accidentally so for such Accidents have their degrees for they say Christ during his whole Life was not a perfect God or a perfect Lord and by these means Christ's Excellency was greater for being Man than for being God for to be a Man is to be a Substance but to be a God is after that rate to be an Accident but every Substance is more excellent than its Accident Nay they grow worse and worse for as they would not have him to have been a God from the beginning so at last they will have him to cease from being a God for if Christ be called true God only by virtue of that Power he hath over Believers and in that respect only to be worshipped as true God then after the last day he will be God no longer for then he shall be deprived of that Power when he shall have deliver'd up the Kingdom unto God even the Father which Text I shall elsewhere have occasion to explain so that he shall be reduced to the common condition of other Believers and have no Advantage over any of them O take notice what a God they make Christ to be for every Believer could be such a God No Man of sound mind can't but see such an Absurdity Impiety and Blasphemy Here farther we could shew that as Socinians own not Christ to be true God so they deny him to be true Man because they say the Body he had of the blessed Virgin is gone under the notion That Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God They also teach the Soul of Man doth not subsist by it self as Socinus * pag. 79. taught against Puccius So according to them Christ such as he was is gone and perished both in Body and Soul this I take notice of only by the way to come to other things The Name God is spoke substantively and subjectively not only predicatively of Christ for if it be not necessary it should substantively be taken of him then neither adjectively for the Name God is also predicatively taken of the true God as †1 Kings 18.21 if the Lord be God follow him and so in other places When in Scripture the Name of God is given Christ we do not mind so much the Word as the Person signifi'd by the Word who is God blessed for ever to be adored whereby is meaned the true God though it be spoken by way of Attribute What Socinus saith is false how when the word God is spoken subjectively it never signifieth Christ as it appears out of several Texts First The Lord of Hosts is sent by the Lord of hosts the words of the Lord of Hosts are related thus by the Angel * Zech. 2.8 10 11. after the glory hath he sent me to the nations after his Glorification and he that says so adds for lo I come and will dwell in the midst of thee saith the Lord which is the proper Character of the Messiah who to that purpose is call'd †Hagg. 2.7 the desire of all nations and only in the time of the Messiah after his Resurrection all * Nations were by the Apostles call'd to believe Here out of that place of Haggai one thing I must observe which is the Comparison made by the Prophet between the first Temple and the second wherein the Preference is given to the last for therein 't is said not only and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of hosts but also in the next Verse but one the glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former I ask wherein could this greater Glory consist Not in the Stateliness and Magnificence of the Building wherein the last was much inferiour to the first as God by the Mouth of the same Prophet declareth it when he saith Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory And how do you see it now Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing v. 3. in so much that many of the priests and Levites and chief of the Fathers who were antient men that had seen the first house Ezra 3.12 when the foundation of the last was laid before their eyes wept with a loud voice As indeed what a proportion could there be between a Temple built by a poor remnant of a long Captivity who for Means to do 't were beholding to Heathenish Princes and who met with so much Opposition in the carrying on their design from open and secret Enemies I say what a Proportion could such a House hold with the Temple of Solomon towards the building whereof David had for several years before made so rich and great Provisions which his Son the most glorious King that ever sate upon the Throne of Israel did so much increase and erected a Temple which for Magnificence and Riches was a Wonder of the World So then the Glory of the second Temple could not upon any such account be greater than that of the first nor in reference to the Manifestation of God's Presence in the Ark at the Mercy-Seat between the Cherubims and of the Cloud which fill'd the whole House more conspicuous in the first than in the second Temple wherein then could this Glory consist Our Prophet declares it And I will shake all nations and the desire of all nations shall come and I will fill this house with glory saith the Lord of Hosts I take it to be beyond all Dispute that by the desire of all Nations the Messiah the Lord Jesus is understood who came whilst the second Temple was yet standing Christ the Messiah is called the desire of all Nations he whom all Nations were to desire because according to the Promise unto Abraham in him all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed Blessedness is certainly a thing most desireable It was then his Presence that made its Glory greater than the former's for things in the first Temple did but represent him and were the Shadow and Figures whereof he was the Body and the Truth Solomon thô never so glorious was by no means to be compared with him as he plainly declared it to the Scribes Mat. 12.22 Behold a greater than Solomon is here According to all human appearances Solomon being every way compassed about with Glory was beyond expression greater than Christ a Person persecuted and derided by most Men chiefly by the great ones of the World and if we must speak of Gifts Solomon was glorious not only in Riches and Honour but also great in Wisdom for his wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the East country 1 Kings 4.30 31. and all the wisdom of Egypt for he was wiser than all men yet for all this Christ saith in Wisdom he was greater than he Matt. 12.42 which could never have been if he had been a meer Man in that respect every thing was against him therefore that preference can have no human ground it must
