authority of God; for as God hath no member properly, though he be
so represented to us, so he hath properly no throne. It signifies his
power of reigning and judging. A throne is proper to royalty, the seat
of majesty in its excellency, and the place where the deepest respect
and homage of subjects is paid, and their petitions presented. That the
throne of God is in the heavens, that there he sits as Sovereign, is
the opinion of all that acknowledge a God; when they stand in need of
his authority to assist them, their eyes are lifted up, and their heads
stretched out to heaven; so his Son Christ prayed; he “lifted up his
eyes to heaven,” as the place where his Father sat {b361} in majesty,
as the most adorable object (John xvii. 1). Heaven hath the title of
his “throne,” as the earth hath that of his “footstool” (Isa. lxvi. 1).
And, therefore, heaven is sometimes put for the authority of God (Dan.
iv. 26). “After that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule,”
_i. e._ that God, who hath his throne in the heavens, orders earthly
princes and sceptres as he pleases, and rules over the kingdoms of the
world. His throne in the heavens notes, 1. The glory of his dominion.
The heavens are the most stately and comely pieces of the creation. His
majesty is there most visible, his glory most splendid (Ps. xix. 1).
The heavens speak out with a full mouth his glory. It is therefore
called “the habitation” of his “holiness and of his glory” (Isa. lxiii.
15). There is the greater glister and brightness of his glory. The
whole earth, indeed, is full of his glory, full of the beams of it;
the heaven is full of the body of it; as the rays of the sun reach
the earth, but the full glory of it is in the firmament. In heaven
his dominion is more acknowledged by the angels standing at his beck,
and by their readiness and swiftness obeying his commands, going and
returning as a flash of lightning (Ezek. i. 14). His throne may well be
said to be in the heavens, since his dominion is not disputed there by
the angels that attend him, as it is on earth by the rebels that arm
themselves against him. 2. The supremacy of his empire. The heavens are
the loftiest part of the creation, and the only fit palace for him; it
is in the heavens his majesty and dignity are so sublime, that they are
elevated above all earthly empires. 3. Peculiarity of this dominion. He
rules in the heavens alone. There is some shadow of empire in the world.
Royalty is communicated to men as his substitutes. He hath disposed a
vicarious dominion to men in his footstool, the earth; he gives them
some share in his authority; and, therefore, the title of his name (Ps.
lxxxii. 6): “I have said, ye are gods;” but in heaven he reigns alone
without any substitutes; his throne is there. He gives out his orders
to the angels himself; the marks of his immediate sovereignty are there
most visible. He hath no vicars‑general of that empire. His authority
is not delegated to any creature; he rules the blessed spirits by
himself; but he rules men that are on his footstool by others of the
same kind, men of their own nature. 4. The vastness of his empire. The
earth is but a spot to the heavens; what is England in a map to the
whole earth, but a spot you may cover with your finger? much less must
the whole earth be to the extended heavens; it is but a little point or
atom to what is visible; the sun is vastly bigger than it, and several
stars are supposed to be of a greater bulk than the earth; and how many,
and what heavens are beyond, the ignorance of man cannot understand. If
the “throne” of God be there, it is a larger circuit he rules in than
can well be conceived. You cannot conceive the many millions of little
particles there are in the earth; and if all put together be but as
one point to that place where the throne of God is seated, how vast
must his empire be! He rules there over the angels, which “excel in
strength” those “hosts” of his “which do his pleasure,” in comparison
of whom all the men in the world, and the power of the greatest
potentates, is no more than the strength {b362} of an ant or fly;
multitudes of them encircle his throne, and listen to his orders
without roving, and execute them without disputing. And since his
throne is in the heavens, it will follow, that all things under the
heaven are parts of his dominion; his throne being in the highest
place, the inferior things of earth cannot but be subject to him; and
it necessarily includes his influence on all things below: because the
heavens are the cause of all the motion in the world, the immediate
thing the earth doth naturally address to for corn, wine, and oil,
above which there is no superior but the Lord (Hos. ii. 21, 22):
“The earth hears the corn, wine, and oil; the heavens hear the earth,
and the Lord hears the heavens.” 5. The easiness of managing this
government. His throne being placed on high, he cannot but behold all
things that are done below; the height of a place gives advantage to
a pure and clear eye to behold things below it. Had the sun an eye,
nothing could be done in the open air out of its ken. The “throne” of
God being in heaven, he easily looks from thence upon all the children
of men (Ps. xiv. 2): “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there were any that did understand.” He
looks not down from heaven as if he were in regard of his presence
confined there: but he looks down majestically, and by way of authority,
not as the look of a bare spectator, but the look of a governor, to
pass a sentence upon them as a judge. His being in the heavens renders
him capable of doing “whatsoever he pleases” (Ps. cxv. 3). His “throne”
being there, he can by a word, in stopping the motions of the heavens,
turn the whole earth into confusion. In this respect, it is said, “He
rides upon the heaven in thy help” (Deut. xxxiii. 26); discharges his
thunders upon men, and makes the influences of it serve his people’s
interest. By one turn of a cock, as you see in grottoes, he can cause
streams from several parts of the heavens to refresh, or ruin the world.
