to wrest it the Question is about Christ's Age the Jews would measure it by what appears of him and as he is a Man in which respect he denieth not what in their Sense they say about his Age but he will lead them farther and make them look higher and consider him for what he was as he had said to them from the beginning namely the Son of God sent by the Father to save the World To that purpose upon this occasion he mentions that his appearing unto Abraham in the plain of Mamre for 't is said the Lord appeared Gen. 18.1 2. and Abraham knew him among the two Angels in the shape of Men by his addressing himself to him paying the respect of bowing himself towards the Ground and calling him my Lord this Visit under the Figure of a Man whereby he gave him earnest and assurance how he would dwell among Men when of his Seed he would be made Flesh this I say was a notable means whereby Abraham saw his Day and rejoyced the Day of that Visit he saw with the Eye of his Body and the Day of his Incarnation with the Eye of Faith which our Saviour in this present Text of John lays not upon the Promise of his coming but upon his pre-existence unto his Incarnation Now contrary to this scope of the place Socinians do forge this to be the meaning according to a transposition they make of the Words I before Abraham be made say to you that I am that is Christ not considering that Abraham was long before and dead as the Jews said but then they go farther with his being made they understand Father of many Nations I shall say but very few words as to the Grammatical Construction for indeed the Matter and true Meaning is plainly this I was existed and had a Being before Abraham was born but was renders the Sense when be or is doth alter it because it being spoken of Abraham doth relate to time past and not to come * Gen. 17. ◠Abram had his Name changed into that of Abraham signifying a Father of Nations a Thousand and several Hundreds of Years before Christ yet they would have him to be such only after the coming of our Saviour into the World as if he had not been so before when Paul calls him the Father of us all believers They rise a Difficulty also about the word I am instead of I was which is an usual Enallage in Scripture when the present time is used for the praeterit or past and here there is a Reason for it which is this that the present Tense is more proper than the praeterit to represent God's permanent Being besides that the Evangelist useth the present least Christ should seem to speak of a non-perpetual of a discontinued and interrupted Being and Existence by reason of the several Opinions about him as if he was John Baptist raised from the dead Elijah Jeremiah or some other Now the use of the present Tense was very proper to remove all Grounds of entertaining such Thoughts and to signify a constant permanent and unchangeable Being in Scripture we have Instances of this how when God is described the Verb I am in the present Tense answers together to the Verb of the praeterit as Psal 90.2 and Prov. 8.24 25. this doth most properly express an uninterrupted and immutable Being which passeth not away such is God's such also is Christ's fully and unquestionably described in all Tenses which is much to our present purpose †Heb. 13.8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever Abraham rejoyced at that Day when he invited and entertain'd in his House the Son of God under the shape of a Man for tho' there were three one of them he called my Lord and chiefly addressed himself to him Gen. 18. who promised of himself and in his own Name to give him a Son by Sarah shall I hide said the Lord from Abraham that thing which I do and afterwards communed with him surely Abraham was glad to see this day But when our Saviour saith before Abraham was I am he intended thereby to give himself some preference before Abraham the Name I am which on this occasion he makes use of is observable for it doth relate to that Name which God gave himself when he sent Moses into Egypt * Exod 3.14 Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I am hath sent me which Name is proper to God whereunto in the New Testament answers that of Alpha and Omega Rev. 18.11 and 12.13 which the Lord Jesus attributes unto himself and if he created the World that is made of nothing as by God's Grace we shall prove in its place Heb. 1.12 he must need have been before Abraham and as he made so he shall destroy or change it whether as to the Substance or only as to the Quality 't is not material to our purpose but whilst Heavens and Earth shall wax old and be chang'd 't is said of him but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail by these different Expressions one and the same thing namely his absolutely unchangable and eternal Existence is intended which being joyn'd with his other Attributes for our good may prevent all the Fears and answer all the Doubts of those that trust in him But let us take notice of the Injury which unworthily they attempt to put upon Christ as if he were only in Jest and to trick the Jews with not answering the thing in question which is about the time when Christ was whether or not before Abraham What he was Whether something more Excellent and more Antient than a Man The Jews Objection was very specious How could one whom they look'd upon a meer Man not fifty Years old have seen Abraham Well our Saviour answers directly to the Point that he was before Abraham but Socinians with their wicked Sophistry would unworthily make him shuffle the matter for instead of making him to answer how it could be that within such a vast distance of time he and Abraham could have seen one another they bring him only as mentioning the time when he was speaking to them to this purpose before Abram be Abraham that is the Father of many Nations I say unto you I am the Christ this quibbling Trick I would think they learned of Papists though I take Socinians capable to forge as bad as any Papists who in the case of the Malefactor upon the Cross with altering a Comma do quite alter the Sense our Saviour thus speaking to him verily I say unto thee * Luk. 23.43 to day thou shalt be with me in paradise but to settle their Purgatory instead of to day thou shalt be c. they would have it I say unto thee to day I would find to know what a cause Christ hath given them to pass such a Judgment upon him who ever used to answer to the purpose to the
with the People but being appeased by Moses promised to send an Angel before them which Moses and the People were fully satisfied with Who and what this Angel was Chap. 23.20 21 22. we have it in the Book of Exodus with the End for which he was to go before namely to guide them and 't is thus expressed Behold I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared But hear the Charge he gives them concerning this Angel Beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in him Such terms doth the God of Israel use when he speaks of himself Two things here we must observe first what is here spoken belongs only to the true essential God of Israel the second is the Angel or Person here spoken of is the Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God out of which Premises we may well conclude he is the true God of Israel The Caution here given to take heed have a care and beware of him as if he had said take heed to thy self in thy Carriage before him this I say joyned with the Command to obey his Voice is very remarkable The absolute Obedience which God requires them to yield unto the Angel is due to God alone and is never related to the Creature only to himself for his Voice is God's Voice and when he speaketh God speaketh as the words of v. 22. do intimate If thou shalt indeed obey his voice and do all that I speak then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies The Angels Voice and all that God speaketh is the faâ—â—e and upon their obedience to his Voice depended the performance of the Promises The Lord never so expresly charged any People or Person not to provoke any created Angel or Man as here he doth Provoke him not offend and displease him not why For he will not pardon your Transgressions Rebellions or Sins in Scripture Phrase for Sin is the transgression of the law So then to disobey and to provoke this Angel is to sin and this very same Angel hath right and power if he will to pardon Sin which none but the true God hath power to take upon him to do and 't is Blasphemy for any Creature whatsoever to pretend to 't Another great and unanswerable reason is For my Name is in him a more excellent Name than any of the Angels do enjoy Heb. 1.4 The Name is that appellation by which one thing is distinctly known from another so Gods Name signifieth God himself as to call upon Gods name Gen. 4.26 Exod. 33.19 2 Chron. 