The glory of God in the firmament of his power. A sermon preach'd in Boston to the congregation in Brattle-Street, on the Lord's-Day, October 31st. 1742. / By Benjamin Colman, D.D. a Pastor of said Church. ; [Three lines of Latin quotation]

The GLORY of GOD In the FIRMAMENT of his Power.

PSALM CL. 1.

Praise ye the LORD! Praise GOD in his Sanctuary, PRAISE HIM IN THE FIRMAMENT OF HIS POWER.

SO the Book of Psalms ends; so the last of the great Hallelujah * 1.1 begins. The Call to praise GOD is here loud and trebled; as Isaiah and afterwards John the beloved Disciple, saw and heard the Seraphims cry before the Throne three Times,—Holy, holy, holy— ‖ 1.2

The Reason of my bringing you these Words this Morning is, because we have again finished the reading the Book of Psalms to you in our Lord's-Day Morning Exercise: And another Reason is, because the Providence of GOD order us this Afternoon to read to you the Order of the GOVERN∣MENT for a Day of PRAISE TO GOD, our yearly Thanks∣giving-Day.—O might our Days and Years and Life 〈◊〉〈◊〉

and Eternity go on in Acts of Adoration, Thanksgivings and Praises in the highest.

We should be daily praising GOD in our Houses, with our Families and in our Closets; but Praises to GOD must yet be more solemn, public and reverend in the Assemblies of Sion, in the ‖ 1.3 SANCTUARIES of GOD.

And because it is in and by the FIRMAMENT which GOD has spread over and around us, that we behold his eternal Power in his Works and read it in his Word, and live, move and have our Being in GOD; and because we could neither see or hear any Thing of GOD without this Firmament surrounding us; nor could Day and Night, Heat and Cold, Summer or Winter, Seed-Time and Harvest be known to us without it; nor the LORD GOD in his Judgments of Blasting and Mildew, Famine and Pestilences, Lightning and Thunder, Earthquake and Inun∣dation; therefore we are well directed and required in my Text more especially to praise him for this, without which there could be neither Speech, Voice nor Hearing: "Praise Him in the Firmament of his Power.

The Firmament in made for Motion, Sight and Sound, Life and Breathing: "Let every Thing that has Breath praise GOD in it and for it; as is said after my Text. And how could a Book of Psalms for Man on Earth end more properly and comprehensively? Let the Fir∣ment ring and resound with Praises to our GOD and KING! This Universe is his, which our Eyes look thro; Sing ye Praises with Understanding:

Praise him for his mighty Acts, praise him according to his excellent Greatness; praise him on the high sounding Cymbals.

You see, my dear Brethren and Children, whither I am about to lead you! Into what immense Spaces and Circles whither the Eagles Wing or Eye can never reach!— But how shall a feeble Mind, in a Body broken with

Age, bear you away into the Heights above? And down into the Depths below? thro' Systems ten thousand Million Times wider than the Earth, and broader than the Sea! that I may not therefore, lose my self and you in this unsearchable and impassable Tract of Aether, wherein our Sun and Planets, Earth and Moon roll Day and Night, Summer and Winter; and thro' which the fix'd Stars twinkle and close our Sight; I will keep to the sure WORD OF GOD, the BIBLE in my Hand, and from that form my Discourse of the DIVINE POWER in the FIRMAMENT of Heaven, and of the PRAISES due from us to the ALMIGHTY in the Contemplation hereof.

Give me therefore your patient and raised Attention while I, 1. Consider the Firmament as the Work of GOD: 2. The Power of GOD it it: And 3. The Praises we should render him on this Account.

I. I am to show that the Firmament is GOD'S, his Work; his Creation, his Creature; for he made it; it did not expand it self; GOD stretched it out, and holds it in its wondrous Being; with all the mighty Worlds within the vast Circumference. Some of these Globes our Eyes can reach, and Art can measure in an imperfect Manner; and what more and greater are beyond our Sight, we may imagine, but can never know in these mortal Bodies.—But whatever this Space be; which we call Firmament, or whatever Worlds like this Earth of ou be contained in it; Moses has let us know from GOD, that the LORD himself and alone made it, on the second Day, by the Word of his Power; as he did the Light before it, and the Seas and dry Land after it; For so we read, Gen. 1.6. And GOD said, "let there be a Firmament, and GOD called the Firmament Heaven.

The Word which we translate Firmament signifies Extension; and a vast Extension truly is the visible Heaven; that Region of Air which appears to our Eyes as a Covering or Curtain stretched over us; which is the Psalmists humble Representation, in the 104. Psalm.—It is properly divided by us into the lower and upper Region. The lower is out Atmosphere, a Body of grosser Air cleaving to our

Earth as a Garment, and moving with it; in which we breathe and move, the Birds fly and sing, the Vapours rise and fall, the Clouds roll, the Dews and Rains descend, the Lightning and Thunder terrify us: And in the higher Regions of this Atmosphere there are much more terrible Metcors (as the Learned * 1.4 tells us) which it is happy for the Inhabitants of the Earth, that they are at such Distance from them.

