stir up in us shame and sorrow for Sin The Judgments of God may break us but the consideration of God's Mercy should rather melt and dissolve us into Tears Luke 7.47 The Woman that washed Christ's Feet with her Tears and wiped them with her Hair the account that our Saviour gives of the great Affection that she expressed to him was she Loved much because much was forgiven her and she grieved much because much was forgiven her Especially we should sorrow for those Sins which have been committed by us after God's Mercies received Mercies after Sins should touch our Hearts and make us relent It should grieve us that we should offend and provoke a God so Gracious and Merciful so slow to anger and so ready to forgive But Sin against Mercies and after we have received them is attended with one of the greatest Aggravations of Sin And as Mercy raises the guilt of our Sins so it should raise our sorrow for them No Consideration is more apt to work upon human Nature than that of kindness and the greater Mercy has been shewed to us the greater our sins and the greater cause of sorrow for them contraries do illustrate and set off one another in the great Goodness and Mercy of God to us we see the great Evil of our Sins against him Every Sin has the Nature of Rebellion and Disobedience but sins against Mercy have Ingratitude in them When ever we break the Laws of God we rebel against our Soveraign but as we sin against the Mercies of God we injure our Benefactor This makes our sin to be horrid and astonishing Isa 1.2 Hear O heavens and give ear O earth I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me All the Mercies of God are aggravations of our sins 2 Sam. 12.7 8 9. And Nathan said to David thus saith the Lord God of Israel I anointed thee king over Israel and delivered thee out of the hands of Saul and I gave thee thy masters house and thy masters wives into thy bosom and gave thee the house of Isreal and of Judah and if that had been too little I would moreover have given thee such and such things Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight God reckons up all his Mercies and from them aggravates David's sin 1 Kings 11.9 He takes notice of all the unkind returns that we make to his Mercy and 't is the worst temper in the World not to be wrought upon by kindness not to be melted by Mercy no greater evidence of a wicked Heart than that the Mercies of God have no effect upon it Esay 26.10 Let favour be shewn to the wicked yet will he not learn righteousness Vse 3. Let us imitate the merciful Nature of God This branch of God's goodness is very proper for our imitation The general Exhortation of our Saviour Matt. 5.48 Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect is more particularly expressed by St. Luke Luke 6.30 Be ye therefore merciful as your Father which is in heaven is merciful Men affect to make Images and impossible Representations of God but as Seneca saith Crede Deòs cùm propitii essent fictiles fuisse We may draw this Image and likeness of God we may be gracious and merciful as he is Christ who was the express image of his Father his whole life and undertaking was a continued work of mercy he went about doing good to the Souls of Men by Preaching the Gospel to them and to the Bodies of Men in healing all manner of Diseases There is nothing that he recommends more to us in his Gospel than this Spirit and Temper Mat. 5.7 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy How many Parables doth he use to set forth the mercy of God to us with a design to draw us to the imitation of it The Parable of the Prodigal of the good Samaritan of the Servant to whom he forgave 10000 Talents We should imitate God in this in being tender and compassionate to those that are in misery This is a piece of natural indispensable Religion to which positive and instituted Religion must give way Amos 6.6 I desired mercy and not sacrifice which is twice cited and used by our Saviour Micah 6.8 He hath shewed thee O Man what it is that the Lord thy God requires of thee to do justice and love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God This is always one part of the description of a good Man that he is apt to pity the miseries and necessities of others Psal 37.26 He is ever merciful and lendeth He is far from cruelty not only to Men but even to the brute Creatures Prov. 12.10 A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast There is nothing more contrary to the nature of God than a cruel and savage disposition not to be affected with the miseries and sufferings of others how unlike is this to the father of mercies and the God of consolation When we can see Cruelty exercised and our Bowels not be stirred within us nor our hearts be pricked how unlike is this to God who is very pitiful and of tender mercies But to rejoyce at the miseries of others this is inhumane and barbarous Hear how God threatens Edom for rejoycing at the miseries of his Brother Jacob Obadiah 10 11 12 13 14. But to delight to make others miserable and to aggravate their sufferings this is devilish this is the temper of Hell and the very spirit of the Destroyer It becomes Man above all other Creatures to be merciful who hath had such ample and happy experience of God's mercy to him and doth still continually stand in need of mercy from God God hath been very merciful to us Had it not been for the tender Mercies of God to us we had all of us long since been miserable Now as we have receiv'd mercy from God we should shew it to others The Apostle useth this as an Argument why we should relieve those that are in misery and want because we have had such experience of the mercy and love of God to us 1 John 3.16 17. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us But whoso hath this worlds goods and seeth his brother have need c. how dwelleth the love of God in him That Man hath no sense of the mercy of God abiding upon his Heart that is not merciful to his Brother And 't is an Argument why we should forgive one another Eph. 4.32 Be ye kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Chap. 5.1 Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children Col. 3.12 13. Put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against
formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God THE Immensity and Eternity of God are those Attributes which relate to his Nature or manner of Being Having spoken of the former I proceed to consider the latter from these words The Title of this Psalm is the Prayer of Moses the man of God He begins his Prayer with the acknowledgment of God's Providence to his people from the beginning of the World Lord thou hast been our dwelling place from all generations in generation and generation so the Hebrew He was well acquainted with the History of the World and the Providence of God from the beginning of it and as if he had spoken too little of God in saying that his Providence had been exercised in all the Ages of the World he tells us here in the Text that he was before the World and he made it he was from all Eternity and should continue to all Eternity the same Before the mountains were brought forth the most firm and durable parts of the World the most eminent and conspicuous Or ever thou had'st formed the earth and the world before any thing was created from everlasting to everlasting thou art God In speaking of this Attribute I shall First Give you the Explication of it Secondly Endeavour to prove that it doth belong to God and ought to be attributed to the Divine Nature Thirdly Draw some Corollaries from the whole First For the Explication of it Eternity is a duration without bounds or limits Now there are two limits of duration beginning and ending that which hath always been is without beginning that which always shall be is without ending Now we may conceive of a thing always to have been and the continuance of its being now to cease tho' there be no such thing in the World and there are some things which have had a beginning of their Being but shall have no end shall always continue as the Angels and Spirits of Men. The first of these the Schoolmen call Eternity â parte ante that is duration without beginning the latter Eternity â parte post a duration without ending but Eternity absolutely taken comprehends both these and signifies an infinite duration which had no beginning nor shall have any end so that when we say God is Eternal we mean that he always was and shall be for ever that he had no beginning of Life nor shall have any end of Days but that he is from everlasting to everlasting as it is here in the Text. 'T is true indeed that as to God's Eternity â parte ante as to his having always been the Scripture doth not give us any solicitous account of it it only tells us in general that God was before the world was and that he created it it doth not descend to gratifie our curiosity in giving us any account of what God did before he made the World or how he entertaind himself from all Eterninity it doth not give us any distinct account of his infinite duration for that had been impossible for our finite understandings to comprehend if we should have ascended upward millions of Ages yet we should never have ascended to the top never have arrived at the beginning of infinity therefore the Scripture which was wrote to instruct us in what was necessary and not to satisfie our curiosity tells us this that God was from everlasting before the world was made and that he laid the foundations of it So that by the Eternity of God you are to understand the perpetual continuance of his Being without beginning or ending I shall not trouble you with the inconsistent and unintelligible notions of the Schoolmen that it is duratio tota simul in which we are not to conceive any succession but to imagine it an instant We may as well conceive the Immensity of God to be a point as his Eternity to be an instant and as according to our manner of conceiving we must necessarily suppose the Immensity of God to be an infinite Expansion of his Essence a presence of it to all places and imaginable space so must we suppose the Eternity of God to be a perpetual continuance coexistent to all imaginable succession of Ages Now how that can be together which must necessarily be