includes with the Name of God the Creatour the Name of man the Creature and signifies God and man reconciled Not on the contrary though hee that redeemed created also For I am that I am is one expression and I am that I am the Saviour a further God in his Name Jehovah denotes the being whence all things tooke their originall In his Name Jesus he shewes himselfe not onely the Author of being but the Recoverer of the lost and Clarifier of the Elect. In the one he overthrew Pharaoh and the Aegyptians in th other the Devill and Hell In the one he gave the Old Law in the other he established the New In the one he led the Israelites through the Red sea into the Land of Canaan in the other through his bloud wherewith we are Baptized he carries us unto Heaven The one was knowne before the other and that this other was represented in the Name Jehovah Cornelius a Lapide affirmes But what if wee say that Jehovah were quasi aenigma as it were the riddle Was not God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 17.23 the hidden God then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we knew him not say the Seventy What ever Jehovah intimated we are sure Jesus is the highest declaration For by this Name we finde that the fulnesse of the God-head dwels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and our nature personally in him I insist not on the many Mysteries that Lucas Tudensas hath found in the Letters of Jesus nor doe I with Cornelius a Lapide averre that this proper Name of Christ in Hebrew containes all the Letters of Jehovah aliasque proprias superaddit and super-addes it s owne other Inspect them who will there they may be had but not expressely there Thirdly this adequate Name of the word Incarnate comprehending transcends all the other many excellent Attributes given unto Christ in the Scriptures for of all are found none which sound not either pietatis gratiam the grace of piety or potentiam Majestatis the power of Majesty The Names of power are poured forth into the Names of piety As for example Isa 9.6 it is said His Name shall be called wonderfull Counsellour God Mighty Everlasting Father Prince of peace The first third and fourth Wonderfull God Mighty argue Majesty the rest Counsellour Everlasting Father Prince of peace shew piety Which of these therefore is poured forth Which The Name of Power is abundantly effused by Jesus Christ our Saviour saith Saint Bernard into the Name of piety Admirable into Counsellour God and Mighty into Everlasting Father and Prince of peace All of might and mercie are full in Jesus This is the name wherein all other doe liquescere it is mercie full of might and might full of mercie The Oyle that is poured forth Cant. 1.3 aliisque liquoribus supernatat and as Oyle it swimmes above other liquours Wine Water or whatsoever Inferiour to none and above all confessed in Heaven Earth and Hell Lastly Saint Chrysostome saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that this name is not of nature so but made so by dispensation high Seeing then the most equall three have decreed and in the text expressely set this Name highest wherein without disparagement to any one person the whole Trinity will be ever honoured why doubt we Adde this also that they have limited an act as peculiar to it above other Names and the holy Church observing our neglect binds us to it Can it be Gods pleasure the Churches desire and not our glory that it is so Bring these together and Alphonsus Abulensis shall never be condemned by me for saying it is majus peccatum a greater sinne to take the Name Jesus in vaine then the Name God To close this God will be glorified in this Name above others above other it is in it selfe and to sinners the life of all Life light joy glory and whatsoever I can conceive superexcellent haec omnia mihi simul sonant cum insonuerit Jesus these all and more in the sense of this Name sound to me When I name it or heare it named I minde one whose example we following shall be advanced in his grace unto the height of glory Have we with Origen found it to bee vocabulum gloriosum In heart then and hand within and without be it the Signet that all our thoughts words and workes may bee directed unto Jesus Of him wee receive all unto him returne we all Above all he and let his Name be so to us For God hath given the Name above every Name unto him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to him exclusivè to him and to no other To no other so as to him The Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are the three saving persons yet neither is the Father nor the Holy Ghost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Sonne by the dispensation is Jesus onely For in our Salvation the Godhead and Manhood meete in one Nor to him man as to other men To him at first by the Spirit and Moses in Jehoshuah as the Figure But before his conception by the Spirit and the Angel Gabriel to him as the Substance To him the Name and the Thing To him the Sonne of his Father without a Mother and the Sonne of his Mother without a Father to him God and man To him without sinne to save soule and body his owne and others from carnall enemies and ghostly from sinne and misery not for a time for ever not by any other of himselfe He is not a Saviour onely but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the salvation Luke 2.30 None challenge it as he not the sonne of Nun nor the sonne of Josedek nor the sonne of Syrach To them given by men to them the Name not the thing to them sonnes of their Fathers by their Mothers of their Mothers by their Fathers to them sinfull men to save the body not to quicken the soule from bodily enemies not spirituall from some worldly calamity not from sinne for a time not forever by their and our Jesus not of themselves They figura futuri the shadow he the substance So Tertullian Origen Eusebius Saint Augustine c. He is so manifestly different from all other that who beleeve in him will never mistake him by any other All else be like Elishas staffe which laid on the Child could doe no good till the Master came To him onely and to him according to both natures This is orthodox though all agree not in this Some here understand Christ secundum humanam naturam as man Because as God nothing can in time be really given to him So the Scholiasts so Theodoret Hierome and others as Zanchius recites Indeed if we minde an increment of blessednesse or power or wisdome c. no such thing can in time be given to him according to his Deity Yet that he received nothing as God whereby our happinesse might be furthered and further knowne is false For to the Divine nature of Christ was
persons in the unity of the essence But hereby is manifested that the person vilified in this Name was the Sonne of God and Man and is now in the same Name to be adored by all as God and Man which cannot be said of the Father or of the Holy Ghost Of the Sonne alone because he onely was incarnate and yet as I have ever taught to the glory of the most transcendent Trinity It is apparent now that we cautelously observing the idiotisme vary not from the sense of the phrase At the Name we rest not vainely in the sound but are carried to the substance of the name or object of our faith the person of Jesus Christ Not to the humane nature Seorsum per se severally and by it selfe For so doing we divide the person overthrow the communication of proprieties and the due unto the Creator we render to the creature which is Idolatry Yea if in our worship we can consider the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost three subsistences and one substance yet all this availes not unlesse we take with us our Mediatour If we mind not a true Man-hood gloriously united to the God-head without change of either nature without mixture of both whose presence whose merits must give passage vigour and acceptance our prayers ascend in vaine At this worke thoughts should be holily mixed of a God-head and humanity two natures in one person and of the same Deity in divers persons and one nature Bestirre our selves we ought so to distinguish these apprehensions that none be neglected so to conjoyne them that they be not confounded We sin if fixing the heart on one we exclude the other retaining all and mentioning one we offend not Who rest their thoughts upon the humanity must still adore the Deity and thence climbe up unto the holy consideration of the blessed Trinity For in Jesus onely is that Mystery revealed to us and through him onely is our worship directed to the sacred Trinity in Unity Following this short weake counsell study and pray that you may apprehend right and worship well Be thus minded and bowing at the name you shall not be superstitious Bow and honour Jesus heartily for the more we honour him the more we honour the whole Trinity If you cannot beleeve me yet let not the Apostle misse your faith It is Gods command he saith and therefore our duty Minding the one we shall not forget to pay the other Endevour we to pay it sincerely and the God of Heaven direct us enable us that when we worship him we may neither prove sacrilegious nor idolatrous The Jewes Infidels and Philosophers that abjure scorne and deride the Name of Jesus the Schismatickes whether Catharists Anabaptists Brownists Separatists or whatsoever called that neglect and contemne all manner of outward reverence at this Name the Papists that superstitiously use it and the Prophane that in their debauchednesse most impiously blaspheme it are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for there the Holy Ghost will have the Name super-exalted by God by us also super-exalted with respect and honour The Arrians and other Heretiques that hold Christ a meere man onely or a God in Name not indeed the Cerinthians and Colarbasians that make Jesus one and Christ another the Nestorians that determine two persons in Christ one of the divinity and another of the humanity the Timotheans that thinke him one person of two natures mixed and confounded and the Romanists that constitute the Pope as another head beside Christ of the Church are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the honor at the Name is to Immanuel in one person perfect God and perfect Man God hath so made him head of all above and below that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the union and our Salvation True Christians we seeing that God hath exalted