7.20 't is his Titles God Jehovah Elohim Lord. I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee said God to Moses compared with Chap. 34.3 6. in the former Verse 't is called to proclaim the name of the Lord and in the later to proclaim the Lord the Lord. And in Scripture Phrase the Name of the Lord is taken for God himself that is all in him Majesty Almightiness Psal 29.2 33.21 34.3 61.5 This house saith God which I have sanctified for my name for my self my honour and worship So here when God saith of that Angel my name is in him he meaneth his Nature Titles Attributes Authority Power and Glory In a word I my self am in him which afterwards was well interpreted by the Lord Jesus The Father is in me and I in the Father Now this by the God of Israel being attributed unto another it must be to another himself for his Name is his Glory and he hath solemnly declared my glory will I not give to another Isa 42.8 Exod. 3.2 The Angel spoken of in this place is as already observed the same as before had appeared unto Moses in a flame of Fire out of the midst of a Bush who v. 4 is called Lord and God who out of the same place called unto and required of him divine Honour Draw not nigh hither but put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground And if any doubt should remain 't is cleared v. 6 Moreover be the same Angel said I am the God of thy Father the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This very same Angel or Person upon the Peoples entring into the Land of Promise under the shape of a Man appeared unto Joshua under the name of Captain of the host of the Lord and in the posture for it was with a drawn Sword Josh 5.13 14 15. to execute his Office of General as God had promised to bring them into the place he had prepared for then the People were just entering upon the Siege of Jericho and this same Angel or Son of God under the shape of a Man exacted of Joshua the same Worship as he before had required of Moses and of him afterwards Joshua said to the People He is a holy God he is a jealous God Josh 24.19 he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins These last words are the same which God said to Moses in the fore-quoted place and so belong to one and the same Now I say this Angel who appeared unto Moses out of the Bush who through the Wilderness went before the People into the Land of Promise and appeared unto Joshua is the Son of God the second Person of the most holy Trinity the same who afterwards took on him our human Nature and was born of the Virgin Mary and among other reasons this I take to be a very good one Acts 7.30 35. because Stephen the first Martyr for this glorious Cause and a good Interpreter of the place makes mention of the Angel of the Lord which appeared unto Moses and this Moses God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hands or power of the Angel which appeared to him in the bush Moses was the Minister or Servant Heb. 3.6 but Christ as a Son over his own house saith the Apostle So things were done by the power of the Angel Moses was in the Church in the Wilderness but the Angel was with him Stephen's mentioning the Church and the Angel doth relate to Christ our Lord the Son of God who is the only Head thereof and by whose Directions Moses took care of it as also Moses spoke of him under the name of a Prophet whom God would raise up unto them Acts 3.22 23. and It shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people saith Peter And tho' from the beginning the Son of God was not made Flesh yet as Head of the Church he took care of his People exercis'd his Mediatorship and administred his spiritual Kingdom of Grace which the bringing out of Egypt and introducing into Canaan was a Figure of and we may easily perceive the
to the Father I answer the name of God is taken either personally namely as he begets and as he is begotten and thus the Son is distinguished from the Father and upon this account the Apostle speaks of them separately Christ is distinguished from God both in Person and Office not in the Godhead or Essence or else the name is absolutely simply Rom. 8.31 32. 1 Tim. 1.1 1 John 5.20 Joh. 14.1 and essentially taken when the Question is about the Godhead then as to the Deity the Son is not distinguished from the Father as when Christ saith there is none good but God he doth not exclude himself from being good 't is as if he had said unto the Man if thou believest me to be good for so thou callest me thou must also believe me to be God for none is good but God and this was to have the Man to look upon him to be God Again When our Saviour saith Vnto God all things are possible and that God is able out of Stones to rise Children unto Abraham when the Apostles in their Salutations name first God and our Father and then the Lord Jesus Christ 't is no good Consequence to say that the Son is not of the same Nature with the Father for the Name of God is therein attributed unto the Father as the Spring and first in order of the Deity then the Son is proposed as Mediatour to lead us unto God for we are led by Christ unto the Father to worship and adore him together with the Father for he saith Ye believe in God believe also in me thereby shewing we ought to render unto him the same things we render to the Father wherefore in several places we read how when the Name Father is added yet that of God is immediately put before when generally something is taught which belongeth to Father Son and Holy Ghost then having named the Father the Mediatour is mention'd to breed in us Hope and Comfort thus the same Apostle opposeth one God to Idols where Christ is not excluded for immediately in the same Verse he declareth who that one God is namely the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things 1 Cor. 8.6 Ephes 4.5 6. and we by him thus in another place he saith there is one God as there is one Baptism Christ in whose Name we are baptized is not excluded from that oneness of Godhead Joh. 14.6 and because he would come to the Mediatour he very fitly nameth the Father to whom as the Head of the Deity there is no approach without the Mediator so by the Name Father is represented God essentially offended by Mankind and by the Son and Christ that Person of the adorable Trinity who hath undertaken to make our Peace and reconcile us unto God he is the way the truth and the life and none can come to the father but by him So when we read the word God we must not separate the Father nor the Son because the Divinity of the Father and of the Son is but one and the same Moreover they object the Father is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God of himself hath all of himself and acts of himself but the Son is not God of himself he is from the Father himself he saith he came from the Father and the Father sent him to this I answer They go upou a wrong Principle for they would have this to be of one self or of another to import a different Essence or Nature for even in created things that which is begotten is ever of the same Nature with that which hath begotten but by reason of Imperfection these are one only in Species but God the Father and the Son may not be said to be one in Species or Kind because thus they would make two Gods What they add how in Divine things he that begetteth and he that is begotten are not one either in Essence or Species because Men and Angels are called Sons of God which are not one with God either in Nature or Kind is very frivolous for 't is certain they are call'd Sons of God upon a very different account from that on which Christ is so call'd None is ever call'd God's own and proper Son only begotten come from the Bosom of the Father for unto which of the Angels or Men said he at any time thou art my Son Heb. 1.5 this day have I begotten thee and again I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son Moreover they are mistaken to think that to be of another is to be of a different and inferiour Nature indeed he who receiveth not all but out of favour only part of what another hath may be said to be inferiour to him of whom he receiveth but he not so who hath all that another hath not by favour but by Nature and Generation They are farther much mistaken when they deny Christ simply and absolutely to be God of himself for he must need be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is a being or Essence of himself Life of himself Holy of himself Power of himself