt Creator both of the Lord and the Servants under his Dominion And therefore as the inferior natures are ordered by an invisible hand for the good of man so the nature of man is by the same hand ordered to acknowledge the Existence and the glory of the Creator of him This visible order man knows he did not constitute he did not settle those Creatures in subserviency to himself they were placed in that order before he had any acquaintance with them or Existence of himself which is a question God puts to Job to consider of Job 38.4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the Earth declare if thou hast understanding All is ordered for Mans use the Heavens answer to the Earth as a roof to a floor both composing a delightful habitation for man vapors ascend from the Earth and the Heaven concocts them and returns them back in welcome showers for the supplying of the Earth * Jer. 10.13 The light of the Sun descends to beautifie the Earth and imploys its heat to midwife its fruits and this for the good of the community whereof Man is the head and though all Creatures have distinct natures and must act for particular ends according to the Law of their Creation yet there is a joynt combination for the good of the whole as the common end just as all the Rivers in the world from what part soever they come whether North or South fall into the Sea for the supply of that mass of waters which loudly proclaims some infinitely wise nature who made those things in so exact an harmony * Morn de verit cap. 1. pag. 7. As in a Clock the hammer which strikes the bell leads us to the next Wheel that to another the little wheel to a greater whence it derives its motion this at last to the spring which acquaints us that there was some Artist that framed them in this subordination to one another for this orderly motion 4. This order or Subserviency is regular and uniforme Every thing is determined to its peculiar nature * Amiraut The Sun and Moon make day and night months and years determine the seasons never are defective in coming back to their station and place they wander not from their Roads shock not against one another nor hinder one another in the functions assigned them From a small grain or seed a Tree springs with body root bark leaves fruit of the same shape figure smell tast that there should be as many parts in one as in all of the same kind and no more and that in the Womb of a sensitive Creature should be formed one of the same kind with all the due members and no more and the Creature that produceth it knows not how it is formed or how t is perfected If we say this is nature this nature is an intelligent being if not how can it direct all causes to such uniforme ends If it be intelligent this nature must be the same we call God Who ordered every herb to yeild seed and every fruit-Tree to yeild fruit after its kind and also every Beast and every creeping thing after its kind Gen. 11 12 24. And every thing is determined to its particular season The sap riseth from the Root at its appointed time enlivening and cloathing the branches with a new Garment at such a time of the Suns returning not wholly hindered by any accidental coldness of the weather it being often colder at its return than it was at the Suns departure All things have their Seasons of flourishing budding blossoming bringing forth fruit they ripen in their seasons cast their leaves at the same time throw off their old cloaths and in the spring appear with new Garments but still in the same fashion * Coccei sum Theol. cap. 8. § 77. The Winds and the Rain have their seasons and seem to be administred by laws for the profit of man No satisfactory cause of those things can be ascribed to the Earth the Sea to the Air or Stars Can any understand the spreading of his clouds or the noise of his Tabernacle Job 38.29 The natural reason of those things cannot be demonstrated without recourse to an infinite and intelligent being Nothing can be rendred capable of the direction of those things but a God This regularity in Plants and Animals is in all Nations The Heavens have the same motion in all parts of the world all men have the same Law of nature in their mind all Creatures are stampt with the same law of Creation In all parts the same Creatures serve for the same use and though there be different Creatures in India and Europe yet they have the same subordination the same subserviency to one another and ultimately to man which shows that there is a God and but one God who tunes all those different strings to the same notes in all places Is it nature meerly conducts these natural causes in due measures to their proper effects without interfering with one another Can meer nature be the cause of those musical proportions of time You may as well conceive a Lute to sound its own strings without the hand of an Artist a City well Governed without a Governor an Army keep its Stations without a General as imagine so exact an order without an Orderer Would any Man when he hears a Clock strike by sit intervals the hour of the day imagine this regularity in it without the direction of one that had understanding to manage it He would not only regard the motion of the Clock but commend the diligence of the Clock-Keeper 5. This order and Subserviency is constant Children change the customes and manners of their Fathers Magistrats change the Laws they have received from their Ancestors and enact new ones in their room But in the world all things consist as they were created at the beginning The Law of nature in the Creatures hath met with no change * Petav. ex Athanas Tâ—eol Dog tom 1. lib. 1.
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
to do a dishonest action in the sight of a grave and holy man one of great reputation for Wisdom and Integrity how much more should we lift up our selves in the ways of God who is Infinite and Immense is every where and infinitely superior to man and more to be regarded We could not seriously think of his Presence but there would pass some entercourse between us we should be putting up some Petition upon the sense of our Indigence or sending up our Praises to him upon the sense of his Bounty The actual thoughts of the Presence of God is the Life and Spirit of all Religion we could not have sluggish Spirits and a careless Watch if we consider'd that his Eye is upon us all the day 3. It will quell Distractions in Worship The actual thoughts of this would establish our thoughts and pull them back when they begin to rove The mind could not boldly give God the slip if it had lively thoughts of it the consideration of this would blow off all the Froth that lies on the top of our Spirits An eye taken up with the presence of one object is not at leisure to be fill'd with another He that looks intently upon the Sun shall have nothing for a while but the Sun in his Eye Oppose to every intruding Thought the Idea of the Divine Omnipresence and put it to silence by the awe of his Majesty When the Master is present Scholars mind their Books keep their Places and run not over the Forms to play with one another The Masters Eye keeps an idle Servant to his Work that otherwise would be gazing at every Straw and prating to every Passenger How soon would the remembrance of this dash all extravagant fancies out of Countenance just as the News of the approach of a Prince would make the Courtiers bustle up themselves huddle up their vain sports and prepare themselves for a Reverent Behaviour in his sight We should not dare to give God a piece of our heart when we apprehended him present with the whole we should not dare to mock one that we knew were more inwards with us than we are with our selves and that beheld every motion of our mind as well as action of our body 2. Let us endeavour for the more special and influential Presence of God Let the Essential Presence of God be the ground of our Awe and his gracious influential Presence the Object of our Desire The Heathen thought themselves secure