have all the Utensils of the Sanctuary employed about his service to be holy The Inwards of the Sacrifice were to be rinsed thrice * As the Jewish Doctors observe on Lev. 1.9 The Crop and Feathers of sacrificed Doves was to be hung Eastward towards the entrance of the Temple at a distance from the Holy of Holies where the presence of God was most eminent * Lev. 1.16 When Aaron was to go into the Holy of Holies he was to sanctifie himself in an extraordinary manner * Lev. 16.4 The Priests were to be bare footed in the Temple in the exercise of their Office shoes alway were to be put off upon holy ground Look to thy foot when thou goest to the House of God saith the wise man Eccles 5.1 Strip the affections the feet of the Soul of all the dirt contracted discard all earthly and base thoughts from the heart A Beast was not to touch the Mount Sinai without losing his Life Nor can we come near the Throne with brutish affections without losing the life and fruit of the worship An unholy Soul degrades himself from a Spirit to a Brute and the worship from spiritual to brutish If any unmortified sin be found in the Life as it was in the comers to the Temple It taints and pollutes the Worship * Isa 1.15 All worship is an acknowledgment of the excellency of God as he is holy * Jer. 7.9 10. Hence it is called a sanctifying Gods Name How can any person sanctifie Gods Name that hath not a holy resemblance to his Nature If he be not holy as he is holy he cannot worship him according to his excellency in Spirit and in Truth No worship is spiritual wherein we have not a communion with God But what intercourse can there be between a holy God and an impure Creature between Light and Darkness We have no fellowship with him in any service unless we walk in the Light in service and out of service as he is Light * 1 John 1.7 The Heathen thought not their Sacrifices agreeable to God without washing their hands whereby they signified the preparation of their hearts before they made the Oblation Clean hands without a pure heart signify nothing The frame of our hearts must answer the purity of the outward Symbols Psal 26.6 I will wash my hands in Innocence so will I compass thine Altar oh Lord He would observe the appointed Ceremonies but not without cleansing his heart as well as his hands Vain Man is apt to rest upon outward acts and rites of worship But this must alway be practised The words are in the present Tense I wash I compass Purity in worship ought to be our continual Care If we would perform a spiritual service wherein we would have communion with God it must be in Holiness If we would walk with Christ it must be in white * Revel 3.4 alluding to the white Garments the Priests put on when they went to perform their service As without this we cannot see God in Heaven so neither can we see the beauty of God in his own Ordinances 11. Spiritual worship is performed with spiritual ends with raised aims at the glory of God No duty can be spiritual that hath a carnal aim Where God is the sole Object he ought to be the principal End In all our actions he is to be our End as he is the principle of our Being much more in Religious Acts as he is the Object of our worship The worship of God in Scripture is exprest by the seeking of him * Heb. 11.6 Him not our selves all is to be referred to God As we are not to live to our selves that being the sign of a carnal state so we are not to worship for our selves Rom. 14.7 8. As all actions are denominated good from their end as well as their object so upon the same account they are denominated spiritual The end spiritualizeth our natural actions much more our religious Then are our faculties devoted to him when they center in him If the intention be evil there is nothing but darkness in the whole service Luke 11.34 The first institution of the Sabbath the solemn day for worship was to contemplate the glory of God in his stupendous works of Creation and render him a homage for them Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy oh Lord to receive Honour Glory and Power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created No worship can be returned without a glorifying of God and we cannot actually glorify him without direct aims at the promoting his honour As we have immediately to do with God so we are immediately to mind the praise of God As we are not to content our selves with habitual grace but be rich in the exercise of it in worship so we are not to acquiesce in habitual aims at the glory of God without the actual outflowings of our hearts in those aims 'T is natural for Man to worship God for self Self-righteousness is the rooted aim of Man in his worship since his revolt from God and being sensible it is not to be found in his natural actions he speaks for it in his moral and religious By the first Pride we flung God off from being our Soveraign and from being our end since a Pharisaical Spirit struts it in nature not only to do things to be seen of men but to be admired by God Isa 58.3 Wherefore have we fasted and thou takest no knowledge This is to have God worship them instead of being worshipped by them Cain's carriage after his Sacrifice testified some base end in his worship he came not to God as a Subject to a Soveraign but as if he had been the Soveraign and God the Subject and when his design is not answered and his desire not gratified he proves more a Rebel to God and a Murderer of his Brother Such base scents will rise up in our worship from the body of death which cleaves to us and mix themselves with our services as Weeds with the Fish in the Net David therefore after his People had offered willingly to the Temple beggs of God that their hearts might be prepared to him * 1 Cron. 29.18 that their hearts might stand right to God without any squinting to self-ends Some present themselves to God as poor men offer a present to a great person not to honour him but to gain for themselves a reward richer than their gift What profit is it that we have kept his Ordinance c Mal. 3.14 Some worship him intending thereby to make him amends for the wrong they have done him wipe off their scores and satisfie their debts as though a spiritual wrong could be recompensed with a bodily service and an infinite Spirit be outwitted and appeased by a carnal flattery Self is the Spirit of Carnality To pretend a homage to God and intend only the advantage of self is rather
first of Genesis in the whole Chapter unto the finishing the Work in six Days God is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a Name of Power and that Thirty two times in that Chapter but after the the finishing the six days Work he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which according to their notion is a Name of Goodness and Kindness * Mercer 9.7 col 1 2. His Power is first visible in framing the World before his Goodness is visible in the sustaining and preserving it It was by this Name of Power and Almighty that he was known in the first Ages of the World not by his Name Jehovah Exod. 6.3 And I appeared unto Abraham Isaack and Jacob by the name of God Almighty but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them Not but that they were acquainted with the Name but did not experience the intent of the Name which signified his Truth in the performance of his Promises They knew him by that name as promising but they knew him not by that Name as performing He would be known by his Name Jehovah True to his Word when he was about to effect the Deliverance from Egypt a Type of the Eternal Redemption wherein the Truth of God in performing of his first Promise is gloriously magnified And hence it is that God is called Almighty more in the Book of Job than in all the Scripture besides I think about Thirty two times and Jehovah but once which is Job 12.9 unless in Job 38. when God is introduc'd speaking himself which is an Argument of Jobs living before the Deliverance from Egypt when God was known more by his Works of Creation than by the performance of his Promises before the Name Jehovah was formally publish'd Indeed this Attribute of his Eternal Power is the first thing visible and intelligible upon the first glance of the eye upon the Creatures †Rom. 1.20 Bring a man out of the Cave where he hath been Nurst without seeing any thing out of the confines of it and let him lift up his Eyes to the Heavens and take a prospect of that glorious body the Sun then cast them down to the Earth and behold the Surface of it with its Green cloathing the first Notion which will start up in his Mind from that spring of Wonders is that of Power which he will at first adore with a Religious astonishment The Wisdom of God in them is not so presently apparent till after a more exquisite consideration of his Works and Knowledge of the properties of their natures the conveniency of their situations and the usefulness of their functions and the order wherein they are linkt together for the good of the Universe 2. By this Creative Power God is often distinguisht from all the Idols and False gods in the World And by this Title he sets forth himself when he would act any great and wonderful Work in the World He is great above all gods for he hath done whatsoever he pleased in Heaven and in Earth Psal 135.5 6. Upon this is founded all the Worship he challengeth in the World as his peculiar glory Revel 4.11 Thou art worthy Oh Lord to receive glory honour and power for thou hast Created all things And Rev. 10.6 I have made the Earth and created Man upon it I even my hands have stretched out the Heavens and all their Host have I commanded Isai 45.12 What is the issue Verse 16. They shall be ashamed and confounded all of them that are makers of Idols And the weakness of Idols is exprest by this Title The gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth Jer. 10.11 The portion of Jacob is not like them for he is the former of all things Verse 16. What is not that God able to do that hath created so great a World How doth the Power of God appear in Creation 1. In making the World of Nothing When we say the World was made of Nothing we mean that there was no Matter existent for God to work upon but what he rais'd himself in the first act of Creation In this regard the Power of God in Creation surmounts his Power in Providence Creation supposeth nothing Providence supposeth something in Being Creation intimates a Creature making Providence speaks a thing already made and capable of Government and in Government God uses second Causes to bring about his Purposes 1. The World was made of nothing The Earth which is describ'd as the first Matter without any form or ornament without any distinction or figures was of Gods forming in the Bulk before he did adorn it with his Pensil * Gen. 1.1 2. †Suarez Vol. 3. p. 33. God in the beginning creating the Heaven and the Earth includes two things First That those were created in the beginning of time and before all other things Secondly That God begun the Creation of the World from those things Therefore before the Heavens and the Earth there was nothing absolutely created and therefore no Matter in being before an act of Creation past upon it It could not be Eternal because nothing can be Eternal but God it must therefore have a beginning If it had a beginning from it self then it was before it was If it acted in the making it self before it was made then it had a being before it had a being for that which is nothing can act nothing The action of any thing supposeth the existence of the thing which acts It being made it was not before it was made for to be made is to be brought into being It was made then by another and that Maker is God 'T is necessary that the first Original of things was from nothing When we see one thing to arise from another we must suppose an Original of the first of each kind As when we see a Tree spring up from a Seed we know that Seed came out of the bowels of another Tree it had a Parent and it had a Matter we must come to some First or else we run into an endless Maze We must come to some first Tree some first Seed that had no cause of the same kind no matter of it but was meer nothing ‖ Suarez Vol. 3. p. 6. Creation doth suppose a production â—â—â—m nothing because if you suppose a thing without any real or actual Existence 't is not capable of any other production then from nothing Nothing must be supposed before the World or we must suppose it Eternal and that is to deny it to be a Creature and make it God The Creation of spiritual Substances such as Angels and Souls evince this those things that are purely spiritual and consist not of matter cannot pretend to any Original from Matter and therefore they rose up from nothing If spiritual things arose from nothing much more may corporeal because they are of a lower nature than spiritual And he that can create a higher Nature of nothing can create an
a lower measure much more will he love it in a higher degree because then his Image is more illustrious and beautiful and comes nearer to the lively lineaments of his own Infinite Purity Perfection in any thing is more lovely and amiable than Imperfection in any state and the nearer any thing arrives to Perfection the further are those things separated from it which might Cool an affection to it An increase in holiness is attended with a manifestation of his love Joh. 14.21 He that hath my Commandments and keeps them he it is that loves me and he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him and I will manifest my self to him T is a testimony of love to God and God will not be behind hand with the Creature in kindness He loves a holy man for some resemblance to him in his Nature but when there is an abounding in Sanctified dispositions sutable to it there is an increase of savour The more we resemble the Original the more shall we enjoy the blessedness of that Original As any partake more of the Divine likeness they partake more of the Divine happiness 5. Exhortation Let us carry our selves holily in a spiritual manner in all our religious approaches to God Psal 93.5 Holiness becomes thy house O Lord for ever This Attribute should work in us a deep and reverential respect to God This is the reason rendred why we should worship at his foot-stool in the lowest posture of humility prostrate before him because he is holy †Psal 99.5 Shooes must be put off from our feet Exod. 3.5 that is Lusts from our Affections every thing that our souls are clogged and bemired with as the Shooe is with dirt He is not willing we should offer to him an impure soul mired hearts rotten carcasses putrified in vice rotten in iniquity Our Services are to be as free from prophaness as the sacrifices of the Law were to be free from sickliness or any blemish Whatsoever is contrary to his Purity is abhorred by him and unlovely in his sight and can meet with no other success at his hands but a disdainful turning away both of his eye and ear ‖ Isa 1.15 Since he is an Immense purity he will reject from his presence and from having any communion with him all that which is not conformable to him as light chases away the darkness of the night and will not mix with it If we stretch out our hands towards him we must put iniquity farr away from us * Job 11.13 14. the fruits of all Service will else drop off to nothing Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant to the Lord When when the heart is purged by Christ sitting as a purifier of silver †Mal. 3.3 4. Not all the Incense of the Indies yield him so sweet a Savour as one spiritual act of worship from a heart estranged from the vileness of the World and ravisht with an affection to and a desire of imitating the Puririty of his Nature 6. Exhortation Let us address for holiness to God the fountain of it As he is the Author of bodily life in the Creature so he is the Author of his own life the life of God in the soul By his holiness he makes men holy as the Sun by his light enlightens the Air. He is not only the Holy One but our holy One ‖ Isa 43.15 The Lord that sanctifies us Levit. 20.8 As he hath mercy to pardon us so he hath holiness to purify us the excellency of being a Sun to comfort us and a Shield to protect us giving Grace and Glory * Psal 84.11 Grace whereby we may have Communion with him to our comfort and strength against our spiritual enemies for our defence Grace as our preparatory to glory and Grace growing up till it ripen in Glory He only can mould us into a Divine frame The great Original can only derive the excellency of his own Nature to us We are too low too lame to lift up our selves to it too much in love with our own Deformity to admit of this Beauty without a heavenly power inclining our desires for it our affections to it our willingness to be partakers of it He can as soon set the beauty of Holiness in a deformed heart as the beauty of Harmony in a confused mass when he made the World He can as soon cause the light of Purity to rise out of the darkness of Corruption as frame glorious spirits out of the insufficiency of nothing His beauty doth not decay he hath as much in himself now as he had in his eternity He is as ready to impart it as he was at the Creation only we must wait upon him for it and be content to have it by small measures and degrees There is no fear of our sanctification if we come to him as a God of holiness since he is a God of peace and the breach made by Adam is repaired by Christ Thes 1.5.23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly c. He restores the sanctifying spirit which was withdrawn by the Fall as he is a God pacified and his holiness righted by the Redeemer The beauty of it appears in its smiles upon a man in Christ and is as ready to impart it self to the reconcil'd Creature as before Iustice was to punish the rebellious one He loves to send forth the streams of this perfection into created Chanels more than any else He did not design the making the Creature so powerfull as he might because power is not such an excellency in its own Nature but as it is conducted and managed by some other excellency Power is indifferent and may be used well or ill according as the possessor of it is righteous or unrighteous God makes not the Creature so powerful as he might but he delights to make the Creature that waits upon him as holy as it can be beginning it in this world and ripening it in the other 'T is from him we must expect it and from him that we must begg it and draw Arguments from the holiness of his Nature to move him to work holiness in our Spirits We cannot have a stronger plea. Purity is the favourite of his own Nature and delights itself in the resemblances of it in the Creature Let us also go to God to preserve what he hath already wrought and imparted As we cannot attain it so we cannot maintain it without him God gave it Adam and he lost it When God gives it us we shall lose it without his influencing and preserving Grace The chanel will be without a Stream if the Fountain do not bubble it forth and the streams will vanish if the Fountain doth not constantly supply them Let us apply our selves to him for holiness as he is a God glorious in holiness By this we honour God and advantage our selves A DISCOURSE UPON THE Goodness of God Mark 10.18 And Jesus
