Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 11 (3 of 4)

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 11 (3 of 4)

p. 531The Evil of an Action is not the effect of an Action, nor attends it as it is an Action, but as it is an Action ſo circumſtantiated, and converſant about this or that Object; for the ſame Action done by two ſeveral Perſons, may be good in one, and bad in the other. As when two Judges are in joynt Commiſſion for the Trial of a Malefactor, both upon the appearance of his Guilt condemn him. This Action in both, conſidered as an Action, is good; for it is an adjudging a Man to death, whoſe Crime deſerves ſu… … puniſhment. But this ſame Act, which is but one joynt Act of both, may be Morally good in one Judge, and Morally evil in the other: Morally good in him that Condemns him out of an unbyaſſed conſideration of the Demerit of his Fact, Obedience to the Law, and Conſcience of the Duty of his place; and Morally evil in the other, who hath no reſpect to thoſe Conſiderations, but joyns in the act of Condemnation, principally moved by ſome private Animoſity againſt the Priſoner, and deſire of revenge for ſome Injury he hath really received, or imagines that he hath received from him. The Act in it ſelf is the ſame materially in both; but in one it is an Act of Juſtice, and in the other an Act of Murder, as it reſpects the Principles and Motives of it in the two Judges; take away the reſpect of private Revenge, and the Action in the Ill Judge had been as laudable as the Action of the other. The ſubſtance of an Act, and the ſinfulneſs of an Act, are ſeparable and diſtinguiſhable; and God may concur with the ſubſtance of an Act, without concurring with the ſinfulneſs of the Act: As the good Judge, that Condemned the Priſoner out of Conſcience, concurred with the evil Judge, who condemned the Priſoner out of private Revenge; not in the Principle and Motive of Condemnation, but in the Material part of Condemnation. So God aſſiſts in that Action of a Man wherein Sin is placed, but not in that which is the Formal reaſon of Sin, which is a privation of ſome Perfection the Action ought Morally to have.

3. It will appear further in this, that hence it follows that the Action, and the viciouſneſs of the Action, may have two distinct Cauſes. That may be a cauſe of the one that is not the cauſe of the other, and hath no hand in the producing of it. God concurs to the Act of the Mind as it Counſels, and to the external Action upon that Counſel, as he preſerves the Faculty, and gives ſtrength to the Mind to conſult, and the other parts to execute; yet he is not in the leaſt tainted with the Viciouſneſs of the Action. Though the Action be from God as a concurrent Cauſe, yet the ill quality of the Action is ſolely from the Creature with whom God concurs. The Sun and the Earth concur to the production of all the Plants, that are formed in the womb of the one, and Midwiv'd by the other: The Sun diſtributes Heat, and the Earth communicates Sap; 'tis the ſame Heat diſperſed by the one, and the ſame Juyce beſtowed by the other: It hath not a ſweet Juyce for one, and a ſowr Juyce for another. This general Influx of the Sun and Earth is not the immediate cauſe that one Plant is poyſonous, and another wholſom; but the Sap of the Earth is turned by the Nature and quality of each Plant: If there were not ſuch an Influx of the Sun and Earth, no Plant could exert that poyſon which is in its Nature; but yet the Sun and Earth are not the cauſe of that poyſon which is in the Nature of the Plant. If God did not concur to the motions of Men, there could be no ſinful Action, becauſe there could be no Action at all; yet this Concurrence is not the cauſe of that Venom that is in the Action, which ariſeth from the Corrupt Nature of the Creature, no more than the Sun and Earth are the cauſe of the Poyſon of the Plant, which is purely the effect of its own Nature upon that general Influx of the Sun and Earth. The Influence of God pierceth through all Subjects; but the Action of Man done by that Influence is vitiated according to the Nature of its own Corruption. As the Sun equally ſhines through all the Quarrels in the Window; if the Glaſs be bright and clear, there is a pure ſplendor; if it be Red or Green the ſplendor is from the Sun, but the diſcolouring of that Light upon the Wall, is from the quality of the Glaſs.††Zanch. Tom. 2. lib. 3. cap. 4. qu. 4. p. 226. But to be yet plainer; The Soul is the Image of God, and by the Acts of the Soul, we may come to the knowledge of the Acts of God; the Soul gives motion to the Body and every Member of it, and no Member could move without a concurrent virtue of the Soul; if a Member be Paralitick or Gouty, whatſoever motion that Gouty Member hath, is derived to it from the Soul; but the Goutyneſs of the Member, was not the Act of the Soul, p. 532but the fruit of Ill humors in the Body; the lameneſs of the Member, and the motion of the Member, have two diſtinct cauſes, the motion is from one cauſe, and the Ill motion from another. As the Member could not move irregularly without ſome Ill humor or cauſe of that diſtemper; ſo it could not move at all without the activity of the Soul: So though God concur to the act of Underſtanding, Willing, and Execution, why can he not be as free from the Irregularity in all thoſe, as the Soul is free from the Irregularity of the m…ion of the Body, while it is the cauſe of the motion it ſelf? There are two Illuſtrations generally uſed in this caſe, that are not unfit; the motion of the Pen in writing is from the hand that holds it, but the Blurs by the Pen are from ſome fault in the Pen it ſelf: And the Muſick of the Instrument is from the hand that touches it, but the Jarring from the faultineſs of the Strings; both are the cauſes of the motion of the Pen and Strings, but not the blurs or jarrings.

4. 'Tis very congruous to the Wiſdom of God, to move his Creatures according to their particular Natures; but this Motion makes him not the cauſe of Sin. Had our Innocent Nature continued, God had moved us according to that Innocent Nature; but when the ſtate was changed for a Corrupt one, God muſt either forbear all concourſe, and ſo annihilate the World, or move us according to that Nature he finds in us. If he had overthrown the World upon the entrance of Sin, and created another upon the ſame terms, Sin might have as ſoon defac'd his ſecond Work, as it did the firſt; and then it would follow, that God would have been alway building and demoliſhing. It was not fit for God to ceaſe from acting as a Wiſe Governour of his Creature, becauſe Man did ceaſe from his Loyalty as a Subject. Is it not more agreeable to Gods Wiſdom as a Governour, to concur with his Creature according to his Nature, than to deny his concurrence upon every Evil determination of the Creature? God concurr'd with Adams mutable Nature in his firſt act of Sin; he concurr'd to the act and left him to his Mutability. If Adam had put out his hand to eat of any other unforbidden Fruit, God would have ſupported his Natural faculty then, and concurr'd with him in his motion.

When Adam would put out his hand to take the Forbidden Fruit, God concurr'd to that Natural action; but left him to the choice of the Object, and to the uſe of his mutable Nature: And when Man became Apoſtate, God concurs with him according to that condition wherein he found him, and cannot move him otherwiſe, unleſs he ſhould alter that Nature Man had contracted. God moving the Creature as he found him, is no cauſe of the Ill motion of the Creature: As when a Wheel is broken the ſpace of a foot, it cannot but move ill in that part till it be mended. He that moves it, uſes the ſame motion (as it is his Act) which he would have done had the Wheel been ſound; the motion is good in the Mover, but bad in the Subject: 'Tis not the fault of him that moves it, but the fault of that Wheel that is moved, whoſe breaches came by ſome other cauſe. A Man doth not uſe to lay aſide his Watch for ſome Irregularity, as long as it is capable of motion, but winds it up: Why ſhould God ceaſe from concurring with his Creature in its vital Operations and other actions of his Will, becauſe there was a flaw contracted in that Nature, that came right and true out of his hand? And as he that winds up his diſordered Watch, is in the ſame manner the cauſe of its motion then, as he was when it was regular; yet by that act of his, he is not the cauſe of the falſe motion of it, but that is from the deficiency of ſome part of the Watch it ſelf: So though God concurs to that Action of the Creature, whereby the Wickedneſs of the Heart is drawn out; yet is not God therefore as Unholy as the Heart.

5. God hath one End in his Concurrence, and Man another in his Action. So that there is a Righteous, and often a gracious End in God, when there is a baſe and unworthy End in Man. God concurs to the ſubſtance of the Act; Man produceth the circumſtance of the Act, whereby it is Evil. God orders both the Action wherein he concurs, and the Sinfulneſs over which he preſides, as a Governour, to his own Ends. In Joſephs caſe, Man was ſinful, and God merciful; his Brethren acted Envy, and God deſign'd Mercy, Gen. 45.4, 5. They would be rid of him as an Eyeſore, and God concurr'd with their Action to make him their Preſerver, Gen. 50.20. Ye thought evil againſt me, but God meant it unto good. p. 533God concur'd to Judas his action of betraying our Saviour; he ſupported his Nature while he contracted with the Prieſts, and ſupported his Members while he was their Guide to apprehend him; God's end was the manifeſtation of his choiceſt love to Man, and Judas his end was the gratification of his own Covetouſneſs. The Aſſyrian did a Divine Work againſt Hieruſalem, but not with a Divine end**Iſa. 10.5.6.….Isa 10:5Isa 10:6. He had a mind to enlarge his Empire, enrich his Coffers with the Spoil, and gain the Title of a Conqueror; he is deſirous to Invade his Neighbours, and God employs him to puniſh his Rebels; but he means not ſo, nor doth his heart think ſo: He intended not as God intended. The Axe doth not think what the Carpenter intends to do with it. But God uſed the rapine of an Ambitious Nature as an Inſtrument of his Juſtice: As the expoſing Malefactors to wild Beaſts was an ancient Puniſhment, whereby the Magiſtrate intended the execution of Juſtice, and to that purpoſe uſed the natural fierceneſs of the Beaſts to an end different from what thoſe ravaging Creatures aim'd at. God concur'd with Satan in ſpoiling Job of his Goods, and ſcarifying his Body; God gave Satan licenſe to do it,Job 1.12, 21.Job 1:12Job 1:21 and Job acknowledges it to be God's act: But their ends were different; God concurred with Satan for the clearing the Integrity of his Servant, when Satan aim'd at nothing but the provoking him to Curſe his Creator. The Phyſician applies Leeches to ſuck the ſuperfluous blood, but the Leeches ſuck to glut themſelves, without any regard to the intention of the Phyſician, and the welfare of the Patient. In the ſame act where men intend to hurt, God intends to correct; ſo that his concurrence is in a holy manner, while men commit unrighteous actions. A Judge commands the Executioner to execute the Sentence of Death which he hath juſtly pronounced againſt a Malefactor, and admoniſheth him to do it out of love to Juſtice; the Executioner hath the Authority of the Judge for his Commiſſion, and the protection of the Judge for his Security: The Judge ſtands by to countenance and ſecure him in the doing of it; but if the Executioner hath not the ſame intention as the Judge, viz. a love to Juſtice in the performance of his Office, but a private hatred to the Offender; the Judge, though he commanded the fact of the Executioner, yet did not command this Error of his in it; and though he protects him in the Fact, yet he owns not this corrupt diſpoſition in him in the doing of what was enjoyn'd him, as any act of his own.

