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are made, is the illustration of God's glory fome SERM. way or other, and the manifeftation of his perfections. CLVII. Secondly, for the confirmation, I fhall briefly, according to my ufual method, attempt it these two ways.

I. By natural light. The notion of a GoD contains in it all poffible perfection. Now the utmost perfection we can imagine, is, for a being to be always of itself, before all other beings, and not only fo, but to be the cause of all other beings; that is, that there fhould be nothing, but what derives it's being from him, and continually depends upon him; from whence follows, that all things must refer to him, as their laft end. For every wife agent acts with defign, and in order to an end. is that which is beft, which is moft

Now the end worthy the at

Now his being

taining, and that is God himself.
and perfections are already, and the best next to the
existence of his being and perfections, is the mani-
feftation of them, which is called God's glory; and
this is the highest end that we can imagine, to which
all the effects of the divine power,
and goodness,

and wisdom, do refer.

And that these titles are to be attributed to God, is not only reasonable, when it is revealed and difcovered, but was difcovered by the natural light of the heathens. Hence it was that Ariftotle gave to GOD those titles of the firft being, the first cause, and the first mover; and his master Plato calls GOD "the author, and parent of all things, the maker " and architect of the world, and of all creatures; "the fountain and original of all things." Porphyry calls him raptov, the first, from whence he reasons to this fenfe, that "he is the ultimate end, "and that all things move towards GoD, that all "motions

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SERM." motions center in him; becaufe, faith he, it is moft CLVII. (6 proper and natural for things to refer to their ori

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ginal, and to refer all to him, from whom they "receive all." Antoninus, the emperor and philofopher, fpeaking of nature (which with the Stoicks fignifies GOD) hath these words, which are fo very like thefe of the apoftle, that they may feem to be taken from him ; ἐκ σε πάνα, ἐν σοὶ πάνα, εἰς σὲ wala, “Of thee are all things, in thee are all "things, to thee are all things."

II. From scripture. Hither belong all thofe places where he declares himself to be "the firft, and the "last," Ifa. xli. 4. "Who hath wrought and done

it, calling the generations from the beginning? I "the LORD, the first, and with the laft, I am he.” Ifa. xliii. 10. "Before me there was no GoD formed," (or as it is in the margin)" there was nothing form"ed of GOD, neither fhall there be after me." Ifa. xliv. 6. "I am the first, and I am the last, and be"fides me there is no God." Ifa. xlviii. 12, 13. "I am the first, I am also the laft, my hand hath "laid the foundation of the earth, my right hand "hath spread the heavens;" which is as much as to say, he hath made the world, and was the first cause of all things. Rev. i. 8. "I am alpha and "omega, the beginning and the end, faith the "LORD, which is, and which was, and which is to come.'

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But more exprefly, 1 Cor. viii. 6.

"But to us

"there is but one GoD, the father, of whom are "all things, and we by him, ý nμes es aútÒV, "and we to him, and for him." Acts xvii. 24. "GOD that made the world, and all things therein." V. 25. "He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things." V. 28. "In him we live, and move,

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"and

" and have our being." V. 29. "For as much then SERM. "as we are the off-fpring of God."

Hither we may refer those texts which attribute the fame to the second perfon in the Trinity, as the eternal wisdom and word of GOD, whereby all things were made, John. i. 3. "All things were made by "him, and without him was nothing made, that "was made." V. 10. " And the world was made by him." I Cor. viii. 6. "And one LORD JESUS "CHRIST, by whom are all things, and we by "him." Eph. iii. 9. "GOD, who created all things by JESUS CHRIST." Col. i. 16. "By him "were all things created that are in heaven, and "that are in earth, visible and invifible, whether "they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, "or powers, all things were created by him, and "for him, and he is before all things, and by him "all things confift." Heb. i. 2. By whom alfo "he made the worlds." And, v. 3.

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Upholding all things by the word of his power." Thirdly and laftly, to apply this doctrine.

Ufe. First, if God be the first cause of all things, who did at firft produce all creatures, and does fince preferve them and govern them, and difpofeth of all their concernments, and orders all things that befall them, from hence let us learn,

1. With humility and thankfulness to own, and acknowledge, and admire and blefs GoD as the author and original of our being, as the spring and fountain of all the bleflings and good things that we enjoy. If we do but confider what these words fignify, that God is the firft caufe of all things, we shall fee great reason to own and acknowledge, to adore and praise him, and that with the greatest humility; because we have not given him any thing, A 4 but

CLVII.

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SERM. but have received all from him; he is the cause of
CLVII. all things, who did freely and of his own good will

and pleasure communicate being to us, without any
constraint or neceffity, but what his own goodness
laid upon him, Rev. iv. 11. "Thou art worthy, O
"LORD, to receive glory, and honour, and power;
"for thou haft created all things, and for thy plea-
"fure they are and were created." We could not,
before we were, deferve any thing from him, or
move him by any argument, or importune him by
intreaties to make us; but he freely gave us being;
and ever fince we depend upon him, and have been
preferved by him, and cannot fubfift one moment
without the continued influence of the power and
goodness which firft called us out of nothing. He
is the author of all the good, and the fountain of
all those bleffings, which for the present we enjoy,
and for the future hope for.

When he made us at firft, he defigned us for happiness, and when we by our fin and wilful mifcarriage fell fhort of the happiness which he designed us for, he fent his fon into the world for our recovery, and gave his life for the ranfom of our fouls. He hath not only admitted us into a new covenant, wherein he hath promised pardon, and eternal life to us; but he hath also purchased these bleffings for us, by the most endearing price, the blood of his own fon, and hath faved us in fuch a manner as may justly astonish us. Upon thefe confiderations we fhould awaken ourselves to the praife of GOD, and with the holy Pfalmift, call up our fpirits, and fummon all the powers and faculties of our fouls to affift us in this work, Pfal. ciii. 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. “Bless "the LORD, O my foul, and all that is within me,

blefs his holy name; blefs the LORD, O my foul,

and

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CLVII.

"and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all SERM. thy iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who "redeemeth thy life from deftruction; who crown"eth thee with loving kindness and tender mer

cies;" it is he that "fatisfies our fouls with good "things," that hath promised eternal life and happinefs to us, and must confer and bestow this upon us; "Therefore our fouls, and all that is within "us," should "blefs his holy name.'

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2. If God be the first cause, that is, orders all things that befal us, and by his providence difpofeth of all our concernments, this fhould teach us with patience and quietnefs to fubmit to all events, to all evils and afflictions, that come upon us, as being difpofed by his wife providence, and coming from him; we are apt to attribute all things to the next and immediate agent, and to look no higher than fecond causes; not confidering that all the motions of natural caufes are directly fubordinate to the first cause, and all the actions of free creatures are under the government of God's wife providence; so that nothing happens to us befides the defigns and intention of GOD.

And methinks this is one particular excellency of the ftile of the scripture above all other books, that the conftant phrafe of the facred dialect is to attribute all events (excepting fins only) to GoD; fo that every one that reads it cannot but take notice, that it is wrote with a more attentive confideration of GOD than any other book, as appears by those frequent and exprefs acknowledgments of GoD as the cause of all events; fo that what in other writers would be faid to be done by this or that perfon, is afcribed to GOD. Therefore it is so often faid, that

the

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