some Objections that may be made against it and then make some Vse of it I. What we are to understand by the Truth of God I shall take it as the Scripture useth it in a large Sense so as to include not only the veracity of God but his Faithfulness Hence it is that in Scripture Truth and Faithfulness are so often put together and frequently put one for another Isa 25.1 Thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth Rev. 21.5 These words are true and faithful And the Faithfulness of God in performing his Promises is frequently call'd his Truth And because the Scripture useth them promiscuously we need not be very solicitous to find out distinct Notions of them but if you will they may be distinguisht thus the truth or veracity of God hath place in every Declaration of his Mind the Faithfulness of God only in his Promises For the First The veracity or truth of God this hath place in every Declaration of his Mind and signifies an exact Correspondence and Conformity between his Word and his Mind and consequently between his Word and the truth and reality of Things The Correspondence of his Word with his Mind depends upon the rectitude of his Will the conformity of his Word with the reality of Things not only upon the rectitude of his Will but the Perfection of his Knowledge and the infallibility of his Vnderstanding so that when we say God is true or speaks Truth we mean thus that his Words are a plain Declaration of his Mind and a true representation of Things in opposition to False-hood which is speaking otherwise than the thing is and Hypocrisie that is speaking otherwise than we think For instance when God declares any thing to be so or not to be so to have been thus or not to have been thus the thing really is so and he thinks so when he expresseth his desire of any thing he does really desire it when he commands any thing or forbids us any thing it is really his Mind and Will that we should do what he Commands and avoid what he forbids when he declares and foretels any thing future it really shall come to pass and he really intended it should if the Declaration be to be understood absolutely it shall absolutely come to pass if the Declaration be to be understood Conditionally it shall come to pass and he intends it shall if the Condition be performed Secondly The Faithfulness of God This only hath place in his Promises in which there is an Obligation of Justice superadded to his Word for God by his Promise doth not only declare what he intends and what shall be but confers a right upon them to whom the promise is made so as that the breach of his Promise would not only cast an imputation upon his Truth but upon his Justice II. That this Perfection belongs to God And this I shall endeavour to prove First From the Dictates of Natural Light Secondly From Scripture First From the Dictates of Natural Light Natural Light tells us that Truth and Faithfulness are Perfections and consequently belong to the Divine Nature and that False-hood and a Lie are Imperfections and to be removed from God There is nothing that is amongst Men esteemed a greater contumely and reproach than to give a Man the Lie to call him a Lyar because it is an Argument of so much baseness and of a low and mean and servile spirit the usual Temptation to it being fear of losing some Advantage or incurring some danger Hence was that saying that it is the property of a Slave to lie but of a free Man to speak truth Now whatever argues baseness or imperfection our Reason tells us is infinitely to be separated from the most Perfect Being God cannot be tempted with evil the Divine Nature being all-sufficient can have no temptation to be otherwise than Good and Just and True and Faithful Men are tempted to Lie by advantage and out of fear but the Divine Nature hath the security of its fullness and all-sufficiency that it cannot hope for any increase nor fear any impairment of its Estate Men are unfaithful and break their Words either because they are rash and inconsiderate in passing of them or forgetful in minding them or inconstant in keeping of them or impotent and unable to perform them but none of these are incident to God his infinite Wisdom and perfect Knowledge and clear foresight of all Events secure him both from inconsiderateness and inconstancy and forgetfulness and his infinite Power renders him able to perform what he hath spoken and to make good his Word And that these are the Natural Dictates and Suggestions of our Minds appears clearly from the reasonings of the Heathen in this matter who were destitute of Divine Revelation Plato de Repub. l. 2. lays down this as a certain Truth That lying and Falsehood are imperfections and odious to God and Men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And afterwards he tells us That the Divine Nature is free from all Temptation hereto either from advantage or fear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Concludes Therefore God is true and deals plainly with us both in his Words and Actions and is neither changed himself nor deceives us Porphyry in the Life of Pythagoras tells us That this was one of his Precepts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and afterwards he adds that Truth is so great a Perfection that if God would render himself visible to Men he would chuse Light for his body and Truth for his Soul Secondly From Scripture The Scripture doth very frequently attribute this to God 2 Sam. 7.28 And now O Lord God thou art that God and thy words be true Psal 25.10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth Psal 31.5 Into thy hand I commit my spirit thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth Rev. 3.7 These things saith he that is holy he that is true Rev. 6.10 How long O Lord holy and true 15.3 Just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints 16.7 True and righteous are thy judgments Hither we may refer those Texts which speak of the Plenty and Abundance of God's truth Ex. 34.6 Abundant in goodness and truth Psal 86.15 Plenteous in mercy and truth and those which speak of the Duration and Eternity of it Psal 100.5 And his truth endureth to all generations 117.2 And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever 146.6 Who keepeth truth for ever As the Scripture doth attribute this Perfection to God so it removes the contrary from him with the greatest abhorrence and detestation Num. 23.19 God is not a Man that he should lie neither the son of Man that he should repent hath he said and shall not he do it hath he spoken and shall he not make it good They are Balaam's Words but God put them into his Mouth 1 Sam. 15.29 The strength of Israel will not lie nor repent for he is not a Man that he should repent Rom.
