Phrase called implies a being really the thing so called is that †Rom. 9.25 26. I will call them my People which were not my People i. e. I will make them my People who were not so before This being Premis'd I come to the Names or Appellations given to the Son of the Virgin Mary I. Jesus Mat. 1.21 This was the proper Name of the Son of God when he took humane Flesh I confess others as Types of him had bore this Name yet never did the Signification of the Name fully agree with the Bearer till now This name Jesus shows him to be of Heavenly Extract in that it was given him from Heaven Probat Angelus caelitùs conceptum cui nomen caelitùs imponitur none but God knew the Dignity of this Person and therefore he particularly Assigns him this Name as sufficiently comprehending his Dignity This Name coming from Heaven did plainly demonstrate him to be the Son of God in that none on Earth had Power over Him to give Him a Name The Etymological Reason which the Angel gave of this Name illustrates the Deity of Him to whom it was given †Mat. 1.16 Thou shalt call his name Jesus for He shall save his People from their Sins so that he really was Sui nominis he in all things answered his Name Salvation in other Jesus's was either an empty Name or at most but a faint shadow of the Salvation which was found in him * Acts 4.12 For neither is there Salvation in any other neither is there any other Name under Heaven given among Men whereby we must be saved Salvation from Sins is God's Peculiar for so it is said †Isa 45.21 There is no God else beside me a just God and a Saviour there is none beside me so again * Hosea 13.4 For there is no Saviour beside me Thus we see God challenging Salvation as his peculiar Prerogative and hence I Argue Since by God's special Command this Name Jesus was conferr'd on the Son of the Virgin Mary because he should give Salvation from sins it is plain that he was God for he must necessarily be believed to be the Lord of Life in whose power it was to bestow Life Secondly He was called Christ and from hence also it will appear that the Son of the Virgin Mary was God Christ is a name of Dignity it is a Greek Word and of the same Signification with Messiah in the Hebrew For him the Jews looked and him they did really believe to be no other than the Son of God and this may reasonably be concluded in that they interpreted the second Psalm to be a Prophecy of him wherein we find it declared †Psalm 2.2 That he was the Anointed of God And of this Christ this Messiah it is expresly said by God himself * v. 7. Thou art my Son this Day have I begotten thee That Christ and the Messiah were Synonymous Terms and that both belonged to the Son of the Virgin Mary is evident from * Joh. 1.41 We have found the Messiah which is being interpreted the Christ both these Names signifie Anointed Kings Priests and Prophets under the Law were Anointed with Holy Oyl thereby intimating that they were Separated Sacred and Consecrated to God in the discharge of their respective Offices and were therefore called Messiae or Christi but this Son of the Virgin Mary was Messiah or Chris 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 emphatically as being both appointed to perform all those Offices and moreover anointed extraordinarily above any or all of them for * Joh. 3.24 God gave not unto him the Spirit by measure To give by Measure or Weight implies giving with a cautious or sparing Hand and contrarily to give without measure argues giving plentifully even the whole others albeit they were anointed yet were limited they had the Spirit by measure some having one Grace others another but this Jesus the Son of the Virgin Mary was anointed with the fullness of the Spirit for saith the Apostle †Col. 2.9 In him dwelled all the fullness of the God-head bodily Whosoever allows the Son of the Virgin Mary to be the Messiah the Christ must allow him to be the Son of God that the Jews did ever believe the Christ to be the real Son of God is very perspicuous * Joh. 1.49 where Nathanael allowing Jesus to be the Christ i. e. anointed to be King of Israel immediately concludes he must be the Son of God his Words are Rabbi thou art the Son of God the King of Israel and that he as Honestly as Rationally spoke what he believed there is not the least cause to doubt seeing that this Christ who knew what was in Man and needed not that any should testifie v. 47. declared of him * That he was an Israelite indeed in whom was no guile Hear we also Martha's confession of Faith grounded upon the same Reason †Joh. 11.27 I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of God What shall we say the High Priest though enraged had not forgot this truth that The Christ must necessarily be the Son of God * Mat. 26.63 I adjure thee by the living God that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God for he was satisfied if he was the one he must be the other also Now that the Son of the