mind to obey I have nothing to say against this first sort of Difficulties neither need I since no body dares put them in form why should I take up time to refute them I shall only say by way of Allusion Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God The Difficulties of the second Order are the Difficulties of Wit they attack the Divinity of our Saviour because they do not comprehend it their bounded understanding measures all Truths according to the extent of its own Conceptions and subjects to this Rule things that Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor ever came into the heart of Man This Earth-worm will needs measure the Third Heaven what extravagance can be greater He cannot conceive how the Father the Son and Holy Ghost are God without making three Gods of them therefore there is no such thing Would not one think hearing a Man talk at this rate that he had an infinite understanding and that he comprehended all things in the Infinity of his Conception And yet we shall find that this presuming Wit doth not understand any thing perfectly no not so much as the Nature of the most common things He does not understand himself and tho every thing be a Mystery to him yet he cannot away with the Mysteries of Religion Yet this Enemy of the Mysteries of our Religion professeth a Mystery which is at least as inconceivable as any is in our Religion For he will make us believe That a Creature hath been invested with infinite Attributes that a Creature hath been made God in Knowledge Power and Glory Pray tell me what is a Mystery if this be not and an inconceivable one too The Creature turn'd God and the Finite turn'd Infinite the most incredible and contradictory thing in the World Our Mystery indeed asserts That God humbled himself but that this was by uniting himself personally with a Creature which he took to himself amongst Men and yet this very Man that makes so many Difficulties against the Incarnation tells us of a Man that is become God by a strange kind of Metamorphosis Thus they reject the Truth and instead thereof fill their Heads with Chimaera's The triumphant Raillery of the Prophane is That one is one and one is three and then making a show of their being fully persuaded of the Unity of God they suppose the Divinity of our Saviour sufficiently overthrown Who doubts that one is one and that one is not three this is true even in our Divine Arithmetick there are Three Persons three manners of Subsisting the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost We do not say That these Three Persons are but One Person that would be contradictory but we say That these Three Persons are in One Divine Essence Three are not One neither is One Three in the same respect there is a Trinity of Persons but an Unity of Nature But you cannot conceive how Three Persons can possess at the same time the same individual Nature what then I conceive it no more than you do but is it such a strange thing that God should be otherwise than we are otherwise than all the things we see otherwise than all that we can conceive He hath assur'd me That his Nature consists in Three Persons I believe it with Submission This ought to be the Temper and Behaviour of our Understanding in the Difficulties it meets with on this Mystery The Difficulties of the Third Order are the Difficulties of Scripture Men are asham'd to propose their Heart-difficulties for in so doing they would expose their own Corruption and nothing but a Spirit of Libertinism dares openly oppose its own Light to that of Divine Revelation They rather search for a plausible pretence in the Revelation it self several places of Scripture are heap'd to-together to compose a Cloud that may hinder the Glory of the Gospel from shining forth in its full Lustre At first those Texts are hunted for that prove Christ to be Man But pray what is this to the Question These Texts prove that he is Man we say so too yea cursed be he that saith that Jesus Christ is not Man We believe that by one of his Natures he was Man as we are but this does not hinder him from being God by his other Nature Man consists of Body and Soul can we prove from the Functions of his Body that he hath no Soul He Eats he Drinks he Sleeps therefore he hath nothing else but a Body This way of arguing is ridiculous consider this Man well and you 'll soon find by the operations of his Understanding that he hath a Soul as well as a Body This we might prove by the Example of all compounds This is enough we believe that our Lord Jesus is a Person compos'd of two Natures viz. of a Divine and Humane Nature he is Flesh and Blood he hath suffered tasted Death this shews him to be Man He prayed he worshipped he was ignorant of several things this shews he was Man But he formed the World he created the Angels he makes himself equal with his Heavenly Father this proves him to be God We readily admit the Passages of Scripture that rank him amongst Men neither dare we suppress those where he is call'd God To make our Doctrine to agree with the Scripture we must hold him to be God-man Our Adversaries prove from several Texts of Scripture that there is but one God all this is time spent in vain we are all fully persuaded that there is but one God Cursed be he that admits more than one God But say they you teach that the Father is God and that the Son is God we do so and in doing so we follow the Scripture but you don't hear us say That they are Two Gods they are Two Persons in one and the same God but not Two Gods But you say That Jesus Christ is equal with God the Father and Son therefore according to you are two Beings equal in Dignity doth not this imply a plurality of Gods since two equal Gods cannot be the same God This difficulty only proceeds from hence that they pretend to be ignorant of what we say upon the Mystery of the Trinity for supposing that the Father and the Son are only Two Persons or two manners of Subsisting in one and the same Being there is no room left for this Objection The Father and the Son these Two Persons are necessarily equal by such an Equality as does not thwart their Unity because they indivisiby possess the same Nature They insist further that the Father is called the only true God This is life eternal that they know thee the only true God John 17.3 and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent What would they infer from hence What that Jesus Christ is a God but that he is a false God A Christian ear cannot with patience hear such Blasphemy and yet they must come to this before they can make those words to be
Expressions that the Existence of our Saviour did only precede the Creation of the World for a little time for to be before the World before the setling of the Mountains to be in the Beginning to be the Alpha of all things are Expressions the Scripture makes use of to signifie Eternity The Ground of this manner of speaking is very solid for the Holy Spirit in his Applications to men makes use of such Expressions as they understand Now when the Question is about time it is necessary that they who would be understood should represent to our Imagination some created Object to measure its Duration by Our Imagination cannot frame any thing to it self before the Creation of the World Whatsoever is beyond that is a duration that swallows up and confounds our Apprehension Eternity is an Abyss to our Finite Capacity Wherefore the Holy Ghost being willing to represent to our Minds the Duration of that which is without beginning contents himself simply to declare That it was before the beginning of the World It is not in favour of the Eternity of our Blessed Saviour that we speak thus because we know that the Eternity of the Divine Nature hath in some sort been limited by a like Phrase Doth not the Psalmist express himself thus Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting Psal 19.2 thou art God To take the Sense of the Scriptures let us say That our Blessed Saviour hath ever been This is the First Proposition Our Saviour was before he was man The Second Proposition is That our Saviour was in the Form of God before ever he was in the Form of a Servant before that he was Man he was in the Form of God It was not therefore by his miraculous Conception it was not by the power he had to do Miracles it was not by his Glorious Resurrection it was not by his Elevation to that Supereminent Dignity he possesseth in the Church that he was made the Son of God as the Enemies of his Glory would perswade us No he was God before that any of these things came to pass he was in the Form of God before ever he stooped to take upon him the Form of a Man You speak to us of a Glory whereof the Humanity of our Blessed Lord was as it were the Foundation and Rise whereas St. Paul here entertains us