Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 13 (2 of 3)

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 13 (2 of 3)

p. 716He rules by Law, he is a Lawgiver, as well as a King, Iſaiah 33.22. It had been repugnant to the nature of a rational Creature, to be ruled otherwiſe; to be govern'd as a beaſt, this had been to fruſtrate thoſe Faculties of Will and Underſtanding, which had been given him. To conclude this; when we ſay, God can do this or that, or command this or that his Authority is not bounded, and limited properly. Who can reaſonably detract from his Almightineſs, becauſe he cannot do any thing, which ſavors of weakneſs; and what detracting is it from his Authority, that he cannot do any thing unſeemly for the dignity of his nature? 'Tis rather from the infiniteneſs of his Righteouſneſs than the ſtraitneſs of his Authority; at moſt it is but a voluntary bounding his dominion by the Law of his own Holineſs.

3. His Soveraignty is managed according to the rule of Goodneſs. Some Potentates there have been in the World, that have loved to ſuck the blood, and drink the tears of their Subjects, that would rule more by fear than love,**Cauſin Poly-Hiſtor. lib. 4. cap. 22. like Clearchus the Tyrant of Heraclia, who bore the figure of a Thunderbolt inſtead of a Scepter, and named his Son Thunder; thereby to Tutor him, to terrifie his Subjects. But as Gods Throne is a Throne of Holineſs, ſo it is a Throne of Grace. Heb. 4.16. A Throne encircled with a Rainbow. Revel. 4.23. In ſight like to an Emerald. An Emblem of the Covenant, that hath the pleaſantneſs of a green colour, delightful to the eye, betokening Mercy. Though his Nature be infinitely excellent above us, and his power infinitely tranſcendent over us, yet the Majeſty of his Government is temper'd with an unſpeakable Goodneſs. He acts not ſo much as an abſolute Lord, as a gracious Soveraign and obliging Benefactor. He delights not to make his Subjects ſlaves. Exacts not of them any ſervile and fearful, but a generous and chearful obedience. He requires them not to Fear or Worſhip him ſo much for his power as his Goodneſs. He requires not of a rational Creature any thing repugnant to the Honour, Dignity, and Principles of ſuch a nature; not any thing that may ſhame, diſgrace it, and make it weary of its own being, and the ſervice it owes to its Soveraign. He draws by the cords of a man; his Goodneſs renders his Laws as ſweet as Hony or the Hony Comb to an unvitiated Palate, and a renew'd mind. And though it be graunted, he hath a full diſpoſe of his Creature, as the Potter of his Veſſel, and might by his abſolute Soveraignty inflict upon an innocent an eternal torment, yet his Goodneſs will never permit him to uſe this Soveraign right to the hurt of a Creature, that deſerves it not. If God ſhould caſt an innocent Creature into the furnace of his wrath, who can queſtion him? But who can think, that his Goodneſs will do ſo? Since that is as infinite as his Authority? As not to puniſh the ſinner, would be a denyal of his Juſtice, ſo to torment an innocent, would be a denial of his Goodneſs. A man hath an abſolute power over his Beaſt, and may take away his Life, and put him to a great deal of pain; but that moral vertue of Pity and Tenderneſs would not permit him to uſe this right, but when it conduceth to ſome greater good, than that can be evil; either for the good of man which is the end of the Creature, or for the good of the poor beaſt it ſelf, to rid him of a greater miſery: None but a ſavage nature, a diſpoſition to be abhorr'd, would p. 717torture a poor beaſt meerly for his pleaſure. 'Tis as much againſt the nature of God, to puniſh one eternally, that hath not deſerved it, as it is to deny himſelf, and act any thing fooliſhly, and unbeſeeming his other perfections, which render him Majeſtical, and adorable. To afflict an innocent Creature for his own good, or for the good of the World, as in the caſe of the Redeemer, is ſo far from being againſt Goodneſs, that it is the higheſt Teſtimony of his tender Bowels to the Sons of men. God though he be Mighty, withdraws not his Eyes, i. e. his tender reſpect from the Righteous, Job 36.5, 7, 8.9, 10. And if he bind them in Fetters, 'tis to ſhew them their Tranſgreſſions, and open their Ear to Diſcipline, and renewing commands in a more ſenſible ſtrain, to depart from iniquity. What was ſaid of Fabritius, you may as ſoon remove the Sun from its courſe, as Fabritius from his honeſty; may be of God, you may as ſoon daſh in peices his Throne, as ſeparate his Goodneſs from his Sovereignty.

4. Propoſition, This Soveraignty is extenſive over all Creatures. He rules all, as the Heavens do over the Earth. He is King of Worlds, King of Ages, as the word tranſlated eternal ſignifies, 1 Tim. 1.17. foreign. And the ſame word is ſo tranſlated, Heb. 1.2. By whom alſo he made the Worlds, the ſame word is rendred Worlds, Heb. 11.3. The Worlds were fram'd by the Word of God. God is King of Ages or Worlds, of the inviſible World, and the ſenſible, of all from the beginning of their Creation, of whatſoever is meaſur'd by a time. It extends over Angels and Devils, over wicked and good, over rational, and irrational Creatures; all things bow down under his hand, nothing can be exempted from him: Becauſe there is nothing but was extracted by him from nothing into being. All things Eſſentially depend upon him: And therefore muſt be Eſſentially Subject to him; the extent of his dominion flows from the perfection of his Eſſence, ſince his Eſſence is unlimited, his Royalty cannot be reſtrained. His Authority is as void of any imperfection, as his Eſſence is; it reaches out to all points of the Heaven above, and the Earth below. Other Princes Reign in a ſpot of ground. Every worldly Potentate hath the confines of his dominions. The Pyrenean Mountains divide France from Spain, and the Alpes, Italy from France. None are call'd Kings abſolutely, but Kings of this or that place. But God is the King, the ſpacious Firmament limits not his dominion. If we could ſuppoſe him bounded by any place in regard of his preſence; yet he could never be out of his own dominion; whatſoever he looks upon, whereſoever he were, would be under his rule. Earthly Kings may ſtep out of their own Countrey into the Territory of a Neighbour Prince; and as one leaves his Countrey, ſo he leaves his dominion behind him; but Heaven and Earth and every particle of both is the Territory of God. He hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens, and his Kingdom Rules over all.

1. The Heaven of Angels and other excellent Creatures belong to his Authority. He is principally call'd the Lord of Hoſts in relation to his intire command over the Angelical Legions: Therefore Verſe 21. following the Text, they are call'd his Hoſts, and Ministers that do his pleaſure. Jacob called him ſo before. Gen. 32.1, 2. When he met the Angels of God, he calls them the Hoſt of God, and the Evangeliſt long after calls them ſo. Luke 2.13. A multitude of the Heavenly Hoſt praiſing God, and all this Hoſt he commands. Iſaiah 45.12. My hands have ſtretched out the Heavens, and all their Hoſt have I commanded. He employs them all in his ſervice, and when he iſſues out his orders to them, to do this or that, he finds no reſiſtance of his Will.

And the inanimate Creatures in Heaven are at his beck, they are his Armies in Heaven, diſpoſed in an excellent order in their ſeveral ranks, Pſalm 147.4. He calls the Starrs by Name; they render a due obedience to him, as Servants to their Maſter; when he ſingles them out, and calls them by Name, to do ſome ſpecial ſervice, he calls them out to their ſeveral Offices, as the General of an Army appoints the ſtation of every Regiment in a Battalia. Or he calls them by Name. i. e. He impoſeth names upon them, a ſign of dominion. The giving p. 718Names to the inferior Creatures being the firſt act of Adam's derivative dominion over them. Theſe are under the Soveraignty of God. The Starrs by their influences fight againſt Siſera. Judg. 5.20. And the Sun holds in its Reins, and ſtands ſtone ſtill, to light Joſhua to a compleat victory, Joſh. 10.12. They are all marſhall'd in their ranks, to receive his word of command, and fight in cloſe order, as being deſirous to have a ſhare in the ruine of the Enemies of their Soveraign. And thoſe Creatures which mount up from the Earth, and take their place in the lower Heavens, Vapours whereof Hail and Snow are form'd, are part of the Army, and do not only receive, but fulfill his word of Command, Pſal. 148.8. Theſe are his ſtores and Magazines of Judgment againſt a time of trouble, and a day of Battle and Warr, Job 38.22, 23. The Soveraignty of God is viſible in all their motions, in their going and returning. If he ſays go, they go, if he ſay come, they come, if he ſay do this, they gird up their Loyns, and ſtand ſtiff to their duty.

