That There Is a God

Question 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

Answer. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

Question. What is God?

Answer. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Here is: 1. something implied, that there is a God; 2. expressed, that he is a Spirit; 3. what kind of Spirit.

1. Implied, that there is a God: the question, What is God? takes it for granted that there is a God. The belief of God's essence is the foundation of all religious worship (Hebrews 11:6). He that comes to God must believe that he is [illegible: Greek text]; there must be a first cause which gives a being and existence to all things besides. We come to know that there is a God, 1. by the book of nature — the notion of a deity is engraved in man's heart, it is demonstrable by the light of nature. I think it hard for a man to be a natural atheist; he may wish there were no God, he may dispute against a deity, but he cannot in his judgment believe there is no God, unless by accumulated sin his conscience be seared, and he has such a lethargy upon him, that he has sinned away his very sense and reason. 2. We come to know that there is a God by his works; and this is so evident a demonstration of a Godhead, that the most atheistical spirits when they have considered these works of God, have been forced to acknowledge some wise and supreme power the maker of these things, as it is reported of Galen and others. 1. We will begin with the greater world. 1. The creation of the glorious fabric of heaven and earth: surely there must be some architect or first cause — the world could not make itself. Who could hang the earth on nothing, but the great God? Who could provide such rich furniture for the heavens, the glorious constellations, the firmament bespangled with such glittering lights? All this speaks a deity. We may see God's glory blazing in the sun, twinkling in the stars. Who could give the earth its clothing, cover it with grass and corn, adorn it with flowers, enrich it with gold, only God (Job 28:4)? Who but God could make the sweet music in the heavens, cause the angels to join in consort, and sound forth the praises of their Maker? (Job 38:7) When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. If a man should go into a far country, and see stately edifices there, he would never imagine that these could build themselves, but that some greater power built them. To imagine that the work of the creation was not framed by God, is as if we should conceive a curious landscape to be drawn by a pencil without the hand of an artist. (Acts 17:24) God that made the world, and all things therein. To create is proper to a deity. 2. The wise governance of all things evidences there is a God. God is the great superintendent of the world; he holds the golden reins of government in his hand, guiding all things most regularly and harmoniously to their proper end. Who, that eyes providence, but must be forced to acknowledge there is a God? Providence is the queen and governess of the world; it is the hand that turns the wheel of the whole creation; providence sets the sun its race, the sea its bounds. If God should not guide the world, things would run into chaos and confusion. When one looks on a clock, and sees the motion of the wheels, the striking of the hammer, the hanging of the weights, he would say there was some artificer who made it, and put it into that order. So when we see the excellent order and harmony in the universe — the sun, that great luminary, dispensing its light and heat to the world, without which the world were but a grave or prison — the rivers sending forth their silver streams to refresh the bodies of men, and prevent a drought, and every creature acting within its sphere, and keeping its due bounds, we must needs acknowledge there is a God who wisely orders and governs all these things. Who could set this great army of the creatures in their several ranks and squadrons, and keep them in their constant march, but he whose name is, The LORD of Hosts? And as God does wisely dispose all things in the whole regiment of the creatures, so by his power he does support them. Did God suspend and withdraw his influence never so little, the wheels of the creation would unpin, and the axle break asunder. 3. The motion of the creatures: all motion (as the philosophers say) is from something that is unmoveable. As for example: the elements are moved by the influence and motion of the heavenly bodies; the sun and moon, and these planets, are moved by the highest orb, called Primum Mobile. Now if one should ask, Who moves that highest orb, or the first mover of the planets? — surely it can be no other hand but God himself.

2. Let us speak of man who is a Microcosm, or lesser world. The excellent structure and frame of his body, who is wrought curiously as with needlework (Psalm 139:15): I was curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. And the endowment of this body with a noble soul — who but God could make such a union of different substances, flesh and spirit? In him we live, and move, and have our being. The quick, acute motion of every part of the body shows that there is a God; we may see something of him in the sparkling of the eye. And if the cabinet of the body be so curiously wrought, what is the jewel? The soul has a celestial brightness in it, as Damascen says. It is a diamond set in a ring of clay. What noble faculties is the soul endowed with? — understanding, will, affections, which are a glass of the Trinity, as Plato speaks. The matter of the soul is spiritual; it is a divine sparkle lighted from heaven, and being spiritual is immortal, as Scaliger notes. Anima non senescit — the soul does not wax old; it lives for ever. And who could create a soul ennobled with such rare, angelic properties, but God? We must needs say as the Psalmist, It is he that has made us, and not we ourselves (Psalm 100:3).

