than when they first believed that they are perfecting Holiness in the fear of God and every Day growing nearer unto Heaven and Happiness than other And though these Works of theirs are now imperfect yet they shall be shortly finished and consummate in Glory Well then if Pleasure and Delight do affect you here you see is that which is solid and substantial it springs from Success in your Work and from that suitableness that is in your renewed part thereunto also And therefore the more Work the greater Delight you find because the greater progress you make and the more suitable to it your Will becomes Nay your Delight is of the same Nature with that which you shall enjoy in Heaven The Work the Blessed are there imploy'd in is of the same Nature with yours only their suitableness to it is perfect and therefore their Delight and Pleasure is perfect And accordingly the more suitable your Hearts are to your Work the more Delight and Pleasure you will find in it This is that makes Heaven a place of Happiness because there is no Corruption no Body of Sin and Death there to make those Duties that are there required from glorified Saints to be irksom and grievous to them 2. The Reward of working for Salvation Secondly Consider the exceeding greatness of your Reward Doth Job fear God for nought was the Cavil of Satan when God applauded himself that he had such a Servant as Job was upon the Earth The Devil himself thought it no wonder that Job should fear and serve a rewarding God a God whose Hands are as full of Blessings as his Mouth is full of Commands And yet what were these great Something 's that the Devil envies Job for and thinks every one would have done as much as he if they had but as great a Recompence for it It was but Hedging of him about Job 1.10 but blessing of the Works of his Hands and increasing of his Substance as it is in Job 1. Why alas these are poor mean Rewards to what God intends to bestow such Rewards they are as that God still reckons himself in Arrears to his Children till he hath given them something better than he can bestow upon them here upon Earth These Things he casts but as Crumbs unto Dogs when he reserves a far better Portion for his Children And yet Satan thinks Job well paid for his Service in having of these lower Enjoyments in causing the Works of his Hands to prosper Doth Job serve God for nought And therefore if Satan doth not wonder that Job fears and serves God for Temporal Mercies will it not be to the great wonder of Satan himself that you should not fear and serve God that have infinitely better Things promised to you than Temporal Mercies are Do you deserve your Breath in spending of it some few Hours in Prayer Or do you deserve your plentiful Estate by laying out some small part of it for God Why to be able to Think or Speak to enjoy Health and Strength are such Mercies though outward Mercies as can never be recompenced to God although you should think of nothing but of his Glory and speak of nothing but of his Praise although you should impair your Health and waste your Strength and languish away in the performance of holy Duties These tho' they are Obligations to Obedience yet they are not the Reward of Obedience no far higher and more glorious Things are provided promised and shall be conferred upon you if you will but work For there is First your set standing Wages and that is eternal Salvation no less And Secondly besides this there are many incident Vails accrew to God's Servants in their performance of his Service And is not here Reward and Wages enough First 1. Working for Salvation shall be rewarded with Heaven 1 Cor. 2.9 Consider there is that eternal weight of Glory that shall be the Reward of the Saints in Heaven This now is so great that it is impossible for you to conceive It is such as Eye hath not seen Ear hath not heard nor hath it ever enter'd into no nor can it ever enter into the Heart of Man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him as the Apostle speaks If St. Paul were now preaching and pressing this very Consideration of the infinite glorious Reward it would possibly be expected that he who suffered a Translation and was admitted as a Spy into the Land of Promise should at his return make some Relation of it and discover something of the Riches and Glory of that Place and would not all flock about him as Men do about Travellers to enquire for a Description of the Country whence they come Who the People and Inhabitants are What are their Manners and Customs What is their Imployment Who is their King and what Subjection they yield unto him Thus inquisitive truly our Curiosity would be And yet when St. Paul purposely relates his Voyage to the other World all that he speaks of it is only this I knew a Man caught up into Paradise who heard things that no Man could nor is it lawful for any Man to utter The Glory of Heaven is such that it can never be fully known till it