so our Saviour declares to us the particular Providence of God towards those Creatures Matth. 6.26 Behold the fowls of the air for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them V. 28.29 Consider the lillies of the field how they grow they toyl not neither do they spin And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these And tho' all the Creatures below man being without understanding can take no notice of this bounty of God to them nor make any acknowledgments to him for it yet man who is the Priest of the visible Creation and placed here in this great Temple of the World to offer up Sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving to God for his universal goodness to all his Creatures ought to bless God in their behalf and to sing praises to him in the name of all the inferiour Creatures which are subjected to his Dominion and Use because they are all as it were his Family his Servants and Utensils and if God should neglect any of them and suffer them to perish and miscarry 't is we that should find the inconvenience and want of them and therefore we should on their behalf celebrate the Praises of God as we find David often does in the Psalms calling upon the inanimate and the brute Creatures to praise the Lord. 4. The universal Goodness of God doth yet further appear in providing so abundantly for the Welfare and Happiness of all his Creatures so far as they are capable and sensible of it He doth not only support and preserve his Creatures in Being but takes care that they should all enjoy that happiness and pleasure which their natures are capable of The Creatures endowed with Sense and Reason which only are capable of pleasure and happiness God hath taken care to satisfie the several Appetites and Inclinations which he hath planted in them and according as Nature hath enlarged their desires and capacities so he enlargeth his Bounty towards them he openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing God doth not immediately bring Meat to the Creatures when they are hungry but it is near to them commonly in the Elements wherein they are bred or within their reach and he hath planted Inclinations in them to hunt after it and to lead and direct them to it and to encourage self-preservation and to oblige and instigate them to it and that they might not be melancholy and weary of Life he hath so ordered the nature of living Creatures that Hunger and Thirst are most implacable desires exceeding painful and even intolerable and likewise that the satisfaction of these Appetites should be a mighty pleasure to them And for those Creatures that are young and not able to provide for themselves God hath planted in all Creatures a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a natural Affection towards their young ones which will effectually put them upon seeking Provisions for them and cherishing them with that care and tenderness which their weak and helpless condition doth require and reason is not more powerful and effectual in mankind to this purpose than this natural instinct is in brute Creatures which shews what care God hath taken and what provision he hath made in the natural Frame of all his Creatures for the satisfaction of the inclinations and appetites which he hath planted in them the satisfaction whereof is their pleasure and happiness And thus I have done with the First head I proposed the universal extent of God's goodness to his Creatures let us now proceed in the II. place To consider more particularly the goodness of God to men which we are more especially concerned to take notice of and to be affected with it And we need go no further than our own observation and experience to prove the goodness of God every day of our lives we see and taste that the Lord is good all that we are and all the good that we enjoy and all that we expect and hope for is from the divine goodness every good and perfect gift descends from above from the Father of lights Jam. 1.17 And the best and most perfect of his gifts he bestows on the Sons of men What is said of the wisdom of God Prov. 8. may be applyed to his goodness the goodness of God shines forth in all the works of Creation in the Heavens and Clouds above and in the Fountains of the great deep in the Earth and the Fields but its delight is with the Sons of men Such is the goodness of God to man that it is represented to us in Scripture under the Notion of love God is good to all his Creatures but he is only said to love the sons of men More particularly the goodness of God to man appears 1. That he hath given us such noble and excellent Beings and placed us in so high a rank and order of his Creatures We owe to him that we are and what we are we do not only partake of that effect of his goodness which is common to us with all other Creatures that we have received our being from him but we are peculiarly obliged to him for his more especial goodness that he hath made us reasonable Creatures of that Kind which we should have chosen to have been of if we could suppose that before we were it had been referr'd to us and put to our choice what part we would be of this visible World But we did not contrive and chuse this Condition for our selves we are no ways accessary to the dignity and excellency of our Beings but God chose this condition for us and made us what we are So that we may say with David Psal 100.3 4 5. 'T is he that hath made us and not we our selves O enter then into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful unto him and speak good of his name for the Lord is good The goodness of God is the Spring and Fountain of our Beings but for that we had been nothing and but for his farther goodness we might have been any thing of the lowest and meanest rank of his Creatures But the goodness of God hath been pleased to advance us to be the Top and Perfection of the visible Creation he hath been pleased to endow us with Mind and Understanding and made us capable of happiness in the knowledge and love and enjoyment of himself He hath curiously and wonderfully wrought the Frame of our Bodies so as to make them fit Habitations for reasonable Souls and immortal Spirits he hath made our very Bodies Vessels of Honour when of the very same Clay he hath made innumerable other Creatures of a much lower rank and condition so that tho' man in respect of his Body be a-kin to the Earth yet in regard of his Soul he is allied to Heaven of a divine Original and descended from above Of all the Creatures in
