Existence and Attributes of God, Discourse 5

Existence and Attributes of God · Discourse 5

p. 179A DISCOURSE UPON THE ETERNITY OF GOD.

Pſalm 90.2.

Before the Mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadſt formed the Earth and the World; even from everlaſting to everlaſting, thou art God.

THE Title of this Pſalm is a Prayer; The Author Moſes. Some think not only this, but the Ten following Pſalms were compoſed by him. The Title wherewith he is dignified, is The Man of God, as alſo in Deut. 33.1. One inſpir'd by him, to be his Interpreter, and deliver his Oracles; One particularly directed by him:**Coccei in Loc. One who as a Servant, did diligently employ himſelf in his Maſters buſineſs, and acted for the Glory of God;**Auſtin in Loc. He was the Miniſter of the Old Teſtament, and the Prophet of the New.

There are two parts of this Pſalm.**Pareus in loc.

1. A complaint of the frailty of Mans Life in general, verſe 3, 4, 5, 6. And then a particular complaint of the condition of the Church, v. 8, 9, 10.

2. A Prayer, v. 12.

But before he ſpeaks of the ſhortneſs of humane life, he fortifies them by the conſideration of the refuge they had, and ſhould find in God, v. 1. Lord thou haſt been our dwelling place in all Generations.

We have had no ſettled abode in the Earth, ſince the time of Abraham's being called out from Ʋr of the Chaldees: We have had Canaan in a promiſe, we have it not yet in poſſeſſion; We have been expoſed to the Cruelties of an oppreſſing Enemy, and the incommodities of a deſert Wilderneſs; we have wanted the fruits of the Earth, but not the dews of Heaven. Thou haſt been our dwelling place in all Generations. Abraham was under thy Conduct; Iſaac and Jacob under thy Care: Their Poſterity were multiplied by thee, and that under their oppreſſions. Thou haſt been our Shield againſt dangers, our ſecurity in the times of trouble: When we were purſued to the Red-ſea, it was not a Creature delivered us; and when we feared the pinching of our Bowels in the Deſert, it was no Creature rain'd Manna upon us. Thou haſt been our dwelling place; Thou haſt kept open houſe for us, ſheltered us againſt ſtorms, and preſerved us from miſchief, as a houſe doth an Inhabitant from wind and weather; and that not in one or two, but in all Generations: Some think p. 180an alluſion is here made to the Ark, to which they were to have recourſe in all emergencies. Our refuge and defence hath not been from created things; not from the Ark, but from the God of the Ark.

Obſerve,

1. God is a perpetual refuge and ſecurity to his People. His Providence is not confin'd to one Generation; 'tis not one Age only that taſtes of his bounty and compaſſion: His eye never yet ſlept, nor hath he ſuffered the little Ship of his Church to be ſwallowed up, though it hath been toſt upon the waves: He hath always been an Haven to preſerve us, a Houſe to ſecure us; He hath alway had compaſſions to pity us, and power to protect us; He hath had a Face to ſhine, when the world hath had an angry Countenance to frown;**Theodoret in loc. He brought Enoch home by an extraordinary tranſlation from a brutiſh world; and when he was reſolved to reckon with men for their brutiſh lives, he lodged Noah, the Phoenix of the world, in an Ark, and kept him alive as a ſpark in the midſt of many waters, whereby to rekindle a Church in the world: In all Generations he is a dwelling place, to ſecure his people here, or entertain them above.

His Providence is not wearied, nor his Care fainting: He never wanted Will to relieve us, For he hath been our refuge; Nor ever can want Power to ſupport us; for he is a God from everlaſting to everlaſting. The Church never wanted a Pilot to ſteer her, and a Rock to ſhelter her, and daſh in pieces the waves which threaten her.

2. How worthy is it to remember former benefits, when we come to beg for new? Never were the Records of Gods mercies ſo exactly reviſed, as when his people have ſtood in need of new Editions of his Power. How neceſſary are our wants to ſtir us up to pay the rent of thankfulneſs in arrear? He renders himſelf doubly unworthy of the mercies he wants, that doth not gratefully acknowledge the mercies he hath received. God ſcarce promiſed any deliverance to the Iſraelites, and they in their diſtreſs ſcarce prayed for any deliverance, but that from Egypt was mentioned on both ſides; by God to encourage them, and by them to acknowledge their confidence in him. The greater our dangers, the more we ſhould call to mind Gods former kindneſs. We are not only thankfully to acknowledge the mercies beſtowed upon our perſons, or in our age, but thoſe of former times. Thou haſt been our dwelling place in all Generations.

Moſes was not living in the former Generations, yet he appropriates the former mercies to the preſent age. Mercies as well Generations proceed out of the loyns of thoſe that have gon before. All Man-kind are but one Adam; the whole Church but one Body.

In the ſecond verſe he backs his former conſideration.

1. By the greatneſs of his Power in forming the world.

2. By the boundleſneſs of his duration; From everlaſting to everlaſting. As thou haſt been our dwelling place, and expended upon us the ſtrength of thy power, and riches of thy love; ſo we have no reaſon to doubt the continuance on thy part, if we be not wanting on our parts; For the vaſt Mountains, and fruitful Earth are the works of thy hands; and there is leſs power requiſite for our relief, than there was for their Creation; and though ſo much ſtrength hath been upon various occaſions manifeſted, yet thy Arm is not weakned; for from everlaſting to everlaſting, thou art God**foreign ſtrong..

**Amyrald in loc.Thou haſt always been God, and no time can be aſſigned as the beginning of thy Being: The mountains are not of ſo long a ſtanding as thy ſelf; they are the effects of thy power, and therefore cannot be equal to thy duration; ſince they are effects, they ſuppoſe a precedency of their cauſe. If we would look back, we can reach no further than the beginning of the Creation, and account the years from the firſt foundation of the world; but after that we muſt loſe our ſelves in the Abyſs of Eternity; we have no Cue to guide our thoughts; we can ſee no bounds in thy Eternity: But as for Man he traverſeth the world a few days, and by thy order pronounced concerning all men, returns to the Duſt, and moulders into the Grave.

By Mountains, ſome underſtand Angels, as being Creatures of a more elevated Nature: By Earth, they underſtand humane Nature, the Earth being the habitation of Men. There is no need to divert in this place, from the Letter to ſuch a ſenſe. p. 181The deſcription ſeems to be Poetical, and amounts to this; He neither began with the beginning of Time, nor will expire with the End of it:**foreign Theodoret in loc. He did not begin when he made himſelf known to our Fathers; but his Being did precede the Creation of the World; before any created Being was formed, and any time ſetled.

Before the Mountains were brought forth, Or before they were begotten or born; The word being uſed in thoſe ſenſes in Scripture; before they ſtood up higher than the reſt of the earthly Maſs God had created. It ſeems that Mountains were not caſually caſt up by the force of the Deluge, ſoftning the Ground, and driving ſeveral parcels of it together, to grow up into a maſſy body, as the Sea doth the Sand in ſeveral places; but they were at firſt formed by God.

The Eternity of God is here deſcribed.

1. In his Priority [Before the world.]

2. In the extenſion of his duration. [From everlaſting to everlaſting thou art God.] He was before the world, yet he neither began nor ends: He is not a Temporary, but an Eternal God: It takes in both parts of Eternity, what was before the Creation of the world, and what is after: Though the Eternity of God be one permanent ſtate without ſucceſſion, yet the Spirit of God ſuiting himſelf to the weakneſs of our conception, divides it into two parts, one paſt before the foundation of the world, another to come after the deſtruction of the world; as he did exiſt before all ages, and as he will exiſt after all ages.

Many Truths lye coucht in the verſe.

1. The World hath a beginning of being. It was not from Eternity, it was once nothing; had it been of a very long duration, ſome Records would have remained of ſome memorable actions done of a longer date than any extant.

2. The world owes its Being to the creating Power of God. [Thou hadſt formed it] out of nothing into being, Thou, that is God; it could not ſpring into being of it ſelf; it was nothing; it muſt have a Former.

3. God was in being before the world. The Cauſe muſt be before the Effect; that Word which gives Being muſt be before that which receives Being.

4. This Being was from Eternity. [From Everlaſting]

5. This Being ſhall endure to Eternity. [To Everlaſting]

6. There is but one God, one Eternal. [From everlaſting to everlaſting, thou art God.] None elſe but one hath the Property of Eternity; the Gods of the Heathen cannot lay claim to it.

Doct. God is of an eternal duration. The Eternity of God is the foundation of the ſtability of the Covenant, the great comfort of a Chriſtian. The deſign of God in Scripture is to ſet forth his dealing with men in the way of a Covenant.**Gen. 1.1.Gen 1:1 The Priority of God before all things begins the Bible: In the beginning God created. His Covenant can have no foundation, but in his duration before and after the world:**Calv. in loc. And Moſes here mentions his Eternity; not only with reſpect to the Eſſence of God, but to his faederal Providence: As he is the dwelling place of his People in all Generations. The duration of God for ever, is more ſpoken of in Scripture than his Eternity à parte ante, though that is the foundation of all the comfort we can take from his Immortality: If he had a beginning, he might have an end; and ſo all our happineſs, hope and being would expire with him; but the Scripture ſometimes takes notice of his being without beginning, as well as without end.**Pſal. 93.2.Ps 93:2 Thou art from everlaſting. **Pſal. 41.13.Ps 41:13Bleſſed be God from everlaſting to everlaſting: **Prov. 8.23.Prov 8:23I was ſet up from everlaſting: If his Wiſdom were from everlaſting, himſelf was from everlaſting: Whether we underſtand it of Chriſt the Son of God, or of the eſſential wiſdom of God, 'tis all one to the preſent purpoſe. The Wiſdom of God ſuppoſeth the Eſſence of God, as habits in Creatures ſuppoſe the being of ſome power or faculty as their Subject. The Wiſdom of God ſuppoſeth Mind and Underſtanding, Eſſence and Subſtance.

The notion of Eternity is difficult, as Auſtin ſaid**Confeſ. lib. 11. Confeſ. 14. of Time; If no man will ask me the queſtion what time is; I know well enough what it is: But if any ask me what it is, I know not how to explain it: So may I ſay of Eternity; 'tis eaſie in the word pronounced, but hardly underſtood, and more hardly expreſt; 'tis better expreſt by negative than poſitive words.

Though we cannot comprehend Eternity, yet we may comprehend that there is p. 182an Eternity; as, though we cannot comprehend the Eſſence of God what he is, yet we may comprehend that he is; we may underſtand the notion of his Exiſtence, though we cannot underſtand the infiniteneſs of his Nature; Yet we may better underſtand Eternity than Infiniteneſs; we can better conceive a time with the addition of numberleſs days and years, than imagin a Being without bounds; whence the Apoſtle joyns his Eternity with his Power;**Rom. 1.20.Rom 1:20 His eternal Power and God-head; Becauſe next to the Power of God apprehended in the Creature, we come neceſſarily by reaſoning to acknowledge the Eternity of God. He that hath an incomprehenſible Power, muſt needs have an Eternity of Nature: His Power is moſt ſenſible in the Creatures to the eye of Man, and his Eternity eaſily from thence deducible by the reaſon of Man.

Eternity is a perpetual duration, which hath neither beginning nor end: Time hath both. Thoſe things we ſay are in time, that have beginning, grow up by degrees, have ſucceſſion of parts: Eternity is contrary to Time, and is therefore a permanent and immutable ſtate; a perfect poſſeſſion of life without any variation: It comprehends in it ſelf all years, all ages, all periods of ages; It never begins; it endures after every duration of time, and never ceaſeth; it doth as much out-run time, as it went before the beginning of it: Time ſuppoſeth ſomething before it, but there can be nothing before Eternity; it were not then Eternity. Time hath a continual ſucceſſion; the former time paſſeth away, and another ſucceeds; the laſt year is not this year, nor this year the next. We muſt conceive of Eternity contrary to the notion of time; As the nature of time conſiſts in the ſucceſſion of parts, ſo the Nature of Eternity in an infinite immutable duration.**Moulin. Cod. 1. Ser. 2. P. 52. Eternity and Time differ as the Sea and Rivers; the Sea never changes place, and is always one water; but the Rivers glide along, and are ſwallowed up in the Sea; ſo is time by eternity.

A thing is ſaid to be eternal, or everlaſting rather, in Scripture.

1. When it is of a long duration, though it will have an end; When it hath no meaſures of time determined to it; ſo Circumciſion is ſaid to be in the Fleſh for an everlaſting Covenant; **Gen. 17.13.Gen 17:13not purely everlaſting, but ſo long as that adminiſtration of the Covenant ſhould endure.

