they do but serve God in their Families and go to Church and behave themselves there with Devotion and Reverence and at certain seasons receive the Sacrament they are truly religious and very good Christians when all this while they take no care to improve themselves in real Goodness by an inward conformity of their Minds to God and the real reformation and amendment of their Lives by mortifying their Lusts and subduing their Appetites and Passions to the Laws of Reason and Religion by putting on as the elect of God bowels of kindness by being true and faithful righteous and just patient and merciful as their Father which is in heaven is so and by forbearing one another in case of provocation and forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us by purifying themselves as God is pure and endeavouring to be holy in all manner of conversation as he who hath called them is holy when all this while they are as covetous and earthly minded and to serve their covetousness will strain a point of Truth or Justice and hardly do an act of Charity in their whole lives but what is extorted from them by meer importunity or some such urgent necessity in point of decency and reputation that for shame of the World they know not how to avoid it when their Passions are as fierce and ungoverned their Hearts as full of Gall and Bitterness their Tongues of slander and evil speaking their Humours as proud and surly and censorious as theirs can be who are openly profane and seem to neglect and despise all Religion And yet because they serve God as they call it and make an external appearance of Piety and Devotion are good Church-men and attend upon the Ordinances of God they think they have discharged the whole business of Religion admirably well and are very good children of God and in a state of great grace and favour with him Whereas the performance of all these Duties and the use of all these Means separated from that which is the great End of Religion the Conformity of our selves to God in those Qualities and Dispositions which I have mention'd is so far from finding acceptance with God that it is an abomination to him So God every where declares in Scripture telling us that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord and that he disdains to be praised by men of unhallowed lips and lives and that unless with the praises we offer to him we order our conversation aright we shall not see the salvation of God With what contempt does he speak of this formal and external Religion without the power of it upon our hearts and lives To what purpose is the multitude of your Sacrifices to me Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams and ten thousands of rivers of Oil he hath shewed thee O man what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God Is not this the fast which I have chosen to break the bands of wickedness and to let the oppressed go free to deal thy bread to the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thine house when thou seest the naked that thou cover him and that thou hide not thy self from thine own flesh Nor is it hearing of the Word that will avail us unless we be doers of it Blessed are they says our Saviour that hear the word of God and keep it He that heareth these sayings of mine and doth them shall be likened to a wise man who hath built his house upon a rock Nor will bare receiving of the Sacrament recommend us to God but performing the Obligation which thereby we take upon our selves to obstain from all sin and wickedness otherwise we tread under foot the Son of God and prophane the blood of the Covenant whereby we should be sanctified as if it were an unholy thing Can any man think that to be Religion which has no effect upon the lives of men which does not teach them to govern their words and actions who reads those plain words of St. James If any man among you seem to be religious and bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his own heart that man's Religion is vain Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherless and widdows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world When Religion produceth these real Effects then the Means of Religion do truly serve the End of it and we are not only hearers of the Word but doers of it and shall be blessed in our deed So that as there is an obligation upon us to use the Means of Religion which God hath instituted with great care and conscience so we should chiefly mind that which is the End of all Religion which is to make us partakers of a Divine Nature and make us like to God especially in those amiable and excellent Qualities which are the glory and beauty of the Divine Nature his Benignity and Goodness his Mercy and Patience These because they are the primary Perfections of God are the principal Duties both of Natural and Revealed Religion and of an eternal and indispensable Obligation because they have their foundation in the Nature of God which is fixt and unalterable And all positive Institutions when they come in competition with these are to stoop and vail to them Natural and Moral Duties especially those of Goodness and Mercy and Charity are so strongly bound upon us that nothing in any reveal'd Religion can cancel the Obligation of them or justifie the violation of these great and indispensable Laws Our Saviour in his Religion has declar'd nothing to the prejudice of them but on the contrary has straitned our Obligation to them as much as is possible The Son of man came not to destroy mens lives but to save them so that they know not what manner of spirit they are of who think to please God by hating men who are made after the image of God by killing one another to do him good service who to advance his Cause and Religion in the World will break through all the Obligations of Nature and Civil Society undermine Government and disturb the Peace of Mankind Whereas our Saviour did not by any thing in his Religion design to alter the Civil Government of the World or to lessen and diminish the Rights of Princes or to set men loose from Allegiance to them or to make Treason and Rebellion bloody Wars and barbarous Massacres lawful for the propagating of his faith He had as any one would imagin as much Power as the Pope but yet he deposed no Princes nor excommunicated and discharged their Subjects from their Fidelity and Obedience to them for their opposition to his Religion he hath assumed no such Power to himself By what Authority then does his Vicar do these things and
The most Reverend D r. IOHN TILLOTSON late Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Several Discourses UPON The Attributes of GOD Viz. Concerning the Perfection of God Concerning our Imitation of the Divine Perfections The Happiness of God The Unchangeableness of God The Knowledge of God The Wisdom Glory and Soveraignty of God The Wisdom of God in the Creation of the World The Wisdom of God in his Providence The Wisdom of God in the Redemption of Mankind The Justice of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments The Truth of God The Holiness of God To which is annexed a Spital Sermon Of doing Good By the Most Reverend Dr. JOHN TILLOTSON Late Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Being The SIXTH VOLUME Published from the Originals By Ralph Barker D. D. Chaplain to his Grace LONDON Printed for Ri. Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard 1699. THE CONTENTS OF THE Sixth Volume SERM. I. Concerning the Perfection of God MATTH V. 48 BE ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect SERM. II. Concerning our Imitation of the Divine Perfections MATTH V. 48 Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect p. 27 SERM. III. The Happiness of God 1 TIM I. 11 The Blessed God The whole Verse runs thus According to the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God which was committed to my trust p. 67 SERM. IV. The Unchangeableness of God JAMES I. 17 With whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning The whole Period runs thus Do not err my beloved Brethren every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning p. 97 SERM. V VI. The Knowledge of God 1 SAM II. 3 The Lord is a God of Knowledge p. 153 123 SERM. VII The Wisdom Glory and Soveraignty of God JUDE 25. To the only wise God our Saviour be glory and Majesty dominion and Power now and ever p. 187 SERM. VIII The Wisdom of God in the Creation of the World PSAL. CIV 24 O Lord how manifold are thy Works in Wisdom hast thou made them all p. 219 SERM. IX The Wisdom of God in his Providence Preached at Kensington 1 PETER V. 7 Casting all your care upon him for he careth for you p. 243 SERM. X. The Wisdom of God in the Redemption of Mankind 1 COR. I. 24 Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God p. 275 SERM. XI The Justice of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments GEN. XVIII 25 Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right p. 305 SERM. XII The Truth of God DEUT. XXXII 4 A God of Truth p. 337 SERM. XIII The Holiness of God 1 PET. I. 16 Be ye holy for I am holy p. 369 ADVERTISEMENT THE Discourses of the Divine Goodness being more than can be contain'd in this Volume are together with those of the remaining Attributes reserv'd for the next But to complete this here follows a single Sermon upon another Subject SERM. XIV Of doing Good Being a Spital Sermon Preach'd at Christ-Church on Easter-Tuesday April 14th 1691. GALA VI. 9 10. Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all Men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith p. 401 SERMON I. Concerning the Perfection of God MATTH V. 48 Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect THESE words are the Conclusion which our Saviour draws from those Precepts which he had given his Disciples of greater perfection than any Laws that were extant in the world before V. 44. I say unto you love your Enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for those that despitefully use you and persecute you And to perswade them hereto he propounds to them the Pattern of the Divine Perfection telling them that being thus affected towards their Enemies they should resemble God v. 45. That ye may be the Children of your heavenly Father for he maketh the Sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sendeth Rain on the just and on the unjust And then he tells us that if we be not thus affected towards our Enemies and those that have been injurious to us we are so far from being like God that we are but just level with the worst of Men v. 46 47. For if ye love them which love you what reward have you do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do ye more than others do not even the Publicans so And then concludes that if we would attain that perfection which the Christian Religion designs to advance Men to we must endeavour to be like God in these perfections of Goodness and Mercy and Patience Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect In which words we have First The absolute Perfection of the Divine Nature supposed as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Secondly It is propounded as a Pattern to our imitation Be ye therefore perfect c. In handling of these words I shall do these four things I. Consider how we are to conceive of the Divine Perfection II. I shall lay down some Rules whereby we may govern and rectifie our Opinions concerning the Attributes and Perfections of God III. How far we are to imitate the Perfections of God and particularly what those Divine Qualities are which our Saviour doth here more especially propound to our imitation IV. I shall endeavour to clear the true meaning of this Precept and to shew that the Duty here intended by our Saviour is not impossible to us and then conclude this Discourse with some useful Inferences from the whole I. I shall consider how we are to conceive of the Divine Perfections These two ways 1. By ascribing all imaginable and possible Perfection to God 2. By separating and removing all manner of Imperfection from him 1. By ascribing all imaginable and possible Perfection to God absolute and universal Perfection not limited to a certain kind or to certain particulars but whatever we can conceive and imagin to be a Perfection is to be ascribed to him yea and beyond this whatever possible Perfection there is or possible degree of any Perfection which our short Understandings cannot conceive or comprehend is to be ascribed to him For we are not to confine the Perfection of God to our imagination as if we could find out the Almighty to Perfection But on the contrary to believe the Perfection of the Divine Nature to be boundless and unlimited and infinitely to exceed our highest thoughts and apprehensions More particularly all kinds and all degrees of Perfection are to be ascribed to God which either do not imply a plain Contradiction or do not argue some Imperfection or are not
who gave him this Authority Our Lord tells us plainly his Kingdom was not of this world and that without any distinction of in ordine ad spiritualia and therefore he wrested no Princes Kingdom out of his hands nor seized it as forfeited to himself But this Power the Pope claims to himself and hath exercised it many a time disturbing the Peace of Nations and exercising the most barbarous Cruelties in the World under a pretence of Zeal for God and Religion as if because Religion is so very good a thing in it self it would warrant men to do the very worst things for its sake which is the ready way to render Religion contemptible and odious and to make two of the best things in the World God and Religion good for nothing If we would preserve in the Minds of Men any reverence and esteem for Religion we must take heed how we destroy the Principles of Natural Religion and undermine the Peace and Happiness of Humane Society for the glory of God and under pretence of following Divine Revelation and being led by a Church that cannot err for every Church doth certainly err that teacheth any thing plainly contrary to the Principles and Dictates â—f Natural Religion and utterly inconsistent with the essential Perfections of God and with the Peace and Order of the World for God is not the God of Confusion but of Order which St. Paul appealeth to as a Principle of eternal Truth and naturally known But they that pretend that Religion prompts men to Sedition and Cruelty do represent God as the God of confusion and not of order Therefore whatever men may through an ignorant zeal or for ambitious Ends pretend to be Religion let us place it in that which is unquestionable the imitation of the Divine Perfections and let us as the Apostle exhorts put on as the elect of God bowels of mercy kindness meekness long-suffering and above all let us put on Charity which is the very bond of perfection The great Perfection of the Divine Nature or rather the very Essence of God is Love So St. John speaks God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him And 't is very remarkable that in these very qualities of Charity and Kindness and Compassion which we peculiarly call Humanity we approach nearest to the Divinity it self and that the contrary Dispositions do transform us into wild Beasts and Devils And yet as severely as I speak against these Principles and Practices I have an hearty pity and compassion for those who are under the power of so great a Delusion and upon a pretence of being made the only true Christians in the world are seduced from Humanity it self and so far from being made good Christians by these Principles that they are hardly left to be Men being blinded and led by the blind they fall into the ditch of the grossest and foulest Immoralities such as are plainly enough condemn'd by the light of Nature if there were no Bible in the World Not but that we Protestants have our Faults and our Follies too and those God knows too many and too visible we possess more Truth but there is little Peace among us and yet God is as well and as often in Scripture called the God of peace as the God of truth In this great Light and Liberty of the Reform'd Religion we are apt to be wanton and to quarrel and fall out we are full of Heats and Animosities of Schisms and Divisions and the way of peace we have not known God grant that at last in this our day when it concerns us so much we may know the things that belong to our peace before they be hid from our eyes You see in what things the Practice of Religion mainly consists in our likeness to God and resemblance of him in Holiness and Goodness and without this we are utterly incapable of happiness we cannot see God unless we be like him The Presence of God can administer no Pleasure no Felicity to us till we be changed into his Image till we come to this temper to hate Sin and delight in purity and holiness we can have no delightful communion with the holy God till our Passions be subdued and our Souls dispossest of those devilish and ungodlike Qualities of Hatred and Malice of Revenge and Impatience and till we be endued with the Spirit of universal Goodness and Charity we are not fit company for our heavenly Father we are not qualified to dwell with God who is love and dwells in love So far as we are defective in these Divine Qualities and Perfections so far we fall short of the temper of Happiness There is a direct and eternal Opposition between the holy and good God and the evil dispositions of wicked men and till this Opposition be removed it is impossible we should find any felicity in the enjoyment of God Now the Nature of God is fixt and unchangeable God cannot recede from his own Perfection and therefore we must quit our sins Thou canst not change God therefore change thy self and rather think of putting off thy corrupt Nature which may be changed than of altering the Divine Nature