be fully enjoyed and yet if Heaven were ever made chrystally transparent to you if ever God opened you a Window into it and then opened the Eye of your Faith to look in by that Window think what it was that you there discovered what inaccessible Light what cherishing Love what daunting Majesty what infinite Purity what over-loading Joy what insupportable and sinking Glory what Rays and Sparklings from Crowns and Scepters but more from the Glances and Smiles of God upon the heavenly Host who forever warm and Sun themselves in his Presence And when you have thought all this then think once again that all your Thoughts are but Shadows and Glimmerings that there is Dust and Ashes in the Eye of your Faith that makes all these Discoveries come infinitely short of the Native Glory of these Things and then you may guess and guess somewhat near what Heaven is Nay as God by reason of his infinite Glory is better known to us by Negatives than by Affirmatives by what he is not than by what he is so is Heaven by reason of the greatness of its Glory better known to us by what it is not than by what it is and we may best conceive of it when it is told us There is nothing there that may affright or afflict us nothing that may grieve or trouble us nothing that may molest or disquiet us but we shall have the highest and sweetest Delight and Satisfaction that the vast and capacius Soul of Man can either receive or imagine Are you now burthened with Sin and Corruption those Infirmities that tho' they are unavoidable yet they make your Lives a Burthen to you Why the old Man shall never more molest you there that
B P HOPKINS's Fourth and Last VOLUME OF Discourses and Sermons The Fourth and Last VOLUME OF DISCOURSES OR SERMONS ON Several Scriptures By EZEKIEL HOPKINS Late Lord Bishop of London-derry LONDON Printed by H. Clark for J. Robinson A. and J. Churchill J. Taylor and J. Wyat 1696. THE PREFACE GIVING An Account of these Discourses and of the Excellent Author thereof Christian Reader AN old Friend and Acquaintance of the very Reverend Author of the following Sermons and Discourses in honour of his Name and Memory though he accepteth no Man's Person neither can give flattering Titles saith upon the occasion of their being Printed and Published as followeth viz. That there have been Three Volumes of Sermons and Discourses sent forth into the Publick before these have appeared and not any one of them unprefaced to but in none of these Prefaces hath he met with any thing to convey down the just Character of this our great Man and his Manner and Ministry to Posterity He will make an Experiment therefore if any thing may be said he saith not aded for hitherto nothing hath been said to render the account of this Amiable Person and his Vseful Labours amongst us to after Ages besides the Testimony of his Gifts and Graces in his Books so familiar amongst us for by these though he be dead he yet speaketh his Works praise him in the Gates and his Remembrance shall be blessed Many will bear Witness the Name of our Author was not unknown but celebrated in this our great City in its Suburbs in our Lines of Communication and within our Bills of Mortality when he for several Years lived and laboured with great acceptance and success in these places Ask in the Town and Parish of Hackney how much Good was done by Mr. Hopkins's Lectures especially amongst the richer sort of Inhabitants and the younger sort at the Schools there and especially those that were descended from good Families If you believe me not ask from Jerusalem to Illyricum from Oxon to London from London to Exon if you please from one London to another even unto London-derry in Ireland where was his Top-preferment and I have been assured his last Works were more than the first So that we have found him that faithful and wise Servant his Lord had made Ruler over his Houshold to give them their Meat in due season Indeed by his exalted Name I ever took him to be none of our smaller Prophets nor of the Patres minorum Gentium In his first education and at his first appearance in the Grammar-School he soon signalized himself none of his Age and Stature being well able to keep pace with him at his coming unto the Vniversity it was by times taken notice of his Stock of Grammar and all good Learning especially in the learned Languages and his Studies and Manners were such that he rendred himself in the College both much a Scholar and much a Gentleman and was chosen out from amongst others to Instruction and Government therein and particularly the Instruction and Government of some of several Young Gentlemen and some descended from some of our Noble and most Honourable Families in our Kingdom and Nation In the Churches of Christ unto the Service whereof he was never slack when invited and called his very First-fruits were promising and his First-fruits being holy the Lump was also holy The Crouds in Hackney-Church in