Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 11 (1 of 4)

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 11 (1 of 4)

p. 493A DISCOURSE UPON THE Holineſs of God.

Exodus 15.11.

Who is like unto thee, Oh Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in Holneſs, fearful in praiſes, doing wonders?

THis Verſe is one of the loftieſt deſcriptions of the Majeſty and Excellency of God in the whole Scripture**Trap. in loc.. 'Tis a part of Moſes's foreign, or Triumphant Song, after a great and real, and a Typical Victory; in the womb of which all the Deliverances of the Church were couch'd. 'Tis the firſt Song upon Holy Record, and it conſiſts of Gratulatory and Prophetick matter: It caſts a look backward, to what God did for them in their Deliverance from Egypt; and a look forward, to what God ſhall do for the Church in future Ages. That Deliverance was but a rough draught of ſomething more excellent to be wrought towards the cloſing up of the World; when his Plagues ſhall be poured out upon the Antichristian Powers, which ſhould revive the ſame Song of Moſes in the Church, as fitted ſo many Ages before for ſuch a Scene of Affairs††Rev. 15.2, 3.Rev 15:2Rev 15:3. 'Tis obſerv'd therefore, that many words in this Song are put in the Future Tenſe, noting a Time to come; and the very firſt word, ver. 1. Then ſang Moſes and the Children of Iſrael this Song: foreign ſhall ſing; implying, that it was compos'd and calculated for the celebrating ſome greater Action of Gods, which was to be wrought in the World‖‖Manaſſ. ben Iſrael, de Reſur. lib. 1. cap. 1. p. 7.. Upon this account ſome of the Jewiſh Rabbins, from the conſideration of this Remark, aſſerted the Doctrine of the Reſurrection to be meant in this place; That Moſes and thoſe Iſraelites ſhould riſe again to ſing the ſame Song, for ſome greater Miracles God ſhould work, and greater Triumphs he ſhould bring forth, exceeding thoſe Wonders at their Deliverance from Egypt.

**Pareus in Exod. 15.Exod 15It conſiſts of, 1. A Preface, verſ. 1. I will ſing unto the Lord.

2. An Hiſtorical narration of matter of fact, verſ. 3, 4. Pharaohs Chariots and his Host hath he cast into the Red Sea; which he ſolely aſcribes to God, v. 6. Thy right hand, oh Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, oh Lord, hath daſht in pieces the Enemy; which he doth Prophetically, as reſpecting ſomething to be done in After times; or further, for the compleating of that Deliverance; or as Others think, reſpecting their entring into Canaan, for the words in theſe two Verſes are put in the Future Tenſe. The manner of the Deliverance is deſcribed verſe 8. The Flouds ſtood upright as an heap, and the depths were congeal'd in the p. 494heart of the Sea. In the 9th Verſe, he magnifies the Victory from the Vainglory and ſecurity of the Enemy; The Enemy ſaid, I will purſue, I will overtake, I will divide the ſpoil, &c. And Verſe 16, 17. he Prophetically deſcribes the fruit of this Victory, in the influence it ſhall have upon thoſe Nations, by whoſe Confines they were to Travel to the Promiſed Land; Fear and dread ſhall fall upon them: By the greatneſs of thy Arm they ſhall be as still as a ſtone, till thy People paſs over which thou haſt purchaſed. The phraſe of this, and the 17th and 18th Verſes, ſeems to be more magnificent, than to deſign only the bringing the Iſraelites to the Earthly Canaan; but ſeems to reſpect the gathering his Redeemed Ones together, to place them in the Spiritual Sanctuary which he had eſtabliſhed, wherein the Lord ſhould Reign for ever and ever, without any Enemies to diſturb his Royalty; The Lord ſhall reign for ever and ever, v. 18. The Prophet, in the midſt of his Hiſtorical Narrative, ſeems to be in an extaſie, and breaks out in a ſtately exaltation of God in the Text.

Who is like unto thee, oh Lord, among the gods, &c.] Interrogations are in Scripture the ſtrongeſt Affirmations or Negations: 'Tis here a ſtrong affirmation of the Incomparableneſs of God, and a ſtrong denial of the worthineſs of all Creatures to be partners with him in the degrees of his Excellency: 'Tis a preference of God before all Creatures in Holineſs, to which the purity of Creatures is but a ſhadow; in deſert of Reverence and Veneration, he being Fearful in praiſes. The Angels cover their Faces when they adore him in his particular Perfections.

Amongſt the gods.] Among the Idols of the Nations, ſay ſome; Others ſay**River., 'Tis not to be found that the Heathen Idols are ever dignified with the Title of Strong or Mighty, as the word tranſlated Gods, doth import; and therefore underſtand it of the Angels, or other Potentates of the World; or rather incluſively, of all that are noted for, and can lay claim to the Title of Strength and Might upon the Earth or in Heaven. God is ſo great and Majeſtick, that no Creature can ſhare with him in his Praiſe.

Fearful in praiſes.] Various are the Interpretations of this paſſage: To be reverenc'd in praiſes; his Praiſe ought to be celebrated with a Religious Fear. Fear is the product of his Mercy as well as his Juſtice; He hath forgiveneſs that he may be feared, Pſal. 130.4. Or, Fearful in praiſes; whom none can praiſe without Amazement at the conſiderations of his works.††Calvin. None can truly praiſe him without being affected with Aſtoniſhment at his Greatneſs. Or, Fearful in praiſes; ||Munſter.whom no Mortal can ſufficiently praiſe, ſince he is above all Praiſe. Whatſoever a Human Tongue can ſpeak, or an Angelical Underſtanding think of the Excellency of his Nature and the Greatneſs of his Works, falls ſhort of the vaſtneſs of the Divine Perfection. A Creatures Praiſes of God are as much below the tranſcendent Eminency of God, as the meaneſs of a Creatures Being is below the Eternal Fulneſs of the Creator. Or rather, Fearful, or Terrible, in praiſes; that is, in the Matter of thy Praiſe: And the Learned Rivet concurs with me in this ſenſe. The Works of God celebrated in this Song were Terrible: It was the Miraculous overthrow of the Strength and Flower of a Mighty Nation: His Judgments were ſevere, as well as his Mercy was ſeaſonable. The word foreign ſignifies Glorious and Illuſtrious, as well as Terrible and Fearful. No Man can hear the Praiſe of thy Name, for thoſe great Judicial Acts, without ſome Aſtoniſhment at thy Juſtice, the ſtream, and thy Holineſs the Spring of thoſe Mighty Works. This ſeems to be the ſenſe of the following words, Doing wonders: Fearful in the Matter of thy Praiſe, they being Wonders which thou haſt done among us and for us.

Doing wonders.] Congealing the Waters by a Wind, to make them ſtand like Walls for the reſcue of the Iſraelites; and melting them by a Wind, for the overthrow of the Egyptians, are Prodigies that challenge the greateſt Adorations of that Mercy which delivered the one, and that Juſtice which puniſhed the other; and of the Arm of that Power whereby he effected both his Gracious and his Righteous Purpoſes.

Doctr. Whence obſerve, That the Judgments of God upon his Enemies, as well as his Mercies to his People, are matter of Praiſe. The Perfections of God appear in p. 495both. Juſtice and Mercy are ſo linkt together in his acts of Providence, that the one cannot be forgotten whiles the other is acknowledged. He is never ſo Terrible as in the Aſſemblies of his Saints, and the Deliverance of them, Pſal. 89.7. As the Creation was erected by him for his Glory; ſo all the Acts of his Government are deſign'd for the ſame end: And his Creatures deny him his due, if they acknowledge not his Excellency in whatſoever dreadful, as well as pleaſing Garbs, it appears in the World. His Terror as well as his Righteouſneſs appears, when he is a God of Salvation. Pſal. 65.5. By terrible things in righteouſneſs wilt thou anſwer us, oh God of our Salvation.

But the Expreſſion I pitch upon in the Text to handle, is Glorious in Holineſs. He is Magnified or Honourable in Holineſs; ſo the word foreign is tranſlated Iſai. 42.21. He will magnifie the Law and make it honourable. Thy Holineſs hath ſhone forth admirably in this laſt Exploit, againſt the Enemies and Oppreſſors of thy People. The Holineſs of God is his Glory, as his Grace is his Riches: Holineſs is his Crown, and his Mercy is his Treaſure. This is the Bleſſedneſs and Nobleneſs of his Nature; it renders him Glorious in himſelf, and Glorious to his Creatures, that underſtand any thing of this lovely Perfection.

Doctr. Holineſs is a glorious Perfection belonging to the Nature of God. Hence he is in Scripture ſtyled often the Holy one, the Holy one of Jacob, the Holy one of Iſrael; and oftner entituled Holy, than Almighty, and ſet forth by this part of his Dignity more than by any other. This is more affix'd as an Epithete to his Name than any other: You never find it expreſt, his Mighty Name, or his Wiſe Name; but his Great Name, and moſt of all, his Holy Name. This is his greateſt Title of Honour, in this doth the Majeſty and Venerableneſs of his Name appear. When the Sinfulneſs of Senacherib is aggravated, the Holy Ghoſt takes the riſe from this Attribute, 2 Kings 19.22. Thou haſt lift up thine eyes on high, even againſt the Holy one of Iſrael; not againſt the Wiſe, Mighty, &c. but againſt the Holy one of Iſrael, as that wherein the Majesty of God was moſt illuſtrious. 'Tis upon this account he is called Light, as Impurity is called Darkneſs; both in this ſenſe are oppoſed to one another: He is a pure and unmixt Light, free from all blemiſh in his Eſſence, Nature, and Operations.

1. Heathens have own'd it. Proclus calls him, the Ʋndefiled Governour of the World **foreign.. The Poetical Transformations of their Falſe gods, and the Extravagancies committed by them, was (in the account of the wiſeſt of them) an unholy thing to report and hear††foreign. Ammon. in Plut. de foreign. apud Delphos, p. 393..‖‖Gaſſend. Tom. 1. Phyſ. §. 1. lib. 4. cap. 2. p. 289. And ſome vindicate Epicurus from the Atheiſm wherewith he was commonly charged; that he did not deny the Being of God, but thoſe Adulterous and contentious Deities the People worſhipped, which were Practiſes unworthy and unbecoming the Nature of God. Hence they aſſerted, that Vertue was an Imitation of God, and a Vertuous Man bore a reſemblance to God: If Vertue were a Copy from God, a greater Holineſs muſt be owned in the Original. And when ſome of them were at a loſs, how to free God from being the Author of Sin in the World, they aſcribe the birth of Sin to Matter, and run into an abſurd Opinion, fancying it to be uncreated, that thereby they might exempt God from all mixture of Evil; ſo Sacred with them was the Conception of God, as a Holy God.