they must die and that very day their thoughts perish But thy throne O God is for ever and ever 2. For the encouragement of our obedience We serve the God who can give us an everlasting reward The reward of the next Life is called Eternal Life an Eternal weight of glory 2 Cor. 4.17 Eternal Salvation Heb. 5.9 .. an Eternal Inheritance Heb. 9.15 That place where good Men shall be rewarded is called everlasting habitations Luke 16.9 a house Eternal in the heavens 2 Cor. 5.1 As the promise of our future reward is founded in the Goodness of God and the greatness of it in his Power so the duration of it in his Eternity Now what an encouragement is this to us that we serve him and suffer for him who lives for ever and will make us happy for ever When we serve the great men of this World tho' we be secure of their affection yet we are uncertain of their lives and this discourageth many and makes men worship the rising Sun and many times takes off mens eyes from the King to his Successor but he that serves God serves the King everlasting as the Apostle calls him who will live to dispence rewards to all those who are faithful to him 3. For the terrour of wicked men The Sentence which shall be past upon men at the day of judgment is call'd Eternal Judgment Heb. 6.2 because it decides mens Eternal state the Punishment that shall follow this Sentence which shall pass upon the wicked is called Everlasting punishment Matt. 25.46 Everlasting fire Matt. 25.41 Everlasting destruction 2 Thes 2.9 The vengeance of Eternal fire Jude 7. The smoke of the bottomless pit is said to ascend for ever and ever Rev. 14.11 and the wicked to be tormented day and night for ever and ever Rev. 20.10 Now as the punishment of wicked men is founded in the Justice of God and the greatness of it in his Power so the perpetuity and continuance of it in his Eternity The Apostle saith Heb. 10.31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God because he that lives for ever can punish for ever as the Eternal Demerit of sin feeds and animates and keeps alive the never dying worm so the wrath of the Eternal God blows up the Eternal Flame How should this awaken in us a fear of the Eternal God! Sinners what a folly is it for the pleasures of sin which are but for a season to incense that Justice which will Punish and torment you for ever As good men shall have the everlasting God for their Reward and their Happiness so wicked men shall have him for their Judge and Avenger We fear the wrath of men whose power is short and whose breath is in their nostrils who can afflict but a little and for a little while Dost thou fear man that shall die and the son of man that shall be made as grass and is not the wrath of the Eternal God much more terrible Luke 12.4 5. And I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do but I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear him who after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into hell yea I say unto you fear him The wrath of man is despicable because it hath bounds and limits the fury of man can but reach to the body it can go no further it expires with this life it cannot follow us beyond the Grave But the wrath of the Eternal God doth not only reach the Body but the Soul it is not confin'd to this Life but pursues us to the other World and extends it self to all Eternity Fear him who after he hath kill'd hath power to cast into hell that is to inflict Eternal Torments Yea I say unto you fear him SERMON XIV Vol. VII The Incomprehensibleness of God JOB XI 7 Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection IN treating of the Properties and Perfections of God I shall at present consider that which results from the infinite exellency of his Nature and Perfection compared with the Imperfection of our understandings which is commonly call'd the Incomprehensibleness of God This you have expressed here in the words of Zophar Canst thou by searching find out God c. There is no great difficulty in the words Canst thou by searching find out God potesne pervestigare intima dei so Castalio Translates it Dost thou know God intimately and throughly within and without Canst thou pierce into the center of his Perfections and dive into the bottom of them and Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection Canst thou find out the Almighty usque ad ultima to the very last and utmost of him so as thou canst say after a thorough search and enquiry There is no Perfection in God beyond this There is nothing of him now that remains to be known this he is and no other that he is and no otherwise this he can do and no more hither doth his Knowledge and Power and Wisdom reach and no further Canst thou do this These interrogations have the force of a vehement negation as if he had said no thou canst not God is unsearchable he is Incomprehensible The two Questions in the Text seem to be only two several expressions of the same thing The first Question is undoubtedly general concerning the Nature and Perfections of God in general Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou by the most diligent search and enquiry come to a perfect Knowledge and Undrestanding of him The second Question may seem to be a particular instance to the general truth implied in the first question he seems to instance in his Power as if he had said God is unsearchable and then had instanced in a particular Perfection the power of God Canst thou by searching find out God Thou canst not comprehend the Divine Nature and Perfections in general Canst thou find out the Almighty to Perfection Consider particularly his Power and see if thou canst know the utmost of that But I rather think that the latter Question is altogether the same in sense with the former and that the Attribute of Almighty which is here given to God is used by way of description and not intended by way of instance Canst thou find out the Almighty that is God to Perfection Which way soever we take the Words it is not much material we may ground this Observation upon them That God is Incomprehensible This term or Attribute is a relative term and speaks a relation between an Object and a Faculty between God and a Created Understanding so that the meaning of it is plainly this That no Created understanding can comprehend God that is have a perfect and exact knowledge of him such a knowledge as is adequate to the Perfection of the Object Or thus the Nature and Perfections of God
unsearchable are his Judgments and his ways past finding out These are the Instances on the part of the Object 2. On the part of the Subject or the persons capable of knowing God in any measure The perfect knowledge of God is above a finite Creature 's understanding Wicked men they are ignorant of God and full of false apprehensions of him the Scripture gives this description of them they are those that know not God 2 Thess 1. Wicked men are so far from knowing God to Perfection that they have hardly any true knowledge of him for as the man himself is so will God seem to be to him the Idea and Notion which men have of God is but the picture of their own complexion To a true knowledge there is required likeness a Man's mind must be like the thing he would understand therefore the Apostle tells us the natural or animal man doth not receive the things of God he is not capable of them because his mind is unsuitable to them he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 full of body and he cannot relish spiritual things even those Natural notions which wicked men have of God they are strangely tinctur'd and obscured by the temper of the man they are lux sepulta in opacâ materiâ light buried and hid in matter and darkness in the blackness of a soul and impure heart so that there is no question of them whither they comprehend God or not But good men they cannot find out God they have some false apprehensions of him all their apprehensions are dark have much of obscurity in them they know