the person and the Name and knowing why are bound in conscience for the same reason to exalt the Name and Person Not according to our owne humours but in Analogy of that Truth which is set forth for us to beleeve and doe We seeke no by-wayes to avoyd the duty nor lead we others from it A plaine Text paralleled by others literally must we understand properly as the other are The truth expressed in the Letter cannot be mistaken but by a figurative construction the Letter may be forced to a wrong sense The sense of the former verse which is the ground of this being literall makes this literall also We have proved it ever so conceived in the Church and will not alter it now Nay dare not because we are sure that by the third commandement and the first petition Gods Name whether spoken read heard or written must have reverent usage And if it must may we deny that manner which himselfe hath expressely prescribed The anathema sounds still in our eares Cursed be he that taketh from or addeth to If God then will have outward worship exhibited at the Name in the Name of God let him have it If he will be so honoured that is reason enough why he should But he hath given reasons store if we will not doe it now we are now in contempt and without repentance shall be without excuse hereafter Nor may we thinke to leave the duty undone because some count it superstition Indeed at the Name and no more were vaine But at the Name to bow unto our Saviour is one way we worship him and we have no other way to come at him save by his Name He is gone his Name is left that by his Name we may minde him and through him adore the blessed Trinity At the Name therefore let the heart ascend unto the person and outward obeysance expresse our faith in and high esteeme of whole Christ As true God and true man for as God and man he is exalted in person and Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee should bow Tract V. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Every Knee should bow GOD who made the whole creature lookes after all he made The soule principally because it principally resembles him and the body next because in that Organ he will have the soule glorifie him 1 Cor. 6.20 The Fathers therefore according to the Scriptures carefully set forth a two-fold worship of God Internall the one externall the other Both congruous to the word and from a heart purified by faith proceed both Both spirituall because both are motions of our spirit renewed by the Holy Ghost For such worshippers will God have as shall serve him in spirit and truth John 4. vers 23. Such as in spirit practically mortifie the workes of the flesh and in truth contemplatively maintaine sound doctrine is one of Theophylacts expositions Such as moved by his Spirit doe all things sincerely in faith according to his will and unto his glory is Polanus full interpretation Such as
wherefore God highly exalted him is the grace of union And satisfaction being made by his death for us that glory may be ours also is propter quod finale the externall impulsive or first finall Wherefore of his exaltation The Papist here slander us in saying we allow not Christ to merit ought For first our tenet is that not for any thing in the flesh but for the Word whereto the flesh is united was the flesh exalted Secondly that God being made man in the person of God and Man was worthinesse to deserve over and over what we can conceive Thirdly that it is supercilious curiosity wherein Scriptures are silent to define what Christ merited to himselfe Fourthly that it is expressed throughout the Testaments old and new that he had little or no regard of himselfe but for us All that might be for our Salvation Lastly that the humility and the glory being set downe in the eternall decree the glorification followed the humiliation suâ sponte of its owne accord or by the union necessarily And this is held the principall reason wherefore the man so humbled both might and ought to be so highly exalted Bring these together and the Lutherans and Calvinists so well agree here that who oppose in what follows will be condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that which went before True Christians we referre the Wherefore in the Text not to Christs being made obedient onely but to the cause also of his humiliation It was his charity there He would be humbled unto that we might be delivered from death And his Charity here also He would be exalted that we through him might be glorified Our freedome then from hell and entrance into Heaven beginning at his love have perfection after his obedience by his exaltation His humiliation merited our exaltation though not his owne His owne was by the union and not in any thing else measured unto him We finde not why hee should merit any thing to himselfe whose perfection wanted nothing that might be acquired by merit This we know it was decreed that God should be inhumanated to dye and rise againe for us As inhumanated he dyed and is exalted as inhumanated The flesh is the instrument of the Word wherein it doth subsist The flesh therefore subsisting in the person of the Sonne of God we determine the propter quod or wherefore why the Sonne of God did dye The same subsistence propter quod etiam the wherefore also why he is exalted He dyed How As man Why For us He is exalted How As man Why For us For us then is the other propter quod or Wherefore in the Text. Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him Tract II. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God hath highly exalted him WHerefore hath beene declared we now are at the exaltation and that first of the person by God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God is agent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 high exaltation the worke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the whole person of God and Man the object These three may not be separated For none can super-exalt save God and none be super-exalted save Jesus God is the onely powerfull and Jesus the onely worthy Before it was said Christ humbled himselfe ver 7. but now it is God that exalts Christ In the low estate the humane nature was very busie but this high advancement must be a divine act onely As God onely could never have dyed so man onely could never have beene exalted Man did nothing in the exaltation God was all in all Rom. 1.4 The Originall is Emphaticall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God which Christ was in his humiliation For he resumed his Soule by the same power wherein he laid it downe John 10.17 Though the Scripture ascribes Christs exaltation to the Father Acts 2.24 yet doth not exclude the power of the Sonne It sheweth Essentiae operationis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the identity of essence and power in them The very same God which the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God The God which the Father is For God the Father raised him from the dead 2 Cor. 2.21 and set him at his right hand Act. 2.33 The God which the Sonne is For God the Sonne raised againe the Temple of his body John 2.19 ascended into heaven John 3.13 and is set downe at the right hand of the throne of God Heb. 12.2 The God which the Holy Ghost is For God the Holy Ghost shall quicken us Rom. 8.11 with the same Spirit was Christ annointed above his fellowes Psalm 45.7 and beyond measure John 3.34 The exaltation then is a worke of the whole Trinity undivided and essentially common to the three persons Not that it is essentiall for then the Father and the Holy Ghost must be exalted and not the Sonne onely But the worke is personall because terminated in the person of the Sonne of God The Father and the Holy Ghost did exalt but neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost is the person exalted It is the reall distinction of the persons makes this distinction reall This is the Symphony of the Church the Fathers in all the Councels expound it thus and so ◠s it understood in the Articles of our Faith One and the same God in three persons exalting and yet not three but one exalted person The God it was is proved but what the God did would be declared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Apostle that is multiplicavit sublimitatem he multiplyed his sublimity as the Syriacke he exalted him as the Vulgar super-exalted as Arias Montanus insummam extulit sublimitatem he lifted him up unto the height of all heights as Erasmus Beza c. highly exalted as our Translatours We have here as the most reverend Bishop observed a decompound super-exaltavit his exalting hath an ex and a super whence and whither his person was exalted Whence From the Dungeon with Joseph from the Den with Daniel from the Whales belly with Jonas Or if you will from the three extreames of his exinanition Death the Grave and Hell Whither To life to Heaven to the Throne of God The full of his exaltation is his Resurrection Ascension and sitting downe in the highest glory Three to three the highest three answer the three lowest First he dyed then was buryed last of all descended into Hell So at his exaltation first he rose then ascended last of all sate downe at the right hand of the Father The amends is full For Death Shame and a death of shame in the former verse he hath Life Glory and the life of glory in this These all and ever all For he is factus Dominus made the Lord of life and glory This last is ultimus gradus the super or that above super quod non est super above which there is nothing above The day in deed of his Resurrection was the Feast of the first fruites Levit. 23.10
