may persuade you to a diligent search and perusal of the Scriptures The Jews indeed were so exact or rather Superstitious in this that he was judged a despiser of those Sacred Oracles who did not readily know how often every Letter of the Alphabet occurred in them This preciseness God hath made use of to deliver down his word to us unvaried and uncorrupted It is not such a scrupulous search of the Scripture I now exhort you to but as God hath left it to us a rich Depositum a dear pledge of his Love and care so we should diligently attend to a rational and profitable study of it There are but two things in the general that commend any writing to us either that it discovers knowledge or directs practice that it informs the Judgment or reforms the Life Both of these are eminently the Characters of this Book of God And therefore David tells us Psal 19.7 The Law of God converts the Soul and makes wise the simple It is a light not only to our heads but it is a Lamp unto our Feet and a light unto our paths Psal 119.105 Let us consider it as to both First In point of knowledge as it perfects the understanding and so it will appear in sundry particulars how excellent a study it is For First The Scripture discovers unto us the knowledge of those truths that the most improved natural Reason could never sift out and are intelligible only by Divine Revelation God hath Composed two Books by the diligent study of which we may come to the knowledge of himself The Book of the Creatures and the Book of the Scriptures The Book of the Creatures is written in those great Letters of Heaven and Earth the Air and Sea and by these we may spell out somewhat of God He made them for our instruction as well as our service There is not a Creature that God hath breathed abroad upon the face of the Earth but it Reads us Lectures of his infinite Power and Wisdom So that it is no absurdity to say that they are all the Works of his mouth so they are all the works of his Hands The whole World is a speaking workmanship Rom. 1.20 The invisible things of God are clearly seen by the things that are made even his eternal Power and Godhead And indeed when we seriously consider how God hath poised the Earth in the midst of the Air and the whole World in the midst of a vast and boundless nothing how he hath hung out those glorious lights of Heaven the Sun the Moon and Stars and made paths in the Sky for their several courses how he hath laid the Sea on heaps and so girt it in that it may possibly overlook but not overflow the Land when we view the Variety Harmony and Law of the Creation our Reason must needs be very short if we cannot from these collect the infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness of the Creator So much of God as belong to these two great Attributes of Creator and Governour of the World the Book of Nature may plainly discover to us But then there are other more retired and reserved Notions of God other truths that nearly concern our selves and our eternal Salvation to know and believe which nature could never give the least glimpse to discover What Signature is there stampt upon any of the Creatures of a Trinity in Unity of the eternal Generation or temporal Carnation of the Son of God What Creature could inform us of our first fall and guilt contracted by it Where can we find the Copy of the Covenant of Works or of grace printed upon any of the Creatures All the great Sages of the World though they were Nature's Secretaries and ransack'd its abstrusest mysteries yet all their Learning and Knowledge could not discover the Sacred Mystery of a Crucified Saviour These are truths which Nature is so far from searching out that it can scarce receive them when revealed 1. Corinth 2.14 The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God neither can he know them because they are Spiritually discerned The light that can reveal these must break immediately from Heaven it self And so it did upon the Prophets Evangelists and Apostles the Pen-men of the Holy Scriptures And if it were their singular Privilege that the Holy Ghost should descend into their breasts and so possess them with Divine inspirations that what they spake or wrote became Oracular how little less is ours since the Scriptures reveal to us the very same truths which the Spirit revealed to them God heretofore spake in them and now he speaks by them unto us Their Revelations are become ours the only difference is that what God taught them by extraordinary inspiration the very same truths he teacheth us in the Scripture by the ordinary illumination of his Spirit Here therefore whilest we diligently converse in the Book of God we enjoy the privilege of Prophets The same word of God which came unto them comes also unto us and that without those severe preparations and strong agonies which sometimes they underwent before God would inspire them with the knowledge of his Heavenly truth That is the first Motive and Argument Secondly The knowledge which the Scripture teacheth is for the matter of it the most sublime and losty in the World All other sciences are but poor and beggarly Elements if compared with this What doth the Naturalist but only busie himself in digging a little drossie knowledge out of the Entrails of the Earth The Astronomer who ascends highest mounts no higher than the Coelestial Bodies the Stars and Planets which are but the out-works of Heaven But the Scripture pierceth much farther and lets us into Heaven it self There it discovers the Majesty and Glory of God upon his Throne the Eternal Son of God sitting at his right hand making a prevailing and Authoritative intercession for us The glittering train of Cherubims and Seraphims an innumerable company of Angels and the Spirits of Just Men made perfect So that indeed when you have this Book laid open before you you have Heaven it self and all the inconceivable glories of it laid open to your view What can be more sublime than the nature of God And yet here we have it so plainly described by all its most glorious Attributes and Perfections that the Scripture doth but beam forth light to an Eye of Faith whereby it may be inabled to see him who is invisible But if we consider those Gospel Mysteries the Scripture relates the Hypostatical Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in Christ's incarnation the Mystical Union of our persons to his by our believing that the Son of God should be Substituted in the stead of guilty Sinners that he who knew no sin should be made a Sacrifice for sin and the Justice of God become reconciled to Man through the blood of God these are Mysteries so infinitely profound as are enough to puzzle a whole College of
