station of every Regiment in a Battalia Or he calls them by Name i. e. He imposeth names upon them a sign of dominion The giving Names to the inferior Creatures being the first act of Adam's derivative dominion over them These are under the Soveraignty of God The Starrs by their influences fight against Sisera Judg. 5.20 And the Sun holds in its Reins and stands stone still to light Joshua to a compleat victory Josh 10.12 They are all marshall'd in their ranks to receive his word of command and fight in close order as being desirous to have a share in the ruine of the Enemies of their Soveraign And those Creatures which mount up from the Earth and take their place in the lower Heavens Vapours whereof Hail and Snow are form'd are part of the Army and do not only receive but fulfill his word of Command Psal 148.8 These are his stores and Magazines of Judgment against a time of trouble and a day of Battle and Warr Job 38.22 23. The Soveraignty of God is visible in all their motions in their going and returning If he says go they go if he say come they come if he say do this they gird up their Loyns and stand stiff to their duty 2. The Hell of Devils belong to his Authority They have cast themselves out of the Arms of his Grace into the Furnace of his Justice they have by their revolt forfeited the Treasure of his Goodness but cannot exempt themselves from the Scepter of his dominion when they would not own him as a Lord Father they are under him as a Lord Judge they are cast out of his affection but not freed from his yoke He rules over the good Angels as his Subjects over the evil ones as his Rebels In whatsoever relation he stands either as a Friend or Enemy he never loses that of a Lord. A Prince is the Lord of his Criminals as well as of his Loyallest Subjects By this right of his Soveraignty he uses them to punish some and be the occasion of benefit to others on the wicked he employs them as instruments of vengeance towards the Godly as in the case of Job as an Instrument of kindness for the manifestation of his sincerity against the intention of that malicious Executioner Though the Devils are the Executioners of his Justice 't is not by their own Authority but God's as those that are employed either to rack or execute a Malefactor are Subjects to the Prince not only in the quality of Men but in the execution of their function * Suarez vol. 2. lib. 8. cap. 20. p. 736. The Devil by drawing men to sin acquires no right to himself over the sinner For man by sin offends not the Devil but God and becomes guilty of punishment under God When therefore the Devil is us'd by God for the punishment of any 't is an act of his Soveraignty for the manifestation of the order of his Justice And as most Nations use the vilest persons in Offices of execution so doth God those vile Spirits He doth not ordinarily use the good Angels in those Offices of vengeance but in the preservation of his People When he would solely punish he employs evil Angels Psal 78.49 A Troop of Devils His Soveraignty is extended over the deceiver and the deceived Job 12.16 Over both the Malefactor and the Executioner the Devil and his Prisoner He useth the natural malice of the Devils for his own just ends and by his Soveraign Authority orders them to be the Executioners of his Judgments upon their own vassals as well as sometimes inflicters of punishments upon his own Servants 3. The Earth of men and other Creatures belongs to his Authority Psal 47.7 God is King of all the Earth and rules to the ends of it Psal 59.13 Ancient Atheists confin'd Gods dominion to the heavenly Orbs and bounded it within the Circuit of the Celestial Sphear Job 22.14 He walks in the Circuit of Heaven i. e. he exerciseth his dominion only there * Bolduc in loc Pedum positio was the sign of the possession of a piece of Land and the Dominion of the possessor of it and Land was resign'd by such a Ceremony as now by the delivery of a Twig or Turf But his Dominion extends 1. Over the least Creatures All the Creatures of the Earth are listed in Christ's Muster-roll and make up the number of his Regiments He hath an Host on Earth as well as in Heaven Gen. 2.1 The Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the Host of them And they are all his Servants Psal 119.91 and move at his peasure And he vouchsafes the Title of his Army to the Locust Caterpillar and Palmer Worm Joel 2.25 And describes their motions by Military Words climbing the walls marching not breaking their ranks Verse 7. He hath the command as a great General over the highest Angel and the meanest Worm all the kinds of the smallest Insects he presseth for his service By this Soveraignty he muzled the devouring nature of the fire to preserve the three Chiâ—dren and let it loose to consume their adversaries and if he speaks the word the stormy Waves are hush as if they had no Principle of rage within them Psal 89.9 Since the meanest Creature attains it end and no arrow that God hath by his power shot into the World but hits the mark he aim'd at we must conclude that there is a Soveraign hand that governs all Not a spot of Earth or Air or Water in the World but is his possession not a Creature in any Element but is his Subject 2. His Dominion extends over Men. It extends over the highest Potentate as well as the meanest Peasant the proudest Monarch is no more exempt than the most languishing Beggar He lays not aside his Authority to please the Prince nor strains it up to terrifie the indigent He accepts not the persons of Princes nor regards the rich more than the Poor For they are all the work of his hands Job 34.19 Both the powers and weaknesses the Gallantry and Peasantry of the Earth stand and fall at his pleasure Man in innocence was under his Authority as his Creature and man in his revolt is further under his Authority as a Criminal As a Person is under the Authority of a Prince as a Governour while he obeys his Laws and further under the Authority of the Prince as a Judge when he violates his Laws Man is under God's dominion in every thing in his settlement in his calling in the ordering his very Habitation Acts 17.26 He determines the bounds of their Habitations He never yet permitted any to be universal Monarch in the World nor over the fourth part of it though several in the Pride of their heart have design'd and attempted it The Pope who hath bid the fairest for it in Spirituals never attain'd it and when his power was most flourishing there were multitudes that would never acknowledge his Authority 3. But
a bitter potion we are rather haled than run to it There is a contradiction of sin within us against our service as there was a contradiction of sinners without our Saviour against his doing the Will of God Our hearts are unweildy to any Spiritual service of God we are fain to use a violence with them sometimes Hezekiah it is said walked before the Lord with a perfect heart 2 Kings 20.9 he walked he made himself to walk Man naturally cares not for a walk with God If he hath any Communion with him t is with such a dulness and heaviness of Spirit as if he wished himself out of his Company Mans nature being contrary to holiness hath an aversion to any act of homage to God because Holiness must at least be pretended In every duty wherein we have a Communion with God Holiness is requisite Now as men are against the truth of Holiness because it is unsutable to them so they are not friends to those duties which require it and for some space divert them from the thoughts of their beloved lusts The word of the Lord is a Yoke Prayer a drudgery Obedience a strange Element We are like fish that drink up iniquity like water * Job 15.16 and come not to the bank without the force of an Angle No more willing to do service for God than a fish is of it self to do service for Man T is a constrained act to satisfie Conscience and such are servile not Son-like performances and spring from bondage more than affection If Conscience like a task Master did not scourge them to duty they would never perform it Let us appeal to our selves whether we are not more unwilling to secret Closet hearty duty to God than to joyn with others in some external service as if those inward services were a going to the rack and rather our pennance than priviledg How much service hath God in the world from the same principle that Vagrants perform their task in Bridewel How glad are many of evasions to back them in the neglect of the Commands of God of Corrupt reasonings from the flesh to way-lay an Act of obedience and a multitude of excuses to blunt the edge of the precept The very service of God shall be a pretence to deprive him of the obedience due to him Saul will not be ruled by Gods Will in the destroying the Cattle of the Amalekites but by his own and will impose upon the Will and Wisdom of God Judging God mistaken in his Command and that the Cattle God thought fittest to be meat to the fouls were fitter to be Sacrifices on the Altar * 1 Sam. 15.3.9.15.21 If we do perform any part of his Will is it not for our own ends to have some deliverance from trouble Isa 26.16 In trouble have they visited thee they poured out a Prayer when thy Chastening was upon them In affliction he shall find them kneeling in Homage and Devotion In prosperity he shall feel them kicking with contempt they can poure out a Prayer in distress and scarce drop one when they are delivered 2. There is a slightness in our service of God We are loath to come into his presence and when we do come we are loth to continue with him We pay not an Homage to him heartily as to our Lord and Governour we regard him not as our Master whose work we ought to do and whose Honour we ought to aime at 1. In regard of the matter of service When the torn the lame and the sick is offered to God * Mal. 1.13.14 so thin and lean a Sacrifice that you may have thrown it to the ground with a puff so some understand the meaning of you have snufft at it Men have naturally such slight thoughts of the Majesty and Law of God that they think any service is good enough for him and conformable to his Law The dullest and deadest times we think fittest to pay God a service in when sleep is ready to close our eyes and we are unfit to serve our selves we think it a fit time to open our hearts to God How few Morning Sacrifices hath God from many persons and Families Men leap out of their beds to their carnal pleasures or worldly employments without any thought of their Creator and Preserver or any reflection upon his Will as the rule of our dayly obedience And as many reserve the dregs of their Lives their Old-age to offer up their Souls to God So they reserve the Dreggs of the Day their sleeping time for the offering up their service to Him How many grudge to spend their best time in the serving the Will of God and reserve for him the sickly and rheumatick part of their Lives the remainder of that which the Devil and their own Lusts have fed upon Would not any Prince or Governour judge a Present half eaten up by Wild-beasts or that which died in a Ditch a contempt of his Royalty A corrupt thing is too base and vile for so great a King as God is whose Name is dreadful * Mal. 1.14 When by Age Men are weary of their own Bodies they would present them to God yet grudgingly as if a tired body were too good for him snuffing at the Command for Service God calls for our best and we give him the worst 2. In respect of Frame We think any frame will serve Gods turn which speaks our slight of God as a Ruler Man naturally performs duty with an unholy heart whereby it becomes an abomination to God Pro. 28.9 He that turns away his Ear from hearing the Law even his prayers shall be an abomination to God The Services which he commands he hates for their evil frames or corrupt ends Amos 5.21 I hate I despise your Feast-days I will not smell in your Solemn Assemblies God requires gracious services and we give him corrupt ones We do not rouze up our hearts as David called upon his Lute and Harp to awake Psal 57.8 Our hearts are not given to him we put him off with bodily exercise The heart is but Ice to what it doth not affect 1. There is not that natural vigor in the observance of God which we have in worldly business When we see a liveliness in men in other things change the Scene into a motion towards God how suddenly doth their vigoâ— shrink and their hearts freeze into sluggishness Many times we serve God as lanâ—guishingly as if we were afraid he should accept us and pray as coldly as if we were unwilling he should hear us and take away that lust by which we are Governed and which Conscience forces us to pray against as if we were afraid God should set up his own throne and Government in our hearts How fleeting are we in Divine Meditation how sleepy in Spiritual exercises but in other exercises active The Soul doth not awaken it self and excite those animal and vital Spirits which it will in bodily recreations and
and his own happiness So loth is God to give any just occasion of dissatisfaction to his Creature as well as dishonour himself All those wonders of his mercy are inhanc'd by the hainousness of our Atheism a multitude of gracious thoughts from him above the multitude of contempts from us * Psal 106. â— What Rebells in actual Arms against their Prince aiming at his Life ever found that favour from him to have all their necessaries richly afforded them without which they would starve and without which they would be unable to manage their attempts as we have received from God Had not God had riches of goodness forbearance and long suffering and infinite riches too the despight the world hath done him in refusing him as their Rule Happiness and End would have emptied him long agoe * Rom. 2.4 2. It brings in a Justification of the exercise of his Justice If it gives us occasion loudly to praise his Patience it also stops our mouths from accusing any acts of his Vengeance What can be too sharp a recompence for the despising and disgracing so great a Being The highest contempt merits the greatest anger and when we will not own him for our happiness 't is equal we should feel the misery of separation from him If he that is guilty of Treason deserves to lose his Life what punishment can be thought great enough for him that is so disingenious as to prefer himself before a God so infinitely good and so foolish as to invade the rights of one infinitely powerful 'T is no injustice for a Creature to be for ever left to himself to see what advantage he can make of that self he was so busily imployed to set up in the place of his Creator The Soul of Man deserves an infinite punishment for despising an infinite good And it is not unequitable that that self which Man makes his Rule and Happiness above God should become his Torment and Misery by the Righteousness of that God whom he despised 3. Hence ariseth a necessity of a new state and frame of Soul to alter an Atheistical Nature We forget God Think of him with reluctancy Have no respect to God in our course and acts This cannot be our original state God being infinitely good never let man come out of his hands with this actual unwillingness to acknowledge and serve him He never intended to dethrone himself for the work of his hands or that the Creature should have any other end than that of his Creator As the Apostle saith in the Case of the Galatians Error Gal. 5.8 This perswasion came not of him that called you so this frame comes not from him that created you How much therefore do we need a restoring Principle in us Instead of ordering our selves according to the Will of God we are desirous to fulfil the Wills of the Flesh * Ephes 2.3 There is a necessity of some other principle in us to make us fulfil the Will of God since we were created for God not for the Flesh We can no more be voluntarily serviceable to God while our serpentine nature and Devillish habits remain in us than we can suppose the Devil can be willing to glorifie God while the nature he contracted by his fall abides powerfully in him Our Nature and Will must be changed that our actions may regard God as our End that we may delightfully meditate on him and draw the motives of our obedience from him Since this Atheism is seated in Nature the change must be in our Nature Since our first aspirings to the rights of God were the fruits of the Serpents breath which tainted our Nature there must be a removal of this taint whereby our Natures may be on the side of God against Satan as they were before on the side of Satan against God There must be a supernatural Principle before we can live a supernatural Life i. e. live to God since we are naturally alienated from the Life of God The aversion of our Natures from God is as strong as our inclination to evil we are disgusted with one and pressed with the other we have no will no heart to come to God in any service This Nature must be broken in pieces and new moulded before we can make God our Rule and our End While mens deeds are evil they cannot comply with God * Joh. 3.19 20. much less while their natures are evil Till this be done all the service a man performs riseth from some evil imagination of the heart which is evil only evil and that continually * Gen. 6.5 from wrong Notions of God wrong Notions of Duty or corrupt Motives All the pretences of Devotion to God are but the Adoration of some golden Image Prayers to God for the ends of self are like those of the Devil to our Saviour when he askt leave to go into the Herd of Swine The Object was right Christ the end was the destruction of the Swine and the satisfaction of their malice to the Owners There is a necessity then that depraved ends should be removed that that which was Gods end in our framing may be our end in our acting viz. his glory which cannot be without a change of Nature We can never honour him supreamly whom we do not supreamly love Till this be we cannot glorifie God as God though we do things by his Command and Order no more than when God imployed the Devil in afflicting Job * Job 1. His performance cannot be said to be good because his end was not the same with Gods he acted out of Malice what God commanded out of Soveraignity and for gracious designs Had God imployed an Holy Angel in his design upon Job the Action had been good in the Affliction because his Nature was holy and therefore his ends holy but bad in the Devil because his ends were base and unworthy 4. We may gather from hence the difficulty of Conversion and Mortification to follow thereupon What is the reason men receive no more impression from the Voice of God and the Light of his Truth than a dead man in the Grave doth from the roaring Thunder or a blind Mole from the Light of the Sun 'T is because our Atheism is as great as the deadness of the one or the blindness of the other The Principle in the heart is strong to shut the door both of the thoughts and affections against God If a Friend oblige us we shall act for him as for our selves We are won by intreaties soft words overcome us but our hearts are as deaf as the hardest Rock at the call of God Neither the joys of Heaven proposed by him can allure us nor the flasht terrors of Hell affright us to him as if we conceived God unable to bestow the one or execute the other The true reason is God and self contest for the Deity The Law of Sin is God must be at the foot-stool the Law of God is Sin