6. Duration of it. The heavens are incorruptible; his throne is placed
there in an incorruptible state. Earthly empires have their decays and
dissolutions. The throne of God outlives the dissolution of the world.
_His kingdom rules over all._――He hath an absolute right over all
things within the circuit of heaven and earth; though his throne be
in heaven, as the place where his glory is most eminent and visible,
his authority most exactly obeyed, yet his kingdom extends itself to
the lower parts of the earth. He doth not muffle and cloud up himself
in heaven, or confine his sovereignty to that place, his royal power
extends to all visible, as well as invisible things: he is proprietor
and possessor of all (Deut. x. 14): “The heaven and the heaven of
heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that is there.”
He hath right to dispose of all as he pleases. He doth not say, his
kingdom rules all that fear him, but, “over all;” so that it is not the
kingdom of _grace_ he here speaks of, but his _natural_ and universal
kingdom. Over angels and men; Jews and Gentiles; animate and inanimate
things.
The Psalmist considers God here as a great monarch and general, and
all creatures as his hosts and regiments under him, and takes notice
principally of two things. 1. The establishment of his throne {b363}
together with the seat of it. _He hath prepared his throne in the
heavens._ 2. The extent of his empire.――_His kingdom rules over all._
This text, in all the parts of it, is a fit basis for a discourse upon
the dominion of God, and the observation will be this.
_Doctrine._――God is sovereign Lord and King, and exerciseth a dominion
over the whole world, both heaven and earth. This is so clear, that
nothing is more spoken of in Scripture. The very name, “Lord,” imports
it; a name originally belonging to gods, and from them translated to
others. And he is frequently called “the Lord of Hosts,” because all
the troops and armies of spiritual and corporeal creatures are in his
hands, and at his service: this is one of his principal titles. And the
angels are called his “hosts” (ver. 21, following the text) his camp
and militia: but more plainly (1 Kings, xxii. 19), God is presented
upon his throne, encompassed with all the “hosts of heaven” standing
on his right hand and on his left, which can be understood of no other
than the angels, that wait for the commands of their Sovereign, and
stand about, not to counsel him, but to receive his orders. The sun,
moon, and stars, are called his “hosts” (Deut. iv. 19); appointed
by him for the government of inferior things: he hath an absolute
authority over the greatest and the least creatures; over those that
are most dreadful, and those that are most beneficial; over the good
angels that willingly obey him, over the evil angels that seem most
incapable of government. And as he is thus “Lord of hosts,” he is the
“King of glory,” or a glorious King (Ps. xxiv. 10). You find him called
a “great King,” the “Most High” (Ps. xcii. 1), the Supreme Monarch,
there being no dignity in heaven or earth but what is dim before him,
and infinitely inferior to him; yea, he hath the title of “Only King”
(1 Tim. vi. 15). The title of royalty truly and properly only belongs
to him: you may see it described very magnificently by David, at the
free‑will offering for the building of the temple (1 Chron. xxix. 11,
12): “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty; thine is the kingdom, O God, and
thou art exalted as Head above all: both riches and honor come of thee,
and thou reignest over all; and in thy hand is power and might; and in
thy hand it is to make great, and to give strength to all.” He hath an
eminency of power or authority above all: all earthly princes received
their diadems from him, yea, even those that will not acknowledge him,
and he hath a more absolute power over them than they can challenge
over their meanest vassals: as God hath a knowledge infinitely above
our knowledge, so he hath a dominion incomprehensibly above any
dominion of man; and, by all the shadows drawn from the authority of
one man over another, we can have but weak glimmerings of the authority
and dominion of God.
There is a threefold dominion of God. 1. Natural, which is absolute
over all creatures, and is founded in the nature of God as Creator.
2. Spiritual, or gracious, which is a dominion over his church as
redeemed, and founded in the covenant of grace. 3. A glorious kingdom,
at the winding up of all, wherein he shall reign over all, either in
the glory of his mercy, as over the glorified saints, or in the glory
of his justice, in the condemned devils and men. The first {b364}
dominion is founded in nature; the second in grace; the third in regard
of the blessed in grace; in regard of the damned, in demerit in them,
and justice in him. He is Lord of all things, and always in regard
of propriety (Ps. xxiv. 1): “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness
thereof; the world, and all that dwell therein.” The earth, with the
riches and treasures in the bowels of it; the habitable world, with
everything that moves upon it, are his; he hath the sole right, and
what right soever any others have is derived from him. In regard
also of possession (Gen. xiv. 22): “The Most High God, possessor of
heaven and earth:” in respect of whom, man is not the proprietary nor
possessor, but usufructuary at the will of this grand Lord.
