that it might appear that these Saints were but Men. Elijah stretcheth himself upon the child three several times and cries to the Lord. Elisha not being able to do any thing by the Ministry of his Servant comes himself into the room where the Child was The Prophet lyes upon the Child and puts his Mouth to the Childs Mouth and his Eyes upon the Childs Eyes and his Hands upon the Childs Hands trying to restore Life and Heat to the Child but for all this the desired Effect doth not follow he goes up and comes down and after having several times stretched himself upon the Child at last by the Blessing of God the Child begins to shew some signs of Life Was this the way our Saviour took to raise the Dead Being touched with Compassion for the Widow of Naim whose only Son was carried forth to be buried our Saviour saith to the Dead Mar. 5.41 Young Man arise and that word did the thing without any more ado neither said he more in raising to Life the Daughter of the Ruler of the Synagogue but Damsel arise and Lazarus was raised with this word Lazarus come forth There is no need to insist upon the Resurrections wrought by the Disciples of our Lord for they being performed in his Name were to be attributed only to the Efficacy of his Virtue Besides these particular Resurrections which prove the Omnipotence of our Lord we ought also to consider that he attributes to himself the Resurrection of all Believers All he did here upon Earth was but a Scantling of what he shall do one day by commanding Death to give up her dead after that their dissipated Dust hath been carried by the Wind to the utmost Corners of the Universe He that believes in me saith he hath eternal life and I will raise him at the last day Is this the Stile of a Creature Pursuant to this Promise several times repeated in the Gospel St. Paul saith to the Philippians as if he would prove to them that Christ is equal to God his Father that Jesus Christ shall change our vile Bodies and make them conform also to his glorious Body by that power whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself Phil. 3.21 See here the Omnipotence of our Saviour exprest with the greatest plainness that may be In the second place I asserted that Christ had created the World He hath created all that we see and all that we do not see for he is the Creator both of Angels and Men the Creator of all things without him nothing was made that was made Let us make use of St. Paul's Expressions For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth Col. 1.16 visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him These words are so full and strong and are alone sufficient to prove that our Lord is equal in power with his Father The last Attribute wherewith we evince the equality which St. Paul attributes to our Saviour or rather which our Saviour attributes to himself is that of Mercy We can no sooner have any little knowledge of the Mystery of our Redemption by Jesus Christ but we must acknowledge that our Redeemer is merciful in a manner that doth not belong to any but God Was it not he himself think we to whom Moses said The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious Exod. 33. 34. This great Lawgiver had a desire to see God I beseech thee said Moses shew me thy glory and God's answer was I will make all my goodness pass before thee where by the way we may observe to our great comfort that the Lord intimates to us that his Goodness is his great Glory And afterwards he informs Moses that no Man can look God in the Face Thou shalt see my back parts saith he but my face shall not be seen What may be the meaning of this Expression The Interpreters are generally agreed that this signifies that God cannot be seen but by and in his Works and that the Mysterious Reasons of his Conduct are not discerned Thus far this Explication is plausible enough but yet this is not enough except they comprehend in these his Works the Works of Grace Indeed those are chiefly here intended I will make all my goodness pass before thee Wherein I pray consists all the goodness of God Why it is all concentred in the Mystery of the Death of Christ When Moses had a glimpse of this Infinite Goodness when the Crucified Jesus was pourtray'd before the Eyes of Moses then it was that he cry'd out saying The Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth And indeed who would not do as much at the view tho a distant one of the Mercy of the Son of God who being in the Form of God nevertheless emptied himself Christ's Mercy alone is sufficient to demonstrate him to be the true God God only is good in that manner because he who said to our Lord Good master what shall I do to have eternal life did not comprehend this Truth Our Lord saith to him Why callest thou me good There is none good but God thou who dost not know that I am God why dost thou call me good Yet our Lord who very well knew his own Rights gives himself that Title I am the good shepherd saith he in the Tenth Chapter of St. John according to the Principle of our Saviour himself it might have been told him Why dost thou call thy self good there is none good but God but knowing very well what he was he made himself equal with God in goodness The whole Gospel is full of the Traces of that Mercy which our Saviour hath exercised in chief You have already seen this in that he pardons sins not as Ministers do by way of Declaration but as God by an absolute and independent Authority The manner of St. Paul's wishing Grace is also an evident proof of this Truth Grace be unto you and peace from God our father and from the Lord Jesus Christ This is the common Seal of St. Paul's Epistles by which he renders an Authentick Witness to our Saviour's Divinity The Christians who had been Educated in the Jewish Religion and thereby accustomed to hear nothing more frequently spoken of than the Blessing the Peace and the Grace of God could not understand it otherwise An Apostle would have been better advis'd than to wish them Grace proceeding elsewhere than from God This Grace alone is sufficient for us The Scripture never tell us of the Grace of Angels or of Men. Where is there any mention made in form of wishing the Grace of Abraham or that of Moses or St. Peter or St. Paul The Church lives only by the Grace of God insomuch that this Salutation The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you is an