from no other cause but the unchangeableness of his Nature The reason why Men stand not to their Covenant is because they are not always the same I am that is I am the same before the Creation of the World and since the creation of the World before the entrance of Sin and since the entrance of Sin before their going into Egypt and whiles they remain in Egypt * Spanhe Synta part 1. p. 39. The very Name Jehovah bears according to the Grammatical Order a mark of Gods Unchangeableness It never hath any thing added to it nor any thing taken from it It hath no Plural Number no Affixes a Custom peculiar to the Eastern Languages It never changes its letters as other words do * Petav. Theol Dogmat. Tom. 1. cap 6. § 6.7 8. That only is a true being which hath not only an eternal Existence but stability in it That is not truly a Being that never remains in the same state All things that are changed cease to be what they were and begin to be what they were not and therefore cannot have the title truly applied to them they are they are indeed but like a River in a continual Flux that no man ever sees the same let his eye be fixed upon one place of it the water he sees slides away and that which he saw not succeeds in its place let him take his eye off but for the least moment and fix it there again and he sees not the same that he saw before All sensible things are in a perpetual stream that which is sometimes this and sometimes that is not because it is not always the same whatsoever is changed is something now which it was not alway But of God it is said I am which could not be if he were changeable for it may be said of him he is not as well he is because he is not what he was If we say not of him he was nor he will be but only he is whence should any change arrive He must invincibly remain the same of whose Nature Perfections Knowledge and Will it cannot be said it was as if it were not now in him or it shall be as if it were not yet in him But he is because he doth not only exist but doth alway exist the same I am that is I receive from no other what I am in my self He depends upon no other in his Essence Knowledge Purposes and therefore hath no changing Power over him 2. If God were changeable He could not be the most perfect Being God is the most perfect Being and possesses in himself infinite and essential Goodness Mat. 5.48 Your heavenly Father is perfect If he could change from that Perfection he were not the highest Exemplar and Copy for us to write after If God doth change it must be either to a greater Perfection than he had before or to a less mutatio perfectiva vel amissiva If he changes to acquire a Perfection he had not then he was not before the most excellent Being necessarily He was not what he might be there was a defect in him and a privation of that which is better than what he had and was and then he was not alway the best and so was not alway God and being not alway God could never be God for to begin to be God is against the Notion of God Not to a less perfection than he had that were to change to imperfection and to lose a perfection which he possessed before and cease to be the best Being for he would lose some good which he had and acquire some evil which he was free from before So that the soveraign Perfection of God is an invincible Bar to any change in him For which way soever you cast it for a change his supream Excellency is impaired and nulled by it For in all change there is something from which a thing is changed and something to which it is changed so that on the one part there is a loss of what it had and on the other part there is an acquisition of what it had not If to the better he was not perfect and so was not God if to the worse he will not be perfect and so be no longer God after that change If God be changed his change must be voluntary or necessary if voluntary he then intends the change for the better and chose it to acquire a Perfection by it The Will must be carried out to any thing under the notion of some Goodness in that which it desires Since Good is the Object of the desire and will of the Creature Evil cannot be the Object of the desire and will of the Creator And if he should be changed for the worse when he did really intend the better it would speak a defect of Wisdom and a mistake of that for good which was evil and imperfect in it self and if it be for the better it must be a motion or change for something without himself that which he desireth is not possessed by himself but by some other There is then some good without him and above him which is the end in this change for nothing acts but for some end and that end is within it self or without it self If the end for which God changes be without himself then there is something better than himself Besides if he were voluntarily changed for the better why did he not change before If it were for want of Power he had the imperfection of weakness If for want of knowledge of what was the best Good he had the imperfection of Wisdom he was ignorant of his own Happiness If he had both Wisdom to know it and Power to effect it it must be for want of Will He then wanted that love to himself and his own Glory which is necessary in the supream Being Voluntarily he could not be changed for the worse he could not be such an Enemy to his own Glory there is nothing but would hinder its own Imperfection and becoming worse Necessarily he could not be changed for that necessity must arise from himself and then the difficulties spoken of before will recurr or it must arise from another He cannot be bettered by another because nothing hath any good but what it hath received from the hands of his bounty and that without loss to himself nor made worse if any thing made him worse it would be Sin but that cannot touch his Essence or obscure his Glory but in the design and nature of the Sin it self Job 35.6 7. If thou sinnest what dost thou against him Or if thy Transgressions be multiplyed what dost thou unto him If thou be righteous what givest thou him or what receives he at thy hand He hath no addition by the Service of Man no more than the Sun hath of Light by a multitude of Torches kindled on the Earth nor any more impair by the Sins of Men than the Light of the Sun hath by mens
affection to thy Isaac is extinguish'd by the more powerful flame of affection to my Will and Command I now accept thee and count thee a meet subject of my choicest Benefits or now I know that is I have made known and manifested the Faith of Abraham to himself and to the World Thus Paul uses the word know 1 Cor. 2.2 I have determined to know nothing that is to declare and teach nothing to make known nothing but Christ Crucified or else now I know that is I have an evidence and experiment in this noble fact that thou fearest me God often condescends to our capacity in speaking of himself after the manner of men as if he had as men do known the inward affections of others by their outward actions 4. God knows all the Evils and Sins of Creatures 1. God knows all Sin This follows upon the other If he knows all the actions and thoughts of Creatures he knows also all the Sinfulness in those acts and thoughts This Zophar infers from Gods punishing men Job 11.11 for he knows vain man he sees his wickedness also he knows every man and sees the wickedness of every man He looks down from Heaven and beholds not only the filthy persons but what is filthy in them Psal 14.2 3. all Nations in the World and every man of every Nation none of their iniquity is hid from his eyes He searches Jerusalem with Candles Jer. 16.17 God follows Sinners step by step with his eye and will not leave searching out till he hath taken them a Metaphor taken from one that searches all Chinks with a Candle that nothing can be hid from him He knows it distinctly in all the parts of it how an Adulterer rises out of his Bed to commit Uncleanness what contrivances he had what steps he took every circumstance in the whole progress not only evil in the bulk but every one of the blacker spots upon it which may most aggravate it If he did not know Evil how could he permit it order it punish it or pardon it Doth he permit he knows not what Order to his own holy ends what he is ignorant of Punish or pardon that which he is uncertain whether it be a Crime or no Cleanse me saith David from my secret faults Ps 19.12 secret in regard of others secret in regard of himself how could God cleanse him from that whereof he was ignorant He knows Sins before they are committed much more when they are in act he foreknew the Idolatry and Apostacy of the Jews what Gods they would serve in what measure they would provoke him and violate his Covenant Deut. 31.20 21. he knew Judas his Sin long before Judas his actual existence foretelling it in the Psalms and Christ predicts it before he acted it He sees Sins future in his own permitting Will he sees Sins present in his own supporting act As he knows things possible to himself because he knows his own power so he knows things practicable by the Creature because he knows the Power and Principles of the Creature Fotherby Atheoma p. 132. This Sentiment of God is naturally writ in the fears of Sinners upon Lightning Thunder or some Prodigious operation of God in the World what is the Language of them but that he sees their Deeds hears their words knows the inward sinfulness of their hearts that he doth not only behold them as a meer Spectator but considers them as a just Judg. And the Poets say that the Sins of men leapt into Heaven and were writ in Parchments of Jupiter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cross Anthol dec 1. cap. 395 p. 101. scelus in terram geritur in coelo scribitur sin is acted on Earth and recorded in Heaven God indeed doth not behold Evil with the approving eye he knows it not with a practical knowledg to be the Author of it but with a speculative Knovvledg so as to understand the sinfulness of it or a knovvledg simplicis intelligentiae of simple intelligence as he permits them not positively vvills them he knovvs them not vvith a knovvledg of assent to them but dissent from them Evil pertains to a dissenting act of the mind and an aversive act of the Will and vvhat tho' evil formally taken hath no distinct Conception because it is a privation a Defect hath no Being and all knovvledg is by the apprehension of some Being vvould not this lye as strongly against our ovvn knovvledg of Sin Sin is a privation of the rectitude due to an act and vvho doubts mans knovvledg of Sin by his knovving the act he knovvs the deficiency of the act the subject of evil hath a Being and so hath a conception in the mind that vvhich hath no Being cannot be knovvn by it self or in it self but vvill it follovv that it cannot be knovvn by its contrary as vve knovv darkness to be a privation of light and folly to be a privation of vvisdom God knovvs all good by himself because he is the Soveraign good Is it strange then that he should knovv all evil since all evil is in some natural good 2. The manner of Gods knowing Evil is not so easily known And indeed as vve cannot comprehend the Essence of God tho' it is easily intelligible that there is such a Being so vve can as little comprehend the manner of Gods Knovvledg tho' vve cannot but conclude him to be an intelligent Being a pure Understanding knovving all things As God hath a higher manner of Being than his Creatures so he hath another and higher manner of knovving and vve can as little comprehend the manner of his knovving as vve can the manner of his Being But as to the manner Doth not God knovv his ovvn Lavv and shall he not knovv hovv much any action comes short of his Rule he cannot knovv his ovvn Rule vvithout knovving all the deviations from it He knovvs his ovvn Holiness and shall he not see hovv any action is contrary to the Holiness of his ovvn nature Doth not God knovv every thing that is true and is it not true that this or that is evil and shall God be ignorant of any Truth Hovv doth God knovv that he cannot lye but by knovving his ovvn Veracity Hovv doth God knovv that he cannot Dye but by knovving his ovvn Immutability and by knovving those he knovvs vvhat a Lye is he knovvs vvhat Death is so if Sin never had been if no Creature had ever been God vvould have knovvn vvhat Sin vvas because he knovvs his ovvn Holiness because he knevv vvhat Lavv vvas fit to be appointed to his Creatures if he should Create them and that that Lavv might be transgrest by them God knovvs all good all goodness in himself he therefore hath a foundation in himself to knovv all that comes short of that goodness that is opposite to that Holiness As if Light vvere capable of Understanding it vvould knovv Darkness only by knovving it self by knovving it self it vvould
if God understands his own Power and Excellency nothing can be hid from him that was brought forth by that Power as well as nothing can be unknown to him that that Power is able to produce * Bradwardin p. 6. If God knows nothing besides himself he may then believe there is nothing beside himself we shall then fancy a God miserably mistaken If he knows nothing besides himself then things were not Created by him or not understandingly and voluntarily Created but drop'd from him before he was aware To think that the first cause of all should be ignorant of those things he is the cause of is to make him not a voluntary but natural Agent and therefore necessary and then that the Creature came from him as Light from the Sun and moisture from the Water this would bean absurd opinion of the Worlds Creation if God be a voluntary Agent as he is he must be an intelligent Agent The faculty of Will is not in any Creature without that of Understanding also If God be an intelligent Agent his knowledg must extend as far as his operation and every object of his operation unless we imagine God hath lost his Memory in that long Tract of time since the first Creation of them An Artificer cannot be ignorant of his own Work If God knows himself he knows himself to be a Cause how can he know himself to be a Cause unless he know the Effects he is the Cause of One relation implies another a man cannot know himself to be a Father unless he hath a Child because it is a name of relation and in the notion of it refers to another The name of cause is a name of relation and implies an effect If God therefore know himself in all his Perfections as the Cause of things he must know all his acts what his Wisdom contrived what his Counsel determin'd and what his Power effected The knowledg of God is to be suppos'd in a free determination of himself and that knowledg must be perfect both of the object act and all the circumstances of it How can his Will freely produce any thing that was not first known in his Understanding From this the Prophet argues the understanding of God and the unsearchableness of it because he is the Creator of the ends of the earth Isa 40.28 and the same reason David gives of Gods Knowledg of him and of every thing he did and that afar off because he was formed by him Psal 139.2 15 16. As the perfect making of things only belongs to God so doth the perfect knowledg of things 't is absurd to think that God should be ignorant of what he hath given Being to that he should not know all the Creatures and their qualities the Plants and their vertues as that a man should not know the Letters that are formed by him in Writing Every thing bears in it self the mark of Gods Perfections and shall not God know the representation of his own vertue 5. Without this Knowledg God could no more be