Man if he stand thy Bounty will be eminent yet there is no room for Mercy to act unless by the Commission of sin he exposeth himself to Misery and if sin enter into another World I have little hopes to be heard then if I am rejected now Worlds will be perpetually created by Goodness Wisdom and Power Sin entring into these Worlds will be perpetually punished by Justice and Mercy which is a Perfection of thy Nature will for ever be commanded silence and lye wrapt up in an eternal Darkness Take occasion now therefore to expose me to the knowledge of thy Creature since without Misery Mercy can never set foot into the World Mercy pleads if man be ruined the Creation is in vain Justice pleads if man be not sentenced the Law is in vain Truth backs Justice and Grace abets Mercy What shall be done in this seeming Contradiction Mercy is not manifested if man be not pardoned Justice will complain if man be not punished 3. An expedient is found out by the wisdom of God to answer these Demands and adjust the Differences between them The wisdom of God answers I will satisfie your Pleas. The Pleas of Justice shall be satisfied in punishing and the Pleas of Mercy shall be received in pardoning Justice shall not complain for want of Punishment nor Mercy for want of Compassion I will have an infinite Sacrifice to content Justice and the Vertue and Fruit of that Sacrifice shall delight Mercy Here shall Justice have punishment to accept and Mercy shall have Pardon to bestow The Rights of both are preserved and the Demands of both amicably accorded in punishment and pardon by transferring the punishment of our Crimes upon a Surety exacting a Recompence from his Blood by Justice and conferring life and salvation upon us by Mercy without the expence of one drop of our own Thus is Justice satisfied in its Severities and Mercy in its Indulgences The riches of Grace are twisted with the terrors of Wrath. The bowels of Mercy are wound about the flaming Sword of Justice and the Sword of Justice protects and secures the bowels of Mercy Thus is God righteous without being cruel and merciful without being unjust his Righteousness inviolable and the World recoverable Thus is a resplendent Mercy brought forth in the midst of all the Curses Confusions and Wrath threatned to the Offender This is the admirable temperament found out by the wisdom of God His Justice is honoured in the Sufferings of Man's Surety and his Mercy is honoured in the application of the Propitiation to the Offender Rom. 3.24 25. Being justified freely by his Grace through the Redemption that is in Jesus Christ Whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God Had we in our Persons been Sacrifices to Justice Mercy had for ever been unknown had we been solely fostered by Mercy Justice had for ever been secluded had we being guilty been absolved Mercy might have rejoyced and Justice might have complained had we been solely punished Justice would have triumphed and Mercy grieved But by this medium of Redemption neither hath ground of Complaint Justice hath nothing to charge when the Punishment is inflicted Mercy hath whereof to boast when the Surety is accepted The Debt of the Sinner is transferred upon the Surety that the Merit of the Surety may be conferred upon the Sinner so that God now deals with our sins in a way of consuming Justice and with our Persons in a way of relieving Mercy 'T is highly better and more glorious than if the Claim of one had been granted with the exclusion of the Demand of the other It had then been either an unrighteous Mercy or a merciless Justice 'T is now a righteous Mercy and a merciful Justice 2. The Wisdom of God appears in the Subject or Person wherein these were accorded The second Person in the blessed Trinity There was a congruity in the Sons undertaking and effecting it rather than any other Person according to the order of the Persons and the several functions of the Persons as represented in Scripture The Father after Creation is the Law-giver and presents man with the Image of his own Holiness and the way to his Creatures happiness But after the Fall man was too impotent to perform the Law and too polluted to enjoy a Felicity Redemption was then necessary not that it was necessary for God to redeem man but it was necessary for man's happiness that he should be recovered To this the second Person is appointed that by Communion with him man might derive a happiness and be brought again to God But since man was blind in his Vnderstanding and an Enemy in his will to God there must be the exerting of a Vertue to enlighten his mind and bend his Will to understand and accept of this Redemption And this work is assigned to the third Person the Holy Ghost 1. It was not congruous that the Father should assume Human Nature and suffer in it for the Redemption of man He was first in order he was the Law-giver and therefore to be the Judge As Lawgiver it was not convenient he should stand in the stead of the Law-breaker and as Judge it was as little convenient he should be reputed a Malefactor That he who had made a Law against sin denounced a Penalty upon the commission of sin and whose part it was actually to punish the sinner should become sin for the wilful Transgressor of his Law He being the Rector how could he be an Advocate and Intercessor to himself How could he be the Judge and the Sacrifice A Judge and yet a Mediator to himself If he had been the Sacrifice there must be some Person to examine the validity of it and pronounce the Sentence of acceptance Was it agreeable that the Son should sit upon a Throne of Judgment and the Father stand at the Bar and be responsible to the Son That the Son should be in the place of a Governour and the Father in the place of the Criminal That the Father should be bruised * Isa 53.10 by the Son as the Son was by the Father †Zach. 13 70. that the Son should awaken a Sword against the Father as the Father did against the Son that the Father should be sent by the Son as the Son was by the Father * Gal. 4.4 The order of the Persons in the blessed Trinity had been inverted and disturbed Had the Father been sent he had not been first in order the Sender is before the Person sent As the Father begets and the Son is begotten Joh. 1.14 so the Father sends and the Son is sent He whose order is to send cannot properly send himself 2. Nor was it congruous that the Spirit should he sent upon this Affair If the Holy Ghost had been sent to redeem us and the Son to apply
incourage our Obedience as to illustrate his Glory We cannot conceive â—hat could be done greater for the salvation of our Souls and consequently what could have been done more to enforce our observance We have a Redeemer as man to copy it to us and as God to perfect us in it It would make the heart of any to tremble to wound him that hath provided such a salve for our Sores and to make Grace a warrant for Rebellion Motives capable to form Rocks into a flexibleness Thus is the Wisdom of God seen in giving us a ground of the surest confidence and furnishing us with incentives to the greatest Obedience by the horrors of wrath death and sufferings of our Saviour 8. The Wisdom of God is apparent in the Condition he hath settled for the enjoying the fruits of Redemption and this is faith a wise and reasonable Condition And the concomitants of it 1. In that it is suted to mans lapsed state and Gods Glory Innocence is not required here that had been a Condition impossible in its own nature after the Fall The rejecting of Mercy is now only condemning where mercy is proposed Had the Condition of Perfection in Works been required it had rather been a condemnation than redemption Works are not demanded whereby the Creature might ascribe any thing to himself but a Condition which continues in man a sense of his Apostacy abates all aspiring Pride and makes the reward of Grace not of Debt A Condition whereby Mercy is owned and the Creature emptied Flesh silenc'd in the Dust and God set upon his Throne of Grace and Authority The Creature brought to the lowest debasement and Divine Glory raised to the highest pitch The Creature is brought to acknowledge Mercy and seal to Justice to own the Holiness of God in the hatred of sin the Justice of God in the Punishment of sin and the Mercy of God in the pardoning of sin A condition that despoils Nature of all its pretended excellency Beats down the glory of man at the foot of God 1 Cor. 1.29.31 It subjects the Reason and Will of man to the Wisdom and Authority of God it brings the Creature to an unreserved submission and intire resignation God is made the Soveraign Cause of all the Creature continued in his emptiness and reduced to a greater dependance upon God than by a Creation depending upon him for a constant influx for an intire happiness A Condition that renders God glorious in the Creature and the fallen creature happy in God God glorious in his Condescension to Man and Man happy in his emptiness before God Faith is made the Condition of mans recovery that the lofty looks of man might be humbled and the haughtiness of man be pulled down Isa 2.11 that every towring imagination might be levelled 2. Cor. 10.5 Man must have all from without doors he must not live upon himself but upon anothers allowance He must stand to the provision of God and be a perpetual Sutor at his Gates 2. A Condition opposite to that which was the cause of the Fall We fell from God an unbelief of the Threatning he recovers us by a belief of the Promise by Unbelief we laid the Foundation of Gods dishonour by Faith therefore God exalts the Glory of his free Grace We lost our selves by a desire of self dependence and our return is ordered by a way of self-emptiness 'T is reasonable we should be restored in a way contrary to that whereby we fell We sinned by a refusal of cleaving to God t is a part of divine Wisdom to restore us in a denial of our own righteousness and strength * Laud against Fisher p. 5. Man having sinned by Pride the Wisdom of God humbles him saith one at the very root of the Tree of Knowledge and makes him deny his own Vnderstanding and submit to Faith or else for ever to lose his desired Felicity 3. It is a Condition suted to the Common Sentiment and custome of the World There is more of belief than reason in the World All Instructers and Masters in Sciences and Arts require first a belief in their Disciples and a resignation of their Understandings and Wills to them And it is the Wisdom of God to require that of man which his own reason makes him submit to another which is his fellow Creature He therefore that quarrels with the Condition of Faith must quarrel with all the World since Belief is the beginning of all Knowledge †Bradward p. 28. yea and most of the Knowledge in the World may rather come under the title of Belief than of Knowledge For what we think we know this day we may find from others such Arguments as may stagger our Knowledge and make us doubt of that we thought our selves certain of before Nay sometimes we change our Opinions our Selves without anâ— Instructor and see a reason to entertain an Opinion quite contrary to what we had before And if we found a general Judgment of others â—o vote against what we think we know it would make us give the less Credit to our selves and our own Sentiments All Knowledge in the World is only a belief depending upon the testimony or arguings of others for indeed it may be said of all men as in Job 8. Job 9. We are but of yesterday and know nothing Since therefore Belief is so universal a thing in the World the Wisdom of God requires that of us which every man must count reasonable or render himself utterly ignorant of any thing It is a Condition that is common to all Religions All Religions are Founded upon a Belief Unless men did believe future things they would not hope nor fear A Belief and Resignation was required in all the Idolatries in the World so that God requires nothing but what a universal custome of the World gives its suffrage to the reasonableness of Indeed justifying Faith is not suted to the Sentiments of men but that Faith which must precede iustifying a beliefe of the Doctrine though not comprehended by Reason is common to the custome of the World * Jâ—neway p. 88. 'T is no less madness not to submit our Reason to Faith than not to regulate our Fancies by Reason 4. This Condition of Faith and Repentances is suted to the Conscience of Men. The Law of Nature teaches us thâ—t we are bound to believe every revelation from God when it is made known to us And not only to assent to it as true but embrace it as good This Nature dictates that we are as much obligeâ— to believe God because of his Truth as to love him because of his Goodness Every mans Reason tells him he cannot obey a Precept nor depend upon a Promise unless he believes both the one and the other No man's Conscience but will inform him upon hearing the revelation of God concerning his excellent contrivance of Redemption and the way to Enjoy it that it is very reasonable he should strip off
of God Righteousness a Perfection as referred to others in his Actions towards them and upon them In Particular This Property of the Divine Nature is First An essential and necessary Perfection He is essentially and necessarily Holy 'T is the essential glory of his Nature His Holiness is as necessary as his Being as necessary as his Omniscience As he cannot but know what is right so he cannot but do what is just His Understanding is not as Created Understandings capable of Ignorance as well as Knowledge so his Will is not as Created Wills capable of Unrighteousness as well as Righteousness There can be no contradiction or contrariety in the Divine Nature to know what is right and to do what is wrong If so there would be a diminu ion of his Blessedness he would not be a God alway blessed Blessed for ever as he is * Rom. 9 5. He is as necessarily Holy as he is necessarily God as necessarily without Sin as without Change As he was God from Eternity so he was Holy from Eternity †Turreâ—in de Satisfact p. 28. He was Gracious Merciful Just in his own Nature and also Holy though no Creature had been framed by him to exercise his Grace Mercy Justice or Holiness upon If God had not created a World he had in his own Nature been Almighty and able to Create a World If there never had been any thing but himself yet he had been Omniscient knowing every thing that was within the verge and compass of his Infinite Power so he was Pure in his own Nature though he never had brought forth any Rational Creature whereby to manifest this Purity These Perfections are so necessary that the Nature of God could not subsist without them And the acts of those ad intra or within himself are necessary for being Omniscient in Nature there must be an act of knowledge of himself and his own Nature Being Infinitely Holy an act of Holiness in Infinitely loving himself must necessarily flow from this Perfection ‖ Ochino Predic part 3. Bodic 51. p. 347 348. As the Divine Will cannot but be perfect so it cannot be wanting to render the highest Love to it self to its Goodness to the Divine Nature which is due to him Indeed the acts of those ad extra are not necessary but upon a condition To love Righteousness without himself or to detest Sin or inflict Punishment for the committing of it could not have been had there been no Righteous Creature for him to love no Sinning Creature for him to loath and to exercise his Justice upon as the Object of Punishment Some Attributes require a Condition to make the Acts of them necessary As it is at Gods liberty whether he will create a Rational Creature or no But when he decrees to make either Angel or Man 't is necessary from the Perfection of his Nature to make them Righteous 'T is at Gods liberty whether he will speak to Man or no but if he doth 't is impossible for him to speak that which is false because of his Infinite Perfection of Veracity 'T is at his liberty whether he will permit a Creature to Sin but if he sees good to suffer it 't is impossible but that he should detest that Creature that goes cross to his Righteous Nature His Holiness is not solely an Act of his Will for then he might be Unholy as well as Holy he might love Iniquity and hate Righteousness he might then command that which is good and afterwards command that which is bad and unworthy For what is only an Act of his Will and not belonging to his Nature is indifferenr to him As the positive Law he gave to Adam of not eating the Forbidden Fruit was a pure Act of his Will he might have given him liberty to eat of it if he had pleased as well as prohibited him But what is Moral and good in its own Nature is necessarily willed by God and cannot be changed by him because of the transcendent Eminency of his Nature and Righteousness of his Will As it is impossible for God to command his Creature to hate him or to dispence with a Creature for not loving him for this would be to command a thing intrinsically Evil the highest Ingratitude the very Spirit of all Wickedness which consists in the hating God Yet though God be thus necessarily Holy he is not so by a bare and simple necessity as the Sun shines or the Fire burns but by a free necessity not compelled thereunto but inclined from the fulness of the Perfection of his own Nature and Will so as by no means he can be Unholy because he will not be Unholy 't is against his Nature to be so 2. God is only absolutely Holy There is none Holy as the Lord. 1 Sam. 2.2 'T is the peculiar glory of his Nature As there is none Good but God so none Holy but God No Creature can be essentially Holy because Mutable Holiness is the substance of God but a Quality and Accident in a Creature God is Infinitely Holy Creatures Finitely Holy He is holy from Himself Creatures are holy by derivation from him He is not only Holy but Holiness Holiness in the highest degree is his sole Prerogative As the highest Heaven is called the Heaven of Heavens because it embraceth in its Circle all the Heavens and contains the Magnitude of them and hath a greater vastness above all that it incloseth so is God the Holy of Holies He contains the Holiness of all Creatures put together and Infinitely more As all the Wisdom Excellency and Power of the Creatures if compar'd with the Wisdom Excellency and Power of God is but Folly Vileness and Weakness so the highest created Purity if set in parallel with God is but Impurity and Uncleaness Revel 15.4 Thou only art Holy 'T is like the light of a Glow-worm to that of the Sun †Job 15.15 The Heavens are not pure in his sight and his Angels he charged with folly Job 4 18. Though God hath Crowned the Angels with an unspotted Sanctity and placed them in a habitation of Glory yet as Illustrious as they are they have an Unworthiness in their own Nature to appear before the Throne of so Holy a God Their holiness grows dim and pale in his Presence 'T is but a weak shadow of that Divine Purity whose Light is so glorious that it makes them cover their faces out of weakness to behold it and cover their Feet out of shame in themselves They are not pure in his sight because though they love God which is a Principle of Holiness as much as they can yet not so much as he deserves They love him with the intensest degree according to their Power but not with the intensest degree according to his own Amiableness For they cannot infinitely love God unless they were as Infinite as God and had an understanding of his Perfections equal with himself and as immense
of the Soul 't is there his Image glitters He hath given us a Jewel as well as a Case and the Jewel as well as the Case we must return to him The Spirit is Gods gift and must return to him * Eccl. 12.7 It must return to him in every service morally as well as it must return to him at last physically 'T is not fit we should serve our Maker only with that which is the Brute in us and withold from him that which doth constitue us reasonable Creatures we must give him our bodies but a living Sacrifice * Rom. 12.1 If the Spirit be absent from God when the Body is before him we present a dead Sacrifice 'T is morally dead in the duty though it be naturally alive in the posture and action 'T is not an indifferent thing whether we shall worship God or no nor is it an indifferent thing whether we shall worship him without Spirits or no As the excellency of mans knowledge consists in knowing things as they are in Truth so the excellency of the Will in willing things as they are in goodness As it is the excellency of Man to know God as God so it is no less his excellency as well as his duty to honour God as God As the obligation we have to the Power of God for our Being binds us to a worship of him so the obligation we have to his bounty for fashioning us according to his own Image binds us to an exercise of that part wherein his Image doth consist God hath made all things for himself Pro. 16.4 that is for the evidence of his own goodness and wisdom We are therefore to render him a glory according to the the excellency of his nature discovered in the frame of our own T is as much our sin not to glorifie God as God as not to attempt the glorifying of him at all T is our sin not to worship God as God as well as to omit the testifying any respect at all to him As the divine nature is the object of worship so the Divine perfections are to be honoured in worship We do not honour God if we honour him not as he is we honour him not as a Spirit if we think him not worthy of the ardors and ravishing admirations of our Spirits If we think the Devotions of the body are sufficient for him we contract him into the condition of our own being and not only deny him to be a Spiritual nature but dash out all those perfections which he could not be possessed of were he not a Spirit 5. The Ceremonial law was abolisht to promote the Spirituality of Divine worship That service was gross carnal calculated for an infant and sensitive Church It consisted in rudiments the Circumcision of the flesh the blood and smoak of Sacrifices the steams of incense observation of days distinction of meats Corporal purifications every leaf of the law is clogged with some rite to be particularly observed by them The Spirituality of worship lay veild under a thick cloâ—ld that the people could not behold the glory of the Gospel which lay covered under those shadows 2 Cor. 3.13 They could not stedfastly look to the â—â—d of that which is abolished They understood not the Glory and Spiritual intent of the law and therefore came short of that Spiritual frame in the worship of God which was their duty And therefore in opposition to this administration the worship of God under the Gospel is called by our Saviour in the Text a worship in Spirit more Spiritual for the matter more Spiritual for the motives and more Spiritual for the manner and frames of worship 1. This legal service is called flesh in Scripture in opposition to the Gospel which is called Spirit The ordinances of the Law tho of Divine institution are dignified by the Apostle with no better a title than Carnal ordinances * Heb. 9.10 and a Carnal Command * Heb. 7.16 But the Gospel is called the Ministration of the Spirit as being attended with a special and Spiritual efficacy on the minds of men * 2 Cor. 3.8 And when the degenerate Galatians after having tasted of the pure streams of the Gospel turned about to drink of the thicker streams of the Law the Apostle tells them that they begun in the Spirit and would now be made perfect in the flesh * Gal. 3.3 They would leave the righteousness of faith for a justification by works The moral law which is in its own nature Spiritual * Rom. 7.14 in regard of the abuse of it in expectation of justification by the outward works of it is called flesh Much more may the Ceremonial administration which was never intended to run parallel with the moral nor had any foundation in nature as the other had That whole Oeconomy consisted in sensible and material things which only touched the flesh 'T is called the letter and the oldness of the Letter * Rom. 7.6 as Letters which are but empty sounds of themselves but put together and formed into words signifie something to the mind of the hearer or reader An old Letter a thing of no efficacy upon the Spirit but as a law written upon paper The Gospel hath an efficacious Spirit attending it strongly working upon the mind and Will and moulding the Soul into a Spiritual frame for God according to the Doctrin of the Gospel the one is old and decays the other is new and increaseth dayly And as the law it self is called flesh so the observers of it and resters in it are called Israel after the flesh * 1 Cor. 10.18 And the Evangelical worshipper is called a Jew after the Spirit Rom. 2.29 They were Israel after the flesh as born of Jacob not Israel after the Spirit as born of God and therefore the Apostle calls them Israel and not Israel * Rom. 9.6 Israel after a carnal birth not Israel after a Spiritual Israel in the Circumcision of the flesh not Israel by a regeneration of the heart 2. The legal Ceremonies were not a fit means to bring the heart into a Spiritual frame They had a Spiritual intent the Rock and Manna prefigured the Salvation and Spiritual nourishment by the Redeemer * 1 Cor. 10.3 4. The Sacrifices were to point them to the Justice of God in the punishment of sin and the mercy of God in substituting them in their steads as types of the Redeemer and the ransome by his blood The Circumcision of the flesh was to instruct them in the Circumcision of the heart They were flesh in regard of their matter weakness and cloudiness Spiritual in regard of their intent and signification They did instruct but not efficaciously work strong Spiritual affections in the Soul of the worshipper They were weak and beggerly elements * Gal 4.9 had neither wealth to inrich nor strength to nourish the Soul They could not perfect the Comers to them or put
circumstances We honour the Majesty of God when we consider him with due reverence according to the greatness and perfection of his works and in this reverence of his Majesty doth worship chiefly consist Low thoughts of God will make low frames in us before him If we thought God an infinite glorious Spirit how would our hearts be lower than our knees in his presence How humbly how believingly pleading is the Psalmist when he considers God to be without comparison in the Heavens to whom none of the Sons of the Mighty can be likened when there was none like to him in strength or faithfulness round about * Psal 89.6 7 8. We should have also deep impressions of the Omniscience of God and remember we have to deal with a God that searcheth the heart and tryeth the reins to whom the most secret temper is as visible as the loudest words are Audible that though man judges by outward expressions God judges by inward affections As the Law of God regulates the inward frames of the heart so the eye of God pitches upon the inward intentions of the Soul If God were visibly present with us should we not approach to him with strong affections summon our Spirits to attend upon him behave our selves modestly before him Let us consider he is as really present with us as if he were visible to us let us therefore preserve a strong sense of the presence of God No man but one out of his wits when he were in the presence of a Prince and making a Speech to him would break off at every Period and run after the catching of Butter-flyes Remember in all worship you are before the Lord to whom all things are open and naked Direction 4. Let us take heed of inordinate desires after the world As the world steals away a mans heart from the Word so it doth from all other worship It chokes the Word * Mat. 13.27 it stifles all the spiritual breathings after God in every duty The edge of the Soul is blunted by it and made too dull for such sublime exercises The Apostles rule in Prayer when he joyns sobriety with watching unto Prayer 1 Pet. 4.7 is of concern in all worship sobriety in the pursuite and use of all wordly things A man drunk with worldly fumes cannot watch cannot be heavenly affectionate spiritual in service There is a magnetick force in the Earth to hinder our flights to Heaven Birds when they take their first flights from the Earth have more flutterings of their wings than when they are mounted further in the Air and got more without the Sphear of the Earths attractiveness the motion of their wings is more steady that you can scarce perceive them stir they move like a Ship with a full Gale The world is a clog upon the Soul and a bar to spiritual frames 'T is as hard to elevate the heart to God in the midst of a hurry of worldly affairs as it is difficult to meditate when we are near a great noise of waters falling from a Precipice or in the midst of a Volly of Muskets Thick claiy affections bemire the heart and make it unfit for such high flights it is to take in worship Therefore get your hearts clear from worldly thoughts and desires if you would be more spiritual in worship 5. Let us be deeply sensible of our present wants and the supplies we may meet with in worship Cold affections to the things we would have will grow cooler Weakness of desire for the communications in worship will freez our hearts at the time of worship and make way for vain and foolish diversions A Begger that is ready to perish and knows he is next door to ruin will not slightly and dully began Alms and will not be diverted from his importunity by every slight call or the moving of an Atom in the Air. Is it Pardon we would have Let us apprehend the blackness of sin with the aggravations of it as it respects God Let us be deeply sensible of the want of pardon and worth of mercy and get our affections into such a frame as a condemned man would do Let us consider that as we are now at the Throne of Gods grace we shall shortly be at the Bar of Gods Justice and if the Soul should be forlorn there how fixedly and earnestly would it plead for mercy Let us endeavour to stir up the same affections now which we have seen some dying men have and which we suppose despairing Souls would have done at Gods Tribunal * Guliel Paris Rhetor. Divin cap. 26. p. 350. Col. 1. We must be sensible that the life or death of our Souls depends upon worship Would we not be ashamed to be ridiculous in our carriage while we are eating and shall we not be ashamed to be cold or garish before God when the Salvation of our Souls as well as the Honour of God is concerned If we did see the heaps of sins the eternity of punishment due to them If we did see an angry and offended Judge If we did see the riches of mercy the glorious outgoings of God in the Sanctuary the blessed Doles he gives out to men when they spiritually attend upon him both the one and the other would make us perform our duties humbly sincerely earnestly and affectionately and wait upon him with our whole Souls to have misery averted and mercy bestowed Let our sense of this be encouragâ—d by the consideration of our Saviour presenting his merits With what affection doth he present his merits his blood shed upon the Cross now in Heaven And shall our hearts be cold and frozen flitting and unsteady when his affectioâ—s are so much concerned Christ doth not present any Mans case and duties without a sense of hiâ— wants and shall we have none of our own Let me add this let us affect our hearts with a sense of what supplies we haâ—â— met with in former worship The delightful remembrance of what converâ—â— we have had with God in former worship would spiritualize our hearts for the present worship Had Peter had a view of Christs glory in the Mount fresh in his thoughts he would not so easily have turned his back upon his Master Nor would the Israelites have been at leasure for their Idolatry had they preserved the sense of the Majesty of God discovered in his late Thunders from Mount Sinai 6. If any thing intrudes that may choak the Worship cast it speedily out We cannot hinder Satan and our own Corruption from presenting Coolers to us but we may hinder the success of them We cannot hinder the Gnats from buzzing about us when we are in our business but we may prevent them from setling upon us A man that is running on a considerable Errand will shun all unnecessary discourse that may make him forget or loyter in his business What though there may be something offered that is good in it self yet if it hath a
of them this must be either out of Sloth but how incompatible is laziness to a pure and infinite activity or out of Majesty but 't is no less for the glory of his Majesty to conduct them than it was for the glory of his Power to erect them into Being he that counts nothing unworthy of his Arms to make nothing unworthy of his Understanding to know why should he count any thing unworthy of his Wisdom to govern If he knows them to neglect them it must be because he hath no Will to it or no Goodness for it either of these would be a stain upon God to want Goodness is to be Evil and to want Will is to be negligent and scornful which are inconsistent with an Infinite Active Goodness Doth a Father neglect providing for the wants of the Family which he knows or a Physician the cure of that Disease he understands God is Omniscient he therefore sees all things he is good he doth not therefore neglect any thing but conducts it to the end he appointed it There is nothing so little that can escape his Knowledg and therefore nothing so little but falls under his Providence nothing so sublime as to be above his Understanding and therefore nothing can be without the compass of his Conduct nothing can escape his Eye and therefore nothing can escape his Care nothing is known by him in vain as nothing was made by him in vain there must be acknowledg'd therefore some end of this knowledg of all his Creatures Instruct 3. Hence then will follow the certainty of a day of Judgment To what purpose can we imagine this Attribute of Omniscience so often declared and urg'd in Scripture to our consideration but in order to a government of our practise and a future Tryal Every Perfection of the Divine Nature hath sent out brighter Rays in the World than this of his Infinite Knowledg his Power hath been seen in the Being of the World and his Wisdom in the Order and Harmony of the Creatures his Grace and Mercy hath been plentifully poured out in the mission of a Redeemer and his Justice hath been elevated by the Dying-Groans of the Son of God upon the Cross But hath his Omniscience yet met with a Glory proportionable to that of his other Perfections all the Attributes of God that have appeared in some beautiful glimmerings in the World wait for a more full manifestation in Glory as the Creatures do for the manifestation of the Sons of God Rom. 8.19 But especially this since it hath been less evidenced than others and as much or more abused than any it expects therefore a publick righting in the eye of the World There have been indeed some few sparks of this Perfection sensibly struck out now and then in the World in some horrors of Conscience which have made men become their own Accusers of unknown Crimes in bringing out hidden Wickedness to a publick view by various Providences This hath also been the design of sprinklings of Judgments upon several Generations as Psal 90.8 We are consumed by thy Anger and by thy Wrath we are troubled thou hast set our Iniquities before thee and our secret Sins in the light of thy Countenance The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Youth as well as secret i.e. Sins committed long ago and that with secrecy By this he hath manifested that secret Sins are not hid from his eye Tho' inward Terrors and outward Judgments have been let loose to worry men into a belief of this yet the corruptions of men would still keep a contrary notion in their minds that God hath forgotten that he hides his face from Transgression and will not regard their Impiety Psal 10.11 There must therefore be a time of Tryal for the publick demonstration of this Excellency that it may receive its due Honour by a full Testimony that no secrecy can be a shelter from it As his Justice which consists in giving every one his due could not be Glorified unless men were called to an account for their actions so neither would his Omniscience appear in its illustrious colours without such a manifestation of the secret motions of mens hearts and of Villanies done under Lock and Key when none were conscious to them but the committers of them Novv the last Judgment is the time appointed for the opening of the Books Dan. 7.10 The Book of Gods Records and Conscience the counter-part were never fully opened and read before only novv and then some some pages turn'd to in particular Judgments and out of those Books shall men be judged according to their Works Rev. 20.12 Then shall the defaced Sins be brought vvith all their circumstances to every mans memory the Counsels of mens hearts fled far from their present remembrance all the habitual knovvledg they had of their ovvn actions shall by Gods knovvledg of them be excited to an actual revievv and their vvorks not only made manifest to themselves but notorious to the World All the Words Thoughts Deeds of men shall be brought forth into the light of their ovvn minds by the infinite Light of Gods understanding reflecting on them His Knovvledg renders him an unerring Witness as vvell as his Justice a swift Witness Mal. 3.5 a svvift Witness because he shall vvithout any circuit or length of Speech convince their Consciences by an invvard illumination of them to take notice of the blackness and deformity of their hearts and vvorks In all Judgments God is somevvhat knovvn to be the searcher of hearts the time of Judgment is the time of his remembrance Hos 8.13 Now will he remember their iniquity and visit their sins but the great instant or now of the full glorifying it is the grand day of account This Attribute must have a time for its full Discovery and no time can be fit for it but a time of a general reckoning Justice cannot be exercis'd without Omniscience for as Justice is a giving to every one his due so there must be knowledg to discern what is due to every man the searching the heart is in order to the rewarding the works 4. This Perfection in God gives us ground to believe a Resurrection Who can think this too hard for his Power since not the least Atome of the Dust of our Bodies can escape his Knowledg An infinite Understanding comprehends every mite of a departed Carcass this will not appear impossible nor irrational to any upon a serious consideration of this excellency in God The body is perished the matter of it hath been since clothed with different forms and figures part of it hath been made the body of a Worm part of it returned to the Dust that hath been blown away by the Wind part of it hath been concocted in the Bodies of Cannibals Fish ravenous Beasts the Spirits have evaporated into Air part of the Blood melted into Water what then is the matter of the body annihilated is that wholly perished no the
him he knows what Angels and Men do and infinitely more what is known by them obscurely is known by him clearly What is known by man after it is done was known by God before it was wrought By his wisdom as much as by any thing he infinitely differs from all his Creatures as by wisdom Man differs from a Brute We cannot frame a notion of God without conceiving him infinitely wise We should render him very inconsiderable to imagine him furnisht with an infinite knowledge and not have an infinite wisdom to make use of that knowledge or to fancy him with a mighty power destitute of prudence Knowledge without prudence is an eye without motion and power without discretion is an arm without a head a hand to act without understanding to contrive and model a strength to act without reason to know how to act It would be a miserable notion of a God to fancy him with a brutish and unguided power The Heathens therefore had and could not but have this natural notion of God Plato therefore calls him Mens †Eugub per. Philosoph lib. 1. cap. 5. and Cleanthes used to call God Reason and Socrates thought the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too magnificent to be attributed to any thing else but God alone Arguments to prove that God is wise Reas 1. God could not be infinitely perfect without wisdom A rational Nature is better than an irrational Nature A man is not a perfect man without reason how can God without it be an infinitely perfect God Wisdom is the most eminent of all Vertues all the other perfections of God without this would be as a body without an eye a soul without understanding A Christian's Graces want their lustre when they are destitute of the guidance of wisdom Mercy is a feebleness and Justice a cruelty Patience a timerousness and Courage a madness without the conduct of wisdom so the Patience of God would be cowardise his Power an oppression his Justice a tyranny without wisdom as the Spring and Holiness as the Rule No attribute of God could shine with a due lustre and brightness without it Power is a great perfection but wisdom a greater * Licet magnum sit posse majus tamen est sapere Wisdom may be without much power as in Bees and Ants but power is a tyrannical thing without wisdom and righteousness The Pilot is more valuable because of his skil than the Gally Slave because of his strength and the conduct of a General more estimable than the might of a private Souldier Generals are chosen more by their skill to guide than their strength to act What a Clod is a man without Prudence what a Nothing would God be without it This is the Salt that gives relish to all other perfections in a Creature This is the Jewel in the Ring of all the Excellencies of the Divine Nature and Holiness is the splendor of that Jewel Now God being the first Being possesses whatsoever is most noble in any Being If therefore Wisdom which is the most noble perfection in any Creature were wanting to God he would be deficient in that which is the highest Excellency God being the living God as he is frequently termed in Scripture he hath therefore the most perfect manner of living and that must be a pure and intellectual life Being essentially living he is essentially in the highest degree of living As he hath an infinite life above all Creatures so he hath an infinite intellectual life and therefore an infinite Wisdom whence some have called God not sapientem but super-sapientem †Suarez Vol. 1 lib. 1. cap. 3 p. 10. not only wise but above all wisdom Reas 2. Without infinite Wisdom he could not govern the World Without wisdom in forming the Matter which was made by Divine power the World could have been no other than a Chaos and without wisdom in Government it could have been no other than a heap of Confusion without wisdom the World could not have been created in the posture it is Creation supposeth a determination of the will putting power upon acting the determination of the will supposeth the counsel of the understanding determining the will No work but supposeth understanding as well as will in a rational Agent As without skill things could not be created so without it things cannot be governed Reason is a necessary perfection to him that presides over all things Without knowledge there could not be in God a foundation for Government and without wisdom there could not be an exercise of Government and without the most excellent wisdom he could not be the most excellent Governour He could not be an universal Governour without a universal wisdom nor the sole Governour without an unimitable wisdom nor an independent Governour without an original and independent wisdom nor a perpetual Governour without an incorruptible wisdom He would not be the Lord of the World in all points without skill to order the affairs of it Power and wisdom are foundations of all Authority and Government Wisdom to know how to rule and command Power to make those Commands obeyed No regular Order could issue out without the first nor could any order be enforced without the second A feeble wisdom and a brutish power seldom or never produce any good effect Magistracy without wisdom would be a frantick power a rash conduct like a strong arm when the eye is out it strikes it knows not what and leads it knows not whither Wisdom without power would be like a great body without feet * Amirant moral like the knowledge of a Pilot that hath lost his arm who though he knows the Rule of Navigation and what Course to follow in his Voyage yet cannot mannage the Helm But when those two wisdom and power are link't together there ariseth from both a fitness for Government There is wisdom to propose an end and both wisdom and power to employ means that conduct to that end And therefore when God demonstrates to Job his right of Government and the unreasonableness of Job's quarrelling with his proceedings he chiefly urgeth upon him the consideration of those two excellencies of his Nature power and wisdom which are exprest in his Works †Chap. 38 39 40 41. A Prince without wisdom is but a Title without a Capacity to perform the Office no man without it is fit for government Nor could God without wisdom exercise a just Dominion in the World He hath therefore the higest wisdom since he is the universal Governour That wisdom which is able to govern a Family may not be able to govern a City and that wisdom which governs a City may not be able to govern a Nation or Kingdom much less a World The bounds of God's government being greater than any his wisdom for government must needs surmount the wisdom of all ‖ Amyrald desert Theâ—l p. 111. And though the Creatures be not in number actually infinite yet they
the wisdom of God Christ is the wisdom of God principally and the Gospel instrumentally as it is the power of God instrumentally to subdue the heart to himself This is wrapped up in the appointing Christ as Redeemer and open'd to us in the revelation of it by the Gospel 1. It is a hidden wisdom In this regard God is said in the Text to be only wise and it is said to be a hidden wisdom 1 Tim. 1.17 and wisdom in a mystery 1 Cor. 2.7 incomprehensible to the ordinary Capacity of an Angel more than the abstruse qualities of the Creatures are to the understanding of man No wisdom of Men or Angels is able to search all the Veins of this Mine to tell all the threds of this Web or to understand the lustre of it they are as far from an ability fully to comprehend it as they were at first to contrive it That wisdom that invented it can only comprehend it In the uncreated Understanding only there is a clearness of light without any shadow of darkness We come as short of full apprehensions of it as a Child doth of the Counsel of the wisest Prince It is so hidden from us that without Revelation we could not have the least imagination of it and though it be revealed to us yet without the help of an Infiniteness of Understanding we cannot fully fathom it 'T is such a tractate of Divine wisdom that the Angels never before had seen the Edition of it till it was publish'd to the World Eph. 3.10 To the intent that now unto Principalities and Powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God Now made known to them not before and now made known to them in the heavenly places They had not the knowledge of all heavenly Mysteries though they had the possession of heavenly Glory They knew the Prophecies of it in the Word but attained not a clear Interpretation of those Prophecies till the things that were prophecied of came upon the Stage 2. Manifold wisdom So 't is called As manifold as mysterious Variety in the Mystery and Mystery in every part of the Variety It was not one single act but a variety of Counsels met in it a conjunction of excellent ends and excellent means The glory of God the salvation of Man the defeat of the Apostate Angels the discovery of the blessed Trinity in their Nature Operations their combin'd and distinct Acts and Expressions of Goodness The means are the conjunction of two Natures infinitely distant from one another the union of Eternity and Time of Mortality and Immortality Death is made the way to Life and Shame the path to Glory The weakness of the Cross is the reparation of man and the Creature is made wise by the foolishness of preaching fallen man grows rich by the poverty of the Redeemer and man is filled by the emptiness of God The Heir of Hell made a Son of God by God's taking upon him the form of a Servant the Son of Man advanc'd to the highest degree of Honour by the Son of God becoming of no reputation 'T is called Eph. 1.8 abundance of wisdom and prudence Wisdom in the Eternal Counsel contriving a way Prudence in the Temporary Revelation ordering all Affairs and Occurrences in the World for the attaining the end of his Counsel Wisdom refers to the Mystery Prudence to the manifestation of it in fit ways and convenient seasons Wisdom to the contrivance and order Prudence to the execution and accomplishment In all things God acted as became him as a wise and just Governour of the World Heb. 2.10 Whether the wisdom of God might not have found out some other way or whether he were in regard of the necessity and naturalness of his Justice limited to this is not the question But that it is the best and wisest way for the manifestation of his glory is out of question This wisdom will appear in the different Interests reconciled by it In the Subject the second Person in the Trinity wherein they were reconciled In the two Natures wherein he accomplish'd it whereby God is made known to man in his Glory Sin eternally condemned and the repenting and believing sinner eternally rescued The honour and righteousness of the Law vindicated both in the Precept and Penalty The Devil's Empire overthrown by the same Nature he had overturned and the Subtilty of Hell defeated by that Nature he had spoiled The Creature engaged in the very act to the highest Obedience and Humility that as God appears as a God upon his Throne the Creature might appear in the lowest posture of a Creature in the depths of resignation and dependance the publication of this made in the Gospel by ways congruous to the wisdom which appeared in the execution of his Counsel and the Conditions of enjoying the fruit of it most wise and resonable 1. The greatest different Interests are reconcil'd Justice in punishing and Mercy in pardoning For man had broken the Law and plung'd himself into a Gulf of Misery The Sword of Vengeance was unsheathed by Justice for the punishment of the Criminal The Bowels of Compassion were stirred by Mercy for the rescue of the Miserable Justice severely beholds the Sin and Mercy compassionately reflects upon the Misery Two different claims are entred by those concerned Attributes Justice votes for Destruction and Mercy votes for Salvation Justice would draw the Sword and drench it in the blood of the Offender Mercy would stop the Sword and turn it from the breast of the Sinner Justice would edge it and Mercy would blunt it The Arguments are strong on both sides 1. Justice pleads I Arraign before thy Tribunal a Rebel who was the glorious Work of thy Hands the Center of thy rich Goodness and a Counterpart of thy own Image he is indeed miserable whereby to excite thy Compassion but he is not miserable without being Criminal Thou didst create him in a state and with ability to be otherwise The riches of thy Bounty aggravate the blackness of his Crime He is a Rebel not by necessity but will What constraint was there upon him to listen to the Counsels of the Enemy of God What force could there be upon him since it is without the compass of any Creature to work upon or constrain the Will Nothing of Ignorance can excuse him the Law was not ambiguously express'd but in plain words both as to Precept and Penalty it was writ in his Nature in legible Characters Had he received any disgust from thee after his Creation it would not excuse his Apostacy since as a Soveraign thou wert not obliged to thy Creature Thou hadst provided all things richly for him he was crowned with glory and honour Thy infinite power had bestowed upon him an Habitation richly furnished and varieties of Servants to attend him Whatever he viewed without and whatever he viewed within himself were several Marks of thy Divine Bounty to engage him to Obedience Had
