of the Godhead The Blasphemer was by God's immediate Command stoned to death by the whole Congregation Levit. 24.24 because as the Sin and Scandal were publick so was the Punishment to be and here the Law alloweth the Ecclesiastical Courts to proceed against Offenders in the Capital Cases of Heresy and Blasphemy Capital I call them for if in human Things Treason and Rebellion be so then fundamental Heresy and Blasphemy are such in those of a Divine Nature * Sir Tho. Ridley's View of the Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws p. 59. see the Margin against such is provided Sentence of Death which here hath actually been executed upon some thus one Bartholomew Legat for these Arian and Socinian Blasphemies was on the 18th of March in 1611. burnt in Smithfield and in the following Month of April Edward Wightman was for the same burnt at Litchfield Queen Elizabeth having heard of some of them in her time said She was grieved to hear she had such Monsters in her Kingdoms If Bishop Hall was now alive how much more cause would he have had to say Irem Sect. 23. hoc avo c. In this Age the Souls of Christians are seduced not only by Papists Anabaptists Antinomians and Pelagians sed per infernalem Socinianorum haeresim but by means of the hellish Heresy of Socinians Anti trinitarians New Arians we have cause here in England to fear the utmost and last Destruction of Christian Religion Let upon this account no just Cause be given to renew that Lamentation of Jeremiah the Law is no more chap. 2.9 least out of a just Judgment of God this should follow the Gospel is no more for us I tremble to think how at last God will with a witness take notice of those who now take no notice of him nor of his Concerns We read the Character of a wicked Man in the Person of Pharaoh Exod. 5.2 when he said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go Well saith God I will make thee know me before I have done with thee wherefore in Scripture by the Prophets especially by Ezekiel in so many places God's usual Stile when either he threateneth or executeth Judgments is this and they shall know that I am the Lord Ezek. 30.19 chap. 20.26 he saith thus will I execute judgments in Egypt and they shall know that I am the Lord and sometimes these Punishments are inflicted to the end they might know that I am the Lord. God grant none in this Land for want of performing their Duty in his Station do provoke God in the way of Judgments to make them know he is the Lord who both acts and speaks with a strong hand Isa 8.11 Whether or not the Ecclesiastical Court hath in this occasion of Socinianism acted its part according to Laws I must not take it upon me but leave it for the World to judge but this I now do insist upon that whether or not it be done in conformity to Law the Magistrate is about it to be addressed to for in such cases he at last is to act his part as ever 't was practised by those Christian Emperours who upon the like occasion minded the Glory of God But here we must stop a little for fear of being thought to insinuate to our Superiours any thing relating to the Duty of their place which we are not so vain as to think of in the least but one of the Grounds we go upon is out of the Book called the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Laws began in the days of Henry VIII and continued in the time of Edward VI. under the Head of Judgment against Heresies these words are positive Tùm consumptis omnibus aliis remediis ad extremum ad Civiles Magistratus ablegetur puniendus Every other Remedy proving useless the obstinate Heretick must at last be sent to the Civil Magistrate to be punished De judiciis contra haereses c. 4. de contumacibus Haereticis and as to the point of Blasphemy in the first Chapter under that Head is pathetically expressed the detestableness of that most wicked and in some Sense unpardonable Sin in Chap. 2d quomodo sit punienda blasphemia 't is said sit igitur hoc à nobis constitutum ut haec execrabilis blasphemiarum impietas quà m primùm de eà ritè constiterit ab Episcopis nulla ratione toleretur sed eodem supplicio confixa sit quâ pertinax haereticorum insania plectitur c. wherefore we order thus that the execrable Impiety of Blasphemy assoon as the Bishops have found it out shall by no means be tolerated but shall suffer the same Punishment as is inflicted upon obstinate Hereticks the constiterit is not so much in relation to Blasphemy it self which is easily known when either things belonging to God as Infiniteness Eternity Unchangeableness Holiness c. are denied him and attributed to the Creatures or when things contrary to his Nature as to lye to deny himself c. are fathered upon him or when Men do curse him but the constiterit doth regard the Blasphemer and guilty Wretch when he is found out according to this Ridley in his View c. p. 35 36. Bishops are to take Cognizance inquire into and declare whether or not the Person or Persons be guilty of Blasphemy which being clear he or they are to be delivered into the Civil Magistrates hands but if through neglect or otherwise any of the Bishops happen not to act their Part but stop the Course of Justice certainly the Magistrate is to look into 't and do his Duty though others do not theirs 't is nothing but what is very Just that every Man's hand should be against those Ishmaels whose hand is against every Man As to the Laws I mentioned just before they were by the Excellent Persons named by the King collected and finished under Edward VI. the Pious