of his Hand and make the Clouds his Chariot and ride upon the Wings of the Wind and climb up to the highest Orbs and extend every Globe with the present thought and hang not only the Earth but the Heavens upon nothing and this in the exactest order and perfection that no remarkable default shall appear in 6000 years in any part of all this Magnificent Building Who that considers a little the Nature of the Supream Architect shall not be ready to cry out with the Psalmist Psal 8.1 9. O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth who hast set thy Glory above the Heavens O Lord our Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth 2. What little low worthless Creatures are we That God who is the Author of such excellent Handy-work that dwells in that inaccessible Light in such a glorious Palace who can make Heavens at his pleasure and garnish them in a moment and fill the whole World with the Beams of his Glory should yet place his Affections so much on such little silly things as we are Psal 8.3 c. Shall I speak my Opinion freely in this matter I do conceive that one great Reason why God hath laid out so much of his Excellency and bestowed so much of his Infinite Wisdom and Power upon the creation of the Things that are above us especially the Heavens over our Heads was on purpose to astonish proud man into a Religious Admiration of his God and an humble detestation of himself for that 's the very frame and temper which disposeth man for the impressions of Religion and the exercise of a devout affection Isa 66.1 2. Thus saith the Lord the Heaven is my Throne 3. A due consideration of the Creation of the World and especially of the Heavens belongs unto us all Os Homini sublime c. if God doth preach to us by these things that are seen and thereby reveal to the World the invisible properties of the Divinity then we ought to hearken to this Voice and make some good use of their Language The Curious Spectator looks up to the Heavens and examines every particular there Quidni quaerat Scit ill ad se pertinere Tunc contemnit domicilii prioris angustias Seneca And as he goes on what is all the distance from the utmost Coasts of Spain to the Indies But a Voyage of a very few days if thou fail with a good Wind But that Heavenly Country above for many hundreds of years affords space for the swiftest Stars to travel in without lett or molestation In short the very Natural Propensity of Mankind to enquire into those upper Regions and peer amongst the Stars is some argument of our concernment that way 4. Let us beware of Idolatry the fault of the Old Pagan World Who when they saw those Lights hung out at the Windows of Heaven which should have been but ministerial to help them in the search of him that made them sell down and worshipped the Servants instead of their Master the Candles at the Door instead of the Lord of the House Deut. 4.19 yet the Jews themselves were so forgetful of this Precept that we find them often taxed for burning Incense to the Queen of Heaven and worshipping the Star Remphan And 't is too well known that the Heathens generally worshipped the Sun Moon and Stars becoming vain in their imaginations and tho they professed themselves Wise they became Fools changing the Glory of the Incorruptible God into the Image of his Corruptible Creatures 5. By this Law they who want a special Revelation shall be judged Rom. 2.12 13 14 15. Let no man then whether within or without the Pale of the Church think to shroud his guilt under the Cloak of Ignorance There 's no Corner of the World so remote no People so dark where this Voice hath not been heard the Musick of the Spheres is soft and still but such as shortly will make even both the Ears of the guilty sinner tingle The Language wherein these Sermons are preach'd to the World is temperate and equal it makes no great noise at present to them who are busie digging low in the Bowels of the Earth but it hath a sharp and heavy accent at the End Let no man then upbraid the Almighty as if he were a Severe Judge for calling all men to the same Judgment for damning men that never had the knowledge of his Laws Fear not God will be just he 'll vindicate his Righteousness from the foul aspersions and abuses of a Scandalous World Hast thou sinned without Law without Law then thou shalt be tried and a hundred to one but condemned too and yet God clear from thy Blood and just in all this What a black List of sins doth the Apostle present thee with Rom. 1.29 c. all chargeable upon all Nations of the World Jew and Christian and Turk and Heathen and damnable by the very Law of Nature unrighteousness fornication c. but that which affects us most in all this is that not only the poor Infidel is guilty in this Case but a great part of Christendom also Not only they that have no other Law to read in no other Rule to go by but the Book of the Creation but they also who have the Bibles in their hands and the Creed upon their tongues end and have all the advantages of Nature and Revelation both When these very sins and as bad or worse walk bare-fac'd within the Confines of the Church and men of the best Creed and Profession in the World are not ashamed to commit the foulest sins and sometimes account it their glory to boast of such vices which ought not so much as to be named amongst Christians There are several live amongst us it may be in this place now whose ordinary conversations are stain'd with such blots as both the lights both that of Positive Religion and that of mere Natural Reason too do abhor and condemn And yet which is mighty strange these very men do please themselves with the hopes of escaping safely the Sentence of the Judge at the last day And upon their Repentance they may but else I cannot think of any plausible Argument that will stand their Friend at the day of Judgment And to drive the Nail farther yet it will not be enough for men to plead their Interest in a Church or Party in such cases Let the Church be never so pure nor the Profession never so good nor the advantages of Knowledge and Information never so great if under all these pretensions thou shouldst play the Hypocrite and live ill thy own Mouth would condemn thee and a whole Cloud of Witnesses depose evidence against thee And yet notwithstanding all this we may take up the complaint of the Prophet Jer 18.13 Ask now among the Heathen who hath heard such things the Virgins of Israel have done very horrible things Thy poor men are tenacious of their Superstitious