is good of himself Light of himself Truth of himself Wisdom of himself Righteousness of himself Perfect of himself and Glory of himself which all are Attributes of the Deity and to whom they belong So doth also Divine Nature all which Attributes were by the antient Orthodox Doctors of the Church and after them by the eminent Instruments of Reformation owned to be the Right and Property of the Son of God grounding themselves upon the Authority of Scripture in several Places especially that of 1 John 5.20 by me already quoted we are in him that is true even in his son Jesus Christ This is the true God and eternal life If we look upon the Son of God as he is from Eternity begotten of the Father and as he is the second Person on such an account we own the Son to be from the Father seeing he is true Son but if we consider him as God he is altogether self God and God of himself for the Divinity is wholly unbegotten and of her self knoweth of no beginning and needs not to borrow of others what it hath of it self and if to the Son one would attribute a Begotten and formed Essence this is from the Father to make a second God Lastly Many of the Places which the Adversaries do heap up do speak of Christ's Office of Mediator which they improperly misapply to his Divine Nature for though Christ's Humane Nature hath no Personality but is upheld by the Divine Person yet that upholding doth not confound the Natures otherwise Passion and Death might be attributed to Divine Nature On this Matter they form other Arguments grounded upon false Suppositions as sometimes they would have Father Son and Holy Ghost to be three Spirits and the words unbegotten begotten and proceeding
of his Servant of his elect in whom his Soul delighteth whereby none may deny the Lord Jesus to be understood and the Holy Ghost or Spirit Nothing better than this can quadrate with the History of our Saviour's Baptism ‖ Matth. 3.16 And in another place of the same Prophet †Iâ—al 6.3 when he saw the Vision and heard that Trisagion or holy holy holy which long after was also heard by John * Rev. 4 8. that three-fold repetition of God's Name compar'd with the proper Hypotheses of the antient Jews ' that it signified three things in God is adapted to the Trinity of Persons in S. John's Vision we have some enlargement as to the Lord Jesus represented by the Lamb for the same Twenty four Elders and Four Beasts * Rev. 5.8 9 13. fell down before the lamb and sung a new song and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea paid the same Worship to the Lamb as to him that sitteth on the Throne Again the same Prophet †Isai 61.1 The spirit of the Lord is upon me for he hath anointed me this to be understood of Christ as applyed Luke 4.18 and of the Holy Ghost by the anointing for he was anointed with the Oyl of Gladness that is the Graces of the Spirit These Three are also to be read amongst the last Words of David * 2 Sam. 23.2 saying The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and the Word was in my tongue here is the Lord the Word and the Spirit To the same purpose speaks another Prophet †Hagg. 2.5 according to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth among you the Father with the Word his Son and his Spirit made a Covenant with Israel There are several other Texts in the Old Testament of the Nature of One which I already made use of I mean of the thrice holy wherein the Name of God or Lord is thrice repeated I own I have such a persuasion of the infinite Wisdom of God as to believe there is nothing at all in his Word but what there is a particular reason for it to be in and in this belief of mine I am confirmed by what our blessed Saviour saith in earnest and with a strong Asseveration †Matt. 5.18 Verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled and I am sufficiently satisfied that though through the Infirmity of our Nature in the Ignorance of our Mind we cannot apprehend the Causes of many things in the Word of God yet therein is nothing without a Cause So out of that Principle I dare say God meaneth something when in the Blessing which he prescribed to be pronounced to the People the Lord's Name is thrice in it thus * Numb 6.24 25 26. The Lord bless thee and keep thee the Lord make his face shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace and when God speaks unto Moses he dictates what he was to speak to the Children of Israel when he was come to them in his Name that is The Lord God of your Fathers one would have thought this had been enough but no for he addeth †Exod. 3.15 The God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob it was the same God yet thrice named So when the Law is given he saith ‖ Exod. 20.5 I the Lord thy God am a jealous God once Lord and twice God which is the same so in another place the * Psalm 136.1 2 3. Psalmist exhorteth thrice to give thanks to whom unto the Lord unto the God of Gods to the Lord of Lords One more I shall quote and 't is this †Isa 33.22 The Lord is our Judge the Lord is our Lawgiver the Lord is our King Why thrice and no more Surely God aims at something for as he doth nothing so he saith nothing in vain these things are not in by Chance and seeing with a full assurance I believe according to Revelation a Trinity of Persons in the Divine Nature Why should not I also believe that these things relate to it Now if one would seriously attend upon these quoted places and compare them with others of the same kind may be God would impart upon the Matter greater Discoveries than I for the present am able to give only this I shall add how the Name Jehovah called in Greek Tetragrammaton because it originally consists only of four Letters signifieth both God's Self-existence for the Root whence 't is derived doth denote to be and also his Eternity for it contains all times to come present and past one out of the two first Letters draws the Words beginning and to live and the third having a Vertue of copulating or joyning together is for Love whereby is denoted the Holy Ghost as by the two before are Father and Son and because the second Letter h is twice in he would have both Natures in the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity to be meaned tho' I have nothing to say against these mysterious Interpretations which may be well grounded yet we build not our main Arguments thereupon however knowing that essential and incommunicable Holy Name to confist of three different Letters I can see nothing to hinder me from believing that that same Nature is communicated to Three Persons and as the same Letter is twice in it doth signifie Two Natures in One Person especially it falling upon the Second Letter relating to the Second Person of the most blessed Trinity and as God is the Author of the Name Why may not he in his Infinite Wisdom therein denote some Mystery This I take to be Rational Here I must not omit for Proof of this great Truth to bring in our Creed called the Apostolical as an Evidence I meddle not with the others for the Adversaries will not own them though they ever were by better more Learned more Pious and Sound in all Ages than they are or I doubt can be I know the World hath afforded some Men who out of a vain-glory and to seem to be something through a tryal of their Parts have attempted to enervate with their Criticisms the Strength and Orthodoxy of these Creeds but as to this Socinians themselves can except against it no more than they do against the written Word of God whence this is extracted Father Son and Holy Ghost are all Three named in the Creed and as the Word God is expressed when joined with the Father so 't is understood of Son and Holy Ghost thus I believe in God his only begotten Son and I believe in God the Holy Ghost for to them it also doth belong and as there we profess to believe in that is to
