him they Worship This very Name of Michael is given to the Messiah ‖ Dan. 12.1 and at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people which is a Prophecy of Christ's coming wherein he is called El Michael and the Great Prince to this Emmanuel relates what the Evangelist says of the Word that is Christ how being made Flesh he dwelt among us is not this the same as God with us And this not obscurely for he adds * Joh. 1.14 and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father he not only had Glory but is called Lord of Glory before his Ascension into and Glorification in Heaven and for certain the Name of Lord or King of Glory is proper to the true essential God if David †Psal 24.10 speaks Truth now this dwelling of God is not said to be in but with Men which doth import a Person living and conversing with Men fully expressed in the following Text ‖ Rev. 21 3. Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God all this done not by proxy but in Person 't is said God himself so that great and infinite God whom the Heavens of Heavens cannot contain chose our Human Nature to dwell in as in a Tabernacle whereof the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was a Type as the Temple was afterwards we know there was a Vail this the Apostle alludeth to when he saith * Heb. 10.20 thorough the vail that is to say the flesh so that his Body and Human Nature is the place he chose to dwell in and that same Nature is as a Vail to qualify that Glory which no Man could behold for as the People could not behold Moses his Face when he came from God so that it was necessary he should put on a Vail How then could Man have beholden the Glory and Brightness of the Son of God and how could he have dwelt amonst and conversed with them except he had put on the Vail of his Flesh We must then necessarily conclude he was El the Mighty God before he was Immanuel God with us As to that great incomprehensible and adorable Mystery of the Incarnation of the Second Person of the most Holy Trinity whereby the Divine and Human Natures were mediatly and the Person immediatly united to the Nature 't is to be observed that 't is not by a Consubstantial Union such as the Three Persons of the most Holy Trinity are united one with another neither is it a Substantial Union only by Essence and Vertue as the Essence of Christ is present with every thing not by a presence of Grace only not Physical as Form and Matter are united not as one Friend is united to one another as the Soul of Jouathan was knit with the Soul of * 1 Sam. 18.1 David not mystical only or in the same manner as Christ dwelleth in Believers not Sacramental as Christ is in the Bread and Wine of the Lord's Supper but 't is a Personal Union and that without any Change of or in the Divine Person without a renting of the Natures against the Nestorians or Confusion of the same against the Eutychians also without any Change and Separation Now I am upon this high Mystery of the Incarnation by the Evangelist expressed in these words the word was made flesh I shall take notice of some few things doth not the expression which is parallel with this †1 Joh. 4.2 that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh mean that Christ the Word was in being before he was made Flesh or came in the Flesh and that this Being was according to the Spirit which in Scripture is opposed to the Flesh and that he had a spiritual Existence before he took our human Nature signified by the word Flesh for according to Scripture Flesh signifies human Nature so to be made Flesh to assume human Nature let one place serve instead of many ‖ Gal. 2.16 by the works of the law shall no flesh that is no Man be justified The Son of God was first afterwards he was manifested as to make use of a Comparison in a thing which admits none in matters of God's Decrees the Decree is before the Declaration of it for the Decree is from all Eternity but the Declaration only in time what is said of Christ * Gal. 4.4 that he was made of a woman is considerable for it implies that he was made Man and took upon him our Nature not out of the Substance of any Man but only of a Woman his Body was formed in the blessed Virgin 's Womb without any help of Man so he became Man only by the Woman's side but he was Son of God before he was made of a Woman and he must need have had a Being before he was sent forth he was with God before God sent him which is opposed to his appearing and being manifested to the World * 1 Joh. 1 2. we shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us he was with the Father existed and had a Being before he was manifested unto us dwelt and pitched his Tabernacle among us it is observable out of that place where it is said of our blessed Saviour †Heb. 2.16 he took on him the seed of Abraham the word took in the Original signifies also to take and lay hold or caught hold as he did of sinking Peter to save him from drowning so he caught hold of Mankind when it was ready to sink Against this they say there can be no such Union of Divine and Human Nature in one Person but that such an Union is not unpossible it may be illustrated out of the Union of our Soul with our Body which are of two different Natures spiritual and material invisible and visible immortal and mortal and tho' we cannot conceive the Reason it ought to be no Prejudice neither can we conceive the manner of their Union which yet is true and certain we most certainly believe some things to be tho' we do not at all comprehend the manner of it and altho' there be an infinite disproportion between God and Man yet that is no just Prejudice against the Union of Divinity with Humanity with harbouring such Notions Men do too much measure God by themselves who because they are evil are not capable of so much Goodness and out of Pride are apt to say so much Condescention becomes not God but God knows better than we what becomes him and what we cannot comprehend of him we ought to admire and adore God's Ways are not like our Ways nor his Thoughts like our Thoughts and tho' he condescends never so low yet is ever sure of his Greatness which nothing can take away from him This Humiliation or
