Discourses Upon the Attributes of God, Sermon 8
SERMON VIII.Vol. VI. The Wiſdom of God, in the Creation of the World.
PSALM 104.24.
O Lord; how manifold are thy Works! in Wiſdom haſt thou made them all.
I Am treating of the Attributes and Properties of God, particularly thoſe which relate to the Divine Underſtanding, which I told you are his Knowledge and Wiſdom. I have finiſht the firſt, the Knowledge of God. The laſt Day I ſpake concerning the Wiſdom of God in general; but there are Three eminent Arguments, and famous Inſtances of God's Wiſdom, which I have reſerved for a more large and particular handling. The Wiſdom of God ſhines forth in the Creation of the World, in the Government of it, and in the Redemption of Mankind by Jeſus Chriſt. Of theſe Three I ſhall ſpeak ſeverally.
I begin with the Firſt, the Argument of God's Wiſdom, which the Creation doth furniſh us withal. In this viſible frame of the World which we behold with our Eyes, which way ſoever we look, we are encountred with ocular demonſtrations of the Wiſdom of God. What the Apoſtle ſaith of the Power of God is true likewiſe of his Wiſdom, Rom. 1.20. The inviſible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly ſeen, being underſtood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head: ſo the eternal wiſdom of God is underſtood by the things which are made. Now the Creation is an Argument of the wiſdom of God, as it is an effect of admirable Counſel and Wiſdom. As any curious Work, or rare Engine doth argue the Wit of the Artificer; ſo the variety, and order, and regularity, and fitneſs of the Works of God, argue the infinite wiſdom of him who made them; a Work ſo beautiful and magnificent, ſuch a ſtately Pile as Heaven and Earth is, ſo curious in the ſeveral pieces of it, ſo harmonious in all its parts, every part ſo fitted to the ſervice of the whole, and each part for the ſervice of another; is not this a plain Argument that there was infinite wiſdom in the contrivance of this Frame?
Now I ſhall endeavour to prove to you that this Frame of Things which we ſee with our Eyes, which we call the World, or the Creation, is contrived after the beſt manner, and hath upon it evident impreſſions of Counſel and Wiſdom. I grant the wiſdom of God is Infinite, and that many of the Ends and Deſigns of his wiſdom are unſearchable, and paſt finding out, both in the Works of Creation and Providence; and that tho' a Wiſe man ſeek to find out the work of God from the beginning to the end, he ſhall not be able to do it; and we ſhall never be able to exhauſt all the various Wiſdom and Contrivance which is in the Works of God; tho' the oftner and the nearer we meditate upon them, the more we ſhall ſee to admire in them; the more we ſtudy this Book of the Creation, the more we ſhall be aſtoniſh'd at the Wiſdom of the Author: but this doth not hinder but that we may diſcover ſomething of the Wiſdom of God, tho' it be Infinite. As the Effects of Infinite Power may fall under our Senſes, ſo the Deſigns of Infinite Wiſdom may fall under our Reaſon and Ʋnderſtanding; and when things appear to our beſt Reaſon, plainly to be order'd for the beſt, and the greateſt advantages of the World and Mankind, ſo far as we are able to judge; and if they had been otherwiſe, as they might have been a hundred thouſand ways, they would not have been ſo well; we ought to conclude, that things are thus, and not otherwiſe, is the reſult of Wiſdom.
Now the Wiſdom of God in the Creation will appear by conſidering the Works of God. Thoſe who have ſtudied Nature can diſcourſe theſe things more exactly and particularly. It would require perfect skill in Aſtronomy, to declare the motions and order of Heavenly Bodies; and in Anatomy, to read Lectures of the rare contrivance of the Bodies of living Creatures. But this, as it is beyond my ability, ſo it would probably be above moſt of your Capacities; therefore I ſhall content my ſelf with ſome general and more obvious inſtances of the Divine Wiſdom, which ſhine forth ſo clear in his Works, that he that runs may read it.