with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning God condescended to take our Nature upon him to make us capable of Happiness but if this will not do he will not put off his own Nature to make us happy SERMON III. The Happiness of God 1 TIM 1.11 The Blessed God The whole Verse runs thus According to the glorious Gospel of the Blessed God which was committed to my trust SINCE all Men naturally desire happiness and thirst after it methinks we should all desire to know what it is and where it is to be found and how it is to be attained by us in that degree in which Creatures are capable of it What Job says of Wisdom may be said also of Happiness God understandeth the way thereof and he knoweth the place thereof He only who is perfectly possest of it himself knows wherein it consists and what are the true ingredients of it So that to direct us in our search after happiness the best way will be to Contemplate and Consider the Divine Nature which is the perfect Pattern and Idea of Happiness and the Original Spring and Fountain of all the Felicity that Creatures are capable of And to that end I have pitched upon these Words wherein the Apostle attributes this Perfection of bessedness or happiness to God The Blessed God And tho' this be as Essential a part as any other of that Notion which Mankind have of God from the Light of Nature yet I no where find in all the New Testament this Attribute of Happiness given to God but only twice in this Epistle 'T is true indeed the Title of Blessedness is frequently given both to God and Christ but in another Sense and in a quite different Notion As Mark 14.61 where the High-Priest asks our
us supplies all the defects of Power and Wisdom in us For God being our Friend we have an Interest in all his Perfections and a Security that as occasion requires they will all be employ'd for our benefit and advantage so that tho' we are weak in our selves we are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and are able to do all things through him strengthning us and tho' we want Wisdom we may have free recourse to the Fountain of it and ask it of God who gives to all liberally and upbraideth not And it is next to having these perfections in our selves to know where to have them for asking whenever we stand in need of them so far as is necessary to our happiness So that tho' our happiness depend upon another yet if we be careful to qualifie our selves for it and God is always ready to assist us by his Grace to this purpose it is really and in effect in our own power and we are every whit as safe and happy in God's care and protection of us as if we were sufficient for our selves However this is the highest happiness that the Condition of a Creature is capable of to have all our defects supply'd in so liberal a manner by the Bounty of another and to have a free recourse to the Fountain of Happiness and at last to be admitted to the Blessed sight and enjoyment of Him in whose presence is fulness of Joy and at whose right hand are Pleasures for evermore I have done with the Three Things I proposed to speak to But to what purpose may some say is this long Description and Discourse of happiness How are we the Wiser and the Better for it I Answer very much in several respects 1. This plainly shews us That Atheism is a very melancholy and mischievous thing it would take away the Fountain of happiness and the only perfect Pattern of it it endeavours at once to extinguish the Being of God and all the Life and Comfort of Mankind so that we could neither form any Idea of happiness or be in any possibility of attaining it For it is plain we are not sufficient for it of our selves and if there be not a God there is nothing that can make us so God is the true light of the World and a thousand times more necessary to the comfort and happiness of Mankind than the Sun it self which is but a dark Shadow of that infinitely more bright and glorious Being the happy and only Potentate as the Apostle describes him in the latter end of this Epistle who only hath immortality dwelling in that light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see meaning in this mortal state So that the greatest Enemies and most injurious of all others to Mankind are those who would banish the Belief of a God out of the World because this is to lay the Ax to the root of the Tree and at one blow to cut off all Hopes of happiness from Mankind So that he is a Fool indeed that says in his heart there is no God that is that wisheth there were none because it is not possible for a Man to wish worse to himself and more effectually to destroy his own happiness 2. If the Divine Nature be so infinitely and compleatly happy this is a very great confirmation of our Faith and Hope concerning the happiness of another Life which the Scripture describes to us by the Sight and Enjoyment of God As we are Creatures we are not capable of the happiness that is absolutely and infinitely perfect because our Nature is but finite and limited but the blessed God who is infinitely happy himself can also make us happy according to our finite Measure and Capacity For as he that is the First and Original Being can communicate Being to other things so He that is the Fountain of Happiness can derive and convey happiness to his Creatures And we shall the more easily believe this when we consider that Goodness as it is the prime Perfection so is it likewise the chief felicity of the Divine Nature It is his Glory and Delight to communicate himself and shed abroad his goodness and the highest expression of the Divine Goodness is to communicate happiness to his Creatures and to be willing that they should share and partake with him in it Base and Envious Natures are narrow and contracted and love to confine their Enjoyments and good Things to themselves and are loth that others should take part with them but the most Noble and most Generous Minds are most free and enlarged and cannot be happy themselves unless they find or make others so This is the highest pitch of Goodness and consequently the highest Contentment and the supream delight of the Divine Nature Now it is natural to every Being to be most frequent and abundant in those Acts in which it finds the greatest Pleasure to be good and to do good is the supream Felicity of God himself therefore we may easily believe that he is very ready and forward to make us happy by all the ways that are agreeable to his Wisdom and Righteousness and that He is also willing to make us abundantly so and to advance us to the highest degree of Felicity of which our Nature is capable if we do not render our selves incapable of such a Blessing by an obstinate refusal of it and utter indisposition for it This I say is very credible because the happiness of God himself consists in that propension and disposition of Nature which tends to make others happy And if there can be any accession to that which is infinite God himself finds a new Pleasure and Felicity in the communication of his goodness to his Creatures and therefore is represented in Scripture as glad of the Conversion of a sinner because the sinner hereby becomes capable of the happiness which God design'd for his Creatures and is always ready to confer upon them whenever they are qualified for it and he can with the Honour of his other Perfections bestow it upon them There are Two things which raise our Hopes and expectation of Good from any Person if he be Able and Willing to bestow upon us what we hope for from him Now if any one can confer Happiness upon us it is He who is infinitely possest of it and hath all the Treasures of it in himself and that God only is who as he is able so is willing to make us happy if we be qualified for it and it is no impairing of his happiness to make others happy for even that Goodness which inclines him to communicate happiness to others is a great part of his own Felicity so that as our Saviour argues because I live you shall live also we may reason in like manner that because God is happy we shall be happy also if we do but sincerely desire and endeavour to qualifie our selves for it The Goodness of
