A Complete Body of Divinity, Sermons · 32 (Question 7)
SERMON XXXII.
QUESTION VII.
WHAT are the DECREES of GOD?
ANSWER.
THE Decrees of God are his ETERNAL PURPOSE, according to the Counſel of his Will, whereby for his own Glory, He hath Fore-ordained whatſoever … to paſs.
OUR Catechiſm having given an Account of God's Alſufficiency, appearing in his Eſſence and Subſiſtences; is now paſſing over to the Conſideration of his Alefficiency; And for an Introduction hereinto, gives us a View of the Decree: And here indeed is the true and proper Place for the Doctrine of it to be Methodically handled; becauſe we look upon God as a Rational or Intelligent Agent, and Wiſe Artificer, who will have an Idea of his Works before him: … therefore God works in Time, we preſuppoſe that he Purpoſed ſo to do before Time. Our Catechiſm puts a Plural Word upon this Act of God, calling it his Decrees; not with reſpect to God Decreeing, for in Him it is one Eternal Act, as we may hear; but with reference to the Things Decreed, which are man fold and uncountable by us We may he…e in the Firſt place Conſider the Evidence, that there is ſuch a Decree, and then Enquire into the Nature of it, as the Word of God hath given us Light to diſcover it.
Firſt, THAT there is a Divine Decree, will appear, more particularly from Two Evidences.
1. FROM the Works of Efficiency: If there be any Works done by God, then there was a Decree for the doing of them: It is proper to a Cauſe by Counſel, and ſuch we conceive God to be, to deliberate and conclude before he Acts: Raſhneſs and Incogitancy are Defects, and not the Commendations of a Rational Agent: If therefore God doth all He purpoſed to do all; unleſs we will ſay that He doth He neither knows nor regards what; which would contradict that Infinite Wiſdom which is in Him: Hence that aſſertion, Eph. 1.11. — Who worketh all things after the counſel of his own will.
2. FROM the Conſideration of his Omnipotency. When we conſider that the Works of God wrought in Efficiency, are not natural and neceſſary, but Voluntary and Contingent; He was under no Compulſion to make a World, He did it for his Pleaſure, Rev. 4.11. — For thou haſt created all things, and for thy pleaſure they are and were created; And then remember that he is able to do every Work of Power, and therefore hath not gone to the utmoſt of his Ability, but there was the Reſidue of the Spirit with Him; it ſaith that there muſt be ſomething that made a Partition between the Poſſible Beings, which never ſhall actually be, and thoſe Future Things that ſhall in Time have Exiſtence; and what could that be but the Decree? inaſmuch as they wholly depend on his Will.
Secondly, IN the Conſideration of the Nature of the Decree; We may take up with the ſeveral Parts of the Deſcription given in the Anſwer; in which we have,
1. A … General Account of it; it is His Eternal Purpoſe; and this includes all: Here is,
1. SOMETHING in which it agrees with other Decrees; it is His Purpoſe: Now a Purpoſe ſignifieth a fixt, reſolved, determinate Reſolution about a Thing. It is therefore ſaid to be ſettled, Pſal. 119.89. For ever, O Lord, thy word is ſetled in heaven. A Purpoſe is oppoſed to Irreſolution, and Indetermination, when a Thing is under Deliberation: But He is reſolved, He knows his own Thoughts, Jer. 29.11. For I know the thot's that I think towards you, ſaith the Lord—.