2. The Abſurdeſt Hereticks have own'd it. **Petav. Theol. Dogmat. Tom. 1. lib. 6. cap. 5. p. 415.The Manichees and Marchionites, that thought Evil came by Neceſſity, yet would ſalve Gods being the Author of it, by aſſerting two diſtinct Eternal Principles, One the Original of Evil, as God was the Fountain of good: So rooted was the Notion of this Divine Purity, that none would ever ſlander Goodneſs it ſelf with that which was ſo diſparaging to it.

3. The Nature of God cannot rationally be conceived without it. Though the Power of God be the firſt Rational concluſion, drawn from the ſight of his Works; Wiſdom the next, from the order and connexion of his Works: Purity muſt reſult from the beauty of his Works: That God cannot be deform'd by Evil, who hath made every thing ſo Beautiful in its time. The Notion of a God cannot be entertain'd without ſeparating from him whatſoever is impure and beſpotting both in his Eſſence and Actions. Though we conceive him Infinite in Majeſty, p. 496Infinite in Eſſence, Eternal in Duration, Mighty in Power, and Wiſe and Immutable in his Counſels; Merciful in his proceedings with Men, and whatſoever other Perfections may dignifie ſo Soveraign a Being; yet if we conceive him deſtitute of this excellent Perfection, and imagine him poſſeſſed with the leaſt contagion of Evil, we make him but an Infinite Monſter, and fully all thoſe Perfections we aſcrib'd to him before; we rather own him a Devil, than a God. 'Tis a contradiction to be God and to be Darkneſs, or to have one Mote of Darkneſs mixed with his Light. 'Tis a leſs Injury to him to deny his Being, than to deny the Purity of it; the one makes him no God, the other a deform'd, unlovely, and a deteſtable God.

Plutarch ſaid not amiſs, That he ſhould count himſelf leſs injured by that Man, that ſhould deny that there was ſuch a Man as Plutarch, than by him that ſhould affirm that there was ſuch a one indeed, but he was a debauch'd Fellow, a looſe and vicious Perſon. 'Tis a leſs wrong to God to diſcard any acknowledgments of his Being, and to count him Nothing; than to believe him to exiſt, but imagine a baſe and unholy Deity: He that ſaith, God is not Holy, ſpeaks much worſe than he that ſaith, There is no God at all.

Let theſe two Things be conſidered:

I. If any, this Attribute hath an excellency above his other Perfections. There are ſome Attributes of God we prefer, becauſe of our Intereſt in them, and the relation they bear to us: As we eſteem his Goodneſs before his Power; and his Mercy whereby he relieves us, before his Juſtice whereby he puniſheth us. As there are ſome we more delight in, becauſe of the goodneſs we receive by them; ſo there are ſome that God delights to honour, becauſe of their Excellency.

1. None is ſounded out ſo loftily with ſuch ſolemnity, and ſo frequently by Angels that ſtand before his Throne, as this. Where do you find any other Attribute trebled in the Praiſes of it, as this? Iſai. 6.3. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of Hosts, the whole Earth is full of his Glory; and Rev. 4.8. The four Beasts reſt not day and night, ſaying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God, Almighty, &c. His Power or Soveraignty, as Lord of Hoſts, is but once mentioned; but with a ternal repetition of his Holineſs. Do you hear in any Angelical Song any other Perfection of the Divine Nature thrice repeated? Where do we read of the crying out Eternal, Eternal, Eternal; or Faithful, Faithful, Faithful Lord God of Hoſts? Whatſoever other Attribute is left out, this God would have to fill the Mouths of Angels and Bleſſed Spirits for ever in Heaven.

2. He ſingles it out to ſwear by. Pſal. 89.35. Once have I ſworn by my Holineſs, that I will not lye unto David: And Amos 4.2. The Lord will ſwear by his Holineſs: He twice ſwears by his Holineſs; once by his Power, Iſai. 62.8. once by all, when he ſwears by his Name, Jer. 44.26. He lays here his Holineſs to pledge for the aſſurance of his Promiſe, as the Attribute moſt dear to him, moſt valued by him, as though no other could give an aſſurance parallel to it in this concern of an Everlaſting Redemption which is there ſpoken of: He that ſwears, ſwears by a greater than himſelf; God having no greater than himſelf, ſwears by himſelf: And ſwearing here by his Holineſs, ſeems to equal that ſingle one to all his other Attributes; as if he were more concern'd in the Honour of it, than of all the reſt. 'Tis as if he ſhould have ſaid, ſince I have not a more excellent Perfection to ſwear by, than that of my Holineſs, I lay this to pawn for your Security, and bind my ſelf by that which I will never part with, were it poſſible for me to be ſtript of all the reſt. 'Tis a tacit Imprecation of himſelf, If I lye unto David, let me never be counted holy, or thought righteous enough to be truſted by Angels or Men. This Attribute he makes moſt of.

3. 'Tis his glory and beauty. Holineſs is the Honour of the Creature, ſanctification and honour are linkt together, 1 Theſſ. 4.4. much more is it the honour of God; 'tis the Image of God in the Creature**Epheſ. 4.24.Eph 4:24: When we take the Picture of a Man, we draw the moſt beautiful part, the Face, which is a Member of the greateſt excellency. When God would be drawn to the Life, as much as can be, in the Spirit of his Creatures, He is drawn in this Attribute, as being the moſt beautiful Perfection of God, and moſt valuable with him. Power is his Hand and Arm, p. 497Omniſcience, his Eye; Mercy, his Bowels; Eternity, his Duration; his Holineſs is his Beauty; 2 Chron. 20, 21. —ſhould praiſe the Beauty of Holineſs. In the 27th Pſalm and the 4th Verſe, David deſires to behold the Beauty of the Lord, and enquire in his Holy Temple; that is, the Holineſs of God manifeſted in his hatred of Sin in the daily Sacrifices. Holineſs was the Beauty of the Temple, Iſai. 46.11. Holy and Beautiful Houſe are joyned together; much more the Beauty of God that dwelt in the Sanctuary.

This renders him lovely to all his Innocent Creatures, though formidable to the Guilty ones.**Plutarch. Eugubin. de Perenni Phil. lib. 6. cap. 6. A Heathen Philoſopher could call it, the Beauty of the Divine Eſſence, and ſay, That God was not ſo happy by an Eternity of Life, as by an Excellency of Vertue. And the Angels Song intimate it to be his glory, Iſaiah 6.3. The whole Earth is full of thy Glory; that is, of his Holineſs in his Laws, and in his Judgments againſt Sin; that being the Attribute applauded by them before.

4. 'Tis his very life. So it is called Epheſ. 4.18. Alienated from the Life of God, that is, from the Holineſs of God; ſpeaking of the oppoſite to it, the Ʋncleaneſs and Prophaneſs of the Gentiles. We are only alienated from that which we are bound to imitate; but this is the Perfection, alway ſet out as the Pattern of our Actions, Be you holy, as I am Holy; no other is propoſed as our Copy. Alienated from that Purity of God, which is as much as his Life, without which he could not live. If he were ſtript of this, he would be a dead God more, than by the want of any other Perfection. His Swearing by it intimates as much; He Swears often by his own Life, As I live, ſaith the Lord: ſo he Swears by his Holineſs, as if it were his Life, and more his Life than any other. Let me not live, or Let me not be Holy, are all one in his Oath. His Deity could not outlive the Life of his Purity.

II. As it ſeems to challenge an Excellency above all his other Perfections, ſo 'tis the glory of all the rest. As it is the glory of the Godhead, ſo 'tis the glory of every Perfection in the Godhead. As his Power is the Strength of them, ſo his Holineſs is the Beauty of them. As all would be weak without Almightineſs to back them; ſo all would be uncomly without Holineſs to adorn them. Should this be ſullied, all the reſt would loſe their Honour and their comfortable Efficacy. As at the ſame inſtant that the Sun ſhould loſe its Light, it would loſe its Heat, its Strength, its generative and quickening virtue. As Sincerity is the luſtre of every Grace in a Chriſtian; ſo is Purity the ſplendor of every Attribute in the Godhead. His Juſtice, is a holy Juſtice; his Wiſdom, a holy Wiſdom; his Arm of Power, a Holy Arm, Pſal. 98.1. his Truth or Promiſe, a Holy Promiſe, Pſal. 105.42. Holy and True go hand in hand, Revel. 6.10. His Name, which ſignifies all his Attributes in conjunction, is Holy, Pſal. 103.1. Yea, he is R…ghteous in all his waies, and Holy in all his works, Pſal. 145, 17. 'Tis the Rule o… all his Acts, the Source of all his Puniſhments. If every Attribute of the Deity were a diſtinct Member, Purity would be the Form, the Soul, the Spirit to animate them. Without it, his Patience would be an Indulgence to Sin, his Mercy a Fondneſs, his Wrath a Madneſs, his Power a Tyranny, his Wiſdom an unworthy Subtilty. 'Tis this gives a Decorum to all. His Mercy is not exercis'd without it, ſince he pardons none but thoſe that have an Intereſt, by Union, in the Obedience of a Mediator, which was ſo delightful to his Infinite Purity. His Juſtice, which Guilty man is apt to tax with Cruelty and Violence in the exerciſe of it, is not acted out of the compaſs of this Rule. In Acts of Mans vindictive Juſtice there is ſomething of Impurity, Perturbation, Paſſion, ſome mixture of Cruelty; but none of theſe fall upon God in the ſevereſt Acts of Wrath. When God appears to Ezekiel in the reſemblance of Fire, to ſignifie his Anger againſt the Houſe of Judah for their Idolatry, from his Loyns downward there was the appearance of Fire; but from the Loyns upward, the appearance of Brightneſs, as the colour of Amber, Ezek. 8.2. His Heart is clear in his moſt Terrible acts of Vengeance, 'tis a pure Flame wherewith he ſcorcheth and burns his Enemies: He is Holy in the moſt fiery appearance.

