A Model of Divinity, Chapter 4
CHAPTER IIII. Of Gods Eſſence.
Queſtion.
VVHat is Gods Eſſence?
Anſwere.
It is that whereby be is the firſt and moſt abſolute being. Being is that whereby a thing is truely and really in eſſence, or exiſtence. And it is either the firſt being, or that which is from the firſt. Now God is the firſt. Iſa. 41.4. and 48.12. and therefore eſſentially one. Iſa. 46.9. Deut. 6.4. Eth. 4.6. Furthermore, God is abſolute, as being independent from any other. There was a firſt man, and a firſt in eueryevery kinde of creature, but no abſolute firſt, ſaue God. Exed. 3.14. Ioh. 8.58. If any aske me why wee define the eſſence of God, ſeeing wee formerly ſayd it was not knowne of vsus, our anſwere is, wee define it relatiuely, not ſimply, to wit, as it is a firſt, and that abſolute firſt being is knowne beſt in it ſelfe, and ſo is God; for, there is nothing more intelligible then he; yet of vsus nothing is leſſe knowne, we come to him by ſeconds, and the begins of other things. Which proue neceſſarily a firſt, and that abſolutely; for, two will proue one to goe before, and dependent beings will proue an independent. The Sunne beames are more viſible to our eyes, when they are caſt obliquely vponupon their obiects, then when they fall directly: ſo, wee muſt ſhew you God rather in the bleſſings we receiue from him, then thoſe excellencies which are in him. It is the beſt and the longeſt leſſon even thus to learne him, and of ſureſt vſe: which alone if wee take not out, it were better not to hauehave liued. Oh, that we would often exerciſe, to acquaint our nature, and draw it into ſome familiaricie with God, the very ſoule and being of it. And though at firſt wee make but our fire of greene wood, yet not to bee tyred with blowing, vntill our devotions be ſet on flame. If we endeuour, God will helpe, by enlightning our vnderſtandings, till we be wholly enflamed with a louelove of him. And as Moſes, by often talking with God, had a glorious gliſtering ſet vponupon his countenance: ſo, wee by our often frequenting conference with God, in prayers, and meditations, ſhall finde in our ſelues, though not ſuddenly, yet in time, a moſt heavenly change.
Q. What followes from hence?
A. The obſervation of the eſſentiall name of God; as, Lehovah, Iah, Eheie. The firſt word delivers vntounto vsus ſuch an eſſence as ever was, is, and ſhall be. Rev. 3.14. Ie, is a note of the Future tenſe; Ho, of the Preſent, and Vah of the Preterperfect tenſe: and ſo is well expounded. Rev. 1.8. But ill expounded by thoſe, which by them would vnderſtand, the Trinitie, giuing the preſent to the Father, paſt to the ſonne, and to come to the Spirit. Yet it is true the Father workes of himſelfe, and as the preſent begins time, ſo he the action: it is alſo true that the Sonne works from him, and therefore paſſeth on the action, as that which is paſt doth time. Neyther can this be denyed but that the Spirit worketh from them both, and ſo finiſheth te action, as the future doth the poynts and periods of time. But this word is eſſentiall, and not perſonall, and therefore is giuen of God to expreſſe the eſſence, not the perſons. Iah is contracted of Iehovah, not to ſignifie a diminute God, as if it were the diminutiue thereof: but ſtill for eſſence and preſent being. Neither is it applyed to Chriſt, humbled in the fleſh, as if that were the diminution of it, but it is the denomination of one and thee ſelfe ſame glorious eſſence in all the perſons. Eheie, is as much as, I will be, which no creature can peremptorily affirme. Time changeth all things, and there is none that hath the command of it, but he alone that gaue it beginning, and continuance, and to whom the account of our very houres are due, and beſt knowne. But I muſt not lead you from Elins into the wilderneſſe, and leauing the wells of water, trouble you with the barrenneſſe of mans braine. Take theſe Texts of Scripture for confirmation, and further illuſtration. Exod. 3.14. and 15.2.3. Pſal. 68.4. Iſa. 42.8. Happy are we that wee reſt vponupon ſuch a being, and may enioy all things in him, and him in all things, nothing in it ſelfe, ſo ſhall our ioyes neyther change nor periſh: for, how ever the things themſelues may alter and fade, yet he in whom they are ours, is ever like himſelfe, conſtant, and everlaſting.
