and that with a Sentence of approbation and commendation upon every particular thing which he had made And behold saith the Text it was very good God's survey of all his Creatures and his judgment of them upon his survey and review of them these two divide the Text. From the words we shall deduce these two Observations 1. That God who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he doth look upon again again and consider his works 2. That it is a true and righteous Sentence or Judgment namely this which he passed upon his Creatures at first as they then were as they came out of his hands Behold they were very good The former I shall very briefly dispatch the latter I shall insist upon 1. Of the first It cannot be that ever any thing should be hid from Gods all-seeing Eye which is a thousand times brighter than the Sun Which if it look on the Sun the eye of the World that shineth not yea God who is All-eye Totus oculus sees more than the eye of Faith doth and yet that sees things that are invisible and therefore nothing which was registred in Moses's Natural History of the Creation could possibly lye undiscovered unto him No not the Angels of Heaven above which because not to be seen with corporal eyes much less Minerals hid in the bowels of the Earth beneath which because not actually seen without much digging and delving or because not so soon perfected by the heat of the Sun are therefore omitted altogether in the preceding Narration I say there was never any thing either in Heaven above in the Earth beneath or in the Waters either above or under the Earth which was not alway visible and actually seen and beheld by him And yet if you look over this Chapter you will find that 't is said that God had seen his works four times before now He saw the work of every day in the end thereof and pronounced it good except the second day which some think was because the Angels were created that day and that day fell multitudes of them Others because that day was a work of division for then God made the Firmament and divided the Waters which were under the Firmament from the Waters which were above the Firmament verse 7. Or lastly and most probably because the work which was begun that day was not so fully perfected until the third day when God gathered the Waters under the Heaven into one place and call'd it Seas when 't is said that God saw that it was good Vers 10. I say God had seen his works four times before this sixth day and never looked on any thing that he had made but he saw it was good and yet this satisfies not but he sees and surveys them again a fifth time namely now on the sixth day God saw every thing that he had made If any wonder at this and say in their heart what doth this mean if it was so why was it thus I answer that it was not done for that it was possible for God to have overseen himself in any of his works and to have omitted either any part or parcel of work which he had designed to do or any punctilio of workmanship requisite It was not because that any thing either actually did or possibly could miscarry in his hands or be marred by him in the making of it It was not because there was any want of harmony or due proportion of the parts one to another or because all together they could possibly render the Universe ugly or monstrous It was not for any one nor for all these causes put together that God is said thus often to see his works But it may be for some such ends as these 1. To teach us seriously to contemplate and wisely to consider the operation of his hands to study the Book of Nature well that large Volume of two Tomes Heaven and Earth and therein to see the invisible things of God even his eternal Power and Godhead which being of themselves not seen yet are manifest by the things that do appear In the Sun Moon and Stars you may see digitum Dei In the inferior or sublunary Creatures vestigia Dei Gods footsteps for quaelibet Herba quaelibet Bestiola Deum refert In Man you may see Dei Speculum Imaginem the Glass Image and Representation of God In the Universe as in a fair Book and very legible Characters you may read yea you may run and read the Name and Nature of God and by reading and studing this Book only you may prove good Scholars in Divinity God would have no Atheist in the University of the World But if any such there be who shut their eyes against the light of the knowledge of God in the face of the whole Creation let them know that God's eye is ever upon them and that for evil for this horrid ingratitude in that that they would maâ—â— him that made them not allow him a being who give them and all things or Creatures else theirs 2. To teach us to view and review our own works If God who could not err surveyed every days work one excepted in the end of the day and the whole weeks work in the end of the sixth day Let us go and do likewise Let 's consider our ways daily and again let 's consider our ways weekly Let there be no man amongst us but who reviews his works saying What have I done This was the way wherein David if we judge him the pen-man of the 119. Psalm was converted or restored after his fall he thought on his ways look'd them over and over again and turn'd his feet unto God's Testimonies 3. To secure to himself his own honour and glory and to render the Creatures inexcusable in case of any future miscarriage Now if any thing fall and be marr'd the fault cannot justly and reasonally be imputed unto God for he was exceeding careful to make and overlook and examine his works and to make and leave all well good and very good If therefore there happen hereafter to be any errour any crack flaw spot or blur any fault in any of the Creatures it must be acknowledged to be by some abuse neglect miscarriage or fall out of our hands for before they came out of God's hands he looked them over and over again and found and left them all right and good and very or vehemently good 4. To prevent our carping quarrelling and finding fault with God's works Ne aliter de suis operibus sentire vel loqui quisquam audeat Calvin That we say not no not in our hearts Cui bono Or Quorsum perditio haec Concerning any of the Creatures that none may say What is this Wherefore is that For all the works of the Lord are exceeding good And he hath made all things for their use saith the Author of Ecclesiast Cap. 39.16 17 21. That none might blaspheme Gods works as that profane Spaniard