the God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac The better to know who this Angel is let us hear him speak himself to Jacob d Gen. 31.11 12 13. The angel of God saith Jacob spake unto me in a dream and what saith he I have seen all that Laban doth unto thee I am the God of Bethel where thou anointedst the pillar and where thou vowedst a vow unto me Surely this could be no created Angel The same it was that appeared unto Moses in the Bush mention'd by Stephen e Acts 7.35 by whose Hands Authority and Power Moses became Ruler and Deliverer of the People out of Egypt Now in the same Chapter Stephen saith v. 32. that he that appeared unto Moses in the Bush was the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and that same God he afterwards calls the angel which spoke to him in mount Sinai v. 38. To be short this is the Angel of the Lord which appeared unto Moses out of the Bush which is called Lord and God and calls himself f Exod. 3. â— 4 6. the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The Adversaries cannot deny this to be the true and proper Character of the true God Moreover this is the Angel promised to be sent before the People let us hear what a Character God gives of him * Exodus 23.20 21. Beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in him If this had been one of his created Angels would God have spoken of him after this manner Why God's Name in a most special manner more in him than in another Here his Name signifies his Nature and can any but the true essential God pardon Transgressions as it depends upon the Will of this Angel to do or not to do According to promise this same Angel appeared unto Joshuah under the Name of †Josh 5.14 15. captain of the host of the Lord and of him required the same humble Obedience as before he had received of Moses and this the Apostle doth point at * Heb. 2.10 when speaking of Christ he calls him the captain of our salvation of which the Deliverance out of Egypt was a Type and a Figure for he was the Rock †1 Cor. 10.4 that followed them in the Wilderness He is farther called ‖ Isai 63. the angel of God's presence God in him is present wheresoever he is because he is God but he there is also called their Saviour he saved them is there any Saviour besides the Lord Jesus the Son of God He also is called the Messenger * Mal. 3. â— or Angel of the covenant Is not God's Covenant with Men made in Christ Jesus Hath he not procured and published it It was to strengthen the Faith and confirm the Hopes of his People that God by the last of his Prophets doth so positively promise he shall come surely he then was and existed though he was not yet come The Prophet addeth whom ye delight in would to God this were true in every Christian but his Enemies can take no delight in him However it remains true that no Creature whatsoever could be this Angel and that seeing it was not the Person of the Father it must be that of his Son who is another himself and I think that to prove the Deity of the Messiah is to prove the plurality of Persons in the Godhead for as I said before Trinity imports the Divinity of the Son and the Divinity of the Son implys plurality of Persons in the Divine Nature This Angel under the shape of a Man attended by two Angels appeared unto Abraham * Gen. 18. and in the same place he is called the Lord or Jehovah and Man and behaved himself both as Lord and as Man and as both was received by Abraham Thus 't is neither impossible nor contrary to Scripture that God should in human Nature appear unto Men as then he did unto Abraham In his Promise to Abraham of a Son by Sarah and as to the Judgments upon Sodom he behaved himself as God as he did as Man in visibly walking discoursing having his Feet washed resting and eating and as herein by acting the true part of a Man he was a true Man so he was a true God for there he is six or seven times called Jehovah and five Adonai and he speaks like the Judg of the World in whose power it lyes to punish or pardon and the Adversaries can bring nothing against the Union of divine with humane Nature in the Person of Christ but what this Instance of the appearing can refute for indeed the personal Union of the divine with human Nature can be no better nor more plainly represented than by this Example and if this appearing was a sign and forerunner of Christ's dwelling and conversing among Men certainly it became him to be such as he then appeared namely God and Man Now that this was a foresight of his Incarnation our Saviour himself declares it * John 8.56 relating to this Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad And upon the same account he upbraids them when he saith John 39.40 If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham but ye seek to kill me that did not Abraham for he never offered to kill as a Blasphemer that Man whom with two others he recieved into his House and who carryed himself as God on the contrary he all the while behaved himself towards him as being God and at that time the same Person that appeared unto Abrham is not only called the Lord v. 1. the Lord appeared unto Abraham but also the judg of all the earth v 25. a Property belonging to none but the true God and that Christ is to judg all the Earth it appears out of Acts 17.31 and 2 Cor. 5.10 as indeed the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorah was a figure of the Destruction of the World and of Christ's second coming The Father saith Christ hath committed all Judgment to the Son John 5.22 Here I shall add a Text which may have a place in another part of my Discourse 't is this God by the Prophet * Isai 40.9 10 11. speaks to Zion Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah Behold your God behold the Lord will come with strong hand c. here certainly by your God is meant the God of Israel for the God of Zâ—on of Jerusalem and of the Cities of Judah is the same with the God of Israel now who that Person is here called God it doth appear out of the scope of the place wherein the Prophet doth certainly speak of the coming of the Messiah who is Christ as 't is plain out of v. 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness prepare ye the way for the Lord make straight in the desart
a high way for our God Beyond all doubt this is spoken of John Baptist for he applieth * John 1.23 it to himself and if we want other Witnesses Matthew †Chap. 3.3 will serve for one and Zacharias as recorded by S. Luke ‖ Chap. 1.76 for another now I take it to be as unquestionable that John was the fore-runner of Christ who is the same Lord God for whom he prepared the way Further that in this place of Isaiah Christ is the same Lord God that was to come it appears by the description therein made of him He will come with strong hand and his arm shall rule for him behold his reward is with him and his work before him v. 10. The Miracles he wrought by his own Power upon the sick blind dumb lame dead commanding Wind and Sea and the Devils themselves which observed him did convincingly demonstrate him to be the Lord God if any doubt should remain 't is clear'd v. 11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd he shall gather the lambs with his arm the comparison of the Shepherd and Sheep our Saviour doth much insist upon and several * John 10. times gives himself the Name of Shepherd and S. Paul calls him †Heb. 13.20 the great shepherd of the sheep and by another ‖ 1 Pet. 2.25 Chap. 5.4 the shepherd of our souls and the chief shepherd This being his great Atrribute as Head of the Church and Mediatour his Person must necessarily be designed by the Prophet who to him attributeth the words feeding and gathering the Person here spoken of by the Prophet Isaiah called Lord God is the same mentioned by another who calls him king of Zion and of Jerusalem and as he speaks of the same as Isaiah doth so he speaks to the same †Zech. 9.9 Rejoyce greatly O daughter of Zion shout O daughter of Jerusalem behold thy king comes unto thee both Prophets speak of the same Person 's coming to the same place he is just and having salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass these very words of the Prophet are quoted upon the occasion of our Saviour's entering into Jerusalem * Matth. 21.4 5. and applyed unto him as indeed this same Prophet speaks in several places which I mention in this Discourse of Christ the Son of God as of the great and mighty God Chap. 2. calls him Lord of Hosts sent by the Lord of Hosts to the Nations who was to come and dwell in thee O Daughter of Zion who was to speak peace unto the heathen and his dominion to be even from sea to sea and unto the ends of the earth Ch. 9.10 that was to be sold for Thirty pieces of Silver which were given for the Potters Field Chap. 11.12 13. and that was to pour upon the House of David and Inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of Grace and Supplication that same Spirit which was in the Prophet is call'd the spirit of Christ 1 Pet. 1.11 or the Holy Ghost by whom they were moved 2 Pet. 2.21 so Chap. 13.7 the Lord of Hosts calls him his fellow did the Lord of Hosts ever call any meer Man his Fellow my Companion that is united to me in Substance equal with me in Power Thus God doth honour Christ in this Name to shew the Unity of Essence and the Union of the Will of the Father and of the Son the Mediator who is in the same Verse called my shepherd which is spoken of Christ for unto himself he applyeth it Matth. 