1. I ſhall take a ſhort ſurvey of the ſeveral parts of the World.
2. Single out Man the Maſter-piece of the viſible Creation.
1. If we ſurvey the World, and travel over the ſeveral parts of it in our thoughts, we ſhall find that all things in it are made with the greateſt exactneſs, ranged in the moſt beautiful order, and ſerve the wiſeſt and beſt Ends.
If we look up to Heaven, and take notice only there of that which is moſt viſible, the Sun; you ſee how by the wiſe order and conſtancy of its courſe it makes Day and Night, Winter and Summer. This the Pſalmiſt takes notice of, Pſal. 19.1, 2. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament ſheweth his handy work. Day unto Day uttereth ſpeech, and night unto night ſheweth knowledge. It may eaſily be imagin'd many ways, how the Sun might have had another Courſe in reference to the Earth; but no Man can deviſe any other that ſhould not be very much to the prejudice of the World; ſo that this being the beſt, it is an Argument that Wiſdom had the ordering and diſpoſing of it.
If we look down to the Earth, we ſhall ſee God's aſcending and deſcending; I mean clear repreſentations of Divine Wiſdom in the Treaſures that are hid in the Bowels of it, and thoſe Fruits that grow upon the ſurface of it. What vaſt Heaps, and what variety of uſeful Materials and Minerals are ſcatter'd up and down in the Earth, as one would think, with a careleſs Hand, but yet ſo wiſely diſperſt, as is moſt proper for the Neceſſities and Uſes of ſeveral Countries! Look upon the ſurface of the Earth, and you ſhall find it cloathed and adorned with Plants of a various and admirable Frame, and Beauty, and Uſefulneſs. Look upon the vaſt Ocean, and there you may ſee the Wiſdom of God in bridling and reſtraining that unruly Element, I mean in ſinking it below the Earth; whereas the Water might have been above and cover'd the Earth, and then the Earth had been in a great meaſure uſeleſs, and incapable of thoſe Inhabitants which now poſſeſs it.
Look again upon the Earth, and in the Air, and Sea, and you ſhall find all theſe inhabited and furniſht with great ſtore of living Creatures of ſeveral kinds, wonderfully made in the frame of their Bodies, endowed with ſtrong inclination to increaſe their kinds, and with a natural Affection and Care toward their Young ones; and every kind of theſe Creatures armed either with ſtrength or wit to oppoſe their Enemy, or ſwiftneſs to flie from him, or ſtrong Holds to ſecure themſelves. But the Creation is a vaſt Field, in which we may eaſily loſe our ſelves. I ſhall therefore call home our wandring Thoughts; for we need not go out of our ſelves for a proof of Divine Wiſdom. I ſhall therefore,
2. Select the choiceſt piece of it, Man, who is the top and perfection of this viſible World. What is ſaid of the Elephant, or Behemoth, Job 40.19. in reſpect of the vaſt bigneſs and ſtrength of his Body, is only abſolutely true of Man, that he is divini opificii caput, the chief of the ways of God, and upon Earth there is none like him. Man is Mundi utriuſque nexus, the bond of both Worlds, as Scaliger calls him, in whom the World of Bodies, and the World of Spirits do meet, and unite; for in reſpect to his Body, he is related to this viſible World, and is of the Earth; but in reſpect of his Soul, he is allied to Heaven, and deſcended from above. We have looked above us, and beneath us, and about us, upon the ſeveral repreſentations of God's Wiſdom, and the ſeveral parts of the Creation; but we have not yet conſider'd the beſt piece of the viſible World, which we may ſpeak of, without flattery of our ſelves, and to the praiſe of our Maker. God, when he had made the World, he made man after his own Image. When he had finiſhed the other part of the Creation, he was pleaſed to ſet up this Picture of himſelf in it, as a Memorial of the Workman. Now we ſhall a little more particularly conſider this piece of God's Workmanſhip, being it is better known, and more familiar to us, as it is more excellent than the reſt, and conſequently a higher inſtance of the Divine Wiſdom. It is obſerved by ſome, that concerning the parts of the Creation, God ſpeaks the word, let there be light, and let there be a firmament, and there was ſo: but when he comes to make Man, he doth, as it were, deliberate, and enter into conſultation about him; And God ſaid, let us make man in our image, after our likeneſs; and let him have dominion. Gen. 1.26; as if Man, above all the reſt, were the Effect and Reſult of Divine Wiſdom, and the Creature of his Counſel.
