A Model of Divinity, Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI. Of the Greatneſſe of God.
Queſtion.
VVHat Attributes ſhew his Greatneſſe?
Anſwere.
His vnitie, in regard of quantitie diſcret, Infiniteneſſe and eternitie, in regard of quantitie continued: ſuch is his Greatneſſe, that he is that one moſt infinite and eternall. See now, that I, euen I am he, and there is no God with me; Deut. 32.39.I lift vp my hand to heauen, and ſay, I liue for ever. In matter of life and death there is none comparable to the Almighty; all are but cyphers, that ſtand for a number with him, whoſe value and account is to be reckoned for nought. Let all proud Herods take heed, how they admit but the voyce of a God.Act 12.22.23. As no wrong can eſcape him; ſo leaſt of all thoſe which are offred to his Maieſty: he that made the eare, needs no intelligence of the tongue. All hauehave to doe with a God, that is light of hearing; men cannot whiſper any evill ſo ſecretly, that he ſhould not cry out of noyſe: and what needs any other evidence, when the Iudge is the witneſſe? And though ſome ſinnes doe not ever looke the ſame way they moue; yet this ſingle eyed God can eaſily diſtinguiſh betwixt the viſor of actions, and the face: he therefore cannot want honour and patronage, that ſeekes the honour of this God.
Q. What is Gods Vnitie?
A. Whereby he being one in eſſence, is alſo one in number. VntoUnto thee it was ſhewed, Deut. 4.35. Mar. 12.32. 1. Cor. 8.4.5.6.that thou mighteſt know, that the Lord he is God; there is none elſe beſide him. Thou haſt ſaid the truth: for there is one God, and there is no other but he. Though many are called Gods, yet to vsus there is but one God. Hence it followeth that we need not be diſtracted in the worſhip of this our God. Let him carry vsus which way hee will, make the paſſages never ſo troubleſome and perillous, yet the ſame hand that makes them hard will make them ſure, and if we be faithfull to him, he will maſter all difficulties for vsus. O God as wee hauehave truſted thee with the beginning, ſo will wee truſt thee with the finiſhing of our glory. And though never ſo many or maine hinderances of our ſaluation offer themſelues, and after all our hopes, threaten to defeat vsus, yet faithfull art thou that haſt promiſed, which wilt alſo doe it. For how ſhouldſt thou that art one in number and eſſence, be otherwiſe then thy ſelfe. All things doe turne vponupon this poynt, and haſten to this center: if it were not for vnitie, multiplicitie would deſtroy it ſelfe. Nature will runne out of it ſelfe to doe homage to this vniforme creator. What ayled thee O Sea, that thou fleddeſt, and thou Iordan, that thou waſt driuen backe? yee mountaines that yee leaped like Rammes, and yee little hills like Lombes? Surely, the earth trembled at thy preſence O Lord; at the preſence of the God of Iacob. It is naturall for the preſervation of vnitie, for waight it ſelfe to aſcend: how obſervant therefore ought all creatures be to him that made them? Alas, how could the rebellious Canaanites ſtand out againſt him, or his people, who the Seas and rivers gaue way vntounto? With what ioy might Gods people trample vponupon the dry channel of Iordan, ſeeing behind them, Aegypt, the Sea, and wilderneſſe overcome, and before them the promiſed land ſo ready to entertaine them, that the very waters being glad of their comming, ranne backe to welcome them into Canaan? O Lord, if thus thou be one, that all muſt yeeld, how great is this vnitie, making and comprehending all others? What a rowe of creatures follow thee, and what an Army doeſt thou lead? In ſpite of all Atheiſts, vnitie will Marſhall all vnderunder thy colours; and let them die by Marſhall law that dare once breake this ranke, and rebelliouſly ſet themſelues againſt thee. There were no numbers if thou wert not firſt, and if there be many, thou art a God: No A theiſt in the world ſhall be able to phillip off this authoritie with diſdaine. God is the firſt, becauſe in nature one is before two, and muſt begin in the order of computation. Account the times, and tell mee who hath multiplied them? Thinke on the creatures, and ſhew me their beginning. I deeme, all dayes and deeds in their ſucceſſion, will either proue nature a God, or a God of nature. And if eueryevery grape muſt hauehave his buſh, and each ſuſpition his prevention, let the Atheiſt take this anſwere. Nature is res nata, a thing bred and borne of, or by another. Who is then this grand Parent of Nature? Your owne Poets hauehave told you, wee are his off-ſpring. Act. 17.28.The head of nature is God, who of his owne will, of nothing begate all things: I ſay of his will, not of himſelfe; for, ſo ſhould he and all his creatures be ſimply one. And ſo wee ſhould need no other reckoning, the number would be ſoone told. But he muſt be ſedulous that will learne this ſecret, and by telling a multitude, or an heape of vnities, finde out one ſimply firſt. But why ſay I ſo, ſeeing two will proue one? let him then finde any number in being, and it will proue a God.
