/ sirvvU. l* I WORKS Of the Pious, Reverend and Learn’d Mr. HUGH BINNING, CONTAINING f. Common of tJie OIU or his Sermons on the Catechifm. II. The ^inuei^iS ^anctltav^, being xl. Sermons on the Eight of the P^omans. III. ifellciititl()ip iottli (Bob; or xxviii. Sermons on the Ftrft Epiflle of John, IV. ^eatt I^umilt^tion; being xviii. Sermons on leveral choice Texts. To which is perfix’d the Life of the Author, EDINBURGH: Printed by R. FIemimg and Company, and fold by Mr. Jame5 Davidson, and John Paton, and other Booltfcllers ia Town and Country. MDCCrXKXV. t Mr. Hugh Binning, foitietime Mi- nifler of the Gofpel at Govan. HERE being a gveat Demand for the fe'ueral Books that are printed tinder Mr. Bir.ning’j J!^ame, tt was ludged proper to undertake a new and correSl Impreffion of them in one Volume : ^hts being done the Publijhtri were jnuch concerned to have the Life of fuch an ufejuk and eminent Mini J}er of C hr ifl written in ^ujiice to his Memory^ and his great Services in the IVork of the Gofpelf that it might go along with this Impreffion* EVe living now at fo great Difiance from the Time where* in he made a Figure in the World muft be at a conjiderable Lofs in giving an exaSi and particular Relation ; however, his pious and exem¬ plary Life, may in feme Meafure be known jrom his Writings ; and for this End, a great many bright Pajfages might be gathered out of them, whic would raife his CharaSier highly tn the Eyes of all gqfid Me^ , for t Reverend Mr* Robert M‘Ward Minifler ;« Glafgow obferved, *’ That his Life was his Sermons put in Print, by which Means, they who did what he had [aid in the Pulpit, by feeing what he did in his Con* a verfatm. t ii The Life of the Author. “ verfation, might remember vihat the) had forgot ; he lived as he fpoket “ and [poke as he lived'’ All due Pat us have been taken to procure proper Materials, and good Vouchers of the following Narration-. Some few "Things are learned from the Prefaces prefix’d to his fever al Pieces, by worthy and able Divines, wl^o revifed and publifhed them more Accounts of him were furnifed by Perfons of great Credit, on whofe Veracity we can fafely rely ; but the moR remarkable Pafages of his Life are happily pre- firved in a Letter written by Air. to the Reverend Mr.]amts Cohmm, fometime Minifier at Sluys w Flandtr'. The Writer of his Life, mufl in the Entry canfefs, that his Part is fo fmall, that he can ■ fcarce affume any Thing to himfelf but the procuring of the Materials f rom others, the copying out of t ho fe Things that were of any Aloment, and dif pofng them in the bejl and rnofl natural Order ,he could think of, having fludied tlye StriRnefs of a fever e Hifiorian, without helping out Things With his Invention, or fetting them off by a rhetorical Stile of Language; nay all that is contained in Mr M^'^^cd’sTarge Letter concerning him, is told ahnofi in hii very Words, with a little Variation of the Order wherein he had placed the fame, omitting the many long Digrefftons on fe¬ deral Sub]efls, which that worthy Perfon judged Jit to injift upon, taking Occajionfrom what he had noticed' concerning Mr. Binning, to enlarge on the fame. jolin Binning £)/ Dalvennan was married to Margaret M'Kell a Daughter of Mr. Matthew M‘K^11 Minifier at Bpthwel, and Sifler to Mr. Hugh M‘Ktll one of the Alinifiers of Edinburgh ; he had by hsr Mr. Hugh and Alexander. The Father was pofJeflM no inconfiderable Kflate in the Shire of \.\x,for Air. Hugh having died before his Father, John the only Son of Air. Hugh, was ferved Heir to his Grandfather in the Lands 0/ Di vennin.- Alexander the fecond Son, who died about •ten Years ago. got the Ltnds of Machritnore, and mwas married to n Daughter 0/ Alexander Cravfurd o/Kerff, and is fucceed^d therein by his ^on I ^ nntng, at prefent a Writer in Edinburgh. The worldly Circumfi inces of the Grandfather being fo good, he was thereby enaUedyto giv 3 his Son Ti'fi illiberal Eiiication i The good and dejir-eable Effefis of which appeared very early upon him ; the Greatnefs of his 'spirit and Capacity gave his Parents good Ground to conceive the pleafant of his dyeing a pro n>fing Child. When he was at the Gram- tn.iY'fchool, he made fo great Profeiency in the Knowledge of the La' in Tongue^ and Roman Authors ^ that he' outjir ip’ d bis C ondfeipies, even The Life of Author. ill fuch as were feme Tears older than himfelf. When bis Fellow ichooHoys •went to their Play and Diverfiony he declined their Society, and chofed to employ himjelfy either in fecret Duty with God^ or Conference with religt- Qiis 1 eopk Jjis P'ajiinte was to recreate himfelf in jhis Manner , he had an Ave-'fion to Sports Games and other Diverjions, not from any Morole- nefs or Melancholly of %emper, being rather of an affable, ihearful and debonair Difpo/tthn, thinking that Time was too precious to be laviihcd away in thefe Filings', Religion and religious Exercifes were his Choice, and the Time he' had to (pare from his Studies he Jpent that Way. _ He began to have fiveet Familiarity wuh God and to live in near Cctnr Tnunionivith him before others began ferioujly to lay to Heart their loft and undone Condition by Nature, and that additional Mifery the) ex<; pofe themfehes to by walking in a wicked Way and Jmful Courje When he arrived at the or i^th Year of his A^e he had even then tainedfo much Experience in the Ways of God, that the mod judicious and exercifed Chriftians in the Place confeffed they were much edified, flrengthned and comforted by him ; nay, that he p'rovoked them to Dili¬ gence in the Duties of Religion, being abundantly jenfible, that they were much outrun by a Youth, Before he was fourteen Years old, he entered upon the Study of Vbilofophy in the Univerfity of G[&{gow, wherein he made very confider able Progrefs, and with as much Facility out(irip*d h'u fellow Students, as he had done his Condi fciples in the La^in School", by which means he came to be taken Notice of in the College by the Profeffors and Students ; and at the fame Fime, that he made Proficiency in the liberal Sciences, he advanced remark* ably in Religion. The abfirufe Depths of Philofophy, which are the Forturo of flow Ingtnes and weak Capacities, he dived into without any Trouble or Pain : And notwithftanding of his furpriftng Attainments and Improve¬ ments, his great Acumen and ready Apprehenfion of Things, whereby hn was able to do more in one Hour, than others in fome Days, by hard Study and clofe Application ; and tho* on thefe Accounts he was much refpePled by the eminent Miniflers of the City, and learned Profeffors of the UnF verfity i yet was he ever humble, never exalted above Ij^afure, nor fweP led.with the Tympany of Pride and Self-conceit, the wmmon Foible and Difcafe of young Men of any Greatnefs of Spirit. So foon as he hadfinijhed his Courfe of Philofophy, he was made Mafter of Arts with great Applduje ; and having fur ntfhed his Mind with an un¬ common Meafure of the ancillary Knowledge of Letters^ he began the a 2 Study IV The Life of the Author. Study oj Druiuity totth a V^teM to jv-ve God in the hdy Minijlry ^ at •vohicff Time there happened to be a l^acancy in the College of GUI^o by the Rejignation of IVlr J mts Dairympic of Stai ,. who had been Mr BiiiDiufi*/ Mafi^r. Tfhis Gentleman was fo great and fo good a Man that it is impoflble to a'uoid giving an Account of f me of the re’ tnarkab'e Things of his Life. The fi fl Imployment he had^ was in the Army being a Captain /K Witii.rn Earl of (*ilp(ica(rn'j Regiment of Foot ■ but as he had made • his Studies with great Application, at the earn^ft Requefl of the Profeffors of the Univerjtty oLCy\i^2oyf/, he flood as Candidate for a Chair- of Philofophy, in a comparative Fried in» Buff and carlet^ the Military Drefs of thofe -Days to which he was with great Appliufe pref err'd. In this Station he was greatly efteem'd, for his un¬ common Abilities in ^ilofophy and other Parts of Learning : But being refolv'd to follow the Siudy of the Law, he foon tefigned his Office of Pro" feffor, and entered Advocate upon the yth of ♦February 1648 and quickly didinguijhed himjelf by his Pleadings before the-, Court of Sefffony avoiding always to--take any Imployment^ either as Advocate,^ or Judge in criminal Matter s.^tho* often re fpefliveh prefs'd to accept of both, which proceeded from a Delicacy in his Opinion, leafl to wit. he might pojjtblj be the Inflrument^ either of making the Innocent jiiffer, Qr to acquit the Guilty, In this Situation he continued till the Tender was impofed, when he, with many sther eminent Lawyers, withdrew from the Bar- 0« June z6th i6'^q,he was by a Commijjionjtgnd. by General Monk, in Name of the ProteSioPs Council of Scotland, appointed to be one of the Judges, which was foon confirmed by a Nomination direSly from the ProteHor himfelf,, tn the Month o/july thereafter, which he hai no Inclination to accept of , being himfelf no Favourer of the Vfurpation y for as he had been SecreHiry to the Commiffion which had been fent to the King to Bred a. he had waited upon his Maje fly upon his landing in the North, however- being tmportUf nately preffed to^ accept by many eminent Men. and amongfl them, by fever ral Mintflers. who all difltngui!%ed between his firving as one of the Council under the ProteEior, and exercifing the Offlce of a Judge by air miniflratingffufi^ to his fellow Subjefls, he did accept', and hts AEf of Admffion only mars his giving his Oath de fid el i admioiltraiiopc. After the Refioration he was made by the King one of the ordinary Loris ff Sefffon by his Majefly*s Nomination dated at • h-chall February i^tfy \66 1 2. And in the iSys, he was created Prefident of that Court, in the jaLt)c«.o/&V Jpfio.Giimiiir of Qtaigmiuer. In the Parhament .16^1, V T'he 'Life of the Author. he made a gyeM Appearance for fe curing the Froteflant Rel/g/on ; and by Reafon of the iJ/fficultief of the ^tmes, he de fired Leave of his Ainjefiy to retire from Bujinefs and live quietly in the Country ^ hutmth'she •was prevented by a Commiffion. dated the i^th of C>6t'-ber I68j, which having pafi the Great Seat was. produced the i/? of N wembt r thereafter, by which Commiffion he was fuperfeded as Prefident of tfse Sejjton and in the Tear 1682, voas obliged tor his Safety to retire to Ho'iaiitl ; for th(f he had the King s Promt fe that, he Jhuuld live undiliurbed^ yet he was let know that he coitld not bem Safety, and after his Retreat to Boiiand, fever al unjufi but fruit lefs Attempts were made to have him tried for Ptreafoni both before' the Parliament and Jufiiciary for no other Reafon, than that he had always with Sincerity and Firmnefs given his Opinion to tl)€ Kmg and bis Minifiers, again^ the Mea fares that Were then followed, and which in the following Reign^ at length brought about the glorious Re* volution, at which ^ime Anno 16R8 he attended King W*!liam in that Expedition, by tlse Succefs oj which we Were mo (I happily delivered from ftyranny and Slavery- November iji 1689, Sir James Djtlrymple of Stair his Letter as Breftdent of the Sejjton Was produced,, an^ recorded, and he was accordingly admitted and refiored to his Office* In the Tear 1690, he was created a yifcount upon Account of his gfeat Service's and' Merit. He publijhed while in Holland fwj Inliitutions of the Law of Scotland (a more full Edition of which came out in the 1^95,) and two Volumes in F oWo of Dedfions, from the 1661, to the 1681 incluiive* He alfo publijhed a Syfiem of Phypcks,, valued greatly at theAtime, and a Book intitled a Vindication ot the D ivme Acribuces was. alfo hisg in which there is difcovered great Force of Argument and. Knowledge, He •was lookt upon before his Death as the living Oracle of our Law,, and at prefent his Inhituuoiis are appealed to., as containing the. true and foUd Principles of it. Mr, Binning who had lately been his Scholar, was determined after much Entreaty '{of which We Jhall. prefent ly give an Account) to Jiand as a Candidate for that Poll* ^he^, Ma filers of the College, according to the uiual laudable Cujtom, emitted a Program, and fent it to all the Umve, Jttss in the .Kingdom inviting fuch as had a Mind to difpute for a Proiefifion of Philo fophy,. to fijl 'themfelves before them, and ofer themfelvei to compete for that Preferment, giving Af* Jurance that without Partiality and Re fpe A of Perfons, the Place fihould le conferred upon him, who fhould be found digniot dt. dottior. VI 21:e Life of the Author. Ihe Mmtfien of the C/>_y 0/ Gl.ilgo w confidering ho-'X) tmch it was the Inter eft of the Church, that well qualified Perjons be pit into tine -Projtjfton of Pbilofophy, and that Univerfities by this Means become mo (I ujejul Seminaries jor the Church \ and that fuch as had jerved af Regent s in the College, were ordinarily brought tjut to the Miniftry whoy as the Divinity Chairs became vacant, were advanced to that Honour, many Inftances of which 1 am able to condefcend upon ; And tbej knowing that JVlr. Binning was eminently pious, and one of a folid j udgment , as well as of a bright Genius y fet upon him to fid himfelf among the other Competitors, but had great Diftculty t'o overcome Ins Modefty ; however they at laft prevailed with fim to declare bejore the Mafters his If tiling- nejs to undertake the Difpute with others. "There were two Candidates more, one of them had the Advantage of great Intereft with DoSior Strang, -Principal of the College at that Time-, and the other a Scholar of great Abilities, and of the fame Sen^ timents with the DoBor in fome problematical Points of Divinity, which with great Subtility had been debated in the Schools. Mr- BnininH Jo managed the Difpute, and acquitted himfelj in Ml the Pans' of Trial, that to the ConviBion oft he Judges he very much darkned his Rivals, And as to the precife Point of Qisalification, in refpeB of Literature, cut of all Shadow of a Demur and Pretence of Difficulty in the Decifion ; however the DoBor, and fome of the faculty who joined him, tho^ they could not pretend that the Candidate they appeared for had an Equality, much left n Superiority in the Difpute ; yet they mgued a caetcns p.jribus, that the Perfon they inclined to prefer, being a Citix.en^s Sqh, having a good Com¬ petency of Learning, and being a Perfon of more Tears, h, id greater Ex'- 'perience than Mr, Binning could be fuppofed to have and confequently was more fit to be a Teacher ofTouth : Mr. Binning being but Tefterday a fellbw Student with thofe, he tons- to teach, it was not to be expeBed, that the Students would behave to him with that RefpeB and Regard, •which Jhould be paid to a MaBer. But to this it was replied. That Mr. Binning was fetch a pregnant Scholar, fo wife and fedate as to be above all the Follies and Vanities of Touth, that he kneiv very well how to let no Man defpife his Touth ; his Wit was neither vain nor light and his Fancy was obedient to his Reafen, and what was •wanting in Tears, was fufficiehtly made up by his fingular Indowments, and more than ordinary Qualifications. A Member of the Faculty perceiving the Struggle among ■them to he great {and indeed the' Affair Jeem'd to have been argued very plan- vu The Life of the Author. on both Sides) fropofed a Difpute between the two Candidates cxtimpore, upon He was a Perjon of exemplary Moderation and Sobriety of Spirit, had healing Methods much at Heart, and (ludied to promote Love -and Peace among his Brethren in the Miniftry : He vigoroufly Contributed to the Re~ covery xiv The Life of Author. covery of th Humanity of Cbriflianity^ which had been much loft in tht^ Differences of the Times^ and the Animoftties which followed thereupon. Thefe Virtues and Graces had fuch an Afcendant in his ^oul, that when he carried Coals about with him taken from the' Altar ^ to warm the Souls of all (with whom he converfed) with Love to Gody his Truths , hitereffts. and Peophy fo he carried SanSluary-water about with him to cool and ext tinguijhy what of undue Pnjfton he perceived to accompany the Zeal of good and well dtfigning Per fans ; a Temper that is rarely found in one of his Age : But ripe HiXi'vefi Grapes were found upon this Vine in the be- ginning of Spring ; and no iVvnder fince he lived fo near the Sun of Right e- cnfuefs, and lay under the plentiful Showers of Divine Gracey and the ripening Influences of the Holy Spirit. The prevailing of the Englifli SeElarians under Oliver Cromwe^, to tr < Overthrow of the Presbyterian Interefl in England, and the variouf Attempts which they made in Scotland, on the Conflitution and Dif- cipline of this Churchy was one of the greatefi Difficulties, which the- JVliniflry had then to (iruggle with. Upon this he made the following mofl excellent RefieBioMy in a Sermon preached on a Day of publick Humilr ation, Page 502, Col. 2. What it the Lord hathdetaced all that this- Kingdom was inftrumental in building of in Englandy that he alone may have tbe Glory in a fecond Temple more glorious? And when he obferved.Sthat theZ.eal of many for the Solemn League and Covenant iby which they were fworn to endeavour the Prefervation of the reformed Religion in Scotland, and the Reformation of Religion in the Kingdoms of England and Ireland) was not attended with a fuitable Amendment of their own Livesy he takes up a bitter Lamentation over them in a very remarkable Paragraphy Page 554, Col. i. Alas we deceive ourfclves with the Node ol a Covenant, and a Caufe of. God ; we cry it up as an Antidote againfl all Evils, ufe it as a Charm, even as the dief their Temple; and in the mean Time we do no: care how we walk before God, or with our Neighbours. ^ t\\ {thus faith the Lord) Truft ye not in lying IPordsy faying, ^he ftemple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lordy the T*emple of the Lord are thefe. For if ye throughly amend your Ways and your Doings ; if ye througfsly execute judgment letween a Man and his Neighbour ; if ye opprefs not the Stran* gety the Fatkerlefsy and' the Widowy and Jhed not innocent Blood in this Placet neither walk after other Gods to your Hurty Jer. vii. 4, 5, 6. It Drunkennefs reign among you, if Filchinefs, Swearing, Oppref- XV The Life of the Atjthor. (ion, Cruelty reign among yon, your Covenant is but a Lie, alt your Profeflions are but lying Words, and (hall never keep yea in your Inheritances and Dwellings. The Lord tells yon what he requires of you, is it not to do juftly^ and love Mera, and -walk Jjutnbh God'i Mic. vi, 8' This is that which the Grace of God teacheSy to deny Vngodlinefs^ ahd worldly Luds, and to live foveriyy righte- oujly and godly y towards your God, your Nerghbour arfd youtfelf, Tit. iis and thi^ he prefers to your publick OrdinanesSi your fading, covenanting, preaching and fuch like. U/hen the unhappy DifiinEiion betwixt the Publick Refolutiorers and Protciters took Place in this Churchy Mr. Binning was of the lajl nomination. This DiJlinPlion proved to be of fatal ConfequenceSy he faw fame of the Evils of it in his own and being of a catholick and healing Spirit, with a View to the cementing of Differences, he wrote an excellent ‘Ireatife of Chrijlian Love which contains very firong and pa*- thetick Pajfages mofl appofite to this SubjeSi, fame of which We will have afterwards Occafionto quote. He was no Foment er of FaSiion, butjiudi'^ ous of the publick "Iranquillity \ he was a Man of moderate Principled and temperate Paffions', he was far from being confident y or vehement in the managing of publick Affairs -y never impofing or over- bearing upon others, but wrllingly hearkned to Advice, and yielded to Reajon. After he had laboured fourJTears in-the Miniftry, Icrving God with his'^pirit in the Gofpel of fiis Son, whom he preached, warning every Man, and teaching every-Man in great minijlerial IVifdorn and Freedom, that might prefent every Man perfe^ in Chnft Jelus whereanto he laboured, driving according to his working, which wrought in him mightily ; be died of a Confamption, when he w.rs fcarce come to the Prime and Vigour of Lifey entering on the Twenty fixth Tear of his Age, living behind him- a fweet Savour after he was gone', and M Epiftle of Commendation upon the Hearts of his -Hearers. IFhile he lived, he was highly valued and efteenied,^having been a fuccefj-^ ful Inftrument of faving himfelf and them that heard him-, of turning Simers urao Righteoufnefs, and of perfe£iing the Saints ; and died much lamented by all good People, ivho had the Opportunity and Advantage' of knowing him', . He. Was a Perjdn of fingular Piety, of a humble, meek and peaceable Temper, a judicious and lively Preacher-, nay, fo extraordinary a Per foH,. that hi Was^fujily accomud a Prfdigi for the Pregnancy of his XVI The Life of the Author. natural Parts, and his great Proficiency in human Learning, and Know ledge of Divinity. He was too Jhinning a Light to Jhine long^ and burned fo intenfely^ that he was foon put out; but now Jhines in the Kingdom of his Father, in a more confpicuous and refulgent Manner, even iS the Brifiiuntfs of. the Firmament, and as the Stars tor ever aad ever. Fhe Idfl Sermons he preached were thefe on Rom. viii, 14, 15 Ver, For as mony as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God; for ye have not received the Spirit of Bondage ‘again to fear, but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption, where by we cry Abba Father He concluded the lafl of thefe Difeourfej, with a Refieiiion on thefe IHords, We crrr Abba Father. This (fays he Page g6o, Cul. r.} is much for our Comtorr, that from wliomfoevet^and whatfoever Corner in the World Prayers come up to him, they cannot ' want Acceptance; All Languages, all Countries^ all Places are fan^ti- fied by Jefus Chrift, that whomever calls upon th?‘ Name of the Lord from the Ends of the Earth (hall be faved. And truly it is a Iwect Meditation to think, that from the Ends of the^ Earth, thp Cries of Souls are heard, and that the End is as near Heaven as the Middle, and a Wildernefs as near as a Paradife: That tho’ we un- dcrftand,^iot one another, yet we have one loving ami living Fa»^ ther, chat underffands all our Meanings; and fo the differenc Lan¬ guages and Dialei^s of the Members of this Body make no Con- fufion id Heaven, but meet together in his Heart and Affc6tion, and are as one Perfume, one Incenfc fent up^from the whole Catho- lick Church, which is here fcattered upon the Earth; O that the Lord would perfwade us to cry this Way to our Father in all out Neceflities. Thus having contemplated that SubjeSi concerning the Adoption of Children, he was taken hence to the' Enjoyment of the Inhc" ritance referved in the Heavens for •4hem,‘ and the Spirit called him by Death, as the Voice did John the Divine, Rev. iv. i. Come up hither. He was buried in the Church-yard of Govan, where Mr. Patrick Gillespie, then Principal of the Univerfity of Glafgow, at his own pro¬ per Charges {as I am credibly informed) caufed a Monument to be erec¬ ted for him^ which there is to this Day the following infeription in Lacing - “ Hic The Life of the Author. - xvu Hic SITUS EST Magister.. Hugo Binningus ; ViR PIETATE, FACUNDIA, DOCTRINA CLARUS ; Philologus, Philosophus, Theologus Fr*^;staims, PRiECO DENIQUE EvANGELII FIDELIS ET EXIMIUS *, Qyi E ^MEDIO RERUM CURSU SUBLATUS , ANNO'iETATIS XXVI DoM, AUTEM 1 65 3. i Mutavit patriam non socif.tatem, Eo QUOD VIVUS CUM DEO AMBUJ.AVIT, Et si quid inquiras, cjetera sileo; Cum NEC Tu nec Marmor hoc capi at. He left behind him a difconfolate Widevi^ and tin only Son called jolin after the Grandfather ^ to whom the Grandfather at his Death bad left the Eftate of Dalvennanj but John having been engaged in the Infur< reSiion at Bothwel Anno 1679, was forfeited^ and continued difpoffeffed of itf till the Tear iSpo, when by the i^th Abl of Parliament in thefaicb Tear^ the Forfeitures and Fines pafi fince'the Tear 166^, to the ^th Day of November id88, were refeinded. His IFidow •was after* wards married to one Mr, James Gordon, a Prefbyttrian Minifier for fome Time in the Kingdom 0} Ireland. She lived to a great Age^ and died in the tear i6pr^at Paifley in the Shire of Renfrew, about four or five Miles from Qovan ; which, when the People of that Parijh heard, the favoury Memory they (fill had of their worthy Paftor^ made them to df fire the Friends of the DefunSi, to allow them to give her a decent and honourable Burial bejides her deceafed Husband, undertaking to defray all the Charges of the Funerals, which was done accordingly ; and to this Day Mr. Binning is mentioned among them with a particular Veneration : He Was fucceeded'by Mr, David Vetch, who hkewife died young. Before I conclude this Relation, it is proper I give fome Account of his PVritings, The Books publifbed at different Times under his Name, which are contained in this Volume f are all poflhumous ; wherefore- it will rot be ftrange, if the Reader fhallmeet with fome Pafiages in them that are lefs perfeSi and complete, fince he did not intend them for the Prejs,and that they want thefe finifhing Strokes, which fucb a mafierly Pen was able to give them. The good EffeHs his Difeourjes had upon the Hearers and the Importunity of many -judicious and experienced Chriflians to have them pubhfiedf that they might have the fame Jnfiueme 9n fuch as fiould redd c thmn, xviir Life of the Author. thentf encouraged fonte iVorth^ Minijiers to re'vije and print them ; and fince thtfe Sermons have for a long Time had the Approbation both of learned Divines and ferious Chrijiians^ they need not any Recommendation , ef mine> The firjl of hts ^orks thatvoas printed, is intituled ^ The common Pri nciplcs of the C'lriftian Religion, clfiirly proved, and fiogularly im- p^roved ; or a pradical Catechifm, wherein fome of toe mod Concerning Foundations of our Faith are folidly laiddowni and thar D^drine which is accordingtoGodlinefs is fweetly,yet pungently, prefled home and mod (atisfyingly handled. Afr. IVl‘Ward [peaking of this Performance, fays That it was notdefigned jorthe Prefs,thatit contained only his Notes- upon thefe Subjf^^s he preached to his Flock) and which he wrote (/ /«p- “ pofe he means in a fair Hand) for the private Ufe and Edification of a Friend, from whom he had them ] and when put into his Hand to be “ revifed, fays, He did not fe much as alter or add one iFord to make the Senfe more plain, full or emfhatical.** This Book is an excellent £x- pofition of the Wedminidcr Catechifm, fo far as it goesy viz. to the twenty firjl Quefiion, Who is the Redeemer of God's £le^ ? Mr. Patrick Gillelpie Vorites^a Preface to the Reader, wherein he expreffes his high Opinion of it in the following Encomium. In this Book Mr. Bin- “ ning explains many of the fundamental Artistes of the Chriflian Faith, “ and had he lived to have perfe^ed and" finijhed this lFork,he had been upon “ this Jingle Account famous in the Church of Chri(F* T'he Ajjembly's Catechifm has had many Expofitions by pious and learned Miniflers, fome fif them by way of Sermon, and others by way of Quefiion and Anfwer ; but this, fofar as it goes, is not inferior to any. A learned Layman, Sir M atthew Hales Chief yufiice of the Kings Bench, the Divine of the State in King C'larles ll'j. Reign, judged the Affembly*s Catechifm to be an excellent Compofure, and thought it not below himy or unworthy of his Pains, to corfider it: For in the fecond Part of his Contempiatioos moral and divine, we have his mofl inflruHive Meditations upon the three fir ft Quoftions : Thefe had been the Employment of his horac facras , and it is a Pi^y he did not go on to the other Qjiefiions. The Shortnefs of Mr. Bi r\ ms* s Life has deprived us of a complete Courfe of ufejul catehetical Difeourfes, This Book was fo greatly efleemedin this Country, that before the Tear there had been no lefs than five Imprejjims cafi off the * Prefs ; and all thefe being fold off, a jixth was made in the fani Lear. As they were much valued at home, fo they were Ixghly priz^ed abroetd ; and / The Life of the Author.. xlx and as an Evidence of this y I find, that JVlr* jAines Coleman Minifler at 5’iuys in Flinder*^, tranfiated them into the Dutch Languaf>e. in the Tear i6'}o^ another pofihumous hf'orkvsas printed, it is ifitituled 'The Sinner’s Sanduary, being fnrf.y Se mons upon-the eight Ciiaptec of the Epiftle to the Romans from the fir ft Ver. down to the fixteenth.The Publtlhers in their Preface acquaint us^ that they were tncouraged to print it, lecaufe the former Treatife was univtrjally received by the intelligent and judicious in the Ptinciples of the Chifiian Faith, In this Book^ as in all his other IPritingSy the Readers ’Will perceive a pure Stream of Piety and Learning running through the whole and a very peculiar Turn of Thought, that exceeds the common Rate of Writers on this Choice Part of the Holy Scriptures- Dr. Horton, Dr. Manror, and others have printed a great Number of ufeful praHical Dijcourfes j but fo far as -he goes^ he is not exceeded by any of them, A third Treatife was printed 'at Edinburgh, in the Tear i6jiy the Title of it is, Fcllowfliip with God, being twenty eight Sermons on the firft Epihle of 5f<^/)z?,Chap. I ft,and Chap, ad, Vetfcs 1,2, 3. hthk Book we have the true Ground and Foundation of ^attainin^ the fpiritual Way of entertaining Fellowfhip with the Father and with the Sen, and ttk hleffed Condition of fuch as attain to it, mofi (uccinPiiy and dijUnBly explain^ ed. This Book was revifed and publijhed by one. A. S, who in his Pre* face to the Reader,, fiiks himfelf his Servant in the Gofpel of our dearefi Lord and Saviour, I need give no other Commendation of it, Phan that fummary Elogium which that Mtnifier has left us^ In a -Word, fays be^ '* here are to be found, ConviPlions forAthetfis, piercing Rebukes to the Pm- '* fane, clear In fir uPl ions to the Ignorant, Milk to the Babes in Chrifi,Jirong ‘‘ Meat for the Strong,Strengthto theli'eak,Qu.ickning and Reviving for fuch ** as faint in the Way, Reftoratives for fuch are in a Decay, Reclatnatiom ** and loud Oyeffes after Backfltders to recal them, Brea/ls of Conlolation V for Zion’j Mourners i and to add no more, here are moft excellent Counfeh and DirePlions to ferious Seekers of FellowjJsip with God, to guide them m “ their Way, and help them forward to the Attainments (ff that Fulnefi ofyoy, which is to be had in Pellowflnp with the Father and the Son,* The laU Treatife that has been printed is. His Heart humiliation," or Mifcellany Sermons, preached upon feme choice Texts at feveral folemn Occafioiis. Theje liketpife were revifed and pvblifked by the above A. S. in the Tear Mr. binning confidering the great Confufiotts and lam&ntable Divifims that prevail^ in the Church in his Day, and the^bomding Immorality and Aofanenefs of the Age^ was deeply weighted X 2 " there- The Life of the Author. xx theremth. His righteous Soul ipaj Jo vexed avd grieved on thefe Accounts^ That he vented his Mind in a mojl pathetick arid moving Manner^ wheji the Days of publich Humiliation and Fajling were objerved. H^itb rejpecf to the many FaHs then appointed, and the few goad Ffeds they had, be Jays in his Sermon on Ifa. Ixiv. 7. '’’‘There is none that calleth upon thy “ Name^ that ftirreth up himfelf to take hold on thee^ Page 623, Col. 2. The fading Days of Scotland will be nuinbred in thu- Roll of greateft Provocations, becaufe there is no real Conviction of Sin among us j Cuftoin now hath taken away the Soiemnitv, and there remaineth nothing but the very Name. And in the fame Sertnon, Page 654, Col. r.