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cause_n	father_n	ghost_n	holy_a	5,369	5	5.6194	4	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A34877	A supplement to Knowledge and practice wherein the main things necessary to be known and believed in order to salvation are more fully explained, and several new directions given for the promoting of real holiness both of heart and life : to which is added a serious disswasive from some of the reigning and customary sins of the times, viz. swearing, lying, pride, gluttony, drunkenness, uncleanness, discontent, covetousness and earthly-mindedness, anger and malice, idleness / by Samuel Cradock ... useful for the instruction of private families.	Cradock, Samuel, 1621?-1706.	1679 (1679)	Wing C6756; ESTC R15332	329,893	408

in his promises It should be the solid ground of our faith the stay of our Souls the foundation of all our hopes Faith is animated by Gods veracity and truth and from thence all other graces are excited in us O Christians what life should it put into our hopes to think that all those words that God hath spoken are most certainly true that all those descriptions of the everlasting Kingdom all those exceeding precious promises that concern this life or that which is to come will certainly be made good that all those expressions of the exceeding love of God to his poor Servants are certain and sure O how should our faith live upon this truth of God and by it be daily more and more strengthened And particularly that none of his promises concerning his Church will fail or fall to the ground Fourthly How thankfull should we be to God for giving us such gracious promises to encourage us in the ways of our obedience He has promised that he will never never leave nor forsake those that are in Covenant with him Heb. 13.5 We have good assurance That all things shall work together for good to them that love God Rom. 8.28 That he will give grace and glory and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly Psal 84.11 And what can we desire more Fifthly We should labour to get an interest Christ in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 That is have their foundation firm establishment and unalterable ratification Sixthly We should learn the Divine art of living upon the promises of God and fetching comfort for the support of our lives from them Most men live on their present enjoyments not on Gods promises Whereas the Prophet tells us Habak 2.4 The Just shall live by his Faith Certainly nothing makes us so humble lowly and puts us into so much ease and quietness of mind as to live by Faith on God Isai 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stay'd on thee because he trusteth in thee Seventhly The truth and faithfulness of God should engage us to be true and faithfull to him Have we not ingaged in our Baptism to forsake the Devil the World and the Flesh and to devote our selves to the sincere service and worship of God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Are not his Vows upon us that is Vows to serve him faithfully Psal 56.12 And shall we be like those false Israelites of whom 't is said Psal 78.36 37. Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth and they lied unto him with their Tongues For their heart was not right with him neither were they steadfast in his Covenant And have we not in the course of our lives made many particular promises to God in our particular distresses And shall we expect that God should perform his promises to us when we take no care to perform ours to him Shall we expect that God will perform his promise of pardon to us when we take no care to perform the conditions required of us upon the performance of which we may comfortly expect to have the Divine promises made good to us Eighthly We should endeavour to imitate God in this Attribute of his faithfulness Let us be true to God and true also to man Remember you serve a God of truth and 't is the glory of his servants to be like him The Devil indeed is the Father of lyes but God hates all lying as contrary to his Holy Nature If you would be like God labour to imitate him in his truth and faithfulness SECT II. Concerning the Trinity of Persons in the Vnity of the Divine Essence TO prevent all misapprehensions concerning God and the Divine Nature it will be requisite that we carefully attend unto the Declaration or Revelation that God hath been pleased to make of himself in the Holy Scriptures For surely we have all the reason in the World to assent to those assertions or testimonies that God is pleased to give unto us concerning himself and that according to their natural and genuine sence The Sum then of this Revelation held forth to us in Holy Scriptures is this That God is one That this one God is Father Son and Holy Ghost That the Father is the Father of the Son and the Son the Son of the Father and the Holy Ghost the Spirit of the Father and the Son and by reason of their mutual respects and relations to each other and their peculiar properties arising from those particular relations they viz. Father Son and Holy Ghost are distinct each from other This one God is set forth to us in the Scriptures as the only true God whom we are to believe in adore worship and obey This is the first cause Soveraign Lord and ultimate end of all For the