God to Salvation but not to Perfection in this life we do but know God in part that is in comparison of the knowledge which our natures are capable of But I will instance yet higher the Angels and the Spirits of just men made perfect tho' they have true apprehensions of God yet they do not arrive to perfect knowledge of him they cannot pervestigare ultima know the utmost of God the Cherubims themselves are continually looking at the Mercy Seat To which the Apostle alludes 1 Pet. 1.12 when he tells us the Mystery of God's mercy in the Gospel was a thing which the Angels desired to pry into In Heaven that which is in part shall be done away that is our knowledge shall be perfect as our Natures are capable but it shall be finite When we shall see God face to face that is have an immediate vision of him and see him as he is that is not having our understandings tinctur'd by any lust or passion that may darken our mind or misrepresent the Object for the Apostle tells us we shall see him because we shall be like him yet then we shall have short and unadequate apprehensions of him we shall still retain our limited Natures and finite understandings II. By way of Conviction Dost thou know perfectly the nature of a finite Spirit the Perfection and the Power of an Angel how being immaterial they can act upon matter and move that which can make no resistance to a Spirit Dost thou know how they can move themselves to a great distance in a moment and dart themselves from one part of the World to another Dost thou know how man is formed in the lowest parts of the earth as the Psalmist expresseth it and the curious Frame of our Bodies is wrought from such rude Principles in so dark a Shop Canst thou give an account how the Soul is united to the Body by what bands or holds a Spirit is so closely and intimately conjoyned to Matter Dost thou know how thy self understandest any thing and canst retain the distinct Ideas and Notions of so many Objects without confusion Dost thou know the least parts of Matter how they are knit together and by what Cement they cleave so fast to one another that they can hardly be separated Now if the Creatures be so unsearchable and the knowledge of these be too hard for thee is not the Creator of them much more Incomprehensible who possesseth all these Perfections which he communicates and many which cannot be communicated to a Creature If in Natural and Sensible Things maxima pars eorum quae scimus est minima pars eorum quae nescimus how much more is it true of God that our ignorance is more than our knowledge when the whole Earth and all the Creatures bear no proportion to him Isa 40.15 17. Behold all the Nations of the earth are as the drop of the bucket and as the small dust of the ballance all nations before him are nothing and are accounted to him less than nothing III. By shewing you the clear Reason of it which is this the disproportion between the Faculty and the Object the finiteness of our understandings and the Infiniteness of the Divine Nature and Perfections God is greater than our hearts and therefore as he knows more than we do as the Apostle reasons 1 John 3.20 so he is more than can be known by us he is too vast an Object for our understanding to entertain for our minds to receive Thou may'st as well mete out the Heaven with a span and measure the Waters in the hollow of thy hand and comprehend the dust of the earth in a little Urn and weigh the Mountains in some Scales and the hills in a little Ballance as think to circumscribe God in the narrow limits of thy thoughts or to bring that which is infinite within the compass of that which is finite And there is not only the vastness and greatness of the Object but the Glory and Resplendency of it does so dazle our sight that we cannot perfectly see it 1 Tim. 6.16 He dwelleth in light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see As God is too big so he is too bright an Object for our understandings the presence of his Glory overpowers our minds and bears down our Faculties and conquers our understandings I come now to apply this Doctrine of the Incomprehensibleness of the Divine Nature If the Nature and Perfections and Ways and Works of God be Incomprehensible and past finding out I. It calls for our Admiration and Veneration and Reverence These are the best apprehensions of him that is Incomprehensible a silent Veneration of his Excellencies is the best acknowledgment of them We must admire what we cannot apprehend or express Zach. 9.17 How great is his goodness and how great is his beauty The best way to celebrate the praises of God is that which Nehemiah useth Nehem. 9.5 And blessed be thy glorious name which is exalted above all blessing and praise When ever we speak or think of God we necessarily detract from his Perfections but even this necessity is glorious to him and this speaks his Perfection that the highest finite understanding must have imperfect thoughts of him We should make up in Reverence and Veneration what we fall short of in knowledge Reverence is an acknowledgment of
this visible World man is the chief and what is said of Behemoth or the Elephant Job 42. in respect of his great strength and the vast bigness of his Body is only true absolutely of man that he is divini opificii caput the chief of the ways of God and upon earth there is none like him The Psalmist takes particular notice of the goodness of God to man in this respect of the excellency and dignity of his being Psal 8.5 Thou hast made him little lower than the Angels and hast crowned him with glory and honour And this advantage of our nature above other Creatures we ought thankfully to acknowledge tho' most men are so stupid as to overlook it as Elihu complains Job 35.10 11. None saith where is God my maker Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven 2. The goodness of God to man appears in that he hath made and ordained so many things chiefly for our use The beauty and usefulness of the Creatures below us their plain subserviency to our necessity and benefit and delight are so many clear Evidences of the Divine Goodness to us not only discernable to our Reason but even palpable to our Senses so that we may see and taste that the Lord is gracious This David particularly insists upon as a special ground of praise and thanksgiving to God that he hath subjected so great a part of the Creation to our dominion and use Psal 8.6 7 8. speaking of man Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his feet all sheep and oxen yea and the beasts of the field the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas What an ininnumerable variety of Creatures are there in this inferiour World which were either solely or principally made for the use and service pleasure and delight of man How many things are there which serve for the necessity and support for the contentment and comfort of our lives How many things for the refreshment and delight of our Senses and the excercise and employment of our Understandings That God hath not made man for the service of other Creatures but other Creatures for the service of man Epictetus doth very ingeniously argue from this observation that the Creatures below man the brute beasts have all things