The Firmament of Aether rises from the Bound of this our Atmosphere unto the Sun and fixed Stars; † 1.5 an unknown and inconceivable Space; of which David (in∣spired from on High) has taught us to sing, Psalm viii. ••, 4. When I consider thy Heavens, the Work of thy Fingers, the Moon and Stars which thou hast ordained; what is Man that thou art mindful of him? And the Son of Man that thou visitest him? And again Psalm xix. 1,—4. The Heavens declare the Glory of GOD, the Firmament sheweth his handy Work: Day unto Day uttereth Speech, Night unto Night sheweth Knowledge; there is no Speech nor Language where their Voice is not heard; their Line is gone out thro' all the Earth, and their Words to the End of the World.

The Height of these Heavens (says a devout Ex∣positor) may mind us of GOD'S Supremacy; the Purity and Brightness of them of his Holiness and Glory; the Vastness of them of his Immensity, and their Influence of his universal Providence, and infinite Communica∣tions to us.

But it is the POWER of GOD more especially that I am to consider in this Expansion of Aether and Air around us. Wherefore,

II. This POWER of GOD in his FIRMAMENT (which who can understand?) commands now our reverend At∣tention: —But how little a Portion have we heard of it. Job xxvi. 14.

And First, The immeasurable Extent and Comprehension of the Firmament, the Height and Depth, Length and Breadth of it, speaks the infinite Power of GOD: Who with a Word's speaking could spread abroad such an Ex∣panse around so many Spheres and Worlds, which are themselves of vast Dimensions, and yet are all incircled and contain'd therein. Great is our LORD, and of great POWER, his Understanding is infinite, Psal. cxlvii. 5.

When Moses wrote of GOD'S Power in the Sea, he says—"And GOD created great Whales; they being in Bulk the greatest of any moving Creature that hath Life: How much more may we admire the great Power of GOD in the Compass of the Sea it self? And in that of the Firmament, in Comparison whereof the Sea is but as a Hand-Breadth. Psal. civ. 1, 2. O LORD my GOD thou art very great; who stretchest out the Heavens as a Curtain, who coverest thy self with Light as with a Gar∣ment! Job xxvi. 7. He stretcheth out the North over the empty Space; and hangeth the Earth upon nothing. And thus are the Sun, Moon, Planets and every Star hung in their various Distances: heavy Bodies, as they all are, yet they float in Air, and keep their Circles.

Very grand and noble are the Words of Elihu to Job; but according to the * 1.6 old Philosophy of his Day and of

many later Ages; Job xxxvii. 18. Hast thou with him spread out the Sky, which is STRONG and as a Molten Looking-glass. This Simile brings to Mind a fine Thought of the Philosopher Plato;

That GOD made every Part of the Universe with the same Ease and Swiftness, as the Images of the Things are represented by a Looking-glass.

—"He spake and it was done, he commanded and it stood firm.

Secondly, The Power of GOD is glorious in the Con∣sistency and Strength of this Fluid, which is so much rarer than Water, and yet bears about mighty Clouds with vast Burthens of Water in them; which they distill abundantly in the great and small Rai•• of his Strength: And altho' the Fires of GOD break thro' the midst of these Rains with mighty Force and ••••••ar, yet neither is the Atmosphere nor the Cloud it self rent; there being an * 1.7 Elasticity or Spring in the Air which insensibly yeilds to Bodies in their Motion, and yet strongly closes round them and holds them in their Motion; which is the wondrous Power of GOD exerted in it thro' all Spaces; but to us most sensibly (and yet insensibly) in our own Atmosphere, which cleaves to our Earth and moves with it, even as our Skin or Clothes with our Bodies; by which Means we are insensible of the diurnal and annual Motion of our Earth; notwith∣standing the Velocity and Force thereof.—The Pillars of it seem to tremble in the furious stormy Season, and the Atmosphere appears at Times to be rending asunder; but GOD has fastned the Foundations of both alike in his own Power, and they are preserv'd. The fair Weather returns out of the North, and with GOD is terrible Majesty. Job xxxvii. 22. All is calm, and bright, and soft and easy again, tho' but just now the Deep boiled, the Trees rent, and the very Houses seem'd to reel before the great Wind, of God's Strength. Amos v. 8. Seek him that maketh the Stars and Orion, and turneth the Shadow

of Death into the Morning, and makes the Day dark with Night! Who calls for the Waters of the Sea (calls 'em up into the Air by the gentle Beams of the Sun) and then pours 'em out on the Face of the Earth; the LORD is is his Name: He buildeth his Stories in the Heavens (or in the FIRMAMENT) and calls for the Waters of the Sea; the LORD is his Name. Amos ix. 6.

Thirdly, The Power of GOD is seen in this Firmament of Air about us, in that our Life and the Life of all Animals; "Beasts and all Cattle, creeping Things and flying Fowl," is sustained and upheld by this Provision for their common Breath. We and all the Creatures round about us live by Breathing; we breathe in and out the Air, which is therefore truly called the Breath of Life; breathed by GOD (as Moses tells us) into the Nostril of Man in the Day wherein he was created. Gen. ii. 7. And the more easily Life is continued by this constant Respiration, so much the more wonderful is the Power of GOD therein; who does the greatest and most beneficial Things to and for his Creatures with the greatest Ease.—We breathe without the least Pains or Labour, with perfect Ease and Pleasure from Day to Day in a State of Health; without thinking of the Breath we draw. The soft Air is sweet and cool to us, The Breath of the ALMIGHTY which gives us Life, Job xxxiii. 4. i. e. The Power of the ALMIGHTY is in it, together with his Goodness; and when HE gathers to himself the Spirit and the Breath, all Flesh expire.

