is not revealed The Son was brought forth before all time Prov. 8.22 His goings forth are from everlasting Mic. 5.2 the Father hath given to the Son to have Life in himself as the Father hath Life in himself Joh. 5.26 It is the property of the Father to have Life in himself and to give Life to his Son It is the property of the Son to have Life in himself from the Father I live by the Father Joh. 6.57 The personal action of the Father and the Son towards the Holy Ghost is to send him Joh. 15.26 The personal action of the Holy Ghost is to come to proceed to receive to give Joh. 16.7,8,13,14 to testify Joh. 15.26 as a distinct witness from Christs own and the Father 's of him Joh. 5.37 2. What a Person in the Godhead is The Greek Church used the word Hypostasis Heb. 1.3 and the Latin Church Personâ—… and from them we borrow the word Person There is great reason why we should retain the word tho' we will not divide from any for the use of a Term that acknowledge what is reveal'd in Scripture and can express the truth better A Person in the Eternal God head transcends a Person in Nature A Person in Nature is usually desined or described to be a Compleat Perfect Singular Living Understanding Being or Substance subsisting by it self not sustained by another nor a part of another The Persons in the God-head differ from a Created Person as will appear in these particulars 1. Every particular Man partakes of the same common general and special Nature but these particulars cannot be one Man but every Person in the God-head is that one only living and true God. 2. As Persons are multiplyed in Nature so the nature is multiplyed in Persons but there is but one God the Divine essence is one and not multiplied 3. One Person in nature is not another nor in another but the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father and yet distinguished John 10.38 chap. 14.11 Joh. 17.21 4. One Person in nature is not only distinguished from another but is separated from another in time and place and many other respects But 1. The God-head or God being eternal the Persons in the God-head are Co-eternal none is before the other 2. Where one is the other is the nature being indivisible The Son is where the Father is tho' the humane Nature be not Omnipresent 3. What the one hath the other hath Joh. 16.15 All that the Father hath are mine said the Son and the Holy Ghost hath what the Son hath He shall take of mine and shall shew it unto you 4. If you know the Son you know the Father also Joh. 12.4 chap. 14.9,10,11 5. What one doth the other doth John 5.19 None of these things can be affirmed of different Persons in humane Nature The three Persons in the Divine essence must not be measured by individuals or singular Persons in Nature but as one Person is really distinguished from another by a Personal property so because the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost are so distinguished we call them Persons tho improperly in a sence peculiar to them Now a Person in the God-head is God as related to himself I humbly conceive it thus God the Father is related to God the Son and God the Holy Ghost God the Son is related to God the Father as a Son to a Father and to God the Holy Ghost And God the Holy Ghost is related to the Father and the Son. You saw before the relative property of each Glorious Person A Person in the Trinity is not a compound of an essence and a property for the Divine Nature is infinitely perfect most pure simple or uncompounded This relation is eternal and primary They bear a voluntary relation to the Creatures as Creator Redeemer Comforter This was intended before time but actual in time And to remove all gross imaginations of the incomprehensible Trinity of Persons tho' we take Person and Body in our Language for the same let us take heed of imagining three Bodies when we say three Persons III. These three Glorious Persons are one God in essence 1. It is most certain there is one God and but one Deut. 6.4 Is 44.8 1 Cor. 8.4 2. It is certain there are three Persons as explained 3. The father is confessedly that one God 1. Cor. 8.4 It is as true that the Son the word is God Joh. 1.1 and the Holy Ghost is God Acts 5.4 Therefore these three are that one infinite God. It is contrary to reason to say there are three Gods It is not contrary to reason that these three should be one because it is revealed and they must be one God or not God at all for there is not to us Christians nor to Mankind more than one God. But before I produce more evidence for this truth I make hold to premise Suppose an Infidel should desire a Socinian to instruct him in the