2. Majesty 3. Glory 4. Lordship 5. Immutability Fifthly The Measure of all his Attributes is Infiniteness that is They have no Stint nor Measure As the Measure of his Being is Immensity Sixthly The Crown of all his Attributes is his Eternity Of these in order 1. His Bounty the Scripture thus expresseth Psalm 145.15 Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing Matth. 6.28 29. Consider the Lilies of the field they toil not neither do they spin and yet I say anto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these And Psal 104.27 28. These wait all upon thee speaking of the several living Creatures that thou mayest give them their meat in due season Thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good 2. His Justice in the Righteous Government of all things the Holy Ghost thus sets forth Psalm 89.14 Justice and Judgment are the Habitation of thy Throne And Psal 9.8 He shall judge the World in Righteousness and minister Judgment to the World in uprightness Jerem. 32.19 Thine Eyes are upon all the Ways of the Sons of Men to give to every one according to his Ways and according to the Fruit of his doings Gen. 18.25 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Rev. 15.3 Just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints 3. His Veracity is thus described Numb 23.19 He is not as a Man that he should lye Hath he said it and spoken it and shall it not be made good Rom. 3.4 God is true and every man a lyar Heb. 10.23 God is faithful who hath promised 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He is to be credited or believed Psalm 138.2 I will woriship towards thy Holy Temple and praise thy Name for thy Loving-kindness and for thy Truth for thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name Psalm 86.15 But thou O Lord art plenteous in Mercy and in Truth 4. His Mercy and Compassion to all Rational Creatures is thus expressed John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Ezek. 33.11 As I live saith the Lord I have no pleasure in him that dyeth or in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Turn ye turn ye from your evil ways For why will ye dye 1 Tim. 2.4 There it 's said that God would have all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth Besides 1. All those Scriptures that express the Death of Christ for sinners without limitation serve to this purpose such as 1 Tim. 2.6 Who gave himself a Ransome for all Men c. 2. All those Scriptures that contain a Commission to Preach the Gospel to all the World without Exception magnifie this Attribute to the full and make it shine forth gloriously such as Matth. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all Nations c. 3. Likewise all those Scriptures that promise Pardon and Salvation upon the Conditions of Repentance and Faith not excluding any from these Terms are a lively demonstration of this lovely Attribute such as 1 John 12. As many as received him to them gave he Power to become the Sons of God even to them that believe in his Name 4. So likewise all those Scriptures that set forth the Patience of God towards sinners in general may be reduced hither and serve under this Head 5. Lastly All those Scriptures that insist upon the Common Providences of God towards wicked Men and his veriest Enemies in supplying all their Necessities and giving them such a large portion of these outward Comforts bear ample Testimony to this Attribute and do very much exalt it such as Matth. 5.45 where God is said to make the Sun to shine upon the Evil and upon the Good and to send Rain on the just and on the unjust 5. His Special Love to Believers the Holy Ghost thus describeth Deut. 33.29 The Lord is the shield of their help and the sword of their excellency Psal 94.14 God will not cast off his Saints nor forsake his Inheritance And Psal 149.4 The Lord taketh pleasure in his people and will beautifie them with salvation And Psal 1. last The Lord knoweth i. approveth the way of the Righteous Isa 49.16 There they are said to be graven on the Palms of his Hands and their Walls are ever in his sight And Vers 15. It 's said God cannot and will not forget them Moreover 1. All those Scriptures that entitle them to Pardon Reconciliation Adoption and Glory Comfort in all Conditions and a blessed Issue out of all their Troubles be they more or less and that entail a Blessing upon their Seed and Posterity are a sufficient proof of God's special Love to Believers and set it forth illustriously such as Psalm 97.11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 37.37 Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace Eccles 8.12 13. Though a sinner do evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him c. Psal 102.28 The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be established before thee Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that walk not after the flesh but after the spirit Psal 125.1 2. They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion which cannot be removed but abideth for ever As the mountains are round about Jerusalem so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth and for ever Rom. 8.28 All things work together for their good And Gal. 4.6 Because they are sons God will send forth the Spirit of his Son into their hearts 2. All those Scriptures that contain their special relations unto God and Priviledges founded thereupon do lively set forth God's special Love to them Sixthly His Almightiness the Scripture thus expresseth besides the places where he is expresly styled Almighty Ephes 3.20 He is able to do abundantly above what we can think or speak Job 26.14 The thunder of his power who can understand Prov. 21.30 There is no wisdom power nor understanding against him Jerem. 