This Attribute therefore is never ſo much applauded, as when his Sword hath been drawn, and he hath manifeſted the greateſt fierceneſs againſt his Enemies. The Magnificent and Triumphant expreſſion of it in the Text, follows juſt upon p. 498Gods Miraculous defeat and ruine of the Egyptian Army, The Sea covered them; they ſank as Lead in the mighty waters: Then it follows, Who is like unto thee, oh Lord, glorious in Holineſs? And when it was ſo celebrated by the Seraphims, Iſai. 6.3. it was when the Poſts moved, and the Houſe was filled with ſmoke, v. 4. which are ſigns of Anger, Pſal. 18.7, 8. And when he was about to ſend Iſaiah upon a Meſſage of Spiritual and Temporal Judgments, that he would make the heart of that people fat, and their ears heavy, and their eyes ſhut; waſte their Cities without Inhabitant, and their Houſes without Man, and make the Land deſolate, Verſes 9, 10, 11, 12. and the Angels which here applaud him for his Holineſs, are the Executioners of his Juſtice; and here called Seraphims, from burning, or fiery Spirits, as being the Miniſters of his Wrath. His Juſtice is part of his Holineſs, whereby he doth reduce into order thoſe things that are out of order. When he is conſuming Men by his Fury, he doth not diminiſh, but manifeſt Purity; Zephany 3.5. The juſt Lord is in the midſt of her, he will do no Iniquity. Every Action of his is free from all tincture of Evil. 'Tis alſo celebrated with Praiſe by the four Beaſts about his Throne, when he appears in a Covenant garb, with a Rain-bow about his Throne. and yet with Thundrings and Lightnings ſhot out againſt his Enemies, Revel. 4.8. compared with verſ. 3.5. to ſhew, that all his Acts of Mercy as well as Juſtice, are clear from any ſtain.

This is the Crown of all his Attributes, the Life of all his Decrees, the Brightneſs of all his Actions: Nothing is Decreed by him, nothing is acted by him but what is worthy of the Dignity, and becoming the Honour of this Attribute.

For the better underſtanding this Attribute▪ obſerve,

1. The Nature of this Holineſs.

2. The Demonſtration of it.

3. The Purity of his Nature in all his Acts about Sin.

4. The Ʋſe of all to our ſelves.

Firſt, The Nature of Divine Holineſs.

In General.

The Holineſs of God Negatively, is a perfect and unpolluted freedom from all Evil. As we call Gold pure that is not embaſed by any Droſs, and that Garment clean that is free from any Spot; ſo the Nature of God is eſtranged from all ſhadow of Evil, all imaginable contagion.

Poſitively, 'Tis the Rectitude or Integrity of the Divine Nature, or that conformity of it in Affection and Action to the Divine Will, as to his Eternal Law, whereby he works with a becomingneſs to his own Excellency, and whereby he hath a delight and complacency in every thing agreeable to his Will, and an abhorrency of every thing contrary thereunto.

As there is no darkneſs in his Underſtanding, ſo there is no ſpot in his Will: As his Mind is poſſeſſed with all Truth, ſo there is no deviation in his Will from it. He loves all Truth and Goodneſs; He hates all falſity and Evil. In regard of his Righteouſneſs, he loves Righteouſneſs; Pſal. 11.7. The righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs; and, hath no pleaſure in wickedneſs, Pſal. 5.4. He values Purity in his Creatures, and deteſts all Impurity, whether inward or outward.‖‖Martin. de Deo, p. 86. We may indeed diſtinguiſh the Holineſs of God from his Righteouſneſs in our Conceptions: Holineſs is a Perfection abſolutely conſidered in the Nature of God; Righteouſneſs, a Perfection as referred to others in his Actions towards them and upon them.

In Particular.

This Property of the Divine Nature is,

Firſt, An eſſential and neceſſary Perfection: He is eſſentially and neceſſarily Holy. 'Tis the eſſential glory of his Nature: His Holineſs is as neceſſary as his Being; as neceſſary as his Omniſcience: As he cannot but know what is right, ſo p. 499he cannot but do what is juſt. His Underſtanding is not as Created Underſtandings, capable of Ignorance as well as Knowledge; ſo his Will is not as Created Wills, capable of Unrighteouſneſs, as well as Righteouſneſs. There can be no contradiction or contrariety in the Divine Nature, to know what is right, and to do what is wrong: If ſo, there would be a diminu ion of his Bleſſedneſs, he would not be a God alway bleſſed, Bleſſed for ever, as he is**Rom. 9 5.Rom 9:5. He is as neceſſarily Holy, as he is neceſſarily God; as neceſſarily without Sin, as without Change. As he was God from Eternity, ſo he was Holy from Eternity.††Turre…in. de Satisfact. p. 28. He was Gracious, Merciful, Juſt in his own Nature, and alſo Holy; though no Creature had been framed by him to exerciſe his Grace, Mercy, Juſtice, or Holineſs upon. If God had not created a World, he had in his own Nature been Almighty, and able to Create a World. If there never had been any thing but himſelf, yet he had been Omniſcient, knowing every thing that was within the verge and compaſs of his Infinite Power; ſo he was Pure in his own Nature, though he never had brought forth any Rational Creature whereby to manifeſt this Purity. Theſe Perfections are ſo neceſſary, that the Nature of God could not ſubſiſt without them. And the acts of thoſe ad intra, or within himſelf, are neceſſary; for being Omniſcient in Nature, there muſt be an act of knowledge of himſelf and his own Nature. Being Infinitely Holy, an act of Holineſs in Infinitely loving himſelf, muſt neceſſarily flow from this Perfection‖‖Ochino, Predic. part 3. Bodic. 51. p. 347, 348.. As the Divine Will cannot but be perfect; ſo it cannot be wanting to render the higheſt Love to it ſelf, to its Goodneſs, to the Divine Nature, which is due to him. Indeed the acts of thoſe ad extra are not neceſſary, but upon a condition. To love Righteouſneſs without himſelf, or to deteſt Sin, or inflict Puniſhment for the committing of it, could not have been, had there been no Righteous Creature for him to love, no Sinning Creature for him to loath, and to exerciſe his Juſtice upon as the Object of Puniſhment.

Some Attributes require a Condition to make the Acts of them neceſſary. As it is at Gods liberty, whether he will create a Rational Creature, or no: But when he decrees to make either Angel or Man, 'tis neceſſary from the Perfection of his Nature to make them Righteous. 'Tis at Gods liberty whether he will ſpeak to Man, or no; but if he doth, 'tis impoſſible for him to ſpeak that which is falſe, becauſe of his Infinite Perfection of Veracity. 'Tis at his liberty whether he will permit a Creature to Sin; but if he ſees good to ſuffer it, 'tis impoſſible but that he ſhould deteſt that Creature that goes croſs to his Righteous Nature. His Holineſs is not ſolely an Act of his Will, for then he might be Unholy as well as Holy; he might love Iniquity and hate Righteouſneſs; he might then command that which is good, and afterwards command that which is bad and unworthy: For what is only an Act of his Will, and not belonging to his Nature, is indifferenr to him. As the poſitive Law he gave to Adam, of not eating the Forbidden Fruit, was a pure Act of his Will; he might have given him liberty to eat of it, if he had pleaſed, as well as prohibited him. But what is Moral and good in its own Nature, is neceſſarily willed by God, and cannot be changed by him, becauſe of the tranſcendent Eminency of his Nature, and Righteouſneſs of his Will. As it is impoſſible for God to command his Creature to hate him, or to diſpence with a Creature for not loving him; for this would be to command a thing intrinſically Evil, the higheſt Ingratitude, the very Spirit of all Wickedneſs, which conſiſts in the hating God. Yet though God be thus neceſſarily Holy, he is not ſo by a bare and ſimple neceſſity, as the Sun ſhines, or the Fire burns; but by a free neceſſity, not compelled thereunto, but inclined from the fulneſs of the Perfection of his own Nature and Will; ſo as by no means he can be Unholy, becauſe he will not be Unholy; 'tis againſt his Nature to be ſo.

2. God is only abſolutely Holy. There is none Holy as the Lord. 1 Sam. 2.2.1 Sam 2:2'Tis the peculiar glory of his Nature. As there is none Good but God, ſo none Holy but God. No Creature can be eſſentially Holy, becauſe Mutable: Holineſs is the ſubſtance of God; but a Quality and Accident in a Creature. God is Infinitely Holy, Creatures Finitely Holy. He is holy from Himſelf, Creatures are holy by derivation from him. He is not only Holy, but Holineſs; Holineſs, in the higheſt degree, is his ſole Prerogative. As the higheſt Heaven is called the Heaven of p. 500Heavens, becauſe it embraceth in its Circle all the Heavens, and contains the Magnitude of them, and hath a greater vaſtneſs above all that it incloſeth; ſo is God the Holy of Holies, He contains the Holineſs of all Creatures put together, and Infinitely more. As all the Wiſdom, Excellency, and Power of the Creatures, if compar'd with the Wiſdom, Excellency, and Power of God, is but Folly Vileneſs, and Weakneſs; ſo the higheſt created Purity, if ſet in parallel with God, is but Impurity and Uncleaneſs. Revel. 15.4. Thou only art Holy: 'Tis like the light of a Glow-worm to that of the Sun ††Job 15.15.Job 15:15; The Heavens are not pure in his ſight, and his Angels he charged with folly, Job 4 18. Though God hath Crowned the Angels with an unſpotted Sanctity, and placed them in a habitation of Glory; yet as Illuſtrious as they are, they have an Unworthineſs in their own Nature to appear before the Throne of ſo Holy a God; Their holineſs grows dim and pale in his Preſence. 'Tis but a weak ſhadow of that Divine Purity, whoſe Light is ſo glorious, that it makes them cover their faces out of weakneſs to behold it, and cover their Feet out of ſhame in themſelves. They are not pure in his ſight, becauſe though they love God (which is a Principle of Holineſs) as much as they can, yet not ſo much as he deſerves: They love him with the intenſeſt degree, according to their Power; but not with the intenſeſt degree, according to his own Amiableneſs: For they cannot infinitely love God, unleſs they were as Infinite as God, and had an underſtanding of his Perfections equal with himſelf, and as immenſe as his own Knowledge. God having an Infinite Knowledge of himſelf, can only have an Infinite Love to himſelf, and conſequently an Infinite Holineſs without any defect; becauſe he loves himſelf according to the vaſtneſs of his own Amiableneſs, which no finite Being can. Therefore, though the Angels be exempt from Corruption and Soil, they cannot enter into compariſon with the Purity of God, without acknowledgment of a dimneſs in themſelves. Beſides, He charges them with folly, and puts no trust in them; becauſe they have the power of ſinning, though not the act of ſinning: They have a poſſible Folly in their own Nature to be charged with. Holineſs is a quality ſeparable from them, but it is inſeparable from God. Had they not at firſt a mutability in their Nature, none of them could have ſinned, there had been no Devils; but becauſe ſome of them ſinned, the reſt might have ſinned: And though the ſtanding Angels ſhall never be changed, yet they are ſtill changeable in their own Nature, and their ſtanding is due to Grace, not to Nature; and though they ſhall be for ever preſerved, yet they are not, nor ever can be Immutable by Nature, for then they ſhould ſtand upon the ſame bottom with God himſelf; but they are ſupported by Grace againſt that Changeableneſs of Nature which is eſſential to a Creature: The Creator only hath Immortality, that is, Immutability‖‖1. Tim. 3.16.1 Tim 3:16.