And ſo when a Servant would not leave his Maſter, but would have his ear boared; 'tis ſaid, he ſhould be a Servant for ever, **Deut. 15.17.Deut 15:17i. e. till the Jubilee, which was every fiftieth year: So the Meat-offering they were to offer, is ſaid to be Perpetual: **Levit. 6.20.Lev 6:20Canaan is ſaid to be given to Abraham for an everlaſting poſſeſſion:**Gen. 17.8.Gen 17:8 When as the Jews are expelled from Canaan, which is given a Prey to the barbarous Nations. Indeed Circumciſion was not everlaſting; yet the ſubſtance of the Covenant whereof this was a ſign, viz. that God would be the God of Believers, endures for ever; and that Circumciſion of the heart which was ſignified by Circumciſion of the fleſh, ſhall remain for ever in the Kingdom of Glory: It was not ſo much the laſting of the ſign, as of the thing ſignified by it, and the Covenant ſealed by it: The ſign had its abolition, ſo that the Apoſtle is ſo peremptory in it, that he aſſerts, that if any went about to eſtabliſh it, he excluded himſelf from a participiation of Chriſt.**Gal. 5.2.Gal 5:2 The Sacrifices were to be perpetual, in regard of the thing ſignified by them, viz. the death of Chriſt, which was to endure in the efficacy of it: And the Paſſover was to be for ever,**Exod. 12.24.Exod 12:24 in regard of the Redemption ſignified by it, which was to be of everlaſting remembrance. Canaan was to be an everlaſting poſſeſſion in regard of the glory of Heaven typified, to be for ever conferr'd upon the ſpiritual Seed of Abraham.

2. When a thing hath no end, though it hath a beginning. So Angels, and Souls are everlaſting; though their being ſhall never ceaſe, yet there was a time when their being began; they were nothing before they were ſomething, though they ſhall never be nothing again, but ſhall live in endleſs happineſs or miſery.

But that properly is eternal, that hath neither beginning nor end; and thus Eternity is a Property of God. In this Doctrin I ſhall ſhew

1. How God is eternal, or in what reſpects Eternity is his Property.

2. That he is eternal, and muſt needs be ſo.

3. That Eternity is only proper to God, and not common to him with any Creature.

4. The Ʋſe.

p. 1631. How God is eternal, or in what reſpects he is ſo. Eternity is a Negative Attribute, and is a denying of God any meaſures of time, as Immenſity is a denying of him any bounds of place; As Immenſity is the diffuſion of his Eſſence, ſo Eternity is the duration of his Eſſence: And when we ſay God is eternal, we exclude from him all poſſibility of beginning and ending, all flux and change: As the Eſſence of God cannot be bounded by any place, ſo it is not to be limited by any time; as it is his Immenſity to be every where, ſo it is his Eternity to be alway.**Gaſſe…d. As created things are ſaid to be ſomewhere in regard of place, and to be preſent, paſt or future, in regard of time; ſo the Creator in regard of place, is everywhere; in regard of time, is ſemper: **C…llius de Deo cap, 18. p. 41.His duration is as endleſs, as his Eſſence is boundleſs; He always was and always will be, and will no more have an End than he had a Begininng; and this is an excellency belonging to the Supream Being:**Lingend Tom. 2. p 496. As his Eſſence comprehends all beings and exceeds them, and his Immenſity ſurmounts all places; ſo his Eternity comprehends all times, all durations, and infinitely excels them.

1. God is without beginning.

In the beginning God created the World: God was then before the beginning of it;**Gen. 1.1.Gen 1:1 and what point can be ſet wherein God began, if he were before the beginning of created things? God was without beginning, though all other things had time and beginning from him. As Unity is before all Numbers, ſo is God before all his Creatures. Abraham called upon the name of the everlaſting God;**Gen. 21.33. foreignGen 21:33 The eternal God: 'Tis oppoſed to the Heathen Gods, which were but of Yeſterday, new coyn'd, and ſo new; but the Eternal God, was before the world was made: In that ſenſe it is to be underſtood,**Rom. 16.26.Rom 16:26 The Myſtery which was kept ſecret ſince the world began, but now is made manifeſt; and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Command of the everlaſting God, made known to all Nations for the Obedience of Faith. The Goſpel is not preached by the Command of a new and temporary God, but of that God that was before all Ages; though the manifeſtation of it be in time, yet the purpoſe and reſolve of it was from Eternity.

If there were Decrees before the foundation of the World, there was a Decreer before the foundation of the World: Before the foundation of the world he lov'd Chriſt as a Mediator:**John 1….24.John 1:24 A fore-ordination of him was before the foundation of the world; a Choice of men, and therefore a Chooſer before the foundation of the world; a Grace given in Chriſt before the world began, **Eph. 1.4.Eph 1:4and therefore a Donor of that Grace.**2 Tim. 1.9.2 Tim 1:9 From thoſe places ſaith Crellius, it appears that God was before the foundation of the world, but they do not aſſert an abſolute Eternity;**Coccei Sum. p. 48. Theol. Gerhard Exeges. cap. 86.4. p. 266. But to be before all Creatures, is equivalent to his Being from Eternity. Time began with the foundation of the world, but God being before time, could have no beginning in time: Before the beginning of the Creation, and the beginning of Time, there could be nothing but Eternity; nothing but what was uncreated, that is nothing but what was without beginning. To be in time, is, to have a beginning; to be before all time, is never to have a beginning, but always to be: For as between the Creator and Creatures there is no Medium, ſo between Time and Eternity, there is no Medium. 'Tis as eaſily deduced, that he that was before all Creatures is Eternal, as he that made all Creatures is God: If he had a beginning, he muſt have it from another, or from himſelf; if from another, that from whom he received his Being would be better than he, ſo more a God than he. He cannot be God, that is not Supream; he cannot be Supream that owes his Being to the Power of another: He would not be ſaid only to have Immortality as he is,**1 Tim. 6.16.1 Tim 6:16 if he had it dependent upon another; nor could he have a beginning from himſelf; if he had given beginning to himſelf, then he was once nothing, there was a time when he was not; if he was not, how could he be the Cauſe of himſelf? 'Tis impoſſible for any, to give a Beginning and Being to it ſelf: If it acts, it muſt exiſt; and ſo exiſt, before it exiſted: A thing would exiſt as a Cauſe, before it exiſted as an Effect. He that is not, cannot be the Cauſe that he is; If therefore God doth exiſt, and hath not his Being from another, he muſt exiſt from Eternity: Therefore when we ſay God is of and from himſelf, we mean not that God gave Being to himſelf; but it is negatively to to be underſtood, that he hath no cauſe of Exiſtence without himſelf.

Whatſoever Number of Millions of Millions of Years we can imagin before the p. 184Creation of the World, yet God was infinitely before thoſe; he is therefore called the Ancient of Days,**Dan. 7.9.Dan 7:9 as being before all days and time, and eminently containing in himſelf all times and ages: Though indeed God cannot properly be called ancient, that will teſtify that he is decaying, and ſhortly will not be; no more than he can be called young, which would ſignify that he was not long before. All created things are new and freſh; but no Creature can find out any beginning of God: 'Tis impoſſible there ſhould be any beginning of him.

2. God is without end. He always was, always is, and always will be what he is; He remains always the ſame in Being; ſo far from any change, that no ſhadow of it can touch him:**James 1.17.Jas 1:17 He will continue in being, as long as he hath already enjoy'd it; and if we could add never ſo many Millions of years together, we are ſtill as far from an end, as from a beginning; for the Lord ſhall endure for ever: **Pſal. 9.7.Ps 9:7As it is impoſſible he ſhould not be, being from all Eternity; ſo it is impoſſible that he ſhould not be to all Eternity. The Scripture is moſt plentiful in teſtimonies of this Eternity of God, à parte poſt, or after the Creation of the world: He is ſaid to live for ever. **Rev. 4.9, 10.Rev 4:9Rev 4:10The Earth ſhall periſh, but God ſhall endure for ever, and his years ſhall have no end. Plants and Animals grow up from ſmall beginnings;**Pſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27 arrive to their full growth and decline again, and have always remarkable alterations in their nature; But there is no declination in God by all the revolutions of time: Hence ſome think the incorruptibility of the Deity was ſignified by the Shittim, or Cedar wood, whereof the Ark was made, it being of an incorruptible nature**Exod. 25.10.Exod 25:10.

That which had no beginning of duration can never have an end, or any interruptions in it. Since God never depended upon any, what ſhould make him ceaſe to be what eternally he hath been, or put a ſtop to the continuance of his perfections? He cannot will his own deſtruction, that is againſt univerſal nature in all things to ceaſe from being, if they can preſerve themſelves. He cannot deſert his own Being, becauſe he cannot but love himſelf as the beſt and chiefeſt good. The reaſon that any thing decays, is either its own native weakneſs, or a ſuperior Power of ſomething contrary to it:**Crellius de Deo cap. 18. p. 41. There is no weakneſs in the nature of God that can introduce any Corruption, becauſe he is infinitely ſimple without any mixture; Nor can he be overpowred by any thing elſe; a weaker cannot hurt him, and a ſtronger than he there cannot be; Nor can he be outwitted or circumvented, becauſe of his infinite Wiſdom: As he received his Being from none, ſo he cannot be deprived of it by any; As he doth neceſſarily exiſt, ſo he doth neceſſarily always exiſt: This indeed is the Property of God; nothing ſo proper to him, as always to be. Whatſoever perfections any Being hath, if it be not eternal, it is not divine. God only is immortal;**1 Tim. 6.16. Daille in loc.1 Tim 6:16 he only is ſo by a neceſſity of nature: Angels, Souls and Bodies too, after the Reſurrection ſhall be immortal; not by nature but grant; they are ſubject to return to nothing, if that word that raiſed them from nothing ſhould ſpeak them into nothing again: 'Tis as eaſie with God to ſtrip them of it, as to inveſt them with it; nay, it is impoſſible but that they ſhould periſh, if God ſhould withdraw his Power from preſerving them, which he exerted in creating them: But God is immoveably fixed in his own Being; that as none gave him his Life, ſo none can deprive him of his Life, or the leaſt particle of it; not a jot of the happineſs and life, which God infinitely poſſeſſes, can be loſt: It will be as durable to everlaſting, as it hath been poſſeſſed from everlaſting.

3. There is no ſucceſſion in God. God is without ſucceſſion or change; 'Tis a part of Eternity; From everlaſting to everlaſting he is God, i. e. the ſame. God doth not only always remain in Being, but he always remains the ſame in that Being,**Pſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27 Thou art the ſame. The Being of Creatures is ſucceſſive; the Being of God is permanent, and remains intire with all its perfections unchanged in an infinite duration: Indeed the firſt notion of Eternity is to be without beginning and end, which notes to us the duration of a Being in regard of its Exiſtence; but to have no ſucceſſion, nothing firſt or laſt, notes rather the perfection of a Being in regard of its Eſſence.

The Creatures are in a perpetual Flux; ſomething is acquired, or ſomething loſt every day. A Man is the ſame in regard of Exiſtence when he is a Man, as he was when he was a Child; but there is a new ſucceſſion of quantities and qualities in him; every day he acquires ſomething till he comes to his maturity; every day he loſeth p. 185ſomething till he comes to his Period. A Man is not the ſame at night that he was in the morning; ſomething is expir'd, and ſomething is added; every day there is a change in his age, a change in his ſubſtance, a change in his accidents: But God hath his whole Being in one and the ſame point, or moment of Eternity; He receives nothing as an Addition to what he was before; He looſeth nothing of what he was before; He is always the ſame excellency and perfection in the ſame infiniteneſs as ever; His years do not fail, **Heb. 1.12.Heb 1:12his years do not come and go as others do; there is not this day, to morrow or yeſterday with him: As nothing is paſt or future with him in regard of Knowledge, but all things are preſent; ſo nothing is paſt or future in regard of his Eſſence; He is not in his Eſſence this day what he was not before, or will be the next day and year what he is not now;**Leſſius de perfect. divin. lib. 4. cap. 1. All his perfections are moſt perfect in him every moment, before all ages, after all ages; As he hath his whole Eſſence undivided in every place, as well as in an immenſe ſpace; ſo he hath all his Being in one moment of time, as well as in infinite intervalls of time.**Gamacheus in Aquin. part. 1. Qu. 10. cap. 1. Some illuſtrate the difference between Eternity and Time, by the ſimilitude of a Tree, or a Rock ſtanding upon the ſide of a River, or Shoar of the Sea; the Tree ſtands always the ſame and unmoved, while the waters of the River glide along at the foot; The Flux is in the River, but the Tree acquires nothing but a diverſe reſpect and relation of preſence to the various parts of the River as they flow; The waters of the River preſs on, and puſh forward one another, and what the River had this minute, it hath not the ſame the next: So are all ſublunary things in a continual Flux. And though the Angels have no ſubſtantial change, yet they have an accidental; for the actions of the Angels this day, are not the ſame individual actions which they performed yeſterday: But in God there is no change, He always remains the ſame.