How wonderful is this Wisdom of God! That the seed of the woman born of a mean Virgin brought forth in a stable spending his days in affliction misery and poverty without any pomp and splendor passing some time in a Carpenters shop with Carpenters tools and afterwards exposed to a horrible and disgraceful death Mark 6 6. should by this way pull down the gates of Hell subvert the kingdom of the Devil and be the hammer to break in pieces that power which he had so long exercised over the World Thus became he the Author of our life by being bound for a while in the chains of death and arrived to a principality over the most malicious powers by being a prisoner for us and the anvâ—l of their rage and fury 7. The Wisdom of God appears In giving us this way the surest ground of comfort and the strongest incentive to obedience The Rebel is reconciled and the rebellion shamed God is propitiated and the sinner sanctified by the same blood What can more contribute to our comfort confidence than Gods richest gift to us What can more enflame our love to him than our recovery from death by the oblation of his Son to misery and death for us It doth as much engage our duty as secure our happiness It presents God glorious and gracious and therefore every way fit to be trusted in regard of the interest of his own glory in it and in regard of the effusions of his grace by it It renders the Creature obliged in the highest manner and so awakens his industry to the strictest and noblest obedience Nothing so effectual as a crucified Christ to wean us from sin and stifle all motions of despair a means in regard of the Justice signaliz'd in it to make man to hate the sin which had ruined him and a means in regard of the love exprest to make him delight in that Law he had violated 2. Cor. 5.14 15. The love of Christ and therefore the love of God exprest in it constrains us no longer to live to our selves 1. It is a ground of the highest comfort and confidence in God Since he hath given such an evidence of his impartial truth to his threatning for the honour of his Justice we need not question but he will be as punctual to his promise for the honour of his mercy T is a ground of confidence in God since he hath redeemed us in such a way as glorifies the steadiness of his veracity as well as the severity of his Justice We may well trust him for the performance of his promise since we have experience of the execution of his threatning his mâ—rciful truth will as much engage him to accomplish the one as his just truth did to inflict the other The goodness which shone forth in weaker rays in the Creation breaks out with stronger beams in redemption And the mercy which before the appearance of Christ was manifested in some small Rivulets diffuseth itself like a boundless Ocean That God that was our Creator is our Redeemer the Repayrer of our Breaches and the Restorer of our Paths to dwell in And the plenteous Redemption from all Iniquity manifested in the Incarnation and Passion of the Son of God is much more a ground of hope in the Lord than it was in the past Ages when it could not be said the Lord hath but the Lord shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities Psal 130.8 It is a full Warrant to cast our selves into his Arms. 2. At incentive to obedience 1. The Commands of the Gospel require the obedience of the Creature There is not one Precept in the Gospel which interferes with any rule in the Law but strengthens it and represents it in its true exactness The heat to scorch us is allaied but the light to direct us is not extinguisht Not the least allowance to any sin is granted not the least affection to any sin is indulg'd The Law is temper'd by the Gospel but not null'd and cast out of doors by it It enacts that none but those that are sanctified shall be glorified that there must be Grace here if we expect Glory hereafter that we must not presume to expect an admittance to the Vision of Gods face unless our Souls be clothed with a robe of Holiness Heb. 12.14 It requires an obedience to the whole Law in our intention and purpose and an endeavour to observe it in our actions It promotes the honour of God and ordains a universal Charity among men it reveals the whole Counsel of God and furnisheth men with the holiest Laws 2. It presents to us the exactest pattern for our Obedience The redeeming Person is not only a Propitiation for the sin but a pattern to the sinner 1 Pet. 2.21 The Conscience of man after the fall of Adam approved of the reason of the Law but by the corruption of Nature man had no strength to perform the Law The possibility of keeping the Law by Human Nature is evidenced by the Appearance and life of the Redeemer and an assurance given that it shall be advanc'd to such a state as to be able to observe it We aspire to it in this life and have hopes to attain it in a future And while we are here the Actor of our Redemption is the copy for our Imitation The Pattern to imitate is greater than the Law to be ruled by What a lustre did his Vertues cast about the World How attractive are his Graces With what high Examples for all Duties has he furnish'd 〈◊〉 out of the copy of his Life 3. It presents us with the strongest motives to Obedience Tit. 2.11 12. The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness What Chains bind faster and closer than love Here is love to our nature in his Incarnation love to us though Enemies in his Death and Passion Encouragements to Obedience by the proffers of Pardon for former Rebellions By the disobedience of man God introduceth his redeeming Grace and ingageth his Creature to more Ingenious and excellent returns than his Innocent state could oblige him to In his Created state he had goodness to move him he hath the same goodness now to oblige him as a Creature and a greater love and mercy to oblige him as a repaired Creature and the terror of Justice is taken off which might invenom his Heart as a Criminal In his revolted state he had misery to discourage him in his redeemed state he hath love to attract him Without such a way black despaire had seized upon the Creature exposed to a remediless misery And God would have had no returns of love from the best of his earthly Works But if any sparks of Ingenuity be left they will be excited by the efficacy of this Argument The willingness of God to receive returning sinners is manifested in the highest degree and the willingness of a sinner to return to him in duty hath the strongest engagements He hath done as much to
that we should press it upon our selves And shall we be forgetful of that which every thing about us every thing within us is a mark of How come we by a power of seeing and hearing a faculty and act of understanding and will but by this Power framing us this Power assisting us What though the Thunder of his Power cannot be understood no more can any other Perfection of his Nature shall we therefore seldom think of it The Sea cannot be fathom'd yet the Merchant excuseth not himself from sailing upon the Surface of it We cannot glorifie God without due consideration of this Attribute for his Power is his Glory as much as any other and called both by the Name of Glory Rom. 6.4 speaking of Christ's Resurrection by the Glory of the Father and also the riches of his Glory Eph. 3.16 Those that have strong Temptations in their course and over-pressing Corruptions in their hearts have need to think of it out of Interest since nothing but this can relieve them Those that have experimented the working of it in their new Creation are oblig'd to think of it out of gratitude It was this mighty Power over himself that gave rise to all that pardoning Grace already conferred or hereafter expected without it our Souls had been consum'd the World overturned we could not have expected a happy Heaven but have layen yelling in an eternal Hell had not the Power of his Mercy exceeded that of his Justice and his Infinite Power executed what his Infinite Wisdom had contrived for our Redemption How much also should we be rais'd in our admirations of God and ravish our selves in contemplating that Might that can raise innumerable Worlds in those Infinite imaginary Spaces without this Globe of Heaven and Earth and exceed unconceivably what he hath done in the Creation of this 2. From the pressing the consideration of this upon our selves Let us be induc'd to trust God upon the account of his Power The main end of the revelation of his Power to the Patriarchs and of the miraculous Operations of it in Egypt was to induce them to an intire reposing themselves in God And the Psalmist doth scarce speak of the Divine Omnipotence without making this Inference from it and scarce exhorts to a trust in God but backs it with a Consideration of his Power in Creation it being the chief support of the Soul Psal 146.1 Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God which made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that therein is That Power is invincible that drew the World out of nothing Nothing can happen to us harder than the making the World without the concurrence of Instruments No difficulty can nonplus that strength that hath drawn all things out of nothing or out of a confus'd Matter next to nothing No Power can rifle what we commit to him 2 Tim. 1.12 He is all Power above the reach of all Power all other Powers in the World flowing from him or depending on him He is worthy to be trusted since we know him true without ever breaking his word and Omnipotent never failing of his purpose and a confidence in it is the chief act whereby we can glorifie this Power and credit his Arm. A strong God and a weak Faith in Omnipotence do not sute well together Indeed we are more engaged to a trust in Divine Power than the Ancient Patriarchs were They had the Verbal Declaration of his Power and many of them little other Evidence of it than in the Creation of the World and their Faith in God being establish'd in this first discovery of his Omnipotence drew out it self further to believe That whatsoever God promised by his Word he was able to perform as well as the Creation of the World out of nothing which seems to be the intendment of the Apostle Hebr. 11.3 Not barely to speak of the Creation of the World by God which was a thing the Hebrews understood well enough from their Ancient Oracles but to shew the Foundation of the Patriarchs Faith viz. God making the World by his Word and what use they made of the Discovery of his Power in that to lead them to believe the Promise of God concerning the Seed of the Woman to be brought into the World But we have not only the same Foundation but superadded Demonstrations of this Attribute in the Conception of our Saviour the Union of the two Natures the glorious Redemption the Propagation of the Gospel and the new Creation of the World They relied upon the naked Power of God without those more illustrious Appearances of it which have been in the Ages since and arriv'd to their notice We have the wonderful Effects of that which they had but obscure Expectations of 1. Consider Trust in God can never be without taking in God's Power as a concurrent Foundation with his Truth 'T is the main ground of Trust and so set forth in the Prophet Isa 26.4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength And the Faith of the Ancients so recommended Hebr. 11. had this chiefly for its ground and the Faith in Gospel-times is called a Trusting on his Arm Isa 51.5 All the Attributes of God are the Objects of our Veneration but they do not equally contribute to the producing Trust in our hearts his Eternity Simplicity Infiniteness Amyrant Moral Tom. 5. p. 170. ravish and astonish our Minds when we consider them But there is no immediate tendency in their Nature to allure us to a confidence in him no not in an innocent State much less in a laps'd and revolted Condition But the other Perfections of his Nature as his Holiness Righteousness Mercy are amiable to us in regard of the immediate Operations of them upon and about the Creature and so have something in their own Nature to allure us to repose our selves in him But yet those cannot engage to an intire trust in him without reflecting upon his Ability which can only render those useful and successful to the Creature For whatsoever bars stand in the way of his holy righteous and merciful proceedings towards his Creatures are not overmaster'd by those Perfections but by that Strength of his which can only relieve us in concurrence with the other Attributes How could his Mercy succour us without his Arm or his Wisdom guide us without his Hand or his Truth perform Promises to us without his strength As no Attribute can act without it so in our addresses to him upon the account of any particular Perfection in the Godhead according to our indigency one eye must be perpetually fixed upon this of his Power and our Faith would be feeble and dispirited without eying this Without this his Holiness which hates sin would not be regarded and his Mercy pitying a grieving sinner would not be valued As this Power is the ground of a wicked man's fear so it is the ground of a good man's trust This
may be further considered that in this way of Redemption his Holiness in the hatred of Sin seems to be valued above any other Attribute He proclaims the value of it above the Person of his Son since the Divine Nature of the Redeemer is disguised obscur'd and vail'd in order to the restoring the Honour of it And Christ seems to value it above his own Person since he submitted himself to the Reproaches of Men to clear this Perfection of the Divine Nature and make it Illustrious in the eyes of the World You heard before at the beginning of the handling this Argument It was the Beauty of the Deity the Lustre of his Nature the Link of all his Attributes his very Life he values it equal with Himself since he swears by it as well as by his Life And none of his Attributes would have a due Decorum without it 'T is the glory of Power Mercy Justice Wisdom that they are all Holy So that though God had an Infinite tenderness and compassion to the Fallen Creature yet it should not extend it self in his relief to the prejudice of the Rights of his Purity He would have this triumph in the Tenderness of his Mercy as well as the Severities of his Justice His Mercy had not appeared in its true colours nor attain'd a regular End without Vengeance on Sin It would have been a Compassion that would in sparing the Sinner have encourag'd the Sin and affronted Holiness in the Issues of it Had he dispersed his Compassions about the World without the regard to his Hatred of Sin his Mercy had been too cheap and his Holiness had been contemn'd His Mercy would not have Triumph'd in his own Nature whilst his Holiness had suffered He had exercised a Mercy with the impairing his own Glory But now in this way of Redemption the Rights of both are secured both have their due lustre The Odiousness of Sin is equally discovered with the greatest of his Compassions an Infinite Abhorrence of Sin and an Infinite Love to the World march hand in hand together Never was so much of the Irreconcileableness of Sin to him set forth as in the moment he was opening his Bowels in the Reconciliation of the Sinner Sin is made the chiefest Mark of his Displeasure while the Poor Creature is made the highest Object of Divine Pity There could have been no motion of Mercy with the least Injury to Purity and Holiness In this way Mercy and Truth Mercy to the Misery of the Creature and Truth to the Purity of the Law have met together the Righteousness of God and the Peace of the Sinner have kissed each other Psal 85.10 II. The Holiness of God in his Hatred of Sin appears in our Justification and the Conditions he requires of all that would enjoy the benefit of Redemption His Wisdom hath so temper'd all the Conditions of it that the Honour of his Holiness is as much preserved as the Sweetness of his Mercy is experimented by us All the Conditions are Records of his exact Purity as well as of his condescending Grace Our Justification is not by the Imperfect works of Creatures but by an exact and Infinite Righteousness as great as that of the Deity which had been Offended It being the Righteousness of a Divine Person upon which account it is call'd the Righteousness of God not only in regard of Gods appointing it and Gods accepting it but as it is a Righteousness of that Person that was God and is God Faith is the Condition God requires to Justification but not a dead but an active Faith such a Faith as purifies the heart †James 2.22 Acts 15.9 He calls for Repentance which is a Moral retracting our Offences and an approbation of contemn'd Righteousness and a violated Law an endeavour to regain what is lost and to pluck out the heart of that Sin we have committed He requires Mortification which is called Crucifying whereby a Man would strike as full and deadly a blow at his Lusts as was struck at Christ upon the Cross and make them as certainly die as the Redeemer did Our own Righteousness must be condemned by us as impure and imperfect We must disown every thing that is our own as to Righteousness in reverence to the Holiness of God and the valuation of the Righteousness of Christ He hath resolved not to bestow the Inheritance of Glory without the Root of Grace None are partakers of the Divine Blessedness that are not partakers of the Divine Nature There must be a renewing of his Image before there be a vision of his face * He◠12.14 He will not have Men brought only into a Relative state of Happiness by Justification without a Real state of Grace by Sanctification And so resolved he is in it that there is no admittance into Heaven of a starting but a persevering Holiness Rom. 2.7 a patient continuance in well doing Patient under the sharpness of Affliction and continuing under the Pleasures of Prosperity Hence it is that the Gospel the restoring Doctrine hath not only the motives of Rewards to allure us to Good and the danger of Punishments to scare us from Evil as the Law had but they are set forth in a higher strain in a way of stronger engagement the Rewards are Heavenly and the Punishments Eternal And more powerful Motives besides from the choicer Expressions of Gods Love in the Death of his Son The whole Design of it is to re-instate us in a resemblance to this Divine Perfection whereby he shews what an Affection he hath to this Excellency of his Nature and what a detestation he hath of Evil which is contrary to it 3. It appears in the actual Regeneration of the Redeemed Souls and a carrying it on to a full perfection As Election is the effect of Gods Soveraignty our Pardon the fruit of his Mercy our Knowledge a stream from his Wisdom our Strength an impression of his Power so our Purity is a beam from his Holiness The whole work of Sanctification and the preservation of it our Saviour begs for his Disciples of his Father under this Title John 17.11 17. Holy Father keep them through thy own name and sanctifie them through thy Truth as the proper Source whence Holiness was to flow to the Creature As the Sun is the proper Fountain whence Light is derived both to the Stars above and Bodies here below Whence He is not only called Holy but the Holy One of Israel Isai 43.15 I am the Lord your Holy One the Creator of Israel Displaying his Holiness in them by a new Creation of them as his Israel As the rectitude of the Creature at the first Creation was the effect of his Holiness so the Purity of the Creature by a New Creation is a draught of the same Perfection He is called the Holy One of Israel more in Isaiah that Evangelical Prophet in erecting Zion and forming a People for himself than in the whole Scripture
than Men have reason to complain for the exercise of Justice in the vindication of it If God established all things in Order with Infinite Wisdom and Goodness and God silently behold for ever this Order broken would he not either charge himself with a want of Power or a want of Will to preserve the Marks of his own Goodness Would it be a kindness to himself to be careless of the breaches of his own Orders His Throne would shake yea sink from under him if Justice whereby he Sentenceth and Judgment whereby he Executes his Sentence were not the supports of it †Ps 89.14 Justice and Judgment are the habitation of thy Throne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Stability or Foundation of thy Throne So Psal 92.2 Man would forget his Relation to God God would be unknown to be Soveraign of the World were he careless of the breaches of his own Order * Psal 9.16 The Lord is known by the Judgments which he Executes Is it not a part of his Goodness to preserve the indispensible Order between himself and his Creatures His own Soveraignty which is good and the subjection of the Creature to him as Soveraign which is also good The one would not be maintained in its due place nor the other restrained in due limits without Punishment Would it be a goodness in him to see Goodness it self trampled upon constantly without some time or other appearing for the relief of it Is it not a Goodness to secure his own Honour to prevent further Evil Is it not a Goodness to discourage Men by Judgments sometimes from a contempt and ill use of his Bounty as well as sometimes patiently to bear with them and wait upon them for a Reformation Must God be bad to himself to be kind to his Enemies And shall it be accounted an unkindness and a Mark of Evil in him not to suffer himself to be always outrag'd and defy'd The World is wrong'd by Sin as well as God is injur'd by it How could God be good to himself if he righted not his own Honour Or be a good Governour of the World if he did not sometimes witness against the Injuries it receives sometimes from the works of his hands Would he be good to himself as a God to be careless of his own Honour Or good as the Rector of the World and be regardless of the Worlds Confusion That God should give an Eternal good to that Creature that declines its Duty and despiseth his Soveraignty is not agreeable to the goodness of his Wisdom or that of his Righteousness 'T is a part of Gods Goodness to love himself Would he love his Soveraignty if he saw it dayly slighted without sometimes discovering how much he values the Honour of it Would he have any esteem for his own Goodness if he beheld it trampled upon without any will to vindicate it Doth Mercy deserve the name of Cruelty because it pleads against a Creature that hath so often abused it and hath refused to have any pity exercised towards it in a Righteous and Regular way Is Soveraignty destitute of Goodness because it preserves its Honour against one that would not have it Reign over him Would he not seem by such a regardlesness to renounce his own Essence undervalue and undermine his own Goodness if he had not an implacable aversion to whatsoever is contrary to it If Men turn Grace into Wantonness is it not more reasonable he should turn his Grace into Justice All his Attributes which are parts of his Goodness engage him to punish Sin without it his Authority would be vilified his Purity stain'd his Power derided his Truth disgraced his Justice scorn'd his Wisdom slighted He would be thought to have dissembled in his Laws and be judged according to the Rules of Reason to be void of true Goodness 4. Punishment is not the primary Intention of God 'T is his Goodness that he hath no mind to Punish and therefore he hath put a bar to Evil by his Prohibitions and Threatnings that he might prevent Sin and consequently any occasions of severity against his Creature * Zarnovecius de satisfact Part. 1. cap. 1. p. 3 4. The principal Intention of God in his Law was to encourage Goodness that he might reward it And when by the commission of Evil God is provoked to Punish and takes the Sword into his hand he doth not act against the Nature of his Goodness but against the first intention of his Goodness in his Precepts which was to Reward As a good Judge principally intendeds in the Exercise of his Office to protect good Men from Violence and maintain the honour of the Laws yet consequently to punish bad men without which the Protection of the good would not be secured nor the Honour of the Law be supported And a good Judge in the Exercise of his Office doth principally intend the incouragement of the good and wisheth there were no wickedness that might occasion Punishment and when he doth Sentence a Malefactor in order to the Execution of him he doth not act against the goodness of his Nature but pursuant to the Duty of his Place but wisheth he had no occasion for such severity Thus God seems to speak of himself †Isaiah 28.21 He calls the act of his Wrath his Strange Work his Strange Act A work not against his Nature as the Governor of the World but against his first Intention as Creator which was to manifest his Goodness Therefore he moves with a slow pace in those Acts brings out his Judgments with relentings of heart and seems to cast out his Thunderbolts with a trembling hand He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men * Lam. 3.33 And therefore he delights not in the death of a Sinner †Ezek. 33.11 Not in Death as Death in Punishment as Punishment but as it reduceth the suffering Creature to the Order of his Precept or reduceth him into order under his Power or reforms others who are Spectators of the Punishment upon a Criminal of their own Nature God only hates the Sin not the Sinner He desires only the destruction of the one * Suarez Vol. 1. de Deo lib. 3. cap. 7. p. 146. not the misery of the other The Nature of a Man doth not displease him because it is a work of his own Goodness but the Nature of the Sinner displeaseth him because it is a work of the Sinners own extravagance Divine Goodness pitcheth not its hatred primarily upon the Sinner but upon the Sin But since he cannot punish the Sin without punishing the Subject to which it cleaves the Sinner falls under his lash Who ever regards a good Judge as an Enemy to the Malefactor but as an Enemy to his Crime when he doth Sentence and Execute him 5. Judgments in the World have a goodness in them therefore they are no Impeachments of the Goodness of God 1. A Goodness in their preparations He
majestically and by way of Authority not as the look of a bare Spectator but the look of a Governor to pass a sentence upon them as a Judge His being in the Heavens renders him capable of doing whatsoever he pleases Psal 115.3 His Throne being there he can by a word in stopping the Motions of the Heavens turn the whole Earth into confusion In this respect it is said he rides upon the Heaven in thy help Deut. 33.26 Discharges his Thunders upon men and makes the influences of it serve his peoples interest By one turn of a cock as you see in Grottos he can cause streams from several parts of the Heavens to refresh or ruine the World 6. Duration of it The Heavens are incorruptible his Throne is placed there in an incorruptible state Earthly Empires have their decayes and dissolutions The Throne of God outlives the dissolution of the World His Kingdom rules over all He hath an absolute right over all things within the Circuit of Heaven and Earth though his Throne be in Heaven as the place where his Glory is most eminent and visible his Authority most exactly obey'd yet his Kingdom extends its self to the lower parts of the Earth He doth not mufle and cloud up himself in Heaven or confine his Soveraignty to that place his Royal power extends to all visible as well as invisible things He is proprietor and possessor of all Deut. 10.14 The Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lords thy God the Earth also with all that is there He hath right to dispose of all as he pleases He doth not say his Kingdom Rules all that fear him but over all so that it is not the Kingdom of Grace he here speaks of but his natural and universal Kingdom Over Angels and Men Jews and Gentiles Animate and Inanimate things The Psalmist considers God here as a great Monarch and General and all Creatures as his Hosts and Regiments under him and takes notice principally of two things 1. The Establishment of his Throne together with the Seat of it He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens 2. The extent of his Empire His Kingdom rules over all This Text in all the parts of it is a fit basis for a discourse upon the Dominion of God and the observation will be this Doctrine God is Soveraign Lord and King and exerciseth a Dominion over the whole World both Heaven and Earth This is so clear that nothing is more spoken of in Scripture The very name Lord imports it a name originally belonging to Gods and from them translated to others And he is frequently called the Lord of Hosts because all the Troops and Armies of Spiritual and Corporeal Creatures are in his hands and at his service This is one of his principal Titles And the Angels are called his Hosts 21. ver following the Text his Camp and Militia But more plainly 1 Kings 22.19 God is presented upon his Throne encompast with all the Host of Heaven standing on his Right hand and on his Left which can be understood of no other than of the Angels that wait for the Commands of their Soveraign and stand about not to Counsel him but to receive his Orders The Sun Moon and Starrs are called his Hosts Deut. 4.19 Appointed by him for the Government of inferior things He hath an absolute Authority over the greatest and the least Creatures over those that are most dreadful and those that are most beneficial over the good Angels that willingly obey him over the Evil Angels that seem most uncapable of Government And as he is thus Lord of Hosts he is the King of Glory or a glorious King Psal 24.10 You find him called a great King the most High Psal 92.1 The supream Monarch there being no dignity in Heaven or Earth but what is dimm before him and infinitely inferior to him yea he hath the Title of Only King 1 Tim. 6.15 The Title of Royalty truly and properly only belongs to him You may see it described very magnificently by David at the freewill offering for the Building of the Temple 1 Chron. 29.11 12. Thine O Lord is the greatness and the Power and the Glory and the Victory and the Majesty thine is the Kingdom O God and thou art exalted as Head above all Both Riches and Honour come of thee and thou Reignest over all and in thy hand is Power and Might and in thy hand it is to make Great and to give strength to all He hath an eminency of Power or Authority above all All Earthly Princes received their Diadems from him yea even those that will not acknowledge him and he hath a more absolute power over them than they can challenge over their meanest Vassals As God hath a knowledge infinitely above our knowledge so he hath a Dominion incomprehensibly above any Dominion of Man and by all the shadows drawn from the Authority of one man over another we can have but weak glimmerings of the Authority and Dominion of God There is a threefold Dominion of God 1. Natural which is absolute over all Creatures and is founded in the Nature of God as Creator 2. Spiritual or Gracious which is a Dominion over his Church as Redeemed and founded in the Covenant of Grace 3. A Glorious Kingdom at the winding up of all wherein he shall Reign over all either in the Glory of his Mercy as over the glorified Saints or in the Glory of his Justice in the condemned Devils and Men. The first Dominion is founded in Nature The second in Grace The third in regard of the blessed in Grace in regard of the damn'd in demerit in them and Justice in him He is Lord of all things and always in regard of propriety Psal 24.1 The Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof the World and all that dwell therein The Earth with the Riches and Treasures in the Bowels of it the habitable World with every thing that moves upon it are his he hath the sole right and what right soever any others have is deriv'd from him In regard also of possession Gen. 14.22 The most high God possessor of Heaven and Earth In respect of whom Man is not the proprietary nor possessor but usufructuary at the Will of this Grand Lord. In thâ— prosecution of this I. I shall lay down Some general propositions for the clearing and confirming it II. I shall shew Wherein this right of Dominion is founded III. What the nature of it is IV. Wherein it consists and how 't is manifested I. Some general Propositions for the clearing and confirming of it 1. We must know the difference between the Might or Power of God and his Authority We commonly mean by the Power of God the strength of God whereby he is able to effect all his purposes By the Authority of God we mean the right he hath to act what he pleases Omnipotence is his Physical power whereby he is able to do what he will Dominion is
something of its vastness but we cannot presently fathom the depth of it and understand those lower Fountains that supply that great Ocean of Waters 'T is part of God's Sovereignty as it is of the wisest Princes that he hath a Wisdom beyond the reach of his Subjects 't is not for a finite nature to understand an infinite Wisdom nor for a foolish Creature that hath lost his understanding by the fall to judge of the reason of the methods of a wise Counsellor Yet those actions that savour most of Soveraignty present men with some glances of his Wisdom Was it meer will that he suffered some Angels to fall But his Wisdom was in it for the manifestation of his Justice as it was also in the case of Pharaoh Was it meer will that he suffered sin to be committed by man was not his Wisdom in this for the discovery of his mercy which never had been known without that which should render a Creature miserable Rom. 11.32 He hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have Mercy upon all Though God had such an absolute right to have annihilated the World as soon as ever he had made it yet how had this consisted with his Wisdom to have erected a Creature after his own image one day and despis'd it so much the next as to Cashier it from Being What Wisdom had it been to make a thing only to destroy it To repent of his work as soon as ever it came out of his hands without any occasion offered by the Creature If God be suppos'd to be Creator he must be supposed to have an end in Creation what End can that be but himself and his own Glory the manifestation of the perfections of his Nature What perfection could have been discovered in so quick an annihilation but that of his power in Creating and of his Soveraignty in snatching away the Being of his Rational Creature before it had laid the methods of acting What Wisdom to make a World and a reasonable Creature for no use Not to Praise and Honour him but to be broken in pieces and destroy'd by him 2. His Soveraignty is managed according to the rule of Righteousness Worldly Princes often fancy Tyranny and Oppression to be the chief marks of Soveraignty and think their Scepters not beautiful till died in blood nor the Throne secure till established upon slain Carkasses But Justice and Judgment are the Foundation of the Throne of God Psal 89.14 Alluding perhaps to the supporters of Arms and Thrones which among Princes are the figures of Lions Emblems of Courage as Solomon had 1 Kings 10.19 But God makes not so much might as right the support of his He sits on a Throne of Holiness Psal 47.8 As he reigns over the Heathens referring to the calling of the Gentiles after the rejecting the Jews the Psalmist here praising the Righteousness of it as the Apostle had the unsearchable Wisdom of it Rom. 11.33 In all his ways he is Righteous Psal 145.17 In his ways of Terror as well as those of sweetness in those works wherein little else but that of his Soveraignty appears to us 'T is always linkt with his Holiness that he will not do by his absolute right any thing but what is conformable to it since his dominion is founded upon the excellency of his Nature he will not do any thing but what is agreeable to it and becoming his other perfections Though he be an absolute Soveraign he is not an Arbitrary Governor Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do right Gen. 18.25 i. e. 'T is impossible but he should act righteously in every punctilio of his Government Since his Righteousness capacitates him to be a Judge not a Tyrant of all the Earth The Heathen Poets represented their chief God Jupiter with Themis or Right sitting by him upon his Throne in all his Orders God cannot by his absolute Soveraignty command some things Because they are directly against unchangeable Righteousness as to command a Creature to hate or blaspheme the Creator not to own him nor praise him It would be a manifest unrighteousness to order the Creature not to own him upon whom he depends both in its being and well being This would be against that natural duty which is indispensably due from every rational Creature to God This would be to order him to lay aside his reason while he retains it to disown him to be the Creator while man remains his Creature This is repugnant to the Nature of God and the true nature of the Creature Or to exact any thing of man but what he had given him a capacity in his original nature to perform If any command were above our natural power it would be unrighteous as to command a man to grasp the Globe of the Earth to stride over the Sea to lave out the waters of the Ocean these things are impossible and become not the Righteousness and Wisdom of God to enjoyn There can be no obligation on man to an impossibility God had a free dominion over nullity before the Creation he could call it out into the being of man and beast But he could not do any thing in Creation foolishly because of his infinite Wisdom nor could he by the right of his absolute Soveraignty make man sinful because of his infinite purity As it is impossible for him not to be Soveraign 'T is impossible for him to deny his Deity and his purity 'T is Lawful for God to do what he will but his will being ordered by the Righteousness of his nature as infinite as his will he cannot do any thing but what is just and therefore in his dealing with men you find him in Scripture submitting the reasonableness and equity of his proceedings to the Judgment of his deprav'd Creatures and the inward dictates of their own Consciences Isaiah 5.3 And now Oh Inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah Judge I pray you between me and my Vineyard Though God be the great Soveraign of the World yet he acts not in a way of absolute Soveraignty He rules by Law he is a Lawgiver as well as a King Isaiah 33.22 It had been repugnant to the nature of a rational Creature to be ruled otherwise to be govern'd as a beast this had been to frustrate those Faculties of Will and Understanding which had been given him To conclude this when we say God can do this or that or command this or that his Authority is not bounded and limited properly Who can reasonably detract from his Almightiness because he cannot do any thing which savors of weakness and what detracting is it from his Authority that he cannot do any thing unseemly for the dignity of his nature 'T is rather from the infiniteness of his Righteousness than the straitness of his Authority at most it is but a voluntary bounding his dominion by the Law of his own Holiness 3. His Soveraignty is managed according to the rule of Goodness
own affections according to the holiness of his own Will As it is the effect of his power so it is an argument of his power the greatness of the effect demonstrates the fulness and sufficiency of the Cause The more feeble any man is in reason the less command he hath over his passions and he is the more heady to revenge Revenge is a sign of a Childish mind the stronger any man is in reason the more command he hath over himself Prov. 16.32 He that is slow to Anger is better than the mighty and he that rules his own Spirit than he that takes a City He that can restrain his Anger is stronger than the Coesars and Alexanders of the World that have fill'd the Earth with slain Carcasses and ruin'd Cities By the same reason God's slowness to Anger is a greater argument of his Power than the creating a World or the power of dissolving it by a Word In this he hath a Dominion over Creatures in the other over himself This is the reason he will not return to destroy because I am God and not Man Hosea 11.9 I am not so weak and impotent as man that cannot restrain his Anger This is a strength possessed only by a God wherein a Creature is no more able to parallel him than in any other So that he may be said to be the Lord of himself as it is in the verse before the Text that he is the Lord of Anger in the Hebrew instead of furious as we translate it so he is the Lord of Patience The end why God is Patient is to shew his Power Rom. 9.22 What if God willing to shew his Wrath and to make his Power known endured with much Long-suffering the Vessels of Wrath fitted to destruction To shew his Wrath upon Sinners and his Power over himself in bearing such indignities and forbearing punishment so long when men were vessels of wrath fitted for destruction of whom there was no hopes of amendment Had he immediately broken in peices those Vessels his power had not so eminently appear'd as it hath done in tolerating them so long that had provoked him to take them off so often There is indeed the power of his Anger and there is the power of his Patience and his power is more seen in his Patience than in his Wrath. 'T is no wonder that he that is above all is able to crush all But it is a wonder that he that is provok't by all doth not upon the first provocation rid his hands of all This is the reason why he did bear such a weight of provocations from vessels of wrath prepar'd for ruine that he might 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shew what he was able to do the Lordship and Royalty he had over himself The power of God is more manifest in his Patience to a multitude of Sinners than it could be in Creating Millions of Worlds out of nothing this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a power over himself 5. This Patience being a branch of Mercy the exercise of it is founded in the Death of Christ Without the consideration of this we can give no account why Divine Patience should extend it self to us and not to the fallen Angels The threatning extends it self to us as well as to the fallen Angels The threatning must necessarily have sunk man as well as those glorious Creatures had not Christ stept into our relief * Testaâ—d de natur Grat. Thes 119. Had not Christ interposed to satisfie the Justice of God man upon his sin had been actually bound over to punishment as well as the fall'n Angels were upon theirs and been fettered in chains as strong as those Spirits feel The reason why man was not hurl'd into the same deplorable condition upon his sin as they were is Christs promise of taking our nature and not theirs Had God design'd Christ's taking their nature the same Patience had been exercised towards them and the same offers would have been made to them as are made to us In regard of these fruits of this Patience Christ is said to buy the wickedest Apostates from him 1 Pet. 2.1 Denying the Lord that bought them such were bought by him as bring upon themselves just destruction and whose damnation slumbers not ver 3. he purchased the continuance of their lives and the stay of their execution that offers of Grace might be made to them This Patience must be either upon the account of the Law or the Gospel for there are no other rules whereby God governs the World a fruit of the Law it was not that spake nothing but Curses after Disobedience not a letter of Mercy was writ upon that And therefore nothing of Patience Death and Wrath was denounced no slowness to Anger intimated It must be therefore upon the account of the Gospel and a fruit of the Covenant of Grace whereof Christ was Mediator Besides this perfection being God's waiting that he might be Gracious Isaiâ—h 30.18 that which made way for Gods Grace made way for his waiting to manifest it God discovered not his Grace but in Christ And therefore discovered not his Patience but in Christ 't is in him he met with the satisfaction of his Justice that he might have a ground for the manifestation of his Patience And the Sacrifices of the Law wherein the Life of a beast was accepted for the sin of a man discovered the ground of his forbearance of them to be the expectation of the great sacrifice whereby sin was to be compleatly expiated Gen. 8.21 The publication of his Patience to the end of the World is presently after the sweet savor he found in Noah's sacrifice The promised and design'd coming of Christ was the cause of that Patience God exercised before in the World And his gathering the Elect together is the reason of his Patience since his death 6. The naturalness of his Veracity and Holiness and the strictness of his Justice are no barrs to the exercise of his patience 1. His Veracity In those threatnings where the punishment is exprest but not the time of inflicting it prefixt and determined in the threatning his veracity suffers no dammage by the delaying Execution so it be once done though a long time after the credit of his Truth stands unshaken As when God promises a thing without fixing the time he is at liberty to pitch upon what time he pleases for the performance of it without staining his faithfulness to his Word by not giving the thing promised presently Why should the deferring of Justice upon an offender be any more against his Veracity than his delaying an answer to the petitions of a suppliant But the difference will lie in the threatning Gen. 2.17 In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death The time was there setled In that day thou shalt dye some referre day to eating not to dying and render the sentence thus I do not prohibit thee the eating this fruit for