Josiah of that Age and so were then received with great and general Approbation both Kings Father and Son by right of their Supremacy as we may see 't in both their Letters gave them a Character of Authority and if they were not passed into an Act the only Cause was the untimely Death of that young Prince who designed it and the Business had already been proposed in Parliament as we see 't out of these words of his Epistle to Archbishop Cranmer c. Cum vos triginta duos viros ad leges nostras Ecclesiasticas perlegendas componendas juxta vim formam effectum cujusdam Acti Parliamenti in tertio regni nostri anno c. So that there is something of a Parliament's Authority and if there be any thing wanting it lyeth in your Power to set a Parliamentary Stamp upon it especially those Heads that relate to the Divine Moral Law as do those about Heresy Blasphemy and Idolatry wherein God's
after the Example of the good Kings of Judah begin with God's purge it of all its Filth and he will take care of yours prosper and establish them If ye mind the Honour of God and the Good of his Church with keeping out the Ravenous Wolves that would break into it then he will guide and direct in the weighty Affairs which now are and hereafter shall be before you and will preside among you with his Spirit of Wisdom Knowledge and Understanding extricate and overcome the greatest Difficulties and his gracious Providence will be as a Wall of Fire round about you God's Commands are attended not only with Promises to the Observers but also with Threatnings to the Breakers and Neglecters thereof for this Scripture is full of Proofs and therein God hath pronounced a Curse against those who do his work deceitfull Jerem. 48.10 in the case of executing Justice and Judgment and 't is but Justice what we now call for the very same Person the Eternal Son of God whose Cause within your Station I do humbly commend unto you shall at last come into the World in the glory of his Father with his Angels Matt. 16.27 chap. 25. to reward every man according to his works and the unprofitable as well as the wicked servant which with him is but one and the same shall be cast into outer darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth When Men neglect to Secure and Promote the Glory of God he hath in his Hand ways and means enough to lay their Honour in the Dust This I speak not of my self for 't is God's Language and indeed it ought to be look'd upon as the Voice of God not of Man because grounded upon God's and not Man's Word and I could almost be content never to be able to persuade if at this Time and Occasion I could effectually do 't upon these Considerations that soon or late we all must die how soon God alone knows not we for we have no certain Leases of our Lives then cometh Judgment and our Works whether good or bad shall follow us which we must give an account of and indeed this should make us tremble as well as Felix Acts 24.25 when Paul reasoned of judgment to come The Parable of the Talents shall then actually become matter of fact and the slothful and careless for want of exercising them shall be severely dealt withal Negative Sins though many mind them not shall be the cause of Damnation for we see in the Description of the last Judgment made by our Saviour the only Sins named for which Men shall be damned are all of omission ye gave me no meat ye gave me no drink ye clothed me not ye visited me not ye minded me not and ye did not for me what ye ought and might have done Matt. 25. therefore depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels This is terrible to hear and shall be more to feel O that to prevent this dreadful Doom in our several Stations we were able with Bernard to say Wherever I am and whatsoever I do it seems to me as if I had heard the voice of the Archangel saying arise ye dead and come to judgment this is the ready way to be prepared for it and to avoid being surprised therewith and to live every moment as if that same was the last of our Life and the next Luk. 16.2 give an account of thy Stewardship this ought to make every one keep his accounts ready for though Men are apt to put off till to morrow what can be done to day there shall then be no procrastination whilst 't is time Matt. 24. let us do our Duty and blessed yea thrice blessed shall that servant be whom his Lord when he comes shall find so doing but wo be to him that shall be found doing the contrary as if because his Lord delayeth his coming he was never to come and call to an account David gives us the Character of a wicked Man to say God will not require it though he speaks it not with his Tongue but only saith it in his Heart and his saying so is there called a Contempt of God wherefore doth the wicked contemn God Psal 10.13 he hath said in his heart thou shalt not require it Now the Second thing to be laid before you Heb 4.13 I shall but name 't is this all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do he is present every where Psal 139. and Ezek. 11.5 all seeing and all knowing he is acquainted with all our ways all our words and he understandeth all our thoughts afar off so cannot be deceived nor imposed upon and if Men forsake the Lord's Cause he will forsake them then look for nothing but Misery and Calamity which I think again and again I now may safely say for I hope we at this time have no Amaziah to speak thus but prophecy not again any more of Bethel Amos 7 1â— for it is the King's chappel and it is the King's court for in such places