THE COMMON PRINCIPILES OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION Clearly proved and singularly improved Or a Practical CATECHISM wherein some of the most concerning-foundations of our Faith are solidely laid down And that Doctrine which is according to Godliness sweetly yet pungently pressed home and most satisfyingly handled By that worthy and faithful Servant of jesus Christ Mr. Hue Binning late Minister of the Gospel at Goven The 5. Impression carefully corrected & amended 1 Tim. 4. 6. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things thou shalt be a good Minister of Jesus Christ nourished up in the Word of faith and of good Doctrine whereunto thou hast attained Heb. 5. 12. For when for the time ye ought to be Teachers ye have need that one teach you again which be the first Principles of the Oracles of God 1 Pet. 2. 2. As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow thereby Joh. 17. 3. And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Printed by R. S. Printer to the Town of Glasgow 1666. TO THE READER Christian Reader THe holy and learned Author of this little Book having outrun his years hastened to a maturity before the ordinary season in so much that ripe Summer Fruit was found with him by the first of the Spring for before he had lived twenty five years complete he had got to be Philologus Philosophus Theologus eximius whereof he gave suitable proofs by his labours having first professed in Philosophy three years with high approbation in the University of Glasgow and thence was translated to the Ministry of the Gospel in a Congregation adjacent where he laboured in he work of the Gospel near four years leaving an epistle of commendation upon the hearts of his Hearers But as few burning and shining lights have been of long continuance here so he after he had served his own generation by the will of God and many had rejoiced in his light for a season was quickly transported to the land of Promise in the 26th year of his age He lived deservedly esteemed & beloved and died much lamented by all descerning Christians who knew him And indeed the loss which the Churches of Christ in these parts sustained in his death w●…●…he greater upon a double account First that he was a person fitted with dexterity to vindicate School divinity and Practical Theology from the superfluity of vain and fruitless perplexing questions wherewith latter times have corrupted both and it upon his spirit in all his way to reduce that native Gospel-simplicitis which in most parts of the world where literature is in esteem and where the Gospel is preached is almost exiled from the School and from the Pulpit a specimen whereof the judicious Reader may find in this little Treatis Besides ●…e was a person of eminent moderation and sobriety of spirit a rare grace in this generation whose heart was much drawn forth in the study of healing ways and condeseensions of love among Brethren one who longed for the recovering of the Humanity of Christianity which hath been well near lost in the bitter divisions of these times and the animosities which have followed thereupon That which gave the rise to the publishing of this part of his manuscripts was partly the longing of many who knew him after some fruit of his labours for the use of the Church and partly the exceeding great usefulness of the Treatise wherein I am bold to say that some fundamentals of the Christian Religion & great Mysteries of Faith are handled with the greatest Gospel-simplicity & most dexterious plainness & are brought down to the meanest capacity and vulgar understanding with abundant evidence of a great height and reach of useful knowledge in the Author Who had he lived to have perfected the explication of the grounds of Religion in this manner as he intended in his opening the Catechism unto his particular Congregation he had been upon this single account famous in the Churches of Christ But now by this imperfect opus post humum thou are left to judge ex ungue leonem The Author's Method was his peculiar gift who being no stranger to the Rules of Art knew well how to make his method subserve the matter which he handled for though he tell not always that his discourse hath so many parts thou mayst not think it wants method it being maximum artis celare artem that the same spirit which enabled him to conceive & communicate to others these sweet mysteries of Salvation may help thee with profit to read and peruse them is the desire of him who is Thine in the service of the Gospel PATRICK GILLESPIE THE CONTENTS SERMON I. Rom. 11. 36. Of him and through him etc. 1 Cor. 10 31. Of the chief End of Man THe Fundamentals of Religion necessary to be pondered and imprinted into the soul. Page 1. Our chief end first to be considered p. 2 God is independent and self-sufficient but the most perfect of the Creatures are from another as their first cause and for another as their last end p. 3 Self-seeking in Creatures monstrous p. 4 What self-seeking in God is ibid. Man is in a peculiar way for God p. 5 Sin hath exautorated Man ibid. What it is to glorify God and how Gods glorifying of us and our glorifying of him differs p. 6 & 7 How proper it is for man to praise God p. 8 Whether we can always have an express particular thought of God and his glory in every action p. 9 Man is come short of all he was created for ibid. Glorifying of God the end of Man's second Creation p. 10 We are to consider for what purpose we were made p. 11 Believing the most compendious way of glorifying God ib. p. 12. SERMON II. Psal. 73. 24 25. etc. 1 Joh. 1. 3. Joh. 17. 21 22. Union and Communion with God the principal end and great design of the Gospel GOD'S glory and man's happiness inseparably linked together p. 13 Man's dignity above the rest of the creatures p. 14 A twofold Union betwixt God and Adam whence communion with him flowed p. 14 15 The Fall hath broken off Communion with him by dissolving the Union p. 16 Christ the repairer of the breach betwixt God and man p. 17 18. There is neither full seeing of God nor full enjoying of him here p. 19 The Union of a believing soul with God is a great depth p. 20 Love an uniting and transforming thing ibid. Christ's Union with the Father is the foundation of our Union with God and among ourselves not simply that Union of Essence between the Father and the Son but the Union of God with Christ as Mediator p. 21 How should an Union and Communion with God draw forth our souls in desires after such a blessedness p. 22 The enjoyment of God the scope and design which few drive ibid. He who engages not his whole soul to God cannot truly engage any part of it to him p. 23. SERMON III. 2 Tim. 3. 16. Of the Scriptures THat which most men seek is not true happiness p. 24 The principles of reason and light of nature are become so dark that they cannot direct us in the pathway to everlasting blessedness p. 25 The authority of the Scriptures divine p. 26 How the Apostles and Prophets knew that they spoke truth and how men may be persuaded that the Scriptures are the Word of God ibid. The simplicity and plainness of the Scripture p. 27 The Spirit of God must open a man's eyes before he understand the Scriptures p. 28 The Utility of the Scriptures p. 29 The Scriptures a Doctrine of Eternal life p. 30 The sharpness of the Scripture mingled with sweetness p. 31 Some cannot hear the word of reproof others prefer their own vain imaginations to the Word of God p. 32 33 SERMON IU Joh. 5. 39 Eph. 2. 20. Of the Scriptures THe Lamp of the Word without and the light of the Spirit within necessary for directing us in the way to eternal life p. 34 Why the multitude find no sweetness in the Scriptures p. 35 How eternal life is to be found in the Scripture p. 36 It may commend the Scriptures to us that Eternal life is to be found in them p. 37 We are to lay this present perishing life in the balance with eternal life and compare both the happiness and miseries of this life with eternal blessedness p. 38 Many groundlessely fancy that they have a right to everlasting life p. 39 Most of the Hearers of the Gospel have either to knowledge at all or nothing but knowledge p. 40 Life Eternal is no where to be found out but of Jesus Christ p. 41 42 Some foolishly think that if they do all they can than God ought to be pleased p 43 Christ the only pacificatory sacrifice p. 44 Christ is either the subject or end of all that is in the Scriptures p. 45 The march which divides between heaven and hell is coming to Christ p. 45 46 The necessity of searching the Scriptures and what search it must be p. 47 The Rule whereby to measure our profiting in the Scriptures p. 48 49 SERMON V. Eph. 2. 20. Of the Scriptures BElievers the Temple of the living God p. 50 Christ in the Scriptures a sure foundation to build upon all other foundations sandy and unsure p. 51 How firm and stable a foundation the Word of the Lord is p. 52 A Promise lays an obligation on the Promiser which a command doth not on the commander p. 53 All the Promises are Yea and Amen in Christ ibid. The chief point of Obedience is faith and what that is p 54 Christ is the Cornerstone as well as the foundation which should strongly persuade Christians to an union in Affection p. 55 What kind of foundation Christ is ibid. Some prefer their own imaginations to the Word of the Lord under the dark notion of new light p. 56 Many have nothing but the word of man for the foundation of their Faith p. 57 SERMON VI 2 Tim. 1 13. Of the Scriptures ALL Religion may be reduced to these two what we are to believe and what we ough to do p. 58 God manifests himself differently to Man according to his different state p. 59 60 The marvellousness of mercy in saving of lost sinners p. 61 62 What manner of Persons Believers ought to be p. 63 64 ●…belief ruined man at first p. 65 A twofold mistake of the nature of Faith ibid. What course a soul is to take who questions its interest p. 66 67 The mistake of the nature of Faith leads many wellmeaning persons into labyrinth p. 68 What Faith is p 69 What a soul ought to do that is sentenced by the law ibid. The faith of a Christian no fancy p. 70 71 Love is unitive and operative ibid. Love is put for all obedience and how it is the fulfilling of the. p. 72 God is pleased with no service that proceeds not from love and why p. 73 74 How to attain to the distinct knowledge of our love to God and the way to increase it p. 75 Who cannot hold fast the truth p. 76 When man lost his holiness he could not retain his happiness ibid. The necessity of holding fast the form of sound words and of forbearing strange words p. 77 SERMON VII and VIII Exod. 3. 13 14. Of the Name of God IT is impossible to declare what God is p. 78 How we may know that there is a God ibid. Natural men are Atheists p. 79 God's Name a mystery that cannot be conceived or expressed p. 80 81 82 83. This name I AM THAT I AM imports his unsearchableness p. 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 His absolutness and sovereignty p. 94 His unchangeableness and Eternity p. 95 96 97 How impossible it is for a mortal creature to find out God to perfection yet so much may be known of him as is sufficient to teach us our duty and ma●… us happy in obedience p. 98 99 The saving knowledge of God a self-emptying and self-abasing thing p. 100 101 Why God hath called himself by so many names ibid. SERMON IX Exod. 24. 5 6 7. What God is to us GOD is loath to depart even when he is provoked to go away p. 102 103 114 Infirmity and iniquity puts us into an incapacity of nearness with God p. 105 106 It is God himself who only can teach a soul to know what he is p. 107 One who considers how all-sufficient God is & how empty and insufficient all other things are must needs cleave to him p. 108 God vents himself towards the creatures either in a way of Justice or Mercy p. 109 There is a Tribunal of Justice and a Throne of Mercy erected in the word so that every sentenced sinner may appeal from the Bar of Justice to Christ Jesus sitting on the Throne of Mercy p. 110 111. The Name of the Lord rightly considered is sufficient to answer all possible objections that a sinner can make against coming to Christ and what those objections are p. 112 113 114 115 116 117 Many souls suck delusion and destruction out of the sweet and saving Promises of life which are held forth in the Gospel p. 118 119. SERMON X. Joh. 4. 24. What God is THe knowledge of what God is presupposed to all true worship & Christian walking p. 120 How misshapen apprehensions we have of God p. 121 That God is a spirit shows us that he is not like any visible thing p. 122 That he is invisible & dwells in light inaccessible ib. That he is most perfect & most powerful p. 123 124 That he cannot be circumscribed by any place p. 125 And there is no comprehension of his knowledge p. 126 127 It were of excellent use and advantage for us to be all the day in the faith of God's infinite knowledge and omniscience p. 128. SERMON XI Joh. 4. 26. The true knowledge that God is and that he is to be worshipped goes together HOw inexcusable they are who profess to believe a Deity & do not worship him p. 129 It is the souls honour and happiness to worship God p. 130 It 's all one not to worship God at all and not to worship him as he hath commanded p. 131 What will-worship and what true worship is p. 132 The most part of worship though commanded hath no truth in it p. 133 Truth in worship is opposed to Ceremony p. 134 Many place all their Religion in externals p. 135 Men ought to be most taken up with that in Religion upon which God lays most weight and wherein he is most delighted p. 136 It completes our worship when the thing commanded is performed according as it is commanded p. 137 What is the right manner in worshipping God p. 138 The best little acquainted with spiritual worship p. 139 True worship must have the stamp of God's spiritual nature engraven on it p. 140 External worship necessary under the Gospel p. 141 The soul and spirit must be the first mover and chief agent in spiritual worship p. 142 The greatest part of our Religion is bodily exercise ibid. What makes Religion burdensome and unpleasant to us p. 143 Formality in worship the greatest controversy against the land ibid. SERMON XII Deut. 6. 4. 1 Joh. 5. 7. Of the Unity of God's essence and the Trinity of Persons GOdliness and Mystery p. 144 There is an unlawful curiosity in men to know those things that are kept secret p. 145 We are to believe the mystery of the Trinity though we know not how it is p. 146 The light of reason may convince men that there is but one God p. 147 Why Christ is called the Word p. 148 149 Of the three Witnesses upon earth p. 150 SERMON XIII Deut. 6. 4. Joh. 5. 7. Of the Unity of the Godhead and Trinity of Persons THe whole Word of God profitable ibid. The unsearchableness of this mystery of the Trinity ought to compose our hearts to a reverend apprehension of God's divine Majesty p. 151 Since there is but one God we ought to have no other besides him p. 152 153 We have much and strong consolation both from the thing witnessed and from the Witnesses that bear testimony p. 154 155 Faiths victory is from the object of it the Lord God Almighty p. 156 Few consider that Jesus Christ the Saviour is the Eternal Son of God and the sad consequences thereof p. 157 We are ready so far to mis-conceive of God as if the Father and the holy Ghost were not so well minded to the Salvation of sinners as Jesus Christ p. 158 The mystery of the Trinity affords us this plain instruction how me ought to worship God p. 159 SERMON XIV Eccles. 1. 11. Job 23. 13. Of the Decrees of God GOD'S absolute & self-sufficient perfection admits of no accession of blessedness from the things which he hath made p. 160 The Eternal purpose and Decree of God it it most wise p. 161 It is most absolute and free having no cause without himself p 162 It is the first rise of all things past present & to come p. 163 It reaches to every particular being and act so that nothing falls out by chance p. 164 165 The purpose of God is one and unchangeable p. 166 167 How we are to understand those Scriptures which speak of his repenting p. 168 169 Whatever God hath purposed from Eternity that he executes in time p. 170 Gods commands do not so much signify what he intends to effectuate as what is our duty ibid. How comfortable it is for a Christian to consider that whatsoever falls out is according to an Eternal Counsel p. 171 The Counsel of God irresistible p. 172 The consideration of God's Eternal Counsel should teach us that sweet Lesson of submission wherein we are so much wanting and so unwilling to learn p. 173 Want of submission makes a man's yoke heavy and his bands strong p. 174 From the absolute Dominion of God over all things we are to learn confidence in him in all things and for all things p. 175 176 Who are heirs of the promise p. 177 It is a wellspring and fountain of consolation to the people of God that he is in one mind p. 178 SERMON XV. Eph. 1. 11. Rom. 9 22 23. Of Predestination PRedestination a Mystery not to be curiously or boldly enquired into p. 179 For the right up-taking of Predestination we must know that there is not a plurality of purposes in God but one entire purpose concerning all things p. 180 As also that it is not the creature or any thing in the creature which is first in his mind but himself and his own glory p. 181 How men miscarry in conceiving of the purposes of God while they subject the most High to the Rules of Carnal Reason where of the Arminian foreknowledge and how it derogates both from the Sovereignty of God and the wisdom of God ib. p. 182 Some make that first in his intention which is last in execution p. 183 184 185 186 187 Gods saving the vessels of mercy by a Redeemer is not simply to manifest the glory of his goodness but of his gracious and merciful goodness p. 188 189 190 SERMON XVI Rom. 9 22. Eccles. 11. Of Predestination HOw to silence all the secret surmises and mutinies of the heart concerning Predestination p. 191 192 How great wickedness it is to inquire into a cause of his will ibid. Men speak wickedly for God in the matter of Predestination p. 193 194 195 The Objections of Carnal Reason against Predestination tending to accuse God and justify men answered p. 196 197 198 199 SERMON XVII Heb. 11. 3. Of Creation GOD is the Creator of all things & these things which he hath made prove him to be God p. 200 201 When this visible world was made p. 202 The wickedness of men's curiosity in enquiring what God was doing before he made the world & why he was so long in applying himself to this work ibid. p. 203 The Lord in the beginning of the world declares more manifestly his Eternity his Self-sufficiency and his Liberty p. 204 205 God made all things very good to declare his goodness and wisdom p. 106 The course of nature is one continued wonder ibid. The power of God doth eminently appear in making all things of nothing and how easy it was for him to do so p. 207 Why the Lord took six days to perfect the work of Creation p. 208 SERMON XVIII Heb. 11. 3. Heb. 11. 4. Of Creation IT is not believed or laid to heart that God made the Heaven and the Earth p. 209 210 The faith of Gods making the world is of singular use to a Christian through his whole course p. 211 212 213 SERMON XIX Gen. 1. 26. 27. Of the Creation of Man THe singular respect that God hath put upon Man in creating him after His Own Image ibid. 214 How necessary it is for us to know the happy estate wherein we were created p. 215 We are to consider what that Image of God was which was stamped on man in the beginning p. 216 217. 218 We should consider from what we are fallen and how great that fall is p. 219 220 SERMON XX. Rom. 11. 36. Psal. 103. 13. Mat. 10. 29. Of Providence THe Providence of God is either not at all believed or superficially considered ib. 221 222 The most common and known truths most sweet p. 223 All things depend upon God as their producing conserving and final cause and what power the Faith thereof hath to conform us to his Will. p. 224 The upholding of the World is a kind of repeated and continued Creation p. 225 It is a most suitable exercise for a Christian to deduce all things from God as the first cause and to reduce them all to him again with glory as the last end p. 226 How God governs the World p. 227 The faith of God's Supremacy over all things would increase our fear of God and abate our fear of others p. 228 SERMON XXI Gen. 2. 17. Gen. 1. 26. Of the first Covenant made with Man THe several draughts and lineaments of God's Image whereinto man was created ibid. 229 p. 230 Man in innocency enjoyed a freedom from all fear of misery and had a dominion over the creature p. 231 There was a law imprinted in Adam's heart and a law prescribed unto him p. 232 Of the positive law prescribed unto Adam and of the reasons thereof p 233 Many perform commanded duties not because they are commanded p. 234 The command and will of God should persuade to obedient without any more enquiry or debate about the matter p. 235 236 SERMON XXII Gal. 3. 12. Of the first Covenant THe wonderful condescension of God in entering into covenant with Man p. 237 238 To speak strictly there cannot be a proper covenant betwixt God and man ibid. Why God deals with man in the terms of a covenant p. 240 241 The terms of the first covenant and what obedience it required p. 242 Of the difference betwixt the first & second covenant ibid. Whether the first covenant did require faith & what kind of Faith p. 244 How the Law is not of Faith ibid. What the Fall hath made man now p. 245 SERMON XXIII Eccles. 7. 29. Of the state wherein man was created and how the Image of God is defaced TRue Religion consists in the knowledge of God and of ourselves p. 246 That which we have to know of man is what God made him at the first and what he hath now made himself p. 247 We are to consider the sad consequence of the Fall p. 248 All men's invention about the remedy of his misery vain p. 249 How necessary it is for us both to consider what we were and what we now are p. 250 251 SERMON XXIV Rom. 5. 12. Of sin by imputation and propagation HOw and whence it is that Adam's first transgression is imputed to all his posterity p. 252 Gods gracious purpose in permitting the Fall p. 253 Sin is entered into the word by imputation p. 254 The heinousness of sin p 255 What Original sin is which is propagated to all Adam's posterity p. 256 A right sight of Original corruption is a humbling sight p. 257 How profitably to look upon the evils of others ibid. Few are truly persuaded of the evil of their nature p. 258 Sin brings death into the world with it and the extent of that death p. 259 260 SERMON XXV 1 Tim. 1. 15. Of the way of Man's delivery THe Doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ most sweet to a soul made sensible of its mercy p. 261 Our help comes from that airth out of which we could not have expected it p 262 Our sin and God's justice made salvation impossible to man ibid. Christ satisfies justice for us and conquers our corruptions also p. 263 How acceptable would the news of a Saviour be to us if we knew our misery without him p. 264 The great thing which keeps men from reaping any real advantage by the Gospel is this that men do not either see the necessity and excellency of these things or That they do not believe the reality of them p. 265 OF THE CHIEF END OF MAN Rom. 11. 36. Of Him and through Him and for Him are all things to whom be glory for ever And 1 Cor. 10 31. Whatsoever ye do do all to the glory of God ALL that men have to know may be comprised under these two Heads What their end is and what is the right way to attain to that end and all that we have to do is by any means to seek to compass that end These are the two cardinal points of a man's knowledge and exercise Quo & quâ cundem est Whither to go and what way to go If there be a mistake in any of these fundamentals all is wrong All Arts and Sciences have their principles and grounds that must be presupposed to all solid knowledge and right practice So hath the true Religion some fundamental principles which must be laid to heart and imprinted into the soul or there can be no superstructure or true and saving knowledge and no practice in Christianity that can lead to a blessed end But as the principles are not many but a few common and easy grounds from which all the conclusions of Art are reduced so the Principles of true Religion are few and plain They need neither burden your memory nor confound your understanding that which may save you is near hand saith the Apostle Rom. 10. in thy mouth it is neither too far above us nor too far below us But alas your not considering of these common and few and easy grounds makes them both burdensome to the memory and dark to the understanding As there is nothing so easy but it becomes difficult if you do it against your will nihil est tam facile quin difficile fiat si invitus feceri So there is nothing so plain so common but it becomes dark and hard if you do not indeed consider it and lay it to heart That which is in the first place to be considered is our End As in all other arts and every petty business it hath the first place of consideration so especially in the Christian Religion It is the first cause of all humane actions and the first Principle of all deliberate motions Except you would walk at random not knowing whither you go or what you do you must once establish this and fix it in your intention What is the great end and purpose wherefore I am created and sent into the world If this be not either questioned or not rightly constituted you cannot but spend your time Vel nihil agendo vel aliud agendo vel male agendo you must either do nothing or nothing to purpose or that which is worse that which will undo you It is certainly the wrong establishing of this one thing that makes the most part of our motions either altogether irregular or unprofitable or destructive and hurtful Therefore as this point hath the first place in your Catechism so it ought to be first of all laid to heart and pondered as the one necessary thing One thing is need full saith Christ Luk. 10. 22. And if any thing be in a superlative degree needful this is it O that you would choose to consider it as the necessity and weight of it requires We have read two Scriptures which speak to the ultimate and chief end of man which is the glorifying of God by all our actions and words and thoughts In which we have these things of importance 1. That God's glory is the end of our being 2. That God's glory should be the end of our doing And 3. The ground of both these because both being and doing are from him therefore they ought to be both for him He is the first cause of both and therefore he ought to be the last end of both Of him and through him are all things and therefore all things are also for him and therefore all things should be done to him God is independent altogether and self-sufficient This is his royal prerogative wherein he infinitely transcends all created perfections He is of himself & for himself from no other & for no other but of him and for him are all things He is the fountainhead you ought to follow all the streams up to it and then to rest for you can go no further But the creature even the most perfect work besides God it hath these two ingredients of Limitation and Imperfection in its bosom It is from another and for another It hath its rise out of the fountain of God's immense power and goodness and it must run towards that again till it empty all its faculties and excellencies into that same sea of goodness Dependence is the proper notion of a created being Dependence upon that infinite independent being as the first immediate cause and the last immediate end You see then that this principle is engraven in the very nature of man It is as certain an evident that man is made for God's glory and for no other end as that he is from God's power and for no other cause Except men did violent their own conscience and put out their own eyes as the Gentiles did Rom. 1. 19 etc. That which might be known of man's chief end is manifest in them so that all men are without excuse As God his Being is indepen●…ent so that he cannot be expressed by any name more ●…table than such as he takes to himself I am that I am ●…mporting a boundless ineffable absolute and trancendent being beside which no creature deserves so much as to have the name of being or to be made mention of in one day with his Name because his glorious light makes the poor derided shadow of light in other creatures to desappear and to vanish out of the World of Being's So it is the glorious perfection of his Nature that he doth all things for himself for his own Name Pro. 16. 4. and his glory is as dear to him as himself Isai. 42. 8. I am the Lord that is my Name and therefore my glory I will give to no other and 48 11. This is no ambition Indeed for a man to seek his own glory or search into it is no glory Prov. 25. 27. but rather a man's shame Self-seeking in creatures is a monstruous and incongruous thing it is as absurd and unbeseeming a creature to seek its own glory as to attribute to itself its own being Shall the thing form say to the Potter Thou hast not made me that were ridiculous and shall the thing form say It 's made for itself that were as ridiculous Self denial is the ornament and beauty of a creature & therefore humility is an ornament and clothing 1 Pet. 5. 5. And honour upholds the humble in spirit Pro. 29. 23. But Gods self-seeking and seeking of his own glory is his eminent excellency it is indeed his glory because he is & there is none else there is nothing beside him but that which hath issued forth from his incomprehensible fullness and therefore it is all the reason of the world that as he is the beginning so he should be the end of all things Rev. 1. 8. And there is the more reason of it that his Majesty's seeking of his own glory is not prejudicial to the creatures good but the very communication of his fullness goes along with it so that in glorifying himself he is most beneficial to his own creatures Poor creatures indigent at home yet are proud of nothing and endeavour in seeking of themselves to engross all perfections into their own bosoms ambition and vainglory robs and spoils others excellencies to  itself withal and then boasts itself in these borrowed feathers But our blessed Lord is then doing most for our advantage when he does all for his own glory He needs not go abroad to seek perfection but to manifest what he is in himself he communicates of himself to us O. blessed self-seeking that gave us a being and well being that makes no advantage by it but gives advantage He hath the honour of all but we have the profit of al. All things are of him and for him but man in a peculiar and proper way As God in making of man he was pleased of his goodness to stamp him with a character of his own Image and in this he puts a difference between man and other creatures that he should have more plain and distinct engravings of Divine Majesty upon him which might show the glory of the workman so it appears that he is in a singular way made for God as his last end As he is set nearer God as the beginning and cause than other creatures so he is placed nearer God as the end All creatures are made ultimò lastly for God yet they are all made proximè nextly for man Therefore David falls out a wondering O Lord what is man that thou magnifiest him and hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands and put all under his feet Psalm 8. 6. The creature comes out in a direct line from God as the beams from the body of the Sun and it is directed towards the use and service of mankind from whom all the excellency and perfection that is in it should reflect towards God again Man is both proximè & ultimò for God We are to return immediately to the fountain of our being and thus our happiness and well-being is perpetuated There is nothing intervening between God and us that our use and service and honour should be derected towards But all the songs and perfections of the creature that are among the rest of the creatures meet all in man as their Centre for this purpose that he may return with them all to the glorious Fountain from whence they issued thus we stand next God and in the middle between God and other creatures This I say was the condition of our creation we had our being immediately from God as the beginning of all and we were to have our happiness and well-being by returning immediately to God as the end of all But sin coming in between God and us hath displaced us so that we cannot now stand next God without the intervention of a Mediator & we cannot stand between God and the creatures to offer up their praise to him but there is one Mediator between God and man that offers up both man's praises and the creatures songs which meet in man Now seeing God hath made all things for himself and especially man for his own glory that he may show forth in him the glory and excellency of his power goodness holiness justice and mercy It is not only most reasonable that man should do all things that he doth to the glory of God but it is even the beauty and perfection of a man the greatest accession that can be to his being to glorify God by that being We are not our own therefore we ought not to live to ourselves but to God whose we are But you may ask what is it to glorify God Doth our goodness extend to him Or is it an advantage to the Almighty that we are righteous No indeed and herein is the vast difference between Gods glorifying of us and sanctifying of us and our glorifying and sanctifying of him God calls things that are not and makes them to be but we can do no more but call things that are and that far below what they are God's glorifying is creative ours only declarative He makes us such we do no more but declare Him to be such this than is the proper work that man is created for to be a witness of God's glory & to give testimony to the appearances and out-breaking of it in the ways of power and justice and mercy and truth Other creatures are called to glorify God but it is rather a Proclamation to dull and senseless men and a provocation of them to their duty As Christ said to the Pharisees If these children hold their peace the stones would cry out So may the Lord turn himself from stupid and senseless men to the stones and woods and seas and sun and moon and exhort them to man's duty the more to provoke and stir up our dulness and to make us consider that it is a greater wonder that man whom God hath made so glorious can so little express God's glory then if stupid and senseless creatures should break out in singing and praising of his Majesty The creatures are the books wherein the lines of the song of God's praises are written and man is made a creature capable to read them and to tune that long They are appointed to bring in Brick to our hand and God has fashioned us for this employment to make such a building of it We are the mouth of the creation but ere God want praises when our mouth is dumb and our ears deaf God will open the mouths of ashes of Babes and Sucklings and in them perfect praises Psal. 8. 1. 2 Epictetus' said well Si Luscinia essem canerem ut Luscinia cum autem homo sim quod agam Laudebo Deum nec unquam cessabo Is I were a Lark I would sing as a Lark but seeing I am a man what should I do but praise God without ceasing It is as proper to us to praise God as for a bird to chant All beasts have their own sounds and voices peculiar to their own nature this is the natural sound of a man Now as you would think it monstruous to hear a melodious bird croping as a Raven so it is no less monstruous and degenerate to hear the most part of the discourses of men savouring nothing of God If we had known that innocent estate of man O how would we think he had fallen from heaven We would imagine that we were thrust down from heaven where we heard the melodious songs of Angels into hell to hear the howl of damned spirits This then is that we are bound unto by the bond of our Creation this is our proper office and station God once set us into when he assigned every creature it 's own use and exercise this was our portion and O the noblest of all because nearest the Kings own person to acknowledge in our hearts inwardly and to express in our words and actions outwardly what a one he is according as he hath revealed himself in his word and works It 's great honour to a creature to have the meanest employment in the Court of this great King But O what is it to be set over all the King's house and over all his Kingdom But than what is that in respect of this to be next to the King to wait on his own person so to speak therefore the godly man is described as a waiting maid or servant Psal. 123 2. Well then without more discourse upon it without multiplying of it into particular branches to glorify God is in our souls to conceive of him and meditate on his Name till they receive the impression and stamp of all the letters of his glorious Name and then to express this in our words and actions in commending of him and obeying of him Our soul should be as wax to express the Seal of his glorious Attributes of justice power goodness holiness and mercy and as the Water that receives the beams of the Sun reflects them back again so should our spirits receive the sweet warming beams of his love and glorious excellency and then reflect them towards his Majesty with the desires and affections of our souls All our thoughts of him all our affections towards him should have the stamp of singularity such as may declare there is none like him none besides him our love our meditation our acknowledgement should have this character on their front There is none beside thee Thou art and none else And then a soul should by the cords of affection to him and admiration of him be bound to serve him Creation puts on the obligation to glorify him in our body and spirits which are his but affection only puts that to exercise All other bonds leaves our natures at liberty but this constrains 2 Cor. 5. 13. it binds on all bonds it ties on us all divine obligations Then a soul will glorify God when love so unites it to God and makes it one spirit with him that his glory becomes its honour and becomes the principle of all our inward affections and outward actions It is not always possible to have an express particular thought of God and his glory in every action and meditation but for the most part it ought to be so And if souls were accustomed to meditation on God it would become their very nature altera natura pleasant and delightsome However if there be not always an express intention of God's glory yet there ought to be kept always such a disposition and temper of spirit as it may be construed to proceed from the intention of God's glory and than it remains in the seed and fruit if not in itself Now when we are speaking of the great end and purpose of our Creation we call to mind our lamentabel and tragical Fall from that blessed station we were constitute into All men have sinned and come short of the glory of God Rom. 3. 23. His being in the world was for that glory and he is come short of that glory O strange short-comming short of all that he was ordained for What is he now meet for For what purpose is that chief of the works of God now The salt if it lose its saltness is meet for nothing for wherewithal shall it be seasoned Mark 9 50. Even so when man is rendered unfit for his proper end he is meet for nothing but to be cast out and trod upon he is like a withered branch that must be cast into the fire joh. 15. 6. Some things if they fail in one use they are good for another but the best things are not so Corruptio optimi pessima As the Lord speaks to the house of Israel shall wood be taken off the vine tree for my work even so the inhabitants of jerusalem Ezech. 15. 2 3 4 5. If it yield not Wine it 's good for nothing so if man do not glorify God if he fall from that he is meet for nothing but to be cast into the fire of hell and burnt for ever he is for no use in the Creation but to the fuel to the fire of the Lords indignation But behold the goodness of the Lord and his kindness and love hath appeared towards men not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us through jesus Christ Tit. 3. 4 5. Our Lord Jesus by whom all thing were created and for whom would not let this excellent workmanship perish so therefore he goes about the work of Redemption a second Creation more laborious and also more glorious than the first that so he might glorify his Father and our Father Thus the breach is made up thus the unsavoury salt is seasoned thus the withered branch is quickened again for that same fruit of praises and glorifying of God This is the end of his second Creation as it was of the first we are his workmanship created to good works in Christ jesus Eph. 2. 10. This is the work of God to believe in him to set to our seal and to give our testimony to all his Attributes joh. 6. 29. and 3. 33. We are bought with a price and therefore we ought to glorify him with our souls and bodies he made us with a word and that bound us but now he has made us again and paid a price for us and so we are twice bound not to be our own but his 1 Cor. 6. ult. And so to glorify him in our bodies and spirits I beseech you gather your spirits call them home about the business We once came short of our end God's glory and our happiness but know that it is attainable again we lost both but both are found in Christ Awake then and stir up your spirits else it shall be double condemnation when we have the offer of being restored to our former blessed condition to love our present misery better Once establish this point within your souls and therefore ask why came I hither To what purpose am I come into the world If you do not ask it what will you answer when he asks you at your appearance before his Tribunal I beseech you what will many of you say in that day when the Master returns and takes an account of your dispensation You are sent into the world only for this business to serve the Lord Now what will many of you answer If you speak the truth as then you must do it you cannot lie then you must say Lord I spent my time in serving my own lusts I was taken up with other businesses and had no leisure I was occupied in my calling etc. even as if an Ambassador of a King should return him his account of his negotiation I was busy at Cards and Dice I spent my money and did wear my  Though you think your ploughing and borrowing and trafficking and reaping very necessary yet certainly these are but as trifles and toys to the main business O what dreadful account will souls make they come here for no purpose but to serve their bodies and senses to be slaves to all the creatures which were once put under man's feet Now man is under the feet of all and he has put himself so If you were of these creatures than you might be for them you seek them as if you were created for them and not they for you and you seek yourselves as if you were of yourselves and had not your descent of God Know my beloved that you were not made for that purpose nor yet redeemed either to serve yourselves or other creatures but that other creatures might serve you and ye serve God Luk. 1. 74 75. And this is really the best way to serve ourselves and to save ourselves to serve God Self-seeking is self-destroying selfdenying is soulsaving He that seeketh to save his life shall lose it and he that loseth his life shall find it and he that denies himself and follows me is my disciple Will ye once sit down in good earnest about this business It is lamentable to be yet to begin to learn to live when ye must die ye will be out of the world almost ere you bethink yourself Why came I into the world Quidam tunc vivere incipiunt cum definendum est imò quidam ante vivere defiêrunt quam inciperent this is of all most lamentable many souls end their life before they begin to live For what is our life but a living death while we do not live to God and while we live not in relation to the great end of our life and being the glory of God It were better saith Christ that such had never been born You who are created again in Jesus Christ it most of all concerns you to ask Why am I made and why am I redeemed And to what purpose It is certainly that you may glorify your heavenly Father Mat. 5. 16. Psal. 58. 13. And you shall glorify him if you bring forth much fruit & continue in his love joh. 15. 8. And this you are chosen and ordained unto ver 16. And therefore abide in him that you may bring forth fruit ver 4. And if you abide in him by believing you do indeed honour him and he that honoureth the Son honoureth the Father joh. 5. 23. Here is a compendious way to glorify God receive salvation of him freely righteousness and eternal life and this sets to a seal of God's truth and grace and mercy and who so counts the Son worthy to be a Saviour to them and sets to their seal of approbation to him whom God the Father hath sent and sealed he also honours the Father and then he that honoureth the Father hath it not for nothing For them that honour me I will honour 1 Sam. 2. 30. saith the Lord And he that serves me him will my Father honour Joh. 12. 26. As the believing soul cares for no other and respects no other but God so he respects no other but such a soul I will dwell in the humble and look unto the contrite there is mutual respects and honours God is the delight of such a soul and such a soul is God's delight that soul sets God on a high place in a throne in its heart and God sets that soul in a heavenly place with Christ Eph. 2. 6. yea he comes down to sit with us and dwell in us off his throne of Majesty Isa. 66. 1 2. & 15 57 Psal. 73. 24. to the end Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel etc. Whom have I in heaven but Thee etc. It is good for me to draw near to God 1 John 1. 3. These things declare we to you that ye also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son jesus Christ And John 17. 21 22 23. That they all may be one as we are one I in them and they in me that they may be perfect in one etc. IT is a matter of great consolation that God's glory and our happiness are linked together so that whosoever sets his glory before them singly to aim at they take the most compendious and certain way to true blessedness His glory is the ultimat end of man and should be our great and last scope But our happiness which consists in the enjoyment of God is subordinate to this yet inseparable from it The end of our Creation is communion and fellowship with God therefore man was made with an immortal soul capable of it and this is the greatest dignity and eminency of man above the creatures He hath not only impressed from God's finger in his first moulding some characters resembling God in righteousness and holiness but is created with a capacity of receiving more of God by communion with him Other creatures have already all they will have all theycan have of conformity to him but man is made liker than all and is fitted and fashioned to aspire to more likeness and conformity so that his soul may shine more and more to the perfect day There was an Union made already in his first moulding and communion was to grow as a fragrant and sweet fruit out of this blessed root Union and similitude is the ground of fellowship & communion That union was gracious that communion would have been glorious for grace is the seed of glory There was a twofold Union between Adam and God an Union of state and an Union of nature He was like God and he was God's friend All the creatures had some likeness to God some engravings of his power and goodness and wisdom but man is said to be made according to God's Image Let us make man like unto us Other creatures had similitudinem vestigii but man had similitudinem faciei Holiness and righteousness is God's face the very excellency and glory of all his Attributes and the Lord stamps the image of these upon Man Other Attributes are but like his backparts & he leaves the resemblance of his footsteps upon other creatures What can be so beautiful as the Image of God upon the soul Creatures the nearer they are to God the more pure and excellent We see in the Fabric of the World bodies the higher they are the more pure and cleanly the more beautiful Now then What was man that was made a little lower than the Angels In the Hebrew a little lower than God tantum non Deus Seeing man is set next to God his glory and beauty certainly surpasses the glory of the Sun and Heavens Things contiguous and next other are like other The water is liker air than the earth therefore it is next the air The air is liker Heaven than water therefore it is next to it Omne contiguum spirituali est spirituale Angels and men next God are spirits as he is a Spirit Now similitude is the ground of friendship Pares paribus congregantur similitude necessitudinis vinculum It is that which conciliats affection among men so it is here by proportion God sees that all is very good and man the best of his works and he loves him and makes him his friend for his own Image which he beholds in him At length from these two roots this pleasant & fragrant fruit of Communion with and enjoyment of God grows up this is the entertainment of friends to delight in one another and to enjoy one another Amicorum omnia communia Love makes all common it opens the treasure of God's fullness and makes a vent of divine bounty towards man and it opens the heart of man and makes it large as the sand of the sea to receive of God Our receiving of his fullness is all the entertainment we can give him O what blessedness is this for a soul to live in him and it lives in him when it loves him Anima est ubi amat non ubi animat and to taste of his sweetness and be satisfied with him this makes perfect onnenesse and perfect onnenesse with God who is the fountain of life and in whose favour is life is perfect blessedness But we must stand a little here and consider our misery that hath fallen from such an excellency how are we come down from Heaven wonderfully Sin hath interposed between God and man and this dissolves the union and hinders the communion An enemy is come between two friends and puts them at odds and Oh! an eternal odds sin hath sown this discord and alineated our hearts from God Man's glory consisted in the irradiation of the soul from God's shining countenance this made him light God's face shined on him But sin interposing hath eclipsed that light and brought on an eternal night of darkness over the soul And thus we are spoiled of the Image of God as when the earth comes betwixt the Sun and Moon Now then there can no beams of divine savour and love break through directly towards us because of the cloud of our sins that separates between God and us and because of the partition-wall of Ordinances and the hand-writing which was against us God's holy Law and severe Justice Col. 3. 14. Then What shall we do How shall we see his face in joy Certainly it had been altogether impossible if our Lord Jesus Christ had not come who is the light and life of men the Father shines on him and the beams of his love reflects upon us from the Sun The love of God and his favourable countenance that cannot meet with us in a direct and immediate beam they fall on us in this blessed compass by the intervention of a Mediator We are rebels standing at distance with God Christ comes between a Mediator and Peacemaker to reconcile us to God God is in Christ reconciling the World God first makes an union of Natures with Christ and so he comes near to us down to us who could not come up to him and then he sends out the Word of Reconciliation the Gospel the tenor whereof is this 1 joh. 1. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye may have fellowship with the Father and his Son It is a voice of peace and invitation to the fellowship of God Behold then the happiness of man is th●…very end and purpose of the Gospel Christ is the repairer of the breaches the second Adam aspired to quicken what Adam killed He hath slain the enmity and canceled the hand-writing that was against us and so made peace by the blood of his cross and then having removed all that out of the way he comes and calls us unto the fellowship which we were ordained unto from our Creation We who are rebels are called to be friends I call you not servants but friends It is a wonder that the creature should be called a friend of God but O great wonder that the rebel should be called a friend and yet that is not all we are called to a nearer union to be Sons of God this is our privilege joh. 1. 12. This is a great part of our fellowship with the Father and his Son we are the Father's children and the Sons brethren acd if children than heirs and heirs of God and if brethren than coheirs with Christ Rom. 8. 17. Thus the Union is begun again in Christ but as long as sin dwells in our mortal bodies it is not perfect there is always some separation and some enmity in our hearts & so there is neither full seeing of God for we know but in part and we see darkly nor full enjoying of God for we are saved by hope & we live by faith and not by fight But this is begun which is the seed of eternal communion we are here partakers of the Divine Nature Now than it must aspire unto a more perfect union with God whose Image it is And therefore the Soul of a Believer is here still in motion towards God as his element There is here an union in affection but not completed in fruition affectu non effectu the soul pants after God Whom have I in heaven or earth but thee My ●…esh and my heart faileth a believing soul looksupon God as its only portion accounts nothing misery but to be separated from him & nothing blessedness but to be one with him this is the Loadstone of the affections and desires the Centre which they move towards and in which they will rest It is true indeed that oftentimes our hearts & our flesh faileth us & we become ignorant and brutish our affections cleave to the earth and tentations with their violence turn our souls towards another end than God as there is nothing more easily moved and turned wrong than the needle that is touched with the Adamant yet it settles not in such a posture it recovers itself and rests never till it look towards the North and then it is fixed even so tentations and the corruptions and infirmities of our hearts desturb our spirits easily and wind them about from the Lord towards any other thing but yet we are continuing with him and he keeps us with his right hand and therefore though we may be moved yet we shall not be greatly commoved we may fall but we shall rise again he is the strength of our heart and therefore he will turn our heart about again and fix it upon its own portion Our Union here consists more in his holding of us by his power than our taking hold of him by faith Power and goodwill encamps about both faith and the soul we are kept by his power through faith 1 Pet. 1. And thus he will guide the soul and still be drawing it nearer to him from itself & from sin and from the world till he receive us into Glory and until we be one as with the Father and the Son he in us and we in him that we may be made perfect in one as it is in the words read This is strange a greater unity and fuller enjoyment a more perfect fellowship than ever Adam in his innocency would have been capable of what soul ca conceive it What tongue express it None cann for its that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor entered into Man's heart to concive We must suspend the knowledge of it till we have experience of it Let us now believe it and then we shall find it There is a mutual inhabitation which is wonerfull Persons that dwell one with another have much society and fellowship but to dwell one in another is a strange thing I in them and they in me and therefore God is often said to dwell in us and we to dwell in him But that which makes it of all most wonderful and incomprehensible is that glorious unity and communion between the Father and the Son which it is made an Emblem of As thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us Can you conceive that unity of the Trinity Can you imagine that reciprocal inhabitation that mutual communion between the Father and the Son No it hath not entered into the heart to conceive it Only thus much we know that it is most perfect it is most glorious & so much we may apprehend of this unity of the Saints with God O love is an uniting and transforming thing God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him He dwelleth in us by love this makes him work in us and shine upon us love hath drawn him down from his seat of Majesty to visit poor Cottages of sinners Isa. 66. 1 2. & 15 47. And it is that love of God reflecting upon our souls that carries the soul upward to him to live in him and walk with him O how doth it constrain a soul to live to him and draw it from itself 2 Cor. 5. 15. Then the more unity with God the more separation from ourselves & the world the nearer God the farther from ourselves & the farther from ourselves the more happy and the more unity with God the more unity among ourselves among the brethren of our family Because we are not fully one with our Father therefore there are many differences between us & the brethren because we are not one perfectly in him therefore we are not one as he and the Father is one But when he shall be in us and we in him as the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father then shall we be one among ourselves then shall we meet in the unity of the faith into a perfect man into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Eph. 4. 13. Christ is the uniting Principle while the Saints are not wholly one uni tertio they cannot be perfectly one inter se among themselves Consider this I beseech you Christ's union with the Father is the foundation of our union to God and our union among ourselves this is comfortable the ground of it is laid already Now it is not simply the unity of the Father and the Son in essence that is here meant for what shadow & resemblance can be in the world of such an incomprehensible mystery But it is certainly the Union and Communion of God with Christ Jesus as Mediator as the head of the Church which is his Body Therefore seeing the Father is so wonderfully well pleased and one with Christ his well-beloved Son & Messenger of the Covenant & chief party contracting in our name he is by virtue of this one with us who are his seed and members And therefore the members should grow up in the head Christ from whom the whole body makes increase according to the effectual working of the spirit in it Eph 5. 15 16. Now if the union between the Father and Christ our Head cannot be dissolved and cannot be barran and unfruitful then certainly the spirit of the Father which is given to Christ beyond measure must effectually work in every member till it bring them to the unity of the Faith and to the measure of the perfect man which is the fullness of Christ So then every believing soul is one with the Father as Christ is one because he is the Head and they his members & the day is coming that all the members shall be perfectly united to the Head Christ & grow up to the perfect man which is the stature of Christ's fullness and then shall we all be made perfect in one we shall be one as he is one because he and we are one perfect man Head and Members Now to what purpose is all this spoken I fear it doth not stir up in our souls a desire after such a blessed life whose heart would not be moved at the sound of such words Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son we are made perfect he in us and we in him Certainly that soul is void of the Life of God that doth not find some sparkle of holy ambition kindled within after such glorious and blessed condition But these things sevour not and taste not to the most part the natural man knows them not for they are spiritually discerned How lamentable is it that Christ is come to restore us to our lost blessedness and yet no man almost considers it or lays it to heart O how miserably twice miserable is that Soul that doth not draw near to God in Christ when God hath come so near to us in Christ that goes a whoring after the lust of the eyes and flesh and after the imaginations of their own heart and will not be guided by Christ the way and life to glory Thou shalt destroy them O Lord Psal. 73. 27. All men are far off from God from the womb Behold we may have access to God in Christ woe to them that are yet far off and will not draw near they shall all perish I exhort you to consider what you are doing The most part of you are going away from God you were born far off and you will yet go further know what you will meet with in that way Destruction Ye have never yet asked in earnest for what purpose you came into the World What wonder you wander and walk at random seeing you have not proposed to yourselves any certain scope and aim It is great folly You would not be so foolish in any petty business But O how foolish men are in the main business The light of the body is the eye if that be not light the whole body is full of darkness If your intention be once right established all your course will be orderly but if you be dark and blind in this point & have not considered it you cannot walk in the light your whole way is darkness The right consideration of the great End would shine unto you and direct your way but while you have not proposed this end unto yourself the enjoyment of God you must spend your time either in doing nothing to that purpose or doing contrary to it All your other lawful business your callings and occupations are but in the by they are not the end nor the way but you make them only your business they are altogether impertinent to this end And the rest of your walking in lust and ignorance is not only impertinent but inconsistent with it and contrary to it If you think that you have this before your eyes to enjoy God I pray you look upon the way you choose Is your drunkenness your swearing your uncleanness your contentions and rail and such works of the flesh are those the way to enjoy God Shall not these separate between God and you Is your eating and drinking sleeping as beasts and labouring in your callings are these all the means you use to enjoy God Be not deceived you who draw not near God by Prayer often in secret and by faith in his Son Christ as lost miserable sinners to be saved and reconciled by him you have no fellowship with him and you shall not enjoy him afterward You whose hearts are given to your covetousness who have many lovers and idols besides him you cannot say Whom have I besides thee in the earth No you have many other things beside God You can have nothing of God except you make him all to you unless you have him alone My undefiled is one Cant. 6. 