Man may be conſider'd either in himſelf, and in reſpect of the Parts of which he conſiſts, Soul and Body; or with relation to the Univerſe, and other parts of the Creation.
1. Conſider him in himſelf, as compounded of Soul and Body. Conſider Man in his outward and worſe part, and you ſhall find that to be admirable, even to aſtoniſhment; in reſpect of which, the Pſalmiſt cries out, Pſal. 139.14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy works, and that my ſoul knoweth right well. The frame of our Bodies is ſo curiouſly wrought, and every part of it ſo full of Miracle, that Galen (who was otherwiſe backward enough to the Belief of a God) when he had anatomized Man's Body, and carefully ſurvey'd the frame of it, viewed the fitneſs and uſefulneſs of every part of it, and the many ſeveral intentions of every little Vein, and Bone, and Muſcle, and the beauty of the whole; he fell into a pang of Devotion, and wrote a Hymn to his Creator. And thoſe excellent Books of his, de uſu partium, of the uſefulneſs and convenient contrivance of every part of the Body, are a moſt exact demonſtration of the Divine Wiſdom, which appears in the make of our Body, of which Books, Gaſſendus ſaith, the whole work is writ with a kind of Enthuſiaſm. The Wiſdom of God, in the frame of our Bodies, very much appears by a curious conſideration of the ſeveral parts of it; but that requiring a very accurate skill in Anatomy, I chuſe rather wholly to forbear it, than by my unskilfulneſs to be injurious to the Divine Wiſdom.
But this domicilium corporis, this Houſe of our Body, tho' it be indeed a curious piece; yet it is nothing to the noble Inhabitant that dwells in it. This Cabinet, tho' it be exquiſitely wrought, and very rich; yet it comes infinitely ſhort in value of the Jewel that is hid and laid up in it. How does the glorious faculty of Reaſon and Underſtanding exalt us above the reſt of the Creatures! Nature hath not made that particular Proviſion for Man, which it hath made for other Creatures, becauſe it hath provided for him in general, in giving him a Mind and Reaſon. Man is not born cloathed, nor armed with any conſiderable Weapon for defence; but he hath Reaſon and Underſtanding to provide theſe things for himſelf; and this alone excells all the advantages of other Creatures; he can keep himſelf warmer and ſafer, he can fore-ſee Dangers and provide againſt them; he can provide Weapons that are better than Horns, and Teeth, and Paws, and by the advantage of his Reaſon, is too hard for all other Creatures, and can defend himſelf againſt their Violence.
If we conſider the Mind of Man yet nearer, how many Arguments of Divinity are there in it! That there ſhould be at once in our Underſtandings diſtinct comprehenſions of ſuch variety of Objects; that it ſhould paſs in its Thoughts from Heaven to Earth in a moment, and retain the memory of things paſt, and take a proſpect of the future, and look forward as far as Eternity! Becauſe we are familiar to our ſelves, we cannot be ſtrange and wonderful to our ſelves: But the great Miracle of the World is the Mind of Man, and the contrivance of it an Eminent Inſtance of God's Wiſdom.
