SERM.
LV.

Col. 3. 10.

ch. 2.7.

as the Son, and the Holy Ghost as the Holy Ghost: they are all signified by the name of God, used all along in the creation, it being of the plural number, and joined with a verb singular: the Spirit of God manifested Himself also in moving upon the waters: and the Father and the Son, in God's creating all things by His word: but in the making man, They join together as it were in council, and agree to make him in Their own image, after Their own likeness, in Eph.4.24; knowledge, and righteousness, and true holiness, so as to 1 Pet. 1. 15. be holy, according to his capacity, "as He who made him is holy, in all manner of conversation:" and gave him authority over all living creatures upon earth, in the air and sea: and the more to distinguish him from the rest of the creation, He afterwards describes more particularly, how He made man out of the dust of the earth, "and then breathed into him the breath of life, so that man became a living soul." A living soul; a soul that always lives, and can never be extinct, or die, after it was once united to an human body. And then He placed him in the garden of Eden, a garden of pleasure and delight, that he might live as happily as it was possible for a creature to live upon earth: and the better to vest him with authority over all other living creatures upon earth, God ordered them all to come before him, to perform, as it were, their homage to him, and to own him for [ver. 19.] their lord and master, which he then manifested himself to be, by giving every one a name, such as he saw good. After that, God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and then taking a rib out of his side, of that He made a woman, to be a meet help and companion for the man, and that out of them might proceed the whole race of mankind that He designed should ever be upon earth. And though they were then both naked, the man and his wife, yet they "were not ashamed;" which is taken notice of, and recorded as a certain mark or sign of their perfect innocence in that happy state wherein they were made.

ch. 2. 25.

Thus God made man, as He made all things else, for Himself. He had exerted and discovered His infinite power in producing all things out of nothing by His word; and His infinite wisdom in contriving, ordering, and disposing every thing in the best manner, and to the best purposes

that could be. But there was no creature upon earth, capable of seeing and reflecting upon these Divine perfections, till He made man. But He endued man with so much reason and understanding, and with such innocence and purity, that he was every way qualified to contemplate upon, admire and adore his almighty and all-wise Creator, and to adore and magnify Him for those Divine perfections which shone forth in the creation of the world; and so fully to answer the end of his creation, in ascribing all to His honour and glory, who was pleased in so wonderful a manner to exert Himself and express His essential goodness, that it appeared

in all His works: for when He had made them all, He

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saw every thing that He had made, and behold it was very Gen. 1. 31. good."

But here we must further observe, that when God thus made the world, He did not make it so that it should subsist of itself, neither did He leave it to itself, but still kept the government in His own hands as He made, He still

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upholdeth all things by the word of His power." So that Heb. 1. 3. His creation was not a transient, but a permanent, a continued act," I," saith He, "form the light and create Isa. 45. 7. darkness." He did not do it only at first, but He is always doing it: "It is in Him we now live, and move, and have Acts 17. 28. our being." Insomuch, that should He let go His hold of us, and not keep us up in our being, we should immediately fall down into nothing; which Job was so sensible of, that in his complaints he cried out, "O that I might have my Job 6. 8, 9. request, and that God would grant me the thing that I long for, even that it would please God to destroy me, that He would let loose his hand and cut me off." He knew that if God did but let loose His hand, so as not to support him in his being, he should the same moment be cut off, and cease to be. So necessarily do all the creatures upon earth subsist and depend upon the will and power of their Creator, yea, and the whole earth itself. As He made it, and hung it upon nothing at first, He doth so still, as Job again observed, saying of God, "He stretched out the north upon ch. 26. 7. the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."

This, I know, hath heretofore been questioned by some, and denied by others. But now all agree in it, since so

LV.

SERM. many have sailed round about the earth; for that could never have been done, if the earth did not hang in the air, without any thing but the immediate hand of God to support it. But this is no new discovery; for here we see that Job, one of the oldest writers that is extant in the world, if not the oldest of all, knew it in his days. And we have here the word of God Himself for it, that He now, as well as at first, hangs the earth upon nothing, holding it up continually by His Almighty power, as He doth the sun and moon, the stars and planets, which we see hanging and moving over our heads in the firmament of Heaven, without any thing else to support them but His hand that made them and first placed them there, to shew forth the glory of His power, which appears so glorious in them, that we cannot but from thence see, "That the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handywork."

Ps. 19. 1.