AN ESSAY UPON THE WORKS OF Creation and Providence BEING AN Introductory Discourse TO THE History of Remarkable Providences Now preparing for the Press To which is added a FURTHER SPECIMEN of the said WORK AS ALSO Meditations upon the Beauty of Holiness By William Turner M. A. and Vicar of Walberton in Sussex The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his Handy Work Psalm 19.1 LONDON Printed for John Dunton at the Raven in Jewen-street and are also sold by Edm. Richardson near the Poultry Church 1695. To the Worshipful JAMES BUTLER OF Patcham in Sussex Esq AND HIS Virtuous Consort Sir and Madam MY Design is not to offer you here any Flattering Encomium but to acknowledge a Score that I have run upon in your Books for some time to make a little Apology for the seeming negligence and forgetfulness I have been guilty of And this I the rather do because you will guess by these Presents not only that I am alive but the Favours you have sometime shewed me are alive in my thoughts too Only my self lie half-buried in Cares and Books so that I want leisure to pay my Debts and Devoirs in due time and manner and faculty to do it in due measure Be pleased to contemplate a little while with me here the Beauty of the Outward Parts of Heaven and thence make conjecture at the Wisdom of Him that made the World and the Provision He hath made in the Highest Heavens for all that Love and Obey Him in Truth This is but a Harbinger for a more Compleat History of Divine Providence designed e're long for the Press It cannot be improper certainly to Ascend Pisgah by degrees we may see the Outward Skirts of Heaven from the Foot of the Mount When we can get to the Top our desire is to take a prospect of the whole Hemisphere to leave the Stars whilst we make enquiry after all the Invisible Host of the Middle Region that are employed about us either as Friends or Enemies The God of Heaven make your Graces shine more and more in the mean time that they may outshine and outlast the Stars and you your selves be fixed in their room for ever so pray I for you pray you so for Worshipful Sir and Worthy Madam Your Obliged Servant W. T. TO THE READERS SIRS 'T IS the Prerogative of Human Nature that me have not only a Lofty Figure and Visage but Intellectuals too far superiour to all the Bruitish kind And this Endowment bestowed upon us by Him that made us for very Wise and Good Ends Not to be more ingeniously Wicked and Dishonest to immerge our selves deeper in the Concerns and Pleasures of a Material and Sensual World but to live Above it My Design is to climb a Jacob's Ladder to satisfie a little the Curiosity of my Nature to inform my self first of all and then my Fellows so far as soberly and modestly I may with all the Phenomena of the Etherial Region To acquaint my self and others with the Outward Face of Heaven first of all and all the Visible Furniture of the Outward Court Those Glorious Spangles of Stars and Planets those Fiery Meteors and other Strange Exhalations and Vapours that occur to our Senses and common Observations And this not for Bare Contemplation only but with a Design to make as Natural Genuine and Reasonable Deductions for Practice as possible This is all I aim at in this Treatise but with a full purpose if it please God to spare my Life and Health to make a New Survey e're long of that Spiritual and Invisible World where those Dii Medioxami Intermediate Agents are employed as Reporters and Transporters Monitors Couriers Apparitors Guardians Adversaries between This and the other World For certainly 't is lawful whilst we live here to peep out of our Prison and take acquaintance in what degree lawfully we can with Angels and Naked Spirits Vpon the score of our Kindred and Alliance to them and Concernment with them we are obliged so far we must do it or we are not only Disingenuous but blind to our own Interest And why doth the Almighty use so frequently and remarkably in the World those Intelligent and Spiritual Ministers in the Exercise of his Providence if we might not enquire after them and take acquaintance with them Is He ashamed of his Spiritual Train and Family Or are they so mighty strange and foreign to our Natures or so very far above us that we must run away like People Afrighted out of our Wits to hide from all such Apparitions in Corners of Thick Darkness But why should we be so ungrateful to those Angelical Creatures as to suppress all those Occurrences of History all those conspicuous Remarks of the Divine Providence wherein their Footsteps are plainly visible not only to their Grief and Dishonour but to the Great Encouragement of Atheism and Infidelity in the World Thus far I humbly conceive we may safely climb Our Scala Coeli to the Veil that interposeth between us and the Inner Court to the Gate of the New Jerusalem and no farther The Lord Guide us the Angels Guard us in all our ways till we are got safe into that place where we shall be satisfied with Glories which now we little know or comprehend where we shall be sweetly surprized and bravely entertained with Joyous Company and Glorious Objects and Tread not only the Moon but all the Starry Globes under our Feet for evermore Amen Your Servant in all Christian Offices W. T. THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. OF the greatness of the Heavens CHAP. II. Of the Quality of the Heavens CHAP. III. Of the Scituation of the Heavens CHAP. IV. Of the Stars and Planets CHAP. V. Of Comets Thunder and Lightning Air and Winds Storms and Tempests Hail Rain Snow and Frosts Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions CHAP. VI. Of the Continuation of the Heavenly Bodies CHAP. VII Of the Extensiveness of the Heavens CHAP. VIII Of the Glorious Body of the Sun Meditations on the Beauty of Holiness A Scheme of the History of Providence A further Specimen of the said History AN ESSAY UPON THE WORKS OF Creation and Providence IN my Contemplation of this Subject my Design is to take measure by the Sublimity of Our Aspect and the Excellency of the Object for the Order and Method of my Thoughts Both these seem naturally disposed to determine my Choice of the Heavens and Heavenly Bodies and the Appurtenances that are more nearly related to them and depend upon them for the Subject of my present Discourse leaving this Globe of Earth the very Sediment of the Creation and the most Dreggy Part of the World for my future Thoughts and Meditations And because in all our Disquisitions and Actions we ought to propound to our selves for our main End the Glory of God I shall consider I. The Greatness of the Heavens II. The Quality of them III. Their Scituation IV. The Stars and Planets V. Other Inferior Appurtenances
