Eving God. God hath fhewed himself and bleffed in himfelf as now, the Crea marvellously thefe fix thousand Years in tures add nothing to his Perfection, or the upholding this World: If we did Satisfaction; he was as well pleased with confider thefe continued and repeated Tef his own all-comprehending Being, and timonies of his Glory, we would be over- with the very Thought and Purpose of whelmed with what we find, though we making this World, as now he is when it fearch no further; and fuppofe we would is made; the Idea of it in his Mind gave please our selves to imagine, that it had him as great Contentment as the Work been created many Years before, yet that it felf when it is done. O, to conceive doth not filence and ftop the Infolence of this aright, it would fill a Soul with a Mens Minds, for it always might be en- ftonishing and ravishing Thoughts of his quired, What the Lord was doing before Bleffednefs; Poor Men weary if they be that Time? For Eternity is as immen- not one Way or other imployed without; furable before thofe multiplied Thoufands fo indigent are all Creatures at home, of Years as before naked fix ; let our Ima- that they would weary if they went not gination fit down to fubftract from Eter- abroad without themfelves; but to think nity as many Thousands as it can multiply how abfolutely God is well pleafed with by all the Varieties and Numbers in the himself, and how all imaginable Perfecti World, yet there is nothing abated from ons can add nothing to his eternal SelfEternity, it is as infinite in Extent before complacency and Delight in his own Bethat, as before the prefent fix thoufand; ing, it would certainly ravish a Soul to and yet we may conceive, that the Lord Delight in God allo: And as his Self-fufhath purpofed in the Beginning of the ficieney doth herein appear, fo his Liberty World to declare more manifeftly to our and Freedom is likewife manifefted in it. Understanding his Eternity, his Self-fuf- If the World had been eternal, Who ficiency and Liberty; his Eternity, that would have thought that it was free for.. when we hear of how fhort ftanding the his Majefty to make it or not? But that Creature is, we may go upward to God it had flowed from his glorious Being bimfelf, and his everlafting Being before with as natural and neceffary a Refulthe Foundations of it were laid, may fhine tance, as Light from the Body of the Sun! forth more brightly to our Admiration; But now it appears to all Men, that for when we can ftretch our Conceptions, fo his Pleasure they are made and were creat immenfurably as far beyond the Begin-ed; that it was fimply the free and ab ning of the World; and yet God is ftill beyond the outmoft Reach of our Imagination (for who can find out the Beginning of that which hath not a Beginning to be found out) and our most extended Apprehenfions fall infinitely fhort of the Days of the Ancient of Days; O how glorious then must his Being be, and how boundless? His Self-fufficiency and Perfection doth herein appear, that from fuch an unconceivable Space he was as perfect

folute Motion of his Will that gave a Being to all Things, which he could with hold at his Pleasure, or fo long as he pleased.

Thirdly, We have it to confider, is what Condition he made all thefe Things; very Good, and that to declare his Goodnefs and Wifdom: The Creature may well be called, a large Volume extended and fpread out before the Eyes of all Men, to be feen and read of all. It is certain

this Ground which God hath laid, Man
may fancy many Superftructures;
when he ftretched out the Heaven,
and laid the Foundation of the Earth,
Who being bis Counsellour taught him?
At whom did his Spirit take Counfel?
Certainly, none of all these Things would
have entred into the Heart of Man to
confider or contrive, Ifa. xl. 12, 13..
Some ruder Spirits do gaze upon the huge
and prodigious Pieces of the Creation, as
Whales, and Elephants, &c. But a wife
Solomon will go to the School of the Ant
to learn the Wisdom of God, and choose

if these Things, all of them in their Orders
and Harmonies, or any of them in their
Beings and Qualities, were confidered in
Relation to God's Majefty, they would
teach and inftruet the Pool and the wife
Man both in the Knowledge of God.
How many Impreffions hath he made in
the Creatures which reflect upon any fee-
ing Eye the very Image of God: To
confider, of what a vafte and huge Frame
the Heavens and the Earth are, and yet
but one Throne to his Majefty, the Foot-
ftool whereof is this Earth, wherein vain
Men erect many Palaces; To confider,
what a Multitude of Creatures, what Va-out fuch a fimple and mean Creature for the
riety of Fowls in the Heaven, and what
Multiplicity of Beafts upon the Earth,
what Armies (as Mofes fpeaks Gen.
i. 1.) and yet that none of them all are
ufelefs, but all of them have some special
Ends and Purposes they ferve for; fo,
that there is no Difcord-nor Disorder, no
Superfluity nor Want in all this Monarchy
of the World; all of them confpire toge
ther in fuch a Difcord, or disagreeing Har-
mony, to one great Purpofe, to declare
the Wisdom of him who made every
Thing beautiful in its Time, and every
Thing moft fit and appofite for the Ufe
it was created for; fo, that the whole
Earth is full of his Goodness: He makes
every Creature good one to another, to
fupply one another's Neceffities; and then
notwithstanding of fo many different Na-
tures and Difpofitions between Elements,
and things compofed of them, yet all these
Contrarieties have fuch a Commixtion,
and are fo moderated by fupream Art,
that they make up joyntly one excellent
and sweet Harmony or beautiful Propor-
tion in the World: O, how wife muft
he be who alone contrived it all? We
can do nothing except we have fome Pat
tern and Copy before us; but now upon