Neither did He only make the whole world at first, and still upholds it by the word of His power, but He sustaineth likewise all things in it by the power of the same word, and orders every thing according to the pleasure of His will; so that as nothing was ever made, but what was made by Him, so nothing ever was or can be done without Him. This, as I observed before, is imported by the original word in my text, even that the Lord did not only make, but doth all things for Himself; He doth all things; whatsoever may be the instruments, He is the first cause of every thing that is done. It is true, now that He hath created the world, and established a series of second causes under Him, for the production of ordinary effects, He doth not ordinarily act immediately from Himself, as He did at first, without using some inferior cause or other; but He is still the supreme Cause, which did not only constitute all other at first, but still gives them all the force and efficacy they have, so that nothing can act without Him, but He can do what He will without any thing else.

Hence therefore, whatsoever is done in the world, for the preservation and government of the whole, or any part of it, Isa. 45. 7. it is He that doth it, "I," saith He, "form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord Ps. 147.8,9. do all these things." It is He "who covereth the Heavens

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with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains; He giveth to the beast. his food, and to the young ravens which cry." "He sendeth Ps. 147. 15forth His commandment upon earth, His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool, He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes. He casteth forth His ice like morsels, who can stand before His cold? He sendeth out His Word and melteth them. He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow." Thus we read all along in God's Holy Word, that "whatsoever is done upon earth, He doth it Himself," by His Word commonly influencing the second causes, so as to make them effect what He would have them; and sometimes without them, to shew that He is not confined to them, but can act either with them or without them, as He pleaseth.

This is a great truth, much to be observed, and always to be kept in our minds: that we may never be tempted to think that any thing ever did, or can happen in the world, without Him who made and governs it: but may still remember, that He rules and reigns over all, and doth whatsoever" He pleaseth in Heaven and earth, in the seas, Ps. 135. 6. and in all deep places." Ordering and disposing of all things, from the highest to the lowest, from the greatest to the least thing; that is, not only the public affairs of states and empires, or the greater concerns of mankind, but every creature that He hath made is equally under His care and providence. He Himself has taught us, that although "two sparrows are sold for a farthing, yet not so much as Matt. 10. one of them can fall to the ground without Him; but that 29, 30. the very hairs of every man's head are numbered by Him." And that not only such things as are the plain effects of necessary causes, but such also as seem to us to have no cause at all, but to be mere contingencies, or to fall out, as we are apt to say by chance, even such things as these are managed by the steady hand of His Divine Providence, to the same great and wise ends, for which He doth all things else. There being nothing so accidental unto us, but what is necessary in itself; nor so little, but great things depend upon it; what greater chance can there be, than in casting of lots; yet when the "lot is cast into the lap, the whole Prov.16.33.

LV.

Jos. 14. 2.

SERM. disposing thereof is of the Lord." And therefore when the land of Canaan was divided among the children of Israel by lot, the Lord Himself is said to have divided it, and to have divided it by lot, that we may know that the lots were Acts 13. 19. disposed by Him. And so is every thing that falls out in the world; whether we see or do not see how it comes about, we may be sure it is God's act. It is He that doth it: and that doth it for Himself, so as to make it one way or other turn at last to His honour and glory.

Rom. 11. 33, 34.

This is that which we should now consider, even how the Lord made and doth all things for Himself; or how all things that He hath made, or doth, tend to His glory: but here we shall be at a loss; for we can never dive to the bottom of this profound mystery; but must be forced to cry out with the Apostle, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor?" We cannot see into the most immediate consequences of any thing that falls out in the world, much less can we see how all things wind and turn, and work together, till they accomplish the end for which they were designed; only this we know, because God hath told us, that all things serve Him, by manifesting His infinite wisdom, and power, and goodness in the world; and that mankind was made on purpose to behold, admire, and praise these His Divine perfections upon earth, as the holy Angels do it in Heaven.

And therefore we find that His Saints and servants, even all such as study to answer His holy end in creating and preserving them, strive all they can to do it; as we see in Ps. 104. 24. David, crying out, " O Lord! how manifold are Thy works? In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy Ps.145.1-5. riches." "I will extol Thee, my God, O King: and I will bless Thy Name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless Thee, and I will praise Thy Name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. And His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts: I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy Majesty, and of Thy wondrous Ps. 107. 8. works." "O that men would praise the Lord for His good