Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 3

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 3

p. 109A DISCOURSE UPON GODS BEING A SPIRIT.

JOHN 4.24.

God is a Spirit, and they that Worſhip him, muſt worſhip him in Spirit, and in truth.

THE words are part of the Dialogue between our Saviour, **Amiraut. Paraph. ſur Jean.and the Samaritan Woman. Chriſt intending to return from Judea to Galilee, paſſed through the Country of Samaria, a place inhabited not by Jews, but a mixt Company of ſeveral Nations, and ſome remainders of the poſterity of Iſrael, who eſcaped the Captivity and were returned from Aſſyria; and being weary with his Journey, arrived about the ſixth hour or noon (according to the Jews reckoning the time of the day) at a Well that Jacob had digged, which was of great account among the Inhabitants for the Antiquity of it, as well as the uſefulneſs of it, in ſupplying their neceſſities: He being thirſty, and having none to furniſh him wherewith to draw water, at laſt comes a Woman from the City, whom he deſires to give him ſome water to drink. The Woman perceiving him by his Language or Habit to be a Jew, wonders at the queſtion, ſince the hatred the Jews bore the Samaritans was ſo great, that they would not vouchſafe to have any Commerce with them, not only in Religious, but Civil affairs, and Common Offices belonging to Man-kind. Hence our Saviour takes occaſion to publiſh to her the Doctrine of the Goſpel; and excuſeth her rude Anſwer by her Ignorance of him: And tells her, that if ſhe had askt him a greater matter, even that which concern'd her Eternal Salvation, he would readily have granted it, notwithſtanding the rooted hatred between the Jews and Samaritans; and beſtowed a water of a greater vertue, the water of life. **ver. 10. Or living water.The Woman is no leſs aſtoniſhed at his reply, than ſhe was at his firſt demand. It was ſtrange to hear a Man ſpeak of giving living water, to one of whom he had beg'd the water of that Spring, and had no Veſſel to draw any to quench his own thirſt. She therefore demands whence he could have this water that he ſpeaks of,**ver. 11. ſince ſhe conceived him not greater than Jacob, who had digged that Well and drunk of it. Our Saviour deſirous p. 110to mak a progreſs in that work, he had begun, extols the Water he ſpake of, above this of the Well, from its particular vertue, fully to refreſh thoſe that drank of it, and be as a Cooling and Comforting Fountain within them, of more efficacy than that without. **ver. 13.14.The Woman conceiving a good opinion of our Saviour, deſires to partake of this Water, to ſave her pains in coming dayly to the Well, not apprehending the Spirituality of Chriſts diſcourſe to her:**ver. 15. Chriſt finding her to take ſome pleaſure in his Diſcourſe, partly to bring her to a ſenſe of her ſin, before he did Communicate the excellency of his grace, bids her return back to the City and bring her Husband with her to him:**ver. 16. She freely acknowledges that ſhe had no Husband, whether having ſome check of Conſcience at preſent for the unclean life ſhe led, or loth to loſe ſo much time in the gaining this water ſo much deſired by her:**ver. 17. Our Saviour takes an occaſion from this to lay open her ſin before her, and to make her ſenſible of her own wicked life and the prophetick excellency of himſelf; and tells her, ſhe had had five Husbands to whom ſhe had been falſe, and by whom ſhe was divorced, and the perſon ſhe now dwelt with was not her lawful Husband, and in living with him ſhe violated the Rights of Marriage, and encreaſed guilt upon her Conſcience.**ver. 18. The Woman being affected with this diſcourſe, and knowing him to be ſtranger, that could not be certified of thoſe things but in an extraordinary way, begins to have a high eſteem of him as a Prophet. **… 19.And upon this opinion ſhe eſteems him able to decide a queſtion which had been Canvaſt between them and the Jews about the place of Worſhip.**…r. 20. Their Fathers Worſhipping in that Mountain, and the Jews affirming Jeruſalem to be a place of worſhip: She pleads the Antiquity of the worſhip in this place: Abraham having built an Altar there, Gen. 12.7. and Jacob upon his return from Syria. And ſurely had the place been capable of an exception, ſuch perſons as they and ſo well acquainted with the Will of God, would not have pitched upon that place to Celebrate their worſhip.

Antiquity hath too too often bewitched the minds of Men, and drawn them from the revealed Will of God. Men are more willing to imitate the outward actions of their famous Anceſtors, than conform themſelves to the revealed Will of their Creator. The Samaritans would imitate the Patriarchs in the place of worſhip, but not in the faith of the worſhippers.

Chriſt anſwers her, that this queſtion would quickly be reſolved by a new ſtate of the Church which was neer at hand, and neither Jeruſalem which had now the precedency, nor that Mountain ſhould be of any more value in that concern than any other place in the world:**ver. 21. But yet to make her ſenſible of her ſin, and that of her Country-men, tells her, that their Worſhip in that Mountain was not according to the Will of God, he having long after the Altars built in this place fixed Jeruſalem as the place of Sacrifices; beſides, they had not the knowledge of that God which ought to be worſhipped by them, but the Jews had the true object of Worſhip and the true manner of worſhip according to the declaration God had made of himſelf to them. **ver. ….But all that ſervice ſhall vaniſh, the vail of the Temple ſhall be rent in twain, and that Carnal worſhip give place to one more Spiritual; ſhadows ſhall fly before ſubſtance, and truth advance it ſelf above figures, and the worſhip of God ſhall be with the ſtrength of the Spirit; ſuch a worſhip, and ſuch worſhippers doth the Father ſeek: **ver. 23.For God is a Spirit, and thoſe that Worſhip him muſt Worſhip him in Spirit and in truth. The deſign of our Saviour is to declare, that God is not taken with external worſhip invented by men, no nor Commanded by himſelf; and upon that this reaſon, becauſe he is a Spiritual eſſence, infinitely above groſs and Corporeal matter, and is not taken with that pomp which is a pleaſure to our Earthly imaginations.

foreign. Some tranſlate it juſt as the words lie. Spirit is God: **Ʋulgar lat. Illyrc. Clav.But it is not unuſual both in the old and new Teſtament languages, to put the predicate before the ſubject, as Pſal. 5.9. Their throat is an open Sepulchre, in the Hebrew a Sepulchre open their throat. So Pſa. 111.3. His work is honourable and glorious. Heb. Honour and glory his work: And there wants not one example in the ſame Evangeliſt, Joh. 1.1. And the word was God. Greek and God was the word: In all, the predicate or what is aſcribed, is put before the ſubject to which it is aſcribed.

One tells us, and he an head of a party, that hath made a diſturbance in the Church p. 111of God,**E…p. Inſtitut. lib. 4. cap. 3. that this place is not aptly brought to prove God to be a Spirit: And the reaſon of Chriſt runs not thus, God is of a Spiritual Eſſence, and therefore muſt be worſhipped with a Spiritual worſhip; for the Eſſence of God is not the Foundation of his worſhip, but his Will; for then we were not to worſhip him with a Corporal worſhip, becauſe he is not a body; but with an inviſible and Eternal worſhip becauſe he is inviſible and eternal.

But the nature of God is the foundation of worſhip, the Will of God is the Rule of worſhip; the matter and manner is to be performed according to the Will of God. But is the nature of the object of worſhip to be excluded? No, as the object is, ſo ought our Devotion to be, Spiritual as he is Spiritual. God in his Commands for worſhip reſpected the diſcovery of his own nature; in the Law he reſpected the diſcovery of his mercy and juſtice, and therefore Commanded a worſhip by Sacrifices; a Spiritual worſhip without thoſe inſtitutions would not have declared thoſe Attributes, which was Gods end to diſplay to the world in Chriſt: And tho the nature of God is to be reſpected in worſhip, yet the obligations of the Creature are to be conſidered. God is a Spirit therefore muſt have a Spiritual worſhip: The Creature hath a body as well as a Soul, and both from God; and therefore ought to worſhip God with the one as well as the other, ſince one as well as the other is freely beſtowed upon him.

The Spirituality of God was the foundation of the change from the Judaical carnal worſhip to a more Spiritual and Evangelical.

[God is a Spirit.]

That is, he hath nothing Corporeal, no mixture of matter, not a viſible ſubſtance, a bodily form.**Melancton. He is a Spirit, not a bare Spiritual ſubſtance: But an underſtanding willing Spirit, holy, wiſe, good and juſt. Before Chriſt ſpake of the Father,**ver. 23. the firſt perſon in the Trinity: Now he ſpeaks of God Eſſentially: The word Father is perſonal, the word God eſſential. So that our Saviour would render a reaſon, not from any one perſon in the bleſſed Trinity, but from the Divine nature, why we ſhould worſhip in Spirit, and therefore makes uſe of the word God, the being a Spirit being Common to the other perſons with the Father.

This is the reaſon of the propoſition, verſe 23. Of a Spiritual Worſhip. Every nature delights in that which is like it, and diſtaſts that which is moſt different from it. If God were Corporeal, he might be pleaſed with the victims of beaſts, and the beautiful Magnificence of Temples, and the noyſe of Muſick: But being a Spirit, he cannot be gratified with carnal things: He demands ſomething better and greater than all thoſe, that Soul which he made, that Soul which he hath endowed, a Spirit of a frame ſutable to his nature. He indeed appointed Sacrifices and a Temple, as ſhadows of thoſe things which were to be moſt acceptable to him in the Meſſiah, but they were impoſed only till the time of Reformation.**Heb. 9.10.Heb 9:10

[Muſt Worſhip him.]

Not they may, or it would be more agreeable to God to have ſuch a manner of worſhip: But they muſt. Tis not excluſive of bodily worſhip; for this were to exclude all publick worſhip in ſocieties, which cannot be performed without reverential poſtures of the body.**Terniti. The Geſtures of the body are helps to worſhip and declarations of Spiritual acts. We can ſcarcely worſhip God with our Spirits without ſome tincture upon the outward-man. But he excludes all acts meerly Corporeal, all reſting upon an external ſervice and devotion, which was the Crime of the Phariſees, and the general perſuaſion of the Jews as well as Heathens, who uſed the outward Ceremonies, not as ſigns of better things, but as if they did of themſelves pleaſe God, and render the worſhippers accepted with him, without any ſutable frame of the inward man:**Amirald in loc. It is as if he had ſaid, now you muſt ſeparate your ſelves from all carnal modes to which the ſervice of God is now tyed, and render a worſhip chiefly conſiſting in the affectionate motions of the heart, and accommodated more exactly to the condition of the object, who is a Spirit.

