The Divine Life, Treatise 1 · Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
9. HAving spoken of these three great Attributes of God, I must needs speak of those three great Relations of God to man, and of these three works in which they are founded, which have flowed from these Attributes.
This one God in three Persons, hath Created man and all things which before were not; hath Redeemed man when he was lost by sin; and sanctifieth those that shall be saved by Redemption. Though the external works of the Trinity are undivided, yet not indistinct as to the order of working, and a special interest that each person hath in each of these works. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost did create the world; and they also did Redeem us, and do Sanctifie us. But so as that Creation is in a special sort ascribed to the Father, Redemption to the Son, and Sanctification to the Holy Spirit; Not only because of the order of operation, agreeable to the order of subsisting; for then the Father would be as properly said to be incarnate or to die for us, or mediate, as the Son to create us; (which is not to be said;) For he created the world by his Word, or Son and Spirit (Joh. 1. 3. Psal. 33. 6.) and he Redeemed it by his Son, and Sanctifieth it by his Spirit. But Scripture assureth us that the Son alone was incarnate for us, and dyed and Rose again, and not the Father, or the Spirit, and so that the humane nature is peculiarly united to the second person, in glory; and so that each person hath a peculiar interest in these several works, the Reason of which is much above our reach.
The first of these Relations of God to man, which we are to consider of, is, that he is our Creator; It is he that giveth Being to us and all things; and that giveth us all our faculties or Powers. Under this, for brevity, we shall speak of him also as he is our Preserver; because preservation, is but a kind of continued Creation, or a continuance of the Beings which God hath caused. God then is the first efficient cause of all the creatures from the greatest to the least, Gen. 1. And easily did he make them, for he spake but the word, and they were created: They are the Products of his Power, Wisdome and Goodness. Psal. 33. 6. Joh. 1. 3. Psal. 148. 5. He commanded and they were created] He still produceth all things that in the course of nature are brought forth [Psal. 104. 30. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: thou renewest the face of the earth] And from hence these following impressions must be made upon the considering soul.
1. If All things be from God as the Creater and Preserver, then we must be deeply possessed with this truth, that All things are for God as their ultimate end. For he that is the Beginning and first cause of all things, must needs be the End of all. His Will produced them, and the Pleasure of his Will is the End for which he did produce them. Isa. 43. 7. I have created him for my glory] Prov. 16. 4. The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea even the wicked for the day of evil] I think the Chaldee Paraphrase, the Syriack and Arabick give us the true meaning of this, who concordantly translate it, [The wicked is kept for the day of evil] as Job hath it, 21. 30. The wicked is reserved to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath. And 2 Pet. 2. 9. [To reserve the unjust to the day of judgement to be punished] God made not the wicked as wicked, or to be wicked; but he that gave them their Being and continueth it, will not be a loser by his Creation or preservation, but will have the glory of his Justice by them in the day of wrath or evil, for which he keeps them, and till which he beareth with them, because they would not obediently give him the glory of his Holiness and mercy. So it is said of Christ, Col. 16, 17. For by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible—all things were created By him and For him. If they are By him, they must needs be For him. So Rev. 4. 11. Thou art worthy O Lord, to receive Glory, and Honour, and Power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created] This Pleasure of Gods will is the End of all things: and therefore it is certain that he will see that all things shall accomplish that end, and his will shall be pleased. Rom. 11. 36. we have all in few words [For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, and to whom be glory for ever, Amen.] Of him as the first efficient that giveth them their Beings: and Through him as the Preserver, disposer and conducter of them to their end: and To him as the Ultimate end.
If you say, But how is the pleasure of Gods will attained from the wicked that break his Laws, and displease his will?
I answer; Understand but how his will is crossed or accomplished, pleased or displeased, and you will see, that his will is alwayes done and pleased, even by them that displease him in …ting his will. …or Gods will hath two sorts of Objects or Products, which must be still distinguished: 1. He willeth what shall be Due from us to him, and from him to us. 2. He willeth Entities and Events, or what shall actually Be, or come to pass. Strictly both these acts of Gods will, perform the things willed, and so are not without their proper effect. God as the Cause and disposer of all things, attaineth his will concerning Events: All things shall Come to pass which he absolutely wideth shall come to pass. He is not frustrated of his will herein, being neither unwise nor impotent, nor unhappy. Whatsoever pleased the Lord, that did he in Heaven and in Earth, in the Sea and in the depths, Psal. 135. 6. Our God is in Heaven, he hath done whatsoever he pleased, Ps… 115. 3. And as God as our Governour doth by his Laws oblige man to his Duty, his will hath its effect: A Command doth but make the thing commanded to be our Duty; and our Duty it is: and so this act of the will of God is not in vain. Thus far he hath his will. By his Promises he maketh the Reward to be Due to all on condition they perform the Duty, on which he hath suspended it, and to be Actually Due to those only that perform the condition: And all this is accomplished. Heaven is Conditionally given to all, and Actually to the Faithful only. So that what God willeth to be Due as a Lawgiver, is accordingly Due; and what he actually willeth shall come to pass, shall come to pass according to his will.
