whence he is styled the prince of this world; and fome of his officers have PHYSICS. the titles of principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, &c. that the fubjects of it are exceeding numerous; that they are defperate enemies to God and men; that they are very falfe and crafty; and that their malice is active, reftlefs, and great. These things being taught us in the fcripture itself, we may rationally fuppofe, that if we were quickfighted enough to discern the methods of the divine wisdom in the government of the angelical, and of the diabolical worlds; we should be ravish'd into admiration how fuch intelligent, free, powerful, and immortal agents, fhould, without violence offer'd to their natures, be made, in various manners, to confpire to fulfil the laws, or, at leaft, accomplish the ends of that great theocracy, which not only reaches to all kinds of bodies, but comprizes the whole creation, or the great aggregate of all the creatures of God. And, indeed, to make the voluntary, and, perhaps, the moft crafty actions of evil men, and of evil fpirits, fubfervient to his wife, and just ends, no lefs recommends the wifdom of God, than it would the skill of a pilot, to contrive and fteer a fhip, fo as to fail to the defigned port, not only with a fide-wind, but with one that was quite contrary, and tempeftuous.

At that great decretory day, when the whole off-fpring of Adam fhall, by the loud voice and trumpet of the arch-angel, be call'd together, from the remotest ages and moft diftant climates in the world; when the fal'n angels, and all the human actors that ever lived, fhall appear upon the stage at once; "when the dead fhall be raised, and the books fhall be open'd:" then the wifdom of God will fhine in its meridian luftre, and full fplendor; and not only the occurrences which relate to the lives and actions of particular perfons, or of private families, and other lefs focieties of men, will be there found not to have been overlook'd by the divine providence; but the fates of kingdoms and commonwealths, and the revolutions of nations and of empires, will appear to have been order'd and over-ruled by an incomparable wisdom. And thofe great politicians, who thought to out-wit providence, by their refined fubtilties, fhall find themselves "taken in their own craftinefs;" fhall have their deepeft" counfels turn'd into foolishness;' and not be able to keep the amazed world from difcovering, that whilft they thought they moft craftily purfu'd their own ends, they really accomplifh'd those of God. And the fubtile hypocrites, who thought to make pretended religion the inftrument of their fecular defigns, fhall find those defigns defeated, and made truly fubfervient to that advancement of religion, which they, in reality, never aim'd at.

To employ, and keep in order, a very complicated engine, tho' all the parts of it be inanimate, and deftitute of purpofes and ends of their own, is juftly counted a piece of skill. And this task is more difficult, and, confequently, recommends the conduct of the artift, in proportion to the intricacy of the ftructure, and the number of pieces whereof the engine confifts. How aftonishing, then, will appear that wifdom and providence, which is able to guide, and over-rule many thoufand millions of engines, endow'd with wills, fo as to make them all be found, in the final iffue of VOL. II. Nn things,

PHYSICS. things, fubfervient to purposes worthy of divine providence, holiness, juftice, goodnefs?

Great inftances of wisdom in the

In fhort, when all the actors fhall appear at once upon the ftage; when all difguizes fhall be ftript cff, all intrigues difcovered, all hearts and defigns laid open; then to find, that this whole amazing opera, that has been acting upon the face of the earth, from the beginning to the end of time, has been fo contrived, and carried on, by the great author of the world, and of men, that their innumerably various actions, and cross-defigns, are brought to confpire to the accomplishment of a plot worthy of God; will appear an effect of fo vaft, and fo all-pervading a wifdom, that human intellects will with admiration confefs, nothing but a divine omnifcience could compass.

In the redemption of mankind, more of the divine attributes, than are redemption of commonly taken notice of, have their diftinct agencies; and their co-operation is fo admirably directed by the divine wifdom, that an apostle might very justly call it the "great mystery of godlinefs.

man.

