it self but uniting personally with the Man Jesus it appropriated to it self all the Infirmities of this Second Nature and it is true to say That God emptied himself that he was made man that he shed his Blood It would be matter of trouble to us should you believe that the Divinity of Jesus Christ passed through all these Degrees of Abasement No this is impossible it is of the Essence of God always to continue God Jesus Christ is in this respect the same yesterday and to day and for ever He has therefore only emptied himself by entring into Union with an Infirm and Mortal Man in such a manner as that the two Natures constitute only one Person much after the same manner as the Soul and Body united by the Bonds of Life make only one Person This Explication which we have thought necessary doth not hinder but that there remain still many Wonders in the Mystery of the Incarnation It is always true that the Word hath emptied it self It is always true that our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ hath found the Secret to be made Man and to humble himself for us We have in this Mystery two great Motives to Gratitude the Birth and Death of Jesus Christ The Child is born to us the Son is given to us we celebrate in one and the same Day two great Festivals Christmas and Easter It is our duty to solemnize them by a redoubling of our Zeal one only of these Mysteries claims all our Thankfulness What shall we do for a God who was willing for our sakes to live after the manner of men The Eternal Word which had no need of us hath emptied himself for to make us happy O Adorable Word Thou hadst not the same concern for the Angels that have left their Station Thou hast not clothed thy self with their Nature though more excellent than ours but hast honoured our Earth in taking it upon thee Our merciful Redeemer was willing to pass through the Womb of a Virgin there to take upon him Flesh like ours What shall we render to God for so great a Favour Let us take the Cup of Blessing and glorifie God in the Language of Angels Glory be to God on high Let us glorifie him as much as is possible for us Could we speak to the Angels as they spake to the Shepherds we would repeat to those Blessed Spirits the Words which they themselves have taught us This day a Child is born to us Glory be to God in the highest We cannot sufficiently glorifie him here on Earth do ye therefore help us to glorifie him If we be not able to render unto our Saviour all the Glory that is due unto him for his Birth what shall we say with respect to his Death which we have this Morning celebrated It was much in him to be born for us but it is much more to die for us What! have our hearts nothing to say on occasion of this Death Sure had they been dumb or insensible as to the Mystery of the Incarnation shall not the Death of Christ put life into them What can have any power over you if this Death can make no Impression upon you Pray what will be able to move you What will be able to engage you to serve God if this do not But I don't consider that I am speaking to those who for the most part have been entertain'd at the Lord's Table If all that Funeral Furniture wherewith he appears in the Eucharist if these Sacred Symbols which convey as it were the Death of Jesus Christ into your very Bowels have not been able to move your Hearts no Sermon will be of force enough to stir them In this case your heart must be altogether insensible so that Words can have no effect upon it We may suppose therefore that before your entring into this place you have fill'd your Souls with that double Solemnity to which this Day invites you and that after having seriously meditated the Birth and Death of our Saviour you have put your selves into a State of Repentance you have put on your Wedding Garments to go to meet your Bridegroom We must also suppose that you have renewed your Repentance in approaching to this Holy Table It is a hard thing so nearly to behold what our Blessed Lord hath done for us without being pierc'd and penetrated thereby At this happy meeting of your Heart with the Mercy of God you have bewailed your Sins and have promised a more holy Conversation for time to come We cannot believe that since that happy Moment you have chang'd your thoughts you are still the same and your Piety still preserves all its heat for otherwise what would be comparable to your Inconstancy what in two hours time to change your most solemn Vows and Promises into Perjuries this is scarce possible We suppose therefore that you are still in that good state even in that state of Repentance wherein you were when you communicated The only thing that still remains for us to do is to exhort you to persevere in these holy Motions We do not expect that you will always feel the same Unction or that you will be always in the same Recollection such a state is not consistent with our Frame nor with those different kinds of life to which Providence hath tied us But nothing can hinder you from performing your Promises you may live and live like Christians Were you engaged in ways of living that were inconsistent with the Spirit of our Holy Religion I would conjure you presently to quit those Professions wherein you could not be saved We must live 't is true but 't is more necessary we should be saved What doth it profit a man to gain the whole world if at the same time he loseth his own soul I can't think that amongst those that hear me there is any person whose Profession is directly contrary to Salvation but yet it is but too too