numerable host of heaven, the earth and all things therein and our own existence, of which we are certain; these being realities, and not fantastical appearances, being noble and stupendous, declare themselves in their own still, yet loud, and well-known language, even by their own nature, to have an eternal, almighty, all-wise, unlimited Power and Being for their Author; and if mankind be not become altogether without thought, irrational and stupid, if any one can be so,) they must needs know that an eternal incomprehensible Power hath produced all these things. We may and ought therefore to look unto God in the things which He hath made, and thereby understand that He is, and is eternal, without beginning or end of his being; that He is Almighty in power, All-wise, Omnipresent; that he hath given being to all things, and supports and continues them; (b) that He is infinite in love, goodness, justice, mercy, beneficence, and truth; that He is so likewise in righteousness, and the Author of all those properties manifest (so far as they are manifested) in mankind. This therefore is the first and most obvious way we can look unto God; as rational creatures, by the things that are made.

We have been some of us more, and others less time in the world, and have seen, at least in a superficial manner, the things that are made; let every one of us therefore consider, with respect to himself, Have I at all looked unto God according to this invitation? Have I been able to perceive Him in his works, or have I looked upon his works only, without any due regard to Himself, or consideration of the things that are made, or the greatness and divine properties and attributes of the Almighty Author of them?

(b) Although the vast bodies of inanimate matter, can be in no respect accountable, in themselves, for their conduct, still we see them so arranged by infinite wisdom, and placed in such beautiful order, that they never interfere with each other. They never run foul of one another. And when we consider them rightly they bring us to see that these inanimate bodies may be considered as social beings, having intercourse with each other, and helping each other; by which they are continued in that excellent order, in which they were originally arranged. (Sermon VIII, Newtown, p. 186.)

And, as we all grant that God is invisible in himself to all corporeal eyes, the next way whereby we may look unto Him with further admiration is, in the constant course of his Providence, whereby He upholds and continues all his works in succession from generation to generation, and provides for them all, from the highest to the lowest, from the greatest to the least, without losing or neglecting any one species or particular which He hath made; by which we may learn his endless goodness, and that He still regards them all, and ever will.

And we, and all the ends of the earth, have yet still a more excellent way to look unto God for the glorious end of that gracious invitation, the eternal salvation of our souls; that is, by the divine light of his Son, (c) the Spirit of Christ, who is before all works and worlds, and was with God when He laid the foundations thereof, under the character of Wisdom, and is so declared to be in the Holy Scriptures, where Wisdom saith "The Lord possessed me in the begin'ning of his way, before his works of old; I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the (( earth was. When there were no depths, I was "brought forth; when there were no fountains abound"ing with water. Before the mountains were settled, "before the hills was I brought forth; while as yet "He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He "prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a

compass upon the face of the depth; when He esta"blished the clouds above; when He strengthened the "fountains of the deep; when He gave to the sea his

decree, that the waters should not pass his com

"mandment; when He appointed the foundations of

(c) We may all partake of the life that was in Jesus Christ, for in him was 66 life, and the life was the light of men." Therefore, it is testified by these words, that the true light is dispensed to every rational creature, in proportion to what the Almighty requires him to do. He had it in the fulness-all that was necessary for him to complete the work he had to do. But he could have nothing superfluous: for it cannot be supposed that the Almighty Jehovah deals in superfluities to any of his rational creatures. (Sermon III, Western Meeting, 52.)

The animal body of Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, and therefore must be nothing, as to the visible part, but flesh and blood; as nothing else could emanate from her, but what was of her. So here now this outward body, this flesh and blood, was born of a woman.-Here now we learn, as rational beings, by his own testimony, what it is that makes a Son of God. We see that this flesh and blood never could have been, in a strict sense, the Son of God; but a creature created by God-by his power; because spirit and matter cannot be united together, and make a being. (Sermon IX, Middletown, 251-2.)