But many divines have largely treated of this fubject; tho' I doubt whether moft of them have not been more happy in avoiding errors about it, than fuccessful in unveiling the myfteries couch'd in it. There are, in the great work of man's redemption, fome characters and footsteps of the divine wisdom fo confpicuous and refulgent, that a believer, of mean parts, may easily difcern them. But there are alfo, in this fublime and comprehenfive work, fome "depths of God," and fo much of "the wisdom of God in a mystery," that I cannot think it easy to have a mental eye, fo enlighten'd, and fo piercing, as to treat largely and worthily of fo vaft and abftrufe a fubject. And, indeed, a man muft know much of the nature of fpirits in general, and even of the father of them, God himself; of the intellect, will, &c. of the foul of man; of the state of Adam in paradise, and of the influence of his fall upon his pofterity; of the natural, or arbitrary vindictive juftice of God; of the grounds, and ends of God's inflicting punishments; of the admirable, and unparallel'd perfon of Chrift; of thofe qualifications, and offices, that are required to fit him for being a redeemer; of the nature of covenants, and the conditions of thofe which God vouchfafed to make with man; of the divine decrees, with regard to man's final state; of the fecret, and powerful operations of grace upon the mind, and the manner by which the Spirit of God works upon the fouls of men, which he converts, and brings, by fanctification to glory; in fhort, there are fo many points, moft of them of difficult fpeculation, that are fit to be difcufs'd by him, who would folidly, and fully treat of the world's redemption by Chrift; that, when I reflect on them, I am ready to exclaim with St. Paul, "who is fufficient for thefe things?" And, I am fo far from wondering, that the generality of divines, and other writers on this fubject, have not fully difplay'd the wifdom which God has exprefs'd in this great work, that to have been able to accomplish it in fo admirable a way, as God has actually contrived, and made choice of; is one of the chief reafons of my admiration of the wifdom itself. And, I am perfuaded,

that

that for God to reconcile his inflexible juftice, his exuberant mercy, and PHYSICS. all thofe other attributes that feem'd to clafh, inevitably, about the defign'd falvation of men, and make them co-operate to it; is a ftupendous manifeftation of wisdom: there being no propofition in Diophantus, or Apollonius, in algebra, or in geometry, near fo difficult to be folv'd, or that requires a greater number of proportions and congruities, to be at once attended to, and made fubfervient to the fame ends; as that great problem, propounded by God's infinite goodness, to his divine wifdom; the redemption of loft and perverfe mankind, upon the terms declared in the gofpel: which are admirably fitted to promote, at once, God's glory, and man's felicity.

the creator and

We have here, and that very imperfectly, only fpoke to two of God's The immense difattributes, his wifdom, and his power: tho' there are many others where-ference between with we are acquainted; and, perhaps, ftill more whereof we are igno- bis creatures. rant. Now, the natural and genuine refult of all thefe divine perfections, must be a moft glorious majefty, that requires the moft lowly and proftrate veneration of all his intelligent works. And, accordingly, the angels, of all his mere creatures the moft excellent and knowing, are reprefented in the fcripture, as affiduously employing themfelves in obeying and ferving, in praifing and adoring the divine majefty, with the utmoft lowlinefs and fubmiffion.

This profound refpect of the angels, is not to be wonder'd at; fince, where efteem fprings not from ignorance, but knowledge; the greater the ability and opportunities are of having the knowledge clear and heighten'd, the greater veneration must be produced in an intelligent Being for the object admired; whofe perfections are here fuch as even an angelical intellect cannot fully reach: for, as a line, by being ever fo much extended in length, cannot grow a furface; fo neither can created perfections be, by any ideas, magnify'd into divine ones. And, indeed, fpeaking in general, the creatures are but fhadowy, and arbitrary pictures of the great creator; of many of whofe perfections, tho' they have fome marks; yet they are fuch, as rather give the intellect rife and occafion to take notice of, and contemplate the divine originals, than afford it true images of them. The awful reverence paid to the fupreme Being by thofe excellent fpirits, who "are greater in power and might than we,' ought to admonish us of the ecftatic refpect we owe him; and teach us, that whenever we fpeak either to God, or of him, we ought to be inwardly affected with the unmeafurable diftance there is between a moft perfect and omnipotent creator, and a mere impotent creature.

The diftance betwixt the infinite creator and the creatures, which are The Superiority but the limited and arbitrary productions of his power and will, is fo valt, knowledge to of the divine that all the divine attributes, or perfections, by unmeasurable intervals that of man. tranfcend those faint refemblances of them, that he has been pleased to imprefs, either upon other creatures, or upon men. God's nature is fo peculiar and excellent, that there are qualities, which, tho' high virtues in men, cannot belong to God, or be afcribed to him without derogation. Nay, there are fome virtues that belong to man himself only in his mortal state. Nn 2

But,

PHYSICS. But, whatever excellencies there be, that are fimply and abfolutely fuch, and fo may, without difparagement to his matchlefs nature, be afcribed to God, we may be fure that he poffeffes them; fince he is the original author of all the degrees, or refemblances, we men have of any of them. The pfalmift's reafoning is good. "He that planted the ear, fhall he not "hear? He that formed the eye, fhall not he fee? He that teacheth man knowledge, fhall not he know?" Since all the perfections communicated to, or to be found in the creatures, being emanations of the divine excellencies, belong as much to God, as, in a bright day, all the luminous rays found in the air, belong to the fun. The vaft difference, then, between the perfections of the great creator, and thofe that are analogous to them in the creatures, reaches to all the perfections to be found in both: but the human understanding, as it values itself upon nothing more than wisdom and knowledge; fo there is nothing that it efteems, and reverences, more in other Beings, and is lefs willing to acknowledge itself furpafs'd in, than thefe. Now, 'tis certain, that God knows innumerable things, with which we are altogether unacquainted: he cannot but know all the creatures he has made, whether vifible or invifible, corporeal or immaterial; and what he has enabled them to do. Nay, fince he cannot but know the extent of his own infinite power, he cannot but know numberless things, as poffible, that he has not yet made, or, perhaps, ever will make. He, alfo, knows thofe things whereof we men have fome knowledge, in a manner, or degree, peculiar to himself. As, what we know but in part, he knows fully; what we know but dimly, he knows clearly; and what we know but by fallible mediums, he knows moft certainly.