these could make them happy but when they come to embrace them they find that they are but Clouds and Shadows and that there is no real and substantial felicity in them Many say who will shew us any good meaning the good things of this World Corn and Wine and Oil But wouldst thou be happy indeed endeavour to be like the Pattern of happiness and the Fountain of it Address thy self to him in the Prayer of the Psalmist Lord lift thou up upon me the light of thy Countenance and that shall put more joy and gladness into my heart than the Men of the World can have when their Corn and their Wine increaseth Many say lo here and lo there That happiness is in a great Place or in a plentiful Estate or in the enjoyment of sensual Pleasures and Delights but believe them not happiness is something that is nearer and more intimate to us than any of the Things of this World it is within thee in thine heart and in the very inward frame and disposition of thy mind In a Word if ever we would be happy we must be like the Blessed God we must be holy and merciful and good and just as he is and then we are secure of his Favour for the righteous Lord loveth righteousness and his countenance will behold the upright Then we shall be qualified for the enjoyment of him and take pleasure in communion with him because we shall be like him For the surest foundation of Love and Friendship is a similitude of Temper and Disposition every thing naturally affects its own likeness and moves towards it and greedily catcheth at it and gladly runs into the Embraces of it God and Man must be like one another before they can take pleasure in one another If we be unlike to God it is in the nature of the thing impossible that we should be happy in one another and therefore there must be a change either in God or us to bring about this likeness The Nature of God is inflexible fixt and unchangeable therefore change thy self Sinner and endeavour to be like God for since he cannot depart from his Holiness and Purity thou must leave thy Sins and be holy as he is holy if ever thou hopest to be happy as he is Every Man that hath this Hope in him must purifie himself even as he is pure Now to this happy and only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords who only hath Immortality and dwelleth in that Light which no Man can approach unto whom no Man hath seen nor can see To him be Honour and Power everlasting Amen SERMON IV. The Unchangeableness of God JAMES I. 17 With whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning The whole Period runs thus Do not err my beloved Brethren every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning THE connexion and dependance of these Words upon the former is briefly this the Apostle had asserted before that God is not the Author of Sin and Evil v. 13 14. Let no Man say when he is tempted I am tempted of God for God is untemptable by evil neither tempteth he any Man but every Man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lust and enticed and here in the Text he asserts that God is the Fountain and Author of all Good do not err my beloved Brethren as if he had said do not mistake me tho' Sin and Evil be not from God but from our selves and our own corrupt hearts yet all good is from God and not from our selves tho' we be the Authors of the sins we commit yet we are not so of the good that we do that is from God every good Gift and every perfect Gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights Sin which is nothing but Evil and Imperfection is not from God but wholly from our selves but whatever is good and perfect is not from our selves but from God we are neither inclined to that which is good nor are able of our selves to perform it both the inclination and the power are from God who is the Fountain of goodness and perfection and can never be otherwise and can never change nor cease to be so for with him is no variableness nor shadow of turning Every good Gift and every perfect Gift all that goodness and all those degrees of perfection which are in the Creatures in the highest Angels or Saints in the best of the Sons of Men whatever there is of Excellency and Perfection of Goodness or Happiness in any of them is from above that is from Heaven it is the gift of God and cometh down from that perfect good and glorious Being whom the Apostle here calls the Father of Lights in allusion to the Sun which is a kind of universal Benefactor to the World and liberally dispenseth his Light and Heat and Influence upon all things here below but then there is this difference the Sun changeth its habitudes and positions in reference to us and varies its Shadows it riseth and sets comes nearer to us and goes farther from us but it is otherwise with this intellectual and immaterial Sun the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are all astronomical words the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the various habitudes and positions wherein the Sun appears to us every Day at its rising in the Meridian and when it sets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a word which belongs not to the daily but to the yearly course of the Sun which is nearer to us or farther from us as he approacheth nearer towards the Northern or Southern Tropicks and hence it is that it casts several shadows to People in several Countries and agreeably to this the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 casting of shadows being joyned with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies the variation of the shadows according to the Course and Motion of the Sun But God is an Eternal Spring of Light which never riseth or sets which hath no mixture of shadow nor darkness hath no changes nor variations but is always the same free and liberal dispenser of good things to his Creatures the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning which Words signifie the immutable perfection and goodness of the Divine Nature which shall by Gods assistance be the subject of my present Discourse In which I shall proceed in this Method First I shall briefly explain what is meant by the immutability or unchangeableness of the Divine Nature Secondly I shall shew that this is a perfection essential to God to be immutably what he is that is good and perfect Thirdly I shall answer an Objection which lies against it from the mention so often made in Scripture of God's repenting himself And Fourthly Apply the Consideration of it
thou art angry Psal 76.7 Strong is the Lord God who judgeth Rev. 18.8 And which gives a sad accent to all this he that is thus holy and just and powerful continues for ever the same and will never alter or put off any of these Properties will never cease to hate iniquity and to be an implacable Enemy to all impenitent Sinners and is it not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of this holy and just and omnipotent God who lives for ever and can punish for ever Let all obstinate Sinners hear this and tremble you cannot be more obstinately bent to continue in your wicked ways than God is peremptorily resolved to make you miserable If you be determined upon a sinful course God is also determined how he will deal with you that he will not spare but that his anger and jealousie shall smoke against you and that all the curses that are written in his book shall light upon you and that he will blot out your name from under Heaven he hath sworn in his wrath that unbelieving and impenitent Sinners shall not enter into his rest and for the greater assurance of the thing and that we may not think that there is any condition implyed in these Threatnings he hath confirmed them by an Oath that by this immutable sign in which it is impossible for God to lie Sinners might have strong terrours and not be able to fly to any in hopes of refuge 2 ly The consideration of Gods unchangeableness should likewise be a very powerful Argument to urge Sinners to Repententance If they will but leave their sins and turn to him they will find him ready to receive them upon their Repentance and Submission for he is a God gracious and merciful slow to anger and ready to forgive he is unchangeably good and his mercy endureth for ever but if they will not come in and submit to these Terms there is nothing before them but Ruin and Destruction nothing then remains but a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to consume them God hath declared to us the terms of our Pardon and Peace and if we will not come up to them he is at a point he cannot change his Nature nor will he alter the terms of his Covenant there is a perfect and eternal opposition between the Holy Nature of God and an impenitent sinner and 't is impossible such an one should be Happy till this opposition be remov'd and to do that there are but two ways imaginable by changing God or by changing our selves the Nature of God is fixt and unalterable God cannot recede from his own pure Nature therefore we must depart from our sinful and corrupt Nature God cannot quit his Holiness therefore we must leave our Sins we can have no hope to change God therefore we must change our selves Rectifie Sinner thine own corrupt Nature and renounce thy lusts do not venture upon Impossibilities rather think of altering thy sinful nature which may be changed than of altering the Divine Nature which is essentially immutable with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning God hath once condescended so far as to take our nature upon him to make us capable of Happiness but if this will not do he can go no lower he will not he cannot put off his own nature to make us Happy Secondly In reference to Good Men the consideration of Gods unchangeableness is matter of great Consolation to them in all the changes and vicissitudes of the World their main comfort and hope is built upon a Rock the rock of ages as the expression is in the Prophet Isaiah 26.4 it relies upon the unchangeable goodness and faithfulness of God all whose promises are Yea and Amen truth and certainty All other Support and Hopes may fail us but God will not suffer his faithfulness to fail his covenant will he not break nor alter the thing which is gone out of his lips as the Psalmist assures us Psal 89.33 Men may break their Word and be less than their Promises but God is faithful who hath promised to give grace and glory and to withhold no good thing from them that walk uprightly he is not as Man that he should lie or as the Son of Man that he should repent hath he spoken and shall he not do it hath he said it and shall not he bring it to pass If there be any thing that hath the appearance of a change in God it is usually on the merciful side as when he stops the execution of his threatnings upon the repentance of a sinful Nation as in that remarkable Text which I mention'd before Jer. 18.7 8. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it if that nation against whom I have pronounced turn from their evil I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them and so likewise when his faithful People and Servants are in great Distress and there is no visible help and means of relief in this case likewise God is said to repent and to appear for their rescue Deut. 32.36 The Lord shall judge his people and repent himself for his servants when he seeth that their power is gone Thus we should comfort our selves in the greatest extremities with the consideration of the immutable goodness and faithfulness of God The things of the World are Mutable and the Men of the World even those things which seem most constant as the Heavens and to be setled upon the surest Foundations as the Earth yet these shall be changed Psal 102.25 26 27. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shall thou change them and they shalt be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end from whence the Psalmist infers this comfort to the Church and People of God v. 28 The Children of thy Servants shall continue and their seed shall be establisht before thee Nothing that is mutable can be a solid Foundation of Comfort and Confidence Men are inconstant and Riches are uncertain and all other things which Men commonly trust to and therefore the Apostle chargeth them that are Rich in this World not to trust in uncertain Riches but in the living God He only that lives for ever is a firm Foundation of Hope and Confidence When God would comfort the Israelites in Egypt under their great Oppression he bids Moses only to declare to them his immutability Exod. 3.14 Say unto them I am that I am hath sent me unto you and this is the great comfort of Christians that he who is the same Saviour and their hope is the same yesterday to day and for ever he that was and that is and that is to come in all durations the same We are
continually changing and are not the same we were some of us were Young and now are Old once perhaps flourisht in great Prosperity but now are Poor and Needy were once Strong and Healthful but now Sickly and Weak it should comfort us in all these Changes that God is still the same and he alone is instead of all other Comforts and Supports when all other things fail we may rejoyce in the Lord and joy in the God of our Salvation Youth and Health and Riches and Friends may forsake us but God hath promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us that he will not leave us when we are old nor forsake us when our strength faileth when our strength fails and our heart fails then is he the strength of our hearts and our portion for ever and when our great change shall come and the terrors of Death shall take hold of us we have still the same Comfort the Lord liveth and blessed be the God of our Salvation In a word the Consideration of God's immutability should keep us fixt and unmoved in all the Changes and Accidents of this World and not apt to be startled and surprized at them according to that of the Psalmist he shall not be afraid of evil tidings because his heart is fixed trusting in God This should make us constant to him and his truth stedfast and unmoveable and always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord it should make us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering in full assurance that God will be as good to us as his word and in a firm hope and perswasion of that Eternal Life which God that cannot lie hath promised SERMON V. The Knowledge of God 1 SAM 2.3 The Lord is a God of Knowledge I Come now to speak of those Properties and Perfections which relate to the Divine Understanding and Will and Manner and Power of acting Knowledge considers things absolutely and in themselves Wisdom considers the respects and relations of things one to another and under the Notion of Means and Ends. The Knowledge of God is a perfect comprehension of the Nature of all things with all their Powers and Qualities and Circumstances the Wisdom of God is a perfect Comprehension of the Respects and Relations of things one to another of their Harmony and Opposition of their fitness and unfitness to such and such Ends. The Knowledge of God only implies his bare Understanding of Things but his Wisdom implies the Skill of ordering and disposing things to the best Ends and Purposes to make every thing and to govern and administer all things in Number Weight and Measure I shall at present speak of the first of these the Knowledge of God which as I said is a perfect Comprehension of the Nature of all things and of every thing belonging to their Nature of the Powers and Qualities and Circumstances of things These Words signifie God to be the Fountain of Knowledge that is that he possesseth it himself and communicates it to others In the handling of this I shall First Endeavour to prove that this Attribute belongs to God Secondly Shew the Perfection and the Prerogatives of the Divine Knowledge Thirdly Draw some practical Inferences from the whole First For the proof of it I shall attempt it two ways 1. From the Dictates of Natural Light and Reason 2. From Scripture or Divine Revelation 1. From the Dictates of Natural Light and Reason I begin with this first because unless this be establish'd all Divine Revelation falls to the ground unless Natural Reason assures us That God is endowed with Knowledge and Vnderstanding it is in vain to enquire after Divine Revelation For to make any Revelation credible two things are requisite on the part of the Revealer Ability and Integrity that he have a perfect Knowledge and Vnderstanding of the thing which he reveals so that he cannot be deceived himself and so much Goodness and Truth that he will not deceive us Now unless our Reason assure us that God is endowed with Knowledg and Vnderstanding the first Condition is evidently wanting viz. Ability and consequently the second Integrity for there cannot be goodness and veracity without Knowledge This being premised I proceed to the proof of it from such Arguments as our Natural Reason suggests to us I have formerly told you that the Divine Perfections are not to be proved by way of Demonstration but by way of Conviction by shewing the Absurdities and Inconveniencies of the contrary for if we deny Knowledge to God we must deny it to be a Perfection we must deny it to be in any of the Creatures we must attribute many other Imperfections to God all which are absurd to our Natural Reason for Natural Reason dictates to us That Knowledge is a Perfection that it is to be found in the Creatures and that the denial of it to God will argue many other Imperfections in the Divine Nature now these are so many Arguments which Natural Reason offers to us to prove that knowledge belongs to God 1. It is a Perfection and therefore belongs to God Natural Reason tells us tho' the Scripture had not said it That Knowledge excells Ignorance as much as Light doth Darkness now whatever is Perfect and Excellent is to be attributed to the Divine Nature for this is the first Notion we have of God That He is a Being absolutely Perfect 2. Knowledge is to be found in some of the Creatures and therefore is much more in God the Creator because it is derived from him Our very Understandings whereby we know God or any thing else are an Argument that Knowledge and Vnderstanding are in God If he gives wisdom to the wise and Knowledge to them that know Vnderstanding if he communicates this Perfection to the Creatures he himself is much more possest of it The Scripture indeed useth this Argument but I mention it as that which Natural Reason doth suggest to the most brutish and ignorant of Men. Psal 94.8 9 10. Vnderstand ye Brutish among the People and ye Fools when will ye be wise he that planted the Ear shall he not hear he that formed the Eye shall he not see 3. The denyal of this Perfection to God argues many other Imperfections in the Divine Nature Nothing would more eclipse the Divine Nature than to take away this Perfection from it this would bring an universal Obscurity upon God's other Perfections this would be to put out the Light of Heaven and to turn the brightness of the morning into the shadow of death If we remove this Perfection from God we deny his Wisdom He that does not know the Nature and Qualities of Things cannot know how to apply Means to Ends to fit or sute one thing to another And we weaken his Power What an impotent and ineffectual thing would Power be without Knowledge what irregular things