as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among the Hebrewes comprehends genera causarum Sometimes among as Mat. 11.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among not in them that are borne of women John 1.14 The word was made flesh and dwelt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among us Sometimes with as Luke 4.32 his word was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with power 2 Cor. 13.4 we are weake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with not in him For in the next words it is said that we shall live 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with him Sometimes from as John 1.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 John 1.1 from the beginning was the Word Nonnus therefore addeth in his Paraphrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without or before all time For no time was in that beginning So 2 Cor. 4.3 If the Gospell be hid it is hid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from not in them that perish Sometimes it abounds as Marke 1.15 repent and beleeve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the not in the Gospel Where therefore Saint Matthew hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Math. 3.11 Saint Luke that doth lesse Hebraize leaves out the preposition For in casu instrumenti to expresse it is an Hebraisme Sometimes it is periphrasticall as Matth. 6.9 Our Father which art 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heaven is if the Articisme be observed in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as well as the Hebraisme in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O our heavenly Father Acts 26.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Vulgar hath omitted is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instantly Sometimes to unto c. as Luke 1.17 He shall goe before to turne the disobedient 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to not in the wisdome of the just Rom. 5.21 As sin hath raigned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto not in death the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes it plaine so might grace raigne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto life Sometimes at as Rom. 8.34 who is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the right hand of God Matth. 18.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at that time Mar. 16.5 they saw a young man sitting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the right side Luke 13.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the same season and 14.1 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at his comming in nor have Grecians a more proper word to expresse this sense These are the severall acceptions of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I have observed in the new Testament The same they may finde in humane Authours who are not satisfied with this To our purpose now All will grant that if we should translate in the Name by in could not be meant among nor with For that were non-sense So of the eight variations two are absolutely cast hence But if in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we will understand by or from then by the Name occasion is offered and from the Name a sound argument drawne for bowing Or will we have a Pleonasme here and make a redundance for in case of the instrument in Hebrew Greeke and Latin if in be expressed it is not felt if omitted it is not required The Name then expressed or pronounced will be the externall impulsive of genuflection Or if you will have it periphrasticall it must either be of the Adverb then it is namely unto Jesus or of the Adjective and then it is unto glorious Jesus or of the Verb and then it is when Jesus is named Or will you have it to the Name then it is in honour of the Name Or will you have at the Name then in or at the mentioning of Jesus For what is a Name save the expression of a thing The Greek therefore is emphatically set downe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in or at the very Name The very Name is the externall mover of the minde unto the internall object Accept then any one of these sixe takings and the first terme of the Act is the Name Jesus That is it because the Apostle saith it was therefore given and no other it because it is the Name above every Name as before I would not seeme to dazle your eyes I say not to the elements the letters syllables or sound of the Name but to the sense At the Name that is when the Name is named to the person whose Name is mentioned At the Name we minde the person and are incited to the duty This divine motion therefore from the Name is by the Name directed to the end wherein it resteth Nor can we ordinarily proceed otherwise From Names we goe unto things and without Names we know nothing was at large before Indeed God firsts exalts the person and then gives the Name he sees the person as he is but we by his Name discerne the person At the Name beginning by the most highly extolled Name most highly we extoll the person Shall I illustrate it I will by that which every one acknowledgeth to be just In or at or by or from the consigned words of the Scriptures we know the truth of God thereby expressed Because we know whose they are and what is contained in them in or at or to the reading preaching and hearing of them we addresse our selves in all reverence with bended knees uncovered heads and with hearts hands and eyes lifted up unto the Authour Is this damnable superstition Or will any sound-hearted Christian thinke it in vaine Behold the name at which we bow discovers unto us the substance of the whole Scriptures All are to bring us unto Christ and Jesus is the sum of all At the mentioning then of that Name were we left to our owne wils would we not heare and speak it with honour to our Saviour Or did the Church only command the reverence thereat is it not the breach of the first Commandement not to doe it But God requires all manner of honour to his Name Exod. 20.7 Christ prayed for the due performance thereof Matth. 6.9 and here the Holy Ghost dictated in what Name the glorious Trinity will be most honoured and how at that Who gain-saies this gain-saies the Law and Gospel and who wilfully damneth it doth as much as in him lieth shake the very foundation of true Religion The Father will not have the Name neglected the Sonne will have it sanctified and the Holy Ghost shewes us how The Father gave the Name that at the Name the Sonne received the Name that at the Name and the Holy Ghost declared the Name that at the Name of Iesus every knee should how It is plaine then that to bow at the Name is another gift unto Christ To give him such a Name is one to give him that for such a one it should be taken is another said the reverend Bishop For given it may be on Gods part and not acknowledged on ours Yea if we recall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the rationative particle that it seemes God counts not the Name so exalted unlesse we signifie as he would have us that we esteeme it super omne
save sinners no Tyrant no usurper Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord before by that he is Sonne And now Lord againe by vertue of his proper quod saith Bishop Andrewes As God he was ever Lord but not ever Lord as God and man At 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we found he had a time and a cause for this who had no time nor cause beside himselfe for the other Nor yet may it be thought that he assuming our flesh received meliorationem in humiliatione any melioration thereby as Saint Athanasius speaketh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For thereby he was imperfect and made perfect for us saith S. Chrysostome For us the one and the other Neither the one in himselfe nor for himselfe the other No such thing no It is we by his taking on himselfe our infirmities are made perfect in him Not then annointed that he might be God or King or the Sonne or the Word but as God◠and the King and the Sonne and the Word he annointed us in himselfe that we also through him should be the Lords annointed Thus we proclaime him Lord and with great triumph now because we are now sure he is our Lord. Lord in ours and of us Lord. And being so ours the Rhemists in their Paraphrase here have not misinserted our Though he were iste as before that one whom the world contemned yet in his greatest obscurity or hatred he was ever the magnified Lord. When he lay in the Manger a multitude of the heavenly hoast sung his praise The Angel sent Shepheards to tell him to the Jewes the Heavens sent a Starre to shew him to the Gentiles and the East Wisemen to worship him in Bethlehem The very infants left their Mothers breasts to yeeld their lives in testimony of his Lordship Who hath heard or read any thing and hath not read or heard either of the voyce proclaiming him from Heaven or of the Devils confessing him the Son of God or of his transfiguration on Mount Tabor or of his commanding the creatures even the most lawlesse the Wind and the Sea or of his miracles in multiplying a small quantity of food to satisfie thousands in curing all sorts of diseases in casting Divels forth of the possessed and in raising the dead or of the confounding of his apprehenders or of the theeves request on the Crosse or of the darknesse then over all the Land or of his giving up the Ghost the renting of the Temple the quaking of the earth the sundring of stones the opening of the graves and the appearing of the dead Who can minde these or any of these and not confesse that the Lord was here in our flesh But when we consider that Christ at his owne set time resumed the life he laid downe and trampled the powers of Hell under his feete when we behold his Ascension and animadvert his visible sending of the Holy Ghost doe we not see that Christ is Lord when we heare of his Apostles losing their lives for their Master and of those multitudes of Martyrs throughout the tenne persecutions under all manner of torments faithfull to him what will wee say Shall I teach every one what to say Even with Saint Thomas My Lord and my God John 20.28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for how is hee not to be reputed God who crownes those that truely confesse him with the glory of Martyrdome saith Cyrillus Alexandrinus All the Fathers in the Councels of Nice Constantinople Ephesus Chalcedon and in the more and more corrupted after giving him the place anathematize every one that decries his Lordship Our Church also ever blessed be God according to the Scriptures in an holy emulation of the most religious and learned doth in her Liturgy promote him Lord. Who preacheth the contrary let him be Anathema Maran-atha Confessed he is Lord But what Lord is next Even the Lord Paramount no mesin or pettie Lord. Lord of all of the three Regions before and of the orders of confessours there Lord of Heaven saith the reverend Bishop he gave the Keyes of it Matth. 