begetter and the begotten do sometimes differ in the genus sometimes in the species or kind in Divine Things they differ only in the modus or manner This Generation is without any Motion hath no beginning nor ending because he that begets and he that is begotten are Coeternal What we say of the Son may be affirmed of the Holy Ghost who is from the Father and from the Son by way of procession not as to the Nature but as to the Person for the Essence and Self-being of the Holy Ghost is just the same with that of the Father and of the Son he is Self-God Actually though not Originally Essentially though not Personally Now these Three Persons of the Godhead are distinguished by their Names Orders Attributes and Workings which Distinctions do not prejudice either the Unity or Simplicity of Essence for it is not composed of Persons which are not before it either in Time or Order but every one hath the whole Essence neither can the Persons be said to be composed of the Essence because it is not before the Persons neither doth the manner of subsisting induce any Composition into the Essence only a Distinction and is said to modificate not to multiply it Now the modus or manner is here improperly taken for commonly 't is posterior to the Subject it doth modifie But in this it is not so there is not in the Persons of the most Holy Trinity such a real Distinction as is between Things and Things for the Person is not a different Thing from the Divine Essence but 't is the very Essence with the manner of subsisting In some natural Things the manner of them is hard and sometimes impossible to be understood Can a Man upon sure Grounds find out how Grass and Corn grows How the Wind is formed Whence it comes and whither it goes and several such things in Nature we no ways doubt but that there are in the World those who pretend to know all things and pretend for most things to give Reasons such as they are But can a Man know how he himself was made and formed How his Soul came to be united to his Body This Ignorance in common Matters we daily see and feel to be in our selves and what must it be in those Spiritual and High Ones which are such as no Eye hath seen nor Ear hath heard nor ever entered into the Heart of Man and which 't is impossible for the Wit of Man to conceive which Consideration should curb the Idle Curiosity of vain Men who as with a little short Line would with their shallow Brains fathom the bottomless and unsearchable Depths of these adorable Mysteries when with the Apostle * 2 Cor. 12.4 that was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable Words they should cry out †Rom. 11.33 O the depth that cannot be fathomed Yet to shew we are not altogether unacquainted with the Notions and Hypotheses of others about these Matters in a stammering manner let us say that the ‖ Psal 147 5. infinite Vnderstanding of God never is or was Idle and as it is his very Being so from all Eternity it ever was taken up and this Understanding of God being All in All it cannot meet with any thing but himself so it did understand and conceive it self as in a Looking-Glass a Man doth conceive and beget a perfect Image of his own Face so God in beholding and minding of himself doth in himself beget a most lively and perfect Image of himself and this in the Blessed Trinity is the Son of God who is called * Heb. 1 3. the perfect Image of God just as if we may use such Comparisons Wax upon a Seal hath the engraven Form of the Seal so the Son of God whom his Father hath begotten of his own Understanding is the very Form of his Father's Understanding and when one is seen the other is seen also as he saith to Philip †Joh. 14.9 he who hath seen me hath seen the Father and under the Name of Wisdom he saith when there were no Depths and before the Mountains were settled ‖ Prov. 8.23 24 25. I was brought forth And as in God's Essence there is an Understanding so there is * Isa 46.10 a Will and by this Will God according to his own Mind applies his Power where when and how he thinks good and as his Understanding doth so his Will everlastingly works upon himself as it hath no other Thing to work upon but it self it delighteth it self in the Infinite Goodness which it knoweth in it self and that Delight which God or his Will hath in its own Infinite Goodness produces a Subsistance in God which is the Holy Ghost and that mutual Love whereby the Father takes Delight in his Son which is his own Image conceived by his Understanding and the Son likewise rejoyceth in his Father now this Action of the Will when it is fulfilled is Liking and Love as when a Man looketh in a Glass if he smiles his Image doth so too and if it takes Delight in it it takes the same in him for they are both One and from these Two doth result the Third all Three are in One Face of One Face and but One Face Thus if we will make use of our Reason in these Mysterious and Incomprehensible Matters we must stutter and stammer wherefore the best is chiefly and only to stand to and depend upon the Revelation thereof that God hath made in his Word beyond which Men ought not to presume for in Matters of so High a Concernment to speak true and certain Things there is some Danger of the contrary Herein we can give no Examples because there is nothing like God we have no natural Grounds and Principles positively to prove these Truths all Comparisons from the Sun the Soul the Rain-bow a Triangle and of my speaking as I my Word and my Breath are