transgression But those things are accounted sins by all mankind and sins against the supream being So that a Dominion and the exercise of it is so fast linkt to God so intirely in him so intrinsick in his Nature that it cannot be imagined that a rational Creature can be made by him without a stamp and mark of that Dominion in his very nature and frame 't is so inseparable from God in his very act of Creation 2. 'T is such a Dominion as cannot be renounced by God himself 'T is so intrinsick and connatural to him so inlaid in the nature of God that he cannot strip himself of it nor of the exercise of it while any Creature remains ' Tâ—â— preserv'd by him for it could not subsist of its self 't is govern'd by him it could not else answer its end 'T is impossible there can be a Creature which hath not God for its Lord. Christ himself though in regard of his Deity equal with God yet in regard of his created state and assuming our nature was God's servant was govern'd by him in the whole of his office acted according to his command and directions God calls him his servant Isaiah 42.1 And Christ in that Prophetick Psalm of him calls God his Lord. Psal 16.2 Oh my Soul Thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord. It was impossible it should be otherwise Justice had been so far from being satisfi'd that it had been highly incensed if the order of things in the due subjection to God had been broke and his terms had not been complied with It would be a Judgment upon the World if God should give up the Government to any else as it is when he gives Children to be Princes Isaiah 3.4 i. e. Children in understanding 3. 'T is so inseparable that it cannot be communicated to any Creature No Creature is able to exercise it every Creature is unable to perform all the offices that belong to this Dominion No Creature can impose Laws upon the Consciences of men Man knows not the inlets into the Soul his pen cannot reach the inwards of man What Laws he hath power to propose to Conscience he cannot see executed because every Creature wants omniscience he is not able to perceive all those breaches of the Law which may be committed at the same time in so many Cities so many Chambers Or suppose an Angel in regard of the height of his standing and the insufficiency of Walls and darkness and distance to obstruct his view can behold mens actions yet he cannot know the internal acts of mens minds and Wills without some outward eruption and appearance of them And if he be ignorant of them how can he execute his Laws If he only understand the outward fact without the inward thought how can he dispense a Justice proportionable to the crime He must needs be ignorant of that which adds the greatest aggravation sometimes to a sin and inflict a lighter punishment upon that which receives a deeper tincture from the inward posture of the mind than another fact may do which in the outward act may appear more base and unjust and so while he intends Righteousness may act a degree of injustice * Mâ—â—â—ii Colleg. Theoloâ— Disp 18. p. 12 13. Besides no Creature can inflict a due punishment for sin that which is due to sin is a loss of the Vision and sight of God but none can deprive any of that but God himself nor can a Creature reward another with Eternal Life which consists in Communion with God which none but God can bestow II. Thing Wherein the Dominion of God is founded 1. On the Excellency of his Nature Indeed a bare excellency of Nature bespeaks a fitness for Government but doth not properly convey a right of Government Excellency speaks aptitude not Title A Subject may have more Wisdom than the Prince and be fitter to hold the Reins of Government but he hath not a Title to Royalty A man of large capacity and strong vertue is fit to serve his Countrey in Parliament but the Election of the People conveys a Title to him Yet a strain of Intellectual and Moral abilities beyond others is a foundation for Dominion And it is commonly seen that such eminences in men though they do not invest them with a Civil Authority or an Authority of Jurisdiction yet they create a veneration in the minds of men their vertue attracts reverence and their advice is regarded as an Oracle Old men by their age when stored with more Wisdom and Knowledge by reason of their long experience acquire a kind of power over the younger in their Dictates and Counsels so that they gain by the strength of that excellency a real Authority in the minds of those men they converse with and possess themselves of a deep respect from them God therefore being an incomprehensible ocean of all perfection and possessing infinitely all those vertues that may lay a claim to Dominion hath the first foundation of it in his own nature His incomparable and unparalell'd excellency as well as the greatness of his work attracts the voluntary Worship of him as a Soveraign Lord. Psal 86.8 Among the Gods there is none like unto thee neither are there any works like unto thy work All Nations shall come and Worship before thee Though his benefits are great engagements to our Obedience and Affection yet his infinite Majesty and perfection requires the first place in our acknowledgements and adorations Upon this account God claims it Isaiah 46.9 I am God and there is none like me I will do all my pleasure And the Prophet Jeremy upon the same account acknowledgeth it Jer. 10.6 7. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee Oh Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might who would not fear thee O King of Nations For to thee doth it appertain Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee And this is a more noble Title of Dominion It being an uncreated Title and more eminent than that of Creation or Preservation * 〈◊〉 Thâ—olog Nat. pag. 757. This is the natural order God hath plac'd in his Creature 's that the more excellent should rule the inferior He committed not the Government of lower Creatures to Lions and Tygers that have a delight in blood but no knowledge of vertue but to man who had an eminence in his nature above other Creatures and was formed with a perfect rectitude and a height of reason to guide the reins over them In man the Soul being of a more sublime nature is set of right to rule over the Body the Mind the most excellent Faculty of the Soul to rule over the other Powers of it and Wisdom the most excellent habit of the Mind to guide and regulate that in its determinations and when the Body and sensitive Appetite controul the Soul and Mind 't is an Usurpation against Nature not a rule according to Nature the excellency therefore of
of Man Folly is the disturber of Families Cites Nations The disgrace of human nature First I. T is pernicious to the World 1. It would root out the foundations of Government It demolisheth all order in Nations The being of a God is the guard of the world The sense of a God is the foundation of Civil order without this there is no tye upon the Consciences of men What force would there be in Oaths for the decisions of controversies what right could there be in Appeals made to one that had no being A City of Atheists would be a heap of confusion there could be no ground of any commerce when all the sacred bands of it in the Consciences of men were snapt asunder which are torne to peices and utterly destroyed by denying the Existence of God What Magistrate could be secure in his standing what private person could be secure in his right * Lessius de Provid p. 665. Can that then be a truth that is destructive of all publick good If the Atheists sentiment that there were no God were a truth and the contrary that there were a God were a falsity It would then follow that falsity made men good and serviceable to one another That error were the foundation of all the beauty and order and outward felicity of the world the fountain of all good to man If there were no God to believe there is one would be an error and to beleive there is none would be the greatest wisdom because it would be the greatest truth And then as it is the greatest wisdom to fear God upon the apprehension of his Existence * Psal 111 1â— So it would be the greatest error to fear him if there were none It would unquestionably follow that Error is the support of the world the spring of all human advantages and that every part of the world were obliged to a falsity for being a quiet habitation which is the most absur'd thing to imagine T is a thing impossible to be tolerated by any Prince without laying an Axe to the root of the Government 2. It would introduce all evil into the World If you take away God you take away Conscience and thereby all measures and rules of good and evil And how could any Laws be made when the measure and standard of them were removed All good Laws are founded upon the dictates of Conscience and reason upon common sentiments in human nature which spring from a sense of God So that if the foundation be demolisht the whole superstructure must tumble down A man might be a Thief a Murderer an Adulterer and could not in a strict sense be an offender The worst of actions could not be evil if a man were a God to himself a Law to himself Nothing but evil deserves a Censure and nothing would be evil if there were no God the Rector of the world against whom evil is properly committed No man can make that morally evil that is not so in it self As where there is a faint sense of God the heart is more strongly inclin'd to wickedness so where there is no sense of God the bars are removed the flood-gates set open for all wickedness to rush in upon mankind Religion pinions men from abominable practices and restrains them from being Slaves to their own passions An Atheists arms would be loose to do any thing * Lessius de Provid p. 664. Nothing so villanous and unjust but would be Acted if the natural fear of a Deity were extinguisht The first consequence issuing from the apprehension of the Existence of God is his Government of the world If there be no God then the natural consequence is that there is no supream Government of the world Such a Notion would cashiere all sentiments of good and be like a Trojan Horse whence all impurity tyranny and all sorts of mischeifs would break out upon mankind Corruption and abominable works in the text are the fruit of the fools perswasion that there is no God The perverting the ways of men oppression and extortion owe their rise to a forgetfulness of God Jer. 3.21 They have perverted their way and they have forgotten the Lord their God Ezek. 22.12 Thou hast greedily gained by extortion and hast forgotten me saith the Lord. The whole Earth would be filled with violence all flesh would corrupt their way as it was before the deluge when probably Atheism did abound more than Idolatry and if not a disowning the being yet denying the Providence of God by the posterity of Cain Those of the Family of Seth only calling upon the name of the Lord Gen. 6.11.12 compared which Gen. 4.26 The greatest sense of a Deity in any hath been attended with the greatest innocence of life and usefulness to others And a weaker sense hath been attended with a baser impurity * Iessius de Provid p. 665. If there were no God Blasphemy would be praise-worthy As the reproach of Idols is praise-worthy because we testifie that there is no Divinity in them What can be more contemptible than that which hath no being Sin would be only a false opinion of a violated Law and an offended Deity If such appresensions prevail what a wide door is opened to the worst of villanies If there be no God no respect is due to him all the Religion in the world is a trifle and Error and thus the Pillars of all human society and that which hath made Common-wealths to flourish are blown away Secondly 2 T is pernicious to the Atheist himself If he fear no future punishment he can never expect any future reward All his hopes must be confined to a Swinish and despicable manner of life without any imaginations of so much as a dram of reserved hapiness He is in a worse condition than the filliest animal which hath something to please it in its life Whereas an Atheist can have nothing here to give him a full content no more than any other man in the World and can have less satisfaction hereafter He deposeth the noble end of his own being which was to serve a God and have a satisfaction in him to seek a God and be rewarded by him And he that departs from his end recedes from his own nature All the content any Creature finds is in performing its end moveing according to its natural instinct As it is a joy to the Sun to run its race * Psal 19.5 In the same manner it is a satisfaction to every other Creature and its delight to observe the Law of its Creation What content can any man have that runs from his end opposeth his own nature denies a God by whom and for whom he was Created whose Image he bears which is the Glory of his nature and sinks into the very dregs of bruitishness How elegantly is it described by Bildad * Job 18.7.8 c. to the end his own Counsel shall cast him down terrors shall make him afraid on
Friend to our lusts and then dig deep into the Scripture to find Crutches to support it and authorize our practices When men will thank God for what they have got by unlawful means Fathering the fruit of their cheating craft and the simplicity of their Chapmen upon God Crediting their Cousenage by his Name as men do brass mony with a thin plate of silver and the stamp and image of the Prince The Jews urge the Law of God for the crucifying his Son John 19.7 We have a Law and by that Law he is to dye And would make him a Party in their private Revenge * Sanaerson's S. Part. 2. P. 158. Thus often when we have faultered in some actions we wipe our mouths as if we sought God more than our own interest prostituting the sacred Name and Honour of God either to hatch or defend some unworthy lust against his Word Is not all this a high degree of Atheism 1. 