de Turc moribu◠c. 4. p. 130. it was their custom to use these words In the name of God of Mercy and of their Spirit If any shall be so in love with his private Sentiments as to deny this Truth which has gained so universal a Testimony upon the account of some difficulties which our shallow Intellects cannot reach to the bottom of he may with the same reason assert there is no such thing as the Ocean because he cannot by his line find the depth of it in every place If all this will not satisfie let him exercise his reason about some difficulties in nature and he will find the existence of things very plain where their contexture is so concealed and intricate that the greatest Wits are at a loss in their disquisition about it If the intricacy of some modes in natural things be no reasonable inducement to deny the reality of the things themselves much less is the ineffable union betwixt the Divine Essence and Subsistence a justifiable plea for the denial of the Sacred Trinity He that shall think fit to try the acuteness of his Intellect about some knots in Philosophy will find the edge of his reason so much blunted in the encounter that it will not be easie for him to perswade himself that it is sharp enough to penetrate into all the Mysteries in Divinity If this will not prevail without an engagement with those difficulties which this Truth is usually assaulted with let a Catalogue be made of them and it will not be difficult for him to make his way thro' them who is armed with the following considerations 1. Altho' there be Three Persons or Subsistences in the Godhead yet there are not three Essences Every Person distinctly considered has an Essence but every person has not a distinct Essence 2. Tho' one finite individual Nature cannot be communicated to Three Persons yet an infinite may If the whole Divine Essence is intimately in all created persons at the same time there is no reason to think but that it may be communicated to three increated Whatsoever is alledged against this Communication holds as strong against the Universal Presence which all acknowledge but those who deny the Deity 3. Finite and infinite perfect and imperfect are not proper predicates of Subsistence but of Being So that when we are interrogated whether the three persons in the Holy Trinity are finite or infinite perfect or imperfect if by Person is meant only a mode of subsistence without the Nature it is a very incongruous question For infinity and finity perfection and imperfection are but modes of Entity and every mode imports variation and one variation cannot properly be predicated of another If by Person is understood the Divine Essence subsisting in a peculiar manner then we answer that every person distinctly is infinitely perfect tho' every person has not a distinct infinite perfection 4. Altho' the three Persons have one and the same Nature yet the Son cannot be said to be the Father or the Spirit the Son The same specifical Nature agrees to Joh Moses and Daniel Every one of them has the whole nature of Man yet we have no reason to assert that Moses is Job or Joh Daniel As there is some thing not contained in the common Nature which doth individuate them So there is a characteristical property appertaining to the Father the Son and holy Spirit whereby they are distinguisht altho' they are all equally interested in the same infinite Essence 5. When it is said that the only God is the Father Jesus Christ is the only God therefore Jesus Christ is the Father the major proposition is peccant For in every proposition the predicate is never less comprehensive than the subject but always of a greater latitude and therefore bears the title of the major term But here the predicate Father is less comprehensive than the subject the only God Now I have finished the Third Proposition The Three Persons are One God 4. This One God is to be Worshipped If we consider him essentially his peerless perfections do justly challenge the deepest veneration They being infinite cannot admit of any additions All that We are capable of doing is to own them with the decent significations of the most humble and submissive regards It is an Article in the Jewish Creed Fag in Deut. c. 14. v. 1. The Blessed God is worthy to be Worshipped It is a principal part of the Confession of the Christian Church Thou art worthy O Lord to receive Glory and Honour It was usual among the Heathens to worship the Head of great Rivers Sax. Will-worship He who considers God as the fountain of all that goodness which circulates in the veins of the Creation can conclude no less than that the most profound veneration is due to him If the Deity be considered personally every person doth require Divine Worship to be directed to him The Father Jo. 4.23 The Son Heb. 1.6 Psal 2.12 Phil. 2.10 S. Stephen directed his Prayer to him Act. 7.59 Ananias enjoyned S. Paul to call upon him Act. 22. v. 16. Salvation is promised to those who express a conformity to this command Rom. 10.13 When we say the Son is to be Worshipped we do not consider him without his