To Conclude this. Since the Creature cannot act without God, cannot lift up a Hand, or move his Tongue, without God's preſerving and upholding the Faculty, and preſerving the power of Action, and preſerving every Member of the Body in its actual Motion, and in every circumſtance of its Motion, we muſt neceſſarily ſuppoſe God to have ſuch a way of concurrence as doth not intrench upon his Holineſs. We muſt not equal the Creature to God, by denying its dependence on him: Nor muſt we imagine ſuch a concurrence to the ſinfulneſs of an act, as ſtains the Divine Purity, which is I think, ſufficiently ſalv'd by diſtinguiſhing the matter of the act from the evil adhering to it: For ſince all evil is founded in ſome good; the evil is diſtinguiſhable from the good, and the deformity of the action from the action it ſelf, which as it is a created act, hath a dependance on the will and influence of God: And as it is a ſinful act, is the product of the will of the Creature.

6. Propoſition. The holineſs of God is not blemiſht by propoſing Objects to a man, which he makes uſe of to ſin. There is no Object propos'd to man, but is directed by the Providence of God, which influenceth all motions in the World; and there is no Object propos'd to man, but his active Nature may, according to the goodneſs or badneſs of his diſpoſition, make a good or an ill uſe of. That two men, one of a charitable, the other of a hard-hearted diſpoſition, meet with an indigent and neceſſitous Object, is from the Providence of God; yet this indigent perſon is relieved by the one, and neglected by the other. There could be no action in the World, but about ſome Object; there could be no Object offer'd to us but by Divine Providence; the active Nature of man would be in vain, if there were not Objects about which it might be exercis'd. Nothing could preſent it ſelf to man as an Object, either to excite his Grace, or awaken his Corruption, but by the p. 534conduct of the Governour of the World. That David ſhould walk upon the Battlements of his Palace, and Bathſheba be in the Bath at the ſame time, was from the Divine Providence which orders all the affairs of the World**2 Sam. 117.; and ſo ſome underſtand Jer. 6.21. Thus ſaith the Lord, I will lay stumbling blocks before this People, and the Fathers and Sons together ſhall fall upon them. Since they have offered Sacrifices without thoſe due qualifications in their hearts, which were neceſſary to render them acceptable to me. I will lay in their way ſuch Objects, which their Corruption will uſe ill to their further ſin and ruin; ſo Pſal. 105.25. He turned their heart to hate his people; that is, by the multiplying his People, he gave occaſion to the Egyptians of hating them, inſtead of careſſing them as they had formerly done.

But God's Holineſs is not blemiſht by this; for,

1. This propoſing or preſenting of Objects invades not the liberty of any man: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil ſet in the midſt of the Garden of Eden, had no violent influence on man to force him to eat of it; his liberty to eat of it, or not, was reſerved intire to himſelf; no ſuch Charge can be brought againſt any Object whatſoever. If a man meet accidentally at a Table with Meat that is grateful to his Palate, but hurtful to the preſent temper of his Body; doth the preſenting this ſort of Food to him ſtrip him of his liberty to decline it, as well as to feed of it? Can the Food have any internal influence upon his will, and lay the freedom of it aſleep whether he will or no? Is there any Charm in that, more than in other ſorts of Diet? No; but it is the habit of love which he hath to that particular Diſh, the curioſity of his Fancy, and the ſtrength of his own Appetite, whereby he is brought into a kind of ſlavery to that particular Meat, and not any thing in the food it ſelf. When the word is propoſed to two perſons, 'tis embrac'd by the one, rejected by the other; is it from the word it ſelf, which is the Object that theſe two perſons perform different acts? The Object is the ſame to both, but the manner of acting about the Object is not the ſame: Is there any invaſion of their liberty by it? Is the one forced by the word to receive it, and the other forced by the word to reject it? Two ſuch contrary effects cannot proceed from one and the ſame Cauſe: Outward things have only an objective influence, not an inward:††Amyral. de libero arbit. p. 224. If the meer propoſal of things did ſuſpend or ſtrike down the liberty of Man, no Angels in Heaven, no Man upon Earth, no not our Saviour himſelf, could do any thing freely, but by force: Objects that are ill uſed are of God's Creation, and though they have allurements in them, yet they have no compulſive power over the will. The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was pleaſing to the ſight; it had a quality to allure, there had not elſe needed a Prohibition to bar the eating of it; but it could not have ſo much power to allure as the Divine threatning to deter.

2. The Objects are good in themſelves, but the ill uſe of them is from mans corruption. Bathſheba was by God's Providence preſented to David's ſight, but it was Davids diſpoſition moved him to ſo evil an act: What if God knew that he would uſe that Object ill? yet he knew he had given him a power to refrain from any ill uſe of it: The Objects are innocent, but our Corruption poiſons them. The ſame Object hath been uſed by one to holy purpoſes and holy improvements, that hath been uſed by another to ſinful ends; when a charitable Object is preſented to a good man and a cruel man, one relieves him, the other reviles him: The Object was rather an occaſion to draw out the Charity of one, as well as the other; but the refuſing to reach out a helping hand, was not from the perſon in Calamity, but the diſpoſition of the Refuſer to whom he was preſented: 'Tis not from the nature of the Object that men do good or evil, but from the diſpoſition of the perſon; what is good in it ſelf, is made bad by our Corruption. As the ſame Meat which nouriſhes and ſtrengthens a ſound Conſtitution, cheriſheth the Diſeaſe of another that eats at the ſame Table, not from any unwholſom quality in the Food, but the vitious quality of the humours lodging in the Stomach, which turn the Diet into fuel for themſelves, which in its own nature was apt to engender a wholſom juyce. Some are perfected by the ſame things whereby others are ruin'd. Riches are uſed by ſome, not only for their own, but the advantage of others in the World; by others p. 535only for themſelves, and ſcarcely ſo much as their neceſſities require. Is this the fault of the wealth, or the diſpoſitions of the Perſons, who are covetous inſtead of being Generous? 'Tis a Calumny therefore upon God to charge him with the ſin of man upon this account: The rain that drops from the Clouds upon the Plants, is ſweet in it ſelf, but when it moyſtens the root of any venomous Plant, 'tis turn'd into the juyce of the Plant, and becomes venomous with it. The Miracles that our Saviour wrought, were applauded by ſome, and envied by the Phariſees; the ſin aroſe not from the nature of the Miracles, but the Malice of their ſpirits: The Miracles were ſitter in their own nature to have induced them to an adoration of our Saviour, than to excite ſo vile a Paſſion againſt one that had ſo many marks from Heaven to dignifie him, and proclaim him worthy of their reſpect. The Perſon of Chriſt was an Object propoſed to the Jews; ſome worſhip him, others condemn and crucifie him, and according to their ſeveral Vices and baſe ends they uſe this object. Judas to content his Covetouſneſs, the Phariſees to glut their Revenge, Pilate for his Ambition, to preſerve himſelf in his Government, and avoid the Articles the People might charge him with of Countenancing an Enemy to Caeſar. **Amyrald. Ironic. p. 337.God at that time put into their minds a rational and true Propoſition which they apply to ill purpoſes. Caiphas ſaid, that it was expedient for one man to dye for the people, which he ſpake not of himſelf, Joh. 11.50, 51. God put it into his mind, but he might have applied it better than he did, and conſidered, though the Maxim was commendable, whether it might juſtly be applied to Chriſt, or whether there was ſuch a neceſſity that he muſt dye, or the Nation be deſtroy'd by the Romans: The Maxim was ſound and holy, decreed by God; but what an ill uſe did the High Prieſt make of it to put Chriſt to death as a ſeditious Perſon, to ſave the Nation from the Roman Fury?