His perfect Knowledge of them 2 ly That this is his peculiar Prerogative 1 st God perfectly knows the hearts of Men Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the hearts and try the reins where by heart and reins which are the most inward parts of the Body and lie least open to discovery are signified the most secret Thoughts and Motions of the Soul these God is said to search and try not as if it were a work of Labour and Difficulty to the Divine Knowledge to penetrate the hearts of Men and to dive into their Thoughts but to signifie to us the Perfection and Exactness of the Divine Knowledge as when Men would know a thing exactly they search into every part of it and examine every thing narrowly so God is said to search the heart to signifie to us that he knows the hearts of Men as throughly as we do any thing upon the strictest Search and most diligent Examination upon the same account he is said elsewhere in Scripture to weigh the Spirits of Men Prov. 16.2 All the ways of Man are clean in his own eyes but the Lord weigheth the Spirits that is he hath as perfect a Knowledge of the secret Motions and Inclinations of Mens hearts as Men have of those things which they weigh in a Ballance with the greatest exactness Now that God hath this perfect Knowledge of Mens hearts the Scripture frequently declares to us that he knows the hearts of all Men 1 Kings 8.39 For thou even thou knowest the hearts of all the Children of Men. 1 Chron. 28.9 The Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts How close and reserved soever Men may be what disguise soever they may use to hide their purposes from Men yet God sees them the things which are most dark and secret are open to his view Psal 44.21 He knoweth the secrets of the hearts Prov. 15.11 Hell and Destruction are before him how much more the hearts of the Children of Men Whatever pretences Men may make God sees through them and discovers the very intentions of their hearts Psal 7.9 The righteous Lord tryeth the hearts and reins Heb. 4.13 It is said there of the Word of God that it is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the Heart for all things are naked and open to the Eye of him with whom we have to do and there is no Creature that is not manifest in his sight nay he knows our thoughts at a distance what they will be before they actually are Psal 139.2 Thou knowest my thoughts afar off 'T is true indeed every Man is conscious to his own Thoughts and privy to the Motions of his own Mind when they are present and when they are past if he have not forgot them but no Man knows what he shall think to morrow but this God knows for he knows us more intimately and throughly than we do our selves God is greater than our hearts and knows all things 1 John 3.20 And tho' the Scripture had not revealed this so plainly yet we had not been wholly ignorant of it it is a Principle implanted in us and born with us as being part of that natural Notion which Men have of God the Reason of our Minds tells us that God knows our Hearts and the Fears and Jealousies of our Minds are an Evidence of it 1 st The Reason of every Man's mind tells him that the Supreme Being whom we call God is endowed with all Perfection and among his other Perfections that he excels in Knowledge and to the Perfection of Knowledge it is required that it extend it self to all Objects and that nothing be exempted from it The Knowledge of God in respect of all Objects is like the Sun in respect of this lower World nothing is hid from the light of it We have naturally this Apprehension of God that he is an immense Being every where present that he intimately penetrates all places and things and consequently that he is present to our Spirits and sees all the motions of our Minds and discerns the very secrets of our Hearts and there can be no such thing as secresie and retirement from an Eye that is every where and a Knowledge that pierceth into all things And to convince us that these are the dictates of Natural Reason without the help and assistance of Divine Revelation we shall find that the Heathen who had only the advantage of Natural Light were firmly possest with this apprehension that God knows the hearts of Men. This may be sufficiently Collected from the frequent sayings of the wiser Heathens to this purpose that the best and most acceptable worship of the Deity is that which is inward that of the Heart and Mind To this Sense Tully speaks Cultus autem deorum est optimus idemque castissimus atque sanctissimus plenissimusque pietatis ut eos semper purâ integrâ atque incorruptâ mente voce veneremur The best and holiest worship of the Gods is to worship them with a pure and upright and sincere Mind To the same purpose is that known saying of the Poet Compositum jus fasque animi sanctosque recessus Mentis incoctum generoso pectus honesto Haec cedo ut admoveam templis farre litabo Do but offer to God a mind inwardly resolved to be just and honest and the plainest sacrifice will please him Now from hence that they judged the purity of our Hearts and Thoughts and an honest disposition of Mind to be most acceptable to their Gods we may certainly conclude that they did most firmly believe that God knows the Secrets of Mens Hearts otherwise there had been no need for Men to endeavour to recommend themselves this way to the Divine acceptance But we need not argue this by consequence there are many express passages in their Writings which do sufficiently signifie their belief of this Principle Thales one of their most ancient Philosophers being askt if an unjust Man could conceal himself from God he answer'd he cannot so much as hide from him the very thoughts and design of it Socrates as Xenophon tells us was wont to inculcate this Principle upon his Scholar that the Gods know all things what we say and what we do and what we think in silence To the same purpose Arrian in his Dissertations upon Epictetus laying down the Principles of a virtuous life first of all saith he we must learn this that there is a God who takes care of the World and that there is nothing hid from him not only what we do but not so much as what we think and design So likewise Tully in his Book of Laws let every Man be firmly perswaded of this that the Gods see what every Man is and with what Mind and Devotion they serve them I will add but one Testimony more and that is of Seneca in his Epistles nihil Deo clausum est interest animis nostris cogitationibus mediis intervenit we can