- Doth any of you pray more in- private than ye ufed Or what Edge is upon your Prayers? Alas the Lord will yet get good Leave to go from us. It feareth me we would give Chrift a ledi- inonial to go over Seas. Hold him, hold him; nay the Multitude would be gladly quite of him, they cannot abide his Yoke, his Work is a Burden, his V/ord is a Torment, his Difeipline is Bands and Cords, and what Heart can ye have to keep Chrift What Violence can ye offer to Chrift to hold him ftill ? All your Entreaties may be fair Compliments, but they would never rent his Garment. There ^re ilillfeveral Manuferipts of Mr. Binning tdre/w/- ly preferved, which are in< nothing inferior to any of his printed Works. There is a valuable Treaufe upon Chriftian Love, confijiing of Jeveral Sheets, writ in a very fmall CharaQer^ it is divided into Chapters, and feveral Sermons to the Number of upon very edifying Subje&sr vfeful and profitable for our Times, which are defigned to be printed in a fepar ate Volume, which every Body may eajily dif cover from the Stile and Genious of the Author to be his genuine Writings : His Man¬ ner of thinking and writing being a Talent fo peculiar to himfelf that it fcarcely can be imitated by any other Ferfovi Had it pleafed •the Almighty, to have far ed~.fo. valuable a Life for Jotne Time longer, he would have vindicated Divinity from the many fruitlefs Quefiions, unintelligible Terms, empty Notions, and perplexed Subtilities, wherewith h bad^ been corrupted for a long Time by , the Schoolmen ; as he was excellently fitted for this, Jo it was much upon his Heart io have reduced Divinity to that native Simplicity, ^which bad been lofl in moU Parts of the World. A good Specimen of bis Ability this Way he hath given us in his Cateebifm *, and Jo, M he lived but a fbort Time, yet lived long enough to raif the grcatC^ Expeliation^ ttat^batb been hwwn of any. of bis Sanding, . The Life of the Author. xx*i Mri M‘\Varci ajjures usy That if Dr. Dictates cie volunratc Dei circa peccata had been publijhed before Mr* Binning*/ Death, Mr. Binning had an of them ready for the Prefs ; hut this Ireu' Jure, to the great Lofs of the learned World, cannot now be found. As for his Philofophical Writings which he taught in the Vniverftyy I am affured that his Courfe of Philofcphy is in the Hands of a learned Gentlemen in this City^ who gives them a high Commendation. ‘There is a Book publijhed under his Name in conjifling of fifty one Pages, with this Tattle, Au ufetiil Caie of CgnicUrct , kadietiiy and accutately difculfed andrtfolved conctrning Aifoci *tions and'-Con- federacies, with Idolater?, Infidels, Herecick% (Vlalignants, or any oth-r known Enemies of Ti ucli and Xjodlinefs .* But it is very much queflioned by the mo ft intelligent y if that Book was really Mr. Binning’/. The Pub^ lijher does indeed put Mr. Binning’/ Name to the Title Page, but con^ teals his own, and brings no Manner of Voucher, jhovoing that Mr. Bin¬ ning was the Author but fends it abroad imp the World in a cl ir.deftifie Manner , neither the Name of the- Printer, nor of the Place where it was printed is tnentioned in the Title Page. It is printed in the Year when the fir ft General Affembly of this Church after the Revolution yvfhich confiftedof W; publick Refolutioncrs W Protefiors, had agreed to bury ^or ever all their Differences about the pttbl/ck Refolutions, concerning tht Quedion of employing Malignant s in the .Army that was raifed again ft the Kingdom of England. It feems that he dreaded the Browns andCeu' fure of thofe worthy and faithful Minifters o/Jefus Chrift, who had been 0 longTime in the Fire of Per fecution. But if we further cottfider. That our late glorious Deliverer King William, was in the Year i6g^. engaged in a defenfive War with the Emperor of Germany and the King of Spain, againfl Louis XIV. the bloody Tyrant of France and Terror of Europe, who aimed at the univerfal Monarchy thereof ^ and to over¬ turn the happy Revolution, the blejfed Benefits of which we have enjoyed ever fince, it is evident ^ That the Publijher was afraid of the Refent- ment of the civil Powers, efpecially when the fpreading of that Pamphlet might have an unhappy Tendency to alienate tlse AffeBions if ‘'his Sub^ jeBs when he . was carrying on that juft and necejfary War foir the Prefervation of our religious and civil Liberties, to which we had been but lately reftored; nay it is faid, that when this Pamphlet was fpread^ ing in the Army in Flanders, it was like to have a bad Influence on the ‘■ S^terff William take an effeBual Method tojup^ preft 3ixU The Life of the Author. . pYe{s it. Further^ Mr. Emning died in the Tear 1653, thiTPamphlet vjas not publiJJoed till the Tear i6pj ; fo that for the Space of forty Tears it "joas never heard of, nor made publick by any of the Proteflors them- felves in that Period^ vxhich would not have been neglePled, had-they known that yj/r. Binning xujj- the Author of it. And\2ii\\y, Mr. Bioniiig voas of a pacifiik Tetnper, and his Sentiments with refpeSl to publick Differ* ernes were healing, vihich are evident from the Accounts already given of his printed Bc-oks. And to jhew that he was a Promoter of brotherly Love and cf the Peace of the Church, IJhall fet down a jew Paffages taken from his ureatife of Chrifiian Love, which are as bright and firongfor recommen¬ ding the fame, as any that I have met with in the Writings of any of our Divines, fo that I cant allo'w my felf to think he could be the Author thereof. In Chapter id of that Treatife, he fays, ^‘iThere is a greater Mo- “ ment and PFeight of Chrijlidnity in Charity, than in the mofl Part of theft “ *Things,for which Chriflians bite and devour one another : It is the funda* “ mental Law of the Gofpel, to which all pofitive Precepts and Ordinances fbould floup. Unity in judgment is very needful for the IVelLbeing of “ Chrifiians ;■ but Chrffs lafl Words perfwade this, that Unity in Affethon is more effential and fundamental : This is the Badge he left to his Difciples. If we cafl away this upon every different Apprehenfion of Mind, we dif “ own our Mafter, anddifclaim his Token and Badge.’* He goes on in the fame Strain in the following Paragraph j “ Lhe Apoftle Paul puts a high “ Note and Commendation upon Charity, when he Stiles it the Bond o^ Pcr- “ tcdion. Above all Things, fays he, put on Charity, which is the “Bond of Perfedinefs, Col iii. 14. I am fare it hath not fo high a Place “ in the Minds and Prafiices of Chrifiians now, as it hath in the Rolls of ‘5 the Parts and Members of the new Man here Jet down : Here it is above “ an, with us *tis below all, even below every Apprehenfion of doubtful “ ^truths. Ah Agreement in the Conception o\ any poor petty controverfial “ Matter of the Times, is made the Badge of Chriftianityi and fet in an “ eminent Place above all. And in the fame Chapter, he adds, This is the Sum of all, to worfhtp Godin Faith and Purity, and to love one another i and whatfoever Debates and Quefiiens tend to the Breach of this Bond^ and have no eminent and remarkable Advantage in tlsem, fuppofe they be conceived to be about Matters of Confcience, yet the inter taining and ^ pYofecuiing (f them to the Prejudice cf this, if a manifefl Violence offered to the Law of God, which is the Rule of Confcience. It is a perverting of If Scripture and Confcience to a wrong End. /fay theutjlm Charity and • QhriJlU xxiii • Tice Life of the Author. “ ChriJHan Love JJiould be the Moderatrix of all our Ahtions towards Mpi% “ from thence they Jlmiiid proceed^ and accordhg to this Rule be formed, “ I am perfwaded if this Rule were followed, the prefent Differences in “ Judgment of godly Jlen, about Jticb Matters as mhiijler more QiteRions^ “ would foon bb buried in the Gulf of Chrijliart JffeRion.'^ I fall mention only another in the fame Chapter, ‘ Is not Charity more excellent than “ the Knowledge and Achiowledgejnent of fame prejent quejlionable Matters “ about Government, Treaties, and fuel) life, and far more than every PiivRilio of them? But the Apoftle goes 'highei\ .Juppoje a Alan could ^*Jpend all hhSubJlance vpon 'the Maintenance of fuch an Opinion, and “ give his Life for the ^Defence of it, tho^tn itfelf it be commendable : Tet “ if he < want Charity and Love to bis Brethren •, if he overjlretch that " Point of Conjeienee to the Breach, of ChriJliaH JffeRion, and Duties foL lowing from it, it profts,hm'^thing ‘, then certainly Charity muji rule,' our external ABions, and have the predominant Hand in the Ufe of all Gifts, and in the venting of all Opinions,*? And now having given a jiiJlCbara&er of this eminent Minifier of the Gofpel, a true Account of ' his Life, and fame flight Remarks upon his Writings •, I fhaltno longer* detain the Reader from the Ferufalof tbefeTreatifes that are containedl in this Volume, from wJ^ich you will know more of Mr. Binning, than from all that I and others have faid in his juft Praife, . I ftjall now conclude, by acquainting the Purebafers and Readers of this Volume, that ' I am allowed by the Publifhers to affure them, that the reft of his praRi- cal Manufcripts%re a reviftng for the Prejs y and that with all Expedition they fhall be printed, from which I am hopeful they ft}all receive as greats SatisfaRion^ as from. any of bis Pieces ahead) publiftjed. The Common Principles of the Chriftian Religion clearly proved, and Angu¬ larly improved : or, a practical Ca- techifm, dare him to be fuch: This then is the proper W ork that Man is created for, to be a Witnels of God’s Glory, and to give Teftimony to the Appearat^ces, and Out- breakings of it, in the Ways of Power, and Juftife, and Mercy, and Truth. O- ther Creatures are called to glorify God, .but it is rather a Proclamation to dull and fenfelefs Men,, and a Provocation of them to their Duty. As Chrift faid to the Pharifees, If thefe Children hold their Peace, the Stones iwuld cry out'. So may the Lord turn himfelf from ftupid and fenfelefs Man, to the Stones, and Woods, and Seas, and Sun, and Moon, and exhort them to Mans Duty, the more to provoke and ftir up our Dulnels, and to make us confider, that it is a greater Wonder, that Man whom God hath made fo glorious, can fo little ex- prefs God’s Glory ; than if. ftupid and fenfelefs Creatures Ihould break out in Ting¬ ing, and praifing of his Majefty. The Creatures are the Books wherein the Lines of the Song of God’s Praifes are written, and Man is made a Creature capable to read them, and to tune that Song^. They are appointed to bring in Brick to our Hand, and God has falhioned us for this Imployment, to make fUch a Building of it : We arc the Mouth of the Creation, but e’re God want Praifes when our Mouth is dumb, and our Ears deaf, God will o- pen the Mouths of Affes, of Babes and Sucklings, and in them perfeft Praifes, PfaU viii, i, 2. Epioietus laid well. Si Lvfcinii^ of Mam Being, Lufcinia ejfem, canerem iit Lujcinia i cum autem homo fim, quid agam ? Lau- dabo Deum, nec unquam cejfabo. If' I ^Yere a Lark, I would fing as a Lark ; but feeing I am a Man, what (hould I do, but praife God without ceafing ? It is as proper to us to praife God, as for a Bird to chaunt: All Beafts 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 monf- trous to hear a melodious Bird croping as a Raven-; fo it is no lefs monflrous and degenerate, to hear the moft Part of the Dilcourfes of Men, favouring nothing of God. If we had known that innocent Eftate ofMan, O how would we think ’ lie had' fallen from Heaven ! We would imagine that we were thruff down from Heaven, where we heard the melodi¬ ous Songs of Angels, into Hell, to hear the Howlings 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 fet us into, when he afligned every Creature its own Ufe and Exercife ; This was our Portion ( and Othe nobleftof all, becaufe neareft the ' King’s own Perfon) to acknowledge in our Hearts inwardly, and to exprefs in our Words and Adions outwardly, what a one he is, according as he hath revealed himfeJf in his Word, and Works : ’Tis great Honour to a Creature to have the meanefl Employment in the Court of this great King. But, O what is it to be fet over all the King’s Houfe, and over all his King- dQjn ? But then what is that, in relped of this^ to bt next to the. King, to w'ait on his own.Petfon ( fo to fpeak : ) There¬ fore the godly Man is delcribedi as- a wait¬ ing Maid, or Servant, Pfal. cxxiii. 2. Well then, without more Dilcourfe upon It, without multiplying of it into particular f Branches, To glorify God,?/ our Souls' to conceive of him, and meditate on bif Name, till they receive 4ije ImpreJJion and Stamp op' all the I^eiters of bif glo: rious Name ; and then to exprefs this in our TPbrds and Notions, in com¬ mending op' him, and obeying op him.. Our Soul (hould be as Wax to exprefs the Seal of his glorious Attributes of Juftice, Power, Goodnefs, Holinefs, and Nlercy : And as the Water 5- If it yield not Wine, ’tis good for nothing: So, if Man do not glorify God, if he fall from that, he meet for nothing, but to be caft into the Tire of Hell, and burnt for ever ; he is for no Ufe in the Creation, but to be Fuel to ti\e Fire of the Lord’s Indignation. But behold ! the Goodnefs of tlie Lord Jiad his K-indnefs .and Love hath appeared cowara ivian. r L- , ' , ^ ^»rks oj RighteouC- nejs which we have done, but according to 01 f Mercy he faved us tbroughJefusChrift, u. 111. 4, 5. Our Lord Jelus,by whom ail Tnings were created, and for whom, would not let this excellent Workmanfinp thereiore he goes about the V^ork of Redemption : A fecond Creati¬ on more laborious asd'alfo more glorious than the firft, that fo he might glorify his Father, and our Father: Thus the Breach is made up, thus the unfavory Salt IS leafoned. thus the withered Branch is quickened again for that fame Fruit of Fraifes and ^orifying of God. This is the End of his fecond “Creation, as it was of the firft; Wetrehis Workmanjhip created to good Works in Cbrift-^eru r Eph. ii. lo. This isqhe Work ^God’ to believe in him, to fet to our Seal, and to give our Teftimony to all his Attri¬ butes, John vi, 29, and iii. 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 fb we are twice bound not to be our own but his, 1 Cor, vi. ult. Mndfo to glorify him . in our Bodies and Spirits, I befeech vou gather your Spirits, call them home about the Bufinefs. We once came fliort of our End, God s Glory, and our Happi- nels ; but know, that it is attainable again ; We loft both, but both are found in ChriiL Awake then and ftir up your Spirits, elCe it Ihall be double Condemnation, when we have the Offer of being reftored to our former bleffed Condition, to love our pre- fent Mifery better.. Once eftabliih this Point within your Souls, and therefore' ask. Why came I hither? To what pur- pofe am I come into* the World? If you do not ask it, what will you anfwer, when he of Alan s Being, he asks you at four Appearance before his Tribunal ? 1 1)ereech you what wili m^ny of )OU fay in that Day, when the Mafter returns :;fid takes an Account of youf Dif- penlatioi ? You are fent into the World only. for thisBuhnefs, to ferve the Lord: Now what will many of you anfwer? If you fpe.ik the Truth (as then you mulf do it, you cannot lie then) you muff fay. Lord, I Ijpent, my Time in ferving my own Lufts, 1 was taken up witlt other Bufi- nefles, and had no Leifure, I was occu¬ pied in my Calling, ^c. Even as if an Ambalfador of a King Ihould return him- this Acco -int of his Negotiation, I was bu- fy at Cards and Dice, I fpent'my Money fnd did "wear- my CJqaths. Though you think your plowing, and borrowing, and traificking, and reaping very neceflary, yet certainly thefe are but as Triffles and Toys to the main Bufmefs. O what a dreadful Account wnll Souls make ! they come here for no Purpofe but to ferve iheir Bodies and Senfes, to be Slaves to all tFie Creatures, which were once put under Man’s Feet: Now Man is- under the Feet of all, and he has put himfelf fo. If you were of thefe Creatures, then you might be for them ; You feek them as if you were created for them, and not they for you, and you feek yourfelves, as if you were ofyourfelxies, and had not your defcent of God. Know, my beloved, that you w^erenot made for that Purpofe, nor yet redeemed either to .ferve yourfelves, or other Creatures, but that other Qrea- tures might ferve you, and ye ferve God, Luke i. 74, 75. And this is really the beft W ay to ferve ourfelv^s, and to fave Qurfelves, to ferve God': Selffeeking is Self-deflroying ; ^Selfdenying, is Self- faving, Soul-faving. He that feeketh to fa-ve his Life jhall lofe it, and he that iQjetb Ins Lif: {ball find iu and he 7 that denies himjelj and fo/hws me> is my Difciple. Will ye once fu down m good earneft about this Buhnefs. ’Tis lamentable to be yet to begip to learh to live, when ye muiP die : Ye will be out of the World almoiP, e’re ye bethink, your- felf, Why came I into the World? (nddam tunc vivere incipiunt, cum definendum eft ; imo quidam ante vivere deferiinl quam inciperent', this is of all mo ft la* mentable, many Souls end their Life, be¬ fore they begin to live. For what is our Life, but ^ living Death, while we do not live to God, and while we live not in re¬ lation to the great End of our Life and Being? the Glory of God. It were better, fiys Chrift, that fuch'had never been born. You who are created again in Jefus Chrift, it moft of all concerns you to ask. Why am I made? And why am I redeemed? And to what Purpofe ? It is certainiy, that ye may glorify your heavenly Father, V. 16. Pfal. Iviii 13. And you fliali glorifie.him if you bring forth much Fruit, and contLQue in his Ic/ve, John xv. 8. And this you are chofen and ordained unto, 'ver. 16. and therefore sbide in him, that ye may bring forth Fruit, ver. 4, And if you abide in him by believing, you do indeed honour him, and he that hcv noLireth the Son honoureth the Father John v. 23. Here is a compendious Way to glorify God : Receive Salvation of him freely, Righteoufhefs and eternal Life, and tlris fets to a Seal to God’s Truth, and Grace and Mercy ; and w'hofo counts the Son worthy to be a Saviour to them, and fets to their Seal of Approbation to him whom God the Father hath fent and fealed, he alfo honours the Father, and then he that tionoureth the Father, hath it not for nothing, for them that honour me, I rmll honour,- \ Sam*ii. 30. fays tiieLord;* And he that ferves me» him mil my I'a^ 3 God's Glory^ the chief End ther honour, John xii. 26. As the believ¬ ing Soul cares for no other, and refpecl:s .no other but God, fo he refpefts no other, but fuch a Soul.. I will dwell in the humble, and look unto' the contrite ; there ‘is mutual Refpeft% and Honours. God is the Delight of fuch a Soul, and fuch a Soul is God’s Delight :* That Soul fets God in a high Place, in a Throne in its Heart, and God fets that Soul in a heavenly Place with Chrili, Eph.'n. 6. yea he comes down to' fit with us, and dwells in us, off his Throne of Majefiy, Ifa. Ixvi. i, 2. and Ivii. 1 5 . Pfal. Ixxiii. 24. to the End. ‘Wilt guide me with thy Counfel, &c. have 1 in Heaven hut Certainly it had > been altogether impolfible, if our Lord Jefus Chrili had not come, who is the Light and Life of Men ; The Father Ihines on him, and the Beams of his Love re- tle curling, con¬ demning, threatning us, and He is before with ftreatched-OLit Arms ready to receive us, blefs us, and fave us, inviting, promi- ling, exhorting to come and have Life. Chrift is Ton Mount delivering the Law with Thunders, :.^Sts vii. 38. and he is on Mount 7Jon, in the calm Voice ; He is both upon the Mountain bf Curlings and Bleflings, and oh both doing the Part bf a Mediator, Gal. iii. 19, 20. It is Love that is in his Heart which made him firft cover his Countenance With Frowns and. Threats, and 'tis Love that again dif plays it felf in his fi-niling Countenance. Thus Souls are inclofed with Love pur¬ fuing, and Love receiving : And thus the Law which feems moft comrary to the Gol^l, teftifies of Chrift, it gives him this Teftimbny, that except Salvation be in him, it is no Where elfe. The Law fays. It is' not in me, feek it nbt in Obe¬ dience, I can do nbthing but deftroy yoft if you abide Under my Jurifditftion, The CereJhonies and Sacrifices fay, if you can behold the End of this Miniftry ( if a Vail be hot upon your Hearts, as it was oh Mofes Face, 2 Cor. iii. 1 3, 14.) you may fee where it fs, 'tis nbt in your Obedience, blit in ‘he P uh and Suffering of the Sbh of 'Gbd, whom we fcprefent. Then thb fiof- _ _ ^ Chriji t he SubjeB or End of all that is in the World, 1 7 Xpel takes all thefe Coverings and Vails a- : yvzy, and gives a plain and open Xefti- mony of him,. Inhere is no Name under Heaven to be faved by, but Chriji' s. The Old Teftamcnt fpake by Figures and Signs, as dumb Men do, but the New fpeaks in plain Words, and with open Face. Now I fay, for all tliis that there is no Salvation but in him, yet many Souls, net only thofe who live in their grofs Sins, and have no Form of Godlinefs, but even the better Sort of People, that have fome -Knowledge and Civility, and a kind of Zeal for God, yet they do not come to lum that they may have Life, Rom. a. .1.2, 3. they do not fubmit to .the Righ- teoufnefs of God. Here is the March that divides the Ways of Heaven, and Hell, coming to j efus Chrift, and for- faking our felves : The Confidence of thefe Souls is cliiefly or only in that little Knowledge, or Zeal, or Profefllon they liave, they do not as really abhor them- felves for their own Righteoufne fs, as for their Unrighteoulhefs, they make that the Covering of their Nakednefsand Filthinefs, which is in it felf as raenftruous and un¬ clean as any Thing. It is now the very Fropenfion and natural Inclination of our Hearts, to ftand upright in our felves : Faith bows a Soul’s back,to take on Chrift’s | Righteoufnefs, but Prefumption lifts up a Soul upon its own Bottom, can ye { cept ybmhave fotaid Life there, you have believe that feek Honour one of another ? found nothing,' you have mlfled the Trea- The Fngagc-ments of the Soul to its own fure. If :yoU would profit by the Scrip- Credit or Eftimation, the Engagements of tures, you muft bring both your Vnder- Self-Love, and Self-honour, do lift up a Handings and your Affedions to them, and Soul, that it cannot fubmit to God’s Righ- > ^part- not till they both return full : If teoufnefs, to Righteoulhefs m another; you hfitlg your UnderHanding to feek the And therefore many do dream and think Truth, you may find Truth, but not truly : that they haye eternal Life, who fhall You may find it.Tjut you are not found of awake in the End, and find^that it was it : You may lead Truth captive, and in- but a Dream, a ^^bt-fancy. . clofe it in. aPrifon of your Mind, and «n- Now from all ^s, I would enforce 1 cu.mpafMl abQUt with a Guard of corrupt tiiis Duty upon your Confciences, to fearch j D ^ AAbt- the Scriptures, if you think to have eternal Life, fearch them, if you would know Chrift, whom to know is eternal Life » then again fearch them, for thefe are they that teftifie of him. Searching imports Diligence, much Diligence, 'tis a ferious Work, 'tis not a common feekjng of an eafie and common Thing, but ’tis a Seardh and Scrutiny for fome hidden Thing, for fome fpecial Thing. 'Tis not bare re?.diog of the Scriptures that wiU anfwer thit Duty, except it be diligent and daily read¬ ing, and ’tis not that alone, except the Spi¬ rit within meditate on them, and by Meditation accomplifli a diligent Search. There is ibme hidden Secret that that you muft fearch for, that is inclofcd within the Covering of Words, and Sentences, there is a Myftery of Wh'dom that you muft apply your Hearts to fearch out, Eccl. vii. 5. Jefus Chrift is the Treallire that is hid in this Field, O a preciou* Treafure of eternal Life 1 Now then. Souls, fearch into the Fields of the Scrip¬ tures, Prov. ii. 4. for him as for hid Treafure. It is not only Truth you muft feek and buy, and not fell it, but ’tis Life you would fearch ; Here is an Obje<3: that may not only take up' your UndefftatnJ- ings, but latisfie your Hearts. Think nos you have found all when you-have found the Truth there, and learned it : No, ex- What Searching of the Scriptures imports. tions, that- it lhall haye no Ifllie, no out going to the Reft of your Souls and Ways, and no Influence on them ; you may know the Truth, but you are hot known of it, and brought in Captivity to the Obedience of it. The Treafure that is hid in the Scriptures is Jefus Chrift, whofe intire and perfedi Name is, ^ruth^ and £.ife. Me is a living Truth and true Life: Therefore Chrift is the adequate Objedl of the Soul, commenfurable to all its Faculties. He has Truth in him to la- tisfie the Mind, and has Life and Good- nefs in him to fatiate the Heart : There¬ fore if thou wouldft find Jefus Chrift, bring thy whole Soul to leek him, as foul exprefleth it. He is true and faith¬ ful, and worthy of all Acceptation, then bring thy Judgment to find the Light of Truth, and thy AfFedtions toimbrace the life of Goodnels that is in him. Now, «s much as ye find of him, fo much have ye profited in the Scriptures : If you find comraands there which you cannot obey, fearch again, and you may find Strength under that Command ; dig a little deeper, and you lhall find Jefus the End of an impoflible Command : And when you have found him, you have found Life and Strength- to obey, and you have found a Propitiation and Sacrifice for tranfgrefllng I and not obeying. If you find Curfes in it. Search again, and you lhall find Jefu* Chrift under that, made a Curfe for us; you than find him the End of the Curie, for Righteoufnefs to every one that be« lieves. When you know all the Letter of the Scripture, yetyoumuft fearch into the Spirit of it, that it may be imprinted into your Spirits : All you know does you- no good but as ’tis received in Love, un- lefs your Souls become a living Epiftle, and the Word without be written on the Heart, you have found nothing. As for you that cannot read the Scriptures, if it be poffiblc, take that Pains to learn to read them. O if you knew what they contain, and whom they bear Witnefs of, you would have little Quietnefs till you could read, at leaft his Love-epiftles to Sinners : And if you cannot learn, be not difcou* raged, but if your Defires within be fet- vent, your Endeavours to hear it read by others will be more earneft. But it is not lb much the reading of much of it that profiteth, as the pondering of thefe Things in your Hearts, and digefting them by fre* quent Meditation, till they become the Food of the Soul; This was David' i Way, and by this he grew to the Stature of a tall and well-bodyed Chriftian. Eph. ii. 20. And buikled upon- the Foundation of the ApodleSi &c. BElievers are the Temple of the living God, in which he dwells and walks ; « Cor. vi. i6. Every one of them is a little Sanduary and Temple tO his Maje- fty, SanCtifie the Lord of Hafts' in your Hearts \ though he be the high and lofty One that inhabits Eternity, yet he is pleaf- ed to come down to this poor Cottage of a Creature’s Heart, and dwell in it : Is not this as great a humbling and coadelcend- for the Fi«heF td coiflc down off his Throne of Glory, to the poor bafe Foot* ftool of the Creature's Soul, as for the Son to come down in the State of a Servant, and become in the Form of finfol Flertu But then he is a Temple and Sanftuary to them, and ke fhall be to you a Sanctuary, Ifa. viii. a Place of Refuge, a fecre.t hiding Place. Now, as every one is a little feparated retired Temple, fo they all conjoyned make up one Temple, one yifibl? Body in which he dwells ; There¬ fore. The Scriptures afure Foundation, fore Feter calls them living Stones, built up into a Ipiritual Houle to God, i. Pet. li. 5. All thefe little Temples make up one Houfe and Temple, -fitly joyned to¬ gether, in which God Ihews manit’eft Signs of his Prefence and working: Un¬ co this the Apoftle in this Place alludes. The Communion, and Union of Chrifti- ans with God, is of fuch a Nature, that all the Relations and Points of Conjundfi- on in the Creatures are taken to refemble it, and hold it out to US'. We are Citi- Tens, faith he, and Domepeks, Houfhold Men, and fo dwell in his Houfe ; and then' w are bis Houfe beftde : Now ye know there are two principal Things in a Houfe, the Foundation and the Corner-Stone; the one fupports the building, the other unites it, and holdsit together : Thefe two Farts of this fpiritual building are here pointed at : The Foundation of every particular Stone, and of the whole Buil¬ ding is the Dodlrine of the Prophets and Apoftles, as . holding out Jefus Chrift to Souls, the Rock on which our Houfe lhall be builded: Not the Apoftles. or Frophets, far lefs Paftors and Teachers fince ; for they are but, at beft. Workers together with God and imployed in the building of the Houfe ;-nor yet their Doc¬ trine, but as it holds out that true Founda¬ tion that God had laid in Sion, Ifa. xxviii. which is Jefus Chrift, for other Foundati¬ on can no Man lay. And then the Corner ftone is that fame Jefus Chrift, who leaches from the Bottom even to the Top of the Building, and immediately touches every Stone, and both quickens, it in it felf. and unites them together. Well then, here is a fur e Foundation 10 build our eternal Happinefs upon, th e Word of God that endures for ever holds it ' out to us : All Men are. building upon Ibmcthing, every Man is about feme. E- l^abliihment of bis Hope«, lays , ferns Foundation of his Confidence, which he may ftand upon. They are one of the two that Chrift fpeaks of: Luke vi. 46. One builds- on the Rock, another on the Sand : Now as the Foundation is^ fo is the Houfe; a changeable Foundation makes a falling Houfe, a fure Foundation makes an un¬ changeable Houfe; a Houfe without a Foundation will prove quiclcly no Houfe, now whatfoever Men build, their Hope and Confidence upon, befide the Word of God, his fure Promife aixl fure Covenant, and Jefus Chrift-in them, they build upon no Foundation,! or.' upon a fandy Foundati*- on. H// Flejb is Grafs, and the Flower and Perfection of it is as the Flower of the Fie Id, htteh the Name and Charatfter of all created Perfetftions, of the moft ex¬ cellent Endowments of Mind, of all the fpecious Aftions of Man, 'tis allbutvanilh* ing and V anity, every Man at his beft Eftate is fuch, yea altogether fuch:. You. who have no more to build upon but your. Pro- fperity and Wealth, O that is but Sand and Dung; would any Man build a, Houfe upon a . Dung-hill. You who have no o - ther Hope, but in your own good Prayers, and Meanings, your own Reformations, and Repentances, your Profeflions, and Praftifes, know this, that your Hope. is. like a Spider’s Houfe, like the Web that the hath laborioufly exercifed her felf a- bout all the Week over, and then when you lean upon that Houfe it lhall fall through, and not fuftain your Weight : Whatfoever it be, befide this living Stone JefusChrift, who is the very Subftance.of the Word, and Promifes, it lhall unoubt'’ edly prove thy Shame, and Confufion : But behold the Oppofition the Prophet makes between the Word and thefe o- ther Things, the Word of our God fhali ftand for ever, Ifa, xl. 6, 7, 8. Ahd^ therefere Pttcr lOAkfi it aa morruptihie Seed The Scriptures a fare Foundation, 30 Seed of which Believers are begotten, I Peter i. 23. It is the unchangeable 'Truth and immutable Faithfulnefs of God that makes his Word fo fure, 'Us build- ed up to the Heavetts. Therefore the Pfalmift often commends the Word of Lord as a tryed IVord, as purified feven limes, it hath endured the Tryal and Proof of all Men, of all Temptations, of all Ge^ nerations, it hath often been put in the Fur¬ nace of Queftions, and Doubtings it hath often been tryed in the Fire of Affliftions, but it came forth like pure Gold, without Drofs. This is Faith s Foundation, God hath fpoken in his Holinefs, and there¬ fore, 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 himfelfinhis Working, he loves to (hew his Sovereignty in much of that ; and therefore he changes it in Men, and upon Men as he pleafeth, yet he hath condefcended to limit and bound himfelf by his Word, and in this to fhew his Faithfulnefs. And therefore, though Heaven and Earth fhould pafs away, though he Ihould annihilate this World, and create new ones, yet not one Jot of bis ff^ord Jhall fail. The Earth is efta- bliihed fure, though it hath no Foundation, for the Word of his command fupports it : And yet a Believer’s Confidence is upon a furer Ground, f hough the Earth fhould be removed, yet it cannot pafs or fail, faith our L o k. d : And therefore the Pfalmift ufeth to boaft in God, fthat though the Earth were moved, and the Floods lifted up their Foice,yet he would not fear, becaufe his Foundation was un- (haken for all that*, the Word is not mo v- ed,when the W orld is moved,and therefore he was not moved ; The World’s Stability depends upon a Word of Command, but our Salvation depends on a Word of Pro* 4 mife. Now, ye know, Promifes put an Obligation upon the Perfon, which Com¬ mands do not : A Man may change his Commands as he pleafes to his Children or Servants, but he may not change his Promifes, therefore the Promifes of God put an Obligation upon him, who is Truth itfelf, not to fail in Performance ; or ra¬ ther he is to himfelf, by his unchangeable Will and good Pleafure, by his Faithful¬ nefs and Truth, an obliging and binding Law : When no Creature could fet Bounds to him, he inclofes himfelf within the Bounds of Promifes to us, and gives all Flefh Liberty to challenge him if he be not faithful. Now all the Promifes of God are yea. and ^men, in Jefus Cbrift, that is efta- bliihed, and confirmed in him ; Chrift is the Surety of them, and fo the Certainty and Stability of them depends upo* Him, at leafl to our Senfe ; for Godin all his Dealing condefeends to our Weaknels, that we may have ftrong Confolation ; a'Por- mile might fuffice to ground our Faith, but he addeth an Oath to his Promife, and He takes Ch'rift Surety for the Perform¬ ance ; and therefore Chriil may be called the Truth indeed, the fubrtantial Word of God, for he is the very Subffance of the written and preached Word *, and then he is the Certainty and AlTurance of it, the Scriptures teftifie of him, and lead us to this Rock higher than we, to build upon, and againft this the Gates of Hell cannot prevail : If the W ord lead not a Soul into Chiift himfelf, that Soul hath no Founda¬ tion ; though thou hear the Word, though thou know the Word, yea, fuppofe thou couldft teach others, and inftruft the Igno¬ rant, yet all that will be no Foundation, as good as none, except thou do it ; and What is it t« do the Word.!