in a readiness nature having provided for them meat and drink and lodging so that they have no absolute need that any should build Houses or make Cloaths or store up Provisions or prepare and dress meat for them for says he being made for the service of another they ought to be furnisht with these things that they may be always in a readiness to serve their Lord and master a plain evidence that they were made to serve man and not man to serve them And to raise our thoughts of God's goodness to us the Sons of men yet higher as he hath given us the Creatures below us for our use and convenience so hath he appointed the Creatures above us for our Guard and Protection not to say for our service Psal 34.7 The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and he delivereth them and then it follows O taste and see that the Lord is good And Psal 91.11 12. He shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways They shall bear thee up in their hands Nay the Apostle speaks as if their whole business and imployment were to attend upon and be serviceable to good men Heb. 1.14 Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation 3. The goodness of God to men appears in his tender Love and peculiar Care of us above the rest of the Creatures being ready to impart and dispense to us the good that is suitable to our capacity and condition and concerned to exempt us from those manifold Evils of Want and Pain to which we are obnoxious I do not mean an absolute exemption from all sorts and all degrees of Evil and a perpetual tenor of temporal happiness and enjoyment of all good things this is not suitable to our present state and the rank and order which we are in among the Creatures nor would it be best for us all things considered But the Goodness of God to us above other Creatures is proportionable to the dignity and excellency of our Natures above them for as the Apostle reasons in another case doth God take care for Oxen and shall he not much more extend his care to Man To this purpose our Saviour reasons Mat. 6. Behold the Fowls of the Air they sow not neither do they reap and yet your heavenly Father takes care of them are not ye much better than they And v. 30. Wherefore if God so cloath the grass of the field shall he not much more cloath you And Chap. 10.29 Are not two Sparrows sold for a Farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father But the very hairs of your head are all numbred Fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many Sparrows 'T is true God hath a special care of his People and Servants above the rest of Mankind but our Saviour useth these Arguments to his Disciples to convince them of the Providence of God towards them as Men and of a more excellent Nature than other Creatures And indeed we are born into the World more destitute and helpless than other Creatures as if it were on purpose to shew that God had reserved us for his more peculiar Care and Providence which is so great that the Scripture by way of condescention expresseth it to us by the name of Love so that what effects of Care the greatest and tenderest Affection in Men is apt to produce towards one another that and much more is the effect of God's Goodness to us and this Affection of God is common to all Men tho' of all Creatures we have least deserved it and is ready to diffuse and shed abroad it self where-ever Men are qualified for it by Duty and Obedience and do not obstruct and stop the emanations of it by their Sins and Provocations And tho' the greatest part of Mankind be evil yet this doth not wholly put a stop to his goodness tho' it cause many abatements of it and hinder many good things from us but such is the Goodness of God notwithstanding the evil and undutifulness of Men that he is pleased still to concern himself in the Government of the World and to preserve the Societies of Men from running into utter confusion and disorder notwithstanding the violence and irregularities of Mens Wills and Passions the Communities of Men subsist upon tolerable terms and notwithstanding the rage and craft of evil Men poor and unarmed Innocence and Virtue is usually protected and
much nearer to thee than thou art aware at the best thy Life is uncertain and Death will infallibly put a period to this day of God's Grace and Patience Repentance is a work so necessary that methinks no Man should lose so much time as to deliberate whether he should set about it or not de necessariis nulla est deliberatio no man deliberates about what he must do or be undone if he do it not 'T is a work of so great consequence and concernment and the delay of it so infinitely dangerous that one would think no wise Man could entertain a thought of deferring it What greater folly and stupidity can there be than for Men to venture their immortal Souls and to run an apparent hazard in matters of everlasting consequence This day of God's Patience is the great opportunity of our Salvation and if we let it slip it is never to be recovered If we mis-improve this time of our life we shall not be permitted to live it over again to improve it better Our state of tryal ends with this life after that God will prove us no more then we shall wish O that I had known in that my day the things which belonged to my peace but now they are hid from mine eyes therefore to day whilst it is called to day harden not your hearts make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord break forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed exercise repentance in the time of health and defer not till death to be justified SERMON X. Vol. VII· The Power of God PSAL. LXII 11 God hath spoken once twice have I heard this that power belongeth unto God IN treating of the Attributes of God I have consider'd those which relate to the Divine Vnderstanding to which I referr'd his Knowledge and Wisdom those also which relate to the Divine Will viz. God's Justice Truth Holiness and Goodness I come now to consider his Power of acting which is his Omnipotency this I shall speak to from these words In the beginning of this Psalm David declares that God was the great Object of his trust and confidence and that all his hopes and expectation of safety and deliverance were from him v. 1 2. And this makes him challenge his Enemies for all their mischievous qualities and devices against him as vain attempts v. 3 4. Hereupon he chargeth himself to continue his trust and confidence in God from whom was all his expectation and who was able to save and deliver him v. 5 6 7. And from his Example and Experience he encourageth and exhorts all others to trust in God v. 8. and that from two Arguments 1. Because all other Objects of our trust and confidence are vain and insufficient and will fail those that rely upon them If we will rely upon any thing in this World it must either be Persons or Things but we cannot safely repose our trust in either of these Not in Persons They may be reduced to one of these two Heads either high or low Those that are of a mean condition it would be in vain to trust them they that cannot secure themselves from meanness cannot secure others from mischief Men of low degree are vanity But great ones of the World they seem to promise something