AN EXPOSITION ON THE Lord's Prayer WITH A Catechistical Explication Thereof by way of QVESTION and ANSWER For the Instructing of YOUTH To which is added some SERMONS On Providence and the Excellent Advantages of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures By EZEKIEL HOPKINS late Lord Bishop of London-Derry LONDON Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the Kings-Arms and Edward Mory at the Three Bibles in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1692. EZEKIEL HOPKINS EPISCOPUS DERENSIS Printed for Nathanael Ranew Imprimatur Guil. Lancaster R. P. D. Henrico Ep. Lond. Ã Sacris Domesticis April 7. 1692. THE PREFACE TO THE READER Christian Reader THe following Discourses upon that Excellent and Divine Prayer of our Blessed Saviour contain so much of Practical Divinity necessary to be known by all Christians and are so Solidly and Judiciously handled that they need no Epistle Recommendatory unto the World having the Stamp of the Divine Authority upon the Truths contained in them But if any shall curiously enquire whether this Reverend and Learned Prelate designed and finished them for the Press I may truly return the same Answer that is given in Print by the present Bishop of Cork and Ross to the same Question in his Epistle to the Reader before this Author's Exposition on the Ten Commandments namely That they were Transcribed by himself and by him deposited in the hands of a Minister whom he could intrust to be made Publick after his Decease whose Epistle should have been prefixed hereunto but that he is far distant in another Nation and the Press cannot tarry so long for it the Book being just finished And as a further Confirmation that his Lordship intended it should be made Publick appears by his so often quoting this his Discourse on the Lord's Prayer in his Treatise on the Commandments which could not be seen or read by others but by the Printing of it Vpon which many Persons have been very desirous and inquisitive after it Vnto this large and general Exposition on the Lord's Prayer there is added a brief and short Catechistical Explication thereof by way of Question and Answer made use of by his Lordship for the instructing of the younger and more ignorant Christians in the Knowledge and Vnderstanding of those Divine and Heavenly Truths contained in this most Excellent Prayer And for a Conclusion of all there are added several Sermons Preached by this Learned Prelate upon the Providence of God and on the Excellency and Usefulness of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures All which have been diligently and carefully perused by several Persons of the Author's Acquaintance both of the Clergy and others with very good Acceptance and Satisfaction and the whole is now with Approbation exposed unto publick view And that the present Publication of them may tend much to the promoting of the Honour and Glory of God and the Edification of many Souls in Grace and Holiness is the hearty Prayer of the Publisher Farewell The Vanity of the World with other Sermons in Octavo Discourses and Sermons on several Scriptures in Octavo An Exposition on the Ten Commandments with other Sermons in Quarto All Written by Ezekiel Hopkins late Lord Bishop of London-Derry and Sold by Nathanael Ranew A Practical EXPOSITION ON THE LORD'S PRAYER Matth. VI. 9 10. c. After this manner therefore Pray ye Our Father which art in Heaven Hallowed be thy Name Thy Kingdom come Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this Day our daily Bread And forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors And lead us not into Temptation But deliver us from Evil For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever Amen HAving often seriously considered with my self of the great use that is made of this most excellent Form of Prayer composed by our Blessed Lord and Saviour himself as also of the great Benefit and Advantage that might accrue unto all those that with understanding make a due use of it in their daily Devotions I thought it might be very necessary for your Instruction and greatly conducible unto your Salvation to lay before your consideration as brief and succinct an Exposition thereof as the large extent and various copiousness of the matter contained therein will permit The Blessed Apostle St. Paul in 1 Cor. 14.15 tells us That he would pray with the Spirit and he would pray with Vnderstanding also And indeed when we pray to pray with Understanding what we pray is one great requisite to make our Prayers Spiritual and through the prevailing Intercession of Jesus Christ to become acceptable unto God the Father But to mutter over a road of Words only as the Papists are taught and as multitudes of many ignorant Persons among us do also without understanding what they signifie or being duly affected with those Wants and Necessities which we beg of God the Supplies of is not to offer up a Prayer unto the Almighty but only to make a Charm Now because there is no Form of Prayer that ever we have heard or