* But believe ui Iiira whom the Word teftifies of; this H 31 Chrifi the Foundation^ and Corner ’fione, is the Work of God, to refign thy Soul to his Mercies, and Merits,, and have no (Confidence in the Flefh : I'o fcrape out all the Rubbilh-of Works and Perform¬ ances, and Farts, out of the Foundation, and fingly to roll thy Soul’s Weight upon God’s Promifes, antf Chrift’s Purchafe ; to look, with Paul, on all Things befide, in thee, and about thee", as Dung and Drofs, yhat thou can lean no Weight upon, and to remove that Dunghill from the Founda¬ tion of thy Hope, that Jefus Chrtft may be the only Foundation of thy Soul, as God hath laid him in the Church for a fure Foundation, l^bat whoCo believeth in inm may not be ajhamed : Whatever be¬ fide a Soul be eftablilhed on, though it appear very folid and the Soul be fettled and fixed upon it, yet a Day will come that will unfettle tha; Soul, and raze that Foundation ; either it (hall be now done in thy Confcience, or it niuft be done at Length, when that great Tempeftof God’s Indignation (hall blow from Heaven a- gainft all Unrighteoulhefs of Men, in the . Day of Accounts, then (hall thy Houle fall, and the Fall of it (hall be. great- But a Soul efiablifhed upon the fure Promifes, and upon Chrifi, in vyhom they are Tea, and limen, (hall abide that Storm, anc in that Day have Confidence before God, have wherewith to anfwer, in Jefus Chrifi, all the Challenges of Divine Juftice, anc the Accufations of Confcience, He that irujls in him Jhatl be as Mount Sion, 'Which cannot he moved, . You fee all Things elle change, and therefore Mens "Hopes and- Joys perilh ; even here, the Temptations and Revolutions oftheTimes undermines their Confidence, and Joy ; and the'Blafls of the Northern Wind of Affliction blows away their Hopes. Now 'as Chrifi is the Foundation, fo ; he is the Corner-ftonc offhc Building -; It is Chrifi who hath removed that Partitiotr' W all between ^evos and Gentiles, even the Ceremonies of the one, and the Athe- ifm of the other : He is our Peae^, who lath made two- one. The two Sides of the Houfe of God are united by this Cor- ner-flone Jefus Chrifi. Thus we, who were the Temples of Satan, are made the Temples of God; thw poor Stranger- G entiles, who had no Interefl in the Co¬ venant of Promifes, come to (hare with Abraham, Jfaac, and Jacob, and to be founded upon the Doftrine of the Prophets, who taught thejewijh Church; Chrifi is the Bond of Chriftians ; this is the Head into which all the Members fhould grow up into a Body. Didance of Place, Dif^ ference of Nations, Diftinftion of Lan¬ guages, all thefe cannot feparate the Mem¬ bers of Jellis Chrid ; they are more one, though confiding of divers Nations, Tongues, and Ciidoms, and Difpofitions, than the People of one Nation, or Chil¬ dren of one Family for one Lord, one Spirit, unites all : Alas, that all are not united in Affeflion, and Judgment ; why do the Sides of this Houfe contend, and wredle one againd another.^ When there is fuch a Corner-done joyning them to- getlaer.^ Are not there many Chridians who cannot endure to look upon one an¬ other, who are yet both placed in one building of the Temple of God? Alas, this is fad and fliamefull ! But that whiclr I would efpecially have obferved in this.is, that jefus Chrid is fuch a Foundation thaf reacheth throughout the whole Building, and immediately touebeth every Stone of the Building ; ’tis focJh a Foundation .as rifeth from the Bottom to the Top ; and therefore Jefus Chrid is both the Author and Finilher of our Faith, the Beginning and the End ; ;the -fird Stone and the lad Stone ofulir -Building mud life, upon him* *ni by him ; the leaft Degree of Grace, and the ^reateft Perfedfion of it, both are in him ; and therefore Chriftians ihould be mojft dependent Creatures, dependent in their firft Being, and in after Wellbeing in, thoir be ng, and growing, wli®lly dependent upon Chrift, that out of bis Fulnefs they may receive Grace, and then more Grace for Grace, that ail may appear to be Grace indeed. Now I befeech you, my belov¬ ed in the Lord, to know whereupon ye are builded, or ought to be builded. There are two great Errors in the Time, take heed of thefti, one is the Doftrine of fome, and another is the Praftice of the moft 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 Revelationi of new Light, do caft a Mift upon that Word of God, which is a Light that hath Ihined from the Beginning. Be not deceived, but try the Spirits whether the^ be of God, or not. There are many pretend to much of the Spirit, and therefore cry out againft the Word, as Letter, as Flejh: But, my .Brethren, believe not every Dodrine that calls it felf a Spirit, fhat Spirit is not of Cod that hears not God's P^oice, as ChrifI reafoneth againft the Jews-', feek ye more of the Spirit of Chrift which he promifeth, who is a Spirit that teach- cth all Things, and brtngeth to Remem¬ brance thefe bieflcd Sayings, and leads us in all Truth : It fliall be both fafeft and fweeteft to you to meditate on that Word cf the Prophets and Apoftles, and the En¬ trance into it lhall give you Light : An old Light which was from the Beginning, and therefore a true Light, ( for all Truth is Eternal ; ) and yet a new Light to your Senfe and Feeling : It’s both an old Com¬ mand, and a new Command ; an old Word, and a new Word ; if thou fearch it by the Spirit’s Infpiration, that old Word lhall be made new, that Letter made Spirit and Life : Such are the Words that Chrift fpeaks. But yet there are many who do not rejeft the Scriptures in Judgment, who notvvithftanding do not build on them in Practice : Alas, it may be faid of the moft Part of profefTed Chriftians among us, that they are not builded upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apoftles, but upon the Sayings of fallible and weak Men ! What ground have many of you for your Faith, but becaufe the Minifter faith fo, you believe fo ? The moft Part live in an implicite Faith, and praftife that in themlelves which they" condemn in the Papifts. You do not labour to fearch the Sc-riptures, that upon that Foundation , you may build your Faith in the (jueftioned T ruths of this Age, that fo you may be able to anfwer to thofe that ask a^Reafon of the Faith that is in you. Alas. Ample Soulsyou believe every Thing, and* yet really believe nothing, becaufe you believe not the Word, as the Word of the living God, but take it from Men up¬ on their Authority ! Therefore when a Temptation cometh, when any gainfay- ings of the Truth, you cannot ftand againft it. becaufe your Faith hath no Foundation, but the Sayings of Men, or Ads ofAf femblies. And therefore as Men whom you truftwith holding out Light unto you, hold out Darknefs inftead of Light, you embrace that Darknels allb ; But, I be¬ feech you, be builded upon the Foundati¬ on of the Prophets, and Apoftles, not upon them, but upon that whereon they were builded, the infallible Truths of God. You have the Scriptures, Search them ; fmce you have reafonable Souls, Search them : Other Mens Faith will not fave ; you cannot fee to walk to Heaven by other Mens Light, more than you can fee by their Eyes: You have Eyes of ycur OTYP, Souls cf your own, fubordi- Lr:-> Chriji the Foundation^ and Corner-ftone, What the Scriptures principally teach. nate to nc^ie but the God of Spirits, and Lord of Gonfciences of JefusChrift : And therefore examine all that is fpoken to you from the Word, according to the Word, }} and receive no more upon Truft irom Men, but as you find it, upon Trial to be the Truth of God. 2 Tim. i. 15. Holdfafl that Form of me, in Faith, and Love, &c. HEre is the Sum of Religion ; here you have a Compend of the Dodlrine of the Scriptures : All Divine Truths may ■ be reduced to thefe two Heads, Faith, and 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 ' Jearn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of Himfelf to us? And, What have we to do, but what he com¬ mands us ? In a wx)rd. What Have we to learn in this World, but to believe in Chrift, and love Him, and fo live to Him ? This is the Duty of Man, and 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 Gxiide to ourPaths,comzm a perfect and exadt Rule, credendorum ^ facien- dorum, of Faith, and Manners ; of Doc¬ trine, and Praftice. We have in the Scriptures many Truths revealed to us of God, and of the Works of his Hands ; many precious Truths: Put that which moii of all concerns us, is to know God and our lelves ; this is the fpecial Excel¬ lency of the reafonable Creature, that it is made capable to know its Creator, and to refleft upon its own Bfeing. Now, we have to know our felves. What we are now, and what Man once was ; and ac¬ cordingly, to know of God, what he once revealed of himfelf, and what he doth now reveal': 1 (ay, the Scriptures hold out to GonAderatioa a twofold Eftate if found IVords, which thru baji heard of Mankind, and according to thefe, a two' fold -Revelation of the Myflery 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 fame fejierdaj, and t» Day, and for ever : Therefore we asJ: not. What he was, and what he is now, but how he manifefts himfelf differently, according to the different Eftates of Man ; as we find in the Scriptures, Man once righteous and blefled, Ecclef. vii. 29. and God making him fuch according to his own Image, Col. hi. to. Eph. iv. 24. in Righteoufnefs and true Holinefs ; we find him in Communion and Friend- (hip with God, fet next to the Divine Ma- jefty, and above the Works of his Hand, and all Things under his Feet : How ho¬ ly w'as he? And how happy ? And hap¬ py he could not chufe but be, fince he was holy, being conformed, and like unto God in his Will* and Affection, choofing that fame Delight, that fame Pleafure with God, in his Underftanding, knowing God and his Will ; and likewife, his own Hap^ pinefs : In fuch a Conformity, he could not but have much Communion with him, that had fuch Conformity to him, U- nion being the Foundation ofCommunion, and great Peace and folid Tranquility in him. ^ . E V . NtJjv 34 JVhat Man now is. Naw-, . in this State of Mankind God ex- X^relTes his Goodnefs, and Wifdom, and Power, his Holinefs, and Righteoufiiefs. Thefe are' the Attributes that Hiine moft brightly. In the very Morning of the Creation, God revealed himfelf to Man as a holy and juft God, whole Eyes could behold no Iniquity ; and therefore he made liim uprigiu, and made a Covenant of Life and Peace with him, to give him immortal and eternal Life-; to continue him in his hap¬ py Eftate, if fo be he continued in well¬ doing, Jlo.'fi. X. 5. jDo this and live. Ifv which. Covenant, indeed, there were fome Qut-breakings of the glorious Grace, and free Gondelcendency of God ; for it was no lefs free Grace, and undeferved Favour, to promife Life to his Obedience, than now to promile Life to our Faith ; fo that if the Lord had continued that "Co¬ venant with us, we ought to have called it Grace, and would have been faved by Grace as well as now ; though it be true, that there is fome more Occafion given to .Man’s Nature to boaft and glory in that Way, yet not at all before God, Rom. iv. 2. But we have fcarcely found Man in llich an Eftate, till we have found him finful and miferable, and fallen from his Excellency. That Sun (hined in the dawning of the Creation ; but before ye can well know 'what it is, 'tis eclipfed, and darkned with Sin and J^ery ; as if the Lord had only fet up fuch a Creature in the Firmament of Glory, to let him know how blefled he ■could make him, and wherein his Blef ■fednefs conftfts; and then prefently to throw him down from his Excellency : When you find him mounting up to the Hea.vens , and fpreading himfelf thus in Ho- linefs andHappinefe.like a-Bay-tree ; Behold again, and you find him not ; though you feek you lhall not ftnd him, his Place doth- not know him ; He is like one that comes out w'ith a great Majefty upon a Stage, and perfonates fome Monarch, or Emperor, in the World, and then ere you can well gather your Thoughts, to know what he is, he is turn’d off fhe Stage, and appears in fome bafe and defpicable Ap¬ pearance ; fo quickly is Man ftript of all thefe glorious Ornaments ofHolinels, and puts on the vile Rags of Sin and Wretchednels, and iscaft from the Throne of Eminency above the Creatures, and from Fellowship with God, to be a Slaye and Servant to the Duft of his Feet, and to have Communion with the Devil and his Angels. And now ye have Man hold- en out in Scriptiu'e as the only wretched Piece of the Creation, as the very Plague of the W orld ; ’J'be whole Creation groan- ing under him, Roia. viii, and in pain to be delivered of Jiich a'burthen, of fuch .an Execration, and Curfe, and Aftonilh- ment: You find the Teftimony of the Word condemns him altogether, concludes him under Sin, and then under a Curfe, and makes all Flelh guilty in God's Sight. The Word fpeaks otherwif? of us than, we think of our felves. Their Imagination is only Evil continually, Gen. vi. 5. O then. What muft our Atteftions be, that are certainly more corrupt ! What then muft our Way be ? Flefh hath cor- riiped their Tf^ay, and done abominable If^orks, and none doth good, Pfal. xiv. I, 2, 3. But many ftee in, unto their good Hearts as their laft P efuge, vyhen they are beaten from thefe Out-v/orks of their A 41 Lo^e the fulfilling of the Law, nmgs, or Commands, are impreffed into the Heart, you lhall find the Expreflions of them in the Converlation : Faith is not an empty Aflent to tlie T^ruth, hut a i eceiv* ingofit in Love, and when the Ih'uth is re¬ ceived in Love, then it begins to work, by Love ; Faith works by Love, faith Fan', Gal. v. 6. That now is the proper Nature of its Operation, which exprefles its own Nature : Obedience proceeding from Love to God, flows from Faith in God, and that (hews the true and living Nature of that Faith : If the Soul within re¬ ceive the Seal and Impreffion of the truth of God, it will render the Image of that fame Truth in all its AiTcions. Love is put for all Obedience, ’tis made the very Sum and Compend of the Law, the Fulfilling of it: For the Truth is the mofl: efte6fual and conftrainiiig Prin¬ ciple of Obedience, and withall the mofl fweet and pleafant : The Love of Chrijf conjirains us to live to him, and not henceforth to our felves, 2 Cor. v. 15. As I laid, a Man and his Will is one : If you ingage it, you bind all ; if you gain it, it will bring all with it. As it is the mofl ready Way to gain any Party, to ingage their Head whom they follow, and upon whom they depend : Let a Man’s Love be once gained to Chrift, and the whole Train of the Soul’s Faculty, of the outward Senfes, and Operations, will follow upon it ; It was an excellent and pertinent Queflion, that Chrift asked Feter^ when he was going away ( if Feter had con- fidered Chrift’s Purpofe in it, he would not have been fo hafty and dilpleafed) Feter lovejt thou me, then feed my Sheep ? If a Man Love Chrift, he will certainly ftudy to pleafe him, and though he (hould do never fo much in Obedience, ’tis no Fleafure except it be done out of Love; O this, and more of this in the Heart, would make Minifters feed well, and teach well, and would make People obey well ; If ye love me, keep my Com¬ mands : Love devotes and confecrates all that is in a Man to the Pleafure of him whom he loves ; therefore it falhions and conforms one even againft Nature to ano- tliers Humour and Afre(?ion : It conftrains not to live to our felves, but to him, its Joy and Delight is in him, and therefore all is given up and refigned to him : No w as it is cei tain that if you love much you will do much, fo ’tis certain that little is accepted for much, that proceeds from Love, and therefore our poor maimed and halting Obedience, is called fulfilling of the Law ; he is well pleafed with it, becaufe Love is ill pleafed with it : Love thinks nothing too much, all too little, and therefore his Love thinks any thing from us much, fmee Love would give more ; he accepts that which is given, the Lover’s Mite caft into the' Treafure, is more than ten Times fo much outward Obedience from another Man ; he meets Love with Love ; if the Soufs Defire be towards the Love ofliis Name, if Love offer though a farthing, his Love receiv¬ ing it, counts it a Crown : Love offering a Prefent of Duty, finds many Imperfefti- oas in it, and covers any Good that is in it, ieems not to regard it, and then beholds it as a Recompence his Love receiving the Prefent from us, covers a Multitude of Infirmities that are in it ; And thus what in the Delire and Endeavour of Love on our Part, and what in the Acceptation of' what -is done on his Part, LO'Ve is the ful¬ filling of the Law. ’Tis ati ufuaL Proverb,. all Things are as they, are taken. Love is the fulfilling of the Law, becaufe our loving Father takes it fo ; he takes as much Delight in the poor Childrens Wiil- ingnefs, as in the more aged’s Stirength \ F the 42 Lo^ue the fulfillmg of the Lavj the Offer and Endeavour of the one pleaf- eth him, as well as the Performance of the other. The Love of God is the fulfillmg of the Law, for it is a living Law, it is the Law written on the Heart, it is the Law of a Spi¬ rit of Life within, Quis legem det amanti- busl Major lex amor Jlbiipfi ejt. You al- mofl need not prefcribe any Rules, or fet over the Head of Love, the Authority and Pain of a Command, for it is a greater Law to itfelf, it hath within its own Bofbm as deep an Engagement and Obligation to any thing that may pleafe God, as you can put upon it ; for it is in it felf the very Engagement and Bond of the Soul to him. This it is indeed which will do him Ser¬ vice, and that is the Service which he likes : It is that only ferves him conftant- ly and pleafantly, and conftantly it cannot ferve him, which doth it not pleafantly, for it is Delight only that makes it con- Plant. Violent Motions may be fwift, but not durable, they laft not long: Fear and Terror is a kind of external Impulfe, that may drive a Soul fwiftly to fome Duty ; but becaufe that is not one with the Soul, it cannot endure long, ’tis not good Company to the Soul. But Love, making a Duty pleafant, becomes one with the Soul, it incorporates with it, and be¬ comes like its Nature to it, that though it fhouldnot move lb fwiftly, yetit moves more conftantly. And what is Love but the very Motion of the Soul to God I And lb till it have attained that, to be in him, it can find no Place of Reft. Now ihis is only the Service that he is pleafed with, which comes from Love, becaufe he fees his own Image in it : For Love in us, is nothing elfe but the Impreflion and Stamp that God's Love to us makes on the Heart ; 'tis the very Reflexion of that fjyeet warm Beam ; fo then w^hen his j Love reflefts back unto himfelf, carrying our Heart and Duty with it, he knoweth his own Superfcription, he loves his own Image in fuch a Duty : He that lovetb me, and c»ntinueth in my Loxe, I 'will love him, and I and my Father 'will come and fh-dke our Hbode 'with him, John xiv. 23. Here now is an Evidence that he likes it, for he muft needs like that Place he choofes to dwell in; he who hath ll’ch a glorious Manfxon, and Palace above, he muft needs love that Soul dear¬ ly, that he will prefer it to his high and holy Place. Now I know it will be the fecret Queft tion and Complaint of fome Souls, how^ lhall I get Love to God ? I cannot love him, my Heart is fo defperately wicked, I cannot fay as Peter, Lord thou knowejt that I love thee. I lhall not infift upon the Difcovcry of your Love unto you hr Marks and Signs, only I fay, if thoi^ in¬ deed from thy Heart defires to love him, and art grieved that there is not this Love in thy Soul to him, which becomes fs Love-worthy a Saviour, then thou indeed loveft him, for he that loveth the Love of God, loveth God himfelf: And where-> fore art thou fad for Want of that Love, but becaufe thou loveft him in fome Meafure, and withall finds him beyond all that thou can think and love : But I fay, that which moft concerns thee, is, to love ftill more, and that thou wouldft be more earneft to Love him, then to know that thou loves him. Now I know no more effeftual way to increale Love to Jefus Chrift, then to be¬ lieve his Love. Chrift Jefus is the Author andFinilher both of Faith and Love, and we love him, becaufe he fir ft loved us. Therefore the right Dilcovery of Jelus Chrift, what he is, and what he hath done for Sinners, is that which will of all Things 43 To helkve in Chrift, and to love him^ &c. Things inoft prevail, to ingage the Sou] unto him ; But as long as ye fufpend your Faith upon the Being or Encreafe ofyour Love, and Obedience ( as the tnanner of too many is ; ) You take even Inch a Courle as he, that will not plant the Tree till he fee the Fruits of it ; which is contrary to common Senfe and Reafon. Since this then is the Sum of true Reli¬ gion, to believe in Chrift, and to love him, and fo live to him i Ave fliall wind up all that is fpoken, into that Exhortation of the Apoftle’s, Hold faft the Form offound Words which thou baji heard. You have this Doftrine of Faith and Love de¬ livered unto you, which may be able to fave your Souls : Then, I befeech you, hold them faft. Salvation is in them ; they are found Words, and'wholfome Words ; Words of Life, Spirit and Life( as Chrift fpeaks )as well as Words of Truth : But how- wnll you hold them faft that have them not at all, that know them not though you hear them? You who are ignorant of the Gofpe], and hear nothing but a Sound of Words, inftead of found and wholefome Words, How can you hold them faft? 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, and a Wind that paifeth by your Ear, without obferving either Truth or Life in it. But then again, ^ou who underftand thefe found Words, and have a Form of Knowledge, and of the Letter of the Law, what will that avail you? You cannot hold it faft, 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 underftand the Sound of thefe Words, and the Sounci of Truth in them, yet you receive not the livmg Image of them, which is Faith and Love. Can you paint a Sound ! Can you form it, or engrave it on any thingi Nay, but thefe found Words are more fubftantial and folid ; they muft be en¬ graven on the Heart, elfe you will never hold them ; they may be eafily plucked out of the Mouth, and Hand, by Temp¬ tation, unlefs they be enclofed, and laid up in the fecret of the Heart, as Mary laid them. The Truth muft hold thee faft, or thou canft not hold it faft ; it uiuft captivate thee, and bind thee with the Golden Chains of Affeftion, which only is true Freedom, or certainly thou wilt let it go. Nay, you muft not only have the Truth received by Love into your Heart, but, as the Apoftle fpeaks, you muft aifo bold faft the Form of found Words, Scn^tme-iPords are found Words the Scripture’s Method of teaching is found and wholfome : There may be unfound Words ufed in expreffing true Matter ; and if a Man (ball give Liberty to his own luxuriant Imagination, to expatiate in No¬ tions, and Expreffions, either to catch the Ear of the Vulgar, or to appear fome new Difcoverer of Light, and Gofpel-myf teries, he may as readily fall into Error and Darknefs, as into Truth and Light. Some Men do busk up old Truths, Scrip¬ ture-truths, into fome new Drefs of Lan¬ guage, and Notions, and then give them out for new Difcoveries, new Liahts ; but in fo doing, they often hazard the lofing of the Truth it felf. We fnould beware and take heed of ftrange Words, thathaA^e the leaft Appearance of Evil, fuch as Cbrifted, and Godded ; let us think it e- nough, to be Avife according to the Scrip¬ tures, and fufpeft all that, as vain, empty, unfound, that tends not to the Increafe of Faiili in Chrift, and Love and Obedience unto him. As ordinarily the Dialec't of thofe called .Hntinomians is. Giving, F and and not granting, that they had no unfound Mind, yet I am fure they ufe unfound "Words to exprefs found Matter ; the Cloaths fliould be (haped to the Perfon : Truth is. plain and fimple, let Words of Truth alfo be full of Simplicity. I fay no more, but leave that upon you, that you hold faft even the very Words of the Scriptures, and be not bewitched by the vain Pretentions of Spirit, all Spirit, pure, and Spiritual Service, and fuch like, to the cafling off of the Word of Truth, as Letter, as Flejh\ and fuch is the high Attainment of fome in thefe Days, an high Attainment indeed. j and a mighty Progrels m the way to De- I ftrudion, the very laft Difcovery of that I Antichrift and Man of Sin. Oh, make | much of the Scripture, for you Ihall nei- I ther read nor. hear the like of it in the i World : Other Books may have found i Matter, but there is ftill fomething in Man* -i ner, or Words unfound ; no Man can i fpeak to you Truth in fuch Plainnefs, and 1 Simplicity in fuch Soundness allb. But here is both found Matter, and found ' Words, the Truth holderi out truly. Health and Salvation holden out in as wholfome a Manner as is poflible. Mat¬ ter and Manner are both Divine. ITbat God is, Exod.. iii. 15. 