Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

Book lV. 44' Chap. I. sett. 7. gottcn Soril unro which of th< Angels faid heat aay time, thu is therrucGod; thegr:at God; who is over all, God bie!f'd for '""""· Amen? unto wluch. of the llngels are thofe Tit.,, ,3 , divine amebutes oiven, as of eternity, immurability, ommpotency, ommfoence, om- Rom. 9· ~. niprefence ? and yec are all thefe given to Chrill ; for e.termty, . ! was Jet up from . e-vcrltifiing, from the bcgining, or ever the ea.nh was ; for HTH11utabdlty, thou art the l'rov,8, '3· (ame and thy years {hall n•t fail. For omnlpotency, all thmgs are de!tvered unto me Heb. •· ' ' · ' 0 f ,/,y father . For omnifcience, he needed not th" any jhould tej/ijie of man, for he ~~·· •· •7· IQiew what w~s in man ; for omniprefence, lo I am with you ,,[way lmto the end of~": ~;~5;0, the world. Men, brethren, and fathers: I am forced to make this defence of the divinity of Chrill, becauf< of {he bhfphemy of thofe Arianr, Photinians, Ermomians, now a– cain raked out of hell. 0 who would think that fuch a generatiOn of men lhould be amongn: us in thi• Ifiand, where the Gofpel bath fhined fo brightly for fo ma– ny years ? we tnaintain Chrifl is God, and Chrij/ is Lord; we fay with Thomas my Lord, and my God. Ah fay blafphemers, Ghrift i; God, and Chrift is Lord, "' Ma– giflr.us and A ngels are called gods and lords ; 1 hope I . have fa1d enough to diffe– rence betwixt Chrift and them ? howfoever I conclude w1th the Apo!He, though there be rhdt are ,·a/led gods, whether ill heaven or in earth )as there be gods m•ny, aud lord; many) yet ro '" 1h<re u bur one God, the Father, of whom are all things,andwc 1 Cor, 8 $,6 ' irr him, and one Lord, Jefiu Chrij/, by whom arc all things,and we by him. ' • 3 . He acknowledgerh Chrifl to be hi; Lord, and his God; And Thomas anfwer~ ed, and [aid unto him, my Lord, and my God. Now his faith broke out; from the rhinos feen and felt he IS ra1fed up to beheve things neither feen nor felt . he fees the prints and skars in the manhood of Chri[l, and now he believes that Chrill is God, yea that Chrill: is his God ; my Lord, and 11<Y God. ,Obferve here, that faith gives rhe foul a propriety in God and Chrif/o. As God loves fome With a fpecral and peculiar love , fo fai th, anfwers God and Chni\s parucular love, by a particular application, my Ll)'(d, and my God, and my Chrifo. Faith is an appropriating, an applyin~, an uniting grace ; in the aC!ings of fai!h .on God or on Chrift as God, we may obferve rhefe 1\eps.--- I. lt fees God in his glory and Majelly, in i1is greamefs, and goodneLS~ alld all othec his attributes ; it fees God as the infinite fountain ofall good, and it con– fiders what an infinite dreadful thing it were to be feperated from this God . iffees God, and the fight makes a deep impreffion on that very foul ; the love ~f that God is more to the foul than all the world ; and the leall difpleafure of that Go.! is more trouble to tlm foul than all the miferies that all creatures under heaven are able to bring upon it. 2. It difcovers the reality ofthis glory and Majefty, of this greatnefs and !lOOdnefs of God. Before any faith is plan~ed in a _foul, the .very. ufe of reafon may come to underll:and much of God and Chnil, but m companfon 11looks upon God aAd Chrifl as notions, conc.eits, and imaginary hings; only faith convinces rhe foui throughly of the certainty and truth of fuch things ; where true faith is, the things we believe are more certain tO us then the things we fee, or feel, or handle. faith is fo fure in Its apprehenuons of God and Chri!l, that it will venture foul and' body, the lofs of all upon .that account ; it will bear any hardfhip, yea it will vemure t~e infinite lofs of etcrnuy upon them • . 3. I: enables the foul to cafl it felf upon God in Chrifl for all the good and hap- · pmefs 1t ever expects. Alas faHh the foul, I have formerly rell:ed on worldly things; I looked upon them as the only real fure excellencies that I had to enjoy, but now I find they are. vain things, deceitful things, no better then reeds of Egypt, vanity ofvanities; and nothrng 1s real, fure, excellent on this ude God and Chri[l; and therefore I will rely. upon l~im, and none but him; it is ouly God is an all-fufficient good, it is only Chnfl that IS the ro_ck that will never fail, on hit:n will I role my felf, unto him will I make ~n ~bfolute rebgnation of.all, I will betrult him with all I have, and alii am; I wlll Cant. 6. >. · commtt all UntG him for ever, and ever. ~· Asfaith reiyes all upon God i.nChrill, fo it appropriates all God, arid all Chrift un– tOitfelf, l ammybeloveds,andmy btloved is mine; Y,ere is a mutual propriety betwixt Chn[l; and the Church, and betwixt Chrill ami the foul; Chnll: bath a propriety in me, Pfal. H· 35; and I have a peLultar propnety in Cbrift. Chrill: is mine, fo as I have none in the ;world fo mine, whom have I in hMven bilt thceJ .Wdthere is none ~<pon earth that I d•ftre beftdes thu · Chrlfl;

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