Q. What is Gods infiniteneſſe?
A. Whereby he is without all limits of eſſence. As Gods eternitie riſeth from this, that hee hath neither beginning nor ending: ſo his infiniteneſſe from this, that he hath neither matter nor forme, which are the proper limites of eſſence; as being moſt eſſentiall to eueryevery finite being. Indeed the limitation of any cauſe, makes the effect finite. Gen. 1.2. the earth is ſaid to be voyd and without forme. It was of nothing for matter, and it was all things for forme: yet wanting both theſe it was finite, as hauing his beginning and ending from God, who alone ſits vponupon the circle of it. Iſa. 40.22. and aboue it ſtretcheth the heavens, incloſing both, being incloſed by neither. Pſal. 147.5. The Lord is of great power, his vnderſtanding is infinite. And here may we ever be ſtriuing to perfection; and as the kine of the Philiſtimes, which drew the Arke of God, though they were milch, and had calues at home; the one to weaken them, the other to withdraw them: yet without turning to the right hand, or the left, they kept on their way, till they came to Bethſhemeſh: ſo, hauing once ioyned our ſelues to the yoake of Chriſt, and drawing forward towards this infinite eſſence, and the fruition of our bliſſe in him, let vsus chearefully beare the Arke of his Law vponupon our ſhoulders, in the way of holineſſe, and in ſpite of all hinderances, keepe on in our tract, till wee bee gotten where our everlaſting houſe and manſion is provided for vsus, and that by the hands of this vnlimited God.
Q. What followes from hence?
A. Firſt, The Immenſitie of God, whereby he is without all dimenſions, that is, of length, breadth, or thickneſſe. Hee is higher then heaven, deeper then hell, longer then the earth, broader then the Sea, &c. Iob 11.8.9. Iſa. 40.12. Ier. 23.23. A God at hand and a God a farre off. He that is freed from dimenſions, may pierce and penetrate, enter and paſſe whither he pleaſeth without probabilitie, or poſſibilitie of reſiſtence. A ſonne feeling the louelove of his father, creepes neerer vnderunder his wings, or elbow: how eaſie is it for God to enter our ſtony and ſteely hearts, and draw them after him? They that reſiſt the holy Ghoſt, doe it by gain-ſaying his word, not by fruſtrating his worke; for hee ſhall conuince the world. Io. 16.8. either to converſion, or confuſion. The altitude of pride, longitude of power, and profunditie of policie are trampled vponupon by God. Proud Belſhazzar (Dan. 5.27.) was weighed and found too light; Gods wand ſoone found him wanting; and alas, how eaſily did God penetrate the hard walls of his heart, to the horrour of his whole ſoule, and haſtning of his death? Now as a Ship in the midſt of a ſtorme, toſſed with tempeſts, and beaten on every ſide, with windes and waues, and dangerouſly driuen, not by direction of the Maſter, but by the fury of vnbridled violence; ſo, in this extraordinary agitation, Reaſon, which is the Pilote, could beare no Rule; but affection and affliction, as a ſtorme, toſſe and driue him to vtter deſpaire. Thus all the wicked, whoſe hearts the Lord doth not pearſe and boare by his word, he enters by force to ſtirre vp that raging Sea, whoſe waters foame nothing but mire and gravell. Iſa. 57.20.
Q. What in the ſecond place may be obſerued?
A. His incomprehenſibleneſſe, whereby hee is without all limits of place, and from this flowes his omnipreſence, or vbiquitie, whereby he is wholly without and within all and eueryevery place, no where included, no where excluded; and that without all locall motion, or mutation of place. Hee fils al places without compreſſion, or ſtraitning of another, or the contraction, extenſion, condenſation, or rarefaction of himſelfe. A Candle may bee contracted for his light within the hand, or hatte, & extended to a whole roome. A ſpunge may be thruſt into a narrow compaſſe, and yet by ſwelling fill a larger ſpace. But God neither moues to come into any place as doe the Angels, or ſtanding ſtill, fills it by thruſting out another, as liquor into a veſſell; or elſe in larging and contracting himſelfe like light; or by any thickning or thinning of pores, and parts, as Ice and water, &c. but purely, and ſimply, by his eſſence and preſence is eueryevery where. 1. Ksng. 8.27. Pſal. 139.7. Iſa. 66.1. Ier. 23.23.24. Act. 17.27. By this it appeares, that no place can hinder God from doing vsus good. Diſtance, or difficultie may be impediments to all the creatures to ſtay their helpe, but God at a bluſh fills all places, to comfort or confound, as it pleaſeth him. He moueth, or changeth all things, without eyther motion, or change in himſelfe; who is in eueryevery place preſent, in eueryevery place intire; within all things, and contained in nothing; without all things, and ſuſtained by nothing; but containeth, ſuſtaineth, and maintaineth all things. O infinite goodneſſe, paſſing all humane both ſearch and ſight; thou both filleſt and includeſt all things; thou art in eueryevery place preſent, without either ſeat, or motion. GiueGive me therefore grace, that in all places I may both feare, and feele thy power.