Virgin Mary was The Christ is evident in that he so punctually executed the Office of King Priest and Prophet to those that would hear and believe he taught the Will of God to those who would submit to his Sceptre he became a King ruling in their Hearts by Faith and Love for he acknowledged his Kingdom was not of this World and to such he was a Priest not only in offering himself a Sacrifice for them but in Blessing them and turning them from their sins so that the Son of the Virgin Mary thus manifesting himself to be The Christ must by the Jews own concession be acknowledged to be the Son of God Thirdly The Son of the Virgin Mary was called Emanuel and this was likewise a demonstration of his Deity Emanuel * Mat. 1.23 which being interpreted is God with us i. e. He that was God from all Eternity hath now assumed humane Nature and is become one with us in all things sin excepted This name does plainly imply the Union of the two Natures in the one Person of our Redeemer it doth moreover point at his mediatory Office between God arid Man and demonstrates him a compleat Saviour able to save to the uttermost In him there were two Natures and yet nec inferiorem consumpsit Glorificatio nec superiorem minuit Assumptio the Deity did not swallow up his Humanity the Humane Nature was not swallowed up and lost in the Deity nor did the Deity suffer Debasement or Diminution by the Assumption of the humanity but both Natures remain whole and intire constituting but one
his Order left the Monastery and put himself in the Head of such as rose to maintain and support the Truth And being demanded why he left his Cell his Answer was The great danger Threatning the Church constrained him I conceive the same Answer as Satisfactory to Justifie this Undertaking seeing there is an Equal Necessity and seeing New Heads are sprung out of the Old Hydra of Heresie and that some Devils Incarnate are Strangely Zealous to drive the Belief of Jesus Christ to be the Son of God out of the World Woe were unto us Ministers if we Preach not the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God The Devil was a Murderer from the beginning he laboured to Stifle Christianity at its first Birth by Inclining Herod's Mind to a Massacre wherein he made no doubt but the Son of God should have been Comprehended but finding himself disappointed in this first Project he be comes the carefuller in the next and used such Methods for stirring up Envy Malice and Wrath that he soon dispatcht his Life who brought Light and Life into the World However though he had Most Industriously watched all Opportunities of Stealing away the Heavenly Seed and had at last compassed the Death of the Sower yet beholding to his great grief that some of the Seed did spring up and that a New Order of Persons was Instituted to proceed in Sowing the same Good Seed to Frustrate their Endeavours he raises such a Tempest as could not be laid but by a Sacrifice of their Blood but even in this this Great Deceiver saw himself Deceiv'd for Sanguis Martyrum fuit semen Ecclesiae The Blood and Sufferings of these Seeds-men became as Seed Effectual to the Spreading of the Faith Hereupon the Adversary Selects Men of Curious Parts and Subtil Brains and these he employs in Sowing Tares Heterodox Opinions among the Good Seeds of Piety and Truth among such were Simon Magus the Gnosticks and other Antichrists These were Persons of Proud Lawless and Dishonest Principles and he Chose them because Proud being satisfied that such as were Conceited of their own Parts and Learning would more willingly Rely on their Own Fancies and Philosophical Notions than on any Divine Revelation wanting the Grace of Humility he foresaw they should never obtain that of Faith For tho' God giveth this and all other Graces to the Humble yet he in all Resisteth the Proud He also Chose them because Head-strong and Lawless for knowing how Irksome it was to Men of this Temper to be Confin'd within the Limits Prescribed by the Doctrine of Christ he was well assured such Libertines such Wild Asses would quickly kick against the Gospel because they would not bear the Yoak of it he had also observed that they wanted that Honesty Sobriety and Gravity that Integrity and Simplicity as was necessary in true Christians and therefore concluded they would soon ridicule a Gospel of sober plain and honest Principles nor were his expectations deceived he also raised another Legion out of the Arrians Samosatenians and Photinians and with these he waged War against the Son of God labouring to impugn the Truth of his Deity The true Catholick Faith ever taught two Natures in Christ Deity as being the Second Person of the Trinity and Humanity Which though differing as to Essence and Substance yet did constitute but one Hypostasis or subsistent Person as the Soul and Body make one Man Some of the Nestorians did so far agree with the Catholick Faith that they held two Natures in Christ but