fee him ufher'd in by his fore-runner, the holy Baptift, fix Moneths before his Nativity; attended by his twelve Apostles in their feverall ranks, and Thomas the laft, for his unbelief: And, at last, after infinite and beneficiall miracles, he fhould fee him making his Maundy with his difciples on the Thurfday, and crucified on Good-Friday; he should fee that on Eafter Morning, God the Fa ther raifes up his Son Jefus from the dead (Act, 5.30.) On Afcention day God the Son mounts up to Heaven in glory, Act. 1.9. On weitfunday God the holy Ghoft defcends upon the Apostles. A. 2. 3.4. And his belief in all these fummed up in the celebration of the bleffed Trinity, the Sunday following.

I fhall not over-labour to reduce the Text to the day? Fire and light have fo near affinity that they are scarce ever feparated; The fame Spirit of God who appeared as this day in the fhape of fieric tongues to the difciples may be now pleased by my tongue to manifeft himself to your fouls in light: And as that fire was very lightfome, elfe it could not have been feen in the day-time; fo may this exhibition of light be accompanied with a fire of holy zeal both in my tongue, and your hearts. In my laft Sermon at the Court I gave you the Character of man, I fhall now indeavour to give you Tome touches of the Character of God;

There is nothing in this world fo much concerns a man as to fettle his heart in a right apprehenfion of his God; which muft be the ground of all his piety and devotion; without which all his pretenfes of Religion are fo nothing worth, as that in them, God is made our Idoll, and, we the mif-worshippers of him; without which fhortly, our whole life is mit-fpent in error and ignorance, and ends in a miferable difcomfort: Whence it is that this. de ar difciple makes it the fumm of all the Apoftolicall miffion, which he had from his, Lord and Saviour, to informe the World what to think of God; This then is the meffage which we have heard of him, and declare to you, that God is light. Would ye know the meflage which the Apoftles received from Chrift; would ye know the meffage which they delivered from Christ to the World, it is in thefe three fyllables of my Text. God is light.

It is not poffible that our finite conceit fhould comprehend God. effentially, as he is in himself; No motion of cur weak humanity can thus reach his infinitenefs; our ambition must be only to conceive

of

of him, according to thofe expreffions which he hath made of himfelf; wherein it hath plea'ed his wifdom to condefcend to our which come

fhallow capacity, by borrowing from thole end to our

neareft to his molt pure, fimple, fpirituall nature; Amongst which none is more proper, or more frequent then this of Light; Not only therefore hath it pleafed God to expreffe thofe Heavenly fpirits of his by the title of Angeli lucis, Angels of Light; not only bath the Son of God, God and man juftified himself Lux mundi, the Light of the World, but God abfolutely, and indiftinct y in refpect of perfons vouchfafeth to make himself known to us by this name, That God is Light: Hereupon it is, that even in this fenfe the children of God are called the Sons of Light; because he is Light, whofe Sons they are; But that of the Athanafian Creed is moft pregnant, that the eternal Son of God, God the Son, is God of God; Light of Light: Neither doth our Apoftle here fay, God is refembled by Light; But, as our Saviour faid of God, God is a Spirit, fo here, our Apoftle, God is Light: How then is God Light? Far be it from us that according to the ftupidity of the Manichees, we should take this literally of a fenfible and materiall Light; that is but a creature, though indeed the firft, and exceeding glorious, but yet a creature, and therefore infinitely below the purity and perfection of the Creator; but fure God would have us by this to be led to the conceit of the tranfcendent glory of his incomprehenfible Deity; and would have us when we think of him to be put in mind of admiring an increated, immateriall, fuper-intelligible uprightneffe of a glory, fo much above all fpiritual natures, as the Light is above the bodily and visible; whereupon it is that when the fpirit of God by his Apoftle describes the habitation of God, he doth it in thefe termes that he dwells in a Light that none can approach unto; and when he describes the Heaven of the elect, he calls it, the inheritance of the Saints in Light; fo as when that 6. place of bliffe, and the God whose prefence makes it fuch, come into our thoughts, we muft elevate our thoughts above this dark Coloff. 1. fphere of mortality; and reprefent unto our felves a glorious light- 12. fomneffe, as much above this materiall Light, as Light is above Darkneffe; abandoning that gloomie and bafe opacity of conceit, wherewith our earthly mindes are commonly wont to be overclouded; for furely it is cafie and familiar to obferve, that the

E 2

higher

I Tim.

16.

higher we go, the more Light we fhall find; In the center of the Earth there is nothing but perfect darkneffe; nearer the upper region of that great body where any overture is made; there is a kind of imperfect twilight; In this lower air there is a better Light, but mixed with foggs and Vapors, In the higher regions, there are leffe mifts, and more clearneffe, yet not without fome dimness of exhalations; In the ftarry Heavens, a purer Light, yet not without fome eclipfes; In the empyreall, nothing but pure and perfect Light; juftly therefore are our hearts lift up with our eyes to a contemplation of a Light above thofe Heavens more pure and excellent then theirs. Away then with all dull and darksome imaginations when we addreffe our felves to the throne of Grace; and let us adore an infinite Spirit dwelling in an unacceffible Light, attended with millions of Angels of Light, and glorified fpirits of his Saints in a Light unspeakable and glorious; this fhall be the first glimpse of our inlightned understanding when we would comforta bly appear before God; In which regard I fear many of us Chriftians are much defective in our holy devotions, fpeaking unto God, and thinking of him, fullenly and fadly, as fhut up in fome remote and unknown darkneffe on the other fide of the World, of at least without the lively apprehenfion of that wonderfull radiance of glory wherewith he is invefted; mifconceiving herein of that Deity whom we implore; who hath revealed himself unto us by the name of Light.