of assistance and security to us but if we depend upon them they will frustrate us Men of high degree are a lie As for the Things of the World that which Men usually place their confidence in is Riches these are either got by unlawful or lawful means if they be ill gotten by Oppression or Robbery they will be so far from securing us from Evil that they will bring it upon us if they be well gotten they are of an uncertain nature that we have little reason to place our hopes in them If riches increase set not your hearts upon them that is your hope for heart in Scripture signifies any of the Affections 2. Because God is the proper Object of our trust and confidence We may safely rely upon any one in whom these two things concur a Power to help us and Goodness to incline him so to do Now David tells us that both these are eminently in God and do in a peculiar manner belong to him Power v. 11. and Goodness v. 12. I shall speak to that which David makes the first ground of our confidence the Power of God Power belongs to God For which he brings the testimony of God himself once hath God spoken yea twice have I heard this Some Interpreters trouble themselves about the meaning of this Expression as if it did refer to some particular Revelation of God and then again they are troubled how to reconcile God's speaking this but once with David's hearing it twice but I do not love to spie Mysteries in these Expressions which are capable of a plain Sense for I understand no more by it but this that God hath several times revealed this he frequently declared himself by this Attribute once yea twice that is he hath spoken it often and David had heard it often This is answerable to that Phrase of the Latins Semel atque iterum and it is usual in all Writers to use a certain number for an uncertain and particularly among Poets Felices ter amplius Hor. And so in the Poetical Writers of Scripture Job 5.19 He hath delivered thee in six troubles yea in seven there shall no evil â—ouch thee that is in several and various troubles Eccles 11.2 Give a portion to seven and also to eight that is distribute thy Charity to many and which is nearest to this Job 40.5 Once have I spoken but I will not answer yea twice but I will proceed no further that is I have had several Discourses with my Friends and 33.14 God speaketh once yea twice in a dream in a vision of the night that is God reveals himself in several ways and manners to Men so here God hath spoken once yea twice that is God hath often declared this And if I would be so curious to refer to a particular declaration of God I should think that it related either to the Preface to the Law I am the Lord thy God that is the great and powerful God that brought thee out of the land of Egypt or rather to the declaration which God made of himself to Abraham Isaac and Jacob by the name of the Almighty God Gen. 17.1 Concerning which revelation of God it is said expresly Ex. 6.3 I appeared unto Abraham and Isaac and Jacob by the Name of God Almighty but by my Name Jehovah was I not known to them But that which I design to speak to is the Proposition it self that Power belongs to God that is that the excellency of Power Power in its highest degree and perfection all Power belongs to God that is that Omnipotence is a Property or Perfection of
of it Psal 29.1 Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give unto the Lord glory and strength So likewise it should take Men off from relying upon their own strength which at the best is but an arm of flesh as the Scripture calls it for the weakness of it Do we not see that many times the battel is not to the strong That things are not done by might and by power but by the spirit of the Lord. When he appears against the most potent their hearts melt within them and there is no more spirit left in them as 't is said of the mighty Inhabitants of Canaan Josh 5.1 Thirdly We should make this Omnipotence of God the Object of our trust and confidence This is the most proper use we can make of this Doctrine as David does in this Psalm and this was used for a form of blessing the People in the Name of God Psal 136.3 The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee And David when he magnifies God's deliverance of his People from the multitude of their Enemies resolves it into this Our help standeth in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth Thus did the great Pattern and Example of Faith incourage and support his confidence in God in a very difficult tryal he staggered not at it because he believed God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things that be not as tho' they were therefore against hope he believed in hope c. Rom. 4.17 c. This gives life to all our Devotion to be perswaded that God is able to do for us exceedingly above what we can ask or think and that his is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory I shall only caution two things as to our relyance on the Power of God I. Labour to be such Persons to whom God hath promised that he will engage and imploy his Omnipotence for their good If we hope for any good from the Almighty we must walk before him and be perfect as he said to Abraham Good Men have a peculiar interest in God's Power hence he is called the strength of Israel and the mighty one of Israel If we do what God requires of us we may expect that he will put forth his Power and exert his Arm for us but if we disobey we must expect he will manifest his Power against us Ez. 8.22 When we do well we may commit the keeping of our souls to him 1 Pet. 4.19 II. Our expectations from the Omnipotence of God must be with submission to his Pleasure and Goodness and Wisdom we must not expect that God will manifest his Power when we think there is occasion for it but when it seems best to him he will so imploy his Omnipotence as to manifest his Goodness and Wisdom And with these two Cautions we may rely upon him in all our Wants both Spiritual and Temporal for his Divine Power can give us all things that pertain to life and godliness 2 Pet. 1.3 We may trust him at all times for the Omnipotent God neither slumbereth nor sleepeth the Almighty fainteth not neither is he weary trust ye in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength SERMON XI Vol. VII· The Spirituality of the Divine Nature JOHN IV. 24 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth THese are the words of our Saviour to the Woman of Samaria who was speaking to him of the difference between the Samaritans and the Jews concerning Religion v. 20. Our Fathers worshipped in this mountain but ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship Christ tells her The time was coming when the worshippers of God should neither be confined to that mountain nor to Jerusalem but men should worship the Father in spirit and in truth when this carnal and ceremonial and typical Worship of God should be exalted into a more spiritual a more real and true and substantial Religion which should not be confined to one Temple but should be universally diffused through the World Now such a Worship as this is most agreeable to the Nature of God for he is a spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth In the words we have