with the Glory he was possess'd of before his becoming Man he was like to God before ever he was made like to Men. Let us keep close to the Phrase of the Apostle Who being in the form of God emptied himself This Second Propostion supports and confirms the Frst evidently proving that our Lord was before his being Man yea and that he was from all Eternity for without this he could not have been in the Form of God That which is born in time bears no Resemblance with that which is Eternal Finite and Infinite are opposite to one another If Jesus Christ had began to be from his Conception in the Womb of the Blessed Virgin let us go farther if his Beginning had only been contemporary with that of the World it could not have been said of him That he was in the Form of God his Duration at the most would but have been of Six Thousand Years and what is that to all Eternity A Point bears more proportion to the Universe and one Drop of Water to the Ocean Was there a Being that had existed a Million of Years before the World that Being would still be at an infinite distance from Eternity neither should we be able to say though we should suppose nothing to be wanting in it but Time that it was like the Deity In a word had not our Saviour been Eternal he could not be said to be in the likeness of him that was confessedly so True it is that we do not depart from the Stile of the Scripture when we say That Man bounded and limited as he is bears the Image of God since God himself expresseth himself so at the Creation Gen. 1.26 Let us make man in our Image after our likeness and in the New Creation this Image is new drawn in Righteousness and true Holiness It cannot be denied but that the Beams God communicates to man do form a little Image of some of his Attributes but besides that it was never said of any man that he was in the Form of God before that he was man St. Paul delivers himself in such a manner as makes it manifest that the Divine Form he attributes to Jesus Christ was not an Image derived from the Original as is that which God communicates to men We need only sum all the Apostle's Words together if we would fully comprehend his meaning Who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God but emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men Blessed be God we live in a time wherein there is no need at all to prove that our Saviour was really Man Though this Truth be unquestionable yet St. Paul makes no difficulty to assert that Jesus Christ took upon him the Form of a Servant and that he was made in the likeness of men At present we would not give the hearing to men who by some trifling Niceties should go about to renew an old Error and prove that our Lord only clothed himself with some appearances of our Nature because forsooth our Apostle saith That he took upon him the Form of a Servant and was made in the Likeness of men that is had a Human Resemblance only But we are all convinc'd that this Form and this Likeness were upheld by the Reality of our Nature that is to say That our Saviour was truly man This is an excellent Commentary on the words of St. Paul we enquire what his meaning is when he assures us that Jesus Christ was in the Form of God He himself acquaints us what was his meaning by saying of Jesus Christ who was true Man That he took upon him the Form of a Servant and the Likeness of Man Make we use therefore of the Key he affords us and we shall find that to be in the Form of God is to be really and truly God The Opposition that is here evidently intended would by no means be just if in the one part Figure only was meant and in the other Reality Reality must be oppos'd to Reality In the latter Member of this Opposition mention is made of the Reality of the Human Nature of Jesus Christ wherefore it is necessary that in the former part the Reality of the Divine Nature of our Saviour should be intended too Being in the Form of God he took upon him the Form of a Servant and the Likeness of Man St. Paul doth not say Having taken upon him the Form of God because our Saviour was invested
with it from Eternity This Expression doth not comport with an Eternal Divinity But of the Human Nature he faith That Jesus Christ took it upon him that being a thing which was done in Time saving this only the Opposition is exact Our Blessed Saviour is as truly God as he is Man The Word Form in this place includes the Nature whose Form it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Term St. Paul useth here whence is derived the Name of the Anthroponorphites of old They were so called because they attributed a Human Form to God The Form say we not meer Appearances only They believed that God really had a Body Eyes Ears Hands and Passions and in a word that he was the Original of our Nature So true it is that the Word Form doth not always imply meer Appearances But that which must determine the Sgnification of it is as we have already observed the sense St. Paul put upon it in the Sequel If you demand why he makes use of this word instead of saying simply Being God for would not this have been much more explicite than to say Being in the Form of God I might answer that it would be an unjust piece of Criticism to desire a precise knowledge why a Sacred Author makes use of one word rather than another But without being reduc'd to this Answer we have one more exact to the Question We can inform you why St. Paul saith of Jesus Christ That he was in the Form of God rather than that he was God 1ly Because indeed he was God by way of Image he is the Image of the Invisible God saith St. Paul he is the Brightness of his Glory the Express Image of the Person of God his Father The Father as you see possesseth his Godhead by way of Principle Source and Original whereas the Son hath his Divinity by way of Emanation Derivation and by way of Image He is a perfect and a living Image of the Living God Were it permitted me to express my self in any other Language but that of the Scripture I would say with Tertullian God of God Light of Light or with St. Gregory Bishop of Neocaesarea surnamed Thaumaturgas The true Son of a True Father Invisible from the Invisible Incorruptible of the Incorruptible Immortal of the Immortal Eternal of the Eternal These Famous Doctors liv'd before the Nicene Council so that we cannot accuse these Expressions for being the Fruit of the Violence or Superstition of the following Centuries We have alledged these Fragments of pure Antiquity only to shew by these what kind of Image the Word of God is Now forasmuch as he is God in this manner it was very proper and natural for St. Paul to say Who being in the form of God The Second Reason why the Apostle expresseth himself thus is Because by the Form of God which he attributes to our Saviour Jesus Christ he insinuates somewhat more than the meer Divine Nature for this Word denotes the Majesty and if I may so speak the Pomp and Glory of the Divine Nature We shall be convinced of this Truth if we will make use of the Light which the other Member of the opposition affords us To be in the Form of a Servant and in the Likeness of Man implies not only to be possessed of the Human Nature but to be clothed with those Infirmities which constitute the External Form as it were thereof So that we see that St. Paul when he saith that our Saviour was in the Form of God he would thereby not only intimate to us that Christ was God but that he had the Appearance and the Majesty of a God surrounded with Glory worshipped by the Angels disposing of the Creatures being in this state he was willing to be made Man and to expose himself to our Infirmities The word Form made use of in both the Members of the oppositions serves only to make it the more Express and Emphatical The third Proposition is That Jesus Christ did not think is Robbery to be equal with God This Proposition hath two parts the first is He did not think it Robbery that is he did not judge it to be any Usurpation and as we conceive that there is a Figure call'd Diminution in these words when God saith in the Third Commandment that he will not hold him Guiltless instead of saying that he will hold him guilty in a high degree that taketh his Name in vain In like manner we say that St. Paul when he saith that our Saviour did not think it Robbery saith in effect that he lookt upon it as a most just thing to make himself equal with God The second part of the Proposition is To make himself equal with God Jesus Christ stands upon equal ground with his Father it is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things equal with God which may be was not exprest thus in the plural number without a particular design even to teach us that Jesus Christ is Essentially equal in all things with God For tho to speak properly there are no