wander up and down in dry and desart places seeking rest but finding none Were the whole World calm about a Man and did it not make the least attempt upon him were he free from the fears of Divine Vengeance yet he could not be satisfied with himself there is something within him that would not let him be at rest but would tear him from his own Foundation and Consistency so that when we are once broken off from God the sense of inward want doth stimulate and force us to seek our contentment else-where So that nothing but Holiness which re-unites us to God and restores our Souls to their primitive and original state can make us happy and give peace and rest to our Souls And this is the constant voice and language of Scripture and the tenour of the Bible Acquaint thy self with God that thou mayest be at Peace Job 22.21 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart Psal 97.11 The work of righteousness is peace and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever Isa 32.17 Seeing then Holiness is so high a Perfection and so great a Happiness let these Arguments prevail with us to aspire after this temper that as he who hath called us is holy so we may be holy in all manner of Conversation because it is written be ye holy for I am holy ADVERTISEMENT THE Discourses of the Divine Goodness being more than can be contain'd in this Volume are together with those of the remaining Attributes reserv'd for the next But to complete this here follows a single Sermon upon another Subject SERMON XIV Of doing Good Being a Spital Sermon Preach'd at Christ-Church on Easter-Tuesday April 14th 1691. GALAT. VI. 9 10. Let us not be weary in well doing forin due season we shall reap if we faint not As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all Men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith THE Apostle in these Words recommends unto us a great and comprehensive Duty the doing of good concerning which the Text offers these five particulars to our Consideration I. The Nature of the Duty it self which is called well doing v. 9. and doing good v. 10. II. The extent of this Duty in respect of it's Object which is all Mankind Let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are of the houshold of faith III. The measure of it as we have opportunity IV. Our unwearied perseverance in it let us not be weary in well doing V. The Argument and Encouragement to it because in due season we shall reap if we faint not Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good c. I. I will consider the Nature of the Duty it self of well doing and doing good And this I shall explain to you as briefly as I can by considering the extent of the Act of doing Good and the Excellency of it And 1. The extent of the Act. It comprehends in it all those ways wherein we may be beneficial and useful to one another It reaches not only to the Bodies of Men but to their Souls that Better and more Excellent part of our selves and is conversant in all those Ways and Kinds whereby we may serve the temporal or spiritual Good of our Neighbour and promote either his present or his future and eternal Happiness To instruct the Ignorant or reduce those that are in Error to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the just and reclaim those that are engaged in any evil Course by good Counsel and seasonable Admonition and by prudent and kind Reproof to resolve and satisfie the doubting Mind to confirm the weak to heal the broken-hearted and to comfort the melancholy and troubled Spirits These are the noblest Ways of Charity because they are conversant about the Souls of Men and tend to procure and promote their eternal Felicity And then to feed the hungry to cloath the naked release the imprisoned to redeem the Captives and to vindicate those who are injur'd and oppress'd in their Persons or Estates or Reputation to repair those who are ruin'd in their Fortunes and in a word to relieve and comfort those who are in any kind of Calamity or Distress All these are but the several Branches and Instances of this great Duty here in the Text of doing good tho' it hath in this place a more particular respect to the Charitable supply of those who are in Want and Necessity and therefore with a more particular regard to that I shall Discourse of it at this time You see the extent of the Duty We will in the 2. Place briefly say something of the Ecellency of it which will appear if we consider That it is the imitation of the highest Excellency and Perfection To do Good is to be like God who is Good and doth good and it is to be like to him in that which he esteems his greatest Glory It is to be like the Son of God who when he was pleased to take our Nature upon him and live here below and to dwell amongst us went about doing good And it is to be like the blessed Angels the highest Rank and Order of God's Creatures whose great Employment it is to be ministring Spirits for the good of Men. So that for a Man to be kind and helpful and beneficial to others is to be a good Angel and a Saviour and a kind of God too It is an Argument of a great and noble and generous Mind to extend our Thoughts and Cares to the concernments of others and to employ our interest and power and endeavours for their benefit and advantage Whereas a low and mean and narrow Spirit is contracted and shrivel'd up within it self and cares only for its own things without any regard to the good and happiness of others It is the most noble work in the World because that inclination of Mind which prompts us to do good is the very temper and disposition of Happiness Solomon after all his Experience of worldly greatness and pleasure at last pitched upon this as the great felicity of humane Life and the only good Use that is to be made of a prosperous and plentiful Fortune Eccles 3.12 I know says he speaking of Riches that there is no good in them but for a Man to rejoice and do good in his life And certainly the best way to take joy in an Estate is to do good with it and a greater and wiser than Solomon has said it even he who is the Power and Wisdom of God has said it that it is a more blessed thing to give than to receive Consider farther That this is one of the great and substantial parts of Religion and next to the love and honour which we pay to Almighty God the most acceptable Service that we can do to him it is one Table of the Law and next the First and great Commandment of loving the Lord our God and very
