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dom in the redemption of the world, which were made manifeft by Christ Jefus, who brought life and immortality to light. Against this Gospel sense of myftery the common objections have no force; fince mysteries here are not understood to be fuch things as reafon cannot receive, but fuch things as proceed from the hidden wisdom of God, and are made manifeft in the Gospel of Christ.

Let us then, in the fecond place, proceed to fhew, that the notion of myfteries, against which the objection lies, does not belong to the Gospel. The objection represents a mystery as a thing inconceivable, and altogether irreconcileable to human reason. But fuch myfteries there are none in the Gospel of Chrift. If men, learned or unlearned, have run themselves into contradictions by endeavouring to explain the mysteries of God farther than he has explained them, be that to themselves: let not the Gospel be charged with their errors and mistakes. Nothing indeed has proved more fatal to religion, than the vain attempts of men to dive into the unrevealed myfteries of God, and to account for, upon principles of human reafon, the things which proceed from the hidden wisdom of God. All the fecret purposes of Providence are, in the sense of the Scripture, myfteries; as likewise all knowledge which God has not revealed. Of fuch mysteries are there many: but then they concern not us to inquire after; if they did, God would reveal them to us. God has declared to us, that he has an only-begotten Son, and that he was the person who came down from heaven for our deliverance that he has an holy Spirit, who

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fhall fanctify our hearts, and be affifting to us in working out our falvation. This, and agreeable to this, is the Scripture doctrine: and a man would be put to it to fix any abfurdity, or so much as feeming contradiction, upon this doctrine, or any thing faid concerning it in Scripture. Concerning these perfons there are indeed exceeding great mysteries, which are not revealed: God has not told us, or enabled us to conceive, how his Son and his Spirit dwell in him, or how they came from him. These therefore are properly myfteries, which are hidden in the fecret wifdom of God, and which we are no where called upon to inquire after. It is eafy, I think, to take God's word, that he has a Son and a Spirit, who dwell with him and in him from all eternity; a Son who came to our affiftance, a Spirit who is ever with us to guide us into truth these things, I fay, are easy to be believed, without entering into the difficulties arifing from natural and philofophical inquiries, which the Scripture no where encourages us to feek after: and, as long as men keep close to the rule and doctrine of Scripture, they will find no caufe to enter into the great complaints raifed againft myfteries. The Scripture has revealed indeed wonderful things to us, and for the truth of them has given us as wonderful evidence; fo that they are well qualified to be the objects of our faith: for fuch God defigned them, and not for the exercife of our vanity and curiofity, or, as you call it, of our reason. If it is not reasonable to believe God upon the Gofpel evidence, there is an end of all mysteries; but, if it is reasonable, there must be an end of all

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farther inquiries and I think common fense will teach us not to call God to account, or pretend to enter into the reafon of his doings.

DISCOURSE IV.

PART I.

I COR. i. 21.

For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wifdom knew not God, it pleafed God by the foolishness of preaching to fave them that believe.

IN the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. There is fome difficulty in ascertaining the precife meaning of the first words; in the wif dom of God. Some understand the meaning to be, that, fince the world, in the wisdom of God, i. e. by contemplating the wisdom of God in the great works of the creation, had not by wisdom, i. e. by the exercise of their reafon, arrived to the true knowledge of God, it pleased God to take another method, and by the foolishness of preaching to fave them that believe. But fince this difficulty does not affect the main affertions of the Apostle in the text, I will not spend time in inquiring what has been, or may be, faid upon this point.

The main affertions of the Apoftle in the text

are two:

First, that the world by wisdom knew not God.

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