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faid to be made after the image of God, and to have dominion given him over the Vol. VII. Creatures below him, to fignifie to us, that if man had not been made after God's image, in refpect of Goodness, he had been unfit to rule over other Creatures; because without Goodness, dominion would be Tyranny and Oppreffion. And the more any Creature partakers of this Perfection of Goodnefs, the more it refembles God; as the Bleffed Angels, who behold the face of God continually, and are thereby transformed into his image from glory to glory, their whole bufinefs and imployment is, to do good; and the Devil, tho' he refemble God in other Perfections of Knowledge and Power, yet because he is evil, and envious, and mifchievous, and fo contrary to God in this Perfection, he is the most oppofite and and hateful to him of all Creatures whatsoever.

And if this Perfection be in fome degree in the Creature, it is much more in God; if it be derived from him, he is much more eminently poffeft of it himfelf. All that Goodness which is in the belt natured of the Sons of Men,or in the most glorious Angels of Heaven,

is but an imperfect and weak repre Vol. VII fentation of the Divine Goodnefs.

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The Third thing I propofed to confider, was the Effects of the Divine Goodness, together with the large extent of it, in refpect of the Objects of it, the Lord is good to all, and his tender Mercies are over all his Works thou art good and doft good, fays David, Pfal. 119. 68. The great evidence and demonftration of God's Goodness, is from "the Effects of it. To the fame purpose St. Paul speaks, Acts 14. 17. He hath not left himself without Witness, in that he doth good, and fends us Rain from Heaven, and fruitful Seafons.

I fhall confider the Effects of the Divine Goodness, under thefe Two Heads.

I. The univerfal extent of God's Goodness to all his Creatures.

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II. I.fhall confider more particular ly the Goodness of God to Men, which we are more efpecially concern'd to take notice of.

I. The univerfal extent of his Goodnefs to the whole Creation, the Lord is Good to all. The whole Creation furnifheth us with clear evidences and demonftrations of the Divine Goodnefs;

nefs; which way. foever we caft our Eyes, we are encountered with undeniable Inftances of the Goodness of God; and every thing that we behold, is a fenfible demonftration of it; the Heavens declare the Glory of God, and the Firmament fheweth his handy work, fays the Pfalmift, Pfal. 19. 1. And again, Pfal. 33. 5. The Earth is full of the Goodness of the Lord. The whole Frame of this World, and every Creature in it, and all the feveral degrees of Being and Perfection, which are in the Creatures, and the Providence of God towards them all, in the prefervation of them, and providing for the happiness of all of them, in fuch degrees as they are capable of it, are a plentiful demonftration of the Divine Goodness, which I fhall endeavour ⚫ to illuftrate in thefe Four Particulars.

1. The universal Goodness of God appears in giving Being to fo many

Creatures.

2. In making them all fo very good, confidering the variety, and order, and end of them.

3. In his continual prefervation of them.

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4. In providing fo abundantly for Vol. VII. the welfare and happiness of all of them, fo far as they are capable and fenfible of it.

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1. The extent of God's Goodness appears in giving Being to fo many Creatures. And this is a pure effect of Goodness, to impart and communicate Being to any thing. Had not God been good, but of an envious, and narrow, and contracted nature, he would have confined all Being to himself, and been unwilling, that any thing befides himself fhould have been: but his Goodness prompted him to fpread and diffuse himself, and fet his Power and Wisdom on work, to give Being to all that variety of Creatures, which we fee and know to be in the World, and probably to infinite more than we have the knowledge of. Now it is not imaginable, that God could have any other motive to do this, but pure

the Goodness of his Nature. All the motives imaginable befides this, muft either be indigency and want, or constraint and neceffity; but neither of these can have any place in God, and therefore it was meer Goodness

nefs, that moved him to give Being to i other things; and therefore all Crea- Vol. VIL tures have reason, with the four and twenty Elders in the Revelations, to caft their crowns before the throne of God, Saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, for thou haft created all things, and for thy pleasure (that is of thy meer goodness) they are and were created.

(1.) Indigency and Want can have no place in God; because he that hath all poffible Perfection, hath all plenty in himself; from whence refults All-fufficiency and compleat Happiness. So that the Divine Nature need not look out of it felf for Happiness, being incapable of any addition to the Happiness and Perfection it is already poffeft of, ipfa su is pollens opibus nihil indiga noftri. We make things for our ufe, Houses to fhelter us, and Cloaths to keep us warm; and we propagate our Kind, to perpetuate our felves in our poste rity: But all this fuppofeth imperfection, and want, and mortality, to none of which the Divine Nature is liable and obnoxious.

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