But the great prerogative of God's knowledge, is, that he perfectly knows himself; that knowledge being not only too wonderful for man, but beyond the reach of an angelical intellect: fince, fully to comprehend the infinite nature of God, no lefs than an infinite understanding is requifite. And for the works of God, even in those that are purely corporeal, our knowledge is incomparably inferior to his. For tho' fome modern philofophers have made ingenious attempts to explain the nature of things corporeal yet their explanations generally fuppofe the prefent fabric of the world, and the laws of motion fettled in it. But God knows, particularly, both why, and how the univerfal matter was firft contrived into this admirable univerfe, rather than a world of any other of the numberlefs conftructions he could have given it; and both why thofe laws of motion, rather than others, were established; and how fenfelefs matter, to whofe nature motion does not at all belong, comes to be put into motion, and qualify'd to transfer it, according to determinate rules, which itself cannot underftand. But when we come to confider the particular, and more elaborate works of nature; fuch as the feeds, or eggs, of living creatures, &c. the ingenuous confefs, and the confident betray their ignorance. 'Tis likely, that we men know ourselves better than what is without us: yet how ignorant we are at home, if the endlefs difputes of Ariftotle, and his commentators, about the human foul, and of phyficians and

anatomists,

anatomifts, about the mechanifm of the human body, were not fufficient to PHYSICS. manifeft, 'twere eafy to fhew, by the very conditions of the union of the foul and body: which, being fettled, at firft, by God's arbitrary inftitution; and having nothing in all nature parallel to them; the manner and terms of that ftrange union, is a riddle to philofophers; but muft needs be clearly known to him who alone inftituted it, and preferves it. There are feveral advantages of the divine knowledge, above that of man. For, we can perceive, and fufficiently attend but to few things at once; but God's knowledge reaches, at once, to all that he can know; his penetrating eyes pierce quite thorough the whole creation at one glance; and "there is no creature that is not manifeft in his fight." He always fees incomparably more objects at one view, than the fun himself, endued with fight, could do. For God beholds, at once, all that every one of his creatures, in the vast universe, either does or thinks. The knowledge of God is, alfo, not a progreffive, or difcurfive thing, like that acquir'd by our reafoning; but an intuitive knowledge. Men, by reafon of the limitedness and imperfections of their understandings, are obliged to make the notice they have of one thing, a ftep and help to acquire that of another, lefs known but God, whofe knowledge, as well as his other attributes, is infinitely perfect, knows every thing in itfelf; and, all things being equally known to him, he can, by looking into himself, there fee every thing that is knowable, moft diftinctly, yet all at once. But, further, God knows the moft fecret thoughts and intentions of men; whence he is call'd the "fearcher of all hearts;" nay, he knows mens thoughts afar off." And, by the way, how imperfectly muft mere philofophers know God, fince they know him but by his works; and know his works themselves but very imperfectly? Another confpicuous prerogative of the divine knowledge, is the prefcience of future contingencies, that depend upon the determinations and actions of free agents. For we men are fo far from being able to stretch our knowledge to the difcovery of fuch events, that the greatest scholars in vain have try'd to difcover how God himself can foreknow them; and, therefore, too many, even among chriftians, deny that he can; tho' by feveral accomplish'd predictions, recorded in fcripture, it manifeftly appears, that he does.

prero

The obligations

men are under

When I confider the tranfcendent excellency, and the numerous gatives of the Deity, I cannot without wonder and concern obferve, that to venerate, and rational men, profeffing chriftianity, fhould wilfully neglect to acquire, or contemplate God. reflect on, thofe notices that are apt to increase their knowledge of God, and confequently their veneration for him. To afpire to a farther knowledge of God, that we may the better adore him, is a great part both of man's duty and his happiness. God, who has put into men an innate defire of knowledge, and a faculty to diftinguish the degrees of excellency in different notices; and to relish thofe moft, that best deserve it; and has made it his duty to fearch and inquire after God, and to love him above all things; would not have done this, if he had not known that thofe who make a right use of their faculties, muft find him to be the nobleft object

of