Creatures Redeemer his Mercy and Grace in delivering them from Temporal Evils and Calamities or especially from Eternal Death and Destruction Now these relative Titles though they properly belong unto God yet are they not absolutely essential to him but connote a respect unto the Creatures And therefore though before the Creation of the World God was for ever the same infinitely Blessed Being that he now is and by the Creation of it no accession was made to his infinitely perfect Nature for in him there is no variableness nor shadow of turning but he is yesterday and to day and the same for ever yet could he not be called by the Name of Creator or Lord or Redeemer or Father unless in respect of his Eternal Son But all these Titles result from the Relations wherein we stand unto God of Creatures Subjects and Children These Names therefore had their beginning some in the beginning of time and some since and yet they do very properly signifie unto us that God who is without beginning or end Secondly As his Titles so his Attributes are his Name and these are of two sorts either incommunicable or communicable First The incommunicable Attributes of God and these are those which are so proper to the Divine Essence that there is scarce the least foot-steps or resemblance of them to be found in any of the Creatures and such are his Eternity which denotes a duration as well without beginning as without end For though there are some Creatures whose Beings shall never have a period set to them as Angels and Men yet there is no Creature that never had no beginning of its existence And so God's Infiniteness and Immensity filling all places and exceeding all which was most excellently set forth in that most significant yet unintelligible Paradox of the Heathen Philosopher That God was a Circle whose Centre was every where but its Circumference no where His simplicity also excluding all Composition and Mixture which no Creature doth for take the most simple of them as Angels and the separate Souls of Men yet they are at least compounded in their Essences and Powers and Acts for the Power of Understanding is not the Soul nor the Act of Understanding the Power therefore in these there is one thing and another But it is not so in God but whatsoever is in God is God himself being one most pure and simple Act. Hence follows his immutability and unchangeableness there being nothing in God which was not from all Eternity And in the same rank are his Omnipotency and All-sufficiency his Omniscience and Independency and the like which are incommunicable Attributes and cannot without Blasphemy be ascribed unto any of the Creatures Secondly There are other Attributes of God that are communicable and are so called because they may in some Analogy and Resemblance be found in the Creatures also so to be Holy Just Merciful True Powerful and the like are the Names of God and yet may be ascribed to the Creatures So in that most Triumphant Declaration of his Name to Moses Exod. 34.5 6 7. we find that the most of the Letters that compose it may be found in some degrees even among Men the Lord proclaimed his Name the Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and Abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin Now this Name of God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and Abundant in Goodness which he seems so much to delight and glory in and which he adorns with such fair flourishes he himself would have us to own and intimate Luk. 6.36 Be ye merciful as your Father is merciful To aspire to a resemblance with God in his incommunicable Attributes and Name is a most horrid and blasphemous Presumption a Pride that cast the Devils from Heaven to Hell But to aspire to a resemblance unto God in his communicable Name is the tendency of Grace and the effect of the Spirit of God conforming us in some measure to his Purity and making us partakers in this sence of the Divine Nature And therefore it is press'd upon us Levit. 29.2 You shall be Holy for I the Lord your God am Holy And Mat. 5.48 Be ye therefore perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect Now these communicable Attributes of God though they may in some respects be found in the Creatures yet then are they properly the Names of God when they are applyed to him free from all those Imperfections with which they are necessarily attended in the Creatures Abstract them from all Imperfections and we may apply them to God as his Name Now these Imperfections are of two sorts either Privative or Negative A Creature is then said to be Privatively imperfect when he falls short of what he ought to be And so are the best of Men imperfect in this Life Merciful they are but still retain a mixture of Cruelty Patient they are but still they have Impatience mix'd with it Holy they are but yet not Spotless as the Law requires them to be And therefore in ascribing Holiness Mercy and Patience unto God we must be sure to separate from them all such Imperfections as are found in us through the mixture of the contrary Corruptions with those Graces otherwise they will be so far from being the Name of God that they will prove Blasphemous Derogatives from him neither is this enough but we must remove all Negative imperfections also Now a Creature is said to be Negatively imperfect when though it hath all the perfections that is due unto it or required from it yet it hath not all perfection that is possible or imaginable Thus the Holy Angels and the Spirits of just Men in Heaven although