at first and who hath restored all things and redeemed his People to God by his blood out of every kindred and Tongue and People and Nation If with the Apostle John Rev. 5.11 12 13. We behold and hear the voyce of many Angels round about the Throne and the Beasts and the Elders the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voyce Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing And every Creature in Heaven and on Earth and under the Earth and in the Sea saying Blessing honour glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever If God had his Sabbath to celebrate his work of Creation good reason Christ should have his Sabbath wherein we should commemorate his work of Redemption And now this being the Lords day and our Christian Sabbath let us do the duty of the day in the season thereof Bless the Lord O our Souls and all that is within us bless his Holy Name Forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all our iniquities who redeemeth our life from destruction who crowneth us with loving kindnesses and tender mercies Psal 103.1 2 3 4. U II I shall conclude all with a few words of Exhortation When God looked upon his works did he see every thing very good 1. Then let us not cavil or carp at any of all God's works Wo to him that striveth with his Maker Let the Potsherd strive with the Potsherds of the Earth Let 's not blame or find fault with God for any of all his works either of Creation or Providence for God hath made all things well and he hath made every thing beautiful in his season If any of God's Creatures or Providences prove evil and hurtful to us let 's blame our selves let 's blame our sins For Sin that it might appear Sin worketh death in us by that which is good Rom. 7. 2. Let 's admire and adore God Let 's bless and praise and magnify him for ever for all his goodness For his goodness is in and over all his works Let 's have high thoughts of God and low of our selves And this is the use the Prophet David makes of this Doctrine Psal 8.147 148 149 150. Yea this is the use which God himself would have Job make of it when he preached upon part of this Text in the 38 39 40 41. Chapters of the Book of Job And let us say with the Psalmist Ps 103. when we take a survey of Gods works Bless the Lord ye his Angels who excel in strength ye Ministers of his that do his pleasure Bless the Lord all his Works in all places of his Dominion every one of us Bless the Lord O my Soul 3. Let 's learn good from the Creatures God would have us go to school to the Creatures to learn many good Lessons from them He would have the Sluggard go to the industrious Ant to consider her ways and be wise Those who are ignorant of God their Lord and feeder are reproved by the bruit Creatures For the Oxe knows his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib Those who do not or cannot discern the times and seasons even the times of their Visitation the Prophet would that we go to the Stork the Crane and the Swallow for all these know their appointed seasons And because Christians and Ministers especially are sent out in the World as Sheep among Wolves Christ would have them to be as wise as Serpents and innocent as Doves Last of all did God look upon daily and at the end of the sixth day again review all his works Did he examine judge and find them all very good Let us go and do likewise let us imitate God we cannot have a better precedent or example to follow Let us every evening look back upon the works of the day and at the end of the week upon the works of the week Let 's examine and judge them This has been the practice of many precious Saints as the Lord Harington Mr. Herbert Palmer and others Yea some such thing as this viz. calling himself to an account at night for what had passed him in the day Seneca tells of himself These examples we shall do well if we follow so as they followed God himself This is a right method to proceed from good to very good to have all good but our latter work better than our former But because that in many things we offend all whil'st we are in this World here upon Earth let us look for and long after that place and state I mean for Heaven when we shall be made like unto God and our works like his works When from day to day and Sabbath to Sabbath even to all eternity we may look upon every thing that we have done and behold it shall be very good The END of the first Sermon Proverb 20.10 The righteous Man regardeth the life of his Beast 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ACcording to the Hebrew 'tis A righteous Man knows that is regardeth taketh care of the life of his Beast If on the one hand we consider the great commendations which the Holy Scriptures give of diverse of the bruit and unreasonable Creatures