2. The Hell of Devils belong to his Authority. They have caſt themſelves out of the Arms of his Grace into the Furnace of his Juſtice; they have by their revolt forfeited the Treaſure of his Goodneſs, but cannot exempt themſelves from the Scepter of his dominion; when they would not own him as a Lord Father, they are under him as a Lord Judge, they are caſt out of his affection, but not freed from his yoke. He rules over the good Angels as his Subjects, over the evil ones as his Rebels. In whatſoever relation he ſtands, either as a Friend or Enemy, he never loſes that of a Lord. A Prince is the Lord of his Criminals, as well as of his Loyalleſt Subjects. By this right of his Soveraignty, he uſes them to puniſh ſome, and be the occaſion of benefit to others; on the wicked he employs them as inſtruments of vengeance, towards the Godly, as in the caſe of Job, as an Inſtrument of kindneſs for the manifeſtation of his ſincerity againſt the intention of that malicious Executioner. Though the Devils are the Executioners of his Juſtice, 'tis not by their own Authority but God's; as thoſe that are employed either to rack, or execute a Malefactor, are Subjects to the Prince not only in the quality of Men, but in the execution of their function.**Suarez. vol. 2. lib. 8. cap. 20. p. 736. The Devil by drawing men to ſin acquires no right to himſelf over the ſinner: For man by ſin offends not the Devil, but God; and becomes guilty of puniſhment under God. When therefore the Devil is us'd by God for the puniſhment of any, 'tis an act of his Soveraignty for the manifeſtation of the order of his Juſtice. And as moſt Nations uſe the vileſt perſons in Offices of execution, ſo doth God thoſe vile Spirits. He doth not ordinarily uſe the good Angels in thoſe Offices of vengeance, but in the preſervation of his People. When he would ſolely puniſh, he employs evil Angels. Pſal. 78.49. A Troop of Devils. His Soveraignty is extended over the deceiver and the deceived. Job 12.16. Over both the Malefactor and the Executioner, the Devil and his Priſoner. He uſeth the natural malice of the Devils for his own juſt ends, and by his Soveraign Authority orders them to be the Executioners of his Judgments upon their own vaſſals, as well as ſometimes inflicters of puniſhments upon his own Servants.

3. The Earth of men, and other Creatures belongs to his Authority. Pſal. 47.7. God is King of all the Earth, and rules to the ends of it. Pſal. 59.13. Ancient Atheiſts confin'd Gods dominion to the heavenly Orbs, and bounded it within the Circuit of the Celeſtial Sphear, Job 22.14. He walks in the Circuit of Heaven. i. e. he exerciſeth his dominion only there.**Bolduc. in loc. Pedum poſitio was the ſign of the poſſeſſion of a piece of Land, and the Dominion of the poſſeſſor of it; and Land was reſign'd by ſuch a Ceremony, as now by the delivery of a Twig or Turf.

But his Dominion extends.

1. Over the least Creatures. All the Creatures of the Earth are liſted in Chriſt's Muſter-roll, and make up the number of his Regiments. He hath an Hoſt on Earth, as well as in Heaven. Gen. 2.1. The Heavens and the Earth were finiſhed, and all the Hoſt of them. And they are all his Servants, Pſal. 119.91. and p. 719move at his peaſure. And he vouchſafes the Title of his Army to the Locuſt, Caterpillar, and Palmer Worm, Joel. 2.25. And deſcribes their motions by Military Words, climbing the walls, marching not breaking their ranks. Verſe 7. He hath the command as a great General over the higheſt Angel, and the meaneſt Worm; all the kinds of the ſmalleſt Inſects he preſſeth for his ſervice. By this Soveraignty he muzled the devouring nature of the fire, to preſerve the three Chi…dren, and let it looſe to conſume their adverſaries; and if he ſpeaks the word the ſtormy Waves are huſh, as if they had no Principle of rage within them. Pſal. 89.9. Since the meaneſt Creature attains it end, and no arrow that God hath by his power ſhot into the World, but hits the mark he aim'd at; we muſt conclude, that there is a Soveraign hand, that governs all. Not a ſpot of Earth, or Air, or Water in the World, but is his poſſeſſion, not a Creature in any Element, but is his Subject.

2. His Dominion extends over Men. It extends over the higheſt Potentate, as well as the meaneſt Peaſant, the proudeſt Monarch is no more exempt than the moſt languiſhing Beggar. He lays not aſide his Authority to pleaſe the Prince, nor ſtrains it up to terrifie the indigent. He accepts not the perſons of Princes, nor regards the rich more than the Poor: For they are all the work of his hands. Job 34.19. Both the powers and weakneſſes, the Gallantry and Peaſantry of the Earth ſtand and fall at his pleaſure. Man in innocence was under his Authority as his Creature, and man in his revolt, is further under his Authority as a Criminal. As a Perſon is under the Authority of a Prince as a Governour, while he obeys his Laws, and further under the Authority of the Prince as a Judge, when he violates his Laws. Man is under God's dominion in every thing, in his ſettlement, in his calling, in the ordering his very Habitation. Acts 17.26. He determines the bounds of their Habitations. He never yet permitted any to be univerſal Monarch in the World, nor over the fourth part of it, though ſeveral in the Pride of their heart, have deſign'd, and attempted it. The Pope who hath bid the faireſt for it in Spirituals, never attain'd it, and when his power was moſt flouriſhing, there were multitudes, that would never acknowledge his Authority.

3. But eſpecially this dominion in the peculiarity of its extent, is ſeen in the exerciſe of it over the Spirits and Hearts of Men. Earthly Governours have by his indulgence a ſhare with him in a dominion over mens bodies, upon which account he graceth Princes and Judges with the Title of Gods. Pſal. 82.6. But the higheſt Prince is but a Prince according to the Fleſh, as the Apoſtle calls Maſters in relation to their Servants. Coloſ. 3.22.

God is the Soveraign; Man rules over the Beaſt in Man, the Body; and God rules over the Man in Man, the Soul. It ſticks not in the outward ſurface, but peirceth to the inward Marrow. 'Tis impoſſible God ſhould be without this; if our wills were independent on him, we were in ſome ſort equal with himſelf, in part Gods as well as Creatures. 'Tis impoſſible a Creature, either in whole or in part, can be exempted from it: Since he is the faſhioner of hearts as well as of Bodies. He is the Father of Spirits: And therefore hath the right of a paternal dominion over them. When he eſtabliſhed man Lord of the other Creatures, he did not ſtrip himſelf of the propriety. And when he made man a free Agent, and Lord of the acts of his Will, he did not deveſt himſelf of the Soveraignty.

His Soveraignty is ſeen,

1. In Gifting of the Spirits of Men. Earthly Magiſtrates have hands too ſhort, to inſpire the Hearts of their Subjects with worthy ſentiments. When they conferre an employment, they are not able to convey an ability with it fit for the ſtation. They may as ſoon frame a Statue of liquid water, and guild, or paint it over with the coſtlieſt colours, as impart to any a State-Head, for a State-Miniſtry. But when God chooſeth a Saul from ſo mean an employment as ſeeking of Aſſes, he can treaſure up in him a Spirit fit for Government. And fire David, in Age a p. 720ſtripling, and by Education a Shepherd, with Courage to Encounter, and skill to defeat a maſſy Goliah. And when he deſigns a perſon for Glory, to ſtand before his Throne, he can put a new and a Royal Spirit into him. Ezek. 36.26. God only can infuſe habits into the Soul, to capacitate it to act nobly and generouſly.

2. His Soveraignty is ſeen in regard of the inclinations of mens Wills. No Creature can immediately work upon the will, to guide it to what point he pleaſeth, though mediately it may, by propoſing reaſons which may Maſter the underſtandi…g, and thereby determine the Will. But God bows the Hearts of men by the … of his dominion, to what Centre he pleaſeth. When the more overweeni…g ſort of men, that thought their own heads as fit for a Crown as Sauls, ſcornfully d…ſpis'd him, yet God touched the hearts of a band of men, to follow and adhere to him, 1 Sam. 10.26, 27. When the Anti-Chriſtian Whore ſhall be ripe for deſtruction, God ſhall put it into the Heart of the ten Horns or Kings, to hate the Whore, burn her with Fire, and fulfil his Will. Rev. 17.16, 17. He Faſhions the Hearts alike, and tunes one ſtring to anſwer another, and both to anſwer his own deſign. Pſal. 33.15. And while men ſeem to gratifie their own ambition and malice, they execute the Will of God by his ſecret touch upon their Spirits, guiding their inclinations, to ſerve the glorious manifeſtation of his Truth. While the Jews would in a reproachful diſgrace to Chriſt, Crucifie two Theives with him, to render him more uncapable to have any followers; they accompliſht a Propheſie, and brought to light a mark of the Meſſiah, whereby he had been charactered in one of their Prophets; Iſaiah 53.12. That he ſhould be numbred among Tranſgreſſors. He can make a man of not willing, willing; the wills of all men are in his hand. i. e. under the power of his Scepter, to retain, or let go upon this or that Errand, to bend this or that way, as Water is carried by Pipes, to what houſe or place the owner of it is pleas'd to order. Prov. 21.1. The Kings Heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the Rivers of waters he turns it, whitherſoever he will, without any limitation. He ſpeaks of the Heart of Princes: Becauſe in regard of their height they ſeem to be more abſolute and impetuous as waters; yet God holds them in his hand, under his dominion, turns them to acts of clemency or ſeverity, like waters, either to overflow and dammage, or to refreſh and fructifie. He can convey a Spirit to them, or cut it off from them. Pſal. 76.12. 'Tis with reference to his efficacious power, in graciouſly turning the Heart of Paul, that the Apoſtle breaks of his diſcourſe off the ſtory of his converſion, and breaks out into a magnifying, and glorifying of God's dominion. 1 Tim. 1.17. Now unto the King eternal, &c. be Honour and Glory for ever and ever. Our Hearts are more ſubject to the divine Soveraignty, than our members in their motions are ſubject to our own wills. As we can move our hand Eaſt or Weſt to any quarter of the World, ſo can God bend our Wills to what mark he pleaſes. The ſecond Cauſe in every motion depends upon the first, and that will, being a ſecond Cauſe, may be furthered, or hindered in its inclinations or executions by God; he can bend or unbend it, and change it from one actual inclination to another. 'Tis as much under his Authority and Power to move, or hinder, as the vaſt engine of the Heavens is in its motion or ſtanding ſtill, which he can effect by a word. The work depends upon the workman; the Clock upon the Artificer for the motions of it.