[In Spirit and Truth]

**Amirald. in loc.The Evangelical Service now required, has the advantage of the former; that was a Shadow and Figure, this the Body and Truth.**Muſcul. Spirit, ſay ſome, is here oppoſed to the legal Ceremonies; Truth, to hypocritical ſervices; or**Chemnit: rather truth is oppoſed to ſhadows, and an opinion of worth in the outward action; 'tis principally p. 112oppoſed to external Rites, becauſe our Saviour ſaith, v. 23. The hour comes, and …o… is, &c. Had it been oppoſed to Hypocriſy, Chriſt had ſaid no new thing: For God always required Truth in the inward parts, and all true Worſhippers had ſerved him with a ſincere Conſcience and ſingle Heart. The old Patriarks did worſhip God in Spirit and Truth, as taken for ſincerity: Such a Worſhip was always, and is perpetually due to God; becauſe he always was, and eternally will be a Spirit.**Muſ…al. And it is ſaid, the Father ſeeks ſuch to worſhip him; not ſhall ſeek: He always ſought it; it always was performed to him by one or other in the world: And the Prophets had always rebuked them, for reſting upon their outward Solemnities, Iſa. 58.7. and Micah. 6.8. But a Worſhip without legal Rites was proper to an Evangelical State and the times of the Goſpel; God having then exhibited Chriſt, and brought into the world the ſubſtance of thoſe ſhadows, and the end of thoſe inſtitutions: There was no more need to continue them, when the true reaſon of them was ceaſed. All Laws do naturally expire, when the true reaſon upon which they were firſt framed, is changed.

Or by Spirit may be meant, ſuch a Worſhip as is kindled in the heart by the breath of the holy Ghoſt. Since we are dead in ſin, a ſpiritual light and flame in the heart ſutable to the nature of the object of our worſhip, cannot be raiſed in us without the operation of a ſupernatural Grace: And though the Fathers could not worſhip God without the Spirit; yet in the Goſpel-times, there being a fuller effuſion of the Spirit, the Evangelical State is called the adminiſtration of the Spirit, and the newneſs of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 3.8.2 Cor 3:8in oppoſition to the legal Oeconomy, entitled the oldneſs of the Letter. **Rom. 7.6.Rom 7:6The Evangelical State is more ſuted to the Nature of God than any other: Such a Worſhip God muſt have, whereby he is acknowledged to be the true Sanctifier and Quickner of the Soul. The nearer God doth approach to us, and the more full his manifeſtations are; the more ſpiritual is the Worſhip we return to God. The Goſpel pares off the rugged parts of the Law, and Heaven ſhall remove what is material in the Goſpel, and change the Ordinances of Worſhip into that of a Spiritual Praiſe.

In the words there is,

1. A Propoſition [God is a Spirit.] The Foundation of all Religion.

2. An Inference [they that worſhip him, &c.]

As God, a Worſhip belongs to him; as a Spirit, a ſpiritual Worſhip is due to him, in the inference we have.

1. The manner of Worſhip [in Spirit and Truth]

2. The neceſſity of ſuch a Worſhip [muſt]

The Propoſition declares the Nature of God; the Inference, the Duty of Man.

The Obſervations lie plain.

Ob. 1. God is a pure ſpiritual Being. [He is a Spirit]

2. The Worſhip due from the Creature to God, muſt be agreeable to the Nature of God, and purely ſpiritual.

3. The Evangelical State is ſuted to the Nature of God.

For the firſt,

D. God is a pure ſpiritual Being.

'Tis the Obſervation of one,**Epiſcop. inſti. tut. l. 4. c. 3. that the plain aſſertion of Gods being a Spirit, is found but once in the whole Bible, and that is in this place; which may well be wondred at; becauſe God is ſo often deſcribed with hands, feet, eyes and ears in the form and figure of a Man. The ſpiritual Nature of God, is deducible from many places; but not any where, as I remember, aſſerted totidem verbis, but in this Text: Some alledge that place, 2 Cor. 3.17. the Lord is that Spirit, for the proof of it; but that ſeems to have a different ſenſe: In the Text the Nature of God is deſcribed; in that place, the operations of God in the Goſpel. [**Amyrald in loc. 'Tis not the Miniſtry of Moſes, or that old Covenant, which communicates to you that Spirit it ſpeaks of; but it is the Lord Jeſus, and the Doctrin of the Goſpel delivered by him, whereby this Spirit and Liberty is diſpenſed to you: He oppoſes here the Liberty of the Goſpel to the Servitude of the Law] 'Tis from Chriſt, that a Divine Vertue diffuſeth it ſelf by the Goſpel; 'tis by him, not by the Law, that we partake of that Spirit.

**Suarez. de Deo vol. 1. P. 9. Col. 2.Col 2The Spirituality of God, is as evident as his Being. If we grant that God is, p. 113we muſt neceſſarily grant that he cannot be corporeal; becauſe a Body is of an imperfect Nature. It will appear incredible to any that acknowledge God the firſt Being and Creator of all things, that he ſhould be a maſſy heavy Body, and have Eyes and Ears, Feet and hands as we have.

For the explication of it.

1. Spirit is taken various ways in Scripture. It ſignifies ſometimes an aereal ſubſtance, as Pſal. 11.6. A horrible Tempeſt: Heb. A Spirit of Tempeſt: Sometimes the breath, which is a thin ſubſtance, Gen. 6.17. All Fleſh wherein is the breath of Life: Heb. Spirit of Life. A thin ſubſtance, though it be material and corporeal, is called Spirit: And in the bodies of living Creatures, that which is the principle of their actions is called Spirits; the animal and vital Spirits: And the finer parts extracted from Plants and Minerals, we call Spirits: Thoſe volatile parts ſeparated from that groſs matter wherein they were immerſt, becauſe they come neareſt to the nature of an incorporeal ſubſtance: And from this notion of the word, 'tis tranſlated to ſignifie thoſe ſubſtances that are purely immaterial, as Angels, and the Souls of Men. Angels are called Spirits, Pſal. 104.4. who makes his Angels Spirits **Heb. 1.14.Heb 1:14; And not only good Angels are ſo called, but evil Angels, Mark 1.27. Souls of men are called Spirits, Eccl. 12. And the Soul of Chriſt is called ſo, John 19.30. whence God is called the God of the Spirits of all Fleſh, Numb. 22.16. and Spirit is oppoſed to Fleſh, Iſa. 31.3. the Egyptians are Fleſh and not Spirit. And our Saviour gives us the notion of a Spirit to be ſomething above the nature of a Body, Luke 24.39. not having fleſh and bones, extended parts, loads of groſs matter. 'Tis alſo taken for thoſe things which are active and efficacious; becauſe activity, is of the nature of a Spirit. Caleb had another Spirit, Num. 14.24. an active affection. The vehement motions of ſin are called Spirit, Hoſ. 4.12. the Spirit of Whoredoms, in that ſenſe that Pro. 29.11. a Fool utters all his mind, all his Spirit, he knows not how to reſtrain the vehement motions of his mind. So that the notion of a Spirit is, that it is a fine immaterial ſubſtance, an active being, that acts it ſelf and other things. A meer Body cannot act it ſelf; as the Body of Man cannot move without the Soul, no more than a Ship can move it ſelf without Wind and Waves.

So God is called a Spirit, as being not a Body, not having the greatneſs, figure, thickneſs or length of a Body, wholly ſeparate from any thing of fleſh and matter. We find a Principle within us nobler than that of our Bodies; and therefore we conceive the Nature of God, according to that which is more worthy in us, and not according to that which is the vileſt part of our Natures. God is a moſt ſpiritual Spirit, more ſpiritual than all Angels, all Souls:**Gerhard. foreign As he exceeds all in the nature of Being, ſo he exceeds all in the nature of Spirit: He hath nothing groſs, heavy, material in his Eſſence.

2. When we ſay God is a Spirit, 'tis to be underſtood by way of Negation. There are two ways of knowing or deſcribing God: By way of affirmation, affirming that of him in a way of eminency, which is excellent in the Creature; as when we ſay God is wiſe, good: The other, by way of negation, when we remove from God in our conceptions, what is tainted with imperfection in the Creature.**Gamacheus Tom. 1. q. 3. Cap. 1. P. 42. The firſt aſcribes to him whatſoever is excellent; the other ſeparates from him whatſoever is imperfect. The firſt is like a Limning, which adds one Colour to another to make a comely Picture; the other is like a Carving, which pares and cuts away whatſoever is ſuperfluous, to make a compleat Statue. This way of negation is more eaſie; we better underſtand what God is not, than what he is; and moſt of our knowledge of God, is by this way: As when we ſay God is infinite, immenſe, immutable, they are negatives: He hath no limits, is confined to no place, admits of no change.**Coccei. ſum. Theol. Cap. 8. When we remove from him what is inconſiſtent with his Being, we do more ſtrongly aſſert his Being, and know more of him when we elevate him above all, and above our own capacity. And when we ſay God is a Spirit, 'tis a negation; he is not a Body; he conſiſts not of various parts, extended one without and beyond another: He is not a Spirit ſo as our Souls are, to be the form of any Body: A Spirit, not as Angels and Souls are, but infinitely higher; we call him ſo, becauſe in regard of our weakneſs, we have not any other term of excellency to expreſs or conceive of him by: We transfer it to God in honour, becauſe Spirit is the higheſt excellency in our nature: Yet we muſt apprehend God above any Spirit, ſince his Nature is ſo great, that he p. 114cannot be declared by human ſpeech, perceived by human ſenſe, or conceived by human underſtanding.

The ſecond thing, That God is a Spirit.

**Theſ. Sedan. Part. 2. P. 1…Some among the Heathens imagined God to have a Body; ſome thought him to have a Body of Air, ſome a Heavenly Body, ſome a human Body:**Voſſius Idolol. lib. 2. cap. 1. Forbes Inſtrument l. 1. c. 36. And many of them aſcribed bodies to their Gods; but bodies without blood, without corruption; bodies made up of the fineſt and thinneſt Atomes; ſuch bodies, which if compared with ours, were as no bodies. The Saddures alſo, who denied all Spirits, and yet acknowledged a God, muſt conclude him to be a Body and no Spirit. Some among Chriſtians have been of that opinion. Tertullian is charged by ſome, and excuſed by others: And ſome Monks of Egypt were ſo fierce for this Error, that they attempted to kill one Theophilus a Biſhop, for not being of that Judgment.

**foreignBut the wiſer Heathens were of another mind, and eſteemed it an unholy thing to have ſuch imaginations of God.**Plutarch. incorporalis ratio divinus ſpiritus. Seneca. And ſome Chriſtians have thought God only to be free from any thing of body, becauſe he is omnipreſent, immutable, he is only incorporeal and ſpiritual; all things elſe, even the Angels are clothed with bodies, though of a neater matter and a more active frame than ours; a pure ſpiritual Nature they allowed to no Being but God. Scripture and Reaſon meet together to aſſert the ſpirituality of God. Had God had the Lineaments of a Body, the Gentiles had not fallen under that accuſation of changing his Glory into that of a Corruptible Man **Rom. 1.23.Rom 1:23.