27.5 He hath made the Earth and all that therein is by his great power Isa 40.22 23. It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as Grass-hoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in That bringeth the Princes to nothing and maketh the Judges of the Earth as vanity Heb. 1.3 God is there said to uphold all things by the word of his power All those Scriptures that assert the Creation of the World or any part of it by God The Division of the Sea or other Waters miraculously The strange Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha
to draw and invite this Affection And have moreover disappointed thee too often of the Pleasure and Felicity that from them thou hast expected yea and which is far worse have entangled thee in many foolish and hurtful Lusts which have afterwards betrayed thee to sad and bitter complaints But here 's an Object worthy thy strongest love that will not debase and destroy but advance thy Soul to the highest Perfection The Love of him as it is sweet in the exercise so it will end at last in unspeakable sweetness and will not upbraid thee with Folly afterwards as all other Love will be sure to do Thou mayest love other things too much and here 's the Source and Spring of all Sin and Impiety and of all absurd and unreasonable Practices For as Divine Love is the sum of Duty and all worthy and becoming Actions so Carnal Love or the Love of Creatures is the Sum of all Wickedness and all incongruous and unseemly Practice But God can never be exalted too high in thine Estimation and Affections Here thou mayest safely vent and pour out all the store of thy Love with the greatest delight and security and expatiate thy Soul to the widest extent in the Ocean of his infinite and most lovely Perfections To him thou mayest safely offer up thy Soul in sacrifice as a whole-Burnt-Offering in the Fire of Love for ever Wilt thou permit thy Thoughts any more to fly abroad into Trifles and impertinent Matters when thou hast the immense Ocean of Divine Goodness to lanch forth into and mayest lose thy self with the greatest pleasure and advantage in the depths of his infinite Perfections Here to be even drowned and swallowed up is not Death but the sweetest and most ravishing Life Hast thou not pined long enough and melted away in the Cares and Love of the World the Martyrdom which corrupt Nature prompts thee fast enough to chuse Is it not now more than Time to be wiser and to bare an Honourable Testimony to him that hath redeemed thee And to subscribe that Witness to the Truth which thou hast borne too much hitherto to Lies and Falsehood Let them be taken by thee for Fools and Madmen that torture themselves with the Love and Care of this World and take Hell by that violence that the Kingdom of Heaven should be taken by But let the main stream and current of thine Affections be ever after him in whom are all the dimensions of Perfection Some little Twilight and Glimmerings of his Ravishing Beauty thou hast seen in his Words and Works But oh how short how exceeding short have they been through thy wilful Blindness and Inadvertency But these express not the thousandth part of his wonderful astonishing Splendour and Glory Something it may be thou hast tasted of his sweetest reviving Love But oh how little in respect of what thou might'st have had had it not been for thy own wilful neglect and refusal Hadst thou gazed as much upon his Glory as thou hast done upon the fading transitory Glory of the World and studied his Perfections according to the Opportunities and Advantages he hath given thee and not loved dismal affrighting Darkness rather than the quickning trransforming Light and neglected the best use of thine Understanding and Affections in holy Meditations on God Thou might'st confidently have expected the Blessing of God in a Work so well pleasing to him and found the Treasure that would have made thee contemn all other things in Comparison Then thou might'st have had joy in the darkest Night of Affliction and such an Allay to the bitterest Cup that would have made any Condition welcome to thee Then thou would'st have forgotten all the Miseries of thy life past and remembred them as Waters that pass away Job 11.16 Then thou might'st have lyen down with the sense of the pardon of former sins yea thou might'st have lyen down and thy sleep would have