9 He must be alone for his glory he will not give to another If you divide your affections and pretend to give him part & your lusts other part you may be doing but he will not divide his glory so he will give no part of it to any other thing But as for those souls that come to him and see their misery without him O know how good it is It 's not only good but best yea only good it is bonum & it is optimum yea it is unicum there is none good save one even God and there is nothing good for us but this one to be near God and so near that we may be one one spirit with the Lord for he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit Rejoice in your portion and long for the possession of it Let all your meditations and affections and conversion proclaim this Whom have I in heaven but thee and none in the earth beside thee And certainly he shall guide you to the end and receive you into glory than you shall rest from your labours because you shall dwell in him and enjoy that which you longed and laboured for Let the consideration of our end unite the hearts of Christians here O what an absurd thing is it that those who shall lodge together at night & be made perfect in one should not only go contrary ways but have contrary minds and affections Of the SCRIPTURES 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scriptures is given etc. WE told you that there was nothing more necessary to know than what our end is and what the way is that leads to that end We see th●… most part of men walking at random running an uncertain race because they do not propose unto themselves a certain scope to aim at and whither to direct their whole course According to men's particular inclinations & humours so do the purposes & designs of men vary and often do the purposes of one man change according to the circumstances of time & his condition in the World We see all men almost running cross one to another one drives at the satisfaction of his lust by pleasure another fancies a great felicity in honour a third in getting riches and thus men divide themselves whereas if it were true happiness that all were seeking they would all go one way towards one end If men be not in the right way the faster they seem to move toward the mark the farther they go from it wandering from the right way suppose men intent well will put them farther from that which they intent Si via in contrarium ducat ipsa velocitas as majoris intervalli causa est Therefore it concerns us all most deeply to be acquainted with the true path of blessedness For if we once mistake the more we do the swister we move the more distant we are from it indeed And there is the more need because there are so many by-paths that lead to destruction What say I by paths No high ways beaten-paths that the multitude of men walk in & never challenge nor will endure to be challenged as if they were in an error In other journey's men keep the plain high way and are afraid of any secret by-way lest it lead them wrong At hîc via quaeque tritissima maximè decipit Here the high pathed way leads wrong and O far wrong to Hell This is the meaning of Christ's Sermon Enter in at the straight gate but walk not in the broad way where many walk for it leads to destruction Therefore I would have this persuasion once begotten in your souls that the course of the world the way of the most part of men is dangerous is damnable O consider whither the way will lead you before you go further Do not think it a folly to stand still now & examine it when ye have gone on so long in their company Stand I say and consider be not ignorant as beasts that know no other thing than to follow the drove quae pergunt non quae eundum est sed quae itur they follow not whither they ought to go but whither most go You are men and have reasonable souls within you therefore I beseech you be not composed and fashioned according to custom and example that is brutish but according to some inward knowledge and reason Retire once from the multitude and ask in earnest at God what is the way Him that fears him he will teach the way that he should choose the way'to this blessed end is very straight very difficult you must have a guide in it you must have a lamp and a light in it else you cannot but go wrong The principles of reason within us are too dark & dim they will never lead us through the pits and snares in the way these indeed shined brightly in Adam that he needed no light without him no voice about him But sin hath extinguished it much and there remains nothing but some little spunk or sparkle under the ashes of much corruption that is but insufficient in itself and is often more blinded and darkened by lusts so that if it were never so much refined as it was in many heathens yet it is but the blind leading the blind and both must fall into the ditch Our end is high and divine To glorify God and to enjoy Him therefore our reason caligat ad suprema it can no more steadfastly behold that glorious end & move towards it than our weak eyes can behold the Sun Our eyes can look downward upon the earth but not upward to the Heavens So we have some remnant of reason in us that hath some petty and poor ability for matters of little moment as the things of this life But if once we look upward to the glory of God or eternal happiness our eyes are dazzled our reason confounded we cannot steadfastly behold that Eph. 4. 18. 2 Cor. 3. 13. 14. Therefore the Lord hath been pleased to give us the Scriptures which may be a Lamp unto our feet & a guide unto our way whereunto we shall do well to take heed as unto a candle or a light that shines in a dark place till the day dawn 2 Pet. 1. 6. These are able to make us wise unto salvation Let us here what Paul speaks of Timothy 2 Tim. 3. 16. All Scriptures is given etc. Where you have two points of high concernment The Authority of the Scriptures and their Utility Their Authority for they are given by Divine Inspiration Their Utility for they are profitable for Doctrine etc. and can make us perfect and well furnished to every good work The Authority of it is in a peculiar way divine of him and through him are all things All Writings of men according to the truth of the Scriptures have some Divinity in them in as much as they have of truth which is a Divine thing Yet the Holy Scriptures are by way of excellency attributed to God for they are immediately inspired of God Therefore Peter saith that the Scriptures came not in old time by the will of Man but holy men spoke as they were moved by the holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. God by his Spirit as it were acted the part of the soul in the Prophets and Apostles and they did no more but utter what the Spirit conceived The holy Ghost inspired the matter & the words & they were but tongues & pens to speak & write it unto the people here needed no debate no search in their own minds for the truth no inquisition for light but light shined upon their souls so brightly so convincingly that it puts it beyond all question that it was the mind and voice of God You need not ask How they did know that their dreams or visions were indeed from the Lord And that they did not frame any imagination in their own hearts and taught it for his Word as many did I say you need no more ask that than ask How shall a man see light or know the Sunshine light makes itself manifest and all other things it 's seen by its own brightness even so the holy men of God needed not any mark or sign to know the Spirits voice his revelation needed not the light of any other thing it was light itself he would certainly over power the soul and mind and leave no place of doubting God who cannot be deceived and can deceive no man hath delivered us this Doctrine O with what reverence should we receive it as if we heard the Lord from heaven speak If you ask How you shall be persuaded that the Scriptures are the Word of God his very mind opened to men & made legible Truly there are some things cannot be well proved not because they are doubtful but because they are clear of themselves and beyond all doubt and exception Principles of Arts must not be proved but supposed till you find by trial and experience afterward that they were indeed really true There are no question such characters of Divinity and Majesty imprinted in the very Scriptures themselves that whosoever hath the eyes of his understanding opened though he run he may read them and find God in them What Majesty is in the very simplicity and plainness of the Scriptures They do not labour to please men's ears and adorn the matter with the curious garments of words and phrases but represent the very matter itself to the soul as that which in itself is worthy of all acceptation and needs no humane eloquence to commend it Painting doth spoil native beauty external ornaments would disfigure some things that are of themselves proportioned and lovely therefore the Lord choses a plain and simple style which is foolishness to the world but in these swaddling  of the Scriptures and this poor Cottage the Child Jesus the Lord of Heaven and Earth is contained There is a jewel of the mysterious wisdom of God and man's eternal blessedness in the Mineral What glorious and astonishing humility is here What humble and homely Glory and Majesty also He is most high and yet none so lowly What excellent consent and harmony of many writters in such distant times Wonder at it All speak one thing to one purpose to bring men to God to abase all glory and exalt him alone Must it not be one Spirit that hath quickened all these and breathes in them all this one heavenly Song of Glory to God on high and good will towards men Other Writers will reason these things with you to convince you and persuade you and many thinks them more profound and deep for that reason and do despise the baseness of the Scriptures But to them whose eyes are opened the Majesty and authority of God commanding and asserting and testifying to them is more convincing from its own bare assertion than all humane reason Although there be much light in the Scriptures to guide men's way to God's glory and their own happiness yet certainly it will all be too small purpose if the eyes of our understanding be darkened and blinded If you shall surround a man with daylight except he open his eyes he cannot see The Scriptures are a clear Sun of life and righteousness but the blind soul compassed with that light is nothing the wiser but thinks the lamp of the Word shines not because it sees not it hath its own dungeon within it therefore the Spirit of God must open the eyes of the blind & enlighten the eyes of the understanding that a soul may see wonderful things in God's Law Psal. 119. 5. 8. joh. 1. 5. The light may shine in the darkness but the darkness cannot comprehend it I wonder not that the most part of men can see no Beauty no Majesty no excellency in the holy Scriptures to allure them because they are natural and have not the spirit of God and so cannot know these things for they are spiritually discerned 2 Cor. 2. 14. etc. Therefore as the inspiration of God did conceive this writing at first and preached this Doctrine unto the world so there can no soul understand it or profit by it but by the inspiration of the Almighty Verily there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty gives him understanding saith job. When the spirit comes into the soul to engrave the Characters of that Law and truth into the heart which were once engraven on Tables of Stone and not written with Pen and Ink than the spirit of Christ Jesus writes over and transcribes the Doctrine of the Gospel on fleshly Tables of the heart draws the lineaments of that faith and love preached in the word upon the soul then the soul is the Epistle of Christ written not with ink and pen but with the spirit of the living God 2 Cor. 3. 3. And then the soul is manifestly declared to be such when that which is impressed on the heart is expressed in the outward man in walking that it may be read of all men Now the soul having thus received the Image of the Scriptures on it understands the Spirit's voice in them and sees the truth and divinity of them The eye must receive some species and likeness of the object before it see it it must be made like to the object ere it can behold it Intelligens in actu fit ipsum intelligible So the soul must have some inspiration of the holy Ghost before it can believe with the heart the inspired Scriptures Now for the utility and profit of the Scripture who can speak of it according to its worth Some things may be over-commanded nay all things but this one God speaking in his word to mankind Many Titles are given to humane writings some are called accurate some subtle some ingenious and quick some profound and deep some plain some learned But call them what they please the Scriptures may vindicate to itself these two Titles as its own prerogative Holy and profitable The best speaker in the world in many words cannot want sin The best Writer hath some dross & refuse but here all is holy all is profitable Many Books are to no purpose but to feed and inflame men's lusts many serve for nothing but to spend & drive over the time without thought most part are good for nothing but to burden and over-weary the world to put them in a fancy of knowledge which they have not many serve for this only to nourish men's curiosity and vain imaginations and contentions about words and notions but here is a Book profitable all profitable If you do not yet profit by it you can have no pleasure in it it 's only ordained for souls profiting not for pelasing your fancy not for matter of curious speculation not for contention and strife about the interpretation of it Many Books have nothing in them but specious Titles to commend them they do nothing less than what they promise they have a large and fair entry which leads only into a poor Cottage but the Scriptures hath no hyperbolic and superlative styles to allure men they hold out a plain and common gate and entry which will undoubtly lead to a pleasant Palace others & prodesse volunt & delectare but these certainly & prodesse volunt & possunt they both can profit you and will profit you I wish that souls would read the Scriptures as profitable Scriptures with intention to profit If you do not read with such a purpose you read not the Scriptures of God they become as another Book unto you But what are they profitable for For Doctrine and a Divine Doctrine A Doctrine of life and happiness It 's the great promise of the New Covenant You shall be all taught of God the Scriptures can make a man learned & wise learned to salvation It is foolishness to the world but the world through wisdom know not God Alas what do they then know Is there any besides God And is there any knowledge besides the knowledge of God You have a poor petty wisdom among you to gather riches and manage your business others have a poor imaginary wisdom that they call learning and generally people think To pray to God is but a paper-skill a little Bookcraft they think the knowledge of God is nothing else but to learn to read the Bible Alas mistake me not it is another thing to know God The Doctrine of Jesus Christ written on the heart is a deep profound learning and the poor simple & rudest people may by the Spirits teaching become wiser than their Ancients than their Ministers O! it 's an excellent point of learning to know how to be saved What is it I pray you to know the course of the Heavens To number the Orbs and the Stars in them To measure their Circumference to reckon their motions and yet not to know him that sits on the Circle of them and not to know how to inhabit and dwell there If you would seek unto God & leek eyes opened to behold the mystery of the World ye would become wiser than your Pastors you would learn from the Spirit to pray better you would find the way to heaven better than they can teach you or walk in it Then it is profitable for reproof and correction It contains no Doctrine very pleasant to men's natural humours it is indeed most pleasant but to a fight & ordered taste You know the distemper of the eye or the perverting of the taste will  pleasant things & sweet things to the senses & make them appear ill favoured and bitter But I say to a discerning spirit there is nothing so sweet so comely I have seen an end of all perfection but none of thy Law Thy Word is sweeter to me than the honey or the honey comb If a soul be prepossessed with the love of the world & the lusts of the world it cannot favour and taste to them that vicious quality in the mind will make the pleasant Gospel unpleasant I piped unto you and you have not danced But however the Scriptures are then most profitable when they are least pleasant to our corruptions and therefore it is an absolute and entire Piece Et prodesse volunt & delectare Omne tulit punctum qui miscuitutile dulvi There are sharp reproofs & sad corrections of his holy Law which must make way for the pleasant and sweet Gospel This is a reproof of life a wounding before healing that who so refuse them despise their own soul but the car that heareth them abideth among the wise Prov. 15. 31. Woe unto that soul that correction or reproof or threatening is grievous unto He shall die ver 10. He is brutish Prov. 12. 1. There is a generation of men tha●… can endure to hear nothing but Gospel-promises that cry out against all reproving of sins and preaching of God's wrath against unbelieving sinners as legal and meddling with other men's matters especially if they reprove the sins of Rulers their public State-enormities As if the whole Word of God were not profitable as if reproofs were not as wholesome as consolations as if threatenings did not contribute to make men flee from the wrath to come into a City of refuge Let such persons read their own Character out of wise Solomon Correction is grievous to them that forsake the way Reprove a wise man and he will love thee and he will be yet wiser Pro. 9 9 If we were pleasers of men than were we not the servants of Jesus-Christ Let us strive to profit men but not to please them Peace peace which men's own hearts fancy would please them but it were better for them to be awakened out of that dream by reproof by correction and he that will do so shall find more favour of him afterward than he that flattereth him with his tongue Prov. 28. 23. Well then let this be established in your hearts as the foundation of all true Religion that the Scriptures are the Word of the eternal God and that they contain a perfect and exact Rule both of glorifying God & of the way to enjoy him they can make you perfect to every good work I shall say no more on this but beseech you as ye love your own souls be acquainting yourselves with them You will hear in these days of men pretending to more divine & spiritual discoveries and revelations than the Scriptures contain But my brethren these can make you wise to salvation these can make you perfect to every good work Then what needs more All that is beside salvation and beyond perfection count i●… superfluous and vain if not worse if not diabolical Let others be wise to their own destruction let them establish their own Imaginations for the Word of God and Rule of their Faith but hold you fast what you have received & contend earnestly for it add nothing and diminish nothing Let this Lamp shine till the day dawn till the morning of the Resurrection and walk ye in the light of it and do not kindle any other sparkles else ye shall lie down in the grave in sorrow and rise in sorrow Take the Word of God as the only Rule & the perfect Rule a Rule for all your Actions Civil Natural and Religious for all must be done to his glory and his Word teacheth how to attain to that End Let not your Imaginations let no others Example let not the Preaching of men let not the Conclusions and Acts of Assemblies be your Rule but in as far as you find them agreeing with the perfect Rule of God's holy Word All other Rules are regulae regulatae they are but like publications and intimations of the Rule itself Ordinances of Assemblies are but like the Herauld-promulgation of the King's Statute and Law if it vary in any thing from his intention it 's not valid and binding I beseech you take the Scriptures for the Rule of your walking or else you will wander the Scripture is Regula regulans a ruling Rule If you be not acquainted with It you must follow the opinions or examples of other men and what if they lead you unto destruction Joh. 5. 39 Search the Scriptures for in them etc. Eph. 2. 20. And are built upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles AS in darkness there is need of a Lantern without and the light of the eyes within for neither can we see in darkness without some Lamp though we have never so good eyes nor yet see without eyes though in never so clear a Sunshine So there is absolute need for the guiding of our feet in the dangerous and dark paths to Eternal life that is full of pits and snares of the Lamp or Wood written or preached without us and the illumination of the holy Ghost within us These are conjoined Isa. 56. 21. This is my Covenant the spirit that is upon thee and the words that I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor the mouth of thy seed etc. There are words without and there must needs be a Spirit within which makes us to behold the truth and grace contained in these words There is a Law written without with pen and ink and there is a Law written within upon the heart with the Spirit of the living God The Law without is the Pattern and exact copy the Law within is the Transcript or the Image of God upon the heart framed and fashioned according to the similitude of it 2 Cor. 3. 3. Heb. 8. 10. So then there needs be no more question about the Divine Authority of the Scriptures among those who have their senses exercised to discern between good and ill than among men who see and taste concerning light and darkness sweet & bitter The persuasion of a Christian is fetched deeper than the reasons of men their faith is the evidence not seen it 's an eye a supernatural eye whereby a soul beholds that Majesty and excellency of God shining in the word which though it shine about the rest of the World yet it 's not seen because they cannot know it nor discern it Wonder not that the multitude of men cannot believe the report that is made that there is so few who find any such excellency and sweetness in the Gospel as is reported because saith Isai. 53. 1. the arm of the Lord is not revealed to them the hand of God must first write on their heart ere they understand the Writing of the Scriptures his arm must create an eye in their souls an eternal light before it can behold that glorious brightness of God's shining in the word The word is God's testimony of himself of his grace and mercy and goodwill to mankind Now no man can receive this testimony unless it be sealed and confirmed by the holy Ghost into the heart saith Peter We are his witnesses of these things and so also is the holy Ghost whom God hath given to those that obey him Acts 5. 32. The word witnesses to the ear and the spirits testifieth to our spirits the truth and worth of that and therefore the spirit is a seal and a witness The word is the Lord's voice to his own Children Bastards cannot know it but my sheep hear my voice Joh. 10 4. 16. You know no difference between the bleeting of one sheep and another but the poor lambs know their mother's voice there is a secret instinct of nature that is more powerful than many marks and signs Even so those that are begotten of God know his voice they discern that in it which all the world that hear it cannot discern there is a sympathy between their souls and that living Word that word is the immortal seed they are begotten of and there is a natural instinct to love that and to mediate in it such an inclination to it as in new born babes to the breasts so the Children of God do desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby a●… they were born of it 1 Pet. 2. 2. In these Scriptures which we read in your audience you have something of their excellency and our duty there is a rich jewel in them a precious pearl in that field even Jesus Christ and in him eternal life and therefore we ought to search the Scriptures for this jewel to dig in the field for this pearl the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles is a sure foundation whereupon souls may build their eternal felicity and the hope of it Jesus Christ is the very chief stone in that foundation whereupon the weight of all the Saints and all their hope hangs And therefore we ought to lean the weight of our Souls only to this truth of God and build our faith only upon it and square our practice only by it We shall speak something of the first that it may be a spur to the second The Jews had some respective opinion of the word of God they knew that in them waseternall life they thought it a Doctrine of life and happiness and so cried up Moses Writing but they would not believe Christ's words they erred not understanding the Scriptures and so set the Writing of Moses Law at variance with the preaching of Christ's Gospel What a pitiful mistake was this they thought they had eternal life in the Scriptures and yet they did not receive nor acknowledge him whom to know was eternal life therefore our Lord Jesus sends them back again to the Scriptures go and search them you think and you think well that in than you may find the way to eternal life but while you seek it in them you mistake it These Scriptures testify of me the end of the Law but you cannot behold the end of that Ministry because of the blindness of your hearts Rom. 10. 3. 2 Cor. 3. 14. Therefore search again unfold the ceremonies I am wrapped in them and life eternal with me dig up the Law till you find the bottom of God's purpose in it till you find the end of the Ministration and you shall find me the way and truth and life and so you shall have that eternal life which now you do but think you have and are beguiled While you seek it out of me in vain you think you have it for it is not in the Scriptures but because they testify of me the life and the light of men May not this now commend the word to us Eternal life is in it Other Writings and discourses may tickle the ears with some pleasing eloquence but that is vanishing it 's but like a Musician's voice some may represent some petty & momentary advantage but how soon shall an end be put till all that so that within a little time the advantage of all the Books of the world shall be gone The statutes and Laws of Kings and Parliaments can reach no further than some temporal reward or punishment their highest pain is the kill of this body their highest reward is some evanishing and sading honour or perishing richest But he showeth his word and judgements to us and hath not dealt so with every nation Psal. 147. 19 20. And no nation under the whole heaven hath such Laws and Ordinances eternal life and eternal death is wrapped up in them these are rewards and punishments suitable to the Majesty and Magnificence of the eternal Lawgiver Consider I beseech you what is folded up here the Scriptures show the path of life life is of all beings most excellent and comes nearest the blessed being of God When we say life we understand a blessed life that only deserves the name Now this we have lost in Adam death is passed upon all men but that death is not the worst it 's but a consequence of a soul death the immortal soul whose life consisteth in Communion with God & peace with him is separated from him by sin and so killed when it 's cut off from the fountain of life what life can it have any more than a beam that is cut off by the intervention of a dark body from the sun Now than what a blessed Doctrine must it be that brings to light life and immortality especially when we have so much miserably lost it and involved our souls into an eternal death Life is precious in itself but much more precious to one condemned to die to be caught out of the paws of the Lion to be brought back from the Gibbet O how will that commend the favour of a little more time in the World But then if we knew what an eternal misery we are involved into and stand under a sentence binding us over to such an inconceivable and insupportable punishment as is the curse & wrath of God O how precious an esteem would souls have of the Scriptures how would they be sweet unto their soul because they show unto us a way of escaping that pit of misery and a way of attaining eternal blessedness as satisfying and glorious as the misery would have been vexing and tormenting O that ye would once lay these in the balance together this present life and eternal life Know ye not that your souls are created for eternity that they will eternally survive all these present things Now how do ye imagine they shall live after this life your thoughts and projects and designs are confined within the poor narrow bounds of your time when you die in that day your thoughts shall perish all your imaginations and purposes & providences shall have an end then they reach no further than that time & if you should wholly perish too it were not so much matter but for all your purposes and projects to come to an end when you are but beginning to live and enter eternity that is lamentable indeed Therefore I say consider what ye are doing weigh these in a balance eternal life & the present life if there were no more difference but the continuence of the one & shortness of the other that this world's standing is but as one day one moment to eternity that aught to preponderate in your souls do we not here flee away as a shadow upon the mountains are we not as a vapour that ascends and for a little time appears a solid body and then presently vanisheth Do we not come all into the stage of the world as for an hour to act our part and be gone now then what is this to endless eternity When you have contained as long as since the World began you are no nearer the end of it ought not that estate then to be most in your eyes how to lay up a foundation for the time to come But then compare the misery and vexation of this life with the glory and felicity of this eternal life what are our days but few and full of trouble Or if you will take the most blessed estate you have seen or heard of in this world of Kings and rich men and help all the defects of it by your imaginations Suppose unto yourselves the height and pith of Glory and abundance and power that is attainable on earth and when your fancy hath busked up such a felicity compare it with eternal life O how will that vanish out of your imaginations if so be you know any thing of the life to come you will even think that an odious comparison you will think all that earthly felicity but light as vanity every man at his best estate is altogether vanity Eernall life will weigh down eternally 2 Cor. 4. 17. 18. O but it hath an exceeding weight in itself one moment of it one hours possession and taste of it but than what shall the endless endurance of it add to its weight Now there are many that presume they have a right to eternal life as the Jews did you think saith he that you have it you think well that you think its only to be found in the Scriptures but you vainly think that you have found it in them And there is this reason of it because you will not come to me that you may have life vers. 40. If you did understand the true meaning of the Scriptures and did not rest on the outward Letter and Ordinances you would receive the testimony that the Scriptures give of me But now you hear not me the Father's substantial Word therefore you have not his Word abiding in you vers. 38. There was nothing more general among that people than a vain carnal confidence and presumption of being God's people & having interest in the promise of life eternal as it is this day in the visible Church There is a multitude that are Christians only in the Letter & not in the Spirit that would never admit any question concerning this great matter of having eternal life and so by not questioning it they come to think they have it and by degrees their conjectures and thoughts about this ariseth to the stability of some feigned & strong persuasion of it In the Old Testament the Lord strikes at the roots of their persuasions by discovering unto them how vain a thing it was and how abominable before him to have an external profession of being his people and to glory in external Ordinances and Privileges & yet to neglect altogether the purging of their hearts & consciences from lusts and Idollis●…s & to make no conscience of walking righteously towards men Their profession was contradicted by their practice Will ye steal murder and commit adultery and yet come and stand in my house Jer. 7. 8. 9 doth not that say as much as if I had given you liberty to do all these abominations Even so it is this day the most part have no more of Christianity but a name they have some outward privileges of Baptism and hearing the Word and it may be have a form of knowledge and a form of worship but in the mean time they are not baptised in heart they are in all their conversation even conformed to the Heathen world they hate personal reformation and think it too precise and needless Now I say such are many of you & yet ye would not take it well to have it questioned whether ye shall be partakers of Eternal life you think you are wronged when that is called in question Oh that it were beyond all question indeed But know assuredly That you are but Christians in the Letter in the Flesh and not in the Spirit Many of you have not so much as a form of knowledge have not so much as the Letter of Religion You have heard some names in the preaching often repeated as Christ and God and Faith and Heaven and Hell & you know no more of these but the name you consider not and meditate not on them And those who know the truth of the Word yet the Word abideth not nor dwelleth in you you have it in your mouth you have it in your mind or understanding but it is not received in love it doth not dwell in the heart Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly Col. 3. 16. you have it imprisoned in your minds and shut up into a corner where it is useless & can do no more but witness against you and scarce that as the Gentiles incarcerated and detained the truth of God written by nature within them in unrighteousness Rom. 1. 18. So do many of you detain the knowledge of his word in unrighteousness it hath no place in the heart gets no liberty and freedom to walk through the affections and so to order the conversation of men And therefore the most part of men do but fancy to themselves an interest and right to eternal life you think it and do but think it it is but a strong imagination that hath no strength from the grounds of it no stability from any evidence or promise but merely from itself or it is but a light and vain conjecture that hath no strength in it because there is no question or doubts admitted which many try the strength of it But then I suppose that a man could attain some answerable walking that he had not only a form of knowledge but some reality of practice some inward heat of affection & zeal for God and godliness yet there is one thing that wants and if it be wanting will spoil all And it is this which Christ reproves in the Jews You will not come to me to have life The Scri-Scriptures testify of me but you receive not their testimony Suppose a man had as much equity and justice towards men piety towards God & sobriety towards himself as can be found among the best of men let him be a diligent reader of the Scriptures let him love them & meditate on them day and night yet if he do not come out of himself and leave all his own righteousness as dung behind him that he may be found in Jesus Christ he hath no life he cannot have any right to life eternal You may think this a strange assertion that if a man had the righteousness & holiness of an Angel yet he could not be saved without denying all that and fleeing to Christ as an ungodly man And you may think it as strange a supposell that any person that reads the Scriptures and walks righteously and hath a zeal towards God yet are such as will not come to Christ and will not hear him whom the Father hath sent But the first is the very substance of the Gospel There is no other Name by which men may be saved but by jesus Christ Acts 4. 12. Life eternal is all within him All the treasures of grace and wisdom and knowledge are seated in him Col. 1. 19 and 2 3. All the light of life and salvation is embodied in this Sun of Righteousness since the Eclipse of man's felicity in the Garden Adam was a living soul but he lost his own life and killed his Posterity Christ Jesus the second common man in the world is a quickening Spirit he hath not only life in himself but he gives it more abundantly and therefore you have it so often repeated in john who was the Disciple most acquainted with Christ In him was life and the life was the light of men 1. 4. And he is the bread of life that gives life to the World Joh. 6. 33. and 35. He is the resurrection and the life 11. 25. and The way the truth and life 14. 6. The Scriptures do not contain eternal life but in as far as they lead to him who is life and whom to know and embrace is eternal life And therefore saith he These are they which testify of me Men lived immediately in God when he was in innocence he had life in himself from God but then he began to live in himself without dependence on God the fountain of life and this himself being interposed between God and his life it evanished even as a Beam by the interveening of any gross body between it and the Sun Now man's light and life being thus eclipsed and cut off the Lord is pleased to let all fullness dwell in his Son Jesus Christ and The fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily Col. 2. 9 that since there was no access immediately to God for life a flaming fire and sword of Divine Justice compassing and guarding the tree of Life left man should touch it there might be access to God in a Mediator like unto us that we might come to him and might have life from God by the intervention of Jesus Christ Look then what is in the holy Scriptures and you shall find it but a letter of death and ministration of condemnation while it is separated from him Christ is the very life and spirit of the Scriptures by whose virtue they quicken our souls if you consider the perfect Rule of Righteousness in the Law you cannot find life there because you cannot be conformed unto it the holiest man offends in every thing and that holy Law being violated in any thing will send thee to hell with a curse Cursed is he that abideth not in every thing If you look upon the promise of life Do this and live What comfort can you find in it except you could find doing in yourselves And can any man living find such exact obedience as the Law requires There is a mistake among many They conceive that the Lord cannot be well pleased with them if they do what they can but be not deceived the law of God requires perfect doing it will not compound with thee and came down in its terms not one jot of the rigour of it will be remitted If you cannot do all that is commanded all you do will not satisfy that promise therefore thou must be turned over from the promise of life to the curse and there thou shalt find thy name written Therefore it is absolutely necessary that Jesus Christ be made under the Law and give obedience in all things even to the death of the Cross and so be made a curse for us and sin for us even he who knew no sin and thus in him you find the law fulfilled Justice satisfied and God pleased in him you find the promise of life indeed established in a better surer way than was first propounded you find life by his death you find life in his dying for you And again consider the Ceremonial Law What were all those Sacrifices and Ceremonies Did God delight in them Could he savour their incense and sweet smells and eat the fat of Lambs and be pacified No he detastes and abhors such imaginations because that people did stay in the Letter and went no further than the Ceremony he declares that it was as great abomination to him as the offering up of a Dog while they were separated from Jesus Christ in whom his soul rested and was pacified they were not expiatious but provocatious they were not propitiations for sin but abominations in themselves But take these as the shadows of such a living substance take them as remembrances of him who was to come and behold Jesus Christ lying in these swaddling  of Ceremonies until the fullness of time should come that he might be manifested in the flesh and so you shall find eternal life in those dead beasts in those dumb Ceremonies If you consider this Lamb of God slain in all these Sacrifices from the beginning of the world than you present a sweet smelling savour to God than you offer the true propitiation for the sins of the world than he will delight more in that sacrifice than all other personal obedience But what if I should say that the Gospel itself is a kill Letter & ministration of death being severed from Christ I should say nothing amiss but what Paul speaketh that his Gospel was a savour of death to many take the most powerful Preaching the most sweet discourse the most plain Writings of the free grace & salvation in the Gospel take all the preachings of Jesus Christ himself and his Apostles & you shall not find life in them unless ye be led by the Spirit of Christ unto himself who is the resurrection and the life It will no more save you than the Covenant of works unless that word abide and dwell in your hearts to make you believe in him and embrace him with your souls whom God hath sent suppose you heard all and heard it gladly and learned it and could discourse well upon it and teach others yet if you be not driven out of yourselves out of your own righteousness as well as sin and pursued to this City of refuge Jesus Christ you have not eternal life Your knowledge of the truth of the Gospel and your obedience to God's Law will certainly kill you and as certainly as your ignorance and disobedience unless you have embraced in your soul that good thing Jesus Christ contained in these truths who is the Diamond of that Golden Ring of the Scriptures and unless your souls embrace these promises as soulsaving as containing the chief good and worthy of all acceptation as well as your mind receive these as true and faithful sayings 1 Tim. 1. 15. Thus ye see Christ Jesus is either the subject of all in the Scriptures or the end of it all he is the very proper subject of the Gospel Paul knew nothing but Christ crucified in his preaching and he is the very proper end and scope of the law for righteousness Rom. 10. 3. All the preaching of a covenant of works all the curses and threatenings of the Bible all the rigidexactions of obedience all come to this one great design not that we may set about such a walking to please God or do something to pacify him but that we being concluded under sin and wrath on the one hand and an impossibility to save ourselves on the other hand Gal. 3. 22. Rome 5. 20 21. may be pursued into Jesus Christ for righteousness & life who is both able to save us and ready to welcome us Therefore the Gospel opens the door of salvation in Christ the Law is behind us with fire and sword and destruction pursuing us and all for this end that sinners may come to him and have life Thus the Law is made a Pedagogue of the soul to lead to Christ Christ is behind us cursing condemning threatening us and he is before us with stretched-out arms ready to receive us bless us and save us inviting promising exhorting to come and have life Christ is on mount Sinai delivering the Law with thunders Act. 7. 38. and he is on mount Zion in the calm voice he is both upon the mountain of cursings and blessings and on both doing the part of a Mediator Gal. 3. 19 20. It is love that is in his heart which made him first cover his Countenance with frowns and threats and it is love that again displays itself in his smiling countenance Thus souls are enclosed with love pursuing and love receiving And thus the Law which seems most contrary to the Gospel testifies of Christ it gives him this testimony that except salvation be in him it is no where else The Law says it is not in me seek it not in obedience I can do nothing but destroy you if you abide under my jurisdiction The Ceremonies and Sacrifices say if you can behold the end of this Ministry if a Veil be not on your hearts as it was on Moses face 2 Cor. 3 13 14 you may see where it is it 's not in your obedience but in the death & sufferings of the Son of God whom we represent Then the Gospel takes all these Cover and Vails away and gives a plain and open testimony of him There is no Name under heaven to be saved but by Christ's The Old Testament speak by figures and signs as dumb men do but the New speaks in plain words and with open face Now I say for all this that there is no salvation but in him yet many souls not only those who live in their gross sins and have no form of godliness but even the better sort of people that have some knowledge and civility and a kind of zeal for God yet they do not come to him that they may have life Rom. 10. 1 2 3. they do not submit to the righteousness of God Here is the march that divides the ways of Heaven and Hell coming to Jesus Christ and forsaking ourselves the confidence of these souls is chiefly or only in that little knowledge or zeal or profession they have they do not as really abhor themselves for their own righteousness as for their unrighteousness they make that the covering of their nakedness and filthiness which is in itself as menstruous and unclean as any thing It is now the very propension and natural inclination of our hearts to stand upright in ourselves Faith bows a souls back and take on Christ's righteousness but presumption lifts up a soul upon its own bottom How can ye believe that seek honour one of another The engagement of the soul to its own credit or estimation the engagement of self-love and self-honour do lift up a soul that it cannot submit to God's righteousness to righteousness in another And therefore many do dream and think that they have eternal life who shall awake in the end and find that it was but a dream or night-fancy Now from all this I would enforce this duty upon your consciences to search the Scriptures if you think to have eternal life search them if you would know Christ whom to know is eternal life than again search them for these are they that testify of him Searching imports diligence much diligence it 's a serious work it 's not a common seeking of an easy and common thing but it 's a search and scrutiny for some hidden thing or some special thing It 's not bare reading of the Scriptures that will answer this duty except it be diligent and daily reading and it 's not that alone except the Spirit within meditate on them and by meditation accomplish a diligent search There is some hidden secret that you must search for that is enclosed within the covering of words and sentences there is a mystery of wisdom that you must apply your hearts to search out Eccles. 7. 5. Jesus Christ is the Treasure that is hid in this field O precious treasure of eternal life Now then souls search into the fields of the Scriptures Pro. 2. 4. for him as for hid treasure It is not only truth you must seek and buy and not sell it but it is life you would search Here is an object that may not only take up your understandings but satisfy your hearts Think not you have found all when you have found the truth there and learned it no except you have found life there you have found nothing you have miss the treasure If you would profit by the Scriptures you must bring both your understandings & your affections to them and depart not till they both return full If you bring your understanding to seek the truth you may find truth but not truly you may find it but you are not found of it you may lead truth captive and unclose it in a prison of your mind and encompass it about with a guard of corrupt affections that it shall have no issue no out going to the rest of your soul and ways and no influence on them you may know the truth but you are not known of it and brought in captivity to the obedience of it The Treasure that is hide in the Scriptures are Jesus Christ whose entire and perfect Name is Way Truth and Life He is a living truth and true Life Therefore Christ is the adaequat object of the soul commensurable to all its faculties He has Truth in him to satisfy the mind and he has Life and Goodness in him to satiate the heart therefore if thou wouldst find Jesus Christ bring thy whole soul to seek him as Paul expresseth it He is true and faithful and worthy of all acceptation then bring thy judgement to find the light of truth and thy affections to embrace the life of goodness that is in him Now as much as ye find of him so much have ye profited in the Scriptures If you find commands there that you cannot obey search again and you may find strength under that command dig a little deeper & you shall find Jesus the end of an impossible command & when you have found him you have found life and strength to obey & you have found a prepitiation and sacrifice for trantgressing & not obeying If you find curses in it search again & you shall find Jesus Christ under that made a curse for us you shall find him the end of the curse for righteousness to every one that believes When you know all the Letter of the Scripture yet you must search into the Spirit of it that it may be imprinted into your spirits all you know does you no good but as it 's received in love unless your souls become a living Epistle & the Word without be written on the heart you have found nothing As for you that cannot read the Scriptures if it be possible take that pains to learn to read them O if you knew what they contain & whom they bear witness of you would have little quietness till you could read at least his love-epistle to sinners And if you cannot learn be not discouraged but if your desires within be servant your endeavours to hear it read by others will be more earnest But it is not so much the reading of much of it that profiteth as the pondering of these things in our hearts and digesting them by frequent meditation till they become the food of the Soul This was David's way and by this he grew to the stature of a tall & well-bodied Christian. Eph. 2. 20. And builded upon the foundation of the Apostles etc. BElievers are the Temple of the living God in which he dwells and walks 2 Cor. 6. 16. Every one of them is a little Sanctuary and Temple to His Majesty Sanctify the Lord of Hosts in your hearts though he be the high & lofty one that inhabits eternity yet he is pleased to come down to this poor Cottage of a creatures heart and dwell in it Is not this as great a humbling and condescending for the Father to come down off his Throne of Glory to the poor base footstool of the creatures soul as for the Son to come down in the state of a servant and become in the form of sinful flesh But then he is a Temple and Sanctuary to them and he shall be to you a Sanctuary Isa. 8. A place of refuge a secret hiding-place Now as every one is a little separated retired Temple so they all conjoined make up one Temple one visible body in which he dwells Therefore Paul calls them living stones built up into a spiritual house to God 1 Pet. 2. 5 All these little Temples make up one house & Temple fitly joined together in which God shows manifest signs of his presence and working unto this the Apostle in this place alludes The Communion & Union of Christians with God is of such a nature that all the relations and points of conjunction in the creatures are taken to resemble it & hold it out to us We are Citizens saith he & Domestics household men & so dwell in his house and then we are his House beside Now ye know there are two principal things in a House the Foundation and the Cornerstone the one supports the building the other units it and holds it together These two parts of this spiritual building are here pointed at the foundation of every particular stone and of the whole building is the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles as holding out Jesus Christ to souls the Rock on which our house shall be builded Not the Apostles or Prophets far less Pastors and Teachers since for they are but at best workers together with God and employed in the building of the house not yet their Doctrine but as it holds out that true foundation that God had laid in Zion Isa. 28. which is Jesus Christ for other foundation can no man lay And then the Cornerstone is that same Jesus Christ who reaches from the bottom even to the top of the building & immediately touches every stone and both quickens it in itself and unites them together Well then here is a sure foundation to build our eternal happiness upon the word of God that endures for ever holds it out to us all men are building upon something every man is about some establishment of his hopes lays some foundation of his confidence which he may stand upon They are one of the two that Christ speaks of Luk 6. 46. One builds on the Rock another on the Sand now as the foundation is so is the house a changeable foundation makes a falling house a sure foundation makes an unchangeable house a house without a foundation will prove quickly no house Now whatsoever men build their hope and confidence upon beside the word of God his sure Promise and sure Covenant and Jesus Christ in them they build upon no foundation or upon a sandy foundation All flesh is grass and the flower and perfection of it is as the flower of the field here is the name and character of all created perfections of the most excellent endowments of mind of all the specious actions of men it 's all but vanishing and vanity every man at his best estate is such yea altogether such You who have no more to build upon but your prosperity and wealth O that is but sand and dung would any man build a house upon a dunghill You who have no other hope but in your own good prayers and meanings your own reformations & repentances your professions and practices know this that your hope is like a spider's house like the web that she hath laboriously exercised herself about all the week over and then when you lean upon that house it shall fall through & not sustain your weight whatsoever it be beside this living stone Jesus Christ who is the very substance of the Word and Promises it shall undoubtedly prove thy shame and confusion But behold the opposition the Prophet makes between the word and these other things the word of our God shall stand for ever Isa. 40. 6 7 8. And therefore Peter makes it an incorruptible seed of which Believers are begotten 1 Pet. 1. 23. It is the unchangeable truth & immutable faithfulness of God that makes his word so sure it 's builded up to the Heavens Therefore the Psalmist often commends the Word of the Lord as a tried word as purified seven times it hath endured the trial & proof of all men of all tentations of all generations it hath often been put in the furnace of questions & doubtings it hath often been tried in the fire of afflictions but it came forth like pure Gold without dross This is faith's foundation God hath spoken in his holiness and therefore though all men be liars yet God will be found true he deceives none and is deceived of none The Lord hath taken a Latitude to himself in his working he loves to show his Sovereignty in much of that and therefore he changes it in men and upon men as he pleaseth yet he hath condescended to limit and bond himself by his word and in this to show his faithfulness And therefore though heaven and earth should pass away though he should innihilate this world and create new ones yet not on jot of his world shall sail The earth is established sure though it hath no foundation for the Word of his command supports it And yet a Believers confidence is on a surer ground Though the earth should be removed yet it cannot pass or fail saith our Lord And therefore the Psalmist useth to boast in God That though the earth were moved and the floods lifted up their voice yet he would not fear because his foundation was unshaken for all that the word is not removed when the world is moved & the fore he was not moved The world's stability depends upon a word of command but our salvation depends on a word of promise Now you know promises put an obligation upon the person which commands do not a man may change his commands as he pleases to his children or servants but he may not change his promises therefore the promises of God put an obligation upon him who is truth itself not to fail in performance or rather he is to himself by his unchangeable will & good pleasure by his faithfulnsse and truth an obliging and binding Law When no creature could let bounds to him he encloses himself within the bounds of promise to us and gives all flesh liberty to challenge him if he be not faithful Now all the promises of God are yea & Amen in jesus Christ that is established and confirmed in him Christ is the surety of them and so the certainty and stability of them depends upon him at least to our sense for God in all his dealing condescends to our weakness that we may have strong consolation A Promise might suffice to ground our faith but he addeth an Oath to his promise & he takes Christ surety for the performance and therefore Christ may be called the Truth indeed the substantial Word of God for he is the substance of the written and preached Word and then he is the very certainty and assurance of it the Scriptures testify of him and lead us to this Rock higher than we to build upon and against this the gates of hell cannot prevail If the Word lead not a soul unto Christ himself that four hath no foundation though thou hear the Word though thou know the Word yea suppose thou couldst teach others and instruct the ignorant yet all that will be no foundation as good as none except thou do it And what is it to do the Word but to believe in him whom the Word testifies of this is the work of God to resign thy soul to his mercies and merits and have no confidence in the flesh To scrape out all the rubbish of works and performances and parts out of the foundation and singly to roll thy souls weight upon God's promises and Christ's purchase to look with Paul on all things beside in thee and about the as dung and dross that thou can lean no weight upon and to remove that dunghill from the foundation of thy hope that Jesus Christ may be the only foundation of thy soul as God hath laid him in the Church for a sure foundation That who so believeth in him may not be ashamed What ever beside a soul be established on though it appear very solid and the soul be settled & fixed upon it yet a day will come that will unsettle that soul and raze that foundation either it shall be now done in thy conscience or it must be done at length when that great tempest of God's indignation shall blow from heaven against all unrighteousness of men in the day of accounts then shall thy house fall and the fall of it shall be great But a soul established upon the sure promises and upon Christ in whom they are Yea and Amen shall abide that storm and in that day have confidence before God have wherewith to answer in Jesus Christ all the challenges of divine justice and the accusations of conscience He that trusteth in him shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be moved You see all things else change and therefore men's hopes and joys perish even here the tentations and revolutions of the times undermines their confidence and joy and the blasts of the Northern wind of affliction blows away their hopes Now as Christ is the Foundation so he is the Cornerstone of the building It is Christ who hath removed that Partition-wall between Jews and Gentiles even the Ceremonies of the one and the Atheism of the other He is our peace who hath made of two one The two sides of the House of God are united by this Cornerstone Jesus Christ Thus we who were the Temples of Satan are made the Temples of God thus poor stranger-Gentiles who had no interest in the Covenant of Promises come to share with Abraham Isaac and jacob and to be founded upon the Doctrine of the Prophets who taught the Jewish Church Christ is the bond of Christians this is the Head into which all the members should grow up into a Body Distance of Place difference of Nations distinction of Languages all these cannot separate the Members of Jesus Christ they are more one though consisting of divers Nations Tongues and Customs and dispositions than the people of one Nation or Children of one Family for one Lord one Spirit unites all Alas that all are not united in affection & judgement why do the sides of this House contend and wrestle one against another when here is such a Cornerstone joining them together Are not there many Christians who cannot endure to look one upon another who are yet both placed in one building of the Temple of God Alas this is sad and shameful But that which I would especially have observed in this is that Jesus Christ is such a foundation that reacheth throughout the whole building and immediately toucheth every stone of the Building it 's such a Foundation as riseth from the bottom to the top and therefore Jesus Christ is both the Author and finisher of our Faith the beginning and the end the first stone & the last of our building must rise upon him and by him the least degree of grace and the greatest perfection of it both are in him and therefore Christians should be most dependent creatures dependent in their first being and in after well-being in their being and growing wholly dependent upon Christ that out of his fullness they may receive grace and then more grace for grace that all may appear to be grace indeed Now I beseech you my beloved in the Lord to know whereupon ye are builded or aught to be builded There are two great errors in the time take heed of them one is the Doctrine of some and another is the practice of the most part Some do prefer their own fancies and night-dreams and the imaginations of their own heart to the Word of God and upon pretence of Revelation of new Light do cast a mist upon that Word of God which is a light that hath shined from the beginning Be not deceived but try the Spirits whether they be of God or not There are many pretend too much of the Spirit and therefore cry out against the Word as Letter as Flesh But my Brethren believe not every Doctrine that calls itself a Spirit that spirit is not of God that hears not God's voice as Christ reasons against the Jews seek ye more of the Spirit of Christ which he promiseth who is a Spirit that teacheth all things and bringeth to remembrance these blessed sayings and leads us to all truth It shall be both safest and sweetest to you to meditate on the word of the Prophets and Apostles and the entrance into it shall give you light an old light which was from the beginning & therefore a true light for all truth is eternal and yet a new light to your sense and feeling It 's both an old command and a new command an old word & a new word if thou search by the Spirits inspiration that old word shall be made new that Letter made spirit and life Such are the words that Christ speaks But yet there are many who do not reject the Scriptures in judgement who notwithstanding do not build on them in practice Alas it may be said of the most part of professed Christians among us that they are not builded upon the foundation of the Prophets & Apostles but upon the sayings of fallible and weak men What ground have many of you for your Faith but because the Minister saith so You believe so the most part live in an implicit faith and practice that in themselves which they condemn in the Papists You do not labour to search the Scriptures that upon that foundation you may build your faith in the questioned truths of this Age that so you may be able to answer to those that ask a reason of the Faith that is in you Alas simple souls you believe every thing and yet really believe nothing because you believe not the Word as the Word of the living God but take it from men upon their authority Therefore when a temptation cometh when any gainsayings of the truth you cannot stand against it because your Faith hath no foundation but the sayings of Men or Acts of Assemblies And therefore as men whom you trust with holding out light unto you hold out darkness in stead of light you embrace that darkness also But I beseech you be builded upon the foundation of the Prophets and Apostles not upon them but upon that whereon they were builded the infallible truths of God You have the Scriptures search them since you have reasonable souls search them other men's faith will not save you you cannot see to walk to heaven by other men's light more than you can see by their eyes You have eyes of your own souls of your own subordinate to none but the God of Spirits and Lord of Consciences Jesus Christ & therefore examine all that is spoken to you from the Word according to the Word and receive no more upon trust from men but as you find it upon trial to the truth of God 1 Tim. 13. Hold fast that form of sound Words which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love etc. HEre is the sum of Religion here you have a compend of the Doctrine of the Scriptures All Divine Truths may be reduced to these two Heads Faith & Love What we ought to believe and what we ought to do This is all the Scriptures teach and this is all we have to learn What have we to know but what God hath revealed of himself to us And what we have to do but what he commands us In a word what have we to learn in this world but to believe in Christ & love him and so live to him This is the duty of man & this is the dignity of man and the way to eternal life Therefore the Scriptures that are given to be a Lamp to our feet and a Guide to our paths contain an perfect and exact rule credendorum & faciendorum of Faith and Manners or Doctrine and Practice We have in the Scriptures many truths revealed to us of God and of the works of his hands many precious truths but that which most of all concerns us is to know God & ourselves this is the special Excellency of the reasonable creature that it 's made capable to know its Creator and to reflect upon its own being Now we have to know of ourselves What we are now and what man once was and accordingly to know of God what he once revealed of himself and What he doth now reveal I say The Sc●…iptures holds out to our consideration a twofold estate of Mankind & according to these a twofold revelation of the Mystery of God We look on Man now and we find him another thing than he was once but we do not find God one thing at one time and another thing at another time for there is no shadow of change in him and He is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Therefore we ask not What he was and what he is now but how he manifests himself differently according to the different estates of Man as we find in the Scriptures man once righteous & blessed Eccles. 