and the dregs of that revolt is that they know not God They forget God as if there were no such being above them and indeed he that doth the works of the Devil owns the Devil to be more worthy of observance and consequently of a being than God whose nature he forgets and whose presence he abhors Proposition 4. Every sin in its own nature would render God a foolish and impure being Many Transgressors esteem their acts which are contrary to the Law of God both Wise and Good If so the Law against which they are committed must be both foolish and impure What a reflection is there then upon the Law-giver The Moral Law is not properly a meer act of Gods Will considered in it self or a Tyrannical Edict like those of whom it may well be said stat pro ratione voluntas But it commands those things which are good in their own nature and prohibits those things which are in their own nature evil and therefore is an act of his Wisdom and Righteousness the result of his wise Council and an extract of his pure nature as all the Laws of just Law-givers are not only the acts of their Will but of a Will governed by Reason and Justice and for the good of the publick whereof they are conservators If the Moral commands of God were only acts of his Will and had not an intrinsick necessity reason and goodness God might have commanded the quite contrary and made a contrary Law whereby that which we now call Vice might have been canonized for Virtue He might then have forbid any Worship of him Love to him fear of his name He might then have commanded Murders Thefts Adulteries In the first he would have untied the link of duty from the Creature and dissolved the obligations of Creatures to him which is impossible to be conceived for from the Relation of a Creature to God obligations to God and duties upon those obligations do necessarily result It had been against the rule of Goodness and Justice to have commanded the Creature not to love him and fear and obey him This had been a command against Righteousness Goodness and intrinsick obligations to Gratitude And should Murder Adulteries Rapines have been commanded instead of the contrary God would have destroyed his own Creation he would have acted against the rule of goodness and order he had been an unjust tyrannical Governor of the world Publick society would have been crackt in peices and the world become a Shambles a Brothel House a place below the common sentiments of a meer man All sin therefore being against the Law of God the Wisdom and holy rectitude of Gods Nature is denyed in every Act of disobedience And what is the consequence of this but that God is both foolish and unrighteous in commanding that which was neither an Act of Wisdom as a Governour nor an Act of goodness as a benefactor to his Creature As was said before presumptuous sins are called reproaches of God Num. 15.30 The Soul that doth ought presumptuously reproacheth the Lord. Reproaches of men are either for natural moral or intellectual defects All reproaches of God must imply a charge either of unrighteousness or ignorance If of unrighteousness t is a denial of his Holiness If of Ignorance t is a blemishing his Wisdom If Gods Laws were not wise and holy God would not enjoyn them And if they are so we deny infinite Wisdom and Holiness in God by not complying with them As when a man believes not God when he promises he makes him a lyar 1 John 5.10 So he that obeys not a wise and holy God commanding makes him guilty either of folly or unrighteousness Now suppose you knew an absolute Atheist who denyed the being of a God yet had a life free from any notorious spot or defilement would you in reason count him so bad as the other that owns a God in being yet lays by his course of action such a black imputation of folly and impurity upon the God he professeth to own an imputation which renders any man a most despicable Creature Proposition 5. Sin in its own nature endeavours to render God the most miserable being T is nothing but an opposition to the will of God The will of no Creature is so much contradicted as the Will of God is by Devils and Men And there is nothing under the Heavens that the affections of human nature stand more point blank against than against God There is a slight of him in all the faculties of Man our Souls are as unwilling to know him as our Wills are averse to follow him Rom. 8.7 The carnal mind is enmity against God t is not subject to the Law of God nor can be subject T is true Gods will cannot be hindered of its effect for then God would not be supremely blessed but unhappy and miserable All misery ariseth from a want of that which a nature would have and ought to have Besides if any thing could frustrate Gods Will it would be superior to him God would not be Omnipotent and so would lose the perfection of the Deity and consequently the Deity it self for that which did wholly defeat Gods Will would be more powerful than he But sin is a contradiction to the Will of Gods Revelation to the Will of his precept and therein doth naturally tend to a superiority over God and would usurp his Omnipotence and deprive him of his blessedness For if God had not an infinite power to turn the designs of it to his own glory but the will of sin could prevail God would be totally deprived of his blessedness Doth not sin endeavour to subject God to the extravagant and contrary wills of men and make him more a slave than any Creature can be For the Will of no Creature not the meanest and most despicable Creature is so much crost as the Will of God is by sin Isa 43.24 Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins Thou hast endeavoured to make a meer slave of me by sin Sin endeavors to subject the blessed God to the humour and lust of every person in the world Proposition 6. Men sometimes in some circumstances do wish the not being of God This some think to be the meaning of the Text the fool hath said in his heart there is no God that is he wishes there were no God Many tamper with their own hearts to bring them to a perswasion that there is no God And when they cannot do that they conjure up wishes that there were none Men naturally have some Conscience of sin and some notices of Justice Rom. 1.32 They know the Judgement of God and they know the demerit of sin they know the Judgment of God and that they which do such things are worthy of death What is the consequent of this but fear of punishment and what is the issue of that fear but a wishing the Judge either unwilling or unable to vindicate the Honour of his
himself is an infinite Mirror of Goodness and ravishing Loveliness He is infinitely good and so universally good and nothing but good and is therefore so agreeable to a Creature as a Creature that it is impossible that the Creature while it bears itself to God as a Creature should be guilty of this but thirst after him and cherish every motion to him As no man wishes the destruction of any Creature as a Creature but as it may conduce to something which he counts may be beneficial to himself so no man doth nor perhaps can wish the cessation of the Being of God as God for then he must wish his own Being to cease also But as he considers him clothed with some perfections which he apprehends as injurious to him as his Holiness in forbidding Sin his Justice in punishing Sin And God being judged in those perfections contrary to what the revolted Creature thinks convenient and good for himself he may wish God stript of those perfections that thereby he may be free from all fear of trouble and grief from him in his fallen State In wishing God deprived of those he wishes God deprived of his Being because God cannot retain his Deity without a love of Righteousness and Hatred of Iniquity and he could not testifie his love to the one or his loathing of the other without encouraging Goodness and witnessing his Anger against Iniquity Let us now appeal to ourselves and examin our own Consciences Did we never please our selves sometimes in the thoughts how happy we should be how free in our vain pleasures if there were no God Have we not desired to be our own Lords without controle subject to no Law but our own and be guided by no Will but that of the Flesh Did we never rage against God under his afflicting Hand Did we never wish God stript of his Holy Will to command and his Righteous Will to punish c. Thus much for the general For the proof of this many considerations will bring in Evidence Most may be reduced to these two Generals Man would set himself up First as his own Rule Secondly as his own End and Happiness 1. Man would set himself up as his own Rule instead of God This will be evidenced in this Method 1. Man naturally disowns the Rule God sets him 2. He owns any other Rule rather than that of Gods prescribing 3. These he doth in order to the setting himself up as his own Rule 4. He makes himself not only his own Rule but would make himself the Rule of God and give Laws to his Creator 1. Man naturally disowns the Rule God sets him 'T is all one to deny his Royalty and to deny his Being When we disown his Authority we disown his God-head 'T is the Right of God to be the Soveraign of his Creatures and it must be a very loose and trivial assent that such men have to Gods Superiority over them and consequently to the Excellency of his Being upon which that Authority is founded who are scarce at ease in themselves but when they are invading his Rights breaking his Bands casting away his Cords and contradicting his Will Every man naturally is a Son of Belial would be without a Yoke and leap over Gods Inclosures and in breaking out against his Soveraignity we disown his Being as God For to be God and Soveraign are inseparable He could not be God if he were not Supreme nor could he be a Creator without being a Law-giver To be God and yet inferior to another is a Contradiction To make Rational Creatures without prescribing them a Law is to make them without Holiness Wisdom and Goodness 1. There is in Man naturally an unwillingness to have any acquaintance with the Rule God sets him Psal 14.2 None that did understand and seek God The refusing Instruction and casting his Word behind the back is a part of Atheism * Psal 50 1â— We are heavy in hearing the Instructions either of Law or Gospel * Heb. 5.11 12. and slow in the Apprehension of what we hear The people that God had hedged in from the Wilderness of the World for his own Garden were foolish and did not know God were sottish and had no understanding of him * Jer. 4.22 The Law of God is accounted a strange thing * Hos 8.12 a thing of a different Clymate and a far Country from the heart of Man wherewith the mind of Man had no natural acquaintance and had no desire to have any or they regarded it as a sordid thing What God accounts great and valuable they account mean and despicable Men may shew a Civility to a Stranger but scarce contract an Intimacy There can be no Amicable Agreement between the holy Will of God and the heart of a depraved Creature One is holy the other unholy one is universally good the other stark naught The purity of the Divine Rule renders it nauseous to the impurity of a carnal heart Water and Fire may as well friendly kiss each other and live together without quarrelling and hissing as the holy Will of God and the unregenerate heart of a fallen Creature The nauseating a Holy Rule is an Evidence of Atheism in the heart as the nauseating wholesome Food is of putrified Flegm in the Stomack 'T is found more or less in every Christian in the Remainders though not in a full Empire As there is a Law in his Mind whereby he delights in the Law of God so there is a Law in his Members whereby he wars against the Law of God Rom. 7.22 23 25. How predominant is this loathing of the Law of God when corrupt Nature is in its full strength without any Principle to controul it There is in the Mind of such a one a Darkness whereby it is ignorant of it and in the Will a Depravedness whereby it is repugnant to it If Man were naturally willing and able to have an intimate acquaintance with and delight in the Law of God it had not been such a signal favour for God to promise to write the Law in the heart A man may sooner engrave the Chronicle of a whole Nation or all the Records of God in the Scripture upon the hardest Marble with his bare finger than write one Syllable of the Law of God in a spiritual manner upon his heart For 1. Men are negligent in using the means for the knowledge of Gods Will. All natural men are Fools who know not how to use the price God puts into their hands * Pro. 17.16 They put not a due estimate upon opportunities and means of Grace and account that Law-Folly which is the Birth of an infinite and holy Wisdom The knowledge of God which they may glean from Creatures and is more pleasant to the natural gust of men is not improved to the Glory of God if we will believe the Indictment the Apostle brings against the Gentiles * Rom. 1.21 And most of those that have
temper under a storm he would submit to God and let Israel go but when the storm is ended he will not be under Gods controul and Israels slavery shall be increased The fear of Divine wrath makes many a sinner turn his back upon his sin and the love of his ruling lust makes him turn his back upon his true Lord. This is from the prevalency of sin that disputes with God for the Soveraignty When God hath sent a sharp disease as a messenger to bind men to their beds and make an interruption of their sinful pleasures their mouths are full of promises of a new life in hope to escape the just vengeance of God The sense of Hell which strikes strongly upon them makes them full of such pretended resolutions when they howl upon their beds But if God be pleased in his Patience to give them a respite to take off the Chains wherewith he seemed to be binding them for destruction and recruit their strength they are more earnest in their sins than they were in their promises of a reformation as if they had got the mastery of God and had outwitted him How often doth God charge them * Amos 4.6 to ver 11. of not returning to him after a succession of Judgments So hard it is not only to allure but to scourge men to an acknowledgement of God as their Ruler Consider then Are we not naturally inclined to disobey the known Will of God Can we say Lord for thy sake we refrain the thing to which our hearts encline Do we not allow our selves to be licentious earthly vain proud revengful tho we know it will offend him Have we not been peevishly cross to his declared Will Run Counter to him and those Laws which express most of the glory of his holiness Is not this to disown him as our Rule Did we never wish there were no Law to bind us no precept to check our Idols What is this but to wish that God would depose himself from being our Governour and leave us to our own conduct or else to wish that he were as unholy as our selves as careless of his own laws as we are that is that he were no more a God then we a God as sinful and unrighteous as our selves He whose heart riseth against the Law of God to unlaw it riseth against the Author of that Law to undeifie him He that casts contempt upon the dearest thing God hath in the world that which is the image of his holiness the delight of his Soul that which he hath given a special charge to maintain and that because it is holy just and good would not stick to rejoyce at the destruction of God himself If Gods Holiness and righteousness in the beam be despised much more will an immense goodness and holiness in the fountain be rejected He that wisheth a beam far from his eyes because it offends and scorcheth him can be no friend to the Sun from whence that beam doth issue How unworthy a Creature is man since he only a rational Creature is the sole being that withdraws it self from the rule of God in this Earth And how miserable a Creature is he also Since departing from the order of Gods goodness he falls into the order of his Justice and while he refuseth God to be the rule of his life he cannot avoid him being the Judge of his punishment T is this is the original of all sin and the fountain of all our misery This is the first thing man disowns the Rule which God sets him Secondly 2. Man naturally owns any other rule rather than that of Gods prescribing The Law of God orders one thing the heart of man desires another There is not the basest thing in the world but man would sooner submit to be guided by it rather than by the holiness of God and when any thing that God commands crosses our own Wills we value it no more than we would the advise of a poor despicable beggar How many are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God * 2 Tim. 3.4 To make something which contributes to the perfection of nature as learning wisdom moral vertues our Rule would be more tolerable But to pay that homage to a swinish pleasure which is the right of God is an inexcusable contempt of him The greatest excellency in the world is infinitely below God much more a bestial delight which is both disgraceful and below the nature of man If we made the vilest Creature on Earth our Idol t is more excusable than to be the slave of a brutish pleasure The viler the thing is that doth possess the throne in our heart the greater contempt it is of him who can only claim a right to it and is worthy of it Sin is the first object of mans election as soon as the faculty whereby he choses comes to exercise its power And it is so dear to man that it is in the estimate of our Saviour counted as the right hand and the right eye dear precious and useful members 1. The rule of Satan is owned before the rule of God The natural man would rather be under the guidance of Satan than the Yoke of his Creator Adam chose him to be his Governour in Paradice No sooner had Satan spoke of God in a way of derision Gen. 3.1 5. Yea hath God said but man follows his Counsel and approves of the scoff and the greatest part of his posterity have not been wiser by his fall but would rather ramble in the Devils Wilderness than to stay in Gods fold T is by the sin of man that the Devil is become the God of the world as if men were the Electors of him to the Government Sin is an Election of him for a Lord and a putting the Soul under his Government Those that live according to the course of the world and are loath to displease it are under the Government of the Prince of it The greatest part of the works done in the world is to enlarge the Kingdom of Satan For how many ages were the laws whereby the greatest part of the world was governed in the affairs of Religion the fruits of his usurpation and policy When Temples were erected to him Priests consecrated to his service The rites used in most of the Worship of the world were either of his own Coyning or the misapplying the Rites God had ordained to himself under the notion of a God Whence the Apostle calls all Idolatrous Feasts the table of Devils the cup of Devils Sacrifice to Devils fellowship with Devils * 1 Cor. 10.20.21 Devils being the real object of the Pagan Worship tho not formally intended by the Worshipper tho in some parts of the Indies the direct and peculiar worship is to the Devil that he might not hurt them And tho the intention of others was to offer to God and not the Devil yet since the action was contrary to the Will of God he regards
lay the Plot of our own Affairs and then come to God not for Counsel but Blessing Self only shall give us counsel how to act but because we believe there is a God that governs the world we will desire him to contribute success God is not consulted with till the Counsel of self be fixed then God must be the Executor of our Will Self must be the Principal and God the Instrument to hatch what we have contrived 'T is worse when we beg of God to favour some sinful Aim the Psalmist implies this Psal 66.18 If I regard Iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me Iniquity regarded as the aim in Prayer renders the Prayer succesless and the Suppliant an Atheist in debasing God to back his Lust by his holy Providence The Disciples had determined Revenge and because they could not act it without their Master they would have him be their Second in their vindictive passion Luke 9.55 Call for fire from Heaven We scarce seek God till we have modell'd the whole Contrivance in our own Brains and resolved upon the Methods of Performance as though there were not a fullness of Wisdom in God to guide us in our resolves as well as Power to breath Success upon them 4. In impatience upon the refusal of our desires How often do mens Spirits rise against God when he steps not in with the Assistance they want If the glory of God swayed more with them than their private interest they would let God be Judge of his own glory and rather magnifie his Wisdom than complain of his want of Goodness Selfish hearts will charge God with neglect of them if he be not as quick in their supplies as they are in their desires like those in Isa 58.3 Wherefore have we fasted say they and thou seest not wherefore have we afflicted our Souls and thou takest no knowledge When we aim at Gods glory in our importunities we shall fall down in humble Submissions when he denies us whereas self riseth up in bold Expostulations as if God were our Servant and had neglected the service he owed us not to come at our call We over-value the satisfactions of self above the honour of God Besides if what we desire be a sin our impatience at a refusal is more intolerable 'T is an anger that God will not lay aside his holiness to serve our corruption 5. In the actual aims men have in their Duties In Prayer for temporal things when we desire Health for our own ease Wealth for our own sensuality Strength for our revenge Children for the increase of our Family Gifts for our applause as Simon Magus did the Holy-Ghost or when some of those ends are aimed at This is to desire God not to serve himself of us but to be a Servant to our worldly interest our vain glory the greatning of our names c. In spiritual mercies begged for When pardon of sin is desired only for our own security from eternal Vengeance Sanctification desired only to make us fit for everlasting blessedness Peace of Conscience only that we may lead our lives more comfortably in the world when we have not actual intentions for the glory of God or when our thoughts of Gods honour are overtopt by the aims of self advantage Not but that as God hath prest us to those things by motives drawn from the Blessedness derived to our selves by them so we may desire them with a resepect to our selves but this respect must be contained within the due banks in subordination to the glory of God not above it nor in an equal ballance with it Gurnall Part. 3. Pag. 337. That which is nourishing or medicinal in the first or second degree is in the fourth or fifth degree meer destructive poyson Let us consider it seriously though a Duty be heavenly doth not some base end smut us in it 1. How is it with our Confessions of Sin Are they not more to procure our Pardon than to shame our selves before God or to be freed from the chains that hinder us from bringing him the glory for which we were created or more to partake of his benefits than to honour him in acknowledging the rights of his Justice Do we not bewail sin as it hath ruined us not as it opposed the Holiness of God Do we not shuffle with God and confess one sin while we reserve another as if we would allure God by declaring our dislike of one to give us liberty to commit Wantoness with another not to abhor our selves but to daub with God 2. Is it any better in our private and Family Worship Are not such Assemblies frequented by some where some upon whom they have a dependance may eye them and have a better opinion of them and affection to them If God were the sole end of our hearts would they not be as glowing under the sole eye of God as our tongues or carriages are seemingly serious under the eye of man Are not Family duties performed by some that their voices may be heard and their reputation supported among Godly Neighbours 3. Is not the Charity of many men tainted with this end self * Mat. 6.1 as the Pharisees were while they set the miserable Object before them but not the Lord bestowing Alms not so much upon the necessities of the people as the friendship we owe them for some particular respects Or casting our bread upon those Waters which stream down in the sight of the world that our Doles may be visible to them and commended by them Or when we think to oblige God to pardon our transgressions as if we merited it and Heaven too at his hands by bestowing a few pence upon indigent persons And 4. Is it not the same with the Reproofs of men Is not Heat and Anger carried out with full Sail when our worldly interest is prejudic'd and becalm'd in the concerns of God Do not many Masters reprove their Servants with more vehemency for the neglect of their Trade and Business than the neglect of Divine Duties and that upon Religious Arguments pretending the honour of God that they may mind their own interest But when they are negligent in what they owe to God no noyse is made they pass without rebuke Is not this to make God and Religion a Stale to their own ends 'T is a part of Atheism not to regard the injuries done to God as Tiberius * Dei injuria Deo curae Let Gods wrongs be looked to or cared for by himself 5. Is it not thus in our seeming Zeal for Religion As Demetrius and the Craftsmen at Ephesus cried up aloud the greatness of Diana of the Ephesians not out of any true zeal they had for her but their gain which was increased by the confluence of her Worshippers and the Sale of her own Shrines Acts 19.24.28 4. In making use of the Name of God to countenance our Sin When we set up an opinion that is a
with hatred The beneficence and patience of God and his readiness to pardon men is the reason of the honour they return to him And this is so evident a motive that generally the Idolatrous world rankt those Creatures in the number of their Gods which they perceived useful and neficial to man-kind as the Sun and Mooâ— the Aegyptians the Ox c. And the more beneficial any thing appeared to mankind the higher station men gave it in the rank of their deities and bestowed a more peculiar and solemn worship upon it Men worshipped God to procure or continue his favour which would not have been acted by them had they not conceived it a pleasing thing to him to be merciful and gracious Sometimes his Justice is proposed to us as a motive of worship Heb. 12.28 29. Serve God with Reverence and Godly fear for our God is a consuming fire which includes his holiness whereby he doth hate sin as well as his wrath whereby he doth punish it Who but a mad and totally brutish person or one that was resolved to make war against heaven could behold the effects of Gods anger in the world consider him in his Justice as a consuming fire and despise him and rather be drawn out by that consideration to blasphemy and despair than to seek all ways to appease him Now tho the infinite power of God his unspeakable wisdom his incomprehensible goodness the holiness of his nature the vigilance of his Providence the bounty of his hand signifie to man that he should love and honour him and are the motives of worship yet the Spirituality of his nature is the rule of worship and directs us to render our duty to him with all the powers of our Soul As his goodness beams out upon us worship is due in Justice to him and as he is the most excellent nature veneration is due to him in the highest manner with the choicest affections So that indeed the Spirituality of God comes chiefly into consideration in matter of worship All his perfections are grounded upon this He could not be infinite immutable omniscient if he were a Corporeal being * Amirald dissert 6. disp 1. pa. 11. We cannot give him a worship unless we Judge him worthy excellent and deserving a worship at our hands And we cannot Judge him worthy of a worship unless we have some apprehensions and admirations of his infinite vertues And we cannot apprehend and admire those perfections but as we see them as causes shining in their effects When we see therefore the frame of the world to be the work of his power the order of the world to be the fruit of his wisdom and the usefulness of the world to be the product of his goodness We find the motives and reasons of worship and weighing that this power wisdom goodness infinitely transcend any corporeal nature we find a rule of worship that it ought to be offered by us in a manner sutable to such a nature as is infinitely above any bodily Being His being a Spirit declares what he is his other perfections declare what kind of Spirit he is All Gods perfections suppose him a Spirit all center in this His wisdom doth not suppose him merciful or his mercy suppose him omniscient There may be distinct notions of those but all suppose him to be of a spiritual nature How cold and frozen will our devotions be if we consider not his omniscience whereby he discerns our hearts How carnal will our services be if we consider him not as a pure Spirit * Amyraut de Relig. In our offers to and transactions with men we deal not with them as meer Animals but as rational Creatures and we debase their natures if we treat them otherwise And if we have not raised apprehensions of Gods spiritual nature in our treating with him but allow him only such frames as we think fit enough for men we debase his spirituality to the littleness of our own Being We must therefore possess our Souls with this we shall else render him no better than a fleshly service We do not much concern our selves in those things of which we are either utterly ignorant or have but slight apprehensions of That is the first Proposition The right exercise of worship is grounded upon the spirituality of God Propos 2. This spiritual worship of God is manifest by the light of Nature to be due to him In reference to this consider 1. The outward means or matter of that worship which would be acceptable to God was not known by the light of Nature The Law for a Worship and for a spiritual worship by the faculties of our Souls was natural and part of the Law of Creation though the determination of the particular acts whereby God would have this homage testified was of positive institution and depended not upon the Law of Creation Though Adam in Innocence knew God was to be worshipped yet by Nature he did not know by what outward acts he was to pay this respect or at what time he was more solemnly to be exercised in it than at another This depended upon the directions God as the soveraign Governour and Law-giver should prescribe You therefore find the positive institutions of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the determination of the time of worship Gen. 2.3.17 Had there been any such notion in Adam naturally as strong as that other that a worship was due to God there would have been found some reliques of these modes universally consented to by Mankind as well as of the other But though all Nations have by an universal consent concurred in the acknowledgment of the Being of God and his right to adoration and the obligation of the Creature to it and that there ought to be some publick rule and polity in matters of Religion for no Nation hath been in the world without a worship and without external acts and certain ceremonies to signifie that worship yet their modes and rites have been as various as their climates unless in that common notion of sacrifices not descending to them by nature but tradition from Adam and the various ways of worship have been more provoking than pleasing Every Nation suted the kind of worship to their particular ends and polities they designed to rule by How God was to be worshipped is more difficult to be discerned by Nature with its eyes out than with its eyes clear * King on Jonah P. 63. The pillars upon which the worship of God stands cannot be discerned without revelation no more than blind Sampson could tell where the pillars of the Philistians Theatre stood without one to conduct him What Adam could not see with his sound eyes we cannot with our dim eyes He must be told from Heaven what worship was fit for the God of Heaven 'T is not by Nature that we can have such a full prospect of God as may content and quiet us This is the noble
them into a frame agreeable to the nature of God * Heb. 10.1 Heb. 9.9 nor purge the Conscience from those dead and dull dispositions which were by nature in them * Heb. 9.14 Being Carnal they could not have an efficacy to purifie the Conscience of the offerer and work Spiritual effects Had they continued without the exhibition of Christ they could never have wrought any change in us or purchased any favour for us * Burges vind pa. 256. At the best they were but shadows and came unexpressibly short of the efficacy of that person and state whose shadows they were The shadow of a man is too weak to perform what the man himself can do because it wants the life Spirit and activity of the substance The whole pomp and scene was suted more to the sensitive than the intellectual nature and like pictures pleased the fancy of Children rather than improved their reason The Jewish state was a state of Child-hood * Gal. 5.2 and that administration a Pedagogy * Gal. 4.24 The Law was a Schoolmaster fitted for their weak and Childish Capacity and could no more Spiritualize the heart than the teachings in a Primer-School can enable the mind and make it fit for affairs of State And because they could not better the Spirit they were instituted only for a time as elements delivered to an infant age which naturally lives a life of sense rather than a life of reason It was also a servile state which doth rather debase than elevate the mind rather Carnalize than Spiritualize the heart Besides t is a sense of mercy that both melts and elevates the heart into a Spiritual frame * Psa 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou maist be feared And they had in that state but some glimmerings of mercy in the dayly bloody intimations of Justice There was no Sacrifice for some sins but a cutting off without the least hints of pardon and in the yearly remembrance of sin there was as much to shiver them with fear as to possess than with hopes And such a state which alwayes held them under the Conscience of sin could not produce a free Spirit which was necessary for a worship of God according to his nature 3. In their use they rather hindred than furthered a Spiritual worship In their own nature they did not tend to the obstructing a Spiritual worship for then they had been contrary to the nature of Religion and the end of God who appointed them Nor did God cover the Evangelical Doctrine under the clouds of the legal administration to hinder the people of Israel from perceiving it but because they were not yet capable to bear the splendor of it had it been clearly set before them The shining of the face of Moses was too dazling for their weak eyes and therefore there was a necessity of a veil not for the things themselves but the weakness of their eyes * 2 Cor. 3.13.14 The carnal affections of that people sunk down into the things themselves stuck in the outward pomp and pierced not through the vail to the Spiritual intent of them And by the use of them without rational conceptions they besotted their minds and became senseless of those Spiritual motions required of them Hence came all their expectations of a Carnal Messiah the veil of Ceremonies was so thick and the film upon their eyes so condensed that they could not look through the veil to the Spirit of Christ They beheld not the Heavenly Canaan for the beauty of the earthly nor minded the regeneration of the Spirit while they rested upon the purifications of the flesh The prevalency of sense and sensitive affections diverted their minds from enquiring into the intent of them Sense and matter are often cloggs to the mind and sensible objects are the same often to Spiritual motions Our Souls are never more raised than when they are abstracted from the entanglements of them A pompous worship made up of many sensible objects weakens the Spirituality of Religion Those that are most zealous for outward are usually most cold and indifferent in inward observances And those that overdo in carnal modes usually underdo in Spiritual affections This was the Jewish state * Illyric de velam Mosiâ— pa. 221. c. The nature of the Ceremonies being pompous and earthly by their show and beauty meeting with their weakness and Childish affections filled their eyes with an outward lustre allured their minds and detained them from seeking things higher and more Spiritual The kernel of those rites lay concealed in a thick shell the Spiritual glory was little seen and the Spiritual sweetness little tasted Unless the Scripture be diligently searched it seems to transfer the worship of God from true faith and the Spiritual motions of the heart and stake it down to outward observances and the opus operatum Besides the voice of the Law did only declare Sacrifices and invited the Worshipper to them with a promise of the atonement of Sin turning away the wrath of God It never plainly acquainted them that those things were Types and Shadows of something future that they were only outward purifications of the Flesh It never plainly told them at the time of appointing them that those Sacrifices could not abolish Sin and reconcile them to God Indeed we see more of them since their death and dissection in that one Epistle to the Hebrews than can be discern'd in the five Books of Moses Besides Man naturally affects a carnal Life and therefore affects a carnal Worship He designs the gratifying his sense and would have a Religion of the same nature Most men have no mind to busie their reasons about the things of sense and are naturally unwilling to raise them up to those things which are allyed to the spiritual nature of God and therefore the more spiritual any Ordinance is the more averse is the heart of man to it There is a simplicity of the Gospel from which our minds are easily corrupted by things that pleasure the sense as Eve was by the curiosity of her eye and the liquorishness of her Palate * 2 Cor. 11.3 From this Principle hath sprung all the Idolatry in the world The Jews knew they had a God who had delivered them but they would have a sensible God to go before them * Exod. 32.1 And the Papacy at this day is a Witness of the truth of this natural Corruption 4. Vpon these accounts therefore God never testified himself well pleased with that kind of Worship He was not displeased with them as they were his own institution and ordained for the representing though in an obscure manner the glorious things of the Gospel nor was he offended with those peoples observance of them For since he had commanded them it was their duty to perform them and their sin to neglect them But he was displeased with them as they were practised by them with Souls as
Interpretation God repented that is he did not bring the punishment upon them according to those days the Prophet had exprest and therefore forty natural days are to be understood and if it were meant of forty years and they were destroyed at the end of that term how could God be said to repent since according to that the punishment threatned was according to the time fixed brought upon them And the destruction of it forty years after will not be easily evinced if Jonah lived in the time of Jeroboam the second King of Israel as he did * 2 Kings 14 2â— And Niniveh was destroyed in the time of Josiah King of Judah But the other Answer is plain God did not fulfil what he had threatned because they reformed what they had committed When the threatning was made they were a fit Object for Justice but when they repented they were a fit Object for a merciful Respite To threaten when sins are high is a part of Gods Justice not to execute when sins are revok'd by Repentance is a part of Gods Goodness And in the Case of Hezekiah * 2 Kings 20.1 5. Isaiah comes with a Message from God that he should set his house in order for he shall dye that is the Disease was mortal and no outward Applications could in their own nature resist the Destemper Behold * Isa 38.1 5. I will add to thy days fifteen years I will heal thee It seems to me to be one intire Message because the latter part of it was so suddenly after the other committed to Isaiah to be delivered to Hezekiah for he was not gon out of the Kings house before he was ordered to return with the news of his health by an extraordinary indulgence of God against the power of Nature and force of the Disease Behold I will add to thy Life noting it as an extraordinary thing He was in the second Court of the Kings House when this word came to him * 2 Kings 20.4 the Kings House having three Courts so that he was not gon above half way out of the Palace God might send this message of Death to prevent the Pride Hezekiah might swell with for his deliverance from Senacherib As Paul had a Messenger of Satan to buffet him to prevent his lifting up * 2 Cor. 12.7 and this good Man was subject to this sin as we find afterwards in the Case of the Babylonish Embassadors And God delayed this other part of the Message to humble him and draw out his Prayer and as soon as ever he found Hezekiah in this temper he sent Isaiah with a comfortable message of recovery So that the Will of God was to signify to him the mortality of his distemper and afterwards to relieve him by a message of an extraordinary Recovery 5. Proposition God is not changed when of loving to any Creatures he becomes angry with them or of angry he becomes appeased The change in these cases is in the Creature according to the alteration in the Creature it stands in a various relatition to God an innocent Creature is the Object of his Kindness an offending Creature is the Object of his Anger there is a change in the dispensations of God as there is a change in the Creature making himself capable of such dispensations God always acts according to the immutable nature of his Holiness and can no more change in his Affections to good and evil than he can in his Essence When the Devils now fallen stood as glorious Angels they were the Objects of Gods love because holy When they fell they were the objects of Gods hatred because impure the same reason which made him love them while they were pure made him hate them when they were criminal The reason of his various dispensations to them was the same in both as considered in God his immutable holiness but as respecting the Creature different the nature of the Creature was changed but the Divine holy nature of God remain'd the same * Psal 18.26 With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward He is a refreshing light to those that obey him and a consuming fire to those that resist him Tho the same Angels were not always loved yet the same reason that moved him to love them moved him to hate them It had argued a change in God if he had loved them alway in whatsoever posture they were towards him It could not be counted love but a weakness and impotent fondness the change is in the object not in the affection of God For the object loved before is not beloved now because that which was the motive of love is not now in it So that the Creature having a different state from what it had falls under a different affection or dispensation It had been a mutable affection in God to love that which was not worthy of love with the same love wherewith he loved that which had the greatest resemblance to himself Had God loved the fallen Angels in that state and for that state he had hated himself because he had loved that which was contrary to himself and the image of his own holiness which made them appear before good in his sight The Will of God is unchangeably set to love righteousness and hate iniquity and from this hatred to punish it And if a righteous Creature contracts the wrath of God or a sinful Creature hath the Communications of Gods love it must be by a change in themselves Is the Sun changed when it hardens one thing and softens another according to the disposition of the several subjects Or when the Sun makes a flower more fragrant and a dead carcass more noysome There are divers effects but the reason of that diversity is not in the Sun but in the subject the Sun is the same and produceth those different effects by the same quality of heat So if an unholy Soul approach to God God looks angrily upon him If a holy Soul come before him the same immutable perfection in God draws out his kindness towards him As some think the Sun would rather refresh than scorch us if our bodies were of the same nature and substance with that Luminary As the Will of God for Creating the world was no new but an Eternal Will tho it manifested it self in time so the Will of God for the punishment of sin or the reconciliation of the sinner was no new Will Tho his wrath in time break out in the effects of it upon sinners and his love flows out in the effects of it upon penitents Christ by his death reconciling God to man did not alter the Will of God but did what was consonant to his Eternal Will He came not to change his Will but to execute his Will Lo I come to do thy Will oh God * Heb. 10.7 And the grace of God in Christ was not a new grace but an old grace in a
good evil is present with me * Rom. 7.21 Never more present than when we have a mind to do good and never more present than when we have a mind to do the best and greatest good How hard is it to make our thoughts and affections keep their stand place them upon a good Object and they will be frisking from it as a Bird from one bough one fruit to another We vary postures according to the various objects we meet with The course of the World is a very airy thing suted to the uncertain motions of that Prince of the power of the Air which works in it * Eph. 2.2 This ought to be bewail'd by us Tho we may stand fast in the truth tho we may spin our resolutions into a firm web tho the Spirit may triumph over the flesh in our practice yet we ought to bewail it because inconstancy is our nature and what fixedness we have in good is from grace What we find practised by most men is natural to all * Lawrence of Faith p. 262. As face answers to face in a glass so doth heart to heart * Pro. 27.19 a face in the glass is not more like a natural face whose image it is than one mans heart is naturally like another 1. 'T is natural to those out of the Church Nebuchadnezzar is so affected with Daniels prophetick Spirit that he would have none accounted the true God but the God of Daniel * Dan. 2.47 How soon doth this notion slip from him and an image must be set up for all to worship upon pain of almost cruel painful death Daniels God is quite forgotten The miraculous deliverance of the three Children for not worshipping his Image makes him settle a Decree to secure the Honour of God from the reproach of his Subjects * Dan. 3.29 yet a little while after you have him strutting in his Palace as if there were no God but himself 2. 'T is natural to those in the Church The Israelites were the only Church God had in the World and a notable Example of inconstancy After the Miracles of Aegypt they murmured against God when they saw Pharaoh marching with an Army at their Heels They desired food and soon nauseated the Manna they were before fond of when they came into Canaan They sometimes worshipped God and sometimes Idols not only the Idols of one Nation but of all their Neighbours In which regard God calls this his Heritage a Speckled Bird * Jer. 12.9 a Peacock saith Hierom inconstant made up of varieties of Idolatrous colours and Ceremonies This levity of Spirit is the root of all mischeif it scatters our thoughts in the Service of God it is the cause of all revolts and Apostacies from him it makes us unfit to receive the communications of God whatsoever we hear is like words writ in sand ruffled out by the next gale whatsoever is put into us is like precious liquor in a palsie hand soon spilt It breeds distrust of God when we have an uncertain judgment of him we are not like to confide in him an uncertain judgment will be followed with a distrustful heart In fine where it is prevalent it is a certain sign of ungodliness to be driven with the wind like chaffe and to be ungodly is all one in the judgment of the Holy Ghost Psal 1.4 the ungodly are like the chaff which the wind drives away which signifies not their destruction but their disposition for their destruction is inferred from it ver 5. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in judgment How contrary is this to the unchangeable God who is alwayes the same and would have us the same in our religious Promises and Resolutions for good 4. If God be immutable 't is sad news to those that are resolved in wickedness or careless of returning to that duty he requires Sinners must not expect that God will alter his will make a breach upon his nature and violate his own Word to gratifie their lusts No 't is not reasonable God should dishonour himself to secure them and cease to be God that they may continue to be wicked by changing his own nature that they may be unchanged in their vanity God is the same goodness is as amiable in his sight and Sin as abominable in his eyes now as it was at the beginning of the world Being the same God he is the same Enemy to the Wicked as the same Friend to the Righteous He is the same in Knowledge and cannot forget sinful acts He is the same in Will and cannot approve of unrighteous Practices Goodness cannot but be alway the Object of his Love and Wickedness cannot but be alway the Object of his Hatred And as his aversion to Sin is alway the same so as he hath been in his Judgments upon Sinners the same he will be still for the same perfection of Immutability belongs to his Justice for the punishment of Sin as to his Holiness for his disaffection to Sin Though the Covenant of Works was changeable by the crime of man violating it yet it was unchangeable in regard of Gods justice vindicating it which is inflexible in the punishment of the breaches of his Law The Law had a preceptive part and a minatory part When man changed the observation of the Precept the righteous nature of God could not null the execution of the threatning He could not upon the account of this perfection neglect his just word and countenance the unrighteous transgression Tho there were no more rational Creatures in being but Adam and Eve yet God subjected them to that death he had assured them of and from this immutability of his Will ariseth the necessity of the suffering of the Son of God for the relief of the apostate Creature His Will in the second Covenant is as uncâ—aâ—â—eable as that in the first only repentance is settled as the condition of the second which was not indulged in the first and without repentance the sinner must iâ—â—voâ—â—bly pâ—rish or God must change his nature There must be a change in man there can be nâ—â—â—e in God his bow is bent his arrows are ready if the wicked do not turn * Psal 7.11 There is not an Atheist an hypocrite a prophane person that ever was upon the Earth but Gods Soul abhorred him as such and the like he will abhor for ever While any therefore continue so they may sooner expect the Heavens should roul as they please the Sun stand still at their order the Stars change their course at their beck than that God should change his nature which is opposite to prophaness and vanity Who hath hardned himself against him and hath prospered * Job 9.4 Use 2. Of comfort The immutability of a good God is a strong ground of consolation Subjects wish a good Prince to live for ever as being loath to change him but care not how soon they are rid of an Oppressor