St. Mary Woolnoth Lombard-street at Exon at Dublin at Raphoe at London-derry and last at St. Mary Aldermanbury in our own City declare him a Master-workman the Preacher that was wise and that sought out acceptable words And his Words were as profitable as they were acceptable By the Subjects of the Four Volumes of Sermons you will be able to do more than make a Conjecture you will take some Measures of his Parts and the disposition of his Mind of his Studies and Ministerial Endeavours with the blessed Seals which were put thereunto I will only further as to my part here in his Honour commend to your perusal in special this Fourth Volume of his Sermons and Discourses The Contents will give you the Account of what Materials they consist and to what Vses and Improvements they were directed and applied But I further take liberty to say Here are in these Discourses now handled by him both the Commoda and the Accommoda things profitable in themselves and seasonable to our present Times and Debates Verba super Rotas some of the Author 's Golden Apples in Pictures of Silver They never knew our Author that knew him not to be as acute and solid in his Polemick Discourses as he was accurate and fervent in his Practical and Ordinary Sermons And let but the Christian Reader take the first Discourse in this Book on Phil. 2.12 13. and read but with due Caution and Observation and he will soon think there will not need more be said to stay and quiet the Minds of Men on the controverted Points of Liberty or the Power of Nature and the Interests of the Grace of God in our Salvation He hath also happily herein taken up the Question and proved Repentance and Faith are neither prejudicial to the free Grace of God and the Father nor in any-wise derogatory unto the Merits of Jesus his Son As also fully proved we are far from being justified as soon as elected or redeemed In the Second Part he hath happily added and proved that a temperament of the fear of a Just and Sin-revenging God is consistent with and necessary to be joined unto our highest Attainments in the joyful Sense of the Love and Favour of God and the fullest Assurances of Heaven and Salvation we have in this Life and hath herein cut the Sinews of the Antinomian Errour on the contrary part and without any Noise or Clamour In the Third Part you will find and be much pleased with and I hope equally benefited by his very Pious and Plain Treatise of the Nature and Offices of Conscience the rather because the Corruptions and Defilements of it being so distinctly opened and what it is and of what Importance to get and to keep a clear Conscience with many necessary Directions and Helps in order thereunto very proper to the Times wherein so many have made Shipwrack of Faith and of a Good Conscience The next Discourse is of Instancy and Constancy in Holy Prayer not only as a Negotium cum Deo but Heaven in ordinary and perfect Hearts-ease whil'st we are here upon Earth And the last is an elaborate though short Exercitation and Treatise of the Divine Omnipresence a Meditation prepared to render all the foregoing Parts of the Book more beneficial to us no Argument being in its own Nature more awakening and awful to an intelligent and diligent Reader The rest you are beholden to Providence and the Pen of a ready Writer for but what is written was unquestionably spoken and with a great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a very Reverend
Slave to be a Slave unto the Devil whom the People of God have in part subdued and overcome and over whom they shall shortly at once perfectly triumph And now having thus by several Arguments prest this great Duty of working out of our own Salvation I should now proceed to some other Things that are necessary to be spoken unto from this Doctrin But because this is a Duty of so vast Importance and of so universal Concernment unto all and the Slothfulness and Backwardness of many so great and if persisted in will be so ruinous and destructive I shall further urge the practice of this Duty upon the Consciences of Sinners by these following Considerations 1. Working for Salvation is delightful Work First This working for Salvation is the most delightful Work and Imployment that a Christian can be engaged in What is it that makes the whole World so busy in the Service of Sin and Satan but only Pleasure which they either find or imagine The Devil baits all his Temptations with this enticing Witchcraft which the World calls Pleasure and this is that makes them so successful But hath the Devil ingrossed all Pleasure unto his Service Can the Ways of God promise no Delight Are they only ruff and rugged Ways David certainly thought otherwise when speaking of the Commandments of God Psalm 19.10 he tell us They were sweeter than the Hony and the Hony-comb He could squeeze Hony out of them it is an Expression that sets forth the exceeding Pleasantness and Delight that is to be found