716 A Difcoarft C07icermng of which, we may come to the knowledge of himfelf. The Book of the Creatures, and the Book of the Scriptures. The Book of the Creatures is written ic. thofe great Letters of Heaven and Earth, the Air and Sea, and by there we may fpell out fomew hat of God. He made: them for our Inftruetion, as well as our Service. There is not .a Creature that God ha.th. bre.athed abroad upon the Face of the Earth, but 1t reads us LeCtures of hts Infintte Power and Wifdom. So that it is no abfurdity to fay that as they are all the Works of his Mouth fo they are all the Works of his Hands. The whole W01ld is a fpcaking Workmanlhip, Rom. 1. ~o. The invrfibte thmgs of God, are ciettrly fcen by the things that ar~ made, even hu eternal Power and Godhead. And indeed when we ferioully confider how God bath poifed the Earth in the midft of the Air and the whole World in the 11\idft ·of a vaft and boundlefs Nothing; how he ha rh hung out rhofe glorio11s Lights of Heaven, the Sun, the Moon, and Stars and made Paths in the Sky for their fe.veral Courfes, how he bath laid the Se; on hears and fo girt it in, that it may poilibly overlook, but not overflow the Land; whe~ we view the Variety, Harmony, and Law of the Creation, our Reafon muft needs be very fhort, if we cannot from thefe collect the infinit~ Wifdom, Power, and Good nefs of the Creator. So much of God as belong to thefc two great Attributes of Creator and Governour of the World, the Book of Nature. may plainly difcover to us. But then there are other more retired, and referved Notl.oris of God, other Truths that nearly concern our felves and our eternal Salvation to know and believe, which Nature could never give the leaft Glimpfe to difcover. What Signature is there. ftamp'd upon any of the ~reaturcs of a Trinity in Unity, of the eternal Generation, or temporal CarnatiOn of the Son of God? Wh~t Creature could inform us of our firft Fall, and Gu ilt contraaed by it? Where can we find the Copy of the Covenant of Works, or of Grace, printed upon any of the Creatures? All the great Sages of the \Vorld, though they were Nature's Secretaries, and ranfack'd its abftrufeft Myfterics, yet all their Learning and Knowledge, could not difcover the Sacred Myftery of a Crucified Saviour. Thcfe are Truths which Nature is fo far from fearching out, that it can fcarce receive them when revealed. I Ccr. 2., 14. The naturaL Man receivcth 11ot the things of rhe Spitit of God, ne;tht:Y can he know them, bcc~tuft they art [pirituaOy difterned, The Light that can reveal thefe, muft br~ak immediately from Heaven it felf. And fo it did upon the Prophe[s, Evangehfts, and Apoftles; the Penmen of the Holy Scriptures. And if it were their fingular Pri\'ilege, that the Holy Gho!t lhould defcend into their Breafrs, and fo poffefs them with Divine Infpirat ions, that what they fpake , or wrote , became Oracular, how little lefs is ours; fince the Scriptures reveal to us the very fame Truths which the Spirit revealed to them? God heretofore fpake in thetr., and now he fpeaks by them unto us. Their Revelations are become ours; the only difference is, That what God taught theiU by extrJordinary Infpiration, the very fame Truths he teacheth us in the Scripture, by the ordinary Illumination of his Spirit. Here, therefore whilft we diligemly converfe in the Book of God, we enjoy the Privilege of Prophets. The fame Word of God which came unto them, comes alfo unto us; and that wilhout thofe fcvcre Prepa~ rations and (trong Agonies, which fometimes they underwent, before God would infplfe them with the Knowledge of his Heavenly Truth. That is the firll: Motive and Argument. Secondly, The Knowledge which the Scripture teacheth, is for the matter of it the moft fublime and lofty in the World. All other Sciences are but poor and beggarly Elements, if compared with this. What doth the Naturalift~ but only bufie himfelf in digging a little droJfy Knowledge , out of the Entratls of the E:u-th ? The Afi:ronomcr, who afcends hig~eft, mounts no higher than the C<deftial Bodies, the Stars and Planets; which are but the Oucworks of Heaven. But the Scripture pierceth much farther, and lets us into Heaven in felf. There it difcovers the Majefty and Glory of God upon his Throne; the Eternal Son of God fitting at his right Hand, making a prevailing and authoritative lnterceUion for us: The glittering Train of Cherubims and Seraphirns,. and innumerable Company of Angels, and the Spirits of Juft Men made pe1tect. S~ that indeed when you· have thi'i Book laid open before you, you have HeJven 1t felf, and all the inconceivable Glories of it laid open to your View. What can be more
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=