humane Nature but as a person consisting both of Divine and Humane Supreme Adoration is given upon the account of the infinite excellency of the Divine Nature This excellency is communicated to the Person which has assumed our Nature and advanced it to the dignity of an Hypostatical union but not to the nature it self And therefore the Worship which is due must not be terminated upon the nature considered abstractedly but the person who is clothed with it This induced Athanasius to say Epist ad Adelph 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Let them know meaning the Arrians that when we Worship the Lord in the flesh we do not Worship a Creature but the Creator cloathed with a created body Neither must our blessed Lord be considered without his Mediatorship Tho' supreme Adoration doth not immediately terminate upon the relation of a Mediator yet it doth upon him who is invested with that Relation Our Saviour in this respect is inferiour to the Father and nothing inferiour to the Deity can challenge Supreme Adoration The taking up the mediatory Office was an act of free Grace and by consequence might not have been done Now that which might have been or not been must be inferiour to that necessary and immutable excellency which is the proper Object of the highest Veneration We must distinguish betwixt the foundation of Worship and the Motives to it Tho' the free acts of the Divine Benignity as redeeming mediating c. are vigorous inducements to Worship yet the sole foundation and immediate object is infinite excellency which will not permit any thing which is inferiour to share with it in the same degree of Honour A Subject may have many motives from the
Jesus is said to return in the power of the Spirit Luk. 14. S. Paul prays that the Romans may abound in hope thro' the power of the Holy Ghost Rom. 15 14. Mighty signs and wonders are said to be done by the power of the Spirit of God If the Spirit in these places did signifie no more than a divine power the meaning would be that Christ returned the Romans abounded miracles were wrought thro' the power of a Power The Spirit is likewise evidently distinguished from effects or gifts The Apostle saies that There are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit 1 Cor. 12.4 To one is given by the Spirit the word of Wisdom to another the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit v. 8. And that all these worketh this one and the same Spirit So that there can be nothing left in these Texts for the Spirit to signifie but a Person He being manifestly distinguished from the Divine Power and the gifts and products of that Power Now I have finished the second Proposition In the Godhead there are Three Persons 3. These Three are One God Unity is essential to the Deity Plurality proceeds from the fecundity and fruitfulness of Causes but God is of himself without dependence upon any Cause If there be more Gods there must be more Infinites in the same kind which implies a contradiction for one infinite Being contains all perfection not only as considered in the general notion but actually and therefore there is none for any other Deity to be invested with and possessed of in the same manner If there be more Gods they must be distinct one from another This distinction must arise from some diversity in Nature to attribute such diversity to the Divine Nature is to make a dishonourable reflection upon the simplicity of it The Father Son and Holy Ghost are this One God 1. The Scripture plainly asserts that they are one 1 John 5.7 Tho' these words are not found in some Copies yet they are extant in more than they are wanting in and in that which is dubious the decision is according to the suffrage of the major part If such an addition has been made to the Text it must be done before or after the two first General Councils If before it was either accidental or intentional Not Accidental thro' the inadvertency of the Scribe For tho' a Scribe may mistake and leave out letters and words yet it cannot be imagined that he should casually without any design add a whole sentence and not presently upon a review which may be justly presumed in a Writing of such importance discover and correct his errour Not Intentional no good reason can be given why any should industriously make such a spurious insertion before the controversie concerning the Deity of Christ and the Holy Ghost did commence Neither was the addition which is pretended made after the two first General Councils Because the words we speak of are found in those Copies which the Fathers who lived before those Councils made use of S. Cyprian asserts de Patre Filio c. Of the Father Son and Holy Ghost it is written and these Three are One. This gives us just reason to believe that the Copies in which these words are wanting fell into the hands of the Arrians and that a rasure was made by them 2. As the words of S. John assure us that The Father the Son and the Spirit are One so we are assured by other texts of Sacred Writ that this Unity is in the Divine Essence They have