This is ſignified by the name God gives himſelf, Exod. 3.14. I am that I am, a ſimple, pure, uncompounded Being, without any created mixture; as infinitely above the being of Creatures, as above the conceptions of Creatures, Job. 37.23. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. He is ſo much a Spirit, that he is the Father of Spirits, Heb. 12.9. The Almighty Father is not of a Nature inferior to his Children: The Soul is a Spirit, it could not elſe exert actions without the aſſiſtance of the body, as the act of Underſtanding it ſelf, and its own nature, the act of willing and willing things againſt the incitements and intereſt of the Body: It could not elſe conceive of God, Angels and immaterial ſubſtances: It could not elſe be ſo active, as with one glance to fetch a compaſs from Earth to Heaven, and by a ſudden motion, to elevate the underſtanding from an earthly thought, to the thinking of things as high as the higheſt Heavens. If we have this opinion of our Souls which in the nobleneſs of their acts ſurmount the Body, without which the Body is but a dull unactive piece of clay; we muſt needs have a higher conception of God, than to clogg him with any matter, though of a finer temper than ours: We muſt conceive of him by the perfections of our Souls, without the vileneſs of our Bodies. If God made Man according to his Image, we muſt raiſe our thoughts of God according to the nobleſt part of that Image, and imagine the Exemplar or Copy, not to come ſhort, but to exceed the thing copyed by it. God were not the moſt excellent ſubſtance, if he were not a Spirit: Spiritual ſubſtances are more excellent than bodily; the Soul of Man more excellent than other Animals; Angels more excellent than Men: They contain in their own nature, whatſoever dignity there is in the inferior Creatures. God muſt have therefore an excellency above all thoſe, and therefore is intirely remote from the conditions of a Body.

**Calov. Socin. Proflig. P. 129. 130.'Tis a groſs conceit therefore to think that God is ſuch a Spirit as the Air is; for that is to be a body as the Air is, though it be a thin one; and if God were no more a Spirit than that, or than Angels, he would not be the moſt ſimple Being:**Amirald Sup. Heb. 9. p. 146. &c.Heb 9 Yet ſome think that the ſpiritual Deity was repreſented by the Air in the Ark of the Teſtament. It was unlawful to repreſent him by any Image that God had prohibited: Every thing about the Ark had a particular ſignification: The Gold and other Ornaments about it ſignified ſomething of Chriſt, but were unfit to repreſent the Nature of God: A thing purely inviſible and falling under nothing of ſenſe, could not repreſent him to the mind of Man: The Air in the Ark was the fitteſt, it repreſented the inviſibility of God, Air being imperceptible to our eyes. Air diffuſeth it ſelf through all parts of the world, it glides through ſecret paſſages into all Creatures, it fills the ſpace between Heaven and Earth; there is no place wherein God is not preſent.

To evidence this,

p. 1151. If God were not a Spirit, he could not be Creator. All multitude begins in, and is reduced to unity. As above multitude there is an abſolute unity; So above mixt Creatures, there is an abſolute ſimplicity: You cannot conceive number without conceiving the beginning of it in that which was not number, viz. a unite: You cannot conceive any mixture, but you muſt conceive ſome ſimple thing to be the Original and Baſis of it. The works of Art done by rational Creatures, have their Foundation in ſomething Spiritual. Every Artificer, Watch-maker, Carpenter hath a model in his own mind of the work he deſigns to frame: The material and outward Fabrick is ſquared according to an inward and Spiritual Idea. A Spiritual Idea ſpeaks a Spiritual faculty as the ſubject of it. God could not have an Idea of that vaſt number of Creatures he brought into being; if he had not had a Spiritual Nature.**Amiral. moral Tom. 1. pa. 282. The wiſdom whereby the world was Created could never be the fruit of a Corporeal nature; ſuch natures are not capable of underſtanding and comprehending the things which are within the compaſs of their nature, much leſs of produ- them: And therefore beaſts which have only Corporeal faculties, move to objects by the force of their ſenſe, and have no knowledge of things as they are comprehended by the underſtanding of Man. All acts of wiſdom ſpeak an intelligent and Spiritual agent: The effects of wiſdom, goodneſs, power are ſo great and admirable, that they beſpeak him a more perfect and eminent being, than can poſſibly be beheld under a bodily ſhape. Can a Coporeal ſubſtance put Wiſdom in the inward parts, and give underſtanding to the heart?**Job. 38.16.Job 38:16

2. If God were not a pure Spirit, he could not be one. If God had a body, conſiſting of diſtinct members, as ours; or all of one nature, as the water and air are, yet he were then capable of diviſion, and therefore could not be entirely one. Either thoſe parts would be finite or infinite; if finite, they are not parts of God; for to be God and finite is a contradiction: If infinite, then there are as many infinites, as diſtinct members, and therefore as many Deities: Suppoſe this body had all parts of the ſame nature as air and water hath, every little part of air is as much air as the greateſt, and every little part of water is as much water as the Ocean; ſo every little part of God would be as much God as the whole; as many particular Deities to make up God, as little Atomes to compoſe a body: What can be more abſurd? If God had a body like a human body, and were compounded of body and Soul, of ſubſtance and quality, he could not be the moſt perfect unity; he would be made up of diſtinct parts, and thoſe of a diſtinct nature, as the members of a human body are: Where there is the greateſt unity, there muſt be the greateſt ſimplicity; but God is one: As he is free from any change, ſo he is void of any multitude, Deut. 6.4. The Lord our God is one Lord.

3. If God had a body as we have, he would not be inviſible. Every material thing is not viſible: The Air is a body yet inviſible, but it is ſenſible; the cooling quality of it is felt by us at every breath, and we know it by our touch, which is the moſt material ſenſe. Every body, that hath Members like to bodies, is viſible: But God is inviſible.**Daille. in Tim The Apoſtle reckons it amongſt his other perfections, 1 Tim. 1.17. Now unto the King, Eternal, Immortal, Inviſible: He is inviſible to our ſenſe, which beholds nothing but material and coloured things; and incomprehenſible to our underſtanding that conceives nothing but what is finite. God is therefore a Spirit uncapable of being ſeen, and infinitely uncapable of being underſtood. If he be inviſible, he is alſo Spiritual. If he had a body, and hid it from our eyes, he might be ſaid not to be ſeen, but could not be ſaid to be inviſible. When we ſay a thing is viſible, we underſtand that it hath ſuch qualities which are the objects of ſenſe, tho we may never ſee that, which is in its own nature is to be ſeen. God hath no ſuch qualities as fall under the perception of our ſenſe. His works are viſible to us, but not his God-head. **Rom. 1.20.Rom 1:20The nature of a human body is to be ſeen and handled, Chriſt gives us ſuch a deſcription of it, Luke 24.39. Handle me and ſee, for a Spirit hath not fleſh and bones as you ſee me have: But man hath been ſo far from ſeeing God, that it is impoſſible he can ſee him, 1 Tim. 6.16. There is ſuch a diſproportion between an infinite object and a finite ſenſe and underſtanding, that it is utterly impoſſible either to behold or comprehend him. But if God had a body more luminous and glorious than that of the Sun, he would be as well viſible to us as the Sun, tho the immenſity of that light would dazle our eyes, and forbid any cloſe inſpection into p. 116him by the vertue of our ſence: We have ſeen the ſhape and figure of the Sun, but no man hath ever ſeen the ſhape of God. **Joh. 5.37.John 5:37If God had a body he were viſible, tho he might not perfectly and fully be ſeen by us.**Goulart. de Dieu pa. 94. As we ſee the Heavens, tho we ſee not the extenſion, latitude and greatneſs of them. Tho God hath manifeſted himſelf in a bodily ſhape, Gen. 18.1. And elſewhere, Jehovah appeared to Abraham: Yet the ſubſtance of God was not ſeen, no more than the ſubſtance of Angels was ſeen in their Apparitions to men. A body was formed to be made viſible by them, and ſuch actions done in that body, that ſpake the perſon that did them, to be of a higher eminency than a bare Corporeal Creature: Sometimes a repreſentation is made to the inward ſenſe and imagination, as to Michaiah, **1 King. 22.19.1 Kgs 22:19and to Iſa. 6. chap. 1. But they ſaw not the eſſence of God, but ſome Images and figures of him proportioned to their ſenſe or imagination. The Eſſence of God no man ever ſaw, nor can ſee. Joh. 1.18.

**Goulart. de Dieu p. 95. 96.Nor doth it follow, that God hath a body, becauſe Jacob is ſaid to ſee God Face to Face, Gen. 32.30. And Moſes had the like priviledge, Deut. 34.10. This only ſignifies a fuller and clearer manifeſtation of God, by ſome repreſentations offered to the bodily ſenſe, or rather to the inward Spirit: For God tells Moſes he could not ſee his Face, Exod. 33.20. And that none ever ſaw the ſimilitude of God, Deut. 4.15. Were God a Corporeal ſubſtance he might in ſome meaſure be ſeen by Corporeal eies.

4. If God were not a Spirit, he could not be infinite. All bodies are of a finite nature: Every body is material, and every material thing is terminated. The Sun, a vaſt body, hath a bounded greatneſs: The Heavens of a mighty bulk, yet have their limits. If God had a body he muſt conſiſt of parts, thoſe parts would be bounded and limited, and whatſoever is limited is of a finite vertue, and therefore below an infinite nature. Reaſon therefore tells us, that the moſt excellent nature, as God is, cannot be of a Corporeal condition; becauſe of the limitation and other actions which belong to every body. God is infinite, for the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain him, 2 Chron. 2.6. The largeſt Heavens, and thoſe imaginary ſpaces beyond the world, are no bounds to him. He hath an eſſence beyond the bounds of the world, and cannot be included in the vaſtneſs of the Heavens. If God be infinite, then he can have no parts in him; if he had, they muſt be finite, or infinite: Finite parts can never make up an infinite being. A veſſel of Gold of a pound weight cannot be made of the quantity of an ounce. Infinite parts they cannot be, becauſe then every part would be equal to the whole, as infinite as the whole, which is contradictory. We ſee in all things every part is leſs than the whole bulk that is compoſed of it: As every Member of a Man is leſs than the whole body of Man: If all the parts were finite, then God in his Eſſence were finite; and a finite God is not more excellent than a Creature: So that if God were not a Spirit, he could not be infinite.

5. If God were not a Spirit, he could not be an independent being. Whatſoever is compounded of many parts, depends either eſſentially or integrally upon thoſe parts; as the eſſence of a man depends upon the conjunction and union of his two main parts, his Soul, and Body; when they are ſeparated the eſſence of a Man ceaſeth; and the perfection of a man depends upon every Member of the Body; So that if one be wanting the perfection of the whole is wanting: As if a man hath loſt a limb, you call him not a perfect man; becauſe that part is gone upon which his perfection as an intire man did depend: If God therefore had a body, the perfection of the Deity would depend upon every part of that body; and the more parts he were compounded of, the more his dependency would be multiplyed according to the number of thoſe parts of the body: For that which is compounded of many parts is more dependent than that which is compounded of fewer.