16.9 Lord of earth he hath the Key of David and of every Kingdome else Rev. 3.7 Lord of Hell the Keyes of Hell and death are his Rev. 1.18 Heaven is his Throne Earth is his footstoole Hell his prison Heaven Earth Hell and all there are his Seigniory He is within without above beneath penetrating compassing guiding sustaining all things Elohim that being which in three persons is individually one and of those three that one person which being neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost is still the same with both Jehovah the Creatour Redeemer and Sanctifier Not that the Father and the Holy Ghost are excluded in these workes but neither doth either without him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Septuagint ever translate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is our Apostles here He that is sure and makes all sure The gracious beginning defensive continuing and finall ending Sure in election sure in vocation sure in justification and in glorification sure Rom. 8.29 30. Lord that is as appeares out of the Saxon record one that affordeth bread And so doth Christ for he is the true Laford that once feasted the whole world with his owne body and bloud the bread and drinke of eternall life He is still the foode of our soules and we have no refection but in and through him Nay he gives us all we have that all we have might be for his use Lafdians then should we the children of his Spouse be that is faithfull distributers of the bread our Lord affordeth If you will here understand the temporall staffe of bread may I not truly say Never was more Lording in England and in England lesse bread distributed never But if you intend it spiritually I blesse God for the great care taken that the Word may be constantly distributed and I would there was as great that it might be sincerely preached I meane that there might be no perverting of the Scriptures no denying of the publike administration of the Sacraments But what pity it is that who rightly and duly observe both should lose the Name and be counted Antichristian I tremble thinking what things of lower degree come within the bounds of Sacriledge Christ saith Who honour his honour him then who dishonour his dishonour him But we are contented to be the contemned on earth that none of the poore in spirit may want the spirituall bread and I wish that the more able were as forward that none might beg their temporall Is it forgotten how David revenged the Shaving of his Embassadours and the cutting off of their garments Certainely if repentance doe not prevene the Lord will remember those that preach downe the Hierarchy of the Church He will remember and not forget their followers that run with violence not to extirpate it onely but to trample it and all the Ministers of God under it in the very filth of infamie I write no unknowne
glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord. Saint Chrysostome applies his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as often as he useth it on the place unto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This that Christ is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Father is the highest demonstration of the Fathers glory Yet also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when I say that such a one he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 even in this that I so say I doe againe glorifie God As if the Father having glorified the Sonne and himselfe being glorified in him we confessing it doe our way somewhat glorifie both Both for the great things we speake of the Sonne goe to the Father also And but somewhat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is but little to the glory of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the world should adore him saith the same Father Not that this little doth adde any thing to his glory but his glory is in our small measure set forth by such acknowledgement Not more or lesse in it selfe for us by us more or lesse declared onely It is our duty of thankfulnesse 1 Cor. 6.20 He hath redeemed us and we have need to cast our eyes on him Totum quod recte colitur Deus homini prodest non Deo as Saint Augustine Not for want in him but for our supply The Fountaine gaines not by our drinking there nor the light by our seeing it Our recourse to him argues his fulnesse and our indigence Yea to returne all in humility to him is the onely way to keepe him most bountifull unto us For whosoever shall confesse him before men him will he confesse before his Father which is in Heaven Matthew 10.32 Who deny him by him shall be denied v. 33. Christ ever glorified the Father John 17.5 He taught us so to doe Matth. 6.9 the Apostles followed his example Acts 2.47 the blessed are alwayes in the practise Rev. 4. 5. 7. the utmost end of the sacred Trinity is the glory of God in all things Isa 63.12 14. and if here we observe the pointing of the three verses we have no stay till all be brought thereto For the ninth verse is divided by a Colon so is the tenth which shewes that neither of them are full without eleventh The eleventh then giving the period the last Comma tels whereto all before doth tend Beginne therefore at the first word of the ninth verse and from wherefore being the union of our salvation proceed and carry the exaltation of the person and Name by God descend therewith and take the exaltation of the Name and Person by us and what will become of all What I speake it with alacrity all comes to the glory of God the Father The Person before glorifying is now the Person glorified Wherein the Son did for us wherein the Father did for the Sonne and wherein we acknowledge both thereof God the Father taketh all the glory The ever blessed and glorious Virgin the Mother of God hath no part herein Her soule doth magnifie the Lord Luke 1.46 Nor any of the Saints All the Saints give thankes unto him Psal 105.10 Nor any of the Angels All his Angels praise him Psal 128.2 Nor any of the faithfull Not unto us Lord not unto us but to thy Name be the glory Psal 115.10 The Devill ambitious of it was cast into hell 2 Pet. 2.4 If any on earth entitle themselves thereto Tophet of old is prepared for the King Isa 30.33 And who attributes it unto Idols in the Law is accursed Deut. 27.15 God is in seipso sicut 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in himselfe as the first and the last in the world sicut rector author as the authour and orderer in the Angels sicut sapor decor as delight and comlinesse in the Church sicut pater-familias in domo as the goodman in the house in the soule sicut sponsus in thalamo as the bridegroome in the bride chamber in the just sicut adjutor protector as an upholder and protectour in the reprobate sicut pavor tremor as dread and horrour saith Saint Augustine If he doe all and be all in all whose is the glory That which is his peculiar he will not communicate to another Isa 42.8 Nor can he be defrauded For he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if you will 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnipresent nothing may evade him If as others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he compasseth all things nothing comprehending him If from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather then he is formidable his children will not displease him and his enemies yeeld him glory in their trembling The seventy Interpreters in the Old Testament and the Holy Ghost in the New expresse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by it The God which is the Father and the Sonne and the Holy Ghost this is he For the Hebrew word in forme plurall and in signification mighty implies the mystery of the Trinity Bring these together and if Men or Devils arrogate his glory they are sure to pay the utmost farthing But he giving all his to the Sonne as before doth neither put it from himselfe nor from the Holy Ghost Because they three being one God and the same God whatsoever is set forth in the one is not more or lesse the others Let the minde be pure at all times especially when we either speake or heare any thing of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for neither is the tongue able to speake nor the eare to heare of him as his dignity requires said Chrysostome Be religious within and consider Can we worship one Person and not another Distinguish them without division and we cannot But when it is expressed in the Scripture that as Beza noteth non possit nisi in filio gratus honor illi tribui no honour save in the Sonne can be acceptable Why should any thinke the Sonne may have too much The more the Sonne is worshipped is not the Father worshipped the more Reason will say so when no other way may be found unto him Who have another let them goe by it I am sure he points out the Sonne onely to us This is my beloved Sonne in whom I am well pleased Matth. 3.17 and 17.5 Well pleased with whom He ever was with him and now without him displeased in him is well pleased with us also And as sure I am that the Sonne sends us in his owne Name unto the Father No man commeth unto the Father but by me John 14.6 And whatsoever yee aske the Father in my Name he will give it you chap. 16. v. 23. I am in the Father and the Father is in me he is not seene without me nor will he heare save in the sense of my Name Come to me for so yee goe to him Come thus bow confesse and make an Idol if you can of me Doe what yee can to honour me and what you doe is to the glory