imagined to be coexistent to successions let them that can conceive Secondly For the proof of this I shall attempt it two ways I. From the Dictates of Natural Light and Reason II. From Scripture and Divine Revelation I. From the Dictates of Natural Reason This attribute of God is of all other least disputed among the Philosophers indeed all agree that God is a perfect and happy Being but wherein that happiness and perfection consists they differ exceedingly but all agree that God is Eternal and are agreed what Eternity is viz. a boundless duration and however they did attribute a beginning to their Heroes and Demons whence come the Genealogies of their Gods yet the Supreme God they look'd upon as without beginning and it is a good evidence that this perfection doth clearly belong to God that Epicurus who had the lowest and meanest conceptions of God and robbed him of as many Perfections as his imperfect Reason would let him yet is forced to attribute this to him Tully de Nat Deor. l. 1. saith to the Epicureans ubi igitur vestrum beatum aeternum quibus duobus verbis significatis deum Where then is your happy and eternal Being by which two Epithets you express God And Lucretius who hath undertaken to represent to the World the Doctrine of Epicurus gives this account of the Divine Nature Omnis enim per se divûm naturae necesse est Immortali aevo summa cum pace fruatur 'T is absolutely necessary to the nature of the Gods to pass an Eternity in profound peace and quiet The Poets who had the wildest Notions of God yet they constantly give them the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the heathen never mention the name of God without this Attribute Dii immortales Immortal Gods was their ordinary exclamation and they swear constantly by this Attribute deos testor immortales and to mention no more Tully saith expresly Nos deum nisi sempiternum intelligere quî possumus How can we conceive of God but as of an Eternal Being Now the Reason of this is evident because it would be the greatest imperfection we could attribute to his Being and the more perfect his Being were otherwise the greater imperfection would it be for such a Being to die so excellent a Nature to cease to be it would be an infinite abasement to all his other perfections his Power and Wisdom and Goodness that these should all be perishing Nay it would hinder several of his perfections and contradict their very Being his self-existence had he not always been he had not been of himself his necessary existence for that is not necessarily which may at any time not be or cease
things and the End for which they were made The Proposition I shall speak to is that God is the first Cause and last End First I shall a little Explain the Terms Secondly Confirm the Proposition Thirdly Apply it First For the Explication of the Terms I. That God is the first Cause signifies 1. Negatively that he had no Cause did not derive his Being from any other or does depend upon any other Being but that he was always and eternally of himself 2. Positively that he is the Cause of all things besides himself the Fountain and Original of all Created Beings from whom all things proceed and upon whom all things depend or that I may use the expression of Saint John Joh. 1.3 which I know is appropriated to the Second Person in the Trinity By him all things were made and without him was nothing made that was made So that when we attribute to God that he is the first we mean that there was nothing before him and that he was before all things and that all things are by him II. The last End that is that all things refer to him that is the design and aim of all things that are made is the Illustration of God's Glory some way or other and the manifestation of his Perfections Secondly For the Confirmation I shall briefly according to my usual Method attempt it these two ways I. By Natural light The Notion of a God contains in it all possible Perfection Now the utmost Perfection we can imagine is for a Being to be always of it self before all other Beings and not only so but to be the Cause of all other Beings that is that there should be nothing but what derives its Being from him and continually depends upon him from whence follows that all things must refer to him as their last End For every wise Agent acts with design and in order to an End Now the End is that which is best which is most worthy the attaining and that is God himself Now his Being and Perfections are already and the best next to the existence of his Being and Perfections is the manifestation of them which is called God's Glory and this is the highest End that we can imagine to which all the Effects of the Divine Power and Goodness and Wisdom do refer And that these Titles are to be attributed to God is not only reasonable when it is revealed and discovered but was discovered by the Natural light of the heathens Hence it was that Aristotle gives to God those Titles of the first Being the first Cause and the first Mover and his Master Plato calls God the Author and Parent of all things the Maker and Architect of the World and of all Creatures the Fountain and Original of all things Porphyry calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the first from whence he Reasons to this sense that he is the ultimate end and that all things move towards God that all motions center in him because saith he it is most proper and natural for things to refer to their Original and to refer all to him from whom they receive all Antoninus the Emperour and Philosopher speaking of Nature which with the Stoicks signified God hath these words which are so very like these of the Apostle that they may seem to be taken from him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Of thee are all things in thee are all things to thee are all things II. From Scripture Hither belong all those places where he declares himself to be the first and the last Isa 41.4 Who hath wrought and done it calling the generations from the beginning I the Lord the first and with the last I am he Isa 43.10 Before me there was no God formed or as it is in the margin there was nothing formed of God neither shall there be after me Isa 44.6 I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God Isa 48.12 13. I am the first I also am the last my hand hath laid the foundation of the earth my right hand hath spread the heavens which is as much as to say he made the World and was the first Cause of all things Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come But more expresly 1 Cor. 8.6 But to us there is but one God the father of whom are all things and we by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we to him and for him Acts 17.24 God that made the world and all things therein v. 25. He giveth to all life and breath and all things v. 28. In him we live and move and have our Being v. 29. For as much then as we are the off-spring of God Hither we may refer those Texts which attribute the same to the Second Person in the Trinity as the Eternal Wisdom and Word of God whereby all things were made Joh. 1.3 All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made v. 10. And the World was made by him 1 Cor. 8.6 And one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him Eph. 3.9 God who Created all things by Jesus Christ Col. 1.16 By him were all things Created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were Created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist Heb. 1.2 By whom also he made the Worlds And v. 3. Vpholding all things by the word of his power Thirdly and lastly to apply this Doctrine Vse First If God be the first Cause of all things who did at first produce all Creatures and does since Preserve them and Govern them and disposeth of all their concernments and orders all things that befal them from hence let us learn 1. With Humility and Thankfullness to own and acknowledge and admire and bless God as the Author and Original of our Being as the Spring and Fountain of all the Blessings and good things that we enjoy If we do but consider what these words signifie that God is the first Cause of all things we shall see great Reason to own and acknowledge to adore and praise him and that with the greatest humility because we have not given him any thing but have received all from him he is the Cause of all things who did freely and of his own good will and pleasure communicate Beings to us without any constraint or necessity but what his own goodness laid upon him Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast Created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were Created We could not before we were deserve any thing from him or move him by any Arguments or importune him by intreaties to make us but he freely gave us Being and ever since we depend upon him
