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
possessing one and the same Nature the one is suppos'd to have done what the other did Proceed we to the seventh Chapter where we meet with an Emphatical Proof of the Eternity of Christ The Apostle there teacheth us that Melchisedec is the true Portraiture of our Lord in this Type I find a King of righteousness and of Peace and so far the Resemblance is exact for we know that Righteousness and Peace kiss and embrace each other in the Original But consider we those other Lineaments that compose the Type He was without Father without Mother without descent having neither beginning of days nor end of life This according to the Letter cannot be said of any Man if Melchisedec was a Man he had Father Mother Descent beginning of Days and end of Life but nothing of all this is found in the Scripture where not the least mention is made of the Family nor of the Birth nor of the Death of Melchisedec which is very strange forasmuch as the Holy Ghost hath given us the Genealogy of many Persons much less considerable how comes it to pass that it hath neglected to give us these particulars concerning the great Melchisedec Why the reason is plain his Design was to represent to us a Portraiture that might resemble our Lord Being made like the Son of God saith our Author The Holy Ghost on purpose suppresseth the Birth and Death of Melchisedec to the end that this Illustrious Unknown might the better represent the Eternity of the Son of God who is without beginning of days as he is without end of life In the 9th Chapter we find a new Proof of the Eternity of our Saviour Heb. 9.14 It is said that Christ through the eternal spirit offered himself to God What is this Eternal Spirit here mention'd It is not the Soul of our Lord that is now here called the Eternal Spirit Besides the Soul of our Lord was a part of the Sacrifice it self whereas the words speak of the Nature that offers and not of that which is offer'd Neither is it the Holy Ghost the Third Person in the Sacred Trinity he did not offer up our Saviour but he offer'd up himself it must therefore have been an other Nature which our Saviour here calls the Eternal Spirit The Godhead of Christ perform'd the Priest's Office here upon the Manhood predestinated to be the Victim for Mankind I refer also to this That Argument which the same Author draws from the Eternity of Jesus Christ to engage the Christians to persevere in his Doctrine Jesus Christ the same yesterday and to day and for ever The Apostle by these words renews the Notion he had given them in the beginning of this Epistle where we have seen that he asserts the Eternity of Jesus Christ from a Text of the Old Testamnnt Indeed we find the Author had this Eternity in his eye throughout to the very end of the Epistle and 't is with reference to this that we must explain this Elogy of our Saviour which comprehends all distinction of Time past present and to come He is the same yesterday to day and for ever which answers to the Explication St. John gives us of the Eternity of the Father Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was Rev. 1.4 and which is to come And the very same Expression is attributed to Christ by St. John or rather our Saviour attributes it to himself in St. John's Revelation Rev. 1.8 I am Alpha avd Omega the Beginning and the End saith the Lord which is which was and which is to come the Almighty Who is it that speaks thus He of whom it is said in the verse foregoing Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him is the same who in the following Verse saith I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last For St. John having turned himself to see who it was whose Voice he heard saw Jesus Christ Our Lord therefore is Eternal Immensity is the Second Attribute by which our Saviour is present in all places at the same time If it were not so how could he make good the Promise made to his Disciples For where two or three are gathered together in my name Matt. 18.20 there am I in the midst of them It is very observable that this is the Language of God under the Old Law where we see that in several passages he promises to dwell amidst his People Think we that any one but the Son drust have spoke like the Father Besides I will take the boldness to say that as Grace displays it self in the Gospel the Son by promising his presence in all places saith yet more than the Father The Father assures his People that he will dwell amongst them and sometimes does even restrain this his Habitation to the compass of the Tabernacle They shall make me a Sanctuary saith he in Exodus and I will dwell in the midst of them But our Saviour extends his Promise to a much greater compass even to a wheresoever two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them As if he had said That place wheresoever it be shall be to me a Jerusalem a Tabernacle a Sanctuary What can this import less than Immensity at a time when Grace overflows the whole Universe without any distinction of People In all parts of the World our Lord is present in the midst of the least Assemblies where his Name is called upon He is in all places at the same time he sees what is done there he hears all that is said there he blesseth those whom he will bless In a word he is in all places where he is call'd upon as God was in the Sanctuary of old It is well enough known that when our Saviour promiseth his presence he means a presence of his Virtue and Influences Immensity is not the proper subject of a Promise That which of its own Nature is present in all places is there whether he promise it or not but because our Lord doth promise a presence of Virtue in all places we have good reason to conclude that he is in all places This Conclusion is evident our Saviour could not act in all places if he were not in all places Now-a-days 't is maintain'd that we cannot conceive the Existence of God in any place but by some Divine Operations God is every where say they because he operates every where Say we the same of our Saviour he is every where because he acts every where For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them We need no more than common sense to convince us that if our Blessed Lord had no other Amplitude but that of his Human Nature he could never fulfil this great Promise But still to open a further Light to his Immensity we need only call to mind his Discourse with Nicodemus in the third of
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