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dered in doubts, without coming to any determination. Happy are we, if we know our happiness, who have a revelation, like its great author, full of grace and truth. The chriftian religion proposes a reward, excellent in itself, Through and lasting in its duration; and clearly and plainly Chrift. revealed. The precepts laid down for the direction of our lives comprehend all forts of virtue, that relate either to God, or to our neighbour, or to ourselves; they have cleared what was doubtful by the light of nature, and have made the improvements of it neceffary parts of our duty. It fupplies us with powerful affistance for the performance of our obedience; light for our dark minds; ftrength for our weak refolutions; and courage under all our difficulties; and, above all, fets before us an exact and perfect pattern for our instruction and encouragement. So that the chriftian revelation in itself, as well as the external evidence, proves its original to be from God. Hence confider the great guilt of those It demands who reject the chriftian revelation; for they recur belief. fift the utmost evidence, that any religion is capable of receiving, both from its inward value, and from that outward atteftation that God has been pleased to give it, by miracles and prophecies; and confequently, by this act of theirs, they condemn themselves, because they reject the only means of their falvation, though it is fupported by all the faith of history, and uninterrupted records; which is all the evidence in fuch circumftances, that can be prefumed neceffary, or can poffibly be had: which, therefore, is fufficient to infpire us with the knowledge of God, and of his Son Jefus Chrift our Lord; and with a thankful remembrance of all things they have done and promised to us, and an abhorrence of all that thall from fcripture appear to be difpleafing to the Almighty. For,

II. When we in the first ARTICLE of our Creed profess a belief in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven The chrifti- and earth, we not only declare that we acknowan faith in ledge him to be the Lord, and that he has revealed his will to us to guide us in the way of truth; but that he has referved fome things to himself, of which, as they regard not the creature, he hath made no revelation, as name

one God.

ly,

The Father.

ly, the manner how there can be three persons in one God; how the divine and human nature could be united in one perfon, Chrift Jefus; or how a virgin could conceive and bear a fon without the knowledge of a man. Therefore, when we fay, I believe in one God, let it not be fuch a belief only as the heathens, or those who only follow the dictates of nature, have, who collect from the things that are feen the eternal power and godhead; but it must be that chriftian faith, which believes there are three diftinct perfons in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, who is the one only living and true God; existing of himself, by the neceffity of his own nature; abfolutely independent, eternal, omniprefent, unchangeable, incorruptible; without body, parts, or paffions; of infinite power, knowledge, and wifdom; of perfect liberty and freedom of will; of infinite goodness, juftice, and truth, and all other poffible perfections, fo as to be abfolutely felf-fufficient to his own infinite and unalterable happinefs. And if fo, it will certainly follow, that this fame fupreme felf-exiftent cause and Father of all things did, before all ages, in an incomprehenfible manner, by his almighty power and will, beget or produce a divine perfon, ftyled the Word, or Wifdom, or Son of God; begotten, not made; God of God, in whom dwells the fulnefs of divine perfections; the image of the invisible God, the brightness of his Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon; having been in the beginning with God, partaker with him of his glory before the world was; the upholder of all things by the word of his power; and himself over all God bleffed for ever. In like manner what has been faid of the Son may with little variation be, very The Holy agreeably to right reafon, understood concerning Ghuft. the original proceffion, or manner of derivation of the Holy Ghoft from the Father and the Son.

The Son.

As we believe God to be one, fo we believe him to be in fuch a manner one, that there cannot poffibly be But one another; for all other things muft derive their God. being from him, and whatsoever being has its exiftence from another, cannot be God, but must be a creature. And this unity of God is of univerfal obligation to le believed, that

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we may be fixed as to the object of our worship, and place our religious adoration there only, where it is due: and also that we may give him that honour, which is due to him alone; part whereof is, that we have no other gods but one; for this is the ground of all religion: him only must we serve, because he only is God: in him only must we trust, because he only is our rock: to him only must we direct our devotions, because he only knows the hearts of the children of men: him must we love with all our heart, because he only has infinite goodness, mercy, beauty, glory, and excellency. And,

III. The fame reafon that demands our believing one God Why called obliges us to believe that one God to be the Father: the Father. for unto us there is but one God the Father by creation; as alfo, in refpect of his prefervation, as a man is faid to be the father of him whom he educates. Likewise in refpect of redemption from a state of mifery to a happy condition; for he is the true Father, whofe word it is, even the Father of lights, who of his own will begat us with the word of truth. Thus whoever believes that Jefus is the Chrift is born of God, is God's workmanship, created in Christ Jefus to goodworks. Finally, in refpect of adoption; thus it is faid, that he hath predeftinated us to the adoption of children by Jefus Chrift to himself, and that we receive the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. Yet ftill there is a higher and more proper notion of God's paternity, in refpect whereof he is the Father of Chrift; by whom he is fometimes called the Father, fometimes my, fometimes your, but never our Father. Chrift is the beloved, the first-born, the only-begotten, God's own Son; and we are the children of God by faith in Chrift Jefus.