Comets Thunder and Lightning Air and Winds Storms and Tempests Hail Rain Snow and Frosts Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions c. VI. The Continuation of them VII Their Extensiveness and Universality And Lastly Because amongst all these the Sun is the most Admirable most Conspicuous most Glorious Body I shall Assign a particular Meditation upon This Great and Excellent Luminary by it self But so I shall manage my Discourse from the Beginning to the End as to intermix it all along with Practical Remarks and Inferences as accounting it beneath a Christian especially but a poor Exercise to expend our Best Thoughts upon Barren Speculations CHAP. I. Of the Greatness of the Heavens 1. THen I shall consider the Greatness of the Heavens By the Heavens I mean not the Supreme Emperial Part not the Seat of the Blessed which is out of sight and the reach of Human Sense but the outward lower invisible parts of the Heavenly Orbs those parts which may be seen And how great these are you cannot expect that we should be able certainly to tell you they are very great that we all know so vast that they comprehend within the cavity of them the whole Vniverse besides all the Earth Seas Air and every thing that belongs to them Astronomers say the Primum Mobile is 1960 times bigger than the Earth whatever 't is the magnitude is wonderful past our fathom and enough to fill us with the admiration of Him that made it CHAP. II. Of the Quality of the Heavens OF such a subtile diaphinous nature that it will not terminate our sight a man may see through it if the distance did not hinder more thin and perspicuous than the Air it self clearer than the Chrystal or the finest Glass Ezek. 1.22 Rev. 21.11 Rev. 4.6 So immutable that for near upon 6000 years it hath not been impaired or decayed or altered with continual exercise and motion Every thing here below the Moon is subject to change The outward and courser Arches of the Heavens suffer no damage even Stones and Monuments in this lower World die with age The Posts and Pillars the outward Scaffold of the World above is in its own nature by the Law of the Supream Architect immortal I mean so that no creature can endamage them till the God that made them forbid them to be any more The nearer to God and Heaven the more pure firm and lasting the Constitution of the Creature is If the Outward Heavens are such what is the Seat of the Blessed which if terminated in any place lies beyond them What are the Angels that tread that Floor those Arches under Feet What is God Himself that made them and looks after them The FIGVRE also is very Wonderful So vastly Great and yet exactly Round Without any Unevennesses or Angles and Turnings of a perfect Circular Figure Circulus said the Philosophers est Divinum quid And the Egyptians pourtrayed one of their Divinities named Kneph as a Beautiful Man with Feathers on his Head a Girdle and a Scepter in his Hand with an Egg the Hieroglyphick of the World proceeding out of his Mouth And some of them did adore the Circle of the Heavens as an expression of his Power and Perfections And 't is true there is no Figure so capacious as the Round One because as I said it admits no corners no unevenness c. Nor is there any Being so perfect as God without any Infirmity or Defect How great then in Power and Wisdom must this God be that stretched out the Heavens like a Round Canopy and hung it over this lower World in so exact and Circular a Figure that no inequality can be found in it CHAP. III. Of the Scituation of the Heavens ALL this Great Body hung with an Innumerable Number of Stars and Planets each Body big enough to make a World of all this hung upon Nothing no Material Arches no visible Pillars to support it Nothing but the Power of him that made it It surpasses Humane Skill the Wit of all Men in the World to hang a little Ball or an Egg-shell in the Air without somewhat material to support it God hath no only hung the Earth but the Heavens also upon nothing What cannot the God of all the World do Let Him but speak the Word and he can make a World stand without Pillars His World is enough for a World to stand upon and shall poor sneaking man be afraid to venture upon his Promise He spake the World and the World was created He spake the Word and the Heavens were stretched forth over the Empty Places He may speak the World Ten Thousand Times and Man shall despond and be afraid to venture out any further than he can stand upon his own Legs If St. Peter step forth upon the Sea at the voice of his Saviour he begins to sink And if the sinner do but essay to trust upon the Word of the Almighty when no outward supply is ready at Hand his Faith fails him and he sinks into Despair So long as we have money in our pockets or a Remedy in sight we can keep our feet but inpoverty distress and danger all the promises in the Gospel sealedwith the World and Oath of a God are not ground enough for man to set his foot upon CHAP. IV. Of the Stars and Planets WHich deserve to be considered 1 As Many How many I know not You have heard the phrases as the Stars of Heaven for multitude and as the Sands upon the Seashore used promiscuously sometimes one sometimes the other Astronomers have long ago reckoned up 1022 of them that are visible and 't is concluded those that are invisible are far the greater number Psalm 17. He telleth the number of the Stars and call them all by their Names If the Stars of Heaven be so numerous what are the Inhabitants that dwell beyond I grant 't is a LittleFlock that goes to Heaven compared with the many many Damnel Souls that go to Hell but as God to Abraham Gen. 15.5 Look now towards Heaven and tell c. The nnmber of them them that stand about the Throne is ten thousand timesten thousand and thousands of thousands stand before him Rev. 5.11 He keepeth mercy for thousand of them that love him and keep him Commands And let not any think that amongst so many Children God will forget or overlook any of them he knows them all and will lose none of them He calls his own Sheep by name and leads them out john 10.3 He counts our wandrings put our Tears into a Bottle the very Hairs of our Head are allnumbred There 's not a word in our Mouth nor a thought in our Heart but he knows it altogether Such knowledge is too great for us it with an awful Reverence of the Divine Omnipotence and Wisdom Consider then a little Sinner how many thy sins are how many the Mercies of God bestowed upon thee how many invitations thou hast had to Repeintance and how