the Governour than he could be the Creator of the World Knowledg is the Basis of Providence to Know things is before the Government of things a practical knowledg cannot be without a theoretical knowledg Nothing could be directed to its proper end without the knowledg of the nature of it and its suitableness to answer that end for which it is intended As every thing even the minutest falls under the conduct of God so every thing falls under the knowledg of God A Blind Coach-man is not able to hold the Reins of his Horses and direct them in right Paths Since the Providence of God is about particulars his Knowledg must be about particulars he could not else govern them in particular nor could all things be said to depend upon him in their Being and Operations Providence depends upon the knowledg of God and the exercise of it upon the Goodness of God it cannot be without Understanding and Will Understanding to know what is convenient and Will to perform it When our Saviour therefore speaks of Providence he intimates these two in a special manner Your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things Mat. 6.32 and goodness in Luke 11.13 The reason of Providence is so joyned with Omniscience that they cannot be separated What a kind of God would he be that were ignorant of those things that were governed by him The ascribing this Perfection to him asserts his Providence for it is as easy for one that knows all things to look over the whole World if writ with Monosyllables in every little particular of it as it is with a man to take a view of one Letter in an Alphabet Sabund Tit. 84. much changed Again if God were not Omniscient how could he reward the Good and punish the Evil the works of men are either rewardable or punishable not only according to their outward circumstances but inward Principles and Ends and the degrees of Venom lurking in the heart The exact discerning of these without a possibility to be deceived is necessary to pass a right and infallible Judgment upon them and proportion the censure and punishment to the Crime Without such a Knowledg and discerning men would not have their due nay a Judgment just for the matter would be unjust in the manner because unjustly past without an understanding of the merit of the Cause 'T is necessary therefore that the Supream Judg of the World should not be thought to be blindfold when he distributes his Rewards and Punishments and muffle his face when he passes his Sentence 'T is necessary to ascribe to him the knowledg of mens thoughts and intentions the secret wills and aims the hidden works of darkness in every mans Conscience because every mans work is to be measured by the Will and inward frame 'T is necessary that he should perpetually retain all those things in the indelible and plain records of his Memory that there may not be any work without a just proportion of what is due to it This is the glory of God to discover the secrets of all hearts at last as 1 Cor. 4.5 the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of all hearts and then shall every man have praise of God This knowledg fits him to be a Judg the reason why the ungodly shall not stand in Judgment is because God knows their ways which is implyed in his knowing the way of the righteous * Psal 1.5 6. I now proceed to the Vse VSE the first is of information or instruction If God hath all knowledg then 1. Jesus Christ is not a meer Creature The two Titles of wonderful Counsellor and mighty God are given him in conjunction Isa 9.6 not only the Angel of the Covenant as he is called Malach. 3.1 or the Executor of his Counsels but a Counsellor in conjunction with him in Counsel as well as
the suggestions of their Carnal Wisdom The Brats of Soul-destroying Errors may walk about the World in a garb and disguise of good words and fair speeches as it is in the 18th Verse by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple And for their encouragement to a constancy in the Gospel Doctrine he assures them that all those that would dispossess them of Truth to possess them with Vanity are but Satans Instruments and will fall under the same Captivity and Yoke with their Principal Verse 18. The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly Whence observe 1. All Corrupters of Divine Truth and Troublers of the Churches Peace are no better than Devils Our Saviour thought the Name Satan a Title merited by Peter when he breathed out an Advice as an Ax at the Root of the Gospel the Death of Christ the foundation of all Gospel Truth and the Apostle concludes them under the same Character which hinder the superstructure and would mix their Chaff with his Wheat Mat. 16.23 Get thee behind me Satan 'T is not Get thee behind me Simon or Get thee behind me Peter but Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence to me Thou dost oppose thy self to the Wisdom and Grace and Authority of God to the Redemption of Man and to the good of the World As the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Truth so is Satan the Spirit of Falshood As the Holy Ghost inspires Believers with Truth so doth the Devil corrupt Unbelievers with Error Let us cleave to the Truth of the Gospel that we may not be counted by God as part of the Corporation of Fallen Angels and not be barely reckon'd as Enemies of God but in league with the greatest Enemy to his Glory in the World 2. The Reconciler of the World will be the subduer of Satan The God of Peace sent the Prince of Peace to be the Restorer of his Rights and the Hammer to beat in pieces the Usurper of them As a God of Truth he will make good his Promise as a God of Peace he will perfect the design his Wisdom hath laid and begun to act In the subduing Satan he will be the Conqueror of his Instruments He saith nor God shall bruise your Troublers and Hereticks but Satan The fall of a General proves the rout of the Army Since God as a God of Peace hath delivered his own he will perfect the Victory and make them cease from bruising the heel of his Spiritual Seed 3. Divine Evangelical Truth shall be Victorious No Weapon formed against it shall prosper The Head of the Wicked shall fall as low as the Feet of the Godly The Devil never yet bluster'd in the World but he met at last with a disappointment His Fall hath been like Lightning sudden certain vanishing 4. Faith must look back as far as the foundation Promise The God of Peace shall bruise c. The Apostle seems to allude to the first Promise Gen. 2.15 A Promise that hath vigor to nourish the Church in all Ages of the World 'T is the standing Cordial out of the Womb of this Promise all the rest have taken their birth The Promises of the Old Testament were designed for those under the New and the full performance of them is to be expected and will be enjoyed by them 'T is a mighty strengthning to Faith to trace the footsteps of Gods Truth and Wisdom from the Threatning against the Serpent in Eden to the bruise he received in Calvary and the Triumph over him upon Mount Olivet 5. We are to confide in the Promise of God but leave the season of its accomplishment to his Wisdom He will bruise Satan under your feet therefore do not doubt it and shortly therefore wait for it Shortly it will be done that is quickly when you think it may be a great way off or shortly that is seasonably when Satans Rage is hottest God is the best Judge of the seasons of distributing his own Mercies and darting out his own Glory 'T is enough to encourage our waiting that it will be and that it will be shortly but we must not measure God's shortly by our Minutes The Apostle after this concludes with a comfortable Prayer That since they were liable to many Temptations to turn their backs upon the Doctrine which they had learned yet he desires God who had brought them to the knowledge of his Truth would confirm them in the belief of it since it was the Gospel of Christ his dear Son and a Mystery he had been chary of and kept in his own Cabinet and now brought forth to the World in pursuance of the ancient Prophesies and now had publish'd to all Nations for that end that it might be obeyed and concludes with a Doxology a voice of Praise to him who was only Wise to effect his own purposes Verses 25 26 27. Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began but now is made manifest and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the commandment of the Everlasting God made known to all Nations for the obedience of Faith This Doxology is interlac'd with many Comforts for the Romans He explains the causes of this glory to God Power and Wisdom Power to establish the Romans in Grace which includes his Will This he proves from a Divine Testimony viz. the Gospel the Gospel committed to him and preached by him which he commends by calling it the preaching of Christ and describes it for the instruction and comfort of the Church from the Adjuncts the obscurity of it under the old Testament and the clearness of it under the New It was hid from the former Ages and kept in silence not simply and absolutely but comparatively and in part because in the Old Testament the Doctrine of Salvation by Christ was confin'd to the limits of Judea preached only to the Inhabitants of that Country To them he gave his Statutes and his Judgments and dealt not so magnificently with any Nation †Psal 147.19 20. but now he causes it to spring with greater Majesty out of those narrow bounds and spread its Wings about the World This manifestation of the Gospel he declares first from the subject All Nations 2. From the principal efficient cause of it The Commandment and Order of God 3. The Instrumental cause The Prophetick Scriptures 4. From the End of it Gomarus in loc The obedience of Faith 1. Observe The glorious Attributes of God bear a comfortable respect to Believers Power and Wisdom are here mention'd as two props of their Faith his Power here includes his Goodness Power to help without Will to assist is a dry Chip The Apostle mentions not Gods Power simply and absolutely considered for that of it self is no more comfort to Men than it is to Devils but
great Invasion And the spirit of God hath particularly left upon record that Particle as we may reasonably suppose to such a purpose And so in the description of the blessed Virgin Luke 1.27 There is nothing of her Holiness mentioned which is with much diligence recorded of Elizabeth Vers 6. Righteous walking in all the commandments of God blameless Probably to prevent the superstition which God foresaw would arise in the World And we do not find more undervaluing speeches uttered by Christ to any of his Disciples in the exercise of his Office than to her except to Peter As when she acquainted him with the want of Wine at the Marriage in Cana she receives a slighting answer Woman what have I to do with thee John 2.4 And when one was admiring the blessedness of her that bare him he turns the Discourse another way to pronounce a blessedness rather belonging to them that hear the Word of God and keep it Luke 11.27 28. in a mighty Wisdom to Antidote his people against any conceit of the prevalency of the Virgin over him in Heaven in the Exercise of his Mediatory Office 2. As his Wisdom appears in his Government by his Laws so it appears in the various inclinations and conditions of Men. As there is a distinction of several Creatures and several qualities in them for the Common good of the World so among men there are several inclinations and several Abilities as Donatives from God for the Common advantage of Human Society As several Chanels cut out from the same River run several waies and refresh several Soils one Man is qualified for one Employment another marked out by God for a different Work yet all of them fruitful to bring in a Revenue of Glory to God and a harvest of Profit to the rest of Mankind How unusefull would the Body be if it had but one Member 1 Cor. 12.19 How unprovided would a House be if it had not Vessels of Dishonour as well as of Honour The Corporation of Mankind would be as much a Chaos as the Matter of the Heavens and the Earth was before it was distinguisht by several forms breathed into it at the Creation Some are inspired with a particular Genius for one Art some for another Every man hath a distinct Talent If all were Husband-men where would be the Instruments to Plow and Reap If all were Artificers where would they have Corn to nourish themselves All men are like Vessels and Parts in the Body design'd for distinct Offices and Functions for the good of the whole and mutually return an advantage to one another As the variety of Gifts in the Church is a fruit of the Wisdom of God for the preservation and increase of the Church so the variety of Inclinations and Employments in the World is a fruit of the Wisdom of God for the preservation and subsistence of the World by mutual Commerce What the Apostle largely discourseth of the former in 1 Cor. 12. may be applied to the other The various Conditions of men is also a fruit of Divine Wisdom Some are Rich and some Poor the Rich have as much need of the Poor as the Poor have of the Rich If the Poor depend upon the Rich for their livelyhood the Rich depend upon the Poor for their Conveniencies Many Arts would not be learn'd by men if Poverty did not oblige them to it and many would faint in the learning of them if they were not thereunto encouraged by the Rich. The Poor labour for the Rich as the Earth sends Vapours into the vaster and fuller Air and the Rich return advantages again to the Poor as the Clouds do the Vapours in Rain upon the Earth As Meat would not afford a nourishing Juyce without Bread and Bread without other Food would immoderately fill the Stomach and not be well digested so the Rich would be unprofitable in the Common-wealth without the Poor and the Poor would be burthensom to a Common-wealth without the Rich The Poor could not be easily govern'd without the Rich nor the Rich sufficiently and conveniently provided for without the Poor If all were Rich there would be no Objects for the exercise of a Noble part of Charity If all were Poor there were no Matter for the exercise of it Thus the Divine Wisdom planted various Inclinations and diversified the Conditions of Men for the publick advantages of the World 2. Gods Wisdom appears in the government of Men as Fallen and Sinful or in the government of Sin After the Law of God was broke and Sin invaded and conquer'd the World Divine Wisdom had another Scene to act in and other Methods of Government were necessary The Wisdom of God is then seen in ordering those Jarring Discords drawing Good out of Evil and Honour to himself out of that which in its own Nature tended to the supplanting of his Glory God being a Soveraign Good would not suffer so great an Evil to enter but to serve himsâ—lf of it for some greater End for all his Thoughts are full of Goodness and Wisdom Now though the Permission of Sin be an Act of his Soveraignty and the Punishment of Sin be an Act of his Justice yet the Ordination of Sin to good is an Act of his Wisdom whereby he doth dispose the Evil over-rules the Malice and orders the Events of it to his own Purposes Sin in it self is a Disorder and therefore God doth not permit Sin for it self for in its own Nature it hath nothing of Amiableness but he wills it for some Righteous End which belongs to the manifestation of his Glory which is his aim in all the Acts of his Will He wills it not as Sin but as his Wisdom can order it to some greater Good than was before in the World and make it contribute to the beauty of the Order he intends As a dark Shadow is not delightful and pleasant in it self nor is Drawn by a Painter for any Amiableness there is in the Shadow it self but as it serves to set forth that Beauty which is the main design of his Art so the glorious Effects which arise from the Entrance of Sin into the World are not from the Creatures Evil but the Depths of Divine Wisdom Particularly 1. Gods Wisdom is seen in the bounding of Sin As it is said of the Wrath of Man it shall praise him and the remainder of Wrath God doth restrain Psal 76.10 He sets limits to the boyling Corruption of the Heart as he doth to the boisterous Waves of of the Sea Hitherto shalt thou go and no further As God is the Rector of the World he doth so restrain Sin so temper and direct it as that Human Society is preserved which else would be overflown with a Deluge of Wickedness and Ruine would be brought upon all Communities The World would be a Shambles a Brothel-house if God by his Wisdom and Goodness did not set bars to that Wickedness which is in the Hearts of Men The whole Earth