if they had their little petty Houshold-Gods with them in their Journeys such seem to be the Images Rachel stole from her Father Gen. 31.19 to company her Travel with their Blessings she might not at that time have cast off all respect to those Idols in the acknowledgment of which she had been Educated from her Infancy and they seem to be kept by her till God called Jacob to Bethel after the Rape of Dinah Gen. 35.4 when Jacob called for the strange Gods and hid them under the Oak The â—â—â—â—cious Presence of God we should look after in our actions as Travellers that 〈◊〉 a Charge of Money or Jewels desire to keep themselves in Company that may protect them from High-way men that would rifle them Since we have the concerns of the Eternal Happiness of our Souls upon our hands we should endeavour to have Gods Merciful and Powerful Presence with us in all our ways Psal 14 In all thy ways acknowledg him and he shall direct thy Paths acknowledg him before any action by imploring acknowledg him after by rendring him the Glory acknowledg his Presence before Worship in Worship after Worship 'T is this Presence makes a kind of Heaven upon Earth causeth affliction to put off the nature of misery How much will the Presence of the Sun out-shine the Stars of lesser Comforts and fully answer the want of them The Ark of God going before us can only make all things successful It was this led the Israelites over Jordan and setled them in Canaan Without this we signify nothing tho' we live without this we cannot be distinguisht for ever from Devils his Essential Presence they have and if we have no more we shall be no better 'T is the enlivening fructifying presence of the Sun that revives the languishing Earth and this only can repair our ruin'd Soul Let it be therefore our desire That as he fills Heaven and Earth by his Essence he may fill our Understandings and Wills by his Grace that we may have another kind of Presence with us than Animals have in their brutish state or Devils in their Chains His Essential Presence maintains our Beings but his gracious Presence confers and continues a Happiness A DISCOURSE UPON Gods Knowledg Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great Power his Vnderstanding is Infinite 'T IS uncertain who was the Author of this Psalm and when it was Penn'd some think after the return from the Babylonish Captivity 'T is a Psalm of Praise and is made up of matter of Praise from the beginning to the end Gods benefits to the Church his Providence over his Creatures the Essential excellency of his Nature The Psalmist doubles his Exhortation to Praise God v. 1. Praise ye the Lord sing Praise to our God to praise him from his Dominion as Lord from his Grace and Mercy as our God from the Excellency of the Duty it self 't is good 't is comely some read it comely some lovely or desirable from the various derivation of the Word Nothing doth so much delight a gracious Soul as an opportunity of Celebrating the Perfections and Goodness of the Creator The highest Duties a Creature can render to the Creator are pleasant and delight-lightful in themselves 't is comely Praise is a Duty that affects the whole Soul The Praise of God is a decent thing the Excellency of Gods nature deserves it and the Benefits of Gods grace requires it 'T is comely when done as it ought to be with the Heart as well as with the Voice a Sinner Sings ill tho' his Voice be good the Soul in it is to be elevated above Earthly things The first matter of Praise is Gods erecting and preserving his Church v. 2. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem he gathers together the out-casts of Israel The Walls of demolish'd Jerusalem are now re-edified God hath brought back the Captivity of Jacob and reduced his People from their Babylonish Exile and those that were disperst into strange Regions he hath restor'd to their Habitations Or it may be Prophetick of the calling of the Gentiles and the gathering the out-casts of the Spiritual Israel that were before as without God in the World and strangers to the Covenant of Promise Let God be praised but especially for Building up his Church and gathering the Gentiles before counted as out-casts * Isaâ— 11.12 he gathers them in this World to the Faith and hereafter to Glory Obs 1. From the two first Verses observe 1.
All People are under Gods Care but he has a particular regard to his Church This is the Signet on his hand as a Bracelet upon his arm this is his Garden which he delights to dress if he prunes it it is to purge it if he Digs about his Vine and wounds the Branches 't is to make it more Beautiful with new Clusters and restore it to a fruitful Vigour 2. All great deliverances are to be ascrib'd to God as the principal Author whosoever are the Instruments The Lord doth build up Jerusalem he gathers together the outâ—â—â—s of Israel This great deliverance from Babylon is not to be ascrib'd to Cyrus or Darius or the rest of our favourers 't is the Lord that doth it we had his Promise for it we have now his Performance Let us not ascribe that which is the effect of his Truth only to the good Will of men 't is Gods act not by Might nor by Power nor by Weapons of War or strength of Horses but by the Spirit of the Lord. He sent Prophets to comfort us while we were exiles and now he hath stretched out his own Arm to work our deliverance according to his Word blind man looks so much upon Instruments that he hardly takes notice of God either in Afflictions or Mercies and this is the cause that robs God of so much Prayer and Praise in the World Verse 3. He heals the broken in heart and binds up their Wounds He hath now restored those who had no hope but in his Word he hath dealt with them as a tender and skilful Chirurgeon he hath applyed his curing Plaisters and dropped in his Soveraign Balsams he hath now furnisht our fainting hearts with refreshing Cordials and comforted our Wounds with strengthning Ligatures How gracious is God that restores Liberty to the Captives and Righteousness to the Penitent mans misery is the fittest opportunity for God to make his Mercy illustrious in it self and most welcome to the Patient He proceeds verse 4. Wonder not that God calls together the out-casts and singles them out from every corner for a return why can he not do this as well as tell the number of the Stars and call them all by their Names Ver. 4. There are none of his People so despicable in the eye of man but they are known and regarded by God tho' they are clouded in the World yet they are the Stars of the World and shall God number the inanimate Stars in the Heavens and make no account of his living Stars on the Earth no wherever they are dispersed he will not forget them however they are afflicted he will not despise them the Stars are so numerous that they are innumerable by man some are visible and known by men others lie more hid and undiscovered in a confused Light as those in the Milky-way man cannot see one of them distinctly God knows all his People As he can do what is above the power of man to perform so he understands what is above the skill of man to discover shall man measure God by his scantiness Proud man must not equal himself to God nor cut God as short as his own Line He tells the number of the Stars and calls them all by their Names He hath them all in his List as Generals the Names of their Soldiers in their Muster-Roll for they are his Host which he Marshals in the Heavens as Isa 40.26 where you have the like Expression he knows them more distinctly than man can know any thing and so distinctly as to call them all by their Names He knows their Names that is their natural offices influences the different degrees of heat and light their order and motion and all of them the least glimmering Star as well as the most glaring Planet this man cannot do Tell the Stars if thou be able to number them Gen. 15.5 saith God to Abraham whom Josephus represents as a great Astronomer yea they cannot be numbred Jer. 33.22 and the