7. 29. and God making him such according to his own Image Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 25. in righteousness and true holiness we find him in communion and friendship with God set next to the Divine Majesty and above the works of his hands & all things under his feet How holy was he And how happy And happy he could not choose but be since he was holy being conformed and like unto God in his will and affection choosing that same delight that same pleasure with God in his understanding knowing God and his will and likewise his own happiness in such a conformity he could not but have much communion with him that had such conformity to him Union being the foundation of communion & great peace & solid tranquillity in him Now in this state of mankind God expresses his goodness and wisdom and power his holiness and righteousness These are the Attributes that shine most brightly In the very morning of the Creation God revealed himself to man as a holy and just God whose eyes could behold no iniquity & therefore he made him upright and made a Covenant of life and peace with him to give him immortal & eternal life to continue him in his happy estate if so be he continued in well-doing Rom. 10. 5. Do this and live In which Covenant indeed there was some out-breaking of the glorious grace & free condescendency of God for it was no less free grace and undeserved favour to promise life to his obedience than now to promise life to our Faith so that if the Lord had continued that Covenant with us we ought to have called it grace and would have been saved by grace as well as now though it be true that there is some more occasion given to man's nature to boast & glory in that way yet not at all before God Rom. 4. 2. But we have scarcely found man in such an estate till we have found him sinful & miserable and fallen from his excellency That Sun shined in the dawning of the Creation but before ye can well know what it is it 's eclipsed and darkened with sin and misery as if the Lord had only set up such a creature in the Firmament of Glory to let him know how blessed he could make him and wherein his blessedness consists and then presently to throw him down from his excellency when ye find him mounting up to the Heavens and spreading himself thus in holiness and happiness like a Bay-tree Behold again and you find him not though you seek him you shall not find him his place doth not know him He is like one that comes out with a great Majesty upon a Stage and personates some Monarch or Emperor in the World & then ere you can well gather your thoughts to know what he is he is turned off the Stage and appears in some base & despicable appearance so quickly is man stripped of all these glorious ornaments of holiness and puts on the vile rags of sin and wretchedness and is cast down from the Throne of eminency above the creatures & from fellowship with God to be a slave and servant to the dust of his feet and to have communion with the devil and his angels And now ye have man holden out in Scripture as the only wretched Piece of the Creation as the very plague of the World The whole Creation groaning under him Rom. 8. and in pain to be delivered of such a burden of such an Execration and Curse and Astonishment You find the testimony of the Word condemns him altogether concludes him under sin and then under a curse and makes all flesh guilty in God's sight The Word speaks otherwise of us than we think of ourselves Their imagination is only evil continually Gen. 6. 5. O then What must our affections be that are certainly more corrupt What then must our way be All flesh hath corrupted their way and done abominable works and none doth good Psal. 14. 1 2 3. But many flee in unto their good hearts as their last refuge when they are beaten from these outworks of their actions and ways but the Scripture shall storm that also The heart is deceitful above all things who can know it Jer. ●…7 9 It is desperately wicked In a word Man is become the most lamentable spectacle in the world acompend of all wickedness and misery enclosed within the walls of inability and impossibility to help himself shut up within the prison of despair a stinking loathsome and irksome dungeon It is like the mytie pit that jeremiah was cast into that there was no out-coming and no pleasant abode in it Now Man's estate being thus nay having made himself thus and sought out to himself such sad inventions Eccles. 7. 29. and having destroyed himself Host 13. 9 What think ye Should any pity him If he had fallen in such a pit of misery ignorantly and unwillingly he had been an object of compassion but having cast himself headlong into it who should have pity on him Or who should go aside to ask how he doth or bemoan him jer. 15. 5. But behold the Lord pities man as a Father doth his Children Psal. 103. His compassions fail not He comes by such a loathsome and contemptible object and casts his skirts over it and saith Live Ezek. 16. And maketh it a time of love I say no flesh could have expected any more of God than to make man happy and holy & to promise him life in well-doing But to repair that happiness after its wilfully lost and to give life to evil doers & sinners O how far was it from Adam's expectation when he fled from God Here then is the wonder that when men & Angels were in expectation of the revelation of his wrath from heaven against their wickedness & the execution of the curse man was concluded under that even then God is pursuing man & pursues him with love and opens up to him his very heart and bowels of love in Jesus Christ Behold then the second revelation & manifestation of God in a way of grace pure grace of mercy & pity toward lost sinners The kindness of God hath appeared not by Works but according to his abundant mercy showed in Christ jesus Tit. 3. 4. 5. So then we have this purpose of Gods love unfolded to us in the Scriptures and this is the substance of them both Old and New Testament or the end of them Rom. 10. 4. Christ is the end of the Law to all sinners concluded under sin and a curse by it our Lord Jesus the good Ebedmelech comes and casts down a cord to us & draws us up out of the pit of sin and misery he comes to this prison and opens the doors to let captives free so than we have holden out to us a Redeemer as a repairer of our breaches God in Christ reconciling the world O Israel thou hast destroyed thyself but in me is thy Help found Host 13. 9 He finds to himself a ransom to satisfy his justice Job 33. 24. He finds a propitiation to take away sin a sacrifice to pacify and appease his wrath he finds one of our Brethren but his own Son in whom he is well pleased And then holds out all this to sinners that they may be satisfied in their own consciences as he is in his own mind God hath satisfied himself in Christ you have not that to do he is not now to be reconciled to us for he was never really at odds though he covered his countenance with frowns & threats since the Fall & hath appeared in fire and hunders and whirlwind which are terrible yet his heart had always love in it to such persons and therefore he is come near in Christ & about reconciling us to himself Here is the business then to have our souls reconciled to him to take away the enmity within us and as he is satisfied with his Son so to satisfy ourselves with him & be as well pleased in his Redemption and purchase as ●…er is and then you believe indeed in him Now if this were accomplished what have we more to do but to love him and to live to him when you have found in the Scripture and believed with the heart what Man once was and what he now is what God once appeared and what he now manifests himself in the Gospel ye have no more to do but to search in the same Scriptures what ye henceforth aught to be The who find your estate recovered in Christ ask what manner of persons we ought to be And the Scripture shall also give you that form of sound words which may not only teach you to believe in him but to love him and obey his commands The Law that before condemned you is now by Christ put in your hands to guide you and conduct you in the way & teacheth you to live henceforth to his glory The grace of God that hath appeared to all men Tit. 2. 12. teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live godly and righteously and soberly in this present world Here is the sum of the rule of your practice and conversation piety towards God equity towards men and sobriety towards ourselves self-denial and world-denyall and lust-denyal to give up with the world and our own lusts henceforth to have no more to do with them to resign them not for a time not in part but wholly and for ever in affection and by parts in practice and endeavour and then to resign and give up ourselves to him to live to him and live in him Thus we have given you a sum of the Doctrine of the Scriptures of that which is to be believed and that which is to be done as our duty Now we shall speak a word of these two Cardinal Graces which are the compend of all Graces as the objects of them are the Abridgement of the Scriptures Faith & Love these sound words can profit us nothing unless we hold them fast with Faith and Love Faith is like the Fountain-grace streams come out of it that cleanseth the Conscience from the guilt of sin and purifieth the heart from the filth of sin because it is that which cometh to the Fountain opened up in the house of David & draweth water out of these Wells of Salvation If you consider the fall and ruin of Mankind you will find infidelity & unbelief the fountain of it as well as the seal of it Unbelief of the Law of God of his promises and threatening This was first called in Question and when once called in Question it is half denied Hath God said so that you shall die It 's not far off you shall not surely die Here than was the very beginning of man's ruin he did not retain in his knowledge and believe with his heart the truth and faithfulness and holiness of God which unbelief was conjoined & intermingled with much pride you shall be as Gods he began to live out of God in himself not remembering that his life was a stream of that Divine Fountain that being cut off from it would dry up Now therefore our Lord Jesus Christ an expert Saviour and very learned and complete for this work he brings man up out of this pit of misery by that same way he fell into it he fell down by unbelief and he brings him up out of it by faith This is the cord that is cast down to the poor Soul in the Dungeon or rather his Faith is the dead grip of the cord of Divine Promises which are sent unto the captive prisoners and by virtue thereof he is drawn out into the light of Salvation Unbelief of the Law of God did first destroy man now the belief of the Gospel saves him The not believing of the Lords threatenings was the beginning of his ruin the believing of his precious promises is his Salvation I say more as our Destruction began at the Unbelief of the Law so our salvation must begin at the belief of it The Law and Divine Justice went out of his sight and so he sinned now the Law entering into the Conscience discovers a man's sins & makes sin abound and that is the beginning of our remedy to know our disease But as long as this is hid from a Man's eyes he is shut up in unbelief he is sealed and confirmed in his miserable estate and so kept from Jesus Christ the remedy Thus unbelief first and last destroys Faith might have preserved Adam and Faith again might restore thee who hath fallen in Adam There is a great mistake of Faith among us some taking it for a strong and blind confidence that admits of no questions or doubts in the soul and so vainly persuading themselves that they have it and some again conceiving it to be such an assurance of Salvation as instantly comforts the soul and looseth all objections and so foolishly vexing their own souls & disquieting themselves in vain for the want of that which if they understood what it is they would find they have it I say many souls conceive that to be the best Faith that never doubted and hath always lodged in them and kept them in peace since they were born But seeing all men were once aliens from the common wealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of Promise and without God in the World & so without Christ also it is certain that those souls who have always blessed themselves in their own hearts and cried peace peace and were never afraid of the wrath to come have embraced an imagination and dream of their own hearts for true Faith It is not big and stout words that will prove it men may defy the Devil and all his works and speak very confidently & yet God knows they are captives by him at his pleasure and not far from that misery which they think they have escaped Satan works in them with such a crafty conveyance that they cannot perceive it and how should they perceive it For we are by nature dead in sins and so cannot feel nor know that we are such It is a token of life to feel pain a certain token for dead things are senseless You know how Jugglers may deceive your very senses and make them believe they see that which is not and feel that which they feel not O how much more easy is it for Satan such an ingenious and experimented spirit assisted with the help of our deceitful hearts to cast such a mist over the eyes of hearts and make them believe any thing how easily may he hide our misery from us and make us believe its well with us And thus multitudes of souls perish in the very opinion of Salvation that very thing which they call Faith that strong ungrounded persuasion it 's no other thing than the unbelief of the heart unbelief I mean of the Holy Law of Divine Justice and the wrath to come for if these once entered into the souls consideration they would certainly cast down that strong hold of vain confidence that Satan keeps all the House in peace by Now this secure and presumptuous despising of all threatenings and all convictions it is vernished over to the poor soul with the colour and appearance of Faith in the Gospel They think to believe in Christ is nothing else but never to be afraid of Hell whereas it is nothing else but a soul fleeing into Christ for fear of hell & fleeing from the wrath to come to the city of Refuge Now again there are some other souls quite contrary minded that run upon an other extremity they once question whether they have Faith and always question it You shall find them always out of one doubt into another and still returning upon these debates whether am I in Christ or not And often peremptorily concluding that they are not in him & that they believe not in him I must confess that a soul must once question the matter or they shall never be certain nay a soul must once conclude that it is void of God and without Christ but having discovered that I see no more use and fruit of your frequent debates and janglings about interest would say then unto such souls that if you now question it it is indeed the very time to put it out of question And how Not by framing or seeking answers to your objections not by searching into thyself to find something to prove it not by mere disputing about it for when shall these have an end But simply and plainly by setting about that which is questioned Are you in doubt if you be Believers How shall it be resolved than but by believing indeed It is now the very time thou art called to make application of thy soul to Christ if thou thinkest that thou cannot make application of Christ to thy soul If thou cannot know if he be thine then how shall thou know it but by choosing him for thine and embracing him in thy soul Now I say if that time which is spent about such unprofitable debates were spent in solid and serious endeavours about the thing in debate it would quickly be out of debate if you were more in the obedience to those commands then in the dispute whether you have obeyed or not you would sooner come to satisfaction in it This I say the rather because the weightier and principal parts of the Gospel are those direct acts of Faith and Love to Jesus Christ both these are the outgoing of the soul to him Now again examination of our Faith and Assurance are but secondary and consequent reflections upon ourselves & are the soul-returning in again to itself to find what is within Therefore I say a Christian is principally called to the first and always called it is the chief duty of man which for no evidence no doubting no questioning should be left undone If you be in any hesitation whether you are Believers or not I am sure the chiefest things & most concerning is rather to believe then to know it it is a Christians being to believe it is indeed his comfort and well-being to know it but if you do not know it then by all means so much the more set about it presently let the soul consider Christ and the precious promises and lay its weight upon him This you ought to do and not to leave the other undone 2. Secondly I say to such souls that it is the mistake of the very nature of Faith that leads them to such perplexities and causeth some inevidence It is not so much the inevidence of marks and fruits that makes them doubt as the misapprehension of the thing itself for as long as they mistake it in its own nature no sign no mark can satisfy in it You take Faith to be a persuasion of God's love that calms and quiets the mind Now such a persuasion needs no sign to know it by it is manifest by its own presence as light by its own brightness It were a foolish question to ask any How they knew that they were persuaded of another's affection The very persuasion itself maketh itself more certain to the soul than any token So than while you question whether you have Faith or not and in the mean time take Faith to be nothing else but such a persuasion it is in vain to bring any marks or signs to convince you that you have Faith for if such a persuasion & assurance were in you it would be more powerful to assure your hearts of itself than any thing else and while you are doubting of it it is more manifest that you have it not than any signs or marks can be able to make it appear that you have it If any would labour to convince a blind man that he saw the light and give him signs & tokens of the lights shining the blind man could not believe him for it is more certain to himself that he sees not than any evidence can make the contrary probable You are still wishing and seeking such a Faith as puts all out of question Now when Ministers bring any marks to prove you have true Faith it cannot satisfy or settle you because your very questioning proves that ye have not that which ye question if you had such a persuasion you would not question it So then as long as you are in that mistake concerning the nature of Faith all the signs of the word cannot settle you But I say if once you understood the true nature of Faith it would be more clear in itself unto you than readily marks and signs could make it especially in the time of temptation If you would know then what it is indeed Consider what the Word of God holds out concerning himself or us & the solid belief of that in the heart hath something in the nature of saving Faith in it The Lord gives a testimony concerning Man That he is born in sin that he is dead in sin and all his imaginations are only evil continually Now I say to receive this truth into the soul upon God's Testimony in a point of Faith the Lord in his Word concludes all under sin and wrath ●…o then for a soul to conclude itself also under sin and wrath is a point of Faith Faith is the souls testimony to God's truth the Word is God's Testimony Now then if a soul receive this testimony within whether it be Law or Gospel it 's an act of Faith if a soul condemn itself & judge itself that is a setting to our seal that God is true who speaks in his Law & so it 's a believing in God I say more To believe with the heart that we cannot believe is a great point of found belief because it 's a sealing of that Word of God The heart is desperately wicked and of ourselves we can do nothing Now I am persuaded if such souls knew this they would put an end to their many contentions and wranglings about this point and would rather bless God that hath opened their eyes to see themselves then contend with him for that they have no Faith It is light only that discovers darkness and Faith only that descerns unbelief Its life and health only that feels pain & sickness for if all were alike nothing could be found as in dead bodies Now I say to such souls as believe in God the Lawgiver believe also in Christ the Redeemer and what is that It is not to know that I have Interest in him No that must come after it is the Spirits sealing after believing which puts itself out of question when it comes and so if you had it you needed not many signs to know it by at least you would not doubt of it more than he that sees the light can question it But I say to believe in Christ is simply this I whatsoever I be ungodly wretched polluted desperate am willing to have Jesus Christ for my Saviour I have no other help or hope if it be not in him it is I say to lean the weight of thy soul on this foundation stone laid in Zion to embrace the promises of the Gospel albeit general as worthy of all acceptation & wait upon the performance of them It is no other thing but to make Christ welcome to say even so Lord Jesus I am content in my soul that thou be my Saviour to be found in thee not having my own righteousness I am well pleased to cast away my own as dung & find myself on other not an ungodly man Now it is certain that ●…any souls that are still questioning whether they have Faith yet do find this in their souls but because they know not that it is Faith which they find they go about to seek that which is not Faith and where it is not to be found and so disquiet themselves in vain and hinder fruitfulness Now the Faith of a Christian is no fancy it 's no light vain imagination of the brain but it dwells in the heart with the heart man believes and it dwells with love Faith and love we need not be curious to distinguish them it is certain that love is in it & from it it 's in the very bosom of it because faith is a soul embracing of Christ it 's a choosing of him for its portion and then upon the review of this goodly portion and from consideration what he is and hath done for us the soul loves him still more & is impatient of so much distance from him We find them conjoined in Scripture but they are one in the heart O that we studied to have these jointly engraven on the heart as they are joined in the word so our heart should be a living Epistle Faith and Love are two words but one thing under different notions they are the outgoing of the soul to Christ for life the breathe of the soul after him for more of him when it hath once tasted how good he is Faith is not a speculation or a wand'ring thought of Truth it 's the truth not captivated into the mind but dwelling in the heart & getting possession of the whole man you know a man and his will are one not so a man and his mind for he may conceive the truth of many things he loves not but what ever a man loves that and he in a manner becomes one with another Love is unitive it 's the most excellent union of distant things The will commands the whole man and hath the office of applying of all the faculties of their proper works Illa imperat aliae exsequuntur therefore when once Divine truth gets entry into the heart of a man and becomes one with his will and affection it will quickly command the whole man to practise and execute and then he that receiveth the truth in Love is found a walker in the truth Many persons captivate truth in their understandings as the Gentiles did they held or detained it in unrighteousness but because it hath no liberty to descend into the heart & possess that Garrison it cannot command the man But O its better to be truths captive then to captive truth saith the Apostle ye obeyed from the heart the truth to which ye were delivered Rom. 6. O a blessed captivity to be delivered over to truth that is indeed freedom for truth makes free joh. 8. And it makes free where it is in freedom give it freedom to command thee and it shall indeed deliver thee from all strange Lords and thou shalt obey it from the heart when it is indeed in the heart When the truth of God whether promises or threatenings or commands are impressed into the heart you shall find the expressions of them in the conversation Faith is not an empty assent to the truth but a receiving of it in love & when the truth is received in love than it begins to work by love Faith works by love saith Paul Gal. 5. 6. That now is the proper nature of its operation which expresses its own nature Obedience proceeding from love to God flows from Faith in God and that shows the true and living nature of that Faith If the soul within receive the seal and impression of the truth of God it will render the image of that same truth in all its actions Love is put for all obedience it 's made the very sum and compend of the Law and fulfilling of it for the truth is it 's the most effectual and constraining principle of obedience and withal the most sweet & pleasant The love of Christ constrains us to live to him & not henceforth to ourselves 2 Cor. 5. 15. As I said a man and his will is one if you engage it you bind all if you gain it it will bring all with it As it is the most ready way to gain any party to engage their head whom they follow and upon whom they depend let a man's love be once gained to Christ & the whole train of the souls faculty of the outward senses and operations will follow upon it It was an excellent and pertinent question that Christ asked Peter when he was going away if Peter had considered Christ's purpose in it he would not have been so hasty and displeased Peter lovest thou me then feed my sheep If a man love Christ he will certainly study to please him and though he should do never so much in obedience it 's no pleasure except it be done out of love O this and more of this in the heart would make Ministers feed well and teach well and would make people obey well If ye love me keep my commands Love devouts and consecrats all that is in a man to the pleasure of him whom he loves therefore it fashions and conforms one even against nature to another's humour and affection it constrains not to live to ourselves but to him its joy & delight is in him and therefore all is given up & resigned to him Now as it is certain that if you love much you will do much so it is certain that little is accepted for much that proceeds from love & therefore our poor maimed and halting obedience is called the fulfilling of the law he is well pleased with it because love is ill pleased withit love thinks nothing too much all too little and therefore his love thinks any thing from us much since love would give more he accepts that which is given the lover's mite cast into the Treasure is more than ten times so much outward obedience from another man He meets love with love if the souls desire be towards the love of his name if love offer though a farthing his love receiving it counts it a Crown love offering a present of duty finds many imperfections in it and covers any good that is in it seems not to regard it and then beholds it as a recompense his love receiving the present from us covers a multitude of infirmities that are in it And thus what in the desire and endeavour of love on our part and what in the acceptation of what is done on his part love is the fulfilling of the Law It 's an usual proverb all things are as they are taken Love is the ●…ulfilling of the Law because our loving Father takes ●…t so he takes as much delight in the poor children's willingness as in the more aged's strength the offer ●…nd endeavour of the one pleaseth him as well as the ●…erformance of the other The love of God is the fulfilling of the Law for it a living Law it is the Law written on the heart it is ●…e Law of a spirit of life within Quis legem detamen ●…bus major lexamor sibi ipsi est You almost need not prescribe any rules or let over the head of love the authority and pain of a command for it is a greater Law to itself it hath within its own bosom as deep an engagement and obligation to any thing that may please God as you can put upon it for it is in itself the very engagement and bond of the soul to him This it is indeed which will do him service and that is the service which he likes it is that only serves him constantly and pleasantly and constantly it cannot serve him which doth it not pleasantly for it is delight only that makes it constant Violent motions may be swift but not durable they last not long fear and terror is a kind of external impulse that may drive a soul swiftly to some duty but because that is not one with the soul it cannot endure long it 's not good company to the soul. But Love making a duty pleasant becomes one with the soul it incorporates with it and becomes like its nature to it that though it should not move so swiftly yet it moves more constantly And what is love but the very motion of the soul to God and so till it have attained that to be in him it can find no place of rest Now this is only the service that he is pleased with which comes from love because he sees his own image in it for love in us it 's nothing else but the impression and stamp that God's love to us makes on the heart it 's the very reflection of that sweet warm beam so then when his love reflects back unto himself carrying our heart and duty with it he knoweth his own superscription he loves his own Image in such a duty He that loveth me and continueth in my love I will love him and I and my Father will come and make our abode with him joh. 14. 23. Here now is an evidence that he likes it for he must needs like that place he chooses to dwell in he who hath such a glorious Mansion and Palace above he must needs love that soul dearly that he will prefer it to his high and holy place Now I know it will be the secret question and complaint of some souls How shall I get love to God I cannot love him my heart is so desperately wicked I cannot say as Peter Lord thou knowest that I love thee I shall not insist upon the discovery of your love unto you by marks and signs only I say if thou indeed from thy heart desires to love him & art grieved that there is not this love in thy soul to him which becomes so loveworthy a Saviour than thou indeed lovest him for he that loveth the love of God loveth God himself And wherefore a●…t thou sad for want of that love but because thou lovest him in some measure and withal finds him beyond all that thou canst think and love But I say that which most concerns thee is to love still more and that thou wouldst be more earnest to love him then to know that thou loves him Now I know no more effectual way to increase love to Jesus Christ then to believe his love Christ Jesus is the Author and Finisher both of Faith and Love and we love him because he first loved us Therefore the right discovery of Jesus Christ what he is and what he hath done for sinners is that which will of all things most prevail to engage the soul unto him But as long as ye suspend you Faith upon the being or increase of your Love and obedience as the manner of too many is you take even such a course as he that will not plant the Tree till he see the fruit of it which is contrary to common sense & reason Since this than is the sum of true Religion to believe in Christ and to love him and so live to him we shall wind up all that is spoken into that exhortation of the Apostles Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard You have this Doctrine of Faith and Love delivered unto you which may be able to save your souls Then I beseech you hold them fast salvation is in them they are sound words and wholesome words words of life spirit & life as Christ speaks as well as words of truth But how will you hold them fast that have them not at all that know them not though you hear them You who are ignorant of the Gospel and hear nothing but a sound of words in stead of sound & wholesome words how can you hold them fast Can a man hold the wind in the hollow of his hand or keep in a sound within it You know no more but a sound & a wind that passeth by your ear without observing either truth or life in it But then again you who understand these sound words and have a form of knowledge & of the Letter of the Law what will that avail you You cannot hold it fast except you have it within you and it is within you indeed when it is in your heart when the form of it is engraven upon the very soul in love Now though you understand the sound of these words & the sound of truth in them yet you receive not the living Image of them which is Faith and Love Can you paint a sound Can you form it or engrave it on any thing Nay but these sound words are more substantial & solid they must be engraven on the heart else you will never hold them they may be easily plucked out of the mouth and hand by temptation unless they be enclosed and laid up in the secret of the heart as Mary laid them The truth must hold thee fast or thou canst not hold it fast it must captivate thee and bind thee with the Golden chains of affection which only is true freedom or certainly thou wilt let it go Nay you must not only have the truth received by love into your heart but as the Apostle speaks you must also hold fast the form of sound words Scripture words are sound words the Scriptures method of teaching is sound and wholesome There may be unsound words used in expressing true matter and if a man shall give liberty to his own luxuriant Imagination to expatiat in notions and expressions either to catch the ear of the Vulgar or to appear some new discoverer of light and Gospel-mysteries he may as readily fall into error and darkness as into truth and light Some men do busk up old truths Scripture-truths into some new dress of language and notions and then give them out for new discoveries new lights but in so doing they often hazard the losing of the truth itself We should beware and take heed of strange words that have the least appearance of evil such as Christed & Godded let us think it enough to be wise according to the Scriptures and suspect all that as vain empty unsound that tends not to the increase of faith in Christ and love and obedience unto him As ordinarily the Dialect of those called Antinomians is giving and no granting that they had no unsound mind yet I am sure they use unsound word to express sound matter the  should be shaped to the person Truth is plain and simple let words of truth also be full of simplicity I say no more but leave that upon you that you hold fast even the very words of the Scriptures and be not bewitched by the vain pretensions of Spirit all Spirit pure and spiritual service and such like to the casting off of the word of truth as Letter as Flesh and such is the high attainment of some in these days an high attainment indeed and a mighty progress in the way to destruction the very last discovery of that Antichrist and Man of sin Oh make much of the Scripture for you shall neither read nor hear the like of it in the world Other books may have sound matter but there is still something in manner or words unsound no man can speak to you truth in such plainness and simplicity in such soundness also But here is both sound matter and sound words the truth holden out truly health and salvation holden out in as wholesome a manner as is possible Matter & manner are both divine Exod. 3. 13 14. When they shall say unto me What is his Name What shall I say And God said I AM THAT I AM. WE are now about this question What God is But who can answer it Or if answered who can understand it It should astonish us in the very entry to think that we are about to speak and to hear of his Majesty Whom eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entered into the heart of any creature to consider what he is Think ye blind men could have a pertinent discourse of light and colours would they form any suitable notion of that they had never seen and cannot be known but by seeing What an ignorant speech would a deaf man make of Sound which a man cannot so much as know what it is but by hearing of it How then can me speak of God who dwells in such accessible light that though we had our eyes opened yet they are far less proportioned to that resplendent brightness than a blind eye is to the Sun's light It uses to be a question If there be a God or how it may be known that there is a God It were almost blasphemy to move such a question if there were not so much Atheism in the hearts of men which makes us either to doubt or not firmly to believe & seriously to consider it But what may convince souls of the Divine Majesty Truly I think if it be not evident by its own brightness all the reason that can be brought is but like a candle's light to see the Sun by Yet because of our weakness the Lord shines upon us in the Creatures as in a Glass and this is become the best way to take up the glorious brightness of his Majesty by reflection in his Word and Works God himself dwells in light inaccessible that no man can approach unto if any look strait to that Sun of Righteousness he shall be astonished & amazed and see no more than in the very darkness But the best way to behold the Sun is to look upon it in a pail of Water and the surest way to know God by is to take him up in a state of humiliation and condescension as the Sun in the Rainbow in his Word and Works which are the Mirrors of his Divine Power and goodness and do reflect upon the hearts and eyes of all men the beams of that increated light If this be not the speech that day uttereth unto day and night unto night One self-being gave me a being and if thou hear not that language that is gone out into all the earth and be not as it were noised and possessed with all the sounds of every thing about thee above thee beneath thee yea and within thee all singing a melodious song to that excellent Name which is above all names and conspiring to give testimony to the fountain of their being If this I say be not so sensible unto thee as if a tongue and voice were given to every creature to express it then indeed we need not reason the business with the who hath lost thy senses do but I say retire inwardly and ask in sobriety and sadness what thy conscience thinks of it And undoubtedly it shall confess a Divine Majesty at least tremble at the apprehension of what it either will not confess or slanderly believes The very evidence of truth shall extort an acknowledgement from it If any man denied the Divine Majesty I would seek no other argument to persuade him than what was used to convince an old Philosopher who denied the fire they put his hand in it till he found it so I say return within to thine own conscience & thou shalt find the scorching heat of that Divine Majesty burning it up whom thou wouldst not confess There is an inward feeling and sense of God that is imprinted in every soul by nature that leaves no man without such a testimony of God that makes him with out excuse There is no man so impious so atheistiall but whether he will or not he shall feel at some times that which he loves not to know or consider of so that what rest secure consciences have from the fear and terror of God it is like the sleep of a drunken man who even when he sleeps doth not rest quietly Now although this inward stamp of a Deity be engraven on the minds of all and every creature without have some marks of his glory stamped on them so that all things a man can behold above him or about him or beneath him the most mean and inconsiderable creatures are pearls and transparent stones that casts abroad the rays of that glorious brightness which shines on them as if a man were enclosed into a City builded all of precious stones that in the Sunshine all and every parcel of it the streets the houses the roofs the windows all of it reflected into his eyes those Sun beams in such a manner as if all had been one mirror though I say this be so yet such is the blockishness and stupidity of men that they do not for all this consider the glorious Creator so that all these Lamps seem to be lighted in vain to show forth his glory which though they do every way display their beams upon us that we can turn our eye no where but such a ray shall penetrate it yet we either do not consider it or the consideration of it takes not such deep root as to lead home to God therefore the Scriptures calls all natural men Atheists They have said in their heart There is no God Psal. 14 1. All men almost confess a God with their mouth and think they believe in him but alas Behold their actions and hearts what testimony they give for a man's walking and conversation is like an eye-witness that one of them deserves more credit than ten ear-witnesses of profession Plus valet oculatus testis unus quam auriti decem Now I may ask of you What would ye do How would ye walk if ye believed there were no God Would ye be more dissolute & profane and more void of Religion Would not Humane Laws bind you as much in that case as they now do For that is almost the restraint that is upon many the fear of temporal punishment or shame among men ●…et your walking beside a heathens conversation and save that you say ye believe in the true God and he denies him there is no difference Your transgressions speaks louder than your professions that there is no fear of God before your eyes Psal. 36. 1. Your practice belies your profession you profess that you know God but in works you deny him saith Paul Tit. 1. 16. o'er quod dicitis opere negatis In these words read in your audience you have a strange question and a strange answer a question of Moses and an answer of God The occasion of it was the Lords giving to Moses a strange and uncouth Message he was giving him commission to go and speak to a King to dismiss and let go 600000 of his Subjects and to speak to a numerous nation to depart from their own dwellings & come out whither the Lord should lead them Might not Moses then say within himself who am I to speak such a thing to a King Who am I to lead out such a mighty People Who will believe that thou hast sent me Will not all men call me a deceiver an Enthysiastical Fellow that takes upon me such a thing Well then saith Moses to the Lord Look when I shall say that the God of their Father sent me unto them they will not believe me they have now forgotten thy Majesty and thinkest that Thou art even like the Vanities of the Nations they cannot know their own portion from other Nations vain-Idols which they have given the same Name unto & call God as well as thou art called Now therefore says he when they ask me what thy proper Name is by which thou art distinguished from all Idols & all the works of thine own hands & of men's hands what shall I say unto them Here is the Question But why asks thou my Name saith the Lord to Jacob Gen. 32 29. Importing that it is a high presumption & bold curiosity to search such a wonder Ask not my Name saith the Angel to Manoah for it is secret or wonderful judge 13. 18. It 's a mystery a dark hidden mystery not for want of light but for too much light it 's a secret its wonderful out of the reach of all created capacity Thou shalt call his Name wonderful Isai. 6. 9 What name can express that in comprehensible Majesty The mind is more comprehensive than words but the mind & soul is too narrow to conceive him O then How short a garment must all words the most significant & comprehensive and superlative words be Solomon's soul and heart was enlarged as the sand of the sea but O! it 's not large enough for the Creator of it What is his Name or What is his Sons Name if thou canst tell Prov. 30. 4. The Lord himself cannot express it to our capacity because we are not capable of what he can express much less of what he is if he should speak to us of himself as he is O! it should be dark sayings hid from the understandings of all living we could reach no more of it but that it is a wonder a secret Here is the highest attainment of our knowledge to know there is some mystery in it but not What that mystery is Christ hath a Name above all names How then can we know that Name It was well said by some of old Deus est and yet multorum nominum & tamen nullius nominis & tamen nihil omnium because he is all in all & yet none of all Deus est quod vides & quod non vides you may call him by all the works of his hands for these are beams of his increated light and streams of his inexhaustible sea of goodness so that what ever perfection is in them all that is eminently yea infinitely in him Therefore saith Christ There is one God even God and he calls himself the light and life and therefore you have so many names of God in Scripture there is no quality no property or virtue that hath the least shadow of goodness but he is that essentially really eternally & principally So that the creature deserves not such names but as they participate of his fullness he is the true light the true life the Sun is not that true light though it gives light to the Moon & to men for it borrows its light and shinin from him g all creatures are and shine but by reflection Therefore these names do agree to them but by a Metaphor so to speak the propriety and truth of them is in him As it is but a borrowed kind of speech to call a Picture or Image a man only because of the representation & likeness to him it communicates in one name with him Even so in some manner the creatures are but some shadows pictures or remblances and equivocal shapes of God and whatever name they have of good wise strong beautiful true or such like it 's but a barrowed speech from God whose Image they have & yet poor vain man would be wise thought wise really intrinsically in himself & properly & calls himself so which is as great abuse of language as if the Picture should call itself a true and living man But then as you may call him all things because he is eminently & gloriously all that is in all the fountain and end of all yet we must again deny that he is any of these things unus omnia & nihil omnium we can find no name to him for what can we call him when you have said He is light you can form no other notion of him but from the resemblance of this created light but alas that he is not he so infinitely transcends that and is distant from it as if he had never made it according to his likeness His Name is above all these names but what it is himself knows and knows only If ye ask what he is we may glance at some notions & expressions to hold him out In relation to the creatures we may call him Creator Redeemer light life omnipotent good merciful just and such like But if you ask what is his proper Name in relation to himself ipse novit Himself knows that we must be silent & silence in such a subject is the rarest Eloquence But let us hear what the Lord himself speaketh in answer to this Question if any can tell sure he himself knows his own Name best I am saith he what I am sum qui sum go tell them that I am hath sent thee A strange answer but an Answer only pertinent for such a Question What should Moses make of this What is he the wiser of his ask Indeed he might be the wiser it might teach him more by silence than all Humane Eloquence could instruct him by speaking His Question was curious & behold an answer short and dark to confound vain and presumptuous mortality I am what I am an answer that does not satisfy curiosity for it leaves room for the first Question and what art thou But abundant to silence saith and sobriety that it shall ask no more but sit down and wonder There are three things I conceive imported in this Name God's unsearchableness God's unchangeableness and God's absoluteness His ineffability his eternity & his sovereignty and independent substance upon whom all other things depend I say 1. His unsearchableness you know it is our manner of speech when we would cover any thing from any & not answer any thing distinctly to them we say it is what it is I have said what I have said I will not make you wise of it Here then is the fittest notion you can take up God into to find him unsearchable beyond all understanding beyond all speaking the more ye speak or think to find him always beyond what ye speak or think whatever you discover of him to conceive that Infitness is beyond that ad finem cujus pertransiri non potest the end of which you cannot reach that he is an unmeasureable depth a boundless Ocean of perfection that you can neither found the bottom of it nor find the breadth of it Can a child wade the Sea or take it up in the hollow of its hand when ever any thing of God is seen he is seen a wonder Wonderful is the Name he is known by All our knowledge reacheth no farther than admiration who is like unto thee Exod. 15. 11. Psal. 89. 6 7. and admiration speaks ignorance The greatest attainment of knowledge reacheth but such a question as this Who is like unto thee To know only that he is not like any other thing that we know but not to know what he is And the different degrees of knowledge is but in more admiration or less at his unconceivablenesse & in more or less affection expressed in such pathetic interogations O who is like theLord How excellent is his Name Here is the greatest degree of Saints knowledge here-away to ask with admiration and affection such a question that no answer can be given to or none that we can conceive or understand so as to satisfy wondering but such as still more increaseth it There is no other subject but you may exceed it in apprehensions and in expressions O how often are men's songs & thoughts and discourses above the matter But here is a subject that there is no excess into nay there is no access unto it let be excess in it imagination that can transcend the created Heavens and Earth & fancy to itself millions of new worlds every one exceeding another & all of them exceeding this in perfection yet it can do nothing here that which at one instant can pass from the one end of Heaven to the other walk about the circumference of the Heavens & travel over the breadth of the Sea yet it can do nothing here Canst thou by searching find out God job 11. imaginations cannot travel in these bounds for his Centre is every where and his Circumference no where as an old Philosopher speaks of God Deus est cujus Centrum est ubique Circumferentia nusquam how shall it then find him out There is nothing sure here but to lose ourselves in a mystery and to follow his Majesty till we be swallowed up with an Oh altitudo O the depth and height and length and breadth of God O the depth of his wisdom O the height of his power O the breadth of his love And O the length of Eternity It 's not reason and disputation saith Bernard will comprehend these but holiness and that by stretching out the arms of fear and love reverence and affection What more dreadful than power that cannot be resisted and wisdom that none can be hid from and what more lovely than the love wherewith he hath so loved us & his unchangeableness which admits of no suspicion fear him who hath a hand that doth all and an eye that beholds all things & love him who hath so loved us and cannot change God hath been the subject of the discourses and debates of men in all ages but Oh Quam long e est in rebus qui est tam Communis in vocibus How little a portion hath men understood of him How hath he been hid from the eyes of all living Every age must give this testimony of him we have heard of his fame but he is hid from the eyes of all living I think that Philosopher that took it to his advisement said more insilence than all men have done in speaking Simonides being asked by Hiero a King what God was sought a day to deliberate in and think upon it when the King sought an account of his meditation about it he desired yet two days more and so as oft as the King asked him he still doubled the number of the days in which he might advise upon it The King wondering at this asked what the matter by those delays saith he Quanto magis considero tanto magis obscurior mihi videtur he more I think on him he is the more dark and unknown to me This was more real knowledge than the many subtle disputations of those men who by their poor shell of finite capacity & reason presume to empty the ocean of God's infiniteness by finding out answers to all the objections of carnal reason against all those mysteries & riddles of the Deity I profess I know nothing can satisfy reason in this business but to lead it captive to the obedience of Faith and to silence it with the faith of a mystery which we know not Paul's answer is one for all & better than all the Syllogisms of such men what art thou O man who disputest Dispute thou I will believe Ut intelligatur tacendum est silence only can get some account of God quiet and humble ignorance in the admiration of such a Majesty is the profoundest knowledge Non est mirum si ignoretur majoris esset admirationis si sciatur It is no wonder that God is not known all the wonder were to know & comprehend such a wonder such a mystery it is a wonder indeed that he is not more known but when I say so I mean that he is not more wondered at because he is passing knowledge If our eyes of flesh cannot see any thing almost when they look strait & steadfastly upon the Sun O what can the eye of the soul behold when it is fixed upon the consideration of that shining and glorious Majesty will not that very light be as darkness to it that it shall be as it were darkened & dazzled with a thick mist of light in superlucente caligne confounded with that resplendent darkness It is said that the Lord covers himself with light as with a garment & yet clouds and darkness are about him and he makes darkness his covering Psalm 18. 9 10 12. His inaccessible light is this glorious darkness that strikes the eyes of men blind as in the darkness the Sun's light is the night owls night & darkness when a soul can find no better way to know him by then by these Names and notions by which we deny our own knowledge when it hath conceived all of him it can then as being overcome with that dazzling brightness of his Glory to think him inconceivable & to express him in such terms as with all expresses our ignorance There is no name agrees more to God them that which saith we cannot name him we cannot know him such as invisible incomprehensible infinite etc. This Socrates an heathen professed to be all his knowledge that he knew he did know nothing and therefore he preached an unknown God to the Athenians to whom after they erected an Altar with that inscription To the unknown God I confess indeed the most part of our discourses of our performances have such a writing on them To th●… unknown God because we think we know him and so we know nothing But O that Christians had so much knowledge of God so much true wisdom as solidly and willingly to confess in our souls our own ignorance of him & then I would desire no other knowledge and growing in the grace of God but to grow more and more in the believing ignorance of such a Mystery in the knowledge of an unknown unconceivable & unsearchable God that in all the degrees of knowledge we might still conceive we had found less & that there is more to be found then before we apprehended This is the most perfect knowledge of God that doth not drive away darkness but increase it in the souls apprehension any increase in it doth not declare what God is or satisfy one's admiration in it but rather shows him to be more invisible & insearchable so that the darkness of a soul's ignorance is more manifested by this light and not more covered & ones own knowledge is rather darkened & disappears in the glorious appearance of this light for in all new discoveries there is no other thing appears but that this which the soul is seeking is supereminently unknown and still further from knowledge than ever it conceived it to be Therefore what ever you conceive or see of God if ye think ye know what ye conceive & see it 's not God ye see but something of Gods less than God for it 's ●…aid Eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor hath it entered into the heart of man to consider what he hath laid up for them that love him Now certainly that 's himself he hath laid up for them therefore whatever thou conceive of him & thinks now thou knows him this is not He for he hath not entered into man's heart to conceive him Therefore this must be thy souls exercise & progress in it to remove all things all conceptions from him as not beseeming his Majesty and to go still forward in such a dark negative discovery till thou know not where to seek him nor find him next Si quis Deum videat & intelligat quod vidit Deum non vidit If any see God & understand what they see God they do not see for God hath no man seen 1 Joh. 4. 12. And no man knows the Father but the Son And none knows the Son but the Father it 's his own property to know himself as to be himself silent & seeing ignorance is our safest and highest knowledge Exod. 3. 14. I AM THAT I AM. Psal. 19 2. Before the mountains etc. from everlasting to everlasting thou art God Job 11. 7 8 9 Canst thou by searching find out God etc. THis is the chief point of saving knowledge to know God And this is the first point or degree of the true knowledge of God to discern how ignorant we are of him and find him beyond all knowledge The Lord gives a definition of himself but such a one as is no more clear than himself to our capacities A short one indeed and you may think it saith not much I am What is it that may not say so I am that I am the least and most inconsiderable creature hath its own being men's wisdom would have learned him to call himself by some high styles & titles as the manner and custom of Kings and Princes is & such as the flattery of men attributes unto them you would think the superlatives of wise good strong excellent glorious and such like were more beseeming his Majesty and yet there it more Majesty in the simple stile than in all others but a natural man cannot behold it for it is spiritually discerned Let the pot shards of the earth saith he strive with the potsherds of the earth Isa. 45. 9 But let them not strive with their Maker So I say let creatures compare with creatures let them take superlative styles in regard of others let some of them be called good and some better in the comparison among themselves but God must not enter in the comparison Paul thinks it an odious comparison to compare present crosses to eternal glory I think them not worthy to be compared saith Paul Rom. 8. But how much more odious is it to compare God with creatures Call him Highest call him most Powerful call him most Excellent Almighty most Glorious in respect of creatures you do but abase his Majesty to bring it down to any terms of comparison with them which is beyond all the bounds of understanding all these do but express him to be in some degree eminently seated above the creatures as some creatures are above all others so ye do no more but make him the Head of all as some creatures is the head of one line or kind under it but what is that to his Majesty he speaks otherwise of himself Isa. 40. 17. All nations are before him as nothing and they are accounted to him less than nothing Then certainly you have not taken up the true notion of God when you have conceived him the most eminent of all beings as long as any being appears as a being in his sight before whom all beings conjoined are as nothing while you conceive God to be the best you still attribute something to the creature for all comparatives include the positive in both extremes So then you take up only some different degrees between them who differeth so infinitely so incomprehensibly the distance betwixt heaven & earth is but a poor similitude to express the distance between God and Creatures what is the distance betwixt a being and nothing Can you measure it Can you imagine it Suppose you take the most high and the most low & measure the distance betwixt them you do but consider the difference betwixt two beings but you do not express how far nothing is distant from any of them Now if any thing could be imagined less than nothing could you at all guess at the vast distance between it and a being Now so is it here thus saith the Lord All Nations their glory perfection and number all of them and all their excellencies united do not amount to the value of an unity in regard of my Majesty all of them like cyphers join never so many of them together they can never make up a number they are nothing in this regard & less than nothing So then we ought thus to conceive of God and thus to attribute a being and life to him and as his sight and in the consideration of it all created beings might vanish out of our sight as the glorious light of the Sun though it no not annihilate the Stars and make them nothing yet it annihilates their appearance to our senses and makes them disappear as if they were not although there be a great difference & inequality of the Stars in the night some lighter some darker some of the first magnitude and some of the second and third etc. some of greater glory and some of less But in the day time all are alike all are darkened by the Sun's glory Even so it is here though we may compare one creature with another and find different degrees of perfection and excellency while we are only comparing them among themselves but let once the glorious brightness of God shine upon the soul and in that light all these lights shall be obscured all their differences unobserved an Angel & a Man a Man and a Worm differ much in glory and perfection of being But O in his presence there is no such reckoning upon this account all things are alike God infinitely distant from all and so not more or less Infiniteness is not capable of such terms of comparison This is the reason why Christ says There is none good but one even God Why because in respect of his goodness nothing deserves that name lesser light in view of the greater is a darkness as less good in comparison of a greater appears evil How much more than shall created light and created goodness lose that name and notion in the presence of that uncreated light & self-sufficient goodness And therefore it is that the Lord calls himself after this manner I am as if nothing else were I will not say saith he that I am the highest the best and most glorious that is that supposeth other things to have some being and some glory that is worthy the accounting of But I am & there is none else I am alone I lift up my hand to Heaven & swear I live for ever There is nothing else can say I am I live & there is none else for there is nothing hath it of itself Can any boast of that which they have borrowed and is not their own As if the bird that had stolen from other birds its fair feathers should come forth and contend with them about beauty would not they presently every one pluck out their own & leave her naked to be an object of mockery to all Even so since our breath and being is in our nostrils and that depends upon his Majesty's breathing upon us if he should but keep in his breath as it were we should vanish into nothing he looketh upon man as he is not job 7. 