all one and the same infinite Nature This is evident by the attribution of the Name Properties and peculiar Operations of the most High God to them None doubt of this relation to the Father The matter is likewise clear concerning the Son and the Spirit Christ is called the mighty God Isa 9.6 God blessed for evermore Rom. 9.5 The true God 1 Joh. 5.20 The most high God Psal 58.17 56. The most High which the Israelites tempted and provoked in the wilderness is expresly called Christ 1 Cor. 10.9 The name of God is never attributed in the sacred Oracles with such emphatical Epithets to any finite Being They are intentionally inserted to signifie that Jesus is stiled God not upon the account of his Embassy from his Father or a deification in the state of Glory but his infinite Nature He who is made God and is not so essentially cannot be said to be the true mighty most High God blessed for evermore As the Name of God so the Properties of the Divine Nature are attributed to him Omniscience Joh. 21.17 Immutability Heb. 1.11 Omnipotence Rev. 1.8 Eternity He is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is which was which is to come v. 4. Eternity comprehends all differences of time Was he but a meer Creature such perfections could not reside in him A finite Being under the greatest Elevation has not a capacity large enough to entertain and receive such boundless excellencies The peculiar Operations of God are likewise attributed to him as Creation Joh. 1.2 Coloss 1.16 God is said to create all things by Jesus Christ Eph. 3.9 The Son did concur with the Father and the Spirit in this great Work as a co-ordinate cause The Nature of Creation will not admit the interposals of an instrument There being no matter to prepare a physical instrument has nothing to do in the case And Christ is represented as more than a Moral The infinite power whereby all things are made is often ascribed to him which is never done to a meer moral instrument such as the Apostles were in the production of Miracles Conservation is likewise ascribed to him He is said to uphold all things with the word of his power Heb. 1.3 It was usual for the Jews to express the Deity by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 power and therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is here inserted to assure them that Christ sustains the World and prevents its relapse into its primitive Abyss by virtue of his Deity Lastly He is said to work Miracles He made the blind to see the lame to walk the dead to revive This he did not bring to pass by any mutuatitious power When he healed the multitude it is said Virtue went out of him Luk. 6.19 The power whereby he did it was not adventitious but innate When S. Peter wrought a miracle that Christ by whose power it was effected might not be deprived of the glory of it he names him as the principal cause His name thro' faith in his name hath made this man whole Act. 3.16 As the name properties and operations of the Divine Nature are attributed to the Son of God So likewise to the Holy Ghost The Spirit of the Lord 2 Sam. 23.2 is stiled the God of Israel Ananias who lied unto the Spirit Act. 5.3 is said to lie unto God v. 4. The body which is the Temple of the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 6.19 is stiled
lawful to worship brass or any other matter All this if duly pondered will assure us That there is no Commission from God for Image-Worship but on the contrary an explicit prohibition God has made a peremptory declaration that he will make no such grant My Glory will I not give to another nor my Praise to graven Images Isa 42.8.48.11 the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth exclude every thing from having any interest in his Glory which hath an essence distinct from the Divine Nature It is not reconcileable with his immutable Sanctity to condescend to any such Concession To alienate his peculiar Worship and Glory is an act intrinsecally evil Indeed the Romanists say They do no such matter His peculiar Worship is always accompanied with an apprehension of infinite excellency residing in the Object which it is terminated upon and no such thing is believed by them concerning Images To which we reply That peculiar Worship is either internal or external Tho' internal which includes such an apprehension is not given to Images yet external is which consists in outward signs appropriated by Nature or Institution to import and signifie it He is not only injurious to God who alienates the whole but he who exhibits any part of it to a Creature He is accounted a Traitor who pays part of the Tribute to another Prince which is peculiar to his own The Israelites tho' they did not apprehend that Aaron and Jeroboam's Calves were invested with the incommunicable perfections of the Deity yet they are charged with Idolatry upon the account of the external Worship they gave to them The Arrians lie under the same imputation in the Writings of the Fathers because they worshipped Christ whom they believed not to be God The Christians in Julian's