SERM. the Manner of Scriptural Expreffions, and V. how ufual it is to lay down the most sublime Truths, in fuch Terms as are fuitable to vulgar Capacities; we may reafonably conclude, that there was a further Defign in them; and that from hence we may infer, that God did not only exist before, from the Foundation of the World, but also from all Eternity; and that, as his Being had no Beginning, fo it fhall never have an End. For that, which is the Cause of all Things, must be without any Cause itself; and that Principle, to which all Things must be reduced, must be without any Beginning; as fhall be proved more at large by and by. Which that I may perform with the more Plainness and Perfpicuity, I fhall proceed in the following Method:

I. I SHALL fhew what Notion we have of Eternity.

II. IN what Senfe God may be faid to be eternal.

III. THAT God is thus eternal.

IV. WHAT we may learn from the Confideration of this Truth, that God is an eternal Being.

1. WHAT

I. WHAT Notion we have of Eterni-SERM. ty. It must be confeffed, that it is an im- V. poffible Thing for any human Mind, to form a full and adequate Notion of Eternity; for, fince that which is infinite cannot be contained or comprehended by any finite Being, it would be a vain and foolifh Thing to endeavour to frame a clear and plain Notion, of an infinite Duration, Nay, fince the Weakness of our Intellect is fuch, that we cannot clearly difcern what are the effential Properties of Time; but that there are many Questions about it; which will puzzle the most fagacious and knowing Enquirer; therefore we may, with good Reason, be contented to fit down in the Dark, and to be ignorant of that which furpaffes our Knowledge. For Time is a Being we are continually converfant about, which seeins to be obvious to every Confiderer; but Eternity is of fuch an abftrufe Nature, that it requires the most nice Abstraction. of our Minds, the greatest Intenseness of our Thoughts to confider it; and like Men who stand upon a high Place, and behold Things at a great Distance, our Heads turn round, and our Thoughts are confufed, when we fix our Contemplations on it: And therefore I have not undertaken to ftate the full No

SERM. tion of Eternity, but only to confider what V. thofe Thoughts are, which present them

felves, when we meditate on this Subject. Now that Notion which we have of Eternity is, that it is a Duration which has nei ther Beginning nor End; fo that, in Eternity, we confider a double Respect : If we look forwards, it will have no End; if backwards, we can never arrive at a Begin ning; thus, tho' we cannot comprehend diftinctly what Eternity is, yet we may be affured that fome Beings are eternal, and that thofe, which are fo, have neither End nor Beginning. In like Manner, tho' we cannot comprehend God's infinite Effence, yet we may be affured, that God doth exift, and that, in his Being, neceffary Exiftence is implied. That we may have the clearer Notion of this, it may be neceffary to confider the Difference between Time, Perpetuity, and Eternity: Time has both Beginning and Ending; Perpetuity has a Beginning, but no Ending; but Eternity has neither Ending nor Beginning. So that the Difference between Time and Eternity feems to be the fame there is between a River and the Ocean; the one has its Rife and Fall, we know where it begins, and where it ends; but the Ocean is anexhaufted and boundlefs, and continu

ally

ally flows with a circular and never-ending SE RM. Motion. This is that Notion of Eternity, V. which on all Hands is agreed on; but there are fome who would have this Property included in its Defcription, that, as it has no Parts, fo it wants all Succeffion; that there is in it neither past, prefent, nor to come; and accordingly Boetius defcribes it, quod fit interminabilis vitæ tota fimul & perfecta poffeffio. And the Distinction these Men make between Time and Eternity is this: That Time is a fucceffive Duration, which is made up of many Moments, one immediately following after the other: Whereas Eternity is fixed and immoveable; has no Difference of former and latter, but, like a Point, exists altogether, and is constituted of one never-ceafing Now: But because this is difputed with great Heat on both Sides, and both Opinions are burthened with inexplicable Difficulties, I fhall not take upon me to decide this Queftion, fince the more plain and obvious Notion may be fufficient to make the anfwering of my fecond Question more eafy.

II. How God may be faid to be eternal. Which that we may the better understand, it will be neceffary to confider, that, in Scripture, three Sorts of Things are H 2

faid

17. Gen. xvii.

SERM. faid to be eternal: 1. Such Things as were V. of long Duration, though they had both a Beginning and Ending. Thus, when a Servant was refolved to live with his Ma fter, and, according to that Constitution, in the Jewish Law, had his Ear bored, it Deut. xv. is faid that he should be a Servant for ever, that is, 'till the Year of Jubilee. And Canaan is faid to be given to Abraham, and his Seed, for an everlasting Poffeffion. 2. When a Thing has no End, though it has a Beginning; and thus Angels, and the Souls of Men, are everlafting, and future Rewards and Punishments are eternal. 3. That which hath neither Beginning nor Ending; and thus God alone is truly and properly eternal.

8.

Gen xlix.

26..

SINCE, therefore, other Things in the HolyScriptures are faid to be eternal, befides God, we must endeavour to distinguish between that Eternity, which is truly and properly called fo, and that which is only taken in a figurative and metaphorical Sense; which may be done by confidering the Nature of that Being which is said to be eternal, and the Circumftances of the Place where it is faid to be fo. Thus, when Hills are faid to be everlasting, it is plain, that the Reason why they are called

fo

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