now to grapple withal And this I hope I have in some measure done in one of the former Discourses Nor indeed do I see that it is any ways necessary to do more it being sufficient that God hath declared what he thought fit in this matter and that we do firmly believe what he says concerning it to be true though we do not perfectly comprehend the meaning of all that he hath said about it For in this and the like Cases I take an Implicite Faith to be very commendable that is to believe whatever we are sufficiently assured God hath revealed though we do not fully understand his meaning in such a Revelation And thus every man who believes the H. Scriptures to be a truly Divine Revelation does implicitely believe a great part of the Prophetical Books of Scripture and several obscure expressions in those Books though he do not particularly understand the meaning of all the Predictions and expressions contained in them In like manner there are certainly a great many very good Christians who do not believe and comprehend the Mysteries of Faith nicely enough to approve themselves to a Scholastical and Magisterial Judge of Controversies who yet if they do heartily embrace the Doctrines which are clearly revealed in Scripture and live up to the plain Precepts of the Christian Religion will I doubt not be very well approved by the Great and Just and by the infallibly Infallible Judge of the World III. Let it be further considered That though neither the word Trinity nor perhaps Person in the sense in which it is used by Divines when they treat of this Mystery be any where to be met with in Scripture yet it cannot be denied but that Three are there spoken of by the Names of Father Son and H. Ghost in whose Name every Christian is baptized and to each of whom the highest Titles and Properties of God are in Scripture attributed And these Three are spoken of with as much distinction from one another as we use to speak of three several Persons So that though the word Trinity be not found in Scripture yet these Three are there expresly and frequently mentioned and a Trinity is nothing but three of any thing And so likewise though the word Person be not there expresly applied to Father Son and H. Ghost yet it will be very hard to find a more convenient word whereby to express the distinction of these Three For which reason I could never yet see any just cause to quarrel at this term For since the H. Spirit of God in Scripture hath thought fit in speaking of these Three to distinguish them from one another as we use in common speech to distinguish three several Persons I cannot see any reason why in the explication of this Mystery which purely depends upon Divine Revelation we should not speak of it in the same manner as the Scripture doth And though the word Person is now become a â—erm of Art I see no cause why we should decline it so long as we mean by it neither more nor less than what the Scripture says in other Words IV. It deserves further to be considered That there hath been a very ancient Tradition concerning three real Differences or Distinctions in the Divine Nature and these as I said before very nearly resembling the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity Whence this Tradition had its original is not easie upon good and certain grounds to say but certain it is that the Jews anciently had this Notion And that they did distinguish the Word of God and the H. Spirit of God from Him who was absolutely called God and whom they looked upon as the First Principle of all things as is plain from Philo Judaeus and Moses Nachmanides and others cited by the Learned Grotius in his incomparable Book of the Truth of the Christian Religion And among the Heathen Plato who probably enough might have this Notion from the Jews did make three Distinctions in the Deity by the Names of essential Goodness and Mind and Spirit So that whatever Objections this matter may be liable to it is not so peculiar a Doctrine of the Christian Religion as many have imagined though it is revealed by it with much more clearness and certainty And consequently neither the Jews nor Plato have any reason to object is to us Christians especially since they pretend no other ground for it but either their own Reason or an ancient Tradition from their Fathers whereas we Christians do appeal to express Divine Revelation for what we believe in this matter and do believe it singly upon that account V. It is besides very considerable That the Scriptures do deliver this Doctrine of the Trinity without any manner of doubt or question concerning the Unity of the Divine Nature And not only so but do most stedfastly and constantly assert that there is but One God And in those very Texts in which these three Differences are mentioned the Unity of the Divine Nature is expresly asserted as where St. John makes mention of the Father the Word and the Spirit the Unity of these Three is likewise affirmed There are Three that bear record in Heaven the Father the Word and the Spirit and these Three are One. VI. It is yet further considerable That from this Mystery as delivered in Scripture a Plurality of Gods cannot be inferred without making the Scripture grosly to contradict it self which I charitably suppose the Socinians would be as loth to admit as we our selves are And if either Councils or Fathers or Schoolmen have so explained