together with God's great care of and cost about them himself and his charge and laws to Men concerning them And on the other hand compare therewith Men's vilifying disregarding abusing of them It may seem not unreasonable nor unprofitable to bestow one lecture about them namely for this end to instruct and teach Men who have a right to use them how to use them aright to make them good Lords to those good Servants As he that rules over tnen must be just so he that is Lord over these bruit Creatures must not be cruel towards them As God will require the life of a Man of the Beast that slayeth him Gen. 9.5 Ex. 21.29 the Beast shall be put to death So will God call Men to accompt for the lives of their Beasts if they be cruel unto them For my own part I would not when my Lord cometh be found causelesly or cruelly beating or misusing these my Servants and my fellow Servants From the words we may observe 1. That Man hath a Right and Title to the Beasts of the Earth and that not only in common but each Man hath a particular Right and Propriety in them The righteous Man regardeth the life of his Beast 2. That a good or righteous Man is good or merciful to his Beast 3. That unrighteous or wicked Men are unmerciful or cruel to their Beasts I. Psal 8.6 7. Of the First God the soveraign Lord of Heaven and Earth the Maker of Man and Beast hath made him Lord over the Beasts he hath put them all under his hand or under his feet Gen. 1.25.26 28. He that made the Beast of the Earth
Trades and Imployments The Birds Nightingals excepted sing not in the night but the Dogs bark in the night and this Creature alone betrays the Thief at what hour of the night soever he comes 4. They delight in a diverse kind of Dyet feed on several Dishes and God gives every one his proper Dish his Meat in his season The Sheep doth not feed on flesh nor doth the Horse take pleasure to gnaw the bones like the Dog nor the Fish to eat hay like the Oxe 5. They have several Dwellings or Hiding-places The Hare does not lye down at the Crib nor doth the Dog delight constantly to abide in the Wood amongst Wolves Tygers and Lyons Of the Second God first made the Dwelling-houses of the Creatures before the Inhabitants thereof yea he first furnished and stored those several Mansions of the Creatures before he made and brought the Creatures into them First God made the grass for the Beasts and then the Beasts themselves First the inferior Creatures and then Man the Epitome under God supream Lord of all First God made Vegetative Creatures then Sensitive and then Rational First the simple bodies as the Elements and then compound and there first a being without life then a being and life without sense then a being life and sense without reason then altogether all in one and that is Man Again goodly was the order which God set for the propagation of the Creatures He gave them a seed whereby to beget others in their own likeness Or from whence should grow alway another to continue and replenish the World It is admirable to think that so much should come of so little that the seed of Plants is not quickned except it dye that when seed is sown in the Earth the seed should grow and spring up and the Sower knoweth not how For The Earth bringeth forth fruit of her self first the Blade then the Ear then the full Corn in the Ear Mar. 4.27 28. And all this comes from the goodness and blessing of God upon it in the first Creation Gen. 2.11 12. Again it had been a goodly pleasant sight to have seen the Waters bring forth Fish and Fowl of themselves first and so the Earth to bring forth Beasts and all kind of Cattel after their kind and all at God's Word of Command at first And that all these Creatures should have virtue to multiply and increase and to replenish the Sea and the dry Land this is very wonderful This is a goodly order too that God hath set namely that sensitive Creatures should some bring forth living Creatures some egs only that the Ostrich should bring forth egs and leave them And yet God take order with the Beams of the Sun as with his wings to keep them warm and hatch them That God should seed the young Ravens when they cry and the old one the Dam hath left them viz. as some tell us by causing a little worm to grow out of the dung in the nest and to crawl into their very mouths to feed them Again that the great Creatures are not so fruitful as the small and that the wild beasts do not so multiply as the tame and more useful Creatures do this is also admirable That the Waters greater than the Earth and at first above the Earth should not overflow it but be bound in by a girdle of Sand and that a light body which the wind can blow too and fro where it listeth That the Fire doth not consume and devour all the other corporal Creatures That the Beams of the Chambers of the World should be laid in the Waters Psal 104.3 and yet not be moved That the Globe of the Earth and Waters should hang upon its own Center only like a ball in the air this is indeed wonderful Again a most beautiful sight it is to behold and consider the good order and concatenation of Causes first set by God God appointed the Heavens to hear the Earth and the Earth to hear the Corn and the Wine and the Oyl and these to hear Jezreel Hos 2.22 This is that sight which the poor Heathens had some glimps of in the night of Gentilism as appears by that Poetical Fancy of the chain fastned to Jupiter's Chair and reaching down to the Earth What should we say more When God finished the Heavens and the Earth and all the Host of them he left them like a well govern'd Army standing in