Heaven viz. the Stars and shews us their Aspects Dispositions and Motions which were hid in the day This darkness unbends the world and gives a short and necessary truce to mans labours and recreates their wasted spirits The Sun finisheth its compass about the world in twenty four hours a very short space for so long and tedious a circuit The diversities of seasons proceed from the motion of Psal 19. 1 2 3. the Sun and as the motion of the Sun from East to West makes day and night so its motion from North to South causes Summer and Winter and by both these the world is preserved Summer crowns the Earth with flowers and fruits and Winter which seemeth to be the death of nature robbing the earth of its heat and life contributes very much to the universal good it prepares the Earth by its cold and moisture for the returning Sun and seasons Indeed the motion of the Sun is admirable running ten or twelve millions of leagues every day without failing one minute of its appointed stage and inviolably observes its due and constant order Let us meditate on the Air whose extent fills the space between Heaven and Earth it is of a pure and reviving nature and easily transmits the influences of the Heavens And as One observes It is the Arsenal for Thunders Lightnings whereby God summons the world to dread and reverence Pedro d' Mexia Imper. Histor Diaphanus est Aer nisi verò talis esset species rerum coloratarum et figurarum adeòque omnium rerum visibilium recipi non possit nec ad oculos nostros deferri ac proinde nihil à nobis videri quâ—â—e igitur est hoc beneficium quodnam speculum hoc pulchrius c. insomuch that Caligula Rome's Emperour was wont to fly under his Bed at the noyse of the Thunder The Air it is the treasury of the clouds which dissolving in gentle showers refresheth the earth and calls forth its seeds into flourish and fruitfulness it fans the earth with the wings of the wind allaying those intemperate heats which otherwise would be injurious to the worlds inhabitants The Air is the region for the birds wherein they pass us so many mâ—ving Engins praising the Creatour the Air being onely their larger musick-room The Air serves for the breath and life of man and is divided into several Regions there are three Regions of the Air all usefull and admirable in their kind And as Zanchy observes By the Air things become visible and colours are seen in their proper comliness and beauty Let us meditate on the Sea that vast body of waters which fill the hollow and excavated places of the Earth as the Oceanus totam per circuitum terram eamque exâ—avatam instar magni et latissimi circuli ambiens efficit ut terra supra et infra sit â—quis detenta idque ex dei mandato tum ad perfectionem ornatumque universi tum ad plantarum et animantium salutem blood doth the veins of man Here the Leviathan playes and sports it self in its liquid traces and windings the high and proud waves serving to racket and bandy this Sea-Monster from one place to another Job 41. 1. Psal 104. 26. And in these great waters Gods admirable power is seen that they should be reined in by so weak a bridle as the sand and its rage should be snaffled by it when the wayes beat upon the shore in their insultation you would fear they would swallow up all but they no sooner touch the sand but all is turned into froth and its watrish insolence evaporates How doth the Lord descant upon these mountanous billows and this swelling Ocean Job 38. 8 9 10 11. Who shut up the Sea with doors when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb When I made the cloud the garment thereof and thick darkness a swadling-band for it and Job 38 8 9 10 11. brake up for it my decreed place and set bars and doors and said Hitherto shalt thou come and no further and here shall thy proud waves be stayed The extent of the Sea is likewise to be considered it washes the four parts of the world and becomes the Bond of the Universe by it the most distant Nations are united it is the medium of Trade and Commerce in which Divine goodness is much to be observed and adored and Commodities peculiar to several Countries are made Common to all Thus great advantage and delight accruâ—s to man who sails upon this kind Element to the Port of his desire Let us meditate on the Earth Consider its position it hangs in the midst of the Air to be a convenient habitation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato in Cratylo for us It s stability is rare the Air it self is not able to bear a feather and yet the whole Earth remains in it fixt and unshaken notwithstanding all the storms and tempests which beat upon it surely the invincible and powerful hand of God must needs support and sustain it We may likewise contemplate on the various dispositions of the parts of the Isa 44. 24. Job 38. 