labour after this is but a short-witted Prudence to serve a present turn without any prospect to the future without regard to the next World and the Eternity which we are to live in this is to be wise for a moment and fools for ever 4. If God be only Wise then put your Trust and Confidence in him Whom should we trust rather than Infinite Wisdom which manageth and directs Infinite Goodness and Power In all Cases of difficulty trust him for direction acknowledge him in all thy ways that he may direct thy steps commit thy way unto the Lord and lean not to thine own understanding The race is not to the swift nor the Battel to the strong but the Providence of God disposeth all these things And if we rely upon our own Wisdom that will prove a broken reed And as our own Wisdom is a broken Reed so the Wisdom of other men Isa 31.1 2. God curseth them that go down into Egypt and trust to their strength and Wisdom but look not to the holy one of Israel neither seek the Lord yet he also is wise saith the Prophet 5. Let us adore the Wisdom of God and say with St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.17 To the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen and with Daniel Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his Veneration is the acknowledgement of an Infinite Excellency and Perfection We reverence any extraordinary degree of Wisdom in Men but the Divine Wisdom which is Perfect and Infinite is matter of our Adoration and Blessing and Praise Thanksgiving respects the Benefits we receive but we bless God when we acknowledge any Excellency for as God's Blessing us is to do us good so our Blessing him is to speak good of him and as all God's Perfections are the Objects of our Blessing so more especially his Wisdom is of our Praise for to praise God is to take notice of the wise Design and Contrivance of his Goodness and Mercy towards us Before I pass on to the other Particulars contained in these words I cannot but take notice that this wise God here spoken of is stiled our Saviour which some understand of our Saviour Jesus Christ and bring this place as an Argument to prove his Divinity and if that were so it were all one to my purpose which is in the next place to shew that Glory and Majesty and Dominion and Power belong to the Divine Being But altho' I would not willingly part with any place that may fairly be brought for the proof of the Divinity of Christ yet seeing there are so many plain Texts in Scripture for the proof of it we have the less reason to stretch doubtful places and that this is so will appear to any one who considers that the Title of Saviour is several times in Scripture attributed to God the Father besides that in a very Ancient and Authentick Copy we find the words read somewhat otherwise and so as to put this out of all Controversie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Having premised thus much for the clearing of these words I shall briefly consider first God's Glory and Majesty and then his Dominion and Soveraignty First God's Glory and Majesty By Majesty we may understand the greatness or eminent excellency of the Divine Nature which results from his Perfections and whereby the Divine Nature is set and placed infinitely above all other Beings I say the eminent excellency of the Divine Nature which results from his Perfections more especially from those great Perfections his Goodness and Wisdom and Power and Holiness And his Glory is a manifestation of this Excellency and a just acknowledgment and due opinion of it Hence it is that in Scripture God is said to be glorious in power and glorious in holiness and his Goodness is call'd his glory and here in the Text Glory and Majesty are ascribed to him upon the account of his Wisdom and Goodness That these belong to God I shall prove 1. From the acknowledgment of Natural Light The Heathens did constantly ascribe Greatness to God and that as resulting chiefly from his Goodness as appears by their frequent conjunction of these two Attributes Goodness and Greatness Opt. Max. were their most familiar Titles of the Deity to which I will add that known place of Seneca primus deorum cultus est deos credere dein reddere illis majestatem suam reddere bonitatem sine quâ nulla majestas 2. From Scripture It were endless to produce all those Texts wherein Greatness and Glory are ascribed to God I shall mention two or three Deut. 10.17 the Lord is a great God Psal 24.10 he 's call'd the King of glory 104 1. he is said to be cloathed with majesty and honour The whole Earth is full of his glory Hither belong all those Doxologies in the Old and New Testament wherein Greatness and Glory and Majesty are ascribed to God From all which we may learn 1. What it is that makes a Person great and glorious and what is the way to Majesty viz. real worth and excellency and particularly that kind of excellency which Creatures are capable of in a very eminent degree and that is goodness this is that which advanceth a Person and gives him a pre-eminency above all others this casts a lustre upon a man and makes his face to shine Aristotle tells us that Honour is nothing else but the signification of the esteem which we have of a Person for his goodness for saith he to be good and to do good is the highest glory God's Goodness is his highest Glory and there is nothing so glorious in any Creature as herein to be like God 2. Let us give God the Glory which is due to his Name Ascribe ye greatness to our God Deut. 32.3 Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give unto the Lord glory and power Psal 29.1 The Glory and Majesty of God calls for our Esteem and Honour our Fear and Reverence of him Thus we should glorifie God in our Spirits by an inward esteem and reverence of his Majesty The thoughts of Earthly Majesty will compose us to reverence how much more should the Apprehensions of the Divine Majesty strike an awe upon our Spirits in all our Addresses to him his excellency should make us afraid and keep us from all saucy boldness and familiarity with him Reverence is an Acknowledgment of the distance which is between the Majesty of God and our meanness And we should glorifie him in our bodies with outward Worship and Adoration that is by all external significations of reverence and respect and we should glorifie him in our Lives and Actions The highest glory a Creature can give to God is to endeavour to be like him satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Sen. hereby we manifest and shew forth his Excellency to the World when we endeavour to be conformed to the Divine Perfections And in case of
with his Creatures in any way that doth not contradict the Essential Perfections of God and the natural Condition of the Creature 2. In a right to impose what Laws he pleaseth upon his Creatures whether natural and reasonable or positive of Tryal of Obedience provided they contradict not the Nature of God or of the Creature 3. In a right to inflict due and deserved Punishment in case of provocation 4. In a right to afflict any of his Creatures so the Evil he inflicts be short of the Benefits he hath conferred on them yea and farther in a right when he pleaseth to annihilate the Creature and turn it out of Being if it should so seem good to him tho' that Creature have not offended him because what he gave was his own and he may without injury take it away again when he pleaseth In these the Soveraignty of God consists and if there be any thing else that can be reconciled with the essential Perfections of God Secondly For the Proof and Confirmation of this This is universally acknowledg'd by the Heathens that God is the Lord and Soveraign of the World and of all Creatures Hence Plato calls him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Tully omnium rerum Dominum Lord of all and this the Scripture doth every where attribute to him calling him Lord of all King of Kings and Lord of Lords to which we may refer all those Doxologies in which Power and Dominion and Authority are ascribed to God I will only mention that eminent Confession of Nebuchadnezzar a great King who when his Understanding came to him was forced to acknowledge that God was the most high Dan. 4.34 