Battel-aray every one set in his rank every one ordered to march on in his way and none to break their ranks no one to thrust another So that if the greatness and glory of King Solomon and the goodly order of his House or Court was a sight which put the Queen of Sheba to an extasy what a sight had it been to have been with Adam in Paradise and to have seen the general muster of the Creatures before him that he should give them their names and to have seen that excellent order which was observed in this great House of the World and in all the Family of Heaven and Earth when God looked upon them all and behold they were very good Surely a far greater sight than that of Solomon's Court was here for a greater than he hath said Mat. 6.29 That Solomon in all his glory was not arayed like one of these Of the Third 3. The Creatures are very good because they are very useful to us In the state we are now some are for food some for Physick some for defence some for covering some for ornament some for our service some for our delight and recreation To instance in some particulars The Heavens were made spread out and garnished for Mans benefit and advantage Every Man has his portion in the Stars of Heaven Deut. 4.19 as well as in the clods or glebe of the Earth For as God hath determined to all Nations and persons the bounds of their habitations on the Earth so hath he divided unto them all the Sun Moon and Stars of Heaven The third Heaven is the Seat of the Blessed the Receptacle and Mansion of Saints and Angels the Palace and Paradise of the second Adam and his Seed The visible Heavens compass the World as a glorious wall of fire are a goodly Mount and fence yea a goodly covering and canopy to the sublunary World and to the Inhabitants thereof The Sun Moon and Stars distinguish Times and Seasons separate Day and Night give light to the Inhabitants of the Earth render it fruitful by their heat and influences Job 38.31 The Meteors in the middle region of the Air Fire and Hail Snow and Vapour stormy Winds Thunder and Lightening the small Rain and the great Rain of his strength these all set forth the Power of God are good for the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof they all fulfil his Word and this Word of his that Lo he beheld them and they were very good How doth the Snow though cold
of it self yet keep the Fruits of the Earth warm like Wool He giveth Snow like Wool How do the Winds as God's Besom sweep the Air and carry about the Clouds which are his Chariots though these Chariots of God are twenty thousand even a thousand thousand of them yet all these move very swiftly upon the wings of the Wind. Come we to the lower region of the Air and there to the Fowls of Heaven Their flight above the Earth being made most of earth and water is very admirable The Ostrich doth partly go and partly fly makes use both of her legs and wings and so they say moves as swift as if she did sly The very feathers and wings of the Birds are of goodly sight Gavest thou the goodly wings to the Peacock Job 39.13 Besides the Fowls are of use some for food some for physick some for our recreation Even the very Swallow and the Bat some may think useles Creatures do the one by day and the other at even purge the Air of Flyes The Crows Ravens and Eagles devour those dead Carkases which lye on the Earth and else might corrupt the Air and make it pestilential The Crows pick up the Worms after the plough and so better the soil Some Birds are meat for the rest and they again for us Come we to the Beasts of the Field God hath put all these into our hands Psal 8.7 yea under our feet The Horse and the Cow Creatures of great and ordinary or daily use God hath not given them so great galls as to other Creatures lest being much used or misused by us they should wax angry and turn again and rent us The Horse doth not bite or kick his Keeper when he gives him chaff instead of provender The Beasts are for our food or physick or for the food of other Beasts who are useful or serviceable to us either to our necessities or our delights Even venomous Creatures themselves the Physicians make good use of they say these pick up or suck up poyson which is scattered up and down the Earth and make the places where they are more wholsom Again some of those poysonous Creatures are meat for other Creatures which are good food for us as Hens pick up Spiders and yet yield us good nourishment Besides it may be questioned whether there were any such thing as poyson before Sin came and brought it into the World we find no Antipathy then betwixt the Woman and the Serpent and so possibly no venom neither in the Serpent until the Devil that great Poysoner possessed it however poysons should not have been hurtful As for Flyes and creeping Things these are many of them for physick some for food so some sort of Locusts and Snails for our sport some with these other Creatures are fed and some taken as the Fishes Of what admirable use are these to us to the Silk-worm we owe our soft rayment and to the Cocheâ—-â—al our scarlet-dy And as for the Air it self 't is a fit Medium for us to breathe in to move in to derive the influences and light of Heaven to us Come we to the Earth our Bodies are made of it we dwell therein It brings forth Grass and Fruits and so food for us and the other Creatures It is our Bed to sleep in after death In the Earth the Valleys and Plains are sit conveyances of water to water the Earth are very fruitful stand so thick with Grass and Corn that they sing and shout for joy Psal 65.13 The Mountains are a shadow against the storm and