2. Conſider Man with relation to the Univerſe, and you ſhall find the Wiſdom of God doth appear, in that all things are made ſo uſeful for Man, who was deſign'd to be the chief Inhabitant of this viſible World, the Gueſt whom God deſign'd principally to entertain in this Houſe which he built. Not that we are to think, that God hath ſo made all things for Man, that he hath not made them at all for himſelf, and poſſibly for many other uſes than we can imagine; for we much over-value our ſelves, if we think them to be only for us; and we diminiſh the Wiſdom of God in reſtraining it to one end: but the chief and principal End of many things is the Uſe and Service of Man; and in reference to this End, you ſhall find that God hath made abundant and wiſe Proviſion.
More particularly we will conſider Man.
1. In his natural capacity, as a part of the World. How many things are there in the World for the ſervice and pleaſure, for the uſe and delight of Man, which, if Man were not in the World, would be of little uſe? Man is by Nature a contemplative Creature, and God has furniſh'd him with many Objects to exerciſe his Underſtanding upon, which would be ſo far uſeleſs and loſt, if Man were not. Who ſhould obſerve the Motions of the Stars, and the Courſes of thoſe Heavenly Bodies, and all the Wonders of Nature? Who ſhould prie into the ſecret Virtues of Plants, and other natural things, if there were not, in the World, a Creature endowed with Reaſon and Underſtanding? Would the Beaſts of the Field ſtudy Aſtronomy, or turn Chymiſts, and try Experiments in Nature?
What variety of beautiful Plants and Flowers is there! which can be imagin'd to be of little other uſe but for the Pleaſure of Man. And if Man had not been, they would have loſt their grace, and been trod down by the Beaſts of the Field, without pity or obſervation; they would not have made them into Garlands and Noſe-gays. How many ſorts of Fruits are there which grow upon high Trees, out of the reach of Beaſts! and indeed they take no Pleaſure in them. What would all the vaſt bodies of Trees have ſerved for, if Man had not been to build with them, and make Dwellings of them? Of what uſe would all the Mines of Metal have been, and of Coal, and the Quarries of Stone? Would the Mole have admired the fine Gold? Would the Beaſts of the Foreſt have built themſelves Palaces, or would they have made Fires in their Dens?
2. Conſider Man in his Geographical Capacity, as I may call it, in relation to his Habitation in this or that Climate, or Country. The Wiſdom of God hath ſo order'd Things, that the Neceſſities of every Country are ſupplyed one way or other. Egypt hath no Rains; but the River Nilus overflows it, and makes it fruitful. Under the Line, where there are exceſſive Heats, every day there are conſtant gales and breezes of cool Wind, to fan and refreſh the ſcorched Inhabitants. The hotter Countries are furniſht with Materials for Silk, a light Cloathing; we that are cooler here in England, with materials for Cloth, a warmer Cloathing; Ruſſia and Muſcovy, which are extreme Cold, are provided with warm Furs, and Skins of Beaſts.
3. Conſider Man in his capacity of Commerce and Entercourſe. Man is a ſociable Creature; beſides the advantages of Commerce with remoter Nations, for ſupplying every Country with thoſe Conveniences and Commodities which each doth peculiarly afford. And here the Wiſdom of God does plainly appear in diſpoſing the Sea into ſeveral parts of the World, for the more ſpeedy Commerce and Entercourſe of ſeveral Nations. Now if every Country had brought forth all Commodities; that had been needleſs and ſuperfluous, becauſe they might have been had without Commerce; beſides that the great encouragement of Entercourſe among Nations, which is ſo agreeable to humane Nature, would have been taken away: If every Country had been, as now it is, deſtitute of many things other Countries have, and there had been no Sea to give an opportunity of Trafick; the World had been very defective as to the Uſe of Man. Now here appears the Wiſdom of God, that the World, and all things in it, are contriv'd for the beſt.
Thus I have endeavour'd to do ſomething toward the diſplaying of God's Wiſdom in the workmanſhip of the World; altho' I am very ſenſible how much I have been maſter'd and oppreſt by the greatneſs and weight of ſo noble an Argument. For who can declare the works of God! and who can ſhew forth all his praiſe!
The Uſe I ſhall make of what has been ſaid, ſhall be in three Particulars.
