But One GOD. to Of the CREATION.

But One GOD.

Quest. V. THE fifth Question is, Are there more Gods then one?

Answ. There is but one, only the living and true God.

That there is a God hath been proved, and those that will not believe the Verity of his Essence, shall feel the Severity of his Wrath, Deut. 6.4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord. He is the only God, Deut. 4.39. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thy heart, that the Lord he is God in Heaven above, and upon the Earth beneath there is none else. Isa. 45.21. A just God and a Saviour, There is none beside me. There are many titular Gods; Kings represent God;

their Regal Scepter is an Emblem of his Power and Authority. Judges are called Gods, Psal. 82.5. I have said ye are Gods, (viz.) set in God's place to do Justice; but dying Gods, vers. 7. Ye shall dye like men, 1 Cor. 8.5, 6. There be that are called Gods, but to us there is but One God.

Argument 1. There is but one first Cause, that hath its Being of it self, and on which all other Beings depend. As in the Heavens the primum Mobile moves all the other Orbs, so God gives Life and Motion to every thing existent. There can be but one God, because there is but one first Cause.

2. There is but one infinite Being, therefore there is but one God. There cannot be two Infinites, Ier. 23.24. Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? If there be one Infinite, filling all places at once, how can there be any room for another Infinite to subsist.

3. There is but one Omnipotent Power; if there be two Omnipotents, then we must always suppose a Contest between these two, that which one would do, the other Power being Equal, would oppose, and so all things would be brought into a Confusion. If a Ship should have two Pilots of equal Power, one would be ever crossing the other; when one would Sail the other would cast Anchor; here were a Confusion, and the Ship must needs perish. The Order and Harmony in the World, the constant and uniform Government of all things, is a clear Argument that there is but one Omnipotent, one God that rules all. Isa. 44.6. I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.

Use 1. of Information. If there be but one God, then it excludes all other Gods. Some have fained that there were two Gods, so the Valentinians; others, that there were many Gods, so the Polytheites; the Persians worshipped the Sun, the Egyptians the Lion and Elephant, the Grecians worshipped Iupiter; These, I may say err, not knowing the Scriptures, Matth. 22.29. Their Faith is a Fable. God hath given them up to strong delusions, to believe a lie, that they may be damned, 2 Thess. 2.11.

2. If there be but one God, then there can be but One true Religion in the World, Eph. 4.5. [gap], one Lord, one Faith. If there were many Gods, then there might be many Religions, every God would be worshipped in his way; but if there be but one God, there is but one Religion; one Lord, one Faith. Some say we may be saved in any Religion; 'tis absurd to imagine, that God, who is one in Essence, should appoint several Religions in which he will be worshipped. 'Tis as dangerous to set up a false Religion, as to set up a false God. There are many ways to Hell; Men may go thither which way their Fancy leads them; but there is but one direct Road to Heaven, viz. Faith and Holiness. There is no way to be saved in but this: as there is but one God, so there is but one True Religion.

3. If there be but one God, then you have but One that you need chiefly study to please, and that is God. If there were divers Gods, we should be hard put to it how to please them all; one would command one thing, another the quite contrary, and to please two contrary Masters is impossible: but there is but one God, therefore you have but one to please. As in a Kingdom there is but one King, therefore every one seeks to ingratiate himself into his favour, Prov. 19.6. so there is but one true God; therefore here lies our main work, to please him. Be sure to please God, whoever else you displease. This was Enoch's Wisdom, Hebr. 11.5. he had this Testimony before he died, that he pleased God.

Quest. What doth this pleasing God imply?

Answ. 1. We please God when we comport with his Will. 'Twas Christ's meat and drink to do his Father's will, Iohn 4.34. and so he pleased him, Matth. 3 17. A voice came from heaven, saying, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It is the will of God that we should be holy, 1 Thess. 4.3[gap]. Now when we are bespangled with Holiness, our Lives are walking Bibles: this is according to God's will, and it pleaseth him.

2. We please God when we do the Work that he sets us about, Iohn 17.4. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do, viz. my mediatory work. Many finish their lives, but do not finish their work. Our work God hath cut out for us, is to observe the first and second Table. In the first is set down our duty towards God; in the second our duty towards Man. Such as make Morality the chief and sole part of Religion, set the second Table above the first; nay, they take away the first Table: for if Prudence, Justice, Temparance, be enough to save, then what needs the first Table? and so our worship towards God shall be quite left out. But those two Tables which God hath joyned together, let no Man put asunder.