Three several Things different one from another yet I am but One Man and such like lame Comparisons fall very short of Illustrating these Mysteries if we cannot understand how Original Sin is propagated in us seeing our Soul is not ex traduce begotten by Parents how much less can we comprehend that Infinite and Eternal Being of One God in Three Persons After this is it not Just that Men should own how the Trinity is a High Mystery which falls not under Senses and is infinitely above our Understanding rather to be believed than felt or understood whereof the Revelation ought to be the sufficient and only Rule as when Scripture saith * 1 Joh. 5.7 there are three in Heaven the Father the Word and Holy Ghost and these three are one I must not puzzle my Brain to know how this can be thus when the Apostle revealeth there is to be a Resurrection of the dead when some Men will say †1 Cor. 15.35 36. How are the dead raised up and with what body do
which was and which is to come as for Persons though it be not as to the Letter in Scripture yet 't is virtually first in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equivalent to that of †Heb. 1.3 Person then in the very same word but spoken of * 2 Cor. 1.11 Men where it signifies an Individuum or a Person and though just the very word is not used in Scripture 't is not material because in Divinity not the Word but the Thing not the Sound but the Sense are to be minded And though the word Person be deduc'd from Stages and things not serious yet we ought to look to the Use more than to the Eâ—ymology or Derivation and what if it be taken from things created and very unlike to God So we may say Are all Words purified from their original Imperfefection But for the abuse of a Word or a Thing we must not leave the right use of it When Scripture saith there is One God this Oneness can relate to nothing but to the Being Essence or Nature of God for in this respect God is one so we have reason thereby to represent the Unity of the Godhead there is in Scripture mention of God's Godhead * Rom. 1.20 and of his Nature when they which by nature are no gods †Gal. 4.8 are excluded from being Objects of our Worship So when Scripture reveals there is Father Son and Holy Ghost it makes a distinction between them yet calls every one God have we not cause thereupon to call them Three Persons and affirm that in One Essence or Godhead are Three Persons Do not these Words express the thing without doing it any Wrong or Injury for they are neither profane nor unworthy of God if the Words Essence Unity Trinity be not in so many Letters in Scriptures no more is the Word Sacrament yet though the Name be not in the thing is But herein they are more peevish than their Father Socinus who tells Francis David * Vol. I. p. 778. that though the Terms of Essence and Person be not in Scripture if the Sense be 't is no matter and that they who went upon such Grounds exposed their Cause The Method which the Enemies to this Truth ought to take should be this Whether they own according to the Revelation the Father Son and Holy Ghost to be One God Which if they deny we want no Proofs but if they own it then let them proceed to a Debate whether they are One in Nature and Three in Persons or how the Case is to be stated for it is very unreasonable to dispute about Words and Explication of any thing concerning the Relations or Manner till the thing it self be plainly confessed or denied Now by the Grace of God we must proceed and though I love not a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Dispute about Words yet as Words do signifie Things so some are so fundamental to the matter in hand that something I must say about 'em the first is Essence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he which is what * Exod. 3.14 we call Essence or Nature is not an imaginary thing and existing only in the Mind as in an Idea neither is it a thing separated from the Persons but always inherent in them whereby they subsist so that if there were no Individuum of such a Species there also would be no Essence of that Species as in the case of Human Nature which comprehends a rational Soul and an organical Body then Humanity is that whereby every Man is a Man but this Nature doth not subsist without Men but is so inherent in Men that in case there were no Men there could be no human Nature or Humanity Thus in God the Divine Essence is not a thing Existing without Son Father and Holy Ghost as if it was a fourth thing wherein these Three be contained but as we say in Philosophy of the Soul est tota in toto tota in qualibet parte so divine Nature is whole in the Father whole in the Son and whole in the Holy Ghost and that in an infinitely more excellent way than either Nature or the Soul are in us for they are finitely in Men but infinitely in every Person of the Trinity and exactly and perfectly the same for indeed the Essence of God is nothing else but his Nature namely the Deity or the Godhead God is not divided into divers Essences but distinguished into divers Persons God cannot be divided into several Natures or Parts so the Persons which subsist in that One Essence are only distinct and not separate one from another He who saith a Person of the holy Trinity saith One Essence common to Three Persons Hereupon we must know how in the most Holy Trinity something is common to the Three Persons such is the Essence and something incommunicable and proper to every one in their