**Gaſſend. Tom. 1. Phyſic. § 1. l. 2. c. 7. p. 223.Of a Creature it may be ſaid, he was, or he is, or he ſhall be; Of God it cannot be ſaid, but only he is; He is what he always was, and he is what he always will be; whereas a Creature is what he was not, and will be what he is not now; As it may be ſaid of the flame of a Candle, 'tis flame; but it is not the ſame individual flame as was before, nor is it the ſame that will be preſently after; there is a continual diſſolution of it into Air, and a continual ſupply for the generation of more; While it continues, it may be ſaid there is a flame; yet not intirely one, but in a ſucceſſion of parts: So, of a Man it may be ſaid, he is in a ſucceſſion of parts; but he is not the ſame that he was, and will not be the ſame that he is: But God is the ſame without any ſucceſſion of parts and of time; of him it may be ſaid, He is; He is no more now than he was, and he ſhall be no more hereafter than he is.**Daille Melange de Sermon p. 252. God poſſeſſes a firm and abſolute Being, always conſtant to himſelf; He ſees all things ſliding under him in a continual variation; He beholds the revolutions in the world without any change of his moſt glorious and immoveable nature: All other things paſs from one ſtate to another; from their Original, to their Eclipſe and deſtruction: But God poſſeſſes his Being in one indiviſible point, having neither beginning, end nor middle,

1. There is no ſucceſſion in the Knowledge of God. The variety of ſucceſſions and changes in the world, make not ſucceſſion or new Objects in the Divine Mind; for all things are preſent to him from Eternity in regard of his Knowledge, though they are not actually preſent in the world in regard of their Exiſtence: He doth not know one thing now, and another anon; He ſees all things at once; known unto God are all things from the beginning of the world: **Acts 15.18.Acts 15:18But in their true order of ſucceſſion, as they lye in the eternal Council of God, to be brought forth in time. Though there be a ſucceſſion and order of things as they are wrought, yet there is no ſucceſſion in God in regard of his knowledge of them. God knows the things that ſhall be wrought, and the order of them in their being brought upon the Stage of the World; yet both the things and the order he knows by one act. Though all things be preſent with God, yet they are preſent in him in the order of their appearance in the world, and not ſo preſent with him as if they ſhould be wrought at once. The Death of Chriſt was to precede his Reſurrection in order of time; there is a ſucceſſion in this; both at once are known by God, yet the act of his knowledge is not exerciſed about Chriſt as dying, and riſing at the ſame time; ſo that there is ſucceſſion in things, when there is no ſucceſſion in Gods knowledge of them. Since p. 186God knows time, he knows all things as they are in time; He doth not know all things to be at once, though he knows at once what is, has been and will be. All things are paſt, preſent, and to come in regard of their Exiſtence; but there is not paſt, preſent and to come in regard of Gods Knowledge of them;**Parſienſis. becauſe he ſees and knows not by any other, but by himſelf; He is his own Light by which he ſees, his own Glaſs wherein he ſees; beholding himſelf, he beholds all things.

2. There is no ſucceſſion in the Decrees of God. He doth not decree this now, which he decreed not before; for as his works were known from the beginning of the world, ſo his works were decreed from the beginning of the world; as they are known at once, ſo they are decreed at once; there is a ſucceſſion in the execution of them, firſt grace, then glory; but the purpoſe of God for the beſtowing of both, was in one and the ſame moment of Eternity.**Eph. 1.4.Eph 1:4 He choſe us in him before the foundation of the world, that we ſhould be holy. The choice of Chriſt, and the choice of ſome in him to be holy, and to be happy, were before the foundation of the world. 'Tis by the eternal Counſel of God, all things appear in time; they appear in their order according to the Counſel and Will of God from Eternity. The Redemption of the world is after the Creation of the world; but the Decree whereby the world was created, and whereby it was redeemed, was from Eternity.

4. God is his own Eternity. He is not eternal by grant, and the diſpoſal of any other, but by Nature and Eſſence.**Calov. Socinian. The Eternity of God, is nothing elſe but the Duration of God; and the Duration of God, is nothing elſe but his Exiſtence enduring.Exiſtentia durans. If Eternity were any thing diſtinct from God, and not of the Eſſence of God; then there would be ſomething which was not God, neceſſary to perfect God. As Immortality is the great perfection of a rational Creature, ſo Eternity is the choice perfection of God, yea, the gloſs and luſtre of all others. Every perfection would be imperfect, if it were not always a perfection.

God is eſſentially whatſoever he is; and there is nothing in God but his Eſſence: Duration or Continuance in being in Creatures, differs from their being; for they might exiſt but for one inſtant; in which caſe they may be ſaid to have being, but not duration, becauſe all duration includes prius, et poſterius. All Creatures may ceaſe from being, if it be the pleaſure of God; they are not therefore durable by their Eſſence, and therefore are not their own duration, no more than they are their own Exiſtence. And though ſome Creatures, as Angels, and Souls may be called everlaſting, as a perpetual life is communicated to them by God; yet they can never be called their own Eternity; becauſe ſuch a Duration is not ſimply neceſſary, nor eſſential to them, but accidental, depending upon the pleaſure of another; there is nothing in their nature that can hinder them from looſing it, if God, from whom they received it, ſhould deſign to take it away: But as God is his own neceſſity of exiſting, ſo he is his own duration in exiſting:**Gaſſend. As he doth neceſſarily exiſt by himſelf, ſo he will always neceſſarily exiſt by himſelf.

5. Hence all the perfections of God are eternal. In regard of the Divine Eternity, all things in God are eternal, his Power, Mercy, Wiſdom, Juſtice, Knowledge. God himſelf were not eternal, if any of his perfections which are eſſential to him were not eternal alſo; He had not elſe been a perfect God from all eternity, and ſo his whole ſelf had not been eternal. If any thing belonging to the nature of a thing be wanting, it cannot be ſaid to be that thing which it ought to be. If any thing requiſite to the Nature of God had been wanting one moment, he could not have been ſaid to be an eternal God.

The ſecond Thing, God is Eternal. The Spirit of God in Scripture condeſcends to our Capacities in ſignifying the Eternity of God by days and years, which are terms belonging to time, whereby we meaſure it:**Pſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27 But we muſt no more conceive that God is bounded, or meaſured by time, and hath ſucceſſion of days becauſe of thoſe expreſſions, than we can conclude him. to have a Body, becauſe Members are aſcribed to him in Scripture, to help our conceptions of his glorious nature and operations.

Though years are aſcribed to him; yet they are ſuch as cannot be numbred, cannot be finiſhed, ſince there is no proportion between the duration of God, and the years of Men. The number of his years cannot be ſearched out; for he makes ſmall p. 187the drops of water; they pour down Rain according to the vapor thereof. **Job. 36.26, 27Job 36:26Job 36:27The numbers of the drops of Rain which have fallen in all parts of the Earth ſince the Creation of the world, if ſubſtracted from the number of the years of God, would be found a ſmall quantity, a meer nothing to the years of God. As all the Nations in the world compared with God, are but as the drop of a Bucket, worſe than nothing, than vanity; **Iſa. 40.15.Isa 40:15So all the Ages of the world, if compared with God, amount not to ſo much as the One hundred thouſandth part of a Minute: The Minutes from the Creation may be numbred, but the years of the duration of God being infinite, are without meaſure.

As one day is to the Life of Man, ſo are a Thouſand years to the Life of God:**Pſal. 90.5. Amyrald Trin. p. 44.Ps 90:5 The Holy-Ghoſt expreſſeth himſelf to the capacity of Man, to give us ſome Notion of an infinite Duration, by a reſemblance ſuted to the capacity of Man. If a Thouſand years be but as a day to the Life of God; then as a year is to the Life of Man, ſo are Three hundred ſixty five thouſand years to the Life of God: And as Seventy years are to the Life of Man, ſo are twenty five Millions four Hundred and fifty Thouſand years to the Life of God: Yet ſtill, ſince there is no proportion between Time and Eternity, we muſt dart our thoughts beyond all thoſe;**Daille Vent. Sermons, Ser. 1. ſur. 102. Pſal. 27. p. 21.Ps 27 For years and days meaſure only the duration of created things, and of thoſe only that are material and corporeal, ſubject to the motion of the Heavens, which makes days and years.

Sometimes this Eternity is expreſt by parts, as looking backward and forward; by the differences of time, paſt, preſent and to come, **Revel. 1.8. Revel. 4.8. Crellius weakens this argument De Deo. cap. 18. p. 42.Rev 1:8Rev 4:8which was, and is, and is to come. Though this might be ſpoken of any thing in being, though but for an hour; it was the laſt minute, it is now, and it will be the next minute; yet the Holy-Ghoſt would declare ſomething proper to God, as including all parts of time; He always was, is now, and always ſhall be; It might always be ſaid of him he was, and it may always be ſaid of him he will be: There is no time when he began, no time when he ſhall ceaſe. It cannot be ſaid of a Creature he always was, he always is what he was, and he always will be what he is: But God always is what he was, and always will be what he is; ſo that it is a very ſignificant expreſſion of the Eternity of God, as can be ſuted to our capacities.

1. His Eternity is evident, by the Name God gives himſelf. **Exod. 3.14.Exod 3:14And God ſaid unto Moſes, I am that I am; thus ſhalt thou ſay to the Children of Iſrael, I am hath ſent me unto you. This is the Name whereby he is diſtinguiſht from all Creatures; I am, is his proper Name; This deſcription being in the Preſent Tenſe, ſhews that his Eſſence knows no paſt, nor future: If it were he was, it would intimate he were not now what he once was; If it were he will be, it would intimate he were not yet what he will be. But I am; I am the only Being, the root of all Beings, he is therefore at the greateſt diſtance from not Being, and that is eternal. So that is ſignifies his Eternity, as well as his Perfection and Immutability: As I am ſpeaks the want of no bleſſedneſs, ſo it ſpeaks the want of no duration; and therefore the French where ever they find this word Jehovah in the Scripture, which we tranſlate Lord, and Lord eternal, render it the Eternal. I am always, and immutably the ſame. The Eternity, of God is oppoſed to the Volubility of Time, which is extended into paſt, preſent and to come. Our time is but a ſmall Drop, as a Sand to all the Atoms and ſmall particles of which the world is made; but God is an unbounded Sea of Being; I am that I am, i. e. an infinite Life. I have not that now, which I had not formerly; I ſhall not afterwards have that which I have not now; I am that in every moment which I was, and will be in all moments of time; Nothing can be added to me, nothing can be detracted from me: There is nothing ſuperior to him, which can detract from him; nothing deſirable that can be added to him.**Theſ. Salmur. p. 1. p. 145. Theſ. 14. Now if there were any beginning and end of God, any ſucceſſion in him, he could not be I am; For in regard of what was paſt he would not be, in regard of what was to come he is not yet:**Plutarch de foreign 1. p. 392. And upon this account, a Heathen argues well, of all Creatures it may be ſaid they were, or they will be, but of God it cannot be ſaid any thing elſe but Eſt, God is, becauſe he fills an eternal duration: A Creature cannot be ſaid to be, if it be not yet, nor if it be not now, but hath been.**Peter. in Exo. 3. Diſput. 13.Exod 3

God only can be called I am; all Creatures have more of not being than being; for every Creature was nothing from Eternity, before it was made ſomething in time; p. 188and if it be corruptible in its whole nature, it will be nothing to Eternity after it hath been ſomething in time; and if it be not corruptible in its nature, as the Angels; or in every part of its nature, as Man in regard of his Soul; yet it hath not properly a Being, becauſe it is dependent upon the pleaſure of God, to continue it, or deprive it of it; and while it is, it is mutable, and all mutability is a mixture of not being: If God therefore be properly I am, i. e. Being, it follows that he always was; for if he were not always, he muſt as was argued before, be produced by ſome other, or by himſelf; By another he could not, then he had not been God but a Creature; nor by himſelf; for then as producing, he muſt be before himſelf, as produced; he had been before he was: And he always will be, for being I am, having all being in himſelf, and the Fountain of all being to every thing elſe, how can he ever have his Name changed to I am not?