'T is a vilifying God an abuse of the highest good Other sins subject the Creature and outward things to them but acting in Religious services for self subjects not only the highest concernments of mens Souls but the Creator himself to the Creature Nay to make God contribute to that which is the pleasure of the Devil A greater slight than to cast the gifts of a Prince to a Herd of nasty Swine It were more excusable to serve our selves of God upon the higher accounts such that materially conduce to his glory but it is an intolerable wrong to make Him and his Ordinances Caterers for our own bellies as they did * Hos â—8 13 Vid. Cocc in locum They sacrificed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of which the Offerer might eat not out of any reference to God but love to their Gluttony not to please him but feast themselves The Belly was truly made the God when God was served only in order to the Belly As though the blessed God had his Being and his Ordinances were enjoyned to pleasure their foolish and wanton Appetites As though the Work of God were only to patronize unrighteous ends and be as bad as themselves and become a Pander to their corrupt affections 2. Because it is a vilifying of God It is an undeifying or dethroning God 'T is an acting as if we were the Lords and God our Vassal A setting up those secular ends in the place of God who ought to be our ultimate end in every action to whom a glory is as due as his mercy to us is utterly unmerited by us He that thinks to cheat and put the Fool upon God by his pretences doth not heartily believe there is such a Being He could not have the Notion of a God without that of Omniscience and Justice an eye to see the cheat and an Arm to punish it The Notion of the one would direct him in the manner of his Services and the Sense of the other would scare him from the cherishing his unworthy ends He that serves God with a sole respect to himself is prepared for any Idolatry his Religion shall warp with the times and his interest he shall deny the true God for an Idol when his worldly interest shall advise him to it and pay the same Reverence to the basest Image which he pretends now to pay to God As the Israelites were as real for Idolatry under their basest Princes as they were Pretenders to the true Religion under those that were Pious Before I come to the use of this give me leave to evince this practical Atheism by two other Considerations 1. Vnworthy Imaginations of God The Fool hath said in his heart there is no God That is he is not such a God as you report him to be This is meant by their being corrupt in the 2. v. corrupt being taken for playing the Idolaters Exod. 32.7 We cannot comprehend God if we could we should cease to be finite and because we cannot comprehend him we erect strange Images of him in our fancies and affections And since guilt came upon us because we cannot root out the Notions of God we would debase the Majesty and Nature of God that we may have some ease in our Consciences and lye down with some comfort in the sparks of our own kindling This is universal in men by Nature God is not in all his thoughts Psal 10.4 Not in any of his thoughts according to the excellency of his Nature and greatness of his Majesty As the Heathen did not glorify God as God so neither do they conceive of God as God They are all infected with some one or other ill opinion of him thinking him not so holy powerful just good as he is and as the natural force of a human understanding might arrive to VVe joyn a new Notion of God in our vain fancies and represent him not as he is but as we would have him to be fit for our own use and suted to our own pleasure VVe set that active power of imagination on work and there comes out a God a Calf whom we own for a Notion of God Adam cast him into so narrow a mould as to think that himself who had newly sprouted up by his Almighty power was fit to be his Corrival in knowledge and had vain hopes to grasp as much as infiniteness If he in his first declining begun to have such a conceit t is no doubt but we have as bad under a mass of Corruption VVhen holy Agur speaks of God he crys out that he had not the understanding of a Man nor the knowledge of the holy * Pro. 30.2.3 He did not think rationally of God as Man might by his strength at his first Creation There are as many Carved Images of God as there are minds of Men and as monstrous shapes as those Corruptions into which they would transform him Hence sprang 1. Idolatry Vain Imaginations first set afloat and kept up this in the world * Rom. 1 2â—.23 Vain Imaginations of the God whose glory they changed into the Image of corruptible Man They had set up vain Images of him in their fancy before they set up Idolatrous representations of him in their Temples The likening him to those Idols of Wood and Stone and various metals were the fruit of an Idea Erected in their own minds This is a mighty debasing the Divine nature and rendring him no better than that base and stupid matter they make the visible object of their adoration equalling him with those base Creatures they think worthy to be the representations of him Yet how far did this Crime spread it self in all Corners of the world not only among the more barbarous and Ignorant but the more polisht and Civilized Nations Judea only where God had placed the Ark of his presence being free from it in some intervals of time only after some sweeping Judgment And tho they vomited up their Idols undersome sharp scourge they licked them up again after the Heavens were
there but to behold the beauty of the Lord * Psal 27.4 and taste the ravishing sweetness of his presence No doubt but Elijah's desires for the enjoyment of God while he was mounting to Heaven were as fiery as the Chariot wherein he was carried Unutterable groans acted in worship are the fruit of the Spirit and certainly render it a spiritual service * Rom. 8.26 Strong appetites are agreeable to God and prepare us to eat the fruit of worship A spiritual Paul presseth forward to know Christ and the power of his Resurrection and a spiritual Worshipper actually aspires in every duty to know God and the power of his Grace To desire worship as an end is carnal to desire it as a means and act desires in it for communion with God in it is spiritual and the fruit of a spiritual life 5. Thankfulness and admiration are to be exercised in spiritual services This is a worship of Spirits Praise is the adoration of the blessed Angels * Isa 6.3 and of glorified Spirits Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy oh Lord to receive Glory and Honour and Power And Rev. 5.13.14 they worship him ascribing Blessing Honour Glory and Power to him that sits upon the Throne and to the Lamb for ever and ever Other acts of worship are confined to this Life and leave us as soon as we have set our foot in Heaven There no notes but this of Praise are warbled out The Power Wisdom Love and Grace in the dispensation of the Gospel seat themselves in the thoughts and tongues of blessed Souls Can a worship on Earth be spiritual that hath no mixture of an eternal heavenly duty with it The worship of God in Innocence had been chiefly an admiration of him in the works of Creation and should not our Evangelical worship be an admiration of him in the works of Redemption which is a restoration to a better State After the petitioning for pardoning Grace * Hos 14.2 there is a rendring the Calves or Heifers of our lips alluding to the Heifers used in Eucharistical Sacrifices The Praise of God is the choicest Sacrifice and Worship under a dispensation of redeeming Grace This is the prime and eternal part of worship under the Gospel The Psalmist Psalm 149. and 150. speaking of the Gospel times spurrs on to this kind of worship Sing to the Lord a new Song Let the Children of Zion be joyful iâ—â—â—â—ir King Let the Saints be joyful in glory and sing aloud upon their beds Let the high praises of God be in their mouths He begins and ends both Psalms with praise ye the Lord. That cannot be a spiritual and evangelical worship that hath nothing of the praise of God in the heart The consideration of Gods adorable perfections discovered in the Gospel will make us come to him with more seriousness beg blessings of him with more confidence fly to him with a winged Faith and Love and more spiritually glorify him in our attendances upon him 7. Spiritual Worship is performed with delight The Evangelical worship is prophetically signified by keeping the Feast of Tabernacles * Zach. 14.16 they shall go up from year to year to worship the King the Lord of Hosts and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles Why that Feast when there were other Feasts observed by the Jews That was a Feast celebrated with the greatest joy typical of the gladness which was to be under the exhibition of the Messiah and a thankful comemmoration of the Redemption wrought by him It was to be celebrated five days after the solemn day of Atonement Levit. 23.34 compared with v. 27. wherein there was one of the solemnest types of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ In this Feast they commemorated their exchange of Egypt for Canaan the Manna wherewith they were fed the Water out of the Rock wherewith they were refresht In remembrance of this they poured water on the ground pronouncing those words in Isaiah they shall draw waters out of the Wells of Salvation which our Saviour referrs to himself John 7.37 inviting them to him to drink upon the last day the great day of the Feast of Tabernacles wherein this solemn Ceremony was observed Since we are freed by the death of the Redeemer from the Curses of the Law God requires of us a Joy in spiritual priviledges A sad frame in worship gives the lye to all Gospel-liberty to the Purchase of the Redeemers Death the Triumphs of his Resurrection 'T is a carriage as if we were under the influences of the legal Fire and Lightning and an entring a Protest against the Freedom of the Gospel The Evangelical worship is a Spiritual worship and Praise Joy and Delight are prophecied of as great ingredients in attendance on Gospel Ordinances Isa 12.3 4 5. What was occasion of terror in the worship of God under the Law is the occasion of delight in the worship of God under the Gospel The Justice and Holiness of God so terrible in the Law becomes comfortable under the Gospel since they have feasted themselves on the active and passive obedience of the Redeemer The approach is to God as gracious not to God as unpacified as a Son to a Father not as a Criminal to a Judge Under the Law God was represented as a Judge remembring their Sin in their Sacrifices and representing the punishment they had merited in the Gospel as a Father accepting the Atonement and publishing the Reconciliation wrought by the Redeemer Delight in God is a Gospel frame therefore the more joyful the more spiritual The Sabbath is to be a delight not only in regard of the Day but in regard of the Duties of it * Isa 58.13 in regard of the marvelous work he wrought on it raising up our blessed Redeemer on that day whereby a foundation was laid for the rendring our persons and services acceptable to God Psal 118.24 This is the day which the Lord hath made we will be glad and rejoyce in it A lumpish frame becomes not a day and a duty that hath so noble and spiritual a mark upon it The Angels in the first act of worship after the Creation were highly joyful Job 38.7 They shouted for joy c. The Saints have particularly acted this in their Worship David would not content himself with an approach to the Altar without going to God as his exceeding joy Psal 43.4 My triumphant joy When he danced before the Ark he seems to be transformed into delight and pleasure 2 Sam. 6.14 16. He had as much delight in Worship as others had in their Harvest and Vintage And those that took joyfully the spoiling of their Goods would as joyfully attend upon the Communications of God Where there is a fullness of the Spirit there is a waking melody to God in the heart * Eph. 5.18.19 and where there is an acting of love as there is in all spiritual services the proper fruit of it is joy in a neer
and Truth in the inward parts * Psal 51.6 And therefore infinite Goodness and Holiness cannot but hate worship presented to him with deceitful carnal and flitting affections They must be more nauseous to God than a putrified Carcass can be to Man They are the prophanings of that which should be the habitation of the Spirit They make the Spirit the seat of duty a filthy dung-hill and are as loathsome to God as Mony-changers in the Temple were to our Saviour We see the evil of carnal frames and the necessity and benefit of spiritual frames For further help in this last let us practise thesâ— following directions Direction 1. Keep up spiritual frames out of worship To avoid low affections we must keep our hearts as much as we can in a setled elevation If we admit unworthy dispositions at one time we shall not easily be rid of them at another * Fitzherbert Pol. in relig part 2. cap. 19. § 12. As he that would not be bitten with Gnats in the Night must keep his windows shut in the Day when they are once entred 't is not easie to expel them In which respect one adviseth to be such out of worship as we would be in worship If we mix spiritual affections with our worldly employments worldly affections will not mingle themselves so easily with our heavenly engagements If our hearts be spiritual in our outward calling they will scarce be carnal in our religious service If we walk in the Spirit we shall not fulfil the lusts of the Flesh * Gal. 5.16 A spiritual walk in the day will hinder carnal lustings in worship The Fire was to be kept alive upon the Altar when Sacrifices were not offered from morning till night from night till morning as well as in the very time of Sacrifice A spiritual life and vigour out of worship would render it at its season sweet and easie and preserve a spontaneity and preparedness to it and make it both natural and pleasant to us Any thing that doth unhinge and discompose our Spirits is inconsistent with religious services which are to be performed with the greatest sedateness and gravity All irregular passions disturb the serenity of the Spirit and open the door for Satan * Eph. 4.26.27 Saith the Apostle Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath neither give place to the Devil Where wrath breaks the Lock the Devil will quickly be over the Threshold and though they be allayed yet they leave the heart sometime after like the Sea rowling and swelling after the storm is ceased Mixture with ill company leaves a tincture upon us in worship Ephraims allying himself with the Gentiles bred an indifferency in Religion Hos 7.8 Ephraim hath mixed himself with the People Ephraim is a Cake not turn'd It will make our hearts and consequently our services half Dough as well as half bak'd These and the like make the holy Spirit withdraw himself and then the Soul lies like a wind-bound Vessel and can make no way When the Sun departs from us it carries its Beams away with it then doth Darkness spread it self over the Earth and the Beasts of the Forests creep out * Psal 1â—4 2â— When the Spirit withdraws a while from a good man it carries away though not habitual yet much of the exciting and assisting grace and then carnal dispositions perk up themselves from the bosome of natural corruption To be spiritual in worship we must bar the door at other times against that which is contrary to it As he that would not be infected with a contagious disease carries some Preservative about with him and inures himself to good scents To this end be much in secret ejaculations to God these are the purest slights of the Soul that have more of fervor and less of carnality they preserve a liveliness in the Spirit and make it more fit to perform solemn stated worship with greater freedom and activity A constant use of this would make our whole lives lives of worship As frequent sinful acts strengthen habits of sin so frequent religious acts strengthen habits of grace Direction 2. Excite and exercise particularly a love to God and dependence on him Love is a commanding affection a uniting graces it draws all the faculties of the Soul to one Center The Soul that loves God when it hath to do with him is bound to the beloved Object It can mind nothing else during such impressions When the affection is set to the worship of God every thing the Soul hath will be bestowed upon it As David's disposition was to the Temple 1 Chron. 29.3 Carnal frames like the Fouls will be lighting upon the Sacrifice but not when it is enflam'd Though the scent of the flesh invite them yet the heat of the fire drives them to their distance A flaming love will singe the Flies that endeavour to interrupt and disturb us The happiness of Heaven consists in a full attraction of the Soul to God by his glorious influence upon it There will be such a diffusion of his goodness throughout the Souls of the Blessed as will unite the affections perfectly to him These affections which are scattered here will be there gathered into one flame moving to him and centring in him Therefore the more of a heavenly frame possesses our affections here the more settled and uniform will our hearts be in all their motions to God and operations about him Excite a dependence on him Pro. 16.3 Commit thy works to the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established Let us go out in Gods strength and not in our own vain is the help of man in any thing and vain is the help of the heart 'T is through God only we can do valiantly in spiritual concerns as well as temporal the want of this makes but slight impressions upon the Spirit Direction 3. Nourish right conceptions of the Majesty of God in your minds Let us consider that we are drawing to God the most amiable Object the best of Beings worthy of infinite honour and highly meriting the highest affections we can give a God that made the world by a word that upholds the great frame of Heaven and Earth a Majesty above the conceptions of Angels who uses not his power to strike us to our deserved punishment but his love and bounty to allure us a God that gave all the Creatures to serve us and can in a trice make them as much our Enemies as he hath now made them our Servants Let us view him in his greatness and in his goodness that our hearts may have a true value of the worship of so great a Majesty and count it the most worthy employment with all diligence to attend upon him When we have a fear of God it will make our worship serious when we have a joy in God it will make our worship durable Our affections will be raised when we represent God in the most reverential endearing and obliging