different things in God and that his Essence is most perfectly one and simple yet our way of conceiving of it doth multiply it We commonly imagine that the Attributes of God are very different things St. Paul intending to teach us that our Saviour was perfectly equal with God saith that he thought it no Robbery to be equal with God that is not only in Holiness in Power in Goodness in Glory but in whatsoever else is the Root and Bottom of the Divine Nature Col. 2.9 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily The plural number therefore seems very Emphatical in this place Join we now both these Members of the Proposition together again And then considering it thus whole and entire it imports thus much That our Lord who was fully acquainted with his own Rights made no difficulty to equalize himself with God He thought it no Robbery to be equal with God which is the most Natural and Literal Explication of the words of St. Paul On what occasion did our Saviour thus express himself concerning the Glory of his Divine Nature Some very Orthodox Interpreters make St. Paul say That Jesus Christ would not have thought it Robbery to be equal with God which affords a meaning somewhat different from that of the ordinary Version which saith That Christ thought it no robbery to be equal with God Both these meanings the one as well as the other suppose the Divinity of Jesus Christ But we see no necessity to depart from our Version and so much the less because it changeth nothing in the Original The sense it offers us and which we have pursued engageth us to shew on what occasion our Lord Jesus Christ attributes to himself an Equality with God To reduce our selves to some compass we will confine our Discourse to the one half of a Chapter of the Gospel In which little compass we shall meet
this Example are Humility and Charity O how happy would this Day prove might it see these two Virtues reigning in your Souls We are naturally proud and I don't know from whence that hardness and insensibility comes that we have for our Neighbour for even Nature inspires us with more Charity than appears in our Lives Proud Souls come and humble your selves in the presence of the Child Jesus he who is God was made Man that ye who are but mortal men might be persuaded to become like God Resemble him in his Humility not in his Glory He hath condescended to put himself in a Condition wherein he might be imitated It was the Crime of our First Parents That they would be as God Be satisfied ye Posterity of Adam at present it is a Vertue to be willing to resemble God Humble your selves as he humbled himself who being God was made Man He hath as you see run through infinite spaces to put himself within reach of us From Glory he hath stept down into Nothing You need not travel far to arrive at Annihilation you have no more than a step to take your Nature hath plac'd you almost on the same Level with Nothing You need only well to view and contemplate your selves and precisely keep your selves to the Idea of what you are and you 'll acknowledge that you want little of being Nothing Retire into your own Bosom set aside the Usurpations of Self-love and then tell us what you find over and above It may be your heart will bear you up against all this by repeating to you some advantages you possess as of Birth Wit Goods Employments but all this doth not much remove you from Nothing My design is not in the least to offend the Distinction which Providence it self hath established by the Variety of its Administration I have a consideration for Births Wit Merit and Employs But it were to be wished that those who have these Advantages did not glory in them and might be throughly perswaded that their Elevation doth not raise them much above Nothing Come hither and take a view of him who is infinitely above you he was God and yet was willing to become Man for this purpose he took his Birth from the Womb of a poor and humble Virgin Be not asham'd to enter into the Stable where he was born go thither to learn Humility For if you don't become like this little Blessed Child ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven If the example of the Birth of our Saviour be not sufficient to humble you follow him to Golgotha where you will see an example of the most Transcendent Humility conceivable When we think of a Crucified Jesus we cannot imagine how so much Pride should be amongst Christians For shame let them no longer call themselves the Disciples of a Crucified God Should we judge of the Character of their Master by the Quality of their Manners we would take him to have been some Proud and Self-conceited Philosopher whereas indeed he was a Crucified God Do you ever seriously consider this O ye Christians You are top-full of Pride and yet believe that there is no Salvation for you but by imitating a Master who humbled himself to the Death of the Cross O let us remember for whose sake our Lord hath thus Humbled himself and we shall see what a model of Charity we have to imitate 'T is for men that our Saviour was made Man 't is for the Redemption of men that this God-man died And pray what are these men Why Dust and Ashes miserable Sinners O surpassing Charity O Depth of Riches The Lord God Merciful and Gracious abundant in Goodness What shall we say No words are able to reach such a Love as this And indeed God requires actions rather than words Love for Love Let us Love God as he hath Loved us We cannot do that for him which he hath done for us let us Love him at least with all our strength as he hath Loved us according to the unbounded largeness of his great Compassion Let us Love those whom God hath recommended to our Charity what can we say against them that hinders us to exercise this Virtue towards them They have offended us And what then Had they done us nothing but Good it would not be Charity to Love them Charity consists in this That we Love our Enemies as God hath Loved us us I say that were his Enemies Let us Forgive as God Forgives us exercise also your Charity in distributing to the Poor according to your Ability God who was Sovereignly Rich made himself Poor for our sakes Let us have compassion on those Poor which our Lord hath left with us to prove the Love we bear to him O the happy Christmas this will prove to us in case we can but resolve to practice Humility and Charity For after that we shall have been made conformable to our Blessed Lord by the practice of these two Virtues we shall have a share in his Glory which is the Crown of them Amen The Second Discourse PHILIP II. 6. Who being in the Form of God thought it no Robbery to be equal with God WE know that the Scripture often speaks of God as of man but it never speaks of man as of God the reason whereof is very evident for the Divine Nature being wholly Spiritual it was but necessary that the Holy Spirit should clothe it with some sensible Representations to the end that entring our Souls by the assistance of these Colours it might make a deeper impression upon them This is done without any danger forasmuch as the Scripture doth elsewhere unfold these Metaphors Or if there be any danger in it with regard to the simpler sort of People 't is only this of falling into an Error which hath no influence upon Divine Worship Hence it is that Scripture makes no difficulty at all to speak of God as of a man but never doth it speak of man as of God For indeed to what purpose should this be So forc'd a Metaphor would be of no use at all and would darken the Stile of the Holy Ghost instead of making it more Intelligible Neither is this the worst that is in it for by this means we should be in danger of taking man for God which is the most dangerous of all other mistakes whatsoever God is too Jealous of his own Glory to set a Creature on equal ground with Himself and he is too much concerned for our Salvation to put us to the Hazard of such a Mistake We find also that the Scripture only bestows very plain encomiums upon the very greatest of men Moses is an emphatical Instance of this After the Death of that glorious Lawgiver and Commander all the Panegyrick God bestows upon him is compriz'd in these words Moses my servant is dead This was enough for a man Josh 1.2 God took care to hide the Body of this Great Law-giver for fear
