The Common Principles of the Christian Religion, Sermon 20
Rom. …1. 36. Of him & through him, and for him are all things, &c. Psal. 103. 19. His Kingdome is over all. Matt. 10. 29. A Sparrow shal not fall without your Fathers will.
THere is nothing more commonly confessed in words, than that the providence of God reaches in all the creatures and their actions; But I believe there is no point ofReligion so superficially & sleight… considered by the most part of men: The most part ponder none of these divine truths, there is nothing above their senses which is the subject of their meditations: and for the children of God, I fear many do give such truths of God too common & course entertainment in their minds, through a conceit of the commonnesse of them, I know not what we are taken up with in this age, with some particular truths more remote from the knowledge of others in former times, or some particular cases concerning our selves: You will find the most part of Christians stretch not their thoughts beyond their own conditions or interests, or some particular questions, about Faith & repentance, &c. And in the mean time the most weighty points of Religion, which have been the subject of the meditation and admiration of Saints in all ages, are wholly laid aside through a misapprehension of their commonnesse, as if a man would despise the Sun & the Air, & prefer some rare piece of stone or timber to them. Certainly, as in the disposall of the World, the Lord hath in great wisdome & goodness made the most needfull & usefull things most common; those, without which man cannot live, are alwayes obvious to us, so that if any thing be more rare, it is not necessary: So in this Universe of Religion; he in mercy & wisdome hath so framed all, that those points of truth & belief, which are most near the substance of Salvation, & necessary to us, & most fit to exercise us in true godlinesse, these are every where to be found, partly engraven on mens hearts, partly set down most clearly & often in Scripture, that a believing soul can look no where but it must breath in that air of the Gospel, & look upon that common Sun of Righteousnesse, God the Creator, & the healing Sun, Christ the Redeemer, shining every where in Scripture. The general Providence of God, & the special Administration of Christ the Saviour, these are common, and these are essentiall to our happines; therefore the meditation of Christians should run most upon them, & not alwayes about some particular questions or debates of the time. It is a strange thing how people should be more affected with a discourse of the affairs of the time, or on some inward thoghts of their own hearts, than if one should speak of Gods Universall Kingdom over all men & Nations; that is accounted a generall and ordinary discourse; even, as if men would set at nought the Suns light, because it shines to all, & every day: Or would despise the water, because it may be found every where: Let the Sun be removed for some few dayes, and O what would the world account of it beyond all your curious devices or rare enjoyments. This is it which would increase to more true godlinesse, if rightly believed, than many other things ye are busied withall. Its our general view of them makes them but general. I spoke once upon this word, Rom. 11. 36. but only in reference to the end of man, which is Gods glory; But the words do extend further, & we must now consider what further they hold forth. The Apostle hath been speaking of the Lords unsearchable wayes and judgements towards men in the dispensation of grace and salvation, how free and absolute he is in that. And this he strengthens by the supream wisdome of God, who did direct him? Why dost thou, O man, take upon thee to direct him now? For, where was there any Counsellor when he alone contrived all the frame of this World, and then by Soveraign highnesse and supremacy over the creatures disposed of them? For he is debitor to none, therefore none can quarrel him for giving or not giving, for who was it that gave him first, for which he should give a recompence? Was there any could prevent with a gift? Nay, none could, saith he, for of him, & through him, & for him are all things; And therefore he must prevent men. For from whence should that gift of the creature, which could oblidge him, have its rise? It must be of God if it be a creature, and therefore he is in no mans common, he must give it ere we have it to give him again.