they are made perfect so as to exclude all Privative imperfection their Holiness and their Graces there being as perfect as they should be and as God requires from them yet have they a Negative imperfection that is there is some perfection of those Graces and of that Holiness further possible which they have not nor is it within the Sphere of their Natures to attain unto in which sence it is said Job 4.8 He chargeth his Angels with Folly that is not as if they wanted any Wisdom or Righteousness that was due unto their Natures but they had not all that Wisdom that was possible and so were at least Negatively imperfect In all perfections of the Creatures whether Angels or Men be they never so great or excellent there are Three imperfections that will necessarily attend them First That they have them not originally from themselves but derivatively from another who is the Author and Embellisher of their Natures Secondly That they have them not unchangeably but may not only increase but decrease yea or utterly lose them Thirdly That they have them not infinitely but in a stinted and limited measure Now in all the communicable Attributes of the Divine Nature remove from them these Three Negative Imperfections and then apply them
establish their Purgatory No O Sinner there is not any guilt left for thee to satisfie for not any reserve of punishment for thee to undergo but all thy Sins are so pardoned that they are in God's Account as if they had never been committed against him And therefore be thy Comforts never so strong and flowing and thy sense of God's pardoning Grace never so clear yet know that thy Pardon is still infinitely more perfect than thy Joy in it can be satisfactory For Assurance and the sense of Pardon is a Work of God's Spirit wrought in us and is commonly mixed with some hesitation and misgiving doubts but our Pardon is an Act of God in himself where it meets with nothing contrary and therefore with no abatement but is as perfect and absolute as ever it shall be in Heaven it self Thirdly Is it God that Pardons Then for thy comfort know that he can as easily forgive great and many Sins as few and small For the greatness and multitudes of thy Sins can make no odds in infinite Grace and Mercy only repent and believe God proclaims his Name Exod. 34 7. The Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin That is all sorts and sizes of Sins The greatest Sins repented of are no more without the extent of his Mercy than the least unrepented of are without the cognizance of his Justice And that there is any one though but one Sin unpardonable ariseth not so much from the atrociousness of the Fact as if it exceeded Mercy but only from the malignity of its Nature hardning the Heart against God and making it uncapable of Repentance otherwise could they who commit this Sin repent even they also should obtain Pardon Say not therefore Mine Iniquity is greater than can be forgiven I have out-sinn'd Mercy and there is no Portion for me in God his fiery Indignation will eternally devour me This is to be injurious unto God and to stint that Grace and Mercy which he hath made infinite And thou may'st with as much Truth and Reason say that thou art greater than God as that thy Sins are greater than his Mercy Yet here before I leave this let me caution you that you do not abuse this comfortable Doctrine of God's pardoning Sin and turn that into Presumption that was intended only to arm you against Despair Indeed both Presumption and Despair tend in a divers manner to encourage and harden Men in Sin The Despairing Sinner argues If I must not be saved if my Sins be so many and great that there is no Pardon for them to what purpose then should I live strictly To what purpose should I cross and vex my self by an unprofitable severity It is too great niceness to scruple farther sinning when I am already sure of Damnation and therefore if I must go to Hell I will make my way thither as pleasant as I can This is a kind of Despair that produceth not horrour as it doth in some but a most wretched carelessness what becomes of them On the other hand Presumptuous Men argue God is able to pardon the greatest and vilest Sinners they cannot sin beyond the reach and extent of his Grace and Mercy and therefore what need they yet trouble themselves to repent and reform they will yet indulge themselves a little longer in their Sins for it is as easie for God to pardon them at the last moment of their lives as upon many years preparation We see Iniquity every where most fearfully to abound in the World and doubtless both Despair and Presumption have too great an influence both upon the Minds and Lives of Men to make them careless in their Eternal Concernments Enough hath been spoken to the Despairing which are but few but to the Presumptuous let me add a Word It is the most unworthy and dis-ingenuous use they can make of the Mercy of God to press it to serve against its Authority Shall we continue in Sin that Grace may abound God forbid Shall we Sin licentiously because God pardons freely no the Grace of God obligeth otherwise the Love of Christ constraineth otherwise the filial disposition of the New Creature enclineth otherwise Gratitude and Retribution engage otherwise But if these motives be too refined and ingenious for thy sordid and slavish Spirit and if thou wilt still go on in the Presumption of thy Heart crying Peace Peace to thy self although thou continuest adding one Iniquity to another know O vile wretch that the Lord will not spare thee but the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoak against thee and all the Curses that are written in his Book shall come upon thee and the Lord will blot out thy Name from under Heaven Deutr. 