this Mystery as to give any just ground or so much as a plausible colour for such an Inference let the blame fall where it is due and let it not be charged on the H. Scriptures but rather as the Apostle says in another Case Let God be true and every Man a liar VIIthly and Lastly I desire it may be considered That it is not repugnant to Reason to believe some things which are incomprehensible by our Reason provided that we have sufficient ground and reason for the belief of them Especially if they be concerning God who is in his Nature Incomprehensible and we be well assured that he hath revealed them And therefore it ought not to offend us that these Differences in the Deity are incomprehensible by our finite understandings because the Divine Nature it self is so and yet the belief of that is the Foundation of all Religion There are a great many things in Nature which we cannot comprehend how they either are or can be As the Continuity of Matter that is how the parts of it do hang so fast together that they are many times very hard to be parted and yet we are sure that it is so because we see it every day So likewise how the small Seeds of things contain the whole Form and Nature of the things from which they proceed and into which by degrees they grow and yet we
arbitrary and precarious a Supposition that I must confess my self not a little out of countenance for them that men of so much Wit and Reason should ever be put to so sorry and pitiful a shift For can any man imagine that in so exact a History of our Saviour's Life written by several Persons the Relation of so important a matter as this and of the circumstances of it should be wholly omitted That we should have a particular account of his being carried into Egypt in his infancy and of the time when he was brought back from thence Of his disputing in the Temple with the Jewish Doctors and putting them to silence when he was but twelve years of Age A punctual Relation of his being baptized by John and how after that he was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and was carried by that evil Spirit from one place to another But not one word of his being taken up by God into Heaven and of his coming down again from thence not the least intimation given either of the Time or any other circumstance of so memorable a thing upon which according to the Socinians the Authority of his Mission and the Divinity of his Doctrine did so much depend When so many things of so much less moment are so minutely and exactly reported what can be the reason of this deep silence in all the Evangelists concerning this matter But above all it is to be wondred that St. John who wrote his Gospel last and as Eusebius tells us on purpose to supply the omissions of the other Evangelists should give no account of this thing and yet as the Socinians suppose should so often take it for granted and refer to it as when it is said that he came forth from God and was sent from God and came down from Heaven besides several other Expressions to this purpose Who can believe this And can it then be reasonable to suppose such a thing And this without any ground from the History of the Gospel only to serve an Hypothesis which they had taken up and which they cannot maintain unless they may have leave to make a Supposition for which they have nothing in truth to say but only that it is necessary to defend an Opinion which they are resolved not to part with upon any terms This is so inartificial not to say absurd a way of avoiding a difficulty to take for granted whatever is necessary to that purpose that no man of common ingenuity would make use of it And there is no surer sign that a Cause is greatly distress'd than to be driven to such a shift For do but give a man leave to suppose what he pleases and he may prove what he will and avoid any difficulty whatever that can be objected to him Besides that according to this device the Son of God did not first come from Heaven into the World as the Scripture seems every where to say but first was in the World and then went to Heaven and from thence came back into the World again And he was not in the beginning with God but was first in the World and afterwards with God whereas St. John says that the Word was in the beginning and then was made flesh and dwelt among us But they say that he first was made flesh and then a great while after was in the beginning with God A supposition which is quite contrary to all the Texts which I have mention'd Nor do the several parts of this interpretation of theirs agree very well together In the beginning that is say they when the Gospel first began to be publish'd was the Word and then that is in the beginning he was with God that is in Heaven to receive from God that Doctrine which he was to deliver to the World But if by the beginning be meant the first publication of the Gospel he was not then with God but had been with him and was come back from him before he entred upon his publick Ministry which they make to be the meaning of the beginning And in the beginning he was God that is say they not God by Nature but by Office and Divine constitution And yet in this again they fall foul upon themselves for they say he was not declared to be God till after his Resurrection and his being advanced to the right hand of God So that he was not God in their sense of the beginning that