O the Power and Goodness of GOD to us in that Air we breathe in! It is the Firmament of his Power about us, which holds our Souls in Life; for Breath and Spirit stay and go together; Psal. civ. 29. Thou takest away their Breath, they die and return to their Dust. cxlvi. 4. His Breath goes forth, he returns to his Earth.

Fourthly, The Firmament is the great Power of GOD, in respect of the easy and mighty Motion that Bodies have therein; the greater and the less, higher or heavier, animate or inanimate.

1. MAN moves upon the Ground with Ease and Safety, and so the Creatures put under his Feet, by reason of the Equilibrium or Balance in the Air, without which he and they would fall and be crush'd to Pieces every Step they take.— So 'tis that GOD girds us with Strength and makes our Way perfect, as we read in the xviii. Psalm: He makes our Feel like Hinds Feet, and hold us in our high Places: The Sailors climb the tall Masts and run upon the Ropes; the Builders on the Tops of Houses and on the naked Rafters, and are safe; Also he teaches our Hands to War, and a Bow of Steel is broken by our Arms; his Gentleness makes us great and his right Hand holds us up; he enlarges our Steps under us, and our Feet do not slip. It is all owing to the Force and Compression of the Elastic Air aroung us, which is the Power of GOD in his Firma∣ment.—The slow Ox treads firm by Reason of this, while it draws the Plough or Cart; the swift Race-Horse treads strong and sure as he seems to fly thro' the Air: The Deer, Hare and Hound alike owe their Speed to this; and so do the Birds on their Wing, even all the Fowl of Heaven; and none more than the strong Hawk and the Eagle.

2. In this Firmament of God's Power the Vapours and Clouds have their Motions; the Dews also and the Rains; "The small and great Rains of GOD's Strength"; his Treasures of Snow and Hail, his Lightnings and Thunders; his Tempest and Whirlwind which takes us as Stubble; the LORD has his Way in it.

The Thunder of his Power who can understand? And who is not at Times struck into a sacred Astonishment at it? When the Fire of his Lightning sometimes strikes and melts a Cannon in a Moment of Time! At this (as Elihu speaks)

Our Hearts may well tremble and be moved out of their Place!

hear attentively the Noise

of his Voice, and the Sound that goeth out of his Mouth! He directs it under the whole Heaven, and his Lightning to the Ends of the Earth! He thunders marvelously, with the Voice of his Excellency. Job xxxvii.

Thus was the Power of GOD seen and felt in the Fire and Brimstone which he rained from Heaven on Sodom;

and so in the Fire and Hail that poured down and ran along the Ground in the Day of Egypt.

3. Again, How terrible does the Firmament of GOD's Power appear to us in Storms at Sea, which toss up the Wa∣ters to the Sky! Or in Storms at Land, which blow down our Houses! As in the Day of the Sons and Daughters of Job, when met to rejoice together in the Bounties of their GOD. — How dreadful looks the Power of GOD in our Air in those Descriptions which He himself has given us of it! Psalm xviii. 8,—16.

There went up a Smoke out of his Nostrils, and Fire out of his Mouth devoured; Coals were kindled — it! He bowed the Heavens also and came down and Darkness was under his Feet! He rode upon a Che∣rub and did fly, yea he flow upon the Wings of the Wind! He made Darkness his secret Place, his Pavilion round about him were dark Waters and thick Clouds of the Sky! At the Brightness that was before him his thick Clouds passed; Hail-Stones and Coals of Fire! Then the Chan∣nels of the Waters were seen, and the Foundations of the World were discovered! At thy Rebuke O LORD, at the Blast of the Breath of thy Nostrils! And Psalm xcvii. 4, 5, 6. His Lightnings enlighten the World, the Earth sees and trembles! the Hills melt like Wax at the Presence of the LORD! the Heavens declare his Righteousness, and all the People see his Glory!

4. In this Firmament of Power there are other Fires, which GOD kindles and consumes us by: pestilential Vapours float in our Air, which we breathe in, and they kindle Flames with∣in us, which burn us to Death: — Drought, Blasting and Mildew also come from too much Heat or Cold, Dryness or Moisture in the Air, to famish us and the Creatures about us, as it pleases GOD to order it: These are the Power of GOD in judging a People for their Sins.

5. Out of this WOMB also comes the Frost and Ice, which sealeth up the Hand of every Man: The Waters are as it were changed into Stone, and who can stand before GOD's Cold? Job. xxxviii. 33. Canst thou loose these Bands of Orion? Canst thou set the Dominion of them in the Earth? Read the Power of GOD in his Firmament in the Vial of his Wrath; Rev. xvi. 17,—21.