The most Reverend D r. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The Remaining DISCOURSES ON THE Attributes of God viz. His Goodness His Mercy His Patience His Long-suffering His Power His Spirituality His Immensity His Eternity His Incomprehensibleness God the first Cause and last End By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The SEVENTH VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard 1700. THE CONTENTS SERMON I II III IV. The Goodness of God PSAL. CXLV 9 The Lord is good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works Page 1 25 51 81. SERMON V. The Mercy of God NUMB. XIV 18 The Lord is long-suffering and of great Mercy p. 145. SERMON VI VII The Patience of God 2 Pet. III. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance p. 143 179. SERMON VIII IX The Long-suffering of God ECCLES VIII 11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the Sons of men is fully set in them to do evil p. 193 239. SERMON X. The Power of God PSAL. LXII 11 God hath spoken once twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God p. 265. SERMON XI The Spirituality of the Divine Nature JOHN IV. 2 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth p. 299. SERMON XII The Immensity of the Divine Nature PSAL. CXXXIX 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 behold 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 p. 331 SERMON XIII The Eternity of God PSALM XC 2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God p. 355 SERMON XIV The Incomprehensibleness of God JOB XI 7 Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection p. 377 SERMON XV. God the first Cause and last End ROM XI 36 For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be Glory for ever Amen p. 403 SERMON I. Vol. VII The Goodness of God PSAL. CXLV 9 The Lord is Good to all and his tender Mercies are over all his Works THE Subject which I have now proposed to treat of is certainly one of the Greatest and Noblest Arguments in the World the Goodness of God the Highest and most Glorious Perfection of the best and most Excellent of Beings than which nothing deserves more to be considered by us nor ought in Reason to affect us more The Goodness of God is the cause and the continuance of our Beings the Foundation of our Hopes and the Fountain of our Happiness our greatest comfort and our fairest Example the chief Object of our love and praise and admiration the joy and rejoycing of our hearts and therefore the Meditation and Discourse of it must needs be pleasant and delightful to us the great difficulty will be to confine our selves upon so copious an Argument and to set bounds to that which is of so vast an extent the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works Which words are an Argument which the divine Plalmist useth to stir up himself and others to the praise of God At the 3. v. he tells us that the Lord is great and greatly to be praised and he gives the reason of this v. 8. and 9. from those Properties and Perfections of the Divine Nature which declare his Goodness the Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works where you have the Goodness of God declared together with the amplitude and extent of it in respect of the Objects of it the Lord is good to all In the handling of this Argument I shall do these four things First Consider what is the proper Notion of Goodness as it is attributed to God Secondly Shew that this Perfection belongs to God Thirdly Consider the Effects and the Extent of it Fourthly Answer some Objections which may seem to contradict and bring in question the Goodness of God First What is the proper Notion of Goodness as it is attributed to God There is a dry Metaphysical Notion of Goodness which only signifies the Being and essential properties of a thing but this is a good word ill bestowed for in this sense every thing that hath Being even the Devil himself is good And there is a Moral Notion of Goodness and that is twofold 1. More general in opposition to all Moral evil and imperfection which we call sin and vice and so the Justice and Truth and Holiness of God are in this sense his Goodness But there is 2. Another Notion of Moral Goodness which is more particular and restrained and then it denotes a particular Virtue in opposition to a particular Vice and this is the proper and usual acceptation of the word Goodness and the best description I can give of it is this that it is a certain propension and disposition of mind whereby a person is enclined to desire and procure the happiness of others and it is best understood by its contrary which is an envious disposition a contracted and narrow Spirit which would confine happiness to it self and grudgeth that others should partake of it or share in it or a malicious and mischievous temper which delights in the harms of others and to procure trouble and mischief to them To communicate and lay out our selves for the good of others is Goodness and and so the Apostle explains doing good by communicating to others who are in misery or want Heb. 13.16 but to do good and to communicate forget not The Jews made a distinction between a righteous and a good man to which the Apostle alludes Rom. 5.7 scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a good man one would even dare to die The righteous man was he that did no wrong to others and the good man he who was not only not injurious to others but kind and beneficial to them So that Goodness is a readiness and disposition to communicate the good and happiness which we enjoy and to be willing others should partake of it This is the Notion of Goodness among men and 't is the same in God only with this difference that God is originally and transcendently good but the Creatures are the best of them but imperfectly good
beginning and there is no sign of any such change and alteration as is foretold To this he answers two things 1. That these Scoffers tho' they took themselves to be Wits did betray great Ignorance both of the condition of the World and of the nature of God They talk'd very ignorantly concerning the World when they said All things continued as they were from the Creation of it when so remarkable a change had already hapned as the destruction of it by Water and therefore the Prediction concerning the destruction of it by Fire before the great and terrible day of Judgment was no ways incredible And they shewed themselves likewise very ignorant of the Perfection of the Divine Nature to which being eternally the same a thousand years and one day are all one and if God make good his word some thousand of Years hence it will make no sensible difference considering his eternal duration it being no matter when a duration begins which is never to have an end v. 8. Be not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day This it seems was a common saying among the Jews to signifie that to the Eternity of God no finite duration bears any proportion and therefore with regard to Eternity it is all one whether it be a thousand Years or one Day The Psalmist hath an Expression much to the same purpose Psal 90.4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night And the Son of Sirach likewise Ecclus. 18.10 As a drop of water to the sea and as a grain of sand to the sea shore so are a thousand years to the days of eternity The like Expression we meet with in Heathen Writers To the Gods no time is long saith Pythagoras And Plutarch The whole space of a Man's life to the Gods is as nothing And in his excellent Discourse of the slowness of the Divine Vengeance the very Argument St. Peter is here upon he hath this Passage That a thousand or ten thousand years are but as an indivisible point to an infinite duration And therefore when the Judgment is to be eternal the delay of it though it were for a thousand Years is an Objection of no force against either the certainty or the terror of it for to Eternity all time is equally short and it matters not when the punishment of Sinners begins if it shall never have an end 2. But because the distance between the Declaration of a future Judgment and the coming of it tho' it be nothing to God yet it seemed long to them therefore he gives such an account of it as doth not in the least impeach the truth and faithfulness of God but is a clear argument and demonstration of his goodness Admitting what they said to be true that God delays Judgment for a great while yet this gives no ground to conclude that Judgment will never be but it shews the great goodness of God to sinners that he gives them so long a space of repentace that so they may prevent the terror of that day whenever it comes and escape that dreadful ruin which will certainly overtake sooner or later all impenitent sinners The Lord is not slack concerning his promise that is as to the Declaration which he hath made of a future Judgment as some Men account slackness That is as if the delay of Judgment were an argument it would never come This is a false inference from the delay of punishment and an ill interpretation of the goodness of God to sinners who bears long with them and delays Judgment on purpose to give men time to repent and by repentance to prevent their own eternal ruin God is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance In the handling of these words I shall do these three things First I shall consider the patience and long-suffering of God as it is an Attribute and Perfection of the Divine Nature God is long-suffering to us-ward Secondly I shall shew that the Patience of God and the delay of Judgment is no just ground why sinners should hope for Impunity as the Scoffers here foretold by the Apostle argued That because our Lord delayeth his coming to Judgment so long therefore he would never come God is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness Thirdly I will consider the true Reason of God's Patience and long-suffering towards Mankind which the Apostle here gives He is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance First I will consider the Patience and long-suffering of God towards Mankind as it is an Attribute and Perfection of the Divine Nature God is long-suffering to us-ward In the handling of this I shall do these three things I. I shall shew what is meant by the Patience and long-suffering of God II. That this is a Perfection of the Divine Nature III. I shall give some proof and demonstration of the great Patience and long-suffering of God to Mankind I. What is meant by the Patience and long-suffering of God The Hebrew word signifies one that keeps his anger long or that is long before he is angry In the New Testament it is sometimes exprest by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies God's forbearance and patient waiting for our repentance some times by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies God's holding in his wrath and restraining himself from punishing and sometimes by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the extent of his patience his long-suffering and forbearing for a long time the punishment due to sinners So that the patience of God is his goodness to sinners in deferring or moderating the punishment due to them for their sins the deferring of deserved punishment in whole or in part which if it be extended to a long time it is properly his long-suffering and the moderating as well as the deferring of the punishment due to sin is an instance likewise of God's patience and not only the deferring and moderating of temporal punishment but the adjourning of the eternal misery of sinners is a principal instance of God's patience so that the patience of God takes in all that space of repentance which God affords to sinners in this life nay all temporal judgments and afflictions which befal sinners in this life and are short of cutting them off and turning them into Hell are comprehended in the patience of God Whenever God punisheth it is of his great mercy and patience that we are not consumed and because his compassions fail not I proceed to the II. Thing I proposed which was to shew that Patience is a Perfection of the Divine Nature It is not necessarily due to us but it is due to the
sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities Nor so much as he can he doth not let loose the fierceness of his anger nor pour forth all his wrath Psal 78.38 Being full of compassion he forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not yea many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath 6. After he hath begun to punish and is ingaged in the work he is not hard to be taken off There is a famous instance of this 2. Sam. 24. when God had sent three days Pestilence upon Israel for David's sin in numbring the People and at the end of the third day the Angel of the Lord had stretched forth his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it upon the Prayer of David it is said that the Lord repented of the evil and said to the Angel that destroyed It is enough stay now thine hand Nay so ready is God to be taken off from this work that he sets a high value upon those who stand in the gap to turn away his wrath Numb 25.11 12 13. Phinehas the son of Eleazar hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel that I consumed them not in my jealousie wherefore behold I give unto him my covenant of peace and to his seed after him because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel That which God values in this action of Phinehas next to his zeal for him is that he turned away his wrath and made an atonement for the Children of Israel 5. and Lastly The patience of God will yet appear with further advantage if we consider some eminent and remarkable Instances of it which are so much the more considerable because they are instances not only of God's patience extended to a long time but to a great many persons The long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah upon the whole World as is probably conjectured for the space of an hundred and twenty years God bore with the People of Israel in the Wilderness after they had tempted him ten times for the space of forty Years Acts 13.18 And about the space of forty years suffered he their manners in the Wilderness And this instance of God's patience will be the more remarkable if we compare it with the great impatience of that People if they did but want Flesh or Water they were out of patience with God when Moses was in the Mount with God but forty days they presently fall to make new Gods they had not the patience of forty days and yet God bore their manners forty years God had spared Niniveh for some Ages and when his patience was even expired and he seems to have past a final Sentence upon it yet he grants a Reprieve for forty days that they might sue out their Pardon in that time and they did so they turned from their evil ways and God turned from the evil he said he would do to them and he did it not But the most remarkable instance of God's long-suffering is to the Jews if we consider it with all the circumstances of it after they had rejected the Son of God notwithstanding the purity of his Doctrine and the power of his Miracles after they had unjustly condemned and cruelly murdered the Lord of life yet the patience of God respited the ruin of that People forty Years Besides all these there are many instances of God's patience to particular Persons but it were endless to enumerate these every one of us may be an instance to our selves of God's long-suffering I shall only add as a further advantage to set off the patience of God to Sinners that his forbearance is so great that he hath been complained of for it by his own Servants Job who was so patient a Man himself thought much at it Job 21.7 8. Wherefore doth the wicked live yea become old Their seed is establisht in their sight and their posterity before their eyes Jonah challengeth God for it Ch. 4.2 Was not this that which I said when I was yet in my own country and therefore I fled before unto Tarshish because I knew thou art a gracious God and merciful slow to anger c. Jonah had observed God to be so prone to this that he was loth to be sent upon his Message least God should discredit his Prophet in not being so good shall I say so severe as his word I have done with the first thing I proposed to speak to viz. The great patience and long-suffering of God to Mankind SERMON VII Vol. VII The Patience of God 2 PET. III. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his Promise as some Men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance I Have made entrance into these words in the handling of which I propos'd to do these three things First To consider the patience and long-suffering of God as it is an Attribute and Perfection of the Divine Nature God is long suffering to us-ward Secondly To shew that the Patience of God and the delay of his Judgment is no just ground why Sinners should hope for impunity God is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness Thirdly To consider the true reason of God's patience and long-suffering towards Mankind He is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance I have already spoken to the First of these namely The patience and long-suffering of God as it is an Attribute and Perfection of the Divine Nature I proceed now to the Second thing I proposed namely To shew that the Patience of God and the delay of Judgment is no just ground why Sinners should hope for impunity God is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness that is as the Scoffers here mentioned by the Apostle did ignorantly and maliciously reason that because our Lord delayed his coming to Judgment so long therefore he would never come There was indeed some pretence for this Objection because the Christians did generally apprehend that the day of Judgment was very near and that it would immediately follow the destruction of Jerusalem and it seems the Disciples themselves were of that perswasion before our Saviour's death when our Saviour discoursing to them of the destruction of the Temple they put these two questions to him Mat. 24.3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives the disciples came unto him privately saying When shall these things be and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world When shall these things be That is the things he had been speaking of immediately before viz. the destruction of Jerusalem and the dissolution of the Temple that is plainly the meaning of the first question to which they subjoined another And what shall be the sign of thy coming that is to Judgment and of the end of the
world which in all probability was added to the former because they supposed that the one was presently to follow the other and therefore the same answer would serve them both and it appears by our Saviour's answer that he was not concerned to rectifie them in this mistake which might be of good use to them both to make them more zealous to propagate the Gospel since there was like to be so little time for it and likewise to wean their affections from this World which they thought to be so near an end One thing indeed our Saviour says which had they not been prepossest with another Opinion does sufficiently intimate that there might be a considerable space of time betwixt the destruction of Jerusalem and the day of Judgment and this we find only in St. Luke Ch. 21.24 where speaking of the Miseries and Calamities that should come upon the Jews he says They shall fall by the edge of the sword and be carried into captivity into all nations and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled So that here were a great many Events foretold betwixt the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the World the accomplishment whereof might take up a great deal of time as appears by the Event of things Jerusalem being at this day still trodden down by the Gentiles and the Jews still continuing disperst over the world but the Disciples it seems did not much mind this being carryed away with a prejudicate conceit that the end of the World would happen before the end of that Age in which they were much confirmed by what our Saviour after his Resurrection said of St. John upon occasion of Peter's question concerning him John 21.21 22. Lord what shall this man do Jesus saith unto him If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee Upon which words of our Saviour concerning him St. John himself adds v. 23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die that is that he should live till the coming of our Lord and then be taken up with him into Heaven from all which they probably as they thought concluded that the day of Judgment would happen before the end of that Age whilst St. John was alive but St. John who writ last of all the Evangelists as Eusebius tells us and lived till after the destruction of Jerusalem as he acquaints us with this mistake which was currant among the Christians so he takes care to rectifie it telling us That Jesus said not he should not die but if I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee He tells us that our Saviour did not affirm that he should not die but to repress St Peter's Curiosity he says If it were my pleasure that he should not die at all but live till I come to Judgment what is that to thee And St. Peter likewise or whoever was the Author of this second Epistle or at least of this third Chapter which seems to be a new Epistle by it self takes notice of this mistake about the nearness of the day of Judgment as that which gave occasion to these Scoffers to deride the expectation of a future Judgment among the Christians because they had been already deceived about the time of it and this the Scoffers twitted them with in that Question Where is the promise of his coming And therefore the learned Grotius conjectures very probably that this last Epistle contained in the third Chapter was written after the destruction of Jerusalem which