26.31 Before we fall upon examining other Texts of the Old Testament to prove the essential Names of God to belong to his Son the Lord Jesus we must compare some places of both Testaments to shew how many things belonging to God are applyed unto Christ as first that just now quoted of Isaiah a Isai 40.3 The voice of him that cryeth in the wilderness prepare ye the way of the Lord or Jehovah b Luke 1.76 John 1.23 applyed one to John Baptist the other to Jesus Christ there called the Lord This is another c Isai 6 1 2 3 9 10. I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple above it stood the Seraphims and said holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory this in the d John 12.40 41. Gospel is applyed to the Son Again e Isai 8.13 14. Sanctifie the Lord of hosts himself and let him be your fear and let him be your dread and he shall be for a sanctuary but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem applyed unto Christ f Luke 2.34 Rom. 9.33 1 Pet. 2.8 David saith g Psal 45.6 Thy throne O God is for ever and ever which is applyed unto Christ h Heb. 1.8 But unto the Son he saith thy throne O God is for ever and ever The same Royal Prophet saith i Psal 68.17 18. The chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels the Lord is amongst them as in Sinai in the holy place thou hast ascended on high thou hast led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men yea for the rebellious also all which is applyed k Eph. 4 8. unto Jesus Christ So is this l Ps 110.1 The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand applyed to the Son m Matth. 22 44. We read in the Prophet n Isai 45.23 I have sworn by my self the word is gone out of my mouth that unto me every knee shall bow which is attributed unto Christ o Rom. 14.11 Phil. â—2 10 Of old saith David p Ps 102.25 hast thou laid the foundations of the earth and the heavens are the works of thy hands which is by the Apostle q Heb. 1.10 declar'd to be meant of the Son r Isai 44.6 Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel and his redeemer the Lord of hosts I am the first and I am the last Our blessed Saviour saith the same of himself Å¿ Rev. 1.17 and 22.13 God Almighty t Ps 26.2 and 7.9 doth try the reins and the heart and our glorified Saviour saith u Rev. 2.23 I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts God saith x Zech. 12.10 and Rev. 1.7 I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced the same whom they have pierced saith he will pour the Spirit of Grace which none but the true God can do which is applyed to our Saviour And again another scripture saith they shall look on him whom they pierced y John 19.37 they never pierced God
of his Father's Person 'T is in vain that they cavil out of God's words Let us make man in our image and after our likeness for the Question is about Generation and not of Creation God made man that is created him as in that place of Genesis explained in the following Verse but 't is never said that God made but begat his Son as of Adam not that he made but begat Seth in his own likeness after his Image Thus the Son of God is truly and really begotten of the very Substance of the Father and this by Immanence and Communication Heathens feigned a Minerva the Goddess of Wisdom and Prudence to be born ex Jovis cerebro out of Jupiter's Head and Brain a dark Notion of this high Mystery as was their cara deûm soboles magnum Jovis incrementum as expressed by the Poet. The Lord Jesus is called not only * Heb. 1.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the express Image but also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Brightness of the Glory of God by a Metaphor taken from the Sun Beams which if the Sun was eternal would be eternal too wherefore in the Nicene Creed is well called God of God Light of Light so not only like but also †Phil. 2.6 equal with God This eternal Generation to be look'd upon with the Eyes of Faith more than of human Reason is first not transient but immanent secondly terminated if we may use the word not in an absolute Existence but in the Subsistence or manner of subsisting for the Essence neither begetteth nor is begotten neither through this Generation is God absolutely constituted but the Son is relatively Thirdly It is eternal without any difference of time so that the Son may not be said begotten and not begotten existent and not existent but always begotten Fourthly The Begetter and begotten are always the same in Nature and in Time or rather Eternity Fifthly Through that same Generation the same Divine Nature is communicated to the Son not in Species but in Number not in part but wholly not to be or exist but to subsist in such a manner Sixthly The same is natural and so simply not voluntary nor involuntary that is necessary but not forced But as to the main thing 't is enough to know that Christ was before he manifested himself in the Flesh for therein he appears to be eternal which Eternity of his we shall have occasion to prove In the Scripture none but the Lord Jesus is in the singular number called God's Son Abraham is called his Friend Moses his Servant and in the Parable of the Vineyard and the Husbandmen * Luk. 20.9 10 c. to whom God under the name of the Lord of the Vineyard sent his Servants whom they beat and wounded then said he I will send my beloved son it may be they will reverence him when they see him but they said this is the heir let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours I say in that Parable where the Lord Jesus spoke of himself and against them as they perceiv'd it v. 19. we may observe what a vast difference he makes between himself and all that came before him who were all but Servants but he gives himself the Character of God's beloved Son whom they ought to have reverenced when they saw him who was the Heir of all things by his Nature and not by any Privilege of Dignity by Favour bestowed upon him as upon Men and Angels * Heb. 1.4 5. Being made so much better than Angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they what this Name is is expressed in the next Verse For unto which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my son this day have I begotten thee c. We see the difference of the Sonship a Son not created nor adopted but begotten for that Name comes to him by inheritance as in the Text that is by his own natural Right and Property and not by Grace Then the Lord Jesus is Gods natural Son because called his own and proper Son †Rom. 8.3.32 every one knoweth how those Sons that are naturally begotten by their Parents are called their own Sons and on the contrary those that are not so are not proper Sons but Strangers so that proper and Strangers are so called and distinguished according to Nature only therefore seeing Scripture doth not indifferently call Christ Son but God's own Son thus by this special Attribute distinguishing him from all others it means natural Son and of the same Essence the more because he calls God * John 5.18 his own Father for which cause the Jews would have stoll'd him for they well understood as express'd in the Text how thereby he made himself equal with God thus he is called God's own Son in opposition to adopted Sons one may adopt another to be his Son but can never make him his own natural Son begotten of his Substance and as Christ is God's own Son so is God his own Father then from Eternity or else there had been in time a new relation in God which had not always been that might be called a kind of an Accident so contrary to the simplicity of his Nature and according to this God had within these 1700 Years been made that which he was not before namely Father of his own Son whereby Changeableness is father'd upon him and his Immutability that is an incommunicable Attribute thereby overturned Now in the same Chapter the Apostle to express own Son makes use of another word which fully and clearly doth decide the Question which is Whether the Lord Jesus be properly God's Son for if he be properly so then all improper Applications are out of doors Now the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by S. Paul * Rom. 8.32 signifies proper so if the Lord Jesus be God's proper Son we must properly understand and believe him to be such although our shallow Brain can neither conceive in its Thoughts nor express in Words the incomprehensible and unexpressible manner of that Generation which is wonderful †Isai 9.6 as his name is yet we must believe it because God in his word hath declared it to be so The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 proper they mis-interpret and do render by special or peculiar as if Christ was God's Son only in a special manner above others but none can be call'd proper Son to any one except he be begotten of his Blood and Substance which being not he may not be called such a one's proper Son Thus they would confound proper and peculiar which two words are very different for one may be a proper Son who hath nothing peculiar above the rest of his natural Brethren for when a Father hath many all are his proper and own Sons begotten of his Substance yet no one may happen to have any thing particular above the rest likewise one may happen upon a special
