L 'good for me that I have been afflicted; that I 6 might learn thy statutes.' His Truth is that whereby he is perfectly faithful, and free from all Falsehood, Tit. i. 2. 'In hope of eternal life, which • God that cannot lye, promised before the world ' began.' Quest. 5. Are there more Gods than one? Ans. There is but One only, the living and true God. EXPLICATION. God is called the living God, to diftinguish him from dead Idols; and the true God, to distinguish him from all false Gods. 1 Theff. i. 9. ' Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God.' He is the living God, in that all Life is in him, and from him, I Tim. vi. 13. • God, who quickeneth all things. To be the true God, is to be God truly and really; and not in Name only, or in the Opinion of Men. Now, there is but one true God: 1 Cor. viii. 4. We know that 6 an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is ' none other God but one." And Reason teaches, that there can be no more than one, in that there can be but one most perfect Being. So the gods many, mentioned 1 Cor. viii. 5. are Gods in Name only, or in the Opinion of their blinded Worshippers. Quest. 6. How many Persons are there in the Godhead? Ans. at 1 that all Anf. There are three Persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the wich Holy Ghost: And these three are one Go!, the fame in Substance, equal in Power and Glory. orld 111 EXPLICATION. By the Godhead is meant the divine Nature. A. Perfon in the Godhead, is the Godhead diftinguished by perfonal Properties. The Godhead is one only in Number: But the Persons in the Godhead are three; and they are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: 1 John v. 7. that bear record in heaven, the Father, the 'For there are three Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Jesus Christ is the second of these Perfons, namely, the Son. And the Father is true God: The Son is frue God: And the Holy Ghost is true God. Yet they are not three Gods, but one God, 1 John v. 7. forecited. Howbeit, the Godhead neither is, nor can be divided into Parts: But each of the three Persons hath the one whole indivisible Godhead. They are not then of a like Substance only, but the very fame in Substance. But they are diftinguished by their personal Properties. And it is the personal Property of the Father, to beget the Son: Heb. i. 5. For unto which of the angels faid he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall 'be to me a Son?" And it is the perfonal Property of the Son, to be begotten of the Father: John i. 14. ८ 1. 14. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.' And it is the personal Property of the Holy Ghost, to proceed from the Father and the Son: John xv. 26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceed. 'eth from the Father, he shall testify of me. Gal. iv. 6. And because ye are fons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. The Son and the Holy Ghost are not below the Father, but equal with him: They are all equally powerful and glorious. So the perfonal Properties make no Inequality among them; forasmuch as these Properties are not temporary and accidental, but eternal and necessary, and could not but be: And every one of the three Persons, is the eternal, the supreme, the most high God. This appears, in that to the Son and the Holy Ghost, as well as to the Father, is ascribed the peculiar Name of the true God, the Most High: If. vi. 3. And one cried unto ano ther, and faid, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." John xii. 41. These things faid Efaias, when he faw his glory, and spake of him.' Acts xxviii. 25. 26. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Efaias the prophet, unto our fathers, saying, &c. Pfal. lxxxiii. 18. That men may know, ' that thou whose name alone is JEHOVAH, art the Most High over all the earth.' And his At tributes are ascribed to them: Rev. i. 8. 'I am Al• pha 2 T d e e S fpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, faith the Lord, which is, and which was, and *** which is to come, the Almighty.' Pfal. cxxxix. 7. 'Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whi ther shall I flee from thy presence?" Likewife his Works: John i. 3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made 'that was made. Matth. xii. 28. But if I caft out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of 'God is come unto you.' And also his Worship: 'Heb. i. 8. But unto the Son he faith, Thy throne, 'O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.' Matth. xxviii. 19. Goye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of 'the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' Quest. 7. What are the Decrees of God? Anf. The Decrees of God are, his eternal Purpose, according to the Counsel of his Will, whereby, for his own Glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pafs. EXPLICATION. By the Decrees of God is meant his Purpose foreordaining what should come to pass. God hath foreordained in his Decrees, whatsoever have obras aheritance, being predestinated pass: Eph. i. 11. In whom also we comes to according ' according to the purpose of him who worketh • all things after the counsel of his own will." Even the most free Acts of the Creature, and the most cafual Things, are foreordained of God: Prov. xxi. 1. 'The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it ' whitherfoever he will. Chap. xvi. 33. 'The lot ' is cast into the lap: but the whole difpofing there* of is of the Lord." Yea, evil Actions, as well as good ones, fall within the Compafs of his Decree : Acts ii. 23. Him, being delivered by the deter⚫minate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have cruci fied and flain: But with this Difference, that he decreed his effecting of Good, and his permitting of Ill. Now, whatsoever God hath foreordained, infallibly comes to pass: And his Decrees are unchangeable: If. xlvi. 10. 'Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, faying, My counsel shall ' stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Yet Men have no Excuse for their Sin, from the Decree of God, Acts ii. 23. above cited: For they fin out of free Choice, without the least Knowledge of, or Force upon them from the Decree: Alts xiii. 27. For they that dwell at Jerufalem, and their ' rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the ' voices of the prophets which are read every 'fabbath-day, they have fulfilled them in con' demning him.' The Design and End of God's Decrees is his own Glory: Rom. xi. 36. For of 'him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever: And therefore he will certainly get Glory of whatsoever comès to pass, If. xlvi. 10. forecited. As to finful Actions, he |