3. Since the natural Corruption of men will uſe ſuch Objects ill, may not God without tainting himſelf, preſent ſuch Objects to them in ſubſerviency to his gracious Decrees? Whatſoever God ſhould preſent to men in that ſtate, they would make an ill uſe of; hath not God then the Soveraign Prerogative to preſent what he pleaſes, and ſuppreſs others? To offer that to them which may ſerve his holy purpoſe, and hide other things from them which are not ſo conducing to his gracious ends, which would be as much the occaſions of exciting their ſin, as the others which he doth bring forth to their view? The Jews, at the time of Chriſt, were of a turbulent and ſeditious humour, they expected a Meſſiah, a Temporal King, and would readily have embraced any occaſion to have been up in arms to have delivered themſelves from the Roman yoke; to this purpoſe the People attempted once to make him King: And probably the expectation they had that he had ſuch a Deſign to Head them, might be one reaſon of their Hoſannas, becauſe without ſome ſuch conceit it was not probable they ſhould ſo ſoon change their note, and vote him to the Croſs in ſo ſhort a time, after they had applauded him as if he had been upon a Throne; but their being defeated of ſtrong Expectations, uſually ended in a more ardent Fury. This turbulent and ſeditious humour God directs in another Chanel, ſuppreſſeth all Occurrences that might excite them to a Rebellion againſt the Romans, which if he had given way to, the crucifying Chriſt, which was God's deſign to bring about at that time, had not probably been effected, and the Salvation of Mankind been hindred or ſtood at a ſtay for a time. God therefore orders ſuch Objects and Occaſions, that might direct this ſeditious Humour to another Chanel, which would elſe have run out in other Actions, which had not been conducing to the great Deſign he had then in the World. Is it not the right of God, and without any blemiſh to his Holineſs, to uſe thoſe Corruptions which he finds ſown in the Nature of his Creature by the hand of Satan, and to propoſe ſuch Objects as may excite the exerciſe of them for his own ſervice? Sure God hath as much right to ſerve himſelf of the Creature of his own framing, and what Natures ſoever they are poſſeſſed with, and to preſent Objects to that purpoſe, as a Faulconer hath to offer this or that Bird to his Hawk to exerciſe his courage, and excite his ravenouſneſs, without being termed the Author of that ravenouſneſs in the Creature. God planted not thoſe Corruptions in the Jews, but finds them in thoſe Perſons over whom he hath an p. 536abſolute Soveraignty in the right of a Creator, and that of a Judge for their ſins: And by the right of that Soveraignty may offer ſuch Objects and Occaſions, which, though innocent in themſelves, he knows they will make uſe of to ill purpoſes, but which by the ſame decree that he reſolves to preſent ſuch Occaſions to them, he alſo reſolves to make uſe of them for his own glory.**This I have ſpoken of before, but it is neceſſary now. 'Tis not conceivable by us what way that Death of Chriſt, which was neceſſary for the Satiſfaction of Divine Juſtice, could be brought about without ordering the evil of ſome mens hearts by ſpecial Occaſions to effect his purpoſe; we cannot ſuppoſe that Chriſt can be guilty of any Crime that deſerved Death by the Jewiſh Law; had he been ſo a Criminal, he could not have been a Redeemer: A perfect Innocence was neceſſary to the deſign of his coming. Had God himſelf put him to that Death, without uſing Inſtruments of Wickedneſs in it, by ſome remarkable hand from Heaven, the Innocence of his Nature had been for ever eclipſed, and the voluntarineſs of his Sacrifice had been obſcur'd: The ſtrangeneſs of ſuch a Judgment would have made his innocence incredible; he could not reaſonably have been propos'd as an Object of Faith; What, to believe in one that was ſtruck dead by a hand from Heaven? The propagation of the Doctrine of Redemption had wanted a Foundation; and though God might have raiſed him again, the certainty of his Death had been as queſtionable as his Innocence in dying, had he not been raiſed. But God orders every thing ſo, as to anſwer his own moſt wiſe and holy ends, and maintain his Truth, and the fulfilling the Predictions of the minuteſt Concerns about them, and all this by preſenting Occaſions innocent in themſelves, which the Corruptions of the Jews took hold of, and whereby God, unknown to them, brought about his own Decrees: And may not this be conceived without any taint upon God's Holineſs; for when there are Seeds of all ſin in mans Nature, why may not God hinder the ſprouting up of this or that kind of Seed, and leave liberty to the growth of the other, and ſhut up other ways of ſinning, and reſtrain men from them, and let them looſe to that Temptation which he intends to ſerve himſelf of, hiding from them thoſe Objects which were not ſo ſerviceable to his purpoſe, wherein they would have ſinned, and offer others, which he knew their Corruption would uſe ill, and were ſerviceable to his ends; ſince the depravation of their Natures would neceſſarily hurry them to evil without reſtraining Grace, as a Scale will neceſſarily riſe up when the weight in it, which kept it down, is taken away?

7. Propoſition: The Holineſs of God is not blemiſht by withdrawing his Grace from a ſinful Creature, whereby he falls into more ſin. That God withdraws his Grace from men, and gives them up ſometimes to the fury of their Luſts, is as clear in Scripture as any thing; Deut. 29.4. Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to ſee, and ears to hear, &c. Judas was delivered to Satan after the Sop, and put into his power for deſpiſing former Admonitions. He often leaves the Rains to the Devil, that he may uſe what efficacy he can in thoſe that have offended the Majeſty of God; he withholds further influences of Grace, or withdraws what before he had granted them. Thus he withheld that Grace from the Sons of Eli, that might have made their Fathers pious Admonitions effectual to them, 1 Sam. 2.25. They hearkned not to the voice of their Father, becauſe the Lord would ſlay them. He gave Grace to Eli to reprove them, and withheld that Grace from them, which might have enabled them againſt their natural Corruption and obſtinacy to receive that Reproof.

But the Holineſs of God is not blemiſht by this.

1. Becauſe the act of God in this is only negative ††Teſtard. d… natur. & grat. Theſ. 150, 151. Amy. on divers Texts, p. 311.. Thus God is ſaid to harden men: Not by poſitive hardning, or working any thing in the Creature, but by not working, not ſoftening, leaving a man to the hardneſs of his own heart, whereby it is unavoidable by the depravation of mans Nature, and the fury of his Paſſions, but that he ſhould be further hardned, and increaſe unto more ungodlineſs, as the Expreſſion is 2 Tim. 2.16. As a man is ſaid to give another his life, when he doth not take it away when it lay at his mercy; ſo God is ſaid to harden a man, when he doth not mollifie him when it was in his power, and inwardly p. 537quicken him with that Grace whereby he might infallibly avoid any further provoking of him. God is ſaid to harden men, when he removes not from them the Incentives to ſin, curbs not thoſe Principles, which are ready to comply with thoſe Incentives, withdraws the common aſſiſtances of his Grace, concurs not with counſels and admonitions to make them effectual; flaſheth not in the convincing light which he darted upon them before. If hardneſs follows upon God's withholding his ſoftening Grace, 'tis not by any poſitive act of God, but from the natural hardneſs of Man. If you put Fire near to Wax or Roſin, both will melt, but when that Fire is removed, they return to their natural quality of hardneſs and brittleneſs; the poſitive act of the Fire is to melt and ſoften, and the ſoftneſs of the Roſin is to be aſcribed to that, but the hardneſs is from the Roſin it ſelf, wherein the Fire hath no influence, but only a negative act by a removal of it: So when God hardens a man, he only leaves him to that ſtony heart which he derived from Adam, and brought with him into the world. All mens underſtandings being blinded, and their wills perverted in Adam, God's withdrawing his Grace, is but a leaving them to their natural pravity, which is the cauſe of their further ſinning, and not God's removal of that ſpecial light he before afforded them, or reſtraint he held over them. As when God withdraws his preſerving Power from the Creature, he is not the efficient, but deficient cauſe of the Creatures deſtruction; ſo in this caſe, God only ceaſeth to bind and damm up that ſin which elſe would break out.

2. The whole poſitive cauſe of this hardneſs is from mans corruption. God infuſeth not any ſin into his Creatures, but forbears to infuſe his Grace & reſtrain their Luſts, which upon the removal of his Grace work impetuouſly: God only gives them up to that, which he knows will work ſtrongly in their hearts. And therefore the Apoſtle wipes off from God any poſitive act in that uncleaneſs the Heathens were given up to (Rom. 1.24. Wherefore God gave them up to uncleaneſs, through the luſts of their own hearts. And verſe 26. God gave them up to vile affections; but they were their own affections, none of Gods inſpiring) by adding, through the luſts of their own Hearts: Gods giving them up was the Logical cauſe, or a cauſe by way of Argument; their own Luſts were the true and natural cauſe; their own they were, before they were given up to them; and belonging to none as the Author, but themſelves, after they were given up to them. The Luſt in the Heart, and the temptation without, eaſily cloſe and mix intereſts with one another: As the Fire in a Coal pit will with the fuell, if the ſtreams derived into it for the quenching it, be dam'd up: The naturall Paſſions will run to a temptation, as the Waters of a River tumble towards the Sea. When a man that hath bridled in a high mettled-Horſe from running out, gives him the Rains; or a Huntſman takes off the ſtring that held the Dog, and lets him run after the Hare; are they the immediate cauſe of the motion of the one, or the other? no, but the mettle and ſtrength of the Horſe, and the natural inclination of the Hound, both which are left to their own motions to purſue their own natural inſtincts. Man doth as naturally tend to ſin as a ſtone to the Center, or as a weighty thing inclines to a motion to the Earth: T…s from the propenſion of mans nature that he drinks up iniquity like water; and God doth no more when he leaves a man to ſin, by taking away the Hedge which ſtopt him, but leave him to his natural Inclination. As a man that breaks up a damm he hath placed, leaves the Streams to run in their natural Chanel; or one that takes away a prop from a Stone to let it fall, leaves it only to that nature which inclines it to a deſcent; both have their motion from their own Nature, and man his Sin from his own Corruption.**Amyrald. de predeſt. p. 107. The withdrawing the Sun-beams, is not the cauſe of Darkneſs, but the Shadineſs of the Earth; nor is the departure of the Sun the cauſe of Winter, but the coldneſs of the Air and Earth, which was temper'd and beaten back into the bowels of the Earth by the vigor of the Sun, upon whoſe departure they return to their natural ſtate: The Sun only leaves the Earth and Air as it found them at the beginning of the Spring, or the beginning of the Day. If God do not give a man Grace to melt him, yet he cannot be ſaid to communicate to him that nature which hardens him, which man hath from himſelf. As God was not the cauſe of the firſt ſin of Adam, which was the root of all other, ſo he is not the cauſe of the following ſins, which as branches ſpring from p. 538that root; mans free-will was the cauſe of the firſt ſin, and the corruption of his nature by it the cauſe of all ſucceeding ſins. God doth not immediately harden any man, but doth propoſe thoſe things, from whence the natural Vice of man takes an occaſion to ſtrengthen and nouriſh itſelf: Hence God is ſaid to harden Pharao'hs Heart ‖‖Exod. 7.13.Exod 7:13, by concurring with the Magicians in turning their rods into Serpents, which ſtiffened his Heart againſt Moſes, conceiving him by reaſon of that to have no more power than other men, and was an occaſion of his further hardning: And Pharaoh is ſaid to harden himſelf **Exod. 8.32.Exod 8:32, that is, in regard of his own natural paſſion.