14. M'^hen they jJoall What JImU I fay ? And God [aid, E are now about this Queflion, What God is ? But, Who can an- fwer it? Or, if anfwered. Who can un- derftand it ? It fhould aftonilh us in the very Entry, to think that we are about to fpeak, and to hear of his Majefty, vjbom Eye hath not Jeen, nor Ear beard, ■nor hath it entred into the Heart of any Creature to cotifider what he if. Think ye, that blind Men could have a pertinent Difcourfe of Light and Colours ? Would they form any fuitable Notion of that they had never feen, and cannot be known but by feeing ? What an ignorant Speech would a deaf Man make of Sound, which a Man cannot fo much as know what it is, but by hearing of it ? How then can we fpeak of God, who dwells in fuch inaccef- fible Light, that, though we had our Eyes opened, yet they are far lefs proportioned to that refplendent Brighti)efs,than a^ blind Eye is to the Sun’s Light ? It ufes to be a Queftion, If there be a God ? Or, How it may be known that fay unto me. What is his Name? , 1 AM ^HAr I AM. there is a God ? It were almoft Blafphe" my to move fuch a -Queftion, if there were not fo much Atheifm in the Hearts of Men, which makes us either to doubt, or riot firmly to believe, and feri- oufly to confider it. But what may con¬ vince Souls of the Divine Majefty ? Tru¬ ly, I think, if it be not evident by its own Brightnefs, all the Reafon that can be brought, is but like a Candle’s-light to fee the Sun by. Yet, becaufe of our Weak- nefs, the Lord Ihines upon us in the Crea¬ tures, aSjin a Glafs ; and this is become the beft Way to take up the glorious Bright¬ nefs of his Majefty, by Refleftion in his Word and Works. God himfelf dwells in Light inacceflible, that no Man can ap¬ proach unto ; if any look ftraight to that Sun of Righteoufnefs, he (hall be aftoniiTi- ed and amazed, and fee no more than in the very Darknefs ; But the beft way to behold the Sun, is to look upon it in a Pail of Water ; and the fureft way to know God by, is to take him up in a State IVhcLt God is, 45 of Humiliation and Condefcenlion, as the Sun in the Rainbow, in his Word and Works, which are Mirrours of his Divine Power and Goodnefs, and do refledl upon the Hearts and Eyes of all Men the Beams of that increated Light If this be not the Speech, that Day utieretb unto Day, and Ni^bt unto Nigbt, One-felf 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, noifed and poffeffed with all the Sounds of every Thing about thee, above thee, beneath thee, yea, and within thee, all finging a melodi¬ ous Song to that excellent Name which is above all Names, and confpiring to give Teftimonyto the Fountain of their Being ; If this; I fay, be not fo fenfible unto thee, as if a Tongue and a Voice were given to every Creature to exprefs it, then, indeed, we need not reafon the Eufmefs with thee who haft loft thy Sen- fes ; do but, I fay, retire inwardly, and ask, in Sobriety and Sadnefs, What thy. Confcience thinks of it? And, undoubt¬ edly, it lhall confefs a Divine Majefty, at leaft, tremble at the Apprehenfion of what it either will no; confefs, or llenderly be¬ lieves : The very Evidence of Truth lhall extort an Acknowledgment from it. If any Man denied the Dime Majefty, I would feek no other Argument to perfwade him, than what was ufed to convince an old Philofopher, who denied the Fire ; They put his Hand in it till he found it -, fo, 1 fay, return within to thy own Con¬ fcience, and thou ihalt find the fcorching Heat of that Divine Majefty, burning it up, whom thou wouldft not confefs. There is an inward feeling and Senfe of God that is imprinted in every Soul by Nature, that leaves no Man without fuch a Teftimony of God that makes him without Excufe : There is no Man fo inipious, fo atheifti- cal, but whether he will or not, he lhall feel at fometimes that which he loves not to know or confider of ; lb that what reft fecure Confciences have from the Fear and Terrour of God, it is like the Sleep of a drunken Man, who even when he fleeps does not reft quietly. Now, although this inward Stamp of a Deity be engraven on the Minds of all, and every Creature without have fome Marks of his Glory ftamped on them ; fo that all things a Man can behold above him, ar about him, or beneath him, the molt mean and inconfiderahle Creatures are Pearls and Tranfparent-ftones that cafts abroad the Rays of that glorious Brightnefs which fhines on them ; as if a Man v/ere inclofed into a City huilded all of precious * Stones, that in the Sun-fliine all and e -’ery Parcel of it, the Streets, the Houles, the Roofs, the Windows, all of it, reflected into his Eyes thofe Sun-beams in fuch a Manner, as if all had been one Mirroyr ; Though, I fay, this be fo, yet fuch is the Blockifhnefs and Stupidity of Men, that they do not, for all this, confider of the glori¬ ous Creator ; fo that all thefe Lamps leem to be lighted in vain, to ihew forth his Glory ; which though they do every Way difplay their Beams upon us, that we can turn our Eye no where, but fuch a Ray lhall penetrate it, yet we either^ do not confider it, or the Confideration of it takes not fuch deep Root as to lead Home to God ; therefore the Scripture calls all na¬ tural Men Atheifts, T'bey have faid in their Heart, There is no Ged, Pfal. xiv. I . All Men almoft confefs a God with their Mouth, and think they believe in him ; but alas ! Behold their Adlions, and Hearts, what Teftiniony they give ; for a Man’s Walking and Converfation is like an Eye-witnefs, that one of them de- ferves more Credit than ten^ LaMryitneftea of 46 What God is ¥ of Profeffions, Plus valet oculatus teliis units f quam auriti decern. Now, I may ask of you. What would ye do, how would ye walk, if ye believed there were no Gk)d ? Would ye be more ditfolute and prophaiie„ and more void of Religion ? Would not humane Laws bind you as much in that cale as they now do ? For that is almoft all the Relfraint that is upon many, the Fear of temporal Funiiliraent, or Shama among Men ; fet your walking befide a Heathen’s Converfation, and, fave that you fay ye believe in the true God, and he denies him, there is no Difference ; your TranfgrefTionsfpeak louder than your FrofefTions, that there is no Fear of God before your Eyes, xxxvi. i. Your Fraiflice belies your Frofeflion, you pro- fefs that you know Qod, but in ti^orks you deny him, faith Paul, Tit. i. i6. Ore quod dicitis, opere negatis. In thefe Words read in your Audience, you have a flrange Quefiion, and a ftrange Anfwer ; a Queftion of Alofes, and an Anfwer of God: The Occafion of it was the Lord's giving to Mofes a firange and uncouth MefTage ; he was giving him Commifllon to go and fpealc to a King to difmifs and let go 600000 of his Subjeffs ; and to fpeak to a numerous Nation, to depart from their own Dwellings, and come tiut whither the Lord ibould lead them ; Might not Mofes then fay within himfelf, Who am I, to fpeak luch a Thing to a King? Who am I, .to lead out fuch a mighty People ? Who will believe that thou hah fent me ? Will not all Men call me a Deceiver, an Enthufiaflical fellow, that takes upon me fuch a thing? Well then, faith Mofes to the Lord ; Lord, when I fhall fay, that the God of their Fathers fcnt me unto them, they will not believe me *, they have now forgotten thy Majcfty, and think that thou art but even like the Vanities of the Nations ; they cannot know their own Portion from other Nations vain Idols ; which they have given the fame Name unto, and call Gods as well as thou art called : Now therefore, fays he, when they ask me What thy proper Name is by which thou art diflinguifhed from all Idols, and all the Works of thine own Hands, and of Men’s Hands, what Iball I fay unto them ? Here is the Quef tion. But why asks thou my Name, lairh hordio Jacob} Gen. xxxii. eg. Im¬ porting, that it is a high Prefumption, and bold Curiofity, to fearch fuch a Won¬ der ; Ask trot my Name, faith the Angel to Manoah, for it is fecret or wonderful. Judges xiii. iS. It s a MyBery, a hidden MyBery, not for Want of Light, but for too much Light j It's a Secret, ifs won¬ derful ; out of the Reach of all created Capacity, 'thou /halt call his Name TVonderful, Ifa. ix. 6. What Name can exprefs that incomprehenfible Majefty? The Mind is more comprehenfive tl4n Words, but the Mind and Soul is too nar¬ row to conceive him ; O then / How Ihort a Garment muft all Words, the moft fig- nificant, and- comprehenfive, and fuperla- tive Words be? Solomons Soul and Heart was enlarged as the Sand of the Sea, but O ! It’s not large enough for the Creator of it. TVhat is his Name, or, SF'hat is his Sons Name, if thou canfi tell, Pr©v. XXX. 4. The Lord himfelf ex¬ prefs it to our Capacity, becaufe we arc not capable of what he can exprefs, much lefs of what he is ; If he fhould Ipeak to us of himfelf as he is, O ! It ihould be dark Sayings, hid from the Underfland- ings of all living ; we could reach no more of it, but that it is a Wonder, a Secret : Here is the higheft Attainment of our Knowledge, to know there is forac Mylkr,/ W'hat God is, 47 Myftery in it> b'nt not. What that Myftcry is ; Chrift hath a Name above all Names, How then can we know that Name? It wa^ well raid by fome of old, Deus efi and yet mul- torumnommum,^tamen nulHus nominis, he hath all Names, and yet he hath no Name : Quia eft omnia, iame7i fiihil omnium, becaufe he is all in all, and yet none of all; Deus eli quod 'oides, ^ quod non vides ; you may call him by all the Works of his Hands, for tnefe are Beams of his increated Light, and Streams of his inexhauftible Sea of Geodnefs ; fo that whatever Perfection is in them, ail that is eminently, yea, infinitely in him ; Thertf^re faith Chrift, 7'here i f one Good, even God ; and he calls himfelf the Light, and Life, and therefore you have fo many Names of God in Scripture ; there ts no Quality, no Property, or Vertue, that hath the leaft Shadow of Goodnefs, but he is that eflentially, really, eternally, and principally ; fo that the Creature de- ferves not fuch Names, but as they parti- whofe Image they have ; and yet poor vain Man would be wife, thought wife really, intrinfecally in himfelf, and proper¬ ly, and calls himfelf fo ; which is as great an Abufe of Language, as if the Picture ihould call it felf a true and living Man, But then, as you may call him all Thbgs, becaufe he is eminently and glorioufly all that is in ail, the Fountain and End of all, yet we muft again deny that he is any of thefc Things, unus omnia, ^ nibil om¬ nium ; we can find no Name to him ; or what can. you call him, when you have faid. He is Light ? You can form no other Notion of him but from the Re- femblance .of this created Light ; but alas t that he is not ; he fo infinitely tranfcends that, and is diftant from it, as if he had never made it according to his Likenefs : His Name is above all thefe Names ; but what it is himfelf knows, and knows only : If ye ask what he is, we may glance at fome Notions, and Expreftions, to hold him out : In relation to the Creatures, we may call him Creator, Redeemer, Light, cipateofhis Fullnefs ; he is the true Light, I Life, Omnipotent, Good, Merciful, Juft, the true Life ; the Sun is not that true Light, though it give Light to the Moon, and to Men, for it borrows its Light and ftiining from him ; all Creatures are, and fliine but by Reflection ; therefore thefe Names do agree to them but by a Meta- and fuch like ; But if you ask, what is his proper Name in Relation to Himfelf, ipfe novit, Himfelf knows that, we muft be filent, and Silence in fuch a Subject is the rareft Eloquence. But let us hear what the Lord himfelf phor, (fb to Ipeak) the Propriety and Truth I fpeaks, in Anfwer to this Qu^eftion, if any of them is in Him. As it is but a borrowed kind of Speech, to call a Picture, or Image, a Man, only becaufe of the Re- prefentation and Likenefs to him, it com¬ municates in one Name with him : Even fo ( in fome Manner ) the Creatures are but fome Shadows, Pictures, or Refem- b lances, and equivocal Shapes of God and whatever Name they have, of Good, Wife, Strong, Beautiful, Tiue, or fuch Ike, it’s but borrowed Speech from God, can tell, fure He himfelf knows his own Name beft ; lam (faith He ) what lam, fwn qui fum ; go tell them that I am hath fent thee : A ftrange Anfwer, but an An* fwer only pertinent for fuch a Queftion : What Ihould MoCes make of this? What is he the wifer of his asking ? Indeed he might be the wifer, it might teach him more by Silence, then all humane Elo¬ quence could inftruft him by fpeaking: His Queftion was curious, and behold an 4' Aniwer 48 God's Unfearchahlenejs and ahfolute Ft rtdiion. Anl'wer fhort and dark, to confound vain and prefumptuoiis Mortality. I am what i din, an Anfwer that does not fatistie Cu- riofity, for it leaves Room for the firft Queftion, and what art thou ? But a- bundant to lilence Faith and Sobriety, that it fnall ask no more, but fit down and wonder. There are three Things I conceive im¬ ported in this Name, God's Unfearchable- God’s fJnchangeablenefs, and God’s .'ibfolutenefs . His IneffabUity , His E- ternity, and His Sovereignty md indepen¬ dent Suhjijience , tipon whom all other Things depend. I fay, I. His Unfearchablenefs : You know it is our Manner of Speech when we we would cover any thing from any, and not anfwer any thing diftin^lly to them, we fay, it is what it is. I have faid what I have faid, I will not make you wife of i-t. Here then is the litteli Notion you can take up God into, to rind him unfearchable beyond all Underllanding, beyond all fpeaking ; the more ye fpeak or think, to find him always beyond what ye fpeak or think what ever you difcover of him, to conceive, that Infinitenefs is byond that, ad Jinem ciijus pertranfiri non poteft, the End of which you cannot reach, that he is an unmeafurable Depth, a boundlefs Ocean of Perfedtion, that you can neither found the Bottom of it, nor find the Breadth of it ? Can a Child w^ade the Sea, or take it up in the Hollow of its Hand ? ' When ever any thing of God is feen, he is feen a Wonder, If^onderfid is the Name he. is known by : All our Knowledge reacheth no farther than Admiration, T-Ploo is like unto thee, Exod. xv. ii. pfal. Ixxxix. 6, 7. and Admiration fpeaks Ignorance. The greateft Attaiimient of Knowledge reacheth but fuch a (^eftion as this, is like to thee ? To know only that he is not like any other thing that we know, but not to know what he is : And the diiierent Degrees of Knowledge is but in more Admiration or le;s,athis Unconceive- ablenefs, and in more or l«fs Atfedfion ex- prefled in fuch pathetick Interrogations, O who is like the Lord} How excellent is his Name ? Here is the greatefl Degree of Saints Knowledge here-away, to ask with Admiration and Afteftion fuch a Queftpn, that no Anlwer can be given to, or none that we can concdve or under- rtand, lo as to fatisrie wondring, but luch as ilill more increaleih it. There is no other Subjcdl, but you may exceed it in Apprehcnlions,and in Exprelllons ; O how ■olten are Mens Songs, and Thoughts, and Difcourfes above the Matter } But here is a Subjeft that there is no Excels into*, nay, there is no Accefs unto it, let be Excefs in It: Imagination that can tranfcend the created Heavens and Earth, and fan¬ cy to it felf Millions of new Worlds, every one exceeding another, and all of them exceeding this in Perfedion, yet it can do nothing here ; that which at ore Inftant can pafs from the one End of Heaven to the other, walk about the Circumference of the Heavens, and travel over the Breadth of the Sea, yet it can do nothing here, Canjt tbouby fearcbing find out God } Job xi. Imagination cannot travel in thele Bounds, tor his Center is every where, and his Circumference no where, as an old Philofopher fpeaks of God, Deus eft, cujiis Centrum eji ubique ,Circwnferentia nujquam, how' fhall it then find him cut? Tliere is nothing fure here but to Icfe our felves in a Myrtery, and to follow his Majeffy till we be fwallowed up with an Oh altitudo \ O the Depth, and Height, and Length, and Breadth of God ! O the Depth of his Wifdom ! O the Heighth of his Power! O the Breadth of his Love ! 4^ God's U’li ■'i'^habiene/s and ahfolute PerfeSlion And O the Length of his Eternity ! ’Tis , not Rcafon and Difputation, faith Ber- nar^-, will comprehend the-fe, but Hcli- nefs ] and that by ftretchingout the Arffis of Fear and Lovef Reverence and Af- fe(!^ion. What more dreadtut, than Power that cannot be refifted, and Wifdoni that none can be hid from; and’ v/hat more lovely than the Love wherewith he hath fo loved us, and his Unchangeablenefs which admits ofSufpicion? O fear him who hath a Hand that doth all, and an Eye that beholds all Things, and love him who hath fo loved us, aiid cannot change. God hath been the Subjeft of the Dif- , courfes and Debates of Men' in all Ages, but Oh, Quam longe eft in rebus qui eft tarn edmmunis in. 'uocibiis i How little Portion hath Men underRoo'd of him ? 'How hath he been hid from the Eyes of all living. Every Age muft give tl^^ Teftimony of him, ha^a heard of his Fame, but he is hid fnni tie F.yes of €ill living. I think, that Philofopher jlut took it to his Advifement, faid more in Silence than all Men havs detae in fpeal:ing. Simonides being asked by fflero a liing, V’hat God was ? Asked a Day tcdellO::rate in, and think upon it ; when the mg fought An Account of his Meditation about it, he defired yet two Days more, andfo as oft as as the King asked him, he ftill doubled the Number cf the Days in which he might tdvife upon it. The King Wondrtng at this, asked what he meant by th'ofe Delays : Saith he, ^anto magis conftdero, tanto enagis objeurior mibi videtur, the more I think on him, he-is the more dark and un¬ known to me ? This was more reall Knowledge than the many fubtile Difputa- tions of thofe Men, who by their poor Shell of finite Capacity, and Reafon, pre- fume'to empty the Ocean of God’s Infiniie- qeli by fifldiog gut Mwetito aU the Ob- jeftions of carnal Reafon, againft all thofe Myfteries and Riddles of the Deity ; I profefs, I* know nothing can fatisfy Rea* fon in this Bufmefs, but to lead it captive to the Obedience of Faith, and to iilence it with the Faith of a MyXlery which wc' know hot. Paul'?- Anfiver is one for all, and better than all the Syllogifiis of fuch Men, IF'bat art thou, O Man, -who dif puteft} Dilpute thou : T will believe. XJt-i-ntelligaiiir, tacendum eft. Silence only can get Ibme Acebunt of God ; quiet and humble Ignorance in the Admiration of fuch a Majefty, is the profounded: Knowledge. Non eft minim Ji ignore tur, ynajoris ejjet adiniratiohis Ji Jcidtur. It is no Wonder that God is not known, all the Wonder w’^ere to know and comprehend fuch a Wonder, fuch a My fiery ? It is a a Wonder indeed, that he. is n@t more known, but when I fay fo, ’ I mean that he is not more wondr^ at, becaule he is pafiing Knowledge. If our EyesofFlelh cannot fee any thing almofi when they look ftrait and fiedfaftly upon the Sun, O ;vhat can the Eye of the Soul behold, wheh it is fixed upon the Gonfideration of thatlhining and glorious Majefty ?’ Will not that very Light be as Darknefs to it, that it fltall be as it were darlcned, and da2led wdth a thick Mifi of Light, in Ju¬ ft erhicente caligine, confounded with that refplendent Darknefs. 'Tis faid that the Lord cavers Himfelfri^ih Light as vdUU a > Garment, and yet Clouds and Dark¬ nefs are about Him, and hemakes £)ark-‘ mfs his Co-vering, Pfalm. xviii. g, lo, 1 2. His inacceffible Light is this glorious Darknefs, that ftrikes the Eyes of Mea blind ; as in the Darknefs, the ' Sun’s Light is ^he Night-owle’s Night and Darknefs;* = when a Soul can find no better Wayto- know him ^by, then by thefe Name.' Notioaiby' whidiwe deny ‘ G Isd^^ 50 God^s 'Vnjearchahlennfs and ahfolute PerfeSion. * _ _ _ V - - ^ - — -- - - - , - ' _ _ ledge, when it conceived all of him it can, then, as being over come with that da2:lir)g Brightnefs of his Glory, to thint him in conceivable, and to exprefs him in fuc! Terms as withall exprefTes our Ignorance ; There is no Name agrees more to God, than that which faith, we cannot name him, we cannot know him, fuch as, invifible, in- comprebeiifible, mfinite, &c. This So¬ crates, an Heathen, profeft to be all his Knowledge, that he knew he did know no¬ thing, and therefore he preached an un¬ known God to the Athenians, to whom after they erefted an Altar with that in- fcriptionj To the unkixrvon God. I confefs, indeed, the moil Part of our Difcourfes, of our Performances, have fuch a writing on them, T" 3 the itnkn0vm God, becaufe we think we know him, and fowe know no¬ thing ; But 0 that Chriitians had lo much Knowledge of God, fo much true Wif dom, as folidly, and willingly to confefs in our Souls our own Ignoranoe of him, and then I would defire no othe r Know¬ ledge, and growing in the Grace of God, but to grow more and more in the Bsliev- in Ignorance of fuch. a Myilery, in the Knowledge of an unknown, unconceivable, and unfearchable God, that in all the De¬ crees of Knowledge we might flill Con¬ ceive we had found lefs, a»d that there is more to be found than before we appre¬ hended. This is the moil perfeCl Know¬ ledge of God, that doth not drive away Darknefs, but encreale it. in the Soul’s Apprehcnfion ; any Encreafe in it doth nut declare .what God is, or fatisfte one’s Ad¬ miration in it, but rather Ihews him to be l^tore invUlbk and uofcarcbable \ fo that the Darknefs of a Soul’s Ignorance is aore manifeHed by this Light, and nor nore covered, and one’s own Kjiowledge “‘is rather darkned, and difappiars in the glorious Appearancd*of this Light ; for ia ail new . Difcoveries, there is no other thing appears: But that this which the Soul is feeking is fupereminently unknown, and Hill further from Knowledge than ever it conceived it to be. Therefore what¬ ever you conceive or fee of God, if ye- think ye knaw what ye conceive and fee, it s not God ye fee, but fomeihingof God’s, lefs than God : For it’s faid. Eye bath not feen, nor Ear heard, nor bath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive, what he bath laid up for them that love Him: Now, certainly, that’s Himfelf he hath laid up for them ; therefore whate¬ ver thou conceives of him, and thinks now thou, knows liim, that is not He ; for he loath not entred into Man’s Heart to con¬ ceive Him. Therefore this mufl be thy Soul’s Exercife and Progrefs in it, to re¬ move all things, all Conceptions from him, as not befeeming his Majefty, and to go ftill forward in fuch a dark negative Dil^ covery, till doeu know not where to feek him, nor find him. Si quis Deumvideat S' intelligat quod vidit. Drum non vidit. If any fee God, and underfland w'hat they fee, God they do not fee; for, Gcd bath no Man Jeen, i John iv. 12. .^nd no Man knows the Father but the Son, and none knows the Son but the Father ; • it’s his own Property, id know Himfelf, as to he Himfelf \ filent and feeing Ignorance is our fafeft and highcft Knowledge^ I Exod. iii- 14- I 'illAl! I AM. Pfal. xc. 2. Before the Mountains, &c. from everlafling to everlaftirg thou art God. Job. xi. 7, 8, 9. Canji thou hy fear cbing find out God, &c. This is the chief Point of faving Knowledge, to know God : And this is the firft Point or Degree of the true Knowledge of God, to difc^'n how ignorant we arc of him, and find him be¬ yond all Knowledge : The Lord gives a Definition of Himfelf, but fuch a one as is no more clear than Himfelf to our Capacities ; A ihort one indeed, and you may think it fays not much, / am. What is. it that may not fay fo. Jam that lam ? The leaft and moil inconfiderable Crea- ture’hathits own Being ; Mans Wildom ■would have learned him to call Himfelf by fome high Stiles, as the Manner and Cuftom of Kings and Princes is, and fuch as the Flattery of Men attributes unto them; you would think the Superlatives of wile, good, feong, excellent, glorious, and fuch like, were more befeeming his Ma- jefty ; and yet there is more Majefly in the fimple Stile than in all others ; but a natural Man cannot behold it, for it is (piritually dilcerned. Let the potjbeards of the Earth ( faith he ) Jlrive with the potjbeards of the Earthy Ifa. xlv. 9. Bui iet them, not jlrive vaith their Maker. So I fay, let Creatures, compare with Giea- tures; let them ta':e fuperlative Stiles, in regard of others ;• let fome of them be called good, and fome better, in the Gom- parifon among themfelves, but God muft not enter in the Companion. Paul xhinks it an odious Comparilbn, to com¬ pare prefent CrolTes to eternal Glory, / ijfirk them not wrtbj to^ it compared. faith Paul, Bom. vlii. But how muck more ’ odious is it, to compare God with Creatures. Call Him Higheft, call Him mofl Powerful, call Him moil: Excellent, Almighty, molt Glorious in refpeft of Creatures, you do but abafe his Majejfty, to bring it down to any Terms of Com-'' parifon with them, which is beyond ali' the Bounds of Underlkandin^; all thefe do but exprefs Him to be in fome Degree eminently feated above the Creatures, as fome Creatures are above all others, fo you do no more but 'make Him the Head of all, as fome one Creature is the Head of one Line or Kind under it; but what is that to his Majefty ? He fpeaks other- wife of Himfelf, Ifa. xL 1 7. Nations are before Him as nothing, and they O're accounted to Him lefs than nothing. Then, certainly, you hare not taken up the true Notion of God, when you have conceived him the moft eminent of all Beings, as long as any Being appears as a Being in his Sight, before whom all Beings conjoyned are as nothing ; while you conceive God to be the belt, you ftiil attribute fomething to the Creature, for all Comparatives include the Pofitive in both Extreams : So then, you take up only fome difFerenf Degrees between them who differ fo infinitely, fo incomprehen- fibly ; the Diftance betwixt Heaven and Earth is but a poor Sirftilitude, to exprefs the Diftance between God and Creatures } What is the Diftance betwixt a Being and nothing ? Can you meallire it ? Caat G z yew 52 God'sUnfearchahlentfs-i and ahfclutf. PerfeFfinn you imagine il ? Suppofe you take the raoft high, and the ' mofi: low, and mea- fure the Dktance betwixt them, you do but confider the Difference betwixt two Bdings, but you do not cxprefs how far No¬ thing i^ diftant from' any of them : Now, if any Thing could be imagined lefs than nothing, could you at all guefs at the vafc Diftance between it ant^ a Being ? Now fo -it is here; thus faith the Lord, all Na¬ tions, their Glory, Perfection, and Num¬ ber, all of them, and all their Excellencies united, do not amount to the Value, of an Unity, in regard of niy Majefdy ; all of them like Cyphers, joyn never fo many of them together, they can n^ver make up a Number, they are nothing in this regard, mid lefs than nothing. . So- then, we ought thus to conceive of God, and thus to attri¬ bute a Being and Life to him, as in his Sight, and in the Coitfideraiioir of it, all created Beings mighf cvanilh out of our Sight ; as the glorious Light of the Sun, though it do not annilrilate the Stars, and make them nothing, yet it annihilates their Appearance to our Scnfes, and makes them difappear, as if they were not •, although there be a great Difference and Inequality of the Stars in the Night, fome lighter, fome darker, fome of the firft Mlgnitude, ^d fome of the fecohd and third, ^c. fome of greater Glory, and fome of left : But ir«he Day-time all are alike, all are darkned by the Sun’s Glory : Even fo it is here, though wp may compare one Creature with ano¬ ther, and find different Degrees of Per¬ fection and Excellency, wl:^le tve are on¬ ly comparing them among themfelves ; but let once the glorious Brightnefs of God (hine upon the Soul, and in that Light allthefe Lights foall be obfcureff, all their Differences unobforved; an- Angel and a Man, a Man and a Worm, differ much ^ Qory f erfeCtiou of feing i but O in his Prefexice there it no luch reckoning, upon this account ' all Things are alike, God infinitely diftant from all, and fo not more or lefs: Infinitenefs is not capable of fuch Terms of Com^arifon. This is the Reafon why Chrift fays, fhere is none good, but one, even God. Why, becaufo,. in refpeft of his Goodneft, nothing de* ferves that Name ; lefTer Light in the View- of the greater is a Darknefs, as left Good: in Comnarifon of a greater, appears Evil : How much more then lhall created Light and created Goodneft lofe that Name and Notion, in the Prefence of that uncreated. Light, and Self-fufficient Goodneft : And therefore it is, that the Lord calls Himfelf after this Manner, 1 am, as if nothing elfo were. I will not fay, ftith he, that I am. the Higheft, the beft and moff Glorious that is ; that fuppoleth other Things to have fome Being, and fome Glory that is worthy the accounting of ; But 1 am, and there is none elf efi am alone, I lift up my Hand to Heaven, and fivear, 1 live for ever. There is nothing elle can fay, I am, I live, and there is nonet dfo ; for there is nothing hath 'it of it felf : Can any boaftof. that which they have borrowed, and is not their own ? As, if the Bird that had ffol-- ien from other Birds its* fair Feathers, fhould come forth and contend with them, about Beauty, would not they prefently e- very one -pluck out their own, and leave her naked, to be an ObjeCi; of Mockery to all ? Even fo, fince our Breath and Be- ingis in »urNoJfri!s,md that depends upon his Majefty's breathing upon us,if he thould but keep in his Breath, as it were, we (hould vaiiifh into nothing, Helooketh up¬ on Man and he is not. Job vii. %. That is a rtrange Look, that looks Man not on¬ ly out of Countenance, but out of Life and Being, He looks him into his firff nothing and then cao he fay, I Ifi'e# I am j no, he mujO Goi's Eternity andUnchangeabhncfs, muft always fay of hiinfelf in reft)e6f of God/ as Paul of himfelf ia refpea of Chrift, / lhe,pt not /, but Chriji inme \ 1 jrf t not I> but God in me i 1 live, I am, ye/ not I, but in God, in whom//iw, and have my Bein^:. So that there is no other thing; befide God can fay, I am ; be- caufe all things are but borrowed Drops of this felf-fufficient fountain, and Sparkles of this primitive Light ; let any thing inter¬ vene between the Stream and the Foun¬ tain, and it is cut olf and dryed up ; let any thing be interpofed between the Sun and the Beam, and it evaniihes. Therefore this Fountain being, this original Light, this Sfelfbeing of, as Plato called him, de- ferves only the Name of Being- ; other -Things. that we call after that Name are fearer nothing than God, and lb, in re¬ gard of his Majefty, may more fitly be called nothing than fomexhing. You fee then how profound aMyflery of God’s abfolute felf-fufficient Ferfeftion is infolded inthefe three Letters^ / am, : ox in thefe four Gehovah.) If you ask what is God ? There is notliing occurrs better than this, / am, or he that is : If I ffiould fay He is the Almighty, the only Wife, the moll Perfeft, the moft Glorious-* it is all con¬ tained in that Word, I am that. I am, nempe hoc eji ei ejfe, hetc omnia ejje ; For that is to indeed, to be allthofe Per- fe(ilions fimply, abfoJutely, and as it were fqlely ; if I fay all that, and fhould jreckon out all the Scripture-Epithets,' I add no¬ thing •* if I fay no more, I diminfh no¬ thing. As this holds out God’s abfolute Per- feflion, fo we told you -fhaf it imports his Eternity and^ his Unchangeablenefs. You know Pilate's Speech, mohat I have writ¬ ten 1 have 'Written, wherein he meant, that^he would not change it, it ffiould Hand fo. So this properJy belongs to God’sEter- nity. Before the Mountains ‘voere brought . forth, from Everlafting to Everlajiing he is God, Pfal. xc. 2. Now this is pro¬ perly to be, and this only deferves the Name of Being, which never was nothing, and never ffiall be nothing, which may ai- '.'