3. His dominion is ſeen in regard of Terror or Comfort. The Heart or Conſcience is Gods ſpecial Throne on Earth, which he hath reſerv'd to himſelf, and never indulg'd humane Authority to ſit upon it. He ſolely orders this in ways of conviction or Comfort. He can flaſh terror into mens Spirits in the midſt of their Earthly jollities, and put death into the pot of Conſcience, when they are boyling up themſelves in a high pitch of worldly delights; and can raiſe mens Spirits above the ſenſe of torment under Racks, and Flames. He can draw a hand Writing not only in the outward Chamber but the inward Cloſet, bring the Rack into the inwards of a Man. None can infuſe Comfort, when he writes p. 721bitter things, nor can any fill the heart with Gall, when he drops in Hony. Men may order outward duties, but they cannot unlock the Conſcience, and conſtrain men, to think them duties, which they are forced by humane Laws, outwardly to act. And as the Laws of earthly Princes are bounded by the outward man, ſo do their executions and puniſhments reach no further than the caſe of the Body. But God can run upon the inward man as a Gyant, and inflict wounds and gaſhes there.

5. Propoſition, 'Tis an Eternal Dominion. In regard of the exerciſe of it, it was not from Eternity: Becauſe there was not from Eternity any Creature under the Government of it; but in regard of the foundation of it, his Eſſence, his Excellency, 'tis Eternal: As God was from eternity Almighty, but there was no exerciſe or manifeſtation of it, till he began to Create. Men are Kings only for a time, their lives expire like a Lamp, and their dominion is extinguiſht with their lives; they hand their Empire by Succeſſion to others, but many times it is ſnapt off, before they are cold in their Graves. How are the famous Empires of the Chaldeans, Medes, Perſians, and Greeks mouldred away, and their place knows them no more? And how are the wings of the Roman Eagle cut, and that Empire which overſpread a great part of the World, hath loſt moſt of its Feathers, and is confin'd to a narrower compaſs. The dominion of God flouriſheth from one Generation to another. He ſits King for ever, Pſal. 29.10. His ſeſſion ſignifies the eſtabliſhment and for ever the duration, and he ſits now, his Soveraignty is as abſolute, as powerful as ever. How many Lords and Princes hath this or that Kingdom had? In how many Families hath the Scepter lodg'd? When as God hath had an uninterrupted dominion. As he hath been always the ſame in his Eſſence, he hath been always glorious in his Soveraignty. Among men, he that is Lord to day, may be ſtript of it to morrow; the dominions in the World vary, he that is a Prince may ſee his Royalty upon the Wings, and feel himſelf laden with Fetters. And a Priſoner may be lifted from his Dungeon to a Throne. But there can be no diminution of God's Government; His Throne is from Generation to Generation. Lament. 5.19. It cannot be ſhaken. His Scepter like Aarons Rod is alway's green. It cannot be wreſted out of his hands; none rais'd him to it: N…ne therefore can depoſe him from it; it bears the ſame ſplendor in all humane affairs, he is an eternal, an immortal King. 1 Tim. 1.17. As he is eternally Mighty, ſo he is eternally Soveraign, and being an eternal King, he is a King that gives not a momentary and periſhing, but a durable and Everlaſting Life to them that obey him: A durable and eternal puniſhment to them that reſiſt him.

IIII. Wherein this Dominion and Soveraignty conſiſts, and how 'tis manifeſted;

1. The firſt act of Soveraignty is the making Laws. This is Eſſential to God; no Creatures Will can be the firſt rule to the Creature but only the Will of God. He only can preſcribe man his duty, and eſtabliſh the rule of it; hence the Law is call'd the Royal Law. James 2.8. It being the firſt and cleareſt manifeſtation of Soveraignty; as the power of Legiſlation is of the Authority of a Prince. Both are joyn'd together in. Iſaiah 53.22. The Lord is our Law-giver, the Lord is our King. Legiſlative power being the great mark of Royalty. God as a King enacts Laws by his own proper Authority, and his Law is a Declaration of his own Soveraignty, and of mens moral ſubjection to him, and dependance on him.**Suarez. de Legib. p. 23. His Soveraignty doth not appear ſo much in his promiſes as in his precepts: A man's power over another is not diſcovered by promiſing: For a promiſe doth not ſuppoſe the promiſer either ſuperior or inferior to the perſon, to whom the promiſe is made. 'Tis not an exerciſing Authority over another, but over a man's ſelf. No man forceth another to the acceptance of his promiſe, but only propoſeth, and encourageth to an embracing of it. But commanding ſuppoſeth always an Authority in the perſon giving the precept. It obligeth the perſon, to whom the command is directed. A promiſe obligeth the perſon by whom the promiſe is made. God by his command binds the Creature, p. 722by his promiſe he binds himſelf. He ſtoops below his Soveraignty, to lay obligations upon his own Majeſty. By a precept he binds the Creature, by a promiſe he encourageth the Creature to an obſervance of his precept. What Laws God makes, man is bound by vertue of his Creation to obſerve; that reſpects the Soveraignty of God. What promiſes God makes, man is bound to beleive, but that reſpects the faithfulneſs of God. God manifeſted his dominion more to the Jews than to any other people in the World; He was their Lawgiver, both as they were a Church and a Commonwealth. As a Church, he gave them Ceremonial Laws, for the regulating their Worſhip. As a State, he gave them Judicial Laws, for the ordering their Civil Affairs; and as both he gave them Moral Laws, upon which both the Laws of the Church, and State were founded.

This dominion of God in this regard will be manifeſt.

1. In the Supremacy of it. The ſole power of making Laws doth originally reſide in him. James 4.12. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to ſave, and to deſtroy. By his own Law he Judges of the eternal States of Men, and no Law of man is obligatory, but as it is agreeable to the Laws of this ſupream Lawgiver, and purſuant to his righteous rules for the Government of the World. The power that the Potentates of the World have to makes Laws, is but derivative from God. If their dominion be from him, as it is: For by him Kings Reign. Prov. 8.15. Their Legiſlative power which is a prime flower of their Soveraignty, is deriv'd from him alſo. And the Apoſtle reſolves it into this original, when he orders us, to be ſubject to the higher powers not only for wrath but for Conſcience ſake. Rom. 13.5. Conſcience in its operations ſolely reſpects God: And therefore when it is exerciſed as the principle of Obedience to the Laws of Men, 'tis not with a reſpect to them ſingly conſidered, but as the Majeſty of God appears in their ſtation and in their decrees. This power of giving Laws was acknowledged by the Heathen, to be ſolely in God by way of original: And therefore the greateſt Lawgivers among the Heathen pretended their Laws to be received from ſome Deity, or ſupernatural power by ſpecial Revelation; now whither they did this ſeriouſly, acknowledging themſelves this part of the dominion of God: (For it is certain, that what ſoever juſt orders were iſſued out by Princes in the World, was by the ſecret influence of God upon their Spirits. Prov. 8.15. By me Princes Decree Justice, by the ſecret conduct of Divine Wiſdom) or whither they pretended it only as a publick Engine, to enforce upon people the obſervance of their Decrees, and gain a greater credit to their Edicts, yet this will reſult from it, that the people in general entertain'd this common notion, that God was the great Lawgiver of the World. The firſt founders of their Societies could never elſe have ſo abſolutely gain'd upon them by ſuch a pretence. Theſe was always a Revelation of a Law from the mouth of God in every age: The exhortation of Eliphaz to Job, Job 22.22. Of receiving a Law from the mouth of God at the time before the Moral Law was publiſht, had been a vain exhortation, had there been no revelation of the mind of God in all Ages.

2. The dominion of God is manifeſt in the extent of his Laws. As he is the Governour and Soveraign of the whole World, ſo he Enacts Laws for the whole World. One Prince cannot make Laws for another, unleſs he makes him his Subject by right of conqueſt. Spain cannot make Laws for England, or England for Spain. But God having the ſupream Government as King over all, is a Lawgiver to all, to irrational, as well as rational Creatures. The Heavens have their Ordinances. Job 38.33. All Creatures have a Law imprinted on their beings. Rational Creatures have Divine Statutes Copied in their heart. For men it is clear. Rom. 2.14. Every Son of Adam at his coming into the World, brings with him a Law in his nature, and when reaſon clears it ſelf up from the Clouds of ſence, he can make ſome difference between Good and Evil; diſcern ſomething of fit and juſt. Every man finds a Law within him, that checks him, if he p. 723offends it. No… … without a legal indictment, and a legal Executioner within them; God … was the Author of this as a Soveraign Lord, in eſtabliſhing a Law i… man at the ſame time, wherein as an Almighty Creator he imparted a being. This Law proceeds from God's general power of governing, as he is the Author of nature, and binds not barely as it is the reaſon of man, but by the Authority of God, as it is a Law engraven on his Conſcience. And no doubt but a Law was given to the Angels, God did not Govern thoſe intellectual Creatures as he doth brutes, and in a way inferior to his rule of Man. Some ſinned, all might have ſinned in regard of the changeableneſs of their nature. Sin cannot be but againſt ſome rule: Where there is no Law, there is no Tranſgreſſion; what that Law was, is not reveal'd, but certainly it muſt be the ſame in part with the Moral Law, ſo far as it agreed with their ſpiritual natures; a love to God, a Worſhip of him, and a love to one another in their Societies and Perſons.