2. We may prove a deity by our own conscience. Conscience is God's deputy or vicegerent. Conscience is a witness of a deity. If there were no Bible to tell us there is a God, yet conscience might. Conscience, as the Apostle says, either accuses or excuses (Romans 2:15). Conscience acts in order to a higher judicatory. 1. Natural conscience being kept free from gross sin, excuses. When a man does virtuous actions, lives soberly and righteously, observes the golden maxim, doing to others as he would have them do to him, then conscience approves, and says, well done. Conscience, like a bee, gives honey. 2. Natural conscience in the wicked does accuse. When men go against the light of conscience, then they feel the worm of conscience. Eheu quis intus scorpio? Sen. Conscience being sinned against, spits fire in men's faces, fills them with shame and horror. When the sinner sees a handwriting on the wall of conscience, his countenance is changed. Many have hanged themselves to quiet their conscience. Tiberius the Emperor, a bloody man, felt the lashes of his conscience; he was so haunted with that fury, that he told the senate, he suffered death daily. And what is it should put a man's conscience into such an agony, but the impression of a deity, and the thoughts of coming before God's tribunal. Those who are above all human laws, yet are subject to the checks of their own conscience. And it is observable, the nearer the wicked approach to death, the more they are terrified, and conscience gives a louder alarm to them; and from where is this, but from the apprehension of judgment approaching. The soul being sensible of its immortal nature, trembles at him who never ceases to live, and therefore will never cease to punish.

3. That there is a God, appears by the consent of nations, by the universal vote and suffrage of all. Nulla gens tam barbara cui non insideat haec persuasio Deum esset, Tully; No nation so barbarous (says Tully) as not to believe there is a God. Though the heathen did mistake in their devotion, they did not worship the true God, yet they worshipped a God. They set up an altar to the unknown God (Acts 17:22). They knew a God should be worshipped, though they knew not the God whom they worshipped. Some did worship Jupiter, some Neptune, some Mars: rather than not worship something, they would worship anything.

4. That there is a God, appears by his prediction of future things. He who can foretell things which shall surely come to pass, is the true God. God foretold that a virgin should conceive, he prefixed the time when the Messiah should be cut off (Daniel 9:26), he foretold the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, and who should be their deliverer (Isaiah 45:1). This is such a strong argument to prove a deity, as God himself uses it to prove he is the true God, and that all the gods of the heathens were fictions and nullities (Isaiah 41:22). Testimonium Divinitatis est Veritas Divinationis, Tertul. To foretell things contingent, and which depend upon no natural causes, is proper to a deity.

5. That there is a God, appears by God's unlimited power and sovereignty. He who can work, and none hinder him, is the true God; but God can do so (Isaiah 43:13). I will work, and who shall hinder it. Nothing can hinder action but some superior power; but there is no power above God; all power that is, is by him, therefore all power is under him: he has a mighty arm (Psalm 89:13). He sees the designs men drive on against him, and plucks off their chariot wheels; he makes diviners mad (Isaiah 44:25), he cuts off the spirit of princes: he bridles the sea, gives check to the Leviathan, binds the devils in chains; he acts pro arbitrio, he does what he will, I will work, and who shall hinder it.

6. There are devils, therefore there is a God. Atheists cannot deny but there are devils, and then they must grant there is a God. We read of divers possessed with the devil. The devils are called in Scripture, [reconstructed: se'irim], hairy ones, because they often appeared in the form of goats or satyrs. Gerson in his book De probatione Spirituum, tells us how Satan on a time appeared to a holy man in a most glorious manner, professing himself to be Christ; the old man answered, I desire not to see my Saviour here in this desert, it shall suffice me to see him in Heaven. Now if there be a devil, then there is a God. Socrates, a heathen, when he was accused at his death, confessed that, as he thought there was a malus genius, an evil spirit, so he thought there was a good.

Use 1. Seeing there is a God, this reproves such atheistical fools as deny it. Epicurus denied that there was a providence, saying, that all things fell out by chance, Diagoras. He that says there is no God, is the wickedest creature that is, he is worse than a thief, who does but take away our goods from us, but the atheist would take away our God from us: (John 20) They have taken away my Lord. So we may say of atheists, they would take away our God from us, in whom all our hope and comfort is laid up: (Psalm 14:1) The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. He would not dare speak it with his tongue, but said it in his heart; he wished it. Sure none can be speculative atheists: The devils believe and tremble (James 2). I have read of one Arthur a professed atheist, who when he came to die, cried out, he was damned. But though there are few found who say, There is no God, yet many deny him in their practices: (Titus 1:16) In works they deny him. Cicero said of Epicurus, Verbis reliquit Deos resustulit. The world is full of practical atheism: most people live as if they did not believe there was a God. Would they dare to lie, defraud, be unclean, if they believed there were a God, who would call them to account? If an Indian, who never heard of a God, should come among us, and have no other means to convince him of a deity, but the lives of men in our age, sure he would be of Protagoras his mind, who did hang in a doubtful suspense, and did question, Whether there were a God; Utrum Dii sint non ausim affirmare.

