118 THE CHRISTILN DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY: not on any thing for leave to exist, since nothing in nature could ppossibly concur or contribute any thing toward his existence. Nor does his being depend on any arbitrary act of his own will, for he did not create himself. Nnn.can he himself wish, or will, or desire not to be, because he is perfectly wise, and knows . it is best for him for ever to exist ; and, therefore, he must exist, or be for ever. And this is what the learned call anecessary being; that is, one who ever was, and ever must be; without beginning and without end: And this, in many of their writings, is justly made to be the great and eminent distinCtioú betwixt God and the creature; viz. that the creatures might be, or not be, as God pleases ; but God always was, and always will be : Ile must necessarily have a being from everlasting to everlasting. As his works discover his existence, or his being; so the greatness of his works shews the greatness of his power. He that made all things out of mere nothing, must be Almighty : He that has contrived all things with such exquisite art, must be All-wise and All-knowing; and he that has furnished this lower world with such innumerable rich varieties of light and food, of colours, sounds, smells, and tastes, and materials for all the conveniences of life to support and to entertain our na- tures, he must be a Being of unspeakable goodness. It ap- pears yet with fuller evidence, that God is the chiefest, the greatest, the wisest, and the best of Beings, when we consider more particularly, that all the power, knowledge, wisdom, and goodness, all the virtues, and excellencies, and the very natures of all other beings are derived from God, and given to the creaturesby God their Creator; and therefore he must, in some glorious and eminent manner, possess all perfections and ex- cellencies himself, for nothing can give to another that which itself has not. Thus the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shereeth his handy-work, as the holy Psalmist assures us;Psal. xix. 1. And thus, The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things: that are made, even his eternal power and godhead; Rom. i. 20. The light of reason, or nature, further teaches us, that such an Almighty Being, who by his own power and wisdom has created all things out of nothing, must needs be the sovereign Lord, the absolute possessor and proprietor of all his creatures, they must be all at his disposal, and under his government. And as for the intelligent parts of his creation, such as men and angels, it is the very law of their natures, that they ought to love, worship and obey him that made them, to pray to him for what they want, and to praise him for what they receive, and thencehe becomes the proper object of worship. Reason itself
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