First A Proposition laid down God is a spirit Secondly A Corollary or Inference deduced from it they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth I shall speak of the Proposition as that which concerns my present Design and afterward speak something to the Corollary or Inference deduced from it together with some other Inferences drawn from this truth by way of Application First That God is a spirit This expression is singular and not to be parallell'd again in the Scripture indeed we have often mention made in Scripture of the spirit of God and the spirit of the Lord which signifies a Divine Power and Energy and of the holy Spirit signifying the third Person in the Trinity God is call'd the God of the Spirits of all flesh Numb 16.22.27.16 much in the same Sense as he is call'd the Father of Spirits Heb. 12.9 that is the Creator of the Souls of Men but we no where meet with this expression or any other equivalent to it that God is a spirit but only in this place nor had it been used here but to prove that the best Worship of God that which is most proper to him is spiritual so that the thing which our Saviour here intends is not to prove the Spiritual Nature of God but that his Worship ought to be spiritual nor indeed is there any necessity that it should have been any where said in Scripture that God is a spirit it being the natural Notion of a God no more than it is necessary that it should be told us that God is good or that he is infinite and eternal and the like or that the Scripture should prove to us the Being of a God All these are manifest by the Light of Nature and if the Scripture mention them it is ex abundanti and it is usually in order to some further purpose For we are to know that the Scripture supposeth us to be Men and to partake of the common Notions of Human Nature and therefore doth not teach us Philosophy nor solicitously instruct us in those things which are born with us but supposeth the knowledge of these and makes use of these common Principles and Notions which are in us concerning God and the immortality of our Souls and the Life to come to excite us to our Duty and quicken our Endeavours after Happiness For I do not find that the Doctrine of the immortality of the Soul is any where expresly delivered in Scripture but taken for granted in like manner that the Scripture doth not solicitously instruct us in the natural Notions which we have of God but supposeth them known to us and if it mention them it is not so
great absurdities following from the supposing of God to be mere Matter or Body we are to conceive of him as another kind of substance that is a Spirit So that I wonder that the Author of the Leviathan who doth more than once expresly affirm that there can be nothing in the World but what is material and corporeal did not see that the necessary consequence of this Position is to banish God out of the World I would not be uncharitable but I doubt he did see it and was content with the consequence and willing the World should entertain it for it is so evident that by supposing the Divine Essence to consist of Matter the immensity of the Divine Nature is taken away and it is also so utterly unimaginable how mere Matter should understand and be endowed with liberty and consequently with goodness that I cannot but vehemently suspect the Man who denies God to be a Spirit either to have a gross and faulty understanding or a very ill will against God and an evil design to root out of the Minds of Men the belief of a God I come in the III. Place to consider the Objections 1 Obj. Why then is God represented to us so often in Scripture by the Parts and Members of Mens Bodies Ans I shall only say at present that all these descriptions and representations of God are plainly made to comply with our weakness by way of condescention and accomodation to our capacities 2 Obj. How is it said that Man was made after the the Image of God If God be a Spirit of which there can be no likeness nor resemblance Ans Man is not said to be made after the image of God in respect of the outward Shape and Features of his Body but in respect of the Qualities of his Mind as Holiness and Righteousness or of his Faculties as Understanding and Will or which the Text seems most to favour in respect of his Dominion and Soveraignty over the Creatures for in the two former respects the Angels are made after the Image of God Now this seems to be spoken peculiarly of Men Gen. 1.26 Let us make man in our own image after our own likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the fowls of the air c. IV. I come now to draw some Inferences or Corollaries from hence and they shall be partly speculative partly practical First Speculative Inferences 1. That God is invisible The proper Object of sight is Colour and that ariseth from the various dispositions of the parts of Matter which cause several reflections of Light now a Spirit hath no Parts nor Matter and therefore is invisible 1 Tim. 1.17 Vnto the eternal immortal invisible the only wise God Heb. 11.27 He endured as seeing him who is invisible as seeing him by an Eye of Faith who is invisible by an Eye of Sense 1 Tim. 6.16 Whom no Man hath seen nor can see When Moses and the Elders of Israel are said to have seen God and Jacob to have seen him face to face Exod. 2.9 Gen. 32.30 it is meant of an Angel covered with divine Glory and Majesty as we shall see if we compare these with other Texts When Moses is said to have spoken to him face to face that is familiarly and so Micaiah 1 Kings 22.19 is said to have seen God upon his throne and all Israel scattered up and down this was in a Vision And it is promised that in Heaven we shall see God that is have a more perfect knowledge of him and full enjoyment as to see good days is to enjoy them Those Texts where it is said No man can see God and live Exod. 33.20 and John 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time do not intimate that God is visible tho' we cannot see him but seeing is metaphorically used for knowing and the meaning is that in this Life we are not capable of a perfect knowledge of God A clear discovery of God to our Understanding would let in joys into our Souls and create desires in us too great for frail Mortality to bear 2. That he is the living God Spirit and Life are often put together in Scripture 3. That God is immortal This the Scripture attributes to him 1 Tim. 1.17 To the King immortal invisible 1 Tim. 6.16 Who only hath immortality This also flows from God's Spirituality a Spiritual Nature hath no principles of Corruption in it nothing that is liable to perish or decay or dye Now this doth so eminently agree to God either because he is purely spiritual and immaterial as possibly no Creature is or else because he is not only immortal in his own Nature but is not liable to be reduced to nothing by any other because he hath an original and independent Immortality and therefore the Apostle doth attribute it to him in such a singular and peculiar manner Who only hath Immortality Secondly Practical Inferences 1. We are not to conceive of God as having a Body or any corporeal Shape or Members This was the gross conceit of the Anthropomorphites of old and of some Socinians