'Tis as certain a Truth, that no Creature can be naturally Immutable and Impeccable, as that God cannot create any thing actually polluted and imperfect. 'Tis as poſſible that the higheſt Creature may ſin, as it is poſſible that it may be annihilated: It may become not holy, as it may become not a Creature, but Nothing. The Holineſs of a Creature may be reduc'd into Nothing, as well as his Subſtance: But the Holineſs of the Creator cannot be diminiſh'd, dimm'd, or overſhadowed; James 1.17. He is the Father of lights, with whom is no variableneſs or ſhadow of turning. 'Tis as impoſſible his Holineſs ſhould be blotted, as that his Deity ſhould be extinguiſh'd: For whatſoever Creature hath eſſentially ſuch or ſuch qualities, cannot be ſtript of them, without being turned out of its Eſſence. As a Man is eſſentially Rational; and if he ceaſeth to be Rational, he ceaſeth to be Man. The Sun is eſſentially Luminous; if it ſhould become dark in its own Body, it would ceaſe to be the Sun. In regard of this abſolute and only Holineſs of God, 'tis thrice repeated by the Seraphims, Iſai. 6.3. The Threefold Repetition of a word notes the Certainty or Abſoluteneſs of the thing, or the Irreverſibleneſs of the Reſolve; as Ezek. 21.27. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, notes the Certainty of the Judgment; alſo Revel. 8.8. Woe, woe, woe, Three times repeated, ſignifies the ſame. The Holineſs of God is ſo abſolutely peculiar to him, that it can no more be expreſt in Creatures, than his Omnipotence, whereby they may be able to create a World; or his Omniſcience, whereby they may be capable of knowing all things, and knowing God as he knows himſelf.

p. 5013. God is ſo holy, that he cannot poſſibly approve of any Evil done by another, but doth perfectly abhor it; it would not elſe be a glorious holineſs: Pſal. 5.3. He hath no pleaſure in wickedneſs. He doth not only love that which is juſt, but abhor with a perfect hatred, all things contrary to the Rule of Righteouſneſs. Holineſs can no more approve of ſin than it can commit it: To be delighted with the evil in anothers act, contracts a Guilt, as well as the Commiſſion of it; for approbation of a thing is a conſent to it: Sometime the approbation of an evil in another is a more grievous Crime than the act it ſelf, as appears in Rom. 1.32. who knowing the Judgment of God, not only do the ſame, but have pleaſure in them that do it: Where the (not only) manifeſts it to be a greater guilt to take pleaſure in them. Every ſin is aggravated by the delight in it; to take pleaſure in the evil of anothers Act on, ſhews a more ardent affection and love to ſin, than the Committer himſelf may have. This therefore can as little fall upon God, as to do an evil act himſelf; yet as a man may be delighted with the Conſequences of anothers ſin, as it may occaſion ſome publick good, or private good to the guilty perſon; as ſometimes it may be an occaſion of his repentance, when the horridneſs of a fact ſtares him in the face, and occaſions a ſelf-reflection for that, and other Crimes, which is attended with an indignation againſt them, and ſincere remorſe for them; ſo God is pleaſed with thoſe good things his Goodneſs and Wiſdom bring forth upon the occaſion of ſin. But in regard of his Holineſs, he cannot approve of the evil, whence his Infinite Wiſdom drew forth his own glory, and his Creatures good: His Pleaſure is not in the ſinful act of the Creature, but in the act of his own goodneſs and skill turning it to another end than what the Creature aimed at.

1. He abhors it neceſſarily. Holineſs is the glory of the Deity, therefore neceſſary. The Nature of God is ſo holy, that he cannot but hate it. Hab. 1.13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canſt not look on iniquity: He is more oppoſite to it, than light to darkneſs, and therefore it can expect no countenance from him: A love of holineſs cannot be without a hatred of every thing that is contrary to it: As God neceſſarily loves himſelf, ſo he muſt neceſſarily hate every thing that is againſt himſelf: And as he loves himſelf for his own excellency and holineſs, he muſt neceſſarily deteſt whatſoever is repugnant to his holineſs, becauſe of the evil of it: Since he is infinitely good, he cannot but love goodneſs, as it is a reſemblance to himſelf, and cannot but abhor unrighteouſneſs, as being moſt diſtant from him, and contrary to him. If he have any eſteem for his own Perfections, he muſt needs have an implacable averſion to all that is ſo repugnant to him, that would, if it were poſſible, deſtroy him, and is a point directed, not only againſt his glory, but againſt his life. If he did not hate it, he would hate himſelf: For ſince Righteouſneſs is his Image, and Sin would deface his Image; if he did not love his Image, and loath what is againſt his Image, he would loath himſelf, he would be an Enemy to his own Nature:††Turretin. de ſatisfact. p. 35.36. Nay, if it were poſſible for him to love it, it were poſſible for him not to be holy, it were poſſible then for him to deny himſelf, and will that he were no God, which is a palpable Contradiction. Yet this neceſſity in God of hating ſin, is not a brutiſh neceſſity, ſuch as is in meer Animals, that avoid by a natural Inſtinct, not of choice, what is prejudicial to them; but moſt free, as well as neceſſary, ariſing from an infinite knowledge of his own Nature, and of the evil nature of Sin, and the contrariety of it to his own Excellency, and the order of his works.

2. Therefore intenſely. Nothing do men act for more than their glory. As he doth infinitely, and therefore perfectly know himſelf, ſo he infinitely, and therefore perfectly knows what is contrary to himſelf, and, as according to the manner and meaſure of his knowledge of himſelf, is his love to himſelf, as infinite as his knowledge, and therefore unexpreſſible and unconceivable by us: So from the perfection of his knowledge of the evil of Sin, which is infinitely above what any Creature can have, doth ariſe a diſpleaſure againſt it ſutable to that knowledge. In Creatures the degrees of affection to, or averſion from a thing, are ſuted to the ſtrength of their apprehenſions of the good or evil in them. God knows not only the workers of wickedneſs, but the wickedneſs of their works‖‖Job 11.11.Job 11:11, for he knows vain men, he ſees wickedneſs alſo. The vehemency of this hatred is expreſt variouſly in Scripture; he loaths it ſo, that he is impatient of beholding it; the very ſight p. 502of it affects him with deteſtation, Hab. 1.13. he hates the firſt ſpark of it in the imagination, Zach. 8.17. with what variety of expreſſions doth he repeat his indignation at their polluted Services; Amos 5.21, 22. I hate, I detest, I deſpiſe, I will not ſmell, I will not accept, I will not regard; take away from me the noiſe of thy Songs, I will not hear. So Iſai. 1.14. My Soul hates, they are a trouble to me, I am weary to bear them. 'Tis the abominable thing that he hates, Jer. 44.4. he is vexed and fretted at it, Iſai. 63.10. Ezek. 16.43. He abhors it ſo, that his hatred redounds upon the Perſon that commits it. Pſal. 5.5. He hates all workers of Iniquity. Sin is the only primary Object of his Diſpleaſure: He is not diſpleas'd with the Nature of man as man, for that was derived from him; but with the Nature of man as ſinful, which is from the ſinner himſelf. When a man hath but one Object for the exerciſe of all his Anger, 'tis ſtronger than when diverted to many Objects: A mighty Torrent, when diverted into many Streams is weaker than when it comes in a full Body upon once place only. The Infinite anger and hatred of God, which is as infinite as his love and mercy, has no other Object, againſt which he directs the mighty force of it, but only Unrighteouſneſs. He hates no Perſon for all the penal Evils upon him, though they were more by ten thouſand times than Job was ſtruck with, but only for his ſin. Again, Sin being only evil, and an unmixt evil, there is nothing in it that can abate the deteſtation of God, or ballance his hatred of it; there is not the leaſt grain of goodneſs in it, to encline him to the leaſt affection to any part of it. This hatred cannot but be intenſe; for as the more any Creature is ſanctified, the more is he advanc'd in the abhorrence of that which is contrary to Holineſs; therefore God being the Higheſt, moſt Abſolute and Infinite Holineſs, doth infinitely, and therefore intenſly, hate unholineſs; being infinitely righteous, doth infinitely abhor unrighteouſneſs; being infinitely true, doth infinitely abhor falſity, as it is the greateſt and moſt deformed evil. As it is from the righteouſneſs of his Nature, that he hath a content and ſatisfaction in righteouſneſs: Pſal. 11.7. The righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs. So it is from the ſame righteouſneſs of his Nature, that he deteſts whatſoever is morally evil: As his Nature therefore is Infinite, ſo muſt his abhorrence be.

