dissent from his oracles is the extreme of folly and misery. He has said: " Teach ye all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" [1] and again, " there are three who give testimony in heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one." [2] Let him, however, who by the divine bounty believes these truths, constantly beseech and implore God, and the Father, who made all things out of nothing, and orders all things sweetly, who gave us power to become the sons of God, and who made known to us the mystery of the Trinity; that admitted, one day, into the eternal tabernacles, he may be worthy to see how great is the fecundity of the Father, who contemplating and understanding him self, begot the Son like and equal to himself; how a love of charity in both, entirely the same and equal, which is the Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, connects the begetting and the begotten by an eternal and indissoluble bond; and that thus the essence of the Trinity is one and the distinction of the three persons perfect.
"ALMIGHTY."] The Sacred Scriptures, in order to mark the piety and devotion with which the God of holiness is to be adored, usually express his supreme power and infinite majesty in a variety of ways; but the pastor should impress particularly on the minds of the faithful, that the attribute of omnipotence is that by which he is most frequently designated. Thus he says of himself, "I am the Almighty God;" [3] and again, Jacob when sending his sons to Joseph thus prayed for them, "May my Almighty God make him favourable to you." [4] In the Apocalypse also it is written, " The Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty:" [5] and in another place the last day is called " the day of Almighty God." [6] Sometimes the same attribute is expressed in many words; thus: " no word shall be impossible with God:" [7] "Is the hand of the Lord unable?" [8] "Thy power is at hand when thou wilt." [9] Many other passages of the same import might be adduced, all of which convey the same idea which is clearly comprehended under this single word " Almighty " By it we understand that there neither is, nor can be imagined any thing which God cannot do; for he can not only annihilate all created things, and in a moment summon from nothing into existence many other worlds an exercise of power, which, however great, comes in some degree within our comprehension but he can do many things still greater, of which the human mind can form no conception. But though God can do all things, yet he cannot lie, or deceive, or be deceived; he cannot sin, or be ignorant of any thing, or cease to exist. These things are compatible with those beings only whose actions are imperfect, and are entirely incompatible with the nature of God, whose acts are all-perfect. To be capable of these things is a proof of weakness,
