on the Lord's Prayer. Creatures ro hav~ a· full and comprebenfive KnowlBdge of that Being which is Infi.. · nire. for tO God is only known ro himfelf, being as lnhnite to all others, fo Finite to his ;wn Knowledge and Underilanding: And rherefore he hllh Difplayed before us his Name, ro giv(l us tOme Help and Advantage to com:eive fomewhat. of him, though his Ne.~rure and Effi:nce arc io themfelves lncomprehenhble to us, and !hall be fa for t:'~ter even in Heaven itfelf. Now this Name ofGod may well be diltingui01ed into Two' Sous, his Titlu, and hisA.Jti-ibuus. . f'irft His Titles are his }lame, and fo he is in Stripture frequently called ]cbovah G~d 'Lord Creator, and tlle like ; and moft of thefe his Titles are M.elative, refiJ 1 c:Et:ing us; fo his Name of Creator denotes his Infinite PQwer, giving Being to all Things. Lord and King fignifie his Domin_ion a~d Authority, in d ifpo~ng an~ governi~g all rhar be bath made. Fa!be1·, figmfies his Ca~e and _Go?dnefs .m provtd>·~g for his Creatures. Redeemer, his Mercy and Gra€e m dehvermg them 1from T<mporal Evils and Calamities, or efpecially from Eternal Death and De!huEli· onNow thefe Relative Titlu, though they properly belotig unto God, ye: are they not abfolutely E£femial to him, but connote a RefpeCl: unto tht: Crearures. And therefore though before the Creation of the World God was for ever rhe fume infinitely Bleiif:d Being ~hat he now is, an.d hr the Cre.ation ofit. no Acceffion was made to his infinitely perfeEt Nature; (for zn hmz there u no Varrablenifs, nor jhadow of 'Turning. but be is 1i:flerday, and to Day, and theJame for Ever;) yet could he nor he called by'the Name of Creator, ot Lord, or Redeemer, or Farher, (unlefs in retpea of his Eternal Son:) But all rbefe Tirles refult fwm the Relations wherein we fland unto God, of Creatures, Subjefu, and Children. Thefe Names therefore had their beginning, fomc in the beginning-of Time, and iOme fincc, and yet they do very pm· perly tignifie unr? us _that Go~ who i~ wirhour B~ginning or End. . Secondly, As h1s 1zrlu, fo h1s Attrzbntes, are h1s Name; and rhef~: are of Two Sorts, eit'her lncommunicablt or Communicable. 1:/rjl, The Incommunicable Attributes ·of God: And thefe are thofe which are fo proper to the Diuinc Effencc, that there is fcarce the leaft Foorfteps or Refemblance of rh em to be found in any of the Creatures; and filch are his Eternity, which denotes a Duration, as well without B~ginning as without End: For though rhere are tOme Creatures whofl! Beings fhaH never have a Period fer ro them, as AngeiJ and 4'len, yet there is no Creature th~t never no beginning of its ExHtence. And fo God's lnfinitmefi and lmmcnfity filling aiL Places, and excee~in~ all, which was moft excel· · lently fet forth in rhat moll: fignificant, yet uninrelligiile, 'Paradox of the Hearben Philofopher, That God was a Circle, whofe Centre was everywhere, but irs Circumference nowhere: His Simplicity alfo, excluding all Compofition and Mixture, which no Creature do1h; for take the more Simple of rbtm, as Angds, and tbeftparate Soul~ of Men, yet they ~re at leaft compounded in their Effences, and Powers, and A8:s; for rhe Power of Under!landing is not the Soul, nor the A£\ of Underftanding the Power; therefOre in thefe rher~ is one Thing and another. :But it is net fo in God ; hut whatfoever i! in God is God himfdf, being one moil Pure and Simple AEl. Hence fol,lows his bnmutahility and Vnchangeab!cnefs, there being nothing in God which was not from all Eternity. And in rhe fame Rank are his Omnipotuuy and .Ali-.Juflic)cncy, his Omniftiwcc and lndtpc.tJdency, and rpe like, which are Incommunicable · Amibute:;, ahd cannot without Blafphemy be afcribed unto any ofthe Creatures. Secondly, There are orher Attributes of God that are Communicable, and are focalled becaule they m1y in fome Analogy and Refemblance be fQ.ugd in the Crearures al·· f.O; fO to be {-Ioly, JuR:, MercifUl, True, PowerfUl,, and the like, are r~e Names qfGod, and yet may be afcribed to the Creatures. So in that moll Triumphant Dedaration of his Name to Mofts, Exod. 34· 5, 6, 7· we find that the rnofi of the Letters that compofe it may be found in fome Degrees even am:mg Men, the Lord proclaimed his Name, The Lord God, Jllerciful and Gracious, Longfuf!rring, and Jibun· dtmt zn <:;oodncfs and Truth, forgtvmg lmqutty, Tranfgrej}ion and Sin. Now this Name of God, Merciful and Gracious, Long-fuffi:ring, and Abundant in Goodnefs which be feems fo much to delight and glory in, and which he adorns with fuch Fai'r Flou· rifhes,, he hi~fclf v-:ould have us. to own and imitate, L_uke 6. 36. Be ye Merciful, as J'O"r. t.uher u .Merciful. To afp1re, to a Refemblance wuh God in his Incommunicabl e Atmbures and Name, is .a mofi Horrid and Blafphemous Prefumption . a Pride rhat cafr the Devils from Heaven to Hell: But to,afpire tO aRefemblance u~to God in his I i i comm'unicable
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