of late which they ground upon the gross and literal Interpretation of many figurative Speeches in Scripture concerning God as where it speaks of his Face and Hand and Arm c. But we are very unthankful to God who condescends to represent himself to us according to our Capacities if we abuse this condescention to the blemish and reproach of the Divine Nature If God be pleased to stoop to our weakness we must not therefore level him to our Infirmities 2. If God be a Spirit we are not to worship God by any Image or sensible representation Because God is a Spirit we are not to liken him to any thing that is corporeal we are not to represent him by the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above that is of any Birds or in the earth beneath that is of any Beast or in the waters under the earth that is of any Fish as it is in the second Commandment For as the Prophet tells us there is nothing that we can liken God to Isa 40 18. To whom will ye liken God or what likeness will ye compare to him We debase his Spiritual and Incorruptible Nature when we compare him to corruptible Creatures Rom. 1.22 23. Speaking of the Heathen Idolatry Who professing themselves wise became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and to fourfooted Beasts and creeping things They became Fools this is the folly of Idolatry to liken a Spirit which hath no bodily shape to things that are corporeal and corruptible So that however some are pleased to mince the matter I cannot see how the Church of Rome which worships God by or toward some Image or sensible representation can be excused from Idolatry and the Church of England doth not without very just cause challenge the Romish
Church with it and make it a ground of separation from her 3. If God be a Spirit then we should worship him in spirit and in truth This is the Inference of the Text and therefore I shall speak a little more largely of it only I must explain what is meant by worshiping in spirit and in truth and shew you the force of this Consequence how it follows that because God is a Spirit therefore he must be worship'd in spirit and in truth 1 st For the explication of it This word Spirit is sometimes apply'd to the Doctrine of the Gospel and so it is opposed to Letter by which Name the Doctrine of Moses is called 2 Cor. 3.6 Who hath made us able Ministers of the new Testament not of the letter but of the spirit not of the Law which was written in Tables of Stone but which Christ by his Spirit writes in the Hearts of Believers Sometimes to the worship of the Gospel and so it is opposed to the Flesh Gal. 3.3 Having begun in the spirit are ye now made perfect by the flesh that is by the works of the ceremonial Law which is therefore call'd Flesh because the principal ceremony of it Circumcision was made in the Flesh and because their Sacrifices a chief part of their Worship were of the Flesh of Beasts and because the greatest part of their Ordinances as washing and the like related to the Body Hence it is the Apostle calls the worship of the Jews the law of a carnal commandment Heb. 7.16 and Heb. 9.10 Carnal Ordinances speaking of the Service of the Law which saith he stood in meats and drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances Now in opposition to this carnal and ceremonial Worship we are to worship God in the Spirit The Worship of the Jews was most a bodily service but we are to give God a reasonable service to serve him with the spirit of our minds as the Apostle speaks instead of offering the flesh of bulls and goats we are to consecrate our selves to the service of God this is a holy and acceptable sacrifice or reasonable service And in truth Either in opposition to the false Worship of the Samaritans as in spirit is opposed to the Worship of the Jews as our Saviour tells the Woman that they worship'd they knew not what or which I rather think in opposition to the shadows of the Law and so it is opposed John 1.17 The Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ Not that the external Service of God is here excluded not that we are to show no outward reverence to him but that as under the Law the Service of God was chiefly external and corporeal so now it should chiefly be inward and spiritual the Worship of God under the Gospel should chiefly be spiritual and substantial not a carnal and bodily and ceremonious Devotion 2 dly For the force of the Consequence it doth not lie in this that just such as God is such must our Worship of him be for this would exclude all bodily and outward worship our Worship of God must therefore be invisible eternal c. for so is he and besides the Will of God seems rather to be the rule of his Worship than his Nature but the force of it is this God is of a spiritual Nature and this is to be supposed to be his Will that our Worship should be as agreable to the Object of it as the nature of the Creature who is to give it will bear now saith Christ to the Woman the Jews and the Samaritans they limit their Worship to a certain place and it consists chiefly in certain carnal Rites and Ordinances but saith he tho' God have permitted this for a time because of the carnality and hardness of their hearts yet the time is coming when a more spiritual and solid and substantial Worship of God is to be introduced which will be free from all particular Places and Rites not tyed to the Temple or to such external Ceremonies but consisting in the devotion of our Spirits even the inward frame and temper of our Hearts all outward Circumstances excepting those of the two Sacraments which are positive being left by the Gospel to as great a liberty as natural necessity and decency will permit We must worship God and therefore it is naturally necessary that we should do it somewhere in some place now seeing some body must determine this it is most convenient that Authority should determine it according to the conveniency of cohabitation We must not be rude nor do any thing that is naturally undecent in the Worship of God this Authority should restrain but further than this I doubt not but the Gospel hath left us free and to this end that the less we are tied to external Observances the more intent we should be upon the spiritual and substantial parts of Religion the conforming of our selves to the Mind and Will of God endeavouring to be like God and to have our Souls and Spirits ingaged in those Duties we perform to him So that our Saviour's argument is this God is a Spirit that is the most excellent Nature and Being and therefore must be served with the best We consist of Body and Soul 't is true and we must serve him with our whole Man but principally with our Souls which are the most excellent Part of our selves the Service of our Mind and Spirit is the best we can perform and therefore most agreeable to God who is a Spirit and the best and most perfect Being So that the Inference is this that if God be a Spirit we must worship him in spirit and in truth our Religion must be real and inward and sincere and substantial we must not think to put off God with external observances and with bodily reverence and attendance this we must give him but we must principally regard that our Service of him be reasonable that is directed by our Understandings and accompanied with our Affections Our Religion must consist principally in a sincere love and affection to God which expresseth it self in a real conformity of our lives and actions to his Will and when we make our solemn approaches to him in the Duties of his Worship and Service we must perform all acts of outward Worship to God with a pure and sincere Mind whatever we do in the Service of God we must do it heartily as to the Lord. God is a pure Spirit present to our Spirits intimate to our Souls and conscious to the most secret and retired motions of our Hearts now because we serve the Searcher of Hearts we must serve him with our Hearts Indeed if we did worship God only to be seen of Men a pompous and external Worship would be very suitable to such an end but Religion is not intended to please Men but God and therefore it must be spiritual and inward and real And where-ever the external part of Religion
