was before any day was, and hee asketh, who could conftrain him by neceßity to make it or not to make it. Heb. 3. 4. If a man, being in a strange Country, fhall fee a house, hee will certainly affirm that there hath a man builded it, that it is a mans worke; so faith hee, when wee see all Creatures, Heaven and Earth, wee know that God made them all. A reafon against that opinion of Fortune is this, That things done by Chance are without cunning: But God with infinite wifdome devised all things; the Eye to fee, Colors to bee feen, and the Light, as the meanes by which wee fee; alfo all things are in fuch wonderfull order, fucceeding one another in their course, as the feafons of things, which fhew them not to bee by Chance, therefore the Philofophers were glad when they found out that us intelligentia, that was the cause of all; fo that they confeffe all things to bee made by a wonderfull wife Counsell, and discourse of an understanding minde; So that it was made by another, not by Neceffity nor Chance. Nto Creavit Calum & Terram, & omnia in illis. Ow are wee come to the fourth and laft point which wee are to confider, in this verse, and that is, That the things which were Created by God, are both Heaven and Earth, which here is (aid to bee his workmanship; Which though it be here fet downe in two generall things, yet are his works manifold, yea infinite and cannot be numbred; All which Creatures and things Created, cannot bee better expreffed then in thefe two, which contain all the reft, for hee fo faith Exod. 20. 11. In fix dayes hee made Heaven and Earth, the Sea and all that is therein, So doth David expound his meaning, Pfal. 146.6. and Revel, 10.6. therefore Fob faith, 38. 6, 7. That God made not only the Starres with the Heavens, but also the Angels, or Children of God which are in them, and Pfal. 24. 1. God when hee is faid to make the round World, he meaneth alfo, all that dwell therein, that is, Man also, yea hee is also the Lord and Creator of the Soules and Spirits of all Flesh, as well as their bodies. Numb. 27. 16. So that, to conclude with Saint Paul, by these two is understood and comprehended all the Creatures, vifible and invifible, which God made. Coll. 1. 16. For the Heavens are the bound upward, and the Earth is the bound below, which conclude all between them: Let us therefore first confider these two joyntly, then in the order wherein they stand, and in the laft place feverally. Touching the firft, David faith, Pfal. 102. 25. Thou Lord in the beginning haft laid the foundations of the Earth, and the Heavens are the worke of thy hands. Efay 40. 12. It is God that made Heaven and Earth. Fob 37. 17. 18. Fob. 38.5,6. The Heavens doe fhew this, in that they resemble their Creator, because they are moveable, and yet fubject to alteration, and the Earth unmoveable, and not fubject to motion. Gen. x. verf. Mofes meaning is, That not the Earth alone was made by God, 2. Point. A 3 but 3 Point. 4 Point. I. but alfo the Heavens, that is, both of them, and all in both, were his worke, not the Earth only but also the Heavens; against the Philofophers, which thinke therfore that the Heavens were not made, because none can affigne the point where the Heavens began, nor in what part God began to make them, nor where the Heavens first began to move; by which reason they might hold that the heart of man was not made,because none can tell how it began its motion to pant and beat, whether by fuftole or diastole, but as the heart was made, though unknown where the first motion of it is, fo were the Heavens. That hee made not the Heavens only, but also the Earth below, against the errors of the Manichees, which hold that there were two causes of Heaven and Earth; That the good and white God made the Heaven, and Man from the middle upward; And the black and evill god was the efficient caufe of the Earth, and of Man from the middle downward; but as Gods power and wifedome is fhewed and feen as well in an Ant as in an Elephant, as one faith, as well in the creeping Wormes, and bafeft Creatures, as in the Angels and most excellent Creatures: So doth his Majesty and Might appeare in the Earth as well as in Heaven. Now in regard of the order here fet downe, wee have a confideration firft of the Heavens; for if there were any Order obferved in Gods Creation, furely the Heavens were made in the first place, which fheweth the glory of the Creator; for who ever, in building his house, would or could begin it at the Roofe first, and then afterwards lay the Foundation of the Earth but his omnipotency is fuch, that hee beginneth to make his house from the Roofe downeward, as wee fee in the fecond and third verses; And this is strange, faith Fob 26.7. That hee hath made the Heavens turn round like a wheele without an axeltree, and that hee hath caused the Earth to hang and ftand without any prop to uphold it: When wee therefore confider the Heavens and Earth, the worke of thy hands, wee muft needes know that the corners of the Earth are upholden by his hand. Let us confider them feverally and apart, in which wee must regard them after three forts; Firft in refpe&t of God, as they are compared with him; Secondly, as they are compared to them3. felves; Thirdly, comparing them to us. 2. I. 2. 