different things thô pertaining to one and the same Subject or else every Lord were a God thus a Husband were a God unto his Wife because Sarah called Abraham her Lord the Lord of the unfaithful Servant were his God because he calls him his Lord the Lord of the Vineyard were the God of the Vineyard because called it's Lord and many more such Instances And I shall illustrate the thing by a trivial Saying among us A Servant may say his Master is Lord but not God at home The Text that saith * 1 John 2.22 23. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father these words do import how he that denyeth Jesus to be the Christ doth thereby deny the Son not that Christ and the Son do formally signifie the same in themselves but because to be Christ and Son of God do meet in one Person so that none but the Son of God is Christ and Redeemer of the World Withall after this Socinian way of arguing it would follow in this Text that the Names Christ Father and Son do signifie the same for here the Apostle offereth two Propositions the first He is a Lyar that denyeth Jesus to be the Christ the last He is Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son The Adversaries make them both equivalent for in both is the same Object of denyal whence they infer that Christ and the Son are of the same signification but according to this Kule it may be concluded that Christ the Father and the Son signifie the same because in the first Proposition Christ is the Object of the denyal and in the last the Father and Son together Any one may see the Absurdity of such Consequences But because Christ to prove himself to be the Son of God speaks to the Jews about his Sanctification by the Father which Sanctification is the anointing spoken of by Peter †Acts 10.38 wherefore they would have that to be the cause of his being Son of God but if there was no other reason of that divine Filiation but the Sanctification and Anointing then the cause by the Angel given in ‖ Luke 1.35 Scripture were false So then Christ is called the Son of God not only upon the account of his extraordinary Birth and of his kingly Office as Socinus saith but for being of the same Nature and Essence with the Father which that Text of John 10. is not against for in that place our Saviour doth not give in the cause why he is Son of God but only goes about to refute the Slander of Blasphemy by the Jews cast upon him not by an Argument à pari taken from equal things but from the lesser to the greater He had said v. 30. I and my Father are one thereby expresly asserting his Consubstantiality and Oneness of Nature with the Father whereupon they took Stones to stone him because of that pretended Blasphemy in that he being man made himself God which Objection he answereth with an Instance from less to greater Thus if those are without Blasphemy called Gods who exercise a divine Office in their ruling and judging of Men much more and upon a better account may Christ the Messiab from eternity begotten by the Father and in time sent down from Heaven into the World be called God wherefore there is no Blasphemy nor have ye any just cause of stoning me because I said I am the Son of God one with the Father The Name Son of God relates to the eternal Generation by and Consubstantiality with the Father therefore not a Name of Office but of Nature and Person and the Names Christ and Son agree as to the material in one Person but not in the formal the Name Son is by reason of an eternal Generation and that of Christ upon the account of a temporal Anointing to an Office In the mean while we retain the proper and literal Sense of the word and not the metaphorical till we see cause to the contrary And this we leave for them to prove how because Magistrates by reason of their Office are called Children of the most high therefore not because of an eternal Generation and Coessentiality with the Father but for his Royal Dignity the Lord Jesus is called Son of God To be short we have other Texts to prove how the Name God's Son signifieth some essential thing in Christ as that heretofore quoted Christ was made of the seed of David according to the Flesh c. the Flesh signifies his Humanity as doth Declared the son of God according to the spirit of holiness his Divinity for we see * Dan. 9.24 To anoint the most holy doth denote by the most holy his divine Person and by to anoint his Office of Mediatour So we have that of the Angel to the Virgin The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God The Angel's meaning is that in Christ's Conception the Power of God was necessary to the end he that was to be born might be called Son of God but if that Name had related only to the Office and he that was to be invested with it had been a meer Man no need of that Power of the Spirit in the Conception now the Angel calls holy that which it Essential in Christ he was holy before he should be born and that essential holy thing is called the Son of God The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth not that Man that was to be born not holy in the Concret but holy in the Abstract Withall seeing in Baptism the word Son doth not in Christ signifie his Office but his Nature for the Names Father and Holy Ghost do not denote any Office but Persons so in Christ it signifies his divine Nature not his Office All this may also be proved out of other Texts as this †John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. compared with ‖ Rom. 8.32 He that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all wherein God's Love towards the World and us is so highly comended which if it were only an Office laid upon Christ would come very short of that inflnite Love of God which as Paul saith * Ephes 3.19 18. Passeth knowledg and gives it the four Dimensions bredth length depth and height But to say that God spared not his own beloved and only begotten Son but deliver'd him to death this is Love indeed The same we may learn out of this Heb. 5.8 that though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered What Man is he that would sacrifice his Son to the Safety and Preservation of his Enemies Yet God hath done it
Words and Mind of those whom he discoursed with What could in so serious a Matter and of so high a Concernment as this is to make him alter his method and differ from himself when his main Design was all along to make himself truly known for what he was yet here as much as in them lays they make him say nothing to the purpose of the Jew's Question and Objection as they attempt to rob him of his Divinity so they would of that Heavenly Wisdom Gentleness and Readiness to do good which ever appeared in his whole Carriage here not only they make him not to speak pertinently to the Question but also they so mangle his answer that Men cannot tell what to make of it Is the Etymology or Derivation of Abraham's Name to any purpose here The Jews look'd upon it as very absurd that Christ so young should have been in Abraham's time the Lord doth plainly and to the purpose answer before Abraham was I am and with this very strong Asseveration by him used only in Matters of the highest Concernment Verily verily I say unto you not once but twice Verily now we know him to be †Rev. 3.14 Amen Amen the true and faithful witness Their Brains are fruitful in idle Inventions for upon this place they say one thing more wherein Arminians joyn with them How this before Abraham was I am is to be understood of a Divine Constitution or Pre-ordination that is in the fore-sight and fore-knowledge of God Christ was before Abraham but not really so in Existence but Christ here saith not he was fore-ordained but that he was and existed I am we deny not Christ to have been fore-ordained for * 1 Pet. 1.20 Peter saith he was but we deny that to be the Ground of his Divinity or that in this place Christ saith so when the Question is about his Deity being pre-ordained of God is no Prerogative of Christ for it is †Rom. 