And the seventh Angel poured out

his Vial into the Air, — and there were Voices and Thunders and Lightnings, and a great Earthquake! And great Babylon came into Remembrance before GOD, to give her the Cup of the Wine of the Fierce∣ness of his Wrath! And every Island fled away, and the Mountains were not found; and there fell upon Men a great Hail out of Heaven, every Stone about the Weight of a Talent; and Men blasphemed GOD because of the Plague of the Hail; for the Plague thereof was exceeding great.

— What a terrifying Power is this Vengeance of GOD in these lower Regions of our 〈◊〉〈◊〉? from the Commotion and Rage of Winds and Vapours! — And yet I must ascend

6. Into the higher Regions of the Firmament, to and above the Moon and Planets in their regular and certain Courses, fulfilling their Years about the Sun in Circles proper to themselves, as our Earth observes its own! And to the Comets if we could, every now and then showing themselves unto us with their Blaze, in Courses which we know little or nothing of! — What mighty Bodies are these, and how mighty Motions! for Swift∣ness, Constancy, Order and Use! And how powerful the Gravitation, Attraction, * 1.8 Magnetism, or what shall we call their unknown mutual Influence on each other! which we have abundant Reason to believe, but can ne∣ver explain. — These Motions of the Celestial Orbs, and of our Earth in Harmony and Union with them, are the proper Music of the Spheres, (no Doubt the very Meaning of these Words in ancient Poets or Philosophers) and it is the great Power of GOD.

So I have lost my self in leading you through the Fir∣mament of GOD's Power, — and now that it may be wholly to the Glory of his GREAT NAME, and to the spiritual eternal Good of our Souls; I pass on in the third and last Place, to say

III. How GOD is to be PRAISED BY US in and for this his Power and Glory in the Firmament.

And if it were not such as it is, and there were not such an Excellency of Power in it; we could not move our Tongue, nor open a Lip to praise Him! We could not form the least Word we speak or Note we sing in his Sanctuary! It is because we have such an Air to breathe in, that we can lift our Voice on high, and make one Sound together, in the Praises of our GOD. — The Air is made for Sound; and to be sure therefore first of all to make the high PRAISES of GOD to be heard among us and from us.

1. The Work it self praises GOD; speaks his Eter∣nal Power and GODHEAD, and shows his excellent Great∣ness. Without it, none of the Works of GOD could be beheld by us; for it is made for a Medium of Vision, for the Passage of Light to our Eyes; and so Day after Day utters this Speech, calling on us to

awake up our Glory and not be silent. The Firmament sheweth his handy-Work,

(the daily Operations of his Hand) and new Matter of Praise breaks in upon us every Morning and passes before us every Moment. — We call in the Assistance of our Glasses, the wondrous Teliescope, and through mighty Distances espy new Worlds, which give us new Calls to adore and lift up our Voices in new Songs; Psal. cxlviii. 3, 4, 5. Praise ye Him Sun and Moon, praise him all ye Stars of Light! Praise Him ye Heaven of Heavens, and ye Waters that be above the Hea∣vers! For he commanded and they were created; he hath also established them for ever and ever, by a Decree which shall not pass.

2. The dumb Creatures praise GOD in their Manner, for the Firmament which they breathe and feed in. "The wild Ass snuffeth up the hind at large! Who has sent

him out free? Who has loosed his Bonds, and made the Wilderness his House, the barren Land his chosen Dwel∣ling? Job xxxix. GOD takes the Praise of it to Him∣self! A Praise which stupid Man would scarce have thought of.

He scorneth the Multitude of the City, nor regards the Crying of the Driver: The Range of the Mountains is his Pasture, and he searcheth after every green Thing.

He feeds upon a thousand pleasant Hills and rich Meadows; while in his Eyes the curious Botanist is poring dully, tho' in ours wisely and diligently, into the Root and Stalk, Leaf and Flower of every Vegeta∣ble and all their Virtues; that he may render to his GOD the Praises of them all.

But leaving the wild Ass to range on, let us look at home, on the generous Horse at our Door. It is the Firmament of GOD's POWER that has given the

Horse his Strength, and clothed his Neck with Thunder: The Glory of his Nostrils is terrible! He paws in the Val∣ley, and mocks at Fear, nor turns back from the Sword: He swallows the Ground with Fierceness and Rage, smells the Battle afar off, and answers to the shouting and Thunder of the Captains.

Job. xxxix. 24, 25.

So the "Hawk flies by the Wisdom of GOD, who has prepared the Air for its strong Wings, which she stretcheth to the North and South; as if the whole Fir∣mament were her own. The Eagle also mounts up, and makes her Nest on high. GOD displays the Power of his Firmament in these Instances, ver. 26, 27. — And in the two next Chapters the LORD magnifies to Man, for his Abasement before Him, his Behemoth on the Land, and his Leviathan in the Sea; which are among the chief of his Ways; for the one trusts that he can drink up the Rivers, and the other spouts up the Seas against the Skies. — Nor is there a strong Beast on Land, or Fish in Water, that could stretch a Synew or a Fin, if the Ele∣ment of Air did not cleave around and compress our Terraqueous Globe. * 1.9

So has GOD spoken to Man once out of the Whirl∣wind, and demanded the Praises of his inferior Creatures; and he has it: Psalm cxlviii. 7, 8, 9. Praise the LORD from the Earth, ye Dragons and all Deeps, Mountains and all Hills, fruitful Trees and all Cedars, Beasts and all Cat∣tle, creeping Things and flying Fowl.

3. But MAN, MAN — he is the Creature here be∣low, form'd for giving Praise to GOD. Man's Mind and Eye and Ear, his Mouth and Breath, his Tongue and Lips, his Hand and Knee, are made for Worship and Adoration, Praise and Thanksgiving.—His Eye fees thro' the Universe, his Mind should contemplate every Divine Perfection in all he sees Mind and he should awake up his Glory, his Tongue, to give Praise and not be silent. His Hands also (says my Context) are made to praise upon the Psaltery and Harp, the stringed Instruments and Or∣gans: His Feet also in the Dance of old, as the King of Israel before the Ark of the LORD. — Man's Body is made to stand and bow, kneel and lie prostrate before the THRONE. We have Eyes and Hands and Voice to lift up, with our Hearts, unto GOD in the Heavens.— And for our Sakes, Angels too are represented as having Tongues and Voices, and have been heard giving Glory to GOD on High. They pass swiftly also from World to World when GOD sends them, as he did Gabriel down to Daniel. The Dream of Jacob was a true Vision, the Ladder which he saw from Earth to Heaven, and the Angels of GOD upon it, descending and ascending. Yea they run and return through the Firmament as a Flash of Light, and are all the while praising GOD:

They rest not Day or Night from giving Glory and Honour and Thanks unto Him that sitteth on the Throne, and liveth for ever and ever.

To shut up all, the THRONE OF THE MOST HIGH is represented to us as above the Firmament. There is

his holy Habitation, his holy Dwelling-place; from whence he looks down on us, "his Eyes behold the Children of Men. And thither we lift up our Hearts, Eyes, Hands and Voice, to praise, extol and honour the King of Hea∣ven. — There too is the high Throne of the ONE ME∣DIATOR between GOD and Man, JESUS CHRIST; in the Glory of the ONLY-BEGOTTEN OF THE FATHER. Read the Vision, Ezek. i. 26, 27, 28.

And above the Firmament was the likeness of a Throne of Sapphire-Stone, and the Appearance of the likeness of a MAN upon it; with a Brightness round about, as the Ap∣pearance of the Bow that is in the Cloud in the Day of Rain.

— The Vision which Ezekiel had, and re∣lates through that Chapter, is I think best explained by the FIRMAMENT in its sensible and literal Glory: He saw the many mighty Wheels (or rather Orbs and Globes) therein rolling on their four Sides; and rolling on, with∣out returning (or any retrograde Motion) under the POWER of the Ever-living ETERNAL SPIRIT! Their Rings are high and dreadful and full of Eyes; the Perfection of Wis∣dom and Knowledge gives 'em their Course and Force; and away they go whithersoever the living SPIRIT com∣mands them; for the Spirit of Life is in the Wheels; i. e. directs and sustains the Globes of the Universe in all their Circles.

Would you then, my Hearers, before your bodily Eyes are closed in Death, look up for a Vision of the Glory of CHRIST your Redeemer, to see all POWER in Hea∣ven and Earth committed to Him! Would you wish to see his Imperial Seat already, before he comes in the Glory of the FATHER, in the Clouds of Heaven at the last Day? Look up then, with an Eye of Faith, into the open Firmament, and see your SAVIOUR in every shining Orb on high! HE it is that liveth and was dead, and is alive for evermore; and has all these Systems in his Hand and under his Feet! HE who in the Beginning was the WORD, was with GOD, and was GOD, and without Him was not any Thing made; nor is there any Thing yet upheld and guided in the perpetual Motions which we every where behold, without Him: In HIM Life was and is, and the Life is the Light of Men; and the Light shineth in Darkness, and the Darkness compre∣hendeth

it not; save by Divine Revelation to us, and Illu∣mination in us. John. i. 1,—5.

You would not have forgiven me, my Christian Bre∣thren, if I had preach'd to you from any of the Works of GOD, and not led you to JESUS. Glory was given Him in the highest, when He came down from Heaven to Earth, GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH! And when he ascended on high, far above all Heavens, GOD went up with a Shout; the LORD with the Sound of the Trum∣pet! sing Praises to GOD, sing Praises. — And the Day is coming, (the dreadful Day to the wicked, unbelieving, disobedient and impenitent; but the glad and triumphant Day to the Saints of the MOST HIGH) when our Fir∣mament shall be in a Blaze of Glory, on the second Com∣ing of the LORD! When

behold He cometh in Clouds, and every Eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him, and shall wail because of Him! The LORD Himself shall then descend with a Shout, with the Voice of the Arch-Angel and the Trump of GOD; and those that remain alive shall be caught up to meet the LORD in the Air; the Dead shall hear the Voice of the SON OF GOD and live.