read of that is deservedly so much in use as this of our Lord's is I shall endeavour in some Discourses thereupon to unfold to you those Voluminous Requests which we offer up unto God when we thus pray as our Saviour here teacheth us wherein as I doubt not but as I may greatly instruct the Ignorance of many so possibly I may bring very much to the remembrance of those who have attained to great understanding in Religion those things which may provoke their Zeal and excite their Affections and both these Undertakings through the Blessing of God upon it may be very usefully profitable to enable them to pray with Understanding and with the Spirit also when they approach the Throne of Grace to present their Petitions unto the Great God as by the Intercession so in the Words of his dear Son In this Chapter which contains in it a great part of our Saviour's Sermon on the Mount our Lord lays before his Hearers several Directions concerning two necessary Duties in a Christian's Practice and they are Alms-giving and Prayer the former a Duty relating more immediately unto Men the latter a Duty in a more especial manner respecting God himself in both which he not only cautions us against but strictly forbids all Ostentation and Vain-Glory Therefore says he when thou dost thine Alms do not sound a Trumpet before thee for this is the Practice of Hypocrites that they may have Glory of Men verse 2. And when thou prayest be not as the Hypocrites for they love to pray in the Synagogues and Corners of the Streets that they may be seen of Men verse 5. Thus must we not do in either of these Cases For as we must not give Alms that we may be seen of Men so neither must we pray that we may be heard and observed of Men For what can be more absurd and ridiculous as well as wicked and impious than to be begging Applause from some when we
sinceall partake of the same common Nature much more as we partake of the same especial Grace To interest one another in our Prayers and thereby maintain the Communion of Saints Q. But since God is every where present why hath our Saviour taught us to direct our Prayers to our Father in Heaven A. First because Heaven is the most glorious Place of God's Residence and therefore God is represented to us in Heaven to affect us with his Glory and Majesty Secondly Because God no where hears our Prayers with acceptation but onely in Heaven For there onely are they represented by Christ's Intercession which he makes in both Natures Q. What learn ye from our being commanded to direct our Prayers to God in Heaven A. That we should so pray as to pierce Heaven which cannot be done by the strength and intention of our Voice but of our Zeal and Affection Q. Is the Voice necessary in Prayer A. It is onely upon three Accounts 1. As that which God requires should be imployed in his Service 2. VVhen in secret it may be an help to raise our Affections still keeping it within the Bounds of Decency and Secrecy 3. In our joyning with others it is an help likewise to raise and quicken their Affections Q What is the first Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Hallowed be thy Name Q. What is here meant by the Name of God A. First God's Name is himself Psal 20.1 The Lord hear thee in the Day of Trouble the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee and many other Places Secondly The Name of God is any perfection ascribed unto him whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What are the Names of God A. His Titles and his Attributes Q. What are his Titles A. They are many as Jehovah which signifies Being and giving being Creator denoting his Infinite Power Lord and King denoting his Authority and Dominion Father signifying his Care and Goodness towards his Creatures Redeemer noting his Mercy and Grace in delivering them from Temporal Evils and especially from Eternal Death Q. What are the Attributes of God A. They are of two Sorts either Incommunicable or Communicable Q. Which are his incommunicable Attributes A. Such as are so proper to the Divine Essence that they cannot in any Measure or Resemblance be ascribed to the Creatures Such are the Eternity Immensity Simplicity and Immutability Q. What are his communicable Attributes A. They are such as may in some Analogy and Resemblance be found in the Creatures As Holiness Justice Mercy Truth VVisdom and Power Q. Since they are to be found in the Creatures how are they then the proper Names of God A. They are the proper Names of God when they are applied to him free from all those Imperfections that attend them in the Creatures Q. What are these Imperfections A. They are Three 1. First That all the Perfections of the Creatures are not Originally from themselves but derivatively from God 2. Secondly They are not infinite but limited 3. Thirdly They are not unchangeable but mutable Q. How then do these become the Names of God A. VVhen we ascribe them unto God as Originally from himself and infinitely and unchangeably in himself Q. What is it to hallow this Name of God A. It signifies to make his Name Holy Q. How can God or his Name be made Holy A. Neither by Dedication to Holy Uses nor by Infusion of Holy Habits both which are frequently in Scripture called Hallowing or Sanctifying but onely by Declaration of his Glory and Holiness Q. How do we hallow the Name of God by Declaration A. VVhen in our most reverend Thoughts we observe and admire the Expressions of his Attributes and indeavour to set them forth to others both in VVords and Actions Q. What pray you for in this Petition Hallowed be thy Name A. For three Things in the General 1. First VVe beg such Graces for our selves as may inable us to sanctifie the Name of God Q. What are they especially A. Knowledge and Understanding of his Nature VVill and VVorks Thankfulness for every Mercy Patience under every Affliction Faith in his VVord