is when he entred upon his publick Ministry and began to preach the Gospel Secondly As to some other Texts which speak of his existence before his Incarnation as that he was glorified with his Father before the World was and before Abraham was I am These they interpret thus that he was glorified with his Father before the World was and that he was before Abraham was viz. in the Divine foreknowledg and Decree But then surely they do not consider that this is nothing but what might have been said of any other man and even of Abraham himself that before he was that is before he had a real and actual existence he was in the purpose and Decree of God that is before he was God did intend he should be Which is a sense so very flat that I can hardly abstain from saying it is ridiculous For certainly our Saviour did intend by saying this of himself to give himself some preference and advantage above Abraham which this sense and interpretation does not in the least do Because of any other man as well as of our B. Saviour it may as truly be said that he was in the foreknowledg and Decree of God before Abraham was born And I cannot but observe further that our Saviour does not say before Abraham was I was but before Abraham was I AM Which is the proper Name of God whereby is signified the eternal duration and permanency of his Being In which sense he is said by the Apostle to the Hebrews to be the same yesterday to day and for ever And so likewise he describes himself in St. John's Vision I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty And that this is spoken of the Son you may see in the same Chapter where he says of himself I am the first and the last And so likewise he describes himself again I am 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beginning and the end the first and the last And that we may not doubt who it is that thus describes his own Eternity he continuing still to speak in the same Person says I Jesus have sent mine Angel c. After this I shall only observe that all these expressions are the common Description which the Scripture gives of the Eternity of God whose Being is commensurate to all the several respects of
World And if the Author of this Epistle does affirm these words of the Psalmist to be spoken of Christ then they must acknowledge Christ to be the true God who made Heaven and Earth But the Author of this Epistle does as evidently affirm these words to be spoken to or of Christ as he does the words of any other Text cited in this Chapter And for this I appeal to the common sense of every man that reads them These Interpreters indeed are contented that the latter part of this Citation should be spoken of Christ but not the former But why not the former as well as the latter when they have so expresly told us that all the words of this Psalm are manifestly spoken of God What is the mystery of this Could they not as easily have interpreted the former part which speaks of the Creation of Heaven and Earth concerning the moral World and the new Creation or Reformation of Mankind by Jesus Christ and his Gospel as well as so many other plain Texts to the same purpose No doubt they could as well have done it and have set as good a face upon it when they had done it But why then did they not do it It was for a reason which they had no mind to tell but yet is not hard to be guessed at namely that if they had admitted the former words to have been spoken of Christ they knew not what to do with the latter part of this Citation They shall perish but thou remainest they shall wax old as agarment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed What shall perish and wax old and be changed Why the Earth and the Heavens which the Son had made that is the moral World the Reformation of Mankind and the new Creation of things by the Gospel All these must have undergone the same fate with the natural World and must not only have been defaced but utterly destroy'd and brought to nothing This they would not say but they did see it tho they would not seem to see it And we may plainly see by this that they can interpret a Text right when necessity forceth them to it and they cannot without great inconvenience to their Cause avoid it But when men have once resolv'd to hold fast an Opinion they have taken up it then becomes not only convenient but necessary to understand nothing that makes against it And this is truly the present case But in the mean time where is ingenuity and love of Truth And thus I have with all the clearness and brevity I could search'd to the very foundations of this new Interpretation of this Passage of the Evangelist upon which the Divinity of the Son of God is so firmly established and likewise of the gross misinterpretations of several other Texts to the same purpose in this Evangelist and in other Books of the New Testament All which Interpretations I have endeavoured to shew to be not only contrary to the sense of all Antiquity of which as Socinus had but little knowledge so he seems to have made but little account but to be also evidently contrary to the perpetual tenour and style of the H. Scripture Before I go off from this Argument I cannot but take notice of one thing wherein our Adversaries in this Cause do perpetually glory as a mighty advantage which they think they have over us in this Point of the Divinity of the Son of God and