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the supposition that the divine government, so far as punish. ment is concerned, is completely analogous to human go vernments. There is, however, a wide and obvious distinction between the procedure of human governments and the procedure of the Most High.

12. God is infinitely good. Though all the perfections of God are his glory, yet this is particularly so called; for when Moses earnestly desired to behold the glory of Jeho vah, the Lord said, "I will make all my goodness pass be fore thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee." "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth," &c. Exod. xxxiii. 18, 19, and xxxiv. 6. The goodness of God is distinguished by different names, according to the different aspects in which it is viewed, or the different objects about which it is exercised. When it relieves the miserable, it is called mercy; when it confers favours on the undeserving, or on those who deserve nothing but what is evil, it is called grace; when it supplies the wants of indigent beings, it is called bounty; when it forbears to execute punishment upon provoking rebels, it is called patience or long-suffering. The goodness of God is, therefore, a very comprehensive term; it includes all the forms of his kindness towards men, whether considered as creatures, as sinners, or as saints. But we may describe it generally as that property of the divine Being which disposes him to communicate happiness to his creatures, as far as is consistent with his other perfections.

Innumerable are the instances in which God has manifested his goodness. What but goodness could prompt him to give being to so many creatures, when he stood in no need of them, being infinitely happy in the enjoyment of himself? What goodness does he display in upholding innumerable creatures in existence, and in making ample provision for their wants? But the most astonishing display of this, as well as of all the other perfections of Deity, is in the redemption of sinners. In the contrivance of the plan, and in the execution of it from first to last, God appears good in a manner and to a degree that astonishes the inhabitants both of earth and of heaven. The goodness of God, as manifested in this work, is usually expressed by the

term love; and the love herein displayed surpasses knowledge. John iii. 16.

The goodness of God may be considered as absolute and relative, as it is in himself, and as it is exercised towards his creatures. Ps. cxix. 68. It may also be considered as common and special. Of his goodness, in the former view, his creatures promiscuously are partakers. Ps. xxxii. 5, cxlv. 9. Of his goodness, in the latter view, his chosen people are partakers. Ps. cvi. 5.

13. God is infinitely true and faithful. The truth of God is that perfection of his nature whereby it is impossible for him not to fulfil whatever he hath spoken. He is "a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." Whatever God hath spoken, whether in a way of promise or of threatening, he will, sooner or later, infallibly accomplish. "It is impossible for God to lie." No difficulties can arise to render a performance of his word impracticable; and he is not liable to a change of mind. Numb. xxiii. 19. We may, therefore, be confidently assured, that, "there shall not fail one good word of all that the Lord our God hath spoken."

How blessed are they, who upon good grounds can call this all-perfect Being their Father and their God! How miserable those who live "without God in the world!" and what a "fearful thing" must it be to "fall into the hands of the living God!" That we may escape this misery, and possess the happiness of those "whose God is the Lord," let us unreservedly yield ourselves to God, through Christ, and take him to be our portion for ever. May the unfeigned language of every reader be, "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee."

SECTION III-In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.38 The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father 39 the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.40

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38 1 John v. 7. Matt. iii. 16, 17; xxviii. 19. 2 Cor. xiii. 14.

39 John i. 14, 18.

40 John xv. 26. Gal. iv 6.

We are here taught-First, That in the one Godhead

there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Secondly, That these three are distinguished by their personal properties. Thirdly, That each of these sons is truly God.

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1. That in the one Godhead there are three persons, is affirmed in opposition to the Anti-trinitarians, who maintain that God is one in respect of personality as well as of essence. The term which has been chosen to express the doctrine now under consideration is Trinity. This word is not to be found in Scripture, but it is a very appropriate and happy term to express this profound mystery. It is a compound Latin word, signifying three in unity; that is, three distinct persons in one undivided Godhead. The adversaries of this doctrine now call themselves Unitarians, by which they mean to intimate their belief of only one God, and insinuate that those who believe the doctrine of the Trinity must admit more than one God. But we maintain, as strongly as they, that there is only one God, and we think it perfectly consistent with this belief, to acknowledge three persons in the Godhead. This, indeed, is a mystery, but there is nothing in it absurd, or contradictory to reason. We do not say that three are one in the same sense and in the same respect in which they are three; that would, no doubt, be a plain contradiction in terms. But we say, they are three in one respect, one in another respect;—three in person, one in essence; and there is no absurdity in that at all. It surpasses our reason, indeed, fully to understand it; and so do a thousand things besides, which yet we know are true and real. But, if it be a doctrine clearly revealed in the sacred Scriptures, we are bound to believe it, however incapable we may be of comprehending it.