they were infected before their Conversion Gal. 4.8 he tells them they served those things which by nature were no gods It is then according to St. Paul's Judgment a great Sin to serve that which is not God by Nature If therefore I find that St. Paul obligeth me to worship any Being I may have good reason according to the Opinion we have of him to conclude That this Adorable Being is God and God too by his Nature For it is not lawful for us to worship any Being save God alone Let us learn this from the Revelations that Book wherewith the Holy Ghost hath been pleased as it were to seal up the New Testament He that preacheth this Doctrine is an Angel one of those Spirits that are well inform'd how things are carried in Heaven I say it is an Angel that teacheth us that God alone is to be worshipped Rev. 22.9 St. John falls down to worship before the feet of the Angel See thou do it not saith he And why not for adds he I am thy fellow servant Conclude we then That whatsoever is bound to worship God cannot be an Object of Adoration Who then is it that we are to adore Worship God saith the Angel God only deserves the honour of Adoration under the New Testament as well as under the Old There is no solid Reasoning in the world if after having established this Principle I may not conclude thence that our Blessed Saviour is God with respect to one of his Natures seeing the Gospel makes it our Duty to worship him Will it be necessary to prove that this Adoration is a Worship practis'd and prescrib'd by the Apostles Why we need but open the Books of the New Testament and we shall meet with the Proof of it You will see the Apostles themselves and many other Believers worshiping the Lord without the least check from him or saying to them See thou do it not Let none wrangle here about the Word Adoration They take Jesus Christ for the Son of God and they adore him under that Notion He hath never rejected or disowned this Worship but hath received it as a Tribute due unto him We meet with a Character in the Stile of Sacred Authors which puts the Divine Adoration we owe to our Saviour out of the reach of any manner of Contradiction They are wont to interrupt their Stile by Doxologies to the Honour of God And the same they do to our Saviour and in the same Terms and that in several places 1 Pet. 4.11 Rev. 1.5 6. That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever Amen They are the words of St. Peter Vnto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests unto God even his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen As St. John expresseth himself in the beginning of his Revelation What are we to conclude from hence that the Apostles make use of these kind of Doxologies to the honour of Jesus but this That he is truly equal with his Father and that they honour him after one and the same manner Pursue we this Point a little farther and examine more particularly wherein this Adoration doth consist that so we may be the better inform'd what the Eminency of his Divine Nature is In the Chapter that hath furnish'd us with our Text we see that our Lord hath a Name above every Name Phil. 2.9 10. that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth Thus it is that the Scripture Language expresseth the whole Universe of things All things must bend the Knee to Jesus which yet is not to be understood of those five Letters as if that Name did merit a more singular veneration than the other Names of our Saviour The Custom which hath been introduc'd of bowing themselves at the pronunciation of the Name of Jesus is not founded upon these words of St. Paul but only because the Christians thought it necessary to make this Mark of Respect the Test of their Belief in his Divinity So that indeed it is to his person that we owe the honour of Genuflexion Every thing must bow before our Lord He hath received a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow We have an excellent Explication of those words in those Passages of Scripture where we see that in our Christian Religion all things must be done in the Name of Jesus Nothing can be imagin'd greater than this Honour Christians are baptized in this Name they believe in this Name they work Miracles in this Name they are justified in this Name they meet together in this Name they pronounce their Deliberations in this Name they preach in this Name they suffer for this Name they pray in this Name they return Thanks in this Name and in one word to make use of the words of St. Paul Whatsoever they do in word or deed they do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus I demand therefore Whether ever any Creature was thus glorified in Israel Is it not notorious that the Name of God only was named amongst that People no other Name was heard of amongst them in their Church but the Name of