3. God is holy and righteous, becauſe he doth not withdraw from man, till man deſerts him: To ſay that God withdrew that Grace from Adam, which he had afforded him in Creation, or any thing that was due to him, till he had abuſed the Gifts of God, and turned them to an end contrary to that of Creation, would be a reflection upon the Divine Holineſs: God was firſt deſerted by man before man was deſerted by God; and man doth firſt contemn and abuſe the common Grace of God, and thoſe reliques of natural light that enlighten every man that comes into the World ††John. 1:9.John 1:9, before God leaves him to the hurry of his own Paſſions Ephraim was firſt joyned to Idols, before God pronounced the fatal ſentence, Let him alone ‖‖Hoſ. 4.17.Hos 4:17: And the Heathens firſt changed the glory of the incorruptible God, before God withdrew his common Grace from the corrupted creature**Rom. 1.23, 24.Rom 1:23Rom 1:24; and they firſt ſerved the Creature more then the Creator, before the Creator gave them up to the ſlaviſh Chains of their vile affections††Ver. 25, 26.. Iſrael firſt caſt off God before God caſt off them, but then he gave them up to their own Hearts Luſts, and they walked in their own Counſels, Pſa. 81.11, 12. Since ſin entred into the World by the fall of Adam, and the blood of all his poſterity was tainted, Man cannot do any thing that is formally good; not for want of faculties, but for the want of a righteous habit in thoſe faculties, eſpecially in the Will; yet God diſcovers himſelf to man in the works of his hands; he hath left in him footſteps of natural reaſon, he doth attend him with common motions of his Spirit, corrects him for his faults with gentle Chaſtiſements. He is neer unto all in ſome kind of Inſtructions: He puts many times providential bars in their way of ſinning; but when they will ruſh into it as the Horſe into the battle, when they will rebell againſt the light, God doth often leave them to their own courſe, ſentence him that is filthy to be filthy ſtill ‖‖Reve. 22.11.Rev 22:11, which is a righteous act of God, as he is Rector and Governor of the World. Man's not receiving, or not improving what God gives, is the cauſe of Gods not giving further, or taking away his own, which before he had beſtowed; This is ſo far from being repugnant to the Holineſs and Righteouſneſs of God, that it is rather a commendable act of his Holineſs and Righteouſneſs, as the Rector of the World, not to let thoſe gifts continue in the hand of a man who abuſes them contrary to his glory. Who will blame a Father, that after all the good Counſels he hath given his Son to reclaim him, all the Corrections he hath inflicted on him for his irregular practice, leaves him to his own courſes and withdraws thoſe aſſiſtances which he ſcoft at and turned the deaf Ear unto? Or who will blame the Phyſician for deſerting the Patient, who rejects his Counſel, will not follow his Preſcriptions, but daſheth his Phyſick againſt the Wall? No man will blame him, no man will ſay that he is the cauſe of the Patients death, but the true cauſe is the fury of the Diſtemper, and the obſtinacy of the diſeaſed Perſon to which the Phyſician left him. And who can juſtly blame God in this caſe, who yet never denied ſupplies of Grace to any that ſincerely ſought it at his hands; and what man is there that lies under a hardneſs, but firſt was guilty of very provoking ſins? What unholineſs is it to deprive men of thoſe aſſiſtances becauſe of their ſin, and afterwards to direct thoſe counſels and practices of theirs which he hath juſtly given them up unto, to ſerve the ends of his own glory in his own methods?

4. Which will appear further by conſidering, that God is not oblig'd to continue his Grace to them. It was at his liberty whither he could give any renewing Grace to Adam after his fall, or to any of his Poſterity: He was at his own liberty to withold it or communicate it: But if he were under any Obligation then, ſurely he muſt be under leſs now, ſince the multiplication of Sin by his Creatures: But p. 539if the Obligation were none juſt after the fall, there is no pretence now to faſten any ſuch Obligation on God. That God had no Obligation at firſt hath been ſpoken to before: He is leſs obliged to continue his Grace after a repeated refuſal, and a peremptory abuſe, than he was bound to proffer it after the firſt Apoſtacy. God cannot be charg'd with unholineſs in withdrawing his Grace after we have received it, unleſs we can make it appear that his Grace was a thing due to us, as we are his Creatures, and as he is Governor of the World. What Prince looks upon himſelf as oblig'd to reſide in any particular place of his Kingdom? But ſuppoſe he be bound to inhabit in one particular City, yet after the City rebells againſt him, is he bound to continue his Court there, ſpend his Revenue among Rebels, endanger his own Honour and Security, inlarge their Charter, or maintain their Ancient Priviledges? Is it not moſt juſt and righteous for him to withdraw himſelf and leave them to their own Tumultuouſneſs and Sedition, whereby they ſhould eat the fruit of their own doings? If there be an Obligation on God as a Governor, it would rather lie on the ſide of Juſtice, to leave Man to the Power of the Devil whom he courted, and the prevalency of thoſe Luſts he hath ſo often careſſed, and wrap up in a Cloud all his common Illuminations, and leave him deſtitute of all common workings of his Spirit.

8. Propoſition. Gods Holineſs is not blemiſht, by his commanding thoſe things ſometimes which ſeem to be againſt Nature, or thwart ſome other of his Precepts. As when God commanded Abraham with his own hand to Sacrifice his Son**Gen. 22.2.Gen 22:2, there was nothing of Unrighteouſneſs in it. God hath a Soveraign Dominion over the lives and beings of his creatures, whereby as he creates one day, he might annihilate the next; and by the ſame right that he might demand the life of Iſaac, as being his Creature, he might demand the Obedience of Abraham in a ready return of that to him, which he had ſo long enjoy'd by his grant. 'Tis true, killing is unjuſt when it is done without cauſe, and by a private Authority: But the Authority of God ſurmounts all private and Publick Authority whatſoever. Our lives are due to him when he calls for them, and they are more than once forfeit to him by reaſon of Tranſgreſſion. But howſoever the caſe is, God commanded him to do it for the trial of his Grace, but ſuffered him not to do it in favour to his ready Obedience: But had Iſaac been actually ſlain and offer'd, how had it been unrighteous in God, who enacts Laws for the Regulation of his Creature, but never intended them to the prejudice of the Rights of his Soveraignty? Another Caſe is that of the Iſraelites borrowing Jewels of the Egyptians by the order of God††Exod. 11.2.3 Exod. 12.36Exod 11:2Exod 11:3Exod 12:36. Is not God Lord of mans goods, as well as their lives? What have any, they have not received? & that not as Proprietors independent on God, but his Stewards, and may not he demand a portion of his Steward to beſtow upon his Favourite? He that had power to diſpoſe of the Egyptians Goods, had power to order the Iſraelites to ask them. Beſides, God acted the part of a juſt Judge in ordering them their wages for their Service in this method, and making their Task-maſters give them ſome recompence for their unjuſt oppreſſion ſo many years: It was a Command from God therefore, rather for the preſervation of Juſtice, (the Baſis of all thoſe Laws which link human Society) than any infringement of it. It was a material recompence in part, though not a formal one in the intention of the Egyptians: It was but in part a recompence; It muſt needs come ſhort of the dammage the poor Captives had ſuſtained by the tyranny of their Maſters, who had inſlav'd them contrary to the rules of hoſpitality; and could not make amends for the lives of the poor Infants of Iſrael, whom they had drowned in the River. He that might for the unjuſt oppreſſion of his People have taken away all their Lives, deſtroy'd the whole Nation, and put the Iſraelites into the poſſeſſion of their Lands, could without any unrighteouſneſs diſpoſe of part of their Goods: And it was rather an act of Clemency to leave them ſome part, who had doubly forfeited all. Again, the Egyptians were as ready to lend by Gods influence, as the Iſraelites were to ask by Gods order: And though it was a loan, God as Soveraign of the World, and Lord of the Earth and the fulneſs thereof, alienated the property by aſſuming them to the uſe of the Tabernacle, to which ſervice moſt, if not all of them, were afterwards dedicated. God who is Lawgiver hath power p. 540to diſpence with his own Law, and make uſe of his own Goods and diſpoſe of them as he pleaſes. 'Tis no unholineſs in God to diſpoſe of that which he hath a right unto. Indeed God cannot command that which is in its own nature intrinſically evill; as to command a rational Creature not to love him, not to worſhip him, to call God to witneſs to a Lye; theſe are intrinſically evil; but for the diſpoſing of the Lives and Goods of his Creatures, which they have from him in right, and not in abſolute propriety, is not evil in him, becauſe there is no repugnancy in his own Nature to ſuch acts, nor is it any thing inconſiſtent with the natural duty of a Creature, and in ſuch caſ…s he may uſe what inſtruments he pleaſe.

The Point was, That Holineſs is a glorious perfection of the nature of God. We have ſhew'd the Nature of this Holineſs in God; what it is, and we have demonſtrated it, and proved that God is holy, and muſt needs be ſo, and alſo the purity of his Nature in all his acts about ſin: Let us now improve it by way of Ʋſe.

Ʋſe. Is holineſs a tranſcendent perfection belonging to the Nature of God? The firſt Ʋſe ſhall be of Inſtruction and Information.

