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all power originally in himself, and hath produced all things 43
by the act of his own will, without any commander, coun-
sellor, or coadjutor. Neither doth the use or exercise of this
dominion depend upon any one, so as to receive any direction
or regulation, or to render any account of the administration
of it as being illimited, absolute, and supreme, and so the
fountain from whence all dominion in any other is derived.
Wherefore he being the God of gods, is also the Lord of
lords, and King of kings, the only potentate'; because he alone
hath all power of himself, and whosoever else hath any, hath
it from him, either by donation or permission.

The infinity of God's dominion, if we respect the object, appears in the amplitude or extension; if we look upon the manner, in the plenitude or perfection; if we consider the time, in the eternity of duration. The amplitude of the object is sufficiently evidenced by those appellations which the holy writ ascribeth unto the Almighty, calling him the Lord of heaven, the Lord of the whole earth, the Lord of heaven and earth; under which two are comprehended all things both in heaven and earth. This Moses taught the distrusting IsraelDeut. x. 14 ites in the wilderness: Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that is Psal. lxxxix therein. With these words David glorifieth God: the heavens

11.

1 Chron.

xxix. 11, 12.

are thine, the earth also is thine, so acknowledging his dominion; as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them, so expressing the foundation or ground of that dominion. And yet more fully, at the dedication of the offerings for the building of the temple, to shew that what they gave was of his own, he saith, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all. If then we look upon the object of God's dominion, it

1 Deut. x. 17. Psal. cxxxvi. 3. Rev. xvii. 14; xix. 16. μóvos dvváστης, 1 Tim. vi. 15. ὕψιστος δυνάOTns, Ecclus. xlvi. 5. ὁ δυνάστης, 2 Mac. xv. 29. δυνάστης τῶν οὐρανῶν, 2 Μac. xv. 23. ὁ τῶν πατέρων κύριος, καὶ πάσης ἐξουσίας δυνάστης, 2 Mac. iii. 24. Ύπατος κρειόντων, Il. Θ. 13.

2 Dan. v. 23. Josh. iii. 11, 13. Psal. xcvii. 5. Mic. iv. 13. Zech. iv. 14, and vi. 5. Matt. xi. 25. Acts xvii. 24.

מושל בכל .14 .ver כי ממך הכל 3

Πάντη γὰρ πάντα τοῖς θεοῖς ὕποχα, καὶ πανταχῆ πάντων ἴσον οἱ θεοὶ κρατοῦσι. Xenoph. de Exped. Cyr. 1. ii. c. 5. § 7.

44

is of that amplitude and extension, that it includeth and comprehendeth all things; so that nothing can be imagined which is not his, belonging to him as the true owner and proprietor, and subject wholly to his will as the sole governor and disposer: in respect of which universal power we must confess him to be Almighty.

If we consider the manner and nature of this power, the plenitude thereof or perfection will appear; for as in regard of the extension, he hath power over all things; so in respect of the intension, he hath all power over every thing, as being absolute and supreme. This God challenged to himself, when he catechised the prophet Jeremy in a potter's house, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? Jer. xvül 6, saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. That is, God hath as absolute power and dominion over every person, over every nation and kingdom on the earth, as the potter hath over the pot he maketh, or the clay he mouldeth. Thus are we wholly at the disposal of his will, and our present and future condition framed and ordered by his free, but wise and just, decrees. Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same Rom. ix. 21. lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? And can that earth-artificer have a freer power over his brother potsherd (both being made of the same metal), than God hath over him, who by the strange fecundity of his omnipotent power, first made the clay out of nothing, and then him out of that?

The duration of God's dominion must likewise necessarily be eternal, if any thing which is be immortal. For, being every thing is therefore his, because it received its being from him, and the continuation of the creature is as much from him as the first production; it followeth that so long as it is continued it must be his, and consequently, being some of his creatures are immortal, his dominion must be eternal. Wherefore St Paul expressly calleth God the king eternal1, with 1 Tim. i. 17. reference to that of David, thy kingdom is an everlasting king- Psal. cxlv. 13. dom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations3. And Moses in his song hath told us, The Lord shall reign for Exod. xv. 18.

1 Τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν αἰώνων.

mpamaha LXX. βασιλεία πάντων τῶν αἰώνων.

ever and ever1: which phrase for ever and ever in the original signifieth thus much, that there is no time to come assignable or imaginable, but after and beyond that God shall reign.

The third branch of God's authoritative or potestative power consisteth in the use of all things in his possession, by virtue of his absolute dominion. For it is the general dictate of reason, that the use, benefit, and utility of any thing, redoundeth unto him whose it is, and to whom as to the proprietor it belongeth. It is true indeed, that God, who is all-sufficient and infinitely happy in and of himself, so that no accession ever could or can be made to his original felicity, cannot receive any real benefit and utility from the creature. Psal, xvi. 2. Thou art my Lord, saith David, my goodness extendeth not to

thee. And therefore our only and absolute Lord, because his goodness extendeth unto us, and not ours to him, because his dominion is for our benefit, not for his own: for us who want, and therefore may receive: not for himself who cannot receive, because he wanteth nothing, whose honour standeth not in his own, but in our receiving.

But though the universal Cause made all things for the benefit of some creatures framed by him, yet hath he made them ultimately for himself; and God is as universally the final as the efficient cause of his operations. The apostle Rom. xi. 36. hath taught us, that not only of him, and by him, as the first

1 Cor. viii 6. Heb. ii. 10.

1 yobb LXX. èr' alŵva kai ETI. S. Hier. in æternum et ultra. So Aquila, Theod. and the fifth edit. in Psal. xxi. 4. So the LXX. again, Dan xii. 3, [Theod.] els roùs alŵvas καὶ ἔτι and Mich. iv. 5, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ ἐπέκεινα.

