forsaken my Law and walked after the imaginations of their own heart When an act is known to be a sin and the Law that forbids it acknowledg'd to be the Law of God and after this a we persist in that which is contrary to it we tax his wisdom as if he did not understand what was convenient for us we would teach God knowledge * Job 21â 't is an implicite wish that God had laid aside the holiness of his nature and framed a Law to pleasure our lusts When God calls for weeping and mourning and girding with sackcloth upon approaching Judgments then the corrupt heart is for joy and gladness eating of Flesh and drinking of Wine because to morrow they should die * Isa ãâã 13. As if God had mistaken himself when he ordered them so much sorrow when their lives were so near an end and had lost his understanding when he ordered such a precept Disobedience is therefore called contention Rom. 2.8 Cententious and obey not the truth Contention against God whose truth it is that they disobey a dispute with him which hath more of wisdom in it self and conveniency for them his truth or their imaginations The more the love goodness and holiness of God appears in any command the more are we naturally averse from it and cast an imputation on him as if he were foolish unjust cruel and that we could have advised and directed him better The goodness of God is eminent to us in appointing a day for his own worship wherein we might converse with him and he with us and our souls be refresht with spiritual Communications from him and we rather use it for the ease of our bodies than the advancement of our souls as if God were mistaken and injured his Creature when he urg'd the spiritual part of duty Every disobedience to the Law is an implicite giving Law to him and a charge against him that he might have provided better for his Creature 2. In disapproving the methods of Gods government of the world If the Counsels of Heaven roul not about according to their schemes instead of adoring the unsearchable depths of his judgments they call him to the bar and accuse him because they are not fitted to their narrow Vessels as if a Nut-shell could contain an Ocean As corrupt reason esteems the highest truths foolishness so it counts the most righteous ways unequal Thus we commence a suit against God as though he had not acted righteously and wisely but must give an account of his proceedings at our tribunal This is to make our selves Gods superiors and presume to instruct him better in the government of the world As though God hinder'd himself and the world in not making us of his Privy Counsel and not ordering his affairs according to the contrivances of our dim understandings Is not this manifest in our immoderate complaints of Gods dealings with his Church as though there were a coldness in Gods affections to his Church and a glowing heat towardâ it only in us Hence are those importunate desires for things which are not established by any promise as though we would over-rule and over-perswade God to comply with our humour We have an ambition to be Gods Tutors and direct him in his Counsels Who hath been his Counsellor saith the Apostle * Rom. 11.34 Who ought not to be his Counsellor saith corrupt nature Men will find fault with God in what he suffers to be done according to their own minds when they feel the bitter fruit of it When Cain had kill'd his brother and his Conscience rackt him how sawcily and discontedly doth he answer God Gen. 4.9 Am I my brothers keeper Since thou dost own thy self the Rector of the world thou shouldst have preserved his person from my fury since thou dost accept his Sacrifice before my Offering preservation was due as well as acceptance If this temper be found on earth no wonder it is lodged in hell That deplorable person under the sensible stroke of Gods Soveraign justice would oppose his Nay to Gods will Luke 16.30 And he said nay Father Abraham but if one went to them from the dead they will repent He would presume to prescribe more effectual means than Moses and the Prophets to inform men of the danger they incurr'd by their sensuality David was displeas'd it 's said 2 Sam. 6.8 When the Lord had made a breach upon Vzzah not with Vzzah who was the object of his pity but with God who was the inflicter of that punishment When any of our friends have been struck with a Rod against our Sentiments and wishes have not our hearts been apt to swell in complaints against God as though he disregarded the goodness of such a person did not see with our eyes and measure him by our esteem of him As if he should have ask'd our Counsel before he had resolved and managed himself according to our will rather than his own If he be patient to the wicked we are apt to tax his holiness and accuse him as an enemy to his own Law If he inflict severity upon the righteous we are ready to suspect his goodness and charge him to be an enemy to his affectionate Creature If he spare the Nimrods of the World we are ready to ask where is the God of Judgment * Mal 2.17 If he afflict the Pillars of the Earth we are ready to question where is the God of Mercy 'T is impossible since the depraved nature of man and the various interests and passions in the world that infinite power and wisdome can act righteously for the good of the Universe but he will shake some corrupt interest or other upon the earth so various are the inclinations of men and such a Weather-cock Judgment hath every man in himself that the divine method he applauds this day upon a change of his interest he will cavil at the next 'T is impossible for the just orders of God to please the same person many weeks scarce many minutes together God must cease to be God or to be a holy if he should manage the concerns of the world according to the fancies of men How unreasonable is it thus to impose Laws upon God Must God revoke his own orders Govern according to the dictates of his Creature Must God who hath only power and wisdom to sway the Scepter become the obedient Subject of every mans humour and manage every thing to serve the design of a simple Creature This is not to be God but to set the Creature in his Throne Though this be not formally done yet that it is interpretatively and practically done is every hours experience 3. In impatience in our particular concerns 'T is ordinary with man to charge God in his complaints in the time of affliction Therefore 't is the commendation the Holy Ghost gives to Job Job 1.22 That in all this that is in those many waves that roll'd over him he did not charge
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 ât 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 â 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
dived into the depths of Nature have been more studious of the qualities of the Creatures than of the excellency of the nature or the discovery of the mind of God in them who regard only the rising and motions of the Star but follow not with the wise men its conduct to the King of the Jews How often do we see men filled with an eager thirst for all other kind of knowledge that cannot acquiesce in a twilight discovery but are inquisitive into the causes and reasons of effects yet are contented with a weak and languishing knowledge of God and his Law and are easily tired with the Proposals of them He now that nauseates the means whereby he may come to know and obey God has no intention to make the Law of God his Rule There is no man that intends seriously an end but he intends means in order to that end As when a man intends the preservation or recovery of his health he will intend means in order to those ends otherwise he cannot be said to intend his health So he that is not diligent in using means to know the mind of God has no sound intention to make the Will and Law of God his Rule Is not the inquiry after the Will of God made a work by the by and fain to lacquy after other concerns of an inferior nature if it hath any place at all in the Soul which is a despising the Being of God The Notion of the Soveraignty of God bears the same date with the Notion of his Godhead and by the same way that he reveals Himself he reveals his Authority over us whether it be by Creatures without or Conscience within All Authority over Rational Creatures consists in commanding and directing the duty of Rational Creatures in compliance with that Authority consists in obeying Where there is therefore a careless neglect of those means which convey the knowledge of Gods Will and our Duty there is an utter disowning of God as our Soveraign and our Rule 2. When any part of the Mind and Will of God breaks in upon Men they endeavour to shake it off As a Man would a Sergeant that comes to arrest him they like not to retain God in their Knowledge Rom. 1.28 A natural Man receives not the things of the Spirit of God that is into his Affection he pusheth them back as men do troublesome and importunate Beggers They have no kindness to bestow upon it They thrust with both shoulders against the Truth of God when it presseth in upon them and dash as much contempt upon it as the Pharisees did upon the Doctrine our Saviour directed against their Covetousness As men naturally delight to be without God in the world so they delight to be without any offspring of God in their thoughts Since the Spiritual Palate of Man is depraved Divine Truth is unsavoury and ungrateful to us till our taste and relish is restored by Grace Hence men damp and quench the motions of the Spirit to Obedience and Compliance with the Dictates of God strip them of their Life and Vigor and kill them in the Womb. How unable are our Memories to retain the substance of spiritual Truth but like Sand in a Glass put in at one part and runs out at the other Have not many a secret wish that the Scripture had never mentioned some truths or that they were blotted out of the Bible because they face their Consciences and discourage those boiling Lusts they would with eagerness and delight pursue Me thinks that interruption John gives our Saviour when he was upon the Reproof of their Pride looks little better * Mark 9.33.38 than a design to divert him from a discourse so much against the grain by telling him a story of their prohibiting one to cast out Devils because he followed not them How glad are men when they can raise a Battery against a Command of God and raise some smart Objection whereby they may shelter themselves from the strictness of it 3. When men cannot shake off the Notices of the Will and Mind of God they have no pleasure in the consideration of them Which could not possibly be if there were a real and fixed design to own the Mind and Law of God as our Rule Subjects or Servants that love to obey their Prince and Master will delight to read and execute their Orders The Devils understand the Law of God in their minds but they loath the impressions of it upon their Wills Those miserable Spirits are bound in Chains of Darkness evil Habits in their Wills that they have not a thought of obeying that Law they know It was an unclean Beast under the Law that did not chew the Cud 'T is a corrupt Heart that doth not chew Truth by Meditation A natural man is said not to know God or the things of God he may know them notionally but he knows them not affectionately A sensual Soul can have no delight in a spiritual Law To be sensual and not to have the Spirit are inseparable Jude 19. Natural Men may indeed meditate upon the Law and Truth of God but without delight in it if they take any pleasure in it 't is only as 't is knowledge not as it is a Rule for we delight in nothing that we desire but upon the same account that we desire it Natural Men desire to know God and some part of his Will and Law not out of a sense of their practical excellency but a natural thirst after knowledge and if they have a delight 't is in the act of knowing not in the Object known not in the Duties that stream from that Kowledge they design the furnishing their Understandings not the quickning their Affections like idle Boys that strike Fire not to warm themselves by the heat but sport themselves with the Sparks Whereas a gracious Soul accounts not only his Meditation or the Operations of his Soul about God and his Will to be sweet but he hath a joy in the object of that Meditation * Psal 104.34 Many have the knowledge of God who have no delight in Him or his Will Owls have Eyes to perceive that there is a Sun but by reason of the weakness of their sight have no pleasure to look upon a Beam of it So neither can a man by Nature love or delight in the Will of God because of his natural corruption That Law that riseth up in men for Conviction and Instruction they keep down under the power of Corruption making their Souls not the Sanctuary but Prison of Truth Rom. 1.18 They will keep it down in their hearts if they cannot keep it out of their heads and will not endeavour to know and taste the Spirit of it 4. There is farther a rising and swelling of the Heart against the Will of God 1. Internal Gods Law cast against a hard Heart is like a Ball thrown against a stone Wall by reason of the resistance rebounding the further
could not be blessed Nothing can have any complacency in it self without the Knowledg of it self Nothing can in a rational manner enjoy it self without understanding it self The Blessedness of God consists not in the knowledg of any thing without him but in the knowledg of himself and his own excellency as the principle of all things If therefore he did not perfectly know himself and his own happiness he could not enjoy a happiness for to be and not to know to be is as if a thing were not He is God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 and therefore for ever had a Knowledg of himself 3. Without the Knowledg of himself he could Create nothing For he would be ignorant of his own Power and his own Ability and he that doth not know how far his Power extends could not act If he did not know himself he could know nothing and he that knows nothing can do nothing he could not know an Effect to be possible to him unless he knew his own Power as a Cause 4. Without the Knowledg of himself he could govern nothing He could not without the knowledg of his own Holiness and Righteousness prescribe Laws to men nor without a knowledg of his own nature order himself a manner of Worship sutable to it All Worship must be congruous to the dignity and nature of the object worshipped he must therefore know his own Authority whereby Worship was to be enacted his own Excellency to which Worship was to be suited his own Glory to which Worship was to be directed If he did not know himself he did not know what to punish because he would not know what was contrary to himself not knowing himself he would not know what was a contempt of him and what an adoration of him what was worthy of God and what was unworthy of him In fine he could not know other things unless he knew himself unless he knew his own Power he could not know how he created things unless he knew his own Wisdom he could not know the beauty of his Works unless he knew his own Glory he could not know the end of his Works unless he knew his own Holiness he could not know what was evil and unless he knew his own Justice he could not know how to punish the Crimes of his offending creatures And therefore 1. God knows himself because his Knowledg with his Will is the cause of all other things that can fall under his cognizance he knows himself first before he can knovv any other thing that is first according to our conceptions for indeed God knovvs himself and all other things at once He is the first Truth and therefore is the first object of his ovvn understanding There is nothing more excellent than himself and therefore nothing more known to him than himself As he is all Knovvledg so he hath in himself the most excellent object of Knovvledg To understand is properly to knovv ones self No object is so intelligible to God as God is to himself nor so intimately and immediately joined vvith his Understanding as himself for his Understanding is his Essence himself 2. He knows himself by his own Essence He knovvs not himself and his ovvn Povver by the effect because he knovvs himself from Eternity before there vvas a World or any effect of his Povver extant 'T is not a knovvledg by the Cause for God hath no cause nor a knovvledg of himself by any species or any thing from vvithout If it vvere any thing from vvithout himself that must be created or uncreated if uncreated it vvould be God and so vve must either ovvn many Gods or ovvn it to be his Essence and so not distinct from himself If created then his knovvledg of himself vvould depend upon a creature he could not then knovv himself from eternity but in time because nothing can be created from eternity but in time God knovvs not himself by any faculty for there is no composition in God he is not made up of parts but is a simple being some therefore have called God not intellectus understanding because that savours of a faculty but intellectio intellection God is all act in the knovvledg of himself and his knovvledg of other things 3. God therefore knows himself perfectly comprehensively Nothing in his ovvn nature is concealed from him he reflects upon every thing that he is Magalaneus There is a positive comprehension so God doth not comprehend himself for vvhat is comprehended hath bounds and vvhat is comprehended by it self is finite to it self and there is a negative comprehension God so comprehends himself nothing in his ovvn nature is obscure to him unknovvn by him For there is as great a perfection in the understanding of God to knovv as there is in the Divine nature to be knovvn The Understanding of God and the Nature of God are both infinite and so equal to one another his Understanding is equal to himself he knovvs himself so vvell that nothing can be knovvn by him more perfectly than himself is knovvn to himself He knovvs himself in the highest manner because nothing is so proportion'd to the Understanding of God as himself He knovvs his ovvn Essence Goodness Povver all his Perfections Decrees Intentions Acts the infinite capacity of his ovvn Understanding so that nothing of himself is in the dark to himself And in this respect some use this expression That the Infiniteness of God is in a manner finite to himself because it is comprehended by himself Thus God transcends all Creatures thus his Understanding is truly Infinite because nothing but himself is an infinite Object for it What Angels may understand of themselves perfectly I know not but no Creature in the World understands himself Man understands not fully the excellency and parts of his own nature upon Gods knowledg of himself depends the Comfort of his People and the Terror of the Wicked this is also a clear Argument for his Knowledg of all other things without himself he that knows himself must needs know all other things less than himself and which were made by himself When the knowledg of his own Immensity and Infiniteness is not an object too difficult for him the knowledg of a finite and limited Creature in all his actions thoughts circumstances cannot be too hard for him Since he knows himself who is Infinite he cannot but know whatsoever is Finite this is the Foundation of all his other Knowledg the knowledg of every thing present past and to come is far less than the knowledg of himself He is more incomprehensible in his own nature than all things Created or that can be Created put together can be If he then have a perfect comprehensive knowledg of his own nature any knowledg of all other things is less than the knowledg of himself this ought to be well considered by us as the Fountain whence all his other knowledg flows 2. Therefore God knows all other things whether
beautify our Dwellings furnish our Closets or store our VVardrobes * Psal 104.24 The whole Earth is full of his Riches Nothing but by the rich Goodness of God is exquisitely accomodated in the numerous brood of things immediately or mediately for the use of Man All in the issue conspire together to render the VVorld a delightful Residence for Man And therefore all the living Creatures were brought by God to attend upon Man after his Creation to receive a Mark of his Dominion over them by the imposition of their Names â Gen. 2.19 20. He did not only give variety of Senses to Man but provided variety of delightful Objects in the VVorld for every Sense The Beauties of Light and Colours for our Eye the Harmony of Sounds for our Ear the Fragrancy of Odours for our Nostrils and a Delicious Sweetness for our Palates Some have qualities to pleasure all every thing a quality to pleasure one or other He doth not only present those things to our view as Rich Men do in Ostentation their Goods He makes us the Enjoyers as well as the Spectators and gives us the Use as well as the Sight And therefore he hath not only given us the Sight but the Knowledge of them He hath set up a Sun in the Heavens to expose their outward Beauty and Conveniencies to our Sight and the Candle of the Lord is in us to expose their inward Qualities and Conveniencies to our Knowledge that we might serve our selves of and rejoyce in all this Furniture wherewith he hath garnisht the World and have wherewithal to employ the inquisitiveness of our Reason as well as gratifie the pleasure of our Sense And particularly God provided for Innocent Man a delightful Mansion-house a place of more special Beauty and Curiosity the Garden of Eden a delightful Paradise a Model of the Beauties and Pleasures of another World wherein he had placed whatsoever might contribute to the felicity of a Rational and Animal Life the Life of a Creature composed of Mire and Dust of Sense and Reason * Gen. 2.9 Besides the other Delicacies consign'd in that place to the use of Man there was a Tree of Life provided to maintain his Being and nothing denied in the whole compass of that Territory but one Tree that of the knowledge of Good and Evil which was no Mark of an ill will in his Creator to him but a Reserve of Gods absolute Soveraignty and a Trial of Mans voluntary Obedience What blur was it to the Goodness of God to reserve one Tree for his own propriety when he had given to Man in all the rest such numerous Marks of his Rich Bounty and Goodness VVhat Israel after Mans Fall enjoyed sensibly Nehemiah calls great Goodness â Neh. 9.25 How inexpressible then was that Goodness manifested to Innocent Man when so small a part of it indulg'd to the Israelites after the Curse upon the Ground is call'd as truly it Merits such great Goodness How can we pass through any part of this great City and cast our Eyes upon the well Furnisht Shops stor'd with all kinds of Commodities without reflections upon this Goodness of God starting up before our Eyes in such varieties and plainly telling us that he hath accommodated all things for our use suited things both to supply our need content a reasonable Curiosity and delight us in our aims at and passage to our Supream End 3. The Goodness of God appears in the Laws he hath given to Man the Covenant he made with him It had not been agreeable to the Goodness of God to let a Creature governable by a Law be without a Law to regulate him his Goodness then which had broke forth in the Creation had suffer'd an Eclipse and obscurity in his Government As Infinite Goodness was the Motive to Create so Infinite Goodness was the Motive of his Government And this appears 1. In the fitting the Law to the Nature of Man It was rather below than above his strength he had an integrity in his Nature to answer the Righteousness of the Precept * Eccles 7.29 God Created Man upright his Nature was suited to the Law and the Law to his Nature it was not above his understanding to know it nor his will to embrace it nor his passions to be regulated by it The Law and his Nature were like two exact streight Lines touching one another in every part when joyned together God exacted no more by his Law than what was written by Nature in his Heart He had a knowledge by Creation to observe the Law of his Creation and he fell not for want of a Righteousness in his Nature He was enabled for more than was commanded him but wilfully indisposed to less than he was able to perform The Precepts were easie not only becoming the Authority of a Soveraign to exact but the Goodness of a Father to demand and the Ingenuity of a Creature and a Son to pay â 1 John 5.3 His Commands are not grievous the observance of them had fill'd the Spirit of Man with an extraordinary Contentment It had been no less a pleasure and a delightful satisfaction to have kept the Law in a Created State than it is to keep it in some measure in a Renew'd State The Renewed Nature finds a suitableness in the Law to kindle a delight * Psal 1.2 It could not then have anywise shook the Nature of an upright Creature nor have been a burden too heavy for his Shoulders to bear Though he had not a Grace given him above Nature yet he had not a Law given him that surmounted his Nature It did not exceed his Created strength and was suited to the Dignity and Nobility of a Rational Nature It was a just Law â Rom. 7.12 and therefore not above the Nature of the Subject that was bound to obey it And had it been impossible to be observed it had been unrighteous to be Enacted It had not been a matter of Divine Praise and that seven times a day as it is * Psal 119.164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy Righteous Judgments The Law was so Righteous that Adam had every whit as much reason to bless God in his Innocence for the Righteousness of it as David had with the Reliques of Enmity against it His Goodness shines so much in his Law as merits our Praise of him as he is a Soveraign Law-giver as well as a Gracious Benefactor in the imparting to us a Being 2. In fitting it for the Happiness of Man For the satisfaction of his Soul which finds a Reward in the very act of keeping it â Psal 119.165 Great peace in the loving it for the preservation of Human Society wherein consists the External felicity of Man It had been inconsistent with Divine Goodness to enjoyn Man any thing that should be oppressive and uncomfortable Bitterness cannot come from that which is altogether Sweet
is a God in being and the Apostle doth not say that they know God but they profess to know him True knowledge and profession of knowledge are distinct It intimates also to us the unreasonableness of Atheism in the Consequence when men shut their eyes against the beams of so clear a sun God revengeth himself upon them for their impiety by leaving them to their own wills lets them fall into the deepest sink and dregs of iniquity and since they doubt of him in their hearts suffers them above others to deny him in their works this the Apostle discourseth at large * Rom. 1.24 The Text then is a description of mans Corruption 1. Of his mind The fool hath said in his heart No better title than that of a fool is afforded to the Atheist 2. Of the other faculties 1. In sins of Commission exprest by the loathsomeness corrupt abominable 2. In sins of Ommission there is none that doth good he lays down the Corruption of the mind as the cause the corruption of the other faculties as the effect I. Doct. 1 'T is a great Folly to deny or doubt of the Existence or Being of God Or An Atheist is a great Fool. II. Practical Atheism is natural to man in his corrupt State 'T is against Nature as constituted by God but Natural as Nature is depraved by Man The absolute disowning of the Being of a God is not natural to men but the contrary is natural but an inconsideration of God or mis-representation of his Nature is natural to Man as corrupt III. A secret Atheism or a partial Atheism is the Spring of all the wicked Practices in the world The disorders of the Life spring from the ill dispositions of the Heart For the first every Atheist is a Grand Fool. If he were not a Fool he would not imagine a thing so contrary to the stream of the Universal Reason of the world contrary to the rational Dictates of his own Soul and contrary to the Testimony of every Creature and Link in the Chain of Creation If he were not a Fool he would not strip himself of Humanity and degrade himself lower than the most despicable Brute 'T is a Folly for tho God be so Inaccessible that we cannot know him perfectly yet he is so much in the light that we cannot be totally ignorant of him As he cannot be comprehended in his Essence he cannot be unknown in his Existence 't is as easie by Reason to understand that he is as it is difficult to know what he is The Demonstrations Reason furnisheth us with for the Existence of God will be Evidences of the Atheist's Folly One would think there were little need of spending time in evidencing this Truth since in the Principle of it it seems to be so universally own'd and at the first proposal and demand gains the assent of most men But 1. Doth not the growth of Atheism among us render this Necessary may it not justly be suspected that the swarms of Atheists are more numerous in our times than History Records to have been in any age when men will not only say it in their hearts but publish it with their lips and boast that they have shaken of those Shackles which bind other mens Consciences Doth not the bare-fac'd Debauchery of men evidence such a setled Sentiment or at least a careless Beleif of the truth which lies at the root and sprouts up in such venemous branches in the World Can mens hearts be free from that Principle wherewith their Practices are so openly depraved 'T is true the light of Nature shines too vigorously for the Power of Man totally to put it out yet loathsom Actions impair and weaken the actual thoughts and considerations of a Deity and are like Mists that darken the light of the Sun though they cannot extinguish it their Consciences as a Candlestick must hold it though their unrighteousness obscure it Rom. 1.18 Who hold the Truth in Vnrighteousness The engraved Characters of the Law of Nature remain though they dawb them with their muddy Lusts to make them illegible So that since the inconsideration of a Deity is the cause of all the wickedness and extravigancies of men and as Austin saith the Proposition is always true the Fool hath said in his heart c. and more evidently true in this age than any it will not be unnecsseary to discourse of the Demonstrations of this first Principle The Apostles spent little time in urgng this Truth it was taken for granted all over the world and they were generally devout in the Worship of those Idols they thought to be Gods That age run from one God to many and our age is running from one God to none at all 2. The Existence of God is the Foundation of all Religion The whole Building totters if the Foundation be out of Course If we have not deliberate and right Notions of it we shall perform no Worship no Service yeild no affection to him If there be not a God 't is impossible there can be one for Eternity is Essential to the notion of a God so all Religion would be vain and unreasonable to pay Homage to that which is not in being nor can ever be We must first beleive that he is and that he is what he declares himself to be before we can seek him adore him and devote our Affections to him * Heb. 11.6 We cannot pay God a due and regular Homage unless we understand him in his Perfections what he is and we can pay him no Homage at all unless we beleive that he is 3. 'T is sit we should know why we beleive that our Beleif of a God may appear to be upon undeniable Evidence and that we may give a better reason for his Existence than that we have heard our Parents and Teachers tell us so and our acquaintance think so 'T is as much as to say there is no God when we know not why we believe there is and would not consider the Arguments for his Existence 4. It is necessary to depress that secret Atheism which is in the heart of every man by nature Though every visible object which offers it self to our sense presents a Deity to our minds and exhorts us to subscribe to the truth of it yet there is a Root of Atheism springing up sometimes in wavering thoughts and foolish imaginations inordinate actions and secret wishes Certain it is that every man that doth not love God denyes God now can he that disaffects him and hath a slavish fear of him wish his Existence and say to his own heart with any chearfulness there is a God and make it his cheif care to perswade himself of it he would perswade himself there is no God and stifle the seeds of it in his Reason and Conscience that he might have the greatest liberty to intertain the allurements of the Flesh 'T is necessary to Excite men to daily and actual considerations of
God and his nature which would be a bar to much of that wickedness which overflows in the lives of men 5. Nor is it unuseful to those who effectually beleive and love him * Coccei Sum. Theol. c. 8. § 1. for those who have had a converse with God and felt his powerful influences in the secrets of their hearts to take a prospect of those satisfactory accounts which reason gives of that God they adore and love to see every Creature justifie them in their owning of him and affections to him Indeed the Evidences of a God striking upon the Conscience of those who resolve to cleave to sin as their cheifest darling will dash their pleasures with unwelcome mixtures I shall further premise this That the folly of Atheism is evidenced by the light of Reason Men that will not listen to Scripture as having no counterpart of it in their Souls cannot easily deny natural Reason which riseth up on all sides for the justification of this Truth There is a natural as well as a revealed Knowledg and the Book of the Creatures is legible in declaring the Being of a God as well as the Scriptures are in declaring the Nature of a God there are outward objects in the World and common Principles in the Conscience whence it may be inferr'd For 1. God in regard of his Existence is not only the discovery of Faith but of Reason God hath revealed not only his Being but some sparks of his eternal Power and Godhead in his Works as well as in his Word Rom. 1.19 20. God hath shewed it unto them how * Aquin. in his works by the things that are made t is a discovery to our Reason as shining in the Creatures and an object of our Faith as breaking out upon us in the Scriptures 't is an Article of our Faith and an Article of our Reason Faith supposeth natural knowledge as Grace supposeth nature Faith indeed is properly of things above Reason purely depending upon Revelation What can be demonstrated by natural light is not so properly the object of Faith though in regard of the addition of a certainty by Revelation it is so The beleif that God is which the Apostle speaks of * Heb. 11.6 is not so much of the bare Existence of God as what God is in Relation to them that seek to him viz. a Rewarder The Apostle speaks of the Faith of Abel the Faith of Enoch such a Faith that pleases God But the Faith of Abel testified in his sacrifice and the Faith of Enoch testified in his walking with God was not simply a Faith of the Existence of God Cain in the time of Abel other men in the World in the time of Enoch beleived this as well as they But it was a Faith joyned with the Worship of God and desires to please him in the way of his own appointment so that they beleived that God was such as he had declared himself to be in his promise to Adam such an one as would be as good as his word and bruise the Serpents head He that seeks to God according to the mind of God must beleive that he is such a God that will pardon sin and justifie a seeker of him that he is a God of that ability and will to Justifie a sinner in that way he hath appointed for the clearing the Holiness of his Nature and vindicating the Honour of his Law violated by man No man can seek God or love God unless he beleive him to be thus and he cannot seek God without a discovery of his own mind how he would be sought For it is not a seeking God in any way of mans Invention that renders him capable of this desired fruit of a Reward He that beleives God as a Rewarder must beleive the promise of God concerning the Messiah Men under the Conscience of sin cannot tell without a divine discovery whither God will reward or how he will reward the seekers of him and therefore cannot act towards him as an object of Faith Would any man seek God meerly because he is or love him because he is if he did not know that he should be acceptable to him The bare Existence of a thing is not the ground of affection to it but those qualities of it and our interest in it which render it amiable and delightful How can men whose Consciences sly in their faces seek God or love him without this knowledge that he is a Rewarder Nature doth not shew any way to a sinner how to reconcile Gods provoked Justice with his Tenderness The Faith the Apostle speaks of here is a Faith that eyes the reward as an encouragement and the Will of God as the Rule of its acting he doth not speak simply of the Existence of God I have spoken the more of this place because the Socinians * Voet. Theol natural cap. 3. § 1. p. 22. use this to decry any natural knowledge of God and that the Existence of God is only to be known by Revelation so that by that reason any one that lived without the Scripture hath no ground to beleive the being of a God The Scripture ascribes a knowledge of God to all Nations in the world Rom. 1.19 not only a faculty of knowing if they had arguments and demonstrations as an ignorant man in any art hath a faculty to know but it ascribes an actual knowledge ver 19. manifest in them ver 21. They knew God not they might know him they knew him when they did not care for knowing him the notices of God are as intelligible to us by reason as any object in the world is visible he is written in every Letter 2. We are often in the Scripture sent to take a prospect of the Creatures for a discovery of God The Apostles drew arguments from the Topicks of nature when they discoursed with those that owned the Scripture Rom. 1.19 As well as when they treated with those that were ignorant of it as Acts 14.16 17. And among the Philosophers of Athens Acts 17.27 29. such arguments the Holy Ghost in the Apostles thought sufficient to convince men of the Existence Unity Spirituality and Patience of God * Voet Theol. natural cap. 3. § 1. p. 22. Such arguments had not been used by them and the Prophets from the visible things in the world to silence the Gentiles with whom they dealt had not this Truth and much more about God been demonstrable by natural Reason they knew well enough that probable arguments would not satisfie peircing and inquisitive minds In Pauls account the Testimony of the Creatures was without contradiction God himself justifies this way of proceeding by his own example and remits Job to the consideration of the Creatures to spell out something of his Divine Perfections * Job 28.39.40 c. T is but one truth in Philosophy and Divinity That which is false in one cannot be true in another Truth in what appearance
understand what storms it is to contest with or why it shoots up its branches towards Heaven Doth it know it needs the droppings of the clouds to preserve it self and make it fruitful These are acts of understanding The root is downward to preserve its own standing the branches upward to preserve other Creatures This understanding is not in the Creature it self but originally in another Thunders and Tempests know not why they are sent yet by the direction of a mighty hand they are instruments of Justice upon a wicked world * Coccei sum Theolog. cap. 8. § 67. c. Rational Creatures that act for some end and know the end they aim at yet know not the manner of the natural motion of the members to it When we intend to look upon a thing we take no counsel about the natural motion of our eyes we know not all the principles of their operations or how that dull matter whereof our bodies are composed is subject to the order of our minds * Peirson on the Creed p. 35. We are not of Counsel with our stomacks about the concoction of our meat or the distribution of the nourishing juyce to the several parts of the body Neither the Mother nor the Foetus sit in Council how the formation should be made in the Womb. We know no more than a plant knows what Stature it is of and what medicinal vertue its fruit hath for the good of man yet all those natural operations are perfectly directed to their proper end by an higher wisdom than any human understanding is able to conceive since they exceed the ability of an inanimate or fleshly nature yea and the wisdom of a man Do we not often see reasonable Creatures acting for one end and perfecting a higher than what they aimed at or could suspect When Josephs Brethren sold him for a Slave their end was to be rid of an Informer * Gen. 37.2 But the action issued in preparing him to be the preserver of them and their families Cyrus his end was to be a Conqueror but the action ended in being the Jews deliverer Prov. 16.9 A mans heart deviseth his way but the Lord directs his steps 3. Therefore there is some superior understanding and nature which so acts them That which acts for an end unknown to it self depends upon some over-ruling wisdom that knows that end Who should direct them in all those ends but he that bestowed a being upon them for those ends * Lessius de providen lib. 1. pag. 652. who knows what is convenient for their life security and propagation of their natures An exact knowledge is necessary both of what is agreeable to them and the means whereby they must attain it which since it is not inherent in them is in that wise God who puts those instincts into them and governs them in the exercise of them to such ends Any man that sees a dart flung knows it cannot hit the mark without the skil and strength of an Archer Or he that sees the hand of a Dial pointing to the hours successively knows that the Dial is ignorant of its own end and is disposed and directed in that motion by an other All Creatures ignorant of their own natures could not universally in the whole kind and in every Climate and Country without any difference in the whole world tend to a certain end if some over-ruling wisdom did not preside over the world and guide them and if the Creatures have a Conductor they have a Creator All things are turned round about by his Council that they may do whatsoever he Commands them upon the face of the world in the earth * Job 37.12 So that in this respect the folly of Atheism appears Without the owning a God no account can be given of those actions of Creatures that are an imitation of Reason To say the Bees c. are rational is to equal them to man nay make them his superiors since they do more by nature than the wisest man can do by art T is their own Counsel whereby they act or anothers If it be their own they are reasonable Creatures If by anothers t is not meer nature that is necessary Then other Creatures would not be without the same skill There would be no difference among them If nature be restrained by another it hath a superior if not t is a free agent T is an understanding being that directs them And then it is something superior to all Creatures in the world and by this therefore we may ascend to the acknowledgment of the necessity of a God Fourthly IV. Add to the production and order of the world and the Creatures acting for their end the preservation of them Nothing can depend upon it self in its preservation no more than it could in its being If the order of the world was not fixed by it self the preservation of that order cannot be continued by it self Tho the matter of the world after Creation cannot return to that nothing whence it was fetched without the power of God that made it because the same power is as requisite to reduce a thing to nothing as to raise a thing from nothing yet without the actual exerting of a power that made the Creatures they would fall into confusion Those contesting qualities which are in every part of it could not have preserved but would have consumed and extinguisht one another and reduced the world to that confused Chaos wherin it was before the Spirit moved upon the waters As contrary parts could not have met together in one form unless there had been one that had conjoyned them So they could not have kept together after their conjunction unless the same hand had preserved them Natural contrarieties cannot be reconciled T is as great power to keep discords knit as at first to link them Who would doubt but that an Army made up of several Nations and humors would fall into a Civil War and sheath their Swords in one anothers bowels if they were not under the management of some wise General or a Ship dash against the Rocks without the skill of a Pilot * Gassend Phy. sect 6. lib. 4. cap. 2. pa. 101. As the body hath neither life nor motion without the active presence of the Soul which distributes to every part the vertue of acting sets every one in the exercise of its proper function and resides in every part So there is some powerful cause which doth the like in the world that rules and tempers it There is need of the same power and action to preserve a thing as there was at first to make it When we consider that we are preserved and know that we could not preserve our selves we must necessarily run to some first cause which doth preserve us All works of art depend upon nature and are preserved while they are kept by the force of nature As a Statue depends upon the matter whereof it is
office We must come to some supream Judge who can Judge Conscience it self As a man can have no surer evidence that he is a being than because he thinks he is a thinking being So there is no surer evidence in nature that there is a God than that every man hath a natural principle in him which continually cites him before God and puts him in mind of him and makes him one way or other fear him and reflects upon him whether he will or no A man hath less power over his Conscience than over any other faculty He may choose whether he will exercise his understanding about or move his will to such an object but he hath no such Authority over his Conscience he cannot limit it or cause it to cease from acting and reflecting and therefore both that and the law about which it acts are settled by some supream Authority in the mind of man and this is God Fourthly IV. The evidence of a God results from the vastness of desires in man and the real dissatisfaction he hath in every thing below himself Man hath a boundless appetite after some Soveraign Good As his understanding is more capacious than any thing below so is his Appetite larger This affection of desire exceeds all other affections Love is determined to something known Fear to something apprehended but Desires approach nearer to Infiniteness and pursue not only what we know or what we have a glimps of but what we find wanting in what we already enjoy That which the desire of man is most naturally carryed after is Bonum some fully satisfying good We desire knowledge by the sole impulse of reason but we desire Good before the excitement of reason and the desire is always after Good but not always after Knowledge Now the Soul of man finds an imperfection in every thing here and cannot scrape up a perfect satisfaction and felicity In the highest fruitions of worldly things t is still pursuing something else which speaks a defect in what it already hath The world may afford a felicity for our dust the body but not for the inhabitant in it t is two mean for that Is there any one Soul among the Sons of men that can upon a due enquiry say it was at rest and wanted no more that hath not sometimes had desires after an immaterial Good The Soul follows hard after such a thing and hath frequent looks after it Psal 63.8 Man desires a stable Good but no sublunary thing is so And he that doth not desire such a Good wants the rational nature of a man This is as natural as Understanding Will and Conscience Whence should the Soul of man have those desires How came it to understand that something is still wanting to make its nature more perfect if there were not in it some notion of a more perfect being which can give it rest Can such a capacity be supposed to be in it without something in being able to satisfie it If so the noblest Creature in the world is miserablest and in a worse condition than any other Other Creatures obtain their ultimate desires they are filled with good Psal 104.28 And shall man only have a vast desire without any possibility of enjoyment Nothing in man is in vain He hath objects for his affections as well as affections for objects Every Member of his body hath its end and doth attain it Every affection of his Soul hath an object and that in this World and shall there be none for his desire which comes nearest to infinite of any affection planted in him This boundless desire had not its original from man himself Nothing would render it self restless something above the bounds of this world implanted those desires after a higher Good and made him restless in every thing else And since the Soul can only rest in that which is infinite there is something infinite for it to rest in Since nothing in the world though a man had the whole can give it a satisfaction there is something above the world only capable to do it otherwise the Soul would be always without it and be more in vain than any other Creature There is therefore some infinite being that can only give a contentment to the Soul and this is God And that goodness which implanted such desires in the Soul would not do it to no purpose and mock it in giving it an infinite desire of satisfaction without intending it the pleasure of enjoyment if it doth not by its own folly deprive it self of it The felicity of human nature must needs exceed that which is allotted to other Creatures 4. And last Reason Fourth Reason As t is a folly to deny that which all Nations in the World have consented to which the frame of the world evidenceth which man in his Body Soul Operations of Conscience witnesseth to So t is a folly to deny the Being of God which is witnessed unto by extraordinary occurrences in the world 1. In extraordinary Judgments When a just revenge follows abominable crimes especially when the Judgment is suted to the sin by a strange Concatenation and succession of Providences methodized to bring such a particular punishment When the sin of a Nation or person is made legible in the inflicted Judgment which testifies that it cannot be a casual thing The Scripture gives us an account of the necessity of such Judgments to keep up the reverential thoughts of God in the World Psal 9.16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executes the wicked is snared in the work of his own hand And Jealousy is the name of God Exod. 34.14 Whose name is Jealous He is distinguisht from false Gods by the Judgments which he sends as men are by their names Extraordinary Prodigies in many Nations have been the Heralds of extraordinary Judgments and presages of the particular Judgments which afterwards they have felt of which the Roman Histories and others are full That there are such things is undeniable and that the events have been answerable to the threatning unless we will throw away all human Testimonies and count all the Histories of the World Forgeries Such things are evidences of some invisible Power which orders those affairs And if there be invisible Powers there is also an efficacious cause which moves them A Government certainly there is among them as well as in the world and then we must come to some supream Governour which presides over them Judgments upon notorious offenders have been evident in all ages The Scripture gives many instances I shall only mention that of Herod Agrippa which Josephus mentions * Lib. 19. Antiq. Act. 12.21.22.23 He receives the flattering applause of the people and thought himself a God But by the suddain stroak upon him was forced by his torture to confess another I am God saith he in your account but a higher calls me away The will of the Heavenly Deity is to be endured The Angel
himself is an infinite Mirror of Goodness and ravishing Loveliness He is infinitely good and so universally good and nothing but good and is therefore so agreeable to a Creature as a Creature that it is impossible that the Creature while it bears itself to God as a Creature should be guilty of this but thirst after him and cherish every motion to him As no man wishes the destruction of any Creature as a Creature but as it may conduce to something which he counts may be beneficial to himself so no man doth nor perhaps can wish the cessation of the Being of God as God for then he must wish his own Being to cease also But as he considers him clothed with some perfections which he apprehends as injurious to him as his Holiness in forbidding Sin his Justice in punishing Sin And God being judged in those perfections contrary to what the revolted Creature thinks convenient and good for himself he may wish God stript of those perfections that thereby he may be free from all fear of trouble and grief from him in his fallen State In wishing God deprived of those he wishes God deprived of his Being because God cannot retain his Deity without a love of Righteousness and Hatred of Iniquity and he could not testifie his love to the one or his loathing of the other without encouraging Goodness and witnessing his Anger against Iniquity Let us now appeal to ourselves and examin our own Consciences Did we never please our selves sometimes in the thoughts how happy we should be how free in our vain pleasures if there were no God Have we not desired to be our own Lords without controle subject to no Law but our own and be guided by no Will but that of the Flesh Did we never rage against God under his afflicting Hand Did we never wish God stript of his Holy Will to command and his Righteous Will to punish c. Thus much for the general For the proof of this many considerations will bring in Evidence Most may be reduced to these two Generals Man would set himself up First as his own Rule Secondly as his own End and Happiness 1. Man would set himself up as his own Rule instead of God This will be evidenced in this Method 1. Man naturally disowns the Rule God sets him 2. He owns any other Rule rather than that of Gods prescribing 3. These he doth in order to the setting himself up as his own Rule 4. He makes himself not only his own Rule but would make himself the Rule of God and give Laws to his Creator 1. Man naturally disowns the Rule God sets him 'T is all one to deny his Royalty and to deny his Being When we disown his Authority we disown his God-head 'T is the Right of God to be the Soveraign of his Creatures and it must be a very loose and trivial assent that such men have to Gods Superiority over them and consequently to the Excellency of his Being upon which that Authority is founded who are scarce at ease in themselves but when they are invading his Rights breaking his Bands casting away his Cords and contradicting his Will Every man naturally is a Son of Belial would be without a Yoke and leap over Gods Inclosures and in breaking out against his Soveraignity we disown his Being as God For to be God and Soveraign are inseparable He could not be God if he were not Supreme nor could he be a Creator without being a Law-giver To be God and yet inferior to another is a Contradiction To make Rational Creatures without prescribing them a Law is to make them without Holiness Wisdom and Goodness 1. There is in Man naturally an unwillingness to have any acquaintance with the Rule God sets him Psal 14.2 None that did understand and seek God The refusing Instruction and casting his Word behind the back is a part of Atheism * Psal 50 1â We are heavy in hearing the Instructions either of Law or Gospel * Heb. 5.11 12. and slow in the Apprehension of what we hear The people that God had hedged in from the Wilderness of the World for his own Garden were foolish and did not know God were sottish and had no understanding of him * Jer. 4.22 The Law of God is accounted a strange thing * Hos 8.12 a thing of a different Clymate and a far Country from the heart of Man wherewith the mind of Man had no natural acquaintance and had no desire to have any or they regarded it as a sordid thing What God accounts great and valuable they account mean and despicable Men may shew a Civility to a Stranger but scarce contract an Intimacy There can be no Amicable Agreement between the holy Will of God and the heart of a depraved Creature One is holy the other unholy one is universally good the other stark naught The purity of the Divine Rule renders it nauseous to the impurity of a carnal heart Water and Fire may as well friendly kiss each other and live together without quarrelling and hissing as the holy Will of God and the unregenerate heart of a fallen Creature The nauseating a Holy Rule is an Evidence of Atheism in the heart as the nauseating wholesome Food is of putrified Flegm in the Stomack 'T is found more or less in every Christian in the Remainders though not in a full Empire As there is a Law in his Mind whereby he delights in the Law of God so there is a Law in his Members whereby he wars against the Law of God Rom. 7.22 23 25. How predominant is this loathing of the Law of God when corrupt Nature is in its full strength without any Principle to controul it There is in the Mind of such a one a Darkness whereby it is ignorant of it and in the Will a Depravedness whereby it is repugnant to it If Man were naturally willing and able to have an intimate acquaintance with and delight in the Law of God it had not been such a signal favour for God to promise to write the Law in the heart A man may sooner engrave the Chronicle of a whole Nation or all the Records of God in the Scripture upon the hardest Marble with his bare finger than write one Syllable of the Law of God in a spiritual manner upon his heart For 1. Men are negligent in using the means for the knowledge of Gods Will. All natural men are Fools who know not how to use the price God puts into their hands * Pro. 17.16 They put not a due estimate upon opportunities and means of Grace and account that Law-Folly which is the Birth of an infinite and holy Wisdom The knowledge of God which they may glean from Creatures and is more pleasant to the natural gust of men is not improved to the Glory of God if we will believe the Indictment the Apostle brings against the Gentiles * Rom. 1.21 And most of those that have
than a Rock can carve it self into the Statue of a man or a Serpent that is an Enemy to Man could or would raise it self to the Nobility of the humane Nature That Soul that by Nature would strip God of his Rights cannot without a Divine Power be made conformable to him and acknowledg sincerely and cordially the Rights and Glory of God 7. We may here see the reason why there can be no justification by the best and strongest works of Nature Can that which hath Atheism at the root justifie either the action or person What strength can those works have which have neither Gods Law for their Rule nor his Glory for their End that are not wrought by any spiritual strength from him nor tend with any spiritual affection to him Can these be a foundation for the most holy God to pronounce a Creature righteous They will justifie his Justice in condemning but cannot sway his Justice to an Absolution Every natural man in his works picks and chuses he owns the Will of God no further than he can wring it to sute the law of his Members and minds not the honour of God but as it justles not with his own glory and secular ends Can he be righteous that prefers his own Will and his own Honour before the Will and Honour of the Creator However mens actions may be beneficial to others what reason hath God to esteem them wherein there is no respect to him but themselves whereby they dethrone him in their thoughts while they seem to own him in their religious works Every day reproves us with something different from the Rule Thousands of wandrings offer themselves to our eyes Can Justification be expected from that which in it self is matter of despair 8. See here the cause of all the apostacy in the World Practical Atheism was never conquered in such They are still alienated from the Life of God and will not live to God as he lives to himself and his own honour * Eph. 4.17 18. They loath his Rule and distaste his Glory are loth to step out of themselves to promote the ends of another find not the satisfaction in him as they do in themselves They will be Judges of what is good for them and righteous in it self rather than admit of God to judge for them When men draw back from Truth to Error 't is to such opinions which may serve more to foment and cherish their Ambition Covetousness or some beloved Lust that dispates with God for precedency and is designed to be served before him John 12.42.43 They love the praise of men more than the praise of God A preferring man before God was the reason they would not confess Christ and God in him 9. This shews us the excellency of the Gospel and Christian Religion It sets man in his due place and gives to God what the Excellency of his Nature requires â´ It lays man in the dust from whence he was taken and sets God upon that Throne where he ought to siâ Man by Nature would annihilate God and deisie himself the Gospel glorifies God and annihilates Man In our first revolt we would be like him in knowledge in the means he hath provided for our recovery he designs to make us like him in Grace The Gospel shews our selves to be an Object of Humiliation and God to be a glorious Object for our Imitation The Light of Nature tells us there is a God the Gospel gives us a more magnificent report of him The light of Nature condemns gross Atheism and that of the Gospel condemns and conquers spiritual Atheism in the hearts of men Use 2. Of Exhortation 1. Let us labour to be sensible of this Atheism in our Nature and be humbled for it How should we lye in the Dust and go bowing under the humbling thoughts of it all our days Shall we not be sensible of that whereby we spill the blood of our Souls and give a stabb to the heart of our own Salvation Shall we be worse than any Creature not to bewail that which tends to our destruction He that doth not lament it cannot challenge the Character of a Christian hath nothing of the divine Life and Love planted ãâã his Soul Not a man but shall one day be sensible when the Eternal God shall call him out to Examination and charge his Conscience to discover every Crime which will then own the Authority whereby it acted when the heart shall be torn open and the secrets of it brought to publick view and the World and Man himself shall see what a viperous Brood of corrupt Principles and Ends nested in his Heart Let us therefore be truly sensible of it till the consideration draw tears from our Eyes and sorrow from our Souls Let us urge the thoughts of it upon our hearts till the Core of that Pride be eaten out and our Stubborness changed into Humility Till our Heads become Waters and our Eyes Fountains of tears and be a spring of Prayer to God to change the heart and mortifie the Atheism in it and consider what a sad thing it is to be a practical Atheist And who is not so by Nature 1. Let us be sensible of it in our selves Have any of our hearts been a Soyl wherein the Fear and Reverence of God hath naturally grown Have we a desire to know him or a will to embrace him Do we delight in his Will and love the remembrance of his Name Are our respects to him as God equal to the speculative knowledge we have of his Nature Is the heart wherein he hath stampt his Image reserved for his Residence Is not the world more affected than the Creator of the world as though that could contribute to us a greater happiness than the Author of it Have not Creatures as much of our love fear trust nay more than God that framed both them and us Have we not too often relyed upon our own strength and made a Calf of our own wisdom and said of God as the Israelites of Moses As for this Moses we wot not what is become of him Exod. 32.1 and given oftener the glory of our good success to our Dragg and our Net to our Craft and our Industry than to the wisdom and blessing of God Are we then free from this sort of Atheism * Lawson body of Divinity pa. 153. 154. 'T is as impossible to have two Gods at one time in one heart as to have two Kings at one time in full power in one Kingdom Have there not been frequent neglects of God Have we not been deaf whilst he hath knocked at our doors slept when he hath sounded in our Ears as if there had been no such Being as a God in the world How many struglings have been against our approaches to him Hath not folly often been committed with vain imaginations starting up in the time of Religious Service which we would scarce vouchsafe a look to at another time