8. That is a strange look that looks man not only out of countenance but out of life and being he looks him into the first nothing and then can he say I live I am no he must always say of himself in respect of God as Paul of himself in respect of Christ I live yet not I but Christ in me I am yet not I but God in me I live I am yet not I but in God in whom I live and have my being So that there is no other thing beside God can say I am because all things are borrowed drops of this self-sufficient fountain & sparkles of this primitive light Let any thing intervene between the stream and the fountain and it is cut off and dried up let any thing be interposed between the Sun and the Beam and it evanishes Therefore this fountain being this original light this self being as Plato calleth him deserves only the name of being other things that we call after that name are nearer nothing than God and so in regard of his Majesty may more fitly be called nothing than something you see then how profound a mystery of God's absolute self-sufficient perfection is enfolded in these three Letters I am or in these four jehovah If you ask what is God there is nothing occures better than this I am or he that is if I should say he is the Almighty the only wise the most perfect the most glorious it is all contained in that word I am that I am nempe hoc est ci esse haec omnia esse For that is to be indeed to be all those perfections simply absolutely and as it were solely If I say all that and should reckon out all the Scripture-Epithets I add nothing If I say no more I diminish nothing As this holds out God's absolute perfection so we told you that it imports his eternity and unchangeableness you know Pilat's speech what I have written I have written wherein he meant that he would not change it it should stand so So this properly belongs to God's eternity before the mountains were brought forth from everlasting to everlasting he is God Psalm 90. 2. Now this is properly to be & this only deserves the name of being which never was nothing & never shall be nothing which may always say I am you know it is so with nothing else but God The Heavens and Earth with the things therein could not say 6000. years ago I am Adam could once have said I am but now he cannot say it for that self being & fountain-being hath said to him Return to dust & so it is with all the generations past where are they now They were but they are not And we than were not & now are for we are come in their place but within a little time who of us can say I am No we flee away & are like a dream as when one awaketh we are like a tale that is told that makes a present noise and it is past within few years this generation will pass & none will make mention of us our place will not know us no more than we do now remember those who have been before Christ said of john He was a burning and shining light he was saith he but now he is not but Christ may always say I am the light and life of men Man is but look a little backward and he was not you shall find his original and step a little forward and he shall not be you shall find his end but God is Alpha and Omega the beginning & the end but oh who can retire so far backward as to apprehend a beginning or go such a start forward as to conceive an end in such a being as is the beginning & end of all things but without all beginning and end Whose understanding would it not confound There is no way here but to flee into Paul's Sanctuary O the height and breadth and depth We cannot imagine a being but we must first conceive it nothing & in some instant receiving its being and therefore canst thou by searching find out God Therefore what his being is hath not entered into the heart of man to consider If a man would live out the space but of two generations he would be a world's wonder but if any had their days prolonged as the Patriarches before the flood they would be called ancient indeed but then the heavens and earth are far more ancient we may go backward the space of near 6000. years in our own minds and yet be as far from his beginning as we were when we are come to the beginning of all things a man's imagination may yet extend to self-further & suppose to itself as many thousands of years before the beginning of time as all the Angels and men of all nations & generations from the beginning if they had been employed in no other thing but this could have summed up And then suppose a product to be made of all the several sums of years it would be vast & unspeakable but yet your imagination could reach further and multiply that great sum as often into itself as there are unites into it Now when you have done all this you are never a whit nearer the days of the ancient of days Suppose then this should be the only exercise of men and Angels throughout all eternity all this marvellous Arithmetic would not amount unto the least shadow of the countenance of him who is from everlasting All that huge product of all the multiplications of men and Angels hath no proportion unto that never beginning and never ending duration The greatest sum that is imaginable hath a certain proportion to the least number that it containeth it so oft and no oftener so that the least number being multiplied will amount unto the greatest that you can conceive But O where shall a soul find itself here It is enclosed between infiniteness before & infiniteness behind between two everlastings which way soever it turns there is no out going which way soever it looks it must lose itself in an infinitness round about it it can find no beginning and no end when it hath wearied itself in searching which if it find not it knows not what it is and cannot tell what it is Now what are we then O what are we who so magnify ourselves We are but of yesterday and know nothing Job 8. 9 Suppose that we had endured the space of 1000 years yet saith Moses Psal. 90. 4. A thousand years are but as yesterday in thy sight Time hath no succession to thee thou beholdest at once what is not at once but in several times all that hath not the proportion of one day to thy days we change in our days and are not that to day we were yesterday but he is the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13. 8. Every day we are dying some part of our life is taken away we leave still one day more behind us and what is behind us is gone and cannot be recovered Though we vainly please ourselves in the number of our years and the extent of our life and the vicissitudes of time yet the truth is we are but still losing so much of our being & time as passeth First we lose our childhood than we lose our manhood and then we leave our old age behind us also & there is no more before us even the very present day we decide it with death But when he moves all things he remains  though days and years be in a continual flux and motion about him & they carry us down with their force yet he abides the same for ever even the earth that is established so sure & the Heavens that are supposed to be incorruptible yet they wax old as doth a garment but He is the same and his years have no end Psal. 102. 26 27. Sine principio principium absque finc finis cui praeteritum non abit haud adit futurum ante omnia post omnia totus unus ipse He is the beginning without any beginning the end without an end there is nothing bypast to him and nothing to come sed uno mentis c●…rnit in ictu quae sunt quae erunt quae fuerantque He is one that is all before all after all & in all He beholds out of the exalted and supereminent Tower of Eternity all the successions and changes of the creatures and there is no succession no mutation in his knowledge as in ours Known to him are all his works from the beginning He can declare the end before the beginning for he knows the end of all things before he gives them beginning Therefore he is never driven to any consultation upon any emergent or incident as the wisest of men are who could not foresee all accidents and events but He is in one mind saith job and that one mind and one purpose is one for all one concerning all he had it from everlasting & who can turn him For He will accomplish what his soul desires Now canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou a poor mortal creature ascend up unto the height of Heaven or descend down unto the depths of Hell Canst thou travel abroad and compass all the Sea & dry Land by its longitude and latitude Would any martal creature undertake such a voyage to compass the Universe Nay not only so but to search into every corner of it above and below on the right hand and on the left No certainly unless we suppose a man whose head reaches unto the height of Heaven and whose feet is down unto the depths of hell and whose arms streached out can fathom the length of the Earth and breadth of the Sea unless I say we suppose such a creature than it is in vain to imagine that either the height of the one or the depth of the other the length of the one and the breadth of the other can be found out and measured Now if mortal creatures cannot attain the measure of that which is finite O then what can a creature do what can a creature know of him that is infinite & the maker of all these things you cannot compass the Sea and Land how then can a soul comprehend him who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure & the mountains he weighs in scales and the hill in a balance Isa. 40. 10. Thou cannot measure the circomference of the heaven how then canst thou find out him who metteth out the heaven with his span & streacheth them out as a curtain Isa. 40. 12. 22. You cannot number the Nations or perceive the magnitude of the Earth and the huge extent of the Heavens What then canst thou know of him who sitteth on the circle of the earth and the inhabitants are but as Grasshoppers before him & he spreadeth out the Heaven as a Tent to dwell into He made all the pins and stakes of this Tabernacle and he fastened them below but upon nothing and stretches this curtain about them and above them & it was not so much difficulty to him as to you to draw the curtain about your Bed for he spoke and it was done he commanded and it stood fast Canst thou by searching him out And yet thou must search him not so much out of curiosity to know what he is for he dwells in inaccessible light which no man hath seen nor no man can see 1 Tim. 6. 16. Not so much to find him as to be found of him or to find what we can not know when we have found Hic est qui nunquam quaeri frustra potest cum tamen inveniri non potest you may seek him but though you never find him yet ye shall not seek him in vain for ye shall find blessedness in him Though you find him yet can you search him out unto perfection Then what you have found were not God How is it possible for such narrow hearts to frame an apprehension or receive an impression of such an immense greatness and eternal goodness Will not a soul lose its power of thinking and speaking because there is so much to be thought and spoken and it so transcends all that it can think or speak Silence then must be the best Rhetoric and the sweetest eloquence when eloquence itself must become dumb and silent it is the abundance & excess of that inaccessible light that hath no proportion to our understandings that strikes us as blind as in the darkness the want of light All that we can say of God is that whatsoever we can think or conceive he is not that because he hath not entered into the heart of man to conceive and that he is not like any of these things which we know unto which if he be not like we cannot frame any similitude or likeness of him in our knowledge What shall we then do Seek him and search him indeed but if we cannot know him to reverence fear and adore what we know So much of him may be known as may teach us our duty & show unto us our blessedness let then all our inquiries of him have a special relation to this end that we may out of love and fear of such a glorious & good God worship and serve him & compose ourselves according to his will and wholly to his pleasure what ever thou knows of God or searches of him it is but a vain speculation and a work of curiosity if it do not lead to this end to frame & fashion thy soul to an union & communion with him in love If it do not discover thyself unto thyself that in that light of God's glorious Majesty thou mayest distinctly behold thy own vileness and wretched misery thy darkness & deadness & utter impotency The Angels that Isaiah saw attending God in the Temple had wings covering their faces & wings covering their feet those excellent spirits who must cover their feet from us because we cannot behold their glory as Moses behoved to be veil yet they cannot behold his glory but must cover their face from the radiment and shining brightness of his Majesty yet they have other two wings to flee with and being thus composed in reverence & fear to God they are ready to execute his commands willingly and swiftly Isa. 1. 2 3. etc. But what is the use Isaiah makes of all this glorious sight Woe is me I am a man of polluted lips etc. Oh all is unclean People and Pastor He had known doubtless something of it before but now he sees it of new as if he had never seen it the glory of God shining on him doth not pull him up in arogancy & conceit of the knowledge of such profound mysteries but he is more abased in himself by it it shines into his heart & whole man and lets him see all unclean within & without & so it was with job. job 42. 5. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear but as long as it was hear say I thought myself something I often reflected upon myself & actions with a kind of self complacency and delight But now saith he since I have seen thee by the seeing of the eye I abhor myself in dust and ashes I cannot look upon myself with patience without abhorrency and detestation self-love made me loath other men's sins more than mine own & self-love did cover mine own from me it presented me to myself in a feigned likeness but now I see myself in my true shape & all cover stripped off Thy light hath pierced into my soul & behold I cannot endure to look upon myself Here now is the true knowledge of God's Majesty which discovers within thee a mystery of iniquity and here is the knowledge of God indeed which abases all thing beside God not only in opinion but in affection that attracts and units thy soul to God & draws it from thyself & all created things this is a right discovery of Divine purity & glory that spots even the cleanness of Angels and stains the pride of all glory much more will it represent filthiness as filthiness without a covering It 's knowledge & science falsely so called that pusseth up for true knowledge emptieth a soul of itself and humbleth a soul in itself that it may be full of God He that thinks he knows any thing he knows nothing as he ought to know This then is the first property or mark of saving knowledge of God it removes all ground of vain confidence that a soul cannot trust unto itself and then the very proper intent of it is that a soul may trust in God and depend on him in all things For this purpose the Lord has called himself by so many names in Scripture answerable to our several necessities and difficulties that he might make known to us how all-sufficient he is that so we may turn our eyes and hearts towards him This was the intent of this name I am that Moses might have a support of his faith for if he had looked to outward appearance was it not almost a ridiculous thing and like a vain fancy for a poor inconsiderable man to go to a King with such a message that he would dismiss so many subjects And was it not attempt of some mad man to go about to lead so many thousands from a wicked tyrannical King into another Nation Well saith the Lord I am I who give allthings a being will give a being to my promise I will make Pharaoh hearken and the people obey Well then what is it that this name of God will not answer It is a creating Name a Name that can bring all things out of nothing by a Word if he be such as he is than he can make of us what he pleases If our souls had this name constantly engraven on our hearts O what power would Divine promises and threatenings have with us ay even I am he that comforteth thee saith he If we believed that it were he indeed the Lord Jehovah how would we be comforted How would we praise Him by His Name JAH How would we stoop unto him and submit unto His blessed will If we believed this would we not be as dependent on him as if we had no being in ourselves Would we not make him our habitation and dwelling-place And conclude our own stability and the stability of his Church from his unvariable eternity as the Psalmist Ps. 90. 1. & Ps. 102. ult. How can we think of such a fountain being but we must withal acknowledge ourselves to be shadows of his goodness and that we owe to him what we are and so consecrate and dedicate ourselves to his glory How can we consider such a self being independent and creating goodness but we must have some desire to cleave to him and some confidence to trust in him Now this is to know him When we think on his unchangeableness let us consider our own vanity whose glory and perfection is like a summer flower or like a vapour ascending for a little time whose best estate is altogether vanity Our purposes are soon broken off and made of none effect our resolutions change This is a Character of Mortality we are not always alike Non sibi constare nec ubique & semper sibi parem eundemque esse To be now one thing and then another thing is a property of sinful & wretched man therefore let us cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils and not trust in Princes who shall die far less in ourselves who are less than the least of men But let us put our trust in God who changes not and we shall not be consumed our waters shall not fail we shall never be ashamed of any hope we have in him There is nothing else you trust in but undoubtedly it shall prove your shame and confusion in sum whatever you shall hear or know ofGod know that i●… is vain & empty unless it descend down into the heart to fashion it to his fear and love and extend unto the outward man to conform it to obedience you are but vain in your imaginations and your foolish hearts are darkened while when you know God you glorify him not as God If that be not the fruit & end of knowle●…ge that knowledge shall be worse to thee than ign●…rance for both it brings on judicial hardening here and will be thy solemn accuser and witness against thee hereafter Rom. 1. 21 24. The knowledge of Jesus Christ truly so called is neither barren nor unfruitful for out of its root & sap springs out humility self-abasing confidence in God patience in tribula ions meekness in provocations temperance & sobriety in lawful things etc. 2 Pet. 1. 5 6 7 8. Exod. 24 5 6 7 8. The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious etc. THere is nothing can separate between God & a people but iniquity and yet he is very loath to separate even for that he makes many shows of departing that so we may hold him fast and indeed he is not difficult to be holden He threatens often to remove his presence from a person or Nation & he threatens that he may not indeed remove but that they may entreat him to stay & he is not hard to be entreated Who is a God like unto him slow to anger and of great mercy he is long of being provoked and not long provoked for it is like the anger of a Parents love Love takes on anger as the last remedy & if it prevail it is as glad to put it off as it was unwilling to take it on You may see a lively picture of this in Gods dealing with Moses & this people in the preceding Chapter He had long endured this rebellious and obstinate people had often threatened to cut them off & yet as it were loath to do it & repenting of it he su●…ers himself to be entreated for them but all in vain to them they corrupted their way still more And in the 32. Chap. falls in gross Idolatry the great trespass that he had given them so solemn warni●…g of often whereupon great wrath is conceived And the Lord Chap. 33. 1. threatens to depart from them Go your way saith he to Canaan but I will not go with you take your venture of any judgements & the people of the Lands cruelty Here is a sad farewell to Israel & who would think he could be detained after all that Who would think that he could be entreated And yet he is not entreated he is not requested before he give some ground of it and before he fi●…st condescends Go saith he and put off thy ornaments from thee that I may know what to do unto thee Will he then accept a repenting people and is there yet hope of mercy Should he that is going away show us the way to keep him still And he that flees from us will he strengthen us to pursue & follow after him This is not after the manner of men it is true whose compassion fails when their passion ariseth but this is the manner & method of grace or of him who waits to be gracious He flees so as he would have a follower yea while he seems to go away he draws the soul that it may run after him hence is that word Psal. 63. 8. My soul follows hard after thee thy righe hand upholds me Well the people mourns and puts off their ornaments in sign of humiliation & abasement but all this death not pacify and quench the flame that was kindled Moses takes the Tabernacle out of the Camp the place of judgement where God spoke with the people and the cloud the sign of God's presence removes In a word The signs of Gods loving & kind presence departs from them to signify that they were divorced from God and in a manner the Lord by Moses excommunicates all the People and Rulers both and draws away these holy things from the contagion of a profane people But yet all is not gone he goes far off but not out of sight that you may always follow him & if you follow he will stand still he is never without the reach of crying though we do not perceive him Now in this sad case you may have a trial who is godly Every one that seeks the Lord will separate from the unholy Congregation & follow the Tabernacle And this affects the whole people much that they all worship in the tent-doors Now in the mean time God admits Moses to speak with him though he will not speak to the people yet he will speak with their Mediator a typical Mediator to show us that God is well pleased in Christ & so all Christ's intercessions and requests for us will get a hearing when they are come once in talking the business is taken up for he is not soon angry & never implacably angry slow to anger and keeps it not long Moses falling familiar with God not only obtains his request for the people but becomes more bold in a request for his own satisfaction and confirmation He could not endure to lead that people except God went with him & having the promise of his going with them he cannot endure distance with him but aspires to the nearest Communion that may be Oh that it were so with us His request is That the Lord would show him his glory Had he not seen much of this already And more than any man ever saw when he spoke in the Mount with God etc. Nay but he would see more for there is always more to be seen & there is in a godly soul always more desire to see it the more is seen the more is loved and desired tasting of it only begets a kindly appetite after it & the more tasted still the fresher and more recent But yet it is above both desire and fruition thou cannot see my face etc. All our knowledge of God all our attainments of experience of him do reach but to some dark & confused apprehension of what he is the clearest and nearest sight of God in the world is as if a man were not known but by his back which is a great point of estrangement It 's said in the heaven we shall see him face to face and fully as he is because then the soul is made capable of it Two things in us here puts us in an incapacity of nearness with God Infirmity and Iniquity Infirmity in us cannot behold his glory it 's of so weak eyes that the brightness of the Sun would strike it blind and Iniquity in us he cannot behold it because he is of pure eyes that can look on no unclean thing it 's the only thing in the Creation that God's holiness hath antipathy at and therefore he is still about the destroying of the body of sin in us about the purging of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and till the soul be thus purged of all sin by the operation of the Holy Ghost it cannot be a Temple for an immediate vision of him & an immediate exhibition of God to us Sin is the wall of partition and the thick cloud that eclipses his glory from us it is the opposite Hemesphere of darkness contrary to light according to the access or recess of God's presence it is more or less dark the more sin reigns in thee the less of God is in thee and the more sin be subdued the readier & nearer is Gods presence but let us comfort ourselves That one day shall put off both Infirmity and Iniquity mortality shall put on immortality and corruption be clothed with incorruption we shall leave the rags of mortal weakness in the grave and our menstruous  of sin behind us & then shall the weak eyes of flesh be made like Eagles eyes to behold the Sun and then shall the soul be clothed with holiness as with a Garment which God shall delight to look upon because he sees his own Image in that glass We come to the Lords satisfying of Moses desire and proclaiming his Name before him it is himself only can tell you what he is it is not Ministers preaching or other discourse can proclaim that Name to you we may indeed speak over those words unto you but it is the Lord that must write that Name upon your heart he only can discover his glory to your spirit There is a spirit of life which cannot be enclosed in Letters and Syllables or transmitted through your ears into your hearts but he himself must create it inwardly and stir up the outward sense & feeling of that Name of those Attributes Faith indeed comes by hearing and our knowledge in this life is thorough a glass darkly thorough ordinances and senses but there must be an inward teaching and speaking to your souls to make that effectual the anointing teacheth you all things 1 joh. 2. 27. Alas its the separation of that from the word that makes it so unprofitable if the spirit of God were inwardly writing what the word is teaching then should our souls be living Epistles that ye might read God's Name on them O be much in employing of & depending on him that teacheth to profit who only can declare unto your souls what he is These names express his Essence or Being & his Properties what he is in himself & what he is to us in himself he is Jehovah or a self-being as we heard in the 3. Chap. I am that I am and EL a strong God or Almighty God which two hold out to us the absolute incomprehensible perfection of God eminently and infinitely enclosing within himself all perfections of the creatures the unchangeable and mutable being of God who was and is & is to come without succession without variation or shadow of turning and then the Almighty power of God by which without difficulty by the inclination and beck of his will & pleasure he can make or unmake all create or annihilate to whom nothing is impossible which three if they were pondered by us till our souls received the stamp of them they would certainly be powerful to abstract and draw our hearts from the vain changeable and empty shadow of the creature & gather our scattered affections that are parted among them because of their unsufficiency that all might unite in one and join with this self-sufficient and eternal God I say if a soul did indeed believe and consider how All sufficient he is how insufficient all things else are would it not cleave to him and draw near to him Psal. 73. ult It is the very torment and vexation of the soul to be thus racked distracted & divided about many things & therefore many because there is none of them can supply all our wants our wants are infinite our desires insatiable & the good that is in any thing is limited & bounded it can serve one but for one use and another for another use and when all are together they can but supply some wants but they leave much of the soul empty But often these outward things crosses one another and cannot consist together and hence ariseth much strife and debate in a soul his need requireth both and both will not agree But O that you could see this one universal good One for all and above all your souls would choose him certainly your souls would trust in him ye would say Ashur sole not save us we will not ride on horses Creatures shall not satisfy us we will seek our happiness in thee and no where else since we have tasted this new wine away with the old the new is better I beseech you make God your friend for he is a great one whether he be a friend or an enemy he hath two properties that make him either most comfortable or most terrible according as he is at peace or war with souls Eternity and Omnipotency You were once all enemies to him O consider what a Party you have an Almighty Party and unchangeable Party & if you will make peace with him and that in Christ then know he is the best friend in the world because he is unchangeable and Almighty if he be thy friend he will do all for thee he can do and thou hast need of But many friends willing to do yet have not ability but he hath power to do what he will and pleases Many friends are changeable their affections dry up of themselves die and therefore even Prince's friendship is but a vain confidence for they shall die & then their thoughts of favour perish with them but he abides the same for all Generations there is no end of his duration & no end of his affection He can still say I am that I am What I was I am and I will be what I am men cannot say so they are like the Brooks that the companies of Teman looked after & thought to have found them in Summer as they left them in Winter but behold they were dried up & the companies ashamed God cannot make thee ashamed of thy hope because he is faithful & able Ability and Fidelity is a sure Anchor to hold by in all storms and tempests Such is God in himself now there are two manner of ways he vents himself toward the Creatures In a comfortable way or in a terrible way This glorious perfection and Almighty power hath an issue upon sinners and it runs in a twofold channel of mercy and justice Of mercy towards miserable sinners that finds themselves lost and flee unto him and take hold of his strength and justice towards all those that flatter themselves in their own eyes and continue in their sins and put the evil day far off There is no mercy for such as fear not justice and there is no Justice for such as flee from it unto mercy The Lord exhibites himself in a twofold appearance according to the condition of sinners He sits on a Throne and tribunal of Grace & mercy to make access to the vil est sinner who isafraid of his wrath and would be at peace with him and he sits on a Throne of justice and wrath to seclude and debar presumptuous sinners from his Holiness There were two mountains under the Law one of cursings another of blessings These are the Mountains God lets his Throne upon and from these he speaks and sentences mankind From the Mountain of cursings he hath pronounced a curse & condemnatory sentence upon all flesh for all have sinned therefore he concludes all under sin that all flesh might stop their mouth and the whole world become guilty before God Now the Lord having thus condemned all Mankind because of disobedience he sits again upon the Mountain of Blessings and pronounces a sentence of absolution of as many as have taken with the sentence of condemnation and appealed to his grace and Mercy and those which do not so the sentence of condemnation stands above their heads unrepealed He erects his Tribunal of Justice in the Word for this end that all flesh might once be convicted before him and therefore he citys as it were and summons all men to fifth themselves and compear before his Tribunal to be judged he lays out an accusation in the Word against them he takes their consciences witness of the truth of all that is charged on them and then pronounces that sentence on their conscience Cursed is he that abides not in all things which the conscience subsumes and concludes itself accursed and subscribes to the equity of the sentence and thus the man is guilty before God and his mouth stopped he hath no excuses no pretences he can see no way to escape from Justice and God is justified by this means in his speaking and judging Psal. 51. 4. The soul ratifies and confirms the truth & justice of all our threatenings & judgements Rom. 3. 4. Now for such souls as join with God in judging and condemning themselves the Lord hath erected a Throne of grace & Tribunal of mercy in the word whereupon he hath set his Son Jesus Christ Psal. 2. 6. and 89. 14. and 45. 6. Heb. 1. 8. And O this Throne is a comfortable Throne mercy and truth goes before the face of the King to welcome & entertain miserable sinners & to make access to them And from this Throne Jesus Christ holds out the Sceptre of the Gospel to invite sinners self-condemned sinners to come to him alone who hath gotten all final judgement committed to him that he may give eternal life to whom he will joh. 5. 21 22. O that is a sweet and ample Commission given to our Friend & Brother Jesus Christ power to repeal sentences passed against us power to lose them whom Justice hath bound power and authority to absolve them whom justice hath condemned and to bless them whom the Law hath cursed & to open their mouth to praise whose mouth sin and guiltiness hath stopped power to give the answer of a good conscience to thy evil self-tormenting conscience in a word he hath power to give life to make alive and heal those who are killed or wounded by the Commandment Now I say seeing God hath of purpose established this Throne of mercy in the Word thou mayest well after receiving and acknowledging of the justice of the curse of the Law appeal to divine mercy and grace sitting on another Throne of the Gospel thou may if thy conscience urge thee to despair and to conclude there is no hope thou may appeal I say from thy conscience from Satan from Justice unto Jesus Christ who is holding out the Sceptre to thee the Minister calls thee Rise and come stand no longer before that Bar for it is a subordinate Judicatory there is a way to redress thee by a higher court of Grace Thou may say to justice to Satan to thy own Conscience It is true I confess that I deserve that sentence I am guilty and can say nothing against it while I stand alone but though I cannot satisfy and have not yet there is one Jesus Christ who gave his life a ransom for many and whom God hath given as a propitiation for sins he hath satisfied and paid the debt in my name go and apprehend the Cautioner since he hath undertaken it nay he hath done it and is absolved Thou had him in thy hands O justice Thou had him Prisoner under the power of death since you have let him go than he is acquitted from all the charge of my sins & therefore since I know that he is now a King & hath a Throne to judge the world and plead the cause of his poor sheep I will appeal to him refer the cause to his decision I will make my supplication to him and certainly he will hear and interpole himself between wrath and me he will rescind this sentence of condemnation since he himself was condemned for us and is justified it is Christ that died nay rather is risen again who shall condemn me He is near that justifies me Rom. S. 33. 34. Now i●… thou do indeed flee into him for refuge that City is open for thee and nothing to prejudge thy entry but no curse no condemnation can enter in it Rom. 8. 1. He will justify & absolve thee from all things whereof the Law could not justify thee but condemn thee there is forgivenness with him that he may be feared David may teach thee this manner of appellation Ps. 130. & 142. 2. of appealing from the deserved curse to free undeserved blessing & mercy in Christ Let us consider this Name of the Lord and it shall answer all our suspicions of him all our objections against coming to him & believing in him it is certain Ignorance is the mother of unbelief together with the natural perverseness of our heats if we knew his Name we would trust in him if his Names were pondered and considered we would believe in him Satan knows this & therefore his great slight and cunning is to hold our minds fixed on the consideration of our misery and desperate estate he keeps the awakened conscience still upon that comfortless sight & he labours to represent God by halves & that it is a false representation of God he represents him as clothed with justice and vengeance as a consuming fire in which light a soul can see nothing but desperation written and he labours to hold out the thoughts of his mercy and grace or diverts a soul from the consideration of his promises whence it comes that they are not established that though salvation be near yet it is far from them in their sense and apprehension therefore I say you should labour to get an entire sight of God and you shall see him best in his word there he reveals himself and there you find if ye consider that which will make you fear him indeed but never flee from him that which may abase you but withal embolden you to come to him though trembling what ever thought possess thee of thine own misery of thy own guiltiness labour to counterpoise that which a thought of his mercy and free promises what ever be suggested of his holiness & Justice hea●… himself speak out his own Name and thou shalt hear as much of mercy and grace as may make these not terrible unto thee though high and honourable The Lord hath so framed the expression and proclamation of his name in this place that first a word of Majesty and power is premised The Lord The Lord God that it may compass our hearts in fear and reverence of such a glorious One & make a preparatory impression of the Majesty of our God which indeed is the foundation of all true faith It begins to adore and admire a Deity a Majesty hid from the world the thoughts of his power and glory possesses the soul first and makes it begin to tremble to think that it hath such a high and Holy One to deal with But in the next place you have the most sweet alluring comforting styles that can be imagined to meet with the trembling and languishing condition of a soul that would be ready to faint before such a Majesty here mercy takes it by the hand & gives a cordial of grace pardon forgiveness etc. to it which revives the soul of the humble and intermingles some rejoicing with the former trembling Majesty and greatness goes before to abase and humble the soul in its own eyes and mercy and goodness seconds them to lift up those who are low and exalt the humble and in the description of this the Lord spends more words according to the necessity of a soul to signify to us how great and strong consolation may be grounded on his Name how accessible he is though he dwell in inaccessible light how lovely he is though he be the high and the lofty one how good he is though he be great how merciful he is though he be majestic In a word that those that flee to him may have all invitation all encouragement to come & nothing to discourage to prejudge their welcome that whoever will may come and nothing may hinder on his part & then after all this he subjoins a word of his Justice in avenging sin to show us that he leaves that as the last that he assays all gaining ways of mercy with us and that he is not very much delighted with the death of sinners that so whosoever perishes may blame themselves for hating their own salvation and forsaking their own mercy Now whoever thou art that apprehends a dreadful & terrible God and thyself a miserable and wretched sinner thou canst find no comfort in God's highness & power but it looks terrible upon thee because thou doubts of his goodwill to save and pardon thee thou sayest with the blind man if thou wilt thou can do it Thou art a strong God but what comfort can I have in thy strength since I know not thy goodwill I say the Lord answers thee in this name I am merciful saith the Lord if thou be miserable I am merciful as well as strong if thou have sin & misery I have compassion & pity my mercy may be a copy & pattern to all men to learn it of me even towards their own brethren Luk. 6. 36. Therefore he is called the Father of mercies 2 Cor. 1. 3. Misericors est cui alterius miseria cordi est Mercy hath its very name from misery for it is no other thing than to lay another's misery to heart not to despise it not to add to it but to help it it is a strong inclination to ●…uccour the misery of sinners therefore thou needs no other thing to commend thee to him art thou miserable & knows it indeed Then he is merciful and know that also these two suit well Nay but saith the convinced soul I know not if he will be merciful to me for what am I There is nothing in me to be regarded I have nothing to conciliat favour & all that may procure hatred But saith the Lord I am gracious and dispenses most freely without respect to condition or qualification say not If I had such a measure of humiliation as such a one if I loved him so much if I had so much godly sorrow and repentance than I think he would be merciful to me Say not so for behold he is gracious he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy and there is no other cause no motive to procure it it comes from within his own breast It is not thy repentance will make him love thee nor thy hardness of heart will make him hate thee or obstruct the vent of his grace towards thee no if it be grace it is no more of works no works in that way that thou imagines it is not of repentance not of faith in that sense thou conceivest but it is freely without the hire without the price of repentance or faith because all those are but the free gifts of grace thou would have these graces to procure his favour and to make them the ground of thy believing in his promises but grace is without money it immediately contracts with discovered misery so that if thou do discover in thyself misery and sin though thou find nothing else yet do not cast away confidence but so much the more address thyself to mercy and grace which doth not seek repentance in thee yet there is something in the awakened conscience It have gone on long in sin I have been a presumptuous sinner can he endure me longer well hear what the Lord saith I am long-suffering & patient and if he had not been so we had been damned ere now patience hath a long term and we cannot outrun it out-weary it Why do we not wonder that he presently and instantly executed his wrath on angels & gave them not one hours' space for repentance but cast them down headlong into destruction as in a moment and yet his Majesty hath so long delayed the execution of our sentence and calls us to repentance and forgiveness that we may escape the condemnation of Angels His patience is not slackness and negligence as men count it 2 Pet. 3. 9 He sits not in heaven as an Idol and idle spectator what men are doing but he observes all wrongs and is sensible of them also And if we were mindful and sensible of them also he would forget them He is long-suffering This is extended and stretched-out patience beyond all expectation beyond all deserving yea contrary to it Therefore as long as he forbears if thou apprehend thy misery and sin and continuance in it so not conclude that it is desperate Why should a living man complain As long as patience lengthens thy life if thou desire to come to him believe he will accept thee But saith the doubting soul I am exceeding perverse and wicked there is nothing in me but wickedness it so abounds in me that there is nothing in me but wickedness it so abounds in me that there is none like me but saith the Lord I am abundant in goodness Thy wickedness though it be great it is but a created wickedness but my goodness is the goodness of God I am as abundant in grace & goodness as thou art in sin nay infinitely more thy sin is but the transgression of a finite creature but my mercy is the compassion of an infinite God it can swallow it up suppose thy sin cry up to Heaven yet mercy reaches above Heaven & is built up for ever Here is an invitation to all sinners to come and taste O come & taste and see how good the Lord is goodness is communicative it diffuses itself like the Sun's light There is riches of his goodness Rom. 2. 4. Poor soul thou canst not spend it though thou have many wants But I am full of doubtings fears and jealousies I cannot believe his Promises I often question them How then will he perform them I say saith the Lord I am abundant in truth He will certainly perform Shall our unbelief or doubting make the faith of God of none effect etc. Rom. 3. 3. God forbid His faithfulness reaches unto the Clouds he will keep Covenant with thee whose soul hath chosen him though thou often question and doubt of him Indeed thou would not give indulgence to thy doubtings & jealousies but look on them as high provocations for what can be more grievous to fervent love than to meet with jealousy jealousy would quench any creatures love but though it grieve & provoke him yet he will not change he will not diminish his only do not think your dispute & quarrelings innocent and harmless things no certainly they grieve the Spirit stir up the Beloved to go away as it were before he please & make thee walk without comfort & without fruit yet he will bear with & quench the smoking flax of a Believers desires though they do not arise to the flame of Assurance But the wounded spirit hath one or two burdens more I have abused much mercy How can mercy pity me I have turned grace into wantonness so that when I look to mercy and grace to comfort me they do rather challenge me the sins of none are like mine none of such a heinous presumptuous nature But let us hear what the Lord speaks I keep mercy for thousands and forgive iniquity transgression and sin Thou hast wasted much mercy but more is behind all the treasure is not spent though there were many thousand worlds beside I could pardon them all if they would flee unto my mercy thou shalt not be straitened in me mercy will pardon thy abuse of mercy it will forgive all faults thou dost against itself Thou that sins against the Son of man the Redeemer of the World & remedy of sin yet there is pardon for thee what ever thy quality condition or circumstance of thy sin be whoever convinced of it and loadned with it desires rest to thy soul thou may find it in Christ whose former kindness thou hast answered with contempt many sins many great sins and these presumptuous sins cannot exclude nay no sin can exclude a willing soul. Unbelief keeps thee unwilling and so excludes thee Now as the Spider sucks poison out of the sweetest Flower so the most part of souls suck nothing but delusion and presumption and hardening out of the Gospel Many souls reason for more liberty to sin from mercy but behold how the Lord backs it with a dreadful word who will by no means clear the guilty As many as do not condemn themselves and judge themselves before his Tribunal of Justice there is no rescinding of the condemnatory Sentence but it stands above their heads He that believes not is condemned already Justice hath condemned all by sentence he that doth not in the sense of this flee into Jesus Christ from sin and wrath is already condemned his Sentence is standing there needs no new one since he flees not to mercy for absolution the sentence of condemnation stands unrepealed Yo●… guilty souls who clear yourselves God will not clear you & alas How many of you do clear yourselves Do you not extenuate and mince your sins How hard is it to extort any confession of guilt out of you but in the general If we condescend to particulars many of you will plead innocency almost in every thing though ye have like children learned to speak these words That ye are sinners I beseech you consider it it is no light matter for God will by no means clear the guilty by no means by no entreaties no flatteries What will he not pardon sin Yes indeed His Name tells you he will pardon all kind of sins & absolve all manner of guilty persons but yet such as do condemn themselves such as are guilty in their own conscience & their mouths stopped before God you who do not enter into the serious examination of your ways and no not arraign yourselves before God's Tribunal daily till you find yourselves loathsome and desperate and no refuge for you you who do flatter yourselves always in the hope of heaven and put the fear of hell always from you I say God will by no mean no prayers no entreaties clear or pardon you because you come not to Jesus Christ in whom is preached forgiveness and remission of sins You who take liberty to sin because God is gracious and delay repentance till the end because God is long suffering know God will not clear you he is holy and just as he is merciful If his mercy make thee not fear and tremble before him and do not separate thee from thy sins if remission of sins be not the strongest persuasion to thy soul of the removing of sin certaiuly thou dost in vain presume upon his mercy Now consider what influence all this glorious Proclamation had on Moses it stirs up in him reverence and affection reverence to such a glorious Majesty & great desire to have him amongst them and to be more one with him If thy soul rightly discover God it cannot but abase thee he made bade haste to bow down and worship O God's Majesty is a surprising and astonishing thing it would bow thy soul in the dust if it were represented to thee labour to keep the right and entire representation of God in thy sight his whole Name Strong Merciful & Just Great and Holy I say keep both in thy view for half representations are dangerous either to beget presumption and security when thou looks on mercy alone or despair when thou looks on Justice and power alone Let thy soul consider all jointly that it may receive amixed impression of all & this is the holy composition and temper of a Believer Rejoice with trembling love with fear let all thy discoveries of him aim at more union & communion with him who is ●…ch a self-sufficient all-sufficient and eternal Being Joh. 4. 24. God is a Spirit and they who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth WE have here something of the Nature of God pointed out to us & something of our duty towards him God is a spirit that is his Nature and man must worship him that is his duty & that in spirit & in truth that is the right manner of the duty if these three were right pondered till they sink in to the bottom of our spirits they would make us indeed Christians not in the Letter but in the Spirit That is presupposed to all Christian worship & walking to know what God is it 's indeed the Primo cognitum of Christianity the first Principle of true Religion the very root out of which springs & grows up walking suitably with & worshipping answerably of a known God I fear much of our Religion be like the Athenians They builded an Altar to an unknown God and like the Samaritans Who worshipped they know not what Such a Worship I know not what it is when the God worshipped is not known The two parents of true Religion are the knowledge of God and of ourselves this indeed is the beginning of the fear of God which the wise Preacher calls the beginning of wisdom And these two as they beget true Religion so they cannot truly be one without the other It is not many notions and speculations about the Divine nature it is not high & strained conceptions of God that comprises the true knowledge of him many think they know something when they can speak of these mysteries in some singular way and in some terms removed from common understandings which neither themselves nor others know what they mean & thus they are presumptuous selfconceited knowing nothing as they ought to know there is a knowledge that puufs up & there is a knowledge that casts down a a knowledge in many that doth bu●… swell them not grow them It 's but a rumour full of wind a vain and empty and f●…othy knowledge that is neither good for edifying others nor saving a man●… self a knowledge that a man knows and reflects upon so as to ascend upon the height of it and measure himself by the degrees of it this is not the true knowledge of God which knows not itself looks not back upon itself but strait towards God his holiness and glory & our baseness & misery and therefore it constrains the soul to be ashamed of itself in such a glorious presence and to make haste to worship as Moses job Isaiah did This definition of God if we did truly understand it we could not but worship him in another manner God is a spirit Many ignorant people form in their own mind some likeness and Image of God who is invisible you know how ye fancy to yourselves some bodily shape when you conceive of him you think he is some Reverend and Majestic Person sitting on a Throne in Heaven But I beseech you correct your mistakes of him there is outward idolatry and there is inward there is idolatry in action when men paint or engrave some similitude of God & there is Idolatry in imagination when the fancy and apprehension runs upon some Image or likeness of God The first is among Papists but I fear the latter be too common among us & it is indeed all one to form such similitude in our mind and to engrave or paint it without so that the God whom many of us worship is not the living and true God but a painted or graven Idol When God appeared most visible to the world ●…s at the giving out of the Law yet no man did see any likeness at all he did not come under the percep●…ion of the most subtle sense he could not be perceived but by the retired understanding going aside ●…om all things visible & therefore you do but fancy ●…n idol to yourselves in stead of God when you ap●…rehend him under the likeness of any visible or sen●…ble thing & so what ever love or fear or reverence ●…ou have it is all but misspent superstition the love ●…nd fear of an idol 1. I know then that God is a Spirit and  he is like none of all these things you see or hear or smell or taste or touch The heavens are glorious indeed the light is full of glory but he is not like that If all your senses should make an inquiry and search for him throughout the world you should not find him though he be near hand every one of us yet your eyes and ears & all your senses might travel the length of the earth and breadth of the sea and should not find him even as you might search all the corners of heaven ere ye could hear or see an Angel if you saw a man asunder and resolve him in atoms of dust yet you could not perceive a soul within him why Because these are spirits and so without the reach of your senses II. If God be a Spirit than he is invisible & dwells in light inaccessible which no man hath seen or can see than ou●… poor narrow minds tha●… are drowned as it were and immersed into bodies of clay & in this state of mortality receives all knowledge of the senses cannot frame any suitable notion of his spiritual and abstracted nature We cannot conceive what our own soul is but by some sensible operation flowing from it and the height that our knowledge of that noble part of ourselves amounts to is but this dark & confused conception that the soul is some inward principle of life and sense and reason how then is it possible for us to conceive aright of the divine nature as it is in itself but only in a da●…k & general way we guess at his Majesty by the glorious emanations of his power & wisdom & the rays thereof which he displays abroad in all the works of his hands and from all these concurring testimonies & evidences of his Majesty we gather this confused notion of him that he is the fountain-self-independent being the original of all these things and more absolute in the world than the soul is in the body the true Anima mundi the very life and the light of men & the soul that quickens moves & forms all this visible world that makes all things visible and himself invisible Therefore it is that the Lord speaks to us in the Scripture of himself according to our capacities of his face his right hand & arm his Throne his Scep●…er his back parts his anger his fury his repentance his grief and sorrow none of which are properly in his spiritual immortal & unchangeable nature but because our dulness an●… slowness in such in apprehending things spiritual it being almost without the sp●…e & comprehension of the soul while in the body which is almost addicted unto the senses of the body Therefore the Lord accommodates him●… unto our terms and notions balbutit nobiscum he like a father stammers wi●…h the stammerin●… chil●…ren speaks to them in their own dialect but withal would have us conceive he is not really such a one but infinitely removed in his own being f●…om all these imperfections So when you hear of these te●…ms in Scripture O beware ye conceive God to be such a one as yourselves but in these expressions not beseeming his Majesty because below him learn your own ignorance of his glorious Majesty your dulness and incapacity to be such as the Holy One must come down as it were in some bodily appearance ere you can understand any thing of him III. If God be a Spi●…it than he is most perfect & most powerful all imperfection all infirmity and weakness in the creature is founded in the gross & material part of it you see the more matter and bodily substance be in any thing it is the more lumpish heavy and void of all action it is the more spiritual pure and refined part of the creation that hath most activity in it and is the principle of all motions and actions You see a little fly hath more action in it than a great mountain because there are spirits in it which move it The bottom of the world contains the dregs of the Creation as it were a mass & lump of heavy earth but the higher and more distant bodies be from that the more pure and subtle they are and the more pure & subtle they be the more action virtue and efficacy they have the earth stands like a dead lump but the sea moves & the air being thinner and purer than both moves more easily and swiftly but go up higher and still the motion is swifter and the virtue and influence is the more powerful What is a dead body when the soul and spirit is out of it It hath no more virtue nor efficacy than so much clay although by the presence of the spirit of it it was active agile swift strong & nimble so much then as any thing hath of spirit in it so much the more perfect and powerful it is Then I beseech you consider what a one the God of the spirits of all flesh must be the very fountain-spirit the self-being spirit When the soul of a man or the spirit of a horse hath so much virtue to stir up a lump of earth and to quicken it to many divers operations even though that soul & spirit did not nay could not make that piece of earth they dwell in then what must his power and virtue be that made all those things Who gave power and virtue even to the spirits of all flesh their horses saith God are flesh and not spirit Isa. 30. Because in comparison of his Majesty the very spirits in them are but like a dead lump of flesh If he should draw in his breath as it were they would have no more virtue to save the Israelites no●… so many lumps of flesh or clay for he is the spirit of all spirits that quickens actuates and moves them in their several operations & influences Anima mundi & anima animarum mundi an Angel hath more power than all men united in one body Satan is called the Prince of the air & God of this world for he hath more efficacy and virtue to commove the air and raise tempests then all the swarms of multiplied mankind though gathered into any army if the Lord did not restrain and limit his power he were able to destroy whole Nations at once An Angel killed many thousands of Senacheribs Army in one night what would many Angels do then if the Lord pleased to apply them to that work O what is man that he should magnify himself or glory in strength or skill Beasts are stronger than men but man's weaker strength being strengthened with more skill proves stronger than they but in respect of Angels he hath neither strength nor wisdom IV. If God be a Spirit than he is not circumscribed by any place and if an infinite spirit than he is every where no place can include him and no body can exclude him He is within all things yet not included nor bounded within them & he is without all things yet not excluded from them intra omnia non tamen inclusus in illis extra omnia nec tamen exclusus ab all is You know every body hath its own bounds & limits circumscribed to it & shoots out all other bodily things out of the same space so that before the least body want some space it will put all the universe in motion & make every thing about it to change its place and possess another but a Spirit can pass thorough all of them and never desturb them A Legion may be in one man & have room enough If there were a well of Brass or Tower having no Open neither above or beneath no body could enter but by breaking thorough and making a breach into it but an Angel or Spirit could storm it without a breach and pierce thorough it without any division of it How much more doth the Maker of all Spirits fill all in all the thickness of the earth doth not keep him out nor the largeness of the heavens contain him How then do we circumscribe and limit him within the bounds of a public house or the heavens O how narrow thoughts have we of his immense greatness Who without division or multiplication of himself fills all the corners of the world whose indivisible unity is equivalent to an infinite extension and divisibility How often I pray you do you reflect upon this God is near hand every one of us Who of us think of a Divine Majesty nearer us than our very souls and consciences in whom we live and move and have our being How is it we move & think not with wonder of that first Mover in whom we move How is it we live & persevere in being & do not always consider this fountain-being in whom we live and have our being O the Atheism of many souls prosessing God We do speak walk eat and drink & go about all our businesses as if we were self-being & independent of any never thinking of that all-present quickening Spirit that acts us moves us speaks in us makes us to walk and eat and drink as the barbarous people who see hear speak & reason and never once reflect upon the principle of all these to discern a soul within This is brutish & in this Man who was made of a strait countenance to look upward to God & to know himself and his Maker till he might be differenced from all creatures below is degenerated and become like the beasts that perish Who of us believes this al-present God We imagine that he is shut up in heaven and takes no such notice of affairs below but certainly he is not so far from us though he show more of his glory above yet he is as present and observant below V. If he be a Spirit then as he is incomprehensible and immense in being so also there is no comprehension of his knowledge The nearer any creature come to the nature of a Spirit the more knowing and understanding it is life is the most excellent being and understanding is the most excellent life Materia est imers & mertua the nearer any thing is to the earthly matter as it hath less action & so less life and feeling Man is nearer an Angel than beasts and therefore he hath a knowing and understanding Spirit in him There is a spirit in man and the more or less this spirit of man is abstracted from sensual and material things it lives the more excellent and pure life and is as it were more or less delivered from the chains of the body These souls that have never risen above & retired from sensible things O how narrow are they how captivated within the prison of the flesh But when the Lord Jesus comes to set free he delivers a soul from this bondage he makes these chains fall off & leads the soul apart to converse with God himself and to meditate on things not seen sin wrath hell and heaven & the further it goes from itself & the more abstracted it is from the consideration of present things the more it lives a life like Angels And therefore when the soul is separated from the body it is then perfectly free and hath the largest extent of knowledge A man's soul must be almost like Paul's whether out of the body or in the body I know not if he would understand aright spiritual things Now then this infinite spirit is an all-knowing spirit all-seeing spirit as well as al-present There is no searching of his understanding Isa. 40. 