of God the Father Who gave all to the Sonne to him doth all returne To him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by excellencie Because he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the preserver not onely of things Created but of the Unity in Trinity also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then is the beginning without beginning fons Deitatis the fountaine of the Deity wherein the Sonne subsists eternall with the Father and the Holy Ghost with both The Father in respect of his owne Sonne and of us his adopted Sonnes Nomen pietatis potestatis est a Name of piety it and of power saith Tertullian Of piety to love and of power to beget a Sonne and such a Sonne through whom we might be called the children of the Highest The Father therefore of the Sonne of God we mind Ad gloriam Dei patris sui to the glory of God his Father it is so the Syriak Not that the Sonne and Holy Ghost have not the glory For with the Father the Sonne is glorified and the Holy Ghost Because they three 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are one 1 John 5.7 One in substance and in dignity one Beleeve this and the rest will follow Beleeve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for we are not able to speake many things we understand of God and we speake many things which we are not fit to understand saith Saint Chrysostome This reason you first have and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it why the Father is onely expressed when the other may not be excluded The Father is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greater 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in respect of the generation so Athanasius As the cause said Ignatius before him and Gregory Nazianzen after A second is to shew that the Sonne is honoured as the Father and the Father not honoured without the Sonne The worship of the one and the other both one For we here see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Father glorified when the Sonne is glorified As Saint Chrysostome Confessing the Sonne we acknowledge the Father the one cannot be without the other And the substance of both being one one cannot be honoured and not another Animadvert we our Saviours words John 5.22 23. All judgement is given to the Sonne that all men should honour the Sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as they honour the Father Is it not manifest there that the Sonne is the Person in quo coli vult Pater as Beza noteth in whom the Father will be worshipped Why else is all judgement given him And why else may not the Father be honoured without the Sonne Yea the conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as doth teach not onely an equall worship of the Father and the Sonne but also that the worship of the Father must be exhibited in and through the Sonne Beleeving in and adoring him we beleeve in and adore the Father It is Christs doctrine He that beleeveth in and seeth me beleeveth in and seeth him that sent me John 12.44 45. And this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the worke of God that we beleeve in him whom he sent John 6.29 If Gods worke and Christs doctrine then beleeving in Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we make perfect the will of God saith Cyrillus Alexandrinus It may be illustrated thus The Agent is not without the Object nor the Act without both in the Object then we see the Agent and of both the Act without it we can doe neither The Father is not without the Sonne nor the Holy Ghost without both the Sonne then being the Character of the Father we behold the Father in the Sonne and the Holy Ghost too because he proceedeth from them both But without the Son we can doe neither the one nor the other He is the Word incarnate God manifested in the flesh that we in and through him may be directed unto the true apprehension of the three subsistences in one substance Who therefore doth honour the first or the third without or not in the second Person doth neither honour the Father nor the Sonne nor the Holy Ghost This is the cause why our Saviour would by no meanes permit any thing to be asked of the Father but in his Name John 16.23 24. And this it that made the persecuted so resolute Dicimus palà m dicimus Deum colimus per Christum we say and we say it openly and aloud to you tormentours We worship God through Christ as Tertullian hath recorded Ascendit ad summum Deum is c. he ascends to the high God who worships him inseparably and indivisibly through Jesus the Sonne of God Cujus solius ductu pervenitur ad patrem by whom alone we goe unto the Father so Origen Ipse oculus noster ut per illum videamus Patrem he is our eye that by him we may see the Father ipse vox he that voyce by which we may speake to the Father ipse dextera he the right hand by which we may offer our Sacrifice to God the Father so Saint Ambrose And Saint Augustine saith Prayer not made through Christ doth not onely not blot out sinne sed etiam ipsa fit in peccatum but also becomes sinne Being in the harmony of the true Church keepe we ever there If the Asse will feede on Thistles let him to whom the Hony-combe is not denied we will not change our fare Who say that in bowing at the Name of Jesus and by the open confession of the tongue we worship him with other worship then the Father or preferre him before the Father may as well say we worship aliud we know not what and not alium another who is still the same with the Father One is as false as the other and both as that which contradicts the truth For we never divide the three persons in our worship of any one who doe are Idolaters We honour one and all all in the Trinity or none Bowing then at the Name unto the Person through the sense of Jesus the Father hath glory and the Holy Ghost The Holy Ghost by the Apostle commands it if obedience be acceptable I am sure in doing it we obey him And if we can beleeve the Apostle our owne eyes will tell us that with the Sonne the Father is thereby glorified For the bowing to and the confessing of Jesus injoyned by the Spirit are both expressed to the glory of God the Father The Sonne admits of no glory which shall impaire his Fathers in the least degree And ever be it our glory to give him all his due Tibi Domine tibi gloria tua mane at illibata The Arrians and all other Heresiarchs that oppose the Deity of Christ The Agnoits that charge Christ with ignorance The Manichees Seleucians Hermians Christolits that deny him as man to be glorified in Heaven The Cerinthians Chiliasts Nepotians that affirme our happinesse shall be in the fruition of carnalities The Eutychians Jacobits that say the humane nature is
consumed by the Divine The Nestorians Servetans Vbiquitaries that averre the manhood is turned into the Godhead And the Macedonians Messalians Priscillianists that hold it no dishonour unto the Majesty of God to renounce the faith and profession of Christ are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For there Christ ever equall with the Father as God is as man so glorified by the Deity in his Person that the beatificall vision of him shall be our eternall and inconceiveable happinesse And though he be so full of Divine excellencies yet our nature in him remaines intire that who now confesse him Lord may through it be enabled to behold his glory hereafter The Saturnians Basilidians Cerdonians that frame to themselves two Gods one of the Jewes contrary to the other of the Christians The Simonians that stile Simon Magus the true God The Carpocratians Marcits Severians Menandrians that repelling Christ as too infirme honour their familiar Devils as the authours and governours of all things The Gnosticks that privately and publikely maintaine the worshipping of Idols as necessary The Collyridians ' Angeliks Montanists Armenii that either attribute Divine honour to the Virgin or to the Angels or to the Image of Christ or to his Crosse And the Papists that to the former foure idolatries adde the worshipping of Saints in or by their Pictures are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For there one and the same God the God of the Jewes and the Gentiles infinite in all that he is wonderfull in all his wayes the sole former orderer and controller of all things above and below will not permit the Name thereof to any other The highest he and therefore the highest glory must be his onely The Ptolemaeans Colarbasians Praxeans Noetians Sabellians Patripassians that confound the Persons in the Trinity The Metangismonits that will have the Sonne contained in the Father as the lesser vessell in the greater The Tritheits Triformits Tetratheits that make the three Persons three parts of God and every Person imperfect of himselfe The Roman Pontificiaries that run to the blessed Virgin Saints Angels as mediatours to the Father And our Socinian-Separatists Puritans Brownists c. that thinke the bowing of the Knee at the Name of Jesus and open confession of him a disparagement rather then glory to the Father are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For there the Father onely expressed as first in order in him the three subsistences are included Not confounded in the manner of being are truly distinct not distinguished in substance One and the same the three and thence it is that naming but one wee give equall glory unto all This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the union and our salvation True Christians we looking unto Jesus exalted behold him in his triumphall Charet sweete and delectable Our faith shewes us that he is girt with strength clothed with beauty His understanding hath no measure nor his goodnesse end comlinesse carrieth the Mace before him and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore All increated perfection we acknowledge his by nature as the Sonne of God and his by personall union as the Sonne of man Not that whatsoever he as the Sonne of God hath in himselfe is by reall participation communicated to his humane nature We cannot say so and in our thoughts preserve the person of God and man in his essentials Yet such manant superexcellencies we consider in his flesh as may fulfill our blessednesse So we doe and exult that Jesus is the Lord in whom onely Gods glory is concluded For of him God hath glory before time glory in time glory beyond time Glory in filiation glory in election glory in creation glory in redemption glory in the Old Testament glory in the New glory in salvation glory in damnation for ever and ever The glory above which no glory is Christs The blessed Virgin Saints and Angels enjoy the peaee of it but no man save he that is God may challenge it He may for being one with the Father and the Holy Ghost neither the Father nor the Holy Ghost can deprive him Where there are all and all three one the glory cannot be to one and not full to every one For the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost being but one God the manner of their being the second of the first and the third from both doth not separate one and another It is Essence and Essence not subsistence and subsistence that overthrowes Unity in Trinity Nor may we inferre that the Sonne and Holy Ghost are not or be lesse advanced here then the Father Because he is expressed and not the other No such conclusion our sense apprehends it otherwise The Sonne hath his manner of existing of the Father and the Holy Ghost from both This glory therefore is ascribed to the Father as the Fountaine which in absolute consideration doth alike pertaine to