3. We please God when we dedicate our Heart to give him the best of every thing. Abel gave God the fat of the Offering, Gen. 4.4. Domitian would not have his Image carved in Wood or Iron, but in Gold. Then we please God, when we serve him with love, fervency, alacrity, we give him golden Services; herein lies our Wisdom and Piety, to please God; there is but one God, therefore there is but one whom we have chiefly to please, namely God.

4. If there be but one God, then we must pray to none but God. The Papists pray to Saints and Angels: 1. To Saints; a Popish Writer saith, When we pray to the Saints departed, they being touched with compassion, say the like to God for us, as the Disciples did to Christ for the Canaanitish Woman, Matth. 15.23. Send her away, for she crieth after us. The Saints above know not our Wants, Isa. 63.16. Abraham is ignorant of us; or if they did, we have no warrant to pray to them. Prayer is [gap], a part of Divine Worship which must be given only to God. 2. They pray to Angels. Angel-worship is forbidden, Col. 2.18, 19. and that we may not pray to Angels, is clear from Rom. 10.14. How shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? We may not pray to any, but whom we may believe in; but we may not believe in an Angel, ergo, we may not pray to him. There is but one God, and it is a sin to invocate any but only God.

5. If there be but one God, who is above all, Ephes. 4.6. then he must be loved above all. 1. We must love him with a love of Appreciation; set the highest estimate on him who is the only Fountain of Being and Bliss. 2. We must love him with a love of Complacency. Amor est complacentia amantis in amato, Aquin. Our love to other things must be more indifferent; some drops of love may run beside to the Creature, but the full stream must run towards God; the Creature may have the Milk of our love, but we must keep the Cream of our love for God. God who is above all, must be loved above all; Psal. 73.25. There is none on earth whom I desire in comparison of thee.

Use 2. of Caution. If there be but one God, then let us take heed of setting up more Gods then one. Psal. 16.4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied, that hasten after another God: their Drink-offerings of Blood will I not offer, nor take up their Names into my lips. God is a jealous God, and he will not endure that we should have other Gods. 'Tis easie to commit Idolatry with the Creature. 1. Some make a God of Pleasure, 2. Tim. 3.4. [gap], Lovers of pleasure more then lovers of God. Whatever we love more then God, we make a God. 2. Others make Money their God. The Covetous Man worships the Image of Gold, therefore is called an Idolater, Eph. 5.5. that which a Man trusts to, he makes his God, but he makes the wedge of Gold his Hope. He makes Money his Creator, Redeemer, Comforter. 'Tis his Creator; if he hath Money, then he thinks he is made. It is his Redeemer; if he be in danger, he trusts in his Money to redeem him out. It is his Comforter; if at any time he be sad, the golden Harp drives away the Evil Spirit. So that Money is his God; God made Man of the Dust of the Earth, and Man makes a God of the Dust of the Earth. 3. Another makes a God of his Child, sets his Child in God's room, and so provokes God to take it away. If you lean too hard upon a Glass, it will break; many break their Children, by leaning too hard upon them. 4. Others make a God of their Belly, Phil. 3.19. Whose God is their Belly. Clemens Alexandrinus writes of a Fish that hath its heart in its Belly; an Emblem of Epicures, their Heart is in their Belly; they mind nothing but indulging the Sensual Appetite; they do sacrificare lari, their Belly is their God, and to this they pour Drink-offerings: Thus Men make many Gods. The Apostle names the wicked Man's Trinity, 1 John 2.16. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life. The lust of the flesh, Pleasure; the lust of the eye, Money; Pride of Life, Honour. O take heed of this! whatever you Deifie besides God, will prove a Bramble, and Fire will come out of this Bramble, and devour you, Iudges 9.15.

Use 3. of Reproof. If the Lord Jehovah be the [gap]ly true God, then it reproves those who renounce the true God; I mean such as seek to familiar Spirits: this is too much practised among them that call themselves Christians. 'Tis a sin condemned by the Law of God, Deut. 18.11. There shall not be found among you any that consults with familiar Spirits. How ordinary is this? If People have lost any of their Goods, they send to Wizards to know how they may come by their Goods again. What is this but consulting with the Devil? and so you renounce God and your Baptism. What? because you have lost your Goods, will you lose your Souls too? 2 Kings 1.6. Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that thou sendest to enquire of Baal-zebub? so is it not because you think there is not a God in Heaven,

that you ask Counsel of the Devil? If any here be guilty, be deeply humbled, you have renounced the true God; better be without the Goods you have lost, then have the Devil help you to them again.