with hatred The beneficence and patience of God and his readiness to pardon men is the reason of the honour they return to him And this is so evident a motive that generally the Idolatrous world rankt those Creatures in the number of their Gods which they perceived useful and neficial to man-kind as the Sun and Mooâ the Aegyptians the Ox c. And the more beneficial any thing appeared to mankind the higher station men gave it in the rank of their deities and bestowed a more peculiar and solemn worship upon it Men worshipped God to procure or continue his favour which would not have been acted by them had they not conceived it a pleasing thing to him to be merciful and gracious Sometimes his Justice is proposed to us as a motive of worship Heb. 12.28 29. Serve God with Reverence and Godly fear for our God is a consuming fire which includes his holiness whereby he doth hate sin as well as his wrath whereby he doth punish it Who but a mad and totally brutish person or one that was resolved to make war against heaven could behold the effects of Gods anger in the world consider him in his Justice as a consuming fire and despise him and rather be drawn out by that consideration to blasphemy and despair than to seek all ways to appease him Now tho the infinite power of God his unspeakable wisdom his incomprehensible goodness the holiness of his nature the vigilance of his Providence the bounty of his hand signifie to man that he should love and honour him and are the motives of worship yet the Spirituality of his nature is the rule of worship and directs us to render our duty to him with all the powers of our Soul As his goodness beams out upon us worship is due in Justice to him and as he is the most excellent nature veneration is due to him in the highest manner with the choicest affections So that indeed the Spirituality of God comes chiefly into consideration in matter of worship All his perfections are grounded upon this He could not be infinite immutable omniscient if he were a Corporeal being * Amirald dissert 6. disp 1. pa. 11. We cannot give him a worship unless we Judge him worthy excellent and deserving a worship at our hands And we cannot Judge him worthy of a worship unless we have some apprehensions and admirations of his infinite vertues And we cannot apprehend and admire those perfections but as we see them as causes shining in their effects When we see therefore the frame of the world to be the work of his power the order of the world to be the fruit of his wisdom and the usefulness of the world to be the product of his goodness We find the motives and reasons of worship and weighing that this power wisdom goodness infinitely transcend any corporeal nature we find a rule of worship that it ought to be offered by us in a manner sutable to such a nature as is infinitely above any bodily Being His being a Spirit declares what he is his other perfections declare what kind of Spirit he is All Gods perfections suppose him a Spirit all center in this His wisdom doth not suppose him merciful or his mercy suppose him omniscient There may be distinct notions of those but all suppose him to be of a spiritual nature How cold and frozen will our devotions be if we consider not his omniscience whereby he discerns our hearts How carnal will our services be if we consider him not as a pure Spirit * Amyraut de Relig. In our offers to and transactions with men we deal not with them as meer Animals but as rational Creatures and we debase their natures if we treat them otherwise And if we have not raised apprehensions of Gods spiritual nature in our treating with him but allow him only such frames as we think fit enough for men we debase his spirituality to the littleness of our own Being We must therefore possess our Souls with this we shall else render him no better than a fleshly service We do not much concern our selves in those things of which we are either utterly ignorant or have but slight apprehensions of That is the first Proposition The right exercise of worship is grounded upon the spirituality of God Propos 2. This spiritual worship of God is manifest by the light of Nature to be due to him In reference to this consider 1. The outward means or matter of that worship which would be acceptable to God was not known by the light of Nature The Law for a Worship and for a spiritual worship by the faculties of our Souls was natural and part of the Law of Creation though the determination of the particular acts whereby God would have this homage testified was of positive institution and depended not upon the Law of Creation Though Adam in Innocence knew God was to be worshipped yet by Nature he did not know by what outward acts he was to pay this respect or at what time he was more solemnly to be exercised in it than at another This depended upon the directions God as the soveraign Governour and Law-giver should prescribe You therefore find the positive institutions of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the determination of the time of worship Gen. 2.3.17 Had there been any such notion in Adam naturally as strong as that other that a worship was due to God there would have been found some reliques of these modes universally consented to by Mankind as well as of the other But though all Nations have by an universal consent concurred in the acknowledgment of the Being of God and his right to adoration and the obligation of the Creature to it and that there ought to be some publick rule and polity in matters of Religion for no Nation hath been in the world without a worship and without external acts and certain ceremonies to signifie that worship yet their modes and rites have been as various as their climates unless in that common notion of sacrifices not descending to them by nature but tradition from Adam and the various ways of worship have been more provoking than pleasing Every Nation suted the kind of worship to their particular ends and polities they designed to rule by How God was to be worshipped is more difficult to be discerned by Nature with its eyes out than with its eyes clear * King on Jonah P. 63. The pillars upon which the worship of God stands cannot be discerned without revelation no more than blind Sampson could tell where the pillars of the Philistians Theatre stood without one to conduct him What Adam could not see with his sound eyes we cannot with our dim eyes He must be told from Heaven what worship was fit for the God of Heaven 'T is not by Nature that we can have such a full prospect of God as may content and quiet us This is the noble
effect of Divine Revelation He only knows himself and can only make himself known to us It could not be supposed that an infinite God should have no perfections but what were visible in the works of his hands and that these perfections should not be infinitely greater than as they were sensible in their present effects This had been to apprehend God a limited Being meaner than he is Now 't is impossible to honour God as we ought unless we know him as he is and we could not know him as he is without divine revelation from himself for none but God can acquaint us with his own nature And therefore the nations void of this conduct heapt up modes of worship from their own imaginations unworthy of the Majesty of God and below the nature of man A rational man would scarce have owned such for signs of honour as the Scripture mentions in the services of Baal and Dagon Much less an infinitely wise and glorious God And when God had signified his mind to his own people how unwilling were they to rest satisfied with Gods determination but would be warping to their own inventions and make Gods and wayes of worship to themselves * Amos 5.26 As in the matter of the Golden Calf as was lately spoken of 2. Tho the outward manner of worship acceptable to God could not be known without revelation and those revelations might be various yet the inward manner of worship with our Spirits was manifest by nature And not only manifest by nature to Adam in Innocence but after his fall and the scales he had brought upon his understanding by that fall When God gave him his positive institutions before the fall or whatsoever additions God should have made had he persisted in that state or when he appointed him after his fall to testifie his acknowledgment of him by Sacrifices there needed no Command to him to make those acknowledgments by those outward wayes prescribed to him with the intention and prime affection of his Spirit This nature would instruct him in without revelation For he could not possibly have any semblance of reason to think that the offering of beasts or the presenting the first fruits of the increase of the ground as an acknowledgment of Gods Soveraignty over him and his bounty to him was sufficient without devoting to him that part wherein the Image of his Creator did consist He could not but discerne by a reflection upon his own being that he was made for God as well as by God For it is a natural principle of which the Apostle speaks Rom. 11.36 For of him and through him and to him are all things c. That the whole whereof he did consist was due to God and that his Body the dreggy and dusty part of his nature was not fit to be brought alone before God without that nobler principle which he had by Creation linkt with it Nothing in the whole law of nature as it is informed of Religion was clearer next to the being of God than this manner of worshipping God with the mind and Spirit And as the Gentiles never sunk so low into the mud of Idolatry as to think the Images they worshipped were really their Gods but the representations or habitations of their Gods so they never deserted this principle in the Notion of it that God was to be honoured with the best they were and the best they had As they never denyed the being of a God in the Notion tho they did in the practise so they never rejected this principle in Notion tho they did and now most men do in the inward observation of it It was a maxime among them that God was mens animus mind and Spirit and therefore was to be honoured with the mind and Spirit That religion did not consist in the Ceremonies of the body but the work of the Soul Whence the speech of one of them * Menander Grot. de veritat relig lib. 4. § 12. Sacrifice to the Gods not so much clothed with purple garments as a pure heart And of another God regards not the multitude of the Sacrifices but the disposition of the Sacrificer T is not fit we should deny God the Cream and Flower * Jamblick and give him the flotten part and the stalks And with what Reverence and intention of mind they thought their worship was to be performed is evident by the Priests crying out often hoc age Mind this let your Spirits be intent upon it This could not but result 1. From the knowledge of our selves T is a natural principle God hath made us and not we our selves Psal 100.1 2. Man knows himself to be a rational Creature As a Creature he was to serve his Creator and as a rational Creature with the best part of that rational nature he derived from him By the same act of reason that he knows himself to be a Creature he knows himself to have a Creator That this Creator is more excellent than himself and that an honour is due from him to the Creator for framing of him and therefore this honour was to be offered to him by the most excellent part which was framed by him Man cannot consider himself as a thinking understanding being but he must know that he must give God the honour of his thoughts and worship him with those faculties whereby he Thinks Wills and Acts. * Amiraut Mor. Tom. 1. pa. 309. 310. He must know his faculties were given him to act and to act for the glory of that God who gave him his Soul and the faculties of it and he could not in reason think they must be only active in his own service and the service of the Creature and idle and unprofitable in the service of his Creator With the same Powers of our Soul whereby we contemplate God we must also worship God We cannot think of him but with our Minds nor love him but with our Will and we cannot worship him without the acts of thinking and loving and therefore cannot worship him without the exercise of our inward faculties How is it possible then for any man that knows his own nature to think that extended hands bended knees and lifted up eyes were sufficient acts of worship without a quickned and active Spirit 2 From the knowledge of God As there was a knowledge of God by nature so the same nature did dictate to Man that God was to be glorified as God The Apostle implies the inference in the charge he brings against them for neglecting it We should speak of God as he is said one * Bias. Rom. 1.21 and the same reason would inform them that they were to act towards God as he is The excellency of the Object required a worship according to the dignity of his Nature which could not be answered but by the most serious inward affection as well as outward decency and a want of this cannot but be judged to be unbecoming
should withdraw his Power from preserving them which he exerted in creating them But God is immoveably fixed in his own Being that as none gave him his Life so none can deprive him of his Life or the least particle of it not a jot of the happiness and life which God infinitely possesses can be lost It will be as durable to everlasting as it hath been possessed from everlasting 3. There is no succession in God God is without succession or change 'T is a part of Eternity From everlasting to everlasting he is God i. e. the same God doth not only always remain in Being but he always remains the same in that Being * Psal 102.27 Thou art the same The Being of Creatures is successive the Being of God is permanent and remains intire with all its perfections unchanged in an infinite duration Indeed the first notion of Eternity is to be without beginning and end which notes to us the duration of a Being in regard of its Existence but to have no succession nothing first or last notes rather the perfection of a Being in regard of its Essence The Creatures are in a perpetual Flux something is acquired or something lost every day A Man is the same in regard of Existence when he is a Man as he was when he was a Child but there is a new succession of quantities and qualities in him every day he acquires something till he comes to his maturity every day he loseth something till he comes to his Period A Man is not the same at night that he was in the morning something is expir'd and something is added every day there is a change in his age a change in his substance a change in his accidents But God hath his whole Being in one and the same point or moment of Eternity He receives nothing as an Addition to what he was before He looseth nothing of what he was before He is always the same excellency and perfection in the same infiniteness as ever His years do not fail * Heb. 1.12 his years do not come and go as others do there is not this day to morrow or yesterday with him As nothing is past or future with him in regard of Knowledge but all things are present so nothing is past or future in regard of his Essence He is not in his Essence this day what he was not before or will be the next day and year what he is not now * Lessius de perfect divin lib. 4. cap. 1. All his perfections are most perfect in him every moment before all ages after all ages As he hath his whole Essence undivided in every place as well as in an immense space so he hath all his Being in one moment of time as well as in infinite intervalls of time * Gamacheus in Aquin. part 1. Qu. 10. cap. 1. Some illustrate the difference between Eternity and Time by the similitude of a Tree or a Rock standing upon the side of a River or Shoar of the Sea the Tree stands always the same and unmoved while the waters of the River glide along at the foot The Flux is in the River but the Tree acquires nothing but a diverse respect and relation of presence to the various parts of the River as they flow The waters of the River press on and push forward one another and what the River had this minute it hath not the same the next So are all sublunary things in a continual Flux And though the Angels have no substantial change yet they have an accidental for the actions of the Angels this day are not the same individual actions which they performed yesterday But in God there is no change He always remains the same * Gassend Tom. 1. Physic § 1. l. 2. c. 7. p. 223. Of a Creature it may be said he was or he is or he shall be Of God it cannot be said but only he is He is what he always was and he is what he always will be whereas a Creature is what he was not and will be what he is not now As it may be said of the flame of a Candle 't is flame but it is not the same individual flame as was before nor is it the same that will be presently after there is a continual dissolution of it into Air and a continual supply for the generation of more While it continues it may be said there is a flame yet not intirely one but in a succession of parts So of a Man it may be said he is in a succession of parts but he is not the same that he was and will not be the same that he is But God is the same without any succession of parts and of time of him it may be said He is He is no more now than he was and he shall be no more hereafter than he is * Daille Melange de Sermon p. 252. God possesses a firm and absolute Being always constant to himself He sees all things sliding under him in a continual variation He beholds the revolutions in the world without any change of his most glorious and immoveable nature All other things pass from one state to another from their Original to their Eclipse and destruction But God possesses his Being in one indivisible point having neither beginning end nor middle 1. There is no succession in the Knowledge of God The variety of successions and changes in the world make not succession or new Objects in the Divine Mind for all things are present to him from Eternity in regard of his Knowledge though they are not actually present in the world in regard of their Existence He doth not know one thing now and another anon He sees all things at once known unto God are all things from the beginning of the world * Acts 15.18 But in their true order of succession as they lye in the eternal Council of God to be brought forth in time Though there be a succession and order of things as they are wrought yet there is no succession in God in regard of his knowledge of them God knows the things that shall be wrought and the order of them in their being brought upon the Stage of the World yet both the things and the order he knows by one act Though all things be present with God yet they are present in him in the order of their appearance in the world and not so present with him as if they should be wrought at once The Death of Christ was to precede his Resurrection in order of time there is a succession in this both at once are known by God yet the act of his knowledge is not exercised about Christ as dying and rising at the same time so that there is succession in things when there is no succession in Gods knowledge of them Since God knows time he knows all things as they are in time He doth not know all things to be at once though
he knows at once what is has been and will be All things are past present and to come in regard of their Existence but there is not past present and to come in regard of Gods Knowledge of them * Parsiensis because he sees and knows not by any other but by himself He is his own Light by which he sees his own Glass wherein he sees beholding himself he beholds all things 2. There is no succession in the Decrees of God He doth not decree this now which he decreed not before for as his works were known from the beginning of the world so his works were decreed from the beginning of the world as they are known at once so they are decreed at once there is a succession in the execution of them first grace then glory but the purpose of God for the bestowing of both was in one and the same moment of Eternity * Eph. 1.4 He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy The choice of Christ and the choice of some in him to be holy and to be happy were before the foundation of the world 'T is by the eternal Counsel of God all things appear in time they appear in their order according to the Counsel and Will of God from Eternity The Redemption of the world is after the Creation of the world but the Decree whereby the world was created and whereby it was redeemed was from Eternity 4. God is his own Eternity He is not eternal by grant and the disposal of any other but by Nature and Essence * Calov Socinian The Eternity of God is nothing else but the Duration of God and the Duration of God is nothing else but his Existence enduring Existentia durans If Eternity were any thing distinct from God and not of the Essence of God then there would be something which was not God necessary to perfect God As Immortality is the great perfection of a rational Creature so Eternity is the choice perfection of God yea the gloss and lustre of all others Every perfection would be imperfect if it were not always a perfection God is essentially whatsoever he is and there is nothing in God but his Essence Duration or Continuance in being in Creatures differs from their being for they might exist but for one instant in which case they may be said to have being but not duration because all duration includes prius et posterius All Creatures may cease from being if it be the pleasure of God they are not therefore durable by their Essence and therefore are not their own duration no more than they are their own Existence And though some Creatures as Angels and Souls may be called everlasting as a perpetual life is communicated to them by God yet they can never be called their own Eternity because such a Duration is not simply necessary nor essential to them but accidental depending upon the pleasure of another there is nothing in their nature that can hinder them from loosing it if God from whom they received it should design to take it away But as God is his own necessity of existing so he is his own duration in existing * Gassend As he doth necessarily exist by himself so he will always necessarily exist by himself 5. Hence all the perfections of God are eternal In regard of the Divine Eternity all things in God are eternal his Power Mercy Wisdom Justice Knowledge God himself were not eternal if any of his perfections which are essential to him were not eternal also He had not else been a perfect God from all eternity and so his whole self had not been eternal If any thing belonging to the nature of a thing be wanting it cannot be said to be that thing which it ought to be If any thing requisite to the Nature of God had been wanting one moment he could not have been said to be an eternal God The second Thing God is Eternal The Spirit of God in Scripture condescends to our Capacities in signifying the Eternity of God by days and years which are terms belonging to time whereby we measure it * Psal 102.27 But we must no more conceive that God is bounded or measured by time and hath succession of days because of those expressions than we can conclude him to have a Body because Members are ascribed to him in Scripture to help our conceptions of his glorious nature and operations Though years are ascribed to him yet they are such as cannot be numbred cannot be finished since there is no proportion between the duration of God and the years of Men. The number of his years cannot be searched out for he makes small the drops of water they pour down Rain according to the vapor thereof * Job 36.26 27 The numbers of the drops of Rain which have fallen in all parts of the Earth since the Creation of the world if substracted from the number of the years of God would be found a small quantity a meer nothing to the years of God As all the Nations in the world compared with God are but as the drop of a Bucket worse than nothing than vanity * Isa 40.15 So all the Ages of the world if compared with God amount not to so much as the One hundred thousandth part of a Minute The Minutes from the Creation may be numbred but the years of the duration of God being infinite are without measure As one day is to the Life of Man so are a Thousand years to the Life of God * Psal 90.5 Amyrald Trin. p. 44. The Holy-Ghost expresseth himself to the capacity of Man to give us some Notion of an infinite Duration by a resemblance suted to the capacity of Man If a Thousand years be but as a day to the Life of God then as a year is to the Life of Man so are Three hundred sixty five thousand years to the Life of God And as Seventy years are to the Life of Man so are twenty five Millions four Hundred and fifty Thousand years to the Life of God Yet still since there is no proportion between Time and Eternity we must dart our thoughts beyond all those * Daille Vent Sermons Ser. 1. sur 102. Psal 27. p. 21. For years and days measure only the duration of created things and of those only that are material and corporeal subject to the motion of the Heavens which makes days and years Sometimes this Eternity is exprest by parts as looking backward and forward by the differences of time past present and to come * Revel 1.8 Revel 4.8 Crellius weakens this argument De Deo cap. 18. p. 42. which was and is and is to come Though this might be spoken of any thing in being though but for an hour it was the last minute it is now and it will be the next minute yet the Holy-Ghost would declare something proper to God as
be of an eternal duration then Christ is God Eternity is the Property of God but it is ascribed to Christ He is before all things * Col. 1.17 i. e. all created things He is therefore no Creature and if no Creature eternal All things were created by him both in Heaven and in Earth Angels as well as Men * Col. 1.16 whether they be Thrones or Dominions If all things were his Creatures then he is no Creature if he were all things were not created by him or he must create himself He hath no difference of time for he is the same yesterday to day and for ever * Heb. 13.8 Rev. 1.8 He which is and which was and which is to come The same with the Name of God I am which signifies his Eternity He is no more to day than he was yesterday nor will be any other to morrow than he is to day And therefore Melchisedeck whose Descent Birth and Death Father and Mother Beginning and End of days are not upon Record was a Type of the Existence of Christ without difference of time * Heb. 7.3 Having neither beginning of Days nor end of Life but made like the Son of God The suppression of his Birth and Death was intended by the Holy-Ghost as a Type of the excellency of Christ's person in regard of his Eternity and the duration of his Charge in regard of his Priest-hood As there was an appearance of an Eternity in the suppression of the Race of Melchisedeck so there is a true Eternity in the Son of God How could the Eternity of the Son of God be exprest by any resemblance so well as by such a suppression of the Beginning and End of this great Person different from the custom of the Spirit of God in the Old-Testament who often records the Generations and Ends of holy Men and why might not this which was a kind of a shadow of Eternity be a representation of the true Eternity of Christ as well as the restoration of Isaac to his Father without death is said to be a figure of the Resurrection of Christ after a real death * Mestraezat in loc Melchisedeck is only mentioned once without any record of his extraction in his appearance to Abraham after his victory as if he came from Heaven only for that action and instantly disappeared again as if he had been an eternal person And Christ himself hints his own eternity * John 16.28 I came forth from the Father and am come into the world again I leave the world and go to the Father He goes to the Father as he came from the Father He goes to the Father for everlasting so he came from the Father from everlasting there is the same duration in coming forth from the Father as in returning to the Father But more plainly * John 17.5 He speaks of a Glory that he had with the Father before the world was when there was no Creature in being this is an actual glory and not only in Decree For a decreed glory Believers had and why may not every one of them say the same words Father glorify me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was if it were only a glory in decree Nay it may be said of every man he was before the world was because he was so in decree Christ speaks of something peculiar to him a Glory in actual possession before the world was glorify me embrace honour me as thy Son whereas I have now been in the eyes of the world handled disgracefully as a Servant If it were only in decree why is not the like expression used of others in Scripture as well as of Christ Why did he not use the same words for his Disciples that were then with him who had a glory in decree His Eternity is also mentioned in the Old-Testament * Prov. 8.22 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old If he were the work of God he existed before himself if he existed before all the works of God 't is so not properly meant of the essential wisdom of God since the discourse runs in the name of a Person and several passages there are which belong not so much to the essential wisdom of God as v. 13. The evil way and the froward mouth do I hate which belongs rather to the holiness of God than to the essential wisdom of God besides it is distinguisht from Jehovah as possessed by him and rejoycing before him Yet plainer * Mica 5 2. Out of thee i. e. Bethlehem shall he come forth to be Ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã from the wayes of Eternity There are two goings forth of Christ described one from Bethlehem in the days of his incarnation and another from Eternity The Holy-Ghost adds after his prediction of his incarnation his going out from everlasting that none should doubt of his Deity If this going out from everlasting were only in the purpose of God it might be said of David and of every Creature And in Isa 9.6 He is particularly called the Everlasting or Eternal Father Not the Father in the Trinity but a Father to us yet eternal the Father of Eternity As he is the mighty God so he is the everlasting Father Can such a title be ascribed to any whose being depends upon the Will of another and may be dasht out at the pleasure of a Superior As the Eternity of God is the ground of all Religion so the Eternity of Christ is the ground of the Christian Religion Could our Sins be perfectly expiated had he not an eternal Divinity to answer for the offences committed against an eternal God Temporary sufferings had been of little validity without an infiniteness and eternity in his person to add weight to his passion 2. If God be eternal he knows all things as present * Petav. All things are present to him in his Eternity for this is the notion of Eternity to be without succession If Eternity be one indivisible point and is not diffused into preceding and succeeding parts then that which is known in it or by it is perceived without any succession For knowledge is as the substance of the person knowing if that hath various actions and distinct from it self then it understands things in differences of time as time presents them to view But since Gods Being depends not upon the revolutions of time so neither doth his Knowledge it exceeds all motions of years and days comprehends infinite spaces of past and future God considers all things in his Eternity in one simple knowledge as if they were now acted before him * Acts 15.18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Ã seculo from eternity Gods Knowledge is coeternal with him If he knows that in time which
he did not know from eternity he would not be eternally perfect since knowledge is the perfection of an intelligent nature 3. How bold and foolish is it for a mortal Creature to censure the Counsels and Actions of an eternal God or be too curious in his inquisitions 'T is by the consideration of the unsearchable number of the years of God that Elihu checks too bold enquiries Who hath enjoyned him his way * Job 36.26 compar'd with the 23. or who can say thou hast wrought iniquity Behold God is great and we know him not neither can the number of his years be searched out Eternity sets God above our Enquiries and Censures Infants of a day old are not able to understand the acts of wise and gray Heads Shall we that are of so short a being and understanding as yesterday presume to measure the motions of Eternity by our scanty Intellects We that cannot foresee an unexpected accident which falls in to blast a well laid design and run a Ship many Leagues back from the intended Harbour We cannot understand the reason of things we see done in time the motions of the Sea the generation of Rain the nature of Light the Sympathies and Antipathies of the Creatures and shall we dare to censure the actions of an eternal God so infinitely beyond our reach The Counsels of a boundless Being are not to be scann'd by the Brain of a silly Worm that hath breathed but a few minutes in the world Since Eternity cannot be comprehended in time 't is not to be judged by a Creature of time Let us remember to magnify his works which we behold because he is eternal which is the exhortation of Elihu backt by this Doctrin of Gods Eternity * Job 36.24 and not accuse any work of him who is the Ancient of days or presume to direct him of whose Eternity we come infinitely short When ever therefore any unworthy notion of the Counsels and Works of God is suggested to us by Satan or our own corrupt hearts let us look backward to Gods eternal and our own short duration and silence our selves with the same Question wherewith God put a stop to the reasoning of Job * Job 38.4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth and reprove our selves for our curiosity since we are of so short a standing and were nothing when the eternal God laid the first Stone of the World 4. What a folly and boldness is there in Sin since an eternal God is offended thereby All Sin is aggravated by Gods Eternity The blackness of the Heathen Idolatry was in changing the glory of the incorruptible God * Rom. 1.23 erecting resemblances of him contrary to his immortal nature as if the eternal God whose life is as unlimited as Eternity were like those Creatures whose beings are measured by the short Ell of Time which are of a corruptible nature and daily passing on to Corruption They could not really deprive God of his Glory and Immortality but they did in Estimation There is in the nature of every sin a tendency to reduce God to a not Being He that thinks unworthily of God or acts unworthily towards him doth as much as in him lies fully and destroy these two perfections of his Immutability and Eternity 'T is a carriage as if he were as contemptible as a Creature that were but of yesterday and shall not remain in being to morrow He that would put an end to Gods glory by darkning it would put an end to Gods life by destroying it He that should love a Beast with as great an affection as he loves a Man contemns a rational nature and he that loves a perishing thing with the same affection he should love an everlasting God contemns his Eternity He debaseth the duration of God below that of the World The low valuation of God speaks him in his esteem no better than withering Grass or a Gourd which lasts for a night and the Creature which possesses his affection to be a Good that lasts for ever How foolish then is every sin that tends to destroy a Being that cannot destroy or desert himself a Being without whose Eternity the Sinner himself could not have had the capacity of a being to affront him How base is that which would not let the works of God remain in their established posture How much more base in not enduring the fountain and glory of all Beings that would not only put an end to the Beauty of the world but the Eternity of God 5. How dreadful is it to lye under the stroak of an eternal God His Eternity is as great a terror to him that hates him as it is a comfort to him that loves him because he is the living God an everlasting King the Nations shall not be able to abide his indignation * Jer. 10.10 Though God be least in their thoughts and is made light of in the world yet the thoughts of Gods Eternity when he comes to judge the world shall make the Slighters of him tremble That the Judge and Punisher lives for ever is the greatest grievance to a Soul in misery and adds an unconceivable weight to it above what the infiniteness of Gods executive Power could do without that duration His Eternity makes the punishment more dreadful than his Power his Power makes it sharp but his Eternity renders it perpetual ever to endure is the sting at the end of every lash And how sad is it to think that God lays his Eternity to pawn for the punishment of obstinate Sinners and engageth it by an Oath that he will whet his glittering Sword that his hand shall take hold of Judgment that he will render Vengeance to his Enemies and a Reward to them that hate him a reward proportioned to the greatness of their offences and the glory of an eternal God * Deut. 32.40.41 I lift up my hand to Heaven and say I live for ever i. e. as surely as I live for ever I will whet my glittering Sword As none can convey good with a perpetuity so none can convey evil with such a lastingness as God 'T is a great loss to lose a Ship richly fraught in the bottom of the Sea never to be cast upon the Shore But how much greater is it to lose eternally a Soveraign God which we were capable of eternally enjoying and undergo an evil as durable as that God we slighted and were in a possibility of avoiding The miseries of men after this Life are not eased but sharpen'd by the Life and Eternity of God The Second Use is of Comfort What foundation of comfort can we have in any of Gods Attributes were it not for his Infiniteness and Eternity though he be merciful good wise faithful What support could there be if they were perfections belonging to a corruptible God What hopes of a Resurrection to Happiness can we have or of the duration of it if that God that
the Holy Ghost mentions so often the post-eternity of God and so little his ante-eternity because that is the strongest foundation of our faith and hope which respects chiefly that which is future and not that which is past yet indeed no assurance of his after-Eternity can be had if his ante-Eternity be not certain If he had a beginning he may have an end And if he had a change in his nature he might have in his Counsels But since all the resolves of God are as himself is eternal and all the promises of God are the fruits of his Counsel therefore they cannot be chang'd If he should change them for the better he would not have been eternally Wise to know what was best If for the worse he had not been eternally good or just Men may break their promises because they are made without foresight but God that inhabits Eternity foreknows all things that shall be done under the Sun as if they had been then acting before him and nothing can intervene or work a change in his resolves because the least circumstances were eternally foreseen by him Though there may be variations and changes to our sight the wind may rack about and every hour new and cross accidents happen yet the eternal God who is eternally true to his word Sits at the Helm and the Winds and the Waves obey him And though he should defer his promise a thousand years yet he is not slack For he defers it but a day to his eternity * 2 Pet. 3.8 9. And who would not with comfort stay a day in expectation of a considerable advantage 3. Use is for Exhortation 1. To something which concerns us in our selves 2. To something which concerns us with respect to God 1. To something which concerns us in our selves 1. Let us be deeply affected with our sins long since committed Though they are past with us they are in regard of Gods eternity present with him there is no succession in Eternity as there is in time All things are before God at once our sins are before him as if committed this moment though committed long ago As he is what he is in regard of duration so he knows what he knows in regard of knowledge As he is not more than he was nor shall not be any more than he is so he always knew what he knows and shall not cease to know what he now know's As himself so his knowledge is one indivisible point of eternity He knows nothing but what he did know from eternity he shall know no more for the future than he now knows Our sins being present with him in his eternity should be present with us in our regard of remembrance of them and sorrow for them What though many years are laps'd much time run out and our iniquities almost blotted out of our memory yet since a thousand years are in Gods sight and in regard of his eternity but as a day * Psal 90.4 A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night They are before him For suppose a man were as old as the World above five thousand six hundred years the sins committed five thousand years ago are according to that rule but as if they were committed five daies ago so that sixty two years are but as an hour and a half and the sins committed forty years since are as if they were committed but this present hour But if we will go further and consider them but as a watch of the Night about three hours for the Night consisting of twelve hours was divided into set Watches then a thousand years are but as three hours in the sight of God and then sins committed sixtie years ago are but as if they were committed within this five minutes Let none of us set light by the iniquities committed many years ago and imagine that length of time can wipe out their guilt No let us consider them in relation to Gods eternity and excite an inward remorse as if they had been but the birth of this moment 2. Let the consideration of Gods Eternity abate our pride This is the design of the Verses following the Text The Eternity of God being so sufficient to make us understand our own nothingness which ought to be one great end of man especially as fall'n The eternity of God should make us as much disesteem our selves as the excellency of God made Job abhor himself * Job 42.5 6. His excellency should humble us under a sense of our vanity and his eternity under a sense of the shortness of our duration If man compares himself with other Creatures he may be too sensible of his greatness but if he compares himself with God he cannot but be sensible of his baseness 1. In regard of our impotence to comprehend this Eternity of God How little do we know How little can we know of Gods Eternity We cannot fully conceive it much less express it we have but a brutish understanding in all those things as Agur said of himself * Prov. 30.7 * Charrontrois vent Livr 1. chp. 5. p. 17. c. What is Infinite and Eternal cannot be comprehended by finite and temporary Creatures If it could it would not be infinite and eternal For to know a thing is to know the Extent and cause of it T is repugnant to Eternity to be known because it hath no limits no causes the most soaring understanding cannot have a proportionable understanding of it What disproportion is there between a drop of water and the Sea in their greatness and motion Yet by a drop we may arrive to a knowledge of the nature of the Sea which is a Mass of drops joyn'd together But the longest duration of times cannot make us know what Eternity is Becuse there is no proportion between time and Eternity The years of God are as numberless as his thoughts * Psal 40.5 and our minds as far from reckoning the one as the other If our understandings are too gross to comprehend the Majesty of his infinite works they are much more too short to comprehend the infiniteness of his Eternity 2. In regard of the vast disproportion of our duration to this duration of God 1. We have more of not being than being We were nothing from an unbegun Eternity and we might have been nothing to an endless Eternity had not God call'd us into being and if he please we may be nothing by as short an annihilating word as we were something by a Creating word As it is the prerogative of God to be I am that I am so it is the property of a Creature to be I am not what I am I am not by my self what I am but by the Indulgence of another I was nothing formerly I may be nothing again unless he that is I am make me to subsist what I now am Nothing is as much the title of
what it is or was 'T is indeed a Being but a different Being from what it was before But if God were changed it could not be said of him that he is but it might also be said of him that he is not or if he were changeable or could be changed it might be said of him he is but he will not be what he is or he may not be what he is but there will be or may be some difference in his Being and so God would not be I am that I am for though he would not cease utterly to be yet he would cease to be what he was before 2. Again If his Essence were mutable he could not be perfectly blessed and fully rejoyce in himself If he changed for the better he could not have an infinite pleasure in what he was before the change because he was not infinitely blessed and the pleasure of that state could not be of a higher kind than the state it self or at least the apprehension of a happiness in it If he changed for the worse he could not have a pleasure in it after the change for according to the diminution of his state would be the decrease of his pleasure His pleasure could not be infinite before the change if he changed for the better it could not be infinite after the change if he changed for the worse If he changed for the better he would not have had an infinite Goodness of being before and not having an infinite Goodness of Being he would have a finite Goodness of Being for there is no medium between finite and infinite Then though the change were for the better yet being finite before something would be still wanting to make him infinitely blessed because being finite he could not change to that which is infinite for finite and infinite are extreams so distant that they can never pass into one another that is that that which is finite should become infinite or that which is infinite should become finite So that supposing him mutable his Essence in no state of change could furnish him with an infinite peace and blessedness 3. Again If Gods Essence be changed he either encreaseth or diminisheth * Hugo Victorin in Petavio Whatsoever is changed doth either gain by receiving some thing larger and greater than it had in it self before or gains nothing by being changed If the former then it receives more than it self more than it had in it self before The Divine Nature cannot be encreased for whatsoever receives any thing than what it had in it self before must necessarily receive it from another because nothing can give to it self that which it hath not But God cannot receive from another what he hath not already because whatsoever other things possess is derived from him and therefore contained in him as the Fountain contains the Vertue in it self which it conveys to the Streams so that God cannot gain any thing If a thing that is changed gain nothing by that change it loseth something of what it had before in it self and this loss must be by it self or some other God cannot receive any loss from any thing in himself he cannot will his own diminution that is repugnant to every Nature He may as well will his own destruction as his own decrease Every decrease is a partial destruction But it is impossible for God to dye any kind of Death to have any resemblance of death for he is immortal and only hath Immortality * 1 Tim. 6.16 therefore impossible to be diminisht in any particle of his Essence nor can he be diminisht by any thing in his own Nature because his infinite simplicity admits of nothing distinct from himself or contrary to himself All decreases come from something contrary to the nature of that thing which doth decrease Whatsoever is made less than it self was not truly unum one and simple because that which divides it self in separation was not the same in conjunction Nor can he be diminisht by any other without himself because nothing is superior to God nothing stronger than God which can oppress him But whatsoever is changed is weaker than that which changeth it * Victorinus in Petavio and sinks under a Power it cannot succesfully resist Weakness belongs not to the Deity Nor lastly can God change from a State wherein he is to another State equal to the former as men in some cases may do for in passing from one state to another equal to it something must be parted with which he had before that some other thing may accrue to him as a recompense for that loss to make him equal to what he was This recompense then he had not before though he had something equal to it And in this case it could not be said by God I am that I am but I am equal to what I was for in this case there would be a diminution and increase which as was shewed can not be in God 4. Again God is of himself from no other * Austin Fulgen in Petavio Natures which are made by God may increase because they began to be they may decrease because they were made of nothing and so tend to nothing the condition of their original leads them to defect and the Power of their Creator brings them to increase But God hath no original he hath no defect because he was not made of nothing He hath no increase because he had no beginning He was before all things and therefore depends upon no other thing which by its own change can bring any change upon him * Petav. Tom. 1. p. 173. That which is from it self cannot be changed because it hath nothing before it nothing more excellent than it self But that which is from another as its first cause and chief good may be changed by that which was its efficient cause and last end 2. God is immutable in regard of Knowledge God hath known from all Eternity all that which he can know so that nothing is hid from him He knows not at present any more than he hath known from Eternity and that which he knows now he always knows All things are open and naked before him Heb. 4.13 A man is said to be changed in regard of knowledge when he knows that now which he did not know before or knows that to be false now which he thought true before or hath something for the Object of his Understanding now which he had not before But 1. This would be repugnant to the Wisdom and Omniscience which belongs to the Notion of a Deity That cannot be God that is not infinitely wise that cannot be infinitely wise that is either ignorant of or mistaken in his apprehension of any one thing If God be changed in knowledge it must be for want of wisdom all change of this nature in Creatures implies this defect preceding or accompanying it Such a thought of God would have been unworthy of him that is only
wise that hath no Mate for Wisdom * 1 Tim. 1.17 none wise besides himself If he knew that thing this day which * 1 Tim. 1.17 he knew not before he would not be an only wise Being for a Being that did know every thing at once might be conceived and so a wiser Being be apprehended by the mind of man If God understood a thing at one time which he did not at another he would be changed from Ignorance to Knowledge As if he could not do that this day which he could do to morrow he would be changed from Impotence to Power He could not be always Omniscient because there might be yet something still to come which he yet knows not though he may know all things that are past What way soever you suppose a change you must suppose a present or a past Ignorance If he be changed in his knowledge for the perfection of his understanding he was ignorant before If his understanding be impaired by the change he is ignorant after it 2. If God were changeable in his Knowledge it would make him unfit to be an Object of Trust to any rational Creature His Revelations would want the due ground for entertainment if his Understanding were changeable for that might be revealed as truth now which might prove false heareafter and that as false now which hereafter might prove true and so God would be an unfit Object of Obedience in regard of his Precepts and an unfit Object of confidence in regard of his Promises For if he be changeable in Knowledge he is defective in Knowledge and might promise that now which he would know afterwards was unfit to be promised and therefore unfit to be performed It would make him an incompetent Object of dread in regard of his threatnings for he might threaten that now which he might know hereafter were not fit or just to be inflicted A changeable mind and understanding cannot make a due and right judgment of things to be done and things to be avoided No wise man would judge it reasonable to trust a weak and flitting person God must needs be unchangeable in his Knowledge But as the Schoolmen say that as the Sun always shines so God always knows as the Sun never ceaseth to shine so God never ceaseth to know Nothing can be hid from the vast compass of his Understanding no more than any thing can shelter it self without the Verge of his Power This farther appears in that 1. God knows by his own Essence He doth not know as we do by habits qualities species whereby we may be mistaken at one time and rectified at another He hath not an Understanding distinct from his Essence as we have but being the most simple Being his Understanding is his Essence and as from the infiniteness of his Essence we conclude the infiniteness of his Understanding so from the unchangeableness of his Essence we may justly conclude the unchangeableness of his Knowledge Since therefore God is without all composition and his Understanding is not distinct from his Essence what he knows he knows by his Essence and there can then be no more mutability in his Knowledge than there can be in his Essence and if there were any in that he could not be God because he would have the property of a Creature If his Understanding then be his Essence his Knowledge is as necessary as unchangeable as his Essence As his Essence eminently contains all perfections in it self so his Understanding comprehends all things past present and future in it self If his Understanding and his Essence were not one and the same he were not simple but compounded if compounded he would consist of parts if he consisted of parts he would not be an independent Being and so would not be God 2. God knows all things by one intuitive act As there is no succession in his Being so that he is one thing now and another thing hereafter so there is no succession in his Knowledge He knows things that are successive before their existence and succession by one single act of intuition by one cast of his eye all things future are present to him in regard of his Eternity and Omnipresence So that though there is a change and variation in the things known yet his Knowledge of them and their several changes in nature is invariable and unalterable As imagin a Creature that could see with his eye at one glance the whole compass of the Heavens by sending out beams from his eye without receiving any species from them he would see the whole Heavens uniformly this part now in the East then in the West without any change in his eye for he sees every part and every motion together and though that great Body varies and whirls about and is in continual agitation his eye remains stedfast suffers no change beholds all their motions at once and by one glance * Suarez vol. 1. pa. 137. God knows all things from Eternity and therefore perpetually knows them the reason is because the Divine Knowledge is infinite * Psal 145.5 His understanding is infinite and therefore comprehends all knowable Truths at once An eternal Knowledge comprehends in it self all Time and beholds past and present in the same manner and therefore his Knowledge is immutable By one simple Knowledge he considers the infinite spaces of past and future 3. Gods knowledge and Will is the cause of all things and their successions * Austin Bradwardine There can be no pretence of any changeableness of knowledge in God but in this case before things come to pass he knows that they will come to pass after they are come to pass he knows that they are past and slide away This would be something if the succession of things were the cause of the divine Knowledg as it is of our knowledge but on the contrary the divine Knowledge and Will is the cause of the succession of them God doth not know Creatures because they are but they are because he knows them All his works were known to him from the beginnig of the world * Acts 15.18 All his works were not known to him if the events of all those works were not also known to him If they were not known to him how should he make them he could not do any thing ignorantly He made them then after he knew them and did not know them after he made them His Knowledge of them made a change in them their existence made no change in his Knowledg He knew them when they were to be Created in the same manner that he knew them after they were Created before they were brought into act as well as after they were brought into act before they were made they were and were not they were in the Knowledge of God when they were not in their own nature God did not receive his knowledge from their existence but his Knowledge and Will acted upon them to bring them
into being 4. Therefore the distinction of past and future makes no change in the Knowledge of God When a thing is past God hath no more distinct knowledg of it after it is past than he had when it was to come all things were all in their Circumstances of past present and to come seen by his Understanding as they were determined by his Will * Gamch 1. pa. Aquin. Qu. 9. cap. 1. Pa. 73. Besides to know a day to be past or future is only to know the state of that day in it self and to know its relation to that which follows and that which went before This day wherein we are if we consider it in the state wherein it was yesterday it was to come it was future but if we consider it in that state wherein it will be to morrow we understand it as past This in man cannot be said to be a different knowledge of the thing it self but only of the circumstance attending a thing and the different relation of it As I see the Sun this day I know it was up yesterday I know it will be up to morrow my knowledge of the Sun is the same if there be any change it is in the Sun not in my knowledge only I apply my knowledge to such particular circumstances How much more must the knowledge of those things in God be unchangeable who knows all those states conditions and circumstances most perfectly from Eternity wherein there is no succession no past or future and therefore will know them for ever He always beholds the same thing he sees indeed succession in things and he sees a thing to be past which before was future As from Eternity he saw Adam as existing in such a time In the first time he saw that he would be in the following time he saw that he had been But this he knew from Eternity this he knew in the same manner tho there was a variation in Adam yet there was no variation in Gods knowledge of him in all his states though Adam was not present to himself yet in all his states he was present to Gods Eternity 5. Consider that the knowledge of God in regard of the manner of it as well as the objects is incomprehensible to a finite Creature So that tho we cannot arrive to a full understanding of the manner of Gods Knowledge yet we must conceive so of it as to remove all imperfection from him in it And since it is an imperfection to be changeable we must remove that from God the Knowledge of God about things past present and future must be unconceivably above ours His understanding is infinite Psal 147.5 There is no number of it it can no more be calculated or drawn into an account by us than infinite spaces which have no bounds and limits can be measured by us We can no more arrive even in Heaven to a comprehensive understanding of the manner of his Knowledge than of the infinite glory of his Essence we may as well comprehend one as the other This we must conclude that God being not a Body doth not see one thing with eyes and another thing with mind as we do but being a Spirit he sees and knows only with Mind and his Mind is himself and is as unchangeable as himself and therefore as he is not now another thing than what he was so he knows not any thing now in another manner than as he knew it from Eternity He sees all things in the Glass of his own Essence as therefore the Glass doth not vary so neither doth his Vision 3. God is unchangeable in regard of his Will and Purpose A change in Purpose is when a man determins to do that now which before he determined not to do or to do the contrary when a man hates that thing which he loved or begins to love that which he before hated When the Will is changed a man begins to will that which he willed not before and ceaseth to will that which he willed before But whatsoever God hath decreed is immutable whatsoever God hath promised shall be accomplisht The Word that goes forth of his Mouth shall not return to him void but it shall accomplish that which he pleaseth * Isa 55.11 Isa 46.11 whatsoever he purposeth he will do * Numb 23.19 His Decrees are therefore called Mountains of Brass * Zach. 6.1 Brass as having substance and solidity Mountains as being immoveable not only by any Creature but by himself because they stand upon the Basis of infallible Wisdom and are supported by uncontroulable Power From this Immutability of his Will publisht to Man there could be no release from the severity of the Law without satisfaction made by the death of a Mediator since it was the unalterable Will of God that death should be the wages of Sin and from this immutable Will it was that the length of Time from the first promise of the Redeemer to his mission and the daily provocations of men altered not his purpose for the accomplishment of it in the fullness of that time he had resolved upon Nor did the wickedness of former Ages hinder the addition of several promises as Buttresses to the first To make this out consider 1. The Will of God is the same with his Essence If God had a Will distinct from his Essence he would not be the most simple Being God hath not a faculty of Will distinct from himself As his Understanding is nothing else but Deus intelligens God understanding so his Will is nothing else but Deus volens God willing being therefore the Essence of God though it is considered according to our weakness as a faculty 't is as his Understanding and Wisdom eternal and immutable and can no more be changed than his Essence The Immutability of the Divine Counsel depends upon that of his Essence He is the Lord Jehovah therefore he is true to his Word Mal. 3.6 Isa 43.13 Yea before the Day I am He and there is none that can deliver out of my hand He is the same immutable in his Essence therefore irresistible in his Power 2. There is a concurrence of Gods Will and Vnderstanding in every thing As his Knowledge is eternal so is his Purpose Things created had not been known to be had not God resolved them to be the act of his Will the existence of any thing supposeth an Act of his Will Again as God knows all things by one simple vision of his Understanding so he wills all things by one act of volition therefore the Purpose of God in the Scripture is not exprest by Counsels in the Plural Number but Counsel shewing that all the purposes of God are not various but as one Will branching it self out into may acts towards the Creature but all knit in one Root all links of one Chain Whatsoever is eternal is immutable As his Knowledge is eternal and therefore immutable so is his Will He wills