The words are most comprehensive, they comprehend all things, & that is very large: There is nothing without this compasse, & they comprehend all the dependance of things. Things depend upon that which made them, that which preserves them, and for which they are made. All things depend on him as their producing cause, that first gives them a being: For of him are all things: they also depend on him as their conserving cause who continues their being by that self-same influence wherewith he gave it, For through him are all things: And then they depend on him as their final cause, for whose glory they are, and are continued, for, For him are all things. Thus you have the beginning, the countenance, and the end of the whole Creation: This word may lead us through all: from God as the beginning, the Alpha & originall of their Being: Through God as the only supporter, confirmer & upholder of their being: and unto God as the very end for which they have their being. Now to travel within this compass, to walk continualy within this Circle, & to go alongs this blessed round; to begin at God, & to go along all our way with him, till we arrive and end at God; and thus to do continually in the journey of meditation, when it surveyes any of his works, this were, indeed, the very proper work, & the speciall happinesse man was created for, and, I may say, a great part of that for which a Christian is created for: Again, there would nothing more powerfull to the conforming of a soul to God, & to his obedience and fear than this, to have that perswasion firmly rooted in the heart, That of God are all things: That whatever it be, good or evil, that befals us or others; whatever we observe in the World, that is the subject of the thoughts and discourses of men, & turns mens eyes after them, that all that is of God; that is, it is in the world, its started out of nothing at his command; it is, because his power gave it a beeing: and in this consideration to overlook, and, in a manner forget all second causes; to have such affecting and up-taking thoughts of the first principle of all these motions, as to regard the lower wheels, that are next to us, no more nor the hand or the sword that a man strikes us with: As if these second causes had no influence of their own, but were meerly acted & moved by this supream power, as if God did nothing by them, but only at their presence. We should so labour to look on those things he doth by creatures, as if he did them alone without the creatures, as if he were this day creating a world: Certainly, the solid Faith of Gods providence will draw off the covering of the creature, and espy the secret Almighty power which acts in every thing to bring forth his good pleasure concerning them: And then to consider, with that same seriousnesse of meditation, that the same everlasting arm which made them, is under them to support them; that the most noble and excellent creatures are but streams, rayes, images, and shaddows of Gods Majesty, which as they have their beeing by derivation, so they have their continuance by that same continued influence; so that if he would interpose between himself and them, or withdraw his countenance, or stop his influence, the most sufficient of them all should evanish, as the Sunne-beams dry up the streams of a fountain, & disappear at the image of the glass, Psal. 102. 29, 30. O that place were a pertinent object of a Christians meditation: How much of God is to be prest out of it by serious pondering of it? Thou hidest thy face and they are troubled, thou takest away thy breath and they die, thou sendest out thy spirit & they are created. It is even with the very beeing & faculties of the creature as with the image of the glasse, which when the face removes its seems no more: The Lord, as it were, breaths into them a being, and when he takes in his breath they perish, and when he sends it out again they are renewed; we do not wonder at the standing of the world, but think, if we had been witnesses of the making of it, we would have been filled with admiration: But certainly, it's only our stupidity that doth not behold that same wonder continued: For what is the upholding of this by his power, but a very continued and repeated Creation? Which influence were able to bring a World out of nothing. If this had not been before the vertue and power he imployes now in making them subsist, that same alone without any addition of power, wold have in the beginning made all this to be of nothing; so that the countenance of the World is nothing else but an uninterrupted, and constant flux & emanation of these things from God, as of light from the body of the Sun. And then to meditate how all these things are for him, and his glory, though we know no use nor end of them, yet that his Majesty hath appointed them to shew forth, one way or other, the glory of his Name in them; and these things which to our first & foolish apprehensions seem most contrary to him, and, as it were, so spread a cloud of darknesse over his glorious Name, the sins and perverse doings of men and Angels, the many disorders and confusions in the world; which seem to reflect some way upon him; that yet he hath holy and glorious ends in them all; yea, that himself is the end of all: I say, to meditate on these things till our soul received the stamp of reverence & fear, and faith in God, this would certainly be the most becoming exercise of a Christian, to bring all things down from God, that we might return and ascend with all things again unto God.