Use 4. of Exhortation. If there be but one God, as God is O[gap], so let them that serve him be One. This is that Christ prayed so heartily for, Iohn 17.21. That they all may be One. Christians should be One, 1. in Iudgment; the Apostle exhorts to be all of one mind, 1 Cor. 1.10. How sad is it to see Religion wearing a Coat of divers Colours, to see Christians of so many Opinions, and going so many different ways. It is Satan hath sown these Tares of Division, Matth. 13.39. he first divided Men from God, and now divides one Man from another. 2. One in Affection. They should have one Heart; Acts 4.32. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart, and of one soul. As in Musick, though there be several strings of a Viol, yet all make one sweet harmony, so though there are several Christians, yet there should be one sweet harmony of Affection among them. There is but one God, and they that serve him should be one. There is nothing would render the true Religion more lovely, or make more Proselytes to it, than to see the Professors of it tied together with the heart-strings of love, Psal. 133.1. Behold how good and pleasant a thing it is to see brethren live together in unity! It is as the sweet Dew on Hermon, and the fragrant Ointment poured on Aaron's Head. If God be one, let all that profess him be One, of one mind, and one heart; this fulfils Christ's Prayer, that they al[gap] may be one.

2. If there be but one God, let us labour to clear the Title that this God is ours, Psal. 48.14. This God is our God. What Comfort can it be to hear that there is a God, and that he is the only God, unless he be our God. What is Deity without Propriety? O let us labour to clear the Title; beg the Holy Spirit; the Spirit works faith, by faith we are one with Christ, and through Christ we come to have God for our God, and so all his glorious fulness is made over to us by a Deed of Gift.

Use 5. What Cause have we to be thankful that we have the knowledge of the only true God. How many are brought up in blindness? some worship Mahomet, divers of the Indians worship the Devil, they light a Candle to him, that he should not hurt them. Such as know not the true God, must needs stumble into Hell in the dark. O be thankful that we are born in such a Climate where the Light of the Gospel hath shined! To have the knowledge of the true God, is more then if we had Mines of Gold, Rocks of Diamonds, Islands of Spices, especially if God hath savingly revealed himself to us, if he hath given us eyes to see the light, if we so know God, as to be known of him, as to love him, and believe in him, Matth. 11.25. We can never be enough thankful to God, that he hath hid the knowledge of himself from the wise and prudent of the World, and hath revealed it unto us.

The TRINITY

Quest. VI. HOw many Persons are there in the Godhead? Resp. Three Persons, yet but one God, 1 John 5.7. There are three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.

God is but One, yet there are three distinct Persons subsisting in one God-head. This is a sacred Mystery, which the Light within could never have discovered. As the two Natures in Christ, yet but one Person, is a wonder, so three Persons, yet but one God-head. I am in a great deep, the Father God, the Son God, the Holy Ghost God, yet not three Gods, but one God. The three Persons in the blessed Trinity are distinguished, but not divided; three Subsistances, but one Essence. This is a Divine Riddle, where one makes three, and three make but one. Our narrow Thoughts can no more comprehend the Trinity in Unity, then a little Nutshel will hold all the Water in the Sea. Let me shadow it out by this similitude: In the Body of the Sun, there is the Substance of the Sun, the Beams, and the Heat; the Beams are begotten of the Sun, the Heat proceeds both from the Sun and the Beams; but these three, though different, are not divided; they all three make but one Sun. So in the blessed Trinity, the Son is begotten of the Father,

the Holy Ghost proceeds from both, yet though they are three distinct Persons, yet but one God. First let me speak of the Unity in Trinity, then of the Trinity in Unity.

1. Of the Unity in Trinity. The Unity of the Persons in the Godhead consists in two things.

1. The identity of Essence. In the Trinity there is an Oneness of Essence: the three Persons are of the same Divine Nature and Substance: so that in Deo non est magis & minus, there are no degrees in the Godhead; one Person is not God more then another.

2. The Unity of the Persons in the Godhead, consists in the mutual in-being of them, or their being in one another. The three Persons are so united, that one Person is in another, and with another, Iohn 17.21. Thou Father art in me, and I in thee.

2. Let me speak of the Trinity in Unity. 1. The first Person in the Trinity is God the Father. H[gap] is call'd the first Person in respect of Order not Dignity; for God the Father hath no essential Perfection which the other Persons have not. He is not more wise, more holy, more powerful then the other Persons are; a Priority, not Superiority.

2. The second Person in the Trinity is Iesus Christ, who is begotten of the Father before all Time, Prov. 8.23, 24, 25. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought fortth: when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were set led: before the hills, was I brought forth. Which Scripture declares the Eternal Generation of the the Son of God. This second Person in the Trinity, who is Jehovah, is become our Jesus. The Scripture calls him the Branch of David, Jer. 23.5. and I may call him the Flower of the Virgin, having assum'd our Nature. By him all that believe are justified, Acts 13.39.