— O with what a Blaze of Glory (I say again) will our Firmament then be filled, when all that have liv'd or shall yet live on our Earth shall see the great white THRONE, and HIM that sits on it, from whose Face the Earth and Heaven will appear to flee away; and the dead, small and great, shall stand before Him, and the Books be opened, and all be judged by the Book of Conscience and of Scripture!—O what a new Scene will it be, both to the Godly and to the Wicked, awaking from their long Sleep in the Dust with their restored Eyes of Flesh, in spiritual Bodies, to see their SAVIOUR and JUDGE enthroned, and ten thousand Times ten thousand shining Angels filling the Firmament! What a Firmament of POWER will it then appear!

And they that are wise shall shine as the Brightness of it, and they that turn others to Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever.

— But at these Words Daniel was bid to finish, and seal the Book till the Time come. The Day will reveal it self, but no Words can represent what it will be.

Yet if your Patience can admit of it, I will add three or four Words of further devout Address to the pure Minds of the religious, and to the evil Consciences of Sinners, from Things seen and felt already by us.

And first, you see (my Brethren) that the Firmament is a sacred open Book of GOD, wherein we should be daily reading the Glories and Perfections of the eternal GODHEAD; that we may in a Measure become Christian Philosophers, and the more devout Worshippers.

SPACE is so mysterious and inexplicable a Thing in Nature, that Men of Genius and Philosophy have been ready to deify it and say it is GOD himself * 1.10, because im∣mense and never to be searched out. But for the same Reason every Thing about us might be deify'd; as many of the least and lowest have been, as well as the Hosts of Heaven, by the brutish Sons of Men. The most simple Idea of SPACE seems the true and most intelligible, that it is the open Volume of Nature, in which we should early begin to read the Name of GOD, and read on in it as long as we live, and more and more adore Him in his INCOMPREHENSIBLENESS.

After all the Revelation that GOD had made of HIM∣SELF unto Job and his pious Friends; after all the Work of GOD wrought in them, and their Life of Com∣munion with Him; yet at last he led them together into his Firmament, as the high School for their further Im∣provement. GOD spake to them out of the Whirlwind, concerning his POWER and sovereign Dominion, and they fell adoring in Silence and Self-abhorrence;

Now my Eye seeth THEE, wherefore I abhor my self, and repent in Dust and Ashes.

Your Bibles, my dear Hearers; and the SPIRIT OF GOD within you, you Children of the MOST HIGH; di∣rect and teach you to be daily reading through the vast

Roll of Nature, written within and without, the Glories of the DIVINE MAJESTY.

Never think therefore that your Ministers wander from the WORD and SPIRIT of GOD in their preaching to you, nor from the Work of Grace within you, but are wisely serving it, while they show you the Praises of GOD, which his visible Works demand from you.

HE who spake on Earth, so as never Man did, spake also of HIMSELF and of the FATHER by the Pen of Solomon, to the Church of his First-Born in all Times to come, Prov. viii. 27.

When he prepared the Heavens I was there;

when he set a Compass on the Face of the Deep! When he established the Clouds above, and gave to the Sea his Decree.

You see here, that the Firmament is the Book and School of JESUS CHRIST, and he sends us to it to learn respecting himself; and to Him, who is ascended above all Heavens, we must be looking thro' it.

Secondly, While GOD continues us in these animal dying Bodies, we must devoutly consider GOD's Firma∣ment as the great MEDIUM and Instrument of his con∣veying to our World (and to what other Worlds we know not, but have Reason to think the same re∣specting many others) his immense Benefits and Bounties of a temporal and earthly Kind, for the Preservation of our Lives, and for our daily and yearly Supplies with all the Necessaries and Comforts of them. For in vain had Land and Sea been made without a Firmament; for there could have been neither ploughing or sailing without it; nor Business, Food, Health, Strength and Pleasure; no Seed-time or Harvest, Day or Night, Summer or Winter; no Grass for the Cattle nor Herb for Man; no Smell or Taste or Appetite for Corn, Wine and Oil: in as much as the whole Sustenance of every sensitive Creature depends upon this potent and beneficent Firma∣ment; by which GOD holds our Soul in Life; by which also he judges the People: For (as has been said before) neither could there be sultry Heat or chilling Cold, stag∣nating Calms or furious Storms, Pestilence and Famine,

Whirlwinds or Earthquakes; no present Good or Evil come to us, without a Firmament surrounding us. Let Elihu first, and then David teach us how to adore and give Glory to GOD for this perpetual Profusion of Be∣neficence to so many Worlds besides ours. Job xxxvi. 24,—33. "Remember that thou magnify his Work which Men behold! Every Man may see it, Men may behold it afar off! Behold GOD is great and we know him not; neither can the Number of his Years be searched out! For he maketh small the Drops of Water, they pour down Rain according to the Vapour thereof; which the Clouds do drop and distill upon Man abundantly! Also who can understand the Spreadings of the Clouds, or the Noise of his Tabernacle? Behold he spreadeth his Light upon it, it covers (reaches down to) the Bottom of the Sea! By the Clouds also he judgeth the People, and by them he gives Meat in Abun∣dance; &c. Psal. lxviii. ulz. "Sing unto GOD, ye Kingdoms of the Earth, O sing Praises to the LORD, Selah! To HIM that rideth upon the Heavens of Heavens which were of old! Lo he doth send forth his Voice, and that a mighty Voice! Ascribe ye STRENGTH unto GOD; his Excellency is over Israel, and his Strength is in the Clouds! O GOD, thou art terrible out of thy holy Places; the GOD of Israel is he who giveth Strength and Power to his People! blessed be GOD.

