: of the Gospel, we shall then be in no danger of con. tracting guilt, but shall be eternally recompensed according to our works here; for we shall be judged by an equitable and unerring Judge, even the great ALPHA and OMEGA, the WORD OF GOD, the BRIGHTNESS OF HIS FATHER'S GLORY, by whom David himself was created, and who as the promised MESSIAH, was, according to his human nature, the offspring of David. Happy will those be who properly prepare themselves for his important appearance. * " May the grateful remembrance of our Redeemer's love, and faith in his promises, animate us to follow his blessed example to the utmost of our abilities, that we may be able to say with the Holy Apostle, AMEN! Even so, come LORD JESUS Hasten the blessed hour to us, and all thy faithful peo ple, as far as is consistent with the counsels of eternal wisdom; and in the mean time grant us the affistance of thy Grace, to keep alive the remembrance of thy love, and the expectation of thy coming in our hearts; and so animate us to a temper and conduct which may suit the blessings we have received, and the nobler felicity after which thou hast taught us to aspire! AMEN! and AMEN!" SECTION LXXXV. THE CONCLUSION. We have now taken a view of Sacred History from the creation of the world to the consummation of all things; and are, by the perusal of the New Testament, put into the method of understanding as much of the nature of the SUPREME BEING, and the dispensations of his Providence, as God has thought proper to reveal. * Doddridge. VOL, VI. U We We find that there are three by whom the attributes of the Divine nature are displayed, the FATHER, the WORD (Or SON), and the HOLY SPIRIT: that these are not three separate Deities, but all included in GOD. Our LORD JESUS CHRIST commanded his Disciples to baptize all nations in the name of the FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST; from whence we may infer, that we are also to distinguish each, and at the same time to unite them in our worship of the DEITY, in order to keep alive in our minds the remembrance of God's gracious dispensations towards us. When we consider God as 'an universal PARENT, our reverence, gratitude, and love, are strongly excited-when we reflect on His wonderful condescension as the REDEEMER of the world, these sen timents are enlarged, and we have at the same time an opportunity of honouring the MESSIAM; and when we contemplate God as a spiritual guide and comforter, ever at hand to direct us in the path of immortal happiness, we are struck with the sense of a present DEITY, to whom our most secret thoughts and inclinations are known, and are encouraged to put our trust and confidence in Him. We see, then, that distinguishing the FATHER, Son, and Holy Ghost, in our worship of God, has a natural tendency to excite proper sentiments of devotion in our hearts, by reminding us of the blessings of creation, preservation, redemption, and sanctificaDon; and that this mode of worship is suitable to the method in which it has pleased Gon to reveal himself to us. In what manner the DIVINE THREE make one GOD cannot be explalned; but since our reason assures us that the Scriptures are of Divine original, and they declare that the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST, are Lone, Ove *, we should believe it to be so, on their authority; besides, each, separately considered, bears such evident marks of Divinity, that it is inconsistent with common sense not to allow it Him, and it is not possible that there can be more than one GOD; therefore the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY SPIRIT, must be included in the SUPREME BEING The Epistles, which were written by some of the Apostles to the different churches which they esta blished, are a supplement to the spiritual instructions given by our LORD to his Disciples while on earth; these throw great light on the doctrines inculcated in these volumes. Whatever portion of Scripture we make the subject of our meditations, we should always remember, that an humble and teachable mind is an indispensable qualification, with which we may expect the aid of the HOLY SPIRIT in understanding it; without which, we shall soon be involved in a labyrinth of doubt and perplexity +. "After the most laborious researches of the most enlarged minds, many things will remain mysterious. The nature and attributes of God-the nature of Angels of the human mind-of the state of departed souls of the joys of heaven, and the pains of hell, our understanding cannot comprehend, neither is such know. ledge necessary for our salvation-we know enough to be saved, if we will live accordingly. " Several reasons may be assigned why many things should remain mysterious in this world. Mysteries are necessary for the exercise of our faith; they have a natural tendency to excite religious awe and reverence, to humble the pride of human reason, and make that the mean of life, the very reverse of which was the mean of * 1 Epistle of St. John, chap. v. ver. 7. 1 5 death death. Man fell by pride through a sense of his know ledge; he is restored by humility through a sense of his ignorance. There is in the Scriptures light enough to enlighten believers, and obscurity enough to try them." "The fuller comprehension of mysteries will make a part of our happiness in the world to come. At present we are at a vast distance from God and CHRIST, but in the next world we shall be near-we here converse with men, but in heaven we shall converse with Angels. The earthly BODY Now presses down the soul, but after the resurrection we shall have spiritual bodies we now walk by faith, but shall then walk by sight." Let us then, from those truths we cannot comprehend, learn to reverence the Divine Author of them; and if we are desirous of knowing more of spiritual things than the Scriptures teach us, let us endeavour to live so as to secure an inheritance in the blessed REGIONS OF ETERNITY, FINIS, Law and Gilbert, Printers, St. John's Square, Clerkenwell, London. |