would be as bad as Hell Since the Heart of Man is a Hell of Corruption by that the Souls of all Men would be excited to the acting the worst Villanies since every thought of the heart of Man is only evil and that continually Gen. 6.5 if the Wisdom of God did not stop these Floud-gates of Evil in the Hearts of Men it would overflow the World and frustrate all the Gracious Designs he carries on among the Sons of Men. Were it not for this Wisdom every House would be filled with Violence as well as every Nature is with Sin What harm would not strong and furious Beasts do did nâ—t the Skill of Man tame and bridle them How often hath Divine Wisdom restrain'd the Viciousness of Human Nature and let it run not to that point they â—â—â—â—â—'d but to the end he purposed Labans Fury and Esaus Enmity against 〈…〉 â—ere pâ—â—t in within bounds for Jacobs safety and their Hearts over-ruled 〈…〉 intended destruction of the good Man to a perfect Amity * Gen. 31.29 Gen. 32. II. Gods Wisdom is seen in the bringing glory to himself out of Sin 1. Out of Sin it self God erects the Trophies of Honour upon that which is a Natural means to hinder and deface it His glorious Attributes are drawn out to our view upon the occasion of Sin which otherwise had lain hid in his own Being Sin is altogether black and abominable but by the Admirable Wisdom of God he hath drawn out of the dreadful darkness of Sin the saving Beams of his Mercy and displayed his Grace in the Incarnation and Passion of his Son for the Atonement of Sin Thus he permitted Adams Fall and wisely order'd it for a fuller discovery of his own Nature and a higher elevation of Mans good that as Sin reigned to death so might Grace reign through Righteousness to Eternal life by Jesus Christ Rom. 5.21 The unbounded Goodness of God could not have appeared without it His Goodness in rewarding Innocent Obedience would have been manifested but not his Mercy in pardoning Rebellious Crimes An Innocent Creature is the Object of the Rewards of Grace as the standing Angels are under the Beams of Grace but not under the Beams of Mercy because they were never Sinful and consequently never Miserable Without Sin the Creature had not been Miserable Had Man remained Innocent he had not been the Subject of Punishment and without the Creatures Misery Gods Mercy in sending his Son to save his Enemies could not have appeared The abundance of Sin is a Passive occasion for God to manifest the Abundance of his Grace The Power of God in the changing the Heart of a Rebellious Creature had not appeared had not Sin infected our Nature We had not clearly known the Vindictive Justice of God had no Crime been committed for that is the proper Object of Divine Wrath. The Goodness of God could never have permitted Justice to exercise it self upon an Innocent Creature that was not guilty either Personally or by Imputation Psal 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Wisdom is illustrious hereby God suffered Man to fall into a Mortal Disease to shew the virtue of his own Restoratives to cure Sin which in it self is Incurable by the Art of any Creature And otherwise this Perfection whereby God draws Good out of Evil had been utterly useless and would have been destitute of an Object wherein to discover it self Again Wisdom in ordering a Rebellious head-strong World to its own ends is greater than the ordering an Innocent World exactly observant of his Precepts and complying with the End of the Creation Now without the entrance of Sin this Wisdom had wanted a Stage to act upon Thus God raised the Honour of his Wisdom while Man ruin'd the Integrity of his Nature and made use of the Creatures breach of his Divine Law to establish the Honour of it in a more signal and stable manner by the Active and Passive Obedience of the Son of his Bosom Nothing serves God so much as an occasion of glorifying himself as the entrance of Sin into the World by this occasion God communicates to us the knowledge of those Perfections of his Nature which had else been folded up from us in an Eternal Night his Justice had lain in the dark as having nothing to punish his Mercy had been obscure as having none to pardon a great part of his Wisdom had been silent as having no such Object to order 2. His Wisdom appears In making use of sinful Instruments He uses the Malice and Enmity of the Devil to bring about his own Purposes and makes the sworn Enemy of his Honour contribute to the Illustrating of it against his will This great Crafts-Master he took in his own Net and defeated the Devil by the Devils Malice by turning the Contrivances he had hatch'd and accomplish'd against Man against himself He used him as a Tempter to grapple with our Saviour in the Wilderness whereby to make him fit to succour us and as the God of this World to inspire the wicked Jews to Crucifie him whereby to render him actually the Redeemer of the World and so made him an Ignorant Instrument of that Divine Glory he design'd to ruine * Moulins Serm. Decad. 10. p. 221 232. 'T is more Skill to make a curious piece of Workmanship with Ill condition'd Tools than with Instruments naturally sitted for the work 'T is no such great wonder for a Limner to draw an exact piece with a fit Pencil and sutable Colours as to begin and perfect a beautiful work with a Straw and Water things improper for such a design This Wisdom of God is more admirable and astonishing than if a Man were able to rear a vast Palace by Fire whose nature is to consume Combustible matter not to erect a Building To make things serviceable contrary to their own Nature is a Wisdom peculiar to the Creator of Nature Gods making use of Devils for the glory of his Name and the good of his People is a more amazing piece of Wisdom than his Goodness in employing the Blessed Angels in his work To promise that the World which includes the God of the World and Death and Things present let them be as Evil as they will should be ours that is for our good and for his glory is an act of Goodness but to make them serviceable to the Honour of Christ and the good of his People is a Wisdom that may well raise our highest Admirations †1 Cor. 3.22 They are for Believers as they are for the glory of Christ and as Christ is for the glory of God To Chain up Satan wholly and frustrate his Wiles would be an Argument of Divine Goodness but to suffer him to run his risque and then improve all his Contrivances for his own glorious and gracâ—ous Ends and Purposes manifests besides his Power and Goodness his Wisdom also He uses the Sins of Evil
Stock for the Redeemer yet God gave a Son from that Unlawful Bed whereof Christ came according to the flesh Gen. 38.29 compared with Mat. 1.3 Jonahs Sin was probably the first and remote occasion of the Ninivites giving credit to his Prophesy His Sin was the cause of his Punishment and his being slung into the Sea might facilitate the reception of his Message and excite the Ninivites Repentance whereby a Cloud of severe Judgment was blown away from them 'T is thought by some That when Jonah passed through the Streets of Niniveh with his Proclamation of Destruction he might be known by some of the Mariners of that Ship from whence he was cast Over-board into the Sea and might after their Voyage be occasionally in that City the Metropolis of the Nation and the place of some of their Births and might acquaint the People that this was the same Person they had cast into the Sea by his own consent for his acknowledg'd running from the Presence of the Lord for that he had told them Jonah 1.10 and the Marriners Prayer Verse 14. evidenceth it whereupon they might conclude his Message worthy of Belief since they knew from such Evidences that he had sunk into the Bowels of the Waters and now saw him safe in their Streets by a Deliverance unknown to them and that therefore that Power that delivered him could easily verifie his Word in the threatned Judgment Had Jonah gone at first without committing that Sin and receiving that Punishment his Message had not been judged a Divine Prediction but a fruit of some Enthusiastick madness His Sin upon this account was the first occasion of averting a Judgment from so great a City 3. The good of the Sinner himself is sometimes promoted by Divine Wisdom ordering the Sin As God had not permitted Sin to enter upon the World unless to bring Glory to himself by it so he would not let Sin remain in the little World of a Believers Heart if he did not intend to order it for his good What is done by Man to his damage and disparagement is directed by Divine Wisdom to his advantage not that it is the intent of the Sin or the Sinner but it is the event of the Sin by the Ordination of Divine Wisdom and Grace As without the Wisdom of God permitting Sin to enter into the World some Attributes of God had not been Experimentally known so some Graces could not have been exercis'd For where had there been an Object for that Noble Zeal in vindicating the Glory of God had it not been invaded by an Enemy The intenseness of Love to him could not have been so strong had we not an Enemy to hate for his sake Where had there been any place for that Noble part of Charity in holy Admonitions and Compassion to the Souls of our Neighbours and Endeavours to reduce them out of a destructive to a happy Path Humility would not have had so many grounds for its growth and exercise and holy Sorrow had had no fewel And as without the appearance of Sin there had been no exercise of the Patience of God so without Afflictions the Fruits of Sin there had been no ground for the exercise of the Patience of a Christian one of the Noblest parts of Valour Now Sin being Evil and such as cannot but be Evil hath no respect in it self to any good and cannot work a gracious End or any thing profitable to the Creature nay it is a hindrance to any good and therefore what good comes from it is Accidental occasioned indeed by Sin but efficiently caused by the over-ruling Wisdom of God taking occasion thereby to display it self and the Divine Goodness The Sins and Corruptions remaining in the Heart of a Man God orders for good and there are good effects by the direction of his Wisdom and Grace I. As the Soul respects God 1. God often brings forth a sensibleness of the necessity of Dependance on him The Nurse often lets the Child slip that it may the better know who supports it and may not be too venturous and confident of its own strength Peter would trust in Habitual Grace and God suffers him to Fall that he might trust more in Assisting Grace Mat. 26.35 Though I should die with thee yet I will not deny thee God leaves sometimes the brightest Souls in an Eclipse to manifest that their Holiness and the preservation of it depend upon the darting out his Beams upon them As the Falls of Men are the effects of their coldness and remisness in Acts of Faith and Repentance so the fruit of these Falls is often a running to him for Refuge and a deeper sensibleness where their Security lies It makes us Lower our swelling Sails and come under the Lee and Protection of Divine Grace When the Pleasures of Sin answer the expectations of a Revolted Creature he reflects upon his former state and sticks more close to God when before God had little of hâ—s Company Hos 2.7 I will return to my first husband for then it was better with me than now As God makes the Sins of Men sometimes an occasion of their Conversion so he sometimes makes them an occasion of a further Conversion Onesimus run from Philemon and was met with by Paul who proved an Instrument of his Conversion Philem. 10. My Son Onesimus whom I have begotten in my Bonds His slight from his Master was the occasion of his Regeneration by Paul a Prisoner The Falls of Believers God orders to their further stability He that is fallen for want of using his Staff will Lean more upon it to preserve himself from the like Disaster God by permitting the Lapses of Men doth often make them despair of their own strength to subdue their Enemies and rely upon the strength of Christ wherein God hath laid up Power for us and so becomes stronger in that strength which God hath ordained for them We are very apt to trust in our selves and have confidence in our own worth and strength and God lets loose Corruptions to abate this swelling humor This was the reason of the Apostle Pauls Thorn in the flesh 2 Cor. 12.9 whether it were a Temptation or Corruption or Sickness that he might be sensible of his own inability and where the sufficiency of Grace for him was placed He that is in danger of Drowning and hath the Waves come over his head will with all the might he hath lay hold upon any thing near him which is capable to Save him God lets his People sometâ—mes sink into such a condition that they may lay the faster hold on him who is near to all that call upon him 2. God hereby raiseth higher Estimations of the value and virtue of the Blood of Christ As the great Reason why God permitted Sin to enter into the World was to honour himself in the Redeemer so the Continuance of Sin and the Conquests it sometimes makes in Renewed Men are to honour the Infinite
we see all his acts we cannot see all the draughts of his skill in them An unskilful hearer of a musical lesson may receive the melody with his Ear and understand not the rarities of the composition as it was wrought by the Musitians mind Under the old Testament there was more of Divine Power and less of his Wisdom apparent in his acts As his Laws so his acts were more fitted to their Sense Under the new Testament there is more of Wisdom and less of power As his Laws so his acts are more fitted to a spiritual mind Wisdom is less discernable than power Our Wisdom therefore in this case as it doth in other things consists in silence and expectation of the end and event of a work We owe that honour to God that we do to men wiser than our selves to imagin he hath reason to do what he doth though our shallowness cannot comprehend it We must suffer God to be wiser than our selves and acknowledg that there is something soveraign in his waies not to be measured by the feeble reed of our weak understandings And therefore we should acquiesce in his proceedings take heed we be not found slanderers of God but be adorers instead of Censurers and lift up our hands in admiration of him and his waies instead of citing him to answer it at our Bar. Many things in the first appearance may seem to be rash and unjust which in the Issue appear comely and regular If it had been plainly spoke before that the Son of God should dye that a most holy person should be crucified it would have seemed cruel to expose a Son to misery unjust to inflict punishment upon one that was no Criminal to joyn together exact Goodness and Physical evil that the Soveraign should dye for the Malefactor and the Observer of the Law for the Violators of it But when the whole design is unravelled what an admirable connexion is there of Justice and Mercy Love and Wisdom which before would have appeared absurd to the muddied reason of man We see the Gardiner pulling up some delightful Flowers by the roots digging up the Earth overwhelming it with Dung an ignorant person would imagine him wild out of his wits and charge him with spoiling his Garden But when the Spring is arrived the spectator will acknowledge his skill in his former Operations The truth is the whole design and methods of God are not to be judged by us in this World the full declaration of the whole contexture is reserved for the other World to make up a part of good mens happiness in the amazing views of divine Wisdom as well as the other perfections of his nature We can no more perfectly understand his Wisdom than we can his Mercy and Iustice till we see the last lines of all drawn and the full expressions of them We should therefore be sober and modest in the consideration of Gods ways his Judgments are unsearchable and his ways past finding out The riches of his Wisdom are past our counting his depths not to be fathomed yet they are depths of righteousness and equity Though the full manifestation of that equity the grounds and methods of his proceedings are unknown to us As we are too short fully to know God so we are too ignorant fully to comprehend the acts of God Since he is a God of Judgment we should wait till we see the issue of his works Esa 30.18 And in the mean time with the Apostle in the Text give him the glory of all in the same expressions To the only wise God be glory through Jesus Christ for ever Amen A DISCOURSE UPON THE Power of God Job 26.14 Loe these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him but the thunder of his power who can understand BILDAD had in the foregoing Chapter entertain'd Job with a Discourse of the dominion and power of God and the purity of his righteousness whence he argues an impossibility of the justification of Man in his Presence who is no better than a Worm Job in this Chapter acknowledges the greatness of Gods power and descants more largely upon it than Bildad had done but doth Preface it with a kind of Ironical speech as if he had not acted a friendly part or spake little to the purpose or the matter in hand The subject of Job's Discourse was the worldly happiness of the Wicked and the Calamities of the Godly And Bildad reads him a Lecture of the extent of Gods Dominion the number of his Armies and the unspotted rectitude of his Nature in comparison of which the purest Creatures are foul and crooked Job therefore from verse 1. to verse 4. taxeth him in a kind of scoffing manner that he had not touched the Point but rambled from the Subject in hand and had not applyed a Salve proper to his Sore Verse 2. How hast thou helped him that is without power how savest thou the arm of him that hath no strength c. your discourse is so impertinent that it will neither strengthen a weak person nor instruct a simple one * Munster But since Bildad would take up the Argument of Gods Power and discourse so short of it Job would shew that he wanted not his Instructions in that kind and that he had more distinct Conceptions of it than his Antagonist had uttered And therefore from verse 5. to the end of the Chapter he doth magnificently treat of the Power of God in several Branches And verse 5. he begins with the lowest Dead things are formed from under the waters and the inhabitants thereof You read me a Lecture of the Power of God in the heavenly Host Indeed it is visible there yet of a larger extent and Monuments of it are found in the lower parts What do you think of those dead things under the Earth and Waters of the Corn that dies and by the moysâ—â—ng influences of the Clouds springs up again with a numerous progeny and increase for the nourishment of man What do you think of those varieties of Metals and Minerals conceived in the bowels of the Earth those Pearls and Riches in the depths of the Waters midwifed by this Power of God Add to these those more prodigious Creatures in the Sea the Inhabitants of the Waters with their vastness and variety which are all the Births of Gods Power both in their first Creation by his mighty Voice and their propagation by his cherishing Providence Stop not here but consider also that his Power extends to Hell either the Graves the Repositories of all the crumbled dust that hath yet been in the World for so Hell is sometimes taken in Scripture Verse 6. Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering The several lodgings of deceased men are known to him No skreen can obscure them from his sight nor their dissolution be any bar to his Power when the time is come to compact those mouldred Bodies to entertain