3. Therefore univerſally, becauſe neceſſarily and intenſly. He doth not hate it in one, and indulge it in another, but loaths it wherever he finds it; not one worker of Iniquity is exempt from it: Pſal. 5.5. Thou hateſt all workers of iniquity. For it is not ſin, as in this or that perſon, or as great or little; but ſin, as ſin is the Object of his hatred: And therefore let the perſon be never ſo great, and have particular Characters of his Image upon him, it ſecures him not from God's hatred of any evil action he ſhall commit. He is a jealous God, jealous of his Glory**Exod. 20.5.Exod 20:5; a Metaphor taken from jealous Husbands, who will not indure the leaſt Adultery in their Wives, nor God the leaſt defection of man from his Law. Every act of ſin is a ſpiritual Adultery, denying God to be the chief Good, and giving that Prerogative by that Act to ſome vile thing. He loves it no more in his own People than he doth in his Enemies; he frees them not from his Rod, the teſtimony of his loathing their Crimes: Whoſoever ſows Iniquity, ſhall reap Affliction. It might be thought that he affected their Droſs, if he did not refine them, and loved their filth, if he did not cleanſe them; becauſe of his deteſtation of their ſin, he will not ſpare them from the Furnace, though becauſe of love to their perſons in Chriſt, he will exempt them from Tophet. How did the Sword ever and anon drop down upon David's Family after his unworthy dealing in Ʋriah's Caſe, and cut off ever and anon ſome of the Branches of it? He doth ſometimes puniſh it more ſeverely in this Life in his own People, than in others: Upon Jonah's Diſobedience a Storm purſues him, and a Whale devours him, while the Prophane World lived in their Luſts without controul. Moſes for one act of Unbelief is excluded from Canaan, when greater Sinners attained that happineſs. 'Tis not a light puniſhment, but a vengeance he takes on their Inventions††Pſal. 99 8.Ps 99:8, to manifeſt that he hates ſin as ſin, and not becauſe the worſt perſons commit it. Perhaps, had a prophane Man touched the Ark, the hand of God had not ſo ſuddenly reach'd him: But when Ʋzzah, a man zealous for him, as may be ſuppoſed by his care for the ſupport of the tottering Ark, would ſtep out of his place, he ſtrikes him down for his diſobedient Action, p. 503by the ſide of the Ark, which he would indirectly (as not being a Levite) ſuſtain††2 Sam. 6.72 Sam 6:7. Nor did our Saviour ſo ſharply reprove the Phariſees, and turn ſo ſhort from them as he did from Peter, when he gave a carnal adviſe, and contrary to that wherein was to be the greateſt manifeſtation of God's Holineſs, viz. the Death of Chriſt‖‖…. He calls him Satan, a name ſharper than the title of the Devil's Children wherewith he marked the Phariſees, and given (beſides him) to none but Judas, who made a profeſſion of love to him, and was outwardly rank'd in the number of his Diſciples. A Gardiner hates a Weed the more for being in the bed with the moſt pretious Flowers. God's hatred is univerſally fixed againſt ſin, and he hates it as much in thoſe whoſe Perſons ſhall not fall under his eternal Anger, as being ſecured in the Arms of a Redeemer, by whom the Guilt is wip'd of, and the filth ſhall be totally waſhed away: Though he hates their ſin, and cannot but hate it, yet he loves their Perſons, as being united as Members to the Mediator and Myſtical Head. A man may love a gangren'd Member, becauſe 'tis a Member of his own Body, or a Member of a dear Relation, but he loaths the gangrene in it more than in thoſe wherein he is not ſo much concern'd.

Though God's hatred of Believers Perſons is removed by Faith in the Satisfactory Death of Jeſus Chriſt; yet his Antipathy againſt ſin was not taken away by that Blood; nay, it was impoſſible it ſhould: It was never deſign'd, nor had it any capacity to alter the unchangeable Nature of God, but to manifeſt the unſpottedneſs of his Will, and his eternal Averſion to any thing that was contrary to the Purity of his Being, and the Righteouſneſs of his Laws.

4. Perpetually: This muſt neceſſarily follow upon the others. He can no more ceaſe to hate Impurity, than he can ceaſe to love Holineſs: If he ſhould in the leaſt inſtant approve of any thing that is filthy, in that moment he would diſapprove of his own Nature and Being; there would be an interruption in his love of himſelf, which is as Eternal as it is Infinite. How can he love any ſin, which is contrary to his Nature, but for one moment, without hating his own Nature, which is eſſentially contrary to ſin? Two Contraries cannot be loved at the ſame time; God muſt firſt begin to hate himſelf, before he can approve of any evil which is directly oppoſite to himſelf. We indeed are changed with a Temptation, ſometimes bear an affection to it, and ſometimes teſtifie an indignation againſt it; but God is always the ſame without any ſhadow of change, and is angry with the wicked every day, Pſal. 7.11. that is, uninterruptedly in the nature of his Anger, though not in the effects of it. God indeed may be reconciled to the Sinner, but never to the ſin; for then he ſhould renounce himſelf, deny his own Eſſence and his own Divinity, if his inclinations to the love of Goodneſs, and his averſion from Evil could be changed; if he ſuffered the Contempt of the one, and encouraged the Practiſe of the other.

4. God is ſo holy, that he cannot but love Holineſs in others. Not that he owes any thing to his Creature, but from the unſpeakable holineſs of his Nature, whence affections to all things that bear a reſemblance of him do flow; as Light ſhoots out from the Sun, or any glittering Body: 'Tis eſſential to the infinite Righteouſneſs of his Nature to love Righteouſneſs wherever he beholds it: Pſal. 11.7. The righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs. He cannot, becauſe of his Nature, but love that which bears ſome agreement with his Nature, that which is the curious Draught of his own Wiſdom and Purity: He cannot but be delighted with a Copy of himſelf: He would not have a holy Nature, if he did not love Holineſs in every Nature: His own Nature would be denied by him, if he did not affect every thing that had a Stamp of his own Nature upon it. There was indeed nothing without God, that could invite him to manifeſt ſuch Goodneſs to man, as he did in Creation: But after he had ſtampt that rational Nature with a Righteouſneſs convenient for it, it was impoſſible but that he ſhould ardently love that Impreſſion of himſelf, becauſe he loves his own Deity, and conſequently all things which are any Sparks and Images of it: And were the Devils capable of an act of Righteouſneſs, the Holineſs of his Nature would incline him to love it, even in thoſe dark and revolted Spirits.

p. 5045. God is ſo holy, that he cannot poſitively will or encourage ſin in any. How can he give any Encouragement to that, which he cannot in the leaſt approve of, or look upon without loathing, not only the Crime but the Criminal? Light may ſooner be the cauſe of Darkneſs, than Holineſs it ſelf be the cauſe of Unholineſs, abſolutely contrary to it: 'Tis a Contradiction, that he that is the Fountain of Good, ſhould be the ſource of Evil; as if the ſame Fountain ſhould bubble up both ſweet and bitter Streams; ſalt and freſh**Jam. 3.11.Jas 3:11. Since whatſoever Good is in man, acknowledges God for its Author, it follows that men are Evil by their own fault. There is no need for men to be incited to that, to which the Corruption of their own Nature doth ſo powerfully bend them. Water hath a forcible principle in its own Nature to carry it downward; it needs no force to haſten the motion: God tempts no man, but every man is drawn away by his own Luſt, Jam. 1 13.14. All the preparations for glory are from God, Rom. 9.23. but men are ſaid to be fitted to deſtruction, Verſe 22. but God is not ſaid to fit them; they by their Iniquities fit themſelves for ruine, and he by his long ſuffering keeps the deſtruction from them for a while.

1. Firſt, God cannot command any Ʋnrighteouſneſs. As all Vertue is ſumm'd up in a love to God, ſo all Iniquity is ſumm'd up in an enmity to God: Every wicked Work declares a man an Enemy to God: Col. 1.21. Enemies in your minds by wicked Works. If he could command his Creature any thing which bears an enmity in its Nature to himſelf, he would then implicitly command the hatred of himſelf, and he would be in ſome meaſure a hater of himſelf: He that commands another to deprive him of his Life, cannot be ſaid to bear any love to his own Life. God can never hate himſelf, and therefore cannot command any thing that is hateful to him, and tends to a hating of him, and driving the Creature further from him. In that very moment that God ſhould command ſuch a thing, he would ceaſe to be Good. What can be more abſur'd to imagine, then that infinite Goodneſs ſhould enjoyn a thing contrary to it ſelf, and contrary to the eſſential Duty of a Creature, and order him to do any thing that beſpeaks an enmity to the Nature of the Creator, or a deflouring and diſparaging his Works? God cannot but love himſelf, and his own Goodneſs, he were not otherwiſe Good; and therefore cannot order the Creature to do any thing oppoſite to this Goodneſs, or any thing hurtful to the Creature it ſelf, as Unrighteouſneſs is.

2. Nor can God ſecretly inſpire any Evil into us. 'Tis as much againſt his Nature to incline the heart to ſin, as it is to command it: As it is impoſſible but that he ſhould love himſelf, and therefore impoſſible to enjoyn any thing that tends to a hatred of himſelf; by the ſame reaſon it is as impoſſible that he ſhould infuſe ſuch a Principle in the heart, that might carry a man out to any act of Enmity againſt him. To enjoyn one thing, and incline to another, would be an Argument of ſuch inſincerity, unfaithfulneſs, contradiction to it ſelf, that it cannot be conceived to fall within the Compaſs of the Divine Nature††Deut. 32.4.Deut 32:4, who is a God without iniquity, becauſe a God of truth and ſincerity, juſt and right is he. To beſtow excellent Faculties upon Man in Creation, and incline him by a ſuddain impulſion to things contrary to the true end of him, and induce an inevitable ruin upon that Work, which he had compoſed with ſo much Wiſdom and Goodneſs, and pronounced good with ſo much delight and Pleaſure, is inconſiſtent with that love which God bears to the Creature of his own framing: To incline his Will to that which would render him the Object of his hatred, the Fuel for his Juſtice, and ſink him into deplorable Miſery, 'tis moſt abſurd, and unchriſtian-like to imagine.

3. Nor can God neceſſitate man to ſin. Indeed ſin cannot be committed by force; there is no ſin but is in ſome ſort voluntary: Voluntary in the root, or voluntary in the branch; voluntary by an immediate act of the Will, or voluntary by a general or natural inclination of the Will. That is not a Crime, to which a man is violenc'd, without any concurrence of the Faculties of the Soul to that act; 'tis indeed not an act, but a paſſion; a man that is forced, is not an Agent, but a Patient under the force: But what neceſſity can there be upon Man from God, ſince he hath implanted ſuch a Principle in him, that he cannot deſire any thing but what is good, either really or apparently; and if a man miſtakes the Object, 'tis his p. 505own fault; for God hath endowed him with Reaſon to diſcern, and liberty of Will to chooſe upon that Judgment.

And though 'tis to be acknowledged that God hath an Abſolute Soveraign Dominion over his Creature, without any Limitation, and may do what he pleaſes, and diſpoſe of it according to his own Will, as a Potter doth with his Veſſel, Rom. 9.21. according as the Church ſpeaks, Iſa. 64.8. We are the Clay, and thou our Potter; and we all are the work of thy hand: Yet he cannot pollute any undefiled Creature by virtue of that Soveraign Power, which he hath to do what he will with it; becauſe ſuch an act would be contrary to the Foundation and Right of his Dominion, which conſiſts in the excellency of his Nature, his immenſe Wiſdom and unſpotted Purity: If God ſhould therefore do any ſuch act, he would expunge the right of his Dominion, by blotting out that nature which renders him fit for that Dominion, and the exerciſe of it**Amyrald. diſert. pa▪ 103, 104.. Any Dominion which is exercis'd without the Rules of goodneſs, is not a true Soveraignty, but an inſupportable Tyranny. God would ceaſe to be a rightful Soveraign, if he ceaſed to be good; and he would ceaſe to be good, if he did command, neceſſitate, or by any poſitive operation incline inwardly the heart of a Creature, directly to that which were morally evil, and contrary to the eminency of his own Nature.