they should make a Relick of it It was thought needful also to veil his Glory with an humbling expression that none might take him for God but for a Servant of God From which principle we may without hesitation conclude That if there be any Being which the Scripture equals with God that the same must needs be God This will be a demonstrative proof of the Divinity of Christ after we have shew'd you that the Scripture doth all along make him equal with God In our foregoing Discourse we have considered this Equality with reference to the Words of the Text only Our design now is to shew that it consists in all those Names those Attributes and that Worship which belong to the Divine Nature alone and yet are Communicated to our Saviour He is so call'd as his Father is and thus is he equal with God in his Names He is True God as his Father this is his equality in Attributes He is honoured as his Father and this is his equality as to Worship Follow me in these Three Points with your Attention Begin we with the Names Christ as well as his Father is called God John 1.1 The word was God Neither was it in time that our Saviour received this Name from the Beginning this Word was God Let no body tell us here that the Scripture hath allowed this name to Creatures as to Moses and to Magistrates These instances are of no force to elude the dint of our Argument from the Name of God Attributed to our Saviour For is there any thing of parity between examples wherein a glorious Creature is once called God by way of Comparison only and the Language of the New Testament which so often calls Christ God by way of perfect Equality But let us take a nearer view of these Examples It is said in Exodus that Moses entring upon his Call made difficulty to accept of it God to determine him to accept of the Commission told him I know that Aaron thy Brother can speak well he shall be thy spokesman unto the People Exod. 4.14 16. and he shall be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him instead of God That is to say that as God inspires the Prophets to inform them what they are to say in his Name in like manner Moses was to communicate his thoughts or rather those of God to Aaron that so Aaron might propose them to the People Moses did that with regard to Aaron what God did with respect to the Prophets so that Moses was in stead of God to Aaron It is not simply said That Moses was God or that he was the God of the Israelites no nor the God of Aaron far from it it is only said that he was in stead of a God to Aaron and on this occasion only Hath this any the least resemblance with those places where our Saviour is called God And the same may be said of that Text where it is said See I have made thee a God to Pharaoh and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet Exod. 7.1 These words are but the sequel of the words before explain'd for if Moses with reference to Aaron discharged the place of God in communicating to him the Oracles of Heaven it is evident that Moses discharged the same Function with respect to Pharaoh to whom a part of these Oracles were sent We know that in the Publication of Oracles three sorts of Persons act their part God from whom they originally proceed the Prophet whom God commissionates therewith and the Person to whom they are addrest Whence it appears that God at the same time is the God of the Prophet by inspiring him and the God of the party to whom he causeth his will to be declar'd Moses could not be God with regard to Aaron but he must at the same time be so likewise with regard to Pharaoh because Aaron carried the word of Moses to Pharaoh The proof of this Interpretation may be found in that very place where it is said I have made thee a god to Pharaoh for it immediately follows and Aaron shall be thy prophet Exod. 7.1 2. thou shalt speak all that I command thee and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh And is it therefore said That Moses is God simply and absolutely Not in the least for this is distinctly limited I have made thee a God for this that is to say for this only this is plainly limited But our Lord is call'd God without the least determination of his Godhead by any Limitations whatsoever The word was God The Example of Magistrates is not a whit more to the purpose than that of Moses True it is that in the 82d Psalm they are called gods I have said ye are gods Psalm 82 This hath nothing common with that way of speaking wherewith this Name is given to our Saviour It is not said of any Magistrate in particular that he is God no not so much as once throughout all the Scripture It is only said concerning the Magistrates Ye are Gods That is to say that as Magistrates they are an Image of the Sovereign Judge So that you see that this also is limited it is not said of any Man nor of any Angel in particular and by way of absolute speaking that he is God And yet it is thus that Christ is called God This Word was God God hath redeemed his Church with his own blood God manifested in the flesh Nay what is more Christ is not only called God 1 John 5.20 but he is called the True God This is the true God and eternal life saith the Beloved Disciple Neither is he only called the True God but the Great God for so St. Paul stiles him Tet. 2.13 Looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ We cannot but take notice here that in that short Epistle which St. Paul wrote to Titus our Saviour is called God at least four or five times How comes it to pass that St. Paul in so short an Epistle affects to call our Lord so often by the Name of God and Saviour For it is certain that as the heavenly Father is God by way of Principle so it is he whom the Scripture commonly calls God how is it then I say that St. Paul in this short Epistle bestows this Name three or four times upon our Saviour Without question there was some particular Reason for it for any thing I know it was this Because the Ministry of Titus was limited to the Isle of Crete Now we know this Island had a singular Veneration for Jupiter Jupiter that is to say in the Stile of Paganism The great God and the Saviour of Men. Many of these Christians the care of whose Souls were committed to Titus had been converted from this Idol to our Lord Jesus Christ that is to a living and true God St. Paul therefore in opposition to the erroneous
Ideas of their Education bestows upon Jesus christ these very same Names in Writing to Titus And this is as much as if he had said to the Christians of that Island Jupiter was a Usurper he in whom you have believed is the only Saviour and the true God If we had nothing else to say concerning the Name of God attributed to our Saviour in the Scripture we should believe our Argument already very strong to prove the Divinity of Christ Nothing is call'd God as he is but that which is really so He is called God simply and absolutely and if I may make use of an Expression popular indeed but intelligible I say he is called God in plain terms and without ifs or ands I make bold to use this Expression that the most simple may conceive my Meaning and make the Application themselves as they read the Scripture To add more strength to this Argument we need only to observe that the Name of Jehovah it self is given to Jesus Christ in the Scripture This great Name this Incommunicable Name which the Jews dare not so much as pronounce so worthy do they esteem it of all respect and veneration is notwithstanding given to Christ Ye shall not tempt Jehovah your God Deut. 6.16 as ye tempted him in Massah These are the Words of Moses If we will believe St. Paul our Lord is this Jehovah whom the Israelites tempted Neither let us tempt Christ saith he as some of them also tempted 1 Cor. 10.9 Isa 40.3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of Jehovah They are the Words of Isaiah Let us consult the Evangelists to know the meaning of them and they will tell us That John the Baptist is the Voice crying in the Wilderness Matt. 3.3 Mark 1.3 Isa 54.5 and that Jesus Christ is that Jehovah whose way is prepared For thy Maker is thine Husband Jehovah of Hosts is his name and thy redeemer the holy one of Israel the God of the whole earth shall he be called Who is the Bridegroom and Husband of the Church St. Paul will inform us 2 Cor. 11.2 I am jealous over you saith he to the Corinthians with a jealousie of God observe that Expression for it was for Christ that St. Paul was jealous For I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chast Virgin to Christ I will save them by Jehovah their God they are the words of God by the mouth of the Prophet Hosea Hos 1.7 By whom is it that the Church is saved Who is it that is our Saviour and Redeemer We know that the New Testament most exprestly assures us in very many places that it is our Lord Jesus Christ It would be an easy matter to alledge several other Passages out of the Old Testament where the True God is most expresly spoken of which by the Writers of the New Testament are applied to Christ What think we can be the Design of these Holy Men herein if Jesus Christ be not indeed that True God In this case I make no difficulty to assert that they have deceived us most shamefully and that their Writings are no better than continual Blasphemies Pray what is Blasphemy if this be not