and have been preserved by him and cannot subsist one moment without the continued influence of the Power and Goodness which first called us out of nothing He is the Author of all the good and the Fountain of all those Blessing which for the present we enjoy and for the future hope for When he made us at first he designed us for Happiness and when we by our sin and wilful mascarriage fell short of the Happiness which he design'd us for he sent his Son into the World for our recovery and gave his life for the Ransom of our Souls He hath not only admitted us into a new Covenant wherein he hath promised pardon and eternal life to us but he hath also purchased these Blessings for us by the most endearing price the blood of his own Son and hath saved us in such a manner as may justly astonish us Upon these Considerations we should awaken our selves to the praise of God and with the holy Psalmist call up our Spirits and summon all the Powers and Faculties of our Souls to assist us in this Work Psal 103.1 2 3 4. c. Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his holy name bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth all thy iniquities who healeth all thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies 't is he that satisfies our Souls with good things and crowneth us with tender mercies and loving hindness that hath promised Eternal Life and Happiness to us and must confer and bestow this upon us Therefore our Souls and all that is within us should bless his holy name 2. If God be the first Cause that is orders all things that befall us and by his Providence disposeth of all our concernments this should teach us with patience and quietness to submit to all Events to all evils and afflictions that come upon us as being disposed by his wise Providence and coming from him We are apt to attribute all things to the next and immediate Agent and to look no higher than Second Causes not considering that all the motions of Natural Causes are directly subordinate to the first Cause and all the actions of free Creatures are under the Government of God's wise Providence so that nothing happens to us besides the design and intention of God And methinks this is one particular Excellency of the style of the Scripture above all other Books that the constant Phrase of the Sacred Dialect is to attribute all Events excepting sins only to God so that every one that reads it cannot but take notice that it is wrote with a more attentive consideration of God than any other Book as appears by those frequent and express acknowledgments of God as the Cause of all Events so that what in other Writers would be said to be done by this or that Person is ascribed to God Therefore it is so often said that the Lord did this and that stirr'd up such an Enemy brought such a Judgment And we shall find that holy men in Scripture make excellent use of this consideration to argue themselves into patience and contentedness in every condition So Eli 1 Sam. 3.18 It is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good So Job he did not so consider the Sabeans and Chaldeans who had carried away his Oxen and his Camels and slain his Servants nor the Wind which had thrown down his House and kill'd his Sons and his Daughters but he looks up to God the great Governour and Disposer of all these Events The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord. So David Psal 39.9 I was dumb and spake not a word because thou Lord didst it So our Blessed Saviour when he was ready to suffer he did not consider the malice of the Jews which was the cause of his death but looks to a higher hand the cup which my father gives me to drink shall not I drink it He that looks upon all things as coming from second Causes and does not eye the first Cause the good and wise Governour will be apt to take offence at every cross and unwelcome accident Men are apt to be angry when one flings Water upon them as they pass in the Streets but no man is offended if he is wet by Rain from Heaven When we look upon Evils as coming only from men we are apt to be impatient and know not how to bear them but we should look upon all things as under the Government and disposal of the first Cause and the Circumstances of every condition as allotted to us by the wise Providence of God this Consideration that it is the hand of God and that he hath done it would still all the murmurings of our Spirits As when a Seditious Multitude is in an uproar the presence of a grave and venerable person will hush the noise and quell the tumult so if we would but represent God as present to all actions and governing and disposing all Events this would still and appease our Spirits when they are ready to riot and mutiny against any of his Dispensations Vse the Second If God be the last End of all let us make him our last End and refer all our Actions to his glory This is that which is due to him as he is the first Cause and therefore he does most reasonably require it of us And herein likewise the Scripture doth excel all other Books that is doth more frequently and expresly mind us of this End and calls upon us to propose it to our selves as our ultimate aim and design We should love him as our chief End Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind Thus to love God is that which in the language of the Schools is loving God as our Chief End So likewise the Apostle requires that we should refer all the Actions of our lives to this End 1 Cor. 10.31 Whether ye eat or drink do all to the glory of God that we should glorifie him in our souls and in our bodies which are his He is the Author of all the powers that we have and therefore we should use them for him we do all by him and therefore we should do all to him And that we may the better understand our selves as to this duty I shall endeavour to give satisfaction to a Question or two which may arise about it First Whether an actual intention of God's Glory be necessary to make every Action that we do good and acceptable to God Answ 1. It is necessary that the glory of God either Formally or Virtually should be the ultimate end and scope of our lives and all our Actions otherwise they will be defective in that which in moral Actions is most considerable and that is the End If a man should keep all