visible that most Professions have their Rocks and their Dangers Snares rain down upon all the Children of Men as the Holy Spirit speaks All of you as many as are here apprehend well enough what I would say to morrow or the next day for I dare not say this day will meet with these dangers the occasions in which you have been formerly worsted will present themselves again Then be sure to call to mind your Promises to God this Day Represent this Holy Table to your Spirit recall the Solemnity of this Day be faithful to the Lord and pay your Vows to the most High We will not here run over the several Vertues to which his Service engageth you but we can do no less than specifie those to which St. Paul exhorts the Philippians upon occasion of our Lord's Example who when he was God did notwithstanding so abase himself as to be made Man yea to that degree as to die the Death of the Cross The two Vertues that are most dazling in
mind to obey I have nothing to say against this first sort of Difficulties neither need I since no body dares put them in form why should I take up time to refute them I shall only say by way of Allusion Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The Difficulties of the second Order are the Difficulties of Wit they attack the Divinity of our Saviour because they do not comprehend it their bounded understanding measures all Truths according to the extent of its own Conceptions and subjects to this Rule things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor ever came into the heart of Man This Earth-worm will needs measure the Third Heaven what extravagance can be greater He cannot conceive how the Father the Son and Holy Ghost are God without making three Gods of them therefore there is no such thing Would not one think hearing a Man talk at this rate that he had an infinite understanding and that he comprehended all things in the Infinity of his Conception And yet we shall find that this presuming Wit doth not understand any thing perfectly no not so much as the Nature of the most common things He does not understand himself and tho every thing be a Mystery to him yet he cannot away with the Mysteries of Religion Yet this Enemy of the Mysteries of our Religion professeth a Mystery which is at least as inconceivable as any is in our Religion For he will make us believe That a Creature hath been invested with infinite Attributes that a Creature hath been made God in Knowledge Power and Glory Pray tell me what is a Mystery if this be not and an inconceivable one too The Creature turn'd God and the Finite turn'd Infinite the most incredible and contradictory thing in the World Our Mystery indeed asserts That God humbled himself but that this was by uniting himself personally with a Creature which he took to himself amongst Men and yet this very Man that makes so many Difficulties against the Incarnation tells us of a Man that is become God by a strange kind of Metamorphosis Thus they reject the Truth and instead thereof fill their Heads with Chimaera's The triumphant Raillery of the Prophane is That one is one and one is three and then making a show of their being fully persuaded of the Unity of God they suppose the Divinity of our Saviour sufficiently overthrown Who doubts that one is one and that one is not three this is true even in our Divine Arithmetick there are Three Persons three manners of Subsisting the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost We do not say That these Three Persons are but One Person that would be contradictory but we say That these Three Persons are in One Divine Essence Three are not One neither is One Three in the same respect there is a Trinity of Persons but an Unity of Nature But you cannot conceive how Three Persons can possess at the same time the same individual Nature what then I conceive it no more than you do but is it such a strange thing that God should be otherwise than we are otherwise than all the things we see otherwise than all that we can conceive He hath assur'd me That his Nature consists in Three Persons I believe it with Submission This ought to be the Temper and Behaviour of our Understanding in the Difficulties it meets with on this Mystery The Difficulties of the Third Order are the Difficulties of Scripture Men are asham'd to propose their Heart-difficulties for in so doing they would expose their own Corruption and nothing but a Spirit of Libertinism dares openly oppose its own Light to that of Divine Revelation They rather search for a plausible pretence in the Revelation it self several places of Scripture are heap'd to-together to compose a Cloud that may hinder the Glory of the Gospel from shining forth in its full Lustre At first those Texts are hunted for that prove Christ to be Man But pray what is this to the Question These Texts prove that he is Man we say so too yea cursed be he that saith that Jesus Christ is not Man We believe that by one of his Natures he was Man as we are but this does not hinder him from being God by his other Nature Man consists of Body and Soul can we prove from the Functions of his Body that he hath no Soul He Eats he Drinks he Sleeps therefore he hath nothing else but a Body This way of arguing is ridiculous consider this Man well and you 'll soon find by the operations of his Understanding that he hath a Soul as well as a Body This we might prove by the Example of all compounds This is enough we believe that our Lord Jesus is a Person compos'd of two Natures viz. of a Divine and Humane Nature he is Flesh and Blood