to apply to a Creature what is due to the Creator only and to appropriate to a meer Man or even to an Angel those Oracles which the Holy Ghost hath dictated for the Honour of God alone What a monstrous Opinion is this the Consequences whereof turn the Holy Apostles into Blasphemers As for our part as long as we shall believe that they were not destitute of Common Sense nor of the Fear of God as long as we shall be persuaded over and above this That their Pens were guided by an Infallible Spirit we must be convinced that our Blessed Lord whom they call God either expresly or by application of the Prophetical Passages of the Old Testament was God indeed The Second Rank of our Proofs respects the Equality of Attributes and furnisheth us with a new Demonstration in favour of the Godhead of our Saviour Indeed if we find that the Scripture attributes to our Lord the very same things it appropriates to the Divine Essence will it not be manifest that Christ is God What is it to be God if it be not to have the Nature of God Now there is nothing that can be more easily prov'd than that our Lord hath the Properties of the Divine Nature and that in such a manner as belongs to God only I shall make choice of Six of the Divine Attributes to verifie my Argument Eternity Immensity Holiness Knowledg Power and Mercy The two first of these Attributes never were or can be attributed to any created Substance I mean Eternity and Immensity Having already in a former Discourse spoken of the Eternity of Jesus Christ it would be useless to insist any more upon it were it a Point of less consequence than it is Upon that account we esteem it our Duty to enliven your Faith by quoting the Sacred Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews In the first Chapter he presents them with a strong Motive of perseverance by the Description he gives them of the Majesty of our Lord whom he raiseth high above the Angels and to whom he ascribes Eternity by applying a Passage out of the 102 Psalm to him Psal 102.26 27. They the Heavens shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end To understand the true sense of this Oracle we must search for it at the Fountain-head I mean in the Psalm if self where we shall find it plainly signifies the Eternity of the Divine Nature not only Eternity to come but also that which is past We do not find that the Sacred Author hath added the least restriction to the words of the Text but attributes them in their whole and entire strength to Jesus Christ Our Saviour therefore is Eternal with regard to both sides of Eternity In runing over this Epistle we cannot silently pass over an Argument the Author insists upon in the Third Chapter to confirm Christians in their Perseverance by the Advantages which raise Christ far above Moses For this person was counted worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he who hath built the house Heb. 3.3 hath more honour than the house This way of reasoning amounts to nothing if it do not suppose our Saviour to be the Builder of the House But saith the Author in the Verse following He that built all things is God Jesus Christ therefore is God Nevertheless it appears that the Father also is the Builder of the House for it is said that Christ as Son is over the House of God But this is easily reconcil'd for the Father and the Son
St. John's Gospel No man hath ascended up to heaven but hothat came down from heaven Joh. 3.13 even the Son of Man which is in heaven He is discoursing with Nicodemus here on Earth and at the same time tells him he is in Heaven This can admit of no tolerable explication but by means of that Immensity whereby he fills heaven and earth These are the two Divine Attributes that are absolutely incommunicable to Creatures Let us next run over the other Attributes that are by some way of Analogy communicable to them but are possest by God in the highest degree of Absoluteness and Perfection I shall not say that our Saviour is Holy that he is Intelligent that he is Powerful and Merciful which are the four Attributes that remain to be examined Should we say no more than so all this may be attributed to Creatures We find amongst them Holiness Knowledge Power and Mercy No body can doubt but that if we make it evident that our Lord possesseth all these four Perfections as God doth you will be furnish'd with as many Demonstrations to evince the Divinity of our Saviour Our Saviour then is Holy but so as God is which we prove from a plain Text of Scripture The Prophet Isaiah tells us in his sixth Chapter that he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne amidst the Acclamations of the Seraphims who cried one to another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts Would you know who this Lord or rather Jehovah is to whom they give the threefold Compellation of Holy St. John the Evangelist will resolve you who tells us in the twelfth Chapter of his Gospel that Isaiah spake of our Saviour Joh. 12 41. These things said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of him Some have been of Opinion that Isaiah was condemn'd to Death because he had presum'd to say That he had seen him who was invisible This seem'd to be a meer piece of Blasphemy but what can be imagin'd more abominable than that which St. John tells us here if our Blessed Lord be not indeed the King the Lord of Hosts the Holy One of Israel Let us make no scruple to believe the Beloved Disciple who repos'd himself on the Breast of the Son of God Trust we the piercing sight of this Eagle who took so near a view of this glorious Son Rely we upon the Testimony of an Evangelist whose end in writing his Gospel was to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God It is he assures us that he whom the Seraphims with so much Humility adore crying to one another and saying Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts was no other than our Blessed Lord. We say further That he hath Knowledge also but as God He knows all that God knows Remember always that we speak of the Son of God We know that the Son of Man had a Knowledge which encreas'd by degrees and what is more that he did not know all things No man knows that hour saith he no not the Son of Man This is true of the Son of Man or of the Human Nature of our Saviour but the Son of God the Divine Nature in our Saviour knew that which the Son of Man knew not The Son of God knows all that God knows that is all things St. Peter tells us as much Lord saith he thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee This Knowledge is Universal and to take a view of it that way where with one cast of the Eye you may discover it to be the Knowledge of God we need only to observe that the Eyes of our Lord pierce to the very bottom of Man's Heart Thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee St. Peter's Heart was not the only Heart that was known to Christ All things were naked and open before him Lord thou knowest all things The Proposition is general The Scribes and Pharisees those Hypocritical Professors could not hide their most secret Thoughts from him this Truth appears from many passages of the Gospel To Cite only one place which by reason of its generality comprehends all the rest we need only take notice of what St. John saith towards the end of the Second Chapter of his Gospel But Jesus did not commit himself unto them saith he Joh. 2.24 25. because he knew all men and needed not that any should testifie of man for he knew what was in man The Case here mentioned is not that of a Prophet to whom God discovers the Heart of some particular Man The Knowledge which the Gospel ascribes to our Saviour is Universal no Heart escapes him He knew what was in man A Knowledge that God in a most peculiar manner appropriates to himself in several places of the Old Testament I know my God 1 Chron. 29.17 Jerem. 17.10 that thou triest the heart said David towards the latter end of his Life I the Lord search the heart I try the reins saith he himself by the Mouth of the Prophet Jeremy Let us read to the end of the Verse Even continues he to give to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings 'T is God that speaks here and he speaks as God he speaks like himself Never did any Prophet speak thus And yet this is the very passage our Lord ascribes to himself in the Revelation speaking to the Angel of the Church of Thyatira Rev. 2.23 And all the Churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works Words that make it evident that our Saviour declares expresly that it was himself that spake in Jeremy and that the Knowledge of the Heart of Man belongs to him in chief The Fifth Attribute whereby we learn to know the Divine Nature of Christ is his Power He is powerful but so as to be powerful as God he is the Almighty In Virtue of this power the Son doth all that the Father doth Joh. 5.19 What things soever the Father doth these also doth the Son likewise Doth the Father raise the Dead So doth the Son also he quickneth whom he will Doth the Father create the World The Son doth so likewise Which two instances shew us the extent of the Father's Power Indeed we cannot conceive any greater than that of restoring Life to the Dead and that of creating such a World as this is and yet both these belong to our Saviour In the first place he hath raised the Dead but have not others done the same Miracle Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament and the Disciples of our Lord in the New have not they also raised some that were Dead who for all that never pretended to be equal with God True it is that Elijah and Elisha each of them raised a Child to Life but with what pains do they work these Miracles God makes them sweat for it