in the ways of Obedience And truly the whole Book of Psalms is abundantly copious in setting forth that Delight that is to be found in the ways of God Ask therefore the Children of God who are the only sufficient Judges in this Matter and they will tell you with one Consent that they know no Delight on Earth comparable to that Delight that is to be found in Obedience Indeed if you are only taken with a soft luxurious washy Pleasure this is not to be found in the ways of Holiness but if a severe Delight can affect you a Delight that shall not effeminate but innoble you if you desire a masculine rational vigorous Pleasure and Delight you need not seek any further for it than in the ways of Obedience Now there are two Things that make this working for Salvation to be so pleasant Two Things make working for Salvation pleasant the suitableness of this Work to the Agent or Worker and the visible Success and Progress of the Work it self And both these make the working out of Salvation exceeding pleasant and delightful to the People of God First 1. Suitableness of the Work to the Agent It is a Work suited to their Natures and that makes it pleasant As Jesus Christ had in a phisical Sense so every true Christian hath in a moral Sense two Natures in one Person There is the divine Nature or the Nature of God and there is the humane corrupt Nature the Nature of sinful Man and each of these have Inclinations suited unto them there is the carnal part and that is too apt to be seduced and drawn away with the Pleasures of Sin that are Objects proportioned to the carnal part But then there is also a divine and if I may so call it a supernatural Nature imprinted by Regeneration that only doth relish heavenly and spiritual Things So that it is not more natural to a godly Man by reason of the Propensions of the old Nature to sin against God than it is natural to him by reason of the Propensions of the new Nature to obey and serve God Now when Nature acts suitably to its own sway and pondus this must needs cause two Things First Facility and Easiness Secondly Delight and Complacency Streams flow from the Fountain with ease because they take but their natural Course So the Works of Obedience flow easily from that Fountain Principle of Grace that is broken up in the Hearts of the Children of God because they flow naturally from them and therefore because Nature makes things easie that easiness will make them pleasant and delightful It is true indeed when they work there is an opposition and reluctancy from their other contrary Nature for as they act suitably to the one so they act quite contrary to the other Nature But doth not the gracious and new Nature as strongly wrestle against and oppose the Workings and Eruptions of the old Nature as the old doth the Workings of the new Yes it doth and therefore you that are truly Regenerate never sin because of the easiness of it because of its suitableness because else you must offer violence to your Nature if you resist a Temptation Do you not offer violence to your Nature if you close with that Temptation You are not all of one piece if I may so speak if you are Regenerate And what must the corrupt part only be indulged and gratified and must the renewed part be always opposed Why should not Grace since it is as much nay more your self than Sin is why should not that have the same scope and liberty to act freely as Sin doth Truly these Things are Riddles to wicked Men and they are unfit Judges in this Case they wonder what we mean when we speak of Easiness and Delight in ways of Obedience which they never found to be otherwise than the most burthensome Thing in the World And truly it is no wonder for they have no Principle suited to these Things they are made up only of the old Nature that is as contrary and repugnant to them as Darkness is to Light But if once God renew and sanctifie them then they will confess as we do that the Works of God have more easiness in them than the generality of the World do imagine and therefore St. Paul tells That he delighted in the Law of God after the inward Man Rom. 7.22 But why after the inward Man But because though his corrupt part was contrary thereunto yet his renewed part which he calls his inward Man was suited to the Duties of the Law of God and carried him out as naturally to Obedience as the Spark flies upward And hence it is that the Children of God delight in the ways of Obedience because they suit with their new Nature that is implanted in them Secondly 2. Progress in working for Salvation makes it pleasant Another Thing that makes working for Salvation so delightful is That visible Success that the Children of God gain and that visible progress that they make in this Work Nothing doth usually cause greater Delight in Work than to see some riddance in it and that we are like at length to bring it to some issue So truly this is that which mightily delights the Children of God to see that their Work goes forward that their Graces thrive that their Corruptions pine and consume away that they are much nearer Salvation