manifestation of himself If by his dwelling in heaven be meant his whole essence why is it not also to be meant by his dwelling in the Ark It was not sure part of his essence that was in heaven and part of his essence that was on earth his essence would then be divided and can it be imagined that he should be in Heaven and the Ark at the same time and not in the spaces between Could his essence be split into fragments and a gap made in it that two distant spaces should be fill'd by him and all between be empty of him So that Gods being said to dwell in Heaven and in the Temple is so far from impairing the truth of this doctrine that it more confirms and evidences it 2. Nor do the Expressions of God's coming to us or departing from us impair this Doctrine of his Omnipresence God is said to hide his face from his People * Psal 10.1 to be far from the Wicked and the Gentiles are said to be afar off viz. from God †Prov. 15.29 and upon the manifestation of Christ made near †Eph 2.17 These must not be understood of any distance or nearness of his Essence for that is equally near to all persons and things but of some other special way and manifestation of his Presence Thus God is said to be in Believers by Love as they are in him * 1 Joh. 4.15 He that abides in love abides in God and God in him He that loves is in the thing beloved and when two love one another they are in one another God is in a Righteous man by a special grace and far from the Wicked in regard of such special Works and God is said to be in a place by a special manifestation as when he was in the Bush * Exod. 3. or manifesting his Glory upon Mount Sinai †Exod. 24.16 The Glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai God is said to hide his face when he withdraws his comforting Presence disturbs the repose of our hearts flasheth Terror into our Consciences when he puts men under the smart of the Cross as tho' he had ordered his Mercy utterly to depart from them or when he doth withdraw his special assisting Providence from us in our affairs so he departed from Saul when he withdrew his direction and Protection from him in the concerns of his Government * 1 Sam. 16.14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul i. e. the Spirit of Government God may be far from us in one respect and near to us in another far from us in regard of Comfort yet near to us in regard of Support when his Essential Presence continues the same this is a necessary consequent upon the infiniteness of God the other is an act of the Will of God so he was said to forsake Christ in regard of his obscuring his Glory from his Humane Nature and inflicting his Wrath tho' he was near to him in regard of his Grace and preserved him from contracting any spot in his Sufferings We do not say the Sun is departed out of the Heavens when it is be-misted it remains in the same part of the Heavens passes on its course tho' its Beams do not reach us by reason of the Bar between us and it The Soul is in every part of the Body in regard of its Substance and constantly in it tho' it doth not act so spritely and vigorously at one time as at another in one and the same Member and discover it self so sensibly in its Operations so all the various effects of God towards the Sons of men are but divers Operations of one and the same Essence He is far from us or near to us as he is a Judg or a Benefactor when he comes to Punish it notes not the approach of his Essence but the stroak of his Justice when he comes to Benefit 't is not by a new access of his Essence but an efflux of his Grace he departs from us when he leaves us to the Frowns of his Justice he comes to us when he encircles us in the Arms of his Mercy but he was equally present with us in both dispensations in regard of his Essence And likewise God is said to come down * Gen. 11.5 And the Lord came down to see the City when he doth some signal and wonderful Works which attract the minds of men to the acknowledgment of a Supream Power and Providence in the World who judg'd God absent and careless before 3. Nor is the Essential Presence of God with all Creatures any disparagement to him Since it was no disparagement to Create the Heaven and the Earth 't is no disparagement to him to him to fill them if he were Essentially present with them when he created them 't is no dishonour to him to be Essentiall present with them to support them if it were his Glory to Create them by his Essence when they were nothing Can it be his disgrace to be present by his Essence since they are something and something good and very good in his Eye * Gen. 1.31 God saw every thing and behold it was very good or mighty good all ordered to declare his Goodness Wisdom Power and to make him adorable to man and therefore took complacency in tehm There is a Harmony in all things a Combination in them for those glorious Ends for which God Created them and is it a disgrace for God to be present with his own Harmonious composition Is it not a Musicians Glory to touch with his fingers the Trebble the least and tenderest string as well as the strongest and greatest Base Hath not every thing some Stamp of Gods own Being upon it since he eminently contains in himself the Perfections of all his Works whatsoever hath Being hath a Foot-step of God upon it who is all Being every thing in the Earth is his Foot-Stool having a mark of his Foot upon it all declare the Being of God because they had their Being from God and will God account it any disparagement to him to be present with that which confirms his Being and the glorious Perfections of his nature to his intelligent Creatures the meanest things are not without their Vertues which may boast Gods being the Creator of them and rank them in the midst of his Works of Wisdom as well as Power Doth God debase himself to be present by his Essence with the things he hath made more than he doth to know them by his Essence Is not the least thing known by him How not by a faculty or act distinct from his Essence but by his Essence it self How is any thing disgraceful to the Essential Presence of God that is not disgraceful to his Knowledge by his Essence Besides would God make any thing that should be an invincible reason to him to part with his own infiniteness by a contraction of his own Essence into a less compass than
pierce into the lower World as if his Presence and Cares were confin'd to Coelestial things and the Earth were too low a Sphere for his Essence to reach at least with any Credit 'T is forgotten by good men when they fear too much the designs of their Enemies Fear not for I am with thee Isa 43.5 If the Presence of God be enough to strengthen against fear then the prevailing of fear issues from our forgetfulness of it 2. This Attribute of Gods Omnipresence is for the most part contemn'd When men will commit that in the presence of God which they would be afraid or ashamed to do before the eye of man Men do not practice that Modesty before God as before men He that would restrain his tongue out of fear of mens eye will not restrain either tongue or hands out of fear of Gods What is the language of this but that God is not present with us or his presence ought to be of less regard with us and influence upon us than that of a creature Drexel Niceâ— lib. 2. cap. 10. Ask the Thief why he dares to steal Will he not answer No eye sees him Ask the Adulterer why he strips himself of his Chastity and invades the Rights of another Will he not answer Job 24.15 No eye sees me He disguiseth himself to be unseen by man but slights the all-seeing eye of God If only a man know them they are in terror of the shadow of death they are Planet-struck but stand unshaken at the presence of God Job 24.17 Is not this to account God as limited as man as ignorant as absenting as if God were something less than those things which restrains us 'T is a debasing God below a creature If we can forbear sin from an awe of the presence of man to whom we are equal in regard of Nature or from the presence of a very mean man to whom we are superior in regard of condition and not forbear it because we are within the ken of God We respect him not only as our inferior but inferior to the meanest man or child of his Creation in whose sight we would not commit the like action 'T is to represent him as a sleepy negligent or careless God as tho any thing might be concealed from him before whom the least fibres of the heart are anatomiz'd and open who sees as plainly midnight as noon-day sins Heb 4.13 Now this is a high aggravation of sin To break a Kings Laws in his sight is more bold than to violate them behind his back as it was Haman's offence when he lay upon Esthers bed to force the Queen before the Kings face The least iniquity receives a high tincture from this And no sin can be little that is an affront in the face of God and casting the filth of the creature before the eyes of his holiness As if a Wife should commit Adultery before her Husbands face or a Slave dishonour his Master and disobey his commands in his presence And hath it not often been thus with us Have we not been disloyal to God in his sight before his eyes those pure eyes that cannot behold iniquity without anger and grief Isa 65.12 Ye did evil before my eyes Nathan chargeth this home upon David 2 Sam. 12. â— Thou hast despised the commandment of the Lord to do evil in his sight And David in his repentance reflects upon himself for it Psal 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight I observed not thy presence I neglected thee while thy eye was upon me And this consideration should sting our hearts in all our confessions of our Crimes Men will be afraid of the presence of others whatsoever they think in their heart How unworthily do we deal with God in not giving him so much as an eye-service which we do man 8. How terrible should the thoughts of this Attribute be to sinners How foolish is it to imagine any hiding-place from the Incomprehensible God Quo fugis Encelade quas cunque accesseris oras sub Jove semper eris who fills and contains all things and is present in every point of the World When men have shut the door and made all darkness within to meditate or commit a Crime they cannot in the most intricate recesses be sheltred from the presence of God If they could separate themselves from their own shadows they could not avoid his company or be obscured from his sight Psal 139.12 The darkness and light are both alike to him Hypocrites cannot disguise their sentiments from him he is in the most secret nook of their hearts No thought is hid no lust is secret but the eye of God beholds this and that and the other He is present with our heart when we imagine with our hands when we act We may exclude the Sun from peeping into our solitudes but not the eyes of God from beholding our actions The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and good Prov. 15.3 He lies in the depths of our souls and sees afar off our designs before we have conceived them He is in the greatest darkness as well as the clearest light in the closest thought of the mind as well as the openest expressions Nothing can be hid from him no not in the darkest Cells or thickest Walls He compasseth our path wherever we are Psal 139.3 and is acquainted with all our ways He is as much present with wicked men to observe their sins as he is to detest them Where he is present in his Essence he is present in his Attributes His Holiness to hate and his Justice to punish if he please to speak the word 'T is strange men should not be mindful of this when their very sins themselves might put them in mind of his presence Whence haâ—â— thou the power to act who preserves thy being whereby thou art capable of committing that evil Is it not his Essential presence that sustains us and his Arm that supports us And where can any man flye from his presence Not the vast Regions of Heaven could shelter a sinning Angel from his eye How was Adam ferreted out of his hiding-places in Paradice Nor can we find the depths of the Sea a sufficient covering to us If we were with Jonah closeted up in the belly of a Whale if we had the wings of the morning as quick a motion as the light at the dawning of the day that doth in an instant surprise and overpower the regions of darkness and could pass to the utmost parts of the earth or hell there we should find him there his eye would be upon us there would his hand lay hold of us and lead us as a Conqueror triumphing over a captive Psal 139.8 9 10. Nay if we could leap out of the compass of heaven and earth we should find as little reserves from him He is
and his Resolution to punish 1. It will appear in forbearing Sin from a sense of Mans knowledge not of Gods Open Impieties are refrain'd because of the Eye of Man but secret Sins are not checked because of the Eye of God Wickedness is committed in darkness that is restrained in light as if darkness were as great a clog to Gods Eyes as it is to ours as though his Eyes were mufled with the Curtains of the Night * Job 22.14 This it is likely was at the root of Jonah's flight he might have some secret thought that his Masters Eye could not follow him as though the close Hatches of a Ship could secure him from the knowledge of God as well as the Sides of the Ship could from the dashing of the Waves What lies most upon the Conscience when it is graciously wounded is least regarded or contemned when it is basely inclin'd David's heart smote him not only for his Sin in the gross but as particularly circumstantiated by the commission of it in the sight of God Psal 51.4 Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this ev l in thy sight None knew the reason of Vriah's Death but my self and because others knew it not I neglected any regard to this Divine Eye When Jacob's Sons used their Brother Joseph so barbarously they took care to hide it from their Father but cast away all thoughts of God from whom it could not be conceal'd Doth not the presence of a Child bridle a Man from the act of a long'd for Sin when the Eye of God is of no force to restrain him as if Gods knowledge were of less value than the sight of a little Boy or Girle as if a Child only could see and God were blind He that will forbear an unworthy action for fear of an Informer will not forbear it for God as if Gods Omniscience were not as full an Intelligencer to Him as Man can be an Informer to a Magistrate As we acknowledge the power of Men seeing us when we are ashamed to commit a filthy action in their view so we discover the power of God seeing us when we regard not what we do before the light of his Eyes Secret Sins are more against God than open Open Sins are against the Law secret Sins are against the Law and this prime Perfection of his Nature The Majesty of God is not only violated but the Omniscience of God disown'd who is the only Witness We must in all of them either imagine him to be without Eyes to behold us or without an Arm of Justice to punish us And often it is I believe in such cases that if any thoughts of Gods knowledge strike upon Men they quickly damp them lest they should begin to know what they fear and fear that they might not eat their pleasant Sinful Morsels 2. It appears in partial Confessions of Sin before God As by a free full and ingenuous Confession we offer a due glory to this Attribute so by a feigned and curtail'd Confession we deny him the honour of it For though by any Confession we in part own him to be a Soveraign and Judge yet by a half and pared acknowledgment we own him to be no more than a Humane and ignorant one Achans full Confession gave God the glory of his Omniscience * Josh 7.19 manifested in the discovery of his secret Crime And Joshuah said to Achan My Son give glory to the Lord God of Israel and make Confession unto him And so Psal 50.23 Who so offereth praise glorifieth me or confession as the word signifieth in which sense I would rather take it referring to this Attribute which God seems to tax Sinners with the denial of Vers 21. telling them that he would open the Records of their Sins before them and indite them particularly for every one If therefore you would glorifie this Attribute which shall one day break open your Consciences offer to me a sincere Confession When David speaks of the happiness of a pardon'd Man * Ps 2.1 2. Camero p. 89. col 1. he adds in whose Spirit there is no guile not meaning a sincerity in general but an ingenuity in Confessing To excuse or extenuate Sin is to deny God the knowledge of the depths of our deceitful hearts When we will mince it rather than aggravate it lay it upon the inducements of others when it was the free act of our own wills study shifts to deceive our Judge this is to speak lies of him as the expression is Hos 7.13 as though he were a God easie to be cheated and knew no more than we are willing to declare What did Sauls transferring his Sin from himself to the People * 1 Sam. 15.15 but charge God with a defect in this Attribute When Man could not be like God in his knowledge he would fancy a God like to him in his ignorance and imagine a possibility of hiding himself from his knowledge And all Men tread more or less in their Fathers steps and are fruitful to devise distinctions to disguise Errors in Doctrine and excuses to palliate Errors in Practice This Crime Job removes from himself * Job 31.33 when he speaks of several acts of his sincerity If I cover'd my transgression as Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom I hid not any of my Sins in my own Conscience but acknowledg'd God a Witness to them and gave him the glory of his knowledge by a free Confession I did not conceal it from God as Adam did or as Men ordinarily do as if God could understand no more of their secret Crimes than they will let him and had no more sense of their faults than they would furnish him with As the first rise of Confession is the owning of this Attribute for the Justice of God would not scare Men nor the Holiness of God awe them without a sense of his knowledge of their iniquities so to drop out some fragments of Confession discover some Sins and conceal others is a plain denial of the extensiveness of the Divine Knowledge 3. It is discover'd by putting God off with an outside Worship Men are often flatterers of God and think to bend him by formal glavering Devotions without the concurrence of their hearts as though he could not pierce into the darkness of the Mind but did as little know us as one Man knows another There are such things as feigned Lips * Psal 17.1 a contradiction between the Heart and the Tongue a clamour in the Voice and scoffing in the Soul a crying to God thou art my Father the guide of my youth and yet speaking and doing evil to the utmost of our power * Jer. 3 4 5. As if God could be impos'd upon by fawning pretences and like old Isaac take Jacob for Esau and be couzend by the smell of his Garments As if he could not discern the Negro heart under an Angels Garb. Thus Ephraim the Ten Tribes
Thou hast seen it Thou hast intently beheld it as the word properly signifies He beholds and knows the actions of every particular Man as if there were none but he in the World And doth not only know but ponder * Prov. 5.21 and consider their works * Psal 33.15 He is not a bare Spectator but a diligent Observer * 1 Sam. 2.3 By him actions are weighed To see what degree of good or evil there is in them what there is to blemish them what to advantage them what the quality and quantity of every action is Consideration takes in every Circumstance of the Considered Object Notice is taken of the place where the minute when the Mercy against which it is committed the number of them is exact in Gods Book They have tempted me now these ten times * Numb 14.22 against the demonstrations of my Glory in Egypt and the Wilderness The whole Guilt in every Circumstance is spread before him His knowledge of Mens Sins is not confused such an Imperfection an infinite Understanding cannot be subject to 'T is exact for iniquity is markt before him * Jer. 2.22 5. God knows Mens miscarriage so as to judge This use his Omniscience is put to to maintain his Soveraign Authority in the exercise of his Justice His notice of the Sins of Men is in order to a just Retribution Psal 10.14 Thou hast seen mischief to requite it with thy hand The Eye of his Knowledge directs the Hand of his Justice and no sinful action that falls under his Cognizance but will fall under his Revenge they can as little escape his Censure as they can his Knowledge He is a Witness in his Omniscience that he may be a Judge in his Righteousness He knows the hearts of the Wicked so as to hate their Works and testifie his abhorrency of that which is of high value with M n * Luke 16.15 Sin is not preserved in his Understanding or written down in his Book to be moth-eaten as an old Manuscript but to be open'd one day and Copied out in the Consciences of Men He writes them to publish them and sets them in the light of his Countenance to bring them to the light of their Consciences What a terrible consideration is it to think that the Sins of a day are upon Record in an Infallible Uunderstanding much more the Sins of a week What a number then do the Sins of a Month a Year ten or forty Years arise to How many actions against Charity against Sincerity what an infinite number is there of them all bound up in the Court Rolls of Gods Omniscience in order to a Tryal to be brought out before the Eyes of Men Who can seriously consider all those Bonds reserv'd in the Cabinet of Gods Knowledge to be sued out against the Sinner in due time without an unexpressible horror 4. The fourth Use is of Exhortation Let us have a sense of Gods Knowledge upon our hearts All Wickedness hath a spring from a want of due Consideration and sense of it David concludes it so * Psal 86.14 The proud rose against him and violent Men sought after his Soul because they did not set God before them They think God doth not know and therefore care not what nor how they act When the fear of this Attribute is remov'd a Door is open'd to all Impiety What is there so villanous but the minds of Men will attempt to act What Reverence of a Deity can be left when the sence of his infinite Understanding is extinguisht What Faith could there be in Judgments in Witnesses How would the Foundations of Humane Society be overturn'd The Pillars upon which Commerce stands be utterly broken and dissolved What Society can be preserved if this be not truly believed and faithfully stuck to But how easily would Oaths be swallowed and quickly violated if the sense of this Perfection were rooted out of the minds of Men What fear could they have of calling to Witness a Being they imagine blind and ignorant Men secretly imagine that God knows not or soon forgets and then make bold to Sin against him * Ezek. 8.12 How much does it therefore concern us to cherish and keep alive the sense of this If God writes us upon the Palms of his Hands as the Expression is to remember us let us engrave him upon the Tables of our Hearts to remember him It would be a good Motto to write upon our Minds God knows all he is of infinite Understanding 1. This would give check to much iniquity Can a Mans Conscience easily and delightfully swallow that which he is sensible falls under the Cognizance of God when it is hateful to the Eye of his Holiness and renders the Actor odious to him Doth he not see my ways and count all my steps saith Job * Job 31.4 To what end doth he fix this Consideration To keep him from wanton glances Temptations have no encouragement to come near him that is constantly arm'd with the thoughts that his Sin is Book't in Gods Omniscience If any impudent Devil hath the face to tempt us we should not have the impudence to joyn issue with him under the sense of an infinite Understanding How fruitless would his Wiles be against this Consideration How easily would his Snares be crackt by one sensible thought of this This doth Solomon prescribe to allay the heat of Carnal imaginations * Prov. 5.20 21. It were a useful Question to ask at the appearance of every Temptation at the entrance upon every Action as the Church did in Temptations to Idolatry * Psal 44.21 Shall not God search this out for he knows the secrets of the heart His Understanding comprehends us more than our Consciences can our acts or our understanding our thoughts Who durst speak Treason against a Prince if he were sure he heard him or that it would come to his knowledge A sense of Gods knowledge of Wickedness in the first motion and inward contrivance would bar the accomplishment and execution The Consideration of Gods infinite Understanding would cry stand to the first glances of the heart to Sin 2. It would make us watchful over our hearts and thoughts Should we harbour any unworthy thoughts in our Cabinet if our heads and hearts were possess'd with this useful truth That God knows everything which comes into our minds * Ezek. 11.5 We should as much blush at the rising of impure thoughts before the Understanding of God as at the discovery of unworthy actions to the knowledge of Men If we lived under a sense that not a thought of all those millions which flutter about our Minds can be conceal'd from him how watchful and careful should we be of our hearts and thoughts 3. It would be a good preparation to every Duty This Consideration should be the Preface to every service The Divine Understanding knows how I now act This would engage us to serious
great Invasion And the spirit of God hath particularly left upon record that Particle as we may reasonably suppose to such a purpose And so in the description of the blessed Virgin Luke 1.27 There is nothing of her Holiness mentioned which is with much diligence recorded of Elizabeth Vers 6. Righteous walking in all the commandments of God blameless Probably to prevent the superstition which God foresaw would arise in the World And we do not find more undervaluing speeches uttered by Christ to any of his Disciples in the exercise of his Office than to her except to Peter As when she acquainted him with the want of Wine at the Marriage in Cana she receives a slighting answer Woman what have I to do with thee John 2.4 And when one was admiring the blessedness of her that bare him he turns the Discourse another way to pronounce a blessedness rather belonging to them that hear the Word of God and keep it Luke 11.27 28. in a mighty Wisdom to Antidote his people against any conceit of the prevalency of the Virgin over him in Heaven in the Exercise of his Mediatory Office 2. As his Wisdom appears in his Government by his Laws so it appears in the various inclinations and conditions of Men. As there is a distinction of several Creatures and several qualities in them for the Common good of the World so among men there are several inclinations and several Abilities as Donatives from God for the Common advantage of Human Society As several Chanels cut out from the same River run several waies and refresh several Soils one Man is qualified for one Employment another marked out by God for a different Work yet all of them fruitful to bring in a Revenue of Glory to God and a harvest of Profit to the rest of Mankind How unusefull would the Body be if it had but one Member 1 Cor. 12.19 How unprovided would a House be if it had not Vessels of Dishonour as well as of Honour The Corporation of Mankind would be as much a Chaos as the Matter of the Heavens and the Earth was before it was distinguisht by several forms breathed into it at the Creation Some are inspired with a particular Genius for one Art some for another Every man hath a distinct Talent If all were Husband-men where would be the Instruments to Plow and Reap If all were Artificers where would they have Corn to nourish themselves All men are like Vessels and Parts in the Body design'd for distinct Offices and Functions for the good of the whole and mutually return an advantage to one another As the variety of Gifts in the Church is a fruit of the Wisdom of God for the preservation and increase of the Church so the variety of Inclinations and Employments in the World is a fruit of the Wisdom of God for the preservation and subsistence of the World by mutual Commerce What the Apostle largely discourseth of the former in 1 Cor. 12. may be applied to the other The various Conditions of men is also a fruit of Divine Wisdom Some are Rich and some Poor the Rich have as much need of the Poor as the Poor have of the Rich If the Poor depend upon the Rich for their livelyhood the Rich depend upon the Poor for their Conveniencies Many Arts would not be learn'd by men if Poverty did not oblige them to it and many would faint in the learning of them if they were not thereunto encouraged by the Rich. The Poor labour for the Rich as the Earth sends Vapours into the vaster and fuller Air and the Rich return advantages again to the Poor as the Clouds do the Vapours in Rain upon the Earth As Meat would not afford a nourishing Juyce without Bread and Bread without other Food would immoderately fill the Stomach and not be well digested so the Rich would be unprofitable in the Common-wealth without the Poor and the Poor would be burthensom to a Common-wealth without the Rich The Poor could not be easily govern'd without the Rich nor the Rich sufficiently and conveniently provided for without the Poor If all were Rich there would be no Objects for the exercise of a Noble part of Charity If all were Poor there were no Matter for the exercise of it Thus the Divine Wisdom planted various Inclinations and diversified the Conditions of Men for the publick advantages of the World 2. Gods Wisdom appears in the government of Men as Fallen and Sinful or in the government of Sin After the Law of God was broke and Sin invaded and conquer'd the World Divine Wisdom had another Scene to act in and other Methods of Government were necessary The Wisdom of God is then seen in ordering those Jarring Discords drawing Good out of Evil and Honour to himself out of that which in its own Nature tended to the supplanting of his Glory God being a Soveraign Good would not suffer so great an Evil to enter but to serve himsâ—lf of it for some greater End for all his Thoughts are full of Goodness and Wisdom Now though the Permission of Sin be an Act of his Soveraignty and the Punishment of Sin be an Act of his Justice yet the Ordination of Sin to good is an Act of his Wisdom whereby he doth dispose the Evil over-rules the Malice and orders the Events of it to his own Purposes Sin in it self is a Disorder and therefore God doth not permit Sin for it self for in its own Nature it hath nothing of Amiableness but he wills it for some Righteous End which belongs to the manifestation of his Glory which is his aim in all the Acts of his Will He wills it not as Sin but as his Wisdom can order it to some greater Good than was before in the World and make it contribute to the beauty of the Order he intends As a dark Shadow is not delightful and pleasant in it self nor is Drawn by a Painter for any Amiableness there is in the Shadow it self but as it serves to set forth that Beauty which is the main design of his Art so the glorious Effects which arise from the Entrance of Sin into the World are not from the Creatures Evil but the Depths of Divine Wisdom Particularly 1. Gods Wisdom is seen in the bounding of Sin As it is said of the Wrath of Man it shall praise him and the remainder of Wrath God doth restrain Psal 76.10 He sets limits to the boyling Corruption of the Heart as he doth to the boisterous Waves of of the Sea Hitherto shalt thou go and no further As God is the Rector of the World he doth so restrain Sin so temper and direct it as that Human Society is preserved which else would be overflown with a Deluge of Wickedness and Ruine would be brought upon all Communities The World would be a Shambles a Brothel-house if God by his Wisdom and Goodness did not set bars to that Wickedness which is in the Hearts of Men The whole Earth
would be as bad as Hell Since the Heart of Man is a Hell of Corruption by that the Souls of all Men would be excited to the acting the worst Villanies since every thought of the heart of Man is only evil and that continually Gen. 6.5 if the Wisdom of God did not stop these Floud-gates of Evil in the Hearts of Men it would overflow the World and frustrate all the Gracious Designs he carries on among the Sons of Men. Were it not for this Wisdom every House would be filled with Violence as well as every Nature is with Sin What harm would not strong and furious Beasts do did nâ—t the Skill of Man tame and bridle them How often hath Divine Wisdom restrain'd the Viciousness of Human Nature and let it run not to that point they â—â—â—â—â—'d but to the end he purposed Labans Fury and Esaus Enmity against 〈…〉 â—ere pâ—â—t in within bounds for Jacobs safety and their Hearts over-ruled 〈…〉 intended destruction of the good Man to a perfect Amity * Gen. 31.29 Gen. 32. II. Gods Wisdom is seen in the bringing glory to himself out of Sin 1. Out of Sin it self God erects the Trophies of Honour upon that which is a Natural means to hinder and deface it His glorious Attributes are drawn out to our view upon the occasion of Sin which otherwise had lain hid in his own Being Sin is altogether black and abominable but by the Admirable Wisdom of God he hath drawn out of the dreadful darkness of Sin the saving Beams of his Mercy and displayed his Grace in the Incarnation and Passion of his Son for the Atonement of Sin Thus he permitted Adams Fall and wisely order'd it for a fuller discovery of his own Nature and a higher elevation of Mans good that as Sin reigned to death so might Grace reign through Righteousness to Eternal life by Jesus Christ Rom. 5.21 The unbounded Goodness of God could not have appeared without it His Goodness in rewarding Innocent Obedience would have been manifested but not his Mercy in pardoning Rebellious Crimes An Innocent Creature is the Object of the Rewards of Grace as the standing Angels are under the Beams of Grace but not under the Beams of Mercy because they were never Sinful and consequently never Miserable Without Sin the Creature had not been Miserable Had Man remained Innocent he had not been the Subject of Punishment and without the Creatures Misery Gods Mercy in sending his Son to save his Enemies could not have appeared The abundance of Sin is a Passive occasion for God to manifest the Abundance of his Grace The Power of God in the changing the Heart of a Rebellious Creature had not appeared had not Sin infected our Nature We had not clearly known the Vindictive Justice of God had no Crime been committed for that is the proper Object of Divine Wrath. The Goodness of God could never have permitted Justice to exercise it self upon an Innocent Creature that was not guilty either Personally or by Imputation Psal 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth Righteousness his countenance doth behold the upright Wisdom is illustrious hereby God suffered Man to fall into a Mortal Disease to shew the virtue of his own Restoratives to cure Sin which in it self is Incurable by the Art of any Creature And otherwise this Perfection whereby God draws Good out of Evil had been utterly useless and would have been destitute of an Object wherein to discover it self Again Wisdom in ordering a Rebellious head-strong World to its own ends is greater than the ordering an Innocent World exactly observant of his Precepts and complying with the End of the Creation Now without the entrance of Sin this Wisdom had wanted a Stage to act upon Thus God raised the Honour of his Wisdom while Man ruin'd the Integrity of his Nature and made use of the Creatures breach of his Divine Law to establish the Honour of it in a more signal and stable manner by the Active and Passive Obedience of the Son of his Bosom Nothing serves God so much as an occasion of glorifying himself as the entrance of Sin into the World by this occasion God communicates to us the knowledge of those Perfections of his Nature which had else been folded up from us in an Eternal Night his Justice had lain in the dark as having nothing to punish his Mercy had been obscure as having none to pardon a great part of his Wisdom had been silent as having no such Object to order 2. His Wisdom appears In making use of sinful Instruments He uses the Malice and Enmity of the Devil to bring about his own Purposes and makes the sworn Enemy of his Honour contribute to the Illustrating of it against his will This great Crafts-Master he took in his own Net and defeated the Devil by the Devils Malice by turning the Contrivances he had hatch'd and accomplish'd against Man against himself He used him as a Tempter to grapple with our Saviour in the Wilderness whereby to make him fit to succour us and as the God of this World to inspire the wicked Jews to Crucifie him whereby to render him actually the Redeemer of the World and so made him an Ignorant Instrument of that Divine Glory he design'd to ruine * Moulins Serm. Decad. 10. p. 221 232. 'T is more Skill to make a curious piece of Workmanship with Ill condition'd Tools than with Instruments naturally sitted for the work 'T is no such great wonder for a Limner to draw an exact piece with a fit Pencil and sutable Colours as to begin and perfect a beautiful work with a Straw and Water things improper for such a design This Wisdom of God is more admirable and astonishing than if a Man were able to rear a vast Palace by Fire whose nature is to consume Combustible matter not to erect a Building To make things serviceable contrary to their own Nature is a Wisdom peculiar to the Creator of Nature Gods making use of Devils for the glory of his Name and the good of his People is a more amazing piece of Wisdom than his Goodness in employing the Blessed Angels in his work To promise that the World which includes the God of the World and Death and Things present let them be as Evil as they will should be ours that is for our good and for his glory is an act of Goodness but to make them serviceable to the Honour of Christ and the good of his People is a Wisdom that may well raise our highest Admirations †1 Cor. 3.22 They are for Believers as they are for the glory of Christ and as Christ is for the glory of God To Chain up Satan wholly and frustrate his Wiles would be an Argument of Divine Goodness but to suffer him to run his risque and then improve all his Contrivances for his own glorious and gracâ—ous Ends and Purposes manifests besides his Power and Goodness his Wisdom also He uses the Sins of Evil
Instruments for the glory of his Justice Isa 10.5 6 7. Thus he served himself of the Ambition and Covetousness of the Assyrians Chaldeans and Romans for the Correction of his People and Punishment of his Rebels Just as the Roman Magistrates used the fury of Lions and other wild Beasts in their Theatres for the Punishment of Criminals The Lions acted their Natural temper in tearing those that were expos'd to them for a Prey but the intent of the Magistrates was to punish their Crimes The Magistrate inspir'd not the Lions with their Rage that they had from their Natures but served themselves of that Natural Rage to execute Justice 3. Gods Wisdom is seen in bringing good to the Creature out of Sin He hath ordered Sin to such an end as Man never dreamt of the Devil never imagin'd and Sin in its own Nature could never attain Sin in its own Nature tends to no good but that of Punishment whereby the Creature is brought into order It hath no relation to the Creatures good in it self but to the Creatures mischief But God by an act of Infinite Wisdom brings good out of it to the Creature as well as glory to his Name contrary to the Nature of the Crime the Intention of the Criminal and the Design of the Tempter God willed Sin that is he willed to permit it that he might communicate himself to the Creature in the most excellent manner He willed the Permission of Sin as an occasion to bring forth the Mystery of the Incarnation and Passion of our Saviour as he permitted the Sin of Josephs Brethren that he might use their Evil to a good end He never because of his Holiness wills Sin as an End but in regard of his Wisdom he wills to permit it as a Means and Occasion And thus to draw good out of those things which are in their own Nature most contrary to Good is the highest pitch of Wisdom 1. The Redemption of Man in so excellent away was drawn from the occasion of Sin The greatest Blessing that ever the World was blest with was usher'd in by Contrarieties by the Lust and irregular Affection of Man the first Promise of the Redeemer by the Fall of Adam Gen. 3.15 and the bruising the heel of that Promised Seed by the blackest Tragedy acted by wicked Rebels the Treachery of Judas and the Rage of the Jews the highest Good hath been brought forth by the greatest Wickedness As God out of the Chaos of rude and indigested Matter framed the first Creation so from the S ns of Men and Malice of Satan he hath erected the Everlasting Scheme of Honour in a New Creation of all things by Jesus Christ The Devil inspir'd Man to content his own fury in the Death of Christ and God order'd it to accomplish his own design of Redemption in the Passion of the Redeemer The Devil had his Diabolical Ends and God over-powers his Action to serve his own Divine ends The Person that betrayed him was admitted to be a Spectator of the most private Actions of our Saviour that his Innocence might be justified to shew that he was not afraid to have his Enemies Judges of his most retir'd Privacies While they all thought to do their own Wills Divine Wisdom orders them to do Gods Will. Acts 2.23 Him being delivered by the determinate Counsel and Fore-knowledge of God you have taken and by wicked hands have Crucified and slain And wherein the Crucifiers of Christ sinned in shedding the richest Blood upon their Repentance they found the expiation of their Crimes and the discovery of a superabundant Mercy Nothing but Blood was aimed at by them The best Blood was shed by them but Infinite Wisdom makes the Cross the Scene of his own Righteousness and the Womb of Mans Recovery By the occasion of Mans Lapsed state there was a way open to raise Man to a more excellent Condition than that whereinto he was put by Creation And the depriving Man of the happiness of an Earthly Paradise in a way of Justice was an occasion of advancing him to a Heavenly Felicity in a way of Grace The Violation of the Old Covenant occasionally introduc'd a better The loss of the first Integrity usher'd in a more stable Righteousness an Everlasting Righteousness Dan. 9.24 And the falling of the First Head was succeeded by one whose standing could not but be Eternal The Fall of the Devil was ordered by Infinite Wisdom for the good of that Body from which he fell 'T is supposed by some that the Devil was the Chief Angel in Heaven the Head of all the rest and that he Falling the Angels were left as a Body without a Head and after he had Politically beheaded the Angels he endeavoured to destroy Man and rout him out of Paradise But God takes the opportunity to set up his Son as the Head of Angels and Men. And thus whilst the Devil endeavoured to spoil the Corporation of Angels and make them a Body contrary to God God makes Angels and Men one Body under one Head for his Service The Angels in losing a defectible Head attained a more excellent and glorious Head in another Nature which they had not before though of a Lower Nature in his Humanity yet of a more glorious Nature in his Divinity From whence many suppose they derive their Confirming Grace and the stability of their standing All things in Heaven and Earth are gathered together in Christ Eph. 1.10 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All united in him and reduced under one Head That though our Saviour be not properly their Redeemer for Redemption supposeth Captivity yet in some sense he is their Head and Mediator so that now the Inhabitants of Heaven and Earth are but one Family Ephes 3.15 And the Innumerable Company of Angels are parts of that Heavenly and Triumphant Jerusalem and that General Assembly whereof Jesus Christ is Mediator Heb. 12.22 29. 2. The Good of a Nation often by the skill of Divine Wisdom is promoted by the Sins of some Men. The Patriarchs selling Joseph to the Midianites Gen. 37.28 was without question a Sin and a breach of Natural Affection yet by Gods Wise Ordination it proved the Safety of the whole Church of God in the World as well as the Egyptian Nation †Gen. 45.5 8. Gen. 50.20 The Jews Unbelief was a step whereby the Gentiles arose to the knowledge of the Gospel As the setting of the Sun in one place is the rising of it in another ‖ Mat. 22 9◠He uses the Corruptions of Men Instrumentally to propagate his Gospel He built up the True Church by the Preaching of some out of envy Phil. 1.15 as he blessed Israel out of the Mouth of a False Prophet Numb 23. How often have the Heresies of Men been the occasion of clearing up the Truth of God and fixing the more lively Impressions of it on the Hearts of Believers Neither Judah nor Tamar in their Lust dreamt of a
might be ordered as an Answer to his former Petition Psal 19.12 Cleanse thou me from my secret sins and as he did earnestly pray after his Fall so no doubt but he endeavour'd a thorough Sanctification Psal 51.7 Purge me wash me and that he meant not only a Sanctification from that single Sin but from all Root and Branch is evident by that Complaint of the slaw in his Nature verse 5. the Dross and Chaff which lies in the heart is hereby discovered and an opportunity administred of throwing it out and searching all the corners of the Heart to discover where it lay As God sometimes takes occasion from one Sin to reckon with Men in a way of Justice for others so he sometimes takes occasion from the commission of one Sin to bring out all the actions against the Sinner to make him in a way of gracious Wisdom set more cordially upon the work of Sanctification A great Fall sometimes hath been the occasion of a Mans Conversion The Fall of Mankind occasioned a more blessed Restoration and the Falls of particular Believers ofttimes occasion a more extensive Sanctification Thus the only Wise God makes poysons in Nature to become Medicines in a way of Grace and Wisdom 5. Hereby the growth in Grace is furthered 'T is a wonder of Divine Wisdom to substract sometimes his Grace from a Person and let him fall into Sin thereby to occasion the increase of habitual Grace in him and to augment it by those ways that seem'd to depress it By making Sins an occasion of a more vigorous acting the contrary Grace the Wisdom of God makes our Corruptions in their own nature destructive to become profitable to us Grace often breaks out more strongly afterwards as the Sun doth with its heat after it hath been mask'd and interrupted with a Mist They often through the mighty working of the Spirit make us more humble and Humility fits us to receive more Grace from God †James 4.6 How doth Faith that sunk under the Waves lift up its head again and carry the Soul out with a greater liveliness What ardours of Love what flouds of Repenting Tears what severity of Revenge what horrours at the remembrance of the Sin what Tremblings at the appearance of a second Temptation So that Grace seems to be be awaken'd to a new and more vigorous life ‖ 2 Cor. 7.11 The broken Joynt is many times stronger in the Rupture than it was before The Luxuriancy of the Branches of Corruption is an occasion of purging and purging is with a design to make Grace more fruitful John 15.2 He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit Thus Divine Wisdom doth both sharpen and brighten us by the dust of Sin and ripen and mellow the fruits of Grace by the dung of Corruption Grace grows the stronger by opposition as the Fire burns hottest and clearest when it is most surrounded by a cold Air and our Natural heat reassumes a new strength by the coldness of the Winter The foyl under a Diamond though an imperfection in it self increaseth the beauty and lustre of the Stone The Enmity of Man was a commendation of the Grace of God It occasioned the breaking out of the Grace of God upon us and is an occasion by the Wisdom and Grace of God of the increase of Grace many times in us How should the Consideration of Gods Incomprhensible Wisdom in the management of Evil swallow us up in Admiration who brings forth such beauty such eminent Discoveries of himself such excellent good to the Creature out of the bowels of the greatest Contrarieties making dark Shadows serve to display and beautisie to our Apprehensions the Divine Glory If Evil were not in the World Men would not know what Good is They would not behold the lustre of Divine Wisdom as without Night we could not understand the beauty of the Day Though God is not the Author of Sin because of his Holiness yet he is the Administrator of Sin by his Wisdom and accomplisheth his own Purposes by the Iniquities of his Enemies and the Lapses and Infirmities of his Friends Thus much for the Second The Government of Man in his Lapsed state and the Government of Sin wherein the Wisdom of God doth wonderfully appear III. The Wisdom of God appears in the Government of Man in his Conversion and Return to him If there be a Counsel in framing the lowest Creature and in the minutest passages of Providence there must needs be a higher Wisdom in the government of the Creature to a Supernatural End and framing the Soul to be a monument of his Glory The Wisdom of God is seen with more Admirations and in more varieties by the Angels in the Church than in the Creation * Eph. 3.10 that is in forming a Church out of the Rubbish of the World out of Contrarieties and Contradictions to him which is greater than the framing a Celestial and Elementary World out of a rude Chaos The most glorious Bodies in the World even those of the Sun Moon and Stars have not such stamps of Divine Skill upon them as the Soul of Man nor is there so much of Wisdom in the Fabrick and Faculties of that as in the reduction of a blind wilful rebellious Soul to its own happiness and Gods glory Eph. 1.11 12. He worketh all things according to the counsel of his own Will that we should be for the praise of his glory If all things then this which is none of the least of his works To the praise of the glory of his Goodness in his work and to the praise of the Rule of his work his Counsel in both the act of his Will and the act of his Wisdom The restoring of the Beauty of the Soul and its fitness for its true end speaks no less Wisdom than the first draught of it in Creation And the application of Redemption and bringing forth the fruits of it is as well an act of his Prudence as the contrivance was of his Counsel Divine Wisdom appears First In the Subjects of Conversion His Goodness reigns in the very Dust and he erects the Walls and Ornaments of his Temple from the Clay and Mud of the World He passes over the Wise and Noble and Mighty that may pretend some grounds of boasting in their own natural or acquired Endowments and pitches upon the most contemptible Materials wherewith to build a Spiritual Tabernacle for himself 1 Cor. 1.26 27. The foolish and weak things of the World those that are naturally most unfit for it and most refractory to it Herein lies the Skill of an Architect to render the most knotty crooked and inform Pieces by his Art subservient to his main purpose and design Thus God hath ordered from the beginning of the World contrary Tempers various Humors diverse Nations as Stones of several Natures to be a Building for himself fitly framed together and to be his own Family †1 Cor. 3.7 Who will