Q. What followes in the ſecond place?
A. That God is free and voyd of all power, either to be, or be otherwiſe then he is. And therefore faith reſts vponupon a moſt ſubſtantiall and immutable being. Hee hath neither cauſes to over power him, or accidents to change him, and ſo he is aboue all ſubſtantiall and accidentall power. Cauſes prevaile in eueryevery creature, but the Creator is voyde of them. And hereupon God is from himſelfe, of himſelfe, through himſelfe, and or himſelfe. He that is An…tios, without cauſes, is Autoon, God of himſelfe: yea, in vertue and power more then all cauſes to himſelfe. Goe then yee wiſe Idolatrous Paraſites, and erect Shrines, and offer ſacrifices to your God, the world, and ſeeke to pleaſe him with your baſe & ſervile devotions: it ſhall be long enough ere ſuch religion ſhall make you happie: you ſhall at laſt for ſake thoſe Altars, emptie, and ſorrowfull; for, both you & your God are beholding to a better being then your ſelues. How ridiculous is it to plead for an Idollgod that hath all the cauſes put vponupon him. What fooles will be perſwaded to reſigne vp their owne eye-ſight, and to looke thorow ſuch ſpectacles, as very ſottiſhneſſe doth temper for them. I will her preſume to preſſe in with an eaſie determination, although it ſeeme to me to be no other then a plaine quarrell, betweene ſtomacke, and diſcretion, a ſmall deale of wiſedome might decide it, eſpecially, conſidering that all things are from God, and God alone from himſelfe, Bluſh, ye Gentiles, that vſe a Smith, and Carpenter, ſo weake efficients, that they faint in drinking the ſtrongeſt liquor. That make choyce of iron, braſſe, gold, ſilver, wood. &c. as matter to matte the making of a God. But aboue all let them conſider, whom neither the fumes of ſiery paſſion do miſt, nor ſiniſter reſpects or preiudices ſway downe on either ſide, from the pitch of iuſt integritie: how ſilly and idle a thing it is to forme a God after the image of man, bird, or beſt, and that without the meaneſt life, farre from any Deitie or Divinitie, except it be by the late Maſters of the Mint, in the multitude of their moderne miracles: but the Lord knowes, that theſe coines and ſtampes are farre off the pureſt pathes of veritie. Alas, how doe they ray and robbe God of his excellencie, whiles they robe him in theſe raggs of rotten relickes? But this is the very hate of heauen, and in effect, the very gate or hie way to hell, to giuegive our ſelues vntounto it as our Summum Bomum, or chiefe good. Whiles Dagon ſtands, the Philiſtimes fall downe: but when Dagon was fallen before the Arke, the Philiſtimes ſtood to lift him vp. It is iuſt with God, that thoſe which want grace, ſhould want wit too; it is the power of ſuperſtision to turne men into thoſe ſtockes and ſtones, which they worſhip. Methinkes their vnderſtandings, and wits ſhould hauehave waded further, if Dagon fall, how ſhall we ſtand by him? If he cannot helpe himſelfe, what ſhall he profit vsus? Yet Idolatry and Superſtition are not eaſily put out of countenance; Dagon is vp againe, and the next morning (the fitteſt time for devotion) the Philiſtimes haſten their ſpeed, and flocke to their Temple, to ſee how Dagon had reſted that night vnderunder his owne Roofe; and now behold in kindneſſe their God is come to meeto them in the way; ſome peeces parted from the reſt ſalute them vponupon the threſhold; his head and his hands are over-runne their fellowes, to tell them, that neither his wit nor his power could ſtand before the true God. And now whereas the threſhold ſhould hauehave beene hollowed to the Victor; it is conſecrated to their beaten God. As if it had beene made more holy by his ruine, then Gods revenge. Therefore God ſtrikes them in their bodies, which could not feele themſelues ſtricken in their Idoll. Paine muſt humble them, whom ſhame cannot. And now they begin to confeſſe, that Gods hand was ſore vponupon them, and their God. Yet they make account of confeſſion as drunkards doe of vomiting: the Arke of the God of Iſrael ſhall not abide with them. Thus wicked men vponupon all occaſions are glad to bee rid of God, but with no patience can part with their ſiunes. And thus the Prophet by running through all the cauſes, Iſa. 40.18. with 44.12. derides the Heathen by making their gods. And then, as if they were beſotted, askes them, HaueHave yee not knowne? HaueHave yee not heard? Hath it not beene told you from the beginning? HaueHave yee not vnderſtood it from the foundations of the earth? It is be that is God, which is able to ſit vponupon he circle of the earth: ſtretch the heavens as a Curtains, and ſpread them as a Tert to dwell in.