3. The third Person in the Trinity is the Holy Ghost, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. His work it is to illuminate the Mind, and inkindle sacred Motions. The Essence of the Spirit is in Heaven, and every where, but the Influence of it is in the Hearts of Believers. This is that blessed Spirit who gives us the holy Unction, 1 Iohn 2.20. Though Christ merits Grace for us, it is the Holy Ghost works it in us. Though Christ makes the Purchase, it is the Holy Ghost makes the Assurance, and Seals us up to the Day of Redemption. Thus I have spoken of all the three Persons.—The Trinity of Persons may be proved out of Matth. 3.16. Iesus when he was baptized went up straitway out of the water, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon him, and lo a voice from Heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son. Here are three Names given to the three Persons. He who spake with a Voice from Heaven was God the Father; He who was baptized in Iordan, was God the Son; He who descended in the likeness of a Dove, was God the Holy Ghost. Thus I have shewn you the Unity of Essence, and the Trinity of Persons.

Use 1. It confutes the Jews and the Turks, who believe only the first Person in the Godhead: this cuts assunder the Sinews of our Comfort. Take away the distinction of the Persons in the Trinity, and you overthrow Man's Redemption: for, God the Father being offended with Man for sin, how shall he be pacified without a Mediator. This Mediator is Christ, he makes our Peace! and Christ having died, and shed his Blood, how shall this Blood be applied, but by the Holy Ghost? Therefore if there be not three Persons in the Godhead, Man's Salvation cannot be wrought out. If there be no second Person in the Trinity, then there is no Redeemer. If no third Person, then there is no Comforter. And so the Plank is taken away by which we should get to Heaven.

2. It confutes the execrable Opinion of the Socinians, who deny the Divinity of the Lord Jesus; they make him only to be a Creature of an higher Rank. As the Papists blot out the Second Commandment, so the Socinians would the Second Person in the Trinity. If to oppose Christ's Members be such a sin, what is it to oppose Christ himself? 1. Jesus Christ is coequal with God the Father, Phil. 2.6. He thought it no robbery to be equal with God. 2. He is coeternal with God the Father, Prov. 8.23. I was from the beginning; for else there was a time when God was without a Son, and so he should be no Father: nay, else there was a time when God was without his glory, for Christ is the brightness of his Fathers glory, Hebr. 1.3. 3. He is coessential with God the Father. The Godhead subsists in Christ, Col. 2.9. In whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. 'Tis said, not only Christ was with God before the beginning, but he was God, John 1.1. and 1 Tim. 3.16. God manifest in

the flesh. The Title of Lord so often given to Christ in the New Testament, doth answer to the Title of Jehovah in the Old Testament, Deut. 6.5. Matth. 22.37. so that Christ hath a Coeternity and Consubstantiality with his Father, Iohn 10.30. I and my Father are One. It were a Blasphemy for any Angel to speak thus! Yet further to prove Christ's Godhead, consider 1. the glorious incommunicable Attributes belonging to God the Father, are ascribed to Christ. 1. Is God the Father Omnipotent, so is Jesus Christ. He is [gap], the Almighty, Rev. 1.8. he Creates, Col. 1.16. 2. Is God the Father infinitely Immense, filling all places, Ier. 23.24. so is Jesus Christ. While Christ was on the Earth by his bodily presence, he was at the same time in the bosom of his Father, Iohn 3.13. in regard of his Divine presence. 2. The same Iura Regalia, or Prerogatives Royal which belong to God the Father, belong also to Christ. (1.) Doth God the Father seal Pardons, this is a Flower of Christ's Crown, Matth. 9.2. Thy sins be forgiven thee. Nor doth Christ only remit sin organicè, as Ministers do, by virtue of a Power delegated to them from God; but Christ doth it by his own Power and Authority. (2.) Is God the Father the adequate Object of Faith, is he to be believed in, so is the Son, Iohn 14.1. (3.) Doth Adoration belong to God the Father, so it doth to the Son, Hebr. 1.6. Let all the Angels of God worship him. How Sacrilegious therefore is the Socinian, who would rob Christ of the best Flower of his Crown, his Godhead; they that deny Christ to be God, must greatly wrest, or else deny the Scripture to be the Word of God.