uncertainty of the Opinions of men evidenceth their ignorance of their number some reckoning 1022 others 1025 others 1098 others 7000 besides those that by reason of their mixture of Light with one another cannot be distinctly discern'd and others perhaps so high as not to be reach'd by the eye of man To impose Names on things and Names according to their Natures is both an Argument of Power and Dominion and of Wisdom and Understanding from the imposition of Names upon the Creatures by Adam the Knowledg of Adam is generally concluded and it was also a fruit of that Dominion God allowed him over the Creatures Now he that Numbers and Names the Stars that seem to lie confus'd among one another as well as those that appear to us in an unclouded Night may well be suppos'd accurately to know his People tho' lurking in secret Caverns and know those that are fit to be Instruments of their deliverance the one is as easy to him as the other and the Number of the one as distinctly known by him as the Multitude of the other For great is our Lord and of great Power his Vnderstanding is Infinite Ver. 5. He wants not Knowledg to know the objects nor Power to effect his Will concerning them Of great Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Much Power plenteous in Power so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is rendred Psal 5.15 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a multitude of Power as well as a multitude of Mercy a Power that exceeds all Created Power and Understanding His Vnderstanding is Infinite You may not imagine how he can call all the Stars by Name the multitude of the visible being so great and the multitude of the invisible being greater but you must know that as God is Almighty so he is Omniscient and as there is no end of his Power so no account can exactly be given of his Understanding His Vnderstanding is Infinite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 No number or account of it and so the same Words are rendred Joel 1.6 a Nation strong and without number No end of his Understanding Syriack no measure no bounds †His Essence is Infinite and so is his Power and Understanding and so vast is his Knowledg that we can no more comprehend it than we can measure spaces that are without limits or tell the minutes or hours of Eternity Who then can fathom that whereof there is no number but which exceeds all so that there is no searching of it out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he knows Universals he knows Particulars We must not take understanding here as noting a faculty but the use of the understanding in the knowledg of things and the Judgment in the consideration of them and so it is often used In the Verse there is a description of God 1. In his Essence great is our Lord. 2. In his Power of great Power 3. In his Knowledg his Vnderstanding is Infinite his Understanding is his Eye
crucis Lib. 3 cap. 7. p. 211. It is not like the Union of Stones in a Building or of two pieces of Timber fastned together which touch one anotâ—er only in their Superficies and outside without any intimacy with one another By such a kind of Union God would not be man The Word could â—ot so be made Flesh Nor is it a Union of Parts to the whole as the Members and the Body the Members are Parts the Body is the whole for the whole results from the Parts and depends upon the Parts But Christ being God is independent upon any thing The parts are in order of Nature before the whole but nothing can be in order of Nature before God Nor is it as the Union of two Liquors as when Wine and Water are mixed together for they are so Incorporated as not to be distinguish'd from one another no man can tell which Particle is Wine and which is Water But the Properties of the Divine Nature are distinguishable from the Properties of the Humane Nor is it as the Union of the Soul and Body so as that the Deity is the form of the Humanity as the Soul is the form of the Body For as the Soul is but a part of the Man so the Divinity would be then but a part of the Humanity as a Form or the Soul is in a state of Imperfection without that which it is to inform so the Divinity of Christ would have been Imperfect till it had assumed the Humanity And so the perfection of an Eternal Deity would have depended on a Creature of Time This Union of two Natures in Christ is incomprehensible And it is a mystery we cannot arrive to the top of How the Divine Nature which is the same with that of the Father and the Holy Ghost should be united to the Human Nature without its being said that the Father and the Holy Ghost were united to the Flesh but the Scripture doth not encourage any such Notion It speaks only of the Word the Person of the Word being made Flesh And in his being made Flesh distinguisheth him from the Father as the only begotten of the Father Joh. 1.14 The Person of the Son was the term of this Union 1. This Vnion doth not confound the Properties of the Deity and those of the Humanity They remain distinct and entire in each other The Deity is not changed into Flesh nor the Flesh transform'd into God They are distinct and yet united They are conjoined and yet unmixt The Dues of either Nature are preserved 'T is impossible that the Majesty of the Divinity can receive an alteration 'T is as impossible that the meaness of the Humanity can receive the Impressions of the Deity so as to be changed into it and a creature be metamorphos'd into the Creator and Temporary Flesh become Eternal and Finite mount up into Infinity As the Soul and Body are united and make one Person yet the Soul is not changed into the perfections of the Body nor the Body into the perfections of the Soul There is a change made in the Humanity by being advanced to a more Excellent Union but not in the Diety as a change is made in the Air when it is enlightned by the Sun not in the Sun which communicates that brightness to the Air. Athanasius makes the burning Bush to be a type of Christs Incarnation Exod. 3.2 The Fire signifying the Divine Nature and the Bush the human The Bush is a branch springing up from the Earth and the Fire descends from Heaven as the Bush was united to the Fire yet was not hurt by the slame nor converted into Fire there remained a difference between the Bush and the Fire yet the properties of the Fire shined in the Bush so that the whole Bush seemed to be on Fire So in the Incarnation of Christ the Human Nature is not swallowed up by the Divine nor changed into it nor confounded with it But so united that the properties of both remain firme Two are so become one that they remain two still One person in Two Natures containing the glorious perfections of the Divine and the weaknesses of the Humane The fulness of the Deity dwels bodily in Christ Col. 2.9 2. The Divine Nature is vnited to every part of the Humanity The whole Divinity to the whole Humanity so that no part but may be said to be the Member of God as well as the Blood is said to be the Blood of God Acts 20.28 By the same reason it may be said the Hand of God the Eye of God the Arm of God As God is infinitely present every where so as to be excluded from no place so is the Deity hypostatically every where in the Humanity not excluded from any part of it As the light of the Sun in every part of the Air as a sparkling splendor in every part of the Diamond Therefore it is concluded by all that acknowledge the Deity of Christ that when his Soul was separated from the Body the Deity remained united both to Soul and Body as light doth in every part of a broken Christal 3. Therefore perpetually united Coloss 2.9 The fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily It Dwels in him not lodges in him as a Traveller in an Inn It resides in him as a fixed habitation As God describes the perpetuity of his presence in the Ark by his habitation or dwelling in it Exod. 29.44 so doth the Apostle the inseparable duration of the Deity in the Humanity and the indissoluble Union of the Humanity with