resemble his spiritual nature, which the lower creation cannot do; upon that account he is called "the father of fpirits," Heb. xii. 9. Some are placed in a ftate of lefs dependences on their fellow-creatures, than others are. Some make far greater advances in wifdom and knowledge than others; are comparatively "wife as an angel of God;" and therein. may be faid in proportion more to resemble divine wisdom. Earthly princes and rulers, have a much more extenfive power and authority than the body of mankind, and therein are a fhadow of the divine power and fovereignty therefore the Pfalmift fays to fuch, Pfal. Íxxxii. 6, "Ye are Gods, and all of you. the children of the moft High ;" i. e. bear fome resemblance of his power and dominion

And therefore the common diftinction of the divine attributes, into communicable and . incommunicable, feems not to be exactly just... There are, we fee, fome faint refemblances in creatures even of the natural perfections of: God. Indeed neceffity of being, abfolute independence, the knowledge of all things, a prefence every where, almighty power, fu preme dominion, are appropriate to deity, and cannot be communicated to creatures ; for these characters plainly befpeak that most perfect manner, in which thefe excellencies belong to God, and fo they cannot poffibly be. long to any creature. But then there is as much reafon to call the moral perfections of God incommunicable too, i. e. if you join, with the general notion of them, that most perfect manner, in which, they belong to God;

for

17.

for fo he is "the only wife God," 1.Tim. i. "There is none good but one, that is God," Mat. xix. 17. "There is none holy as the Lord," 1 Sam. ii. 2. But if we feparate the most perfect manner of attribution from the general notion of the excellency; it must be confeffed, that creatures may bear fome likeness to God beth in his natural and moral perfections...

Yet ftill it is only a tranfcript of his moral excellencies into the temper of our fouls, that belongs to the new nature, of which the text fpeaks. Mens fpiritual natures alone, though by them they are capable of bearing God's holy image, yet make them capable alfo of fuch a conformity to devils, as the beasts cannot have. Men may have much more inlarg ed capacities and extenfive power than their neighbours, and yet be fo far from partaking of a divine nature, that they are the more oppofite and odious to God, and the greater plagues to the world. While on the other hand, those who are low in natural capacity and acquired indowments, or in very mean outward circumstances, may fhine in that im age of God, which the Gofpel requires.

3. Where a holy difpofition is a real likeness to God, we must ever humbly remember the vaft difproportion between the original and the copy. The image of God is very imperfect in the beft in the prefent ftate, even in comparison of what they themselves will arrive at in a future world. "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all," 1 John i. 5. By which, as the following words lead us

to

to understand the apostle, the thing principal ly intended is, that God is holy without any alloy or mixture of impurity, or any poffibility of it. How far is this from our prefent cafe? While the flesh is in us lufting against the fpirit; while we have not yet attained nor are already perfect in any grace, even to that degree of perfection to which we fhall attain! And even when we fhall be changed into the fame image" from glory to glory," when our refinement shall be after the heavenly measure; there will still be an infinite difproportion between God and the most perfect creature. This is the ground of thofe strong figures, Job iv. 18. "His angels he charged with folly." And ch. xv. 15. "the heavens are not clean in his fight." Not that there is any actual impurity in heaven; but God is holy in a more perfect manner, than any creature is or can be... His perfections are neceffary in him; it is impoffible from the nature of the thing, that they fhould be otherwife : But this cannot be af cribed to creatures; fome angels have fallen, and all the race of mankind; and though, as they are now in heaven, they that are holy fhall be holy ftill, yet this is not from a neceffity of nature, but from the grace of God. And while the divine perfection cannot admit of addition, we have reason to apprehend that the faints in glory will ftill be proceeding to. higher and more complete degrees of conform-ity to God.

4. Thofe perfections of God, to which the divine nature in us bears fome likeness, may in many cafes exprefs themfelves in different in

ftances.

ftances in God and us, according to the different ftate and condition wherein he and we ftand. The general notion of goodness, mercy, juftice, truth, &c. is the fame, when applied to God or to a creature; or else there would be no room for arguing from the one to the other. But as God is most perfectly good and merciful, and just and true, while we are imperfectly fo; fo he difplays thefe perfections by many ways, wherein we cannot pretend to imitate him, as he is infinitely exalted above us :-and he may do many things without impeachment of his perfections, as he is an abfolute fovereign, which will by no. means warrant us to do the like. To inftance in the attribute of juftice. God has a full right and property in all his creatures, and therefore an abfolute authority to govern and difpofe of them in any way he pleafes: They have no rights but what are borrowed from him, and therefore none that can juftly be pleaded a gainst him. He must be juft to himself in maintaining his own unalienable rights: But he may do what he will with his own, as far as his own wifdom and goodnefs will allow, or farther than he has been pleafed to lay himfelf under engagements by promife. Juftice in us requires our strict obfervance of all the rights which God or our fellow-creatures have from us, as he our Lord and lawgiver hath fettled them.

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The fum of all is this: As far as we are in a difpofition to act like God, where we have ailowance and ability to afpire at and exprefs a. conformity,

conformity, fo far we are partakers of a divine nature. I now proceed,

II. To point at fome principal instances, wherein the new nature is a refemblance of God. I fhall not fo much inlarge upon particulars here, as I fhould otherwife do, because most of them will occur again more diftinctly to be confidered, when feveral branches of the chriftian temper come to be treated: of in order.

1. As it is a holy difpofition, it is a con-formity to a holy God. Holinefs comprehends all moral excellencies, and an averfion to all moral evil; and therefore may be confidered as including every particular excel-lence that can be mentioned. It befpeaks a general rectitude of nature, and a feparationfrom moral evil of every kind. The new nature is faid to be "created after God in trueholinefs," Eph. iv. 24. God's holiness is his poffeffion of every moral excellence in the most perfect manner, and so as to be at an infinite diftance from every moral evil, or what can be called fin. No attribute is more frequently afcribed to him in fcripture; and with: peculiar marks of diftinction. "Thou only art holy," Rev. xv. 4. He" cannot be tempted with evil," Jam. i. 13: He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and he cannot look. upon iniquity," Habak. i. 13. i. e.. without difapproving it.. He is "glorious in holinefs," Exod. xv. 13. He reckons it his pe-culiar glory. But though his holiness is fo complete and abfolute in the degree of it, and fo neceffary in the ground of it, that in that

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