4 6. Terra corpus est simplex grave solidum et densum in medio mundi tanquâ—m fundamentum ipsius collocatum eoque proprio in loco immobile et rotundum Zanc. earth the Mountanes Vallies Rivers which are as the veines to carry nourishment to this great body Nor are Plants to be pretermitted their roots whereby they draw their nourishment and the firmness of their stalk by which they are defended against the violence of the winds the expansion of their leaves by which they receive the dew of Heaven So now all the parts of the world may afford fuel for holy meditation The Heavens give light the Air breath the Sea Commerce the Earth habitation all these things being pondered and meditaâ—ed on in them we may read the Name of God indelibly printed Our meditation may flutter its wings over these considerables and fly into admiration of the Infiniteness Power Excellencies and Perfections of the Great Creatour Let us meditate on Man the abridgement and recapitulation of the whole Creation Let us consider and observe Psal 139. 15. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the composure of his body He was fearfully and wonderfully made as the Psalmist speaks Psal 139. 15 16. Let us take notice of the powers of his soul and who but an infinite Agent could unite this soul and body and clasp them together an immaterial soul with an earthly body Who but God the great Jehovah could assign them both their form situation temperature and fitness for those uses to which they serve Acts 17. 27 28. We may indeed see God in the activity of our hands in the beauty of our eyes in the vivacity of our senses and if we look inward what distinct and admirable faculties is the soul endowed and enriched with The understanding exercises the Empire over all
other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist faculties the will pursues with eagerness either that which is good or that which appears to be so the memory preserves fresh and lively the pictures of those things which Galerus antiquissimus peritissimus mediâ—us partes hominis corporales delineans in admirationem raptus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex clamat are committed to its charge Surely this consideration would make our meditations on the Lords day most sweet and delectable and what a golden thread of divine wisdom runs through the whole Universe The Order of the world shews the wisdom of God Prov. 3. 19 20. The Earth is set lowermost as the foundation of the rest the Sea is pent within its Channels the Air is above them both and the Heavens are the highest loft of the Creaâ—ion And so admirable order may be seen in making the world God proceeding from things imperfect to things more perfect First there is the rude mass then the Heaven and the Earth glorious Psal 104. 24. creatures but without life then Herbs and Plants which 1 Cor. 1. 21. have a vegetative life but without sense or motion then the brute Creatures which have sense and motion but want reason and last of all Man whom God endows with a reasonable soul and makes him after his own image And Gen. 1. 1 2 11 20 26. in this order we may perceive first the dwelling place is appointed then the food then the creature which is to feed 1 Kings 10. 7. upon it the beast upon the herbs and man upon the beasts The Queen of Sheba was astonished at Solomons wisdom when she perceived the well ordering of his family Certainly Abraham cum suis civis erat non Canaan sed Coeli in Canaan domum haberâ— noluit seâ— in mobili semper habitavit tabernaculo qui oculos jugiter conjiciebat in coelestem civitatem Ansel did we observe the order of nature we should more wonder at the infinite wisdom of God Heb. 11. 10. Amos 9. 6. The several parts of the world are sometimes compared to a building and in this great house every part conspires to the beauty service and decency of the whole The roof of this building is Heaven the Sphears are Chambers and stories in the Heavens the foundation of this building is the Earth Job 38. 5 6. The Stars and glorious Luminaries are windows in this house and the Sea is the water-course which serves this magnificent Structure And it is observable that every thing in the world is fitted for use and service The workmans skill is as much commended in the use of an instrument as in the making of it Now the upper Isa 40. 28. Heavens are made for the habitation of the Saints the middle Isa 43. 15. Heavens to give light heat and influence the Air or lower Isa 42. 5. heavens to give breath to sustain both man and beast the Isa 45. 12. fruits are for food the plants and herbs for medicine Galen Mal. 2. 10. saith there are six hundred muscles in the body of man and Eph. 3. 9. every one fitted for ten uses and so for bones nerves arteries and veins whoever shall observe them their situation use correspondence cannot choose but fall into admiration of the wise Creatour The wisdom of Men and Angels cannot mend the least thing in a Flie the figure colour quantity or quality of a worm or of a flower all which are made with so much exactness And it was no less then blasphemy in Alphonso the Spanish King to aver That had he been the Maker of the World he would have cast it into a better form No All the works of Creation are stupendious and admirable and are as so many asterisks to point out the glory and fame of that incomprehensible being who was the author and founder of them CHAP. XIX God is most wonderfull in the works of his providence