1. How great and how freque… is the contempt of this eminent perfection in the Deity? Since the fall, this attribute, which renders God moſt amiable in himſelf, renders him moſt hateful to his Apoſtate Creature. 'Tis impoſſible that he that loves iniquity, can affect that which is irreconcileably contrary to the iniquity he loves. Nothing ſo contrary to the ſinfulneſs of man as the Holineſs of God, and nothing is thought of by the ſinner with ſo much deteſtation. How do Men account that which is the moſt glorious perfection of the divinity, unworthy to to be regarded as an accompliſhment of their own Souls? And when they are preſſed to an imitation of it, and a deteſtation of what is contrary to it, have the ſame ſentiments in their Heart which the Devil had in his Language to Chriſt. Why art thou come to torment us before our time? What an enmity the World naturally hath to this perfection, I think is viſible in the practiſe of the Heathen, who among all their Heroes which they deified, elevated none to that dignity among them for this or that moral Vertue that came neareſt to it, but for their valour or ſome uſefulneſs in the concerns of this Life. Aeſculapius was deified for his skill in the cure of Diſeaſes; Bacchus for the uſe of the grape; Vulcan for his operations by Fire; Hercules for his deſtroying of Tyrants and Monſters; but none for their meer Vertue: As if any thing of purity were unworthy their conſideration in the frame of a Deity, when it is the glory of all other Perfections: So eſſential it is, that when Men reject the imitation of this, God regards it as a total rejection of himſelf, though they own all the other attributes of his Nature; Pſal. 81.11. Iſrael would none of me; why? becauſe they walked not in his ways, Verſ. 13. thoſe ways wherein the purity of the Divine nature was moſt conſpicuous: They would own him in his Power, when they ſtood in need of a Deliverance; they would own him in his Mercy, when they were plung'd in Diſtreſs; but they would not imitate him in his Holineſs. This being the luſtre of the Divine Nature, the contempt of it is an obſcuring all his other Perfections, and a daſhing a blot upon his whole Scutcheon. To own all the reſt, and deny him this, is to frame him as an unbeautiful Monſter, a Deformed power. Indeed, all ſin is againſt this attribute; all ſin aims in general at the being of God, but in particular at the Holineſs of his Being: All ſin is a violence to this perfection: There is not an Iniquity in the World, but directs its venemous ſting againſt the divine purity: Some ſins are directed againſt his Omniſcience, as ſecret Wickedneſs; ſome againſt his Providence, as diſtruſt; ſome againſt his Mercy, as unbelief; ſome againſt his Wiſdom, as neglecting the means inſtituted by him, cenſuring his ways and actings; ſome againſt his Power, as truſting in means more than in God, and the immoderate fear of Men more than of God; ſome againſt his Truth, as diſtruſting his Promiſe, or not fearing his Threatning; but all agree together in their enmity againſt this, which is the peculiar glory of the Deity. Every one of them is a receding from the Divine Image; and the blackneſs of every one is the deeper, by how much the diſtance of it from the holineſs of God is the greater. This contrariety to the Holineſs of God is the cauſe of all the abſolute Atheiſm (if there be any ſuch) in the World; What was the reaſon the Fool hath ſaid in his heart, there is no God? but becauſe the Fool p. 541is corrupt and hath done abominable works **Pſal. 14.1.Ps 14:1. If they believe the being of a God, their own Reaſon will inforce them to imagine him holy: Therefore rather then fancy a holy God, they would fain fancy none at all.

In particular,

1. The Holineſs of God is injur'd, in unworthy repreſentations of God, and imaginations of him in our own minds. The Heathen fell under this guilt, and aſcribed to their Idols thoſe Vices which their own Senſuality inclin'd them to, unworthy of a man, much more unworthy of a God, that they might find a protection of their Crimes in the practice of their Idols. But is this only the notion of the Heathens? may there not be many among us whoſe love to their Luſts, and deſires of ſinning without controul, move them to ſlander God in their thoughts rather than reform their lives, and are ready to frame by the power of their imaginative faculty, a God not only winking, but ſmiling at their Impurities? I am ſure God charges the Impieties of Men upon this ſcore, in that Pſalm, (Pſa. 50.21.) which ſeems to be a repreſentation of the day of Judgment, as ſome gather from Verſe 6. When God …ums up all together. Theſe things haſt thou done, and I kept ſilence, thou thoughteſt that I was altogether ſuch an one as thy ſelf; not a deteſter, but approver of thy crimes. And the Pſalmiſt ſeems to expreſs Gods loathing of ſin in ſuch a manner, as intimates it to be contrary to the Ideas and Reſemblances Men make of him in their minds, Pſal. 5.4 For thou art not a God that haſt pleaſure in wickedneſs. As we ſay in vindication of a man, he is not ſuch a man as you imagine him to be; Thou art not ſuch a God as the World commonly imagines Thee to be, a God taking pleaſure in iniquity. 'Tis too common for men to fancy God not as he is, but as they would have him; ſtrip him of his excellency for their own ſecurity. As God made man after his Image, man would dreſs God after his own Modes, as may beſt ſute the content of his Luſts, and incourage him in a courſe of ſinning; For when they can frame ſuch a notion of God, as if he were a Countenancer of ſin, they will derive from thence a reputation to their Crimes, commit Wickedneſs with an unbounded licentiouſneſs, and crown their Vices with the name of Vertues, becauſe they are ſo like to the Sentiments of that God they fancy: From hence, as the Pſalmiſt in the Pſalm before mention'd, ariſeth that maſs of Vice in the World; ſuch Conceptions are the Mother and Nurſe of all Impiety, I queſtion not but the firſt Spring is ſome wrong notion of God in regard of his holineſs: We are as apt to imagine God as we would have him, as the black Ethiopians were to draw the Image of their Gods after their own dark hue, and paint him with their own Colour: As a Philoſopher in Theodoret ſpeaks; if Oxen and Lions had hands, and could paint as men do, they would frame the Images of their Gods according to their own likeneſs and complexion: Such notions of God render him a Swiniſh Being, and worſe than the vileſt Idols ador'd by the Egyptians, when Men fancy a God indulgent to their Appetites, and moſt ſordid Luſts.

2. In defacing the Image of God in our own Souls. God in the firſt draught of man conform'd him to his own Image, or made him an Image of himſelf: Becauſe we find that in Regeneration this Image is renewed, Eph. 4.24. The new Man, which after God is created in Righteouſneſs and true Holineſs. He did not take Angels for his Pattern in the firſt poliſhing the Soul, but himſelf. In defaceing this Image we caſt durt upon the Holineſs of God, which was his pattern in the framing of us; and rather chuſe to be conformed to Satan, who is Gods grand Enemy, to have Gods Image wip'd out of us, and the Devils pictur'd in us: Therefore natural men in an unregenerate ſtate may juſtly be called Devils, ſince our Saviour called the worſt man, Judas, ſo**John 6.1.John 6:1, and Peter, one of the beſt††Mat. 16.23.Matt 16:23: And if this title be given by an infallible Judge to one of the worſt, and one of the beſt, it may without wrong to any be aſcrib'd to all men that wallow in their ſin, which is directly contrary to that illuſtrious Image God did imprint upon them. How often is it ſeen that men controul the light of their own Nature, and ſtain the cleareſt beams of that Candle of the Lord in their own ſpirits, that fly in the face of their own Conſciences, and ſay to them, as Ahab to Micaiah, thou diſt never prophecy good to me; thou diſt never incourage me in thoſe things that are pleaſing to the Fleſh; & uſe it at the ſame rate as the wicked King did the Prophet, impriſon it in unrighteouſneſs ‖‖Rom. 1.18.Rom 1:18; becauſe it ſtarts up in them ſometimes Sentiments of the Holineſs of God, which it p. 542repreſents in the Soul of man. How jolly are many men when the exhalations of their Senſitive part riſe up to Cloud the exacteſt Principle of moral Nature in their minds, and render the monſtrous Principles of the Law of Corruption more lively? Whence ariſeth the wickedneſs which hath been committed with an open face in the World, and the applauſe that hath been often given to the worſt of villanies? Have we not known among our ſelves, men to glory in their ſhame, & eſteem that a moſt gentile accompliſhment of man, which is the greateſt blot upon his Nature, and which if it were upon God, would render him no God, but an impure Devil, ſo that to be a Gentleman among us hath been the ſame as to be an incarnate Devil? and to be a man, was to be no better, but worſe than a Bruit? Vile Wretches! Is not this a contempt of Divine holineſs, to kill that Divine ſeed which lies languiſhing in the midſt of corrupted Nature; to cut up any Sprouts of it as weeds unworthy to grow in their gardens, & cultivate what is the Seed of Hell? prefer the rotten fruits of Sodom, markt with a Divine curſe, before thoſe Relicks of the fruits of Eden, of Gods own planting?

3. The Holineſs of God is injur'd in charging our ſin upon God. Nothing is more, natural to men, than to ſeek excuſes for their ſin, & transfer it from themſelves to the next at hand; and rather than fail, ſhift it upon God himſelf; and if they can bring God into a ſociety with them in ſin, they will hug themſelves in a ſecurity that God cannot puniſh that guilt, wherein he is a Partner: Adam's Children are not of a different diſpoſition from Adam himſelf, who after he was Arraign'd and brought to his Trial, boggles not at flinging his dirt in the face of God his Creator, and accuſeth him as if he had given him the Woman, not to be his help, but his ruine Gen. 3.12. And the man ſaid, the woman whom thou gaveſt to be with me, ſhe gave me of the Tree and I did eat. He never ſupplicates for Pardon, nor ſeeks a remedy, but reflects his Crime upon God; Had I been alone, as I was firſt created, I had not eaten, but the woman whom I received as a ſpecial gift from thee, hath proved my tempter and my bane. When man could not be like God in Knowledge, he endeavour'd to make God like him in his Crime; and when his Ambition failed of equallizing himſelf with God, he did with an inſolence too common to corrupted Nature, attempt by the imputation of his ſin, to equal the Divinity with himſelf. Some think Cain had the ſame ſentiment in his anſwer to Gods demand, Where his brother was, Gen. 2.9. Am I my brother's keeper? Art not thou the Keeper and Governor of the World, why didſt not thou take care of him, and hinder my killing him, and drawing this guilt upon my ſelf, and terror upon my Conſcience? David was not behind, when after the murder of Ʋriah, he ſweeps the dirt from his own door to Gods, Sam. 2.11.25. The ſword devoureth one as well as another; Fathering that ſolely upon Divine Providence, which was his own wicked Contrivance: Though afterwards he is more ingenuous in clearing God, and charging himſelf, Pſal. 51.4. Againſt thee, thee only have I ſinned; and he clears God in his Judgment too. 'Tis too common for the fooliſhneſs of man to pervert his way, and then his heart frets againſt the Lord, Pro. 19.3. He ſtudies miſchief, runs in a way of ſin, and when he hath conjur'd up troubles to himſelf by his own folly, he excuſeth himſelf, and with indignation charges God as the Author both of his ſin and miſery, and ſets his mouth againſt the Heavens. 'Tis a more horrible thing to accuſe God as a Principal or Acceſſory in our guilt, than to conceive him to be a favourer of our iniquity; yet both are bad enough.