3. Efay 66. 1. Comparing them with God; Heaven was made to bee his Seate, and Earth to be bis Foot-ftoole. Inrefpe&t of themselves; Heaven was made as the male part of the World, by whofe influence, motion and dewes, the Earth, as the female part fhould, as it were out of her womb, bring forth all living and neceffary things. Hermes the Ægyptian, the Perfian wile men, and Orpheus the Grecian, appoint these two as the matter of all things that are. In regard of us our felves, Heaven and Earth are the meanes of our moving and reft, for the motion of the Heavens is the beginning of our bodily motion, and the unmoveable Earth is the cause of reft: reft: Wherefore faith Fob 38. 33. That the Course and Order of Thus we have seen Gods ordinance in thefe words, 1. That Heaven and Earth are Gods handywork: 2. That the Heavens by order are first, and firft of us to be cared for: 3. The use of it which we must make, both in refpect of God, of themselves, and our felves. Now out of this doctrine we frame the firft article of our belief thus, God in the goodness of his fatherly love made Heaven, and Earth, and all in them: And that he might have a Creature above all others, to whom he might impart and bestow them, he made Man after his own likeness; fo he made all things, non fuo commodo, Fob. 35.6,7. for we can doe him no good; neither did he give them us, noftro merito, Efay 40.5, 6. For how could we deferve any thing, when he gave all things to us before we were, and when we were made we were but vanity; therefore it was his mere and gratious goodness that brought forth Heaven and Earth for us at the beginning. Pfal. 115.15. We are the blessed of the Lord, which made Heaven and Earth: So in that Pfalm is diftinguished the true God from all Idolls; for they cannot move, nor fpeak, nor doe any thing, but God did all with his word. So St. Paul, by the fame reason, exhorteth the Lycaonians to turn from Idolls to the true • God, Acts 14. 15. But moft plainly Feremiah 10. 11. teacheth this ufe to be made of the knowledge of Gods Creation. In Capti vitie, faith he, you shall be tempted to serve their Idols; but he telleth them what answer they muft make, which is written in the Caldee tongue, all the reft of the book being in Hebrew, which answer is this:Our God made Heaven and Earth,and all in them is, but your Gods can doe nothing, but their names shall vanish away, and not be heard upon the Earth. By which we fee, that this maketh a plain difference between the true God of Heaven, and Idols, their names fhall perish before the earth; but as our God was before the Earth was made, so the Earth and Heavens shall pass away before him, which endureth for ever. The Gentils made their gods the ofspring of Heaven & Earth; but we know that Heaven and Earth are the ofspring of our God, which made all; and this is the difference to difcerne the true God from the falfe; thus we have feen what we are to learn out of this, for the grounding of our judgment and found knowledge,and perfeating our understanding in the Creation. Now it remaineth to fhew, out of this four points, what is to be . learned for the breeding and nourishing of good motions and affe ctions in our hearts. For the first, It there was a beginning of all things, then undoubtedly there will be an end. If there be a head, though the Image be never fo great and tall, yet we shall come to his feet at the last, Dan. 2.41, 42,43. as the world 2. Point. 3. Point. world had its feed time, that is, its beginning, and its Winter time, when it was overwhelmed with water, and its hot Summer, when God rained in it fire, fo fhall it have its harvest time at the laft, faith Chrift: Math. 13.30. when the good fhill be carried into Gods barn, and the evill into Hell fire: therefore fome have well obferved, that the Hebrew words which fignifie heaven and earth, have the first letter of them Aleph, and the last le ter of them Tau, to fhew that they fhall have an end, as they had a beginning, both in heaven and earth, so faith St. Paul, 1 Cor. 10.11. and Dan.12.12. but as in the beginning the morning had his evening, and the evening his morning fo fhall it not be at the end, for then faith Saint Fude, in his Epiftle, there fhall be to the godly a morning of eternall life, without any dark or dimme evening any more, verf. 21. and to the wicked an evening of utter darkness, without any morning or lightness, verf. 6. that is, as the Angell fware Rev. 10. 6. that as God made the beginning of time, fo there fhould be no more time, nor course, nor order of dayes, but eternity of all, Wherefore faith St. Peter, what manner of men ought we to be in all godlynefs of life, feeing God made the world in love for us, and feeing there will be an end of the world, and a judgement for us. The Apostle, Heb. 1. 