The Morning Exercise Methodized

The Preface to the Reader.

NOt to increase the number of Books already grown into a burden, and more apt to distract minds with their variety, than to edify them with their Contents; but for a public testimony to the truth of the Gospel, and to inform the ignorant, doth this Piece crowd into the World. Had many of the Brethren adhered to their own private inclination, and first aim in this work, these Sermons had only been published by word of mouth to the Auditory that then attended on them. To write to the World, is apprehended by them as a thing very distinct from preaching to a company of a few broken-hearted Christians, (who were willing to take this help along with them in their way to heaven) and to need more exactness of care and preparation.

But upon the strong importunity of the Auditors, (some of them persons of great worth and honor) carrying with it the face of a Call from God, as valid as that which first invited them to the work, they were contented against their own private inclination to yield to this way of publication for the profit of others; but with these CAUTIONS.

First, That it be signified, that it was not intended to make up a Map or Compleat Body of Divine Truths, but only to handle some more necessary points, till Providence shall give opportunity to consider the rest.

Secondly, That it was not designed to discuss these points in a Polemical, but positive way; and suitable to a popular Auditory.

Thirdly, That it be understood that the Brethren that preached, were not acquainted with one another's studies; but did everyone express his own sense in the point recommended to him.

Fourthly, That this be not interpreted to be the work of the whole Body of the London-Ministers, but of some of them, which they represent with the more tenderness.

Partly, that the other very Reverend Brethren, who were not employed in this Turn and Course of the Morning Exercise, may not be charged with their weaknesses.

Partly, because they have not without some regret observed that the larger English Annotations, in which but some few only of the late Assembly, together with some others, had an hand, are generally ascribed to the whole Assembly, and usually carry the name of the Assemblies Annotations, as if done by the joint advice of that grave and learned convention.

Fifthly, That since the preaching of these Sermons, there hath been no general review, but everyone took care of transcribing his own Discourse, and sending me the Copy, accordingly I sent it to the Press.

Sixthly, That if any of these points seem not to be discussed according to the full latitude and worthiness of the subject, it be remembered that each Exercise was to be punctually confined within the straits of an hour; in which time there was no room for larger excursions.

Under the severity of these terms, my Brethren have consented that I should (if I saw fit) expose their labors to public view, which I do with all cheerfulness; Partly, that the world may be conscious to our Unity, soundness in the faith, and sobriety af judgment: And partly expecting from thence (I will say it, notwithstanding the restraints their modesty hath laid upon me) no small increase and return of fruit. The Lord by his good Spirit guide you into all truth.

The particular heads in Divinity discussed in these several Sermons, are these.

• SErm. I. Introduct. Methodical systems of the special points of Christian Religion, useful and profitable for Ministers and people. Page 1.
• Serm. II. That there is a God. p. 29.
• Serm. III. The Trinity proved by Scripture. p. 65.
• Serm. IV. The Divine Authority of the Scriptures. p. 85.
• Serm. V. Man created in an holy, but mutable state. p. 105.
• Serm. VI. The Covenant of Works. p. 120.
• Serm. VII. The fall of man; or peccatum original originans. p. 134.
• Serm. VIII. Original sin inhering; or peccatum original originatum. p. 149.
• Serm. IX. The misery of man's estate by nature. p. 173.
• Serm. X. Mans impotency to help himself out of misery. p. 202.
• Serm. XI. The Covenant of Redemption. p. 216.
• Serm. XII. The Covenant of Grace. p. 233.
• Serm. XIII. The Mediator of the Covenant, described in his Person, Natures and Offices. p. 261.
• Serm. XIV. Christ's Humiliation, p. 258. alias 278.
• Serm. XV. Christ's state of Exaltation. p. 305.
• Serm. XVI. The Satisfaction of Christ. p. 337.
• Serm. XVII. Of Effectual Calling. p. 353.
• Serm. XVIII. The true Believers union with Christ. p. 377.
• Serm. XIX. The nature of Justification. p. 403.
• Serm. XX. The Believers Dignity and Duty, or High Birth, and Honorable Employment. p. 433.
• Serm. XXI. Saving Faith. p. 455.
• Serm. XXII. Repentance not to be repented. p. 485.
• Serm. XXIII. Of Holiness its nature and necessity. p. 554.
• Serm. XXIV. Of the Resurrection. p. 577.
• Serm. XXV. The Day of Judgment asserted. p. 605.
• Serm. XXVI. Of Hell. p. 621.
• Serm. XXVII. Of Heaven. p. 647.
• Serm. XXVIII. The Conclusion. p. 677.

The INTRODUCTION.

IT was the Character which our Lord gave of John the Baptist, He was a burning and a shining light: Such should every Minister of the Gospel be; shining with light, and burning with zeal; he should have an head full of truth, that he may disseminate and scatter beams of Gospel -knowledge into the dark world; and an heart full of love, to that truth which he holds forth to others; that what he publisheth with his lips, he may be ready to witness with his life, and to seal up the testimony of Jesus with his dearest blood.

Both these, our Apostle in this Chapter, (after a passionate salutation in the five first verses) commendeth to Timothy, scil.

1. To look to his light; by stirring up the gift of God that was in him.

Timothy must not suffer his gifts to lie sleeping under the ashes; but must blow them up, (as the word signifieth) into a fire, by study, prayer and execrise.

2. He calls upon Timothy to look to his zeal, that that may not be extinguished; but that his heat may be equal with his light: And this he doth two ways.

• 1. Negatively.
• 2. Affirmatively.

1. Negatively; Be not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord, nor of me his Prisoner.

Ministers of the Gospel must neither be a shame to the Gospel, nor ashamed of the Gospel; no, although attended with disgrace and persecution from the reprobate world. And what herein he commends to Timothy, he first practiced in his own person, ver. 11. Though he was a prisoner for the Gospel, yet he was not ashamed of the Gospel: I suffer, &c. nevertheless I am not ashamed.

2. Affirmatively; The Apostle exhorteth Timothy to prepare for persecution; Be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel.

The Ministers of the Gospel should be so far from being scandalized at the sufferings of their leaders, that they should be always disciplining themselves for the same warfare; to preach the Cross of Christ, and to be ready also to bear the Cross, makes a complete Minister of the Gospel.

This the Apostle urgeth upon a three-fold account.

• 1. A good Cause.
• 2. Good Company.
• 3. A good Captain.

Timothy and other Evangelists, they have no reason to be afraid or ashamed of their sufferings; for,

1. They have a good Cause, ver. 12. For the which cause I suffer; what Cause is that? why, the Gospel, ver. 10. And this he presents under a twofold commendation.

• 1. The glory of the Gospel.
• 2. The manifestation of that glory.

1. The glory of the Gospel: As having wrapped up in it the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ; grace and glory, holiness and happiness: He hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling. Believers have begun their everlasting salvation on this side heaven.

2. The manifestation of that glory: It was given from eternity; but it is revealed by the appearance of our Lord and Savior in the flesh; it lay hid in God's purpose; but it is brought to light in the Gospel, ver. 9.10. Such a glorious gift, and so gloriously unveiled is worth, not only our sweat, but our blood; not pains only, but persecution; yea, to suffer in such a cause, is not more our duty, than it is our dignity.

2. They have good company: Saint Paul himself is in the Uan of them; who though an Apostle, by extraordinary missi n and commission, ver. 11. yet was not only a Preacher of the Gospel, but a Sufferer for the Gospel, ver. 12. For which cause I suffer these things: what things? scil. Imprisonment and affliction, ver. 8. A sufferer, and yet not ashamed of his sufferings: Nevertheless I am not ashamed. They may be ashamed of their sufferings, that suffer for sin; but sufferings for Christ and his Gospel, are matter of triumph and rejoicing, 1 Pet. 4.13, 16. Here is encouragement for Gospel-sufferers.

And Thirdly, They have a good Captain: Jesus Christ the Captain of our salvation. Who, that he might intender his own heart towards his suffering-followers by his own experience; was made perfect through sufferings; and accordingly he is very tender of, and faithful to all that endure persecution for his sake; this was a ground of the Apostle his confidence, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed: I know him by report, and I know him by experience: I know his faithfulness, and I know his All-sufficiency: I have deposited my liberty, my life, my body, my soul, my all in his custody; and I am persuaded as he is able, so he is willing to keep all safe, to his glorious appearance: I may be a loser for Christ, I shall be no loser by him; whatever I lay down now, I shall take up again one day, with the advantage of immortality; he will keep the trust I have committed to him; it is but equity that I should keep the trust which he hath committed to me; even the glorious Gospel of the blessed God committed to my trust; committed to me upon those very terms, that I should not only publish it with my lips, but attest it with my blood.

Thus in his own person the Apostle sets Timothy and his Successors a Copy, and an Encouragement; which he windeth up in the words of my Text; the sum of the Precahers duty.

Hold fast the form of sound words, &c. q. d.

Hold fast the form of sound doctrine, &c.

Briefly for the opening of the words.

The form] 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in the Greek, it signifies a Module or Platforme, a Frame of words or things, methodically disposed; as Printers set and compose their Characters or Letters in a Table.

Words] By words, we are to understand doctrine, evangelical truths, the principles of Christian Religion.

Sound] And they are called Sound words, either from the intrinsical nature, when they are purely taught and delivered; Evangelical truths without mixture; the principles of Religion in their native purity and simplicity; Truth and nothing else but truth. Or else sound words, from their effect and operation, because they be of an healing virtue and influence, like the waters in Ezekiel's vision, that issued out from under the threshold of the Sanctuary; which healed wherever they came.

Which thou hast heard of me] It may be understood of the whole Platforme of Gospel-doctrine in general. Or,

Else (very probably) of a Collection of some principal points of Religion, which the Apostle had methodically digested, and either preached in Timothy his hearing, or drawn up in writing, and committed to Timothy as a trust and treasure, not only for his own help and direction in preaching, but to transmit over to others, for the use and benefit of succeeding generations in the Church of Christ, so called in the next verse, That good thing which was committed to thee; and so expounded, chap. 2.2. The things which thou hast heard of me amongst many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.

Hold fast] Greek, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; the word hath a double signification; scil. to have, and to hold; and both of these the Apostle commends to Timothy; namely,

1. To have such a form or collection of Gospel-doctrines, as a Type or Exemplar to which he should conform in his Ministry.

2. To hold it; i. e. to hold it fast, Not to swerve from it in the course of his Ministry, but pertinaciously to adhere to it; not to suffer it to be corrupted by men of erroneous principles, nor to part with it upon any terms in the world; but to stand by it, and own it against all opposition and persecution whatsoever.

This I conceive to be the sense of the words; which thus opened, may afford us some such

Doctrinal Observations, as these;

[Doct. 1] 1. Doct. Evangelical words are sound words; Or:

All Gospel-truth is of an healing nature.

[Doct. 2] 2. Doct. It is of great use and advantage bo • h for Ministers and private Christians to have the main fundamental truths of the Gospel, collected and digested into certain Modules or Platforms; Or:

Methodical systems of fundamental Articles of Religion, are very profitable both for Ministers and people.

[Doct. 3] 3. Doct. Such Forms and Modules are very carefully and faithfully to be kept.

[Doct. 4] 4. Doct. Faith and Love are as it were the two hands, whereby we may hold fast Gospel-truth.

Other doctrines besides these might be raised from the words; but these are the main, and lie visibly in the face of the Text: And I intend to speak only to the second and third doctrine; the one (now) at our entrance upon this Morning Exercise; the other, at the Close, if God permit.

The first and last of these doctrines may be of use in the handling of these two: In which doth lie the main design, as of the Apostle here, so of the work which falls to my share in this monthly service. I begin with the first of them, scil.

[Doct. 1] Doct. 1. Methodical systems of the main and special points of the Christian Religion, are very useful and profitable both for Ministers and people.

In the managing of the doctrinal part of this Observation, I shall only give you two demonstrations.

• 1. Scripture-pattern.
• 2. The usefulness of such Modules.
  • 1. Scripture-pattern.

The Word of God is full of such Maps and Modules of divine truths necessary to salvation.

The whole Gospel (in general) is nothing but the great Platform or Standard of saving doctrine. It was the great end and errand of Christ his coming into the world, to reveal unto us the truth of God; so himself testifieth, John 18.37. To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. It took up one whole entire office, whereunto he was anointed of his Father; his Prophetical Office; so he was named many hundred years before his Incarnation by Moses: A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me, him shall you hear. The office of a Prophet was not only to foretell things to come; but to reveal the mind of God, according to the import of the Hebrew word Nabi, which signifieth an Interpreter.

Thus Jesus Christ came to be an Interpreter of his Fathers mind unto the world. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , he hath expounded him; The whole Gospel which Christ preached was nothing else as it were but a public testimony of the secret transactions between the Father and the Son concerning man's salvation; a transcript of that truth which was in the divine understanding from all eternity, John 8.38. & 15.15.

And accordingly it is observable that the Sermons which Christ preached in the days of his flesh, have more of doctirne in them, than of persuasion; more of the Teacher, than of the Pastor; as more suitable to his Ministry, wherein he was to lay down a Module of Gospel-truth; and to leave it to the world, to be received and believed unto salvation.

The credit of our Religion is founded upon this important truth, that Christ was sent from God to reveal unto us the mind and will of his Father, and to be believed in all he delivered unto us; all other Apostles and Ministers of the Gospel are but Deputy Witnesses to make report of Christ's affidavit to the doctrine of salvation.

And it is yet further remarkable, that this doctrine which Jesus Christ left us in the Gospel, is nothing else as it were, but a Comment or Paraphrase of what was preached by Moses and the Prophets in the Old Testament; as he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them; so he came to expound and reconcile them with the doctrine which he himself taught; thus it is recorded by the Evangelist, that beginning at Moses, he expounded unto his Disciples in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. So that the result of all this in general, is this, that the holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are nothing else but a full and perfect platform or Module of divine truth; given to the Church at first by Christ himself the great Prophet, and transmitted by the Ministry of those who were successively the Amanuenses or Secretaries of the Holy Ghost; from which no man is to recede upon pain of damnation.

But now more particularly, we may observe, that besides this great universal Map or Synopsis of divine truth; there are to be found in Scripture more compendious and summary abstracts, and abridgements containing certain of the main heads and points of saving doctrine, methodized into lesser bodies and tables for the help of our faith and knowledge.

And we find them accommodated by the Penmen of the Holy Ghost, to two special ends and purposes.

