A PraElical Expojition Firft, The Scripture bears abundant Wimefs to the Truth of this Atrribute, Pfal. 102. 25, 26, 27. The Heavens ore the Works of t hy Hands, thcyjha/1 prrijb1 b11t tlxm ]hall endure ; yea, all of them fhall wax old m aC!arment, but thou art tbe fame and thy Tearsfhall have no end. Pfal. 90· 2. Before the Mount aim were brou,gbt Jort!J or ever tbou hadfl formed the Earth and the WOrld,· even from everlafling to evufa)Jing~ . thou art God. . lfa. 43· 10. _Before me VJ_aJ there no God formed, neither fha/1 there be after me. 1 Ttm. 1. 17· Now to the Kmg Ere:nal and Immortal, the only Wife God be Honour and Glory. But 1 cannot fiand to Cite all the Teftimonies that might b~ alledged. . Secondly, The Eterni!Y of God may be demon!ltated by clear and irrcfiagable Rea· fan. And that I !hall g•ve you tn thefe feveral Gradations. . Fir!!, It. is a~folutel~ necelfary that there be fame Firfi Caufe of all Things that are made, whtch IS not 11felf made or produced by any. For the Series ot Caufes ~ not infinite, orherwife no Effe8:could be produced, fince whar is infinite cannot be pafs'd through. And if all Bdngs that are are caufed by fome pre·exifienr Being then there is not, nor ever was, a Being, before which there was not another. and fo r.bis ~rofs Abfurd.it~ will follow, that before there w~s a Being, there was a Being, whtch ts a ContradtEhon. Therefore we muft neceffanly refi in fame FirU Caufe from which all Things have their Origin, and is itfelfeau fed by no other. ' Secondly, Tbis Fir!! Caufe of all is God. For whatfoever is the Firfi Caufe of all Thing.'i muff needs be Almighty, in that it produceth them; and All-wife in that it Governs and Maintains them; and Jncomprehenfible, for that Being which bath no Caufe cannot be perfeUly known, fince a perfe8: and comprehenfive Knowledge of Things is derived only from the Knowledge of the Caufes of them. Now wharfoevcr is Almighty, All·wife, and lncompr.ehenfible, is that God whom we adore. Thirdly, God being the Firfi Caufe of all Things, and not produced himfelf by any other pre-exiUent Being, it is impoffible that there fhould be any Time wherein he was nor. For that which once w'as nor, either fhall never be, or rnuft be made: And therefOre it being wholly inconfiftent with the Notion of a Firft Caufe to be made or produced, it ch:arly follows that we can never conceive a Time wherein God was not. Hence it appears that God is Eternal, J parte ante, or from Everlafting: And that he is alfo Eternal, a parte pojl, or to Everlafiing, appears~ Fourthly, Becaufe that which bath no beginning of its Duration, can have no end ofit. For the Firfi Caufe of all nor depending upon any for the Produ8ion of ilS Being, can depend upon none for the continuation of it, and therefdte ot Neceflity mull exifi to all Eternity. And thus you fee how much Reafon alone can fpeak for the Eternity of God. The Demon!lradons which I have_now given you are fo clear and perfpicuous, that would thofe Atheiftical Spirits, who acknowledge no God bur their Reafon, duly ponder the force of them, they would even by their Deified Reafon he in forced to acknowledge the Living and Eternal God, whom we adore. Poffibly to fame tbefe Things may feem difficult, ro others they may feem needlefs, becau1e we all read1ly acknowledge the Eternity of God. But certainly if ever there were need to confirm rhe DoEirinesand Articles of Faith by Arguments drawn from the Principles of Rea· fon, it is no~N in thefe Days ofours, wherein Ar~eifm had gorten Ground and Credit; and it is look'd upon as a Sign of a pregnant WJt, and marure and deep Judgment, daringly to difpute againfi the Being and Attributes of God, and what!oever is moft Sacred and Venerable in Religion. . But cenainly if there be H.eafon in any Thing, there is Reafon to believe the ~XI· fience of Perfe8:ion of rhe Deity, not only from the Oracles of the Scripture, wh1ch are enough to fatisfie a Cbriil:ian, bur from the Dictates alfo of Natural Light, and the Evidence that Reafon brings in; which are fo cogent and demonfirarive, that ~e that will norwirnfianding be an Atheift, mufialfo be Irrat~onal; and wbofo7ver.wtll fay in his Heart rhere is no God, or that God is not Eternal, o~ that God is not mfinnely Per feEl, we may well far of bim as rhe Pfalmij/ doth, that he is a Fool, The Fool bJtb faid in his Heart there 11 no God, Pfal. 14. 1. And thus I hav.e 1hewed unto you what Eternity is in its proper Notion, and have evinced likewife that God is in the firi8eft Scnfe Eternal. And now before I come to the Third Thing propounded let us here make fame few Praaical RefleEiions upon this Eternity of God. FitU,
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