Ver. 3 I, 3 2, 3 3. xxvt'. Chapter of St. MATTHEW. . à 45 (4.) For Aúthority. I (hall the longer infi[t on This, becaufe the main Hinge Of all lieth here and this dodr bring the Matter home : That Jefù.s Chrift, and none but Jefùs Chri(t, (ball be the Worlds Judge. By the Law of. Nature, the wronged Par - ty, and the Suprearn Power bath Right to require Satisfaétion for the Wrong done. Where no Power is publickly ctinllifuted, poilibly the wronged Party bath Power to require it ; but where things are better conllituted, left the wronged Party fhould in- indulge his Revenge and Paf ion too far, it tells in the Supream Power, and thole appointed by it, to judge the Matter ; and to snake amends to thole that are wronged in their Body, Goods, or Good Name. Now, to God both there things concur. I. He is the-wronged Party, and offended viitir the Sins of Men : Not that we can leffen his Happinefs by any thing that we can do ; for our Good and Evil reached/ not unto him ; his E(fential Glory is Rill the fame, whether we obey or dilobey, pleafe or difpleafe, honour or difhonour him : '(hat which is Eternal and Immu- table, neither is le(fened nor increafed by any thing that we can do. He is out of the reach of all the Darts' that we can caft at him: Hurt us they may, but reach him they cannot. But Sin ; 'cis a wrong to his Declarative Glory, asaSovereign Lord and Law-giver ; as 'cis a Breach of his Law. There was Hurt done to Bathfheba and Ûriah, Pfa.. 5 s. 4. but the Sits and Obliquity of the Ahhon was againft God, and his So- vereign Authority. If the Injury done to the Creature could be fevered from the Offence. done to God, it were not fo great. God is the Author of the Light of Nature ; and that Order which begetteth á Senfe of Good and Evil in our Hearts. God is the Author of the Law given by Mafia, and the Gofpel revealed by his Son. Therefore, what- ever things are committed againft the Law of Nature, or the Law of Moles, or the Gofpel, certainly Lis a wrong to the Juftice of God, as being a Breach of that Or- der which he hat/ Eflablifhed. r yob. ;. 4. He that committeth Sin, tranfgrefeth al- fo the La v ; for Sin is a Trani refon of the Law. Laws cannot be defpifed, but the Majefty of the Law -giver is contemned, difparaged and flei ghted. Therefore, up- on this Right God might come in as a very proper Judge : But indeed God Both not punifh meerly as offended, or as a private Man revenged/ himfelf, where there is no Power publickly conftituted to do him right; but he propetly Judgeth. z. A Supream and Sovereign Lord,. and Governour of the World; to whom it be- longeth for the common Good ; to fee that it be well with them that do well, and ill with them that do evil ; and that no Compaffron be [hewed, but where the Cafe is Compafftonable, according to that Declaration he hash made of himfelf to the Creatures. To declare this more plainly, we fhall fee how this Right accrueth to God : It may be fuppofed to accrue to him two wayes ; either becaufe of the Excel- lency of his Being, or becaufe of his Benefits which he bath bellowed upon Man- kind. (I.) The Excellency of his Being. This is according to the Light.of Nature, that ehofe that excell fhould be above others : As 'cis clear in Man, who is above the Brute Creatures, he is made to have Dominion over them, becaufe he bath a more excel- lent Nature than they. And when God laid, Let us make Man after oar own Image, he prefently upon that Account gave him Dominion over the Beafts.of the Field, and Fowls of the Air, and Fiches of the Sea : So God being Infinite, and far above all Finite things, bath a Power over the Creatures, Angels or Men, who are as no- thing to him ; and therefore to be governed by him. But chiefly, (z.) By venue of the Benefits bellowed by him. For great Benefits received from another, do neceffarily beget a Power over him that received). them. As Parents have a Power and Authority over their Children, who are a means under God to give them Life and Education ; the moll barbarous People would acknowledge this : How much greater then is the Right of God, who hath given us Life, and Breath, and Being, and Well- being, and ail things ? He created us out of nothing ; and being created, he preferveth us, and giveth us all the good things which we enjoy. And therefore, we are obliged to be fubjeß to him, and to obey his Holy Laws, and to be accountable to him for the Breach of them. Therefore, let us ffate it thus: As the Excellency of his Nature giveth him a Fitnefs, and a Suffici- ency for the Government of Mankind his Creation, Prefervation, and other Bene- fits give him a full Right to make what Laws he pleafeth, and to call Man to an Account whether he bath kept them, yea or no. His Right is greater than Parents can have over their Children ; for in Natural Generation they are but Inflruments of his Providence, afting only the Power whir* God giveth them ; and the Parents U propagate
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