Will as a Natural Faculty concurs in the act or motion God doth not act in this in a way of Absolute Power without an Infinite Wisdom suting himself to the Nature of the things he acts upon He doth not change the Physical Nature though he doth the Moral As in the Government of the World he doth not make heavy things ascend nor light things descend ordinarily but guides their Motions according to their Natural qualities So God doth not strain the Faculties beyond their due pitch He lets the nature of the Faculty remain but changes the Principle in it The Understanding remains Understanding and the Will remains Will. But where there was before Folly in the Understanding he puts in a Spirit of Wisdom and where there was before a stoutness in the Will he forms it to a pliableness to his offers He hath a Key to fit every Ward in the Lock and opens the Will without injuring the Nature of the Will He doth not change the Soul by an alteration of the Faculties but by an alteration of something in them Not by an Inroad upon them or by meer power or a blind Instinct but by proposing to the Understanding something to be known and informing it of the Reasonableness of his Precepts and the Innate goodness and excellency of his Offers and by inclining the Will to love and embrace what is proposed And things are propos'd under those Notions which usually move our Wills and Affections We are moved by things as they are good pleasant profitable we entertain things as they make for us and detest things as they are contrary to us Nothing affects us but under such qualities and God sutes his Encouragements to these Natural Affections which are in us His Power and Wisdom go hand in hand together his Power to act what his Wisdom orders and his Wisdom to conduct what his Power executes He brings Men to him in ways suted to their Natural dispositions The stubborn he tears like a Lion the gentle he wins like a Turtle by sweetness he hath a Hammer to break the stout and a Cord of Love to draw the more pliable Tempers He works upon the more Rational in a way of Gospel Reason upon the more Ingenuous in a way of kindness and draws them by the Cords of Love The Wise-men were led to Christ by a Star and Means suted to the knowledge and study that those Eastern Nations used which was much in Astronomy He worketh upon others by Miracles accommodated to every ones sense and so proportions the Means according to the Nature of the Subjects he works upon 4. The Wisdom of God is apparent in his Discipline and Penal Evils The Wisdom of Human Governments is seen in the matter of their Laws and in the Penalties of their Laws and in the proportion of the Punishment to the Offence and in the good that redounds from the Punishment either to the Offender or to the Community The Wisdom of God is seen in the Penalty of Death upon the Transgression of his Law both in that it was the greatest Evil that Man might fear and so was a convenient means to keep him in his due bound and also in the proportion of it to the Transgression Nothing less could be in a Wise Justice inflicted upon an Offender for a Crime against the highest Being and the Supream Excellency But this hath been spoken of before in the Wisdom of his Laws I shall only mention some few it would be too tedious to run into all 1. His Wisdom appears in Judgments in the suting them to the qualities of Persons and nature of Sins He deviseth evil Jer. 18.11 his Judgments are fruits of Counsel He also is wise and will bring Evil Isai 31.2 Evil sutable to the Person offending and Evil sutable to the Offence committed As the Husbandman doth his Threshing Instruments to the Grain He hath a Rod for the Cummin a tenderer Seed and a Flayl for the harder so hath God greater Judgments for the obdurate Sinner and lighter for those that have something of tenderness in their Wickedness Isai 28.27 29. Because he is wonderful in Counsel and excellent in working so Some understand the place With the froward he will shew himself froward He proportions punishment to the Sin and writes the cause of the Judgment in the Forehead of the Judgment it self Sodom burned in Lust and was consumed by Fire from Heaven The Jews sold Christ for Thirty pence and at the Taking of Jerusalem Thirty of them were sold for a Penny So Adonibezek Cut off the Thumbs and great Toes of others and he is served in the same kind Judg. 1.7 The Babel Builders design'd an indissoluble union and God brings upon them an unintelligible Confusion And in Exod. 9.9 the Ashes of the Furnace where the Israelites burnt the Egyptian Bricks sprinkled towards Heaven brought Boyls upon the Egyptian Bodies that they might feel in their own what Pain they had caused in the Israelites flesh and find by the smart of the inflamed Scab what they had made the Israelites endure The Waters of the River Nilus are turned into Blood wherein they had stifled the breath of the Israelites Infants And at last the Prince and the flower of their Nobility are drowned in the Red Sea 'T is part of the Wisdom of Justice to proportion punishment to the Crime and the degrees of Wrath to the degrees of Malice in the Sin Afflictions also are wisely proportion'd God as a wise Physician considers the nature of the humor and strength of the Patient and sutes his Medicines both to the one and the other 1 Cor. 10.13 2. In the seasons of Punishments and Afflictions He stays till Sin be ripe that his Justice may appear more equitable and the Offender more inexcusable Dan. 9.14 he watches upon the evil to bring it upon Men. To bring it in the just Season and order for his righteous and gracious Purpose his Righteous purpose on the Enemies and his Gracious purpose on his People Jerusalems Calamity came upon them when the City was full of People at the Solemnity of the Passover that he might Mow down his Enemies at once and Time their Destruction to such a moment wherein they had Timed the Crucifixion of his Son He watched over the Clouds of his Judgments and kept them from pouring down till his People the Christians were provided for and had departed out of the City to the Chambers and Retiring places God had provided for them He made not Jerusalem the Shambles of his Enemies till he had made Pella and other places the Arks of his Friends As Pliny tells us The Providence of God holds the Sea in a calm for fifteen days that the Halcyons little Birds that frequent the Shoar may build their Nests and hatch up their Young The Judgment upon Sodom was suspended for some hours till Lot was secured | Daille sur 1 Cor. 10. p. 390. God suffer'd not the Church to be Invaded
there been some reason of any disgust it could not have ballanced that kindness which had so much reason to oblige him However he had received no courtesie from the fallen Angel to oblige him to turn into his Camp Was it not enough that one of thy Creatures would have stript thee of the glory of Heaven but this also must deprive thee of thy glory upon Earth which was due from him to thee as his Creator Can he charge the difficulty of the Command No It was rather below than above his strength He might rather complain that it was no higher whereby his Obedience and Gratitude might have a larger scope and a more spacious Field to move in than a Precept so light so easie as to abstain from one Fruit in the Garden What excuse can he have that would prefer the liquorishness of his Sense before the dictates of his Reason and the Obligations of his Creation The Law thou didst set him was righteous and reasonable and shall Righteousness and Reason be rejected by the Supream and Infallible Reason because the rebellious Creature hath trampled upon it What must God abrogate his holy Law because the Creature hath slighted it What Reflection will this be upon the Wisdom that enacted it And upon the Equity of the Command and Sanction of it Either Man must suffer or the Holy Law be expunged and for ever out of date And is it not better Man should Eternally smart under his Crime than any dishonourable Reflections of Unrighteousness be cast upon the Law and of folly and want foresight upon the Lawgiver Not to punish would be to approve the Devils Lye and justifie the Creatures Revolt It would be a Condemnation of thy own Law as unrighteous and a Sentencing thy own Wisdom as imprudent Better Man should for ever bear the Punishment of his Offence than God bear the dishonour of his Attributes Better Man should be miserable than God should be unrighteous unwise false and tamely bear the denial of his Soveraignty But what advantage would it be to gratifie Mercy by Pardoning the Malefactor Besides the irreparable dishonour to the Law the falsifying thy veracity in not executing the denounced threatning he would receive incouragement by such a grace to spurn more at thy Soveraignty and oppose thy Holiness by running on in a course of sin with hopes of Impunity If the Creature be restored it can not be expected that he that hath fared so well after the breach of it should be very careful of a future observance His easy readmission would abet him in the repetition of his Offence and thou shalt soon find him cast off all Moral dependance on thee Shall he be restored without any Condition or Covenant He is a Creature not to be governed without a Law and a Law is not be enacted without a Penalty What future regard will he have to thy Precept or what fear will he have of thy Threatning if his Crime be so lightly past over Is it the stability of thy Word What reason will he have to give credit to that which he hath found already disregarded by thy self Thy Truth in future Threatnings will be of no force with him who hath experienced thy laying it aside in the former 'T is necessary therefore that the rebellious creature should be punished for the preservation of the honour of the Law and the honour of the Lawgiver with all those perfections that are united in the composure of it 2. Secondly Mercy doth not want a Plea 'T is true indeed the sin of man wants not its aggravations He hath slighted thy Goodness and accepted thy Enemy as his Counsellor but it was not a pure act of his own as the Devils revolt was He had a Tempter and the Devil had none He had I acknowledge an Understanding to know thy Will and a Power to obey it yet he was mutable and had a capacity to fall It was no difficult task that was set him nor a hard yoke that was laid upon him yet he had a brutish part as well as a rational and sense as well as Soul whereas the fallen Angel was a pure Intellectual Spirit Did God create the World to suffer an eternal dishonour in letting himself be out-witted by Satan and his work wrested out of his hands Shall the work of eternal Counsel presently sink into irreparable destruction and the honour of an Almighty and wise Work be lost in the ruine of the Creature This would seem contrary to the nature of thy Goodness to make Man only to render him miserable To design him in his Creation for the Service of the Devil and not for the Service of his Creator What else could be the issue if the chief work of thy Hand defaced presently after the erecting should for ever remain in this marred condition What can be expected upon the continuance of his misery but a perpetual hatred and enmity of thy Creature against thee Did God in Creation design his being hated or his being loved by his Creature Shall God make a holy Law and have no obedience to that Law from that Creature whom it was made to govern Shall the curious workmanship of God and the excellent Engravings of the Law of Nature in his heart be so soon defaced and remain in that blotted condition for ever This fall thou couldst not but in the treasures of thy Infinite Knowledge foresee Why hadst thou Goodness then to Create him in an Integrity if thou wouldst not have Mercy to pity him in Misery Shall thy Enemy for ever trample upon the honour of thy Work and triumph over the glory of God and applaud himself in the success of his subtilty Shall thy Creature only passively glorifie thee as an Avenger and not actively as a Compassionater Am not I a perfection of thy Nature as well as Justice Shall Justice ingross all and I never come into view 'T is resolved already that the fallen Angels shall be no Subjects for me to exercise my self upon and I have now less reason than before to plead for them They fell with a full consent of will without any motion from another and not content with their own Apostacy they envy thee and thy glory upon Earth as well as in Heaven and have drawn into their party the best part of the Creation below Shall Satan plunge the whole Creation in the same irreparable ruine with himself If the Creature be restored will he contract a boldness in sin by impurity Hast thou not a Grace to render him ingenuous in Obedience as well as a Compassion to recover him from Misery What will hinder but that such a Grace which hath established the standing Angels may establish this recovered Creature If I am utterly excluded from exercising my self on men as I have been from Devils a whole Species is lost nay I can never expect to appear upon the Stage If thou wilt quite ruine him by Justice and create another World and another
and dispose of all his Creatures for the bringing his Purposes and his Promises to their designed perfection 6. Hence appears the necessity of a publick review of the Management of the World and of a Day of Judgment As a Day of Judgment may be inferr'd from many Attribute of God as his Soveraignty Justice Omniscience c. so among the rest from this of Wisdom How much of this Perfection will lie unvail'd and obscure if the Sins of Men be not brought to view whereby the ordering the unrighteous Actions of Men by his directing and over-ruling Hand of Providence in subserviency to his own Purposes and his Peoples good may appear in all its glory Without such a publick Review this part of Wisdom will not be clearly visible how those Actions which had a vile foundation in the Hearts and designs of Men and were formed there to gratifie some base Lust Ambition and Covetousness c. were by a secret Wisdom presiding over them conducted to amazing Ends. 'T is a part of Divine Wisdom to right it self and convince Men of the reasonableness of its Laws and the unreasonableness of their Contradictions to it The execution of the Sentence is an act of Justice but the conviction of the reasonableness of the Sentence is an act of Wisdom clearing up the Righteousness of the proceeding and this precedes and the other follows Jude 15. To convince all that are ungodly of all their ungodly deeds That Wisdom which contrived satisfaction as well as that Justice which required it is concerned in righting the Law which was enacted by it The Wisdom of a Soveraign Law-giver is engaged not to see his Law vilified and trampled on and exposed to the Lusts and Affronts of Men without being concerned in vindicating the Honour of it It would appear a Folly to enact and publish it if there were not a Resolution to right and execute it The Wisdom of God can no more associate Iniquity and Happiness together than the Justice of God can separate Iniquity from Punishment It would be defective if it did always tamely bear the Insolences of Offenders without a time of remark of their Crimes and a Justification of the Precept rebelliously spurn'd at He would be Unwise if he were Unjust Unrighteousness hath no better a Title in Scripture than that of Folly 'T is no part of Wisdom to give birth to those Laws which he will always behold ineffectual and neither vindicate his Law by a due execution of the Penalty nor right his own Authority conâ—emn'd in the violation of his Law by a just Revenge Besides What Wisdom would it be for the Soveraign Judge to lodge such a Spokesman for himself as Conscience in the Soul of Man if it should be alway found speaking and at length be found false in all that it speaks There is therefore an apparent prospect of the Day of Account from the consideration of this Perfection of the Divine Nature 7. Hence we have a ground for a mighty Reverence and Veneration of the Divine Majesty Who can contemplate the Sparklings of this Perfection in the variety of the Works of his hands and the exact Government of all his Creatures without a raised Admiration of the Excellency of his Being and a falling flat before him in a posture of Reverence to so great a Being Can we behold so great a mass of Matter digested into several Forms so exact a Harmony and Temperament in all the Creatures the proportions of Numbers and Measures and one Creature answering the Ends and Designs of another the distinct Beauties of all the perpetual Motion of all things without checking one another the variety of the Nature of things and all acting according to their Nature with an admirable Agreement and altogether like differing strings upon an Instrument emitting divers Sounds but all reduc'd to order in one delightful Lesson I say Can we behold all this without Admiring and Adoring the Divine Wisdom which appears in all And from the Consideration of this let us pass to the Consideration of his Wisdom in Redemption in reconciling divided Interests untying Hard-knots drawing one contrary out of another and we must needs acknowledge that the Wisdom of all the Men on Earth and Angels in Heaven is worse than Nothing and Vanity in comparison of this vast Ocean And as we have a greater esteem for those that invent some excellent Artificial Engines what Reverence ought we to have for him that hath stampt an unimitable Wisdom upon all his Works Nature orders us to give Honour to our Superiours in Knowledge and conside in their Counsels but none ought to be Reverenc'd as much as God since none equals him in Wisdom 8. If God be Infinitely Wise it shews us the necessity of our Address to him and Invocation of his Name We are subject to Mistakes and often overseen we are not able rightly to Counsel our selves In some cases all Creatures are too short-sighted to apprehend them and too ignorant to g ve Advice proper for them and to contrive Remedies for their ease but with the Lord there is Counsel Jer. 32.19 He is great in counsel and mighty in working great in Counsel to advise us mighty in Working to assist us We know not how to effect a design or prevent an expected Evil. We have an Infinite Wisdom to go to that is every way skilful to manage any business we desire to avert any Evil we fear to accomplish any thing we commit into his hands When we know not what to resolve he hath a Counsel to guide us Psal 73.24 He is not more Powerful to effect what is needful than Wise to direct what is fitting All Men stand in need of the Help of God as one Man stands in need of the assistance of other Men and will not do any thing without Advice and he that takes Advice deserves the Title of a Wise man as well as he that gives Advice But no Man needs so much the Advice of another Man as all Men need the Counsel and Assistance of God Neither is any mans Wit and Wisdom so far inâ—eriour to the Prudence and Ability of an Angel as the Wisdom of the wisest Man and the most sharp-sighted Angel is inferiour to the Infinite Wisdom of God We see therefore that it is best for us to go to the Fountain and not content our selves with the Streams to beg Advice from a Wisdom that is Infinite and Infallible rather than from that which is Finite and Fallible Vse II. If Wisdom be the Perfection of the Divine Majesty How prodigious is the Contempt of it in the World In General All Sin strikes at this Attribute and is in one part or other a degrading of it The first Sin directed its Venom against this As the Devils endeavoured to equal their Creator in Power so Man endeavoured to equal him in Wisdom Both indeed scorn'd to be rul'd by his Order but Man evidently exalted himself against the Wisdom
it congruous to the righteous and holy nature of God to command Murder and Adultery to command men not to worship him but to be base and unthankful These things would be against the Rules of Righteousness As when we say of a good Man he cannot rob or fight a Duel we do not mean that he wants a courage for such an Act or that he hath not a natural strength and knowledge to manage his Weapon as well as another but he hath a righteous Principle strong in him which will not suffer him to do it his will is setled against it No Power can pass into Act unless applied by the will But the will of God cannot will any thing but what is worthy of him and decent for his Goodness 1. The Scripture saith 't is impossible for God to lye * Hebr. 6.18 and God cannot deny himself because of his faithfulness †2 Tim. 2.13 As he cannot dye because he is life it self as he cannot deceive because he is goodness it self as he cannot do an unwise action because he is wisdom it self so he cannot speak a false word because he is truth it self If he should speak any thing as true and not know it where is his infinite Knowledge and Comprehensiveness of Understanding If he should speak any thing as true which he knows to be false where is his infinite Righteousness If he should deceive any Creature there is an end of his Perfection of Fidelity and Veracity If he should be deceiv'd himself there is an end of his Omniscience we must then fancy him to be a deceitful God an ignorant God that is no God at all ‖ Becan sum Theolog. p. â—3 If he should lye he would be God and no God God upon supposition and no God because not the first Truth All Unrighteousness is Weakness not Power 't is a Defection from right Reason a Deviation from Moral Principles and the Rule of perfect Action and ariseth from a defect of Goodness and Power 'T is a Weakness and not Omnipotence to lose Goodness * Maximus Tyrius God is Light 't is the perfection of Light not to become Darkness and a want of Power in Light if it should become Darkness His Power is infinitely strong so is his Wisdom infinitely clear and his Will infinitely pure Would it not be a part of Weakness to have a disorder in himself and these Perfections shock one against another Since all Perfections are in God in the most Soveraign height of Perfection nothing can be done by the Infiniteness of one against the Infiniteness of the other He would then be unstable in his own Perfections and depart from the infinite rectitude of his own Will if he shoul do an evil action Again †Ambrose What is an Argument of greater strength then to be utterly ignorant of Infirmity God is Omnipotent because he cannot do Evil and would not be Omnipotent if he could Those things would be Marks of Weakness and not Characters of Majesty Would you count a sweet Fountain impotent because it cannot send forth bitter Streams Or the Sun weak because it cannot diffuse Darkness as well as Light in the Air There is an inability arising from Weakness and an ability arising from Perfection 'T is the Perfection of Angels and blessed Spirits that they cannot sin And it would be the Imperfection of God if he could do Evil. 2. Hence it follows that 't is impossible that a thing past should not be past If we ascribe a Power to God to make a thing that is past not to be past we do not truly ascribe Power to him but a Weakness For it is to make God to lye As though God might not have created man yet after he had created Adam though he should presently have reduced Adam to his first nothing yet it would be for ever true that Adam was created and it would for ever be false that Adam never was created So though God may prevent sin yet when sin hath been committed it will alway be true that sin was committed It will never be true to say such a Creature that did sin did not sin his sin cannot be recalled Though God by pardon take off the Guilt of Peter's denying our Saviour yet it will be eternally true that Peter did deny him It is repugnant to the Righteousness and Truth of God to make that which was once true to become false and not true that is to make a Truth to become a Lye and a Lye to become a Truth This is well argued from Hebr. 6.18 'T is impossible for God to lye ‖ Becan sum Theol. p 84. Crel de Deo cap. 22. The Apostle argues that what God had promised and sworn will come to pass and cannot but come to pass Now if God could make a thing past not to be past this consequence would not be good for then he might make himself not to have promised not to have sworn after he hath promised and sworn And so if there were a power to undo that which is past there would be no foundation for Faith no certainty of Revelation It cannot be asserted that God hath created the World that God hath sent his Son to dye that God hath accepted his death for man These might not be true if it were possible that that which hath been done might be said never to have been done So that what any may imagine to be a want of Power in God is the highest perfection of God and the greatest security to a believing Creature that hath to do with God Fourthly Some things are impossible to be done because of God's Ordination Some things are impossible not in their own nature but in regard of the determin'd Will of God So God might have destroy'd the World after Adam's fall but it was impossible not that God wanted Power to do it but because he did not only decree from Eternity to create the World but did also decree to redeem the World by Jesus Christ and erected the World in order to the manifestation of his glory in Christ Eph. 1.4.5 The choice of some in Christ was before the foundation of the World Supposing that there was no hinderance in the Justice of God to pardon the sin of Adam after his fall and to execute no punishment on him yet in regard of Gods threatning that in the day he eat of the forbidden fruit he should dye it was impossible So though it was possible that the Cup should pass from our blessed Saviour that is possible in its own nature yet it was not possible in regard of the determination of Gods Will since he had both decreed and publisht his Will to redeem Man by the Passion and Blood of his Son These things God by his absolute Power might have done but upon the account of his decree they were impossible because it is repugnant to the Nature of God to be mutable 'T is to deny his own
Justice abus'd his Goodness done injury to all those Attributes which are necessary to his relief It was not so in Creation nothing was uncapable of disobliging God from bringing it into Being The Dust which was the Matter of Adams Body needâ—d only the extrinsick Power of God to form it into a Man and inspire it with a living Soul It had not render'd it self obnoxious to Divine Justice nor was capable to excite any disputes between his Perfections But after the entrance of Sin and the merit of Death thereby there was a resistance in Justice to the free Remission of Man God was to exercise a Power over himself to answer his Justice and pardon the Sinner as well as a power over the Creature to reduce the Run-away and Rebel Unless we have recourse to the Infiniteness of Gods Power the infiniteness of our Guilt will weigh us down We must consider not only that we have a mighty Guilt to press us but a mighty God to relieve us In the same act of his being our Righteousness he is our Strength In the Lord have I righteousness and strength Isai 45.24 2. In the sense of Pardon When the Soul hath been wounded with the sense of sin and its Iniquities have star'd it in the face the raising the Soul from a despairing condition and lifting it above those Waters which terrified it to cast the light of Comfort as well as the light of Grace into a heart covered with more than an Egyptian Darkness is an act of his Infinite and Creating Power Isai 57.19 I create the fruit of the lips peace Men may wear out their Lips with numbring up the Promises of Grace and Arguments of Peace but all will signifie no more without a Creative Power than if all Men and Angels should call to that White upon the Wall to shine as splendidly as the Sun God only can create Jerusalem and every Child of Jerusalem a rejoycing * Isai 65.18 A Man is no more able to apply to himself any word of Comfort under the sense of Sin than he is able to Convert himself and turn the proposals of the Word into gracious Affections in his heart To restore the joy of Salvation is in Davids Judgment an act of Soveraign Power equal to that of creating a clean heart Psal 51.10 12. Alas 't is a state like to that of Death as Infinite Power can only raise from Natural death so from a Spiritual death also from a Comfortless death In his favour there is life in the want of his Favour there is death The Power of God hath so placed Light in the Sun that all Creatures in the World all the Torches upon Earth kindled together cannot make it Day if that doth not rise so all the Angels in Heaven and Men upon Earth are not competent Chirurgions for a wounded Spirit The cure of our Spiritual Ulcers and the pouring in Balm is an Act of Soveraign Creative Power 'T is more visible in silencing a Tempestuous Conscience than the Power of our Saviour was in the stilling the stormy Winds and the roaring Waves As none but Infinite Power can remove the Guilt of Sin so none but Infinite Power can remove the Despairing sense of it III. This Power is evident in the preserving Grace As the Providence of God is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Creation so the preservation of Grace is a manifestation of his Power in a continued Regeneration To keep a Nation under the Yoke is an act of the same Power that subdu'd it 'T is this that strengthens Men in suffering against the Fury of Hell †Colos 1.13 't is this that keeps them from falling against the force of Hell the Fathers hand John 10.29 His strength abates and moderates the violence of Temptations his Staff sustains his People under them his Might defeats the Power of Satan and bruiseth him under a Believers feet The Counterworkings of Indwelling Corruption the reluctances of the Flesh against the breathings of the Spirit the fallacy of the Senses and the rovings of the Mind have ability quickly to stifle and extinguish Grace if it were not maintain'd by that Powerful blast that first inbreathed it No less Power is seen in perfecting it than was in planting it ‖ 2 Pet. 1.3 no less in fulfilling the work of Faith than in ingrafting the Word of Faith 2 Thess 1.11 The Apostle well understood the Necessity and Efficacy of it in the preservation of Faith as well as in the firâ—t infusion when he expresses himself in those terms of a Greatness or Hyperbole of Power his Mighty Power or the Power of his Might Ephes 1.19 The Salvation he bestows and the Strength whereby he effects it are joyned together in the Prophets Song Isai 12.2 The Lord is my strength and my salvation And indeed God doth more magnifie his Power in continuing a Believer in the World a weak and half-rigg'd Vessel in the midst of so many Sands whereon it might split so many Rocks whereon it might dash so many Corruptions within and so many Temptations without than if he did immediately transport him into Heaven and cloth him with a perfectly Sanctified Nature To Conclude What is there then in the World which is destitute of Notices of Divine Power Every Creature affords us the Lesson all acts of Divine Government are the marks of it Look into the Word and the manner of its propagation instructs us in it your Changed Natures your Pardoned Guilt your Shining Comfort your quell'd Corruptions the standing of your staggering Graces are sufficient to preserve a sense and prevent a forgetfulness of this great Attribute so necessary for your support and conducing so much to your comfort Vses I. Of Information and Instruction 1. If Incomprehensible and Infinite Power belongs to the Nature of God then Jesus Christ hath a Divine Nature because the Acts of Power proper to God are ascribed to him This Perfection of Omnipotence doth unquestionably pertain to the Deity and is an incommunicable Property and the same with the Essence of God He therefore to whom this Attribute is ascribed is essentially God This is challenged by Christ in conjunction with Eternity Revel 1.8 I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty This the Lord Christ speaks of himself He who was equal with God proclaims himself by the Essential title of the Godhead part of which he repeats again verse 11. and this is the Person which walks in the midst of the seven Golden Candlesticks the Person that was dead and now lives vers 17 18. which cannot possibly be meant of the Father the first Person who can never come under that denomination of having been dead Being therefore adorn'd with the same Title he hath the same Deity and though his Omnipotence be only positively asserted v. 8. yet his Eternity being asserted v. 11 17. it inferreth
God speaking of the opposite to it the Vncleaness and Prophaness of the Gentiles We are only alienated from that which we are bound to imitate but this is the Perfection alway set out as the Pattern of our Actions Be you holy as I am Holy no other is proposed as our Copy Alienated from that Purity of God which is as much as his Life without which he could not live If he were stript of this he would be a dead God more than by the want of any other Perfection His Swearing by it intimates as much He Swears often by his own Life As I live saith the Lord so he Swears by his Holiness as if it were his Life and more his Life than any other Let me not live or Let me not be Holy are all one in his Oath His Deity could not outlive the Life of his Purity II. As it seems to challenge an Excellency above all his other Perfections so 't is the glory of all the rest As it is the glory of the Godhead so 't is the glory of every Perfection in the Godhead As his Power is the Strength of them so his Holiness is the Beauty of them As all would be weak without Almightiness to back them so all would be uncomly without Holiness to adorn them Should this be sullied all the rest would lose their Honour and their comfortable Efficacy As at the same instant that the Sun should lose its Light it would lose its Heat its Strength its generative and quickening virtue As Sincerity is the lustre of every Grace in a Christian so is Purity the splendor of every Attribute in the Godhead His Justice is a holy Justice his Wisdom a holy Wisdom his Arm of Power a Holy Arm Psal 98.1 his Truth or Promise a Holy Promise Psal 105.42 Holy and True go hand in hand Revel 6.10 His Name which signifies all his Attributes in conjunction is Holy Psal 103.1 Yea he is Râ—ghteous in all his waies and Holy in all his works Psal 145 17. 'T is the Rule oâ— all his Acts the Source of all his Punishments If every Attribute of the Deity were a distinct Member Purity would be the Form the Soul the Spirit to animate them Without it his Patience would be an Indulgence to Sin his Mercy a Fondness his Wrath a Madness his Power a Tyranny his Wisdom an unworthy Subtilty 'T is this gives a Decorum to all His Mercy is not exercis'd without it since he pardons none but those that have an Interest by Union in the Obedience of a Mediator which was so delightful to his Infinite Purity His Justice which Guilty man is apt to tax with Cruelty and Violence in the exercise of it is not acted out of the compass of this Rule In Acts of Mans vindictive Justice there is something of Impurity Perturbation Passion some mixture of Cruelty but none of these fall upon God in the severest Acts of Wrath. When God appears to Ezekiel in the resemblance of Fire to signifie his Anger against the House of Judah for their Idolatry from his Loyns downward there was the appearance of Fire but from the Loyns upward the appearance of Brightness as the colour of Amber Ezek. 8.2 His Heart is clear in his most Terrible acts of Vengeance 't is a pure Flame wherewith he scorcheth and burns his Enemies He is Holy in the most fiery appearance This Attribute therefore is never so much applauded as when his Sword hath been drawn and he hath manifested the greatest fierceness against his Enemies The Magnificent and Triumphant expression of it in the Text follows just upon Gods Miraculous defeat and ruine of the Egyptian Army The Sea covered them they sank as Lead in the mighty waters Then it follows Who is like unto thee oh Lord glorious in Holiness And when it was so celebrated by the Seraphims Isai 6.3 it was when the Posts moved and the House was filled with smoke v. 4. which are signs of Anger Psal 18.7 8. And when he was about to send Isaiah upon a Message of Spiritual and Temporal Judgments that he would make the heart of that people fat and their ears heavy and their eyes shut waste their Cities without Inhabitant and their Houses without Man and make the Land desolate Verses 9 10 11 12. and the Angels which here applaud him for his Holiness are the Executioners of his Justice and here called Seraphims from burning or fiery Spirits as being the Ministers of his Wrath. His Justice is part of his Holiness whereby he doth reduce into order those things that are out of order When he is consuming Men by his Fury he doth not diminish but manifest Purity Zephany 3.5 The just Lord is in the midst of her he will do no Iniquity Every Action of his is free from all tincture of Evil. 'T is also celebrated with Praise by the four Beasts about his Throne when he appears in a Covenant garb with a Rain-bow about his Throne and yet with Thundrings and Lightnings shot out against his Enemies Revel 4.8 compared with vers 3.5 to shew that all his Acts of Mercy as well as Justice are clear from any stain This is the Crown of all his Attributes the Life of all his Decrees the Brightness of all his Actions Nothing is Decreed by him nothing is acted by him but what is worthy of the Dignity and becoming the Honour of this Attribute For the better understanding this Attribute observe 1. The Nature of this Holiness 2. The Demonstration of it 3. The Purity of his Nature in all his Acts about Sin 4. The Vse of all to our selves First The Nature of Divine Holiness In General The Holiness of God Negatively is a perfect and unpolluted freedom from all Evil. As we call Gold pure that is not embased by any Dross and that Garment clean that is free from any Spot so the Nature of God is estranged from all shadow of Evil all imaginable contagion Positively 'T is the Rectitude or Integrity of the Divine Nature or that conformity of it in Affection and Action to the Divine Will as to his Eternal Law whereby he works with a becomingness to his own Excellency and whereby he hath a delight and complacency in every thing agreeable to his Will and an abhorrency of every thing contrary thereunto As there is no darkness in his Understanding so there is no spot in his Will As his Mind is possessed with all Truth so there is no deviation in his Will from it He loves all Truth and Goodness He hates all falsity and Evil. In regard of his Righteousness he loves Righteousness Psal 11.7 The righteous Lord loveth righteousness and hath no pleasure in wickedness Psal 5.4 He values Purity in his Creatures and detests all Impurity whether inward or outward ‖ Martin de Deo p. 86. We may indeed distinguish the Holiness of God from his Righteousness in our Conceptions Holiness is a Perfection absolutely considered in the Nature
it self that it cannot be conceived to fall within the Compass of the Divine Nature †Deut. 32.4 who is a God without iniquity because a God of truth and sincerity just and right is he To bestow excellent Faculties upon Man in Creation and incline him by a suddain impulsion to things contrary to the true end of him and induce an inevitable ruin upon that Work which he had composed with so much Wisdom and Goodness and pronounced good with so much delight and Pleasure is inconsistent with that love which God bears to the Creature of his own framing To incline his Will to that which would render him the Object of his hatred the Fuel for his Justice and sink him into deplorable Misery 't is most absurd and unchristian-like to imagine 3. Nor can God necessitate man to sin Indeed sin cannot be committed by force there is no sin but is in some sort voluntary Voluntary in the root or voluntary in the branch voluntary by an immediate act of the Will or voluntary by a general or natural inclination of the Will That is not a Crime to which a man is violenc'd without any concurrence of the Faculties of the Soul to that act 't is indeed not an act but a passion a man that is forced is not an Agent but a Patient under the force But what necessity can there be upon Man from God since he hath implanted such a Principle in him that he cannot desire any thing but what is good either really or apparently and if a man mistakes the Object 't is his own fault for God hath endowed him with Reason to discern and liberty of Will to choose upon that Judgment And though 't is to be acknowledged that God hath an Absolute Soveraign Dominion over his Creature without any Limitation and may do what he pleases and dispose of it according to his own Will as a Potter doth with his Vessel Rom. 9.21 according as the Church speaks Isa 64.8 We are the Clay and thou our Potter and we all are the work of thy hand Yet he cannot pollute any undefiled Creature by virtue of that Soveraign Power which he hath to do what he will with it because such an act would be contrary to the Foundation and Right of his Dominion which consists in the excellency of his Nature his immense Wisdom and unspotted Purity If God should therefore do any such act he would expunge the right of his Dominion by blotting out that nature which renders him fit for that Dominion and the exercise of it * Amyrald disert pa 103 104. Any Dominion which is exercis'd without the Rules of goodness is not a true Soveraignty but an insupportable Tyranny God would cease to be a rightful Soveraign if he ceased to be good and he would cease to be good if he did command necessitate or by any positive operation incline inwardly the heart of a Creature directly to that which were morally evil and contrary to the eminency of his own Nature But that we may the better conceive of this let us trace Man in his first fall whereby he subjected himself and all his Posterity to the Curse of the Law and hatred of God we shall find no foot-steps either of Precept outward force or inward impulsion †Amyrald defens de Calvin p. 151. 152 The plain story of Man's Apostacy dischargeth God from any interest in the Crime as an incouragement and excuseth him from any appearance of suspicion when he shewed him the Tree he had reserved as a mark of his Soveraignty and forbad him to eat of the Fruit of it He backt the Prohibition with the threatning the greatest Evil viz. Death which could be understood to imply nothing less than the loss of all his happiness and in that couch'd an assurance of the perpetuity of his felicity if he did not rebelliously reach forth his hand to take and eat of the Fruit * Gen. 2.16 17 'T is true God had given that Fruit an excellency a goodness for food and a pleasantness to the eye †Gen. 3.6 He had given Man an appetite whereby he was capable of desiring so pleasant a Fruit but God had by Creation rang'd it under the Command of Reason if man would have kept it in its due Obedience he had fixed a severe Threatning to bar the unlawful Excursions of it He had allowed him a multitude of other Fruits in the Garden and given him liberty enough to satisfie his Curiosity in all except this only Could there be any thing more obliging to Man to let God have his reserve of that one Tree than the grant of all the rest and more deterring from any disobedient Attempt than so strict a Command spirited with so dreadful a Penalty God did not sollicite him to rebel against him A sollicitation to it and a command against it were inconsistent The Devil assaults him and God permitted it and stands as it were a Spectator of the issue of the Combat There could be no necessity upon Man to listen to and entertain the Suggestions of the Serpent He had a power to resist him and he had an answer ready for all the Devils Arguments had they been multiplied to more than they were the opposing the Order of God had been a sufficient Confutaion of all the Devils plausible reasonings That Creator who hath given me my being hath ordered me not to eat of it Though the pleasure of the Fruit might allure him yet the force of his Reason might have quell'd the liquorishness of his Sense The perpetual thinking of and sounding out the command of God had silenc'd both Satan and his own Appetite had disarm'd the Tempter and preserved his Sensitive part in its due subjection What inclination can we suppose there could be from the Creator when upon the very first offer of the Temptation Eve opposes to the Tempter the Prohibition and Threatning of God and strains it to a higher peg than we find God had delivered it in For in Gen. 2.17 't is you shall not eat of it but she adds Gen. 3.3 neither shall you touch it which was a Remark that might have had more influence to restrain her Had our first Parents kept this fixed upon their Understandings and Thoughts that God had forbidden any such act as the Eating of the Fruit and that he was true to execute the Threatning he had uttered of which Truth of God they could not but have a natural Notion with what ease might they have withstood the Devils attack'd and defeated his Design And it had been easie with them to have kept their Understandings by the force of such a thought from entertaining any contrary Imagination There is no ground for any jealousie of any Encouragements inward Impulsions or necessity from God in this Affair A discharge of God from this first sin will easily induce a freedom of him from all other sins which follow upon it God doth not then
Organ whereby he blew in his Temptation is put into a worse condition than it was before Thus God hated the Spunge whereby the Devil deform'd his beautiful Image Thus God to manifest his detestation of Sin ordered the Beast whereby any Man was slain to be slain as well as the Malefactor Levit. 20.15 The Gold and Silver that had been abused to Idolatry and were the Ornaments of Images though good in themselves and uncapable of a Criminal Nature were not to be brought into their Houses but detested and abhorred by them because they were cursed and an abomination to the Lord. See with what loathing Expressions this Law is enjoyn'd to them Deut. 7.25 26. So contrary is the holy Nature of God to every Sin that it curseth every thing that is Instrumental in it 3. How detestable is every thing to him that is in the Sinners possession The very Earth which God had made Adam the Proprietor of was Cursed for his sake Gen. 3.17 18. It lost its Beauty and lies languishing to this day and notwithstanding the Redemption by Christ hath not recovered its health nor is it like to do till the compleating the Fruits of it upon the Children of God Rom. 8.20 21 22. The whole Lower Creation was made subject to Vanity and put into Pangs upon the Sin of Man by the Righteousness of God detesting his Offence How often hath his implacable Aversion from Sin been shewn not only in his Judgments upon the Offenders Person but by wrapping up in the same Judgment those which stood in a near relation to them Achan with his Children and Cattle are overwhelmed with Stones and burned together Josh 7.24 25. In the destruction of Sodom not only the grown Malefactors but the young Spawn the Infants at present uncapable of the same Wickedness and their Cattle were burned up by the same Fire from Heaven and the Place where their Habitations stood is at this day partly a heap of Ashes and partly an Infectious Lake that choaks any Fish that swim into it from Jordan and stifles as is related by its Vapor any Bird that attempts to fly over it Oh how detestable is Sin to God that causes him to turn a pleasant Land as the Garden of the Lord as it is styled Gen. 13.10 into a Lake of Sulphur to make it both in his Word and Works as a lasting Monument of his abhorrence of Evil 4. What design hath God in all these Acts of Severity and Vindictive Justice but to set off the lustre of his Holiness He testifies himself concerned for those Laws which he hath set as Hedges and Limits to the Lusts of Men and therefore when he breaths forth his fiery Indignation against a People he is said to get himself Honour As when he intended the Red Sea should swallow up the Egyptian Army Exod. 14.17 18. which Moses in his Triumphant Song Ecchoes back again Exod. 15.1 Thou hast triumphed gloriously gloriously in his Holiness which is the glory of his Nature as Moses himself interprets it in the Text. When Men will not own the Holiness of God in a way of Duty God will vindicate it in a way of Justice and Punishment In the destruction of Aarons Sons that were Will-worshippers and would take Strange Fire Sanctified and Glorified are coupled Lev. 10.3 He glorified himself in that Act in vindicating his Holiness before all the People declaring that he will not endure Sin and Disobedience He doth therefore in this Life more severely punish the Sins of his People when they presume upon any act of Disobedience for a Testimony that the nearness and dearness of any Person to him shall not make him unconcern'd in his Holiness or be a plea for Impurity The End of all his Judgments is to witness to the World his Abominating of Sin To Punish and Witness against Men are one and the same thing Micah 1.2 The Lord shall witness against you and it is the Witness of Gods Holiness Hos 5.5 And the Pride of Israel doth testifie to his face One renders it the Excellency of Israel and understands it of God the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is here in our Translation Pride is rendred Excellency Amos 8.7 The Lord God hath sworn by his Excellency which is Interpreted Holiness Amos 4.2 The Lord God hath sworn by his Holiness What is the issue or end of this Swearing by Holiness and of his Excellency testifying against them In all those Places you will find them to be sweeping Judgments In one Israel and Ephraim shall fall in their Iniquity in another He will take them away with Hooks and their Posterity with Fish-hooks and in another He would never forget any of their works He that punisheth Wickedness in those he before used with the greatest Tenderness furnisheth the World with an undeniable Evidence of the Detestableness of it to him Were not Judgments sometimes poured out upon the World it would be believed that God were rather an Approver than an Enemy to Sin To Conclude Since God hath made a stricter Law to guide Men annex'd Promises above the merit of Obedience to allure them and Threatnings dreadful enough to affright Men from Disobedience He cannot be the Cause of Sin nor a lover of it How can he be the Author of that which he so severely forbids or love that which he delights to punish or be fondly Indulgent to any Evil when he hates the Ignorant Instruments in the Offences of his Reasonable Creatures III. The Holiness of God appears in Our Restoration 'T is in the Glass of the Gospel we behold the Glory of the Lord * 2 Cor. 3.18 that is the Glory of the Lord into whose Image we are changed but we are changed into nothing as the Image of God but into Holiness We bore not upon us by Creation nor by Regeneration the Image of any other Perfection We cannot be changed into his Omnipotence Omniscience c. but into the Image of his Righteousness This is the pleasing and glorious sight the Gospel Mirror darts in our eyes The whole Scene of Redemption is nothing else but a discovery of Judgment and Righteousness Isai 1.27 Zion shall be redeemed with Judgment and her Converts with Righteousness 1. This Holiness of God appears in the manner of our Restoration viz. by the Death of Christ. Not all the Vials of Judgments that have or shall be poured out upon the wicked World nor the flaming Furnace of a Sinners Conscience nor the Irreversible Sentence pronounc'd against the Rebellious Devils nor the Groans of the Damned Creatures give such a demonstration of Gods Hatred of Sin as the Wrath of God let loose upon his Son Never did Divine Holiness appear more beautiful and lovely than at the time our Saviours Countenance was most marr'd in the midst of his Dying Groans This himself acknowledges in that Prophetical Psalm Psal 22.1 2. when God had turned his Smiling Face from him and thrust his sharp Knife