once God le ts fall some Drops of his Wrath upon their Consciences then they hiss and boil and fill the Soul with Smoak and Smother A hard Heart is no security from a troubled Conscience It is with the Hearts and Consciences of wicked Men as it is with a Sore in the Body which it may be is the hardest part in the Body and yet the sorest also the red Flesh about the Sore is hard and yet full of Pain and Anguish So is it many times with the Hearts and Consciences of wicked Men which though they are exceeding hard yet are full of Pain and Anguish We read of Heman Psal 88.3 That whilst he suffered the Terrors of God he was distracted And David tells us Psal 116.3 The Sorrows of Death compass'd me about and the Pains of Hell got hold of me And if the Wrath of the Almighty be thus sore and terrible upon these holy Men whose Hearts were sound towards God how fretting and gauling will it be upon the ulcerated Consciences of Sinners No Man hath his present Contentment and Delight in his own Power no more than he hath his own Conscience in his own Power which will speak yea and speak terrible Things too when the Sinner hath done all he can to stifle it nay let every Sinner speak How is it with you after the madness and rage of your Sin is over Are you not then haunted with direful Thoughts of Horror and Amazement that are as it were gnawing and devouring your Hearts And are these they who are content to buy Ease and Quietness at so dear a rate as the loss of their precious and immortal Souls and to be eternally tormented hereafter besides their present Pain and Anguish after the committing of Sin now which if they feel not always yet frequently they do But if God should give them up to such hardness of Heart as to become altogether insensible and stupid while they continue in this World yet what will this avail them Will they not purchase their Ease and Pleasure very dearly to lose their Souls for ever hereafter and to suffer the Pains of Hell eternally The Devil hath put a horrid Cheat upon these Men for they do not change their Troubles and Sorrows but only the time of them and for a little fansied sensual Ease and Pleasure in this World which it may be they may enjoy and it may be not for possibly God may be so provoked by them that he may suddenly cut them off in their Sins but if not it is but for a very little time that the Pleasures of their Sins and Lusts will last and then an Eternity of Pain and Torment shall be their Portion Sinners be not therefore deceived suffer not the Devil to abuse you and to impose his Drudgery upon you under the pretence of Ease and Quietness If therefore it be only present Contentment and Satisfaction that you seek if you think that you shall perish but yet you would perish the easiest way that is not believe it that is not by giving up of your selves to a way and course of Sin but in a way of Duty and laborious Working in that only can you find present Contentment and in that possibly you may find eternal Happiness Object But may some say The Works of God would be more pleasing to us if we could but work them But first we have no working Principle we are in a state of Nature and without Grace so that we cannot work And Secondly we cannot implant this Grace in our selves Answ To this I Answer Though you neither have Grace nor can work Grace in your selves yet you can do much yea very much in order to Salvation by the meer Strength of Nature and the liberty of your own Will This is a Consideration that needs to be frequently pressed upon the Consciences of wicked Men they often hear unto what a state of Weakness Sin hath reduced them and that without Grace they can do nothing that is pleasing unto God or advantagious to themselves and by this they are put out of conceit of setting upon the Work of God and leave the Salvation of their Souls at all adventures Consider therefore What Sinners may do towards their own Salvation Sinners how much you may do towards your own Salvation from your own Nature and Free-will And here First 1. They may attain to the highest degree of preparation wrought in the Heart before Grace The vilest Sinner even by the power of Nature and his own Free-will may attain to the highest degree and pitch of preparation that is usually wrought in the Heart antecedently or before true Grace Such are legal Conviction and Contrition a sad sight of Sin and a deep sorrow for it together with strong Resolutions and Purposes against it with strong Desires after Grace and Holiness and the like And the Reason of this is because all these Things are short of Grace and whatever is short of true Grace falls within the compass of Nature and Free-will which is common unto all Men which though it be indeed wounded and maimed yet may make shift to go so far as this comes