was the time fixt for Christ's coming to Judgment and therefore there could be no ground for this Scoff till after that time St. Peter indeed did not live so long and therefore Grotius thinks that this Epistle was writ by Simeon or Simon who was Successor of St. James in the Bishoprick of Jerusalem and lived to the time of Trajan I have been the longer in giving an account of this that we might understand where the ground and force of this Scoff lay namely in this That because the Christians had generally been very confident that the coming of Christ to Judgment would be presently after the destruction of Jerusalem and were now found to be deceived in that therefore there was no regard to be had at all to their expectation of a future Judgment because they might be deceiv'd in that as well as in the other But herein they argued very falsly because our Saviour had positively and peremptorily foretold his coming to Judgment but had never fixt and determined the time of it nay so far was he from that that he had plainly told his Disciples that the precise time of the day of Judgment God had reserved as a Secret to himself which he had not imparted to any no not to the Angels in Heaven nor to the Son himself Mark 13.32 33. But of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the angels which are in heaven neither the Son but the Father Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is So that if they presumed to make any conjectures about the time when the day of Judgment would be they did it without any Warrant from our Lord it was great presumption in them to determine the time of it when our Saviour had so expresly told them that the Father had reserved this as a Secret which he had never communicated to any and therefore if they were mistaken about it it was no wonder But their mistake in this was no prejudice to the truth of our Saviour's clear Prediction of a future Judgment without any determination of the time of it for that might be at some thousands of Years distance and yet be certain for all that and the delay of it was no sign of the uncertainty of our Saviour's Prediction concerning it but only of God's great Patience and long-suffering to Sinners in expectation of their Repentance God is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness but is long-suffering to us-ward And this brings me to the Third and last Particular in the Text namely The true Reason of God's Patience and long-suffering to Mankind He is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance And for this St. Peter cites St. Paul v. 15 th of this Chapter And account that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation that is that the great End and Design of God's goodness and long-suffering to Sinners is that they may repent and be saved Account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you Now these words are not expresly found in St. Paul's Writings but the Sense and Effect of them is viz. in Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the
of me Ezek. 33.11 Why will ye dye O house of Israel Prov. 1.29 30 31. They hated knowledge and did not chuse the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsels they despised all my reproof Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled with their own devices The ruin of Sinners does not proceed from the counsel of God but from their own choice And so likewise our Saviour every where chargeth the ruin and destruction of the Jews upon their own wilful obstinacy The Inferences from this Discourse concerning the Patience and long-suffering of God towards Mankind shall be these three I. To stir us up to a thankful acknowledgment of the great Patience of God towards us notwithstanding our manifold and heinous provocations We may every one of us take to our selves those words Lam. 3.22 It is of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not They are renewed every morning When ever we sin and we provoke God every day it is of his Patience that we are not destroyed and when we sin again this is a new and greater Instance of God's Patience The mercies of God's Patience are no more to be numbred than our sins we may say with David How great is the sum of them The goodness of God in sparing us is in some respect greater than his goodness in creating us because he had no provocation not to make us but we provoke him daily to destroy us II. Let us propound the Patience of God for a pattern to our selves Plutarch says That God sets forth himself in the midst of the World for our Imitation and propounds to us the Example of his Patience to teach us not to revenge Injuries hastily upon one another III. Let us comply with the design of God's Patience and long-suffering towards us which is to bring us to repentance Men are very apt to abuse it to a quite contrary purpose to the encouraging themselves in their evil ways So Solomon observes Eccl. 8.11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil But this is very false reasoning for the Patience of God is an enemy to sin as well as his Justice and the design of it is not to countenance sin but to convert the Sinner Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance Patience in God should produce Repentance in us and we should look upon it as an opportunity given us by God to repent and be saved 2 Pet. 3.15 Account that the long-suffering of God is salvation They that do not improve the Patience of God to their own Salvation mistake the true meaning and intent of it But many are so far from making this use of it that they presume upon it and sin with more courage and confidence because of it but that we may be sensible of the danger of this I will offer these two or three Considerations 1. That nothing is more provoking to God than the abuse of his Patience God's Patience waits for our Repentance and all long attendance even of Inferiors upon their Superiors hath something in it that is grievous how much more grievous and provoking must it be to the great God after he hath laid out upon us all the riches of his Goodness and long-suffering to have that despised after his Patience hath waited a long time upon us not only to be thrust away with contempt but to have that which should be an argument to us to leave our sins abused into an encouragement to continue in them God takes an account of all the days of his Patience and forbearance Luke 13.7 Behold these three years I come seeking fruit and find none cut it down why cumbreth it the ground 2. Consider that the Patience of God will have an end Tho' God suffers long he will not suffer always we may provoke God so long till he can forbear no longer without injury and dishonour to his Wisdom and Justice and Holiness and God will not suffer one Attribute to wrong the rest his Wisdom will determine the length of his Patience when his Patience is to no purpose when there is no hopes of our amendment his Wisdom will then put a period to it then the Patience of his Mercy will determine How often would I have gathered you and you would not therefore your house is left unto you desolate And the Patience of God's Judgments will then determine Why should they be smitten any more they will revolt more and more Yea Patience it self after a long and fruitless expectation will expire A Sinner may continue so long impenitent till the Patience of God as I may say grows impatient and then our ruin will make haste and destruction will come upon us in a moment If Men will not come to repentance the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night as it follows in the next Verse after the Text the Judgment of God will suddenly surprize those who will not be gained by his Patience 3. Consider that nothing will more hasten and aggravate our ruin than the abuse of God's Patience All this time of God's Patience his Wrath is coming towards us and the more we presume upon it the sooner it will overtake us Luke 12.45 46. The wicked servant who said his Lord delayed his coming and fell to rioting and drunkenness our Saviour tells us That the Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looks not for him And it will aggravate our ruin the longer punishment is a coming the heavier it will be those things which are long in preparation are terrible in execution the weight of God's wrath will make amends for the slowness of it and the delay of Judgment will be fully recompensed in the dreadfulness of it when it comes Let all those consider this who go on in their sin and are deaf to the voice of God's Patience which calls upon them every moment of their lives There is a day of Vengeance a coming upon those who trifle away this day of God's Patience nothing will sooner and more inflame the wrath and displeasure of God against us than his abused Patience and the despised riches of his Goodness As Oyl tho' it be soft and smooth yet when it is once inflamed burns most fiercely so the Patience of God when it is abused turns into Fury and his mildest Attributes into the greatest Severities And if the Patience of God do not bring us to Repentance it will but prepare us for a more intolerable ruin After God hath kept a long indignation in his Breast it will at length break forth with the greater violence The Patience of God increaseth his Judgments by an incredible kind of proportion Levit 26.18 And if you will still says God to