and Promises For to believe God's VVord gives Glory to his Name Rom. 4.20 He staggered not at the Promise of God through Vnbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God An Holy and Exemplary Life whereby we especially glorified God and induce others to do so too Matt. 5.16 Let your Light so shine before Men that they may see your good Works and glorifie your Father which is in Heaven And lastly savoury and well ordered Speech that we may not prophane the Name of God by Oaths or Curses or vain using it but speak of him with all Holy Fear and Reverence Q. What else do we beg of God in this Petition A. VVe beg that others also may receive Grace to inable them to sanctifie his Name And Thirdly we beg that God would so over-rule all Things that his Glory may be promoted by them Q. What learn you from Christ's making this the first Petition of his Prayer A. 1. First That the Glory of God is to be preferred by us before all other Things whatsoever John 12.27 28. Now is my Soul troubled and what shall I say Father save me from this Hour But for this Cause came I unto this Hour Father glorifie thy Name Then came there a Voice from Heaven saying I have both glorified it and will glorifie it again 2. Secondly That in the Beginning of our Prayers we ought to beg Assistance from God to present them that his Name may be hallowed Q. What is the second Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Thy Kingdom come Q. How manifold is the Kingdom of God A. It is two fold either Universal or else his peculiar Kingdom Q. What is God's Vniversal Kingdom A. The whole VVorld both Heaven and Earth and Hell it self and all things in them Psal 103.19 The Lord hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all Q. How doth God exercise his Dominion over this Kingdom A. By the Power of his Providence disposing of all his Creatures and all their Actions according to his VVill. Q. But since wicked Men are Rebels against God how doth he maintain his Dominion over them A. Three ways 1. First In that they cannot sin without his Permission 2. Secondly In that he restrains them when he pleaseth 3. Thirdly In that he justly punisheth them for their Sins sometimes in this Life always in the next Q. What is God's peculiar Kingdom A. His Kingdom of Grace which is the Church and that either Militant here on Earth or else Triumphant in Heaven Q. How is the Church Militant to be considered A. As it is either Visible or Invisible Q. What is the Visible Church of God here on Earth A. It is a Company of People openly professing the Truths that are necessary to Salvation and celebrating the Ordinances appointed by Jesus Christ Q.
Divine Equity This inequality of Affairs seems to perswade that it is not the Holy and Righteous God of Heaven but rather the God of this World that Governs the concerns of it and that he spoke truth when he told our Saviour Luke 4.6 The Power and Glory of this World is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it Now to Answer this First This quarrel is not only of late commenced against Heaven but it hath been the complaint of all Ages It raised controversies among the very Heathens themselves some of them upon this ground denying and others again by whole treatises defending the Government of the World by Providence And no wonder it should puzzle them since the very best of God's Saints and Servants have likewise stumbled at this stone of offence Thus the Psalmist Psalm 73.2 3 c. As for me my Feet were almost gone my steps had well nigh slipt For I was envious at the Foolish when I saw the prosperity of the Wicked So likewise the Prophet Jeremy 12.1 Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgment Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously This therefore is an old grief which in all Ages of the World hath been complained of And though at first sight it seems to confute the Providence of God yet if we more narrowly consider it 't is a strong confirmation of it For since vertue and goodness is so despicable a thing in the World since holy and good Men have been always injured and persecuted certainly were there not an all wise providence that finds out ways and means of its own to counterpoise these disadvantages and to preserve them amidst the rage and hatred of their implacable Enemies long ere this there had been none of them left either to have suffered or complained Were there no other argument to prove that God governs the World this would suffice even That his Servants have been continually oppressed in it yet never could be rooted out of it Though Men and Devils have combined together against them and God as they have complained hath deemed to abandon them yet such a fenceless and forlorn generation as this hath been hitherto and shall still be preserved to the very end of the World Doth not this speak forth the Power and care of Almighty God thus to keep a bush unconsumed in the midst of fire to preserve fuel untouch'd in the very embraces of flames Secondly God doth chastise his own People and prosper the wicked that he might thereby rectifie our Judgments and teach us not to account adversity the greatest Evil nor yet prosperity the chiefest Good For certainly were they so only the Righteous should enjoy the Grandeur Pomp and Glory of this World and only the wicked and ungodly become miserable Concerning this St. Austin speaks excellently in his 70th Epistle Worldly things saith he are in themselves but indifferent and good and evil only as they are improved but least they should be thought always evil therefore God sometimes gives them to those who are good and least they should be thought the highest and the chiefest good they are sometimes given to those who are evil And a like saying to this hath Seneca in his Book de provident cap. 5. There is no such way to traduce the Riches the Honours the Pleasures