nature of the true God and to shew him the essential difference between God and all Creatures whatsoever Surely he must shew him how God hath made himself known And how is that but by his Glorious Names Titules Properties Attributes and Operations which are above the power of Creatures and by which Creatures are produced Now if the very same Characters by which he declares the true God to an Infidel be ascrib'd to the Son and Holy Ghost then as his demonstration of the nature of God is good so our demonstration of the essential Deity of the Son and Holy Ghost must needs be as good If Christ be God by donation of eminent power office or near conjunction with God if the Holy Ghost be a quality or God by office they are but Creatures and if Creatures tho the highest have those properties which are essential to God then it will follow God hath nothing peculiar to his own infinite Being which is impious and irrational But God is distinguished from all Creatures and the properties of God are truly ascribed to the Son and Holy Ghost therefore they are the true God and not Creatures The three Persons are one God. There being no dispute against the Father I shall apply my self to prove the Son and Holy Ghost to be the true God. Proved by their essential Name 1. The Name which Jehovah signifies Eternal Being is proper to God and not common to any Creatures That they may know that thou whose Name alone is Jehovah art most high over all the Earth Ps 83.18 This name is translated Lord and its signification given Rev 1.4 which is which was and which is to come This Name is the Name of the Son as it is the Name of the Father Ps 110.1 Jehovah said to my Lord that is Christ Mat. 22.42 The Son is called Jehovah Is 40.3 Prepare the way of Jehovah i.e. Christ Mar. 1.23 Luke 1.76 The Angel appearing in the Bush was Jehovah Exod. 3.2 Compare v. 4.5 with
is as much as Messiah or Anointed to be Mediator Prophet Priest and King. 2. His Person is Wonderful He is Emmanuel God with us God-Man He was the eternal Son of God before he was the Son of God by the Virgin Mary He had a Being and a Glory before he was Man. See John 17.5 Where note 1. Who Pray'd he did not pray as he was God for God wants nothing and hath nothing to ask 2. Nor only as he was Man for as Man he had no Glory with the Father before the World began 3. He pray'd as he was mediator a Priest by Office. 4. As Priest it was his duty and office to pray and he pray'd to God as Father for himself as Son now in both Natures 2. Note what he pray'd for Wherein observe 1. He had a glory with the Father before the World was 2. That glory was the glory of a Son v. 2. Glorify thy Son. 3. He had that glory of a Son before he was Man for he was not Man before the World was 4. He was with the Father as a Son from eternity begotten in a manner unconceivable therefore we say he was the eternal Son of God. 5. The glory of a Son was not lost but darkned by his taking our Nature and the form of a Servant Now then he Pray'd for this that his humane Nature now united to him might partake of the glory which he had as a Son and that his Sonly glory might shine forth This glory of a Son was his essential glory possess'd with the Father and not a glory to which he was predestinated as the Adversaries pretend who quote 2 Tim. 1.9 But mark Christ saith The glory which I had with thee before the World was He had it the Elect had it not before they had a Being they were predestinated to it in Christ as their decreed Head and Saviour who possess'd it before all time in his own Person 2. This Eternal Son of God became Man How not by ceasing to be what he was before but by taking to him that humane Nature which he had not before into Personal Union See Joh. 1.14 He was in Being before he was made Flesh and what he was before he was made Flesh we read ver 1,2,3 1. He was God. 2. He made all things therefore was not made himself 3. He was in the beginning of time he did not then begin to be but was before that beginning was in which all things were made by him He must needs be and be able to make all things before they were made by him Now this is He who was made Flesh or took our Nature They who deny his Eternal God-head say 1. Christ is called the Word or Speech of God because God spake by him 2. They will not have our translation stand was made but Was. 3. Was Flesh that is the speech of God was Flesh that is he was frail subject to infirmities and sorrows But beside the absurdity of their sence which comes to this The speech was frail that is the Man who was the speech of God was a frail Man there are two things strongly for our sence 1. What