God only They did not swear but by the Name of God they did not bless but in the Name of God they heard of no Deliverances but in the Name of God they glorified no other Name but that of God only What therefore must we conclude him to be whose Name must be celebrated under the New Covenant that is throughout all the Earth as the Name of God was under the Old Covenant that is to say in a very small Corner of the World The Father allows the Son to be glorified more than he himself hath been as it were to make an amends to the Son for his Subordination under which he appears with regard to the Father Whatever it be the Name of the Son holds a Sovereigh Rank and not that of a Prophet or Ambassador These Deputies do all things in the Name of the Sovereign who hath deputed them not in their own Wherefore since the Name of Christ is made use of every where it is an uncontestable Mark that he is Master that he is King that he is Sovereign yea that he is God blessed for ever Let no body reply here That all this was done in time I am not afraid to assert God can constitute no Sovereign in his Church because in doing so he must renounce the unalienable Right of his Nature which admits no Peer neither in Heaven nor on Earth But the Name of Jesus Christ hath been thus elevated because according to one of his Natures he is the Son This is a Mystery he himself opens to us when after having said in the 11th Chapter
St. John's Gospel No man hath ascended up to heaven but hothat came down from heaven Joh. 3.13 even the Son of Man which is in heaven He is discoursing with Nicodemus here on Earth and at the same time tells him he is in Heaven This can admit of no tolerable explication but by means of that Immensity whereby he fills heaven and earth These are the two Divine Attributes that are absolutely incommunicable to Creatures Let us next run over the other Attributes that are by some way of Analogy communicable to them but are possest by God in the highest degree of Absoluteness and Perfection I shall not say that our Saviour is Holy that he is Intelligent that he is Powerful and Merciful which are the four Attributes that remain to be examined Should we say no more than so all this may be attributed to Creatures We find amongst them Holiness Knowledge Power and Mercy No body can doubt but that if we make it evident that our Lord possesseth all these four Perfections as God doth you will be furnish'd with as many Demonstrations to evince the Divinity of our Saviour Our Saviour then is Holy but so as God is which we prove from a plain Text of Scripture The Prophet Isaiah tells us in his sixth Chapter that he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne amidst the Acclamations of the Seraphims who cried one to another and said Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts Would you know who this Lord or rather Jehovah is to whom they give the threefold Compellation of Holy St. John the Evangelist will resolve you who tells us in the twelfth Chapter of his Gospel that Isaiah spake of our Saviour Joh. 12 41. These things said Esaias when he saw his glory and spake of him Some have been of Opinion that Isaiah was condemn'd to Death because he had presum'd to say That he had seen him who was invisible This seem'd to be a meer piece of Blasphemy but what can be imagin'd more abominable than that which St. John tells us here if our Blessed Lord be not indeed the King the Lord of Hosts the Holy One of Israel Let us make no scruple to believe the Beloved Disciple who repos'd himself on the Breast of the Son of God Trust we the piercing sight of this Eagle who took so near a view of this glorious Son Rely we upon the Testimony of an Evangelist whose end in writing his Gospel was to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God It is he assures us that he whom the Seraphims with so much Humility adore crying to one another and saying Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts was no other than our Blessed Lord. We say further That he hath Knowledge also but as God He knows all that God knows Remember always that we speak of the Son of God We know that the Son of Man had a Knowledge which encreas'd by degrees and what is more that he did not know all things No man knows that hour saith he no not the Son of Man This is true of the Son of Man or of the Human Nature of our Saviour but the Son of God the Divine Nature in our Saviour knew that which the Son of Man knew not The Son of God knows all that God knows that is all things St. Peter tells us as much Lord saith he thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee This Knowledge is Universal and to take a view of it that way where with one cast of the Eye you may discover it to be the Knowledge of God we need only to observe that the Eyes of our Lord pierce to the very bottom of Man's Heart Thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee St. Peter's Heart was not the only Heart that was known to Christ All things were naked and open before him Lord thou knowest all things The Proposition is general The Scribes and Pharisees those Hypocritical Professors could not hide their most secret Thoughts from him this Truth appears from many passages of the Gospel To Cite only one place which by reason of its generality comprehends all the rest we need only take notice of what St. John saith towards the end of the Second Chapter of his Gospel But Jesus did not commit himself unto them saith he Joh. 2.24 25. because he knew all men and needed not that any should testifie of man for he knew what was in man The Case here mentioned is not that of a Prophet to whom God discovers the Heart of some particular Man The Knowledge which the Gospel ascribes to our Saviour is Universal no Heart escapes him He knew what was in man A Knowledge that God in a most peculiar manner appropriates to himself in several places of the Old Testament I know my God 1 Chron. 