respective relations We ought further to know how the Words Essence Substance and Nature though in some respect they may admit of some difference yet when spoken of the Godhead they are taken for one and the same Whereunto may be added Deity and God's being there is in Schools of Divinity and Philosophy but one Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be to signifie Essence and Substance and therefore let me speak to some by way of warning that they may multiply Substances no more than Essences for 't is but one and the same thing without running into Tritheism or the Blasphemy of Three Gods neither may they entertain the Notions of Three Minds Beings or Spirits for as there is but One divine Nature and Being and but One God so that same God is but One Spirit Wherefore in these times Men should follow the Christian Prudence and Moderation of the Doctors of the Church in former Ages who were very cautious not to rush into new Notions of their own about these Matters or rashly to run into new fangled Opinions or Hypotheses as they call them or Suppositions of their own when it would be much better for them to follow the Theses of the Text among Attributes of what we call Essence Metaphysicians reckon this to be one that it is to be participatively indivisible because 't is equally imparted to those whose Essence it is for if there was any Addition Diminution or Alteration it would not be the same much more and upon a better account doth this hold about that Divine Nature by the Apostle in the very words attributed unto God 2 Pet. 1.4 In the Godhead there is no Division only Distinction the Essence and Persons not really but rationally distinct for the Essence is whole and indivisible in every Person but the Persons be really distinct one from another by means of some incommunicable Attribute for the Father is not the Son nor the Son the Father nor the Holy Ghost either Father or Son The
him they Worship This very Name of Michael is given to the Messiah ‖ Dan. 12.1 and at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people which is a Prophecy of Christ's coming wherein he is called El Michael and the Great Prince to this Emmanuel relates what the Evangelist says of the Word that is Christ how being made Flesh he dwelt among us is not this the same as God with us And this not obscurely for he adds * Joh. 1.14 and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father he not only had Glory but is called Lord of Glory before his Ascension into and Glorification in Heaven and for certain the Name of Lord or King of Glory is proper to the true essential God if David †Psal 24.10 speaks Truth now this dwelling of God is not said to be in but with Men which doth import a Person living and conversing with Men fully expressed in the following Text ‖ Rev. 21 3. Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God all this done not by proxy but in Person 't is said God himself so that great and infinite God whom the Heavens of Heavens cannot contain chose our Human Nature to dwell in as in a Tabernacle whereof the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was a Type as the Temple was afterwards we know there was a Vail this the Apostle alludeth to when he saith * Heb. 10.20 thorough the vail that is to say the flesh so that his Body and Human Nature is the place he chose to dwell in and that same Nature is as a Vail to qualify that Glory which no Man could behold for as the People could not behold Moses his Face when he came from God so that it was necessary he should put on a Vail How then could Man have beholden the Glory and Brightness of the Son of God and how could he have dwelt amonst and conversed with them except he had put on the Vail of his Flesh We must then necessarily conclude he was El the Mighty God before he was Immanuel God with us As to that great incomprehensible and adorable Mystery of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity whereby the Divine and Human Natures were mediatly and the Person immediatly united to the Nature 't is to be observed that 't is not by a Consubstantial Union such as the Three Persons of the most Holy Trinity are united one with another neither is it a Substantial Union only by Essence and Vertue as the Essence of Christ is present with every thing not by a presence of Grace only not Physical as Form and Matter are united not as one Friend is united to one another as the Soul of Jouathan was knit with the Soul of * 1 Sam. 18.1 David not mystical only or in the same manner as Christ dwelleth in Believers not Sacramental as Christ is in the Bread and Wine of the Lord's Supper but 't is a Personal Union and that without any Change of or in the Divine Person without a renting of the Natures against the Nestorians or Confusion of the same against the Eutychians also without any Change and Separation Now I am upon this high Mystery of the Incarnation by the Evangelist expressed in these words the word was made flesh I shall take notice of some few things doth not the expression which is parallel with this †1 Joh. 4.2 that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh mean that Christ the Word was in being before he was made Flesh or came in the Flesh and that this Being was according to the Spirit which in Scripture is opposed to the Flesh and that he had a spiritual Existence before he took our human Nature signified by the word Flesh for according to Scripture Flesh signifies human Nature