•.ays fay, I am ; you know it is fo with nothing* elfe but God ; the Heavens and Earth, v'itb the Thinys therein, could not not fay 6000 Years ago, latn. .Adam could once have faid, I am, but now he cannot fay it; for that Self-being and Fountain-being hath faid to’ him, Return to Dujl ; and fo it is with all the Generati- ^ ons paH, where are they now? They were, but they are not : And we then were not, and now are ; for we are come in their Place, but within a little Time, wffio ofii&canfay, I am? 'Ho, we flee aaoay and are like a Dream, as when one <*• vmketk : W e are like a f"ale that is told, that makes a prefent Ncife. and it is pall ; within few Years this- Generation will pafi, and none v/ill make Mention of us, oitr Place will not know us, no more than we- do now^ remember thofe who have been before : Chrifi; Ciid o^ John, He was a burning and paining Light, he w^as, faith he, but now he is not: But Chriftmay 2i\w^yd:{kv,I am the Light and Life of Men, Alan is,but look a little back-* wuird, and he w^as not ; you ffiail find his Original ; and Hep a little, forward and he ffiall not be, you ffiail find his End : But ■ God is Alpha and Omega, thi Begin¬ ning and the End . But Ob, who can re¬ tire fo far backward as to apprehend a Beginning, or go fuch a Hart forward as to conceive an End in fuch a Being as is the Beginning and End of all Things ; but without all Beginning and End ? Whofo Underflanding would it not confound? There, is no Way here but -to fiee into Paul'i^ SajiiSuary, Q the Heighth and Breadth God's Eternity ond Unchangea 'olentls. 5_4 Breadth t and Leitgih and Depth ! W e cannot imagine a Being, but we muft firft' conceive it 'nothing, and in fomc iniiant receiving its Being ; and, therefore canji thou by Searching find out God^ There¬ fore what his Being is, hath not entred in¬ to the Heart of Man to confider. If any Man would live out the Space but of two Generations, he would be a World’s Won¬ der-; 4301 jf any had their Days prolonged as tlie Patriarchs before the Flood, they would be called ancient indeed, but then •the Heavens and Earth are far more An¬ cient ; we may go backward the Space of near 6coo Years in pur own Minds, and yet be as far from his Beginning as .we ■were ; when we are come to theB^inning of all Things, a Man’s Imagination may yet extend it felf further, and fuppofe to it lelf as many Thoufands of Years before the Be¬ ginning of Time, as all the Angels and Men of all Nations, and Generations from the Beginning, if they had bceil imployed in no other thing but this, could have lummed up ; and then fuppofe a Produift to be made of allthefeveral Sums of Years, it would be vaft and unfpeakable, but yet your Imagi¬ nation could reach further, and multiply that great Sum as often into it felf as there are Unites in it : Now when you have done all this, you are never a whit nearer tlie Days of the Ancient of Days. Sup- pofe then this Ihould be the only Exercile of Men and Angels tliroughout all Eternity, all this marvellous Arithmetick would not amount unto the leafl Shadow of tlie Con¬ tinuance of Him who is from Everlafi- ing ; all that huge Product of all the Mul¬ tiplications of Men and Angels,hath no Pro¬ portion unto that never Beginning, and ne¬ ver ending Duration : The greateft Sum that is imaginable hathacertain Proportion to the leafl Number, that it containeth it io 0^ wd tio ol'cner* To that the ka/l Number being -multiplyed will amount un¬ to the greateft that you can conceive. But O, where lhall a Soul find it felf here ? It is inclofed- between' Inlinitenels before, and Infinitenefs beliind, between two Ever-* laftings, which way foever it -turns, there is no out going ; which way foever it looks, it muft lole it felf in an Infinitenefe round about it, it can find no Beginning and no End, when it hath wearied it felf in fearch- ing, which if it find not, itkno’ws not wlut it is, ' and cannot tell what it is. Now what are we then ? O what are we, who fo , magnifie our felves? ti^^e are but of \yejierday, and know nothing. Job viii. j 9. Suppofe that we had. endured the Space of 1000 Years, yet faith Mofes, Pfal. -xc. 4. ^ thoufand Years are- but as yejferday in tby Sight ; Tim^ hath no Succefllon to thee, thou beholdeft at once what is not at once, but in feveral Times, all tha* hath not the Proportion of one Day to thy Days^: We change in our Days, and are not that to-day we were yefterday, but He is the fame lief ter day, and to-day, and for ever, Heb. xiii. 8. Every Day we are dying, lome Part of our Life is taken away ; we leave ftill one Day more behind us, and what is behind us is gone and cannot be reco¬ vered : Though we vainly pleafe our felves in the Number of our Years, and the Ex¬ tent of our Life, and the "Viciflitudes of Time,,yet the Truth is, we are but ftill lofing fo much of our Being and Time, as pafleth: Firft, we loft our Child-hood, then we lofe our Manhood, and then we leave our old Age behind us allb, and there is no more before us, even the very prefent Day we divide it with Death : But when he moves all Things, he remains immoveable > though Days and Years be in a contiflual Flux and Motion about him, 224 God^s Eternity and UnchangenbUrttfs^ 55 — ' " ■■■■■■I ■ II ■! W-. ■ .1 and they carry us down with their Force, yet He abides the fame jor ever', even the Earth that is eftabliihed lo fure, and the Heavens that are fuppofed to be in¬ corruptible, yet they wax old as doth a Garment, but He is the fame, and his 2 ears have no End, Pfal. cii. 26, 27. Sine principio principiufn, ah fine fine fini), cui prateriiiim non abit, baud adit futurum, ante .omnia, poft omnia, totus, tinus ipfe. He is the Beginning- without any Beginning, the End without an End, there. is nothing by-paft to. him, and nothing to come, fed uno mentis cernit in i6lu, quarfunt^ qux erunt, qua fuer 'antque. He is one that is all, before all, after all, and in all ; He beholds out of the exalted and fiipereminent Tower of Eternity, all the Succeffions and Changes of the Creatures, and there is no Succef- fion, no Mutation in his Knowledge, as in ours. Known to him arc all bifl^orks, 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 diiven to any Confultation upon any E- mergent, or Incident, as thewifeft of Men are, who • could not forefee all Accidents and Events, but He is in oke mind, faith fob, and that one Mind and one Purpofe is one for all, one concerning all He had - it from everlafiing, and who ca7i turn him ? For He -will accomplijh what bis Soul dejires. Now, canfi thou by fear cbing find out God? Canft thou a poor mortal Crea¬ ture, either afeend up unto the Heighth of Heaven, or defeend down into the Depths of Hell? Canft tkou travell- abroad, and compafs all the Sea and dry Land, by its Longitude and Latitude? Would any mortal Creature undertake fuch a Voyage, to compalj the UniYerfe? Nay, not only lo, but to fenreh into every Cor« ner ot it, above and oelow, on the right Hand, and on the left ; No certainly, un* lefs we fuppofe a Man whole Head reaches unto the Heighth of Heaven, and whofe Feet is down in the Depths of Hell, and whofe Arms, ftretched out, can fathom the Length of the Earth, and B’'e.u':hof dae Sea, unlefs, 1 fay, we fuppofe fuch % Creature, then it is in vain to imagine, that either the Heighth of the one or the Depth of the other, the Length of the one, andthe Breadth of the other, can be found out and meafured : Now if mortal Creatures cannot attain the Mcafure of that which is - hnite, O then, what can a Creature do, w.hat can a Creature jenow of him that is Infinite, and the Maker of all thele Things;, you cannot compafs the. Sea and. Land,, ’how rlien can a Soul comprehend Him,, who bath meafured the Jf^aters in the HoUow of his Hand, and comprehended the Duji of the Earth in a Meajure, and the Mountains be weighs in Scales, and the Hills in a Ballance, Ifa. xl. -12. Thou cannot meafure the Circumference of the Heaven, how then canft thou find out him, wbo ineteth out the Heavens ' with bis Span^ and firetebetb them out as a Curtain} Sfa. xH 12, 22. You ' cannot number the .Nations, or perceive the Magnitude of the Farth, and the huge Extent of the Heavens, what then canft thou know'^ of him, wbo Jitteth on the Circle of the Earth, and the Inbabitatits are but as Grafs-hoppers before bun, ■nd he Ipreadeth out the Heavens as a Tent to dwell into ? He made’ ali the Pins and Stakes of this Tabernacle, and he faftned them below, but upon nothing, and ftretches this Curtain about them, and above them ; and it was not fo much Dif- ficulty to him, as to you ' to draw the Curuia ^outyour Bed, (qi be Jpake, and 56 God's Et amity and it was dotte, .he commanded, and it Jtood faji. Canft thou by fearching find him out ? And yet thou muft fearch him^ not fo much out of Curiouty to know what he is, for be dwells in inaccejfible Light,, which n$ ASan hathfeen, and no Mancan fet, i Tim. vi.ifi. Not fo much to find him, as to be foundofhim, ortofind what we cannwt know when we have found i Hie e/f qui nunqiiam quari frufim po^eji, cum tamen iwoeniri non potejl ; you may feek him, but though you never find hfui, yet ye (hall not feel; him in vain, for ye lhall find Bleflknefs inliinu Though you find him, yet can you fearch him out unto Perfe(5tion > Then what you have found were not God 1 How is it poffible foi' fuch narrow Hearts to frame an Apgre- fcenfion, or receive aa Imprelllon of fuch an immenfe Greatnefs, and eternal Good- nefs ? Will not a Soul iofe its Power of thinking, and Ipeaking, becaufe there is lo much to be thought and fpoken ; and it fo franlcends .all . fiiat it can think or fpeak I Silence then mufi he the beli Rhetorick ; and ehe fweetefl Eloquence, when Elor guence it felf nnift become dumb and filent; it is the Abundance .and Excefs of that in- acccfliblc Light, that hath no Fropordon fo our UnderRaiidlngs, that firikes us as blind as in tht Darkntfs the want of Light : All that we can fay of God is, that what- fbeverwe can think or conceive, he is not that, becaufe he hath not entred into the Heart of Man to conceive, and that he i? cot like any of thefe Things which we know, unto which if he be not like, we cannot frame any Similitude or Likenefs of Him in our Knowledge? What lhall we then do ? Seek Him, and fearch Hiqi indeed ; but, if w^e cannot know Him, to reverence and fear and adore what we know j So much of Him may be known, ^ {Qay teach m our Duty, mi iliew ua* Unch tinge ahknefs. to us our Bkfiednefs ; let then all our In¬ quiries of Him have a fpecial Relation to this End, that we may out of Love and Fear of fuch a glorious and good God, w'or- Ihip and ferve Him, and compofe our feives according to his Will, and wholly to his Pleafure : What ever thou knows of God, or fearches of Him, it is but a vain Speculation, and a Work of Curiolity, if it do not lead to this End, to frame a^id' faihion thy Soul- to an Union and Com- . munion with Kim in Love ; if it do not ddcover thy felf unto thy felf, that in that Light of God’s glorious MajeRy thou may ^ difiintftly behold thy own Vilenefs, and wretched Mifery, thyDarknefs, and Dead- ' nefs, and utter Impotency. The Angels that Ifaiah law attending God in the Tern- pU, had Wings covering their Faces, and Wings covering their Feet : Thpfe ex- c-ellent Spirits who muft cover their Feet from us, becaufe we cannot behold their Glory, as Aiofes behooved to be vailedj yet they cannot behold his Glory, but , mufl: cover their Face from the radiant and Ihining Brightnefs of his MajeRy, yet they have other two Wings to flee with ; and being thus compofed in Reverence and Fear to G«d, ihey are ready to execute his Commands willingly and fwiftly, Jfa, vi.’ I, 2, 3, &c. But what is the Ufe Jfaiah makes of all this glorious Sight? 'PP^o is mCy I am a Man of polluted Lips, &c. Oh, all is unclean, i^eoplct and Fajior: He had known, doubtlefs, Ibmething of it before,but now he fees it of new, as if he had never feen it : The Glo¬ ry of God Alining on him, doth not puff him up in Arrogancy and Conceit of tlie Knowledge of fuch profound M>Reries, blit he is more abafed in himfelf by it, it Ihines into his Heart, and whole Man, and lets him fee all unclean within and , without i aiid fo it was with Jobt Job t. ^ ' The true Kefult of the right Knowledge of God* 5:7 xlii. 5,6./ have beard of tbee by the hearing of be Ear, but as long as it was Hearfay, I thought my felf fomething ; I often relieved upon my felf and Aftions, with a kind of Self-complacency and De¬ light ; But now, faith he, fince I have feen tbee by t be feeing of the Eye, I abhor my felf in Duft and '^Jbes, I can¬ not look upon my felf with Patience, with¬ out Abhorrency and Deteflation ; Self-love made me loath other Mens Sins more than mine own, and SelMove did cover mine own Sins from me, it prefented me to ray felf in a feigned Likenefs, but now I fee my felfin my true Shape, and all Co¬ verings ftripped off. Thy Light hath pierced into my Soul, and behold, I cannot endure to look upon my felf: Here now is the true Knowledge of God’s Majefty, which dilcovers within thee a M} fiery of Iniqui¬ ty ; and here is the Knowle dge of God in¬ deed, which abafes all Things befide God, not only in Opinion, but in Affeftion, that attrafts and unites thy Soul to God, and draws it from thy felf and all created Things: This is a' right Difcovery of Divine Purity and Glory, that fpots even the Cleannefs of Angels, and Plains the Pride of all Glory, much more will it reprefent Filthinefs, as Filthinefs, without a Covering. It’s Know¬ ledge and Science ( falfly fo called ) that puffeth iip, for true Knowledge emptieth a Soul of it felf, and humbleth a Soul in it felf, 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 firfl Property or Mark of the faving Knowledge of God, it removes all Grounds of vain Confidence, that a SoluJ cannot truft unto itfelf ; and then the vexy proper Intent of it is, that a Soul may trutt in God, and depend on him in all Things : For this Purpofe the Lord hath called himfelf by fo many Names in 4 Scripture, anfwerable to our feveral Ne. ceflities, and Difficulties, that he might make known to us how All-fufficienthe is, that fo we may turn our Eyes and Hearts towards him : Tliis was the Intent of this Name, I am, that Mofes might have a Support ol his Faith ; for if he had looked to outward Appearance, was it not almoiP a ridiculous Thing, and like a vain Fancy, _ for a poor incpnfiderable Man to go to a King with fuch a Meflage, that he would difmifs fo many Subjects? And was it not an Attempt o f fome mad Man to go about to lead lb many Thoufands from t wicked tyrannical King, into another Na¬ tion? Well, faith the Lord, I am', /, who give all things a Being, will give a Being to my Promile ; I will make Phn~ mo/; hearken, and the People obey. Well then, what is it that this Name of God will not anfwer? It is a creating Nam?, a Name that can br’ing all Things out of nothing by a Word ; if he be fuch as he is, then he can make of us what lie pieales. If our Souls had this Name conilantly en¬ graven on our Hearts, O what Power would Divine Promifes and Threatnings have with us ? /, even /, am he that comfortetb tbee, faith he : If we be¬ lieved that it W'ere He indeed, the Lord Jehovah, how would we be comforted .•* How would we praife Him by His Name J A H ? How would we ftoop unto Hin-t, and fubmit unto His blelTed Will ? If wc believed this, would we not be as depen- dent on Him as if we had no Being in our felves? Would we not make Him oar Habitation and Dwelling-place ? And conclude our own Stability, and the Stabi¬ lity of his Church from his unvariable E- ter nity, as the Pfalmijt, Pfal. xeix. i, and Pfal. cii. ult. How can we think •» of fuch a Fountain-being, but we muft ivith- all acknowledge our felves to be Shadow's of _ H il 5 How loath God ts to depart his Goodnefs, and that we owe to Him I what we are, and fo confecrate and dedi¬ cate our felves to his Glory? flow can ' we confider fuch a Self-being, indepen¬ dent, and creating Goodnefs, but we muft have fome Delire to cleave to him, and fome Confidence to trull: in Him ? Now, This is to know Him. When we think on bis Unchangeablenefs, let us confider our own Vanity, whole Glory and Perfefti- on is like a Summer Flower, or like a Va¬ pour afcending for a little Time, whofe beft Eftate is altogether Vanity . Our Pur- pofes are foon broken off’, and made of none Eff'edl ; our Refolutions change. This is a Charafter of Mortality, we are not always alike. Non fibi conjlare, nec ubique ^ Jernper fibiparem eundemque ejfe . To be now oneThing, and then another Thing, is a Property of fmful and wretched Man ; therefore let us ceafe from Man whofe Breath is in his Nofrils, and not rrufl in Princes who ffiall die, fai* lefsia our felves who are lels than the leaf! of Men : But let us put our Truff in God, who changes not, and we (hall not be confumed ; our Waters lhall not fail, we Iball never be a- lhamed of any Hope we have in him. There is nothing elle you rruft in, but, undoubtedly, it lhall prove your Shame and Confufion in Sum ; whatever you hear or know of God, know that it iswain and empty, unlefs it defcend down into the Heart to fafliion it to his Fear and Love, and extend unto the outward Man to con¬ form it to Obedience ; yon are but 'vain in your Imaginations, and your foolifb Hearts are darkned, w'hile when you know God, yougloriiK Him not as God ; if that be not the Fruit and End of Know-, ledge, that Knowledge lhall be worfe to thee than Ignorance, for both it brings on judicial Hardning here, and will be thy folemn Accufer and Witnefs againft thee hereafter, i?ow. i. 2 1, 24. The Know¬ ledge of Jefus Chrift, truly fo called, is neither barren nor unfruitful, for out of its Root and Sap fprings out Humility, Self-abafmg, Confidence in God, Patience in Tribulations, Meeknefs in Provocati¬ ons, Temperance and Sobriety in lawful Things, 2 Pet. i. 5, 6, 7, 8. lixod, xxiv. 5,^,7, 8. ^he Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and Gracious, 8>cz. 'T'Here is nothing can leparate between God and a People but Iniquity, and yet he is very loath to feparate even for that -, he makes many Shews of departing, that io we may hold him faff ; and indeed he is not difficult to be holden. He threa¬ tens often to remove his Prefence from a Perfon, or Nation ; and he threatens, that he may not indeed remove, but that they may entreat him to ftay, and he is not bard to be entreated ; Who is a God like unto him. How to Anger, and 'of great Mercy ? He is long of being provok- ajJ, and not long provoked i for it is like the Anger of a Parent's Love: Love takes on Anger, as the laft Remedy, and if it prevail, it is as glad to put it off, as it was unwilling to take it on. You may fee a lively Picture of this in God’s dealing with Mofes and this People in the preceed- ing Chapter. He had long endured thi.«? rebellious and obftinate People, had often threatned to cut them off, and yet, as it were, loath to do it, and repenting of it, he fuffershimfelf to be entreated for them ; but all in vain to them, they corrupted their Way Hill more ; And in the xxxti, Cbap, from a Teople^ or T erf on Chap, falls in grofs Idolatry, the great Trefpafx that he had given them fo fo- leinn warning of often, whereupon great Wrath is conceived. And the Lord, Chap. xxxiii. 2. threatens to depart from them ; Go your Way, faith he to Canaan, but I will not go with you ; take your V enture of any Judgments, and the People of the Land’s Cruelty ; Here is afad Farewell to JJrael, and who would think he could be de¬ tained after all that? Who w'ould think that he could be entreated ? And yet he is not entreated , he is not requefted before he gives fome Ground of it,' and before he firfl: condefeends ; go, faith he, and put off thy Ornaments from thee, that 1 may know 'what to do unto thee. Will he then ac¬ cept a repenting People, and is there yet Hope of Mercy ? Should he that is going away Ihew us the Way to keep him ftill ? And he that flees from us, wilbhe ftrength- en us to purfije and follow after him ? This is not after the Manner. of Men, it is true, whole Compaffions fail, when their Paffion arileth, but this is the Man¬ ner and Method of Grace ; or of him who w’aits to be gracious : He flees lb as he would have a Follower ; yea, while he feems to go away, he dratvs the Soul that it may run after him ; hence is that Word, Pfal. Ixiii. 8. My Soul follows hard after thee \ thy ri^ht Hand upholds me. Well, the People mourns and puts off their Ornaments in Sign of Humiliation and Abalement, but all this doth not paci¬ fy and quench the Flame that was kindled : Mofes takes the Tabernacle out of the Camp, the Place of Judgment where God Ipake with the People ; and the Cloud, the Sign of God’s Prefence, removes : In a Word, the Signs of God’s loving and kind Prefence depart from them, to figni- fy, that they were divorced from God, and, in a Manner, the Lord by Mofes wccmucunicates all the People, and Rul- f ers both, and draws away thefe Holy Things from the Contagion of a prophane People : But yet all is not gone ; he goes far off, but not out of Sight, thatyoumay always follow Him, and if you follow, He will (land flill ; He is never without the Reach of crying, though we do not perceive Him. Now, in this fad Cafe you may have a Trial who is Godly i Every one that feeks the Lord will feparaie' from the unholy Congregation, and fol¬ low the Tabernacle ’, and this affefls the whole People much, that they all wori'hip in the Tent-doors. Now, in the mean Time God admits Mofes to fpeak with Him ; though He will not fpeak to the People, yet He will fpeak with their Me¬ diator, a typical Mediator, to (hew us that* God is well pleafed in Chrifl ; and fo alf Chrift’s Interceifions and Re- quefts for us will get a Hearing ; when they are come once in talking, the Bufmefs is taken up, for He is not fooa angry, and never implacably angry, flow to Anger, and keeps it not long; A4ofes fal¬ ling familiar with God, not only obtains his Requertfor the People, but becomes more bold in a Retiueft for his own SatisfaftioR and Confirmation : He could not endure to lead that People, except God went with him ; anti having the PromJfe of his going with them, he cannot endure Dif- tance with him, but afpires to the neareft Communion that may be : Oh, that it were ib with us. His great Requeft is. That the Lord would (hew him his Glory ; had he not feen much of this already? And more than any Man ever faw, when he fpake in the Mount with God, ^c> Nay, but he would fee more, for there is always more to be feen, and there is m a godly Soul always more Defire to fee it4 the more is feen, the more is loved and defired ; tailing of it onky begets a kind^ Appetite after it, and the more tailed, fUll H £ tilt' 6o Uow loath God is to depart^ See, the frelher aad more recent, but'yetit is above both Defire and Fruition, thou canrt not fee my Face, Ail our Know- Jetlge of God, all our Attainments of Ex¬ perience, of Him, do reach but to fome tki k and confufed ApprehenOon of what he is ; the dearefl and neareft Sight of God in this World, is, as if a Man were not known but by his Back, which is a great Point of Eftrangement : ’Tis laid, in Heaven we (hall fee Him Face to Face, and fully as he is, becaofe then the Soul is made capable of it. Tw'o Thmgs in us here puts us in an Incapacity of Nearnefs with God, Infirmi¬ ty, and Iniquity : Infirmity in us cannot be¬ hold his Glory, his of fo weak Eyes, that the Biightnefs of the Sun w'ould flrike it blind ; and Iniquity in us, he cannot behold it, be- caufe he is of pure Eyes, that can look on no unclean Thing ; ’tis the only Thing in the Creation that God’s Holinefs hath Antipathy at, and therefore he is ftill a- bout thedeftroying of the Body of Sin in us, about the purging from all Filthinefs of Fleih and Spirit and till the Soul be thus purged of all Sin, by the Operation of the Holy Ghofl, it cannot be a Temple for an immediate Vifion of Him, and an im¬ mediate Exhibition of God to us : Sin is the Wall of Partition, and the thick Cloud that eclipfes his Glory from us ; it is the T)ppofite Hemilphere of Darknefs, contra¬ ry to Light, according to the Accefs or Re- cefsof God’s Pre fence it is more or lefs dark ; the more Sin reigns in thee, the lefs, of God is in thee, and the more Sin be fubdued, the readier and nearer is God’s Prefence: But let us comfort our felves, that one Day we (hall put off both Infir¬ mity and Iniquity, Mortality (hall put on Immortality, and Corruption be clothed with Incorruption ; we fliali leave the ilags of mortal Weakfiefs^ia the Grave, and our raenftrous Cloaths of Sin behind uy,. and then Ihall the weak Eyes of Fleih be made like Eagles Eyes, (d behold the Sun ; and then lhal! the Soul be cloathed with Holinefs, as wdth a Garment, which God (hall delight to look upon, becaule he fees his own Image in that Glais. We come to "the Loi'd’s fatisfjing of Alojes sDeCne, and proclaiming his Name before him ; it is himfelf only can tell you what He is ; it is not Miniflers Preaching* or other DifcouiTe, can proclaim that Name to you v we may, indeed, Ipeak O' ver thofe Words unto you, but it is the Lord that muft write that Name upon your Heart. He only can difeover his Glory to your Spirit : There is a Spirit of Life which cannot be enclofed in Letters and Syllables, or tranfmitted through your Ears into your Heans, but He himfelf muft create it inwardly, and ftir up the inward Senfe and Feeling of that Name, of thofe Attributes : Faith, indeed, comes by Hearing, and our Knowledge in this Life is through a Glafs, darkly, through Ordinances, and Senles ; but there muft b« an inward teaching and Ipeaking to your Souls to make that effectual, the anointing teachetb you all Unrigs, i Job. ii. 27. Alas ! ’tis the Separation of that from the Word that makes it lb unprofitable ; if the Spirit of God were inwardly writ¬ ing what the Word is teaching, then fhould your Souls be living Epiftles, fliat ye might read God’s Name on them : O, be much in imploring of, and depending on him that teacheth to profit, who only can declare unto your Souls what He is. Thefe Names exprefs His Ellence or Being, and His Properties, what He is in Himfelf, and what He is to us ; in Himfelf, He is Jehovah, or a Self-beings efcwT »r, as we heard in iii. Cba^. 1 am that I flVh aad E L, a ftroag God, or Almig,bty 6* _ _ _ — ^ _ f Infirmity and Iniquity incapacitate us^ St'i. Almighty God ; which two hold out unto j us the abfolute incomprehenfible Perfefti- | on of God, eminently and infinitely _ en* j clofing within Himfelf all the Perfeftions j of the Creatures ; tlie unclvingeable and mutable Being of God, who.^as, and is, and is to come, without Succeffion, with¬ out Variation, or Shadow of turning ; and thert the Almighty Power of God, by which, without Difficulty, by the Inclina¬ tion and Beck of His Will and Pleafure,. He can make, or unmake all, create, or annihilate, to whom nothing is impofilble v which three, if they were pondered by us,, till our Souls, received the Stamp of them, they would certainly be powerful to ab- llraft, and draw our Hearts from the vain, changeable, and empty Shallow of tl-se Crea¬ ture, and gather our fcattered Affedions that are parted among them, becaufe of their Infulficrency, that all might unite in one, and joyn with tliis Self-fifficient and eternal God; I fay, if a Soul did indeed believe and confider* how All-fufficient He is, how infifficient all Things elfe are, would it not cleave to Him, and draw near to Him,2^/.lxxiii. ult. It is the very Tor¬ ment and Vexation- of the Soul to be thus racked, diftrafted, and divided about many Things ; and therefore* many, becaufe there is none of them can fupply all our Wants; our Wants are infinite, our De¬ fires infatiable, and the Good that is in any Thing is limited and bounded, it can ferve onebtit for one Ufe, and another for ano- tlrer Ufe, and when all are together,. they canbutfupplyfome Wants, but they leave much of the Soul empty ; But often, thcfe outward things crofs one another, and cannot confift together ; and hence arifeth much Strife and Debate in a Soul, his need requireth both, and both will not a- gree : But O that you could fee this one wniverfal Good, One for all, and above all, your Souls would choofe Him certain¬ ly, your Souls would trurt in Him; ye I would fay, ^(bur Jhall not Jave us, zve I will not ride on Horfe.r: Creatures lhall not fatisfie us, we w'ill leek our Happinels in Thee and no -where elfe ; fince we have tailed this new Wine, away v>rith the old# the new is better. I befeech 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 moft comfortable, or molP terrible,, according as He is at Peace or War with Souls, Eternity, and Omnipotency. You were si I once Enemies to Him. O con- fider what a Party you have, an Almighty Party, and an unchangeable Party; and if you will make Peace with Him, and that in Chrifl, then know. He is the beft Friend in the World^^ecaufe He is Unchangeable, and Almighty ; if He be thy Friend, He will da all for thee He can do, and thou haft need of: But many Friends willing to do, yet have not Ability,, but he hath Power to do what he will, andpleafes; many Friends are changeable, their AfFeftions dry up, of themfelves die ; and therefore even Princes* Friendlhip k but a vain Confidence, for they IhaJI die, and then their Thoughts of Favour perilli with them, but He abides the fame for all Generations, there is no End of his Duration, and no Eiid of his AlFedion ; He can ftill fay, I am that / am ; what 1 was, lam, and I will be what I am ; Men cannot fay fo, they are like the Brooks that the Companies of ^eman looked after, and thought to have found tliem in Summer as they left tliemln Win¬ ter ;.but behold they .were dried up, and. the Companies alhamed. God cannot make thee afiiamed of thy Hope, becaufe He is faithful and able. Ability and Fi¬ delity is a fure Anchor to hold by in all Storms and Tempefts, 6z God's manifejiing himCdf to Sinner Sy Such is God in Hinifelf ; now, there are two Manner of Ways He vents Him- felf towards the Creatures, in a comfor¬ table Way, or in a terrible Way. This glorious Perfeftion, and Almighty Power, hath an Iflue upon Sinners, and it runs in a twofold Channel, of Mercy, or Juftice : Of Mercy towards miferable Sinners that /ind themfelves loll, and flee unto Him and take hold of His Strength ; and Juftice towards all thofe that flatter themfelves in their own Eyes, and continue in their Sins, and put the evil Day far off: There is no Mercy for fuch as fear not Jiiftice, and there is no Juftice for fuch as flee from it unto Mercy. The Lord exhibits Himfelt in a twofold Appearance, according to the Condition of Sinners ; He fits on a Throne - and Tribunal of Grace and Mercy, to make Accefs to the ^nleft Sinner, who is afraid of his Wrath, and would fain be at Peace with him ; and he fits on a Throne of Juftice and Wrath, to feclude and debar I prefumptuous Sinners from Holinefs. There were two Mountains under the i Law, one of Curfings, and another of Blef fings ; thefe are the Mountains God fetsHis Throne upon, and from thefe He fpeaks, and fentences. Mankind ; From the Moun¬ tain of Curfings, He hath pronounced a Curfe, and condemnatory ^ntenceupon all Flelh, Jbr all have finned, there¬ fore, he concludes all under Sin, that all Flelh might flop their Mouth, and the whole World become guilty before God. Now, the Lord having thus condemned all Mankind becaufe of Difobedience : He fits again upon the Mountain ofBleffings, and pronounces a Sentence of Abfolution, of as many as have taken with the Sentence ■pf Condemnation, and appealed to His Grace and Merc3', and thofe which do not fo, the Sentence of Condemnation ftands above their Heads unrepealed ; He erefts His Tribunal of Juftice in the World lor this End, that all Flefh might once be con- vifted before him, and therefore He cites, as it were, and fummons all Men to fift themfelves and compear before His Tribu¬ nal, to be judged ; He lays out an Ac- cufation in the Word againft them ; He takes their Confciences Witnefs of the Truth of all that i* charged on them, and then pronounces that Sentence in their Confcience, Curfe d is he that abides not in all 1" kings, w’hich the Confcience iub- fumes, and concludes itfelf accurfed, and fubferibes to the Equity »f the Sentence : And thus the Manis,guilty before God, and his- Mouth ftopped ; he hath no Excufes, no Pretences, he can fee no Way to e- fcape from Juftice, and God is juftified, by this Means, in his Ipeaking and judg¬ ing, Pfal. li. 4. The Soul ratifies and confirms the Truth and Juftice of all his Threatnings, and Judgments, JR.om. iii. 4. Now, for fuch Souls as joyn with God in judging' •rid condemning them¬ felves, the Lord hath ereefted a Throne of Grace, and Tribunal of Mercy in the Word,whereupon he hath fet His ^n Jefus Chrift, ii. 6. and Ixxxlix. 