2. SOMETHING in which it differs, viz. It is Eternal: In God we conceive ſome Acts to be Immanent, ſome to be Tranſient; To the Former of which his Decree appertains: It muſt needs therefore be Eternal: God never was without this Decree; It is therefore ſaid to be Forever, Pſal. 119.89. Elſe there would be a Change in God, which is contrary to his Nature, Mal. 3.6. For I am the Lord, I change not.—
II. A more Particular Account of this: In which,
(1.) THE Subject of the Decree; or the the Things decreed; Whatſoever comes to paſs; i. e. All that is wrought in his Efficiency: The Decree involves every Thing in it, and hath left nothing uncertain as to that; It extends it ſelf to all Effects and Events; Eph. 1.11. It reacheth to Sparrows, Matth. 10.29. And Hairs, Ver. 30. To Goards and Worms, Joh. 4. And as it neglects not the Leaſt things, ſo it orders the Greateſt; all Changes in Kingdoms and Monarchies, Dan. 4.32. And things moſt Eventual, Prov. 16.33. The lot is caſt into the lap: but the whole diſpoſing thereof is of the Lord. Yea, even the Arbitrary Contingent Actions of Reaſonable Creatures, Acts 2.23. Him being delivered by the determinate counſel & foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified & ſlain.
(2.) THE Influence which this Decree hath upon the Subject; it Fore-ordains Them; it Pre-determines Them. There are a vaſt Company of Poſſible Beings in the Knowledge or Underſtanding of God; the Decree appoints which of them ſhall be; and therefore by it they paſs from Poſſibility to Futurition: And it appoints, not only their Being, but the Manner of their Production, the Time, the Means; and all this Before-hand: Hence that Acts 2.23. and Chap. 4.27, 28. For of a truth againſt thy holy child Jeſus, whom thou haſt anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Iſrael were gathered together, For to do whatſoever thy hand and thy counſel determined before to be done. And this Ordination is a Firm and Immutable Determination; and therefore in the Execution of them God's Conſtancy diſcovers it ſelf: In all that He doth, he ſtands by his Decree: What He hath once purpoſed he never alters, or goes from in the leaſt, Numb. 23.19. God is not a man, that he ſhould lie, neither the ſon of man that he ſhould repent: hath he ſaid, and ſhall he not do it? or hath he ſpoken and ſhall he not make it good? (Rom. 11.29. Pſal. 102.27.) Prov. 19.21. There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheleſs the counſel of the Lord, that ſhall stand. And the Reaſon of it will anon appear.
(3.) THE Freedom or Liberty which God uſed in making this Decree; He did it according to the Counſel of his Will, Eph. 1.11. And here are Two Perfections or Attributes of God, which eminently appear in this Decree:
[1.] HIS Counſel; in which his Infinite Wiſdom appears: Counſel in our Conception, is neceſſary to a Decree, which cannot be well made without it: And God is a Cauſe by Counſel: The Decree is therefore frequently called by this Name: And it may be th… Deſcribed,
IT is His Eternal Deliberation with Himſelf, concerning the Beſt Way of effecting his own Deſigns.
1. IT is a Deliberation: This is after the Manner of Men; who in Conſulting do Deliberate about Matters: And tho' God knew from Eternity, and at firſt Sight, what was Beſt, yet is He brought in Deliberating, Gen. 1.26. And God ſaid, Let us make man in our image, after our likeneſs, &c.
2. IT is an Eternal Deliberation: For his Decrees are Eternal Projects, Acts 15.18. known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 1. Cor. 2.7. But we ſpeak the wiſdom of God in a myſtery, even the hidden wiſdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Theſe were paſt before Time had any Exiſtence.
3. IT is with Himſelf: For in that Eternity there was no other to conſult with but Himſelf; nor needed there any, He comprizing all Wiſdom in Himſelf: All ſecond Beings were … be the Product of this Counſel, and ther… none of them could be at it.
4. IT was concerning the Best Way of effecting his Deſigns. In all Counſels there is an End … Deſign propounded; and that which is the Queſtion is, How this may be Beſt brought about? So that the Nature of Counſel properly, is to be employed about the Means, tho' always with an Eye or reſpect to the End. God hath many Ways in which he could have brought about his Ends; but his Wiſdom ſets it ſelf … work, to contrive that which may Beſt … them.