3. The dominion of God is manifeſt in the reaſon of ſome Laws, which ſeem to be nothing elſe than purely his own Will. Some Laws there are for which a reaſon may be rendered from the nature of the thing enjoyned, as to Love, Honour and Worſhip God. For others, none but this, God will have it ſo; ſuch was that poſitive Law to Adam of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Gen. 2.17. which was meerly an aſſerting his own dominion, and was different from that Law of Nature God had written in his heart. No other reaſon of this ſeems to us but a reſolve, to try mans Obedience in away of abſolute Soveraignty, and to manifeſt his right over all Creatures, to reſerve what he pleaſed to himſelf, and permit the uſe of what he pleaſed to man, and to ſignifie to man, that he was to depend on him, who was his Lord, and not on his own will. There was no more hurt in it ſelf, for Adam to have eaten of that, than of any other in the Garden; the Fruit was pleaſant to the Eye, and Good for Food, but God would ſhew the right he had over his own goods, and his Authority over man, to reſerve, what he pleaſes of his own Creation from his touch; that ſince man could not claim a propriety in any thing, he was to meddle with nothing but by the leave of his Soveraign; either diſcovered by a ſpecial or general Licenſe. Thus God ſhewed himſelf the Lord of Man, and that man was but his Steward, to act by his Orders. If God had forbidden man the uſe of more Trees in the Garden, his command had been juſt: Since as a Soveraign Lord he might diſpoſe of his own Goods; and when he had granted him the whole compaſs of that pleaſant Garden, and the whole World round about for him and his poſterity, it was a more tolerable exerciſe of his dominion, to reſerve this one Tree, as a mark of his Soveraignty, when he had left all others to the uſe of Adam. He reſerv'd nothing to himſelf as Lord of the Manour but this, and Adam was prohibited nothing elſe but this one, as a ſign of his ſubjection. Now for this no reaſon can be rendered by any man but meerly the Will of God, this was meerly a fruit of his Dominion.

For the moral Laws a reaſon may be rendred; to Love God, hath reaſon to enforce it beſides Gods Will, viz. The Excellency of his Nature, and the greatneſs and multitudes of his benefits. To love our Neighbour, hath enforcing reaſons, viz. the Conjunction in blood, and the preſervation of humane Society, and the need we may ſtand in of their love our ſelves. But no reaſon can be aſſign'd of this poſitive command about the Tree of knowledge of good and evil but meerly the pleaſure of God. It was a branch of his pure dominion, to try mans Obedience, and a mark of his Goodneſs to try it by ſo eaſie and light a precept, when he might have extended his Authority further. Had not God given this or the like order, his abſolute dominion had not been ſo conſpicuous. 'Tis true, Adam had a Law of Nature in him, whereby he was obliged to perpetual Obedience, and though it was a part of God's dominion to implant it in him, yet his ſupream dominion over the Creatures had not been ſo viſible to man, but by this, or a precept of the ſame kind. What was commanded, or p. 724prohibited by the Law of Nature, did beſpeak a comelineſs in it ſelf, it appear'd Good or Evil to the reaſon of man, but this was neither Good nor Evil in it ſelf, it receiv'd its ſole Authority from the abſolute Will of God, and nothing could reſult from the fruit it ſelf, as a reaſon why man ſhould not taſt it, but only the ſole Will of God. And as God's dominion was moſt conſpicuous in this precept, ſo man's obedience had been moſt eminent in obſerving it. For in his obedience to it, nothing but the ſole power and Authority of God, which is the proper rule of obedience, could have been reſpected, not any reaſon from the thing it ſelf.

To this we may referre ſome other Commands, as that of appointing the time of ſolemn and public Worſhip, the ſeventh day; though the Worſhip of God be a part of the Law of Nature, yet the appointing a particular day, wherein he would be more formally and ſolemnly acknowledged than on other days, was grounded upon his abſolute right of Legiſlation: For there was nothing in the time it ſelf, that could render that day more Holy than another, though God reſpected his finiſhing the work of Creation in his inſtitution of that day. Gen. 2.3. Such were the Ceremonial Commands of Sacrifices, and Waſhings under the Law, and the Commands of Sacraments under the Goſpel: The one to laſt till the firſt Coming of Chriſt, and his Paſſion; the other to laſt till the ſecond Coming of Chriſt, and his Triumph. Thus he made natural and unavoidable uncleanneſſes to be ſins, and the touching a dead Body to be pollution, which in their own nature were not ſo.

4. The Dominion of God appears in the Moral Law, and his Majeſty in publiſhing it. As the Law of Nature was writ by his own Fingers in the Nature of man, ſo it was Engraven by his own finger in the Tables of Stone; Exod. 31.18. Which is very emphatically expreſt, to be a mark of God's Dominion. Exodus 32.16. And the Tables were the work of God, and the writing, was the writing of God Engraven upon the Tables; and when the first Tables were broken, though he orders Moſes to frame the Tables, yet the writing of the Law, he reſerves to himſelf. Exod. 34.1. 'Tis not ſaid of any part of the Scripture, that it was writ by the finger of God, but only of the Decalogue; herein he would have his Soveraignty eminently appear; it was publiſh't by God in ſtate, with a numerous attendance of his heavenly Militia, Deut. 32.2. And the Artillery of Heaven was ſhot off at the ſolemnity: And therefore it is call'd a fiery Law, coming from his right hand, i. e. His Soveraign power. It was publiſht with all the marks of ſupream Majeſty.

5. The Dominion of God appears in the Obligation of the Law, which reacheth the Conſcience. The Laws of every Prince are fram'd for the outward conditions of Men; they do not by their Authority bind the Conſcience; and what obligations do reſult from them upon the Conſcience, is either from their being the ſame immediately with divine Laws, or as they are according to the juſt power of the Magiſtrate, founded on the Law of God. Conſcience hath a protection from the King of Kings, and cannot be arreſted by any humane power. God hath given man but an Authority over half the man, and the worſt half too, that which is of an Earthly original; but reſerved the Authority over the better and more heavenly half to himſelf. The Dominion of earthly Princes extends only to the bodies of men, they have no Authority over the Soul, their puniſhment and rewards cannot reach it: And therefore their Laws by their ſingle Authority cannot bind it, but as they are co-incident with the Law of God, or as the equity of them is ſubſervient to the preſervation of humane Society, a regular and Righteous thing, which is the Divine end in Government, and ſo they bind, as they have a relation to God as the ſupream Magiſtrate. The Conſcience is only intelligible to God in its ſecret motions; and therefore only guidable by God; God only pierceth into the Conſcience by his Eye: And therefore only can conduct it by his Rule. Man cannot tell whither we embrace this Law in our Heart and Conſciences, p. 725or only in appearance. He only can Judge it. Luke 12.3, 4. And therefore he only can impoſe Laws upon it; 'tis out of the reach of humane penal Authority, if their Laws be tranſgreſs'd inwardly by it. Conſcience is a Book in ſome ſort as Sacred as the Scripture, no addition can be lawfully made to it, no ſubſtraction from it. Men cannot diminiſh the duty of Conſcience, or raze out the Law, God hath ſtampt upon it. They cannot put a ſuperſedeas to the Writ of Conſcience, or ſtop its mouth with a Noli Proſequi. They can make no addition by their Authority, to bind it; 'tis a flower in the Crown of Divine Soveraignty only.

2. His Soveraignty appears in a power of diſpenſing with his own Laws. 'Tis as much a part of his Dominion, to diſpenſe with his Laws, as to enjoyn them; he only hath the power of relaxing his own right, no Creature hath power to do it; that would be to uſurp a ſuperiority over him, and order above God himſelf. Repealing or diſpenſing with the Law is a branch of Royal Authority. 'Tis true, God will never diſpenſe with thoſe Moral Laws, which have an eternal reaſon in themſelves, and their own nature; as for a Creature, to Fear, Love, and Honour God: this would be to diſpenſe with his own Holineſs, and the Righteouſneſs of his Nature, to fully the purity of his own Dominion; it would write folly upon the firſt Creation of man after the Image of God, by writing mutability upon himſelf, in framing himſelf after the corrupted Image of man. It would null and fruſtrate the excellency of the Creature, wherein the Image of God moſtly ſhines; nay it would be to diſpenſe with a Creatures being a Creator, and make him independent upon the Soveraign of the World in Moral Obedience.