2 'Ille quippe nostra servitute non indiget, nos vero dominatione illius indigemus, ut operetur et custodiat nos: et ideo verus solus est Dominus, quia non illi ad suam, sed ad nostram utilitatem salutemque, servimus. Nam si nobis indigeret, eo ipso non verus Dominus esset, cum per nos ejus adjuvaretur necessitas, sub qua et ipse serviret.' S. August. de Gen. ad lit. 1. viii. c. 11. [§ 24. Vol. I. part 1. p. 234 D.] 'Dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu: quare? quoniam bonorum meorum non eges. Ille non eget nostri,

nos egemus ipsius; ideo verus Dominus. Nam tu non valde verus dominus servi tui; ambo homines, ambo egentes Deo. Si autem putas egere tui servum tuum, ut des panem; eges et tu servi tui, ut adjuvet labores tuos. Uterque vestrum altero vestrum indiget: itaque nullus vestrum vere dominus, et nullus vestrum vere servus. Audi verum Dominum, cujus verus es servus, Dixi Domino, Deus meus es tu: quare tu Dominus? quoniam bonorum meorum non eges.' Id. ad Psal. lxix. [§ 7. Vol. IV. p. 717 B.]

3 Τιμὴν ποιεῖται τοῦ ἀνενδεοῦς τὴν τῶν ὑπ' ἐκείνου προτεινομένων ἀγαθῶν Vodoxýv. Hierocl. in Aurea Car. [v. 1. p. 22.] And again: "OσTS TIμậ τὸν θεὸν ὡς προσδεόμενον, οὗτος λέληθεν οἰόμενος ἑαυτὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι κρείτ τονα. [p. 24.]

author, but also to him, and for him, as the ultimate end, are
all things. And it is one of the proverbial sentences of
Solomon, The Lord hath made all things for himself, yea even Prov. xvi. 4.
the wicked for the day of evil. For though he cannot receive
any real benefit or utility from the creature, yet he can and
doth in a manner receive that which hath some similitude or
affinity with it. Thus God rejoiceth at the effects of his wis- Psal. civ. 31.
dom, power, and goodness, and taketh delight in the works of
his hands. Thus doth he order and dispose of all things unto
his own glory, which redoundeth from the demonstration of
his attributes.

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An explicit belief of this authoritative power and absolute dominion of the Almighty is necessary, First, for the breeding in us an awful reverence of his majesty, an entire subjection to his will. For to the highest excellency the greatest honour, to the supreme' authority the most exact obedience is no more than duty. If God be our absolute Lord, we his servants and vassals, then is there a right in him to require of us whatsoever we can perform, and an obligation upon us to perform whatsoever he commandeth. Whosoever doth otherwise, while he confesseth, denieth him; while he acknowledgeth him with his tongue, he sets his hand against him. Why call ye me Lord, Lord, saith our Luke vi. 46. Saviour, and do not the things which I say?

2

Secondly, this belief is also necessary to breed in us equanimity and patience in our sufferings, to prevent all mur45 muring, repining, and objecting against the actions or determinations of God, as knowing that he, who is absolute Lord, cannot abuse his power; he, whose will is a law to us, cannot do any thing unwisely or unjustly. Let the potsherd strive Isai. xlv. 9. with the potsherds of the earth: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? But let the man after God's own heart rather teach us humble and religious silence: I was dumb, saith he, and opened not my mouth, Psal. xxxix. 9. because thou didst it. When Shimei cast stones at him, and

1 Ἡμεῖς δὲ μεγάλοιο Διὸς πειθώ-
μεθα βουλῇ,

*Ος πᾶσι θνητοῖσι καὶ ἀθανάτοισιν
ἀνάσσει.

Hom, Il. M. 241.

· Εμοὶ πόλις ἐστὶ καὶ καταφυγὴ

Καὶ τοῦ δικαίου τοῦ τ ̓ ἀδίκου παν-
τὸς κριτὴς

Ο δεσπότης· πρὸς τοῦτον ἕνα δεῖ
ζῆν ἐμέ.

servus apud Menand.
[Stob. Flor. tit. 62. § 34.]

καὶ νόμος

2 Sam. xvi. 10. cursed him, let us learn to speak as he then spake: The Lord hath said unto him, Curse David: who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?

Thirdly, the belief of God's absolute dominion is yet farther necessary to make us truly and sufficiently sensible of the benefits we receive from him, so as by a right value and estimation of them to understand how far we stand obliged to him. No man can duly prize the blessings of heaven, but he which acknowledgeth they might justly have been denied him; nor can any be sufficiently thankful for them, except it be confessed that he owed him nothing who bestowed them.

But as the original word for Almighty is not put only for the Lord of Hosts, but often also for the Lord Shaddai; so we must not restrain the signification to the power authoritative, but extend it also to that power which is properly operative, and executive. In the title of the Lord of Sabaoth we understand the rule and dominion of God, by which he hath a right of governing all: in the name Shaddai we apprehend an infinite force and strength, by which he is able to work and perform all things. For whether we take this word in composition', as signifying the All-sufficient; whosoever is able to suppeditate all things to the sufficing all, must have an infinite power: or whether we deduce it from the root denoting vastation or destruction; whosoever can destroy the being of all things, and reduce them unto nothing, must have the same power which originally produced all things out of nothing, and that is infinite. Howsoever the first notion of Almighty necessarily inferreth the second, and the infinity of God's dominion speaketh him infinitely powerful in operation. Indeed, in earthly dominions the strength

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