excellent proof of the Divinity of our Great Redeemer He is therefore as you see equal to his Father in Eternity in Immensity in Holiness in Power and in Mercy And what is the result of this Equality but this that our Lord possesseth the Attributes of the Divine Essence and enjoys the Honour that is incontestably due to that Essence This is the third Head whereby we prove that Jesus Christ is equal with his Father That which at first put us upon the Meditation of this Article is that Honourable Rank our Saviour holds in the Scriptures In that Sacred Book where every thing is in its proper place and where nothing that is created is made to go hand in hand with God and yet there we ever see the Son always join'd with his Heavenly Father Teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost John 5.7 These are Texts where we see these three Adorable Persons rank'd in one Line St. Paul blesseth the Corinthians from the Son even as from the Father The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God 2 Cor. 13.14 and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all A remarkable passage indeed where we find the Son even nam'd before the Father which yet we find also in many other passages But why is the order here inverted To make it appear Gal. 1.1 2. 2 Thes 2.16 say the Fathers that the order of names does not import a Subordination of different Natures The Father Son and Holy Ghost are only one Divine Nature and therefore it is that the Scripture sometimes placeth the Son above the Father Can we imagine that that Sacred Record would ever have committed such an absurdity if the Son had been no more than a Creature I appeal to any Man who hath in the least degree savour'd the Spirit of Scripture What think we of such a speech as this The Grace of Moses and the Love of God be with you all Or of this Joshua call'd to be a Leader of Israel not of Men nor by Man but by Moses Gal. 1.1 and by God or of this Now Moses and God comfort your Hearts I appeal to any one whether it be not prophane to talk at this rate and yet do but put the Name of Jesus Christ instead of Moses and we shall find all these passages word for word in the New Testament This is an observation rais'd from the Son 's being sometimes named before the Father but tho the Son had been continually plac'd in the second rank as indeed commonly he is yet the Argument for all that continues in its full force The Son would never have been join'd with the Father in the Scripture if the Son had been a Creature because he would have been infinitely inferior to him neither would the Scripture ever have suppress'd this distance by ranging the Father and the Son together in one Line and placing them on one and the same Throne Is not this to tell us plainly and openly that both of them possess the same undivided Nature This is the Honour the Holy Ghost hath given to the Son of God in the Scriptures See we now what Honour we Men ought to render to this Son who is our Master and Saviour Worship is as it were the shadow of the Godhead let us thereby take the height and elevation of the Lord we are to worship To this purpose let us lay this down for a Principle That the Glory of Adoration belongs to none but God alone Should I go about to prove this Truth from the Old Testament I should be fain to take in the Testimony of all the Prophets They have all of them in the most smart and lively terms express'd the Jealousie of God for any Divine Honours exhibited to Creatures We need but cast our Eyes upon the Old Testament to be fully convinc'd thereof It being indeed no other than a perpetual Commentary upon the First Commandment Thou shalt have no other Gods before me There never was any the least variation or contest in this point Never did the Prophets patiently endure to see Men worship any other gods save him alone who hath created Heaven and Earth These Holy Men unanimously declare that to him alone belongs thâ— Glory of Adoration No Creature at all is to be worshipp'd neither Stars nor Plants nor living Creatures nor Men nor Angels Men indeed have sometimes been called gods as we have already taken notice Moses was instead of God to Aaron and Judges are called gods we also find this name given to Angels in some places but this name given by way of Metaphor doth not import Adoration Aaron did not adore Moses neither did Israel adore their Judges or the Angels for this is the glory of God only and he hath sworn he will not give his glory to another Neither hath this point of Divinity been alter'd under the New Testament It is none of those Mosaick Rites that were to cease as soon as the fulness of time was come God is always God and if we may so say he never was more God than he is at present or to soften the Expression he never more appear'd God than in the Manifestation of Grace Herein he hath made all his Goodness to pass before us and consequently he never more deserv'd to be only worshipped Shall we suppose then that under a Dispensation where by a new Effusion of Grace he hath deserved an accession to his former glory of Adoration that he is become unconcern'd for that glory whereof formerly he was so Jealous And to that degree as to set a Creature at his Right Hand A Creature plac'd on God's side is something that is contradictory Let us set every thing in its proper place God always abides alone in the Throne and the Creature at the foot of it But without having recourse to Reasoning which inform us that the glory of God is an unalienable Right and Possession the Holy Scripture assures us that under the Gospel as well as under the Law the glory of Religious worship belongs to God only We know the answer our Lord return'd to a Creature that would fain have been ador'd Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him alone shalt thou serve This answer is good at all times The Apostles use the same Language as their Master they say in more places than one 1 Tim. 1.17 Rom. 16.27 Acts 14.15 To the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen When St. Paul sees Men about to worship the Creature he points them straight to the Living God We preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities to the living God 'T is to him alone that your Homage of right is due When the Apostle represents to the Galatians the excess of that Corruption wherewith
they were infected before their Conversion Gal. 4.8 he tells them they served those things which by nature were no gods It is then according to St. Paul's Judgment a great Sin to serve that which is not God by Nature If therefore I find that St. Paul obligeth me to worship any Being I may have good reason according to the Opinion we have of him to conclude That this Adorable Being is God and God too by his Nature For it is not lawful for us to worship any Being save God alone Let us learn this from the Revelations that Book wherewith the Holy Ghost hath been pleased as it were to seal up the New Testament He that preacheth this Doctrine is an Angel one of those Spirits that are well inform'd how things are carried in Heaven I say it is an Angel that teacheth us that God alone is to be worshipped Rev. 22.9 St. John falls down to worship before the feet of the Angel See thou do it not saith he And why not for adds he I am thy fellow servant Conclude we then That whatsoever is bound to worship God cannot be an Object of Adoration Who then is it that we are to adore Worship God saith the Angel God only deserves the honour of Adoration under the New Testament as well as under the Old There is no solid Reasoning in the world if after having established this Principle I may not conclude thence that our Blessed Saviour is God with respect to one of his Natures seeing the Gospel makes it our Duty to worship him Will it be necessary to prove that this Adoration is a Worship practis'd and prescrib'd by