1. To instruct the Church and people of God in the more necessary and fundamental points and principles of Religion.

2. To antidote believers against the infection and contagion of unsound doctrine which have crept into the Church in the several ages and successions thereof.

Of the first sort,

In the Old Testament, (though in a larger volume) is the book of Deuteronomy, which being interpreted, is the repetition of the Law. And because that (being so large ) might seem too great a burden to the memory; Behold, God himself hath contracted it into a very brief, but full 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or Module in the ten Commandments; which are called ten words, Deut. 4.13. because they are the briefest Epitome of the Law.

And thus our Savior as he laid down the great and larger draught of Gospel-doctrine; so also in his Sermons he hath left some shorter forms or types of necessary points and principles of Religion; exempli gratiâ; in his first Sermon after he entered upon his public Ministry, he hath drawn up three very concise and most excellent Modules.

The first Module contains the beatitudes. A list of particulars, wherein man's true and chiefest happiness doth consist, Matth. 5. from the third verse to the twelfth; wherein he doth totally cross the judgment of the blind world; writing blessedness where the world writes woe; and woe, where the world writes blessedness.

These we may call the credenda; Articles of faith to be believed by all those that would be accounted Christ's Disciples.

The second Module contains a list of duties; things to be done by everyone that would be saved. This our Savior doth, by asserting and expounding the Moral Law; from the seventeenth verse to the end of the Chapter; confuting and reforming the false glosses which the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon the ten Commandm nts, thereby making the Law of God of none effect.

And these we may call the facienda, things to be done.

The third Module contains a list of petitions, which in the sixth Chapter, from the ninth verse to the sixteenth, he commends to his Disciples, and in them to all succeeding generations of the Church, as a form or directory of prayer: Not that Christians should (always) confine themselves to the words, but conform to the matter in their supplications at the Throne of grace. After this manner pray ye:

And these we may call the petenda, things to be prayed for.

The holy Apostles tread in our Savior's steps; you may observe in all their Epistles, that in the former part of them, they (generally) lay down a Module of Gospel-principles, and in the latter part a Module of Gospel-duties. The Epistle to the Romans is upon this account justly called by some of the Ancients, The Christians Catechism: —

As containing an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or list of the chief Articles of the Christian Religion; for although the principal design of the Apostle be to discuss that prime Evangelical doctrine of justification, in the negative and affirmative part of it. Neg. not in works. Affir. in a free gratuitous imputation of the righteousness of Christ applied by faith; together with the grounds, evidences, and fruits thereof, yet occasionally according to the wisdom given unto him, he doth with a most profound and admirable art interweave other deep and fundamental points of Religion, scilicet

A parallel between the two Adams.

The doctrine of Original sin.

The corruption and depravation of nature.

The doctrine of grace. chap. 7.

The merit and efficacy of Christ's death and resurrection.

The doctrine of AFFLICTION, and the use of it to believers.

The mysteries of Election and Predestination.

The excoecation and rejection of the Jews.

The vocation of the Gentiles, with the restituion of the seed of Abraham, &c.

And when he hath finished the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of doctrinal principles, he winds up the Epistle with a short, but full delineation of Evangelical duties; wherein he doth bring down those principles unto practice: The former part of the Epistle is the DOCTRINE, the latter part is the USE; I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, &c.

The whole Epistle to the Hebrews is nothing else as it were, but a delineation of the THREE OFFICES OF JESUS CHRIST; King, Priest, Prophet. Especially his Priestly office with a most profound, and yet dilucid Exposition of those Levitical types and figures, which did more obscurely shadow forth Christ under the Law; so that in that Epistle, as in a Table, Christians may behold the Law to be nothing else but Evangelium velatum, veiled Gospel; and the Gospel to be no other thing than Lex revelata, unveiled Ceremony, or the Law with the Curtain drawn.

But there be divers short Modules or Compendiums of Christian doctrine occasionally delineated by the Apostles in their several Epistles.

In the Epistle to the Galatians, within the compass of five verses, the Apostle gives two full Catalogues or Lists, chap. 5.

The one of sins, ver. 19.20, 21.

The other of graces, ver. 22.23.

In the Epistle to the Ephesians, chap. 5. & 6. you have an excellent and complete Module of Relational duties; Of

• Wives towards their husbands.
• Husbands towards their Wives.
• Children towards their Parents.
• Parents towards their Children.
• Servants towards their Masters.
• Masters towards their servants.

The Epistles to Timothy give us a type or table of Ministerial offices and qualifications; yet so, as most beautifully adorned with other most precious Evangelical principles; the sum whereof is CHRIST, 1 Tim. 1.15. This is a faithful saying, &c. And the principal comprehensive parts, FAITH, LOVE; faith apprehensive, and love active. These two in my Text, many learned men conceive to be intended by Saint Paul, as the two great comprehensive fundamentals of this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 commended by him unto Timothy his care and fidelity: Hold fast the form of sound words; the two main branches whereof are FAITH and LOVE; but of this more hereafter.

In the Epistle to Titus, the Apostle will furnish you with two short, but very perfect systems; one in chap. 2. ver. 11.12, 13, 14. Where you have

• 1. God's grace made the original and fountain of all the good we expect from God, and perform to God.
• 2. And this grace issuing itself by Christ, for the salvation of the creature.
• 3. And appearing by the Gospel; (there you have Scripture intimated;) and
• 4. Teaching us as to the Privative part of obedience, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts; terms capacious enough to comprise all sin.

As to the positive part, to live soberly; implying all personal duties for the governing of ourselves in our single capacity; Righteously implying all duties to our neighbors; godly, noting our whole Communion with God in the duties of his worship. More cannot be said as to the duty of man.

Now 5. The encouragements are either from looking

• forward.
• backward.

If we look forward, there is the blessed hope, the full consummation whereof we receive at the glorious appearing of the g eat God; the coming of Christ to judgment, ver. 13. and there we have three grand Articles of faith asserted: 1. Heaven. 2. The day of judgment. 3. The Godhead of Christ.

If we look backward, we are obliged to obedience, not only out of hope, but from gratitude, or the great benefit of redemption by Christ, ver. 14. and in that we have asserted,

• 1. Christ's willingness to die; for he gave himself.
• 2. The purpose or end of his death; to redeem us from all iniquity.
• 3. The foundation of an holy life in our regeneration, And hath purified us unto himself.
• 4. The nature of a Church, to be a peculiar people.
• 5. The necessity of good works, in the last clause, zealous of good works, ver. 14.

So that in this short Map you have a complete summary of all that fundamental doctrine which doth animate and quicken to the life of holiness.

The next body of Divinity according to the exact method of the Palatine Catechism, is in chap. 3. ver. 3.4, 5, 6, 7, 8. where you have,

• 1. Mans misery by nature, ver. 3.
• 2. His Redemption by Christ, ver. 4. set forth,
  • 1. By the spring or first moving cause, the kindness and love of God, ver. 4.
  • 2. The false cause removed, not by works of righteousness which we have done. ver. 5.
  • 3. By the effects; justification, justified by his grace, ver. 7.
    • Sanctification, he hath washed us in the laver of regeneration, and renewing by the Holy Ghost; ver. 5.
    • The consummation of all in glory, heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ver. 8.
• 3. The thankful life in a fruitful course of holiness and good works, ver. 8. — Affirme constantly that they which believe in God may be careful to maintain good works.

Another system of practical divinity you have in the second Epistle of Saint Peter, chap. 1. ver. 5.6, 7. Add to your faith virtue, &c. By virtue is meant the study of holiness, which there is set forth by its furniture, and subjective parts or branches.

• 1. The furniture of virtue, it is rooted in FAITH, guided by KNOWLEDGE, armed on the
  • Right-hand by TEMPERANCE, or an holy moderation in the pleasures and comforts of the world: On the
  • Left-hand by PATIENCE against the crosses and inconveniencies thereof.
• 2. The branches or subjective parts of this virtue, are
  • GODLINESSE, a grace that guideth us in our immediate commerce with God.
  • BROTHERLY KINDNESSE, a grace that directeth us in our duties to our fellow-Saints.
  • CHARITY, helping us in the duties we owe to all men.

In many other places do the Apostles lay the Doctrine of God in one entire view before our eyes, lest the mind should be distracted by various and dispersed explications; or by dwelling too much upon one part, we should neglect the other.

A SECOND SORT OF MODULES: Or,

A second end and design of such Modules, is, to obviate errors, and to Antidote Christians against the poison and infection of rotten pernicious principles; for no sooner had the good Husbandman sowed his field with good seed, but the envious man went out after him, and began to scatter tares.

In opposition whereunto, the Apostles in their several Epistles were careful to furnish the Churches with such Modules and Platforms of truth, as might discover and confute those damnable heresies.

Hence the Apostle Saint Peter calls them PRESENT TRUTHS; that is, Principles of the Christian Faith, most seasonable for those times wherein they were writ; as every Church and age had its present errors and false doctrines, whereby the false Apostles did labor to undermine the truth, and to seduce the Professors of it; so the Apostles in that zeal to the truth, and compassion to the souls of men, did bestir themselves to Countermine those Seducers, and to stablish the Churches in the faith of Jesus Christ, by collecting some special heads and points of Gospel Doctrine opposite to those errors, and sending them to the several Churches, where they had planted the Gospel.

These the Apostle calls the Present truth; Thus Saint Paul (among other places) in his first Epistle to Timothy chap. 4. from the first verse to the ninth verse.

The Apostle Peter in his second Epistle, chap. 2. throughout.

St. Jude spends his whole Epistle upon the same design.

But above all, the Apostle Saint John is very large and distinct upon this account. His first Epistle consists specially of a twofold Module or Platform; i. e.

1. A form or table of Gospel Principles.

2. A form or table of Gospel-Evidences; both of them in opposition to the false teachers of those times, those Antichrists, of whose numerous increase he gives them that solemn notice, 1 Epistle 2. chap. 18. verse. Little children, it is the last time, and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there MANY ANTICHRISTS.

To Antidote Christians against the plague of the false doctrines, which such Sectarian Antichrists had disseminated, doth the Apostle lay down,

1. An 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or PATTERN of Gospel-principles, Ex. gra.

1. That God is a God of an infinite universal perfection and holiness. Chap. 1. ver. 5. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all; This, against them that most blasphemously asserted, GOD TO BE THE AUTHOUR OF SIN, &c. against whom also Saint James contends, Jam. 1. ver. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

2. That conformity to God is an inseparable concomitant of communion with God.

This against them that were not afraid to affirm that justified persons being elected, let them live never so impurely, do remain in the favor of God, &c. (as some amongst us, and such as would be accounted Stars of the first Magnitude) that a man might have as much communion with God in sin, as in the duties of Religion. If any man say, &c. It clearly implies there were that did say so.

3. A third principle he lays down, is the doctrine of original corruption, even in the regenerate themselves. Against those that taught the total abolition of original sin in and by Baptism; or that denied the being, or at least the damnable nature of it; Verse 8. If we say we have no sin, &c.

4. The necessity of confession of sin, not only against them that decried repentance for sin, and confession of sin, but against them that denied pardon to them that repent. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, &c.

5. He asserts the doctrine of actual sin in the regenerate, against them that affirmed that or (which is the same) that God sees no sin in his children. If we say, that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, &c. If we say we have no sin, there's the denial of original sin; if we say we have not sinned, there's the denial of actual sin; both make up the great heresy of the Catharists, who held perfection in this life.

6. The Apostle vindicates the preceptive obligation of the moral Law, even over justified persons. Against the Antinomian heresy, which presumptuously breaketh even that yoke (also) from the neck of the Disciples, Chap. 2. verse 3, 4, 5. Hereby we know that we love him, if we keep his Commandments.

So early were these poisonous weeds sprung up in the Church of God. The other Module which the Apostle layeth down, is a Catalogue of Gospel-evidences, certain marks and signs of an interest in Christ, and of a right and title to life eternal: such as these.

1. Obedience to God's Commandments, ut sup.

2. Contempt of the world, Ch. 2.15.

3. Stedfastnesse in the doctrine of the Gospel, verse 8, 19, 20,—24.

4. Conformity to Jesus Christ in holiness. ch. 3. ver. 3.

5. Mortification, 6, 7, 8, 10.

6. Love to the Saints, verse 14. and chapter 5.2, 10, 11.

7. A believing confession of God's sending Jesus Christ into the world as the promised Messias; with love to him, and thankfulness for him, chap. 4.

In the four first verses of the fifth chapter, we have no less than seven evidences each lincking in with the other, and bearing witness to the other. As,

1. You have faith in Christ bearing witness to Regeneration; Whosoever believeth, &c. is born of God.

2. Love to God bearing witness to faith. He that loveth him that begat, &c.

3. Love to the Saints bearing witness to our love of God. He loveth him also that is begotten. Augustine understands it of our love to Christ; but the Context expounds it of our love to the Saints, for so it followeth, ver. 2. where we have,

4. Love to God reciprocally witnessing our love to the Saints. Hereby we know we love the children of God when we love God.

5. Obedience to God's Commandments bearing witness again to our love; — And keep his Commandments.

6. Delight testifying the truth of our obedience. His Commandments are not grievous.

7. And lastly, Victory over the world bearing witness to Regeneration; For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world, Verse 4.

It were easy out of this, and the other two subsequent Epistles, to complete the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of Gospel EVIDENCES; which are not thus expressly delineated, that by them only the Church might describe her members: (as some loose and vain spirits fancy) but for the members of the Church to try and examine themselves by, whither they be real and living members yea or no. It were easy I say to add to the Catalogue; but I have insisted too long upon the first demonstration; sc. Scripture Pattern.

I come now to the second demonstration: namely

The excellency and advantage of such Forms and Collections of Evangelical truths. And,

In the first place it adds much to the beauty and ornament of the truth; whither it be delivered from the Pulpit, or from the Press in such Systemes and Platforms, the Hearer or Reader, may, as in a Map or Table, (sometimes of one sort, sometimes of another) behold divine truths standing one by another in their Method and Connection; mutually casting light and luster upon each other.

Every truth single, is very precious, and indeed of infinite value, as purchased with, and ratified in the blood of Christ; but to see the truths of the Gospel linked together in their proper union, facing one another like the Cherubims, Exod. 25.20. is very glorious.

As the stones of the Temple, when they were squared and polished in the Forest, were very costly, for both matter and workmanship; but when they were laid into the building, and formed up into a Temple, what a beautiful and magnificent structure did they make? The Disciples beholding it, Luk. 21.5. were filled with delight and wonder!