so to be made Flesh to assume human Nature let one place serve instead of many ‖ Gal. 2.16 by the works of the law shall no flesh that is no Man be justified The Son of God was first afterwards he was manifested as to make use of a Comparison in a thing which admits none in matters of God's Decrees the Decree is before the Declaration of it for the Decree is from all Eternity but the Declaration only in time what is said of Christ * Gal. 4.4 that he was made of a woman is considerable for it implies that he was made Man and took upon him our Nature not out of the Substance of any Man but only of a Woman his Body was formed in the blessed Virgin 's Womb without any help of Man so he became Man only by the Woman's side but he was Son of God before he was made of a Woman and he must need have had a Being before he was sent forth he was with God before God sent him which is opposed to his appearing and being manifested to the World * 1 Joh. 1 2. we shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us he was with the Father existed and had a Being before he was manifested unto us dwelt and pitched his Tabernacle among us it is observable out of that place where it is said of our blessed Saviour †Heb. 2.16 he took on him the seed of Abraham the word took in the Original signifies also to take and lay hold or caught hold as he did of sinking Peter to save him from drowning so he caught hold of Mankind when it was ready to sink Against this they say there can be no such Union of Divine and Human Nature in one Person but that such an Union is not unpossible it may be illustrated out of the Union of our Soul with our Body which are of two different Natures spiritual and material invisible and visible immortal and mortal and tho' we cannot conceive the Reason it ought to be no Prejudice neither can we conceive the manner of their Union which yet is true and certain we most certainly believe some things to be tho' we do not at all comprehend the manner of it and altho' there be an infinite disproportion between God and Man yet that is no just Prejudice against the Union of Divinity with Humanity with harbouring such Notions Men do too much measure God by themselves who because they are evil are not capable of so much Goodness and out of Pride are apt to say so much Condescention becomes not God but God knows better than we what becomes him and what we cannot comprehend of him we ought to admire and adore God's Ways are not like our Ways nor his Thoughts like our Thoughts and tho' he condescends never so low yet is ever sure of his Greatness which nothing can take away from him This Humiliation or
many other things blasphemously spake they against him and Paul what before his Conversion he said or acted against he for that same calls himself ‖ 1 Tim. 1.13 a Blasphemer and when he made others to do as he did that he calls * Acts 26.11 2 Tim. 3.2 Act. 18.6 he compell'd them to blaspheme I believe the Spirit of God pointed at Socinians among others when he said by the Apostle that in the last days men shall be blasphemers as were those that opposed Paul when he preached Christ wherein they blasphemed We have many Heads more and abundance of Texts of Scripture to prove the Lord Jesus to be true natural Son of God begotten of the Father from all Eternity and these places we in the following part of our Discourse shall have occasion to make use of one of the fullest and plainest we shall begin with afforded by John †Joh. 1.1 In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God Which to corrupt the Heresiarch Socinus used his utmost wicked Endeavours the word is said to have been in the beginning not as if he then had begun to be but that then he was existing and so from all Eternity before any Creatures were made there was no time only Eternity Christ is call'd the Wisdom of God to shew he as well as the Father is from everlasting it were Blasphemy to think that ever there was a time when God wanted his Wisdom which speaking of himself saith ‖ Prov. 8.23 I was set up from everlasting and God by him manifested himself in the World in the Creation thereof That Christ the Word is eternal that is he was before his Incarnation before the Virgin Mary and before the Gospel began to be preached it appears out of John's Evidence In the beginning was the word out of which both his Deity and Eternity are proved the other Evangelists do write of Christ's Humanity in relation to his Birth or temporal Generation when he took upon him our human Nature and in time was born of the blessed Virgin Mary for in her Womb the word was made flesh and his Body therein formed out of her Substance without company of Man But John falls immediately upon his Divinity and calls him the Word for he was the Davar promised unto the Fathers now this was in the beginning that is before any thing was when things began to be made he then was when the World was not yet made afterwards he indeed was made Flesh but had a pre-existing Being Socinians cavil that by the beginning is meant the preaching of the Gospel which is clearly false for that doth not answer the scope of the Evangelist whose design is to prove the Word to be God which to do he draws his Argument from his Being in the beginning so by the word Beginning that must be understood which concludeth the Word to be God Their Interpretation agreeth with that of Arius That time had been when the Word was not and because it is in that sense taken in some places * Mark 1.1 Luke 1.2 for a temporal Beginning that is the time of his Incarnation it doth not follow that it is so to be taken in S. John for Mark begins his Book with these words The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God he writes the Gospel for he is an Evangelist and in his very first words he gives the Contents of what he is writing but herein the Person of Christ is not immediately concerned he with other Evangelists gives an account of his Humanity but John speaks of his Divinity he alludes to Moses who had given the History of the Creation and begins his Gospel in the words wherewith Moses began his Book of Genesis In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and he his Gospel In the beginning was the word But our Evangelist is not satisfied to say the word was with God but addeth in the next Verse the same was in the beginning with God and so v. 3. he falls upon speaking of the Creation for all things were made by him c. we know how in Scripture the word Beginning as well as several others hath different Significations but in this place such a sense destroys the Analogy of Faith and contradicteth those Texts which affirm the Eternity of God's Son which hereafter we shall have occasion to mencion as that of the Prophet †Isai 53.8 Who shall declare his generation 't is ab impossibili as if he had said no Man can declare it and elsewhere under the Type of Solomon 't is said * Psal 72.17 his name shall endure for ever c. not only of an Eternity à parte post but also à parte ante as without ending so without beginning as expressed in the Prophetical Psalm of Christ's Kingdom and Priesthood †Psalm 110.3 from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of his youth And now I am upon this first Verse of the first Chapter of St. John I shall observe three Things much to our purpose the First that the word Beginning absolutely spoken doth in Scripture relate to the Creation or beginning of the World out of several places so well known in Scripture I shall now only quote one and more hereafter as I shall have occasion for hath it not been told you from the beginning have ye ‖ Isa 40.21 not understood from the foundations of the earth here by Beginning is signified the Foundation of the Earth The second Thing I observe is this the Word was with God here is a personal Distinction between God and the word who was with God as if he had said resided till he was made Flesh and in respect to this Incarnation he is said to have come down from the Father The third Thing observed is this the word was God the Person called the Word as it appears by the Article is the Subject here called and asserted to be God that is in the same essential Sense as the God with whom the word Was is said to be God that is by Nature for as in this Verse but one Word though thrice named is to be understood so but one true God in Nature though thrice named is meaned in the place Thus the Essentiality and Eternity of the word who is the Son with the Father are here evidently set forth but this is more at large set down in the next Reason But a second Reason is that John makes the Word equal with God when he saith the word was with God which hath a relation to his Eternity it was always with God for here not only he distinguisheth the Persons but makes the Word equal with God the Father he saith the Word that was in the beginning was one and God the Father whom he was with another the Persons of the Son and of the Father were distinct indeed but in making them
to be Essential Differences when to speak of three Spirits in the Godhead is as good as to say there are three Gods 1 Cor. 8.4 whilst Scripture saith there is none other God but one who hath his Being from himself and from none else for we must say of every God so called which is not such by Nature Hosea 8.6 what the Prophet saith of the Calf of Samaria the workman made it therefore it is not God and 't is a right Consequence for nothing can be God that is made by another So then to talk of three Spirits in the Godhead is to set up three Gods for God as our Saviour saith absolutely is a Spirit and when we say Spirit we understand his Nature for a Spirit is a Spiritual Substance and being thus they go on still upon their Suppositions they would have the words unbegotten begotten and proceeding to be essential Differences and not personal as they are so other times they would have the Son because he is of the Father not to be one God with the Father who existeth of himself and so not to be the one true God because he hath a Being from another but we must distinguish between the being of Essence and that of the Person the first the Son hath of it self and the second of the Father They farther object he that is Mediator with the God of Israel is not the God of Israel himself for if it were so three Absurdities say they would follow the first God would be inferiour to himself 2dly God would pray to himself 3dly the Party offended shall be Mediatour with himself but to the first we answer Tho' God be Mediator it followeth not he is inferiour to himself for tho' upon the account of the Office he that is a Mediator be inferiour to him whom he intercedeth with yet he is not thereby inferiour in Nature for even among Men one Equal doth intercede with his Equals As to the second the Son prayeth to God for us according to his Humane Nature tho' we exclude not the Divine from interceding for it belongs to it in as much as it is the