the Apostles Why we need but open the Books of the New Testament and we shall meet with the Proof of it You will see the Apostles themselves and many other Believers worshiping the Lord without the least check from him or saying to them See thou do it not Let none wrangle here about the Word Adoration They take Jesus Christ for the Son of God and they adore him under that Notion He hath never rejected or disowned this Worship but hath received it as a Tribute due unto him We meet with a Character in the Stile of Sacred Authors which puts the Divine Adoration we owe to our Saviour out of the reach of any manner of Contradiction They are wont to interrupt their Stile by Doxologies to the Honour of God And the same they do to our Saviour and in the same Terms and that in several places 1 Pet. 4.11 Rev. 1.5 6. That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever Amen They are the words of St. Peter Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God even his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen As St. John expresseth himself in the beginning of his Revelation What are we to conclude from hence that the Apostles make use of these kind of Doxologies to the honour of Jesus but this That he is truly equal with his Father and that they honour him after one and the same manner Pursue we this Point a little farther and examine more particularly wherein this Adoration doth consist that so we may be the better inform'd what the Eminency of his Divine Nature is In the Chapter that hath furnish'd us with our Text we see that our Lord hath a Name above every Name Phil. 2.9 10. that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Thus it is that the Scripture Language expresseth the whole Universe of things All things must bend the Knee to Jesus which yet is not to be understood of those five Letters as if that Name did merit a more singular veneration than the other Names of our Saviour The Custom which hath been introduc'd of bowing themselves at the pronunciation of the Name of Jesus is not founded upon these words of St. Paul but only because the Christians thought it necessary to make this Mark of Respect the Test of their Belief in his Divinity So that indeed it is to his person that we owe the honour of Genuflexion Every thing must bow before our Lord He hath received a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow We have an excellent Explication of those words in those Passages of Scripture where we see that in our Christian Religion all things must be done in the Name of Jesus Nothing can be imagin'd greater than this Honour Christians are baptized in this Name they believe in this Name they work Miracles in this Name they are justified in this Name they meet together in this Name they pronounce their Deliberations in this Name they preach in this Name they suffer for this Name they pray in this Name they return Thanks in this Name and in one word to make use of the words of St. Paul Whatsoever they do in word or deed they do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus I demand therefore Whether ever any Creature was thus glorified in Israel Is it not notorious that the Name of God only was named amongst that People no other Name was heard of amongst them in their Church but the Name of God only They did not swear but by the Name of God they did not bless but in the Name of God they heard of no Deliverances but in the Name of God they glorified no other Name but that of God only What therefore must we conclude him to be whose Name must be celebrated under the New Covenant that is throughout all the Earth as the Name of God was under the Old Covenant that is to say in a very small Corner of the World The Father allows the Son to be glorified more than he himself hath been as it were to make an amends to the Son for his Subordination under which he appears with regard to the Father Whatever it be the Name of the Son holds a Sovereigh Rank and not that of a Prophet or Ambassador These Deputies do all things in the Name of the Sovereign who hath deputed them not in their own Wherefore since the Name of Christ is made use of every where it is an uncontestable Mark that he is Master that he is King that he is Sovereign yea that he is God blessed for ever Let no body reply here That all this was done in time I am not afraid to assert God can constitute no Sovereign in his Church because in doing so he must renounce the unalienable Right of his Nature which admits no Peer neither in Heaven nor on Earth But the Name of Jesus Christ hath been thus elevated because according to one of his Natures he is the Son This is a Mystery he himself opens to us when after having said in the 11th Chapter
refer these words wherefore or for this Cause to all that went before Christ being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God nevertheless he emptied himself Wherefore c. That is to say because he was equal with God and because in his Incarnation he was willing to make himself equal with man for this double Cause a Name hath been given him above every Name Let us take heed of believing that all the Glory of Christ is the fruit of his Humiliation before ever he was made Man he had his Glory Now Joh. 17.5 O Father glorisie me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Christ was God from the Beginning In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God John 1.1 He was God therefore before ever he emptied himself and as such John 1.14 he had his Glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father True it is there is a Glory which he began first fully to enjoy after his emptying of himself this is the Glory of the Mediator a Glory which he entred upon at the time of his Incarnation and which shall end on that Solemn day when he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father This Transient Glory is owing to Jesus Christ's emptying of himself considered as the Abasement of God-man The Glory of this Mediator is too great to be deriv'd to any mere Creature He was God and he became Man for this double Cause a Name is given him above every name It is not only because he is God nor only because he was Man Join them both together 't is because being God he was made Man that he is thus highly Elevated The Godhead is the spring of this Merit the Humanity is the way of it If he had not been God he would not have been great enough to be our Mediator with God and had he not been Man he would not have been low enough to be a Mediator with regard to men Had he been nothing but God he would not have been known he would have had no Name this is the Reason He being the Second Person in the Trinity the Father who had reserved to himself the Government of the world would have enjoyed the Worship of men and the Word would have been Adored only in a hidden and implicit manner It was agreed therefore between the Father and the Son that the Son should come down to Redeem men and that in consideration thereof he should openly enjoy their Worship This was executed accordingly Christ united to himself a Victim which he hath given up for us unto Death He must therefore in virtue of this Treaty receive a Name and together with that Name the Adorations of Mankind Refer we therefore this Worship radically to the Divine Nature which alone deserves Adoration and by way of instrument to the Victim which the Word hath honoured by his Incarnation Wherefore he hath also given to our Lord a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow St. Paul in these words alludes to that passage of the Prophet Isaiah Isai 45.23 where God saith Vnto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear It is observable also that St. Paul makes use of these same words in the Epistle to the Romans to prove that we must all appear before the Tribunal of Christ For it is written saith he Rom. 14.11 as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Christ therefore is that Lord who in the Old Testament Swears that all shall humble themselves before him This is the conclusion that every man will infer from hence who believes that St. Paul understood the Prophet Isaiah It is time to draw to a Conclusion after having shewed very clearly That seeing Christ bears the Names of God seeing he possesseth the Essence or the Attributes of God and that he enjoys the Worship that is due to none but God he could not think it any Robbery to make himself Equal with God I shall conclude this Discourse with Four Reflections the importance whereof is such as may well challenge a moment more of your attention The first Reflection is That by denying the Truth we have been here confirming we make of the Bible the strangest Book in the world We believe and we have great reason to believe that never was any thing so excellent