will be in a more especial manner severe towards those who take encouragement from his Mercy to disbelieve and despise his threatnings And this God hath as plainly told us as words can express any thing Deut. 29.19 20. And if it come to pass that when he heareth the words of this curse he bless himself in his heart saying I shall have peace tho' I walk in the imagination of my heart to add drunkenness to thirst The Lord will not spare him but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousie shall smoke against that man and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven What ever right and power God hath reserved to himself about the execution of his threatnings he hath plainly declared that of all others those who encourage themselves in a sinful course from the hopes of God's Mercy notwithstanding his threatnings shall find no favour and mercy at his hand whatever he may remit of his threatnings to others he will certainly not spare those who believe so largely concerning the Mercy of God not with a mind to submit to the terms of it but to presume so much the more upon it 4. God hath not been wanting to shew some remarkable Instances of his severity towards Sinners in this World As he is pleased sometimes to give good Men some fore-tastes of Heaven and earnests of their future happiness so likewise by some present stroke to let Sinners feel what they are to expect hereafter some sparks of Hell do now and then fall upon the Consciences of Sinners That fear which is sometimes kindled in Men's Consciences in this life that horrible anguish and those unspeakable terrors which some Sinners have had experience of in this World may serve to forewarn us of the wrath which is to come and to convince us of the reality of those expressions of the Torments of Hell by the worm that dies not and the fire that is not quenched That miraculous Deluge which swallowed up the old World that Hell which was rained down from Heaven in those terrible showers of Fire and Brimstone to consume Sodom and Gomorrah the Earth opening her mouth upon Corah and his seditious company to let them down as it were quick into Hell these and many other remarkable Judgments of God in several Ages upon particular Persons and upon Cities and Nations may satisfie us in some measure of the severity of God against sin and be as it were Pledges to assure Sinners of the insupportable Misery and Torments of the next Life 5. The Argument is much stronger the other way that because the punishment of Sinners is delayed so long therefore it will be much heavier and severer when it comes that the wrath of God is growing all this while and as we fill up the measure of our sins he fills the vials of his wrath Rom. 2.5 And according to thy hard and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy self wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God God now keeps in his dis-pleasure but all the while we go on in an impenitent course the wrath of God is continually increasing and will at last be manifested by the righteous Judgment of God upon Sinners God now exerciseth and displayeth his milder Attributes his Goodness and Mercy and Patience but these will not always hold out there is a dreadful day a coming wherein as the Apostle speaks God will shew his wrath and make his power known after he hath endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction All this long time of God's patience and forbearance his wrath is kindling and he is whetting his glittering sword and making sharp his arrows and this long preparation doth portend a much more dreadful Execution so that we should reason thus from the long-suffering of God God bears with us and spares us at present and keeps in his anger therefore if we go on to provoke him time will come when he will not spare but his anger will flame forth and his jealousie smoak against us This is but reasonable to expect that they who in this World forsake their own mercies the mercy of God in the next should forsake them 4. Another false conclusion which Men draw from the delay of punishment is that because it is delayed therefore it is not so certain the Sinner escapes for the present and tho' he have some misgivings and fearful apprehensions of the future yet he hopes his fears may be greater than his danger 'T is true indeed we are not so certain of the misery of wicked Men in another World as if it were present and we lay groaning under the weight of it such a certainty as this would not only leave no place for doubting but even for that which we properly and strictly call Faith for faith is the evidence of things not seen But sure we have other Faculties besides Sense to judge of things by we may be sufficiently certain of many things which are neither present nor sensible of many things past and future upon good ground and testimony we are sure that we were born and yet we have no remembrance of it we are certain that we shall dye tho' we never had the experience of it Things may be certain in their causes as well as in their present existence if the causes be certain The truth of God who hath declared these things to us is an abundant ground of assurance to us tho' they be at a great distance The certainty of things is not shaken by our wavering belief concerning them Besides the very light of Nature and the common Reason of Mankind hath always made a contrary inference from the long-suffering of God and the delay of present punishment Tho' Men are apt to think that because Judgment is deferr'd therefore it is not certain yet the very light of Nature hath taught Men to reason otherwise that because God is so patient to Sinners in this life therefore there will a time come when they shall be punisht that because this life is a time of tryal and forbearance therefore there shall be another state after this life which shall be a season of recompences And by this argument chiefly it was that the wisest of the Heathen satisfied themselves concerning another state after this life and answer'd the troublesome Objection against the Providence of God from the unequal administration of things in this World so visible in the afflictions and sufferings of good Men and the prosperity of the wicked viz. That there would be another state that would adjust all these matters and set them streight when good and bad Men should receive the full recompence of their deeds The 5 th and last false conclusion which Men draw from the long-suffering of God and the delay of Punishment is this that it is however probably at some distance and
by Plenty or by Want by what we desire or by what we dread so desirous is he of our repentance and happiness that he leaves no method unattempted that may probably do us good he strikes upon every Passion in the Heart of Man he works upon our Love by his Goodness upon our Hopes by his Promises and upon our Fears first by his Threatnings and if they be not effectual then by his Judgments he tries every Affection and takes hold of it if by any means he may draw us to himself and will nothing warn us but what will ruine us and render our case desperate and past hope And if any Sinner be free from outward Afflictions and Sufferings yet sin never fails to carry its own Punishment along with it there is a secret Sting and Worm a divine Nemesis and Revenge that is bred in the Bowels of every Sin and makes it a heavy Punishment to it self the Conscience of a Sinner doth frequently torment him and his Guilt haunts and dogs him where-ever he goes for when ever a Man commits a known and willful sin he drinks down Poison which tho' it may work slowly yet it will give him many a Gripe and if no means be used to expel it will destroy him at last So that the long-suffering of God is wisely ordered and there is such a mixture of Judgment in it as is sufficient to awaken Sinners and much more apt to deter them from sin than to encourage them to go on and continue in it III. Nothing is farther from the intention of God than to harden Men by his long-suffering This the Scripture most expresly declares 2 Pet. 3.9 He is long-suffering to us-ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance He hath a very gracious and merciful design in his Patience towards Sinners and is therefore good that he may make us so and that we may cease to do evil The event of God's long-suffering may by our own fault and abuse of it prove our ruin but the design and intention of it is our repentance He winks at the sins of men saith the Son of Syrach that they may repent He passeth them by and does not take speedy Vengeance upon Sinners for them that they may have time to repent of them and to make their peace with him while they are yet in the way Nay his long-suffering doth not only give space for Repentance but is a great argument and encouragement to it That he is so loth to surprize Sinners that he gives them the liberty of second thoughts time to reflect upon themselves to consider what they have done and to retract it by repentance is a sufficient intimation that he hath no mind to ruin us that he desires not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live And should not this goodness of his make us sorry that we have offended him Doth it not naturally lead and invite us to repentance What other interpretation can we make of his Patience what other use in reason should we make of it but to repent and return that we may be saved IV. There is nothing in the long-suffering of God that is in truth any ground of encouragement to Men in any evil course the proper and natural tendency of God's goodness is to lead men to repentance and by repentance to bring them to happiness Rom. 2.4 Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and patience and long-suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance This St. Peter with relation to these very words of St. Paul interprets leading to salvation 2 Pet. 3.15 And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation as our beloved brother Paul also hath written unto you Now where did St. Paul write so unless in this Text Not knowing that the goodness of God leads to repentance 'T is not only great ignorance and a very gross mistake to think that it is the design and intention of God's Patience and long-suffering to encourage Men in sin but likewise to think that in the nature of the thing goodness can have any tendency to make Men evil not knowing that the goodness of God leads to repentance V. That through the long-suffering of God Sinners are hardned in their evil ways is wholly to be ascribed to their abuse of God's goodness 't is neither the End and Intention nor the proper and natural Effect of the thing but the accidental Event of it through our own fault And is this any real Objection against the long-suffering of God May not God be patient tho' Sinners be impenitent May not he be good tho' we be so foolish as to make an ill use of his goodness Because Men are apt to abuse the Mercies and Favours of God is it therefore a fault in him to bestow them upon us Is it not enough for us to abuse them but will we challenge God also of unkindness in giving them May not God use wise and fitting means for our recovery