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
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
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
another tender hearted forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Be ye therefore followers of God as dear Children and walk in love We cannot in any thing resemble God more than in goodness and kindness and mercy and in a readiness to forgive those who have been injurious to us and to be reconciled to them Let us then often contemplate this Perfection of God and represent it to our Minds that by the frequent contemplation of it we may be transformed into the Image of the Divine Goodness Is God so good to his Creatures with how much greater reason should we be so to our fellow Creatures Is God good to us let us imitate his universal goodness by endeavouring the good of Mankind and as much as in us lies of the whole Creation of God What God is to us and what we would have him still be to us that let us be to others We are infinitely beholding to this Perfection of God for all that we are and for all that we enjoy and for all that we expect and therefore we have all the reason in the World to admire and imitate it Let this pattern of the Divine Goodness be continually before us that we may be still fashioning our selves in the temper of our Minds and in the actions of our Lives to a likeness and conformity to it Lastly The consideration of the Divine goodness should excite our praise and thankfulness This is a great Duty to the performance whereof we should summon all the Powers and Faculties of our Souls as the holy Psalmist does Psal 103. 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 And we should invite all others to the same Work as the same devout Psalmist frequently does Psal 106. O give thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endureth for ever And Psal 107. O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of Men And we had need to be often call'd upon to this Duty to which we have a peculiar backwardness Necessity drives us to Prayer and sends us to God for the supply of our wants but Praise and Thanksgiving is a Duty which depends upon our gratitude and ingenuity and nothing sooner wears off than the sense of Kindness and Benefits We are very apt to forget the blessings of God not so much from a bad Memory as from a bad Nature to forget the greatest blessings the continuance whereof should continually put us in mind of them the blessings of our Beings So God complains of his People Deut. 32. Of the God that formed thee thou hast been unmindful the dignity and excellency of our Beings above all the Creatures of this visible World 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 the daily comforts and blessings of our Lives which we can continually receive without almost ever looking up to the Hand that gives them So God complains by the Prophet Hosea 2.8 9. She knew not that I gave her corn and wine and oyl and multiplied her gold and silver And is it not shameful to see how at the most plentiful Tables the giving of God Thanks is almost grown out of fashion as if Men were ashamed to own from whence these Blessings came When thanks is all God expects from us can we not afford to give him that Do ye thus requite the Lord foolish people and unwise It is just with God to take away his Blessings from us if we deny him this easie tribute of Praise and Thanksgiving It is a sign Men are unfit for Heaven when they are backward to that which is the proper Work and Imployment of the blessed Spirits above Therefore as ever we hope to come thither let us begin this Work here and inure our selves to that which will be the great business of all Eternity Let us with the four and twenty Elders in the Revelation fall down before him that sits on the throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast our crowns before the throne that is cast our selves and ascribe all glory to God Saying thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honour and power for thou hast made all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created To him therefore the infinite and inexhaustible fountain of goodness the father of mercies and the God of all consolation who gave us such excellent Beings having made made us little lower than the Angels and crowned us with glory and honour who hath been pleased to stamp upon us the image of his own goodness and thereby made us partakers of a divine nature communicating to us not only of the effects of his goodness but in some measure and degree of the perfection it self to him who gives us all things richly to enjoy which pertain to life and godliness and hath made such abundant provision not only for our comfort and convenience in this present life but for our unspeakable happiness to all eternity to him who designed this happiness to us from all eternity and whose mercy and goodness to us endures for ever who when by willful transgressions and disobedience we had plunged our selves into a state of sin and misery and had forfeited that happiness which we were designed to was pleased to restore us to a new capacity of it by sending his only Son to take our nature with the miseries and infirmities of it to live among us and to die for us in a word to him who is infinitely good to us not only contrary to our deserts but beyond our hopes who renews his mercy upon us every morning and is patient tho' we provoke him every day who preserves and provides for us and spares us continually who is always willing always watchful and never weary to do us good to him be all glory and honour adoration and praise love and obedience now and for ever SERMON V. Vol. VII The Mercy of God NUMB. XIV 18 The Lord is long suffering and of great Mercy I Have considered God's Goodness in general There are two eminent Branches of it his Patience and Mercy The Patience of God is his goodness to them that are guilty in deferring or moderating their deserved punishment the Mercy of God is his goodness to them that are or may be miserable 'T is the last of these two I design to discourse of at this time in doing which I shall inquire First What we are to understand by the Mercy of God Secondly Shew you that this Perfection belongs to God Thirdly Consider the degree of it that God is of great Mercy First What we are to understand by the Mercy of God I told you it is his goodness to them that are in
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