The Curtains of the Sanctuary, each by themselves were very rich, both for their materials and curious Embroyderies; but had you seen them in their Connecture, each Curtain fastened to the other with taches of gold, and so making up one entire perfect Tabernacle, sparkling and shining in all its native spendour, it would have been a ravishing sight.

The very representation of many Countries in one Nation; of many Nations in one of the divisions or quarters of the world; and of all the quarters described in one Globe or Map, it is very delightful to the eye of an intelligent beholder; at once discovering the scite and cognation, the Longitude and Latitude, the distance and degree of every Kingdom and County; such globes and tables are full of delight and profit.

It is in a most eminent manner observable in the Creation of the world; of every single days work, it is said, God saw that it was good; but when the whole Compages of heaven and earth was set together into one entire Fabric and Creation, God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was VERY GOOD.

Such a rare piece are Gospel-truths in their variety and uniformity; not less glorious a d admirable, than heaven and earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, Elements, in all their order and ornament.

Secondly, Such types and Exemplars of divine truths are of great help to the understanding; As the Collection of many beams and luminaries makes the greater light, so it is in tne judgment. A constellation of Gospel-principles shining together into the understanding, fills it with distinct and excellent knowledge; It gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. One truth doth irradiate and expound another. The truths of the Gospel in their method and series, are interpretative one to the other; while the understanding by means hereof hath the advantage of dwelling upon them the object, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual things, as the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 2.13.

The truth is, he knows but little of the truth, that knows it only within itself; he understands it aright that knows it in its connection and correspondence with other truths of the Gospel.

That Christ died to save sinners, is a most precious truth, 1 Tim. 1.15. but he knoweth TOO LITTLE of it that knows it alone (as most of ignorant Christians do who perish with their knowledge:) he knoweth this truth to purpose, that knows it in its connection with a lost estate, that knows it in its references to the fall, the wounds and bruises, and death contracted by it; he knows Redemption by Jesus Christ aright, that knoweth it in order to the GUILT and POWER of sin, and man's total impotency to save himself from either.

He knows salvation aright, that knows it in the extent and virtue of all Christ's OFFICES, King, Priest, and Prophet, that understands salvation to be a saving of the poor creature, from the REIGN of sin by the Kingly Office of Jesus Christ, a saving of a man from IGNORANCE, ERROR, and those false rotten principles which are naturally radicated in the understanding by the Prophetical Office of Jesus Christ, as well as a saving him from HELL and WRATH TO COME by the Priestly Office of Jesus Christ.

He knows aright the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, not that knows it singly and nakedly only in the story and notion of it, but that knoweth it in the effectual application of it by the Spirit for mortification and vivification, that knoweth it in its connection with, and influence into justification, and sanctification, &c.

He that thus knoweth Christ and him crucified, knoweth him as the truth is in Jesus; His understanding is full of light.

Alas, the ignorance and misery of our times, is not that people are totally destitute of the principles of Christian Religion; but that they know them singly only, and apart; and so they know them but by halfs, yea, not so much; for I dare be bold to say, the better half of every truth, consists in its method and necessary coherence with other truths; without which therefore, the knowledge men have of them, must needs be but dark and lifeless.

Thirdly, Such Patterns and Platforms, whether of larger or of lesser compass, are a great help to memory. In all Arts and Sciences, order and method is of singular advantage unto memory. We do easily retain things in our mind, when we have once digested them into order; It is not so much multitude of objects, as their variousnesse and independency which is burdensome to memory; when once the understanding apprehends them in their natural union and fellowship one upon another, the memory comprehends them with much more sweetness and facility.

Hence it is that NUMBER and PLACE are of such rare use in the art of memory.

The reason why people (generally) remember no more of the Sermons they hear, is for want of Catechizing, whereby they might come to know the principles of Religion in their order, and methodical contexture. Usually in Sermons, truths are delivered single and apart; and the ignorant hearer knows not where the Minister is, nor what place the doctrine delivered obtains in the body of divinity, nor how they are knit together; and so the memory leaks them out as fast as they are dropt in; order is the very glue of memory. Method in a single Sermon, when the hearer is acquainted with it, gratifieth the memory, as well as the understanding; while it doth not only lodge things in their own place, but locks the door upon them, that they may not be lost. When things are knit and linckt in one with another (as in a chain) pull up one link, and that will pull up another, so that the whole chain is preserved. But we may have occasion to speak again of this point; And therefore,

Fourthly, such Modules serve to quicken affection. Sympathy and Harmony have a notable influence upon the affections. The sounding of a single string makes but little music; let a skillful hand touch them in their musical consent and symphonie, and it affects the hearer to a kind of ravishment; So it is with evangelical truths: place them in their proper rooms, that a man may behold them in their mutual correspondencies, and apt couplings together, and truly, the Seraphims themselves answering one to another, and ecchoing to another, make not a sweeter harmony in their celestial Hallelujahs.

Fifthly, It is a marvelous Antidote against error and seduction. Gospel truths in their series and dependence, are a chain of gold to tie the truth and the soul close together. People would not be so easily trapand into heresy, if they were acquainted with the concatenation of Gospel-doctrines within themselves.

As for instance, men would not certainly be so easily complemented to worship that Idol of free-will, and the power of nature, were they well principled in the doctrine of the fall; The design of God in permitting of it, held out in Scripture in such large and legible Characters, that he which runs may read, Psal. 51.4. 1 Cor. 1.29, 30, 31, &c.

If they did with sobriety of Spirit observe what the Scripture pr • claims concerning the impotency of the lapsed and ruined creature, man's helpless condition in himself, Rom. 5.6. Ephes. 2.1. Of the absolute necessity of the quickening, helping and stablishing influence of the Spirit of Christ, &c.

When a chain of pearls is broken, a single jewel is easily lost; divine truths are mutually preservative in their social embraces and coherence.

Sixthly, Growth in grace is one blessed fruit of such systems and tables of divine truths. When • oundations are well laid, the superstructures are prosperously carried on; want of distinct knowledge in the mysteries of Religion, is a great obstruction to the growth of grace; The great cause of the believing Hebrews non proficiency was their defect in the foundation; the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the first principles of the Oracles of God, Heb. 5.12. unskillfulnesse in the word of righteousness, made them that they were but babes in grace, ver. 13.

Use.

[Use.] Use 1. In the first place, it serves to justify the practice of the Churches of Jesus Christ, which have their Public Forms and Tables of the fundamental Articles of the Christian faith, drawn up by the joint labor and travel of their learned and godly Divines, after much and solemn seeking of God by fasting and prayer, in the solemn profession whereof they all consent and agree. Such were those ancient public Creeds.

The Athanasian Creed.

The Nycene Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed, which justly merits that title; if not because compiled by the twelve Apostles, everyone casting in their Symbole or Article, as tradition goes; yet because collected out of the Apostles writings, and is as it were, a brief form or abridgement of the Doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles. An Epitomy of the Christian faith.

And such are the Confessions which most of the Reformed Churches have drawn up for their own use, comprehending the most necessary and fundamental Articles of the Christian faith, to be generally owned and asserted by all within their Associations and Jurisdictions, whither Ministers or people.

That Confession of faith which was compiled by the Reverend and Learned Divines of the late Assembly at Westminster, and presented to the two Houses of Parliament, as their Advice in matters of Religion, was of this nature, and obtains the primacy amongst all the Confessions of the Reformed Churches, in the judgment of many Learned Orthodox Divines.

Such Forms and Modules are of excellent use in the Churches.

Partly to be a bank or bulwark to keep error and heresy from breaking into the Church of God.

Partly to prevent dissents and dissensions, which are very apt to rise amongst the Pastors and Teachers, as well as amongst the private members of such Congregations, where everyone is left at liberty, to preach and practice, to hold, and hold forth what is right in their own eyes.

Partly to preserve the truth in its integrity and beauty, and the professors of it in unity and uniformity, the glory of the Churches, and the defense upon that glory.

Use 2. It serves to show us the benefit and advantage of public Chatechismes; whither larger, containing a more general collection of Gospel truths for the use of such as are of larger understandings, young or old; or lesser, containing only some few of the most necessary principles of Religion in the most facile and familiar way, for the help of meaner capacities; amongst which, (although there be some hundred several forms extant in the Reformed Churches, yet) those two forms or Modules drawn up by the late Reverend Assembly, their larger and shorter Catechism, obtain the general vote both abroad and at home for their excellency and usefulness. And it is the wish of very learned and judicious men that there were yet some shorter and more easy form drawn up, that might be reduced to a few heads of the first and most necessary points of Christian faith for the institution of babes: The great advantage of such forms of Chatechistical doctrine is that thereby a Minister of the Gospel may acquaint his people with more of the necessary and saving truths of the Gospel in a few months, than he can well preach over in many years; and by the brief and frequent running over the principles of Religion, people of all sorts and ages, would be incomparably prepared for the Word preached, and profit more by one Sermon, than unprincipled hearers commonly do by twenty.

Use 3. Hence also I might commend to young Students in Divinity the reading of systems and compendious Abstracts and Abridgements, as an excellent entrance and manuduction unto their Theological studies, before they launch into the larger tracts and treatises in that vast and immense ocean of Divine knowledge; of which we may say almost to desperation,

The Shipwright that is to build a large and stately Vessel, doth first shape his work in a very small Module. And he that is to travel into the remote parts of the world, shall render his labor much more fruitful by reading Maps and Globes at home; for by that means he shall know where he is when he comes abroad; his eye and his understanding will mutually interpret one to the other; thus your curious workwomen do first make their borders and trails, and then fill them.

Use 4. It serves to commend Methodical preaching; that Minister that is wise and judicious to observe method in his Sermon, and method between Sermon and Sermon; a Scriptural connection as (much as may be) between subject and subject, doctrine and doctrine; omne tulit punctum, he is a Preacher indeed; he shall not only profit, but delight his hearers; and make them not only knowing Christians, but distinct and judicious.

Use 5. It commends (not least) constant and fixed hearing; especially when people sit under a judicious and methodical Ministry; loose hearing may please, but the fixed will profit; skipping hearing for the most part makes but skeptical Christians; when people hear at random, have a snatch here, and a snatch there; here a truth perhaps, and there an error; here a notion, and there a novelty, &c. such mixed hearing makes up the garment of knowledge, but just like a beggars Cloak full of patches; they are never able to bring their knowledge into any form or method; ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth; their knowledge is like an heap of pebbles, upon which a man can never raise a superstructure; whereas they that sit under a fixed Ministry, (one that is Master of his Art) they are acquainted with the way and course, and project of his preaching; as the Apostle tells Timothy, 2 Epist. 3.10. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, purpose, &c. i. e. the design and method of my Ministry.

Such hearers (if judicious) can follow their Teacher through the series and deduction of his Ministry, from Subject to Subject, and from Text to Text, and from Head to Head, till at length they have, (before they take notice of it) an hypotyposis, or collection of Gospel-truths formed in their understanding: Such an hearer begins where he left the last time, and so from time to time is still going on, shining and growing, and enlightening unto the prepared day, from faith to faith, from knowledge to knowledge, and from truth to truth, till he comes in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Various hearing makes variable Christians; St. James his professors (for the most part) double-minded men, unstable in all their ways, they are still beginning, but never able to make any prosperous and successful progress in the knowledge of Christ.

Sixthly and lastly, from hence give me leave to commend to you the benefit and advantage of THE MORNING EXERCISE, which the good hand of Providence brings to your doors this ensuing month, and begins tomorrow morning in this place.

Truly God hath been pleased to make this morning Lecture a great mercy to this City, ever since it was first erected, which was, WHEN LEYCESTER WAS BESIEGED; it hath been like the Ark in the house of OBED-EDOM, a blessing where ever it hath come, a morning cloud which hath let fall sweet refreshing showers in every place.

In special God hath made it instrumental

1. For the strengthening of the weak hands, and confirming the feeble knees of the people of God, who in this time of England's troubles have been of a fearful heart, and of a trembling spirit; many poor Christians who in times of public dangers and confusions have come to these morning Assemblies (like the Mary's to the Sepulcher of our Lord) with their hearts full of fears, and their eyes full of tears, have been dismissed those Assemblies with fear and great joy; their hearts have been revived, and their hands strengthened in the Lord their God.

2. God hath made use of this exercise for the preserving of thousands from error and damnable doctrines in these times of sad Apostasy. While many ignorant and unstable souls being led away with the error of the wicked, have fallen from their own steadfastness, there want not multitudes (through grace) who are ready to acknowledge that they owe their confirmation and stability in the truth, (under God) in a very eminent manner to the labors of those godly Orthodox Divines, who have bestowed their pains in these early Lectures from time to time.

3. God hath commanded his blessing upon it for the conversion of many souls to Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, the morning exercise hath not been childless since it was set up; some there be (to my knowledge) who have calculated their spiritual nativity from the time that this exercise was in the places of their habitation, as in this place some can bring in their testimony, to the honor and praise of free grace.

4. It hath been a very choice instrument in the hand of the Spirit, for the building up of Christians in their most holy faith. Many of them that have attended daily at the gates of wisdom, waiting at the posts of her doors in this Ministerial course, have been observed to have made eminent proficiency in the School of Christ, to grow in God, in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To all which blessed ends these morning Exercises have had some advantage above other Assemblies;

Partly, by reason of the frequency and assiduity of them; Sabbath-day -Sermons, and Weekly -lectures being distancit with such long intervals of worldly incumbrances, are (for the most part) forgotten before the return of their weekly course; whereas these exercises treading so close upon the heels one of another, they that have constantly attended them, have as it were, lived under a constant vision; the Sun of the Gospel arising upon them as assiduously as the Sun in the Firmament; whereby they have been carried on in a daily progress of Gospel-proficiency.

And Partly, the Preachers by a kind of secret instinct of the Spirit, having been directed in their order to preach seasonable things; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as the Apostle calls it, present truth; truth most proper to the present state of things, carefully obviating the errors of the times; and not only so, but sometimes as if there had been a design laid by mutual consent, they have been guided to preach methodical truths; their Sermons have been knit together not without some natural connection, into a kind of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or Module of Evangelical doctrine; at least so far as it hath not been difficult to find out not only consent, but a kind of dependence between their successive discourses, that might be of more than ordinary help to their Auditors; as in this place about this time four years; and since in a neighbouring Congregation; by some short notes published for the help of weaker Christians, may appear. But now brethren behold I show you a more excellent way: That which sometime hath fallen out providentially, and but in a very imperfect way, is now de industria, and by prae-agreement and consent, intended and designed among you in this course of the morning Exercise; viz. that which the Apostle here commends to Timothy his care and custody, an 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or FORM of sound words: A Series or Delineation of some of the chief points and heads of Gospel doctrine methodically collected and digested as far as the narrow circle of so few days will contain. AND THIS WE WILL DO IF GOD PERMIT. What remaineth Brethren, but that you stir up yourselves in the strength of Christ,

1. To prize such a precious season and opportunity, as Providence puts into your hand. God is bringing a very precious treasure and depositum unto your doors; He hath not dealt so with every Nation, &c. See my Brethren that you put a due value and estimate upon it, lest God challenge your contempt with that angry question, Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?