29.17 Jerem. 17.10 that thou triest the heart said David towards the latter end of his Life I the Lord search the heart I try the reins saith he himself by the Mouth of the Prophet Jeremy Let us read to the end of the Verse Even continues he to give to every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings 'T is God that speaks here and he speaks as God he speaks like himself Never did any Prophet speak thus And yet this is the very passage our Lord ascribes to himself in the Revelation speaking to the Angel of the Church of Thyatira Rev. 2.23 And all the Churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works Words that make it evident that our Saviour declares expresly that it was himself that spake in Jeremy and that the Knowledge of the Heart of Man belongs to him in chief The Fifth Attribute whereby we learn to know the Divine Nature of Christ is his Power He is powerful but so as to be powerful as God he is the Almighty In Virtue of this power the Son doth all that the Father doth Joh. 5.19 What things soever the Father doth these also doth the Son likewise Doth the Father raise the Dead So doth the Son also he quickneth whom he will Doth the Father create the World The Son doth so likewise Which two instances shew us the extent of the Father's Power Indeed we cannot conceive any greater than that of restoring Life to the Dead and that of creating such a World as this is and yet both these belong to our Saviour In the first place he hath raised the Dead but have not others done the same Miracle Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament and the Disciples of our Lord in the New have not they also raised some that were Dead who for all that never pretended to be equal with God True it is that Elijah and Elisha each of them raised a Child to Life but with what pains do they work these Miracles God makes them sweat for it
excellent proof of the Divinity of our Great Redeemer He is therefore as you see equal to his Father in Eternity in Immensity in Holiness in Power and in Mercy And what is the result of this Equality but this that our Lord possesseth the Attributes of the Divine Essence and enjoys the Honour that is incontestably due to that Essence This is the third Head whereby we prove that Jesus Christ is equal with his Father That which at first put us upon the Meditation of this Article is that Honourable Rank our Saviour holds in the Scriptures In that Sacred Book where every thing is in its proper place and where nothing that is created is made to go hand in hand with God and yet there we ever see the Son always join'd with his Heavenly Father Teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost There are three that bear record in heaven the Father the Word and the Holy Ghost John 5.7 These are Texts where we see these three Adorable Persons rank'd in one Line St. Paul blesseth the Corinthians from the Son even as from the Father The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God 2 Cor. 13.14 and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all A remarkable passage indeed where we find the Son even nam'd before the Father which yet we find also in many other passages But why is the order here inverted To make it appear Gal. 1.1 2. 2 Thes 2.16 say the Fathers that the order of names does not import a Subordination of different Natures The Father Son and Holy Ghost are only one Divine Nature and therefore it is that the Scripture sometimes placeth the Son above the Father Can we imagine that that Sacred Record would ever have committed such an absurdity if the Son had been no more than a Creature I appeal to any Man who hath in the least degree savour'd the Spirit of Scripture What think we of such a speech as this The Grace of Moses and the Love of God be with you all Or of this Joshua call'd to be a Leader of Israel not of Men nor by Man but by Moses Gal. 1.1 and by God or of this Now Moses and God comfort your Hearts I appeal to any one whether it be not prophane to talk at this rate and yet do but put the Name of Jesus Christ instead of Moses and we shall find all these passages word for word in the New Testament This is an observation rais'd from the Son 's being sometimes named before the Father but tho the Son had been continually plac'd in the second rank as indeed commonly he is yet the Argument for all that continues in its full force The Son would never have been join'd with the Father in the Scripture if the Son had been a Creature because he would have been infinitely inferior to him neither would the Scripture ever have suppress'd this distance by ranging the Father and the Son together in one Line and placing them on one and the same Throne Is not this to tell us plainly and openly that both of them possess the same undivided Nature This is the Honour the Holy Ghost hath given to the Son of God in the Scriptures See we now what Honour we Men ought to render to this Son who is our Master and Saviour Worship is as it were the shadow of the Godhead let us thereby take the height and elevation of the Lord we are to worship To this purpose let us lay this down for a Principle That the Glory of Adoration belongs to none but God alone Should I go about to prove this Truth from the Old Testament I should be fain to take