ever is spoken of the word which was made Flesh or became Man is very glorious 2. If their corrupt meaning were true it would better agree And we saw his frailty and Sorows than what follows And we saw his Glory as the only begotten Son of God even under the Cloud and Veil of his humane Nature we beheld more than Man or Creature even the Glory of the only begotten Son of God full of grace and truth To be short Let us believe 1. He who took our Nature was the only begotten Son of God not so called only because more beloved than all other Children as Isaac was 2. He took humane Nature to Union with his own Divine eternal Person and not a humane Person 3. The Divine and humane Nature in the Person of the Son are distinct and not mixed or confounded 4. Because he is but one Person the properties of each Nature are attributed to the Person by what Divines call the Communication of Properties Acts 20.28 5. The humane Nature is not Omniscient nor Omnipresent as the Divine nature is 6. Christ is mediator according to both natures The mediator is God and Man in one Person therefore and all the parts of the mediatory office being performed by the mediator he doth all things according to both natures because he is called the Man Christ Jesus 1 Tim. 2.5 Therefore some say he is but a Man others say he is Mediator only as he is Man. But Mediator includes both Natures he is both and doth act according to both he is called the Man Christ Jesus because of his compassion and freedom of access to pray for all Men. 7. We have but one Redeemer who gave himself for us 1. Tim. 2.6 1 Joh. 2.1,2 therefore but one Mediator of Redemption and Intercession 8. Christ is not called the Son of the Highest Luke 1.32,35 as being the Son of Mary and adopted to be the Son of God He was the Son of the highest before he was the Son of Mary and adoption is an act of favour towards one who is the Son of another by Nature Believers Children of wrath of strangers and Enemies are the Children of God by Adoption Joh. 1.12 But Christ is a Son of the same Nature with the Father as God and the Manhood is taken into Personal Union with him and is so the Son of the Highest that he is over all God blessed for ever Rom. 9.5 SECT XII How Christ became Man. 1. VVE do not say Christ is a Person constituted of two different Natures which being United make one third but that the second Person in the God-head took the humane Nature not a humane Person into Union with himself which did not subsist before he took it This contradicteth no principle of reason We know every Man is constituted of Soul and Body God who hath done the one hath done the other I pray turn to Heb. 2.14 where observe 1. A gracious end and intention towards sinful Man. 2. What Christ did to accomplish it He himself also took part of the same Where note 1. A Person taking He took He was a real Person an understanding free Agent he knew what he took and to what end 2. He was a free Person in Being before he took it 3. He took what he had not Before he took it 4. That which he took was the seed or humane Nature in the Line of Abraham 5. Surely he was one who could destroy the power of the Devil before he took it for humane Nature could not do it If Christ be but a Man or as they say a Divine Man how can it be said he took the seed of Abraham He was before he took that or else he could not take 〈◊〉 He was not Man before he took it he could not be Man before he was Man.
Q What do the Scriptures principally teach A. The holy Scriptures principally teach what Man is bound to believe concerning God and what Duty God requires of (e) 2 Tim. 1.13 Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus 2 Tim. 3.16 see before Man. 4. Q. What is God A. God is a (f) Joh. 4.24 God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth Spirit (g) Job 11.7 Canst thou by searching find out God Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection V. 8. It is as high as heaven what canst thou do Deeper than hell what canst thou know V. 9. The measure thereof is longer than the earth and broader than the sea Infinite (h) Psal 90.2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Eternal and (i) James 1.17 Every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning Unchangeable in his (k) Exod. 3.14 And God said unto Moses I am that I am and he said Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I AM hath sent me unto you Being (l) Psal 147.5 Great is our Lord and of great power his understanding is infinite Wisdom (m) Rev. 4.8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him and they were full of eyes within and they rest not