62, An Expo /it:on of the CHAP. I. preferve themfelves in their being, or retain the principles of their Operations, did not theSon ofGod, by a confiant continual emanation of his eternal Power uphold and pi-delve them; nor could they próduce anyone effed by all their abings, didnot he work in them, and by them. And fo is it with the font ofmen, with all Agents what ever, whether naturaland unneceffary, or free, andproceeding in their operations by eleilion and choice. Hence Paul tells us, that in God we live,and move, andhave our being, Ails 17. 28. Hehad before afferted, that he had of-01i bloud made all nations, v. 26. That is, all menofone, whom he firft created ; to which he addes, that we may may know that he hath not fo left us, to ffand by ourfelves on that hell foundation, . or that we have any Power or Ability being made, to do or ad anything without' him, that in.him, that is in his Power, Care, Providence, and by vertue of his effeófual influence, our lives are fupported.and continued,that we areailed, moved, and enabled thereby to do all we do, be it never fo fmall, whereinthere is any effetk oflijè or mo- tion So Daniel tells Bel(hazzar, that his breath and hit mays were in the hand of God,' Dan. 5.23. His breath in the fupportment and continuance of his Being ; and hismays in his:effedtual.guidance and dilpofal ofthem. Peter fpeaks to the fame purpofe in ge- `neral, concerning thefabrickofthe Heavens,Sea,andEarth, a Pet. 3.5. Now what is thusfpokenofGod ingeneral, is by'Paul particularly appliedunto the Son. Col. 1. 16, 17. All things were created byhim, andfor him, and he is beforeall things, and lyhim all things conffl. He did not only makeall things, as we have declared, and thatfor himfelf and his ownglory, but altohe continues in thehead of them; fo that by him, and by his Power, they confiff, are preferved in their prefect flare and condition, kept from dtffolution, in their angular exiffence, and in a continency among themfelves. And the reafon hereof is taken, firfl, from the limited, finite, dependent condition ofthe Creation, and the abfolute neceJty that it should be fo. It is utterly impollible and repugnant to the very nature and being ofGod, that he (hoúld make, create, or produce any thingwithout himfelf, thatfhould have either a felf-J'xbfijfence, or a felt= fitffrciency, or be independent on himfelf. All there are natural and Effenrial Properties of . the Divine Nature ; where theyare, there is God, fo that no creature can be made partaker of them : Where we name a creature, we name that whichhath a derived and dependant Being. And that which cannotfnbfijf in and by it felt, cannot_ aïí fo neither. Secondly, The Energetical Ecgcy of God's Providence joynedwith his infinite Wifdom in caring for theworks ofhis own hands, the produbf ofhis Power, requires that it Mould be fo. Hewsrkthyet. He did not create the world, to leave it to an uncertain event; to ffand by, and to fee what would become cifit, to fee whether it would return to its primitive nothing, ofwhich cask it always finel.'s ffrongly ; or how it.would be toffedup and down by the adverfeand contrary qualities which were im- planted in the feverals ofit : But the fame Power andWifdom that produced it,loth flillaccompany it, powerfully piercingthrough everyparcel and particle of it. To fan- cyaProvidence in God, without a continual EnergeticalOperation,or a Wifdomwith- out a conffare care infpetion and over-fight of the works of his hands, is not to have apprehenfions of the Living God, but to erebf an Idolin our own imaginations. Thirdly,This work is peculiarly aligned unto the Son, not only as he is the Eternal Power and Wifdom ofGod,but alto becaufe by his interpofrtion, as undertaking the work of Mediatión, he reprieved the world from an immediate dilutionupon the firft en- trance of finand diforder ; that it might continue, as it were, the great Stage for the mighty works ofGod's Grace; Wifdom, and Love tobe wrought is. 'Hence the care of thecontinuance ofthe Creation and the dilpofal ofit, is delegatedunto him, as he that bath undertaken tobringforthand confummate the glory ofGod in it, notwithefand- ing the great breach made upon it by theftn of Angels and men. This is the fubftance ofthe 2/pities difcourfc, Col. 1.15, 16, 17, 18,19,20; Havingaffertcd .him to be the Image ofGod, in the fenfe beforeopened and declared, and to have made all things, he affirms, that áll things have alto their prefent confjien) inhim, andby his Power ; and muff have fo, until the workofReconciliation ofall things unto God beingaccomplifh- ed,thegloryofGod may be fully retrieved and eflablefhed for ever. i. Wemayfee from hence the Vanity ofexpedingany thingfrom the Creatures, but only what:the Lord Chrifl is pleated to communicate unto us by them. They that cannotfuJlain, move or aii themfelves, by anypower,vertue, or firength of their own, arc very unlikely by andof themfelves to afford any real ajJî ance, relief; others, or help unto
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