in the Testimony of all the Prophets They have all of them in the most smart and lively terms express'd the Jealousie of God for any Divine Honours exhibited to Creatures We need but cast our Eyes upon the Old Testament to be fully convinc'd thereof It being indeed no other than a perpetual Commentary upon the First Commandment Thou shalt have no other Gods before me There never was any the least variation or contest in this point Never did the Prophets patiently endure to see Men worship any other gods save him alone who hath created Heaven and Earth These Holy Men unanimously declare that to him alone belongs thâ— Glory of Adoration No Creature at all is to be worshipp'd neither Stars nor Plants nor living Creatures nor Men nor Angels Men indeed have sometimes been called gods as we have already taken notice Moses was instead of God to Aaron and Judges are called gods we also find this name given to Angels in some places but this name given by way of Metaphor doth not import Adoration Aaron did not adore Moses neither did Israel adore their Judges or the Angels for this is the glory of God only and he hath sworn he will not give his glory to another Neither hath this point of Divinity been alter'd under the New Testament It is none of those Mosaick Rites that were to cease as soon as the fulness of time was come God is always God and if we may so say he never was more God than he is at present or to soften the Expression he never more appear'd God than in the Manifestation of Grace Herein he hath made all his Goodness to pass before us and consequently he never more deserv'd to be only worshipped Shall we suppose then that under a Dispensation where by a new Effusion of Grace he hath deserved an accession to his former glory of Adoration that he is become unconcern'd for that glory whereof formerly he was so Jealous And to that degree as to set a Creature at his Right Hand A Creature plac'd on God's side is something that is contradictory Let us set every thing in its proper place God always abides alone in the Throne and the Creature at the foot of it But without having recourse to Reasoning which inform us that the glory of God is an unalienable Right and Possession the Holy Scripture assures us that under the Gospel as well as under the Law the glory of Religious worship belongs to God only We know the answer our Lord return'd to a Creature that would fain have been ador'd Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him alone shalt thou serve This answer is good at all times The Apostles use the same Language as their Master they say in more places than one 1 Tim. 1.17 Rom. 16.27 Acts 14.15 To the only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Amen When St. Paul sees Men about to worship the Creature he points them straight to the Living God We preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities to the living God 'T is to him alone that your Homage of right is due When the Apostle represents to the Galatians the excess of that Corruption wherewith
refer these words wherefore or for this Cause to all that went before Christ being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God nevertheless he emptied himself Wherefore c. That is to say because he was equal with God and because in his Incarnation he was willing to make himself equal with man for this double Cause a Name hath been given him above every Name Let us take heed of believing that all the Glory of Christ is the fruit of his Humiliation before ever he was made Man he had his Glory Now Joh. 17.5 O Father glorisie me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Christ was God from the Beginning In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God John 1.1 He was God therefore before ever he emptied himself and as such John 1.14 he had his Glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father True it is there is a Glory which he began first fully to enjoy after his emptying of himself this is the Glory of the Mediator a Glory which he entred upon at the time of his Incarnation and which shall end on that Solemn day when he shall deliver up the Kingdom to his Father This Transient Glory is owing to Jesus Christ's emptying of himself considered as the Abasement of God-man The Glory of this Mediator is too great to be deriv'd to any mere Creature He was God and he became Man for this double Cause a Name is given him above every name It is not only because he is God nor only because he was Man Join them both together 't is because being God he was made Man that he is thus highly Elevated The Godhead is the spring of this Merit the Humanity is the way of it If he had not been God he would not have been great enough to be our Mediator with God and had he not been Man he would not have been low enough to be a Mediator with regard to men Had he been nothing but God he would not have been known he would have had no Name this is the Reason He being the Second Person in the Trinity the Father who had reserved to himself the Government of the world would have enjoyed the Worship of men and the Word would have been Adored only in a hidden and implicit manner It was agreed therefore between the Father and the Son that the Son should come down to Redeem men and that in consideration thereof he should openly enjoy their Worship This was executed accordingly Christ united to himself a Victim which he hath given up for us unto Death He must therefore in virtue of this Treaty receive a Name and together with that Name the Adorations of Mankind Refer we therefore this Worship radically to the Divine Nature