35. I infer First Negatively we cannot from the soveraignty of God infer a right to do any thing that is unsuitable to the Perfection of his Nature and consequently that we are to rest satisfied with such a Notion of Dominion and Soveraignty in God as doth not plainly and directly contradict all the Notions that we have of Justice and Goodness nay it would be little less than a horrid and dreadful Blasphemy to say that God can out of his Soveraign Will and Pleasure do any thing that contradicts the Nature of God and the essential Perfections of the Deity or to imagin that the Pleasure and Will of the Holy and Just and Good God is not always regulated and determined by the essential and indispensable Laws of Goodness and Holiness and Righteousness Secondly Positively we may infer from the Soveraignty and Dominion of God 1. That we ought to own and acknowledge God for our Lord and Soveraign who by creating us and giving us all that we have did create to himself a Right in us 2. That we owe to him the utmost possibility of our Love to love him with all our hearts and souls and strength because the Souls that we have he gave us and that we are in a capacity to love him is his Gift and when we render these to him we do but give him of his own 3. We owe to him all imaginable subjection and observance and obedience and are with all diligence to the utmost of our endeavours to conform our selves to his Will and to those Laws which he hath imposed upon us 4. In case of Offence and Disobedience we are without murmuring to submit to what he shall inflict upon us to accept of the punishment of our iniquity and patiently to bear the indignation of the Lord because we have sinned against him who is our Lord and Soveraign SERMON VIII The Wisdom of God in the Creation of the World PSALM 104.24 O Lord how manifold are thy Works in Wisdom hast thou made them all I Am treating of the Attributes and Properties of God particularly those which relate to the Divine Understanding which I told you are his Knowledge and Wisdom I have finisht the first the Knowledge of God The last Day I spake concerning the Wisdom of God in general but there are Three eminent Arguments and famous Instances of God's Wisdom which I have reserved for a more large and particular handling The Wisdom of God shines forth in the Creation of the World in the Government of it and in the Redemption of Mankind by Jesus Christ Of these Three I shall speak severally I begin with the First the Argument of God's Wisdom which the Creation doth furnish us withal In this visible frame of the World which we behold with our Eyes which way soever we look we are encountred with ocular demonstrations of the Wisdom of God What the Apostle saith of the Power of God is true likewise of his Wisdom Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and God-head so the eternal wisdom of God is understood by the things which are made Now the Creation is an Argument of the wisdom of God as it is an effect of admirable Counsel and Wisdom As any curious Work or rare Engine doth argue the Wit of the Artificer so the variety and order and regularity and fitness of the Works of God argue the infinite wisdom of him who made them a Work so beautiful and magnificent such a stately Pile as Heaven and Earth is so curious in the several pieces of it so harmonious in all its parts every part so fitted to the service of the whole and each part for the service of another is not this a plain Argument that there was infinite wisdom in the contrivance of this Frame Now I shall endeavour to prove to you that this Frame of Things which we see with our Eyes which we call the World or the Creation is contrived after the best manner and hath upon it evident impressions of Counsel and Wisdom I grant the wisdom of God is Infinite and that many of the Ends and Designs of his wisdom are unsearchable and past finding out both in the Works of Creation and Providence and that tho' a Wise man seek to find out the work of God from the beginning to the end he shall not be able to do it and we shall never be able to exhaust all the various Wisdom and Contrivance which is in the Works of God tho' the oftner and the nearer we meditate upon them the more we shall see to admire in them the more we study this Book of the Creation the more we shall be astonish'd at the Wisdom of the Author but this doth not hinder but that we may discover something of the Wisdom of God tho' it be Infinite As the Effects of Infinite Power may fall under our Senses so the Designs of Infinite Wisdom may fall under our Reason and Vnderstanding and when things appear to our best Reason plainly to be order'd for the best and the greatest advantages of the World and Mankind so far as we are able to judge and if they had been otherwise as they might have been a hundred
our affairs and concernments after we have used our best Endeavours let us sit down and be satisfied and refer the rest to God whose Providence governs the World and takes care of all our Interests and of the Interest of his Church and Religion when they seem to be in greatest Danger We cannot but be convinced that this is very reasonable to leave the Management of things to him who made them and therefore understands best how to order them The government of the World is a very curious and complicated Thing and not to be tamper'd with by every unskilful Hand and therefore as an unskilful Man after he hath tampered a great while with a Watch thinking to bring it into better order and is at last convinced that he can do no good upon it carries it to him that made it to mend it and put it into order so must we do after all our Care and Anxiety about our own private Concernments or the publick State of Things we must give over governing the World as a business past our Skill as a Province too hard and a Knowledge too wonderful for us and leave it to him who made the World to Govern it and take care of it And if we be not thus Affected and Disposed we do not believe the Providence of God whatever profession we make of it if we did it would have an influence upon our Minds to free us from Anxious Care and Discontent Were we firmly perswaded of the Wisdom and Goodness of the Divine Providence we should confidently rely upon it and according to the Apostle's advice here in the Text cast all our care upon him because he careth for us SERMON IX The Wisdom of God in the Redemption of Mankind 1 COR. I. 24 Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God I Have in the ordinary course of my Preaching been treating of the Attributes and Perfections of God more particularly those which relate to the Divine Understanding the Knowledge and Wisdom of God The first of these I have finisht and made some progress in the second the Wisdom of God which I have spoken to in general and have propounded more particularly to consider those famous Instances and Arguments of the Divine Wisdom in the Creation of the World the Government of it and the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ The two first of these I have spoken to namely the Wisdom of God which appears in the Creation and Government of the World I come now to the III. Instance of the Divine Wisdom the redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ which I shall by God's assistance speak to from these words Christ the wisdom of God The Apostle in the beginning of this Epistle upon occasion of his mentioning the Divisions and Parties that were among the Corinthians where one said I am of Paul another I am of Apollos asks them whether Paul was crucified for them or whether they were baptized into the name of Paul To convince them that they could not pretend this that they were Baptized into his Name he tells them at the 14 and 15 th verses that he had not so much as baptized any of them except two or three so far was he from having Baptized them into his own Name and at the 17 th verse he says that his work his principal work was to preach the Gospel which he had done not with Humane Eloquence not in wisdom of words but with great plainness and simplicity lest the Cross of Christ should be made of none effect lest if he should have used any Artifice the Gospel should have been less powerful And indeed his Preaching was unaffectedly plain and therefore the Gospel did seem to very many to be a foolish and ridiculous thing The Story which they told of Christ Crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness The Jews who expected another kind of Messias that should come in great Pomp and Glory to be a mighty Temporal Prince they were angry at the Story of a crucified Christ The Greeks the Philosophers who expected some curious Theories adorned with Eloquence and delivered and laid down according to the exact Rules of Art they derided this plain and simple Relation of Christ and of the Gospel But tho' this Design of the Gospel appeared silly and foolish to rash and