CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

Let us consider the first Object, To know thee the only true God; by this we see that Opinion, which asserts the possibility of the Heathens salvation, to fall to the ground, because they are wholly ignorant of the true God: It's Christ that saith thus, therefore our understandings must be captivated.

¹Obs. That there is one true God only, to be known and served by man. Although to us Christians this may seem a needless point, yet as the Scripture hath recorded this as most useful to the Church, so all Christians may find much necessity in the opening of it, and great practical use. Consider then these particulars.

¹Obs. That there is one true God only, to be known and served by man. Although to us Christians this may seem a needlesse point, yet as the Scripture hath recorded this as most usefull to the Church, so all Christians may finde much necessity in the opening of it, and great practicall use. Consider then these particulars.

1. 1Observ. There is one true God only to be known and served by men. Explicatory considerations.

1. There are made and constituted many gods by mans vanity, and there is one only true God indeed. The Apostle, 1 Cor. 8.4, 5. hath given us this distinction,¹ where having asserted, that an Idol is nothing, viz. formaliter, though it be made of wood or stone, and have rich ornaments, yet the thing signified is nothing. Though there are Sun and Stars, yet as made Gods, so there is no such thing: Though there were such men as Saturn and Jupiter, yet relatively as Idols representing a God, they were a non-entity. He brings this verse in by way of accusation to answer the objection: There are, saith he, [Greek or Hebrew], there are many that are called Gods: The whole world is full of such; they have their Celestes, Acrii, Terrestes, Marini, as many Gods as creatures almost; but to us, viz. Believers, there is one only true God the Father: So that you see there is one real existent true God, and there are many fictitious and constituted Gods made by man, which the Scripture calls Idols, and that by very significant names: Sometimes by a word that signifieth nothing, sometimes by a lye and vanity, sometimes by dung and dirt that is rolled up and down, sometimes by scar-crows, or terricula muta, and very often by abomination. The beginning and progress of this Idolatry is handled by Learned men, and Learned Tractates are written de Diis Syris, de Diis Romanorum