THE SIXTH SERMON. EXODVS 3.13, 14, IS. 13 And Mofes faid unto GOD; Behold, when I come unto the Children of Israel, and shall fay unto them; The GOD of your Fathers bath fant mee unto you, and they hall (ay unto me, What is his Name? what shall I Say unto them? 14 And GOD faid unto Mofes, I AM THAT I AM. And bee faid, Thus fhalt thou fay unto the children of Ifrael; I Am bath fent me unto you. M Is And GOD faid moreover unto Mofes, Thus fhalt thou (ay unto the Children of Ifrael; The LORD GOD of your Fa thers,! The fecond thing to be knowne concerning God, What God is. What the Effence of God is. Exed.6.3. thers, the GOD of Abraham, the GOD Ow wee come to this, what Go D But wee will firft fpeake of the 2. By his Attributes. Now the great question is, what this Effence of GOD is. Beloved,wee need more than the tongue of man to declare this to you; yet wee will fhew it to you,as the Scripture reveales it. Now, if we fhould define it, (though it is capable properly of no definition) we would fay, GOD is an incomprehenfible, first,and abfolute Being. These words, in this place,fet out the Effence of GOD most clearely, of any place in Scripture that I know. This is the firft expreffion, whereby GoD did ever fhew himselfe in his Effence. GOD hath before made himfelfe knowne by his All-fufficiencie, Chap.6.3. I appeared to Abraham, to Ifaac and unto Iacob,by the name of God Almightie, but by the name IBNOVAн, was I not knowne unto them. This name IHOVAн was knowne to to Abraham, and Ifaac, and Iacob, as appeares in divers places, but the meaning is,it was not opened to them, they did not understand it: The LORD faith,Gen.17.1. I am the Almightie Go D, Gen17. 1. walke before me,and be thou perfect. You shall finde that Name used on every occafion, by Abraham, by Ifaac, and by Iacob; El-fbaddai, GOD Allfufficient, but not IEHOVAH. The first time that ever God made himselfe knowne by this Name, was here to Mafes; I am that I am. There are two things to be obferved in this expreffion :: The incomprehenfibleneffe of Almighty GOD, as it is ufually faid by us: When wee are asked a thing,that we will not reveale any further, or that wee would not have another to prie any further into, wee fay, It is what it is: fo GOD faith to Mofes, I am what I am. Such a kind of fpeech is also used, to fhew the immutabilitie of a thing:as Pilat faid,what I have written, I have written, I will not change it: So men ufe to fay; I have done what I have done,to fhew the conftancie of a thing,that it fhal not be altered: Therefore, when GoD would fhew the conftancie of his Nature, he addes further, I am, W thout any other word as if hee should say; Mofes, if they enquire of thee what my Name is, tell them only this; He is, hath fent me unto you: as the Septuagint tranflate it,, that is, If I fhould deliver the most expreffing Name,whereby I would be knowne to all Ages, this is that which I will pitch upon, 1 am, or IHOVAH; I What is meant by fuch a form of expreffion, am what I am. which comes from the same root. And if Mofes fhould yet further enquire of his Name, he leads him into a further expreffion: The LORD GOD of your Fathers, the GOD of Abraham, the GOD of Ifaac, and the GoD of Iacob hath sent me unto you; this is my Name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. As if he fhould fay: If yet they cannot understand what this Name is, it is the fame that I was knowne by to Abraham, to Ifaac, and to lacob; what I was to them, the fame will I be to you. I was knowne to them by my Word, and by my workes, and by my miracles, and the fame fhall you find me; it is that God which hath fent me unto you. This is my Name; which words are to be referred, not onely to the latter words, but to the former; I am that I am. The words in the originall are in the future tenfe; yet it is fitly tranflated, I am; for the future tenfe in Hebrew is often put for the prefent tenfe, and the words are put in the future tenfe,to fhew his immutability: which tranflation, Christs words doe warrant; Before Abraham was, I am therefore the Septua gints doe well tranflate it, fignifying no more but hee which is: So that, that which wee are to learne from hence, is this; That I am, or Iehovah, I am that I am, is the proper and effentiall Name of God, (all Divines agree in this, I know none that differ) because it expreffeth him in his ETfence, without any limitation, or modification, Befides, you fhall finde, that this Name is never attributed to any other. The Altar, indeed, was called Fehovah, but the meaning was, to Iehovah; |