2. To frequent it; Christians, be afraid of losing a morning; let not one such golden opportunity fall to the ground, you do not know what you lose. Borrow a little from your sleep, and from your worldly employments (if your Callings and Families shall not be too great sufferers by it) and bestow it upon your souls; will it not be fruit abounding to your account in the day of Christ? While ye have the light, walk in the light: Know ye not that the Shadows of the Evening are stretched out! Redeem the time, the days are evil.

3. Stir up yourselves to prepare your hearts for a solemn attendance upon God in them: Remember what the Lord said to Moses, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me: Oh profane not your accesses to such holy things; I may bespeak you in the language of Moses to the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, for the Lord will come down amongst you; and remember if he be not sanctified by you, he will be sanctified upon you; if he be not sanctified by us in holiness, he will be sanctified upon us in judgment; before all the people I will be glorified.

Christians, be much in prayer for your Ministers, that they may come unto you in the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of peace; say with the Psalmist, Blessed be he that cometh to us in the Name of the LORD.

Pray for yourselves, that God would open your hearts as he did the heart of Lydia, that you may attend unto the things which shall be spoken.

Pray that you may mix the Word with faith, that you may receive the truth in the love of the truth, that you may not be given up to believe lies.

Pray for others that shall hear with you; pray as Christ prayed for his Disciples: Sanctify them through thy truth, thy Word is truth.

Pray that some may be convinced, some converted, that others may be edified by the Sermons which shall be preached amongst you.

4. Stir up yourselves to come to these Evangelical exercises with Evangelical dispositions; those especially prophesied of in relation to Gospel-times, Isa. 2.3. Many people shall go and say Come ye, and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. —

In this Gospel-promise you have three Gospel graces,

• Charity.
• Faith.
• Obediential Resolutions.

1. COME LET US GO, &c.] there's their CHARITY, their mutual care and love to one another's souls; they call upon one another, and consider one another, to provoke one another to a diligent attendance on the means of grace. Come ye, and let us go; gracious hearts would not go to Church, or to heaven alone; I was glad when they said unto me Let us go into the house of the Lord.

2. HE WILL TEACH US OF HIS WAYS] here you have their FAITH; they come to the Ordinance with good thoughts of God; the same wherewith holy David doth encourage his own soul: Good and upright is the Lord, therefore will he teach sinners in the way; though I am evil, yet God is good; though I am a sinner, yet God is upright, therefore I shall be taught of God; it is good to come to the Ordinance with great expectations upon God:

You may easily over-expect men, and indeed for this God sends you home often with disappointment; you come to a Sermon, and you say (sometimes) Oh there is a rare man to preach this day; the man fails your expectation, and you return censuring and complaining of the Preacher, not considering the fault was in yourselves; God withdrew possibly wonted auxiliaries of grace to punish your carnal confidence, to teach you to cease from man, &c. I say you may easily over-expect the creature, but you cannot over-expect God: Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it; widen and dilate the desires and expectations of your souls, and God is able to fill every chink to the vastest capacity; this honors God when we greaten our expectation upon him; it is a sanctifying of God in our hearts, he will teach us his ways.

3. WE WILL WALK IN HIS PATHS] there you have their obediential resolutions, highly becoming the children of God; if God be so gracious to teach us, they resolve not to be so ungracious as to refus • to be taught; they come with a desire to know God's will, and go home with a resolution o obey it.

This is the method of Gospel proficiency, If any man will do my will, he shall know my doctrine. Behold, here's the pattern, GO YE AND DO LIKEWISE.

5. Take heed of perfunctory and customary use of the Ordinance; Rest not satisfied in a Popish opus operatum, the work done. As you should prepare before you come, so you should reflect when you go home, and not take up with notions in the head, without motions in the heart. Expressions in the lips, when separate from impressions upon the conscience, makes empty and formal professors, and gives occasion to standers by to suspect the truth of Religion. A careless Christian that often heareth of the glorious things of the Gospel, but feeleth nothing of them, doth put a temptation of Atheism upon himself, and of scandal upon others; and while himself is not made better by his frequenting the means, others become worse, while he raiseth up an evil report upon the ways of God. Surely we need much quickening that we may not receive THIS GRACE of God in vain.

6. And lastly, when you have this 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , THIS FORM OF SOUND WORDS, let it be your care to keep it; when ye HAVE it, then HOLD it, which is the second acceptation of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and brings me upon the SECOND DOCTRINE.

Doct. 2. SUCH FORMS AND MODULES ARE VERY CAFEFULLY TO BE KEPT:

But of this in the concluding Sermon if God permit.

God is.

IN this Chapter faith is represented as the principle of obedience, conveying vigor and strength to other graces, whereby they become operative unto several ends and objects; hence those acts which immediately spring from other graces as their proper stock, are attributed to faith, that being the principle of their heavenly, working; in this respect, as the success of an Army redounds to the Generals Honor, so the Victory which is effected by other Christian qualities, is here ascribed to faith, which animates them, and leads them forth as their chief Captain; this is intimated in the Text, in which we may observe,

1. A Proposition, But without Faith it is impossible to please God; that grace being the medium of our communion with God, as it gives through Christ an admission and approach to him; and in this respect is opposed to drawing back, Hebr. 10.38.

2. The Argument to confirm it, For he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him: that is, our Addresses to God, are grounded upon a firm assent to God's being and bounty.

First, An assent to his being is absolutely necessary, otherwise acts of worship are as a Ball struck into the open air, which returns not to us; without the entire assurance of a determinate object, Religion will fail and vanish, this belief is general and speculative.

Secondly, An assent to his bounty, that he will bless those who diligently seek him; this is particular and applicative, and it follows from the other; for the notion of a Benefactour is included in that of a God; take away his rewards, you ungod him: Now the steadfast acknowledgement of this, can only draw the soul to perform ingenuous and acceptable service; for the naked contemplation of those amiable excellencies which are in the Deity, can never conquer our natural fear, nor quench our enmity against him; the reflection upon his righteousness and our guilt, fills us with terror, and causes a dreadful flight from him; but the hope of his remunerating goodness, is a motive agreeable, and congruous to the breast of a man, and sweetly leads him to God; Religion is the submission of ourselves to God, with an expectation of reward.

I shall Treat of the first Branch of the argument; He that comes to God, must believe that he is. The firm belief of God's being, is the foundation of all Religious worship; in the discussing of which, my design is to evince that Supreme Truth, that God is. The ev • dence of this will appear to the light of reason, and fai • h, by an appeal to nature, and Scriptures: I shall produce three Arguments from nature, which may convince an Infidel there is a God. The first is drawn from the visible world. The second from natural conscience. The third from the consent of Nations.

First, in the Creation; his essence and Attributes are clearly revealed, his absolute power, unerring wisdom, and infinite goodness, are discovered to every capacity; therefore the Apostle urges this as the most proper Argument to convince the Heathens, Acts 14.15. that they should urn from their vanities, to the living God which made heaven and earth, and sea, and all things that are therein; to this they must naturally assent; as shadows represent the figure of those bodies from whence they are derived; so in the world there are such traces of the Divine perfections, that it is easy to infer there is a Sovereign being which is the cause of it; all the creatures and their various excellencies, are as so many beams which reflect upon this Sun, or lines which direct to this Centre; nay, the meanest being carries some impression of the first cause, as the image of a Prince is stamped upon a penny, as well as upon greater money; the beasts will instruct, and the mute fishes teach the Atheist there is a God; and though he is not discerned by the outward sight, yet the understanding will as certainly discover him, as it doth an invisible spirit in a living body; and that,

1. From the being of the world, and its parts; it is apparent to sense, and acknowledged by all, that some things are of a late beginning, but those things could not proceed from themselves, for then they should work before they were, and the same things should exist, and not exist at the same instant, and in the same respect, but this implies a contradiction; it follows then they had their Original from without; we find the experience of this in ourselves; the number of our days declares there was a time in which we had no being, and therefore we could not produce ourselves.

Now, if man which is the most perfect of visible creatures, presuppose a Maker, then may we sufficiently infer a Creation, where we find far less perfection; and this is true, not only of things which are visible, but of all other beings; till at last we arrive at the Supreme cause, whose being is necessary and independent.

Besides, if we consider that from nothing he hath produced their beings, and so united those two distant extremes of being, and not being, we may infer his power to be infinite; the greatest difference imaginable between two finite beings, admits of some proportion, and measure; but between that which is, and that which is not, the distance exceeds all apprehension; so that from the mere existence of things, it is evident that there is a first cause, which is independent and infinite, and this is God.

2. We may certainly argue the being of God from the consent of parts in the world, and their perpetual confederations to support the whole. Confusion is the effect of chance, but order is the product of Art and industry; when we consider in a Watch, how the different wheels by their unequal motions agree in distinguishing the hours, and with that exactness, as if they were inspired by the same intelligence, we presently conclude it to be the work of an Artificer; for certainly pieces of Brass could never have formed and united themselves in that method; proportionably when we view the Harmony of all things in the world, and how disagreeing natures conspire together for the advantage of the whole, we may collect there is a Divine Spirit, which hath thus disposed all things; we will not make a curious enquiry into this; an eminent decree of knowledge in several faculties, would but imperfectly discover the proportion and measures which the eternal mind hath observed in the frame of nature; it will suffice to glance at those which are exposed to the view of all.

The Sun which is the eye and soul of the world, in its situation and motion, is a sign to us there is wisdom and counsel in its Author; it's fixed in the midst of the Planets, that it may dispense its light and heat for the advantage of the lower world; if it were placit in a higher or lower Orb, the jarring Elements, (which by its influence, are kept in an equal poise and proportion) would break forth into disorders; and those invisible chains and connections which fasten the parts of nature, would presently be broken; the regularity and constancy of its motion discovers a Deity; by its course from East to West, it causes the agreeable vicissitude of day and night, and maintains the amiable war of light and darkness; this distinction of time is necessary for the pleasure and profit of the world; the Sun by its rising, chases away the shades of the night, to delight us with the beauties of the Creation; 'tis God's Herald which calls us forth to the discharge of our work; this governs our labors, and conducts our industry; this animates nature, and conveys a pleasure even to these beings which are insensible; without the day, the world would be a fatal and disconsolate grave to all creatures; a Chaos without order, action, or beauty; thus by the Sun-beams we may clearly see a Divine providence. Besides, when it retires from us, and a Curtain of darkness is drawn over the world, that proves the wisdom and goodness of God; the Psalmist attributes the disposition of day and night to God, the day is thine; and with an Emphasis, the night also is thine; notwithstanding its sad appearance, yet it is very beneficial; its darkness enlightens us, its obscurity makes v sible the Ornaments of heaven, the stars, their aspects, their dispositions, their motions which were hid in the day; it unbends the world, and gives a short and necessary truce to its labors, it recreates the wasted spirits; 'tis the Nurse of nature, which pours into its bosom those sweet and cooling dews which beget new life, and vigor: the divine providence is also eminent in the manner of this dispensation; for the Sun finishing its course about the world in the space of twenty four hours, causes that succession of day and night, which doth most f • tly temper our labor and repose; whereas if the day and night should each of them continue six entire months, this division would be very inconvenient for us: We may farther observe a wise providence in the diversity it hath used to lengthen and shorten the days and nights for the advantages of several Countries; for that part of the earth which is under the line, being scorched with immoderate heat, wants a continual supply of moisture; therefore the longest and coolest nights are there; but it is otherwise in the Northern parts, for the beams of the Sun being very feeble there; providence hath so disposed, that the days are extreme long, that so by the continuance of the heat, the fruits may come to maturity and perfection. And as the difference of day and night, so the diversity of seasons proceeds from the motion of the Sun, which is a work of providence, no less admirable than the former; as the motion of the Sun from East to West, makes the day and night, so from North to South, causes Summer and Winter; by these the world is preserved; Summer crowns the earth with flowers and fruits, and produces an abundant variety for the support of living creatures; the Winter which seems to be the death of nature, robbing the earth of its heat and life, contributes also to the Universal good; it prepares the earth by its cold and moisture for the returning Sun; in the succession of these seasons, the Divine Providence is very conspicuous; for since the world cannot pass from one extreme to another, without a dangerous alteration; to prevent this inconvenience, the Sun makes its approaches gradually to us, the Spring is interposed between the Winter and Summer, that by its gentle and temperate heat, it may dispose our bodies for the excess of Summer, and in the same manner the Sun retires by degrees from us, that so in the Autumn we may be prepared for the asperities of the Winter: And to close this part of the Argument, the invariable succession of times and seasons is a token of the same providence; the Sun which runs ten or twelve millions of Leagues every day, never fails one minute of its appointed time, nor turns an inch out of its constant course, but inviolably observes the same order; so that there is nothing more regular, equal, and constant, than the succession of day and night; to ascribe this to hazard, is the most absurd extravagance; for in the effects of chance there is neither order nor constancy; as we may see in the casting of a Dy, which hardly falls twice together upon the same square; it is necessary therefore to conclude that an intelligent principle, guides the revolutions of the Sun, thus uniformly for the advantage of the world. Psalm 19.1, 2, 3. The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows his handy work. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night adds knowledge; There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard; what is that language and voice, but a Universal Sermon to the world of God's being and excellency?

Let us now consider that vast extent of air, which fills the space between heaven and earth; this is of so pure a nature, that in a moment it transmits the influences of heaven to the lower world, this serves as an arsenal for thunders and lightnings, whereby God summons the world to dread and reverence; this is a treasury for the clouds, which dissolving in gentle showers, refresh the earth, and call forth its seeds into flourishing and fruitfulness; this fannes the earth with the wings of the wind, allaying those intemperate heats which would be injurious to its inhabitants; this is the Region for the Birds, wherein they pass as so many self-moving Engines praising the Creator, this serves for the breath and life of man; from hence we may conclude the wisdom of a God, who so governs the several Regions of the air, as by them to convey blessings for the necessities of man, and to send judgments for the awakening the secure to seek after God.