Justice abus'd his Goodness done injury to all those Attributes which are necessary to his relief It was not so in Creation nothing was uncapable of disobliging God from bringing it into Being The Dust which was the Matter of Adams Body needâ—d only the extrinsick Power of God to form it into a Man and inspire it with a living Soul It had not render'd it self obnoxious to Divine Justice nor was capable to excite any disputes between his Perfections But after the entrance of Sin and the merit of Death thereby there was a resistance in Justice to the free Remission of Man God was to exercise a Power over himself to answer his Justice and pardon the Sinner as well as a power over the Creature to reduce the Run-away and Rebel Unless we have recourse to the Infiniteness of Gods Power the infiniteness of our Guilt will weigh us down We must consider not only that we have a mighty Guilt to press us but a mighty God to relieve us In the same act of his being our Righteousness he is our Strength In the Lord have I righteousness and strength Isai 45.24 2. In the sense of Pardon When the Soul hath been wounded with the sense of sin and its Iniquities have star'd it in the face the raising the Soul from a despairing condition and lifting it above those Waters which terrified it to cast the light of Comfort as well as the light of Grace into a heart covered with more than an Egyptian Darkness is an act of his Infinite and Creating Power Isai 57.19 I create the fruit of the lips peace Men may wear out their Lips with numbring up the Promises of Grace and Arguments of Peace but all will signifie no more without a Creative Power than if all Men and Angels should call to that White upon the Wall to shine as splendidly as the Sun God only can create Jerusalem and every Child of Jerusalem a rejoycing * Isai 65.18 A Man is no more able to apply to himself any word of Comfort under the sense of Sin than he is able to Convert himself and turn the proposals of the Word into gracious Affections in his heart To restore the joy of Salvation is in Davids Judgment an act of Soveraign Power equal to that of creating a clean heart Psal 51.10 12. Alas 't is a state like to that of Death as Infinite Power can only raise from Natural death so from a Spiritual death also from a Comfortless death In his favour there is life in the want of his Favour there is death The Power of God hath so placed Light in the Sun that all Creatures in the World all the Torches upon Earth kindled together cannot make it Day if that doth not rise so all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth are not competent Chirurgions for a wounded Spirit The cure of our Spiritual Ulcers and the pouring in Balm is an Act of Soveraign Creative Power 'T is more visible in silencing a Tempestuous Conscience than the Power of our Saviour was in the stilling the stormy Winds and the roaring Waves As none but Infinite Power can remove the Guilt of Sin so none but Infinite Power can remove the Despairing sense of it III. This Power is evident in the preserving Grace As the Providence of God is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Creation so the preservation of Grace is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Regeneration To keep a Nation under the Yoke is an act of the same Power that subdu'd it 'T is this that strengthens Men in suffering against the Fury of Hell †Colos 1.13 't is this that keeps them from falling against the force of Hell the Fathers hand John 10.29 His strength abates and moderates the violence of Temptations his Staff sustains his People under them his Might defeats the Power of Satan and bruiseth him under a Believers feet The Counterworkings of Indwelling Corruption the reluctances of the Flesh against the breathings of the Spirit the fallacy of the Senses and the rovings of the Mind have ability quickly to stifle and extinguish Grace if it were not maintain'd by that Powerful blast that first inbreathed it No less Power is seen in perfecting it than was in planting it ‖ 2 Pet. 1.3 no less in fulfilling the work of Faith than in ingrafting the Word of Faith 2 Thess 1.11 The Apostle well understood the Necessity and Efficacy of it in the preservation of Faith as well as in the firâ—t infusion when he expresses himself in those terms of a Greatness or Hyperbole of Power his Mighty Power or the Power of his Might Ephes 1.19 The Salvation he bestows and the Strength whereby he effects it are joyned together in the Prophets Song Isai 12.2 The Lord is my strength and my salvation And indeed God doth more magnifie his Power in continuing a Believer in the World a weak and half-rigg'd Vessel in the midst of so many Sands whereon it might split so many Rocks whereon it might dash so many Corruptions within and so many Temptations without than if he did immediately transport him into Heaven and cloth him with a perfectly Sanctified Nature To Conclude What is there then in the World which is destitute of Notices of Divine Power Every Creature affords us the Lesson all acts of Divine Government are the marks of it Look into the Word and the manner of its propagation instructs us in it your Changed Natures your Pardoned Guilt your Shining Comfort your quell'd Corruptions the standing of your staggering Graces are sufficient to preserve a sense and prevent a forgetfulness of this great Attribute so necessary for your support and conducing so much to your comfort Vses I. Of Information and Instruction 1. If Incomprehensible and Infinite Power belongs to the Nature of God then Jesus Christ hath a Divine Nature because the Acts of Power proper to God are ascribed to him This Perfection of Omnipotence doth unquestionably pertain to the Deity and is an incommunicable Property and the same with the Essence of God He therefore to whom this Attribute is ascribed is essentially God This is challenged by Christ in conjunction with Eternity Revel 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty This the Lord Christ speaks of himself He who was equal with God proclaims himself by the Essential title of the Godhead part of which he repeats again verse 11. and this is the Person which walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks the Person that was dead and now lives vers 17 18. which cannot possibly be meant of the Father the first Person who can never come under that denomination of having been dead Being therefore adorn'd with the same Title he hath the same Deity and though his Omnipotence be only positively asserted v. 8. yet his Eternity being asserted v. 11 17. it inferreth
as his own Knowledge God having an Infinite Knowledge of himself can only have an Infinite Love to himself and consequently an Infinite Holiness without any defect because he loves himself according to the vastness of his own Amiableness which no finite Being can Therefore though the Angels be exempt from Corruption and Soil they cannot enter into comparison with the Purity of God without acknowledgment of a dimness in themselves Besides He charges them with folly and puts no trust in them because they have the power of sinning though not the act of sinning They have a possible Folly in their own Nature to be charged with Holiness is a quality separable from them but it is inseparable from God Had they not at first a mutability in their Nature none of them could have sinned there had been no Devils but because some of them sinned the rest might have sinned And though the standing Angels shall never be changed yet they are still changeable in their own Nature and their standing is due to Grace not to Nature and though they shall be for ever preserved yet they are not nor ever can be Immutable by Nature for then they should stand upon the same bottom with God himself but they are supported by Grace against that Changeableness of Nature which is essential to a Creature The Creator only hath Immortality that is Immutability ‖ 1. Tim. 3.16 'T is as certain a Truth that no Creature can be naturally Immutable and Impeccable as that God cannot create any thing actually polluted and imperfect 'T is as possible that the highest Creature may sin as it is possible that it may be annihilated It may become not holy as it may become not a Creature but Nothing The Holiness of a Creature may be reduc'd into Nothing as well as his Substance But the Holiness of the Creator cannot be diminish'd dimm'd or overshadowed James 1.17 He is the Father of lights with whom is no variableness or shadow of turning 'T is as impossible his Holiness should be blotted as that his Deity should be extinguish'd For whatsoever Creature hath essentially such or such qualities cannot be stript of them without being turned out of its Essence As a Man is essentially Rational and if he ceaseth to be Rational he ceaseth to be Man The Sun is essentially Luminous if it should become dark in its own Body it would cease to be the Sun In regard of this absolute and only Holiness of God 't is thrice repeated by the Seraphims Isai 6.3 The Threefold Repetition of a word notes the Certainty or Absoluteness of the thing or the Irreversibleness of the Resolve as Ezek. 21.27 I will overturn overturn overturn notes the Certainty of the Judgment also Revel 8.8 Woe woe woe Three times repeated signifies the same The Holiness of God is so absolutely peculiar to him that it can no more be exprest in Creatures than his Omnipotence whereby they may be able to create a World or his Omniscience whereby they may be capable of knowing all things and knowing God as he knows himself 3. God is so holy that he cannot possibly approve of any Evil done by another but doth perfectly abhor it it would not else be a glorious holiness Psal 5.3 He hath no pleasure in wickedness He doth not only love that which is just but abhor with a perfect hatred all things contrary to the Rule of Righteousness Holiness can no more approve of sin than it can commit it To be delighted with the evil in anothers act contracts a Guilt as well as the Commission of it for approbation of a thing is a consent to it Sometime the approbation of an evil in another is a more grievous Crime than the act it self as appears in Rom. 1.32 who knowing the Judgment of God not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do it Where the not only manifests it to be a greater guilt to take pleasure in them Every sin is aggravated by the delight in it to take pleasure in the evil of anothers Act on shews a more ardent affection and love to sin than the Committer himself may have This therefore can as little fall upon God as to do an evil act himself yet as a man may be delighted with the Consequences of anothers sin as it may occasion some publick good or private good to the guilty person as sometimes it may be an occasion of his repentance when the horridness of a fact stares him in the face and occasions a self-reflection for that and other Crimes which is attended with an indignation against them and sincere remorse for them so God is pleased with those good things his Goodness and Wisdom bring forth upon the occasion of sin But in regard of his Holiness he cannot approve of the evil whence his Infinite Wisdom drew forth his own glory and his Creatures good His Pleasure is not in the sinful act of the Creature but in the act of his own goodness and skill turning it to another end than what the Creature aimed at 1. He abhors it necessarily Holiness is the glory of the Deity therefore necessary The Nature of God is so holy that he cannot but hate it Hab. 1.13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity He is more opposite to it than light to darkness and therefore it can expect no countenance from him A love of holiness cannot be without a hatred of every thing that is contrary to it As God necessarily loves himself so he must necessarily hate every thing that is against himself And as he loves himself for his own excellency and holiness he must necessarily detest whatsoever is repugnant to his holiness because of the evil of it Since he is infinitely good he cannot but love goodness as it is a resemblance to himself and cannot but abhor unrighteousness as being most distant from him and contrary to him If he have any esteem for his own Perfections he must needs have an implacable aversion to all that is so repugnant to him that would if it were possible destroy him and is a point directed not only against his glory but against his life If he did not hate it he would hate himself For since Righteousness is his Image and Sin would deface his Image if he did not love his Image and loath what is against his Image he would loath himself he would be an Enemy to his own Nature †Turretin de satisfact p. 35.36 Nay if it were possible for him to love it it were possible for him not to be holy it were possible then for him to deny himself and will that he were no God which is a palpable Contradiction Yet this necessity in God of hating sin is not a brutish necessity such as is in meer Animals that avoid by a natural Instinct not of choice what is prejudicial to them but most free as well as necessary arising from an infinite
appear that God was bound to those Additional Acts when he had already lighted up in him a Spirit which was the Candle of the Lord Prov. 20.27 whereby he was able to discern all if he had attended to it It was enough that God did not necessitate Man to sin did not counsel him to it that he had given him sufficient warning in the Threatning and sufficient strength in his Faculties to fortifie him against Temptation He gave him what was due to him as a Creature of his own framing he withdrew no help from him that was due to him as a Creature and what was not due he was not bound to impart Man did not beg Preserving Grace of God and God was not bound to offer it when he was not Petition'd for it especially Yet if he had begg'd it God having before furnish'd him sufficiently might by the right of his Soveraign Dominion have denied it without any Impeachment of his Holiness and Righteousness Though he would not in such a case have dealt so bountifully with his Creature as he might have done yet he could not have been impleaded as dealing Unrighteously with his Creature The single word that God had already utter'd when he gave him his Precept was enough to oppose against all the Devils Wiles which tended to invalidate that Word The Understanding of Man could not imagine that the Word of God was vainly spoken and the very suggestion of the Devil as if the Creator should envy his Creature would have appear'd ridiculous if he had attended to the Voice of his own Reason God had done enough for him and was obliged to do no more and dealt not Unrighteously in leaving him to act according to the Principles of his Nature To Conclude If Gods Permission of Sin were enough to charge it upon God or if God had been obliged to give Adam Supernatural Grace Adam that had so capacious a Brain could not be without that Plea in his Mouth Lord thou mightest have prevented it the commission of it by me could not have been without thy permission of it Or Thou hast been wanting to me as the Author of my Nature No such Plea is brought by Adam into the Court when God Tried and Cast him No such Pleas can have any strength in them Adam had reason enough to know that there was sufficient Reason to over-rule such a Plea Since the Permission of Sin casts no Durt upon the Holiness of God as I think hath been cleared we may under this Head consider Two things more 1. That Gods Permission of Sin is not so much as his Restraint or Limitation of it Since the entrance of the First sin into the World by Adam God is more a hinderer than a permitter of it If he hath permitted that which he could have prevented he prevents a world more that he might if he pleased permit The Hedges about Sin are larger than the Outlets they are but a few Streams that glide about the World in comparison of that mighty Torrent he dams up both in Men and Devils He that understands what a Lake of Sodom is in every Mans Nature since the universal Infection of Humane Nature as the Apostle describes it Rom. 3.9 10 c. must acknowledge That if God should cast the Reins upon the Necks of Sinful men they would run