8.29 common to all believers Is it not ridiculous for one to say he is older than others because he was fore-ordained of God before they were born This I shall conclude with one thing more I must say to it how our Saviour in this place saith clearly and positively before Abraham was I am the Jews understood how thereby he made himself to have been before Abraham which could not be upon that account of his human Birth our Saviour doth not go about to shew they were mistaken which if it had been the Evangelist would have spoken of on the contrary he did run the hazard of being stoned and indeed he not only is before Abraham but also ‖ Colos 1.17 before all things and Persons Adam not excepted One place more I shall speak of and then shall have done with this Head I am * Rev. 1.8 Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending saith the Lord which is which was and which is to come the Almighty As before Alpha there is no other Letter in the Green Alphabet which Language the Book is written in so before the Son of God there is nothing and as of all things that are Christ existed the first so he shall exist the last and herein the Metaphor doth exactly fit and is explained by the following words the beginning and the ending which though v. 4. be spoken of the Father yet it hinders not but is here attributed unto the Son neither is there any thing in the whole Verse but what is adapted to the Son as well as to the Father as to the Name Lord How often is the Son in the New Testament called by that Name As to the expressions which is which was and which is to come taken out of the * Isa 44.6 Prophet which are the explanation of the word Jehovah they belong to Christ as we have before proved the Name doth and so doth the Thing for in a place already quoted the Signification is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever he that is named Alpha the beginning and the first and which is may well be called he which was and he who is called Omega the end and the last may also be well called he that is to come which is properly and in a special manner spoken of Christ as it appears out of this †Heb. 10.37 yet a little while and he that shall come will come and this is spoken of him in ‖ Rev. 17. and 3.11 and 16.15 and 22.7 12 20. several places of this Book Besides that in this whole Chapter the Apostle's Design is to describe the Son not the Father as it doth appear by the foregoing and following Verses so 't is not likely he would in this v. 8. describe the Father only and seeing in this first Chapter he was to dispose the seven Churches to receive the Epistles by the Son to be directed to them with that Submission and awful Reverence as became them so to prepare their Spirits it was a due Course to make an ample and glorious Description of the Son for the Father doth not immediatly in his Person shew himself to or speak with Men but the Son doth therefore there is a kind of Necessity that he should make his own Description seeing therefore how the Words and the Things of the Description do belong to Christ why should not we say that the Description is adapted for him This Interpretation of ours is natural with the words and scope of the place it neither altereth taketh away or addeth thereunto as their Interpretation doth with wresting forcing and restraining it to the Person of the Father when the Son absolutely without any limitation or restriction calls himself Alpha and Omega beginning and ending first and last but it seems they would teach the Spirit of God how to speak though nothing can be said more fully and plainly than this is he doth not say only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 am but joyns the Person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I so when in the several Epistles †Rev. 2.7.17.26 to him that overcometh he promises to give to eat of the tree of life and of the hidden manna Chap. 2.5.12.21 the white stone and the new name with power over the nations c. and * Chap. 22.17 the water of life freely to him that is thirsty he doth not send them to the Father but offereth it himself as to the †John 4.10 Woman of Samaria nay in his state of Humiliation he calls Men ‖ Chap. 7.37 38. to come to himself much more after his exaltation and glorisition But to conclude this Matt. 11.28 and at the same time shew how this is simply spoken of Christ not only in this 8 verse but also in the 11 and 17 it appears out of the 12 and 13 where he turned to see the voice that spake with him and in the midst of the seven Candleiticks he saw one like
of Israel are attributed to one and the same Subject namely to the true living God as Isai 44.6 Zephan 3.15 compared with John 1.49 attributed to Christ We already have demonstrated how the Names of God and Lord are proper to him so is that of King simply taken as we have it in the Description made of Christ's Kingdom by the Psalmist * Psal 45.1 6. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king where in several Verses mention is made of his Glory and Majesty of his Throne of his Scepter and Kingdom and is called God most mighty Lord Christ to Pilate owned himself to be King in the Inscription upon the Cross he was called King of the Jews which is equivalent to that of King of Israel and thus it is interpreted by his Enemies Mark 15.32 though in derision Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross and for all their jest he was so in earnest not only in relation to his oecumenical but upon the account of his natural Kingdom for essentially he is King of the whole Earth he is the King that is set upon the holy hill of Sion Rev. 17.14 and 19.16 whose dominion is from one sea unto another who hath the heathen for his inheritance and the utmost parts of the earth for his possession The Lamb that is Christ is Lord of Lords and King of Kings The Prophet upon a solemn occasion calls him a King Rejoyce greatly Zech. 9.9 O daughter of Sion shout O daughter of Jerusalem behold thy king comes unto thee he is just and having salvation c. to be compared with Isai 62.11 and this was literally fulfilled at the time when our blessed Saviour did solemnly enter into Jerusalem upon which occasion Matthew doth quote the Prophets words This I press the more because the Adversaries would have none to be true God but he who is the God and King of Israel We know how to do great things is attributed unto God Thus after the return from Captivity the Heathen said The Lord hath done great things for them Psal 126.2 3. and they owned it themselves The Lord hath done great things for us which great things are also called Wonders Thou art the God that dost wonders Nay he alone Ps 77.14 that is the Lord God of Israel doth Wonders for saith David Blessed be the Lord God of Israel Ps 72.18 who only doth wondrous things Wherefore since the Lord Jesus hath done the Wonders which the Lord God of Israel doth and can do upon the Evidence of these words it followeth that he is the Lord God of Israel for this same in the New Testament is spoken of Christ by himself under the Name of God subjectively when he had out of the Man driven a Legion of Devils he commanded him to return to his own House Luke 8.39 and shew how great things God had done unto him in the latter end of the Verse the Evangelist giveth an account how the Man obeyed in these words And he went his way and published through the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him so him who had done these great things unto the Man our blessed Saviour speaking of himself called God and the Evangelist Jesus making use of the very same words How great things God Jesus had done unto him whence it appears that Jesus is the God that doth great things that is the great God chief and primary God to speak in their Language though there be no other true God Also that the Lord Christ is the God that doth Wonders as spoken of the true God in the fore-quoted Psalm for saith Peter * Acts 2.22 Jesus was approved of God among you by miracles wonders and signs But to conclude this Head hence it appears how those Attributes of God which he hath declared to make us distinctly conceive the Diversity of his Perfections and Operations are all applicable and do belong to his Son Jesus Christ and to none else but him they without any difference do enjoy the Possession of all things all mine are thine and all thine are mine John 17.10 saith our Saviour to the Father both have the same infinite Nature and unresistible Power The Lord God saith the Psalmist Ps 104.3 Acts 1.9 Rev. 1.7 maketh the clouds his chariot and the Lord Jesus did so for he went up in a Cloud and