In the prosecution of this, I. I shall lay down some general
propositions for the clearing and confirming it. II. I shall show
wherein this right of dominion is founded. III. What the nature of it
is. IV. Wherein it consists; and how it is manifested.
I. Some general propositions for the clearing and confirming of it.
1. We must know the difference between the might or power of God and
his authority. We commonly mean by the power of God the strength of
God, whereby he is able to effect all his purposes; by the authority
of God, we mean the right he hath to act what he pleases: omnipotence
is his physical power, whereby he is able to do what he will; dominion
is his moral power, whereby it is lawful for him to do what he will.
Among men, strength and authority are two distinct things; a subject
may be a giant, and be stronger than his prince, but he hath not the
same authority as his prince: worldly dominion may be seated, not in a
brawny arm, but a sickly and infirm body. As knowledge and wisdom are
distinguished; knowledge respects the matter, being, and nature of a
thing; wisdom respects the harmony, order, and actual usefulness of a
thing; knowledge searcheth the nature of a thing, and wisdom employs
that thing to its proper use: a man may have much knowledge, and little
wisdom; so a man may have much strength, and little or no authority; a
greater strength may be settled in the servant, but a greater authority
resides in the master; strength is the natural vigor of a man: God hath
an infinite strength, he hath a strength to bring to pass whatsoever
he decrees; he acts without fainting and weakness (Isa. xl. 28), and
impairs not his strength by the exercise of it: as God is Lord, he hath
a right to enact; as he is almighty, he hath a power to execute; his
strength is the executive power belonging to his dominion: in regard
of his sovereignty, he hath a right to command all creatures; in regard
of his almightiness, he hath power to make his commands be obeyed, or
to punish men for the violation of them: his power is that whereby he
subdues all creatures under him; his dominion is that whereby he hath
a right to subdue all creatures under him. This dominion is a right
of making what he pleases, of possessing what he made, of disposing of
what he doth possess; whereas his power is an ability to make what he
hath a right to create, to hold what he doth possess, and to execute
the manner wherein he resolves to dispose of his creatures.
2. All the other attributes of God refer to this perfection of
dominion. {b365} They all bespeak him fit for it, and are discovered
in the exercise of it (which hath been manifested in the discourses of
those attributes we have passed through hitherto). His goodness fits
him for it, because he can never use his authority but for the good
of the creatures, and conducting them to their true end: his wisdom
can never be mistaken in the exercise of it; his power can accomplish
the decrees that flow from his absolute authority. What can be more
rightful than the placing authority in such an infinite Goodness, that
hath bowels to pity, as well as a sceptre to sway his subjects? that
hath a mind to contrive, and a will to regulate his contrivances for
his own glory and his creatures’ good, and an arm of power to bring
to pass what he orders? Without this dominion, some perfections, as
justice and mercy, would lie in obscurity, and much of his wisdom would
be shrouded from our sight and knowledge.
3. This of dominion, as well as that of power, hath been acknowledged
by all. The high priest was to “waive the offering,” or shake it to
and fro (Exod. xxix. 24), which the Jews say was customarily from east
to west, and from north to south, the four quarters of the world, to
signify God’s sovereignty over all the parts of the world; and some of
the heathens, in their adorations, turned their bodies to all quarters,
to signify the extensive dominion of God throughout the whole earth.
That dominion did of right pertain to the Deity, was confessed by the
heathen in the name “Baal,” given to their idols, which signifies Lord;
and was not a name of one idol, adored for a god, but common to all
the eastern idols. God hath interwoven the notion of his sovereignty
in the nature and constitution of man, in the noblest and most inward
acts of his soul, in that faculty or act which is most necessary for
him, in his converse in this world, either with God or man: it is
stamped upon the conscience of man, and flashes in his face in every
act of self‑judgment conscience passes upon a man: every reflection
of conscience implies an obligation of man to some law “written in
his heart” (Rom. ii. 15). This law cannot be without a legislator, nor
this legislator without a sovereign dominion; these are but natural and
easy consequences in the mind of man from every act of conscience. The
indelible authority of conscience in man, in the whole exercise of it,
bears a respect to the sovereignty of God, clearly proclaims not only
a supreme Being, but a supreme Governor, and points man directly to
it, that a man may as soon deny his having such a reflecting principle
within him, as deny God’s dominion over him, and consequently over the
whole world of rational creatures.
