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and Sarah shall have a son. Psalm cxxxv. 6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and earth, in the seas, and in all deep places.

7. Q. Can God then do all things?

A. He can do all things that are not either simply impossible to be done, as implying a contradiction: or else contrary to his goodness and perfection to do; as to sin, to be ignorant, and the like.

PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Habakkuk, i. 13. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity. Tit. i. 2. In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began.

8. Q. By what act, especially, has God manifested himself to be Almighty?

A. By making the heaven and the earth.

9. Q. What do you understand by that expression, the heaven and the earth?

A. I comprehend under it all things that ever were made, visible and invisible; as being all made and created by God.

PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Gen. i. 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Psalm cxlvi, 5, 6. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever. Acts, iv. 24. When they heard that they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord God, thou art God, which hast made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is. xiv. 15. Sirs, why do ye these things? and preach We also are men of like passions with you, that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the

unto you

sea, and all things that are therein. Col. i. 16. By him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.

10. Q. How did God make all these?

A. After two different manners. Some he produced by an immediate creation: thus were the angels formed, and the spirits of men: and thus was that first matter produced, of which Moses speaks, Gen. i. 1, that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. To the other parts of the creation he gave being, by forming them out of an antecedent matter; so he made this visible world, as we read, Gen. i.

11. Q. By whom did God make the world?

A. By his son; sometimes called the Word. John, i. 3. All things were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. And, again, verse 10. The World was made by him. Compare Coloss. i. 16. Heb. i. 2. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him. Heb. God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

12. Q. Was this Son the same Jesus who afterwards came into the world to publish the Gospel, and die for us?

A. So the Scriptures expressly tell us.

Heb. i.

1, 2. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, by whom also he made the worlds. And, St. Paul, speaking of him in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, Col. i. 14, tells us, verse 16, that by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible; whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

13. Q. Is there any thing more comprehended in this Article, with relation to God the Father?

A. This only; that as God at the beginning thus created all things; so having created them, he has ever since continued to support and preserve them. Heb. i. 3. Upholding all things by the word of his power. And that so particularly, that there is not the least thing in the world to which his Providence does not extend itself. Matt. vi. 26, 28, 29, 30. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith. x. 29, 30. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground

without your Father? But the Father? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Neh. ix. 6. Thou, even thou art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all. Psalm xxxvi. 6. O Lord, thou preservest both man and beast. both man and beast. How excellent is

thy loving kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 14. Q. Why do you profess to believe all this of God?

A. Because, though some part of it might have been discovered by natural reason, and accordingly was found out by the wiser heathens; yet the full and perfect knowledge of all this is due to revelation: and by the accounts we have of these things in the Holy Scriptures, we both more clearly understand them, and are more firmly persuaded of the truth of them.

SECT. VIII.

Of Jesus Christ,—His Mission and Offices.

1. Q. What does the second part of your Creed contain?

A. It contains a short account of all such things as are necessary to be known and believed by us, concerning our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Let not your heart be trou bled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 1 John, iii. 23. This is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

2. Q. How is he here described to us?

A. By his person, his offices, his relation to God, and to us.

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord.

3. Q. How is his person set out to us in this Article?

A. By the name which he went by whilst he was upon earth-Jesus.

4. Q. How came our Saviour to be called by that name?

A. He was so called by the express command of God, delivered by an angel; first to the Blessed Virgin, Luke, i. 31. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. And then to Joseph, Matt. i. 21. And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their

sins.

5. Q. Is there any particular significancy in that name, that should move God in such an extraordinary manner to give it to him?

A. There is for it denotes a saviour, and was given by God to our blessed Lord, to shew that he was to be the Saviour of the world; and that no other was to be so. Matt. i. 21. Thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Acts, iv. 12. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

PROOFS SUBJOINED.-Luke, ii. 11, 21. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.-And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the an

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