he hath suffered tasted Death this shews him to be Man He prayed he worshipped he was ignorant of several things this shews he was Man But he formed the World he created the Angels he makes himself equal with his Heavenly Father this proves him to be God We readily admit the Passages of Scripture that rank him amongst Men neither dare we suppress those where he is call'd God To make our Doctrine to agree with the Scripture we must hold him to be God-man Our Adversaries prove from several Texts of Scripture that there is but one God all this is time spent in vain we are all fully persuaded that there is but one God Cursed be he that admits more than one God But say they you teach that the Father is God and that the Son is God we do so and in doing so we follow the Scripture but you don't hear us say That they are Two Gods they are Two Persons in one and the same God but not Two Gods But you say That Jesus Christ is equal with God the Father and Son therefore according to you are two Beings equal in Dignity doth not this imply a plurality of Gods since two equal Gods cannot be the same God This difficulty only proceeds from hence that they pretend to be ignorant of what we say upon the Mystery of the Trinity for supposing that the Father and the Son are only Two Persons or two manners of Subsisting in one and the same Being there is no room left for this Objection The Father and the Son these Two Persons are necessarily equal by such an Equality as does not thwart their Unity because they indivisiby possess the same Nature They insist further that the Father is called the only true God This is life eternal that they know thee the only true God John 17.3 and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent What would they infer from hence What that Jesus Christ is a God but that he is a false God A Christian ear cannot with patience hear such Blasphemy and yet they must come to this before they can make those words to be
TWO DISCOURSES Concerning the DIVINITY OF OUR SAVIOUR Whereunto are added some Articles subscribed by all the French Divines in or about London in Opposition to the SOCINIANS Translated out of French IMPRIMATUR March 22. 1692 3. Guil. Lancaster LONDON Printed for Richard Baldwin near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1693. To His Grace the Duke of Sconberg Marquess of Harwich Earl of Brantford Baron of Tays Count of the Holy Empire Lieutenant-General of His Majesty's Army and Colonel of the First Regiment of the English Guards My Lord DID the Fate of Books depend upon the Quality of the Persons to whom they are Dedicated I should be very secure that the two following Discourses would be kindly received because I have presum'd to put 'em under the Protection of one of the Greatest Persons that can be made choice of It is very well known My Lord that Your Illustrious Family has a long Succession of Ancestors whose Blood has been mixt with that of divers Princes and it is not long ago since we lost the Duke your Father in whose Air we saw all the Traces of so August a Pedigree He maintain'd the Glory of His Birth by all the Merit necessary to make a Hero So prudent in his Conduct that he never took a false Measure Indefatigably Vigilant Valiant and Couragious in Action these Great Qualities being joined to a Goodness that made Access to him always easy and a Piety that gave Example to our whole Church could not but render him the Object of our Admiration I know My Lord there is no need of looking farther than Your own Grandeur to find Matter for Your Praises So the Liberty I have taken to speak of the Duke Your Father was only to gain an opportunity of drawing Your Picture without offence to Your Modesty I am not ignorant that how great soever my Patron may be yet the Publick which judges of things as they are in themselves will not receive these Discourses more favourably upon that account But I have no farther design in the Choice than to manifest the Obligations I have to Your Grace for Your Bounty in affording me the Honour of Your Protection and to assure You that I am with a profound respect My Lord Your Graces Most Humble and Obedient Servant and Chaplain C. G. Lamothe To the READER I Doubt not but some People will think it strange that I should venture to Print any thing concerning the Divinity of our Saviour when such Excellent Sermons have been lately Publish'd upon the same Subject This seems to be so ill tim'd that I find my self oblig'd to say something in justification of my own Conduct When I saw this Truth defended by the best Pens in the Church of England I thought it the Duty of the French Ministers who are Refugees there to give some written proofs of the Constancy of their Faith in so important an Article And this Declaration of theirs cannot but carry some weight along with it whether we reflect upon their great number or consider that Religion was the Cause why they were Banished from their own Countrey It is indeed their Duty as far as in them lyes to Edifie a Nation that has receiv'd them with a Charity becoming the Primitive Ages of the Church and some proofs of their Constancy are likewise due to the Honour of their own Ministry Several Ill-designing People have endeavour'd to cast a Blemish upon them Some have done it in France with a design to make their Flocks which now are gone astray conceive an Aversion to their Ancient Pastors and others have thought by this means to gain Reputation to a Cause which they themselves are too much inclin'd to When I saw that the French Ministers in