28. and Psal. 147. 5. Who hath directed this spirit or being his counsellor hath taught him Rom. 11. 34. Isa. 40. 1●… He calls the Generations from the beginning and known to him are all his works from the beginning O that you would always set this God before you or rather set yourselves always in his presence in whose sight you are always How would it compose our hearts to reverence & fear in all our actions if we did indeed believe that the Judge of all the World is an eyewitness to our most retired and secret thoughts and doings If any man were as privy to thy thoughts as thy own spirit and conscience thou wouldst blush and be ashamed before him If every one of us could open a window into one another's spirits I think this assembly should dismiss as quickly as that of Christ's when he bade them that were without sin cast a stone at the Woman we could not look one upon another O then Why are we so little apprehensive of the al-searching eye of God who can even declare to us our thought before it be How much Atheism is rooted in the heart of the most holy We do not always meditate with David Psal. 139. on that al-searching and all-knowing spirit who knows our down-sitting & uprising & understands our thoughts a far off and who is acquainted with all our ways O How would we ponder our path and examine our words and consider our thoughts before hand if we set ourselves in the view of such a Spirit that is within us and without us before us and behind us He may spare sinners as long as he pleases for there is no escaping from him you cannot go out of his dominions nay you cannot run out of his presence Psal. 7. 8. 9 He can reach you when he pleases therefore he may delay as long as he pleases Joh. 4. 24. GOD is a Spirit etc. THere are two common notions engraved on the hearts of all men by nature That God is and that he must be worshipped and these two live and die together they are clear or blotted together According as the apprehension of God is clear & distinct and more deeply engraven on the soul so is this notion of man's duty of worshipping God clear & imprinted on the soul and when ever the actions of men do prove that the conception of the worship of God is obliterate or worn out when ever their transgressions do witness that a man hath not a live●…y ●…otion of this duty of God's worship that doth al●…o prove that the very notion of a Godhead is worn out and canceled in the soul For How could souls conceive of God as he is indeed but they must needs with Moses Exod. 34 make haste to pray and worship It is the principle of the very Law of Nature which shall make the whole world inexcusable because that when they knew God they gloriesied him not as God A Father must have honour and a Master must have fear and God who is the common Parent & absolute Master of all must have worship in which reverence and fear mixed with rejoicing and affection predomines it is supposed and put beyond all question that it must be He that worships him etc. It 's not simply said God is a Spirit & must be worshipped no for none can doubt of it If God be then certainly Worship is due to him for who is so worshipful And because it is so beyond all question therefore woe to the irreligious world that never puts it in practice O What excuse can you have who have not so much as a form of Godliness Do you not know that its beyond all Controversy that God must be worshipped Why then do you deny it in your practice which all men must confess in their conscience Is not he God the Lord a living and self-being Spirit Then must he not have Worshippers Beasts are not created for it it is you O sons of men whom he made for his own praise and it is not more suitable to your nature than it is honourable and glorious This is the great dignity and excellency you are privileged with beyond the brute beasts to have spirits within you capable of knowing and acknowledging the God of your spirits Why then do you both rob and spoil God of his glory and cast away your own excellency Why do you love to trample on your ornaments and wallow in the puddle like beasts void of Religion but so much worse than beasts that you ought to be better & were created for a more noble design O base spirited wretches who hang down your souls to this earth and follow the dictates of your own sense and lust & have not so much as an external form of worshipping God How far are you come short of the noble design of your Creation & the high end of your Immortal souls If you will not worship God know he will have Worshippers certainly he will not want it because he hath designed so many souls to stand before him and worship him and that number will not fail He might indeed have wanted worshippers For what advantage is it to him But in this he declares his love and respect to man that he will not want honour and service from him it is rather to put honour upon him and to make him blessed and happy than for any gain can amount to himself by it for this is indeed the true honour and happiness of man not to be worshipped and served of other fellow-creatures but to worship and serve the Creator This is the highest advancement of a soul to lie low before him and to obey him & have our service accepted of his Majesty I beseech you strive about this noble service Since he must have Worshippers O say within your souls I must be one if he had but one I could not be content if I were not that one since the Father is seeking Worshippers ver 23. O let him find thee Offer thyself to him saying Lord here am I Should he seek you who can have no advantage from you Should he go about so earnest a search for true Worshippers who can have no profit by them And why do ye not seek him since since to you all the gain & profit redounds Shall be seek you to make you happy and why do ye not seek him and happiness in him It is your own service I may truly say and not his so much for in serving him thou dost rather serve thyself for all the benefit redounds to thyself though thou must not intend such an end to serve him for thyself but for thy name's sake else thou shalt neither honour him nor advantage thyself I pray you let him not seek in vain for in these afflictions he is seeking Worshippers and if he find you you are found & saved indeed Do not then forsake your own mercy to run from him who follows you with Salvation As none can be ignorant that God is and must be worshipped so it is unknown to the world in what manner he must be worshipped the most part of men have some form in worshipping God & please themselves in it so well that they think God well-pleased with it but few there are who know indeed what it is to worship him in a manner acceptable to his Majesty Now you know it is all one not to worship him at all as not to worship him in that way he likes to be worshipped Therefore the most part of men are but self-worshippers because they please none but themselves in it it is not the worship his soul hath chosen but their own invention for you must take this as an undeniable ground that God must be worshipped according to his own will and pleasure & not according to you●… humour or invention therefore his soul abhors will-worship devised by men out of ignorant zeal or superstition though there might seem much devotion in it & much affection to God as in the israelites sacrificing their children whatmore seem ing self-denial And yet what more real self-idolatry God owns not such a service for it is not service & obedience to his will and pleasure but to men's own will and humour therefore a man must not look for a reward but from himself Now it is not only will-worship when the matter and substance of the worship is not commanded of God but also when a commanded worship is not discharged in the appointed manner Therefore O how few true worshippers will the Father find True worship must have Truth for the substance and spirit for the manner of it else it is not such a worship as the father seeks & will be pleased with divine worship must have truth in it that is plain but what was that truth it must be conformed to the rule & pattern of worship which is God's will & pleasure revealed in the word of truth true worship is the very practice of the word of truth it caries the Image and superscription and command upon it which is a necessary ingredient in it and constituent of it Therefore if thy service have the Image of thy own will stamped on it it is not divine worship but will-worship Thus all humane ceremonies and ordinances enjoined for service of God carry the inscription not of God but of man who is the author and original of them & so are but adulterated and false Coin that will not pass current with God I fear there be many rites and vain customs among ignorant people in which they place some Religion which have no ground in the word of God but are only old wives fables and traditions How many things of that nature are used upon a religious account in which God hath placed no Religion Many have a superstitious conceit of the public place of worship as if there were more holiness in it than in any other house & so they think their Prayers in the Church are more acceptable then in their Chamber But Christ refutes that superstitious opinion of places & so consequently of days meats and all such external things The Jews had a great opinion of their temple the Samaritans of their mountain as if these places had sanctified their services But saith our Lord vers. 21. The hour cometh when ye shall neither worship in this mountain etc. but it 's any where acceptable if so be ye worship in spirit and truth Many of you account it Religion to pray & mutter words of your own in the time of public prayer but who hath required this at your hand If you would pray yourselves go apart shut the door behind thee saith Christ private prayer should be in private and secret But when public prayer is your hearts should close with the petitions and offer them up jointly to God it is certainly a great slight of that deceitful destroyer the Devil to possess your minds with an opinion of Religion in such vain babble that he may withdraw both your ears & your hearts from the public worship of God for when every one is busied with his own prayers you cannot at all join in the public service of God which is offered up in your name The like I may say of stupid forms of prayer & tying yourselves to a platform written in a book or to some certain words gotten by the heart who hath commanded this Sure not the Lord who hath promised his spirit to teach them to pray and help their infirmities who know not how nor what to pray it is a device of your own invented by Satan to quench the spirit it of supplication which should be the very natural breathing of a christian But there are some so grossly ignorant of what prayer is that they make use of the ten commands & Belief as a Prayer so void are they of the knowledge and spirit of God that they cannot discern betwixt God's commands to themselves & their own requests to God betwixt his speaking to men and their speaking to him between their professing of him before men and praying and confessing to him all this is but forged imaginary worship worship falsely so called which the Father seeks not and receives not But what if I should say that the most part of your worship even that which is commanded of God as Prayer Hearing Reading &c hath no truth in it I should say nothing amiss for though you do those things that are commanded yet not as Commanded without any respect to divine appointment & only because you have received them as traditions from your fathers and because you are taught so by the precepts of men and are accustomed so to do therefore the stamp of Gods will and pleasure is not engraven on them but of your own will or of the will of men Let me pose your Consciences many of you what difference is there between your praying & your ploughing between your hearing and your harrowing between your reading of the Scriptures and your reaping in the Harvest between your Religious Service and your common ordinary actions I say what difference is in the rise of these You do many civil things out of custom or because of the Precepts of men & is there any other principle at the bottom of your religious performances Do you at all consider these are divine appointments these have a stamp of his authority on them and from the Conscience of such an immediate command of God and the desire to please him and obey him do you go about these I fear many cannot say it O I am sure all cannot though it may be all will say it therefore your religious worship can come in no other account than will-worship or man-worship it hath not the stamp of truth on it an express conformity to the truth of God as his truth But we must press out this a little more Truth is opposed to a ceremony & shadow The ceremonies of old were shadows or the external body of Religion in which the soul and spirit of godliness should have been enclosed but the Lord did always urge more earnestly the substance and truth than the ceremony the weightier matters of the Law Piety equity and sobriety than these lighter external Ceremonies he sets an higher account upon mercy then sacrifice & upon obedience than Ceremonies but this people turned just contrary they summed up all their Religion in some ceremonial performance and separated those things God had so nearly conjoined they would be devout men in offering sacrifices in their washings in their rites and yet made no conscience of heart and Soul-piety toward God & upright just dealing with men Therefore the Lord so often quarrels them & rejects all their service as being adevice and invention of their own which never entered in his heart Isa. 1. from 10. to 16. jer. 7. throughout Isa. 66. to 6. Isa 28. Now if you will examine it impartially it is even just so with us there are some external things in Religion which in comparison with the weightier things of faith and obedience are but ceremonial in these you place the most part if not all your Religion and think yourselves good Christians if you be baptised and hear the Word and partake of the Lords table and such like though in the mean time you be not given to secret prayer & reading and do not inwardly judge and examine yourselves that you may flee unto a Mediator though your conversation be unjust and scandalous among men I say unto such souls as the Lord to the Jews Who hath required this at your hands who commanded you to hear the Word to be baptised to wait on public Ordinances Away with all this it is abomination to his Majesty though it please you never so well the more it displeases him If you say why commands he us to hear etc. I say the Lord never commanded these external Ordinances for the sum of true Religion that was not the great thing which was in his heart that he had most pleasure unto but the weightier matters of the Law piety equity & sobriety a holy and godly conversation adorning the Gospel What hath the Lord required of thee but this O man To do justly and walk humbly with thy God So then thou dost not worship him in Truth but in shadow the Truth is holiness and righteousness that external profession is but a Ceremony while you separate these external Ordinances from these weighty duties of piety & justice that they are but as dead body without a soul. If the Lord required truth of old much more now when he hath abolished the multitude of Ceremonies that the great things of his Law may be more seen and loved If you would then be true worshippers look the whole mind of God & especially the chief pleasure of God's mind that which he most delights into and by any means do not separate what God hath conjoined do not divide righteousness towards men from a profession of holiness to God else it is but a falsehood a counterfeit coin do not please yourselves so much in external Church privileges without a holy and godly conversation adorning the Gospel but let the chief study endeavour & delight of your souls be about that which God most delights into let the substantials of Religion have the first place in the soul Pray more in secret that he will be the life of your souls you ought indeed to attend public ordinances but above all take heed to your conversation & walking at home and in secret prayer in your Family is a more substantial worship then to sit & hear prayer in public and prayer in secret is more substantial than that The more retired and immediate a duty be the more weighty it is the more it cross thy corruptions and evidence the stamp of God on thy affections the more divine it is And therefore to serve God in these is to serve him in truth Practice hath more of truth in it then a profession When your Fathers executed judgement was not this to know me Duties that have more opposition from our natures against them and less sewel or oil to feed the flame of ourselves love and corruption have more truth in them and if you should worship God in all other duties and not especially in those you do not worship him in truth Next let us consider the manner of Divine Worship And this is as needful to true Worship as true matter that it be commanded and done as it is commanded that completes true worship Now I know no better way or manner to worship God in than so to worship him as our worship may carry the stamp of his Image upon it as it may be a glass wherein we may behold God's Nature and Properties For such as himself is such he would be acknowledged to be I would think it were true worship indeed which had engraven on it the Name of the true & living God if it did speak out so much of itself That God is and that he is a rewarder of them that seek him diligently Most part of our service speaks an unknown God & carries such an inscription upon it To the unknown God There is so little either reverence or love or fear or knowledge in it as if we did not worship the true God but an Idol It is said that the fool says in his heart that there is no God because his thoughts and affections and actions are so little composed to the fear and likeness of that God as if he did indeed plainly deny him I fear it may be said thus of our Worship It says There is no God it is of such a nature that none could conclude from it that it had any relation to the true God our prayers deny God because there is nothing of God appears in them But this is true worship when it renders back to God his own Image and Name Unde repercussus redditur ipse sibi As it is a poor & clean Fountain in which a man may see his shadow distinctly but a troubled fountain or mire in which he cannot be hold himself So it is pure worship which receives and reflects the pure Image of God but impure and unclean worship which cannot receive it and retain it I pray you Christians consider this for it is such Worshippers the Father seeks and why seeks he such But because in them he finds himself so to speak His own I mage and superscription is upon them His mercy isengraven on their faith & confidence His Majesty & power is stamped on their humility and reverence His goodness is to be read on the souls rejoicing His Greatness and Justice in the souls trembling Thus there ought to be some engravings on the soul answering the Characters of his glorious Name O how little of this is among them that desire to know something of God How little true Worship even among them whom the Father hath sought out to make true Worshippers But alas How are all of us unacquainted with this kind of Worship We stay upon the first principles & practices of Religion and go not on to build upon the foundation Sometimes your Worship hath a stamp of God's holiness and justice in fear & terror at such a Majesty which makes you to tremble before him But where is the stamp of his mercy & grace which should be written in your faith and rejoicing Tremble and fear indeed but rejoice with trembling because there is mercy with him Sometime their is rejoicing and quietness in the soul but that quickly degenerates into carnal confidence & makes the soul turn grace into wantonness and esteem of itself above what is right because it is not counterpoised with the sense and apprehension of his holiness and justice But O to have these jointly written on the heart in worship fear reverence confidence humility and faith That is a rare thing it is a divine composition and temper of spirit that makes a divine soul For the most part our Worship savours and smells nothing of God neither his power nor his mercy and grace nor his holiness and justice nor his majesty and glory a secure saint formal way void of reverence of humility of fervency and of faith I beseech you let us consider as before the Lord how much pains and time we lose and please none but ourselves & profit none at all Stir up yourselves as in his sight for it is the keeping of our souls continually as in his sight which will stamp our service with his likeness The fixed and constant meditation of God and his glorious properties this will beget the resemblance between our worship and the God whom we worship and it will imprint his Image upon it & then it should please him & then it should profit thee and then it should edify others But more particularly The Worship must have the stamp of God's spiritual Nature and be conformed to it in some measure else it cannot please him There must be a conformity between God and souls this is the great end of the Gospel to repair that Image of God which was once upon man and make him like God again Now it is the way that Jesus Christ repairs this Image & brings about this conformity with God by the souls worshipping of God suitable to his Nature it is the more and more like God and happy in that likeness Now God is a Spirit therefore saith Christ you must worship him in spirit & truth The worship then of Saints must be of a spiritual nature that it may be like the immortal divine Spirit It is such Worshippers the Father seeks he seeks souls to make them like himself and this likeness and conformity to God is the very foundation of the souls happiness and eternal refreshment This is a point of great consequence & I fear not laid to heart The Worship must be like the Worshipped It is a Spirit must Worship the Eternal Spirit it is not a body that can be the principle and chief Agent in the business What Communion can God have with your bodies while your souls are removed far from him more than with beasts All society and fellowship must be between those that are like one another A man can have no comfortable company with Beasts or with Stones and Trees It is men that can converse with men and a Spirit must worship the self-being-spirit Do not mistake this as if under the days of the Gospel we were not called to an external and bodily Worship to any service to which our outward man is instrumental this is one of the deep delusions of this Age into which some men reprobate the Faith hath fallen That there should be no external Ordinances but that Christians are now called to worship all Spirit pure Spirit etc. This is one of the Spirits & spiritual Doctrines that call themselves so which ye must not receive for it is neither spirit of God nor of Christ that teacheth this nor the spirit of God the Creator because he hath made the whole man body and soul and so must be worshipped of the whole man He hath created man in such a capacity as he may offer up external actions in a reasonable manner with the inward affections as the Lord hath created him so he should serve him every member every part in its own capacity the soul to preceded and the body to follow the soul to be the chief worshipper and the body its servant employed in the worship True worship hath a body and a soul as well as a true man and as the soul separated is not a complete man so neither is the soul separated a complete worshipper without the body the external Ordinances of God is the body the inward soul-affection is the Spirit which being joined together makes complete worship Neither is it the Spirit of Christ which teacheth this because our Lord Jesus hath taught us to offer up our bodies and spirits both in a reasonable service Rom. 12. 1 2. The sacrifice of the bodily performance offered up by the spiritual affection and renewed mind is a living sacrifice holy acceptable and reasonable That spirit which dwelled in Christ above measure did not think it too base to vent itself in the way of external Ordinances He was indeed above all above the Law yet did willingly come under them to teach us who have so much need and want to come under them He prayed much he preached he did sing and read to teach us how to worship and how much need we have of Prayer and Preaching This was not the Spirit Christ promised to his Disciples and Apostles which spirit did breathe most lively in the use of the external Ordinances all their days and this is not the spirit which was at the hour in which Christ spoke The hour is come and now is ver 23. in which the true worship of God shall not be in the external and Jewish Ceremonies and rites void of all life and inward sense of Piety but the true worship of God shall be made up of a soul and body of spirit and truth of the external appointed Ordinances according to the word of truth and the spirit of truth and of the spirit and inward soul-affection and sincerity which shall quicken and actuate that external performance There were no such worshippers then as had no use of Ordinances Christ was not such his Disciples were not such therefore it is a new Gospel which if an Angel should bring from heaven ye ought not to receive it As it is certain then that both soul and body must be employed in this business so it is sure that the soul & spirit must be the first mover and chiefest agent in it because it is a spiritual business and hath relation to the fountain-spirit which hath the most perfect opposition to all false appearances and external shows that part of man that cometh nearest God must draw near in worshipping of God & if that be removed far away there is no real communion with God man judges according to the outward appearance and can reach no further than the outward man but God is an all-searching spirit who trieth the heart and rins and therefore he will pass another judgement upon your worship then men can do because he observes all the secret wander and escapes of the heart out of his sight he misses the soul when you present attentive ears or eloquent tongues there is no dallying with his Majesty painting will not deceive him his very Nature is contrary to Hypocrisy & dissimulation and what is it but dissimulation when you present yourselves to Religious exercises as his people but within are nothing like it nothing awaking nothing present O consider my beloved what a one you have to do with It is not men but the Father of Spirits who will not be pleased with what pleases men of your own flesh but must have a spirit to serve him Alas what are we doing with such empty names and shows in Religion Busied in the outside of worship only as if we had none to do with but men who have eyes of flesh all that we do in this kind is lost labour and will never be reckoned up in the account of true worship I am sure you know and may reflect upon yourselves that you make Religion but a matter of outward fashion and external custom you have never almost taken to heart in earnest you may frequent the Ordinances you may have a form of godliness consisting in some outward performances & privileges and O! how void and destitute of all Spirit and Life and Power not to speak of the removal of affection and the employing of the marrow of your soul upon base lusts and creatures or the scattering of your desires abroad amongst them for that is too palpable but even your very thoughts & mind●… are removed from this business you have nothing present but an ear or eye & your minds is about other business your desires your fears your joys and delights your affections never did run in the channel of religious exercises all your passion is vented in other things but here you are blockish & stupid without any sensible apprehension of God his mercy or Justice or wrath or of your own misery and want You sorrow in other things but none here none for sin you joy for other things but none here you cannot rejoice at the Gospel Prayer is a burden not a delight if your spiri●…s were chiefly employed in Religious duties Religion would be almost your Element your pleasure and Recreation but now it is wearisome to the flesh because the Spirit taketh not the chief weight upon it Oh be not deceived God is not mocked you do but mock yourselves with external shows while you are satisfied with them I beseech you look inwardly and be not satisfied with the outward appearance but ask at thy Soul where it is and how it is Retire within and bring up thy spirit to this work I am sure you may observe that any thing goes more smoothly and sweetly with you than the Worship of God because your mind is more upon any thing else I fear the most part of us who endeavour to some measure to seek God have too much dross of outward formality & much scumof filthy hypocrisy and guile O pray that the present furnace may purge away this scum It is the great ground of God's present controversy with Scotland but alas the Bellows are like to burn & we not be purged our scum goes not from us we satisfy ourselves with some outward exercises of Religion custom undoes us all & it was never more undoing then when indignation and wrath is pursuing it O that you would ponder what you lose by it both the sweetness and advantage of godliness beside the dishonour of God You take a formal neglegent and secure way as the most easy way and the most pleasing to your flesh and I am persuaded you find it the most difficult way because you want all the pleasant & sweet refreshment & soul-delights you might have in God by a serious and diligent minding of Religion The pleasure and sweetness of God tasted and found will make diligence and pains more easy than slothfulness can be to the slothful this oils the wheels and makes them run swiftly formality makes them drive heavily thus you live always in a complaining humour sighing and going backward because you have some stirring principles or conscience within which bears witness against you and your formal sluggish disposition on the other hand refuseth to awake and work you are perplexed and tormented between the two when thy spirit and affections goes one way & thy body another then thy conscience drives on the Spirit and thy affections draw back it must needs be an unpleasant business Deut. 6. 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord 1 Joh. 5. 7. There are three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one GReat is the mystery of Godliness 1 Tim. 3. 16. Religion and true Godliness is a bundle of excellent mysteries of things hid from the world yea from the wise men of the world 1 Cor. 2. and not only so but secrets in their own nature the distinct know ledge whereof is not given to Saints in this estate of distance and absence from the Lord There is almost nothing in Divinity but it is a mystery in itself how common soever it be in the apprehensions of men for it is men's overly and common and slander apprehensions of them which makes them look so commonly upon them there is a depth in them but you will not know it till you search it & sound it & the more you sound you shall find it the more profound But there are some mysteries small and some great there is a difference amongst them all are not of one statu●…e of one measure The mystery of Christ's Incarnation and D●…ath and Resurrection is one of the great mysteries of Religion God manifested in the flesh yet I conceive there is a greater mystery than it and of all mysteries in nature or divinity I know none to this the Holy Trinity and it must needs be greatest of all and without controversy greatest because it is the beginning and end of all fons & finis omnium all mysteries have their rise here and all of them return hither This is furthest removed from the understandings of men what God himself is for himself is infinitely above any manifestation of himself God is greater than God manifested in the flesh though in that respect he be too great for us to conceive There is a natural desire in all men to know and if any thing be secret and wonderful the desire is more inflamed after the knowledge of it the very difficulty or impossibility of attaining it in stead of restraining the curiosity of man's spirit doth rather incense it Nitimur in vetitum is the fruit the sad fruit we plucked and eat from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil If the Lord reveal any thing plainly in his Word to men that it despised and set at naught because it is plain whereas the most plain truths which are beyond all controversy are the most necessary and most profitable for our eternal salvation but if there be any secret mystery in the Scriptures which the Lord hath only pointed out more obscurely to us reserving the distinct and clear understanding of it to himself Deut. 29. 26. that is the Apple which our cursed natures will long for and catch after though there be never so much choice of excellent saving fruit in the Paradise of the Scriptures besides If the Ark be covered to keep men from looking into it that doth rather provoke the curious spirit of man to pry into it 1 Sam. 6. 19 If the Lord show his wonderful glory in the Mount & charge his people not to come near left the glorious presence of God kill them he must put rails about it to keep them back or else they will be meddling such is the unbridled licence of our minds and the perverse dispositions of our natures that where God familiarly invites us to come what he earnestly presseth us to search and know that we despise as trivial and common and what he compasseth about with a divine darkness of inaccessible light and hath removed far from the apprehensions of all living that we will needs search into and wander into those forbidden compasses with daring boldness I conceive this holy and profound mystery is one of those secrets which belongs to God to know for who knows the Father but the Son or the Son but the Father or who knoweth the mind of God but the Spirit Yet the foolish minds of men will not be satisfied with the believing ignorance of such a mystery but will needs inquire into those depths that they may find satisfaction for their reason but as it hapeneth with men who will boldly stare upon the Sun their eyes are dazzled and darkened with its brightness or those that enter into a Labyrinth which they can find no way to come out but they further go into it the more perplexed it is and the more intricate even so it befalls many unsober and presumptuous spirits who not being satisfied with the simple truth of God clearly asserting that this is endeavour to examine it according to reason and to solve all the objections of carnal wit and reason which is often enmity to God not by the silence of the Scriptures but by answers framed according to the several capacities of men I say all this is but daring to behold the infinite glory of God with eyes of flesh which makes them darkened in mind and vanishing in their Expressions while they seek to behold the inaccessible light while they enter into an endless Labyrinth of difficulties out of which the thread of reason and disputation can never extricat them or lead them forth But the Lord has showed us a more excellent way though it be more despicable to men man did fall from his blessedness by this curious and wretched aim at some higher happiness and more wisdom The Lord hath chosen another way to raise him up again by faith rather than knowledge by believing rather than disputing therefore the great command of the Gospel is this to receive with a ready and willing mind whatsoever the Lord saith to us whatsoever it may appear to sense & reason to dispute no more to search no more into the secret of Divine mysteries as if by searching we could find them out unto perfection but to believe what is spoken till the day break and the shadows flee away and the darkness of ignorance be wholly dispelled by the rising of the Sun of Righteousness We are called then to receive this truth that God is one truly one and there are three in this one the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost This I say you must believe because the wisdom of God faith it though you know not how it is or how it can be though it seem a contradiction in reason a Trinity in Unity yet you must lead your reason captive to the obedience of faith & silence it with this one answer The Lord hath said it If thou go on to dispute and to inquire how can these things be Thou art escaped from under the power of Faith and are fled unto the tents of humane wisdom where thou mayest learn artheism but no Religion for the world through wisdom knew not God 1 Cor. 1. And certainly who ever he be that will not quiet his conscience upon the bare word of truth in this particular but will call in for the help of reason and disputation how to understand and maintain it I think he shall be further from the true knowledge of God and satisfaction of mind than before There is no way here but to flee into Paul's Sanctuary Who art thou O man that disputes When ever thou thinks within thyself How may this be how can one be three and three one than withal let this of Paul's sound in thine ears Who art thou O man who disputes Think that thou art man think that he is God Believing ignorance is much better than rash & presumptuous knowledge ask not a reason of these things but rather adore and tremble at the mystery and Majesty of them Christianity is foolishness to the world upon this account because it 's an Implicit faith so to speak given to God but there is no fear of being deceived though he lead thee blind by a way thou know not yet he cannot lead thee wrong This holy simplicity in believing every word of God & trusting without more trying by disputation is the very Character of Christianity and it will be found only true wisdom for if any will become wise he must be a fool in men's account that he may be wise he must quite his reason to learn true Religion which indeed is a more excellent and divine reason neither is it contrary to it though it be high above it In this place of Moses you have the Unity of God asserted The Lord thy God is one Lord And that is indeed engraven on the very hearts of men by nature That God is One for all may know that the common notion and apprehension of God is that he is a most perfect being the Original of all things most wise most powerful & infinite in all perfections Now common reason may tell any man that there can be but one thing most perfect & Excellent there can be but one infinite one Almighty one beginning and end of all one first mover one first cause of whom are all things and who is of none Again in this place of john ye have a Testimony of the blessed Trinity of Persons Father Son and holy Ghost in that holy Unity of Essence The great point which john hath in hand is this fundamental of our Salvation that Jesus Christ is the Son of God & Saviour of the World in whom all our confidence should be placed and upon whom we should lean the weight of our souls & this he proves by a twofold testimony one out of Heaven another in the Earth There are three bearing witness to this truth in heaven The Father the word that is Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God whom this Apostle calls the word of God or wisdom of God joh. 1. 1. and the Holy Ghost The Father witnessed to this truth in an audible voice out of Heaven when Christ was baptised Mat. 3. 17. This is my wel-beloud Son hear him here 's the Father's Testimony of the Son when he was baptised which was given very solemnly in a great congregation of people and divinely with great glory and Majesty from Heaven as if the heavens had opened upon him and the inaccessible light of God had shined down on him which was confirmed in the transfiguration Mat. 17. 5. Where the Lord gave a glorious evidence to the astonishment of the three Disciples how he did account of him how all Saints and Angels must serve him Him hath God the Father sealed saith john Indeed the stamp of divinity of the divine Image in such an excellent manner upon the man Christ was a Seal set on by God the Father signifying & confirming his approbation of his wellbeloved Son and of the work he was going about Then the Son himself did give ample Testimony of this this was the subject of his Preaching to the World I am the light and life of men He that believeth on me shall be saved and therefore he may be called the word of God and the wisdom of God Joh. 1. 1. Prov. 8. Because he hath revealed unto us the blessed mystery of Wisdom concerning our Salvation He is the very expression and Character of the Father's person and Glory Heb. 1. In his own Person and he hath revealed and expressed his Father's mind and his own Office so fully to the World that there should be no more doubt of it Out of the mouth of these two witnesses this Word might be established But for superabundance behold a third the Holy Ghost witnessing at his baptism in his Resurrection after his Ascension the Holy Ghost signifieth his presence and consent to that work in the similitude of a Dove the Holy Ghost testified it in the power that raised him from the dead the Holy Ghost put it beyond all question when he descended upon the Apostles according to Christ's promise For the other three witnesses on earth we shall not stay upon it only know that the work of the regeneration of souls by the power of the word and spirit signified by water the justification of guilty souls signified by the blood of Jesus Christ & the Testimony of the spirit in our Conscience bearing witness to our Spirits is an assured Testimony of this that Jesus Christ in whom we believe is the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth The changing pacifying and comforting of souls in such a wonderful manner cries aloud that he in whom the soul believes is the true and living God whom to know is eternal life But mark I pray you the accuracy of the Apostle in the change of the speech these three witnesses on earth saith he agree in one in giving one common testimony to the Son of God and Saviour of Sinners But as for the heavenly witnesses the Father the Word and Holy Ghost how ever they be three after an inconceivable manner & that they do also agree in one common Testimony to the Mediator of men yet moreover they are one They not only agree in one but are one God one simple undivided self-being infinite Spirit holden out to us in three Persons the Father Son and Holy Ghost to whom be praise and glory Deut. 6. 4. and joh. 5. 7. ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God & it is profitable for instruction for direction etc. There is no refuse in it no simple and plain History but it tends to some edification no profound or deep mystery but it is profitable for Salvation whatsoever secrets there be in the mysteries of God which is reserved from us though it be given us but to know in part & darkly thorough a vail yet as much is given us to know as may make the man of God perfect in every good work as much is given us to know as may build us up to eternal salvation if there were no more use of these deep mysteries of the Holy Trinity etc. but to silence all flesh & restrain the unlimited spirits of men and keep them within the bounds of Sobriety and Faith It were enough That great secret would teach as much by its silence & darkness as the plainer truths do speak out clearly O that this great mystery did compose our hearts to some reverend & awful apprehension of that God we have to do with & did imprint in our soul a more feeling sense of our darkness and ignorance this were more advantage than all the gain of light or increase of knowledge than can come from the search of curiosity If men would labour to walk in that light they have attained rather than curiously inquire after what they cannot know by enquiry they should sooner attain more true light if men would set about the practice of what they know without doubt they would more readily come to a resolution & clearness in doubtful things Religion is now turned into questions & School-debates Men begin to believe nothing but dispute every thing under a pretence of searching for light and resolution but for the most part while men look after light they darken themselves & this is the righteous judgement of the Lord upon the world that doth not receive the truth in love or walk in the light of what they have already attained therefore he gives men up to wander in their search into the dark dungeons of humane wisdom and fancy and to lose what they have already If those things which are without all Controversy as the Apostle speaks 1 Tim. 3. 16. were indeed made conscience of and embraced in love and practised it were beyond all controversy that the most part of present controversies would cease But it falls out with many as with the dog that catching at a shadow in the water lost the substance in his teeth so they pursuing after new discoveries in controverted things and not taking a heart-hold and inward grip of the substantial truths of the Gospel which are beyond all controversy do even lose what they have Thus Even that which they have not is taken from them because though they have it in judgement yet they have it not surely and solidly in affection that it may be holden So to this present point if we could learn to adore and admire this Holy Holy Holy One If we could in silence and faith sit down and wonder at this mystery it would be more profitable to us and make way for a clearer manifestation of God than if we should search and inquire into all the Volumes that are written upon it thinking by this means to satisfy our reason I think there is more profoundness in the sobriety of Faith than in the depths of humane wisdom and learning when the mystery is such an infinite depth O but men's eloquence and wisdom must be shallow far too shallow either to find it out or unfold it But there is yet both more instruction and consolation to be pressed out of this mystery and therefore If you cannot reach it in itself O consider what it concerns us how we may be edified by it for this is true Religion Look upon that place of Moses what is the great instruction he draws from this unity of God's Essence v. 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart Since God is one then have no God but one and that the true and living God and this is the very first command of God which flows as it were immediately from his absolute Oneness and perfection of Being There is no man but he must have some God that is something whereupon he placeth his affection most every man hath some one thing he loves and respects beyond all other things some Lord and Master that commands him therefore saith Christ No man can serve two Masters before a man will want God to love and serve he will make them and then worship them yea he will make himself his belly his back his honour & pleasure a God and sacrifice all his affections and desires and endeavours to these The natural subordination of man to God the relation he hath as a Creature to a Creator is the first & fundamental relation beyond all respects to himself or other fellow-creatures This is the proto-naturall Obligation upon the Creature therefore it should have returned in a direct line to his Majesty all its affections and endeavours But man's Fall from God hath made a wretched throw & cr●…ok in the soul that it cannot look any more after him but bows downward towards creatures below or bends inwardly towards itself & so since the Fall man hath turned his heart from the true God & set it upon vanity upon lying vanities upon base dead Idols which can neither help him nor hurt him your hearts are gone a whoring from God O that ye would believe it none of you will deny but ye have broken all the Commands yet such is the brutish ignorance & stupidity of the most part that you will not confess that when it comes to particulars and especially if you should be challenged for loving other things more than God or having other Gods besides the true God you will instantly deny it & that with an asseveration & aversation God forbid that I have another God Alas this shows that what you confess in the general is not believed in the heart but only is like the parting of children whom you may learn to say any thing I beseech you consider that what you give your time pains thoughts and affections to that is your God you must give God all your heart and so retain nothing of your own will if God be your God but do ye not know that your care and grief and desire and love vents another way towards base things You know that you have a will of your own which goeth quite contrary to his holy will in all things therefore Satan hath bewitched you & your hearts deceive you when they persuade you that you have had no other God but the true God Christianity raises the soul again and advances it by degrees to this love of God from which it had fallen the soul returns to its first husband from whom it went awhooring & now the stamp of God is so upon it that it is changed into his Image and glory having tasted how good this one self-sufficient-good is it gladly & easily divorces from all other Lovers it renounces formal lusts of ignorance and now begins to live in another Love transplants the soul into God and in him it lives and with him it walks It 's true this is done gradually there is much of the heart yet unbroken to this sweet and easy yoke of love much of the corrupt nature untamed unreclaimed yet so much is gained by the first conversion of the soul to God that all is given up to him in affection and desire he hath the chief place in the soul the disposition of the Spirit hath some stamp and impression of his Oneness & singularity My beloved is one Though a Christian is not wholly rid of strange Lords yet the tie of subjection to them is broken they may often intrude by violence upon him but he is in an hostile posture of affection and endeavour against them I beseech you since the Lord is one and there is none beside him O let this be engraven on your hearts that your inward affections and outward actions may express that one Lord to be your God and none other beside him It is a great shame and reproach to Christians that they do not carry the stamp of the first Principle of Religion upon their walking the condition & conversation of many declares how little account they make of the true God why do ye enslave your souls to your lusts & the service of the flesh if ye believe in this one God Why do ye all things to please your selves if this one Lord be your God As for you the Israel of God who are called by Jesus Christ to partake with the Commonwealth of Israel in the Covenant of promises hear I beseech you this and let your souls incline to it and receive it Your God is one Lord have then no other Lords over your souls and consciences not yourselves not others But in the next place let us consider to what purpose John leads such three witnesses that we may draw some consolation from it The thing testified and witnessed unto is the groundwork of all a Christians hope and consolation that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God and Saviour of the World one able to save to the utmost all that put their trust in him so that every soul that finds itself lost and not able to subsist nor abide the judgement of God may repose their confidence in him and lay the weight of their eternal welfare upon his death & sufferings with assurance to find rest and peace in him to their souls He is such a one as faith may triumph in him over the world & all things be●…de A Believer may triumph in his victory and in the faith of his victory over hell and death and the grave many overcome personally for this is our victory over the world even our faith vers. 4. And how could a soul conquer by Faith if he in whom it believes were not declared to be the Son of God with power there is nothing so mean & weakly as Faith in itself it 's a poor despicable thing of itself and that it sees and that it acknowledges yea faith is a very act of its self denial it 's a renouncing of all help without and within itself save only that which is laid on Christ Jesus therefore it were the most unsuitable mean of prevailing and the most insufficient weapon for gaining the victory if the object of it were not the strong God the Lord Almighty from whom it derives and borrows all its power & virtue either to pacify the conscience or to expiate sin or to overcome the world Oh! consider Christians where the foundation of your hope is situated it is in the divine power of our Saviour if he who declared so much love & goodwill to sinners by becoming so low & suffering so much have also all power in Heaven and Earth if he be not only man near us to make for us boldness of access but God near God to prevail effectually with God then certainly he is azure foundation laid in Zion elect and precious he is an unm oveable Rock of ages whosoever trusts their soul to him shall not be ashamed I am sure that many of you considers not this that Christ Jesus who was in due time born of the Virgin Mary & died for sinners is the eternal Son of God equal to his Father in all glory and power O how would this make the Gospel agreat mystery to souls & the Redemption of souls a precious and wonderful work if it were considered Would not souls stand at this Anchor  in tentation if their faith were pitched on this sure foundation and their hope cast upon this solid ground O know your Redeemer is strong and mighty and none can pluck you out of his hand and himself will cast none out that comes If the multitude of you believed this you would not make so little account of the Gospel that comes to you & make so little of your sins which behoved to be taken away by the blood of God & could be expiated by no other propitiation you would not think it so easy to satisfy God with some words of custom and some public services of form as you do you would not for all the World deal with God alone without this Mediator and being convinced of sin if you believed this solidely that he in whom forgivennesse of sin and salvation is preached is the same Lord God of whom you hear in the Old Testament who gave out the Law and inspired the Prophets the only begotten of the Father in a way infinitely removed from all created capacities you could not but find the Father well satisfied in him & find a sufficient ransom in his death & doings to pacify God & to settle your consciences But as the thing testified is a matter of great consolation so the witness testifying to this foundamentall of our Religion may be a ground of great encouragement to discouraged souls It is ordinary that the apprehensions of Christians takes up Jesus Christ as very lovely and more loving than any of the Persons of the Godhead either the Father or the Holy Ghost there are some thoughts of estrangedness and distance of the Father as if the Son did really reconcile and gain him to love us who before hated us and upon this mistake the soul is filled with continual jealousies and suspicions of the love of God but observe I beseech you the Father the Son & the Holy Ghost all of them first agreeing in one Testimony the Father declares from heaven that he is abundantly well pleased with his Son not only because he is his Son but even in the undertaking and performing of that work of Redemption of sinners It is therefore his most serious invitation and peremptory command to all to hear him and believe in him Mat. 3. 17. 1 joh. 3. 23. Nay if we speak properly our salvation it is not the business of Christ alone as we imagine it but the whole Godhead is interessed in it deeply & so deeply that you cannot say who loves it most or likes it most The Father is the very fountain of it his love is the spring of all God so loved the World that he hath sent his Son Christ hath not purchased that eternal love to us but is rather the gift the free gift of eternal love And therefore as we have the Son delighting among the sons of men Pro. 8. and delighting to be employed and to do his will Psal 40. So we have the Father delighting to send his Son & taking pleasure in instructing him and furnishing him for it Isa. 42. 1. And therefore Christ often professed that he was not often about his own work but the Father's work who sent him and that it was not his own will but his Fathers he was fulfilling Therefore he should not look upon the head-spring of our salvation in the Son but rather ascend up to the Father whose love & wisdom did frame all this And thus we may be confident to come to the Father in the Son knowing that it was the love of the Father that sent the Son though indeed we must come to him only in the Son in the name of Christ and faith of acceptation through a Mediator not because the Mediator purchaseth his goodwill but because his love and goodwill only vents in his beloved Son Christ and therefore he will not be known nor worshipped but in him in whom he is near sinners and reconciling the world to himself And then the Holy Ghost concurs in this Testimony and as the Son had the work of purchasing rights and interests to grace and glory so the great work of applying all these privileges to Saints and making them actually partakers of the blessings of Christ his death is committed in a special way to the Holy Ghost I will send the Comforter etc. So then Father Son & Holy Ghost all agree in one that Jesus Christ is a sure refuge for sinners a plank for ship-broken men a firm & sure foundation to build everlasting hopes upon there is no party dissenting in all the Gospel the business of the Salvation of lost souls is concluded in this holy Counsel of the Trinity with one voice as at first all of them agreed to make man Let us make man So again they agree to make him again to restore him to life in the second Adam Who ever thou be that wouldst flee to God for mercy ●…o it in confidence the Father the Son & the holy Ghost are ready to welcome thee all of one mind to shut out none to cast out none But to speak properly it is but one love one will one counsel and purpose in the Father Son and Spirit for these three are one and not only agree in one they are one and what one purposes o●… loves all love & purpose I would conclude this matter with a word of direction how to worship God which I cannot express in fitter terms than these of Nazianzen I cannot think upon one but by and by I am compassed about with the brightness of three and cannot distinguish three but I am suddenly driven back unto one There is great ignorance & mistake of this even amongst the best Christians the grosser sort when they hear of one God only thinks Christ but some eminent man and so direct their prayers to God only excluding the Son and Holy Ghost or when they hear of three Persons the Father the Son & Holy Ghost they strait way divide their Worship & imagine a Trinity of Gods And I fear those of us who know most use not to worship God as he hath revealed himself Father Son & Holy Chost and yet one God our minds are reduced to such a simple unity as we think upon one of them alone or else distr●…cted and divided into such a plurality that we worship in a manner three Gods in stead of one It is a great mystery to keep the right middle way Learn I beseech you so to conceive of God & so to acknowledge him and pray to him as you may do it in the name of Jesus Christ that all the Persons may have equal honour and all of them one honour that while you consider one God you may adore that sacred & blessed Trinity & while you worship that holy Trinity you may strait way be reduced to an Unity To this wonderful and holy One Father Son & Holy Ghost be all Praise and Glory Eph. 1. Who worketh all things after the Counsel of his own will Job 23. He is in one mind & who can turn him etc. HAving spoken something before of God in his Nature and Being and Properties we come in the next place to consider his glorious Majesty as ●…e sta●…s in some nearer relation to his creatures the works of his hands For we must conceive the first rise of all things in the world to be in this self-being the first conception of them to be in the Womb of God's everlasting purpose and Decree which in due time according to his appointment brings forth the child of the creature to the light of actual existence and being It is certain that his Majesty might have endured for ever & possessed himself without any of these things If he had never resolved to create any thing without himself he had been blessed then as now because of his full and absolute self-sufficient perfection His purposing to make a world & his doing of it adds nothing to his inward blessedness and contentment this glorious and Holy One encloses within in his own being all imaginable perfections in an infinite and transcendent manner that if you remove all created ones you diminish nothing if you add them all you increase nothing Therefore it was the superabundance of his perfection that he resolved to show his Glory thus in the world It is the creatures indigence & limited condition which maketh it needful ●…o go without its own compass for the happiness of its own being Man cannot be happy in loving himself he is not satisfied with his own intrinsic perfections but he must diffuse himself by his affections & desires & endeavours & as it were walk abroad upon these legs to fetch in some supply from the creatures or Creator The creature is constrained out of thus to go out of itself which speaks much indigence and want within itself But it is not so with his Majesty His own glorious being contents him His happiness is to know that and delight in it because it comprehends in itself all that is at all possible in the most excellent and perfect manner that is conceivable nay infinitely beyond what can be conceived by any but himself so he needs not go without himself to seek love or delight for it is all within him and it cannot be without his own being unless it flow from within him therefore ye may find in Scripture what complacency God hath in himself and the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father We find Prov. 8. How the wisdomof of God our Lord Jesus was the Father's delight from all Eternity and the Father again his delight for he rejoiced always before him vers. 30. And this was an all-sufficient possession that one had of another v. 22. the love between the Father and the Son is holden out as the first pattern of all loves and delight joh. 17. 