things as the World accounts 'em confounds the Wise There are Instances of it in the History of Moses as to the Plagues of Egypt But it was more manifest in the whole Frame of Christianity and in the Success and Prevalency of it He defeated the Devil's Design and overturn'd his Empire by such Means as could never be supposed by Reason to do it By the Seed of the Woman whom he had seduc'd by the Son of God in our Flesh suffering and dying for us He wrested the Victory out of Satan's Hands by humbling himself to the Death of the Cross and so by dying destroyed him that had the Power Death THERE are other Instances might be given as where God strengthens the spoyled against the strong He brings down those that dwell on high the lofty City he layeth it low He layeth it low even to the ground he bringeth it even to the dust The Foot shall tread it down even the Feet of the Poor and the Steps of the Needy Isa 26.6 7. The Stone cut out out of the Mountain without hands shall dash in pieces great Mountaius all the four great Monarchies of the World and fill the whole Earth HIS Ways are not as ours in that he often prefers the Younger before the Elder and gives them the Precedency and Principal Blessing Abel was preferr'd before Cain and his Offering accepted Abraham the Younger chosen to be God's Favourite before his Elder Brethren Jacob before Esau and He preferr'd Ephraim before Manasseh the Elder Son of Joseph So it is observed by the Spirit of God of Noah's Children Shem is preferr'd and called the Brother of Japhet the Elder Gen. 10.21 And David the Youngest Son of Jesse is chosen to be King and the Man after God's own Heart To manifest the Freedom of his Counsels and the Soveraignty of his Grace and Providence Was not Esau Jacob's Brother yet Jacob have I loved 3. HIS Ways and Ours differ also in this that he is never frustrated or disappointed in his Work as to what he designs He brings the Counsels of Men to nought and the Devices of the People to none Effect but the Counsel of the Lord shall stand Psalm XXXIII 10 11. He speaks the word and it shall stand He confirms the Word of his Servants and performs the Counsel of his Messengers saying to Jerusalem be thou inhabited and to the Cities of Judah ye shall be built that saith to the Deep be dry and I will dry up thy Rivers He saith of Cyrus he is my Shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem thou shalt be built and to the Temple thy Foundation shall be laid Isa XLIV latter end Our Ways are not like his he will always overcome when he judgeth He will fulfill all his Pleasure and accomplish all that is in his Heart which we cannot pretend to do II. Secondly GOD's Ways not only differ from ours but do Transcendently exceed 'em are infinitely above them as high as the Heavens are above the Earth There is an unsearchable Depth in the Ways of God which we are call'd to adore but cannot comprehend We may cry out with the Aopstle O the Depth both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out Rom. XI His Judgments are a great Depth Psal XXXVI 7. He is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in Working His Wisdom is unscarchable and his Ways past finding out Job V. 9. Chap. IX 10. There are many things in Divine Revelation and Providence that transcend our Reach If we will not allow this but must have a particular Reason for all that God speaks and doth before we will believe it What 's this but to make his Wisdom finite like ours or ours Infinite like His On this Account the great Masters of Philosophy in former Ages were the worst Enemies to the Gospel of Christ because the Apostles nakedly represented their Doctrines without that Wisdom or Demonstration from Natural Principles which they used and therefore the Gospel was Foolishness to them 'T IS the not owning God's Ways to be above ours but making our Reason the Supream Judge concerning Doctrines supernaturally revealed which is the Spring of the many Errors and Blasphemies that abound among us at this Day Whereas we may as well measure the Justice or Injustice of the Providential Works of God by our Will and Choice Whether what he doth be Just and Good or not because 't is what we like or do not like as by our finite Minds comprehend whether that can be true which in a Divine Revelation is delivered as a true Doctrine We can no more conceive the Wisdom and Goodness of God in some Events of Providence than his Veracity in some Truths revealed More particularly First As to Scripture Revelation what we are to believe Let 's consider that God's Ways and Thoughts are Above ours And what is therein asserted we must receive and credit upon the Authority of a Divine Testimony tho' the Doctrine there laid down may be such as hath no Foundation in Nature that is it could not be known but by Divine Revelation 'T is a sufficient Reason for us to believe the Doctrine because we find it in the Holy Scripture and we have Reason to