29.19 And thus I have done with the general consideration of God's pardoning Sin held forth to us in this Petition Forgive us our Debts or Trespasses Now in this Petition we pray not only for the Pardon of Sin but likewise for all things that are antecedently necessary to obtain it As First We pray that God would discover to us the horrid odious Nature of Sin that he would convince us of the woful miserable Estate that we are in by Nature and how much more wretched and miserable we have made our selves by our sinful lives that he would set home the terrours of Sin upon our Consciences to our humiliation and make us Despair in our selves that we might fly unto Christ and lay hold on that help and refuge he hath set before us Secondly We pray that God would humble us under the sight and sense of our manifold Transgressions that as our Sins have made us vile in God's Eyes so they may make us vile in our own to loath our selves in dust and ashes for them Thirdly We pray that God would give us his Spirit to enable us to confess our Sins cordially and sincerely to pour forth our Hearts before him and to acknowledge our manifold Provocations with shame and godly sorrow upon which God promised to grant us pardon and forgiveness Prov. 28.13 He that covereth his Sin shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall find Mercy And the Apostle tells us If we confess our Sins God is Faithful and Just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness 1 Joh. 1.9 Fourthly We beg a more clear understanding of the Sacrifice and Atonement made by Jesus Christ through which alone all Pardon is purchased and procured To know both what it is and why ordained and likewise the knowledge of God's rich and free Mercy and the Conjunction of this Sacrifice and Mercy together in the great Mystery of the freeness of Divine Grace and the Satisfaction of Jesus concurring to the Remission of our sins and the Salvation of our Souls Fifthly We pray that we may have a high esteem of Christ and may hunger and thirst more after him and his
called our due and our right must be exacted to the very utmost what Debt is there that we are bound to forgive Those therefore are justly to be condemned that take every advantage against their Neighbours and although the Offence be but trivial a passionate Word or a sudden and light Blow that proceeded not from any propense and intended Malice or the like presently pursue such Advantages with rigour and extremity and because they may do it according to the Law of Man regard not the Law of God which commands us to forgive such Debtors And this is the first thing wherein forgiveness doth consist in abstaining from the outward Acts of Revenge and exacting satisfaction from those who have wronged us where we have seen how it is limitted and how to be observed Secondly Forgiving our Debtors consists in the inward frame and temper of our Hearts towards them that we bear them no Malice no Ill-will but be as much in Charity with them as though they never had offended us And this forgiveness we are bound always to exercise even in those cases in which we may seek for satisfaction yea although we could never prosecute them for satisfaction yet if we retain secret grudgings and animosities in our Hearts against them this is not an entire forgiveness and such as will be acceptable to God for he estimates the Heart and not only the outward Actions-which may have many bye ends to sway and direct them And thus I have as briefly as I could shown you what forgiving of our Debtors is and how far we are bound to do it And now Christians I know you cannot but reflect seriously upon it how hard and difficult a Duty this of forgiveness is It is that which the whole interest of Flesh and Blood and all the Party that Passions and Affections can muster up within us will certainly rebel against this Doctrine And alas how seldom is it that Men can conquer themselves so as to yield obedience unto it really and cordially Whence is it that all places are so full of Railing and Reviling Quarrels and Challenges vexatious Contentions and endless Suits Warrants Arrests Actions and Imprisonments and that upon slight Injuries and Provocations but only that they have not learned this necessary Duty of forgiving one another Nay many think it the part of a high Spirit and generous Nature to make themselves terrible to those whom they suppose have in the least wronged and affronted them and upon the least disgust fly out into all extremities of Threatnings and Revenge whereas in Truth this is but the Effect of a mean and sordid Spirit It is a Disposition breathed into Men's Souls by the Devil and demonstrates as a great deal of Pride so a great deal of Vileness and Baseness The truest Gallantry and Generousness is to imitate the great God in being patient and long-suffering and ready to pardon and forgive This is that heighth of Spirit the true Magnanimity and Greatness and if we would be perfect we must stoop stoop did I say rather we must aspire to this Heavenly Temper And to excite unto this consider First That it is infinitely more honourable to forgive a Wrong than to revenge it For First The one makes thee like to God the other makes thee like the Devil Yea it is the chiefest excellency by which God delights to be set forth