they loved not to hear the Truth nor of unpleasant Things but 't is spoken of the Court of the Kings of Israel who after the renting of the Ten Tribes from first to last proved bad every one which was not altogether of those of Judah where was a mixture of some good and some bad Seeing Arguments drawn out of God's Word the common and general Consent of the Christian Church since the Apostles time and out of true sound Reason cannot work upon or prevail with a sort of Men hardened and obstinate in their Opinions and of whom long ago David said Psal 64.5 they encourage themselves in an evil matter and the Apostle fore-told of such false teachers who should privily 2 Pet. 2.1 at first and then openly bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them that is the Lord Jesus Saviour of the World to be true God natural and consubstantial Son of God I say 't is not improper to apply our selves unto the Civil Power that he would make use of the lawful Authority which God for his own Glory hath put into his hands with some others we have done our part with offering in this Discourse good Arguments to assert and bear Record for the Truth but remembring the Apostle's Rule a man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject knowing that he that is such is subverted and sinneth being condemned of himself we think such may well be condemned by those who have right to do 't thereby to put a stop to the spreading of a mortal Gargrene in a most corrupt and backsliding Age. Herein we go upon Two Heads Heresy and Blasphemy against which we have both Gospel and Law Divine and Human no Error more fundamental than that which impiously strikes at the Nature and Persons
Surely no man that hath any regard to God can say or think that in so serious a matter God speaks to nothing if to some then either to Angels or to some other Creature not to Angels for they are not of God's Council nor to any other of the Creatures which had neither Soul nor Reason and the next Verse doth decide the thing * Vers 27. So god created man in his own image in the image of God created he him and not after the Image of Angels or of any other Creature neither did God speak to the Souls for as yet they were not created To what I said of Angels I shall add that this could not be spoken to them for they neither principally or instrumentally had any hand in the Creation of Man for they could not the Work of Creation requiring an infinite Power but it must be to the other persons of the most holy Trinity the Word and the Spirit As to the Enallage or that manner of speaking in the plural for Greatness sake we own it hath place in some Languages but we deny it ever was in the Hebrew Tongue in the Old Testament no Man no person in Authority no Priest no Judg no King ever spoke of himself in the plural Number Well hath the Prophet said †Isai 40.12 13.7 Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counsellor hath taught him But for any one Grotius not excepted to say that the plural Number is used for Greatness or Majesty sake is certainly to prevaricate in the Cause of God for as 't is contrary to the Idiom of the Hebrew Tongue so to the practice of all those former times and it is but a modern Use and Invention which so support some Men contrary to all true Reason have forged in their imagination Besides that in these latter times wherein the Use hath been introduced no Emperor King or Prince in any Language useth his Proper Name or Appellative in the plural Number We Leopolds Williams Henrys Emperors Kings c. but always in the singular Leopold William Emperour King Well though no Man of what rank soever spoke after that way we find God hath in other places as after Adam's Sin * Gen. 3.22 Behold the man is become as one of us not as I but one of us then there is more than One person for God speaks of himself of the Deity not of Angels whom he makes no comparison with when in the Transfiguration the Voice came from Heaven saying †Mat. 17.5 8. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased 't is observable the Apostles saw no Man save Jesus onely that it might appear it was not spoken of Moses or Elias but only of the Lord Jesus Another place there is also to the same purpose where upon the occasion of the building of the Tower of Babel †Gen. 11.6 7. The Lord said let us go down and there confound their language 't is not said I will but let us go â—â—wn in the plural Number as speaking of many which may not be understood of the Nature which is most singularly One but of the Persons Socinians say to this that though out of this we could prove Plurality yet we must not conclude for a Trinity but the Cavil is vain for 't is enough that the Name of God is in Scripture attributed only to Three Father Son and Holy Ghost to infer a Trinity and 't is well known how Three is the first Number of the plural Hence Hebrews and Greeks do distinguish the plural Number from the dual neither do we read of any more Terms or Words than two of divine Emanations namely of the Son by Generation and of the Holy Ghost by Procession Our second kind of Arguments consists of those Texts of Scripture which do expresly declare a Trinity as is that when our blessed Saviour sends his Apostles to * Mat. 28.19 baptize the Nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Hence the Son and Holy Ghost are proved to be Persons because we are distinctly baptised in their Name to baptise in one's Name is to make him disciple or initiate and bring him under the Discipline of