Q. What followes from hence, that God is without all cauſes?
A. Firſt, He is without an efficient, or beginning. Rev. 1.8. and 3.14. And from hence he is not ſubiect or obnoxious to the creation, or annihilation of any other, as are ll creatures; yea, the very Angels; and therefore God is abſolutely independent, and ſupreame. And here nature and good nature may bring vsus to God. Reaſon hath no where either bound or banke to reſtraine it, but at this cauſe, hither will it bring vsus, and here will it leaue vsus. I am the beginning of the creatures, ſayth Chriſt; therefore God: goe by the creatures as workes, and they will lead vsus to their firſt efficient and beginning. Secondly, God is without all matter; and therefore moſt ſpirituall: the leſſe matter, and the more forme the creatures inioy, the more ſpirituall it makes them. By God therefore, ſo pure a ſpirit, are all things nouriſhed with the onelyonly dew of divine benediction: but this high way is ſo plaine, that a guide were needleſſe. Furthermore, God being moſt ſpirituall, is likewiſe moſt inviſible, and impalpable. Too ſubtile for ſinew or ſight to ſeaſe vponupon him. Luk. 24.39.1. Tim. 1.17. It would preſent him for a furious and raving Bedlam, that ſhould once formalize God to his owne fancies. Againe, where matter is wanting, there common nature is wanting; for, things communicate, as they riſe from ſome common ſtocke, and ſtemme. And becauſe all ſpecialls are contained vnderunder generalls, God wants that too; and therefore is properly, neither eſſence, or being: but an Huperouſios, or ſuper ſubſtantiall being by himſelfe, one onelyonly in number, neither dividing, nor devided; multiplying, or multiplyed. The wife is the husband devided, and the childe is the father multiplied. But God is neither ſo devided into three, neither are three ſo multiplied from one. He is (if I may ſo ſpeake with reverence) without all ſtocke or kine. Therefore when we ſay, eſſence is common, and perſon proper, it muſt be receiued with a graine of ſalt. For the common nature is not diſtributed into parts, as into perſons; but as common to all, ſo it is one individuall and ſingular eſſence in them all, and that receiued of each perſon without parts or paſſions; for, matter is the ground of both, and where that is wanting, they are not to bee found. I ſtay the longer vponupon theſe Negatiues, becauſe we re not looſely & lightly to ſlide over the things of God, as if they were vulgar, and triviall, like our owne. Thus farre you hauehave ſeene God, out of the rode and reach of the efficient, and matter: ſee him now voyd of forme and end; for in them likewiſe conſiſts power to be. The forme in going and comming is the cauſe of all generation and corruption; God therefore being without it, is incorruptible, and therefore a God immortall and everlaſting. Pſal. 102.26.27. Iam. 1.17.1. Tim. 1.17. A choice and refined peece of high Quinteſſence of wit is that of Papiſts in their breaden god, which yet never Church could diſtill out of her braines, or aſpire vntounto, beſides their owne. What generation and corruption doe they make of the