I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions Isai 43.25 And who is a God like unto thee that Pardons Iniquity Micah 7.18 Now how Glorious is it to imitate God in that which he himself counts his chiefest Glory The Great Ones of the Earth imitate him in Power and Authority and are some kind of glimmering Types of his Majesty who daunts and dazles all approachers But a poor contemptible Christian whose meanness lays him open and exposed to all the Wrongs and Injuries of abusive and insulting Wretches may represent a far greater Glory of God than that wherein Princes and Monarchs shine even his Forbearance Pity Long-suffering and Pardon He may represent God sitting upon his Throne of Grace whereas the other represents him only sitting upon his Throne of Power Now God never Triumphs more in any Attribute than that of his Mercy See with what fair Flourishes he writes his Name Exod. 34.6 The Lord the Lord God infinite in Power that spreads forth the Heavens and rangeth all the Host of them that hangs up the Earth in the midst of the Air and the whole World in the midst of a vast and boundless nothing that pours out the great Deep and measures it in the hollow of his Hand that rides upon the Wings of the Wind and makes the Clouds the dust of his Feet No but when he would display himself in his greatest Glory he doth it in a still Voice The Lord God Merciful and Gracious Long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving Iniquity Transgression and Sin Now O Christian by forgiving those who have wronged thee thou makest thy self as a God unto them and imitatest him in that wherein he doth chiefly Glory Secondly It is more honourable because to Pardon is always the Act of a Superiour it is a Prerogative of Royalty and highly becomes the Majesty of those whom Christ hath made Kings as well as Priests and certainly they cannot better declare themselves such than by issuing out Pardons Think therefore with thy self O Christian when thou art wronged and affronted think what an advantage the petulancies of froward Men do give thee to make thy self their Superiour it is but pardoning them and thou ascendest the Throne And certainly they can never so much Triumph over thee by their Injuries as thou maist over them by Forgiveness And so much for the First motive Secondly Consider how many Offences God hath forgiven thee and this will be an effectual motive to engage thee to forgive others And here consider who it is that hath forgiven thee and what it is he hath forgiven thee First Consider who it is that hath forgiven thee And here consider the infinite distance that is between thee and him he is the Sovereign Lord and Creator of all in comparison with whom thou art nothing yea less than nothing He stands in no need of thee but whether thou live or die perish or art saved he is the same God for ever Blessed in himself He is able to destroy thee every moment able to breath thee back into thy Dust to look thee into Hell and Destruction They perish at the rebuke of thy Countenance Psal 80.16 And yet this high and absolute Lord at thy entreaty freely forgives thee all thy Debts although he might have gotten himself a great renown in thy everlasting Perdition and might have set thee up as a flaming Monument of his Wrath and inscribed on thee Victory and Truimph to the Glory of his everlasting Vengeance And shouldst not thou then O Man O Worm forgive thy Fellow-Servant
onely belongs to God and the Magistrate to whom he hath delegated it Rom. 13.4 For he is the Minister of God a Revenger to execute Wrath upon him that doth Evil. Q. But if the Wrong done us tend to the Loss of our necessary Subsistence or our Life may we not resist it and require satisfaction for it A. We may But it must be onely in a publick and legal Way and even then we must harbour no Malice against them but be ready to perform all the Offices of Charity and Kindness within our Power Q. May we not prosecute those who have wronged us unless the Injury be intolerable A. We may when we cannot pass by the Wrongs without wronging others But where the Injuries are supportable and we may forgive them without injuring of others the Law of Christianity commands us so to do Matt. 5.39 But I say unto you that ye resist not Evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy Right Cheek turn to him the other also Where the Scope of our Saviour is that we should rather be willing to suffer a second Injury than to revenge the first in Matters tolerable Q. But since this is a Duty so contrary to the revengefull Humour of Flesh and Blood what Arguments can you produce to perswade the Practice of it A. 1. First That it is far more honourable to forgive a Wrong than to revenge it Q. How does that appear A. 1. First Because by pardoning Wrongs we act like God and imitate him in that Attribute wherein he chiefly glories Exod. 34.6 The Lord the Lord God mercifull and gracious long suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth 2. Secondly Because to pardon is always the Act of a Superiour and a Christian expresseth the Royalty of his Calling by issuing out of Pardons Q. What is the second Motive A. Consider how many Offences God hath forgiven us though the Distance between him and us is infinitely greater than onely can be between fellow Creatures and though our Offences against him are infinitely more and greater than which we are to forgive to others Ours against him are but a few Pence Q. Which is the third Motive to enforce this Duty A. The Consideration of