What do you mean when you say, God is a Spirit? By a spirit I mean, God is an immaterial substance, of a pure, subtile, unmixed essence, not compounded of body and soul, without all extension of parts. The body is a dreggish thing. The more spiritual God's essence, the more noble and excellent it is. The spirits are the more refined part of the wine.

The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

See the wonderful goodness of God, who, besides the light of nature, has committed to us the sacred Scriptures. The heathen are enveloped in ignorance. Psalm 147:20 'As for his judgments they have not known them.' They have the oracles of Sybils, but not the writings of Moses and the apostles. How many live in the region of death, where this bright star of Scripture never appeared!

The impartiality of those men of God who wrote the Scriptures, who do not spare to set down their own failings. What man that writes a history would black his own face, by recording those things of himself that might stain his reputation? Moses records his own impatience when he struck the rock, and tells us, he could not on that account enter into the land of promise. David relates his own adultery and bloodshed, which stands as a blot in his escutcheon to succeeding ages.

QII: What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him? A: The Word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Man's chief end is to enjoy God for ever. Psalm 73:25 'Whom have I in heaven but Thee?' That is, What is there in heaven I desire to enjoy but thee? There is a twofold fruition or enjoying of God; the one is in this life, the other in the life to come.

We glorify God, by praising Him. Doxology, or praise, is a God-exalting work. (Psalm 50:23) 'Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me'. The Hebrew word Bara, to create, and Barak, to praise, are little different, because the end of creation is to praise God.

It is glorifying God when we aim purely at his glory. It is one thing to advance God's glory, another thing to aim at it. God must be the Terminus ad quem, the ultimate end of all actions. Thus Christ, John viii 50, "I seek not mine own glory but the glory of him that sent me.'

What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. The glorifying of God and the enjoying of God. '..that God in all things may be glorified..' (1 Peter 4:11) The glory of God is a silver thread which we must run through all our actions. 'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' (1 Corinthians 10:31).

'If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled.' (Colossians 1:23) Intending next Lord's day to enter upon the work of catechising, it will not be amiss to give you a preliminary discourse, to show you how needful it is for Christians to be well instructed in the grounds of religion.