suck wicked Thoughts and Actions to them for it is usual in Scripture-phrase as to ascribe all good Motions to God's Spirit so all evil Thoughts and Actions to the Devil not that he is the immediate Cause of them but because he is always ready to tempt Men to them and one way or other to promote them 3. I see no Reason to grant as many have done an immediate Power to the Devil over the fancies and imaginations of Men and that he may know the workings of them tho' not the secret thoughts of Mens Minds for this seems to me to be in effect to grant him the Knowledge of Mens Hearts and to give him a Key to that Closet which God hath reserved to himself for it is a very nice Distinction which is here made between the Thoughts of Mens Minds and the Images of their Fancies and if these should happen to be but words that signifie the same thing we shall unawares intrench upon the Prerogative of God Therefore because the Scripture is a stranger to these nice and subtile distinctions between the Imaginations of the Fancy and the Thoughts of the Heart I think it is much safer to assert the Prerogative of God in that latitude that the Scripture useth the word heart for all the inward motions of the Mind for the Thoughts and Intentions of the Heart and roundly to affirm that all the inward motions of our Souls are totally exempt from the immediate cognizance of any other Spirit but God's alone and that neither Angel nor Devil hath any further Knowledge of them than may be collected and inferr'd in a way of probable Conjecture from the particular Knowledge of Mens Tempers and Habits and Designs and the Course of their Actions I proceed to the III. Particular God's Knowledge of future Events This God proposes as the way to discern the true God from Idols Isaiah 41.21 c. Produce your Cause saith the Lord bring forth your strong Reasons saith the King of Jacob that is let them bring some Argument that may convince us that they are Gods and he instanceth in foretelling future Evants v. 22. Let them shew the former things what they be that we may consider them and know the latter end of them or declare us things for to come Shew the things that are to come hereafter that we may know that ye are Gods God puts it upon this issue if they can foretel future things then they are Gods if not they are vanity and a work of naught and he is an abomination that chuseth them v. 24. By things to come I understand such Effects as do not depend upon any necessary Cause but upon the Will of Free Agents and so may be or may not be from whence it is plain that it is the Prerogative of God proper and peculiar to Him to know future Events And here I shall consider these two things 1. That God knows future Events 2. That he only knows them 1. God knows future Events which will appear from the dictates of Natural Light and from Scripture 1. From the dictates of Natural Light as it is a Perfection and that which among Men is accounted the best part of Wisdom and unless this did belong to God how could he govern the World The Heathens except only the Epicureans generally granted this as appears in those wise Counsels which we frequently meet with in them to this purpose that we should not be anxious for the future but having done our endeavour leave the Events of things to God who only knows them and disposeth them Permittes ipsis expendere Numinibus quid Conveniat nobis rebusque sit utile nostris Juv. And afterward saith he We are importunate with God for Wife and Children At illis notum qui pueri qualisque futura sit uxor and that this was their Opinion appears yet more clearly from those apprehensions which they had of Divination Tully lays down this for a Principle Deos posse nobis signa futurarum reum ostendere de Legibus and in his Book de Divin he tells us that there was such a thing as Divination for it was an old Opinion jam usque ab Heroicis ducta temporibus eaque Pop. Rom. omnium gentium firmata consensu and afterward that this Divination was not sine instinctu afflatúque divino I know they did variously explain this according to their several Opinions about Fate and Contingency and their Apprehensions about the Providence of God One Sect of them the Stoicks held that there was a fatal Chain of Causes from first to last and things did necessarily follow one another and by this Means they made Fore-knowledge easie and explicable and tho' in their Disputes they seem to grant no such thing as Events and Contingencies yet they are agreed in the thing that those things which we call Events tho' they would not call them so were Fore-known to God And for this I shall only cite one Testimony of Seneca speaking of God's Fore-knowledge of the most contingent things the Dispositions of Men long before they are Born he adds nota est enim illis operis sui series omniúmque illis rerum per manus suas iturarum scientia in aperto semper est nobis ex abdito subit quae repentina putamus illis provisa veniunt familiaria and how peremptory soever this Sect is in their disputes about Fate yet when they speak of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and generally in their Moral Discourses they seem plainly to me to exempt the will of Man from this fatal necessity And those other Sects of the Philosophers that denyed Fate did generally grant God's Fore-knowledge of contingent things I grant indeed that they did rather make God's Fore-knowledge an Arbitrary and Voluntary than a necessary Perfection that is that God when he pleased to apply himself to it could Fore-know all future Events but their general Opinion was that as his Providence did not extend to small and inconsiderable things so neither his Fore-knowledge But Tully seems to attribute a very perfect Providence to him and a Fore-knowledge of the least things Quis non timeat omnia providentem cogitantem animadvertentem omnia ad se pertinere putantem curiosum negotij plenum deum But I cannot say he is constant to himself but they all agree in granting to him this Perfection of knowing all future things if he pleased to trouble himself with it and had they not in this mistaken the Nature of God they might easily have apprehended that 't is no trouble nor weariness to an Infinite Understanding that is always in Act to know the least things how many soever they be 2. From Scripture which gives us Testimonies and Arguments of it 1. Testimonies Isa 48.3 c. Acts 15.18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from everlasting which by the way I cannot but compare with the forecited