the God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac The better to know who this Angel is let us hear him speak himself to Jacob d Gen. 31.11 12 13. The angel of God saith Jacob spake unto me in a dream and what saith he I have seen all that Laban doth unto thee I am the God of Bethel where thou anointedst the pillar and where thou vowedst a vow unto me Surely this could be no created Angel The same it was that appeared unto Moses in the Bush mention'd by Stephen e Acts 7.35 by whose Hands Authority and Power Moses became Ruler and Deliverer of the People out of Egypt Now in the same Chapter Stephen saith v. 32. that he that appeared unto Moses in the Bush was the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and that same God he afterwards calls the angel which spoke to him in mount Sinai v. 38. To be short this is the Angel of the Lord which appeared unto Moses out of the Bush which is called Lord and God and calls himself f Exod. 3. â— 4 6. the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The Adversaries cannot deny this to be the true and proper Character of the true God Moreover this is the Angel promised to be sent before the People let us hear what a Character God gives of him * Exodus 23.20 21. Beware of him and obey his voice provoke him not for he will not pardon your transgressions for my name is in him If this had been one of his created Angels would God have spoken of him after this manner Why God's Name in a most special manner more in him than in another Here his Name signifies his Nature and can any but the true essential God pardon Transgressions as it depends upon the Will of this Angel to do or not to do According to promise this same Angel appeared unto Joshuah under the Name of †Josh 5.14 15. captain of the host of the Lord and of him required the same humble Obedience as before he had received of Moses and this the Apostle doth point at * Heb. 2.10 when speaking of Christ he calls him the captain of our salvation of which the Deliverance out of Egypt was a Type and a Figure for he was the Rock †1 Cor. 10.4 that followed them in the Wilderness He is farther called ‖ Isai 63. the angel of God's presence God in him is present wheresoever he is because he is God but he there is also called their Saviour he saved them is there any Saviour besides the Lord Jesus the Son of God He also is called the Messenger * Mal. 3. â— or Angel of the covenant Is not God's Covenant with Men made in Christ Jesus Hath he not procured and published it It was to strengthen the Faith and confirm the Hopes of his People that God by the last of his Prophets doth so positively promise he shall come surely he then was and existed though he was not yet come The Prophet addeth whom ye delight in would to God this were true in every Christian but his Enemies can take no delight in him However it remains true that no Creature whatsoever could be this Angel and that seeing it was not the Person of the Father it must be that of his Son who is another himself and I think that to prove the Deity of the Messiah is to prove the plurality of Persons in the Godhead for as I said before Trinity imports the Divinity of the Son and the Divinity of the Son implys plurality of Persons in the Divine Nature This Angel under the shape of a Man attended by two Angels appeared unto Abraham * Gen. 18. and in the same place he is called the Lord or Jehovah and Man and behaved himself both as Lord and as Man and as both was received by Abraham Thus 't is neither impossible nor contrary to Scripture that God should in human Nature appear unto Men as then he did unto Abraham In his Promise to Abraham of a Son by Sarah and as to the Judgments upon Sodom he behaved himself as God as he did as Man in visibly walking discoursing having his Feet washed resting and eating and as herein by acting the true part of a Man he was a true Man so he was a true God for there he is six or seven times called Jehovah and five Adonai and he speaks like the Judg of the World in whose power it lyes to punish or pardon and the Adversaries can bring nothing against the Union of divine with humane Nature in the Person of Christ but what this Instance of the appearing can refute for indeed the personal Union of the divine with human Nature can be no better nor more plainly represented than by this Example and if this appearing was a sign and forerunner of Christ's dwelling and conversing among Men certainly it became him to be such as he then appeared namely God and Man Now that this was a foresight of his Incarnation our Saviour himself declares it * John 8.56 relating to this Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad And upon the same account he upbraids them when he saith John 39.40 If ye were Abraham's children ye would do the works of Abraham but ye seek to kill me that did not Abraham for he never offered to kill as a Blasphemer that Man whom with two others he recieved into his House and who carryed himself as God on the contrary he all the while behaved himself towards him as being God and at that time the same Person that appeared unto Abrham is not only called the Lord v. 1. the Lord appeared unto Abraham but also the judg of all the earth v 25. a Property belonging to none but the true God and that Christ is to judg all the Earth it appears out of Acts 17.31 and 2 Cor. 5.10 as indeed the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorah was a figure of the Destruction of the World and of Christ's second coming The Father saith Christ hath committed all Judgment to the Son John 5.22 Here I shall add a Text which may have a place in another part of my Discourse 't is this God by the Prophet * Isai 40.9 10 11. speaks to Zion Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah Behold your God behold the Lord will come with strong hand c. here certainly by your God is meant the God of Israel for the God of Zâ—on of Jerusalem and of the Cities of Judah is the same with the God of Israel now who that Person is here called God it doth appear out of the scope of the place wherein the Prophet doth certainly speak of the coming of the Messiah who is Christ as 't is plain out of v. 3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness prepare ye the way for the Lord make straight in the desart
but Persons endued with Reason and as I said before to Persons it belongs to act The high Names of God's Own Son Only Begotten c. which in Scripture are given the Lord Jesus are not upon the account of his miraculous Conception in the Womb of the Virgin as Socinians would have it we confess therein God had a special Hand and it was effected in an extraordinary manner but this is not enough to entitle him to the Filiation which the Question is now about to distinguish him from all others in the World called Sons of God as anon we shall have occasion to speak of Adam had also a miraculous Birth yet the Names of Only Begotten and God's Own and Proper Son do not belong to him in Christ's Conception and Birth God did not concur materially but efficiently with his Power but not with his Substance seeing Christ as to the Flesh was not of any invisible Seed of God but of the †Rom. 1.3 Seed of David what Brothers he had are quite of another ‖ Rom. 8.29 Heb. 2.12 Order and Quality they are such not by Generation but by Regeneration by Adoption not by * 1 Job 1.12 1 Joh. 3.1 1 Pet. 1.23 Jam. 1.18 Nature as the Texts quoted in the Margin which may be perused do declare wherefore Christ is Son of God in another manner than men are so he is called the Image of God and the Character of his Person in a most different way from that whereby Adam is said to be made according to God's likeness As in Creatures 't is a perfection to beget their similes or that which is like unto themselves that may not be denyed God now as we cannot conceive a communicability of a Nature which is spiritual and ad intra but by the two Faculties of Understanding and Willing whose Operations are immanent so it may well be said that there can be but two Processions in God one by way of Intellection whereby the Son is begotten who is called the Word Wisdom and Image of the Father and the other by way of Volition whereby is breathed the Holy Ghost who for that reason is specially called Love and though the Son doth also understand himself yet he begets neither himself nor another for he understands himself not of a notional Intellection to generate which belongs only to the Father but with a notional one which is common to the Father and to the Holy Ghost This is said not to prove our Faith but only to demonstrate that what we believe is not contrary to Reason though it be above it for all these matters as I observ'd before and as all Orthodox and learned Men that writ upon them are agreed are to be grounded on Scripture rather than upon human Reason The chief part of our Comfort and Salvation lies in the Belief of this Doctrine for as in Christ is but one Person so there are two Natures whereby he is in a capacity of perfecting our Redemption which otherwise he could not be in we own he is called Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 eminently and by Excellency but besides he is also called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beloved proper only begotten whereby he is distinguished from adopted Sons and by his being called Son of the living God distinguish'd from Elijab Jeremiah and such extraordinary Persons that had been in the World which concludeth his Consubstantiality with the Father for it had been a monstruous Generation if out of the Father's Bosom had come a Son of another Nature He that was to be born of a Virgin was to be called the Son of the Highest not by reason of a miraculous Conception as pretended by Crollius out of Maldonat the Jesuit but because of an eternal Generation chiefly as also by reason afterwards of a personal Union of both Natures for though upon that account he might also be call'd the Son of God yet that could not intitle him to be the only