Thirdly, Let what has been said of the visible Firma∣ment lead us into the Contemplation of GOD's spiritual Kingdom, both of Grace and Judgment, visible and in∣visible, present and future.

The Word and SPIRIT of GOD will justify us in this Transition; For 1. The visible spiritual Kingdom of Grace, in the Church of GOD on Earth, is repre∣sented to us by a glorious Firmament of Power and Mercy. And 2. As to the invisible World, if Hell be without a Firmament, a Firmament of Glory will be found in Heaven.

First then, the visible Kingdom of Grace, in the Church of GOD on Earth, is represented to us by a glorious Fir∣mament of Power and Mercy. This has been in part shown before, but I have yet to add.

CHRIST in his Person, Offices and Benefits is in the holy Scriptures declared to be the Light of the World, the Sun of Righteousness, arising over Souls with Healing under the Rays.

Then if we go on to contemplate the Church of the Sanctified, she is represented by a Woman cloathed with the Sun, with the Moon and Stars under her Feet, and on her Head a Crown of twelve Stars. Revel. xii. 1.

And if we go on to consider them that minister to the Heirs of Salvation, Angels or Men; there is a Ladder for the one from Heaven to Earth, whereon they descend unto and return from the Sons of Men; or they have Wings to fly down swiftly: — And as for the other, Men whom GOD has set in his Church from the Begin∣ning, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers, — these are STARS in the right Hand of CHRIST: Revel. i.

Or if we go on to speak of the WORD they preach, it is as a Light that shineth in a dark Place: or if we speak of the Gifts and Graces of the SPIRIT in 'em, or exercis'd in their Ministry, these render 'em so many burning and shining Lights to and in the Churches to whom they minister: And finally, the Work of Grace begun and increasing in the Soul of every private Christian, and exhibited in their holy Life and Conversation, makes them LIGHT IN THE LORD; holding forth the Power and Efficacy of the Word of Life, and making them shine as Lights in the World; in Family-Order, in Church-Order, in Sabbath-Sanctification which belongs to both; and this "Path of the Just shines on unto the perfect Day.

On these Accounts it is that the SPIRIT says unto the Churches, "Arise, shine, for thy Light is come, and the Glory of the LORD is risen upon thee! and the Na∣tions shall come to thy Light, and Kings to the Brightness of thy Rising. — And this is the Firmament of Glory in the visible Church on Earth; "wherein with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the LORD, Souls

are changed from Glory to Glory by the SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

Secondly, Let us now look into the future ETERNAL WORLD, and see what we find in Scripture, or in the Nature of the Things revealed, of a FIRMAMENT therein.

O what will Heaven and what Hell be hereafter, to saved or damned Souls! in what Aether of Light or Cavern of Smoke and Gloom shall we be, when we must breathe in this Air no longer! — As the contemplative, learn∣ed, philosophical Mr. NORRIS, a Master among us of the Ideal World, while with us here below, * 1.11 sang to himself of dying and departing hence, —

It must be done my Soul, but 'tis a strange, A dismal and mysterious Change, When thou shalt leave this Tenement of Clay, And to an unknown Somewhere wing away; When Time shall be Eternity, and thou Shall be thou know'st not what, and live thou know'st not how! Amazing State, no Wonder that we dread To think of Death, or view the Dead.

1. The Power, Wrath and Vengeance of GOD will cast and drive away the Ungodly, the Impenitently Wicked into some Void or Chaos, some dark and dismal desolate Space, "never more to see Light! Some Cave of Hor∣ror, and Blackness of Darkness, some bottomless Pit! as in the Bowels of this Earth of ours, no more to see the Sun Moon or Stars; which the contemplative Mind has here it may be view'd with a raised Pleasure and some transient Elevations of Devotion! but now no more to return to one Gleam of the desired Light, nor

to see Man any more with the INHABITANTS of the World ‖ 1.12! and least of all in worshiping Assemblies.

O the dire Remembrance then of a past Day of Grace, and past Means of Salvation, and despised Sabbaths! O dire abiding Sense of a lost Heaven of Light and Glory, and returning Thoughts of Others in the Bosom of Abra∣ham! A Dives in this Torment may well be represented (Luk. xvi. 24.) as raising a Shriek loud enough to pierce through many of our Firmaments; even to reach the Ears of the Blessed in their caelestial Rest: But not one Drop of Mercy from those Heavens of Love for Souls in the Gulph below.

O Sinner think in Time, what Kind of Firmament the Lake of Fire, the second Death can admit of! where the Smoke of the Torment ascendeth for ever! — We know that if a City or Town be on Fire here, and the Flames prevail but through a few Streets together, the very Fir∣mament over us disappears! The Sun it self is darkned, and the Moon turns into Blood; the Stars seem to go out or fall, and the Powers of Heaven to shake! the Skies seem to dissolve, and the Elements to melt with fer∣vent Heat * 1.13. Much less can the Oven or Pit of Flames below afford a Firmament to the Spirits there shut up! Tophet is ordained of old for King and Subject it is pre∣pared: GOD has made it deep and large! the Pile thereof is Fire and much Wood; the Breath of the LORD like a Stream of Brimstone kindles it. Isai. xxx. ult. — But on the contrary,

2. GOD has revealed to us a Celestial and everlasting FIRMAMENT of Glory and Blessedness for the Righteous; for renewed, penitent, believing and obedient Sinners; purified by his Grace to see his Face in Light unap∣prochable: Matth. v. 8.