But perhaps you will say, He doth not will that all men shall Eventually obey his Laws, but only that it shall be their Duty.
I answer, Our speeches of God being borrowed from man, (who is one of the Glasses in which he is here seen by us; especially the manhood of Jesus Christ) We must accordingly conceive and say (acknowledging still the improprieties and imperfections of our conceptions and expressions) that as man doth simply and most properly will the Event of some things which he absolutely desireth should come to pass, and doth not simply will some other things, but only in tantum; he so far willeth them, that he willeth and resolveth to do such and such things as have a tendency thereto, and to go no farther, and do no more for the attaining of them, though he could; so God doth simply and properly will some things, that is, the things which he Decreeth shall come to pass: but we must after our manner conceive and say, that there are other things which he willeth but in tantum, so far as to make it mans Duty to perform it, and perswade him to the doing of that duty, and give him such a measure of help as leaveth him without any just excuse, if he do it not; and so far he willeth the salvation of such, as to Promise or offer it them on such terms: and no further doth he will the obedience or salvation which never comes to pass, but leaveth it here to the will of man. For if he simply willed that every Duty should be Eventually done, it would be done: and if he simply willed that all men should be actually saved, they would be saved. And that he simply willeth their Duty or Obligation, and in tantum, so far, doth will the event of their obedience and salvation, as this comes to, as aforesaid, is certain, and in this we are all agreed; and I am not so well skild in dividing as to understand where the real difference lyeth between the parties that here most contend: But about the bare Name I know they differ, some thinking that this last is not to be Named an Act of Gods will, or a willing of mans obedience or salvation, and some thinking that it is so to be named: who doubtless are in the right; nor is there room for controversies, while we confess the impropriety of this and all our speeches of God, as speaking after the manner of men, and while Scripture that must teach us how to speak of God, doth frequently so speak before us.
2. God being the Maker and first Cause of all things, that is of all substantial Beings, commonly called Creatures, we must conclude that Sin is no such Being, because it is most certain that he is not the Creatour or the cause of it. Scripture assureth us, and all Christians are agreed that God is not the Cause or Author of sin. How odious then should that be to us, that is so bad as not to come from God? If God disclaim it, let us disclaim it. Let us abhor that it should come from us, seeing God abhorreth that it should come from him. Own not that which hath nothing of God upon it.
If you say, that it is an Accident though not a substance, and therefore it must needs come from God; because even Accidents have their Being.
I answer, That among the subtilest Disputers it is granted, that it hath no Created Being, or no Being that is caused by God; of this they are agreed. Its granted by all Christians that sin hath no other kind of Being, but what the will of man can cause. And if that be so, the Philosophical trifling controversie, whether it be only a Privation, or a Relation, or Modus Entis, which the will thus causeth, must be handled as Philosophical, and valued but as it deserveth: For this is all the controversie that here remains. If the form be Relative, and the Foundation be but a meer Prevation, (the Disconformity being founded in a defect) then the case is soon resolved, as to the rest. He that erreth, understandeth amiss: that he understandeth, is of God: that he erreth, that is, is defective, and so false in his understanding, is of himself: that he willeth when he chooseth sin, is of God the Universal cause: But that he willeth a forbidden object rather then the contrary, and faileth in his understanding and his will, this is not of God, but of himself. If others say, that the very Fundamentum of that Disconformity which is the Form of sin, is sometime an Act, they must also say that it is not an Act as such, but This Act comparatively considered, or as circumstantiated, or as exercised on the forbidden object rather then another, or a Volition instead of a Nolition, and choosing that which should be refused, or a refusing that which should be chosen: And whether this comparate specifying foundation, be a Privation, or a Mode, is a Philosophical controversie; and in Philosophy, and not in Theology is the difficulty; Divines being agreed as aforesaid, that what ever you Name it, Being, or Privation, or Mode, it is but such as must be resolved ultimately into the will of man as its Original, or first cause, supposing God to be the Creator and Conserver of that free Power that is able to choose or to refuse, and as an universal Cause to concur with the agent to the Act as such. But Philosophers indeed are at a loss, and are fain to tell us of Privations, Modes, Relations, Denominations, Entia Rationis and I know not what, that they say are neither Beings nor Nothing, but between both they know not what! the nature of things, in the utmost extremities of the branches being so cap…llar, and spun with so fine a thred, that the understanding is not subtil enough to discern them. And shall this disturb us in Divinity, or be imputed to it?
