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all those grievous afflictions, which befell him, Job i. 21, 22, "He said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." See how he reproves his impatient wife, Job ii. 9, 10. And this becomes you also, believers; for nothing comes to you by chance, but by his fatherly hand: "For affliction doth not come forth out of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground," Job v. 6. "Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south but God is the judge; he putteth down one, and setteth up another," Psalm lxxv. 6, 7. For "he is the Lord, he doth with the inhabitants of the earth according to his will; who can, or dares stay his hand? or say to him, What dost thou ?" Do ye not deserve the most grievous afflictions? is not he happy whom God chastiseth, that he may not be condemned with the world? We are never taught better by God, than when he chastises us; yea, if we considered this matter aright, we should glory in tribulation, because tribulation worketh patience, experience, and hope. Will your impatience, fretfulness, peevishness, and striving with the Lord deliver you from your affliction? will ye not thereby render your bonds stronger? Yes, but, say ye, if my trouble proceeded immediately from God, I could bear it; but this and that person, from whom I did not expect it, and of whom I do not deserve it, inflicts it upon me. Will ye then, like the dog, bite the stone, and not look up at him who casts it? Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? doth not both good and evil, proceed out of the mouth of the Most High? wherefore doth a living man then complain? Let every man complain on account of his sins,' Lam. iii. 37-39. Conduct therefore like David, who, when Shimei cursed him, and Abishai would on that account take off his head, said, "So let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto hin, curse David. Who then shall say unto him, wherefore hast thou done so?" 2 Sam. xvi. 10.

4. Be thankful in prosperity, by which, from a sense of our un worthiness, and a view of the preciousness of the benefits, we are concerned to know what we shall render unto the Lord, and in the mean time acknowledge his free favour with our hearts, words, and actions, by ourselves, and with others. So David acted, Psalm cxvi. 12, 13, 14, “ What shall I render unto the Lord, for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows unto the Lord, now in the presence of all his people." This is also your duty, believers; for

+ We have rendered this passage according to the Dutch translation.

whatever ye have enjoyed with respect to your soul or body, or do yet possess, or expect hereafter, it was not brought to you by any creature, nor by, nor on account of yourselves: "For who maketh you to differ from another? and what have ye that ye have not received? now if ye have received it, why do ye glory, as if ye had not received it?" 1 Cor. iv. 7. But "all things are of him, and through him, that they may be to him, and that ye may give him honour and glory," Rom. xi. 36. Endeavour, as constrained in a holy manner by the gracious providence of God, to praise him with a holy solicitude and admiration, and to employ yourselves wholly in his service; this is required of you, Rom. xii. 1.

5. In all things which may hereafter befall you, place a firm trust in your faithful God and Father. A believer is often anxious and concerned how he shall pass through the world with honour, how he shall obtain his bread and clothing; he is afraid of these and those evil-minded persons, of diseases, and a painful death; yes, the devil acts the prophet with him, telling him that this and that misfortune will yet befall him, which therefore disturbs him. But the creation and providence of his faithful God and Father teaches him, that he ought to place a firm trust in the Lord, by which he attains to a holy carelessness concerning future events, commits himself in all things to the Lord with a believing confidence, tranquil hope, and expectation placed on him, that he will bring it to pass. This is the duty of believers according to Psalm xxxvii. 5, " Commit thy way unto the Lord: trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass," Peter v. 7. Let your souls then exercise themselves herein; for the Lord is a faithful God, he doth not forsake the work of his hands: "He is a faithful Creator, to whom ye must commit yourselves in welldoing," 1 Pet. iv. 19. He is your Father: a father will surely provide for his children. What can the creatures do to you? They are all so in his hand, that without his will they cannot so much as move; they are but" as the staff in his hand," Isaiah x. 5, 15. God hath taken upon himself to care for you; will ye then take the work out of his hand by caring for yourselves: therefore "cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you," 1 Peter v. 7. "He takes care of the grass, and the fowls; and will he not attend to you?" Mat. vi. 26, 28, 29, 30. He takes care of the greater, your body and life, which ye have not by your own, but by his care; will he then neglect your smaller affairs? "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment," Mat. vi. 25. Yea, "he spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for you all how shall he not then with him freely

give you all things?" Rom. viii. 32. Your care cannot avail : "Ye cannot by taking thought add one cubit to your stature," Matt. vi. 27. Yea, let whatever will befall you, no creature shall be able to separate you from the love of God, according to his words by the apostle, Rom. viii. 35, 37, 38, 39, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Amen.

JESUS, THE ONLY

AND

COMPLETE SAVIOUR.

XI. LORD'S DAY.

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.

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Q. 29. Why is the Son of God called Jesus, that is, a Saviour? A. Because he saveth us, and delivereth us from our sins; and likewise, because we ought not to seek, neither can find salvation in any other.

Q. 30. Do such then believe in Jesus the only Saviour, who seek their salvation and happiness of saints, of themselves, or any where else ?

A. They do not; for though they boast of him in words, yet in deeds they deny Jesus the only Deliverer and Saviour; for one of these two things must be true, that either Jesus is not a complete Saviour; or that they who by a true faith receive this Saviour must find in him all things necessary to their salvation.

As it is necessary to know and believe in God the Father, so it

is not less necessary to know and believe in God the Son. Therefore the Lord Jesus said, John xiv. 1, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." For he who knows and believes only in the Father,

and not in the Son, knows indeed that he is become a man by crea tion and providence, and that he is a sinner by breaking the covenant of works: but he doth not know how he may become a Christian, and be saved; for "this," saith the Saviour, John xvii. ́ 3," is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Yea, we do not know, nor believe in the Father without the Son; for "whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father," 1 John ii. 23. God is also not a father, neither is he known as such, except with relation to his Son, "who is the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his Person," Heb. 1. 3. "He who seeth the Son, seeth the Father also, because the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son," John xiv. 9, 10. It is also the Son only, who reveals the Father to sinners: "No man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him,” Matt. xi. 27. The same is said also, John i. 18. Yea, on this account also, God the Lord irradiates the sinner with his light, that he may behold his glory in his Son: "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 6. Therefore the ancients, in their creeds conduct us not only to the knowledge and belief of the Father, as Creator, but also of the Son as Deliverer; which order the instructor also following, conducts us from the knowledge and belief of the Father, to the knowledge and belief of the Son. In order now that we may know and believe in him, we are instructed in three particulars. 1, His names, Jesus Christ, in the eleventh and twelfth Lord's days. 2. His divine nature, government, and human nature, in the thirteenth and fourteenth Lord's days. 3, His states in the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth Lord's days. In this Lord's day, the name of Jesus is spoken of, which signifieth that he is the only and complete Saviour; as now the economy of the Father is referred to the creation, so that of the Son is explained of redemption, which he effects by his names, natures and states.

In this Lord's day we have two important particulars proposed for Your consideration.

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I. Our faith in Jesus Christ, that he is the only and complete Saviour, Question 29.

II. The manner in which this great truth is denied by some, who are not of our church, Question 30.

I. Our whole faith in this matter is comprehended in one word, that the Son of God is called "Jesus." He is also surnamed Christ,

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