consequently in that other Point of the B. Trinity namely that they have Reason clearly on their Side in this Controversy and that the Difficulties and Absurdities are much greater and plainer on our part than on theirs Here they are pleas'd to triumph without modesty and without measure And yet notwithstanding this I am not afraid here likewise to join issue with them and am contented to have this matter brought to a fair Trial at the Bar of Reason as well as of Scripture expounded by the general Tradition of the Christian Church I say by general Tradition which next to Scripture is the best and surest confirmation of this great Point now in question between us and that which gives us the greatest and truest light for the right understanding of the true sense and meaning of Scripture not only in this but in most other important Doctrines of the Christian Religion I am not without some good hopes I will not say confidence for I never thought that to be so great an advantage to any Cause as some men would be glad to make others believe it is hoping to help and support a weak Argument by a strong and mighty confidence But surely modesty never hurt any Cause and the confidence of man seems to me to be much like the wrath of man which St. James tells us worketh not the righteousness of God that is it never does any good it never serves any wise and real purpose of Religion I say I am not without some good hopes that I have in the foregoing Discourses clearly shewn that the tenour of Scripture and general Tradition are on our Side in this Argument and therefore I shall not need to give my self the trouble to examine this matter over again Now as to the Point of Reason the great Difficulty and Absurdity which they object to our Doctrine concerning this Mystery amounts to thus much that it is not only above Reason but plainly contrary to it As to its being above Reason which they are loth to admit any thing to be this I think will bear no great Dispute Because if they would be pleased to speak out they can mean no more by this but that our Reason is not able fully to comprehend it But what then Are there no Mysteries in Religion That I am sure they will not say because God whose infinite Nature and Perfections are the very Foundation of all Religion is certainly the greatest Mystery of all other and the most incomprehensible But we must not nay they will not for this reason deny that there is such a Being as God And therefore if there be Mysteries in Religion it is no reasonable Objection against them that we cannot fully comprehend them Because all Mysteries in what kind soever whether in Religion or in Nature so long and so far as they are Mysteries are for that very reason incomprehensible But they urge the matter much further that this particular Mystery now under debate is plainly contrary to Reason And if they can make this good I will confess that they have gained a great Point upon us But then they are to be put in mind that to make this good against us they must clearly shew some plain Contradiction in this Doctrine which I could never yet see done by any Great Difficulty I acknowledge there is in the explication of it in which the further we go beyond what God hath thought fit to reveal to us in Scripture concerning it the more we
more for our comfort and advantage than any other way which the wisdom of this World would have been apt to devise and pitch upon And in all this I shall all along take either the plain declarations of Scripture or the pregnant intimations of it for my ground and guide I. I shall consider more distinctly what may reasonably be supposed to be implied in this expression of the Word 's being made flesh namely these five things First The truth and reality of the thing That the Son of God did not only appear in the form of human flesh but did really assume it the Word was made flesh as the Evangelist expresly declares For if this had been only a Phantasme and Apparition as some Hereticks of old did fancy it would in all probability have been like the appearance of Angels mentioned in the old Testament sudden and of short continuance and would after a little while have vanish'd and disappear'd But he dwelt among us and convers'd familiarly with us a long time and for many years together and the Scripture useth all the expressions which are proper to signify a real Man and a real Human Body and there were all the signs and evidences of reality that could be For the Word is said to be made flesh and Christ is said to be of the seed of David according to the flesh and to be made of a Woman and all this to shew that he was a real Man and had a real and substantial Body For he was born and by degrees grew up to be a Man and did perform all such actions as are natural and proper to Men He continued a great while in the World and at last suffer'd and dy'd and was laid in the grave He did not vanish and disappear like a Phantasme or Spirit but he dyed like other Men And his Body was raised again out of the grave and after he was risen he conversed forty days upon Earth and permitted his body to be handled and last of all was visibly taken up into Heaven So that either we must grant Him to have had a real Body or we have cause to doubt whether all Mankind be not mere Phantasms and Apparitions For greater evidence no man can give that he is really clothed with and