3. It confutes the Arrians, who deny the Holy Ghost to be God. The Eternal Godhead subsists in the Holy Ghost, Iohn 16.13. He shall guide you into all Truth. Christ speaks not there of an Attribute, but a Person. And that the Godhead subsists in the Person of the Holy Ghost, appears thus: The Spirit, who gives diversity of Gifts, is said to be the same Lord, and the same God, 1 Cor. 12.5, 6. The black and unpardonable sin is said, in a special manner, to be committed against the Godhead, subsisting in the Holy Ghost, Matth. 12.32. The mighty power of God is made manifest by the Holy Ghost. He changeth the Hearts of Men. The Devil would have Christ prove himself to be God, by turning Stones into Bread; but thus the Holy Ghost shews his Godhead, by turning Stones into Flesh, Ezek. 36.26. I will take away the stony heart, and give you an heart of flesh. Yet further, the power and Godhead of the Holy Ghost appeared in the effecting the glorious Conception of our Lord Jesus Christ; the very Shadow of the Holy Ghost made a Virgin conceive, Luke 1.35. The Holy Ghost works Miracles, which transcend the sphere of Nature; as raising the Dead, Rom. 8.11. to him belongs [gap], Divine Worship; our Souls and Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. 6.19. in which Temples he is to be worshipped, vers. 20. We are baptized in the Name of the Holy Ghost, therefore either we must believe his Godhead, or renounce our Baptism in his Name. Methinks it were enough for such Men, as have not so much as heard whether there be an Holy Ghost, or no, Acts 19.2. to deny his Deity; but that any who go for Christians, should deny this Article of their Creed, seems to me very strange. They who would wittingly and willingly blot out the third Person, shall have their Names blotted out of the Book of Life.

Use 2. of Exhortation. 1. Believe this Doctrine, the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of Essence. The Trinity is purely an Object of Faith: The Plumb-line of Reason is too short to fathom this Mystery, but where Reason cannot wade, there Faith must swim. There are some Truths in Religion may be demonstrated by Reason, as that there is a God; but the Trinity of Persons in Unity of Essence is wholly Supernatural, and must be believed by Faith. This Sacred Doctrine, though it be not against Reason, yet it is above Reason. Those illuminated Philosophers that could find out the Causes of things, and discourse of the Magnitude and Influence of the Stars, the Nature of Minerals, could never by their deepest Search find out the Mystery of the Trinity. This is of Divine Revelation, and must be adored with humble believing: we can be no good Christians, without the firm belief of the Trinity. How can we pray to God the Father, but in the Name of Christ, and through the help of the Spirit. Believe the glorious Trinity. How are the Quakers to be abhorr'd, who go under the Name of Christians, yet undervalue and renounce Jesus Christ. I have read of some of the Quakers, who speak thus; We deny the Person of him whom you call Christ, and affirm, That they who expect to be saved by that Christ without, will be damned in that Faith. Could the Devil himself speak worse Blasphemy? they would pull up all Religion by the Roots, and take away that Corner-stone, on which the Hope of our Salvation is built.

2. If there be one God subsisting in three Persons, then let us give 1. Equal Reverence to all the Persons in the Trinity. There is not more or less in the Trinity, the Father is not more God then the Son and Holy Ghost. There is an Order in the Godhead, but no Degrees; one Person hath not a Majority or Supereminency above another, therefore we must give equal Worship to all the Persons, Iohn 5.23. That all Men should honour the Son as they honour the Father. Adore Unity in Trinity.

2. Obey all the Persons in the blessed Trinity, for all of them are God. 1. Obey God the Father. His words, either preceptive or minatory, must be observed. Christ himself, as Man, obeyed God the Father, Iohn 4.34. much more then must we, Deut. 27.10.

2. Obey God the Son, Psalm 2.12. Kiss the Son lest he be angry. Kiss him with a kiss of Obedience. Christ's Commands are not grievous, 1 Iohn 5.3. Nothing he commands but is for our interest and benefit: O then kiss the Son! Why do the Elders throw down their Crowns at the feet of Christ, and fall down before the Lamb, Rev. 4.10, 11. but to testifie their Subjection, and to profess their Readiness to serve and obey him.

3. Obey God the Holy Ghost: our Souls are breath'd into us by the glorious Spirit, Iob 33.4. The Spirit of God hath made me. Our Souls are adorned by the blessed Spirit. Every Grace is a Divine Sparkle lighted in the Soul by the Holy Ghost. Nay more, the Spirit of God sanctified Christ's Humane Nature, he united it with the Divine, and fitted the Man Christ to be our Mediator. Well then doth this third Person in the Trinity, the Holy Ghost, deserve to be obeyed; he is God, and this Tribute of Homage and Obedience is to be paid him by us.

Of the CREATION.

Quest. VII. WHat are the Decrees of God?

The Decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory he hath foreordained whatsoever shall come to pass.

I should come now to speak concerning the Decrees of God, but I have already spoken something to this under the Attribute of God's Immutability, God is unchangeable in his Essence, and he is unchangeable in his Decrees, his Counsel shall stand, he hath decreed the Issue of all things, and carries them on to their Period by his Providence; and therefore I shall proceed to the Execution of his Decrees.