Nature Knowledge or Will in both an inability an inability in him to continue the same or an inability in him to resist the Power of another 6. The World could not be ordered and governed but by some Principle or Being which were immutable Principles are alway more fixed and stable than things which proceed from those Principles and this is true both in Morals and Naturals Principles in Conscience whereby men are governed remain firmly engraven in their Minds The Root lies firmly in the Earth while Branches are shaken with the Wind. The Heavens the cause of Generation are more firm and stable than those things which are wrought by their influence All things in the world are moved by some Power and Vertue which is stable and unless it were so no Order would be observed in motion no Motion could be regularly continued He could not be a full satisfaction to the infinite desire of the Souls of his People Nothing can truly satisfie the Soul of Man but Rest and nothing can give it rest but that which is perfect and immutably perfect for else it would be subject to those agitations and variations which the Being it depends upon is subject to The Principle of all things must be immutable * ââherby Athââmasux p. 3.8 Gerââd loc com which is described by some by a Unity the Principle of Number wherein there is a resemblance of Gods Unchangeableness A Unite is not variable it continues in its own Nature immutably an Unite It never varies from it self it cannot be changed from it self but is as it were so omnipotent towards others that it changes all Numbers If you add any Number it is the beginning of that Number but the Unite is not encreased by it a new Number ariseth from that Addition but the Unite stil remains the same and adds value to other Figures but receives none from them 3. The third thing to speak to is That Immutability is proper to God and incommunicable to any Creature Mutability is natural to every Creature as a Creature and Immutability is the sole perfection of God He only is infinite Wisdom able to fore-know future Events He only is infinitely powerful able to call forth all means to effect So that wanting neither Wisdom to contrive nor Strength to execute he cannot alter his Counsel None being above him nothing in him contrary to him and being defective in no Blessedness and Perfection he cannot vary in his Essence and Nature Had not Immutability as well as Eternity been a Property folely pertaining to the Divine Nature as well as creative Power and eternal Duration the Apostles Argument to prove Christ to be God from this perpetual sameness had come short of any convincing strength These words of the Text he applies to Christ Heb 1.10 11 12. They shall be changed but thou art the same There had been no strength in the reason if Immutability by Nature did belong to any Creature The changeablness of all Creatures is evident 1. Of corporeal Creatures it is evident to sense All Plants and Animals as they have their duration bounded in certain limits so while they do exist they proceed from their rise to their fall they pass through many sensible alterations from one degree of growth to another from buds to blossoms from blossoms to flowers and fruits they come to their pitch that Nature hath set them and return back to the state from whence they sprung there is not a day but they make some acquisition or suffer some loss they dye and spring up every day nothing in them more certain than their inconstancy The Creature is subject to vanity * Rom 8. ââ The heavenly Bodies are changing their place the Sun every day is running his Race and stays not in the same Point and though they are not changed in their Essence yet they are in their Place Some indeed say there is a continual generation of Light in the Sun as there is a loss of Light by the casting out its Beams as in a Fountain there is a flowing out of the Streams and a continual generation of supply And though these heavenly Bodies have kept their standing and motion from the time of their Creation yet both the Suns standing still in Joshuah's time and its going back in Hezekiah's time shew that they are changeable at the pleasure of God But in Man the change is perpetually visible every day there is a change from Ignorance to Knowledge from one Will to another from Passion to Passion sometimes sad and sometimes cheerful sometimes craving this and presently nauseating it his Body changes from health to sickness or from weakness to strength some alteration there is either in Body or Mind Man who is the noblest Creature the subordinate end of the Creation of other things cannot assure himself of a consistency and fixedness in any thing the short space of a day no not of a minute all his Months are Months of vanity * Job 7.3 whence the Psalmist calls Man at the best estate altogether vanity a meer heap of vanity * Psal 35. As he contains in his Nature the Nature of all Creatures so he inherits in his Nature the Vanity of all Creatures A little World the Center of the World and of the Vanity of the World yea lighter than Vanity * Psal 62.9 more moveable than a Feather tost between Passion and Passion daily changing his end and changing the means An Image of nothing 2. Spiritual Natures as Angels They change not in their Being but that is from the indulgence of God They change not in their Goodness but that is not from their Nature but Divine Grace in their Confirmation but they change in their Knowledge they know more by Christ than they did by Creation * 1 Tim. 3.16 They have an addition of Knowledge every day by the providential dispensations of God to his Church * Eph. 3 1â and the increase of their Astonishment and Love is according to the increase of their Knowledge and Insight They cannot have a new discovery without new admirations of what is discovered to them There is a change in their joy when there is a change in a Sinner * Luke 15 1â They were changed in their Essence when they were made such glorious Spirits of nothing Some of them were changed in their Will when of holy they became impure The good Angels were changed in their Understandings when the Glories of God in Christ were presented to their view and all can be changed in their Essence again and as they were made of nothing so by the Power of God may be reduced to nothing again So glorified Souls shall have an unchanged operation about God for they shall behold his Face without any grief or fear of loss without vagrant thoughts but they can never be unchangeable in their Nature because they can never pass from finite to infinite No Creature can be unchangeable in its
lie secret in your heart though not form'd into a full conception yet testified by your Actions No you are much mistaken 't is impossible but that I should see and know all things since I am present with all things and am not at a greater distance from the things on earth than from the the things in Heaven for I fill all that vast Fabrick which is divided into those two parts of Heaven and Earth and he that hath such an infinite essence cannot be distant cannot be ignorant nothing can be far from his eyes since every thing is so near to his Essence So that it is an elegant Expression of the Omniscience of God and a strong Argument for it He asserts first the Universality of his Knowledge but lest they should mistake and confine his presence only to Heaven he adds That he fills Heaven and Earth I do not see things so as if I were in one place and the things seen in another as it is with man but whatsoever I see I see not without my self because every corner of Heaven and Earth is fill'd by me He that fills all must needs see and know all And indeed men that question the knowledg of God would be more convinc'd by the Doctrine of his immediate presence with them And this seems to be the design and manner of Arguing in this place Nothing is remote from my knowledg because nothing is distant from my presence I fill Heaven and Earth he doth not say I am in Heaven and Earth but I fill Heaven and Earth i. e. â Tum perspâââcia tum effâcacia Groâ say some with my Knowledg others with my Authority or my Power But 1. The word filling cannot properly be referred to the act of understanding and will A presence by knowledg is to be granted but to say such a presence fills a a place is an improper Speech Knowledge is not enough to constitute a presence A man at London knows there is such a City as Paris and knows many things in it can he be concluded therefore to be present in Paris or fill any place there or be present with the things he knows there If I know any thing to be distant from me how can it be present with me For by knowing it to be distant I know it not to be present Besides filling Heaven and Earth is distinguisht here from Knowing or Seeing His presence is render'd as an Argument to prove his Knowledg Now a Proposition and the proof of that Proposition are distinct and not the same It cannot be imagin'd that God should prove idem per idem as we say for what would be the import of the Speech then I know all things I see all things because I know and see all things * Suarez The Holy Ghost here accommodates himself to the Capacity of men because we know that a man sees and knows that which is done where he is corporally present so he proves that God knows all things that are done in the most secret Caverns of the Heart because he is every where in Heaven and Earth as light is every where in the air and air every where in the World Hence the Schools use the term repletivè for the presence of God 2. Nor by filling of Heaven and Earth is meant his Authority and Power It would be improperly said of a King that in regard of the Government of his Kingdom is every where by his Authority that he fills all the Cities and Countrys of his Dominions I do not I fill * Amirald de Trinitate p. 57. That I notes the Essence of God as distinguisht according to our capacity from the perfections pertaining to his Essence and is in reason better referred to the substance of God than to those things we conceive as Attributes in him Besides were it meant only of his Authority or Power the Argument would not run well I see all things because my Authority and Power fills Heaven and Earth Power doth not always rightly infer knowledg no not in a rational agent Many things in a Kingdom are done by the Authority of the King that never arrive to the Knowledg of the King Many things in us are done by the Power of our souls which yet we have not a distinct Knowledg of in our understandings There are many motions in sleep by the virtue of the soul informing the body that we have not so much as a simple knowledg of in our minds Knowledge is not rightly inferr'd from power or power from knowledg By filling Heaven and Earth is meant therefore a filling it with his Essence No place can be imagin'd that is deprived of the presence of God and therefore when the Scripture any where speaks of the presence of God it joyns Heaven and Earth together He so fills them that there is no place without him We do not say a vessel is full so long as there is any space to contain more Not a part of Heaven nor a part of Earth but the whole Heaven the whole Earth at one and the same time If he were only in one part of Heaven or one part of Earth nay if there were any part of Heaven or any part of Earth void of him he could not be said to fill them I fill Heaven and Earth not a part of me fills one place and another part of me fills another but I God fill Heaven and Earth I am whole God filling the Heaven and whole God filling the Earth I fill Heaven and yet fill Earth I fill Earth and yet fill Heaven and fill Heaven and Earth at one and the same time God fills his own works a Heathen Philosopher saith * Seneca de Benefic lib. 4. cap. 8. Ipse opus suum implet Here is then a Description of Gods Presence 1. By Power Am I not a God afar off a God in the extension of his Arm. 2. By Knowledg Shall I not see them 3. By Essence as an undeniable ground for inferring the two former I fill Heaven and Earth Doct. God is Essentially every where present in Heaven and Earth If God be he must be somewhere that which is no where is nothing Since God is he is in the world not in one part of it for then he were circumscrib'd by it if in the world and only there though it be a great space he were also limited * Chrysostom Some therefore said God was every where and no where No where i. e. not bounded by any place nor receiving from any place any thing for his preservation or sustainment He is every where because no creature either Body or Spirit can exclude the presence of his Essence for he is not only near but in every thing * Acts. 17.28 In him we live and move and have our being Not absent from any thing but so present with them that they live and move in him and move more in God than in the air or earth wherein they
manifestation of himself If by his dwelling in heaven be meant his whole essence why is it not also to be meant by his dwelling in the Ark It was not sure part of his essence that was in heaven and part of his essence that was on earth his essence would then be divided and can it be imagined that he should be in Heaven and the Ark at the same time and not in the spaces between Could his essence be split into fragments and a gap made in it that two distant spaces should be fill'd by him and all between be empty of him So that Gods being said to dwell in Heaven and in the Temple is so far from impairing the truth of this doctrine that it more confirms and evidences it 2. Nor do the Expressions of God's coming to us or departing from us impair this Doctrine of his Omnipresence God is said to hide his face from his People * Psal 10.1 to be far from the Wicked and the Gentiles are said to be afar off viz. from God â Prov. 15.29 and upon the manifestation of Christ made near â Eph 2.17 These must not be understood of any distance or nearness of his Essence for that is equally near to all persons and things but of some other special way and manifestation of his Presence Thus God is said to be in Believers by Love as they are in him * 1 Joh. 4.15 He that abides in love abides in God and God in him He that loves is in the thing beloved and when two love one another they are in one another God is in a Righteous man by a special grace and far from the Wicked in regard of such special Works and God is said to be in a place by a special manifestation as when he was in the Bush * Exod. 3. or manifesting his Glory upon Mount Sinai â Exod. 24.16 The Glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai God is said to hide his face when he withdraws his comforting Presence disturbs the repose of our hearts flasheth Terror into our Consciences when he puts men under the smart of the Cross as tho' he had ordered his Mercy utterly to depart from them or when he doth withdraw his special assisting Providence from us in our affairs so he departed from Saul when he withdrew his direction and Protection from him in the concerns of his Government * 1 Sam. 16.14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul i. e. the Spirit of Government God may be far from us in one respect and near to us in another far from us in regard of Comfort yet near to us in regard of Support when his Essential Presence continues the same this is a necessary consequent upon the infiniteness of God the other is an act of the Will of God so he was said to forsake Christ in regard of his obscuring his Glory from his Humane Nature and inflicting his Wrath tho' he was near to him in regard of his Grace and preserved him from contracting any spot in his Sufferings We do not say the Sun is departed out of the Heavens when it is be-misted it remains in the same part of the Heavens passes on its course tho' its Beams do not reach us by reason of the Bar between us and it The Soul is in every part of the Body in regard of its Substance and constantly in it tho' it doth not act so spritely and vigorously at one time as at another in one and the same Member and discover it self so sensibly in its Operations so all the various effects of God towards the Sons of men are but divers Operations of one and the same Essence He is far from us or near to us as he is a Judg or a Benefactor when he comes to Punish it notes not the approach of his Essence but the stroak of his Justice when he comes to Benefit 't is not by a new access of his Essence but an efflux of his Grace he departs from us when he leaves us to the Frowns of his Justice he comes to us when he encircles us in the Arms of his Mercy but he was equally present with us in both dispensations in regard of his Essence And likewise God is said to come down * Gen. 11.5 And the Lord came down to see the City when he doth some signal and wonderful Works which attract the minds of men to the acknowledgment of a Supream Power and Providence in the World who judg'd God absent and careless before 3. Nor is the Essential Presence of God with all Creatures any disparagement to him Since it was no disparagement to Create the Heaven and the Earth 't is no disparagement to him to him to fill them if he were Essentially present with them when he created them 't is no dishonour to him to be Essentiall present with them to support them if it were his Glory to Create them by his Essence when they were nothing Can it be his disgrace to be present by his Essence since they are something and something good and very good in his Eye * Gen. 1.31 God saw every thing and behold it was very good or mighty good all ordered to declare his Goodness Wisdom Power and to make him adorable to man and therefore took complacency in tehm There is a Harmony in all things a Combination in them for those glorious Ends for which God Created them and is it a disgrace for God to be present with his own Harmonious composition Is it not a Musicians Glory to touch with his fingers the Trebble the least and tenderest string as well as the strongest and greatest Base Hath not every thing some Stamp of Gods own Being upon it since he eminently contains in himself the Perfections of all his Works whatsoever hath Being hath a Foot-step of God upon it who is all Being every thing in the Earth is his Foot-Stool having a mark of his Foot upon it all declare the Being of God because they had their Being from God and will God account it any disparagement to him to be present with that which confirms his Being and the glorious Perfections of his nature to his intelligent Creatures the meanest things are not without their Vertues which may boast Gods being the Creator of them and rank them in the midst of his Works of Wisdom as well as Power Doth God debase himself to be present by his Essence with the things he hath made more than he doth to know them by his Essence Is not the least thing known by him How not by a faculty or act distinct from his Essence but by his Essence it self How is any thing disgraceful to the Essential Presence of God that is not disgraceful to his Knowledge by his Essence Besides would God make any thing that should be an invincible reason to him to part with his own infiniteness by a contraction of his own Essence into a less compass than
All People are under Gods Care but he has a particular regard to his Church This is the Signet on his hand as a Bracelet upon his arm this is his Garden which he delights to dress if he prunes it it is to purge it if he Digs about his Vine and wounds the Branches 't is to make it more Beautiful with new Clusters and restore it to a fruitful Vigour 2. All great deliverances are to be ascrib'd to God as the principal Author whosoever are the Instruments The Lord doth build up Jerusalem he gathers together the outâââs of Israel This great deliverance from Babylon is not to be ascrib'd to Cyrus or Darius or the rest of our favourers 't is the Lord that doth it we had his Promise for it we have now his Performance Let us not ascribe that which is the effect of his Truth only to the good Will of men 't is Gods act not by Might nor by Power nor by Weapons of War or strength of Horses but by the Spirit of the Lord. He sent Prophets to comfort us while we were exiles and now he hath stretched out his own Arm to work our deliverance according to his Word blind man looks so much upon Instruments that he hardly takes notice of God either in Afflictions or Mercies and this is the cause that robs God of so much Prayer and Praise in the World Verse 3. He heals the broken in heart and binds up their Wounds He hath now restored those who had no hope but in his Word he hath dealt with them as a tender and skilful Chirurgeon he hath applyed his curing Plaisters and dropped in his Soveraign Balsams he hath now furnisht our fainting hearts with refreshing Cordials and comforted our Wounds with strengthning Ligatures How gracious is God that restores Liberty to the Captives and Righteousness to the Penitent mans misery is the fittest opportunity for God to make his Mercy illustrious in it self and most welcome to the Patient He proceeds verse 4. Wonder not that God calls together the out-casts and singles them out from every corner for a return why can he not do this as well as tell the number of the Stars and call them all by their Names Ver. 4. There are none of his People so despicable in the eye of man but they are known and regarded by God tho' they are clouded in the World yet they are the Stars of the World and shall God number the inanimate Stars in the Heavens and make no account of his living Stars on the Earth no wherever they are dispersed he will not forget them however they are afflicted he will not despise them the Stars are so numerous that they are innumerable by man some are visible and known by men others lie more hid and undiscovered in a confused Light as those in the Milky-way man cannot see one of them distinctly God knows all his People As he can do what is above the power of man to perform so he understands what is above the skill of man to discover shall man measure God by his scantiness Proud man must not equal himself to God nor cut God as short as his own Line He tells the number of the Stars and calls them all by their Names He hath them all in his List as Generals the Names of their Soldiers in their Muster-Roll for they are his Host which he Marshals in the Heavens as Isa 40.26 where you have the like Expression he knows them more distinctly than man can know any thing and so distinctly as to call them all by their Names He knows their Names that is their natural offices influences the different degrees of heat and light their order and motion and all of them the least glimmering Star as well as the most glaring Planet this man cannot do Tell the Stars if thou be able to number them Gen. 15.5 saith God to Abraham whom Josephus represents as a great Astronomer yea they cannot be numbred Jer. 33.22 and the uncertainty of the Opinions of men evidenceth their ignorance of their number some reckoning 1022 others 1025 others 1098 others 7000 besides those that by reason of their mixture of Light with one another cannot be distinctly discern'd and others perhaps so high as not to be reach'd by the eye of man To impose Names on things and Names according to their Natures is both an Argument of Power and Dominion and of Wisdom and Understanding from the imposition of Names upon the Creatures by Adam the Knowledg of Adam is generally concluded and it was also a fruit of that Dominion God allowed him over the Creatures Now he that Numbers and Names the Stars that seem to lie confus'd among one another as well as those that appear to us in an unclouded Night may well be suppos'd accurately to know his People tho' lurking in secret Caverns and know those that are fit to be Instruments of their deliverance the one is as easy to him as the other and the Number of the one as distinctly known by him as the Multitude of the other For great is our Lord and of great Power his Vnderstanding is Infinite Ver. 5. He wants not Knowledg to know the objects nor Power to effect his Will concerning them Of great Power ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Much Power plenteous in Power so the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã is rendred Psal 5.15 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã a multitude of Power as well as a multitude of Mercy a Power that exceeds all Created Power and Understanding His Vnderstanding is Infinite You may not imagine how he can call all the Stars by Name the multitude of the visible being so great and the multitude of the invisible being greater but you must know that as God is Almighty so he is Omniscient and as there is no end of his Power so no account can exactly be given of his Understanding His Vnderstanding is Infinite ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã No number or account of it and so the same Words are rendred Joel 1.6 a Nation strong and without number No end of his Understanding Syriack no measure no bounds â His Essence is Infinite and so is his Power and Understanding and so vast is his Knowledg that we can no more comprehend it than we can measure spaces that are without limits or tell the minutes or hours of Eternity Who then can fathom that whereof there is no number but which exceeds all so that there is no searching of it out ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he knows Universals he knows Particulars We must not take understanding here as noting a faculty but the use of the understanding in the knowledg of things and the Judgment in the consideration of them and so it is often used In the Verse there is a description of God 1. In his Essence great is our Lord. 2. In his Power of great Power 3. In his Knowledg his Vnderstanding is Infinite his Understanding is his Eye
and his Power is his Arm. Of his Infinite Vnderstanding I am to Discourse Doctrine God hath an Infinite Knowledg and Vnderstanding All Knowledg Omnipresence which before we spake of respects his Essence Omniscience respects his Understanding according to our manner of Conception This is clear in Scripture hence God is called a God of Knowledg 1 Sam. 2.3 The Lord is a God of Knowledg Heb. Knowledges in the Plural Number of all kind of Knowledg 't is spoken there to quell mans Pride in his own reason and parts what is the Knowledg of man but a spark to the whole Element of Fire a grain of Dust and worse than nothing in comparison of the Knowledg of God as his Essence is in comparison of the Essence of God All kind of Knowledg He knows what Angels know what Man knows and infinitely more he knows himself his own operations all his Creatures the notions and thoughts of them he is understanding above understanding mind above mind the mind of minds the light of lights this the Greek word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies in the Etimology of it of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã to see to contemplate and ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã scio The Names of God signify a nature viewing and piercing all things and the attribution of our senses to God in Scripture as Hearing and Seeing which are the Senses whereby Knowledg enters into us signifies Gods Knowledg 1. The Notion of Gods Knowledg of all things lies above the ruines of Nature it was not obliterated by the Fall of Man It was necessary offending man was to know that he had a Creator whom he had injured that he had a Judg to Try and Punish him since God thought fit to keep up the World it had been kept up to no purpose had not this notion been continued alive in the minds of men there would not have been any practice of his Laws no bar to the worst of Crimes If men had thought they had to deal with an Ignorant Deity there could be no practice of Religion Who would lift up his eyes or spread his hands towards Heaven if he imagin'd his Devotion were directed to a God as blind as the Heathens imagin'd Fortune To what boot would it be for them to make Heaven and Earth resound with their Cries if they had not thought God had an Eye to see them and an Ear to hear them And indeed the very notion of a God at the first blush speaks him a Being endued with Understanding no man can imagine a Creator void of one of the noblest Perfections belonging to those Creatures that are the Flower and Cream of his Works 2. Therefore all Nations acknowledg this as well as the Existence and Being of God * No Nation but had their Temples particular Ceremonies of Worship and presented their Sacrifices which they could not have been so vain as to do without an acknowledgment of this Attribute This notion of Gods Knowledg owed not its rise to Tradition but to natural implantation it was born and grew up with every rational Creature Though the several Nations and men of the World agreed not in one kind of Deity or in their Sentiments of his Nature or other Perfections some judging him Clothed with a fine and pure Body others judging him an uncompounded Spirit some fixing him to a seat in the Heavens others owning his Universal Presence in all parts of the World yet they all agreed in the Universality of his Knowledge and their own Consciences reflecting their Crimes unknown to any but themselves would keep this notion in some vigor whether they would or no. Now this being implanted in the minds of all men by nature cannot be false for nature imprints not in the minds of all men an assent to a falsity Nature would not pervert the reason and minds of men Universal notions of God are from Original not lapsed Nature Agamemnon Homer Il. 3. v 8. making a Covenant with Priam invocates the Suâ ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã and preserved in mankind in order to a restoration from a lapsed state The Heathens did acknowledg this in all the solemn Covenants solemniz'd with Oaths and the invocation of the Name of God this Attribute was suppos'd They confest Knowledg to be peculiar to the Deity Scientia Deorum vita saith Cicero Some called him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã mens mind pure understanding without any note ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã the inspector of all As they called him Life because he was the Author of Life so they called him intellectus because he was the Author of all Knowledg and Understanding in his Creatures And one being askt Whether any man could be hid from God no saith he not so much as thinking Some call him the Eye of the World * Gamach in 1 Pa. Aqui. Q. 14. cap. 1. p. 119. Clem. Alexand. strom lib. 6. and the Egyptians represented God by an Eye on the top of a Scepter because God is all Eye and can be ignorant of nothing And the same Nation made Eyes and Ears of the most excellent Metals Consecrating them to God and hanging them up in the midst of their Temples in signification of Gods seeing and hearing all things hence they called God Light as well as the Scripture because all things are visible to him For the better understanding of this we will enquire 1. What kind of Knowledg or Vnderstanding there is in God 2. What God knows 3. How God knows things 4. The proof that God knows all things 5. The Vse of all to our selves I. What kind of Vnderstanding or Knowledg there is in God The Knowledg of God in Scripture hath various Names according to the various relations or objects of it In respect of present things 't is called Knowledg or Sight in respect of things past Remembrance in respect of things future or to come 't is called Fore-Knowledg or Prescience 1 Pet. 1.2 in regard of the Vniversality of the Objects it is called Omniscience in regard of the simple Vnderstanding of things 't is called Knowledg in regard of acting and modelling the ways of acting 't is called Wisdom and Prudence Eph. 1.8 He must have Knowledg otherwise he could not be Wise Wisdom is the Flower of Knowledg and Knowledg is the Root of Wisdom As to what this Knowledg is if we know what Knowledg is in man we may apprehend what it is in God removing all Imperfection from it and ascribing to him the most eminent way of understanding because we cannot comprehend God but as he is pleased to condescend to us in his own ways of Discovery that is under some way of similitude to his perfectest Creatures therefore we have a notion of God by his Understanding and Will Understanding whereby he conceives and apprehends things Will whereby he extends himself in acting according to his Wisdom and whereby he doth approve or disapprove Yet we must not measure his Understanding
by our own or think it to be of so gross a Temper as a Created mind that he hath Eyes of Flesh or sees or knows as man sees Job 10.4 We can no more measure his Knowledg by ours than we can measure his Essence by our Essence As he hath an incomprehensible Essence to which ours is but as a Drop of a Bucket so he hath an incomprehensible Knowledg to which ours is but as a grain of Dust or meer Darkness his thoughts are above our thoughts as the Heavens are above the Earth The Knowledg of God is variously divided by the Schools and acknowledg'd by all Divines 1. A Knowledg visionis simplicis intelligentiae the one we may call a Sight the other an Vnderstanding the one refers to sense the other to the mind 1. A Knowledg of Vision or Sight Thus God knows himself and all things that really were are or shall be in time all those things which he hath Decreed to be tho' they are not yet actually sprung up in the World but lye couchant in their Causes 2. A Knowledg of Intelligence or simple Vnderstanding the object of this is not things that are in Being or that shall by any Decree of God ever be existent in the World but such things as are possible to be wrought by the Power of God tho' they shall never in the least peep up into Being but lye for ever wrapt up in Darkness and nothing Suarez de Deo lib. 3. cap. 4. p. 130. This also is a necessary Knowledg to be allowed to God because the object of this Knowledg is necessary The possibility of more Creatures than ever were or shall be is a conclusion that hath a necessary Truth in it as it is necessary that the power of God can produce more Creatures tho' it be not necessary that it should produce more Creatures so it is necessary that whatsoever the Power of God can work is possible to be And as God knows this possibility so he knows all the objects that are thus possible and herein doth much consist the Infiniteness of his Knowledg as shall be shewn presently These two kinds of Knowledg differ That of Vision is of things which God hath Decreed to be tho' they are not yet That of Intelligence is of things which never shall be yet they may be or are possible to be if God please to Will and Order their Being one respects things that shall be the other things that may be and are not repugnant to the Nature of God to be The Knowledg of Vision follows the Act of Gods Will and supposeth an Act of Gods Will before Decreeing things to be If we could suppose any first or second in Gods Decree we might say God knew them as possible before he Decreed them he knew them as future because he Decreed them For without the Will of God Decreeing a thing to come to pass God cannot know that it will infallibly come to pass But the Knowledg of Intelligence stands without any Act of his Will in order to the Being of those things he knows he knows possible things only in his Power he knows other things both in his Power as able to effect them and in his Will as determining the Being of them such Knowledg we must grant to be in God for there is such a kind of knowledg in man for man doth not only know and see what is before his eyes in this World but he may have a conception of many more Worlds and many more Creatures which he knows are possible to the Power of God 2. Secondly There is a speculative and practical knowledg in God 1. A speculative knowledg is when the truth of a thing is known without a respect to any working or practical operation The knowledg of things possible is in God only speculative Suarez de Deo lib. 3. cap. 4. p. 138. and some say Gods knowledg of himself is only speculative because there is nothing for God to work in himself and tho' he knows himself yet this knowledg of himself doth not terminate there but flowers into a love of himself and delight in himself yet this love of himself and delight in himself is not enough to make it a practical knowledg because it is natural and naturally and necessarily flows from the knowledg of himself and his own Goodness he cannot but love himself and delight in himself upon the knowledg of himself But that which is properly practise is where there is a dominion over the action and it is wrought not naturally and necessarily but in a way of freedom and counsel As when we see a beautiful Flower or other thing there ariseth a delight in the mind this no man will call Practise because it is a natural affection of the Will arising from the virtue of the object without any consideration of the Understanding in a practical manner by counselling commanding c. 2. A Practical knowledg which tends to operation and practise and is the principle of working about things that are known as the knowledg an Artificer hath in an Art or Mystery This knowledg is in God the knowledg he hath of the things he hath decreed is such a kind of knowledg for it terminates in the act of Creation which is not a natural and necessary act as the loving himself and delighting in himself is but wholly free for it was at his liberty whether he would create them or no this is called discretion Jer. 10.12 He hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion Such also is his knowledg of the things he hath created and which are in being for it terminates in the government of them for his own glorious ends 'T is by this knowledg the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down their dew Prov 3 20. This is a knowledg whereby he knows the essence qualities and properties of what he creates and governs in order to his own glory and the common good of the World over which he resides so that speculative knowledg is Gods knowledg of himself and things possible practical knowledg is his knowledg of his creatures and things governable yet in some sort this practical knowledg is not only of things that are made but of things which are possible which God might make tho' he will not for as he knows that they can be created so he knows how they are to be created and how to be governed tho' he never will create them This is a practical knowledg for it is not requisite to constitute a knowledg practical actually to act but that the knowledg in it self be referrible to action Suarez de Deo l. 3. c. 4. p. 140. 3. There is a knowledg of approbation as well as apprehension This the Scripture often mentions words of understanding are used to signifie the acts of affection This knowledg adds to the simple act of the understanding the complacency and pleasure of the will and is
improperly knowledg because it belongs to the Will and not to the Understanding only it is radically in the understanding because affection implies knowledg men cannot approve of that which they are ignorant of Thus knowledg is taken Amos 3.2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth And 2 Tim. 2.19 The Lord knows who are his that is he loves them he doth not only know them but acknowledg them for his own it notes not only an exact understanding but a special care of them and so is that to be understood Gen. 1. God saw every thing that he had made and behold it was very good that is he saw it with an eye of approbation as well as apprehension This is grounded upon Gods knowledg of Vision his sight of his creatures for God doth not love or delight in any thing but what is actually in being or what he hath decreed to bring into being On the contrary also when God doth not approve he is said not to know Mat. 25.12 I know you not and Mat. 7.23 I never knew you he doth not approve of their Works 't is not an ignorance of Understanding but an ignorance of Will for whiles he saith he never knew them he testifies that he did know them in rendring the reason of his disapproving them because he knows all their Works so he knows them and doth not know them in a different manner he knows them so as to understand them but he doth not know them so as to love them We must then ascribe an universal knowledg to God If we deny him a speculative knowledg or knowledg of intelligence we destroy his Deity we make him ignorant of his own Power if we deny him Practical knowledg we deny our selves to be his creatures for as his creatures we are the fruits of this his discretion discovered in Creation if we deny his knowledg of Vision we deny his governing Dominion How can he exercise a Sovereign and uncontroulable Dominion that is ignorant of the nature and qualities of the things he is to govern If he had not Knowledg he could make no Revelation he that knows not cannot dictate we could then have no Scripture To deny God Knowledg is to dash out the Scripture and demolish the Deity God is describ'd in Zech. 3.9 with seven eyes to shevv his perfect Knovvledg of all things all Occurrences in the World and the Cherubims or vvhatsoever is meant by the Wings are described to be full of Eyes both before and behind Ezek 1.18 round about them much more is God all Eye all Ear all Understanding The Sun is a natural Image of God if the Sun had an Eye it vvould see if it had an Understanding it vvould knovv all visible things it vvould see vvhat it shines upon and understand vvhat it influenceth in the most obscure Bovvels of the Earth Doth God excell his Creature the Sun in Excellency and Beauty and not in Light and Understanding certainly more than the Sun excels an Atome or grain of Dust We may yet make some representation of this Knowledg of God by a lower thing a Picture which seems to look upon every one tho' there be never so great a multitude in the Room where it hangs no man can cast his Eye upon it but it seems to behold him in particular and so exactly as if there were none but him upon whom the eye of it were fixt and every man finds the same cast of it shall Art frame a thing of that Nature and shall not the God of Art and all Knowledg be much more in reality than that is in imagination Shall not God have a far greater capacity to behold everything in the World which is infinitely less to him than a wide Room to a Picture II. The second thing what God knows how far his Understanding reaches 1. God knows himself and only knows himself This is the first and original knowledg wherein he excells all Creatures No man doth exactly know himself much less doth he understand the full nature of a Spirit much less still the Nature and Perfections of God for what proportion can there be between a finite faculty and an infinite object Herein consists the Infiniteness of Gods Knowledg That he knows his own Essence that he knows that which is unknowable to any else It doth not so much consist in knowing the Creatures which he hath made as in knowing himself who was never made 'T is not so much infinite because he knows all things which are in the World or that shall be or things that he can make because the number of them is finite but because he hath a perfect and comprehensive knowledg of his own infinite Perfections * Moulin Tho' it be said that Angels see his Face Math. 18.10 that sight notes rather their immediate Attendance than their exact Knowledg they see some signs of his Presence and Majesty more illustrious and express than ever appear'd to man in this Life but the Essence of God is invisible to them hid from them in the secret place of Eternity none knows God but himself 1 Cor. 2.11 what man knows the things of a man save the spirit of a man so the things of God knows no man but the spirit of God the spirit of God searches the deep things of God searcheth that is exactly knows throughly understands as those who have their eyes in every Chink and Crevis to see what lies hid there the word search notes not an Enquiry but an exact Knowledg such as men have of things upon a diligent scrutiny as when God is said to search the Heart and the Reins it doth not signify a precedent ignorance but an exact Knowledg of the most intimate corners of the hearts of men As the Conceptions of men are unknown to any but themselves so the depths of the Divine Essence Perfections and Decrees are unknown to any but to God himself he only knows what he is and what he knows what he can do and what he hath Decreed to do 1. For first If God did not know himself he would not be perfect 'T is the Perfection of a Creature to know it self much more a Perfection belonging to God If God did not comprehend himself he would want an Infinite Perfection and so would cease to be God in being defective in that which intellectual Creatures in some measure possess As God is the most perfect Being so he must have the most perfect Understanding If he did not understand himself he would be under the greatest Ignorance because he would be ignorant of the most excellent object Ignorance is the Imperfection of the Understanding and ignorance of ones self is a greater Imperfection than ignorance of things without If God should know all things without himself and not know himself he would not have the most perfect Knowledg because he would not have the knowledg of the best of objects 2. Without the Knowledg of himself he
they be possible past present or future Whether they be things that he can do but will never do or Whether they be things that he hath done but are not now things that are now in Being or things that are not now existing that lie in the Womb of their proper and immediate Causes Perav Theol. Dogm lib. p. 257. If his understanding be Infinite he then knows all things whatsoever that can be known else his Understanding would have bounds and what hath limits is not infinite but finite if he be ignorant of any one thing that is knowable that is a bound to him it comes with an exceptions a but God knows all things but this a bar is then set to his Knowledg If there were any thing any particular circumstance in the whole Creation or Non-Creation and possible to be knovvn by him and yet vvere unknovvn to him he could not be said to be Omniscient As he vvould not be Almighty if any one thing that implyed not a repugnancy to his Nature did transcend his Povver 1. First all things possible No Question but God knovvs vvhat he could create as vvell as vvhat he hath created vvhat he vvould not Create as vvell as vvhat he resolved to Create he knevv vvhat he vvould not do before he vvilled to do it this is the next thing vvhich declares the Infiniteness of his Understanding For as his Povver is infinite and can Create innumerable Worlds and Creatures so is his Knovvledg infinite in knovving innumerable things possible to his Povver Possibles are infinite that is there is no end of vvhat God can do and therefore no end of vvhat God doth knovv othervvise his Povver vvould be more Infinite than his Knovvledg If he knevv only vvhat is Created there vvould be an end of his Understanding because all Creatures may be numbred but possible things cannot be reckoned up by any Creature There is the same reason of this in Eternity vvhen never so many numbers of Years are run out there is still more to come there still vvants an end and vvhen Millions of Worlds are Created there is no more an end of Gods Povver than of Eternity Thus there is no end of his Understanding that is his Knovvledg is not terminated by any thing This the Scripture gives us some accompt of God knows things that are not for he calls things that are not as if they were Rom. 4.17 he calls things that are not as if they were in Being what he calls is not unknown to him If he knows things that are not he knows things that may never be as he knows things that shall be because he Wills them so he knows things that might be because he is able to effect them He knew that the Inhabitants of Kelah would betray David to Saul if he remained in that place 1 Sam. 23.11 he knew what they would do upon that occasion tho' it was never done as he knew what was in their Power and in their Wills so he must needs know vvhat is vvithin the compass of his ovvn Povver As he can permit more than he doth permit so he knovvs vvhat he can permit and vvhat upon that permission vvould be done by his Creatures so God knevv the possibility of the Tyrians Repentance if they had had the same means heard the same Truths and beheld the same Miracles vvhich vvere offer'd to the Ears and presented to the Eyes of the Jews Matth. 11.21 This must needs be so because 1. Man knows things that are possible to him tho' he will never effect them A Carpenter knows a House in the model he hath of it in his head tho' he never build a House according to that model A Watch-maker hath the frame of a Watch in his mind which he will never work with his Instruments Man knows what he could do tho' he never intends to do it Ficiâ de immort lib. 2. cap. 10. As the Understanding of man hath a vertue that where it sees one man it may imagine Thousands of men of the same shape stature form parts yea taller more vigorous spritely intelligent than the man he sees because it is possible such a number may be Shall not the understanding of God much more know what he is able to effect since the understanding of man can know what he is never able to produce yet may be produced by God viz. that he who produced this man which I see can produce a Thousand exactly like him If the Divine Understanding did not know infinite things but were confin'd to a certain number it may be demanded whether God can understand any thing farther than that number or whether he cannot If he can then he doth actually understand all those things which he hath a power to understand otherwise there would be an increase of Gods knowledg if it were actually now and not before and so he would be more perfect than he was before if he cannot understand them then he cannot understand what a human mind can understand for our understandings can multiply Numbers in infinitum and there is no number so great but a man can still add to it We must suppose the Divine Understanding more excellent in Knowledg God knows all that a man can imagine tho' it never were nor never shall be he must needs know whatsoever is in the Power of man to imagine or think because God concurs to the support of the faculty in that Imagination and tho' it may be replied an Atheist may imagine that there is no God a man may imagine that God can Lie or that he can be destroy'd doth God know therefore that he is not or that he can Lie or cease to be No he knows he cannot his Knowledg extends to things possible not to things impossible to himself he knows it as imaginable by man not as possible in it self because 't is utterly impossible and repugnant to the nature of God since he eminently contains in himself all things possible past present and to come he cannot know himself without knowing them 2. God knowing his own power knows whatsoever is in his power to effect If he knows not all things possible he could not know the extent of his own power and so would not know himself as a cause sufficient for more things than he hath Created How can he comprehend himself who comprehends not all effluxes of things possible that may come from him and be wrought by him How can he know himself as a cause if he know not the Objects and Works which he is able to produce Gamach Since the power of God extends to numberless things his Knowledg also extends to numberless objects as if a Unite could see the numbers it could produce it would see Infinite numbers for a Unite is as it were all Number God knowing the fruitfulness of his own Vertue knows a numberless multitude of things which he can do more than have been done or shall be done by
him he therefore knows innumerable Worlds innumerable Angels with higher Perfections than any of them which he hath Created have So that if the World should last many Millions of Years God knows that he can every day Create another World more capacious than this and having Created an unconceivable number he knows he could still Create more So that he beholds infinite Worlds infinite numbers of Men and other Creatures in himself infinite kinds of things infinite species and individuals under those kinds even as many as he can Create if his Will did order and determine it Ficin de immort lib. 2. cap. 10. for not being ignorant of his own Power he cannot be ignorant of the effects wherein it may display and discover it self A comprehensive knowledg of his own Power doth necessarily include the objects of that power so he knows whatsoever he could effect and whatsoever he could permit if he pleased to do it If God could not understand more than he hath created he could not create more than he hath created for it cannot be conceived how he can create any thing that he is ignorant of what he doth not know he cannot do he must know also the extent of his own goodness and how far any thing is capable to partake of it so much therefore as any detract from the Knowledg of God they detract from his Power 3. 'T is further evident that God knows all possible things because he knew those things which he has created before they were created when they were yet in a possibility If God knew things before they were created he knew them when they were in a possibility and not in actual reality 'T is absurd to imagine that his Understanding did lacquy after the creatures and draw knowledg from them after they were created 'T is absurd to think that God did create before he knew what he could or would create If he knew those things he did create when they were possible he must know all things which he can create and therefore all things that are possible To conclude this We must consider that this Knowledg is of another kind than his knowledg of things that are or shall be He sees possible things as possible not as things that ever are or shall be If he saw them as existing or future and they shall never be this knowledg would be false there would be a deceit in it which cannot be He knows those things not in themselves because they are not nor in their causes because they shall never be he knows them in his own Power not in his Will He understands them as able to produce them not as willing to effect them Things possible he knows only in his Power things future he knows both in his Power and his Will as he is both able and determin'd in his own good pleasure to give being to them Those that shall never come to pass he knows only in himself as a sufficient cause those things that shall come into being he knows in himself as the efficient cause and also in their immediate second causes This should teach us to spend our thoughts in the admirations of the excellency of God and the divine Knowledg his Understanding is infinite 2. God knows all things past This is an argument used by God himself to elevate his Excellency above all the commonly adored Idols Isa 41.22 Let them shew the former things what they be that we may consider them and know the latter end of them He knows them as if they were now present and not past for indeed in his Eternity there is nothing past or future to his knowledg This is called remembrance in Scripture as when God remembred Rachels prayer for a child Gen. 30.22 and he is said to put tears into his bottle and write them in his Book of Accompts which signifies the exact and unerring knowledg in God of the minute circumstances past in the World and this knowledg is called a book of remembrance Mal. 3.16 signifying the perpetual presence of things past before him There are two elegant expressions signifying the certainty and perpetuity of Gods knowledg of sins past Job 14.17 My transgression is sealed up in a bag and thou sowest up my iniquity A Metaphor taken from men that put up in a bag the money they would charily keep tye the bag sow up the holes and bind it hard that nothing may fall out or a vessel wherein they reserve liquors and daub it with pitch and glutinous stuff that nothing may leak out but be safely kept till the time of use Or else as some think from the bags Attorneys carry with them full of Writings when they are to manage a Cause against a person Thus we find God often in Scripture calling to mens minds their past actions upbraiding them with their ingratitude wherein he testifies his remembrance of his own past benefits and their Crimes His knowledg in this regard hath something of infinity in it since tho' the sins of all men that have been in the World are finite in regard of number yet when the sins of one man in thoughts words and deeds are numberless in his own account and perhaps in the count of any creature the sins of all the vast numbers of men that have been or shall be are much more numberless it cannot be less than infinite knowledg that can make a collection of them and take a survey of them all at once If past things had not been known by God how could Moses have been acquainted with the Original of things How could he have declared the former transactions wherein all Histories are silent but the Scripture How could he know the cause of mans present misery so many ages after wherewith all Philosophy was unacquainted How could he have writ the order of the Creation the particulars of the sin of Adam the circumstances of Cains murder the private speech of Lamech to his Wives if God had not revealed them And how could a Revelation be made if things past were forgotten by him Do we not remember many things done among men as well as by our selves and reserve the forms of divers things in our minds which rise as occasions are presented to draw them forth And shall not God much more who hath no cloud of darkness upon his understanding A man that makes a curious Picture hath the form of it in his mind before he made it and if the fire burn it the form of it in his mind is not destroyed by the fire but retained in it Gods memory is no less perfect than his understanding If he did not know things past he could not be a righteous Governour or exercise any judicial act in a righteous manner he could not dispense Rewards and Punishments according to his promises and threatnings if things that were past could be forgotten by him he could not require that which is past Eccles 3 15. if he did not remember that
which is past And tho' God be said to forget in Scripture and not to know his People and his People pray to him to remember them as if he had forgotten them Psal 119 49. This is improperly ascrib'd to God * Bradward As God is said to repent when he changes things according to his Counsel beyond the expectation of men so he is said to forget when he defers the making good his Promise to the Godly or his Threatnings to the Wicked this is not a defect of Memory belonging to his mind but an act of his Will When he is said to remember his Covenant 't is to Will Grace according to his Covenant when he is said to forget his Covenant 't is to intercept the influences of it whereby to punish the Sin of his People and when he is said not to know his People 't is not an absolute forgetfulness of them but withdrawing from them the Testimonies of his Kindness and clouding the Signs of his favour so God in Pardon is said to forget Sin not that he ceaseth to know it but ceaseth to punish it 'T is not to be meant of a simple forgetfulness or a lapse of his Memory but of a Judicial Forgetfulness so when his People in Scripture Pray Lord Remember thy Word unto thy Servant no more is to be understood but Lord fulfil thy Word and Promise to thy Servant 3. He knows things Present Heb. 4.13 All things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do This is grounded upon the Knowledg of himself 't is not so difficult to know all Creatures exactly as to know himself because they are finite but himself is infinite he knows his own Power and therefore every thing through which his Omnipotence is diffus'd all the acts and objects of it not the least thing that is the Birth of his Power can be conceal'd from him he knows his own Goodness and therefore every object upon which the warm beams of his Goodness strike he therefore knows distinctly the properties of every Creature because every Property in them is a Ray of his Goodness he is not only the efficient but the exemplary cause therefore as he knows all that his Power hath wrought as he is the efficient so he knows them in himself as the pattern As a Carpenter can give an account of every part and passage in a House he hath built by consulting the Model in his own mind whereby he built it He looked upon all things after he had made them and pronounc'd them good Gen. 1.3 full of a natural goodness he had endowed them with he did not ignorantly pronounce them so and call them good whether he knew them or not and therefore he knows them in particular as he knew them all in their first Presence Is there any reason he should be ignorant of every thing now present in the World or that any thing that derives an existence from him as a free cause should be concealed from him If he did not know things present in their particularities many things would be known by man yea by Beasts which the infinite God were ignorant of and if he did not know all things present but only some 't is possible for the most Blessed God to be deceived and be miserable Ignorance is a Calamity to the Understanding He could not prescribe Laws to his Creatures unless he knew their Natures to which those Laws were to be suited no not natural Ordinances to the Sun Moon and Heavenly Bodies and inanimate Creatures unless he knew the vigour and vertue in them to execute those Ordinances for to prescribe Laws above the nature of things is inconsistent with the Wisdom of Government he must know how far they were able to obey whether the Laws were suted to their ability And for his rational Creatures Whether the Punishments annext to the Law were proper and suited to the Transgression of the Creature 1. First He knows all Creatures from the highest to the lowest the least as well as the greatest He knows the Ravens and their young ones Job ââ 41. the Drops of Rain and Dew which he hath begotten Job 38. ââ every Bird in the Air as well as any man doth what he hath in a Cage at home Psal 50.11 I know all the Fowls in the Mountains and the wild Beasts in the Field which some read creeping things The Clouds are numbred in his Wisdom Job 38.37 every Worm in the Earth every drop of Rain that falls upon the ground the flakes of Snow and the knots of Hail the Sands upon the Sea-shore the Hairs upon the Head 't is no more absurd to imagine that God knows them than that God made them they are all the effects of his Power as well as the Stars which he calls by their Names as well as the most glorious Angel and blessed Spirit he knows them as well as if there were none but them in particular for him to know the least things were framed by his Art as well as the greatest the least things partake of his goodness as well as the greatest he knows his own Arts and his own Goodness and therefore all the Stamps and Impressions of them upon all his Creatures he knows the immediate causes of the least and therefore the effects of those causes Since his knowledg is infinite it must extend to those things which are at the greatest distance from him to those which approach nearest to not Being since he did not want Power to Create he cannot want Understanding to know every thing he hath Created the dispositions qualities and vertues of the minutest Creature Nor is the Vnderstanding of God embas'd and suffers a diminution by the Knowledg of the vilest and most inconsiderable things Is it not an imperfection to be ignorant of the nature of any thing and can God have such a defect in his most perfect Understanding Is the Understanding of man of an impurer Alloy by knowing the nature of the rankest Poysons by understanding a Fly or a small Insect or by considering the deformity of a Toad Is it not generally counted a note of a Dignified mind to be able to Discourse of the Nature of them Was Solomon who knew all from the Cedar to the Hysop debas'd by so Rich a Present of Wisdom from his Creator Is any Glass defil'd by presenting a Deformed Image Is there any thing more vile than the imaginations which are only evil and continually doth not the mind of man descend to the mud of the Earth play the Adulterer or Idolater with mean objects suck in the most unclean things yet God knows these in all their circumstances in every appearance inside and outside Is there any thing viler than some thoughts of men than some actions of men their unclean Beds and Gluttonous Vomiting and Luciferian Pride yet do not these fall under the Eye of God in all their Nakedness The Second Person 's taking
Human Nature tho' it obscur'd yet it did not disparage the Deity or bring any disgrace to it Is Gold the worse for being formed into the Image of a Fly doth it not still retain the nobleness of the Metal When men are despis'd for descending to the knowledg of mean and vile things 't is because they neglect the knowledg of the greater and Sin in their enquiries after lesser things with a neglect of that which concerns more the Honour of God and the Happiness of themselves to be ambitious of such a Knowledg and careless of that of more concern is criminal and contemptible But God knows the greatest as well as the least mean things are not known by him to exclude the knowledg of the greater nor are vile things govern'd by him to exclude the order of the better The Deformity of Objects known by God doth not deform him nor defile him he doth not view them without himself but within himself wherein all things in their Ideas are Beautiful and Comely Our knowledg of a Deformed thing is not a Deforming of our Understanding but is beautiful in the Knowledg tho' it be not in the object nor is there any fear that the Understanding of God should become material by knowing material things any more than our Understandings lose their Spirituality by knowing the nature of Bodies 't is to be observed therefore that only those senses of men as seeing hearing smelling which have those qualities for their objects that come nearest the nature of spiritual things as Light Sounds fragrant Odours are ascrib'd to God in Scripture not Touching or Tasting which are senses that are not exercis'd without a more immediate commerce with gross matter and the reason may be because we should have no gross thoughts of God as if he were a body and made of matter like the things he knows 2. As he knows all Creatures so God knows all the actions of Creatures He counts in particular all the ways of men Doth he not see all my ways and count all my steps Job 31.4 He tells their wandrings as if one by one Psal 56.8 His eyes are upon all the ways of man and he sees all his goings Job 34.21 a Metaphor taken from men when they look wistly with fixed Eyes upon a thing to view it in every circumstance whence it comes whether it goes to observe every little motion of it Gods Eye is not a wandring but a fixed Eye and the ways of man are not only before his eyes but he doth exactly ponder them Prov. 5.21 as one that will not be ignorant of the least Mite in them but weigh and examine them by the Standard of his Law he may as well know the motions of our Members as the Hairs of our Heads the smallest actions before they be whether Civil Natural or Religious fall under his Cognizance what meaner than a man carrying a Pitcher yet our Saviour foretels it Luke 22.10 God knows not only what men do but what they would have done had he not restrained them what Abimelech would have done to Sarah had not God put a Bar in his way Gen. 20.6 What a man that is taken away in his Youth would have done had he lived to a riper Age yea he knows the most secret words as well as actions the words spoken by the King of Israel in his Bed-Chamber were revealed to Elisha 2 Kings 6.12 and indeed how can any action of man be conceal'd from God Can we view the various actions of a heap of Ants or a Hive of Bees in a glass without turning our Eyes and shall not God behold the actions of all men in the World which are less than Bees or Ants in his Sight and more visible to him than an Ant-Hill or Bee-Hive can be to the acutest eye of man 3. As God knows all the actions of Creatures so he knows all the Thoughts of Creatures The thoughts are the most closetted acts of man hid from men and Angels unless disclos'd by some outward Expressions but God descends into the depths and abysses of the Soul discerns the most inward contrivances nothing is impenetrable to him the Sun doth not so much enlighten the Earth as God understands the Heart all thoughts are as visible to him as Flies and Motes enclos'd in a body of transparent Chrystal this man naturally allows to God Men often speak to God by the motions of their minds and secret Ejaculations which they would not do if it were not naturally implanted in them that God knows all their inward motions the Scripture is plain and positive in this He tries the Heart and the Reins Psal 7.9 as men by the use of Fire discern the drossy and purer parts of Metals The secret intentions and aims the most lurking affections seated in the Reins he knows that which no man no Angel is able to know which a man himself knows not nor makes any particular reflection upon yea he weighs the Spirit Prov. 16.2 he exactly numbers all the devices and inclinations of men as men do every piece of Coyn they tell out of a heap He discerns the Thoughts and intents of the heart Heb. 4.12 all that is in the mind all that is in the affections every stirring and purpose so that not one thought can be withheld from him Job 42.2 yea Hell and Destruction are before him much more then the Hearts of the Children of men Prov. 15.11 he works all things in the Bowels of the Earth and brings forth all things out of that Treasure say some but more naturally God knows the whole state of the dead all the receptacles and Graves of their bodies all the bodies of men consumed by the Earth or devoured by living Creatures things that seem to be out of all Being he knows the Thoughts of the Devils and Damned Creatures whom he hath cast out of his care for ever into the arms of his Justice never more to cast a delightful glance towards them not a secret in any Soul in Hell which he hath no need to know because he shall not judg them by any of the Thoughts they now have since they were condemned to punishment is hid from him much more is he acquainted with the Thoughts of living men the counsels of whose hearts are yet to be manifested in order to their Tryal and Censure yea he knows them before they spring up into actual being Psal 139.2 thou understandest my Thoughts afar off my Thoughts that is every Thought tho' innumerable Thoughts pass through me in a day and that in the Sourse and Fountain when it is yet in the Womb before it is our Thought if he knows them before their Existence before they can be properly called ours much more doth he know them when they actually spring up in us he knows the tendency of them where the Bird will light when it is in flight he knows them exactly he is therefore called a discerner or criticizer of the Heart