1. This confutes the Epicureans, who impute the World, and this orderly and beautiful Frame of Things to Chance▪ Thoſe things which are the proper Effects of Counſel, and bear the plain Impreſſions of Wiſdom upon them, ought not to be attributed to Chance. What a madneſs is it to grant all things to be as well made, as if the wiſeſt Agent upon Counſel and Deſign had contriv'd them; and yet to aſcribe them to Chance! Now he that denies things to be ſo wiſely framed, muſt pick holes in the Creation, and ſhew ſome fault and irregularity in the Frame of Things, which no Man ever yet pretended to do. Did ever any Anatomiſt pretend to ſhew how the Body of Man might have been better contriv'd, and fitter for the Uſes of a Reaſonable Creature than it is; or any Aſtronomer to rectifie the Courſe of the Sun. As for the Extravagant and Blaſphemous Speech of Alphonſus, That if he had ſtood at God's Elbow when he made the World, he could have told him how to have made it better; beſides his Pride, it ſhews nothing but his Ignorance; that he built his Aſtronomy upon a falſe Hypotheſis, as is generally believed now by the Learned in that Science; and no wonder he found fault with the World, when he miſtook the Frame of it: But thoſe who have been moſt verſt in Nature, and have moſt pried into the ſecrets of it, have moſt admired the workmanſhip both of the great World, and the leſs.
But if we muſt ſuppoſe the World to be as well made as Wiſdom could contrive it, which is generally granted; it is a monſtrous folly to impute it to Chance. A man might better ſay, Archimedes did not make any of his Engines by Skill, but by Chance; and might more eaſily maintain that Cardinal Richlieu did not manage Affairs by any Arts or Policies, but they fell out by meer Chance. What pitiful ſhifts is Epicurus put to, when the beſt Account he can give of the World, is this; That Matter always was, and the parts of it in motion, and after a great many Tryals, the parts of Matter at length hamper'd themſelves in this fortunate order wherein they now are; that men, at firſt, grew out of the Earth, were nouriſht by the Navelſtring, and when they were ſtrong enough, broke looſe and weaned themſelves; that the Noſtrils were made by the Waters making themſelves a paſſage out of the Body; and the Stomack and Bowels by the Waters forcing a paſſage downward; that the Members of the Body were not made for thoſe Ʋſes for which they ſerve, but chanced to be ſo, and the uſes afterwards found out. Is it worth the while to advance ſuch ſenſeleſs Opinions as theſe, to deny the Wiſdom of God? Is it not much eaſier, and more reaſonable to ſay, that the Wiſdom of God made all theſe things, than to trouble our ſelves to imagin how all things ſhould happen thus conveniently by Chance? Did you ever know any great work, in which there was variety of parts, and an orderly diſpoſition of them required, done by Chance, and without the direction of Wiſdom and Counſel? How long time might a Man take to jumble a ſet of four and twenty Letters together, before they would fall out to be an exact Poem; yea, or make a Book of tolerable Senſe, tho' but in Proſe? How long might a Man ſprinkle Oil and Colours upon Canvas, with a careleſs Hand, before this would produce the exact Picture of a Man? And is a Man eaſilier made by Chance, than his Picture? He that tells me that this great and curious frame of the World was made by Chance, I could much more believe him, if he ſhould tell me that Henry the VII's Chappel, in Weſtminſter, was not built by any mortal man, but the Stones did grow in thoſe forms into which they ſeem to us to be cut and graven; that the Stones; and Timber, and Iron, and Braſs, and all the other Materials, came thither by Chance, and upon a day met all happily together, and put themſelves into that delicate order, in which we ſee them ſo cloſe compacted, that it muſt be a great Chance that parts them again. Now is it not much eaſier to imagin how a skilful Workman ſhould raiſe a Building, than how Timber, and Stones, and how that variety of Materials which is required to a great and ſtately Building, ſhould meet together all of a juſt bigneſs, and exactly fitted, and by chance take their places, and range themſelves into that order. I inſiſt the longer upon this, becauſe I am ſenſible how much Atheiſm hath gained in this Age.
