THE Glories of God the Creator, are every where seen in his Works, and preached in his Word. Look where we will in his World, we see them; and attend where we will to his Word, and we hear them. The holy Scriptures begin with the Declaration, That In the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth; and the Account is carried on, and interspersed thro' all the sacred Pages. The Honours of God are here celebrated, in his [Page 6]Power and Sovereignty, and creating Attributes. Psal. lxxiv. 16, 17. The Day is thine, the Night also is thine: Thou hast prepared the Light and the Sun: Thou hast set all the Borders of the Earth: Thou hast made the Summer and the Winter. The great Frame of Nature is the Work of God: He orders all the Motions of Nature, and is himself the first Mover. He is the Owner and Proprietor of Nature then; and the Day and Night, the Light and Sun, the Summer and Winter are his.

But it is the Winter Scene that now opens. And the Skies and the Earth around, and the sacred Volume before us unite to claim our Honours to the God of Glory, as he appears grand at the Head of this Part of Nature and Pro­vidence, He sendeth forth his Commandment upon Earth; his Word runneth very swiftly. He giveth Snow like Wool; he scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes. He casteth forth his Ice like Morsels; who can stand before his Cold?

The Theme before us is, GOD is adorable in the Scenes of the Winter. How does it appear? And what Evidence can we bring for it? It is proved every Way: And Con­viction pours in upon us from all Quarters. He has created it; He has established it; He still continues to bring it upon the Earth; He gives us the Sensation of it; a Capacity to feel it, in the Disposition of our Bodily Or­gans: And he acts, and operates in all the second Causes, that conspire to form it.

1. He has created it. The Cold it self is a Creature of God. Some have argued Cold to be only the Privation of Heat, as Darkness is only the Privation of Light. But even in this Sense, God who forms the Heat and the Light, is the Author of the Cold and the Darkness. He lays his Claim, in the Letter as well as the Metaphor, I form the Light: I create Darkness. But there is something further in the Nature and Philosophy of Cold, than a bare Privati­on. [Page 7]A Non-entity and Cold one would think were diffe­rent. A cold Nothing were an absurd sort of Curiosity. Cold has really something material in its Nature; and it is not barely the Privation of Heat. The God of Nature has filled the Air with the Nitre, which so penetrates the Pores, and even cuts the Skin, in the bleak Winds of the Winter. By this he swells and fixes the frozen Water, and binds the Sea and Rivers in Fetters of Ice, bringing the Globules of the Fluid into that Attraction which we call Cohesion. He created the Causes of the Cold.

2. He has established the Winter. He formed all the Causes, and contrived all the Laws of it: And he has pro­claimed the Laws, and keeps them in Force and Authority. Gen. viii. 21, 22. The Lord said, While the Earth re­maineth, Seed time and Harvest, and Cold and Heat, and Summer and Winter, and Day and Night shall not cease. We know not how far the Flood it self contributed to this Inequality of Seasons, and brought the Sun and Earth to slant to one another, as we find they now do: But this we know, that at the Flood the Law of Summer and Win­ter, was confirmed and established.

3. 'Tis he who still continues to bring it upon the Earth. He keeps up the Performance of his own Laws, and leads on the Summer and Winter in their perpetual Circle. The Wheels of Nature would stand still, were it not for his powerful and unerring Hand: But having first com­municated Motion to them, he maintains it, and keeps them rolling to this Day. The steady Return of the annu­al Cold, is a Proof that there is some intelligent Agent at work, to bring it so orderly and usefully onward. The whole Voice of modern Philosophy, is aloud for this, that the Motion of the heavenly Globes is owing to the per­petual Energy of God. It is demonstrable from Princi­ples of Nature, that should the great God spend his [Page 8]Power one Moment, all the Planets would leave the Sun, and scatter thro' Immensity. Summer and Winter would cease in a Moment, and the Inhabitants of the Earth would wonder to see the Sun lessen so fast to them, as our Globe, shot off in a right Line, into eternal Cold and Darkness. What shall I say! Should the great God withdraw his Operations, we should no more have the Sun go off and return as the Cause of Winter and Summer: But on the contrary, the Earth and Sun would separate forever, and retire to further and further Distances in the immense Space, to all Eternity. God, then, who still keeps the Sun, (to speak in the Language of the Vulgar) in its Circle, and makes it approach and retire; makes it shine aslant, or direct, is the Author of the Summer and the Winter. He made the Winter: For he is still forever at Work to bring it on us. Not only did he create it at first; and establish it by a stated Law; but he stills puts this Law in Execution. He makes the Winter: He made This Winter. He does not leave the Year to run Riot; but still orders and produces and changes all the Seasons.