to True Grace now is only the Creation of the Power of God and not the Production of Nature or Free-will Wherefore after all this preparation is wrought a Sinner can no more work Grace in himself than he could before yet is he now nearer to Grace and in a greater probability of it than he was before and there is none but may go thus far if they will but improve that Power and Ability that they have 2. No Duty in Religion but the Power of Nature may carry a Man out to Secondly There is no Duty in Religion but the Power of Nature may carry a Man out to the external performance thereof and that with Affection and Enlargement also Ahab humbles himself Herod heard John Baptist gladly And so Sinners can Pray Hear Read Meditate and Discourse of the Things of God others have done so formerly and therefore they may and can do so now Indeed heretofore there were peculiar Gifts bestowed upon wicked Persons immediately from God Numb 24.17 as Balaam was made to prophesie of Christ and the like But these are now ceased and all unregenerate Persons now have the same Power and Faculties in them one as well as another and may be able to do one as much as another in the performance of spiritual Duties if they themselves will Thirdly 3. The Power of Nature will keep a Man from scandalous Sins There is no wicked Man whatever but may by the meer Power of Nature restrain himself from the commission of Sin I speak not of Sins collectively taken for no Man can so say his Heart or Life is clean and pure but he may keep out of notorious and scandalous Sins There is no Sinner that hath given himself up to his Lusts but may if he will for the future live
inoffensively that neither the World nor his own Conscience may have much to accuse him of besides common Infirmities Mark the Reason of this because wicked Men commonly make choice of Sin this Sin they will live in and that Sin they will not live in The Drunkard is not Covetous and the Covetous Man is not a Drunkard and so I may say of other Sins Now it is from the Power of Nature that wicked Men refrain from the commission of any one Sin and not from the Power of Grace And therefore if one Sinner hath Power to keep from this Sin and another Sinner hath Power to keep from the commission of another and a third from a third Sin then every Sinner may by the Power of Nature keep from all those Sins that any of those Sinners do keep themselves from because there is the same Power in each Sinner to lay the same restraint upon this or that Sin that others keep from 4. Sinners may continue constantly in the performance of Duty Fourthly There is no Man how great a Sinner soever but if he will he may with constancy yea to the end and period of his Life continue thus in the performance of Duties and in the avoiding of Sins by the Power of Nature only For if it be possible that Men should do it at any time then it is possible for them to do it continually No more Power is required to inable them this Day than was required the Day past nor no more Power is required for the Day to come than was for this Day now present therefore having Strength to avoid them one time they might also avoid them another time yea and continually persevere in so doing if they would keep a daily constant Watch against them Fifthly 5. Through Perseverance Sinners may attain to habitualness and facility in Duty There is no Man but through this perseverance and continuance may attain to Habitualness and thereby to a facility and easiness in performance of Duties and in avoiding of Sins When Men are accustomed to a road and round of Duties it is a trouble to them to omit them So if Men did but set themselves to their utmost to perform Duties in a more hearty and cordial manner those Duties would become easy to them and if Men would but ingage themselves perseveringly to oppose their Corruptions this would bring them to that pass that it would be their Delight to keep from Sin and to perform Duty and all this the Power of Nature would bring them to Now Sinners you see what a large Tenor you have you are not staked down fast that you can do nothing no it is much yea very much that you may do in order to your Salvation But here some may possibly say We hope that these Words are not true for they would not be able to do so much as all this comes to because they are willing to do nothing at all But let such know that that which will condemn them at the last Day will be that they have not done what they might have done in performing of Duties and in opposing of Sins and therefore they wilfully fall short of Happiness and Salvation Object But may some say If we should put forth to our utmost the Power of Nature what would that avail us We cannot thereby work Grace in our selves and without Grace no Salvation is to be had Answ To this I Answer Consider you do not know but whilst you are thus doing what you can God may come in and by his Grace inable you to do