But that we may the better conceive of this, let us trace Man in his firſt fall, whereby he ſubjected himſelf and all his Poſterity to the Curſe of the Law and hatred of God; we ſhall find no foot-ſteps, either of Precept, outward force, or inward impulſion††Amyrald. defenſ. de Calvin. p. 151. 152. The plain ſtory of Man's Apoſtacy diſchargeth God from any intereſt in the Crime as an incouragement, and excuſeth him from any appearance of ſuſpicion, when he ſhewed him the Tree he had reſerved, as a mark of his Soveraignty, and forbad him to eat of the Fruit of it: He backt the Prohibition with the threatning the greateſt Evil, viz. Death; which could be underſtood to imply nothing leſs than the loſs of all his happineſs; and in that couch'd an aſſurance of the perpetuity of his felicity, if he did not rebelliouſly reach forth his hand to take and eat of the Fruit **Gen. 2.16, 17Gen 2:16Gen 2:17. 'Tis true, God had given that Fruit an excellency, a goodneſs for food, and a pleaſantneſs to the eye ††Gen. 3.6.Gen 3:6. He had given Man an appetite, whereby he was capable of deſiring ſo pleaſant a Fruit; but God had by Creation rang'd it under the Command of Reaſon, if man would have kept it in its due Obedience; he had fixed a ſevere Threatning to bar the unlawful Excurſions of it: He had allowed him a multitude of other Fruits in the Garden, and given him liberty enough to ſatisfie his Curioſity in all except this only. Could there be any thing more obliging to Man, to let God have his reſerve of that one Tree, than the grant of all the reſt: and more deterring from any diſobedient Attempt than ſo ſtrict a Command, ſpirited with ſo dreadful a Penalty? God did not ſollicite him to rebel againſt him: A ſollicitation to it, and a command againſt it, were inconſiſtent. The Devil aſſaults him, and God permitted it, and ſtands as it were a Spectator of the iſſue of the Combat. There could be no neceſſity upon Man to liſten to, and entertain the Suggeſtions of the Serpent: He had a power to reſiſt him, and he had an anſwer ready for all the Devils Arguments, had they been multiplied to more than they were; the oppoſing the Order of God, had been a ſufficient Confutaion of all the Devils plauſible reaſonings: That Creator who hath given me my being, hath ordered me not to eat of it. Though the pleaſure of the Fruit might allure him, yet the force of his Reaſon might have quell'd the liquoriſhneſs of his Senſe: The perpetual thinking of, and ſounding out the command of God, had ſilenc'd both Satan and his own Appetite; had diſarm'd the Tempter, and preſerved his Senſitive part in its due ſubjection. What inclination can we ſuppoſe there could be from the Creator, when upon the very firſt offer of the Temptation, Eve oppoſes to the Tempter the Prohibition and Threatning of God, and ſtrains it to a higher peg than we find God had delivered it in? For in Gen. 2.17. 'tis you ſhall not eat of it; but ſhe adds, Gen. 3.3. neither ſhall you touch it: which was a Remark that might have had more influence to reſtrain her. Had our firſt Parents kept this fixed upon their Underſtandings and Thoughts, that God had forbidden any ſuch act as the Eating of the Fruit, and that he was true to execute the Threatning he had uttered, of which Truth of God they could not but have a natural Notion, with what eaſe might they have withſtood the Devils p. 506attack'd, and defeated his Deſign? And it had been eaſie with them, to have kept their Underſtandings by the force of ſuch a thought, from entertaining any contrary Imagination. There is no ground for any jealouſie of any Encouragements, inward Impulſions, or neceſſity from God in this Affair. A diſcharge of God from this firſt ſin will eaſily induce a freedom of him from all other ſins which follow upon it.

God doth not then Encourage or Excite or Incline to ſin. How can he excite to that, which when it is done, he will be ſure to condemn? How can he be a Righteous Judge to ſentence a ſinner to Miſery for a Crime acted by a ſecret Inſpiration from himſelf? Iniquity would deſerve no reproof from him, if he were any way poſitively the Author of it. Were God the Author of it in us, what is the reaſon our own Conſciences accuſe us for it, and convince us of it? that, being God's Deputy, would not accuſe us of it, if the Soveraign Power by which it acts, did incline us to it: How can he be thought to excite to that which he hath enacted ſuch ſevere Laws to reſtrain, or encline Man to that which he hath ſo dreadfully puniſhed in his Son, and which it is impoſſible but the excellency of his Nature muſt encline him eternally to hate? We may ſooner imagine that a pure Flame ſhall engender Cold, and Darkneſs be the Off-ſpring of a Sun-beam, as imagine ſuch a thing as this. What ſhall we ſay, is there unrighteouſneſs with God? God forbid. The Apoſtle execrates ſuch a thought; Rom. 9.14.

6. God cannot act any Evil, in or by himſelf. If he cannot approve of ſin in others, nor excite any to iniquity, which is leſs, he cannot commit Evil himſelf, which is greater: What he cannot poſitively will in another, can never be willed in himſelf; he cannot do evil through Ignorance, becauſe of his Infinite Knowledge; nor through Weakneſs, becauſe of his Infinite Power; nor through Malice, becauſe of his Infinite Rectitude. He cannot will any unjuſt thing, becauſe having an infinitely perfect Underſtanding, he cannot judge that to be true which is falſe; or that to be good, which is evil; his Will is regulated by his Wiſdom: If he could will any unjuſt and irrational thing, his Will would be repugnant to his Underſtanding; there would be a diſagreement in God, Will againſt Mind, and Will againſt Wiſdom: He being the higheſt Reaſon, the firſt Truth, cannot do an unreaſonable, falſe, defective Action. 'Tis not a defect in God that he cannot do Evil, but a fulneſs and excellency of Power: As it is not a weakneſs in the Light, but the perfection of it, that it is unable to produce Darkneſs: God is the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableneſs, James 1.17. Nothing pleaſes him, nothing is acted by him, but what is beſeeming the Infinite excellency of his own Nature: The voluntary neceſſity whereby God cannot be unjuſt, renders him a God bleſſed for ever: He would hate himſelf as the chief Good, if in any of his Actions he ſhould diſagree with his Goodneſs. He cannot do any unworthy thing, not becauſe he wants an Infinite Power, but becauſe he is poſſeſſed of an Infinite Wiſdom, and adorn'd with an Infinite Purity; and being infinitely pure, cannot have the leaſt mixture of impurity. As if you can ſuppoſe Fire infinitely hot, you cannot ſuppoſe it to have the leaſt mixture of Coldneſs: The better any thing is, the more unable it is to do evil: God being the only Goodneſs, can as little be changed in his Goodneſs, as in his Eſſence.

IIThe Second thing.

2. The next enquiry is, The Proof that God is holy, or the manifeſtation of it. Purity is as requiſite to the bleſſedneſs of God, as to the Being of God: As he could not be God without being bleſſed, ſo he could not be bleſſed without being holy. He is called by the title of bleſſed, as well as by that of holy, Mark 14.61. Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Bleſſed? Unrighteouſneſs is a miſery and turbulency in any Spirit wherein it is: For it is a privation of an excellency which ought to be in every intellectual Being, and what can follow upon the privation of an excellency but unquietneſs and grief, the moth of Happineſs? An unrighteous man, as an unrighteous man, can never be bleſſed, though he were in a local Heaven. Had God the leaſt Spot upon his Purity, it would render him as miſerable in the midſt of his Infinite Sufficiency, as Iniquity p. 507renders a man in the confluence of his earthly Enjoyments. The Holineſs and Felicity of God are inſeparable in him. The Apoſtle intimates that the Heathen made an attempt to ſully his Bleſſedneſs, when they would liken him to corruptible, mutable, impure man; Rom. 1.23, 25. They changed the Glory of the Incorruptible God into an Image made like to Corruptible Man: And after, he entitles God, a God bleſſed for ever. The Goſpel is therefore called, The glorious Goſpel of the bleſſed God, 1 Tim. 1.11. In regard of the holineſs of the Goſpel Precepts, and in regard of the Declaration of the holineſs of God in all the Streams and Branches, wherein his Purity, in which his Bleſſedneſs conſiſts, is as illuſtrious as any other Perfection of the Divine Being. God hath highly manifeſted this Attribute in the ſtate of Nature; in the Legal Adminiſtration; in the diſpenſation of the Goſpel. His Wiſdom, Goodneſs, and Power are declared in Creation; his Soveraign Authority in his Law; his Grace and Mercy in the Goſpel; and his Righteouſneſs in all. Sutable to this threefold ſtate, may be that ternal Repetition of his Holineſs in the Prophecy, Iſai. 6.3. holy as Creator and Benefactor; holy as Law-giver and Judge; holy as Reſtorer and Redeemer.

