The Incomparableness of God, Treatise · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI. God incomparable in his Works, Creation and Providence.
Thirdly, GOD is incomparable in his Works, as well as in his Being and Attributes: None hath ſuch a ſtrong Hand, ſuch a ſtretched out Arm, or can do like him. O Lord (ſaith Moſes) thou hast begun to ſhew to thy Servant thy Greatneſs, and thy mighty Hand: For what God is there in Heaven or on Earth, that can do according to thy Works? Deut. 3.24. He is a God doing Wonders, Exod. 15.11. His Doings are like his Being: He works like a God, Iſa. 28.29. He is wonderful in Counſel, and excellent in working: His Works are all wonderful, Pſal. 86.10. Thou doſt marvellous things, thou art God alone. He doth miranda ſtupenda; ſo that it is ſaid of him, Numb. 23.23. What hath God wrought? His Works are great, Joel 2.21. Honourable and glorious, Pſal. 111.3. Perfect, Deut. 32.4. God thundereth marvellouſly with his Voice, great things doth he, which we cannot comprehend, Job 37.5. The Works of Men and Angels are little, ſmall; ſome mean things they do by Divine concurrence; but his Works are great and unſearchable, which we cannot comprehend. If Creatures do great things, (in a ſenſe, or comparatively,) yet they may be found out; their Fellow-Creatures have a Clue which will lead them into all their Labyrinths, and a Line which will ſound the bottome of all their Actions; but God's Works cannot be comprehended by the underſtandings of any Creature: O the depth of the Wiſdom and Knowledge of God; how unſearchable are his Wayes, and Doings paſt finding out, Rom. 11.33. His Foot-ſteps are not known, Pſal. 77.19. Yea, He doth great things, and unſearchable and marvellous things without number, Job 5.9. till there be no number. If Creatures could do great things, and marvellous and unſearchable; yet you might ſoon reckon up all ſuch works of theirs, one great marvellous unſearchable thing were enough for the whole Creation; But God doth great things and unſearchable, yea marvellous things without number. His wayes are not as Mans wayes, as far as the Heavens are higher then the Earth, ſo far are his wayes above the wayes of man, Iſa. 55.8, 9. No wayes like his; Among all the Gods, there is none like unto him; neither are there any Works like unto his Works, Pſal. 86.8. Whether you conſider the matter of his Works, and the Works themſelves, or his manner of Working.
1. His Works themſelves, and therein I ſhall (paſs by his internal Works, both perſonal and effectual, and) mention only his external Works.
1. He is incomparable in what Works he is pleaſed to do, or hath done.
1. Creation, Herein he is incomparable: Creatura non poteſt creare, The Creature cannot create; Ex nihilo nihil fit with them: Man may do ſomething towards the emendation of the form, but he cannot produce matter, no nor mend it when 'tis before him. A Goldſmith may make a ſparkling Jewel, but then you muſt give him Gold and pretious Stones to make it of; he can put the matter into a better form, but he is ſo far from making matter where there is none, that he cannot mend the matter which you give him: He cannot make Gold of Silver, nor Diamonds of common Stones. Man's work may exceed the matter, but man's work cannot make the matter, exceed it ſelf. But God can not onelyonly make the matter to exceed it ſelf, (as in man, who is formed of the Duſt of the Earth, he hath ſuch curious Parts, Veins, Sinews, Arteries, &c. ſuch Members, Eyes, Cheeks, Ears, &c. Such Characters of Beauty in the whole, that he looks nothing like his Parent Earth, the matter of which he was made,) but alſo make matter: He hath brought ſomething, nay all things out of nothing. All the Angels and Men cannot create one grain of Corn, one pile of Graſs, one mote of Duſt; but the great God hath erected the ſtately Fabrick of Heaven and the Earth, with the curious ſteps and ſtories thereof, and the various Creatures and Furniture therein, of nothing. Hereby he proves himſelf the true God, The living God that made Heaven and Earth, & all things therein, Act. 14.15. He proves his Deity hereby, Jer. 10.10, 11, 12. The gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth, ſhall periſh from the Earth, and from under the Heavens: He hath made the Earth by his Power, He hath establiſhed the World by his Wiſdom, and ſtretched out the Heavens by his diſcretion; i. e. Can you be ſo fooliſh and ſottiſh, as to imagine that blind, dumb, deaf, dead Idols can compare with him, who created you, and all things beſide. When God would proclaim his Soveraignty, and incomparable Excellency, he challengeth Job, Where waſt thou, when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? declare, if thou haſt understanding: Who hath laid the meaſures thereof, or ſtretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the Foundations thereof ſet? or who laid the corner-ſtone thereof? Job 38.4, 5. God would here denote the exactneſs and acurateneſs of his Works, and ſo he alludes to men, who when they would ſet