acquiesce therein because the Revelation that is contain'd in this Book we have Ground to believe is from GOD and so infallibly true If we will own our Baptism and take CHRIST for our Teacher we must receive the Truth of what HE hath revealed upon a Divine Testimony tho' we cann't comprehend how such a Christian Doctrine may be reconcil'd to our common Notions of things in other Cases I grant the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity for Instance carries a very great Difficulty in it and is more opposed as Incredible and Vnintelligible than other Principles of Christian Religion But this being Reveal'd from Heaven as we affirm and make an Article of our Faith if we find it contain'd in the Holy Scriptures God's Ways being so far above ours will do much to answer the Objection of its being Incomprehensible IF GOD be INCOMPREHENSIBLE why should any thing he 's pleas'd to say seem Incredible to us Where he has interpos'd by his Definitive Sentence our Reason must submit and has no Right to debate the Matter but ought to approve what God speaks and subscribe to whatever he writes The Testimony of God whatever Exceptions our Reason can make should convince our Judgment and doth oblige our Faith Is not His Veracity a firm and sure Foundation for us to relye upon without the concurrent Testimony of Reason Shall we not believe Infinite Wisdom and Truth upon his own Word unless what he saith be in it self Credible and so may be believed without his Testimony The more we consider what God is the more easily shall we be perswaded that he is equally to be believed when he affirms what we cannot understand to be true
as when he declares that which by the common Principles of our Reason we know is so If we own a Divine Revelation we can no more Doubt of the one then the other unless a Divine Testimony must receive its force from the Evidence of our Reason Which is to destroy all the Testimony of Divine Revelation in Supernatural Truths where the Evidence of Reason fails What! tho' we cannot give an Account how it is or can be so as we find it in the Scripture is any thing that God says the less Credible upon that Account 'T is the highest Reason to believe every thing that God hath said His Authority hath Strength sufficient to secure my Faith against all such Objections as arise only from Ignorance and want of Principles to Judge by or from the Incomprehensibleness of the Object IT seems plainly the Design of the Apostle 1 Cor. II. Chap. to obviate the great Objection that is now brought by Infidels and Socinians by granting it to be true That what we are taught to beleive by the Gospel is Inconceivable and above the Reach of Humane Reason That many Doctrines of the Gospel are such as could neither be discovered nor when they were could be received and applauded by the Rational Part of Mankind It was not the Wisdom of Men nor of this World but the Wisdom of God 5th and 6th Verses The Apostle did not go about to perswade the World of the Truth of them in such a Manner as the Wise Men among the Gentiles made use of to perswade the People of their Opinions But the Gospel being a Divine Revelation they endeavoured to prove the Truth of it by the Demonstration of the Spirit and of Power i. e. by Supernatural Proofs from Ancient Prophecies by uncontested Miracles and such like Testimonies of God's owning the Gospel to be a Revelation from him So that their Faith did not stand in the Wisdom of Men but in the Power of God And therfore we should not be stumbled nor think Strange if Matters of Divine Revelation should be Inconceivable by meer Reason HE let 's them know that even this was foretold by the Prophets Verse 19. for it is written by the Prophet Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor hath it enter'd into the Heart of Man c. But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit by which Spirit Christ and his Apostles made known this Doctrine And it follows The Spirit searcheth all things even the deep things of God And therefore tho' the Things be such as we never thought of before and we cannot well conceive when they are told us yet that is no such Wonder for the Nature of our own Souls cannot be conceiv'd by any Inferior Being nor our secret Thoughts known by any other of our Fellow-Creatures Ver. 11. For what Man knoweth the Things of a Man but the Spirit of Man within him and so the things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God As we cannot know the secret Purposes of other Men 'till they themselves discover them so the Councils of God concerning our Salvation which depend meerly upon his own Will none can know but the Spirit of God and by some Revelation from that Spirit and not by Natural Reason For the Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God i. e. is acquainted with all his secret Counsels THE great Question therfore will be Whether the Revelation that contains such and such incredible Doctrines