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THE RIGHT USE OF SCRIPTURE.

[Ess. V. and effectually applied to the heart, is freely bestowed on all who diligently seek it.

If, then, we would participate in the benefits of Divine truth, nothing is so desirable as to approach the volume of inspiration with a humble and teachable mind, and with earnest prayer that its contents may be blessed to the work of our soul's salvation; nothing so reasonable as a conformity with the apostolic injunction, "As new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Were this the disposition with which professing Christians never failed to enter into the examination of revealed truth, how soon would the pride of a false philosophy be extinguished among them, and the angry spirit of polemics subside into a calm! How certainly would be verified, in their experience, the promise of the Lord Jesus, that, if any man do the Father's will, he shall know of the doctrine of Christ whether it be of God!

ESSAY VI.

ON THE SCRIPTURAL ACCOUNT OF THE SUPREME BEING.

HAVING, in the preceding Essay, taken a brief survey of the evidences from which it may be safely deduced that Christianity is true, and that the Scriptures contain a Divinely authorized record of all its truths, let us now endeavour to make a diligent use of the written word of God, and let us examine the declarations which it contains respecting the fundamental articles of Christian faith. What, it may be inquired in the first place, is the account given by the inspired writers of the nature and attributes of the Supreme Being?

The comprehensive character of that account has already been pleaded as affording one evidence, among many, of the Divine origin of the Sacred Volume. Certain it is, that the information respecting the Deity, which we derive from the harmonious works of nature, from the course of providence, and from that sense of his own existence and authority which (however in numberless instances, it may be depraved and perverted) he appears to have impressed universally on the minds of men, is in a marvellous manner augmented, and, for all present practical purposes, appears to be completed, in the records of revelation.

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UNITY AND ETERNITY OF GOD. [Ess. VI

I. The first principle which it is desirable for us to notice, as unfolded and declared in Scripture, in relation to the present subject is this: that God is ONE; that there is no other God but Jehovah; that, as he is infinitely superior in point of wisdom, authority, and power, to all other beings, so he is the only right object of spiritual adoration. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord," Deut. vi. 4. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him," 1 Cor, viii. 5, 6. "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,' was the fundamental principle, not only of the Jewish institution, but of the law of Christ, Matt. iv. 10. "Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens

I am the Lord; and there is none else They have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save . . There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth for I am God, and there is none else;" Isa. xlv. 18-22.

II. This Supreme Being, this only proper object of worship and spiritual allegiance, is described, in the Holy Scriptures, as eternal and unchangeable. "Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last," Isa. xliv. 6. I am Alpha and Omega,

Ess. VI.] UNITY AND ETERNITY OF GOD.

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the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty," Rev. i. 8. "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed. the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God," Ps. xc. 1, 2. "Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end," Ps. cii. 25-27. With "the Father of lights there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," James i. 17. This primary attribute of the Supreme Being is not only declared in these and other passages of Scripture, but is plainly expressed in that distinguishing name of God, which the Jews were accustomed to regard as too sacred to pronounce-Jehovah; for this title is derived from a verb signifying to be, and denotes the Eternal-him who ever has been, is, and ever shall be--him who exists simply, absolutely, and independently. "And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM, (in Hebrew, the verb from which the name Jehovah is derived): thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you," Exod. iii. 14. Again, "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I AM JEHOVAH," Exod. vi. 2.

III. Jehovah, the Being who has alone existed from all eternity, is ever described in the Scriptures

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HIS OMNIPOTENCE AND WISDOM

[Ess. VI. (in accordance with the unvarying dictates of true philosophy) as the First Cause of all other things: the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever they contain. The Bible opens with the declaration, that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," Gen. i. 1. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast," Ps. xxxiii. 6-9. "God that made the world and all things therein," said the apostle Paul to the Athenians, "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth . . . . . . for in him we live, and move, and have our being," Acts xvii. 24—28. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?" Isa. xl. 12. "I form the light, and create darkness: Lord do all these things," Isa. xlv. 7. the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens: Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they WERE CREATED,” Ps. cxlviii. 1—5.

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I the "Praise ye

When the Lord had condescended to describe to his servant Job the wonders of the creation, Job answered and said, "I know that thou canst do every