of the Spirit of Grace the Company of Angels Cherubim and Seraphim Let us say as Psalm 4. many say who will shew us any good c. Besides if the Outward Court of this World be so comforted with the warmth of the Outward Parts of Heaven is there nothing in the Emperial Orbs in the Inner Chambers to refresh and comfort the Church of God! Is the Atrium Gentium so pleasant and is the Sanctum Sanctorum the Holy of Holies devoid and desolate 2. The Flux and Reflux Ebb and Flowing of the Sea that indeed depends as generally concluded upon the Moon only But that is such a Wonder in Nature that it sufficiently illustrates the Power and Wisdom of God Psalm 107.21 22 23. Oh that men would praise the Lord c. Thus God who daily makes the great and wide Seas to Ebb and Flow is able also to make the like changes and visicissiudes in the World in the Church he turneth mand to destruction again be c. Psal 90.3 5 6. Bsal 107 31 32 c. 3. Other secret Influences and Operations unknown to us as to Weather Health Plenty and it may be Wars and Peace Prosperity and Afflictions Life and Death For so far Astrologers go but I would be wise unto sokiety and not peer too far lest I should be taxed for Curiosity in all this the Glory of God appears CHAP. V. Of Comets Thunder and Lightning Air and Winds Storms and Tempests Hail Rain Snow and Frosts Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions I Shall here speak of the other Insevlour Appurtenances of Heaven I choose to range them under that notion because I intend not so much a Lecture of Philosophy as a plain discourse of Divinity I mean the Comets Thunder and Lightning Wind and Air Vapours and Exhabations Storms and Tempests Hail Rain and Snow strange Apparitions and Phenomena I hope my time will not be quite lost nor I censur'd for impertinent in treating on these things God himself therefore exhibiting them that we might duly meditare upon them and deduce Inferences thence for his Glory 1. Comets and Blazing Stars or whatever else of that nature appears in the Heavens above us I pass over those Miteors of lesser moment Falling Stars Burning Launces Flying Dragons Skipping Goats Ignes Fatui and licking Fires as exhalations of inferiour wonder Comets are the most stupendious I hope no body amongst Christians is so silly as Democritus who took them for the Souls of the Saints Trimphing in Glory Or as others Fires carried thither by Spirits only to astonish the World Whatever they are generated of for I will not meddle here with the Physical Consideration their meaning is something the God of Nature who is so Wise as to make nothing in vain without all doubt puts them in the Heavens for some sign or other Nor dare I be peremptory to assign the particular signification I humbly conceive the most that we can read in those Coelestial Hierogliphycks is that God is going to do some great thing in the World and that at the hanging out of those Flags it behoves men to enquire into their Lives and search their ways more narrowly and prepare to meet their God who is coming to judge the World in equity and maketh these Flames of Fire his Harbingers to prepare his way and give notice of his coming I shall not trouble you with particular Instances of these kind of Meteors the Scripture tells us at the Birth of our Saviour a Star appeared which perhaps was the Comet spoken of by Heathen Authors in the days of Angustus of a stupendious greatness upon which the Tibertine Sibyl shewed the Emperor the Divinity of our Saviour in these words Hic Puer Major te est Ipsum adora Our last great Comet I doubt not was of extraordinary signification not to us only but to whole Europe and farther so far as it was conspicuous What a Gracious God have we that never scarce goes about any great Commotions or Changes in the World but he gives warning beforehand as if not willing to take us tardy He shews his signs in the Heavens above when he is about to do any great Work in the Earth beneath And therefore as Darius in the case of Daniel Chap. 6.26 27. Let men tremble and fear before this God for he is the Living God and steadfast for ever his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall be even unto the end he delivereth and rescueth and worketh signs and wonders in Heaven and Earth 2. Thunder and Lightning called by the Psalmist the Voice of God and by some supposed to be that Trumpet that shall sound at the last day to raise the Dead and to call to Judgment I will not trouble you with declaring the strange and divers effects of this kind of Meteor its hurting of things Inward when the Outward are safe shattering the Bones when the Flesh is left sound melting the Blade of the Sword when the Scabbard is free breaking the Vessel when the Wine flows not away exempting poisonous Creatures from their Venom and infusing it into those who are not so striking men dead and leaving them in the same posture it found them as if still alive c. It is enough to say that 't is a stupendious Meteor and may well be called the Voice of the Divine Excellency Job 37.2 3 4 c. Job 26.6 14. It is said of Nero that a Thunderbolt fell upon his Table and struck the Cup out of the Emperors Hand And we have known in our Age some strong Towers and high buildings demolished to the very gound with Lightning Some Men struck dead some lamed some blinded Trees clove asunder A Learned Divine of our Nation tells of a profane Person walking abroad with another upon the Lord's Day when it thundred to his Companion telling him of it made answer 't is nothing but a Knave Cooper beating of his Tubs but he had not gone much farther but himself was struck dead This may teach us to put on a Reverential awe of the Divine Majesty at such seasons That Emperor Caligula who used to brave it out as if he meant to vye with the Almighty and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was an instance of the Divine Patience but no safe example for imitation The Psalmist is more ingenuous Psal 29. c. Give unto the Lord O ye Mighty c. and Psal 97.1 2 3 4. To see all the lower World cover'd with thick Clouds and the Cracks of Thunder shake the very Pillars of the Earth and terrible Flashes and Corruscations of Ligtning with a speedy pace fly from one end of the Heavens to the other is so like the Voice of God and a Type or Shadow of that Black Gloomy Day which shall put a period to the World that it may well be a Memento of our Duty and Reverence we owe to the Divine Majesty and may well put that Question into our Mouths Who shall