Before proceeding to establish the doctrine, we must explain the terms employed. The word Godhead signifies the divine nature. This is a scriptural term. Rom. i. 20; Col. ii. 9. In the Scriptures, and agreeably to them, in our Confession, Godhead denotes that infinite, eternal, and unchange able nature, or essence, which is not peculiar to the Father, or the Son, or the Holy Ghost, but common to all the three. The distinction in the Godhead is characterized by the word person. This term, in the common acceptation, denotes “a separate and independent being, whose existence and actions have no necessary connexion with the existence and actions any other being. It has been defined to be a thinking

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substance, which can act by itself, or an intelligent agent, who is neither a part of, nor sustained by another." But this term, when applied to the Sacred Three, is not to be underderstood in exactly the same sense as when applied to creatures. The cases are totally dissimilar. "Three human persons have the same specific nature, but three divine persons have the same numerical nature. Anti-trinitarians affirm, that, by holding three divine persons, we necessarily make three Gods, because they most unfairly maintain, in the face of our solemn protestations, that we affix the same idea to the word person which it bears when used in reference to men. But we deny that it has this meaning. We do not teach there are three distinct essences mysteriously conjoined; that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit possess, each of them separately from the others, a divine nature and divine perfections. What we believe is this, that there is a distinction in the Godhead, to which there is nothing similar in creatures, who are one in every sense of the term; and we employ the word person to express that distinction. It may be objectionable, because, being applied to other be ings, it is apt to suggest an idea which is inconsistent with the unity of God; but this is the unavoidable consequence of the imperfection of human language; and we endeavour to guard against the abuse by declaring that, in this application, it must be qualified so as to exclude a separate existence. When we say that there are three persons in the Godhead, the word person signifies a distinction which we do not pretend to explain, but which does not intrench upon the unity of essence.

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The doctrine of the Trinity is not discoverable by the light of nature, or by unassisted reason. It can only be known by divine revelation, and it is amply confirmed by the Holy Scriptures. There are many passages in the Old Testament which prove a plurality of persons in the Godhead; such as those passages in which one divine person is introduced as speaking of or to another. To these we can only refer. Gen. i. 26, iii. 22, xi. 7; Ps. xlv. 6, 7, cx. 1; Isa. vi. 8. All these texts plainly point out a plurality of persons in the Godhead. But it is evident from Scripture, not only that there is a plurality, but also that there is a Trinity, or only three persons in the Godhead. This is plain

* Dick's Lectures on Theology, vol. ii., pp. 64, 65.

from Isa. lxi. 1, where our Divine Redeemer thus speaks: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me," &c. Here one divine person is the speaker; he speaks of another divine person, whom he styles the Spirit; and of a third divine person, whom he calls the Lord God. The work of creation is ascribed to the agency of three distinct persons, Ps. xxxiii. 6: "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Here three are distinctly pointed out, the Father; the Word, or the Son of God; and the breath of his mouth, which can be no other than the Holy Spirit. But in the New Testament this doctrine is still more explicitly revealed. In the history of our Lord's baptism we have a plain intimation of the mystery of the Trinity. Matt. iii. 16, 17. The Father, by an audible voice from heaven, bears testimony to the incarnate Redeemer; the Son, in human nature, is baptized by John; and the Holy Spirit descends upon him in a visible manner. Hence the primitive Christians used to say to any who doubted the truth of this doctrine, "Go to Jordan, and there you will see the Trinity." Plainer still is this truth from the form of words appointed to be used in Christian baptism: "Baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Matt. xxviii. 19. To baptize in the name of one, is to baptize by his authority, and dedicate to his service. This is competent only to a divine person. Now, if the Father, in whose name we are baptized, be a person, so must the Son and the Holy Ghost, for we are baptized in their name, as well as in the name of the Father. The apostolical benediction furnishes another proof of a Trinity; "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all." 2 Cor. xiii. 14. "This is evidently a prayer, which it would be impiety and idolatry to address to any other but God. Yet three persons are distinctly addressed, and consequently are recognized as possessed of divine perfections; as knowing our wants, and hearing our requests, and able to do what we ask; as the fountain of all the blessedness implied in the terms, grace, love, and communion." We have a most explicit testimony to this doctrine, 1 John v. 7, "There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." The genuineness of this text has been much

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