Heb. 4.12 As a Critick discerns every Letter Point and Stop he is more intimate with us than our Souls with our Bodies and hath more the Possession of us than we have of our selves he knows them by an inspection into the heart not by the Mediation of second causes by the looks or gestures of men as men may discern the Thoughts of one another 1. God discerns all good motions of the Mind and Will These he puts into men and needs must God know his own act he knew the Son of Jeroboam to have some good thing in him towards the Lord God of Israel 1 Kings 14.13 and the integrity of David and Hezekiah the freest motions of the Will and Affections to him Lord thou knowest that I love thee saith Peter John 21.17 Love can be no more restrain'd than the Will it self can A man may make another to grieve and desire but none can force another to Love 2. God discerns all the evil motions of the Mind and Will Every imagination of the Heart Gen. 6.5 the vanity of mens thoughts Psal 94.11 their inward darkness and deceitful disguises No wonder that God who fashion'd the heart should understand the motions of it Psal 33.13 15. He looks from Heaven and beholds all the Children of men he fashioneth their hearts alike and considers all their Works Doth any man make a Watch and yet be ignorant of its motion Did God fling away the Key to this secret Cabinet when he framed it and put off the power of unlocking it when he pleased He did not surely frame it in such a posture as that any thing in it should be hid from his Eye he did not fashion it to be Priviledged from his Government which would follow if he were ignorant of what was Minted and Coined in it He could not be a Judg to punish men if the inward frames and Principles of mens actions were concealed from him an outward action may glitter to an outward eye yet the secret spring be a desire of applause and not the Fear and Love of God If the inward frames of the heart did lye covered from him in the secret recesses of the heart those plausible acts which in regard of their Principles would merit a Punishment would meet with a Reward and God should bestow Happiness where he had denounced Misery As without the knowledg of what is just he could not be a Wise Law-giver so without the knowledg of what is inwardly committed he could not be a Righteous Judg acts that are rotten in the spring might be judged good by the fair colour and appearance This is the glory of God at the last day to manifest the secrets of all hearts 1 Cor. 4.5 and the Prophet Jeremiah links the power of Judging and the Prerogative of trying the Hearts together Jer. 11.20 but thou O Lord of Hosts that Judgest Righteously that tryest the Reins and the Heart and Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the Heart I try the Reins to what end even to give every man according to his way and according to the fruit of his doings And indeed his binding up the whole Law with that command of not coveting evidenceth that he will Judg men by the inward affections and frames of their hearts Again God sustains the mind of man in every act of thinking In him we have not only the Principle of Life but every motion the motion of our minds as vvell as of our members In him we live and move c. Acts 17.28 Since he supports the vigor of the faculty in every act can he be ignorant of those acts vvhich spring from the faculty to vvhich he doth at that instant communicate povver and ability Novv this knovvledg of the Thoughts of men is 1. An incommunicable Property belonging only to the Divine Vnderstanding Creatures indeed may knovv the thoughts of others by Divine Revelation but not by themselves no Creature hath a Key immediately to open the minds of men and see all that lodgeth there no Creature can Fathom the heart by the Line of Created Knowledge Daille serm Part 1. p. 230. Devils may have a conjectural Knowledg and may guess at them by the acquaintance they have with the Disposition and Constitution of men and the Images they behold in their Fancies and by some marks which an inward imagination may stamp upon the Brain Blood Animal Spirits Face c. But the knowing the Thougnts meerly as Thought without any Impression by it is a Royalty God appropriates to himself as the main secret of his Government and a Perfection declarative of his Deity as much as any else Jer. 17.9 10. the heart of man is desperately wicked who can know it yes there is one and but one I the Lord search the Heart I try the Reins Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks upon the Heart 1 Sam. 16.7 where God is distinguisht by this Perfection from all men whatsoever others may know by Revelation as Elisha did what was in Gehazi's heart 2 Kings 5.26 But God knows a man more than any man knows himself What person upon earth understands the windings and turnings of his own heart what reserves it will have what contrivances what inclinations all which God knows exactly 2. God acquires no new Knowledg of the thoughts and heart by the Discovery of them in the actions He would then be but equal in this part of Knowledg to his Creature no man or Angel but may thus arrive to the Knowledg of them God were then excluded from an absolute Dominion over the prime work of his lower Creation he would have made a Creature superior in this respect to himself upon whose Will to discover his knowledg of their inward intentions should depend and therefore when God is said to search the heart we must not understand it as if God were ignorant before and was fain to make an exact scrutiny and enquiry before he attained what he desired to know but God condescends to our capacity in the expression of his own Knowledg signifying that his Knowledg is as compleat as any mans Knowledg can be of the designs of others after he hath sifted them by a strict and through examination and wrung out a discovery of their intentions that he knows them as perfectly as if he had put them upon the rack and forced them to make a discovery of their secret Plottings Nor must we understand that in Gen. 22.12 where God saith after Abraham had stretched out his hand to Sacrifice his Son Now I know that thou fearest God as though God was ignorant of Abrahams gracious disposition to him did Abrahams drawing his Knife furnish God with a new Knowledg no God knew Abrahams pious inclinations before Gen. 18.19 I know him that he will command his Children after him c. Knowledg is sometimes taken for approbation then the sense will be now I approve this Fact as a Testimony of thy fear of me since thy
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 ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã 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
knovv vvhat is contrary to it self God knovvs all Created goodness vvhich he hath planted in the Creature he knovvs then all defects from this goodness what Perfection an act is deprived of what is opposite to that goodness and that is evil As we know Sickness by Health Discord by Harmony Blindness by Sight because it is a privation of Sight whosoever knows one contrary knows the other God knows unrighteousness by the Idea which he hath of Righteousness and sees an act deprived of that rectitude and goodness which ought to be in it he knows evil because he knows the causes whence evil proceeds Cusan p 245. A Painter knows a Picture of his own framing and if any one dashes any base colour upon it shall not he also know that God by his hand Painted all Creatures imprest upon man the fair stamp and colour of his own Image the Devil defiles it man daubs it Doth not God that knows his own Work know how this Piece is become different from his Work Doth not God that knows his Creatures goodness which himself was the Fountain of know the change of this goodness Yea he knew before that the Devil would sow Tares where he had sown Wheat and therefore that Controversy of some in the Schools Whether God knew evil by its opposition to Created or Uncreated goodness is needless We may say God knows Sin as it is opposite to Created goodness yet he knows it radically by his own goodness because he knows the goodness he hath communicated to the Creature by his own Essential goodness in himself To conclude this head The knowledg of Sin doth not bespot the Holiness of Gods nature for the bare knowledg of a Crime doth not infect the mind of man with the Filth and Pollution of that Crime for then every man that knows an act of Murder committed by another would by that bare knowledg be tainted with his Sin yea and a Judg that condemns a Malefactor may as well Condemn himself if this were so The Knowledg of Sins infects not the understanding that knows them but only the Will that approves them 'T is no discredit to us to know evil in order to pass a right Judgment upon it so neither can it be to God 4. God knows all future things all things to come The differences of time cannot hinder a knowledg of all things by him who is before time above time that is not measured by hours or days or years If God did not know them the hindrance must be in himself or in the things themselves because they are things to come Not in himself If it did it must arise from some impotency in his own nature and so we render him weak or from an unwillingness to know and so we render him lazy and an Enemy to his ovvn Perfection for simply considered the knovvledg of more things is a greater Perfection than the knovvledg of a fevv and if the knovvledg of a thing includes something of Perfection the ignorance of a thing includes something of Imperfection The knovvledg of future things is a greater Perfection than not to knovv them and is accounted among men a great part of Wisdom vvhich they call fore-sight 't is then surely a greater Perfection in God to knovv ââure things than to be ignorant of them And vvould God rather have something of imperfection than be possessor of all Perfection Nor doth the hindrance lye in the things themselves because their futurition depends upon his Will for as nothing can actually be without his Will giving it existence so nothing can be future without his Will designing the futurity of it Certainly if God knows all things possible which he will not do he must know all things future which he is not only able but resolved to do or resolved to permit Gods perfect knowledg of himself that is of his own infinite Power and concluding Will necessarily includes a foreknowledg of what he is able to do and what he will do Again If God doth not know future things there was a time when God was ignorant of most things in the World for before the Deluge he was more ignorant than after the more things were done in the World the more Knowledg did accrue to God and so the more Perfection then the Understanding of God was not perfect from Eternity but in Time nay is not perfect yet if he be ignorant of those things which are still to come to pass he must tarry for a Perfection he wants till those futurities come to be in act till those things which are to come cease to be future and begin to be present Either God knows them or desires to know them if he desires to know them and doth not there is something wanting to him all desire speaks an absence of the object desired and a sentiment of want in the person desiring If he doth not desire to know them nay if he doth not actually know them it destroys all Providence all his Government of Affairs for his Providence hath a concatenation of means with a prospect of something that is future As in Joseph's Case who was put into the Pit and sold to the Egyptians in order to his future advancement and the Preservation both of his Father and his envious Brethren If God did not know all the future inclinations and actions of men something might have been done by the Will of Potiphar or by the Free-will of Pharaoh whereby Joseph might have been cut short of his advancement and so God have been interrupted in the track and method of his designed Providences He that hath decreed to govern man for that end he hath design'd him knows all the means before whereby he will govern him and therefore hath a distinct and certain knowledg of all things for a confus'd knowledg is an imperfection in Government 't is in this the infiniteness of his Understanding is more seen than in knowing things past or present his eyes are a flame of fire Revel 1.14 in regard of the penetrating vertue of them into things impenetrable by any else To make it further appear that God knows all things future consider 1. First Every thing which is the object of Gods Knowledg without himself was once only future There was a moment when nothing was in Being but himself he knew nothing actually past because nothing was past nothing actually present because nothing had any existence but himself therefore only what was future and why not every thing that is future now as well as only what was future and to come to pass just at the beginning of the Creation God indeed knovvs every thing as present but the things themselves known by him were not present but future the whole Creation was once future or else it was from Eternity if it begun in time it was once future in it self else it could never have begun to be Did not God know what would be Created by him before it was Created by
him * Petavius changed Did he create he knew not what and knew not before what he should Create Was he ignorant before he acted and in his acting what his operation would tend to or did he not know the nature of things and the ends of them till he had produced them and saw them in Being Creatures then did not arise from his Knowledg but his Knowledg from them he did not then Will that his Creatures should be for he had then willed what he knew not and knew not what he willed they therefore must be known before they were made and not known because they were made he knew them to make them and he did not make them to know them By the same reason that he knew what Creatures should be before they were he knows still what Creatures shall be before they are Bradward lib. 3. cap. 14. for all things that are were in God not really in their own nature but in him as a cause so the Earth and Heavens were in him as a Model is in the mind of a Work man which is in his Mind and Soul before it be brought forth into outward act 2. The Predictions of future things evidence this There is not a Prophecy of any thing to come but is a spark of his fore-knowledg and bears Witness to the Truth of this assertion in the punctual accomplishment of it this is a thing challenged by God as his own peculiar wherein he surmounts all the Idols that mans inventions have Godded in the World Isa 41.21 22. Let them bring forth speaking of the Idols and shew us what shall happen or declare us things to come shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that you are Gods Such a fore-knowledg of things to come is here ascribed to God by God himself as a distinction of him from all false Gods such a Knowledg that if any could prove that they were possessors of he would acknowledg them Gods as well as himself that we may know that you are Gods He puts his Deity to stand or fall upon this account and this should be the point which should decide the controversy whether he or the Heathen Idols were the true God the dispute is managed by this medium He that knows things to come is God I know things to come ergo I am God the Idols know not things to come therefore they are not Gods God submits the Being of his Deity to this Tryal If God know things to come no more than the Heathen Idols which were either Devils or men he would be in his own account no more a God than Devils or men no more a God than the Pagan Idols he doth scoff at for this defect If the Heathen Idols were to be stript of their Deity for want of this foreknowledg of things to come would not the true God also fall from the same excellency if he were defective in Knowledg he would in his own judgment no more deserve the Title and Character of a God than they How could he reproach them for that if it were wanting in himself It cannot be understood of future things in their causes when the effects necessarily arise from such causes as Light from the Sun and Heat from the Fire many of these men know more of them Angels and Devils know if God therefore had not a higher and farther Knowledg than this he would not by this be proved to be God any more than Angels and Devils who know necessary effects in their causes The Devils indeed did predict some things in the Heathen Oracles but God is differenced from them here by the infiniteness of his Knowledg in being able to predict things to come that they knew not or things in their particularities things that depended on the liberty of mans Will which the Devils could lay no claim to a certain knowledg of Were it only a conjectural knowledg that is here meant the Devils might answer they can conjecture and so their Deity were as good as Gods for tho' God might know more things and conjecture nearer to what would be yet still it would be but conjectural and therefore not a higher kind of Knowledg than what the Devils might challenge How much then is God beholden to the Socinians for denying the knowledg of all future things to him upon which here he puts the trial of his Deity God asserts his knowledg of things to come as a manifest evidence of his Godhead those that deny therefore the Argument that proves it deny the conclusion too for this will necessarily follow that if he be God because he knows future things then he that doth not know future things is not God and if God knows not future things but only by conjecture then there is no God because a certain knowledg so as infallibly to predict things to come is an inseparable Perfection of the Deity It was therefore well said of Austin that it was as high a madness to deny God to be as to deny him the foreknowledg of things to come The whole Prophetick part of Scripture declares this Perfection of God every Prophets Candle was lighted at this Torch they could not have this foreknowledg of themselves Why might not many other men have the same insight if it were by nature it must be from some superior Agent Pacuvius said Siqui quae eventura sunt provident aeqââ parent Gell. lib. 14. c. 1. and all Nations owned Prophecy as a Beam from God a fruit of Divine Illumination Prophecy must be totally expunged if this be denyed for the subjects of Prophecy are things future and no man is properly a Prophet but in Prediction now Prediction is nothing but foretelling and things foretold are not yet come and the foretelling of them supposeth them not to be yet but that they shall be in time several such Predictions we have in Scripture the event whereof hath been certain The years of Famine in Egypt foretold that he would order second causes for bringing that Judgment upon them the Captivity of his People in Babylon the calling of the Gentiles the rejection of the Jews Daniels Revelation of Nebuchadnezzars Dream that Prince refers to God as the revealer of Secrets Dan. 2.47 By the same reason that he knows one thing future by himself and by the infiniteness of his Knowledg before any causes of them appear he doth know all things future 3. Some future things are known by men and we must allow God a greater Knowledg than any Creature Future things in their Causes may be known by Angels and men as I said before whosoever knows necessary causes and the efficacy of them may foretell the effects and when he sees the meeting and concurrence of several causes together he may presage what the consequent effect will be of such a concurrence So Physicians foretel the Progress of a Disease the increase or diminution of it by natural Signs and Astronomers foretel Eclipses
by their observation of the motion of Heavenly Bodies many years before they happen Cusanus can they be hid from God with whom are the reasons of all things Fuller's Pifgab l. 2. p. 2â1 an expert Gardener by knowing the Root in the depth of Winter can tell what Flowers and what Fruit it will bear and the Month when they will peep out their heads and shall not God much more that knows the Principles of all his Creatures and is exactly privy to all their natures and qualities know what they will be and what operations shall be from those Principles Now if God did know things only in their causes his Knowledg would not be more excellent than the knowledg of Angels and men tho' he might know more than they of the things that will come to pass from every cause singly and from the concurrence of many Now as God is more excellent in Being than his Creature so he is more excellent in the objects of his Knowledg and the manner of his Knowledg well then shall a certain knowledg of something future and a conjectural knowledg of many things be found among men and shall a determinate and infallible knowledg of things to come be found no where in no Being If the conjecture of future things savours of ignorance and God knows them only by conjecture there is then no such thing in Being as a perfect intelligent Being and so no God 4. God knows his own Decree and Will and therefore must needs know all future things If any thing be future or to come to pass it must be from it self or from God not from it self then it would be independent and absolute if it hath its futurity from God then God must know what he hath decreed to come to pass those things that are future in necessary causes God must know because he willed them to be causes of such effects he therefore knows them because he knows what he willed The knowledg of God cannot arise from the things themselves for then the knowledg of God would have a cause without him and Knowledg which is an eminent Perfection would be conferred upon him by his Creatures But as God sees things possible in the glass of his own power so he sees things future in the Glass of his own Will in his effecting Will if he hath Decreed to produce them in his permitting Will as he hath Decreed to suffer them and dispose of them Nothing can pass out of the rank of things meerly possible into the order of things future before some Act of Gods Will hath passed for its futurition Chequell 'T is not from the infiniteness of his own Nature simply considered that God knows things to be future Coccei sum Theol. p. 50. for as things are not future because God is infinite for then all possible things should be future so neither is any thing known to be future only because God is infinite but because God hath Decreed it his declaration of things to come is founded upon his appointment of things to come Coccei sum Theol. p. 50. In Isa 44.7 it is said and who as I shall call and declare it since I appointed the ancient people and the things that are coming Gamaul in Aquin Part 1. q. 14. cap. 3. p. 124. Nothing is Created or ordered in the World but what God Decreed to be Created and ordered God knows his own Decree and therefore all things which he hath Decreed to exist in time not the minutest part of the World could have existed without his Will not an action can be done without his Will as Life the Principle so Motion the fruit of that Life is by and from God as he decreed Life to this or that thing so he decreed motion as the effect of Life and Decreed to exert his Power in concurring with them for producing effects natural from such causes for without such a concourse they could not have acted any thing or produced any thing and therefore as for natural things which we call necessary causes God foreseeing them all particularly in his own Decree foresaw also all effects which must necessarily flow from them because such causes cannot but act when they are furnisht with all things necessary for action He knows his own Decrees and therefore necessarily knows what he hath Decreed or else we must say things come to pass whether God will or no or that he Wills he knows not what but this cannot be for known unto God are all his Works from the beginning of the World Acts 15.18 Now this necessarily flows from that Principle first laid down That God knows himself since nothing is future without Gods Will if God did not know future things he would not know his own Will for as things possible could not be known by him unless he knew the fulness of his own Power so things future could not be known by his Understanding unless he knew the resolves of his own Will Maimonid More Nevoch Part 3. Cap. 21. P. 393. 394. Thus the Knowledg of God differs from the Knowledg of men Gods knowledg of his Works precedes his Works mans knowledg of Gods works follows his works just as an Artificers knowledg of a Watch Instrument or Engine which he would make is before his making of it he knows the motions of it and the reason of those motions before it is made because he knows what he hath determin'd to Work he knows not those motions from the consideration of them after they were made as the Spectator doth who by viewing the Instrument after it is made gains a knowledg from the sight and consideration of it till he understands the reason of the whole so we know things from the consideration of them after we see them in being and therefore we know not future things But Gods Knowledg doth not arise from things because they are but because he Wills them to be and therefore he knows every thing that shall be because it cannot be without his Will as the Creator and maintainer of all things knowing his own substance he knows all his Works 5. If God did not know all future things he would be mutable in his Knowledg If he did not know all things that ever were or are to be there would be upon the appearance of every new object an addition of Light to his Understanding and therefore such a Change in him as every new knowledg causes in the mind of a man or as the Sun works in the World upon its rising every morning scattering the darkness that was upon the face of the Earth if he did not know them before they came he would gain a knowledg by them when they came to pass which he had not before they were effected his Knowledg would be new according to the newness of the objects and multiplyed according to the multitude of the objects If God did not know things to come as perfectly as he knew things
present and past but knew those certainly and the others doubtfully and conjecturally he would suffer some Change and acquire some Perfection in his Knowledg when those future things should cease to be future and become present for he would know it more perfectly when it were present than he did when it was future and so there would be a Change from Imperfection to a Perfection But God is every way immutable Besides that Perfection would not arise from the Nature of God but from the Existence and Presence of the thing but who will affirm that God acquires any Perfection of Knowledg from his Creatures any more than he doth of Being he would not then have had that Knowledg and consequently that Perfection from Eternity as he had when he Created the World and will not have a full Perfection of the Knowledg of his Creature till the end of the World nor of Immortal Souls which will certainly act as well as live to Eternity and so God never was nor ever will be perfect in Knowledg for vvhen you have conceived millions of years vvherein Angels and Souls live and act there is still more coming than you can conceive vvherein they vvill act And if God be alvvays changing to Eternity from Ignorance to Knovvledg as those acts come to be exerted by his Creatures he vvill not be perfect in Knovvledg no not to Eternity but vvill alvvays be changing from one degree of Knovvledg to another a very unvvorthy Conceit to entertain of the most Blessed Perfect and Infinite God! Hence then it follovvs that 1. God foreknows all his Creatures All kinds vvhich he determin'd to make all particulars that should spring out of every species the time vvhen they should come forth of the Womb the manner hovv In thy Book all my Members were written Psal 139.16 Members is not in the Heb. vvhence some refer all to all living Creatures vvhatsoever and all the parts of them vvhich God did foresee he knevv the numbers of Creatures vvith all their parts they vvere vvritten in the Book of his fore-knovvledg the duration of them hovv long they shall remain in Being and act upon the Stage he knows their strength the links of one cause with another and what will follow in all their Circumstances and the series and combination of effects with their causes The duration of every thing is foreknown because determin'd Job 14.5 seeing his days are determin'd the number of his months are with thee thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass bounds are fixed beyond which none shall reach he speaks of days and months not of years to give us notice of Gods particular foreknovvledg of every thing of every day month year hour of a mans life 2. All the acts of his Creatures are foreknown by him All natural acts because he knows their causes voluntary acts I shall speak of afterwards 3. This foreknowledg was certain For it is an unworthy notion of God to ascribe to him a conjectural Knowledg if there were only a conjectural knowledg he could but conjecturally foretel any thing and then it is possible the events of things might be contrary to his Predictions It would appear then that God were deceived and mistaken and then there could be no rule of trying things whether they were from God or no for the Rule God sets down to discern his Words from the Words of false Prophets is the event and certain accomplishment of what is Predicted Deut. 18.21 to that question How shall we know whether God hath spoken or no he answers That if the thing doth not come to pass the Lord hath not spoken If his Knowledg of future things were not certain there were no stability in this Rule it would fall to the ground We never yet find God deceiv'd in any Prediction but the event did answer his fore-Revelation his foreknowledg therefore is certain and infallible We cannot make God uncertain in his Knowledg but we must conceive him fluctuating and wavering in his Will but if his Will be not Yea and Nay but Yea his Knowledg is certain because he doth certainly Will and Resolve 4. This foreknowledg was from Eternity Seeing he knows things possible in his Power and things future in his Will if his Power and Resolves were from Eternity his Knowledg must be so too or else we must make him ignorant of his own Power and ignorant of his own Will from Eternity and consequently not from Eternity Blessed and Perfect His knowledg of possible things must run Parallel with his Power and his Knowledg of future things run Parallel with his Will If he Willed from Eternity he knew from Eternity what he Willed but that he did Will from Eternity we must grant unless we would render him changeable and conceive him to be made in time of not Willing Willing The Knowledg God hath in time was alway one and the same because his Understanding is his proper Essence as perfect as his Essence and of an immutable nature Gamach in Aquin Part 1. q. 14. c. 3. p. 124. And indeed the actual existence of a thing is not simply necessary to its being perfectly known we may see a thing that is past out of Being when it doth not actually exist and a Carpenter may know the House he is to Build before it be built by the model of it in his own mind much more we may conceive the same of God whose Decrees were before the Foundâtion of the World Eph. 1.5 and in other places and to be before time was and to be from Eternity hath no difference As God in his Being exceeds all beginning of time so doth his Knowledg all motions of time 5. God foreknows all things as present with him from Eternity Gerhard Exeges ch 8. de Deo sect 13. p. 303. As he knows mutable things with an immutable and firm Knowledg so he knows future things with a present Knowledg not that the things which are produced in time were actually and really present with him in their own Beings from Eternity for then they could not be produced in time had they a real existence then they would not be Creatures but God and had they actual Being then they could not be future for future speaks a thing to come that is not yet If things had been actually present with him and yet future they had been made before they were made and had a Being before they had a Being but they were all present to his Knowledg as if they were in actual Being because the reason of all things that were to be made was present with him Bradward l. 3. c. 14. The reason of the Will of God that they shall be was equally Eternal with him wherein he saw what and when and how he would Create things how he would govern them to what ends he would direct them Thus all things are present to Gods Knowledg tho' in their own nature they may be past or
future not in esse reali but in esse intelligibili objectively not actually present Hornbeck for as the unchangeableness and infiniteness of Gods Knowledg of changeable and finite things doth not make the things he knows immutable and infinite so neither doth the Eternity of his Knowledg make them actually present with him from Eternity but all things are present to his Understanding because he hath at once a view of all successions of times and his knowledg of future things is as perfect as of present things or what is past 't is not a certain knowledg of present things and an uncertain knowledg of future but his knowledg of one is as certain and unerring as his knowledg of the other Pugio Fidei part I. ch 19. as a man that beholds a Circle with several lines from the Center beholds the lines as they are joyned in the Center beholds them also as they are distant and sever'd from one another beholds them in their extent and in their point all at once tho' they may have a great distance from one another He saw from the beginning of time to the last minute of it all things coming out of their causes marching in their order according to his own appointment as a man may see a multitude of Ants some creeping one way some another employ'd in several businesses for their Winter Provision The eye of God at once runs through the whole Circle of Time as the eye of man upon a Tower sees all the Passengers at once tho' some be past some under the Tower some coming at a farther distance God saith Job looks to the end of the earth and sees under the whole Heaven Job 28.24 the Knowledg of God is exprest by sight in Scripture and futurity to God is the same thing as distance to us we can with a Perspective-glass make things that are afar off appear as if they were near and the Sun so many Thousand miles distant from us to appear as if it were at the end of the Glass Why should then future things be at so great a distance from Gods Knowledg when things so far from us may be made to approach so near to us God considers all things in his own simple Knowledg as if they were now acted and therefore some have chosen to call the knowledg of things to come not prescience or foreknowledg but Knowledg because God sees all things in one instant scientiâ nunquam deficientis instantiae Boet. consolat lib. 5. pros 6 Upon this account things that are to come are set down in Scripture as present and sometimes as past Isa 9.6 Vnto us a Child is Born tho' not yet Born so of the Sufferings of Christ Isa 53.4 c. he hath born our griefs he was wounded for our transgressions he was taken from Prison c. not shall be and Psal 22.18 they part my Garments among them as if it were present all to express the certainty of Gods fore-knowledg as if things were actually present before him 6. This is proper to God and incommunicable to any Creature Nothing but what is Eternal can know all things that are to come Suppose a Creature might know things that are to come after he is in Being he cannot know things simply as future because there were things future before he was in Being The Devils know not mens hearts therefore cannot foretel their actions with any certainty they may indeed have a knowledg of some things to come but it is only conjectural and often mistaken as the Devil was in his Predictions among the Heathen and in his presage of Job's Cursing God to his face upon his pressing Calamities Job 1.11 Sometimes indeed they have a certain knowledg of something future by the Revelation of God when he uses them as Instruments of his Vengeance or for the Trial of his People as in the Case of Job when he gave him a Commission to strip him of his Goods or as the Angels have when he uses them as Instruments of the deliverance of his People 7. Tho' this be certain that God foreknows all things and actions yet the manner of his knowing all things before they come is not so easily resolved We must not therefore deny this Perfection in God because we understand not the manner how he hath the Knowledg of all things It were unworthy for us to own no more of God than we can perfectly conceive of him we should then own no more of him than that he doth exist Canst thou saith Job by searching find out God canst thou find out the Almighty unto Perfection Job 11.7 Do we not see things unknown to inferior Creatures to be known to our selves Irrational Creatures do not apprehend the nature of a man nor what we conceive of them when we look upon them nor do we know what they fancy of us when they look wistly upon us for ought as I know we understand as little the manner of their imaginations as they do of ours and shall we ascribe a darkness in God as to future things because we are ignorant of them and of the manner how he should know them Ficinus in Procl cap. 19. shall we doubt whether God doth certainly know those things which we only conjecture as our Power is not the measure of the Power of God so neither is our Knowledg the Judg of the Knowledg of God no better nor so well as an irrational nature can be the Judg of our Reason Do we perfectly know the manner how we know shall we therefore deny that we know any thing we know we have such a faculty which we call Understanding but doth any man certainly know what it is and because he doth not shall he deny that which is plain and evident to him Because we cannot ascertain our selves of the causes of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea of the manner how Minerals are ingendred in the Earth shall we therefore deny that which our eyes convince us of And this will be a preparation to the last thing 5. God knows all future contingencies that is God knows all things that shall accidentally happen or as we say by Chance and he knows all the free motions of mens Wills that shall be to the end of the World If all things be open to him Heb. 4.13 then all contingencies are for they are in the number of things and as according to Christs speech those things that are impossible to man are possible to God so those things which are unknown to man are known to God because of the infinite fulness and perfection of the Divine Understanding Let us see what a Contingent is That is contingent which we commonly call accidental as when a Tile falls suddenly upon a mans head as he is walking in the Street or when one letting off a Musket at random shoots another he did not intend to hit such was that Arrow whereby Ahab was killed shot by a Soldier at a
venture 1 Kings 22.39 this some call a mixt contingent made up partly of necessity and partly of accident 't is necessary the Bullet when sent out of the Gun or Arrow out of the Bow should fly and light somewhere but it is an accident that it hits this or that man that was never intended by the Archer Other things as voluntary actions are purely contingents and have nothing of necessity in them all free actions that depend upon the Will of man whether to do or not to do are of this nature because they depend not upon a necessary cause as burning doth upon the Fire moistning upon Water or as descent or falling down is necessary to a heavy Body for those cannot in their own nature do otherwise but the other actions depend upon a free Agent able to turn to this or that point and determine himself as he pleases Now we must know that what is accidental in regard of the Creature is not so in regard of God the manner of Ahab's Death was accidental in regard of the hand by which he was slain but not in regard of God who foretold his Death and foreknew the Shot and directed the Arrow God was not uncertain before of the manner of his fall nor hovered over the Battel to watch for an opportunity to accomplish his own Prediction what may be or not be in regard of us is certain in regard of God to imagine that what is accidental to us is so to God is to measure God by our short line How many events following upon the results of Princes in their Counsels seem to persons ignorant of those Counsels to be a hap-hazard yet were not contingencies to the Prince and his assistants but foreseen by him as certainly to issue so as they do which they knew before would be the fruit of such causes and instruments they would knit together That may be necessary in regard of Gods foreknowledg which is meerly accidental in regard of the natural disposition of the immediate causes which do actually produce it Contingent in its own nature and in regard of us but fixed in the Knowledg of God * Zanch. One illustrates it by this similitude A Master sends two Servants to one and the same place two several ways unknown to one another they meet at the place which their Master had appointed them their meeting is accidental to them one knows not of the other but it was foreseen by the Master that they should so meet and that in regard of them it would seem a meer accident till they came to explain the business to one another Both the necessity of their meeting in regard of their Masters Order and the accidentalness of it in regard of themselves vvere in both their circumstances foreknovvn by the Master that employ'd them For the clearing of this take it in this method 1. 'T is an unworthy conceit of God in any to exclude him from the knowledg of these things 1. It will be a strange contracting of him to allow him no greater a Knowledg than we have our selves Contingencies are knovvn to us vvhen they come into act and pass from futurity to reality and vvhen they are present to us vve can order our affairs accordingly shall vve allovv God no greater a measure of Knovvledg than vve have and make him as blind as ourselves not to see things of that nature before they come to pass shall God know them no more Shall we imagine God knows no otherwise than we know and that he doth like us stand gazing with admiration at events man can conjecture many things is it fit to ascribe the same uncertainty to God as tho' he as well as we could have no assurance till the issue appear in the view of all If God doth not certainly foreknow them he doth but conjecture them but a conjectural knowledg is by no means to be fastned on God for that is not knowledg but guess and destroys a Deity by making him subject to mistake for he that only guesseth may guess wrong so that this is to make God like our selves and strip him of an universally acknowledged Perfection of Omniscience A conjectural Knowledg saith one Scriveneâ is as unworthy of God as the Creature is unworthy of Omniscience 'T is certain man hath a liberty to act many things this or that way as he pleases to walk to this or that quarter to speak or not to speak to do this or that thing or not to do it which way a man will certainly determine himself is unknown before to any Creature yea often at the present to himself for he may be in suspense but shall we imagine this future determination of himself is conceal'd from God Those that deny Gods foreknowledg in such cases must either say that God hath an opinion that a man will resolve rather this way than that but then if a man by his liberty determine himself contrary to the opinion of God is not God then deceived and what rational Creature can own him for a God that can be deceived in any thing or else they must say that God is at uncertainty and suspends his Opinion without determining it any way then he cannot know free acts till they are done he would then depend upon the Creature for his information his knowledg would be every instant increased as things he knew not before came into act and since there are every minute an innumerable multitude of various imaginations in the minds of men there would be every minute an accession of new Knowledg to God which he had not before besides this knowledg vvould be mutable according to the Wavering and Weathercock resolutions of men one vvhile standing to this point another vvhile to that if he depended upon the Creatures determination for his knovvledg 2. If the free acts of men were unknown before to God no man can see how there can be any Government of the World by him Such contingencies may happen and such resolves of mens Free-Wills unknovvn to God as may perplex his affairs and put him upon nevv Councels and methods for attaining those ends vvhich he setled at the first Creation of things if things happen vvhich God knovvs not of before this must be the consequence vvhere there is no Fore-sight there is no Providence things may happen so sudden if God be ignorant of them that they may give a check to his intentions and Scheme of Government and put him upon changing the whole model of it How often doth a small intervening circumstance unforeseen by man dash in pieces a long meditated and well-formed Design To govern necessary causes as Sun and Stars whose effects are natural and constant in themselves is easy to be imagin'd but how to govern the World that consists of so many men of Free-Will able to determine themselves to this or that and which have no constancy in themselves as the Sun and Stars have cannot be imagin'd unless we
Plea from it in the mouth of Adam he knew as much as any man ever since knew of the nature of God as discoverable in Creation he could not in Innocence fancy an ignorant God a God that knew nothing of future things he could not be so ignorant of his own action but he must have perceived a force upon his Will had there been any had he thought that Gods Prescience impos'd any necessity upon him he would not have omitted the Plea especially when he was so daring as to charge the Providence of God in the Gift of the Woman to him to be the cause of his Crime Gen. 3.12 How come his Posterity to invent new charges against God which their Father Adam never thought of who had more knowledg than all of them He could find no cause of his Sin but the liberty of his own Will he charges it not upon any necessity from the Devil or any necessity from God nor doth he alledg the gift of the Woman as a necessary cause of his Sin but an occasion of it by giving the Fruit to him Judas knew that our Saviour did foreknow his Treachery for he had told him of it in the hearing of his Disciples John 13.21 26. yet he never charg'd the necessity of his Crime upon the foreknowledg of his Master if Judas had not done it freely he had had no reason to repent of it his Repentance justifies Christ from imposing any necessity upon him by that foreknowledg No man acts any thing but he can give an account of the motives of his action he cannot father it upon a blind necessity the Will cannot be compelled for then it would cease to be Will God doth not root up the foundations of Nature or change the order of it and make men unable to act like men that is as free Agents God foreknows the actions of irrational Creatures this concludes no violence upon their nature for we find their actions to be according to their nature and spontaneous 3. Gods foreknowledg is not simply considered the cause of any thing It puts nothing into things but only beholds them as present and arising from their proper causes The knowledg of God is not the Principle of things or the cause of their existence but directive of the action nothing is because God knows it but because God Wills it either positively or permissively God knows all things possible yet because God knows them they are not brought into actual existence but remain still only as things possible Knowledg only apprehends a thing but acts nothing 't is the rule of acting but not the cause of acting the Will is the immediate Principle and the Power the immediate cause to know a thing is not to do a thing for then we may be said to do every thing that we know But every man knows those things which he never did nor never will do Knowledg in it self is an apprehension of a thing and is not the cause of it A Spectator of a thing is not the cause of that thing which he sees that is he is not the cause of it as he beholds it We see a man Write we know before that he will Write at such a time but this foreknowledg is not the cause of his Writing We see a man Walk but our vision of him brings no necessity of Walking upon him he was free to Walk or not to Walk Rawley of the World lib. 1. cap. 1. sect 12. We foreknow that Death will seize upon all men we foreknow that the Seasons of the Year will succeed one another yet is not our foreknowledg the cause of this succcession of Spring after Winter or of the Death of all men or any man We see one man fighting with another our sight is not the cause of that contest but some Quarrel among themselves exciting their own Passions As the knowledg of present things imposeth no necessity upon them while they are acting and present so the Knowledg of future things imposeth no necessity upon them while they are coming We are certain there will be men in the World to morrow and that the Sea will Ebb and Flow but is this knowledg of ours the cause that those things will be so I know that the Sun will rise to morrow 't is true that it shall rise but 't is not true that my foreknowledg makes it to rise If a Physician Prognosticates upon seeing the Intemperances and Debaucheries of men that they will fall into such a distemper is his Prognostication any cause of their Disease or of the sharpness of any Symptoms attending it The Prophet foretold the cruelty of Hazael before he committed it but who will say that the Prophet was the cause of his Commission of that evil And thus the foreknowledg of God takes not away the liberty of mans Will no more than a foreknowledg that we have of any mans actions takes away his liberty We may upon our knowledg of the temper of a man certainly foreknow that if he falls into such Company and get among his Cups he will be Drunk but is this foreknowledg the cause that he is Drunk no the cause is the liberty of his own Will and not resisting the Temptation God purposes to leave such a man to himself and his own ways and man being so left God foreknows what will be done by him according to that corrupt nature which is in him tho' the Decree of God of leaving a man to the liberty of his own Will be certain yet the liberty of mans Will as thus left is the cause of all the extravagancies he doth commit Suppose Adam had stood would not God certainly have foreseen that he would have stood yet it would have been concluded that Adam had stood not by any necessity of Gods foreknowledg but by the liberty of his own Will Why should then the foreknowledg of God add more necessity to his falling than to his standing * Rivet in Isa 53.1 p. 16. And though it be said sometimes in Scripture that such a thing was done that the Scripture might be fulfilled as John 12.38 that the saying of Esaias might be fulfilled Lord who hath believed our report the word That doth not infer that the Prediction of the Prophet was the cause of the Jews unbelief but infers this that the Prediction was manifested to be true by their unbelief and the event answered the Prediction this Prediction was not the cause of their Sin but their foreseen Sin was the cause of this Prediction and so the Particle That is taken Psal 51.6 against thee thee only have I sinned that thou mightest be justified c. the justifying God was not the end and intent of the Sin but the event of it upon his acknowledgment 4. God foreknows things because they will come to pass but things are not future because God knows them Foreknowledg presupposeth the object which is foreknown a thing that is to come to pass
is the object of the Divine Knowledg but not the cause of the act of Divine Knowledg and though the foreknowledg of God doth in Eternity precede the actual presence of a thing which is foreseen as future yet the future thing in regard of its futurity is as Eternal as the foreknowledg of God As the Voice is uttered before it be heard and a thing is visible before it be seen and a thing knowable before it be known But how comes it to be knowable to God it must be answered either in the Power of God as a thing possible or in the Will of God as a thing future he first Willed and then knew what he Willed he knew what he Willed to effect and he knew what he Willed to permit as he Willed the Death of Christ by a determinate Counsel and Willed the Permission of the Jews Sin and the ordering of the malice of their nature to that end Acts 2.22 God decrees to make a rational Creature and to govern him by a Law God Decrees not to hinder this rational Creature from transgressing his Law and God foresees that what he would not hinder would come to pass Man did not Sin because God foresaw him but God foresaw him to Sin because man would Sin If Adam and other men would have acted otherwise God would have foreknown that they would have acted well God foresaw our actions because they would so come to pass by the motion of our Free-Will which he would permit which he would concur with which he would order to his own holy and glorious ends for the manifestation of the Perfection of his nature If I see a man lye in a Sink no necessity is inferred upon him from my sight to lye in that filthy place but there is a necessity inferr'd by him that lies there that I should see him in that condition if I pass by and cast my eye that way 5. God did not only foreknow our actions but the manner of our actions That is he did not only know that we would do such actions but that we would do them freely he foresaw that the Will would freely determine it self to this or that the Knowledg of God takes not away the nature of things though God knows possible things yet they remain in the nature of possibility and tho' God knows contingent things yet they remain in the nature of contingencies and tho' God knows free Agents yet they remain in the nature of liberty God did not foreknow the actions of man as necessary but as free so that liberty is rather established by this foreknowledg than removed God did not foreknow that Adam had not a power to stand or that any man hath not a power to omit such a sinful action but that he would not omit it Man hath a power to do otherwise than that which God foreknows he will do Adam was not determin'd by any inward necessity to Fall nor any man by any inward necessity to commit this or that particular Sin but God foresaw that he would Fall and Fall freely for he saw the whole Circle of means and causes whereby such and such actions should be produced and can be no more ignorant of the motions of our Wills and the manner of them than an Artificer can be ignorant of the motions of his Watch and how far the Spring will let down the String in the space of an hour he sees all causes leading to such events in their whole order and how the Free-Will of man will comply with this or refuse that he changes not the manner of the Creatures operation whatsoever it be 6. But what if the foreknowledg of God and the liberty of the Will cannot be fully reconciled by man shall we therefore deny a Perfection in God to support a liberty in our selves Shall we rather fasten ignorance upon God and accuse him of blindness to maintain our liberty That God doth foreknow every thing and yet that there is liberty in the rational Creature are both certain but how fully to reconcile them may surmount the Understanding of man Some Truths the Disciples were not capable of bearing in the days of Christ and several Truths our understandings cannot reach as long as the World doth last yet in the mean time we must on the one hand take heed of conceiving God ignorant and on the other hand of imagining the Creature necessitated the one will render God imperfect and the other will seem to render him unjust in punishing man for that Sin which he could not avoid but was brought into by a fatal necessity God is sufficient to render a reason of his ovvn Proceedings and clear up all at the day of Judgment 't is a part of mans curiosity since the Fall to be prying into Gods Secrets things too high for him vvhereby he singes his ovvn Wings and confounds his ovvn Understanding 'T is a cursed affectation that runs in the Blood of Adams Posterity to know as God tho' our first Father smarted and ruin'd his Posterity in that attempt the vvays and knovvledg of God are as much above our thoughts and conceptions as the heavens are above the earth Isa 55.9 Daillá Melang part 2. p. 712. 725. and so sublime that vve cannot comprehend them in their true and just greatness his designs are so mysterious and the vvays of his conduct so profound that it is not possible to dive into them The force of our understandings is belovv his infinite Wisdom and therefore vve should adore him vvith an humble astonishment and cry out vvith the Apostle Rom. 11.33 Oh the depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God! how unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out When ever vve meet vvith depths that vve cannot fathom let us remember that he is God and vve his Creatures and not be guilty of so great extravagance as to think that a Subject can pierce into all the secrets of a Prince or a Work understand all the operations of the Artificer Let us only resolve not to fasten any thing on God that is unvvorthy of the Perfection of his nature and dishonourable to the Glory of his Majesty nor imagine that vve can ever step out of the rank of Creatures to the glory of the Deity to understand fully every thing in his nature So much for the second general What God knovvs III. The third is How God knows all things As it is necessary vve should conceive God to be an Understanding Being else he could not be God so vve must conceive his understanding to be infinitely more pure and perfect than ours in the act of it else vve liken him to our selves and debase him as lovv as his Foot-stool Maxim Tyriuâ Dissert 1. p. 9. 10. As among Creatures there are degrees of Being and Perfection Plants above Earth and Sand because they have a Povver of grovvth Beasts above Plants because to their Povver of grovvth there is an
addition of excellency of sense rational Creatures above Beasts because to Sense there is added the Dignity of Reason The Understanding of man is more noble than all the vegetative povver of Plants or the sensitive Power of Beasts God therefore must be infinitely more excellent in his Understanding and therefore in the manner of it As man differs from a Beast in regard of his knovvledg so doth God also from man in regard of his Knovvledg As God therefore is in Being and Perfection infinitely more above a man than a man is above a Beast the manner of his Knovvledg must be infinitely more above a mans knovvledg than the knovvledg of a man is above that of a Beast our understandings can clasp an object in a moment that is at a great distance from our sense our eye by one elevated motion can vievv the Heavens the manner of Gods Understanding must be unconceivably above our glimmerings as the manner of his Being is infinitely more perfect than all Beings so must the manner of his Understanding be infinitely more perfect than all Created understandings Maimoniaâ More Nevochim part 3. c. 20. p. 391 392 393. Indeed the manner of Gods Knovvledg can no more be knovvn by us than his Essence can be knovvn by us and the same incapacity in man vvhich renders him unable to comprehend the Being of God renders him as unable to comprehend the manner of Gods Understanding As there is a vast distance betvveen the Essence of God and our Beings so there is betvveen the Thoughts of God and our Thoughts the Heavens are not so much higher than the Earth as the Thoughts of God are above the thoughts of men yea and of the highest Angel Isa 55.8 9. yet tho' vve knovv not the manner of Gods Knovvledg vve knovv that he knovvs as tho' vve knovv not the infiniteness of God yet vve knovv that he is infinite 'T is Gods sole Prerogative to knovv himself vvhat he is and it is equally his Prerogative to knovv hovv he knovvs the manner of Gods knovvledg therefore must be considered by us as free from those Imperfections our knovvledg is encumbred vvith In general God doth necessarily knovv all things he is necessarily Omnipresent because of the immensity of his Essence so he is necessarily Omniscient because of the infiniteness of his Understanding 'T is no more at the liberty of his Will whether he will know all things than whether he will be able to create all things 't is no more at the liberty of his Will whether he will be Omniscient than whether he will be Holy he can as little be ignorant as he can be impure he knows not all things because he will know them but because it is Essential to his nature to know them In particular Proposition 1. God knows by his own Essence that is He sees the nature of things in the Ideas of his own mind and the events of things in the Decrees of his own Will he knows them not by viewing the things but by viewing himself his own Essence is the Mirrour and Book wherein he beholds all things that he doth ordain dispose and execute and so he knows all things in their first and original cause which is no other than his own Essence Willing and his own Essence executing what he Wills he knows them in his Power as the Physical Principle in his Will as the moral Principle of things as some speak He borrows not the knowledg of Creatures from the Creatures nor depends upon them for means of Understanding as we poor Worms do who are beholden to the objects abroad to assist us with Images of things and to our senses to convey them into our minds God would then acquire a Perfection from those things which are below himself and an excellency from those things that are vile his Knowledg would not precede the Being of the Creatures but the Creatures would be before the act of his Knowledg If he understood by Images drawn from the Creatures as we do there would be something in God which is not God viz. the Images of things drawn from outward objects God would then depend upon Creatures for that which is more noble than a bare Being for to be Understanding is more excellent than barely to be Besides if Gods Knowledg of his Creatures were derived from the Creatures by the impression of any thing upon him as there is upon us he could not know from Eternity because from Eternity there was no actual existence of any thing but himself and therefore there could not be any Images shot out from any thing because there was not any thing in Being but God as there is no Principle of Being to any thing but by his Essence so there is no Principle of the Knowledg of any thing by himself but his Essence If the knowledg of God were distinct from his Essence his Knowledg were not Eternal because there is nothing Eternal but his Essence His Understanding is not a faculty in him as it is in us but the same with his Essence because of the simplicity of his nature God is not made up of various parts one distinct from another as we are and therefore doth not understand by a part of himself but by himself so that to be and to understand is the same with God his Essence is not one thing and the power whereby he understands another he would then be compounded and not be the most simple Being This also is necessary for the Perfection of God for the more perfect and noble the way and manner of knowing is the more perfect and noble is the knowledg The perfection of Knowledg depends upon the excellency of the medium whereby we know As a knowledg by Reason is a more noble way of knowing than knowledg by sense so 't is more excellent for God to know by his Essence than by any thing without him any thing mixt with him the first would render him dependant and the other would demolish his simplicity Again the natures of all things are contained in God not formally for then the nature of the Creatures would be God but eminently he that planted the ear shall he not hear he that formed the eye shall he not see Psal 94.9 He hath in himself eminently the Beauty Perfection Life and Vigor of all Creatures he Created nothing contrary to himself but every thing with some foot-steps of himself in them he could not have pronounced them good as he did had there been any thing in them contrary to his own goodness and therefore as his Essence primarily represents it self so it represents the Creatures and makes them known to him As the Essence of God is eminently all things so by understanding his Essence he eminently understands all things * Dionyâ And therefore he hath not one knowledg of himself and another knowledg of the Creatures but by knowing himself as the original and exemplary cause of all things he