which alone deserves Adoration and by way of instrument to the Victim which the Word hath honoured by his Incarnation Wherefore he hath also given to our Lord a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow St. Paul in these words alludes to that passage of the Prophet Isaiah Isai 45.23 where God saith Vnto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear It is observable also that St. Paul makes use of these same words in the Epistle to the Romans to prove that we must all appear before the Tribunal of Christ For it is written saith he Rom. 14.11 as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God Christ therefore is that Lord who in the Old Testament Swears that all shall humble themselves before him This is the conclusion that every man will infer from hence who believes that St. Paul understood the Prophet Isaiah It is time to draw to a Conclusion after having shewed very clearly That seeing Christ bears the Names of God seeing he possesseth the Essence or the Attributes of God and that he enjoys the Worship that is due to none but God he could not think it any Robbery to make himself Equal with God I shall conclude this Discourse with Four Reflections the importance whereof is such as may well challenge a moment more of your attention The first Reflection is That by denying the Truth we have been here confirming we make of the Bible the strangest Book in the world We believe and we have great reason to believe that never was any thing so excellent seen by men It is a work by which all Parties maintain themselves and throughout the whole of which we see nothing else but traces of the most profound Wisdom Both the Testaments correspond with the most exactest Symmetry the Old is made for the New and the New for the Old All the designs of the Holy Ghost agree together neither is any thing of contradiction to be found in them But we shall not find this to be so in the case of the Hypothesis we here oppose For that supposed this Sacred Book appears a quite other thing The Old Testament hath scarcely the least correspondence with the New We find nothing but thwartings and contradictions between them and it cannot in the least seem strange to me that those who embrace this Notion are so near neighbours to Irreligion The Old Testament commands us in express terms to Worship nothing but God that we must put our confidence in none but God that we are not to Hope but in God Let us not cavil about words I mean the Sovereign God who hath Created Heaven and Earth The New Testament if Jesus Christ be not God overturns all this This supposed 't is evident that our Saviour came not to fulfil the Law and the Prophets but utterly to confound and destroy them Let us speak only of the New Testament Bless me what a Book shall we have of it if Jesus Christ be not God 'T will be nothing else but a medly of Contradictions Snares and Blasphemies On one hand we find in it many Passages wherein Idolatry is condemn'd and elsewhere as many where it is commanded These are the contradictions We meet with Passages every where that invite us to Adore the Lord Jesus these are the Snares and terrible ones too Divine Providence took care to hide the Body of Moses lest it should have been made an object of Worship But the Providence of the New Testament will be very different it makes us every moment to meet with Christ under strong appearances that solicite our Adorations without ever cautioning us with a see thou do it not worship God Rev. 22 9. The New Testament is full of Ancient Oracles pronounced to the honor of the Living God it is clear as the Sun at Noon-day that the Applications the Apostles make of them are mere childish Triflings and Blasphemies if our Saviour by one of his Natures be not that Living God whom the Prophets worshipp'd But then grant but
before Men were Poetical Fiction Reason of State Gratitude Flattery or Superstition had no part here From everlasting to everlasting thou art God The Men that were worshipp'd whilst yet alive easily perceiv'd that they were no gods they were very sensible that the Divine Honours rendred unto them were no better than Robbery But saith St. Paul Jesus Christ thought it no Robbery to be equal with God in which words there is a tacite opposition to that Subordination which Paganism had establish'd amongst their gods They said that Jupiter was the Master and Lord Paramount of their gods there being none on equal ground with him St. Paul here insinuates that Jesus Christ is really greater than all the Pagan gods were even in the Conceit of those that were their Worshippers He is equal to God to that Great God who is the Soveraign Master and Lord of the Universe Besides these oppositions which the Apostle had an eye to in the words we are explaining it seems probable that he had a more particular regard to a matter wherein the Philippians were more particularly concern'd They conceiv'd it no small part of their Glory that their Countrey had produc'd Alexander the Great This Conqueror conceiv'd it was both his Glory and Interest to be worshipp'd as a god He would needs be thought the Son of Jupiter and not being content to have pillaged the Earth was desirous to carry his Usurpations to Heaven He knew well enough that the Quality he Arrogated to himself of being the Son of Jupiter was a true piece of Robbery The power of Truth oblig'd this False god to say during the pains he suffer'd by the Wound he had received from an Arrow That they would make him the Son of Jupiter but that he self well enough that he was but a Man The Philippians were fully acquainted with this