him in whose Name he is baptized now if the Father in whose Name we are baptized be a Person so must the Son so must the Holy Ghost be because in every circumstance we are baptized in their Name as well as in the Fathers And observe it is not said in the Name of God whereby the Essence only might absolutely be taken but of the Father Son and Holy Ghost to shew that relative Equality which is between the Persons that have but one and the same Nature In this Text our blessed Saviour with his own Mouth declared the Trinity Another place very plain and positive to our purpose is this * 1 John 5.7 There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one Here the Trinity of Persons and Unity of Essence are so clear that the Adversaries have nothing to say but first to call in question the Verse as if it had been inserted because it is not in some Greek Copies out of which the Enemies of the Truth did formerly take it away but we have it in so many others even before the Council of Nice in Cyprian's time that there is no just ground left to doubt of its being true and authentick which place was by Athanasius made use of against Arrius In this Text the Apostle doth treat of confessing and believing Jesus Christ to be the Son of God which he to confirm doth bring in the Article of the holy Trinity whereof he is the second Person and to any one that doth seriously consider the sense and scope of the place it will appear how without that Verse there would be a breach in that part of the Chapter to bear a proportion of Three that bear witness in Heaven with the Three that bear it on Earth Their next Cavil upon this place is upon the latter part of the Verse and these three are one that is say they not in Nature but in Mind and Consent which is as absurd as if one would say when Scripture affirms * Deut. 6 4. Mark 12.29 O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord the meaning is only the Consent of many Wills but doth not this Oneness of Will argue a Unity of Essence For how can there naturally and essentially be one Will and Consent if there be not one Essence and Nature How can it essentially be one Will if there be not one but many divine Natures Rather there shall be many different Gods whose different Wills shall oppose one another than the which nothing can be more absurd Again either those Persons are finite or infinite if finite then they have not divine Nature which is infinite if infinite then
Condescention is a wonderful Argument of God's Goodness which is the greatest Glory of Divine Nature this is cause of Thankfulness not of Cavils and Exceptions he knows what is best and fittest for him to do and wants not our Counsel had the Son of God appeared as a great Prince he probably would thereby have made more Hypocrites than real Converts and not so well persuaded Men to Holiness and Goodness for Arguments to do it must not be fetch'd from the Pomp and Prosperity of this World but from the great Rewards and Glory of that which is to come But before I leave this Point I must take notice of that place wherein the Apostle makes the Son of God upon his coming into the World speak thus Heb. 10.5 but a body hast thou prepared me the Body was prepared against his coming into the World and that prepared Body at his coming he took so then he was before the Body was prepared for him and before his coming into the World for nothing can be said to be sitted as the word implies in the Original for one who is not hence we conclude how the Son of God was before his Incarnation and had a Being but we now return to our Proofs The next place is of the same Prophet Isa 9.6 For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful Counsellour the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace of the increase of his Government and Peace there shall be no end c. I ask Is this appliable to any Son that was to be born of Ahaz For this is the same Person mentioned in the fore-quoted place and may be seen if compared together Observe how the different Expressions do denote different Natures the Child is for Humanity the Son for the Divinity the Child is born but the Son not born but given in relation to Human Nature he had a beginning and a progress he was a Child before he was a Man but the Son not so a Child is not before he be born but the Son had a being and did exist before he was given yet both united in one Person for the Child was not one Person and the Son another for all along the Prophet though he had named a Child and a Son speaks in the singular number his Shoulder his Name his Government as his Name is wonderful so is the manner of the Union these two Natures are in one Person without Confusion the Divine retained her Proprieties so hath the Human and yet these different Proprieties are so united in one Person that the Person may be called by the Name of both Natures Christ is God and Christ is Man in the Concret tho' in the Abstract it may not be said Divinity is Humanity nor Humanity Divinity they are united but without Confusion But to return to our Point there was never so many glorious Names joyned together to describe one Person as we find to be in this place to him alone they all belong because the Spirit of Truth saith so which if they were not properly his by right he would not give them Wonderful in his Name in his Nature in his Person in his Incarnation Wonderful every way Counsellour for he is the Wisdom of the Father without which the Only Wise God never doth any thing the Mighty God most proper to God and never in the singular number given any Creature * Isa 10.21 the remnant saith our Prophet shall return even the remnant of Jacob unto the mighty God the true essential God the God of Israel is meaned in the place 't is such a Name as is made use of when in a most Eminent way God is described †Deut. 10.17 your God is God of Gods and the Cord of Lords a great God mighty and terrible And ‖ Nehem. 