But God hath a right to diſpenſe with the ordinary Laws of Nature in the inferior Creatures; he hath a power to alter their courſe by an arreſt of Miracles, and make them come ſhort, or go beyond his Ordinances eſtabliſhed for them. He hath a right to make the Sun ſtand ſtill, or move backward; to bind up the Womb of the Earth, and barr the influences of the Clouds, bridle in the rage of the fire, and the fury of Lions, make the liquid waters ſtand like a Wall, or pull up the dam, which he hath ſet to the Sea, and command it to overflow the neighbouring Countries. He can diſpenſe with the natural Laws of the whole Creation, and ſtrain every ſtring beyond its ordinary pitch.

Poſitive Laws he hath revers'd; as the Ceremonial Law given to the Jews: The very nature indeed of that Law requir'd a repeal, and fell of Courſe; when that, which was intended by it, was come, it was of no longer ſignificancy; as before it was a uſeful ſhadow, it would afterwards have been an empty one. Had not God took away this, Chriſtianity had not in all likelyhood been propagated among the Gentiles. This was the partition wall beetween Jews and Gentiles, Eph. 2.14. Which made them a diſtinct Family from all the World, and was the occaſion of the enmity of the Gentiles againſt the Jews. When God had by bringing in, what was ſignified by thoſe Rites, declar'd his decree for the ceaſing of them; and when the Jews, fond of thoſe Divine Inſtitutions, would not allow him the right of repealing, what he had the Authority of enacting, he reſolved for the aſſerting his Dominion, to bury them in the ruines of the Temple and City, and make them for ever uncapable of practiſing the main and Eſſential parts of them: For the Temple being the pillar of the legal Service, by demoliſhing that, God hath taken away their right of ſacrificing, it being peculiarly annext to that place; they have no Altar dignifyed with a fire from Heaven to conſume their ſacrifices, no legal High Prieſt to offer them, God hath by his Providence chang'd his own Law, as well as by his precept.

Yea he hath gone higher by vertue of his Soveraignty, and chang'd the whole ſcene and methods of his Government after the fall, from King Creator to King Redeemer. He hath revok'd the Law of works as a Covenant, releas'd the penalty of it from the beleiving ſinner, by transferring it upon the ſurety, who interpos'd himſelf by his own will and divine deſignation. He hath eſtabliſh'd p. 726another Covenant upon other promiſes in a higher root, with greater Priviledges and eaſier terms. Had not God had this right of Soveraignty, not a man of Adam's poſterity could have been bleſſed; he, and they, muſt have lain groaning under the miſery of the fall, which had render'd both himſelf and all in his Loyns, unable to obſerve the Terms of the firſt Covenant.

He hath, as ſome ſpeak, diſpens'd with his own Moral Law in ſome caſes; in commanding Abraham to Sacrifice his Son, his only Son, a Righteous Son, a Son whereof he had the promiſe, that in Iſaac ſhould his Seed be call'd; yet he was commanded to Sacrifice him by the right of his abſolute Soveraignty as the ſupream Lord of the Lives of his Creatures from the higheſt Angel to the loweſt Worm, whereby he bound his Subjects to this Law, not himſelf. Our Lives are due to him, when he calls for them, and they are a juſt for…it to him, at the very moment we ſin, at the very moment we come into the World by reaſon of the venom of our nature againſt him, and the diſturbance the firſt ſin of man (whereof we are inheritors) gave to his Glory. Had Abraham ſacrificed his Son of his own head, he had ſinned, yea in attempting it; but being Authoriz'd from Heaven, his act was Obedience to the Soveraign of the World, who had a power to diſpenſe with his own Law; and with this Law he had before diſpens'd, in the caſe of Cains Murder of Abel as to the immediate puniſhment of it with death, which indeed was ſetled afterwards by his Authority, but then omitted becauſe of the paucity of men, and for the peopling the World; but ſetled afterwards, when there was almoſt, though not altogether, the like occaſion of omitting it for a time.

3. His Soveraignty appears in puniſhing the Tranſgreſſion of his Law.

1. This is a branch of Gods Dominion as Lawgiver. So was the vengeance God would take upon the Amalekites. Exod. 17.16. The Lord hath ſworn, that the Lord will have War. The Hebrew is, the hand upon the Throne of the Lord, as in the margent. As a Lawgiver he ſaves or deſtroyes. James 4.12. He acts according to his own Law, in a congruity to the ſanction of his own precepts; though he be an Arbitrary Lawgiver, appointing what Laws he pleaſes, yet he is not an Arbitrary Judge. As he commands nothing, but what he hath a right to command, ſo he puniſheth none, but whom he hath a right to puniſh, and with ſuch puniſhment as the Law hath denounced. All his acts of Juſtice and inflictions of Curſes, are the effects of this Soveraign Dominion. Pſal. 29.10. He ſits King upon the Flouds. Upon the deluge of Waters wherewith he drown'd the World, ſay ſome. 'Tis a right belonging to the Authority of Magiſtrates, to pull up the infectious weeds, that corrupt a Common-Wealth. 'Tis no leſs the right of God as the Lawgiver and Judge of all the Earth, to ſubject Criminals to his vengeance, after they have rendered themſelves abominable in his Eyes, and carried themſelves unworthy Subjects of ſo great and glorious a King. The firſt name whereby God is made known in Scripture, is Elohim. Gen. 1.1. In the beginning God Created the Heaven and Earth. A name which ſignifies his power of judging in the opinion of ſome Criticks; from him it is deriv'd to earthly Magiſtrates; their Judgment is ſaid therefore to be the Judgement of God, Deut. 1.17. When Chriſt came, he propos'd this great motive of Repentance from the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand; the Kingdom of his Grace, whereby to invite men; the Kingdom of his Juſtice in the puniſhment of the neglecters of it, whereby to terrifie men. Puniſhments as well as Rewards belong to Royalty; it iſſued accordingly; thoſe that believ'd and repented, came under his gracious Scepter; thoſe that neglected, and rejected it, fell under his Iron Rod. Jeruſalem was deſtroy'd, the Temple demoliſh'd, the Inhabitants loſt their lives by the edge of the Sword, or linger'ed them out in the chains of a miſerable Captivity. This term of Judge which ſignifies a Soveraign right to govern and puniſh Delinquents, Abraham gives him, when … came, to root out the People of Sodom, and make them the examples of his ve… geance. Gen. 18.25.

p. 7272. Puniſhing the Tranſgreſſions of his Law; This is neceſſary branch of Dominion. His Soveraignty in making Laws would be a trifle, if there were not alſo an Authority to vindicate thoſe Laws from Contempt and Injury; he would be a Lord only ſpurn'd at by Rebels. Soveraignty is not preſerved without Juſtice. When the Pſalmist ſpeaks of the Majeſty of God's Kingdom, he tells us, that Righteousneſs and Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne. Pſal. 97.1, 2. Theſe are the Engines of Divine dignity, which render him glorious and majeſtick. A Legiſlative power would be trampled on without executive; by this the reverential apprehenſions of God are preſerved in the W…rld. He is known to be Lord of the World, by the Judgements which he executes. Pſal. 9.16. When he ſeems to have loſt his dominion, or given it up in the World, he recovers it by puniſhment. When he takes ſome away with a Whirlwind, and in his Wrath, the natural conſequence men make of it, is this, Surely there is a God that Judgeth the Earth. Pſal. 58.9.11. He reduceth the Creature by the laſh of his judgments, that would not acknowledge his Authority in his precepts. Thoſe ſins which diſown his Government in the Heart and Conſcience, as Pride, inward blaſphemy, &c. he hath reſerved a time hereafter to reckon for. He doth not preſently ſhoot his arrows into the marrow of every delinquent, but thoſe ſins which traduce his Government of the World, and tear up the Foundations of humane converſe, and a publick reſpect to him, he reckons with particularly here, as well as hereafter, that the Life of his Soveraignty might not always faint in the World.

3. This of puniſhing was the ſecond diſcovery of his dominion in the World. His firſt act of Soveraignty was the giving a Law, the next, his appearance in the State of a judge. When his orders were violated, he reſcues the honour of them by an execution of Juſtice. He firſt judg'd the Angels, puniſhing the evil ones for their crime; the firſt Court he kept among them as a Governour, was to give them a Law, the ſecond Court he kept, was as a Judge trying the Delinquents, and adjudging the Offenders, to be reſerved in Chains of darkneſs till the final Execution. Jude 6. And at the ſame time probably he confirmed the good ones in their obedience by Grace. So the firſt diſcovery of his dominion to man, was the giving him a precept, the next was the inflicting a puniſhment for the breach of it. He ſummons Adam to the Bar, indicts him for his Crime, finds him guilty by his own Confeſſion, and paſſeth ſentence on him, according to the rule he had before acquainted him with.

4. The means whereby he puniſheth ſhews his dominion. Sometimes he muſters up Hail and Mildew, ſometimes he ſends regiments of wild Beaſts; ſo he threatens Iſrael. Levit. 26.22. Sometimes he ſends out a party of Angels, to beat up the quarters of men, and make a carnage among them. 2 King 19.35. Sometimes he mounts his Thundring battery, and ſhoots forth his Ammunition from the Clouds; as againſt the Philiſtines, 1 Sam. 7.10. Sometimes he ſends the ſlighteſt Creatures to ſhame the Pride, and puniſh the ſin of man; as Lice, Froggs, Locuſts; as upon the Egyptians, the 8, 9, 10. chap. of Exodus.