into his heart which forced that Terrible cry from him My God my God why hast thou forsaken me he adores this Perfection of Holiness v. 3. But thou art holy Thy Holiness is the Spring of all this sharp Agony and for this thou Inhabitest and shalt for ever inhabit the Praises of all thy Israel Holiness drew the Vail between Gods Countenance and our Saviours Soul Justice indeed gave the stroke but Holiness order'd it In this his Purity did sparkle and his Irreversible Justice manifested that all those that commit Sin are worthy of death this was the perfect Index of his Righteousness †Rom 3 2◠that is of his Holiness and Truth then it was that God that is Holy was sanctified in Righteousness Isai 5.16 It appears the more if you consider 1. The Dignity of the Redeemers Person One that had been from Eternity had laid the Foundations of the World had been the Object of the Divine Delight He that was God blessed for ever becomes a Curse He who was blessed by Angels and by whom God blessed the World must be seiz'd with Horrour The Son of Eternity must bleed to death Where did ever Sin appear so irreconcileable to God Where did God ever break out so furiously in his detestation of Iniquity The Father would have the most Excellent Person one next in order to himself and Equal to him in all the glorious Perfections of his Nature * Phil 2.6 Die on a Disgraceful Cross and be exposed to the flames of Divine Wrath rather than Sin should live and his Holiness remain for ever disparaged by the Violations of his Law 2. The near Relation he stood in to the Father He was his own Son that he delivered up Rom. 8.32 His Essential Image as dearly beloved by him as himself yet he would abate nothing of his Hatred of those Sins imputed to one so dear to him and who never had done any thing contrary to his Will The strong Cries utter'd by him could not cause him to cut off the least Fringe of this Royal Garment nor part with a Thred the Robe of his Holiness was woven with The Torrent of Wrath is open'd upon him and the Fathers Heart beats not in the least notice of Tenderness to Sin in the midst of his Sons Agonies †Lingend Tom. 3. p. 699 700. God seems to lay aside the Bowels of a Father and put on the garb of an Irreconcileable Enemy Upon which account probably our Saviour in the midst of his Passion gives him the Title of God not of Father the Title he usually before Addrest to him with Math. 27.46 My God my God not My Father my Father why hast thou forsaken me He seems to hang upon the Cross like a disinherited Son while he appear'd in the garb and rank of a Sinner Then was his Head loaded with Curses when he stood under that Sentence of Cursed is every one that hangs upon a Tree Gal. 3.13 and look'd as one forlorn and rejected by the Divine Purity and Tenderness God dealt not with him as if he had been one in so near a Relation to him He left him not to the Will only of the Instruments of his Death he would have the chiefest blow himself of bruising of him Isai 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him the Lord because the power of Creatures could not strike a blow strong enough to satisfie and secure the Rights of Infinite Holiness It was therefore a Cup temper'd and put into his hands by his Father a Cup given him to drink In other Judgments he lets out his Wrath against his Creatures in this he lets out his Wrath as it were against Himself against his Son One as dear to him as himself As in his making Creatures his Power over Nothing to bring it into Being appear'd but in pardoning Sin he hath power over himself so in punishing Creatures his Holiness appears in his Wrath against Creatures against Sinners by inherency But by punishing Sin in his Son his Holiness sharpens his Wrath against him who was his Equal and only a reputed Sinner As if his Affection to his own Holiness surmounted his Affection to his Son For he chose to suspend the breakings out of his Affections to his Son and see him plunged in a sharp and Ignominious Misery without giving him any visible Token of his Love rather than see his Holiness lie groaning under the Injuries of a Transgressing World 3. The Value he puts upon his Holiness appears further in the Advancement of this Redeeming Person after his Death Our Saviour was Advanc'd not barely for his Dying but for the respect he had in his Death to this Attribute of God Heb. 1.9 Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity therefore God even thy God hath Anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness c. By Righteousness is meant this Perfection because of the opposition of it to Iniquity Some think Therefore to be the final Cause as if this were the sense Thou art anointed with the Oil of Gladness that thou mightest love Righteousness and hate Iniquity But the Holy Ghost seeming to speak in this Chapter not only of the Godhead of Christ but of his Exaltation the Doctrine whereof he had begun in Verse 3. and prosecutes in the following Verses I would rather understand Therefore For this cause or reason hath God anointed thee not to this end Christ indeed had an Unction of Grace whereby he was fitted for his Mediatory Work He had also an Unction of Glory whereby he was rewarded for it In the first regard it was a qualifying him for his Office in the second regard it was a solemn Inaugurating him in his Royal Authority And the Reason of his being setled upon a Throne for ever and ever is because he loved Righteousness He suffered himself to be pierced to Death that Sin the Enemy of Gods Purity might be destroy'd and the Honour of the Law the Image of Gods Holiness might be repair'd and fulfilled in the Fallen Creature He restored the Credit of Divine Holiness in the World in manifesting by his Death God an irreconcileable Enemy to all Sin in abolishing the Empire of Sin so hateful to God and restoring the rectitude of Nature and new framing the Image of God in his chosen Ones And God so valued this Vindication of his Holiness that he confers upon him in his Humane Nature an Eternal Royalty and Empire over Angels and Men. Holiness was the great Attribute respected by Christ in his dying and manifested in his Death and for his Love to this God would bestow an Honour upon his Person in that Nature wherein he did vindicate the Honour of so dear a Perfection In the Death of Christ he shewed his Resolution to preserve its Rights In the Exaltation of Christ he evidenced his mighty pleasure for the Vindication of it In both the Infinite value he had for it as dear to him as his Life and Glory 4. It
besides As he sent Jesus Christ to satisfie his Justice for the expiation of the Guilt of Sin so he sends the Holy Ghost for the cleansing the filth of Sin and overmastering the power of it Himself is the Fountain the Son is the Patern and the Holy Ghost the immediate Imprinter of this stamp of Holiness upon the Creature God hath such a value for this Attribute that he designs the glory of this in the renewing the Creature more than the happiness of the Creature though the one doth necessarily follow upon the other yet the one is the principal Design and the other the consequent of the former Whence our Salvation is more frequently set forth in Scripture by a Redemption from Sin and Sanctification of the Soul than by a Possession of Heaven †Tit. 2.11 12 13 14 and many other places Indeed as God could not create a Rational Creature without interesting this Attribute in a special manner so he cannnt restore the Fallen Creature without it As in creating a Rational Creature there must be Holiness to adorn it as well as Wisdom to form the design and Power to effect it so in the restoration of the Creature as he could not make a Reasonable Creature unholy so he cannot restore a Fallen Creature and put him in a meet posture to take pleasure in him without communicating to him a resemblance of himself As God cannot be Blessed in himself without this Perfection of Purity so neither can a Creature be blessed without it As God would be Unlovely to himself without this Attribute so would the Creature be unlovely to God without a stamp and mark of it upon his Nature So much is this Perfection one with God valued by him and interested in all his Works and Ways The third Thing I am to do is to lay down some Propositions in the defence of God's holiness in all his acts about or concerning sin It was a prudent and pious advice of Camero Not to be too busie and rash in Inquiries and Conclusions about the reason of God's Providence in the matter of sin The Scripture hath put a bar in the way of such Curiosity by telling us that the ways of God's Wisdom and Righteousness in his Judgments are unsearchable * Rom. 11.33 Much more the ways of God's Holiness as he stands in relation to Sin as a Governour of the World we cannot consider those things without danger of flipping Our Eyes are too weak to look upon the Sun without being dazled Too much Curiosity met with a just check in our first Parent To be desirous to know the reason of all God's proceedings in the matter of Sin is to second the Ambition of Adam to be as wise as God and know the reason of his actings equally with himself 'T is more easie as the same Author saith to give an Account of God's Providence since the Revolt of Man and the Poyson that hath universally seiz'd upon Human Nature than to make guesses at the manner of the fall of the first Man The Scripture hath given us but a short Account of the manner of it to discourage too curious Inquiries into it 'T is certain that God made Man upright and when Man sinned in Paradice God was active in sustaining the substantial nature and act of the Sinner while he was sinning though not in supporting the sinfulness of the Act He was permissive in suffering it He was Negative in withholding that Grace which might certainly have prevented his Crime and consequently his Ruin though he withheld nothing that was sufficient for his Resistance of that Temptation wherewith he was assaulted And since the Fall of Man God as a wise Governour is directive of the Events of the Transgression and draws the choicest Good out of the blackest Evil and limits the sins of men that they creep not so far as the evil Nature of men would urge them to and as a righteous Judge he takes away the talent â—rom idle Servants and the Light from wicked ones whereby they stumble and fall into Crimes by the inclinations and proneness of their own corrupt Natures leaves them to the Byas of their own vitious habits denies that grace which they have forfeited and have no right to challenge and turns their sinful actions into punishments both to the Committers of them and others 1. Proposition God's holiness is not chargeable with any blemish for his creating man in a mutable state 'T is true Angels and Men were created with a changeable Nature and though there was a rich and glorious stamp upon them by the Hand of God yet their Natures were not uncapable of a base and vile Stamp from some other Principle As the Silver which bears upon it the Image of a great Prince is capable of being melted down and imprinted with no better an Image than that of some vile and monstrous Beast Though God made Man upright yet he was capable of seeking many inventions Eccl. 7.29 yet the hand of God was not defiled by forming Man with such a Nature It was sutable to the Wisdom of God to give the Rational Creature whom he had furnisht with a power of acting righteously the liberty of choice and nor fix him in an unchangeable state without a trial of him in his Natural that if he did obey his obedience might be the more valuable and if he did freely offend his offence might be more inexcusable 1. No Creature can be capable of immutability by Nature Mutability is so essential to a Creature that a Creature cannot be supposed without it You must suppose it a Creator not a Creature if you allow it to be of an Immutable Nature Immutability is the property of the Supream Being God only hath immortality 1 Tim. 6.16 Immortality as opposed not only to a natural but to a sinful death the word only appropriates every sort of Immortality to God and excludes every Creature whether Angel or Man from a Partnership with God in this by Nature Every Creature therefore is capable of a Death in sin None is good but God and none is naturally free from change but God which excludes every Creature from the same Prerogative and certainly if one Angel sinned all might have sinned because there was the same root of Mutability in one as well as another 'T is as possible for a Creature to be Creator as for a Creature to have naturally an incommunicable property of the Creator All things whether Angels or Men are made of nothing and therefore capable of defection * Suarez Vâ—l. 2. p. 5.8 because a Creature beâ—ng made of nothing cannot be good per essentiam or essentially good but by participation from another Agaâ—n every Rational Creature being made of nothing hath a Superior which created him and governs him and is capable of a Precept and consequently capable of Disobedience as well as Obedience to the Precept to transgress it as well as obey it God cannot sin because he
cause of the evil actions of men God acts nothing but withholds his Power he doth not enlighten their minds nor encline their wills so powerfully as to expel their darkness and root out those evil Habits which possess them by Nature God could if he would savingly enlighten the minds of all men in the World and quicken their hearts with a new Life by an invincible Grace but in not doing it there is no positive act of God but a cessation of Action We may with as much reason say that God is the Cause of all the sinful Actions that are committed by the Corporation of Devils since their first Rebellion because he leaves them to themselves and bestows not a new Grace upon them As say God is the Cause of the sins of those that he overlooks and leaves in that state of Guilt wherein he found them God did not pass by any without the consideration of sin so that this act of God is not repugnant to his Holiness but conformable to his Justice 4. Proposition The Holiness of God is not blemisht by his secret will to suffer sin to enter into the World God never willed sin by his preceptive Will It was never founded upon or produced by any word of his as the Creation was He never said Let there be sin under the Heaven as he said Let there be Water under the Heaven Nor doth he will it by infusing any Habit of it or stirring up Inclinations to it no God tempts no man James 1.13 Nor doth he will it by his approving Will 't is detestable to him nor ever can be otherwise He cannot approve it either before Commission or after 1. The Will of God is in some sort concurrent with sin He doth not properly will it but he wills not to hinder it to which by his Omnipotence he could put a bar If he did positively will it it might be wrought by himself and so could not be evil If he did in no sort will it it would not be committed by his Creature Sin entred into the World either God willing the permission of it or not willing the permission of it The latter cannot be said for then the Creature is more powerful than God and can do that which God will not permit God can if he be pleased banish all sin in a moment out of the World He could have prevented the Revolt of Angels and the Fall of Man they did not sin whether he would or no He might by his Grace have stept in the first Moment and made a special impression upon them of the Happiness they already possessed and the Misery they would incur by any wicked attempt He could as well have prevented the sin of the fallen Angels and confirmed them in Grace as of those that continued in their happy state He might have appeared to man informed him of the Issue of his Design and made secret impressions upon his heart since he was acquainted with every avenue to his Will God could have kept all sin out of the world as well as all Creatures from breathing in it he was as well able to bar sin for ever out of the World as to let Creatures lye in the Womb of nothing wherein they were first wrapped To say God doth will sin as he doth other things is to deny his Holiness to say it entred without any thing of his Will is to deny his Omnipotence If he did necessitate Adam to fall what shall we think of his Purity If Adam dâ—d fall without any concern of God's Will in it what shall we say of his Soveraignty The one taints his Holiness and the other clips his Power If it came without any thing of his Will in it and he did not foresee it where is his Omniscience If it entred whether he would or no where is his Omnipotence Rom. 9.19 Who hath resisted his Will There cannot be a lustful Act in Abimelech if God will withhold his Power Gen. 20.6 I withheld thee Nor a cursing word in Balaam's Mouth unless God give power to speak it Numb 22.38 Have I now any power at all to say any thing The Word that God puts in my mouth that shall I speak As no Action could be sinful if God had not forbidden it so no sin could be committed if God did not will to give way to it 2. God doth not will sin directly and by an efficacious Will He doth not directly will it because he hath prohibited it by his Law which is a discovery of his Will So that if he should directly will sin and directly prohibite it he would will good and evil in the same manner and there would be Contradictions in God's Will To will sin absolutely is to work it Psal 115.3 God hath done whatsoever he pleased God cannot absolutely will it because he cannt work it * Rispolis God wills good by a positive decree because he hath decreed to effect it He wills evil by a privative decree because he hath decreed not to give that Grace which would certainly prevent it †Bradward lib. 1 cap. 34. God wills it secundum quid God doth not will sin simply for that were to approve it but he wills it in order to that Good his Wisdom will bring forth from it He wills not sin for it self but for the event To will sin as sin or as purely evil is not in the capacity of a Creature neither of Man nor Devil The Will of a Rational Creature cannot will any thing but under the appearance of good of some good in the sin it self or some good in the issue of it Much more is this far from God ‖ Aquin. cont Gent. l. 1. c. 95. who being infinitely good cannot will evil as evil and being infinitely knowing cannot will that for good which is evil Infinite Wisdom can be under no Errour or Mistake To will sin as sin would be an unanswerable blemish on God but to will to suffer it in order to good is the glory of his Wisdom It could never have peep'd up its head unless there had been some decree of God concerning it And there had been no decree of God concerning it had he not intended to bring good and glory out of it If God did directly will the discovery of his Grace and Mercy to the World he did in some sort will sin as that without which there could not have been any appearance of Mercy in the World For an Innocent Creature is not the Object of Mercy but a Miserable Creature and no Rational Creature but must be sinful before it be miserable 3. God wills the permission of sin He doth not positively will sin but he positively wills to permit it And though he doth not approve of sin yet he approves of that act of his Will whereby he permits it For since that sin could not enter into the World without some concern of God's Will about it that act of his Will that gave way
torments the Person that acts it 't is black and abominable and hath not a mite of Goodness in the Nature of it If it ends in any good 't is only from that Infinite Transcendency of skill that can bring Good out of Evil as well as Light out of Darkness Therefore God did not permit it as Sin but as it was an occasion for the manifestation of his own Glory Though the Goodness of God would have appear'd in the Preservation of the World as well as it did in the Creation of it yet his Mercy could not have appear'd without the Entrance of Sin because the Object of Mercy is a Miserable Creature but Man could not be Miserable as long as he remained Innocent The Reign of Sin opened a door for the Reign and Triumph of Grace Rom. 5.21 As sin hath reigned unto death so might grace reign through righteousness to eternal life Without it the Bowels of Mercy had never sounded and the ravishing Musick of Divine Grace could never have been heard by the Creature Mercy which renders God so amiable could never else have beam'd out to the World Angels and Men upon this occasion beheld the stirrings of Divine Grace and the Tenderness of Divine Nature and the glory of the Divine Persons in their several Functions about the Redemption of Man which had else been a Spring shut up and a Fountain sealed the Song of Glory to God and Good will to Men in a way of Redemption had never been Sung by them It appears in his dealings with Adam that he permitted his Fall not only to shew his Justice in punishing but principally his Mercy in rescuing since he proclaims to him first the Promise of a Redeemer to bruise the Serpents head before he setled the Punishment he should smart under in the World †Gen. 3.15 16 17. And what fairer prospect could the Creature have of the Holiness of God and his Hatred of Sin than in the edge of that Sword of Justice which punished it in the Sinner but glitter'd more in the Punishment of a Surety so near Allied to him Had not Man been Criminal he could not have been Punishable nor any been punishable for him And the Pulse of Divine Holiness could not have beaten so quick and been so visible without an exercise of his Vindicative Justice He left Mans mutable Nature to fall under Vnrighteousness that thereby he might commend the Righteousness of his own Nature * Rom. 3.7 Adams Sin in its Nature tended to the ruine of the World and God takes an occasion from it for the glory of his Grace in the Redemption of the World He brings forth thereby a new Scene of Wonders from Heaven and a surprizing Knowledge on Earth As the Sun breaks out more strongly after a Night of Darkness and Tempest As God in Creation framed a Chaos by his Power to manifest his Wisdom in bringing Order out of Disorder Light out of Darkness Beauty out of Confusion and Deformity when he was able by a Word to have made all Creatures stand up in their Beauty without the precedency of a Chaos So God permitted a Moral Chaos to manifest a greater Wisdom in the repairing a broken Image and restoring a deplorable Creature and bringing out those Perfections of his Nature which had else been wrapt up in a perpetual silence in his own bosom †But of the Wisdom of God in the permitting Sin in order to Redeâ—ption I have handled in the Attribute of Wisdom It was therefore very congruous to the Holiness of God to permit that which he could make subservient for his own glory and particularly for the manifestation of this Attribute of Holiness which seems to be in opposition to such a permission 5. Proposition The Holiness of God is not blemisht by his concurrence with the Creature in the material part of a sinful Act. Some to free God from having any hand in Sin deny his concurrence to the Actions of the Creature because if he concurs to a sinful Action he concurs to the Sin also Not understanding how there can be a distinction between the Act and the Sinfulness or Viciousness of it and how God can concur to a Natural Action without being stain'd by that Moral Evil which cleaves to it For the understanding of this observe 1. There is a concurrence of God to all the acts of the Creature Acts 17.28 In him we live and move and have our being We depend upon God in our Acting as well as in our Being There is as much an efficacy of God in our Motion as in our Production as none have life without his Power in producing it so none have any operation without his Providence concurring with it In him or by him that is by his Virtue preserving and governing our Motions as well as by his Power bringing us into Being Hence Man is compared to an Ax Isai 10.15 an Instrument that hath no action without the cooperation of a Superiour Agent handling it And the Actions of the Second Causes are ascrib'd to God the Grass that is the product of the Sun Rain and Earth he is said to make to grow upon the Mountains Psal 147.8 and the Skin and Flesh which is by Natural generation he is said to cloath us with Job 10.5 in regard of his co-working with Second Causes according to their Natures As nothing can exist so nothing can operate without him let his Concurrence be removed and the Being and Action of the Creature cease Remove the Sun from the Horizon or a Candle from a Room and the Light which flowed from either of them ceaseth Without Gods preserving and concurring Power the course of Nature would sink and the Creation be in vain ‖ Suarez Metaph part 1. p. 552. All Created things depend upon God as Agents as well as Beings and are subordinate to him in a way of Action as well as in a way of Existing If God suspend his Influence from their Action they would cease to act as the Fire did from burning the Three Children as well as if God suspend his Influence from their Being they would cease to be God supports the Nature whereby Actions are wrought the Mind where Actions are consulted and the Will where Actions are determin'd and the Motive power whereby Actions are produced The Mind could not contrive nor the Hand act a Wickedness if God did not support the Power of the one in designing and the Strength of the other in executing a wicked Intention Every faculty in its Being and every faculty in its Motion hath a dependance upon the Influence of God To make the Creature Independent upon God in any thing which speaks Perfection as Action considered as Action is is to make the Creature a Soveraign Being Indeed we cannot imagine the Concurrence of God to the good Actions of Men since the Fall without granting a Concurrence of God to evil Actions because there is no Action so purely
many Leagues behind any resemblance to God he stript off that which was the glory of his Nature and was the only means of glorifying God as his Creator The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Apostle uses is very significant Postpon'd by Sin an infinite distance from any imitation of Gods Holiness or any appearance before him in a garb of Nature pleasing to him Let us lament our Fall and distance from God 3. Information All Vnholiness is vile and opposite to the Nature of God 'T is such a loathsom thing that the Purity of Gods eye is averse from beholding Hab. 1.3 'T is not said there that he will not but he cannot look on Evil there cannot be any amicableness between God and Sin the Natures of both are so directly and unchangeably contrary to one another Holiness is the Life of God it endures as long as his Life He must be Eternally averse from Sin he can live no longer than he lives in the hatred and loathing of it If he should for one instant cease to hate it he would cease to live To be a Holy God is as Essential to him as to be a Living God and he would not be a living but a dead God if he were in the least point of Time an Unholy God He cannot look on Sin without loathing it he cannot look on Sin but his Heart riseth against it It must needs be most odious to him as that which is against the glory of his Nature and directly opposite to that which is the lustre and varnish of all his other Perfections 'T is the Abominable thing which his Soul hates Jer. 44.4 the vilest terms imaginable are used to signifie it Do you understand the loathsomness of a miry Swine or the nauseousness of the vomit of a Dog These are Emblems of Sin †2 Pet. 2.22 Can you endure the steams of putrified Carkasses from an open Sepulchre * Rom. 3.23 Is the smell of the stinking sweat or Excrements of a Body delightful the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in James 1.21 signifies as much Or is the sight of a Body overgrown with Scabs and Leprosie grateful to you So vile so odious is Sin in the sight of God 'T is no light thing then to fly in the Face of God to break his Eternal Law to dash both the Tables in pieces to trample the Transcript of Gods own Nature under our feet to cherish that which is inconsistent with his Honour to lift up our heels against the glory of his Nature to joyn Issue with the Devil in stabbing his Heart and depriving him of his life Sin in every part of it is an opposition to the Holiness of God and consequently an envying him a Being and Life as well as a Glory If Sin be such a thing ye that love the Lord hate Evil. 4. Information Sin cannot escape a due Punishment A hatred of Unrighteousness and consequently a will to punish it is as Essential to God as a love of Righteousness Since he is not as an Heathen Idol but hath Eyes to see and Purity to hate every Iniquity he will have an Infinite Justice to punish whatsoever is against Infinite Holiness As he loves every thing that is amiable so he loaths every thing that is filthy and that constantly without any change his whole Nature is set against it he abhors nothing but this 'T is not the Devils knowledge or activity that his Hatred is terminated in but the Malice and Unholiness of his Nature 't is this only is the Object of his Severity 'T is in the recompence of this only that there can be a manifestation of his Justice Sin must be punish'd for 1. This Detestation of Sin must be manifested How should we certainly know his loathing of it if he did not manifest by some act how ungrateful it is to him As his love to Righteousness would not appear without rewarding it so his hatred of Iniquity would be as little evidenc'd without punishing it His Justice is the great Witness to his Purity The Punishment therefore inflicted on the Wicked shall be in some respect as great as the Rewards bestow'd upon the Righteous Since the hatred of Sin is natural to God 't is as natural to him to shew one time or other his hatred of it And since Men have a conceit that God is like them in Impurity there is a necessity of some manifestation of himself to be Infinâ—tely distant from those Conceits they have of him Psal 50.21 I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes He would else encourage the Injuries done to his Holiness favour the Extravagances of the Creature and condemn or at least slight the Righteousness both of his own Nature and his Soveraign Law What way is there for God to manifest this Hatred but by Threatning the Sinner and what would this be but a vain Affrightment and ridiculous to the Sinner if it were never to be put in execution There is an indissoluble connexion between his Hatred of Sin and Punishment of the Offender Psal 11.5 6. The wicked his Soul hates Vpon the wicked he shall rain snares fire and brimstone c. He cannot approve of it without denying himself and a total Impunity would be a degree of Approbation The Displeasure of God is Eternal and Irreconcileable against Sin for Sin being absolutely contrary to his holy Nature He is Eternally contrary to it If there be not therefore a way to separate the Sin from the Sinner the Sinner must lie under the Displeasure of God no displeasure can be manifested without some marks of it upon the Person that lies under that Displeasure The Holiness of God will right it self of the wrongs done to it and scatter the Prophaners of it at the greatest distance from him which is the greatest Punishment that can be inflicted to be removed far from the Fountain of Life is the worst of Deaths God can as soon lay aside his Purity as always forbear his Displeasure against an Impure Person 't is all one not to hate it and not to manifest his Hatred of it 2. As his Holiness is natural and necessary so is the punishment of Vnholiness necessary to him 'T is necessary that he should abominate Sin and therefore necessary he should discountenance it The Severities of God against Sin are not vain Scare-crows they have their foundation in the Righteousness of his Nature 't is because he is a Righteous and Holy God that he will not forgive our Transgressions and Sins Josh 24.19 that is that he will punish them The Throne of his Holiness is a fiery flame Dan. 7.9 there is both a pure light and a scorching heat Whatsoever is contrary to the Nature of God will fall under the Justice of God he would else violate his own Nature deny his own Perfection seem to be out of love with his own Glory and Life He doth not hate it out of choice but from the
Immutable propension of his Nature 't is not so free an act of his Will as the Creation of Man and Angels which he might have forborn as well as effected As the detestation of Sin results from the universal rectitude of his Nature so the punishment of Sin follows upon that as he is the Righteous Governour of the World 'T is as much against his Nature not to punish it as it is against his Nature not to loath it He would cease to be Holy if he ceas'd to hate it and he would cease to hate it if he ceas'd to punish it Neither the Obedience of our Saviours Life nor the strength of his Cries could put a bar to the Cup of his Passion God so hated Sin that when it was but imputed to his Son without any commission of it he would bring a Hell upon his Soul Certainly if God could have hated Sin without punishing it his Son had never felt the smart of his Wrath His love to his Son had been strong enough to have caused him to forbear had not the Holiness of his Nature been stronger to move him to inflict a Punishment according to the demerit of the Sin God cannot but be Holy and therefore cannot but be Just because Injustice is a part of Unholiness 3. Therefore there can be no Communion between God and Vnholy spirits How is it conceivable that God should hate the Sin and cherish the Sinner with all his filth in his bosom that he should Eternally detest the Crime and Eternally fold the Sâ—nner in his Arms Can less be expected from the Purity of his Nature than to separate an impure Soul as long as it remains so Can there be any delightful Communion between those whose Natures are contrary Darkness and Light may as soon kiss each other and become one Nature God and the Devil may as soon enter into an Eternal League and Covenant together For God to have pleasure in wickedness and to admit Evil to dwell with him are things equally impossible to his Nature * Psal â— 4 while he hates Impurity he cannot have Communion with an impure Person It may as soon be expected that God should hate himself offer Violence to his own Nature lay aside his Purity as an Abominable thing and blot his own Glory as love an Impure Person entertain him as his delight and set him in the same Heaven and Happiness with himself and his holy Angels He must needs loath him he must needs banish him from his Presence which is the greatest Punishment Gods Holiness and Hatred of Sin necessarily infer the Punishment of it 5. Information There is therefore a necessity of the satisfaction of the Holiness of God by some sufficient Mediator The Divine Purity could not meet with any acquiescence in all Mankind after the Fall Sin was hated the Sinner would be ruin'd unless some way were found out to repair the Wrongs done to the Holiness of God either the Sinner must be condemned for ever or some Satisfaction must be made that the Holiness of the Divine Nature might Eternally appear in its full lustre That it is Essential to the Nature of God to hate all Unrighteousness as that which is absolutely repugnant to his Nature none do question That the Justice of God is so Essential to him as that Sin could not be pardon'd without Satisfaction some do question though this latter seems rationally to follow upon the former †Turretin de Satiâ—fac p. 8. That Holiness is Essential to the Nature of God is evident because else God may as much be conceived without Purity as he might be conceived without the creating the Sun or Stars No Man can in his right Wits frame a right Notion of a Deity without Purity It would be a less Blasphemy against the Excellency of God to conceit him not Knowing than to imagine him not Holy And for the Essentialness of his Justice Joshua joyns both his Holiness and his Jealousie as going hand in hand together Josh 24.19 He is a Holy God he is a Jealous God he will not forgive your sin But consider only the Purity of God since it is contrary to Sin and consequently hating the Sinner the guilty Person cannot be reduc'd to God nor can the Holiness of God have any complacency in a filthy Person but as Fire hath in Stubble to consume it How the Holy God should be brought to delight in Man without a Salvo for the Rights of his Holiness is not to be conceiv'd without an impeachment of the Nature of God The Law could not be abolish'd that would reflect indeed upon the Righteousness of the Law-giver to abolish it because of Sin would imply a change of the Rectitude of his Nature Must be change his Holiness for the sake of that which was against his Holiness in a compliance with a prophane and unrighteous Creature This should engage him rather to maintain his Law than to null it And to abrogate his Law as soon as he had enacted it since Sin stept into the World presently after it would be no credit to his Wisdom There must be a reparation made of the Honour of Gods Holiness by our selves it could not be without Condemnation by another it could not be without a sufficiency in the Person No Creature could do it All the Creatures being of a finite Nature could not make a compensation for the disparagements of Infinite Holiness He must have despicable and vile Thoughts of this Excellent Perfection that imagines that a few Tears and the glavering Fawnings at the death of a Creature can be sufficient to repair the Wrongs and restore the Rights of this Attribute It must therefore be such a compensation as might be commensurate to the Holiness of the Divine Nature and the Divine Law which could not be wrought by any but him that was possessed of a Godhead to give efficacy and exact congruity to it The Person design'd and appointed by God for so great an affair was one in the form of God one equal with God Phil. 2.6 who could not be term'd by such a Title of Dignity if he had not been equal to God in the universal rectitude of the Divine Nature and therefore in his Holiness The Punishment due to Sin is translated to that Person for the righting Divine Holiness and the Righteousness of that Person is communicated to the Sinner for the Pardon of the Offending Creature If the Sinner had been Eternally damn'd Gods hatred of Sin had been evidenc'd by the strokes of his Justice but his Mercy to a Sinner had lain in obscurity If the Sinner had been Pardoned and Saved without such a reparation Mercy had been evident but his Holiness had hid its head for ever in his own bosom There was therefore a necessity of such a way to manifest his Purity and yet to bring forth his Mercy That Mercy might not alway sigh for the destruction of the Creature and that Holiness might not mourn
because he doth not act for his own profit but for his Creatures welfare and the manifestation of his own Goodness He sends out his Beams without receiving any addition to himself or substantial advantage from his Creatures 'T is from this Perfection that he loves whatsoever is good and that is whatsoever he hath made For every Creature of God is good * 1 Tim. 4.4 Every Creature hath some Communications from him which cannot be without some Affection to them Every Creature hath a Footstep of Divine Goodness upon it God therefore loves that goodness in the Creature else he would not love himself †Cajetan in secund ' secundae Qu. 34. Ar. 3. God hates no Creature no not the Devils and Damn'd as Creatures he is not an Enemy to them as they are the Works of his Hands He is properly an Enemy that doth simply and absolutely wish Evil to another but God doth not absolutely wish Evil to the Damned that Justice that he inflicts upon them the deserved Punishment of their Sin is part of his Goodness as shall afterward be shewn This is the most pleasant Perfection of the Divine Nature His Creating Power amazes us His Conducting Wisdom astonisheth us His Goodness as furnishing us with all Conveniencies delights us and renders both his amazing Power and astonishing Wisdom delightful to us As the Sun by effecting things is an Emblem of Gods Power by discovering things to us is an Emblem of his Wisdom but by refreshing and comforting us is an Emblem of his Goodness And without this refreshing Vertue it communicates to us we should take no pleasure in the Creatures it produceth nor in the Beauties it discovers As God is Great and Powerful he is the Object of our Understanding but as Good and Bountiful he is the Object of our Love and Desire 6. The Goodness of God comprehends all his Attributes All the Acts of God are nothing else but the Effluxes of his Goodness distinguisht by several names according to the Objects it is exercised about As the Sea though it be one Mass of Water yet we distinguish it by several names according to the Shores it washeth and beats upon as the Brittish and German Ocean though all be one Sea When Moses long'd to see his Glory God tells him he would give him a prospect of his Goodness †Exod. 33.19 I will make all my goodness to pass before thee His Goodness is his Glory and Godhead as much as is delightfully visible to his Creatures and whereby he doth benefit Man I will cause my Goodness or Comeliness as Calvin renders it to pass before thee what is this but the Train of all his lovely Perfections springing from his Goodness * Exod. 34.6 The whole Catalogue of Mercy Grace long-suffering abundance of truth summed up in this one word All are Streams from this Fountain he could be none of this were he not first Good When it confers Happiness without Merit 't is Grace when it bestows Happiness against Merit 't is Mercy when he bears with provoking Rebels ' its long-suffering when he performs his Promise 't is Truth when it meets with a person to whom it is not oblig'd 't is Grace when he meets with a person in the World to which he hath obliged himself by Promise 't is Truth * Herle upon Wisdom cap. 5. p. 41. 42. when it Commiserates a Distressed Person 't is Pity when it supplies an Indigent Person 't is Bounty when it succours an Innocent Person 't is Righteousness and when it pardons a Penitent Person 't is Mercy all summ'd up in this one name of Goodness And the Psalmist expresseth the same Sentiment in the same words †Ps 145.7 8. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness The Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and of great mercy the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works He is first Good and then Compassionate Righteousness is often in Scripture taken not for Justice but Charitableness This Attribute saith one †Ingelo Bentivolio Vran Book 4. p. 260 261. is so full of God that it doth defie all the rest and verifie the Adorableness of him His Wisdom might contrive against us His Power bear too hard upon us one might be too hard for an Ignorant and the other too mighty for an Impotent Creature His holiness would scare an impure and guilty Creature but his goodness conducts them all for us and makes them all amiable to us Whatever Comeliness they have in the Eye of a Creature whatever Comfort they afford to the Heart of a Creature we are oblig'd for all to his goodness This puts all the rest upon a delightful Exercise this makes his Wisdom design for us and this makes his Power to act for us This Vails his Holiness from affrighting us and this Spirits his Mercy to relieve us †Daille Melang part 2. p. 704 705. All his acts towards Man are but the Workmanship of this What moved him at first to Create the World out of nothing and erect so noble a Creature as Man endow'd with such excellent gifts was it not his goodness What made him separate his Son to be a Sacrifice for us after we had endeavoured to raze out the first marks of his favour Was it not a strong bubling of goodness What moves him to reduce a Fallen Creature to the due sense of his Duty and at last bring him to an Eternal Felicity is it not only his goodness This is the Captain Attribute that leads the rest to act This attends them and Spirits them in all his ways of acting This is the Complement and Perfection of all his Works had it not been for this which set all the rest on work nothing of his Wonders had been seen in Creation nothing of his Compassions had been seen in Redemption The Second thing is some Propositions to explain the Nature of this Goodness 1. He is good by his own Essence God is not only good in his Essence but good by his Essence The Essence of every created thing is good so the unerring God pronounced every thing which he had made * Gen. 1.31 The Essence of the worst Creatures yea of the impure and Savage Devils is good but they are not good per essentiam for then they could not be bad Malicious and Oppressive God is good as he is God and therefore good by himself and from himself not by participation from another He made every thing good but none made him good Since his goodness was not received from another he is good by his own Nature He could not receive it from the things he Created they are later than he Since they received all from him they could bestow nothing on him and no God preceded him in whose Inheritance and Treasures of Goodness he could be a Successor He is absolutely
whence he could draw them No but he denies that good to them which he is able if he pleased to confer upon them If God doth not give that good to a Creature which it wants by its own demerit can he be said to wish evil to it or only to deny that goodness which the Creature hath forfeited †Camere p. 30. and which is at Gods liberty to retain or disperse Though God cannot but love his own Image where he finds it yet when this Image is lost and the Devils Image voluntarily received he may choose whether he will manifest his goodness to such a one or no. Will you not account that Man liberal that distributes his Alms to a great company though he rejects some Much more will you account him good if he rejects none that implore him but dispenseth his doles to every one upon their Petition And is he not good because he will not bestow a Farthing upon those that Address not themselves to him God is so good that he denies not the best good to those that seek him He hath promised Life and Happiness to them that do so Is he less good because he will not distribute his goodness to those that despise him Though he be Good yet his VVisdom is the Rule of dispensing his Goodness 6. The severe Punishment of Offenders and the Afflictions he inflicts upon his Servants are no violations of his Goodness The Notion of Gods Vindictive Justice is as naturally inbred and implanted in the mind of Man as that of his Goodness and those two Sentiments never shockt one another The Heathen never thought him bad because he was just nor unrighteous because he was good God being Infinitely good cannot possibly intend or act any thing but what is good Thou art good and thou dost good i. e. whatsoever thou dost is good whatsoever it be pleasant or painful to the Creature * Ps 119.68 Punishments themselves are not a Moral Evil in the Person that inflicts though they are a Natural Evil in the Person that suffers them †Boetius In ordering Punishment to the VVicked Good is added to Evil In ordering Impunity to the VVicked Evil is added to Evil. To punish VVickedness is Right therefore Good To leave men uncontroul'd in their VVickedness is Unrighteous and therefore Bad. But again Shall his Justice in some few Judgments in the VVorld impeach his Goodness more than his wonderful Patience to Sinners is able to silence the Calumnies against him Is not his hand fuller of gracious Doles than of dreadful Thunderbolts Doth he not oftner seem forgetful of his Justice when he pours out upon the guilty the Streams of his Mercy than to be forgetful of his Goodness when he sprinkles in the VVorld some drops of his VVrath First Gods Judgments in the World do not infringe his Goodness For 1. The justice of God is a part of the goodness of his Nature God himself thought so when he told Moses he would make all his Goodness pass before him * Exod. 33.19 He leaves not out in that enumeration of the parts of it his resolution by no means to clear the Guilty but to visit the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children †Exod. 34.7 'T is a property of goodness to hate evil and therefore a property of goodness to punish it 'T is no less Righteousness to give according to the deserts of a Person in a way of Punishment than to reward a Person that obeys his Precepts in a way of Recompence VVhatsoever is Righteous is Good Sin is evil and therefore whatsoever doth witness against it is good His Goodness therefore shines in his Justice for without being just he could not be good Sin is a Moral Disorder in the VVorld Every Sin is Injustice Injustice breaks Gods Order in the VVorld there is a necessity therefore of Justice to put the VVorld in order Punishment orders the Person committing the Injury who when he will not be in the order of Obedience must be in the order of suffering for Gods Honour The goodness of all things which God pronounced so consisted in their order and beneficial helpfulness to one another When this order is inverted the goodness of the Creature ceaseth If it be a bad thing to spoil this order Is it not a part of Divine Goodness to reduce them into order that they may be reduced in some measure to their goodness Do we ever account a Governor less in goodness because he is exact in Justice and punisheth that which makes a disorder in his Government And is it a diminution of the Divine Goodness to punish that which makes a Disorder in the VVorld As VVisdom without Goodness would be a Serpentine Craft and issue in destruction so Goodness without Justice would be impotent Indulgence and cast things into confusion When Abels Blood cryed out for Vengeance against Cain it spake a good thing Christs Blood speaking better things than the Blood of Abel implies that Abels Blood spake a good thing the comparative implies a positive * Heb. 12.24 If it were the goodness of that Innocent Blood to demand Justice it could not be a badness in the Sovereign of the World to execute it How can God sustain the part of a Good and Righteous Judge if he did not preserve Humane Society And how would it be preserved without manifesting himself by publick Judgments against publick Wrongs Is there not as great a necessity that Goodness should have Instruments of Judgment as that there should be Prisons Bridewels and Gibbets in a good Commonwealth Did not the Thunderbolts of God sometimes roar in the Ears of Men they would sin with a higher hand than they do fly more in the face of God make the World as much a Moral as it was at first a Natural Chaos The ingenuity of Men would be dampt if there were not something to work upon their fears to keep them in their due order Impunity of the Innocent Person is worse than any Punishment 'T is a Misery to want Medicines for the Cure of a sharp Disease and a Mark of goodness in a Prince to consult for the security of the Political Body by cutting off a Gangren'd and corrupting Member And what Prince would deserve the noble Title of Good if he did not restrain by punishment those Evils which impair the Publick Welfare Is it not necessary that the examples of Sin whereby others have been encourag'd to Wickedness should be made examples of Justice whereby the same Persons and others may be discourag'd from what before they were greedily inclin'd unto Is not a hatred of what is bad and unworthy as much a part of Divine Goodness as a love to what is Excellent and bears a Resemblance to himself Could he possibly be accounted Good that should bear the same degree of Affection to a prodigious Vice as to a sublime Virtue And should behave himself in the same manner of carriage
