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aSAM. Xa.IV.3

AND

THE

USE OT

IT.

296

Spirit,

may signify his

gifts,

graces,,

and

influences,

yet

-this

does

not

at

all

derogate

from

the true and

eternal

godhead,

which

is

plainly

ascribed

to

the Holy Spirit

in

other

places.

Here

note,

though

it

is

hard

to

determine

always with

certainty,

when

the Holy Ghost,

or

Spirit

of

God,

signi-

fies

the divine

Agent

himself,

and

when

it

denotes

his

influences

;

yet there

are

some.

texts, wherein the sense

is

plain and evident.

Proposition

XIII:

Though the

Son,

and Spirit,

are

true

God,

as well as

the

Father, yet

all

our

divines

uni-

versally acknowledge,

that

the language

of

scripture

seems to ascribe söme

sort

of

peculiar

eminence,

or spe-

cial prerogative,

to

the

Father,

in

such respects

as

these.

i, The

Father,

as

I

hinted

before,

is

always repro-,

rented

as

the

first

and chief Agent

in

creation,

in

provi-

dence,

and

in

the

affairs

of

salvation

;

the

Father

is

de-

scribed and exhibited

as

acting

by his

Son,

or Word,

and

by

his

Spirit,

as

sending them,

and

employing,

or

using them, as

mediums

of

his

agency

:

Whereas the

Son,

and Spirit, are never

represented

as

chief

Agents,

in comparison

with

the

Father;

nor are

they said, in this

manner, to

act

by

the

Father, or

to send,

or

use,

and

employ

him as

such

a

medium

of

their acting.

When

the name

of God

is

used absolutely in

scrip-

ture,

it

generally relates

to

the

Father. This

appears'

in

innumerable instances

:

As,

for example, where

Christ

is

called the

Son

of God, the

word

God

plainly

signifies

the

Father:

And indeed,

this

idea

of

God,

as ,the

Father, or

prime

Agent,

is

much the most

frequent and general

sense

of

the word

God,

in

the

Old

and New Testament,

as all men confess.

3.

The Father

is

described

as

the only

true God, as

the one

God,

even the

Father

;

and

that

in such

scrip-

tures, where the

Son,

or

Spirit,

are

named,

and plainly

distinguished from

him

;

John

xvii.

3.

Christ saith

to

his

Father

;

"

This

is

life

eternal,

to know

thee

the only

true

God,

and

Jesus

Christ, whom

thou hast

sent

;"

Eplr.

iv.

6.

"

There

is

one body, one Spirit, one Lord.

one

God

and

Father of

all."

1

Cor.

viii.

6.

"

To

us'

there

is

but

one

God, the Father,

of

whom

are

all things,

aad

one

Lord

Jesus

Christ, by whom are all

-

thins."