Hills are said to leap and the Mountains to rejoyce The Creature is said to groan as the Heavens are said to declare the glory of God passively naturally not rationally 'T is not likely Angels are here meant though they cannot but desire it since they are affected with the dishonour and reproach God hath in the world they cannot but long for the restoration of his honour in the restoration of the Creature to its true end And indeed the Angels are employed to serve man in this sinful state and cannot but in holiness wish the Creature freed from his corruption Nor is it meant of the new Creatures which have the first fruits of the Spirit those he brings in afterwards groaning and waiting for the Adoption * Verse 23. where he distinguisheth the rational Creature from the Creature he had spoken of before If he had meant the believing Creature by that Creature that desired the liberty of the Sons of God what need had there been of that additional distinction and not only they but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan within our selves Whereby it seems he means some Creatures below rational Creatures since neither Angels nor blessed Souls can be said to travail in pain with that distress as a Woman in travail hath as the word signifies who perform the work joyfully which God sets them upon * Mestraezat fur Heb. 1. If the Creatures be subject to vanity by the sin of man they shall also partake of a happiness by the restoration of man The Eâ—â—â—h hath born Thorns and Thistles and venemous Beasts The Air hath had its Tempests and infectious Qualities The Water hath caused its Flouds and Deluges The Creature hath been abused to luxury and intemperance and been tyranniz'd over by Man contrary to the end of its creation 'T is convenient that some time should be allotted for the Creature 's attaining its true end and that it may partake of the peace of Man as it hath done of the fruits of his sin otherwise it would seem that sin had prevailed more than grace and would have had more power to deface than grace to restore and things into their due order 5. Again upon what account should the Psalmist exhort the Heavens to rejoyce and the Earth to be glad when God comes to judge the world with Righteousness * Psal 96.11 12 13. if they should be annihilated and sunk for ever into nothing It would seem saith Daille to be an impertinent figure if the Judge of the world brought to them a total destruction an entire ruin could not be matter of triumph to Creatures who naturally have that instinct or inclination put into them by their Creator to preserve themselves and to affect their own preservation 6. Again The Lord is to rejoyce in his works Psal 104.31 The Glory of the Lord shall endure for ever the Lord shall rejoyce in his works not hath but shall rejoyce in his works In the works of Creation which the Psalmist had enumerated and which is the whole scope of the Psalm And he intimates that it is part of the glory of the Lord which endures for ever that is his manifestative glory to rejoyce in his works The Glory of the Lord must be understood with reference to the Creation he had spoken of before How short was that joy God had in his works after he had sent them beautified out of his hand How soon did he repent not only that he had made Man but was grieved at the heart also that he made the other Creatures which Man's sin had disordered What joy can God have in them * Gen. 6.7 since the Curse upon the entrance of sin into the world remains upon them If they are to be annihilated upon the full restoration of his Holiness what time will God have to rejoyce in the other works of Creation 'T is the joy of God to see all his works in their due order every one pointing to their true end marching together in their excellency according to his first intendment in their Creation Did God create the World to perform its end only for one day scarce so much if Adam fell the very first day of his Creation What would have been their end if Adam had been confirm'd in a state of happiness as the Angels were 'T is likely will be answered and performed upon the compleat restoration of Man to that happy state from whence he fell What Artificer compiles a work by his skill but to rejoyce in it And shall God have no joy from the works of his hands Since God can only rejoyce in goodness the Creatures must have that goodness restored to them which God pronounced them to have at the first Creation and which he ordained them for before he can again rejoyce in his works The goodness of the Creatures is the glory and joy of God Inference 1. We may infer from hence what a base and vile thing Sin is which lays the foundation of the worlds change Sin brings it to a decrepit age Sin overturned the whole work of God * Gen. 3.17 so that to render it useful to its proper end there is a necessity of a kind of a new creating it This causes God to fire the Earth for a purification of it from that infection and contagion brought upon it by the apostacy and corruption of Man It hath served sinful man and therefore must undergo a purging Flame to be fit to serve the holy and righteous Creator As Sin is so riveted in the body of man that there is need of a change by death to rase it out so hath the Curse for sin got so deep into the bowels of the world that there is need of a change by fire to refine it for its Masters use Let us look upon Sin with no other notion than as the Object of Gods hatred the cause of his grief in the Creatures and the Spring of the pain and ruin of the World 2. How foolish a thing is it to set our hearts upon that which shall perish and be no more what it is now The Heavens and Earth the solidest and firmest parts of the Creation shall not continue in the posture they are they must perish and undergo a refining change How feeble and weak are the other parts of the Creation the little Creatures walking upon and fluttering about the world that are perishing and dying every day and we scarce see them clothed with life and beauty this day but they wither and are despoyl'd of all the next and are such frail things fit Objects for our everlasting Spirits and Affections Though the daily employment of the Heavens is the declaration of the glory of God * Psal 19.1 yet neither this nor their harmony order beauty amazing greatness and glory of them shall preserve them from a dissolution and melting at the presence of the Lord Though they have remained in the same posture from
fruition of them we can scarce tell whether they are contentments or no because sorrow follows them so close at the heels 'T is not an unnecessary exhortation for good men the best men have been apt to place too much trust in them David thought himself immutable in his Prosperity and such thoughts could not be without some immoderate outlets of the heart to them and confidences in them And Job promised himself to dye in his Nest and multiply his days as the Sand without any interruption * Job 29.18 19. c. but he was mistaken and disappointed Let me add this trust not in men who are as inconstant as any thing else and often change their most ardent affections into implacable hatred And though their affections may not be changed their Power to help you may Hamans Friends that depended on him one day were crest-fallen the next when their Patron was to exchange his Chariot of State for an ignominious Gallows 3. Prefer an immutable God before mutable Creatures Is it not a horrible thing to see what we are and what we possess daily crumbling to dust and in a continual flux from us and not seek out something that is permanent and always abides the same for our portion In God or Wisdom which is Christ there is substance * Pro. 8.21 in which respect he is opposed to all the things in the world that are but shadows that are shorter or longer according to the motion of the Sun mutable also by every little body that intervenes God is subject to no decay within to no force without nothing in his own nature can change him from what he is and there is no Power above can hinder him from being what he will to the Soul He is an Ocean of all Perfection He wants nothing without himself to render him blessed which may allure him to a change His Creatures can want nothing out of him to make them happy whereby they may be inticed to prefer any thing before him If we enjoy other things 't is by Gods donation who can as well withdraw them as bestow them and it is but a reasonable as well as a necessary thing to endeavour the enjoyment of the immutable Benefactor rather than his revocable Gifts If the Creatures had a sufficient vertue in themselves to ravish our thoughts and engross our Souls yet when we take a prospect of a fixed and unchangeable Being what beauty what strength have any of those things to vie with him How can they bear up and maintain their interest against a lively thought and sense of God All the Glory of them would fly before him like that of the Stars before the Sun They were once nothing they may be nothing again as their own nature brought them not out of nothing so their Nature secures them not from being reduced to nothing What an unhappiness is it to have our affections set upon that which retains something of its non esse with its esse it s not being with its being that lives indeed but in a continual Flux and may lose that pleasureableness to morrow which charms us to day 2. This Doctrin will teach us Patience under such Providences as declare his unchangeable Will The rectitude of our Wills consists in conformity to the Divine as discovered in his Words and manifested in his Providence which are the effluxes of his immutable Will The time of tryal is appointed by his immutable Will * Dan. 1 't is not in the Power of the Sufferer's Will to shorten it nor in the Power of the Enemies Will to lengthen it Whatsoever doth happen hath been decreed by God Eccles 6.10 That which hath been is named already therefore to murmur or be discontented is to contend with God who is mightier than we to maintain his own purposes God doth act all things conveniently for that immutable end intended by himself and according to the reason of his own Divine Will in the true point of time most proper for it and for us not too soon or too slow because he is unchangeable in Knowledge and Wisdom God doth not act any thing barely by an immutable Will but by an immutable Wisdom and an unchangeable Rule of Goodness and therefore we should not only acquiesce in what he works but have a complacency in it and by having our Wills thus knitting themselves with the immutable Will of God we attain some degree of likeness to him in his own Unchangeableness When therefore God hath manifested his Will in opening his Decree to the world by his work of Providence we must cease all disputes against it and with Aaron hold our peace though the affliction be very smart * Rev. 10.3 All Flesh must be silent before God * Zach. 2.13 For whatsoever is his Counsel shall stand and cannot be recall'd all struggling against it is like a brittle Glass contending with a Rock For if he cut off and shut up or gather together then who can hinder him Job 11.10 Nothing can help us if he hath determined to afflict us as nothing can hurt us if he hath determined to secure us The more clearly God hath evidenced this or that to be his Will the more sinful is our struggling against it Pharaoh's sin was the greater in keeping Israel by how much the more Gods Miracles had been Demonstrations of his setled Will to deliver them Let nothing snatch our hearts to a contradiction to him but let us fear and give Glory to him when the hour of Judgment which he hath appointed is come * Revel 14.7 that is comply with the unchangeable will of his Precept the more he declares the immutable will of his Providence We must not think God must disgrace his Nature and change his Proceedings for us Better the Creature should suffer than God be impair'd in any of his Perfections If God changed his Purpose he would change his Nature Patience is the way to perform the immutable Will of God and a means to attain a gracious Immutability for our selves by receiving the Promise Heb. 10.36 Ye have need of Patience that after ye have done the Will of God ye might receive the Promise 3. This Doctrine will teach us to imitate God in this perfection by striving to be immoveable in goodness God never goes back from himself he finds nothing better than himself for which he should change and can we find any thing better than God to allure our hearts to a change from him The Sun never declines from the Ecliptick line nor should we from the paths of Holiness A stedfast obedience is encouraged by an unchangeable God to reward it 1 Cor. 15.58 Be stedfast and immovable alwayes abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labour shall not be in vain in the Lord. Unstedfastness is the note of an Hypocrite Psal 78.37 stedfastness in that which is good is the mark of a Saint 't is the Character of a
manifestation of himself If by his dwelling in heaven be meant his whole essence why is it not also to be meant by his dwelling in the Ark It was not sure part of his essence that was in heaven and part of his essence that was on earth his essence would then be divided and can it be imagined that he should be in Heaven and the Ark at the same time and not in the spaces between Could his essence be split into fragments and a gap made in it that two distant spaces should be fill'd by him and all between be empty of him So that Gods being said to dwell in Heaven and in the Temple is so far from impairing the truth of this doctrine that it more confirms and evidences it 2. Nor do the Expressions of God's coming to us or departing from us impair this Doctrine of his Omnipresence God is said to hide his face from his People * Psal 10.1 to be far from the Wicked and the Gentiles are said to be afar off viz. from God †Prov. 15.29 and upon the manifestation of Christ made near †Eph 2.17 These must not be understood of any distance or nearness of his Essence for that is equally near to all persons and things but of some other special way and manifestation of his Presence Thus God is said to be in Believers by Love as they are in him * 1 Joh. 4.15 He that abides in love abides in God and God in him He that loves is in the thing beloved and when two love one another they are in one another God is in a Righteous man by a special grace and far from the Wicked in regard of such special Works and God is said to be in a place by a special manifestation as when he was in the Bush * Exod. 3. or manifesting his Glory upon Mount Sinai †Exod. 24.16 The Glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai God is said to hide his face when he withdraws his comforting Presence disturbs the repose of our hearts flasheth Terror into our Consciences when he puts men under the smart of the Cross as tho' he had ordered his Mercy utterly to depart from them or when he doth withdraw his special assisting Providence from us in our affairs so he departed from Saul when he withdrew his direction and Protection from him in the concerns of his Government * 1 Sam. 16.14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul i. e. the Spirit of Government God may be far from us in one respect and near to us in another far from us in regard of Comfort yet near to us in regard of Support when his Essential Presence continues the same this is a necessary consequent upon the infiniteness of God the other is an act of the Will of God so he was said to forsake Christ in regard of his obscuring his Glory from his Humane Nature and inflicting his Wrath tho' he was near to him in regard of his Grace and preserved him from contracting any spot in his Sufferings We do not say the Sun is departed out of the Heavens when it is be-misted it remains in the same part of the Heavens passes on its course tho' its Beams do not reach us by reason of the Bar between us and it The Soul is in every part of the Body in regard of its Substance and constantly in it tho' it doth not act so spritely and vigorously at one time as at another in one and the same Member and discover it self so sensibly in its Operations so all the various effects of God towards the Sons of men are but divers Operations of one and the same Essence He is far from us or near to us as he is a Judg or a Benefactor when he comes to Punish it notes not the approach of his Essence but the stroak of his Justice when he comes to Benefit 't is not by a new access of his Essence but an efflux of his Grace he departs from us when he leaves us to the Frowns of his Justice he comes to us when he encircles us in the Arms of his Mercy but he was equally present with us in both dispensations in regard of his Essence And likewise God is said to come down * Gen. 11.5 And the Lord came down to see the City when he doth some signal and wonderful Works which attract the minds of men to the acknowledgment of a Supream Power and Providence in the World who judg'd God absent and careless before 3. Nor is the Essential Presence of God with all Creatures any disparagement to him Since it was no disparagement to Create the Heaven and the Earth 't is no disparagement to him to him to fill them if he were Essentially present with them when he created them 't is no dishonour to him to be Essentiall present with them to support them if it were his Glory to Create them by his Essence when they were nothing Can it be his disgrace to be present by his Essence since they are something and something good and very good in his Eye * Gen. 1.31 God saw every thing and behold it was very good or mighty good all ordered to declare his Goodness Wisdom Power and to make him adorable to man and therefore took complacency in tehm There is a Harmony in all things a Combination in them for those glorious Ends for which God Created them and is it a disgrace for God to be present with his own Harmonious composition Is it not a Musicians Glory to touch with his fingers the Trebble the least and tenderest string as well as the strongest and greatest Base Hath not every thing some Stamp of Gods own Being upon it since he eminently contains in himself the Perfections of all his Works whatsoever hath Being hath a Foot-step of God upon it who is all Being every thing in the Earth is his Foot-Stool having a mark of his Foot upon it all declare the Being of God because they had their Being from God and will God account it any disparagement to him to be present with that which confirms his Being and the glorious Perfections of his nature to his intelligent Creatures the meanest things are not without their Vertues which may boast Gods being the Creator of them and rank them in the midst of his Works of Wisdom as well as Power Doth God debase himself to be present by his Essence with the things he hath made more than he doth to know them by his Essence Is not the least thing known by him How not by a faculty or act distinct from his Essence but by his Essence it self How is any thing disgraceful to the Essential Presence of God that is not disgraceful to his Knowledge by his Essence Besides would God make any thing that should be an invincible reason to him to part with his own infiniteness by a contraction of his own Essence into a less compass than