carries about him a true and substantial Body than the Son of God did in the days of his flesh It is to me very wonderful upon what ground or indeed to what end the Hereticks of old Marcion and others did deny the reality of Christ's flesh Surely they had a great mind to be Hereticks who took up so sensless an Opinion for no reason and to no purpose Secondly Another thing implyed in the Word 's being made flesh is that this was done peculiarly for the benefit and advantage of Men The Word was made flesh that is became Man for so I have shewn the word flesh to be often used in Scripture And this the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews takes very special notice of as a great grace and favour of God to Mankind that his Son appear'd in our Nature and consequently for our Salvation as it is said in the Nicene Creed who for us Men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate c. For verily says the Apostle He took not on him the nature of Angels but of the seed of Abraham 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not assume the Angelical Nature so our Translators understood the phrase but the word also signifies to take hold of a thing which is falling as well as to assume or take on him He did not take hold of the Angels when they were falling but suffered them to lapse irrecoverably into misery and ruine But he took hold of Human Nature when it was falling and particularly of the Seed of Abraham and by the Seed of Abraham that is by himself in whom all the Nations of the Earth were blessed he brought Salvation first to the Jews and then to the rest of Mankind The Apostle chuses to derive this Blessing from Abraham that so he might bring it nearer to the Jews to whom he wrote this Epistle and might thereby more effectually recommend the Gospel to them and the glad tidings of that great Salvation in which they had so peculiar an interest And it is some confirmation of the interpretation I have given of that expression he took not on him c. that the Evangelist uses the very same word for taking hold of one that was ready to sink For so it is said of St. Peter when he was ready to sink that Christ put forth his hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and caught hold of him and saved him from drowning And thus the Son of God caught hold of Mankind which was ready to sink into eternal perdition He laid hold of our Nature or as it is express'd in the same Chapter he took part of flesh and blood that in our Nature he might be capable of effecting our Redemption and Deliverance But it is no where said in Scripture not the least intimation given there that the Son of God ever shew'd such grace and favour to the Angels But the Word became flesh that is became Man He did not assume the Angelical Nature but was contented to be cloathed with the Rags of Humanity and to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh that is of sinful Man Thirdly This expression of the Word 's being made flesh may further imply his assuming the infirmities and submitting to the miseries of Human Nature This I collect from the word flesh by which the Scripture often useth to express our frail and mortal Nature The Son of God did not only condescend to be made Man but also to become mortal and miseraable for our sakes He submitted to all those things which are accounted most grievous and calamitous to human nature To hunger and want to shame and contempt to bitter pains and agonies and to a most cruel and disgraceful death So that in this sense also he became flesh not only by being cloathed with human nature but by becoming liable to all the frailties and sufferings of it of which he had a greater share than any of the Sons of men ever had for never was sorrow like to his sorrow nor suffering like to his sufferings the weight and bitterness whereof was such as to wring from him the meekest and most patient endurer of sufferings that ever was that doleful complaint My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Fourthly In this expression the Word was made Flesh is likewise implyed the Union of the Divinity with Human Nature in one Person And this the Text expresseth in such words as seem to signifie a most perfect and intimate and vital Union of the Divine and human Natures of Christ in one Person The Word was made or became flesh Which what else can it signify but one of these two things Either that the eternal
by any thing that hath been said to contribute towards the putting an end to so unhappy a Controversy which hath troubled the World so long and raised such a dust that very few have been able to see clearly through it However I cannot dismiss this Argument without making some useful but very short reflection upon this great Doctrine of our Religion namely That the Son of God being made a Sacrifice for us and exposed to such bitter Sufferings and so cruel a Death for the Expiation of our Sins should create in us the greatest dread and detestation of Sin and for ever deter us from all wilful transgression and disobedience For if the guilt of our Sins was done away upon such hard terms and cost the dearly beloved Son of God so much sweat and blood then surely we ought to take great heed how by our renewed Provocations we renew his Passion and do what in us lies to crucify to our selves the Son of God afresh and to put him to an open shame If God