Let us now descend to the Sea, and see how that informs us there is a God; 'tis a Truth evident to reason, that the proper place of the waters is next to the air above the earth; for as it is of a middle nature between these two Elements, being purer and lighter than the earth, but more gross and heavy than the air, so it challenges a situation between them; that as the air on all parts encompasses the Sea, in like manner the Sea should overspread the earth, and cover the whole surface of it; that its natural inclination is such, appears by its continual flowings; who then hath arrested its course, and stopped its violence? who hath confined it to such a place and compass, that it may not be destructive to the world? certainly no other, but the great God who first gave it being and motion; besides, that which renders the power of God more conspicuous, is that by so weak a bridle as the sand, its rage is bounded; when it threatens the shore with its insulting waves, you would fear lest it should swallow up all, but it no sooner touches the sand, but its fury is turned into froth; it retires, and by a kind of submission, respects those bounds which are fixed by the Creator. Now, that the fiercest Element should be represt by the feeblest thing in the world, and that which breaks the Rocks, be limited by the sand, is a wonder of providence; therefore the Lord alleges this as an effect only proceeding from his power, and challenges an incommunicable glory upon this account. Job 38.8, 9, 10, 11, verses, Who shut up the Sea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb? when I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it; and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors; and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.

Besides, its extent is no less worthy of admiration, it washes the four parts of the world, and so it is the bond of the Universe, by which the most distant Nations are united, the medium of commerce and Trade, which brings great delight and advantage to men, by it the commodities which are peculiar to several Countries are made common to all; thus may we trace the evident prints of a Deity in the very waters; if we change the scene, and view the earth, we may perceive clear signs of a Divine providence: If we consider its position, it hangs in the midst of the air, that it may be a convenient habitation for us; or its stability, the air its self is not able to bear up a feather, yet the earth remains in it fixed and unshaken, notwithstanding the storms and tempests which continually beat upon it; from hence we must conclude an invisible, but powerful hand supports it; 'tis reckoned amongst the Magnalia Dei, Job 38.4, 6. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? whereupon a e the foundations thereof fastened? or who hath laid the Corner-stone thereof? Moreover the various disposition of its parts, the Mountains, the Valleys, the Rivers which are as the veins which convey nourishment to this great body, all intimate there is a God.

Thus if we behold the excellent order of the parts of the World, their mutual correspondence for their several ends, the heavens give light, the air breath, the earth habitation, the sea commerce; we must break forth There is a God, and this is his work; but how few are there who read the Name of God which is indelibly printed on the frame of nature? who see the excellency of the cause in the effect? who contemplate all things in God, and God in all things? from our first infancy we are accustomed to these objects, and the edge of our apprehensions is rebated; the commonness of things takes away our esteem; we rather admire things new than great; the effects of Art, than the marvails of nature; as the continual view of a glittering object dazzles the eye, that it cannot see; so by the daily presence of these wonders, our minds are blunted, we lose the quickness and freshness of our spirits.

I shall finish this Argument by reflecting upon man, who is a short abridgement of the world; the composure of his body, the powers of his soul, convince us of a wise Providence; who but a God could unite such different substances, an immaterial spirit with an earthly body? who could distinguish so many parts, assign to them their form, situation, temperature, with an absolute fitness for those uses to which they serve? we must join with the Apostle, Acts 17.27, 28. He is not far from everyone of us; we may find him in the activity of our hands, in the beauty of our eyes, in the vivacity of all our senses; in him we live, move, and have our being. And to look inward, who hath endued the soul with such distinct and admirable faculties? The understanding which exercises an Empire on all things, which compounds the most disagreeing, and divides the most intimate, which by the lowest effects ascends to the highest cause; the Will which with such vigor pursues that which we esteem amiable and good, and recoiles with aversation from that we judge pernicious and evil; the Memory which preserves fresh and lively the pictures of those things which are committed to its charge. Certainly after this consideration, we must naturally assent there is a God who made us, and not we ourselves.

3. We may argue there is a God from the operations of natural Agents for those ends which are not perceived by them. Although in men there is a rational principle which discovers the goodness of the end, and selects such means as are proper for the accomplishing of it, and so their actions are the product of their judgment; yet 'tis impossible to conceive that the inferior rank of creatures, whose motions flow from mere instinct, can guide themselves by any Counsel of their own: Now all their operations are directed to their proper ends without any variation, & in that order as exceeds the invention of man. It is admirable to consider how brute creatures act for their preservation; they are no sooner in the world, but they presently fly from their enemies, and make use either of that force or craft which they have to defend themselves; they know that nourishment which is convenient to preserve them, and those remedies which may restore them. By what Counsel doth the Swallow observe the season of its passage? in the beginning of Autumn it takes its flight to a warmer Climate, and returns with the Sun again in the Spring. By what fore-sight doth the Ant prepare its store in Summer to prevent that ensuing want which otherwise it would suffer in Winter? Doth the Sun deliberate whether it shall rise, and by diffusing its beams, become the public light of the World? or doth a Fountain advise whether it shall stream forth in a fluent and liberal manner? even the actions of men which are purely natural, are done without their direction: Nay, natural bodies will part with their own property, and cross their own inclination for an universal good; the air, a light and nimble body that does naturally ascend, yet for a general good, to prevent a breach in nature, it will descend: And those things which have a natural opposition, yet constantly accord and join together to preserve the whole; certainly then a Divine Spirit guides and directs them. If we see an Army composed of several Nations, (between whom there are great antipathies) yet march in rank and order, and with equal courage fight for the safety of a Kingdom, we presently conclude there is a wise General who thus united them: And is there not greater reason to believe that a Sovereign Spirit governs the Host of heaven and earth, and unites them to maintain the peace of the World? To assert that irrational creatures act for a general and unknown good, without the motion of a higher cause, is equally unreasonable, as to say a curious Picture is drawn by a Pensil without the hand of the Painter which guided it in every line according to the Idea of his mind. We must then of necessity infer that those particular causes which cannot conduct themselves, are directed by an universal cause which cannot err; and thus we see the whole World is an entire and continual Argument of God's Being and Attributes.

Secondly, The second Argument is drawn from natural conscience, which is a subordinate God, and acts all things with respect to a higher Tribunal; as Saint Paul speaking of those visible Testimonies which God hath expressed to men in the Creation, saith, Acts 14.17. that he left not himself without a witness, giving them rain, and fruitful seasons; by the same proportion we may say God hath not left himself without an internal witness, having planted in every man a conscience whereby he is dignified above the lower order of beings, and made sensible of the supreme Judge, to whose Tribunal he is subject; now conscience in its double work, as it accuses or excuses by turns upon good or bad Actions, proves there is a God.

1. Natural conscience being clear and innocent, is the lifeguard which secures from fears: virtuous persons who have not offered violence to the light of conscience, in times of danger, as in a fierce storm at Sea, or fearful Thunder at Land, when guilty spirits are surprised with horror, they are not liable to those fears, being wrapped up in their own innocence; the reason of their security proceeds from a belief that those terrible works of nature are ordered by an intelligent and righteous providence which is God.

2. It gives courage and support to an innocent person, when oppressed and injured by the unrighteous; the natural conscience so long as it is true to its self by adhering to honest principles, it is victorious against all attempts whatsoever; si fractus illabatur orbis; if the weight of all the miseries in the world should come rushing upon him at once, it would bear up under them all, and stand unbroken in the midst of those ruins; the spirit of a man is of strength enough to sustain all his infirmities; as a Ship lives in the rough Seas, and floats above them, the waters being without it; so a virtuous person rides out all storms, and is preserved from sinking, because the fury of worldly troubles cannot reach beyond his outward man; the conscience which is the man's strength remains firm and unshaken; yea, as those Roses are usually sweetest which grow near stinking weeds; so the peace, joy, and glory of a good conscience is then most sensible, when a man is otherwise in the most afflicted and oppressed state; now from whence proceeds this calmness and serenity, this vigor and constancy of spirit, but from the apprehension of a supreme Judge, who at the last will vindicate their cause?

2. We may clearly evidence there is a God, from the accusations of a guilty conscience; this is that never dying worm which if a sinner treads on, it will turn again; this is a temporal hell, a spiritual Tophet; what torments are there in the Regions of darkness, which an accusing conscience doth not inflict on a sinner in this life! so intolerable are the stings of it, that many have took Sanctuary in a Grave, and run upon the first death to prevent the miseries of the second. Now the shame, horror, despair, and that black train of affections which lash an offender for his vicious acts, discovers there is a principle within which threatens vengeance from a righteous and angry God: This Argument will be more pressing, if we consider that conscience attaches a sinner

First, for secret crimes, which are above the cognizance of men; conscience is God's spy in our bosoms, which mixes itself with all our thoughts and actions; let a man therefore take what course he will to hide his offense, let him sin in the closest retirement that human policy can contrive, where there is no possibility of legal conviction, yet his Accuser, his Judge, his Hel is in his own bosom; when the sin is most secret, conscience brings in the evidence, produces the Law, urges the penalty, passes the sentence, begins the punishment; so that the sinner is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , self-condemned for those sins which are not punishable by man; yea, sometimes a discovery of concealed sins (though certainly bringing temporal death) hath been extorted by the horror and anguish of an accusing conscience; the reason of all is because in secret sins, conscience appeals to God's Omnisciency, who is greater than our consciences, and knows all things, 1 John 3.20. And upon this account it is praejudicium judicii, a kind of antedated day of judgment, a domestical dooms-day, and brings upon a sinner the beginning of his sorrows.

2. It stings with remorse for those sins which are above the power of man to revenge; those who command Armies, and by their greatness are secured from the penalties of the Law, yet conscience sets their sins in order before their eyes; and these as so many armed men charge them thorough, and overwhelm them; many instances there are; Belshazzar in the midst of his cups and bravery, how was he invaded by fear and horror, when he saw the hand-writing on the Wall! the whole Army of the Persians could not discourage his spirit; but when conscience revived his guilt, and the apprehensions of God's justice, he sunk under the burden; the hand-writing from without was terrible, because conscience opened a hand-writing within. Tiberius the Emperor who was doubly died in unnatural lusts and cruelties, could neither evade nor dissemble the horrors of his mind; Nero after the barbarous murdering of his mother, was always pursued by imaginary Devils, his distracted fancy representing to him furies and flames ready to torment him. How many Tyrants have trembled on the Throne, when the condemned innocents have rejoiced in their sufferings! from hence we may infallibly conclude the conscience of the most powerful sinner is under the feeling of a Deity; for if there were no punishments to be feared but those the Magistrate inflicts in his own Dominions, why are Sovereign Magistrates themselves under terrors for their vicious actions! and those who are not subject to any human Tribunal, why do they with such fury reflect upon themselves for their crimes? certainly it proceeds from hence, that natural conscience dreads the supreme Judge, seeing nothing is able to shelter them from his Tribunal, nor restrain his power when he will take vengeance on them.

In vain doth the Atheist reply that these fears are the product of a common false opinion, which is conveyed by education, to wit that there is a God who is provoked by sin; and that ignorance increases these terrors, as little children fear bug-bears in the dark; for 'tis certain,

First, That no Art or endeavor can totally free a sinner from these terrors, whereas groundless fears are presently scattered by reason; and this argues there is an inviolable principle in nature which respects a God. We know there is nothing more disturbs the spirit than fear, and every person is an enemy to what torments him; hence the sinner labors to conquer conscience, that he may freely indulge himself in sin; but this is impossible; for conscience is so essential, that a soul cannot be a soul without it, and so inseparable, that death itself cannot divorce a man from it; perire nec sine te nec tecum potest; it can neither die with the sinner, nor without him; 'tis true the workings of it are unequal; as the pulse doth not always beat alike, but sometimes more violent, and sometimes more remiss; so this spiritual pulse is not always in equal motion; sometimes it beats, sometimes it intermits, but returns again; those scorners who run a course of sin without control, and seem to despise hell, as a mere notion, yet they are not free from inward gripes; conscience arrests them in the Name of that God whom they deny; although they are without faith, they are not without fear; desperate sinners ruffle it for a time, and drench themselves in sensual pleasures, to quench that scintilla animae, that vital spark which shines and scorches at once; but all in vain; for it happens to them as to Malefactors, who for a time drown the apprehension of their danger in a Sea of drink; but when the fumes are evaporated, and they seriously ponder their offenses, they tremble in the fearful expectation of the Axe or Gallows. A sinner may conceal his fears from others, and appear jolly and brave, when conscience stings him with secret remorse; as a Clock seems to be calm and still to the eye; but 'tis full of secret motions within; under a merry countenance there may be a bleeding heart: To conclude, so far is a sinner from being able to quench these terrors, that many times the more they are opposed, the more powerful they grow; thus many who for a time breathed nothing but defiances to conscience, and committed sin with greediness, yet conscience hath with such fury returned upon them, that they have run from profaneness to superstition, as fugitive slaves are forced back to their Masters, and serve in the vilest Drudgery, fearing severe punishments.

2. The best men who enjoy a sweet calmness, and are not disquieted with the terrors of conscience, they abhor that Doctrine which discards the fear of a Deity; so that those who are most freed from these terrors, believe them to be radicated in nature, and grounded upon truth; and those who esteem them vain, are most furiously tormented with them; in which respect the Divine goodness shines forth in the greatest luster towards those who love and fear him, and his justice against those who contemn it; thus Caligula who was the boldest Atheist in the world, yet when it thundered, ran with trembling under his bed, as if God from heaven had summoned him to judgment; whereas Socrates, who was the Heathens Martyr, died with the same tranquility of spirit wherein he lived.

3. 'It is worthy of our serious thoughts that these terrors of conscience are most dreadful when the sinner approaches death; the sense of guilt which before was smothered, is then revived; conscience like a sleeping Lyon awakes and destroys at once; experience t • lls us many sinners who have lived in a senseless, die in a desperate manner; and from whence doth this proceed but from the presages of a future judgment! conscience anticipates the vengeance of God; then the Alarums are encreast, and the storm is more violent; for the soul being sensible of its immortal nature, extends its fears to Eternity, and trembles at him who lives forever, and can punish forever.