what you cannot do God is not wont to be wanting in this particular unto any He is found of those that seek him not and much more will he be found of those that seek him and enquire after him though it be but by the weak Endeavours of Nature Object But may some say Hath God obliged himself to convert and save those that do to the utmost what Nature inables them to do in desiring Salvation and in seeking to obtain it Answ To this I Answer God hath not bound himself but usually he doth so God is neither bound to give Grace upon the Endeavours of Nature neither is he wont to deny it Can you say that ever you knew or heard of any careful conscientious industrious Soul that diligently and conscientiously exercised it self in performing of Duties and in avoiding of Sins that was not at last truly converted and eternally saved and why then should you doubt or think that you shall be the first Cast your self therefore upon God trusting to his rich and free Grace doing the utmost of your Endeavours However suppose the worst that thou art never converted nor saved which Supposition is very dreadful and terrible and if thou art careful and conscientious to improve thy Abilities to the utmost it is altogether improbable but suppose the worst First Thou livest here then more according to the Rule of Nature and Reason than others do for when others wallow in Sin thou shewest thy self to be more like a rational Man thou art sensible thou hast a Soul of more Worth than to be lost for want of Care and Diligence And then Secondly Thy Pains and Punishments hereafter shall be greatly mitigated Possibly thou mayest slight this because at best it is Damnation yea but consider there are several degrees of Torments in Hell Now thy Workings and Endeavours may free thee from many degrees of Torment and therefore they free thee from many Hells and is not this worth thy Labour Nay and not only so but it is very probable you may altogether escape those Torments if you be conscientious in doing your utmost Endeavours And now methinks every one that hath but Reason to judge and a Soul to save must needs see so much strength and force in the Arguments that have been propounded that the next Question should be John 6.26 What must we do to work the Works of God In every Trade and Profession there is some kind of Mystery that gives to them that have attained to it a quicker dispatch in their Business than other Men have And so is it in the Work and Profession of a Christian there is an Art and Mystery that he that is Master of shall make good dispatch in his great Work and possibly we may have some insight into it by these following Directions First Direct 1. If you would work out your own Salvation then digest and dispose your Work into a right Order and Method Immethodicalness breeds Confusion and makes that a Tumult and a heap of Business that would otherwise become a Trade in Christianity one attainment makes way for and opens into another and to attempt any thing in Christianity by Leaps and Jumps as it were is fruitless unprofitable and vain No wise Man will try to mount up the highest Round of a Ladder at the first step But yet many such preposterous Endeavours there are found among Men in
is in all and every part of the World So that God is every where present which is beyond the reach of our apprehensions yet it is undoubtedly true for God's Omnipresence being that Attribute which belongs to him he is present every-where and in all things Now for the Rational Demonstrations whereby it may be evinced that God is Omnipresent That God is present every-where in this World that I shall make good by these Arguments Argument 1. First from his Unchangeableness thus If there be any place where God is not then God may be there because he is Omnipotent but if God may be there where he is not actually also then it must be by motion to that place but it is impossible that God should be able to move from one place to another because he is immutable Therefore hence it clearly follows that there is no place where God is not and where he was not from all Eternity Arg. 2. It may be demonstrated That God is Omnipresent from his preservation of all things in their beings Thus God is present with whatsoever he preserves but he preserves every thing in its being therefore he is present every-where There is required as great a Power to preserve Creatures from falling back into their first nothing as there was to make them at first out of nothing for Preservation as the Philosopher speaks is nothing else but a continued and a prolonged Creation Now he cannot create any thing at a distance from it because no Creature is fit to convey a Creative Action and because also what ever Vertue or Power is in God it is his Essence therefore if he create or preserve by his Power he creates and preserves immediately by his Essence and so his Essence must be whatsoever his Operations are But God exists not