IX. him, and delivered him out of his troubles. The angel of SERM. the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O tafte and fee that the Lord is good. O tafte and fee; he appeals to experience; he supposes the Divine goodness may be seen and felt; that furely will be a most efficacious argument of God's existence and providence. And fo it is indeed to all good men, for whofe (1 John v. comfort and confirmation it is chiefly mentioned, though 10.) it is not likely to have much influence upon them, who have alienated themselves from God, and driven him out Pfal. x. 4. of their thoughts; except they fhould (beyond what can be expected from them) be fo civil and candid, as to believe the testimony of others, who affert this great truth unto them from their own inward conscience and experience. But let thus much ferve, at prefent, for the fhewing that God doth, as our Lord tells us, hitherto work; and confequently that, as we thence meant to infer, God doth exift. The Father, SERMON X. I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER. SERM. X. I EPH. iv. 6. One God and Father of all. HAVE formerly difcourfed concerning the nature of that belief which we here profess: I did alfo endeavour by feveral arguments to evince the truth and credibility of the first article of our Creed, which is indeed the foundation of all the reft, and of all religion, That there is one God. I proceed to the following parts. The Father. The appellation of God not improperly taken, (as when it is attributed to creatures, upon fome resemblance in nature or office which they bear to the fupreme God,) but relating to him who only, truly, and properly is ftyled God, is fometimes put abfolutely, fometime hath a relative appofition going along with it. Being abfolutely or fingly put, it fometimes refers, by way of eminency, particularly to the firft Perfon in the bleffed and glorious Trinity; as when Chrift is called the Son of God; when God is put in diftinction from the other Persons, (when, for instance, it is faid, That they may know thee the only true God, and Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fent. Bleffed be God and the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. The Word was with God. To ferve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. And in that form of bleffing, The grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift, and SERM. the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghoft be X. with you all ;) but commonly it is to be understood for God effentially confidered, (according to the Divine effence common to all three Perfons,) to whom in that respect all the Divine attributes agree, and from whom all Divine operations (abfolute et ad extra) do jointly proceed. And to this fenfe or notion we have hitherto supposed that the name of God might be here applied. For, that there is one God, having fuch effential attributes, is the firft principle and foundation of all religion, which we must therefore suppose, if not directly expreffed, yet at least sufficiently implied in the Creed. And fuppofing the word in part doth imply this fenfe, the attribute or title of Father doth upon many accounts truly and properly belong to God, (God abfolute and effential,) in relation to all things generally, and to fome things particularly; efpecially, which is the most fruitful confideration, in respect to ourselves. Let us firft confider the accounts upon which, then the terms (or objects) in relation to which, God is fo called; then let us apply the confideration to practice. One God and Father of all. Every attribute, every title, every relation of God doth ground an obligation, doth afford an inducement to good practice; but none other doth ground higher obligation, or yieldeth stronger inducement to all kinds of obedience, than doth this of Father, which here, and frequently otherwhere in holy Scripture, is afcribed to God: unto which purpose, of exciting us to good practice, (to all good practice generally, and particularly to fome kinds thereof,) I do now intend to apply the confideration thereof: but first let us confider in what refpects, or upon what grounds, this title is attributed to God; then let us reflect somewhat upon the term, in respect to which God is ftyled Father of all, that is, in a larger sense of all things, in a stricter fense of all perfons, in the most reftrained fenfe of all us Chriftians. VOL. IV. SERM. 28. Job xxix. 16. xxxi. 18. The title of father is upon feveral accounts commonly given to things; one is caufality; for the efficient caufe, or