11, 12. citeth Davids faying, that the Heavens shall wax old, and be folded up as a garment, when the full number of Gods Elect are accomplifh-d, for whom this garment and covering of heaven was made, and who doe bear up the pillers of the earth; for if it were not for the Godly and Elect in the world, neither of them could continue, Efay 51.6. The earth alfo fhall be wrapped up at the time in a word, this word (Create) fignifieth to begin with wifdome and judgement, and to end with juftice and judgement; fo, Elohim,the Creator,fignifieth a Judge, and we in our name Creatures carry about us this fentence, that we are one day to be judged. The fecond point is, That the Creation was of nothing: then good motions and affections, which that knowledge muft breed,nourish, and bring forth in us, is to make us learn to know and acknowledge our nihil, that each of us in particular are nothing, though we in pride fo advance our felves here on earth, as though it seemed to us, that we were fomething; yea, that we were made of fome more excellent things than others; as if we were not as the Publican but faith St. Paul, If any think themselves to be ought, or if we be any thing now, let him know that this is fo by God, not of himself, 2 Cor. 11.5. tametfi nibil fumus, in illo tamen fumus, therefore if we be nothing, that fhall condemn us; if we be any thing, it is not that which can deferve to fave us; for we are that we are, by his grace, 1 Cor. 15. 10. And if we can acknowledge this with humilitie, then we fhall know this also, to our comfort, that he which made us of nothing, can, and will, bring us to be somethings in goodness, if we ferve him with humble mindes, Efay 38. 3. And this is the ufc and fruit of that. The third point is, That God is our Creator whofe name, Elohim, is fetched and derived from this Hebrew prepofition el, and from the Greek prepofition, by both which God is called, which prepofitions both doe fignific per & propter; to teach us, that he is our per quem, and must be our propter quem, in all our actions therefore as it is he per quem fumus,to we must make here, his glorie and praife, the end of all our thoughts, words, actions, or devifes, whatsoever. Pfal. 96. 5. Elohim is faid to make all, and therefore we must with praile tell it out among the Heathen: So there we are taught to remember him in our youth, as our Creator; to knit our felves and our wills to him, as our Governor, and in trembling, to fear him as our Judge, for he commeth to judge the world in truth, Pfal. 96. 13. for if we full amend our lives, we fhall rejoyce and wish for his comming, as we rejoyce and praise him for our making; and this is the perfection of a Chriftian man, contremifcere, when we think how wonderfully God hath made us, and with joy and gladnels fay with David, Pfal. 119. 52. Iremembred thy judgements of old, and received comfort and as we know that in him, and by him, we live, move, and have our being, Acts 17. 28. fo we must live, move and breath only for him, that is, fo farre forth as may make for his glorie, that at laft we may with joy commend our fouls to him, as to a faithfull Creator, 1 Pet. 4. verf. 19. : The fourth point was, the things made, namely, Heaven and 4 Point, Earth, which comprehended all in them; that one being the upper bound above, and the other below, between both which are all : The ufe is, that if we look upward we fee Heaven; if we caft our eyes down, the earth will be feen; for our eyes and light are given to fee both, which two, if we ask them, they will tell us, Fob. 12.7. If we will not ask them, yet they will preach and declare Gods glorie, Pfal. 19. 1. that not once a week, but night and day, not for an hour in the night or day, but continually; though their preaching doe not trouble our ears, being dumb, yet they cry aloud; and though they speak not English, yet their voyce is intelligible to all Nations and Languages in the world wherefore seeing they still cry aloud, and tell us of the Creator, that he made all thefe for us it is required of us, that we be ready with our tribute and homage, which is to yeild due and continuall praise and thanksgiving to God for thein; for heaven and Earth have a fellow feeling of the good and evill which either we doe, or God doth for us, Efay 39. 1. and they rejoyce with us, when we doe, or have any good done to us. And fo when we offend God in paying our duty, Fer 2. 12. then it is enough to make heaven and earth stand still and be amazed and astonished at it, because we forget God and our duty. Thus doth our finne and ungratefullness overthrow and prevent,and stain the whole courfe and order of Nature, Fer. 12. 4. fo there is a concurrent of them with us in honoring, ferving, and praifing the Creator, both of them and us. Therefore it is our duty and part, to give heedfull care to those preachers, which preach God without the Church, alwayes in filence; and fo give our duty and triB butc |