up a ſtrong, ſtately, neat, compact Dwelling, lay the Foundations and corner Stones, and all the reſt by line and meaſure: But that which God would principally intimate here, is his own Omnipotency, and mans Impotency: Where waſt thou, when I laid the Foundations of the Earth? &c. Didſt thou then lend me an helping-Head how to do it, or an helping-Hand in the doing of it? Surely No, I did all my ſelf. Thoſe innumerable Beings which are on Earth, and in the Ocean; yea, that are included within the vaſt Circumference of the higheſt Heavens, are all made by him out of nothing: Through Faith we believe that the Worlds were made by the Word of God, ſo that things which are ſeen were not made of things that do appear, Heb. 11.3. The great God had no materials to make the great Houſe with, he did not frame it of his own Eſſence, or any pre-exiſtent matter, Iſa. 45.12. Yet ſuch admirable qualities are every where intermixt, matter and form, ſubject and and accidents, power and goodneſs, wiſdom and order; a rare ſymmetry, exact proportion, and beauty in the whole; a dependent ſubordination, and uſeful ſubſerviency, in every part ſo equally poiz'd, that it's hard to determine which bears the greateſt weight in the mighty work, and gives abundant cauſe to cry out with the Pſalmiſt, O Lord, how marvellous are thy Works! in Wiſdom hast thou made them all, Pſal. 104.24.
2. He is incomparable in regard of Providence: 1. For Preſervation none is like him, nay, none beſide him doth this; O thou Preſerver of Men, Job 7.20. Thy Viſitation preſerveth my Spirit, Job 10.12. God is unlike to Men; The Carpenters or Maſons build Houſes, and then leave them to the care and charge of others; but God keeps up what he ſets up. His Providence ſucceedeth Creation, and is indeed a continual Creation: Thou preſerveſt Man and Beaſt, Pſal. 36.6. Not Food, or Air, or Sleep, but Thou preſerveſt Man and Beast: And not onelyonly Men and Beaſts, but all things ſubſiſt by him, Coloſ. 1.17. That Hand alone which made all, can maintain all; and that Power onelyonly which produced out of nothing, muſt preſerve from nothing; Acts 17.28. In him we live, and move, and have our beings. That Being which gave us our Beings, muſt uphold us in our Beings; Heb. 1.3. He upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power, 1. Suſtinendo, As a Pillar, or ſure Foundation, upon which they ſtand. The Air which ſurrounds the Earth and Ocean, cannot bear a Feather, yet in it hangeth the maſſy weight of Earth and Sea: Job 26.7. He hangeth the Earth (i. e. Earth and Sea, the terreſtrial Globe,) upon nothing: His Power is the only Pillar that bears them up. 2. Influendo, As a Fountain from which they derive all their virtue and operations: The beings and motions of all his Creatures depend wholly upon his concurrence. If he ſuſpend his Influence Coctum ſecundum, according to the School-men, the Fire will not burn, Dan. 3.27. Neither can the beſt Eyes ſee, though the faculty be well diſpoſed, and the object be coloured, and at a good diſtance, Gen. 19.7. as hath been hinted before. It's natural to the Sun to run his Race ſtrongly and ſwiftly; yet if he doth not concur as ſwift as the Sun is, he cannot creep a Snails pace; he ſtandeth ſtill in Giboah, Joſhua 10.13. Job. 9.7.3. Conſtringendo, As a Soveraign Bond and Ligature, by which the parts of all things hold together, and are kept as water in a Veſſel, from flowing abroad to their diſſolution. No Man, no Angel, can bear its own weight, much leſs the weight of another Creature: Every Creature is like a Glaſs without a bottom, which cannot ſtand alone, but muſt alwayes be in hand.
It's impoſſible for the Creation, or any part of it, to bear up a moment, if God ſhould forget it, and deny his actual concurrence to it. It doth conſtantly depend on God, as the Figure of the Seal imprinted on the Water, which being with-drawn, the impreſſion is inſtantly defaced. God is to the World, as the Soul to the Body, which alone can actuate and move it, without which it cannot ſtir at all, but is as a dead Corps.
2. For Gubernation, He governeth all, and neither Men nor Angels can govern themſelves. The great Family of the World would ſoon loſe its beauty; yea its being, if he did not maintain its harmony and concord, by guiding them in their motions, keeping them in their ſeveral ſtations, and directing them to their ends: The Lord hath establiſhed his Throne in the Heavens, and his Kingdom ruleth over all, Pſal. 103.19. One Creature would moſt cruelly devour another; Beaſts would prey on Men: All Creatures would become their own Enemies and Executioners; The whole Earth would be turn'd into an Acheldama, and a Golgatha, a Field of Bloud, and Place of Skulls; yea, into an Hell, if he did not order, and guide, and govern all. Treaſons, Inceſt, Slaughters, Parricides, would over-whelm the whole World, pervert the order of Nature, turn all into Confuſion and Deſtruction; if he did not keep the Reins in his own Hands, and govern all things, in every of their actions, every moment.