if God understands his own Power and Excellency nothing can be hid from him that was brought forth by that Power as well as nothing can be unknown to him that that Power is able to produce * Bradwardin p. 6. If God knows nothing besides himself he may then believe there is nothing beside himself we shall then fancy a God miserably mistaken If he knows nothing besides himself then things were not Created by him or not understandingly and voluntarily Created but drop'd from him before he was aware To think that the first cause of all should be ignorant of those things he is the cause of is to make him not a voluntary but natural Agent and therefore necessary and then that the Creature came from him as Light from the Sun and moisture from the Water this would bean absurd opinion of the Worlds Creation if God be a voluntary Agent as he is he must be an intelligent Agent The faculty of Will is not in any Creature without that of Understanding also If God be an intelligent Agent his knowledg must extend as far as his operation and every object of his operation unless we imagine God hath lost his Memory in that long Tract of time since the first Creation of them An Artificer cannot be ignorant of his own Work If God knows himself he knows himself to be a Cause how can he know himself to be a Cause unless he know the Effects he is the Cause of One relation implies another a man cannot know himself to be a Father unless he hath a Child because it is a name of relation and in the notion of it refers to another The name of cause is a name of relation and implies an effect If God therefore know himself in all his Perfections as the Cause of things he must know all his acts what his Wisdom contrived what his Counsel determin'd and what his Power effected The knowledg of God is to be suppos'd in a free determination of himself and that knowledg must be perfect both of the object act and all the circumstances of it How can his Will freely produce any thing that was not first known in his Understanding From this the Prophet argues the understanding of God and the unsearchableness of it because he is the Creator of the ends of the earth Isa 40.28 and the same reason David gives of Gods Knowledg of him and of every thing he did and that afar off because he was formed by him Psal 139.2 15 16. As the perfect making of things only belongs to God so doth the perfect knowledg of things 't is absurd to think that God should be ignorant of what he hath given Being to that he should not know all the Creatures and their qualities the Plants and their vertues as that a man should not know the Letters that are formed by him in Writing Every thing bears in it self the mark of Gods Perfections and shall not God know the representation of his own vertue 5. Without this Knowledg God could no more be the Governour than he could be the Creator of the World Knowledg is the Basis of Providence to Know things is before the Government of things a practical knowledg cannot be without a theoretical knowledg Nothing could be directed to its proper end without the knowledg of the nature of it and its suitableness to answer that end for which it is intended As every thing even the minutest falls under the conduct of God so every thing falls under the knowledg of God A Blind Coach-man is not able to hold the Reins of his Horses and direct them in right Paths Since the Providence of God is about particulars his Knowledg must be about particulars he could not else govern them in particular nor could all things be said to depend upon him in their Being and Operations Providence depends upon the knowledg of God and the exercise of it upon the Goodness of God it cannot be without Understanding and Will Understanding to know what is convenient and Will to perform it When our Saviour therefore speaks of Providence he intimates these two in a special manner Your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things Mat. 6.32 and goodness in Luke 11.13 The reason of Providence is so joyned with Omniscience that they cannot be separated What a kind of God would he be that were ignorant of those things that were governed by him The ascribing this Perfection to him asserts his Providence for it is as easy for one that knows all things to look over the whole World if writ with Monosyllables in every little particular of it as it is with a man to take a view of one Letter in an Alphabet Sabund Tit. 84. much changed Again if God were not Omniscient how could he reward the Good and punish the Evil the works of men are either rewardable or punishable not only according to their outward circumstances but inward Principles and Ends and the degrees of Venom lurking in the heart The exact discerning of these without a possibility to be deceived is necessary to pass a right and infallible Judgment upon them and proportion the censure and punishment to the Crime Without such a Knowledg and discerning men would not have their due nay a Judgment just for the matter would be unjust in the manner because unjustly past without an understanding of the merit of the Cause 'T is necessary therefore that the Supream Judg of the World should not be thought to be blindfold when he distributes his Rewards and Punishments and muffle his face when he passes his Sentence 'T is necessary to ascribe to him the knowledg of mens thoughts and intentions the secret wills and aims the hidden works of darkness in every mans Conscience because every mans work is to be measured by the Will and inward frame 'T is necessary that he should perpetually retain all those things in the indelible and plain records of his Memory that there may not be any work without a just proportion of what is due to it This is the glory of God to discover the secrets of all hearts at last as 1 Cor. 4.5 the Lord shall bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the Counsels of all hearts and then shall every man have praise of God This knowledg fits him to be a Judg the reason why the ungodly shall not stand in Judgment is because God knows their ways which is implyed in his knowing the way of the righteous * Psal 1.5 6. I now proceed to the Vse VSE the first is of information or instruction If God hath all knowledg then 1. Jesus Christ is not a meer Creature The two Titles of wonderful Counsellor and mighty God are given him in conjunction Isa 9.6 not only the Angel of the Covenant as he is called Malach. 3.1 or the Executor of his Counsels but a Counsellor in conjunction with him in Counsel as well as
his Seal nor can any raze it out * Turretin's Sermons p. 3â—2 When the Church is either scatter'd like Dust by Persecution or over-grown with Superstition and Idolatry that there is scarce any grain of true Religion appearing as in the time of Elijah who complain'd that he was left alone as if the Church had been rooted out of that corner of the World * 1 Kings 19.14 18. yet God knew that he had a number fed in a Cave and had reserved seven thousand Men that had preserved the purity of his Worship and not bow'd their knee to Baal Christ knew his Sheep as well as he is known of them yea better than they can know him * John 10.14 History acquaints us that Cyrus had so vast a memory that he knew the name of every particular Souldier in his Army which consisted of diverse Nations Shall it be too hard for an infinite Understanding to know every one of that Host that march under his Banners may he not as well know them as know the number qualities influences of those Stars which lie conceal'd from our Eye as well as those that are visible to our Sense Yes he knows them as a General to employ them as a Shepherd to preserve them He knows them in the World to guard them and he knows them when they are out of the World to gather them and cull out their Bodies though wrapped up in a Cloud of the putrified Carcases of the Wicked As he knew them from all Eternity to elect them so he knows them in time to cloth their Persons with Righteousness to protect their Persons in Calamity according to his good pleasure and at last to raise and reward them according to his Promise 4. We may take Comfort from hence That our sincerity cannot be unknown to an infinite Vnderstanding Not a way of the Righteous is conceal'd from him and therefore they shall stand in Judgment before him * Psal 1.6 The Lord knows the way of the Righteous He knows them to observe them and he knows them to Reward them How comfortable is it to appeal to this Attribute of God for our integrity with Hezekiah 2 Kings 20.3 Remember Lord how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart Christ himself is brought in in this Prophetical Psalm drawing out the Comfort of this Attribute Psal 40.9 I have not restrain'd my Lips Oh Lord thou knowest meaning his faithfulness in declaring the Righteousness of God Job follows the same steps Also now behold my Record is in Heaven and my Witness is on high * Job 16 1â— My Innocence hath the Testimony of Men but my greatest support is in the Records of God Also now or besides the Testimony of my own Heart I have another Witness in Heaven that knows the Heart and can only judge of the principles of my actions and clear me from the scorns of my Friends and the accusations of Men with a justification of my Innocence He repeats it twice to take the greater comfort in it God knows that we do that in the simplicity of our Hearts which may be judged by Men to be done for unworthy and sordid ends He knows not only the outward action but the inward affection and praises that which Men often dispraise and writes down that with an Euge Well done good and faithful Servant which Men daube with their severest Censures * Rom. 2.29 How refreshing is it to consider that God never mistakes the appearance for reality nor is lead by the judgment of Man He sits in Heaven and laughs at their follies and Censures If God had no sounder and no more piercing a Judgment than Man woe be to the sincerest Souls that are often judged Hypocrites by some What a happiness is it for Integrity to have a Judge of infinite Understanding who will one day wipe off the durt of Worldly Reproaches Again God knows the least dram of Grace and Righteousness in the Hearts of his People though but as a smoking Flax or the least bruise of a saving conviction * Mat. 12.20 and knows it so as to cherish it he knows that work he hath begun and never hath his Eye off from it to abandon it 5. The consideration of this excellent Perfection in God may comfort us in our secret Prayers sighs and works If God were not of infinite Understanding to pierce into the Heart what comfort hath a poor Creature that hath a scantiness of Expressions but a Heart in a flame If God did not understand the Heart Faith and Prayer which are internal works would be in vain How could he give that Mercy our Hearts plead for if he were ignorant of our inward Affections Hypocrites might scale Heaven by lofty Expressions and a Sincere Soul come short of the happiness he is prepared for for want of flourishing Gifts Prayer is an internal work words are but the Garment of Prayer Meditation is the Body and Affection the Soul and Life of Prayer Give Ear to my words Oh Lord consider my Meditation * Psal 5.1 Prayer is a Rational act an act of the mind not the act of a Parrot Prayer is an act of the Heart though the speaking Prayer is the work of the Tongue Now God gives Ear to the words but he considers the Meditation the frame of the Heart Consideration is a more exact notice than hearing the act only of the Ear. Were not God of an infinite Understanding and Omniscient he might take fine Clothes a heap of Garments for the Man himself and be put off by glittering words without a Spiritual Frame What matter of rejoycing is it that we call not upon a deaf and ignorant Idol but on one that listens to our secret Petitions to give them a dispatch that knows our desires afar off and from the infiniteness of his Mercy joyn'd with his Omniscience stands ready to give us a return Hath he not a Book of Remembrance for them that fear him and for their sighs and ejaculations to him as well as their discourses of him * Mal. 3.16 and not only what Prayers they utter but what gracious and holy thoughts they have of him That thought upon his Name Though millions of supplications be put up at the same time yet they have all a distinct File as I may say in an infinite Understanding which perceives and comprehends them all As he observes millions of Sins committed at the same time by a vast number of Persons to Record them in order to Punishment so he distinctly discerns an infinite number of Cries at the same moment to Register them in order to an Answer A sigh cannot scape an infinite Understanding though crowded among a mighty multitude of Cries from others or cover'd with many unwelcome distractions in our selves no more than a believing touch from the Woman that had the Bloudy Issue could be conceal'd from Christ and be undiscern'd from the press of
by the throng and his death hath brought a defeat to his Army and deliverance to the other Party that were upon the brink of ruine Thus doth the Wisdom of God link things together according to Natural order to work out his intended preservation of a People 2. In the season of Deliverance The Timing of Affairs is a part of the Wisdom of Man and an eminent part of the Wisdom of God It is in due season he sends the former and the latter Rain when the Earth is in the greatest Indigence and when his Influences may most contribute to the bringing forth and ripening the Fruit. The dumb Creatures have their meat from him in due season * Psal 104.27 And in his due season have his darling People their Deliverance When Paul was upon his Journey to Damascus with a Persecuting Commission he is struck down for the security of the Church in that City The Nature of the Lion is changed in due season for the preservation of the Lambs from worrying The Israelites are miraculously rescued from Egypt when their Wits were at a loss when their danger to Human understanding was unavoidable when Earth and Sea refus'd protection then the Wisdom and Power of Heaven stept in to effect that which was past the skill of the Conductors of that Multitude And when the Lives of the Jews lay at the stake and their Necks were upon the Block at the mercy of their Enemies Swords by an Order from Shushan not only a Reprieve but a Triumph arrives to the Jews by the Wisdom of God guiding the Affair whereby of Persons design'd to execution they are made Conquerors and have opportunity to exercise their Revenge instead of their Patience proving Triumphers where they expected to be Sufferers †Esih 8 9. How strangely doth God by secret ways bow the hearts of Men and the nature of things to the execution of that which he designs notwithstanding all the resistance of that which would traverse the security of his People How often doth he trap the wicked in the work of their own hands make their confidence to become their ruine and ensnare them in those Nets they wrought and laid for others Psal 9.16 The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands He scatters the proud in the imagination of their hearts Luke 1.51 in the height of their hopes when their designs have been laid so deep in the Foundation and knit and cemented so close in their superstructure that no Human Power or Wisdom could raze them down He hath then disappointed their Projects and befool'd their Craft How often hath he kept back the Fire when it hath been ready to devour broke the Arrows when they have been prepared in the Bow turned the Spear into the bowels of the Bearers and wounded them at the very instant they were ready to wound others 3. In suting Instruments to his purpose He either finds them sit or makes them on a suddain fit for his gracious ends If he hath a Tabernacle to build he will sit a Bezaleel and an Aholiab with the Spirit of wisdom and Understanding in all cunning workmanship Exod. 31.3 6. If he finds them crooked pieces he can like a wise Architect make them strait Beams for the rearing his House and for the honour of his Name He sometimes picks out men according to their natural Tempers and employs them in his Work Jehu a man of a furious Temper and ambitious Spirit is called out for the destruction of Ahab's House Moses a man furnisht with all Egyptian wisdom fitted by a generous Education prepared also by the Affliction he met with in his flight and one who had had the benefit of conversation with Jethro a man of more than an ordinary wisdom and goodness as appears by his prudent and religious Counsel this man is called out to be the Head and Captain of an opprest People and to rescue them from their Bondage and settle the first National Church in the World So Elijah a high spirited man of a hot and angry temper one that sl ghted the Frowns and undervalued the Favour of Princes is set up to stem the Torrent of the Israelitish Idolatry So Luther a man of the same temper is drawn out by the same Wisdom to encounter the Corruptions in the Church against such Opposition which a milder Temper would have sunâ— under The Earth in Rev. 12.16 is made an Instrument to help the woman When the Grandees of that Age transferred the Imperial Power upon Constantine who became afterwards a protecting and nursing Father to the Church a thnig end which many of his Favourers never design'd nor ever dreamt of But God by his infinite Wisdom made these several Designs like several Arrows shot at Rovers meet in one Mark to which he directed them viz. in bringing forth an Instrument to render Peace to the World and Security and Increase to his Church 3. The wisdom of God doth wonderfully appear in Redemption His wisdom in Creation ravisheth the Eye and Understanding his wisdom in Government doth no less affect a curious Observer of the Links and Concatenation of the Means but his wisdom in Redemption mounts the Mind to a greater astonishment The works of Creation are the Footsteps of his wisdom the work of Redâ—mption is the Face of his wisdom A man is better known by the Features of his Face than by the Prints of his Feet We with open face or a revealed face beholding the glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3.18 Face there refers to God not to us the glory of God's wisdom is now open and no longer covered and vailed by the shadows of the Law As we behold the Light glorious as scattered in the Air before the appearance of the Sun but more gloriously in the Face of the Sun when it begins its Race in our Horizon All the wisdom of God in Creation and Government in his variety of Laws was like the light the three first days of the Creation disperst about the World but the fourth day it was more glorious when all gathered into the Body of the Sun Gen. 1.4 16. So the Light of Divine wisdom and glory was scattered about the World and so more obscure till the fourth Divine day of the World about the four thousandth year it was gathered into one Body the Sun of Righteousness and so shone out more gloriously to Men and Angels All things are weaker the thinner they are extended but stronger the more they are united and compacted in one Body and Appearance In Christ in the dispensation by him as well as in his Person were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Coloss 2.3 Some Doles of wisdom were given out in Creation but the Treasures of it opened in Redemption the highest degrees of it that ever God did exert in the World Christ is therefore called the wisdom of God as well as the power of God 1 Cor. 1.24 and the Gospel is called