he cometh and will so at the last day come with clouds in that place where the Prophet foretelleth the coming of Christ Zech. 14.9 In that day saith he the Lord shall be king over all the earth there shall be one Lord and his name one which compared with Ephes 4.5 and Rev. 11.15 doth shew Christ therein to be meaned Colos 2.10 who is the head of all principality and power as well as of his Church and hereupon what is said in the Book of Genesis is observable Ch. 4.26 Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord that was the beginning of the Church which was formed in Seth's Family and this Paul seems to point at when he saith Rom. 10.13 Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved which relates to the Christian Church from the Name of Christ which Name began first in Antioch Acts 11.26 then Men began to call upon the Name of God Redeemer Jesus Christ The Church is God's House for so the Jewish Church whereof Moses was part is called by the Apostle now this Church was built by the Lord Jesus and thereupon he gives our Saviour that high Preference before Moses Heb. 3.2 3 4. that he who first built the House must be before the House and before Moses and the reason is that he that built all things is God but the Son of God built not only that Church but all things besides so he existed before Moses and before the Foundation of that Church yea before the Foundation of the World too as under the Name of Wisdom he saith in the place which several times we have occasion to mention Prov. 8.30 then that is before the earth was I was with him God as one brought up with him and I was dayly his delight rejoycing always before him as a Son brought up in his Fathers Bosom of the same Essence not upon the account of Adoption a natural Son is opposed to him that is adopted or not begotten of his Fathers Substance 't is as of a Forreigner that may be called a naturalized but not a natural Englishman admitted to the Rights of an Englishman but never an Englishman born CHAP. VIII Works proper to God belong to Christ WE now proceed to another argument drawn from the Works Seeing Christ hath done those things which none but the true Essential God can do he must be the true Essential God This kind of Argument is very strong for our Blessed Saviour doth often use it
in the Firmament But to shew the falshood of their Assertion that the Son is not the most high God let us consider the following things The Angel said to the Virgin He shall be great Luk. 1.32 upon every account and absolutely so according to the Character long before given of him by the Prophet and Son of the highest that is of the true God v. 35 compared with v. 76 Isa 9.6 and so according to that Divine Nature the highest himself it ought to be observed how the word of the Angel he shall be called the Son of the Highest is the same as used by the Prophet His name shall be called wonderful Counsellor the mighty God c. As in the Prophet by being called is understood â—e shall really be so it must be in the Evangelist he shall be manifested owned and really be Thus Zecharias said of John And thou child shalt be called really and truly be the Prophet of the highest and when he spoke thus he was filled with the Holy Ghost and prophecy'd v. 67 as Elizabeth was when she said of the blessed Virgin Whence is this to me that the Mother of my Lord should come to me v. 41 43. How could he according to the flesh be her Lord before he was born In the second place seeing I already proved Jesus Christ to be Jehovah it necessarily follows he is the most high God Psal 33.18 for he whose name alone is Jehovah is the most high over all the earth Also I proved him to be he whom the People provoked in the Wilderness and Scripture calls him the most high whom they provoked in the wilderness The proper Son of God is God the Son of the Highest is the Highest And the words of Psal 107.11 Psal 78.17 56. do belong to the People in the Wilderness who rebelled against the word of God and contemned the counsel of the most high They would make use against us of that place where when Melchisedes blessed Abraham God is called the most high God whereby they would confine that Title only to the Person of the Father which before I refute I must by the by take notice how the word most high is thrice mentioned in three Verses Gen. 14.18 19 20. to shew how the Blessing upon Abraham was the Work of the three Persons in the Godhead as all three meet in the Conception of Christ in the blessed Virgin 's Womb and in his Baptism The same high God in whose name Melchisedec blessed Abraham is the same who called Abraham received him into favour and at that time had given him Victory over four Kings as it appears out of the place Now that most high God who called Abraham is the same as made a Covenant with him who afterwards commanded him to sacrifice his Son to himself who is that same Angel as before we have taken notice of who is called the Lord himself and upon that occasion said to him Gen. 22. By my self have I sworn saith the Lord that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed Now the Apostle teaches that not only the Father but also the Son is Author of that Covenant when he saith The Testament or Covenant Heb. 9.16 was confirmed by the death of the Testator And I would have them to tell me who besides Christ hath with his Death and Blood sealed and confirmed that Covenant certainly none but that God that was manifest in the flesh Act. 20 28. that same God who hath purchased his Church with his own blood So that Melchisedec by the name of most high meant the Son as well as the Father who cannot be separated for as Scriptures bear witness the Son is always in the Father therefore every where in the Word of God the name most high is spoken of Father Son and Holy Ghost which with that of God of Gods and Lord of Lords is essentially taken and excludes indeed Creatures but never Son and Holy Ghost whom it doth truly and properly belong to Now we are come to the Objections that are directly against the Divinity of the Person of Christ which must be answered and in order to it we must here premise something which before we gave a hint of how the word God is taken in two senses first properly then metaphorically and the name God doth properly signifie the true God Now he is the only true God who essentially and by nature is such for every thing is called true by its nature as true Man true Gold true Silver c. as said before from the nature of Man of Gold and of Silver so that if only it be like a Man and like Gold then 't is neither true Man nor true Gold for simile non est idem the thing like is not the same If the true God be he that hath Gods Nature and Essence certainly he is the high and independent God seeing Divine Essence is in itself Chief and Independent Now secondly and improperly or metaphorically are they called Gods that in something are like God by participation and likeness as Moses was to Pharaoh so Angels and Men but these metaphorical Gods may not be called true God nor worshipt as such that which is somewhat like a thing may never be called the same thing Thus I do premise in opposition to Socinus's Notion how in Scripture the word God is taken for the high God independent from any other and for him who by the chief God is in some manner made partaker of the Divinity In the first sense God is God the Father called one in the second is Christ and some other Men he because of his Sanctification and being sent into the World where Christ as he would have it doth not affirm himself to be God but with dependency that is a titular a made and coined God as by vertue of that Sanctification and Mission when that very Sanctification and sending into the World shew him to be true God Joh 10.36 for in the place is meant that Sanctification which preceded his coming into the World for the Father sanctified first and then sent him which belonged to him not as a Man but had it before he was Man and before he came into the World for he saith first he was sanctified by the Father and then afterwards sent into the World that is he became Man for before he was made flesh he had been sanctified by the Father that is appointed and constituted Mediator and Head of the Church but Mediator he could not be except he were true eternal God As to his being sent into the World that also sheweth that his Being is not of this World but from above from Heaven whence he was sent into the World from the Bosom of the Father which argueth him to be above Man and to have had a Being before he was made Man for he was the Son of God in Heaven he was not Man but