The perpetual obligation for us to believe that God is our Father appears in that it is the ground of our filial love, fear, honour, and obedience; gives life to our devotions, assurance to our petitions, being directed, in obedience to our Saviour's commands, to God as our Father; fweetens our afflictions and his fatherly corrections: and the affurances of his love and pity to us infer the neceffity of our endeavouring to imitate him, to be holy as he is holy, merciful as he is merciful, and perfect as he is perfect.

When

When we say that he is almighty, we profefs God's abfolute authority, in refpect of making whatsoever why called he pleaseth, in fuch manner as best pleaseth him- Almighty. felf; in refpect of poffeffing and governing all things fomade by him; which right is independent, as being received from none, and is the fole fountain of all fuch right in any other: infinite in respect of the object, as extending to all things in heaven and earth; and in refpect of the fulness of it, as being abfolute and fupreme, far above what the potter hath over his clay; and in respect of its continuance, as being all-powerful and eternal. And we must believe this dominion to work in us an awful reverence of his majesty, and an intire fubjection to his will; to breed in us patience under our fufferings; and to make us thankful for his mercies received, as knowing that they justly might have been denied us; we having no manner of right to claim them, as a debt from our Creator.

The whole world, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that are therein, were created and made The creaby the fame God, and this, through the operation tion of the of his Son, that divine Word, or wifdom of the world. Father, by whom the fcripture fays, that God made the world, and all things that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invifible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers; all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things and by him all things confift; and without him was not any thing made that was made; all this likewife is very agreeable to found and unprejudiced reafon. For that neither the whole, nor any part of the world; neither the form, nor motion, nor matter of the world, could exift of itself, by any neceffity in its own nature, can be fufficiently proved from undeniable principles of reafon: confequently, both the whole world, and all the variety of things that now exift therein, muft of neceffity have received both their being itself, and alfo their form and manner of being, from God, the alone fupreme and felf-exiftent caufe; and muft needs depend upon his good pleasure every moment, for the continuance and prefervation of that being. Confequently, the learned of all ages have unani

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mou ly

mously agreed that the world evidently owes both its being and prefervation to God.

IV. And this all-wife and almighty Creator, who made God's pro- all things by the word of his power, and upholds vidence. and preferves them by his continual help, does alfo by his all-wife providence perpetually govern and direct the iffues and events of all things; takes care of this lower world, and of all (even the smallest things) that are therein; difposes things in a regular order and fucceffion in every age, from the beginning to the end of the world; and infpects, with a more particular and special regard, the moral actions of men. But we must not expect, that God's particular providence will interpofe, where our own endeavours are fufficient for that would be to encourage floth and idleness, instead of countenancing and fupporting virtue. Nor ought we to expect to be relieved from difficulties and diftreffes, into which our own mismanagement and criminal conduct have plunged us. But when without any fault of ours our affairs are fo perplexed and intangled, that human affistance will be of no avail; then we must have recourse to God, that he would give us wifdom to conduct us through all the labyrinths and intricacies of life; refolution to grapple with difficulties; and ftrength to overcome them. This, as it is far more exprefly, clearly, and conftantly taught in fcrip⚫ture, than in any of the writings of the most learned men; fo it is also highly agreeable to right and true reafon. For that a being, which is always prefent and infinitely wife, cannot but know every thing that is done in every part of the world, and with equal eafe take notice of the very leaftthings as of the greateft; that an infinitely powerful being must needs govern and direct every thing in fuch manner, and to such ends, as he knows to be best and fittest in the whole, fo far as is confiftent with that liberty of will, which he has given to all rational creatures; and that an infinitely just and good governor cannot but take more particular and exact notice of the moral actions of all mankind, and how far they are conformable or not conformable to the rules he has fet them all this (I fay) is moft evidently agreeable to found reafon. So that what the vanity of fcience, falfely fo called,

has

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