Eternal Will of the Son that the Father would by reason of his Sacrifice receive us into Favour the Prayers and Submission belong to Humane Nature but the Divine maketh them effectual both Natures being united in one Person The Divine was united with the Humane mediately in the Person of the Son but the same Person was immediately united to Humane Nature As to the third it were absurd indeed if the Party offended was Mediator when there is but one Person offended but where several Persons are offended there is no Absurdity if by their common Consent one of those offended Persons offereth satisfaction for the Offender and to reconcile and in this Case it could not be otherwise for it was required that the Reconciler should be God and 't is but a Cavil to say that he with whom the Son is not Mediator could not be reconciled and that the Son was not Mediator with himself or with the Holy Ghost but only with the Father for first not only he is reconciled and appeased by the Mediator with whom the Son performeth the Office of Mediator but also they that are joyn'd and about it agreed with him wherefore seeing in every thing the Will of Father Son and Holy Ghost be agreed it followeth that through the Merit and Satisfaction of the Mediator the Father being fully satisfied the Son and Holy Ghost are so too I add as to the second it is not absurd as they think that the Son should be Mediator with himself for the Son of God doth the Office of Mediator in both Capacities for as God being one with the Father he receiveth us into Favour and as he is Mediator according to both Natures so as he is God manifested in the Flesh by reason of his Merit and Satisfaction we are received into favour and although this being received into favour be common to Father Son and Holy Ghost yet the Mediator is said to intercede for us with the Father who is consider'd as the Spring of all Divine Counsels and Operations who being willing that the Son should satisfie for our Sins and that by vertue of that satisfaction our Sins should be forgiven it is not possible for the Son to will and do otherwise to this purpose makes what the Apostle saith about our being reconciled to God by Jesus Christ and what the Evangelist writeth he that hath my commandments 2 Cor. 5.18 19 20 21 and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love him and manifest my self unto him John 14.21 23. to the same effect doth tend what is said in another place of Christ who when he had by himself purged our Sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high So then the Son is appeased Heb. 3.3 and forgiveth our sins receiveth us into favour and giveth us Eternal Life upon the account of his own satisfaction The Father Son and Holy Ghost do the same by reason of the satisfaction given by the Son In the mean while in relation to the Son who for his own sake receiveth us t is call'd his Will in relation to the Father 't is call'd Mediation or Intercession therein the Will of the Son in order of the Person and Divine Working doth follow the Will of the Father Hence it appeareth how they do ill to confound the Divine Nature of Christ under his Office of Mediator as such according to his Humane Nature he pray'd to the Father and taught us a form of Prayer that we should call upon the Father through the Mediator yet he thereby never intended to exclude or deprive himself of his own Due or Right there is no Contradiction to worship the Father in the Face and thorough the Intercession of the Mediator for we worship the Father not in his Person only but of the whole Nature and Christ in John 5.22 as in the form of Baptism proposeth himself to be worshipped for Adoration is not confined in the Person of the Father only They say If the Father be greater than Christ then he is not God equal with the Father but Christ saith John 14.28 the father is greater than I Therefore is not God equal with the Father in this place Christ speaketh not of his Divine Nature but of his Office the Father doth send and the Son is sent and though he be less as to his Humanity he is equal in relation to his Divinity Wherefore I answer Christ is less than his Father in respect to his Humane Nature which he assumed with the Infirmity thereof Sin excepted for he was hungry weary sorrowful and the like and we read he wept tho' never that he laughed but before that Assumption of the Flesh he had a Being of another Nature which can be no
other but Divine as it appeareth of what Scripture saith sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not Heb. 10.5 but a body hath thou prepared me He certainly need have had a Being before this natural Body was prepared for him me then he was a Person before the Body This Inferiority must be understood of his Person in that voluntary humiliation of his in his state of exinanition yet this his being inferiour to the Father in respect of his Humanity doth not at all take away the equality between him and the Father in relation to his divine Nature for he is the Word Son of God tho' when he was made Flesh he was made that which he was not before with assuming human and mortal Nature yet he still remained that which he was before namely God blessed for ever there was no addition diminution or alteration in his divine Nature but continued the same Person of the most holy Trinity begotten of the Father from all Eternity Christ is less than the Father in respect to his Office of Mediatour We are in Covenant with God