heat they are for the grasing of the Cattel and thence we have our most goodly prospects Come we to the Waters there Fish are useful to us for food or delight or for other uses The Waters themselves yield matter of Rains and Dews to refresh the dry and thirsty ground serve to wash us and refrigerate us or to refresh us The Ebbing and Flowing of the Seas prevent the corruptions of the Waters is very useful for speedy transportation of Men and Merchandize and of the best Merchandize the Pearl of price And now if after all this there be yet any doubt or scruple concerning the goodness of God's Creation or his Creatures I answer God knows wherefore he made them all and to what use they serve although we do not When we come into a Goldsmiths or other Artificers Shop and see many Tools there which we know not how to use In officinâ non audeâ— vituperare fabrum audes in hoc Mundo reprehendere Deum Aust or what they are good for yet we do not straight way condemn them as useless because the Artificer knows what good use they serve for Neque in potestate hominis est indagare quam ob causam produxerit Natura formicarum alias alis instructas alias absque alis Quamobrem etiam vermium alios pluribus pedibus alios paucioribus produxerit quisvè sit hujus vermis hujus formicae finis 2. We say that if there be any deformity at present in the whole Creation if there be any Insects or other Creatures which are noxious I answer this comes from Mans sin Creantur quidem a Deo sed ultore saith Calvin in Gen. 2. If Man that was good and very good for till he was made God only saw and said of his Creatures that behold they were good but then very good prove Apostate from God and Rebel against him no wonder if God do begin to pull the house about his ears If Man himself become a Briar and a Thorn no wonder if the Earth bring forth Briars and Thorns to him Whil'st Adam continued in his goodness Heaven and Earth was full of God's goodness of God's good Creatures If there be any Creatures which are evil and pernicious to Man he must blame the evil of sin for that that is the fly in this Box of Ointment And yet as things now are in statu quo we may say as the Son of Syrach doth For the Good are good things created from the beginning so evil things for Sinners And a little after enumerating some of the principal things for the whole use of Mans life he saith All these things are for good to the Godly so to the Sinners they are turned into evil Eccles 39. 4. And so we come to our Fourth Head or Topick from whence we are to evidence the goodness of the Creatures namely their obedience unto their Maker It may be said of all God's Creatures as they were made at first by him from the highest Angel in Heaven to Man on Earth and the meanest Worm in or under the Earth that God commanded and they were created and they rebelled not against his Word And now since the Angels so many of them and Adam sell they from Heaven and he from Paradise yet the residue of the Creatures even the whole Creation these excepted keep the Law that their Maker set them and are
oftentimes even devoted the Beasts as well as their sinful Masters Owners to destruction And doth he not in some cases command the Beast to be put to deâ—th and so to be sacrificed to justice And again Did not God require under the old Law frequent yea daily sacrificing of Beasts making the life of the Beast to go for the life of a Man And lastly as to this Objection Did not our Saviour permit the Devil to go into the herd of Swine and so they 2000 of them ran violently into the Sea and were choked in the Sea Answ 1 I say that God hath a supreme Right Title to all the Beasts of the Fold Psal 50. the Field or the Forest All the Beasts of the Field are mine and the Cattel upon a thousand hills And that he may dispose of or do what he will with his own Who may say to him what dost thou That when God destroys Mens Cattle he doth it not out of the least hatred to the Beast but to testify his hatred and abhorrence of the Sins of the Owners of them and hereby to punish them or to bring them to repentance to melt or mollify at least their hard hearts and cause them to say as David 'T is I or 't is we that have sinned these Sheep or Oxen c. what have they done Or to prove and try them and do them good in their latter end as was the case of Job If God may justly punish Parents in their Children because they are their goods surely then he may punish Masters and Owners in their Cattel because they have a propriety in them and the taking away the lives or the loss of their Cattel redounds to them As for the Beasts that were offered up in Sacrifice by Gods Ordinance and Institution He might as justly do it as to give Men a Charter or Patent to Arise Kill and Eat for the preservation of their natural lives For by the Sacrifice the Sinner was freed from that temporal death which the Sin deserved for which it was offered And besides this Sacrifice was typical of Christ the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World and so was of use also to the saving of the Soul of the Sinner As for the Gergesens Swine I say 1 Our Lord Jesus Christ was Lord of all and therefore might justly permit or suffer the Devils to enter into them and to hurry them headlong into the Sea 2 Thereby their Owners should have learnt how good and merciful God was to them that he did restrain the Devil and not suffer him to possess their whole Country And that goodness and mercy of Christ that whereas there was a Legion of Devils in one Man he suffered them not when cast out to disperse themselves about the Country