He governeth the highest, even the Governors themſelves on Earth, that ſeem to be above all Government: Kings and Princes ſeem to be abſolute, and wholly at their own diſpoſal; Who may ſay to a King, What dost thou? Many will tell us, That their Hands are their own, to do what they pleaſe; but more will acknowledge, that their Hearts are their own, to think as they pleaſe. But alas, they cannot command their Hands to do what they will, their Hands are ruled & overruled by him, Act. 4.28. Herod and Pontius Pilate were gathered together, to do what thy Hand determined to be done. In like manner, their Hearts are not in their own Hands, to think as they will, but in God's Hand, to think what he will: The Heart of the King is in the Hand of the Lord, and he turneth it as the Rivers of Water, which way he pleaſeth, Prov. 21.1. As the Huſbandman turneth the Sluces into his Ground, this way, or that way, into this Channel or that Channel, as he thinks beſt for his own advantage; ſo God turneth the Hearts of Kings this way or that way, which way he ſeeth moſt for his Glory: Prov. 16.9. A mans heart deviſeth his way, but the Lord directeth his ſteps. No man is Maſter of himſelf, ſo much as of his Thoughts; that Heart that deviſeth its way, is directed in thoſe devices by God. The Sun is higher then an earthly Prince, and ſeems to be his own guide; he acteth naturally, and ſo neceſſarily: But if he ſpeak to the Sun, it riſeth not; and he ſealeth up the Stars, Job 9.9. He hath a Negative Voice upon the motions of all Beings.
He governeth the loweſt as well as the higheſt: As none are ſo high, as to be above his Precepts; ſo none are ſo low, as to be below his Providence: The higheſt muſt remember him, and he doth not forget the loweſt; Are not two Sparrows ſold for a Farthing, yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Fathers providence, Math. 10.29. Sparrows ſeem to fly at liberty, and to fall caſually; but even their flight is directed by God, and their fall ordered by him: They neither fly nor fall accidentally, but providentially.
He governeth the moſt ſtubborn Creatures, thoſe which ſeem wholly ungovernable: The Winds, the high Winds, Whirle-Winds ſeem to caſt off and ſcorn all Rule and Government; but theſe Winds are at his will: Stormy-Winds fulfil his Word, Pſal. 148.8. When they ruſh forth with ſuch irreſiſtable force, that neither Men, nor Trees, nor Horſes can ſtand before them; He rideth on their Wings, and hath them more at command then a ſkilful Rider hath an Horſe, to turn this way, or that way, at his pleaſure, Pſal. 104.3. Pſal. 18.10. They are all at his beck: He cauſeth them to blow, Pſal. 147.18. And ceaſeth them, Matth. 8.26. The wiſe man tells us, He hath them in his fist, Prov. 30.4. He can hold them faſt, or let them looſe, as a man, what he hath in his fiſt.
The Waves ſeem rougher then the Winds: The Waters are moiſt Bodies, that are with much difficulty contained in their own bounds, eſpecially when the Winds croſs them, & contend with them; but he ſitteth on the Floods, Pſal. 29.11. As a Prince on his Throne, enjoyning and forcing Obedience and Submiſſion: He bindeth the Waters in a Garment, Prov. 30.4. As Women their ſucking Infants in Mantles, with ſwadling-Bands, which they cannot get out of; though the Sea be ſuch a Giant, ſuch a Monſter, that it ſwalloweth up thouſands, and burieth them in its Belly, that it maketh all to ſhake and tremble, when it roareth and rageth; yet to God, it's but a little Infant, which he ordereth as he pleaſeth, and can lay to ſleep, or make quiet in an inſtant, when it's never ſo tempeſtuous: When I made the Cloud the Garment thereof, and thick Darkneſs its Swadling-Band, Job 38.9. Some earthly Princes heated with Paſſion, and drunk with Pride, have caſt Shackles into the Sea, threatning it with bondage, if he did not obey them. Xerxes commanded ſo many ſtrokes to be given the Sea, as a Puniſhment of its Rebellion againſt his will; but ſuch actions are the higheſt folly and madneſs. Many have had great Command at Sea, but none ever had the Command of the Sea, ſave God. As tempeſtuous and outragious as it is, it's his quiet Priſoner, and ſtirs not without his leave, nor otherwiſe then he lengthens its Chain: I ſet Bars and Doors, and ſaid, Hitherto ſhalt thou come, and no farther, and here ſhall thy proud Waves be ſtay'd, Job 38.10, 11.