Use 2. Seeing there is a God, he will deal righteously, and give just rewards to men. Things seem to be carried in the world very unequally; the wicked flourish (Psalm 73); they who tempt God are delivered (Malachi 3:15). The ripe clusters of grapes are squeezed into their cup, and in the meantime, the godly who wept for sin, and served God, are afflicted (Psalm 102:9): "I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping." Evil men enjoy all the good, and good men endure all the evil. But seeing there is a God, he will deal righteously with men (Genesis 18:25): "Shall not the Judge of all the world do right?" Offenders must come to punishment. The sinners' death-day and doom's-day is coming (Psalm 37:13): "The Lord sees that his day is coming." While there is a hell the wicked shall be scourged enough; and while there is eternity, they shall lie there long enough; and God will abundantly compensate the faithful service of his people. They shall have their white robes and crown (Psalm 58:11): "Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judges in the earth." Because God is God, therefore he will give forth glorious rewards to his people.

Use 3. Seeing there is a God, woe to all such as engage this God against them, he lives forever to be avenged upon them (Ezekiel 22:14): "Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong in the day that I shall deal with you?" Such as pollute God's Sabbath, oppose his saints, trampling these jewels in the dust; such as live in a contradiction to God's Word; these do engage the infinite majesty of heaven against them, and how dismal will their case be? Deuteronomy 32:41: "If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand take hold of judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies; I will make my arrows drunk with blood," etc. If it be so terrible to hear the lion roar, what is it when he begins to tear his prey? Psalm 50:22: "Consider this, you that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces." O that men would think of this, who go on in sin! Shall we engage the great God against us? God strikes slow, but heavy (Job 40:9): "Have you an arm like God? Can you strike such a blow?" God is the best friend, but the worst enemy. If he can look men into their grave, how far can he throw them? Who knows the power of his wrath? (Psalm 90:11). What fools are they who for a drop of pleasure drink a sea of wrath. Paracelsus speaks of a frenzy some have which will make them die dancing: sinners go dancing to hell.

Use 4. Seeing there is a God, let us firmly believe this great article of our creed. What religion can there be in men, if they do not believe a deity? He that comes to God must believe that he is. To worship God, and pray to him, and not believe there is a God — Irrisio Dei est — it is to put a high scorn and contempt upon God. Believe that God is the only true God, such a God as he has revealed himself in his Word, a lover of righteousness, and hater of wickedness (Psalm 45:7). The real belief of a deity gives life to all religious worship: the more we believe the truth and infiniteness of God, the more holy and angelic we are in our lives. Whether we are alone or in company God sees us; he is [illegible], the heart-searcher; the belief of this would make us live always as under God's eye (Psalm 16:8): "I have set the Lord always before me." The belief of a deity would be a bridle to sin, a spur to duty; it would add wings to prayer, and oil to the lamp of our devotion: the belief of a deity would cause dependence upon God in all our straits and exigencies (Genesis 17:1): "I am God all-sufficient; a God that can supply all your wants, scatter all your fears, resolve all your doubts, conquer all your temptations." The arm of God's power can never be shrunk, he can create mercy for us, and therefore can help and not be beholden to the creature. Did we believe there is a God; we should so depend on his providence as not to use any indirect means; we would not run ourselves into sin to rid ourselves out of trouble (2 Kings 1:3): "Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that you go to inquire of Baal-zebub the God of Ekron?" When men run to sinful shifts, is it not because they do not believe there is a God, or that he is all-sufficient?

2. Seeing there is a God, let us labor to get an interest in him (Psalm 48:14): "This God is our God." Two things will comfort us, deity and propriety: since the fall we have lost likeness to God, and communion with God; let us labor to recover this lost interest, and pronounce this shibboleth my God (Psalm 43:5). It is little comfort to know there is a God, unless he be ours; God offers himself to be our God (Jeremiah 31:33): "I will be their God." And faith catches hold of the offer, it appropriates God, and makes all that is in him over to us to be ours, his wisdom ours to teach us, his holiness ours to sanctify us, his Spirit ours to comfort us, his mercy ours to save us. To be able to say God is mine, is more than to have all the mines of gold and silver.

3. Seeing there is a God, let us serve and worship him as God: It was an indictment brought in against them (Romans 1:21). They glorified him not as God. 1. Let us pray to him as to a God, pray with fervency (James 5:16). An effectual fervent prayer prevails much; this is both the fire and the incense, without fervency it is no prayer. 2. Love him as a God (Deuteronomy 5:6). You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. To love him with all the heart, is to give him a precedency in our love, desire to let him have the cream of our affections; to love him not only appreciatively but intensively, as much as we can. As the sun-beams united in a burning-glass burn the hotter, so all our affections should be united, that our love to God may be more ardent. 3. Obey him as a God: all creatures obey him, the stars fight his battles, the wind and sea obey him (Mark 4:41). Much more should man whom God has endued with a principle of reason: He is God, and has a sovereignty over us, therefore as we received life from him, so we must receive a law from him, and submit to his will in all things: This is to kiss him with a kiss of loyalty, and it is to glorify him as God.