into Thousands of abominable Crimes more than they do The impression of all Natural Laws would be raz'd out the World would be a publick Stews and a more bloody Slaughter-house Humane Society would sink into a Chaos no Star-light of commendable Morality would be seen in it the World would be no longer an Earth but an Hell and have lain deeper in Wickedness than it doth If God did not limit Sin as he doth the Sea and put Bars to the Waves of the Heart as well as those of the Waters and say of them Hitherto you shall go and no further Man hath such a furious Ocean in him as would over-flow the Banks and where it makes a breach in one place it would in a Thousand if God should suffer it to act according to its impetuous Current As the Devil hath Lust enough to destroy all Mankind if God did not bridle him deal with every Man as he did with Job ruine their Comforts and deform their Bodies with Scabs infect Religion with a Thousand more Errors fling Disorders into Common-wealths and make them as a Fiery Furnace full of nothing but Flame If He were not Chain'd by that Powerful Arm that might let him loose to fulfil his Malicious Fury what Rapines Murders Thefts would be committed if he did not stint him Abimelech would not only Lust after Sarah but deflow'r her Laban not only pursue Jacob but rifle him Saul not only hate David but murder him David not only threaten Nabal but root him up and his Family did not God girdle in the Wrath of Man * Psal 76 1â— aâ— tâ—â— word Restrain signifies A greater remainder of Wrath is pent in than flames out which yet swells for an Outlet God may be concluded more Holy in Preventing Mens sins than the Author of Sin in Permitting some since were it not for his Restraints by the pull-back of Conscience and infus'd Motions and outward Impediments the World would swarm more with this Cursed Brood 2. His Permission of Sin is in order to his own Glory and a greater Good 'T is no reflection upon the Divine Goodness to leave Man to his own Conduct whereby such a Deformity as Sin sets foot in the World since he makes his Wisdom illustrious in bringing Good out of Evil and a Good greater than that Evil he suffer'd to spring up Maâ—us bonum â—aith Bradward God did not permit Sin as Sin or permit it barely for it self As Sin is not lovely in its own Nature so neither is the Permission of Sin intrinsically good or amiable for it self but for those ends aimed at in the Permission of it God permitted Sin but approved not of the Object of that Permission Sin because that considered in its own Nature is solely Evil Nor can we think that God could approve of the Act of Permission considered only in it self as an Act but as it respected that Event which his Wisdom would order by it We cannot suppose that God should permit Sin but for some great and glorious End for it is the manifestation of his own glorious Perfections he intends in all the Acts of his Will Prov. 16.4 The Lord hath made all things for himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath wrought all things which is not only his act of Creation but Ordination For Himself that is for the discovery of the Excellency of his Nature and the Communication of himself to his Creature Sin indeed in its own Nature hath no tendency to a good End the Womb of it Teems with nothing but Monsters 't is a spurn at Gods Soveraignty and a slight of his Goodness It both deforms and
Will because there was a flaw contracted in that Nature that came right and true out of his hand And as he that winds up his disordered Watch is in the same manner the cause of its motion then as he was when it was regular yet by that act of his he is not the cause of the false motion of it but that is from the deficiency of some part of the Watch it self So though God concurs to that Action of the Creature whereby the Wickedness of the Heart is drawn out yet is not God therefore as Unholy as the Heart 5. God hath one End in his Concurrence and Man another in his Action So that there is a Righteous and often a gracious End in God when there is a base and unworthy End in Man God concurs to the substance of the Act Man produceth the circumstance of the Act whereby it is Evil. God orders both the Action wherein he concurs and the Sinfulness over which he presides as a Governour to his own Ends. In Josephs case Man was sinful and God merciful his Brethren acted Envy and God design'd Mercy Gen. 45.4 5. They would be rid of him as an Eyesore and God concurr'd with their Action to make him their Preserver Gen. 50.20 Ye thought evil against me but God meant it unto good God concur'd to Judas his action of betraying our Saviour he supported his Nature while he contracted with the Priests and supported his Members while he was their Guide to apprehend him God's end was the manifestation of his choicest love to Man and Judas his end was the gratification of his own Covetousness The Assyrian did a Divine Work against Hierusalem but not with a Divine end * Isa 10.5.6 â— He had a mind to enlarge his Empire enrich his Coffers with the Spoil and gain the Title of a Conqueror he is desirous to Invade his Neighbours and God employs him to punish his Rebels but he means not so nor doth his heart think so He intended not as God intended The Axe doth not think what the Carpenter intends to do with it But God used the rapine of an Ambitious Nature as an Instrument of his Justice As the exposing Malefactors to wild Beasts was an ancient Punishment whereby the Magistrate intended the execution of Justice and to that purpose used the natural fierceness of the Beasts to an end different from what those ravaging Creatures aim'd at God concur'd with Satan in spoiling Job of his Goods and scarifying his Body God gave Satan license to do it Job 1.12 21. and Job acknowledges it to be God's act But their ends were different God concurred with Satan for the clearing the Integrity of his Servant when Satan aim'd at nothing but the provoking him to Curse his Creator The Physician applies Leeches to suck the superfluous blood but the Leeches suck to glut themselves without any regard to the intention of the Physician and the welfare of the Patient In the same act where men intend to hurt God intends to correct so that his concurrence is in a holy manner while men commit unrighteous actions A Judge commands the Executioner to execute the Sentence of Death which he hath justly pronounced against a Malefactor and admonisheth him to do it out of love to Justice the Executioner hath the Authority of the Judge for his Commission and the protection of the Judge for his Security The Judge stands by to countenance and secure him in the doing of it but if the Executioner hath not the same intention as the Judge viz. a love to Justice in the performance of his Office but a private hatred to the Offender the Judge though he commanded the fact of the Executioner yet did not command this Error of his in it and though he protects him in the Fact yet he owns not this corrupt disposition in him in the doing of what was enjoyn'd him as any act of his own To Conclude this Since the Creature cannot act without God cannot lift up a Hand or move his Tongue without God's preserving and upholding the Faculty and preserving the power of Action and preserving every Member of the Body in its actual Motion and in every circumstance of its Motion we must necessarily suppose God to have such a way of concurrence as doth not intrench upon his Holiness We must not equal the Creature to God by denying its dependence on him Nor must we imagine such a concurrence to the sinfulness of an act as stains the Divine Purity which is I think sufficiently salv'd by distinguishing the matter of the act from the evil adhering to it For since all evil is founded in some good the evil is distinguishable from the good and the deformity of the action from the action it self which as it is a created act hath a dependance on the will and influence of God And as it is a sinful act is the product of the will of the Creature 6. Proposition The holiness of God is not blemisht by proposing Objects to a man which he makes use of to sin There is no Object propos'd to man but is directed by the Providence of God which influenceth all motions in the World and there is no Object propos'd to man but his active Nature may according to the goodness or badness of his disposition make a good or an ill use of That two men one of a charitable the other of a hard-hearted disposition meet with an indigent and necessitous Object is from the Providence of God yet this indigent person is relieved by the one and neglected by the other There could be no action in the World but about some Object there could be no Object offer'd to us but by Divine Providence the active Nature of man would be in vain if there were not Objects about which it might be exercis'd Nothing could present it self to man as an Object either to excite his Grace or awaken his Corruption but by the conduct of the Governour of the World That David should walk upon the Battlements of his Palace and Bathsheba be in the Bath at the same time was from the Divine Providence which orders all the affairs of the World * 2 Sam. 117. and so some understand Jer. 6.21 Thus saith the Lord I will lay stumbling blocks before this People and the Fathers and Sons together shall fall upon them Since they have offered Sacrifices without those due qualifications in their hearts which were necessary to render them acceptable to me I will lay in their way such Objects which their Corruption will use ill to their further sin and ruin so Psal 105.25 He turned their heart to hate his people that is by the multiplying his People he gave occasion to the Egyptians of hating them instead of caressing them as they had formerly done But God's Holiness is not blemisht by this for 1. This proposing or presenting of Objects invades not the liberty of any man The Tree of the Knowledge of Good
such a return that he hath usually aggravated from the Benefits he hath bestow'd upon Men. Every thought of him should be attended with a Motion sutable to the Excellency of his Nature and Works Can we think those nobler Spirits the Angels look upon themselves or those Frames of things in the Heavens and Earth without starting some practical Affection to him for them Their knowledge of his Excellency and Works cannot be a lazy Contemplation 'T is impossible their Wills and Affections should be a thousand Miles distant from their Understandings in their Operations 'T is not the least part of his condescending Goodness to Court in such Methods the Affections of us Worms and manifest his desire to be beloved by us Let us give him then that Affection he deserves as well as demands and which cannot be with-held from him without horrible Sacriledge There is nothing worthy of love besides him Let no Fire be kindled in our hearts but what may ascend directly to him 7. The seventh Instruction is this This renders God a fit Object of trust and confidence Since none is good but God none can be a full and satisfactory Ground or Object of confidence but God As all things derive their beings so they derive their helpfulness to us from God they are not therefore the principal Objects of trust but that Goodness alone that renders them fit Instruments of our support They can no more challenge from us a stable Confidence than they can a Supream Affection 'T is by this the Psalmist allures Men to a trust in him * Psal 34.8 Taste and see how good the Lord is What is the consequence Blessed is the Man that trusts in thee The Voice of Divine Goodness sounds nothing more intelligibly and a taste of it produceth nothing more effectually than this As the Vials of his Justice are to make us fear him so the Streams of his Goodness are to make us rely on him As his Patience is design'd to broach our Repentance so his Goodness is most proper to strengthen our assurance in him That Goodness which surmounted so many difficulties and conquer'd so many motions that might be made against any repeated Exercise of it after it had been abus'd by the first Rebellion of Man That Goodness that after so much contempt of it appeared in such a Majestick tenderness and threw aside those impediments which Men had cast in the way of Divine Inclinations This Goodness is the foundation of all reliance upon God Who is better than God And therefore Who more to be trusted than God As his Power cannot act any thing weakly so his Goodness cannot act any thing unbecomingly and unworthy of his Infinite Majesty And here consider 1. Goodness is the first motive of trust Nothing but this could be the encouragement to Man had he stood in a State of Innocence to present himself before God The Majesty of God would have constrain'd him to keep his due distance but the Goodness of God could only hearten his Confidence 'T is nothing else now that can preserve the same temper in us in our lapsed Condition To regard him only as the Judge of our Crimes will drive us from him but only the regard of him as the Donor of our Blessings will allure us to him The principal Foundation of Faith is not the Word of God but God himself and God as consider'd in this Perfection As the Goodness of God in his Invitations and Providential Blessings leads us to Repentance * Rom. 2.4 so by the same reason the Goodness of God by his Promises leads us to Reliance If God be not first believed to be good he would not be believed at all in any thing that he speaks or swears If you were not satisfied in the goodness of a Man though he should swear a thousand times you would value neither his Word nor Oath as any security Many times where we are certain of the goodness of a Man we are willing to trust him without his promise This Divine Perfection gives Credit to the Divine Promises they of themselves would not be a sufficient ground of trust without an apprehension of his truth nor would his truth be very comfortable without a belief of his good will whereby we are assured that what he promises to give he gives liberally free and without regret The truth of the Promiser makes the Promise Credible but the goodness of the Promiser makes it chearfully relied on In Psal 73. Asaphs Penitential Psalm for his distrust of God he begins the first Verse with an assertion of this Attribute v. 1. Truly God is good to Israel and ends with this fruit of it Verse 28. I will put my trust in the Lord God 'T is a mighty ill Nature that receives not with assurance the Dictates of Infinite Goodness that cannot deceive or frustrate the hopes we conceive of him that is unconceivably more abundant in the breast and inclinations of the Promiser than expressible in the words of his Promise All true faith works by love * Gal. 5.6 and therefore necessarily includes a particular eying of this Excellency in the Divine Nature which renders him amiable and is the Motive and Encouragement of a love to him His Power indeed is a foundation of trust but his Goodness is the principal Motive of it His Power without good Will would be dangerous and could not allure Affection and his good Will without Power would be useless and though it might merit a love yet could not create a Confidence both in conjunction are strong grounds of hope Especially since his Goodness is of the same infinity with his Wisdom and Power and that he can be no more wanting in the effusions of this upon them that seek him than in his Wisdom to contrive or his Power to effect his Designs and Works 2. This goodness is more the foundation and motive of trust under the Gospel than under the Law They under the Law had more evidences of Divine Power and their trust eyed that much though there was an eminency of goodness in the frequent deliverances they had yet the Power of God had a more glorious dress than his Goodness because of the extraordinary and miraculous ways whereby he brought those deliverances about Therefore in the Catalogue of Believers in Heb. 11. you shall find the Power of God to be the Center of their Rest and Trust and their Faith was built upon the extraordinary Marks of Divine Power which were frequently visible to them But under the Gospel goodness and love was intended by God to be the chief Object of trust suitable to the Excellency of that Dispensation he would have an Exercise of more ingenuity in the Creatures Therefore 't is said Hosea 3.5 A promise of Gospel-times They shall fear God and his goodness in the later days when they shall return to seek the Lord and David their King 'T is not said they shall fear God and his Power but