WE must meditate on the works of Providence God is seen and manifested not onely in the making but Duplex est in deo potentia una quâ novit omnia altera per quom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Amm. in the governing of the world not onely in the power of his hand but in the wisdom of his head he hath not onely made the ship but he sits at the stern and is the pilot to guide it Divine providence will be more fitted and suited to holy meditation if we trace providence In its conservation of all things in their beings By Gods immutable and powerfull providence all things are sustained Quomodo aut Sapiens esset deus mundi conditor sine sciret aut omnipotens si non posset aut bonus si nollet mundum quem condidit cur are gubernare and supported Acts 17. 28. It is a good saying of a learned man How could God be unspeakably wise if he knew not be infinitely powerful if he could not be admirably good if he would not govern and take care of the world he hath created A Master of a Family will take care for and support the Children of his loins the servants of his house and the place of his habitation where he himself hath taken up his abode That God rules and sustains all things by his good Providence is easily to be demonstrated if we look upon the world in general He hangs the Earth upon no king Job 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 26. 7. And what then should sustain that great vast and massy body but the supporting hand of the Almighty He not only sustains a Body of Earth but gives life and breath unto all things Acts 17. 25. The World doth not only rest steddy as leaning upon the Pilâ—ar of Gods Power but all creatures in the world have their life and motion from him He puts a principle of life into them to travel and flit Damascen 1 Eph. 11. up and down the world their steps are guided and given Acts 17. 24 25 c Prov. 15. 13. John 5. 17. Annon Dei manu omnia sustentantur reguntur certe durare non possunt presertim tam diu cum omnia sint ex nihilo Zâ—nch by the Lord Their locomotive power is from him And God doth not only give breath but bread to his creatures Psal 33. 19. He spreads the Table for Man his Vice-roy in the world And the young Ravens cry to him all the fealty they can shew they cry and they have their supplies from him Psal 147. 9. Luke 12. 24. And God doth not only make provision fâ—r man but afford protection to him His food shall sustain him and mans Sword shall not dâ—stroy him God will not only exhibit supply but keep off danger This likewise is verified in inanimate things He numbers the Stars that one of those glistring tapers shall not be missing nay he calls them by their Names Psal 147. 4. to shew his exact providence for the conservation
memoranda primum et praeciâ—â—â—um est benefiâ—ium creationis quod commemoratur in sanctificatione Sabbati Aquin. Prima Secundae Quest 100. Artic. 5. transcendent Majesty in that magnificent Pallace of the Heavens which he hath prepared and furnished for himself where he sends forth his light and makes it his covering and the clouds are his triumphal Chariots Psal 104. 2 3. Sixthly In this great work is manifest Gods absolute perfection in imparting to the creatures all their several perfections which must needs be in a far more eminent degree in him who gave them And indeed this illustrious work is the strong motive to all Gods Creatures to Adore Worship Love Fear Serve Reverence and Obey this great Jehovah and to Depend Rest Trust and submit themselves to him alone But the glory of this work of Creation will yield a more amazing splendor if we look on it In its Antiquity It is the most ancient of all Gods visible works Deut. 4. 32. Mat. 13. 19. Rev. 3. 14. and that In principio deâ—â—â—reavit c. In hac voce non Authorem tantùm sed exordinum mundi judicat Moses Par. Gen. 1. 1. which is most ancient is most honourable Jer. 18. 15. Dan. 7. 9. This great and stupendous work is now some six thousand years standing it is the primitive essay of his power who is the ancient of days Time seems to shed a Veneration upon it The first Creation was the Cradle of the world its infancy which nothing did precede but the Being of a God who is from all eternity In its universality The work of Creation is the most general and extensive of all Gods works extending to Angels Men Sun Moon Stars nay to the Sparrow on the 1 Kings 4. 33. house top to the fly in the air and to the hysop on the Wall it transcends the bounds of Solomon's Philosophy to give us a Tract of all the Vegetables the Bruits and Rationals Bonum eò melius quò communius which God created when he set upon this glorious work And here that politick axiom is most true That which is good the more general the more grateful And therefore Philo the Jew in his Tract of the Workmanship of the World stiles the Sabbath which is the Festival in Memory Phil. suo de Opisicio Mundi of the Creation a Feast not of one people or of one Region but the universal festivity of all Nations which Festival alone deserves the name of popular In its goodness and untainted purity God at the first created all things very good perfect pure and excellent Gen. 1. 