everlaſting bread of heauen? Here perhaps might wee finde ſtuffe enough (I will not ſay to lade an Argoſie) but to over lade any mans wit in the world to reply vntounto. It ſhall ſuffice vsus to thinke of God as God, and man as man. Chriſt in heaven, and Chriſt in the Sacrament. Now if wee adde further, without both matter and forme together, then is God neither the whole, nor the member of any thing, or any wayes to be diſtributed or defined; I meane with perfect definition; becauſe he hath no eſſence diverſe from himſelfe, and therefore the definition, and that which it defines, are all one: ſo, that in God Thees and Theiotees, God and the God-head are all one. Laſtly, hauing neither matter, nor forme, he wants all terms and limitations of eſſence, and therefore as moſt ſimple, ſo moſt infinite in being. For end, God is endleſſe, being neither for any other, or hauing any other better then himſelfe, and therefore the chiefe good, and by communication our good, and ſo to be deſired aboue all. Math. 19.17. Pſal. 63.7.11 and 73.25. and 18.1.2. How eaſie is it now for Chriſtians to inſult over worldlings, that thinke themſelues worthy of enuie? and to turne off their darling with a ſcornefull repulſe? What if it make vsus the Devils proffer, All theſe will I giuegive you: Can wee not returne S. Peters anſwere, Thy ſiluer and gold periſh with thee? He alone that is cauſſeſſe, ſhall cauſe mee the happineſſe I expect, looke, and long for.
Q. What followes from hence, that God is without accidents?
A. That he is both Apoſes, without quantitie, and Apoios without qualitie. In regard of the firſt, hee is neither augmented nor diminiſhed; of the ſecond, neither altered nor changed. Euen to your old age I am he, and euen to heare haires will I carry you. Iſa. 46.4. I am the Lord, I change not: therefore yee ſonnes of Iacob are not conſumed. Mal. 3.6. By this I ſee that all things here below are as farre from ſinceritie, as continuance, if they were ſweete, as the ioyes aboue, yet how ſhould their fickleneſſe coole our delights, and make vsus eſteeme theſe drams of honey loſt in pounds of gall, and guile? We laugh at their choice that are in louelove with the deformed; and what a face is this we now dove vponupon? See if our ſinnes, cares, and croſſes hauehave not like a filthy morphew over-ſpread it; and made it loathſome (in compariſon of the beautie of the Creator) to all iudicious eyes. I marvaile then that we ſhould thus louelove, what woe cannot hold, and for a ſhadow of a ſmoake, and a dreame of a ſhadow leaue him, whoſe light is neither variable, nor ſhadowed with turning. Iam. 1.17. Here then, if wee will be wiſe Marchants, thriſtie and happie vſurers, let vsus part with that which wee can nor keepe, that we may gaine him whom wee cannot looſe. Theſe cottages of ours hauehave beene ruinous a long time, and the worſe for their accidents, and yet like fooles wee hauehave not thought of their fall. Lord giuegive mee grace to leane vponupon thee, then ſhall my fall be eaſie, and my reſt endleſſe. Oh, thou which art out of the power of others, over power mee to the obedience of thy ſelfe.