9.32 now therefore our God the great the mighty and the terrible God and elsewhere * Jerem 32.18 the great the mighty God the Lord of hosts is his name and when the Question is to know who is the King of Glory the Answer is the Lord strong and mighty this High and Divine Name is here in the place aâ—â—â—ibuted to Jesus Christ the Son of God about whom is the Prophecy that which follows is no less considerable or incommunicable the everlasting Father or as 〈…〉 Father of Eternity nothing more Noble or becoming God can be said than to call him so nothing â—ut the True God is Eternal and nothing more propâ—â—â— to God than Eternity How can a Child or any meet mortal Man be called everlasting Father Now what can hinder us hence to argue thus the mighty God and everlasting Father is true God by Nature but Christ is such out of this place therefore Christ is true God by Nature Two things more are here said of this Son of God he is the Prince of Peace for by his Death he made our Peace with God and procured an inward Peace of Conscience and reconciled things in Heaven and on the earth he came into the World in time of universal Peace when the Roman Empire the greatest in the World fully enjoy'd it and for a Sign the Temple of Janus in Rome was shut up nay Herod and Pilate Luke 23.12 both his Enemies were before his death upon his account reconciled one to another Secondly 't is said of him The government shall be upon his shoulders and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end After the Father had said to him * Psal 2.7 8 9. Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee he promiseth to give him the Heathens for his inheritance and the utmost parts of the Earth for his Possession thou shalt break them with a Rod of Iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a Potters Vessel whereunto agreeth another Scripture †Rev. 12 5. of the Man-child that was to rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron this he declared unto Pilate ‖ John 18.37 Rev. 11.15 Luke 1.33 I am a king to this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world So then the kingdoms of this world are his and he shall reign for ever and ever and of his kingdom there shall be no end The New Testament doth also in several places demonstrate two Natures in the Person of Christ S. John having affirmed the Word to be God which relates to his eternal Generation he doth afterwards speak of his Incarnation when he saith * Joh. 1.14 The word that was God was made flesh that is the Person call'd the Word the Son of God took upon him our human Nature and so united two Natures divine and human in one Person for this Word is in the whole Chapter spoken of as of a Person acting making or creating coming all this is the Character of a Person
which saith Acts 14.15 Chap. 17.24 26. in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth which is certainly the same as created so God made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all things that are therein And God that made the world and all things therein Again and hath made of one blood all Nations of Men c. So he is a great stranger to Scripture who denies to Make the World and to Create the World not to be the same so seeing this shift cannot hold they betake themselves to another which is that God made the world by Christ as aâ—â— instrumental cause but that sort of men will go about overturning Heaven and Earth rather than to depart from their damnable opinions for what can they ground upon this instrumentality of Christ For the preposition by signifieth no such thing as it appears out of the following places Gal. 1.1 Eph. 1.1.1 Cor. 1.9 Rom. 11.36 Heb. 2.10 Paul an Apostle not of men nor by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father And Paul an Apostle of Jesus by the will of God Also God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Elsewhere for of him and through or by him and to him are all things Furthermore for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things c. No sign in these or many more places of the word by signifying any instrumental Cause God by whom are all things Colos 1.17 never made the world by and instrument but by his word who not only in Dignity but also in nature and time is before all things The adversaries cannot upon any rational grounds prove that the Apostle meant the world to come but we want no good reasons to shew how the Creation of the world is to be understood for first 't is neither the idiom of the Jews nor the stile of Scripture by the world to understand the future for out of these words of verse 10. And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth Heb. 1.10 out of Psal 102.25 and the heavens are the work of thine hands I see no cause why the Creation of the world should not be understood rather than the beginning of the Gospel the ancient earth rather than the new one and the old Heavens rather than the new The more because when the Apostle intends to speak of the world to come he plainly saith it when he speaks of those that have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come