Argument 3. The consent of Nations agrees in the belief of a God; although the Gentiles did grossly mistake the life and essence of the infinite Deity, imagining him to be of some human form and weakness, and in this respect were without God in the world; yet they conspired in the acknowledgement of a Divinity; the multiplicity of their false gods strengthens the Argument; it being clear they would rather have any God then none; and this belief cannot be an imposture, because 'tis

First, Universal; What Nation so barbarous as not to worship a God? certainly that which is common to all men, hath a foundation in nature.

Secondly, 'tis perpetual; falsehoods are not long lived; but the Character and Impression of God is indelibly sealed upon the spirits of men. Thus we see the Universal Reason of the World to Determine there is a God.

2. The Scripture proves there is a God to faith; Psal. 19. David speaking of the double manifestation of God by his Works and his Word, appropriates a converting power to the Word; this exceeds the discovery of God in the Creation, in respect of its clearness and efficacy: Psalm 138.2. Thou hast magnified thy Word above all thy Name. There are more apparent Characters of God's Attributes and Perfections in the Scripture, than in the Book of Nature; in the Creation there is Uestigium, the foot-print of God; but in the Word there is Imago, his Image and lively Representation: As the Angels when they assumed visible bodies, and appeared unto men; yet by the brightness and Majesty of their appearance, discovered themselves to be above an human Original; so the Scriptures although conveyed to us in ordinary language and words, yet by their authority and sanctity evidence their Divine descent; and that there is a holy and righteous God from whom they proceed.

There is a vehement Objection urged by Atheists in all Ages against a Divine Providence, and consequently against God's Being: The afflicted state of innocence and goodness, and the prosperous state of oppression and wickedness. Honest men suffer, whilst the unrighteous and profane swim in the Streames of Prosperity; hence they concluded fortuna certa, aut incerta natura, had the charge of these sublunary things; even the holy Prophet himself was liable to this temptation, Psal. 73.9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. he saw that as the clean Creatures were sacrificed every day, the Turtle and the Lamb, the Emblems of innocence and charity, whilst the Swine, and other unclean Creatures were spared; So good men were harrast with troubles, when the wicked were exempted, and this shook his faith; but by entering into the Sanctuary of God, where he understood their end, he comes off with victory; now for the removing this Objection, Consider

First, we are not competent Judges of God's actions; we see but one half of Ezekiel's Vision; the Wheels, but not the eye in the Wheels; nothing but the Wheels on which the world seems disorderly to run, not the eye of Providence which governs them in their most vertiginous changes: The actions of God do not want clearness, but clearing: What we cannot acquit, is not to be charged on God as unjust; the stick which is straight, being in the water seems crooked, by the refraction of the beams through a double medium; we see through flesh and spirit, and cannot distinctly judge the ways of God; but when we are not able to comprehend the particular reasons of his dispensations, yet we must conclude his judgments to be right, as will appear by observing

Secondly, The sufferings of the righteous do not blemish God's justice.

1. God always strikes an offender, every man being guilty in respect of his Law. Now though love cannot hate, yet it may be angry; and upon this account, where the judgments of God are a great deep, unfathomable by any finite understanding, yet his righteousness standeth like the high Mountains, (as it is in Psalm 36.) visible to every eye; if the most righteous person shall look inward, and weigh his own carriage and desert, he must necessarily glorify the justice and holiness of God in all his proceedings.

2. The afflictions of good men are so far from staining God's justice, that they manifest his mercy; for the least sin being a greater evil than the greatest affliction; God uses temporal crosses to prevent or destroy sin; he imbitters their lives to wean their affections from the World, and to create in them strong desires after heaven; as long as the waters of tribulation are on the earth, so long they dwell in the Ark; but when the Land is dry, even the Dove itself will be wandering, and defile its self: When they are afflicted in their outward man, it is that the inward man may be revived; as birds are brought to perfection by the ruins of the shell: that is not a real evil which God uses as an instrument to save us. Who will esteem that Physician unjust, who prevents the death of his Patient by giving a bitter potion?

3. If the Righteous be thus afflicted upon earth, we may conclude there is a reward in the next World; if they are thus sharply treated in the way, their Country is above, where God is their portion and happiness.

Thirdly, The temporary prosperity of the wicked reflects no dishonor upon God's justice or holiness; for God measures all things by the Standard of eternity; a thousand years to him are as one day. Now we do not charge a Judge with unrighteousness, if he defer the execution of a Malefactor for the day; the longest life of a sinner bears not that proportion to eternity; besides, their reprieve increases and secures their ruin; they are as Grapes which hang in the Sun till they are ripe, and fit for the Wine-press. God spares them now, but will punish them forever; he condemns them to prosperity in this world, and judges them not worth his anger, intending to pour forth the vials of his wrath on them in the next.

Fourthly, The more sober Heathens have concluded from hence there is a judgment to come; because otherwise the best would be most miserable, and the ungodly prosperous; from hence they have inferred, that because all things are dispencit in a promiscuous manner to the just and unjust in this world, therefore there must be an after-reckoning.

Fifthly, There are many visible examples of the goodness and justice of God in this World; either in rewarding afflicted innocence, or punishing prosperous iniquities. He that shall read the story of Joseph, and consider that wonderful chain of causes managed by the Divine Providence; how God made use of the treachery of his brethren, not as a sale, but a conveyance; how by the Prison he came to the principality, must conclude there is a watchful eye which orders all things: And how many instances are there of God's severe, and impartial justice? there is no State or History but presents some examples; wherein an exact proportion in the time, measure and kind between the sin and punishment, is most conspicuous; the unnatural sin of Sodom was punishit with a supernatural shower of fire and brimstone: Pharaoh had made the River guilty of the blood of the Hebrew Infants; his first plague is the turning of the River into blood; Adonibezec is just so served as he did by the seventy Kings; Judas who wanted bowels for his Lord, wanted bowels for himself in life and death; for he hanged himself, and his bowels gushed out; and thus the punishment as a hand, points at the sin, and convinces the World of a Deity.

[Use 1] Use 1. This is just matter of terror to Atheists, which are of three sorts;

• 1. Vita.
• 2. Uoto.
• 3. Judicio.

First, To those who are practical Atheists vita, in life, who live down this truth, denying God in their lives; sad and certain it is, that many who pretend they know God, yet so live they, as if there were no Deity to whom they must give an account: Such are the secure, that sleep in sin, notwithstanding all God's thunder; and if ever sleep were the true image of death, this is the sleep. The sensual who are so lost in carnal pleasures, they scarce remember whether they have a soul; if at any time conscience begins to murmur, they relieve their melancholy thoughts with their company and cups, like Saul, sending for the Music when the evil spirit was upon him. The incorrigible, who notwithstanding the designs of God's mercy to reduce them; although Providences, Ordinances conspire to bring them off from their evil ways; yet they persist in their disobedience: Let such consider it is not a loose and ineffective assent to the being and perfections of God which will save them; God is not glorified by an unactive faith; nay, this will put the most dreadful accent, and the most killing aggravations on their sins; that believing there is a God, they dare presumptuously offend him, and provoke the Almighty to jealousy, as if they were able either to evade, or to sustain his wrath; 'tis the greatest prodigy in the World to believe there is a God, and yet to disobey him; this renders them inexcusable at the last.

Secondly, To those who are Atheists voto, in desire, Psal. 14. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God; the heart is the Fountain of desires, he wishes there were no God; this Atishem springs from the former; men live as if there were no God, and then wish there were none; guilt always begets fear, and fear hatred; and that strikes at the being of the object that is hated; as Malefactors desire there were no Law nor Judge, that they might escape deserved punishment. Well their desires are as visible to God as their actions are to men, and in the day of Revelation there will be a proportion of Wrath answerable to the Wickedness of their hearts.

Thirdly, To those who are Atheists judicio, in opinion; these low running dregs of time afford us many of these Monsters; for many to reconcile their principles with their practices, that they may undisturbedly enjoy their lusts, take this as an Opiate potion, that there is no God; but this is the most irrational and impious blasphemy.

1. Irrational; for the Name of God is written in so fair a Character upon this universal frame, that even whilst men run they may read it; and therefore God never wrought a miracle to convince Atheism, because his ordinary works convince it: Moreover, the notion of a Deity is so deeply imprest on the Tables of all men's hearts, that to deny God, is to kill the soul in the eye, to quench the very principles of common nature, to leave never a vital spark or seed of humanity behind; 'tis as if an ungracious soul should deny he ever had a Father. He that does ungod God, does unman himself.

2. 'It is the most impious; 'tis formally Deicidium, a killing of God as much as in them lies; but there are no Atheists in hell, the Devils believe and tremble; he that willingly quenches that light which is planted in his breast, he is passing from that voluntary darkness to a worse; like an offender on the Scaffold, he doth but blind his eyes to have his head cut off; he goes from inward darkness to utter darkness.

[Use 2] Use 2. Let us stablish our hearts in the belief of God's Being; in the latter times the World is wholly disposed to Atheism; as the Scripture attributes the ruin of the Old World to their Atheism and Profanesse, so it foretells the universal disease of the last Age will be Atheism and Infidelity. Luke 18.8. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? it were impossible there should be such a palpable contradiction between the lives of men and this fundamental of Religion, did they with assurance and certainty believe it. Psal. 14.1. The fool hath said in his heart there is no God; they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doth good. Atheism is the root of Profanesse; moreover, the spiritual mysteries of Religion, which exceed the flight of reason, are opposed by many upon the account of their Atheism; they question the truth of God's Being, and therefore disbelieve supernatural Revelations; let us then treasure up this truth:

First, As the foundation of faith; for all the truths of Religion spring from this as their common principle; the watering of the root will cause the branches to flourish; so the confirming of this will render our assent to the doctrine of the Gospel more clear and strong.

Secondly, As the fountain of obedience; the true and sound belief of every holy truth always includes a correspondency in the believer to the thing believed; and this must descend from the understanding to the affections, and the conversation: Now the fundamental duties which we are to pay to God, are, love, fear, dependence and submission to the will of his Law, and of his Providence.

1. Love: He is the supreme object of love for his excellencies and benefits. Psal. 5.11. Let them also that love thy Name rejoice in thee; the Name of God imports those glorious Attributes whereby he hath expressed himself to us; all the excellencies of the creature meet eminently in him, and all their imperfections are removed; in him there is nothing unlovely; in worldly things how refined soever they be, there is an allay of dregs; the all that is in them is mixed with corruption; but in God the all that he is, is perfection; in the most glorious creature as a creature, there is aliquid nihili, some imperfection, it is not exactly fitted for the soul; but God is the Adequate and complete object of our love. There is such an infinite eminency in God, that we are obliged to a proportionable affection; the first and great Commandment is, Matth. 22.36. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy strength; all the kinds and degrees of our love are due to him; we must put no bounds nor limits to it; in him it must begin, in him it must end; a remisser love is a degree of hatred; we disparage his excellencies by the coldness of our affections. O had we but eyes to see his beauty, how would all the excellencies of the creatures become a very Glow-worm that only glitters in the night!

Moreover, God planted this affection in the nature of man, that it might be terminated upon himself as its center and treasure, as our natural faculties are fitted for their several objects; the eye for colors, the ear for sounds, the palate for tastes; so love is fitted for God, that being as the Sovereign which sways all our powers. Love is called pondus animae, that sets all the wheels in the clock of the soul a going; this sets the understanding a work in the serious contemplation of the Divine excellencies; it diverts the thoughts from other things, and fixes them on God; it excites strong desires, and earnest aspirings after him; it stirs up zeal, which is flamma amoris, love in a flame to remove all obstacles which hinder the most intimate union with him; it produces joy, when the soul reposes its self in God, and with infinite sweetness possesses him; it causes the greatest diligence, alacrity, and resolution in all our ways to please him: for love is ever the spring and rule of all our actions; such as it is, such likewise will they be: thus we may see that God (as there is in him a union of all excellencies) challenges the most intense and vehement degree of our love, he being only fitted for it; and that our love being a superlative affection, is only proper to God; and therefore to love any creature without God, or in an equal manner to him, is to Deify the creature, to place it in the room of God, and so it renders us guilty of Idolatry in a spiritual sense. But such is the ignorance of men's minds, and the depravedness of their wills, that few there be who love God; 'tis true, there may be something like love in natural men to God, grounded upon the persuasion of his glorious being, and the goodness of his nature, which is not terrible to them; but when they consider his mercy is a holy mercy, and that it is never dispencit to the prejudice of his justice, though they cannot hate God for his goodness directly, yet they hate him with it; for although he is the perfection of beauty and goodness itself, yet they being evil, there is no congruity or conveniency between God and them; they love sin, and hate punishment: Now God, as Author legis, by the most strict Laws forbids sin, and as ultor peccati, inflicts severe punishments; from hence it proceeds, the most lovely and sweet Attributes of God cannot endear him to them; no more than the natural or moral excellencies of a Judge, the comeliness of his person, or his wisdom and knowledge can draw forth the love of a Malefactor when he is condemned by him.

Moreover, since the general nature of sin is an eternal contrariety to the nature and will of God; the love of it must needs argue the hatred of God; for as the Lord Jesus requires an universal, cheerful and constant obedience, as the most clear evidence of love to him; if you love me, keep my Commandments; So the Argument will be as strong to conclude backward, If you keep not God's Commandments, you hate him; to live in the practice of known sins, is a virtual and interpretative hatred of God.

2. The benefits which God bestows upon us deserve our love. How great an endearment did he pass upon us in our Creation? we might have been admitted into the lowest form of Creatures, and have only enjoyed the life of flies or worms; but he made us little lower than the Angels, and Crowned us with glory and honor, and gave us dominion over all the works of his hands, Psal. 8.5. Whereas the rest of the Creatures were the acts of his power; the Creation of man was an act of power and wisdom; in all the rest there was nothing, but he spake the word, and they were made, Psal. 148.5. But in the making of man there was a consultation about it, Gen. 1. Let us make man; he framed our bodies, so that all the parts conspire for the ornament and service of the whole: Psal. 139.15. Thine eye did see my substance being yet imperfect, and in thy book were all my members written; and therefore Lactantius said truly, hominem non patrem esse sed generandi Ministrum; man is only the instrument which the Lord doth use for the effecting of his purpose to raise the beautiful Fabric of man's body: Now if we are obliged to express the dearest love to our Parents, with how much greater reason should we love God, who is the fountain of all our beings.

He hath breathed into man a spiritual, immortal, rational soul, which is more worth than the whole World; this is in some sort a spark and ray of Divine brightness; 'tis capable of God's Image, 'tis a fit Companion for Angels, to join with them in the praises of God, and enjoy a blessed eternity with them. 'It is capable of communion with God himself, who is the fountain of life and happiness. The soul is endowed with those faculties which being terminated upon God, it enjoys an infinite and everlasting blessedness. The understanding by knowledge rests in God as the first and highest in genere veri; the will by love embraces him as the last and greatest in genere boni; and so receives perfection and satisfaction, which is the incommunicable privilege of the rational soul. Beasts can only converse with drossy and material objects, they are confined to earthly things; but the soul of man may enjoy the possession and fruition of God, who is the Supreme and Sovereign good. Now this should inflame our love to God; he formed our bodies, he inspired our souls. Moreover, if we consider our lives, we shall find a chain of mercy which reaches from one end to the other of them.

How many Miracles of Providence do we enjoy in our preservation? how many unseen dangers do we escape? how great are our daily supplies? The provisions we receive, do serve not only for necessity, but for delight; every day we have the provisions of meat and drink not only to cure hunger, and all our thirst, but to refresh the heart, and to make us cheerful in our work; every hour is filled up with the bounties of God: Now what shall we render to the Lord for all his benefits? he desires our love; this is the most proper return we can make; for love is of an opening and expansive quality calling forth the heart; our love within should break forth to close with God's love without; the love of obedience in us, with the love of favor and bounty in him. 'It is a principle of nature deeply implanted in the hearts of men, to return love for love; nay, the very Beasts are not deficient in this; Isaiah 1.3. The Ox knows his Owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib: Those Creatures which are of all the most stupid and heavy, respect their Feeders, and express dumb signs of love unto them. How much more should we love God, who spreads our Table, fills our Cup, and causes his Sun to shine, and his Rain to fall on us? 'It is an Argument of Secret Atheism in the heart, that in the confluence of mercies we enjoy, we do not look up to the Author of them, as if common mercies were the effects of Chance, and not of Providence; if a man constantly relieves our wants, we judge it the most barbarous disingenuity not to repay love to him; but God loads us with his benefits every day; his wisdom is always busied to serve his mercy, and his mercy to serve our necessities, but we are insensible and unaffected; and yet the meanest mercy as it comes from God hath an excellency stampit upon it. We should upbraid our souls for our coldness to God; everywhere we encounter sensible demonstrations of his love to us; in every moment of our lives we have some pledges of his goodness. Let us light our Torch at this Mountain of fire; let the renewed act of his bounty constrain us to love him; we should love him for his excellency, though we had no benefit by him; nay, though he hated us, we are bound to love him as he is truly amiable in himself; how much more when he draws us with the cords of a man, with bands of love? whosoever requites the love of God with hatred, (as every impenitent sinner doth) puts off the nature of man, and degenerates into a Devil.

2. Fear; this is that eternal respect which is due to our Creator; an humble reverence we owe to him, as he is infinitely above us; the holy Angels cover their faces when they have the clearest views of his glory: Isaiah 6.1, 2, 3.. The Lord is represented as sitting on a Throne, and the Seraphims stood about, each having six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain his feet, and with twain did he flee; and one cried to another, Holy, holy, holy Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory: The Angels are pure and innocent Creatures; they fear not his angry justice, but they adore his excellencies and perfections; his is a dread, when a most Serene Majesty. Penal fear is inconsistent with the joys of heaven, but the fear of admiration is perfected there; and in this sense the fear of God continues forever, Psal. 19.9. In all our addresses to him we should compose our spirits, by the awful apprehension of that infinite distance which is between God and us. Eccles. 5.2. Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; the greatest distance in nature is but an imperfect discovery how much we are beneath God; 'tis the effect of grace to represent the Divine being and glory so to the soul, that in the most social duties it may have impressions of fear; Psal. 2.11. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. We should fear his greatness and power, in whose hands our life and breath, and all our ways are; the fear of God having its actual force upon the soul, is operative and instrumental to holy walking, from whence the fear of God is taken in Scripture for the whole duty of man, it being an introduction to it. The fear of God, and keeping his Commandments are joined together, Eccles. 12.13. This is the Prepositus which governs our actions according to God's will; this is a watchful Centinel against the most pleasant temptations; it kills delight in sin, (by which the integrity of most men is lost;) for delight cannot dwell with fear; this is the guard and security of the soul in the days of trouble; the fear of God countermines the fear of men; this cuts off base and unworthy complyings; therefore the Lord brings this as an antidote against the base fear of men; Isa. 51.12, 13. Who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, that shall be made as grass? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the Heavens, and laid the foundations of the Earth? This exalts a Christian above human frailty, and makes him despise the threatenings of the world, whereby many are terrified from their constancy. It is the most unreasonable thing to be Cowards to men, and fearless of God. Men have but a finite power, and so they cannot do that hurt they would; and they are under the Divine Providence, and therefore are disabled from doing that hurt, which otherwise they could do; but the power of God is absolute and unconfined; therefore our Savior presses with vehemency upon his Disciples, Matth. 10.28. Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell: He lives forever, and can punish forever; therefore when duty and life cannot stand together, he that flies the danger by delivering up his soul, exchanges the pain of a moment for the torments of Eternity: Austin upbraids the folly of such; They fear the Prison, but they fear not Hell; they fear temporal torment, but they fear not the pains of unquenchable fire; they fear the first, but not the second death.

3. Dependance, in respect of his all-sufficiency to supply our wants; and Omnipotency to secure us from dangers

First, his all-sufficiency can supply our wants; he is the Sun, Fountain and Mine of all that is good; from hence the Prophet glories in God, Habbakkuk 3.17, 18. Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the Vines; the labor of the Olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the Flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will r • joyce in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. He expresses not only things for delight, as the fruit of the Vine and fig-tree, but things for necessity, as the meat of the field, and the flocks of the stall, and the utter failing of these together; for otherwise the want of one might be supplied by the enjoyment of another. Now in the absolute loss of these supports and comforts of life, the Prophet saw all things in God; want of all outward things is infinitely recompencit in the presence of God: The Sun needs not the glimmering light of the Stars to make day; God without the assistance of the Creatures can make us really happy; in the enjoying of him we have all things, and that to the greatest advantage. The things of this world deceive our expectations, and draw forth our corruptions; but in God we enjoy them more refinedly, and more satisfyingly, the dregs of sin and sorrow being removed; by possessing God there is no burden which we are not able to bear, but he takes it a • ay, our wants, weakness and sufferings; and there is no excellency of his which we are able to enjoy, but he conveys to us, his grace, his glory. There is true riches in his favor, true honor in his approbation, true pleasure in his peace. He is the treasure and triumph of the soul. Lam. 3.24. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him: He is such a portion, that all temporal crosses cannot hinder its influence on us, and his influxive presence makes heaven; he is a portion that cannot be lost, he inseparably abides with the soul.

The real belief and application of this will keep a Saint in an holy independency on earthly things; the flames which shall burn the World, cannot touch his portion; he may stand upon its ruins, and say, I have lost nothing.

Moreover, this will keep the soul upright in the course of obedience; for all the exorbitancies and swervings from the Rule proceeds from the apprehensions of some particular good in the Creature, which draws men aside. Those who want the light of faith (which discovers God's all-sufficiency) only admire present and sensible things; and to obtain these, they depart from God; but the more eagerly they seek after these temporal good things, the further they run from the Fountain of goodness, which alone can sweeten the best things we enjoy; and counterbalance their absence; the Creatures are but of a limited benignity, the necessity of their number proves the meanness of their value; but one God answers all, he is an infinite and indefective good; he is for all the powers of soul and body, to hold them in their pleasant exercise, and to give them rest; he is alone able to impart happiness, and to preserve that happiness he imparts.

Secondly, his Omnipotency can secure us from dangers. The Creation is a standing Monument of his Almighty Power; for what but Omnipotency could out of nothing produce the beautiful Fabric of heaven and earth; man cannot work without materials, but God doth; and that which exalts his power, is, that he made it by his Word; he spake the Word, and they were made, saith the Psalmist, Psal. 33.9. There went no greater pains to the Worlds Creation, than God's command.

Moreover, the World is preserved from perishing by the power of its Maker. Certainly, without the support of his mighty hand, the World had long before this time relapfed to its primitive nothing: Many instances we have of his power, in those miraculous deliverances which he hath shewn to his people in their extremity; sometimes by suspension of the Works of Nature; his dividing the Red Sea, and making it as a solid Wall, that the Israelites might have a secure passage! his stopping the Sun in its course, that Joshua might have time to destroy his enemies! his suspending the nature of the fire, that it might not so much as singe the garments of the three Hebrews! his shutting the mouth of the devouring Lions, and r turning Daniel in safety from that dreadful Den! And are not all these, and many others of this kind, not only the pregnant testimonies of his love, but the everlasting Characters of his Omnipotency. Moreover, that which expresses the power of God with as great a luster, is the turning of the hearts of many cruel enemies from their intended rage to favor his people; thus did he change the heart of Esau, who had resolved the death of his brother; that instead of killing him, he expressed the greatest tenderness, and the most endearing affections to him; thus did he so sway the hearts of the Egyptians towards the oppressed Israelites, that instead of securing them under bondage, they encouraged their departure, by enriching them with jewels of silver and of gold, Exod. 12.35. Now our duty is to glorify this power of God, by placing our trust on him. Psal. 121.2, 3. My help comes from the Lord, who made the heavens and the earth; he will not suffer thy foot to be moved; by dependence on God the soul is composed in the midst of the most apparent dangers; as the upper Region of the Air is calm and serene, whatever storms are here below; thus David expresses the same courage in all Estates; when he was retired into a Cave to shelter himself from the fury of Saul, he sung the 57. Psal. which he then composed; My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise; and afterwards when he triumphed over Hadadezer the King of Zebah, he composed the hundred and eighth Psalm, and sung the same words: O God, my heart is fixed, I will sing and give praise; i • faith taught him the same song in the Cave, and on the Throne; in all our exigencies we should apply the power of God; the cause of our perplexing fears, is our low apprehension of God's power, and therefore when we are surrounded with difficulties and dangers, then we are surprised with terror and dispondency; whereas when there are visible means to rescue us, we lift up our heads: but our duty is in the greatest extremities to glorify his power, and to refer ourselves to his goodness; and though we cannot be certain that God will by miracles rescue us from dangers, as he did many of his people in former Ages; yet we are sure he will so abate the power and force of the most injurious enemies, as they shall not conquer the patience, nor break the hope of his people.

4. We owe perfect obedience to God's will; vid. Subjection to his Commands, and submission to his Providence. 1. Subjection to his Commands. As he is the first cause, so he is the Supreme Lord; he that gave us life, must give us law: God hath an absolute title to our service as Creator; this made the Psalmist desire the knowledge of God's Commandments in order to his obedience. Psal. 119.73. Thy hands have made me; and fashioned me, give me understanding, that I may learn thy Commandments; he may learn this from the universal obedience of all creatures, those which are without reason, sense or life, inviolably observe his commands. Isaiah 48.13. Mine hand hath laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand hath span'd the heavens, when I call to them they stand up together, as prepared to execute his commands. The insensible parts of the World are so compliant with his will, as to contradict their proper natures to serve his glory; fire descends from heaven at his command; the fluid Sea stands up as a solid wall in obedience to him; this upbraids our Degeneration and Apostasy, that we who are most indebted to the goodness of our Creator, should prove disloyal and rebellious, when the inferior creatures with one consent serve and glorify him.

Lastly, we owe submission to the will of his Providence; there is no shadow of exception can be formed ag • i •• t his Sovereignty; he may do by right whatever he can do by power, therefore we should acquiesce in his dispensations; this consideration silencit David, Psal. 39.9. I held my tongue, and said nothing, because thou didst it; as the presence of a grave person in authority quiets a disordered multitude; so the apprehension of God's supremacy composes our riotous thoughts and passions; unquietness of spirit in troubles, springs from the ignorance of God, and of ourselves; by impatience we cite God before our Tribunal, and do as it were usurp his Throne; we set up an antiprovidence, as if his wisdom should be taught by our folly; and sometimes in afflictions we eye the next cause, but do not look upward to the Sovereign Disposer of all things, l ke Balaam, who struck the Ass, but did not see the Angel which opposed him; thus from a brutish imagination we regard the visible instrument of our trouble, but consider not the Providence of God in all; from hence it is that our spirits are full of unquiet agitations; we live continually upon self-created Racks: Now the humble acknowledgement of God's hand, and the submitting of ourselves to his will, as it glorifies God, so it gives ease to us; as there is the greatest equity, so policy in our willing stooping to him. Rom. 14.11. As I live saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God; he engages his life and honor for this: if there is not a voluntary, there must be a violent subjection to him; the willful man never wants woe; the spring of our daily misery, as well as our sins is, opposition to God's will; but the cheerful resignation to his Providence, what a blessed pill of rest is this to the soul? what a Sabbath from all those sinful and penal disturbances which discompose our spirits; 'tis a lower heaven; for as in the state of glory there is an unchangeable agreement between the will of the Creator and the creature, so according to the same measure and degree wherein we conform our wills to God's, we proportionably enjoy the holiness and blessedness of that state.

THE TRINITY Proved by Scripture.

IN the fifth verse of this Chapter, the Apostle had laid this down as an Article of faith, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Who is he that ovcrcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God: Now for the proof of so glorious a truth, the Apostle produces six witnesses, and ranks them into two orders, some bear record in heaven, and some bear witness on earth; some bear witness on earth, as ver. 8. of this Chapter, There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one; and some bear record in heaven, in the words of my Text: There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.

In the words you may take notice of these particulars.

1. The number of the heavenly witnesses, or the number of those witnesses that bear record in heaven, viz. three.

2. Their dignity or excellency, they are in heaven.

3. Their act, they bear record.

4. The names of the witnesses, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.

5. Their unity, and these three are one.

I would observe from the context,

[Observ.] That it is not an easy matter to believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God: Whence is it else that the Apostle so often urges this point in this Epistle? whence is it else, that whereas it is sufficient for any truth to be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses? here are no less than six witnesses produced to prove that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God; three heavenly, and three earthly; and indeed who can declare the great mystery of the eternal generation of the Son of God: I will give five wonders in five words.