And becauſe God would be a dependent being if he had a body, he could not be the firſt being; for the compounding parts are in order of nature before that which is compounded by them; as the ſoul and body are before the man which reſults from the union of them. If God had parts and bodily Members as we have, or any compoſition, the Eſſence of God would reſult from thoſe parts, and thoſe parts be ſuppoſed to be before God. For that which is a part, is before that whoſe part it is. As in Artificial things you may conceive it: All the parts of a Watch or Clock, are in time before that Watch which is made by ſetting thoſe parts together. In natural p. 117things, you muſt ſuppoſe the Members of a Body framed, before you can call it a Man: So that the parts of this body are before that which is conſtituted by them. We can conceive no other of God, if he were not a pure, intire, unmixed Spirit: If he had diſtinct parts, he would depend upon them; thoſe parts would be before him; his Eſſence would be the effect of thoſe diſtinct parts, and ſo he would not be abſolutely and intirely the firſt Being: But he is ſo, Iſa. 44.6. I am the firſt, and I am the laſt. He is the firſt; nothing is before him: Whereas if he had bodily parts, and thoſe finite, it would follow, God is made up of thoſe parts which are not God; and that which is not God, is in order of Nature before that which is God. So that we ſee if God were not a Spirit, he could not be independent.

6. If God were not a Spirit, he were not immutable and unchangeable. His immutability depends upon his ſimplicity. He is unchangeable in his Eſſence, becauſe he is a pure and unmixed ſpiritual Being. Whatſoever is compounded of parts, may be divided into thoſe parts, and reſolved into thoſe diſtinct parts which make up and conſtitute the Nature. Whatſoever is compounded, is changeable in its own nature, though it ſhould never be changed. Adam who was conſtituted of Body and Soul, had he ſtood in Innocence, had not died; there had been no ſeparation made between his Soul and Body whereof he was conſtituted, and his Body had not reſolved into thoſe principles of Duſt from whence it was extracted. Yet in his own nature he was diſſoluble into thoſe diſtinct parts whereof he was compounded: And ſo the glorified Saints in Heaven, after the Reſurrection, and the happy meeting of their Souls and Bodies in a new Marriage knot, ſhall never be diſſolved: yet in their own nature they are mutable and diſſoluble, and cannot be otherwiſe, becauſe they are made up of ſuch diſtinct parts that may be ſeparated in their own nature, unleſs ſuſtained by the grace of God: They are immutable by Will, the Will of God, not by Nature. God is immutable by Nature as well as Will: As he hath a neceſſary Exiſtence, ſo he hath a neceſſary Unchangeableneſs, Mal. 3.6. I the Lord change not. He is as unchangeable in his Eſſence, as in his Veracity and Faithfulneſs: They are perfections belonging to his Nature. But if he were not a pure Spirit, he could not be immutable by Nature.

7. If God were not a pure Spirit, He could not be omnipreſent. He is in Heaven above, and the Earth below: **Deut. 4.39.Deut 4:39He fills Heaven and Earth. **Jer. 23.24.Jer 23:24The Divine Eſſence is at once in Heaven and Earth; but it is impoſſible a Body can be in two places at one and the ſame time. Since God is every where, he muſt be ſpiritual. Had he a Body, he could not penetrate all things; he would be circumſcribed in place. He could not be every where but in parts, not in the whole; one member in one place, and another in another; for to be confined to a particlar place, is the property of a Body: But ſince he is diffuſed through the whole World; higher than Heaven, deeper than Hell; longer than the Earth, broader than the Sea; **Job. 11.8.Job 11:8he hath not any corporeal matter. If he had a Body wherewith to fill Heaven and Earth, there could be no Body beſides his own: 'Tis the Nature of Bodies to bound one another, and hinder the extending of one another. Two Bodies cannot be in the ſame place in the ſame point of Earth, one excludes the other: And it will follow hence, that we are nothing, no ſubſtances, meer illuſions; there could be no place for any Body elſe.**Gamacheus Theol. Tom. 1. Quos. 3. C. 1. If his Body were as bigg as the World; as it muſt be, if with that he filled Heaven and Earth, there would not be room for him to move a hand or a foot, or extend a finger; for there would be no place remaining for the motion.

8. If God were not a Spirit, he could not be the moſt perfect Being. The more perfect any thing is in the rank of Creatures, the more ſpiritual and ſimple it is, as Gold is the more pure and perfect that hath leaſt mixture of other Metals. If God were not a Spirit, there would be Creatures of a more excellent Nature than God; as Angels and Souls, which the Scripture calls Spirits, in oppoſition to Bodies. There is more of perfection in the firſt notion of a Spirit, than in the notion of a Body. God cannot be leſs perfect than his Creatures, and contribute an excellency of being to them which he wants himſelf. If Angels and Souls poſſeſs ſuch an excellency, and God want that excellency; he would be leſs than his Creatures, and the excellency of the Effect, would exceed the excellency of the Cauſe. But every Creature, even the higheſt Creature, is infinitely ſhort of the perfection of God; for whatſoever excellency they have, is finite and limited; 'tis but a ſpark from the Sun, a p. 118drop from the Ocean; but God is unboundedly perfect in the higheſt manner, without any limitation; and therefore above Spirits, Angels, the higheſt Creatures that were made by him: An infinite ſublimity, a pure act, to which nothing can be added, from which nothing can be taken. In him there is light and no darkneſs, **1 John 1.5.1 John 1:5ſpirituality without any matter, perfection without any ſhadow or taint of imperfection: Light pierceth into all things, preſerves its own purity, and admits of no mixture of any thing elſe with it.

Queſtion. It may be ſaid, If God be a Spirit, and it is impoſſible he can be otherwiſe than a Spirit; how comes God ſo often to have ſuch Members as we have in our Bodies, aſcribed to him; not only a Soul, but particular bodily parts; as heart, arms, hands, eyes, ears, face and back-parts? And how is it that he is never called a Spirit in plain words, but in this Text by our Saviour?

Anſw. 'Tis true, many parts of the Body, and natural affections of the human nature, are reported of God in Scripture. Head, **Dan. 7.9.Dan 7:9Eyes and Eye-lids, **Pſal. 11.4.Ps 11:4Apple of the Eye, Mouth, &c. our Affections alſo, Grief, Joy, Anger, &c. But it is to be conſidered,

1. That this is in condeſcenſion to our weakneſs. God being deſirous to make himſelf known to Man,**Loquitur lex ſecund. ling. filiorum. hominum, was the H. ſaying. whom he created for his Glory, humbles as it were his own Nature to ſuch repreſentations, as may ſute and aſſiſts the capacity of the Creature: Since by the condition of our nature nothing erects a notion of it ſelf in our underſtanding, but as it is conducted in by our ſence. God hath ſerved himſelf of thoſe things which are moſt expoſed to our ſence, moſt obvious to our underſtandings, to give us ſome acquaintance with his own Nature, and thoſe things which otherwiſe we were not capable of having any notion of. As our Souls are linkt with our Bodies, ſo our knowledge is linkt with our ſence; that we can ſcarce imagin any thing at firſt but under a corporeal form and figure, till we come by great attention to the Object, to make by the help of reaſon, a ſeparation of the ſpiritual ſubſtance from the corporeal fancy, and conſider it in its own nature. We are not able to conceive a Spirit, without ſome kind of reſemblance to ſomething below it; nor underſtand the actions of a Spirit, without conſidering the operations of a human Body in its ſeveral Members. As the Glories of another Life are ſignified to us by the pleaſures of this; ſo the Nature of God, by a gracious condeſcenſion to our capacities, is ſignified to us by a likeneſs to our own. The more familiar the things are to us which God uſes to this purpoſe, the more proper they are to teach us what he intends by them.

Anſw. 2. All ſuch repreſentations are to ſignifie the acts of God, as they hear ſome likeneſs to thoſe, which we perform by thoſe members he aſcribes to himſelf. So that thoſe members aſcribed to him, rather note his viſible operations to us, than his inviſible Nature; and ſignifie that God doth ſome works like to thoſe which men do, by the aſſiſtance of thoſe Organs of their Bodies.**Amyral. de Trin. p. 218. 219. So the wiſdom of God is called his Eye, becauſe he knows that with his mind, which we ſee with our eyes. The efficiency of God is called his Hand and Arm; becauſe as we act with our hands, ſo doth God with his Power. The divine Efficacies are ſignified: By his eyes and ears, we underſtand his Omniſcience; by his face, the manifeſtation of his Favour; by his mouth the revelation of his Will; by his noſtrils, the acceptation of our Prayers; by his bowels, the tenderneſs of his Compaſſion; by his heart, the ſincerity of his Affections: by his hand, the ſtrength of his Power; by his feet, the ubiquity of his Preſence. And in this, he intends inſtruction and comfort: By his eyes he ſignifies his watchfulneſs over us: By his ears, his readineſs to hear the crys of the oppreſſed: **Pſal. 34.15.Ps 34:15By his Arm, his Power; an Arm to deſtroy his Enemies, and an Arm to relieve his People.**Iſa. 51.9.Isa 51:9 All thoſe are attributed to God to ſignifie divine actions, which he doth without bodily organs, as we do with them.

3. Conſider alſo, that only thoſe members which are the inſtruments of the nobleſt actions, and under that conſideration, are uſed by him to repreſent a notion of him to our minds. Whatſoever is perfect and excellent, is aſcribed to him, but nothing that ſavours of imperfection.**Epiſcop. inſtitu. l. 4. § 3. c. 3 The heart is aſcribed to him, it being the principle of vital actions, to ſignifie the Life that he hath in himſelf: Watchful and diſcerning eys, not ſleepy and lazy ones: A mouth to reveal his Will, not to take in food. To eat and ſleep p. 119are never aſcribed to him, nor thoſe parts that belong to the preparing or tranſmitting nouriſhment to the ſeveral parts of the body, as ſtomach, liver, reins, nor bowels under that conſideration, but as they are ſignificant of compaſſion; but only thoſe parts are aſcribed to him whereby we acquire knowledge, as eyes and ears, the Organs of learning and wiſdom: Or to Communicate it to others, as the mouth, lips, tongue, as they are the Inſtrmments of ſpeaking, not of taſting: Or thoſe parts which ſignifie ſtrength and power, or whereby we perform the actions of Charity for the relief of others: Taſt, and touch, ſenſes that extend no further than to Corporeal things, and are the groſſeſt of all the ſenſes, are never aſcribed to him.

**Tis Zanchie… obſervation Tom. 2. de natura Dei lib. 1. cap. 4. Theſ. 9.It were worth conſideration, whither this deſcribing God by the Members of an human body were ſo much figuratively to be underſtood, as with reſpect to the incarnation of our Saviour, who was to aſſume the human nature and all the Members of a human body.

Aſaph ſpeaking in the perſon of God, Pſal. 78.1. I will open my mouth in Parables: In regard of God it is to be underſtood figuratively, but in regard of Chriſt literally, to whom it is applied, Matt. 13.34.35. And that Apparition, Iſa. 6. which was the appearance of Jehovah, is applied to Chriſt, John 12.40.41.