inspection of his Works God hath given full Testimonies of this Perfection in the Heavenly Bodies dispersing their Light and distributing their Influences to every part of the World In framing Men into Societies giving them various Dispositions for the preservation of Governments making some Wise for Counsel others Martial for Action changing Old Empires and raising New Which way soever we cast our Eyes we shall find frequent occasions to cry out Oh the depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God Rom. 11.33 To this purpose we must not only look upon the bulk and outside of his Works but consider from what Principles they were raised in what order disposed and the exact symmetry and proportion of their parts When a Man comes into a City or Temple and only considers the surface of the Buildâ—ngs they will amaze his Sense but not better his Understanding unless he considers the Methods of the Work and the Art whereby it was erected 1. This was an End for which they were created God did not make the World for Mans use only but chiefly for his own Glory for Mans use to enjoy his Creatures and for his own Glory to be acknowledged in his Creatures that we may consider his Art in framing them and his Skill in disposing them and not only gaze upon the Glass without considering the Image it represents and acquainting our selves whose Image it is The Creatures were not made for themselves but for the service of the Creator and the service of Man Man was not made for himself but for the Service of the Lord that created him He is to consider the Beauty of the Creation that he may thereby glorifie the Creator He knows in part their excellency the Creatures themselves do not If therefore Man be idle and unobservant of them he deprives God of the glory of his Wisdom which he should have by his Creatures The Inferiour Creatures themselves cannot observe it If Man regard it not what becomes of it his Glory can only be handed to him by Man The other Creatures cannot be Active Instruments of his Glory because they know not themselves and therefore cannot render him an active Praise Man is therefore bound to praise God for himself and for all his Creatures because he only knows himself and the Perfections of the Creatures and the Author both of himself and them God Created such Variety to make a Report of himself to us we are to receive the Report and to reflect it back to him To what purpose did he make so many things not necessary for the support and pleasure of our Lâ—ves but that we should behold him in them as well as in the other We cannot behold the Wisdom of God in his own Essence and Eternal Idea's but by the reflection of it in the Creatures As we cannot steadily behold the Sun with our Eye but either through a Glass or by reflection of the Image of it in the Water God would have us meditate on his Perfections he therefore chose the same Day wherein he reviewed his Work and rested from it to be celebrated by Man for the contemplation of him Gen. 2.2 3. that we should follow his Example and rejoyce as himself did in the frequent reviews of his Wisdom and Goodness in them In vain would the Creatures afford Matter for this study if they were wholly neglected God offers something to our Consideration in every Creature Shall the Beams of God shine round about us and strike our Eyes and not affect our Minds Shall we be like Ignorant Children that view the Pictures or point to the Letters in a Book without any sense and meaning How shall God have the homage due to him from his Works if Man hath no care to observe them The 148 Psalm is an Exhortation to this The view of them should often extract from us a wonder of the like nature of that of Davids Psal 104.24 Oh Lord how wonderful are thy Works in wisdom hast thou made them all The World was not Created to be forgotten nor Man created to be unobservant of it 2. If we observe not the Wisdom of God in the views of the Creatures we do no more than Brutes To look upon the Works of God in the World is no higher an act than meer Animals perform The Glories of Heaven and Beauties of the Earth are visible to the sense of Beasts and Birds A Brute beholds the motion of a Man as it may see the Wheels of a Clock but understands not the inward Springs of Motion the End for which we move or the Soul that acts us in our motion much less that Invisible Power which presides over the Creatures and conducts their motion If a Man do no more than this he goes not a step beyond a Brutish Nature and may very well acknowledge himself with Asaph a foolish and ignorant Beast before God Psal 73.22 The World is viewed by Beasts but the Author of it to be contemplated by Man Since we are in a higher rank than Beasts we owe a greater Debt than Beasts not only to enjoy the Creatures as they do but behold God in the Creatures which they cannot do The Contemplation of the Reason of God in his Works is a noble and sutable employment for a Rational Creature We have not only Sense to perceive them but Souls to mind them The Soul is not to be without its operation Where the operation of Sense ends the work of the Soul ought to begin We travel over them by our Senses as Brutes but we must pierce further by our Understandings as Men and perceive and praise him that lies Invisible in his visible Manufactures Our Senses are given us as Servants to the Soul and our Souls bestowed upon us for the knowledge and praise of their and our Common Creator 3. This would be a means to increase our Humility We should then flag our Wings and vail our Sails and acknowledge our own Wisdom to be as a drop to the Ocean and a Shadow to the Sun We should have mean thoughts of the Nothingness of our Reason when we consider the sublimity of the Divine Wisdom Who can seriously consider the Sparks of Infinite Skill in the Creature without falling down at the feet of the Divine Majesty and acknowledging himself a dark and foolish Creature Psal 8.4 5. When the Psalmist considered the Heavens the Moon and Stars and Gods ordination and disposal of them the use that results from it is What is Man that thou art mindful of him We should no more think to mate him in Prudence or set up the spark of our Reason to vye with the Sun Our Reason would more willingly submit to the Revelation when the Characters of Divine Wisdom are stampt upon it when we find his Wisdom in Creation incomprehensible to us 4. It would help us in our acknowledgments of God for his Goodness to us When we behold the Wisdom of God in Creatures below
the ground of our love to God Not because he is gracious to us but holy in himself As God honours it in loving himself for it we should honour it by pitching our Affections upon him chiefly for it What renders God amiable to himself should render him lovely to all his Creatures Isa 42.21 The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness sakâ— If the hatred of evil be the immediate result of a love to God then the peculiar object or term of our love to God must be that Perfection which stands in direct opposition to the hatred of evil Psal 97.10 Ye that love the Lord hate evil When we honour his holiness in every stamp and impression of it his Law not principally because of its usefulness to us its accommodateness to the order of the World but for its innate Purity and his People not for our interest in them so much as for bearing upon them this glittering mark of the Deity we honour then the Purity of the Law-giver and the Excellency of the Sanctifier 2. We honour it when we regard chiefly the illustrious appearance of this in his Judgments in the World In a case of Temporal Judgment Moses celebrates it in the Text In a case of Spiritual Judgments the Angels applaud it in Isaiah All his Severe proceedings are nothing but the strong breathings of this Attribute Purity is the flash of his revenging sword If he did not hate evil his Vengeance would not reach the Committers of it He is a Refiners fire in the day of his Anger * Mal. 3 â— By his separating Judgments he takes away the wicked of the earth like Dross Psal 119.119 How is his holiness honoured when we take notice of his sweeping out the rubbish of the World How he sutes punishment to sin and discovers his hatred of the matter and circumstances of the Evil in the matter and circumstances of the Judgment This Perfection is legible in every stroke of his Sword we honour it when we read the syllables of it and not by standing amaz'd only at the greatness and severity of the Blow when we read how holy he is in his most terrible Dispensations For as in them God magnifies the greatness of his Power so he sanctifies himself that is declares the Purity of his Nature as a Revenger of all Impiety Ezek. 38.22 23. And I will plead against him with Pestilence and with Blood and I will rain upon him and upon his bands and upon the people that are with him an overflowing Rain and great Hail-stones Fire and Brimstone Thus will I magnifie my self and sanctifie my self 3. We honour this Attribute when we take notice of it in every accomplishment of his Promise and every grant of a Mercy His Truth is but a branch of his Righteousness a slip from this Root He is glorious in Holiness in the account of Moses because he led forth his People whom he had redeemed Exod. 15.13 His People by a Covenant with their Fathers being the God of Moses the God of Israel and the God of their Fathers Verse 2. My God and my Fathers God I will exalt thee For what for his faithfulness to his Promise The holiness of God which Mary Luke 1.49 magnifies is summ'd up in this the help he afforded his Servant Israel in the remembrance of his mercy as he spake to our Fathers to Abraham and his Seed for ever Verse 54 55. The certainty of his Coâ—enant Mercy depends upon an unchangeableness of his holiness What are * Isa 55.3 sure mercies are holy mercies in the Septuagint and in Acts 13.34 which makes that Tr nslation Canonical His nearness to answer us when we call upon him for sucâ— Mercies is a fruit of the holiness of his Name and Nature Psal 145.17 The Lord is holy in all his works the Lord is nigh to all them that call upon him Hannah after a return of Prayer sets a particular mark upon this in her Song 1 Sam. 2.2 There is none holy as the Lord separated from all Dross firm to his Covenant and righteous in it to his Suppliants that confide in him and plead his Word When we observe the workings of this in every return of Prayer we honour it 't is a sign the Mercy is really a return of Prayer and not a Mercy of course bearing upon it only the Characters of a common Providence This was the Perfection David would bless for the Catalogue of Mercies in Psal 103.1 c Bless his holy Name Certainly one reason why sincere Prayer is so delightful to him is because it puts him upon the exercise of this his beloved Perfection which he so much delights to honour Since God acts in all those as the Governour of the World we honour him not unless we take notice of that Righteousness which sits him for a Governour and is the inward Spring of all his Motions Gen. 18.25 Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right It was his design in his pity to Israel as well as the Calamities he intended against the Heathens to be sanctified in them that is declared holy in his Merciful as well as his Judicial procedure †Ez. 36.21 â—3 Hereby God credits his Righteousness which seemed to be forgotten by the one and contemned by the other ‖ Sanct. in loc he removes by this all suspicion of any unfaithfulness in him 4. We honour this Attribute when we trust his Covenant and Promise against outward Appearances Thus our Saviour in the Prophecy of him * Psal 22 2 3.4 when God seemed to bar up the Gates of his Palace against the entry of any more Petitions This Attribute proves the support of the Redeemers Soul But thou art holy Oh thou that inhabitest the Praises of Israel As it refers to what goes before it has been twice explain'd as it refers to what follows it is a ground of trust Thou inhabitest the Praises of Israel Thou hast had the Praises of Israel for many Ages for thy holiness How Our Fathers trusted in thee and thou didst deliver them They honoured thy holiness by their trust and thou didst honour their Faith by a deliverance thou alwaies hadst a Purity that would not shame nor confound them I will trust in thee as thou art holy and expect the breaking out of this Attribute for my good as well as my Predecessors Our Fathers trusted in thee c. 5. We honour this Attribute when we shew a greater Affection to the marks of his holiness in times of the greatest Contempt of it As the Psalmist Psal 119.126 127. They have made void thy Law therefore I love thy Commandments above Gold While they spurn at the Purity of thy Law I will value it above the Gold they possess I 'le esteem it as Gold because others count it as Dross By their scorn of it my love to it shall be the warmer and my hatred of iniquity shall be the sharper The disdain of others
the Divine Nature is the natural foundation for his Dominion He hath Wisdom to know what is fit for him to do and an immutable Righteousness whereby he cannot do any thing base and unworthy He hath a fore-knowledge whereby he is able to order all things to answer his own glorious designs and the end of his Government that nothing can go awry nothing put him to a stand and constrain him to meditate new Counsels * Caâ—â—â—â— p. â—â—1 Aâ—â—â—â—â— Dissert p. 72 73. So that if it could be supposed that the World had not been created by him that the parts of it had met together by chance and been compacted into such a Body none but God the supream and most excellent being in the World could have merited and deservedly challenged the Government of it Because nothing had an excellency of Nature to capacitate it for it as he hath or to enter into a contest with him for a sufficiency to Govern 2. 'T is founded in his act of Creation He is the Soveraign Lord as he is the Almighty Creator The relation of an intire Creator induceth the relation of an absolute Lord he that gives Being Life Motion that is the sole cause of the being of a thing which was before nothing that hath nothing to concur with him nothing to assist him but by his sole power Commands it to stand up into being is the unquestionable Lord and Proprietor of that thing that hath no dependance but upon him And by this act of Creation which extended to all things he became universal Soveraign over all things And those that wave the excellency of his Nature as the foundation of his Goverment easily acknowledge the sufficiency of it upon his actual Creation His Dominion of Jurisdiction results from Creation When God himself makes an oration in defence of his Soveraignty Job 38. His chief arguments are drawn from Creation and Psal 95.3 5. The Lord is a great King above all Gods the Sea is his and he made it And so the Apostle in his Sermon to the Athenians As he made the World and all things therein he is stiled Lord of Heaven and Earth Acts 17.24 His Dominion also of Property stands upon this Basis Psal 89.7 The Heavens are thine the Earth also is thine as for the World and the fulness thereof thou hast founded them Upon this Title of forming Israel as a Creature or rather as a Church he demands their service to him as their Soveraign Oh Jacob and Israel thou art my Servant I have formed thee thou art my servant Oh Israel Isaiah 44. 