't is not appellative or common but proper for if it were not so God would not absolutely be one for that is common which belongs to many and proper that which belongs only to one and the Name of one only thing must needs be proper since Scripture teaches us there is but one God the Name of God must needs be proper and farther when a Name doth of it self belong to one and to others in relation only to that same one it must be accounted to be that one 's proper Name thus the Name of God of it self belongs to God alone not in relation to any thing else but to others it belongs only in relation to the only True God and as the Word God spoken of the True God is as already said taken Essentially or personally so is the Name Father either for the Essence of God or for the first Person of the Trinity now the Person is taken either abstractively or concretively when we say the Word God is taken personally we do not mean abstractively or separately from but concretively or joyntly with the Essence so the Name Father is taken either essentially or personally in the first manner when in the Lord's Prayer we say our Father and personally when in the Creed we say I believe in God the Father Thus far we in these matters do agree with the Adversaries that there is but One God and that * Isai 42.8 he gives not his Name and Glory to another for to whom God doth communicate the Honor of his Name and Titles to the same he thereby imparts his Glory Now there is a Name of God proper and another appellative this is given to the Creatures and 't is either properly or figuratively in the first Sence the Word is not always to be understood to be the absolute Being but a relative one as when some Nation doth through Error and Idolatry name to herself some Divinity or other in this Sense God and People are relatives so the Name God taken in the predicament of Relation and not in that of Substance may properly be spoken of a Creature thus I speak properly when I say Chamos is the God of the Moabites and Malcom of the Ammonites but when I come to examine the Opinion of those Nations it is very true that they are the Gods of such Nations but 't is not true that they are Gods in Nature and Substance they are but erroneously look'd upon as Gods by such Nations so this is not a substantial and absolute Truth only Relative which the Adversaries may not affirm of the Son and of the Holy Ghost as being feigned and invented Gods between which the Word of God makes a difference †1 Thess 1.9 Ye turned to God from Idols to serve the living and true God Now the figurative signification is when by reason of some likeness God's Name is attributed to some Creatures ‖ Psal 8. thus Angels are called Elohim and * Job 1.6 Sons of God by reason of the Excellency of their Nature Magistrates are called †Psal 82.6 Gods and Sons of God upon the account of the Dignity of their Office But here the Case is very different the question is Whether the Name of God be properly or improperly and figuratively attributed to the Son and to the Holy Ghost I mean the Name taken appellatively denoting in him that is so called the Divine Nature and Essence Socinians though they be brazen-fac'd enough yet not to that degree as to say that the Persons of the Son and Holy Ghost are called God only by way of Figure but they cavil that the Word signifies not a Nature but an Office so the proper signification of the Word they extend to Angels and Magistrates as if the Word God signified Governour Preserver and Benefactor c. but before their Heresy broke out no Man ever taught so then no Language gives that Sence to the Word for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek signifies the Nature for some accounted to be Gods are false ones * Gal. 4.8 which by nature are not Gods and Philosophers reckoned the Gods of the Heathens amongst the Animals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking and rational and the Hebrew Word Elohah doth certainly properly signify the Nature as being given to the supreme Being which is so called not relatively but absolutely when to the first Man the common Name is attributed he is not simply called Adam till that became his proper Name Now as to the Origin or Etymology of the Word 't is falsly deduced from the signification of governing helping and preserving but truly from the Notion of the word Worship and Adoration we must not think that our first Parents were so wanting in their Piety towards their Maker whom they worshipped so devoutly to call him by a common Name proper to Creatures as if afterwards it had been attributed to him by way of Excellency And is it likely that God had been so wanting in what related to his Honor as being himself the Author of the Hebrew Tongue the Knowledge whereof he infused into Adam and Eve as not to provide a Name proper to distinguish his own Nature For having instituted for himself a Religious Worship and Adoration he must need also have declared a proper Name incommunicable to any Creature whatsoever Now the Name of God is given the Son not only attributively †Joh. 1.1 the word was God and ‖ Rom. 9.13 Christ God blessed for ever but also subjectively * 1 Tim 3.16 God was manifested in the flesh and * Acts 20.28 God purchased his church with his own blood even in the Old Testament †Psal 97.6 7. The heavens declare his righteousness and all the people see his glory c. Worship him all ye gods Now the Adversaries do confess that as often as the Name of God is spoken subjectively as they call it it signifies a Substance and Person but of God the Father of Christ still they own it signifies a Substance and Person of the Godhead but why only of the Father of Christ that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meerly their Opinion without any Proof As to that which they say about the Article in the Greek I shewed already it is an idle Distinction for out of some places of Scripture I shewed how the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the true God is sometimes with an Article and sometimes without as * 1 Tim. 3.16 God was manifest in the flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Thomas †Joh. 20.28 my Lord and my God he spoke to one whom he knew was to be worshipped with religious worship and he own'd it so yet Scripture commands and often repeats that the Lord our God alone is to be worshipped which our Saviour Christ confirmed * Mat. 4.10 with his own Mouth and Paul †Gal. 4.8 after him and