day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Isa 6.3 And one cried unto another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Power (n) Rev. 15.5 Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before thee for thy judgments are made manifest Holiness (o) Deut. 32.4 He is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are judgment a God of truth and without iniquity just and right is he Justice (p) Exod. 34.6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth V. 7. Keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin and that will by no means clear the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the childrens children unto the third and fourth generation Goodness and Truth 5. Q. Are there more Gods than one A. This God is one and there is and there can be but one only the living and true * Deut. 6.4 Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. Jer. 10.10 But the Lord is the true God he is the living God and an everlasting King at his breath the earth shall tremble and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation 1 Cor. 8.4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other God but one V. 6. But to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him God. 6. Q. How many Persons are there in the Godhead A. There are three Persons in the Godhead or Divine Being and Nature the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and these three are one God the same in substance equal in (q) 1 Joh. 5.7 For there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Matth. 28.19 Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost 2 Cor. 13.14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Amen Joh. 10.30 I and my Father are one Phil. 2.6 Who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God. Compare Isa 6.3,5,8 with Joh. 12.41 and Acts 28.25 Acts 5.3,4 But Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lye to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land Whiles it remained was it not thine own and after it was sold was it not in thine own power why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God. Power and Glory and all divine Perfections 7. This one God the Father the Son and Holy Ghost is the first efficient Cause or Creator the preserving and disposing and the final Cause of all things Rom. 11.36 For of him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory for ever Amen 8. What soever God hath done and brought forth he did according to his Eternal Purpose and Decrees Ephes 1.11 Who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will. 9. Q. What are the Decrees of God A. The Decrees of God are his Eternal Purpose according to the Counsel of his Will whereby for his own Glory he hath fore-ordained whatever comes to (r) Ephes 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love V. 11. In whom also we obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Rom. 9 22. What if God willing to shew his wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction V. 23. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had afore prepared unto glory pass 10. Q. How doth God execute his Decrees A. God executeth his Decrees in the works of Creation and (Å¿) Ephes 1.11 Who worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will. Providence 11. Q. What is the Work of Creation A. The Work of Creation is God's making all things of nothing by the Word of his Power in the space of six days and all very (t) Gen. chap. 1. throughout Heb. 11.13 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things that do appear good 12. Q. How did God create Man A. After all the rest of his Works God created Man Male and Female after his own Image in Knowledge Righteousness and Holiness with Dominion over the (u) Gen. 1.26 And God said Let us make Man in our own image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the rish of the sea and over the fowl of the
Mat. 5.18 The Spirit will not nullify his own work 17. The Scriptures are of the same use to us and all Ages to come which they were of to them that first received and believed them They are written that we should believe them that shall be saved Joh. 20.31 They are profitable for all things for all good works therefore we cannot be wise to Salvation without them 2 Tim. 3.15,16,17 1 Joh. 1.1,2,3,4 18. The authority of the Old Testament is equally Divine with the New. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God 2 Tim. 3.16 They mutually prove one another Luke 24.44 Acts 26.22,23 chap. 24.14 A proof from the Old Testament is as good as any from the New both make up one perfect Canon and Rule of Faith. 