we may expect Salvation Isa 4.2 And is it not so far a decent Worship to adore such a God by the Mediation of such a Jesus to Pray to God in the Name of Christ to be usher'd into the Audience of the Father by the Intercession of his only Son to have access into the Court of Heaven in the Name of the Son of God who hath loved us and given himself for us Hag. 2.7 The Desire of all Nations 3. The Ministers by the Instrumentality of whom c. I mean not those Pseudoes that run before they are sent those lying Spirits that under pretence of Teaching deceive the People but those Ministers of the Gospel which Preach the Word faithfully and divide it skilfully and administer all the Sacred and Sacramental Ordinances impartially without addition or diminution that Preach with zeal and Pray with fervour and live well and study to approve themselves honest Pastors that need not be ashamed they that endeavour to reduce the straying sheep to warn the unruly to rebuke the gain-sayer to comfort the weak commending themselves to the Consciences of their Hearers in the sight of God and these I say if we have any such amongst us as no doubt but we have tho' I wish their number were greater are Men of a welcome Presence of beautiful Feet of pleasant Countenances Isa 52.7 The very Office it self is an Ornament thoh ' the Church never wanted those Adversaries that in despite to the Light threw Stones at the Lanthorn The Minister is a Terrestrial Angel they should be so and good Ministers are so To the Angel of the Church c. Rev. 2.1 of Ephesus Sardis c. they are Starrs and shining Lights in the dark World and Starrs ye know enamel the Hemispheres They are the Servants of the living God which shew to us the way to everlasting Salvation I would not say these things to puff the Clergy up with Pride and Vain-glory but I would have the People know those Men that are set over them and admonish them and give double Honour to them that labour faithfully in Word and Doctrine and acknowledge the beauty of their feet which run to them upon these Evangelical Errands and pay a due and humble deference to that Sacred Function and account them more than the Horse-men of Israel and the Chariots thereof 4. The Place where Whether it be a ' Tabernacle or a Temple or other place consign'd to the Holy Service not that we attribute any inherent Holiness to such places now especially under the Gospel but what depends meerly upon the relation it bears to the Work and Employment 't is devoted to and upon this score the Place ought to be dear to us and appear amiable in our Eyes and we should be so in love with the Place for the Works sake as to say of it as the Patriarch of Bethel How dreadful is this place this is none other than the House of God! and lo here the Angels of Heaven ascending and descending as it were upon a Ladder or as the Prophet David Psal 84.1 c. How amiable are thy Tabernacles O Lord of Hosts 't is the perfection of Beauty shinning with the light of the Divine Countenance Psal 50.2 't is that Zion which the Lord hath chosen and desired for his habitation saying this is my rest for ever here will I dwell here will I treat my Spouse the Church with the sweetest Wines the fattest Delicates the choicest Ordinances in the World Manna from Heaven Angels Food the Waters of Life Nectar and Ambrosia Nourishment for Souls to fit them for Eternity Forgive me Sirs if I speak with some spice of Fondness and Admiration all the World besides is common ground compared to this Sacred Appartment and all our Employment besides in comparison of this is nauseous and impertinent here 's the Vineyard of red Wine that the Lord himself doth keep Isa 25.6 better far than all the Taverns than all the Theaters than all the Elysian Camps of the wide Universe Glad then may we be when they say unto us We will go into the house of the Lord we will worship towards his holy Temple we will go and keep holy-day in the Courts of the Lord's house on the hill of Zion in the midst of Jerusalem Hallelujah Here we have better Company than any where in the World besides I mean in a more especial manner here more peculiarly than any where else we have Heaven it self in Emblem Mount Zion in Effigie the Coelestial Jerusalem the City of the living God the Coier of Angels the Court of Saints a sweet correspondency with the best of Spirits in both the Churches in both the Worlds Militant and Triumphant Earth and Heaven which brings me to 5. The People who The Holy Church the best of Men and Angels and Spirits separate the select Company called out from the rest of the World to adore their Lord and communicate of his Grace and prepare for and partake of his Glory not that all who are called are accepted the Chaff and Wheat the Corn and Tares the good and bad Fish the Sheep and Goats the Sincere and Hypocrite are both for a while jumbled together in promiscuous Company but none are real Communicants in this sweetness but real Believers the rest feed upon the shell these eat the Kernel the rest look on these taste the Comforts the rest fill up a space and serve for some purposes they hew wood and draw water for the use of the Tabernacles these are invested in the Communities Priviledges and Dignities of the Place they have all one Coat and Creed and Profession but these all have one Mind one Mouth one Hope one Way and one End they mutually partake and Communicate together in the same Prayers Praises Promises Priviledges every thing that is sweet and salutary and tho' their Faces differ their Natures do not tho' in Opinions about some lesser punctillio's they consent not in their Charity they are all one One so entirely that all the Cunning and Violence in the World shall not be able to dissolve the Knot One so entirely that their Interests their Intercessions their Cares and Crosses are the same the whole Company espouse the same Cause all drive at the same End all mean the Divine Glory and the good of Mankind in general if one be weak the other is weak if one be offended the other burns all the Members of the same Body do sweetly and amicably sympathize together Christians as widely distant one from the other as the two Poles meet in their Prayers in their Eucharists even the Angels stoop to us and we aspire to them we are all carrying on the same Work we shall all receive the same Wages we shall all shortly together be with the Lord Tho' our Brains be different yet our Hearts are not Bishop Hall nor our Ends shall not The Church is lovely orderly unanimous as an Army with Banners In short the Churches
