FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS E VERY command of Almighty doubt, to our obedience; and every truth Lord Matth. xxiii. 23. Rom. iii. 25. Matth. XX. 28. Lord directs us to diftinguish between the weightier matters of the Law, which are to be done first, and the other parts of it, which however, are not to be left undone; fo have we ground to put a difference among articles of faith: there being fome capital doctrines in religion,which require our belief more indifpenfably than others, and more amply reward our meditations. Of these the principal are that Christ died for our fins, that he rose from the dead, and that he will come again to judgment. In his death, he is set forth as a propitiation; as he declares of himself, that he came to give his life a ransom for many. By his refurrection, he gave full proof of the truth of all his doctrines, and particularly of his future return to judgActs xvii. ment; as it is written. God hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the 31. world world in righteoufnefs, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given affurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. The future judgment is the completion of his office, in the final diftribution of rewards and punishments; offering to our view, both that terror of the Lord fo 2 Cor. v. efficacious in diffuading men from fin; and thofe exceeding great and precious pro- 2 Pet. i. 4. mifes, by which we are made partakers of the II. I divine nature; for we know that when he 1 John iii. Shall appear, we shall be like him; for we fhall fee him as he is. If we believe that Jefus died, and rose 1Thef. iv. again, even fo them alfo which fleep in Jefus 14. will God bring with him. But both the high rank of these articles in a Chriftian's faith, and their connexion with each other, are fhewn together by St. Paul in the 15th Chapter of his first Epistle to the Corinthians; where he ushers them in with much folemnity, and dignifies them with the name of the Gospel; as if all he had written before, through so many pages, had been, in comparison, no part of it. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which alfo ye have received, and wherein ye ftand; by which also ye are faved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Chrift died for our fins according to the Scriptures: and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The Gal. i. 12. gospel which I preach I had from Chrift. The first thing he taught me was this, That he died for the fins of men; and the fecond, that, being bu1 Cor. xv. ried, he rofe again. Now if Chrift rofe 12, 14. from the dead, how say some among you that there is no refurrection of the dead? Then |