author of any thing, is called its father; any work is faid to be the child, or offspring, of him that maketh or Job xxxviii. inventeth it; Hath the rain a father, (or, Who is father of the rain? as the LXX render it,) or who hath begotten the drops of the dew? faith God in Job: another ground thereof is fuftenance, or prefervation; fo Job faith of himself, that he was a father to the poor and fatherless, because he yielded them protection and relief; so, Roma patrem patriæ Ciceronem libera dixit, Rome called Cicero father, because he preferved it from the attempts of wicked confpirators against its liberty and fafety: education also and instruction entitle to this name; whence St. 1 Tim. i. 2. Paul calleth Timothy and Philemon, the Corinthians and 1 Cor. iv. Galatians, whom he had inftructed in the Chriftian faith, his children: laftly, governance, attended with beneficent affection and care, doth found this appellation; whence princes are usually ftyled the fathers of their country, being supposed to defire and to provide for the public good; fo Josh. xix. we have the fathers of tribes, that is, the principal perfons 51. xxi. 1. of them, who did prefide over them: I do omit antiquity and age, for which we know that perfons are vulgarly called fathers. Philem. 10. 15. Gal. iv. 19. Upon all these accounts it is plain that the title of Univerfal Father may truly be ascribed unto God; especially in respect to ourselves, who may be confidered as equivalent to all other objects, as comprehending in us somewhat common to them all: God in some of those respects is the Father of all things, or of us as beings; God is more especially the Father of intelligent beings, and of us as fuch; God is the Father of all men, of all good men, and peculiarly of Christians; which respects all of them do or should concur in us. Let us furvey those particulars fomewhat diftinctly, then apply them as obligations and inducements to good practice. 1. God is the Father of all things, or of us as creatures; Acts xvii. as the efficient caufe and creator of them all: He made 24. xiv. 15. the world, as St. Paul telleth the Athenians, and all things lxxxix. 11. Ifa. lxvi. 1. Tim. pag. 15. therein; He commanded, faith the Pfalmift, and they were SERM. created; The world and the fulness thereof, (that is, all X. wherewith it is replenished, and which it contains,) he hath Pfal. cxlv. founded them; All these things, faith God in the Prophet, 15. cxlvi. 6. hath mine hand made : and ποιητὴν, καὶ πατέρα τόδε τὸ παντὸς, xxxiii. 6. the Maker and Father of this universe, even Plato styleth xl. 26. God. God is also the Father of all things, because he Plat. in preferveth and fuftaineth them by his power; He, faith 1047. the Apostle to the Hebrews, beareth up all things by the Heb. i. 3. word of his power; He, faith the Pfalmift, hath established Pfal. cxlv. them for ever and ever; he made a decree which shall not pass, by virtue of which they fubfift: also because he by a continual care doth provide for them; They all, faith Pfal. civ. the Pfalmift, wait upon him, that he may give them their 27. cxlv. meat in due feafon; what he giveth them, they gather; he openeth his hand, they are filled with good: he also governeth, and containeth them in good order; for, his king- Ifa. xl. 26. dom ruleth over all; and, whatfoever the Lord pleafeth, Pfal. cxv. that doeth he in heaven and earth: all this he doeth 3. ciii. 19. with goodness and affection; for, his tender mercies are cxlvii. 15. over all his works: whence even among Pagans the word cxlv. 9. Pater abfolutely put, did fignify the Supreme God, they understanding thereby the Author, Preserver, and Governor of all things; and Pater omnipotens is the periphrafis, whereby the wisest Poet doth usually exprefs Goda. 15. CXXXV. 6. Num. xvi. 22. 2. More especially God is the Father of intellectual beings; he is ftyled the Father of Spirits: particularly Heb. xii. 9. the angels in way of excellency are called the fons of God: There was a day when the fons of God came to pre- Job i. 6. fent themfelves before the Lord: and, When the morning Job xxxviii. fiars fang together, and all the fons of God fhouted for 7• joy; in which place of Job the LXX. have äyyɛλoí μv, my angels; (although perhaps there all God's creatures may be understood rejoicing and exulting, as it were, in their being, newly by the goodness of their Maker conferred on o Pater, et Rex Jupiter- Hor. Serm. ii. 1. Pater ipfe colendi Haud facilem effe viam voluit- Virg. Georg. i. 121. Ζοῦ πάτερ ἡμέτερι Κρονίδη, ὕπατε κρειόντων. Hom. Il. 6. 31. |