the Deity It was united on Earth it remains united in Heaven It was not an Image or an Apparition as the Tongues wherein the Spirit came upon the Apostles were a Temporary Representation not a thing united perpetually to the person of the Holy Ghost 4. It was a personal Vnion It was not an union of persons though it was a personal union So Davenant expounds Col. 2.9 Christ did not take the Person of Man but the Nature of Man into subsistence with himself The Body and Soul of Christ were not united in themselves had no subsistence in themselves till they were united to the Person of the Son of God If the Person of a Man were united to him the Human Nature would have been the Nature of the Person so united to him and not the Nature of the Son of God Heb. 2.14 16. Forasmuch then as the Children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil For verily he took not on him the nature of Angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham He took flesh and blood to be his own Nature perpetually to subsist in the Person of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which must be by a Personal Union or no way The Deity united to the Humanity and both Natures to be one Person This
and effect it you would not call the Straw an Instrument in that action because there was nothing in the nature of the Straw to do it It was done wholly by some other force which might have done it as well without the Straw as with it The narrative of the Creation in Genesis removes any Instrument from God The Plants which are preserved and propagated by the influence of the Sun were created the Day before the Sun viz. on the Third day whereas the Light was collected into the body of the Sun on the Fourth day * Gen. 1.11 16. to shew that though the Plants do instrumentally owe their yearly beauty and preservation to the Sun yet they did not in any manner owe their Creation to the the Instrumental heat and vigour of it 2. God created the World by a Word by a simple Act of his Will The whole Creation is wrought by a Word Gen. 1.3 5 c. throughout the whole Chapter God said Let there be Light and God said Let there be a Firmament Not that we should understand it of a sensible Word but to express the easiness of this operation to God as easie as a word to Man We must understand it of a Powerful order of his own Will which is exprest by the Psalmist in the nature of a Command Psal 33.9 He spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast and Psal 148.5 He commanded and they were created At the same instant that he willed them to stand forth they did stand forth The efficacious Command of the Creator was the Original of All things he insensibility of Nothing obeyed the act of his Will Creation is therefore enituled a Calling Rom. 4.17 He calls those things which are not as if they were To Create is no more with God than to Call and what he calls presents it self before him in the same posture that he calls it He did with more ease make a World than we can form a Thought 'T is the same ease to him to create Worlds as to decree them There needs no more than a Resolve to have things wrought at such a time and they will be according to his pleasure This Will is his Power Let there be light is the Precept of his Will and there was light is the effect of his Precept By a Word was the Matter of the Heavens and the Earth framed By a Word Things separate themselves from the rude Mass into their proper Forms By a Word Light associates it self into one body and forms a Sun By a Word are the Heavens as it were bespangled with Stars and the Earth drest with Flowers By a Word is the World both ceil'd and floor'd One act of his Will formed the World and perfected its beauty All the variety and several exploits of his Power were not caused by distinct Words or Acts of Power God utter'd not distinct Words for distinct Species as let there be an Elephant and let there be a Lion but as he produced those various Creatures out of one Matter so by one Word By one single Command those varieties of Creatures with their Clothing Ornaments distinct Notes Qualities Functions were brought forth Gen. 1.11 By one Word all the Seeds of the Earth with their various Virtues By one Word Gen 1.20 all the Fish of the Sea and Fowls of the Air in their distinct Natures Instincts Gen. 1.24 Colours By one Word all the Beasts of the Field with their varieties †August Heaven and Earth Spiritual and Corporeal Creatures Mortal and Immortal the Greater and the Less Visible and Invisible were formed with the same ease A Word made the Least and a Word made the Greatest 'T is as little difficulty to him to produce the highest Angel as the lightest Atom 'T is enough for the existence of the slateliest Cherubim for God only to will his Being It was enough for the forming and fixing the Sun to will the compacting of Light into one Body Gen. 2.7 The creation of the Soul of Man is exprest by Inspiration To shew that it is as easie with God to create a Rational Soul as for Man to breath * Theodoret. Breathing is natural to Man by a communication of Gods goodness and the creation of the Soul is as easie to God by virtue of his Almighty Word As there was no proportion between Nothing and Being so there was as little proportion between a Word and such glorious Effects A meer Voice coming from an Omnipotent Will was capable to produce such Varieties which Angels and Men have seen in all Ages of the World and this without weariness What labour is there in Willing what pain could there be in speaking a Word Isai 40.28 The Creator of the ends of the Earth is not weary And though he be said to Rest after the Creation 't is to be meant a Rest from work not a repose from weariness So great is the Power of God that without any Matter without any Instruments he could create many Worlds and with the same ease as he made this 4. I might add also the appearance of this Power in the Instantaneous production of things The ending of his Word was not only the beginning but the perfection of every thing he spake into Being not several Words to several parts and Members but one Word one breath of his Mouth one act of his Will to the whole species of the Creatures and to every Member in each Individual Heaven and Earth were created in a moment Six days went to their disposal and that comly Order we observe in the World was the work of a Week The Matter was formed as soon as God had spoken the word and in every part of the Creation as soon as God spake the word Let it be so the answer immediately is Gen. 1. It was so which notes the present standing up of the Creature according to the act of his Will And therefore †Peiâ—s p. 111. One observes that Let there be light and there was light in the Hebrew are the same words without any alteration of Letter or Point only the conjunctive Particle added 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let there be light and let there be light to shew that the same instant of the speaking the Divine word was the appearance of the Creature So great was the Authority of his Will 2. We are to shew Gods Power in the Government of the World As God decreed from Eternity the Creation of things in time so he decreed from Eternity the particular ends of Creatures and their operations respecting those ends Now as there was need of his Power to execute his Decree of Creation there is also need of his Power to execute his Decree about the manner of Government ‖ Suarez Vol. 1. lib 3. cap. 10. All Government is an act of the Understanding Will and Power Prudence to design belongs to the Understanding the election of the