19. Consequences clearly or immediately drawn from Scripture or by clear natural light are Divine for they are contained in the Scriptures Those consequences drawn by our Saviour and Peter to prove the fundamental Article of the Resurrection are now part of Scripture Mat. 22.32 Acts 2.30,31 and were virtually contained in the Scriptures before If we can draw consequences from Scriptures by sound Mediums in imitation of them what we prove by such consequences is true and to be believed 20. The sence of Scripture is but one plain and simple to imform and fettle our understandings and faith and not ambiguous to confound us or keep us in doubts When the Scriptures speak plainly and properly the sence is proper when by metaphors and figures then it is plainly so If the sence were ambiguous how could they be understood how could they serve for Doctrine or for conviction of Error but they are profitable to those and other ends therefore plain 2 Tim. 3.16,17 21. There are no contradictions in Scripture for they are all given by inspiration of God who cannot contradict himself If any contradiction appears it is because our understandings cannot reach their coherence 22. Divine Revelation and right reason are different lights from the same father of light There is nothing therefore in Scripture contrary to right reason To bring matters revealed to be judged by reason is to bring the Spirit of God before the tribunal of Man who is both blind corrupt and partial and to make the Reason of Man now in a corrupted state to be more Divine and certain than Revelation Ephes 5.8 1 Thes 5.4 Ephes 4.17,18 1 Cor. 2.14 There is the greatest reason in the World to believe what God hath revealed Right reason and revelation agree where Scripture is contrary to reason the reason is not good 23. God hath taken care to preserve Canonical Scriptures from being lost The Scriptures are perfect 2 Tim. 3.15,16,17 If any were lost the rest would be imperfect If not one jot or tittle shall pass away from the Law till all be fulfilled the whole Law and Revelation is safe Mat. 5.18 SECT III. Of the Trinity THE Doctrine of the most glorious Trinity is fundamental and practical because we are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Our Christian faith and hope is built upon them we receive Gifts and Blessings from them together and from each one distinctly and we glorify and worship them together and distinctly as being devoted Servants to God the Father the Son and Holy Ghost This mystery is known only by Revelation There is enough in nature to make it credible and the practical use of it is to be made known as well as the truth of it to be proved by the Holy Scriptures Concerning it observe 1. There are three Relatives or Persons in the God-head 2. What a Person in the God-head is 3. These three are one God in Being or Essence co-essential and co-equal for there can be no inequality in the same infinite God-head or Essence I. There are three This is acknowledged by the Socinians who pronounce them to be no Christians who do not believe it Racov-Catech c. 1. But they deny that there are three Persons in the God-head because a Person is Essentia individua intelligens an individual intelligent Being But this reason is not good It implies that because a Person in the God-head is not like a Person in Nature therefore there are no distinct Persons or Relatives in the God-head Concerning these three observe 1. They are nam'd together Mat. 28.19 1 Joh. 5.7 and apart in many Scriptures by their several different Names These three are more than one They say there is but one Person in the God-head and that is the Father But the Father is not every one of these three there are two more distinctly named besides him The Father is not the Son nor the Son the Father nor is the Father nor the Son the Holy Ghost the Holy Ghost is not the Father nor the Son. If the Father be a Person so is the Son and so is the Holy Ghost The Father and the Son are two and not one and the Holy Ghost is a third If the Father relate to the Son as Father and the Son relate to the Father as Son as they do then they are distinct Persons and then there are also more Persons than one and as the Father and the Son are two the Holy Ghost is a third Not a quality of God for there are no accidents in God and if he were a power or a quality there would be no need of naming him as distinct from the Father and the Son for he would be included in the Father as the power of God. 2. These three are distinctly named in our Baptism which is a covenanting action and solemnity Covenants are between Persons The God of Grace who takes