1. God the Father communicates the whole divine essence unto the Son, and yet hath the whole divine essence in himself: If God communicates his essence, it must be his whole essence; for that which is infinite, cannot admit of any division, partition, or diminution; yet methinks, we have a faint resemblance of this here below. 'It is not with things of a spiritual nature, as with things of a corporeal; spiritual things may be communicated without being lessened or divided; viz. when I make a man know that which I know, my knowledge is still the same, and nothing diminished; and upon his account, whether that Argument against the traduction of the soul, that if the soul of the Father be traduced, the Father is left soul-less be cogent, I leave to the judgment of the learned: 'It is to be granted, that to communicate the notion is one thing, and the faculty is another, but both are things of a spiritual nature.

2. God the Father, and God the Son are one essence, and yet though the Father begets the Son, the Son doth not beget himself: The Father and the Son are one God, yet the Lord Jesus is the Son of God, under that notion, as God is a Father, and not the Son of God, under the notion as God is a Son, and so not the Son of himself.

3. God the Father begetteth God the Son, and yet the Father is not elder than the Son, nor the Son younger than the Father; he that begetteth, is not in time before him that is begotten; if God was a Father from everlasting, then Christ was a Son from everlasting; for relata sunt simul natura, an eternal Father must have an eternal Son.

4. The Father begets the Son, yet the Son is not inferior to the Father, nor the Father superior to the Son: The Lord Jesus Christ being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God; it was his right, and therefore it was no robbery; as he is coeternal, so he is coequal with the Father.

5. The Father begets the Son, yet the Son hath the same numerical nature with the Father, and the Father the same numerical nature with the Son; an earthly son hath the same specifical nature with his Father, but then though it be the same in regard of kind, yet it differs in regard of number; but God the Father, and God the Son have the same individual numerical nature.

[Use.] Let me entreat you that you would attend unto the record and testimony that is given by those witnesses; and for your encouragement consider the difference between these heavenly witnesses in the Text, and earthly wi nesses, and so I shall proceed to that which I mainly intend.

1. On earth; there may be some single or one witness, but here are no less than three.

2. Earthly, witnesses are such as are liable to exception, but these are in heaven beyond all exception.

3. As for earthly witnesses, it may come to pass that their names may not be known, these here are named; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost.

4. Earthly witnesses, when they are produced, either may be silent, or it may be bear false witness, but these bear record, and their record is true.

5. Earthly witnesses may not agree in their witness, as the witnesses brought against Christ; but there is a sweet consent and agreement amongst these witnesses, for these three are one.

6. Whereas Earthly witnesses, although they may be one in regard of consent, yet they are not one in regard of essence; every man hath one particular individual essence of his own, but these are one in regard of essence: Now pray mark this, for if it be so, then the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Ghost God. And therefore the Socinian, who denies the Deity of the Word, and of the Holy Ghost, will persuade you to believe that these words are to be expounded thus, these three are one; that is, says he, these three agree in one; but that this is not the meaning of the phrase, appears by the variation of it in the next verse; the words are, There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one: Now if both phrases note unity in consent, here is an occasion of offense, and falling administered by the variation of them in these two verses; why is it not said the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost agree in one, as well as the Spirit, water and blood.

And suppose we should grant that the oneness spoken of in the Text is to be expounded of consent in will and agreement, yet it would prove the Godhead both of the Father, and Spirit; for in free Agents, where there is the same will, there is the same nature, indeed with men it is the same specifical nature, not numerical; because there is but one God only, therefore here it must be the same numerical nature.

The doctrine I would speak more fully to, is the doctrine of the Trinity, or that there are three persons in the divine essence.

In the prosecution of this point, I shall (by God's assistance) observe this method.

1. I shall speak something to the notion of a Divine person.

2. I shall show you that these are three persons in the Divine essence.

3. I shall speak somethi • g to the distinction of those pers s.

4. I sh • ll speak to the order of these persons.

5. I shall inquire whe • her the mystery of the Trinity may be found out by the light of nature.

6. The Use and Application.

1. I shall speak something to the notion of a divine person; what a divine person is, or wherein it consists.

Resol. 1. Negatively; a divine person in the precise notion of it, is not a being or singularis substantia persona, & natura singularis clare distinguitur; there is a clear difference between person and nature, as you may perceive by these following considerations.

1. Our Lord Jesus Christ assumed the nature of man, and yet not the person of men.

2. Those things which may really be separated are not the same; but that personality may be separated from nature, appears by the foregoing instance.

3. If a person were a being, it must either be finite or infinite; if finite, then something finite would be in God; if infinite, then there would be three infinites in God, or which is all one, there would be three God's; now Deum trinum asserimus, Deum triplicem negamus.

2. Positively; a person is modus rei, the manner of a being; and a divine person is modus divinae essentiae, the divine essence modificated, or the divine essences considered three manner of ways; for i • stance, consider the divine essence as the fountain or principle of deity, so it is the first person; consider it as streaming forth from the Fa • her, so it is the second person; consider it as breathed forth by Father and Son, and so it is the third person.

I said before that the Father is the fountain or principle of deity; now this must warily be understood; I do not say, the Father is the cause of deity, but the principle; there is a wide difference between p incipium & causam, a principle and a cause. Omnis causa est pr • ncipium, sed omne principium non est causa; the cause of a thing may be called its beginning, but the beginning of a thing is not necessarily its cause; the beginning of a line, is not the cause of it.

But to return, where we were, a divine person is modus divinae essentiae, the divine essence modificated, the divine essence considered three manner of ways; now the manner of a thing is neither ens, nor nihil; it is neither a thing, nor yet nothing; for instance, the folding of my hands, is not ens, for then I should be a Creator, and make something; nor is it plainly nothing; for there is difference between my hands folded, and my hands expanded.

Now we use the word person, because it notes the subsistence of the most excellent kind of being, and hath more in it than subsistence hath; we say a beast doth subsist, but it is absurd to say a beast hath personality; because a person notes an understanding subsistent; besides, the word person is attributed to God in the Scripture; in the Epistle to the Hebrews, you find these words made use of by the Apostle concerning Christ; the brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his person.

2. I am to show you that there are three persons in the divine essence, and that from Scriptures, both in the Old Testament, and in the New.

1. By Scriptures in the Old Testament; to that purpose, take into your thoughts these particulars.

1. A plurality of persons may be proved by that Scripture, Gen. 1.26. where God speaks of himself in the plural number; Let us make man in our Image; this notes more persons in the Godhead than one; 'tis true, something is urged by way of Objection.

Object. 1. God speaks by way of Apostrophe unto the Angels, that they should bear witness of the works of Creation; it is usual in Scripture, for God to speak to the creatures; as in the Prophecy of Isaiah; Hear oh heavens, and give ear oh earth, for the Lord hath spoken.

Resol. 1. Although God is sometimes brought in in the Scripture speaking unto the creature, yet it is impossible that this Scripture should be expounded after this manner; For,

1. Those unto whom God speaks, were companions with him in the work of Creation; Let us make man after our Image; now God did not make use of Angels as instruments in the work of Creation, not indeed could he so do; For,

1. Every instrument must have subject matter to work upon; but Creation doth nor presuppose a subject, but make it.

2. Every instrument must have time to work in, but Creation is in an instant; and therefore when we read that God created the world by Jesus Christ, as in the Epistle to the Hebrews; by whom (speaking of Christ) he made the world; this particle per, or by, non est nota instrumenti, sed nota ordinis, notes not instrumentality, but the order amongst the divine persons; for as there is an order in regard of themselves, so in regard of their operations; operari sequitur esse; and hence it is, that although we read that God the Father made the world by Jesus Christ, yet we do not read that Jesus Christ made the world by the Father.

2. God speaketh unto those persons, after whose image man was to be made; Let us make man after our image; now man was not to be made after the image of Angels, but the image of God himself.

Ob ect. 2. God speaks more magnatum, or more pincipium, after the manner of great ones, who speak in the plural number.

Resol. 1. If God speaks more magnatum, after the manner of great ones, why doth he not always, or at least frequently speak after this manner? you will find God speaking in Scripture for the most part in the singular number; even in this very book of Genesis, Behold, I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth. Behold, I even I establish my Covenant with you. Fear not Abraham (saith God) I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward; and elsewhere, I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect.

2. If God speaks in the plural number after the manner of great ones, then certainly he would speak after this manner, when he discovers most of his royalty, and power, and Majesty, as he did at the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai; and yet there he speaks in the singular number; Exod. 20.2. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3. 'It is likely the Princes did at first speak in the plural number, not to note their power and greatness, but their modesty and wariness; that it was not their design to rule according to will, but according to counsel; that they were willing to advise with others, and to be guided by others; The wisest Kings on earth will have their counsel, and it is no more than needs; plus vident oculi, quam oculus, many eyes see more than one eye; but God's Counsel is his Will; Who worketh all things after the counsel of his own Will. Nor indeed is it safe or fit for any to govern arbitrarily, or purely by will, but he whose Will is his counsel, it is so far from needing a rule, that it is the only Rule.

2. As a plurality of persons, so a Trinity of persons may be proved out of the Old Testament; I shall mention, and only mention for brievity sake, one place in the Prophecy of Isaiah, in the seventh verse you have mention made of Jehovah, or the Lord; in the ninth verse, of Jesus Christ, called the Angel of his presence; in the tenth verse, of the holy Spirit; but they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit.

2. You have this doctrine more clearly delivered in the New Testament, as will appear by several instances.

1. At the Baptism of Christ, the Trinity of persons were clearly discovered; you may read the history; And Jesus when he was baptized, went up strait way out of the water, and lo the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him, and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Consider here,

1. We have three names given severally and particularly to three persons.

1. He who spake with a voice from heaven was the Father.

2. He who was Baptized in Jordan, is called the Son.

3. He who descended in the shape of a Dove, is called the Spirit of God.

2. There were three outward signs or symbols by which those three persons did manifest themselves.

1. The Father by an audible voice; the Word in heaven, is borne witness to by a word from heaven.

2. The Son in the human nature.

3. The holy Ghost in the shape of a Dove.

3. They are described by three distinct actions.

1. The one cries by a voice from heaven, This is my well-beloved Son, hear him; this could not be the voice of the Son, for then he would be Son to himself; nor can this be attributed unto the Spirit, for then Jesus would have been the son of the Spirit.

2. The second, after his Baptism, prays; Luke 3.21. It came to pass, that Jesus being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened.

3. The third descended in the shape of a dove, and rested upon Jesus Christ.

Now to close this particular, why might it not be said, that the Father was baptized in Jordan as well as the Son? or that the Father descended in the shape of a dove, as well as the Spirit; or that the Son did all this, speak with a voice from heaven, and was baptized in Jordan, and descended in the shape of a dove; if this were not a truth, that there are three persons in the divine essence? hence the primitive Christians used to say unto any one that doubted of the Trinity, abi ad Jordanem & videbis, go to Jordan, and you will see a Trinity.

2. This doctrine may be proved from the institution of the Ordinance of Baptism; Go ye therefore and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and indeed, no wonder if God discovered himself to be three persons, and one God at Christ's Baptism, when the name of the blessed Trinity, is as it were in fair and legible Characters, writ upon the forehead of the Ordinance of Baptism its self; Baptism its self, is as it were, baptized in the Name of the Father, Son, and holy Ghost; now these I call the words of institution; for although you have not here the first institution of Baptism, John the Baptist, who was called so from this very Ordinance, administering this Sacrament, and the Disciples questionless from the Command of Christ himself; the Evangelist John tells us, that Jesus himself baptized not, but his Disciples; yet here you have a solemn command for baptism, and the form of the administration thereof unto all generations.

And here consider,

1. Christ commands them to baptize, not in the names, but in the Name of the Father, Son, and holy Ghost; if you consider them personally, so they have three names, Father, Son, and holy Ghost; if essentially, then but one name; unum nomen, una deitas, one God, one deity; and I observe farther, that which way soever we expound this phrase in the name, either calling upon the name of the Father, Son, and holy Ghost (as some) or in the name, by the authority, or at the appointment of God the Father, Son, and holy Ghost (as others) or in the name, viz. for the service, honor, and glory of God the Father, Son, and holy Ghost (as a third sort) you must either make these to be three God's, or else three persons in the Godhead; for who is the object of our prayers but God? who hath authority to appoint Ordinances for his Church but God? whom are we to serve and worship but God alone? Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

2. They were to baptize, not in the name of the Father by the Son, or by the Spirit; but in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, which notes the equality of the three persons.

3. Father, Son, and holy Ghost, are so joined together, that we are no less baptized in the name of the Son, and of the Spirit, than of the Father; and therefore their deity is the same, their power and authority the same.

4. An Article is thrice prefixed, and added to everyone, baptizate in nomine 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that Father, that Son, that holy Ghost; that Father whose voice you have heard from heaven; that Son, whom as yet you see in the human nature; that holy Ghost, whom you have seen descending upon me in the shape of a Dove; Surely the repetition of this Article, doth not want its singular Emphasis, that Father, that Son, and that holy Ghost.

3. This doctrine may yet further be cleared from that saying of our Savior; I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter; hence is plainly proved the personality of the Holy Ghost, he is called another Comforter; now he who is distinguished from the Father and the Son, in the manner as to be called another comforter, is either distinguished in regard of his essence, or in regard of his personal subsistence; not in regard of his essence, for then he would be another God, and therefore he is another in regard of his personal subsistence.

4. You have a clear proof for this doctrine in the words of the Text; There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the holy Ghost, and these three are one; and to that purpose, consider,

1. You have mention here of three witnesses; now three witnesses are three persons.

2. The Word and holy Ghost are conjoined in their Testimony with the Father, which is not competible to any creature; and lest we should doubt of this, it is expressly said even by Saint John himself, to be the witness of God; Verse 9. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son; and concerning Christ, it is said that he is the true God; ver. 20. This is the true God, and eternal life; let the Socinian show me where any creature is called the true God; Concerning the Spirit also in this Chapter, it is said ver. 6. that he is truth itself; It is the Spirit that beareth Witness, because the Spirit is Truth.

3. If there be three witnesses, whereof everyone of them is God, the one not the other, and yet not many God's, but one true God; the point is clear, there are three distinct persons subsisting in one divine essence, or (which is all one) there are three persons and one God.

3. I am to speak something to the distinction of these three persons; though they cannot be divided, yet they may be, they are distinguished; many things in nature may be distinguished, which cannot be divided; for instance, the cold and the moisture, which is in the water, may be distinguished, but they cannot be divided; Now that those three persons are distinguished appears,

1. By what hath been already said, the Father is not the Son, nor the Son the Father, nor the holy Ghost the Father or the Son.

2. By the words of the Text; here are three heavenly witnesses produced to prove that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, namely,