can do as the Scribes and Pharisees argued truly tho' they misapplied it with respect to our Saviour To these Things I might add the Miracles wrought by him which did also attest his Divinity because he did them by his own Power the raising himself from the dead sending the Holy Ghost upon his Disciples and enabling them to do the same miraculous Works as he himself had done 4. We are to give Divine Worship to the Son the same that is due to the Father Our Saviour in saying to his Disciples Ye believe in God Joh. 14.1 believe also in me doth teach them that he is an Object of Faith and Worship equally with God the father and tells them that all men should honour the son Chap. 5.23 as they honour the father The same is requir'd of the Angels too Heb. 1.6 in those Words which the Apostle quotes out of the Psalms Let all the angels of God worship him And yet that is an Eternal Law which our Saviour mentions Mat. 4.10 Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Therefore to say nothing of the Apostles refusing Worship several times from others because they were but Men when St. John through some Mistake went about to worship an Angel that spake to him two several times Rev. 19.10 Chap. 22.8 9. he charges him strictly not to do it because he was but the Servant of God and the best of Creatures even Christ himself in his Human Nature is no more and referrs him to the true and only Object of Worship which is God But we read of many worshipping our Saviour upon different Occasions without any Prohibition from him and amongst others his own Disciples did it both before and after his Resurrection yet they received not the least Check for it neither did our Saviour at any other time caution them against it or give them any Hint that he was displeas'd with it tho' he did ever most freely instruct warn and reprove them as there was Cause for it And can it be said our Saviour was less zealous for the Honour of God than the Angel that appeared to St. John Or was there a Dispensation granted to the World to worship a Creature during our Saviour's Ministry which was not allow'd either before or after it No the Adversaries to the Doctrine of the Trinity have a Fetch beyond this That Christ was made God and is therefore to be worshipp'd But what is made cannot be truly God because Eternity doth necessarily belong to his Nature and whatever is made is a Creature and Servant to him that made it and therefore is not to receive Divine Worship as the Angel argues But our Saviour being the True and Eternal God as well as Man did not only suffer such Worship to be given to him but hath taught us that it is a General Duty as was said before and therefore when St. Stephen had a Vision of him a little before his Death Acts 7.59 60. he kneeled down and pray'd to him to receive his Spirit and to forgive his Murderers I have now said what I thought necessary to prove the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour and have been the larger and more particular upon it because the Belief of the Trinity doth mainly depend upon this Proof I shall therefore be very brief in speaking to what follows 3. The Holy Ghost is also the Great and Most High God as appears by the very same Arguments which prove the Divinity of the Word or Son before-mention'd taken from the Names Properties Works and Worship of God 1. The Names of God are given to him He is called God by St. Peter Acts 5.3 4. speaking to Ananias in these Words Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lye to the Holy Ghost Thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God And by St. Paul when he saith 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you Which Words plainly shew that the Spirit or the Holy Ghost is that God which dwells in his People Yea the incommunicable Name Jehovah is also given to him Numb 12.6 God saith If there be a Prophet among you I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream But this Lord or Jehovah is to be understood of the Holy Ghost as appears from the Words of St. Peter 2 Pet. 1.21 The prophecy came not in old times by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2. The Properties or Perfections of God are ascrib'd to him as his Eternity Heb. 9.14 where it is said Christ offered himself to God through the eternal spirit His Infinity is suppos'd in those Words of the Apostle Rom. 8.9 Ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his For that Spirit which may be in all Men must be every where present And that the Holy Ghost is so the Psalmist also intimates when he says Ps 139.7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence His Omniscience is asserted also by St. Paul in these Words 1 Cor. 2.10 The spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God 3. The Works of God are attributed to the Holy Ghost for Job saith by his spirit he hath garnished the heavens Job 26.13 and the Psalmist that by him he hath made all the host of them Ps 33.6 And our Saviour intimates Mat. 12.28 that he cast out devils by his power as well as his own To which I might add if it were necessary his inspiring the Prophets appointing Bishops and other Ministers in the Church enduing many of them with miraculous Gifts sanctifying our Souls adopting us to be the Children of God c. 4. The Worship of God is also given to him St. Paul calling him to witness what he is about to say Rom. 9.1 doth acknowledge his Omniscience and perform an Act of Divine Worship to him And he prays to Him together with the Father and the Son in that Blessing which concludes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians and so makes the Three Persons of the Trinity equally Objects of Divine Worship as every Christian doth also by receiving Baptism in their Names I have now shew'd you that every One of these Three mention'd in my Text is the Great and Most High God and the Proofs I have cited for that Purpose are so plain and convincing that many who were not willing to own the Doctrine of the Trinity and yet could not resist the Evidence of these and other Scriptures to the same Purpose have thought that these Terms the Father Son and Holy Ghost were but so many several Names to signifie the