cannot be ignorant of any Creature which he is the cause of so that he knows all things not by an understanding of them but by an understanding of himself by understanding his own Power as the efficient of them his own Will as the orderer of them his own Goodness as the adorner and beautifier of them his own Wisdom as the disposer of them and his own Holiness to which many of their actions are contrary * Kendall against Goodwin of Foreknowledg As he sees all things possible in his own Power because he is able to produce them so he sees all things future in his own Will decreeing to effect them if they be good or Decreeing to permit them if they be Evil. In this Glass he sees what he will give Being to and what he will suffer to fall into a deficiency without looking out of himself or borrowing Knowledg from his Creatures he knows all things in himself And thus his Knowledg is more noble and of a higher elevation than ours or the knowledg of any Creature can be he knows all things by one comprehension of the causes in himself Proposition 2. God knows all things by one act of intuition This the Schools call an intuitive knowledg This follows upon the other for if he know by his own Essence he knows all things by one act there would be otherwise a division in his Essence a first and a last a nearness and a distance As what he made he made by one word so what he sees he pierceth into by one glance from Eternity to Eternity As he Wills all things by one act of his Will so he knows all things by one act of his Understanding he knows not some things discursively from other things nor knows one thing successively after another As by one act he imparts Essence to things so by one act he knows the nature of things 1. He doth not know by Discourse as we do That is By deducing one thing from another and from common notions drawing out other rational conclusions and arguing one thing from another and springing up various consequences from some Principle assented to but God stands in no need of reasonings the making inferences and abstracting things would be stains in the infinite Perfection of God here would be a mixture of knowledg and ignorance while he knew the Principle he would not know the consequence and conclusion till he had actually deduc'd it one thing would be known after another and so he would have an ignorance and then a knowledg and there would be different conceptions in God and knowledg would be multiplyed according to the multitude of objects as it is in humane Understandings But God knows all things before they did exist and never was ignorant of them Acts 15.18 known unto God are all his Works from the beginning of the World He therefore knows them all at once the knowledg of one thing was not before another nor depended upon another as it doth in the way of Humane reasoning Suarez vol. 1. de Deo lib 3. cap. 2. p. 133 134. Tho' indeed some make a vertual Discourse in God that is tho' God hath a simple knowledg yet it doth vertually contain a Discourse by the flowing of one knowledg from another as from the knowledg of his own Power he knows what things are possible to be made by him and from the knowledg of himself he passes to the knowledg of the Creatures but this is only according to our Conception and because of our weakness they are apprehended as two distinct acts in God one of which is the reason of another As we say that one Attribute is the reason of another as his Mercy may be said to be the reason of his Patience and his Omnipresence to be the reason of the knowledg of present things done in the World God indeed by one simple act knows himself and the Creatures but when that Act whereby he knows himself is conceived by us to pass to the knowledg of the Creatures we must not understand it to be a new Act distinct from the other but the same act upon different terms or objects such an order is in our understandings and conceptions not in God's 2. Nor doth he know successively as we do That is not by Drops one thing after another This follows from the former a knowledg of all things without Discourse is a Knowledg without Succession Gamach in Aquin. q. 14. cap. 1. p. 119. The knowledg of one thing is not in God before another one act of knowledg doth not beget another in regard of the objects one thing is before another one year before another one Generation of men before another one is the cause the other is the effect In the Creatures there is such a Succession and God knows there will be such a Succession but there is no such order in Gods knowledg for he knows all those Successions by one glance without any succession of knowledg in himself Man in his view of things must turn sometimes his Body sometimes only his Eyes he cannot see all the Contents of a Letter at once and tho' he beholds all the lines in the page of a Book at once and a whole Country in a Map yet to know what is contain'd in them he must turn his eye from word to word and line to line and so spin out one thing after another by several acts and motions We behold a great part of the Sea at once * saith Epiphanius but not all the dimensions of it for to know the length of the Sea we move our eyes one way to see the breadth of it we turn our eyes another way to behold the depth of it we have another motion of them And when we cast our eyes up to Heaven we seem to receive in at an instant the whole tent of the Hemisphere yet there is but one object the eye can attentively pitch upon and we cannot distinctly view what we see in a lump without various motions of our eyes which is not done without succession of Time Amyrant morale chresti Tom. 3. p. 137. And certainly the Understanding of Angels is bounded according to the measure of their Beings so that it cannot extend it self at one time to a quantity of objects to make a distinct application of them but the objects must present themselves one by one But God is all Eye all Understanding as there is no succession in his Essence so there is none in his Knowledg his understanding in the nature and in the act is infinite as it is in the Text. He therefore sees Eternally and Universally all things by one act without any motion much less various motions the various changes of things in their substance qualities places and relations withdraw not any thing from his Eye nor bring any new thing to his Knowledg he doth not upon consideration of present things turn his mind from past or when he beholds
future things turn his mind from present but he sees them not one after another but all at once and all together the whole Circle of his own Counsels and all the various Lines drawn forth from the Center of his Will to the circumference of his Creatures Just as if a man were able in one moment to read a whole Library or as if you should imagine a transparent Chrystal Globe hung up in the midst of a Room and so framed as to take in the images of all things in the Room the Fret-Work in the Cieling the in-laid parts of the Floor and the particular parts of the Tapestry about it the eye of a man would behold all the Beauty of the Room at once in it As the Sun by one light and heat frames sensible things so God by one simple act knows all things As he knows mutable things by an immutable knowledg bodily things by a spiritual knowledg so he knows many things by one knowledg Heb. 4.13 All things are open and naked to him more than any one thing can be to us and therefore he views all things at once as well as we can behold and contemplate one thing alone As he is the Father of Lights a God of infinite Understanding there is no variableness in his mind nor any shadow of turning of his eye as there is of ours to behold various things James 1.17 his Knowledg being Eternal includes all times there is nothing past or future with him and therefore he beholds all things by one and the same manner of knowledg and comprehends all knowable things by one act and in one moment This must needs be so 1. Because of the eminency of God God is above all and therefore cannot but see the motions of all He that sits in a Theater or at the top of a place sees all things all persons by one aspect he comprehends the whole Circle of the place whereas he that sits below when he looks before he cannot see things behind God being above all about all in all sees at once the motions of all The whole World in the eye of God is less than a Point that divides one Sentence from another in a Book as a Cypher a grain of Dust Isa 40.15 so little a thing can be seen by man at once and all things being as little in the eye of God are seen at once by him As all Time is but a moment to his Eternity so all things are but as a point to the immensity of his Knowledg which he can behold with more ease than we can move or turn our eye 2. Because all the Perfections of Knowing are united in God Cusan p. 646. As particular senses are divided in man by one he Sees by another he Hears by another he Smells yet all those are united in one common sense and this common sense apprehends all so the various and distinct ways of knowledg in the Creatures are all eminently united in God A man when he sees a grain of Wheat understands at once all things that can in Time proceed from that Seed so God by beholding his own vertue and power beholds all things which shall in time be unfolded by him We have a shadow of this way of knowledg in our own Understanding the sence only perceives a thing present and one object only proper and suitable to it as the eye sees colour the ear hears sounds we see this and that man one time this another minute that but the understanding abstracts a notion of the common nature of man and frames a conception of that nature wherein all men agree and so in a manner beholds and understands all men at once by understanding the common nature of man which is a degree of knowledg above the sense and fancy we may then conceive an infinite vaster Perfection in the Understanding of God As to know is simply better than not to know at all so to know by one act comprehensive is a greater Perfection than to know by divided acts by succession to receive information and to have an increase or decrease of knowledg to be like a Bucket alway descending into the Well and fetching Water from thence 'T is a mans weakness that he is fixed on one object only at a time 't is Gods Perfection that he can behold all at once and is fixed upon one no more than upon another Proposition 3. God knows all things independently This is Essential to an infinite Understanding He receives not his knowledg from any thing without him he hath no Tutor to instruct him or Book to inform him who hath been his Counsellor saith the Prophet Isa 40.13 he hath no need of the Counsels of others nor of the instructions of others This follows upon the first and second Propositions if he knows things by his Essence then as his Essence is independent from the Creatures so is his Knowledg he borrows not any images from the Creature hath no species or pictures of things in his Understanding as we have no Beams from the Creature strike upon him to enlighten him but Beams from him upon the World the Earth sends not Light to the Sun but the Sun to the Earth Our knowledg indeed depends upon the object but all Created objects depend upon Gods Knowledg and Will We could not know Creatures unless they were but Creatures could not be unless God knew them As nothing that he Wills is the cause of his Will so nothing that he knows is the cause of his Knowledg he did not make things to know them but he knows them to make them Who will imagine that the mark of the foot in the Dust is the cause that the foot stands in this or that particular place If his knowledg did depend upon the things then the existence of things did precede Gods knowledg of them to say that they are the cause of Gods Knowledg is to say that God was not the cause of their Being and if he did Create them it was effected by a blind and ignorant power he Created he knew not what till he had produced it If he be beholden for his Knowledg to the Creatures he hath made he had then no knowledg of them before he made them If his knowledg were dependant upon them it could not be Eternal but must have a beginning when the Creatures had a beginning and be of no longer a date than since the nature of things was in actual existence for whatsoever is a cause of knowledg doth precede the knowledg it causes either in order of time or order of nature Temporal things therefore cannot be the cause of that knowledg which is Eternal His Works could not be foreknown to him if his Knowledg commenc'd with the existence of his Works If he knew them before he made them Act 15.18 he could not derive a knowledg from them after they were made He made all things in Wisdom Psal 104.24 how can this be imagin'd if
the things known were the cause of his Knowledg and so before his knowledg and therefore before his action Bradward lib. 1. cap. 15. God would not then be the first in the order of knowing Agents because he would not act by Knowledg but act before he knew and know after he had acted and so the Creature which he made would be before the act of his Understanding whereby he knew what he made Again since Knowledg is a Perfection if Gods knowledg of the Creatures depended upon the Creatures he would derive an excellency from them they would derive no excellency from any Idea in the Divine mind he would not be infinitely perfect in himself if his Perfection in Knowledg were gained from any thing without himself and below himself he would not be sufficient of himself but be under an indigence which wanted a supply from the things he had made and could not be eternally perfect till he had created and seen the effects of his own Power Goodness and Wisdom to render him more wise and knowing in Time than he was from Eternity Who can fancy such a God as this without destroying the Deity he pretends to adore for if his Understanding be perfected by something without him why may not his Essence be perfected by something without him that as he was made knowing by something without him he might be made God by something without him How could his Understanding be infinite if it depended upon a finite object as upon a cause Is the Majesty of God to be debas'd to a Mendicant condition to seek for a supply from things inferior to himself Is it to be imagin'd that a Fool a Toad a Fly should be assistant to the knowledg of God that the most noble Being should be perfected by things so vile that the supream cause of all things should receive any addition of knowledg and be determin'd in his Understanding by the notion of things so mean To conclude this particular all things depend upon his knowledg his knowledg depends upon nothing but is as independent as himself and his own Essence Proposition 4. God knows all things distinctly His understanding is infinite in regard of clearness God is light and in him is no darkness at all John 1.5 he sees not through a Mist or Cloud there 's no blemish in his Understanding no mote or beam in his eye to render any thing obscure to him Man discerns the surface and outside of things little or nothing of the Essence of things we see the noblest things but as in a glass darkly 1 Cor. 13.12 the too great nearness as well as the too great distance of a thing hinders our sight the smallness of a mote escapes our eye and so our knowledg also the weakness of our understanding is troubled with the multitude of things and cannot know many things but confusedly But God knows the forms and essence of things every circumstance nothing is so deep but he sees to the bottom he sees the mass and sees the motes of Beings his Understanding being infinite is not offended with a multitude of things or distracted with the variety of them he discerns every thing infinitely more clearly and perfectly than Adam or Solomon could any one thing in the Circle of their knowledg What knowledg they had was from him he hath therefore infinitely a more perfect knowledg than they were capable in their natures to receive a communication of All things are open to him Heb. 4.13 the least fibre in its nakedness and distinct frame is transparent to him as by the help of Glasses the mouth feet hands of a small Insect are visible to a man which seem to the eye without that assistance one intire piece not diversified into parts All the causes qualities natures properties of things are open to him he brings out the Host of Heaven by number and calleth them by Names Isa 40.26 he numbers the Hairs of our heads what more distinct than number thus God beholds things in every unity which makes up the heap He knows and none else can every thing in its true and intimate causes in its original and intermediate causes in himself as the cause of every particular of their Being every Property in their Being Knowledg by the causes is the most noble and perfect Knowledg and most suited to the infinite excellency of the Divine Being he created all things and ordered them to a universal and particular end he therefore knows the essential Properties of every thing every activity of their nature all their fitness for those distinct ends to which he orders them and for which he governs and disposeth them and understands their darkest and most hidden qualities infinitely clearer than any eye can behold the clear Beams of the Sun He knows all things as he made them he made them distinctly and therefore knows them distinctly and that every individual therefore God is said Gen. 1.31 to see every thing that he had made he took a review of every particular Creature he had made and upon his view pronounced it good To pronounce that good which was not exactly known in every Creek in every Mite of its nature had not consisted with his veracity for every one that speaks truth ignorantly that knows not that he speaks Truth is a Liar in speaking that which is true God knows every act of his own Will whether it be positive or permissive and therefore every effect of his Will We must needs ascribe to God a perfect Knowledg but a confus'd Knowledg cannot challenge that Title To know things only in a heap is unworthy of the Divine Perfection for if God knows his own ends in the Creation of things he knows distinctly the means whereby he will bring them to those ends for which he hath appointed them No Wise man intends an end without a knowledg of the means conducing to that end an ignorance then of any thing in the World which falls under the nature of a means to a Divine end and there is nothing in the World but doth would be inconsistent with the Perfection of God it would ascribe to him a blind Providence in the World As there can be nothing imperfect in his Being and Essence so there can be nothing imperfect in his Understanding and Knowledg and therefore not a confus'd Knowledg which is an Imperfection Darkness and Light are both alike to him Psal 139.12 he sees distinctly into the one as well as the other what is Darkness to us is not so to him Proposition 5. God knows all things infallibly His Understanding is infinite in regard of certainty every Tittle of what he knows is as far from failing as what he speaks our Saviour affirms the one Math. 5.18 and there is the same reason of the certainty of one as well as the other his Essence is the measure of his Knowledg whence it is as impossible that God should be mistaken in the knowledg of the least
thing in the World as it is that he should be mistaken in his own Essence for knowing himself comprehensively he must know all other things infallibly Since he is Essentially Omniscient he is no more capable of error in his Understanding than of Imperfection in his Essence his Counsels are as unerring as his Essence is perfect and his knowledg as infallible as his Essence is free from defect Again since God knows all things with a knowledg of Vision because he Wills them his Knowledg must be as infallible as his purpose now his purpose will certainly be effected what he hath thought shall come to pass and what he hath purposed shall stand Isa 14.24 His Counsel shall stand and he will do all his pleasure Isa 46.10 There may be interruptions of nature the foundations of it may be out of course but there can be no bar upon the Author of nature he hath an infinite power to carry on and perfect the resolves of his own Will he can effect what he pleases by a Word Speech is one of the least motions yet when God said let there be Light there was Light arising from Darkness No reason can be given why God knows a thing to be but because he infallibly Wills it to be Again Suarez Vol. 2â p. 228. The Schools make this difference between the knowledg of the good and bad Angels that the good are never deceived for that is repugnant to their Blessed State for deceit is an evil and an imperfection inconsistent with that perfect Blessedness the good Angels are possessed of and would it not much more be a stain upon the Blessedness of that God that is Blessed forever to be subject to deceit His knowledg therefore is not an Opinion for an Opinion is uncertain a man knows not what to think but leans to one part of the Question propos'd rather than to the other If things did not come to pass therefore as God knows them his knowledg would be imperfect and since he knows by his Essence his Essence also would be imperfect if God were expos'd to any Deceit in his Knowledg he knows by himself who is the highest Truth and therefore it is impossible he should err in his Understanding Proposition 6. God knows immutably His Understanding else could not be infinite every thing and every act that is mutable is finite it hath its bounds for there is a term from which it changeth and a term to which it changes Tileni Syntagina Part 1. Disp 13. Thel 13. There is a change in the Understanding when we gain the knowledg of a thing which was unknown to us before or when we actually consider a thing which we did not know before tho' we had the Principles of the Knowledg of it or when we know that distinctly which we before knew confusedly None of these can be ascribed to God without a manifest disparagement of his infiniteness Our knowledg indeed is alway arriving to us or flowing from us we pass from one degree to another from worse to better or from better to worse but God loses nothing by the Ages that are run nor will gain any thing by the Ages that are to come If there were a variation in the knowledg of God by the daily and hourly Changes in the World he would grow wiser than he was he was not then perfectly wise before A Change in the objects known infers not any change in the understanding exercised about them the Wheel moves round the Spokes that are lowest are presently highest and presently return to be low again but the eye that beholds them changes not with the motion of the Wheels Gods knowledg admits no more of increase or decrease than his Essence doth Since God knows by his Essence and the Essence of God is God himself his knowledg must be void of any Change The knowledg of possible things arising from the knowledg of his own power cannot be changed unless his power be chang'd and God become weak and impotent the knowledg of future things cannot be chang'd because that knowledg ariseth from his Will which is irreversible the Counsel of the Lord that shall stand Prov. 19.21 so that if God can never decay into weakness and never turn to inconstancy there can be no variation of his knowledg He knows what he can do and he knows what he will do and both these being immutable his knowledg must consequently be so too It was not necessary that this or that Creature should be and therefore it was not necessary that God should know this or that Creature with a knowledg of Vision but after the Will of God had determin'd the existence of this or that Creature his knowledg being then determin'd to this or that object did necessarily continue unchangeable God therefore knows no more now than he did before and at the end of the World he shall know no more than he doth now and from Eternity he knows no less than he doth now and shall do to Eternity Tho' things pass into Being and out of Being the knowledg of God doth not vary with them for he knows them as well before they were as when they are and knows them as well when they are past as when they are present Proposition 7. God knows all things perpetually i. e. in act Since he knows by his Essence he always knows because his Essence never ceaseth but is a pure act so that he doth not know only in habit but in act Men that have the knowledg of some Art or Science have it always in habit tho' when they are asleep they have it not in act A Musitian hath the habit of Musick but doth not so much as think of it when his Senses are bound up But God is an unsleepy eye Plato ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã he never slumbers nor sleeps he never slumbers in regard of his Providence and therefore never slumbers in regard of his knowledg He knows not himself nor any other Creature more perfectly at one time than at another he is perpetually in the act of knowing as the Sun is in the act of shining the Sun never ceas'd to shine in one or other part of the World since it was first fixed in the Heavens nor God to be in the act of Knowledg since he was God and therefore since he always was and always will be God he always was and always will be in the act of knowledg always knowing his own Essence he must alway actually know what hath been gone and ceas'd from Being and what shall come and arise into Being As a Watchmaker knows what Watch he intends to make and after he hath made it tho' it be broken to pieces or consumed by the Fire he still knows it because he knows the Copy of it in his own mind Some therefore in regard of this perpetual act of the Divine Knowledg have called God not Intellect us but the intellection of intellections we have no proper
English Word to express the act of the Vnderstanding as his power is co-eternal with him so is his knowledg all times past present and to come are embrac'd in the Bosom of his Understanding he fixed all things in their Seasons that nothing new comes to him nothing old passes from him Damianus What is done in a Thousand years is as actually present with his Knowledg as what is done in one day or in one Watch in the night is with ours Since a Thousand years are no more to God than a day or a Watch in the Night is to us Psal 90.4 God is in the highest degree of Being and therefore in the highest degree of Understanding Knowledg is one of the most perfect acts in any Creature God therefore hath all Actual as well as Essential and Habitual knowledg his Vnderstanding is infinite IV. The fourth general is Reasons to prove this Reas 1. God must know what any Creature knows and more than any Creature knows There is nothing done in the World but is known by some Creature or other every action is at least known by the person that acts and therefore known by the Creator vvho cannot be exceeded by any of the Creatures or all of them together and every Creature is knovvn by him since every Creature is made by him Gerhard And as God vvorks all things by an Infinite Povver so he knovvs all things by an Infinite Understanding 1. The Perfection of God requires this Gamach in 1. part Aquin. q. 14. cap. 1. p. 118. 119. All Perfections that include no Essential Defect are formally in God but knowledg includes no Essential Defect in it self therefore it is in God Knovvledg in it self is desirable and an excellency Ignorance is a defect 't is impossible that the least grain of defect can be found in the most perfect Being Since God is Wise he must be Knovving for Wisdom must have Knovvledg for the Basis of it A Creature can no more be vvise vvithout Knovvledg than he can be active vvithout Strength Novv God is only Wise Rom. 16.27 and therefore only knovving in the highest degree of Knovvledg incomprehensibly beyond all degrees of Knovvledg because infinite Again the more Spiritual any thing is the more Understanding it is The dull Body understands nothing Sense perceives but the Understanding faculty is seated in the Soul vvhich is of a spiritual nature vvhich knovvs things that are present remembers things that are past foresees many things to come What is the property of a Spiritual nature must be in a most eminent manner in the supream Spirit of the World that is in the highest degree of Spirituality and most remote from any matter Again nothing can enjoy other things but by some kind of Understanding them God hath the highest enjoyment of himself of all things he hath Created of all the Glory that accrues to him by them nothing of Perfection and Blessedness can be vvanting to him Felicity doth not consist vvith ignorance and all imperfect knovvledg is a degree of ignorance God therefore doth perfectly know himself and all things from vvhence he designs any glory to himself The most noble manner of acting must be ascribed to God as being the most noble and excellent Being to act by Knowledg is the most excellent manner of acting God hath therefore not only Knowledg but the most excellent manner of Knowledg for as it is better to know than to be ignorant so it is better to know in the most excellent manner than to have a mean and low kind of knowledg His knowledg therefore must be every way as perfect as his Essence infinite as well as that An infinite nature must have an infinite knowledg A God ignorant of any thing cannot be counted infinite for he is not infinite to whom any degree of Perfection is wanting 2. All the knowledg in any Creature is from God And you must allow God a greater and more perfect Knowledg than any Creature hath yea than all Creatures have All the drops of Knowledg any Creature hath come from God and all the knowledg in every Creature that ever was is or shall be in the whole Mass was derived from him If all those several Drops in particular Creatures were collected into one Spirit into one Creature it would be an unconceivable knowledg yet still lower than what the Author of all that knowledg hath for God cannot give more knowledg than he hath himself nor is the Creature capable of receiving so much Knowledg as God hath As the Creature is uncapable of receiving so much power as God hath for then it would be Almighty so it is uncapable of receiving so much Knowledg as God hath for then it would be God Nothing can be made by God equal to him in any thing if any thing could be made as Knowing as God it would be Eternal as God it would be the cause of all things as God The Knowledg that we poor Worms have is an Argument God uses for the asserting the greatness of his own Knowledg Psal 94.10 He that teaches man knowledg shall not he know Man hath here Knowledg ascribed to him the Author of this Knowledg is God he furnisht him with it and therefore doth in a higher manner possess it and much more than can fall under the comprehension of any Creature as the Sun enlightens all things but hath more Light in it self than it darts upon the Earth or the Heavens and shall not God eminently contain all that knowledg he imparts to the Creatures and infinitely more exact and comprehensive 3. The accusations of Conscience evidence Gods knowledg of all actions of all his Creatures Doth not Conscience check for the most secret Sins to which none are privy but a mans self the whole World beside being ignorant of his Crime do not the fears of another Judg gall the heart If a Judgment above him be fear'd an Understanding above him discerning their Secrets is confest by those fears whence can those horrors arise if there be not a Superior that understands and records the Crime What Perfection of the Divine Being can this relate unto but Omniscience What other Attribute is to be feared if God were defective in this The Condemnation of us by our own Hearts when none in the World can condemn us renders it legible that there is one greater than our hearts in respect of Knowledg who knows all things 1 John 3.20 Conscience would be a vain Principle and stingless without this it would be an easy matter to silence all its accusations and mockingly laugh in the face of its severest frowns What need any trouble themselves if none knows their Crimes but themselves Conceal'd Sins gnawing the Conscience are Arguments of Gods Omniscience of all present and past actions 4. God is the first cause of every thing every Creature is his Production Since all Creatures from the highest Angel to the lowest Worm exist by the power of God
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
Power This Title is superior to any Title given to any of the Prophets in regard of their Predictions and therefore I should take it rather as the note of his perfect understanding than of his perfect teaching and discovering as Calvin doth He is not only the Revealer of what he knows so were the Prophets according to their measures but the Counsellor of what he revealed having a perfect understanding of all the Counsels of God as being interested in them as the mighty God He calls himself by the peculiar Title of God and declares that he will manifest himself by this Prerogative to all the Churches Rev. 2.23 And all the Churches shall know that I am he which searches the Reins and Hearts the most hidden operations of the minds of men that lye locked up from the view of all the World besides And this was no new thing to him after his Ascension for the same Perfection he had in the time of his earthly flesh Luke 6.8 he knew their Thoughts his eyes are therefore compar'd Cant. 5.12 to Doves eyes which are clear and quick and to a flame of fire Rev. 1.14 not only heat to consume his Enemies but Light to discern their contrivances against the Church he pierceth by his knowledg into all parts as fire pierceth into the closest particle of Iron and separates between the most united parts of Metals and some tell us he is called a Roe from the perspicacity of his Sight as well as from the swiftness of his motion 1. He hath a perfect Knowledg of the Father he knows the Father and none else knovvs the Father Angels knovv God men knovv God but Christ in a peculiar manner knovvs the Father no man knows the Son but the Father neither knows any man the Father save the Son Mat. 11.27 he knows so as that he learns not from any other he doth perfectly comprehend him vvhich is beyond the reach of any Creature vvith the addition of all the Divine Vertue not because of any incapacity in God to reveal but the incapacity of the Creature to receive finite is uncapable of being made infinite and therefore incapable of comprehending infinite so that Christ cannot be Deus factus made of a Creature a God to comprehend God for then of finite he vvould become infinite vvhich is a contradiction As the Spirit is God because he searches the deep things of God 1 Cor. 2.10 that is comprehends them Potav Theo. dogmat Tom. 1. p. 467. c. as the Spirit of a man doth the things of a man now the Spirit of man understands vvhat it Thinks and vvhat it Wills so the Spirit of God understands vvhat is in the Understanding of God and vvhat is in the Will of God He hath an absolute knovvledg ascrib'd to him and such as could not be ascrib'd to any thing but a Divinity Novv if the Spirit knovvs the deep things of God and takes from Christ vvhat he shevvs to us of him John 16.15 he cannot be ignorant of those things himself he must knovv the depths of God that affords us that Spirit that is not ignorant of any of the Counsels of the Fathers Will since he comprehends the Father and the Father him he is in himself infinite for God whose Essence is infinite is infinitely knowable but no Created understanding can infinitely know God The infiniteness of the object hinders it from being understood by any thing that is not infinite Though a Creature should understand all the works of God yet it cannot be therefore said to understand God himself As tho' I may understand all the volitions and motions of my Soul yet it doth not follow that therefore I understand the whole nature and substance of my Soul or if a man understood all the effects of the Sun that therefore he understands fully the nature of the Sun But Christ knows the Father he lay in the Bosom of the Father was in the greatest intimacy with him John 1.18 and from this intimacy with him he saw him and knew him so he knows God as much as he is knowable and therefore knows him perfectly as the Father knows himself by a comprehensive Vision this is the knowledg of God wherein properly the infiniteness of his understanding appears And our Saviour uses such expressions which manifest his Knowledg to be above all Created Knowledg and such a manner of knowledg of the Father as the Father hath of him 2. Christ knows all Creatures That knowledg which comprehends God comprehends all Created things as they are in God 't is a knowledg that sinks to the depths of his Will and therefore extends to all the acts of his Will in Creation and Providence by knowing the Father he knows all things that are contained in the Vertue Power and Will of God whatsoever the Father doth that the Son doth John 5.19 As the Father therefore knows all things he is the cause of so doth the Son know all things he is the worker of as the perfect making of all things belongs to both so doth the perfect knowledg of all things belong to both where the action is the same the knowledg is the same Now the Father did not Create one thing and Christ another but all things were Created by him and for him all things both in Heaven and Earth Col. 1.16 as he knows himself as the cause of all things and the end of all things he cannot be ignorant of all things that were effected by him and are referred to him he knows all Creatures in God as he knows the Essence of God and knows all Creatures in themselves as he knows his own acts and the fruits of his Power those things must be in his Knowledg that were in his Power all the Treasures of the Wisdom and Knowledg of God are hid in him Col. 2.3 Now it is not the Wisdom of God to know in part and be in part ignorant He cannot be ignorant of any thing since there is nothing but what was made by him John 1.3 and since it is less to know than Create for we know many things which we cannot make Petav. Theolo Dogmat. Tom. 1. p. 467. If he be the Creator he cannot but be the discerner of what he made this is a part of Wisdom belonging to an Artificer to know the nature and quality of what he makes Since he cannot be ignorant of what he furnisht with Being and with various endowments he must know them not only universally but particularly 3. Christ knows the hearts and affections of men Peter scruples not to ascribe to him this knowledg among the knowledg of all other things John 21.17 Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee From Christs knowledg of all things he concludes his knowledg of the inward frames and dispositions of men To search the heart is the sole Prerogative of God 1 Kings 8.39 for thou even thou only knowest the hearts of all the Children of men
Shall we take only here with a limitation as some that are no Friends to the Deity of Christ would and say God only knows the hearts of men from himself and by his own infinite vertue Why may we not take only in other places with a limitation and make nonsence of it as Psal 86.10 Thou art God alone Is it to be understood that God is God alone from himself but other Gods may be made by him and so there may be numberless infinites As God is God alone so that none can be God but himself so he alone knows all the hearts Of all the Children of men and none but he can know them this knowledg is from his nature Placaeus de deitate Christi The reason why God knows the hearts of men is rendered in the Scripture double because he created them and because he is present every where Psal 33.13 15. these two are by the Confession of Christians and Pagans universally received as the proper Characters of Divinity whereby the Deity is distinguish'd from all Creatures Now when Christ ascribes this to himself and that with such an Emphasis that nothing greater than that could be urg'd as he doth Rev. 2.23 we must conclude that he is of the same Essence with God one with him in his Nature as well as one with him in his Attributes God only knows the hearts of the Children of men there is the unity of God Christ searches the Hearts and Reins there is a distinction of Persons in an oneness of essence he knows the hearts of all men not only of those that were with him in the time of the Flesh that have been and shall be since his Ascension but of those that lived and died before his coming because he is to be the Judg of all that lived before his humiliation on earth as well as after his exaltation in Heaven It pertains to him as a Judg to know distinctly the merits of the Cause of which he is to Judg and this excellency of searching the hearts is mention'd by himself with relation to his judicial Proceeding I will give to every one of you according to your Works And tho' a Creature may know what is in a mans heart if it be revealed to him yet such a knowledg is a knowledg only by report not by inspection yet this latter is ascrib'd to Christ John 2.24.25 he knew all men and needed not that any should testify of man for he knew what was in man he looked into their hearts The Evangelist to allay the amazement of men at his relation of our Saviours knowledg of the inward falsity of those that made a splendid Profession of him doth not say the Father revealed it to him but intimates it to be an unseparable Property of his nature No covering was so thick as to bound his eye no pretence so glittering as to impose upon his understanding Those that made a Profession of him and could not be discerned by the eye of man from his faithfullest Attendants were in their inside known to him plainer than their outside was to others and therefore he committed not himself to them tho' they seemed to be perswaded to a real belief in his name because of the Power of his Miracles and were touched with an admiration of him as some great Prophet and perhaps declared him to be the Messiah ver 23. 4. He had a foreknowledg of the particular inclinations of men before those distinct inclinations were in actual Being in them This is plainly asserted John 6.64 but there are some of you that believe not for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him When Christ assured them from the knowledg of the hearts of his followers that some of them were void of that Faith they profest The Evangelist to stop their amazement that Christ should have such a power and vertue adds that he knew from the beginning that he had not only a present knowledg but a foreknowledg of every ones inclination he knew not only now and then what was in the Hearts of his Disciples but from the beginning of any ones giving up their Names to him he knew whether it were a pretence or sincere he knew who should betray him and there was no mans inward affection but was foreseen by him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã From the beginning whether we understand it from the beginning of the World as when Christ saith concerning Divorces from the beginning it was not so that is from the beginning of the World from the beginning of the Law of Nature or from the beginning of their attending him as it is taken Luke 1.2 he had a certain prescience of the inward dispositions of mens hearts and their succeeding sentiments he foreknew the treacherous heart of Judas in the midst of his splendid Profession and discern'd his resolution in the root and his thought in the confus'd Chaos of his natural corruption he knew how it would spring up before it did spring up before Judas had any distinct and formal conception of it himself or before there was any actual preparation to a resolve Peters denyal was not unknown to him when Peter had a present resolution and no question spake it in the present sincerity of his Soul never to forsake him he foreknew what would be the result of that Poyson which lurkt in Peters nature before Peter himself imagin'd any thing of it he discern'd Peters Apostatizing heart when Peter resolved the contrary our Saviours Prediction was accomplisht and Peters valiant resolution languisht into Cowardice Shall we then conclude our Blessed Saviour a Creature who perfectly and only knew the Father who knew all Creatures who had all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg who knew the inward motions of mens hearts by his own Vertue and had not only a present Knowledg but a Prescience of them Inform. 2. The second Instruction from this position That God hath an infinite Knowledg and Understanding Then there is a Providence exercis'd by God in the World and that about every thing As Providence infers Omniscience as the guide of it so Omniscience infers Providence as the end of it What Exercise would there be of this Attribute but in the Government of the World To this this infinite Perfection refers Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the heart I try the Reins to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings He searches the heart to reward he rewards every man according to the rewardableness of his actions his Government therefore extends to every man in the World there is no heart but he searches therefore no heart but he governs to what purpose else would be this Knowledg of all his Creatures for a meer Contemplation of them no What pleasure can that be to God who knows himself who is infinitely more excellent than all his Creatures Doth he know them to neglect all care
of them this must be either out of Sloth but how incompatible is laziness to a pure and infinite activity or out of Majesty but 't is no less for the glory of his Majesty to conduct them than it was for the glory of his Power to erect them into Being he that counts nothing unworthy of his Arms to make nothing unworthy of his Understanding to know why should he count any thing unworthy of his Wisdom to govern If he knows them to neglect them it must be because he hath no Will to it or no Goodness for it either of these would be a stain upon God to want Goodness is to be Evil and to want Will is to be negligent and scornful which are inconsistent with an Infinite Active Goodness Doth a Father neglect providing for the wants of the Family which he knows or a Physician the cure of that Disease he understands God is Omniscient he therefore sees all things he is good he doth not therefore neglect any thing but conducts it to the end he appointed it There is nothing so little that can escape his Knowledg and therefore nothing so little but falls under his Providence nothing so sublime as to be above his Understanding and therefore nothing can be without the compass of his Conduct nothing can escape his Eye and therefore nothing can escape his Care nothing is known by him in vain as nothing was made by him in vain there must be acknowledg'd therefore some end of this knowledg of all his Creatures Instruct 3. Hence then will follow the certainty of a day of Judgment To what purpose can we imagine this Attribute of Omniscience so often declared and urg'd in Scripture to our consideration but in order to a government of our practise and a future Tryal Every Perfection of the Divine Nature hath sent out brighter Rays in the World than this of his Infinite Knowledg his Power hath been seen in the Being of the World and his Wisdom in the Order and Harmony of the Creatures his Grace and Mercy hath been plentifully poured out in the mission of a Redeemer and his Justice hath been elevated by the Dying-Groans of the Son of God upon the Cross But hath his Omniscience yet met with a Glory proportionable to that of his other Perfections all the Attributes of God that have appeared in some beautiful glimmerings in the World wait for a more full manifestation in Glory as the Creatures do for the manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 But especially this since it hath been less evidenced than others and as much or more abused than any it expects therefore a publick righting in the eye of the World There have been indeed some few sparks of this Perfection sensibly struck out now and then in the World in some horrors of Conscience which have made men become their own Accusers of unknown Crimes in bringing out hidden Wickedness to a publick view by various Providences This hath also been the design of sprinklings of Judgments upon several Generations as Psal 90.8 We are consumed by thy Anger and by thy Wrath we are troubled thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the light of thy Countenance The word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã signifies Youth as well as secret i.e. Sins committed long ago and that with secrecy By this he hath manifested that secret Sins are not hid from his eye Tho' inward Terrors and outward Judgments have been let loose to worry men into a belief of this yet the corruptions of men would still keep a contrary notion in their minds that God hath forgotten that he hides his face from Transgression and will not regard their Impiety Psal 10.11 There must therefore be a time of Tryal for the publick demonstration of this Excellency that it may receive its due Honour by a full Testimony that no secrecy can be a shelter from it As his Justice which consists in giving every one his due could not be Glorified unless men were called to an account for their actions so neither would his Omniscience appear in its illustrious colours without such a manifestation of the secret motions of mens hearts and of Villanies done under Lock and Key when none were conscious to them but the committers of them Novv the last Judgment is the time appointed for the opening of the Books Dan. 7.10 The Book of Gods Records and Conscience the counter-part were never fully opened and read before only novv and then some some pages turn'd to in particular Judgments and out of those Books shall men be judged according to their Works Rev. 20.12 Then shall the defaced Sins be brought vvith all their circumstances to every mans memory the Counsels of mens hearts fled far from their present remembrance all the habitual knovvledg they had of their ovvn actions shall by Gods knovvledg of them be excited to an actual revievv and their vvorks not only made manifest to themselves but notorious to the World All the Words Thoughts Deeds of men shall be brought forth into the light of their ovvn minds by the infinite Light of Gods understanding reflecting on them His Knovvledg renders him an unerring Witness as vvell as his Justice a swift Witness Mal. 3.5 a svvift Witness because he shall vvithout any circuit or length of Speech convince their Consciences by an invvard illumination of them to take notice of the blackness and deformity of their hearts and vvorks In all Judgments God is somevvhat knovvn to be the searcher of hearts the time of Judgment is the time of his remembrance Hos 8.13 Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins but the great instant or now of the full glorifying it is the grand day of account This Attribute must have a time for its full Discovery and no time can be fit for it but a time of a general reckoning Justice cannot be exercis'd without Omniscience for as Justice is a giving to every one his due so there must be knowledg to discern what is due to every man the searching the heart is in order to the rewarding the works 4. This Perfection in God gives us ground to believe a Resurrection Who can think this too hard for his Power since not the least Atome of the Dust of our Bodies can escape his Knowledg An infinite Understanding comprehends every mite of a departed Carcass this will not appear impossible nor irrational to any upon a serious consideration of this excellency in God The body is perished the matter of it hath been since clothed with different forms and figures part of it hath been made the body of a Worm part of it returned to the Dust that hath been blown away by the Wind part of it hath been concocted in the Bodies of Cannibals Fish ravenous Beasts the Spirits have evaporated into Air part of the Blood melted into Water what then is the matter of the body annihilated is that wholly perished no the
foundation remains tho' it hath put on variety of forms the Body of Abel the first man that died nor the body of Adam are not to this day reduc'd to nothing Indeed the quantity and the quality of those bodies have been lost by various changes they have past through since their dissolution but the matter or substance of them remains intire and is not capable to be destroy'd by all those transforming alterations in so long a revolution of Time The body of a man in his infancy and his old Age if it were Methuselah's is the same in the foundation in those multitude of years tho' the quantity of it be alter'd the quality different tho' the colour and other things be changed in it the matter of this body remains the same among all the alterations after Death And can it be so mixed with other Natures and Creatures as that it is past finding out by an Infinite Vnderstanding Can any particle of this matter escape the eye of him that makes and beholds all those various alterations and where every mite of the substance of those bodies is particularly lodged so as that he cannot compact it together again for a habitation of that Soul that many a year before fled from it Daillè Serm. 15. p. 21. 22 23 24. Since the Knowledg of God is infinite and his Providence extensive over the least as well as the greatest parts of the World he must needs know the least as well as the greatest of his Creatures in their Beginning Progress and Dissolution all the forms through which the Bodies of all Creatures roul the particular instants of time and the particular place when and where those changes are made they are all present with him and therefore when the Revolution of time allotted by him for the re-union of Souls and Deceased Bodies is come it cannot be doubted but out of the Treasures of his Knowledg he can call forth every part of the matter of the Bodies of men from the first to the last man that expired and strip it of all those forms and figures which it shall then have to compact it to be a lodging for that Soul which before it entertain'd and tho' the Bodies of men have been devour'd by Wild Beasts in the Earth and Fish in the Sea and been lodg'd in the Stomachs of Barbarous Men-eaters the matter is not lost There is but little of the Food we take that is turned into the substance of our own bodies that which is not proper for nourishment which is the greatest part is separated and concocted and rejected whatsoever objections are made are answered by this Attribute Nothing hinders a God of Infinite Knowledg from discerning every particle of the matter wheresoever it is dispos'd and since he hath an eye to discern and a hand to recollect and unite what difficulty is there in believing this Article of the Christian Faith he that questions this reveal'd Truth of the Resurrection of the Body must question Gods Omniscience as well as his Omnipotence and Power 5. What semblance of reason is there to expect a justification in the sight of God by any thing in our selves Is there any action done by any of us but upon a scrutiny we may find flaws and deficiency in it What then shall not this Perfection of God discern them the motes that escape our eyes cannot escape his 1 John 3.20 God is greater than our hearts and knows all things so that it is in vain for any man to flatter himself with the rectitude of any work or enter into any debate with him who can bring a Thousand Articles against us out of his own Infinite Records unknown to us and unanswerable by us If Conscience a Representative or Counterpart of Gods Omniscience in our own Bosoms find nothing done by us but in a Copy short of the Original and beholds if not blurs yet Imperfections in the best actions God must much more discern them we never knew a Copy equally exact with the Original If our own Conscience be as a Thousand Witnesses the Knowledg of God is as Millions of Witnesses against us If our Corruption be so great and our Holiness so low in our own eyes how much greater must the one and how much meaner must the other appear in the eyes of God God hath an unerring Eye to see as well as an unspotted Holiness to hate and an unbribable Justice to punish he wants no more Understanding to know the shortness of our actions than he doth Holiness to enact and Power to execute his Laws Nay suppose we could recollect many actions wherein there were no spot visible to us the consideration of this Attribute should scare us from resting upon any or all of them since it is the Lord that by a piercing eye sees and judges according to the heart and not according to appearance The least crookedness of a Stick not sensible to an acute eye yet will appear when laid to the Line and the impurity of a Counterfeit Metal be manifest when applyed to the Touchstone so will the best action of any meer man in the World when it comes to be measur'd in Gods Knowledg by the strait Line of his Law Let every man therefore as Paul though he should know nothing by himself think not himself therefore justified Since it is the Lord who is of an infinite Understanding that Judgeth 1 Cor. 4.4 A man may be justified in his own sight but not any living man can be justified in the sight of God Psal 143.2 in his Sight whose eye pierceth into our unknown secrets and frames It was therefore well answered of a good man upon his Death-bed being ask't What he was afraid of I have laboured saith he with all my strength to observe the commands of God but since I am a man I am ignorant whether my works are acceptable to God since God Judges in one manner and I in another manner Let the consideration therefore of this Attribute make us join with Job in his Resolution Job 9.21 tho' we were perfect yet would we not know our own Souls I would not stand up to Plead any of my vertues before God Let us therefore look after another Righteousness wherein the exact eye of the Divine Omniscience we are sure can discern no stain or crookedness 6. What honourable and adoring Thoughts ought we to have of God for this Perfection Do we not honour a man that is able to Predict Do we not think it a great part of Wisdom Have not all Nations regarded such a faculty as a character and a mark of Divinity There is something more ravishing in the knowledg of future things both to the person that knows them and the person that hears them than there is in any other kind of knowledg whence the greatest Prophets have been accounted in the greatest veneration and men have thought it a way to glory to Divine and Predict Hence it was that the Devils
and Pagan Oracles gained so much Credit upon this Foundation were they established and the Enemies of Mankind owned for a true God I say from the Prediction of future things tho' their Oracles were often ambiguous many times false yet those poor Heathens framed many ingenious excuses to free their Adored Gods from the charge of falsity and imposture And shall we not adore the true God the God of Israel the God Blessed for ever for this incommunicable Property whereby he flies above the Wings of the Wind the understandings of men and Cherubims Sabund Theol. natural Tit. 84. somewhat changed Consider how great it is to know the Thoughts and Intentions and Works of one man from the beginning to the end of his life to foreknow all these before the Being of this man when he was lodged afar off in the Loyns of his Ancestors yea of Adam how much greater is it to foreknow and know the Thoughts and Works of three or four men of a whole Village or Neighbourhood 'T is greater still to know the imaginations and actions of such a multitude of men as are contained in London Paris or Constantinople how much greater still to know the intentions and practises the clandestine contrivances of so many Millions that have do or shall swarm in all quarters of the World every person of them having Millions of Thoughts Desires Designs Affections and Actions Let this Attribute then make the Blessed God honourable in our eyes and adorable in all our affections especially since it is an Excellency which hath so lately discovered it self in bringing to Light the hidden things of darkness in opening and in part confounding the wicked Devices of Bloody men Especially let us adore God for it and admire it in God since it is so necessary a Perfection that without it the goodness of God had been impotent and could not have relieved us for what help can a distressed person expect from a man of the sweetest disposition and the strongest arm if the eyes which should discover the danger and direct the defence and rescue were closed up by blindness and darkness Adore God for this wonderful Perfection 7. In the consideration of this excellent Attribute what low thoughts should we have of our own knowledg and how humble ought we to be before God There 's nothing man is more apt to be proud of than his Knowledg 't is a Perfection he glories in but if our own Knowledg of the little outside and barks of things puffs us up the consideration of the infiniteness of Gods Knowledg should abate the Tumor As our Beings are nothing in regard to the infiniteness of his Essence so our Knowledg is nothing in regard of the vastness of his understanding We have a spark of Being but nothing to the heat of the Sun We have a drop of Knowledg but nothing to the Divine Ocean What a vain thing is it for a shallow Brook to boast of its Streams before a Sea whose depths are unfathomable As it is a vanity to brag of our Strength when we remember the Power of God and of our Prudence when we glance upon the Wisdom of God so 't is no less a vanity to boast of our Knowledg when we think of the Understanding and Knowledg of God How hard is it for us to know any thing Pascall p. 17â too much noise deafs us and too much light dazels us too much distance alienates the object from us and too much nearness bars up our sight from beholding it When we think our selves to be near the knowledg of a thing as a Ship to the Haven a puff of Wind blows us away and the object which we desired to know eternally flies from us we burn with a desire of knowledg and yet are opprest with the darkness of ignorance we spend our days more in dark Egypt than in enlightened Goshen In what narrow bounds is all the knowledg of the most intelligent persons included Amyrant de praedest p. 116. 117. somewhat changed How few understand the exact Harmony of their own bodies the nature of the life they have in common with other Animals who understands the nature of his own faculties how he Knows and how he Wills how the Understanding Proposeth and how the Will embraceth how his spiritual Soul is united to his material Body what the nature is of the operation of our Spirits nay who understands the nature of his own body the offices of his sences the motion of his Members how they come to obey the command of the Will and a Thousand other things What a vain weak and ignorant thing is man when compar'd with God yet there is not a greater Pride to be found among Devils than among ignorant men with a little very little flashy knowledg Ignorant man is as proud as if he knew as God! As the consideration of Gods Omniscience should render him honourable in our eyes so it should render us vile in our own God because of his knowledg is so far from disdaining his Creatures that his Omniscience is a Minister to his Goodness No knowledg that we are possess'd of should make us swell with too high a conceit of our selves and a disdain of others We have infinitely more of ignorance than knowledg Let us therefore remember in all our thoughts of God that he is God and we are men and therefore ought to be humble as becomes men and ignorant and foolish men to be as weak Creatures should lie low before an Almighty God and impure Creatures before a Holy God false Creatures before a Faithful God finite Creatures before an Infinite God so should ignorant Creatures before an All-Knowing God All Gods Attributes teach admiring thoughts of God and low thoughts of our selves 8. It may inform us how much this Attribute is injured in the World The first error after Adams eating the forbidden Fruit was the denyal of this as well as the Omnipresence of God Gen. 3.10 I heard thy voice in the Garden and I hid my self as if the thickness of the Trees could screen him from the eye of his Creator And after Cains Murder this is the first Perfection he affronts Gen. 4.9 Where is Abel thy Brother saith God How roundly doth he answer I know not as if God were as weak as man to be put off with a Lye Man doth as naturally hate this Perfection as much as he cannot naturally but acknowledg it he wishes God stript of this eminency that he might be incapable to be an inspector of his Crimes and a searcher of the Closets of his heart In wishing him deprived of this there is a hatred of God himself for it is a loathing an Essential Property of God without which he would be a pitiful Governor of the World What a kind of God should that be of a Sinners wishing that had wanted Eyes to see a Crime and Righteousness to punish it The want of the consideration of this Attribute is