NOW in this Counſel, God contrives in his Mind an Eternal Idea of all things that are to be. God having a Work to do, in the Creation and Gubernation of the World; lays out the W… Scheme of it in his Infinite Underſtanding, in which he hath a Pattern of the Whole World, and every thing in it: And this Idea muſt be Eternal, becauſe Time, and all the Things of it are contrived in it, Acts 15.18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. And there is a vaſt Depth of Wiſdom in it, Rom. 11.33. O the depth of the riches both of the wiſ… and knowledge of God! how unſearchable are his judgments, and his ways poſt finding out! There is a Double Knowledge we aſcribe to God; a Knowledge of his Alſufficiency, by which he knows his own Power, and what he can do; and in this are comprized all Poſſible Beings: And a Knowledge of his Decree, which is called a Knowledge of Viſion, in which he knows all Future Things; and this is in Scripture called his Fore-knowledge, Rom. 8.29. For whom he did foreknow, he alſo did predeſtinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. And hitherto belongs this Idea, which is nothing elſe but a knowing of what he inte… to do: For tho' in Men, the Things are the Idea, and their Knowledge is nothing elſe but the Image of the Things; yet in God his Knowledge is the Idea and the Things are the Image: They are the firſt in his Mind before they are in themſelves: N… this Idea, is but One in God; at One Perfect and Eternal View, he clearly ſees … Things that are to be, without any ſucceſſive …: They all ſtand before Him at once; For in ſeeing Himſelf he ſees all Things: And put as it hath a diverſe reſpect to the Creature, ſo it is manifold; ſo that the Idea or Rule of one Creature, is not the Idea of another; and for this reaſon it is called, The manifold wiſdom of God, Eph. 3.10. It extends not only to the Kinds and Natures of Things, but to every Individual in each Kind, and every Action and Change that belongs to it: It counts every Drop of Rain, Hail, Snow that ſhall fall, where and when; Every Thought that comes into the Mind of every Creature; and there is not the moſt minute Thing that eſcapes it; Pſal. 139.2, 3. The… knoweſt my down …t…ng, and mine up-riſing, thou underſtandeſt my thought afar …ff. Thou compaſſeſt my path, and my …ying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
[2] HIS Good Pleaſure. For though Counſel be uſed in the Preparation of a Decree, yet the Will exerts it ſelf in the Fixing of it: The Authority of that Signs and Seals it, and … makes it a Decree: And of this, we may take this Deſcription:
IT is An Act of God's Will, moſt freely and … determining in Himſelf, concerning the …ecting of all Things. Here obſerve,
1. IT is an Act of God's Will; i. e. according to our Conception, 1 Pet. 3.17. tho' it be improper; For in God, the Faculty and Act are one. But it implies he hath an Intention: The will …ts the Underſtanding on work, by intending a Thing which it will have that contrive …d ſo the Will is the Firſt Mo…er: As alſo a Determination, when the Way contrived by the Underſtanding is approved by the Will; That determines nothing, but leaves it to This, which …etting its Ro…al Signet to it makes it Authentick: For though God be Omniſcient, yet he is not Omni…ent; It is therefore called his Determinate Counſel, Acts 2.23.
2. THIS Will of God is moſt Fr… & Sovereign God acted in the Decree with the greateſt Liberty: He acted not by Neceſſity; For there is no Dependance of the Being of God upon that of the Creature: He might have done as well without thoſe that be, as without thoſe: Poſſible …, that ſhall never be: Nor hath He any Obligation to the Creature, which He willed to …: If God had never willed the Creature to be, He had not injured it in the leaſt; being no otherwiſe obliged than as he hath … Himſelf, Rom. 11.34, 35.—Or who hath … his counſeller? Or who hath firſt given to … — And if he had not been …r…e; there had been no room for Counſel: Neceſſary Things muſt be, and therefore need no Deliberation … them.
3 THIS Will of God is most Efficacious. This Decree, by reaſon of it, puts a certain Fu… into things, Pſal. 135.6. Whatſoever the Lord pleaſed, that did he in heaven, and in earth, … the ſe…s, and all deep places. His Will …ngs all Things ordained by Him into Actual Exiſtence in the due Seaſon, without fail: His Operative Will doth but ſay, Let ſuch Things be, and they are, Gen. 1.