admit such a Knowledge in God as seems contradictious and impossible to our Reason why may we not allow and frame such Notions of his Goodness and Justice To this I answer There is a great difference between those Perfections of God which are imitable and those which are not Knowledge of future Events is a Perfection wherein we are not bound to be like God and if we are assured of the thing that he doth know them it is not necessary that we should know the manner of it and dis-intangle it from contradiction and impossibility but it is otherwise in God's Goodness and Justice which are imitable he that imitates endeavours to be like something that he knows and we must have a clear Idea and Notion of that which we would bring our selves to the likeness of these Perfections of God we are capable of knowing and therefore the Knowledge of these Perfections is chiefly recommended to us in Scripture Jer. 9.24 By these God reveals himself and declares his Name and makes himself known to us even by those Attributes which declare his Goodness and Mercy and Justice Exod. 34.6 7. Psal 86.15 Deut. 32.3 4 5. When God would give a Description of himself to Moses he promises to cause his goodness to pass before him So that it doth not follow that because God's Knowledge of future Events is to be admitted notwithstanding the seeming contradiction and impossibility of it therefore we are to admit of any Notion of God's Justice or Goodness that seems contradictious or impossible The Third Objection is made up of several inconveniencies that would follow from God's Knowledge of future Events 1. It would Prejudice the Liberty of the Creature For if God have an infallible Knowledge of what we will do then we cannot but do what he infallibly foresees we will do for otherwise his Knowledge would be fallible Answer God's-Fore-knowledge lays no necessity upon the Event In every Event we may consider the Effect in it self or with relation to the Cause and the manner how it comes to pass consider'd in it self it is future with relation to its Causes it is contingent God sees it as both and so as that which till it is may be or not be and when it comes to pass he sees the Man do it freely and so before it be done it hath no necessity but upon supposition of fore-sight as when it is it hath upon supposition that it is as Origen excellently explains it Fore-knowledge is not the cause of the things that are fore-known but because the thing is future and shall be this is the Reason why it is fore-known for it doth not because it was known come to pass but because it was to come to pass therefore it was fore-known and bare Knowledge is no more the Cause of any Event which because it is known must infallibly be than my seeing a Man run is the Cause of his running which because I do see is infallibly so 2 ly If God infallibly fore-knows what Men will do how can he be serious in his Exhortations to Repentance in his Expectation of it and his grieving for the Impenitency of Men Answer All these are founded in the liberty of our Actions God exhorts to Repentance and expects it because by his Grace we may do it he is said to grieve for our Impenitency because we may do otherwise and will not Exhortations are not vain in themselves but very proper to their end tho' through our obstinacy and hardness they may be rendred vain to us and without effect If the weight of the Objection lie upon serious and you ask how God can exhort Men seriously to that which he fore-sees that they will not do those whom he fore-knows will be finally impenitent I answer if his Exhortations were not serious he could not foresee the final impenitency of Men. To foresee Mens final impenitency is to foresee their willful contempt of Gods Warnings and Exhortations and Rejection of his Grace now Mens willful contempt of his Warnings and Exhortations cannot be foreseen unless God foresee that his Exhortations are serious and in good earnest Having answer'd the Objections against God's fore-knowing future Events I proceed to shew II. That God only knows future Events Isa 44.6 7. Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God and who as I shall call and shall declare it and set it in order for me since I appointed the ancient People and the things that are coming and shall come let them shew unto them Isa 46.9 10. Remember the former things of old for I am God and there is none else I am God and there is none like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure The Reason is evident because the Knowledge of future Events is beyond the reach of any finite understanding especially if we grant it to be beyond our finite understanding to explain the possibility of such a Knowledge for to be sure that is out of the reach of our Knowledge which we cannot so much as understand how it is possible it should be known by any Understanding But it may here be Objected Did not the Oracles among the Heathens foretel several things which Christians are satisfied came from the Devil I have no time at present to examine the business of Heathen Oracles I could easily shew there was much imposture in them but grant they were really delivered and given out by a Spirit yet the darkness and ambiguity the affected and contrived ambiguity is such as shews that the Devil was conscious to himself of the uncertainty of his Knowledge in those matters and those few that came to pass and are in any tolerable Sense said to be accomplisht were in such matters either wherein prudent Conjecture might go far and I grant the Devil to be a sagacious Spirit or else in dis-junctive Cases as when there are but two ways for a thing to be it must either be so or so in which a bold guessing may often hit right but guessing at future things is far from a Knowledge of them which only can clearly be made out by punctual and particular Predictions of Things with Circumstances of Time and Person such as we find in Scripture in many instances to the prediction of which the greatest sagacity and the utmost guessing could do nothing such as those Predictions of which I gave instances out of Scripture I have now done with the First general Head I propos'd to be spoken to from these Words viz. To prove that this Attribute of Knowledge belongs to God I proceed to the Second viz. To consider the Perfection and Prerogative of the Divine Knowledge which I shall speak to in these following Particulars 1. God's Knowledge is Present and Actual