The new Heavens and the new Earth, which we read of Revel. xxi. give us a new Idea of a World without

Sea; and consequently without a Cloud or Vapour to ob∣scure and darken it, or any turbulent Air or Wind to agi∣tate it; for, whence should there a Vapour, Cloud or Wind arise where there is no Sea? — And if this be good Philosophy, no Wonder that the next Emblem of the caeles∣tial State is, "a holy City, New-Jerusalem, descending from GOD, with his Glory on it; its Walls of Jasper, its Gates Pearls, its Streets Gold, all transparent! What Firmament now can this City of GOD admit of? There can be no Need of any Sun or Moon to shine on it;

for the Glory of GOD doth lighten it, and the LAMB is the Light thereof! and the Saved of all Nations walk in his Light! The LORD GOD giveth them LIGHT, and they reign for ever and ever.

The Sun of Righteousness is fix'd there in a perpetual Meridian. No Rainbow is there about the THRONE, for that would suppose an Hour of Cloud and Rain.

So GOD is Light, and with Him is no Darkness at all. All is Light unapprochable and full of Glory; which Eye has not seen, nor Ear heard, nor can it enter into Man's Heart to conceive of.

We may however by Faith, in Contemplation,

en∣ter within the Vail, whither JESUS is for us entred by his own Blood, if we believe in Him, and see HIM that is Invisible,

as Moses did; and then pray on with him the more earnestly, the more we see and know, "I beseech Thee to shew me thy Glory * 1.14.—His Back-parts are shewn us already in the FIRMAMENT that now is; and yet far more in the written and preached WORD; unto which we do well to take Heed, as unto a Light that shineth in a dark Place, 'till the Day dawn, and the Day-Star arise in our Hearts; the Fore-runner of perfect Day.

FINIS.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The five last Psalms are so called.
• ‖ 1.2

  Isa. vi. Rev. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• ‖ 1.3

  In Caelo, procul dubio; says Calvin, in the Celestial Sanctuary, Bp. Patrick.
• * 1.4

  Probably that extraordinary Phaenominon, or Stream and Explosion of Fire, seen and heard by so many Towns lately in Connecticut for near a hundred Miles Length, on the 24th of November; was one of these Meteors of the upper Region, whereof Mr. Whiston I remember says,—"That if they should descend into our Atmosphere they would de∣story whole Provinces together.
• † 1.5

  Aether is that subtle Matter or Medium, much finer and rarer than Air, which commencing from the Limits of our Atmosphere, possesses the whole heavenly Space.— The Learned cannot conceive the largest Part of the Creation should be perfectly void and therefore fill it with a Species of Matter under this Denomination of Aether, or Aethereal.
• * 1.6

  The ancient Philosophers fancied the Heavens to be a solid Body and that the Stars were fastned therein; and this was perhaps the Notion that Elihu had thereof; the seventy Inter∣preters accordingly translate the Hebrew Word, the Firm or Solid. Mons. Saurin p. 3.—"Yet many of the Ancients al∣lowed with the Moderns that the Firmament is a fluid Body; tho' they that gave it the Denomination of Firmament, must doubtless have taken it for a solid One. Chambers Cycloped.
• * 1.7

  The Elasticity of the Air is the Force wherewith it dilates it self, upon the Removal of that which Compresses it, re∣turning to its former Degree of Expansion: Whence it follows that it is equal to the Weight of the whole incum∣bent Atmosphere. Chambers.
• * 1.8

  The Attraction of Gravity, found in all Bodies, in Proportion to the Quantities of Matter, and the Squares of their Distances, is the Power whereby the Planets, primary and secondary, as well as the Comets, we suppose, are retained in their Orbits: Thus with utmost Ease, by the Wisdom and Power of GOD, each heavenly Body performs all its great Motion: And without such a Principle (given by GOD) our new Philosophy teaches us that Motion had never been, and would soon perish.
• * 1.9

  "The Compression of the Air, by its own Weight, is exceeding great▪ As 1. is to 13000 (says our new Philosophy) so is the common Air we breathe and move in compressed by the Weight of the super-in∣cumbent Atmosphere; which is computed to be 17 French Leagues in Height.
• * 1.10

  See the first of Dr. WATTS's Philosophical Essays; a fair Enquiry concerning SPACE, whether it be some∣thing or nothing, GOD or a Creature.
• * 1.11

  Norris his Miscellanies. p. 24. 3. Edit.
• ‖ 1.12

  Isai. xxxviii. 15. Iterum{que} ad tarda reverti Corpora; quae Lucis miseris tam dira Cupido!
• * 1.13

  Matth. xxiv. 29. 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12.
• * 1.14

  Exod. xxxiii. 18. 2 Pet. 1. 19.