If you say, That the Will of God is the Cause of all things, and therefore of sin.
I answer, If you call sin Nothing, as a shaddow, darkness, death, &c. are nothing (for all that we abhor them) then you answer your selves; If you call it something, we are all agreed, that its but such a something as man can cause without Gods first causing it; It sufficeth that God do the part of a Creatour in giving man the free Power of choosing or refusing; and the part of a preserver, in maintaining that power, and as an universal cause concurring to all acts in genere, as the sun doth shine on the dunghill and the flowers: and that he also do the part of a just Governour in prohibiting, and disswading, and threatning sinners.
Object. But how can sin Eventually be, if God decree it not, seeing all Events are from his Will?
I answer 1. We are agreed that he Causeth it not. 2. And that he doth not so much as Will the Event of sin as sin. 3. And that he willingly permitteth what is by him permitted. 4. And that sin is such a thing as may Evenire, be brought forth by a bare permission, if there be no Positive Decree for the Event. As a Negative in the effects, requireth not a Positive Cause, so neither a Positive Will for its production. There are millions of millions of worlds, and individual creatures, and species Possible, that shall never be: And it is audaciousness to assert, that there must be millions of millions of Positive Decrees, that such worlds or creatures shall not be.▪ 5. Nor is it any dishonour to God, if he have not a Positive Decree or Will about every Negation (as that all the men in the world shall not be called by a thousand possible names rather then their own, &c.)
These things being all certain, I add 1. Let them dispute that dare, that yet de facto God doth Positively Will the Events of all Privations, or Negations of acts. 2. But when men are once habitually wicked, and bent to evil, it is just with him, if he permit them to follow their own lusts, and if he leave before them such Mercies as he foreknoweth they will wilfulfully make occasions of their sin; and if he resolve to make use of the sin which he knoweth they will commit, for his Churches Good, and for his Glory.
Object. But doth not God Will that sin Eventually shall not be?
Answ. Even as I before said, he willeth that obedience eventually shall be. If sin come to pass, it is certain that God did not simply Will that it should not come to pass: For then he must be conquered and unhappy by every sin: But he willeth simply that it shall be the Duty of man to avoid it; And he may be said to Nill the Event in tantum, so far as that he will forbid it, and threaten and disswade the sinner, and give him the helps, that shall leave him unexcusable if he sin, and so leave it to his Will. Thus far he may be said to Will that sin Eventually shall not be; but not simply.
Though these things are not obvious to vulgar capacities, yet they are such, as the subject in hand, viz. Gods first causation and Creation, together with the weight of them, and the contentions of the world about them, have made needfull.
3. If God be the Creator and the cause of all, then we must remember that all his works are Good: and therefore nothing must be hated by us that hath he made, considered in its native Goodness. God hateth sin, and so must we: for that he made it not, Rev. 2. 6. Psal. 45. 7. Isa. 1. 14. And he hateth all the works of iniquity as such, Psal. 5. 5. and so must we; but we must Love all of God that is in them, and Love them for it. There is somewhat Good and Amiable in every creature; yea all of it, that is of God. Though Toads and Serpents are odious to us, because they are hurtful and seem deformed in themselves, yet are they Good in themselves, and not deformed as parts of the universe, but Good unto the common end. The wants in the wheels of your watch are as useful to the motion as the nucks or solid parts. The night is part of the useful order of the creation, as well as the day. The vacant interspace in your writing, is needful as well as the words: Every letter should not be a vowel, nor every character a Capital; Every member should not be a heart or head or eye: Nor should every one in a Commonwealth be a King, or Lord: So in the Creation the parts that seem base, are useful in their places, and good unto their Ends. Let us not therefore vilifie or detest the works of God, but study the excellencies of them, and see, and admire, and Love them as they are of God. It is one of the hardest practical points before us, to know how to esteem of all the Creatures, and to use them without running into one extream. At the same time to Love the world, and not to Love it; to honour it, and despise it: to exalt it, and to tread it under our feet; to mind it, and use it with delight, and yet to be weaned from it as those that mind it not. And yet a great part of our Christian duty lyeth in the doing of this difficult work. As the world is the Devils bait, and the fleshes Idol, set up against God, and would tice us from him, or hinder us in his service, and either be our Carnal end and happiness, or a means thereto, so we must make it the care of our hearts to hate it, despise it, neglect it, and tread it under foot; and the labour of our lives to conquer it. But the same creatures must be admired, studyed, loved, honoured, delighted in, and daily used, as they are the excellent work of the Almighty God and