11.6 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness his Countenance doth behold the upright 5. Hail Rain Snow and Frosts c. I will not stay now to shew the particular usefulness of all these in their Kind Order and Seasons nor if I cared to spend time upon it have I skill to do it perfectly Something might be said which perhaps every one is not well sensible of concerning the Wisdom as well as the Power and Goodness of God in using such a diverse method in manuring of the Earth and nursing of Sublunary Bodies I shall conclude this with only that emphatical exhortation of the Psalmist 147.12 ad finem 6. To pass over Eclipses Conjunctions and Rain-bows c. I shall instance only in Extraordinary Signs and Apparitions as that of Angels appearing to Abraham to Lot to Jacob to Manaoh to David to divers others the extraordinary chasms of Light in the Heavens at our Saviours Baptism his Transfiguration his Ascension the Cloud and Pillar of Fire to the Israelites the Darkness at our Saviours Passion the Holy Ghost in the likeness of a Dove the Apparition exhibited to Saul to St. Stephen the Revelations of St. John the Prodigies before the Destruction of Jerusalem Armies conflicting in the Air with a thousand more such wonders which I list not to relate particularly I confess they are often mixed with false incredible relations yet not therefore all to be rejected Our Saviour hath given us warning to expect some such Mat. 24. and Act. 2.20.19 and every Age almost is witness of some Miracle or other of this nature tho not so many as many would believe Even Heathen and Mahometan History as well as Christian give suffrage to this From the whole we have this lesson briskly intimated to us viz. if the outward insensate Heavens that are neither endued with Sense nor Reason but are of a bruitish nature declare to the World the Glory of God what would be expected from us men to whom all these Creatures are given but as Servants If these mute senseless things preach so expresly the Glory of Him that made them what should not man do who tho he lives in place below them yet is endowed with an Excellency far above them God himself sometimes appeals to them for testimony against us to upbraid our disobedience Hear O Heavens and give Ear c. All the Host of the Inferior Heavens keep their place and observe the Laws of their Creation the very Clouds and Winds obey him Only Man is an Vnruly Vndutiful Disingenuous Obstinate Thing that will neither keep his Orb nor serve the ends of his Creation nor attend his Masters Will nor pursue diligently his own Happiness Tho our Feet are upon the Earth our Heads reach above the Clouds and we are near akin to the other World and have very great concernments beyond the Stars and yet that we should let our Affections sink into the Earth and our Souls incline so strongly towards Hell For shame Sirs let us set forth the Glory of God a little better in our Generations than commonly we do Let us vye here upon the Earth by the excellency of our Conversations with those twinkling Lamps that shine over our Heads let it never be said to our disgrace that these senseless Creatures glorifie God better in their place than we Let our Faces our Graces outshine the Sun Let men look on the Humility Honesty Sobriety Charity Piety and Patience of our Lives and give Glory to Him that hath given such Graces unto Men and let these Graces never be darkned with any unworthy unchristian practices let us appear Glorious to the World and no Hypocrisie or Apostacy ever pull down our Professions or lay our Glory in the Dust It 's possible we may meet with strong with close Temptations O let not our shining Stars fall from Heaven nor let our Moon be turned into Blood and then we shall be shortly removed from Grace to Glory and shortly shine like Stars in the highest Heavens yea as the Sun in the Firmament for ever 1 Cor. 15.41 As we shine in Grace now so in Glory hereafter CHAP. VI. Of the Continuation of the Heavenly Bodies DAY unto Day uttereth Speech and Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge q.d. one Day informeth another and one Night gives in fresh evidence to another to prove the Truth of it Not a Day nor a Night passeth over our Heads but the Heavens preach this Sermon to us We have a Continual Rehearsal of this Doctrine from Age to Age from one Year to another from the beginning of the World to this present time This Preacher is never silent this Exercise never over All that I can think necessary to be said upon this particular may be referred to two Heads 1. The wonderfulness of this Continuation 2. The practical Lessons we should learn from it 1. Wherein the wonder of it lies 1. In the multitude of the Bodies concerned We observe of Mechanical Instruments made by the Hands of Men that an Engine consisting of very many wheels or very many Motions or other parts are the most difficult to be kept in order An Orchard with many Trees or Garden with many Herbs and Flowers require more Culture and dressing or some will decay A Society of many Members is apt to disorder 'T is a harder task to manage a Nation than a Family The Hosts of Heaven are Thousands and the Appurtenances relating to them more and yet all keep still their appointed Courses We have lost none of the Stars out of their Orbs since their first coming there Some People tell us of some new ones as that in Cassiopea which was first discovered in the Heavens about the beginning of the Reformation what Salvo to give for that I know not it may be it was there before but not discovered But however 't was a case extraordinary and no prejudice to the order of the rest we have lost none of our Seasons Day and Night Summer and Winter have kept their times The Sun its Revolutions the Moon its due Changes the Stars their proper Periods and exact motions the standing still of the Sun in Joshua's time and the going back of it on Ahaz Dial are Miraculous instances and not to be parallel'd in other Ages 2. The Greatness of them Small Bodies are easily managed and apt to motion but Great Ones move slowly according to the Course of Sublunary Nature But they in the Etherial Orbs are of so vast a bigness that that Consideration doth mightily accumulate and greaten the Wonder That the Sun Moon and Stars all of them so big should move continually without disorder or period is an Accent upon the Miracle 3. The various Qualities they are of and the different motions they make do yet raise the Wonder to a higher Strain to keep all one motion especially if all of one nature were not so very much but to move from East to West from West to East from North to South from