the cause of all Sin in the World Hos 7.2 they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their Wickedness they speak not to their hearts nor make any reflection upon the infiniteness of my Knowledg 't is a high contempt of God as if he were an Idol a senseless Stock or Stone in all evil practices this is denyed We know God sees all things yet we live and vvalk as if he knevv nothing We call him Omniscient and live as if he vvere ignorant we say he is all eye yet act as if he were wholly blind In particular this Attribute is injured By invading the peculiar rights of it by presuming on it and by a practical denyal of it 1. By invading the peculiar rights of it 1. By invocation of Creatures Praying to Saints by the Romanists is a disparagement to this Divine Excellency he that knows all things is only fit to have the Petitions of men presented to him Prayer supposeth an Omniscient Being as the object of it no other Being but God ought to have that honour acknowledged to it no Understanding but his is infinite no other Presence but his is every where to implore any deceased Creature for a supply of our wants is to ovvn in them a Property of the Deity and make them Deities that vvere but men and increase their Glory by a diminution of Gods Honour in ascribing that Perfection to Creatures which belongs only to God Alas they are so far from understanding the desires of our Souls that they know not the words of our Lips 'T is against reason to address our Supplications to them that neither understand us nor discern us Isa 63.16 Abraham is ignorant of us and Israel acknowledges us not The Jews never called upon Abraham tho' the Covenant vvas made vvith him for the vvhole Seed not one departed Saint for the vvhole Four Thousand Years betvveen the Creation of the World and the coming of Christ vvas ever Prayed to by the Israelites or ever imagin'd to have a share in Gods Omniscience so that to pray to St. Peter St. Paul much less to St. Roch St. Swithin St. Martin St. Francis c. is such a Superstition that hath no footing in the Scripture Daillè Melang part 2. p. 560. 561. To desire the Prayers of the Living with whom we have a Communion who can understand and grant our desires is founded upon a mutual Charity but to implore persons that are absent at a great distance from us with whom we have not nor know how to have any Commerce supposeth them in their departure to have put off Humanity and commenc'd Gods and endued with some part of the Divinity to understand our Petitions we are indeed to cherish their Memories consider their Examples imitate their Graces and observe their Doctrines we are to follow them as Saints but not elevate them as Gods in ascribing to them such a knowledg which is only the necessary right of their and our common Creator As the invocation of Saints mingles them with Christ in the exercise of his Office so it sets them equal with God in the Throne of his Omniscience As if they had as much credit with God as Christ in a way of Mediation and as much knowledg of mens affairs as God himself Omniscience is peculiar to God and incommunicable to any Creature 't is the foundation of all Religion and therefore one of the choicest acts of it viz. Prayer and Invocation To direct our Vows and Petitions to any else is to invade the peculiarity of this Perfection in God and to rank some Creatures in a Partnership with him in it 2. This Attribute is injured by curiosity of Knowledg Especially of future things which God hath not discovered in natural causes or supernatural Revelation 'T is a common error of mens Spirits to aspire to know what God would have hidden and to pry into Divine Secrets and many men are more willing to remain without the knowledg of those things which may with a little industry be attained than be divested of the curiosity of enquiring into those things which are above their reach 't is hence that some have laid aside the Study of the common remedies of Nature to find out the Philosophers Stone which scarce any ever yet attempted but sunk in the Enterprise Amyraut Moral Tom. 3. p. 75. c. From this inclination to know the most abstruse and difficult things it is that the horrors of Magick and the vanities of Astrology have sprung whereby men have thought to find in a commerce with Devils and the Jurisdiction of the Stars the events of their Lives and the disposal of States and Kingdoms Hence also arose those Multitudes of ways of Divination invented among the Heathen and practised too commonly in these Ages of the World This is an invasion of Gods Prerogative to whom secret things belong Deut. 29.29 Secret things belong unto the Lord our God but revealed things belong to us and our Children 'T is an intolerable boldness to attempt to fathom those the knowledg whereof God hath reserved to himself and to search that which God will have to surpass our Understandings whereby we more truly envy God a knowledg superior to our own than we in Adam imagin'd that he envyed us Ambition is the greatest cause of this Ambition to be accounted some great thing among men by reason of a Knowledg estrang'd from the common mass of mankind but more especially that soaring Pride to be equal with God which lurks in our nature ever since the Fall of our first Parents This is not yet laid aside by man though it was the first thing that embroyl'd the World with the Wrath of God Some think a curiosity of Knowledg was the cause of the fall of Devils I am sure it was the foyl of Adam and is yet the Crime of his Posterity had he been contented to know what God had furnisht him with neither he nor his Posterity had smarted under the Venom of the Serpents Breath All curious and bold enquiries into things not revealed are an attempt upon the Throne of God and are both sinful and pernicious like to glaring upon the Sun where instead of a greater acuteness we meet with blindness and too dearly buy our ignorance in attempting a superfluous knowledg As Gods Knowledg is destin'd to the government of the World so should ours be to the advantage of the World and not degenerate into vain speculations 3. This Attribute is injur'd by swearing by Creatures To swear by the Name of God in a Righteous Cause Cajetan Sum. p. 190. when we are lawfully call'd to it by a Superior Power or for the necessary decision of some Controversy for the ends of Charity and Justice is an act of Religion and a part of Worship founded upon and directed to the honour of this Attribute by it we acknowledg the glory of his infallible Knowledg of all things but to Swear by false Gods
or by any Creature is Blasphemous it sets the Creature in the place of God and invests it in that which is the peculiar honour of the Divinity for when any swear truly they intend the invocation of an infallible Witness and the bringing an undoubted Testimony for what they do assert While any therefore Swear by a Creature or a false God they profess that that Creature or that which they esteem to be a God is an infallible Witness which to be is only the right of God they attribute to the Creature that which is the Property of God alone to know the Heart and to be a Witness whether they speak true or no and this was accounted by all Nations the true Design of an Oath As to Swear falsely is a plain denyal of the All-Knowledg of God so to Swear by any Creature is to set the Creature upon the Throne of God in ascribing that Perfection to the Creature which Soveraignly belongs to the Creator for it is not in the Power of any to Witness to the truth of the heart but of him that is the searcher of hearts 4. We Sin against this Attribute by censuring the hearts of others An open Crime indeed falls under our Cognizance and therefore under our Judgment for whatsoever falls under the Authority of man to be punished falls under the Judgment of man to be censured as an act contrary to the Law of God yet when a censure is built upon the evil of the act which is obvious to the view if we take a step farther to judg the heart and state we leave the revealed rule of the Law and ambitiously erect a Tribunal equal with Gods and usurp a Judicial Power pertaining only to the Supream Governour of the World and consequently pretend to be possest of this Perfection of Omniscience which is necessary to render him capable of the exercise of that Soveraign Authority For it is in respect of his Dominion that God hath the supream right to Judg and in respect of his Knowledg that he hath an incommunicable capacity to Judg. In an action that is doubtful the good or evil whereof depends only upon Gods determination and wherein much of the Judgment depends upon the discerning the intention of the Agent we cannot Judg any man without a manifest invasion of Gods peculiar right such actions are to be Tryed by Gods knowledg not by our surmises God only is the Master in such cases to whom a person stands or falls Rom. 14.4 Till the true Principle and ends of an action be known by the confession of the party acting it a true Judgment of it is not in our Power Principles and Ends lye deep and hid from us and it is intollerable Pride to pretend to have a joint Key with God to open that Cabinet which he hath reserved to himself Besides the violation of the Rule of Charity in misconstruing actions which may be great and generous in their root and principle we invade Gods Right as if our ungrounded imaginations and conjectures were in joint Commission with this Sovereign Perfection and thereby we become Usurping Judges of evil thoughts James 2.4 'T is therefore a boldness worthy to be punished by the Judge to assume to our selves the Capacity and Authority of him who is the only Judg. For as the Execution of the Divine Law for the inward violation of it belongs only to God so is the right of Judging a Prerogative belonging only to his Omniscience his Right is therefore invaded if we pretend to a knowledg of it This Humor of men the Apostle checks when he saith 1 Cor. 4.5 He that judgeth me is the Lord therefore judg nothing before the time until the Lord come who will manifest the Counsels of all hearts 'T is not the time yet for God to erect the Tribunal for the tryal of mens hearts and the Principles of their Actions He hath reserv'd the glorious discovery of this Attribute for another season We must not therefore presume to Judge of the Counsels of mens hearts till God hath reveal'd them by opening the Treasures of his own Knowledg much less are we to judge any Mans final Condition Manasseh may Sacrifice to Devils and unconverted Paul tear the Church in pieces but God had Mercy on them and called them The Action may be Censur'd not the State for we know not whom God may call In Censuring Men we may doubly imitate the Devil in a false accusation of the Brethren as well as in an ambitious usurpation of the Rights of God 2. This Perfection is injured by presuming upon it or making an ill use of it As in the neglect of Prayer for the supply of Men's wants because God knows them already so that that which is an encouragement to Prayer they make the reason of restraining it before God Prayer is not to administer knowledge to God but to acknowledge this admirable Perfection of the Divine Nature If God did not know there were indeed no use of Prayer it would be as vain a thing to send up our Prayers to Heaven as to implore the senseless Statue or Picture of a Prince for a Protection We Pray because God knows for though he know our wants with a knowledge of Vision yet he will not know them with a knowledge of supply till he be sought unto All the Excellencies of God are ground of Adoration * Mat. 6.32.33 Matth. 7.11 and this Excellency is the ground of that part of Worship we call Prayer If God be to be Worshipped he is to be called upon Invocations of his name in our necessities is a chief act of Worship whence the Temple the place of solemn Worship was not called the House of Sacrifice but the House of Prayer Prayer was not appointed for Gods information as if he were ignorant but for the expression of our desires not to furnish him with a knowledge of what we want but to manifest to him by some Rational Sign convenient to our Nature our sense of that want which he knows by himself So that Prayer is not design'd to acquaint God with our wants but to express the desire of a Remedy of our wants God knows our wants but hath not made promises barely to our wants but to our asking That his Omniscience in hearing as well as his sufficiency in supplying may have a sensible honour in our acknowledgments and receits 'T is therefore an ill use of this Excellency of God to neglect Prayer to him as needless because he knows already 4. This Perfection of God is wrong'd by a practical denial of it 'T is the language of every Sin and so God takes it when he comes to reckon with Men for their Impieties Upon this he charges the greatness of the iniquity of Israel the overflowing of Blood in the Land and the perversness of the City They say the Lord hath forsaken the Earth and the Lord sees not * Ezek. 9.9 They deny his Eyes to see
and his Resolution to punish 1. It will appear in forbearing Sin from a sense of Mans knowledge not of Gods Open Impieties are refrain'd because of the Eye of Man but secret Sins are not checked because of the Eye of God Wickedness is committed in darkness that is restrained in light as if darkness were as great a clog to Gods Eyes as it is to ours as though his Eyes were mufled with the Curtains of the Night * Job 22.14 This it is likely was at the root of Jonah's flight he might have some secret thought that his Masters Eye could not follow him as though the close Hatches of a Ship could secure him from the knowledge of God as well as the Sides of the Ship could from the dashing of the Waves What lies most upon the Conscience when it is graciously wounded is least regarded or contemned when it is basely inclin'd David's heart smote him not only for his Sin in the gross but as particularly circumstantiated by the commission of it in the sight of God Psal 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this ev l in thy sight None knew the reason of Vriah's Death but my self and because others knew it not I neglected any regard to this Divine Eye When Jacob's Sons used their Brother Joseph so barbarously they took care to hide it from their Father but cast away all thoughts of God from whom it could not be conceal'd Doth not the presence of a Child bridle a Man from the act of a long'd for Sin when the Eye of God is of no force to restrain him as if Gods knowledge were of less value than the sight of a little Boy or Girle as if a Child only could see and God were blind He that will forbear an unworthy action for fear of an Informer will not forbear it for God as if Gods Omniscience were not as full an Intelligencer to Him as Man can be an Informer to a Magistrate As we acknowledge the power of Men seeing us when we are ashamed to commit a filthy action in their view so we discover the power of God seeing us when we regard not what we do before the light of his Eyes Secret Sins are more against God than open Open Sins are against the Law secret Sins are against the Law and this prime Perfection of his Nature The Majesty of God is not only violated but the Omniscience of God disown'd who is the only Witness We must in all of them either imagine him to be without Eyes to behold us or without an Arm of Justice to punish us And often it is I believe in such cases that if any thoughts of Gods knowledge strike upon Men they quickly damp them lest they should begin to know what they fear and fear that they might not eat their pleasant Sinful Morsels 2. It appears in partial Confessions of Sin before God As by a free full and ingenuous Confession we offer a due glory to this Attribute so by a feigned and curtail'd Confession we deny him the honour of it For though by any Confession we in part own him to be a Soveraign and Judge yet by a half and pared acknowledgment we own him to be no more than a Humane and ignorant one Achans full Confession gave God the glory of his Omniscience * Josh 7.19 manifested in the discovery of his secret Crime And Joshuah said to Achan My Son give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make Confession unto him And so Psal 50.23 Who so offereth praise glorifieth me or confession as the word signifieth in which sense I would rather take it referring to this Attribute which God seems to tax Sinners with the denial of Vers 21. telling them that he would open the Records of their Sins before them and indite them particularly for every one If therefore you would glorifie this Attribute which shall one day break open your Consciences offer to me a sincere Confession When David speaks of the happiness of a pardon'd Man * Ps 2.1 2. Camero p. 89. col 1. he adds in whose Spirit there is no guile not meaning a sincerity in general but an ingenuity in Confessing To excuse or extenuate Sin is to deny God the knowledge of the depths of our deceitful hearts When we will mince it rather than aggravate it lay it upon the inducements of others when it was the free act of our own wills study shifts to deceive our Judge this is to speak lies of him as the expression is Hos 7.13 as though he were a God easie to be cheated and knew no more than we are willing to declare What did Sauls transferring his Sin from himself to the People * 1 Sam. 15.15 but charge God with a defect in this Attribute When Man could not be like God in his knowledge he would fancy a God like to him in his ignorance and imagine a possibility of hiding himself from his knowledge And all Men tread more or less in their Fathers steps and are fruitful to devise distinctions to disguise Errors in Doctrine and excuses to palliate Errors in Practice This Crime Job removes from himself * Job 31.33 when he speaks of several acts of his sincerity If I cover'd my transgression as Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom I hid not any of my Sins in my own Conscience but acknowledg'd God a Witness to them and gave him the glory of his knowledge by a free Confession I did not conceal it from God as Adam did or as Men ordinarily do as if God could understand no more of their secret Crimes than they will let him and had no more sense of their faults than they would furnish him with As the first rise of Confession is the owning of this Attribute for the Justice of God would not scare Men nor the Holiness of God awe them without a sense of his knowledge of their iniquities so to drop out some fragments of Confession discover some Sins and conceal others is a plain denial of the extensiveness of the Divine Knowledge 3. It is discover'd by putting God off with an outside Worship Men are often flatterers of God and think to bend him by formal glavering Devotions without the concurrence of their hearts as though he could not pierce into the darkness of the Mind but did as little know us as one Man knows another There are such things as feigned Lips * Psal 17.1 a contradiction between the Heart and the Tongue a clamour in the Voice and scoffing in the Soul a crying to God thou art my Father the guide of my youth and yet speaking and doing evil to the utmost of our power * Jer. 3 4 5. As if God could be impos'd upon by fawning pretences and like old Isaac take Jacob for Esau and be couzend by the smell of his Garments As if he could not discern the Negro heart under an Angels Garb. Thus Ephraim the Ten Tribes
use them no better than Men do devouring Fish and untam'd Beasts with a Hook in the Nose and a Bridle in the Mouth Those States-men in Isa 29.15 thought their Contrivances too deep for God to fathom and too close for God to frustrate They seek deep to hide their Counsels from the Lord surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the Potters Clay of no more force and understanding than a Potters Vessel which understands not its own form wrought by the Artificer nor the use it is put to by the Buyer and Possessor or shall be esteemed as a Potters Vessel that can be as easily flung back into the Mass from whence it was taken as preserved in the Figure it is now endued with No secret Designer is shrowded from Gods sight or can be shelter'd from Gods Arm He understands the Venom of their Hearts better than we can feel it and discovers their inward fury more plainly than we can see the Sting or Teeth of a Viper when they are opened for mischief and to what purpose doth God know and see them but in order to deliver his People from them in his own due time I know their sorrow and am come down to deliver them * Ex. 3.7 8. The Walls of Jerusalem are continually before him he knows therefore all that would undermine and demolish them None can hurt Zion by any ignorance or inadvertency in God 'T is observable that our Saviour assuming to himself a different Title in every Epistle to the Seven Churches doth particularly ascribe to himself this of Knowledge and Wrath in that to Thyatira an Emblem or Description of the Romish State * Rev. 2 1â And unto the Angel of the Church of Thyatira write These things saith the Son of God who hath his Eyes like to a flame of Fire and his Feet like fine Brass His Eyes like a flame of Fire are of a piercing nature insinuating themselves into all the Pores and parts of the Body they encounter with and his Feet like Brass to crush them with is explained Verse 23. I will k ll her Children with Death and all the Churches shall know that I am he which searches the Reins and the Heart and I will give to every one of you according to your works He knows every design of the Romish Party design'd by that Church of Thyatira * For the Evidence of it I refer you to Dr. More 's Exposition of the seven Churches worthy every Learned and Vnderstanding Mans reading and of every sober Romanist Jezabel there signifies a whorish Church such a Church as shall act as Jezabel Ahab's Wife who was not only a Worshipper of Idols but propagated Idolatry in Israel slew the Prophets persecuted Elijah murdered Naboth the Name whereof signifies Prophesie seiz'd upon his Possession And if it be said that Verse 19. this Church was commended for her Works Faith Patience 't is true Rome did at first strongly profess Christianity and maintain'd the interest of it but afterwards fell into the practice of Jezabel and committed Spiritual Adultery And is she to be owned for a Wife that now plays the Harlot because she was honest and modest at her first Marriage * Coc. in loc And though she shall be destroy'd yet not speedily Verse 22. I will cast her into a Bed seems to intimate the destruction of Jezabel not to be at once and speedily but in a lingring way and by degrees as Sicknes consumes a Body 2. This Perfection of God fits him to be a special Object of Trust If he were forgetful what comfort could we have in any Promise How could we depend upon him if he were ignorant of our State His Compassions to pity us his Readiness to relieve us his Power to protect and assist us would be insignificant without his Omniscience to inform his Goodness and direct the Arm of his Power This Perfection is as it were Gods Office of Intelligence As you go to your Memorandum Book to know what you are to do so doth God to his Omniscience This Perfection is Gods Eye to acquaint him with the necessities of his Church and directs all his other Attributes in their exercise for and about his People You may depend upon his Mercy that hath promised and upon his Truth to perform upon his Sufficiency to supply you and his Goodness to relieve you and his Righteousness to reward you because he hath an infinite Understanding to know you and your wants you and your services And without this knowledge of his no comfort could be drawn from any other Perfection none of them could be a sure Nail to hang our hopes and confidence upon This is that the Church alway Celebrated Psal 105.7 He hath remembred his Covenant for ever and the Word which he hath commanded to a thousand generations And Verse 42. He remembred his holy Promise and he remembred for them his Covenant * Psal 106.45 He remembers and understands his Covenant therefore his Promise to perform it and therefore our Wants to supply them 3. And the rather because God knows the Persons of all his own He hath in his infinite Understanding the exact number of all the individual Persons that belong to him 2 Tim. 2.19 The Lord knows them that are his He knows all things because he hath Created them and he knows his People because he hath not only made them but also chose them He could no more choose he knew not what than he could Create he knew not what He knows them under a double Title of Creation as Creatures in the common Mass of Creation as new Creatures by a particular act of Separation He cannot be ignorant of them in time whom he fore-knew from Eternity His knowledge in time is the same he had from Eternity He fore-knew them that he intended to give the Grace of Faith unto and he knows them after they believe because he knows his own act in bestowing Grace upon them and his own Mark and Seal wherewith he hath stampt them No doubt but he that calls the Stars of Heaven by their names * Psal 147.4 knows the number of those living Stars that sparkle in the Firmament of his Church He cannot be ignorant of their Persons when he numbers the Hairs of their Heads and hath Registred their Names in the Book of Life As he only had an infinite Mercy to make the choice so he only hath an infinite Understanding to comprehend their Persons We only know the Elect of God by a Moral assurance in the Judgment of Charity when the Conversation of Men is according to the Doctrine of God We have not an infallible knowledge of them we may be often mistaken Judas a Devil may be judged by Man for a Saint till he be stript of his disguise God only hath an infallible knowledge of them he knows his own Records and the Counterparts in the hearts of his People None can counterfeit
the thronging multitudes Our groans are as audible and intelligible to him as our words and he knows what is the mind of his own Spirit though exprest in no plainer language than sobs and heavings * Rom. 8.27 Thus David cheers up himself under the neglects of his Friends Psal 38.9 Lord my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee Not a groan of a panting Spirit shall be lost till God hath lost his knowledge Not a Petition forgotten while God hath a Record nor a Tear dried while God hath a Bottle to reserve it in * Psal 56.8 Our secret works are also known and observed by him not only our outward labour but our inward love in it Heb. 6.10 If with Isaac we go privately into the Field to meditate or secretly cast our Bread upon the Waters he keeps his Eye upon us to Reward us and returns the Fruit into our own Bosoms * Mat. 6.4.6 Yea though it be but a Cup of cold Water from an inward Spring of love given to a Disciple He sees your works and your labour and faith and patience in working them * Rev. 2.2 all the marks of your industry and strength of your intentions and Will be as exact at last in order to a due Praise as to open Sins in order to a just Recompence * 1 Cor. 4.5 6. The Consideration of this excellent Attribute affords Comfort in the Afflictions of good Men. He knows their Pressures as well as hears their Cries * Exod. 3.7 His Knowledge comes not by information from us but his Compassionate listening to our Cries springs from his own Inspection into our Sorrows He is affected with them before we make any discovery of them He is not ignorant of the best Season when they may be usefully inflicted and when they may be profitably removed The Tribulation and Poverty of his Church is not unknown to him Rev. 2.8 9. I know thy Works and Tribulation c. He knows their Works and what Tribulation they meet with for him He sees their extremities when they are toiling against the Wind and Tide of the World * Mark 6.48 Yea the natural exigencies of the multitude are not neglected by him he discerns to take care of them Our Saviour considered the three days fasting of his Followers and miraculously provides a Dish for them in the Wilderness No good Man is ever out of Gods Mind and therefore never out of his Compassionate Care His Eye pierceth into their Dungeons and pities their Miseries Joseph may forget his Brethren and the Disciples not know Christ when he walks upon the Midnight Waves and Turbulent Sea * Barlow's Man 's Refuge p. 29 30. but a Lyons Den cannot obscure a Daniel from his Sight nor the depths of the Whales Belly bury Jonah from the Divine Understanding He discerns Peter in his Chains and Stephen under the Stones of Martyrdom He knows Lazarus under his tatter'd Rags and Abel wallowing in his Blood His Eye and Knowledge goes along with his People when they are transplanted into Foreign Countreys and sold for Slaves into the Islands of the Grecians for he will raise them out of the place Joel 3.6 7. He would defeat the hopes of the Persecutors and applaud the Patience of his People He knows his People in the Tabernacle of Life and in the Valley of the Shadow of Death Psal 23. He knows all penal Evils because he commissions and directs them He knows the Instruments because they are his Sword * Psal 17.13 and he knows his gracious Sufferer because he hath his Mark He discerns Job in his Anguish and the Devil in his Malice By the direction of this Attribute he orders Calamities and rescues from them Thou hast seen it for thou beholdest mischief and spight * Psal 10.14 That is the Comfort of the Psalmist and the Comfort of every Believer and the Ground of committing themselves to God under all the injustice of Men. 7. 'T is a Cofmort in all our Infirmities As he knows our Sins to charge them so he knows the weakness of our Nature to pity us As his infinite Understanding may scare us because he knows our Transgressions so it may relieve us because he knows our natural mutability in our first Creation He knows our frame he remembers that we are dust * Psal 103.14 'T is the reason of the precedent Verses why he removes our Transgression from us why he is so backward in Punishing so patient in waiting so forward in pitying Why He doth not only remember our Sins but remember our frame or forming what brittle though clear Glasses we were by Creation how easie to be crackt He remembers our impotent and weak Condition by Corruption what a sink we have of vain imaginations that remain in us after Regeneration he doth not only consider that we were made according to his Image and therefore able to stand but that we were made of Dust and weak Matter and had a sensitive Soul like that of Beasts as well as an intellectual Nature like that of Angels and therefore liable to follow the dictates of it without exact care and watchfulness If he remembred only the first there would be no issue but Indignation but the Consideration of the latter moves his Compassion How miserable should we be for want of this Perfection in the Divine Nature whereby God remembers and reflects upon his past act in our first frame and the mindfulness of our Condition excites the motion of his Bowels to us Had he lost the knowledge how he first framed us did he not still remember the mutability of our Nature as we were form'd and stampt in his Mint How much more wretched would our Condition be than it is If his remembrance of our Original be one ground of his Pity the sense of his Omniscience should be a ground of our Comfort in the stirring of our infirmities He remembers we were but Dust when he made us and yet remembers we are but Dust while he preserves and forbears us 8. 'T is some Comfort in the fears of some lurking Corruption in our Hearts We know by this whither to address our selves for the search and discovery of it Perhaps some Blessings we want are retarded some Calamities we understand not the particular cause of are inflicted some Petitions we have put up hang too long for an Answer and the Chariot Wheels of Divine Goodness move slow and are long in coming Let us beg the Aid of this Attribute to open to us the Remoras to discover what base Affection there is that retards the Mercies we want or attracts the Affliction we feel or bars the Door against the return of our supplications What our dim sight cannot discover the clear Eye of God can make visible to us Job 10.2 Shew me wherefore thou contendest with me As in want of Pardon we particularly plead his Mercy and in our desires for the
performance of his Promise we argue with him from his faithfulness so in the fear of any insincerity or hidden Corruption we should implore his Omnscience For as God is a God in Covenant our God our God in the whole of his Nature so the Perfections of his Nature are employed in their several Stations as assistances of his Creatures This was David's Practice and Comfort after that large Meditation on the Omniscience and Omnipresence of God he turns his thoughts of it into Petitions for the employment of it in the concerns of his Soul and begs a Mercy suitable to the glory of this Perfection Psal 139.23 Search me Oh God and trie my heart trie me and know my thoughts Dive to the bottom Verse 24. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way Everlasting His desire is not barely that God should know him for it would be senseless to beg of God that he should have Mercy or faithfulness or power or knowledge in his Nature but he desires the exercise of this Attribute in the discovery of himself to himself in order to his sight of any wicked way and Humiliation for it and Reformation of it in order to his Conduct to Everlasting Life As we may appeal to this Perfection to Judge us when the sincerity of our Actions is Censured by others so we may implore it to search us when our sincerity is question'd by our selves That our Minds may be enlightned by a Beam from his Knowledge and the little Thieves may be pull'd out of their Dens in our Hearts by the hand of his Power In particular it is our Comfort that we can and our necessity that we must Address particularly to this when we engage solemnly in a work of self-examination that we may have a clearer Eye to direct us than our own that we may not mistake Brass for Gold or counterfeit Graces for true that nothing that is filthy and fit to be cast out may escape our Sight and preserve its Station And we need not question the laying at the Door of this neglect viz. not calling in this Attribute to our Aid whose proper Office it is as I may so say to search and enquire all the mistakes ill success and fruitlessness of our endeavours in self-examination because we would engage in it in the pitiful strength of our own dimness and not in the light of Gods Countenance and the assistance of his Eye which can discern what we cannot see and discover that to us which we cannot manifest to our selves 'T is a Comfort to a learner of an Art to have a skilful Eye to overlook his work and inform him of the defects Beg the help of the Eye of God in all your searches and self-examinations 9. The Consideration of this Attribute is Comfortable in our assurances of and reflections upon the pardon of Sin or seeking of it As God punishes Men for Sin according to his knowledge of them which is greater than the knowledge their own Consciences have of them so he pardons according to his knowledge He pardons not only according to our knowledge but according to his own He is greater than any Mans Heart to condemn for that which a Man is at present ignorant of and greater than our Hearts to pardon that which is not at present visible to us He knows that which the most watchful Conscience cannot take a survey of If God had not an infinite Understanding of us how could we have a perfect and full pardon from him It would not stand with his Honour to pardon he knew not what He knows what Crimes we have to be pardon'd when we know not all of them our selves that stand in need of a gracious Remission His Omniscence beholds every Sin to charge it upon our Saviour If he knows our Sins that are black he knows every mite of Christs Righteousness which is pure and the utmost extent of his Merits as well as the demerit of our iniquities As he knows the filth of our Sin he also knows the covering of our Saviour He knows the value of the Redeemers Sufferings and exactly understands every Plea in the intercession of our Advocate Though God knows our Sins oculo indice yet he doth not see them oculo judice with a Judicial Eye His Omniscience stirs not up his Justice to Revenge but his Mercy to Pity His infinite Understanding of what Christ hath done directs him to disarm his Justice and sound an Alarm to his Bowels As he understands better than we what we have committed so he understands better than we what our Saviour hath merited and his Eye directs his Hand in the blotting out Guilt and applying the Remedy 3. The third Use shall be to Sinners to humble them and put them upon serious Consideration This Attribute speaks terrible things to a Profligate Sinner Basil thinks that the ripping open the Sins of the Damned to their faces by this Perfection of God is more terrible than their other Torments in Hell God knows the Persons of Wicked Men not one is exempted from his Eye he sees all the actions of Men as well as he knows their Persons Job 11.11 He knows vain Men he sees wickedness also Job 34.21 His Eye is upon all their goings He hears the most private Whispers Psal 139.4 the scope manner circumstance of speaking he knows it altogether He understands all our thoughts the first bubblings of that bitter Spring Psal 139.2 The quickest glances of the Fancy the closest musings of the Mind and the abortive wouldings or wishes of the Will the language of the Heart as well as the language of the Tongue Not a foolish thought or an idle word not a wanton glance or a dishonest action Not a negligent service or a distracting fancy but is more visible to him than the filth of a Dunghill can be to any Man by the help of a Sun Beam How much better would it be for desperate Sinners to have their Crimes known to all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth and Devils in Hell than that they should be known to their Soveraign whose Laws they have violated and to their Judge whose Righteousness obligeth him to revenge the injury 1. Consider What a poor Refuge is secrecy to a Sinner Not the Mysts of a foggy Day nor the obscurity of the darkest Night not the closest Curtains nor the deepest Dungeon can hide any Sin from the Eye of God Adam is known in his Thickets and Jonah in his Cabin Achan's Wedge of Gold is discern'd by him though buried in the Earth and hooded with a Tent. Shall Sarah be unseen by him when she mockingly laughs behind the Door Shall Gehazy tell a Lye and comfort himself with an imagination of his Masters ignorance as long as God knows it Whatsoever works Men do are not hid from God whither done in the darkness or Day-light in the Mid-night darkness or the Noon-day Sun He is all Eye
Thou hast seen it Thou hast intently beheld it as the word properly signifies He beholds and knows the actions of every particular Man as if there were none but he in the World And doth not only know but ponder * Prov. 5.21 and consider their works * Psal 33.15 He is not a bare Spectator but a diligent Observer * 1 Sam. 2.3 By him actions are weighed To see what degree of good or evil there is in them what there is to blemish them what to advantage them what the quality and quantity of every action is Consideration takes in every Circumstance of the Considered Object Notice is taken of the place where the minute when the Mercy against which it is committed the number of them is exact in Gods Book They have tempted me now these ten times * Numb 14.22 against the demonstrations of my Glory in Egypt and the Wilderness The whole Guilt in every Circumstance is spread before him His knowledge of Mens Sins is not confused such an Imperfection an infinite Understanding cannot be subject to 'T is exact for iniquity is markt before him * Jer. 2.22 5. God knows Mens miscarriage so as to judge This use his Omniscience is put to to maintain his Soveraign Authority in the exercise of his Justice His notice of the Sins of Men is in order to a just Retribution Psal 10.14 Thou hast seen mischief to requite it with thy hand The Eye of his Knowledge directs the Hand of his Justice and no sinful action that falls under his Cognizance but will fall under his Revenge they can as little escape his Censure as they can his Knowledge He is a Witness in his Omniscience that he may be a Judge in his Righteousness He knows the hearts of the Wicked so as to hate their Works and testifie his abhorrency of that which is of high value with M n * Luke 16.15 Sin is not preserved in his Understanding or written down in his Book to be moth-eaten as an old Manuscript but to be open'd one day and Copied out in the Consciences of Men He writes them to publish them and sets them in the light of his Countenance to bring them to the light of their Consciences What a terrible consideration is it to think that the Sins of a day are upon Record in an Infallible Uunderstanding much more the Sins of a week What a number then do the Sins of a Month a Year ten or forty Years arise to How many actions against Charity against Sincerity what an infinite number is there of them all bound up in the Court Rolls of Gods Omniscience in order to a Tryal to be brought out before the Eyes of Men Who can seriously consider all those Bonds reserv'd in the Cabinet of Gods Knowledge to be sued out against the Sinner in due time without an unexpressible horror 4. The fourth Use is of Exhortation Let us have a sense of Gods Knowledge upon our hearts All Wickedness hath a spring from a want of due Consideration and sense of it David concludes it so * Psal 86.14 The proud rose against him and violent Men sought after his Soul because they did not set God before them They think God doth not know and therefore care not what nor how they act When the fear of this Attribute is remov'd a Door is open'd to all Impiety What is there so villanous but the minds of Men will attempt to act What Reverence of a Deity can be left when the sence of his infinite Understanding is extinguisht What Faith could there be in Judgments in Witnesses How would the Foundations of Humane Society be overturn'd The Pillars upon which Commerce stands be utterly broken and dissolved What Society can be preserved if this be not truly believed and faithfully stuck to But how easily would Oaths be swallowed and quickly violated if the sense of this Perfection were rooted out of the minds of Men What fear could they have of calling to Witness a Being they imagine blind and ignorant Men secretly imagine that God knows not or soon forgets and then make bold to Sin against him * Ezek. 8.12 How much does it therefore concern us to cherish and keep alive the sense of this If God writes us upon the Palms of his Hands as the Expression is to remember us let us engrave him upon the Tables of our Hearts to remember him It would be a good Motto to write upon our Minds God knows all he is of infinite Understanding 1. This would give check to much iniquity Can a Mans Conscience easily and delightfully swallow that which he is sensible falls under the Cognizance of God when it is hateful to the Eye of his Holiness and renders the Actor odious to him Doth he not see my ways and count all my steps saith Job * Job 31.4 To what end doth he fix this Consideration To keep him from wanton glances Temptations have no encouragement to come near him that is constantly arm'd with the thoughts that his Sin is Book't in Gods Omniscience If any impudent Devil hath the face to tempt us we should not have the impudence to joyn issue with him under the sense of an infinite Understanding How fruitless would his Wiles be against this Consideration How easily would his Snares be crackt by one sensible thought of this This doth Solomon prescribe to allay the heat of Carnal imaginations * Prov. 5.20 21. It were a useful Question to ask at the appearance of every Temptation at the entrance upon every Action as the Church did in Temptations to Idolatry * Psal 44.21 Shall not God search this out for he knows the secrets of the heart His Understanding comprehends us more than our Consciences can our acts or our understanding our thoughts Who durst speak Treason against a Prince if he were sure he heard him or that it would come to his knowledge A sense of Gods knowledge of Wickedness in the first motion and inward contrivance would bar the accomplishment and execution The Consideration of Gods infinite Understanding would cry stand to the first glances of the heart to Sin 2. It would make us watchful over our hearts and thoughts Should we harbour any unworthy thoughts in our Cabinet if our heads and hearts were possess'd with this useful truth That God knows everything which comes into our minds * Ezek. 11.5 We should as much blush at the rising of impure thoughts before the Understanding of God as at the discovery of unworthy actions to the knowledge of Men If we lived under a sense that not a thought of all those millions which flutter about our Minds can be conceal'd from him how watchful and careful should we be of our hearts and thoughts 3. It would be a good preparation to every Duty This Consideration should be the Preface to every service The Divine Understanding knows how I now act This would engage us to serious
Intention and quell wandring and distracting fancies Who would come before God with a careless and ignorant Soul under a sense of his infinite Understanding and Prerogative of searching the heart Oh thou that sittest in Heaven was a Consideration the Psalmist had at the beginning of his Prayer * Psal 123.1 Whereby he testifies not only an apprehension of the Majesty and Power of God but of his Omniscience as one sitting above beholds all that is below Would we offer to God such raw and undigested Petitions would there be so much flatness in our services should our hearts so often give us the slip Would any hang down their Heads like a Bulrush by an affected or counterfeit Humility while the Heart is filled with Pride if we did actuate Faith in this Attribute No our Prayers would be more sound our Devotions more vigorous our Hearts more close our Spirits like the Chariots of Aminadab more swift in their motions Every thing would be done by us with all our might which would be very feeble and faint if we conceived God to be of a Finite Understanding like our selves Let us therefore before every Duty not draw but open the Curtains between God and our Souls and think that we are going before him that sees us before him that knows us * Gen. 16.13 And the stronger Impressions of the Divine Knowledge are upon our Minds the better would our preparation be for and the more active our frames in every service And certainly we may judge of the suitableness of our preparations by the strength of such Impressions upon us 4. This would tend to make us sincere in our whole Course This prescription David gave to Solomon to maintain a soundness and health of Spirit in his walk before God 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son know the God of thy Fathers and serve him with a perfect heart for the Lord understands all the imaginations of the thoughts * Antiquit. lib. 1. cap. 3. Josephus gives this reason for Abels Holiness That he believed God was ignorant of nothing As the Doctrine of Omniscience is the foundation of all Religion so the Impression of it would promote the practice of all Religion When all our ways are imagin'd by us to be before the Lord we shall then keep his Precepts * Psal 119. â68 And we can never be perfect or sincere till we walk before God Gen. 17.1 as under the Eye of Gods Knowledge What we speak what we think what we act is in his sight He knows every place where we are every thing that we do as well as Christ knew Nathaniel under the Fig-tree As he is too Powerful to be vanquisht so he is too Understanding to be deceived The sense of this would make us walk with as much care as if the understanding of all Men did comprehend us and our actions 5. The Consideration of this Attribute would make us humble How dejected would a Person be if he were sure all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth did perfectly know his Crimes with all their aggravations But what is Created Knowledge to an infinite and just Censuring Understanding When we consider that he knows our actions whereof there are multitudes and our thoughts whereof there are millions That he views all the Blessings bestow'd upon us all the injuries we have return'd to him That he exactly knows his own Bounty and our ingratitude all the Idolatry Blasphemy and secret enmity in every Mans heart against him all Tyrannical Oppressions hidden Lusts omissions of necessary Duties violations of plain Precepts every foolish Imagination with all the Circumstances of them and that perfectly in their full Anatomy every mite of unworthiness and wickedness in every Circumstance and add to this his Knowledge the wonders of his Patience which are miraculous upon the score of his Omniscience that he is not as quick in his Revenge as he is in his Understanding but is so far from inflicting Punishment that he continues his former Benefits arms not his Justice against us but sollicites our Repentance and waits to be Gracious with all this knowledge of our Crimes should not the Consideration of this melt our hearts into Humiliation before him and make us earnest in begging pardon and forgivenss of him Again Do we not all find a Worm in our best Fruit a Flaw in our soundest Duties Shall any of us vaunt as if God beheld only the Gold and not any Dross as if he knew one thing only and not another If we knew something by our selves to chear us do we not also know something yea many things to condemn us and therefore to humble us Let the sense of Gods infinite Knowledge therefore be an Incentive and Argument for more Humiliation in us If we know enough to render our selves vile in our own Eyes how much more doth God know to render us vile in his 6. The Consideration of this Excellent Perfection should make us to acquiesce in God and rely upon him in every strait In publick in private He knows all Cases and he knows all Remedies He knows the Seasons of bringing them and he knows the Seasons of removing them for his own Glory What is contingent in respect of us and of our fore-knowledge and in respect of second causes is it not so in regard of Gods who hath the knowledge of the futurition of all things He knows all Causes in themselves and therefore knows what every Cause will produce what will be the event of every Counsel and of every Action How should we commit our selves to this God of infinite Understanding who knows all things and fore-knows every thing that cannot be forced through ignorance to take new Counsel or be surpriz'd with any thing that can happen to us This use the Psalmist makes of it Psal 10.14 Thou hast seen it the poor committeth himself unto thee Though some trust in Chariots and Horses * Psal 20.7 some in Counsels and Counsellors some in their Arms and Courage and some in meer vanity and nothing yet let us remember the Name and Nature of the Lord our God his Divine Perfections of which this of his infinite Understanding and Omniscience is none of the least but so necessary that without it he could not be God and the whole World would be a mear Chaos and Confusion A DISCOURSE UPON THE Wisdom of God Rom. XVI 27. To God only Wise be glory through Jesus Christ for ever Amen THis Chapter being the last of this Epistle is chiefly made up of charitable and friendly Salutations and Commendations of particular Persons according to the earliness and strength of their several Graces and their labour of Love for the Interest of God and his People In verse 17. he warns them not to be drawn aside from the Gospel Doctrine which had been taught them by the plausible Pretences and Insinuations which the Corrupters of the Doctrine and Rule of Christ never want from
as considered in the Gospel Covenant his Power as well as his other Perfections are ingredients in that Cordial of Gods being our God We should never think of the Excellency of the Divine Nature without considering the Duties they demand and gathering the Hony they present 2. Obs The stability of a gracious Soul depends vpon the Wisdom as well as the Power of God It would be a disrepute to the Almightiness of God if that should be totally vanquish'd which was introduc'd by his Mighty Arm and rooted in the Soul by an irresistible Grace It would speak a want of Streng h to maintain it or a change of Resolution and so would be no honour to the Wisdom of his first design 'T is no part of the wisdom of an Artificer to let a work wherein he determin'd to shew the greatness of his Skâll to be dash'd in pieces when he hath power to preserve it God design'd every gracious Soul for a piece of his workmanship * Eph. 2.10 What to have the Skill of his Grace defeated If any Soul which he hath graciously conquer'd should be wrested from him what could be thought but that his Power is enfeebled If deserted by him what could be imagin'd but that he repented of his labour and alter'd his Counsel as if rashly undertaken These Romans were rugged Pieces and lay in a filthy quarry when God came first to smooth them for so the Apostle represents them with the rest of the Heathen Rom. 1.19 and would he throw them away or leave them to the power of his Enemy after all his pains he had taken with them to fit them for his Building Did he not foresee the designs of Satan against them what stratagems he would use to defeat his Purposes strip him of the honour of his work and would God so gratifie his Enemy and disgrace his own Wisdom The deserting of what hath been acted is a real Repentance and argues an Imprudence in the first resolve and attempt The Gospel is called the Manifold wisdom of God Eph. 3.10 the fruiâ of it in the heart of any Person which is a main design of it hath a Title to the same Character and shall this Grace which is the product of this Gospel and therefore the birth of Manifold Wisdom be supprest 'T is at Gods hand we must seek our fixedness and establishment and act Faith upon these two Attributes of God Power is no ground to expect stability without Wisdom interesting the Agent in it and finding out and applying the Means for it Wisdom is naked without Power to act and Power is useless without Wisdom to direct They are these two Excellencies of the Deity the Apostle here pitches the Hope and Faith of the Converted Romans upon for their stability 3. Obs Perseverance of Believers in Grace is a Gospel Doctrine According to my Gospel My Gospel Ministerially according to that Gospel Doctrine I have taught you in this Epistle for as the Prophets were Comments upon the Law so are the Epistles upon the Gospel This very Doctrine he had discours'd of Rom. 8.38 39. where he tells them that neither death nor life the Terrors of a cruel death or the Allurements of an honourable and pleasant life nor Principalities and Powers with all their subtilty and strength not the things we have before us nor the Promises of a future felicity by either Angels in Heaven or Devils in Hell not the highest Angel nor the deepest Devil is able to separate us us Romans from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus So that According to my Gospel may be according to that Declaration of the Gospel which I have made in this Epistle which doth not only promise the first creating Grace but the perfecting and crowning Grace for not only the being of Grace but the health liveliness and perpetuity of Grace is the fruit of the New Covenant Jer. 32.40 4. Observe That the Gospel is the sole Means of a Christians Establishment According To my Gospel that is By my Gospel The Gospel is the Instrumental cause of our Spiritual life 't is the cause also of the Continuance of it 't is the Seed whereby we were born and the Milk whereby we are nourish'd â 1 Pet. 1.23 't is the Power of God to salvation â 1 Pet. 2.2 and therâfore to all the degrees of it John 17.17 Sanctifie them by thy Truth or through thy Truth by or through his Truth he sanctifies us and by the same Truth he establisheth us The first Sanctification and the progress of it the first lineaments and the last colours are wrought by the Gospel The Gospel therefore ought to be known studied and considered by us 'T is the Charter of our Inheritance and the security for our standing The Law acquaints us with our Duty but contributes nothing to our strength and settlement 5. Observe The Gospel is nothing else but the Revelation of Christ Verse 25. According to my Gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ The discovery of the Mystery of Redemption and Salvation in and by him 'T is Genitivus objecti that Preaching wherein Christ is declared and set out with the Benefits accruing by him This is the priviledge the Wisdom oâ God reserved for the latter Times which the Old Testament-Church had only under a Vail 6. 'T is a part of the Excellency of the Gospel that it had the Son of God for its Publisher The Preaching of Jesus Christ It was first preached to Adam in Paradise by God and afterwards publish'd by Christ in Person to the Inhabitants of Judea It was not the Invention of Man but Copied from the bosom of the Father by him that lay in his Bosom The Gospel we have is the same which our Saviour himself preached when he was in the World He preached it not to the Romans but the same Gospel he preached is transmitted to the Romans It therefore Commands our respect who ever slights it 't is as much as if he slighted Jesus Christ himself were he in Person to sound it from his own Lips The validity of a Proclamation is derived from the Authority of the Prince that dictates it and orders it yet the greater the Person that publisheth it the more dishonour is cast upon the Authority of the Prince that enjoyns it if it be contemn'd The Everlasting God ordain'd it and the Eternal Son publish'd it 7. The Gospel was of an Eternal Resolution though of a temporary Revelation Verse 25. According to the Revelation of the Mystery which was kept secret since the World began 'T is an Everlasting Gospel It was a Promise before the world began Tit. 1.2 It was not a new Invention but only kept secret among the Arcana in the Breast of the Almighty It was hidden from Angels for the depths of it are not yet fully made known to them their desire to look into it speaks yet a deficiency in their Knowledge of it * 1
Pet. 1.12 It was publish'd in Paradise but in such words as Adam did not fully understand It was both discover'd and clouded in the Smoke of Sacrifices It was wrapped up in a Vail under the Law but not open'd till the Death of the Redeemer It was then plainly said to the Cities of Judah Behold your God comes The whole Transaction of it between the Father and the Son which is the Spirit of the Gospel was from Eternity the Creation of the World was in order to the manifestation of it Let us not then regard the Gospel as a Novelty the consideration of it as one of Gods Cabinet Rarities should enhance our Estimation of it No Traditions of Men no Inventions of vain Wits that pretend to be wiser than God should have the same Credit with that which bears date from Eternity 8. Observe That Divine Truth is Mysterious According to the revelation of the mystery Christ manifested in the flesh The whole Scheme of Godliness is a Mystery No Man or Angel could imagine how two Natures so distant as the Divine and Human should be united how the same Person should be Criminal and Righteous how a Just God should have a Satisfaction and Sinful Man a Justification how the Sin should be punish'd and the Sinner saved None could imagine such a way of Justification as the Apostle in this Epistle declares It was a Mystery when hid under the Shadows of the Law and a Mystery to the Prophets when it sounded from their Mouths they searched it without being able to comprehend it â 1 Pet. 1.10 11. If it be a Mystery 't is humbly to be submitted to Mysteries surmount Human Reason The study of the Gospel must not be with a yawning and careless frame Trades you call Mysteries are not learned sleeping and nodding Diligence is required we must be Disciples at Gods Feet As it had God for the Author so we must have God for the Teacher of it the Contrivance was his and the Illumination of our Minds must be from him As God only manifested the Gospel so he only can open our Eyes to see the Mysteries of Christ in it In Verse 26. we may observe 1. The Scriptures of the Old Testament verifie the substance of the New and the New doth evidence the Authority of the Old By the Scriptures of the Prophets made known The Old Testament credits the New and the New illustrates the Old The New Testament is a Comment upon the Prophetick part of the Old The Old shews the Promises and Predictions of God and the New shews the Performance What was foretold in the Old is fulfilled in the New the Predictions are cleared by the Events The Predictions of the Old are Divine because they are above the Reason of Man to foreknow None but an Infinite Knowledge could foretell them because none but an Infinite Wisdom could order all things for the accomplishment of them The Christian Religion hath then the surest Foundation since the Scriptures of the Prophets wherein it is foretold are of undoubted Antiquity and owned by the Jews and many Heathens which are and were the great Enemies of Christ The Old Testament is therefore to be read for the strengthning of our Faith Our Blessed Saviour himself draws the Streams of his Doctrine from the Old Testament He clears up the Promise of Eternal Life and the Doctrine of the Resurrection from the words of the Covenant I am the God of Abraham c. Mat. 22.32 And our Apostle clears up the Doctrine of Justification by Faith from Gods Covenant with Abraham Rom. 4. It must be read and it must be read as it is writ It was writ to a Gospel End it must be studied with a Gospel Spirit The Old Testament was writ to give Credit to the New when it should be manifested in the World It must be read by us to give strength to our Faith and establish us in the Doctrine of Christianity How many view it as a bare story an Almanack out of date and regard it as a dry Bone without sucking from it the Evangelical Marrow Christ is in Genesis Abrahams Seed in Davids Psalms and the Prophets the Messiah and Redeemer of the World 2. Observe the Antiquity of the Gospel Is made manifest by the Scriptures of the Prophets It was of as Ancient a date as any Prophesy The first Prophesy was nothing else but a Gospel Charter it was not made at the Incarnation of Christ but made manifest It then rose up to its Meridian lustre and sprung out of the Clouds wherewith it was before obscur'd The Gospel was preached to the Ancients by the Prophets as well as to the Gentiles by the Apostles Heb. 4.2 Vnto us was the Gospel preached as well as unto them To them first to us after to them indeed more cloudy to us more clear but they as well as we were Evangeliz'd as the word signifies The Covenant of Grace was the same in the Writings of the Prophets and the Declarations of the Evangelists and Apostles Though by our Saviours Incarnation the Gospel Light was clearer and by his Ascension the Effusions of the Spirit fuller and stronger yet the Believers under the Old Testament saw Christ in the Swadling Bands of Legal Ceremonies and the Lattice of Prophetical Writings they could not else offer one Sacrifice or read one Prophesy with a Faith of the right stamp Abrahams Justifying Faith had Christ for its Object though it was not so Explicit as ours because the Manifestation was not so clear as ours 3. All Truth is to be drawn from Scripture The Apostle refers them here to the Gospel and the Prophets The Scripture is the Source of Divine Knowledge not the Traditions of Men nor Reason separate from Scripture Whosoever brings another Doctrine coyns another Christ nothing is to be added to what is written nothing detracted from it He doth not send us for Truth to the Puddles of Human Inventions to the Enthusiasms of our Brain not to the See of Rome no nor to the Instructions of Angels but the Writings of the Prophets as they clear up the Declarations of the Apostles The Church of Rome is not made here the Standard of Truth but the Scriptures of the Prophets are to be the Touch-stone to the Romans for the Trial of the Truth of the Gospel 4. How great is the Goodness of God The Borders of Grace are enlarged to the Gentiles and not hid under the Skirts of the Jews He that was so long the God of the Jews is now also manifest to be the God of the Gentiles The Gospel is now made known to all Nations according to the Commandment of the Everlasting God Not only in a way of Common Providence but Special Grace in Calling them to the Knowledge of himself and a Justification of them by Faith He hath brought Strangers to him to the Adoption of Children and lodged them under the Wings of the Covenant that were before alienated from