Some Potentates there have been in the World that have loved to suck the blood and drink the tears of their Subjects that would rule more by fear than love * Causin Poly-Histor lib. 4. cap. 22. like Clearchus the Tyrant of Heraclia who bore the figure of a Thunderbolt instead of a Scepter and named his Son Thunder thereby to Tutor him to terrifie his Subjects But as Gods Throne is a Throne of Holiness so it is a Throne of Grace Heb. 4.16 A Throne encircled with a Rainbow Revel 4.23 In sight like to an Emerald An Emblem of the Covenant that hath the pleasantness of a green colour delightful to the eye betokening Mercy Though his Nature be infinitely excellent above us and his power infinitely transcendent over us yet the Majesty of his Government is temper'd with an unspeakable Goodness He acts not so much as an absolute Lord as a gracious Soveraign and obliging Benefactor He delights not to make his Subjects slaves Exacts not of them any servile and fearful but a generous and chearful obedience He requires them not to Fear or Worship him so much for his power as his Goodness He requires not of a rational Creature any thing repugnant to the Honour Dignity and Principles of such a nature not any thing that may shame disgrace it and make it weary of its own being and the service it owes to its Soveraign He draws by the cords of a man his Goodness renders his Laws as sweet as Hony or the Hony Comb to an unvitiated Palate and a renew'd mind And though it be graunted he hath a full dispose of his Creature as the Potter of his Vessel and might by his absolute Soveraignty inflict upon an innocent an eternal torment yet his Goodness will never permit him to use this Soveraign right to the hurt of a Creature that deserves it not If God should cast an innocent Creature into the furnace of his wrath who can question him But who can think that his Goodness will do so Since that is as infinite as his Authority As not to punish the sinner would be a denyal of his Justice so to torment an innocent would be a denial of his Goodness A man hath an absolute power over his Beast and may take away his Life and put him to a great deal of pain but that moral vertue of Pity and Tenderness would not permit him to use this right but when it conduceth to some greater good than that can be evil either for the good of man which is the end of the Creature or for the good of the poor beast it self to rid him of a greater misery None but a savage nature a disposition to be abhorr'd would torture a poor beast meerly for his pleasure 'T is as much against the nature of God to punish one eternally that hath not deserved it as it is to deny himself and act any thing foolishly and unbeseeming his other perfections which render him Majestical and adorable To afflict an innocent Creature for his own good or for the good of the World as in the case of the Redeemer is so far from being against Goodness that it is the highest Testimony of his tender Bowels to the Sons of men God though he be Mighty withdraws not his Eyes i. e. his tender respect from the Righteous Job 36.5 7 8.9 10. And if he bind them in Fetters 't is to shew them their Transgressions and open their Ear to Discipline and renewing commands in a more sensible strain to depart from iniquity What was said of Fabritius you may as soon remove the Sun from its course as Fabritius from his honesty may be of God you may as soon dash in peices his Throne as separate his Goodness from his Sovereignty 4. Proposition This Soveraignty is extensive over all Creatures He rules all as the Heavens do over the Earth He is King of Worlds King of Ages as the word translated eternal signifies 1 Tim. 1.17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the same word is so translated Heb. 1.2 By whom also he made the Worlds the same word is rendred Worlds Heb. 11.3 The Worlds were fram'd by the Word of God God is King of Ages or Worlds of the invisible World and the sensible of all from the beginning of their Creation of whatsoever is measur'd by a time It extends over Angels and Devils over wicked and good over rational and irrational Creatures all things bow down under his hand nothing can be exempted from him Because there is nothing but was extracted by him from nothing into being All things Essentially depend upon him And therefore must be Essentially Subject to him the extent of his dominion flows from the perfection of his Essence since his Essence is unlimited his Royalty cannot be restrained His Authority is as void of any imperfection as his Essence is it reaches out to all points of the Heaven above and the Earth below Other Princes Reign in a spot of ground Every worldly Potentate hath the confines of his dominions The Pyrenean Mountains divide France from Spain and the Alpes Italy from France None are call'd Kings absolutely but Kings of this or that place But God is the King the spacious Firmament limits not his dominion If we could suppose him bounded by any place in regard of his presence yet he could never be out of his own dominion whatsoever he looks upon wheresoever he were would be under his rule Earthly Kings may step out of their own Countrey into the Territory of a Neighbour Prince and as one leaves his Countrey so he leaves his dominion behind him but Heaven and Earth and every particle of both is the Territory of God He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom Rules over all 1. The Heaven of Angels and other excellent Creatures belong to his Authority He is principally call'd the Lord of Hosts in relation to his intire command over the Angelical Legions Therefore Verse 21. following the Text they are call'd his Hosts and Ministers that do his pleasure Jacob called him so before Gen. 32.1 2. When he met the Angels of God he calls them the Host of God and the Evangelist long after calls them so Luke 2.13 A multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and all this Host he commands Isaiah 45.12 My hands have stretched out the Heavens and all their Host have I commanded He employs them all in his service and when he issues out his orders to them to do this or that he finds no resistance of his Will And the inanimate Creatures in Heaven are at his beck they are his Armies in Heaven disposed in an excellent order in their several ranks Psalm 147.4 He calls the Starrs by Name they render a due obedience to him as Servants to their Master when he singles them out and calls them by Name to do some special service he calls them out to their several Offices as the General of an Army appoints the
subject to God not in regard of the Divine Nature wherein there is an equality and consequently no Dominion of jurisdiction nor only in his humane nature but in the Oeconomy of a Redeemer considered as one design'd and consenting to be incarnate and take our flesh so that after this agreement God had a soveraign right to dispose of him according to the Articles consented to In regard of his undertaking and the advantage he was to bring to the Elect of God upon the Earth he calls God by the solemn Title of his Lord in that prophetick Psalm of him Psal 16.2 Oh my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord my Goodness extends not unto thee but unto the Saints that are in the Earth It seems to be the speech of Christ in Heaven mentioning the Saints on Earth as at a distance from him I can add nothing to the glory of thy Majesty but the whole fruit of my Mediation and Sufferings will redound to the Saints on Earth and it may be observed that God is call'd the Lord of Hosts in the Evangelical Prophets Isaiah Haggai Zachary and Malachy more in reference to this affair of Redemption and the deliverance of the Church than for any other works of his Providence in the World 1. This Soveraignty of God appears in requiring satisfaction for the sin of man Had he indulg'd man after his fall and remitted his offence without a just compensation for the injury he had received by his Rebellion his Authority had been vilified man would always have been attempting against his jurisdiction there would have been a continual succession of Rebellions on mans part and if a continual succession of indulgences on Gods part he had quite disown'd his Authority over man and stript himself of the flower of his Crown satisfaction must have been requir'd sometime or other from the person thus rebelling or some other in his stead and to require it after the first act of sin was more preservative to the right of the Divine soveraignty than to do it after a multitude of repeated revolts God must have laid aside his Authority if he had laid aside wholly the exacting punishment for the offence of man 2. This Soveraignty of God appears in appointing Christ to this work of Redemption His soveraignty was before manifest over Angels and Men by the right of Creation there was nothing wanting to declare the highest charge of it but his ordering his own Son to become a mortal Creature the Lord of all things to become lower than those Angels that had as well as all other things receiv'd their being and beauty from him and to be reckon'd in his death among the dust and refuse of the World He by whom God created all things not only became a man but a crucified man by the Will of his Father Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins according to the Will of God to which may referre that expression Prov. 8.22 of his being possessed by God in the beginning of his way Possession is the Dominion of a thing invested in the possessor he was possessed indeed as a Son by eternal Generation He was possessed also in the beginning of his way or works of Creation as a Mediator by special constitution to this the expression seems to referre if you read on to the end of verse 31. wherein Christ speaks of his rejoycing in the habitable part of his Earth the Earth of the great God who had design'd him to this special work of Redemption He was a Son by Nature but a Mediator by Divine Will in regard of which Christ is often call'd Gods servant which is a relation to God as a Lord. God being the Lord of all things the Dominion of all things inferior to him is inseparable from him and in this regard the whole of what Christ was to do and did actually do was acted by him as the Will of God and is exprest so by himself in the Prophesie Psal 40.7 Lo I come verse 8. I delight to do thy will which are put together Heb. 10.7 Lo I come to do thy Will O God The designing Christ to this work was an act of mercy but founded on his soveraignty His compassionate bowels might have pitied us without his being soveraign but without it could not have releived us It was the Counsell of his own will as well as of his Bowels None was his Counsellor or perswader to that mercy he shew'd Rom. 11.34 Who hath been his Counsellor for it refers to that Mercy in sending the deliverer out of Sion verse 26. as well as to other things the Apostle had been discoursing of As God was at liberty to create or not to create so he was at liberty to Redeem or not to Redeem and at his liberty whither to appoint Christ to this work or not to call him out to it In giving this order to his Son his soveraignty was exercised in a higher manner than in all the orders and instructions he hath given out to Men or Angels and all the employments he ever sent them upon Christ hath names which signifie an Authority over him He is called an Angel and a Messenger Mal. 3.1 An Apostle Heb. 3.1 Declaring thereby that God hath as much Authority over him as over the Angels sent upon his Messages or over the Apostles commission'd by His Authority as he was consider'd in the quality of Mediator 3. This Soveraignty of God appears in transferring our sins upon Christ The Supream Power in a Nation can only appoint or allow of a commutation of punishment 'T is a part of Soveraignty to transferr the penalty due to the crime of one upon an other and substitute a sufferer with the sufferers own consent in the place of a criminal whom he had a mind to deliver from a deserv'd punishment God transferr'd the sins of men upon Christ and inflicted on him a punishment for them He summ'd up the debts of man charg'd them upon the score of Christ imputing to him the guilt and inflicting upon him the penalty Isa 53.6 The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all He made them all to meet upon his back He hath made him to be sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made so by the Soveraign pleasure of God A punishment for sin as most understand it which could not be Righteously inflicted had not sin been first Righteously imputed by the consent of Christ and the order of the Judge of the World This imputation could be the immediate act of none but God because he was the sole Creditor A Creditor is not bound to accept of another's suretiship but it is at his liberty whither he will or no and when he doth accept of him he may challenge the Debt of him as if he were the Principal Debtor himself Christ made himself sin for us by a voluntary submission and God made him sin for us by a full imputation and treated him penally
a power over our selves which is more noble than to be a Monarch over others A TABLE OF THE Places of Scripture Explained in this BOOK Some few of the Numbers being twice gone over the Reader may observe that this Mark †where 't is set after the Figures in this Table and the following Index directs him to the first of those Folio's and where he finds no Mark at all he is to consult the second GENESIS Chapters Verses Pages 1. 1. 346 439 440  26. 443 2. 7. 30 608  17. 796 3. 8. 803  15. 457 4. 26. 140 801 6. 6. 225 18. 19. 287 22. 12. ibid. 32. 30. 116 46. 4. 657 658 47. 31. 141 EXOD. Chapters Verses Pages 3. 11. 328  14. 187 188 4. 24. 801 6. 3. 439 440 9. 16. 454 15. 11. 494 32. 10. 602 33. 19. 585 34. 9. 806 NUMB. 34. 10. 116 DEUT. Chapters Verses Pages 32. 33 34. 300 34. 10. 116 I KINGS 8. 27. 250  39. 316 II KINGS 10. 9. 64 20. 1 4 5. 226 227 II CHRON. 11. 15. 68 JOB 4. 18. 500 9. 21. 320 12. 18. 742 743 14. 5. 293  17. 282 16. 19. 331 22. 14. 718 24. 12. 792 26. from v. 5. to the end of the Chapter 417 418 419 420 31. 26 27 28. 88 34. 21. 285 38. 7. 615 PSAL. Psalms Verses Pages 1. 4. 233 2. 4. 257 8. 4. 824 10. 11 13. 1 14. 1. 1 2 16. 2. 749 19. 1 2 3 4. 809  4. 348  9. 510  12. 288 22. 2 3 4. 558 26. 8. 257 27. 4. 497  10. 267 29. 10. 726 32. 1 2. 326 50. 21. 792 794  23. 326 51. 4. 303  6. 384 58. 3. 48  4. 49  10. 603 62. 11. 421 69. 19. 328 74. 14. 407 76. 12. 771 78. 36. 327  38. 804 90. 1. 179 180  2. 180 181  8. 318 102. 25 26 27. 203 4 5 6 7  from v. 3 to v. 28. 229 230 103. 3. 699  14. 333 † 19. 700 701 702 104. 2. 15  31. 206 207 105. 25. 534 106. 19 20. 122 111. 10. 14 113. 5. 257 130. 4. 130 139. 2. 300  7 8 9. 247 248  15 16. 30  16. 293  23 24. 233 †145. 17. 584 147. 1 2 3. 272 273  4. 273 717 718  5. 273 274 PROV Chapters Verses Pages 8. 12. 346  22. 192 749  30. 343 9. 10. 14 15. 11. 285 16. 4. 528 ECCL 8. 11. 48 ISAI 1. 10 11 14. 137 4. 2. 457 9. 6. 315 29. 15. 328 34. 4. 205 38. 1 5. 226 227 40. 15 17. 252 41. 21 22. 290 291 43. 20 21. 66 45. 5. 743  11. 769 48. 10. 657 52. 4 5. 658 54. 16. 346 66. 1. 251 JEREMY Chapters Verses Pages 6. 21. 534 7. 21. 137 12. 9. 233 15. 15. 789 16. 17. 287 21. 35 36. 205 23. from v. 16 to 24. 241 2 3 32. 31. 799 LAM 3. 33. 803 EZEK 4. 6. 802 8. 2. 497 9. 10. 803 11. 16. 657 18. 25. 790 20. 33. 771 DAN 7. 9. 124 HOSEA 1. 5. 816 2. 2 3. 804 814  16. 147  19. 769 5. 5. 513  12. 804 6. 4. 803 804  7. 752 7. 3. 69  15. 669 8. 12. 55 10. 15. 122 11. 10. 150 151  8. 804 13. 12 13. 336 †811 826 14. 2. 149 JOEL 1. 4. 804 AMOS 2. 6. 87 3. 2. 277 JONAH 3. 4 10. 226 227 MICAH 5. 2. 192 NAHUM Chapters Verses Pages 1. 1 2. 787 788  3. 788 789 790 791 HABAK. 1. 16. 86 ZEPH. 2. 1 2. 800 ZECH. 6. 1. 214 8. 3. 257 14. 16. 149 MAL. 1. 13 14. 64 3. 5. 319  6. 806 MATT. 1. 18. 457 3. 9. 423 5. 48. 792 827 7. 11. 551  23. 277 15. 6. 62 18. 10. 278 25. 12. 277 MARK 10. 18. 577 578 579 LUKE 1. 35. 456 10. 20. 235 JOHN 1. 3. 474.5 4. à 10 ad 24. 109 110  24. 110 111 112 129 130 5. 19. 472 6. 64. 317 7. 37. 149 9. 3. 712 10. 30. 262 12. 38. 303  39 41. 551 17. 5. 192 224 ACTS 7. 51. 57 17. 18. 461  28. 244 248  30. 799 ROM Chapters Verses Pages 1. 9. 143  19 20 21. 4 5 14 15   346 582  23. 257  25. 41 2. 4. 810 811 3. 9 10 11 12. 48  23. 546 547 5. 7. 584 7. 6. 135  8. 57 8. 4. 384  10. 796  21. 206  38 39. 333 9.  728  6. 135  22. 795 814 10. 18. 809 12. 1. 139 15. 5. 820 16. 25 26 27. à 341 †ad 337 I COR. 1. 21. 346 2. 2. 287  10 11. 278 10. 20 21. 68 II COR. 3. 18. 373 GAL. 3. 3. 135 EPH. 1. 10. 619  18. 374 2. 3. 102  12. 47 97 3. 10. 374 4. 6. 246 PHIL. 2. 6. 71 COL 1. 16. 473  20. 609 2. 3. 395 II TIM 1. 10. 630 631 2. 2. 235 TITUS 1. 16. 2.49 2. 19. 277 HEB. 1. 1 2 10 11. 229 230 473  9. 514 4. 12. 286 11. 3. 16 489  6. 4  16. 631  21. 141 JAMES 2. 10 11. 61 3. 15. 49 II PET. 2. 1. 795 2. 5. 801 3. 9. 798  12 13. 205 REV. 1. 10. 174 2. 18 19 22. 329 6. 10. 806  14. 205 THE INDEX A MEN are unwilling to have any Acquaintance with God Pag. 97 Vide Communion Actions a greater proof of Principles than words Pag. 49 All are known by God Pag. 285 Activity required in Spiritual Worship Pag. 144 145 Adam the greatness of his sin Pag. 625 754 Vide Man and Fall of man Additions in matters of Religion an invasion of God's Soveraignty Pag. 756 757 Vide Worship and Ceremonies Admiration ought to be exercis'd in Spiritual worship Pag. 148 Affections human in what sense ascribed to God Pag. 224 225 226 Sharp Afflictions make Atheists fear there is a God Pag. 42 43 Make us impatient Vide Impatience We should be patient under them v. Patience Many call on God only under them Pag. 92 Fill us with distraction in the Worship of God Pag. 166 The Presence of God a comfort in them Pag. 267 And his knowledge Pag. 322 The wisdom of God apparent in them Pag. 369 370 371 The wisdom of God a comfort in them Pag. 405 And his Power Pag. 485 486 And his Sovereignty Pag. 771 Do not impeach his Goodness Pag. 604 The Goodness of God seen in them Pag. 657 658 His Goodness a comfort in them Pag. 683 Acts of God's Soveraignty 711 712. The consideration of which would make us entertain them as we ought Pag. 774 775 Many neglect the serving of God till old Age. Pag. 65 Air how useful a Creature Pag. 23 Almighty how often God is so called in Scripture Pag. 421 How often in Job Pag. 440 Good Angels what benefit they have by Christ Pag.