His Grace would have Crown'd that which had been so agreeable to him He had been a denier of himself had he numbred Innocent Creatures in the Rank of the Miserable But to be kind to an Enemy To run Counter to the vastness of Demerit in Man was a Superlative Goodness a Goodness triumphing above all the provocations of Men and Pleas of Justice It was an abounding Goodness of Grace * Rom. 5.20 Where Sin abounded Grace did much more abound 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It swell'd above the heights of Sin and triumphed more than all his other Attributes 4. Man was reduced to the lowest Condition Our Crimes had brought us to the lowest Calamity we were brought to the dust and prepar'd for Hell Adam had not the boldness to Request and therefore we may Judge he had not the least hopes of Pardon he was sunk under Wrath and could have expected no better an Entertainment than the Tempter whose sollicitations he submitted to We had cast the Diadem from our heads and lost all our Original Excellency We were lost to our own Happiness and lost to our Creators Service when he was so kind as to send his Son to seek us Matth. 18.11 and so liberal as to expend his Blood for our cure and preservation How great was that Goodness that would not abandon us in our Misery but remit our Crimes and rescue our Persons and ransom our Souls by so great a Price from the Rights of Justice and horrors of Hell we were so fitted for 5. Every Age multiplied Provocations Every Age of the World proved more degenerate The Traditions which were purer and more lively among Adams immediate Posterity were more dark among his further Descendants Idolatry whereof we have no Marks in the old World before the Deluge was frequent afterwards in every Nation Not only the knowledge of the true God was lost but the Natural Reverential thoughts of a Deity were expelled Hence Gods were dubb'd according to Mens humors and not only Human Passions but Brutish Vices ascrib'd to them As by the Fall we were become less than Men so we would fancy God no better than a Beast since Beasts were Worshipped as Gods * Rom. 1.21 yea fancied God no better than a Devil since that Destroyer was Worshipped instead of the Creator and a Homage paid to the Powers of Hell that had ruin'd them which was due to the Goodness of that Benefactor who had made them and preserved them in the World The vilest Creatures were Deifi'd Reason was debas'd below Common Sense And Men ador'd one end of a Log while they warmed themselves with the other †Isai 44.14.16 17. as if that which was Ordain'd for the Kitchin were a fit Representation for God in the Temple Thus were the Natural Notions of a Deity deprav'd the whole World drencht in Idolatry And though the Jews were free from that gross abuse of God yet they were sunk also into loathsom Superstitions when the Goodness of God brought in his design'd Redeemer and Redemption into the World 6. The impotence of Man enhanceth this Goodness Our own Eye did scarce pity us and it was impossible for our own hands to relieve us we were insensible of our Misery in love with our Death we courted our Chains and the noise of our fettering Lusts were our Musick * Tit. 3.3 serving diverse Lusts and Pleasures Our Lusts were our Pleasures Satans Yoke was as del ghtful to us to bear as to him to impose Instead of being his Opposers in his attempts against us we were his voluntary Seconds and every whit as willing to embrace as he was to propose his Ruining Temptations As no Man can recover himself from Death so no Man can recover himself from Wrath he is as unable to Redeem as to Create himself he might as soon have stript himself of his being as put an end to his Misery his Captivity would have been endless and his Chains remediless for any thing he could do to knock them off and deliver himself he was too much in love with the Sink of Sin to leave wallowing in it and under too powerful a hand to cease frying in the Flames of Wrath. As the Law could not be obeyed by Man after a corrupt Principle had enter'd into him so neither could Justice be satisfied by him after his Transgression The Sinner was indebted but Bankrupt As he was unable to pay a Mite of that Obedience he owed to the Precept because of his enmity so he was unable to satisfie what he owed to the Penalty because of his Feebleness He was as much without love to observe the one as without strength to bear the other †Rom. 8.7 He could not because of his Enmity be subject to the Law or compensate for his Sin because he was * Rom. 5.6 without strength His strength to offend was great but to deliver himself a meer nothing Repentance was not a thing known by Man after the fall till he had hopes of Redemption and if he had known and exercised it what compensation are the Tears of a Malefactor for an injury done to the Crown and attempting the life of his Prince How great was Divine Goodness not only to pity Men in this State but to provide a strong Redeemer for them Oh Lord my Strength and my Redeemer said the Psalmist †Psal 19 1◠When he found out a Redeemer for our Misery he found out a Strength for our Impotency To conclude this Behold the Goodness of God when we had thus unhandsomely dealt with him had nothing to allure his Goodness Multitudes of Provocations to incense him were reduced to a conditon as low as could be fit to be the Matter of his Scoffs and the Sport of Divine Justice and so weak that we could not repair our own Ruines then did he open a Fountain of fresh Goodness in the Death of his Son and sent forth such delightful Streams as in our Original Creation we could never have tasted Not only overcame the Resentments of a Provoked Justice but magnified it self by our lowness and strengthned it self by our weakness His Goodness had before Created an Innocent but here it saves a Malefactor and sends his Son to die for us as if the Holy of Holies were the Criminal and the Rebel the Innocent It had been a pompous Goodness to have given him as a King but a Goodness of greater grandeur to expose him as a Sacrifice for Slaves and Enemies Had Adam remain'd Innocent and proved thankful for what he had received it had been great Goodness to have brought him to glory But to bring filthy and rebellious Adam to it surmounts by unexpressible degrees that sort of Goodness he had experimented before Since it was not from a light Evil a tolerable Curse unawares brought upon us but from the Yoke we had willingly submitted to from the power of darkness we had courted and the furnace of wrath we had kindled
transgression But those things are accounted sins by all mankind and sins against the supream being So that a Dominion and the exercise of it is so fast linkt to God so intirely in him so intrinsick in his Nature that it cannot be imagined that a rational Creature can be made by him without a stamp and mark of that Dominion in his very nature and frame 't is so inseparable from God in his very act of Creation 2. 'T is such a Dominion as cannot be renounced by God himself 'T is so intrinsick and connatural to him so inlaid in the nature of God that he cannot strip himself of it nor of the exercise of it while any Creature remains ' Tâ—â— preserv'd by him for it could not subsist of its self 't is govern'd by him it could not else answer its end 'T is impossible there can be a Creature which hath not God for its Lord. Christ himself though in regard of his Deity equal with God yet in regard of his created state and assuming our nature was God's servant was govern'd by him in the whole of his office acted according to his command and directions God calls him his servant Isaiah 42.1 And Christ in that Prophetick Psalm of him calls God his Lord. Psal 16.2 Oh my Soul Thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord. It was impossible it should be otherwise Justice had been so far from being satisfi'd that it had been highly incensed if the order of things in the due subjection to God had been broke and his terms had not been complied with It would be a Judgment upon the World if God should give up the Government to any else as it is when he gives Children to be Princes Isaiah 3.4 i. e. Children in understanding 3. 'T is so inseparable that it cannot be communicated to any Creature No Creature is able to exercise it every Creature is unable to perform all the offices that belong to this Dominion No Creature can impose Laws upon the Consciences of men Man knows not the inlets into the Soul his pen cannot reach the inwards of man What Laws he hath power to propose to Conscience he cannot see executed because every Creature wants omniscience he is not able to perceive all those breaches of the Law which may be committed at the same time in so many Cities so many Chambers Or suppose an Angel in regard of the height of his standing and the insufficiency of Walls and darkness and distance to obstruct his view can behold mens actions yet he cannot know the internal acts of mens minds and Wills without some outward eruption and appearance of them And if he be ignorant of them how can he execute his Laws If he only understand the outward fact without the inward thought how can he dispense a Justice proportionable to the crime He must needs be ignorant of that which adds the greatest aggravation sometimes to a sin and inflict a lighter punishment upon that which receives a deeper tincture from the inward posture of the mind than another fact may do which in the outward act may appear more base and unjust and so while he intends Righteousness may act a degree of injustice * Mâ—â—â—ii Colleg. Theoloâ— Disp 18. p. 12 13. Besides no Creature can inflict a due punishment for sin that which is due to sin is a loss of the Vision and sight of God but none can deprive any of that but God himself nor can a Creature reward another with Eternal Life which consists in Communion with God which none but God can bestow II. Thing Wherein the Dominion of God is founded 1. On the Excellency of his Nature Indeed a bare excellency of Nature bespeaks a fitness for Government but doth not properly convey a right of Government Excellency speaks aptitude not Title A Subject may have more Wisdom than the Prince and be fitter to hold the Reins of Government but he hath not a Title to Royalty A man of large capacity and strong vertue is fit to serve his Countrey in Parliament but the Election of the People conveys a Title to him Yet a strain of Intellectual and Moral abilities beyond others is a foundation for Dominion And it is commonly seen that such eminences in men though they do not invest them with a Civil Authority or an Authority of Jurisdiction yet they create a veneration in the minds of men their vertue attracts reverence and their advice is regarded as an Oracle Old men by their age when stored with more Wisdom and Knowledge by reason of their long experience acquire a kind of power over the younger in their Dictates and Counsels so that they gain by the strength of that excellency a real Authority in the minds of those men they converse with and possess themselves of a deep respect from them God therefore being an incomprehensible ocean of all perfection and possessing infinitely all those vertues that may lay a claim to Dominion hath the first foundation of it in his own nature His incomparable and unparalell'd excellency as well as the greatness of his work attracts the voluntary Worship of him as a Soveraign Lord. Psal 86.8 Among the Gods there is none like unto thee neither are there any works like unto thy work All Nations shall come and Worship before thee Though his benefits are great engagements to our Obedience and Affection yet his infinite Majesty and perfection requires the first place in our acknowledgements and adorations Upon this account God claims it Isaiah 46.9 I am God and there is none like me I will do all my pleasure And the Prophet Jeremy upon the same account acknowledgeth it Jer. 10.6 7. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee Oh Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might who would not fear thee O King of Nations For to thee doth it appertain Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee And this is a more noble Title of Dominion It being an uncreated Title and more eminent than that of Creation or Preservation * 〈◊〉 Thâ—olog Nat. pag. 757. This is the natural order God hath plac'd in his Creature 's that the more excellent should rule the inferior He committed not the Government of lower Creatures to Lions and Tygers that have a delight in blood but no knowledge of vertue but to man who had an eminence in his nature above other Creatures and was formed with a perfect rectitude and a height of reason to guide the reins over them In man the Soul being of a more sublime nature is set of right to rule over the Body the Mind the most excellent Faculty of the Soul to rule over the other Powers of it and Wisdom the most excellent habit of the Mind to guide and regulate that in its determinations and when the Body and sensitive Appetite controul the Soul and Mind 't is an Usurpation against Nature not a rule according to Nature the excellency therefore of
he please and exact what he will of his Creature without promising any Rewards May he not use his own for his own honour as well as men use for their credit what they do possess by his indulgence 5. Affliction is an act of his Soveraignty By this right of Soveraignty may not God take away any man's Goods since they were his doles As he was not indebted to us when he bestow'd them so he cannot wrong us when he removes them He takes from us what is more his own than it is ours and was never ours but by his gift and that for a time only not for ever By this right he may determine our times put a period to our days when he pleases strip us of one member and lop off another Man's being was from him and why should he not have a Soveraignty to take what he had a Soveraignty to give Why should this seem strange to any of us since we our selves exercise an absolute Dominion over those things in our possession which have sense and feeling as well as over those that want it Doth not every man think he hath an absolute Authority over the Utensils of his house over his Horse his Dog to preserve or kill him to do what he please with him without rendring any other reason than 't is my own May not God do much more Doth not his dominion over the work of his hands transcend that which a man can claim over his Beast that he never gave life unto He that dares dispute against God's absolute right fancies himself as much a God as his Creator understands not the vast difference between the Divine nature and his own between the Soveraignty of God and his own which is all the theam God himself discourseth upon in those stately Chapters Job 38 39. c. Not mentioning a Word of Job's sin but only vindicating the rights of his own Authority Nor doth Job in his reply Job 40.4 speak of his sin but of his natural vileness as a Creature in the presence of his Creator By this right God unstops the Bottles of Heaven in one place and stops them in another causing it to Rain upon one City and not upon another Amos 4.7 Ordering the Clouds to move to this or that quarter where he hath a mind to be a Benefactor or a Judge 6. Vnequal dispensations are acts of his Soveraignty By this right he is patient toward those whose sins by the common voice of men deserve speedy Judgments and pours out pain upon those that are patterns of vertue to the World By this he gives sometimes the worst of men an Ocean of wealth and honor to swim in and reduceth an useful and exemplary grace to a scanty poverty By this he Rules the Kingdoms of men and sets a Crown upon the head of the basest of men Dan. 4.17 While he deposeth another that seem'd to deserve a weightier Diadem This is as he is the Lord of the Ammunition of his Thunders and the Treasures of his Bounty 7. He may inflict what torments he pleases Some say by this right of Soveraignty he may inflict what torments he pleaseth upon an innocent person which indeed will not bear the nature of a punishment as an effect of Justice without the supposal of a crime but a torment as an effect of that Soveraign right he hath over his Creature which is as absolute over his work as the Potters power is over his own Clay Jerem. 18.6 Rom. 9.21 * Lessius de perfect Divin p. 66. 67. May not the Potter after his labour either set his vessel up to adorn his House or knock it in peices and fling it upon the Dunghill separate it to some noble use or condemn it to some sordid service Is the right of God over his Creatures less than that of the Potter over his Vessel since God contributed all to his Creature but the Potter never made the Clay which is the substance of the Vessel nor the water which was necessary to make it tractable but only moulded the substance of it into such a shape The Vessel that is fram'd and the Potter that frames it differ only in Life the body of the Potter whereby he executes his Authority is of no better a mould than the Clay the matter of his Vessel shall he have so absolute a power over that which is so near him and shall not God over that which is so infinitely distant from him The Vessel perhaps might plead for its self that it was once part of the Body of a man and as good as the Potter himself whereas no Creature can plead it was part of God and as good as God himself Though there be no man in the World but deserves affliction yet the Scripture sometimes layes affliction upon the score of God's dominion without any respect to the sin of the afflicted person James 5.15 Speaking of a sick person if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him whereby is implyed that he might be struck into sickness by God without any respect to a particular sin but in a way of Tryal and that his affliction sprung not from any exercise of Divine Justice but from his absolute soveraignty And so in the case of the blind man when the Disciples askt for what sin it was whether for his own or his Parents sin he was born blind John 9.3 Neither hath this man sinned nor his Parents which speaks in its self not against the whole current of Scripture but the words import thus much that God in this blindness from the birth neither respected any sin of the mans own nor of his Parents but he did it as an absolute soveraign to manifest his own Glory in that miraculous cure which was wrought by Christ Though afflictions do not happen without the desert of the Creature yet some afflictions may 〈◊〉 sent without any particular respect to that desert meerly for the manifestation of God's Glory since the Creature was made for God himself and his honour and therefore may be used in a serviceableness to the Glory of the Creator 2. His Dominion is absolute in regard of unlimitedness by any Law without him He is an absolute Monarch that makes Laws for his Subjects but is not bound by any himself nor receives any rules and Laws from his Subjects for the management of his Government But most Governments in the World are bounded by Laws made by common consent But when Kings are not limited by the Laws of their Kingdoms yet they are bounded by the Law of Nature and by the Providence of God But God is under no Law without himself his rule is within him the rectitude and Righteousness of his own nature he is not under that Law he hath prescribed to man The Law was not made for a Righteous man 1 Tim. 1.9 Much less for a Righteous God God is his own Law his own nature is his rule as his own Glory is his end
himself is his end and himself is his Law He is moved by nothing without himself nothing hath the dominion of a motive over him but his own will which is his rule for all his actions in Heaven and Earth Dan. 4.32 He rules in the Kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever he will And Rom. 9.18 He hath Mercy on whom he will have Mercy As all things are wrought by him according to his own eternal Ideas in his own mind so all is wrought by him according to the inward motive in his own will which was the manifestation of his own honour The greatest motives therefore that the best persons have used when they have pleaded for any grant from God was his own Glory which would be advanced by an answer of their Petition 3. His dominion is absolute in regard of Supremacy and uncontroulableness None can implead him and cause him to render a reason of his actions He is the Soveraign King Who may say unto him what dost thou Eccles 8.4 'T is an absurd thing for any to dispute with God Rom. 9.20 Who art thou O Man that replyest against God Thou a man a peice of dust to argue with a God incomprehensibly above thy reason about the reason of his works Let the Potsheards strive with the Potsheards of the Earth but not with him that fashion'd them Isaiah 45.9 In all the desolations he works he asserts his own Supremacy to silence men Psal 46.10 Be still and know that I am God Beware of any quarrelling motions in your minds 't is sufficient that I am God that is supream and will not be impleaded and censur'd or worded with by any Creature about what I do He is not bound to render a reason of any of his proceedings Subjects are accountable to their Princes and Princes to God God to none since he is not limited by any Superior his Prerogative is supream 4. His dominion is absolute in regard of Irresistibleness Other Governments are bounded by Law so that what a Governour hath strength to do he hath not a right to do Other Governours have a limited ability that what they have a right to do they have not always a strength to do they may want a power to execute their own Counsels But God is destitute of neither he hath an infinite right and an infinite strength his word is a Law he commands things to stand out of nothing and they do so He commanded or spake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 light to shine out of darkness 2 Cor. 4.6 There is no distance of time between his word Let there be Light and there was Light Gen. 1.3 Magistrates often use not their Authority for fear of giving occasion to insurrections which may overturn their Empire But if the Lord will work Who shall let it Isaiah 43.19 And if God will not work who shall force him He can check and overturn all other powers his decrees cannot be stopped nor his hand held back by any if he wills to dash the whole World in peices no Creature can maintain its being against his order He sets the Ordinances of the Heavens and the dominion thereof in the Earth And sends Lightnings that they may go and say unto him here we are Job 38.33.34 3. Yet this dominion though it be absolute is not Tyrannical but 't is managed by the rules of Wisdom Righteousness and Goodness If his Throne be in the Heavens it is Pure and Good Because the Heavens are the purest parts of the Creation and influence by their Goodness the lower Earth Since he is his own rule and his nature is infinitely Wise Holy and Righteous he cannot do a thing but what is unquestionably agreeable with Wisdom Justice and Purity In all the exercises of his Soveraign right he is never unattended with those perfections of his Nature Might not God by his absolute power have pardon'd mens guilt and thrown the invading sin out of his Creatures But in regard of his Truth pawn'd in his threatning and in regard of his Justice which demanded satisfaction he would not Might not God by his absolute soveraignty admit a man into his Friendship without giving him any Grace But in regard of the incongruity of such an act to his Wisdom and Holiness he will not May he not by his absolute power refuse to accept a man that desires to please him and reject a purely innocent Creature But in regard of his Goodness and Righteousness he will not Though innocence be amiable in its own Nature yet it is not necessary in regard of God's soveraignty that he should love it but in regard of his goodness it is necessary and he will never do otherwise As God never acts to the utmost of his power so he never exerts the utmost of his soveraignty because it would be inconsistent with those other properties which render him perfectly adorable to the Creature As no intelligent Creature neither Angel nor Man can be fram'd without a Law in his Nature so we cannot imagine God without a Law in his own Nature unless we would fancy him a rude Tyrannical foolish Being that hath nothing of Holiness Goodness Righteousness Wisdom If he made the Heavens in Wisdome Psal 136.5 He made them by some rule not by a meer will but a rule within himself not without A wise work is never the result of an absolute unguided Will 1. This dominion is managed by the rule of Wisdom What may appear to us to have no other spring than absolute soveraignty would be found to have a depth of amazing Wisdom and accountable reason were our short capacities long enough to fathom it When the Apostle had been discoursing of the eternal Counsells of God in seizing upon one man and letting go another in rejecting the Jews and gathering in the Gentiles which appears to us to be results only of an absolute dominion yet he resolves not those amazing acts into that without taking it for granted that they were govern'd by exact Wisdom though beyond his ken to see and his line to sound Rom. 11.33 Oh the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God how unsearchable are his Judgments and his Ways past finding out There are some things in matters of state that may seem to be acts of meer Will but if we were acquainted with the Arcana Imperii the inward Engins which moved them and the ends aimed at in those undertakings we might find a rich vein of prudence in them to incline us to Judge otherwise than bare Arbitrary proceedings The other Attributes of Power and Goodness are more easily perceptible in the works of God than his Wisdom The first view of the Creation strikes us with this sentiment that the Author of this great Fabrick was mighty and beneficial but his Wisdom lies deeper than to be discern'd at the first glance without a diligent enquiry As at the first casting our eyes upon the Sea we behold its motion colour and
station of every Regiment in a Battalia Or he calls them by Name i. e. He imposeth names upon them a sign of dominion The giving Names to the inferior Creatures being the first act of Adam's derivative dominion over them These are under the Soveraignty of God The Starrs by their influences fight against Sisera Judg. 5.20 And the Sun holds in its Reins and stands stone still to light Joshua to a compleat victory Josh 10.12 They are all marshall'd in their ranks to receive his word of command and fight in close order as being desirous to have a share in the ruine of the Enemies of their Soveraign And those Creatures which mount up from the Earth and take their place in the lower Heavens Vapours whereof Hail and Snow are form'd are part of the Army and do not only receive but fulfill his word of Command Psal 148.8 These are his stores and Magazines of Judgment against a time of trouble and a day of Battle and Warr Job 38.22 23. The Soveraignty of God is visible in all their motions in their going and returning If he says go they go if he say come they come if he say do this they gird up their Loyns and stand stiff to their duty 2. The Hell of Devils belong to his Authority They have cast themselves out of the Arms of his Grace into the Furnace of his Justice they have by their revolt forfeited the Treasure of his Goodness but cannot exempt themselves from the Scepter of his dominion when they would not own him as a Lord Father they are under him as a Lord Judge they are cast out of his affection but not freed from his yoke He rules over the good Angels as his Subjects over the evil ones as his Rebels In whatsoever relation he stands either as a Friend or Enemy he never loses that of a Lord. A Prince is the Lord of his Criminals as well as of his Loyallest Subjects By this right of his Soveraignty he uses them to punish some and be the occasion of benefit to others on the wicked he employs them as instruments of vengeance towards the Godly as in the case of Job as an Instrument of kindness for the manifestation of his sincerity against the intention of that malicious Executioner Though the Devils are the Executioners of his Justice 't is not by their own Authority but God's as those that are employed either to rack or execute a Malefactor are Subjects to the Prince not only in the quality of Men but in the execution of their function * Suarez vol. 2. lib. 8. cap. 20. p. 736. The Devil by drawing men to sin acquires no right to himself over the sinner For man by sin offends not the Devil but God and becomes guilty of punishment under God When therefore the Devil is us'd by God for the punishment of any 't is an act of his Soveraignty for the manifestation of the order of his Justice And as most Nations use the vilest persons in Offices of execution so doth God those vile Spirits He doth not ordinarily use the good Angels in those Offices of vengeance but in the preservation of his People When he would solely punish he employs evil Angels Psal 78.49 A Troop of Devils His Soveraignty is extended over the deceiver and the deceived Job 12.16 Over both the Malefactor and the Executioner the Devil and his Prisoner He useth the natural malice of the Devils for his own just ends and by his Soveraign Authority orders them to be the Executioners of his Judgments upon their own vassals as well as sometimes inflicters of punishments upon his own Servants 3. The Earth of men and other Creatures belongs to his Authority Psal 47.7 God is King of all the Earth and rules to the ends of it Psal 59.13 Ancient Atheists confin'd Gods dominion to the heavenly Orbs and bounded it within the Circuit of the Celestial Sphear Job 22.14 He walks in the Circuit of Heaven i. e. he exerciseth his dominion only there * Bolduc in loc Pedum positio was the sign of the possession of a piece of Land and the Dominion of the possessor of it and Land was resign'd by such a Ceremony as now by the delivery of a Twig or Turf But his Dominion extends 1. Over the least Creatures All the Creatures of the Earth are listed in Christ's Muster-roll and make up the number of his Regiments He hath an Host on Earth as well as in Heaven Gen. 2.1 The Heavens and the Earth were finished and all the Host of them And they are all his Servants Psal 119.91 and move at his peasure And he vouchsafes the Title of his Army to the Locust Caterpillar and Palmer Worm Joel 2.25 And describes their motions by Military Words climbing the walls marching not breaking their ranks Verse 7. He hath the command as a great General over the highest Angel and the meanest Worm all the kinds of the smallest Insects he presseth for his service By this Soveraignty he muzled the devouring nature of the fire to preserve the three Chiâ—dren and let it loose to consume their adversaries and if he speaks the word the stormy Waves are hush as if they had no Principle of rage within them Psal 89.9 Since the meanest Creature attains it end and no arrow that God hath by his power shot into the World but hits the mark he aim'd at we must conclude that there is a Soveraign hand that governs all Not a spot of Earth or Air or Water in the World but is his possession not a Creature in any Element but is his Subject 2. His Dominion extends over Men. It extends over the highest Potentate as well as the meanest Peasant the proudest Monarch is no more exempt than the most languishing Beggar He lays not aside his Authority to please the Prince nor strains it up to terrifie the indigent He accepts not the persons of Princes nor regards the rich more than the Poor For they are all the work of his hands Job 34.19 Both the powers and weaknesses the Gallantry and Peasantry of the Earth stand and fall at his pleasure Man in innocence was under his Authority as his Creature and man in his revolt is further under his Authority as a Criminal As a Person is under the Authority of a Prince as a Governour while he obeys his Laws and further under the Authority of the Prince as a Judge when he violates his Laws Man is under God's dominion in every thing in his settlement in his calling in the ordering his very Habitation Acts 17.26 He determines the bounds of their Habitations He never yet permitted any to be universal Monarch in the World nor over the fourth part of it though several in the Pride of their heart have design'd and attempted it The Pope who hath bid the fairest for it in Spirituals never attain'd it and when his power was most flourishing there were multitudes that would never acknowledge his Authority 3. But
to King Redeemer He hath revok'd the Law of works as a Covenant releas'd the penalty of it from the beleiving sinner by transferring it upon the surety who interpos'd himself by his own will and divine designation He hath establish'd another Covenant upon other promises in a higher root with greater Priviledges and easier terms Had not God had this right of Soveraignty not a man of Adam's posterity could have been blessed he and they must have lain groaning under the misery of the fall which had render'd both himself and all in his Loyns unable to observe the Terms of the first Covenant He hath as some speak dispens'd with his own Moral Law in some cases in commanding Abraham to Sacrifice his Son his only Son a Righteous Son a Son whereof he had the promise that in Isaac should his Seed be call'd yet he was commanded to Sacrifice him by the right of his absolute Soveraignty as the supream Lord of the Lives of his Creatures from the highest Angel to the lowest Worm whereby he bound his Subjects to this Law not himself Our Lives are due to him when he calls for them and they are a just forâ—â—it to him at the very moment we sin at the very moment we come into the World by reason of the venom of our nature against him and the disturbance the first sin of man whereof we are inheritors gave to his Glory Had Abraham sacrificed his Son of his own head he had sinned yea in attempting it but being Authoriz'd from Heaven his act was Obedience to the Soveraign of the World who had a power to dispense with his own Law and with this Law he had before dispens'd in the case of Cains Murder of Abel as to the immediate punishment of it with death which indeed was setled afterwards by his Authority but then omitted because of the paucity of men and for the peopling the World but setled afterwards when there was almost though not altogether the like occasion of omitting it for a time 3. His Soveraignty appears in punishing the Transgression of his Law 1. This is a branch of Gods Dominion as Lawgiver So was the vengeance God would take upon the Amalekites Exod. 17.16 The Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have War The Hebrew is the hand upon the Throne of the Lord as in the margent As a Lawgiver he saves or destroyes James 4.12 He acts according to his own Law in a congruity to the sanction of his own precepts though he be an Arbitrary Lawgiver appointing what Laws he pleases yet he is not an Arbitrary Judge As he commands nothing but what he hath a right to command so he punisheth none but whom he hath a right to punish and with such punishment as the Law hath denounced All his acts of Justice and inflictions of Curses are the effects of this Soveraign Dominion Psal 29.10 He sits King upon the Flouds Upon the deluge of Waters wherewith he drown'd the World say some 'T is a right belonging to the Authority of Magistrates to pull up the infectious weeds that corrupt a Common-Wealth 'T is no less the right of God as the Lawgiver and Judge of all the Earth to subject Criminals to his vengeance after they have rendered themselves abominable in his Eyes and carried themselves unworthy Subjects of so great and glorious a King The first name whereby God is made known in Scripture is Elohim Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God Created the Heaven and Earth A name which signifies his power of judging in the opinion of some Criticks from him it is deriv'd to earthly Magistrates their Judgment is said therefore to be the Judgement of God Deut. 1.17 When Christ came he propos'd this great motive of Repentance from the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand the Kingdom of his Grace whereby to invite men the Kingdom of his Justice in the punishment of the neglecters of it whereby to terrifie men Punishments as well as Rewards belong to Royalty it issued accordingly those that believ'd and repented came under his gracious Scepter those that neglected and rejected it fell under his Iron Rod. Jerusalem was destroy'd the Temple demolish'd the Inhabitants lost their lives by the edge of the Sword or linger'ed them out in the chains of a miserable Captivity This term of Judge which signifies a Soveraign right to govern and punish Delinquents Abraham gives him when 〈◊〉 came to root out the People of Sodom and make them the examples of his veâ—geance Gen. 18.25 2. Punishing the Transgressions of his Law This is necessary branch of Dominion His Soveraignty in making Laws would be a trifle if there were not also an Authority to vindicate those Laws from Contempt and Injury he would be a Lord only spurn'd at by Rebels Soveraignty is not preserved without Justice When the Psalmist speaks of the Majesty of God's Kingdom he tells us that Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne Psal 97.1 2. These are the Engines of Divine dignity which render him glorious and majestick A Legislative power would be trampled on without executive by this the reverential apprehensions of God are preserved in the Wâ—rld He is known to be Lord of the World by the Judgements which he executes Psal 9.16 When he seems to have lost his dominion or given it up in the World he recovers it by punishment When he takes some away with a Whirlwind and in his Wrath the natural consequence men make of it is this Surely there is a God that Judgeth the Earth Psal 58.9.11 He reduceth the Creature by the lash of his judgments that would not acknowledge his Authority in his precepts Those sins which disown his Government in the Heart and Conscience as Pride inward blasphemy c. he hath reserved a time hereafter to reckon for He doth not presently shoot his arrows into the marrow of every delinquent but those sins which traduce his Government of the World and tear up the Foundations of humane converse and a publick respect to him he reckons with particularly here as well as hereafter that the Life of his Soveraignty might not always faint in the World 3. This of punishing was the second discovery of his dominion in the World His first act of Soveraignty was the giving a Law the next his appearance in the State of a judge When his orders were violated he rescues the honour of them by an execution of Justice He first judg'd the Angels punishing the evil ones for their crime the first Court he kept among them as a Governour was to give them a Law the second Court he kept was as a Judge trying the Delinquents and adjudging the Offenders to be reserved in Chains of darkness till the final Execution Jude 6. And at the same time probably he confirmed the good ones in their obedience by Grace So the first discovery of his dominion to man was the giving him a precept the next was the inflicting a punishment for the
Ver. 12. He shall gather them i. e. Those conspiring Nations as sheaves into the floor then he sounds a Trumpet to Sion Arise and thresh O Daughter of Sion for I will make thy Horn Iron and thy Hoofs Brass and thou shalt beat in pieces many people And I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole Earth I will make them and their Councels them and their strength the monuments and signal marks of my Empire over the whole Earth When you see the cunningest designs baffled by some small thing intervening when you see men of profound Wisdom infatuated mistake their way and grope in the noon day as in the night Job 5.14 bewildred in a plain way When you see the hopes of mighty attempters dasht into despair their triumphs turn'd into funerals and their joyful expectations into sorrowful disappointments when you see the weak devoted to destruction victorious and the most presumptuous defeated in their purposes then read the divine Dominion in the desolation of such devices How often doth God take away the Heart and Spirit of grand designs and burst a mighty wheel by snatching but one man out of the World How often doth he cut off the spirits of Princes Psal 76.12 either from the World by death or from the execution of their projects by some unforeseen interruption or from favouring those contrivances which before they cherish'd by a change of their minds How often hath confidence in God and religious Prayer edg'd the weakest and smallest number of weapons to make a carnage of the carnally confident How often hath presumption been disappointed and the contemn'd Enemy rejoyc'd in the spoils of the proud expectant of victory * Causin symb lib. 2. cap. 65. Phydias made the Image of Nemesis or revenge at Marathon of that Marble which the haughty Persians despising the weakness of the Athenian forces brought with them to erect a Trophy for an expected but an ungain'd victory Hamans neck by a sudden turn was in the Halter when the Jews necks were design'd to the block Julian design'd the overthrow of all the Christians just before his breast was peirced by an unexpected Arrow The Powder-Traytors were all ready to give fire to the Mine when the Soveraign hand of Heaven snatch'd away the match Thus the great Lord of the World cuts off men on the pinacle of their designs when they seem to threaten Heaven and Earth Puts out the Candle of the wicked which they thought to use to light them to the execution of their purposes turns their own Counsels into a curse to themselves and a blessing to their Adversaries and makes his greatest Enemies contribute to the effecting his purposes How may we take notice of Gods absolute disposal of things in private affairs when we see one man with a small measure of Prudence and little Industry have great success and others with a greater measure of Wisdom and greater toil and labour find their enterprizes melt between their fingers It was Solomons observation That the race was not to the swift nor the battle to the strong neither bread to the wise nor riches to men of understanding nor yet favour to men of skill Eccles 9.11 Many things might interpose to stop the swift in his race and damp the courage of the most valiant Things do not happen according to mens ability but according to the over-ruling Authority of God God never yet granted man the dominion of his own way no more than to be Lord of his own time the way of man is not in himself it is not in him that walketh to direct his steps Jerem. 10.23 He hath given man a power of acting but not the soveraignty to command success He makes even those things which men intended for their security to turn to their ruine Pilate delivered up Christ to be accounted a friend to Caesar and Caesar soon after proves an Enemy to him removes him from his Government and sends him into banishment The Jews imagined by the crucifying Christ to keep the Roman Ensigns at a distance from them and this hasted their march by Gods soveraign disposal which ended in a total desolation He makes the Judges fools Job 12.17 by taking away his light from their understanding and suffering them to go on in the vanity of their own Spirits that his soveraignty in the management of things may be more apparent For then he is known to be Lord when he snares the wicked in the work of his own hands Psal 9.16 You have seen much of this doctrine in your experience and if my judgment fail me not you will yet see much more 5. The Dominion of God is manifest in sending his Judgments upon whom he please He kills and makes alive he wounds and heals whom he pleaseth His thunders are his own and he may cast them upon what subjects he thinks good He hath a right in a way of Justice to punish all men he hath his choice in a way of Soveraignty to pick out whom he please to make the examples of it Might not some Nations be as wicked as those of Sodom and Gomorrah yet have not been scorcht with the like dreadful flames Zoar was untoucht while the other Cities her Neighbours were burnt to ashes Were there never any places and persons successors in Sodoms guilt Yet those only by his Soveraign Authority are separated by him to be the examples of his Eternal vengeance Jude 7. Why are not sinners as Sodom like as those ancient ones scalded to death by the like fiery drops 't is because it is his pleasure and the same reason is to be rendered why he would in a way of Justice cut off the Jews for their sins and leave the Gentiles untoucht in the midst of their Idolatries When the Church was consumed because of her iniquities they acknowledg'd Gods Soveraignty in this Isaiah 64.7 8. We are the Clay and thou art our Potter and we all the work of thy hands thou hast a liberty either to break or preserve us Judgments move according to Gods order When the Sword hath a charge against Askelon and the Sea shoar thither it must march and touch not any other place or person as it goes though there may be demerit enough for it to punish Jer. 47.6 7. When the Prophet had spake to the Sword Oh thou Sword of the Lord how long will it be â—re thou be quiet Put up thy self into thy scabbard rest and be still The Prophet answers for the Sword how can it be quiet seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against Askelon there hath he appointed it If he hath appointed a judgment against London or Westminster or any other place there it shall drop there it shall peirce and in no other place without a like charge God as a Soveraign gives instructions to every Judgment when and against whom it shall march and what Cities what Persons it shall arrest