4. He has made the Power in us to perceive the Scenes of Winter. He has given us the Faculties of Sensation, to hear the Tempests roar, to see the Snows descend, and to feel the chill and cutting Blasts. To what Purpose would the material Scenes of the Winter be, if our Organs were not disposed and adapted to perceive them? Nay, if our Souls were not furnished with a Power of forming Ideas from them, different from what are in the Objects themselves? There is, in our Perceptions of Cold and Heat, no Con­nexion between the material Object, and the conceived Idea, but the unaccountable Will of God. He it is, who has made the Snow, and the Winds, and the Cold; and he it is that gives us the Power to perceive them. He has filled the Winter Sky with the pointed Frost, and [Page 9]impregnated it with the Particles of Nitre: And he has given us the Power to apprehend Cold, from these diffe­rent Causes. We depend upon him to keep these Senses in Exercise; for it is the continual Exertion of his Power by which they act. Our Senses are the Springs of these Perceptions; and in this Sense, All our Springs are in him. He keeps them acting, as he at first awakened them in us. He ranged and modified our Nerves; he filled them with the animal Spirits; he formed the Imagination & Fancy in us, by a Combination of all which, we feel the Cold, and shudder at the keen Winter. He first contrived the small pointed Matter, and then he contrived our Pores to re­ceive these little Particles; then he formed our animal Spirits to convey the Sensation to our Brain; and after all he lighted up the Imagination, to perceive the Idea, and pronounce upon it, Cold. Thus is the great God adorable in the Winter. 'Tis all his strange Work, within us, and without us. 'Tis intricate, and myste­rious! We know but Part of his Ways; nor can we find them out unto Perfection. We amuse our selves, and wonder, and adore. Our Philosophy reaches a little Way: And where that ceases, our Devotion goes on, and our Ascription to God must still be, 'Tis His Ice, 'tis His Cold.

5. He has made all those Things which unite to form the Winter. The Cold, the Snow, the Winds, the Frost and Ice, the Nitre in the Air, the Obliquity of the Sun, and all the shivering Attendants of the Winter, are the Pro­ductions of his Hand. For he saith to the Snow, be thou on the Earth,—Job xxxvii. 6,—10. 'Tis all ascrib'd to God, to the Voice of God, to the Breath of God. The Snow falls, and the Ice thickens at his great Command: And by his Cold he seals up the Hand of every Man, and puts a Stop to his Work. As soon as ever his Word is [Page 10]given, all the Terrors of the bleak Winter, collect and muster together. He sendeth forth his Commandment upon Earth, his Word runneth very swiftly: Swift as his Com­mand, his Creation obeys him, and performs his sovereign Order. He bids his Wind blow, and the stormy Wind fulfills his Word. It rushes out, and roars aloud; it blusters and sweeps the Earth, and battles in the Air; it raises the Ocean, tosses up the Billows in white Foam, and dashes Wave upon Wave, and Cloud upon Cloud. If he enlarges his Commission, it roots up Forests, and a whole Grove shall fly before it's Rage; and Cities shall be overturn'd and laid waste in an Instant. In all this, the lawless Tumult of the Winds is strictly govern'd by God: They do but blow his Praises, as with the Sound of a Trumpet. When he Commands, they retire, and are hush; a profund Calm ensues; not a Whisper, not a Breath of Air moves a Sprig of the Trees, or bends the Smoaks of the Chimneys: The Sea smooths its shining Surface, and the Sky gleams serene in Silence. 'Tis this same God, who orders his Cold to chill the Air, and strip the Forests: To arrest the Rivers in their rapid Motion, and bind them in Fetters of Ice: To seize the living Cre­ation, slacken the Motion of the Blood, and make the Limbs shake, and the Teeth chatter. 'Tis this same God, who makes his snows gently descend, sport in the light Air, and whiten the soft Ground. At his Order, the beautiful Fleeces cover the Fields with a dazling and a warm Robe. He it is, that forms the slippery and glister­ing Paths, and finishes the Looks and the Form of the rugged Lanskip. Every little Rising about us, the Banks of Snow, or the shining Ice, are the common Works of him, the God who made the Winter. He has made all the various Parts of it, and furnished and compleated the whole Scene.

[Page 11] Thus I have illustrated and confirmed the Doctrine; I come now to apply it to the holy Ends of Plety and De­votion.

1. Learn the adorable Perfections of this GOD. See his Grandeur and Majesty, in the terrible Work! How con­temptuous is his Challenge to mortal Man, in those Ope­rations of his Hands? Job xxxviii. 22, 23. Hast thou en­tred into the Treasures of the Snow? Or hast thou seen the Treasures of the Hail? Which I have reserved against the Time of Trouble, against the Day of Battle and War? How grand and majestick is the God who has such Magazines of Artillery; such Armies of various Destruction all at his uncontroulable Command. See the Winter, and own the almighty Power and of the God who produced it. What a resistless Arm must he have, who rolls on the Sea­sons in their Order, and forms all the strong Cold, and Wind, and Frost of the Winter? Who can stand before his Cold? Who then can stand before him when once he is angry? Who knows the Power of his Anger? Even as his Fear, so is his Wrath.