begotten because he is dear and beloved but he is dear and beloved because the only begotten of the Father Christ the first begotten in respect to adopted Brethren not because their Son-ship is of the same Nature with his but only thus far as Adoption imitateth Nature as Civilians say so their Adoption * 1 Pet. 1.23 and Regeneration is a kind of Imitation of his eternal Generation and to him belong all the Privileges of the First-born and is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the †Colos 1.17 18. Rev. 3.14 beginning of the Creature not passively but actively Christ is called the Beginning of the Creation of God or of all things by him created that is the beginner or the first efficient Cause of all Creatures according to a style used in Scripture when the Thing is set for the Person as when the Jewish Nation is called by the name of ‖ Rom. 4.9 Gal. 2.9 Circumcision the Act for the Agent and the Abstract for the Concret thus Christ is said of God made unto us wisdom righteousness sanctification and redemption that is he makes us wise unto Salvation makes us righteous for he is our Justifier Sanctifier and Redeemer thus he is often called * 1 John 2. and 4.2 the Popitation for our Sins and our Salvation for Propitiatour and Saviour Though there be an infinite difference between Christ's and human Generations yet herein they agree that it imports in him that is begotten a Communication of the Nature of the Begetter it is said of Adam †Gen. 5.3 that he begat a Son in his own likeness after his Image is this to be understood of a like Nature only and not of the same Undisputably he begat him out of his own Substance and his own Nature and no other he communicated unto him well represented by the words in his own likeness and after his image the word Likeness doth not shew any Disparity or Difference but an Equality and Sameness of Nature which here by the by I observe in relation to a thing I shall have occasion to mention about the Honour to be render'd unto Christ that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father for they would have it only to be like but not equal or the same when here Likeness is taken for Sameness and Equality Now as of Seth so we must say of Christ the Son of God as the other was of Adam for as Seth had not been Adam's Son except he were of the same Nature so Christ could not truly and properly be God's Son except he were of the same Nature with the Father Seth was begotten after his Father's Image that is of the same Nature and the Lord Jesus more strongly to shew the Sameness in Nature with the Father which he had in a more eminent way than ever Seth had his from Adam is not said to be after his Father's Image but in more noble expressive and lively Words said to be the express Image
account to be call'd such a Man's Son yet not be his proper Son thus an adopted though he excel never so much above the rest yet that can never make him to be a proper Son To refute some Cavils of theirs one thing more we are again to take notice of upon this matter how the the word God is in Scripture sometimes taken essentially for the most holy Trinity and sometimes personally for one of the Persons as when 't is said * Acts 20.28 God hath purchased his church with his own blood which is meaned our Saviour the second Person of the Godhead In the first sense must be understood those places of Scripture wherein 't is said The name of the Lord is one and there is none besides him there is but one God and others to the same purpose to shew the Oneness of the Nature which as well as they we do affirm but as to teach well one must distinguish well so for want of observing this Rule that which is spoken of the Essence of God they mis-apply it to the Persons and so make a Confusion between things to be distinguished We already proved how the Unity of Nature doth not take away the Trinity of Persons nor the Plurality of Persons destroy the Unity of Nature which Mistake of theirs doth also hold in the Mystery of the Incarnation or of the Word being made Flesh and about our Saviour's Person in whom they confound the Natures so that which is spoken of his Humanity they mis-apply to his Divinity The second Argument whereby Christ is proved to be God's natural Son is drawn from the word only begotten which for greater confirmation is attributed to Christ in several * John 1.18 places wherefore in Scripture Christ is called the Son of God to shew he is the only begotten for that 's the signification of the word and †Heb. 1.2 vers 5. Paul's interpretation of it for he saith Such is the Son to whom only God saith Thou art my son this day have I begotten thee and other places of Scripture By the words God's only begotten Son do all mean Christ only The Adversaries would have him to be called so only in a special manner above the rest as we already have taken notice of in the instance about Isaac whereunto here we shall add that of Solomon which also they made use of called say they * Prov. 4.3 only begotten in the sight of his mother but they must not go about to impose upon us for in the original the word begotten is not in but only which in our Bibles is according to the sense of the place explained by beloved only beloved one may be the only yet not only begotten Son when of many Children one alone is remaining and the rest are dead as to Isaac we already observed he was the only begotten