proof hereof we shall produce Divine Testimonies whereon Faith may safely rest And first we shall prove God to be one Secondly The Father to be God the Son to be God the Holy Ghost to be God Thirdly We shall shew that the explanations usually made of this Doctrine are accordi●g to truth though we make use of some words or expressions which are not literally or Syllabically contained in the Holy Scriptures but are such as do not teach any other Doctrine than what is therein contained and are to our apprehensions fairly expository of them And surely if Ministers may not set forth the sence of the words of Scripture in such expressions as they apprehend do most clearly convey the true and genuine meaning of them to the People to what end serves that great Ordinance of preaching the Word I shall begin therefore with the Original Revelation and shew you what is delivered to us by Divine Testimony and this I shall give you in these particulars following First We are assured by Divine Revelation that God is one Deut. 6.4 Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. Isai 44.6.8 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel and his Redeemer the Lord of Hosts I am the first and I am the last and besides me there is no God Is there any God besides me Yea there is no God I know not any Isai 45.5 I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides me 1 Cor. 8.4 As concerning therefore the eating of things Offered in Sacrifice unto Idols we know that an Idol is nothing in the World and that there is none other God but one Secondly That the Father is God He is often so called only in reference to his Son And if he had an eternal Son as we shall prove presently He is an Eternal Father and his Paternity was from Eternity co-existent with his Deity The Father is a person subsisting of himself This is denied by none Eph. 1.3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Luk. 23.34 Then said Jesus Father forgive

had by sin mad● God his enemy he needed no Mediator to mediate or intercede for him 8. This Covenant in case of disobedience afforded man no relief no not upon his repentance And thus the case stood with man in the state of his Innoc●nce Of Ma●s fa●● We come now to the second thing I propounded to treat of concerning man and that is his fall from his Original happiness by disobeying the precept and command of God and forfeiting the priviledges of the Covenant contained in it Gen. 3. from 1. to 7. Now the Serpent was m●re subtil than any Beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said unto the woman Yea hath God said Ye shall not eat of every Tree of the Garden And the Woman said unto the Serpent We may eat of the fruit of the Trees of the Garden But of the fruit of the Tree which is in the midst of the Garden God hath said Ye shall not eat of it neither shall ye touch it lest ye die And the Serpent said unto the Woman ye shall not surely die For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil And when the woman saw that the Tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a Tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unt● her Huusband with her and he did eat And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed Fig-leaves together and made themselves Aprons Rom. 5.12 19. Wherefore as by one man sin entred into the World and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned For as by one mans disobedience many were made sinners so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous And that I may speak more distinctly of the matter I shall inquire in to these particulars 1. Who were the first sinners among men and by whom sin entered into the World 2. What was the first sin 3. What were the causes and occasions of Adams first transgression 4. What were the sad effects and consequents of this sin and breach of the Covenant First Upon our first Parents Secondly Upon us their Posterity 1. We shall inquire who were the first sinners among men and by whom sin entred into the World Adam and Eve the first Man and first Woman were certainly among men the first transgressors as may appear by those places before cited Gen. 3. And Rom 5.12 And the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 2.14 Adam was not deceived that is First and by the Devil and so as to draw Eve into transgression but the woman being deceived was first * Th●●gh Eve was first in the trangression yet Adam was the chief and therefore Adam is sometimes taken collectively both for man and woman in the transgression and drew Adam into it Hosea 6.7 God says of the unfaithful Israelites They like Adam have transgressed the Covenant And 2 Cor. 11.3 We read that the Serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty viz. To eat of the forbidden fruit and she persuaded Adam to eat also It therefore we trace corruption and depravation to the well-head we shall find we cannot stay any where till we come to the first Man the common Parent and Root of us all And 't is very evident that the first Fountain of mankind was corrupted seeing all the streams are so 2. Let us consider what was the first sin God made our first Parents holy and happy and whilst they performed their duty they could not but be happy But the Devil having fallen from God himself as we have seen before Sect 3. and envying our first Parents their present happiness he sets upon Eve to draw her from her obedience to God And the temptation he spred before her is this you shall be as God He pretends to acquaint her with a way whereby they might raise thems●lves to a higher condition than that wherein they were at present They should be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 like God himself or like Angels they should be lifted up to a higher estate than now they enjoyed And this happiness he tells them they might acquire by eating of that Tree in the midst of the Garden which God had forbidden them which he intimates would be so far from procuring death or misery to a them that it had a contrary virtue in it namely to raise them to higher state of happiness than now they enjoyed Eve being caught by this subtil device began to believe this Serpent who thus proves himself a Lyar and a Murderer from the beginning and to d● believe God and to doubt the truth of his threatning and commination who Gen. 2.17 had told Adam Of that Tree thou shalt not eat for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die Ev● being thus won upon by the D●vils temptation did venture to e●t of this sorbidden fruit and dre● Adam to eat also So that infi●elity and doubting of the truth of Gods word and threatnings t●rough the Devils insinuation and pride and affection of an h●gher estate seem to be the first miscarriages and sins of Adam and Eve O the cursed Nature of pride and unbelief How soon did these ●●ns enter into the very Angels How soon did they undo our first Parents 3. Let us inq●ire what were the causes and occasions of Adams sin 1. God was not The pure and holy Nature of God could not be the Original of mans sin The Holy God cannot be the cause of any unholiness God indeed permitted man to fall seeing he knew how to bring good out of it But he inclin'd him not to it 2. Neither external Objects nor the temptations of Satan could nec●ssitate the will of man to sin The Devil might persuade but could not force 3. The persuading cause in respect of Eve was Satan in the form of a Serpent The Devil opened the Serpents mouth and caused it to speak with mans voice as an Angel opened the mouth of Balaams Ass Numb 22.28 Now the Serpents cunning may appear in this 1. He first assaults the Woman not the Man 2. He equivocates about knowing good and evil which he represents to her as a state of perfection Whereas the forbidden Tree was called the Tree of knowledge because Adam if he did eat thereof should experimentally know to his sorrow from how much good he had fallen and how much evil he had brought upon himself 3. He uses Eve a Companion newly made for Adam and surely very dear to him to draw in her Husband 4. Man being not created at first immutably Holy but defectible and sin being only a defect a person that was mutable and defectibly Holy as Adam was might fall into sin 'T was no strange thing that Man should be created defectible and being a defectible and

But does not the annexing of such a condition as this unto forgiveness lessen the grace and bounty of it Answer No in no wise For consider these things 1. The dispensing of pardon and forgiveness upon such a condition as faith in Christ which includes Gospel obedience is one of the most effectual means to introduce sanctity and holiness into the World For what more effectual way can there be to do it than to make it conditionally necessary to justification and salvation 2. Gods immutable holiness and justice is hereby made more illustrious and his solemn hatred and dislike of sin is more manifested For hereby 't is evident that God will save no man in his sins but from his sins Whom he justifies he will sanctify No mans sin is so forgiven that the least allowance is vouchsafed to it None but such as are sanctified can be accepted of him 3. Whatever is by the Gospel conditionally required of us is fully and freely given us Faith and every other grace is the gift of God We perform the condition required of us solely by the power of his grace freely given unto us And all the rewards of the Gospel are but the gracious remunerations of Gods own gifts and graces Free grace and divine bounty is the root that bears all And therefore the holiest men on earth have the greatest cause to be most humble For having received most they ought most to abase themselves 4. 'T is fit that all who shall be saved should be rationally satisfied of the excellency of that life the Gospel calls them unto For the precepts of the Gospel are framed and calculated for our advantage and benefit The commands of Christ are in no wise grievous to any man truly and rationally informed of his own interest The Gospel commands us to be sober righteous and godly and 't is rationally best for us so to be both in order to our own good and the good and benefit of others among whom we live And therefore 't is fit we should make a solemn choice of this life for our selves and seriously resolve as men of truth and fidelity to pursue it There ought to be sincerity of intention and endeavour in us to live this life though we do not arrive at perfection of action We should therefore examine what is the deliberate choice of our wills whether to be Sanctified by the Spirit of Christ as well as to be justified by his merits Christ will not judge of us by a suddain passionate choice but by our rational and advised choice And we must especially take heed of all degrees of insincerity and hypocrisie which of all sins under the Gospel does most dangerously border on a breach of the condition required Believe it those things that keep people usually from the good things of the Gospel are either a direct refusal of Christ or a sloathful carelesness unconcerned neglect of him or a prevailing falseness in the course of Gospel obedience I shall conclude all that I shall say upon this argument with these four particulars 1. Our Lord and Saviour did certainly perform all things that were required to be performed by him as our mediator 2. By reason of the high dignity of his person his obedience and sufferings are of more value and worth than the obedience and sufferings of all mankind would have been 3. These things being performed by him in our nature and wholly upon o●r account God accepts them for us though not as done by us and reckons all the benefits and advantages of them to us 4. If we desire to partake of the benefits of Christs active and passive obedience we must sincerly believe in him and take him for our Lord and Saviour and if our Faith be a true justifying Faith it will purify our hearts and reform our lives Having thus explained this Doctrine of the forgiveness of sins let us now consider what improvement we should make of it 1. Let us admire the infinite goodness of God that there is a possibility of pardon for the children of men who are naturally under wrath There is none for the Angels that fell 2. Let us often meditate upon and admire the way of it 1. No pardon to be obtained for man without a Mediator And where could fallen man have found a Mediator that would have undertaken his cause 2. No ordinary Mediator would suffice If all the holy Angels had joyned together it would have not been sufficient Only the eternal Son of God could effect it 3. Let us consider that Christ obtained our peace not by a bare mediation but by paying a price for us and making full satisfaction to the Will and Justice of God by his obedience and sufferings 3. Let us often admire the benefits of it 1. It is not only a great mercy in it self but the foundation of all other mercies 'T is the Queen of mercies that hath a glorious train of other mercies attending it Psal 32.1 Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven whose iniquities are covered to whom the Lord imputeth not transgression None of the antient Philosophers ever gave such a definition of happiness 2. The sense of this mercy makes all afflictions more easie to be born What can hurt us if God be reconciled to us 3. Pardoning mercy brings healing with it unto the Soul Christ Sanctifies those by his Spirit whose pardon he procures by his Merits 4. It affords great comfort against death which is otherwise terrible of terribles 4. If pardoning mercy be so great a mercy let us often consider how vile and wretched those persons are who slight this mercy But who are they 1. All careless ones who neglect this great salvation and prefer the things of the World before it 2. All wicked and prophane ones who go on daily increasing their guilt not minding to make peace with God 3. All that rest on any thing besides Christs righteousness and intercession for the procuring their pardon with God 5. Let us all examine our selves whether we have obtained this blessedness or no. Many content themselves with weak grounds on which they build their hopes of pardon 1. They are not so bad as others They think they are sinners yet guilty but of few sins in comparison of what others are guilty of I answer Possibly they may not be so bad as others yet they may be in a very bad condition for all that out of which if they do not get they will be everlastingly miserable 2. Others think well of them Be it so But we shall not stand or fall by mans Judgment 3. They live civilly so they may do and yet be unconverted and without true conversion and regeneration no salvation is to be expected 6. Seeing God is ready to forgive let us all endeavor to secure this blessedness to our selves 1. Let us seek it as earnestly as ever we sought any thing in the World 2. those that must shortly be arraigned If a guilty Malefactor knew

out of Heaven 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate nor abusers of themselves with Mankind nor Thieves nor Covetous nor Drunkards nor Revilers nor Extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God And yet notwithstanding this dreadful sentence denounced by God in his holy word against this sin there are some so vile and miserably depraved as to think it a piece of bravery to drink stoutly and a sign of a strong brain to be able to bear much drink and a great conquest over another man to drink him down not considering in the mean time that while they conquer others in this vile manner at their Cups they themselves are shamefully conquered and overcome by the Devil 4. Not considering nor understanding the extreme hurt that this kind of excess does unto their bodies They apprehend not how much it spoils the temper of their stomachs ruines their health and ordinarily shortens their lives 5. Another great cause of drunkenness is idleness They that are of an idle sloathful temper and love not to take pains in an honest