be Divine And accordingly the Apostle adds in the next Verse that he built his Faith not upon the Philosophy or Inventions of Men but upon the Revelation which God hath made We have not received the Spirit of the World but the Spirit which is of God that we may know the things that are freely given us of God These Things could never else have been known and therefore it should not offend any that we do not endeavour to prove these Doctrines by Philosophical Arguments But by such as are proper to prove them by viz from Divine Revelation Which things also we speak not in the Words which Man's Wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual That is the Revelations of the Old Testament with those of the New And after all he he tells us in the 14th Verse That the Natural Man who will believe nothing but according to his own preconceived Notions from Natural Reason He receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God they are Foolishness to him He will not allow that to be divinely revealed which is above meer natural Reason He considers only the Difficulty in the Doctrine it self how it can be true not what Reason he hath to believe such a Revelation to be from God And so he cannot know them because they are to be spiritually discerned that is to be judged of by the Revelation and Testimony of the Holy Spirit and not by the meer Light of Reason They are to be received upon the Account of a Divine Revelation THE the whole Tenor of the Apostles Discourse seems to obviate or answer this Objection of the Doctrines of the Gospel being Incredible and Vnintelligible And if we apply it to the Doctrine of the Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ it will hold good notwithstanding the Difficulty how Three can be one or how our Blessed Saviour can be God and Man How there is one Divine Nature or Essence common unto Three Persons united in Essential Attributes and yet distinguish'd from each other in order and manner of Subsistance and by peculiar Idioms and Relations These Notions may puzzle our Reason to conceive but should not stagger our Faith to believe as Reveal'd in the Holy Scripture Considering what God is and what We are 't is unreasonable to reject any Article of Faith because we cannot fully conceive the Nature and Manner of its being True Shall we compare our Darkness with his Incomprehensible Light Or equal our Understanding with his Shall we refuse to believe what he hath declar'd for Truth unless we can reconcile it with our Maxims What room is there left for Faith at this rate What Credit is given to Divine Testimony if we believe nothing to be True in Gods Word except we can Fathom it and would otherwise believe without his Testimony IF we consider the Imperfections of our Understandings both as to the Finite Nature of the Soul and the Manifold Experience we have of it every Day we must be content to be Ignorant of many Things What is well known in many Civilized Countries as some have observed to illustrate this may appear very strange to a great Part of the Heathen World The Fabrick of a Watch or the mutual Communication of Thoughts by Writing would it may be be as unconceivable to a Barbarous Indian as the Mistery of the Trinity is to us yet the Truth of the Thing doth not depend upon his Conception of it AND how short do the
of your past Lives and Seal to you the Forgiveness of all Sin through the Blood of Jesus You need not you ought not to doubt it for As high as the Heavens are above the Earth so are God's Thoughts of Mercy above ours and his Ways above ours THE Fifth Sermon ISAIAH LV. 8 9. For My Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways My Ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are My Ways higher than your Ways and My Thoughts than your Thoughts THE Disparity between the Thoughts and Ways of God and Ours here mention'd hath special Reference to the Dispensation of his Grace and Mercy in Pardoning the Worst of Sinners who forsake their Evil Ways and return to God by unfeigned Repentance But in this Discourse I Design to Consider these Words in a larger and more General Sense and show that The Ways of God are not as Ours but as far above 'em as Heaven is above the Earth By the Ways of God we may either understand First Those he would direct us to Walk in what he would have us to Believe and Do. Or Secondly His Ways and Works towards us in the Conduct and Management of Things by his Providence In the First Sense we read of the Way of Truth the Way of his Commandments and of walking in the Way of the Lord c. that is receiving as true the Doctrines he hath Revealed and Observing the Orders and Obeying the Commands which he hath given us In the latter Sense by the Ways of God I Mean his Works of Providence according to his Word In both these in the Declarations of his Word as to what we are to Believe and Do and in the Works of his Providence what he doth with us there are many