a number of Persons into Covenant with himself doth declare himself to them that they may know to whom they are obliged and related in Covenant Our great duty is to believe in God to honour and serve him and to expect what he hath promised He reveals himself as our God in Covenant and that not only as God but as Father Son and Holy Ghost We are oblig'd in the same duties to the Son and Holy Ghost as to the Father and partake of Grace Love and Communion from each one together 2 Cor. 13.14 Ephes 1.2,3 As God hath made himself known to us in Covenant so we are to believe and order our conceptions of him 3. Persons are known by personal properties and actions These three are known and distinguished by distinct properties and actions in reference to one another and towards the Creatures We are bound to believe in the Son as the only begotten Son therefore as distinguished from the Father John 20.31 chap. 3.16,18 The property and action of the Father is to beget The Son is called the first begotten Heb. 1.6 The Divine nature is unchangeable and indivisible and not multiplicable therefore there is no proper action nor passion as in nature nor production of new Being in this eternal Generation the manner of which
Acts 7.30,31,33 Not a Created or common Angel but the Angel of the Covenant Mal. 3.1 Declared by Christ I am the God of thy Fathers Acts 7.32 The Holy Ghost is also meant by the name Jehovah Is 6.3 called Adonai v. 8. Acts 28.25 As the Prophets were wont to say Thus saith the Lord so the Apostles say Thus saith the Holy Ghost Acts 21.11 'T is true magistrates are called Elohim but they are not Gods by nature for they shall die like Men Ps 82.6,7 But he who is called Jehovah is God by nature and is not mortal like Men. By essential properties 2. The property of unity is attributed to God Deut. 6.4 and these three are one 1 Joh. 5.7 a Text tho wanting in some Copies yet in other Copies and agreeable to the Text Joh. 10.28,29,30 I and the Father are One One in Power therefore One in Being and Essence The Spirit the Water and the Blood agree in one as Witnesses but are not one in Nature but the Father Word and Spirit are One which is more than to agree in One. The Father is One Ephes 4.6 1 Cor. 8.6 Christ is One 1 Cor. 8.6 Ephes 4.6 the Holy Ghost is One 1 Cor. 12.4,11 Ephes 2.18 and these three are One not in Testimony only but in Being 3. They are Eternal From everlasting to everlasting thou art God Ps 92.2 see Is 44.6 ver 4. chap. 48.12 The Father is eternal Rev. 1.4 That Christ the Son is the Alpha and Omega the First and Last and therefore co-eternal with the Father is clear Rev. 1.5,6,7,8 v. 11. chap. 21.6 chap. 22.13 The Holy Ghost is eternal the Mystery of Christ which was kept secret since the World began is made known by the Commandment of the Eternal God Rom. 16.26 Now he who made it known is the Holy Ghost therefore he is the Eternal God Ephes 3.5 He moved Holy Men to speak 2 Pet. 1.19 The Apostles were at his command either to preach Acts. 10.19,20 or not to preach Acts 16.6 Therefore he is God. By essential Operations 3. The immediate and essential difference between God and the Creatures is that he is their Maker and that they are created The Creation of the World is the proper Work of God without Instrument or Co-worker Ps 33.9 for he spake and it was done c Ps 148.5 If there were an instrument that instrument was either infinite or finite not infinite for the infinite is the first cause and the instrument cannot be the first cause nor was it finite for a finite instrument cannot receive power to produce so vast an effect as exceeds its capacity The Son is not the instrument of the Father by whom he made all things nor the Holy Ghost He that made all things is God Heb. 3.4 Gen. 1.1 I am the Lord that spreadeth abroad the World by my self Is 44.24 By my self how not as by an instrument but by no other than my self Or who was with me see Is 45.6,7 This Glorious Work is the Work of the Father 1 Cor. 8.6 Heb. 2.10 of the Son or Word Joh. 1.3,10 Heb. 1.10 Col. 1.16 and of the Holy Ghost Job 26.13 By his Spirit he hath garnished the Heavens his Hand hath formed the crooked serpent or that constellation in the milky way like a Serpent Certainly Job was not mistaken in his Creator He said the Spirit of God hath made me and the Breath of the Almighty hath given me life Job 33.6 There is an order of Creating and producing all things observed by the Father Son and Holy Ghost but the one is not the instrument of the other they are one infinite first cause therefore one God. See and take notice of the three Persons together Ps 33.6 By the word the eternal essential word the Son of Jehovah were the Heavens made and all the host of them by the breath or Spirit of his Mouth the Holy Ghost And he by whom and through whom and to whom are all things is one God to whom be glory for ever Rom. 11.36 Objections closely answer'd Before I conclude I will lay down some truths which contain the answers to several objections or corrupt expositions contrary to this Doctrine 1. God is one indivisible essence therefore there can be no participation of it therefore Christ is not the Son of God by participation of some degree of the God-head or in some respect God is called the God of Gods Magistrates are called Gods Ps 50. 