and possess a Legion of Men i. e. above 6000 Men but only this herd of Swine 3 Our Saviour teaches us that natural Men value and prefer their Swine before their Saviour 2 Let us consider that we may deal merciful with these Creatures that they are Fellow-creatures with us yea our Fellow-servants to the great Lord of Heaven and Earth as well as they are our Servants and we Lords over them And must give an account when our Lord Christ comes if he find us beating our Fellow-servants if he find us drinking with the Drunken and presently falling upon these our Fellow-servants 3 As they are our Servants to consider that they are good Servants to us who are too often bad Masters to them If we will use them they submit their necks to our yoke If we abuse them they do not complain In their mouth is no reproof That which usually inflames Masters against Servants is when Servants will answer again will contradict or at least dispute it with them Now these our Servants they are mute dumb Creatures they cannot plead their own cause they return not a word for a blow not a word for many blows though without a cause or a sufficient cause 4 Let us consider these Creatures were partakers of the curse of Mans Sin by reason of this they groan and travail in pain their yoke is harder and their burden heavier We should look on their sorrows and sufferings as occasioned as merited by us by our disobedience to our soveraign Lord. How do they spend their days in our service end their lives for our service for Food for Physick sometimes for a Sacrifice and oftentimes even for a Pleasure Delight or Recreation They suffer for us We eat the sour Grapes and their Teeth are set on edge and this justly too because they are our proper goods and we are Lords over them Many times they suffer with us as in War and other publick calamities and let this suffice let them never suffer unnecessarily from us If we do we make them exceeding miserable the poor abused Beast hath no knowledge or foresight of death as Men in misery have to put an end ere long to his bondage and misery nor any hopes of a Resurrection or a future reward for his sufferings as good Men have to comfort them The Turks I read hold that the Beasts shall rise again and although that is no part of my Creed yet I dare say if they should they will rise in judgment against those that have cruelly used them here 5 We may go to school to them and learn many a good Lesson from them How great is the love and faithfulness of Dogs the meekness of Elephants the shamefastness of the adulterous Lyoness the chastity of the Turtle the watchfulness of the Cock the utility of the Sheep 'T is said of King Porus his Elephant that he exposed his own life to save his Masters How often doth the Holy Ghost send us to school to the unreasonable Creatures Go to the Ant thou Sluggard consider her ways and be wise Those who do not know God that hath nourished and brought them up how are they reproved by the Oxe and the Ass Isa 1. The Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib but Israel doth not know my People doth not consider Those which know not the day of their Visitation may go to school to the Crane Swallow who know their appointed seasons Those Children who are without natural affection to their aged Parents let them go to the Stork and learn of that Creature to requite their Parents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to feed their Parents when they are old 6 Consider that if we be Friends with God the very Beasts themselves are not only our Servants but our Friends also Our Lord Christ hath reconciled all things in Heaven and Earth Whiles we were Rebels and Traitors to God our soveraign the Angels of Heaven and the Beasts of the Earth became Enemies to us and in pursuit of their allegiance were ready to fight against us but now being reconciled to our Soveraign and returned to our obedience these our Fellow-subjects are again at peace
did That none might speak or think falsely and foolishly concerning God as the Jews do viz. Deum ultima vespera praeventum quaedam animantia imperfecta reliquisse Calvin in Gen. 2.1 God the Judge of Heaven and Earth did in the beginning of the World strictly look and enquire into truly try and righteously judge all his Creatures and he returns Omnia benè I find no fault in any thing that I have made God having newly printed the Book of the Creatures in six days and having compared it sheet by sheet as it were before with the original in his own mind and found no fault in it he doth now again that the whole work is finished read it and examine all over again and sees no jota or tittle amiss in it from the beginning to the end thereof no place for the least dash of the pen of Men or Angels and no need of the least touch of his own hand either to correct or compleat it And this brings us to the other Observation that it was a true and righteous judgment which God passed upon his Creatures as they came out of his hands at first that they were very good They were good before and well approved of four or five times by God but now that all is done and polished by God's own hand now 't is perfect very good nothing need to be added thereunto When God saw the parts of this body of the Universe part by part each was good and beautiful as he made and viewed it day by day But now the body being fully compleated by that which every part supplyeth and now this body of the visible World being headed with a visible head Man God's Deputy and Vice-roy made and set to rule and govern all his Creatures here below Now 't is added they were very