that binding Particle As Forgive us as we forgive others Q. Wherein lies the force of this A. By this we seal the Guilt of our Sins upon our own Souls unless we be ready and willing to forgive others And so we turn our Prayers not onely into Sin but into a direfull Tremendous Curse Q. Which is the sixth and last Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from Evil. Q. What learn you from the Method of this Petition A. In that it immediately follows the Petition wherein we prayed for Pardon of Sin I learn that it should be our Care not onely to seek for the Pardon of past Sins but the Prevention of Future Q. How is this Petition divided A. Into two Branches the one Negative Lead us not into temptation the other Positive but deliver us from Evil. Q. What signifies the Word Temptation A. It signifies proving or trying Which sometimes is done onely by way of Search and Exploration and sometimes is joined with Suasion and Inducement so that Temptations are either merely probatory or else they are likewise suasory Q. How many Sorts of Temptations are there A. Five in the general 1. Whereby one Man tempts another 2. Whereby a Man tempts himself 3. Whereby we tempt God 4. Whereby God tempts us 5. Whereby the Devil tempts us Q. How is one Man said to tempt another A. When either he persuades him to what is Evil. Prov. 1.10 My Son if Sinners intice thee consent thou not Or to do that which may bring him into danger Luke 20.23 Why tempt ye me Q. How is Man said to tempt himself A. Two ways 1. First When he unnecessarily rusheth into Danger and ventures upon the next Occasions of Sinning 2. Secondly When he is drawn away by his own Lust and inticed James 1.14 But every Man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own Lust and inticed Q. How are we said to tempt God A. Two ways 1. First When we by our Sins provoke him to take Vengeance upon us Psal 95.8 Harden not your Hearts as in the Provocation and as in the Day of Temptation in the Wilderness 2. Secondly When we presumptuously try the Providence of God having no Warrant nor Necessity to cast our selves upon the extraordinary Effects of it Mat. 4.6 7. And saith unto him if thou be the Son of God cast thy self down Vers 7. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God Q. How is God said to tempt us A. When in the Method of his holy Providence he brings us into such Circumstances as will discover either our Graces or Corruptions Gen. 22.1 2. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him Vers 2. Take now thy Son and offer him for a burnt-offering upon one of the Mountains which I will tell thee of 2 Chr. 32.31 God left him to try him that be might know all that was in his heart Q. How doth the Devil tempt us A. Alway by Suasion inducing us by his Art and Subtilty to the Commission of Evil. Q. What Temptations do we especially pray against in this Petition A. Three Sorts 1. First Such as proceed from our own Lusts and Corruption 2. Secondly Such as proceed from other Mens inticing us to Evil or insnaring us to Danger 3. Thirdly Such as proceed from the great Tempter the Devil Q. What learn we hence A. That it is a Christian's Duty not onely to keep himself from Sin but also from Temptations to Sin Q. What Reasons confirm this A. First Because it is designed of a rotten and corrupt Heart to be content to lie under a Temptation though it consents not to the Sin That Soul is not chast to God that is well-pleased with Sollicitations to violate its Duty Secondly Because while a Temptation dwells upon our Hearts we are in imminent Danger of committing the Sin to which we are tempted Thirdly Because most Temptations are not onely Temptations but Sins too as all evil Thoughts and Desires And as long as these abide in us with any Complacency and Delight so long are we in the actual Commission of Sin Q. How is God said to lead Men into Temptation A. Three ways 1. First When he providentially presents outward Objects and Occasions which do sollicite and draw forth our inward Corruptions 2. Secondly When he permits Satan or wicked Men his Instruments to tempt us And in these two Sences there is no Temptation whatsoever that befalls us but God leads us into it 3. Thirdly When he withdraws the Influences of his Grace and Spirit from us without which Dereliction no Temptation could prevail over us 2 Chr. 32.31 God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his
for ever and it is an incommunicable Attribute of his Divine Essence to be so But because all the perfections and properties of God are God himself therefore this everlastingness here in the Doxology ascribed to his Kingdom his Power and his Glory are said to be for ever Yet not only these but whatsoever is in God is absolutely Eternal His Righteousness is an everlasting Righteousness Psal 119.142 His Truth endureth for ever Psal 117.2 His Mercy is for ever Psal 136.1 His Mercy endureth for ever which is there made the burden of that most excellent Song and the sweet close of every verse in it His Love is for ever Jer. 31.3 I have loved thee with an everlasting love Now in treating of the Attributes of God I shall endeavour to shew these three things First What the true and proper notion of Eternity is Secondly That God is Eternal Thirdly What encouragement our Faith may have from this Attribute of God's Eternity that those things which we pray unto him for shall be granted unto us First Let us see what Eternity is And here though it be altogether impossible exactly to describe what is boundless