1. Ps 82. But no where called Jehovah nor said to create the World by him Kings Reign Prov. 8.15 therefore they are not as much God as he is 2. Christ affirmed I and the Father are one Joh. 10.30 that he did the work of God v. 37. That the Father was in him 38. which is more than that he was sanctified and sent into the World. He was Man but more than Man. 3. We do not say that the Son and Holy Ghost are God meerly because they are joined with the Father in the form of Baptism But farther 1. We are Baptized into the Name of God as God in Covenant 2. When meer Creatures are joined with God the difference between God and them is made known but here the Son and Holy Ghost are joined with the Father as our God and superiors An order is declared but no inferiority 3. Moses was a typical mediator in the Covenant with Israel but they were in Covenant with God as the superior party who was the Lawgiver by the Ministry and hand of Moses But Christ is both a Mediator and God in Covenant Of the practical use of this Doctrine of the Trinity I shall speak Part III. Chap. I. SECT IV. Of the Decrees of God. NOthing can be objected against the Decrees of God but what reflects upon his counsel and right to dispose of his Creatures He worketh all things according to the Counsel of his own will Ephes 1.11 Angels and Men had no more of their own than the meanest of Creatures therefore it is meet that they should be as subject to the will of God as any other of his Creatures There is no repugnance between the Decrees of God and his revealed Will and the judgment to come As his Laws so are his Decrees Holy Wise Righteous Stable and Certain The execution of his Decrees is the best exposition of them God is not the Author of Sin nor a mover to Sin nor a forcer of Mans will. In the last judgment we shall see that the Blessed of the Father were first elected to eternal Life and that it was of Grace before the foundation of the World Ephes 1.4,5 2 Tim. 1.9 and that the rest are condemned as Workers of Iniquity Mat. 25. ult and for iniquity SECT V. Of the Creation of Man. 1. BY the renovation of the Image of God we understand what it was before it was lost Ephes 4.24 Col. 3.10 It did not consist only or principally in Dominion over the Creatures Had not Man been Wise Holy
and Endeavour after new Obedience No Man is sensible of Sin as highly offensive and contrary to God but doth grieve and sorrow for it No Man is sorry in a Godly sort that doth not turn from it unto God as hating it and endeavouring to please God. Men may hear of Sin and talk of it without these Effects but they were never sensible of what they speak section 2 2. Do I apprehend that it is Mercy meer Mercy tender Mercy and wonderful if ever I turn from Sin and escape Damnation Is this Mercy in and through and for the sake of Jesus Christ if ever I escape the Curse and Wrath due to me for Sin Doth the Apprehension of God's Mercy in Christ melt me win me overcome me and prevail upon me to forsake all my Sin and to turn to him 3. Do I grieve for Sin What is my Grief Is it deep and hearty arising in me from a clear Sight and Conviction of Sin Do I grieve that I ever sinned at all that I have dishonoured and displeased God though I should not go to Hell nor fear it Doth it break my Heart and make me mourn before God when I remember it 4. Do I hate it Do I hate all Sin in general for its corrupt base and devilish Nature and Qualities Do I hate mine own Sin in special Do I flee Occasions and watch against Temptations to it Do I pray against it to be delivered from it and enabled against it Do I die to it and mortifie it and cease to make provision for it These are the Signs of Hatred of Sin. 5. Have I turned from Sin Do I turn further and further from it Whose am I To whom do I belong Satan Or am I turned from him to God Am I really turned so that I yield those Members which were Instruments of Unrighteousness unto Sin to be Instruments of Righteousness unto God Do I