And furely, as none but an Eagle can look upon the Light of the Sun; fo none but the confirmed eyes of an illuminated Chriftian can behold God in this notion of his celeftiall fplendor; which we must fo labour to attain unto, and fettle in our minds, as that we should no more think of the bleffed Deity without the con-ccit of an infinite refplendence, then we can open our eyes at noon-day without an incurrence and admiffion of an outward Light.

But this, how ever requifite to be conceived, and done, is not the main drift of our Apoftle; who goes not about here fo much to make any description of God, or prefcription of the wayes of our understanding, or reprefentation of his glorious prefence, as to lay the grounds of our holy difpofition, and pure and Heavenlycarriage before him: For fo is the Light here affirmed of God, as

the

the darkness is difavowed of him; and both of them are mentioned with an intention of drawing in an exhortation to that purity which we should affect and the avoydance of all the ftate and works of fpirituall darkness which we should abhorre. God then is Light, as in himself, fo in relation to us; and this predication of Light ferves to inferre our conformity to God in this behalf: It is not for us therefore to inquire fo much into thofe abfolute termes wherein God ftands with himielf, as what he is in pattern unto us: Thus is he Light, either qualitatively, or caufatively;

The Light hath a quality (for it matters not to fearch into the effence of it, and indeed, it is more then we can do to find it out) of clearneffe, of purity: Of clearnefs for the ufe of manifeftation Of purity, and untaintedness in refpect of any mixture of corruption; In both thefe is God Light. Caufatively in that he is the Authour of all Light; communicating it to his Creatures in what kind foever; not without reference to the diffufive quality of Light in the illuminating of this vaft body, and dilating it felf to all the World in an inftant: In these three regards therefore is God Light here; 1. Of abfolute clearness in his infinite knowledg and wisdom. 2. Of exact purity in the perfect rectitude of his will. 3. Of gracious diffufion, in the communicating of himself to his Creatures, and to us in fpeciall; fo, as to inlighten us with competent knowledg in our understanding, and fincere difpofition of our will and affections; And becaufe God is thus Light, all that will claim to partake of him, must be in their measure, clear in understanding, pure in will and affections, diffufive of their knowledg and graces to others.

Thefe three qualities of clearnefs, purity, diffufion, together with three answerable reflections upon us fhall be the matter of our following difcourfe, and challenge your best attention,

Those things which (whether in nature or art) are wont to pafs for the carriages of Light have in them fometimes, at leaft in refpect of our fight, fome kind of dimnefs and opacity. The candle hath his fnuffe, the fire his fmoke, and blacknefs of indigeftion, the Moon. her spots, the very Sun it felf, his Eclipfes; Neither is it faid that God is lightfome, but light it felf in the abstract, then which nothing can be convinced more clear, and piercing; and

there

therefore it is purpofely added for the further Emphafis, In him is no darkneffe; Oh the infinite clearneffe of the Divine knowledg, to which all things lye open, both paft, prefent, and to come; which doth not only reach in one intuition to all the actions, morions, events of all Creatures that have been, are, fhall be; but which is infinitely more then all thefe, extends to the full comprehenfion of himself, his whole Divine nature and effence; to which the World (though full of innumerable varieties) is leffe then nothing: The Sun is a goodly globe of Light; The vifible World hath nothing fo glorious, fo fearching; and yet there are many things lye hid within the bosome of the Earth and Sea which his eye never faw, never fhall fee; Neither can it ever fee more then half the World at once; darkness the while enwraps the other; nor indeed of any much leffer (if round) body; And though it give light unto other Creatures, yet it gives not light to it felf; like as our eye fees all other objects, but it felf it cannot fee. And though it enlighten this materiall Heaven both above and below it felf, as alfo this lower Air and Earth, yet the Empyreal Heaven tranfcends the beames of it, and is filled with a more glorious illumination: But, God, the Light of whom we fpeak, who is the Maker of that Sun, fees the molt hidden fecrets of Earth and Hell; fees all that is done in Earth and Heaven at one view; fees his moft glorious felf; and by his prefence makes, Heaven. Most juftly therefore is God Light, by an eminence.

Now the reflection of the first quality of Light upon us, must be our clear apprehenfion of God, the World, and our felves; and by how much more exact knowledg we fhall attain unto of all thefe, by fo much more do we conform our felves to that God who is Light: and by how much less we know them, so much more darkness there is in us, and fo much lefs fellowship have we with God; If the eye have not an inward Light in it felf, let the Sun fhine never fo bright upon it, it is nevertheless blind, What are we the better for that which is in God, if there be not an inward Light in our Souls to anfwer and receive it? How fhould we love and adore God if we know him not? How fhall we hate and combat the World, if we know it not? How fhall we value and demean our felves, if we know not our felves? Surely the want of this Light of knowledg is the ground of all that miferable disorder which we fee daily break

forth