2. This Dominion is manifeſted by God as a proprietor and Lord of his Creatures and his own Goods.

And this is evident.

1. In the choice of ſome perſons from Eternity. He hath ſet a part ſome from Eternity, wherein he will diſplay the invincible efficacy of his Grace, and thereby infallibly bring them to the fruition of Glory. Eph. 1.4, 5. According as he hath choſen us in him before the Foundation of the World, that we ſhould be Holy and without blame before him in Love, having Predeſtinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jeſus Chriſt to himſelf, according to the good pleaſure of his will. Why doth he write ſome names in the Book of Life, and leave out others? why doth he enroll ſome, whom he intends to make Denizons of Heaven, and refuſe to put others in his regiſter? The Apoſtle tells us, 'tis the pleaſure of his Will. You may render a reaſon for many of God's actions, till you come to this the top and Foundadation p. 728of all; and under what head of reaſon can man reduce this act but to that of his Royal Prerogative? Why doth God ſave ſome, and condemn others at laſt? Becauſe of the Faith of the one, and unbelief of the other. Why do ſome men beleive? Becauſe God hath not only given them the means of Grace, but accompanied thoſe means with the efficacy of his Spirit. Why did God accompany thoſe means with the efficacy of his Spirit in ſome, and not in others? Bccauſe he had decreed by Grace, to prepare them for Glory. But why did he decree, or chooſe ſome, and not others? Into what will you reſolve this but into his ſoveraign pleaſure? Salvation and Condemnation at the laſt upſhot, are acts of God as the Judge conformable to his own Law of giving life to Believers, and inflicting death upon unbeleivers; for thoſe a reaſon may be rendered; but the choice of ſome and preterition of others, is an act of God as he is a ſoveraign Monarch, before any Law was actually tranſgreſt, becauſe not actually given. When a Prince redeems a Rebel, he acts as a Judge according to Law; but when he calls ſome out, to pardon, he acts as a ſoveraign by a Prerogative above Law; into this the Apostle reſolves it. Rom. 9.13.15. When he ſpeaks of Gods loving Jacob, and hating Eſau, and that before they had done either good or evil: It is, Becauſe God will have Mercy, on whom he will have Mercy, and Compaſſion on whom he will have Compaſſion. Though the firſt ſcope of the Apoſtle in the beginning of the Chapter, was to declare the reaſon of God's rejecting the Jews, and calling in the Gentiles; had he only intended to demoliſh the pride of the Jews, and flat their opinion of merit, and aim'd no higher than that Providential act of God; he might, convincingly enough to the reaſon of men, have argued from the Juſtice of God, provoked by the obſtinacy of the Jews, and not have had recourſe to his abſolute Will; but ſince he aſſerts this latter,**Amyrald. diſſert. p. 101, 102. the ſtrength of his argument ſeems to lie thus; if God by his abſolute ſoveraignty may reſolve, and fix his love upon Jacob and eſtrange it from Eſau, or any other of his Creatures before they have done good or evil, and man have no ground to call his infinite Majeſty to account, may he not deal thus with the Jews, when their demerit would be a barr to any complaints of the Creature againſt him? If God were conſidered here in the quality of a Judge, it had been fit to have conſidered the matter of Fact in the Criminal; but he is conſidered as a Soveraign, rendring no other reaſon of his action but his own Will, whom he will he hardens, ver. 18. And then the Apoſtle concludes. Ver. 20. Who art thou, O Man, that replyeſt againſt God? If the reaſon drawn from Gods Soveraignty, doth not ſatisfie in this enquiry, no other reaſon can be found, wherein to acquieſce? For the laſt condemnation there will be ſufficient reaſon to clear the Juſtice of his proceedings. But in this caſe of Election, no other reaſon but what is alledg'd, viz. The Will of God, can be thought of, but what is liable to ſuch knotty exceptions, that cannot well be untyed.

1. It could not be any merit in the Creature, that might determine God to chooſe him. If the decree of Election falls not under the merit of Chriſt's paſſion, as the procuring cauſe, it cannot fall under the merit of any part of the corrupted maſs. The decree of ſending Chriſt, did not precede, but follow'd in order of nature the determination of chooſing ſome. When men were choſen as the ſubjects for Glory, Chriſt was choſen as the means, for the bringing them to Glory, Eph. 1.4. Choſen us in him, and predeſtinated us to the Adoption of Children by Jeſus Chriſt. The choice was not meerly in Chriſt, as the moving cauſe; that the Apoſtle aſſerts, to be the good pleaſure of his will; but in Chriſt, as the means of conveying to the choſen Ones the fruits of their Election. What could there be in any man, that could invite Gpd to this act, or be a cauſe of diſtinction of one branch of Adam from another? Were they not all hew'd out of the ſame Rock, and tainted with the ſame corruption in blood? Had it been poſſible to inveſt them with a power of merit at the firſt, had not that venom contracted in their nature, degraded all of power for the future? What merit was there in any but of wrathfull puniſhment, ſince they were all conſidered as Criminals, and the curſed brood of an ungrateful Rebel? what dignity can there be in the nature of the pureſt part of clay, to be made a Veſſel of Honour, more than in another part of Clay as pure as that which was p. 729form'd into a Veſſel for mean and ſordid uſe? What had any one to move his mercy more than another; ſince they were all Children of wrath, and equally dawb'd with Original guilt and filth? Had not all an equal proportion of it, to provoke his Juſtice? What merit is there in one dry bone more than another, to be inſpir'd with the breath of a ſpiritual life? Did not all lie wallowing in their own filthy blood, and what could the ſteam, and noyſomneſs of that, deſerve at the hands of a pure Majeſty, but to be caſt into a ſink furtheſt from his ſight? Were they not all conſidered in this deplorable poſture with an equal proportion of poyſon in their nature, when God firſt took his pen, and ſingled out ſome Names, to write in the Book of life? It could not be merit in any one peice of this abominable Maſs, that ſhould ſtir up that reſolution in God, to ſet apart this perſon for a Veſſel of Glory, while he permitted another to putrifie in his own gore. He loved Jacob, and hated Eſau, though they were both parts of the common Maſs, the Seed of the ſame Loyns, and lodg'd in the ſame Womb.

2. Nor could it …e any foreſight of works to be done in time by them, or of Faith, that might determine God to chooſe them. What good could he foreſee reſulting from extream corruption, and a nature alienated from him? What could he foreſee of good to be done by them, but what he reſolved in his own will, to beſtow an ability upon them, to bring forth? His choice of them was to a Holineſs, not for a Holineſs preceding his determination, Eph. 1.4. He hath choſen us, that we might be Holy before him, he ordained us to good works, not for them, Eph. 2.10. What is a Fruit, cannot be a moving cauſe of that whereof it is a fruit. Grace is a ſtream from the ſpring of electing love; the branch is not the cauſe of the Root, but the Root of the Branch, nor the ſtream the cauſe of the ſpring, but the ſpring the cauſe of the ſtream. Good works ſuppoſe Grace, and a good and right habit in the perſon; as rational acts ſuppoſe reaſon. Can any man ſay that the rational acts man performs after his Creation, were a cauſe why God Created him? This would make Creation and every thing elſe not ſo much an act of his will, as an act of his Underſtanding. God foreſaw no rational act in man, before the act of his will to give him reaſon; nor foreſees faith in any, before the act of his will determining to give him Faith. Eph. 2.8. Faith is the gift of God. In the Salvation which grows up from this firſt purpoſe of God, he regards not the works we have done, as a principal motive to ſettle the top-ſtone of our happineſs, but his own purpoſe, and the Grace given in Chriſt. 2 Timothy 1.9. Who hath ſaved us, and call'd us with a holy Calling, not according to our own works, but according to his own purpoſe, and Grace, which was given to us in Christ, before the World began. The honour of our Salvation cannot be challeng'd by our works, much leſs the honour of the Foundation of it. It was a pure gift of Grace without any reſpect to any ſpiritual, much leſs natural, perfection. Why ſhould the Apoſtle mention that circumſtance, when he ſpeaks of God's loving Jacob, and hating Eſau, when neither of them had done good or evil, Rom. 9.11. if there were any foreſight of mens works, as the moving cauſe of his love or hatred? God regarded not the works of either as the firſt cauſe of his choice, but acted by his own Liberty without reſpect to any of their actions, which were to be done by them in time. If Faith be the fruit of Election, the preſcience of Faith doth not influence the Electing act of God. Tit. 1.1. 'Tis called the Faith of Gods Elect. Paul an Apoſtle of Jeſus Christ according to the Faith of Gods Elect. i. e. Setled in this Office to bring the Elect of God to Faith. If men be choſen by God upon the foreſight of Faith, or not choſen till they have Faith, they are not ſo much God's Elect, as God their Elect; they chooſe God by Faith, before God chooſeth them by love. It had not been the Faith of Gods Elect, i. e. Of thoſe already choſen, but the Faith of thoſe that were to be choſen by God afterwards.**Dalle in loc. Election is the cauſe of Faith, and not Faith the cauſe of Election. Fire is the cauſe of heat, and not the heat of Fire; the Sun is the cauſe of the day, and not the day the cauſe of the riſing of the Sun. Men are not choſen becauſe they beleive, but they beleive becauſe they are choſen: The Apoſtle did ill elſe, to appropriate that to the Elect, which they had no more intereſt in by p. 730vertue of their Election, than the verieſt Reprobate in the World. If the foreſight of what works might be done by his Creatures, was the motive of his chooſing them, why did he not chooſe the Devils to Redemption, who could have done him better ſervice, by the ſtrength of their Nature, than the whole Maſs of Adam's poſterity?