4. HENCE this Will of God, is the Firſt, Cauſe of all Things. If the Reaſon of the Being of Things be followed up to the Top, we muſt find it in the Decree; and in that we ſhall find them to have been determined by God's Will; Inſtrumental and … Cauſes there may be many, which he Wills to improve in the Execution of his Decree; But this is the higheſt cauſe of all: Hence was the Creation, Rev 4.11. The… art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour and power: … thou haſt created all things, and for thy pleaſure they are, and were created, The New-birth. Ja…. 1.18. Of his own will … us by the word of truth—.The Application of Mercy, Rom 9.18. Therefor… hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he …ardeweth. Hence He is guided by no Proviſion in the Creature.
5. HENCE the Will of God is without Cauſe; or there can no proper Reaſon be given why he Wills: I mean any Thing without Himſelf, determining his Will: There can be nothing greater than the Will of God, for it is Infinite; Nor before it, for it is Eternal. Matth. 11.25, 26. At that time Jeſus anſwered and ſaid, I thank th…, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, …o cauſe thou haſt … th…ſe things from the wiſe and ponders, and haſt revealed there was a …es. … …o Father, for ſo it ſecured good in thy ſight. There may be a Reaſon of God's Will given, in reſpect of the Creature willed; He may Will the Exiſtence of One for Another, and all have their Ends; ſo that if we ask why God made the …, &c. But if we ask what moved and enclined God's Will, &c. we muſt ſay, Nothing but his Will.
6. THE Object of this Decreeing Will, is all Things in Efficiency. It concerns the effecting of all things; There is nothing eſcapes it, as we have already heard.
7. THIS Will makes the Decree unalterable. It engageth God in Conſtancy to ſee to the Execution of all Things juſt as they … determined: Hence that, Job 23.13. But he is in one mind, and who can t…r… him? and when his ſoul deſireth, even that he doeth. It therefore cannot, ſhall not be fruſtrated: If anything have poſt under this Act, it ſtands ratified, and God abides firm by it, and all the Creation ſhall not turn him away, Iſa. 43.1…. Yea, before the day was, I am b…; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who ſhall let it?
8. YET this Will lays …o forcible Neceſſity o… the Creature; but only a Certainty as to the …. Things ſhall be as it hath determined; and yet the Freedom of Cauſes by Counſel is no whit infringed by it, but ratified; becauſe in it, God hath purpoſed that Free Agents ſhall Act freely: As to the Event, Chriſt's Bones could not be broken, and yet there was no Neceſſity Cogent laid on the Souldiers.
(4.) THE Great & Univerts End of the …; it is for h…s own Glory. Every Wiſe …nt hath an End in is Working, and that …d is in his Eye when he lays out his Work: …w elſe ſhall he be able to accommodate it …ght? For that being to be a Mean to the End, …ot be ſo without a ſutableneſs for it: Now … there are ſeveral ſubordinate Ends of Crea…es, one being made for another; yet all and very one of them are ultimately for God: That …d made all for himſelf is certain, Prov. 16.4. … Lord …th ma…e all things for himſelf: yea, even the worked for the day of evil. And if ſo, then He purpoſed thus to do: God is the Beſt Agent, and muſt have the Beſt End: end there can be Nothing better than His G…: This then is that to which other ends are but means: Hither then all God's Deſigns drive; Eph. 1.5, 6. Having predeſtinated us unto the …p…i…n of children by Jeſus Chriſt to himſelf, according to the good pleaſure of his well, To the praiſe of the glory of his grace—. And therefore the Wiſdom of all is to be judged of according as it ſerves to the Advancement of this.