1. His holineſs appears as he is Creator, in framing man in a perfect Ʋprightneſs. Angels, as made by God, could not be evil; for God beheld his own Works with pleaſure, and could not have pronounced them all good, had ſome been created pure, and others impure: Two Moral Contrarieties could not be good. The Angels had a first eſtate, wherein they were happy**Jude 6.Jude 1:6; and had they not left their own habitation and ſtate, they could not have been miſerable. But becauſe the Scripture ſpeaks only of the Creation of man, we will conſider, that the Humane Nature was well ſtrung and tun'd by God, according to the Note of his own Holineſs: Eccl. 7.29. God hath made man upright: He had declared his Power in other Creatures, but would declare in his Rational Creature, what he moſt valued in himſelf; and therefore created him upright, with a Wiſdom which is the rectitude of the Mind, with a Purity which is the rectitude of the Will and Affections. He had declared a purity in other Creatures, as much as they were capable of, viz. in the exact tuning them to anſwer one another. And that God, who ſo well tun'd and compos'd other Creatures, would not make Man a Jarring Inſtrument, and place a crackt Creature to be Lord of the reſt of his earthly Fabrick. God being holy, could not ſet his Seal upon any Rational Creature, but the Impreſſion would be like himſelf, pure and holy alſo: He could not be created with an Error in his Underſtanding; that had been inconſiſtent with the Goodneſs of God to his Rational Creature; if ſo, the erronious motion of the Will, which was to follow the dictates of the Underſtanding, could not have been imputed to him as his Crime, becauſe it would have been, not a voluntary, but a neceſſary effect of his Nature; had there been an error in the firſt Wheel, the error of the next could not have been imputed to the Nature of that, but to the irregular motion of the firſt Wheel in the Engine. The ſin of Men and Angels proceeded not from any natural defect in their Underſtandings, but from Inconſideration: He that was the Author of Harmony in his other Creatures, could not be the Author of Diſorder in the chief of his Works: Other Creatures were his Footſteps, but man was his Image††Gen. 1.26, 27.Gen 1:26Gen 1:27; Let us make man in our image, after our likeneſs: Which though it ſeems to imply no more in that place, than an Image of his Dominion over the Creatures, yet the Apoſtle raiſes it a peg higher, and gives us a larger Interpretation of it, Col. 3.10. And have put on the New-man, which is renewed in knowledge after the Image of him that created him; making it to conſiſt in a reſemblance to his Righteouſneſs. Image, ſay ſome, notes the form, as Man was a Spirit in regard of his Soul: Likeneſs notes the quality implanted in his Spiritual Nature: The Image of God was drawn in him, both as he was a Rational, and as he was a holy Creature. The Creatures manifeſted the being of a Superiour Power, as their Cauſe, but the Righteouſneſs of the firſt Man evidenced, not only a Soveraign Power, as the Donor of his being; but a holy Power, as the Patern of his Work: God appeared to be a holy God in the Righteouſneſs of his Creature, as well as an Underſtanding God in the Reaſon of his Creature, while he p. 508formed him with all neceſſary knowledge in his Mind, and all neceſſary uprightneſs in his Will: The Law of Love to God, with his whole ſoul, his whole mind, his whole heart and strength, was originally writ upon his Nature: All the parts of his Nature were framed in a Moral Conformity with God, to anſwer this Law, and imitate God in his Purity, which conſiſts in a love of himſelf, and his own Goodneſs and Excellency. Thus doth the clearneſs of the Stream point us to the purer Fountain, and the brightneſs of the Beam evidence a greater ſplendor in the Sun which ſhot it out.

2. His Holineſs appears in his Laws, as he is a Law-giver and a Judge. Since Man was bound to be ſubject to God, as a Creature, and had a capacity to be ruled by the Law, as an underſtanding and willing Creature, God gave him a Law taken from the depths of his holy Nature, and ſuted to the Original Faculties of Man. The Rules which God hath fixed in the World, are not the Reſolves of bare Will, but reſult particularly from the Goodneſs of his Nature: They are nothing elſe but the Tranſcripts of his Infinite deteſtation of ſin, as he is the unblemiſht Governour of the World. This being the moſt adorable Property of his Nature, he hath impreſt it upon that Law which he would have inviolably obſerved as a perpetual Rule for our Actions, that we may every moment think of this beautiful Perfection. God can command nothing, but what hath ſome ſimilitude with the rectitude of his own Nature: All his Laws, every Paragraph of them therefore ſcent of this, and glitter with it. Deut. 4.8. What Nation hath Statutes and Judgments ſo righteous as all this Law I ſet before you this day? and therefore they are compar'd to fine Gold that hath no ſpeck or droſs**Pſal. 19.10.Ps 19:10.

This Purity is evident

1. In the Moral Law, or Law of Nature.

2. In the Ceremonial Law.

3. In the Allurements annext to it for keeping it, and the Affrightments to reſtrain from the breaking of it.

4. In the Judgments inflicted for the Violation of it.

1. In the Moral Law: Which is therefore dignified with the title of holy twice in one Verſe, Rom. 7.12. Wherefore the Law is holy, and the Commandment is holy, juſt, and good: It being the expreſs Image of God's Will, as our Saviour was of his Perſon, and bearing a reſemblance to the Purity of his Nature. The Tables of this Law were put into the Ark, that as the Mercy Seat was to repreſent the Grace of God, ſo the Law was to repreſent the Holineſs of God††Pſal. 19.1.Ps 19:1. The Pſalmiſt, after he had ſpoken of the Glory of God in the Heavens, wherein the Power of God is expoſed to our view, introduceth the Law, wherein the Purity of God is evidenc'd to our Minds‖‖Verſ. 7, 8. &c.; perfect, pure, clean, righteous are the titles given to it. 'Tis clearer in Holineſs, than the Sun is in brightneſs; and more mighty in it ſelf to command the Conſcience, than the Sun is to run its Race. As the Holineſs of the Scripture demonſtrates the Divinity of its Author; ſo the Holineſs of the Law doth the Purity of the Law-giver.

1. The purity of this Law is ſeen in the Matter of it. It preſcribes all that becomes a Creature towards God, and all that becomes one Creature towards another of his own rank and kind. The Image of God is compleat in the Holineſs of the firſt Table, and the Righteouſneſs of the ſecond; which is intimated by the Apoſtle, Eph. 4.24. the one being the Rule of what we owe to God; the other being the Rule of what we owe to man: There is no good but it enjoyns, and no evil but it diſowns. 'Tis not ſickly and lame in any part of it; not a good action, but it gives it its due praiſe; and not an evil action, but it ſets a condemning mark upon. The Commands of it are frequently in Scripture call'd Judgments, becauſe they rightly judge of good and evil, and are a clear light to inform the Judgment of Man in the knowledge of both. By this was the Underſtanding of David enlightned to know every falſe way, and to hate it**Pſal. 119.104.Ps 119:104. There is no Caſe can happen, but may meet with a determination from it; It teaches men the nobleſt manner of living, a life like God himſelf; honourably for the Law-giver, and joyfully for the ſubject. It directs us to the higheſt End; ſets us at a diſtance from all baſe and ſordid Practiſes; it propoſeth Light to the Underſtanding, and p. 509Goodneſs to the Will. It would Tune all the Strings, ſet right all the Orders of Mankind: It cenſures the leaſt Mote, countenanceth not any ſtain in the Life. Not a wanton Glance can meet with any juſtification from it**Mat. 5.28.Matt 5:28: not a raſh Anger, but it frowns upon††Mat. 5.22.Matt 5:22. As the Law-giver wants nothing, as an Addition to his Bleſſedneſs; ſo his Law wants nothing as a Supplement to its perfection, Deut. 4 2. What our Saviour ſeems to add, is not an Addition to mend any defects; but a reſtoration of it from the corrupt Gloſſes, wherewith the Scribes and Phariſees had eclipſt the brightneſs of it: They had curtail'd it, and diminiſh'd part of its Authority, cutting off its empire over the leaſt Evil, and left its power only to check the groſſer Practiſes. But Chriſt reſtores it to the due extent of its Soveraignty, and ſhews it in thoſe dimenſions in which the Holy Men of God conſidered it, as exceeding broad, Pſal. 119.96. reaching to all Actions, all Motions, all Circumſtances attending them; full of inexhauſtible Treaſures of Righteouſneſs. And though this Law, ſince the Fall, doth irritate Sin, 'tis no diſparagement, but a Teſtimony to the Righteouſneſs of it; which the Apostle manifeſts by his Wherefore, Rom. 7.8. Sin taking occaſion by the Commandment, wrought in me all manner of Concupiſcence; and repeating the ſame ſenſe verſe 11. ſubjoyns a Wherefore, verſe 12. Wherefore the Law is holy. The riſing of Mens ſinful hearts againſt the Law of God, when it ſtrikes with its Preceptive and Minatory parts upon their Conſciences, evidenceth the Holineſs of the Law and the Law-giver.

In its own Nature it is a Directing Rule, but the malignant Nature of Sin is exaſperated by it; as an hoſtile quality in a Creature, will awaken it ſelf at the appearance of its Enemy. The Purity of this Beam, and Tranſcript of God, bears witneſs to a greater clearneſs and beauty in the Sun and Original. Undefiled Streams manifeſt an untainted Fountain.

2. It is ſeen in the manner of its Precepts. As it preſcribes all Good, and forbids all Evil; ſo it doth enjoyn the one, and baniſh the other as ſuch. The Laws of Men command Vertuous things; not as Vertuous in themſelves, but as uſeful for Human Society; which the Magiſtrate is the Conſervator of, and the Guardian of Justice ‖‖Ames, de Conſc. lib. 5 cap. 1. que…t. …. The Laws of Men contain not all the Precepts of Vertue, but only ſuch as are accommodated to their Cuſtomes, and are uſeful to preſerve the Ligaments of their Government. The deſign of them is not ſo much to render the Subjects good Men, as good Citizens: They order the Practiſe of thoſe Vertues that may ſtrengthen Civil Society, and diſcountenance thoſe Vices only which weaken the Sinews of it: But God, be… the Guardian of Ʋniverſal Righteouſneſs, doth not only enact the Obſervance of all Righteouſneſs, but the obſervance of it as Righteouſneſs. He Commands that which is Juſt in it ſelf; enjoyns Vertues as Vertues, and prohibits Vices as Vices; as they are profitable or injurious to our ſelves, as well as to Others.

Men command Temperance and Juſtice; not as Vertues in themſelves, but as they prevent Diſorder and Confuſion in a Common Wealth: And forbid Adultery and Theft; not as Vices in themſelves, but as they are Intrenchments upon Property: Not as hurtful to the Perſon that commits them, but as hurtful to the Perſon againſt whoſe Right they are committed. Upon this account perhaps Paul applauds the Holineſs of the Law of God in regard of its own Nature, as conſidered in it ſelf, more than he doth the Juſtice of it in regard of Man, and the goodneſs and conveniency of it to the World; Rom. 7.12. the Law is Holy twice, and Juſt and Good but once.

