DISSERTATION V. ON FAITH IN GOD." 1. In the preceding Dissertation, we have shown what the Christian believes with respect to the existence of God. It must, by no means, however, be supposed, that this weighty expression, I BELIEVE IN GOD, includes nothing further. These words imply, without doubt, the whole exercise of the pious soul, who relies on God as her salvation; of which a more particular account must now be submitted to the consideration of our pupils. Faith in God, considered in its full extent, comprises, 1st, The knowledge and acknowledgment of those perfections of God, from which a sinner may derive salvation and happiness: 2dly, The desire of union and fellowship with Him who is at once blessed for ever, and the fountain of blessedness: 3dly, A cheerful acceptance of God as exhibiting himself for our salvation: 4thly, The soul's diligent self-investigation, to see whether it possesses the evidences of God's dwelling in it: 5thly, Unutterable joy arising from the consciousness of such evidences. 6thly, A holy solici The title of this Dissertation, more literally translated, is"An explanation of what is TO BELIEVE IN GOD." T. tude of mind to walk worthy of God. We shall consider each of these in order. II. Every one who employs himself assiduously in the contemplation of the Deity, will be able to discover, even by the light of nature, that God is the best, and the happiest of beings, and possessed of unbounded fulness and sufficiency; and that from this it follows, of necessity, that the chief good consists in his image and fellowship. Boethius has ingeniously demonstrated this truth, by philosophical arguments.* "It ap"pears," says he, "from the universal conceptions of the "minds of men, that God, who is the First and the 35 66 Greatest of all, is good; for, as nothing better than "God can be imagined, who can doubt, that he, who " is surpassed by none, is good? Reason, indeed, shows "that God is not only good, but possessed of perfect goodness; for, unless he be so, he cannot be the greatest of all beings; but there will be something better than he, which, possessing perfect goodness, "will appear to be superior and more excellent. Whatever is perfect, is unquestionably superior to that "which falls short of perfection. Not to protract this 66 66 66 reasoning beyond bounds,—it must be acknowledged "that the Most High God possesses, in the amplest mea"sure possible, the highest and most perfect goodness. "Now we hold, that perfect goodness is true happiness; "it necessarily follows, therefore, that true happiness re"sides in the Most High God." From these principles, he deduces the following conclusion: "Since men become * De Consolatione Philosophia, lib. iii. pros. 10. + When Boethius employs the terms princeps, prior, and antiquius in this quotation, he has perhaps some reference to priority of existence; but he obviously refers, at least chiefly, to superiority in cxcellence and dignity. T. happy by attaining happiness, and since Divinity itself “is happiness, it is manifest that they become happy by attaining Divinity. But as by the acquisition of jus❝tice men become just, and by the acquisition of wis"dom they become wise, so, by parity of reason, it unquestionably follows, that by the attainment of Divini"ty they become Gods. Every happy person, therefore, "is a God. By nature, indeed, there is only one God; "but, by participation, there is nothing to prevent the "existence of a great number of Gods." Thus far Boethius; with whose last words, you may compare the expression of the Apostle Peter,-" that ye might be PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE.”a III. But, however evident and certain this inference may be, and how impossible soever it is to deduce any conclusion, more just in itself, more strongly supported by arguments, or more worthy of God, very few of those who had nature alone for their guide seriously thought of this truth. It may reasonably be doubted if these ideas would ever have occurred to Boethius himself, unless his philosophy had borrowed lights from a more spiritual teacher. Plato having defined the sum of happiness to be "the nearest possible resemblance to God,"* Clement of Alexandria, when quoting this expression, not unjustly questions, whether it is to be attributed to the sublimity of Plato's genius that he discovered a truth so congenial with the sacred doctrines of Christianity, or whether he did not rather derive it from some of those inspired writings which were then extant. But, while this manifest truth was very imperfectly perceived by the minds of the heathen philo * Ομοίωσιν θεῷ κατα το δυνατον. + Strom. lib. ii. p. 403. 22 Pet. i. 4. sophers, they were equally ignorant with the most illiterate of the way by which communion with God may be obtained. The thoughts of the natural man are, in consequence, easily diverted from meditation on this truth; the will is not duly inclined to desire the Chief good; and the mind, weighed down by the power of the passions, at last becomes vain, and loses itself in the sublimity and subtlety of its own speculations ; and, forgetting God, meanly grovels among corporeal, earthly, and transitory enjoyments. IV. But Christian faith irradiates the mind with a more abundant light, and enables us to know, distinctly, the following truths relative to God. 1st, That he is "the blessed and the only Potentate," who finds in the possession, knowledge, and enjoyment of his own unbounded perfections, blessedness the most perfect, and most worthy of himself. 2dly, That he is infinitely able not merely to secure his own happiness, but also to communicate happiness to such of his rational creatures as he may deign to admit to fellowship with himself: for he is "the almighty (all-sufficient) God," and "all in all;" and " in his presence is fulness of joy," joy which so completely fills and satisfies the soul, that it neither knows, nor wishes to know, any thing desirable besides him.s 3dly, That the riches of the allsufficiency of God are so great, that, what appears almost incredible, he can, and even will be, the God and the salvation of guilty and ruined men, in a manner fully consistent with his majesty, holiness, righteousness, veracity, and other perfections; so that the sinner is permitted to say and to sing, "Lo, this is 66 b Ps. ix. 17. .1 .Gen. xvii אל שדי f Ps. xvii. 11. c 1 Tim. vi. 15. e 1 Cor. xv. 28. Ps. lxxiii. 25. our God; we have waited for him, and he will save "us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we “will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." 4thly, That a salvation already purchased by the Son, and to be applied by the Spirit, is freely offered in the Gospel to all who desire it, and that God kindly and graciously invites men of every description to partake of it; crying with a loud voice, "Who hath declared this from "ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have "not I the LORD? and there is no God else besides me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides "me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of "the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." i 5thly, That a salvation so great is on no account to be neglected; but that, preferring it to every thing else, we must strive to become partakers of it; embracing with great alacrity and cordial delight, that God who graciously exhibits himself to us, and yielding ourselves to him in return, with ardent affection.j v. All these truths are contained in the following words of the Apostle, Heb. xi. 6. - - - " He that com"eth unto God must believe that he is, and that he is "the rewarder of them that diligently seek him." In these expressions something nobler is exhibited, than any instructions which nature can impart to a sinner; for, 1st, TO BELIEVE THAT GOD IS, is to give credit to the testimony, in which God has revealed his name and attributes, and the riches of his all-sufficiency. Faith is knowledge founded on the divine testimony; and since God, as revealed by himself in his word, is VOL. I. h Is. xxv. 9. U i Is. xlv. 21, 22. 6. |