time did think they had contracted the same guilt when thro' fraud they were unwittingly induced to give external Honour to those Idols of which they had in their hearts a perfect abhorrence SECT III. Concerning the True Worshippers of God WHat is to be spoken concerning this Head I shall reduce to these Three Particulars I. Who they be that are obliged to Worship II. How they are to perform their duty III. What end they are to propose to themselves in the doing of it I. Who they are that lie under an obligation to Worship Religion being a reasonable Service those who are concerned in it must be endued with Reason and Understanding and these are either Angels or Men. The Angels Enjoying the favour of being admitted to the Beatifical Vision are under a willing necessity of being engaged in the highest acts of Religion The constant disclosures of the Divine Glory do command from them the most reverential regards They are stiled Cherubims to import That they are always upon the Wing prepared to execute the Divine Pleasure and Seraphim to denote their Zeal in the discharge of their obligations Their conformity to the great command of Love we have an Apodictical Evidence of in their rejoycing at the Conversion of a Sinner and the Renovation of the Divine Image in him They are so absolute in the performance of the Duties of Religion that their Practice is propounded as the Pattern of our Obedience Thy Will be done in earth as it is in heaven When the Second Person in the Sacred Trinity was introduced into the World that the infirmities of humane Nature with which he was cloathed might be no temptation to them to make any abatement in their usuall addresses a special Command is given Let all the Angels of God Worship him Heb. 1.6 Men Who are those whom we here inquire after are either Secular or Ecclesiastical Secular are not exempted from Religious Worship It is said That the Earth has a double motion one about its own Axis another about the Sun Secular men must imitate the Earth besides their motion about their Earthly affairs they must have another about their Celestial The Lord who bestows the World upon them has reserved a Rent to himself Religion concerns every man in whatsoever Function he is engaged Particular Vocations like Pharaoh's thin ears of Corn must not devour the General When any enter upon their Civil Imployments they do not cease to be Creatures invested with Reason and so long as they continue in that capacity they ly under an indispensable obligation to pay a Religious Homage to that Eternal Spirit by whose Incubation they were formed Neither do they cease to have a passionate desire for their own happiness and no man can enjoy any measure of this without a union with the Supreme Good the dissatisfactions which often emerge while we are in the embraces of these sublunary fruitions do openly proclaim them not to be the seat of real Beatitude and Union with the Supreme Good cannot be expected except we with all integrity Serve and Worship God Whatsoever our employment is we continue to be Creatures of that Species towards whose redemption an infinite price has been deposited and therefore must remain under the strictest obligations to be Religious This is the Apostles argument Ye are bought with a price therefore glorifie God It is an hyperbole of ingratitude not to be ingaged in these actions which have the most direct aspect upon his honour from whom so signal a benefit is received No worldly concern can cancel our obligations to him who has parted with his own Son in order to the procurement of our Redemption from the greatest Misery and Vassalage Lastly God is the Fountain of all that Wisdom whereby any are fitted for their Callings All from the Shovel to the Scepter from the lowest to the highest are instructed by him He teacheth Princes to Rule and guides the Husbandman to manage the instruments of Agriculture Those who have this dependence upon God offend against the clearest dictate of Reason if they refuse to intermit their labour that they be employed in the most solemn agnitions of him The noise in this sublunary state about secular matters will make no harmony in the ear of the Supreme Being except such Rests and Pauses be intermingled with it Upon this account the Apostle adviseth That every one abide in his Calling in which he is called with God Let our Function require never so much of our attendance yet God must not be excluded Some time must be spared for the immediate acts of his Solemn Worship As Secular Men are concerned in this Sacred Work So likewise much more those who are Ecclesiastical I mean such Persons as are solemnly Ordained and Consecrated to the performance of some Religious Offices The necessity of them will be manifest if we consider that a part of that Service which the Gospel requires in particular the being an Embassadour to the Son of God is a work of such importance that every capacity is not agreeable to it It doth not become every one to stand in this relation to an Earthly Prince much less to the Heavenly Now men usually are no