23 24. This then flows from the infinite excess of perfection and exundance of self-being that his Majesty is pleased to come without himself to maintain his own Glory in the works of his hands to decree and appoint other things beside himself and to execute that decree We may consider in these words some particulars for our edification 1. That the Lord hath from Eternity purposed within himself and decreed to manifest his own glory in the making and ruling of the World that there is a Counsel and purpose of his will which reaches all things which have been are now or are to be after this This is clear For he works all things according to the counsel of his own will 2. That his mind and purpose is one mind one counsel I mean not only one for ever that is perpetual & unchangeable as the words speak but also one for all that is with one simple Act and Resolution of his Holy will he hath determined all these several things all their times their conditions their circumstances 3. That whatsoever he hath from all eternity purposed he in time practiseth it and comes to execution & working so that there is an exact correspondence betwixt his will and his work his mind and his hand He works according to the Counsel of his will and whatsoever his soul desires that he doth 4. That his purpo●…e and performance is infallible  by any created power himself will not change it For he is in one mind and none else can hinder it for who can turn him he desireth and he doth it as in the Original there is nothing intervenes between the desire & the doing that can hinder the meeting of these two The first is the constant Doctrine of the Holy Scriptures of which you should consider four things 1. ' That his purpose and decree is most wise therefore Paul cries out upon such a subject O the depth of the riches both of the Wisdom and knowledge of God Rom. 11. 33. His will is always one with wisdom therefore you have the purpose of his will mentioned thus the Counsel of his will for his will as it were takes Counsel and advice of Wisdom & discerns according to the depth & riches of his knowledge and understanding We see among men these are separated often & there is nothing in the world so disorderly so unruly and uncomely as when Will is divided from Wisdom when men follow their own will and lusts as a Law against their conscience that is monstruous The understanding and reason are the eyes of the Will if these be put out or if a man leave them behind him he cannot but fall into a pit But the purposes of Gods will are depths of wisdom nay his very will is a sufficient Rule and Law so that it may be used of him stat pro ratione voluntas Rom. 9 13 14. If we consider the glorious Fab●…ick of the World the Order established in it the sweet harmony it keepeth in all its motions & successions O it must be a wise mind and counsel contrived i●… Man now having the Idea of this world in his mind might fancy and imagine many other worlds bearing some proportion and resemblance to this but if he had never seen nor known this world he could never have imagined the thousand part of this world he could in no wise have form an Image in his mind of all these different kinds of creatures Creatures must have some example and copy to look to but what was his pattern Who hath been his Counsellor to teach him Rome 11. 34. Who gave him the first Rudiments of Principles of that Art Surely none He had no pattern given him not the least Idea of any of these things furnished him but it is absolutely and solely his own wise contrivance 2. This purpose of God is most free and absolute there is no cause no reason why he hath thus disposed all things and not otherwise as he might have done but his own good will and pleasure If it be so in a matter of deepest concernment Rom. 9 18 It must be so also in all other things we may find indeed many inferior causes many peculiar reasons for such and such a way of administration many ends & uses for which they serve for there is nothing that his Majesty hath appointed but it is for some use & reason yet we must rise above all these and ascend into the Tower of his most high will and pleasure which is founded on a depth of wisdom and from thence we shall behold all the order administration and use of the creatures to depend and herein is a great difference between his Majesty's purposes and ours you know there is still something presented under the notion of good and convenient that moves our will and inclines us for its own goodness to seek after it and so to fall upon the means to compass it therefore the end which we propose to ourselves hath its influence upon our purposes and pleasures them so that from it the motion seems to proceed first and not so much from within but there is no created thing can thus determine his Majesty Himself his own glory is the great end which he loves for itself and for which he loves other things But among other things though there be many of them ordained one for another's use yet his will and pleasure is the Original of that order He doth not find it but makes it you see all the creatures below are appointed for man as their immediate and next end for his use and service but was it man his goodness & perfection which did move and incline his Majesty to this appointment No indeed but of his own good will he makes such things serve man that all of them together may be for his own glory 3. The Lord's Decree is the first rise of all things that are or have been or are to come This is the first Original of them all to which they must be reduced as their spring and fountain All of you may understand that there are many things possible which yet actually will never be The Lord's power and Omnipotency is of a further extent than his Decree and Purpose His Power is Natural and Essential to his Being His Decree is of choice and Voluntary The Father could have sent a Legion of Angels to have delivered his Son the Son could have asked them but neither of them would do it Mat. 26. 53. The Lord could have raised up Children to Abraham out of stones but he would not Matth. 3 His power then comprehends within its reach all possible things which do not in their own nature & proper conception imply a contradiction so that infinite worlds of creatures more perfect than this numbers of Angels and men above these & creatures in glory surpassing them again are within the compass of the boundless power & omnipotency of God But yet for all this it might have fallen out that nothing should actually and really have been unless his Majesty had of his own freme will decreed what is or hath been or is to be His will determines his power and as it were puts it in the nearest capacity to act & exercise itself Here than we must look for the beginning of all things that are they are conceived in the womb of the Lords everlasting purpose As he speaks Zeph. 2. 2. The Decree is as it were with child of beings Isa. 44. 7. It 's God Royal Prerogative to appoint things to come and none can share with him in it From whence is it I pray you that of so many worlds which his power could have framed this one is brought to light Is it not because this one was form as it were in the belly of his eternal counsel and will From whence is it that so many men are and no more That the Lord Jesus was slain when the power of God might have kept him alive That those men judas etc. were the doers of it when others might have done it from whence are all those actions good or evil under the Sun which he might have prevented But from his good will and pleasure from his determinate counsel Acts 4. 28. Can you find the Original of these in the Creature why it is thus and why not otherwise Can you conceive why of all the infinite numbers of possible beings these are and no other And what hath translated that number of creatures which is from the state of pure possibility to futurition or actual being but the decisive vote of God's everlasting purpose and counsel Therefore we should always conceive that the creatures and all their actions which have or will have any being in the World have first had a being in the womb of God's eternal Counsel and that his will and pleasure hath passed upon all things that are and are not His Counsel has concluded of things that have been or will be that thus they shall be and his Counsel has determined of all other things which are also impossible that they shall never come forth into the light of the world but remain in the dark bowels of Omnipotency that so we may give him the glory of all things that are not and that are at all Then 4. We should consider the extent of his decree & Counsel it 's past upon all things it 's Universal reaching every being or action of the Universe This is the strain of the whole Scripture He did not as some dream once create the creatures in a good state & put them in capacity henceforth to preserve themselves or exercise their own virtue and power without dependence on him as an Artificer makes an Horologe and orders it in all things that it may do its business without him he is not only a general original of action & motion as if we would command a River to flow by his appointed channels as if he did only work & rule the world by Attorneys & Ambassadors that is the weakness & infirmity of earthly Kings that they must substitute Deputies for themselves But this King appoints all immediately and disposes upon all the particular actions of his Creatures good or evil and so is the Universal absolute Lord of his Creature of its being and doing it were a long work to rehearse what the Scriptures speaks of this kind But O that ye would read them oftener and ponder them better How there is nothing in this World which may seem to fall out by chance to you that you know not how it is come to pass & can see no cause nor reason of it but it falls out by the holy will of our blessed Father Be it of greater or less moment or be it a hair of thy head fallen or thy head cut off the most casual & contingent thing thought it surprised the whole world of men and Angels that they should wonder from whence it did proceed it is no surprisal to him for he not only knew it but appointed it the most certain and necessary thing according to the course of nature it hath no certainty but from his appointment who hath established such a course in the creatures & which he can suspend when he pleaseth Be it the sin of men and devils which seems most opposite to his holiness yet even that cannot appear in the World of beings if it were not in a holy righteous and permissive way first conceived in the womb of his Eternal Counsel and if it were not determined by him for holy and just end Acts 4. 28. The second thing propounded is that his mind & counsel is one one and the same yesterday and to day and for ever therefore the Apostles speaks of God That there is no shadow of change or turning in him James 1. 17. He is not a man that he should lie or the son of man that he should repent Will he say and not do it Numb 23. 19 and shall he decree & not execute it Shall he purpose and not perform it I am God and changes not that is his Name Mal. 3. 6. The Counsel of the Lord shall stand & the thoughts of his heart to all generations Psal. 33. 11. Men changes their mind oftener than their garments poor vain man even in their best estate is changeableness and vicissitude itself altogether vanity And this ariseth partly from the imperfection of his understanding & his ignorance because he doth not understand what may fall out there are many things secret & hidden which if he discovered he would not be of that judgement and many things fall out which may give ground of another resolution and partly from the weakness and perverseness of his will that cannot be constant in any good thing & is not so closely united to it as that no fear nor terror can separate from it But there is no such imperfection in him neither ignorance nor weakness all things are naked before him all their natures their circumstances all events all emergents known to him are they & all his works from the beginning as perfectly as in the end And therefore he may come to a fixed resolution from all eternity and being resolved he can see no reason of change because there can nothing appear after which he did not perfectly discover from the beginning Therefore when ever ye read in the Scripture of the Lords repenting as Gen. 6. 7. and jer. 16. 8. ye should remember that the Lord speaks in our terms and like nurses with their children uses our own dialect to point out to us our great ignorance of his Majesty that cannot conceive more honourably of him nor more distinctly of ourselves When he changeth all things about him he is not changed for all these changes were at once in his mind but when he changeth his outward dispensation he is said to repent of what he is doing because we use not to change our manner of dealing without some conceived grief or repentance and change of mind When a man goes to build a house he hath no mind but that it should continue so he has not the least thought of taking it down again but afterward it becomes ruinous and his estate enlarges & then he takes a new resolution to cast it down to the ground and build a better This it is with man according as he varies his work he changes his mind But it is not so with God All these changes of his works all the successions of times the variation of dealings the alteration of dispensations in all ages were at once in his mind and all before him so that he never goes to build a house but he hath in his own mind already determined all the changes it shall be subject to When he sets up a Throne in a Nation it is in his mind within such a period to cast it down again when he lifts up men in success & prosperity he doth not again change his mind when he throws them down for that was in his mind also so that there it no surprisal of him by any unexpectant emergment Poor man hath many consultations before he come to a conclusion But it is not thus with his Counsel of all these strange and new things which fall out in our days he hath one thought of them all from Eternity He is one mind & none of all these things have put him off his eternal mind or put him to a new advisement about his great projects Not only doth he not change his mind but his mind and thought is one of all & concerning all Our poor narrow and limited minds must part their thoughts among many bnsinesles one thought for this another for that and one after another but with him there is neither succession of Counsels and purposes nor yet plurality but as with one opening of his eye he beholds all things as they are so with one inclination or nod of his will he hath given a law and appointed all things If we can at one instant and one look see both light and colours and both the glass and the shadow in it and with one motion of our wills move towards the end and the means O how much more may he with one simple undivided act of his goodwill & pleasure pass a determination on all things in their times and orders and in his own infinite and his glorious being perceive them all with one look How much consolation might redound from this to believing souls Hath the Lord appointed you to suffer persecution and tribulation here Hath he carved out such a lot unto you in this life Then withal consider that his Majesty hath Eternal glory wrapped up in the same Counsel from which thy afflictions proceed Hath he made thy soul to melt before him Hath he convinced thee and made thee to flee unto the City for refuge and expect salvation from no other but himself Then know that Life Eternal is in the bosom of that same purpose which gave thee to believe this though the one be born before the other yet the Decree shall certainly bring forth the other And for such souls as upon this vain presumption of the infallibility of God's purposes thinks it needless to give diligence in Religion know that it is one mind & purpose that hath linked the end and the means together as a chain and therefore if thou expectest to be saved according to Election thou must according to the same Counsel make thy Calling home from sin to God sure Thirdly what thing soever he hath purposed he in due time applies to the performance of it and then the counsel of his will becomes the work of his hands and there is an admirable harmony and exact agreement between these two All things come out of the womb of his eternal Decree by the work of his power even just fashioned and framed as their lineaments and draughts were proportioned in the decree nothing failing nothing wanting nothing exceeding there is nothing in the Idea of his mind but it is expressed in the works of his hands there is no raw-halfwishes in God Men have such imperfect desires I would have or do such a thing if it were not etc. He wavers not thus in suspense but what he will and desires he will and desires indeed He intends it shall be and what he intends doubtless he will execute and bring to pass Therefore his will in due time applies Almighty Power to fulfil the desire of i●… and Almighty Power being put to work by his Will it cannot but work all things according to the Counsel of his Will and whatsoever his soul desireth that he cannot but do even as he desires seeing he cannot do it If he will do it and can do it what hinders him to work and do Know then that his commands and precepts to you signifying what is your duty they do not so much signify what he desires or intends to work or have done as his approbation of such a thing in itself to be your duty and therefore though he have revealed his Will concerning our duty though no obedience follow yet is not his intention frustrated or disappointed for his commands to you say not what is his Intention about it but what is that which he approves as good and a duty obliging men But whatsoever thing he purposes & intends should be certainly he will do it & make it to be done If it be a work of his own power alone himself will do it alone If he require the concurrence of creatures to it as in all the works of Providence than he will effectually apply the creatures to his work and not wait in suspense on their determination If he have appointed such an end to be attained by such means if he have a work to do by such instruments then without all doubt he will apply the instruments when his time comes & will not wait on their concurrence You see now strange things done you wonder at them how we are brought down from our excellency how our land is laid desolate by strangers how many instruments of the Lords work are laid aside how he lifts up a rod of indignation against us and is like to overturn even the foundations of our land All these were not in our mind before but they were in his mind from eternity and therefore he is now working it Believe then that there is not a circumstance of all business not one joint or jot of it but is even as it was framed and carved out of old his present works are according to an ancient pattern which he carries in his mind all the measures and degrees of your affliction all the ounces and grain-weights of your cup were all weighed in the scales of his Eternal Counsel the instruments the time the manner all that is in it If he change instruments that was in his mind if he change dispensations that was in his mind also And seeing you know by the Scriptures that a blessed end is appointed for the godly that all things work for their good that all is subservient to the Church's welfare seeing I say you know his purpose is such as the Scriptures speaks then believe his performance shall be exact accordingly nothing dificient no joint no sinew in all his work of providence no line in all his book & volume of the creature but it was written in that ancient book of his eternal counsel & first fashioned in that Ps. 39 16. Then lastly his will is irresistible his Counsel shall stand who can turn him from his purpose and who can hinder him from performance therefore he attains his end in the highest and most superlative degree of certainty and infallibility Himself will not change his own purpose for why should he do it if he change to the better than it reflects on his wisdom if he change to the worse it reflects both on his wisdom and godliness certainly he can see no cause why he should change it But as himself cannot change so none can hinder his performance for what power think you shall it be that may attempt that Is it the power of men of strong men of high men of any men No sure for their breath is in their nostrils they have no power but as he breathes in them if he keep in his breath as it were they perish all nations are as nothing before him and what power hath nothing Is it Devils may do it No for they cannot though they would he chains them he limits them Is it good Angels They are powerful indeed but they neither can nor will resist his will Let be the whole University of the Creation suppose all their scattered force and virtue conjoined in one yet it is all but finite it amounts to no more if you would eternally add unto it But all victory & resistance of this kind must be by a superior power or at least by an equal therefore we may conclude that there i●… no impediment or let that can be put in his way nothing can obstruct his purpose if all the world shoul●… conspire as one man to obstruct the performance o●… any of his promises and purposes they do but rage i●… vain like dogs barking at the Moon they shall be s●… far from attaining their purpose that his Majesty sha●… disabuse them so to speak to his own purpose h●… shall apply them quite contrary to their own mind t●… work out the counsel of his mind Here is the absolute King only worth the name of a King & Lord whom all things in Heaven and Earth obeys at the first nod and beckoning to them Hills Seas Mountains Rivers Sun & Moon & Clouds Men & Beasts Angels and Devils all of them are acted moved and inclined according to his pleasure all of them are about his work indeed as the result of all in the end shall make it appear & are servants at his command going where he bids go and coming where he bids come led by an invisible hand though in the mean time they knew it not but thinks they are about their own business applauds themselves for a time in it ducunt volentem fata notentem trahunt Godly men who knows his Will and loves it are led by it willingly for they yield themselves up to his disposal but wicked men who have contrary Wills of their own they can gain no more by resisting but to be drawn along with it Now to what purpose is all this spoken of God's Decrees and purposes which he hath called a secret belonging to himself If his works & judgements be a great depth and unsearchable sure his decrees are far more unsearchable For it is the secret and hidden purpose of God which is the very depth of his way & judgement But to what purpose is it all I say Not to inquire curiously into the particulars of them but to profit by them The Scripture holds out to us the unchangeableness freedom extent holiness and wisdom of them for our advantage and if this advantage be not reaped we know them in vain Not to burden your memory with many particulars we should labour to draw forth both instruction and consolation out of them Instruction I say in two things especially to submit with reverence & respect to his Majesty in all his works and ways & to trust in him who knows all his workss & will not change his mind There is nothing wherein I know Christians more deficent than in this point of submission which I take to be one of the chiefest & sweetest though hardest duties of a Christian. It is hardly to be found among men a through compliance of the soul to what his soul desires a real subjection of our spirits to his good will and pleasure There is nothing so much blessed in Scripture as waiting on him as yielding to him to be disposed upon Blessed are all they that wait on him Pride is the greatest opposite and he opposes himself most to that for it is in itself most derogatory to the highness and Majesty of God which is his very glory Therefore submission is most acceptable to him when the soul yields itself and its will to him he condescends far more to it he cannot be an enemy to such a soul submission to his Majesty's pleasure is the very bowing down of the soul willingly to any thing he doth or commands what ever yoke he puts on of duty or suffering to take it on willingly without answering again which is the great sin condemned in servants to put the mouth in the dust & to keep silence because he doth it I was dumb with silence I opened not my mouth because thou didst it their is submission indeed silence of mind & mouth a restraint put upon the spirit to think nothing grudgingly of him for any thing he doth It is certainly the greatest fault of Christians & grounds of many more that ye do not look to God but to creatures in any thing befalls you therefore there are so frequent risings of spirits against his yoke frequent spurnings against it as Ephraim unaccustomed with the yoke so do ye & this is it only makes it heavy and troublesome if there were no more reason for it but your own gain it is the only way to peace & quietness Durum sed levius fit patientiá quicquid corrigere est nes as your impatience cannot help you but hurt you it is the very yoke of your yoke but quiet and silent stooping makes it easy in itself and brings in more help beside even Divine help Learn this I beseech you to get your wills abandoned and your spirits subdued to God both in the point of duty and dispensation If duties commanded cross thy spirit as certainly the reality and exercise of Godliness must be unpleasant to any nature know what thou art called to to quit thy own will to him to give up thyself to his pleasure singly without so much respect to thy own pleasure or gain learn to obey him simply because he commands though no profit redound to thee & by this means thou shalt in due time have more sweet peace and real gain though thou intended it not And in case any dispensation cross thy mind let not thy mind rise up against it do not fall out with providence but commit thy way wholly to him and let him do what he pleaseth in that be thou minding thy duty be not anxious in that but be diligent in this and thou shalt be the only gainer by it besides the honour redounds to him Then I would exhort you from this ground to trust in him seeing he alone is the absolute Sovereign Lord of all things seeing he hath passed a determination upon all things and accordingly they must be and seeing none can turn him from his way O then Christians learn to commit yourselves to him in all things both for this life and the life to come why are ye so vain and foolish as to depend & hang upon poor vain depending Creatures Why do ye not forsake yourselves Why do ye not forsake all other things as empty shadows Are not all created powers habits gifts graces strength riches etc. like the idols in comparison of him who can neither do good neither can they do ill Cursed is he that trusts in man Jer. 17. 15 16. there needs no other curse than the very disappointment you shall meet withal Consider beseech you that our God can do all things what ever ●…e pleaseth in Heaven and Earth and that none can obstruct his pleasure blessed is that soul for whom the counsel of his will is engaged & it is engaged for all that trust in him he can accomplish his good pleasure in thy behalf either without or against means all impediments & thorns set in his way he can burn them up you who are heirs of the promises O know your privilege what his soul desireth He doth even that & what he hath seriously promised to you he desires If you ask who are heirs of the Promises I would answer simply these and these only who do own them and challenge them and claim to them for their life and salvation these who seek the Inheritance only by the Promise and whose soul desires them and embraces them O if you would observe how unlike ye are to God ye change often ye turn often out of the way but that were not so ill if ye did not imagine him to be like yourselves and it is unbelief which makes him like to yourselves when your frame and tender disposition changes when presence and access to God is removed that is wrong it speaks out a mortal creature indeed but if it be so O do no more wrong do not by your suspicions and jealousies and questionings of him imagine that he is like unto you and changed also that is a double wrong and dishonour to his Majesty Hath he not said I am God and changes not He is in one mind who can turn him How comes it then that ye doubt of his love as oft as ye change When ye are in a good temper ye think he loves you when it is not so ye cannot believe but he is angry and hates you is not this to speak quite contrary to the Word that he is a God that changes that he is not in one mind but now in one and then in another as oft as the unconstant wind of a souls selfpleasing humour turns about Here is your rest and confidence if you will be established not within yourselves not upon marks and signs within you which ebb and flow as the Sea and change as the Moon but upon his unchangeable Nature and faithful promises This we desire to hold out to you all as one ground for all you would every one have some particular ground in your own disposition and condition & thinks it general doctrine only which layeth it no●… home so but believe it I know no ground of realsoul-establishment but general truths and pinciples common to you all and our business is not to lay any other foundation or more foundations according to your different conditions but to lay this one foundation Christ and God unchangeable & to exhort every one of you to make that general Foundation your own in particular by leaning to it & building upon it & claiming to it all other are sandy and ruinous Let us now in this sad time press consolation from this the Lords hand is in all this it 's immediate in every dispensation and its only carnal-mindednesse that cannot see him stretching out his hand to every man with his own portion of affliction Know this one thing that God is in one mind for all these many ways & judgements he is in one mind to gather the Saints to build up the Church the body of Christ this is his end all other businesses is in the by & subservient to this therefore he will change it as he pleases but his great purpose of good to his people all the World cannot hinder Let us then establish our souls in this consideration all is clear above albeit cloudy below All is calm in Heaven albeit tempestuous here upon Earth There is no confusion no disorder in his mind though we think the world out of course and that all things reel about with confusion he hath one mind in it & who can turn him And that mind is good to them that trust in him And  who can turn away our good Let men consult and imagine what they please let them pass votes & decrees what to do with his people yet it is all to no purpose for there is a Counsel above an older Counsel which must stand and take place in all generations If men's conclusions be not according to the Counsel of his Will they are but imaginary dreams like fancies of a distracted person who imagining himself a King sits down on the Throne and gives out decrees and Ordinances May not He who sits in Heaven laugh at the foolishness & madness of men who act in all things as if they had no dependence on him and go about their business as if it were not contrived already it is a ridiculous thing for men to order their business and settle their own conclusions without once minding one above them who hath not only a negative but an affirmative vote in all things It 's true that God in his deep wisdom hath kept up his particular purposes secret that men may walk according to an appointed Rule and use all means for compassing their intended ends and therefore it is well said Prudens futuri temporis exitum Caliginosa nocte premit Deus But yet withal we should mind that of james If the Lord will & go about all things even the most probable with submission to his will and pleasure And therefore when men go without their bounds either in fear of dangers or joy conceived in successes Ridetque si mortalis ultra fas trepidet etc. Excess of fear excess of hope excess of joy in these outward things is as it were ridiculous to him who hath all these things appointed with him To him be praise and glory Eph. 1. 11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated etc. Rom. 9 22 23. What if God willing to show his Wrath and to make his power known etc. IN the Creation of the World it pleased the Lord after all things were framed and disposed to make one creature to rule over all and to him he gave the most excellent nature and privileges beyond the rest so that it may appear that he had made all things for man & man immediately for his own glory As man was the chief of the works of his hands so we may according to the Scriptures conceive that he was chiefly minded in the Counsels of his heart And that as in the execution of his purpose in creating the World man had the pre-eminence assigned unto him and all seemed subordinate unto him so in the Lords purposes concerning the world his purpose about man has the pre-eminence He indeed has resolved to declare the glory of his Name in this world Therefore the Heavens and Firmament are made Preachers of that Glory Psal. 19 1 2. etc. But in special manner his Majesty's glorious Name is manifested in man and about man he hath set man as it were in the Centre or midst of the Creation that all the Creatures might direct or bring in their praises unto him to be up in his and their name to the Lord their Maker by him as the common mouth of the World and the Lord hath chosen this creature above all the creatures so the more solemn & glorious declaration of himself in his special properties therefore we should gather our thoughts in this business to hear from the Lord what his thoughts are towards us for certainly the right understanding of his everlasting Counsel touching the eternal state of Men is of singular virtue to conform us to the praise of his Name and establish us in faith and confidence Predestination is a mystery indeed into which we should not curiously & boldly inquire beyond what is revealed for then a soul must needs lose itself in that depth of wisdom and perish in the search of unsearchableness And thus the word speaks in Scripture of this subject intimating unto us that it is rather to be admired than conceived & that there ought to be some ignorance of these secrets which conjoined with Faith and reverence is more learned than any curious knowledge But withal we must open our eyes upon so much light as God reveals of these secrets knowing that the light of the word is a saving refreshing light not confounding as is his inaccessible light of secret Glory As far as it pleases his Majesty to open his mouth let us not close our ears but open themalso to his instruction knowing that as he will withhold no necessary thing for our salvation so he will reve●… nothing but what is profitable This is the best bond of sobriety and humble wisdom to learn what he teacheth us but when he makes an end of teaching to desire no more learning Its humility to seek no more & it is true wisdom to be content with no less There is much weakness in our conceiving of divine things we shape and form them in our minds according to a mould of our own experience or invention and cannot conceive of them as they are in themselves If we should speak properly there are not counsels & purposes in God but one entire counsel and resolution concerning all things which are in time by which he hath disposed all in their several times seasons conditions and orders but because we have many thoughts about many things so we cannot well conceive of God but in likeness to ourselves And therefore the Scripture condescending to our weakness speaks so How many are thy precious thoughts towards me saith David and yet indeed there is but one thought of him and us & all which one thought is of so much virtue that it is equivalent to an infinite number of thoughts concerning infinite objects The Lord hath from everlasting conceived one purpose of manifesting his own glory in such several ways & this is the head-spring of all that befalls creatures men and Angels But because in the execution of this purpose there is a certain order and succession and variety therefore men do ordinarily fancy such or such a frame and order in the Lord's mind & purpose And as the Astronomers do cut and carve in their Imaginations Cycles Orbs & Epicycles in the Heavens because of the various and different appearances & motions of stars in them whereas it may be really there is but one Celestial body in which all these various lights and motions do appear So do men fancy unto themselves an order of the Lords decree according to the Phaenomena or appearances of his works in the world whereas it is one purpose and Decree which in its infinite compass comprehends all these varieties and orders together This much we may-indeed lawfully conceive of his Decree that there is an exact correspondence & suteableness between his Majesty's purpose and execution & that he is a wise Lord wonderful in counsel & excellent in working having some great plot and design before his eyes which he intends to effect and which is as it were the great Light and Sun of this Firmament unto which by that same wonderful Counsel all other things are subordinate And so in the working it shall appear exactly as his Counsel did delineate & contrive it There is no man so empty or shallow but he hath some great design and purpose which he chiefly aims at Shall we not then conceive that the Lord who instructs every man to this discretion & teaches him Isa. 28. 26. Is himself wise in his Counsel and hath some grand project before him in all this Fabric of the World and the upholding of it since it was made Certainly he hath and if you ask what it is the wise man will teach you in the general He made all things for himself even the wicked for the evil day Pro. 16. 4. Here then is his great design and purpose to glorify himself to manifest his own Name to men & Angels Now his Name comprehends Wisdom Goodness Power Mercy and justice the first three he declares in all the works of his hands all are well done & wisely done the excellency of the work shows the wonderful Counsellor & the wise Contriver the goodness of any creature in its kind declares the inexhausted spring of a selfebeing from whom it proceeds & the bringing all these out of nothing and upholding them is a glorious declaration of his power But yet in all the works of his hands there is nothing found to manifest his glorious mercy and justice upon which are the flower and garland of his Attributes and unto which wisdom and power seems to be subservient Therefore his Majesty in that one entire purpose of his own glory resolves to manifest his wrath and his mercy upon men and Angels subjects capable of it which two Attributes are as the Poles about which all the Wheels of Election and Reprobation turns as you see in that place Rom. 9 22. 23. Let this then be established as the end of all his works as it is designed in his Counsel and nothing else It is not the Creature nor any thing in the Creature which is first in his mind but himself and therefore of him and for him are all things Here they have their rise & thither they return even to the Ocean of God's eternal glory from whence all did spring The right establishing of this will help us to conceive aright of his Counsel of Predestination It is a common cavil of carnal reason How can the Lord reject so many persons & foreordain them to destruction It seems most contrary to his goodness and wisdom to have such an end of eternal Predestination before him in the creating so many thousands to make men for nothing but to damn them Here carnal reason which enmity to God triumphs But consider I say that this is not the Lord's end and chief design to destroy men even as it is not his Majesty's first look or furthest reach to give unto others eternal life so it is not his prime intent to sink them in eternal death as if that were his pleasure & delight no indeed neither is the creatures happiness nor its misery that which first moves him or is most desired of him but himself only and he cannot move out of himself to any business but he must return it unto himself therefore the wise Preacher expresses it well He made all for himself even the wicked for the day of evil It was not his great end of creating wicked men to damn them or creating righteous men to save them but both are for a further and higher end for himself and his own Glory All seem to agree about this That the great end of all the Lords Counsels and decrees is his own glory to be manifested on Men & Angels and that this must be first in his mind not that there is first or last with him but to speak after the manner of men if he had many thoughts as we have this would be his first thought and in this one purpose this end is chiefly aimed at and all other things are by the Lords counsel subordinate to this as means to compass that But as concerning the order of these means and consequently of his Majesty's purpose about them men by examining his Majesty according to the creatures Rules or according to sense bring him down far below his own infinite greatness Some conceive that that was first as it were in his mind which is first done looking upon the execution of his purpose in the works of his power they imagine that as he first created man righteous so this was his first thought concerning man to create man for the glory of his goodness & power without any particular determination as yet of his end and I conceive this is the think of the multitude of people they think God was disappointed in his work when they hear he created such a glorious creature that is now become so miserable they cannot believe that his Majesty had all this sin and misery determinated with him when he purposed to create him but look upon the emergement of man's Fall into sin and misery as a surprisal of his Majesty as if he had meant another thing in creating him & so was upon this occasion of man's sin driven to a new consultation about the helping of the business & making the best out of it that might be Thus through wisdom the world knows not God They think God altogether like themselves and so liken him to the builder of an house who let nothing before him in doing so but to build it after that manner for his own ends but them being surprised with the fall and ruin of it takes a new advisement and builds it up again upon another surer foundation but because they cannot say that God takes any new advisements in time but must confess that all his Counsels are everlasting concerning all the works of his hands therefore they bring in foreknowledge to smooth their irreligious conceit of God as if the Lord upon his purpose of creating man had foreseen what should befall him and so purposed to permit it to be so that out of it he might erect some glorious Fabric of mercy and justice upon the ruins of man And that little or nothing may be left to the absolute Sovereign will of God to which the Scripture ascribes all things they must again imagine that upon his purpose of sending Christ to save sinners he is yet undetermined about the particular end of particular men but watches on the tower of foreknowledge to espy what they will do whether men will believe in his Son or not whether they will persevere in faith or not and according to his observation of their doings so he applies his own will to carve out their reward or portion of life or death These are even the thoughts which are imbred in your breasts by nature that which the learned call Arminianism is nothing else but the carnal reason of men's hearts which is enmity to God it is that very Disputation which Paul in this Chapter exclaims against Who art thou O man that disputes But certainly all this contrivance is nothing beseeming the wisdom of Sovereignty of God but reflects upon both upon his wisdom that he should have thoughts of creating the most noble of his creatures & yet be in suspense about the end of the creature and have that in uncertainty what way his glory shall indeed be manifested by it Is it not the fi●…st and chief thought of every wise man what he intends and aims at in his work and according to the measure and reach of his wisdom so he reaches further in his end and purpose Shall we then conceive the only wise God so far to have mistaken himself as to do that which no wise man would do He who is of such an infinite reach of wisdom & understanding to fall upon the thoughts of making such an excellent Creature and yet to lie in suspense within himself about the eternal estate of it and to be in a waiting posture what way his Glory should be manifested by it whether in a way of simple goodness only or in a way of Justice or in a way of Mercy till he should foresee off the Tower of foreknowledge how that creature should behave itself Our Text speaks not thus For in the place Eph. 1. we have the Lord in his eternal purpose carving out to such and such particular persons an Inheritance and Adoption of Children for that great end of the glory of his grace vers. 11. & 5 6. And Predestination falls out not according to our carriage but according to the purpose of him who works all things that he works after the Counsel of his own will without consulting our will and if you inquire what are these all things certainly we must take it simply for all things that are at all or have any real being His power his hand must be in it and that according to his own Counsel without respect had to the Creatures will according to his own good pleasure vers. 5. 11. He had no sooner a thought of working and making man but this purpose was in it to make such men to the praise of his glorious grace and to fore-ordain them to an inheritance and others to make or fit them for destruction as the Text Rom. 9 22. bears Herein the great & unsearchable wisdom of God appears to be a great depth that when he hath a thought of making such a vessel he hath this purpose in the bosom of it what use it shall be for whether for honour or dishonour and accordingly in his Counsel he prepares it either to glory or destruction and in time makes it for its use either by sin or grace Here is the depth that cannot be sounded by mortal men O the depths of the riches both of his wisdom & knowledge How unchearchable are his judgements and his ways past finding out The whole tenor of the Scripture shows that his Majesty was not surprised and taken at unawares by Adam's fall but that it fell out according to the determined counsel of his will if he knew it and suffered it to be certainly he permitted it because he willed it should be so and why may he not determine that in his holy Counsel which his wisdom can disabuse to the most glorious end that can be Why may not he decree such a fall who out of man's ruins can erect such a glorious Throne for his grace and justice to triumph into It is more for the glory of his infinite wisdom to bring good and such a good out of evil then only to permit that good should be Then such Doctrine is repugnant to the Lords absolute power and Sovereignty which is Paul's Sanctuary whether he flees unto as a sure refuge from the stroke or blast of carnal reason Hath not the Potter power over the clay to make of the same lump one vessel to honour another to dishonour vers. 21. Hath not the Lord more absolute dominion over us than the Potter hath over the clay for the Potter made not the clay but the Lord hath made us of nothing so that simply and absolutely we are his and not our own and so he hath an absolute right to make any use of us he pleaseth without consulting our wills and diserving Can any man quarrel him for preparing him to destruction seeing he owes nothing to any man but may do with his own what he pleaseth what if God willing to make known his Power and justice and wrath have fitted and prepared some vessels for destruction with which in time he bears much & forbears long using much patience towards them Can any man challenge him for it vers. 22. And what if God willing to make known the riches of his grace have prepared some vessels to glory shall any man's eye be evil because he is good vers. 23. Shall man be left to be his own disposer and the shapes of his own fortune Sure it was not so with Esau & jacob they were alike in the womb if there was any prerogative Esau the eldest had it they had done neither good nor evil what difference was then between them to cast the balance of his Will Can you imagine any Indeed carnal reason will say that God fore-knew what they would do and so he chose or rejected them But why doth not the Apostle answer thus unto that objection of unrighteousness in God vers. 14. It had been ready and plain but rather he opposes the will and calling of God to all works past or to come he gives no answer but this he will have mercy because he will have mercy that is the supreme rule of righteousness and hitherto must we flee as the surest Anchor of our hope & stability our salvation depends not on our willing or running on our resolving or doing but upon this primitive good pleasure and will of God on which hangs our willing & running and obtaining It is certainly an unorderly order to ●…ee unto that in men for the cause of God's Eternal Counsels which only flows from his Eternal Counsel Eph. 1. 4. Hath he chosen us because he did foreknow that we would be holy and without blame as men think or hath he not rather chosen us to be holy and without blame He cannot behold any good or evil in the creatures till his will pass a sentence upon it for from whence should it come Seeing then this order and contrivance of God's purpose is but feigned it seems to some that the very contrary method were more suitable even in the rules of wisdom You know what is first in men's intention is last in execution the end is first in their mind than the means to compass that end but in practice again men fall first upon the means and by them come at length to attain their end therefore these who would have that first as it were in God's mind which he doth first do even cross common Rules of reason in humane affairs It would seem then say some that this method might do well that what is last in his execution was first in his purpose and by him intended as the end of what he doth first and so some do rank his decrees that he had first a thought of glorifying men and to attain this end he purposed to give him grace and for this purpose to suffer him to fall & for all to create him But we must not look thus upon it either it were a foolish & ridiculous counsel unbeseeming the poor wisdom of man to purpose the glorifying of man whom he had not yet determined to create therefore we should always have in our mind that the great end and project of all is the glory of his mercy and justice upon men and this we may conceive is first in order neither men's life nor death but God's glory to be manifested upon men Now to attain this glorious end with one inclination or determination of his will not to be distinguished or severed he condescends upon all that is done in time as one complete and entire mean of glorifying himself so that one of them is not before another in his mind but all together for attaining this he purposes to create man he ordains the fall of all men into a state of sin and misery & some of these upon whom he had resolved to show his mercy he gives them to Christ to be redeemed & restored by grace Others he fore-ordains them to destructions & all this at once without any such order as we imagine Now though he intent all this at once and together yet it doth not hence follow that all these must be executed together as when a man intends to build a house for his own accommodation there are many things in the house upon which he hath not several purposes But yet they must be severally and in some order done First the foundation laid than the Walls raised than the roof put on yet he did not intend the foundation to be for the walls or the walls for the roof but altogether for himself Even so the Lord purposes to glorify his mercy and justice upon a certain number of persons and for this end to give them a being to govern their falling into misery to raise some out of it by a Mediator and to live some into it to destruction & all this as one entire mean to illustrate his glorious mercy and justice but these things themselves must be done not all at once but one before another either as their own nature require or as he pleaseth the very nature of the thing requires that man be created before he sin that he sin and fall before a Mediator suffer for his sin and that he have a being before he have a glorious being and that he have a sinful and miserable being before he have this glorious and gracious being which may manifest the grace and mercy of God But it is the pleasure of the Lord that determines in what time and order Christ shall suffer either before or after the conversion of sinners or whether sinners shall presently be instated in glory and perfectly delivered from all sin at their first conversion or only in part during this life Seeing then this was his Majesty's purpose to make so many vessels of honour upon whom he might glorify the riches of his grace end mercy And so many vessels of wrath upon whom he might show the power of his anger You may think what needed all this business of man's redemption might not God have either preserved so many as he had appointed to glory from falling into sin and misery or at least have freely pardoned their sin without any satisfaction and out of the exceeding riches of his mercy and power have as well not imputed sin to them at all as imputed their sins to Christ who was not guilty What needed his giving so many to the Son and the Sons receiving them What needed these mysteries of Incarnation of Redemption seeing he might have done all this simply without so much pains and expense why did he choose this way Indeed that is the wonder and if there were no more end for it but to confound mortality that dare ask him what he doth it is enough Should he be call●… down to the Bar of Humane Reason to give an account of his matters Who hath known the mind of the Lord or being his counsellor hath taught him That is in the depths of his unsearchable understanding that he chose to go this round & to compass his end by such a strange circuit of means when he might have done it simply and directly without so much pain yet it is not so hidden but he hath revealed as much as may satisfy or silence all flesh For we must consider that his great project is not simply to manifest the glory of his goodness but of his gracious and merciful goodness the most tender and excellent of all & therefore man must be miserable sinful and vile that the riches of his grace may appear in choosing and saving such persons But that it may appear also how excellent he could make man and how vain all created perfections are being left to themselves therefore he first made man righteous and being fallen into sin and misery he might strait way have restored him without more ado but his purpose was to give an exact demonstration of mercy tempered and mixed with justice and therefore he finds out the satisfaction in his eternal Counsel I have found a ransom and so he chooses Jesus Christ to be the head of these chosen souls in whom they might be again restored unto eternal life and these souls he in his everlasting purpose gives over to the Son to be redeemed and these the Son receives And thus the glory of mercy and justice shines most brightly yea more brightly than he had at first pardoned O how doth his love and mercy appear that he will transfer our sins upon his Holy Son and accept that Redemption for us and his Justice that a Redemption & price he must have even from his Son when once he comes in the stead of sinners and in this point do the Songs of Eternity concentre Rom. 9 22. and Eph. 1. 11. WE are now upon a high subject high indeed for an eminent Apostle much more above our reach the very consideration of God's infinite wisdom might alone suffice to restrain our unlimited thoughts and serve to sober our minds with the challenge of our own ignorance and darkness yet the vain and wicked mind of man will needs quarrel with God & enter the lists of disputation with him about his righteousness and wisdom in the Counsel of Election and Reprobation But who art thou O man that repliest against God or desputes ver 20. This is a thing not to be disputed but believed and if ye will believe no more than ye can comprehend by sense or reason than ye give his Majesty no more credit than to weak mortal man Whatever secret thoughts do rise up in thy heart when thou hearest of Gods fore-ordaining men to Eternal life without previous foresight or consideration of their doings & preparing men to eternal wrath for the praises of his Justice without previous consideration of their deservings & passing a definitive sentence upon the end of all men before they do either good or evil When ever any secret ●…urmises rise in thy heart against this learn to answer this enter not the lists of disputation with corrupt reason but put in this bridle of the fear of God's greatness and the conscience of thy own baseness & labour to restrain thy undaunted & wild mind by it Ponder that well who thou art who disputes who God is against whom thou disputes & if thou have spoken once thou wilt speak no more what thou art who is as clay form out of nothing what he is who is the former and hath not the Potter power over the clay Consider but how great wickedness it is so much as to question him or ask an account of his matters after you have found his will to be the cause of all things then to inquire further into a cause of his will which is alone the self-rule of righteousness it is to seek something above his will and to reduce his Majesty into the order of Creatures it is almost abominable usurpation and sacrilege for both it robes him of his royal prerogative and instates the base footstool in his Throne But know that certainly God will overcome when he is judged Psa. 51. 6. If thou judge him he will condemn thee if thou opug●… his absolute and holy Decrees he will hold thee fast bound by them to thy condemnation he needeth no other defence but to call out thy own conscience against thee & bind thee over to destruction therefore as on saith well Let the rashness of men be restrained from seeking that which is not lest peradventure they find that which is Seek not a reason of his purposes lest peradventure thou find thy own death and damnation enfolded in them Paul mentions two Objections of carnal & fleshly wisdom against this Doctrine of Election and reprobation which indeed contain the sum of all that is vented and invented even to this day to defile the spotless truth of God all the whisper of men tend to one of these two either to justify themselves or to accuse God of unrighteousness And shall any do it and be guiltless I confess some oppose this Doctrine not so much out of an intention of accusing God as out of a preposterous & ignorant zeal for God even as jobs friends did speak much for God nay but it was not well spoken they did but speak wickedly for him some speeak much to the defence of his righteousness and holiness and under pretence of that plea make it inconsistent with these to fore-ordain to life or death without the foresight of their carriage But shall they speak wickedly for God or will he accept their person He who looks into the secrets of their heart knows the rise and bottom of such defences and apologies for his Holiness to be partly self-love partly narrow and limited thoughts of him drawing him down to the determination of his own greatest enemy carnal reason Since men will ascribe him no righteousness but such a one of their own shaping conformed to their own model do they not indeed rob Him of His Holiness and Righteousness I find two or three Objections which it may be reduced to this Head First it seems unrighteousness with God to predestinate men to eternal death with out their own evil deserving or any forethought of it that before any man had a being God should have been in his Counsel fitting so many to destruction Is it not a strange mocking of the creatures to punish them for that sin and corruption unto which by his eternal Counsel they were fore-ordained This is even that which Paul objects to himself is there unrighteousness with God Is it not unrighteousness to hate Esau before he deserves it Is he not unrighteous to adjudge him to death before he do evil vers. 14. Let Paul answer for us God forbid Why there needs no more answer but all thoughts or words which may in the least reflect upon his holiness are abomination though we could not tell how it is righteous and holy with him to do it yet this we must hold that it is It is his own property to comprehend the reason of his Counsels it is our duty to believe what he reveals of them without further enquiry he tells us that this it is clearly in this Chapter this far then we must believe he tells us not how it is then further we should not desire to learn God in keeping silence of that may put us to silence & make us conceive that there is a depth to be admired not sounded Yet he goeth a little further and indeed as high as can be to Gods will he hath mercy on whom he will and whom he will he hardeneth now further he cannot go for there is nothing above this we may descend from this but we cannot ascend or rise above it But is this any answer to the Argument A Sophister could press it further and take advantage from that very ground What is not this to establish a mere tyranny in the Lord that he doth all things of mere will and pleasure distributes rewards & punishments without previous consideration of men's carriage But here we must stand and go no further than the Scriptures walks with us what ever reasons or causes may be assigned yet certainly we must at length come up thither All things are because he so willed and why he willed we should not ask a reason because his will is supreme reason and the very self-rule of all Righteousness Therefore if once we know his will we should presently conclude that it is most righteous and holy If that evasion of the foreknowledge of men's sins and impenitency had been found ●…id certainly Paul would have answered so & not ●…ve had his refuge to the absolute will and pleasure ●…f God which seems to perplex it more but he knew well that there could nothing of that kind whether good or evil either actually be without his will or be to come without the determination of the same will and so could not be foreseen without the Counsel of his will upon it and therefore it had been but a poor shi●… to have refuge to that starting hole of foreknowledge out of which he must presently flee to the will & pleasure of God & so he betakes him strait way to that he must hold at and opposes that will to man's doings It is not of him that willeth etc. If he had meant only that jacob and Esau had actually done neither good nor evil he needed not return to the sanctuary of God's will for still it might be said it is of him ●…hat runs and wills and not of God's will as the first Original because their good and evil foreseen did move him to such love and hatred It is all alike of works of men whether these works be present or to come Therefore I would advise every one of you what ever ye conceive of his Judgement or Mercy if he have showed mercy to you O then rest not in thyself but arise and ascend till thou come to the height of his eternal free purpose and if thou conceive thy sin & misery and judgement thou may go up also to his holy counsels for the glory of his Name & silence thyself with them but it shall be most expedient for thee in the thought of thy miseries to return always within and to search the corruption of thy nature which may alone make thee hateful enough to God ●…f thou search thy own conscience it will stop thy mouth & make thee guilty before God Let not the ●…hought of his eternal counsels diminish the convi●…tion of thy guilt or the hatred of thyself for sin and ●…orruption but dwell more constantly upon this because thou art called and commanded so to do On●… thing remains fixed though he hath fore-orda●… men to death yet none shall be damned till his co●… science be ●…orced to say that he is worthy of it a thousand times There is another whispering and suggestion of the wicked hearts of men against the Predestination of God which insinuates that God is an accepter of Persons & so accuses him of partial and unrighteous dealing because he deals not equally with all men do ye not say this within yourselves ●…f he find all guilty Why does he not punish all Why does he spare some And if he look upon all men in his first and Primitive thought of them as neither doing good nor evil Why does he not have mercy on all But is thy eye evil because he is good May he not do with his own as he pleases Because he is merciful to some souls shall men be displeased & do well to be angry Or because he of his own free grace extends it shall he be bound by a Rule to do so with all Is not he both just and merciful and is it not meet that both be showed forth If he punish thee thou canst not complain for thou deserves it If he show mercy why should any quarrel for it is free & undeserved grace by saving some he shows his grace by destroying others he shows what all deserve God is so far from being an accepter of persons according to their qualifications & conditions that he finds nothing in any creature to cast the balance of his choice if he did choose men for their works sake or outward privileges & others for the want of the●…e than it might be charged on him but he rather goes over all these nay he finds none of these in his first view of men he beholds them all alike and nothing to determine his mind to one more nor another so that his choice proceedeth wholly from within his own breast I will have mercy on whom I will But than thirdly our heart's object against the righteousness of God that this fatal chain of Predestination overturns all exhortations & persuasions to godliness all care & diligence in well-doing For thus do many profane souls conceive If he be in one mind and who can turn him Then What need I pray since he hath already determined what shall be and what shall become of me his purpose will take effect whether I pray or pray not my prayer will not make him change his mind and if it be in his mind he will do it If he have appointed to save saved we shall be live as we list if he hath appointed us to death die we must live as we can Therefore men in this desperate estate throw themselves headlong into all manner of iniquity and that with quietness & peace Thus do many souls perish upon the stumbling stone laid in Zion and wrest the Truths and Counsels of God to their own destruction even quite contrary to their true intent & meaning Paul Eph. 1. 