VeR. 10.] SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS Y. 6T
do well, and ill with them that do ill ; and there is no compassion shown to any creature, but where the case is compassionable.
But more plainly to show how this right accrues to Grod, how he- comes to be the supreme governor of the world. Several ways : either because of the excellency of his being, or because of the relation wherein we stand to him for all the benefits he bestows upon us ; we have all from him.
[1.] For the excellency of his being. This is according to the light of nature, that those that excel others should be chief and supreme, as it is clear in man above brute-beasts. Man was made to have dominion over them, having a more excellent nature than they, as in the first of Genesis. When God said, ' Let us make man,' presently God puts the government upon him, and gives him dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowls in the air, and fish in the sea. So God being infinite, and far above all chief beings, hath power over all his creatures, angels and men, who are as nothing to him, therefore to be governed by him.
[2.] The title comes by virtue of the benefits that he hath bestowed upon us ; we have life, being, and all things from God ; therefore, certainly, the power and authority is in him. Look, as parents have power and authority over their children, who are a means under God to give them life and education, and the most barbarous people would acknowledge this ; how much more then hath God, who gives us life, breath, being, and well-being, and all things ? He hath created us out of nothing, and being once created, he preserves us, and gives us all the good things we enjoy ; and therefore we are obliged to be subject to him, and obey his holy laws, and to be accountable to him for the breach of them. And therefore let us state it thus : if that the excellency of his nature gives him a sufficiency for the government of ' mankind, his creation, preservation, and other benefits, they give him a full right to dispose of man, to make what laws he pleaseth, to call man to account whether he keep them, yea or no. Surely the right of God is greater than that which parents can have over their children ; for in natural generation parents are but only the instruments of his providence, acting only the power God gives them ; they propagate nothing to their children, but the matter of their being, and those things that belong to the body, Heb. xii. 9. Nay, God hath a greater hand in forming the child than the parents ; still they act as guided by God, and as influenced by his providence, for they cannot tell whether the child will be male or female, beautiful or deformed, they know not the number and posture of the bones, nerves, veins, sinews ; but God orders all these things by his own wisdom, and wonderfully frames us in the secret parts of the belly ; therefore the sovereignty certainly belongs to God, for it is he that forms the spirit of mari within him, Zech. xii. 1. The soul is of God's immediate formation, and all the care and providence of our parents come to nothing, unless God direct it, and second it with his blessing. God is the judge of all creatures, visible and invisible, and from his empire and jurisdiction they neither can nor ought to exempt themselves. So that to be God and judge of the world is one and the same thing, only expressed by divers terms.
58 SERMONS UPON 2 CORINTHIANS V. [SeR. XIV.
To gather up this argument. This is a certain rule : the owner of anything is necessarily a governor to it, if it be governable, if it be a creature that is capable of government, and hath an a})titude to be governed, for certainly an absolute propriety in a governable creature gives a plenary title. Now God made us out of nothing, and he made us capable of government, being rational and free agents, and there- fore he must needs be our lord and governor. ' All souls are mine,' saith he, Ezek. xviii. 4. And it is devolved upon Christ our redeemer by a new right, for he died, rose again, and revived to this end ; he hath purchased this authority to be Lord of quick and dead.
And it is as certain a rule that our governor must be our judge, for government consists of three parts : legislation, judgment, and exe- cution— giving laws, and judging, and executing. God doth all these things by an authoritative constitution ; he makes laws for man to oblige him to obedience. And in God's laws there is a precept and a sanction ; that is, there are rewards and penalties. The precept shows what we must do, the sanction shows what God will do ; the precept shows what is due from the creature, the sanction shows what is due to the creature — that is, if he break this law, he shall be punished ; if he keep this law, he shall be rewarded. Thus you see, God, being our governor, may make laws for man that is capable of laws. Now this sanction would be but a shadow and vain scarecrow if there were no judgment ; for would God say, Do, and thou shalt live, believe, and thou shalt be saved, and never look after this, whether we do or believe ? Therefore, as there is legislation, so there must be judging : but then this judgment must necessarily infer a thing, — that is, the execution — otherwise judgment w^ould be but a solemn pageantry. But why is Christ judge of the world rather than the Father and Spirit, who also made us, and gave a law to us, and invested it with such a sanc- tion, who are offended and grieved with our sins ? I answer —