inconsiderate and prejudiced Minds yet to them that are called to them that do believe both Jews and Gentiles Christ the power of God and the Wisdom of God Christ that is the way of our Redemption by Jesus Christ which the Apostle preached the wisdom of God an eminent Instance of it So that the redemption of Man by Jesus Christ is a Design of admirable Wisdom This I shall endeavour to confirm to you I. By general Testimonies of Scripture And II. By a more particular enquiry into the nature of this Design and the Means how it is accomplish'd I. By Testimonies from Scripture You know I have all along in my Discourses of the Attributes of God used this Method of proving them from the Dictates of Natural Light and the Revelation of Scripture But now I must forsake my wonted Method for here the Light of Nature leaves me The Wisdom of Creation is manifest in the things which are made the heavens declare the glory of God's Wisdom and the firmament shews his handy-work The Works of God do preach and set forth the Wisdom of the Creator but the Sun Moon and Stars do not preach the Gospel The Wisdom of redemption is Wisdom in a mystery hidden wisdom which none of the Princes or Philosophers of this World knew The sharpest Wits and the highest and most raised Understandings amongst the Heathens could say nothing of this Here the Wisdom of the Wise and the Vnderstanding of the Prudent is posed and we may make the Apostles challenge v. 20. of this Chapter Where is the Wise where is the Disputer of this World There is no Natural Light discovers Christ the Wise men cannot find him out unless a star be created on purpose to lead and direct to him Therefore in this I shall only depend upon Divine Revelation 1 Cor. 2.7 8. the Gospel is called the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory Which none of the Princes of this world knew Eph. 1.7 8. In whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in all Wisdom and Prudence Eph. 3.10 11. The manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. This work of our redemption by Jesus Christ is so various and admirable that it is not below the Angels to know and understand it To the intent that unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known the manifold wisdom of God II. By inquiring more particularly into the nature
and to dispence Rewards and Punishments so soon as there are Objects for them This is not thought necessary among Men much more ought we to leave it to the Wisdom of God to determine the time and circumstances of the exercising of his Justice and we are not to conclude that the Providence of God is unjust if he do not bestow rewards and inflict Punishments just when we think he should 2. If God intended this Life for a State of Tryal wherein he would prove the obedience of Men and their free inclination to good or evil it is not reasonable to expect that he should follow Men with present Rewards and Punishments for that would lay too great a force upon Men so that there would hardly be any oportunity of trying them but on the contrary there is all the Reason in the World to presume that God should exercise the Graces and Virtues of good Men with afflictions and sufferings and suffer bad Men to take their Course for a while and walk in their own ways without continual Checks by frequent and remarkable Judgments upon them so often as they offend 3. If there be another Life after this wherein Men shall be Judged according to their works then this Objection vanisheth for that great Day will set all things straight which seem now to be so Crooked and Irregular The deferring of Rewards and Punishments to the most convenient Season is so far from being a reflection upon the justice of God that it is highly to the commendation of it What Claudian says of Ruffinus a very bad Man whose long impunity had tempted Men to call in question the justice of God is considerable in this Case Abstulit hunc tandem Ruffini poena tumultum Absolvitque Deos. The Punishment which overtook him at last did quiet those tumultuous thoughts and absolved the gods from all blame When Men look but a little way and consider only the present state of Things they are ready to quarrel at the Justice of them but if they would look at the end of Things and have Patience to stay till the last to see the Conclusion and Winding up of things they would then acquit God in their thoughts from all those imputations of injustice which from the inequality of present dispensations rash and inconsiderate Men are apt to charge him withal II. Objection from the translation of Punishments the punishing of one Man's Sin upon another as of the Fathers upon the Children which God threatens in the second Commandment and did in some sort fulfil in Ahab in bringing the evil he had threatned him withal in his Son's Days 1 Kings 21.19 The punishing the Sin of one Person upon a People as that of Achan upon the whole Congregation Josh 22.20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the accursed thing and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel and that man perished not alone in his iniquity And the Sin of David upon the People 2 Sam. 24. When seventy thousand Dyed of the Plague for David's Sin in numbring the People Now how is this agreable to justice is it not a known Rule Noxa caput sequitur Mischief pursues the Sinner What can be more reasonable Quam ut peccata suos teneant Authores Than that Men's faults should be charged upon the Authors and Punishment fall upon the guilty For answer to this 1. It is not unreasonable that one Man should bear the punishment of another's Fault if he be willing and content to bear it Volenti non fit injuria There is no wrong done to those that are willing to undergo it tho' they be innocent which was the case of our Blessed Saviour suffering for us the just for the unjust as the Scripture expresseth it 2. Where the Person upon whom the punishment is trasfer'd is likewise a sinner and obnoxious to God there can be no injustice because he hath deserved it upon his own account and God may take what occasion he pleaseth to punish them that deserve to be punisht 3. In punishing the iniquity of the Father upon the Children the guilty Person that is the Father is punisht in the Calamity of his Children for a Man's Children are himself Multiplyed and therefore it is very remarkable that in the second Commandment God promiseth to shew mercy to thousands of Generations of them that love him but he visits the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children but to the third and fourth Generation that is so far as a Man may live to see them punisht and suffer in their Punishment 4. As to the Punishment of the People for the sins of their Princes and Governors and one part of a community for another supposing all of them to be Sinners which is the true case God may lay the punishment where he pleaseth and there is no more injustice then when a Man is whipt on the Back for the theft which his hand committed a community being one Body besides the Prince is punisht in the loss of his People the glory of a King consisting in the Multitude of his Subjects The Objection with respect to the other World the punishment of temporal Evils with Eternal is else-where answer'd The use we should make of this whole Discourse is First If God be Just and Righteous let us acknowledge it in all his dispensations even in those the Reason whereof is most hidden and obscure Neh. 9.33 Speaking of the great afflictions that had befal'n God's own People yet this he lays down as a firm Principle howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us Secondly This is matter of terrour to wicked Men. God doth now exercise his milder Attributes towards Sinners his Mercy and Patience and Goodness but if we despise these that terrible Attribute of his Justice will desplay it self and this the Scripture describes in a severe manner the Lord revengeth and is jealous the Lord will take vengeance on his Adversaries and reserveth wrath for his Enemies Thirdly This is matter of comfort to good Men that the Righteous God Governs the World and will judge it The Lord reigneth let the earth rejoyce Psal 97.1 And he gives the Reason of it in the next v. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his Throne Tho' he be omnipotent we need not fear for his Power is always under the conduct of Eternal Righteousness Fourthly Let us imitate this righteousness let us endeavour to be righteous as he is righteous let us give to God the Love Reverence and Obedience which are due to him and in all our dealings what is just and due to Men. This Duty hath an immutable Reason founded in the Nature of God SERMON XII The Truth of God DEUT. XXXII 4 A God of Truth IN speaking to this Attribute I shall I. Shew you what we are to understand by the Truth of God II. Endeavour to prove that this Perfection belongs to God that he is a God of Truth III. Answer