and infinite yet to help our weak and shallow conceptions we may take this notion of it Eternity is a duration which hath neither beginning nor end nor succession of parts Or according to the common description of Boethius Est interminabilis vitae tota simul perfecta possessio It is the compleat possession of an endless life all at once So that it is distinguished from all other durations whatsoever First In that other durations have had their beginnings for all things were Created either in time or with time but Eternity was before all time and shall be after it Secondly In that all Temporal durations are successive measured by the motions of Heavenly Bodies by years days and hours but Eternity is permanent it is but one abiding instant and hath no parts following one after another and though it comprehends all time within its infinite Circle yet it doth not move along with time For as Rivers are contained within their banks and flow along by them part after part without any motion of the banks themselves so Time is contained within Eternity and flows along in it without any motion or succession of Eternity it self This I confess is hard if not altogether impossible to be formed into an Idea yet conceiving Reason will infallibly demonstrate that Being which neither hath beginning nor end can have no succession in its duration for where-ever there is Succession there must needs be a Priority and where-ever there is a Priority there must needs be a beginning And if Eternity did consist and were made up of such parts as are equal and commensurate to our years and days it must needs follow that these parts themselves must be infinite for if they be but finite we shall come to a beginning which is not to be granted in Eternity And if they be infinite then in Eternity there must be as many Millions of Years as of Minutes and consequently a Minute would be equal to a Million of Years yea the least part of a Minute would be equal to it which is grosly absurd But I shall not detain you with these Philosophical Speculations Only when we say that God is from everlasting to everlasting we ought not to conceive that there is any Succession in his duration that he grows older or that he hath continued longer this day than he was yesterday For though when we speak of God we are forced to use such expressions and denote Succession in his Being as that he was from everlasting and that he shall be to everlasting yet to say that God was or that he shall be is only allowable by reason of the penury of our conceptions But in strict propriety these are derogatory to him for God neither was nor shall be but only is and enjoys his Eternal Essence immutably and unsuccessively And therefore when Moses demanded his Name that he might inform the Israelites who that God was that would take pity of their Sufferings he tells him thou shalt say unto them I AM hath sent me to you Exod. 3.14 And this indeed is the best and fittest expression of his Eternity and unchangableness Yea and the Scripture hath given us one more high and lofty expression of it Psal 90.4 A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past what is yesterday to this day but a mere nothing So a thousand years yea all the thousand years and all the time that ever the Orbs of Heaven shall spin out to the World is all to God but as yesterday when it is past he lives not by it nor is his Being measured out by days or years but it is a perpetual Now a standing Moment an indivisible and permanent instant without flux or vicissitude Indeed it is wholly inconsistent with Eternity and an infinite duration that there should be any thing past or any thing to come in it For what is already past cannot be infinite because it is already ended And what is to come cannot be Eternal because there was something going before it And from hence it appears that a duration which is Eternal must be without beginning without end and without any Succession of parts Now Secondly That God is thus Eternal appears both from clear Evidence of Scripture and invincible demonstrations of Reason it self First The Scripture bears abundant witness to the Truth of this Attribute Psal 102.25 26 27. The Heavens are the Works of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old as a Garment but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end Psal 90.2 Before the Mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the Earth and the World even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God Isa 43.10 Before me was there no God formed neither shall there be after me 1. Tim. 1.17 Now to the King Eternal and Immortal the only Wise God be Honour and Glory But I cannot stand to cite all the Testimonies that might be alleadged Secondly The Eternity of God may be demonstrated by clear and irrefragable reason And that I shall give you in these several gradations First It is absolutely necessary that there be some first cause of all things that are made which is not it self made or produced by any For the series of Causes is not infinite otherwise no effect could be produced since what is infinite cannot be pass'd through And if all Beings that are are caused by some pre-existent Being then there is not nor ever was a Being before which there was not another and so this gross absurdity will follow That before there was a Being there was a Being which is a contradiction Therefore we must necessarily rest in some first Cause from which all things have their Origin and is it self caused by no other Secondly