21. The Soveraignty of God naturally ariseth from the relation of all things to himself as their intire Creator and their natural and inseparable dependance upon him in regard of their being and well beings It depends not upon the election of Men God hath a natural Dominion over us as Creatures before he hath a Dominion by consent over us as converts As soon as ever any thing began to be a Creature it was a vassal to God as a Lord. Every man is acknowledged to have a right of possessing what he hath made and a power of Dominion over what he hath fram'd He may either cherish his own work or dash it in peices he may either adde a greater comeliness to it or deface what he hath already imparted He hath a right of property in it no other man can without injury pilfer his own work from him The work hath no propriety in its self the right must lie in the immediate framer or in the person that employed him The first Cause of every thing hath an unquestionable Dominion of propriety in it upon the score of Justice By the Law of Nations the first finder of a Countrey is esteemed the rightful possessor and Lord of that Country and the first inventor of an Art hath a right of exercising it If a man hath a just claim of Dominion over that thing whose materials were not of his framing but from only the addition of a new figure from his skill as a Limner over his picture the Cloth whereof he never made nor the colours wherewith he draws it were ever endued by him with their distinct qualities but only he applies them by his art to compose such a figure much more hath God a rightful claim of Dominion over his Creatures whose intire being both in matter and form and every particle of their excellency was breathed out by the word of his mouth He did not only give the matter a form but bestowed upon the matter its self a being It was formed by none to his hand as the matter is on which an Artist works He had the being of all things in his own power and it was at his choice whither he would impart it or no there can be no juster and stronger ground of a claim than this A man hath a right to a piece of brass or Gold by his purchase but when by his engraving he hath form'd it into an excellent Statue there results an increase of his right upon the account of his artifice Gods Creation of the the matter of man gave him a right over man but his Creation of him in so eminent an excellency with reason to guide him a clear eye of understanding to discern Light from Darkness and Truth from falshood a freedom of Will to act accordingly and an original Righteousness as the varnish and beauty of all Here is the strongest foundation for a claim of Authority over man and the strongest obligation on man for subjection to God If all those things had been past over to God by another hand he could not be the supream Lord nor could have an absolute right to dispose of them at his pleasure That would have been the invasion of anothers right Besides Creation is the only first discovery of his Dominion * Stoughton Righteous Mans Plea Serm. 6. p. 28. Before the World was framed there was nothing but God himself and properly nothing is said to have Dominion over its self this is a relative Attribute reflecting on the works of God He had a right of Dominion in his Nature from eternity but before Creation he was actually Lord only of a nullity Where there is nothing it can have no relation nothing is not the subject of possession nor of Dominion There could be no exercise of this Dominion without Creation What exercise can a Soveraign have without Subjects Soveraignty speaks a relation to Subjects and none is properly a Soveraign without Subjects To conclude from hence doth result Gods universal Dominion For being maker of all he is the Ruler of all And his perpetual Dominion For as long as God continues in the relation of Creator the right of his Soveraignty as Creator cannot be abolisht 3. As God is the final Cause or End of all he is Lord of all * Vid. Lessium de perfect Divin p. 77. 78. The End hath a greater Soveraignty in
actions than the Actor it self The Actor hath a Soveraignty over others in action but the end for which any one works hath a Soveraignty over the Agent himself A Limner hath a Soveraignty over the Picture he is framing or hath fram'd but the end for which he fram'd it either his profit he design'd from it or the honor and credit of skill he aimed at in it hath a Dominion over the Limner himself The end moves and excites the Artist to work it spirits him in it conducts him in his whole business possesses his mind and sits triumphant in him in all the progress of his work 'T is the first cause for which the whole work is wrought Now God in his actual Creation of all is the Soveraign end of all for thy pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4.11 The Lord hath made all things for himself Prov. 16.4 Man indeed is the subordinate and immediate end of the lower Creation And therefore had the Dominion over other Creatures granted to him But God being the ultimate and principal end hath the Soveraign and principal Dominion all things as much referre to him as the last end as they flow from him as the first Cause So that as I said before if the World had been compacted together by a jumbling chance without a wise hand as some have foolishly imagined none could have been an Antagonist with God for the Government of the World but God in regard of the excellency of his nature would have been the Rector of it unless those Atomes that had composed the World had had an ability to Govern it Since there could be no universal end of all things but God God only can claim an intire right to the Government of it For though man be the end of the lower Creation yet man is not the end of himself and his own being he is not the end of the Creation of the supream Heavens he is not able to govern them they are out of his ken and out of his reach None fit in regard of the excellency of Nature to be the chief end of the whole World but God And therefore none can have a right to the Dominion of it but God In this regard Gods Dominion differs from the Dominion of all Earthly Potentates All the subjects in Creation were made for God as their end so are not People for Rulers but Rulers made for People for their protection and the preservation of Order in Societies 4. The Dominion of God is founded upon his preservation of things Ps 95.3 4. The Lord is a great King above all Gods Why In his hand are all the deep places of the Earth While his hand holds things his hand hath a Dominion over them He that holds a stone in the Air exerciseth a dominion over its natural inclination in hindring it from falling The Creature depends wholly upon God in its preservation as soon as that Divine hand which sustains every thing were withdrawn a languishment and swooning would be the next turn in the Creature He is call'd Lord Adonai in regard of his sustentation of all things by his continual influx The Word coming of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a basis or pillar that supports a building God is the Lord of all as he is the sustainer of all by his power as well as the Creator of all by his Word The Sun hath a Soveraign dominion over its own beams which depend upon it so that if he withdraws himself they all attend him and the World is left in darkness God maintains the vigor of all things conducts them in their operations so that nothing that they are nothing that they have but is owing to his preserving power The Master of this great Family may as well be called the Lord of it since every member of it depends upon him for the support of that being he first gave them and holds of his Empire As the right to govern resulted from Creation so it is perpetuated by the preservation of things 5. The dominion of God is strengthened by the innumerable benefits he bestows upon his Creatures The benefits he conferrs upon us after Creation are not the original ground of his dominion A man hath not Authority over his Servant from the kindness he shews to him but his Authority commenceth before any act of kindness and is founded upon a right of purchase conquest or compact Dominion doth not depend upon meer benefits Then Inferiors might have dominion over Superiors A Peasant may save the Life of a Prince to whom he was not subject he hath not therefore a right to step up into his Throne and give Laws to him And Children that maintain their Parents in their poverty might then acquire an Authority over them which they can never climb to Because the benefits they conferre cannot parallel the benefits they have received from the Authors of their Lives The bounties of God to us add nothing to the intrinsick right of his natural dominion they being the effects of that Soveraignty as he is a Rewarder and Governour As the benefits a Prince bestows upon his favorite increases not that right of Authority which is inherent in the Crown but strengthens that dominion as it stands in relation to the receiver by increasing the obligation of the favorite to an observance of him not only as his natural Prince but his gracious Benefactor The beneficence of God adds though not an original right of power yet a foundation of a stronger upbraiding the Creature if he walks in a violation and forgetfulness of those benefits and pull in peices the links of that ingenuous duty they call for and an occasion of exercising of Justice in punishing the delinquent which is a part of his Empire Isaiah 1.2 Hear O Heavens and give Ear O Earth the Lord hath spoken I have nourished Children and they have rebelled against me Thus the fundamental right as Creator is made more indisputable by his relation as a Benefactor and more as being so after a forfeiture of what was enjoyed by Creation The benefits of God are innumerable and so magnificent that they cannot meet with any compensation from the Creature And therefore do necessarily require a submission from the Creature and an acknowledgement of Divine Authority But that benefit of Redemption doth add a stronger right of dominion to God Since he hath not only as a Creator given them Being and Life as his Creatures but paid a price the price of his Sons blood for their rescue from Captivity so that he hath a Soveraignty of Grace as well as Nature and the ransom'd ones belong to him as Redeemer as well as Creator 1 Cor. 6.19 20. Ye are not your own For ye are bought with a price therefore your Body and your Spirit are Gods By this he acquir'd a right of another kind and bought us from that uncontroulable Lordship we affected over our selves by the sin of Adam that he might use us
as his own peculiar for his own glory and service By this Redemption there results to God a right over our bodies over our Spirits over our services as well as by Creation and to shew the strength of this right the Apostle repeats it you are bought a purchase cannot be without a price paid but he adds price also bought with a price To strengthen the Title purchase gave him a new right and the greatness of the price established that right The more a man pays for a thing the more usually we say he deserves to have it he hath paid enough for it It was indeed price enough and too much for such vile Creatures as we are III. The third thing is The Nature of this Dominion 1. This Dominion is Independent His Throne is in the Heavens the Heavens depend not upon the Earth nor God upon his Creatures Since he is Independent in regard of his Essence he is so in his dominion which flows from the excellency and fulness of his Essence As he receives his Essence from none so he derives his dominion from none All other dominion except paternal Authority is rooted originally in the wills of men * Raynaud Theolog. Natural p. 760 761 762. The first Title was the consent of the People or the conquest of others by the help of those People that first consented And in the exercise of it Earthly dominion depends upon assistance of the Subjects and the Members being joyn'd with the head carry on the work of Government and prevent Civil dissentions in the support of it it depends upon the Subjects Contributions and Taxes The Subjects in their strength are the Arms and in their Purses the Sinews of Government But God depends upon none in the foundation of his Government he is not a Lord by the Votes of his Vassals Nor is it successively handed to him by any Predecessor nor constituted by the power of a Superior Nor forced he his way by War and conquest nor precariously attained it by suit or flattery or bribing promises He holds not the right of his Empire from any other he hath no Superior to hand him to his Throne and settle him by Commission He is therefore called King of Kings and Lord of Lords having none above him A great King above all Gods Psal 95.3 Needing no Licence from any when to act nor direction how to act or assistance in his action He owes not any of those to any person he was not ordered by any other to Create and therefore receives not orders from any other to rule over what he hath created He received not his power and wisdom from another and therefore is not Subject to any for the rule of his Government He only made his own Subjects and from himself hath the sole Authority his own will was the cause of their beings and his own will is the director of their actions He is not determined by his Creatures in any of his motions but determins the Creatures in all His actions are not regulated by any Law without him but by a Law within him the Law of his own Nature 'T is impossible he can have any rule without himself because there is nothing Superior to himself Nor doth he depend upon any in the exercise of his Government he needs no Servants in it when he uses Creatures it is not out of want of their help but for the manifestation of his wisdom and power What he doth by his Subjects he can do by himself The Government is upon his Shoulder Isaiah 9.6 To shew that he needs not any supporters All other governments flow from him all other Authorities depend upon him Dei Gratiâ or Dei Providentiâ is in the style of Princes As their being is deriv'd from his power so their Authority is but a branch of his dominion They are governors by Divine Providence God is Governour by his sole nature All motions depend upon the first Heaven which moves all but that depends upon nothing The Government of Christ depends upon God's increated dominion and is by Commission from him Christ assum'd not this honour to himself But he that said unto him thou art my Son bestow'd it upon him He put all things under his feet but not himself 1 Cor. 15.27 When he saith all things are put under him he is excepted which did put all things under him He sits still as an independent Governour upon his Throne 2. This dominion is Absolute If his Throne be in the Heavens there is nothing to controul him If he be independent he must needs be â—bsolute since he hath no cause in conjunction with him as Creator that can share with him in his right or restrain him in the disposal of his Creature His Authority is unlimited in this regard the Title of Lord becomes not any but God properly Tiberius thoâ—ght none of the best though one of the subtilest Princes accounted the Title of Lord a reproach to him Since he was not absolute * Sueton. de Tiberio cap. 27. 1. Absolute in regard of Freedom and Liberty 1. Thus Creation is a work of his meer Soveraignty he Created because it was his pleasure to Create Rev. 4.11 He is not necessitated to do this or that He might have chosen whether he would have fram'd an Earth and Heavens and laid the foundations of his Chambers in the Waters He was under no obligation to reduce things from nullity to existence 2. Preservation is the fruit of his Soveraignty When he had called the World to stand out he might have ordered it to return into its dark den of nothingness ript up every part of its foundation or have given being to many more Creatures than he did If you consider his absolute soveraignty why might he not have devested Adam presently of those rational perfections wherewith he had endow'd him And might he not have metamorphos'd him into some Beast and elevated some Beast into a rational nature Why might he not have degraded an Angel to a Worm and advanc'd a Worm to the nature and condition of an Angel Why might he not have revokt that grant of dominion which he had passed to man over all Creatures It was free to him to permit sin to enter into the Earth or to have excluded it out of the Earth as he doth out of Heaven 3. Redemption is a fruit of his Soveraignty By his absolute Soveraignty he might have confirmed all the Angels in their standing by Grace and prevented the revolt of any of their members from him and when there was a revolt both in Heaven and Earth it was free to him to have call'd out his Son to assume the Angelical as well as the humane nature or have exercised his dominion in the destruction of Men and Devils rather than in the Redemption of any he was under no obligation to restore either the one or the other 4. May he not impose what terms he pleases May he not impose what Laws