id quod potuisti non poteris Hilar. Psal 145.3 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable I am loth to leave this Abyss of Meditation Pardon me Sirs if I strain Courtesie a little in the case This Infinite Being is the Fountain of our Blessedness and therefore notwithstanding his Excellent Majesty can be cooped within no bounds nor scaled by any Humane Apprehensions to the height nor fathomed to the utmost depth by any Line of Humane Reason yet 't is pleasant to behold him thro the Lattices and spend our deepest thoughts and admirations upon his Glory And if we cannot comprehend him let us stand and wonder And cry out with longing and importunate Desire Oh! when shall the Veil be taken off our Eyes When shall the Apartment that separates us be taken away When shall we come to know as we are known But Oh when shall our finite Natures be exhaled and drawn up with this Sun And our Souls drawn up into his boundless Glory and we Eternally Blessed in the warm Embraces of his Divine Love In those Flames of Pure Affection for ever and ever To think now of this unsearchable God the most Infinitely Good and Glorious Being in the whole World whom the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain whom Angels all admire and adore the Nature of whose Glory we cannot now grasp with our most expanded thoughts That this God shall first pardon our sins and then sanctifie our natures and shortly send his Angels to fetch our Souls up to that Heavenly Choire where we shall be cloathed indeed with the Sun and tread the Moon under our Feet and look with a holy scorn upon the little silly trifling comforts of the Sublunary World This is enough to make our Faces smile now at every Beam of Light and Mercy darted upon our Souls from that Divine Countenance to make our hearts dance within us To fill us with an unspeakable Joy upon the hopes of that intuitive fruition in the other World Then and not till then we shall see the Maker of the Worlds and come to see and understand the deep and pleasant Mysteries of his Wondrous Works 4. Of the Divine Omnipresence That God should be every where present as our Religion obligeth us to believe that he is is a pretty hard Article in Heaven on Earth in Hell In the one by the especial manifestation of his Glory in the other by the continual exercise of his Providence in the last by the Execution of his Justice and yet thus he is as both Scripture and Reason oblige us to believe The Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him nor the Earth nor Hell He transcends all the limits of Nature and surpasses all those little finite bounds of Man's Conception Psal 139.3 4 5 c. yet even the difficulty of this Attribute as insuperable as it seems to be is plainly illustrated by this Simile The Sun is placed in the heavenly Orbs there it resides continually yet disperseth its shining rayes to the Firmament above to the Air to the Earth below yea it traverseth round the world and visits the Antipodes under our Feet it passeth through our Windows through the crevises of our Walls the light breaks in through the Pores of our Curtains and its Heat through Stone-walls it shines upon the nasty Dunghills and yet receives no infection or impurity thence Why should it seem then a thing impossible that the God that made it should fill the World with his Presence and he confin'd to no bounds 5. Which borders upon it Of the Divine Omniscience The Heathens supposed the Sun could see and hear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Even the Scripture it self sometimes makes use of this Allusion and Metaphor The Sun hath looked upon me Cant. 1.6 2 Sam. 12.11 In the sight of this Sun And there is so much ground for this Phancy that take away the Sun and our Eyes would serve to very little purpose it is that dispels the darkness and discovers the Truth in all places of the World where it is discovered and it brings to light the hidden things of darkness As I said but now it visits all parts of the World Air Earth Sea all the corners of the Earth all the rooms of our Houses nay our very Reins and Heart the most retired parts of our Bodies are not hid from the Heat of it Were it possible to bar the Pores of our Skin and shut the door of our Breasts fast against the Beams and warm influence of it our very Heart-blood would soon congeal into a dead and putrid Humour What is this but a fair Copy of the Divine Omniscience so far as an insensate Creature can possibly vie with an intelligent and infinite Creator Tell me you now that are ready to object Blindness to the God of Heaven and say Tush the Lord doth not see nor the God of Jacob regard can you hide your selves from the Sun of the Firmament and live If not shall not he that made the Sun search further than an insensate finite Creature of his own making Shall not he that made the Eye see c. but shall not he that made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Eye of the World see more than the Eye it self Go now ye Hypocrites and shut the Door and draw the Curtain over your secret Debaucheries and dare to perpetrate the blodest sins under a Vail but remember that the Light will break in through the narrowest chink and nothing can hide you from the Omniscient Eye before whom Hell is naked and Destruction hath no covering Job 26.6 vid. Heb. 12.13 6. Of the Divine Providence That God should be still in Heaven and there safe in the enjoyment of a Compleat Happiness and yet interpose his Power and Government in the Transactions of this lower World without any Disturbance to his rest and quietness is a Wonder which some People in the World have not been able to digest I desire these People but to give themselves leisure to meditate a little upon the present subject of our Discourse and take notice how the Sun is as quiet in his Orb and excellently glorious from Age to Age without any change or diminution or disturbance from any thing either in the Spheres above or the Orbs below and yet hath still a mighty influence upon all things here beneath tempering the Air fanning the Clouds dissolving the Snow and Hail and Frost and Dew giving light to the Moon shining round the Earth fecundating the very Mines Trees Herbs Grass Fruits Flowers influencing upon the Constitutions of us Men our Bodies first and then our Minds giving light heat motion action generation sense and life to all sublunary living bodies and then say Whether it be not very feasible to believe that God Almighty may govern this lower World and interpose his Hand in the Concernments of us Men without any prejudice to the rest of his blessed Attributes I am very sorry that Men are