2. Let us Admire, and Adore, and Praiſe the Wiſdom of God, who hath eſtabliſht the world by his wiſdom, and ſtretched out the heavens by his underſtanding; who hath made all things in number, weight, and meaſure, that is, by exact wiſdom. The wiſe Works of God are the proper Object of our praiſe; and this is a day proper for this Work of Praiſe and Thanks-giving. Now under the Goſpel, ſince Chriſt was clearly revealed, we have new matter of Praiſe and Thanksgiving; but as God has given us Chriſt, ſo he hath given us our Beings. We are not ſo to remember our Redeemer, as to forget our Creator. The Goodneſs, and Power, and Wiſdom of God, which appears in the Creation of the World, ought ſtill to be matter of Admiration and Praiſe to Chriſtians. It is a great Fault and Neglect among Chriſtians, that they are not more taken up with the Works of God, and the Contemplation of the Wiſdom which ſhines forth in them. We are apt enough to admire other things, little Toys; but we overlook this vaſt curious Engine of the World, and the great Artificer of all things. It was truly ſaid of one, that moſt men are ſo ſtupid and inconſiderate, as to admire the Works of a Painter or a Carver, more than the Works of God. There are many that have beſtowed more Eloquence in the Praiſe of a curious Picture, or an exact Building, than ever they did upon this noble and exquiſite frame of the World, or any of the works of God. We can admire the wiſdom, and deſign, and skill of petty Artiſts, and little Engineers; but here is wiſdom in the Beauty and Order of the Creation. Did we love God, and take pleaſure in the Effects of his Wiſdom and Power, we ſhould be more in the Contemplation of them. Pſal. 111.2. The works of the Lord are great, ſought out of all them that have pleaſure therein. Let us then ſay with the Pſalmiſt,; O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wiſdom haſt thou made them all; the Earth is full of thy riches, &c.
More particularly let us, with an humble thankfulneſs, admire the Wiſdom which hath made and diſpoſed all things ſo fitly for our Uſe and Service, and with ſo merciful a reſpect to us; The Light and Influence of Heaven; the Beaſts and the Fruits of the Earth. We find the Pſalmiſt often praiſing God upon this Account, Pſal. 136.4, 5. &c. The Wiſdom which hath framed theſe Bodies of ours. Pſal. 139.14, 15, 16. Which hath endowed us with Knowledge and Underſtanding. Elihu complains, that Men were apt to over-look theſe great Bleſſings of God, Job 35.10, 11, 12. But none ſaith, where is God my maker, who giveth Songs in the night? Who teacheth us more than the Beaſts of the earth, and maketh us wiſer than the Fowls of Heaven? There they cry, but none giveth anſwer, becauſe of the pride of evil men.
3. Ʋſe; Truſt the Wiſdom of God, which made the World, to govern it, and the Affairs of it; and the Wiſdom which hath framed thy Body in ſo curious and exquiſite a manner, and formed thy Spirit within thee, and hath made ſo many Creatures, with reference to thy Neceſſity and Comfort, truſt him for thy future Proviſion. Mat. 6.25. I ſay unto you, Take no thought for your lives, what ye ſhall eat, &c. Is not the life more than meat? and the body than rayment? He hath given us our Souls, he hath breathed into us the breath of life, and made theſe Bodies without our care and thought; He hath done the greater, will he not do the leſs? When thou art ready anxiouſly and ſolicitouſly to ſay, what ſhall I do for the neceſſaries of Life? Conſider whence thou didſt receive thy Life, who made this Body of thine; thou mayſt be aſſur'd that the Wiſdom which hath created theſe, conſider'd how to ſupply them; the Wiſdom of God knew that you would want all theſe, and hath accordingly provided for them, therefore fear not.