Quest. VIII. The next Question is, What is the Work of Creation?

Resp. It is God's making all things of nothing by the word of his power, &c. Gen. 1.1. In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth.

The Creation is glorious to behold; it is a pleasant and fruitful study. Some think that Isaac, when he went abroad into the Fields to meditate, it was in the Book of the Creatures. The Creation is the Heathen Man's Bible, the Ploughman's Primmer, the Travellers Perspective Glass, through which he receives the Species and Representation of those infinite Excellencies which are in God. The Creation is a large Volume, in which God's Works are bound up; and this Volume hath three great Leaves in it, Heaven, Earth, Sea.

The Author of the Creation is God, so it is in the Text, [gap] God created. The World was created in time, and could not be from Eternity, as Aristotle thought. The World must have a Maker, it could not make it self. If one should go into a far Country, and see stately Edifices there, he would never imagine that these could build themselves, but that there had been some Artificer there to raise such goodly Structures; so this great Fabrick of the World could not create it self, it must have some Builder and Maker, and that is God. In the beginning God created: To imagine that the Work of the Creation was not framed by the Lord Jehovah, is as if we should conceive a curious Lanskip to be drawn without the Hand of a Limner, Acts 17.24. God that made the World, and all things therein.

In the work of the Creation there are two things to be considered:

• The making of it

• The adorning of it.

I. The making of the World. Here consider, 1. God made the World without any praeexistent Matter. This is the difference between Generation and Creation. In Generation there is materia habilis & disposita, some Matter to work upon. But in Creation there is no praeexistent Matter. God brought all this glorious Fabrick of the World out of the Womb of Nothing. We see our Beginning, it was of Nothing. Some brag of their Birth and Ancestry, you see how little cause they have to boast, they came of Nothing.

2. God made the World with a Word. When Solomon was to build a Temple he needed many Workmen, and they all had Tools to work with, but God wrought without Tools, Psal. 33.6. By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made. The Disciples wondered that Christ could with a word calm the Sea, Matth. 8.26, 27. But it was more with a word to make the Sea.

3. God made all things at first very good, Gen. 1.31. no defect or deformity. The Creation came out of God's hands a curious Piece; it was a fair Copy, without any Blot, written with God's own fingers, Psal. 8.3. So perfect was God's Work.

II. The adorning of the World. First God made this great Lump and Mass, Rudis indigestaque moles, and then beautified it, and put it into a dress. He divided the Sea and the Earth, he deck'd the Earth with Flowers, the Trees with Fruit, but what is Beauty when it is mask'd over? Therefore that we might behold this glory, God made the Light. The Heavens were bespangled with Sun, Moon, and Stars, that so the Worlds Beauty might be beheld and admired. God in the Creation began with things less noble and excellent, Vegetables and Sensitives, and then the Rational Creatures, Angels and Men. Man was the most exquisite Piece in the Creation: he is a Microcosme, or little World. Man was made with deliberation and counsel, Gen. 1.26. Let us make Man. It is the manner of Artificers to be more then ordinary accurate, when they are about their Master-pieces. Man was to be a Master-piece of this visible World, therefore God did consult about the making of so rare a Piece. A Solemn Councel of the Sacred Persons in the Trinity was call'd, Let us make Man; and let us make him in our own Image. On the King's Coin his Image or Effigies is stamp'd, so God stamp'd his Image on Man, and made him partake of many Divine qualities.

I shall speak 1. of the Parts of Man's Body: 1. The Head, the most excellent Architectonical Part, 'tis the Fountain of Spirits, and the Seat of Reason. In Nature the Head is the best Piece, but in Grace the Heart excels. 2. The Eye. It is the Beauty of the Face; it shines and sparkles like a lesser Sun in the Body. The Eye occasions much sin, and therefore well may it have Tears in it. 3. The Ear; which is the Conduit-pipe through which Knowledge is conveyed. Better lose our seeing than our hearing, for faith cometh by hearing, Rom. 10.17. To have an Ear open to God, is the best Jewel on the Ear. 4. The Tongue. David calls the Tongue his glory, Psal. 16.9. because it is an Instrument to set forth the Glory of God: The Soul at first was a Viol in tune to praise God, and the Tongue did make the Musick. God hath given us two Ears, but one Tongue, to shew that we should be swift to hear, but slow to speak. God hath set a double fence before the Tongue, the Teeth and the Lips, to teach us to be wary that we offend not with our Tongue. 5. The Heart. This is a noble part and Seat of Life:

2. The Soul of Man: This is the Man of the Man. Man, in regard of his Soul, partakes with the Angels; nay, as Plato saith, the Understanding, Will, and Conscience are a Glass that resemble the Trinity. The Soul is the Diamond in the Ring, [gap], the Soul is a Vessel of Honour; God himself is serv'd in this Vessel. It is a Sparkle of Coelestial Brightness, saith Damascene. If David did so admire the rare Contexture and Workmanship of his Body, Psal. 139.13. I am wonderfully made, I was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth. If the Cabinet be so curiously wrought, what is the Jewel? How richly is the Soul embroidered! Thus you see how glorious a Work the Creation is, and Man especially, who is the Epitome of the World.