the other persons When the Father is mentioned we in minde conceive the other persons also For no man knowes the Father but by the Sonne nor any man the Sonne but by the Holy Ghost Confessing then the Sonne we confesse all and the Father having the glory of our confession the other have it also The Father hath it to himselfe the Sonne in the Father and the holy Ghost in them both We can now tell what compasseth the text and goeth all over it The first word we have brought through all unto the last and carried the last clause unto the first The true pointing makes it cleare and sets forth the exaltation by God of the Person and Name and of the Name and Person by us in these particulars First wherefore that is for the union and for our Salvation God hath highly exalted him in and to the glory of God the Father Secondly for the union and for our salvation he gave him a Name above every Name in and to the glory of God the Father There God hath done his part next is our First that for the Union and for our salvation every knee of things in Heaven in Earth and under the Earth should bow at the Name of Jesus in and to the glory of God the Father Secondly that for the Union also for our salvation every tongue should confesse that Jesus Christ is Lord in and to the glory of God the Father What the Holy Ghost hath thus by the Apostle put together shall by us be kept firme We by the helpe of God will extoll the super-exalted Name and Person with knee and tongue in faith and hope humbly confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord in and to the glory of God the Father Tract X. AT 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if you remember I referr'd something that may not be forgotten now It was onely mentioned there and this it Christs humility was propounded as an example that we might know how and by whom to obtaine glory First how By humility For the same minde
but into the very accidents of the Bread at the Communion Table are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for him perfect God and perfect Man God hath highly exalted him This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still our Argument is the union and our Salvation True Christians we acknowledge the omnipotent power of God the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost to be the efficient of the exaltation The worke was individedly of the three though fitted but to one The second person by the eternall counsell of the Holy Trinity undertaking the humiliation with him the other two exalted him We seclude not the person exalted from the agent exalting because their essence is but one Who are Holy Holy Holy are the same Lord and God The Godhead then exalting the advancement might be high As high say we as God would We know not how high sure above death Not to dye againe to be immortall Not on earth above the Heavens Not to glory created onely above to the glory of the Father At the right hand of God thither we beleeve but the immensity of the power dominion and honour we comprehend not It is enough for us that his Authority royall is so manifested that we doubt it not And our comfort is he hath so dispensed with the manhood that our nature remaines for ever entire in his person Being therefore our head and such a head he can no more forget us then not remember himselfe and remembring us is both able and willing to bring us unto himselfe Rejoyce we may and be glad we are his members he is gone before we shall follow after His humiliation was to purchase us his exaltation to provide for us whom he purchased by his blood he will at the time receive us into his glory For for our sake he humbled himselfe and our cause is the cause Propter quam Wherefore also God hath highly exalted him Tract III. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And hath given him a Name which is above every name THe conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and brings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherefore also hither We may not forget the union nor for whom the union is These are praecognita in the Text and were fore set to set forth the Truth Nor doth the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and tell us why a name was given onely but who also gave and who received the name It carries backe to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and now we have no more to say why a name was given who gave it and to whom then was before of why who and whom exalted The grace of union is first in why and that we may be of high esteeme in him is finall The Trinne God is the efficient giver and God and man the person named How then God gave him a name and what a name he gave is next 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He gave There is no difference in the Translation The Syriacke the Vulgar Arias Montanus Erasmus Beza c. and our English version is the same The Greeke word signifies a gift 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Saint Chrysostome so expounds it per gratiam gratis Not by grace of Adoption here but of union as before It is not then a giving ab aeterno without beginning but such a giving as being from eternity decreed was executed in time I see not why any should here minde the naturall donation in the eternall generation of the Sonne whereby the Father communicates suum esse his being to another which still is his owne For if this be it Christ hath no other essence then the Father or this donation is not the full of his person Dare significantiam habet manifestam saith Nonius Marcellus to give hath a manifest signification It tels out and leaves nothing untold Christ is more then the Sonne of God the Sonne of Man is he also This he was made in time that he was begotten before all time As begotten and made this giving must be according to both It is true Christ hath no other person then the Sonne of God is yet in his person are two disparate natures The Sonne of God then doth expresse his whole person but not totum personae the whole of his person Another giving therefore to make all apparent and this is temporall Not momentary beginning in time hath no time to end As the Sonne of God Christ was ever named and never not named because ever borne and never not borne the Sonne of God As the Sonne of God and Man he was once borne to be for ever named what he was borne Emmanuel God with us For ever named because he will be for ever in ours that we may be for ever in his Lastly as risen from death he was the first borne of the dead A giving then and more and more after as he was exalted more and more Of these three the first is really distinct from the other two and being before all time begotten found no time to be so given We seeke not after this a time the eternall begotten had and when the fulnesse of time was come began the time of this giving Then God sent his Sonne Gal. 4.4 and by his Angell gave him a name then Mat. 1.21 Then was the giving but the illustration not till now Now no other Name no other person now Now no other person the person before humiliated as you have seene is the same exalted now Nor any other name now the name before scorned is the same glorious now Given at first as Saint Chrysostome said to the Heretickes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was of no esteeme in the world And when given for gone by an ignominious death God gave it againe or set it sorth to be knowne as eminent it was in it selfe by his powerfull resurrection For to give here is as elsewhere to manifest All power in Heaven and in Earth is given me saith our Saviour Mat. 28.18 Not that all the power he now hath was not his before now but what he ever had was not opened till now Nomen tune accepit a Patre cum a creatura caepit sciri he then received the name of the Father when he began to be acknowledged by the Creature as Saint Ambrose Manifestationem ergo illius Nominis donavit ei Deus God therefore after the Resurrection gave to him the manifestation of his Name saith the Master of the Sentences This Name-giving then was to the exaltation as the Epiphany to the Nativity For hodie genui te to day I have begotten thee is applyed to it Act. 13.33 That exaltation the Nativity and this giving the publication For therefore are things lifted up that they may be in view Because as the most reverend Bishop Andrewes said they which be exalted seeme not so to be till their so being be made publike in the world This exposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath
is so named Nor without reason for at Luke 1.32 33. all this by the Angel was foretold then to be fulfilled now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Jesus shall be great How great even so great that he shall be called the Sonne of the Highest he shall Raigne and of his Kingdome shall be no end No end of it none greater then he The prediction is here answered God hath given him a Name which is above every Name This Name Jesus and no other nor preferre I excepting no Name no not the Name of God any person before another For the glory of this Name is as in the end will be declared the glory of the Trinne God The most learned Bishop sheweth it is above all to him above all to us and without Blasphemy to the other attributes I prove it above all in it selfe too Above all to him saith that reverend Father For though many titles of the Deity sound and seeme to be more glorious yet he esteemes them all not like this Why For no other reason but that they had not nos homines us men and nostram salutem our salvation in them No name he sets by like that wherein with his glory is joyned our safety And this of all he made choyce of as to him above all that we might accordingly esteeme of him that esteemes it above all onely for our sakes To this I adde first that it is his proper Name for though our Saviour be one Lord Jesus Christ yet Christ the Name is communicated by him to others Sic enim Judaei Reges suos appellabant for so the Jewes called their Kings Non proprium nomen sed nuncupatio potestaris as Lactantius Accidens nomini res not a Name but an accidentall thing to a Name the cloathing of his name saith Tertullian Yea Christ is not cannot be the Name of God Qui corpus non habuit ungi omnino non potuit But the Name Jesus is his chiefe Name and goeth not beyond him Ego ego Dominus non praeter me Salvator I I am the Lord and beside me is no Saviour Isa 43.11 It is his peculiar and