It may eaſily be proved, that the Sea is higher then the Earth, and why then doth it not over-flow it, and drown its Inhabitants? ſurely no reaſon can be given, but the Command the great God hath over it; Pſal. 104.6, 7, 8, 9. The Waters ſtood above the Mountains; At thy rebuke they fled, at the Voice of thy Thunder they haſted away: They go up by the Mountains, they go down by the Vallies, unto the place which thou haſt founded for them: Thou haſt ſet a bound, that they may not paſs over; that they turn not again to cover the Earth. The Waters did once cover the Earth, till God broke up for them his decreed place, Job 38.10. And commanded them into their appointed Channels. They have a propenſity and inclination ſtill to cover the Earth again: What doth their conſtant beating upon their Banks with rage and fury, and now and then encroaching upon the Earth, and getting ground of it ſignifie? but their deſire and longing to beat down all before them, and turn the dry Land into a Sea. The onelyonly reaſon why they do not accompliſh their ends, is, becauſe the great Governor of the World hath ſet them their bounds, which they cannot paſs.
Some men are extream ſtubborn and refractory, as immoveable as Rocks, reſolved and fixt for their own Wills and Wayes; but even theſe God ordereth at his pleaſure. The King of Babylon ſeem'd an untameable Beaſt, he had forraged many Countries and Kingdoms, and trampled on many Idols and falſe gods; and he cometh in a full career againſt the People of God, like a Lion greedy of his prey, no way doubting but to tear them in pieces, and devour them, as you may read in 37. and 38. Chapters of Iſaiah. But mark how God governs this wild Aſs, and hath this Monſter at command, Iſa. 38.29. I will put my Hook into thy Noſe, and my Bridle in thy Lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou cameſt. I will put my Hook into thy Noſe, an alluſion either to a Fiſher, when he hath the Fiſh faſt on his Hook, draweth it which way he will, Job 41.1. Or to ſuch Rings as men put into the Noſes of Bears to keep them in, and govern them with: My Bridle into thy Lips, Ezek. 19.4, 9.my Bit in thy Mouth, and my Curb about thy Jaws, an alluſion to them that ride Horſes, who with Bridle and Bit, rein and reſtrain them, and keep them within compaſs, Pſal. 32.9. James 3.3. As if God had ſaid, becauſe thou raveſt and rageſt like ſome huge unruly Fiſh, or ſome fierce wild Beaſt, I will take thee with my Hook, and I will ring thee, and curb thee, and lead thee, and draw thee whither I liſt.
The Devils are more untractable then Winds, and Waves, and Men: They have great Power; hence called The ſtrong man, Luke 11.21. And Powers, Eph. 6.12. Their union doth much increaſe their ſtrength, Vis unita fortior: They are ſo much one in their Confederacies, and all their Conſpiracies, that they are called The evil One, The wicked One, Matth. 13.28. The Devil, 1 Peter 5.8. Becauſe though they are many thouſands, yet they agree and unite againſt God, as if they were all but one. They have much knowledge, ſubtilty, and policy, to direct their Power, Vis conſilii expers, &c. Their excellent Natures, their great Obſervation of Perſons and Actions; their long experience of ſome thouſands of years in the World, muſt needs ſpeak their Wiſdom, or rather Craftineſs, to be great.
Add to theſe, their innate implacable hatred of God, which makes them imploy all their Power, and improve all their Policy to offend and diſpleaſe him, to break from under his Yoke and Subjection; yet in ſpight of all their Might, their Craft, their Malice, he governeth them as a man doth his Priſoners, whom he hath in Fetters: He hath reſerved them in Chains of Darkneſs, Jude verſe 6. He hath them ever in the Chains, 1. Of their own terrifying affrighting Conſciences, which allow them no reſt Day or Night: Indeed, all time is a dark dreadful time to them, and all places are dark diſmal places to them; they are whereever they go as Priſoners with Fetters upon them, yea ſuch Shackels as enter into and pierce their Spirits in Chains of Darkneſs. 2. In Chains of Divine Providence: God governeth their Perſons, and all their motions; they go no whither but as he pleaſeth, though they go up and down in the Earth. As ſubtile a Spirit as the Devil is, he cannot touch Job, Job 1.12. No, nor the Swine without God's leave, Matth. 8.31. He that would read more of the incomparableneſs of God in his Providence, may ſee it incomparably ſet forth by God's own Mouth, in the 37, 38, 39, 40, 41. Chapters of Job.