him he knows what Angels and Men do and infinitely more what is known by them obscurely is known by him clearly What is known by man after it is done was known by God before it was wrought By his wisdom as much as by any thing he infinitely differs from all his Creatures as by wisdom Man differs from a Brute We cannot frame a notion of God without conceiving him infinitely wise We should render him very inconsiderable to imagine him furnisht with an infinite knowledge and not have an infinite wisdom to make use of that knowledge or to fancy him with a mighty power destitute of prudence Knowledge without prudence is an eye without motion and power without discretion is an arm without a head a hand to act without understanding to contrive and model a strength to act without reason to know how to act It would be a miserable notion of a God to fancy him with a brutish and unguided power The Heathens therefore had and could not but have this natural notion of God Plato therefore calls him Mens â Eugub per. Philosoph lib. 1. cap. 5. and Cleanthes used to call God Reason and Socrates thought the title of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã too magnificent to be attributed to any thing else but God alone Arguments to prove that God is wise Reas 1. God could not be infinitely perfect without wisdom A rational Nature is better than an irrational Nature A man is not a perfect man without reason how can God without it be an infinitely perfect God Wisdom is the most eminent of all Vertues all the other perfections of God without this would be as a body without an eye a soul without understanding A Christian's Graces want their lustre when they are destitute of the guidance of wisdom Mercy is a feebleness and Justice a cruelty Patience a timerousness and Courage a madness without the conduct of wisdom so the Patience of God would be cowardise his Power an oppression his Justice a tyranny without wisdom as the Spring and Holiness as the Rule No attribute of God could shine with a due lustre and brightness without it Power is a great perfection but wisdom a greater * Licet magnum sit posse majus tamen est sapere Wisdom may be without much power as in Bees and Ants but power is a tyrannical thing without wisdom and righteousness The Pilot is more valuable because of his skil than the Gally Slave because of his strength and the conduct of a General more estimable than the might of a private Souldier Generals are chosen more by their skill to guide than their strength to act What a Clod is a man without Prudence what a Nothing would God be without it This is the Salt that gives relish to all other perfections in a Creature This is the Jewel in the Ring of all the Excellencies of the Divine Nature and Holiness is the splendor of that Jewel Now God being the first Being possesses whatsoever is most noble in any Being If therefore Wisdom which is the most noble perfection in any Creature were wanting to God he would be deficient in that which is the highest Excellency God being the living God as he is frequently termed in Scripture he hath therefore the most perfect manner of living and that must be a pure and intellectual life Being essentially living he is essentially in the highest degree of living As he hath an infinite life above all Creatures so he hath an infinite intellectual life and therefore an infinite Wisdom whence some have called God not sapientem but super-sapientem â Suarez Vol. 1 lib. 1. cap. 3 p. 10. not only wise but above all wisdom Reas 2. Without infinite Wisdom he could not govern the World Without wisdom in forming the Matter which was made by Divine power the World could have been no other than a Chaos and without wisdom in Government it could have been no other than a heap of Confusion without wisdom the World could not have been created in the posture it is Creation supposeth a determination of the will putting power upon acting the determination of the will supposeth the counsel of the understanding determining the will No work but supposeth understanding as well as will in a rational Agent As without skill things could not be created so without it things cannot be governed Reason is a necessary perfection to him that presides over all things Without knowledge there could not be in God a foundation for Government and without wisdom there could not be an exercise of Government and without the most excellent wisdom he could not be the most excellent Governour He could not be an universal Governour without a universal wisdom nor the sole Governour without an unimitable wisdom nor an independent Governour without an original and independent wisdom nor a perpetual Governour without an incorruptible wisdom He would not be the Lord of the World in all points without skill to order the affairs of it Power and wisdom are foundations of all Authority and Government Wisdom to know how to rule and command Power to make those Commands obeyed No regular Order could issue out without the first nor could any order be enforced without the second A feeble wisdom and a brutish power seldom or never produce any good effect Magistracy without wisdom would be a frantick power a rash conduct like a strong arm when the eye is out it strikes it knows not what and leads it knows not whither Wisdom without power would be like a great body without feet * Amirant moral like the knowledge of a Pilot that hath lost his arm who though he knows the Rule of Navigation and what Course to follow in his Voyage yet cannot mannage the Helm But when those two wisdom and power are link't together there ariseth from both a fitness for Government There is wisdom to propose an end and both wisdom and power to employ means that conduct to that end And therefore when God demonstrates to Job his right of Government and the unreasonableness of Job's quarrelling with his proceedings he chiefly urgeth upon him the consideration of those two excellencies of his Nature power and wisdom which are exprest in his Works â Chap. 38 39 40 41. A Prince without wisdom is but a Title without a Capacity to perform the Office no man without it is fit for government Nor could God without wisdom exercise a just Dominion in the World He hath therefore the higest wisdom since he is the universal Governour That wisdom which is able to govern a Family may not be able to govern a City and that wisdom which governs a City may not be able to govern a Nation or Kingdom much less a World The bounds of God's government being greater than any his wisdom for government must needs surmount the wisdom of all â Amyrald desert Theâl p. 111. And though the Creatures be not in number actually infinite yet they
cannot be well governed but by one endowed with infinite Discretion Providential government can be no more without infinite wisdom than infinite wisdom can be without Providence Reas 3. The Creatures working for an end without their own knowledge demonstrates the wisdom of God that guides them All things in the World work for some end the ends are unknown to them though many of their ends are visible to us As there was some prime Cause which by his power inspir'd them with their several instincts so there must be some supream wisdom which moves and guides them to their end As their Being manifests his power that endowed them so the acting according to the rules of their Nature which they themselves understand not manifests his wisdom in directing them Every thing that acts for an end must know that end or be directed by another to attain that end The Arrow doth not know who shoots it or to what end it is shot or what Mark is aimed at but the Archer that puts it in and darts it out of the Bow knows A Watch hath a regular motion but neither the Spring nor the Wheels that move know the end of their motion no man will judge a wisdom to be in the Watch but in the Artificer that dispos'd the Wheels and Spring by a joint combination to produce such a motion for such an end Doth either the Sun that enlivens the Earth or the Earth that travels with the Plant know what Plant it produceth in such a Soil what temper it should be of what fruit it should bear and of what colour What Plant knows its own medicinal qualities it s own beautiful flowers and for what use they are ordain'd When it strikes up its head from the Earth doth it know what proportion of them there will be Yet it produceth all these things in a state of ignorance The Sun warms the Earth concocts the humours excites the vertue of it and cherishes the Seeds which are cast into her lap yet all unknown to the Sun or the Earth Since therefore that Nature that is the immediate cause of those things doth not understand its own quality nor operation nor the end of its action that which thus directs them must be conceived to have an infinite wisdom When things act by a Rule they know not and move for an end they understand not and yet work harmoniously together for one end that all of them we are sure are ignorant of it mounts up our minds to acknowledge the wisdom of that supream Cause that hath rang'd all these inferiour Causes in their order and imprinted upon them the Laws of their motions according to the Ideas in his own Mind who orders the Rule by which they act and the end for which they act and directs every motion according to their several Natures and therefore is possessed with infinite wisdom in his own Nature Reas 4. God is the fountain of all wisdom in the creatures and therefore is infinitely wise himself As he hath a fulness of being in himself because the streams of being are derived to other things from him So he hath a fulness of wisdom because he is the spring of wisdom to Angels and men That Being must be infinitely wise from whence all other wisdom derives its original For nothing can be in the effect which is not eminently in the cause the cause is alway more perfect than the effect If therefore the creatures are wise the Creator must be much more wise If the Creator were destitute of wisdom the creature would be much more perfect than the Creator If you consider the wisdom of the Spider in her web which is both her house and net the artifice of the Bee in her Comb which is both her chamber and granary the provision of the Pismire in her repositories for corn the wisdom of the Creator is illustrated by them whatsoever excellency you see in any creature is an Image of some excellency in God The skill of the artificer is visible in the fruits of his Art a workman transcribes his spirit in the work of his hands But the wisdom of rational creatures as men doth more illustrate it All Arts among men are the rayes of divine Wisdom shining upon them and by a common gift of the Spirit enlightning their minds to curious inventions as Prov. 8.12 I wisdom find out the knowledge of witty inventions that is I give a faculty to men to find them out without my wisdom all things would be buried in darkness and ignorance Whatsoever wisdom there is in the World it is but a shadow of the wisdom of God a small Rivulet derived from him a spark leaping out from Uncreated Wisdom Isa 54.16 He created the Smith that bloweth the coals in the fire and makes the Instruments The skill to use those weapons in War-like Enterprises is from him I have created the waster to destroy 'T is not meant of creating their Persons but communicating to them their Art He speaks it there to expell fear from the Church of all war-like preparations against them He had given Men the skill to form and use Weapons and could as well strip them of it and defeat their purposes The Art of husbandry is a fruit of divine teaching Isa 28.24 25. If those lower kinds of Knowledge that are common to all Nations and easily learn'd by all are discoveries of Divine Wisdom much more the nobler Sciences intellectual and Political Wisdom Dan. 2.21 He gives Wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding speaking of the more abstruse parts of knowledge The inspiration of the Almighty gives Vnderstanding Job 32.8 Hence the Wisdom which Solomon exprest in the Harlots case 1 Kings 3.28 was in the Judgment of all Israel the Wisdom of God that is a fruit of Divine Wisdom a beam communicated to him from God Every mans Soul is endowed more or less with those noble qualities The Soul of every man exceeds that of a Brute If the streams be so excellent the Fountain must be fuller and clearer The first Spirit must infinitely more possess what other Spirits derive from him by Creation Were the Wisdom of all the Angels in Heaven and men on Earth collected in one Spirit it must be infinitely less than what is in the Spring for no Creature can be equal to the Creator As the highest Creature already made or that we can conceive may be made by Infinite Power would be infinitely below God in the Notion of a Creature so it would be infinitely below God in the Notion of Wise IV. The fourth Thing is Wherein the Wisdom of God appears It appears 1. In Creation 2. In Government 3. In Redemption 1. In Creation As in a Musical Instrument there is first the skill of the Workman in the frame then the skill of the Musician in stringing it proper for such Musical Notes as he will express upon it and after that the tempering of the Strings by
the wisdom of God Christ is the wisdom of God principally and the Gospel instrumentally as it is the power of God instrumentally to subdue the heart to himself This is wrapped up in the appointing Christ as Redeemer and open'd to us in the revelation of it by the Gospel 1. It is a hidden wisdom In this regard God is said in the Text to be only wise and it is said to be a hidden wisdom 1 Tim. 1.17 and wisdom in a mystery 1 Cor. 2.7 incomprehensible to the ordinary Capacity of an Angel more than the abstruse qualities of the Creatures are to the understanding of man No wisdom of Men or Angels is able to search all the Veins of this Mine to tell all the threds of this Web or to understand the lustre of it they are as far from an ability fully to comprehend it as they were at first to contrive it That wisdom that invented it can only comprehend it In the uncreated Understanding only there is a clearness of light without any shadow of darkness We come as short of full apprehensions of it as a Child doth of the Counsel of the wisest Prince It is so hidden from us that without Revelation we could not have the least imagination of it and though it be revealed to us yet without the help of an Infiniteness of Understanding we cannot fully fathom it 'T is such a tractate of Divine wisdom that the Angels never before had seen the Edition of it till it was publish'd to the World Eph. 3.10 To the intent that now unto Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God Now made known to them not before and now made known to them in the heavenly places They had not the knowledge of all heavenly Mysteries though they had the possession of heavenly Glory They knew the Prophecies of it in the Word but attained not a clear Interpretation of those Prophecies till the things that were prophecied of came upon the Stage 2. Manifold wisdom So 't is called As manifold as mysterious Variety in the Mystery and Mystery in every part of the Variety It was not one single act but a variety of Counsels met in it a conjunction of excellent ends and excellent means The glory of God the salvation of Man the defeat of the Apostate Angels the discovery of the blessed Trinity in their Nature Operations their combin'd and distinct Acts and Expressions of Goodness The means are the conjunction of two Natures infinitely distant from one another the union of Eternity and Time of Mortality and Immortality Death is made the way to Life and Shame the path to Glory The weakness of the Cross is the reparation of man and the Creature is made wise by the foolishness of preaching fallen man grows rich by the poverty of the Redeemer and man is filled by the emptiness of God The Heir of Hell made a Son of God by God's taking upon him the form of a Servant the Son of Man advanc'd to the highest degree of Honour by the Son of God becoming of no reputation 'T is called Eph. 1.8 abundance of wisdom and prudence Wisdom in the Eternal Counsel contriving a way Prudence in the Temporary Revelation ordering all Affairs and Occurrences in the World for the attaining the end of his Counsel Wisdom refers to the Mystery Prudence to the manifestation of it in fit ways and convenient seasons Wisdom to the contrivance and order Prudence to the execution and accomplishment In all things God acted as became him as a wise and just Governour of the World Heb. 2.10 Whether the wisdom of God might not have found out some other way or whether he were in regard of the necessity and naturalness of his Justice limited to this is not the question But that it is the best and wisest way for the manifestation of his glory is out of question This wisdom will appear in the different Interests reconciled by it In the Subject the second Person in the Trinity wherein they were reconciled In the two Natures wherein he accomplish'd it whereby God is made known to man in his Glory Sin eternally condemned and the repenting and believing sinner eternally rescued The honour and righteousness of the Law vindicated both in the Precept and Penalty The Devil's Empire overthrown by the same Nature he had overturned and the Subtilty of Hell defeated by that Nature he had spoiled The Creature engaged in the very act to the highest Obedience and Humility that as God appears as a God upon his Throne the Creature might appear in the lowest posture of a Creature in the depths of resignation and dependance the publication of this made in the Gospel by ways congruous to the wisdom which appeared in the execution of his Counsel and the Conditions of enjoying the fruit of it most wise and resonable 1. The greatest different Interests are reconcil'd Justice in punishing and Mercy in pardoning For man had broken the Law and plung'd himself into a Gulf of Misery The Sword of Vengeance was unsheathed by Justice for the punishment of the Criminal The Bowels of Compassion were stirred by Mercy for the rescue of the Miserable Justice severely beholds the Sin and Mercy compassionately reflects upon the Misery Two different claims are entred by those concerned Attributes Justice votes for Destruction and Mercy votes for Salvation Justice would draw the Sword and drench it in the blood of the Offender Mercy would stop the Sword and turn it from the breast of the Sinner Justice would edge it and Mercy would blunt it The Arguments are strong on both sides 1. Justice pleads I Arraign before thy Tribunal a Rebel who was the glorious Work of thy Hands the Center of thy rich Goodness and a Counterpart of thy own Image he is indeed miserable whereby to excite thy Compassion but he is not miserable without being Criminal Thou didst create him in a state and with ability to be otherwise The riches of thy Bounty aggravate the blackness of his Crime He is a Rebel not by necessity but will What constraint was there upon him to listen to the Counsels of the Enemy of God What force could there be upon him since it is without the compass of any Creature to work upon or constrain the Will Nothing of Ignorance can excuse him the Law was not ambiguously express'd but in plain words both as to Precept and Penalty it was writ in his Nature in legible Characters Had he received any disgust from thee after his Creation it would not excuse his Apostacy since as a Soveraign thou wert not obliged to thy Creature Thou hadst provided all things richly for him he was crowned with glory and honour Thy infinite power had bestowed upon him an Habitation richly furnished and varieties of Servants to attend him Whatever he viewed without and whatever he viewed within himself were several Marks of thy Divine Bounty to engage him to Obedience Had
incourage our Obedience as to illustrate his Glory We cannot conceive âhat could be done greater for the salvation of our Souls and consequently what could have been done more to enforce our observance We have a Redeemer as man to copy it to us and as God to perfect us in it It would make the heart of any to tremble to wound him that hath provided such a salve for our Sores and to make Grace a warrant for Rebellion Motives capable to form Rocks into a flexibleness Thus is the Wisdom of God seen in giving us a ground of the surest confidence and furnishing us with incentives to the greatest Obedience by the horrors of wrath death and sufferings of our Saviour 8. The Wisdom of God is apparent in the Condition he hath settled for the enjoying the fruits of Redemption and this is faith a wise and reasonable Condition And the concomitants of it 1. In that it is suted to mans lapsed state and Gods Glory Innocence is not required here that had been a Condition impossible in its own nature after the Fall The rejecting of Mercy is now only condemning where mercy is proposed Had the Condition of Perfection in Works been required it had rather been a condemnation than redemption Works are not demanded whereby the Creature might ascribe any thing to himself but a Condition which continues in man a sense of his Apostacy abates all aspiring Pride and makes the reward of Grace not of Debt A Condition whereby Mercy is owned and the Creature emptied Flesh silenc'd in the Dust and God set upon his Throne of Grace and Authority The Creature brought to the lowest debasement and Divine Glory raised to the highest pitch The Creature is brought to acknowledge Mercy and seal to Justice to own the Holiness of God in the hatred of sin the Justice of God in the Punishment of sin and the Mercy of God in the pardoning of sin A condition that despoils Nature of all its pretended excellency Beats down the glory of man at the foot of God 1 Cor. 1.29.31 It subjects the Reason and Will of man to the Wisdom and Authority of God it brings the Creature to an unreserved submission and intire resignation God is made the Soveraign Cause of all the Creature continued in his emptiness and reduced to a greater dependance upon God than by a Creation depending upon him for a constant influx for an intire happiness A Condition that renders God glorious in the Creature and the fallen creature happy in God God glorious in his Condescension to Man and Man happy in his emptiness before God Faith is made the Condition of mans recovery that the lofty looks of man might be humbled and the haughtiness of man be pulled down Isa 2.11 that every towring imagination might be levelled 2. Cor. 10.5 Man must have all from without doors he must not live upon himself but upon anothers allowance He must stand to the provision of God and be a perpetual Sutor at his Gates 2. A Condition opposite to that which was the cause of the Fall We fell from God an unbelief of the Threatning he recovers us by a belief of the Promise by Unbelief we laid the Foundation of Gods dishonour by Faith therefore God exalts the Glory of his free Grace We lost our selves by a desire of self dependence and our return is ordered by a way of self-emptiness 'T is reasonable we should be restored in a way contrary to that whereby we fell We sinned by a refusal of cleaving to God t is a part of divine Wisdom to restore us in a denial of our own righteousness and strength * Laud against Fisher p. 5. Man having sinned by Pride the Wisdom of God humbles him saith one at the very root of the Tree of Knowledge and makes him deny his own Vnderstanding and submit to Faith or else for ever to lose his desired Felicity 3. It is a Condition suted to the Common Sentiment and custome of the World There is more of belief than reason in the World All Instructers and Masters in Sciences and Arts require first a belief in their Disciples and a resignation of their Understandings and Wills to them And it is the Wisdom of God to require that of man which his own reason makes him submit to another which is his fellow Creature He therefore that quarrels with the Condition of Faith must quarrel with all the World since Belief is the beginning of all Knowledge â Bradward p. 28. yea and most of the Knowledge in the World may rather come under the title of Belief than of Knowledge For what we think we know this day we may find from others such Arguments as may stagger our Knowledge and make us doubt of that we thought our selves certain of before Nay sometimes we change our Opinions our Selves without anâ Instructor and see a reason to entertain an Opinion quite contrary to what we had before And if we found a general Judgment of others âo vote against what we think we know it would make us give the less Credit to our selves and our own Sentiments All Knowledge in the World is only a belief depending upon the testimony or arguings of others for indeed it may be said of all men as in Job 8. Job 9. We are but of yesterday and know nothing Since therefore Belief is so universal a thing in the World the Wisdom of God requires that of us which every man must count reasonable or render himself utterly ignorant of any thing It is a Condition that is common to all Religions All Religions are Founded upon a Belief Unless men did believe future things they would not hope nor fear A Belief and Resignation was required in all the Idolatries in the World so that God requires nothing but what a universal custome of the World gives its suffrage to the reasonableness of Indeed justifying Faith is not suted to the Sentiments of men but that Faith which must precede iustifying a beliefe of the Doctrine though not comprehended by Reason is common to the custome of the World * Jâneway p. 88. 'T is no less madness not to submit our Reason to Faith than not to regulate our Fancies by Reason 4. This Condition of Faith and Repentances is suted to the Conscience of Men. The Law of Nature teaches us thât we are bound to believe every revelation from God when it is made known to us And not only to assent to it as true but embrace it as good This Nature dictates that we are as much obligeâ to believe God because of his Truth as to love him because of his Goodness Every mans Reason tells him he cannot obey a Precept nor depend upon a Promise unless he believes both the one and the other No man's Conscience but will inform him upon hearing the revelation of God concerning his excellent contrivance of Redemption and the way to Enjoy it that it is very reasonable he should strip off
follow That this Omnipotence is incommunicable to any Creature no Creature can inherit it because it is a contradiction for any Creature to have the Essence of God This Omnipotence is a peculiar Right of God wherein no Creature can share with him To be Omnipotent is to be Essentially God And for a Creature to be Omnipotent is for a Creature to be its own Creator It being therefore the same with the Essence of the Godhead it cannot be communicated to the Humanity of Christ as the Lutherans say it is wâthout the communication of the Essence of the Godhead * for then the Humanity of Christ would not be Humanity but Deity If Omnipotence were communicated to the Humanity of Christ the Essence of God were also communicated to his Humanity and then Eternity would be communicated His Humanity then was not given him in Time his Humanity would be uncompounded that is his Body would be no Body his Soul no Soul Omnipotence is Essentially in God 't is not distinct from the Essence of God 't is his Essence Omnipotent able to do all things 7. Hence it follows That this Power is infinite Eph. 1.19 What is the exceeding greatness of his power c. According to the working of his mighty power God were not Omnipotent unless his Power were Infinite for a Finite Power is a limited Power and a limited Power cannot effect every thing that is possible Nothing can be too difficult for the Divine Power to effect He hath a Fulness of Power an Exceeding Strength above all Humane Capacities 't is a Mighty power â Eph. 1.19 able to do above all that we can ask or think â Eph. 3.20 That which he acts is above the power of any Creature to act Infinite Power consists in the bringing things forth from nothing No Creature can imitate God in this Prerogative of Power Man indeed can carve various Forms and erect various pieces of Art but from preexistent Matter Every Artificer hath the Matter brought to his hand he only brings it forth in a new Figure Chimists separate one thing from another but create nothing but sever those things which were before compacted and crudled together But when God speaks a powerful Word Nothing begins to be Something Things stand forth from the Womb of Nothing and obey his mighty Command and take what Forms he is pleased to give them The Creating one thing though never so small and minute as the least Fly cannot be but by an Infinite Power much less can the producing of such Variety we see in the World His Power is Infinite in regard it cannot be resisted by any thing that he hath made nor can it be confin'd by any thing he can will to make His Greatness is unsearchable * 'T is a Greatness not of quantity but quality Psal 145.3 The Greatness of his Power hath no end 'T is a vanity to imagine any limits can be affixed to it or that any Creature can say Hitherto it can go and no further 'T is above all Conception all Inquisition of any Created Understanding No Creature ever had nor ever can have that strength of Wit and Understanding to conceive the extent of his Power and how Magnificently he can work 1. His Essence is Infinite As in a Finite Subject there is a Finite Vertue so in an Infinite Subject there must be an Infinite Vertue Where the Essence is limited the Power is so â Operationes sequuntur essentiam Where the Essence is unlimited the Power knows no bounds â Aqâin par 1. Qu. 25. Artic. 2. Among Creatures the more excellency of Being and Form any thing hath the more activity vigour and power it hath to work according to its Nature The Sun hath a mighty power to warm enlighten and fructifie above what the Stars have because it hath a vaster Body more intense degrees of light heat and vigour Now if you conceive the Sun made much greater than it is it would proportionably have greater degrees of power to heat and enlighten than it hath now And were it possible to have an Infinite Heat and Light it would infinitely heat and enlighten other things for every thing is able to act according to the Measures of its Being Therefore since the Essence of God is unquestionably Infinite his power of Acting must be so also His Power as was said before is one and the same with his Essence And though the Knowledge of God extends to more Objects than his Power because he knows all Evils of Sin which because of his Holiness he cannot commit yet it is as Infinite as his Knowledge because it is as much one with his Essence as his Knowledge and Wisdom is For as the Wisdom or Knowledge of God is nothing but the Essence of God Knowing so the Power of God is nothing but the Essence of God Able 2. The Objects of Divine Power are innumerable The Objects of Divine Power are not Essentially Infinite and therefore we must not measure the Infiniteness of Divine Power by an Ability to make an Infinite Being because there is an Incapacity in any created thing to be Infinite for to be a Creature and to be Infinite to be Infinite and yet Made is a contradiction To be Infinite and to be God is one and the same thing Nothing can be Infinite but God nothing but God is Infinite But the Power of God is Infinite because it can produce Infinite effects or Innumerable things such as surpass the Arithmetick of a Creature nor yet doth the Infiniteness consist simply in producing innumerable Effects for that a Finite Cause can produce Fire can by its finite and limit d Heat burn numberless combustible things and parcels and the Understanding of Man hath an infinite number of thoughts and acts of Intellection and Thoughts different from one another Who can number the Imaginations of his Fancy and Thoughts of his Mind the space of one Month or Year much less of Forty or an Hundred years yet all these Thoughts are about things that are in Being or have a foundation in things that are in Being But the Infiniteness of Gods Power consists in an ability to produce Infinite Effects formally distinct and diverse from one another such as never had Being such as the Mind of Man cannot conceive Eph. 3.20 Able to do above what we can think Eph. 3.20 And whatsoever God hath made or is able to make he is able to make in an Infinite manner by calling them to stand forth from nothing To produce innumerable Effects of distinct Natures and from so distant a term as Nothing is an argument of Infinite Power Now that the Objects of Divine Power are Innumerable appears because God can do Infinitely more thân he hath done or will do Nothing that God hath done can enfeeble or dull his Power there still resides in him an Ability beyond all the setled Contrivances of his Understanding and Resolves of his
Will which no Effects which he hath wrought can drain and put to a stand As he can raise Stones to be Children to Abraham * Mat. 3.9 so with the same mighty Word whereby he made one World he can make Infinite numbers of Worlds to be the Monuments of his Glory After the Prophet Jeremy 32.17 had spoke of Gods Power in Creation he adds And nothing is too hard for thee For one World that he hath made he can create Millions For one Star which he hath beautified the Heavens with he could have garnisht it with a Thousand and multiplied if he had pleased Rom. 4.17 every one of those into Millions for he can call things that are not not some things but all things possible The barren Womb of Nothing can no more resist his Power now to educe a World from it than it could at first No doubt but for one Angel which he hath made he could make many Worlds of Angels He that made one with so much ease as by a Word cannot want Power to make many more till he wants a Word The Word that was not too weak to make One cannot be too weak to make Multitudes If from One Man he hath in a way of Nature multiplied so many in all Ages of the World and covered with them the whole Face of the Earth he could in a Supernatural way by One Word multiply as many more 'T is the breath of the Almighty that gives life Job 33.4 He can create infinite Species and kinds of Creatures more than he hath created more variety of Forms For since there is no searching of his Greatness there is no conceiving the numberless possible effects of his Power The Understanding of Man can conceive Numberless things possible to be more than have been or shall be And shall we imagine that a Finite Understanding of a Creature hath a greater Omnipotency to conceive things possible than God hath to produce things possible When the Understanding of Man is tyr'd in its Conceptions it must still be concluded That the Power of God extends not only to what can be conceiv'd but infinitely beyond the measures of a Finite faculty Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out he is excellent in power and in judgment Job 36.23 For the Understanding of Man in its Conceptions of more kind of Creatures is limited to those Creatures which are It cannot in its own Imagination conceive any thing but what hath some foundation in and from something already in Being It may frame a new kind of Creature made up of a Lion a Horse an Ox but all those parts whereof its Conception is made have distinct Beings in the World though not in that composition as his Mind mixes and joyns them But no question but God can create Creatures that have no resemblance with any kind of Creatures yet in Being 'T is certain that if God only knows those things which he hath done and will do and not all things possible to be done by him his knowledge were finite so if he could do no more than what he hath done his Power would be finite 1. Creatures have a power to act about more objects than they do The Understanding of man can frame from one Principle of Truth many Conclusions and Inferences more than it doth Why cannot then the Power of God frame from one first Matter an infinite number of Creatures more than have been created The Almightiness of God in producing real Effects is not inferiour to the Understanding of man in drawing out real Truths An Artificer that makes a Watch supposing his liâe and health can make many more of a different form and motion And a Limner can draw many Draughts and frame many Pictures with a new variety of Colours according to the richness of his Fancy If these can do so that require a preexistent Matter fram'd to their hands God can much more who can raise beautiful Structures from nothing As long as men have matter they can diversifie the matter and make new Figures from it So long as there is nothing God can produce out of that nothing whatsoever he pleases We see the same in Inanimate Creatures A spark of Fire hath a vast Power in it it will kindle other things increase and enlarge it self Nothing can be exempt from the active force of it It will alter by consuming or refining whatsoever you offer to it It will reach all and refuse none and by the efficacious power of it all those new Figures which we see in Metals are brought forth When you have exposed to it a multitude of things still add more it will exert the same strength yea the vigour is increased rather than diminisht The more it catcheth the more fiercely and irresistibly it will act you cannot suppose an end oâ its operation or a decrease of its strength as long as you can conceive its duration and continuance This must be but a weak shadow of that infinite Power which is in God Take another Instance in the Sun It hath power every year to produce Flowers and Plants from the Earth and as is able to produce them now as it was at the first lighting it and rearing it in the Sphear wherein it moves And if there were no kind of Flowers and Plants now created the Sun hath a power residing in it ever since its first Creation to afford the same warmth to them for the nourishâng and bringing them forth Whatsoever you can conceive the Sun to be able to do in regard of Plants that can God do in regard of Worlds produce more Worlds than the Sun doth Plants every year without weariness without languishment The Sun is able to influence more things than it doth and produce numberless effects but it doth not do so much as it is able to do because it wants matter to work upon God therefore who wants no matter can do much more than he doth He can either act by second Causes if there were more or make more second Causes if he pleas'd 2. God is the most free Agent Every free Agent can do more than he will do Man being a free Creature can do more than ordinarily he doth will to do God is most free as being the Spring of Liberty in other Creatures He acts not by a necessity of Nature as the waves of the Sea or the motions of the Wind and therefore is not determin'd to those things which he hath already called forth into the World If God be infinâtely wise in contrivance he could contrive more than he hath and therefore can effect more than he hath effected He doth not act to the extent of his Power upon all occasions 'T is according to his will that he works Eph. 1. 'T is not according to his work that he wills his work is an evidence of his will but not the rule of his will His Power is not the rule of his Will but hâs Will is the disposer of
it congruous to the righteous and holy nature of God to command Murder and Adultery to command men not to worship him but to be base and unthankful These things would be against the Rules of Righteousness As when we say of a good Man he cannot rob or fight a Duel we do not mean that he wants a courage for such an Act or that he hath not a natural strength and knowledge to manage his Weapon as well as another but he hath a righteous Principle strong in him which will not suffer him to do it his will is setled against it No Power can pass into Act unless applied by the will But the will of God cannot will any thing but what is worthy of him and decent for his Goodness 1. The Scripture saith 't is impossible for God to lye * Hebr. 6.18 and God cannot deny himself because of his faithfulness â 2 Tim. 2.13 As he cannot dye because he is life it self as he cannot deceive because he is goodness it self as he cannot do an unwise action because he is wisdom it self so he cannot speak a false word because he is truth it self If he should speak any thing as true and not know it where is his infinite Knowledge and Comprehensiveness of Understanding If he should speak any thing as true which he knows to be false where is his infinite Righteousness If he should deceive any Creature there is an end of his Perfection of Fidelity and Veracity If he should be deceiv'd himself there is an end of his Omniscience we must then fancy him to be a deceitful God an ignorant God that is no God at all â Becan sum Theolog. p. â3 If he should lye he would be God and no God God upon supposition and no God because not the first Truth All Unrighteousness is Weakness not Power 't is a Defection from right Reason a Deviation from Moral Principles and the Rule of perfect Action and ariseth from a defect of Goodness and Power 'T is a Weakness and not Omnipotence to lose Goodness * Maximus Tyrius God is Light 't is the perfection of Light not to become Darkness and a want of Power in Light if it should become Darkness His Power is infinitely strong so is his Wisdom infinitely clear and his Will infinitely pure Would it not be a part of Weakness to have a disorder in himself and these Perfections shock one against another Since all Perfections are in God in the most Soveraign height of Perfection nothing can be done by the Infiniteness of one against the Infiniteness of the other He would then be unstable in his own Perfections and depart from the infinite rectitude of his own Will if he shoul do an evil action Again â Ambrose What is an Argument of greater strength then to be utterly ignorant of Infirmity God is Omnipotent because he cannot do Evil and would not be Omnipotent if he could Those things would be Marks of Weakness and not Characters of Majesty Would you count a sweet Fountain impotent because it cannot send forth bitter Streams Or the Sun weak because it cannot diffuse Darkness as well as Light in the Air There is an inability arising from Weakness and an ability arising from Perfection 'T is the Perfection of Angels and blessed Spirits that they cannot sin And it would be the Imperfection of God if he could do Evil. 2. Hence it follows that 't is impossible that a thing past should not be past If we ascribe a Power to God to make a thing that is past not to be past we do not truly ascribe Power to him but a Weakness For it is to make God to lye As though God might not have created man yet after he had created Adam though he should presently have reduced Adam to his first nothing yet it would be for ever true that Adam was created and it would for ever be false that Adam never was created So though God may prevent sin yet when sin hath been committed it will alway be true that sin was committed It will never be true to say such a Creature that did sin did not sin his sin cannot be recalled Though God by pardon take off the Guilt of Peter's denying our Saviour yet it will be eternally true that Peter did deny him It is repugnant to the Righteousness and Truth of God to make that which was once true to become false and not true that is to make a Truth to become a Lye and a Lye to become a Truth This is well argued from Hebr. 6.18 'T is impossible for God to lye â Becan sum Theol. p 84. Crel de Deo cap. 22. The Apostle argues that what God had promised and sworn will come to pass and cannot but come to pass Now if God could make a thing past not to be past this consequence would not be good for then he might make himself not to have promised not to have sworn after he hath promised and sworn And so if there were a power to undo that which is past there would be no foundation for Faith no certainty of Revelation It cannot be asserted that God hath created the World that God hath sent his Son to dye that God hath accepted his death for man These might not be true if it were possible that that which hath been done might be said never to have been done So that what any may imagine to be a want of Power in God is the highest perfection of God and the greatest security to a believing Creature that hath to do with God Fourthly Some things are impossible to be done because of God's Ordination Some things are impossible not in their own nature but in regard of the determin'd Will of God So God might have destroy'd the World after Adam's fall but it was impossible not that God wanted Power to do it but because he did not only decree from Eternity to create the World but did also decree to redeem the World by Jesus Christ and erected the World in order to the manifestation of his glory in Christ Eph. 1.4.5 The choice of some in Christ was before the foundation of the World Supposing that there was no hinderance in the Justice of God to pardon the sin of Adam after his fall and to execute no punishment on him yet in regard of Gods threatning that in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit he should dye it was impossible So though it was possible that the Cup should pass from our blessed Saviour that is possible in its own nature yet it was not possible in regard of the determination of Gods Will since he had both decreed and publisht his Will to redeem Man by the Passion and Blood of his Son These things God by his absolute Power might have done but upon the account of his decree they were impossible because it is repugnant to the Nature of God to be mutable 'T is to deny his own
manner in the Fountain than in the Streams which distill and descend from it He that is the Original of all those distinct Powers must be the Seat of all Power without distinction In him is the Union of all without division what is in them as a quality is in him as his Essence Again if all the powers of several Creatures with all their principal qualities and vigors both of Beasts Plants and rational Creatures were united in one Subject As if one Lion had the strength of all the Lions that ever were or if one Elephant had the strength of all the Elephants that ever were nay if one Bee had all the power of motion and stinging that all Bees ever had it would have a vast strength but if the strength of all those thus gathered into one of every kind should be lodged in one sole Creature one Man would it not be a Strength too big for our conception Or suppose one Canon had all the force of all the Canons that ever were in the World what a battery would it make and as it were shake the whole frame of Heaven and Earth All this Strength must be much more incomprehensible in God all is united in him If it were in one individual Created Nature it would still be but a finite Power in a finite Nature But in God it is Infinite and Immense Reas 2. If there were not an incomprehensible Power in God he would not be infinitely perfect God is the First Being It can only be said of him Est he is All other things are nothing to him Less than nothing and vanity Isai 40.17 and reputed as nothing Dan. 4.35 All the Inhabitants of the Earth with all their Wit and Strength are counted as if they were not just in comparison with Him and his Being as a little Mote in the Sun-beams God therefore is a pure Being Any kind of Weakness whatsoever is a defect a degree of not Being so far as any thing wants this or that Power it may be said Not to be Were there any thing of Weakness in God any want of strength which belong'd to the perfection of a Nature it might be said of God He is not this or that he wants this or that perfection of Being and so he would not be a pure Being there would be something of not Being in him But God being the First Being the only Original Being He is infinitely distant from not Being and therefore infinitely distant from any thing of Weakness * Victorin in Petar Tom. 1. p. 333. Again If God can know whatsoever is possible to be done by him and cannot do it there would be something more in his Knowledge than in his Power What would then follow That the Essence of God would be in some regard greater than it self and less than it self because his Knowledge and his Power are his Essence his Power as much his Essence as his Knowledge And therefore in regard of his Knowledge his Essence would be greater in regard of his Power his Essence would be less which is a thing impossible to be conceived in a most perfect Being We must understand this of those things which are properly and in their own Nature subjected to the Divine Knowledge for otherwise God knows more than he can do for he knows Sin but he cannot act it because Sin belongs not to Power but Weakness and Sin comes under the Knowledge of God not in it self and its own Nature but as it is a defect from God and contrary to Good which is the proper Object of Divine Knowledge He knows it also not as possible to be done by himself but as possible to be done by the Creature â Victorin in Petar Tom. 1. p. 233. Again If God were not Omnipotent we might imagine something more perfect than God For if we bar God from any one thing which in its own nature is possible we may imagine a Being that can do that thing one that is able to effect it and so imagine an Agent greater than God a Being able to do more than God is able to do and consequently a Being more perfect than God But no Being more perfect than God can be imagin'd by any Creature Nothing can be called most Perfect if any thing of Activity be wanting to it Active Power follows the perfection of a thing and all things are counted more noble by how much more of Efficacy and Virtue they possess We count those the best and most perfect Plants that have the greatest Medicinal Virtue in them and power of working upon the Body for the cure of Distempers God is perfect of himself and therefore most powerful of himself If his Perfection in Wisdom and Goodness be unsearchable his Power which belongs to Perfection and without which all the other Excellencies of his Nature were insignificant and could not shew themselves as was before evidenc'd must be unsearchable also 'T is by the Title of Almighty he is denominated when declared to be Unsearchable to perfection Job 11.7 Canst thou by searching find out God canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection This would be limited and searched out if he were destitute of an active Ability to do whatsoever he pleased to do whatsoever was possible to be done As he hath not a perfect liberty of Will if he could not will what he pleased so he would not have a perfect Activity if he could not do what he willed Reason 3. The Simplicity of God manifests it Every Substance the more Spiritual it is the more Powerful it is All Perfections are more united in a simple than in a compounded Being Angels being Spirits are more powerful than Bodies Where there is the greatest Simplicity there is the greatest Unity and where there is the greatest Unity there is the greatest Power Where there is a composition of a Faculty and a Member the Member or Organ may be weaken'd and render'd unable to act though the Power doth still reside in the Faculty As a Man when his Arm or Hand is cut off or broke he hath the faculty of Motion still âât he hath lost that Instrument that part whereby he did manifest and put forth that Motion But God being a pure Spiritual Nature hath no Members no Organs to be defac'd or impair'd All Impediments of Action arise either from the nature of the thing that acts or from something without it There can be no hindrance to God to do whatsoever he pleases not in himself because he is the Most Simple Being hath no contrariety in himself is not compos'd of divers things And it cannot be from any thing without himself because nothing is equal to him much less Superiour He is the Greatest the Supream All things were made by him depend upon him nothing can disappoint his Intentions Reas 4. The Miracles that have been in the World evidence the Power of God Extraordinary productions have awakened Men from their stupidity to the
of God Righteousness a Perfection as referred to others in his Actions towards them and upon them In Particular This Property of the Divine Nature is First An essential and necessary Perfection He is essentially and necessarily Holy 'T is the essential glory of his Nature His Holiness is as necessary as his Being as necessary as his Omniscience As he cannot but know what is right so he cannot but do what is just His Understanding is not as Created Understandings capable of Ignorance as well as Knowledge so his Will is not as Created Wills capable of Unrighteousness as well as Righteousness There can be no contradiction or contrariety in the Divine Nature to know what is right and to do what is wrong If so there would be a diminu ion of his Blessedness he would not be a God alway blessed Blessed for ever as he is * Rom. 9 5. He is as necessarily Holy as he is necessarily God as necessarily without Sin as without Change As he was God from Eternity so he was Holy from Eternity â Turreâin de Satisfact p. 28. He was Gracious Merciful Just in his own Nature and also Holy though no Creature had been framed by him to exercise his Grace Mercy Justice or Holiness upon If God had not created a World he had in his own Nature been Almighty and able to Create a World If there never had been any thing but himself yet he had been Omniscient knowing every thing that was within the verge and compass of his Infinite Power so he was Pure in his own Nature though he never had brought forth any Rational Creature whereby to manifest this Purity These Perfections are so necessary that the Nature of God could not subsist without them And the acts of those ad intra or within himself are necessary for being Omniscient in Nature there must be an act of knowledge of himself and his own Nature Being Infinitely Holy an act of Holiness in Infinitely loving himself must necessarily flow from this Perfection â Ochino Predic part 3. Bodic 51. p. 347 348. As the Divine Will cannot but be perfect so it cannot be wanting to render the highest Love to it self to its Goodness to the Divine Nature which is due to him Indeed the acts of those ad extra are not necessary but upon a condition To love Righteousness without himself or to detest Sin or inflict Punishment for the committing of it could not have been had there been no Righteous Creature for him to love no Sinning Creature for him to loath and to exercise his Justice upon as the Object of Punishment Some Attributes require a Condition to make the Acts of them necessary As it is at Gods liberty whether he will create a Rational Creature or no But when he decrees to make either Angel or Man 't is necessary from the Perfection of his Nature to make them Righteous 'T is at Gods liberty whether he will speak to Man or no but if he doth 't is impossible for him to speak that which is false because of his Infinite Perfection of Veracity 'T is at his liberty whether he will permit a Creature to Sin but if he sees good to suffer it 't is impossible but that he should detest that Creature that goes cross to his Righteous Nature His Holiness is not solely an Act of his Will for then he might be Unholy as well as Holy he might love Iniquity and hate Righteousness he might then command that which is good and afterwards command that which is bad and unworthy For what is only an Act of his Will and not belonging to his Nature is indifferenr to him As the positive Law he gave to Adam of not eating the Forbidden Fruit was a pure Act of his Will he might have given him liberty to eat of it if he had pleased as well as prohibited him But what is Moral and good in its own Nature is necessarily willed by God and cannot be changed by him because of the transcendent Eminency of his Nature and Righteousness of his Will As it is impossible for God to command his Creature to hate him or to dispence with a Creature for not loving him for this would be to command a thing intrinsically Evil the highest Ingratitude the very Spirit of all Wickedness which consists in the hating God Yet though God be thus necessarily Holy he is not so by a bare and simple necessity as the Sun shines or the Fire burns but by a free necessity not compelled thereunto but inclined from the fulness of the Perfection of his own Nature and Will so as by no means he can be Unholy because he will not be Unholy 't is against his Nature to be so 2. God is only absolutely Holy There is none Holy as the Lord. 1 Sam. 2.2 'T is the peculiar glory of his Nature As there is none Good but God so none Holy but God No Creature can be essentially Holy because Mutable Holiness is the substance of God but a Quality and Accident in a Creature God is Infinitely Holy Creatures Finitely Holy He is holy from Himself Creatures are holy by derivation from him He is not only Holy but Holiness Holiness in the highest degree is his sole Prerogative As the highest Heaven is called the Heaven of Heavens because it embraceth in its Circle all the Heavens and contains the Magnitude of them and hath a greater vastness above all that it incloseth so is God the Holy of Holies He contains the Holiness of all Creatures put together and Infinitely more As all the Wisdom Excellency and Power of the Creatures if compar'd with the Wisdom Excellency and Power of God is but Folly Vileness and Weakness so the highest created Purity if set in parallel with God is but Impurity and Uncleaness Revel 15.4 Thou only art Holy 'T is like the light of a Glow-worm to that of the Sun â Job 15.15 The Heavens are not pure in his sight and his Angels he charged with folly Job 4 18. Though God hath Crowned the Angels with an unspotted Sanctity and placed them in a habitation of Glory yet as Illustrious as they are they have an Unworthiness in their own Nature to appear before the Throne of so Holy a God Their holiness grows dim and pale in his Presence 'T is but a weak shadow of that Divine Purity whose Light is so glorious that it makes them cover their faces out of weakness to behold it and cover their Feet out of shame in themselves They are not pure in his sight because though they love God which is a Principle of Holiness as much as they can yet not so much as he deserves They love him with the intensest degree according to their Power but not with the intensest degree according to his own Amiableness For they cannot infinitely love God unless they were as Infinite as God and had an understanding of his Perfections equal with himself and as immense
knowledge of his own Nature and of the evil nature of Sin and the contrariety of it to his own Excellency and the order of his works 2. Therefore intensely Nothing do men act for more than their glory As he doth infinitely and therefore perfectly know himself so he infinitely and therefore perfectly knows what is contrary to himself and as according to the manner and measure of his knowledge of himself is his love to himself as infinite as his knowledge and therefore unexpressible and unconceivable by us So from the perfection of his knowledge of the evil of Sin which is infinitely above what any Creature can have doth arise a displeasure against it sutable to that knowledge In Creatures the degrees of affection to or aversion from a thing are suted to the strength of their apprehensions of the good or evil in them God knows not only the workers of wickedness but the wickedness of their works â Job 11.11 for he knows vain men he sees wickedness also The vehemency of this hatred is exprest variously in Scripture he loaths it so that he is impatient of beholding it the very sight of it affects him with detestation Hab. 1.13 he hates the first spark of it in the imagination Zach. 8.17 with what variety of expressions doth he repeat his indignation at their polluted Services Amos 5.21 22. I hate I detest I despise I will not smell I will not accept I will not regard take away from me the noise of thy Songs I will not hear So Isai 1.14 My Soul hates they are a trouble to me I am weary to bear them 'T is the abominable thing that he hates Jer. 44.4 he is vexed and fretted at it Isai 63.10 Ezek. 16.43 He abhors it so that his hatred redounds upon the Person that commits it Psal 5.5 He hates all workers of Iniquity Sin is the only primary Object of his Displeasure He is not displeas'd with the Nature of man as man for that was derived from him but with the Nature of man as sinful which is from the sinner himself When a man hath but one Object for the exercise of all his Anger 't is stronger than when diverted to many Objects A mighty Torrent when diverted into many Streams is weaker than when it comes in a full Body upon once place only The Infinite anger and hatred of God which is as infinite as his love and mercy has no other Object against which he directs the mighty force of it but only Unrighteousness He hates no Person for all the penal Evils upon him though they were more by ten thousand times than Job was struck with but only for his sin Again Sin being only evil and an unmixt evil there is nothing in it that can abate the detestation of God or ballance his hatred of it there is not the least grain of goodness in it to encline him to the least affection to any part of it This hatred cannot but be intense for as the more any Creature is sanctified the more is he advanc'd in the abhorrence of that which is contrary to Holiness therefore God being the Highest most Absolute and Infinite Holiness doth infinitely and therefore intensly hate unholiness being infinitely righteous doth infinitely abhor unrighteousness being infinitely true doth infinitely abhor falsity as it is the greatest and most deformed evil As it is from the righteousness of his Nature that he hath a content and satisfaction in righteousness Psal 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth righteousness So it is from the same righteousness of his Nature that he detests whatsoever is morally evil As his Nature therefore is Infinite so must his abhorrence be 3. Therefore universally because necessarily and intensly He doth not hate it in one and indulge it in another but loaths it wherever he finds it not one worker of Iniquity is exempt from it Psal 5.5 Thou hatest all workers of iniquity For it is not sin as in this or that person or as great or little but sin as sin is the Object of his hatred And therefore let the person be never so great and have particular Characters of his Image upon him it secures him not from God's hatred of any evil action he shall commit He is a jealous God jealous of his Glory * Exod. 20.5 a Metaphor taken from jealous Husbands who will not indure the least Adultery in their Wives nor God the least defection of man from his Law Every act of sin is a spiritual Adultery denying God to be the chief Good and giving that Prerogative by that Act to some vile thing He loves it no more in his own People than he doth in his Enemies he frees them not from his Rod the testimony of his loathing their Crimes Whosoever sows Iniquity shall reap Affliction It might be thought that he affected their Dross if he did not refine them and loved their filth if he did not cleanse them because of his detestation of their sin he will not spare them from the Furnace though because of love to their persons in Christ he will exempt them from Tophet How did the Sword ever and anon drop down upon David's Family after his unworthy dealing in Vriah's Case and cut off ever and anon some of the Branches of it He doth sometimes punish it more severely in this Life in his own People than in others Upon Jonah's Disobedience a Storm pursues him and a Whale devours him while the Prophane World lived in their Lusts without controul Moses for one act of Unbelief is excluded from Canaan when greater Sinners attained that happiness 'T is not a light punishment but a vengeance he takes on their Inventions â Psal 99 8. to manifest that he hates sin as sin and not because the worst persons commit it Perhaps had a prophane Man touched the Ark the hand of God had not so suddenly reach'd him But when Vzzah a man zealous for him as may be supposed by his care for the support of the tottering Ark would step out of his place he strikes him down for his disobedient Action by the side of the Ark which he would indirectly as not being a Levite sustain â 2 Sam. 6.7 Nor did our Saviour so sharply reprove the Pharisees and turn so short from them as he did from Peter when he gave a carnal advise and contrary to that wherein was to be the greatest manifestation of God's Holiness viz. the Death of Christ â ãâ¦ã He calls him Satan a name sharper than the title of the Devil's Children wherewith he marked the Pharisees and given besides him to none but Judas who made a profession of love to him and was outwardly rank'd in the number of his Disciples A Gardiner hates a Weed the more for being in the bed with the most pretious Flowers God's hatred is universally fixed against sin and he hates it as much in those whose Persons shall not fall under his eternal Anger as being secured in