14. and xlv. 6. Heh. i. 8. And O, this Throne is a confofttfcle Throne, Mercy and Truth goes before the Face of the King to welcome and entertain miferable Sin¬ ners,, and to make Accels to them. And from this Throne Jefus Chrift holds out the Sceptie of the Golpel, to invfte Sin¬ ners, felf-Gondemned Sinners, to come to Him alone, who hath gotten all final Judgment committed to Him,that He may give eternal Life to whom he will. Job. V. 21, 22. O, that is a fweet and am¬ ple Commiffion given to our Friend and Brother Jefus Chrift, Powtt to repeal Sentences paft againft trs. Power to loofe them whom Juftice hath bound. Power and if either in a JV^J of Juftice^ or Mercy, and Authomy to abfcive them whom Juf- tice hath condemned, and to blefs them whom the Law hath curfed, and to open their Mouth to Praife whole Mouth Sin and Guiltinefs hath flopped: Power to give the Anfwer of a good Confcience to thy evil feif-tormenting Confcience ; in a Word, He hath Power to give Life, to make alive, and heal thofe who are killed or wounded by the Commandment. Now, I fay, feeing God hath of Purpole eflabli- Ihed this Throne of Mercy in the Word, thou mayeflwell, after receiving and ac¬ knowledging of the Juflice of the Curie of the Law, appeal to Divine Mercy 'and Grace, fitting on anothei^ Throne of the Gofpel ; thou may, if thy Confcience urge thee to delpair, and to conclude there is no Hope, thou may, I fay, appeal from thy Confcience, from Satan, from Juflice, un¬ to Jefus Chrifl, who is holding out the Scepter to thee ; the Minifler calls thee. Rife and come, fland no longer before I that Bar, for it is a lubordinate Judicatory, there is a Way to redrels thee by a high- : er Court of Grace : Thou may fay to Juf- i tice, to Satan, to thy own Conlcience, It is I true, I confels, that I delerve that Sen- I tence ; 1 am guilty, and can fay nothing againft it, while I Band alone, but though i I cannot latisfie, and have not ; yet there ij is one Jefus Chrifl, who gave his Life a il Ranfom for many, and whom God hath I* given as a Propitiation for Sins ; He hath I, faiisfied and paid the Debt in my Name; |j go and apprehend the Cautioner, fince He I hath un^rtaken it, nay. He hath done it, jj and is abfolved. Thou had Him in thy Ij Hands, O Juflice ! thou had Him Prifoner f under the Power of Death ; fince you ( have let Him go, then He is acquitted I from all the Charge of my Sins ; and . therefore, fince I know that He is now a f King, and hath a Throne to judge the World, and plead the Caule of the poor Sheep, I will appeal to Him, refer the Caufe to HisDecifion,Iwill make my Suppli* cation to Him, and certainly He will hear, and interpofe Himlelf between Wrath and me. He will refcind this Sentence of Con¬ demnation, fince he Hirnfeh:' was condem¬ ned for us, and is juflined. It is Cbriji that dyed, nay rather is rifen again, who jhall condemn me? He is near thatjujiiftes me, Rom. viii. 33, 34. Now if thou do indeed flee into Him for Refuge, that Cfty is open for thee, and nothing to pre¬ judge thy Entry : But no Curfe, no Con¬ demnation can enter in '\t, Rom. viii. i. He will juftifie and abfolve thee from all Things whereof the Law could not juflifie thee, but condemn \hee,There is forgive- nefs with Him, that He may be feared. David may teach thee this Manner of Ap¬ plication, Pfal. cxxx. and cxlii. 2. of appealing from the deferved Curfe, to free undeferved Blelfing and Mercy in Chrifl. Let us confider this Name of the Lord, and it (hall anfwer all our Sufpicions of Him ; all our Objec^ionsagainfl cc/ming to Him and believing in Him, it is certain. Ignorance is the Mother of Unbelief, to¬ gether with the natural Perverlenefs of our Hearts, if we knew His Name we would trufl in Him, if His Names were ponder¬ ed and confidered, we would bdieve in Plim. Satan knows this, and therefore his great flight and cunning is, to hold our Minds fixed on the Confideration of our Mifery, and delperate Eflate, he keeps the awakened Confcience ftill upon that comfortlefs Sigla;^ and he labours to repre- fent God by halves, and that is a falle Re- prefentation of God, he reprefent? Him as cloathed with Juflice and Vengeance, as a confuming Fire, in which Light a Soul can fee nothing but Defperation written ; and he labours to hold out the TIioughts of His ^4 T'he right Confider ation of God's Name^ His Mercy and Grace, or diverts a Soul from the Confideration of his Promifes, whence it conies, that they are not efta- blifhed, that though Salvation be near, yet it is far from them in their Senfe and Ap- prehenfion, therefore I lay, you lliould la¬ bour to get an intire Sight ot God, and you Hiall fee Him beft in His Word, there He reveals Himlelf, and there you find, if ye confider, that which may make you fear Him indeed, but never flee from Him, that which may abale you, but withall embolden you to come to Him though tremblingt What everTliougbt pof fefs thee of thine own Mifery, ot thy own Guiltinefs, labour to counterpoife that with a Thought of His Mercy and free Pro¬ mifes ; What ever be fjggelled of His Holinefs and Juftice, hear Himfelf fpeak out His own Name, and tho.u (halt hear as much of Mercy and Grace, as may make thefe not terrible unto thee, though High and Honourable. The Lord hath fo framed the Exprellion and Proclamation of His Name in this Place, that firfl: a Word of Majefty and Power is premifed. Lord, T’he Lord God) that it may compofe our Hearts in Fear and Re¬ verence offucha glorious One, and make a preparatory Impreflion of the Majeity of our God, which indeed is the Founda- fion of all true Faith. It begins to adore and admire a Deity, a Majefty Ifid from the World, the Thoughts of His Power and Glory poflefles the Soul firft,and makes it begin to tremble to think that it hath flich a High and holy One to deal with. But in the next Place, you have the moft fweet, alluring, comforting Stiles tliat can be imagined, to meet with the trembling and languiihing Condition of a Soul that would be ready to faint before fuch a Majefty ; liere Mercy takes it by the Hand, and gives a Cordial of Grace, Pardon, Forgivenefs, &c. to it, which re¬ vives the Soul of the humble, and inter¬ mingles fome rejoycing with former trem¬ bling i Majefty and Greatnefs goes before to.abafe and humble the Soul in its ow’n Eyes, and Mercy and Goodnels feconds them, to lift up thofe.who are Low, and exalt tlie Humble, ancf in the Delcription of this, the Lord fpends more Words, ac¬ cording to the Neceflity of a Soul, to lig- nifie to us how great and ftrong Conlb- lation may be grounded on His Name, how acceflible He is, though He dwell in inacceflible 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 majeftick ; in a Word, that thofe that flee to Him may have all Invitation, all Encourage¬ ment to come, and nothing to difeourage, to prejudge their Welcome, that who ever will, may come, and nothing may hinder on His Part. And then after all this. He fubjoyns a Word of His Juftice, in aveng¬ ing Sin, to (hew us that He leaves that as the laft, that He elTays all gaining ways of Mercy witli us, that He is not very much delighted with the Death of Sinners, that fo whofoever periilies may blame themlelves, for hating tlieir own Salvation, and forfaking their own Mercy. Now whoever thou art that apprehends a dreadful and terrible God, and .thy felf a milerab.'c and wretched Sinner, thou canft find no Comfort in God’s Highnels and Power, but it looks terrible upon thee, be- caufe thou doubts of His Good-will to fave and pardon thee: Thou fayeft with the blind Man, if thou wilt thou can do it; thou art a ftrong God, but what Comfort can I have in thy Strength, fince I know not thy Good-will ? I fay, the Lord an- fwers thee in this Name, 1 am merciful, faith the Lord, U' thou be raiicrable, 1 am merci- 'p'^^ ' Con/id^ rition of God^'s Name, 65 mercitul as well as ftrong ; if thou hare Sin and Milery, I have Compaffion and Pity ; My Mercy may be a Copy and Pattern to all Men to learn it of Me, e* ven towards their own Brethren, Luke vi. 36. Therefore he is called the Father of Mercies. 2 Cor. i. 3. Mifericors eft cui alterius miferia cordi eft. Mercy hath its very Name from Mifery, for it is no other Thing than to lay another’s Mifery to Heart, not to delpife it, not to add to it, but to help it ; it is a ftrong Inclination to fuccour the Mifery of Sinners, therefore thou needs no other thing to commend thee to him. Art thou miferable, and knows it indeed ? Then He is merciful, and know that alfo, thefe two fuit well. Nay, but faith 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, 1 have nothing to concili¬ ate Favour, and all that may procure Hatred. But, faith the Lord, / amgra- oious, and difpenfe Mercy freely, without telpeft to Condition or C^alification : Say not, if I had fuch a Meafure of Humiliati¬ on as fuch a one, if I loved Him fo much, if I had fo much godly Sorrow and Re¬ pentance, then, I think he would be merci¬ ful to me. Say not fo, for behold He is gracious. He hath Mercy on whom He will have Mercy, and there is no other Caufe, no Motive to procure it, it comes from within His ovyn Breaft. It is not thy Repentance will make Him love thee, nor thy Hardnefs.of Heart will make Him hate thee, or obftrudi 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 Re¬ pentance, not of Faith, in that S^nfe thou conceiveft, but it is freely, without the Hire, without the Price of Repentance, or Faith, becaufe all thole are but the free Gitts ofGrace;thou would have thefe Graces to procure His Favour, and to make them the Ground of thy believing in His Prorai* fes, but Grace is without Money, it im¬ mediately contrafts with difcovered Mife- ry, fo that if thou do difcover in thy felf Mifery and Sin, though thou find nothing elle, yet do not caft away Confidence, but fo nruch the more addrels thy felf to Mercy and Grace, which doth not feek Re¬ pentance in thee, but brings Repentance and Faith with them unto thee; yet there is fomething in the awakned Conlcience, I have gone on long in Sin, I haye been a prefumptuous Sinner, can He endure me longer .> Well, hear what the Lord faith, I am long-fuftl ering, and patient ; and if he had not been fp, we had been damned ere now. Patience hath a long Term, and we cannot out-run it, out-weary it. Why do we not wonder that he prelentJy and inftantly executed His Wrath on An¬ gels, and gave them not one Hour’s Space for Repentance, but caft them down head¬ long into Deftruftion, as in a Moment ; and yetHis Majeftyhath fo long delayed the Execution of our Sentence, and calls unto Repentance and Forgivenefs, that we may efcape the Condemnation of Angels : His Patience is not Slacknelsaod Negligence, as Men countit, 2 Per. hi. 9. He fits not in Heaven as an Idol and idle Spefta? tor of what Men are doing ; but fie ob- ferves all Wrongs^ and is lenfible of them alfo : And if we were mindful and .f^a* fible of them allb, he would forget ihem. He is long'fufferijjg : This is extended and flretched-out Patience beyond all Ex¬ pectation, beyond all deferving, yea, con¬ trary to it. Therefore, as long as fie for¬ bears, if thpu apprehend thy Mifery and Sin, and Continuance in it ; do not conclude that it is delperate, fflty Jhojilft a Man cmftlain} As long Patience I lengthens 66 The Severity of God's ^ufiice lengthens the Life, if thou defire to come to Him, believe He will accept thee. But faith the doubting Soul, I am ex¬ ceeding perverfe, and wicked, there is no¬ thing in me but Wickednefs, it fb abounds in me, that there is nothing in me but Wic- kednels, it lb abounds in me, that there is none like me ; but faith the Lord, J am abundant in Go&dnefs. Thy Wicked¬ nefs, though it be great, itis but a created Wickednefs, but my Goodnels is the Good- nefs of God ; I am as abundant in Grace > and Goodnefs as thou art in Sin, nay, in¬ finitely more ; thy Sin is but the Tranf- grefiion of a finite Creature, but my Mercy is the Compafllon of an infinite God, it can fwallow it up ; fuppofe- thy Sin cry come up to Heaven, yet Mercy reaches above Heaven, and is built tip for ever. Here is an Invitation to all Sinners tocome a nd tafie, O come and tafte and fee how good the Lord is ; Goodnefs is communicative, it diffufes it felf, like the Sun’s Light; There is Riches of His Goodnefs, Rom. ii. 4. Poor Soul, thou canft not fpend it though thou have many Wants. But lam full of Doubtings, Fears and Jealoufies ; I cannot believe in His Pro- mifes, I often queftion them ; How, how then will He perform them? I fay, ( faith the Lord) / am abundant in T mth. He will certainly perform. Shall our Un¬ belief, or Doubting, make the baitb of God of none EffeSt, See. Rom. iif. 5. God forbid. His Faithfukreis reaches unto the Clouds, He whll keep Covenant with thee, whofe Soul hath chofen Him, though thou often queftion and doubt of Him. Indeed, thou Ihouldft not give Indulgence to thy Doubtings and Jealoufies, but look on them as high Provocations; for what can be mor. grievous to fervest Love than to meet I with Jealoufie? Jealoufie would quench any Creatures Love, but though it grieve and provoke Him, yet He will not change. He will nor diminilh His ; only do not think your Difputings, and Quarrel¬ ling innocent and Harmlefs Things ; no certainly, they grieve the Spirit, ftir up the Beloved to go away, as it were, be¬ fore He pleafe, and make thee vi»alk with¬ out Comfort, and without Fruit ; yet He- will bear with,and not quench the finoakin^. Flax of a Believer’s Defires, though they do not arile to the Flame of Aflur-- ance. But' the wounded Spirit hath one or‘ two Burdens more : I hav^e abufed much= Mercy, how can Mercy pity me? I have' turned Grace unto Wantonnefs, fo that when I look to Mercy and Grace to com-^ fort me, they do rather challenge me y. the Sins of none are like mine, none of fuch-a hainous prefumptuous Nature : But let us hear what God the Lord fpeaks» / keep Mercy for f boufands, and for¬ give Iniquity, franfgreffion, and Sjny. Thou haft wafted much Mercy, but- more is behind, all the Treafure is not’ fpent; though there were many thoufand. Worlds befide, I could pardon them all, if they would flee unto my Mercy, thou lhalt not be ftraitned in me, Mercy will) pardon thy Abufe of Mercy, it will for¬ give all Faults thou doft againft it felf. Thou that fins againft the Son of-Man,'. the Redeemer (if the World, and Re¬ medy of Sin, vet there is Pardon forr thee whatever the Quality, Condition, or Circumftance of thy Sin be ; whoever, convinced of it, and loadned with it, de-- ,res reii torhy Soul, thou may find it in CiT ft whole former Kindnefs thou haft anlv. . with Contempt ; many Sins, many great Sins, and thefe prefumptuous Sms cannot exclude, nay, no Sin can exr elude n^dinfl.luch as do acquit and clear therrjelves. ^7 'flude a wiUiiifeSoul. Unbelief keeps thee oinwilling, anj fo excludes thee. r sv, as 'i'.< Spider fucks Poifen out of the fweetelf f lower, fo the moft Part of Soui.^ .fuck, nothing but Deluiion, and Pre-. fill':.. .. ).), and Hardning, out of the G of pel ; M iiiy Souls reafon for more Liber¬ ty to . in from Mercy ; but behold, how tire Lord backs it with a dreadful Word, who wit by no Means clear the guilty'. As many as do not condemn themfelves, and judge themfelves before His Tribu¬ nal ofjuftice, there is no refcinding of the condemnatory Sentence, but it ilands above your Heads, He that believes not is condemned already. Juflice hath con¬ demned ail by a Sentence ; he that doth not in the Senie of this flee into Jefus Chriflfrom Sin and Wrath is already con¬ demned ; his Sentence , is ftanding, there jieeds no new one, fmce he flees not to Mercy for Abfolution, the Sentence of Condernnation ftands unrepealed. You guilty Souls, who clear your felves, God will not clear you ; and alas ! How many of you do clear your felves ? Do you not extenuate and mince your Sins.^ How hardisitto extort any Confeflion of G jilt out of you, but in the general } If we condefcend to Particulars, many of you will plead Innocency, almoft in every ^hing, though you have, like Children, learned to Ipeak tliefe Words, I’hatyeare Sinners. I befeech you confider it, it is no light Matter, for God will by Means clear the guilty ; by no Means, by no In¬ treaties, no Flatteries ; What.? Will He not pardon fin i Yes indeed : His Name tells you He will pai'don all kind of Sins, and abfolve all manner of guilty Perfons, but yet fuch as do condemn themfelves, fuch as are guilty in their own Confcience, and their Mouths flopped before God; you who do not enter into the ferious Ex- mination of your ways, and do not arraign your felves before God’s Tribunal daily, till you find your felves loatlifome and de- fperate,and no Refuge for you ; you who do flatter your, felves always jn the Hope of Heaven, and put the Fear of Hell al¬ ways from you, I fay, God will by no Means, no Prayers, no Intreaties clear or pardon yourbecaufe you come not to Jefus Chrifl, in whom is preached Forgivenejs and RemiJJion of Sins. You who take Liberty to Sin, becaufe God, is gracious, and delay Repentance till the End, be- caufe God is Long-fuffering ; know God will not clear you ; He is Holy and Juft, as He is Merciful. If His Mercy make thee not fear and tremble before Him, and do not feparate thee from thy Sins ; if Remiffion of Sins be not the ftrongeft Perfwafion to thy Soul of .the removing of Sin, certainly thou doft in vain prefume upon His Mercy. Now, confider what Influence all '.this glorious Proclamation had on MoJij ; it ftirs up in him Re¬ verence and Aifeftion, Reverence to fuch a Gbrious Majefty, and great Defire to have him amongft them, and to be more one with Him : If thy Soul rightly dif cover God, it cannot but abale thee, he made hafte to bow down and worlhip i O, God’s Majefty is a furprifing and afto- nilhing Thing, it would bow thy Soul in the Duft if it were prefented to thee ; la¬ bour to keep the right and intire f^epre- fentation of God in thy Sight, His whole Name., Strong, Merciful, and Juji ; Great, Good, and Ho^y. I fay, keep both in thy View, for half Reprefentati- ons are dangerous, either to beget Pre- fumption, and Security, when thou looks on Mercy- alone, or Delpair, when'^thou looks on Juftice, and Power alone; let thy Soul confider all jointly, that it may receive a mixed Impfeffion of all ; and this 1 s ^ God is a Spirit^ and ‘wh at that doth import* 68 is the Holy Compofition, and Temper of a Believer, Rejoice with trembling, Love with Fear ; let all thy Difcoveries of Him John iv. 24. God is a Spirit^ and Him in Spirit and in ^ruth. WE have here fomething of the Na¬ ture of God pointed out to us, and fomething of our Duty towards Him. God is a Spirit, that is His Nature ; and JAan miiji 'worfhip Him, that is his Du¬ ty ; and that in Spirit and 'Truth, that is the right Manner of the Duty : If thefe three were well pondered till they did fink into the Bottom of our Spirits, they would make us indeed Chriftians, not in the Let¬ ter, but in the Spirit : That is prefuppof- ed to all Chrifhan Worfhip and Walking, to know what God is ; ’tis indeed the Frimo cognitum of Chriftianhy, the firfl Principle of true Religion, the very Root out of which fprings and grows up walk¬ ing fuitably with, and worlhipping anfwer- ably of, a known God. I fear,, much of our Religion be like the Athenians, they builded an Altar to an unknowmGod ■, and like the Samritans, who worlhipped they knew not what. Such a Worfliip, I know not what It is, when the God wor- fliipped is not known. The two Parents of true Religion are. The Knowledge of God, and of our felves ; this, indeed, is the Beginning of the Fear of God, which the wife Preacher calls, The Beginning of true Wifdom : And thefe two, as they be¬ get true Religion, fo they cannot truely be one without the other : It is not many l^otions,and Speculations about the Divine Nature, it is not high and drained Cor. ceptions of God, that oompri^s the true aim at more Union and Communioit>. \ 1 with Him, who is fuch a Self-llifficient, Alf* \! fufficient, and Eternal Being, they who worfhip Him muji worfhip Knowledge of Him many thin Jr they know fomething, when they can fpeak of' thofe Myfleries, in forae Angular Way, and in Lome Terms, removed from com¬ mon Underftandings, which neirirer them-- felves nor others know what they mean ; and thus they are prefumptuous, fdf-con- ceited, knowing nothing as they ought to know ; There is a Knowledge that puft^. up, and there is a Knowledge that carts down, a Knowledge in many that doth; but fwell them,, not grow them ’tis but. a Tumor full of Wind, a vain, and em- ptyr frothy Knowledge,, that is- neither" good for edifying others, nor laving a Man’s felf a Knowledge that a Man: knows, and refle^is upon fo as to alcend* upon the Height of it, and mealure him-- felf by the Degrees of it ; this is not the- true Knowledge of God, which knows; not it Iblf, looks not back upon it felii but ' rtraight towards God, His Holinefs and Glory, and our Bafenefs and Mifery, and. therefore it conftrains' the Soul to be a- ftiamed of it felf in fuch a glorious Pre-- fence, and to make harte to worlhip, as. Mojes, Job,. Ifaiab, did. This Definition of God, if we did tru¬ ly underftand it, w’e could not but wor-- Ihv him in another Manner. God is a Spirit : Manv ignorant People lorm in their own Mind fome Likenefs, and I- raagt '' God, who is invifible ; you know how yc fancy to yourfelves Ibnie bo uly Sliape, ^9 God is a Spirit^ and what that doth import ^ Shape i when you conceive of him, you think he isfome Reverend and Majeftick Ferfon, fitting on a Throne in Heaven: But I bei^ech you, correft-your M iftakes of Him-; there is outward Idolatry, and there is inward ; there is Idolatry in Adti- en, when Men paint or engrave fome Si- militude of God ; and there is Idolatry in Imagination, when the Fancy and Appre- henfion runs upon fome Image, or Like- nefs of God ; the firfl is among Papifts, hut I fear the. latter be too common a- inong us, and it is indeed all one, to form ftu:h a Similitude in our Mind, and to en¬ grave or paint it without ; lb that the God whom many of us worrtiip, is not the living and true God, but a painted or gra¬ ven Idol. When God appeared • moft vi- lible to the World, as at the giving out of the Law, yet no Man did fee any Like- nefs at ail, he did not come under the Per¬ ception of the moft fubtle Senfe, he. could not be perceived but by the retired Un- , derftanding, going afide from all Things vilible, and therefore you do but fancy an Idol toyourfelves, inftead of God, when you apprehend him under the Likenefs of any vifible, or fenfible Thing, and lb what¬ ever Love, or Fear, or Reverence you have, it is all but mifpent Superftition, the Love and Fear of an Idol. I. Know then, that God is a Spirit, and therefore he is like none of all thele Things you fee, or hear, or fmell, or tafte, or touch: The Heavens are glorious indeed, the Light is full of Glory, but he is not like that. If all your Senfes ihoald make an Inquiry, and fearch for him throughout the World, you Ihould not find him : Tnough he be near hand every one of us, yet our Eyes and Ears and all your Sep- fes, might travel the Length of the Eanh, and Breadth of the Sea, and ihould not £nd Im^evea as you might iear^h ail the Corners of Heaven, ere you could hear or fee an J^.ngeU if you would Lwe a Man afunder, and refolve him in Atoms of Duft, yet you could not perceive a Soul within him ; why ? Becaufe thefe are Spi¬ rits, and fo without the Reach of your Senfes, II.- If God be a Spirit, then he is invt- fible, and dwells in Light inacceifible, which no Man hath feen or CSn fee, our poor narrow Minds that are drowned, as it were, and immerfed into Bodies of Clay, and in this State of Mortality, re¬ ceives all Knowledge by the Senfes, can¬ not frame any luitable Notion of his fpi- ritual and abilraded Nature. We cannot conceive what our own Soul is, but by fome fenfible Operation flowing from ir, and the Height that our Knowledge of that noble Part of ourfelves amounts to, is but this dark, and confufed Conception, that the Soul is- fome inward Principle of Life, and Senfe and Realbn: How then is it polTible for us to conceive aright of the Di¬ vine Nature, as it is in itfelf, but only in; a dark and general Way? We guefs at His Majefty, by the glorious Emanations of His Power, and Wifdora, and the Rays thereof which he difplays abroad in all the Work of His Hands, and from all theie ' concurring Teftimonies, and Evidences of His Majefty, we gather this conoifed No¬ tion of Him, that He is the Fountain-feJf Independent Being, the Original of all thefe Things, and more abfoiute in the World, than the Soul is in the Body, the true ^nima muncli, the very Life and the Light of Men, and fhe Soul that quickens, • moves and forms all this viable World, that makes all Things viiible, and himfelf is inviuble : Therefore- it is that the Lord fpeaks to us in Scripture oi' Himfe]i7 ac- coi'dii g to our Capacities, of His Face,. His Righc Hiuid, and Arm, Hfs TBrone, ‘ His God is a Spirit^ and what that doth import. His Scepter, His Back PartSi, His Angex, His Fury, His Repentance, His Grief, anJ Sorrow *, none of which are properly in His fpiritual, immortal, and unchange¬ able Nature ; but becaufe oar Dalnefs and Slownefs is fuch, in apprehending Things fpiritual, it being almoft without the Sphere^ and Comprehenrion of the Soul while ip the Body, which is almoft addifted unto die Senfes in the Body; therefore the Lord accommodates Himfelf unto our Terms and Notions; balbutit nobifcum, he like a kind Father Rammers with his Raramer- ing Children, fpeaks to them in their own Dialed ; but withal would have us con¬ ceive He is not really fuch a One, but in¬ finitely removed in His c^i Being from all thefe Imperfedions. So when you hear of thefe Terms in Scripture, O be¬ ware ye conceive God to 'be fuch a one, as yourfelves : But, in thefe Exprefllons not befeeming his MajeRy, becaufe below him, learn your own Ignorance of his glorious MajeRy, your Dulhefs and In- - capacity to be fuch, as the Holy One muR ..come dowm as it were in fome bodily Ap- ypearance, e’re you can underRand any ’ Thing of him. III. If God be a Spirit, then he is mofl perfed, and moR powerful : All Imper- Tedion, all Infirmity, and Weaknels in the Creature, is founded in the grofs and material Part of it. You fee the more Mat- .tpr and bodily SubRance is in any Thing, it is the more lumpilh, heavy, and void .of all Adion ; it is the more fpiritual, pure, and refined Part of the Creation, that hath moR Adivity in it, and is the -Principle of all Motions, and Adions; You fee a little Flie hath more Adion in it, than a great Mountain, becaufe there are Spirits in it which move it. The’Bot- tom of the World contains the Dregs of jiie Creation as itweie, a Mafs and Lump of heavy Earth, but the higher and more diRant Bodies be from that, the more pure and fubtile they are ; and the more pure and fubtile they be, the more Adion, V ir- me, and Efficacy they have : The Earth Rands like a dead Lump, but the Sea moves, and' the Air being thinner and purer than both,, moves more eafily and fwiftly: But go up higher; and Rill hhe Motion is fv/ifter, and the Vertue and In¬ fluence is the more powerful : What is a dead Body when the Soul and Spirit is out of it ? It huh no more Vertue nor Efficacy, than fo much Clay, although by the Prefence of the Spirit of it, it was adive, agile, fwift, Rrong and nimble ; fo much then as any Thing hath of Spirit in it, fo much the more perfed and power¬ ful it is. Then I befeech you confider what a one the God of the Spirits of all Fleffi mufl be, the very Fountain-fpirit, the Self-being fpirit, dvrS ^. Satan is called ^ Frince of the Air, and God of tins World, for he bath more Efficacy aiid Vertue to commove the Air, ^d raile Tempefts, than all the Swarms of mul¬ tiplied Mankind, though gathered into one Army ; if the Lord did not reftram and limit his Power, he were able to deftroy whole Nations at once : An Angel killed many thoufands of Senacharib s Army m one Night, what would many Angels do then, if the Lord pleafed to apply them to that Work? O ivbat is Man that he fbould magnifie himfelf, or Glory in Strength, or Skill? Beafts are ftronger than Men, but Man’s weaker Strength being ftrengthned with more Skill, proves Wronger than they ; but inrefpeft of Angels he hath neither Strength nor Wifdom. IV. If God be a Spirit, then He is not circumfcribed by any Place ; and if an in¬ finite Spirit, then 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, and He is without all Things, yet not ex¬ cluded from them : Intra omnia, non tamen inclufus in illis\ eKtra omnia nec tamen exclujus ab illis. You know every Body hath its own Bounds and Li¬ mits circumfcribed to it, and Ihoots out all other bodily Things out of the fame Space, fo that before the leaft Body want fome Space, it will put all the Univerfe in Mo¬ tion, and make every Thing about it to change its Place, and poflefs another ^ but a Spirit can pafs thorow all of them, and never difturb them ; a Legion may be in one Man, and have Room enough. If there were a Wall of Brafs, or Tower, having no Open, neither above, or be¬ neath, no Body could ^nter, but by break¬ ing thorow, and making a Breach into it, hut an Angel or Spirit could ftorm it with¬ out a Breach, and pierce thorow it, with¬ out any Divifion of it: How much more doth the Maker of all Spirits fill all in all the Thicknefs of the Earth doth not keep Him out, nor the Largenefs of the Heavens contain Him : How then do we circum- cribe and limit Him within the Bounds of publick Houfe, or the Heavens? O, how narrow Thoughts have we of His immenfe Greatnefs ? Who, without Di¬ vifion or Multiplication of Himfelf, fills all the Corners of the World, whofe in- divifible Unity is equivalent to an infinite Extenfion, and Divifibility how often I pray you, do you refleft upon this ?