of this Life those vain nothings which are so earnestly desired and eagerly pursued by the most no such way to beat down their price in the esteem of all wise and good Men as for God to bestow those upon the vilest which he sometimes denies to the best and Holiest Thirdly When God bestows any temporal good thing upon wicked and ungodly Men he gives it as their Portion and when he brings any calamity on his own Children he inflicts it for their tryal Is it not ordinary that a Servant receives more for wages than a Son may have for the present at his own command God is the Father and bountiful maintainer of the whole Family both in Heaven and Earth a Father to the Faithful a Lord and Master over all He may give his Slaves large wages when his own Children possibly have not so much in hand Is he therefore hard or unjust No The inheritance is theirs and that is kept in reversion for them What wicked Men possess of this World is all that ever they can hope for Why should we grudge them filled bags or swelling Titles 'T is their whole Portion They now receive their good things Hast thou Food and Cloathing That is Childrens fare Envy not ungodly Men who flaunt it in the Gallantry of the World They have more than you but 't is all they are like to have The Psalmist gives us an account of their Estate Psalm 17.14 They are the Men of this World who have their Portion in this Life whose bellies God filleth with his hid Treasure whereas thou O Christian who possessest nothing art Heir apparent of Heaven Coheir with Jesus Christ who is the heir of all things and hast an infinite Mass of Riches laid up for thee So great and infinite that all the Stars of Heaven are too few to account it by You have no reason to complain of being kept short for all that God hath is yours Whether Prosperity or Adversity Life or Death all is yours What God gives is for your comfort what he denies or takes away is for your tryal it is for the increase of those graces which are far more gracious than any temporal enjoyment If by seeing wicked and ungodly Men flow in wealth and ease when thou art forced to strugle against the inconveniencies and difficulties of a poor Estate thou hast learnt an Holy contempt and disdain of the World believe it God hath herein given thee more than if he had given thee the World it self Fourthly God doth many times even in this World expound the mystery of his Providence by the fatal and dreadful overthrow of those wicked Men whom he for a while suffered to prosper The triumph of the wicked saith Job 20.5 is short At longest it is but short because measured out by a short Life Now is their triumph hereafter their torment But many times God brings them to ruine even in this Life He turns the Wheel of Providence and makes it pass over those who but a while before set vaunting a top of it And then wilt thou doubt whether God governs the World by Providence Wilt thou doubt whether God be just in suffering wicked Men to prosper and flourish God lifts them up on high only that he may cast them down with the more terrible fall When the workers of iniquity prosper saith the Psalmist Psalm 97.2 it is that they might be destroyed for ever Now when God comes thus to execute Judgment upon them those who questioned the Providence of God in their advancement
Angels Now these the Scripture propounds unto us not only to pose but to perfect our understanding For that little knowledge we can attain unto in these things is far more excellent than the most comprehensive knowledge of all things else in the World And where our scanty apprehensions fall short of fathoming these deep mysteries the Apostle hath taught us to seek it out with an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 11.33 O the depth of the Riches both of the Knowledge and Wisdom of God! how unreasearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out Thirdly The Scripture is an inexhaustible Fountain of Knowledge the more you draw from it the more still springs up It is a deep Mine and the farther you search into it still the richer you find it It is tedious to read the works and writings of Men often over because we are soon at the bottom of what they deliver and our understanding hath nothing new to refresh it But in reading the Scripture it fares with us as it did with those whom Christ miraculously fed the bread multiplied under their Teeth and increased in the very chewing of it So here while we ruminate and chew on the truths of the Scripture they multiply and rise up thicker under our meditation One great cause of the neglect that many are guilty of in reading the Holy Scripture is a fear that they shall but meet with the same things again which they have already read and known and this they account tedious and irksome Indeed if they read it only Superficially and slightly it will be so But those who fix their minds to ponder and meditate upon the word find new truths arising up to their understanding which they never before discovered Look as it is in a Starry night if you cast your Eyes upon many spaces of the Heavens at the first glance perhaps you shall discover no Stars there yet if you continue to look earnestly and fixedly some will emerge to your view that were before hid and concealed So is it with the Holy Scriptures If we only glance curiously upon them no wonder we discover no more Stars no more glorious truths beaming out their light to our Understanding St. Augustine found this so experimentally true that he tells us in his third Epistle that though he should with better capacity and greater diligence study all his Life time from the beginning of his Childhood to decrepit Age nothing else but the Holy Scriptures yet they are so compacted and thick set with truths that he might daily learn something which before he knew not God hath as it were studied to speak compendiously