been sweet to thee Then the Remembrance of thy latter End would not have been such an unpleasant Theme to thy Meditations as now it is yea the Lord would have satisfied thy Soul in Drought and made thee like a watered Garden and like a Spring whose Waters fail not Isaiah 58.11 And then with what vivacity and chearfulness should'st thou have performed all Duty and borne all Sufferings when God had once answered thee in the joy of thy Heart Considerations to provoke to the Contempt of the World Psalm 119 96. I have seen an End of all Perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad 1 John 2.15 16. Love not the world nor the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world Vers 17. And the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever Isa 40.6 7. All flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is like the flower of the field The grass withereth and the flower fadeth because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it 1 Cor. 7.9 The fashion of this world passeth away Prov. 11.4 Riches profit not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivereth from death Eccles 1.2 and 2.11 Vanity of vanities all is vanity saith the Preacher Eccles 1.8 All things are full of labour man cannot utter it the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing Prov. 31.30 Favour is deceitful and Beauty is vain AS the Object of all rational saving Love is God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and all that standeth in subserviency to him so far as they conduce to this Noble End and Happiness of the Soul So the Object of all irrational sinful damning Love is the World and whatsoever serves to promote its interest in the Heart so far as it is Competitory with or Contradictory to the Interest of God and conduceth to the inordinate pleasing of the Flesh And thus much I intend here by the World that is any thing in the whole Creation that doth not refer to and is not subordinate unto God is to be the Object of this Contempt and Disdain First Because the World is unsatisfactory and cannot content the Mind of Man There is something still that the Soul misseth when it hath all here that it can desire It silently imagineth an Aliquid ultra when it hath gone its farthest in the Happiness and Prosperity here on Earth And it 's so far from Rest after all that it grows more hot and impatient in its desires And finding nothing to pursue after that can give content begins to fret and grow peevish when the ambitious Soul is gotten to the top of Honour he finds not the thing he expected he calls it by all the slight and contemptible Names he can invent or imagin you may as well satisfie the Appetite
unto God all ye lands Psal 5.11 But let those that put their trust in thoe rejoyce let them shout for joy because thou defendest them let them also that love thy Name rejoyce in thee Secondly Scriptures that command Praise Psal 35.28 My tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long Psal 118.28 Thou art my God and I will praise thee Thou art my God and I will exalt thee Psal 34.1 I will bless the Lord at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth Psal 66.2 Sing forth the honour of his Name make his praise glorious Psal 66.8 O bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the City of our God in the Mountain of his Holiness Psal 135.3 Praise ye the Lord for the Lord is good sing praises unto his Name for it is pleasant Psal 147.1 Praise ye the Lord for it is good to sing praises unto our God for it is pleasant and praise is comely Verse 12. Praise the Lord O Jerusalem praise thy God O Sion In the 148 Psalm all Creatures are called upon and excited to the praises of God which must be meant but objectively of all irrational Creatures And rational Creatures are implied when others that have not reason are spoken to Psal 148.13 Praise the Name of the Lord for his Name only is excellent and his Glory is above the Earth and Heaven Psal 149.1 Praise ye the Lord sing unto the Lord a new song and his praise in the congregation of the saints Psal 149.6 Let the high praises of God be in their Mouth 1 of the saints Psal 150.1 2 3. Praise ye the Lord praise God in his sanctuary praise him in the firmament of his power Thirdly Scriptures provoking to Thankfulness Psal 109.4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name 1 Thess 5.18 In every thing we ought to give thanks Col. 3.17 Whatsoever ye do in word or deed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him Psal 69.30 I will praise the name of God with a song and magnifie him with thanksgiving Psal 118.1 O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his Mercy endureth for ever Vers 29. The same Reason is insisted on 36 times Psal 136.1 2 3. And the Reasons largely insisted on in the rest of the Psalm Psal 26.6 7. I will wash mine hands in innocency and so will I compass thine altar O Lord that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wonderful works Psal 30.4 Sing unto the Lord ye saints of his and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness THere 's nothing that more becomes a Believer nor so well suits his Spiritual Heavenly Nature nor is a better Indication of a Child of God and one that hath attained to a perfect Man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ than to delight and be skilful in this Noble Work And without all dispute There 's nothing that a corrupt Heart is more averse and backward to and hath less skill in There is indeed a joyful merry Heart pre-requisite to this Exercise but such a one as the World intermedleth not with but is the greatest stranger to of all things you can imagine Though there 's none love Mirth and Joy so passionately as the worldling yet his Mirth is quite of another stamp It 's the meer distortion of the Countenance or at best but the dilatation of the Blood and Spirits It is not the delectation and contentment of the Mind and Spirit It 's the laughter of a Fool a meer brutish sensual delight that they are so fond of Not the solid serious pleasure of a Saint and one that is perfectly in his right mind And thus to be merry after their Fashion is no hard nor difficult Task 'T is but be Mad and let go the Reigns of all good Government of a Mans self It is but to gratifie every desire and live at Randome and prosper in Folly and this will screw up a Carnal Mind to very profuse Laughter and Merriment All the Town shall quickly hear of it and perceive it too plainly in the Vanity Pride and Insolency of their Carriage And there 's no surer way to damp and dead the Spirit of these Men and to drive them into a melancholy dumpish vein than to spring some Heavenly Discourse that savoureth of Heavenly Wisdom and tendeth to the Divine Praises It 's easie to vent a little Froth and Mirth at a Feast or in a Jovial Meeting or when the Spirits are cheared with Wine and Carnal Pleasure But to be glad in the Lord to rejoyce in the meditation of his Excellent Greatness and Perfection even when the Flocks are cut off from the Fold and there is no Herd in the Stall and the Vine yieldeth not her Encrease and the labour of the Olive doth fail and all Earthly Comforts are wanting Then to rejoyce in the most High and to vent forth freely in Thanks and Praises unto him is the Top and Perfection of Piety But this is a strain that the merriest Worldling can never reach while he continues to be such Other Mirth needs great Restraint but this hath need of all Encouragement and Promotion it being so much above the Sphaere of corrupted Nature to do it to purpose And as some slight Praise I doubt not may come from the Mouth of one not yet ingrafted into Christ by a lively Faith from the sense of Common Mercies and General Grace So on the other side even a Believer through the weakness of his Grace and the distemper of his Body and the want of Exercise in this Duty may make but little Musick and be a very Bungler in this Work And so lose the Comfort and Strength that a Heart fervent and frequent in this Duty would daily get But before I say any thing to stir up to this Exercise I will first shew what 's requisite to or implied in this Joy and Delight in God and true Gratitude and Praise I put them all together because there is much Affinity and Correspondence between them And therefore As to the Subject of these Acts or the Person that must exert them he must be thus qualified and prepared 1. He must be of an open cheerful Temper There 's none more unfit for this Duty than the lumpish sad and heavy Heart Though I deny not but sadness and heaviness of Spirit is sometimes a Duty after the Commission of sin especially great and wilful sin till by renewed Sorrow Confession and a more cautelous Heed to prevent it for the future and the application of Christ's Blood by Faith the Cause of such Sadness be removed But a constant habitual sadness and despondency that neither Faith nor
The Inundation of the Old World The Confusion of Languages The doing things against the Course of Nature such as are Raising the Dead to Life Restoring the Blind Or above Nature such as are most of the Plagues that befel Aegypt amply describe his Infinite Power And Rom. 1.20 His Eternal Power and Godhead are there said to be seen in the Creation of the World Seventhly The Measure of himself is Immensity And of all his Attributes is Infiniteness that is They have neither Bounds nor Measure 1. His Immensity is thus set forth by the Holy Ghost in Scripture 1 Kings 8.27 But will God indeed dwell on the Earth Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House that I have builded So 2 Chron. 2.6 to the same purport So Psalm 139.7 8 9 10. Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into Heaven thou art there if I make my Bed in Hell thou art there If I take the wings of the Morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me So Amos 9.2 3 4. 2. The infinity of all his Attributes Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great power and his understanding is infinite And if one Attribute be infinite needs must all the rest be so and therefore Zophar may well propose it as a Query uncapable of solution Job 11.7 8 9. Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection It is as high as Heaven what canst thou do Deeper than Hell what canst thou understand The measure thereof is longer than the Earth and broader than the Sea See Job 37.23 Eighthly His Attributes that result from all these are 1. His Immutability which the Holy Ghost describes James 1.17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights in whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning And Malach. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed Psal 102.27 2. His Greatness which the Scripture thus describeth Psal 145.36 The Lord is great and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable he is to be feared above all Gods And 1 Chron. 15.25 and Jerem. 10.6 There is none like unto the Lord great in might Dan. 9.4 He is the great and dreadful God keeping covenant and mercy to them that love him Psal 77.13 There is none so great as our God Psal 48.1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of his holiness 3. His Majesty is thus described O Lord my God thou art very great thou art cloathed with majesty and honour Psalm 104.1 Thine O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty 1 Chron. 29.11 And Elihu tells us that with God is terrible majesty Job 37.22 and Psalm 96.6 Honour and majesty are before him strength and beauty are in his sanctuary And Psal 145.10 11 12 13. All thy works shall praise thee O Lord c. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom and talk of thy power To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts and the glorious majesty of his kingdom Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations 4. His Glory the Scripture thus expresseth Psalm 138.5 Great is the glory of the Lord. And Psal 148.13 Let them praise the Name of the Lord that is the forementioned Creatures for his Name only is excellent and his glory is about the Earth and the Heaven And Isa 6.3 Holy holys holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole Earth is full of his glory Exod. 15.11 The Lord is there said to be glorious in holiness fearful in praises doing wonders 5. His Lordship and Dominion over all is thus described Isa 33.22 The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King Psal 97.5 Thou art the Lord of the whole Earth And Dan. 2.47 He is there said to be a God of Gods a Lord of Kings a revealer of secrets Psal 47.2 The Lord most high is terrible he is a great King over all the Earth Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all Psal 145.13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages And Rom. 31.1 The Apostle tells us there is no power but of God Prov. 8.15 16. By him Kings reign and Princes decree justice By him Princes rule the Nobles and Judges of the Earth Matth. 6.13 Thine is the kingdom the power and the glory Lastly His Eternity the Crown of all is thus described Exod. 15.18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever And Psal 45.6 Thy throne O Lord is for ever and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter Psal 90.2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World thou art God from everlasting to everlasting i. a parte ante and a parte post without beginning and without end Psal 93.2 Thy throne is established of old thou art from everlasting Psal 102.27 Thou art the same viz. in opposition to mutable Creatures and thy years shall have no end Psal 104.31 The glory of the Lord shall endure forever c. Dan. 4.9 His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom Psal 106.10 The Lord shall reign for ever even thy God O Sion throughout all generations Dan. 8.18 His dominion shall be for ever unto the end These glorious Attributes of God especially as they stand in conjunction and shine upon one another calmly considered will mount and elevate an ingenuous and understanding Heart and wing it to this high and honourable imployment Secondly It will help on this blessed heavenly Work and Temper of Joy and Delight in God honourable and thankful thoughts and mention of him to behold his Attributes as they are further displayed in his Works Particularly his Bounty Wisdom Power Towards the 1. Irrational Creatures 2. Rational Creatures 1st It will something advance the dullest heart and dispose it to rejoyce in God and lift it up in praise and thankfulness to him to steep it a little in the meditation of that incomparable wisdom that shineth forth in the Being of every irrational Creature especially in the whole frame and orderly connection of all such Creatures Every Creature in its single existence hath treasure enough to enrich the understanding of the wisest Man on earth if it search into the depth and bottom of it and to imprint admiring reverent and thankful Inclinations towards him in the Heart There 's not a Pile of Grass that shoots up but directs the Eye Heavenward towards which it pointeth up unless it be kept shut by ignorance and inconsideration What excellent skill and cunning is there in