A Body of Practical Divinity

2. To make God to be a God to us, is to choose him, Joshua 24.15. Choose ye this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my House, we will serve the Lord. That is, we will choose the Lord to be our God: It is one thing for the Judgment to approve of God, and another thing for the Will to choose him. Religion is not a matter of Chance, but Choice. Quest. What is antecedent to, or goes before this Choice? Resp. 1. Before this choosing God for our God, there must be Knowledge: We must know God before we can choose him; before one choose the Person he will Marry, he must first have some Knowledge and Cognisance of the Person: So we must know God before we can choose him for our God, 2 Chron. 28.9. Know thou the God of thy Fathers. We must know God in his Attributes, Glorious in Holiness, Rich in Mercy, Faithful in Promises: We must know God in his Son: As in a Glass a Face is represented, so in Christ as in a Transparent Glass, we see Gods Beauty and Love shine forth. This Knowledge must go before our choosing of God. Lactantius said, All the Learning of the Philosophers was without an Head, because it wanted the Knowledge of God. 2. Wherein our choosing of God consists: It is an Act of Mature Deliberation; a Christian having viewed the Superlative Excellencies in God, and being stricken into an Holy Admiration of his Perfections, he singles out God from all other Objects to set his Heart upon: He saith as Jacob, Gen. 28.21. The Lord shall be my God. 3. The Effect of choosing God: The Soul that chooseth God, devotes himself to God, Psalm 119.38. Thy Servant, who is devoted to thy fear. As the Vessels of the Sanctuary were consecrated and set apart from common to Holy Uses: So the Soul who hath chosen God to be his God, hath dedicated and set himself apart for God, and will be no more for Profane Uses.

2. To make God to be a God to us, is to choose him, Ioshua 24.15. Choose ye this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my House, we will serve the Lord. That is, we will choose the Lord to be our God: It is one thing for the Judgment to approve of God, and another thing for the Will to choose him. Religion is not a matter of Chance, but Choice. Quest. What is antecedent to, or goes before this Choice? Resp. 1. Before this choosing God for our God, there must be Knowledge: We must know God before we can choose him; before one choose the Person he will Marry, he must first have some Knowledge and Cognisance of the Person: So we must know God before we can choose him for our God,