calling usually seek out idle companions like themselves and so that they may drive away the time as they call it they go a potting together 6. Another very frequent cause of drunkenness is that vile custome of drinking Healths and constraining others to pledge them which constrains many a man to drink more than he should There are many reasons may be alledged against this evil custome 1. To urge a Health is a great and unsufferable usurpation * Peccatum est provocare ad aequales Calices nec fas est respondere Lessius de Justitia jure Lib. 4. c. 3. upon another Why may not another enjoyn me to eat as much and as big pieces and portions as he eats as well as injoyn me to drink * Una salus sanis nullam potare salutem Non est in potâ vera salute salus as full bowls and as many glasses as he drinks 'T is very likely that I can neither eat nor drink so much as he And what authority hath he over me to compel me to it In Ahasuerus's feast Hester 1.8 none was to be compelled to drink more or oftner than it pleased him and shall we that profess our selves Christians be worse than civil Pagans 2. 'T is unreasonable that my health and consequently my life should be at the mercy of another ma● which it must needs be if he may compell me to drink so much as will destroy my health as is frequently done How many have gotten a great fit of sickness and some their death by one drunken bout And besides If I to comply with anothers drunken humor who begins an health should drink so much as to make may self sick besure he will neither feel my pains nor pay my Physician nor answer to God for my sin 3. We ought not to incourage others to drink more than is fit as the custom of pledging Healths manifestly does Possibly another would not have pledged the healths that went about if he had seen me stick at it and not to have done it before him My example may in all likelihood have induced him the rather to do it And why should I be accessary to draw another man into intemperance And possibly had I stoutly refused it it might have prevented the urging of any more healths at that time and so I might have prevented a great deal of evil And further why should I encourage such a vile custome as makes it a crime and an high offence against civility and good manners to refuse a health when I have so much reason to do it Surely all manifest occasions and provocations to sin ought to be avoided as the Apostle tells us Eph. 5.11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them 'T is notoriously known that healthing is a frequent occasion of drunkenness and not of that only but of quarrelling fighting and sometimes of murder also And why should I encourage such a custome which is the occasion of so much mischief I do not say 't is simply evil in it self to drink a glass of wine or keep off my hat whilst another is remembred But by accident it may be evil namely if I thereby encourage an evil custom which is a great occasion of drunkenness and give scandal and offence to such who upon that account have a great aversation to it Yet so it may happen that this accident may be outweighed and overballanced by a greater accident namely if I see my life in apparant danger if I refuse it And any other accident which will really out-weigh the former hurtful accident may make it lawful As in some cases and companies the offence given by denying it may possibly be such as will do more hurt far than the yielding to it would do As in that case when a mans loyalty to the King is laid upon it though I confess it is a very unreasonable thing to make that a Test of Loyalty which many good men and very faithful and loyal to the King do scruple and which his Majesty himself in his first Proclamation after his return declared against yet I say if such a thing should happen then Christian Prudence must be the present decider of the case by considering whether more good or evil be like to ensue thereupon and must determine accordingly To be bare when others lay the honour of our superiors upon it is a ceremony which on the foresaid reasons may be complied with But when to avoid a greater evil we are extraordinarily put on any such ceremony 't is fit we should add some such words as may declare upon what account we do it that so we may prevent scandal and offence But the best way of all is to avoid as much as possibly we can such company as are like to put us upon these scruples and inconveniencies And so much of the causes of drunkenness 3. I come now to shew the heinousness of this sin which will the better appear to us if we consider these following Particulars 1. 'T is a high provoking offence against God who hath declared his high displeasure against it in his holy word Let drunkards read these places and tremble Isa 5.11 22. Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink that continue until night till wine inflame them Wo unto them that are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink Habakkuk 2.15 Wo unto him that giveth his neighbour drink that putteth his bottle to him and maketh him drunken that he may look on his nakedness Isay 28.1 Wo to the Crown of Pride the drunkards of Ephraim c. and Verse 7. They have erred through wine and through strong drink are out of the way the Priest and the Prophet