they had this Reservation that they did believe each Nature made a several and distinct Person by it self nay so subtil they were and so resembling Angels of Light that they â—sed the same words one Person as other Catholicks did yet who so peruses the Ecclesiastical Records will find that they no ways meant that the two Natures of Christ were united by a personal Subsistence but merely by an Unity of Affection Consent Liking or Co-habitation that is to speak in their Sence the Person of the Son of God did affect the Son of the Virgin Mary to that degree that it did only inhabit or dwell therein as in an House or Temple According to this Doctrine of the Nestorians God did not become the Son of Man nor was the Son of the Virgin Mary God but only the Temple or House of God whereas the truth is the second Person of the Trinity was Hypostatically united unto the Man-hood the Son of God assumed humane Nature and of both Natures one Person was Constituted called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-man not that the God-head inhabited humane Nature nor that the God-head was converted into Flesh but by taing of the Man-hood into God so there is no confusion of Substance but unity of Person God and Man became one Christ No Heresie which ever infected the Church of Christ hath been defended with such Sophistical Subtilties such fineness of Wit as this of opposing the Deity of Christ and even at this Day some Persons having more Wit than Grace and indulging that more than became them are endeavouring to revive this abominable Heresie but that these Scoffers and Mockers as St. Jude †v. 18. terms them might not proceed insultingly I have undertaken to make appear That Jesus Christ Born of the Virgin Mary was God Blessed for Evermore My Undertaking shall be directed by this following Method 1. I will enquire into his particular Names and Titles from whence the Truth of his Deity will explain it self Viz Jesus Christ Emanuel The Word The Son of God 2. I shall consider the Properties of the Deity are attributed to Him which are especially conspicuous in the great Works of Creation and Redemption And that I may the better put to silence the most impudent Gain-sayers as also farther confirm your Faith in this great Article I shall appeal to 1. God the Father 2. God the Holy Ghost 3. The Holy Scriptures First I shall argue and prove the Deity of Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary from the Names and Titles given him Here I must Observe That the World hath generally agreed in the use of Names viz. That Nomina sunt Notamina Names serve as well for the discovery of the nature of Things and Persons as for Distinction Next least any should cavil with me and plead that the Virgin Mary's Son was onely called Jesus Emanuel and the like and was not really so I shall judge this sufficient in answer hereunto that to be called in these Scriptures I shall Name signifies not only to be so Named or to be so Reputed but also to be that in Deed and in Truth which one is said to be or named to be for proof hereof I referr to * Matth. 1.16 where it is said Of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ i. e. he was the Christ in Deed and should be declared to the World to be so One place more to justifie that this
the Deity of Jesus Christ because of the ends and purposes of his coming which our Saviour expresses to be two 1. He was to glorifie Christ †Joh. 16.14 He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shew it unto you whether he instructs whether he comforts you in all he shall accord with me and thereby it will be manifest that I came from God 2. He was to reprove the World * Joh. 16.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the learned Dr. Hammond observes is to act the part of an Advocate to convince the Accuser and maintain a Cause against all Gain-sayers inexcusabiles penitus demonstrabit arguet evidentibus Argumentis probationibus docebit ita ut tergiversari non possit The Holy Ghost was to plead and justifie the cause of Christ in three particular Acts. I. He was to convince the World of their Sin of Vnbelief †v. 9. His descent was an Argument of Christ's Deity what could they farther object against his being God when now their Eyes beheld the Effusion of the Holy Ghost The various Operations of this Spirit of Grace were so many proofs of the Deity of Christ II. He was to plead the cause of Christ and to convince the World as to the point of his Righteousness * v. 10. He shall reprove the World of Righteousness because I go to my Father The Spirit of Grace descending from above shall testifie my Ascension whereby by it will be manifest that I am God and that there was no Unrighteousness in me as they Blasphemously reported III. He was to plead the Cause of Christ and to reprove the World of Judgment * v. 11. Because the Prince of this World is judged not only that the Spirit of Grace sent by me shall manifest