Story St. Paul knew it and we may aver that he thought of it in presenting to the Philippians a Saviour who was really and truly God the true Son of the true God who being in the Form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God All these oppositions are of great use to illustrate the Literal Sense we have explained It is time now to search into the Doctrine it contains which we shall do by considering it first in a Relative and then in an Absolute Sense In a Relative Sense it will be to purpose to know the Characters first of him who is here spoken of secondly of him who speaks and thirdly of those to whom it is spoken He concerning whom here is spoken was on the one hand the Pattern of an Absolute Humility and on the other a great Zealot for the Glory of God If we have cast our Eyes never so little upon the Gospel we shall find this to be a Truth altogether incontestable Our Lord Jesus himself hath given us a great and signal instance of the Humility which he recommends he washeth his Disciples Feet he suffers Injuries patiently he flees Honours On the other hand How nice and tender do we find him in cases where his Father's Glory was concern'd Doth he perceive that the Laws of God are made to truckle to the Traditions of Men With what force do we see him exaggerate this Affront If he sees Men prophane the House of God by changing it to a Market-place he does not think words sufficient to repress this Insolence he makes a Whip of Cords to lash these Prophane Wretches out of the Temple With this double Character which might be made out by many more passages of Scripture at what a rate think you would our Saviour have delivered himself if ever he had met with one that made himself a god This was a time wherein the Jews were not guilty of gross Idolatry and wherein Jerusalem had banish'd the Idols of other Nations so that our Lord had no occasion to declare against Idols but had he met with any what would not he have said Had he taken notice of any Man that arrogated to himself Divine Honours with what Zeal and Vehemence would he have confounded the Pride of that Usurper We know enough of the Spirit of our Lord on other occasions to justifie what we suppose of him What then ought we to conclude from this that he who was so Humble and so Zealous yet made himself equal with God Nothing can be said here that is consistent with Reason but to confess that he was really that for which he would that Men should take him Had not he been God and consequently equal to God his Father he would have been so far from affecting this Equality that he would have abhorr'd the least tendency that way Instead of speaking Magisterially he would always have exprest himself in the most humble stile imaginable to disabuse the People who by the Fame of his Miracles would have been tempted to take him for a God But we find his Conduct quite opposite to this he doth not think it any Robbery to be equal with God But how can this be if he be not God indeed What is become of his Humility What of his Zeal What of his Sincerity These three Virtues are the Sureties and Pledges for our Faith of the Godhead of Jesus Christ Who is it that writes this 'T is St. Paul that is to say in one word whatsoever can be conceiv'd of Zeal against attributing the Divine Glory to a Creature This Apostle met with several occasions to make himself known under this Character He strongly declares himself against Idolatry in several places In the Acts of the Apostles we find what a Reception he gave to those Divine Honours which the Lycaonians would needs force upon him he rents his Clothes runs in amongst them Crying out and saying Acts 14.15 Sirs why do you these things We are also men of like passions with you and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God In the Seventeenth Chapter of the same Book we find that the Spirit of St. Paul was stirred in him at the sight of the Idols they worshipp'd at Athens Acts 17.16 In the first Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans we find him thundring against Idolaters saying that they changed the glory of the incorruptible God Rom 1.23 25. into an image made like to corruptible man and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever This is enough to give us a taste of St. Paul's Spirit in this matter and to shew that he had the greatest horror for Idolatry Besides this he made it always his business to humble and abase the Creature that thereby the greater Glory might redound to the Creator and to remove all those things that might in the least serve to colour the Religious Worship of the Creature Yet for all this he speaks always most magnificently of Jesus Christ he makes him equal with the Soveraign God who hath created Heaven and
Earth What therefore can St. Paul's Thoughts be in speaking thus Must we not look upon him to be the most imprudent of all Men in making our Saviour so great in case he be not God At this rate we must not leave to our Apostle not so much as common Sense We are agreed that he abhors the Religious Worship of the Creature and at the same time own that he sets the Creature upon the Altar This therefore engageth us to declare either that St. Paul was a Mad-man or that Jesus Christ was indeed God blessed for ever Neither will the Enemies of his Divinity be ever able to justifie the Apostle's Wisdom by saying that the Man whom he makes so great was not an ordinary Man Let him be an Angel let him be more than the Angels if he be a Creature he is infinitely below God Let us conceive a Creature as glorious as it is possible for any Creature to be there