therefore to him above that which is in common Secondly he was annointed King Priest and Prophet Why that he might be a perfect Saviour The end is highest to be Jesus he was Christ For Christus Sacramenti Nomen saith Saint Augustine Christ is the Name of a Sacrament and a Sacrament of inauguration He is enstalled our Saviour or by the Father and the holy Ghost consecrated to it Onely for it was he the word incarnate and gave his life and all for it onely If all his undertakings tended thereto then it is the full of all A Name therefore above every Name to him is his Name Jesus If to him certainly above all to us For we fallen in Adam are subject to death temporall and eternall Not so as not to be but so as to be tormented ever Gods wrath is the consuming fire and we the unconsuming fuell His justice cannot as we in our selves looke on us in mercie nor his mercie without justice Satisfaction then must be some way made or there can be reconciliation no way We have nothing will doe it if nothing sufficient may else where be had we shall pay the utmost farthing But God be thanked the Sonne of God out of his impervestigable treasure brought enough over and over to adopt us into the peace of the blessed Trinity Christ hath done this and no other could Not incidently this but ex officio he was annointed unto the three saving offices that he might be the absolute Jesus to save his people from their sinnes His people not the Jewes onely but the Gentiles also All are invited to him Mat. 11.28 and he is the Saviour of all men 1 Tim. 4.11 God in him reconcileth the world 2 Cor. 5.19 without him enemy to it and us is God Heb. 12.29 His Name we hold by and by no other our salvation Acts 4.12 If salvation then unto wretches guilty of the never-dying death be precious of what worth is the Name that assureth it unto us Can any thing be sweete above without it or any thing below sowre with it With it comfort none without it in the Name of God The Devill may object sinne against and crosses come as Wave after Wave on us yet if we adjure him by it rem Nominis implebit he will make good his Name Bold we ought to be with it for he hath commanded us to preferre his Name and made a strong asseveration that whatsoever we aske of the Father in his Name shall be given us John 16.23.24 It is our duty and therefore no presumption to flie with it á Deo irato ad Deum placatum from God angry unto him pleased saith Saint Augustine Such good speed have we if our tongues carry it from our hearts by faith unto God that the peace of God will rest within our soules here and we shall rest in his eternall peace hereafter So joyfull therefore was it to the Saints Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Fathers that nothing sounded well without Jesus Jacobs melody this Gen. 49.18 This Davids rest Psal 62.2 Simeon exults in this Luke 2.29 In this Saint Paul gloried And this was more then life to Saint Stephen Acts 7.59 Quicquid sine hoc Nomine suisset non me totum rapiebat nothing tooke Saint Augustine but this Name And in Saint Bernards mouth it was mel honey in his eare melos musicke in his heart jubilus a jubilee To whom salvation is highest the Name of our Saviour is the highest Name Who prise nothing before the one will have no Name get above the other Nay none can get above it I meddle not with the Relations The Super of the Name I am about and about it in the third respect All the other Names of God admit a translation approved by the holy Ghost but this endures none Forte ex omnibus unum as Saint Bernard it may be all other are accumulated in it and it is one of all What containes all other no other can containe it First then this Name is more then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the ineffable Name of God among the Jewes vulgarly called Jehovah Not more as if any thing in God did Suscipere magis minus and might be more or lesse But more as ad extra one worke is greater then another Redemption then Creation The goodnesse of God is more expressed by this Name then any other Jehovah indeed signifies God as Lord and Creatour Sed nihil nasci profuit nisi redimi profuisset yet it were better not to bee then not to be redeemed Or what profit is it with the Jew to acknowledge Jehovah and not with the Christian to beleeve in Jesus Secondly Redemption presupposeth Creation and not defining Redemption without the Father and the Holy Ghost we say the Name of the Redeemer
the humane nature given fitted and personally united in time Heb. 2.16 To him according to both natures was given in time the office of a Mediatour betweene God offended and men offending To him as God and man was the Name above all Names given and in that Name doth the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost in time above and below of Angels and men receive the glory of our redemption Rev. 5.13 Saint Ambrose and others expound it of Christ as the Sonne of God Hoc natus accepit ut post crucem manifestaretur quid a Patre dum generaretur acceperit this Name he received being borne that what he received of the Father in his generation might be manifested after he was crucified That is as Zanchius openeth the Fathers minde in the eternall generation God the Father communicated to the Sonne that hee should be true God remaine so in the assumed flesh and after the Resurrection be every where so proclaimed The truth is both these are to be conjoyned For he that was ever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Saviour according to his Deity is now for ever and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inchangeably Jesus according to his humanity also Not that what the sonne of God is as the Sonne of man is he Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 essentially God is man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Union The Deity is united really to the flesh but not communicated really By the identity of the Person the Name reacheth both natures Jesus is the sonne of God and the Sonne of Man is Jesus Tota res Nominis est persona the whole thing of the Name is the Person God onely is not it nor onely Man it God and Man one Christ is all The Name then includes all the Attributes of God and Man and more then of God and Man seorsum severally all of God and Man united And here the Argument for the exaltation of the Name is yet more evident Such a person is Christ as not the like and therefore such a Name is Jesus as no such Not that this Name addes an higher degree to Gods essence or to his essentiall glory But this Name shewing the Union of God and man shewes also that in this Name God will by his Church in Heaven and on Earth and by his enemies on Earth and in Hell be most glorified Nor that his Name doth make an inequality in the Trinity For as Saint Ambrose said on Matthew 11.27 Plus dixit de filio quam de patre non quod plus habet quam pater sed quod ne minus esse videatur the text speaketh more of the Sonne then of the Father not because the Sonne hath more authority then the Father but because the Sonne should not seeme to be inferiour to the Father So is it said the Father hath given all authority to him and all things are put under him 1 Cor. 15.27 Not that he is exalted above the Father but there is nothing which shall not be subject unto Christ he excepted who subjecteth all things to him And though he be the Judge of quicke and dead he is not Judge onely but he and not the Father doth judge in forma visibili in a visible forme So neither doth the Name given him above all names seclude the Father and the Holy Ghost from the act of Salvation but sheweth that our Salvation appointed by the eternall purpose was finished in the person of the Son And because all was finished in Jesus that Name is the Name wherein the glorious Trinity as appeares throughout the New Testament will be honoured for ever and ever So be it now and ever and let all people say Amen The Marcionits who affirme that Christ is not the Sonne of God the Creatour the Benosians that he is an adopted Sonne the Samosatenians that he was not God before the Incarnation the Nativitaries that he was with before he was begotten of the Father the Symonians that he was not the word Incarnate the Sabellians that the Father was made flesh and the Theodotians that what Christ was was all mortall are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For the giving there is the then manifesting of God the Sonne in the flesh The Jewes who terme Christ a Demoniake the Gnosticks that separate Jesus from Christ as two persons the Menandrians that stiled Menander the Saviour of the World the Ophits that conferr'd the Name on the Serpent and the Sethians that attributed Salvation unto Seth are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For that Name which no man could receive who was not God also none but God could give The Arrians who hold that Christ was God by grace the Donatists that deny him to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 equall with the Father the Melchisedecians that make him inferiour to Melchisedec the Acatians that will have him onely like the Father in substance the Eunomians that thinke him in all things unlike the Father the Dulians that call him the servant of the Father and our Catharists Anabaptists Brownists Precisians who are so farre from esteeming the Name above all Names that they count it beneath all other Names of Christ and use the most sacred Name Jesus carelesly very blasphemously often are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For there Christ is consubstantiall with the Father and the Name of Jesus above every Name in many respects is in no respect inferiour to any The Nestorians that seigne one person of the Deity another of the humanity the Apollinarists that convert the word into the flesh the Arrians that yeeld the Name to Christ as man made a God in repute not as God made man indeed and the Jesuits who presumptuously arrogate Christs saving Name are condemned at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For to the Person of Christ not to the one or other nature onely to him onely and to be for ever his was the Name above all Names given This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the Union and our Salvation True Christians we considering wherefore God exalted Christ beleeve that for the Union and for us he spread abroad his Name God and Man being knowne to be one we know that men have grace with God He being notified to us wee take notice of him The Essence of things is brought to our understanding by second notions For in the cloud of our first fall we so lost the sight of all things in their being that now we see not the Essence but by expression Of the highest expression the substance is the highest That Name then which containes all God and us and our salvation is the fullest That God fully manifested by the visible sending of the Holy Ghost and that is acknowledged in Heaven on Hearth and in Hell to be Jesus This sounds glory to God in the highest on Earth peace to the elect and in Hell terrour to the Devils No name like this for sweetnesse it