therefore the best way for a Man to seem to be any thing is really to be what he would appear but having to deal with God who knows our thoughts afar off to whom all our Disguises are transparent and all our little Arts of concealment signifie nothing 't is a madness to hide our Iniquity in our Bosom With this Argument our Saviour convinceth the hypocritical Pharisees Luke 16.15 Ye are they that justifie your selves before Men but God knoweth your Hearts 2. If God know your Hearts then endeavour to approve your Hearts to him charge your selves with inward Purity and Holiness because of the pure Eyes which behold the most intimate and secret motions of your Souls therefore cleanse your Hearts from wickedness how long shall vain thoughts lodge within you Fear and Shame from Men lay a great restraint upon our outward Actions but how licentious are we many times in our Hearts what a strange freedom do we take within our own Breasts This is an Argument of the secret Atheism that lies at the bottom of our Hearts He that allows himself in any wicked Thoughts and Imaginations which out of a regard to Men he will not put in practice this man plainly declares That he reverenceth Men more than God that he either disbelieves a God or despiseth him Therefore keep your Hearts with all diligence because they are peculiarly under God's inspection and when you are ready to take the liberty of your Thoughts because no Eye sees you ask your selves doth not he that pondereth the Heart consider it and he that keepeth thy soul doth he not know it as the wise Man speaks Prov. 24.12 And whatever you do in the service of God do it heartily as to the Lord. Indeed if we did only worship God to be seen of Men an external Worship would be sufficient but Religion is not intended to please men but God he is a Spirit and sees our Spirits therefore we must worship him in Spirit and in Truth 1 Thes 2.4 Not as pleasing men but God who trieth our Hearts David useth this Argument to his Son Solomon 1 Chron. 28.9 And thou Solomon my Son know thou the God of thy Father and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind for the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts Whatever liberty we may take to our selves now and how careless soever we are of our Thoughts and the inward frame of our Hearts yet the Scripture assures us that he who now sees our Hearts will one day judge us according to them Jer. 17.10 I the Lord search the heart I try the reins even to give to every Man according to his ways And the Apostle speaks of a day coming wherein God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ Heb. 4.13 Rev. 2.23 3. This is matter of encouragement to us in many cases In our secret Troubles Psal 142.3 When my Spirit was overwhelmed within me then thou knewest my path In Cases of difficulty which depend upon the Hearts of other men which tho' we do not know yet God knows them So the Apostles Acts 1.24 when they did not know whom to chuse for an Apostle they refer it to God and they prayed and said thou Lord which knowest the hearts of all shew whether of these two thou hast chosen But especially this is matter of comfort to us when we suffer by the Calumnies and Reproaches of Men when the World chargeth us with Crimes of Hypocrisie and Falseness and Insincerity then to be able to appeal to the searcher of hearts as to our Innocency and Sincerity and to say with the Prophet Jer. O Lord of hosts that tryest the righteous and seest the reins and the heart unto thee have I opened my Cause Ch. 20.12 and with St. Peter God which knoweth the hearts bare them witness Acts 15.8 4. This renders all the deep and profound Policies of Wicked Men a vain thing The Lord knows the Thoughts of men that they are vanity Psal 94.11 They are Vanity because he knows them and can defeat them he can bring their counsels to nought and make their devices of none effect He is conscious to the first motions of their Hearts he sees those Cobwebs which they are spining and can blow them away with a Breath he can snare them in their own Policies and turn their Counsels into foolishness Thou that puttest a Mask upon a wicked Design and hidest the Malice and Revenge of thine Heart under a dissembling Countenance God sees thy Design and hath a thousand ways to prevent it When the Politicians of the World think they have laid their Design sure with all imaginable caution and that their Counsels cannot miscarry being out of all possibility of Humane discovery or prevention for all this their counsels may come to nought and tho' they have resolved it yet it may not stand he that sits in the heavens laughs at them the Lord hath them in derision As Wise as they are they are guilty of this over-sight that they did not take God into consideration by whom they are surprized and discovered He that sees their Design can blast it in a moment he can speak the word and thy breath shall go forth and thou shalt return to thy dust and in that very day thy thoughts perish Psal 146.4 5. If God only knows the Hearts of Men then what art thou O man that judgest another's heart This condemns the Uncharitableness of Men who take upon them to judge and censure Mens Hearts which is to speak evil of the things which they know not to meddle with things which do not fall under their cognizance What St. James saith ch 4.12 There is one law-giver that is able to save and to destroy who art thou that judgest another is proportionably true in this case there is but one that knows the heart who art thou then that judgest another Man's heart Who art thou O Man that takest upon thee to sit in judgment upon thy Brother and to pass Sentence upon his Heart to pronounce him a Hypocrite a wicked Man and a damned Wretch Art thou a Man and the son of Man and wilt thou assume to thy self the Prerogative of God Man can only look to the outward appearance but God seeth the heart There 's nothing doth more palpably discover the Un-christian Spirit of that new Sect which is of late risen up among us than their taking upon them to judge Men's Hearts and as confidently to censure every Man they meet as if they had a window into his Breast But they are not alone guilty of this those who are so ready to call Men Hypocrites they invade this Prerogative of God We may pronounce an action wicked if it be contrary to the Rule or a Man wicked as to his present state if the general course of his Life and Actions be wicked for our Saviour tells us by their Fruits ye shall know them this we