USE 1. INFORMATION, Learn hence,
1. THAT there are no Events Caſual in reſped of God. To us it is true, Time & Chance happen to all Things: They come to paſs by unſeen Ways, and unknown Accidents: But in reſpect of God it is not ſo: There can Nothing fall out either beſides his Knowledge or Intention; For it is his Decree that gives Being to all Events, and the Things that are, had never been if he had not Purpoſed them; Joſeph's Vendition into AEgypt had not come to paſs, if God had not Fore-ordain'd it, &c. Gen. 45.5, 7. Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with year ſelves, that ye ſold me …ither: for God did ſend me before you, to preſerve life.— And God ſent me before you, to preſerve you a poſterity in the earth, and to ſave your lives by a great deliverance.
2. THAT all Things that come to paſs, are the Product of Infinite Wiſdom. God doth all, and he doth it according to Counſel. We are ready to find ſome Flaw in God's Providence, and think we could mend many things; but remember, all Things are ordered by the Counſel, not of Men or Angels, but of God, who doth nothing raſhly: The higheſt and moſt dreadful Wheels are full of Eyes, Ezek. 1.18. As to the Creature, ſometimes Things might have been better, Matth. 26.24. The son of man goeth as it is written of him: but wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed: it had been good for that man if be had not been born. But as to the Great End, which ſwallows up all elſe, viz. The Glory of God, all is beſt; and if we do not ſee it, it is our Ignorance.
3. THAT no Decrees of God can be Unrighteous, but all are Juſt & Holy. His Sacred and Divine Will … the Rule of the Decree … is alſo the Rule of all things. He who W…s things becauſe they ſeem Good in his ſ…ght, and is not any way accountable; He w…ſe Will is Supream and Holy: He cannot errors do amiſs. It is therefore Impudent B…dneſs for us to find Fault with Him for any thing
USE 2. LET the Doctrine of the D…r…s, teach us theſe Pr…cal L…s:
1. TO ſee our Nothingneſs witho… God; How out of Him we are Nothing: It was him Decree that gave us ou… Being: He accounts … Nothing. Iſa. 4….15, 1… …id, the … was are as a …r…p of a …ket, …d are …ted at the ſ… duſt of the becauſe: behold be …keth of the … as a very little thing.—All … was before him are …s …th…g; and they are …ed to him …eſs then nothing, and vanity. Let us c…nt our ſelves ſo. As Creatures we are …cer Effects of his Good Pleaſure: When we are liſted up in Ourſelves, let us look on the Poſſible E…gs, which never ſhall be, and remember it is the Decree that put all the Difference between Us and Them: We came from Nothing, and had been Nothing ſtill, but for this.
2. TO above the Wiſdom of God in … Things that fall out in the World, and that beſ… U… in particular. We are apt to Cavil; but remember, Infinite Counſel ordered them; That ſatisfied Him, Job 23.14. For be p…rjorm… the thing thus is appointed for we: and many ſ… things are with him. The Reaſon why we ſ… not the Wiſdom of them, is, Partly becauſe being Creatures we cannot fathom the Wiſdom of the Creator: and as ſinful Creatures we are b…nd and prejudiced: Partly becauſe we forget the End they ultimately aim at, and meaſure them by ſuch as we allot them; and Partly that Pride, having an high Opinion of our own Wiſdom, which is indeed Fooliſhneſs.
3. TO Sanctify God in all our Changes: Let us to this End acknowledge his hand in all; neither aſcribing them to Chance, as if they fell out beſide the Intention of the Firſt Cauſe, which is a Blaſphemy againſt Providence; nor looking too much upon Inſtruments, either in Good … Evil, forgetting their Abſolute Sub…rdinacy … the Firſt Cauſe, but acknowledge his and, ſending and diſpoſing of all: And let us Acknowledge his Sovereign Prerogative to Order all … he ſees meet; that He is Lord, and hath a Liberty to determine of all Things at Pleaſure: And hence learn quietly to Submit to the al-diſpoſing hand of God: Let that ſilence us in every Thing, It is the Lords Will: Pſal. 38.13, 14. and 39.9. Remember, He is the Potter, and we are the Clay, &c.
4. TO Commend all to Him; not anxiouſly fearing what may come to paſs; believing all ſhall be as He hath in Wiſdom appointed.
[JULY 15. 1690.]