**Amiraut. Meral. T…m. 1. pa. 293. 294.After the report of the Creation, and the forming of man, we read of Gods ſpeaking to him, but not of Gods appearing to him in any viſible ſhape: A voice might be formed in the air to give man notice of his duty; ſome way of info…a…i…n he muſt have what poſitive Laws he was to obſerve, beſides that Law w…ch w… …graven in his nature, which we call the Law of nature: And without a voice the knowledge of the Divine Will could not be ſo conveniently communicated to man: Tho God was heard in a voice, he was not ſeen in a ſhape: But after the fall we ſeveral times read of his appearing in ſuch a form. Tho we read of his ſpeaking before mans committing of ſin, yet not of his walking, which is more Corporeal, till afterwards:**Gen. 3.8.Gen 3:8 [Tho God would not have man believe him to be Corporeal, yet he judged it expedient to give ſome prenotices of that Divine incarnation which he had promiſed.**Amirald.]

5. Therefore we muſt not conceive of the viſible Deity according to the letter of ſuch expreſſions, but the true intent of them. Tho the Scripture ſpeaks of his eyes and arm, yet it denies them to be arms of fleſh. **Job. 10.4. 2 Chron. 32.8.Job 10:42 Chr 32:8We muſt not conceive of God according to the Letter, but the deſign of the Metaphor. When we hear things deſcribed by Metaphorical expreſſions for the clearing them up to our fancy, we conceive not of them under that garb, but remove the vail by an act of our reaſon: When Chriſt is called a Sun, a Vine, Bread, is any ſo ſtupid as as to conceive him to be a Vine with material branches and Cluſters; or be of the ſame nature with a Loaf? But the things deſigned by ſuch Metaphors are obvious to the conception of a mean underſtanding. If we would conceive God to have a body like a man, becauſe he deſcribes himſelf ſo, we may conceit him to be like a Bird, becauſe he is mentioned with wings; **Pſal. 36.7.Ps 36:7or like a Lyon or Leopard, becauſe he likens himſelf to them in the Acts of his ſtrength and fury. **Hoſ. 13.7.8.Hos 13:7Hos 13:8He is called a rock, a horn, fire, to note his ſtrength and wrath: If any be ſo ſtupid as to think God to be really ſuch, they would make him not only a man, but worſe than a Monſter.

**Maimon. More Nevoc. par. 1. cap. 27.Onkelos, the Chalde Paraphraſt upon parts of the Scripture, was ſo tender of expreſſing the Notion of any Corporeity in God, that when he meets with any expreſſions of that nature, he tranſlates them according to the true intent of them; as when God is ſaid to deſcend, Gen. 11.5. which implies a local motion, a motion from one place to another, he tranſlates it, and God revealed himſelf. We ſhould conceive of God according to the deſign of the expreſſions: When we read of his eyes, we ſhould conceive his Omniſcience; of his hand his power; of his ſitting, his immutability; of his Throne, his Majeſty; and conceive of him as ſurmounting, not only the groſſneſs of bodies, but the Spiritual excellency of the moſt dignified Creatures; ſomething ſo perfect, great, ſpiritual, as nothing can be conceived higher and purer.

**Mores conjectura cabaliſtica pa. 122.Chriſt, ſaith one, is truly Deus figuratus; and for his ſake, was it more eaſily permitted to the Jews to think of God in the ſhape of a man.

Uſe. If God be a pure Spiritual being, then

1. Man is not the image of God, according to his external bodily form and figure. p. 120The image of God in man conſiſted not in what is ſeen, but in what is not ſeen; not in the conformation of the members, but rather in the Spiritual faculties of the Soul; or moſt of all in the holy endowments of thoſe faculties, Eph. 4.24. That ye put on the new man which after God is Created in righteouſneſs and true holineſs. **Col. 3.1….Col 3:1The image which is reſtored by redeeming grace, was the image of God by Original nature. The image of God cannot be in that part which is common to us with beaſts, but rather in that wherein we excell all living Creatures, in reaſon, underſtanding, and an immortal Spirit. God expreſly ſaith, that none ſaw a ſimilitude of him Deut. 4.15, 16. which had not been true, if man in regard of his body had been the image and ſimilitude of God; for then a figure of God had been ſeen every day, as often as we ſaw a man or beheld our ſelves. Nor would the Apoſtles argument ſtand good, Acts 17.29. That the Godhead is not like to ſtone graven by art, if we were not the off-ſpring of God and bore the ſtamp of his nature in our Spirits rather than our bodies.**Petav. Theol. Dog. Tom. 1. lib. 2. cap. 1. pa. 104. It was a fancy of Eugubinus, that when God ſet upon the actual Creation of man, he took a bodily form for an Exemplar of that which he would expreſs in his work, and therefore that the words of Moſes**Gen. 1.26.Gen 1:26 are to be underſtood of the body of man; becauſe there was in Man ſuch a ſhape which God had then aſſumed. To let alone Gods forming himſelf a body for that work as a groundleſs fancy; Man can in no wiſe be ſaid to be the image of God, in regard of the ſubſtance of his body; but beaſts may as well be ſaid to be made in the Image of God, whoſe bodies have the ſame Members as the body of Man for the moſt part, and excell Men in the acuteneſs of the ſenſes and ſwiftneſs of their motion, agility of body, greatneſs of ſtrength, and in ſome kind of ingenuities alſo, wherein Man hath been a Scholar to the brutes, and beholden to their skill. The Soul comes neareſt the nature of God, as being a Spiritual ſubſtance; yet conſidered ſingly in regard of its Spiritual ſubſtance, cannot well be ſaid to be the image of God: A beaſt, becauſe of its Corporeity, may as well be called the image of a Man; for there is a greater ſimilitude between man and a brute in the rank of bodies, than there can be between God and the higheſt Angels, in the rank of Spirits. If it doth not conſiſt in the ſubſtance of the Soul, much leſs can it in any ſimilitude of the body. This Image conſiſted partly in the ſtate of man, as he had dominion over the Creatures; partly in the nature of man as he was an intelligent being, and thereby was capable of having a grant of that Dominion; but principally in the conformity of the Soul with God in the frame of his Spirit and the holineſs of his actions. Not at all in the figure and form of his body Phyſically, tho morally there might be, as there was a rectitude in the body as an inſtrument to conform to the holy motions of the ſoul, as the holineſs of the ſoul ſparkled in the actions and members of the body. If man were like God becauſe he hath a body, whatſoever hath a body, hath ſome reſemblance to God, and may be ſaid to be in part his image: But the truth is, the eſſence of all Creatures cannot be an image of the immenſe eſſence of God.

2. If God be a pure Spirit; Tis unreaſonable to frame any Image or picture of God. **Jamblyc. protrept. cap. 21. Symb. 24.Some Heathens have been wiſer in this than ſome Chriſtians: Pythagoras forbad his Scholars to engrave any ſhape of him upon a Ring, becauſe he was not to be comprehended by ſenſe, but conceived only in our minds; our hands are as unable to faſhion him as our eyes to ſee him.**Auſtin de Civitat. Dei lib. 4. cap. 31. out of Varro. The ancient Romans worſhipped their Gods 170. years before any material repreſentations of them;**Tacitus. and the Ancient Idolatrous Germans thought it a wicked thing to repreſent God in a human ſhape. Yet ſome, and thoſe no Romaniſts, labour to defend the making Images of God in the reſemblance of man; becauſe he is ſo repreſented in Scripture, he may be,**Gerhard loc. Comun. vol. 4. Exegeſis de naturâ Dei cap. 8. § 1. ſaith one conceived ſo in our minds and figured ſo to our ſenſe. If this were a good reaſon, why may he not be pictured as a Lyon, Horn, Eagle, Rock, ſince he is under ſuch Metaphors ſhadowed to us? The ſame ground there is for the one as for the other: What tho man be a nobler Creature, God hath no more the body of a man, than that of an Eagle; and ſome perfections in other Creatures repreſent ſome excellencies in his nature and actions, which cannot be figur'd by a human ſhape, as ſtrength by the Lyon, ſwiftneſs and readineſs by the wings of the Bird. But God hath abſolutely prohibited the making any Image whatſoever of him, and that with terrible threatnings, Exod. 20.5. I the Lord am a jealous God viſiting the iniquities of the Fathers upon their Children, and Deut. 5.8, 9. After God had given the Iſraelites p. 121the Commandment wherein he forbad them to have any other Gods before him, he forbids all figuring of him by the hand of man;**Amiraut. Morale Chriſtiene Tom. 1. p. 294. not only Images, but any likneſs of him either by things in Heaven, in the earth or in the water. How often doth he diſcover his indignation by the Prophets againſt them that offer to mould him in a Creature form? This law was not to ſerve a particular diſpenſation or to endure a particular time, but it was a declaration of his Will, invariable in all places and all times; being founded upon the immutable nature of his being, and therefore agreeable to the Law of nature; otherwiſe not chargeable upon the Heathens. And therefore when God had declared his nature and his works in a ſtately and Majeſtick eloquence, he demands of them, To whom they would liken him, or what likeneſs they would compare unto him? Iſa. 40.18. Where they could find any thing that would be a lively image and reſemblance of his infinite excellency? Founding it upon the infiniteneſs of his nature, which neceſſarily implies the Spirituality of it. God is infinitely above any Statue; and thoſe that think to draw God by a ſtroak of a penſil, or form him by the engravings of Art, are more ſtupid than the Statues themſelves.

To ſhew the unreaſonableneſs of it; Conſider,

1. Tis impoſſible to faſhion any image of God. If our more capacious Souls cannot graſp his nature, our weaker ſenſe cannot frame his image: Tis more poſſible of the two, to comprehend him in our minds, than to frame him in an image to our ſenſe. He inhabits inacceſſible light: As it is impoſſible for the eye of man to ſee him, tis impoſſible for the art of man to paint him upon walls, and carve him out of wood. None knows him but himſelf, none can deſcribe him but himſelf.**Cocceius ſum. Theol. cap. 9. pa. 47. § 35. Can we draw a figure of our own Souls, and expreſs that part of our ſelves, wherein we are moſt like to God? Can we extend this to any bodily figure and divide it into parts? How can we deal ſo with the Original Copy, whence the firſt draught of our Souls was taken, and which is infinitely more Spiritual than Men or Angels? No Corporeal thing can repreſent a Spiritual ſubſtance; there is no proportion in nature between them. God is a ſimple, infinite, immenſe, eternal, inviſible, incorruptible being: A Statue is a compounded, finite, limited, temporal, viſible and corruptible body. God is a living Spirit; but a Statue, nor ſees, nor hears, nor perceives any thing. But ſuppoſe God had a body, tis impoſſible to mould an Image of it in the true glory of that body: Can the Statue of an excellent Monarch repreſent the Majeſty and air of his Countenance, tho made by the skilfulleſt workman in the world? If God had a body in ſome meaſure ſuted to his excellency, were it poſſible for Man to make an exact Image of him, who cannot picture the light, heat, motion, magnitude and dazling property of the Sun? The excellency of any Corporeal nature of the leaſt Creature, the temper, inſtinct, artifice, are beyond the power of a Carving tool; much more is God.