2. God hath Life in himſelf, John 5.26. The Father hath Life in himſelf; He is the living God, therefore ſtedfaſt for ever: **Dan. 6.26.Dan 6:26He hath Life by his Eſſence, not by Participation; He is a Sun to give Light and Life to all Creatures, but receives not Light or Life from any thing; and therefore he hath an unlimited Life, not a drop of life but a fountain, not a ſpark of a limited life but a life tranſcending all bounds: He hath life in himſelf: All Creatures have their life in him and from him. He that hath life in himſelf doth neceſſarily exiſt, and could never be made to exiſt; for then he had not life in himſelf, but in that which made him to exiſt, and gave him life; What doth neceſſarily exiſt therefore, exiſts from Eternity; what hath being of it ſelf, could never be produced in time, could not want being one moment, becauſe it hath being from its Eſſence without influence of any efficient cauſe.**Petav. Theol. Dogm. Tom. 1. lib. 1. c. 6. § 6, 7. When God pronounced his Name, I am that I am, Angels and Men were in being; the world had been created above two thouſand four hundred years; Moſes to whom he then ſpeaks, was in being; yet, God only is, becauſe he only hath the fountain of being in himſelf, but all that they were, was a rivulet from him; He hath from nothing elſe, that he doth ſubſiſt; every thing elſe hath its ſubſiſtence from him as their root, as the Beam from the Sun, as the Rivers and Fountains from the Sea. All life is ſeated in God, as in its proper Throne; in its moſt perfect Purity. God is Life; 'tis in him originally, radically, therefore eternally: He is a pure act, nothing but vigor and act; He hath by his nature that life, which others have by his grant; whence the Apoſtle ſaith,**1 Tim. 6.16.1 Tim 6:16 not only that he is immortal, but he hath immortality in a full poſſeſſion; ſee-ſimple, not depending upon the Will of another, but containing all things within himſelf. He that hath life in himſelf, and is from himſelf, cannot but be: He always was, becauſe he received his being from no other, and none can take away that being which was not given by another.**Amyrald de Trinit. p. 48. If there were any ſpace before he did exiſt, then there was ſomething which made him to exiſt; Life would not then be in him, but in that which produced him into being; He could not then be God, but that other which gave him being, would be God. And to ſay, God ſprung into being by chance, when we ſee nothing in the world that is brought forth by chance, but hath ſome cauſe of its exiſtence, would be vain; for ſince God is a Being, Chance which is nothing, could not bring forth ſomething; and by the ſame reaſon that he ſprung up by chance, he might totally vaniſh by chance. What a ſtrange notion of a God would this be, Such a God that had no life in himſelf, but from chance?

Since he hath life in himſelf, and that there was no cauſe of his exiſtence; he can have no cauſe of his limitation, and can no more be determined to a time, than he can to a place. What hath life in it ſelf, hath life without bounds, and can never deſert it, nor be deprived of it: So that he lives neceſſarily, and it is abſolutely impoſſible that he ſhould not live; whereas all other things live, and move, and have their being in him **Acts 17.28.Acts 17:28; and as they live by his Will, ſo they can return to nothing at his Word.

3. If God were not eternal, he were not immutable in his nature. 'Tis contrary to the nature of immutability to be without eternity; for whatſoever begins, is changed in its paſſing from not being to being: It began to be what it was not, and if it ends, it ceaſeth to be what it was; It cannot therefore be ſaid to be God, If there were either beginning or ending, or ſucceſſion in it, Mal. 3.6. I am the Lord, I change not, Job. 37.23. (Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out.) God argues here ſaith Calvin, from his unchangeable nature as Jehovah, to his immutability p. 189in his purpoſe: Had he not been eternal, there had been the greateſt change from nothing to ſomething: A change of Eſſence, is greater than a change of purpoſe. God is a Sun glittering always in the ſame glory; No growing up in Youth; no paſſing on to Age: If he were not without ſucceſſion, ſtanding in one point of Eternity, there would be a change from paſt to preſent, from preſent to future. The Eternity of God is a Shield againſt all kind of mutability. If any thing ſprang up in the Eſſence of God that was not there before, he could not be ſaid to be either an eternal, or an unchanged Subſtance.

4. God could not be an infinitely perfect Being, if he were not eternal. A finite duration is inconſiſtent with infinite perfection. Whatſoever is contracted within the limits of time, cannot ſwallow up all perfections in it ſelf. God hath an unſearchable perfection.**Job. 11.7.Job 11:7 Canſt thou by ſearching find out God; canſt thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? He cannot be found out, He is infinite, becauſe he is incomprehenſible: Incomprehenſibility ariſeth from an infinite perfection, which cannot be fathom'd by the ſhort line of Man's Underſtanding: His Eſſence in regard of its diffuſion, and in regard of its duration, is incomprehenſible as well as his action: If God therefore had beginning, he could not be infinite; if not infinite, he did not poſſeſs the higheſt perfection, becauſe a perfection might be conceived beyond it; If his Being could fail, he were not perfect: Can that deſerve the name of the higheſt perfection, which is capable of corruption and diſſolution? To be finite and limited, is the greateſt imperfection, for it conſiſts in a denial of being. He could not be the moſt bleſſed Being, if he were not always ſo, and ſhould not for ever remain to be ſo; and whatſoever perfections he had, would be ſowred by the thoughts, that in time they would ceaſe; and ſo could not be pure perfections, becauſe not permanent; But He is bleſſed from everlaſting to everlaſting. **Pſal. 41.13.Ps 41:13Had he a beginning, he could not have all perfection without limitation; he would have been limited by that which gave him beginning; that which gave him being would be God, and not himſelf, and ſo more perfect than he: But ſince God is the moſt ſoveraign perfection, than which nothing can be imagined perfecter by the moſt capacious underſtanding, He is certainly eternal; being infinite, nothing can be added to him, nothing detracted from him.

5. God could not be Omnipotent, Almighty, if he were not Eternal. The title of Almighty, agrees not with a nature that had a beginning; whatſoever hath a beginning was once nothing, and when it was nothing could act nothing. Where there is no being, there is no power; Neither doth the title of Almighty agree with a periſhing nature: He can do nothing to purpoſe, that cannot preſerve himſelf againſt the outward force and violence of Enemies, or againſt the inward cauſes of corruption and diſſoluon. No account is to be made of Man, becauſe his breath is in his Noſtrils **Iſa. 2.22.Isa 2:22; Could a better account be made of God, if he were of the like condition? He could not properly be almighty, that were not always mighty: If he be omnipotent, nothing can impair him; He that hath all power, can have no hurt:**Voet. Natural. Theol. p. 310. If he doth whatſoever he pleaſeth, nothing can make him miſerable, ſince miſery conſiſts in thoſe things which happen againſt our will. The Almightineſs and Eternity of God are linkt together:**Rev. 1.8.Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and Ending ſaith the Lord, which was, and which is, and which is to come, the Almighty: **Rev. 1.8.Rev 1:8Almighty becauſe Eternal, and Eternal becauſe Almighty.

6. God would not be the firſt Cauſe of all if he were not Eternal; But he is the firſt, and the laſt; the firſt cauſe of all things, the laſt end of all things**Rev. 1.8. Ficin. de Immort. l. 2. cap. 5.Rev 1:8: That which is the firſt cannot begin to be, it were not then the firſt; it cannot ceaſe to be: Whatſoever is diſſolved, is diſſolved into that whereof it doth conſiſt, which was before it, and then it was not the firſt. **Coccei Sum Theol. cap. 8The world might not have been, it was once nothing; it muſt have ſome cauſe to call it out of nothing; Nothing hath no power to make it ſelf ſomething, there is a ſuperior Cauſe, by whoſo Will and Power it comes into Being, and ſo gives all the Creatures their diſtinct forms.

This Power cannot but be eternal; it muſt be before the world; the Founder muſt be before the Foundation; **Crellins de Deo cap. 18. p. 43.and his Exiſtence muſt be from Eternity, or we muſt ſay nothing did exiſt from Eternity: And if there were no being from Eternity, there could not now be any being in time: What we ſee, and what we are, muſt ariſe p. 190from it ſelf or ſome other; it cannot from it ſelf: If any thing made it ſelf, it had a power to make it ſelf; it then had an active power before it had a being; It was ſomething in regard of Power, and was nothing in regard of Exiſtence at the ſame time: Suppoſe it had a Power to produce it ſelf, this power muſt be conferred upon it by another; and ſo the power of producing it ſelf, was not from it ſelf, but from another; But if the power of being was from it ſelf, why did it not produce it ſelf before? Why was it one moment out of being?**Petav. Theol. Dogmat. Tom. 1. l. 1. c. 10.11. If there be any exiſtence of things, 'tis neceſſary that that which was the firſt Cauſe, ſhould exiſt from Eternity. Whatſoever was the immediate Cauſe of the world, yet the firſt and chief Cauſe wherein we muſt reſt, muſt have nothing before it; if it had any thing before it, it were not the firſt; He therefore that is the firſt Cauſe muſt be without beginning, nothing muſt be before him; If he had a beginning from ſome other, he could not be the firſt Principle and Author of all things; If he be the firſt Cauſe of all things, he muſt give himſelf a beginning, or be from Eternity: He could not give himſelf a beginning; whatſoever begins in time was nothing before, and when it was nothing it could do nothing; it could not give it ſelf any thing, for then it gave what it had not, and did what it could not: If he made himſelf in time, why did he not make himſelf before? What hindred him? It was either becauſe he could not, or becauſe he would not; if he could not, he always wanted power, and always would, unleſs it were beſtowed upon him, and then he could not be ſaid to be from himſelf? If he would not make himſelf before, then he might have made himſelf when he would: How had he the power of willing and nilling without a Being? Nothing cannot will or nill; Nothing hath no faculties: So that it is neceſſary to grant ſome eternal Being, or run into inextricable Labyrinths and Mazes. If we deny ſome eternal being, we muſt deny all being; our own being, the being of every thing about us; unconceivable abſurdities will ariſe.

So then if God were the Cauſe of all things, He did exiſt before all things, and that from Eternity.

The third thing is, Eternity is only proper to God, and not communicable. **Bapt.'Tis as great a madneſs to aſcribe Eternity to the Creature, as to deprive the Lord of the Creature of Eternity. 'Tis ſo proper to God, that when the Apoſtle would prove the Deity of Chriſt, he proves it by his immutability and eternity, as well as his creating power:**Heb. 1.10, 11, 12.Heb 1:10Heb 1:11Heb 1:12 Thou art the ſame, and thy years ſhall not fail. The Argument had not ſtrength, if Eternity belonged eſſentially to any but God; and therefore he is ſaid only to have Immortality **1 Tim. 6.16.1 Tim 6:16: All other things receive their being from him, and can be deprived of their being by him: All things depend on him, he of none: All other things are like Clothes, which would conſume if God preſerved them not. Immortality is appropriated to God, i. e. an independent Immortality. Angels and Souls have an Immortality, but by donation from God, not by their own Eſſence; dependent upon their Creator, not neceſſary in their own nature: God might have annihilated them after he had created them; ſo that their duration cannot properly be called an Eternity, it being extrinſical to them, and depending upon the will of their Creator, by whom they may be extinguiſht: It is not an abſolute and neceſſary, but a precarious Immortality. Whatſoever is not God, is temporary: Whatſoever is eternal, is God.

'Tis a contradiction to ſay a Creature can be eternal; as nothing eternal is created, ſo nothing created is eternal. What is diſtinct from the nature of God cannot be eternal, Eternity being the Eſſence of God. Every Creature in the notion of a Creature ſpeaks a dependence on ſome Cauſe, and therefore cannot be eternal.**Leſſius de Perfect. l. 4. c. 2. As it is repugnant to the nature of God not to be eternal, ſo it is repugnant to the nature of a Creature to be eternal; for then a Creature would be equal to the Creator, and the Creator or the Cauſe would not be before the Creature or Effect.

It would be all one to admit many Gods, as many Eternals; and all one to ſay God can be created, as to ſay a Creature can be uncreated, which is to be eternal.

1. Creation is a producing ſomething from nothing. What was once nothing, cannot therefore be eternal; not being was eternal; therefore its being could not be eternal, for it ſhould be then before it was, and would be ſomething when it was nothing. 'Tis the nature of a Creature to be nothing, before it was created; what p. 191was nothing before it was, cannot be equal with God in an Eternity of Duration.

2. There is no Creature but is mutable, therefore not eternal. As it had a change from nothing to ſomething, ſo it may be changed from being to not being. If the Creature were not mutable it would be moſt perfect, and ſo would not be a Creature but God; for God only is moſt perfect: 'Tis as much the Eſſence of a Creature to be mutable, as it is the Eſſence of God to be immutable: Mutability and Eternity are utterly inconſiſtent.

3. No Creature is infinite, therefore not eternal. To be infinite in Duration is all one, as to be infinite in Eſſence:**Leſſius de Perfect. l. 4. c. 2. 'Tis as reaſonable to conceive a Creature immenſe, filling all places at once, as eternal, extended to all ages; becauſe neither can be without infiniteneſs, which is the Property of the Deity. A Creature may as well be without bounds of place, as limitations of time.