in the Scriptures What a Miracle of brevity is it that the whole Duty of Man relating both to God and his Neighbour should be all comprised in ten words Not a word but were the sence of it drawn out were enough to fill whole Volumes and therefore the Psalmist Psal 119.96 I have seen an end of all perfection but thy Commandments are exceeding broad When we have attained the knowledge of those things that are absolutely necessary to Salvation there yet remain such depths of Wisdom both in the manner of Scripture expression and in the mysteriousness of things exprest that after our utmost industry still there will be left new truths to become the discovery of a new search Fourthly The Scripture exhibits to us that knowledge which is necessary to Eternal Salvation This is Life Eternal to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17.3 And this knowledge the Scriptures alone can afford us John 5.39 So 2 Tim. 3.15 We need not therefore enquire after blind traditions or expect any whimsical Enthusiasms the written word contains whatsoever is necessary to be known in order to Eternal Salvation and whosoever is wise above what is written is wise only in impertinences Now hath God contracted whatever was necessary for us to know and summed it up in one Book and shall not we be diligent and industrious in studying that which doth so necessarily concern us Other knowledge is only for the adorning and embellishment of Nature this is for the necessity of Life of Life Eternal I have before spoken enough concerning the necessity of knowledge unto Salvation and therefore shall not farther inlarge Therefore as St. Peter said to Christ Lord whither shall we go thou hast the words of Eternal Life So let us Answer whatsoever may seem to call us off from the diligent study of the Scriptures Whither shall we go to this we must cleave with this we will converse for here alone are the words of Eternal Life Fifthly The Knowledge that the Scripture discloseth is of undoubted Certainty and perpetual Truth it depends not upon Probabilities or Conjectures but the infallible Authority of Christ himself he hath dictated it for whom it is impossible to lye The rule of our Veracity or Truth is the conformity of our Speech to the existency of Things but divine Truth and Veracity hath no other Rule besides the Will of him that speaks it He must needs speak infallible Truth who speaks things into their beings such is the omnipotent Speech of God Whatsoever he declares is therefore true because he declares it Never matter how strange and impossible Scripture-Mysteries may seem to Flesh and Blood to the corrupt and captious understandings of natural Men when the word of God hath undertaken for the Truth it is as much impiety to doubt of them as it is Folly to question the reality of what we see with our very Eyes Nay the information of our Senses what we see what we hear what we feel is not so certain as the truth of those things which God reveals and testifies in the Scriptures And therefore the Apostle 2 Pet. 1.18 19. Speaking of that Miraculous Voice that sounded from Heaven Matth. 17.5 This is my beloved Son in whom I am well Pleased We saith the Apostle heard this Voice when we were with him in the Holy Mount but we have also a more sure word of Prophecy or as the Greek may well be rendred We account more sure the word of Prophecy unto which ye do well that ye take heed What a more sure word than a Voice from Heaven When God himself shall vocally bear witness to the Truth Yes we have a more sure Word and that 's the Word of Prophesie recorded in the Old Testament And hence it will follow that because the Prophecies concerning Christ may seem somewhat obscure in Comparison with this audible Voice from Heaven therefore the testimony of obscure Scripture is to be preferred before the testimony of clear Sence Now therefore if you would know things beyond all danger either of Falshood or Hesitation be Conversant in the Scripture where we may take all for certain upon the Word and Authority of that God who neither can deceive nor be deceived Sixthly The Scripture alone gives us the true and unerring Knowledge
of our Selves Man that busies himself in knowing all things else is of nothing more ignorant than of himself the Eye that beholds other things cannot see its own shape and so the Soul of Man whereby he understands other objects is usually ignorant of its own Concernments Now as the Eye that cannot see it self directly may see it self reflexively in a Glass so God hath given us his Scripture which St. James compares to a Glass James 1.23 and holds this before the Soul wherein is represented our true State and Idea There is a four-fold state of Man that we could never have attained to know but by the Scriptures His state of Integrity His state of Apostacy His state of Restitution His state of Glory The Scripture alone can reveal to us what we were in our Primitive Constitution Naturally Holy bearing the Image and Similitude of God and enjoying his Love free from all inward perturbations or outward Miseries having all the Creatures subject to us and what is much more our selves What we were in our state of Apostacy or Destitution despoiled of all our Primitive Excellencies dispossess'd of all the Happiness we enjoy'd and of all hopes of any for the future lyable every Moment to the revenge of Justice and certain once to feel it What we are in our state of Restitution through Grace begotten again to a lively hope Adopted into the Family of Heaven Redeem'd by the Blood of Christ Sanctified and Sealed by the Holy Spirit restored to the Favour and Friendship of God recovering the initials of his Image upon our Souls here on Earth and expecting the perfection of it in Heaven What we shall be in our final State of Glory cloathed with Light Crowned with Stars inebriated with pure spiritual