in relation to Sarab by Promise but Christ is so called God's only begotten Son that it was never said to any one else Thou art my Son c. whence we may conclude him so to be God's Son as to be the only begotten of him that is according to his Nature in the word he is properly and absolutely called the only begotten * John 1.14 We beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as is not comparative as only denoting a likeness but as Chrysostomus observes well is expressive of the truth as being really as if one willing to describe a Royal State and Carriage of a King should say as that is in a manner becoming and proper for a King and farther the Evangelist addeth v. 18. The only begotten son which is in the besom of the Father he hath declared him where Christ is called the only begotten 〈◊〉 it being his own proper Name signifying how besides him there is no true natural Son of God again ‖ John 3.16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and * 1 John 4.9 God sent his only begotten son into the world See what a care the Spirit of God hath taken to confirm and make that Truth known how Christ is properly and absolutely God's only begotten Son now he is absolutely only begotten that is not only so called lookt upon and loved as such but that is really so and indeed we know our blessed Saviour is call'd †Joh. 20.17 Brother of his Disciples and of ‖ Heb. 2.17 Believers but not in a proper and strict sense The relation of Brotherhood hath a great latitude for among the Jews Persons belonging to any branch of a Family to a Tribe or to any of the Tribes were call'd Brethren * Gal. 1.19 James and John were call'd the Lord's Brothers and in another sense our Saviour calls †Mat. 12.50 his brother his sister and his mother whosoever shall do the will of God He is our Brother in that he hath taken upon him our human Nature all Men are Brothers in human Nature but Adoption cannot be the ground of his as 't is of our being call'd the Sons of God he is never called adopted as we are neither can he be adopted with us seeing we are adopted in him we are the Branches of the wild Olive-Tree that have been grafted in him who is the true natural Olive-Tree and thereby are become Members of his mystical Body How can our blessed Saviour be called God's only begotten Son if he be not partaker of the same Nature And the more to enforce this in that sâ—â—e Chapter and Verse John 18. 't is added which is in the bosom of the Father can he be in and from the Bosom of the Father and not be of the same Nature All other Children of God are made but this is begotten and only begotten none but he is properly begotten Our Third Argument is taken out of our Saviour's Question to the Pharisees * Mat. 12.41 41 4â— 44. What think ye of Christ whose son is he they say unto him the son of David he saith unto them how then doth David in spirit call him Lord By this way of arguing he shewed how in him besides human Nature there was another namely the divine according to which he by no means might be called David's Son but David's Lord which to the Pharisees proved an unanswerable Argument for upon this same 't is positively said v. 46. and no man was able to answer him a word one would think this should also stop the mouth of Socinians Indeed there the Lord proposeth the Question about the Nature of Christ or the Son whose natural Son he was Whereunto the Pharisees returned an imperfect Answer for only they said he was the Son of David but the Lord Jesus out of Scripture which they could not deny concluded that since he was by David's confession his Lord he must in him have another Nature besides human according to which he might not be called
Surely no man that hath any regard to God can say or think that in so serious a matter God speaks to nothing if to some then either to Angels or to some other Creature not to Angels for they are not of God's Council nor to any other of the Creatures which had neither Soul nor Reason and the next Verse doth decide the thing * Vers 27. So god created man in his own image in the image of God created he him and not after the Image of Angels or of any other Creature neither did God speak to the Souls for as yet they were not created To what I said of Angels I shall add that this could not be spoken to them for they neither principally or instrumentally had any hand in the Creation of Man for they could not the Work of Creation requiring an infinite Power but it must be to the other persons of the most holy Trinity the Word and the Spirit As to the Enallage or that manner of speaking in the plural for Greatness sake we own it hath place in some Languages but we deny it ever was in the Hebrew Tongue in the Old Testament no Man no person in Authority no Priest no Judg no King ever spoke of himself in the plural Number Well hath the Prophet said †Isai 40.12 13.7 Who hath directed the spirit of the Lord or being his counsellor hath taught him But for any one Grotius not excepted to say that the plural Number is used for Greatness or Majesty sake is certainly to prevaricate in the Cause of God for as 't is contrary to the Idiom of the Hebrew Tongue so to the practice of all those former times and it is but a modern Use and Invention which so support some Men contrary to all true Reason have forged in their imagination Besides that in these latter times wherein the Use hath been introduced no Emperor