join in a serious and solemn Commemoration of the Death Passion Love and Merits of our dying Lord when like Brethren of the same Society and of the same Family they symbolize together in Celebration of the Holy Eucharist eating at the same Table of the same Bread drinking of the same Wine in memory of that blessed Body and Blood which were both given for the Nourishment of us to Eternal Life when we commemorate his Cross with a Croud of Passions and crucisie our Lusts with a warm Devotion and look upon our Saviour's immense Love with weeping Eyes and wondering Hearts Faith Gladness and great Delight and with one Consent enter our selves afresh under his Banner to engage all the sinful Powers of the World and promise faithfully to be all for the time to come better Servants and more faithful in the precedure of our Lives When we solemnize the Memory of our dearest Saviour and his Love like loving Disciples with an ingenuous return of hearty Love to him agen and with a mutual Love to one another When Humility Faith Obedience and Charity all meet at the Passover together and we are in quarrel with nothing but what God himself quarrels at Sin and Hell Psal 96.6 8. The Glory for which we worship is exceeding beautiful If we consider 1. The Description given of it in Sacred Scripture under the Mosaic Oeconomy it was represented by Types and Emblems and figurative Expressions for in truth the Intellectuals of Mankind were then so gross and cloudy that they had need of Pictures and sensible Ideas to make things spiritual invisible and future intelligible and 't is not much better with Mankind now tho' the World be grown older yet not much wiser We have still need of Material Instruments and Opticks to help us forward in Quest of the World to come The Land of Canaan the Milk Oyl Honey and exceeding fruitfulness of the place were a lively Figure of the promised Inheritance They stuck then so deep in the Mud and adhered so close to the present World that it was hard to draw them over to abstracted and lofty speculations and therefore God Almighty indulged their Infancy of Reason and Judgment so far as to give them a Prospect of Heaven in a fine spot of ground here on Earth A sight of Life everlasting and the World to come in a piece of clear Landskip in this World But a Brighter discovery was reserved to these last times of the World when Men were come to some maturity of Age and Judgment and able to lay aside their Fescues and throw away their Pictures and ruder Elements they had been accustomed to and exercised in so that now we have as full a Discovery and Description of the future Glory revealed to us as we are capable at present of receiving And here I must confess the Beauty is so dazling the Apprehension so amazing that a deep Meditation upon it would go near to strike our Thoughts into a perfect stupor and incuriousness about the things of this World Life and Immortality are brought to light thro' the Gospel but such a light as we are able to receive and no more 2. The Nature of it collected from the chief Topicks of Consideration 1. God himself the Object and Author 2. The Design and Intention 1. God himself the Object and Author Of which I shall say but little for when we stare long upon such Transcendent Objects our Senses fail us and we commonly find our selves at our Wits end We may indeed discourse modestly about them and think at present so far as to make our Thoughts quick and Devotion lively but whatsoever is more than this is more than meet Can we think that that God who made the World and made us with so much Wisdom and exercised a continual Providence over us for so many thousands of Years did not mean some excellent admirable End at the last for the Reward of that Creature which was made the top of all the visible Creation For my part I expect to see and I think upon excellent Reason too the God of Mercy admit me in favour to that Enjoyment the most ravishing sight that ever was or will be in the Vniverse There and then I hope to see what will be the product and effect of that Infinite Wisdom Power and Goodness that first made and now maintains this World Then the Glory of all his Attributes will be made known and exposed to open view and Oh! the Beauty of that Prospect and therefore 2. The Design and Intention of it being to set forth the Divine Glory and Man's Happiness it must needs be full of Beauty As the Case stands with us now a little a lighter kind of Happiness would serve our turns Our Bodies are very frail our Intellectuals very infirm our Natures so bemired with sin and vicious Inclinations that a Mahomet's Paradise or an Elysian Field or a good Constitution of Body and a pleasant Soul and some cheerful Company and a full Purse or Barn would go a great way with us But when the Body is raised incorruptible and all the Man's Faculties renewed and repaired we shall not be content with that Draff we feed on now but call for Manna Angels food more glorious Objects and refined Notions and a clearer Medium for the Conveyance of Idea's and Communion with Spirits and then every thing will be and appear in its due place and order God Angels Men every sense and faculty suited and filled with its meet Object All things full of beauty and Glory without any intermixture of Deformity Defect or Disorder The supream Being in his Throne of Majesty and all his Creatures in their proper places of Subjection and Glory reciprocating the Acts of a Holy Sweet and blessed Communion one with another To which Blessed Estate the Lord grant that both he that writes and he that reads these Lines may be admitted for the sake of our dear Redeemer the Holy Jesus We shall now in the next place come to consider First The Deformity of an unholy life opposita juxta se c. 1. Sin is full of Deformity of its own nature 'T is all of it an Ireegularity a divaricating from the Rule a trangression of the Holy Law of God a disobedience to the Divine Precept a going aside into By-paths and Errors 2. It renders us uncomely and deformed in the sight of God Good Angels and Good Men They look not upon us with that loving eye that liking and approbation that pleasure and delight as upon the righteous and him that fears God As for the former 't is called by God in Scripture Abomination and that which his soul abhors so is all injustice diverse weights and measures proud looks and hypocritical prayers and in a word all the kinds of sin nay the Prophet tells us His Eyes cannot endure to look upon iniquity and besides he hates them so that he will never suffer these qualities to come into his