This is the most sutable employment of a man, as reasonable, much more as a Christian, that very duty he is created for. This people have I formed for my self, they shall shew forth my praise. Isa. 43. 21. And this is the shewing forth of his praise, to follow forth the footsteps of God in the Word, and in the World, and to ponder these paths of divine Power, and goodnesse, and Wisedom, and to acknowledge him with our heart in all these. He made many creatures on which his glory and praise is shewed forth, & he made this creature Man to shew forth that praise, and that glory which is shewed forth in other creatures. O but this is a divine Office, it is strange how our hearts are carried forth towards base things, and busied in many vain, impertinent and base employments, and scarce ever mind this great one we were created for.
Certainly, this is the employment we were made for, to deduce all things from God til we again reduce all to him with glory; to bring all down from his everlasting Counsels untill we send all up to his Eternall glory, together with the sacrifice of our hearts; To behold all things to be of him, that is, of his eternal Counsel and Decree, to have their rise in the bosome of that; and then through him, to proceed out of the bosome of his Decree and Purpose by his Power, quasi obstetricante potentia, and then to return with all the praise and glory to his ever glorious Name, for whom are all things. There is none but they will allow God some government in the world; Some would have him as a King, commanding and doing all by Deputies, and Substitutes; Some would have his influence generall, like the Suns upon sublunary things, but how shallow are all mens thoughts in regard of that which is. God has prepared, indeed, his Throne in heaven; that is true, that his glory doth manifest it self in some strange and majestick manner above, but he whole tenour of Scripture shews, that he is not shut up in heaven, but that he immediatly cares for, governs, & disposes all things in the world, for his kingdome is over all: It is the weaknesse of Kings, not their glory, that they have need of Deputies; it is his glory, not basenesse to look to the meanest of their creatures; it is a poor resemblance & empty shadow that Kings have of him: He rules in the Kingdomes of men, & to him belongs the dominion & the glory, he deserves the name of a King, whose beck Heaven & earth obeyes. Can a King command that the Sea flow not? Can a Parliament act and ordain that the Sun rise not, or will these obey them? Yet at his decree and command the Sun is dark, the Sea stands still, the Mountains tremble, at thy rebuke the Seafled. Alas! What do we mean that we look upon creatures, & act our selves as if we were independent in our being and moving? How many things fall out & you call them casuall, & attribute them to Fortune? How many things do the World gaze upon, think upon, and discourse upon, and yet not one thought, one word of God all the time? What more contingent than the falling of a sparrow on the grōnd? And yet even that is not unexpected to him, but it flows from his will & counsel: What lesse taken notice of or know than the hairs of your head? yet these are particularly numbred by him, and so no power in the World can add to them, or diminish from them, without his counsell. O, what would the belief of this do to raise our hearts to sutable thoghts of God above the creatures, to encrease the fear, faith and love of God, and to abate from our fear of men, & our vain and unprofitable cares and perplexities? How would you look upon the affairs of men the counsels, contrivances, endeavours; & successes of men, when they are turning upside down, and plotting the ruine of his people, & establishing themselves alone in the earth? What would you think of all these revolutions at this time? Many souls are astonished at them, and stand gazing at what is done and to be done; and this is the very language of your spirits and wayes. The Lord hath forsaken the earth, the Lord seeth not: this is the language of our Parliaments and people, they do imagine that they are doing their own businesse, and making all sure for themselves: But O, what would a soul think that could escape above them all and arise up to the first wheele of present motions? A soul that did stand upon the exaled Tower of the Word of God, and looked off it by the prospect of faith, would presently discover the circle in which all these wandrings and changes are confined, and see Men, States, Armies, Nations, and all of them doing nothing but turning about in a round (as horse in a Mill) from Gods eternall purpose, by his Almighty Power, to his unspeakeable glory: you might behold all these extravagant motions of the creatures, inclosed within those limits, that they must begin here, and end here, though themselves are so beastly, that they neither know of whom, nor for whom their counsels and actions are: Certainly, Satan cannot break without this compasse to serve his own humour, principalities and powers cannot do it, if they will not glorifie him, he shal glorifie himself by them, and upon them.