the clearing themselves of this Reproach were content to instruct their Auditors in the True Faith by their Sermons only whose Effects could not reach the Nation in which they have the Happiness to live I thought it my Duty to go farther and that I should not do a thing ungrateful to the Publick in Printing Two Discourses upon this Subject after having took Care that they should be Examin'd by my Brethren to the end it might appear That the Doctrine I Teach is that of our whole Body We whose Names are under-written being Appointed by the other French Ministers in England have Read these Two Discourses and have found them entirely Conformable to the Word of God and the constant Doctrine of the French Protestants Satur Minister of the Savoy Graveral Minister of the New French Church The 8th of March The First Discourse PHILIP II. 6 7. Who being in the Form of God thought it no Robbery to be equal with God But made himfelf of no Reputation IT is a very Judicious Observation which some Divines have made upon the Variety that appears throughout the whole Dispensation of the Gospel They have observ'd that Glory and Meanness were so mix'd in it that it seemed as if Providence had designed thereby to point out to us the two Natures of our Great Redeemer From his very Conception we are entertained with the view of a God-Man he was formed in the Womb of the poor Virgin Mary this speaks him Man But the Holy Ghost presides at his Conception this shews him to be more than Man His Birth is proclaimed by Shepherds but the Angels also bear a part in it His Infancy is persecuted by one King but ador'd by three others We find also according to Origen's Observation that amongst the Presents which these Kings or Wise-men offer'd to the Child Jesus there was Myrth for the Mortal Man and Incense for the Immortal God The whole Life of our Saviour represents to us a like mixture He undergoes a Temptation of Forty Days but he hath Angels to minister unto him he is hungry but he curseth the Fig-tree he falls asleep in the Ship but he commands the Storm to a Calm He weeps for his Friend Lazarus but calls him out of his Grave to life he dies but Nature seems to feel the Pangs of Death with him and the Third Day he riseth from the Dead You see there runs a continued Parallel between the Humiliation of Man and the Majesty of God in most of the Circumstances of our Saviour's Life that we may be assur'd of the Right which each of the two Natures hath to our belief of it This Observation is still more evident from the Opposition St. Paul purposely makes between these two Natures in several places At the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans he speaks of the Gospel of God concerning his Son here is the Divinity of Jesus Christ but then Who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh there is his Humanity In the 9th Chapter of the same Epistle he saith That Christ came of the Father according to the Flesh but that he is over all God blessed for ever In the Epistle to the Galatians it is said that God sent his Son made
be a Man there is no need of any great Reasoning nor strength of Faith to contemplate this part of our Mystery We need only to consider our selves a little and to sum up all the infirmities of our Nature Hunger Thirst Weariness Pain Sorrow for all these our Saviour took upon him Yet is not this all he was willing to taste Death also which is as it were the Center to which all our infirmities tend and for an encrease of the Bitterness of this Cup he was willing to die a violent Death a Death accompanied with the most exquisite Pains and the utmost Shame Yet he humbled himself he emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross In a Word we see what this Humiliation of our Saviour is he is become what we are and as if the common infirmities of our Nature had not been sufficient for him he borrowed those which human Justice inflicts upon the very worst of Criminals Nevertheless he emptied himself O the vast distance there is betwixt the one of these ends and the other O the immense interval there is betwixt the Abasement of Jesus Christ and the Glory of his Eternal Deity St. Paul passeth from one Abyss to the other from the Abyss of Glory to an Abyss of Misery Who saith he being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God nevertheless he emptied himself What a Beauty there appears in this opposition This in my mind is one of those Eloquent strains in Scripture that we ought to dwell upon with admiration I speak of an Eloquence truly great and sublime which naturally riseth from the greatness of the things themselves and not from a pleasing cadence of pick'd words Nothing can be imagin'd to have more of this character in it than these words Nevertheless he emptied himself What is admirable in this expression would be lost and spoil'd should we go about to extend it by a more ample Explication St. Paul understood the sublime Character much better than our modern Preachers when they have got hold of a Mystery they endeavour to raise it and set it forth by the abundance of their words and bring in Rhetorick to the assistance of their Divinity Their Master did not do so I mean St. Paul who ought to be the Master of all Preachers He utters the greatest things conceivable almost without speaking and in one word lays open the deepest Mystery To count words we speak much more than this our Apostle but to weigh things we speak much less We deceive our selves if we think we are able by the help of words to give a greater Idea of the