King or Prince in any Language useth his Proper Name or Appellative in the plural Number We Leopolds Williams Henrys Emperors Kings c. but always in the singular Leopold William Emperour King Well though no Man of what rank soever spoke after that way we find God hath in other places as after Adam's Sin * Gen. 3.22 Behold the man is become as one of us not as I but one of us then there is more than One person for God speaks of himself of the Deity not of Angels whom he makes no comparison with when in the Transfiguration the Voice came from Heaven saying †Mat. 17.5 8. This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased 't is observable the Apostles saw no Man save Jesus onely that it might appear it was not spoken of Moses or Elias but only of the Lord Jesus Another place there is also to the same purpose where upon the occasion of the building of the Tower of Babel †Gen. 11.6 7. The Lord said let us go down and there confound their language 't is not said I will but let us go â—â—wn in the plural Number as speaking of many which may not be understood of the Nature which is most singularly One but of the Persons Socinians say to this that though out of this we could prove Plurality yet we must not conclude for a Trinity but the Cavil is vain for 't is enough that the Name of God is in Scripture attributed only to Three Father Son and Holy Ghost to infer a Trinity and 't is well known how Three is the first Number of the plural Hence Hebrews and Greeks do distinguish the plural Number from the dual neither do we read of any more Terms or Words than two of divine Emanations namely of the Son by Generation and of the Holy Ghost by Procession Our second kind of Arguments consists of those Texts of Scripture which do expresly declare a Trinity as is that when our blessed Saviour sends his Apostles to * Mat. 28.19 baptize the Nations in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Hence the Son and Holy Ghost are proved to be Persons because we are distinctly baptised in their Name to baptise in one's Name is to make him disciple or initiate and bring him under the Discipline of him in whose Name he is baptized now if the Father in whose Name we are baptized be a Person so must the Son so must the Holy Ghost be because in every circumstance we are baptized in their Name as well as in the Fathers And observe it is not said in the Name of God whereby the Essence only might absolutely be taken but of the Father Son and Holy Ghost to shew that relative Equality which is between the Persons that have but one and the same Nature In this Text our blessed Saviour with his own Mouth declared the Trinity Another place very plain and positive to our purpose is this * 1 John 5.7 There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the holy Ghost and these three are one Here the Trinity of Persons and Unity of Essence are so clear that the Adversaries have nothing to say but first to call in question the Verse as if it had been inserted because it is not in some Greek Copies out of which the Enemies of the Truth did formerly take it away but we have it in so many others even before the Council of Nice in Cyprian's time that there is no just ground left to doubt of its being true and authentick which place was by Athanasius made use of against Arrius In this Text the Apostle doth treat of confessing and believing Jesus Christ to be the Son of God which he to confirm doth bring in the Article of the holy Trinity whereof he is the second Person and to any one that doth seriously consider the sense and scope of the place it will appear how without that Verse there would be a breach in that part of the Chapter to bear a proportion of Three that bear witness in Heaven with the Three that bear it on Earth Their next Cavil upon this place is upon the latter part of the Verse and these three are one that is say they not in Nature but in Mind and Consent which is as absurd as if one would say when Scripture affirms * Deut. 6 4. Mark 12.29 O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord the meaning is only the Consent of many Wills but doth not this Oneness of Will argue a Unity of Essence For how can there naturally and essentially be one Will and Consent if there be not one Essence and Nature How can it essentially be one Will if there be not one but many divine Natures Rather there shall be many different Gods whose different Wills shall oppose one another than the which nothing can be more absurd Again either those Persons are finite or infinite if finite then they have not divine Nature which is infinite if infinite then