Q. What is Gods eternitie?
A. That whereby he is before and after all, not beings: that is, not onelyonly the world, but the very nothing of it. Reaſon will teach me that nothing was before the world, and that nothing may be after it: but it cannot teach mee any ſuch apprehenſion before or after God. For I cannot ſo much as conceiue a nothing, before an abſolute being: the reaſon is becauſe nothing is apprehended by way of contrarietie to ſomething. Pſal. 90.2. Before the mountaines were made, &c. God is not onelyonly before the creature, but the making of it, and that from an everlaſting before it, to an everlaſting after it. Pſal. 139.16. God ſees the creature in his non entitie, or nothing. Iſa. 57.15. He inhabiteth eternitie. 1. Tim. 1.17. The King of ages. Heb. 1.2. The maker of times. The Hebrew word comes of a roote, to he hid, becauſe there is no knowledge where to beginne or end. Alas, how doe wee affect a thouſand things that cannot be effected; miſerably afflicting the ſoule becauſe they are wanting. And of all things wee doe obtaine, the pleaſure doth forth with eyther vaniſh, or cloy; they doe no more ſatisfie the appetite, then ſalt water quencheth thirſt. OnelyOnly this eternall God giues it all contentment. Eternitie is eyther an admirable bleſſing, or a miſerable curſe. If all the puniſhments of hell were no greater then the ſtinging of Gnatts, perpetuity is enough to make them intolerable. Oh, how grievous ſhall it bee to the damned, to thinke, that after millions of ages, the ſhall bee ſo farre eyther from end, or from eaſe, as they were the firſt day of their beginning. In life there is ſome eaſe, and in death an end: but here the wicked ſhall neither hauehave end, nor eaſe. So long as God ſhall liue, ſo long ſhall the damned die; and when he ſhall ceaſe to be happy, then ſhall they alſo ceaſe to bee miſerable.
Q. What followes from hence?
A. That God is without all limites of time paſt, preſent, Rev. 1.8. 2. Pot. 3.8.or to come. And yet he is at all times, but without reſpect of time. And therefore cannot be ſubiect to any mutation, or alteration of time, as to be young, or old; but is an everlaſting and immortall God before, and after all times, and in all times, for ever and ever. Iob 36.26. Pſal. 92.7.8. and 102.26.27 Iſa. 41.4. and 43.10.11. Ier. 10.10.1. Tim. 1.17. Some things hauehave no beginning, and yet an end, as Gods decrees. Some-things a beginning, and no ending, as Angels; ſome things both beginning and ending, as all ſublunary creatures: God alone hath neither beginning nor ending. All creatures hauehave a laſting: Angels an out-laſting; God an ever-laſting. O that true louelove like a ſtrong ſtreame, which the further it is from this head of eternitie, would runne vntounto it with greater violence. Alas, that ever ſo many cold windes of temptation, ſhould blow betwixt God and our hearts, to make our affections cooler vntounto him. What dull mettall is this wee are made of? Wee hauehave the fountaine of felicitie and eternitie, and yet complaine of want and wearineſſe. Doe wee freeze in the fire, and ſtarue at a feaſt? HaueHave wee God to enioy, and yet pine and hang downe the head? Let me die if ever I envie their happines that ioy in red and whie Croſſes, a vaine title, daintie diſhes. Gold is that which the baſeſt elements yeelds, the moſt ſavage Indians get; ſervile Apprentiſes worke, Midianitiſh Camels carry, miſerable worldlings admire, covetous Iewes ſwallow, vnthriftie Ruffians ſpend. Let me hauehave my God, and let me never want him, till I envie them. So ſhall my ioyes be laſting, when this tranſitory traſh ſhall leaue them. Goe then thou miſcreant, that can take more pleaſure in a kite, a dogge, a boune and baſe companion, then in the liuing God. An Hauke becomes thy fiſt better then a Bible, and eueryevery dung hill trifle, then this during Deitie. O the vnſavory foode of fooles, to the taſte of any wiſe man: I can but wonder how any ſhould be ſo idle, hauing ſo fayre meanes to purchaſe better things: but I muſt conclude them amongſt Salomons fooles, who hauing a price in their hands, hauehave no hearts to get wiſedome.