Well then, there is no poſſible way to lay the original Foundation of this act of Election, and preterition in any thing but the abſolute Soveraignty of God.

Juſtice or Injuſtice comes not into conſideration in this caſe. There is no debt, which Juſtice or Injuſtice always reſpects in its acting: If he had pleaſed, he might have choſen all, if he had pleaſed, he might have choſen none. It was in his ſupream power, to have reſolved to have left all Adam's poſterity under the rack of his Juſtice; if he determined to ſnatch out any, it was a part of his dominion, but without any injury to the Creatures he leaves under their own guilt. Did he not paſs by the Angels, and take man? And by the ſame right of Dominion may he pick out ſome men from the common Maſs, and lay aſide others, to bear the puniſhment of their Crimes. Are they not all his Subjects? All are his Criminals, and may be dealt with at the pleaſure of their undoubted Lord and Soveraign? This is a work of arbitrary power: Since he might have choſen none, or choſen all, as he ſaw good himſelf. 'Tis at the liberty of the Artificer, to determine his Wood, or Stone to ſuch a figure, that of a Prince or that of a Toad; and his materials have no right to complain of him, ſince it lies wholly upon his own liberty. They muſt have little ſence of their own vileneſs and God's infinite excellency above them by right of Creation, that will contend, that God hath a leſſer right over his Creatures, than an Artificer over his Wood or Stone. If it were at his liberty whither to redeem Man, or ſend Chriſt upon ſuch an undertaking; 'tis as much at his liberty, and the prerogative is to be allow'd him, what perſons he will reſolve to make capable of enjoying the fruits of that Redemption. One Man was as fit a ſubject for Mercy as another; as they all lay in their orginal guilt. Why would not Divine Mercy caſt its eye upon this Man, as well as upon his Neighbour? There was no cauſe in the Creature, but all in God, it muſt be reſolved into his own will.

Yet not into a Will without Wiſdom. God did not chooſe hand over head, and act by meer Will without Reaſon and Underſtanding; an infinite Wiſdom is far from ſuch a kind of procedure; but the reaſon of God is inſcrutable to us: unleſs we could underſtand God, as well as he underſtands himſelf; the whole ground lies in God himſelf, no part of it in the Creature. Rom. 9.15, 16. Not in him that Wills, nor in him that Runs, but in God that ſhews Mercy. Since God hath revealed no other cauſe than his will, we can reſolve it into no other than his Soveraign Empire over all Creatures. 'Tis not without a ſtop to our curioſity, that in the ſame place where God aſſerts the abſolute Soveraignty of his mercy to Moſes, he tells him he could not ſee his face. Exod. 33.19, 20. I will be Gracious, to whom I will be Gracious: and he ſaid, Thou canst not ſee my face. The rayes of his infinite Wiſdom, are too bright and dazling for our weakneſs. The Apoſtle acknowledged not only a Wiſdom in this proceeding, but a riches and treaſure of Wiſdom; not only that but a depth and vaſtneſs of thoſe riches of Wiſdom, but was unable, to give us an Inventory, and Scheme of it. Rom. 11.33. The ſecrets of his Counſels are too deep for us to wade into; in attempting to know the reaſon of thoſe acts we ſhould find our ſelves ſwallowed up into a bottomleſs Gulf. Though the underſtanding be above our capacity, yet the admiration of his Authority and Submiſſion to it are not. We ſhould cast our ſelves down at his feet with a full reſignation of our ſelves to his Soveraign pleaſure **This was Dr. Goodwins Speech when he was in trouble.. This is a more comely carriage in a Chriſtian than all the contentious endeavours to meaſure God by our line.

2. In beſtowing Grace where he pleaſes. God in Converſion and Pardon works not as a natural Agent, putting forth ſtrength to the utmoſt, which God muſt do, if he did renew man naturally, as the Sun ſhines, and the fire burns, p. 731which always act ad extremum virium, unleſs a Cloud interpoſe, to eclipſe the one, and water to extinguiſh the other. But God acts as a voluntary Agent, which can freely exert his power, when he pleaſe, and ſuſpend it, when he pleaſe. Though God be neceſſarily good, yet he is not neceſſitated to manifeſt all the Treaſures of his Goodneſs to every Subject; he hath power to diſtill his dews upon one part, and not upon another. If he were neceſſitated to expreſs his Goodneſs without a liberty, no thanks were due to him. Who thanks the Sun for ſhining on him, or the fire for warming him? None: Becauſe they are neceſſary Agents, and can do no other.

What is the reaſon, he did not reach out his hand to keep all the Angels from ſinking, as well as ſome, or recover them, when they were ſunk? What is the reaſon, he engrafts one man into the true Vine, and lets another remain a wild Olive? Why is not the efficacy of the Spirit always linkt with the motions of the Spirit? Why doth he not mould the Heart into a Goſpel frame, when he fills the Ear with a Goſpel ſound? Why doth he ſtrike off the chains from ſome, and tear the vail from the Heart, while he leaves others under their natural ſlavery, and Aegyptian darkneſs? Why do ſome lie under the bands of death, while another is rais'd to a ſpiritual life? What reaſon is there for all this but his abſolute Will? The Apoſtle reſolves the queſtion, if the queſtion be askt, why he begets one, and not another? Not from the Will of the Creature, but his own Will is the determination of one. James 1.18. Why doth he work in one, to will, and to do, and not in another? Becauſe of his good pleaſure, is the anſwer of another. Phil. 2.13. He could as well new create every one, as he at firſt created them, and make Grace as univerſal as Nature and Reaſon, but it is not his pleaſure ſo to do.

1. 'Tis not from want of ſtrength in himſelf. The power of God is unqueſtionably able to ſtrike off the chains of unbeleief from all; he could ſurmount the obſtinacy of every child of wrath, and inſpire every Son of Adam with Faith as well as Adam himſelf. He wants not a vertue ſuperior to the greateſt reſiſtance of his Creature; a victorious beam of light might be ſhot into their underſtandings, and a flood of Grace might overſpread their Wills with one word of his mouth without putting forth the utmoſt of his power. What hinderance could there be in any created ſpirit, which cannot be eaſily peirced into, and new moulded by the Father of Spirits? Yet he only breaths this efficacious vertue into ſome, and leaves others under that inſenſibility and hardneſs which they love, and ſuffers them to continue in their benighting ignorance, and conſume themſelves in the embraces of their dear, though deceitful, Dalilahs.

He could have conquered the reſiſtance of the Jews, as well as chaſed away the darkneſs and ignorance of the Gentiles. No doubt, but he could over power the Heart of the moſt malicious Devil, as well as that of the ſimpleſt and weakeſt man. But the breath of the Almighty Spirit is in his own power, to breath where he liſts. John 3.8. 'Tis at his liberty, whither he will give to any the feeling of the invincible efficacy of his Grace. He did not want ſtrength to have kept man as firm as a Rock againſt the temptation of Satan, and pour'd in ſuch fortifying Grace, as to have made him impregnable againſt the powers of Hell, as well as he did ſecure the ſtanding of the Angels againſt the Sedition of their fellows. But it was his will to permit it to be otherwiſe.

2. Nor is it from any prerogative in the Creature. He converts not any for their natural perfection: Becauſe he ſeizeth upon the moſt ignorant. Nor for their moral perfection: Becauſe he converts the moſt ſinful. Nor for their Civil perfection: Becauſe he turns the moſt deſpicable.

1. Not for their natural perfection of knowledge. He opened the minds and hearts of the more ignorant. Were the nature of the Gentiles better manur'd than that of the Jews, or did the Tapers of their underſtandings burn clearer? No, the one were skil'd in the Propheſies of the Meſſiah, and might have compared the Predictions p. 732they own'd with the Actions and Sufferings of Chriſt, which they were ſpectators of. He let alone thoſe that had expectations of the Meſſiah, and expectations about the time of Chriſt's appearance, both grounded upon the Oracles wherewith he had intruſted them. The Gentiles were unacquainted with the Prophets, and therefore deſtitute of the expectations of the Meſſiah. Eph. 2.12. They were without Chriſt. Without any Revelation of Chriſt, becauſe aliens from the Commonwealth of Iſrael and strangers to the Covenant of Promiſe, having no hope and without God in the World, without any knowledge of God, or promiſes of Chriſt. The Jews might ſooner in a way of reaſon have been wrought upon, than the Gentiles who were ignorant of the Prophets, by whoſe writings they might have examined the Truth of the Apoſtles Declarations; thus are they refus'd, that were the kindred of Chriſt according to the Fleſh, and the Gentiles that were at a greater diſtance from him, brought in by God. Thus he catcheth not at the ſubtle and mighty Devils, who had an original in ſpiritual nature more like to him, but at weak and ſimple man.