Object of his Admiration; certainly, there
are Wonders in the fmalleft and most in-
confiderable Creatures which Faith can
contemplate: O the curious Ingeny and
Draught of the Finger of God, in the
Compofition of Flies, Bees, Flowers, &c.
Men ordinarily admire more fome ex-
traordinary Things; but the Truth is, the
whole Courfe of Nature is one continued
Wonder, and that greater than any of the
Lord's Works without the Line; the
ftraight and regular Line of the Wildom
of God (who in one conftant Courfe and
Tenor hath ordained the Actions of all
his Creatures) comprehends more Won--
ders and Myfteries, as the Courfe of
the Sun, the Motion of the Sea, the
hanging of the Earth in the empty Place
upon nothing; these we fay, are the Won-
ders indeed, and comprehend fomething
in them which all the Wonders of Egypt
and the Wilderness cannot parallel. But
it is the ftupid Security of Men, that are
only awakened by fome new and unufu-
all Paffages of God's Works, beyond
that ftraight Line of Nature.

Then, Fourthly, Look upon the Power of God in making all of nothing, whichis expreffed here in Heb. There is

RO

no Artificer but he must have Matter, or his Art will fail him, and he can do nothing: The Mafon must have Timber and Stones laid to his Hand, or he can not build a Houfe; the Gold-fmith muft have Gold or Silver ere he can make a Cup or a Ring; take the moft curious and quick Inventer of them all, they muft have fome Matter to work upon, or their Knowledge is no better than Ignorance; all that they can do, is, to give fome Shape or Form, or to fashion that in fome new Model which had a Being before; fo, that whatever Men have done in the World, their Works are all made up of thefe Things which appear, and Art and Skill to form and fashion that excellently, which before was in another Mould and Fashion; but He needs not fit idle for want of Materials, because he can make his Materials; and therefore, in the Beginning he made Heaven and Earth, not as they now are, but he made firft the Matter and Subftance of this Univerfe, but it was as yet a rude and confused Chaos or Mafs, all in one Lump without Difference; but then his Majefty fhews his Wisdom and Art, his excellent In-bundance of Water in them than is in all vention, in the following Days of the Creation, in ordering, and beautifying, and forming the World as it is, and that his Power might be the more known; For, how eafy is it for him to do all this? There needs no more for it but a Word, Let it be, and it is, He pake, and it was done. He commanded, and it food faft; Not a Word pronounced, and audibly compofed of Letters and Syllables, miftake it not fo, but a Word inwardly formed, as it were, in his infinite Spirit, even the Inclination and Beck of his Will fuffices for his great Work: Ye fee what Labour and Pains we have ia our Bufinefs, how we toil and fweat

about it, what Wrestlings and Strivings in all Things we do; but behold what a great Work is done without Pain and Travel! It is a laborious Thing to tra vel through a Parcel of this Earth, which is yet but as the point of the Universe; It is troublesome to lift or carry a little Piece of Stone or Clay; it's a Toil even to look upward and number the Stars of Heaven,. but it was no Teil, no difficult Thing to his Majefty to ftretch out thefe Heavens, in fuch an infinite Compass; for as large as the Circumference of them is, yet it. is as eafie to him to compass them, as it is to us to fpan a Finger-length or two; It is no Difficulty to him to take up Hills and Mountains as the Duft of the Ballance in his Hand, and weigh them in Scales. Hath he not chained the vaft and huge. Mafs of the weighty Earth and Sea in the midst of the empty Place without a Supporter, without Foundations or Pillars? He bangetb it on nothing. What is it I pray you, that fupports the Clouds ? Who is it that binds up their Waters in fuch a Way that the Clouds are not rent under them, even though there be more A

the Rivers and Waters round about us?. Job xxvi. 7, 8. Who is it that reftrain, and fets bounds to the Sea,that the Waters thereof, tho' they roar, yet do not overflow the Land? But this Almighty Jehovab, whose Decree and Commandment is the very Compass, the Bulwark over which they cannot flow,and all thishe doth with more Facliity than Men can speak; If there were a Creature that could do all Things by fpeaking, that were a strange Power: But yet that Creature might be wearied of fpeaking much; but he speaks, and it is done; his Word is a creating Word of Power, which makes Things that are not to be, and there is no wearying

of

of him befides, for he is Almighty, and cannot faint; but, Why then did he take fix Days for his Work? Might he not with one Word of his Power have commanded this World to iffue out of his omnipotent Vertue thus perfect as it is? What needed all this Compafs? Why took he fix Days, who in a Moment could have done it all with as much Facility? Indeed, herein the Lord would have us to adore his Wifdom as well as his Power; The proceeds from more imperfect Things to more perfect, from a confufed Chaos to a beautiful World, from Motion to Reft, to teach Man to walk through this Wildernefs and Valley of Tears, this fhapelefs World, into a more beautiful Habitation, through the Toffings of Time, into an eternal Sabbath of Reft, whither their Works fhall follow them, and they thall reft from their Labours: He would teach ms to take a stedfaft Look of his Work, and that we should be bufied all the Days of our Pilgrimage and Sojourning, in the