that he that Reigned in the hearts of the Children of Disobedience and excited them to Betray Condemn and Crucifie me was the Spirit of Errour and the Enemy of their Salvation but also this Spirit assisting my Disciples to work Wonders and Signs in my Name as curing Diseases and casting out Devils shall thereby judge over-power and conquer the Prince of this World III. The Scriptures also Testifie that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary was God We are commanded to search the Scriptures to look into them carefully with an earnest desire and endeavour to find out the meaning thereof Whereupon St. Chrysostom's Exhortation was Audite saeculares comparate vobis Biblia but Bibles now are of little more estimation than old Almanacks if a matter of doubt arises we do sometimes but very rarely consult them our Hands delight not in handling the Word of Life whereas they are too busie with Romances and Play-books with Folly and Ribaldry and I fear this is not altogether the effect of Sloath Vanity or Laziness in the Laity but occasioned by an odd Fashion crept up of late among such whose lips should preserve Knowledge the only care and study now being that publick Discourses be well larded if not to Nauseousness with flowers of Rhetorick Terms of Philosophy Tropes and Figures to Tickle itching Ears are plenty but Quotations of Scripture so thin and sparing that sometimes in an hour's Discourse not one place of Scripture is to be found besides the Text this makes some conclude it a trouble to carry their Bibles with them seeing the spirit of the Prophets will not come to this Touch-stone and by degrees they arrive to the Opinion that they are as useless at Home as at Church I shall here presume to declare a true observation that when Scripture was used as a Principal part of the Sermon the Instruction sank deeper into Mens hearts and Piety and Holiness was much more visible in Mens Conversations I might add many Pernicious and Blasphemous Principles had yet lain in Darkness or at least had not been vented in Publick had not care been first taken to leave off the Light We are charged to search the Scriptures * Joh. 1.49 because they testifie of Christ We cannot turn over the Bible but the Majesty of Christ will appear he is as well the matter as the Author and if you will hearken to their Testimony you shall hear them declare that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary is God Take heed therefore unto your selves †Acts 20.28 and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you Overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his Blood to any considering person two things here offer themselves 1. He that purchased the Church was God the Church of God which He hath purchased i. e. God 2. That this God was Jesus Christ because it is said he purchased the Church with his Blood neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost having any Blood but Jesus Christ as he assumed Humane Nature so that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary was the God that purchased the Church with his Blood read likewise 1 Pet. 1.18 19. Rom. 9.5 Christ is called God blessed for ever Amen Great is the mystery of Godliness * 1 Tim. 3.16 God was manifest in the Flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels preached nto the Gentiles believed on in the World received up into Glory Now it is manifest this Scripture sets forth him to be God of whom all these things were verified and it is also manifestly set down in the Scriptures that all these were true of Jesus Christ he was found in the form of a Servant he took our Nature upon him he was justified by the Spirit of God to be the Messias he was preached unto the Gentiles as the true and only Saviour by Faith in whose Name they might receive Salvation he was believed on in the World while he was in the World his Disciples and some others believed him to be the Son of God he was received up into Glory he openly in the sight of many Witnesses ascended up into Heaven wherefore he that was thus manifest in the Flesh justified by the Spirit preached unto the Gentiles believed on in the World and received up into Glory was God and this is the great Mystery of Godliness or of the Christian Religion The Scriptures Testifie that Jesus Christ the Son of the Virgin Mary was God in that both the Prophecies Recorded in the Old and the performances in the New exactly accord and centre in Christ Adam that had the first Promise was told it should be in the Humane Nature that the Son of God should appear to redeem the World * Gen. 3.15 The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents Head Abraham was inform'd that he should be of his Posterity †Gen. 12.3 In thee shall all the Families of the Earth be Blessed Jacob had a Revelation of his Tribe * Gen. 49.8 Judah thou art he whom thy Brethren shall praise David was told that he should be particularly of his Family