• God is near band every one of us , who of us thinks of a Divine Majefty nearer us than our very Souls and Confciences, in whom we live, arid move, and have our Being ? How is it we move, and think not with wonder of that firfl Mover, in whom we move ? How is it we live and perlevere in Being,, and do not always confider this Fountain-being, in whom we live and have our Being ? O, the Athe- ifm of many Souls profefiing God ! We do fpeak, . walk, eat and drinkj and go a-- bout all our Bufinefles, as if we were felf-' beings, independent ofany, never thinking , of that all prelent quickening Spirit, that adts us, moves us, Ipeaks in us, makes us> to walk, and eat and drink ; as the bar¬ barous People, who fee, hear, fpeak, and reafon, and never once refieft upon the Principle of all thele to difeern a SouP within : This is brutilh, , and in this, Man who was made of a flraight Countenance, to look upward to God, and to know him- feif and his Maker, till he might be dif¬ ferenced from all Creatures below, is de¬ generated, and become like the Bealls that perilh ? Who of us believes this all- prefent God? We imagine that he is Ihui up in Heaven, and takes no fuch No¬ tice 72 God IS a Spirit^ and zvhat that doth Import, tice of Affairs below ; but certainly. He is , not fo far from US-: ThoughHe iTiewmore of His Glory above, yet He is as prefent and obfervant below. V.IfHe be a Spirit, then asheis incom- prehenfible and immenfe in Being, fo alfo there is no Gomprehenfion of His Know¬ ledge. The nearer any Creature conies fo the Nature of a Spirit, the more Know¬ ing and Under ftanding it is ; Life is tlie moft excellent Being, and Underftanding is the moft excellent Life. Materia ejt iners ^ mortua, the nearer any thing is to t-he earthly Matter, as it hath lefs Afti- nn, fb lels Life and Feeling ; Man is near¬ er an Angel than Beafts, and therefore He hath a knowing underftanding Spirit in Him. There is a Spirit in Man, and the more or lefs this Spirit of Man is abftraft- €d from fenfual and material Things, it lives the more excellent and pure Life, and is, as it were, more or lefs delivered from the Chains of the Body. Thefe Souls that have never rifen above, and re¬ tired from fenfible Things, O, how nar¬ row are they, how captivated within the Prifon of the Flelh ? But when the Lord Jefus comes to fet free. He delivers a Soul from this Bondage, He makes thefe Chains fall off, and leads the Soul apart to converfe with God Himfelf, and to medi¬ tate on Things not leen. Sin, Wrath, Hell, and Heaven ; and the further it goes from it felf, and the more abfh'aiSted it is from the Confideration of prefent Things, the more it lives a Life like Angels : And therefore, when the Soul is feparated from the Body, it is then perfe(?ly free, and hath the largeft Extent of Knowledge : A Man’s Soul muft be almoft like Paul i ( whether out of the Body, or in the Bo¬ dy, 1 know not ) if he would underftand aright fpiritual Things: Now then, this inhnite Spirit is an all-knowing Spirit, all- feeing Spirit, as well as all-prefent ; fhere is no fe arching of tiis Under fanding, Ifa. xl. 28. and Pfal. cxlvii. s^tfTjohatb directed His Sfirit, or being His Coun- fellor hath taught Him} Korn. xi. 34. • Ifa. xl. 13. He calls the Generations from the Beginning, and known to Him are all His Works fron the Beginning. 0, that you would always fet this God before you, or rather fet your fflv’^es always in His Prefence, in whofe Sight you are always ; How would it compofe our Hearts to Reverence and Fear in all our Adtio.ns, if we did, indeed, believe that the Judge of all the World is an Eye-witnefs to our moft retired and lecret Thoughts and Doings ? If any Man w'ere as privy to thy Thoughts, as thy own Spirit and Confcience, thou wouldft blufh and be aftiamed before him ; If every one for us could open a Window into one a- nothers Spirits, 1 think this Aflembly Ihould difmifs as quickly, as that of Chrift’s, when he bade them that were without Sin caft a Stone at the Woman, we could not look one upon another : Othen, Why are , we fo little apprehenfive of the all-fearch- - ing Eye of God, who can even declare to us our Tiiought before it be ? How , much Atheifm is rooted in tlie Heart of the moft holy? We do not always me- , ditate, with Da-vid, Pfal. cxxxix. on that \ all-fearching and ail-knowing Spirit, who knows our down-ftting, and up-rifing, and underjiands our Thoughts afar off, and who is acquainted with all our TVays. O, How would we ponder our Path, and examine our Words, and con- fider our Thoughts before Hand, if we fet our felves in the View offuch a Spirit, that is within us, and without us, before us, and behind us. He may Ipare Sin- - ners as long as he pleale«, for there is no cfcapiflg from Him ; you cannot go out oi His The diftin^ Knowledge that God is-> &c. 73 His Dominions, nay, you cannot tun out can reach you when He pleafes, therefore of His prefence, Pfah vii. 8, 9. He He may delay as long as He pleafes. John iV. 24. GOD is a Spirit , 8cc. THere are two common Notions en¬ graven on the Hearts* of all Men by Nature, That God is, and that He mufl be worlhipped ; and thele two live and die together ; they are clear, or blotted together. According as the Apprehenfi- on of God 4s clear, and difhnft, and more obey Him, ajid have our Service accepted of His Majefty I beftech you flrive a- bout this noble Service. Since He muft have Worlhippers, O, fay within your Souls, I muft be one ; if He had but one, I could not be content if I were not that one ; fince the Father is feeking TVorJhip- pers, Ver. 23. O, let Him find thee. Offer thy felf to Him, faying. Lord here am I. Should He feek you, who can have no Advantage li'om you? Should He go about fo earneft a Search for true Worlhippers, who can have no profit by them ? And why do ye not feek Him, fince to you all the Gain and Profit redounds ? Shall He feek. you to make you Happy, and why do ye not feek Him, and Happinefs in Him ? It is your own Service, I may truly lay, and not His lb much ; for in ferving Him thou doll rather ferve thy felf, for all the Bene¬ fit redounds to thy felf, though thou muft aot intend fuch an End, to ferve Him for thy felf, but for His Name’s Sake ; elfe titou fiialt neither , honour Him, nor ad¬ vantage thy felf. ; I pray you let Him not feek in vain, for in thefe Afflit^tions He is Worfliippers, and if He find you, you are found and faved indeed. Do nor then forfake your own Mercy, to run from Him who follows you with Salvation. As none can be ignorant that God is, and muft be worlhipped, fo it is unknown to the World in what manner He muft be w'orlhipped : The moft part of Men have- fome Form in worlhipping God, and pleafe themfefves in it fo well that they think God is well-pleafed with it, but few there are who know indeed, what it is to worlhip Him in a manner acceptable to His Majefty ; Now you know it is all one not to worlhip Him at all, as not to wor¬ lhip Him in that Way He likes to be wor¬ lhipped : Therefore the moft Part of Men are bur Self-worlhippers,becaufe they pleafe none but themfelves in it ; it is not the Worlhip his Soul' hath chofen, but their own Invention, for you niuft take this as an undeniable Ground, that God muft be worlhipped according to his own Will and Pleafure, and not according to your Hu- mpur, or Invention : therefore His Soul ab¬ hors Will-w’orlhip, devifed by Men out of ignorantZeal, orSuperftition, though there might feemmuob Devotion in it, and much Afiedion to God; as in the Ifraelhes facrificing their Children what more Teem¬ ing felf-denial ? and yet what more real Self-idolatry? God owns not fuch a Ser¬ vice, for it is not Service and Obedience to His Will and Pleafure, but to Men’s own Will and Humour : Therefore a Man muft not look for a Reward, but from Himfelf. Now it is not only Will wor¬ lhip, when the Matte^ and Subftance of the Worlhip is not commanded of God, but alfo when a commanded Worlhip is not difcharged in the appointed Manner : Therefore, O how few true Worlhippers will the Father find ? True Worlhip ■ muft have T nub, for the Subftance ; and for the of it » EJfc it is not md not according to our Indention, -not fuch aWorlhip as the Father feeks and will be pleafed with ; Divine Worlhip, mvft have ^rutb in it, that is plain, but what was that ^ ‘Uth? it muft be conformed to the Rule and Pattern of Worlhip, which is God’s Will and Pleafure, revealed in the Word of Truth. True Worfliip is the very Praftice of the Word of Truth, it carries the Image and Superfcription ofaCommand upon it, which is a neceflary Ingredient in It, and Conftituent of it. Therefore if thy Service have the Image of thy own Will Ramped on it, it is not Divine Wor¬ lhip, but Will-worlhip. Thus all humane Ceremonies and Ordinances enjoyned for the Service of God, carry the Infcription not of Godjbut of Man, who is the Author and Original of them, and fo'are but adulter¬ ated and falfe Coin, that will not pafs cur¬ rent with God. I fear there be many Rites and vain Cuftoras among ignorant Peo¬ ple, in which they place fome 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 ufed upon a religious Account in which God hath placed no Religion : Many have a fuperftitious Conceit of the Publick Place of Worlhip, as if there were moreHolinefs in it than in any other Houfe, and fo they think their Prayers in the . Church are more acceptable than in their Chamber ; but ChriR refutes that fuper- flitious Opinion of Places, and fo confe- quently of Days, Meats, and all fuch ex¬ ternal Things: The Jews had a great Opinion of their Temple, the Samaritans of their Mountain, as if thefe Places had fanftified their SefV’ices: But faith our Lord, f^'erf. 21. 1’be Hour comet b whefi ye Jhall neither worjbip in this Mountain, &c. but ’tis any where,, ac¬ ceptable, iffo be ye worlhip in Spirit and Truth : Many of you account it Religion, to pray and mutter Words of your own in 11 the Time of publick Prayer, but who hath required this at your Hands ? If ye would pray your felves, go apart, Jhut the Door behind thee, faith ChriR: Pri¬ vate Prayer Ihould be in private andfecret : But when publick Prayer is, your Hearts Ihould clofe with the Petitions, and offer them up jointly to God. It is certainly a. great flight of that deceitful DeRroyer, the Devil, to poflefs your Minds with an Opinion of Religion, in fuch vain Bablings^ that he may withdraw both your Ears and your Hearts, from the publick Worlhip of God, for when every one is bufied with his own Prayers, you cannot at all join in the publick Service of God, which is offered up in your Name. The like 1 may fay ofRupid Forms of Prayer, and tying your felves to a Platt-form, wriN ten in a Book, or to fome certain Words gotten by the Heart, who hath command¬ ed this ? Sure, not the Lord, who hath promifed Flis 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 of Supplication, which Ihould be the very natural breathing of a ChriRian. But there are Ibme lb grofly ignorant of what Prayer is, that they make ufe of the Ten Commands, and Belief, as a Pray¬ er : So void are they of the Knowledge and Spirit of God, that they cannot difcern betwixt God’s Commands to themlelves and their own RequeRs to God, betwixt His fpeaking to Men, and their fpeaking to Him, between their profefling of Him before Men, and praying and confefling to Him ; all this is but forged imaginary Worlhip, Worlhip falfly fo called, wliich the Father feeksnot, and receives not. But what if I Ihould fay, that the moR Part of your Worlhip, even that which is commanded of God, as Prayer, Hearing, K s fleading. j6 God muft he worjhipped according to Bis own WUh Reading, ^c. hath no Truth in it, I fliould fay nothing aniifs, for though you do thofe Things that are commanded, yet not as commanded, without any refpedl to Di¬ vine Appointment, and only becaufe you have received them as Traditions from your Fathers, and becaufe ye are taught ib by the Precepts of Men, and are ac- cuftomed fo to do, therefore the Stamp of God's Will and Pleafure is not engraven 'on them, but of your own Will, or of the Will of Men. Let me pofe your Confci- ences, many of you, what Difference is there between your Praying,, and your Plowing, between your Hearing, and your Harrowing, between your Reading in the Scriptures, and your reaping in the Har- veft, between your religious Service and your common ordinary Aftions ; I fay, what Difference is there in the Rife of thefe? You do many civil Things out of Cuftom, or becaufe of the Precepts of Men ; and is there any any other Princi¬ ple at the Bottom of your religious Per¬ formances ? Do you at all confider, thefe 9re Divine Appointments, thefe liave a Stamp of His Authority on them ; and from the Confcience t)f fuch an immediate Command of God, and the Defire to pleafe Him and obey Him, do you go a- bout thefe? I fear many cannot fay it. O am I fure all cannot, though it may be, all will fay it: Therefore your religious Worlhip can come in no other Account, than Will-worfhip, or Man-worlhip, it hath not the Stamp of Truth on it, an ex- prefs Conformity to the Truth of God as His Truth. But we muft prefs this out a little more. Truth is oppofed to Ceremony and Sha¬ dow. The Ceremonies of old were Sha¬ dows, or the external Body of Religion, in which the Sou! and Spirit of Godlinefs fhould have been enclofed, but the Lord did always urge more earneftly the Sub- ftance and Truth, than the Ceremony ; the weightier Matters of the Law, Piety, E- quity, and Sobriety, than thefe lighter ex¬ ternal Ceremonies : He fets an higher Ac¬ count upon Mercy than Sacrifice, and up¬ on Obedience, than Ceremonies : But this People turned it juft contrary, they fum¬ ed up all their Religion in fome cere¬ monial Performance, and feparated thofe Things, God had fo nearly conjoyned; they would be devout Men in Offer¬ ing Sacrifices, in their Walhings, in their Rites, and yet made no Confcir ‘ ence of Heart and Soul-piety tow-ards. God, and upright juft Dealing with Men : Therefore the Lord fo often quarrels with them,* and rejects all their Service as being a Device and Invention of their own, which never entered into ITis. Heart, i. from lo. to i6, Jer.Vxx. throughout, Ifa. Ixvi. to 6. Ifa. xxviii. Now if you will' examine it impartially it is even juft fo with us ; there are fome ex¬ ternal Things in Religion, which in Com- parifon with the weightier Things of Faith and Obedience are but ceremonial ; in thefe you place the moft Part, if not all your Religion, and think your felves good Chriftians, if you be baptized, and hear the Word, and partake of the Lord’s Table, and fuch like, though in the. mean Time you be not given to fecret Prayer, and Reading, and do not inwardly judge, and examine your felves, that ye may flee unto a Mediator ; though your Conver- fation be unjuft and fcandalous among, Men : I fay unto fuch Souls, as the Lord to the Jews,. IP'bo bath required this at your Hands! Who commanded you to hear the Word, to be baptized, to ■w'ait on publick Ordinances ? Away with all this, it is Abomination to His Majefty ; though it pleafe you never fo well, the more it dilpleafes liinij If you fay. Why com-- and not accord'niz to our Invention. 77 commands He us to hear:’ I fay, the Lord never commanded thefe exter¬ nal Ordinances for the Sum of true Religi¬ on ; that was not the great Thing whichl was in His Heart, that He had moft Plea-j lure unto, but the weightier Matters of thCi Law, Piety .Equity , and Sobriety, a Holy and godly Converfation adorning the Gofpel : Tp-l^at hath the Lord required of thee, but this. O Man, -To dojujily, and walk humbly with thy God! So then, thou dofl not worfhip Him in Truth, but in a Shadow ; the T nitb, is Plolinefs and Righ- teoufnefs ; that external Profelfion is but a Ceremony ; while you. feparate tliefe ex¬ ternal Ordinances from thefe weighty Du¬ ties of Piety and Juftice,,. they are blit as a dead Body vyithout a Soul. . If the Lord required Truth of old, much more now, when He hath abolilhed the Multitude of Ceremomes, that the great Things of his Law may be more feen and loved. If you would then be true Worfhippers, look the whole Mind of God, and elpeci- ally the chief Pleafure of God’s Mind, that which He moft deliglus in ; and by any Meansdo not feparate what God hath con- joyned ; do not divide Righteoufnefs to¬ wards Men from a ProfefTion ofHolinefs to God, elfe it is but a Fallhood, a coun¬ terfeit Cuin ; do not pleafe your felves fo much in external Churclvprivileges, with¬ out a Holy and Godly Converfation, ador¬ ning the Gofpel ; but let the chief Study, Endeavour, and Delight of your Souls be about that which God moft delights in ; lettheSubftantials of Religionhave thefirft Place in the Soul, pray more in fecret, that will be the Life of your Souls ; you ought, indeed, to attend publick Ordinan¬ ces, but above all, take heed to your Con¬ verfation and walking at Home, and in Secret ; Prayer in your Family is a more fubftantial Worlhip than to fit and hear Pjayer in publick ; and Prayer in fecret is. : more fubftantial than that : The more retired and immediate a Duty be the more weighty it is-; the more it crofs thy Cor¬ ruptions, and evidences the Stamp of God on thy AfFeftions, the more Divine it is ;■ and therefore to ferve God in thefe, is to lepe Him in Truth, Pradfice hath more of Truth in it -than a ProfefTion. ff^ben your Fathers executed Judgment, was not this to know me ?- Duties that have more Oppofition from our Natures a- gainft them, and lefs Few el or Oyl to feed the Flame of our Self-love and Cor¬ ruption, have more Truth in them ; and if you fhould worfhip God in all other Duties, and not efpecially in thofe, you do not worlhip Him \o ’Truth. Next, Let us confider the Manner of Divine Worlhip : And this is as need¬ ful to true Worfliip as true . Matter, that it be commanded, and done as it is commanded, that compleats true Worfhip. Now, I know no better Way, or Manner, to worfhip God in tharv fo to worlhip Him as, our Worlhip may carry the Stamp, of Hix Image upon it, as it may be a Glafs wherein we may behold God's Nature and Properties : For fuch as Himfelf is, fuch He would be acknow¬ ledged to be. I would think it were .true Worlhip indeed, which had engraven oa it the Name of the True and Living God,, if it did fpeak out fo much, of it felf, T hat God is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that feek Him diligently,- Moft Part of our Service fpeaks an unknown God, and carries fuch an Infcription upon it, To the unknown God: There is fo little either Reverence, or Love, or Fear,, or Knowledge in it, as if we did not wor¬ lhip the true God, but an Idol. It isfaid, that the Fool fays in his Heart, that there is no God, becaufe his Thoughts and Affettions,and Adions arefo little compo- fed to the Fear, and Likenefs of that God.as if yS God muji he worflnpped according to His^wn J^HU it he did indeed plainly deny Him ; I fear, it may be faid thus of our Worfhip. It fays, . But mark, I pray you, the Accuracy of the. Apoftle in the Change of Speech. Thefe Three Witneffes on Earth (faith he) agree in one, in giving one common Telfimony to the Son of God, and Saviour of Shiners. But as for the heavenly Witnefles, the ■Father, the tFord, Holy Ghof, however they be Three, after an incon- ceimble Manner, and that they do alfo agree in one common Teflimony to the Mediator of Men, yet moreover, they are one , they not only agree in one, but are one God, one fimple undivided Self. Being' iiifinite Spirit, lioldenout to us ia Three Perfons, the Father, Son, and Holy I Ghofl, to whom be Praife and Glory. Deut. vL' 4. zud^Joh, v. 7." ABL Scripture is given by Jnfpirati- on of Gjod, and it is profitable for InfruStion, for Dire&ion, ^c. There is no Refufe in it: No Ample and plain tlifloryv but it tends to fome Edification, no profound or deep Myflery but it is profitable for Salvation.; Whatfoever Se¬ crets there be in the Myfteries of God, which is referred from us, though it be given us but to know in part, and darkly through a Vail ; yet as mueh is givenaous to know, as may make the- Men of God perfect in every good Work : As much is given us to know, as may build us up to e- ternal Salvation ; ,if there were no more Ufe of thefe deep Myfleries- of the Holy Trinity, ^C'. but to-filence all FlefH, .and reflrain the unlimited. Spirits of Men, and keep,, them within the Bounds of. Sobriety and Faith, it were enough : That great" Secret would teach as muchby its Silence and Darknefs, as the plainer Truths do by fpeaking. out clearly; O that this great Myflery did compofe our Hearts to fome reverend and awful Apprehenfion of that Cfod we have to do with, ar.d did imprint in our Soul a more feeling Senfo of our Darknefs and Ignorance : This were more Advantage than all the Gain of Light, or Increafe of Knowledge, that can come from the Search of Curiofity : If- Men would labour to walk in that Light they have attained, rather than curiouliy enquire after what they cannot know by-Enquiry, they Ihould fooner attain more- true Light. IfMen-vyouId fet about! the Praftice of what ■ they knovh, without doubt they would more readily come to a Refolution 26 The ‘Do^rine of the Trinity ^ and Clearnefs in doubtful Things. E.eli- glon is now turned into Quertions and School Debates ; Men begin to believe no¬ thing, but difpute every Thing, trader a Pretence of fearching for Light and Refo- lution ; but for the inoU p3rt, while Men look after Light, they darken themfelves ; and this is t;he righteous Judgment of the Lord upon the World, that doth not re¬ ceive 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 hm •man Wifdom' and Fancy, and to lofe what they have already. If tliofe Things which are without all Controverfy (as the Apoftle fpeaks, I ^im. iii- i6.) were indeed made Conlcience of, and embraced in Love and pradtiled, it were beyond all Controverfy, that the moli Part of prefent Controve'rfies would ceafe : But it falls out with many, as with the Dog, that catching at a Shadow in the Water, loH the Subfiance in his Teeth ; fo, they purfuing after new Dif- coveries in controverted Things, and not taking a Heart-hold and inward Grip of the fubflantial Truths of the Golpel, which are beyond all Controverfy, do even lofe what they have. Thus, Even, that 'ivhich they have not, is taken from them, be- caufe though they have it 'in Judgment, yet they have it not furely and folidly in Af¬ fection, that it may be holden. So, to this prefent Point, if we could learn to adore and admire this Hoh, Holy, Holy One ; If we could in Silence and Faith fit down and wonder at this Myflery, it would be more profitable to us, and make W ay for a clearer Manifellation of God, than if we fhould fearch and enquire into all the Volumes that afe w’ritten upon it, thinking by this Means to fatisfie our Rea- fon. I think there is more Profoundnefs in the Sobriety of Faith, than in the Depths of humane Wifdom and Learning; w'hen the Myilery is fuch an infinite Depth, O, hut Mens Eloquence and Wifdom muft be (hallow, far too fhallow either to find it our, or unfold it. But there is yet both more InflruCtion and Confolation to be preffed out of ihis Myilery ; and therefore, if you cannot reach it in it felf, O confider vi’hat it con* cerns us, how We may be edified by it, for this is true Religion. Look upon that Place of Mofes, what is the great In- flrudtion he draws from this Unity of God's Efience, V. $. Thou Jbalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart ; fince God is one, then have no God but one, and that the true and living God ; and this is the very firft Command of God which flows as it wereimmediately from His abfolute One* nefs and Perfection of Being : There is no Man but he muflt have fome God, that is, fomething whereupon he placeth his Af- feClion mofl ; every Man hath Jorne one Thing he loves and refpeCls beyond all o- ther Things, fbme Lord and Mafler that commands him ; therefore, faith Chrifl, Ho Jlfan can Jerve two Majters. Be¬ fore a Man will want a God to Jove and ferve, he will make them, and then w'or- (hip them , yea, he will make himfelf, his Belly, his Back, his Honour, and Pleafure, a God, and facrifice all his AfFeCiions, and Defires, and Endeavours to thefe : The natural Subordination ofMantoGod, the Relation he hath as a Creature to a Creator, is the firfl and fundamental Re¬ lation, beyond all RefpeCls to himfelf, or other Felloty-creatures. This is the pro¬ to-natural Obligation upon the Creature, therefore it fhould have returned in a di¬ rect Line to His Majefly all its AfleCti- ons, and Endi-avours : But Man’s Fall from God hath made a WTetched Throw, and Crook in the Soul, that it cannot look any more after Him, but bows dowm- ward towards Creatures below it, or bends ajfordsInJirii^it)nand€ovf<)l^U^ru ’87 inwirJly towards it felf, and fo fince the Fall Man hath turned his Heart from the true God, and fetit upon Vanity, upon lying Vanities, upon bafe 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 fuch is the brutilh Ignorance and Stupidity of the moft Part, that you will not confefs that, when it comes to Particulars ; and efpecially, if you ftiould be challenged for loving other Things more than God, or having other Gods befides the true God, you will in* ftantly deny it, and that with an Afleve- ration and Averfation, God forbid that I have another God : Alas J this fhews, that what you confefs in the general is not be¬ lieved -in the Heart, but only is like the prating of Children, whom you may learn to fay any thing. I befeech you confider, that what you give your Time, Pains, Thoughts, and Affeftions to, that is your God ; youmufl give God all your Heart,, and fo retain nothing of your own Will if God be your God. But do ye not know that your Care, and Grief, and Defire, and Love, vents another Way, towards bafe Things ? You “know, that you have a Will of your own, which goeth quite con¬ trary to His holy Willin all Things, there¬ fore Satan hath bewitched you, and your Hearts deceive you, when they perfwade you that you have had no other God but the true God. Chriftianity raifes the Soul again, and advances it by Degrees to’ this Love of God, from which it had fallen ; the Soul returns to its firft Husband, from w'hom it Wen a w horing’ , and now the Stamp of God is fo upon it, that it is chang¬ ed into His Image and Glory ; having ■ tafted how good this one Self-fufiicient Good is, it gladly and eafily divorces from all other Lovers; it renounces former Luffs of Ignorance, and now begins to live in another ; Love tranfplants the Soul into God, and in Him it lives,and with hint it walks ; It is true, this is done gradually,, there is- much of the Heart yetunWoken to this fweet and eafie Yoke of Love, much of the corrupt Nature untamed, unre¬ claimed, yet fo much is gained by the firft Converfion of the .Soul to God, that all is given up to Him in Afieftion and De-- fire ; He hath the chief Place in the Soul^. the Difpofition of the Spirit hath-' fbme Stamp and Impreffion of his Onenefi and Singularity ; my Beloved is one; Though-. a Chriftian is not wholly rid of ftrange Lords, yet the Tye ofSubjedlion to them is broken ; they may often intrude by Vi¬ olence upon him, but he is in an hoftile Pofture of AfFedion, and Endeavour a- gainft tlrem. I befeech you fince the Lord : is One, and there is none befide Him.. P, let this- be engraven on your Hearts,, that your inward AfFeftions and outward Actions may exprefs that one Lord to be- your God, and ■ none other befide Him : It is a great Shame and Reproach to Chrilfi- ans, that they do not carry the Stamp of the firft Principle of Religion upon tlieir walking, the Condition and ConverfationoT many declares how little Account they ipake of the true God; why do yeenflave,; •your Souls to your Lufis, and the Service • of the Flelh, if ye believe in this one God?-’ Why do ye all Things to pleaft your felves, if this one Lord be your one God? As.> for you the Ifrael of God who are called .byjefus Chrift to partake with the Com¬ mon-wealth of Ifrael, in the Covenant ^ of Promifes, hear I befeech you this, and : let your Souls incline to it, and receive it.. Your God is one Lord: Have, then, no ’ other Lords over your Souis and ' Cpufcin' ences ; not your felves, not others,- £ut' 88 The DoBnne of the Trinity^ -But- in the next Place, Let us conftder to whit Purpofe John leads fuch three Wit- nelPes, that we may draw fome Canfola'* tion from it. The Thing teflified and witnefled unto, is the Ground-worlc of all a Chrirtian’s Hope and Confolation, that Jefus Chriit is the eternal Son of God, ancf Saviour of the World, one able to fave to the utmofl: all that put their Trufl in Him, fo that every Soul that finds it felf loft, and not able to fubfift^nor abide the Judgment of God, may Repofe their Confidence in Him, and lay the Weight of their eternal Weli&reupon his Death, and Sufferings, with AfTurance to find Reft and Peace in Him to their Souls. He is fuch a One as- Faith may triumph in Him over-the World, and all Things befide : A Believer may triumph in his Victory, and i-n the Faith of his Viftory, over Hell, and Death, and the Grave ; may overcome . perfonally-, For this is our P^ictory over ■the World, even our Faith, Ver. 