not upon our account but upon that of Câ—â—â—st who is thus become the Head of all Men that are in covenant with God and in relation to this he is called the Mediatour of the New Testament Heb. 9.15 wherefore we must observe how in Scripture the Lord Jesus is said to be made Lord and Châ—ist Acts 2.36 but never said to be made God which things are very different for by Nature God is Lorâ— but Christ by Will and Appointment in respect of his Personal Dominion and of the Oeconomical Kingdom belonging to his Mediatorship He is God absolutely but Lord and Christ relatively unto us God essentially and Christ accidentally In this last sense he was anointed with that Oyl and Gifts of the Holy Ghost for in the other sense he wanted no such thing he was not anointed simply as God but as Christ a Prophet a Priest and a King for our sake and for our good And all places in Scripture wherein the Father is said to be greater than Christ to be the Head of Christ to have made Christ Lord to have exalted and anointed him and the like ought to be taâ—â—en in this sense that is in regard of his human Nature and Mediatorship and not as to the divine for when this is spoken of our Saviour himself saith I and my Father are one John 10.30 there is no difference either in Nature or Power After this manner also is to be understood that place John 5.22 27. wherein the Father is said to have committed all judgment unto the Son and given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man which hath a relation to his Office of Mediatorship in the Government of the Church and Judgment over the Enemies thereof His essential Kingdom he hath of himself but this dispensatory one from the Father not because he is the Son of God but because he is the Son of Man which reason tends to breed in us Comfort and Assurance in that we are to be judged by a Man one who having taken our Nature with its Infirmities Sin excepted will compassionate us for he was tempted as we are and in human Judgments 't is a Privilege to be â—ry'd by his Peers and Equals that is of the same â—ank and condition with us In this sense ought also to be taken the place where it is said The Son also shall be subject unto him that put all things ander him 1 Cor. 15.28 and deliver up the Kingdom into his hands the Kingdom of ruling governing and preserving of the Church This giving or dellvering up of the Kingdom is no sign of inequality for as the Son is to give it up to the Father so the Father gave it up to him without any diminution of his Power neither shall the Son receive any diminution of his he shall deliver it in a perfect Oeconomical administration having overcome all Enemies and brought all his Elect to be crowned with Glory so there will be no more to do no need of being a King in that respect By the words Then shall the Son himself be subicel is to be understood the account he is to give of his administration thereof and this is a kind of subjection which shall be swallowed up in that perfect Happiness wherein God will be all in all no more Enemies to fight no more need of a Mediator But for their last gasp they reserve a frivolous and insignificant Exception for some of them say our Arguments are not coherent sometimes we plead for Unity at other times for a Trinity but we form our Arguments according to the nature of the Matters and the Principles of those whom we do dispute against Against the Gentiles and Heathens we prove That there is but one true God against the Jews That besides God the Father there is also another Person namely the Son of God who is also true God We are to deal against several Adversaries to this truth Arrians Sabellians Samosatenians Socinians Tritheists c. and accordingly we frame our Arguments suitably with the Principles of those whom we dispute against If I deal against Gentiles my Arguments must not be drawn out of Scripture which they receive not but from natural Reason and out of the Writings of their Philosophers and other Authors as St. Paul did in Athens Acts 17.28 So if against Samaritans I must argue only out of the Pentatench or five Books of Moses If against Jews only out of the Old Testament because they own not the New and so of the rest This is the substance of what they say in opposition to these Heavenly Truths which to compass they are not ashamed to wrest Scriptures to force upon them a sense contrary to the Design of the Spirit of God and to the Analogy of Faith and in order to form a detestable System whereby they do what they can to overthrow the whole foundation of our holy Religion not only they for many Years rack'd their own Brains to extract all the Poyson which Satan could infuse and 〈◊〉 â—own natural Corruption suggest but also called for Help upon the most infamous and abominable Hereticks that ever were in the Christian World and out of all made a Quintessence of all that erroneously impiously or blasphemously can be forg'd or said against the Divine Nature Attributes Persons and Grace of God Yet not wholly trusting to this they have set up a Diana a God-Idol of their own even their own natural Reason that where abusing Scripture cannot serve the turn their unreasonable Imaginations may do 't wherein they seem to scorn being guided by the Word of God where it doth not answer their Ends but divine things must not be measured by our shallow Capacity And if we believe Scripture to be the Word of God then we must receive that which God teaches us therein and we must not