will still be an infinite difference between it and the Creator We cannot without the greatest imprudence say of it that it is equal to the Creator it would be utterly absurd to make a God of this Creature however advanced or dignify'd This is the Honour put upon St. Paul by those who affirm that this Jesus whose Glory he exalts so extreamly was no more than a meer Creature And whom doth this St. Paul speak to To the Philippians that is to Christians that had been either Jews or Heathens how untowardly did our Apostle go about to confirm them in their Vocation if Jesus Christ had not been God He hath to do with People who were apt enough to take offence at this Truth These Christians that before had been Jews were perswaded from their Infancy that it was a Crime of the highest Nature for any man to make himself equal with God They had been Instructed that for a like piece of Insolence the chief of the Angels had lost himself together with his whole Faction This was the very Creature that of all others was nearest to God and yet because he aspir'd to a greater nearness he was cast headlong into the Bottomless Pit They knew that the First Man fell into disfavour with his Creator for having affected to be as God They had been conversant in the Writing of the Prophets where they had been informed that God detests nothing more than Pride which made Man forget the meanness and lowness of his Nature Amongst other passages they had not forgot the Description the Prophet Isaiah makes of the King of Babylon Isa 14.12 How art thou fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning c. For thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God c. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the most high yet shalt thou be brought down to hell The Exhortations of the Prophets against Idolatry had made such an Impression on the Spirit of the Jews at the time that St. Paul writ this Epistle that there was no Sin which they did more abhor and detest than this We know what happen'd when Pilate undertook to put some Shields into the Temple of Jerusalem they were sain to take them away from thence because the People were offended to see the Faces of the Roman Caesars upon them Herod also having Erected Trophies in that Holy Place could not appease the Tumult but by shewing them that no Human Figure was found in them It is notorious also what happened when Herod had the Boldness to place an Eagle over the Gate of the Temple History is full of the Effects of the Tenderness of the Jews with respect to Idolatry at the Time of the Birth of Christianism We must here distinguish the Times for it is certain that in the time of the Prophets the Jews as by a Spirit of Contradiction run mad after Idols Neither did they begin to be wise in this Point till after the ceasing of the Prophets It is no less incontestable that the most of the Christians of Philippi had in their Education been made very sensible of any thing that approacht to the Worship of the Creature What therefore could be St. Paul's meaning in proposing to them a Jesus who makes himself equal with God if indeed Jesus had not been God This was a Capital Error and would have been the ready way to make the Christians to return to the Synagogue whence they were come forth If we will but allow our Apostle to have had any tolerable remainder of Sense and Understanding we must own that the Fear of incensing them to the utmost would have made him suppress what he saith of our Saviour if so be he had not been God if he had not really been that which the King of Babylon pretended to be We add this word because it is very probable that St. Paul in our Text made an Allusion to this Description wherein Isaiah represents a King whom he calls by way of derision Star of the Morning and who after having made himself like to the most High is sorely against his Will hurl'd down to the Grave It was a piece of manifest Robbery for this proud Monarch to take so soaring a flight I will shew you saith St. Paul who is the true Morning-Star truly equal with God and the very true God and who notwithstanding all these Transcendent Advantages humbled and emptied himself and that voluntarily It is no other than Jesus Christ who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God Return we now to the second Order of Christians to whom St. Paul writes these were the Converted Heathens who had renounced the multitude of their Gods They had been made asham'd of a Plurality injurious to the Supream Lord of the Universe and they had suffer'd themselves to be persuaded that this God all alone was possest of the whole Glory of the Deity Themselves are become the Adversaries of the Religion they had forsaken they are astonisht to think how formerly they could believe a plurality of gods they deride the Error that communicates the Divinity to many Beings and those foolish Genealogies that furnish Saturn and Jupiter with Children Let somebody tell us now what is become of St. Paul's Wisdom to speak to a People of this Temper of a Son of God of a Jesus equal with God Would not they have stop'd his Mouth with some such return as this You plunge us into the same Errors whence you your self have so lately retrieved us You have made us Christians by perswading us that there is but One God we have believed it and now you come and violate this inculcated Unity I appeal to any Rational man whether any thing less than the invincible strength of Truth could have allowed St. Paul to deliver any thing like the Divinity of Jesus Christ He formerly asserts it though indeed if he had only spoken of it