4. speaks another language He hath chosen us in him that we should be holy and without blame His eternal Counsel of life is so far from losing the reins to men's lusts that it is the only certain foundation of holiness It is the very spring and fountain from whence our sanctification flows by an infallible course This chain of God counsels concerning us hath also linked together the end and the means glory & grace happiness and holiness that there is no destroying of them Without holiness it is impossible to see God so that those who expect the one without any desire of & endeavour after the other they are upon a vain attempt to lose the links of this eternal chain Rom. 8. It is the only eternal choosing love of God which separated so many souls from the common misery of men it is that only which in time doth appear & rise as it were from under ground in the streams of fruits of sanctification and if the ordinance of life stand so shall the ordinance of fruits joh. 15. 16. Eph. 2. 9 If he have appointed thee to life it is certain he has also ordained the●… to fruits and chosen thee to be holy so that what ever soul casts by the study of this there is too gross a brand of pe●…dition upon its forehead it is true all is already determined with him & he is incapable of any change or shadow of ●…urning nothing then wants but he is in one mind about it and thy prayer cannot turn him Yet a godly soul will pray with more confidence because it knows that as he hath determined upon all its wants and receipts so he hath appointed this to be the very way of obtaining what it wants this is the way of familiarity and grace he takes with his own to make them call and he performs his purpose in answer to their cry But suppose there were nothing to be expected by prayer yet I say that is not the thing thou shouldest look to but what is required of thee by thy duty to do that simply out of regard to his though thou should never profit by it this is true obedience to serve him for his own pleasure though we had no expectation of advantage by it certainly he doth not require thy supplications for this end to move him and incline his affections toward thee but rather as a testimony of thy homage & subjection to him therefore though they cannot make him of another mind than he is or hasten performance before his purposed time so that in reality they have no influence upon him yet in praying & praying diligently thou declares thy obligation to him and respect to his Majesty which is all thou hast to look to and to commit the event solely to his good pleasure The 2. Objection Paul mentions tends to justify men Why then doth ye yet find fault who hath resisted his will Since by his will he hath chained us with an inevitable necessi●…y to sin what can we do Men cannot wrestle with him why then doth he condemn & accuse them But who art thou O man that disputes against God as if Paul had said thou art a man and so I am why then looks thou for an answer from me let us rather both consider whom we speak of whom thou accusest and whom I defend it is God what art thou then to charge him or what am I ●…o to clear Him Believing ignorance is better than presumptuous knowledge especially in these forbidden secrets in which it is more concerning to be ignorant which faith and admiration than to know with presumption disputes thou O man I will wonder reply thou I will believe doth it become thee the clay to speak so to the former Why hast thou made me thus Let the consideration of the absolute right and dominion of God over us more than any creature hath over another yea or over themselves let that restrain us and keep us within bounds He may do with us what he pleaseth for his own honour and praise but it is his will that we should leave all the blame to ourselves and rather behold the evident cause of our destruction in our sin which is nearer us than to search into a secret and incomprehensible cause in God's Counsel Heb. 11. 3. Through Faith we understand that the worlds were made etc. with Gen. 1. WE are come down from the Lords purposes & decrees to the execution of them which is partly in the works of Creation and partly on the works of Providence The Lord having resolved upon it to manifest his own glory did in that due and predeterminate time apply his own power to this business Having in great wisdom conceived a frame of the world in his mind from all eternity he at length brings it forth and makes it visible We shall not insist upon the particular story of it as it is set down in general but only point at some things for our instruction First ye see who is the maker of all things of whom all things visible and invisible are it is God And by this he useth to distinguish himself from idols and the vanities of the Nations that he is that self-being who gave all things a being who made the heavens & the earth This is even the most glorious manifestation of an invisible and eternal being These things that are made show him forth If a man were travelling into a far Country and wandered into a wilderness where he could see no inhabitants but only houses villages and cities built he would strait way conceive there hath been some workman at this this hath not been done casually but by the Art of some reasonable creatures how much more may we conceive when we look on the Fabric of this world how the heavens are stretched out for a Tent to cover them that dwell on the earth and the earth settled and established as a firm foundation for men & living creatures to abide on how all are done in wisdom & discretion we cannot but strait way imagine that there must be some curious and wise contriver and mighty Creator of these things It is here said that by Faith we understand that the worlds were made Indeed faith only in the word of God gives true and distinct understanding of it Innumerable have been the wander and mistakes of the wise of the world about this matter wanting this lamp & light of the Word of God which alone gives a true and perfect account of this thing many strange dotages and fancies have they fallen into yet certain it is that there is so much of the glory of God engraven without on the creature and so much reason imprinted on the souls of men within that if it were not for that judicial plague of the Lords darkening their understandings who do not glorify him in as far as they know him no man could seriously & soberly consider on the visible world but he would be constrained to conceive an invisible God Would not every one think within himself all these things so excellent as they are cannot be out of chance neither could they make themselves so that of necessity they must owe what they are to something beside themselves and of this it is certain that it cannot have its original from any other thing else there should be no end therefore it must be some supreme being that is from no other and of which are all things But next consider when these things were made in the beginning and what beginning is that certainly the beginning of the creation & of time to exclude Eternity what ever may be said of that subtlety that God might have created the world from all Eternity for it appears even in created things that there is no necessity of the precedent existence of the cause since in the same instant that many things are into being in the same do they bring forth their effects as the Sun in the first instant of its creation did illuminate yet certainly we believe from the word of the Lord that the world is actually but of a few thousand years standing six are not yet out run since the first creating word was spoken & since the spirit of the Lord moved upon the waters & this we know also that if it had pleased his Majesty he might have created the world many thousand years before that So that it might have been at this day of ten hundred times ten thousand years standing and he might have given it as many years as there are numbers of men & Angels Beasts yea & pickles of sand upon the sea-coast But it was his good pleasure that that very point of time in which it was created should be the beginning of time and from that he gives us a History of the World upon which the Church of God may rest and so seek no other God but the God that made these heavens and earth This will not satisfy the ungodly curiosity and vanity of men's spirits who will reproach the Maker for not applying sooner to his work and sitting idle such an unmeasurable space of Eternity Men wonder what he could be doing all that time if we may call it time which hath no beginning and how he was employed I beseech you restrain such thoughts in you with the fear of his glorious & incomprehensible Majesty who gives no account of his matters It is enough that this is his good pleasure to begin then & he conceals his reasons to prove the sobriety of our faith that all men may learn an absolute and simple stooping to his Majesty's pleasure Remember that which a godly man answered some wanton curious wit who in scorn demanded the same of him He was preparing hell for curious and proud fools said he Let us then keep our hearts as with a bridle and repress their boundless wander within bounds lest we by looking upward before the beginning of the world to see what God was doing fall headlong into the eternal pit of destruction & into the hands of the living God God hath showed himself marvellously these six thousand years in the upholding this world if we did consider these continued & repeated testimonies of his glory we would be overwhelmed with what we find though we search no further and suppose we would please ourselves to imagine that it had been created many years before yet that doth not silence & stop the insolence of men's minds for it always might be enquired what the Lord was doing before that time For Eternity is as immensurable before those multiplied thousands of years as before naked six Let our imagination sit down to subtract from Eternity as many thousands as it can multiply by all the varieties and numbers in the world yet there is nothing abated from Eternity it is as infinite in extent before that as before the present six thousand and yet we may conceive that the Lord hath purposed in the beginning of the world to declare more manifestly to our understanding his Eternity his self-sufficiency & liberty His Eternity that when we hear of how short standing the creature is we may go upward to God himself & his everlasting being before the foundation of it were laid may shine forth more brightly to our admiration when we can strecth our conceptions so immensurably as far beyond the beginning of the world and yet God is still beyond the outmost teach of our imagination for who can find out the beginning of that which hath not a beginning to be found out and our most extended apprehensions fall it finitly short of the days of the Ancient of days O how glorious then must his being be & how boundless His self-sufficiency & perfection doth herein appear that from such an inconceiveable space he was as perfect and blessed in himself as now the Creatures add nothing to his perfection or satisfaction he was as well pleased with his own al-comprehending-beeing & with the very thought and purpose of making this world as now he is when it is made the Idea of it in his mind gave him as great contentment as the work itself when it is done O to conceive this a right it would fill a soul with astonishing & ravishing thoughts of his blindness Poor men weary if they be not one way or other employed without so indigent are all Creatures at home that they would weary if they went not abroad without themselves but to think how absolutely God is well pleased with himself and how all imaginable perfections can add nothing to his eternal self complacency and delight in his own being It would certainly ravish a soul to delight in God also And as his self-sufficiency doth herein appear so his liberty and freedom is likewise manifested in it If the world had been eternal who would have thought that it was free for his Majesty to make it or not But that it had flowed from his glorious being with as natural and necessary a resultance as light from the body of the Sun But now it appears to all men that for his pleasure they are made and we are created that it was simply the free and absolute motion of his Will that gave a being to all things which he could withhold at his pleasure or so long as he pleased Thirdly we have it to consider in what condition he made all these things very good and that to declare his goodness & wisdom the creature may well be called a large volume extended and spread out before the eyes of all men to be seen & read of all It is certain if these things all of them in their orders and harmonies or any of them in their beings & qualities were considered in relation to God's Majesty they would teach and instruct the fool & the wise man both in the knowledge of God How many impressions hath he made in the creatures which reflect upon any seeing eye the very Image of God to consider of what a  & huge frame the Heavens and the earth are and yet but one Throne to his Majesty the footstool whereof is this Earth wherein vain men erect many Palaces To consider what a multitude of creatures what variety of Fowls in the heaven and what multiplicity of Beasts upon the earth what Armies as Moses speaks Gen. 2. 1. and yet that none of them are all useless but all of them have some special ends & purposes they serve for so that there is no discord nor disorder no superfluity nor want in all this monarchy of the world all of them conspire together in such a discord or disagreeing harmony to one great purpose to declare the wisdom of him who made every thing beautiful in its time and every thing most fit and opposite for the use it was created for so that the whole earth is full of his goodness he makes every creature good one to another to supply one another's necessity and then notwithstanding of so many different natures & dispositions between Elements and things composed of them yet all these contrarieties have such a commixion and are so moderated by his suppream Art that they make up jointly one Excellent and sweet Harmony or beautiful proportion in the World O how wise must he be who alone contrived it all We can do nothing except we have some pattern & copy before us but now upon this ground which God hath laid Man may fancy many superstructures but when he stretched out the heaven and laid the foundation of the earth Who being his Counsellor taught him At whom did his Spirit take Counsel Certainy none of all these things would have entered into the heart of man to consider or contrive Isa. 40. 12 13. Some ruder Spirits do gaze upon the huge and prodigious pieces of creation as Whales and Elephants etc. But a wise Solomon will go to the School of the Ant to learn the wisdom of God and choose out such a simple and mean creature for the object of his admiration certainly there are wonders in the smallest and most inconsiderable creatures which Faith can contemplate O the curious ingeny and draught of the finger of God in the composition of Flees of Bees flowers etc. men ordinarily admire more some extraordinary things but the truth is the whole course of nature is one continued wonder and that greater than any of the Lords works without the Line The strait and regular line of the wisdom of God who in one constant course and tenor hath ordained the actions of all his creatures comprehends more wonders and mysteries as the course of the Sun the motion of the Sea the hanging of the Earth in the empty place upon nothing these we say are the wonders indeed and comprehend something in them which all the wonders of Egypt and the Wilderness cannot parallel But it is the stupid security of men that are only awakened by some new and unusual passages of God's works beyond that strait Line of Nature Then fourthly look upon the power of God in making all of nothing which is expressed here in Heb. 11. There is no Artificer but he must have matter or his Art will fail him and he can do nothing The Mason must have timber and stones laid to his hand or he cannot build a house the Goldsmith must have gold or silver ere he can make a Cup or a Ring take the most curious & quick inventor of them all they must have some matter to work upon or their knowledge is no better than ignorance all that they can do is to give some shape or form or to fashion that in some new model which had a being before so that what ever men have done in the world their work are all made up of these things which appear and Art & skill to form & fashion that excellently which before was in another mould and fashion but he needs not sit idle for want of materials and therefore in the beginning he made Heaven and Earth not as they now are but he made first the matter and substance of this Universe but it was as yet a rude and confused Chaos or Mass all in one lump without difference but then his Majesty shows his Wisdom and Art his excellent invention in the following days of the creation in ordering and beautifying & forming the world as it is and that his power might be the more known For how easy is it for him to do all this There needs no more for it but a word let it be & it is He spoke and it was done He commanded and it stood fast Not a word pronounced and audibly composed of Letters and Syllables mistake it not so but a word inwardly form as it were in his infinite Spirit even the inclination and beck of his will suffices for his great works Ye see what labour and pains we have in our business how we toil & sweat about it what wrestle & strive in all things we do but behold what a great work is done without any pain and travel It is a laborious thing to travel through a parcel of this earth which is yet but as the point of the Universe It is troublesome to lift or carry a little piece of stone or clay it 's a toil even to look upward and number the stars of Heaven but it was no toil no difficult thing to his Majesty to stretch out these Heavens in such an infinite compass for as large as the Circumference of them is yet it is as easy to him to compass them as it is to us to span a finger-length or two It is no difficulty to him to take up hills and mountains as the dust of the balance in his hand & weigh them in scales Hath he not chained the vast & huge Mass of the wighty earth and Sea in the midst of the empty place without a supporter without foundations or pillars He hangeth it on nothing What is it I pray you that supports the Clouds who is it that binds up their waters in such a way that the clouds are not rend under them even though there be more abundance of water in them than is in all the Rivers & waters round about us job. 26. 7 8. Who is it that restrains & sets bounds to the Sea that the waters thereof though they roar yet do not overflow the land But this Almighty Jehovah whose Decree & commandment is the very compass the bulwark over which they cannot flow & all this he doth with more facility than men can speak If there were a creature that could do all things by speaking that were a strange power but yet that creature might be wearied with speaking much but he speaks and it is done his word is a creating word of power which makes things that are not to be and there is no wearying of him besides for he is Almighty and cannot saint but why then did he take six days for his work might he not with one word of his power have commanded this world to issue out of his omnipotent virtue thus perfect as it is What needed all this compass Why took he six days who in a moment could have done it all with as much facility Indeed herein the Lord would have us to adore his wisdom as well as his power he proceeds from more imperfect things to more perfect from a confused Chaos to a beautiful World from motion to rest to teach man to walk through this wilderness and valley of Tears this shapeless World into a more beautiful habitation through the toss of time into an everlasting Sabbath of rest whether their works shall follow them & they shall rest from their labours He would teach us to take a steadfast look of his work and that we should be busied all the days of our pilgrimage and sojourning in the consideration of the glorious characters of God upon the work of his hands we see that it is but passing looks and glances of God's glory we take in the creatures but the Lord would have us to make it our work and business all the week through as it was his to make them He would in this teach us his loving care of men who would not create Man till he had made for him so glorious an house replenished with all good things It had been a darksome & irksome life to have lived in the first Chaos without light but he hath stretched over him the Heavens as his Tent and set lights in them to distinguish times and seasons and ordained the Waters their proper bounds and peculiar Channels and then maketh the Earth to bring forth all manner of fruits & when all is thus disposed than he c●…eats man To this God the Maker of Heaven and Earth be glory and praise Heb. 11. 3. & Heb. 1. 14. Are they not all ministering Spirits sent forth to minister etc. THere is nothing more generally known than this that God at the beginning made the heaven and the earth and all the hosts of them the upper or the celestial the lower or sublunary World but yet there is nothing so little believed or laid to heart By faith we understand that the Worlds were made It is one of the first Articles of the Creed indeed Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth but I fear that Creed is not written in the Tables of flesh that is the heart There is a twofold mistake among men about the point of believing some and the commoner sort do think it is no other than simply to know such a thing and not to question it to hear it & not to contradict it or object against it Therefore they do flatter themselves in their own eyes and do account themselves to have faith in God because they can say over all the Articles of their belief they think the Word is true and they never doubted of it But I beseech you consider how greatly you mistake a main matter of weighty concernment If you will search it as before the Lord you will find you have no other belief of these things than children use to have whom you teach to think or say any thing there is no other ground of your not questioning these truths of the Gospel but because you never consider on them and so they pass for current Do not deceive yourselves with the heart man believes it is a heart-businesse a soul-matter no light and useless opinion or empty expression which you have learned from a child You say you believe in God the Maker of Heaven and Earth and so say children who doubt no more of it than ye and yet in sadness they do not retire within their own hearts to think what a one he is they do not remember him in the works of his hands there is no more remembrance of that true God than if no such thing were known So it is among you you would think we wronged you if we said ye believed not that God made the world & yet certainly all men have not this faith whereby they understand truly in their heart the Power & Wisdom and Goodness of God appearing in it that is the gift of God only given to them that shall be saved If I should say that you believe not the most common Principles of Religion you would think it hard & yet there is no doubt of it that the most common truths are least believed and the reason is plain because men have learned them by tongue and there is none that question them & therefore very few ever in sadness and in earnest consider of them You say that God made Heaven & Earth but how often do you think on that God And how often do you think on him with admiration Do ye at all wonder at the glory of God when you gaze on his works Is not this volume always observant before your eyes every thing showing and declaring this glorious Maker yet who is it that taketh more notice of him than if he were not at all such is the general stupidity of men that they never ponder & digest these things in their heart till their soul receive the stamp of the glory & greatness of the invisible God which shines most brightly in these things that are visible and be in some measure transformed in their minds and conformed to these glorious appearances of him which are engraven in great Characters in all that do at all appear There is another mistake peculiar to some especially the Lords people that they think faith is limited to some few particular and more unknown and hid truths and mysteries of the Gospel Ye think that it is only true believing to embrace some special gospel-truths which the multitude of people know nothing of as the tenor of the Covenant of Grace and of Works etc. And for other common Principles of Gods making and ruling the World you think that a common thing to believe them But saith the Apostle By faith we understand that the worlds were made it is that same faith spoken of in the end of Chap. 10. by which the just shall live So then here is a point of saving faith to believe with the heart in God the Creator and Father Almighty to take a view of God's Almighty Power and sufficient Goodness and infinite Wisdom shining in the Fabric of the World & that with delight and admiration at such a glorious Fountain-being to rise up to his Majesty by the degrees of his creatures this is the climbing and aspiring nature of Faith You see how much those Saints in the Old Testament were in this and certainly they had more excellent and beseeming thoughts of God than we It should make Christians ashamed that both Heathens who had no other Book opened to them but that of Nature did read it more diligently than we And that the Saints of Old who had not such a plain testimony of God as we now have yet did learn more out of the Book of the Creature than we do both out of it and the Scriptures We look on all things with such a careless eye and do not observe what may be found of God in them I think verily there are many Christians and Ministers of the Gospel who do not ascend into those high and ravishing thoughts of God in his being and working as would become even mere Naturalists How little can they speak out of his Majesty or think as it becomes his transcendent glory There is little in Sermons or discourses that holds out any singular admiring thoughts of a Deity but in all these we are so common and careless as if he were an Idol It is not in vain that it is expressed thus By faith we know that the worlds were made for certainly the firm believing & pondering of this one truth would be of great moment and use to a Christian in all his journey You may observe in what stead it is to the Saints in Scripture This raises up a soul to high thoughts and suitable conceptions of his glorious Name & so conforms the worship of his Majesty unto his excllency it puts the stamp of Divinity upon it spiritualizes the thoughts and affections so as to put a true difference between the true God and the gods that made not the Heavens & the Earth Alas the worship of many Christians speaks out no diviner or higher object than a creature it is so cold so formal and empty so vain & wand'ring there is no more respect testified unto him than we would give to some eminent person You find in the Scripture how the strain of the Saints affections and devotion rises when they take up God in his absolute Supremacy above the creatures & look on him as the alone fountain of all that is worth the name of perfection in them A soul in that consideration cannot choose but assign unto him the most eminent seat in the heart & gather those affections which are scattered after the creatures into one channel to pour them out on him who is all in all and hath all that which is lovely in the creatures in an eminent degree Therefore know what you are form for to show forth his praise to gather and take up from the creatures all the fruits of his praise and offer them up to his Majesty This was the end of man & this is the end of a Christian you are made for this and you were redeemed for this to read upon the volumes of his works & word and from thence extract songs of praise to his Majesty As this would be of great moment to the right worshipping of God and to the exercise of true holiness so it is most affectual to the establishing of a soul in the confidence of the promises of God When a soul by faith understands the world was made by God than it relies with confidence upon that same word of God as a word of power and hopes against hope There are many things in the Christians way betwixt him and glory which look as insuperable thou art often emptied into nothing and stripped naked of all encouragements and there is nothing remaining but the word of God's promises to thee and to the Church which seems contrary to sense and reason Now I say if thou do indeed believe that the world was made by God then out of all Question thou may silence all thy fears with this one thought God created this whole frame out of nothing he commanded the light to shine out of darkness then certainly he can give a being to his own promises is not his word of promise as sure and effectual as his word of command This is the grand encouragement of the Church both offered by God from Isa. Chap. 40. and made use of by his Saints as David Hezekiah etc. What is it would disquiet a soul if it were reposed on this Rock of creating power and faithfulness This would always sound in its ears faint not weary not jacob I am God and none else the portion of jacob is not like others be it inward or outward difficulties suppose Hell and Earth combined together let all the enemies of a soul or of the Church assemble here is one for all the God that made the Heaven and the Earth can speak and it is done command and it stands fast He creates peace and who then can make trouble when he gives quietness to a Nation or to a person Almighty power works in Saints and for Saints let us trust in him Gen. 1. 26 27. And God said Let us make man after our own Image with Eph. 4. 24. and Heb. 3. 10. WHile we descend from the meditation of the glory of God shining in the Heavens in Sun Moon and Stars unto the consideration of the Lords framing of Man after this manner we may fall into admiration with the Psalmist Psalm 8. Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him or the Son of man that thou shouldest remember him It might indeed drown us in wonder and astonish us to think what special notice He hath taken of such a creature from the very beginning and put more respect upon him then upon all the more Excellent works of his hands you find here the Creation of man expressed in other terms than was used before He said let there be light and it was let there be dry land etc. But it is not such a simple word as that but let us make man according to our image as if God had called a consultation about it what was there any more difficulty in this then the rest of his works Needed he any advisement about his frame and constitution No certainly for there was a great work of power as curious pieces of Art & wisdom which were instantly done upon his word He is not a man that he should advise or consult as there is no difficulty nor impediment in the way of his power He doth all that he pleases ad nutum at his very word or nod so easy are impossibilities to him so there is nothing hard to his wisdom no knot but it can lose nothing so curious or exquisite but he can as curiously contrive it as the most common and gross pieces of the creation and therefore He is wonderful in counsel & excellent in working But ve have here expressed as it were a Counsel of the Holy and Blessed Trinity about Man's Creation to signify to us what peculiar respect He puts upon that Creature and what special notice he takes of us that of his own free purpose and good pleasure he was to single and choose out man from among all other Creatures for the more eminent demonstration of his glorious attributs of grace mercy and justice upon him and likewise to point out the excellency that God did stamp upon man in his Creation beyond the rest of the creatures as the Apostle shows the excellency of Christ above Angels To which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son Heb. 1. 5. So we may say of which of the creatures said he at any time come let us make them in our image after our likeness O how should this make us listen to hear earnest to know what man once was how magnified of God and set above the works of his hands There is a great desire in men to search into their Original and to trace backward the dark footsteps of antiquity especially if they be put in expectation of attaining any honourable or memorable extraction How will men love to hear of the worth of their Ancestors But what a stupidity doth possess the most part in relation to the high fountain and head of all that they do not aim so high as Adam to know the very estate of humane nature hence it is that the most part of people lie still astonished or rather stupid and senseless after this great fall of man because they never look upward to the place and dignity from whence man did fall It is certain you will never rightly understand yourselves or what ye are till ye know first what man was made You cannot imagine what your present misery is till you once know what that selicity was in which man was made let us make man in our image some have called man a little world a compend of the world because he hath heaven and earth as it were married together in him two most remote and distant natures the dust of the earth and the immortal Spirit which is called the breath of God sweetly linked and conjoined together with a disposition and inclination one to another The Lord was in this piece of workmanship as it were to give a narrow and short compend of all his works & so did associate in one piece with his marvellous wisdom being living moving sense and reason which are scattered abroad in the other creatures so that a man carries these wonders about with him which he admires without him At his bare and simple word this huge frame of the world started out of nothing but in this he acts the part of a cunning Artificer let us make man he makes rather than creates first raises the walls of flesh buildeth the house of the body withal its Organs all its Rooms and then he puts in a noble & divine guest to dwell in it He breathes in it the breath of life he encloseth as it were an Angel within it and marrieth these two together into the most admirable union and communion that can be imagined so that they make up one man But that which the Lord looks most into is this work and would have us most to consider is that Image of himself that he did imprint on man let us make man in our own Image there was no creature but it had some engravings of God upon it some curious draughts and lineaments of his Power Wisdom and goodness upon it and therefore the Heavens are said to show forth his glory etc. But whatever they have it is but the lower part of that image some dark shadows and resemblances of him but that which is the last of his works he maketh it according to his own image tanquam ab ultima manu he therein gives out himself to be read and seen of all men as in a glass other creatures are made as it were according to the similitude of his footstep ad similitudinem vestigii but man ad similitudinem faciei according to the likeness of his face in our image after our likeness It is true there is one only Jesus Christ his Son who is the brightness of his glory and the express substantial image of his person who resembleth him perfectly and throughly in all properties so that he is alter idem another-self both in nature properties & operations so like him that he is one with him so that it is rather an oneness than a likeness but man he created according to his own Image and gave him to have some likeness to himself likeness I say not sameness or oneness That is high indeed to be like God The notion and expression of it imports some strange thing how could man be like God who is infinite incomprehensible whose glory is not communicable to another It is true indeed in these incommunicable properties he hath not only no equal but none to liken him in these he is to be adored & admired as infinitely transcending all created perfections & conceptions but yet in others he has been pleased to hold forth himself to be imitated and followed and that this might be done he first stamps them upon man in his first moulding of him & if ye would know what these are particularly the Apostle expresses them Col. 3. 10. in knowledge in righteousness and holiness Eph. 4. 24. This is the Image of him who created him which the Creator stamped on man that he might seek him and set him apart for himself to keep communion with him and to bless him There is a spirit given to man with a capacity to know and to will And here is a draught and lineament of God's face which is not engraven on any sensitive creature It is one of the most noble and excel●…ent operations of life in which a man is most above beasts to reflect upon himself & his Creator There ●…re natural instincts given to other things natural ●…ropensions to those things that are convenient to ●…heir own nature but none of them have so much ●…s a capacity to know what they are or what they ●…ave they cannot frame a notion of him who ●…ave them a being but are only proportionate ●…o the discerning of some sensible things and can ●…each no further He hath limited the eye within co●…ours and light he hath set a bound to the care that cannot act without sounds and so every sense he ●…ath assigned his own proper stanse in which it moves ●…ut he teaches man knowledge and he enlarges the ●…hear of his understanding beyond visible or sensible ●…hings to things invisible to spirits & this capacity ●…e hath put in the soul to know all things and itself ●…mong the rest the eye discerns light but sees not it ●…lf but he gives a Spirit to man to know himself and ●…is God and then there is a willing power in the soul by which it diffuses itself towards any thing that is conceived as good the understanding directing and the will-commanding according to its direction and then the whole faculties and senses obeying such commands which makes up an excellent draught of the image of God There was a sweet proportion and harmony in Adam all was in due place and subordination the motions of immortal man did begin within the lamp of reason did shine & give light unto it & till that went before here was no stirring no choosing or refusing & when reason which was one sparkle of the divine nature or a ray of God's light reflected into the soul of man when once that did appear to the discerning of good & evil this power was in the soul to apply the whole man accordingly to choose the good and refuse the evil it had not been a lively resemblance of God to have a power of knowing and willing simply unless these had been beautified and adorned with supernatural and divine graces of spiritual light and holiness & righteousness these make up the lively colour and complete the image of God upon the soul. There was a Divine Light which did shine in upon the understanding ever till sin interposed & Eclipsed it and from the light of God's countenance did the sweet heat & warmness of holiness & uprightness in the affections proceed so that there was nothing but purity and cleanness in the soul no darkness of ignorance no muddiness of carnal affections but the soul pure and transparent to receive the refreshing and enlightening rays of Gods glorious countenance and this was the very face and beauty of the soul it is that only that is the beauty and excellency of the creature conformity to God & this was throughout in understanding and affections the understanding conformed to his understanding discerning between good and evil and conformed it behoved to be for it was ou●… a ray of that Sun a stream of that fountain of wisdom and a light derived from that primitive light of God's understanding and then the will did sympathise as much with his will approving and choosing what he approved & refusing that which he hated I dem velle atque idem nolle ea demum firma est amicitia that was the conjunction and it is more strict than any ●…ye among men there was not two wills they were as it were one the love of God reflecting into the soul did as it were carry the soul back again unto him & that was the conforming principle which fashioned the whole man without and within ●…o his likeness & to his obedience Thus man was ●…ormed for communion with God this likeness behoved to be or they could no join as friends But now this calls us to a sad meditation to think ●…om whence we have fallen and so how great our fall ●…s to fall from such a blessed estate that must be great misery Satan hath spoilt us of our rich treasure ●…hat glorious image of holiness And hath drawn ●…pon our souls the very visage of hell the lineaments ●…f his hellish countenance but the most part of men stupid insensible of any thing as beasts that are fel●…d with their fall that can neither find pain nor rise we could but return and consider what are all those ●…d and woeful consequences of sin in the world what strange distemper it hath put in the Creation What ●…iseries that one fall hath brought one all mankind am sure by these bruises we might conjecture what strange fall it hath been Sin did interpose between God & us and this darkened our souls & killed them ●…e light of knowledge was put out and the life of ho●…nesse extinguished and now there remains nothing all that stately building but some ruins of com●…on principles of reason and honesty engraven on all ●…ens consciences which may show unto us what the ●…ilding hath been we have fallen from holiness and so from happiness our souls are deformed & defiled you see what an ill favoured thing it is to see a child wanting any members O if sin were visible how ugly would the shape of the soul be to us since it lost the very proportion and visage of it that is God's Image Let us consider this Doctrine that we may know from whence we have fallen and into what a gulf of sin and misery we have fallen that the new news of Jesus Christ a Mediator and Redeemer of fallen man may be sweet unto us Thus it pleased the Lord to let his Image be marred & quite spoiled in us for he had thus design to repair it and renew it better than of old and for this end he hath created Christ according to his image he hath stamped that image of holiness upon his flesh to be a pattern and not only so but a pledge also of restoring such souls as flee unto him for refuge unto that primitive glory and excellency Know then that he hath made his Son like unto us that we might again be made like unto him he said let one of us be made man in the counsel of Redemption that so it might again be said let man be made like unto us in our image It is a second Creation must do it and O that you would look upon your hearts to inquire if it be framed in you certainly you must again be created into that Image if you belong to Christ To him be praise & Glory Rom. ●…1 36. Of him & through him and for him are all things etc. Psal. 103. 19 His Kingdom is over all Matt. 10. 29. A Sparrow shall not fall without your Fathers will THere is nothing more commonly confessed in words than that the providence of God reaches in all the creatures and their actions But I believe there is no point ofReligion so superficially & sleight●… considered by the most part of men The most part ponder none of these divine truths there is nothing above their senses which is the subject of their meditations and for the children of God I fear many do give such truths of God too common & coarse entertainment in their minds through a conceit of the commonness of them I know not what we are taken up with in this age with some particular truths more remote from the knowledge of others in former times or some particular cases concerning ourselves You will find the most part of Christians stretch not their thoughts beyond their own conditions or interests or some particular questions about Faith & repentance etc. And in the mean time the most weighty points of Religion which have been the subject of the meditation and admiration of Saints in all ages are wholly laid aside through a misapprehension of their commonness as if a man would despise the Sun & the Air & prefer some rare piece of stone or timber to them Certainly as in the disposal of the World the Lord hath in great wisdom & goodness made the most needful & useful things most common those without which man cannot live are always obvious to us so that if any thing be more rare it is not necessary So in this Universe of Religion he in mercy & wisdom hath so framed all that those points of truth & belief which are most near the substance of Salvation & necessary to us & most fit to exercise us in true godliness these are every where to be found partly engraven on men's hearts partly set down most clearly & often in Scripture that a believing soul can look no where but it must breath in that air of the Gospel & look upon that common Sun of Righteousness God the Creator & the healing Sun Christ the Redeemer shining every where in Scripture The general Providence of God & the special Administration of Christ the Saviour these are common and these are essential to our happiness therefore the meditation of Christians should run most upon them & not always about some particular questions or debates of the time It is a strange thing how people should be more affected with a discourse of the affairs of the time or on some inward thoughts of their own hearts than if one should speak of God's Universal Kingdom over all men & Nations that is accounted a general and ordinary discourse even as if men would set at nought the Sun's light because it shines to all & every day Or would despise the water because it may be found every where Let the Sun be removed for some few days and O what would the world account of it beyond all your curious devices or rare enjoyments This is it which would increase to more true godliness if rightly believed than many other things ye are busied withal It 's our general view of them makes them but general I spoke once upon this word Rom. 11. 36. but only in reference to the end of man which is God's glory But the words do extend further & we must now consider what further they hold forth The Apostle hath been speaking of the Lords unsearchable ways and judgements towards men in the dispensation of grace and salvation how free and absolute he is in that And this he strengthens by the supreme wisdom of God who did direct him Why dost thou O man take upon thee to direct him now For where was there any Counsellor when he alone contrived all the frame of this World and then by Sovereign highness and supremacy over the creatures disposed of them For he is debtor to none therefore none can quarrel him for giving or not giving for who was it that gave him first for which he should give a recompense Was there any could prevent with a gift Nay none could saith he for of him & through him & for him are all things And therefore he must prevent men For from whence should that gift of the creature which could oblige him have its rise It must be of God if it be a creature and therefore he is in no man's common he must give it ere we have it to give him again The words are most comprehensive they comprehend all things & that is very large There is nothing without this compass & they comprehend all the dependence of things Things depend upon that which made them that which preserves them and for which they are made All things depend on him as their producing cause that first gives them a being For of him are all things they also depend on him as their conserving cause who continues their being by that selfsame influence wherewith he gave it For through him are all things And then they depend on him as their final cause for whose glory they are and are continued for For him are all things Thus you have the beginning the countenance and the end of the whole Creation This word may lead us through all from God as the beginning the Alpha & original of their Being Through God as the only supporter confirmer & upholder of their being and unto God as the very end for which they have their being Now to travel within this compass to walk continually within this Circle & to go alongs this blessed round to begin at God & to go along all our way with him till we arrive and end at God and thus to do continually in the journey of meditation when it surveys any of his works this were indeed the very proper work & the special happiness man was created for and I may say a great part of that for which a Christian is created for Again there would nothing more powerful to the conforming of a soul to God & to his obedience and fear than this to have that persuasion firmly rooted in the heart That of God are all things That whatever it be good or evil that befalls us or others whatever we observe in the World that is the subject of the thoughts and discourses of men & turns men's eyes after them that all that is of God that is it is in the world it 's started out of nothing at his command it is because his power gave it a being and in this consideration to overlook and in a manner forget all second causes to have such affecting and up-taking thoughts of the first principle of all these motions as to regard the lower wheels that are next to us no more nor the hand or the sword that a man strikes us with As if these second causes had no influence of their own but were merely acted & moved by this supreme power as if God did nothing by them but only at their presence We should so labour to look on those things he doth by creatures as if he did them alone without the creatures as if he were this day creating a world Certainly the solid Faith of God's providence will draw off the covering of the creature and espy the secret Almighty power which acts in every thing to bring forth his good pleasure concerning them And then to consider with that same seriousness of meditation that the same everlasting arm which made them is under them to support them that the most noble and excellent creatures are but streams rays images and shadows of God's Majesty which as they have their being by derivation so they have their continuance by that same continued influence so that if he would interpose between himself and them or withdraw his countenance or stop his influence the most sufficient of them all should vanish as the Sunne-beams dry up the streams of a fountain & disappear at the image of the glass Psal. 102. 29 30. O that place were a pertinent object of a Christians meditation How much of God is to be pressed out of it by serious pondering of it Thou hidest thy face and they are troubled thou takest away thy breath and they die thou sendest out thy spirit & they are created It is even with the very being & faculties of the creature as with the image of the glass which when the face removes its seems no more The Lord as it were breaths into them a being and when he takes in his breath they perish and when he sends it out again they are renewed we do not wonder at the standing of the world but think if we had been witnesses of the making of it we would have been filled with admiration But certainly it 's only our stupidity that doth not behold that same wonder continued For what is the upholding of this by his power but a very continued and repeated Creation Which influence were able to bring a World out of nothing If this had not been before the virtue and power he employs now in making them subsist that same alone without any addition of power would have in the beginning made all this to be of nothing so that the countenance of the World is nothing else but an uninterrupted and constant flux & emanation of these things from God as of light from the body of the Sun And then to meditate how all these things are for him and his glory though we know no use nor end of them yet that his Majesty hath appointed them to show forth one way or other the glory of his Name in them and these things which to our first & foolish apprehensions seem most contrary to him and as it were so spread a cloud of darkness over his glorious Name the sins and perverse doings of men and Angels the many disorders and confusions in the world which seem to reflect some way upon him that yet he hath holy and glorious ends in them all yea that himself is the end of all I say to meditate on these things till our soul received the stamp of reverence & fear and faith in God this would certainly be the most becoming exercise of a Christian to bring all things down from God that we might return and ascend with all things again unto God This is the most suitable employment of a man as reasonable much more as a Christian that very duty he is created for This people have I form for myself they shall show forth my praise Isa. 43. 21. And this is the showing forth of his praise to follow forth the footsteps of God in the Word and in the World and to ponder these paths of divine Power and goodness and Wisdom and to acknowledge him with our heart in all these He made many creatures on which his glory and praise is showed forth & he made this creature Man to show forth that praise and that glory which is showed forth in other creatures O but this is a divine Office it is strange how our hearts are carried forth towards base things and busied in many vain impertinent and base employments and scarce ever mind this great one we were created for Certainly this is the employment we were made for to deduce all things from God till we again reduce all to him with glory to bring all down from his everlasting Counsels until we send all up to his Eternal glory together with the sacrifice of our hearts To behold all things to be of him that is of his eternal Counsel and Decree to have their rise in the bosom of that and then through him to proceed out of the bosom of his Decree and Purpose by his Power quasi obstetricante potentia and then to return with all the praise and glory to his ever glorious Name for whom are all things There is none but they will allow God some government in the world Some would have him as a King commanding and doing all by Deputies and Substitutes Some would have his influence general like the Suns upon sublunary things but how shallow are all men's thoughts in regard of that which is God has prepared indeed his Throne in heaven that is true that his glory doth manifest itself in some strange and majestic manner above but he whole tenor of Scripture shows that he is not shut up in heaven but that he immediately cares for governs & disposes all things in the world for his kingdom is over all It is the weakness of Kings not their glory that they have need of Deputies it is his glory not baseness to look to the meanest of their creatures it is a poor resemblance & empty shadow that Kings have of him He rules in the Kingdoms of men & to him belongs the dominion & the glory he deserves the name of a King whose beck Heaven & earth obeys Can a King command that the Sea flow not Can a Parliament act and ordain that the Sun rise not or will these obey them Yet at his decree and command the Sun is dark the Sea stands still the Mountains tremble at thy rebuke the Seafled Alas What do we mean that we look upon creatures & act ourselves as if we were independent in our being and moving How many things fall out & you call them casual & attribute them to Fortune How many things do the World gaze upon think upon and discourse upon and yet not one thought one word of God all the time What more contingent than the falling of a sparrow on the gronnd And yet even that is not unexpected to him but it flows from his will & counsel What less taken notice of or know than the hairs of your head yet these are particularly numbered by him and so no power in the World can add to them or diminish from them without his counsel O what would the belief of this do to raise our hearts to suitable thoughts of God above the creatures to increase the fear faith and love of God and to abate from our fear of men & our vain and unprofitable cares and perplexities How would you look upon the affairs of men the counsels contrivances endeavours & successes of men when they are turning upside down and plotting the ruin of his people & establishing themselves alone in the earth What would you think of all these revolutions at this time Many souls are astonished at them and stand gazing at what is done and to be done and this is the very language of your spirits and ways The Lord hath forsaken the earth the Lord seeth not this is the language of our Parliaments and people they do imagine that they are doing their own business and making all sure for themselves But O what would a soul think that could escape above them all and arise up to the first wheel of present motions A soul that did stand upon the exaled Tower of the Word of God and looked off it by the prospect of faith would presently discover the circle in which all these wander and changes are confined and see Men States Armies Nations and all of them doing nothing but turning about in a round as horse in a Mill from God's eternal purpose by his Almighty Power to his unspeakable glory you might behold all these extravagant motions of the creatures enclosed within those limits that they must begin here and end here though themselves are so beastly that they neither know of whom nor for whom their counsels and actions are Certainly Satan cannot break without this compass to serve his own humour principalities and powers cannot do it if they will not glorify him he shall glorify himself by them and upon them Gen. 2. 17. In that day thou eatest thou snalt die the death Gen. 1. 26. Let us make man according to our image THe state wherein man was created at first you heard was exceeding good all things very good and he best of all the choicest external & visible piece of God's workmanship made according to the most excellent pattern after our Image though it be a double misery to be once happy yet seeing the knowledge of our misery is by the grace of God made the entry to a new happiness it is most necessary to take a view of what man once was that we may be more sensible of what he now is You may take up this Image and likeness in three branches First there was a sweet conformity of the soul in its understanding will and affections unto God's holiness & light A beautiful light in the mind dirived from that fountain-light by which Adam did exactly know both divine and natural things What a great difference doth yet appear between a learned man and an ignorant rude person though it be but in relation to natural things the one is but like a beast in comparison of the other O how much more was there between Adam's knowledge and that of the most learned The highest advancement of Art and Industry in this life reaches no further than to a learned ignorance of the mysteries in the works of God and yet there is a wonderful satisfaction to the mind in it But how much sweet complacency hath Adam had whose heart was so enlarged as to know both thing higher and lower their natures properties & virtues and several operations No doubt could trouble him no difficulty vex him no controversy or question perplex him but above all The knowledge of that glorious & eternal Being that gave him a being and iniused such a spirit into him the beholding of such infinite treasures of wisdom and goodness & power in him what an amiable and refreshful sight would it be when there was no cloud of sin and ignorance to interpose and eclipse the full enjoyment of that increated light When the Aspect of the Sun makes the Moon so glorious & beautiful What may you conceive of Adam's soul framed with a capacity to receive light immediately from God's countenance How fair and beautiful would that soul be until the dark cloud of sin did interpose itself Then consider what a beautiful rectitude and uprightness what a comely order and subordination would ensue upon this light and make his will and affections wonderful good Eccl. 7. 