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 fo mean and weakly as Faith in it felf, ’tis a poor deipicable Tlung of it felf, and that it fees, and that it acknow'- Icdges tyea. Faith is a very Aft of its Self- denyal, ’tis a renouncing of all Help with¬ out and within it felf, fave only that which is laid on Chrift Jefus ; therefore it were the moft unfuitable Mean of prevailing, and the moft infufficient Weapon for gain¬ ing the Viftory, if the Objeft of it were not the ftrong God, the Lord Almighty,, from whom it derives and borrows all its Power and V rtue, either to pacifie the Coofcience, or to expiate Sin, or to over¬ come the World. Oh conficfcr Chriftians where the Foundation of your Hopes is fituated, it is in the Divine Power of our S.i,Yiour, if he who declared fo much Love and good Will to Sinners, by becoming fo low, and fuffering fb much, have alio all Power in Heaven and Earth, if He be not only Man near us, to make for us Boldnefs of Accefs, but God near God, to prevail elfeftually with God, then certain¬ ly He is a Jure Foundation laid in 7Jon, Ele6i and Precious ; He is an unmove¬ able Rock of Ages; whofoever trufts their Soul to Him fhall not be afhamed. I fire that many of you confider not this, that Chrift Jefus, who was in due Time born of the Virgin Mary, and died for Sinners, is the Eternal Son of God, equal to his Father in all Glory and Power. O how would this make the Gof pel a great Myftery to Souls, and the Re¬ demption of Souls a precious and wonder- full Work, ifit were conftdered. Would not Souls ftand at this. Anchor immove¬ able in Temptation, if their Faith.,were pitched on this fire Foundation, and their Hope caft upon this folid Ground ; O know your Redeemer is ftrong and mighty, and none can pluck you out of his Hand and Himfelf will caft none out that comes. If the Multitude of you believed tin's, you would not make fo little Account of the Gofpel that comes to you, and make Co little of your Sins which behoved to be taken away by the Blood of God, and could be expiated by no other Propiti.ition, you would not think it fo eafie to fatisfie* God with fome Words of Cuftom, and fome publick 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 filidly, that He in whom Forgiv-e- nefs of Sin and Salvation is preached, is the fame Lord God whom you hear in the Old Teft^ment, w'bo gave out the Law-, and infpired the Prophets, the only begot¬ ten of the Father in a Way infinitely re¬ moved affords Infirn^ion moved from all created Capacities ) you could not but find the Father well fatisfied in Him, and find a fufficient Ranfom in His Death and Doings to pacifie God, and tq fettle your Confciences. But the Thing teftified is a Matter of great Confolation, fo the WitnelTes tef- tifying to this Fundamental of our Religi¬ on, may be a Gi'ound of great Encourage¬ ment to difcouraged Souls. 'It is ordi¬ nary, that the Appreherifions of Chrifti- ans takes up Jefus Chrift as very lovely, and morfe loving than any of the Perfons of the God-head, either the Father or the Holy Ghoft ; there are fome Thoughts of Eftrangednefs and*Diftance of the Father, as if the Son did really reconcile and gain Him to love us, who before hated us, and upon this Miftake the Soul is filled with continual Jealoufies and SulpicionS of the Love of God : But obferve, I befeech you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoil, ail of them firft agreeing in one Teftimony, the Father declares from Heaven, that he is abundantly well pleafed - with His Son, not only becaufe he is His Son, but even in the Undertaking and Per¬ forming ofchat V/ork of Redemption of Sinners ; It is therefore His moft ferious Invitation, and peremptory Command to all, to hear Him, and believe in Him, Mat. iii. 17- 1 John iii. 23. Nay, if we fpeak more properly, our Salvation it is not the Bufinels of Chrift alone, as we imagine it, but the whole God-head is in- terefted in it deeply, and fo deeply, that you cannot fay, who loves it moft, or likes it moft. The Father is the very Fountain of it, his Love is the Spring ol' all, God fo ioved the TVorld^ that he hath fent his Son. Chrift hath not pur- chafed that eternal Love ro us, but is ra¬ ther the Gift, thefreeGiftof eternal Love. And therefore, as we have the Son de- and Confolation, 89; lighting among the Sons of Men, Pron viii. and delighting to be imployed and to do his Will, Pfal. xl. So we have the Fa¬ ther delighting to fend His Son, and tak¬ ing Plealure in inftruding Him, and fur- nilhing Him for it, JJa. xlii. i. And therefore Chrift often profefled that he was not about his own Work, but the Fa¬ ther’s Work who fent Him, and that it was not His own Will, but His Father’s He was fulfilling. Therefore we Ihould not look upon the Head-lpring of our Sal¬ vation in the Son, but rather afeend up to the Father, whofe Love and Wifdom did frame ail this : And thus we may be con¬ fident to come to the Father in the Son, knowing that it was the Love of the Fa¬ ther that fent the Son, though indeed we' muft come to Him only in the Son, in the Name of Chrift, and Faith of Accep¬ tation through a Mediator, not becaule the Mediator purchafeth bis good Will, but becaufe his Love and good Will only vents in His beloved Son Chrift, and therefore He will jiot be known nor worlhipped but in Him, in whom he is near Sin¬ ners, and reconciling the World to Him - felf. And then the Holy Ghoft concurs in this Teftimony, and as the Son had t^^e Work of purchafing Rights and Intereftsfo Grace and Glory, fo the great Work of applying all thefe Privileges to Saints, and making them aflually Partakers of the BleF hngs of Chrift His Death, is committed in a fpecial Way to the Holy Ghoft, I will lend the Comforter, &c. So then Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft all agree in one, that Jefus Chrift is a fure Refuge for Sinners,a Plank for Ship broken Men, a firm and fure Foundation to build everlafting Hopes upon ; there is no Party diflenting in all the Gofpel,the Bufmefs of the Salvati¬ on of loft Souls is concluded in this Holy -Coiincii of the Trinity with one Voice lO' Of the Decree f of God* as at firft, all of them agreed f6 make Man, Let us make Mam So again, they ^ree to make him again, to reftbre him to Life in the fecond Adam. Who ever thoirbe that wouldft flee to God for Mercy, do it in Confidence, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, are ready to welcome thee, all of one Mind to (hut out none, to cafl out none. But to fpeak properly, it is but one Love ; one Will, one Council, and Purpofe in the Father, Son, and Spirit, for thefe three are One, and not only agree in one, they are One, and what one loves or purpofes, all love and purpofes. I would conclude this Mat¬ ter with a Word of Direftion how to worflup God, which 1 cannot exprefs in fitter Terms than thefe of Nazianzen. 1 cannot think upon one, but by and ly I am compajfed about with the Bright- nefs of three, and 1 fannot diftinguijb three, but I am Suddenly driven back unto one: There is great Ignorance and Miftake of this even amongft the beft Chriflians, the grofler Sort when they hear of one God only, think Chrift But fome eminent Man, and fo direifl their Prayers to G od only, excluding the Son, and Ho» ly Ghofl: ; or when they hear of three Per- fons, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, they ftraightway divide their Worlhip, and imagine a Trinity o f Gods *, And, I fear, thofe of us who know mofl, ufe not to worlhip God as he hath revealed Him- felf. Father, Son, and Holy Ghofl:,^ and yet one God : Our Minds are reduced to fuch a Ample Unity, as we think upon one of them alone, or elfe diflradted and di¬ vided into fuch a Plurality, that we wor¬ lhip in a manner three Gods inftead of one. It is a great Myflery to keep the right middle Way. Learn, I befeechyou, fo to conceive of God, and fo to acknow¬ ledge Him, and pray to Him, as you may doit in the Name ofjefus ChrifI, that all the Perfons may have equal Hoiiour, and- all of them one Honour ; that while you confider one . God, you may adore that facred and blefled Trinity, and while you worlhip that Holy Trinity, you may ftraight way be reduced to an Unity. To this wonderful and Holy One, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, be all Praife and ^ Glory. Eph. i. II- latter Part. IVho worketh all things after the Counfeiof His own Will. Job xxiii. 1 3. He is in one Mind, and who can turn Him, &c ? HAving fp(A:en Ibmething before of God, in His Nature, and Being, and Properties, we come in the next Place to confidei His glorious Majefly as He ftands in fome nearer Relation to His Creatures, the Work of his Hands: For we muft conceive the firft Rife of all Things in the World, to be in this Self¬ being, the firft Conception of them to be the Womb of God’s cyerlafting Pur¬ pofe and Decree, which, in due Time, according to His Appointment, brings forth the Child of the Creature to the Light of actual Exiflence and Being : It is certain, that His Majefty might have en¬ dured for ever, and poflefled Himfelf , without any of thefe Things : If He had never refolved to aeate any Thing with¬ out Himfelf, He had been blefled then, as now, becaufe of His full and abfelute SeU- fqtfickDt pi- I Of the ffecrees of God. fufficient PerfeftiQP. His purpofing to make a World, and His doing of it, adds nothing to His inward Bleflednefs and Contentment ; this glorious and Holy One, inclofes within His own Being, all ima¬ ginable Perfections, in an infinite and tran- fcendant Manner ; that if you remove all created ones, you diminifh nothing, if you add them all, you encreafe nothing. There¬ fore it was the Superabundance of His Per¬ fection, that He refolved to (hew His Glory thus in the World. It is the Crea¬ ture's Indigence and limited Condition, which maketh it needful to go without its own Compafs, for the Happinefsofits own Being : Man cannot be happy in loving' Himfelf, He is not fatisfied with His own intrinfick Perfections, but He muft diftufe Himfelf by His AffeCtions and Defires, and Endeavours, and, as it were, walk a- troad upon thefe Legs, to fetch in Supply from the Creatures or Creator ; The Creature is conflrained out of fome Ne- ceffity thus to go out of it felf, which fpeaks much Indigence and Want within it felf; But it is not fo with His Majefty. His own glorious Being contents Him, His Happinefs is to know that, and delight in it, becaufe it comprehends in it felf all, that is at all poffible, in the moft excellent and perfect Manner that is conceivable ; nay infinitely beyond what can be conceiv¬ ed by any but Himfelf; fo He needs not go without Himfelf to feek Love or De¬ light, for it is all within Him, and it can¬ not be without His own Being,unlefs it flow from within Him, therefore ye may fine in Scripture what Complacency God hath in Himfelf, and the Father in the Son, and the Sonin the Father : We find, Prov. viii, how the Wifdom of God, our Lord Jefus, was the Father’s Delight from all Eternity, and the Father again His De¬ light, He rejoiced ahjayj before Him, P'er. 30. And this was an all-fufiicient ^ofleffion that one had of another, V tr. 22, the Love between the Fatlier and the Son is holden out as the firfl Pattern of all :.oves and Delights, John xvii. 23, 24. This then flows from the infinite Excels of Perfection and Exundance of Self-being, that His Majefty is pleafed to come with¬ out Himfelf, to manifeft His own -Glory in the Works of His Hands, to decree and appoint other Things befide Himfelf, and to execute that Decree. We may confider in thefe Words fome Particulars for our Edification, i . That the Lord hath from Eternity purpofed within Himfelf, and decreed to manifeld His own Glory in the making and ruling of the World, thai there is a Counfel and Purpofe of His Will which reaches all Things, which have been, are now, or are to be after this. This is clear, for He workf all Stbin^s according to the Counfel of His own TVill. 2. That his Mind and Purpofe is one Mind, one Counfel ; I mean not only One for ever, that is, perpetual, and unchangeable, as the Words fpeak, but alfe One for all that is, with one Ample Aft or Refolutioa of His holy Will He hath determined, 'all thefe feveral Things, all their Times, their Conditions, their Circumftances. 3 . That whatfoever He hath from all Eter¬ nity purpofed, He in Time praftifeth it, and comes to Execution and working, fo that there is an exaft Correfpondence be¬ twixt His Will and His Work, His Mind and His Hand, He works according to the Counfel of His TVill, and whatfo- e ver His Soul dejireth, that He doth, 4. That His Purpofe and Performance, is infallible, irrefiftible by any created Power, Himfelf will not change it, for He is in one Mind, and none elfe can hinder it, for wbo can turn Him? He defireth M * and 9^ Of the Jfecrees of God. and He doth it, as in the Original, there is nothing intervenes between the Defire and the Doing, that can hinder the Meeting of thefe two. The firft is the conftant Doflrine of the Holy Scriptures, of which ye Ihould conQder four Things, i. That His Pur- pofe and Decree is moft wife ; therefore Paul cries out upon fuch a Subjeft, O tije Depth of the Riches both of the J-f^f- dom and Knowledge of God, .Rom. xi. 33. His Will is always one with Wif- dom, therefore you have the Purpofe of His Will mentioned thus [tbeCounfel of bis tVHU 3 Will ( as it were ) takes Counfel and Advice of Wifdom, and difcerns according to the Depth and Riches of His Knowledge' and Underftanding. We fee among Men thefe are feparated often, and there is nothing in the World fo diforderly, fo unruly and uncomely, as when Will is divided from Wifdom ; when Men follow their own Will and Lufts as a Law, againft their Confcience, that is monftrous : The Underflanding and Reafon are the Eyes of the Will', if if thefe be put out,, or if a Man leave them behind him,, he cannot but fall into a Fir, But the Furpofes of God’s Will are Depths of Wifdom, nay,. His very Will is a Suf¬ ficient Rule and Law ; fo that it may be well ufcd of Him, fat fro ratione 'volun¬ tas, Rom. ix. 1-3, 14. If we confider the glorious Fabrickofthe World, the Or¬ der eftabliihed in it, the fweet Harmony it keepeth in all its Motions and Suecef- fions : O It mull be a wife Mind and Counfel contrived it. Man now having the Idea of this World in his Mind, might fancy and imagine many other Worlds, bearing Ibme Proportion and Relemblance ■ to this : But if He had never leen nor known this World, He could never have •waglned the thoufand Part of this World, He could in no ways have formed an Image in His Mind of all thole Different kinds of Creatures. Creatures muft have Ibme Ex¬ ample and Copy to lobk to ; but what was His Pattern ? l^bohath been His Counfel-, lour to teach Himl Rom. li. 34. Who gave Him the firft Rudiments or Princi¬ ples of that Art ? Surely none. He had no Pattern given Him, not the leaft Idea of any of thefe Things furnilhed Him, but it is ab- folutely and'folely His own wife Contri¬ vance. 2. This Purpofe of God is mo/f, free and abfolute, there is no Caufe, no Realbn why He hath thus difpofed all Things, and not otherwife, as- He might have done, but His own good Will and Pleafeire. If it be fo in a Matter of deepefh Concerment, Rom. ix. li: it mufl be fo alfo in all other Things ; we may find indeed many inferior Caufes, many pecu¬ liar Reafons for fuch and fuch a way of Adminiftration, many Ends and Ufes for which they ferve, for there is nothing that His Majefty hath appointed, but it is for fome Ufe and Reafon, yet we mull rife above all thefe, and afeend into the Tower of His moft high Will and Plea- fure, which is founded on a Depth of Wif¬ dom, and from thence we lhall behold all the Order, Adminiftration and Ufe of the Creatures ta depend. And herein is a great Difference between His Majefty’s Furpofes and ours ; you know there is full fome* thing prelented under the Notion of good and convenient, that moves our Will, and inclines us for its own Goodnefs to feek after it, and fo to faH upon the Means to compafs it ; therefore the End which we propofe to our felves hath its Influence upon our Furpofes, and pleafures them, fo that from it the Motion feems to proceed firft, and not fo much from within ; but there is no created Thing can thus deter¬ mine His Majefty. Himfelf, His own Glory Of theT>ecrees of God. 93 Gloty is the greiit End, whicb he loves for it felf, and for which He loves other Things : But among other Things, though there be many of them ordained one for another’s Ufe, yet His Will and Pleafure is the Original of that Order ; He doth not find it, but makes it : You fee all t|ie Crea¬ tures below are appointed for Man, as their immediate and next End, for His Ufe and Service ; but was it Man hisGood- nefs and Perfeftion which did move, and incline His Majefty to this Appointment ? No indeed, but of His own good Will He makes fuch Things ferve Man, that alt of them together may be for His own Glory. 3. The Lord’s Decree is the firfl: Rife of all Things that are, or have been, or are to come ; This is the firfi Original of them all, to which they mufl be reduced as their Spring and Fountain. Ail of you may underftand that there are many Things poffible* which yet aftually will never be ; The Lord’s Power and Omni- potency is of a further Extent than His Decree and Purpofe ; His Power is Na¬ tural and Eflental to His Being. His Decree is of choice and voluntary : The Father could have fent a Legion of Angels to have delivered His Son, the Son could have asked them, but neither of them would do it, Mat. xxvi. 53. The Lord could have railed up Children I9*9ibrabam out of Stones, but He would not. Mat. iii. His Power then comprehends within its Reach all polTible Things which do not in their own Nature, and proper Concepti¬ on, imply a Contradiction, It) that infinite Worlds ofCreatures more perfeCl than thi?. Numbers of Angels and Men above thefe, and Creatures in Glory furpafllng them a- ^ain, are within the Compafs of the bound- lels Power, and Omnipotency of God; i But yet for all this it plight have falleij ! that- nothing ftiould actually and really j , have been, unlefs His Majefty had of Hi^ I own free Will decreed what is,, or hatlt been, or is to be. His Will determines His Power, and, as it were, puts it in the neareft Capacity to aCt, and exercile it felf : Here then we muft look for the firft Beginning of all Things that are ; they are conceived in the Womb of the Lord’s e- verlafling Purpofe; As he fpeaks, Zef/b. ii. 2. the Decree is, as it were, with Child of Beings, 7/ij. xliv. 7, It’s God’s Royal Prerogative to appoint Things to come, and none can (hare with him in it; From whence is it, I pray you, that of fo many Worlds which His Power could have framed, this one is brought to Light I Is it not becaufe this one was formed ( as. it were ) in the Belly of His eternal Coun- fel and Will ? From whence is it that fo many Men are, and no more ? That our Lord Jefus was Jflain, when the Power of God might have kept Him alive ? That thofe Men, Judas, ^c. were the Doers of it, when others might have don« it.? From whence are all thofe A(ff ions Good or Evil under the Sun, which He might have prevented ? But from His. good Will and Pleafure, from His de¬ terminate Counfel, ACtsiv. 28, Can you find the Original of thefe in the Crea¬ ture, why it is thus, and why not other- wife? Can you conceive why, of all the infinite Numbers of polTible Beings, thele are, and no other ? And, what hath. tranOated that Number of Creatures,, which is, from the State of pure Poflibili- ty to Futurition or adual Being, but the decifive Vote of God’s everlarting Pur¬ pofe and Counfel? Therefore we Ihould always conceive, that the Creatures, and all their Actions, which have, or will have any Being in the World, have firR had a Being in the Womb of God’s Eternal; CouofeJj and that iiis Will and Pleafure: hath) ^4 Of the decrees of God, hath part upon all Things that are, and are not; His Counfel has concluded of Things that have been, or will be, that t .lus they fhall be ; and His Counfel has determined of all other Things which are allb polTible, that they fhall never come forth into the Light of the World, but re¬ main in the dark Bowels of Omnipotency, that fo we may give Him the Glory of all Things that are not, and that are at all. Then 4. We Ihould confider the Extent of His Decree, and Counfel, it’s part upon all Things, it’s univerfai, reaching every Being or Aftion of the Univerfe. This is the Strain of the whole Scripture. He did not ( as fome dream ) once create the Creatures in a good State, and put them in Capacity henceforth to preferve themfelves, or exercife their own Vertue and Power, without Dependance on Him : As an Artificer makes an Horologe^ and orders it in all Things, that it may do its Bufmefs without Him ; He is not only a general Original of Affion and Motion, as if He would command a River to flow by His appointed Channels ; as if he did only work, and rule the World by Attorneys and Ambafladors ; that is the Weaknels and Infirmity of earthly Kings, that they murt fubrtitute Deputies for themfelves; But this King appoints all immediately, and difpofes upon all the particular Adfions of Hfs Creatures good or evil, and fo He is univerfai abfolute Lord of the Creature, of its Being and Doing. It were a long Work to reheat fe what the Scripture fpeaks of this Kind ; but O that ye would read them oftner, and ponder them better, how there is nothing in this World (which may feem to fall out by Chance to you, that you know not how it is come to pals, and can fee no Caufe nor Realbn of it ) but it falls out by the Holy Will of our blefled Father ; Be it of greater or lefs Moment, 4 or be it a Hair of thy Head fallen, or thy Head cut off ; the moft cafual and contingent Thing, though it furprifed the whole World of Men and Angels, that they Ihould wonder from whence it did proceed, it is no Surprifal to Him, for He not only knew it, but appointed it ; the moft certain and neceffary Thing, ac¬ cording to the Courfe of Nature, it hath no Certainty, but from His Appoinwnent, who hath eftablifhed fuch a Courfe in the Creatures, and which He can fufpend v/hen He pleafeth : Be it the Sin of Men and Devils, which leems moft oppofite to His Holinefs,- yet even that cannot appear in the World of Beings, if it were not, ip a holy, righteous, and permiflive Way, firft conceived in the Womb of His Eter¬ nal Counfel, and if it were not determin¬ ed by Him for Holy and juft Ends, ^6U iv. 28. The fecond Thing propounded is, that His Mind and Counfel is one ; one and the fame, Yefterday, and To-day, and for ever ; therefore the Apoftle fpeaks of God, ’I'bat there is no Sbadoiv ofCbmi^e or turning in Him, }2Lm. [. 17. He is not a Alan that He fhould lie, or the Son of Alan that He fhould repent : Will He fay, and not do it ? Kwn. xxiii. 19. And (hall He decree, and not ex¬ ecute it? Shall he purpofe, and not per¬ form it ? ram God and change not ; that is His Name, Adal. iii. 6. The Counfel of the Lord (hall ftand, and the Thoughts of His Heart to all Generations, Pfal. xxxiii. 1 1 . Men change their Mind oftner than their Garments; poor vain Man. even in his beft Eftate, is Change- ablenefs, and VicKTuude it felf, altogether Vanity; an^ this arifeth, partly from the Imperfection of his Underrtanding, and his Ignorance, becaufehe does not under- ftand what may fall out ; there are many Tilings of the Decrees of God. - 9S Things fecretand hid^len, which if he dif covered, he would not be oF that*Jud§ mem ; and many Things may tall out which may give Ground of another Re- folution } and partly from the Weaknefs and Ferverfenefs of his Will, that cannot be con- fiant in any good Thing, and is not fo clofely united to it, as that no Fear or Terror can feparate from it •, but there is no fuch Imperfeftion in him, neither Ig¬ norance, nor* Weaknefs, all ’I'bint^s are naked before Him\ all their Natures, their Circumftances, all Events, all Emer- gents, known to Him are, they, and all His IForks from the Beginning, a* per¬ fectly as in die End ; and therfore he may come to a fixed Refolution from all Eter¬ nity, ai^d being’ relblved. He can fee no Reafon of Change, becaufe there can no¬ thing appear after, which he did not per¬ fectly difcover from the Beginning , there¬ fore, when ever ye read in the Scripture of the Lord’s repeating, as Gen. vi. 7. and Jer. xvi. 8. yeQiould remember that the Lord fpeaks in our Terms, and like Nurfes with their Children, ufes our own DialeCt, to point out to us our great Igno¬ rance of His Majefiy, that cannot con¬ ceive more honourabiy of Him, nor more diftinCtly of our felves. When he chang- eth all Things about Him, He is not changed, for all thefe Changes were at once in His Mind ; but when He changeth His outward Difpenfation, He is faid to repent of what He is doing, becaufe we ule not to change our Manner of Dealing, without fome conceived Grief, or Re¬ pentance, and Change of Mind. When a Man goes to build a Houfe, he hath no mind but that it Ihould continue fo, he hath . not the leaft Thought of taking it down again, but afterward it becomes runinous, and his Eftate enlarges, and then he takes a new Refolution, to call it down to the Ground, and build a better ; Thus it is with Man, according as he varies his Work, he changes his Mind. But it is not fo with God ; All thefe Changes of His Works, all the Succeflions of Times, the Variation of Dealings, the Alteration of Difpenfations in all Ages, were at once in His Mind, and all before Him ; fo that He never goes to build a Koufe, but He hath in His own Mind already determined all the Changes it (hall be fubjeCt to ; When He fets up a Throne in a Nation, it is in His Mind within fuch a Period to cart it down again ; when He lifts up Men in Succefs and Profperity, He doth not again change His Mind when He throws them down, for that was in His Mind alfo ; fo, that there is no Surprifal of Him by any unexpected Emergent. Poor Man hath many Confolations ere he come to a Conclufion ; But it is not thus with His Counfel ; of all thefe rtrange and^. new Things which fall out in our Days, He hath one Thought of them all from E- ternity ; He is one Mind, and none of all thefe Things have put Him off His E- ternal Mind, or put Him to a new Advife- ment about His great Projects ; Not only doth He not change His Mhid, but His Mind and Thought is one, of all, and con¬ cerning all : Our poor, narrow and limited Minds, murt part their Thoughts among many Bufinefles, one Thought for this,' another for that, and one after another : But with Him there is neither Succeflion. of Counfels and Purpofesnoryet Plurality ; but, as with one opening of His Eye, He beholdsall Things as they are ; fa with one Inclination, or Nod of His Will He hath given a Law, and appointed all Things. If we can at one Inftant,and oneLook, fee both Light and Colours, and, both the Glafs and the Shadow in it, and with one Motion of our Wilis move towards the End, and the Means ; OF the Decrees of God, 9^ Means ? O, how mnch. more may He with one fimple undivided Aft of His good Will and Pleafure pafs a Determination on all Things, in their Times, and Orders, and in His own Infinite and glorious Being perceive them all With one Look ? How much Confolation might redound from this to believing Souls ? Hath the Lord appointed you to fulfer Perfecution and Tribulation here ? Hath he carved out fuch a Lot unto jou in this Life? Then withall confider, that His MajeBy hath Eternal Glory wrapt up in the fame Coun- fel, from which thy Affliftions proceed ; hath He made thy Soul to melt before Him? Hath He convinced thee, and made thee to flee unto the City for Reflige, and expeft Salvation from no other but Himfelf? Then know, that Life Et^ernal is in the Bofom of that fame Purpofe which gave thee to believe this ; though the one be born before the other, yet the Decree fhall certainly bring forth the other. And for fuch Souls as upon 'this vain Prefump- tion of the Infallibility of God’s Purpofes, thinks it needlefs to give diligence in Re¬ ligion, know, that it is one Mind and Purpofe that hath linked the End and the Means together as a Chain, and therefore, if thou expeftefl to be faved, according to Eleftion, thou muff according to the fame Counfel make thy Calling home from Sin to God, fure. Thirdly, What Thing foever He hath purpofed, he in due Time applies to the Performance of it, and then the Coun¬ fel of His Will becomes the Work of His Hands, and there is an admirable Harmo¬ ny and exaft Agreement between thefe two : AW Things come out of the Womb of his Eternal Decree, by .the Work of his Power, even juft fafhioned and framed, as their Lineaments and D raughts were proportioned in the Decree, nothing failing, aothing wanting, nothuig exceeding i there is nothing in the Idea of His Mind but it is exprefled in the Work of His Hands ; there is no raw-half Wilhesin God ; Men have fuch imperfeft Defires, I would have, or do, fuch a Thing if it were not, Sc, He wavers not thus in Sufpenfe, but what he wills and defires, H# wills and defires indeed ; He intends, doubtlefs, it ihall be, and what he intends he will execute, and bring to pafs ; there¬ fore His Will in due Time applies Al¬ mighty Power to fulfill the Defire of it ; and Almighty Power being put to work by His Will, it cannot but work all Things acccording to the Counfel of His Will ; . and whatfoever His Soul defireth, that He cannot but do, even as He defires, feeing He can do it. If he will do it, and can do it, what hinders him to work and do? Know then, that His Commands atid Pre- cepts to you, fignifying what is your Du¬ ty, they do not fo much fignirie what he defires, or intends to work, or have done, as his Approbation of fuch a Thing in itfelf to be your Duty ; and therefore, though He have ^revealed his Will con¬ cerning our Duty, though no Obedience follow, yet is not his Intention fruftrated or difappointed ; for his Commands to you fay not what is his Intention about it, but what is that which he approves as good, and a Duty obliging Men : But whatloever Thing he purpofes and intends Ihould be, -certainly, he will do it, and make it to be done ; If it be a Work of his own Power alone, himfelf will do it alone ; If he re¬ quire the Concurrence of Creatures to it, 'as in all the Works of Providence, then he will effeftually apply the Creatures to his Work, and not wait in fulpenle on their Determination ; If he have appointed fuch an End to be attained by fuch Means ; If he have a Work to do by fuch InUruments, tiren, without all Doubt, he will apply the In- Of the Decrees of God, Inftruments when his Time comes, and will not wait on their Concurrence, ou fee now ftrange- Things done, you wonder at them, how we are brought dowa from our Excellency ? How our Land is laid defolate by Strangers? How many In¬ ftruments of the Lord’s Work are laid a- afide? How he lifts up a Rod of Indig¬ nation againft us, and is like to ®v«turn even the Foundations of our Land ? All thefe were not tn our Mind before, ut they were in His Mind from Eternity, and therefore he is now working it. e lieve then that there is not a Circum^nce of all this Bulinefs. not one Point or Jot ot but is even as it wasframed andcarved