2. Not for any Moral perfection: Becauſe he converts the moſt Sinful. The Gentiles ſteept in Idolatry and Superſtition. He ſow'd more Faith among the Romans than in Jeruſalem, more Faith in a City that was the common Sewer of all the Idolatry of the Nations conquered by them; than in that City which had ſo ſignally been own'd by him, and had not practiſed any Idolatry ſince the Babyloniſh Captivity. He planted Saintſhip at Corinth, a place notorious for the infamous Worſhip of Venus, a Superſtition attended with the groſſeſt uncleanneſs. At Epheſus, that preſented the whole World with a Cup of Fornication in their Temple of Diana. Among the Coloſſians, Votaries to Cybele in a manner of Worſhip attended with beaſtly and laſcivious Ceremonies. And what character had the Cretians from one of their own Poets, mentioned by the Apoſtle to Titus, whom he had plac'd among them, to further the progreſs of the Goſpel, but the vileſt and moſt abominable? Tit. 1.12. Lyars, not to be credited, Evil Beaſts not to be aſſociated with, Slow Bellies fit for no ſervice. What prerogative was there in the nature of ſuch putrefaction. As much as in that of a Toad to be elevated to the dignity of an Angel. What ſteam from ſuch Dunghils could be welcome to him, and move him, to caſt his eye on them, and ſweeten them from Heaven? What treaſures of worth were here, to open the treaſures of his Grace? Were ſuch filthy ſnuffs fit of themſelves to be kindled by, and become a lodging for a Goſpel beam? What invitements could he have from Lying, Beaſtlineſs, Gluttony, but only from his own Soveraignty? By this he plucked firebrands out of the fire, while he left ſtraiter and more comely ſticks to conſume to aſhes.

3. Not for any Civil Perfection: Becauſe he turns the moſt deſpicable. He elevates not nature to Grace upon the account of Wealth, Honour, or any Civil ſtation in the World; he diſpenſeth not ordinarily thoſe Treaſures to thoſe that the miſtaken World fooliſhly admire, and dote upon, 1 Cor. 1.26. Not many Mighty, not many Noble. A purple Robe is not uſually deckt with this Jewel. He takes more of mouldy Clay, than refin'd duſt, to caſt into his Image; and lodges his Treaſures more in the earthly Veſſels, than in the World's Golden ones. He gives out his richeſt doles, to thoſe that are the ſcorn and reproach of the World. Should he impart his Grace moſt to thoſe that abound in wealth, or honour, it had been ſome foundation for a conception, that he had been mov'd by thoſe vulgarly eſteem'd excellencies, to indulge them more than others. And ſuch a conceit languiſheth, when we behold the Subjects of his Grace as void originally of any allurements, as they are full of provocations.

Hereby he declares himſelf free from all Created engagements, and that he is not led by any external motives in the object.

4. 'Tis not from any obligation which lies upon him. He is indebted to none, diſoblig'd by all. No man deſerves from him any Act of Grace, but every man deſerves, what the moſt deplorable are left to ſuffer. He is obliged by the Children p. 733of wrath to nothing elſe but ſhowers of wrath, owes no more a debt to fall'n man, than to fall'n Devils, to reſtore them to their firſt ſtation by a ſuperlative Grace; how was he more bound, to reſtore them, than he was to preſerve them, to catch them after they fell, than to put a barr in the way of their falling? God as a Soveraign gave Laws to men, and a ſtrength ſufficient to keep thoſe Laws. What obligation is there upon God to repair that ſtrength man willfully loſt, and extract him out of that condition, into which he voluntarily plung'd himſelf? What if man ſinned by temptation, which is a reaſon alledged by ſome? Might not many of the Devils do ſo too? Though there was a firſt of them, that ſinned without a temptation, yet many of them might be ſeduced into Rebellion by the Ringleader. Upon that account, he is no more bound, to give Grace to all men, than to Devils. If he promis'd life upon Obedience, he threatned death upon Tranſgreſſion. By man's diſobedience God is quit of his promiſe, and owes nothing but puniſhment upon the violation of his Law. Indeed man may pretend to a claim of ſufficient ſtrength from him by Creation, as God is the Author of Nature, and he had it; but ſince he hath extinguiſht it by his ſin, he cannot in the leaſt pretend any obligation on God for a new ſtrength. If it be a peradventure whither he will give Repentance, as it is, 2 Tim. 2.25. There is no tye in the caſe; a tye would put it beyond a peradventure with a God, that never forfeited his obligation.**Claudes ſur la parabole des Noces p. 29. No Husbandman thinks himſelf oblig'd, to beſtow coſt and pains, manure and tillage upon one field more than another; though the nature of the ground may require more, yet he is at his liberty whither he will expend more upon one than another. He may let it lie Fallow as long as he pleaſe. God is leſs oblig'd, to till, and prune his Creatures, than man is oblig'd to his Feild or Trees. If a King proclaim a pardon to a company of Rebels upon the condition of each of them paying ſuch a ſumme of Money; their Eſtates before were capable of ſatisfying the condition, but their Rebellion hath reduc'd them to an indigent condition; the proclamation it ſelf is an act of Grace, the condition requir'd is not impoſſible in it ſelf, the Prince out of a tenderneſs to ſome, ſends them that ſumme of Money, he hath by his Proclamation oblig'd them to pay, and thereby enabled them to anſwer the condition he requires; the firſt he doth by a Soveraign Authority, the ſecond he doth by a Soveraign bounty, he was oblig'd to neither of them; puniſhment was a debt due to all of them; if he would remit it upon condition, he did relax his Soveraign right, and if he would by his largeſs make any of them capable to fulfil the condition by ſending them preſently a ſufficient ſumme to pay the fine, he acted as proprietor of his own goods, to diſpoſe of them in ſuch a quantity to thoſe, to whom he was not oblig'd to beſtow a mite.

5. It muſt therefore be an Act of his meer Soveraignty. This can only ſit arbitrator in every gracious act. Why did he give Grace to Abel and not to Cain, ſince they both lay in the ſame womb, and equally deriv'd from their Parents a taint in their Nature: But that he would ſhow a ſtanding example of his Soveraignty to the future ages of the World in the firſt poſterity of man? Why did he give Grace to Abraham, and ſeparate him from his Idolatrous Kindred, to dignifie him to be the root of the Meſſiah? Why did he confine his promiſe to Iſaac, and not extend it to Iſhmael the Seed of the ſame Abraham by Hagar, or to the Children he had by Keturah after Sarahs death? What reaſon can be alledged for this but his Soveraign Will? Why did he not give the fallen Angels a moment of Repentance after their ſin, but condemned them to irrevocable pains? Is it not as free for him, to give Grace, to whom he pleaſe, as Create what Worlds he pleaſe; to form this corrupted clay into his own Image, as to take ſuch a parcel of duſt from all the reſt of the Creation, whereof to compact Adam's body? Hath he not as much juriſdiction over the ſinful maſs of his Creatures in a new Creation, as he had over the Chaos in the old? And what reaſon can be rendered, of his advancing this part of matter to the nobler dignity of a Star, and leaving that other part, to make up the dark body of the Earth? To compact one part into a glorious Sun, and another part into a hard Rock; but his Royal Prerogative? What is p. 734the reaſon a Prince ſubjects one Malefactor to puniſhment, and lifts up another to a place of truth and profit? That Pharoah honoured the Butler with an attendance on his Perſon, and remitted the Baker to the hands of the Executioner? It was his pleaſure. And is not as great a right due to God, as is allow'd to the worms of the Earth? What is the reaſon he hardens a Pharoah, by a denying him that Grace, which ſhould mollifie him; and allows it to another? 'Tis becauſe he will. Rom. 9.18. Whom he will he hardens. Hath not man the liberty to pull up the ſluce, and let the water run into what part of the ground he pleaſes? What is the reaſon ſome have not a heart to underſtand the beauty of his ways? Becauſe the Lord doth not give it them. Deut. 29.4. Why doth he not give all his converts an equal meaſure of his ſanctifying Grace, ſome have Mites, and ſome have Treaſures? Why doth he give his Grace to ſome, ſooner, to ſome, later, ſome are inſpir'd in their infancy, others not till a full age, and after, ſome not till they have fallen into ſome groſs ſin, as Paul; ſome betimes, that they may do him ſervice, others later, as the Thief upon the Croſs, and preſently ſnatcheth them out of the World? Some are weaker, ſome ſtronger in nature, ſome more beautiful, and lovely, others more uncomely and ſluggiſh. 'Tis ſo in ſupernaturals. What reaſon is there for this, but his own will? This is inſtead of all, that can be aſſigned on the part of God. He is the free diſpoſer of his own Goods, and as a Father may give a greater portion to one Child than to another. And what reaſon of complaint is there againſt God; may not a Toad complain that God did not make it a man, and give it a portion of reaſon? Or a Fly complain, that God did not make it an Angel, and give it a Garment of Light, had they but any ſpark of underſtanding; as well as man complain, that God did not give him Grace, as well as another; Unleſs he ſincerely deſir'd it, and then was denyed it, he might complain of God, though not as Soveraign, yet as a promiſer of Grace to them that ask it. God doth not render his Soveraignty formidable; he ſhuts not up his Throne of Grace from any that ſeek him; he invites man, his Arms are open, and the Scepter ſtretched out; and no man continues under the arreſt of his Luſts, but he that is unwilling to be otherwiſe, and ſuch a one hath no reaſon to complain of God.