Q. What will follow from Gods eſſence in the laſt place?
A. That God is one moſt pure and meere act; that is, his being and action are all one thing. For as his eſſence is abſolute, ſo is his working. There is never a creature but hee worketh by qualities, and ſo his act is firſt in the power of them. The fire warmes not without heat, neither doth man vnderſtand without reaſon: a Bird might as eaſily flee without wings, and fire aſcend without lightneſſe, as the creature produce his actions without facultie and power thereunto. And hereupon it followeth, that paſſion and reſiſtence are incident to all his workes. The very Deuils ſuffer, and are reſiſted of God, and how ſoever their motion is too ſwift to be ſtricken, or ſlayed by corporall inſtruments, yet God is quicke enough for them, to make them both feele and feare the dint of his ſword. God therefore being ſo abſolute an act, muſt needs hauehave his being and doing all one.Iob. 5.17. My father worketh hitherto, and I worke, which ſhewes, that Gods act is eternall; and ſo creation as an act is from God, hath no beginning, as a paſſion in the creature, is meaſured by time. In regard of the firſt wee call him a pure and meere act. In regard of the ſecond, omnipotent, being able to make nothing as well as ſome thing, feele his worke which before could not be perceiued. And therefore omnipotencie, or Almightie power is not giuen to God in regard of himſelfe, but his creatures, which may feele that hand which before was vnfelt. Againe, Gods being and act being all one thing, hee muſt needs doe all things by his eſſence, which is purely one. Hence God is the Archetype, or firſt draught of eueryevery eminent act. In which reſpect it muſt needs be of ſoueraigne vſe for the diſcouering and reforming of whatſoeuer error time hath ſoyled his actions withall. How are defaced copies, and diſſigured pictures better amended, then by reducing them to their originall? If the pipe fayle, goe wee not to the head? O that his acts were ſet as a frontlet betweene the eyes, & as a ſeale vponupon the hearts of all his followers. Ought not all our actions to be as branches of this root? Surely, this is the cleare head-ſpring of all other enſuing brookes; and as little ſtreames empty themſelues into great rivers; and they againe into the Sea; ſo muſt all runne to this maine. Venerable it is for the very antiquitie of it. Conſidering therefore what price men doe ſet vponupon old copies, coynes, and ſtatues;Ignat: ad Marian: Caſſob. and that none will paſſe by a chryſtall fountaine, bearing ſome auncient name or date, but will taſte thereof, though no thirſt provokes him; I could not well paſſe over this leafe without ſome leſſon for mine owne learning. If any hauehave paſſed a longer way, with more happy fruit of obſervation, I deſire hee would not ſpare in ſome part to report the excellency of this travell. But to keepe me within the ſphere of my profeſſion. He that is ſo pure an act, muſt needs bee without all paſſion, and reſiſtence. A pure act cannot ſuffer,Iob 9.4 Rom. 9.19. becauſe it wants that power which ſhould ſubmit it to another; neither can it be reſiſted, for that which is over-powered, ſuffers in reſiſting, which to a meere act is impoſſible. And whereas God ſayes,Amos. 2.13. I am preſſed vnderunder you, as a Cart is preſſed that s full of ſbeaues: His meaning is, that their ſinne was ſo intollerable and waightie, that it was time to eaſe himſelfe of it by due puniſhment,Amos. 2.14.15.16. not ſuffering the ſwift to eſcape by flight, or the ſtrong by force, as the next verſes ſhew. O then the miſery of all thoſe that will needs be rich with iniury, and grow great by being conſcious of ſecret evils. Wealth and honour without God, when they are at the beſt, are ſcarce our friends: but at the worſt, our tormentors. Alas, alas, how ill agrees a gay coat, and a feſtred heart? What availes an high title with an hell in the ſoule? Theſe are they that muſt ſuffer. Sinne owes them a ſpite, and will pay them home when they leaſt thinke of it, yea, when they are leaſt able to beare it. I will therefore preferre all the afflictions of Gods Iſreal, Heb. 11.25.before theſe pleaſures of AEgypt; and chooſe rather to eat the lambe Chriſt, with theſe ſowre herbes, then all theſe fleſh-pots of ſinne. Let me be miſerable, ſo I be not guilty, and rather abound with ſorrow then ſinne: ſo ſhall the conſuming fire that no water can quench, or violence oppoſe, hauehave mercy vponupon me.Heb. 12.29: He is liberall, that I liue; but he ſhall bee munificent, in bringing a poore wretch from all miſeries to taſte of the full cup of his glory. Hitherto we hauehave but heard of God by way of Negation, denying of him all the imperfections of the creatures: Now, wee are to ſpeake of him by way of Affirmation, giuing him the moſt eminent and excellent perfections of his owne workes. The Schooles hauehave layd vsus downe a three-fold way of knowing God. As the negation of imperfections, the affirmation of perfections, and the cauſation of great workes. The two firſt we follow in Gods ſufficiency, the laſt wee leaue as proper to the efficiency.