Chap. 6.5 Chap. 2.5 So he doth when he saith unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come So when he hath a mind to say a thing he well knows how to express it Moreover if he had said in the present he males not in the praeter tense he might have left some thing more of liberty thereby to understand the future for speaking in the time past he shews how he doth speak of those ages which the praeter tense doth fit better than the future Furthermore the worlds or ages in the plural is more proper for ancient times than for that which is to come for this world hath had several ages and shall continue to have till the last day but after that the world to come shall last for ever and be all Eternity without end And when Scripture doth by the name world signifie the future not only it doth add a distinction as whosoever shall for Christ's sake leave all Mark 10.29 30. Luke 18.30 shall in the world to come have life everlasting But also ever speaketh in the singular number the reason is because this world hath several ages and that which is to come shall have but one Besides I must say how the Apostle understands the world which God already had made and not that which he was to make by his Son that which was made had a being but that which was to be made had none so we must conclude he spoke of things that were and not of that which was not Now that the Lord Jesus as principal and efficient cause made the world and so that the word beginning is to be understood of the Creation it appears out of this Heb. 1.1 2. God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son which our Saviour represented before by the parable of the Vineyard and the Husbandmen Maâ—â— â—1 33 This Son he hath appointed heir of all things by whom he made the worlds Angels are called only God's Ministers but Christ is called the Son the first begotten not made upon which account the Author of the Epistle affirms the Son reaâ—lâ— and truly to be God and proves it out of Psal 45.6 7. Thy throne O God is for ever and ever And this the Apostle still speaking of the same proves by his having created the world v. 10. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the sound dation of the earth Observe how the word beginning is meant of the Creation of the world which is attributed to the Son 't is added and the heavens are the works of thine hands which must necessarily be understood in a literal sence of the Creation of the world and not of the new Creation of things by the Gospel out of what follows v. 11. They shall perish c. and be changed c. This shall be the fate of the natural world which cannot be said of the work of Regeneration or new Creation The word was in the beginning 1 Joh. 1.1 which is the same with from the beginning as expressed by the same Apostle that is of the time of the Creation when things began to be made that is from Eternity by these phrases before the world was and before the Foundation of the world the first born of every Creature that is before any thing was created Col. 1.15 16. as appears by the reason given in the next words For by him were all things created c. For he could not be before himself and had created himself which is absurd In the place 't is explained he is before all things in time or dignity because the maker is always in time before the thing which he made This head we shall conclude with the following Text 1 Cor. 8.6 But to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him Here the Apostle upon the occasion of eating things offered unto Idols saith that an Idol is nothing in the world though it be called God as many things are called Gods and Lords yet in reallity are not so the names of God and Lord do properly belong only to the true God whom he here opposeth to things falsely
was the Creator of all which is the reason given in the next verse why he calls him the first born of every Creature For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in carth And which is more at the later end of the verse all things were created by him and for him He created all things for himself which may not be said of any Creature for if he were a Creature he had been before himself And if we desire a farther explanation we have it in the following verse heb 1.2.6 and he is before all things And if we compare this place with another we shall find a sweet harmony in both he is called God's Son Col. 1.13 yea his dear Son in the first in both Creatour or maker of the World saith the last by whom also God made the worlds As to Creation so as to preservation for one saith by him all things consist and the other by him all things are upheld and the phrase in the Colossians the first born of every Creature is in the Epistle to the Heb. interpreted by this appointed heir of all things That is to be Lord of every Creature or whole Creation the first born is the Heir and Lord The Elder Brother or First Born is loco parentis Heb. 12.13 as a Father and so in the same Epistle behold I and the children which God hath given me Now the reason is clear and the consequence obvious Christ is before all things because all things were created by him upon which account he calls himself the beginning of the Creation of God That is the efficient cause which expressions are both joyned together as being of the same importance the beginning and first born from the dead Rev. 3.14 Col. 1.13 that is the efficient cause of the Resurection from the Dead These two places out of Colos and Heb. ought to be lookt upon as parallel