29. God made man upright There was no throw or crack in all all the powers of the sou bending upright towards that fountain of all gooness now the soul is crooked & bends downward towards those base earthly things that is the abasement of the soul than it looked upright towards God had no appetite no delight but in him and his fullness and had the Moon or changeable World under its feet there was a beauty of holiness and righteousness which were the colours that did perfect and adorn these lineaments of the Image of God which knowledge did draw in the soul He was a burning and shining light may be truly said of Adam who had as much life as light as much delight in God as knowledge of him this was the right constitution and disposition of Man his head lifted up in holiness & love towards God his arms stretched out in righteousness and equity towards man and all the affections of the man under their command they could not trouble this sea with any tempest because they were under such a powerful Commander who kept them under such awe & obedience as the Centurion his servants saying unto one go and he goeth and to another come & he cometh sending out love one way holy hatred another way These were as Wings to the Bird to flee upon as Wheels to the Chariot to run upon though now it be turned just contrary that the Chariot draws the Coachman because the motion is downward There could be no motion in an upright man's soul till the holy and righteous will gave out a sentence upon it that was the Primum mobile which was turned about itself by such an Intelligentia as the understanding And so it was in Christ affection could not move him but he did move his own affections He troubled himself In us the servants rides on horses and the Prince walks on foot and as in a distempered society the Laws & Ordinances proceed by an unnatural way from the violence of unruly subjects usupring over their Masters Holy and righteous man could both raise up his affections and compose them again they were under such nurture and discipline He could have said Hitherto and no further in which there was some resemblance of God ruling the raging and unruly Sea But now if once they get entry into our City they are more powerful than the Governor & will not take laws from him but give rather when we have given way to our passions they do next what they please not what we permit Next his excellency consisted in such an immunity and freedom from all fear of misery and danger from all touch of sorrow or pain & did enjoy such an holy complacency and delight in his own estate as made him completely happy In this he was like God That is His blessedness that he is absolutely well pleased in himself that he is without the reach of fear & danger that none can impair it none can match it I am God and none else that is sufficiency of delight to know himself and his own sufficiency Indeed Man was made changeable mutably good that in this he might know God was above him and so might have ground of watchfulness and dependence upon him for continuance of his happiness who made him happy But being made so upright no disquieting fear nor perplexing care could trouble him Then lastly if you add unto this holy satisfaction with his own state and freedom the dominion and sovereignty he had over the creatures as a consequent flowing from Image you may imagine what a happy Creature he was Whatsoever contentment or satisfaction the Creatures could afford all of them willingly & pleasantly would concur to bestow it upon man without his care or toil as if they had accounted it their happiness to serve him What more excellent than this order Man counting it his happiness and delight to serve God & creatures esteeming it their happiness to serve Man all things running towards him with all their goodness as to a common Centre And he returning all to God from whence they did immediately flow Thus besides the fullness and riches of God's goodness immediately conferred upon man he was enriched with all store & goodness that the earth was full of God having made man thus & furnished him after this manner he gave him a Law and then he made a Covenant with him there was a Law first imprinted into Adam and then a Law prescribed unto him there was a Law written in his heart the remainder of which Paul saith makes the Gentiles inexcusable but it was perfectly drawn in him All the principles and notions of good and evil were exactly drawn in it He had a natural discerning of them and a natural inclination to all good and aversion from all evil As there is a kind of Law imposed by God upon other creatures which they constantly keep and do not swerve from even his decree and commandment to the obedience of which they are composed and ●…amed the Sea hath a Law & command to flow and ebb and it is that command that breaks its proud waves on the sand when they threaten to overflow mountains the beasts obey a Law written in their eating and drinking of satisfying their senses & every one hath its several instinct & propension to several operations So God gave a more noble instinct unto man suitable to his reasonable soul an instinct and impulse to please God in such duties of holiness & righteousness a sympathy with such ways of integrity and godliness and an innate antipathy against such ways as were displeasing to him or dishonourable to the creature There is a kind of comeliness & sweet harmony and proportion between such works as the love of God and man the use of all for his glory of whom all things are and man's reasonable being such a thing doth suit and become it Again other things as the hatred of God and men neglect and forgetfulness of him drunkenness and abasing lusts of that kind do disagree and are undecent to it O how happy was Adam when holiness and righteousness were not written on Tables of stone but on his heart and when there was no need of external persuasion but there was an inward impulse inclining him strongly and laying a kind of sweet necessity upon him to that which was both his duty to God & men and his own dignity and privilege This was no question the very beauty of his soul to be not only under a Law proper & peculiar to himself but to be inwardly framed & moulded to it to be a living law unto himself But besides this inward imprinted law of Holiness and Righteousness which did without more rules direct and determine him to that which is in itself good it pleased the Lord to prescribe and impose a positive Law unto him to command him abstinence from a thing neither good nor evil but indifferent and such a thing as of itself he might have done as well as made use of any other creature there was no difference between the fruit was discharged him and the fruit of the rest of the garden there was nothing in it did require abstinence and nothing in him either Yet for most wise and holy ends the Lord enjoins him to abstain from that fruit and puts an act of restraint upon him to abridge his liberty in that which might prove his obedience and not hinder his happiness or diminish it because he furnished him abundantly beside You may perceive two reasons of it one is that the sovereign power and dominion of God over all men may be more eminently held forth and that visibly in such asymbol and sign He who put man in such a well furnished house and placed in such a plentiful and fruitful garden reserves one tree thou shalt not eat thereof to let Adam see and know that he is the Sovereign owner of all things and that his dominion over the creatures and their service unto him was not so much for any natural prerogative of man above them as out of divine bounty and indulgence because he had chosen a creature to himself to beautify and make happy This was a standing visible testimony to bring man continually to remembrance of his Sovereignty that being thus far exalted above other creatures he might know himself to be under his Creator and that he was infinitely above him That he might remember his own homage and subjection to God when ever he looked upon his dominion over the creatures and truly in other natural duties which an inward principle & instinct drives unto the suitableness and conveniency o●… beauty of the thing doth often preponderate and might make man to observe them without so much reward of the will and pleasure of the most high but in this the Lord would have no other reason of obedience to appear but his own absolute will and pleasure to teach all men to consider in their actings rather the will of the Commander than the goodness or use of the thing commanded And then for this reason it was enjoined to make a more exact trial and to take a more ample proof of Adam's obedience Oftentimes we do things commanded of God but upon what ground or motive Because our own interest lies in them because there is an inward weight and pondus of affection pressing us to them The Lord commands the mutual duties between Parents and Children between Man & Wife between Friends duties of se●…-preservation and defence & such like And many are very exact and diligent in performing these But from what principle its easy to discern not because they are commanded of God not so much as a thought of that for the most part but because of an inward and natural inclination of affection towards ourselves and our relations which is like an instinct and impulse driving us to these duties And truly we may say it 's the goodness and bounty of the Lord that hath conjoined in most parts of commanded duties our own interest and advantage our own inclination and propension with his Authority or else the toil and pain of them would overbalance the weight of his Authority Now then is such duties as are already imprinted on man's heart and consonant to his own reason there cannot be a clear proof of obedience to Gods will the poor and naked nature of obedience doth not so clearly shine forth in the observation of these it is no great trial of the creatures subjection of its will to his suppream will when there are so many reasons besides his will which may incline man's will unto it But here in a matter in itself pleasant to the senses unto which he had a natural inclination the Lord interpoles himself by a command of restraint to take full probation whether man would submit to his good pleasure merely for itself or whether he would obey merely because God commands And indeed in such like duties as have no commendation but from the will and authority of the Lawgiver it will appear whether man's obedience be poor and simple obedience & whether men love obedience for itself alone or for other reasons Therefore the Lord saith obedience is better than sacrifice and disobedience is rebellion Suppose in such things as can neither hurt us nor help us God put a restraint upon us though obedience may be of less worth than in other more substantial things yet disobedience in such easy matters is most heinous because it proclaims openly rebellion against God if it be light and easy it is more easy obeyed & the more sin and wickedness in disobeying & therefore is Adam's sin called disobedience in a signal manner Rom. 5. because by refusing such a small point of homage and subjection he did cast off God's power and authority over him and would not acknowledge him for his Superior This should teach us who believe the repairing that Image by Jesus Christ to study such a respect and reverence to God's holy Will as to do all things without more ask Why it is so If we once know what it is there is no more question to be asked Of creatures we must inquire a quare after a quid a why after we know what their will is But Christians should have their wills so subdued unto Gods that though no profit nor advantage were to redound by obedience though it were in things repugnant and cross to our inclination and humour yet we should serve and obey him as a testimony of our homage and subjection to him and till we learn this and be more abstracted from our own interests in the ways of obedience even from the interests of peace and comfort & liberty we do not obey him because he commands but for our own sakes It is the practice of Antinomians and contrary to true Godliness to look upon the Law of God as the creatures bondage as most of us do in our walking Christian in whom that image of God is renewed according to righteousness and holiness should esteem subjection & conformity to a Law & to the will of God his only true liberty yea the very beauty of the soul & never is a soul advanced in conformity to God till this be its delight not a burden or task Gal. 3. 12. The Law is not of faith but the man that doth them shall live therein Gen. 2. 17. What day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die THe Lord made all things for himself to show forth the glory of his Name & man in a more eminent and special manner for the more eminent manifestations of himself therefore all his dealings towards men whether righteous or sinful do declare the glory of God Particularly in reference to the present purpose he resolved to manifest two shining properties his Sovereignty and Goodness his Sovereignty is showed in giving out a Law and Command to the creature & his goodness is manifested in making a Covenant with his creature As here you see the terms of a Covenant a duty required & a promise made and in case of failing a threatening conformed to the promise He might have requi●…ed obedience simply as the Lord & Sovereign owner of the Being and operations of the creatures and that was enough of obligation to bind all flesh that the Creator is Lawgiver that he who gives a being doth set bounds and limits to the exercise and use of that being But it pleased the Lord in his infinite goodness & love to add a promise and threatening to that Law & Command & so turns it to the nature of a voluntary Covenant and agreement whereby he doth mitigate and sweeten his Authority and Power and condescends so low to man as to take on himself a greater obligation than he puts upon man Do this and thou shalt live He might then out of his absoluteness & power have required at the creatures hand any terms he pleased even the hardest could be imagined and yet no injustice in him he might have put Laws on men to restrain all their natural liberty and in every thing to proclaim nothing but his own supremacy But O what goodness and condescension is even in the very matter of the Law & then in the manner of prescribing it with a promise In the matter so just & equitable to convince all men's consciences yea even engraven on their hearts that he lays not many burdens on but what men's consciences must lay on themselves that there is nothing in it all when summed up harder than this love God most of all & thy neighbour as thyself which all men must proclaim to be due though it had not been required And but one precept added by his mere Will which yet was so easy a thing as it was a wonder the Lord of all put no other conditions on the creature And then for the manner that it is propounded in Covenant-wise with a promise not to expect the creatures consent for it did not depend on his acception he being bound to accept any terms his Lord propounded but because the matter and all was so equitable & the conditions so ample that if it had been propounded to any rational man he would have consented with an admiration at God's goodness Indeed if we speak strictly there cannot be a proper Covenant between God and man there is such an infinite distance between such unequal parties our obedience and performance being absolutely in his power we cannot promise it as our own and it being but our duty we cannot crave or expect a reward in justice neither can he owe any thing to the creature yet it pleased his Majesty to propound it in these terms and to stoop so low unto men's capacities and as it were come off the throne of his Sovereignty both to repuire such duties of men and to promise unto them such a free reward and the reasons of this may be plain upon God's part & upon ours in such dealing he consulted his own glory & man's good His own glory I say is manifested in it & chiefly the glory of his goodness & love that the most High comes down so low as to article with his own footstool that he changes his absolute right into a moderate and temperate Government and tempers his Lordly & truly Monarchical power by such a commix●…ure of gentleness & goodness in requiring nothing but what man behoved to call reasonable and due and in promising so much as no crea●…ure could challenge any title of it When the Law was promulgate Do this Eat not of this Tree Adam's conscience behoved to say Amen Lord all is due all the reason in the Word for it But when the promise is added & the Trumpet sounds longer thou shalt live O more than reason more than is due must his conscience say It was reason that the most high Lord should use his footstool as his footstool & set his servant in the place of a servant and so keep distance from him But how strange is it that he humbles himself to make friendship with man to assume him in a kind of familiarity & equality And this Christ is not forgetful of when he restores men he puts them in all their former dignities I call you not servants but friends Next his wisdom doth appear in this that when he had made a reasonable creature he takes a way of dealing suitable to his Nature to bring forth willing and free obedience by the persuasion of such a reward and the terror of such a punishment He most wisely did enclose the will of man as it were one both sides with hedges of punishment and reward which might have been a sufficient defence or guard against all the eruptions of contrary persuasions that man might continue in obedience and that when he went to the right hand or left he might be kept in by the hope of such an ample promise & the fear of such a dreadful threatening But then the righteousness of God doth appear in this for there is nothing doth more illustrate the justice of the Judge then when the Malefactor hath before consented to such a punishment in case of transgression when the Law is confirmed by the consent and approbation of man now he has man subscribing already to his judgement and so all the world must stop their mouth and become guilty in case of transgression of such a righteous command after such warning But in the next place it 's no less for man's good What a honour and dignity was put upon man when he was taken into friendship with God To be in covenant of friendship with a King O what a dignity is it accounted And some do account it a great privilege to be in company and converse with some eminent and great person But may not man say with the Psalmist Lord what is man that thou art so mindful of him or the Son of man that thou visitest him Psal. 8. Again what way more fit and suitable to stir up and constrain Adam unto a willing and constant obedience When he had the encouragement of such a gracious reward & the determent of such a fearful punishment Between these two banks might the silver streams of obedience have run for ever without breaking over He was bound to all though nothing had been promised But then to have such a hope what spirits might it add to him The Lord had been free upon man's obedience either to continue him his happy estate or to denude him of it or to annihilate him there was no obligation lying on him but now what confirmation might man have by looking upon the certain recompense of reward When God brings himself freely under an Obligation of a Promise and so ascertains it to his soul which he could never have dreamt of & gives him liberty to challenge him upon his faithfulness to perform it And then lastly there was no way so fit to commend God and sweeten him unto his soul as this Adam knew that his goodness could not extend to God that his righteousness could not help him nor his wickedness hurt him and so could expect nothing from his exact obedience but now when God's goodness doth so overflow unto the creature and the Lord takes pleasure to communicate himself to make others happy though he had need of none O how must it engage the heart of man to a delightful remembrance and converse with that God As his authority should imprint reverence so his goodness thus manifested should engrave confidence And thus the life of man was not only a life of obedience but a life of pleasure and delight not only a holy but a happy life yea happy in holiness Now as it was Paul's great business in preaching to ride marches between the covenant of grace and the covenant of works to take men off that old broken ship to this sure plank of grace that is offered by Jesus Christ to drowning souls So it would be our great work to show unto you the nature of this Covenant and the terms thereof that you may henceforth find and know that salvation to be now impossible by the Law which so many seek in it We have no errand to speak of the first Adam but the better to lead you to the second Our life was once in the first but he lost himself and us both but the second by losing himself saves both We have nothing to do to speak of the first Covenant but that we may lead you or pursue you rather to the second established upon better terms and better promises The terms of this covenant are Do this and live perfect obedience without one jot of failing or falling an entire and universal accomplishment of the whole will of God that is the duty required of Man there is no latitude left in the bargain to admit endeavours in stead of performance or desire in stead of duty there is no place for Repentance here if a Man fall in one point he falls from the whole promise by the tenor of this bargain there is no hope of recovery If you would have the duty in a word It 's a love of God with all our heart and soul & our Neighbour as ourselves & that testified & verified in all duties & offices of obedience to God & love to men without the least mixture of sin & infirmity Now the promise on God's part is indeed larger than that Duty not only because undeserved but even in the matter of it it 's so abundant Life eternal life continuance in a happy estate There is a threatening added In what day thou eatest thou shalt die that is thou shalt become a mortal and miserable creature subject to misery here and hereafter which is more pressingly set down in that Word Cursed is he that abides not in all things written in the law to do them It is very peremptory that men dream not of escaping wrath when they break but in one suppose they did abide in all the rest Cursed is every man from the highest to the lowest the Lord Almighty is engaged against him his countenance his Power is against him to destroy him & make him miserable whoever doth fail but in one jot of the commands he shall not only fall from that blessed condition freely promised but lose all that he already possessed fall from that image of God dominion over the creatures and incur in stead of that possessed and expected happiness misery here on soul & body in pains sicknesses troubles griefs etc. And Eternal misery on both without measure hereafter Eternal destruction from the presence of the Lord & the glory of his power Now This Law is not of Faith saith the Apostle This opens up the nature of the bargain and the opposition between the present Covenant & that which is made with lost sinners in a Mediator This Covenant is called of Works Do this and live To him that worketh is the promise made though freely too It is grace that once a reward should be promised to obedience but having once resolved to give it herein justice appears in an equal and uniform distribution of the reward according to Works So that where there is an equality of works there shall be an equality of reward and no difference put between persons equal Which is the very freedom of the Covenant of grace that it passes overall such considerations and deals equally in mercy with unequal sinners & unequally it may be with them that are equal in nature You may ask was not Adam to believe in God & did not the Law require faith I answer Christ distinguishes a twofold faith You believe in God believe also in me No question he was called to believe in God the Creator of the World and that in a threefold consideration First to depend on God the self-beeing and fountain-good his own goodness was but a flux and emanation from that Sun of righteousness & so was to be perpetuated by constant abiding in his sight the interposition of man's self between him and God did soon bring on this eternal night of darkness Nature might have taught him to live in him in whom he had life & being and motion and to forget & look over his own perfections as evanishing shadows But this quickly extinguished his life when he began to to live in himself Next he was obliged to believe in God's word both threatening and promise & to have these constantly in his view And certainly if he had kept in his serious consideration the inestimable blessing of life promised and the fearful curse of death threatened if he had not been induced first to doubt and then to deny the truth and reality of these he had not attempted such a desperate rebellion against the Lord Then thirdly he was to believe and persuade himself of the Lords fatherly love and that the Lord was well pleased with his obedience and this faith would certainly beget much peace & quietness in his mind and also constrain him to love him and live to him who loved him and gave him life and happiness out of love yet this holds true that the Apostle saith the law is not of faith to wit in a Mediator and Redeemer it was a bond of immediate friendship there needed none to mediate between God and man there needed no reconciler where there was no odds nor distance But the Gospel is of Faith in a Mediator it 's the souls plighting its hope upon Jesus Christ in its desperate necessity & so supposes man sinful and miserable in himself and in his own sense too and so putting over his weight & burden upon one whom God hath made mighty to save The Law is not of Faith but of perfect works a watchword brought in of purpose to bring men off their hankering after a broken and desperate Covenant It admits no repentance it speaks of no pardon it declares no Cautioner or Redeemer there is nothing to be expected according to the tenor of that Covenant but wrath from Heaven either personal obedience in all or personal punishment for ever that is the very terms of it & it knows no other thing Either bring complete righteousness and holiness to the promise of life or expect nothing but death This may be a sad meditation to us to stand and look back to our former estate & compare it with that into which we are fallen that Image we spoke of is defaced and blotted out which was the glory of the Creation and now there is nothing so monstrous so deformed in the world as man the corruption of the best thing is always worst the ruins of the most noble creature are most ruinous the spot of the soul most abominable we are nothing but a mass of darkness ignorance error inordinate lust nothing but confusion disorder and distempers in the soul and in the conversation of men & in sum that blessed bond of friendship with God broken discord & enmity entered upon our side & separated us from God and so we can expect nothing from that first Covenant but the curse and wrath threatened By one man's disobedience sin entered upon all & death by sin because in that agreement Adam was a common person representing us and thus are all men once subject to God's judgement & come short of the glory of God fallen from life into a state of death & for any thing could be expected irrevocably But it hath pleased the Lord in his infinite mercy to make a better Covenant in Christ his Son that what was impossible to the Law by reason of our weakness and wickedness his Son sent in the flesh condemned for sin might accomplish Rom. 8. 3. There is some comfort yet after this that Covenan●… was not last and that sentence was not irrevocable He maketh a new transaction lays the iniquity of his elect upon Christ and puts the curse upon his shoulders which was due to them Justice cannot admit the abrogation of the Law but mercy pleads for a temperament of it and thus the Lord dispenses with personal satisfaction which in rigour he might have craved and finds out a ransom admits another satisfaction in their name And in the Name of that Cautioner and Redeemer is salvation preached upon better terms Believe and thou shalt be saved Rom. 10. Thou lost and undone sinner whoever thou art that findest thyself guilty before God and that thou canst not stand in judgement by the former Covenant thou who hast no personal righteousness and trusts in none come here embrace the righteousness of thy Cautioner receive him and ●…est on him and thou shalt be saved Eccles. 7. 29. God made man upright but he sought out many inventions THe one half of true Religion consists in the knowledge of ourselves and the other half in the knowledge of God and whatever besides this men study to know and apply their hearts unto it 's vain and impertinent and like meddling in other men●… matters neglecting our own if we do not give our minds to the search of these All of us must needs grant this in the general that it is an idle and improfitable wandering abroad to be carried forth to the knowledge and use of other things and in the mean time to be strangers to ourselves with whom v●… should be most acquainted If any man was diligen●… and earnest in the enquiry and use of the things of the world Solomon was he applied his heart to seek out wisdom and what satisfaction was in the knowledge of all things natural and in this he attained a great degree beyond all other men yet he pronounces of it all after experience and trial that this also was vanity and vexation of spirit not only empty and unprofitable and not conducing to that true blessedness he sought after but hurtful and destructive nothing but grief and sorrow in it After he had proved all with a resolution to be wise yet it was far from him I said I will be wise but it was far from me verse 23. And therefore after long wandering abroad he returns at length home to himself to know the estate of mankind Lo this only have I sound etc. ver 29. When I have searched all other things & found many things by search yet saith he what doth it all concern me when I am ignorant of myself There is one thing concerns me more than all to know the original of Man what he once was made and to know how far he is departed from his Original This only I have found profitable to men and as the entry and preparation to that blessedness I inquire for To have the true discovery of our misery There are two things then concerning man that you have to search & to know & that not in a tri●…ing or curious manner as if you had no other end in it but to know it as men do in other things but in a serious & earnest way as a matter of so much concernment to our eternal well-being In things that relate particularly to ourselves we labour to know them for ome advantage besides the knowing of them even though they be but ●…mal and lower things how much more should we propose this unto ourselves in the search and examination of our own estate not mee●…ly to ●…now such a thing but to know it that we may be up and provoked in the sense of it to look after the remedy that God holds forth There are two things that you have to know What man once was made and how he is now unmade how happy once and how miserable now And answerable to these two are the branches of the Text God made man●…upright that he was once and they have fought out many inventions not being contented with that blessedness they were created into by catching at a higher estate of wisdom have fallen down into a gulf of misery as the man that gazed on the stars above him and did not take notice of the pit under his feet till he fell into it and thus man is now So you have a short account of the two estates of men of the estate of grace and righteousness without sin and the estate of sin and misery grace You hav●… th●… story of man from the creation unto his present condition But all the matter is to have the lively sens●… of this upon our hearts I had rather that we went home bewailing our loss and lamenting our misery and longing for the recovery of that then that we went out with the exact memory of all is spoken and could repeat it again God made man upright At hi●…●…st moulding the Lord showed excellent Art and Wisdom and Goodness too Man did come forth from under his hand in the first edition very glorious to show what he could do Upright that is all right & very exactly conformed to the noble and high pattern endowed with divine wisdom such might direct him to true happiness and furnished with a divine willingness to follow that direction The command was not above his head as a rod but within his heart as a natural instinct all that was within him was comely & beautiful for that glorious light that shined upon him having life and love with it produced a sweet harmony in the soul he knew his duty and loved it and v●…as able to perform it O! how much is in this one word Upright Not only sincerity and integrity in the soul but perfection of all the degrees and parts no part of holiness wanting and no measure of these parts no mixture of darkness or ignorance no mixture of indisposition or unwillingness godliness was ●…weet and not laborious the love of God possessing the heart did conform all within and without to the will of God and O how beautiful was that conformity and that love of God the fountain-being did send forth as a stream love and goodwill to all things as they did partake of God's Image and so holiness towards God did beget righteousness towards men and made men to partake of one another's happiness This is a survey of him in his integrity as God ●…de him but there follows a sad but a sad and vvo●…l exception but they have sought out many inventions We cannot look upon that glorious estate whereinto m●…n was made but straightway we must turn our eyes upon th●… misery into which he hath plunged himself and be the more affected with it that it was once otherwise It is misery in a high degree to have been once happy this ●…ost of all agredges our misery and may increase the sense of it that such Man once was and such we might have been if we had not destroyed ourselves Who can look upon these ruins and refrain ●…ouring It 's said that those who saw the glory of the first Temple we●…t when they beheld the second because it was not answerable to it in magni●…ence and glory So I say it might occasion much ●…ness & grief even to the children of God in whom that Image is in part repaired and that by a second Creation to think how much more happy and blessed Man once was who had grace and holiness without sin But certainly it should and must be at first before this Image be restored the bitter lamentation of a soul to look upon itself wholly ruinous and defaced in the view of that glorious stately fabric which once was made How lamentable a sight is it to behold the first Temple demolished or the first Creation defaced and the second not yet begun in many souls the foundation-stone yet not laid It was a sad and dol●…ul invention which Satan inspired at first into man's heart to go about to find out another happiness to seek how to be wise as God an invention tha●… did proceed from hell how to know evil experimentally and practically by doing it that invention hath invented and found out all the sin and misery under which the world groans It is a poor invention to devise misery and torment to the creature this was the height of solly and madness for a happy creature to invent how to make itself miserable and all others Indeed he intended another thing to be more happy but pride and ambition got a deserved fall the result of all is sin and misery And now from this first devilish invention the heart of man is possessed with a multitude of vain imaginations Man is now become vain in his imaginations and his foolish heart is darkened that divine wisdom he was endowed withal is eclipsed for it was a ray of God's countenance and now he is left wholly in the dark without a guide without a director or leader he is turned out of the path of holiness and so of happiness a night of gross darkness & blindness is come on & the way is full of pits and snares & the end of it is at best eternal misery and there is no lamp no light to shine in it to show him either the misery that he is posting unto or the happiness that he is flying from There is nothing within him sufficient to direct his way to blessedness and nothing willing nor able to follow such a direction And thus Man is left to the invention and counsel of his own desperately wicked and d●…ful heart and that is above all plagues to be given up to a reprobate mind He is now left to such a tutor and guide●… and it is full of inventions indeed But they are all in vain that is all of them unsufficient for this great purpose all of them cannot make one hair that is black white much les●… redeem the soul but besides they are destructive they pretend to deliver but they destroy a desperate wicked heart imagineth evil continually evil against God and evil to our own souls and a deceitful heart ●…mooths over the evil and presents it under another notion and so under pretence of a friend it 's the greatest enemy a man hath a bosom enemy All men's inventions thoughts cogitations projects and endeavours what do they tend to but to the satisfaction of their lusts either the lusts of the mind as Ambition Pride Avarice Passion Revenge and such like or the lusts of the body as pleasure to the ears and to the eyes and to the flesh Man was made with an upright soul with a dominion over that brutish part more like Angels But now all his invention run upon that base and beastly part how to adorn it how to beautify it how to satisfy it and for this his soul must be a drudge and slave And if men rise up to any thoughts of a higher life yet what is it for but to magnify and exalt the flesh to seek an Excellency within which is lost and so to satisfy the pride and self-love of the heart If any man comes this length to apprehend some misery yet how vain are his inventions about the remedy of it not knowing how desperate the disease is men seek help in themselves & think by industry and care & art to raise themselves up in some measure & please God by some expiations or sacrifices of their own works Now this tends to no other purpose but to satisfy the lust of man's pride and so it increases that which was man's first malady and keeps them from the true Physician In a word all men's inventions are to hasten misery on him or to blindfold himself till it come on all his invention cannot reach a delivery from this misery Let us therefore consider this which Solomon hath found out and if we carefully consider it and accurately ponder it in relation to our own souls them have we also ●…ound it with him Consider I say what man once was and what you are now and bewail your misery and the fountain of it our departure from the fountain of life and blessedness know what you are not only weak but wicked whose art and power lies only in wickedness skilful and able only to make yourself miserable and let this consideration make you cast away all your confidence in yourselves and carry you forth to a Redeemer who hath ●…ound a ransom who hath found out an excellent invention to cure all our distempers and desperate diseases The counsel of the holy Trinity that met about if I may speak so our creation in holiness and righteousness after his own Image that same hath consulted about the rest of it & hath found out this course that one of them shall be made after man's Image and for this purpose that he may restore again God's Image unto us O bless this deep invention and happy contrivance of heaven that could never have bred in any breast but in the depths of eternal wisdom and let us abandon & forsake our own imaginations and foolish inventions let us become fools in our own eyes that we may become wise Man by seeking to be wise became a fool that was an unhappy invention now it 's turned contrary let all men take with their folly and desperate wickedness let not the vain thoughts and dreams of our own well-being and sufficiency lodge within us and we shall be made wise come to the Father's wisdom unto Jesus Christ who is that blessed invention of Heaven for our remedy How long shall vain thoughts lodge within you O when will you be washed from them How long shall not your thoughts transcend this temporal and bodily life How long do you imagine to live in sin and die in the Lord to continue in sin and escape wrath Why do you delude your souls with a dream of having interest in the love of God and purchasing his favour by your works These are some of those many inventions man hath sought out Rom. 5. 22. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned THis is a sad subject to speak upon yet it is not more sad than useful though it be unpleasant to hold out a glass to men to see their own vile faces into yet it is profitable yea and so necessary that till once a soul apprehend its broken and desolate condition in the first Adam it can never heartily embrace and come to the second Adam You have here the woeful and dreadful effects and consequents of the first transgression upon all mankind the effect is twofold sin and misery or sin and death the subject is universal in both all men the whole world Behold what a flood of calamity hath entered at a small cranny by one man's transgression May it not be said of sin in general which the wise man speaks of strife The beginning of sin is as when one lets out water therefore it had been good leaving it off before it had been meddled with it entered at a small hole but it hath overflowed a whole world since That which first occurs is that all mankind proceeding from Adam by ordinary birth are involved in sin by Adam's transgression But that may seem a hard saying that sin and death should flow unto the whole posterity who had no accession to Adam's transgression It would seem that every man should die for his own iniquity and that it should reach no further in justice But consider I pray you the relation that Adam stood into and in which he is here holden out as a figure of Christ Adam the first man was a common person representing all mankind in whose happiness or misery all should share God contracts with him on these terms that his posterities estate should depend on his behaviour Now if all mankind would have reaped the benefit and advantage of Adam's perseverance i●… such an undeserved reward of eternal life would have redounded by the free promise unto them all what iniquity is it that they also be sharers in his misery Our stock & treasure was ventured in this vessel & if we were to partake of its gain why not of its loss You see amongst men children have one common lot with their parents if the father be forefaulted the heirs suffer in it & are cast out of the inheritance It might appear a surer way to have the fortunes of all so to speak depend upon one & their happiness assured unto them upon the standing of one then to have every one left unto himself & his own wellbeing depending upon his own standing as it is more likely one and that the first one shall not sin than many and especially when that one knew that the weight of all his posterity hung upon him it might have made him very circumspect knowing of how great moment his carriage But certainly we must look a little higher than such reasons there was a glorious purpose of God's predominant in this else there was no natural necessity of imputing Adam's sin to the children not yet born or propagating it to the children He that brought a holy one & undefiled out of a Virgin who was defiled could have brought all others clean out of unclean parents but there is a higher counsel about it the Lord would have all men subject to his judgement all men once guilty once in an equal state of misery to illustrate that special grace showed in Christ the more and demonstrate his power and wrath upon others That which concerns us most is to believe this that sin hath overspread all and to have the lively impression of this were of more moment to true Religion than many discourses upon it I had rather ye went home not cursing Adam or murmuring against the most High but bemoaning yourselves for your wretched estate then be able to give reasons for the general imputation & propagation of sin Ye all see it is & therefore you should rather mourn for it then ask why it is There is sin entered into the world by imputation and also by propagation Adam's first sin and heinous transgression is charged upon all his posterity and imputed unto them even unto them who have not sinned according to the similitude of Adam's transgression that is actually as he did Infants whom you call innocents' and indeed so they are in respect of you who are come to age yet they are guilty before God of that sin that ruined all Now that you may know what you are and what little reason you have to be pleased with yourselves and absolve yourselves as ye do I shall unbowel that iniquity unto you First there was in it an open banner displayed against God When the sovereign Lord had enjoined his ●…uch a testimony of his homage and loyalty and that so easy to be performed and such as not a whit could ●…ba e from his happiness what open rebellion was it to refuse it It was a casting off the Sovereign dominion of God than which nothing can be more heinous as if the clay should refuse to serve the Potter's pleasure and therefore it is eminently and signally styled disobedience as having nothing in it but the pure naked nature of disobedience no difficulty to excuse it for it was most easy no pleasure to plead for it for there were as good fruit beside & a world of them No necessity to extenuate it so that you can see nothing in it but the ugly face of disobedience and rebellion vers. 19 Whereby man draweth himself from his allegiance due to his Maker and shaketh off the yoke in reproach of the most High Next you may behold the vile and abominable ●…ace of ingratitude and unthankfulness in it and truly heathens have so abhorred unthankfulness towards men that they could not digest the reproach of it Ingratum si dixeris omnia dixeris If you call me unthankful your may call me anything or all things it 's a compend of all vices It 's even iniquity grown to maturity and But that such a fruit should grow out of such a holy and good spyle so well dressed and manured by the Lord was a wonder Lord what is man that thou so magnified him and made him a little lower tha●… the Angels That thou put all things sublunary under his feet and exalted him above them For that creature chosen and elected from among all to be his minion to stand in his presence adorned & beautified with such gifts and graces magnified with such glorious privileges made according to the most excellent pattern His own Image to ●…orget all & forget so soon and when he had such a spacious Garden to make use of as is supposed to make up the third part of the earth to eat of no fruit but that which was forbidden there is no such monstrous ingratitude can be imagined as here was acted But then consider the two fountains from which this flowed unbelief and pride & ye shall find it the heaviest sin in the world unbelief of his word and threatening first he was brought to question it and doubt of it & then to deny it A Word so solemnly and particularly told him by the truth itself that ever a question of it could arise in his mind to get entry what else was it than to impute iniquity to the Holy One And that iniquity or falsehood and lying which his nature most abhors What was it to blaspheme the most High and faithful God by harkening to the suggestions of his enemy and credit them more than the threatening of God To give the very flat contradiction to God we shall not die and to assent so heartily to Satan's slanders and reproaches of God And this unbelief opened a door to ambition and bride the most sacrilegious ingredient of all which is most opposite to God and unto which he most opposed himself from the beginning You shall be like gods Was he not happy enough already & according to God's Image Nay but this evil principle would arise up to the throne of God and sit down in his stead Pride hath Atheism in it to deny the true God & yet would be a god itself For the footstool to lift up itself thus what an indignity was it & indeed this wretched aim at so high an estate hath thrown us down as low as hell You see then how injurious this transgression was to God There was disobedience and rebellion in it which denies his dominion and supremacy there was unthankfulness in it denying his goodness and bounty there was unbelief in it contradicting his truth and faithfulness & finally pride opposing itself to all that is in God reaching up to his very crown of Majesty to take it off You see then what you are guilty of in being guilty of Adam's transgression many of you flatter yourselves in your own eyes that ye have not done much evil and ye will justify yourselves in your comparisons with others But I beseech you consider this though you had never done personally good or evil here that which drowned the World in misery is your sin and charged upon you you are guilty of that which ruined all mankind and makes the Creation subject to vanity & corruption O if ye believe this ye would find more need of the second Adam than ye do O how precious would this righteousness and obedience be to you if ye had rightly apprehended your interest in the first man's disobedience But besides this imputation there is much more propagated unto all and that is a total corruption and depravation of nature in soul & body whereby man is utterly indisposed disabled and made opposite unto all that is truly and spiritually good and wholly inclined to all evil & that continually which is commonly called Original sin A total averseness from God and from all goodness an antipathy against the ways of holiness & a propension & strong impulse towards evil even as a stone move downward This poison & contagion of sin entering into the world hath infected all & gone through all the members Neither is it any wonder it be so when this leprosy hath defiled the walls & roof of the house I mean hath made the Creation subject to vanity and corruption It is no wonder that it spread abroad in his issue and makes all unclean like himself And truly this is it which most abases man's nature and being seen would most humble men yea till this be discerned no man can be indeed humbled he will never apprehend himself so bad as he is but still imagine some excellency in himself till he s●…e himself in this glass You talk of good natures and good dispositions but in our flesh saith the Apostle dwells no good thing the seed of all wickedness are in every one of us & its the goodness of God for preserving humane society that they are restrained and kept down in any from the grossest out-breaking They know not themselves who know any good of themselves and they know not themselves who either are in admiration at or in bitterness or in contempt against other sinners whose sins are manifest to all This were the only way to profit by looking on others evils if we could strait way retire within and behold the root of that in our souls the fountain of it within us and so grow in loathing not of these persons but of humane nature and in suitable thoughts of ourselves & others & might wonder at the goodness and undeserved bounty of the Lord that passes an act of restraint upon our corruption & dams it up Oh that we could learn to loathe ourselves in other men's evils thus we might reap good out of the evil and prevent more in ourselves But the looking upon gross provocations as singularities make them more general because every man does not charge himself with the corruption that is in all these but prefers himself to another therefore are reins loosed to corruption & a sluice opened that it may come out that he who would not see his own Image in another man's face may behold it in the glass of his own abominations There is no point less believed than this though generally confessed that man is dead in sins and trespasses & impotent to help himself You will hardly take with wickedness when you confess weakness as if nature were only sick but not dead hurt but not killed therefore it is that so many do abide in themselves and trusting to their own good purposes & resolutions & endeavo●…s do think to pacify God and help themselves out of their misery But O look again and look in upon yourselves in the glass of the Word and there is no doubt but you will straightway be filled with confusion of face and be altogether spoiled of good confidence and hope as you call it you will find yourself plunged in a pit of misery and all strength gone and none on the right hand or the left to help you and then and not till then will the second Adam's hand stretched out for our help be seasonable That which next follows is that which is the companion of sin inseparably Death hath passed upon all and that by sin Adam's one disobedience opened a port for all sin to enter upon mankind and sin cannot enter without this companion Death Sin goes before and Death follows on the back of it and these suit one another as the work and the wages as the tree and the fruit they have a sibness one to another sowing to corruption reaps an answerable harvest to wit corruption Sowing to the wound and reaping the whirlwind how suitable are they That men may know how evil and bitter a thing sin is he makes this the fruit of it In his first Law and sanction given out to men he joins them inseparably sin and death sin and wrath sin and a curse By Death is not only meant bodily death which is the separation of the soul from the body but first the spiritual death of the soul consisting in a separation of the soul from Gods blessed enlightening enlivening and comforting countenance Man's true life wherein he differs from beasts consists in the right aspect of God upon his soul in his walking with God and keeping communion with him all things besides this are but common and base and this was cut off his comfort his joy and peace in God extinct God became terrible to his conscience and therefore man did flee and was arrayed when he heard his voice in the garden Sin being interposed between God and the soul cut off all the influence of heaven Hence arises darkness o●… mind hardness of heart delusions vile affections horror of conscience Look what difference is between a living creature and a dead carcase so much is between Adam's soul upright living in God and Adam's soul separated from God by sin Then upon the outward man the curse redounds the body becomes mortal which had been incorruptible it 's now like a besieged City now some outward sorts are gained by diseases now by pains and torments the outward walls of the body are at length overcome and when life hath fled into a Castle within the City the heart that is at last all besieged so straight and stormed so violently that it must render unto death upon any terms The body of man is even a seminary of a world of diseases and grievances that if men could look upon it aright they might see the sentence of death every day performed Then how many evils in estate in friends and relations in employments which being considered by Heathens hath made them praise the dead more than the living but him not yet born most of all because the present life is nothing else but a valley of misery and tears a sea of troubles where one wave continually prevents another and comes on like jobs messengers before he speak out his wo●…ul tidings another comes with such like or worse But that which is the sum and accomplishment of God's curse and man's misery is that death to come eternal death not death simply but an everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power An infinite loss because the loss of such a glorious life in the enjoyment of God's presence and an infinite hurt and torment beside and both eternal Now this is that we would lay before you you are under such an heavy sentence from the womb a of the Almighty adjudging you for Adam's guilt and your own to all the misery in this world and the next to all the treasures of wrath that are heaped up against the day of wrath and strange it is how we can live in peace and not be troubled in mind who have so great and formidable a party Be persuaded O be persuaded that there shall not one ●…ot of this be removed it must be fulfilled in you or your Cautione●… and why then is a Saviour offered a City of refuge opened and secure sinners will not flee into it But as for as many as have the inward dreadful apprehension of this wrath to come and knows not what to do know that to you is Jesus Christ preached the second Adam a quickening Spirit and in that consideration better than the first not only a living soul himself but a Spirit to quicken you who are dead in sins one that hath undertaken for you and will hold you fast Adam who should have kept us lost himself Christ in a manner lost himself to save us And as by Adam's disobedience all this sin & misery hath abounded on man know that the second Adam his obedience and righteousness is of greater virtue and efficacy to save and in stead of sin to restore righteousness and in stead of death to give life therefore you may come to him and you shall be more surely kept then be●…ore 1. Tim. 1. 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that jesus Christ came in the world to save sinners OF all Doctrines that ever were published to men this contained here is the choicest as you see the very preface prefixed to it import And truly as it is the most excellent in itself it could not but be sweet unto us if we had received into the heart the belief of our own wretchedness & misery I do not know a more sovereign cordial for a fainting soul than this faithful saying That jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners And therefore we are most willing to dwell on this ●…ubject and to inculcate it often upon you That without him ye are undone and lost and in him you may be saved I profess all other subjects howsoever they might be more pleasing to some hearers are unpleasant and unsavoury to me This is that we would once learn and ever be learning to know him that came to save us and come to him We laboured to show unto you the state of sin and misery that Adam's first transgression hath subjected all mankind unto which if it were really and truly apprehended I do not think but it would make this saying welcome to our souls Man being plunged into such a deep pit of misery sin and death having over-flowed the whole world and this being seen and acknowledged by a sinner certainly the next question in order of nature is this Hath God left all to perish in this estate Is there any remedy provided for sin and misery And this will be indeed the query of a self-condemned sinner Now there is a plank af●…er this broken ship there is an answer sweet and satisfactory to this question jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners We shall not expatiate into many notions about this or multiply many branches of this The matter is plain and simple and we desire to hold it out plainly and simply that this is the remedy of sin and misery When none could be ●…ound on the right hand or left hand here a Saviour from heaven comes down from above whence no good could be expected because a good God was provoked Can any good come out of Nazareth that was a proverb concerning him But I think in some sense it might be said can any good thing come down from heaven from his holy ●…abitation to this accursed earth Could any thing ●…e expected from heaven but wrath and vengeance And if no good could be expected that way what way could it come Sure if not from heaven then from no ●…rt yet from heaven ou●… help is come from whence it could not be looked for even from him who was offended and his justice engaged against man that he might both satisfy justice and save man that he might not wrong himself nor destroy man utterly he sends his only begotten Son equal with himself in majesty and glory into the world in the state of a servant to accomplish man's salvation and perform him satisfaction Therefore Christ came into the world to save sinners There were two grand impediments in the way of man's salvation which made it impossible to man one is Gods justice another is man's sin these two behoved to be satisfied or removed ere there can be access to save a sinner The sentence of divine Justice is pronounced against all mankind Death past on all A sentence of death and condemnation Now when the righteousness and faithfulness of God is engaged into this how strong a party do you think that must be What power can break that prison of a divine curse and take out a sinner from under Justice hand Certainly there is no coming out till the uttermost farthing be paid that was owing till complete satisfaction be given to all wrongs Now truly the redemption of the soul had ceased for ever it 's so precious that no creature can give any thing in exchange for it except Jesus Christ had come into the world one that might be able to tread that winepress of wrath alone & give his life a ransomer in value far above the soul and pay the debt of sin that we were owing to Go●… And indeed he was furnished for this purpose a pe●… son suited and fitted for such a work A man to undertake it in our name and God to perform it in hi●… own strength A Man that he might be made unde●… the Law and be humbled even to the death of cross that so he might obey the commandment a●… suffer the punishment due to us and all this was elevated beyond the worth of created actions or sufferings by that divine nature This perfumed all hi●… Humanity and all done by it or in it this put the stamp of Divinity upon all and imposed an infinite value upon the coin of finite obedience and sufferings And so in his own person by coming into the world and acting and suffering in the place of sinners he hath taken the first great impediment out of the way taken down the high brickwall of divine Justice which had enclosed round about the sinner and satisfied all its demands by paying the price so that there is nothing upon God's part to accuse or condemn to hinder or obstruct salvation But then there is an inner wall or dark dungeon of sin into which the sinner is shut up and reserved in chains of his own lusts until the time of everlasting darkness and when Heaven is opened by Christ's death yet this keeps a sinner from entering i●… Therefore Jesus Christ who came himself into th●… world to satisfy Justice and remove its plea th●… there might be no obstruction from that airth sends out his powerful Spirit with the Word to deliver poor captive sinners to break down the wall of ignorance and blindness to cast down the high tower of wickedness and enmity against God to take captive and chain our lusts that kept us in bondage And as he made Heaven accessible by his own personal obedience and sufferings so he makes sinners ready ●…nd free to enter into salvation by his Spirits working in their persons In the one he had God as it were his party and him he hath satisfied so far that ●…here was a voice came from heaven to testify it ●…is is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased ●…nd therefore in testimony of it God raised him from the dead In the other he hath Satan and man's wicked nature as his party and these he must conquer and subdue these he must overcome ere we can be saved A strange business indeed and a great work to bring such two opposite and distant party's togethe●… a holy and just God and a sinful and rebellious creature and to take them both as parties that he might reconcile both Now what do ye think of this my beloved that ●…uch a glorious person is come down from Heaven ●…or such a glorious work as the salvation of sinners put no doubt it would be most acceptable unto you ye knew your misery and knowing your misery you could not but accept it if you believed that it were true and faithful I find one of these two the great obstruction in the way of souls receiving advan●…age by such glad tidings either the absolute necessi●…y and excellency of the Gospel is not considered or ●…he truth and reality of it is not believed Men ei●…er do not behold the beauty of goodness in it or not see the light of truth in it either there is no●…ing discovered to engage their affections or nothing ●…en to persuade their understandings Therefore ●…he Apostle sounds a Trumpet as it were in the entry before the publication of these glad news and commends this unto all men as a true and faithful ●…aying and as worthy of all acceptation There is ●…ere the highest truth and certainty to satisfy the mind It 's a faithful saying and there is here also th●… chiefest good to satiate the heart It 's worthy of al●… acceptation Now if you do really apprehend your lost and miserable estate you cannot but behold that ravishing goodness in it and behold that you cannot till you see the other first Whence is it I pray you that so many souls are never stirred with the prop●…sition of such things in the Gospel that the riches a●… beauty of salvation in JESUS CHRIST doth not once move them Is it not because ther●… is no lively apprehension of their misery vvitho●… him FINIS GLASGOW Printed by ROBERT SANDERS and are to be sold at his Shop M. DC LXVII