in the Womb the Miracles that he wrought were by the Power of the Spirit in him Power is a Title belonging to him and sometimes both are put together 1 Thess 1.5 and other places And that great Power of changing the Heart and sanctifying a polluted Nature a work greater than Creation is frequently acknowledged in the Scripture to be the peculiar act of the Holy Ghost The Father Son Spirit are one Principle in Creation Resurrection and all the Works of Omnipotence 3. Inference from the Doctrine The Blessedness of God is hence evidenc'd If God be Almighty he can want nothing all want speaks Weakness If he doth what he will he cannot be miserable all Misery consists in those things which happen contrary to our will There is nothing can hinder his Happiness because nothing can resist his Power Since he is Omnipotent nothing can hurt him nothing can strip him of what he hath of what he is †Sal unde Tit. 39. If he can do whatsoever he will he cannot want any thing that he wills He is as happy as great as glorious as he will for he hath a perfect liberty of Will to will and a perfect Power to attain what he will His Will cannot be restrained nor his Power mated It would be a defect in Blessedness to Will what he were not able to do Sorrow is the result of a want of Power with a presence of Will * Pont. Part 6. med 16. p 531. If he could Will any thing which he could not effect he would be miserable and no longer God He can do whatsoever he pleases and therefore can want nothing that pleases him He cannot be happy the original of whose Happiness is not in himself Nothing can be infinitely happy that is limited and bounded 4. Hence is a ground for the Immutability of God As he is uncapable of changing his Resolves because of his Infinite Wisdom so he is uncapable of being forced to any Change because of his Infinite Power Being Almighty He can be no more chang'd from Power to Weakness than being All-wise He can be chang'd from Wisdom to Folly or being Omniscient from Knowledge to Ignorance He cannot be alter'd in his Purposes because of his Wisdom nor in the manner and method of his Actions because of his Infinite strength Men indeed when their Designs are laid deepest and their Purposes stand firmest yet are forced to stand still or change the manner of the execution of their Resolves by reason of some outward Accidents that obstruct them in their course for having not Wisdom to foresee future hindrances they have not power to prevent them or strength to remove them when they unexpectedly interpose themselves between their desire and performance But no created Power has strength enough to be a bar against God By the same act of his Will that he resolves a thing He can puff away any Impediments that seem to rise up against him He that wants no Means to effect his Purposes cannot be check'd by any thing that riseth up to stand in his way Heaven Earth Sea the deepest places are too weak to resist his Will †Psal 135.6 The Purity of the Angels will not and the Devils Malice cannot frustrate his Will the one voluntarily obeys the beck of his hand and the other are vanquisht by the Power of it What can make him change his Purposes who if he please can dash the Earth against the Heavens in the twinkling of an Eye untying the World from its Center clap the Stars and Elements together into one Mass and blow the whole Creation of Men and Devils into Nothing Because he is Almighty therefore he is Immutable 5. Hence is inferred the Providence of God and his Government of the World His Power as well as his Wisdom gives him a right to Govern Nothing can equal him therefore nothing can share the Command with him since All things are his Works 't is fittest they should be under His Order He that frames a work is fittest to guide and govern it God hath the most Right to Govern because he hath Knowledge to direct his Power and Power to execute the Results of his Wisdom He knows what is convenient to order and hath Strength to effect what he orders As his Power would be oppressive without Goodness and Wisdom so his Goodness and Wisdom would be fruitless without Power An Artificer that hath lost his Hands may direct but cannot make an Engine A Pilot that hath lost his Arms may advise the way of Steerage but cannot hold the Helm something is wanting in him to be a compleat Governour But since both Counsel and Power are Infinite in God hence results an Infinite Right to Govern and an Infinite Fitness because his Will cannot be resisted his Power cannot be enfeebled or diminish'd he can quicken and increase the strength of all Means as he pleases He can hold all things in the World together and preserve them in those Functions wherein he setled them and conduct them to those ends for which he design'd them Every Artificer the more Excellent he is and the more Excellency of Power appears in his work is the more careful to maintain and cherish it Those that deny Providence do not only ravish from him the bowels of his Goodness but strip him of a main exercise of his Power and engender in Men a suspicion of Weariness and Feebleness in him as though his strength had been spent in making them that none is left to guide them They would make him Headless in regard of his Wisdom and Bowelless in regard of his Goodness and Armless in regard of his Strength If he did not or were not able to preserve and provide for his Creatures his Power in making them would be in a great part an Invisible Power if he did not preserve what he made and govern what he preserves it would be a kind of strange and rude Power to make and suffer it to be dasht in pieces at the pleasure of others If the Power of God should relinquish the World the life of things would be extinguisht the Fabrick would be confounded and fall into a deplorable Chaos That which is composed of so many various pieces could not maintain its Union if there were not a secret virtue binding them together and maintaining those varieties of links Well then since God is not only so Good that he cannot will any thing but what is good so Wise that he cannot erre or mistake but also so Able that he cannot be defeated or maâ—ed He hath every way a full Ability to govern the World where those Three are Infinite the right and fitness resulting from thence is unquestionable And indeed to deny God this Active part of his Power is to render him Weak Foolish Cruel or all 6. Here is a ground for the Worship of God Wisdom and Power are the grounds of the Respect we give to Men they being both infinite in God
2. Readiness to exercise it upon due occasions He hath prepared his Throne he is not at a loss he needs not stay for a Commission or Instructions from any how to act He hath all things ready for the assistance of his People he hath Rewards and Punishments his Treasures and Axes the great marks of Authority lying by him the one for the good the other for the wicked His Mercy he keeps by him for Thousands Exod. 34.7 His Arrows he hath prepared by him for Rebels Psal 7.13 3. Wise management of it 'T is prepared preparations imply prudence the Government of God is not a rash and heady Authority A Prince upon his Throne a Judge upon the Bench manages things with the greatest discretion or should be supposed so to do 4. Successfulness and duration of it He hath prepared or Established 'T is fixed not tottering 't is an immoveable Dominion all the strugglings of Men and Devils cannot overturn it nor so much as shake it 'T is Established above the reach of obstinate Rebels he cannot be deposed from it he cannot be mated in it His Dominion as himself abides for ever And as his Counsel so his Authority shall stand and he will do all his pleasure Isaiah 46.10 His Throne in the Heavens This is an expression to signifie the Authority of God for as God hath no member properly though he be so represented to us so he hath properly no Throne It signifies his power of Reigning and Judging A Throne is proper to Royalty the Seat of Majesty in its excellency and the place where the deepest respect and homage of Subjects is paid and their Petitions presented That the Throne of God is in the Heavens that there he sits as a Soveraign is the opinion of all that acknowledge a God when they stand in need of his Authority to assist them their eyes are lifted up and their heads stretched out to Heaven so his Son Christ prayed he lifted up his Eyes to Heaven as the