a day or two but continually In whatsoever day thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye but not understanding his dying that very day he should eat of it Referring day to the extensiveness of the prohibition as to time But to leave this as uncertain it may be answered that as in some threatnings a condition is implyed though not exprest as in that positive denouncing of the destruction of Niniveh Jonah 3.4 Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroy'd the condition is imply'd unless they humble themselves and repent for upon their Repentance the sentence was deferred So here in the day thou eatest thereof thou shall dye the death or certainly dye unless there be a way found for the expiation of thy crime and the righting my honour This condition in regard of the event may as well be asserted to be implyed in this threatning as that of Repentance was in the other Or rather thou shalt dye thou shalt die spiritually thou shalt loose that image of mine in thy nature that Righteousness which is as much the Life of thy Soul as thy Soul is the life of thy Body that Righteousness whereby thou art enabled to live to me and thy own happiness What the Soul is to the Body a quickning Soul that the image of God is to the Soul a quickning image Or thou shalt dye the death or certainly dye thou shalt be liable to death * Perer in loc And so it is to be understood not of an actual death of the Body but the merit of death and the necessity of death thou wilt be obnoxious to death which will be avoided if thou dost forbear to eat of the forbidden fruit thou shalt be a guilty person and so under a sentence of death that I may when I please inflict it on thee Death did come upon Adam that day because his nature was vitiated He was then also under an expectation of death he was obnoxious to it though that day it was not poured out upon him in the full bitterness and gall of it As when the Apostle saith Rom. 8.10 The Body is dead because of sin he speaks to the Living and yet tells them the body was dead because of sin he means no more than that it was under a sentence and so a necessity of dying though not actually dead So thou shalt be under the sentence of death that day as certainly as if that day thou shouldst sink into the dust And as by his Patience towards man not sending forth death upon him in all the bitter ingredients of it his Justice afterwards was more eminent upon mans surety than it would have been if it had been then employ'd in all its severe operations upon man So was his Veracity eminent also in making good this threatning in inflicting the punishment included in it upon our nature assum'd by a mighty person and upon that person in our nature who was infinitely higher than our nature 2. His justice and righteousness are not prejudiced by his patience There is a hatred of the sin in his holiness and a sentence past against the sin in his justice though the execution of that sentence be suspended and the person reprieved by patience which is implyed Eccles 8.11 Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil Sentence is past but a speedy execution is stopt Some of the Heathens who would not imagine God unjust and yet seeing the villanies and oppressions of men in the World remain unpunisht and frequently beholding prosperous wickedness to free him from the charge of injustice denyed his providence and actual Government of the World for if he did take notice of humane affairs and concern himself in what was done upon the Earth they could not think an infinite goodness and Justice could be so slow to punish oppressors and relieve the miserable and leave the World in that disorder under the injustice of men They judged such a patience as was exercised by him if he did govern the World was drawn out beyond the line of fit and just Is it not a presumption in men to prescribe a rule of Righteousness and conveniency to their Creator It might be demanded of such whether they never injur'd any in their lives and when certainly they have one way or other would they not think it a very unworthy if not unjust thing that a person so injur'd by them should take a speedy and severe revenge on them And if every man should do the like would there not be a speedy dispatch made of Mankind Would not the World be a shambles and men rush forwards to one anothers destruction for the wrongs they have mutually received If it be accounted a virtue in man and no unrighteousness not presently to be all on fire against an offence by what right should any question the consistency of Gods patience with his justice Do we praise the lenity of Parents to children and shall we disparage the long suffering of God to men We do not censure the righteousness of Physitians and Chirurgeons because they cut not off a corrupt member this day as well as to morrow And is it just to asperse God because he doth deferr his vengeance which man assumes to himself a right to do We never account him a bad Governour that deferrs the tryal and consequently the condemnation and execution of a notorious offender for important reasons and beneficial to the publick either to make the nature of his crime more evident or to find out the rest of his complices by his discovery A Governour indeed were unjust if he commanded that which were unrighteous and forbad that which were worthy and commendable But if he delayes the execution of a convict offender for weighty reasons either for the benefit of the state whereof he is the Ruler or for some advantage to the offender himself to make him have a sence of and a regret for his offence we account him not unjust for this God doth not by his patience dispense with the holiness of his Law nor cut off any thing from its due Authority If men do strengthen themselves by his long suffering against his Law 't is their fault not any unrighteousness in him He will take a time to vindicate the Righteousness of his own commands if men will wholly neglect the time of his patience in forbearing to pay a dutiful observance to his Precept If Justice be natural to him and he cannot but punish sin yet he is not necessitated to consume sinners as the fire doth stubble put into it which hath no command over its own qualities to restrain them from acting But God is a free agent and may choose his own time for the distribution of that punishment his nature leads him to Though he be naturally just yet it is not so natural to him as to deprive him of a dominion over his own acts and a
interest of the rest of the World that they should have been extinguisht for the instruction of their contemporaries and posterity The best of them had turned all Religion into a fable coyn'd a World of rites some unnatural in themselves and most of them unbecoming a rational creature to offer and a Deity to accept Yet he did not presently arm himself against them with Fire and Sword nor stopt the course of their Generations nor tare out all those reliques of natural light which were left in their minds He did not do what he might have done but he winkt at the times of that ignorance Act. 17.30 their ignorant Idolatry for that it referrs to ver 29. They thought the God-head was like to Gold or Silver or stone graven by Art and mens device 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 overlooking them He demean'd himself so as if he did not take notice of them He winkt as if he did not see them and would not deal so severely with them the eye of his Justice seem'd to wink in not calling them to an account for their sin 3. His slowness to anger is manifest to the Israelites You know how often they are call'd a stiff-necked people they are said to do evil from their youth i. e. from the time wherein they were erected a Nation and Common-wealth and that the City had been a provocation of his anger and of his fury from the day that they built it even to this day i. e. the day of Jeremiah's Prophesie that he should remove it from before his face Jer. 32.31 From the dayes of Solomon say some which is too much a curtailing of the Text as though their provocations had taken date no higher than from the time of Solomon's rearing the Temple and beautifying the City whereby it seem'd to be a new Building They began more early they scarce discontinued their revolting from God they were a grief to him 40 years together in the Wilderness Psal 95.10 Yet he suffer'd their manners Act. 13.18 He bore with their ill behaviour and sawcyness towards him And no sooner was Joshua's head laid and the Elders that were their conductors gathered to their fathers but the next Generation forsook God and smutted themselves with the Idolatry of the Nations Judg. 2.7.10 11. And when he punished them by prospering the Arms of their enemies against them they were no sooner delivered upon their cry and humiliation but they began a new Scene of Idolatry And though he brought upon them the power of the Babylonian Empire and laid chains upon them to bring them to their right mind And at 70 years end he struck off their chains by altering the whole posture of affairs in that part of the World for their sakes Overturning one Empire and settling another for their Restoration to their antient City And though they did not after disown him for their God and set up Baal in his Throne yet they multiplyed foolish traditions whereby they impaired the Authority of the Law yet he sustained them with a wonderful Patience and preferred them before all other people in the first offers of the Gospel And after they had outrag'd not only his servants the Prophets but his Son the Redeemer yet he did not forsake them but employed his Apostles to sollicit them and publish among them the Doctrine of Salvation So that his treating this people might well be call'd much long suffering it being above 1500 years wherein he bore with them or mildly punished them far less than their deserts Their coming out of Egypt being about the year of the World 2450 and their final destruction as a Common-wealth not till about 40 years after the death of Christ And all this while his Patience did sometimes wholly restrain his Justice and sometimes let it fall upon them in some few drops but made no total devastation of their Country nor wrote his revenge in extraordinary bloody Characters till the Roman conquest wherein he put a period to them both as a Church and State In particular this Patience is manifest 1. In his giving warnings of Judgments before he orders them to go forth He doth not punish in a passion and hastily He speakes before he strikes and speakes that he may not strike Wrath is publisht before it is executed and that a long time An 120 years Advertisement was given to a debauch'd World before the Heavens were open'd to spout down a deluge upon them He will not be accused of coming unawares upon a people He inflicts nothing but what he foretold either immediately to the people that provoke him or anciently to them that have been their fore-runners in the same provocation Hos 7.12 I will chastise them as their Congregation hath heard Many of the leaves of the Old Testament are full of those Presages and Warnings of approaching judgment These make up a great part of the Volume of it in various Editions according to the State of the several provoking times Warnings are given to those people that are most abominable in his sight Zeph. 2.1 2. Gather your selves together yea gather together Oh Nation not desired 't is a Meiosis Oh Nation abhorr'd before the decree bring forth He sends his Heralds before he sends his Armies He summons them by the voice of his Prophets before he confounds them by the voice of his Thunders When a parley is beaten a white flagg of Peace is hung out before a black flagg of fury is set up He seldom cuts down men by his Judgments before he hath hewed them by his Prophets Hos 6.5 Not a remarkable judgment but was foretold the Floud to the Old World by Noah The Famine to Egypt by Joseph The Earthquake by Amos. Amos 1.1 The storm from Chaldea by Jeremy The Captivity of the Ten Tribes by Hosea The total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Christ himself He hath chosen the best persons in the World to give those intimations Noah the most Righteous person on the earth for the Old World And his Son the most beloved person in Heaven for the Jews in the later time And in other parts of the World and in the later times where he hath not warned by Prophets he hath supplyed it by Prodigies in the Air and Earth Histories are full of such Items from Heaven Lesser judgments are fore-warners of greater as Lightnings before Thunder are Messengers to tell us of a succeeding clap 1. He doth often give warning of Judgments He comes not to extremity till he hath often shaken the rod over Men He thunders often before he crusheth them with his Thunder-bolt He doth not till after the first and second admonition punish a rebel as he would have us reject a Heretick He speaks once yea twice Job 33.14 and man percieves it not He sends one Message after another and waits the success of many messages before he strikes Eight Prophets were order'd to acquaint the Old World with approaching judgment 2 Pet. 2.5 He saved
Noah the 8th person a Preacher of Righteousness bringing in the Flood upon the World of the ungodly called the 8th in respect of his Preaching not in regard of his preservation He was the 8th Preacher in order from the begining of the World that endeavoured to restore the World to the way of Righteousness Most indeed consider him here as the 8th person saved so do our Translators and therefore add Person which is not in the Greek Some others consider him here as the 8th Preacher of Righteousness reckoning Enoch the Son of Seth the first grounding it upon Gen. 4.26 Then began men to call on the Name of the Lord Hebr. Then it was began to call in the Name of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. He began to call in the Name of the Lord which others render he began to preach or call upon men in the Name of the Lord. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to Preach or to call upon men by Preaching Prov. 1.21 Wisdom cryeth or preaches And if this be so as it is very probable 't is easie to reckon him the 8th Preacher by numbering the successive heads of the Generations Gen. 5. Beginning at Enosh the first Preacher of Righteousness * Vid. Gells 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So many there were before God choakt the Old World with water and swept them away 'T is clear he often did admonish by his Prophets the Jews of their sin and the wrath which should come upon them One Prophet Hosea Prophesied 70 years for he Prophesied in the dayes of 4 Kings of Judah and one of Israel Jeroboam the Son of Joash Hos 1.1 or Jeroboam the second of that name Vzziah King of Judah in whose Reign Hosea Prophesied lived 38 years after the death of Jeroboam The Second Jotham Vzziah's Successor Reign'd 16 years Ahaz 16 Hezekiah 29 years Now take nothing of Hezekiah's time and Date the beginning of his Prophesie from the last year of Jeroboam's Reign and the time of Hosea's Prophesie will be 70 years compleat Wherein God warned those people and waited the return particularly of Israel * Sanctius Prolegom in Hosea Prolog the 3d. and not less than 5 of those we call the lesser Prophets were sent to foretell the destruction of the Ten Tribes and to call them to Repentance Hosea Joel Amos Micah Jonah And though we have nothing of Jonah's Prophesie in this concern of Israel yet that he lived in the time of the same Jeroboam and Prophesied things which are not upon record in the book of Jonah is clear 2 King 14.25 And besides those Isaiah Prophesied also in the Reign of the same Kings as Hosea did Isa 1.1 And it is God's usual method to send forth his servants and when their admonitions are slighted he Commissions others before he sends out his destroying Armies Mat. 22.3 4 7. 2. He doth often give warning of Judgments that he might not pour out his wrath He summons them to a surrender of themselves and a return from their Rebellion that they might not feel the force of his Armes He offers peace before he shakes off the dust of his feet that his despised peace might not return in vain to him to sollicite a revenge from his anger He hath a right to punish upon the first Commission of a crime but he warns men of what they have deserved of what his Justice moves him to inflict that by having recourse to his mercy he might not exercise the rights of his Justice God sought to kill Moses for not circumcising his Son Exod. 4.24 Could God that sought it miss of a way to do it Could a creature lurch or flie from him God put on the garb of an enemy that Moses might be discouraged from being an instrument of his own ruine God manifested an anger against Moses for his neglect as if he would then have destroyed him that Moses might prevent it by casting off his carelesness and doing his duty He sought to kill him by some evident sign that Moses might escape the judgment by his obedience He threatens Niniveh by the Prophet with destruction that Niniveh's Repentance might make void the Prophesie He fights with men by the Sword of his mouth that he might not pierce them by the Sword of his wrath He threatens that men might prevent the execution of his threatning He terrifies that he might not destroy but that men by humiliation may lie prostrate before him and move the bowels of his mercy to a louder sound than the voice of his Anger He takes time to whet his Sword that men may turn themselves from the edge of it He roars like a Lion that men by hearing his voice may shelter themselves from being torn by his Wrath. There is patience in the sharpest threatning that we may avoid the scourge Who can charge God with an eagerness to revenge that sends so many Heralds and so often before he strikes that he might be prevented from striking His threatnings have not so much of a black flag as of an Olive branch He lifts his up hand before he strikes that men might See and avert the stroke Isaiah 26.11 2. His Patience is manifest in long delaying his threatned Judgements though he finds no Repentance in the Rebels He doth sometimes delay his lighter punishments because he doth not delight in torturing his Creatures but he doth longer delay his destroying punishments such as put an end to mens happiness and remit them to their final and unchangeable state because he doth not delight in the death of a Sinner While he is preparing his arrows he is waiting for an occasion to lay them aside and dull their points that he may with honour march back again and disband his Armies He brings lighter smarts sooner that men might not think him asleep but he suspends the more terrible judgments that men might be led to Repentance He scatters not his consuming fires at the first but brings on ruining vengeance with a slow pace sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed Eccles 8.11 The Jews therefore say that Michael the Minister of Justice flyes with one wing but Gabriel the Minister of Mercy with two An 120 years did God wait upon the old World and delay their punishment all the time the Ark was preparing 1 Pet. 3.20 Wherein that wicked Generation did not enjoy only a bare patience but a striving patience Gen. 6.3 My Spirit shall not always strive with man yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years the days wherein I will strive with him that his Long-suffering might not lose all its fruit and remit the objects of it into the hands of consuming Justice It was the Tenth Generation of the World from Adam when the deluge overflow'd it so long did God bear with them And the Tenth Generation from Noah wherein Sodom was consumed God did not come to keep his Assizes in Sodom till the cry of their sins was very
strong that it had been a wrong to his Justice to have restrain'd it any longer The cry was so loud that he could not be at quiet as it were on his Throne of Glory for the disturbing noise Gen. 18.20 21. Sin transgresseth the Law the Law being violated solicites Justice Justice being urg'd pleads for punishment the cry of their sins did as it were force him from Heaven to come down and examine what cause there was for that clamour Sin cries loud and long before he takes his Sword in hand Four hundred years he kept off deserved destruction from the Amorites and deferr'd making good his promise to Abraham of giving Canaan to his Posterity out of his Long-suffering to the Amorites Gen. 15.16 In the fourth Generation they shall come hither again for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full Their measure was filling then but not so full as to put a stop to any further patience till four hundred years after The usual time in succeeding Generations from the denouncing of Judgments to the execution is forty years this some ground upon Ezek. 4.6 thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Judah forty days taking each day for a year Though Hosea lived seventy years yet from the beginning of his prophesying Judgments against Israel to the pouring them out upon that Idolatrous People it was forty years Hosea as was mentioned before prophesied against them in the days of Jeroboam the second in whose time God did wonderfully deliver Israel 2 Kings 14.26.27 From that time till the total destruction of the ten Tribes it was forty years as may easily be computed from the Story 2 Kings 15 16 17. chapters by the Reign of the succeeding Kings So forty years after the most horrid villany that ever was committed in the face of the Sun viz. The Crucifying the Son of God was Jerusalem destroyed and the inhabitants captiv'd so long did God delay a visible punishment for such an outrage Sometimes he prolongs sending a threatned judgment upon a meer shadow of humiliation so he did that denounced against Ahab He turn'd it over to his posterity and adjourn'd it to another season 1 Kings 21.29 He doth not issue out an Arrest upon one Transgression you often find him not commencing a suit against men till three and four Transgressions The first of Amos all along that chapter and the second chapter for three and four i. e. seven A certain number for an uncertain He gives not orders to his judgments to march till men be obstinate and refuse any commerce with him He stops them till there be no remedy 2 Chron. 36.16 It must be a great wickedness that gives vent to them Hos 10.15 Heb. your wickedness of wickedness He is so slow to anger and stays the punishment his enemies deserve that he may seem to have forgot his kindness to his Friends Psal 44.24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face and forgettest our affliction and oppression He lets his people groan under the yoke of their Enemies as if he were made up of kindness to his Enemies and anger against his Friends This delaying of punishment to evil men is visible in his suspending the terrifying acts of Conscience and supporting it only in its checking admonishing and controuling acts The patience of a Governour is seen in the patient mildness of his Deputy Davids Conscience did not terrifie him till nine months after his sin of Murder Should God set open the Mouth of this power within us not only the Earth but our own bodies and Spirits would be a burden to us 'T is long before God puts Scorpions into the hands of mens Consciences to scourge them He holds back the rod waiting for the hour of our return as if that would be a recompence for our offences and his forbearance III. His Patience is manifest in his unwillingness to execute his Judgments when he can delay no longer He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men. Lament 3.33 Hebr. He doth not afflict from his Heart He takes no pleasure in it as he is Creator The height of mens provocations and the necessity of the preserving his rights and vindicating his Laws obligeth him to it as he is the Governour of the World As a Judge may willingly condemn a Malefactor to death out of affection to the Laws and desire to preserve the order of Government but unwillingly out of Compassion to the offender himself When he resolved upon the destruction of the old World he spake it as a God grieved with an occasion of punishment Gen. 6.6 7. compared together When he came to reckon with Adam be walked he did not run with his Sword in his hand upon him as a mighty man with an eagerness to destroy him Gen. 3.8 And that in the cool of the day a time when men tired in the day are unwilling to engage in a hard employment His exercising judgment is a coming out of his place Isaiah 26.21 Micah 1.3 He comes out of his station to exercise judgment a Throne is more his place than a tribunal Every prophesie loaded with threatnings is call'd the Burden of the Lord a burden to him to execute it as well as to men to suffer it Though three Angels came to Abraham about the punishment of Sodom whereof one Abraham speaks to as to God yet but two appear'd at the destruction of Sodom as if the Governour of the World were unwilling to be present at such dreadful work Gen. 19.1 And when the Man that had the inkhorn by his side that was appointed to mark those that were to be preserved in the common destruction return'd to give an account of the performing his commission Ezek. 9.10 We read not of the return of those that were to kill as if God delighted only to hear again of his works of Mercy and had no mind to hear again of his severe proceedings * Mercer in Gen. 1.5 The Jews to shew Gods unwillingness to punish imagine that Hell was created the second day Because that days work is not pronounced good by God as all the other days works are Gen. 1.8 1. When God doth punish he doth it with some regret * Cressol Decad. 2. p. 163. When he hurles down his thunders he seems to do it with a backward hand Because with an unwilling heart He created saith Chrysostom the World in six days but was seven days in destroying one City Jericho which he had before devoted to be razed to the ground What is the reason saith he that God is so quick to build up but slow to pull down His Goodness excites his power to the One but is not earnest to perswade him to the Other When he comes to strike he doth it with a sigh or groan Isaiah 1.24 Ah I will ease me of my adversaries and avenge me on my Enemies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ah a note of grief So Hos 6.4 Oh Ephraim what shall I do unto thee
notwithstanding the clamour of the sins of the multitude Judea was ripe for the sickle but God would put a lock upon the torrent of his judgments that they should not flow down upon that wicked place to make them a desolation and a curse as long as tender hearted Josiah lived who had humbled himself at the threatning and wept before the Lord 1 King 22.19 20. Sometimes he bears with wicked men that they might exercise the Patience of the Saints Rev. 14.12 The whole time of the forbearance of Antichrist in all his intrusions into the Temple of God invasions of the rights of God usurpations of the Office of Christ and besmearing himself with the blood of the Saints was to give them an opportunity of Patience God is Patient towards the wicked that by their means he might try the Righteous He burns not the wisp till he hath scowred his vessels Nor layes by the hammer till he hath formed some of his matter into an excellent fashion He useth the worst men as rods to correct his people before he sweeps the twiggs out of his house God sometimes uses the thorns of the World as a hedge to secure his Church sometimes as instruments to try and exercise it Howsoever he useth them whither for security or tryal he is Patient to them for his Churches advantage 6. When men are not brought to Repentance by his Patience he doth longer exercise it to manifest the equity of his future justice upon them As Wisdom is justified by her obedient children so is justice justified by the rebels against Patience the contempt of the later is the justification of the former The Apostles were unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that perish as well as in them that were saved by the acceptation of their message 2 Cor. 2.15 Both are fragrant to God his Mercy is Glorified by the ones acceptance of it and his Justice freed from any charge against it by the others refusal The cause of mens ruin cannot be laid upon God who provided means for their Salvation and sollicited their complyance with him What reason can they have to charge the Judge with any wrong to them who reject the tenders he makes and who hath forborn them with so much Patience when he might have censured them by his Righteous Justice upon the first crime they committed or the first refusal of his gracious offers Quanto Dei magis Judicium tardum est tanto magis justum * Minuc Felix pag. 41. After the despising of Patience there can be no suspition of an irregularity in the acts of Justice Man hath no reason to fall foul in his charge upon God if he were punished for his own sin considering the dignity of the injured person and the meanness of himself the offender But his wrath is more justified when it is poured out upon those whom he hath endured with much long suffering There is no plea against the shooting of his Arrows into those for whom this voice hath been loud and his arms open for their return As Patience while it is exercised is the silence of his justice so when it is abused it silenceth mens complaints against his justice The riches of his forbearance made way for the manifesting the treasures of his wrath If God did but a little bear with the insolencies of men and cut them off after two or three sins he would not have opportunity to shew either the power of his Patience or that of his wrath But when he hath a right to punish for one sin and yet bears with them for many and they will not be reclaimed the sinner is more inexcusable divine Justice less chargable and his wrath more powerful Rom. 9. 22. What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction The proper and immediate end of his long suffering is to lead men to repentance but after they have by their obstinacy fitted themselves for destruction he bears longer with them to magnifie his wrath more upon them and if it is not the finis operantis 't is at least the finis operis where Patience is abused Men are apt to complain of God that he deals hardly with them The Israelites seem to charge God with too much severity to cast them off when so many promises were made to the fathers for their perpetuity and preservation which is intimated Hos 2.2 Plead with your mother plead by the double repetition of the word plead Do not accuse me of being false or too rigorous but accuse your Mother your Church your Magistracy your Ministry for their spiritual fornications which have provoked me For their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 intimating the greatness of their sins by the reduplication of the word lest I strip her naked I have born with her under many provocations and I have not yet taken away all her Ornaments or said to her according to the rule of divorce res tuas tibi habeto God answers their impudent charge She is not my Wife nor am I her Husband He doth not say first I am not her Husband but she is not my Wife She first withdrew from her duty by breaking the Marriage Covenant and then I ceased to be her Husband No man shall be condemned but he shall be convinced of the due desert of his sin and the justice of God's proceeding God will lay open Mens guilt and repeat the measures of his Patience to justifie the severity of his wrath Hos 7.10 Sins will testifie to their face What is in its own nature a preparation for Glory men by their obstinacy make a preparation for a more indisputable punishment We see many evidences of God's forbearance here in sparing men under those blasphemies which are audible and those prophane carriages which are visible which would sufficiently justifie an act of severity Yet when mens secret sins both in heart and action and the vast multitude of them far surmounting what can arrive to our knowledge here shall be discovered how great a lustre will it add to God's bearing with them and make his justice triumph without any reasonable demurr from the sinner himself He is long suffering here that his justice may be more publick hereafter IV. The VSE I. For Instruction 1. How is this Patience of God abused The Gentiles abused those Testimonies of it which were written in showers and fruitful seasons No Nation was ever stript of it under the most provoking Idolatries till after multiplyed spurns at it Not a person among us but hath been guilty of the abuse of it How have we contemned that which demands a reverence from us How have we requited God's waitings with rebellions while he hath continued urging and expecting our return Saul relented at David's forbearing to revenge himself when he had his prosecuting and industrious enemy in his power 1 Sam. 24.17 Thou art more Righteous
that their corruption should be so deep and strong that so much patience could not overcome it It would certainly make a man asham'd of his nature as well as his actions 3. The consideration of his patience would make us resent more the injuries done by others to God A Patient sufferer though a deserving sufferer attracts the pity of men that have a value for any vertue though clouded with a heap of vice How much more should we have a concern for God who suffers so many abuses from others And be grieved that so admirable a patience should be slighted by men who solely live by and under the daily influence of it The impression of this would make us take Gods part as it is usual with men to take the part of good dispositions that lie under oppression 4. It would make us patient under Gods hand His slowness to Anger and his forbearance is visible in the very strokes we feel in this Life We have no reason to murmur against him who gives us so little cause and in the greatest afflictions gives us more occasion of thankfulness than of repining Did not slowness to the extreamest Anger moderate every affliction it had been a Scorpion instead of a rod. We have reason to bless him who from his long-suffering sends temporal sufferings where eternal are justly due Ezra 9.13 Thou hast punished us less than our iniquities do deserve His indulgences towards us have been more than our corrections and the length of his patience hath exceeded the sharpness of his rod Upon the account of his long-suffering our mutinies against God have as little to excuse them as our sins against him have to deserve his forbearance The consideration of this would shew us more reason to repine at our own repinings than at any of his smarter dealings And the consideration of this would make us submissive under the Judgments we expect His undeserved patience hath been more than our merited judgments can possibly be thought to be If we fear the removal of the Gospel for a season as we have reason to do we should rather bless him that by his waiting patience he hath continued it so long then murmur that he threatens to take it away so late He hath born with us many a year since the light of it was re-kindled when our Ancestors had but six years of patience between the rise of Edward the VI and the ascent of Queen Mary to the Crown 2. Exhortation is to admire and stand astonisht at his patience and bless him for it If you should have defil'd your Neighbors bed or sullyed his reputation or rifled his Goods would he have withheld his vengeance unless he had been too weak to execute it We have done worse to God then we can do to man and yet he draws not that Sword of Wrath out of the scabbard of his patience to sheath it in our hearts 'T is not so much a wonder that any Judgments are sent as that there are no more and sharper That the World shall be fired at last is not a thing so strange as that fire doth not come down every day upon some part of it Had the disciples that saw such excellent patterns of mildness from their Master and were so often urg'd to learn of him that was lowly and meek the Government of the World it had been long since turn'd into ashes since they were too forward to desire him to open his magazine of judgments and kindle a fire to consume a Samaritan Village for a slight affront in comparison of what he received from others and afterwards from themselves in their forsaking of him Luke 9.52 53 54. We should admire and praise that here which shall be prais'd in Heaven though patience shall cease as to its exercise after the consummation of the World it shall not cease from receiving the acknowledgments of what it did when it traversed the stage of this Earth If the Name of God be glorified and acknowledged in Heaven no question but this will also since long-suffering is one of his Divine Titles a letter in his name as well as Merciful and Gracious Abundant in Goodness and Truth And there is good reason to think that the patience exercised towards some before converting grace was ordered to seize upon them will bear a great part in the Anthems of Heaven The greater his long-suffering hath been to men that lay covered with their own dung a long time before they were freed by grace from their filth the more admiringly and loudly they will cry up his Mercy to them after they have past the gulf and see a deserv'd Hell at a distance from them and many in that place of torments who never had the tasts of so much forbearance If mercy will be prais'd there that which began the Alphabet of it cannot be forgot If Paul speak so highly of it in a damping World and under the pull-backs of a body of death as he doth 1 Tim. 1.16 17. For this cause I obtained mercy that Christ might shew forth all long-suffering Now unto the King Eternal Immortal Invisible the Only Wise God be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen No doubt but he will have a higher note for it when he is surrounded with a heavenly flame and freed from all remains of dullness shall it be praised above and have we no notes for it here below Admire Christ too who sued out your repreive upon the account of his merit As mercy acts not upon any but in Christ so neither had patience born with any but in Christ The pronouncing the arrest of Judgment Gen. 8.21 was when God smell'd a sweet savour from Noahs sacrifice not from the Beasts offer'd but the Antitypical sacrifice represented That we may be raised to bless God for it let us consider 1. The multitude of our provocations Though some have blacker guilt than others and deeper stains yet let none wipe his mouth but rather imagine himself to have but little reason to bless it Are not all our offences as many as their have been minutes in our lives All the moments of our continuance in the World have been moments of his Patience and our ingratitude Adam was punished for one sin Moses excluded Canaan for a passionate unbelieving word Ananias and Saphira lost their lives for one sin against the Holy Ghost One sin sullyed the beauty of the World defaced the works of God had crackt Heaven and Earth in pieces had not infinite satisfaction been proposed to the provoked Justice by the Redeemer And not one sin committed but is of the same venemous nature How many of those contradictions against himself hath he born with Had we been only unprofitable to him his forbearance of us had been miraculous But how much doth it exceed a miracle and lift it self above the meanness of a conjunction with such an Epithet since we have been provoking Had there been no more than our impudent or careless
rushings into his presence in Worship Had they been only sins of Omission and sins of Ignorance it had been enough to have put a stand to any further operations of this perfection towards us But add to those sins of Commission sins against knowledge sins against spiritual motions sins against repeated resolutions and pressing admonitions the neglects of all the opportunities of Repentance put them all together and we can as little recount them as the sands on the sea shore But what do I only speak of particular men view the whole World and if our own iniquities render it an amazing Patience what a mighty supply will be made to it in all the numerous and weighty provocations under which he hath continued the World for so many revolutions of Years and Ages Have not all those pressed into his presence with a loud cry and demanded a sentence from Justice yet hath not the Judge been overcome by the importunity of our sins * Pont. part 1. 42. Were the Devils punished for one sin a proud thought and that not committed against the blood of Christ as we have done numberless times yet hath not God made us partakers in their punishment though we have exceeded them in the quality of their sin Oh admirable patience that would bear with me under so many while he would not bear with the sinning Angels for one 2. Consider how mean things we are who have provoked him What is man but a vile thing that a God abounding with all riches should take care of so abject a thing much more to bear so many affronts from such a drop of matter such a nothing creature That he that hath anger at his command as well as pity should endure such a detestable deformed creature by sin to fly in his face What is man that thou art mindful of him Psal 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 miserable incurable man derived from a word that signifies to be incurably sick Man is Adam Earth from his Earthly Original and Enosh incurable from his corruption Is it not worthy to be admired that a God of infinite Glory should wait on such Adams worms of earth and be as it were a servant and attendant to such Enoshes sickly and peevish creatures 3. Consider who it is that is thus patient He it is that with one breath could turn Heaven and Earth and all the inhabitants of both into nothing That could by one Thunderbolt have razed up the Foundations of a cursed World He that wants not instruments without to ruine us that can arm our own Consciences against us and can drown us in our own Phlegm And by taking out one pin from our bodies cause the whole frame to fall asunder Besides 't is a God that while he suffers the sinner hates the sin more than all the Holy men upon Earth or Angels in Heaven can do So that his patience for a minute transcends the patience of all creatures from the Creation to the Dissolution of the World because it is the patience of a God infinitely more sensible of the cursed quality of sin and infinitely more detesting it 4. Consider how long he hath forborn his anger A reprieve for a Week or a Month is accounted a great favour in Civil States The Civil Law enacts * Cod. Lib. 9. Titul 47 6. 20. that if the Emperour commanded a man to be condemned the Execution was to be deferred 30 dayes because in that time the Princes anger might be appeased But how great a favour is it to be reprieved 30 years for many offences every one of which deserves death more at the hands of God than any offence can at the hands of man Paul was according to the common account but about 30 years Old at his Conversion and how much doth he elevate Divine long suffering Certainly there are many who have more reason as having larger quantities of patience cut out to them who have lived to see their own gray hairs in a rebellious posture against God before Grace brought them to a surrender We were all condemn'd in the Womb our Lives were forfeited the first moment of our breath but patience hath stopt the Arrest The merciful Creditor deserves to have acknowledgment from us who hath laid by his Bond so many years without putting it in suit against us Many of your companions in sin have perhaps been surprized long ago and haled to an Eternal Prison Nothing is remaining of them but their dust and the time is not yet come for your Funeral Let it be considered that that God that would not wait upon the fallen Angels one instant after their sin nor give them a moments space of Repentance hath prolonged the Life of many a sinner in the World to innumerable moments to 420000 minutes in the space of a Year to 8 Millions and 400000 Minutes in the space of 20 Years The damned in Hell would think it a great kindness to have but a Year's Month's nay Daye 's respite as a space to Repent in 5. Consider also how many have been taken away under shorter measures of patience Some have been struck into a Hell of misery while thou remainest upon an Earth of forbearance In a Plague the destroying Angel hath hew'd down others and past by us The Arrows have flew about our heads past over us and stuck in the heart of a neighbour How many Rich men How many of our Friends and Familiars have been seiz'd by death since the beginning of the year when they least thought of it and imagin'd it far from them Have you not known some of your acquaintance snatcht away in the height of a crime Was not the same wrath due to you as well as to them And had it not been as dreadful for you to be so surprized by him as it was for them Why should he take a less sturdy sinner out of thy company and let thee remain still upon the Earth If God had dealt so with you how had you been cut off not only from the enjoyment of this Life but the hopes of a better And if God hath made such a Providence beneficial for reclaiming you how much reason have you to acknowledge him He that hath had least patience hath cause to admire but those that have more ought to exceed others in blessing him for it If God had put an end to your natural Life before you had made provision for Eternal how deplorable would your condition have been Consider also who ever have been sinners formerly of a deeper note Might not God have struck a man in the embraces of his Harlots and choaked him in the moment of his excessive and intemperate healths or on the sudden have spurted Fire and Brimstone into a blasphemers mouth What if God had snatcht you away when you had been sleeping in some great iniquity or sent you while burning in lust to the fire it merited Might he not have crackt the string that linkt your souls to your
the Eye of his Justice that Ephraim might not be his unwise Son and stay long in the place of the breaking forth of Children i. e. That he should speedily reclaim himself and not continue in the way of destruction God hath no need to abuse any he doth not lie to the Sons of men if he would have men perish he could easily destroy them and have done it long ago He did not leave the woman Jezabel in being nor lengthned out her time but as a space to Repent Revelations 2.21 That she might reflect upon her ways and devote her self seriously to his service and her own happiness His patience stands between the offending Creature and Eternal misery a long time that men might not foolishly throw away their Souls and be damned for their impenitency by this he shews himself ready to receive men to mercy upon their return To what purpose doth he invite men to Repentance if he intended to deceive them and damn them after they Repent 3. He doth exercise Patience for the propagation of Mankind If God punished every sin presently there would not only be a period put to Churches but to the World without Patience Adam had sunk into Eternal anguish the first moment of his provocation and the whole World of Mankind in his loynes had perished with him and never seen the light If this perfection had not interposed after the first sin God had lost his end in the Creation of the World which he Created not in vain but formed it to be inhabited Isa 45.18 It had been inconsistent with the wisdom of God to make a world to be inhabited and destroy it upon sin when it had but two principal inhabitants in it the reason of his making this earth had been insignificant He had not had any upon earth to Glorifie him without erecting another World which might have proved as sinful and as quickly wicked as this God should have alwayes been pulling down and rearing up creating and annihilating one world would have come after another as wave after wave in the Sea His Patience stept into support the honour of God and the continuance of men without which one had been in part impaired and the other totally lost 4. He doth exercise Patience for the continuance of the Church If he be not patient toward sinners what stock would there be for believers to spring up from He bears with the provoking carriage of men evil men because out of their loynes he intends to extract others which he will form for the glory of his grace He hath some unborn that belong to the election of Grace which are to be the seed of the worst of men Jeroboam the chief incendiary of the Israelites to Idolatry had an Abijah in whom was found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel 1 King 14.13 Had Ahaz been snapt in the first act of his wickedness the Israelites had wanted so good a Prince and so good a man as Hezekiah a branch of that wicked predecessor What Gardiner cuts off the thornes from the Rose-bush till he hath gathered the Roses And men do not use to burn all the Crab-tree but preserve a Stock to engraft some sweet fruit upon There could not have been a Saint in the Earth nor consequently in Heaven had it not been for this perfection He did not destroy the Israelites in the Wilderness that he might keep up a Church among them and not extinguish the whole seed that were heirs of the promises and Covenant made with Abraham Had God punished men for their sins as soon as they had been committed none would have lived to have been better none could have continued in the World to honour him by their virtues Manasseh had never been a convert and many brutish men had never been changed from beasts to Angels to praise and acknowledge their Creator Had Peter received his due recompence upon the denyal of his Master he had never been a Martyr for him Nor had Paul been a Preacher of the Gospel nor any else and so the Gospel had not shined in any part of the world No seed would have been brought into Christ Christ is beholding immediately to this attribute for all the seed he hath in the world 'T is for his Name sake that he doth deferr his Anger and for his praise that he doth refrain from cutting us off Isa 48.9 And in the next chapter follows a Prophesie of Christ To overthrow Mankind for sin were to prevent the spreading a Church in the world A woman that is guilty of a Capital Crime and lies under a condemning sentence is reprieved from Execution for her being with child 'T is for the Child's sake the Woman is respited not for her own 'T is for the Elects sake in the loyns of transgressors that they are a long time spared and not for their own Isa 65.8 9. As the new Wine is found in the cluster and one saith destroy it not for a blessing is in it So will I do for my servants sake that I may not destroy them all as a Husband-man spares a Vine for some good clusters in it He had spoke of vengeance before yet he would reserve some from whom he would bring forth those that should be inheritors of his Mountains that he might make up his Church of Judea Jerusalem being a Mountainous place and the type of the Church in all Ages What is the reason he doth not level his Thunder at the heads of those for whose destruction he receives so many Petitions from the Souls under the Altar Rev. 6.9 10. Because God had others to write a Testimony for him in their own blood and perhaps out of the loynes of those for whom vengeance was so earnestly supplicated * Smith on the Creed p. 404. And God as the Master of a Vessel lies Patiently at Anchor till the last Passenger he expects be taken in 5. For the sake of his Church he is Patient to wicked men The tares are Patiently endured till the Harvest for fear in the plucking up the one there might be some prejudice done to the other Upon this account he spares some who are worse than others whom he crusheth by signal judgments The Jews had committed sins worse than Sodom for the confirmation of which we have God's Oath Ezek. 16.48 and more by half than Samaria or the Ten Tribes had done ver 51. Yet God spared the Jews though he destroyed the Sodomites VVhat was the reason but a larger remnant of Righteous persons more clusters of good grapes were found among them than grew in Sodom Isa 1.9 A few more Righteous in Sodom had dampt the Fire and Brimstone design'd for that place And a remnant of such in Judea was a bar to that fierceness of anger which otherwise would have quickly consumed them Had there been but Ten Righteous in Sodom Divine Patience had still bound the Arms of justice that it should not have prepared its Brimstone