Mystery we purpose to explain in doing so we only take pains to fill the Ear without reaching the heart which requires but few words as reserving to her self the right of enlargeing upon her subject by Meditations and Reflections Let us give credit herein to the Searcher of hearts who often utter things by halves and the Holy men Inspired by him do sometimes only touch upon their subjects and leave the rest for the Heart to supply St. Paul in saying nothing of what he had seen and heard in the Third Heaven saith more than if he had made a long description of the Glory of the Blessed These are things saith he which it is not lawful for a man to utter See here Believer matter indeed to employ thy Meditation until thou thy self arrive to that Place of never-failing Bliss Our Holy Apostle observes much the same measures when he delivers himself on the Mysteries of Revelation and leaves a Mystery if I may say so in those Mysteries Not as if he would withhold ought of the Counsel of God from us for what he doth not say in one place he doth in another This is a kind of reservedness which honours the Mystery and gives a greater Idea of it What Exclamations what Figures would not an Orator of the World have made use of upon that which St. Paul delivers in the 11th Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans concerning the Rejection of the Jews and the Calling of the Gentiles Whereas the Man of God wraps all up in these few words O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out He leaves the Believer in a deep contemplation on the brink of this Abyss This is Eloquence indeed We may perceive a Ray of this Divine Eloquence in the Expression of St. Paul now before us Nevertheless he emptied himself We will not go about to explain these Words for fear of lessening their force let them enter without attendance into your Hearts consider them in their genuine and natural Import I require nothing else of you save only that you would often say to your selves Nevertheless he emptied himself Christ is God Nevertheless he emptied himself This alone is enough to excite your admiration We have reason to question whether a Soul were it left to its choice would be willing to become incarnate in a Body subject to all our Infirmities Some Wise Men have frankly declar'd themselves That they would not become young again if it were in their power Probably the most part of men would not be of this Opinion especially those who have led a pleasant Life but if one should propose to them a Life of Thirty Four Years full of Miseries and to end at last by the Death of the Cross think you they would accept of a Life on these Terms A Soul would never consent to such an Incarnation and an Angel much less Return we to our Text Christ is God it was not an Human Soul it was not an Angel He is God he was God Nevertheless he emptied himself Creatures would be very unwilling to enter into Partnership with a Nature loaden with Infirmities and yet Jesus Christ the Creator was willing to empty himself An Abyss as impenetrable to Angels as it is to us Ye Angels ye are astonished to see that he hath done that which ye would not have been willing to do you cannot found the bottom of this Mystery you are as well as we on the brink of this Abyss you say as we do Oh Riches Oh Depth Christ is God Nevertheless he emptied himself He who was in the Beginning was willing to be made of a Woman in the fulness of time He who was rich became poor He who is Immortal hath shed his own Blood We make use of the express Terms of Scripture that we may not give the mind of Man the Liberty of making Oppositions now that might prove injurious to the Majesty of our Saviour He was made Man but he always continued to be God The Deity is unchangeable and was always Glorious even after that it had emptied
possessing one and the same Nature the one is suppos'd to have done what the other did Proceed we to the seventh Chapter where we meet with an Emphatical Proof of the Eternity of Christ The Apostle there teacheth us that Melchisedec is the true Portraiture of our Lord in this Type I find a King of righteousness and of Peace and so far the Resemblance is exact for we know that Righteousness and Peace kiss and embrace each other in the Original But consider we those other Lineaments that compose the Type He was without Father without Mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life This according to the Letter cannot be said of any Man if Melchisedec was a Man he had Father Mother Descent beginning of Days and end of Life but nothing of all this is found in the Scripture where not the least mention is made of the Family nor of the Birth nor of the Death of Melchisedec which is very strange forasmuch as the Holy Ghost hath given us the Genealogy of many Persons much less considerable how comes it to pass that it hath neglected to give us these particulars concerning the great Melchisedec Why the reason is plain his Design was to represent to us a Portraiture that might resemble our Lord Being made like the Son of God saith our Author The Holy Ghost on purpose suppresseth the Birth and Death of Melchisedec to the end that this Illustrious Unknown might the better represent the Eternity of the Son of God who is without beginning of days as he is without end of life In the 9th Chapter we find a new Proof of the Eternity of our Saviour Heb. 9.14 It is said that Christ through the eternal spirit offered himself to God What is this Eternal Spirit here mention'd It is not the Soul of our Lord that is now here called the Eternal Spirit Besides the Soul of our Lord was a part of the Sacrifice it self whereas the words speak of the Nature that offers and not of that which is offer'd Neither is it the Holy Ghost the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity he did not offer up our Saviour but he offer'd up himself it must therefore have been an other Nature which our Saviour here calls the Eternal Spirit The Godhead of Christ perform'd the Priest's Office here upon the Manhood predestinated to be the Victim for Mankind I refer also to this That Argument which the same Author draws from the Eternity of Jesus Christ to engage the Christians to persevere in his Doctrine Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever The Apostle by these words renews the Notion he had given them in the beginning of this Epistle where we have seen that he asserts the Eternity of Jesus Christ from a Text of the Old Testamnnt Indeed we find the Author had this Eternity in his eye throughout to the very end of the Epistle and 't is with reference to this that we must explain this Elogy of our Saviour which comprehends all distinction of Time past present and to come He is the same yesterday to day and for ever which answers to the Explication St. John gives us of the Eternity of the Father Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was Rev. 1.4 and which is to come And the very same Expression is attributed to Christ by St. John or rather our Saviour attributes it to himself in St. John's Revelation Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha avd Omega the Beginning and the End saith the Lord which is which was and which is to come the Almighty Who is it that speaks thus He of whom it is said in the verse foregoing Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him is the same who in the following Verse saith I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last For St. John having turned himself to see who it was whose Voice he heard saw Jesus Christ Our Lord therefore is Eternal Immensity is the Second Attribute by which our Saviour is present in all places at the same time If it were not so how could he make good the Promise made to his Disciples For where two or three are gathered together in my name Matt. 18.20 there am I in the midst of them It is very observable that this is the Language of God under the Old Law where we see that in several passages he promises to dwell amidst his People Think we that any one but the Son drust have spoke like the Father Besides I will take the boldness to say that as Grace displays it self in the Gospel the Son by promising his presence in all places saith yet more than the Father The Father assures his People that he will dwell amongst them and sometimes does even restrain this his Habitation to the compass of the Tabernacle They shall make me a Sanctuary saith he in Exodus and I will dwell in the midst of them But our Saviour extends his Promise to a much greater compass even to a wheresoever two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them As if he had said That place wheresoever it be shall be to me a Jerusalem a Tabernacle a Sanctuary What can this import less than Immensity at a time when Grace overflows the whole Universe without any distinction of People In all parts of the World our Lord is present in the midst of the least Assemblies where his Name is called upon He is in all places at the same time he sees what is done there he hears all that is said there he blesseth those whom he will bless In a word he is in all places where he is call'd upon as God was in the Sanctuary of old It is well enough known that when our Saviour promiseth his presence he means a presence of his Virtue and Influences Immensity is not the proper subject of a Promise That which of its own Nature is present in all places is there whether he promise it or not but because our Lord doth promise a presence of Virtue in all places we have good reason to conclude that he is in all places This Conclusion is evident our Saviour could not act in all places if he were not in all places Now-a-days 't is maintain'd that we cannot conceive the Existence of God in any place but by some Divine Operations God is every where say they because he operates every where Say we the same of our Saviour he is every where because he acts every where For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them We need no more than common sense to convince us that if our Blessed Lord had no other Amplitude but that of his Human Nature he could never fulfil this great Promise But still to open a further Light to his Immensity we need only call to mind his Discourse with Nicodemus in the third of