one with another Now by the Son of Gods or the word 's making the worlds we have an eminent Testimony of his Eternal Godhead and Power for saith the Apostle he that made all things is God Heb. 3.4 So since all things were made by the Son he must be God Here I must take notice of their cavil against the place where it is said God made the world by his Son they would have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by whom to be taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for whom as if God had made them for his Son for his sake which is a down-right corruption of the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not with an accusative to signifie propter but in the Genitive which never denoteth a final but always an efficient cause In the New Testament 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by is used about 600 times with a Genitive Cafe and in no one may be rendred propter for and so cannot be here and suppose it could yet it would be against the constant use of the word for which some particular reason ought to be given why such a sence should be admitted for which there is none in this place it also must be taken notice of how the case is not the same where Things as where Persons are spoken of What now I am by the grace of God entering upon is to shew how our Blessed Saviour had a real being before he was conceived in the Womb of the Virgin and my reasons shall be drawn out of the 6. chap. of St. John's Gospel where the matter conducing to our purpose is spoken of at large â—â—r Christ doth in several places thereof speak of his being come from Heaven and shall begin with the last verse wherein he discourseth upon the point because it will by degrees lead us back to the rest Joh. 6.6 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before which words he spoke of himself to remove the offence which what he said about the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood had given many of his disciples for he saith his words are not literally or corporally but spiritually to be understood for he was to leave the Earth and go up into Heaven where he was before out of which words we may easily conclude how Christ was in Heaven before he was upon earth this seems to be clear But however they will not agree to it Vers 32.33 38 50.51 Ver. 41.42 first they cavil about the place saying that by where he was before Heaven is not meant when in this very chapter no less than five times he saith he came down from Heaven which the Jews took special notice of and murmured at which truth our Saviour had before declared to Nicodemns and No man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of Man Joh. 3.13 which is in Heaven so that although in this verse the word Heaven be not named yet is so plainly described that there is not the least ground left for any one to doubt of it either for his Disciples or others for what need of his naming again that which he named so many times before There is a Text parallel with this Joh. 16.28 which doth explain it I came forth from the father and am come into the world again I leave the world and go to the Father To say he shall ascend up where he was before and to return to the place whence he came is it not the same and had he not declared at several times that his Father is in Heaven And if any doubt should remain 't is wholly cleared by the execution and when the thing was fulfilled at his ascension for while they beheld he was taken up Acts 1.9 and a cloud received him out of their sight But this not serving their turn but by these Texts being pincht to the quick to hold out they take another way which is figuratively to explain the words where he was before and wrest their proper signification into a Metaphor that is Christ in his mind and thoughts conversed in Heaven being taken up in Meditation with those heavenly mysteries that are there which were so present unto him that although he was upon Earth yet he might be said to be in Heaven this indeed is a way of perverting the sense of Scriptures but not a fair one But if so our Saviour would have spoken in the present is and not in time past was for as they say he continually was taken up with such thoughts if continually then not discontinued when at that time he discoursed with them But the word before doth import a relative opposition between the time wherein our Saviour was in Heaven and that when he spoke upon Earth besides that actually and really he was upon Earth when they make him to have been in Heaven meerly in Thoughts and Meditation which holds no proportion between his being in Heaven and upon Earth so then Christ
to the end we may know the Truths of God we must be taught them of God now as all Promises are Yea and Amen in Jesus Christ so are all and every Truth of the Gospel in him which to understand we must be taught by him and by the Holy Ghost Eph. 4.21 2 Cor. 3.6 for the letter alone killeth but the spirit giveth life It is very strange yet true that Socinians will trust and depend upon their own Reason notwithstanding the Advice of wise Solomon given them long ago Lean not unto thine own understanding Prov. 3.5 which is the Seat and Center of Reason for if Men have any thing of Reason there it lays as to natural things but as to supernatural it is derived out of Scriptures whereupon our Holy Religion is grounded therein is nothing useless and needless yet still something is mysterious either as to Matter or in the Manner wherein it is spoken and 't is this which