unto the Father, which in the Scriptures is assigned indifferently to the Son and to the Spirit? Two reasons may particularly be rendered of this peculiar attributing the work of the creation to the Father. First, in respect of those heresies arising in the infancy of the Church, which endeavoured to destroy this truth, and to introduce another creator of the Worl, distinguished from the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. An error so destructive to the Christian religion, that it raseth even the foundations of the Gospel, which refers itself wholly to the promises in the Law, and pretends to no other god, but that God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; acknowledgeth no other speaker by the Son, than him that spake by the prophets and therefore whom Moses and the prophets call Lord of heaven and earth, of him our blessed Saviour signifies himself to be the Son, rejoicing in spirit, and saying, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." (Luke x. 21.) Secondly, in respect of the paternal priority in the Deity, by reason whereof that which is common to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, may be rather attributed to the Father, as the first person in the Trinity. In which respect the apostle hath made a distinction in the phrase of emanation or production: "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. 6.) And our Saviour hath acknowledged, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." (John v. 19.) which speaketh some kind of priority in action, according to that of the person. And in this sense the Church did always profess to believe in God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth.*

The great necessity of professing our faith in this particular appeareth several ways, as indispensably tending to the illustration of God's glory, the humiliation of mankind, the provocation to obedience, the aversion from iniquity, and all consolation in our duty.

God is of himself infinitely glorious, because his perfections are absolute, his excellences indefective, and the splendour of his glory appeareth unto us in and through the works of his hands. "The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." (Rom. i. 20.) For "He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion." (Jer. x. 12. li. 15.) After a long enumeration of the wonderful works of the creation, the Psalmist breaketh forth into this pious meditation, “O Lord,

Stabat fides semper in Creatore et Christo ejus.' Tertull. adv. Marcion. 1. i. c. 21. Non alia agnoscenda erit traditio Apostolorum, quam quæ hodie apud ipso

rum ecclesias editur. Nullam autem apostolici census ecclesiam invenias quæ non in Creatore christianizet.' Ibid.

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how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all." (Psal. civ. 24.) If then the glory of God be made apparent by the creation, If he have "made all things for himself," (Prov. xvi. 4.) that is, for the manifestation of his glorious attributes, if the "Lord rejoiceth in his works," because "his glory shall endure for ever." (Psalm. civ. 31.) then is it absolutely neces sary we should confess him Maker of heaven and earth, that we may sufficiently praise and glorify him. "Let them praise the name of the Lord," saith David, "for his name alone is excellent, his glory is above the earth and heaven." (Psal. cxlviii. 13.) Thus did the Levites teach the children of Israel to glorify God: "Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and priase. Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their hosts, the earth, and all things that are therein." (Neh. ix. 5, 6.) And the same hath St. Paul taught us: "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen." (Rom. xi. 36.) Furthermore, that we may be assured that he which made both heaven and earth will be glorified in both, the prophet calls upon all those celestial hosts to bear their part in his hymn: " Praise ye him all his angels, praise ye him all his hosts. Praise ye him sun and moon, praise ye 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." (Psal. cxlviii. 2-5.) And the twenty-four elders in the Revelation of St. John fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns," the emblems of their borrowed and derived glories, " before the throne," the seat of infinite and eternal majesty, "saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Rev. iv. 10, 11.) Wherefore, "if the heavens declare the glory of God," (Psal. xix. 1.) "and all his works praise him," then "shall his saints bless him, they shall speak of the glory of his kingdom, and talk of his power." (Psal. cxlv. 10, 11.) And if man be silent, God will speak; while we through ingratitude will not celebrate, he himself will declare it, and promulgate: "I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power, and by my outstretched arm." (Jer. xxvii 5.)

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Secondly, The doctrine of the World's creation is most properly effectual towards man's humiliation. As there is nothing. more destructive to humanity than pride, and yet not any thing to which we are more prone than that; so nothing can be more properly applied to abate the swelling of our proud conceptions, than a due consideration of the other works of God,

with a sober reflection upon our own original. "When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained ;" (Psal. viii. 3.) when I view those glorious apparent bodies with my eye, and by the ad< vantage of a glass find great numbers, before beyond the power of my sight, and from thence judge there may be many millions more, which neither eye nor instrument can reach; when I contemplate those far more glorious spirits, the inhabitants of the heavens, and attendants on thy throne: I cannot but break forth into that admiration of the prophet, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" What is that offspring of the earth, that dust and ashes? "What is that son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Psal. viii. 4.) What is there in the progeny of an ejected and condemned father, that thou shouldst fook down from heaven, the place of thy dwelling, and take care or notice of him? But if our original ought so far to humble us, how should our fall abase us? That of all the creatures which God made, we should comply with him who first opposed his Maker, and would be equal unto him from whom he new received his being. All other works of God, which we think inferior to us, because not furnished with the light of understanding, or endued with the power of election, are in a happy impossibility of sinning, and so offending of their Maker: the glorious spirits which attend upon the throne of God, once in a condition of themselves to fall, now by the grace of God preserved, and placed beyond all possibility of sinning, are entered upon the greatest happiness, of which the workmanship of God is capable: but men, the sons of fallen Adam, and sinners after the similitude of him, of all the creatures are the only companions of those "angels which left their own habitations," (Jude ver. 6.) and are "delivered into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." (2 Pet. ii. 4.) How should a serious apprehension of our own corruption, mingled with the thoughts of our creation, humble us in the sight of him, whom we alone of all the creatures by our unrepented sins drew unto repentance? How can we look without confusion of face upon that monument of our infamy, recorded by Moses, who first penned the original of humanity, "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart?" (Gen. vi 6.)