by it Pag. 623 By the command of the Father Pag. 750 Debauch'd persons wish there were no God Pag. 53 Decrees of God no succession in them Pag. 186 Unchangeable 397 477. v. Immutability Defilement God not capable of it from any Corporeal thing Pag. 126 260 261 Delight holy Duties should be performed with it Pag. 149 150 All delight in worship doth not prove it to be spiritual Pag. 150 We should examin our selves after worship what delight we had in â—t Pag. 164 Deliverances chiefly to be ascribed to God Pag. 272 273 The Wisdom of God seen in them Pag. 371 372 373 Desires of Man naturally after an infinite good Pag. 36 37 Which evidences the being of a God Pag. 37 Men naturally have no desire of Remembrance of God converse with him thorough return to him or imitation of him Pag. 97 98 99 Devil Man naturally under his Dominion Pag. 67 68 God's restraining him how great a mercy v. Restraint Shall be totally subdued by God Pag. 341 †Outwitted by God Pag. 385 386 His first sin what it was Pag. 753 754 Vide Angel Direction Men neglect to ask it of God Vide Trusting in our selves Should seek it of him Pag. 399 Not to do it how sinful Pag. 403 Should not presume to give it to him Pag. 404 Disappointments make many cast off their Obedience to God Pag. 66 God Disappoints the devices of Men Pag. 745 746 Dispensations of God with his own Law Pag. 725 726 Distance from God naturally affected by Men Pag. 97 How great it is Pag. 546 547 Distractions in the Service of God how natural Pag. 65 66 165 Will be so while we have natural Corruption within Pag. 165 166 While we are in the Devil's Precinct Pag. 166 Most frequent in time of Affliction ibid. May be improved to make us more Spiritual Pag. 166 167 168 When we are humbled for them in worship Pag. 166 167 And for the baseness of our Natures the cause of them Pag. 167 Make us prize Duties of Worship the more ibid. Fill us with admirations of the graciousness of God Pag. 167 168 Prize the mediation of Christ 168 They should not discourage us if we resist them Pag. 168 169 And if we narrowly watch against them Pag. 169 Should be speedily cast out Pag. 178 Thoughts of God's Presence a remedy against them Pag. 270 Distresses v. Afflictions Distrust of God a contempt of God's Wisdom Pag. 405 And of his Power Pag. 481 And of his Goodness Pag. 665 Too great fear of man arises from it Pag. 481 482 Vide Trusting in God and in our selves Divinity of Christ v. Christ. Of the Holy Ghost v. Holy Ghost Doctrines that are self-pleasing desired by men Pag. 83 Vide Truths Dominion of God distinguisht from his Power Pag. 704 All his other Attributes fit him for it ibid. Acknowledg'd by all Pag. 704 705 Inseparable from the notion of God ibid. We cannot suppose God a Creator without it Pag. 705 Cannot be renounced by God himself ibid. Nor communicated to any Creature Pag. 706 Its foundation Pag. 706 ad 710 It is independent Pag. 710 711 Absolute Pag. 711 ad 714 Yet not tyrannical 714 Managed with Wisdom Righteousness and Goodness Pag. 714 ad 717 'T is Eternal Pag. 721 'T is manifested as he is a Law-giver Pag. 721 ad 727 As a Proprietor Pag. 727 ad 741 As a Governor Pag. 741 ad 748 As a Redeemer Pag. 748 ad 751 The contempt of it how great Pag. 752 All sin is a contempt of it Pag. 752 753 The first thing the Devil aim'd against Pag. 753 And Adam Pag. 754 Invaded by the Usurpations of men Pag. 754 755 Wherein it is contemned as he is a Law-giver Pag. 755 ad 758 As a Proprietor Pag. 758 759 As a Governor Pag. 759 ad 763 It is terrible to the wicked Pag. 766 767 768. Comfortable to the Righteous Pag. 769 ad 772 Should be often meditated upon by us Pag. 772 The Advantages of so doing Pag. 773 774 775 It should teach us Humility Pag. 775 776 Calls for our praise and thanks Pag. 776 777 778 Should make us promote his Honour Pag. 778 779 Calls for Fear Prayer and Obedience Pag. 779 780 Affords motives to obedience Pag. 780 781 And shews the manner of it Pag. 782 783 784 Calls for Patience Pag. 784 Affords motives to it Pag. 784 785 786 Shews us the true nature of it Pag. 786 Duties of Religion performed often meerly for self interest Pag. 91 ad 94 Men unwieldy to them Pag. 91 Perform them only in affliction Pag. 92 Vid. Service of God and Worship Dwelling in Heaven and in the Ark how to be understood of God Pag. 257 258 E. EAr of man how curious an Organ Pag. 31 Earth how useful Pag. 23 The Wisdom of God seen in it Pag. 348 849 Earthly things v. World Ejaculations how useful Pag. 176 Elect God knows all their persons Pag. 330 Election evidenced by Holiness Pag. 562 The Soveraignty of God appears in it Pag. 727 728 Not grounded on Merit in the Creature Pag. 728 729 Nor on foresight of Faith and Good Works Pag. 729 730 Elements though contrary yet linkt together Pag. 22 End All Creatures conspire to one common one Pag. 22 ad 27 Pursue their several Ends though they know them not Pag. 27 28 Men have corrupt Ends in Religious Duties Pag. 78 91 92 93 94 For evil Ends Pag. 58 Desire the knowledge of God's Law for by Ends Pag. 57 58 Man naturally would make himself his his own End Pag. 80 ad 84 How sinful this is Pag. 84 85 Man would make any thing his End rathan God Pag. 85 86 87 A Creature or a Lust Pag. 87 88 How sinful this is ibid. Would make himself the End of all Creatures Pag. 88 89 How sinful this is Pag. 89 Would make himself the End of God Pag. 90 ad 94 How sinful this is Pag. 94 Cannot make God his End till converted Pag. 100 Spiritual ones required in Spiritual Worship Pag. 153 154 Many have other Ends in it Pag. 154 God orders the Hearts of all men to his own Pag. 452 453 God hath one and Man another in sin Pag. 532 533 We should make God our end Pag. 563 God makes himself his own End how to be understood Pag. 592 His Being the End of all things is one foundation of his Dominion Pag. 708 709 Not using God's gifts for the End for which he gave them how great a sin Pag. 758 759 Enemies of the Church v. Church We should be kind to our worst Enemies Pag. 692 Enjoyment of God in Heaven always fresh and glorious Pag. 195 We should endeavour after it here Pag. 685 686 Men Envy the gifts and prosperities of others Pag. 77 78 An imitation of the Devil ibid. A sense of God's Goodness would check it Pag. 689 A contempt of God's Dominion Pag. 758 Essence of God cannot be seen Pag. 115 116 is unchangeable Pag. 210 211
Gods Patience to us would promote it Pag. 822 Patience of God how admirable Pag. 99 100 263 806 807 808 His Wisdom the ground of it Pag. 396 Evidences his Power Pag. 460 789 'T is a Property of the Divine Nature Pag. 791 A part of Goodness and Mercy but differs from both Pag. 792 793 Not insensible constrained or faint-hearted Pag. 793 794 Flows from his fulness of Power over himself Pag. 794 795 Founded in the Death of Christ Pag. 795 796 His Veracity Holiness and Justice no bars to it Pag. 796 797 798 Exercis'd towards our First Parents Gentiles and Israelites Pag. 799 800 Wherein it is evidenc'd Pag. 800 ad 808 The reason of its exercise Pag. 808 ad 814 'T is abus'd and how Pag. 814 815 The abuse of it sinful and dangerous Pag. 816 817 818 Exercis'd towards Sinners and Saints Pag. 819 Comfortable to all Pag. 819 820 Especially to the Righteous ib. Should be meditated on and the advantage of so doing Pag. 821 822 We should admire and bless God for it with Motives so to do Pag. 823 824 825 Should not be presumed on Pag. 825 826 Should be imitated Pag. 826 827 Poems fewer Sacred ones good than of any other kind Pag. 86 Peace God only can speak it to troubled Souls Pag. 471 Permission of Sin what it is and that 't is no blemish to Gods Holiness Pag. 522 ad 529 Persecutions the Goodness of God seen in them Pag. 657 658 Vide Apostacy Perseverance of the Saints a Gospel Doctrine Pag. 333 Certain Pag. 235 486 487 551 Motives to labour after it Pag. 238 239 Depends on God's Power and Wisdom Pag. 333 471 Pleasures Sensual men strangely addicted to Pag. 86 We ought to take heed of them Pag. 107 Poor the Wisdom of God in making some so Pag. 356 357 Power infinite belongs to God Pag. 421 The meaning of the word Pag. 421 Absolute and ordinate Pag. 421 422 Distinct from Will and Wisdom Pag. 424 Gives life and activity to his other Perfections Pag. 425 Of a larger extent than some others ibid. Originally and essentially in the Nature of God and the same with his Essence Pag. 426 427 Incommunicable to the Creature ibid. Pag. 431 Infinite and Eternal Pag. 427 ad 432 Bounded by his Decree Pag. 432 Not infringed by the impossibility of doing some things Pag. 432 ad 435 Arguments to prove it is in God Pag. 435 ad 439 Appears in Creation Pag. 439 ad 445 In the Government of the world Pag. 445 ad 456 In Redemption Pag. 456 ad 461 In the publication and propagation of the Gospel Pag. 461 ad 467 In planting and preserving Grace and pardoning sin Pag. 467 ad 472 Ascribed to Christ Pag. 472 ad 476 And to the Holy Ghost Pag. 476 Infers his Blessedness Immutability and Providence Pag. 476 477 A ground of Worship Pag. 478 And for the belief of the Resurrection Pag. 479 Contemn'd and abused and wherein Pag. 480 ad 484 Terrible to the Wicked Pag. 484 Comfortable to the Righteous and wherein Pag. 485 ad 487 Should be meditated on Pag. 488 And trusted in and why Pag. 489 490 Should teach us humility and submission Pag. 491 And the fear of him and not of man Pag. 491 492 Praise consideration of God's Wisdom and Goodness would help us to give it to him Pag. 409 689 690 Men backward to it Pag. 697 Due to him Pag. 776 Prayer men impatient if God do not answer it Pag. 92 93 We should take the most melting opportunities for secret Prayer Pag. 178 Not unnecessary because of God's Immutability Knowledge Pag. 220 231 335 to Creatures a wrong to God's Omniscience Pag. 322 323 Omission of it a practical denial of God's Knowledge Pag. 328 'T is a comfort that the most secret ones are understood by God Pag. 331 God's Wisdom a comfort in delaying or denying an answer to them Pag. 406 For success on wicked Designs how sinful Pag. 543 God fit to be trusted in for an answer of them Pag. 551 The goodness of God in answering them Pag. 654 655 His Goodness a comfort in them Pag. 682 God's Dominion an Encouragement to and ground of it Pag. 770 771 779 Preparation we should examine our selves concerning it before worship Pag. 162 Consideration of God's Knowledge would promote it Pag. 338 †How great a sin to come into God's Presence without it Pag. 544 Presence of Men more regarded than God's Pag. 86 87 We should seek for God's special and influential Presence Pag. 270 271 Vide Omnipresence Preserve himself no Creature can Pag. 19 447 448 God only can the World Pag. 29 The Power of God seen in it Pag. 445 One foundation of God's Dominion Pag. 709 Presumption springs from vain imaginations of God Pag. 95 96 A contempt of God's Dominion Pag. 761 762 Pride how common Pag. 82 83 An exalting our selves above God Pag. 89 The thoughts of God's Eternity should abate it Pag. 197 198 199 An affront to God's Wisdom Pag. 405 Of our own Wisdom foolish Pag. 411 God's Mercies abused to it Pag. 668 A contempt of his Dominion Pag. 761 Principles better known by actions than words Pag. 49 Some kept up by God to facilitate the Reception of the Gospel Pag. 392 Propagation of Creatures the Power of God seen in it Pag. 448 449 Of Mankind one end of God's patience Pag. 811 812 Prophecies prove the Being of God Pag. 39 Promises Men break them with God Pag. 66 67 232 233 Of God shall be performed Pag. 196 486 821 We should believe them and leave God to his own season of accomplishing them Pag. 342 Distrust of them a contempt of God's Wisdom Pag. 405 The Holiness of God in the performance of them to be observ'd Pag. 557 Providenc of God proved Pag. 262 317 318 477 Vide Government of the World Especially to his Church and the meanest in it 272 273 Extends to all Creatures 646 ad 649 Distrust of it a contempt of God's Goodness 665 Punishments v. Judgments God always just in them Pag. 100 671 Of sinners Eternal Pag. 193 194 The wisdom of God seen in them Pag. 370 Necessarily follow sins Pag. 547 548 549 Do not impeach God's Goodness Pag. 598 ad 604 Not God's primary intention Pag. 601 Inflicting them a branch of God's Dominion Pag. 726 727 Necessarily follow upon it Pag. 767 Of the Wicked unavoidable and terrible Pag. 767 768 Purgatory held by the Jews Pag. 73 R. RAin an instance of God's Wisdom and Power Pag. 349 418 Reason should not be the measure of God's Revelations Pag. 413 414 Repentance how ascribed to God Pag. 224 225 2â—6 A reasonable Condition Pag. 389 The end of God's patience Pag. 810 811 The consideration of God's patience would make us frequent and serious in the practice of it Pag. 821 Reprobation consistent with God's Holiness and Justice Pag. 522 Reproof may be for evil ends Pag. 93 Reputation men more concerned for their own than Gods