because we are so foolish as not to make a wise use of them And must he be charged with our ruin because he seeks by all means to prevent it Is it not enough to be injurious to our selves but will we be unthankful to God also When God hath laid out the riches of his goodness and patience upon Sinners will they challenge him as accessory to their ruin As if a foolish Heir that hath prodigally wasted the fair Estate that was left him should be so far from blaming himself as to charge his Father with undoing him Are these the best returns which the infinite Mercy and Patience of God hath deserved from us Do we thus requite the Lord foolish people and unwise God's Patience would save Sinners but they ruin themselves by their abuse of it let the blame then lie where it is due and let God have the glory of his Goodness tho' Men refuse the benefit and advantage of it VI. And Lastly But because this Objection pincheth hardest in one point viz. That God certainly fore-sees that a great many will abuse his long-suffering to the increasing of their Guilt and the aggravating of their Condemnation and how is his long-suffering any Mercy and Goodness to those who he certainly fore-knows will in the event be so much the more miserable for having had so much Patience extended to them Therefore for a full answer I desire these six things may be considered 1. That God designs this life for the tryal of our Obedience that according as we behave our selves he might reward or punish us in another World 2. That there could be no tryal of our Obedience nor any capacity of Rewards and Punishments but upon the supposition of freedom and liberty that is that we do not do what we do upon force and necessity but upon free choice 3. That God by virtue of the infinite Perfection of his Knowledge does
to be what it is and it would much abate the duty of the Creature we could not have that assurance of his promise and that security of the recompence of the next life if the continuance of his Being who should be the dispenser of them were uncertain Now these Absurdities and inconveniences following from the denyal of this Perfection to God is sufficient evidence that it belongs to him for I told you the Perfections of God cannot be proved by way of demonstration but only by way of conviction by shewing the Absurdity of the contrary II. From Scripture and Divine Revelation There are innumerable places to this purpose which speak of the Eternity of God Directly and by Consequence By Consequence those words 2 Peter 3.8 One day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day which words however Interpreters have troubled themselves about them being afraid of a contradiction in them yet the plain meaning of them is this that such is the infinite duration of God that all measures of time bear no proportion to it for that this is the plain meaning appears by this 90 Psalm out of which they are cited for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night that is as the time past as a few hours slept away for that is the meaning of a watch in the night that is as nothing now St. Peter's conversion of the words one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day only signifies this that the longest duration of time is so inconsiderable to God that it is as the shortest that is bears no proportion to the Eternity of God But Directly the Scripture frequently mentions this attribute He 's called the everlasting God Gen. 21.33 The Eternal God Deut. 33.27 and which is to the same purpose he that inhabiteth Eternity Isa 57.15 And this as it is attributed to him in respect of his Being so in respect of all his other Perfections Psal 103.17 the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting Rom. 1. 20. his eternal power 1 Tim. 1.17 the King eternal Those Doxologies which the Scripture useth are but acknowledgments of this Attribute Blessed be the Lord for ever and ever Neh. 9.5 To whom be glory and honour and dominion for ever and ever Gal. 1.5 and in many other places Hither we may refer all those places which speak of him as without beginning Psal 93.2 Thou art from everlasting Mich. 5.2 Whose goings forth have been from everlasting Hab. 1.12 Art not thou from everlasting O Lord And those which speak of the perpetual continuance of his duration Psal 102.24 25 26 27. Thy years are throughout all generations of old thou hast laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment and as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end And those which speak of him as the first and the last Isa 43.10 Before me there was no God formed neither shall there be any after me I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God And to mention no more those which speak of his Being as coexistent to all difference of time past present and to come Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come Thirdly I shall from hence draw I. Some Doctrinal Corollaries II. Some Practical Inferences I. Doctrinal Corollaries that you may see how the Perfections of God depend one upon another and may be deduced one from another 1. Corol. From the Eternity of God we may infer that he is of himself That which always is can have nothing before it to be a cause of its Being 2. Corol. We may hence infer the necessity of his Being 'T is necessary every thing should be when it is now that which is always is absolutely necessary because always so 3. Corol. The Immutability of the Divine Nature for being always he is necessarily and being necessarily he cannot but be what he is a change of his Being is as impossible as a cessation Therefore the Psalmist puts his Immutability and Eternity together Psal 102.27 But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end II. By way of Practical Inference or Application 1. The consideration of God's Eternity may serve for the support of our Faith This Moses here useth as a ground of his Faith Lord thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth c. Psal 62.8 Trust in him at all times ye people His Immensity is an Argument why all should trust in him he is a present help to all and why they should trust in him at all times his Eternity is an Argument Deut. 33.27 The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms There are two Attributes which are the proper Objects of our Faith and Confidence God's Goodness and his Power both these are Eternal the goodness of the Lord endureth for ever as it is frequently in the Psalms And his Power is Eternal the Apostle speaks of his Eternal Power as well as Godhead Rom. 1.20 Isa 26.4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Isa 40.28 The everlasting God the Lord the creatour of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary We cannot trust in men because there is nothing in man to be a Foundation of our Confidence his good will towards us may change his Power may faint and he may grow weary or if these continue yet they that have a mind and a power to help us themselves may fail therefore the Psalmist useth this consideration of mens mortality to take us off from confidence in man Psal 146.3 4. Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help his breath goeth forth he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish Isa 2.22 Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of The greatest of the Sons of Men are but lying refuges to the everlasting God they are but broken reeds to the rock of Ages And this may support our Faith not only in reference to our own condition for the future but in reference to our posterity and the condition of God's Church to the end of the World When we die we may leave ours and the Church in his hands who lives for ever and reigns for ever The enemies of God's Church and those who have the most malicious designs against it what ever share they may have in the affairs of the World they can but domineer for a while
are above the understanding of any of his Creatures it is only his own infinite understanding that can frame a perfect Idea of his own Perfection God knows himself his own understanding commprehends his own Perfections But he is Incomprehensible to his Creatures Indeed there is nothing more obvious than God for he is not far from every one of us in him we live and move and have our Being there need no great search to find out that there is a God An eternal power and Deity are clearly seen in the things which are made as the Apostle tells us but the manner of the Being and Proproperties and Perfections of this God these cannot be comprehended by a finite understanding I shall prove the Doctrine and then apply it First For the proof of it I will attempt it these three ways I. By way of instance or induction of particulars II. By way of conviction III. By giving the clear reason of it I. By way of instance And I shall give you instances both on the part of the Object and of the Subject or the persons who are capable of knowing God in any degree 1. On the part of the Object The Nature of God the Excellency and Perfection of God the Works and Ways of God are above our thoughts and apprehensions The Nature of God it is vast and infinite Job 36.26 God is great and we know him not Job 37. 23. Touching the Almighty we cannot find him out Psal 145.3 His greatness is unsearchable The Excellencies and Perfections of God his Immensity 2 Chron. 