Joys We shall see God as he is know him as we are known by him love him ardently converse with him eternally yea a state it will be so infinitely happy that 't will leave us nothing to hope for This Four-fold state of Man the Scripture doth evidently express Now these are such things as could never have entred into our Hearts to have imagined had not the word of God described them to us and thereby instructed us in the knowledge of our selves as well as of God and Christ Now let us put these six particulars together The Scripture instructs us in the knowledge of such things as are intelligible only by divine Revelation it teacheth us the most sublime and lofty Truths 't is a most inexhaustible Fountain of Knowledge the more we draw the more still springs up it teaches that Knowledge that is necessary to Salvation It is of undoubted certainty and perpetual Truth And Lastly it informs us in the knowledge of our Selves and certainly if there be any thirst in you after Knowledge there needs no more be spoken to perswade you to the diligent study of the Scripture which is a rich Store and Treasury of all Wisdom and Knowledge Thus we have seen how the Scriptures inform the Judgment Let us now briefly see how they reform the Life and what practical influence they have upon the Souls of Men. Now here the word of God hath a mighty Operation and that in sundry particulars First This is that word that convinceth and humbles the stoutest and proudest Sinners There are two sorts of secure Sinners Those who vaunt it in the Confidence of their own Righteousness and those who are secure through an insensibility of their own Wickedness Both these the word when it is set home with Power convinceth humbles and brings to the Dust It despoils the Self-Justitiary of all that false Righteousness he once boasted of and trusted to I was alive once without the Law saith St. Paul but when the Commandment came sin revived and I dyed Rom. 7.9 It awakens and alarms the senseless seared Sinner How many have there been that have scorned God and despised Religion whom yet one curse or threat of this word hath made to tremble and fall down before the convincing Majesty and Authority of it Secondly This is that word that sweetly comforts and raiseth them after their Dejections All other Applications to a wounded Spirit are improper and impertinent 'T is only Scripture Consolation that can ease it The leaves of this Book are like the leaves of that Tree Rev. 22. which were for the healing of the Nations The same Weapon that wounds must here work the cure Thirdly This is that word that works the mighty change upon the heart in Renovation Take a Man that runs on in vile and desperate Courses that sells himself to do Iniquity and commits all manner of Wickedness with Greediness and makes use of all the Arguments that reason can suggest these seldom reclaim any from their Debaucheries Or if in some few they do reform the Life yet they can never change the heart But now that which no other means can effect the Word of God can Psal 19.7 The Law of God is perfect converting the Soul Fourthly This is that word that strengthens and arms the People of God to endure the greatest temporal Evils only in hope of that future reward which it punisheth Fifthly This is that word that contains in it such a Collection of Rules and Duties that whosoever observes and obeys shall in the end infallibly obtain everlasting life Though I can but just mention these Heads unto you yet there is enough in them to perswade you to be diligent in the Scriptures In them saith our Saviour ye think to have Eternal Life We are all of us guilty Malefactors but God hath been pleased to afford us the Mercy of the Book And what shall we not so much as read for our Lives This is that Book according to which we must either stand or fall be acquitted or condemned Eternally The unalterable Sentence of the last day will pass upon us as it is here recorded in this Scripture Here we may before-hand know our Doom and what will become of us to all Eternity He that believeth shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned 'T is said Rev. 20.12 That when the dead stood before God to be Judged the Books were opened That is the Book of Conscience and the Book of the Scripture Be perswaded to open this Book and to judge your selves out of it before the last day 'T is not a sealed Book to you you may there read what your present State is and foretell what your future will be If it be a State of Sin and Wrath search farther there are Directions how you may change this wretched State for a better If it be a State of Grace and Favour there are Rules how to preserve you in it 'T is a word suited to all Persons all Occasions all Exigencies It informs the Ignorant strengthens the Weak comforts the Disconsolate supports the Afflicted relieves the Tempted resolves the Doubtful directs all to those ways which lead to endless Happiness where as the Word of God hath dwelt richly in us so we shall dwell for ever gloriously with God FINIS