reveal to us his Attributes or will, being the Glass in which we must see him while we are in the flesh; and as they lead us to God, and strengthen, furnish or help us in his service. But to Love them for God, and not for themselves, O how hard is it! To keep pure affections towards them and a spiritual delight in in them that shall not degenerate into a carnal delight, is a task for the holiest Saint on Earth, to labour in with all his care and power, as long as he here liveth. Yet this must be done; and the soul that hath obtained true self denyal, and is dead to the world, and devoted and alive to God, is able in some good measure to perform it. To love the world for it self, and make the creature our chief delight, and live to it as our End and Idol, this is the common damning course. To cast away our possessions, and put our talents into our fellow servants hands, and to withdraw our selves as it were out of the world into solitude as Monks or Herme…s do, this is too like the hideing of our talents, and a dangerous course of unfaithfulness and unprofitableness, unless in some extraordinary case; and is at best the too easie way of weaklings, that will be souldiers only out of the Army, or where there is but little danger of the Enemy; But to keep our Stations, and take Honours, and Riches as our Masters talents, as a burden that we must honour him by bearing, and the instruments by which we must laboriously do him service, and to see and Love him in every creature, and study him in it, and sanctifie it to his use; and to see that our lust get no advantage by it, and feed not on it, but that we tame our Bodies, and have all that we have for God, and not for our flesh, this is the hard, but the excellent, most acceptable course of living in this world.
And it is not only other creatures, but our selves also that we must thus admire, and love, and use for God, while we abase our selves as to our selves, and deny our selves, and use not our selves for our selves, but as we stand in due subordination to him. Abase your selves as sinful, and abhor that which is your own, and not the Lords; But vilifie not your nature in it self, …or any thing in you that is the work of God. Pretend not humility for the dishonouring of your Maker. Reason and Natural freedom of the Will, are Gods work, and not yours, and therefore must be honoured, and not scorned and reviled; But the blindness and errour of your Reason, and the bad inclinations and actions of your free-wills, these are your own, and therefore vilifie them and hate them and spare not. And when you lament the smalness of your Graces, deny them not, and sleight not, but magnifie the preciousness of that little that you have, while you mourn for the imperfection. And when men offend you, or prove your enemies, forget not to value and love that of God that yet is in them. All is Good that is of God.
4. If all things be of God as the Creator and Conserver, we must hence remember on whom it is that our selves and all things else depend. In him we live and move and have our being, Act. 17. 28. He upholdeth all things by the word of his power, Heb. 1. 3. The earth standeth upon his will and word. The Nations are in his hands, so are the lives of our friends and enemies, and so are our selves. And therefore our eye must be upon him; and our care must be to please him; and our trust and quietness must be in him; and blessed is he that maketh sure of an Interest in his special Love.
5. Hence also we must observe the vanity of all Creature confidence, and our hearts must be withdrawn from resting in any means or instruments. They are nothing to us, and can do nothing for us, but what they have or do from him that made and preserveth us.
6. And lastly hence also we may see the patience and goodness of the Lord, that as he refused not to make those men that he foreknew would live ungodlily, so he denyeth not to uphold their Being, even while they sin against him. All the while that they are abusing his creatures, they are substained by him, and have those Creatures from him. From him the drunkard hath his drink, and the glutton his meat, and the voluptuous youth their abused health and strength; and all men have from him the Powers or faculties of soul and Body by which, they sin. And shall any be so ungrateful as to say therefore that God doth cause their sin? Its true, he can easily stop thy breath while thou art swearing, and lying, and speaking against the service of God that made thee: And wouldst thou have him do so? He can easily take away the meat, and drink, and riches, and health, and life which thou abusest; And wouldst thou have him do it? He can easily keep thee from sinning any more on earth, by cutting off thy life and sending thee to pay for what thou hast done: And art thou content with this? Must he be taken to be a partaker in thy sin, because he doth not strike thee dead, or lame, or speechless, or disable thee from sinning? Provoke him not by thy Blasphemies, lest he clear himself in a way that thou desirest not. But O wonder at his patience, that holds thee in his hand, and keepeth thee from falling into the grave and Hell, while thou art sinning against him. While a curse or oath is in thy mouth, he could let thee fall into utter misery. How oft hast thou provoked him to take thee in thy lust, in thy rage, or in thy neglect of God, and give thee thy desert! Would any of you support your enemy, as God doth you?