subject to God not in regard of the Divine Nature wherein there is an equality and consequently no Dominion of jurisdiction nor only in his humane nature but in the Oeconomy of a Redeemer considered as one design'd and consenting to be incarnate and take our flesh so that after this agreement God had a soveraign right to dispose of him according to the Articles consented to In regard of his undertaking and the advantage he was to bring to the Elect of God upon the Earth he calls God by the solemn Title of his Lord in that prophetick Psalm of him Psal 16.2 Oh my Soul thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord my Goodness extends not unto thee but unto the Saints that are in the Earth It seems to be the speech of Christ in Heaven mentioning the Saints on Earth as at a distance from him I can add nothing to the glory of thy Majesty but the whole fruit of my Mediation and Sufferings will redound to the Saints on Earth and it may be observed that God is call'd the Lord of Hosts in the Evangelical Prophets Isaiah Haggai Zachary and Malachy more in reference to this affair of Redemption and the deliverance of the Church than for any other works of his Providence in the World 1. This Soveraignty of God appears in requiring satisfaction for the sin of man Had he indulg'd man after his fall and remitted his offence without a just compensation for the injury he had received by his Rebellion his Authority had been vilified man would always have been attempting against his jurisdiction there would have been a continual succession of Rebellions on mans part and if a continual succession of indulgences on Gods part he had quite disown'd his Authority over man and stript himself of the flower of his Crown satisfaction must have been requir'd sometime or other from the person thus rebelling or some other in his stead and to require it after the first act of sin was more preservative to the right of the Divine soveraignty than to do it after a multitude of repeated revolts God must have laid aside his Authority if he had laid aside wholly the exacting punishment for the offence of man 2. This Soveraignty of God appears in appointing Christ to this work of Redemption His soveraignty was before manifest over Angels and Men by the right of Creation there was nothing wanting to declare the highest charge of it but his ordering his own Son to become a mortal Creature the Lord of all things to become lower than those Angels that had as well as all other things receiv'd their being and beauty from him and to be reckon'd in his death among the dust and refuse of the World He by whom God created all things not only became a man but a crucified man by the Will of his Father Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins according to the Will of God to which may referre that expression Prov. 8.22 of his being possessed by God in the beginning of his way Possession is the Dominion of a thing invested in the possessor he was possessed indeed as a Son by eternal Generation He was possessed also in the beginning of his way or works of Creation as a Mediator by special constitution to this the expression seems to referre if you read on to the end of verse 31. wherein Christ speaks of his rejoycing in the habitable part of his Earth the Earth of the great God who had design'd him to this special work of Redemption He was a Son by Nature but a Mediator by Divine Will in regard of which Christ is often call'd Gods servant which is a relation to God as a Lord. God being the Lord of all things the Dominion of all things inferior to him is inseparable from him and in this regard the whole of what Christ was to do and did actually do was acted by him as the Will of God and is exprest so by himself in the Prophesie Psal 40.7 Lo I come verse 8. I delight to do thy will which are put together Heb. 10.7 Lo I come to do thy Will O God The designing Christ to this work was an act of mercy but founded on his soveraignty His compassionate bowels might have pitied us without his being soveraign but without it could not have releived us It was the Counsell of his own will as well as of his Bowels None was his Counsellor or perswader to that mercy he shew'd Rom. 11.34 Who hath been his Counsellor for it refers to that Mercy in sending the deliverer out of Sion verse 26. as well as to other things the Apostle had been discoursing of As God was at liberty to create or not to create so he was at liberty to Redeem or not to Redeem and at his liberty whither to appoint Christ to this work or not to call him out to it In giving this order to his Son his soveraignty was exercised in a higher manner than in all the orders and instructions he hath given out to Men or Angels and all the employments he ever sent them upon Christ hath names which signifie an Authority over him He is called an Angel and a Messenger Mal. 3.1 An Apostle Heb. 3.1 Declaring thereby that God hath as much Authority over him as over the Angels sent upon his Messages or over the Apostles commission'd by His Authority as he was consider'd in the quality of Mediator 3. This Soveraignty of God appears in transferring our sins upon Christ The Supream Power in a Nation can only appoint or allow of a commutation of punishment 'T is a part of Soveraignty to transferr the penalty due to the crime of one upon an other and substitute a sufferer with the sufferers own consent in the place of a criminal whom he had a mind to deliver from a deserv'd punishment God transferr'd the sins of men upon Christ and inflicted on him a punishment for them He summ'd up the debts of man charg'd them upon the score of Christ imputing to him the guilt and inflicting upon him the penalty Isa 53.6 The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all He made them all to meet upon his back He hath made him to be sin for us 2 Cor. 5.21 He was made so by the Soveraign pleasure of God A punishment for sin as most understand it which could not be Righteously inflicted had not sin been first Righteously imputed by the consent of Christ and the order of the Judge of the World This imputation could be the immediate act of none but God because he was the sole Creditor A Creditor is not bound to accept of another's suretiship but it is at his liberty whither he will or no and when he doth accept of him he may challenge the Debt of him as if he were the Principal Debtor himself Christ made himself sin for us by a voluntary submission and God made him sin for us by a full imputation and treated him penally
change the security he may have upon the height of a Rock to expect it from the dwarfishness of a Mole-hill To put confidence in any inferiour Lord more than in the Prince is a folly in civil converse but a rebellion in Divine God only being above all can only rule all can command things to help us and check other things which we depend on and make them fall short of our expectations The due consideration of this Doctrine would make us pierce through second causes to the first and look further than to the smaller sort of Sailers that clime the ropes and dress the Sails to the Pilot that sits at the Helm the Master that by an indisputable Authority orders all their motions We should not depend upon second causes for our support but look beyond them to the Authority of the Deity and the dominion he hath over all the works of his hands Zach. 10.1 Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain When the seasons of the year conspire for the producing such an effect when the usual time of rain is wheel'd about in the year stop not your thoughts at the point of the Heavens whence you expect it but pierce the Heavens and sollicite God who must give order for it before it comes The due meditation of all things depending on the Divine Dominion would strike off our hands from all other holds so that no creature would engross the dependance and trust which is due to the first cause As we do not thank the Heavens when they pour out rain so we are not to depend upon them when we want it God is to be sought to when the Womb of 2d causes is open'd to relieve us as well as when the Womb of 2d causes is barren and brings not forth its wonted progeny 2. It would make us diligent in worship The consideration of God as the supream Lord is the Foundation of all Religion Our Father which art in Heaven prefaceth the Lord's Prayer Father is a name of Authority in Heaven the place where he hath fixed his Throne notes his Government not my Father but our Father notes the extent of this Authority In all worship we acknowledge the object of our worship our Lord and our selves his vassals If we bear a sense that he is our Soveraign King it would draw us to him in every exigence and keep us with him in a reverential posture in every address When we come we should be careful not to violate his right but render him the homage due to his Royalty We should not appear before him with empty souls but fill'd with Holy thoughts We should bring him the best of our flock and present him with the prime of our strength Were we sensible we hold all of him we should not with-hold any thing from him which is more worthy than another Our hearts would be fram'd into an awful regard of him when we consider that glorious and fearful name the Lord our God Deut. 28.58 We should look to our feet when we enter into his house if we considered him in Heaven upon his Throne and our selves on Earth at his Footstool Eccles 5.2 lower before him than a worm before an Angel It would hinder garishness and lightness The Jews saith Capel on the 1 Tim. 1.17 repeat this expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 King of Worlds or Eternal King Probable the first Original of it might be to stake them down from wandring When we consider the Majesty of God cloathed with a Robe of light sitting upon his high Throne adorn'd with his Royal Ensigns we should not enter into the presence of so great a Majesty with the Sacrifice of fools with light motions and foolish thoughts as if he were one of our companions to be droll'd with We should not hear his word as if it were the voice of some ordinary Pesant The consideration of Majesty would engender reverence in our service It would also make us speak of God with honour and respect as of a great and glorious King and not use defaming expressions of him as if he were an infamous being And were he consider'd as a terrible Majesty he would not be frequently sollicited by some to pronounce a damnation upon them upon every occasion 3. It would make us charitable to others Since he is our Lord the great proprietor of the World 't is sit he should have a part of our goods as well as our time he being the Lord both of our goods and time The Lord is to be honour'd with our substance Prov. 3.9 Kings were not to be approached to without a present Tribute is due to Kings but because he hath no need of any from us to bear up his state maintain the charge of his wars or pay his Military Officers and Host 't is a debt due to him to acknowledge him in his poor to sustain those that are a part of his substance Though he stands in no need of it himself yet the poor that we have alwayes with us do As a 7th part of our weekly time so some part of our weakly gains are due to him There was to be a weekly laying by in store somewhat of what God had prosper'd them for the relief of others 1 Cor. 16.1 2. the quantity is not determin'd that is left to every man's Conscience according as God hath prosper'd him that week If we did consider God as the donor and proprietor we should dispose of his gifts according to the design of the true owner and act in our places as Stewards intrusted by him and not purse up his part as well as our own in our coffers We should not deny him a small quit rent as an acknowledgment that we have a greater income from him We should be ready to give the inconsiderable pittance he doth require of us as an acknowledgment of his propriety as well as liberality 4. It would make us watchfull and arm us against all temptations Had Eve stuck to her first Argument against the Serpent she had not been instrumental to that destruction which Mankind yet feel the smart of Gen. 3.3 God hath said ye shall not eat of it The great Governour of the World hath laid his Soveraign command upon us in this point The temptation gain'd no ground till her heart let go the sense of this for the pleasure of her eye and palate The repetition of this the great Lord of the World hath said or order'd had both unargumented and disarm'd the Tempter A sence of God's Dominion over us would discourage a temptation and put it out of countenance It would bring us with a vigorous strength to beat it back to a retreat If this were as strongly urg'd as the temptation it would make the heart of the tempted strong and the motion of the tempter feeble 5. It would make us entertain afflictions as they ought to be entertain'd viz. with a respect to God When men make light of
a reason to stifle all complaints against God but not to make us careless of preventing afflictions or emerging out of them by all just ways The Hare hath a nature to shift for it self by its winding and turning and the Bird by its flight and neither of them could be blam'd if they were able should the one scratch out the Eyes of the Hounds and the other sacrifice the Hawk to its own fury 4. 'T is a folly not to submit to him Why should we strive against him since he is an unaccountable soveraign and gives no account of any of his matters Job 33.13 Who can disannul the judgement God gives There is no appeal from the supream Court a higher Court can repeal or null the sentence of an inferior Court but the sentence of the highest stands irreversible but by it self and its own Authority 'T is better to lower our Sails than to grapple with one that can shoot us under Water To submit to that soveraign whom we cannot subdue 2. It shew's us the true nature of Patience in regard of God 'T is a submission to Gods soveraignty As the formal object of Obedience is the Authority of God enacting the Law so the formal object of patience is the Authority of God inflicting the punishment As his right of commanding is to be eyed in the one so his right of punishing is to be considered in the other This was Eli's condition when he had receiv'd a message that might put flesh and blood into a mutiny the rending the Priesthood from his Family and the ruine of his House yet this consideration 'T is the Lord calms him into submission and a willing compliance with the Divine pleasure 1 Sam. 3.18 't is the Lord Let him do what seems good in his sight Job was of the same strain Job 1.21 The Lord gives and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. He considers God as a soveraign who was not to be reproached or have any thing uncomly uttered of him for what he had done To be patient because we cannot avoid it or resist it is a violent not a Loyal Patience but to submit because it is the will of God to inflict To be silent because the soveraignty of God doth order it is a patience of a true complexion The other kind of patience is no other than that of an Enemy that will free himself as soon as he can and by any way though never so violent that offers it self This sort of patience is that of a subject acknowledging the supream Authority over him and that he ought to be ordered by the will and to the Glory of God more than by his own will and for his own ease I was dumb I opened not my mouth Psal 39.10 Not because I could not help it But because thou didst it thou who art my soveraign Lord. The greatness of God claimes an awful and inviolable respect from his Creatures in what way soever he doth dispose of them this is due to him since his Kingdom ruleth over all his Kingdom should be acknowledged by all and his Royal Authority submitted to in all that he doth A DISCOURSE UPON GODS Patience NAHUM I. Verse 3. The Lord is slow to Anger and great in Power and will not at all acquit the Wicked The Lord hath his way in the Whirl-wind and in the Storm and the Clouds are the dust of his Feet THE Subject of this prophesie is Gods sentence against Niniveh the Head and Metropolis of the Assyrian Empire A City famous for its strength and thickness of its Walls and the multitude of its Towers for defence against an Enemy The Forces of this Empire did God use as a scourge against the Israelites and by their hands ruin'd Samaria the chief City of the Ten Tribes and transplanted them as Captives into another Country 2 Kin. 17.5 6. about six years after Hezekiah came to the Crown of Judah 2 Kings 18. compared with the 17 chap. v. 6. In whose time or as some think later Nahum utter'd this prophesie The Name Nahum signifies Comforter though the matter of his prophesie be dreadful to Niniveh it was comfortable to the people of God For a promise is made ver 7. The Lord is good a strong hold in the day of trouble and he knoweth them that trust in him And an encouragement to Judah to keep their solemn Feasts ver 15. And also in chap. 2.3 with a declaration of the misery of Niniveh and the destruction of it Observe I. In all the fears of Gods people God will have a Comforter for them Judah might well be dejected with the calamity of their Brethren not knowing but it might be their own turn shortly after They knew not where the ambition of the Assyrian would stop but God by his Prophets calms their fears of their furious Neighbour by predicting to them the ruine of their fear'd Adversary II. The destruction of the Churches Enemies is the comfort of the Church By that God is glorifyed in his Justice and the Church secur'd in its Worship III. The Victories of Persecutors secure them not from being the triumphs of others The Assyrians that conquered and captiv'd Israel were themselves to be conquered and captiv'd by the Medes The whole oppressing Empire is threatned with destruction in the ruine of their chief City accordingly it was accomplisht and the Empire extinguisht by a greater power God burns the Rod when it hath done the work he appointed it for and the wisp of straw wherewith the vessels are scour'd is flung into the fire or upon the Dunghil Nahum begins his prophesie majestically with a description of the wrath and fury of God ver 2. God is jealous and the Lord revengeth the Lord revengeth and is furious the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and reserveth wrath for his Enemies And therefore the whole of it is called ver 1. The burden of Niniveh as those prophesies are which are composed of threatnings of judgments which lie as a mighty weight upon the heads and backs of sinners God is Jealous jealous of his Glory and Worship and jealous for his people and their security He cannot long bear the oppressions of his people and the boasts of his Enemies He is jealous for himself and is jealous for you of Judah who retain his Worship He is not forgetful of those that remember him nor of the danger of those that are desirous to maintain his honour in the World In this first expression the Prophet uses the Covenant Name God the Covenant runs I am your God or The Lord your God mostly God without Lord never Lord without God And therefore his jealousy here is meant of the care of his people and the relation that his actions against his Enemies have to his Servants He is a lover of his own and a revenger on his Enemies The Lord Revengeth and is Furious He now describes God by a name of soveraignty and Power