place where his Father sat in Majesty as the most adorable object John 17.1 Heaven hath the Title of his Throne as the Earth hath that of his Footstool Isaiah 66.1 And therefore Heaven is sometimes put for the Authority of God Dan. 4.26 After that thou shalt have known that the Heavens do rule i. e. That God who hath his Throne in the Heavens orders earthly Princes and Scepters as he pleases and rules over the Kingdoms of the World His Throne in the Heavens Notes 1. The Glory of his Dominion The Heavens are the most stately and comely peices of the Creation His Majesty is there most visible his glory most splendid Psal 19.1 The Heavens speak out with a full mouth his Glory 'T is therefore called the Habitation of his Holiness and of his Glory Isaiah 63.15 There is the greater glister and brightness of his Glory The whole Earth indeed is full of his Glory full of the beams of it the Heaven is full of the body of it as the rayes of the Sun reach the Earth but the full Glory of it is in the Firmament In Heaven his Dominion is more acknowledged by the Angels standing at his beck and by their readiness and swiftness obeying his Commands going and returning as a flash of lightning Ezek. 1.14 His Throne may well be said to be in the Heavens since his Dominion is not disputed there by the Angels that attend him as it is on Earth by the Rebels that arm themselves against him 2. The Supremacy of his Empire The Heavens are the loftiest part of the Creation and the only fit Palace for him 't is in the Heavens his Majesty and Dignity are so sublime that they are elevated above all Earthly Empires 3. Peculiarly of this Dominion He rules in the Heavens alone There is some shadow of Empire in the World Royalty is communicated to men as his Substitutes He hath disposed a vicarious Dominion to men in his footstool the Earth he gives them some share in his Authority and therefore the Title of his Name Psal 82.6 I have said ye are Gods but in Heaven he reigns alone without any Substitutes his Throne is there He gives out his orders to the Angels himself the marks of his Immediate soveraignty are there most visible He hath no Vicars General of that Empire His Authority is not delegated to any Creature he rules the blessed Spirits by himself but he rules Men that are on his Footstool by others of the same kind men of their own nature 4. The vastness of his Empire The Earth is but a spot to the Heavens What is England in a Mapp to the whole Earth but a spot you may cover with your Finger Much less must the whole Earth be to the extended Heavens 'T is but a little point or Atome to what is visible the Sun is vastly bigger than it and several Stars are supposed to be of a greater bulk than the Earth and how many and what Heavens are beyond the ignorance of man cannot understand If the Throne of God be there 't is a larger Circuit he rules in than can well be conceived You cannot conceive the many millions of little particles there are in the Earth and if all put together be but as one point to that place where the Throne of God is seated how vast must his Empire be He rules there over the Angels which excell in strength those Hosts of his which do his pleasure in comparison of whom all the Men in the World and the power of the greatest Potentates is no more than the strength of an Ant or Fly multitudes of them encircle his Throne and listen to his orders without roving and execute them without disputing And since his Throne is in the Heavens it will follow that all things under the Heaven are parts of his Dominion his Throne being in the highest place the inferior things of Earth cannot but be subject to him and it necessarily includes his influence on all things below because the Heavens are the cause of all the motion in the World the immediate thing the Earth doth naturally address to for Corn Wine and Oyl above which there is no superior but the Lord. Hosea 2.21 22. The Earth hears the Corn Wine and Oyl the Heavens hear the Earth and the Lord hears the Heavens 5. The easiness of managing this Government His Throne being placed on high he cannot but behold all things that are done below the height of a place gives advantage to a pure and clear Eye to behold things below it Had the Sun an Eye nothing could be done in the open Air out of its ken The Throne of God being in Heaven he easily looks from thence upon all the Children of Men. Psal 14.2 The Lord looked down from Heaven upon the Children of Men to see if there were any that did understand He looks not down from Heaven as if he were in regard of his presence confined there but he looks down
an earth-worm a mean animal as man be afraid to speak irreverently of so great a King among his pots and Strumpets Not to fear him not to reverence him is to pull his Throne from under him and make him of a lower Authority than our selves or any creature that we reverence more 5. Prayer to God and trust in him is inferr'd from his Soveraignty If he be the supream Soveraign holding Heaven and Earth in his hand disposing all things here below not committing every thing to the influence of the stars or the humours of men we ought then to apply our selves to him in every case implore the exercise of his Authority we hereby own his peculiar right over all things and persons He only is the supream head in all causes and over all persons Thine is the Kingdom concludes the Lord's Prayer both as a motive to pray Mat. 6.13 and a ground to expect what we want He that believes not God's Government will think it needless to call upon him will expect no refuge under him in a strait but make some creature-reed his support If we do not seek to him but rely upon the dominion we have over our own possessions or upon the Authority of any thing else we disown his Supremacy and Dominion over all things we have as good an opinion of our selves or of some creature as we ought to have of God We think our selves or some natural cause we seek to or depend upon as much Soveraigns as he and that all things which concern us are as much at the dispose of an inferior as of the great Lord. 'T is indeed to make a God of our selves or of the Creature When we seek to him upon all occasions we own this divine eminency we acknowledge that it is by him mens hearts are order'd the World govern'd all things dispos'd And God that is jealous of his glory is best pleas'd with any duty in the creature that doth acknowledge and desire the glorification of it which Prayer and dependance on him doth in a special manner Desiring the exercise of his Authority and the preservation of it in ordering the affairs of the World 6. Obedience naturally results from this Doctrine As his justice requires fear his goodness thankfulness his faithfulness trust his truth belief so his Soveraignty in the nature of it demands Obedience As it is most fit he should rule in regard of his excellency so it is most fit we should obey him in regard of his Authority He is our Lord and we his Subjects he is our Master and we his servants 't is righteous we should observe him and conform to his will He is every thing that speaks an Authority to command us and that can challenge an humility in us to obey As that is the truest Doctrine that subjects us most to God so he is the truest Christian that doth in his practice most acknowledge this subjection And as soveraignty is the first notion a Creature can have of God so obedience is the first and chief thing Conscience reflects upon the Creature Man holds all of God and therefore owes all the operations capable to be produced by those faculties to that soveraign power that endowed him with them Man had no being but from him he hath no motion without him he should therefore have no being but for him and no motion but according to him To call him Lord and not to act in subjection to him is to mock and put a scorn upon him Luk. 6.46 Why call you me Lord Lord and do not the things that I say 'T is like the Crucifying Christ under the Title of a King 'T is not by professions but by observance of the Laws of a Prince that we manifest a due respect to him By that we reverence that Authority that enacted them and the prudence that fram'd them This doctrine affords us motives to obey and directs us to the manner of Obedience 1. Motives to obey 1. 