things far above us His Ways are not as Ours as to Either BOTH may here be very well Comprehended The Revelations of the Will of God by his Word as to Faith Worship and Practice And also his Providences and Dealings with the Children of Men according to Scripture Revelation Our Ways are not as His as to either There is a vast Disparity between them In this Sense His Ways are very unlike to Ours and transcendently above them both as to Matters of Revelation and Providence I. First In what Sense are God's Ways not like Ours but vastly Different 1. THEY are Different as to the Nature of ' em All his Ways and Works are Perfect done with Infinite Wisdom and Judgment And therfore when Moses publishes the Name of God he begins with this Deut. XXXI 4. He is a Rock His Work is perfect all his Ways are Judgment They are the Fruit of Infinite Unerring Councel But what Weakness and Imperfection what Defect and Folly do we discover in our Ways All his Ways are Righteous and Holy Psal CXLV 17. He is Holy in all his Ways and Righteous in all his Works But what Impurity and Obliquity is there in ours All His Ways are Just and Equal He Challengeth all the World to prove the Contrary in any one Particular What doth he require of us but in the strictest Justice is Due whereas how Unequal is our Carriage towards Him and one another There is an Admirable Harmony and Agreement in the Ways of God as to all the parts of them connected one with another His Word is constant and abiding steddy and consistent not Yea and Nay 2 Cor. I. 19 20. All his Promises are Yea and Amen The Strength of Israel is not a Man that he should lye nor the Son of Man that he should repent But we are Mutable and often cross and contradict our Selves in our Ways And the Best Men do too often discover this Inconstancy in Principle and Practice 2. THERE is a further Difference between the Ways of God and Ours in the Methods and Means used and taken and the Manner of his Proceeding to effect an End His Way is to make Weak things confound the Mighty and things base and despised and which are not to bring to Nought things that are 1 Cor. I. 27. We cannot do so God would not use the Wisdom and Power of the World for the spreading of the Gospel but by the Foolishness of Preaching it pleased God to bring Men to believe and make the Doctrine of the Cross of Christ the Power of God to their Eternal Salvation The Instrument he employ'd and the Methods he used to give Success to the Gospel did plainly evidence this AND that Instance may serve instead of many other Was it not an unlikely Attempt for a few Mean and Obscure Persons such as Publicans and Fisher-men and Tent-makers without the Improvements of Education or the Advantages of Learning Eloquence Experience and Conversation in the World without the Assistance of Civil Power and Authority or any Considerable Interest and Reputation to require all Mankind to believe in one Jesus whom they own was Crucified that he was alive and was Lord and King and must be receiv'd and obeyed as the Christ of God To tell all the World that all the establish'd Rights and Religion of their several Countries must be laid aside and their wicked Customs and Courses forsaken and this new Religion of Jesus be embrac'd that requires the Belief and Practice of so many things they must need account very hard considering the Prejudices and the Lusts of Men. Could they hope that Kingdoms and Empires Schools and Universities would easily submit to this Change that they should be too hard for the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness by preaching the Doctrine of a Crucified Saviour And yet in the Space of about thirty Years this new Doctrine and Religion was not only diffused thro' the greatest part of the Roman Empire but had reach'd as far as Parthia and India Even before the Destruction of Jerusalem as our Lord foretold Mat. XXIV 14. This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all Nations and then shall the End come This Success was represented by an Angel flying thro' the midst of Heaven and preaching the Everlasting Gospel to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People Rev. XIV 6. And this was done without Force of Arms and against all Opposition imaginable Their Message was entertain'd their Doctrine credited and Christ believed on in the World Many thousands were converted presently and many more afterward Tho' the Messengers employed could not be sure of Success any further than certain of the Truth of their Doctrine and of the Divine Presence and Power to accompany them But they might be almost sure of enduring Torments and losing their Lives for publishing such a Doctrine and persisting in it in the manner they did But the Wisdom of God and the Power of God is glorified in succeeding such Weak Instruments to such Excellent Purposes IN all the Methods of his Providence we find that by weak things he confounds the Mighty and by Foolish