good God assembled the Creatures before Adam to see what names he would give all his Subjects and Adam gave names to all Cattel and to the Fowls of the Air and to every Beast of the Field Gen. 2.20 Adam gave them every one his name and God gave them all an Epithitâ—e very good I shall endeavour with Gods leave and help to shew 1. How and in what sense the Creatures may be said to be good and very good 2. To prove that the Creatures are so very good 3. Whether all the Creatures have always been and now are so very good as when they first came out of God's hands and if not then 4. Whether ever there has been or shall be a restauration of the Creatures to their primitive goodness 5. What God requires that we should contribute towards the repair of this great House of the World and towards the restoring the Creatures to their first goodness and beauty Of the First 1. The Creatures are all good Metaphysically as they had a being Ens bonum convertuntur And so they were drops of that Ocean of goodness that is in God 'T is good by some participation of his goodness and conformity to his Word and Will without which it could not have been at all So the Scripture testifieth that every Creature of God is good here and in the 1 Tim. 4.4 All that was made was every way agreable to his Will and contrary to or without that was nothing made that was made 2. The Creatures were all good Morally There was no Anomy or Ataxy amongst them all Nothing prejudicial to God's glory and every thing serviceable for mans benefit The Creatures were good that is were goodly fair pleasant to the eyes Again they were good that is profitable or commodious So the word may import for that which one Evangelist calleth good Mar. 9.42 another calleth profitable Luk. 17.2 3. They were Theologically good They were as so many Letters out of which men might spell the Name of God Almighty Psal 19. Yea from these Creatures as from so many Teachers men might learn many profitable Lessons touching service and obedience to their Maker The Creatures proclaim to us God's goodness and glory and again the homage and duty which we owe unto God our Creator The Creatures are a kind of Ladder whereby we may always ascend up unto God The World is Templum Dei God's Temple and in this Temple doth every one of his Creatures speak of his honour Of the Second we shall endeavour to evidence the goodness and beauty of the Creation 1. From the various Natures of the Creatures 2. From the goodly Order of their creation propagation and working 3. From their great Usefulness and serviceableness unto Man 4. From their extraordinary Obedience unto God their Maker Of the First 1. Every Creature of God is good and it is a pleasant thing to behold or consider the beauty of them all in their first creation How much are we delighted with a good Prospect yea with a fair Landskip sometimes The shew which the Devil tempted our Saviour withal for from the top of an exceeding high Hill he shewed him all the Kingdoms of the World and the glory of them was of it self a tempting and would have been a ravishing sight to us But alas this sight was nothing to that view which God took of all the Creatures of the World and the goodness of them Let 's behold God's six days works beginning from the Angels in Heaven to the meanest Creature on the Earth or in the Waters and we shall see a delightful sight rendred so by the excellent variety of the Creation Some Creatures as Angels are all spirit and no bodies Some again corporal Creatures and no spirits Some half the one and half the other as Man Again some Creatures have life and some are without life Of those that have life some are rational some are irrational Of unreasonable Creatures some are integra Animalia some Insecta and of both sorts some live in the Air and some in the Water and some on the Earth and some are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Crocodils c. which live partly in the Water and partly on the dry Land Again there is a Creature which is partly a Plant and partly an Animal and that is a Sponge and what if we say the same of the sensitive Plant Come we to instance only in the bruit Creatures and there we shall see an admirable variety God hath not fill'd the World with all great or all small or all of a middle size but with some of every sort I shall be beholden to the Naturalist Franzius to shew a five-fold observable Variety amongst these And this is our First 1. God their Maker hath set to all their several quantities their bounds which they shall not pass The greedy Swine shall never grow to be so big as the Elephant nor the Pigeon to be so great as the Swan 2. They have their several Voices and Tones the Cuckow doth never crow like the Cock nor the Lyon grunt like the Hog nor the Dog neigh like the Horse 3. They have their several
