4iJ0 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. X.
viii. 22. The sun hath its period and point in the heaven, according to which it doth rise and set. David takes notice of the sun's setting : Ps. civ. 19, ' He appointeth the moon for seasons ; the sun knoweth his going down ; * the meaning is, he hath appointed the moon for seasons/ the months being distinguished by the course of the moon. 'The sun knows his going down,' the da.js being measured by the motion of the sun. The length and shortness of days are all measured by God, and the sun knows when to set at an hour and minute according as God appointed him. Though there be every day some variety according to the degrees of the zodiac, yet the sun observes the just points of the compass: Job xxxviii. 12, 'He causeth the daj'-spring to know his place.' The sun linows when to rise at such and such an hour, and such a point of the heavens, he knows his place. So it is very notable for the other stars, though they move most swiftly, and though they never cease ; though some go round in a slower, and some in a swifter space, yet they always keep their measures and proportions, and their motions are equally distant. The stars go round in four and twenty hours, and the planets in various motions, and though there be so many ten thousand millions of stars, yet they do not interfere and jostle one a.nother. It is notable when God would express the numerousness of Abraham's posteritj^ he useth three expressions to him : Gen. xxii. 17, ' They shall be as the dust of the earth, as the sand of the sea-shore, and as the stars of heaven.' From this expression, wherein he promiseth him a multitude of children that should come of his loins, we may con- clude that there must needs be a great company of stars. Now that in such a crowd and throng of stars that are always moving, there should be no clashing, no confusion, no interfering with one another, but still they keep their path, and go on according to the law and decree which God hath set unto them ; who can admire this sufficiently ? So in upholding all ranks of all other creatures, and guiding them for the great purposes and uses of providence. His gathering together the -drops of the air : Job xxvi. 8, ' He binds up the waters in his thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them ; ' that he should keep up such a quantity of water in the thin clouds, as in so many bottles or barrels, till they be condensed into rain and then pour them out in drops for the good and use of man. So the jjower of God is mightily seen in bridling the sea. Though it be above the earth, yet it is said : Ps. civ. 9, ' He hath ^et bounds to the waters, that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.' Though above the earth, yet the Lord keeps them up in a heap together, and keeps them back that they shall not return to drown the world.
Thirdly, I come to answer an objection that might be commenced.
ObJ. If God made the world in such harmony and order, whence came all those disorders that are in the world ? We see some creatures are ravenous ; other creatures are poisonous ; all are ^rail, and still decaying and hasting to their own ruin. Whence come murrains, sick- nesses, and diseases ? whence come such destructive enmities and anti- pathies between beast and beast, yea and beasts of the same kind ? whence come such dislocations, and unjointings of nature by tempests and earthquakes ? All elements have been one time or other routed into confusion ; the air hath been imprisoned in the bowels of the earth,
VeR. 3.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 421
from whence come earthquakes ; the sea swelleth above its banks, from whence come inundations ; the earth rolled hither and thither in the sea, which maketh dangerous shoals and quicksands ; and the fire reserved for the vastation of that great day, ' When the heavens shall, pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also, and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up/ 2 Peter iii. 10. Whence do these come ?
Ans. I answer. All these confusions and. disorders of nature are the effects of sin. Our sins are as a secret fire that hath melted and burnt asunder the secret ties and confederations of nature. Thence are there so many destructions and degenerations, such enmities, cruelties, and antipathies among the creatures. Man, being the Lord of all things, Avas not only punished in his own person, but in the creatures, which are his servants and retinue. The Lord had given to us the free use of these things, and dominion over them ; but upon our rebellion, the frame of nature is much altered and changed: Gen. iii. 17, 'Cursed is the earth for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.' The word there used is n!2"1hJ, to show that it is cursed in that regard as it belonged to Adam, and was part of man's possession ; and by earth he doth not only mean the lower element, but the whole visible world ; it was made for man, and it was all cursed for man's sake. So it is taken elsewhere : Ps. cxv. 16, ' The heavens, even the heavens, are the Lord's ; but the earth hath he given to the children of men ; ' and where it is said, 2 Peter iii. 7, ' The heavens and the earth that are now,' &c. — that is, the world. Wherever thou seest thorns and thistles to grow, remember that sin is the root of them. Whenever thou seest the seas toss, and the confederation of the creature to be dis- turbed, this is the fruit of man's disorder and rebellion against God. Whenever thou seest a fruitful land grow barren, that is the actual curse, a fruit of the original curse that is passed upon the earth for man's sin. So Rom. viii. 28, theajoostlesaith, 'The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.' Mark, the creature groans under the burden of vanity and corruption ; what is the i-eason ? It is not the fault of the creature, not willingly, for by the bent and poise of nature they all seek their own preservation ; they have a constant inclination to their own good ; but we, that had freewill and abused it, brought misery upon ourselves and the w^hole creation ; therefore the apostle saith, ' It was by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope.' It noteth both the efficient and meritorious cause ; by reason of man as a sinner and by reason of God as a judge ; so the creature is subjected and brought under the bur- den of vanity. God, to show how much he was offended with man, would discover it by the confusions and disorders of nature. As Moses in a holy anger broke the tables when he saw the people turn aside tcs idolatry ; so when man turned unthankful and rebellious to God the king, it dissolved much of the order and beauty which otherwise would have been in the creation.