4. No effect of an intellectual free Agent, can be equal in duration to its Cauſe. The Productions of natural Agents are as antient often as themſelves; the Sun produceth a Beam as old in time as its ſelf; But who ever heard of a piece of wiſe Workmanſhip as old as the wiſe Artificer? God produced a Creature, not neceſſarily and naturally, as the Sun doth a Beam, but freely, as an intelligent Agent. The Sun was not neceſſary; it might be or not be, according to the pleaſure of God.**Crellius de Deo cap. 18. p. 43. A free act of the Will is neceſſary, to precede in order of time as the Cauſe of ſuch effects as are purely voluntary. Thoſe Cauſes that act as ſoon as they exiſt, act naturally, neceſſarily, not freely, and cannot ceaſe from acting.

But ſuppoſe a Creature might have exiſted by the Will of God from Eternity; yet, as ſome think, it could not be ſaid abſolutely, and in its own nature to be eternal; becauſe Eternity was not of the Eſſence of it. The Creature could not be its own Duration; for though it were from Eternity, it might not have been from Eternity, becauſe its Exiſtence depended upon the free Will of God, who might have choſe, whether he would have created it or no.

God only is eternal, the firſt and the laſt, the beginning and the end; who, as he ſubſiſted before any Creature had a being, ſo he will eternally ſubſiſt if all Creatures were reduced to nothing.

IV. Ʋſe.

1. Information.

1. If God be of an eternal duration, then Chriſt is God: Eternity is the Property of God, but it is aſcribed to Chriſt; He is before all things, **Col. 1.17.Col 1:17i. e. all created things: He is therefore no Creature; and if no Creature, eternal. All things were created by him, both in Heaven and in Earth, Angels as well as Men,**Col. 1.16.Col 1:16 whether they be Thrones or Dominions: If all things were his Creatures, then he is no Creature; if he were, all things were not created by him, or he muſt create himſelf.

He hath no difference of time; for he is the ſame yeſterday, to day, and for ever; **Heb. 13.8. Rev. 1.8. He which is, and which was, and which is to come.Heb 13:8Rev 1:8The ſame, with the Name of God, I am, which ſignifies his Eternity; He is no more to day than he was yeſterday, nor will be any other to morrow than he is to day; And therefore Melchiſedeck whoſe Deſcent, Birth and Death, Father and Mother, Beginning and End of days are not upon Record, was a Type of the Exiſtence of Chriſt without difference of time.**Heb. 7.3.Heb 7:3 Having neither beginning of Days nor end of Life, but made like the Son of God. The ſuppreſſion of his Birth and Death, was intended by the Holy-Ghoſt as a Type of the excellency of Chriſt's perſon in regard of his Eternity, and the duration of his Charge in regard of his Prieſt-hood. As there was an appearance of an Eternity in the ſuppreſſion of the Race of Melchiſedeck, ſo there is a true Eternity in the Son of God. How could the Eternity of the Son of God be expreſt by any reſemblance ſo well, as by ſuch a ſuppreſſion of the Beginning and End of this great Perſon, different from the cuſtom of the Spirit of God in the Old-Teſtament, who often records the Generations and Ends of holy Men; and why might not this, which was a kind of a ſhadow of Eternity, be a repreſentation of the true Eternity of Chriſt, as well as the reſtoration of Iſaac to his Father without death, is ſaid to be a figure of the Reſurrection of Chriſt after a real death?**Meſtraezat. in loc. Melchiſedeck is only mentioned once (without any record of his extraction) in his appearance to Abraham after his victory, as if he came from Heaven only for that action, and inſtantly diſappeared again, as if he had been an eternal perſon.

p. 192And Chriſt himſelf hints his own eternity,**John 16.28.John 16:28 I came forth from the Father and am come into the world, again I leave the world and go to the Father. He goes to the Father as he came from the Father; He goes to the Father for everlaſting, ſo he came from the Father from everlaſting; there is the ſame duration in coming forth from the Father, as in returning to the Father. But more plainly;**John 17.5.John 17:5 He ſpeaks of a Glory that he had with the Father before the world was, when there was no Creature in being; this is an actual glory, and not only in Decree: For a decreed glory Believers had, and why may not every one of them ſay the ſame words, Father glorify me with that glory which I had with thee before the world was, if it were only a glory in decree? Nay, it may be ſaid of every man, he was before the world was, becauſe he was ſo in decree. Chriſt ſpeaks of ſomething peculiar to him, a Glory in actual poſſeſſion before the world was; glorify me, embrace, honour me as thy Son, whereas I have now been in the eyes of the world handled diſgracefully as a Servant: If it were only in decree, why is not the like expreſſion uſed of others in Scripture as well as of Chriſt? Why did he not uſe the ſame words for his Diſciples that were then with him, who had a glory in decree? His Eternity is alſo mentioned in the Old-Teſtament:**Prov. 8.22.Prov 8:22 The Lord poſſeſſed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. If he were the work of God, he exiſted before himſelf, if he exiſted before all the works of God; 'tis ſo not properly meant of the eſſential wiſdom of God, ſince the diſcourſe runs in the name of a Perſon; and ſeveral paſſages there are which belong not ſo much to the eſſential wiſdom of God, as v. 13. The evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate; which belongs rather to the holineſs of God, than to the eſſential wiſdom of God; beſides it is diſtinguiſht from Jehovah, as poſſeſſed by him, and rejoycing before him. Yet plainer,**Mica 5, 2. Out of thee i. e. Bethlehem ſhall he come forth to be Ruler in Iſrael, whoſe goings forth have been from of old, from everlaſting foreign from the wayes of Eternity. There are two goings forth of Chriſt deſcribed, one from Bethlehem in the days of his incarnation, and another from Eternity. The Holy-Ghoſt adds after his prediction of his incarnation, his going out from everlaſting, that none ſhould doubt of his Deity: If this going out from everlaſting were only in the purpoſe of God, it might be ſaid of David, and of every Creature: And in Iſa. 9.6. He is particularly called the Everlaſting, or Eternal Father; Not the Father in the Trinity, but a Father to us; yet eternal, the Father of Eternity. As he is the mighty God, ſo he is the everlaſting Father: Can ſuch a title be aſcribed to any, whoſe being depends upon the Will of another, and may be daſht out at the pleaſure of a Superior?

As the Eternity of God is the ground of all Religion, ſo the Eternity of Chriſt is the ground of the Chriſtian Religion: Could our Sins be perfectly expiated, had he not an eternal Divinity to anſwer for the offences committed againſt an eternal God? Temporary ſufferings had been of little validity, without an infiniteneſs and eternity in his perſon to add weight to his paſſion.

2. If God be eternal, he knows all things as preſent. **Petav.All things are preſent to him in his Eternity; for this is the notion of Eternity, to be without ſucceſſion. If Eternity be one indiviſible point, and is not diffuſed into preceding and ſucceeding parts, then that which is known in it or by it, is perceived without any ſucceſſion; For knowledge is as the ſubſtance of the perſon knowing; if that hath various actions and diſtinct from it ſelf, then it underſtands things in differences of time as time preſents them to view: But, ſince Gods Being depends not upon the revolutions of time, ſo neither doth his Knowledge; it exceeds all motions of years and days, comprehends infinite ſpaces of paſt and future. God conſiders all things in his Eternity in one ſimple knowledge, as if they were now acted before him:**Acts 15.18.Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world foreign à ſeculo; from eternity. Gods Knowledge is coeternal with him: If he knows that in time which he did not know from eternity, he would not be eternally perfect, ſince knowledge is the perfection of an intelligent nature.

3. How bold and fooliſh is it for a mortal Creature, to cenſure the Counſels and Actions of an eternal God, or be too curious in his inquiſitions? 'Tis by the conſideration of the unſearchable number of the years of God that Elihu checks too bold enquiries: Who hath enjoyned him his way, **Job. 36.26. compar'd with the 23.Job 36:26or who can ſay, thou haſt wrought iniquity? Behold, God is great and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be ſearched out. Eternity p. 193ſets God above our Enquiries and Cenſures. Infants of a day old are not able to underſtand the acts of wiſe and gray Heads: Shall we, that are of ſo ſhort a being and underſtanding as yeſterday, preſume to meaſure the motions of Eternity by our ſcanty Intellects? We that cannot foreſee an unexpected accident which falls in to blaſt a well laid deſign, and run a Ship many Leagues back from the intended Harbour; We cannot underſtand the reaſon of things we ſee done in time, the motions of the Sea, the generation of Rain, the nature of Light, the Sympathies and Antipathies of the Creatures; and ſhall we dare to cenſure the actions of an eternal God ſo infinitely beyond our reach? The Counſels of a boundleſs Being are not to be ſcann'd by the Brain of a ſilly Worm, that hath breathed but a few minutes in the world: Since Eternity cannot be comprehended in time, 'tis not to be judged by a Creature of time, Let us remember to magnify his works which we behold, becauſe he is eternal, which is the exhortation of Elihu, backt by this Doctrin of Gods Eternity; **Job. 36.24.Job 36:24and not accuſe any work of him who is the Ancient of days, or preſume to direct him, of whoſe Eternity we come infinitely ſhort: When ever therefore any unworthy notion of the Counſels and Works of God is ſuggeſted to us by Satan, or our own corrupt hearts; let us look backward to Gods eternal and our own ſhort duration, and ſilence our ſelves with the ſame Queſtion wherewith God put a ſtop to the reaſoning of Job; **Job. 38.4.Job 38:4Where waſt thou, when I laid the foundations of the Earth? and reprove our ſelves for our curioſity; ſince we are of ſo ſhort a ſtanding, and were nothing when the eternal God laid the firſt Stone of the World.

4. What a folly and boldneſs is there in Sin, ſince an eternal God is offended thereby? All Sin is aggravated by Gods Eternity: The blackneſs of the Heathen Idolatry was in changing the glory of the incorruptible God, **Rom. 1.23Rom 1:23erecting reſemblances of him contrary to his immortal nature; as if the eternal God, whoſe life is as unlimited as Eternity, were like thoſe Creatures whoſe beings are meaſured by the ſhort Ell of Time, which are of a corruptible nature, and daily paſſing on to Corruption: They could not really deprive God of his Glory and Immortality, but they did in Eſtimation. There is in the nature of every ſin a tendency to reduce God to a not Being. He that thinks unworthily of God, or acts unworthily towards him, doth (as much as in him lies) fully and deſtroy theſe two perfections of his, Immutability and Eternity: 'Tis a carriage, as if he were as contemptible as a Creature that were but of yeſterday, and ſhall not remain in being to morrow. He that would put an end to Gods glory by darkning it, would put an end to Gods life by deſtroying it. He that ſhould love a Beaſt with as great an affection as he loves a Man, contemns a rational nature; and he that loves a periſhing thing with the ſame affection he ſhould love an everlaſting God, contemns his Eternity; He debaſeth the duration of God below that of the World: The low valuation of God ſpeaks him in his eſteem, no better than withering Graſs, or a Gourd, which laſts for a night; and the Creature which poſſeſſes his affection, to be a Good that laſts for ever. How fooliſh then is every ſin, that tends to deſtroy a Being that cannot deſtroy or deſert himſelf; a Being, without whoſe Eternity the Sinner himſelf could not have had the capacity of a being to affront him? How baſe is that, which would not let the works of God remain in their eſtabliſhed poſture? How much more baſe in not enduring the fountain and glory of all Beings, that would not only put an end to the Beauty of the world, but the Eternity of God?

5. How dreadful is it to lye under the ſtroak of an eternal God? His Eternity is as great a terror to him that hates him, as it is a comfort to him that loves him; becauſe he is the living God, an everlaſting King, the Nations ſhall not be able to abide his indignation. **Jer. 10.10.Jer 10:10Though God be leaſt in their thoughts, and is made light of in the world; yet the thoughts of Gods Eternity, when he comes to judge the world, ſhall make the Slighters of him tremble: That the Judge and Puniſher lives for ever, is the greateſt grievance to a Soul in miſery, and adds an unconceivable weight to it, above what the infiniteneſs of Gods executive Power could do without that duration: His Eternity makes the puniſhment more dreadful than his Power; his Power makes it ſharp, but his Eternity renders it perpetual; ever to endure, is the ſting at the end of every laſh.

And how ſad is it, to think that God lays his Eternity to pawn for the puniſhment p. 194of obſtinate Sinners, and engageth it by an Oath, that he will whet his glittering Sword, that his hand ſhall take hold of Judgment, that he will render Vengeance to his Enemies, and a Reward to them that hate him, a reward proportioned to the greatneſs of their offences, and the glory of an eternal God?**Deut. 32.40.41.Deut 32:40Deut 32:41 I lift up my hand to Heaven, and ſay, I live for ever, i. e. as ſurely as I live for ever, I will whet my glittering Sword. As none can convey good with a perpetuity, ſo none can convey evil with ſuch a laſtingneſs as God. 'Tis a great loſs to loſe a Ship richly fraught in the bottom of the Sea, never to be caſt upon the Shore; But how much greater is it, to loſe eternally a Soveraign God, which we were capable of eternally enjoying, and undergo an evil as durable as that God we ſlighted, and were in a poſſibility of avoiding? The miſeries of men after this Life are not eaſed, but ſharpen'd by the Life and Eternity of God.