31. Nay man himself after his own image in holiness true righteousness Gen. 1 25 26. integrity and perfection without sin corruption Eccl. 7. 27. or obliquity The work of Creation at first was wholly unblemished Eph. 4. 24. there was no wrinckle upon the face of the Universe every creature was fair in its kind Mans sin put poyson into the Toad put rage into the Wolf put Briers and Gen. 3. 17. Thorns into the Earth put spots into the Moon nay withering into the flowers of the field and decays into the Omnes creaturae vehementem aversionem habent itâ— ut si haberent sensum gemerent ut parturientes iâ—lque ab exordio mundi lapsus hominis usque nunc trees of the forrest and veiled the face of nature with the black veil of uncomeliness And that the whole Creation groans as the Apostle affirms Rom. 8. 22. it is from those sick fits and distempers which mans sin hath cast it into When the air infects us the heat and the cold doth annoy us the earth disappoints us and yields no increase from whence is this vanity Even from our selves from ours and our first parents sin Man in sinning commits two evils as the Prophet speaks in another case he presses God Amos 2. 13. Jer 2 13. And he burdens the creature nay alters the world from its primitive loveliness when beauty was the taking blush of every Being In the rarity and eminency of some creatures more especially How glorious are the Angels those Courtiers of Heaven 1 Kings 13. 18. 1 Kings 19. 5. Dan. 6. 22. 2 Chr. 32. 21. those friends of the Bridegoom mans elder Brethren Psal 5. 8. Those Chariots of God Psal 68. 17. Those Guardians of believers Psal 91. 11. who are decked and adorned Quid murmuras caro misera quid recalcitras quid omninò invides si fueris corpus humilitatis reformabit idem Artifâ—x qui formavit Bern. with excellency who excell in strength Psal 103. 20. who excel in holiness Mark 8. 38. who excel in all the fruitions of joy and happiness Mat. 18. 10. Rev. 5. 11. Rev. 7. 12. who excel in splendor and glory Luke 24. 23. And how glorious was the humane nature of Christ how spotless precious pure chrystaline yet a creature His soul how undefiled Heb. 4. 15. His body how glorious Phil. 3. 21. How did the divine Nature glorifie the humane in its stupendious and grateful acceptation of it I might adde how glorious is the glistering Sun the amiable Moon the twinkling Stars which put the night out of its blackest melancholy Let onely this be subjoyned that without the work of Creation there could be no work of Redemptiâ—nâ— the chief end of which is to restore us to that felicity happiness and enjoyment which man in his first Creation both did and had he persevered in that estate should have enjoyed and possessed Now one principal end of the Sabbath Gen. 2 â— is to commemorate this glorious work that as God when he had finished it took up his rest Gen. 2. 3. So man when he beholds it should take up his rest and keep a weekly Sabbath to the Lord. There is a political end of the Sabbath viz. The refreshment and recreative breathing of the outward man a relaxation â—ùm deus sex dâ—â—râ—m spacio 〈…〉 absoluisset septiâ—um diem quiete suâ sanctum reddere voluit Riv. of the body from the pains and toil of the week and therefore the Sabbath is called a rest It is said of God himself that on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed Exod. 31. 17. And how much more doth poor man stand in need of rest and refreshment Death indeed fairly unpins our tabernacle of clay folds it up and lays it in the grave but too much labour tears it down mans body is taken down Psal 116. 7. by death is thrown down by too much toil therefore the Deus non tantum Creator sed conservator est Creaturarum Leid Prof. wearisom labours of the week must be allayed by the rest of the Sabbath The very name of a Sabbath signifies nothing but rest strongly to argue that that holy day was appointed for mans relaxation from the hurries of the world and the sweats of the week The Sabbath is a rest to the
a two-edged sword to divide between sin and Heb. 4. 12. the soul Ordinances are kindly Physick and work the cure sweetly and effectually if this Physick be given by the hand of the Spirit if the third Person in the Trinity be our Physician how then should the necessity of the spirits assistance inflame our importunity to sue out that precious John 15. 5. Promise for the attainment of it recorded in Luke 11. 13. In Ordinances without the Spirit we can do nothâ—ng Christ 1 Cor. 9. 26. must work by his Spirit or else in all our holy duties we onely beat the ayr to use the Apostles phrase Let us study to be under the impressions of the Spirit on Gods holy day The earth stands not in so much need of the beams of the Sun as the soul doth of the influences of the Spirit The Spirit is a Spirit of Truth to guide the Understanding John 15. 26. It is a Spirit of Counsel to enrich the mind Isa 11. 2. and fill it with knowledge How naked Eph. 5. 18. is mans understanding if it be not covered with the covering John 14. 17. of Gods Spirit Isa 30. 1. 1 Cor. 12. 8. The Spirit is a good Spirit Neh. 9. 