3. In the Spiritual extent of it. The moſt Righteous Powers of the World, do not ſo much regard in their Laws what the Inward Affections of their Subjects are: The External Acts are only the Objects of their Decrees, either to encourage them if they be uſeful, or diſcourage them if they be hurtful to the Community. And indeed they can do no other, for they have no Power proportioned to Inward Affections, ſince the Inward diſpoſition falls not under their Cenſure; and it would be fooliſh for any Legiſlative Power to make ſuch Laws, which it is impoſſible for it to put in Execution. They can prohibit the Outward Acts of Theft and Murder, but they cannot command the Love of God, the Hatred of Sin, the Contempt of the World; they cannot prohibit Ʋnclean Thoughts, and p. 510the Atheiſm of the Heart. But the Law of God ſurmounts in Righteouſneſs all the Laws of the beſt regulated Common Wealths in the World: It reſtrains the Licentious Heart, as well as the Violent Hand; it damps the very firſt bubblings of Corrupt Nature, orders a Purity in the Spring; commands a clean Fountain, clean Streams, clean Veſſels. It would frame the Heart to an Inward, as well as the Life to an Outward Righteouſneſs, and make the Inſide purer than the Outſide. It forbids the firſt Belchings of a Murderous or Adulterous intention: It obligeth Man as a Rational Creature, and therefore exacts a conformity of every Rational Faculty, and of whatſoever is under the Command of them. It commands the Private Cloſet to be free from the leaſt Cobweb, as well as the Outward Porch to be clean from Mire and Dirt. It frowns upon all ſtains and pollutions of the moſt retired Thoughts: Hence the Apoſtle calls it a Spiritual Law, Rom. 7.14. as not Political, but extending its force further than the Frontiers of the Man; placing its Enſigns in the Metropolis of the Heart and Mind, and curbing with its Scepter the Inward motions of the Spirit, and commanding over the Secrets of every Mans Breaſt.

4. In regard of the perpetuity of it. The Purity and perpetuity of it are link'd together by the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 19.9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever; the Fear of the Lord, that is, that Law which commands the Fear and Worſhip of God, and is the Rule of it. And indeed God values it at ſuch a rate, that rather than part with a tittle, or let the honour of it lie in the Duſt, he would not only let Heaven and Earth paſs away, but expoſe his Son to death for the reparation of the wrong it had ſuſtain'd. So holy it is, that the Holineſs and Righteouſneſs of God cannot diſpence with it, cannot abrogate it, without deſpoiling himſelf of his own Being: 'Tis a Copy of the Eternal Law. Can he ever abrogate the command of Love to himſelf, without ſhewing ſome contempt of his own Excellency and very Being? Before he can enjoyn a Creature not to love him, he muſt make himſelf unworthy of Love, and worthy of Hatred; this would be the higheſt Ʋnrighteouſneſs, to order us to hate that which is only worthy of our higheſt Affections.††Suarez. So God cannot change the firſt Command, and order us to worſhip many Gods; this would be againſt the Excellency and Unity of God: For God cannot conſtitute another God, or make any thing worthy of an Honour equal with himſelf. Thoſe things that are good, only becauſe they are Commanded, are alterable by God: Thoſe things that are intrinſically and eſſentially Good, and therefore Commanded, are unalterable as long as the Holineſs and Righteouſneſs of God ſtand firm▪ The intrinſick Goodneſs of the Moral Law, the concern God hath for it; th… perpetuity of the Precepts of the firſt Table, and the care he hath had to imprint the Precepts of the Second upon the Minds and Conſciences of Men, as the Author of Nature for the preſervation of the World; manifeſts the Holineſs of the Law-maker and Governour.

2. His Holineſs appears in the Ceremonial Law. In the variety of Sacrifices for Sin, wherein he writ his deteſtation of Ʋnrighteouſneſs in bloody Characters. His Holineſs was more conſtantly expreſt in the continual Sacrifices, than in thoſe rarer ſprinklings of Judgments now and then upon the World; which often reached not the worſt, but the moſt moderate Sinners, and were the occaſions of the queſtioning of the Righteouſneſs of his Providence both by Jews and Gentiles. In Judgments his Purity was only now and then manifeſt: By his long Patience, he might be imagin'd by ſome reconcil'd to their Crimes, or not much concern'd in them; but by the Morning and Evening Sacrifice he witneſs'd a perpetual and uninterrupted Abhorrence of whatſoever was Evil.

Beſides thoſe, the occaſional Waſhings and Sprinklings upon Ceremonial Defilements, which polluted only the Body, gave an evidence, that every thing that had a reſemblance to Evil, was loathſom to him. Add alſo the Prohibitions of eating ſuch and ſuch Creatures that were filthy; as the Swine that wallowed in the Mire, a fit Emblem for the prophane and brutiſh Sinner; which had a Moral ſignification, both of the loathſomneſs of Sin to God, and the averſion themſelves ought to have to every thing that was filthy.

p. 5113. This Holineſs appears in the Allurements annex'd to the Law for keeping it; and the Affrightments to reſtrain from the breaking of it. Both Promiſes and Threatnings have their Fundamental Root in the Holineſs of God, and are both Branches of this peculiar Perfection. As they reſpect the Nature of God, they are Declarations of his hatred of Sin, and his love of Righteouſneſs; the one belong to his Threatnings, the other to his Promiſes; both joyn together to repreſent this Divine Perfection to the Creature, and to excite to an imitation in the Creature. In the one God would render Sin odious, becauſe dangerous; and curb the practice of Evil, which would otherwiſe be Licentious: In the other, he would commend Righteouſneſs, and excite a love of it, which would otherwiſe be cold. By theſe God ſutes the two great Affections of Men, Fear and Hope; both the branches of Self-love in Man: The Promiſes and Threatnings are both the Branches of Holineſs in God. The end of the Promiſes is the ſame with the Exhortation the Apoſtle concludes from them, 2 Cor. 7.1. Having theſe Promiſes, let us cleanſe our ſelves from all filthineſs of Fleſh and Spirit, perfecting Holineſs in the fear of God. As the end of Precepts, is to direct; the end of Threatnings, is to deter from Iniquity; ſo that of the Promiſes, is to allure to Obedience. Thus God breaths out his Love to Righteouſneſs in every Promiſe, his Hatred of Sin in every Threatning. The Rewards offerd in the one, are the Smiles of pleaſed Holineſs; and the Curſes thundred in the other, are the Sparklings of enraged Righteouſneſs.

4. His Holineſs appears in the Judgments inflicted for the violation of this Law. Divine Holineſs is the Root of Divine Juſtice, and Divine Juſtice is the Triumph of Divine Holineſs. Hence both are expreſſed in Scripture by one word of Righteouſneſs, which ſometimes ſignifies the rectitude of the Divine Nature, and ſometimes the vindicative ſtroak of his Arm; Pſal. 103.6. The Lord executeth Righteouſneſs and Judgment for all that are oppreſſed. So Dan. 9.7. Righteouſneſs (that is, Juſtice) belongs to thee. The Vials of his Wrath are filled from his implacable averſion to Iniquity. All Penal Evils ſhowred down upon the heads of Wicked men, ſpread their root in, and branch out from this Perfection. All the dreadful Storms and Tempeſts in the World are blown up by it. Why doth he rain Snares, Fire and Brimſtone, and a horrible Tempest? becauſe the righteous Lord loveth Righteouſneſs, Pſal. 11.6, 7. And (as was obſerved before) when he was going about the dreadfulleſt Work that ever was in the World; the overturning the Jewiſh State, hardening the Hearts of that Unbelieving People, and caſheiring a Nation (once dear to him) from the honour of his Protection; His Holineſs, as the Spring of all this, is applauded by the Seraphims, Iſai. 6.3. compared with Verſ. 9, 10, 11, &c. Impunity argues the approbation of a Crime, and Puniſhment the abhorrency of it. The greatneſs of the Crime, and the Righteouſneſs of the Judge, are the firſt Natural Sentiments that ariſe in the Minds of Men upon the appearance of Divine Judgments in the World, by thoſe that are near them††Amirant. Moral. Tom. 5. p. 388.. As when Men ſee Gibbets erected, Scaffolds prepared, Inſtruments of Death and Torture provided, and grievous Puniſhments inflicted; the firſt reflection in the Spectators, is the malignity of the Crime, and the deteſtation the Governours are poſſeſſed with.

1. How ſeverely hath he puniſh'd his moſt Noble Creatures for it? The once glorious Angels, upon whom he had been at greater coſt than upon other Creatures, and drawn more lively Lineaments of his own Excellency, upon the Tranſgreſſion of his Law, are thrown into the Furnace of Juſtice without any Mercy to pity them, Jude 6. And though there were but one ſort of Creatures upon the Earth that bore his Image, and were only fit to publiſh and keep up his Honour below the Heavens; yet upon their Apoſtacy (though upon a Temptation from a ſubtile and inſinuating Spirit) the Man, with all his Poſterity, is ſentenc'd to Miſery in Life, and Death at laſt; and the Woman, with all her Sex, have ſtanding Puniſhments inflicted on them; which as they begun in their Perſons, were to reach as far as the laſt Member of their ſucceſſive Generations. So Holy is God, that he will not endure a Spot in his choiceſt Work. Men indeed, when there is a crack in an excellent piece of Work, or a ſtain upon a rich Garment, do not caſt it away; they value it for the remaining Excellency, more than hate it for the p. 512contracted Spot: But God ſaw no Excellency in his Creature worthy regarding, after the Image of that which he moſt eſteemed in himſelf, was defaced.

2. How deteſtable to him are the very Instruments of Sin? For the Ill uſe, the Serpent (an Irrational Creature,) was put to by the Devil, as an Inſtrument in the Fall of Man, the whole brood of thoſe Animals are Curſt, Gen. 3.14. Curſed above all Cattle, and above every Beast of the field. Not only the Devils Head is threatned to be for ever bruiſed, and (as ſome think) render'd irrecoverable upon this further Teſtimony of his Malice in the Seduction of Man; who perhaps without this new Act, might have been admitted into the Arms of Mercy, notwithſtanding his firſt Sin; [though the Scripture gives us no account of this, only this is the only Sentence we read of pronounc'd againſt the Devil, which puts him into an irrecoverable ſtate by a Mortal bruiſing of his Head.] But, I ſay, He is not only puniſh'd, but the Organ whereby he blew in his Temptation, is put into a worſe condition than it was before. Thus God hated the Spunge, whereby the Devil deform'd his beautiful Image: Thus God, to manifeſt his deteſtation of Sin, ordered the Beast whereby any Man was ſlain, to be ſlain as well as the Malefactor, Levit. 20.15. The Gold and Silver that had been abuſed to Idolatry, and were the Ornaments of Images; though good in themſelves, and uncapable of a Criminal Nature, were not to be brought into their Houſes, but deteſted and abhorred by them, becauſe they were curſed, and an abomination to the Lord. See with what loathing Expreſſions this Law is enjoyn'd to them, Deut. 7.25, 26. So contrary is the holy Nature of God to every Sin, that it curſeth every thing that is Inſtrumental in it.