4. The Holineſs of God is injured, when men will study Arguments from the holy word of God to Colour & ſhelter their Crimes. When men will ſeek for a ſhelter for their Lies, in that of the Midwifes to preſerve the Children, or in that of Rahab to ſave the Spies; as if becauſe God rewarded their fidelity, he countenanc'd their ſin. How often is Scripture wreſted to be a plea for unbecoming practiſes, that God in his Word may be imagin'd a Patron for their Iniquity? 'Tis not unknown that ſome have maintain'd their quaffing and carowſing from Eccleſ. 8.11. That a man hath no better thing under the Sun, than to eat and drink and be merry: And their Gluttony from Matth. 5.11 That which goes into the belly, defiles not a man. The Jeſuits morals are a tranſcript of this. How often hath the Paſſion of our Saviour, the higheſt expreſſion of Gods holineſs, been employ'd to ſtain it, & encourage the moſt debauched practiſes? Grace hath been turn'd into wantonneſs & the abundance of grace been us'd as a blaſt to increaſe the flames of ſin; as if God had no other aim in that work of Redemption, but to diſcover himſelf more indulgent to our Senſual Appetites, p. 543and by his Severity with his Son, become more gracious to our Luſts: This is to feed the Roots of Hell with the Dews of Heaven, to make Grace a Pandor for the abuſe of it, and to employ the Expreſſions of his Holineſs in his Word to be a Sword againſt the eſſential Holineſs of his Nature: As if a man ſhould draw an Apology for his Treaſon out of that Law that was made to forbid, not to protect his Rebellion. Not the meaneſt Inſtrument in the Temple was to be alienated from the uſe it was by Divine Order appointed to, nor was it to be imployed in any common uſe; and ſhall the Word of God, which is the Image of his Holineſs, be transfer'd by baſe Interpretations to be an Advocate for Iniquity? ſuch an ill uſe of his Word reflects upon that Hand which imprinted thoſe Characters of Purity and Righteouſneſs upon it: As the miſ-interpretation of the wholeſome Laws of a Prince, made to diſcourage Debauchery, reflects upon his righteouſneſs and ſincerity in enacting them.

5. The Holineſs of God is injured, when men will put up Petitions to God to favour them in a wicked Deſign. Such there are, and taxt by the Apostle, James 4.3. Ye ask amiſs, that you may conſume it upon your Luſts: who deſired Mercies from God, with an intent to make them Inſtruments of Sin, and Weapons of Unrighteouſneſs; as it is reported of a Thief, that he always pray'd for the ſucceſs of his Robery. It hath not been rare in the World to appoint Faſts and Prayers for ſucceſs in Wars manifeſtly unjuſt, and commenc'd upon breaches of Faith. Many Covetous men petition God to proſper them in their unjuſt gain; as if the bleſſed God ſate in his pure Majeſty upon a Throne of Grace, to eſpouſe unjuſt practiſes, and make Iniquity proſperous. There are ſuch as offer Sacrifice with an evil mind **Prov. 21.27.Prov 21:27, to barter with God for a Divine Bleſſing to ſpirit a wicked contrivance. How great a contempt of the Holineſs of God is this? How inexcuſable would it be for a Favourite to addreſs himſelf to a juſt Prince with this Language? Sir, I deſire a Boon of ſuch Lands that lye near me, for an addition to my Eſtate, that I may have ſupports for my Debauchery, and be able to play the Villain more powerfully among my Neighbours. Hereby he implies that his Prince is a Friend to ſuch Crimes and Wickedneſs he intends his Petition for. Is not this the language of many mens hearts in the immediate preſence of God? The Order of Prayer runs thus, Hallowed be thy Name; firſt to have a deep ſenſe of the Holineſs of the Divine Nature, and an ardent deſire for the glory of it: This Order is inverted by asking thoſe things which are not agreeable to the Will of God; not meet for us to ask, nor meet for God to give; or asking things agreeable to the Will of God, but with a wicked intention: This is, in effect, to deſire God to ſtrip himſelf of his Holineſs, and commit Sacriledge upon his own Nature to gratifie our Luſts.

6. The Purity of God is contemned, in hating and ſcoffing at the holineſs which is in a Creature. Whoever looks upon the holineſs of a Creature as an unlovely thing, can have no good Opinion of the amiableneſs of Divine Purity. Whoſoever hates thoſe qualities and graces that reſemble God in any perſon, muſt needs contemn the Original Pattern, which is more eminent in God. If there be no comlineſs in a Creature's holineſs, to render it grateful to us, we ſhould ſay of God himſelf, were he viſible among us, with thoſe in the Prophet, Iſa. 53. There is no beauty in him that we ſhould deſire him: Holineſs is beautiful in it ſelf. If God be the moſt lovely Being, that which is a likeneſs to him, ſo far as it doth reſemble him, muſt needs be amiable, becauſe it partakes of God: And therefore thoſe that ſee no beauty in an inferiour holineſs, but contemn it becauſe it is a Purity above them, contemn God much more: He that hates that which is imperfect meerly for that excellency which is in it, doth much more hate that which is perfect, without any mixture or ſtain. Holineſs being the glory of God, the peculiar Title of the Deity, and from him derived unto the Nature of a Creature; he that mocks this in a Perſon, derides God himſelf; and when he cannot abuſe the Purity in the Deity, he will do it in his Image. As Rebels that cannot wrong the King in his Perſon, will do it in his Picture, and his Subjects that are Loyal to him: He that hates the Picture of a Man, hates the Perſon repreſented by it much more; he that hates the Beams, hates the Sun; the holineſs of a Creature is but a Beam from that Infinite Sun, a Stream from that Eternal Fountain. Where there is p. 544a deriſion of the Purity of any Creature, there is a greater reflection upon God in that deriſion, as he is the Author of it. If a mixed and ſtained holineſs be more the ſubject of any mans Scoff, than a great deal of Sin, that Perſon hath a diſpoſition more roundly to ſcoff at God himſelf, ſhould he appear in that unblemiſht and unſpotted Purity which infinitely ſhines in his Nature. O! 'tis a dangerous thing to ſcoff and deride holineſs in any perſon, though never ſo mean; Such do deride and ſcoff at the moſt holy God.

7. The Holineſs of God is injur'd by our unprepared addreſſes to him, when like Swine, we come into the preſence of God with all our mire reeking and ſteaming upon us. A holy God requires a holy Worſhip: And if our beſt Duties, having filth in every part, as perform'd by us, are unmeet for God; how much more unſutable are dead and dirty Duties to a living and immenſe Holineſs? Slight approaches and droſſy frames ſpeak us to have imaginations of God as of a ſlight and ſottiſh Being: This is worſe than the Heathens practis'd, who would purge their Fleſh before they Sacrific'd, and make ſome preparations in a ſeeming Purity, before they would enter into their Temples. God is ſo holy, that were our Services as refin'd as thoſe of Angels, we could not preſent him with a Service meet for his holy Nature**Joſh. 24.19.Josh 24:19. We contemn then this Perfection when we come before him without due preparation; as if God himſelf were of an impure Nature, and did not deſerve our pureſt thoughts in our applications to him; as if any blem…ſht and polluted Sacrifice were good enough for him, and his Nature deſerv'd no better. When we excite not thoſe elevated Frames of Spirit which are due to ſuch a Being; when we think to put him off with a lame and imperfect Service, we worſhip him not according to the excellency of his Nature, but put a ſlight upon his Majeſtick Sanctity: When we nouriſh in our Duties thoſe fooliſh Imaginations which creep upon us; when we bring into, and continue our worldly, carnal, debauch'd Fancies in his Preſence, worſe than the naſty Servants, or bemired Dogs, a man would bluſh to be attended with in his Viſits to a neat Perſon. To be converſing with ſordid Senſualities, when we are at the feet of an Infinite God, ſitting upon the Throne of his Holineſs, is as much a contempt of him, as it would be of a Prince, to bring a Veſſel full of naſty Dung with us, when we come to preſent a Petition to him clothed in his Royal Robes. Or as it would have been to God, if the High Prieſt ſhould have ſwept all the Blood and Excrements of the Sacrifices from the Foot of the Altar into the Holy of Holies, and heapt it up before the Mercy Seat, where the Preſence of God dwelt between the Cherubims, and afterwards ſhovel'd it up into the Ark, to be lodged with Aarons Rod and the Pot of Manna.

