what they hear, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. Att. ix. 7. Conf. c. xxii. 9. 3. Such as mind what they hear, but will not believe what they mind. 6. Such as do believe what they mind, but will not refolve to practise what they believe, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. 7. Such as will refolve to practise what they believe, but will never pra&ife what they resolve, S. Jam. į, 2, 3, 4, 5. MOTIVES. 1. Confider whofe Word it is. 2. What a Word it is, Pfal, xix. 7. Rom. i. 16. S. Fam. i. 21. 3. Confider what thou mayft get by coming to it; what thou mayft lofe by staying from it. 4. Confider the time will come, when thou wilt curfe thyself for every Opportunity thou haft loft, or elfe blefs GOD for every Opportunity thou haft embraced, S. Matth. xxiii, 39. DIRECTIONS. 1. Before Hearing. 1. Confider what thou art going about, and Whom thou art going before. 2. Set afide all worldly Thoughts, as Abraham, his Servants, and Nehemiah, Neh. xiii. 19, 20. especially Sins, S. Jam. i. 21. 3. If thou wouldst have GOD pour forth His Bleflings upon thee in Preaching, do thou pour out thy Spirit before Him in Prayer, Pfal. x. 17. and lxv. 2. 1. For the Minister, Rom. xv. 30. 2. Yourselves, that GOD would put in with the Word, Ifa. viii. 11. 4. Come with an Appetite, S. Matth. v. 6. Job xxix. 23. 5. Come with large Expectations: 6. With strong Refolutions to practise. 2. In, 1. Hear it reverently, 2. Diligently with Hearts, as well as Ears. 3. Meekly, S. Jam. i. 21. 4. With Faith, Hebr. iv. 2. 5. Apply it to thyself, Job v. 27. 6. Renew your Refolutions to practise the particular Duty, lifting up your Spirit to GOD in Ejaculations. 3. After, Sermon ; 1. Meditate upon what thou haft heard with thyfelf, 1 Tim. iv. 15. 2. Confer of it with others. 3. Square thyfelf according to it, that thy Life may be as a Comment upon the Sermon, S. Jam. i. 22. S. Matth. vii. 24, 25. ROM. ROM. xi. 33. O the Depth of the Riches both of the Wisdom and Knowledge of God! Ὦ βάθος το πλέτε καὶ τῆς σοφίας καὶ τῆς γνώσεως τ8 Θε.. OBSERVATION. HE Great GOD is a Wife GOD, Job ix. 4. and xxxvi. 5. Rom. xvi. 27. 1 Tim. i. 17. S. Jude 25. Where, by Wisdom, I mean, that Attribute in GOD, whereby He orders and manages whatfoever He takes in Hand, by the beft Means, in the best Manner, and to the beft End, that possibly can be imagined; fo that it is impoffible for us, or, I may fay, for Himself too, to find out better Means to make ufe of, a better Way to go in, or a better End to aim at, than Himself makes use of, goes in, and aims at, in every Thing that ever did or ever fhall come from Him. And if we defcend into Particulars, we may read this His infinite Wisdom, I. In His Contrivance of the World; fo that you cannot look upon the Workmanship of the least Creature, but it fufficiently argues the Wif dom of its glorious Creator; and for our clearer apprehending this infinite Wisdom, let us confider, how before the Sun, Moon, Stars, Heaven, Earth, or any Creature elfe was, there was no other Being in the whole World but this One most moft Glorious GOD. This Great GOD, yet, it seems, was pleased, and had fo decreed from Eternity, to make Himself known to fome Beings, besides Himself. This He could not do, unless Himself created fome fuch Perfons, as may thus confider and admire His Glory, and alfo fome fuch Creatures, wherein His Glory might be thus confidered and admired. Hence it pleased this Sacred Deity to fall to the Raifing of this stately Fabrick of the World, that you and I live in. By what Means doth He do it? Even by His Word. He did but speak the Word, and immediately the empty Womb of Nothing delivered itself of that Lump and confufed Chaos, which the Great GOD, afterwards, by His Wifdom and Power, digested into that Frame, Fashion and Order we now fee it in; and verily, His infinite Wisdom shined forth fo clearly in the Management of every particular Circumstance in this great Work, that fhould I hold my Tongue, as my Saviour faith in another Cafe, the very Stones would immediately cry out, Oh the Depth, &c. So that we cannot look above us, about us, below us, within us; we cannot look upon the leaft Spire of Grafs, or Piece of Earth, the Stones we stand on, or the Seats we fit on, but we may still hear every Thing crying aloud in. our Ears, or calling upon us to cry out, Ob the Depth, &c. If to Heaven, Pfal. cxxxvi. 5. If to the Earth, Prov. iii. 19. Man, Pfal. cxxxix. 14, IS. II. Providence. 1. Preservation; for His Wifdom appears as much in preferving Things in the Beings He gave them, as in firft giving Beings unto them; the the Means whereby He upholds the World, is the fame with that whereby He made it, Hebr. i. 3. 2. Government; Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Clouds, Job xxxvii. 16. Men. 3. Redemption. And verily, if upon Confideration of the Works of the Creation, we may cry out, Oh the Depth: Here, Oh the Depth of the Depth, &c. The greatest Wisdom is feen in bringing about Things of the greatest Difficulty; and the greatest Difficulty is in bringing into One, Things of the greatest Distance and Oppofition, which cannot but be acknowledged to be in the Work of Redemption. For, What is there in the World that is at a greater Distance from, and Opposition against, GOD, than Man. GOD is a Holy Spirit, Man finful Flefh, and fo more contrary to Him, than either the Beafts or Devils themselves; the Beasts, though Flesh, yet are not finful; the Devils, though finful, yet are they Spirits; but Man is neither a Spirit, nor yet void of Sin, and by Confequence, of all the Creatures in the World, the most contrary and oppofite to a Holy God; yet in this Work, we have GOD reconciled to Man, and Man reconciled to GOD; and that by GOD's affuming of the Humane, and Man's partaking of the Divine Natures; fo that three Things, especially in this great Work, manifeft the Wisdom of Him that did it. 1. GOD's being reconciled to Man. USE. |