which saith Acts 14.15 Chap. 17.24 26. in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth which is certainly the same as created so God made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all things that are therein And God that made the world and all things therein Again and hath made of one blood all Nations of Men c. So he is a great stranger to Scripture who denies to Make the World and to Create the World not to be the same so seeing this shift cannot hold they betake themselves to another which is that God made the world by Christ as aâ—â— instrumental cause but that sort of men will go about overturning Heaven and Earth rather than to depart from their damnable opinions for what can they ground upon this instrumentality of Christ For the preposition by signifieth no such thing as it appears out of the following places Gal. 1.1 Eph. 1.1.1 Cor. 1.9 Rom. 11.36 Heb. 2.10 Paul an Apostle not of men nor by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father And Paul an Apostle of Jesus by the will of God Also God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Elsewhere for of him and through or by him and to him are all things Furthermore for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things c. No sign in these or many more places of the word by signifying any instrumental Cause God by whom are all things Colos 1.17 never made the world by and instrument but by his word who not only in Dignity but also in nature and time is before all things The adversaries cannot upon any rational grounds prove that the Apostle meant the world to come but we want no good reasons to shew how the Creation of the world is to be understood for first 't is neither the idiom of the Jews nor the stile of Scripture by the world to understand the future for out of these words of verse 10. And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth Heb. 1.10 out of Psal 102.25 and the heavens are the work of thine hands I see no cause why the Creation of the world should not be understood rather than the beginning of the Gospel the ancient earth rather than the new one and the old Heavens rather than the new The more because when the Apostle intends to speak of the world to come he plainly saith it when he speaks of those that have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come Chap. 6.5 Chap. 2.5 So he doth when he saith unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come So when he hath a mind to say a thing he well knows how to express it Moreover if he had said in the present he males not in the praeter tense he might have left some thing more of liberty thereby to understand the future for speaking in the time past he shews how he doth speak of those ages which the praeter tense doth fit better than the future Furthermore the worlds or ages in the plural is more proper for ancient times than for that which is to come for this world hath had several ages and shall continue to have till the last day but after that the world to come shall last for ever and be all Eternity without end And when Scripture doth by the name world signifie the future not only it doth add a distinction as whosoever shall for Christ's sake leave all Mark 10.29 30. Luke 18.30 shall in the world to come have life everlasting But also ever speaketh in the singular number the reason is because this world hath several ages and that which is to come shall have but one Besides I must say how the Apostle understands the world which God already had made and not that which he was to make by his Son that which was made had a being but that which was to be made had none so we must conclude he spoke of things that were and not of that which was not Now that the Lord Jesus as principal and efficient cause made the world and so that the word beginning is to be understood of the Creation it appears out of this Heb. 1.1 2. God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son which our Saviour represented before by the parable of the Vineyard and the Husbandmen Maâ—â— â—1 33 This Son he hath appointed heir of all things by whom he made the worlds Angels are called only God's Ministers but Christ is called the Son the first begotten not made upon which account the Author of the Epistle affirms the Son reaâ—lâ— and truly to be God and proves it out of Psal 45.6 7. Thy throne O God is for ever and ever And this the Apostle still speaking of the same proves by his having created the world v. 10. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the sound dation of the earth Observe how the word beginning is meant of the Creation of the world which is attributed to the Son 't is added and the heavens are the works of thine hands which must necessarily be understood in a literal sence of the Creation of the world and not of the new Creation of things by the Gospel out of what follows v. 11. They shall perish c. and be changed c. This shall be the fate of the natural world which cannot be said of the work of Regeneration or new Creation The word was in the beginning 1 Joh. 1.1 which is the same with from the beginning as expressed by the same Apostle that is of the time of the Creation when things began to be made that is from Eternity by these phrases before the world was and before the Foundation of the world the first born of every Creature that is before any thing was created Col. 1.15 16. as appears by the reason given in the next words For by him were all things created c. For he could not be before himself and had created himself which is absurd In the place 't is explained he is before all things in time or dignity because the maker is always in time before the thing which he made This head we shall conclude with the following Text 1 Cor. 8.6 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 Here the Apostle upon the occasion of eating things offered unto Idols saith that an Idol is nothing in the world though it be called God as many things are called Gods and Lords yet in reallity are not so the names of God and Lord do properly belong only to the true God whom he here opposeth to things falsely