4. This notion of sovereignty is inseparable from the notion of a
God. To acknowledge the existence of a God, and to acknowledge him
a rewarder, are linked together (Heb. xi. 6). To acknowledge him a
rewarder, is to acknowledge him a governor; rewards being the marks of
dominion. The very name of God includes in it a supremacy and an actual
rule. He cannot be conceived as God, but he must be conceived as the
highest authority in the world. It is as possible for him not to be God
as not to be supreme. Wherein can the exercise of his excellencies be
apparent, but in his sovereign rule? {b366} To fancy an infinite power
without a supreme dominion, is to fancy a mighty senseless statue, fit
to be beheld, but not fit to be obeyed; as not being able or having
no right to give out orders, or not caring for the exercise of it.
God cannot be supposed to be the chief being, but he must be supposed
to give laws to all, and receive laws from none. And if we suppose
him with a perfection of justice and righteousness (which we must do,
unless we would make a lame and imperfect God) we must suppose him
to have an entire dominion, without which he could never be able to
manifest his justice. And without a supreme dominion he could not
manifest the supremacy and infiniteness of his righteousness.
(1.) We cannot suppose God a Creator, without supposing a sovereign
dominion in him. No creature can be made without some law in its
nature; if it had not law, it would be created to no purpose, to no
regular end. It would be utterly unbecoming an infinite wisdom to
create a lawless creature, a creature wholly vain; much less can a
rational creature be made without a law: if it had no law, it were not
rational: for the very notion of a rational creature implies reason to
be a law to it, and implies an acting by rule. If you could suppose
rational creatures without a law, you might suppose that they might
blaspheme their Creator, and murder their fellow‑creatures, and commit
the most abominable villanies destructive to human society, without sin;
for “where there is no law, there is no transgression.”[994] But those
things are accounted sins by all mankind, and sins against the Supreme
Being: so that a dominion, and the exercise of it, is so fast linked to
God, so entirely in him, so intrinsic in his nature, that it cannot be
imagined that a rational creature can be made by him, without a stamp
and mark of that dominion in his very nature and frame; it is so
inseparable from God in his very act of creation.
(2.) It is such a dominion as cannot be renounced by God himself. It
is so intrinsic and connatural to him, so inlaid in the nature of God,
that he cannot strip himself of it, nor of the exercise of it, while
any creature remains. It is preserved by him, for it could not subsist
of itself; it is governed by him, it could not else answer its end. It
is impossible there can be a creature, which hath not God for its Lord.
Christ himself, though in regard of his Deity equal with God, yet in
regard of his created state, and assuming our nature, was God’s servant,
was governed by him in the whole of his office, acted according to his
command and directions; God calls him his servant (Isa. xlii. 1): and
Christ, in that prophetic psalm of him, calls God his Lord (Ps. xvi. 2):
“O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord.” It was
impossible it should be otherwise; justice had been so far from being
satisfied, that it had been highly incensed if the order of things in
the due subjection to God had been broke, and his terms had not been
complied with. It would be a judgment upon the world if God should give
up the government to any else, as it is when he gives “children to be
princes” (Isa. iii. 4); _i. e._ children in understanding.
(3.) It is so inseparable, that it cannot be communicated to any {b367}
creature. No creature is able to exercise it; every creature is unable
to perform all the offices that belong to this dominion. No creature
can impose laws upon the consciences of men: man knows not the inlets
into the soul, his pen cannot reach the inwards of man. What laws he
hath power to propose to conscience, he cannot see executed; because
every creature wants omniscience; he is not able to perceive all those
breaches of the law which may be committed at the same time in so many
cities, so many chambers. Or, suppose an angel, in regard to the height
of his standing, and the insufficiency of walls, and darkness, and
distance to obstruct his view, can behold men’s actions, yet he cannot
know the internal acts of men’s minds and wills, without some outward
eruption and appearance of them. And if he be ignorant of them, how
can he execute his laws? If he only understand the outward fact without
the inward thought, how can he dispense a justice proportionable to
the crime? he must needs be ignorant of that which adds the greatest
aggravation sometimes to a sin, and inflicts a lighter punishment upon
that which receives a deeper tincture from the inward posture of the
mind, than another fact may do, which in the outward act may appear
more base and unjust; and so while he intends righteousness, may act a
degree of injustice. Besides, no creature can inflict a due punishment
for sin; that which is due to sin, is a loss of the vision and sight
of God; but none can deprive any of that but God himself; nor can a
creature reward another with eternal life, which consists in communion
with God, which none but God can bestow.[995]
II. Wherein the dominion of God is founded.