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tians, Mohammedans, and Infidels, have derived this knowledge wholly from the Scriptures.

4. No account exists of any individual, who by the mere exercise of his Reason, discovered the existence of one God. Immense multitudes of great and learned men have, in different ages, employed themselves laboriously in speculations of a theological nature. Had any one of them made the discovery in question, an event so important, so new, so singular, so honourable, could not have been unnoticed or unrecorded, amid thousands of discoveries of infinitely less consequence and distinction, carefully treasured up in the volumes of History. In truth, the idea of one perfect God is neither so obvious nor so pleasing, to such minds as ours, as, when once lost, to be with any probability ever recovered again by the mere efforts of reason. When known and admitted by the early descendants of Noah, it was soon lost; and without the direct aid of succeeding revelation, would have been lost for ever. In the same manner the Israelites wandered, notwithstanding the presence of the Shekinah, and the awful denunciations of their prophets continually fulfilled before them, notwithstanding the wonderful miracles which they beheld, and the terrible punishments which they suffered almost yearly, into Polytheism and Idolatry. Such a God as, when known by us, we are unwilling to acknowledge and to worship, a God, whom we do not like to retain in our knowledge,' we cannot be supposed, with any probability, to seek after, when unknown; nor to search with earnestness for arguments to prove his being or perfections.

III. I shall now inquire, what has been the influence of Revelation on the reception and continuance of this doc

trine.

1. That God revealed himself to Adam, and to the succeeding Patriarchs, down to the time of Moses.

2. In the written Revelation, begun by Moses, and completed by the succeeding Prophets and Apostles, the existence of the one perfect God is declared by himself, in every manner, from the beginning to the end; and made the foundation of all the doctrines, precepts, and ordinances, contained in the Sacred Volume.

3. This doctrine is directly attested by a great variety

of miracles, wrought, either immediately or ultimately, as testimonies to this truth.

4. All the declarations of this import are proved by the character of the Testifier, as unfolded in the works of Creation and Providence.

5. The same declarations are evinced to be true by the character of the Testifier, as unfolded in the Scriptures.

On this Character I shall have occasion to dwell particularly hereafter. At the present time, I can only observe summarily, that it is evinced by the perfect accordance of his declarations with facts;

Of his promises, with his performance of them;

Of his predictions, with their fulfilment;

Of his precepts, with absolute rectitude; and

Of his doctrines, so far as they can be examined by us, with truth.

It is also illustrated, in a glorious manner, by the perfect holiness of the scheme of worship prescribed, and of the system of Providence recorded.

In all these several ways, one eternal, self-existent, immutable and perfect Jehovah is directly and abundantly declared, on the one hand: and on the other, all gods beside him, are proved with the same evidence to be false and imaginary. The character given of this great and awful Being is such as to banish from the mind the remotest suspicion of a second, even if a second were not directly denied. All perfections are ascribed to him, and all things declared to proceed from him, and to be under his absolute control. The universe is exhibited as nothing in comparison with him, as holden in existence and harmony by his hand, and as formed to be the instrument of his glory.

This evidence furnished by Revelation of the Unity of God is such, that it preserved this doctrine among the Patriarchs: and in spite of all their tendencies to Idolatry, continued it among the Jews till the Babylonish captivity: and after that event established it beyond a question. Since the completion of the Christian Canon, there has been among those who have acknowledged its divine origin, scarcely a debate on the subject: Christians, with the exception of a few gross Heretics, who never deserved the name of Christians, having with a single voice acknowledged, and worshipped, the one Jehovah, the

only living and true God. They have not probably regarded these arguments, as amounting to a logical demonstratión: but they have justly regarded them, as removing every rational doubt, and as furnishing them, when coming to God, with an immovable foundation for believing, with full assurance, that he is, and that he is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek him.'

Two REMARKS shall conclude this Discourse.

1. This Doctrine of the Unity of God strongly exhibits the Wickedness of Mankind.

The one perfect God was anciently and fully known to all nations, and has been since, often declared to a great part of the habitable world. Yet singular, solemn, and interesting, as this great object is, and impossible as it seems, that it should be lost by any man who has once possessed it, it has still been wantonly forgotten or wilfully rejected by the great mass of mankind. In the place of Jehovah have been substituted gods innumerable, sinful, stupid, blind, deaf, and dead: and these have been zealously worshipped in preference to the glorious Creator of all things. Man has made his gods, and then prostrated himself before them.

The true and only reason of this conduct is, that Men' loved not to retain God in their knowledge.' No higher proof of Corruption can be given than this. God is infinitely excellent and lovely. A good mind naturally regards him as infinitely more desirable than all other objects: and delights to contemplate, love, and obey him, in entire preference to all other enjoyments. A gross and guilty mind, therefore, is the sole cause of this apostasy and rebellion. The degree of this guilt is strongly seen in the completeness of the apostasy. God has been totally banished: and creatures, totally opposite to him in every attribute, have been worshipped in his stead. Thus the mind has loved to recede as far as possible from its Maker: and not only refused its proper love and homage to him, but rendered them to the vilest and most unworthy of his creatures.

2. From the observations made in this Discourse, appears, in the strongest light, the necessity of Revelation.

Revelation, as I have shown, originally began, and has always continued, the knowledge of the true and living God in

the world.

This is infinitely the most important of all knowledge, and the most absolutely indispensable to the well being of man. From God, all the good which will ever be enjoyed, must be derived. But no permanent or solid good can be expected from him, unless he be pleased. To be pleased, he must be obeyed, and to be obeyed, he must be known. But without Revelation he has never been known in this world. Thus to the attainment of permanent and solid good, Revelation is indispensably necessary, and infinitely important.

The love of God also, is wholly built on the knowledge of his existence and character. But the love of God is the best of all characteristics, the foundation of all other good, and in itself the best good. Thus, in order to our moral and natural good, to our holiness and happiness alike, Revelation is supremely necessary to man.*

* See these subjects farther pursued in the Sermon on the Second Commandment.

SERMON V.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD.

ETERNITY AND IMMUTABILITY OF GOD.

I SAID, O MY GOD, TAKE ME NOT AWAY IN THE MIDST OF MY DAYS: THY YEARS ARE THROUGHOUT ALL GENERATIONS. OF OLD HAST THOU LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH; AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORK OF THY HANDS. THEY SHALL PERISH, BUT THOU SHALT ENDURE; YEA ALL OF THEM SHALL WAX OLD LIKE A GARMENT; AS A VESTURE SHALT THOU CHANGE THEM, AND THEY SHALL BE CHANGED: BUT THOU ART THE SAME, AND THY YEARS SHALL HAVE NO END.

PSALM CII. 24-27.

IN the preceding Discourses, I have evinced by such arguments as appear to me conclusive, the existence of God; considered the objections and schemes of Atheism, and the influence of those schemes on the understanding, heart, and life of man, compared with that of the Christian system; and examined the manner in which the Unity of God is presented to us by Reason, and by Revelation. I shall now proceed to consider such attributes of this great and glorious Being, as demand a particular discussion. Those which naturally claim our first attention, are his Eternity and Immutability ; subjects so intimately connected, as to be most advantageously considered together in the manner in which we find them in the text.'

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