no more in mind of the Holiness of God and the Holiness of his Law 't is a troublesom thing for us to hear of it Let him be gone from us since he will not countenance our Vices and indulge our Crimes We would rather hear there is no God than you should tell us of a Holy one We are contrary to the Law when we wish it were not so exact and therefore contrary to the Holiness of God which set the stamp of Exactness and Righteousness upon it We think him Injurious to our Liberty when by his Precept he thwarts our Pleasure we wish it of another frame more mild more sutable to our Minds 'T is the same as if we should openly blame God for consulting with his own Righteousness and not with our Humors before he setled his Law that he should not have drawn it from the depths of his Righteous Nature but squar'd it to accommodate our Corruption This being the language of such Complaints is a reproving God because he would not be Unholy that we might be Unrighteous with Impunity Had the Divine Law been suted to our Corrupt state God must have been Unholy to have complied with his Rebellious Creature To charge the Law with rigidness either in Language or Practice is the highest contempt of Gods Holiness for it is an Implicit Wish that God were as defil'd polluted disorderly as our Corrupted Selves 10 The Holiness of God is injur'd Opinionatively 1. In the Opinion of Venial sins The Romanists divide Sins into Venial and Mortal Mortal are those which deserve Eternal Death Venial the lighter sort of Sins which rather deserve to be pardon'd than punish'd or if punish'd not with an Eternal but Temporal Punishment This Opinion hath no foundation in but is contrary to Scripture How can any Sin be in its own nature Venial when the due Wages of every Sin is death Rom. 6.23 and he who continues not in every thing that the Law commands falls under a Curse Gal. 3.10 'T is a mean thought of the Holiness and Majesty of God to imagine that any Sin which is against an Infinite Majesty and as Infinite a Purity both in the Nature of God and the Law of God should not be considered as infinitely hainous All Sins are Transgressions of the Eternal Law and in every one the Infinite Holiness of God is some way slighted 2. In the Opinion of Works of Supererogation That is such Works as are not commanded by God which yet have such a dignity and worth in their own nature that the Performers of them do not only merit at Gods hands for themselves but fill up a Treasure of Merits for others that come short of fulfilling the Precepts God hath enjoyn'd 'T is such a mean thought of Gods Holiness that the Jews in all the Charges brought against them in Scripture were never guilty of And if you consider what pitiful things they are which are within the compass of such Works you have sufficient reason to bewail the Ignorance of Man and the low esteem he hath of so glorious a Perfection The Whipping themselves often in a Week extraordinary Watchings Fastings Macerating their Bodies wearing a Capuchins Habit c. are pitiful things to give content to an Infinite Purity As if the Precept of God requir'd only the Inferiour degrees of Vertue and the Counsels the more high and excellent as if the Law of God which the Psalmist counts perfect â Psal 19.7 did not command all Good and forbid all Evil as if the Holiness of God had forgotten it self in the framing the Law and made it a scanty and defective Rule and the Righteousness of a Creature were not only able to make an Eternal Righteousness but surmount it As Man would be at first as knowing as God so some of his Posterity would be more holy than God set up a Wisdom against the Wisdom of God and a Purity above the Divine Purity Adam was not so presumptuous he intended no more than an equalling God in Knowledge but those would exceed him in Righteousness and not only presume to render a Satisfaction for themselves to the Holiness they have injur'd but to make a Purse for the supply of others that are Indigent that they may stand before the Tribunal of God with a Confidence in the Imaginary Righteousness of a Creature How horrible is it for those that come short of the Law of God themselves to think that they can have enough for a Loan to their Neighbours An unworthy Opinion 2. Information It may Inform us how great is our Fall from God and how distant we are from him View the Holiness of God and take a prospect of the Nature of Man and be astonished to see a Person created in the Divine Image degenerated into the Image of the Devil We are as far fallen from the Holiness of God which consists in a Hatred of Sin as the lowest Point of the Earth is from the highest Point of the Heavens The Devil is not more fallen from the rectitude of his Nature and likeness to God than we are and that we are not in the same condition with those Apostate Spirits is not from any thing in our Nature but from the Mediation of Christ upon which account God hath indulged in us a continuance of some Remainders of that which Satan is wholly deprived of We are departed from our Original Pattern we were created to live the life of God that is a life of Holiness but now we are alienated from the life of God * Eph. 4.18 and of a beautiful piece we are become deformed daub'd over with the most defiling Mud We work uncleaness with greediness according to our ability as Creatures as God doth work Holiness with affection and ardency according to his Infiniteness as Creator More distant we are from God by reason of Sin than the vilest Creature the most deform'd Toad or poysonous Serpent is from the highest and most glorious Angel By forsaking our Innocence we departed from God as our Original Copy The Apostle might well say Rom. 3.23 that by Sin we are come short of the glory of God Interpreters trouble themselves much about that place Man is come short of the glory of God that is of the Holiness of God which is the glory of the Divine Nature and was pictur'd in the Rational Innocent Creature By the Glory of God is meant the Holiness of God As 1 Cor. 3.18 Beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord we are changed into the same Image from glory to glory that is the Glory of God in the Text into the Image of which we are changed but the Scripture speaks of no other Image of God but that of Holiness We are come short of the glory of God of the Holiness of God which is the glory of God and the Image of it which was the glory of Man By Sin which is particular in opposition to the Purity of God Man was left
this Sentiment when the Jews Educated by God in a wiser School were wedded to that Notion The Pharisees were highly fond of it it was the only Argument they used in Prayer for Divine Blessing You have one of them boasting of his frequency in Fasting and his exactness in paying his Tithes â Luke 19.12 as if God had been beholding to him and could not without manifest wrong deny him his demand And Paul confesseth it to be his own Sentiment before his Conversion he accounted this Righteousness of the Law gain to him * Phil. 3.7 he thought by this to make his Market with God The whole Nation of the Jews affected it â Rom. 10.3 Going about to Establish their own Righteousness compassing Sea and Land to make out a Righteousness of their own as the Pharisees did to make Proselytes The Papists follow their Steps and Dispute for Justification by the Merit of Works and find out another Key of Works of Supererogation to unlock Heavens Gate than what ever the Scripture informed us of 'T is from hence also that Men are so ready to make Faith as a Work the cause of our Justification Man foolishly thinks he hath enough to set up himself after he hath proved Bankrupt and lost all his Estate This Imagination is born with us and the best Christians may find some sparks of it in themselves when there are springings up of joy in their Hearts upon the more close performance of one Duty than of another as if they had wiped off their Scores and given God a satisfaction for their former neglects We have forsaken all and follow'd thee was the boast of his Disciples What shall we have therefore was a Branch of this Root â Mat. 19.27 Eternal Life is a gift not by any Obligation of Right but an abundance of goodness 't is owing not to the dignity of our Works but the magnificent Bounty of the Divine Nature and must be sued for by the Title of God's Promise not by the Title of the Creatures Services We may observe 3. How insufficient are some Assents to Divine Truth and some Expressions of Affection to Christ without the Practice of Christian Precepts This Man Addrest to Christ with a profound Respect acknowledging him more than an ordinary Person with a more Reverential Carriage than we read any of his Disciples paid to him in the day of his Flesh he fell down at his Feet kist his Knees as the Custom was when they would testifie the great Respect they had to any eminent Person especially to their Rabbins All this some think to be included in the word ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã â Vers 17. Lightfoot in loc He seems to acknowledge him the Messiah by giving him the Title of Good a Title they did not give to their Doctors of the Chair He breaths out his opinion that he was able to instruct him beyond the ability of the Law He came with a more than ordinary Affection to him and expectation of advantage from him evident by his departing sad when his expectations were frustrated by his own perversity it was a sign he had a high esteem of him from whom he could not part without marks of his Grief What was the cause of his refusing the instructions he pretended such an affection to receive He had Possessions in the World How soon do a few drops of Wordly advantages quench the first Sparks of an ill grounded love to Christ How vain is a complemental and cringing devotion without a supream preference of God and valuation of Christ above every outward allurement We may observe this 4. We should never admit any thing to be ascrib'd to us which is proper to God Why callest thou me Good There is none Good but One that is God If you do not acknowledge me God ascribe not to me the Title of Good It takes off all those Titles which fawning Flatterers give to Men Mighty Invincible to Princes Holiness to the Pope We call one another Good without considering how Evil and Wise without considering how Foolish Mighty without considering how Weak and Knowing without considering how Ignorant No man but hath more of Wickedness than Goodness of Ignorance than Knowledge of Weakness than Strength God is a jealous God of his own Honour he will not have the Creature share with him in his Royal Titles 'T is a part of Idolatry to give Men the Titles which are due to God a kind of a Worship of the Creature together with the Creator Worms will not stand out but assault Herod in his Purple when he Usurps the Prerogative of God and prove stiff and invincible Vindicators of their Creators Honor when summoned to Arms by the Creators Word â 12 Acts 22.23 The Observation which I intend to prosecute is this Doct. Pure and Perfect Goodness is only the Royal Prerogative of God Goodness is a choice Perfection of the Divine Nature This is the true and genuine Character of God He is Good He is Goodness Good in Himself Good in his Essence Good in the Highest Degree possessing whatsoever is Comely Excellent Desirable the Highest Good because the First Good whatsoever is perfect Goodness is GOD whatsoever is truly Goodness in any Creature is a resemblance of God * Ficin in Dionys. de divin nom cap 511. All the Names of God are comprehended in this one of Good All Gifts all variety of Goodness are contained in him as one common Good He is the efficient cause of all Good by an over-flowing Goodness of his Nature He refers all things to Himself as the end for the representation of his own Goodness Truly God is Good â Psal 73.1 Certainly it is an undoubted Truth 't is written in his Works of Nature and his Acts of Grace * Exod. 34.6 He is abundant in Goodness And every thing is a Memorial not of some few Sparks but of his greater Goodness â Psal 145.7 This is often celebrated in the Psalms and Men invited more than once to Sing forth the Praises of it * Psal 107.8.15.21.31 It may better be admired than sufficiently spoken of or thought of as it Merits 'T is discovered in all his Works as the Goodness of a Tree in all its Fruits 't is easie to be seen and more pleasant to be contemplated In General 1. All Nations in the World have acknowledged GOD Good ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã was one of the Names the Platonists exprest him by and Good and God are almost the same words in our Language All as readily consented in the Notion of his Goodness as in that of his Deity Whatsoever divisions or disputes there were among them in the other Perfections of God they all agreed in this without dispute saith Synesius * Empedocles One calls him Venus in regard of his Loveliness â Hesiod Another calls him ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã Love as being the Band which tyes all things
acknowledge it with thankfulness in what we have to implore it with a holy submission in what wâ wânt To oân Gââ as a Soveraign in a way of dependance is the way to be own'd by him as Subjects in a way of favour 5. His Soveraignty is manifested in giving a great measure of knowledge to some than to others What Parts Gifts excellency of Nature any have above others are Gods donative He gives Wisdom to the wise and knowledge to them that know understanding Dan. 2.21 Wisdom the habit and Knowledge the right use of it in discerning the right nature of objects and the fitness of means conducing to the end all is but a beam of Divine Light and the different degrees of Knowledge in one man above another are the effects of his Soveraign pleasure He enlightens not the minds of all men to know every part of his will one eats with a doubtful Conscience another in Faith without any staggering Romans 14.2 Peter had a desire to keep up Circumcision not fully understanding the mind of God in the abolition of the Jewish Ceremonies While Paul was clear in the Truth of that Doctrine A thought comes into our mind that like a Sun-beam makes a Scripture Truth visible in a moment which before we were poring upon without any success this is from his pleasure One in the primitive times had the gift of Knowledge another of Wisdom one the gift of Prophesie another of Tongues one the gift of Healing another that of discerning Spirits why this gift to one man and not to another Why such a distribution in several Subjects Because it is his Soveraign pleasure The Spirit divides to every man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12.11 Why doth he give Bezaleel and Aholiah the gift of Engraving and making curious works for the Tabernacle Exod. 31.3 and not others Why doth he bestow the Treasures of Evangelical Knowledge upon the meanest of Earthen Vessels the poor Galileans and neglect the Pharisees stor'd with the Knowledge both of Naturals and Morals Why did he give to some and not to others to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 13.11 The reason is implyed in the words Because it was the mystery of his Kingdom and therefore was the act of his Soveraignty How would it be a Kingdom and Monarchy if the Governour of it were bound to do what he did 'T is to be resolv'd only into the Soveraign right of propriety of his own goods that he furnisheth Babes with a stock of knowledge and leaves the Wise and Prudent empty of it Matth. 11.26 Even so Father for so it seem'd good in thy sight Why did he not reveal his mind to Eri a grown man and in the highest office in the Jewish Church but open it to Samuel a stripling Why did the Lord go from the one to the other Because his motion depends upon his own will Some are of so dull a constitution that they are uncapable of any impression like Rocks too hard for a stamp others like water you may stamp what you please but it vanisheth as soon as the Seal is remov'd 'T is God forms men as he pleaseth Some have parts to govern a Kingdom others scarce brains to conduct their own affairs One is fit to rule men and another scarce fit to keep Swine Some have capacious Souls in crazy and deform'd Bodies others contracted Spirits and heavier minds in a richer and more beautiful case Why are not all stones alike some have a more sparkling light as gems more orient than pebbles Some are Stars of first and others of a less magnitude others as mean as Glo-worms a slimy lustre 'T is because he is the Soveraign disposer of what belongs to him and gives here as well as at the Resurrection to one a Glory of the Sun to another that of the Moon and to a third a less resembling that of a Star 1 Cor. 15.40 And this God may do by the same right of Dominion as he exercised when he endow'd some kinds of Creaâââes with a greater perfection than others in their Nature Why may he not as well garnish one man with a greater proportion of gifts as make a man differ in excellency from the Nature of a Beast Or frame Angels to a more purely spiritual Nature than a man Or make one Angel a Cherubim or Seraphim with a greater measure of light than another Though the foundation of this is his Dominion yet his wisdom is not uninterested in his Soveraign disposal he garnisheth those with a greater ability whom he intends for greater service than those that he intends for less or none at all As an Artificer bestows more labour and carves a more excellent figure upon those Stones that he designs for a more honourable place in the building But though the intending this or that man for service be the motive of laying in a greater provision in him than in others yet still it is to be referred to his Soveraignty Since that first act of culling him out for such an end was the fruit solely of his Soveraign pleasure As when he resolv'd to make a Creature actively to glorifie him in wisdom he must give him reason yet the making such a Creature was an act of his absolute Dominion 6. His Soveraignty is manifest in the calling some to a more special service in their Generation God settles some in immediate Offices of his service and perpetuates them in those Offices with a neglect of others who seem to have a greater pretence to them Moses was a great sufferer for Israel the sollicitor for them in Egypt and the conductor of them from Egypt to Canaan yet he was not chosen to the High Priesthood but that was an office setled upon Aaron and his posterity after him in a lineal descent Moses was only pitched upon for the present resscue of the Captiv'd Israelites and to be the instrument of Divine Miracles but notwithstanding all the success he had in his conduct his faithfulness in his employment and the transcendent familiarity he had with the great Ruler of the World his posterity were left in the common level of the Tribe of Levi without any special mark of dignity upon them above the rest for all the services of that great man Why Moses for a Temporary Magistracy Aaron for a perpetual Priesthood above all the rest of the Israelites hath little reason but the absolute pleasure of God who distributes his employments as he pleaseth and as a Master orders this Servant to do the noblest work and another to labour in baser offices according to his pleasure Why doth he call out David a Shepherd to sway the Jewish Scepter above the rest of the Brothers that had a fairer appearance and had been bred in arms and enur'd to the Toyls and Watchings of a Camp Why should Mary be the Mother of Christ and not some other of the same Family of David of a more splendid birth and a
Will of man Disclaim our dependance on God to hang upon the uncertain breath of a Creature in all this God is made less than man and man more than God God is depos'd and man enthron'd God made a slave and man a soveraign above him To this we may referre the solemn Addresses of some for the maintenance of the Protestant Religion according to Law the Law of Man not so much minding the Law of God resolving to make the Law the Church the State the Rule of their Religion and change that if the Laws be chang'd steering their Opinions by the compass of the Magistrates Judgment and Interest 2. The Dominion of God as a Proprietor is practically contemned 1. By Envy When we are not as flush and gay as well spread and sparkling as others this passion gnaws our Souls and we become the Executioners to wrack our selves because God is the Executor of his own pleasure The foundation of this passion is a quarrel with God to envy others the enjoyment of their Propriety is to envy God his right of disposal and consequently the propriety of his own Goods 'T is a mental Theft committed against God we rob him of his right in our will and wish 't is a Robbery to make our selves equal with God when it is not our due which is implied Phil. 2.6 when Christ is said to think it no Robbery to be equal with God We would wrest the Scepter out of his hand wish he were not the conductor of the world and that he would resign his Soveraignty and the right of the distribution of his own goods to the Capricios of our humor and ask our leave to what Subjects he should dispense his favours All Envy is either a tacit accusation of God as an usurper and assuming a right to dispose of that which doth not belong to him and so it is a denyal of his propriety or else charges him with a blind or unjust distribution and so it is a bespattering his wisdom and righteousness When God doth punish envy he vindicates his own Soveraignty as though this passion cheifly endeavoured to blast this perfection Ezek. 25.11 12. As I live saith the Lord I will do according to thy anger and according to thy envy and thou shall know that I am the Lord. The sin of envy in the Devils was immediately against the Crown of God and so was the sin of envy in the first man envying God the sole Prerogative in knowledge above himself This base humor in Cain at the preference of Abels sacrifice before his was the cause that he deprived him of his life Denying God first his right of choice and what he should accept and then invading Gods right of propriety in usurping a power over the Life and Being of his brother which solely belong'd to God 2. The Dominion of God as a proprietor is practically contemned by a violent or sârreptitious taking away from any what God hath given him the possession of Since God is the Lord of all and may give the possession and dominion of things to whom he pleaseth all Theft and Purloyning all cheating and cousening another of his right is not only a crime against the true possessor depriving him of what he is intrusted with but against God as the absolute and universal proprietor having a right thereby to confer his own goods upon whom he pleaseth as well as against God as a Lawgiver forbidding such a violence The snatching away what is an others denyes man the right of possession and God the right of donation The Israelites taking the Egyptians Jewels had been Theft had it not been by a Divine license and order but cannot be slander'd with such a term after the proprietor of the whole World had alter'd the Title and alienated them by his positive grant from the Egyptians to conferr them upon the Israelites 3. The Dominion of God as a proprietor is practically contemned by not using what God hath given us for those ends for which he gave them to us God passeth things over to us with a condition to use that for his Glory which he hath bestowed upon us by his bounty He is Lord of the end for which he gives as well as Lord of what he gives the donors right of propriety is infringed when the Lands and legacies he leaves to a particular use are not employ'd to those ends to which he bequeathed them The right of the Lord of a Mannour is violated when the Copy-hold is not us'd according to the condition of the conveyance So it is an invasion of Gods soveraignty not to use the Creatures for those ends for which we are intrusted with them when we deny our selves a due and lawful support from them hence Covetousness is an invasion of his right or when we unnecessarily wast them hence prodigality disowns his propriety Or when we bestow not any thing upon the relief of others hence uncharitableness comes under the same title appropriating that to our selves as if we were the Lords when we are but the usufructuaries for our selves and Stewards for others this is to be rich to our selves not to God Luke 12.21 for so are they who employ not their wealth for the service and according to the intent of the donor Thus the Israelites did not own God the true proprietor of their Corn Wine and Oyl which God had given them for his Worship when they prepared offerings for Baal out of his Stock Hos 2.8 For she did not know that I gave her Corn and Wine and Oyl and multiplied her Gold and Silver which they prepar'd for Baal as if they had been sole proprietors and not Factors by Commission to improve the Goods for the true owner 'T is the same invasion of Gods right to use the parts and gifts that God hath given us either as fuel for our pride or advancing self or a witty scoffing at God and Religion When we use not Religion for the honour of our Soveraign but a stool to rise by and observe his precepts outwardly not out of regard to his Authority but as a stale to our interest and furnishing self with a little concern and triflle When men will wrest his word for the favour of their lusts which God intended for the checking of them and make interpretations of it according to their humors and not according to his Will discovered in the Scripture this is to pervert the use of the best goods and depositum he hath put into our hands even divine Revelations Thus hypocrisie makes the soveraignty of God a nullity 3. The Dominion of God as a Governour is practically contemned I. In Idolatry Since Worship is an acknowledgment of Gods soveraignty to adore any Creature instead of God or to pay to any thing that homage of trust and confidence which is due to God though it be the highest Creature in Heaven or Earth is to acknowledg that soveraignty to pertain to a Creature which is challeng'd by
to the last committed this minute The line of his patience hath run along with the duration of the World to this day and there is not any one of Adams posterity but hath been expensive to him and partaked of the riches of it 4. All these he bears when he hath a sense of them He sees every day the Roll and Catalogue of sin increasing he hath a distinct view of every one from the sin of Adam to the last fil'd up in his Omniscience and yet gives no order for the arrest of the World He knows men fitted for destruction all the instants he exerciseth long-suffering towards them which makes the Apostle call it not simply long suffering without the addition of ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã ãâã much long-suffering Rom. 9.23 There is not a grain in the whole Mass of sin that he hath not a distinct knowledge of and of the quality of it He perfectly understands the greatness of his own Majesty that is vilified and the nature of the offence that doth disparage him He is sollicited by his Justice directed by his Omniscience and armed with judgments to vindicate himself but his arm is restrained by patience To conclude no indignity is hid from him no iniquity is beloved by him the hatred of their sinfulness is infinite and the knowledge of the malice is exact The subsisting of the World under such weighty provocations so numerous so long time and with his full sence of every one of them is an evidence of such a forbearance and long-suffering that the addition of Riches which the Apostle puts to it Rom. 2.4 labours with an insufficiency clearly to display it III. Why God doth exercise so much patience 1. To shew himself appeaseable God did not declare by his patience to former ages or any age that he was appeased with them or that they were in his favour but that he was appeasable that he was not an implacable Enemy but that they might find him favourable to them if they did seek after him The continuance of the World by patience and the bestowing many mercies by goodness were not a natural revelation of the manner how he would be appeased That was made known only by the Prophets and after the coming of Christ by the Apostles and had indeed been intelligible in some sort to the whole World had there been a faithfulness in Adams posterity to transmit the tradition of the first promise to succeeding Generations Had not the knowledge of that dyed by their carelesness and neglect it had been easie to tell the reason of Gods patience to be in order to the exhibition of the Seed of the woman to bruise the Serpents head They could not but naturally know themselves sinners and worthy of death they might be easie reflections upon themselves collect that they were not in that comely and harmonious posture now as they were when God first wrought them with his own finger and placed them as his Lieutenants in the World they knew they did grievously offend him this they were taught by the sprinklings of his judgments among them sometimes And since he did not utterly root up mankind his sparing patience was a prologue of some further favours or pardoning Grace to be display'd to the World by some methods of God yet unknown to them Though the Earth was something impair'd by the curse after the fall yet the main pillars of it stood the strate of the natural motions of the Creature was not chang'd the Heavens remain'd in the same posture wherein they were Created the Sun and Moon and other heavenly bodies continued their usefulness and refreshing influences to man The Heavens did still declare the Glory of God day unto day did utter speech their line is gone throughout all the Earth and their words to the end of the World Psal 19.1 2 3. 4. Which declar'd God to be willing to do good to his Creatures and were as so many legible letters or rudiments whereby they might read his patience and that a further design of favour to the World lay hid in that Patience Paul applies this to the Preaching of the Gospel Rom. 10.18 Have they not heard the word of God yes verily their sound went into all the Earth and their words unto the end of the World Redeeming grace could not be spell'd out by them in a clear notion but yet they did declare that which is the Foundation of Gospel Mercy Were not God patient there were no room for a Gospel Mercy so that the Heavens declare the Gospel not formally but fundamentally in declaring the long-suffering of God without which no Gospel had been fram'd or could have been expected They could not but read in those things favourable inclinations towards them And though they could not be ignorant that they deserved a mark of justice yet seeing themselves supported by God and beholding the regular motions of the Heavens from day to day and the Revolutions of the seasons of the year the natural conclusion they might draw from thence was that God was placable Since he behav'd himself more as a tender Friend that had no mind to be at War with them than an enraged Enemy The good things which he gave them and the patience whereby he spar'd them were no arguments of an impâacable disposition And therefore of a disposition willing to be appeased This is clearly the design of the Apostles arguing with the Lystrians when they would have offered Sacrifices to Paul Acts 14.17 When God suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways he did not leave himself without witness giving Rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons What were those Witnesses of Not only of the Being of a God by their readiness to sacrifice to those that were not Gods only supposed to be so in their false imaginations but witnesses to the tenderness of God that he had no mind to be severe with his Creatures But would allure them by ways of Goodness * Amyrald dissert pag. 191. 192. Had not Gods patience tended to this end to bring the World under another dispensation the Apostles arguing from it had not been sutable to his design which seems to be a hindering the sacrifices they intended for them and a drawing them to embrace the Gospel and therefore preparing the way to it by speaking of the Patience and Goodness of God to them as an unquestionable testimony of the reconcileableness of God to them by some sacrifice which was represented under the common notion of Sacrifices These things were not Witnesses of Christ or syllables whereby they could spell out the redeeming person but Witnesses that God was placable in his own nature When man abused those noble faculties God had given him and diverted them from the use and service God intended them for God might have stript man of them the first time that he mis-employed them and it would have seemed most agreeable to this wisdom and Justice not to suffer himself to be
Eternity a property of God and Christ Pag. 181 191 192 What it is Pag. 182 In what respects God is eternal Pag. 183 ad 186 That he is so proved 186 ad 190 God's incommunicable property Pag. 16 17 190 191 Dreadful to sinners Pag. 193 194 Comfortable to the Righteous Pag. 194 ad 197 The thoughts of it should abate our Pride Pag. 197 198 199 Take off our love and confidence from the World Pag. 199 200 We should provide for an happy Interest in it Pag. 200 201 Often meditate on it Pag. 201 Renders him worthy of our choicest Affections Pag. 201 202 And our best Service Pag. 202 Exaltation of Christ the Holiness of God appears in it Pag. 514 515 His Goodness to us as well as to Christ Pag. 624 And his Soveraignty Pag. 751 Examination of our selves before and after worship and wherein our duty Pag. 162 163 164 178 Experience of God's Goodness a Preservative against Atheism Pag. 45 46 Extremity then God usually delivers his Church Pag. 487 488 F. FAith the same thing may be the object of it and of Reason too Pag. 4 Must be exercised in Spiritual worship Pag. 146 147 The Wisdom Holiness Goodness of God in prescribing it as a Condition of the Covenant of Grace v. Covenant Must look back as far as the foundation promise Pag. 341 â Only the obedience flowing from it acceptable to God Pag. 336 Distinct but inseparable from Obedience Pag. 336 337 Foresight of it not the ground of Election Pag. 729 730 Fall of man God no way the Author of it Pag. 505 506 519 How great it is Pag. 546 547 Doth not impeach God's Goodness Pag. 594 595 'T is evident Pag. 670 671 Brought a Curse on the Creatures v. Creatures Falls of God's Children turned to their good Pag. 361 ad 369 Fear not the cause of the Belief of a God Pag. 14 Men that are under a slavish fear of him wish there were no God Pag. 53 54 Of Man a contempt of God's Power Pag. 481 482 Should be of God and not of the pride or force of man Pag. 491 492 God's Soveraignty should cause it Pag. 779 Features different in every man and how necessary it should be so Pag. 31 32 348 Fervency v. Activity Flesh the Legal Services so called Pag. 135 Fools wicked men are so Pag. 1 400 Folly sin is so v. Sin Forgetfulness of God men naturally are prone to it Pag. 97 Of his Mercies a great sin v. Mercies How attributed to God Pag. 283 Foreknowledge in God of sin no blemish to his Holiness Pag. 520 521 Vide Knowledge of God Future things men desirous to know them Pag. 323 Known by God v. Knowledge of God G. GAbriel on what Messages he was sent Pag. 468 Generation could not be from Eternity Pag. 16 17. Gifts God can bestow them on men Pag. 719 His Soveraignty seen in giving greater measures to one than another Pag. 738 Glory of all they do or have men are apt to ascribe to themselves Pag. 82 83 Of God little minded in many seemingly good actions Pag. 72 73 Men are more concern'd for their own reputation than God's glory Pag. 83 Should be aim'd at in Spiritual worship Pag. 153 God's permission of sin is in order to it Pag. 528 529 Sould be advanced by us Pag. 778 God his Existence known by the light of Nature Pag. 4 5 By the Creatures Pag. 5 14 ad 29 Miracles not wrought to prove it Pag. 5 Owned by the universal consent of all Nations Pag. 6 Never disputed of old Pag. 7 Denied by very few if any Pag. 8 Constantly owned in all changes of the world Pag. 9 Under anxieties of Conscience ib. The Devil not able to root out the belief of it Pag. 9 10 Natural and innate Pag. 10 Not introduced meerly by Tradition Pag. 11 Nor Policy Pag. 12 13 Nor Fear Pag. 14 Witnessed to by the very Nature of Man Pag. 29 ad 37 And by extraordinary Occurrencies Pag. 37 38 Impossible to demonstrate there is none Pag. 41. 42 Motives to endeavour to be setled in the belief of it Pag. 44 45 Directions Pag. 45 Men wish there were none and who they are Pag. 52 53 54 Two ways of describing him Negation and Affirmation Pag. 113 Is active and communicative Pag. 126 127 Propriety in him a great Blessedness Vide Covenant Infinitely happy Pag. 476 477 Good That which is materially so may be done and not formally Pag. 69 72 73 Good Actions cannot be perform'd before Conversion Pag. 100 The thoughts of Gods Presence a Spur to them Pag. 270 God only is so Pag. 578 579 Goodness pure and perfect the Royal Prerogative of God only Pag. 581 Own'd by all Nations Pag. 582 Inseparable from the Notion of God Pag. 582 583 What is meant by it Pag. 583 How distinguish'd from Mercy Pag. 584 Comprehends all his Attributes Pag. 585 Is so by his Essence Pag. 586 The Chief Pag. 587 'T is communicative Pag. 588 Necessary to him Pag. 589 Voluntary Pag. 590 Communicative with the greatest pleasure Pag. 591 The displaying of it the Motive and End of all his Works Pag. 592 Arguments to prove it a Property of God Pag. 593 594 Vindicated from the Objections made against it Pag. 594 ad 604 Appears in Creation Pag. 604 ad 615 In Redemption Pag. 615 ad 645 In his Government Pag. 645 ad 660 Frequently contemn'd and abus'd Pag. 660 661 The Abuse and Contempt of it base and disingenuous Pag. 661 662 Highly resented by God Pag. 662 How 't is contemn'd and abus'd Pag. 660 ad 670 Men justly punish'd for it Pag. 671 Fits him for the Government of the World and engages him actually to govern it Pag. 671 6 2 The ground of all Religion Pag. 673 674 Renders God amiable to himself Pag. 674 675 Should do so to us and why Pag. 675 ad 678 Renders him a fit object of Trust with Motives to it drawn hence Pag. 678 679 680 And worthy to be obey'd and honour'd Pag. 680 681 682 Comfortable to the Righteous and wherein Pag. 682 ad 685 Should engage us to endeavour after the enjoyment of him with Motives Pag. 685 686 Should be often meditated on and the Advantages of so doing Pag. 681 682 683 We should be thankful for it Pag. 690 And imitate it and wherein Pag. 691 692 Gospel Men greater Enemies to than to the Law Pag. 101 Its Excellency Pag. 103 334 Called Spirit Pag. 135 The only Means of establishment Pag. 333 Of an Eternal Resolution tho of a Temporary Revelation Pag. 334 Mysterious ibiâ The first Preachers of it Vide Apostles It s Antiquity Pag. 335 The Goodness of God in spreading it among the Gentiles ibid. Gives no encouragement to Licentiousness Pag. 336 The Wisdom of God in its Propagation Pag. 390 ad 395 And Power Pag. 461 ad 467 Vide Christian Religion Government of the World God could not manage it without Immutability Pag. 220 And Knowledge Pag. 314
Pag. 76 A Contempt of Gods Wisdom Pag. 404 405 And of his Goodness Pag. 663 664 And of his Dominion Pag. 760 Impenitence an Abuse of Gods Goodness Pag. 664 665 It will clear the Equity oâ God's Justice Pag. 813 814 An Abuse of Patience Pag. 815 Imperfections in Holy Duties we should be sensible of Pag. 148 Should make us prize Christ's Mediation Pag. 168 Impossible some things are in their own nature Pag. 432 433 Some things so to the Nature and Being of God and his Perfections Pag. 433 434 Some things so because of Gods Ordination Pag. 435 Do not infringe the Almightiness of God's Power Pag. 432 ad 435 Incarnation of Christ the Power of God seen in it Pag. 456 ad 460 Incomprehensible God is so Pag. 263 Inconstancy natural to Man Pag. 231 234 In the knowledge of the Truth Pag. 231 232 In Will and Affections Pag. 232 In Practice Pag. 233 234 'T is the Root of much Evil ibid. Infirmities the Knowledge of God a comfort to his People under them Pag. 332 333 â The Goodness of God in bearing with them Pag. 656 657 His Patience a Comfort under them Pag. 821 Injuries Men highly concern'd for those that are done to themselves little for those that are done to God Pag. 83 Gods Patience under them should make us resent them Pag. 822 Injustice a Contempt of Gods Dominion Pag. 758 Innocent Person whether God may inflict eternal Torments upon him Pag. 712 716 717 Instruments Men are apt to pay a Service to them rather than God Pag. 86 Which is a Contempt of Divine Power Pag. 482 And of his Goodness Pag. 669 670 Deliverances not to be chiefly ascribed to them Pag. 272 273 God makes use of Sinful ones Pag. 358 359 None in Creation Pag. 443 444 The Power of God seen in effecting his Purposes by weak Ones Pag. 455 456 Inventions of Men. Vide Addition and Worship Job when he lived Pag. 439 Jonah how he came to be believed by the Ninivites Pag. 361 Joy a necessary Ingredient in Spiritual Worship Pag. 150 Should accompany all our Duties Pag. 784 Judging the Hearts of others a great Sin Pag. 324 Their Eternal state a greater Pag. 325 Judgment Day a necessity of it Pag. 318 319 398 Judgments Extraordinary prove the Being of God Pag. 37 38 Men are apt to put bold Interpretations on them Pag. 78 79 God is Just in them Pag. 100 Especially after the abuse of his Goodness and Patience Pag. 671 813 814 On God's Enemies matter of Praise Pag. 494. 495 Declare God's Holiness Pag. 511 512 513 Which should be observed in them Pag. 557 Not sent without warning Pag. 602 800 801 802 Mercy mix'd with them Pag. 602 603 604 God sends them on whom he pleases Pag. 746 747 Delay'd a long time where there is no Repentance Pag. 802 803 God unwilling to pour them out when he cannot delay them any longer Pag. 803 Pour'd out with regret Pag. 803 804 By degrees Pag. 804 Moderated Pag. 805 Vide Punishments Justice of God a motive to Worship Pag. 130 Its plea against Man Pag. 375 376 Reconciled with Mercy in Christ Pag. 377 Vindictive natural to God Pag. 547 548 549 Requires Satisfaction Pag. 550 Justification cannot be by the best and strongest works of Nature Pag. 102 320 544 545 550 The Holiness of God appears in that of the Gospel Pag. 515 The expectations of it by the outward observance of the Law cannot satisfie an Inquisitive Conscience Pag. 579 Men naturally look for it by Works Pag. 580 K. KIngdoms are disposed of by God Pag. 742 743 Knowledge in God hath no succession Pag. 185 186 192 307 308 Immutable Pag. 211 212 213 311 312 Arguments to prove it 263 Pag. 312 ad 316 The manner of it Incomprehensible Pag. 214 215 288 295 God is Infinite in it Pag. 274 Own'd by all Pag. 274 275 He hath a Knowledge of Vision and Intelligence speculative and practical Pag. 276 277 Of Apprehension and Approbation Pag. 277 278 Hath a knowledge of himself Pag. 278 279 280 Of all things possible Pag. 280 281 282 Of all things past and present Pag. 282 283 Of all Creatures their Actions and Thoughts Pag. 283 ad 287 Of all Sins and how Pag. 287 288 289 Of all future things he alone and how Pag. 289 ad 296 Of all future Contingences Pag. 296 ad 301 Doth not necessitate the Will of Man Pag. 301 ad 304 'T is by his Essence Pag. 305 306 Intuitive Pag. 306 307 308 Independent Pag. 308 309 Distinct Pag. 309 310 Infallible Pag. 310 311 Arguments to prove it Pag. 263 312 ad 315 No blemish to his Holiness ib. Infinite attributed to Christ Pag. 315 316 317 Infers his Providence Pag. 317 318 And a Day of Judgment Pag. 318 319 And the Resurrection Pag. 319 320 Destroys all hopes of Justification by any thing in our selves Pag. 320 Calls for our adoring Thoughts of him Pag. 320 321 And Humility Pag. 321 322 How injured in the World and wherein Pag. 322 ad 228 Comfortable to the Righteous and wherein Pag. 328 ad 334 â Terrible to Sinners Pag. 334 ad 337 â We should have a sense of it on our hearts and the advantages of it Pag. 337 338 339 â Knowledge of God's Will Men negligent in using the Means to attain it Pag. 55 Enemies to it and have no delight in it Pag. 56 Seek it for by-ends Pag. 57 58 Admit it with wavering Affections Pag. 58 Seek it to improve some Lust by it Pag. 58 59 A sense of Man's hath a greater Influence on us than that of God Pag. 86 87 325 326 Sins against it should be avoided Pag. 107 Distinct from Wisdom Pag. 338 339 Of all Creatures is deriv'd from God Pag. 313 Ours how imperfect Pag. 321 L. LAw of God how opposite Man naturally is to it Vide Man There is one in the Minds of Men which is the Rule of Good and Evil Pag. 33 34 A change of them doth not infer a change in God Pag. 228. 229 Vindicated both as to the Precept and Penalty in the death of Christ Pag. 383 Suted to our Natures Happiness and Conscience Pag. 352 353 354 610 611 We should submit to them Pag. 414 415 The Transgression of them punish'd by God Pag. 511 512 726 727 God's enjoyning one which he knew Man would not observe no blemish to his Holiness Pag. 519 520 To charge them with Rigidness how great a Sin Pag. 545 We should imitate the Holiness of them Pag. 559 The Goodness of God in that of Innocence Pag. 610 ad 615 Cannot but be good Pag. 681 682 He gives Laws to all Pag. 722 723 Positive ones Pag. 723 724 His only reach the Conscience Pag. 724 725 Dispensed with by him but cannot by Man Pag. 725 726 754 755 To make any contrary to God's how great a Sin Pag. 755 Or make Additions to them Pag. 756 757 Or obey those of Men before them Pag.
757 758 782 783 V. Governour and Magistrates Licentiousness the Gospel no friend to Pag. 336 Life Eternal expected by Men from something of their own vide Justification Assured to the People of God Pag. 236 683 684 Light a glorious Creature Pag. 588 Light of Nature shews the Being of a God Pag. 4 5 Limiting God a contempt of his Dominion Pag. 761 Lives of Men at God's disposal Pag. 748 Love to God sometimes arises meerly from some self-pleasing benefits Pag. 90 A necessary ingredient in Spiritual Worship Pag. 147 148 A great help to it Pag. 176 God is highly worthy of it Pag. 201 202 556 557 563 675 676 677 778 Outward expressions of it insignificant without Obedience Pag. 580 581 God's Gospel name Pag. 616 Of God to his People great Pag. 769 Lusts of Men make them Atheists Pag. 2 M. MAgistracy the Goodness of God in setling it Pag. 650 Magistraees are inferiour to God to be obedient to him Pag. 765 766 Ought to govern Justly and Righteously Pag. 766 To be obey'd ib. Man could not make himself Pag. 17 18 19 20 The World subservient to him Pag. 23 The abridgement of the Universe Pag. 29 30 608 Naturally disowns the Rule God hath set him Pag. 54 ad 67 Owns any Rule rather than God's Pag. 67 ad 70 Would set himself up as his own Rule Pag. 70 ad 74 Would give Laws to God Pag. 74 ad 80 Would make himself his own End V. End His Natural Corruption how great Pag. 452 Made holy at first Pag. 507 508 607 Yet mutable which was no blemish to God's Holiness Pag. 517 518 519 Made after God's Image Pag. 607 The World made and furnish'd for him Pag. 608 609 610 In his Corrupt estate without any motives to excite Gods Redeeming love Pag. 625 ad 628 Restored to a more excellent state than his first Pag. 641 642 Under God's Dominion Pag. 719 720 Means Vide Instrument To depend on the Power of God and neglect them is an abuse of it Pag. 483 484 Of Grace to neglect them an affront of God's Wisdom Pag. 402 403 Given to some and not to others Pag. 734 ad 737 Have various influences Pag. 737 738 Meditation on the Law of God Men have no delight in Pag. 56 Members bodily attributed to God do not prove him a Body Pag. 118 119 What sort of them attributed to him ib. With a respect to the Incarnation of Christ ib. Mercies of God to Sinners how Wonderful Pag. 99 100 A Motive to Worship Pag. 130 Former ones should be remembred when we come to beg new ones Pag. 180 Its Plea for Fallen Man Pag. 376 377 It and Justice reconcil'd in Christ Pag. 377 Holiness of God in them to be observed Pag. 557 Contempt and abuse of them vide Goodness One foundation of God's Dominion Pag. 709 710 Call for our Love of him Pag. 676 677 678 And Obedience to him Pag. 680 681 Given after great Provocations Pag. 805 806 Merit of Christ not the cause of the first resolution of God to Redeem Pag. 621 622 Not the cause of Election Pag. 728 729 Man uncapable of Pag. 764 Miracles prove the Being of a God though not wrought to that end Pag. 5 38 Wrought by God but seldom Pag. 371 The Power of God Pag. 438 The Power of God seen no more in them than in the ordinary works of Nature Pag. 450 451 Many wrought by Christ Pag. 460 Moral Goodness encouraged by God Pag. 652 Moral Law commands things good in their own Nature Pag. 51 723 The Holiness of God appears in in it Pag. 508 Holy in the matter and manner of his Precepts Pag. 508 509 Reaches the Inward Man Pag. 509 510 Perpetual ib. V. Law of God Publish'd with Majesty Pag. 724 Mortification how difficult Pag. 101 Motions of all Creatures in God Pag. 449 Variety of them in a single Creature Pag. 449 450 Mountains how useful Pag. 23 Before the Deluge Pag. 181 Mouth how curiously contrived Pag. 30 N. NAture of Man must be sanctified before it can perform Spiritual Worship Pag. 142 Human highly advanced by its union with the Son of God Pag. 628 629 Human and Divine in Christ vide Vnion Night how necessary Pag. 350 O. OBedience to God not true unless it be universal Pag. 61 Due to him upon the account of his Eternity Pag. 202 To him should be preferr'd before Obedience to Men. V. Laws Of Faith only acceptable to God Pag. 336 Distinct but inseparable from Faith ib. Shall be rewarded Pag. 354 Redemption a strong Incentive to it Pag. 387 388 Without it nothing will avail us Pag. 580 581 The goodness of God in accepting it tho imperfect Pag. 656 657 Due to God for his goodness Pag. 680 681 682 Due to God as a Soveraign Pag. 779 780 781 What kind of it due to him Pag. 781 782 783 784 Objects the proposing them to Man which God knows he will use to sin no blemish to Gods Holiness Pag. 533 ad 536 Obstinacy in Sin a contempt of Divine Power Pag. 480 481 Omissions of Prayer a practical denial of God's Knowledge Pag. 328 Of Duty a contempt of his Goodness Pag. 666 Omnipresence an Attribute of God Pag. 243 Denied by some Jews and Heathens but acknowledged by the wisest amongst them Pag. 244 245 To be understood negatively Pag. 245 Influential on all Creatures Pag. 245 246 Limited to Subjects capacitated for this or that kind of it Pag. 246 Essential ib. In all places Pag. 246 247 248 With all Creatures Pag. 248 Without mixture with them or division of himself Pag. 248 249 Not by multiplication or extension Pag. 249 But totally ib. In imaginary spaces beyond the World Pag. 249 250 251 God's incommunicable Property Pag. 251 252 Arguments to prove his Omnipresence Pag. 252 ad 256 Objections against it answer'd Pag. 257 ad 261 Ascribed to Christ Pag. 261 262 Proves God a Spirit Pag. 262 And his Providence ib. And Omniscient and Incomprehensible Pag. 263 Calls for Admiration of him Pag. 264 Forgotten and contemn'd 264 Pag. 265 Terrible to Sinners Pag. 265 266 Comfortable to the Righteous and wherein Pag. 268 Should be often thought of and the advantages of so doing Pag. 268 ad 270 Opposition in the hearts of Men naturally against the Will of God Pag. 57 P. PArdon Gods Infinite Knowledge a comfort when we reflect on it or seek it Pag. 334 â The Power of God in granting it and giving a sense of it Pag. 470 471 The Spring of all other Blessings Pag. 698 Always accompanied with Regeneration ib. Punishment remitted upon it Pag. 698 699 'T is perfect Pag. 699 Of God and his alone gives a full security Pag. 769 770 Patience under Afflictions a duty Pag. 415 God's Immutability should teach us it Pag. 237 238 A sense of God's Holiness would promote it Pag. 555 556 And his Goodness Pag. 688 Motives to it Pag. 784 785 786 The true Nature of it Pag. 786 Consideration of
glory Pag. 83 Resignation of our selves would flow from consideration of God's Wisdom Pag. 414 415 Should from that of his Soveraignty Pag. 775 Restraint of Men and Devils by God in mercy to man Pag. 357 451 452 527 528 650 744 745 Resolutions good how soon broken Pag. 232 Resurrection of the Body no incredible Doctrine Pag. 319 320 479 480 The Power of God in that of Christ Pag. 460 Of Men ascribed to Christ Pag. 476 Reverence necessary in the worship of God Pag. 150 151 Revelations of God are not to be censured Pag. 403 404 Riches inordinate desire after them a hindrance to Spiritual worship Pag. 177 God exercises a Soveraignty in bestowing them Pag. 740 Rivers how useful Pag. 349 Rome why called Babylon Pag. 13 S. SAcraments the goodness of God in appointing them Pag. 639 Salvation of men how desirous God is of it Pag. 636 637 638 808 809 810 Sanctification deserves our thanks as much as Justification Pag. 698 Vide Holiness Satisfaction of the Soul only in God Pag. 36 37 127 128 200 Necessary for sin Pag. 549 550 Scepticks must own a first Cause Pag. 21 Scoffing at Holiness a great sin Pag. 543 544 And at Convictions in others Pag. 553 Scriptures are wrested and abused Pag. 58 59 79 Ought to be prized and studied Pag. 107 The not fulfilling some Predictions in them doth not prove God to be changeable Pag. 226 227 Of the Old Testament give credit to the New and of the New illustrate those of the Old Pag. 334 335 All Truth to be drawn thence ibid. Of the Old Testament to be studied ibid. Something in them sutable to all sorts of men Pag. 354 355 Written so as to prevent foreseen Corruptions Pag. 355 356 To study Arguments from them to defend sin a contempt of God's Holiness Pag. 542 543 The goodness of God in giving them as a Rule Pag. 652 653 654 Sea how useful Pag. 23 The Wisdom of God seen in it Pag. 349 And his Power Pag. 419 446 447 Searching the Hearts of Men how to be understood of God Pag. 287 Seasons the variety of them necessary Pag. 350 Secrecy a poor refuge to sinners Pag. 335 Secret sins cause stings of Conscience Pag. 35 313 Known to God Pag. 263 265 334 335 Shall be revealed in the Day of Judgment Pag. 318 319 Prayers and Works known to God Pag. 331 Security Men abuse God's blessings to it Pag. 668 Self man most opposite to those Truths that are most contrary to it Pag. 60 Man sets up as his own Rule Pag. 70 Dissatisfied with Conscience when it contradicts its desires Pag. 71 72 Meerly the agreeableness to it the spring of many materially good Actions Pag. 72 73 90 ad 94 153 154 Would make it the rule of God Pag. 74 ad 80 And his own end and the end of all Creatures and of God vid. End Applauding thoughts of it how common Pag. 82 Men ascribe the glory of what they have or do to it Pag. 82 83 Desire Doctrines pleasing to it Pag. 83 Highly concern'd for any injury done to it ibid. Obey it against the light of Conscience Pag. 84 How great a sin this is Pag. 84 85 The giving mercies pleasing to it the only cause of many mens love to God Pag. 90 91 Men unweildy to their duty where it is not concern'd Pag. 91 How sinful this is Pag. 94 The great Enemy to the Gospel and Conversion Pag. 101 102 Self-love threefold Pag. 80 81 The cause of all sin and hindrance of Conversion Pag. 81 82 Service of God how unwilling men are to it Pag. 63 64 Slight in the performance of it Pag. 64 65 Shew not that natural vigor in it as they do in their worldly business Pag. 65 Quickly weary of it Pag. 65 66 Desert it Pag. 66 The presence of God a comfort in it Pag. 268 Hypocritical pretences for avoiding it a denial of God's Knowledge Pag. 328 A sense of God's Goodness would make us faithful in it Pag. 681 Some called to and fitted for more eminent ones in their Generation Pag. 739 ad 744 Omissions of it a contempt of God's Soveraignty Pag. 762 763 Sin founded in a secret Atheism and Self-love Pag. 50 81 Reflects a dishonour on all the Attributes of God Pag. 50 Implies God is unworthy of a Being Pag. 50 51 Would make him a foolish impure and miserable Being Pag. 51 52 More troublesom than Holiness Pag. 63 To make it our end a great debasing of God Pag. 87 88 No excuse but an aggravation that we serve but one Pag. 87 Abstinence from it proceeds many times from an evil Cause Pag. 90 91 325 326 God's name word and mercies made use of to countenance it Pag. 94 542 543 668 669 815 Spiritual to be avoided Pag. 128 'T is folly Pag. 193 Past ones we should be humbled for Pag. 197 336 â Hath brought a Curse on the Creation Pag. 207 Vide Creatures Past known to God Pag. 282 283 All known to him and how Pag. 287 288 289 336 â 337 â A sense of God's Knowledge and Holiness would check it Pag. 337 338 â 554 555 Bounded by God Pag. 357 God brings glory to himself and good to the Creature out of it Pag. 358 ad 366 God hath shewn the greatest hatred of it in redemption Pag. 384 385 A contempt of God's Power Pag. 480 481 Abhorred by God Pag. 501 502 503 547 In God's People more severely punisht in this World than in others Pag. 502 503 God cannot be the Author of in others or do it himself Pag. 504 505 506 God punishes it and cannot but do so Pag. 511 547 548 549 The Instruments of it detestable to God Pag. 512 Opposite to the Holiness of God Pag. 540 To charge it on God or defend it by his word a great sin Pag. 542 543 Entrance of it into the World doth not impeach God's goodness Pag. 594 595 Those that disturb Societies most signally punisht in this life Pag. 651 A contempt of God's Dominion Pag. 752 753 754 How much God is daily provoked by it Pag. 806 807 808 823 An abuse of God's Patience Pag. 815 816 Sincerity required in Spiritual worship Pag. 143 Cannot be unknown to God Pag. 330 331 Consideration of God's Knowledge would promote it Pag. 338 339 â Sinful times in them we should be most holy Pag. 558 Sinners God hath shewn the greatest love to them and hatred to their sins Pag. 384 385 Every thing in their possession detestable to God Pag. 512 Society the goodness of God seen in the preservation of it Pag. 649 ad 652 Could not subsist without restraining Grace v. Restraint Soul the vastness of its capacity and quickness of its motion Pag. 32 33 Its union to the Body wonderful ibid. God only can satisfie it v. Satisfaction They only can converse with God Pag. 127 Should be the Objects of our chiefest care Pag. 128 We should worship God with them Pag. 132 133 The Wisdom and
Goodness of God seen in them Pag. 450 607 Spaces imaginary beyond the World God is present with Pag. 249 250 251 Spirit that God is so plainly asserted but once in Scripture Pag. 112 Various acceptations of the word Pag. 113 That God is so how to be understood ibid. God the only pure one Pag. 114 Arguments to prove God is one Pag. 115 ad 118. Objection against it answered Pag. 118 119 Spirit of God his assistance necessary to Spiritual Worship Pag. 142 Spirits of men raised up and ordered by God as be pleases Pag. 743 744 Subjection to our Superiors God remits of his own right for preserving it Pag. 651 652 Success men apt to ascribe to themselves Pag. 82 Not to be ascribed to our selves Pag. 669 670 Denied by God to some Pag. 740 Summer how necessary Pag. 350 Sun conveniently placed Pag. 22 148 Its motion useful Pag. 22 23 25 148 The Power of God seen in it Pag. 450 Lord's Supper the goodness of God in appointing it Pag. 639 Seals the Covenant of Grace Pag. 640 641 In it we have Union and Communion with Christ Pag. 641 642 The neglect of it reproved Pag. 642 Supererogation an Opinion that injures the Holiness of God Pag. 546 Superstition proceeds from vain imaginations of God Pag. 95 Swearing by any Creature an injury to God's Omniscience Pag. 323 324 T. TEmptations the Presence of God a comfort in them Pag. 266 The thoughts of it would be a Shield against them Pag. 269 The Wisdom and Power of God a comfort under them Pag. 406 486 The goodness manifested to his people under them Pag. 658 659 660 The thoughts of God's Soveraignty would arm and make us watchful against them Pag. 774 Thankfulness a necessary ingredient in Spiritual worship Pag. 148 Due to God Pag. 689 690 777 778 823 824 825 A sense of his Goodness would promote it Pag. 689 Theft an Invasion of God's Dominion Pag. 758 Thoughts should be often upon God Pag. 46 Seldom are on him Pag. 86 97 98 All known by God only Pag. 285 286 287 And by Christ Pag. 316 317 Cherishing evil ones a practical denial of God's Knowledge Pag. 327 Thoughts of God's Knowledge would make us watchful over them Pag. 338 â Threatnings the not fulfilling them sometimes argue no change in God Pag. 226 227 Are conditional ibid. The goodness of God in them Pag. 613 Go before Judgments v. Judgments Time cannot be infinite Pag. 16 Times of bestowing Mercy God orders as a Soveraign Pag. 741 Tongue how curious a Workmanship Pag. 31 Traditions old ones generally lost Pag. 11 Belief of a God not owing meerly to it ibid. Transubstantiation an absurd Doctrine Pag. 483 Trees how useful Pag. 23 350 Trust in themselves men do and not in God Pag. 83 84 We should not in the World Pag. 199 200 236 God the fit Object of it Pag. 329 386 397 489 551 552 â 678 779 Means to promote it Pag. 339 â 773 Should not in our own Wisdom Pag. 411 412 In our selves a contempt of God's Power and Dominion Pag. 482 759 God's Power the main ground of trusting him Pag. 489 490 And sometimes the only one Pag. 490 Should be placed in God against outward appearances Pag. 558 Goodness the first motive of it Pag. 678 More foundations of it and motives to it under the Gospel than under the Law Pag. 679 Gives God the glory of his goodness Pag. 679 680 God's Patience to the Wicked a ground for the Righteous to trust in his promise Pag. 821 Truths of God most contrary to self man most opposite to And to those that are most holy spiritual lead most to God and relate most to him Pag. 59 60 Men unconstant in the belief of them Pag. 231 232 Corrupters of them no better than Devils Pag. 541 â Evangelical shall prevail ibid. U. UBiquity of Christ's Human Nature confuted Pag. 252 Venial sins an opinion that reproaches God's Holiness Pag. 546 Vertue and Vice not Arbitrary things Pag. 51 Vnbelief the Reason of it Pag. 101 102 A contempt of Divine Power Pag. 483 And Goodness Pag. 664 665 Vnion of Soul and Body an effect of Almighty Power Pag. 33 Of two Natures in Christ made no change in his Divine Nature Pag. 224 Shews the Wisdom of God Pag. 339 ad 383 How necessary for us Pag. 381 382 383 Shews the Power of God Pag. 458 459 460 Explain'd Pag. 459 460 Vide Incarnation Vsurpations of Men an Invasion of God's Soveraignty Pag. 754 755 W. WAter an excellent Creature Pag. 588 Weakness a sensibleness of it a necessary ingredient in Spiritual Worship Pag. 148 Will of God cannot be defeated Pag. 52 Man averse to it vide Man The same with his Essence Pag. 214 Always accompanied with his Understanding ibid. Unchangeable Pag. 214 215 The unchangeableness of it doth not make things willed by him so Pag. 215 216 Free Pag. 216 How conversant about Sin Pag. 522 Will of Man not necessitated by God's Fore-knowledge Pag. 301 ad 304 Of Man subject to God Pag. 720 Winds how useful Pag. 349 Winter how useful Pag. 350 Wisdom an Attribute of God Pag. 337 What it is and wherein it consists Pag. 338 Distinct from Knowledge Pag. 338 Essential which is the same with his Essence and personal Pag. 339 In what sense God is only wise Pag. 339 ad 343 Proved to be in God Pag. 343 ad 346 Appears in Creation Pag. 346 ad 351 In government of Man as Rational Pag. 352 ad 357 As fallen and sinful Pag. 357 ad 367 As restored Pag. 367 ad 373 In Redemption Pag. 373 ad 388 In the Condition of the Covenant of Grace Pag. 388 ad 390 In the propagation of the Gospel Pag. 390 ad 395 Ascribed to Christ Pag. 395 Renders God fit to govern the World and enclines him actually to govern it Pag. 395 396 A ground of his Patience and Immutability in his Decrees Pag. 396 397 Makes him a fit Object of our Trust Pag. 397 Infers a Day of Judgment Pag. 398 Calls for a Veneration of him ibid. A ground of Prayer to him Pag. 399 Prodigiously contemn'd and wherein Pag. 399 ad 405 Comfortable to the Righteous Pag. 405 406 407 In Creation and Government should be meditated on and Motives to it Pag. 407 ad 410 In Redemption to be studied and admired Pag. 410 411 To be submitted to in his Revelations Precepts Providences Pag. 413 414 415 Not to be censured in any of his ways Pag. 415 Wisdom no Man should be proud of or trust in Pag. 411 412 Should be sought from God Pag. 412 413 World was not and could not be from Eternity Pag. 16 17 Could not make it self Pag. 17 18 19 No Creature could make it Pag. 20 Its Harmony Pag. 21 ad 27 Greedily pursued by Men Pag. 86 Inordinate desires after it a great hindrance to Spiritual Worship Pag. 177 Our Love and Confidence not to be placed in it Pag. 199 200 207 Shall not be