mouth was how might they complain and say Wherefore hast thou smitten me it may be not these three times only but these three-score times Although many Men live on the labour and sweat of their Beasts yet they care not in their rage and fury to slay them to spill their blood Well may the whole Creation groan wayting to be delivered from this bondage unto corrupt and cruel Men. How many unreasonable and cruel Masters are there which are like Pharao's Taskmasters to the Israelites who required brick and gave them no straw who demand of their Beasts to labour to travel to work and allow them no meat or not meat sufficient How do Men load their Beasts more than they are able to bear and drive them faster than they are able well to go and if they stumble fall down or stand still how are these their Servants beaten when the fault is in their cruel Task masters I confess I have often wished that some law might be made for the ease of these poor Beasts even to bind their Masters to their good behaviour towards them Good reason I think there is as that he that steals his Neighbours Beast should be punished so that he that slays his own Beast making it a sacrifice to his passion madness or folly should not escape unpunished Hence we may be informed that although in our days the Use I calling of Shepherds and Herdsmen c. be mean and contemptible yet they are lawful and commendable Callings The Angels of Heaven though they are above us both in nature and office yet they are our Ministers and Servants to keep us in all our ways Psal 91. Heb. 1.14 to minister to them that are Heirs of Salvation And so Men though they be above and Lords of these Creatures yet may they attend on them look to them and provide for them Job 1. As the riches of the Ancients consisted mostly in their Cattel so their imployment was mostly about them The Patriarchs were Keepers of Sheep and they bred up their Sons and Daughters to the same Calling And Saul lost nothing by seeking his Fathers Asses for he found a Kingdom whiles he was seeking of them And David was taken from following the Ews great with young and anointed King over Israel God himself appeared to Moses in the Bush whiles he was feeding Jethro's Flock when he was a Shepherd and not when he was in Pharao's Court and he made him King in Jesurun And not only the Poët calls the King 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Shepherd of the People but the holy Prophets also do the like Yea God himself in Scripture is called a Shepherd Hear O thou Shepherd of Israel thou that leadest Joseph like a Flock And our blessed Saviour as he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords so is he also called the good the great and chief Shepherd Therefore if there be any Shepherds c. that hear me this day let them go away comforted and incouraged to go on in their callings therein abide with God Consider that David was beloved of God and pleased God not only when he had a Crown and Scepter and led his People Israel but also when he had his Scrip and Shepherds Crook when he followed the Ews great with young Art thou a Shepherd thou art not a foot the farther off from being a Sheep of Christ from Christ's fold Often think whiles you are keeping your Flocks by day or watching them by night how the glad Tidings of Salvation the News of Christ's Bâ—rth was brought by a multitude of the Heavenly Host the Angels of Heaven to the Shepherds whilst they were keeping their Flocks by night saying and singing Glory be to God in the highest Behold we bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all People Luke 2. for unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord. Use II 2. Then let us shew our selves good Men righteous Men let 's be merciful no ways cruel and unmerciful to the bruit Creatures considering 1 Hereby we shall shew our selves merciful as our Father which is in Heaven is merciful For as he made Man and Beast Psal 36.5 and is the Owner of them Psal 50. so he preserveth Man and Beast He provides food convenient for them Grass for the Cattel for meat and Water for them to drink Water in abundance Psal 104.10 11. so that the wild Asses the most thirsty Creatures may quench their thirst 2 God would that no Man should do them wrong He reproved Balaam for the Asse's sake Jude the dumb Ass speaking with Mans voice rebuked the madness of the Prophet Jumentum Balaami semel in omnes aetates os aperuit ut illo suo sermone damnaret omnem in muta jumenta saevitiam Ct. in Prov. 12.10 The Ass opened his mouth once to teach all Generations to abhor cruelty to the dumb Creatures Yea 3 'T is the will of God that we should be so far from hurting or misusing cruelly our own Beasts that he commands us to be friendly to our Enemies Oxen or Asses if we find them fallen under their burden we are to help them up Ex. 23.5 4 And as God made the Sabbath that thy Oxe and thy Ass might rest as well as thou So he dispenseth with the bodily rest of the Sabbath to shew mercy to the bruit Creatures It is lawful to loose the Oxe or Ass from the Stall on the Sabbath-day and to lead them to water c. So that not only the Priests in the Temple break the Sabbath and are guiltles in slaying and offering up the Beasts in Sacrifice but Herdsmen and Shepherds and those that are Keepers of Cattel that attend upon them although they break the outward rest of the Sabbath yet are they guiltles blameles in so doing for the preservation of the health or lives of their Cattel and in this case God will have Mercy rather than Sacrifice We may omit for a time or give over praying to save the life of a Beast Acts 20 as St. Paul did his preaching to save the life of a Man of Eutychus Further 5 When God would drown the World for the Sin of Man and only save eight Persons alive he took care also to preserve alive by miracle in the Ark the bruit Creatures as well as Men and Women 6 And after the Flood God was pleased to make a Covenant with the Beasts of the Field c. as well as with Man Gen. 9. That he would drown the World no more 7 Afterwards when God spared the great City of Niniveh he is pleased graciously and mercifully to take notice of the abundance of Cattel in it that must have perished in the destruction of the City and he speaks of this as a reason or motive to spare the City Jonah 4. If it should be objected Doth God take care for Oxen Hath not God