2.6 The heaven of heavens cannot contain him The Eternity of his duration from everlasting to everlasting he is God We cannot imagine any limits of his presence nor bounds of his duration The infiniteness of his knowledge Psal 147.5 his understanding is infinite When we think of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God our best way is to fall into admiration Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Where the Scripture speaks of those Perfections of God which the Creatures do in some measure and degree partake of as his Goodness and Power and Wisdom and Holiness and Immortality it attributes them in such a peculiar and Divine manner to God as doth exclude and shut out the Creature from any claim or share or title to them Matt. 19.16 17. Why Call'st thou me good there 's none good but one that is God 1 Tim. 6.15 16. Who is the blessed and only potentate who only hath immortality 1 Tim. 1.17 The only wise God Rev. 15.4 For thou only art holy In so inconceivable a manner doth God possess these Perfections which he Communicates and we can only understand them as he Communicates them and not as he possesses them so that when we consider any of these Divine Perfections we must not frame Notions of them contrary to what they are in the Creature nor must we limit them by what they are in the Creature but say the Goodness and the Wisdom of God are all this which is in the Creature and much more which I am not able to comprehend the transcendent degree and the singularity of these Divine Perfections which are communicable is beyond what we are able to conceive The Works of God they are likewise unsearchable the Works of Creation and of Redemption Job 5.9 Which doth great things and unsearchable marvelous things past finding out And then he instanceth in the Works of God Job 26.14 Lo these are part of his ways But how little a portion is heard of him and the thunder of his voice who can understand So that he tells us expresly we cannot find out the Works of God we do but know part of them The question which he puts Job 37.16 Dost thou know the wondrous works of him that is perfect in knowledge can only be answered by the words of the Psalmist Psal 104.24 O Lord how wonderful are thy works in wisdom hast thou made them all The work of Redemption In this there shines forth such Wisdom Mercy and Love as our understandings cannot reach this work is called the Wisdom of God in a mystery hidden Wisdom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 2.7 The Mercy and Grace and Love of it is called the riches of Gods mercy the exceeding riches of his grace Eph. 2.4 7. Now Riches is when you cannot tell the utmost of them pauperis est numerare Eph. 3.18 19. That ye may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and heighth and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge When we have the largest apprehensions of this love so that we think we comprehend it and know it it passeth knowledge yea the Effects of God's Power and Love which he manifests in believers are unspeakable for he is able to do for us exceeding abundantly above what we can ask or think according to the power which worketh in us Eph. 3.20 The Peace which guards their souls passeth all understanding Phil. 4.7 Those Joys which fill their hearts are not to be expressed 1 Pet. 1.8 We read of Joy unspeakable and full of glory The Happiness which they hope for is inconceivable 't is that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath entred into the heart of man which God hath laid up for us The Ways of God's Providence they are not to be traced Psal 77.19 Thy way is in the sea and thy paths in the great waters and thy footsteps are not known Eccles 3.11 No man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end We are but of yesterday and know nothing When we look upon Gods Providence we take a part from the whole and consider it by it self without relation to the whole series of his Dispensation we cannot see the whole of God's Providence at one view and never see from the beginning of the Works of God to the end therefore our knowledge of them must needs be very imperfect and full of mistakes and false judgments of things we cannot by our petty and short-sighted designs judge of the Works of God and the Designs of Providence for our ways are not as his ways nor our thoughts as his thoughts but as the heavens are high above the earth so are his ways above our ways and his thoughts above our thoughts Isa 55.8 9. The ways of God's Mercy Psal 103. As the heavens are high above the earth so great is God's mercy Psal 139.17 18. How precious are thy thoughts unto me how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are more in number than the sand And the ways of God's Judgments the severity and greatness of his Judgment is not known Psal 90. Who knoweth the power of thy anger And who may stand before thee when thou art angry And the Reasons of his Judgments are unsearchable Psal 36.6 Thy Judgments are a great deep Rom. 11.35 How
and have been preserved by him and cannot subsist one moment without the continued influence of the Power and Goodness which first called us out of nothing He is the Author of all the good and the Fountain of all those Blessing which for the present we enjoy and for the future hope for When he made us at first he designed us for Happiness and when we by our sin and wilful mascarriage fell short of the Happiness which he design'd us for he sent his Son into the World for our recovery and gave his life for the Ransom of our Souls He hath not only admitted us into a new Covenant wherein he hath promised pardon and eternal life to us but he hath also purchased these Blessings for us by the most endearing price the blood of his own Son and hath saved us in such a manner as may justly astonish us Upon these Considerations we should awaken our selves to the praise of God and with the holy Psalmist call up our Spirits and summon all the Powers and Faculties of our Souls to assist us in this Work Psal 103.1 2 3 4. c. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thy iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies 't is he that satisfies our Souls with good things and crowneth us with tender mercies and loving hindness that hath promised Eternal Life and Happiness to us and must confer and bestow this upon us Therefore our Souls and all that is within us should bless his holy name 2. If God be the first Cause that is orders all things that befall us and by his Providence disposeth of all our concernments this should teach us with patience and quietness to submit to all Events to all evils and afflictions that come upon us as being disposed by his wise Providence and coming from him We are apt to attribute all things to the next and immediate Agent and to look no higher than Second Causes not considering that all the motions of Natural Causes are directly subordinate to the first Cause and all the actions of free Creatures are under the Government of God's wise Providence so that nothing happens to us besides the design and intention of God And methinks this is one particular Excellency of the style of the Scripture above all other Books that the constant Phrase of the Sacred Dialect is to attribute all Events excepting sins only to God so that every one that reads it cannot but take notice that it is wrote with a more attentive consideration of God than any other Book as appears by those frequent and express acknowledgments of God as the Cause of all Events so that what in other Writers would be said to be done by this or that Person is ascribed to God Therefore it is so often said that the Lord did this and that stirr'd up such an Enemy brought such a Judgment And we shall find that holy men in Scripture make excellent use of this consideration to argue themselves into patience and contentedness in every condition So Eli 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good So Job he did not so consider the Sabeans and Chaldeans who had carried away his Oxen and his Camels and slain his Servants nor the Wind which had thrown down his House and kill'd his Sons and his Daughters but he looks up to God the great Governour and Disposer of all these Events The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. So David Psal 39.9 I was dumb and spake not a word because thou Lord didst it So our Blessed Saviour when he was ready to suffer he did not consider the malice of the Jews which was the cause of his death but looks to a higher hand the cup which my father gives me to drink shall not I drink it He that looks upon all things as coming from second Causes and does not eye the first Cause the good and wise Governour will be apt to take offence at every cross and unwelcome accident Men are apt to be angry when one flings Water upon them as they pass in the Streets but no man is offended if he is wet by Rain from Heaven When we look upon Evils as coming only from men we are apt to be impatient and know not how to bear them but we should look upon all things as under the Government and disposal of the first Cause and the Circumstances of every condition as allotted to us by the wise Providence of God this Consideration that it is the hand of God and that he hath done it would still all the murmurings of our Spirits As when a Seditious Multitude is in an uproar the presence of a grave and venerable person will hush the noise and quell the tumult so if we would but represent God as present to all actions and governing and disposing all Events this would still and appease our Spirits when they are ready to riot and mutiny against any of his Dispensations Vse the Second If God be the last End of all let us make him our last End and refer all our Actions to his glory This is that which is due to him as he is the first Cause and therefore he does most reasonably require it of us And herein likewise the Scripture doth excel all other Books that is doth more frequently and expresly mind us of this End and calls upon us to propose it to our selves as our ultimate aim and design We should love him as our chief End Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Thus to love God is that which in the language of the Schools is loving God as our Chief End So likewise the Apostle requires that we should refer all the Actions of our lives to this End 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink do all to the glory of God that we should glorifie him in our souls and in our bodies which are his He is the Author of all the powers that we have and therefore we should use them for him we do all by him and therefore we should do all to him And that we may the better understand our selves as to this duty I shall endeavour to give satisfaction to a Question or two which may arise about it First Whether an actual intention of God's Glory be necessary to make every Action that we do good and acceptable to God Answ 1. It is necessary that the glory of God either Formally or Virtually should be the ultimate end and scope of our lives and all our Actions otherwise they will be defective in that which in moral Actions is most considerable and that is the End If a man should keep all