'T is Comely and Orderly Is it not a more becoming thing to be ruled by the will of our soveraign than by that of our lusts To observe a wise and gracious Authority than to set up inordinate appetites in the room of his Law Would not all men account it a disorder to be abominated to see a slave or vassal controul the just orders of his Lord and endeavour to subject his Masters will to his own Much more to expect God should serve our humour rather than we be regulated by his Will 'T is more orderly that subjects should obey their Governours than Governours their Subjects that Passion should obey Reason than Reason obey Passion When good Governours are to conform to Subjects and reason vail to passion 't is monstrous the one disturbs the order of a community and the other defaceth the beauty of the Soul Is it a comely thing for God to stoop to our meanness or for us to stoop to his greatness 2. In regard of the Divine Soveraignty 't is both honourable and advantagious to obey God 'T is indeed the glory of a Superior to be obey'd by his Inferior but where the soveraign is of transcendent excellency and dignity 't is an honour to a mean person to be under his immediate commands and enrolled in his service 'T is more honour to be Gods Subject than to be the greatest worldly Monarch his very service is an Empire and disobedience to him is a slavery * Servire deo regnare est 'T is a part of his soveraignty to reward any service done him Other Lords may be willing to recompence the service of their Subjects but are often rendred unable but nothing can stand in the way of God to hinder your reward if nothing stand in your way to hinder your obedience Levit. 18.5 If you keep my Statutes you shall live in them I am the Lord. Is there any thing in the World can recompence you for Rebellion against God and obedience to a Lust Saul cools the hearts of his Servants from running after David by Davids inability to give them Fields and Vineyards 1 Sam. 22.7 Will the Son of Jesse give every one of you Fields and Vineyards and make you Captains of thousands and Captains of hundreds that you have conspired against me But God hath a Dominion to requite as well as an Authority to command your obedience He is a great soveraign to bear you out in your observance of his precepts against all reproaches and violences of men and at last to crown you with eternal honour If he should neglect vindicating one time or other your loyalty to him he will neglect the maintaining and vindicating his own soveraignty and greatness 3. God in all his dispensations to man was careful to preserve the rights of his soveraignty in exacting obedience of his Creature The second thing he manifested his soveraignty in was that of a Law-giver to Adam after that of a Proprietor in giving him the possession of the
of those names were proper to insinuate Fear neither was Fear the first Principle that made the Heathens worship a God they offered Sacrifices out of Gratitude to some as well as to others out of Fear the fear of Evils in the world and the hopes of Releif and Assistance from their Gods and not a terrifying Fear of God was the principal Spring of their Worship When Calamities from the hands of Men or Judgments by the influences of Heaven were upon them they implored that which they thought a Deity It was not their Fear of him but a Hope in his Goodness and Perswasion of Remedy from him for the averting those Evils that rendred them Adorers of a God If they had not had preexistent Notions of his Being and Goodness they would never have made Addresses to him or so frequently sought to that they only apprehended as a terrifying Object * Gassend Phys sect 1. l. 4. c. 2. p. 291. 292. When you hear men calling upon God in a time of affrighting Thunder you cannot imagin that the fear of Thunder did first introduce the Notion of a God but implies that it was before apprehended by them or stampt upon them though their Fear doth at present actuate that Beleif and engage them in a present Exercise of Piety and whereas the Scripture saith the fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom or of all Religion * Pro. 9.16 Psal 111.10 't is not understood of a distracted and terrifying Fear but a reverential Fear of him because of his holiness or a worship of him a submission to him and sincere seeking of him Well then is it not a folly for an Atheist to deny that which is the reason and common Sentiment of the whole world to strip himself of humanity run counter to his own Conscience prefer a private before a universal Judgment give the lie to his own nature and reason assert things impossible to be proved nay impossible to be acted Forge irrationalities for the support of his fancy against the common perswasion of the world and against himself and so much of God as is manefest in him and every man * Rom. 1.19 Jupiter est quodcunque vides c. II. It is a folly to deny that which all Creatures or all things in the World manifest Let us view this in Scripture since we acknowledge it and after consider the arguments from natural reason The Apostle resolves it Rom. 1.19 20. The invisible things of him from the Creation of the World are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his Eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse They know or might know by the things that were made the Eternity and power of God their sence might take a Circuit about every object and their minds collect the being and somthing of the perfections of the Deity The first discourse of the mind upon the sight of a delicate peice of workman-ship is the Conclusion of the being of an Artificer and the admiration of his skill and industry The Apostle doth not say the invisible things of God are beleived or they have an opinion of them but they are seen and clearly seen They are like Cristal glasses which give a clear representation of the Existence of a Deity like that Mirrour reported to be in a Temple in Arcadia which represented to the Spectator not his own face but the Image of that Deity which he Worshipped The whole world is like a looking-glass which whole and entire represents the Image of God and every broken peice of it every little shred of a Creature doth the like not only the great ones Elephants and the Leviathan but Ants Flies Worms whose bodies rather then names we know The greater Cattle and the Creeping things Gen. 1.24 Not naming there any intermediate Creature to direct us to view him in the smaller Letters as well as the greater Characters of the World His name is Glorious and his Attributes are excellent in all the Earth * Psal 8.1 in every Creature as the glory of the Sun is in every beam and smaller flash he is seen in every Insect in every Spire of grass The voice of the Creator is in the most contemptible Creature * Banes in Aquin. Par. 2. Qu. 2. Artic. 