them for they know not what they do Eph. 3.14 For th●s cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 8.6 To us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in Him Joh. 17.5 And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was Joh. 3.16 For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life Joh. 20.17 Jesus saith unto her Touch me not For I am not yet ascended to my Father Thirdly That Jesus Christ is God the Eternal Son of God and did prae-exist in the form or Essence of God having all the properties of the Deity before his Incarnation which was effected by voluntary actings of his own which could not be without a prae-existence in another Nature Let us consider the Divine Testimonies whereby this truth is confirmed and established Psal 45.6 Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever The Scepter of thy Kingdom is a right Scepter This is applied unto Christ Heb. 1.8 But unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever c. Psal 102.25 26 27. Of old thou hast laid the Foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy hands They shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a Garment as a Vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end This is declared by the Apostle to be meant of the Son of God Heb. 1.10 And Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the Foundation of the Earth And the Heavens are the works of thine hands c. Prov. 8. from the ●2 to the 31. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was When there were no depths I was brought forth When there were no Fountains abounding with Water Before the Mountains were setled before the Hills was I brought forth * He is called the only begotten Son of God Joh. 1.14 Angels and Adam were the Sons of God by Creation The Worshippers of the true God are called the Sons of God by profession Gen. 6 1. All true Believers are his Children by Adoption Joh. 1.12 But Christ is the Son of God by Nature by Eternal Generation Whilst as yet he had not made the Earth nor the Fields nor the highest part of the dust of the World When he prepared the Heavens I was there When he set a compass upon the face of the Depth When he established the Clouds above When he strengthened the Fountains of the Deep When he gave to the Sea his Decree that the Waters should not pass his Commandment When he appointed the Foundations of the Earth Then I was by him as one brought up with him And I was daily his delight rejoycing always before him Isai 9.6 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his shoulder And his Name shall be called Wonderful Counsellour The mighty God The everlasting Father The Prince of peace Jer. 23.5 6. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute Judgment and Justice in the Earth In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely And this is his Name whereby he shall be called The Lord our Righteousness Joh. 1. v. 1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God v. 2. The same was in the beginning with God v. 3. All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made v. 14. And the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth v. 18. No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him Joh. 3.13 And no man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven Act. 20.28 Take heed therefore unto your selves and to all the Flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Rom. 9.5 Whose are the Fathers and of whom as concerning the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Col. 1.15 Who is the Image of the invisible God the first born * As being from all Eternity begotten of the Father before any Creature was made or created and so Lord and Heir of all the Creatures as the First-born was among his Brethren Gen. 49.3 of every Creature v. 16. For by him were all things Created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers All things were created by him and for him v. 17. And he is before all things and by him all things consist 1 Tim. 3.16 And without controversie great is the Mystery of godliness God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory 1 Joh. 5.20 And we know that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true And we are in him that is true even in his Son Jesus Christ This is the true God and Eternal life And thus much of the Divine Testimonies that prove that Christ is God The Socinians indeed acknowledge that Christ is God but they say he is not so by Nature but by Office They say He is not the most high Eternal God This therefore we shall labour to prove by several arguments First He had a Personal prae-existence unto the whole Creation And nothing can prae-exist * Quod ante omnem creaturam suisse dicitur simpliciter aeterrum est Gloss to all Creatures but in the Nature of God which is Eternal In the beginning the Word was God and so continues unto Eternity Joh. 1. ●● In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Yet he was so God that he was distinct in something from God the Father by whom afterwards he was sent into the World The Word was with God and so distinct from him and was God and so one with him And he was so from the beginning before the Creation that he made all things even the World viz. All things in Heaven and Earth To which we may add our Saviours own Words Joh. 17.5 And now O Father glorifie thou me with the glory I had