8. God's Holineſs is ſlighted in depending upon our imperfect Services to bear us out before the Tribunal of God. This is too ordinary: The Jews were often infected with it††Rom. 3.10.Rom 3:10, who not well underſtanding the enormity of their Tranſgreſſions, the interweaving of Sin with their Services, and the unſpottedneſs of the Divine Purity, mingled an Opinion of Merit with their Sacrifices, and thought by the cutting the Throat of a Beaſt, and offering it upon God's Altar, they had made a ſufficient Compenſation to that Holineſs they had offended. Not to ſpeak of many among the Romaniſts, who have the ſame notion, thinking to make ſatisfaction to God, by erecting an Hoſpital, or endowing a Church, as if this injur'd Perfection could be contented with the Dregs of their Purſes, and the offering of an unjuſt Mammon, more likely to mind God of the Injury they have done him, than contribute to the appeaſing of him. But is it not too ordinary with miſerable men, whoſe Conſciences accuſe them of their Crimes, to rely upon the mumbling of a few formal Prayers, and in the ſtrength of them to think to ſtand before the tremendous Tribunal of God, and meet with a Diſcharge upon this account from any Accuſation this Divine Perfection can preſent againſt them? Nay, do not the beſt Chriſtians ſometimes find a Principle in them, that makes them ſtumble in their goings forth to Chriſt, and glorifying the Holineſs of God in that method which he hath appointed? Sometimes caſting an eye at their Grace, and ſticking a while to this or that Duty, and gazing at the glory of the Temple-building, while they ſhould more admire the glorious Preſence that fills it. What p. 545is all this but a vilifying of the Holineſs of the Divine Nature, as though it would be well enough contented with our Impurities and Imperfections, becauſe they look like a Righteouſneſs in our eſtimation? As though Droſs and Dung, which are the Titles the Apoſtle gives to all the Righteouſneſs of a Fallen Creature**Phil. 3.8▪Phil 3:8, were valuable in the ſight of God, and ſufficient to render us comely before him. 'Tis a Blaſphemy againſt this Attribute, to pretend that any thing ſo imperfect, ſo daub'd, as the beſt of our Services are, can anſwer to that which is Infinitely Perfect, and be a ground of demanding Eternal Li…e: 'Tis at beſt, to ſet up a guilded Dagon as a fit Companion for the Ark of his Holineſs; our own Righteouſneſs as a ſutable Mate for the Righteouſneſs of God: As if he had repented of the Claim he made by the Law to an exact conformity, and thrown off the Holineſs of his Nature for the fondling of a Corrupted Creature. Rude and fooliſh Notions of the Divine Purity, are clearly evidenced by any confidence in any Righteouſneſs of our own, though never ſo ſplendid. 'Tis a rendring the Righteouſneſs of God, as dull and obſcure as that of Men; a meer Out-ſide, as their own: As blind as the Heathens pictur'd their Fortune, that knew as little how to diſcern the Nature and value of the Offerings made to her, as to diſtribute her gifts, as if it were all one to them, to have a Dog or a Lamb preſented in Sacrifice. As if God did not well underſtand his own Nature, when he enacted ſo Holy a Law, and ſtrengthned it with ſo ſevere a Threatning; which muſt follow upon our Conceit, that he will accept a Righteouſneſs lower than that, which bears ſome ſutableneſs to the Holineſs of his own Nature, and that of his Law; and that he could eaſily be put off with a pretended and counterfeit Service. What are the Services of the generality of Men, but Suppoſitions, that they can bribe God to an Indulgence of them in their Sins, and by an Oral Sacrifice, cauſe him to deveſt himſelf of his Hatred of their former Iniquities, and countenance their following Practiſes. As the Harlot, that would return freſh to her Uncleanneſs, upon the confidence that her Peace Offerings had contented the Righteouſneſs of God††Prov. 7.14.Prov 7:14: As though a ſmall Service could make him wink at our Sins, and lay aſide the Glory of his Nature; when alas, the beſt Duties in the moſt gracious Perſons in this life, are but as the ſteams of a Spiced Dunghil, a compoſition of Myrrh and Froth, ſince there are ſwarms of Corruptions in their Nature, and ſecret Sins that they need a cleanſing from.

9. 'Tis a contemning the Holineſs of God, when we charge the Law of God with rigidneſs. We caſt Durt upon the Holineſs of God, when we blame the Law of God, becauſe it ſhackles us, and prohibits our deſired Pleaſures; and hate the Law of God, as they did the Prophets, becauſe they did not Propheſy ſmooth things; but called to them, to get them out of the way, and turn aſide out of the path, and cauſe the Holy One of Iſrael to ceaſe from before them, Iſai. 30.10, 11. Put us no more in mind of the Holineſs of God, and the Holineſs of his Law; 'tis a troubleſom thing for us to hear of it: Let him be gone from us, ſince he will not countenance our Vices, and indulge our Crimes; We would rather hear there is no God, than you ſhould tell us of a Holy one. We are contrary to the Law, when we wiſh it were not ſo exact; and therefore contrary to the Holineſs of God, which ſet the ſtamp of Exactneſs and Righteouſneſs upon it. We think him Injurious to our Liberty, when by his Precept he thwarts our Pleaſure; we wiſh it of another frame, more mild, more ſutable to our Minds: 'Tis the ſame, as if we ſhould openly blame God for conſulting with his own Righteouſneſs, and not with our Humors, before he ſetled his Law; that he ſhould not have drawn it from the depths of his Righteous Nature, but ſquar'd it to accommodate our Corruption.

This being the language of ſuch Complaints, is a reproving God, becauſe he would not be Unholy, that we might be Unrighteous with Impunity. Had the Divine Law been ſuted to our Corrupt ſtate, God muſt have been Unholy to have complied with his Rebellious Creature. To charge the Law with rigidneſs, either in Language or Practice, is the higheſt contempt of Gods Holineſs; for it is an Implicit Wiſh, that God were as defil'd, polluted, diſorderly, as our Corrupted Selves.

p. 54610, The Holineſs of God is injur'd Opinionatively.

(1.) In the Opinion of Venial ſins. The Romaniſts divide Sins into Venial and Mortal: Mortal, are thoſe which deſerve Eternal Death; Venial, the lighter ſort of Sins, which rather deſerve to be pardon'd than puniſh'd; or if puniſh'd, not with an Eternal, but Temporal Puniſhment. This Opinion hath no foundation in, but is contrary to Scripture. How can any Sin be in its own nature Venial, when the due Wages of every Sin is death, Rom. 6.23. and he, who continues not in every thing that the Law commands, falls under a Curſe? Gal. 3.10. 'Tis a mean thought of the Holineſs and Majeſty of God to imagine, that any Sin which is againſt an Infinite Majeſty, and as Infinite a Purity both in the Nature of God and the Law of God, ſhould not be conſidered as infinitely hainous. All Sins are Tranſgreſſions of the Eternal Law, and in every one the Infinite Holineſs of God is ſome way ſlighted.

(2.) In the Opinion of Works of Supererogation. That is, ſuch Works as are not commanded by God, which yet have ſuch a dignity and worth in their own nature, that the Performers of them do not only merit at Gods hands for themſelves, but fill up a Treaſure of Merits for others, that come ſhort of fulfilling the Precepts God hath enjoyn'd. 'Tis ſuch a mean thought of Gods Holineſs, that the Jews, in all the Charges brought againſt them in Scripture, were never guilty of. And if you conſider what pitiful things they are, which are within the compaſs of ſuch Works, you have ſufficient reaſon to bewail the Ignorance of Man, and the low eſteem he hath of ſo glorious a Perfection. The Whipping themſelves often in a Week, extraordinary Watchings, Faſtings, Macerating their Bodies, wearing a Capuchins Habit, &c. are pitiful things to give content to an Infinite Purity. As if the Precept of God requir'd only the Inferiour degrees of Vertue, and the Counſels the more high and excellent; as if the Law of God, which the Pſalmiſt counts perfect ††Pſal. 19.7.Ps 19:7, did not command all Good, and forbid all Evil; as if the Holineſs of God had forgotten it ſelf in the framing the Law, and made it a ſcanty and defective Rule; and the Righteouſneſs of a Creature were not only able to make an Eternal Righteouſneſs, but ſurmount it. As Man would be at firſt as knowing as God, ſo ſome of his Poſterity would be more holy than God; ſet up a Wiſdom againſt the Wiſdom of God, and a Purity above the Divine Purity. Adam was not ſo preſumptuous, he intended no more than an equalling God in Knowledge; but thoſe would exceed him in Righteouſneſs, and not only preſume to render a Satisfaction for themſelves to the Holineſs they have injur'd, but to make a Purſe for the ſupply of others that are Indigent, that they may ſtand before the Tribunal of God with a Confidence in the Imaginary Righteouſneſs of a Creature. How horrible is it for thoſe that come ſhort of the Law of God themſelves, to think that they can have enough for a Loan to their Neighbours? An unworthy Opinion.

2. Information. It may Inform us, how great is our Fall from God, and how diſtant we are from him. View the Holineſs of God, and take a proſpect of the Nature of Man, and be aſtoniſhed to ſee a Perſon created in the Divine Image, degenerated into the Image of the Devil. We are as far fallen from the Holineſs of God, which conſiſts in a Hatred of Sin, as the loweſt Point of the Earth is from the higheſt Point of the Heavens. The Devil is not more fallen from the rectitude of his Nature and likeneſs to God, than we are; and that we are not in the ſame condition with thoſe Apoſtate Spirits, is not from any thing in our Nature, but from the Mediation of Chriſt, upon which account God hath indulged in us a continuance of ſome Remainders of that which Satan is wholly deprived of. We are departed from our Original Pattern; we were created to live the life of God, that is, a life of Holineſs; but now we are alienated from the life of God **Eph. 4.18.Eph 4:18, and of a beautiful piece we are become deformed, daub'd over with the moſt defiling Mud: We work uncleaneſs with greedineſs, according to our ability, as Creatures; as God doth work Holineſs with affection and ardency, according to his Infiniteneſs, as Creator. More diſtant we are from God by reaſon of Sin, than the vileſt Creature, the moſt deform'd Toad or poyſonous Serpent is from the higheſt and moſt glorious Angel. By forſaking our Innocence, we departed from God as our Original Copy. The Apoſtle might well ſay, Rom. 3.23. that by Sin we are come ſhort of the glory of God. Interpreters trouble themſelves much about that place, Man is come ſhort of the glory of God, p. 547that is, of the Holineſs of God, which is the glory of the Divine Nature, and was pictur'd in the Rational, Innocent Creature. By the Glory of God, is meant the Holineſs of God: As 1 Cor. 3.18. Beholding, as in a glaſs, the Glory of the Lord, we are changed into the ſame Image from glory to glory; that is the Glory of God in the Text, into the Image of which we are changed; but the Scripture ſpeaks of no other Image of God, but that of Holineſs: We are come ſhort of the glory of God; of the Holineſs of God, which is the glory of God; and the Image of it, which was the glory of Man. By Sin, which is particular in oppoſition to the Purity of God, Man was left many Leagues behind any reſemblance to God; he ſtript off that which was the glory of his Nature, and was the only means of glorifying God as his Creator. The word foreign, the Apoſtle uſes, is very ſignificant, Poſtpon'd by Sin an infinite diſtance from any imitation of Gods Holineſs, or any appearance before him in a garb of Nature pleaſing to him. Let us lament our Fall, and diſtance from God.