same Person Therefore to remove this Mistake and to give a farther Confirmation to the Truth I have been asserting 2. I am come to shew that these are not different Names of the same Person but Three Subsistences or Persons really distinct from one another And the very Design of the Apostle in this Place is enough to prove it for he brings them in as Three Witnesses of the Messias which Three Names cannot be in the Sense which is here intended So our Saviour speaking of the Father's Testimony concerning him Joh. 5.32 faith There is another that beareth witness of me and he afterwards tells his Hearers who he is in these Words The father himself which hath sent me Ver. 37. hath born witness of me And again Chap. 8.16 c. If I judge my judgment is true for I am not alone but I and the father that sent me It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true I am one that bear witness of my self and the father that sent me beareth witness of me Chap. 16.32 And he further tells his Disciples Behold the hour cometh yea is now come that ye shall be scatter'd every one to his own and shall leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the father is with me We see therefore that the Father and the Son are Two distinct Persons and that the Holy Ghost is a Person distinct from both of them is evident from those Words of our Saviour John 14.16 17. I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you for ever even the spirit of truth c. where Three Persons are distinctly express'd with different Actions belonging to each of them the Son prays the Father answers his Prayer and gives his Disciples another Comforter who shall always abide with them So these Three are express'd in the Form of Baptism the Apostolical Benediction and in several other Places of Scripture And it is absurd to think our Saviour requires us to be baptiz'd into Three Names and that the Apostle in blessing the Church would use Three Names with particular Distinctions to each of them if he intended but One Person 3. I proceed therefore to shew what Relation these Three Persons have to each other And as to the Father and the Son their very Names suppose that the One hath his Being from the Other not as if he were made by him for then he could not be Eternal and therefore not Truly God but as proceeding from him by Eternal Generation And hence he is called the Brightness of his Father's Glory the Word of God c. The Holy Ghost hath his Being both from the Father and the Son as eternally proceeding from them For our Saviour tells his Disciples Joh. 14.26 That he proceeds from the Father that he himself will send him and that the Father will send him in his Name Chap. 15.26 And St. Paul calls him the Spirit of Christ and of the Son Rom. 8.9 Therefore we have the same Reason to believe the Spirit proceeds from the Son Gal. 4.6 as from the Father As the Relation therefore between the Father and the Son is founded upon that Eternal Generation by which the Son hath his Being from the Father so the Relation of the Holy Ghost to them both is founded upon that Eternal Spiration whereby he hath his Being from them But what this Generation and this Spiration is as also the manner of each Person 's subsisting distinctly in the same Divine Nature I may say with the Prophet Isaiah who shall declare it Isa 53.8 4. I am to prove That these Three are One God And this is evident from all those Places of Scripture where God is said to be but One Deut. 6.4 Chap. 4.35 Isa 45.5 As Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one Lord. Vnto thee it was shew'd that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God there is none else besides him I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides me There is one God and Father of all Eph. 4.6 who is above all and through all and in you all c. To which we may add that our Saviour several times affirms that He and the Father are One and that He is in the Father and the Father in Him And as this Unity of the Godhead is so plainly asserted in Holy Scriptures so it is also taught by the Law of Nature for what is Infinite and Omnipotent can be but One for it is against the Nature of Infinity to be in more and if One can do all things there is no need of any other Therefore it was the Opinion of the wisest Heathens that there is but One God tho' they suffer'd the People who were fond of Superstitions to worship many Thus we see the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Nature is plainly asserted in many Scriptures so that it these Words of my Text had been quite lost through the Malice of Hereticks the Mistake of Transcribers or any other Accident the Doctrine contain'd in them would fully appear in the Places before-mention'd and many others For as often as the Scripture attributes to each of these Three the Names Properties Works or Worship of God it asserts them to be so many Divine Persons and where ever it affirms there is but One God it teaches us that these Three are One And therefore we may justly wonder so much Offence hath been taken by some Men at several Expressions in the Athanasian Creed as The Father is God the Son is God and the Holy Ghost is God and yet they are not Three Gods but One God c. These Expressions they are bold to charge with Contradiction and yet they cannot deny that the Scripture plainly asserts the same many times over and therefore they would do well to consider upon whom this Charge of Contradictions must light And their Boldness is the greater not only for the Plainness of Revelation in this Case and the Greatness and Excellency of the Subject so treated by them but because it is far above the Judgment of their Reason For a Man must understand the Nature of an Infinite Mind or Spirit and what is the true Notion of different Hypostases or Persons in that Nature before he can say it is a Contradiction to assert them Therefore they would better employ their Reason in finding out such Contradictions they are sit to judge of and I will put them in mind what looks very like one and that is to acknowledge the Divine Authority of the Scriptures and yet deny some Doctrines plainly deliver'd in them because they cannot understand the manner of those things that are asserted by them and tho' they say they do understand it yet this shews their Boldness and Ignorance the more when we know the wisest of them will be easily puzzl'd about