turn to love fear and serve him as the Lord my God 6. How do I turn Feignedly weakly and in pretence or with a Purpose of Heart Is my Purpose full and fixed or but half perswaded Am I so turned that I resolve in the strength of Grace to return back no more but to go forward Do I so purpose that I will endeavour all Ways by all Means by the use of all Ordinances to walk in new Obedience as a new Man Do I turn to God as well as cease from Sin Whence do my Resolutions and Purposes arise Do they arise from that Saving Grace of the Spirit working in me a Sense of Sin as Sin and an Apprehension of the Mercy of God in Christ Or do spring from worldly Sorrow Fear or Shame Loss or Harm suddain Passion or serious Consideration 4. The Trial of Love. section 1 The fourth Grace to be examined is Love And though your Catechism tells you you must examine your Love yet it helps you not to try it as you are helped in the Trial of Faith and Repentance It will be necessary for me to open to you the Nature and Properties of this divine Grace and that by shewing you the Objects of it or towards whom this Grace of Love is exercised Examine your Love 1. To God. 2. To Man. 1. Concerning your Love to God you must observe that we are bound to love God in those three distinct Relations in the Godhead that is we must love the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for in our Baptism we take these three glorious Persons in the God head for our God And what Duties we are engaged to in our Baptism we must exercise and engage our selves a-new to perform when we come to the Lord's Table for then and there we renew our Covenant with God. And as we are bound to believe in God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost so we are bound to love the Father the Son and Holy Ghost This being spoken on the way I shall describe this Grace of Love as near as I can as Faith and Repentance are described before and that by pointing out the Cause and Reasons and the Effects of it by which you may try the Truth of it Rom 5.8 Luk 7.37 Ps 116 1,2,3 to 10. Cant. 1.3 ch 5.9,10 1 Joh. 4.9,10,19 Ps 63 2,3 Deut. 30.20 c. 10.20 c. 11.22 Joh. 14.15 1 Joh. 5.3 chap. 3.1,6 chap. 4.10,11 Love to God is a Saving Grace whereby a Sinner out of the sense of his Sin Baseness Corruption and Misery and from an Apprehension of the infinite Perfections of God especially his Grace Goodness and All sufficiency he doth adore and admire him he doth desire him and cleave to him he laboureth to do the things that please him and to conform to him in all things section 2 Examine your selves 1. Doth your Love to God proceed from your Knowledge and Apprehension of his infinite Excellencies expressed in his Attributes Do you therefore acknowledge God and look upon him as infinite in Wisdom Holiness Power Righteousness Faithfulness and Truth as rich in Grace c. See Exod. 34.6,7 Dost thou believe the Love of God to thy Soul Is he thy God Hath he engaged his Attributes and Glory to thee to be on thy side and for thy good Dost thou believe thy self to be corrupted polluted guilty and helpless Dost thou look upon the Creatures as vain and unable to make thee happy that God is All-sufficient for thee in all Conditions at all Times Dost thou adore and praise him See Psal 103. from 1. to 19. Dost thou believe that God is infinitely better than all Creatures and to be loved above all And dost thou esteem and love him above all the World even with all thy Heart Strength Soul and Mind Matth. 22.37 Luk. 10.22 even above Father above Mother Wife House Lands yea Life it self Dost thou desire him prize him and prefer him before all Psal 16.5,6 and 4.6,7 and 144 15. Dost thou labour to be like him to imitate him to keep his Commandments 1 Joh. 4.10,11 1 Pet. 1.17 and still to give God the Precedence to chuse him above all to fear him more than Men or Devils and to obey him rather than Man This in general section 3 But to go on to Particulars Examine your Love to the three glorious Persons in the God-head distinctly And know this that he that loveth the Father loveth the Son and the Holy Ghost likewise and he that loveth Christ loveth the Father and the Holy Ghost also 1. Examine your Love to God the Father Say to thy Soul O my Soul What am I about to receive Bread and Wine But what is represented thereby The Body and Blood of thy dear Saviour the only begotten of the Father as crucified with all the Benefits of his Death But whence came this to pass How came he to be one of us in our Nature to be thus abased and crucified to become a Propitiation and a Ransom for Sin Oh behold and wonder Rom. 5.5,8,9 This is an Act of the