sins in order before thee. Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver-When thou criest let thy companies," the idols, thy gods with whom thou hast been inflaming thyself, let them, "deliver thee: but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain." Thus saith the Lord.

Q. 11. By what general names does God call those same idols of theirs, their forged or counterfeit gods?

A. By names expressing the highest contempt and indignation; such as shame, abominations, dunghilgods, dungy gods, no gods, stocks, stones, vanities, devils-"And their worshippers are like unto them.' Of this bear witness all the holy prophets and apostles.

Q. 12. Whatever are the names, general or particular, of those same idols or no gods, acknowledged and worshipped in the world, is not the god or object which the idolators (even all who know not the true God) worship, upon the matter, and in effect, the very same precise thing, god, or object, even the devil?

A. Yes. "For the whole world," that is, all who know not the true God, "lieth in wickedness," in the power of Satan, who is "the god of this world, the spirit that ruleth in the hearts of the children of disobedience,' or unbelief-" whose glory is in their shame, whose end is destruction, who are enemies of the cross of Christ, who mind earthly things, and who are of their father the devil, whose lusts they will do;" as the Holy Ghost hath abundantly testified.

"What say I then? that an idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But this I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. Ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?

ye

Are we stronger than he?—He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad-No man can serve two masters; for either he will love the one, and hate the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other-Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Thus saith the

Lord.

It is manifest from all this, that idolaters, (even all who believe not in the Three who bear record in heaven, who are One,) of every nation and denomination under the sun, whatever name of things, animate or inanimate, description, or definition, they give to that which they call their god, are, in the account of God, worshippers of the devil-and it is the devil who sets up those same abominations in their heart, and inclines them to adore himself under the very form and character of their respective idols, as if it were the form and character of the true God, whose name, and some of whose attributes, that father of lies so subtilely and audaciously, through divine permission, for holy purposes, usurps and assumes to himself, whensoever he finds means to take away the word of God from the heart, whereby alone the true God can be known-and so the gospel of the knowledge of the glory of God is hid from the eyes of them who believe not-who, being blinded by Satan, are lost.

IDOLATERS GIVE THE GLORY OF GOD TO DEVILS.

Q. 13. Did the idolaters of old, whether Jewish or heathenish, universally ascribe to what they called their gods, several of those works and attributes which the word of God assures us are only the ресиliar works and attributes of the One true God?

A. Yes. For they said of the golden calf, for instance, "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." They sacrificed and prayed to Baal, saying, "Baal, Baal, hear us." They said to a stock, "thou hast begotten me," to a

stone, "thou art my father." They poured out drinkofferings to the king and queen of heaven, with all their host, and thanked them for giving corn, wine, and oil, and making it well with them. For proof of this, witness all the prophets of the Lord; to whom you may add all the prophets of the hill and grove, with every idol-worshipper under the sun-all, all of the same spirit, then, and now; there is no difference, ancient and modern just the same!

Q. 14. Since then they acknowledged and attributed to their idols many of the works and attributes that belong only to the True God, did they not really and truly know and worship the True God, under the name, form, and character, of their own peculiar idols?

A. The Holy Ghost, by the mouth of all his inspired servants, says, No. For it must be eternally and universally true what Jehovah saith; "I am God and there is none else. There is no God besides me. My glory will I not give to another, nor my praise to graven images." Particularly and expressly the idolaters of Israel are upbraided, "Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness, for the space of forty years, O house of Israel? but ye have borne the tabernacle of your Molech and Chiun, your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity-saith the Lord, whose name is the God of Hosts." observe, The only judge of such matters, the Lord God, has given his verdict against such false worshippers. Their devotion is whoredom with idols; and whoredom with idols can never be the knowledge and love of God. What! was it indeed the golden calf, because the idolaters lied, and said so, that brought up the children of Israel, with on outstretched hand, and a mighty arm? And when they proclaimed a feast, and said, "These be thy gods O Israel"-were they indeed in the knowledge and praise of the Lord God of Israel? For shame! who but a devil, or a child of the devil, will

Here

say it? Was it verily a matter of truth, that Baal, Ithobaal, Jupiter, Bel, Nebo, Molech, or Beelzebub, who preserved and governed the world, because the devil taught some one or other, or all of the nations at times to believe and say so? and they worshipped accordingly. Or shall we say, that they who acknowledged such names for God, were actually acknowledging the One True God? If they say, they acknowledged a god, though not the True God Jehovah, and from thence infer, that they had the knowledge of God; they are arrant triflers and blasphemers, seeing God is One. And what a god is that, which is not the God?

O eternal God, how these men blaspheme, who say, that men can know thee of themselves, by their own reason and philosophical pride, without thy word, in some shape or other, communicating such knowledge! How have they taken thy own revealed character and majesty, and attributed the same to devils; and yet would have us to believe, that they still are attributing them to thee! Lord, vindicate thy own name, and preserve thy own elect from idols! Amen.

THE ESSENTIAL CHARACTER OR NAME OF GOD.

Q. 15. Seeing there is only One God, and all others called by his name are not God, but lies and impostures, what are those revealed, essential, peculiar, and distinguishing properties, attributes, qualities, or perfections, the complex idea or notion whereof taken together, gives us the only true and incommunicable CHARACTER of the One God, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures; whereby, upon a comparison, we may be able to discover every pretended deity or idol, with a Mene mene tekel written upon the forehead thereof, that so we may not unawares be betrayed into the worship and service of an idol or devil, instead of the living and true God?

A. Fully to answer this question would be to transcribe the whole book of God; and thither every noble

Berean will repair. But the following select particulars, and every one of them separately, all of scripture verity, are sufficient, if they are kept uncorrupted, and clear of any foreign mixture, infallibly to characterize, ascertain, and distinguish the one living and true God from every possible counterfeit or pretender to that holy and ever-blessed name. Namely, 1. God is one. 2. This One is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From everlasting to everlasting, who was, and is, and is to come; the First and the Last. 4. Unchangeable, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, without any variableness or shadow of turning. 5. Incomprehensible and infinite in himself, independent, self-existent, self-sufficient, whose name is, I AM. 6. Every-where present filling all things. 7. Knowing all things. 8. Able to do all things; who can stay his working hand, or say unto him, What dost thou? 9. The only living and true. 10. Perfectly and only wise. 11. Perfectly and only holy. 12. Perfectly and only just. 13. Perfectly and only good and merciful. 14. Perfectly and only faithful. 15. Absolute and sovereign. 16. The Just God and the Saviour, besides whom there is no God-Of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

Here observe, That these now mentioned, and every other attribute or property of the divine nature, being absolutely perfect, infinite and eternal in themselves, are not like so many separate and distinct qualities, or virtues, in a creature; though it hath pleased infinite wisdom to condescend to our capacities, and accommodate himself to our apprehension, by speaking to us of himself after the manner of men: so that wisdom and power, which, to our apprehension, in their own nature, and by any faint resemblance of them which may be found in a creature, seem to be different, are by no means different in God, but precisely the same; God being all wisdom; wisdom all power; each of those perfections which in our language we call attributes, qualities, or properties, being fully com