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That there is one Onely true God, who is a Spirit infinitely Glorious; and being One in Nature,is yet Three in Perfons or Subfiftences The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost. These are Three and One after a wonderfull and myfterious manner. The Father God, The Son God, And the Holy Ghoft God, and yet not three Gods, but one God,

Secondly, His Properties or Attributes.

Eternal, or without any Beginning or
End.

God is Omnipotent, or Almighty.

Omniprefent, or every where prefent,
Omniscient, or All-knowing.

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1. Creation: Concerning which we must know,

1. That God made the world, and all the

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Creatures therein, (both visible, and invifible,) by his Almighty power, and Created them all very good.

2. The chief of his Creatures are

Angels,

Mea.

3. All the Angels were at firft made holy and happy Spirits: Some continued in their obedience to God, and are ftill Angels of Light, Others fell from God through Pride, or fome other fin, and are become Devils of Darknes. Concerning the Creation of Man, fee farther in the next Chapter..

II. Providence.

As God Created the World, and all the Creatures therein by his Almighty Power, So he upholds, directs, difpofes, and governs them all by his Providence. Nothing fo Casual, but he difpofes of it; No Agent fo free,as to be exempted from his Controule; No affliction or Evil of Punishment, but he hath a hand in it; But as for fin, he neither is, nor poffibly can be the Author, or Approver of it.

CHAP.

CHAP. II.

Concerning Man.

Oncerning Man we are to know and understand these three things.

1. The happy Condition in which he was made, 2. His Fall.

3. The way of bis Recovery by Chrift.

I. The Holy and happy eftate in which God created man at firft, Namely, after his own Image, in Knowledge, Holineffe, and Righteoufneffe, with Dominion over the Creatures here below, writing his Law on mans heart, requiring perfect obedience from him,and giving him power to perform it, promifing the continuance of him in that happy eltate if he obeyed, and threatning him with death if he difobeyed; which is called the Covenant of works.

2. The miferable Condition into which man threw himself by fin: Our firft Parents (by the temptation of Sathan) difobeyed God, broke his righteous Law and Commandement; and thereby caft themselves out of the Favour of God, became the Slaves of Satan, and liable to the curfe of the Law, and brought a great depravation of foul and body upon themselves; And fuch as our firft Parents were, fuch muft their

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clean thing out of an unclean, says Fob, Chap.

14.4.

They having loft the Image of God themfelves, the holineffe and happinesse in which they were made, could not conveigh it to their pofterity. So that the nature of man is now become corrupt, prone to evil, backward to good. And this miferable condition is derived to us from Adam by our immediate Parents; and as men come to be born in feveral Ages, and generations, fo they actually participate of the fap that comes from the first root; we being therefore all of us in fo bad a Condition by nature, and by caftome and practice in fin having made our felves much worse, and more abominable in the fight of God, more guilty and liable to his wrath; we are to know and confider that this woful ftate of fin and mifery is by no means to be rested in; But seeing we are fallen into so lamentable a condition, we must speedily endeavour to get out of it. And therefore let us remember that without Converfion there is no hope of Salvation; Except a man be born again, and made a new Creature, he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God.

3. The bleffed way found out and appointed by God for mans Recovery out of this miferable ftate, which is by the undertaking and mediation of his onely Son,

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Concerning the Mediator between God and

Man.

Oncerning the Mediator between God and man, Chrift Jefus, We must know and understand these feaven things.

1. What manner of perfon he was; He was God and Man in the fame perfon. The Eternal Son of God, The second Person in the Trinity took to himself our humane Nature (a humane foul and body) and united it after a wonderfull manner to his Godhead; And fo God and Man became one person.

2. How he became man; He was born (about fixteen hundred and odd years ago) of the Virgin Mary, who was of the feed of Abraham, and of the Family of David, as was foretold in the Scriptures, being Conceived in her by the Almighty power of the Holy Ghoft, without the help of man, and without fin; and was Called Jefus Chrift.

3. How he Lived; He Lived about three and thirty years here upon Earth, a most holy, innocent, finlefs Life, performing perfect obedience to the Law of God. And as the great Prophet of God (who was promifed, Deut.18. 15. Acts 3. 22.) he declared his Fathers will

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