fo is, because they are not fo fubject to SERM. Change, as other Bodies are, but will en- V. dure and remain in the fame Place, to the End of the World. Sacrifices are called perpetual, because they were to remain, 'till abolished by that Law-giver, who first enjoined and commanded them. And lastly, Life is faid to be everlasting, be- Dan. xii. cause it will never have any End. Where- 2. as it is plain, that God is faid to be eternal, because his Nature is fo; all his Perfections are infinite, have neither Bounds, nor Limits, nor Shadow of Change; it is effential to him to be without Beginning, and to have no End of Days; and, in fome Tranflations of the Bible, the Word, Jehovah, is always rendered by, the Eternal; denoting to us, that though other Beings may in a metaphorical Senfe be faid to be eternal, yet God alone is the Eternal, by Way of Eminence; it is he alone in-Ifa. Ivii babiteth Eternity, it has been his Dwelling- 15 place for ever. He alone is the Source and Original of all that Eternity which finite Beings enjoy, and therefore must be himfelf, in a more perfect and transcendent Senfe, effentially and infinitely eternal. And this I the rather remark, because Eternity, in the Holy Scriptures, is attriH 3 buted

Acts xviii. 21.

SERM, buted to God after fuch a Manner, as may V. best suit with the Capacities of the vulgar Readers, who are the greatest Part of Mankind, for whofe Benefit and Advantage it was calculated. His Eternity is described by the Parts of Time, either past, prefent, and to come; as in the Text, even from everlasting to everlasting, Rev. i. 8. thou art God. And, I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and Ending, faith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, or, which will be, for thus the Word x fignifies: And thus it is taken, He bade them farewel faying, I must by all Means keep this Feaft that cometh in Jerufalem, i. e. the Feaft which is to come, or will be kept. It is alfo expreffed as if God did exift, and performed fome Action, beProv. viii. fore the Creation of the World: The Lord poffefed me in the Beginning of his Way, before his Works of old; which, Words fpoken of Wisdom, denote only fuch a Perpetuity, as may be common to God with Men and Angels. But God's Eternity is feldom, or no where, expreffed by fuch Words, as denote, in a plain and literal Senfe, that God had no Beginning at all; but we are left to collect this, from fuch Truths as are laid down, and to work

22.

it out by the Dint of our Reafon; the Oc- SERM. cafion of which may be, that the Defign V. of the Holy Scriptures is, to make Men wife unto Salvation, not to fill their Heads with nice and unprofitable Truths; to give them fuch a Notion of God's Eternity, not as may make them fubtle Difputants; but fuch as may influence their Lives and Converfations, and fuch as will make them more devout in God's Worfhip, more willing and ready to obey his Commands; and therefore there is no Neceffity of canvafing that celebrated Question, whether the Eternity of God is a fixed or fucceffive Duration, because the Scriptures give us no Light to determine this; but it will fuffice us to retain this general Notion of it, that it is a Duration which never had any Beginning, nor ever will have any End. And this,

III. I SHALL endeavour to make out by Arguments, drawn from both Scripture and Reason. Now this may be made evident from hence, because, in the Holy Scripture, he has the Title of the everlast-Gen. xxi. ing God. There was none before him, noraiah fhall be any after him. He has Pro-xliii. 10. perties attributed to him which are nal; as eternal Power, eternal Glory, Pet. v.

H 4

eter

Rom. i.

20.

eter-10.

Pfal. cxix. 142.

SERM. eternal Righteousness, and the like; and V. here it will be worth our While to remark, that those Attributes which are effential to him, fuch as his Juftice, his Holiness, his Power, are eternal in a true and proper Senfe, fince they are implied in his Existence, and are, indeed, God himself; and therefore, if God's Power and Holinefs are eternal, God himself must needs be fo: But those Attributes which are relative, and have Refpect to the Creature, such as God's Dominion, or God's Mercy; these are only eternal in a limited Senfe, and endure no longer, than God is pleased to exert them; and therefore, no conclufive Argument can be drawn from them. I might eafily heap up more Places of Scripture to prove God's Eternity, but thefe will fuffice. I come, in the fécond Place, to prove this Truth from Reafon, and that very briefly.

1. THE Eternity of God is evident, in that he is the firft Caufe of all Things, and therefore must be from all Eternity; for, if he was not, either he received his Being from himself, or from fome other; not from himself, for then he would give that which was not in his Poffeffion, and have a Power to act before he had any Being; not from any other, for then he would

would not be the firft Caufe of Things. SERM. From whence it evidently follows, that V. whatsoever was the firft Cause of Things, had no Beginning, but did exift from all Eternity. And it is as evident, that what had no Beginning, will have no End; for that which had no Beginning must exist neceffarily, Existence is effential to it; and whatsoever doth exift neceffarily, will do fo to all Eternity. For, if it could lofe its Being, it must be by its own Power, or the Power of fome other; not by its own Power, becaufe neceffary Existence is effential to the Being of the first Cause; much less by the Power of any other, because all other Beings derive their Power from this first Caufe, and therefore must needs be less powerful: Hence, in Scripture, God's Power is joined to his Eter- Rom. i. nity, denoting to us this Truth, that that, 20. which is infinitely powerful, must be eternal.

2. THAT God is an eternal Being, is plain from the first Notion which we have of a God, that he is a Being of all poffible Perfection; for a finite Duration is inconfiftent with infinite Perfection. Whatfoever may ceafe to be, doth not include all poffible Degrees of Perfection, because there is fome Happiness and Perfection