Quest. But why did God make the World?

Resp. 1. Negatively; Not for himself; he did not need it, being infinite. He was happy before the World was, in reflecting upon his own sublime Excellencies

and Perfections. 2. God did not make the World to be a place of Mansion for us, we are not to abide here for ever. Heaven is the Mansion-House, Iohn 14.2. the World is only a Passage-room to Eternity; the World is to us as the Wilderness was to Israel, not to rest in, but to travel through to the glorious Canaan. The World is a Tyring-room to dress our Souls in, not a place where we are to stay for ever. The Apostle tells us of the Worlds Funerals, 2 Pet. 3.10. The Elements shall melt with fervent heat, the Earth also and the Works that are therein shall be burnt up.

2. Positively; God made the World to demonstrate his own glory. The World is a Looking-glass, in which we may see the Power and Goodness of God shine forth: The Heavens declare the glory of God, Psal. 19.1. The World is like a curious Piece of Arras or Tapestry, in which we may see the Skill and Wisdom of him that made it.

Use 1. Did God create the World? This convinceth us of the Truth of his Godhead: to create is proper to a Deity, Acts 17.24. This convinced Plato of a Deity, when he saw all the World could not make a Fly. Thus God proves himself to be the true God, and distinguisheth himself from Idols, Ier. 10.11. It is written in Chalde, Thus shall ye say to them, the gods that have not made the Heavens and the Earth, even they shall perish. Who but God can create? The Creation is enough to Convince the Heathen that there is a God. There are two Books, out of which God will judge and condemn the Heathen, viz. the Book of Conscience, Rom. 2.15. Who have the Law written in their heart: and the Book of the Creation, Rom. 1.20. The invisible things of him are clearly seen by the things that are made, even his eternal Power and Godhead. The World is full of Emblems and Hyeroglyphicks; every Star in the Sky, every Bird that flies in the Air, is a Witness against the Heathen. A Creature could not make it self.

2. Here is a mighty support for Faith, God Creates. He that made all things with a word, what cannot he do? He can create strength in weakness; he can create a supply of our wants. What a foolish question was that, Psal. 78.19. Can he prepare a table in the wilderness? Cannot he that made the World do much more? Psal. 124.8. Our help standeth in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven and Earth. Rest on this God for help, who made Heaven and Earth. The work of Creation, as it is a Monument of God's Power, so it is a stay to Faith. Is thy Heart hard, he can with a word create softness. Is it unclean, he can create purity; Psal. 51.10. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Is the Church of God low, he can create Ierusalem a Praise, Isa. 65.18. No such golden Pillar for Faith to stay upon as a creating Power.

3. Did God make this World full of Beauty and Glory, every thing very good, then what an evil thing is sin, that hath put out of frame the whole Creation. Sin hath much eclipsed the beauty, sowrd the sweetness, and marred the harmony of the World. How bitter is that Gall, a drop whereof can imbitter a whole Sea. Sin hath brought Vanity and Vexation into the World, yea, a Curse. God cursed the ground for Man's sake, Gen. 3. There were several Fruits of the Curse:

1. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it, vers. 17. By that word sorrow, is to be understood all the Troubles and Cares of this Life. 2. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, vers. 19. In Innocency Adam did till the ground, (he must not live idly) but it was rather a delight then a labour; that tilling was without toiling. The eating in sorrow, and the sweat of the brow, came in after sin. 3. Thorns also and Thistles shall the ground bring forth, vers. 18.

Quest. Whether in Innocency did not the Earth bear Thorns, because it is threatned as a punishment?