2. pa. 78. Col. 2. The Apostle adds that they are so clearly seen that men are inexcusable if they have not some knowledge of God by them if they might not certainly know them they might have some excuse So that his Existence is not only probably but demonstratively proved from the things of the world Especially the Heavens declare him which God stretches out like a Curtain * Psal 104.2 or as some render the word a Skin whereby is signified that Heaven is as an open book which was Anciently made of the skins of beasts that by the knowledge of them we may be taught the knowledge of God Where Scripture was not revealed the world served for a witness of a God what ever arguments the Scripture uses to prove it are drawn from nature though indeed it doth not so much prove as suppose the Existence of a God but what Arguments it uses are from the Creatures and particularly the Heavens which are the publick Preachers of this Doctrin The breath of God sounds to all the World through those Organ-pipes His Being is visible in their Existence his Wisdom in their frame his Power in their motion his Goodness in their usefulness * For their voice goeth to the end of the Earth Psal 19.1 2. They have a voice and their voice is as intelligible as any common Language And those are so plain Heralds of a Deity that the Heathen mistook them for Deities and gave them a particular adoration which was due to that God they declared The first Idolatry seems to be of those Heavenly bodies which began probably in the time of Nimrod In Jobs time it is certain they admired the Glory of the Sun and the brightness of the Moon not without kissing their hands a sign of Adoration * Job 31.26.27 T is evident a man may as well doubt whither there be a Sun when he sees his beams guilding the Earth as doubt whither there be a God when he sees his works spread in the World The things in the World declare the Existence of a God 1. In their Production 2. Harmony 3. Preservation 4. Answering their several ends First 1. In their production The declaration of the Existence of God was the chief end for which they were Created that the Notion of a Supream and Independent Eternal Being might easier incur into the active understanding of man from the objects of sensedispersed in every corner of the World that he might pay a homage and devotion to the Lord of all Isa 40.12 13 18 19. c. Have you not understood from the foundation of the Earth t is he that sits upon the Circle
of the Heaven c. How could this great heap be brought into being unless a God had framed it Every plant every Atome as well as every Star at the first meeting whispers this in our Ears I have a Creator I am witness to a Deity who ever saw Statues or Pictures but presently thinks of a Statuary and Limner Who beholds Garments Ships or Houses but understands there was a Weaver a Carpenter an Architect * Philo. ex Petav. Theolo Dog Tom 1. li. 1. cap. 1 pa. 4. somewhat changed Who can cast his eyes about the world but must think of that power that formed it and that the goodness which appears in the formation of it hath a perfect Residence in some Being those things that are good must flow from somthing perfectly good that which is chief in any kind is the cause of all of that kind Fire which is most hot is the cause of all things which are hot There is some being therefore which is the cause of all that Perfection which is in the Creature and this is God Aquin. 1 qu. 2. Artic. 3. All things that are demonstrate something from whence they are All things have a contracted perfection and what they have is Communicated to them Perfections are parcelled out among several Creatures Any thing that is imperfect cannot exist of it self We are led therefore by them to consider a fountain which bubbles up in all perfection a hand which distributes those several degrees of Being and Perfection to what we see we see that which is imperfect our minds conclude somthing perfect to exist before it our eye sees the streams but our understanding riseth to the head as the eye sees the shadow but the understanding informs us whither it he the shadow of a man or of a beast God hath given us Sense to behold the objects in the World and Understanding to reason his Existence from them the understanding cannot conceive a thing to have made it self that is against all reason * Rom. 1.20 As they are made they speak out a Maker and cannot be a trick of chance since they are made with such an immense Wisdom that is too big for the grasp of all humane understanding Those that doubt whither the Existence of God be an implanted Principle yet agree that the effects in the world lead to a supream and universal cause And that if we have not the knowledge of it rooted in our Natures yet we have it by discourse since by all Masters of reason a Processus in Infinitum must be accounted impossible in subordinate causes This will appear in several things First I. The World and every Creature had a beginning The Scripture Ascertains this to us * Gen. 1. By Faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God c. David who was not the first man gives the praise to God of his being curiously wrought c. Psal 139.14.15 God gave being to Men and Plants and Beasts before they gave being to one another He gives being to them now as the Fountain of all being though the several Modes of being are from the several natures of second causes * Heb. 11.3 T is true indeed we are ascertained that they were made by the true God that they were made by his word that they were made of nothing and not only this lower world wherein we live but according to the Jewish division the world of Men the the world of Stars and the world of Spirits and Souls We do not waver in it or doubt of it as the Heathen did in their disputes we know they are the workmanship of the true God of that God we adore not of false Gods By his Word without any instrument or engin as in earthly Sâ—ructures of things which do not appear without any preexistent matter as all Artificial works of men are framed Yet the proof of the beginning of the world is affirmed with good reason and if it had a beginning it had also some higher cause than it self Every effect hath a cause * Daille 20. Serm. Psa 102.26 pa. 13. 14. The World was not Eternal or from Eternity The matter of the world cannot be Eternal Matter cannot subsist without form nor put on any form without the action of some cause this cause must be in being before it acted that which is not cannot act The cause of the world must necessarily exist before any matter was endued with any form that therefore cannot be Eternal before which another did subsist if it were from Eternity it would not be subject to mutation If the whole was from Eternity why not also the parts what makes the changes so visible then if Eternity would exempt it from mutability 1. Time cannot be infinite and therefore the World not Eternal * Daille ut Supra All motion hath its beginning if it were otherwise we must say the number of Heavenly revolutions of days and nights which are past to this instant is actually infinite which cannot be in nature If it were so it must needs be granted that a part is equal to the whole because infinite being equal to infinite the number of days past in all Ages to the beginning of one year being Infinite as they would be supposing the World had no beginning would by consequence be equal to the number of days which shall pass to the end of the next whereas that number of days past is indeed but a part and so a part would be equal to the whole 2. Generations of Men Animals and Plants could not be from Eternity * Petar Theo. Dogmat. tom 1. lib. 1. cap. 2. pag. 15. If any Man say the world was from Eternity then there must be propagations of living Creatures in the same manner as are at this day For without this the World could not consist what we see now done must have been perpetually done if it be done by a necessity of nature But we see nothing now that doth arise but by a mutual propagation from another If the world were Eternal therefore it must be so in all Eternity take any particular species suppose a man if men were from Eternity then there were perpetual generations some were born into the World and some died Now the natural condition of generation is that a man doth not generate a man nor a Sheep a Lamb as soon as ever it self is brought into the World but get strength and vigour by degrees and must arrive to a certain stated age before they can produce the like for whilst any thing is little and below the due age it cannot increase its kind Men therefore and other Creatures did propagate their kind by the same Law not as soon as ever they were born but in the interval of some time and Children grew up by degrees in the Mothers Womb till they were fit to be brought forth If this be so then there could not be an Eternal