being thus infinite he both knows himself and all other things in himself First God perfectly knows himself he knows the boundless extent of his own being and though he be infinite and incomprehensible to all others yet is he finite and comprehended to himself and hence it follows Secondly That he knows particularly all other things For if he knew himself perfectly he must needs know all things besides himself because none can perfectly know himself that doth not fully know all that his power and strength can reach unto But now there is nothing which the power of God cannot reach for by his power he Created all things And therefore knowing his own Essence which is the cause of all he knows every thing in the secundity of his Essence Thus we have demonstrated it from the principles of Reason that God necessarily knows all things But providence denotes more than knowledge And therefore Fifthly This knowledge that is in God is not like that which we acquire 't is not a knowledge that depends upon the objects known and forms Idea's from the contemplation of things already existing But it is like the knowledge of an Artificer which causeth and produceth the things it comprehends God knows them before they are and by knowing them brings them to pass God knows all things saith St. Austin de Trinitat 15. Not because they are but therefore they are because God knew them So that his eternal knowledge and understanding gives being to every thing in the World Sixthly It appertains to him who gives being to a thing to preserve and govern it in its being And therefore God giving being to all things he also doth maintain and provide for them 'T is the very Law of Nature that he hath imprinted upon all his Creatures to provide for their own Off-spring We see with what sollicitous affection and tenderness even brute and irrational Creatures do it We are all the Off-spring of God and he our common Parent And therefore certainly he who hath inspired such Parental care in all things else doth himself much more take care to give Education to all to which he hath given being Thus you see is proved that God's Providence reacheth unto all things It might likewise be demonstrated from God's omnipresence He is present every where with and in all his Creatures and certainly he is not with them as an idle and unconcerned spectator but as the director and governour of their Actions But I shall proceed to the second sort of Arguments to prove the Divine providence And those are taken from the consideration of the frame and Compages of the World the beauty and harmony which we see in Nature The World is a Book wherein we may clearly read the wonderful Wisdom of God There is no Creature that doth not proclaim aloud that God is the wise Creator and Governour of it Who hath Gilded the Globe of the Sun and put on his Rays Who hath set its bounds and measured out its race that it should without sailing without error or mistake know how to make its daily and Annual returns and divide out times and seasons to the World Who hath given a particular Motion to all the Voluminous Orbs of Heaven and beat out a path for every Star to walk in Who hath swathed in the great and proud Ocean with a Girdle of Sand and restrains the Waves thereof that though they be higher than the Land yet they shall not overflow it Who poiseth the oppositions and contrarieties that are in Nature in so even a balance that none of them shall ever prevail to a total Destruction of the other Who brings up the great Family of brute Beasts without tumult and disorder Do not all these great and wonderful works speak forth the watchful Providence of God who as he makes them by his word so still governs them by his Power Therefore whatsoever we receive beneficial from them whatsoever seems to provide for our necessities or conveniencies it is God that hath so dispensed the Government of the World as to make it serviceable If the Heavens turn and move for us if the Stars as so many burning Torches light us in the obscurity of the Night if the Angels protect and defend us let us acknowledge all this from the Providence of God only It is he that turns the Heavens round their Axis He lights up the Stars he commands the Angels to be Ministring Spirits Guards and Centinels about us If the Fire warm us the Air refresh us the Earth support us it is God that hath kindled the Fire that hath spread forth the Air stablish'd the Earth upon the Pillars of his own decree that it should not be shaken And let us know too that when we want these Creatures for our sustentation if the Heavens if the Angels if the Earth if the Sea if all things should fail us yea bandy and set themselves against us yet God who provides for us by them can also if he please provide for us without them Thus we have dispatch'd the two general inquiries and have described and demonstrated unto you the Divine Providence The third which remains is to answer some questions and doubts which may be made and have indeed been strongly urged against the Government of the World by Providence As First If the World be governed by Providence whence comes it that wicked and ungodly Men flourish and prosper that God shines upon their Tabernacles and drops fatness upon all their paths Whereas on the conrary the Godly are often exposed to Poverty Contempt Reproaches persecuted by Men afflicted by God Would it not be as agreeable to the Divine goodness to cast abroad the Wealth the Pomp and Glory of this World with an undeciding hand leaving Men to scramble for them as they can as that he should with a particular and studied care advance those who contemn him and crush those who humbly trust and depend upon him Can I think the World is governed by the Providence of a just God when usually unjust Men govern the World under him When swaggering Sinners who despise him have power likewise to controul others Is it Wisdom to put a Sword into that hand which will turn the point of it against the giver Or Justice to impower them to all those Acts of Rapine Violence and Oppression which they commit And shall we call that Providence which is neither wise nor just One hath an unexhausted store to supply his dissolute Luxury and Riot another scarce necessaries to maintain a poor Life spent in the commands of God Here a wicked Dives who worshipped no other God but his own Belly feasts deliciously every day whilest a Godly Lazarus starves at this glutton's Gate and entertains the Dogs with licking of his Sores And what doth God's particular care furnish the glutton's Table with dayly excess who will not give the remaining Scraps to God's Children If there be Divine Providence in this what is become of the