Answ. It is likely it did bear Thorns; for when God had done creating, he made no new Species, or Kinds of things: but the meaning is, now after Sin the Earth should bring forth more plenty of Thorns, and now those Thorns should be hurtful, and choke the Corn, which hurtful quality was not in them before. Ever since the Fall, all the Comforts of this Life have a Thorn and a Thistle in them. 4. The fourth fruit of the Curse was the driving Man out of Paradise, vers. 24. So he drove out the Man. God at first brought Adam into Paradise, as into an House ready furnished, or as a King into his Throne, Gen. 1.28. have dominion over every living thing that moveth. Now God's driving Adam out of Paradise, signified his dethroning and banishing him, that he might look after an heavenly and a better Paradise. 5. A fifth fruit of the Curse was Death, verse 19. To dust thou shalt return. Death was not natural to Adam, it came in after sin. Iosephus is of opinion, Man should have died though he had continued in Innocency, only he should have had a

longer term of years added to his life; but out of question, Death grew out of the Root of Sin: the Apostle saith, Rom. 5.12. By sin came death. See then how cursed a thing Sin is, that hath brought so many Curses upon the Creation. If we will not hate Sin for its Deformity, let us hate it for the Curse it brings.

4. Did God make this glorious World, did he make every thing good, was there in the Creature so much beauty and sweetness? Oh! then what sweetness is there in God? Quicquid efficit tale, illud est magis tale, the Cause is always more noble than the Effect. Think with your selves, is there so much excellence in House and Lands, then how much more is there in God that made these? Is there beauty in a Rose? what beauty then is there in Christ the Rose of Sharon? Doth Oil make the face shine? Psal. 104.15. How will the Light of God's Countenance make it shine? Doth Wine chear the heart? O what Virtue is in the true Vine! How doth the Blood of this Grape chear the Heart? Is the fruit of the Garden sweet? how delicious are the Fruits of the Spirit? Is a Gold Mine so precious? how precious is he who founded this Mine? What is Christ in whom are hid all Treasures? Coloss. 2.3. We should ascend from the Creature to the Creator. If there be any Comfort here below, how much more is there in God, who made all these things? How unreasonable is it that we should delight in the World, and not much more in him that made it? How should our Hearts be set on God, and how should we long to be with God, who hath infinitely more sweetness in him than any Creature?

Use 2. of Exhortation. 1. Did God create the World, let us wisely observe these Works of Creation? God hath given us, not only the Book of the Scriptures to read in, but the Book of the Creation: Look up to the Heavens, they shew much of God's glory; the Sun gilds the World with its bright Beams: behold the Stars, their regular motion in their Orbs, their Magnitude, their Light, their Influence. We may see God's glory blazing in the Sun, twinkling in the Stars. Look into the Sea, and see the wonders of God in the Deep, Psal. 107.24. Look into the Air, there the Birds make Melody, and sing forth the Praises of their Creator. Look into the Earth, there we may wonder at the Nature of Minerals, the Power of the Loadstone, the Virtue of Herbs. See the Earth deck'd as a Bride with Flowers, all these are the glorious Effects of God's Power. God hath wrought the Creation as with curious Needle-work, that we may observe his Wisdom and Goodness, and give him the Praise due to him, Psal. 104.24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works, in wisdom hast thou made them all.

2. Did God create all things, let us obey our Maker. We are his Iure Creationis, we owe our selves to him: If another gives us our Maintenance, we think our selves bound to serve him, much more should we serve and obey God, who gives us our Life, Acts 17.28. In him we live and move. God hath made every thing for Man's Service, the Corn for nourishment, the Beasts for usefulness, the Birds for Musick, that Man should be for God's Service. The Rivers come from the Sea, and they run into the Sea again. All we have is from God, let us honour our Creator, and live to him that made us.

3. Did God make our Bodies out of the Dust, and that Dust out of Nothing? let this keep down pride. When God would humble Adam, he useth this Expression, Out of the dust was thou taken, Gen. 3.19. Why art thou proud, O Dust and Ashes! thou art made but of course Mettal; cum sis humi limus, cur non humilimus. Bernard. David saith, I was curiously wrought, Psal. 139. Thy being curiously wrought may make thee thankful, but being made of the Dust, may keep thee humble. If thou hast Beauty, it is but well-colour'd Earth. Thy Body is but Air and Dust mingled together, and this Dust will drop into the Dust. When the Lord had said of the Judges they were Gods, Psal. 82.6 lest they should grow proud, he tells them, they were dying gods, vers. 7. Ye shall die like men.

4. Did God create our Souls after his Image, but we lost it, let us never leave till we are restored to God's Image again. We have now got the Devils Image in Pride, Malice, Envy; let us get God's Image restored, which consists in Knowledge and Righteousness, Col. 3.10. Grace is our best Beauty, it makes us like God and Angels: As the Sun to the World, so is Holiness to the Soul. Let us go to God to repair his Image in us: Lord! thou hast once made me, make me anew, Sin hath defaced thy Image in me, O draw it again by the Pencil of the Holy Ghost.