Thirdly, This doctrine is properly efficacious and productive of most cheerful and universal obedience. It made the prophet call for the commandments of God, and earnestly desire to know what he should obey. "Thy hands have made. me and fashioned me: give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments." (Psal. cxix. 73.) By virtue of our first production, God hath undeniably absolute dominion over us, and consequently there must be due unto him the most exact and complete obedience from us. Which reason will appear

more convincing, if we consider of all the creatures which have been derived from the same fountain of God's goodness, none ever disobeyed his voice but the devil and man. "Mine hand," saith he, "hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens; when I call unto them they stand up together." (Isa. xlviii. 13.) The most loyal and obedient servants which stand continually before the most illustrious prince are not so ready to receive and execute the commands of their sovereign lord, as all the hosts of heaven and earth to attend upon the will of their Creator. "Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their hosts by number: he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power, not one faileth," (Isa. xl. 26.) but every one maketh his appearance, ready pressed to observe the designs of their commander-in-chief. Thus the Lord commanded and "they fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera." (Judg. v. 20.) He "commanded the ravens to feed Elias, and they brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening;" (1 Kings xvii. 4. 6.) and so one prophet lived merely upon the obedience of the fowls of the air. He spake to the devouring whale, "and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land;" (Jonah ii. 10.) and so another prophet was delivered from the jaws of death by the obedience of the fishes of the sea. Do we not read of "fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy wind, fulfilling his word ?" (Psal. cxlviii. 8.) Shall there be a greater coldness in man than in the snow? More vanity in us than in a vapour? More inconstancy than in the wind? If the universal obedience of the creature to the will of the Creator cannot move us to the same affection and desire to serve and please him, they will all conspire to testify against us and condemn us, when God shall call unto them saying, "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have nourished and brough up children, and they have rebelled against me." (Isa. i. 2.)

Lastly, The creation of the World is of most necessary me. ditation for the consolation of the servants of God in all the variety of their conditions; "Happy is he whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is." (Psal. cxlvi. 5, 6.) This happiness consisteth partly in a full assurance of his power to secure us, his ability to satisfy us. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.' (Psal. xxiv. 1, 2.) By virtue of the first production he hath a perpetual right unto, and power to dispose of, all things: aud he who can order and dispose of all, must necessarily be esteemed able to secure and satisfy any creature. "Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the

Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?" (Isa. xl. 28.) There is no external resistance or opposition where Omnipotency worketh, no internal weakness or defection of power where the Almighty is the agent; and consequently there remaineth a full and firm persuasion of his ability in all conditions to preserve us. Again, this happiness consisteth partly in a comfortable assurance, arising from this meditation, of the will of God to protect and succour us, of his desire to preserve and bless us. "My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth: he will not suffer thy foot to be moved," (Psal. cxxi. 2, 3.) saith the prophet David; at once expressing the foundation of his own expectancy and our security. "God will not despise the work of his hands," (Job x. 3.) neither will he suffer the rest of his creatures to do the least injury to his own image. "Behold (saith he,) I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord." (Isa. liv. 16, 17.)

Wherefore to conclude our explication of the first Article, and to render a clear account of the last part thereof; that every one may understand what it is I intend, when I make confession of my faith in the Maker of Heaven and Earth, I do truly profess, that I really believe, and am fully persuaded, that both heaven and earth and all things contained in them have not their being of themselves, but were made in the beginning; that the manner by which all things were made was by mediate or immediate creation; so that antecedently to all things beside, there was at first nothing but God, who produced most part of the World merely out of nothing, and the rest out of that which was formerly made of nothing. This I believe was done by the most free and voluntary act of the will of God, of which no reason can be alleged, no motive assigned, but his goodness; performed by the determination of his will at that time which pleased him, most probably within one hundred and thirty generations of men, most certainly within not more than six, or at farthest seven, thousand years. I acknowledge this God, Creator of the World, to be the same God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and in this full latitude, I BELIEVE IN GOD THE FATHER ALMIGHTY, MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH