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A67417
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Three sermons concerning the sacred Trinity by John Wallis.
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Wallis, John, 1616-1703.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing W611; ESTC R17917
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57,981
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110
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English We Am or They Doth which would to us sound odly if somewhat of Mystery be not intended in it Nor is it here only but very frequently that God is called Elohim in the Plural Number and much oftner than in the Singular Number Eloah as if though Jehovah be but One yet Elohim may be Three Not Three Gods but Three Somewhats in that One God For though it be Elohim yet it is Bara It is So Three as yet to be One. Nor is it Elohajim in the Dual Number as spoken of Two or a Couple but Elohim in the Plural Number as of more than Two This may perhaps be called a Criticism and it is so But I am loth to say it is purely Casual and not designed For many times little Circumstances and unheeded Expressions as at first they may seem to be may by the Divine Wisdom be fore-designed to some considerable purpose As that of Not a bone of it shall be broken Exod. 12.46 Numb 9.12 Psal. 34.20 And that of they pierced my hands and my feet Psal. 22.16 And they shall look upon him whom they have pierced Zach. 12.10 And that they part my garment among them and on my vesture they cast lots Psal. 22.18 And they gave me gall for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink Psal. 69.21 Which are most of them but Poetical Expressions and seemingly casual and undesigned as to their Literal Sense but were providentially ordered as being literally to be fulfilled as we find in Joh. 19.23 24 28 29 36 37. and in the places parallel of the other Gospels I might instance in a great many such which at first might seem Casual but were Providentially designed I shall content my self at present with one more which is that of St. Paul which perhaps may be thought to look as like a Criticism as what I mention Gal. 3.16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made He saith not And to Seeds as of many but as of one And to thy Seed which is Christ. Now the promises made to Abraham to which he refers are those Gen. 22.16 17 18. which I think is the only place where in promises made to Abraham such mention is made of his Seed By my self have I sworn saith the Lord For because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy Son thine onely Son That in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thy Seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea-shoar and thy Seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice By Abraham's Seed here is manifestly meant his Children whom God promiseth to multiply And it might seem to be very indifferent whether to say thy Seed or thy Children But St. Paul was so nice a Critick as to take advantage of his saying Seed in the Singular Number and not Seeds or Children in the Plural as thereby signally denoting as principally intended that One Seed which is Christ. Yet are not the rest of the Seed to be quite excluded even in that last Clause of it In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the earth be blessed as appears by Act. 3.25 And ye men of Israel ver 12. are the Children of the Prophets and of the Covenant which God made with our Fathers saying unto Abraham And in thy Seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Whence 't is evident that seemingly unheeded Criticisms are sometimes Providentially designed And such I take this of Bara Elohim to be And it is taken notice of to this purpose both by Jewish and Christian writers The like Plurality seems plainly intimated in the same Chapter Gen. 1.26 Let VS make man in OVR image and after OVR likeness Yet even this Plurality is no other than what in another consideration is an Vnity for so it follows ver 27. So God created man in HIS own image These Plural Somewhats therefore are but One God And 't is but a childish excuse to say It is the Stile of Princes to speak in the Plural We and Vs instead of I and Me. 'T is indeed a piece of Courtship at this day and perhaps hath been for some Ages But how long hath it been so 'T is not so old as Moses much less so old as the Creation King Pharoah and Senacharib and Ahasuerus were wont to say I Me Mine not We Vs Ours And Nebuchadnezzar even in the Height of his Pride Dan. 4.30 Is not this great Babylon that I have built by the might of MY Power and for the honour of MY Majesty Here 's nothing of We and Our This was not Stilus Regius in those days And if we should here expound it by such an equivalence And God said Let Me make man in My image it would scarce sound like good Sense For 't is not usual to speak Imperatively in the First person Singular It seems therefore to imply a Plurality though not a Plurality of Gods The like we have Gen. 3.22 Behold the man is become like One of Vs. Is this also Stilo Regio instead of The man is become like one of Me So Gen. 11.6 7. And the LORD Jehovah said Let VS go down and confound their Language 2. And as these places intimate a Plurality so I know not but that of Gen. 18. may intimate this Plurality to be a Trinity That the appearance there of three Men to Abraham was a Divine Apparition though Abraham did not at first apprehend it so to be is evident For it is expresly said by Moses ver 1. The LORD Jehovah appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre and he lift up his eyes and lo Three Men stood by him So that this appearance of Three Men was an appearance of the Lord Jehovah And though we do not find that Abraham doth any where use the word Jehovah in that discourse but Adonai all along Yet Moses the Relater where himself speaks says every where Jehovah though when he recites Abraham's words it is Adonai But even Adonai is a word Plural as well as Elohim that is my Lords the Singular is Adoni my Lord but seldom said of God Whether it were that the name JEHOVAH were not then known to Abraham according to that of Exod. 6.3 or that Abraham was not at first aware who it was with whom he was then discoursing or for what other reason he did avoid using the name Jehovah I shall not trouble my self curiously to enquire But sure we are that Moses tells us This Apparition of Three Men as at first they seemed to be was an Apparition of the Lord Jehovah We need not doubt therefore but that God appeared there in this Apparition of Three Men which is therefore a fair intimation of a Trinity of Persons It might perhaps be cavill'd at if this were all And so might that of Jonah's being three