that it might appear that these Saints were but Men. Elijah stretcheth himself upon the child three several times and cries to the Lord. Elisha not being able to do any thing by the Ministry of his Servant comes himself into the room where the Child was The Prophet lyes upon the Child and puts his Mouth to the Childs Mouth and his Eyes upon the Childs Eyes and his Hands upon the Childs Hands trying to restore Life and Heat to the Child but for all this the desired Effect doth not follow he goes up and comes down and after having several times stretched himself upon the Child at last by the Blessing of God the Child begins to shew some signs of Life Was this the way our Saviour took to raise the Dead Being touched with Compassion for the Widow of Naim whose only Son was carried forth to be buried our Saviour saith to the Dead Mar. 5.41 Young Man arise and that word did the thing without any more ado neither said he more in raising to Life the Daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue but Damsel arise and Lazarus was raised with this word Lazarus come forth There is no need to insist upon the Resurrections wrought by the Disciples of our Lord for they being performed in his Name were to be attributed only to the Efficacy of his Virtue Besides these particular Resurrections which prove the Omnipotence of our Lord we ought also to consider that he attributes to himself the Resurrection of all Believers All he did here upon Earth was but a Scantling of what he shall do one day by commanding Death to give up her dead after that their dissipated Dust hath been carried by the Wind to the utmost Corners of the Universe He that believes in me saith he hath eternal life and I will raise him at the last day Is this the Stile of a Creature Pursuant to this Promise several times repeated in the Gospel St. Paul saith to the Philippians as if he would prove to them that Christ is equal to God his Father that Jesus Christ shall change our vile Bodies and make them conform also to his glorious Body by that power whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself Phil. 3.21 See here the Omnipotence of our Saviour exprest with the greatest plainness that may be In the second place I asserted that Christ had created the World He hath created all that we see and all that we do not see for he is the Creator both of Angels and Men the Creator of all things without him nothing was made that was made Let us make use of St. Paul's Expressions For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth Col. 1.16 visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him These words are so full and strong and are alone sufficient to prove that our Lord is equal in power with his Father The last Attribute wherewith we evince the equality which St. Paul attributes to our Saviour or rather which our Saviour attributes to himself is that of Mercy We can no sooner have any little knowledge of the Mystery of our Redemption by Jesus Christ but we must acknowledge that our Redeemer is merciful in a manner that doth not belong to any but God Was it not he himself think we to whom Moses said The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious Exod. 33. 34. This great Lawgiver had a desire to see God I beseech thee said Moses shew me thy glory and God's answer was I will make all my goodness pass before thee where by the way we may observe to our great comfort that the Lord intimates to us that his Goodness is his great Glory And afterwards he informs Moses that no Man can look God in the Face Thou shalt see my back parts saith he but my face shall not be seen What may be the meaning of this Expression The Interpreters are generally agreed that this signifies that God cannot be seen but by and in his Works and that the Mysterious Reasons of his Conduct are not discerned Thus far this Explication is plausible enough but yet this is not enough except they comprehend in these his Works the Works of Grace Indeed those are chiefly here intended I will make all my goodness pass before thee Wherein I pray consists all the goodness of God Why it is all concentred in the Mystery of the Death of Christ When Moses had a glimpse of this Infinite Goodness when the Crucified Jesus was pourtray'd before the Eyes of Moses then it was that he cry'd out saying The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth And indeed who would not do as much at the view tho a distant one of the Mercy of the Son of God who being in the Form of God nevertheless emptied himself Christ's Mercy alone is sufficient to demonstrate him to be the true God God only is good in that manner because he who said to our Lord Good master what shall I do to have eternal life did not comprehend this Truth Our Lord saith to him Why callest thou me good There is none good but God thou who dost not know that I am God why dost thou call me good Yet our Lord who very well knew his own Rights gives himself that Title I am the good shepherd saith he in the Tenth Chapter of St. John according to the Principle of our Saviour himself it might have been told him Why dost thou call thy self good there is none good but God but knowing very well what he was he made himself equal with God in goodness The whole Gospel is full of the Traces of that Mercy which our Saviour hath exercised in chief You have already seen this in that he pardons sins not as Ministers do by way of Declaration but as God by an absolute and independent Authority The manner of St. Paul's wishing Grace is also an evident proof of this Truth Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ This is the common Seal of St. Paul's Epistles by which he renders an Authentick Witness to our Saviour's Divinity The Christians who had been Educated in the Jewish Religion and thereby accustomed to hear nothing more frequently spoken of than the Blessing the Peace and the Grace of God could not understand it otherwise An Apostle would have been better advis'd than to wish them Grace proceeding elsewhere than from God This Grace alone is sufficient for us The Scripture never tell us of the Grace of Angels or of Men. Where is there any mention made in form of wishing the Grace of Abraham or that of Moses or St. Peter or St. Paul The Church lives only by the Grace of God insomuch that this Salutation The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you is an