2. To make any Corporeal repreſentations of God is unworthy of God. 'Tis a diſgrace to his nature. Whoſoever thinks a Carnal corruptible Image to be fit for a repreſentation of God, renders God no better than a Carnal and Corporeal being. 'Tis a kind of debaſing an Angel, who is a Spiritual nature, to repreſent him in a bodily ſhape, who is as far removed from any fleſhlineſs as Heaven from Earth; much more to degrade the glory of the Divine nature to the lineaments of a man. The whole ſtock of Images is but a lie of God, Jer. 10, 8, 14. A Doctrin of vanities and falſehood: It repreſents him in a falſe garb to the world, and ſinks his glory into that of a corruptible Creature. **Rom. 1.25.Rom 1:25It impairs the reverence of God in the minds of men, and by degrees may debaſe mens apprehenſions of God,**Rom. 1.22.Rom 1:22 and be a means to make them believe he is ſuch a one as themſelves; and that not being free from the figure, he is not alſo free from the imperfections of their bodies. Corporeal Images of God were the fruits of baſe imaginations of him; and as they ſprung from them, ſo they contribute to a greater corruption of the notions of the Divine nature: The Heathens begun their firſt repreſentations of him by the Image of a corruptible Man, then of birds, till they deſcended, not only to four footed beaſts, but creeping things, even Serpents, as the Apoſtle ſeems to intimate in his enumeration, Rom. 1.23. It had been more honourable to have continued in human repreſentations of him, than have ſunk ſo low as beaſts and Serpents, the baſer Images; tho the firſt had been infinitely p. 122unworthy of him, he being more above a man, though the nobleſt Creature, than Man is above a Worm, a Toad, or the moſt deſpicable creeping thing upon the Earth. To think we can make an Image of God of a piece of Marble, or an Ingot of Gold, is a greater debaſing of him, than it would be of a great Prince, if you ſhould repreſent him in the ſtatue of a Frog. When the Iſraelites repreſented God by a Calf, 'tis ſaid, they ſinned a great ſin, Exod. 32.31. And the ſin of Jeroboam, who intended only a repreſentation of God by the Calves at Dan and Bethel, is called more emphatically,**Hoſea 10.15. foreignHos 10:15 the wickedneſs of your wickedneſs, the very skum and dreggs of wickedneſs. As men debaſed God by this, ſo God debaſed men for this; he degraded the Iſraelites into Captivity under the worſt of their Enemies, and puniſhed the Heathens with ſpiritual Judgments, as uncleaneſs through the luſts of their own hearts, Rom. 1.24. which is repeated again in other expreſſions, v. 26, 27. as a meet recompence for their diſgracing the ſpiritual nature of God. Had God been like to Man, they had not offended in it: But I mention this, to ſhew a probable reaſon of thoſe baſe luſts which are in the midſt of us, that have ſcarce been exceeded by any Nation, viz. the unworthy and unſpiritual conceits of God, which are as much a debaſing of him as material Images were when they were more rife in the world; and may be as well the cauſe of thoſe ſpiritual Judgments upon men, as the worſhipping molten and carved Images were the cauſe of the ſame upon the Heathen.

3. Yet this is natural to Man. Wherein we may ſee the contrariety of Man to God. Though God be a Spirit, yet there is nothing Man is more prone to, than to repreſent him under a corporeal form. The moſt famous Guides of the Heathen world have faſhioned him, not only according to the more honourable Images of men, but beaſtialized him in the form of a Brute. The Egyptians, whoſe Country was the School of Learning to Greece, were notoriouſly guilty of this brutiſhneſs in worſhiping an Ox for an Image of their God; and the Philiſtines their Dagon in a figure compoſed of the Image of a Woman and a Fiſh:**Daille ſuper Cor. 1.10. Ser. 3. Such repreſentations were ancient in the Oriental parts. The Gods of Laban that he accuſeth Jacob of ſtealing from him, are ſuppoſed to be little figures of men.**Gen. 31.30.34.Gen 31:30Gen 31:34 Such was the Iſraelites Golden-Calf; their worſhip was not terminated on the Image, but they worſhipped the true God under that repreſentation: They could not be ſo brutiſh as to call a Calf their Deliverer, and give ſo him great a Title, (theſe be thy Gods oh Iſrael, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, Exod. 32.4.) or that which they knew belonged to the true God, the God of Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob. **Gen. 3.16, 17.Gen 3:16Gen 3:17They knew the Calf to be formed of their Ear-rings; but they had conſecrated it to God as a repreſentation of him: Though they choſe the form of the Egyptian Idol; yet they knew that Apis, Oſiris and Iſis the Gods the Egyptians adored in that figure, had not wrought their Redemption from Bondage, but would have uſed their force, had they been poſſeſſed of any, to have kept them under the Yoke, rather than have freed them from it: The Feaſt alſo which they celebrated before that Image, is called by Aaron the Feaſt of the Lord, Exod. 32.5. a Feaſt to Jehovah, the incommunicable name of the Creator of the world: 'Tis therefore evident, that both the Prieſt and the People pretended to ſerve the true God, not any falſe Divinity of Egypt: That God who had reſcued them from Egypt with a mighty hand, divided the Red-Sea before them, deſtroyed their Enemies, conducted them, fed them by miracle, ſpoken to them from Mount Sinai, and amazed them by his Thundrings and Lightnings when he inſtructed them by his Law; a God they could not ſo ſoon forget. And with this repreſenting God by that Image, they are charged by the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 106.19, 20. they made a Calf in Horeb, and changed their glory into the ſimilitude of an Ox that eateth Graſs: They changed their glory, that is, God the glory of Iſrael; ſo that they took this figure for the Image of the true God of Iſrael, their own God; not the God of any other Nation in the world. Jeroboam intended no other by his Calves, but Symbols of the preſence of the true God, inſtead of the Ark and the Propitiatory which remained among the Jews. We ſee the inclination of our Natures in the practice of the Iſraelites; a People choſen out of the whole world to bear up Gods name, and preſerve his glory: And in that the Images of God were ſo ſoon ſet up in the Chriſtian Church; and to this day, the picture of God in the ſhape of an old man, is viſible in the Temples of the Romaniſts.

'Tis prone to the Nature of Man.

p. 1234. To repreſent God by a corporeal Image, and to worſhip him in and by that Image, is Idolatry. Though the Iſraelites did not acknowledge the Calf to be God, nor intended a worſhip to any of the Egyptian Deities by it; but worſhipped that God in it, who had ſo lately and miraculouſly delivered them from a cruel Servitude; and could not in natural reaſon judge him to be clothed with a bodily ſhape, much leſs to be like an Ox that eateth graſs; yet the Apoſtle brings no leſs a charge againſt them, than that of Idolatry, 1 Cor. 10.7. he calls them Idolaters, who before that Calf kept a Feaſt to Jehovah, citing Exod. 32.5. Suppoſe we could make ſuch an Image of God as might perfectly repreſent him; yet ſince God hath prohibited it, ſhall we be wiſer than God? He hath ſufficiently manifeſted himſelf in his Works without Images: He is ſeen in the Creatures; more particularly in the Heavens, which declare his Glory. His Works are more excellent repreſentations of him, as being the works of his own hands, than any thing that is the Product of the Art of Man. His Glory ſparkles in the Heavens, Sun, Moon and Stars, as being magnificent pieces of his Wiſdom and Power; yet the kiſſing the hand to the Sun or the Heavens, as repreſentatives of the Excellency and Majeſty of God, is Idolatry in Scripture account, and a denial of God; **Job. 31.26 27, 28. Chin. Predict. Part. 2. P. 252.Job 31:26a proſtituting the glory of God to a Creature:**Lawſon. Body Divin. P. 161 Either the worſhip is terminated on the Image it ſelf, and then it is confeſſed by all to be Idolatry, becauſe it is a giving that worſhip to a Creature which is the ſole right of God; or not terminated in the Image, but in the Object repreſented by it; 'tis then a fooliſh thing; we may as well terminate our worſhip on the true Object without, as with an Image. An erected Statue is no ſign or ſymbol of Gods ſpecial preſence, as the Ark, Tabernacle, Temple were. It is no part of divine inſtitution; has no Authority of a Command to ſupport it; no Cordial of a promiſe to encourage it; and the Image being infinitely diſtant from, and below the Majeſty and Spirituality of God, cannot conſtitute one object of worſhip with him. To put a Religious Character upon any Image formed by the corrupt imagination of Man, as a repreſentation of the inviſible and ſpiritual Deity; is to think the Godhead to be like ſilver and gold, or ſtone graven by art and mans device.**Acts 17.29.Acts 17:29

3. This Doctrine will direct us in our conceptions of God, as a pure perfect Spirit, than which nothing can be imagined more perfect, more pure, more ſpiritual.

1. We cannot have an adequate or ſutable conception of God: He dwells in inacceſſible light; inacceſſible to the acuteneſs of our fancy, as well as the weakneſs of our ſenſe. If we could have thoughts of him, as high and excellent as his Nature; our conceptions muſt be as infinite as his Nature. All our imaginations of him cannot repreſent him, becauſe every created ſpecies is finite; it cannot therefore repreſent to us a full and ſubſtantial notion of an infinite Being. We cannot ſpeak or think worthily enough of him, who is greater than our words, vaſter than our underſtandings. Whatſoever we ſpeak or think of God, is handed firſt to us by the notice we have of ſome perfection in the Creature, and explains to us ſome particular excellency of God, rather than the fulneſs of his Eſſence. No Creature, nor all Creatures together, can furniſh us with ſuch a magnificent notion of God, as can give us a clear view of him. Yet God in his word is pleaſed to ſtep below his own excellency, and point us to thoſe excellencies in his works, whereby we may aſcend to the knowledge of thoſe excellencies which are in his Nature. But the Creatures, whence we draw our leſſons being finite, and our underſtandings being finite, 'tis utterly impoſſile to have a notion of God commenſurate to the immenſity and ſpirituality of his Being. [**Amyraut Moral. Tom. 1. P. 289.God is not like to viſible Creatures, nor is there any proportion between him and the moſt ſpiritual]. We cannot have a full notion of a ſpiritual Nature; much leſs can we have of God, who is a Spirit above Spirits. No Spirit can clearly repreſent him: The Angels that are great Spirits, are bounded in their extent, finite in their being, and of a mutable Nature.

Yet though we cannot have a ſutable conception of God, we muſt not content our ſelves without any conception of him. 'Tis our ſin not to endeavour after a true notion of him: 'Tis our ſin to reſt in a mean and low notion of him, when our reaſon tells us we are capable of having higher: But if we aſcend as high as we can, though we ſhall then come ſhort of a ſutable notion of him; this is not our ſin, but our weakneſs. God is infinitely ſuperior to the choiceſt conceptions; not only of p. 124a ſinner, but of a Creature. If all conceptions of God below the true nature of God were ſin, there is not a holy Angel in Heaven free from ſin; becauſe tho they are the moſt capacious Creatures, yet they cannot have ſuch a Notion of an infinite being as is fully ſutable to his nature, unleſs they were infinite as he himſelf is.