3. Information. All Ʋnholineſs is vile and oppoſite to the Nature of God. 'Tis ſuch a loathſom thing, that the Purity of Gods eye is averſe from beholding, Hab. 1.3. 'Tis not ſaid there, that he will not, but he cannot look on Evil; there cannot be any amicableneſs between God and Sin, the Natures of both are ſo directly and unchangeably contrary to one another. Holineſs is the Life of God, it endures as long as his Life; He muſt be Eternally averſe from Sin, he can live no longer than he lives in the hatred and loathing of it. If he ſhould for one inſtant ceaſe to hate it, he would ceaſe to live. To be a Holy God is as Eſſential to him, as to be a Living God; and he would not be a living, but a dead God, if he were in the leaſt point of Time an Unholy God. He cannot look on Sin without loathing it, he cannot look on Sin but his Heart riſeth againſt it: It muſt needs be moſt odious to him, as that which is againſt the glory of his Nature, and directly oppoſite to that which is the luſtre and varniſh of all his other Perfections. 'Tis the Abominable thing which his Soul hates, Jer. 44.4. the vileſt terms imaginable are uſed to ſignifie it: Do you underſtand the loathſomneſs of a miry Swine, or the nauſeouſneſs of the vomit of a Dog? Theſe are Emblems of Sin††2 Pet. 2.22.2 Pet 2:22. Can you endure the ſteams of putrified Carkaſſes from an open Sepulchre **Rom. 3.23.Rom 3:23? Is the ſmell of the ſtinking ſweat or Excrements of a Body delightful? the word foreign in James 1.21. ſignifies as much. Or is the ſight of a Body overgrown with Scabs and Leproſie grateful to you? So vile, ſo odious is Sin in the ſight of God. 'Tis no light thing then to fly in the Face of God, to break his Eternal Law, to daſh both the Tables in pieces, to trample the Tranſcript of Gods own Nature under our feet, to cheriſh that which is inconſiſtent with his Honour, to lift up our heels againſt the glory of his Nature, to joyn Iſſue with the Devil in ſtabbing his Heart, and depriving him of his life. Sin in every part of it is an oppoſition to the Holineſs of God, and conſequently an envying him a Being and Life, as well as a Glory. If Sin be ſuch a thing, ye that love the Lord, hate Evil.

4. Information. Sin cannot eſcape a due Puniſhment. A hatred of Unrighteouſneſs, and conſequently a will to puniſh it, is as Eſſential to God as a love of Righteouſneſs. Since he is not as an Heathen Idol, but hath Eyes to ſee, and Purity to hate every Iniquity, he will have an Infinite Juſtice to puniſh whatſoever is againſt Infinite Holineſs. As he loves every thing that is amiable, ſo he loaths every thing that is filthy, and that conſtantly without any change; his whole Nature is ſet againſt it, he abhors nothing but this. 'Tis not the Devils knowledge or activity that his Hatred is terminated in, but the Malice and Unholineſs of his Nature; 'tis this only is the Object of his Severity: 'Tis in the recompence of this only, that there can be a manifeſtation of his Juſtice.

Sin muſt be puniſh'd; for,

1. This Detestation of Sin must be manifested. How ſhould we certainly know his loathing of it, if he did not manifeſt by ſome act how ungrateful it is to him? As his love to Righteouſneſs would not appear, without rewarding it; ſo his hatred of Iniquity would be as little evidenc'd, without puniſhing it: His Juſtice is the great Witneſs to his Purity. The Puniſhment therefore inflicted on the Wicked ſhall be, in ſome reſpect, as great as the Rewards beſtow'd upon the Righteous. p. 548Since the hatred of Sin is natural to God, 'tis as natural to him to ſhew one time or other his hatred of it. And ſince Men have a conceit that God is like them in Impurity, there is a neceſſity of ſome manifeſtation of himſelf to be Infin…tely diſtant from thoſe Conceits they have of him, Pſal. 50.21. I will reprove thee, and ſet them in order before thine eyes. He would elſe encourage the Injuries done to his Holineſs, favour the Extravagances of the Creature, and condemn, or at leaſt ſlight the Righteouſneſs, both of his own Nature and his Soveraign Law. What way is there for God to manifeſt this Hatred, but by Threatning the Sinner? and what would this be but a vain Affrightment, and ridiculous to the Sinner, if it were never to be put in execution? There is an indiſſoluble connexion between his Hatred of Sin, and Puniſhment of the Offender, Pſal. 11.5, 6. The wicked his Soul hates: Ʋpon the wicked he ſhall rain ſnares, fire, and brimſtone, &c. He cannot approve of it without denying himſelf, and a total Impunity would be a degree of Approbation.

The Diſpleaſure of God is Eternal and Irreconcileable againſt Sin; for Sin being abſolutely contrary to his holy Nature, He is Eternally contrary to it: If there be not therefore a way to ſeparate the Sin from the Sinner, the Sinner muſt lie under the Diſpleaſure of God; no diſpleaſure can be manifeſted without ſome marks of it upon the Perſon that lies under that Diſpleaſure. The Holineſs of God will right it ſelf of the wrongs done to it, and ſcatter the Prophaners of it at the greateſt diſtance from him, which is the greateſt Puniſhment that can be inflicted; to be removed far from the Fountain of Life is the worſt of Deaths: God can as ſoon lay aſide his Purity, as always forbear his Diſpleaſure againſt an Impure Perſon; 'tis all one, not to hate it, and not to manifeſt his Hatred of it.

2. As his Holineſs is natural and neceſſary, ſo is the puniſhment of Ʋnholineſs neceſſary to him. 'Tis neceſſary that he ſhould abominate Sin, and therefore neceſſary he ſhould diſcountenance it. The Severities of God againſt Sin are not vain Scare-crows, they have their foundation in the Righteouſneſs of his Nature; 'tis becauſe he is a Righteous and Holy God, that he will not forgive our Tranſgreſſions and Sins, Joſh. 24.19. that is, that he will puniſh them. The Throne of his Holineſs is a fiery flame, Dan. 7.9. there is both a pure light and a ſcorching heat. Whatſoever is contrary to the Nature of God, will fall under the Juſtice of God; he would elſe violate his own Nature, deny his own Perfection, ſeem to be out of love with his own Glory and Life. He doth not hate it out of choice, but from the Immutable propenſion of his Nature; 'tis not ſo free an act of his Will, as the Creation of Man and Angels, which he might have forborn as well as effected. As the deteſtation of Sin reſults from the univerſal rectitude of his Nature, ſo the puniſhment of Sin follows upon that, as he is the Righteous Governour of the World: 'Tis as much againſt his Nature not to puniſh it, as it is againſt his Nature not to loath it; He would ceaſe to be Holy if he ceas'd to hate it, and he would ceaſe to hate it if he ceas'd to puniſh it. Neither the Obedience of our Saviours Life, nor the ſtrength of his Cries, could put a bar to the Cup of his Paſſion: God ſo hated Sin, that when it was but imputed to his Son, without any commiſſion of it, he would bring a Hell upon his Soul. Certainly if God could have hated Sin without puniſhing it, his Son had never felt the ſmart of his Wrath: His love to his Son had been ſtrong enough to have cauſed him to forbear, had not the Holineſs of his Nature been ſtronger to move him to inflict a Puniſhment according to the demerit of the Sin. God cannot but be Holy, and therefore cannot but be Juſt, becauſe Injuſtice is a part of Unholineſs.

3. Therefore there can be no Communion between God and Ʋnholy ſpirits. How is it conceivable, that God ſhould hate the Sin, and cheriſh the Sinner with all his filth in his boſom; that he ſhould Eternally deteſt the Crime, and Eternally fold the S…nner in his Arms? Can leſs be expected from the Purity of his Nature, than to ſeparate an impure Soul, as long as it remains ſo? Can there be any delightful Communion between thoſe whoſe Natures are contrary? Darkneſs and Light may as ſoon kiſs each other, and become one Nature; God and the Devil may as ſoon enter into an Eternal League and Covenant together: For God to p. 549have pleaſure in wickedneſs, and to admit Evil to dwell with him, are things equally impoſſible to his Nature**Pſal. ….4.; while he hates Impurity, he cannot have Communion with an impure Perſon. It may as ſoon be expected, that God ſhould hate himſelf, offer Violence to his own Nature, lay aſide his Purity as an Abominable thing, and blot his own Glory, as love an Impure Perſon, entertain him as his delight, and ſet him in the ſame Heaven and Happineſs with himſelf, and his holy Angels: He muſt needs loath him, he muſt needs baniſh him from his Preſence, which is the greateſt Puniſhment. Gods Holineſs and Hatred of Sin, neceſſarily infer the Puniſhment of it.