they do penetrate one another for they most perfectly and infinitely know and love one another now Love is an earnest desire of Union so then they be most intirely united The Apostle makes the necessary difference of the Three on Earth he saith they agree in One but of the Three in Heaven he saith they are One. Moreover either one knows something which the other doth not or loves something which the other doth not love or can do something which the other cannot do or not if the former how are they God For God knows and can do all if the last then not only they have one Will but also one Mind one Power one Knowledg one Love Now let Man think upon several Natures of the same kind which mutually do penetrate themselves and by a mutual inclination do embrace and unite themselves inseparably and have the same Thoughts Will and Action doth not all this conclude for one and the same Nature And that there is no difference but in some manner of Existing which because they are such are distinct one from another without Confusion all which from Oneness of Will leads to Oneness of Essence for the Will of God is not a thing different from his Nature Another Text wherein the most holy Trinity is demonstrated and not only may be read but also be heard and seen is that about our Saviour's Baptism where the Father speaks from Heaven and calls him his Son Christ the Son is baptized and the Holy Ghost appears in the shape of a Dove if Men do believe Scripture this they must believe to be true S. Austin lookt upon this Text as a strong and convincing Proof of that divine and essential Truth Vade ad Jordanem c. saith he Go to the River Jordan and there thou shalt find the holy Trinity and be convinced of the Verity thereof Besides these we have a Cloud of other Witnesses to prove this Truth where the Three Persons are mentioned under their proper Names and first * Acts 2.22 23. This Jesus being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost the Three Persons are plainly named Again the same Jesus Christ was declared †Rom. 1.3 4. to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness Elsewhere the same Apostle saith ‖ Tit. 3.4 5 6. God saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ And in another place ‡ Gal. 4.6 God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts by the word God is meaned the Person of the Father * Heb. 9.14 How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offereth himself without spot to God Furthermore †Ephes 2.18 Through him Christ we both have an access by one spirit unto the Father Our blessed Saviour himself out of his own sacred Mouth doth plainly and positively speak to this purpose when he saith * John 14.16.17 I will pray the Father and he will give you another comforter the Father I the Son and the comforter whom he calls the Spirit of Truth are Three Persons which in the next Chapter †Chap. 15 26. is by him repeated But when the Comforter is come whom I will send to you from the Father even the Spirit of truth One Text more I shall bring to confirm this * 2 Cor. 13.14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God that is the Father and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all And in the Text of another Apostle †1 Pet. 1.2 are contained the Workings of the Three Persons in the Trinity Elect according to the fore knowledg of God the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ As the New Testament is full of Proofs to confirm this holy Doctrine for indeed these Mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation are more clearly and fully therein related so out of the Old Testament we have enough to confute the Enemies of this Truth and because we look upon Socinians in their Principles to be a sort of Jews and as well as they Blasphemers against our holy and blessed Saviour so we will bring such Arguments against them as we would if we were disputing against unbelieving Jew◠only a few Texts out of many We begin with the Book of Genesis Chap. 1. wherein is contained a relation of the History of the Creation which is a Work common to the Three Persons of the Trinity and though we may not look upon it as the clearer upon the matter yet in it is Light enough to shew the Truth we now assert I shall say nothing of the Name God under that of Elohim which already we have spoken of as representing the plurality of Persons in the most holy Trinity but we may say that though the Name God was there which it is not in the singular and taken for the Person of the Father yet the Son had a hand in the act of Creation for it is God said here is the word which is the proper Name of the Son our Lord Jesus Christ who in Scripture especially by S. John is so often called by that Name the Word God saying and speaking is that which made the World We read God said when any thing was created which being compared with what is spoken by John * John 1.3 All things were made by him that is the Word the Person of Jesus Christ for actiones sunt suppositorum acting is proper to Persons and without him was not any thing made that was made now that Word God said is that which created every thing so then here is the Person of the Son but we also find the Person of the Holy Ghost Gen. 1.2 the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters by his acting represented by motion to cherish give life and motion to things as a Hen doth when sitting upon her Eggs for the word in the Original signifies such a thing This sense is given by a competent Interpreter †Psal 33.6.9 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host thereof by the breath of his mouth Here we can read distinctly the Lord if it were to be understood only of the first Person about which there is no dispute the Word and the Breath or Spirit this though it be clear I could set in a greater Light with comparing it with other places which I now forbear to do because I shall have occasion to make use of them in some other branch of my Discourse Another Text is this * Isai 42.1 Behold my servant whom I uphold mine elect in whom my soul delighteth I have put my spirit upon him besides the Person that speaks namely the Father here we have the Son under the name