2. But however, we muſt by no means conceive of God, under a human or Corporeal ſhape. Since we cannot have conceptions honourable enough for his nature, we muſt take heed we entertain not any which may debaſe his nature: Tho we cannot comprehend him as he is, we muſt be careful not to fancy him to be what he is not. 'Tis a vain thing to conceive him with human lineaments: We muſt think higher of him, than to aſcribe to him ſo mean a ſhape: We deny his Spirituality when we fancy him under ſuch a form: He is Spiritual, and between that which is Spiritual and that which is Corporeal, there is no reſemblance.**Epiſco. inſtitu. li. 4. § 2. c. 10. Indeed Daniel ſaw God in a human form, Daniel. 7.9. The Ancient of days did ſit, whoſe garment was white as ſnow, and the hairs of his head like pure Wool; he is deſcribed as coming to Judgment; tis not meant of Chriſt probably, becauſe Chriſt ver. 13. is called the Son of Man coming near to the Ancient of days. This is not the proper ſhape of God, for no man hath ſeen his ſhape. It was a viſion wherein ſuch repreſentations were made, as were accomodated to the inward ſenſe of Daniel; Daniel ſaw him in a rapture or extaſy, wherein outward ſenſes are of no uſe: God is deſcribed, not as he is in himſelf, of a human form, but in regard of his fitneſs to Judge: White notes the purity and ſimplicity of the Divine nature: Ancient of days in regard of his eternity; white hair in regard of his prudence and wiſdom, which is more eminent in age than youth, and more fit to diſcern cauſes and to diſtinguiſh between right and wrong. Viſions are riddles and muſt not be underſtood in a litteral ſenſe. We are to watch againſt ſuch determinate conceptions of God. Vain imaginations do eaſily infeſt us; Tinder will not ſooner take fire than our natures kindle into wrong Notions of the Divine Majeſty. We are very apt to faſhion a God like our ſelves: We muſt therefore look upon ſuch repreſentations of God, as accommodated to our weakneſs: And no more think them to be literal deſcriptions of God, as he is in himſelf, than we will think the image of the Sun in the water to be the true Sun in the Heavens. We may indeed conceive of Chriſt as man, who hath in Heaven the veſtment of our nature, and is Deus figuratus, tho we cannot conceive the God-head under a human ſhape.

1. To have ſuch a fancy is to diſparage and wrong God. A Corporeal fancy of God is as ridiculous in it ſelf and as injurious to God, as a wooden Statue. The capricios of our imagination are often more monſtrous than the images which are the works of art: Tis as irreligious to meaſure Gods eſſence by our line, his perfections by our imperfections, as to meaſure his thoughts and actings by the weakneſs and unworthineſs of our own. This is to limit an infinite eſſence, and pull him down to our ſcanty meaſures, and render that which is unconceivably above us, equal with us. Tis impoſſible we can conceive God after the manner of, we a body but muſt bring him down to the proportion of a body, which is to diminiſh his glory, and ſtoop him below the dignity of his nature. God is a pure Spirit, he hath nothing of the nature and tincture of a body; whoſoever therefore conceives of him as having a bodily form, tho he fancy the moſt beautiful and comely body, inſtead of owning his dignity, detracts from the ſupereminent excellency of his nature and bleſſedneſs. When men fancy God like themſelves in their Corporeal nature, they will ſoon make a progreſs, and aſcribe to him their corrupt nature; and while they clothe him with their bodies, inveſt him alſo in the infirmities of them. God is a jealous God, very ſenſible of any diſgrace, and will be as much incenſed againſt an inward Idolatry as an outward: That**Exod. 20.4.Exod 20:4 Command which forbad Corporeal images, would not indulge carnal imaginations, ſince the nature of God is as much wronged by unworthy images erected in the fancy as by ſtatues carved out of ſtone or metals: One as well as the other is a deſerting of our true ſpouſe and committing Adultery, one with a material image, and the other with a carnal Notion of God. Since God humbles himſelf to our apprehenſions, we ſhould not debaſe him in thinking him to be that in his nature, which he makes only a reſemblance of himſelf to us.

2. To have ſuch fancies of God, will obſtruct and pollute our worſhip of him. How is it poſſible to give him a right worſhip, of whom we have ſo debaſing a Notion? We p. 125ſhall never think a corporeal Deity, worthy of a dedication of our Spirits. The hating Inſtruction, and caſting Gods word behind the back, is charged upon the imagination they had, that God was ſuch a one as themſelves, Pſal. 50.17.21. Many of the wiſer Heathens did not judge their Statues to be their Gods, or their Gods to be like their Statues; but ſuted them to their politick deſigns; and judged them a good invention to keep people within the bounds of Obedience and Devotion, by ſuch viſible figures of them, which might imprint a reverence and fear of thoſe Gods upon them: But theſe were falſe meaſures: A deſpiſed and undervalued God, is not an Object of Petition or Affection: Who would addreſs ſeriouſly to a God he has low apprehenſions of? The more raiſed thoughts we have of him, the viler ſenſe we ſhall have of our ſelves: They would make us humble and ſelf abhorrent in our ſupplications to him, Job. 42.6. wherefore I abhorr my ſelf, &c.

3. Though we muſt not conceive of God, as of a human or Corporeal ſhape; yet we cannot think of God, without ſome reflection upon our own being. We cannot conceive him to be an intelligent being, but we muſt make ſome compariſon between him and our own underſtanding nature, to come to a knowledge of him. Since we are incloſed in bodies, we apprehend nothing but what comes in by ſenſe, and what we in ſome ſort meaſure by ſenſible Objects. And in the conſideration of thoſe things, which we deſire to abſtract from ſenſe, we are fain to make uſe of the aſſiſtances of ſenſe and viſible things: And therefore when we frame the higheſt notion, there will be ſome ſimilitude of ſome corporeal thing in our fancy; and though we would ſpiritualize our thoughts, and aim at a more abſtracted and raiſed underſtanding, yet there will be ſome dreggs of matter ſticking to our conceptions; yet we ſtill judge by argument and reaſoning, what the thing is we think of under thoſe material Images.**Nazianzen. A corporeal Image will follow us, as the ſhadow doth the body: While we are in the body, and ſurrounded with fleſhly matter, we cannot think of things without ſome help from corporeal repreſentations: Something of ſenſe will interpoſe it ſelf in our pureſt conceptions of ſpiritual things;**Amiraut Morale Tom. 1. P. 180, &c. for the faculties which ſerve for contemplation, are either corporeal, as the ſenſe and fancy, or ſo allyed to them, that nothing paſſes into them but by the Organs of the body; ſo that there is a natural inclination to figure nothing but under a corporeal notion, till by an attentive application of the mind and reaſon to the object thought upon, we ſeparate that which is bodily from that which is ſpiritual, and by degrees aſcend to that true notion of that we think upon, and would have a due conception of in our mind. Therefore God tempers the declaration of himſelf to our weakneſs, and the condition of our Natures: He condeſcends to our littleneſs and narrowneſs, when he declares himſelf by the ſimilitude of bodily members. As the light of the Sun is tempered, and diffuſeth it ſelf to our ſenſe through the air and vapours, that our weak eyes may not be too much dazled with it: Without it we could not know or judge of the Sun, becauſe we could have no uſe of our ſenſe, which we muſt have before we can judge of it in our underſtanding: So we are not able to conceive of ſpiritual Beings in the purity of their own nature, without ſuch a temperament, and ſuch ſhadows to uſher them into our minds. And therefore we find the Spirit of God accommodates himſelf to our contracted and teddered capacities, and uſes ſuch expreſſions of God, as are ſuted to us in this ſtate of fleſh wherein we are: And therefore becauſe we cannot apprehend God in the ſimplicity of his own Being, and his undivided Eſſence, he draws the repreſentations of himſelf from ſeveral Creatures and ſeveral actions of thoſe Creatures: As ſometimes he is ſaid to be angry, to walk, to ſit, to fly; not that we ſhould reſt in ſuch conceptions of him, but take our riſe from this foundation, and ſuch perfections in the Creatures, to mount up to a knowledge of Gods nature by thoſe ſeveral ſteps, and conceive of him by thoſe divided Excellencies, becauſe we cannot conceive of him in the purity of his own Eſſence.**Leſſius. We cannot poſſibly think or ſpeak of God, unleſs we tranſfer the names of created perfections to him; yet we are to conceive of them in a higher manner when we apply them to the Divine Nature, than when we conſider them in the ſeveral Creatures formally, exceeding thoſe perfections and excellencies which are in the Creature, and in a more excellent manner:**Towerſon on the Commandments. P. 112. [as one ſaith, though we cannot comprehend God without the help of ſuch reſemblances, yet we may without making an Image of him; ſo that inability of ours excuſeth p. 126thoſe apprehenſions of him from any way offending againſt his Divine Nature] Theſe are not notions ſo much ſuted to the nature of God as the weakneſs of man: They are helps to our meditations, but ought not to be formal conceptions of him. We may aſſiſt our ſelves in our apprehenſions of him, by conſidering the ſubtilty and ſpirituality of Air; and conſidering the members of a body, without thinking him to be air, or to have any corporeal member. Our reaſon tells us, that whatſoever is a body, is limited and bounded; and the notion of infiniteneſs and bodilineſs, cannot agree and conſiſt together: And therefore what is offered by our fancy ſhould be purified by our reaſon.

4. Therefore we are to elevate and refine all our notions of God, and ſpiritualize our conceptions of him. Every man is to have a conception of God; therefore he ought to have one of the higheſt elevation. Since we cannot have a full notion of him, we ſhould endeavour to make it as high and as pure as we can. Though we cannot conceive of God, but ſome corporeal repreſentations or images in our minds will be converſant with us, as motes in the Air when we look upon the Heavens; yet our conceptions may and muſt riſe higher: As when we ſee the draught of the Heavens and Earth in a Globe, or a Kingdom in a Map, it helps our conceptions, but doth not terminate them: We conceive them to be of a vaſt extent, far beyond that ſhort deſcription of them: So we ſhould endeavour to refine every repreſentation of God, to riſe higher and higher, and have our apprehenſions ſtill more purified; ſeparating the perfect from the imperfect, caſting away the one, and greatning the other; conceive him to be a Spirit diffuſed through all, containing all, perceiving all. All the perfections of God are infinitely elevated above the excellencies of the Creatures; above whatſoever can be conceived by the cleareſt and moſt piercing underſtanding. The Nature of God as a Spirit, is infinitely ſuperior to whatſoever we can conceive perfect in the notion of a created Spirit. Whatſoever God is, he is infinitely ſo: He is infinite Wiſdom, infinite Goodneſs, infinite Knowledge, infinite Power, infinite Spirit, infinitely diſtant from the weakneſs of Creatures, infinitely mounted above the excellencies of Creatures: As eaſie to be known that he is, as impoſſible to be comprehended what he is.