all false Gods or other pretended Gods that Christ is the True God the Supreme God the same God with the Father and not another God CHARACTER I. The first Character which we meet with of this God is that of Gen. 1.1 In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth Which I think no man doubts but to be meant of the True God the Supreme God And by virtue of this he claims the Sovereignty thereof The Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof Psal. 24.1 Jehovah the Lord of all the Earth Josh. 3.11 13. The God of the Heaven and the God of the Earth Gen. 24.3 The Heaven is my Throne and the Earth is my Footstool Isa. 66.1 Behold the Heaven and the Heaven of Heavens is the Lord's the Earth also and all that is therein Deut. 10.14 The same Character is applied to God very often Isa. 42.5 8. Thus saith God the Lord Jehovah he that created the Heavens and stretched them out he that spread forth the Earth and that which cometh out of it he that giveth breath unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein I am the Lord Jehovah that is my name and my Glory will I not give unto another And Isa. 48.13 Mine hand hath laid the foundation of the Earth and my right hand hath spanned or spread out the Heavens So Psal. 8.3 When I consider the Heavens the work of Thy fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained Psal. 146.6 Which made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that therein is And many other places not only in the Old Testament but in the New Testament likewise as Acts 14.15 That ye should turn from these vanities unto the Living God who made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all things that are therein And Acts 17.24 God that made the World and all things therein So Revel 4.11 Thou hast created all things Chap. 14.7 Him that made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Water And it is the distinctive Character whereby he doth distinguish himself from all other pretended Gods Jer. 10. Where he who at ver 10. is called The Lord the true God the living God an everlasting King at who 's wrath the Earth shall tremble and the Nations shall not abide his indignation doth at ver 11. give this defiance to all other Gods Thus shall ye say to them The Gods which have not made the Heavens and the Earth they shall perish from the Earth and from under these Heavens Now this Character we find ascribed to Christ. Not only where it is spoken as of God indefinitely but to be understood of Christ as are some of the places already mentioned But even where it is particularly applied to him I shall begin with that of Joh. 1.1 2. where we have a large Discourse of him In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God Where by the Word is meant Christ as is evident from the further descriptions of him in the following verses 'T is he of whom John the Baptist came to bear witness ver 7 8. He who came into the World but the World knew him not ver 10. Who came to his own but his own received him not but to as many as received him he gave power to become the Sons of God ver 11.12 Who was made flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the onely begotten of the Father ver 14. He of whom John bare witness and cryed saying This is he of whom I spake He that cometh after me is preferred â—efore 〈◊〉 â—or he was before me not as to his Humane Naâ—ure foâ— so John the Baptist was older than he by six months Luk. 1.26 and of his fulness saith St. John we have all received grace for grace For the Law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ ver 15 16 17. 'T was Jesus Christ therefore that is here called the Word Now of this same Word it is said The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made which was made ver 2 3. He was in the World and the World was made by him ver 10. Consonant to that of Heb. 11.3 The Worlds we refrmed by the Word of God and 2 Pet. 3.5 By the Word of God the Heavens were of old and the Earth standing in the Water and out of the Water And by the same Word the heavens and earth are kept in store or preserved ver 7. And to the same purpose Col. 1.16 17. By him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth And he is before all things and by him all things consist And Heb. 1.2 By whom also he made the Worlds In Psal. 102. we have a long Prayer to the Supreme God doubtless which bears this title A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the Lord the Lord Jehovah It begins thus Hear my Prayer O Lord Jehovah and let my cry come unto thee And at the same rate he proceeds addressing himself to the same God all along And at ver 24 25 26 27. he speaks thus O my God thy years are throughout all Generations Thou of old hast laid the Foundations of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy hands who is the same God therefore of whom Moses had before said In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth Gen. 1.1 They shall perish as the Psalmist proceeds but thou shalt endure Yea all of them shall wax old as a Garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed But thou art the same and thy years shall have no end And doubtless the Psalmist when he made this long Prayer thought not of addressing himself to any other than the Supreme God Not to a God who had not then a Being nor was to have till a Thousand Years after as the Socinians would have us think of Christ. He prays to God as his Redeemer that is to Christ. And that Christ is that God to whom he did thus address we are expresly told Heb. 1.8 10 11 12. But unto the Son he saith Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the Works of thine hands They shall perish but thou remainest and they all shall wax old as doth a Garment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail All which is plainly cited from that Psalm Christ therefore is that God to whom that Prayer was made the same Supreme God who created the Heaven and the Earth even Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever Heb. 13.8 And it is very frequent in Scripture that what in one place is spoken of God