The Second Uſe is of Comfort. What foundation of comfort can we have in any of Gods Attributes, were it not for his Infiniteneſs and Eternity; though he be merciful, good, wiſe, faithful,? What ſupport could there be, if they were perfections belonging to a corruptible God? What hopes of a Reſurrection to Happineſs can we have, or of the duration of it; if that God that promiſed it were not immortal to continue it, as well as powerful to effect it? His Power were not Almighty, if his duration were not Eternal.

1. If God be eternal, his Covenant will be ſo. 'Tis founded upon the Eternity of God; the Oath whereby he confirms it, is by his Life: Since there is none greater than himſelf, he ſwears by himſelf, **Heb. 6.13.Heb 6:13or by his own Life, which he engageth together with his Eternity for the full performance; ſo that if he lives for ever, the Covenant ſhall not be diſanull'd, 'tis an immutable Counſel: **Heb. 6.16.17.Heb 6:16Heb 6:17The immutability of his Counſel follows the immutability of his Nature. Immutability and Eternity go hand in hand together. The promiſe of eternal Life is as ancient as God himſelf in regard of the purpoſe of the promiſe, or in regard of the promiſe made to Chriſt for us.**Tit. 1.2.Titus 1:2 Eternal life which God promiſed before the world began. As it hath an anteeternity, ſo it hath a poſt-eternity; Therefore the Goſpel which is the new Covenant publiſht, is term'd the everlaſting Goſpel; **Rev. 14.6Rev 14:6which can no more be altered and periſh, than God can change and vaniſh into nothing: He can as little morally deny his truth, as he can naturally deſert his life. The Covenant is there repreſented in a Green Colour, to note its perpetual Verdure: The Rain-bow, the Embleme of the Covenant, about the Throne, was like to an Emrald, a Stone of a green colour;**Rev. 4.3.Rev 4:3 whereas the natural Rain-bow hath many colours; this but one, to ſignify its Eternity.

2. If God be eternal, he being our God in Covenant, is an eternal Good and Poſſeſſion. This God is our God for ever and ever; **Pſal. 48.14.Ps 48:14He is a dwelling place in all Generations. We ſhall traverſe the world a while, and then arrive at the bleſſings Jacob wiſhed for Joſeph; **Gen. 49.26.Gen 49:26The bleſſings of the everlaſting hills. If an Eſtate of a thouſand Pound per Annum render a mans life comfortable for a ſhort term, how much more may the Soul be ſwallowed up with joy in the enjoyment of the Creator, whoſe years never fail, who lives for ever to be enjoyed, and can keep us in life for ever to enjoy him? Death indeed will ſeize upon us by Gods irreverſible order, but the immortal Creator will make him diſgorge his morſel, and land us in a glorious immortality; our Souls at their Diſſolution, and our Bodies at the Reſurrection, after which they ſhall remain for ever, and imploy the extent of that boundleſs Eternity in the fruitition of the Soveraign and Eternal God: For 'tis impoſſible that the Believer, who is united to the immortal God that is from everlaſting to everlaſting, can ever periſh; for being in conjunction with him who is an ever flowing Fountain of Life, he cannot ſuffer him to remain in the jaws of Death. While God is eternal, and always the ſame; 'tis not poſſible that thoſe that partake of his ſpiritual life, ſhould not alſo partake of his eternal. 'Tis from the conſideration of the endleſneſs of the years of God that the Church comforts her ſelf, that her Children ſhall continue, and their Seed be eſtabliſhed for ever. **Pſal. 102.27.28.Ps 102:27Ps 102:28And from the eternity of God, Habbacue, chap. 1.12. concludes the eternity of Believers, Art not thou from everlaſting O Lord my God, my holy One? We ſhall not dye O Lord. After they are retired from this world, they ſhall live for ever with God without any change by the multitude of thoſe imaginable years and ages that ſhall run for ever. 'Tis that God that p. 195hath neither beginning nor end, that is our God; who hath not only immortality in himſelf, but immortality to give out to others. As he hath abundance of Spirit to quicken them**Mal. 2.15.Mal 2:15, ſo he hath abundance of Immortality to continue them. 'Tis only in the conſideration of this a man can with wiſdom ſay, Soul take thy eaſe, thou haſt Goods laid up for many years; to ſay it of any other poſſeſſion, is the greateſt folly in the judgment of our Saviour.**Luke 12.19, 20.Luke 12:19Luke 12:20 Mortality ſhall be ſwallowed up of Immortality: Rivers of pleaſure ſhall be for evermore. Death is a word never ſpoken there by any, never heard by any in that poſſeſſion of Eternity; 'tis for ever put out as one of Chriſts conquered enemies.

The happineſs depends upon the preſence of God, with whom Believers ſhall be for ever preſent. Happineſs cannot periſh as long as God lives: He is the firſt and the laſt; the firſt of all delights, nothing before him; the laſt of all pleaſures, nothing beyond him: A Paradiſe of delights in every Point without a flaming Sword.

2. The enjoyment of God will be as freſh and glorious after many ages, as it was at firſt. God is eternal, and Eternity knows no change; there will then be the fulleſt poſſeſſion without any decay in the Object enjoy'd. There can be nothing paſt, nothing future; time neither adds to it nor detracts from it; That infinite fulneſs of perfection which flouriſheth in him now, will flouriſh eternally, without any diſcolouring of it in the leaſt by thoſe innumerable ages that ſhall run to Eternity, much leſs any deſpoyling him of them. He is the ſame in his endleſs Duration. **Pſal. 102.27.Ps 102:27As God is, ſo will the Eternity of him be, without ſucceſſion, without diviſion: The fulneſs of joy will be always preſent; without paſt to be thought of with regret for being gone; without future to be expected with tormenting deſires. When we enjoy God, we enjoy him in his Eternity without any flux; an entire poſſeſſion of all together, without the paſſing away of pleaſures that may be wiſhed to return, or expectation of future joys which might be deſired to haſten. Time is fluid, but Eternity is ſtable, and after many ages, the joys will be as ſavory and ſatisfying, as if they had been but that moment firſt taſted by our hungry appetites. When the glory of the Lord ſhall riſe upon you, it ſhall be ſo far from ever ſetting, that after millions of years are expired, as numerous as the Sands on the Sea-ſhore, the Sun, in the light of whoſe Countenance you ſhall live, ſhall be as bright as at the firſt appearance: He will be ſo far from ceaſing to flow, that he will flow as ſtrong, as full as at the firſt communication of himſelf in glory to the Creature. God therefore as ſitting upon his Throne of Grace, and acting according to his Covenant, is like a Jaſper-ſtone, which is of a green colour, a colour always delightful;**Rev. 4.3.Rev 4:3 Becauſe God is always vigorous, and flouriſhing; a pure act of life, ſparkling new and freſh rays of life and light to the Creature, flouriſhing with a perpetual Spring, and contententing the moſt capacious deſire; forming your intereſt, pleaſure and ſatisfaction, with an infinite variety, without any change or ſucceſſion: He will have variety to encreaſe delights, and eternity to perpetuate them; This will be the fruit of the enjoyment of an infinite, an eternal God: He is not a Ciſtern but a Fountain, wherein water is always living and never putrifies.

4. If God be eternal, Here is a ſtrong ground of comfort againſt all the diſtreſſes of the Church, and the threats of the Churches Enemies. Gods abiding for ever, is the Plea Jeremy makes for his return to his forſaken Church.**Lament. 5.19.20.Lam 5:19Lam 5:20 Thou O Lord, remaineſt for ever, thy Throne from Generation to Generation. The Church is weak; created things are eaſily cut off; What prop is there, but that God that lives for ever? What though Jeruſalem loſt its Bulwarks, the Temple were defaced, the Land waſted; yet the God of Jeruſalem ſits upon an eternal Throne, and from everlaſting to everlaſting there is no diminution of his Power. The Prophet intimates in this complaint, that it is not agreeable to Gods Eternity to forget his People, to whom he hath from Eternity bore good will. In the greateſt confuſions, the Churches eyes are to be fixed upon the Eternity of Gods Throne, where he ſits as Governour of the world: No Creature can take any comfort in this perfection, but the Church; other Creatures depend upon God, but the Church is united to him.

The firſt diſcovery of the Name I am, which ſignifies the Divine Eternity as well as Immutability, was for the comfort of the oppreſt Iſraelites in Egypt**Exod. 3.14, 15.Exod 3:14Exod 3:15; It was then publiſht from the ſecret place of the Almighty, as the only ſtrong Cordial to refreſh them: It hath not yet, it ſhall not ever loſe its vertue in any of the miſeries that p. 196have, or ſhall ſucceſſively befall the Church. 'Tis a comfort as durable as the God whoſe name it is: He is ſtill, I am, and the ſame to the Church, as he was then to his Iſrael. His ſpiritual Iſrael have a greater right to the glories of it, than the carnal Iſrael could have. No oppreſſion can be greater than theirs; what was a comfort ſuted to that diſtreſs, hath the ſame ſutableneſs to every other oppreſſion. It was not a temporary name, but a name for ever; his memorial to all Generations, **v. 15.and reacheth to the Church of the Gentiles, with whom he treats as the God of Abraham, ratifying that Covenant by the Meſſiah, which he made with Abraham the Father of the Faithful.

The Churches enemies are not to be fear'd; they may ſpring as the graſs, but ſoon after do wither by their own inward principles of decay, or are cut down by the hand of God.**Pſal. 92.7, 8, 9.Ps 92:7Ps 92:8Ps 92:9 They may be inſtruments of the anger of God, but they ſhall be ſcatter'd as the workers of inquity by the hand of the Lord, that is high for evermore, v. 8. and is engaged by his promiſe, to preſerve a Church in the World. They may threaten, but their breath may vaniſh, as ſoon as their threatnings are pronounc'd: for they carry their breath in no ſurer a place than their own Noſtrils, upon which the eternal God can put his hand, and ſink them with all their rage. Do the Prophets and inſtructors of the Church, live for ever? **Zach. 1.5.Zech 1:5No. Shall then the Adverſaries and Diſturbers of the Church live for ever? They ſhall vaniſh as a ſhadow, their being depends upon the eternal God of the faithful, and the everlaſting Judge of the wicked. He that inhabits Eternity, is above them that inhabit Mortality, and muſt, whither they will or no, ſay to Corruption, thou art my Father, and to the Worm, thou art my Mother, and my Siſter. **Job 17.14.Job 17:14When they will act with a confidence, as if they were living Gods, he will not be mated, but evidence himſelf to be a living God above them. Why then ſhould mortal men be fear'd in their frowns, when an immortal God hath promiſed protection in his word, and lives for ever to perform it?