Conceive of him as excellent, without any imperfection: A Spirit without parts; great without quantity; perfect without quality; every where without place; Powerful without members; underſtanding without ignorance; wiſe without reaſoning; light without darkneſs; infinitely more excelling the beauty of all Creatures, than the light in the Sun pure and unviolated exceeds the ſplendor of the Sun diſperſed and divided through a cloudy and miſty Air: And when you have riſen to the higheſt, conceive him yet infinitely above all you can conceive of Spirit; and acknowledge the infirmity of your own minds. And whatſoever conception comes into your minds, ſay this is not God; God is more than this: If I could conceive him, he were not God; for God is incomprehenſibly above whatſoever I can ſay, whatſoever I can think and conceive of him.

4. Inference. If God be a Spirit, no corporeal thing can defile him. Some bring an Argument againſt the Omnipreſence of God, that it is a diſparagement to the Divine Eſſence to be every where, in naſty Cottages, as well as beautiful Palaces and garniſht Temples. What place can defile a Spirit? Is Light, which approaches to the nature of Spirit polluted by ſhining upon a Dung-hill, or a Sun-beam tainted by darting upon a Quag-mire? Doth an Angel contract any ſoyl, by ſtepping into a naſty Priſon to deliver Peter? What can ſteam from the moſt noyſom body, to pollute the ſpiritual nature of God? As he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity **Heb. 1.13.Heb 1:13, ſo he is of a more ſpiritual ſubſtance, than to contract any phyſical pollution from the places where he doth diffuſe himſelf. Did our Saviour who had a true body, derive any taint from the Lepers he touched, the diſeaſes he cured, or the Devils he expell'd? God is a pure Spirit; plungeth himſelf into no filth; is daſht with no ſpot by being preſent with all bodies. Bodies only receive defilement from bodies.

5. Inference. If God be a Spirit, he is active and communicative. He is not clogg'd with heavy and ſluggiſh matter, which is cauſe of dulneſs and inactivity. The more ſubtil thin, and approaching neerer the Nature of a Spirit any thing is, the more diffuſive it is. Air is a gliding ſubſtance; ſpreads it ſelf through all Regions; peirceth p. 127into all bodies; it fills the ſpace between Heaven and Earth; there is nothing but partakes of the vertue of it. Light, which is an emblem of Spirit, inſinuates it ſelf into all places, refreſheth all things. As Spirits are fuller, ſo they are more overflowing, more piercing, more operative than bodies. The Egyptian Horſes were weak things, becauſe they were Fleſh and not Spirit **Iſay 31.3.Isa 31:3: The Soul being a Spirit conveys more to the Body, than the Body can to it. What cannot ſo great a Spirit do for us? What cannot ſo great a Spirit work in us? God being a Spirit above all Spirits, can pierce into the Center of all Spirits; make his way into the moſt ſecret receſſes; ſtamp what he pleaſes: 'Tis no more to him to turn our Spirits, than to make a Wilderneſs become Waters, and ſpeak a Chaos into a beautiful frame of Heaven and Earth: He can act our ſouls with infinite more eaſe, than our ſouls can act our bodies; he can fix in us what motions, frames, inclinations he pleaſes; he can come and ſettle in our hearts with all his Treaſures. 'Tis an encouragement to confide in him, when we petition him for ſpiritual Bleſſings: As he is a Spirit, he is poſſeſſed with ſpiritual Bleſſings. **Eph. 1.3.Eph 1:3A Spirit delights to beſtow things ſutable to its Nature, do Bodies are to communicate what is agreeable to theirs: As he is a Father of Spirits, we may go to him for the Welfare of our Spirits; he being a Spirit, is as able to repair our Spirits, as he was to create them.

As he is a Spirit, he is indefatigable in acting: The members of the body tire and flagg; but whoever heard of a Soul wearied with being active? Whoever heard of a weary Angel? In the pureſt Simplicity, there is the greateſt Power, the moſt efficacious Goodneſs, the moſt reaching Juſtice to affect the Spirit, that can inſinuate it ſelf every where to puniſh wickedneſs without wearineſs, as well as to comfort goodneſs. God is active, becauſe he is Spirit; and if we be like to God, the more ſpiritual we are, the more active we ſhall be.

6. Inference. God being a Spirit, is immortal. His being immortal, and being inviſible are joyned together.**1 Tim. 1.17.1 Tim 1:17 Spirits are in their nature incorruptible; they can only periſh by that hand that framed them. Every compounded thing is ſubject to mutation; but God being a pure and ſimple Spirit, is without corruption, without any ſhadow of change.**James 1.17.Jas 1:17 Where there is compoſition, there is ſome kind of repugnancy of one part againſt the other; and where there is repugnancy, there is a capability of diſſolution. God in regard of his infinite ſpirituality, hath nothing in his own nature contrary to it; can have nothing in himſelf which is not himſelf. The world periſhes; friends change and are diſſolved; bodies moulder, becauſe they are mutable. God is a Spirit in the higheſt excellency and glory of Spirits; nothing is beyond him; nothing above him; no contrariety within him: This is our comfort, if we devote our ſelves to him; this God is our God; this Spirit is our Spirit; this is our all, our immutable, our incorruptible ſupport; a Spirit that cannot die and leave us.

7. Inference. If God be a Spirit, we ſee how we can only converſe with him by our Spirits. Bodies and Spirits are not ſutable to one another: We can only ſee, know, embrace a Spirit with our Spirits. He judges not of us by our corporeal actions, nor our external devotions, by our masks and diſguiſes: He fixes his eye upon the frame of the heart, bends his ear to the groans of our Spirits: He is not pleaſed with outward pomp: He is not a Body; therefore the beauty of Temples, delicacy of Sacrifices, fumes of Incenſe are not grateful to him; by thoſe or any external action, we have no communion with him: A Spirit when broken, is his delightful Sacrifice **Pſal. 51.17.Ps 51:17; We muſt therefore have our Spirits fitted for him, be renewed in the ſpirit of our minds **Eph. 4.23.Eph 4:23, that we may be in a poſture to live with him, and have an intercourſe with him. We can never be united to God, but in our Spirits: Bodies unite with Bodies, Spirits with Spirits. The more ſpiritual any thing is, the more cloſely doth it unite. Air hath the cloſeſt union, nothing meets together ſooner than that, when the parts are divided by the interpoſition of a body.

8. Inference. If God be a Spirit, he can only be the true ſatisfaction of our Spirits. Spirit can only be fill'd with Spirit. Content flows from likeneſs and ſutableneſs: As we have a reſemblance to God in regard of the ſpiritual nature of our Soul, ſo we can have no ſatisfaction but in him. Spirit can no more be really ſatisfied with that which is corporeal, than a beaſt can delight in the company of an Angel. Corporeal things can no more fill a hungry Spirit, than pure Spirit can feed an hungry p. 128Body. God the higheſt Spirit, can only reach out a full content to our ſpirits. Man is Lord of the Creation; nothing below him can be fit for his converſe; nothing above him offers it ſelf to his converſe but God. We have no correſpondence with Angels: The influence they have upon us, the protection they afford us, is ſecret and undiſcern'd; but God the higheſt Spirit offers himſelf to us in his Son, in his Ordinances, is viſible in every Creature, preſents himſelf to us in every providence; to him we muſt ſeek; in him we muſt reſt. God had no reſt from the Creation, till he had made Man; and Man can have no reſt in the Creation, till he reſts in God.**Pſal 90.1.Ps 90:1 God only is our dwelling place; our Souls ſhould only long for him; our Souls ſhould only wait upon him.**Pſal. 63.1.Ps 63:1 The Spirit of Man never riſeth to its original glory, till it be carried up on the wings of Faith and Love to its original Copy. The face of the Soul looks moſt beautiful, when it is turned to the face of God the Father of Spirits; when the derived Spirit is fixed upon the original Spirit, drawing from it Life and Glory. Spirit is only the receptacle of Spirit. God as Spirit is our Principle; we muſt therefore live upon him. God as Spirit, hath ſome reſemblance to us as his Image; we muſt therefore only ſatisfie our ſelves in him.

9. Inference. If God be a Spirit, we ſhould take moſt care of that wherein we are like to God. Spirit is nobler than Body; we muſt thererefore value our Spirits above our Bodies: The Soul as Spirit, partakes more of the Divine Nature, and deſerves more of our choyceſt cares. If we have any love to this Spirit, we ſhould have a real affection to our own Spirits, as bearing a ſtamp of the ſpiritual Divinity, the chiefeſt of all the works of God; as it is ſaid of Behemoth, Job. 40.19.. That which is moſt the Image of this immenſe Spirit, ſhould be our Darling: So David calls his Soul, Pſal. 35.17. Shall we take care of that wherein we partake not of God, and not delight in the Jewel which hath his own Signature upon it? God was not only the Framer of Spirits, and the End of Spirits; but the Copy and Exemplar of Spirits. God partakes of no corporeity, he is pure Spirit. But how do we act, as if we were only matter and body! We have but little kindneſs for this great Spirit as well as our own, if we take no care of his immediate offspring, ſince he is not only Spirit, but the Father of Spirits.**Heb. 12.9.Heb 12:9

10. Inference. If God be a Spirit, let us take heed of thoſe ſins which are ſpiritual. Paul diſtinguiſheth between the filth of the Fleſh, and that of the Spirit **2 Cor. 7.1.2 Cor 7:1: By the one we defile the Body; by the other we defile the Spirit, which in regard of its Nature is of kin to the Creator. To wrong one who is neer of kin to a Prince, is worſe than to injure an inferior Subject. When we make our Spirits, which are moſt like to God in their Nature, and framed according to his Image, a ſtage to act vain imaginations, wicked deſires, and unclean affections, we wrong God in the excellency of his Work, and reflect upon the nobleneſs of the Patern; we wrong him in that part where he hath ſtampt the moſt ſignal Character of his own ſpiritual nature; we defile that whereby we have only converſe with him as a Spirit, which he hath ordered more immediately to repreſent him in this Nature, than all corporeal things in the world can, and make that Spirit with whom we deſire to be joyned, unfit for ſuch a knot. Gods Spirituality is the root of his other perfections. We have already heard, he could not be infinite, omnipreſent, immutable without it. Spiritual ſins are the greateſt root of bitterneſs within us: As grace in our Spirits renders us more like to a ſpiritual God; ſo ſpiritual ſins bring us into a conformity to a degraded Devil.**Eph. 2.2, 3.Eph 2:2Eph 2:3 Carnal ſins change us from men to brutes, and ſpiritual ſins deveſt us of the Image of God for the Image of Satan. We ſhould by no means make our Spirits a Dung-hill, which bear upon them the Character of the ſpiritual Nature of God, and were made for his reſidence: Let us therefore behave our ſelves towards God in all thoſe ways which the ſpiritual nature of God requires us.