'Confideration of the glorious Characters of God upon the Works of his Hands; we fee that it is but paffing Looks and Glances of God's Glory we take in the Creatures, but the Lord would have us to make it our Work and Business, all the Week through, as it was his, to make them. He would in this teach us his loving Care of Men, who would not create Man till he had made for him fo glorious an House, replenished with all good Things; It had been a darkfome and irksome Life to have lived in the first Chaos, without Light, but he hath ftretched over him the Heas vens as his Tent, and set Lights in them to diftinguish Times and Seafons, and or. dained the Waters their proper Bounds, and peculiar Channels, and then maketh the Earth to bring forth all manner of Fruits; and when all is thus difpofed, then he creates Man. To this God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, be Glory and Praife.

3

Heb. xi. 3. Through Faith we understand that the Worlds were framed by the Word of God, fo that Things which are feen were not made of Things which do appear.

And Heb. i. 14. Are they not all miniftring Spirits, fent forth to minifter for them who fhall be Heirs of Salvation?

THE HERE is nothing more generally | known than this, That God at the Beginning made the Heaven and the Earth, and all the Hoft of them, the upper or the celeftial, the lower or fublunary World; but yet there is nothing fo little believed or laid to Heart: By Faith we underland that the Worlds were made. It is one of the first Articles of the Creed indeed, Father Almighty, Maker of

Heaven and Earth; but I fear that Creed is not written in the Tables of Flesh, that is, the Heart. There is a twofold Miftake among Men about the Point of believing; fome, and the commoner Sort, do think it is no other than simply to know fuch a Thing, and not to queftion it, to hear it, and not to contradict it, or object against it; Therefore they do flatter themselves in their own Eyes, and do account them

felves to have Faith in God; because they can fay over all the Articles of their Belief; they think the Word is true, and they never doubted of it; But, I befeech you, confider how greatly you mistake main Matter of weighty Concernmen If you will fearch it, as before the Lord, you will find you have no other Belief of thefe Things than Children ufe to have, whom you teach to think or fay any Thing, there is no other Ground of your not questioning thefe Truths of the Gofpel, but because you never confider on them, and fo they pafs for current; do not do ceive your felves, with the Heart Mahines moft brightly in thefe Things believes; it is a Heart-bufinefs,a Soul-matter, no light and ufelefs Opinion, or empty Expreffion which you have learned from a Child: You fay, you believe in God the Maker of Heaven and Earth, and fo fay Children who doubt no more of it than ye, and yet in Sadnefs they do not retire within their own Hearts to think what a One he is; they do not remem ber him in the Works of his Hands, there is no more Remembrance of that true God than if no fuch Thing were known: So it is among you, you would think we wronged you, if we faid, ye believed not that God made the World; and yet certainly, all Men have not this Faith, whereby they understand truly in their Heart the Power, and Wifdom, and Goodnefs of God appearing in it, that is the Gift of God only given to them that shall be faved. If I thould fay, that you believe not the most common Principles of Religion, you will think it hard, and yet there is no Doubt of it, that the most common Truths are leaft believed; and the Rafon is plain, because Men have learned them by Tongue, and there is none that queftion them, and therefore very few ever in Sunefs and in earneft confider of them. You fay, that God made: Heaven!

and Earth, but how often do you think o that God? And, how often do you think on him with Admiration? Do ye at all wonder at the Glory of God when you gaze on his Works? Is not this Volunte always obverfant before your Eyes, every Thing fhewing and declaring this glorious Maker, yet who is it, that taketh more: Notice of him than if he were not at all; fich is the general Stupidity of Men, that they never ponder and digeft befe Things in their Heart till their Soul receive the Stamp of the Glory and Greatnefs of the invifible God, which

that are visible, and be in fome Measure transformed in their Minds, and confor-med to thefe glorious Appearances of him, which are engraven in great Characters in all that do at all appear. There is another Miftake peculiar to fome, especially the Lord's People, that they think Faith is limited to fome few particular and more unknown and hid Truths and Myfteries of the Gofpel. Ye think, that it is only true Believing, to embrace fome fpecial Gofpel-truths, which the Mulitude of People know nothing of, as the Tenor of the Covenant of Grace and Works, &c. And for other common Principles, ofi God's making and ruling the World, you think that a common Thing to believe them. But faith the Apoftle, By Faith we understand that the Worlds were made, it is that fame Faith fpoken, of in the End of Chap. x. by which the just hall live: So then, here is a Point of faying Faith, to believe with the Heart in God the Creator and Father Almighty, to take a View of God's Almighty Power, and furficient Goodness, and infinite Wildom thining in the Fabrick of the World, and that with Delight and Admiration at fuch a glorious Fountain-being; to rife up to

his.