See the Winter, and own the Mercy of God, to bring Good out of Evil, and make it beneficial to the Fruitful­ness of the Year, and the Health of Mankind. See his Mercy in providing us Shelter from the keen Air, and Cloaths as the Covering from the Cold. He has built our Houses for us; else had the Artificers laboured in vain. He has given us Fire to oppose the Cold, and defend us from its unsufferable and mortal Rigour. He gave our first Father Coats of Skin, and he gives us all our useful and beautiful Raiment, to hide us from the fatal Cold. The Winter all over shews the Mercy of the God who made it.

See the Winter, and behold his Justice also. 'Twas for Sin that Cold became painful, and executes part of the Curse upon the barren Earth. 'Tis not improbable, that [Page 12]the Position of the Earth to the Sun, has been altered since the Sin of Adam: And how far the Flood which came up­on the World of the Ungodly, has contributed to this, is disputed among the Learned. 'Tis no unfair Conjecture, that the Disruption of the Abyss, and the general Con­cussions of the Globe at that Time, might unhinge the Poles, and alter the Course of the Year. Perhaps this is hinted at, when God said to Noah immediately after the Flood, that now there should be no Cessation of Winter and Summer, and Cold and Heat. However that may be, we know the Curse on the Earth for Sin, became more compleated by the Flood, which has very much alter'd the Form of the Earth, and the Healthiness of the Air; and shortned the Life of Man. And we know the Painfulness and Unfruitfulness of the Winter Cold, is Part of that Curse brought upon us by Sin. But I would not enlarge; let us see the Perfections of God in his Work.

2. Let us serve God in the Winter. It is his Time: We ought then to render it to him, and fill it up in his Service. 'Twas for his own Glory that he made it: For this is his End in all his Works. For his Pleasure they are and were created. 'Tis just then that we should make the Winter conduce to his Glory, and glorify him in it, and for it. We are apt indeed to be rendred sluggish and sloathful by the Winter-Cold. Prov. xx. 4. The Sluggard will not Plough by reason of the Cold. But far be this Cha­racter from us! Amidst the Cold let us be diligent: not slothful in Business, but fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord. Let not our Love wax cold with the Season. Away with the invidious Proverb, Cold as Charity. Let us now, as far as God gives us Capacity and Opportunity, relieve the Necessities of our poor Neighbours. If a Brother of Sister be naked and destitute of daily Food, [Page 13]and one of you say, Be ye warmed, be ye cloathed, not­withstanding ye give them not those Things which are necessary for the Body, what doth it profit? Your Faith is dead, unless it inspires these Works. And the great Demand of Christ at last will be concerning these Works and Labours of Love. And as we, in these Instances, deal by his Members, he will look upon himself honoured or abused.— I was naked, and ye cloathed me not—Or, I was naked, and ye cloathed me. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren, ye did it unto me. Then shall not a Cup of cold Water lose its Reward, much less shall a warm Garment, or a comfortable Fire, or a refreshing Meal.—And as there are Duties peculiarly adapted to Winter, I shall conclude with a few profitable Meditations pertinent to the Season. We may serve God, in his Winter, by making the Winter itself con­tribute to our sacred Contemplations.

For Instance, When we feel the Cold of the Winter, let us fear the God who made the Cold. How easily can he kill us by this one Creature? There have been In­stances of Persons passing over the northern Mountains, seized and stiffened at once, and left like Lot's Wife, a Pillar to be wonder'd at in after Years. In a dreadful Sense, they stand before his Cold; stand by it, and are kept standing, the Monuments of his awful Power. ^* Who would not fear this God!

When we see the Snow around us, let us meditate on the unspotted Holiness of the God who made it. The [Page 14]Snow is not pure in his Sight. Let us reflect on our own Guilt & Blackness, & take up the Prayer, Psal. li. 7. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than the Snow. Let us plead the Promise of God, Though your Sins be as Scarlet, they shall be white as Snow. Let us repair to Christ for his unsullied Righ­teousness, as the fine Linnen white and clean, which is the Righteousness of the Saints. Let us seek Sanctifica­tion of the Holy Spirit, that we may be Nazarites purer than Snow.

When we see the Ice shine in the slippery Paths, let us be caution'd to walk with Care; and remember the Admonition of God, Let him that standeth, take Heed least he fall. Let the short Days of the Winter admonish us, to work in haste, and what we do, do quickly. Let the slippery Paths and the short Days unite to perswade us, to walk circumspectly, redeeming the Time. This I say, Brethren, the Time is short; Oh! shall we not fill up the short Time as full as ever we can. Let the cold Day put us in Mind of the Cold of Death; and the short Day of our short Life.—But I consider the Cold, and I would not stand too long before it. Let us improve the Winter well in this World, and quickly we shall be taken to that blessed State, where the Winter shall cease from tr [...]bling, and the Weary are at rest. Death will arrive to us with that Message from Jesus our Lord, Cant. ii. 10, 11. Rise up and come away, for lo, the Win­ter is past, the Rain is over and gone, the Flowers appear on the Earth, and the Time of the singing of Birds is come: Rise up, and come away.