labour after this is but a short-witted Prudence to serve a present turn without any prospect to the future without regard to the next World and the Eternity which we are to live in this is to be wise for a moment and fools for ever 4. If God be only Wise then put your Trust and Confidence in him Whom should we trust rather than Infinite Wisdom which manageth and directs Infinite Goodness and Power In all Cases of difficulty trust him for direction acknowledge him in all thy ways that he may direct thy steps commit thy way unto the Lord and lean not to thine own understanding The race is not to the swift nor the Battel to the strong but the Providence of God disposeth all these things And if we rely upon our own Wisdom that will prove a broken reed And as our own Wisdom is a broken Reed so the Wisdom of other men Isa 31.1 2. God curseth them that go down into Egypt and trust to their strength and Wisdom but look not to the holy one of Israel neither seek the Lord yet he also is wise saith the Prophet 5. Let us adore the Wisdom of God and say with St. Paul 1 Tim. 1.17 To the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen and with Daniel Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are his Veneration is the acknowledgement of an Infinite Excellency and Perfection We reverence any extraordinary degree of Wisdom in Men but the Divine Wisdom which is Perfect and Infinite is matter of our Adoration and Blessing and Praise Thanksgiving respects the Benefits we receive but we bless God when we acknowledge any Excellency for as God's Blessing us is to do us good so our Blessing him is to speak good of him and as all God's Perfections are the Objects of our Blessing so more especially his Wisdom is of our Praise for to praise God is to take notice of the wise Design and Contrivance of his Goodness and Mercy towards us Before I pass on to the other Particulars contained in these words I cannot but take notice that this wise God here spoken of is stiled our Saviour which some understand of our Saviour Jesus Christ and bring this place as an Argument to prove his Divinity and if that were so it were all one to my purpose which is in the next place to shew that Glory and Majesty and Dominion and Power belong to the Divine Being But altho' I would not willingly part with any place that may fairly be brought for the proof of the Divinity of Christ yet seeing there are so many plain Texts in Scripture for the proof of it we have the less reason to stretch doubtful places and that this is so will appear to any one who considers that the Title of Saviour is several times in Scripture attributed to God the Father besides that in a very Ancient and Authentick Copy we find the words read somewhat otherwise and so as to put this out of all Controversie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Having premised thus much for the clearing of these words I shall briefly consider first God's Glory and Majesty and then his Dominion and Soveraignty First God's Glory and Majesty By Majesty we may understand the greatness or eminent excellency of the Divine Nature which results from his Perfections and whereby the Divine Nature is set and placed infinitely above all other Beings I say the eminent excellency of the Divine Nature which results from his Perfections more especially from those great Perfections his Goodness and Wisdom and Power and Holiness And his Glory is a manifestation of this Excellency and a just acknowledgment and due opinion of it Hence it is that in Scripture God is said to be glorious in power and glorious in holiness and his Goodness is call'd his glory and here in the Text Glory and Majesty are ascribed to him upon the account of his Wisdom and Goodness That these belong to God I shall prove 1. From the acknowledgment of Natural Light The Heathens did constantly ascribe Greatness to God and that as resulting chiefly from his Goodness as appears by their frequent conjunction of these two Attributes Goodness and Greatness Opt. Max. were their most familiar Titles of the Deity to which I will add that known place of Seneca primus deorum cultus est deos credere dein reddere illis majestatem suam reddere bonitatem sine quâ nulla majestas 2. From Scripture It were endless to produce all those Texts wherein Greatness and Glory are ascribed to God I shall mention two or three Deut. 10.17 the Lord is a great God Psal 24.10 he 's call'd the King of glory 104 1. he is said to be cloathed with majesty and honour The whole Earth is full of his glory Hither belong all those Doxologies in the Old and New Testament wherein Greatness and Glory and Majesty are ascribed to God From all which we may learn 1. What it is that makes a Person great and glorious and what is the way to Majesty viz. real worth and excellency and particularly that kind of excellency which Creatures are capable of in a very eminent degree and that is goodness this is that which advanceth a Person and gives him a pre-eminency above all others this casts a lustre upon a man and makes his face to shine Aristotle tells us that Honour is nothing else but the signification of the esteem which we have of a Person for his goodness for saith he to be good and to do good is the highest glory God's Goodness is his highest Glory and there is nothing so glorious in any Creature as herein to be like God 2. Let us give God the Glory which is due to his Name Ascribe ye greatness to our God Deut. 32.3 Give unto the Lord O ye mighty give unto the Lord glory and power Psal 29.1 The Glory and Majesty of God calls for our Esteem and Honour our Fear and Reverence of him Thus we should glorifie God in our Spirits by an inward esteem and reverence of his Majesty The thoughts of Earthly Majesty will compose us to reverence how much more should the Apprehensions of the Divine Majesty strike an awe upon our Spirits in all our Addresses to him his excellency should make us afraid and keep us from all saucy boldness and familiarity with him Reverence is an Acknowledgment of the distance which is between the Majesty of God and our meanness And we should glorifie him in our bodies with outward Worship and Adoration that is by all external significations of reverence and respect and we should glorifie him in our Lives and Actions The highest glory a Creature can give to God is to endeavour to be like him satis illos coluit quisquis imitatus est Sen. hereby we manifest and shew forth his Excellency to the World when we endeavour to be conformed to the Divine Perfections And in case of