did so terribly afflict the dearly beloved of his Soul for our sakes if the Son of God was so grievously wounded for our transgressions and so sorely bruised for our iniquities If so fearful a Storm of Vengeance fell upon the most innocent Person that ever was for our Sins then we have reason to take that kind and merciful admonition of the Son of God to Sinners to sin no more lest a worse thing if it be possible come upon our selves In this Dispensation of God's Grace and Mercy to Mankind by the Death of his Son God seems to have gone to the very extremity of things and almost further than Goodness and Justice will well admit to afflict Innocency it self to save the Guilty And if herein God hath expressed his hatred of Sin in such a wonderful way of love and kindness to the Sons of Men as looks almost like hatred of Innocency and his own Son This ought in all ingenuity and gratitude to our gracious Redeemer who was made a curse for us and loved us to that degree as to wash us from our Sins in his own Blood I say This ought to beget in us a greater displeasure against Sin and a more perfect detestation of it than if we had suffered the punishment due to it in our own Persons For in this Case we could only have been displeased at our Selves and our Sins as the just Cause of our Sufferings but in the other we ought to hate Sin as the unhappy occasion of the saddest Misfortune and sorest Calamities to the best Man that ever was and to our best Friend for our Sins and for our Sakes Since then the Son of God hath so graciously condescended to be made in all things like unto us Sin only excepted let us aspire as much as is possible to become like to Him Above all let us hate and avoid Sin as the only thing in which the Son of God would have no part with us though he was contented to suffer such bitter things to save us from the Defilement and Dominion of it from the Punishment and all the dismal consequences of it He had no Sin but God was pleased to lay upon him the iniquities of us all and to make his Soul an offering for Sin and to permit all that to be done to Him which was due to us He was contented to be sacrificed once for all Mankind that Men might for ever cease from that inhuman and ineffectual way of sacrificing one another whereby instead of expiating their guilt they did inflame it and by thinking to make Atonement for their Sins they did in truth add to the number and heinousness of them And let us likewise learn from this admirable Pattern to pity those that are in misery as Christ also hath pitied us and to save them that are ready to perish for His sake who came to seek and to save us that were lost Let us upon all occasions be ready to open our bowels of Compassion towards the Poor in a thankful imitation of his Grace and Goodness who for our sakes chose to be a Beggar that we for his sake might not despise the Poor but might have a tender regard and compassion to those whose Condition in this World does so nearly resemble that in which the Son of God thought it fittest for him to appear when he was pleased to become Man In a word Let us in the whole course and in all the actions of our lives shew forth the Vertues of Him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light and hath raised up a mighty Salvation for us that being delivered from all our spiritual Enemies from Sin and all the Powers of darkness we might serve him who hath saved us walking in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our lives Now to him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb that was slain To God even our Father and to our Lord Jesus Christ the first begotten from the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth Unto him who hath loved us and washed from our Sins in his own Blood and whilst we were Enemies to Him loved us at such a rate as never any man did his Friend To Him who became Man that he might bring us to God and assumed our frail and mortal Nature that he might cloath us with Immortality and Life To Him who was pleased to dwell and live amongst us that he might teach us how to live To Him who dyed for our Sins and rose again for our Justification and lives for ever to make Intercession for us To Him be Glory and Dominion Thanksgiving and Praise to Eternal Ages Amen SERMON VI. Concerning the Vnity of the Divine Nature and the B. Trinity c. 1 TIM II. 5. For there is one God THE Particle for leads us to the consideration of the Context and Occasion of these words which in short is this The design of this Epistle is to direct Timothy to whom St. Paul had committed the Government of the Church of Ephesus how he ought to demean himself in that great and weighty Charge And at the beginning of this Chapter he gives direction concerning Publick Prayers in the Church that Prayers and Thanksgiving he made for all men and for all Ranks and Orders of men especially for Kings and all that are in Authority that under them Christians might lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty And this he tells us was very suitable to the Christian Religion by which God designed the Salvation of Mankind and therefore it must needs be very acceptable to him that we should offer up Prayers and Thanksgivings to him in behalf of all men For this saith the Apostle is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth And then it follows in the next words