seen by men It is a work by which all Parties maintain themselves and throughout the whole of which we see nothing else but traces of the most profound Wisdom Both the Testaments correspond with the most exactest Symmetry the Old is made for the New and the New for the Old All the designs of the Holy Ghost agree together neither is any thing of contradiction to be found in them But we shall not find this to be so in the case of the Hypothesis we here oppose For that supposed this Sacred Book appears a quite other thing The Old Testament hath scarcely the least correspondence with the New We find nothing but thwartings and contradictions between them and it cannot in the least seem strange to me that those who embrace this Notion are so near neighbours to Irreligion The Old Testament commands us in express terms to Worship nothing but God that we must put our confidence in none but God that we are not to Hope but in God Let us not cavil about words I mean the Sovereign God who hath Created Heaven and Earth The New Testament if Jesus Christ be not God overturns all this This supposed 't is evident that our Saviour came not to fulfil the Law and the Prophets but utterly to confound and destroy them Let us speak only of the New Testament Bless me what a Book shall we have of it if Jesus Christ be not God 'T will be nothing else but a medly of Contradictions Snares and Blasphemies On one hand we find in it many Passages wherein Idolatry is condemn'd and elsewhere as many where it is commanded These are the contradictions We meet with Passages every where that invite us to Adore the Lord Jesus these are the Snares and terrible ones too Divine Providence took care to hide the Body of Moses lest it should have been made an object of Worship But the Providence of the New Testament will be very different it makes us every moment to meet with Christ under strong appearances that solicite our Adorations without ever cautioning us with a see thou do it not worship God Rev. 22 9. The New Testament is full of Ancient Oracles pronounced to the honor of the Living God it is clear as the Sun at Noon-day that the Applications the Apostles make of them are mere childish Triflings and Blasphemies if our Saviour by one of his Natures be not that Living God whom the Prophets worshipp'd But then grant but
of any service against the Divinity of Christ It is clear that these Words contain an opposition the opposite to true is false If the Father be called the only true God in opposition to the Son we easily see what follows It is true that there is an opposition in this place not between the Father and the Son but between the Father and whatsoever is falsly called God in the World And in this sense as it is said of the Father That he is the only true God we may also say of the Son that he is the only true God and so of the Holy Ghost because the Divine Nature which is indivisibly possess'd by these three Persons is indeed the only true God What remains now that can give us the least trouble what can be reasonably alledged against the Divinity of our Lord shall we object that he himself sometimes speaks of it with great reservedness It is very true that our Saviour with a great deal of caution and reservedness declared those Truths that were capable of setting the Jews against him The calling of the Gentiles may be one Instance for all Sometimes he wraps this Doctrine under the Vail of Parables sometimes he makes an Allusion to Histories wherein it seems that Grace was not shut up in the compass of one only People Truth can have no entrance into Souls full of darkness which as the Light of the Day comes after the Night is gone What would this Truth of the Calling of the Gentiles have produc'd if our Lord had preach'd it without any caution It would not have been believed and our Lord would have been put to death before his work had been done I speak as a Man We may say the same thing of our Saviour's Godhead which being such that the Jews could not bear the glory of it he discovers it by little and little to them he tries their hearts after that he had found by the manner of their reception of these Words I and my Father are one that it was not seasonable yet to declare this Doctrine he stops there and leads out the Thoughts of his Auditors to the Magistrates whom the Scripture calls Gods If we mind it our Lord doth not fully justifie thereby what he had said in these words I and my Father are one For never did any of the Magistrates speak at this rate what is more they never made themselves Gods nor equal with God The Scripture indeed calls them Gods but they never said they were equal with God Christ made himself God and for the justification of himself is contented to alledge the Example of the Magistrates The Case is plain our Saviour intends not to retract what he had said his Design only is to moderate the fury of the Jews Neither indeed were they fully satisfied with it they endeavour to lay hold on him but he escaped out of their hands Do we find him in this place saying That he is not God Not in the least he never said any thing that came near it Whereas indeed he ought to have said it positively and often to make his Doctrine of more efficacy to the Jews He very well knew that nothing was so offensive to them as Blasphemy and that he quite lost himself in their esteem by making himself God And yet for all this he always returns to it and frequently offers them the same occasion of offence Pray what may be the meaning of this has he no desire that his Doctrine should be received no body dare say so Why is it then that he so often toucheth the same Mystery It is plain as the Meridian Sun that nothing but the force of Truth engageth him to make himself equal with his heavenly Father He is not willing always to speak openly by a too free and open declaration of himself for in this case he would either have convinced all his Auditors or not If we suppose the first they would never have put him to death which would have been equally contrary to the Prophecies of old and to the Happiness of Mankind which stood in need of his Death If the latter they would have put him to death too soon he did need three or four years time wherein to accomplish his Work These Considerations oblige him to speak sparingly of and in part to conceal the glory of his Divinity On some occasions we find that he wholly restrains himself as in the 10th Chapter of St. John in others again he utters himself with great liberty as in the 5th Chapter of the same Gospel When there is nothing more for him to do but to die he frankly declares himself to be the Son of God I think we may say that he was the first Martyr for his own Divinity for it is upon this Declaration of his that the Jews unanimously cried out He is guilty of Death According to their Judgment he had uttered a horrid Blasphemy and by the Law deserved that Sentence should be pronounced against him How does he justifie himself of this Charge Doth he alledge that of the Magistrates or the Angels on this occasion doth he say That hel 's the Son of God because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost or because he had received the power of doing Miracles and of declaring the Truth Thus understood there was no Blasphemy in the Case and he ought if he had not been God to have set the Jews right by justifying himself in this manner But on the contrary he maintains to the last moments of his Life himself to be the Son of God in a sense which the Jews judged Blasphemy that is to say The Eternal Son of God for otherwise taken it could not be Blasphemy I shall only propound the two other Reflections tho indeed they be no less important than the former My Third Reflection is That the Doctrine I have here asserted and proved is the Doctrine of the Primitive Church This is so incontestably true that Socinus himself owns That from the first beginning of the Church Socin Epist 3. ad Radec Ab ipso ferme nascentis Ecclesiae initio tot Viros non minus Pietate quam Doctrinâ clarissimâ—â— tot Christi Sanctissimos Martyres ad eout nullus sit numerus eum alioqui grovissimum errorem secutoâ— fursse quod Christus sit unus ille Deus qui omnia creavit aut certe exillius substantia propria genitus there have been a great number of Learned Men Saints and Martyrs who believed that Jesus Christ was that God who created all things or that he was begotten of his own Substance This express Acknowledgment from an Adversary whose great interest it was to rid himself of the weight Antiquity would bear against him may very well pass for a strong Argument on an occasion where it doth not seem so proper to enter upon the Historical proof of it It hath already been shewed that the Primitive Church did believe the Eternal Divinity of our Saviour at