promiscuously upon the Righteous and the Wicked it would not be evident that they were designed for the Punishment of such Sins when Men did see that they fell likewise upon those who were not guilty of those Sins and consequently the example could not be so effectual to deter Men from Sin Upon all these accounts you see that Abraham's reasoning was very Strong and well Grounded as to those Judgments which are Miraculous and Extraordinary and immediately inflicted by God for the Punishment of great and hainous Sins which was the Case he was speaking of And accordingly we find that in these Judgments which have been Immediately and Miraculously inflicted by God he hath always made this difference between the Righteous and the Wicked In the Deluge which he brought upon the old World the Spirit of God gives this Reason why the Judgment was so universal because all Flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth and the Reason why he saved Noah and his Family was because in this general corruption of Mankind he alone was Righteous thee have I seen Righteous before me in this Generation So likewise in that Miraculous Judgment of Korah and his Company when God made a new thing and the Earth opened her mouth to swallow them up none perished but he and his complices the rest had warning given them by God to remove from the tents of those wicked Men. Thus you see that as to the particular Case in the Text Abraham's reasoning concerning the Justice of God is very firm and concluding I proceed to the Second Thing which was that which I principally intended to Discourse upon viz. to consider the Justice of God in general in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments And here I cannot but grant that the best Evidence of this is yet wanting We have clear demonstrations of the Power and Wisdom and Goodness of God in this vast and admirable frame of Things which we see but we must stay till the Day of Judgment for a clear and full Manifestation of the Divine Justice for which Reason the Day of Judgment is in Scripture call'd the Day of the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God But in the mean time we may receive sufficient assurance of this both from Natural Reason and from Divine Revelation 1. From Natural Reason which tells us that God loves Righteousness and hates Iniquity and consequently that it must be agreable to his Nature to countenance and encourage the one and to discountenance the other that is to give some publick Testimony of his liking and Affection to the one and of his Hatred and Dislike of the other which cannot otherwise be done but by Rewards and Punishments But however the Heathen reasoned about this matter whatever premises they laid they firmly believed the conclusion that God is Just Plato lays down this as a certain and undoubted Principle that God is in no wise unjust but as Righteous as is possible and that we cannot resemble God more than in this quality and disposition So likewise Seneca tells us That the Gods are neither capable of receiving an injury nor of doing any thing that is unjust Antoninus the great Emperour and Philosopher speaking doubtfully whether good Men are extinguisht by Death or remain afterwards If it be just says he you may be sure it is so if it be not just you may certainly conclude the contrary for God is just and being so he will do nothing that is unjust or unreasonable And indeed the Heathen Philosophers looked upon this as the great sanction of all moral Precepts that God was the Witness and the Avenger of the breach and violation of them Qui secus faxit deus ipse vindex erit If any Man do contrary to them God himself will punish it which shews that there is a Natural Awe upon the Minds of Men of the Divine Justice which will overtake offenders either in this World or the other But this will more clearly appear in the 2. Place from Scripture or Divine Revelation And those Texts which I shall produce to this purpose may be reduced to these two Heads either such as prove the rectitude of the Divine Nature and his Justice in general or such as speak more particularly of the Justice and Equity of his Providence in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments I begin first with those which declare the rectitude of the Divine Nature and the Justice of God in general and that either by attributing this Perfection to him or by removing the contrary injustice and unrighteousness at the greatest distance from him 1. Those which attribute this Perfection to God I shall mention but a few of many Psal 129.4 The Lord is Righteous Dan. 9.7 O Lord Righteousness belongeth unto thee This good Men have acknowledged when they have lain under the hand of God Ezra 9.15 O Lord God of Israel thou art Righteous And this the worst of Men have been forced to own when they have been in extremity Ex. 9.27 then Pharoah said the Lord is Righteous This hath been likewise acknowledged by those who have layn under the greatest temptation to doubt of it Jer. 12.1 Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper The Prophet notwithstanding he saw the prosperous Condition of wicked Men and the afflicted state of the godly which seemed hard to be reconcile with the Justice of God's Providence yet before he would so much as reason about it he lays down this as a certain conclusion Righteous art thou O Lord. To this Head likewise belong all those Texts which speak of Righteousness as God's dwelling Place and his Throne of his Delight in Justice and of the Duration and Eternity of it which I need not particularly recite 2. There are likewise other Texts which remove the contrary viz. injustice and unrighteousness at the greatest distance from God as being most contrary to his Nature and Perfection Deut. 32.4 A God of truth and without iniquity 2 Chron. 19.7 There is to iniquity with the Lord our God nor accepting of Persons nor taking of Gifts Job 8.3 Doth God pervert Judgment or doth the Almighty pervert Justice which is a vehement negation of the Thing Job 34.10 11 12. Far be it from God that he should do wickedness and from the Almighty that he should commit iniquity For the work of a Man shall he render unto him and cause every Man to find according to his ways Yea surely God will not do wickedly neither will the Almighty pervert Judgment Rom. 9.14 What shall we say then is there unrighteousness with God God forbid Secondly There are other Texts which speak more particularly of the Justice and Righteousness of God in the distribution of Rewards and Punishments 'T is true indeed the Justice of God doth not constantly appear in this World in the dispensations of his Providence because this is a time