5. Hence follows another comfort; ſince God is eternal, he hath as much power, as will to be as good as his word. His promiſes are eſtabliſhed upon his eternity, and this perfection is a main ground of truſt;**Iſa. 26.4.Isa 26:4 Truſt in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlaſting ſtrength. foreign His name is doubled, that name, Iah, and Jehovah, which was always the ſtrength of his people; and not a ſingle one, but the ſtrength or rock of Eternities; not a failing but an eternal truth and power; that as his ſtrength is eternal, ſo our truſt in him ſhould imitate his Eternity in its perpetuity; and therefore in the deſpondency of his people, as if God had forgot his promiſes, and made no account of them, or his word, and were weary of doing good, he calls them to reflect on what they had heard of his Eternity, which is attended with immutability, who hath an infiniteneſs of power to perform his will, and an infiniteneſs of underſtanding to judge of the right ſeaſons of it.**Iſa. 40.27.28.Isa 40:27Isa 40:28 His Wiſdom, Will, Truth, have alway's been, and will to Eternity be the ſame. He wants not life, any more then love, for ever to help us; ſince his word is paſt, he will never fail us; ſince his life continues, he can never be out of a capacity to relieve us: and therefore when ever we fooliſhly charge him by our diſtruſtful thoughts, we forget his love, which made the promiſe, and his eternal life, which can accompliſh it. As his word is the bottom of our truſt, and his truth is the aſſurance of his ſincerity, ſo his Eternity is the aſſurance of his ability to perform. His word ſtands for ever. **Iſa. 40.8.Isa 40:8A man may be my friend this day, and be in another world to morrow; and though he be never ſo ſincere in his word, yet death ſnaps his life aſunder, and forbids the execution. But as God cannot die, ſo he cannot lie; becauſe he is the Eternity of Iſrael. **1 Sam. 15.29.1 Sam 15:29The ſtrength of Iſrael will not lie, nor repent, foreign perpetuity or eternity of Iſrael. Eternitie implies immutability; we could have no ground for our hopes, if we knew him not to be longer liv'd than our ſelves. The Pſalmiſt beats off our hands from truſt in men, becauſe their breath goes forth, they return to their earth, and in that day their thoughts periſh. **Pſal. 146.3, 4.Ps 146:3Ps 146:4And if the God of Jacob were like them, what happineſs could we have in making him our help? As his Soveraignty in giving precepts had not been a ſtrong ground of Obedience, without conſidering him as an eternal Law-giver, who could maintain his rights; So his kindneſs in making the promiſes, had not been a ſtrong ground of confidence, without conſidering him as an Eternal promiſer, whoſe thoughts, and whoſe life can never periſh.**Crellius de, Deo cap. 18. p. 44. 45. And this may be p. 197one reaſon, why the Holy Ghoſt mentions ſo often the poſt-eternity of God, and ſo little his ante-eternity: becauſe that is the ſtrongeſt foundation of our faith, and hope, which reſpects chiefly, that which is future, and not that which is paſt; yet indeed no aſſurance of his after-Eternity can be had, if his ante-Eternity be not certain. If he had a beginning, he may have an end; And if he had a change in his nature, he might have in his Counſels; But ſince all the reſolves of God are as himſelf is, eternal, and all the promiſes of God are the fruits of his Counſel, therefore they cannot be chang'd: If he ſhould change them for the better, he would not have been eternally Wiſe, to know what was beſt; If for the worſe, he had not been eternally good or juſt. Men may break their promiſes, becauſe they are made without foreſight; but God that inhabits Eternity, foreknows all things, that ſhall be done under the Sun, as if they had been then acting before him; and nothing can intervene, or work a change in his reſolves; becauſe the leaſt circumſtances were eternally foreſeen by him. Though there may be variations, and changes to our ſight, the wind may rack about, and every hour new, and croſs accidents happen; yet the eternal God, who is eternally true to his word, Sits at the Helm, and the Winds and the Waves obey him. And though he ſhould defer his promiſe a thouſand years, yet he is not ſlack: For he defers it but a day to his eternity;**2 Pet. 3.8, 9.2 Pet 3:82 Pet 3:9 And who would not with comfort ſtay a day in expectation of a conſiderable advantage?

3. Uſe is for Exhortation.

1. To ſomething which concerns us in our ſelves.

2. To ſomething which concerns us with reſpect to God.

1. To ſomething which concerns us in our ſelves.

1. Let us be deeply affected with our ſins long ſince committed. Though they are paſt with us, they are in regard of Gods eternity preſent with him; there is no ſucceſſion in Eternity, as there is in time: All things are before God at once; our ſins are before him, as if committed this moment, though committed long ago. As he is what he is in regard of duration, ſo he knows what he knows in regard of knowledge. As he is not more than he was, nor ſhall not be any more than he is, ſo he always knew what he knows, and ſhall not ceaſe to know, what he now know's. As himſelf, ſo his knowledge is one indiviſible point of eternity. He knows nothing, but what he did know from eternity; he ſhall know no more for the future, than he now knows. Our ſins being preſent with him in his eternity, ſhould be preſent with us in our regard of remembrance of them, and ſorrow for them. What though many years are laps'd, much time run out, and our iniquities almoſt blotted out of our memory? yet ſince a thouſand years are in Gods ſight, and in regard of his eternity but as a day;**Pſal. 90.4Ps 90:4 A thouſand years in thy ſight are but as yeſterday, when it is paſt, and as a watch in the night; They are before him. For ſuppoſe a man were as old as the World, above five thouſand ſix hundred years; the ſins committed five thouſand years ago, are according to that rule, but as if they were committed five daies ago; ſo that ſixty two years, are but as an hour and a half, and the ſins committed forty years ſince, are as if they were committed but this preſent hour. But if we will go further, and conſider them but as a watch of the Night, about three hours (for the Night conſiſting of twelve hours, was divided into ſet Watches) then a thouſand years are but as three hours in the ſight of God; and then ſins committed ſixtie years ago, are but as if they were committed within this five minutes.

Let none of us ſet light by the iniquities committed many years ago, and imagine that length of time can wipe out their guilt; No, let us conſider them in relation to Gods eternity, and excite an inward remorſe, as if they had been but the birth of this moment.

2. Let the conſideration of Gods Eternity abate our pride. This is the deſign of the Verſes following the Text, The Eternity of God being ſo ſufficient to make us underſtand our own nothingneſs, which ought to be one great end of man, eſpecially as fall'n. The eternity of God ſhould make us as much diſeſteem our ſelves, as the excellency of God made Job abhor himſelf. **Job. 42.5, 6.Job 42:5Job 42:6His excellency ſhould humble us under a ſenſe of our vanity, and his eternity under a ſenſe of the ſhortneſs of our duration. If man compares himſelf with other Creatures, he may be too ſenſible of his greatneſs, but if p. 198he compares himſelf with God, he cannot but be ſenſible of his baſeneſs.

1. In regard of our impotence, to comprehend this Eternity of God. How little do we know? How little can we know of Gods Eternity? We cannot fully conceive it, much leſs expreſs it; we have but a brutiſh underſtanding in all thoſe things, as Agur ſaid of himſelf.**Prov. 30.7.Prov 30:7

**Charrontrois. vent Livr. 1. chp. 5. p. 17. &c.What is Infinite and Eternal cannot be comprehended by finite and temporary Creatures; If it could, it would not be infinite and eternal: For to know a thing, is to know the Extent, and cauſe of it; Tis repugnant to Eternity to be known, becauſe it hath no limits, no cauſes; the moſt ſoaring underſtanding cannot have a proportionable underſtanding of it. What diſproportion is there between a drop of water, and the Sea in their greatneſs and motion? Yet by a drop, we may arrive to a knowledge of the nature of the Sea, which is a Maſs of drops joyn'd together. But the longeſt duration of times cannot make us know, what Eternity is: Becuſe there is no proportion between time and Eternity. The years of God are as numberleſs, as his thoughts, **Pſal. 40.5.Ps 40:5and our minds as far from reckoning the one, as the other. If our underſtandings are too groſs, to comprehend the Majeſty of his infinite works, they are much more too ſhort to comprehend the infiniteneſs of his Eternity.

2. In regard of the vaſt diſproportion of our duration to this duration of God.

1. We have more of not being than being. We were nothing from an unbegun Eternity, and we might have been nothing to an endleſs Eternity, had not God call'd us into being; and if he pleaſe, we may be nothing by as ſhort an annihilating word, as we were ſomething by a Creating word. As it is the prerogative of God, to be, I am that I am; ſo it is the property of a Creature, to be, I am not what I am; I am not by my ſelf what I am, but by the Indulgence of another. I was nothing formerly, I may be nothing again, unleſs he that is, I am, make me to ſubſiſt what I now am. Nothing is as much the title of the Creature, as Being is the title of God. Nothing is ſo holy as God, becauſe nothing hath being as God.**1 Sam. 2.2.1 Sam 2:2 There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beſides thee. Mans life is an Image, a dream, which are next to nothing; and if compar'd with God, worſe than nothing; a nullity as well as a vanity: Becauſe with God only is the fountain of life. **Pſal. 36.9.Ps 36:9The Creature is but a drop of life from him, dependent on him. A drop of water is a nothing, if compar'd with the vaſt conflux of waters, and numberleſs drops in the Ocean.

How unworthy is it for duſt and aſhes kneaded together in time, to ſtrut againſt the Father of Eternity? Much more unworthy for that which is nothing, worſe than nothing, to quarrel with that which is only being, and equal himſelf with him, that Inhabits Eternity.

2. What being we have, had a beginning. After an unaccountable Eternity was run out, in the very dregs of time, a few years ago we were created, and made of the baſeſt and vileſt droſs of the world, the ſlime and duſt of the Earth; made of that, wherewith Birds build their neſts; made of that, which Creeping things make their habitation, and beaſts trample upon; How monſtrous is pride in ſuch a Creature, to aſpire, as if he were the Father of Eternity, and as Eternal as God, and ſo his own Eternity?

3. What being we have, is but of a ſhort duration in regard of our life in this World. Our life is in a conſtant change, and flux, we remain not the ſame an intire day; youth quickly ſucceeds Child-hood, and age as ſpeedily treads upon the heels of youth; there is a continual defluxion of minutes, as there is of ſands in a glaſs. He is as a Watch wound up at the beginning of his life, and from that time is running down, till he comes to the bottom; ſome part of our lives is cut off every day, every minute. Life is but a moment, what is paſt cannot be recalled; what is future cannot be enſured: If we enjoy this moment, we have loſt that which is paſt, and ſhall preſently loſe this by the next that is to come.

The ſhort duration of men is ſet out in Scripture by ſuch Creatures, as ſoon diſappear. A worm, **Job. 25.6.Job 25:6that can ſcarce out live a winter. Graſs, that withers by the ſummer Sun. Life is a flower ſoon withering,**Job. 14.2.Job 14:2 a vapour ſoon vaniſhing,**James 4.14.Jas 4:14 a ſmoak ſoon diſappearing.**Pſal. 102.3.Ps 102:3 The ſtrongeſt man is but compacted duſt, the fabrick muſt moulder, the higheſt Mountain falls and comes to nought. Time gives place to Eternity, p. 199we live now, and die to morrow. Not a Man ſince the world began, ever lived a day in Gods ſight: For no man ever lived a thouſand years. The longeſt day of any mans life never amounted to twenty four hours in the account of divine Eternity: A life of ſo many hundred years, with the addition he dyed, makes up the greateſt part of the Hiſtory of the Patriarchs. **Gen. 5.Gen 5And ſince the life of man hath been curtaild, if any be in the world eighty years, he ſcarce properly lives ſixty of them, ſince the fourth part of time is at leaſt conſumed in ſleep.

A greater difference there is between the duration of God, and that of a Creature, than between the life of one for a minute, and the life of one that ſhould live as many years as the whole globe of Heaven and Earth, if changed into papers, could contain figures: And this life, tho but of a ſhort duration according to the period God hath determined, is eaſily cut off; the treaſure of life is depoſited in a brittle veſſel: A ſmall ſtone hitting againſt Nebuchadnezzars Statue, will tumble it down into a poor and naſty grave: A Grape ſtone, the bone of a fiſh, a ſmall fly in the throat, a moiſt damp are enough to deſtroy an Earthly Eternity, and reduce it to nothing.

What a Nothing then is our ſhortneſs, if compared with Gods Eternity? Our frailty, with Gods duration? How humble then ſhould periſhing Creatures be before an Eternal God, with whom our days are as a hands breadth, and our age as nothing? **Pſal. 39 5.Ps 39:5The Angels that have been of as long a duration as Heaven and Earth, tremble before him; the Heavens melt at his preſence; and ſhall we that are but of yeſterday, approach a Divine Eternity with unhumbled Souls, and offer the Calves of our lips with the pride of Devils, and ſtand upon our terms with him, without falling upon our faces, with a ſenſe that we are but duſt and aſhes, and Creatures of time? How eaſily is it to reaſon out mans humility, but how hard is it to reaſon man into it?

3. Let the conſideration of Gods Eternity take off our love and confidence from the world, and the things thereof. The Eternity of God reproaches a purſuit of the world, as preferring a momentary pleaſure before an everlaſting God; as tho a temporal world could be a better ſupply, than a God whoſe years never fail. Alas! what is this Earth, men are ſo greedy of, and will get, tho by blood and ſweat? What is this whole Earth, if we had the entire poſſeſſion of it, if compared with the vaſt Heavens, the ſeat of Angels and bleſſed Spirits? Tis but as an Atome to the greateſt Mountain, or as a drop of dew to the immenſe Ocean. How fooliſh is it, to prefer a drop before the Sea, or an Atome before the world? The Earth is but a point to the Sun; the Sun with its whole Orb, but a little part of the Heavens, if compared with the whole Fabrick. If a man had the poſſeſſion of all thoſe, there could be no compariſon between thoſe that have had a beginning, and ſhall have an end, and God who is without either of them. Yet, how many are there, that make nothing of the divine Eternity, and imagine an Eternity of nothing?

1. The world hath been but a of ſhort ſtanding. Tis not yet ſix thouſand years ſince the foundations of it were laid; and therefore it cannot have a boundleſs excellency, as that God, who hath been from everlaſting, doth poſſeſs. If Adam had liv'd to this day, and been as abſolute Lord of his poſterity, as he was of the other Creatures, had it been a competent object to take up his heart; had he not been a mad man, to have prefer'd this little created pleaſure before an everlaſting uncreated God? A thing that had a dependent Beginning, before that which had an independent Eternity?