so many different Names of the same Person but Three Subsistences or Persons really distinct from one another 3. I shall shew what Relation they have to each other 4. I shall prove that these Three are One God 1. Every One of these is the Great and Most High God 1. The Father is so but I need not say any thing to prove this because it is acknowledged by those who deny the Trinity that all the Glorious Titles Perfections and Works of the Deity are attributed to him and that to him belongs Divine Honour and Worship from his Creatures That he is an Infinite and Eternal Being Glorious in Holiness and Fearful in Praises a God of all Power and Might Truth and Righteousness Wisdom and Goodness in a word that of Him and through Him and to Him are all Things Therefore I proceed 2. To speak of the Word or the Son who also is God in the same Sense with the Father as will abundantly appear to all unprejudiced Men from the Names by which he is call'd the Perfections ascrib'd to him the Works he is said to do and the Honour and Worship which all Intelligent Creatures are requir'd to give him in the Holy Scriptures 1. The Names he is called by as the Name of God Jehovah the Son of God and the Word The Name of God is very frequently given to Christ both in the Old and New Testament The Psalmist speaking of him Ps 49.6 says Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever and the Prophet Isaiah calls him the mighty God Isa 9.6 St. Thomas plainly owns his Divinity in these Words Joh. 20.28 My Lord and my God When St. Luke says of the Jews they stoned Stephen calling upon God Acts 7.59 and saying Lord Jesus receive my spirit he teaches us that Jesus is the God he prayed to And St. Paul in exhorting the Elders of Ephesus to feed the Church of God Acts 20.28 which he hath purchased with his own Blood doth assure us that the same Person who shed his Blood for us upon the Cross is the God of the Church Rom. 9.5.1 Tim. 3.16.1 Joh. 5.20 This Apostle tells us also of Christ that he is over all God blessed for ever and that God was manifest in the Flesh And St. John affirms of him that he is the true God Now if it be said of one or two of these Places that the word God is not in some ancient Copy or Version this Omission might easily happen through the Mistake of a Transcriber and ought not to be accounted any Prejudice to those Places seeing they are entire in all other Copies And tho' some object that the Name of God is given to Magistrates in the Scripture and therefore doth not prove the Divinity of Christ they ought to see that it is applied to him after a very different manner and with such Distinctions as cannot belong to any Creature For what Christian durst ever call a Magistrate my God as St. Thomas calls our Saviour or say he is God blessed for ever or the true and mighty God as the Scripture terms him The Name Jehovah which is the incommunicable Name of the Great God is also given to him Those Words Psal 102.25 Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of thy hands are applied to Christ Heb. 1.10 and yet the same Person of whom they are spoken is called Jehovah no less than seven or eight times in that Psalm The Prophet Isaiah speaking of Christ and his Forerunner saith Chap. 40.3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make strait in the desart a high-way for our God There is no question but the Person whose Way John the Baptist who is here meant by him that cries in the wilderness was to prepare was Christ the Son of God therefore it is he whom the Prophet calls not only our God but the Lord that is Jehovah in the 2d and 5th Verses of that Chapter But the Prophet Jeremiab is yet more express when speaking of the Messias as a righteous branch and a King that should descend from David Chap. 23. he says Ver. 6. In his days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord our Righteousness A Place sufficient one would think of it self to satisfie any that Christ is the True and Eternal God were it not obscur'd a little by the Repetition of it with some difference Chap. 33.16 where it is in our Translation This is the name wherewith she shall be called The Lord our Righteousness And some Interpreters understand it in the same Sense as if this Name was applied here to Jerusalem or the Church and from hence some conclude it is not the incommunicable Name of God and that nothing more is said of Christ in the Place before-mentioned than of the Church in this Now how well the Words in the Original will bear that Interpretation I shall not determine but I think they are very capable of another which hath been also given them by some Learned Men namely this And he who shall call her that is Jerusalem before-mention'd is the Lord our Righteousness And tho' there is some difference in the Hebrew between this and the other Place yet the Authors of the several Learned Versions taking the Sense to be the same in both do not only apply this to the Messias but render it in the same Words as they do the other with very little Alteration in any of them And if we allow of that Interpretation which applies this Name to Jerusalem yet it can belong to it no otherwise than as the Church hath a Relation to him and is Interested in his Righteousness who is properly call'd by it The Name of the Son of God as it is given to Christ and is to be understood of his Only-begotten Son as he is sometimes call'd is a further Proof of his Divinity For this denotes a more Eminent Relation than that which belongs to his Human Nature either from his Conception or his Resurrection from the Dead For tho' he was conceiv'd by the immediate Power and Operation of the Holy Ghost and for this Reason is sometimes call'd the Son of God yet we cannot say he had much the Advantage of Adam in this who by the same efficient Cause was formd out of the Dust of the Ground as Christ was of the Substance of the Virgin and therefore Adam is call'd the Son of God in a peculiar Sense distinct from that Relation which other good Men have to him Luke 3.38 The Holy Angels have also the same Relation to God for this Reason who made them eminently Partakers of his own Nature and constituted them in a State of Happiness and Immortality And tho' our Saviour was made the Son of God in another Respect by his Resurrection from the Dead as Saint Paul