only in the World but infinitely beyond the World also that may be demonstrated thus 1. First From the Infiniteness of his Nature and Essence 2. Secondly From the Infiniteness of his Perfections Arg. 1. First From the Infiniteness of God's Nature or Essence That Nature which is infinite cannot be bounded or limited but God's Nature is infinite therefore it cannot be bounded but if God were only present in the World and did not exist infinitely beyond it then his Being and Nature could not be infinite as a Spirit is infinite therefore if God should be included in the World he would also be but infinite as the World Arg. 2. Secondly From the Infiniteness of his Perfections we may argue thus That which is infinitely perfect must be infinitely great but God is infinitely perfect so that there is no Perfection which we can imagine but is eminently in God therefore he must be infinitely great so as there can be no space which we can imagine but he must be present in it But we can imagine an infinite space beyond this World therefore God is there because there is no Perfection imaginable which God hath not Whatever is infinitely perfect must be infinitely great as appears from this because the greater a thing is the more perfect it is of that same kind as a great piece of Gold is more excellent than a less and therefore from this Perfection of God it appears that he is every-where he being all Perfection Arg. 2. As it is demonstrated from God's Infiniteness and Perfection so likewise from his Almighty Power God can create another World greater than this even in that imaginary space which we can conceive beyond this World therefore certainly God is now existent there Arg. 3. God's Omnipresence may be argued from the Eternity of God God was infinitely existent before the Creation of the World since he is Eternal and the World but Temporal the World hath stood only but some few Thousands of Years and before the Creation of the World there was nothing but God and God existed eternally in himself therefore though beyond this World there be nothing yet God will be there actually existing in that same imaginary space beyond this World as he did exist in an imaginary space before this World was created Thus I have done with the Propositions and the Confirmation of them by the rational Arguments those things that relate to the Philosophical Part of the Text for informing of the Judgment in the Notion of that stupendious Attribute of God's Omnipresence I shall now come to answer some Objections The first is taken from those Scriptures where it seems to be implied that God moves from place to place as in Gen. 18.21 where the Lord saith concerning Sodom and Gomorrah I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me And in Hab. 3.3 it is there said God came from Teman and the Holy One from Mount Paran c. Object 1 Now these places which speak of going to and departing from places seem to oppose God's Ubiquity because Motion is inconsistent with God's Omnipresence Answ I answer These and the like Scriptures are not to be taken properly and literally but as accommodate to our capacity and conception even as Parents when they speak to their little Children will sometimes lisp and babble in their Language so God oftentimes condescends to us in speaking our Language for the declaring of those things which are far above our reach But you will say how are such Places to to be understood I answer When God is said to come unto or to depart from any Place or Person nothing else must be understood thereby but a declaring or not declaring himself to be present as Men when they manifest themselves present they do it by moving hither or thither so God to accommodate himself thereunto when he manifests his presence any where he tells us that he goes thither and when that Manifestation ceaseth he tells us he departs thence though he was always there present both before and after that Manifestation So that these Expressions used in the Scripture concerning God though spoken after the manner of Men yet they must be understood after the manner of God that is with a suitableness and conformity to his infinite Essence Object 2 The Scripture tells us that hereafter in Heaven we shall see God as he is But is not that impossible If God be an omnipresent God we shall not be able to comprehend him because we shall not our selves be infinite in Heaven and if Man be stiled finite how then can he comprehend what is infinite since infinite is comprehended of nothing but that which is infinite Answ I answer Such Scriptures are not to be understood as if the Capacities of Angels much less of Men are or ever shall be wide and capacious enough to contain the infinite greatness of God no his Omnipresence is not comprehended by Angels themselves nor shall be by Man for ever but it must be understood comparatively Our Vision and Sight of God here is but through a Glass darkly but in Heaven