Of the Being, Greatness, and INCOMPREHENSIBLE Nature of G

A

SERMON

Preached at

ST. MARY'S in OXFORD,

BEFORE THE

UNIVERSITY,

ON

SUNDAY, AUGUST 11, 1734.

And at the

TEMPLE-CHURCH in LONDON,

ON

Trinity-Sunday, 1742.

Απονδίας γὰρ μανιώδες τινὸς ἡγῆμαι είναι διερευνᾶσθαι τὴν τῷ Θεῷ φύσιν, ὁποία ποτὲ ἴσι. PROCOPIUS.

Hic,-nobis,ad Intellectum Pectus anguftum eft, & ideo fic eum dignè æftimamus, dum ineftimabilem dicimus. MINUT. FELIX, ED. DAV. 108.

Magnitudinem Dei, qui fe putat noffe minuit, qui non vult minuere non novit. Ibidem.

SERMON III.

JOB xxxvi. 26.、

Behold, GOD is great, and we know him not.

T

HE PERSON, who is introduced as fpeaking in this Chapter, feems, in the Beginning of his Discourse, to fuppofe temporal Happiness a neceffary ATTENDANT upon virtuous Deeds; tho' afterwards he begins to waver in his Opinion, and, confeffing the Difpenfations of PROVIDENCE to be above Man's MEASURE of Jufice and Equity, he breaks out in the Words of the Text:- -Behold, God is great, and we know him not. He then dwells upon the WORKS of the Creation, as the most useful Subject of our Meditation: That which we know of GOD from them, namely, his Exitence and his Power, being more clearly and evidently deducible, than any thing which we

may

may think we know of him from other variable and uncertain Principles.

In difcourfing upon the Words of the Text, I fhall, in the first Place, confider those two POINTS, the Being and Greatness of God, fupposed to be in fome fort knowable by us, and contained in the Propofition, God is great.

Secondly, I SHALL examine the remaining Part of the Text, and fhew, in what Senfe be faid to know him not.

we may

Thirdly and Laftly, I SHALL difcover the Reasonableness of Submission, and Contentedness under this our IGNORANCE.

First, I AM to confider those two Points, the Being and Greatness of God, fuppofed to be in fome fort knowable by us, and contained in the Propofition, God is great.

THAT THERE IS A GOD we know, as the APOSTLE argues, FROM THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE; and thence alfo, that this God is, with respect to all created Beings, GREAT and GLORIOUS, the LORD and RULER over all.

THAT there is a GOD, a CREATOR of the Universe, who ever hath and ever will exift, is plain, because no Thing can give Being to another, which has not a NECESSARY Principle of Existence in itself. It may be in the

Power

Power of Second CAUSES, or created Beings, to alter the Form, or Order or Pofition of Things; but not reduce them to nothing; or call them forth from nothing into Being. I fay, no one can do this but he who exifts neceffarily, is the Fountain of Life independent. of another, and fubfifting of himself. That fuch a CAUSE there is, is evident from the EFFECTS produced by it. That there are Things in Being cannot be doubted; now these Things that are in Being, could not be the CAUSE of Existence to themselves, because, before they did exift, they were not, and, therefore, could not act, could not be productive of any Thing. They owe then their Exiftence to another; to the first and necessary Caufe of BEING, the Fountain of Life, to GOD, the Creator of the UNIVERse.

THE fancied ETERNITY of Matter seems to be fufficiently overthrown by the foregoing Argument: For we fee that Matter cannot act now it is in being, but is always acted upon; much less can we fuppofe it to have acted before it was; that is, to have been the Caufe of its own Being; which it must have been, if it were eternal.

BUT, fuppofing that MATTER were eternal, yet, who hath moulded it into this excellent

ORDER?