2. The beauties of the world are tranſitory and periſhing. The whole world is nothing elſe but a fluid thing, the Faſhion of it is a Pageantry, paſſing away; **1 Cor. 7.31.1 Cor 7:31tho the glories of it might be conceived greater than they are, yet they are not conſiſtent, but tranſient; There cannot be an entire enjoyment of them; becauſe they grow up, and expire every moment, and ſlipaway between our fingers, while we are uſing them. Have we not heard of Gods diſperſing the greateſt Empires like Chaff before a whirlwind, or as ſmoke out of a Chimny;**Hoſ. 13.3.Hos 13:3 which tho it appears as a compacted cloud, as if it would choak the Sun, is quickly ſcattered into ſeveral parts of the Air, and becomes inviſible? Nettles have often been heirs to ſtately Palaces, as God threatens Iſrael. **Hoſ. 9.6.Hos 9:6We cannot promiſe our ſelves over night any thing the next day. A Kingdom with the glory of a throne may be cut off in a morning; **Hoſ. 10.15.Hos 10:15The new wine may be taken from the mouth, when the Vintage is ripe; the p. 200devouring locuſt may ſnatch away both the hopes of that, and the harveſt:**Joel 1.15.Joel 1:15 they are therefore things which are not, and Nothing cannot be a fit object for confidence or affection.**Prov. 23.5.Prov 23:5 Wilt thou ſet thy eies upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themſelves wings. They are not properly beings; becauſe they are not ſtable, but flitting; They are not; becauſe they may not be the next moment to us, what they are this; they are but Ciſterns, not Springs, and broken Ciſterns, not ſound and ſtable; no ſolidity in their ſubſtance, nor ſtability in their duration. What a fooliſh thing is it then, to prefer a tranſient felicity, a meer nullity before an eternal God? What a ſenſeleſs thing would it be in a man, to prefer the Map of a Kingdom, which the hand of a Child can teare in pieces, before the Kingdom ſhadowed by it? How much more inexcuſable is it to value things, that are ſo far from being Eternal, that they are not ſo much as duskie reſemblances of an Eternity? Were the things of the world more glorious than they are, yet they are but as a counterfeit Sun in a Cloud, which comes ſhort of the true Sun in the heavens both in glory and duration; and to eſteem them before God, is unconceivably baſer, than if a man ſhould Value a parti-colour'd bubble in the Air, before a durable rock of Diamonds. The comforts of this world are as Candles, that will end in a Snuff; whereas the felicity that flows from an eternal God, is like Sun, that ſhines more and more to a perfect day.

3. They cannot therefore be fit for a ſoul, which was made to have an intereſt in Gods Eternity. The ſoul being of a perpetual nature, was made for the fruition of an Eternal good; without ſuch a good it can never be perfect. Perfection, that noble thing, riſeth not from any thing in this world, nor is a title due to a Soul while in this world; 'tis then they are ſaid to be made perfect, when they arrive at that entire conjunction with the eternal God in another life.**Heb. 12.23.Heb 12:23 The ſoul cannot be enobled by an acquaintance with theſe things, or eſtabliſh'd by adependence on them, they cannot confer, what a rational nature ſhould deſire, or ſupply it with what it wants.

The ſoul hath a reſemblance to God in a poſt-Eternity: Why ſhould it be drawn aſide by the blandiſhments of earthly things, to neglect its true eſtabliſhment, and lacquey after the Body, which is but the ſhadow of the Soul, and was made to follow it, and ſerve it? But while it buſieth it ſelf altogether in the concerns of a periſhing body, and ſeeks ſatisfaction in things that glide away, it becomes rather a body than ſoul, deſcends below its nature, reproacheth that God, who hath imprinted upon it an image of his own Eternity, and loſeth the comfort of the everlaſtingneſs of its Creator. How ſhall the whole world, if our lives were as durable as that, be an happy Eternity to us, who have Souls, that ſhall ſurvive all the delights of it, which muſt fry in thoſe flames, that ſhall fire the whole frame of nature at the general conflagration of the world?**2 Pet. 3.10.2 Pet 3:10

4. Therefore let us provide for an happy intereſt in the Eternity of God. Man is made for an eternal ſtate. The Soul hath ſuch a perfection in its nature, that it is fit for Eternity, and cannot diſplay all its operations but in Eternity: To an Eternity it muſt go, and live as long as God himſelf lives. Things of a ſhort duration are not proportion'd to a Soul made for an eternal continuance; to ſee that it be a comfortable Eternity, is worth all our care. Man is a forecaſting Creature, and conſiders not only the preſent, but the future too, in his proviſions for his family; and ſhall he diſgrace his nature, in caſting off all conſideration of a future Eternity? Get poſſeſſion therefore of the eternal God: A portion in this life is the lot of thoſe, who ſhall be for ever miſerable.**Pſal. 17.14.Ps 17:14 But God, an everlaſting portion, is the lot of them that are deſign'd for happineſs.**Pſal. 73.26.Ps 73:26 God is my portion for ever.

Time is ſhort. **1 Cor. 7.29.1 Cor 7:29The whole time for which God deſign'd this building of the world is of a little compaſs; 'tis a Stage erected for rational Creatures to act their parts upon for a few thouſand years; the greateſt part of which time is run out; and then ſhall time like a rivulet fall into the Sea of Eternity, from whence it ſprung. As Time is but a ſlip of Eternity, ſo it will end in Eternity; our advantages conſiſt in the preſent inſtant; what is paſt, never promiſed a return, and cannot be fetcht back by all our vows: What is future, we cannot promiſe our ſelves to enjoy; we may be ſnatcht away before it comes. Every minute that paſſeth, ſpeaks the fewer remaining, till the time of death. And as we are every hour further from our beginning, we are nearer our end. The Child born this day grows up, to grow nothing at laſt. p. 201In all Ages, there is but a ſtep between us and Death, as David ſaid of himſelf.**1 Sam. 20.3.1 Sam 20:3 The little time that remains for the Devil till the day of Judgment, envenoms his wrath; he rageth, becauſe his time is ſhort. **Rev. 13.1….Rev 13:1The little time that remains between this moment and our death, ſhould quicken our diligence to inherit the endleſs and unchangeable Eternity of God.

5. Often meditate on the Eternity of God. The Holineſs, Power and Eternity of God, are the fundamental Articles of all Religion, upon which the whole body of it leans; His Holineſs for conformity to him, his Power and Eternity for the ſupport of Faith and Hope. The ſtrong and inceſſant Cries of the four Beaſts, repreſenting that Chriſtian Church, are, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. **Revel. 4.8.Rev 4:8Though his Power is intimated, yet the chiefeſt are his Holineſs, three times expreſt; and his Eternity which is repeated, v. 9. who lives for ever and ever. This ought to be the conſtant practice in the Church of the Gentiles, which this Book chiefly reſpects: The meditation of his converting Grace manifeſted to Paul, raviſht the Apoſtles heart, but not without the triumphant conſideration of his Immortality and Eternity, which are the principal parts of the Doxology.**1 Tim. 1.15.16, 17.1 Tim 1:151 Tim 1:161 Tim 1:17 Now unto the King Eternal, immortal, inviſible, only wiſe God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. It could be no great tranſport to the Spirit, to conſider him glorious without conſidering him immortal: The unconfinedneſs of his perfections in regard of time, preſents the Soul with matter of the greateſt complacency. The happineſs of our Souls depends upon his other Attributes, but the perpetuity of it upon his Eternity. Is it a comfort to view his immenſe Wiſdom; his overflowing Goodneſs; his tender Mercy; his unerring Truth? What comfort were there in any of thoſe, if it were a Wiſdom that could be bafled; a Goodneſs that could be dampt; a Mercy that can expire, and a Truth that can periſh with the Subject of it? Without Eternity, what were all his other Perfections, but as glorious, yet withering Flowers; a great, but a decaying Beauty? By a frequent meditation of Gods Eternity, we ſhould become more ſenſible of our own vanity and the worlds triflingneſs: How nothing ſhould our ſelves; How nothing would all other things appear in our eyes? How coldly ſhould we deſire them? How feebly ſhould we place any truſt in them? Should we not think our ſelves worthy of contempt to dote upon a periſhing glory, to expect ſupport from an Arm of Fleſh, when there is an eternal Beauty to raviſh us, an eternal Arm to protect us? Aſaph, when he conſidered God a Portion for ever, thought nothing of the Glories of the Earth, or the Beauties of the created Heavens worth his appetite or complacency, but God. **Pſal. 73.25, 26Ps 73:25Ps 73:26Beſides, an elevated frame of heart at the conſideration of Gods Eternity, would batter down the ſtrong holds and engines of any temptation: A ſlight temptation will not know where to find and catch hold of a Soul high and hid in a meditation of it; and if it doth, there will not be wanting from hence preſervatives to reſiſt and conquer it. What tranſitory pleaſures will not the thoughts of Gods Eternity ſtifle? When this work buſieth a Soul, 'tis too great to ſuffer it to deſcend, to liſten to a ſleeveleſs errand from Hell or the World. The wanton allurements of the Fleſh will be put off with indignation. The profers of the world will be ridiculous when they are caſt into the Ballance with the Eternity of God, which ſticking in our thoughts, we ſhall not be ſo eaſy a Prey for the Fowlers Ginn.

Let us therefore often meditate upon this, but not in a bare ſpeculation without engaging our affections, and making every notion of the Divine Eternity end a in ſutable impreſſion upon our hearts: This would be much like the Diſciples gazing upon the Heavens at the aſcenſion of their Maſter, while they forgat the practice of his Orders:**Acts 1.11.Acts 1:11 We may elſe find ſomething of the nature of God, and loſe our ſelves, not only in Eternity but to Eternity.

2. And hence the ſecond part of the Exhortation is, to ſomething which concerns us with a reſpect to God.

1. If God be eternal, How worthy is he of our choiceſt affections, and ſtrongeſt deſires of communion with him? Is not every thing to be valued according to the greatneſs of its Being? How then ſhould we love him, who is not only lovely in his nature, but eternally lovely; having from everlaſting all thoſe perfections centred in himſelf, which appear in time? If every thing be lovely, by how much the more it partakes of p. 202the nature of God who is the chief Good, how much more infinitely lovely is God, who is ſuperior to all other goods, and eternally ſo? Not a God of a few minutes, months, years or millions of years; not of the dreggs of time or the top of time, but of Eternity; above time, unconceivably immenſe beyond time: The loving him infinitely, perpetually, is an act of homage due to him for his eternal excellency: We may give him the one, ſince our Souls are immortal, though we cannot the other, becauſe they are finite: Since he encloſeth in himſelf all the excellencies of Heaven and Earth for ever, he ſhould have an affection, not only of time in this wo…, but of eternity in the future; and if we did not owe him a love for what we are by him, we owe him a love for what he is in himſelf; and more for what he is, than for what he is to us: He is more worthy of our affections becauſe he is the eternal God, than becauſe he is our Creator; becauſe he is more excellent in his nature than in his tranſient actions: The beams of his goodneſs to us, are to direct our thoughts and affections to him; but his own eternal excellency, ought to be the ground and foundation of our affections to him. And truly, ſince nothing but God is eternal, nothing but God is worth the loving; and we do but a juſt right to our love, to pitch it upon that which can always poſſeſs us and be poſſeſſed by us; upon an Object that cannot deceive our affection, and put it out of countenance by a diſſolution

And if our happineſs conſiſts in being like to God, we ſhould imitate him in loving him as he loves himſelf, and as long as he loves himſelf: God cannot do more to himſelf than love himſelf; he can make no addition to his Eſſence, nor diminution from it. What ſhould we do leſs to an eternal Being, than to beſtow affections upon him, like his own to himſelf; ſince we can find nothing ſo durable as himſelf, for which we ſhould love it?

2. He only is worthy of our beſt Service. The Ancient of days is to be ſerved before all that are younger than himſelf; Our beſt obedience is due to him as a God of unconfined excellency: Every thing that is excellent deſerves a veneration ſutable to its excellency. As God is infinite, he hath right to a boundleſs ſervice; as he is eternal, he hath right to a perpetual ſervice: As Service is a debt of Juſtice upon the account of the excellency of his nature, ſo a perpetual ſervice is as much a debt of juſtice upon the account of his Eternity. If God be infinite and eternal, he merits an honour and comportment from his Creatures ſuted to the unlimited perfection of his Nature, and the duration of his Being. How worthy is the Pſalmiſts reſolution? I will ſing unto the Lord as long as I live, I will ſing praiſe to my God while I have any being: **Pſal. 104.33.Ps 104:33'Tis the uſe he makes of the endleſs duration of the Glory of God, and will extend to all other ſervice as well as praiſe. To ſerve other things, or to ſerve our ſelves, is too vaſt a ſervice upon that which is nothing. In devoting our ſelves to God, we ſerve him that is, that was, ſo as that he never began; Is to come, ſo as that he never ſhall end; By whom all things are what they are; who hath both eternal knowledge to remember our ſervice, and eternal goodneſs to reward It.