God hath given us for our continual Exercise in this World therefore he requireth we should inquire intoâ—t with all possible Diligence and utmost Endeavours and they who fall into that course do and will by Experience upon frequent reading of the Word daily find new Lights new Discoveries and new cause of Admiration which thorough Grace from above are the Fruits of their Obedience and Industry as there is nothing unnecessary superfluous and useless and that for all sorts of Christians whether weak or strong so the the right consideration of the Matter the Words Order Contexture the Design of the Holy Ghost in them do instruct us of and guide us in our Duty towards God whereof the parts are various large great and wonderful upon this account saith David Ps 119.96 Thy commandment is exceeding broad because it contains the whole Revelation of God unto us which is full of infinite Wisdom in the whole Frame and Order of it and as the Revelation in the Word is from God so is the Understanding of that Revelation that is the reasn why Men should not as some do perplex themselves to find out the Grounds and Suitableness of some things in the New-Testament with others in the Old when they should know how 't is not in their Power to know the heighth depth length and breadth of God's Infinite Wisdom therein contained when may be the Holy Ghost aimeth at such things as they cannot dive into who by degrees openeth Man's Eyes more and more to know things necessary for them for as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 3.2 He feeds us first with milk then with meat when we are able and strong enough to bear it for as another Apostle saith New-born Babes desire the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2.2 that they may grow thereby and thus till we come unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ Eph. 4.13 And those Men who in these things rely upon the Strength of their own Reason I may well compare to these little Babes who being not able to feed themselves lay Hand into their Milk wherewith they do not feed but only slubber themselves or to that Child that would not have the Nurse to hold him tho' he wants strength of himself to go if the Hand that bears him up doth but hold off then he is gone and sure to fall So 't is of any one that trusteth to his Understanding and leaneth upon his own Reason 't is a bruised Reed that will go into his Hand and pierce it Wherefore God's sends us to the law Isa 8.20 and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them for their Light doth come from the word yet not all at once but by degrees and in their several Kinds all which as the Apostle saith worketh that one and the self-same spirit 1 Cor. 12. dividing to every man severally as he will and let us know never so much out of Scripture there is still more to be learned Ought not this to convince Men that it doth contain Mysteries The Apostle directs us to think soberly Rom. 12.3 not to allow our Fancy and curious Speculations to go beyond the bounds of a becoming Sobriety in things above us which Scripture doth both command and commend and is very much suitable unto right Reason Now the rule of that Sobriety is positively fully and unalterably given thus Secret things belong unto the Lord our God but those which are revealed unto us Deur 29 2â— and to our children In those things Divine Revelation must be the measure and rule of our Knowledge the contrary is an effect of Pride Vanity and Presumptuousness forbidden in Scripture not to 〈◊〉 above that which is written which if Mâ—n obey 1 Cor. 4.6 it will bring them to Certainty and Truth whereof the contrary leads them into all kinds of Error But to conclude this for I must no longer insist upon 't as I never intended fully to answer it only to take notice of it on my way as to the point of Reason see how foolish in these things Man is and how confounded his â—eason by the Example of Peter an Elect of God a Disciple dear unto Christ The Lord Jesus comes to him to wash his Feet but he presently said John 13.5 6 7. Thou shalt never wash my feet but our Saviour answering If I wash thee not thou host no part in me Peter soon goes to another Extream first he would not have Christ to wash him at all but now he would be washed every where not only the feet but also hand and head too but our Saviour shews him Reason why he ought to suffer himself to be guided and not to take upon him to direct his Lord and Master in what he was to do he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet Now the cause of this wandring and error of Peter is expressed v. 7. namely his Ignorance What I do thou knowest not now Where was his Reason at that time For certainly he was unreasonable to be of a different Mind from his Saviour and till he submitted unto his Will the like we may say about these things unto those who fancy themselves so rational and would set up their blind and lame Reason for a competent Judge Reason is always striving and always at a loss all our Reason hath to do is to be guided by Scripture and to own it to be the infallible word of God all beyond this is the work of Faith for Christ is an object not to be known naturally or by natural Reason and the obligation to know Christ and believe in him springs and ariseth only from a positive Command superadded unto the Law of Nature If St. Paul speaks Truth Col. 1.27 Christ in us is a mystery considering the manner whereby he is in us therefore the Image of the new Man in us is called the hidden and inner