10. to sanctifie the will It is a holy Spirit Ephes 1. 13. in relation to its effects and productions it cures the will of its pertinacy and Rom. 1. 4. stubbornness and melts mans will into Gods We may take 1 Cor. 12. 9. an instance in Paul Acts 9. 6. The Spirit is a Spirit of Grace Zach. 12. 10. to beautifie the heart and fructifie it with all the sweet fruits of Righteousness It is more then the Sun to the Garden It not 2 Thes 2. 13. Phil. 1. 11. onely blows the flower but it plants The graces of the Spirit are those stars which shine in the firmament of the heart 2 Thes 2. 17. those vigorous principles which carry out the soul to every good word and work It is the spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14. to sublimate the affections and raise them as high as heaven Col. 3. 2. The spirit discovers glorious things to us shews the soul its treasury 1 Cor. 2. 12. Eph 3. 8. 2 Cor. 5 21. Rev. 1. 6. Cant. 7. 8. 13. Col. 3. 11. 1 Pet. 2. 7. where its riches lie It opens Christ to a believer who is the Wardrob of our Robes the Exchequor of our wealth the fountain of our honour the paradise of our delight or to speak in the Apostles language who is all and in all to the believing soul It is a spirit of life to quicken the whole man Rom. 8. 2. God breaths into man and so he becomes a living soul the Spirit breaths into man and so he becomes a living Saint Gen. 2. 7. Nay God works all his works upon us and in us in Christ by the spirit it is the spirit makes us upright and sincere 1 Cor. 6. 11. and so rectifies our obliquities Psal 51. 10. It is the spirit snuffs the understanding which is the candle of the Lord Eph. 1. 17. Prov. 20. 27. and so enlightens our darknesses It is the spirit 2 Thes 2. 1â— fixes and establisheth us and so settles our inconstancies Psal 78. 8. It is the spirit softens and suples us Isa 32. Sapientia hominis est quâ res difficillimas scrutatur et pervestigare conatur Cartwr 15. and turns our barren hearts into a fruitfull field and so fills our vacuities It is the spirit conducts us in our straights John 16. 13. and so prevents our miscarriages It is the spirit takes us up Ezek. 3. 12. nay lifts us up Ezek. 3. 14. and so cures us of our pedantick and dreggish succumbencies for Man is the worm Jacob Isa 41. 14. and will naturally grovel on and immure himself in the Earth The spirit of God is an excellent spirit Dan. 5. 12. and will create in the 1. Cor. 12. 11. believer those excellencies which will make him more excellent then his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. The irrigations and pouring forth of the spirit Isa 44. 3. will make the soul fresh 1 Cor. 12. 13. Corroborari in interiore homine est intellectu voluntate caeterisque animae partibus suffulciri and green and be in a spring of grace which is most pleasant to the eye of God and Man This holy spirit upon us Isa 59. 21. is not so much our covering as our Crown our strength to encounter every temptation Eph. 3. 16. Let us then not as Sadduces mis-believe the spirit Acts 23. 8. But cry out Lord evermore give us of this spirit And to set our selves under these various and rare impressions We must purifie our selves The spirit is a holy spirit which will dwell onely in a clean heart flesh and spirit are combatants and not cohabitants they oppose one another Gal. 5. 17. then grace triumphs when flesh is subdued and chased out of the field We must supplicate our God The spirit is given to the Petitioner and not to the professor How much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Isa 63. 11. Eph. 4. 30. 1 Thes 4 8. 1 Cor. 6. 19. saith our Saviour Luke 11. 13. Earnest prayer is the means to obtain the good spirit whose works are so many and so marvellous and whose operations are so secret and so soveraign But secondly as this duty must look upwards for the assistances and the impressions of the spirit So this duty must look inwards we have not onely to do with heaven on the Lords day and to look up to Gods spirit but we have to do with our own hearts too and seek the spirit to proportionate Prov. 4. 23. them to the holy services of the Sabbath and here our duty is two-fold 1. We must be in the graces of the spirit and that too in a double sense We must be in grace habitual We must come as Saints to the duties of a Sabbath That of the Apostle is highly observable Our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. 3. Observe the terms of Relation Sancti est in spiritu vivere i. e. internam habere vitam et animum gratiâ spiritu etjustitiâ imbutum sancti est in spiritu ambulare i. e. secundum spiritus et gratiae dictamen ductumque incedere conversari agere operari et Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat certo ordine serie et normâ incedere Alap the term Father speaks us to be Children It is not our communion is with God but with the Father and his Son Saints properly are the guests of the Sanctuary Christ in us is not onely the hope of our glory hereafter Col. 1. 27. but our hope of acceptance here We must bring Benjamin we must bring Christ if we will ever see the face of God in Ordinances wicked