feare of offence saith Saint Augustine So great so reverend that the Prophet David will have us extoll the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in or at Jah his Name How in or at Even Laud abiliter nominando by mentioning it worthily And so worthily that he invites us to bend the knee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the faces representations or Symboles whereby he is principally knowne Psal 95.6 But he is principally knowne by the Name above every name at the Name then and in that speciall manner What was therefore prophesied and confirmed by oath Isa 45.23 is spoken of our Saviour in that Chapter applyed to Christ Rom. 14.11 and fulfilled according to this Text Phil. 2.10 For that bowing to him in Isaiah without the mentioning of his Name is here expressely at the Name As if it had beene said to me who am the Saviour and though when I will be in the flesh I shall be contemned yet after my exaltation at my Name shall every knee bow As these Texts then are paralleled by the Fathers the last leaves not out the former but sets them forth unto the full Tertullian thought so There is saith he one Christ Ad quem se curvare genu plane omne fatetur to whom every knee doth visibly shew it selfe to bow Bishop Andrewes could find no ancient Writer save he that turned all into Allegories but literally understands it Save he who is that Indeed there are now extant that strangely transforme every Text which makes against them but who if the Parenthesis be his must be understood there I confesse I know not Not Origen I am sure for he speakes it out Quia Nomen Jesus est super omne nomen idcirco in nomine Jesu omne genu flectitur because the Name Jesus is above every name therefore at the name of Jesus every knee is bowed Againe Non in hoc vocati sumus c. ut genua flectamus diabolo sed ut flectamus genua in nomine Domini Jesu we are not called unto this that we should bow the knees unto the devill but that we might bow the knees at the Name of the Lord Jesus Againe Vocabulum Jesu omni adoratu cultuque appel ari c. the glorious Name of Jesus ought to be named with all manner of adoration and worship And againe Omnes hi qui in Nomine Jesu flectentes per hoc ipsum subjectionis suae insignia declararunt all these who are bowers at the name of Jesus by this very thing have given notable tokens of their subjection Saint Cyprian is as plaine God the Father commanded that his Sonne should be worshipped and the Apostle Saint Paul mindfull of the precept Ponit dicit in Nomine c. sets downe how and saith at the Name Novatianus saith omne se in Nomine ejus genu flecter◠t every knee should bow it selfe at the name of him Saint Athanasius tels us the Sonne of God Homo factus Jesus appellatus made man and called Jesus hath this honour that every Creature doth flectere sibi in Nomine suo bow the knees to him at his Name And in another place he saith that the Church did and shall bow in nomine Jesu at the name of Jesus Saint Ambrose hath no other Exposition of it nor other hath Ruffinus Saint Hierome on the Text Vnto me every knee shall bow recites this of the Apostle and saith Perspicue significatur populus Christianus there is plainely signified the Christian people Moris enim Ecclesiastici c. For so to bow is the custome of the Church Saint Chrysostome denies it not to be the glory of Christ but saith it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the highest glory to bow at his name Saint Augustine affirmes that Christ after his suffering received Quae consequenter contexit Apostolos all that the Apostle by consequence hath linked together at Philip. 2.9 10 11. As if the Exaltation of his person appeared not but by our Exalting of his Name Cyrillus Alexandrinus cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a most significant Sacrament declaring that Christ one is God in and with the humane nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 remaining still what he was before And at the same councell of Ephesus in his Oration he saith this is illustrious to shew that Christs obedience made him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both glorious and worthy of admiration and conciliative of all goodnesse unto us The Fathers in the Councels render it in or at the Name and I find it not otherwise interpreted in any Church It seemes there was either neglect or irreverent performance of it among some at the time of the Councell of Basil For there it was constituted that when the glorious Name of Jesus was mentioned whereat every knee ought to bow Omnes caput inclinent all should bow the head The devout faithfull audito Nomine hearing the name Jesus bow the head or bend the knee so Alphonsus Abulensis According to the custome of the ancient Christians Soli Nomini Jesu quando nominatur fit reverentia reverence is done to the Name when it is named so Estius We bow the knee and uncover the head Ad mentionem Domini Jesu at the mentioning of the Lord Jesus so Osiander In hoc Nomine quod est Jesus at this name which is Jesus so Gorran Musculus tels us Omnino in usurpatione Nominis Dei declaratur quam sancte reverenter de Deo sentiamus that the usage of Gods Name doth declare our esteeme of God For he that Religiously thinkes of him cannot usurpe his name irreligiously You shall see many saith he that will put off their caps and shew some other token of reverence when any mention is made of the King to declare how reverently they doe judge of their Ruler And among Christian men you may find many that make mention of God the Father of his Sonne Christ Jesu our Lord and Saviour and of the Holy Ghost and heare it also of others without any token of honour Stupiditas ista plane indicium leniter de Deo sentientis quicquid tandem ore proferatur this blockishnesse doth verily betoken a light opinion of God in heart whatsoever be said in word I know Master Calvin is of no small esteeme and he brings this for an argument of our Saviours Deity that God gave a Name to his Christ whereat every knee should bow If Zanchius have any repute it is required that signification of reverence be given ad Nomen Dei ◠um prosertur at the Name of God when it is pronounced as many men doe when they heare the name of their King May he be of note among us then in or at the name is ad solam momi◠nem Nominis at the onely mentioning of the Name of Jesus for so he expounds it Nor doubted he but thence the most ancient custome arose in the Churches that when
Jesus was named Omnes aperiant c◠put all men should uncover their heads in testimony of adoration What though the Sorbonists Rhemists Papists hold it a duty of the Text Shall not we therefore and without superstition we See what Conradus Vorstius in behalfe of the Reformed Churches writeth Si quis ad mentionem Dei aut Christi aut Jesu c. signum aliquod honoris exhibere velit per nos sane licet id que passim in Ecclesiis nostris fieri videmus nomine re◠lamante nomine indignante If any man will at the Name of God or of Christ or of Jesus c. exhibit some token of honour truely among us it is lawfull and we see it every where done in our Churches no man disclaiming no man disdaining it Nor did Master Calvin what are the Schismatickes say reprove the Sorbon Sophisters for bowing at the name but for bowing at the sound not to the sense as there Vorstius testifieth If we come unto our owne Churches at the first yeare of Queen Elizabeth 1559. it is injoyned that whensoever the Name of Jesus shall be in any Lesson Sermon or otherwise in the Church pronounced due reverence be made of al persons young and old with lowlinesse of cursie and uncovering of heads of the mankind as thereunto doth necessarily belong and heretofore hath beene accustomed In the first of King James of blessed memory 1603. both the Vnirversities Oxford and Cambridge doe affirme that reverence done at the Name of Jesus is no superstition but an outward signe of inward subjection to his divine Majesty and apparent token of our devotion In the Synod begun at London 1603. it is thus expressed When in the time of Divine Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned due and lowly reverence shall be done by all persons present as it hath beene accustomed This was among the rest published under the Great Seale of England hath continued and is still in force for ought I know at these times Doctour Whitaker did honour at the Name of Jesus Bishop Whitgift saith to bow at the name is of many hundred yeares continuance and Christians used it in the beginning Doctour W◠llet allowes it when the minde is free from superstition So doth Doctor Fulke Doctor Airy Doctor B◠yes The most learned Bishop Andrewes will satisfie any man that shall not be willfully blinde Master Hooker cals it harmelesse there is no superstition at all in it Doctor Page refuteth all Master Prynns arguments and justifies bowing at the Name of Jesus most Christianly and Learnedly Master Giles Widdowes maintaines it stoutly against the lawlesse kneelesse Schismaticall Puritan And it at this day is Preached and practised by the most learned in the Kingdome In all Churches old and new Easterne and Westerne Romish and Reformed this Exposition hath beene well liked Master Cartwright knew not what to say against it and therefore his followers cannot abide it We dare not so much as speake of an earthly King unreverently Dare we not Then what reverence doe we owe unto Christ the King of Heaven and Earth saith Master Perkins on this Text. We owe much indeed and have promised much but God helpe we performe little and our little performance hath made a great disturbance in the Church of England So great that this very duty of the Text is by too many held superstition Certainely there is irreligion in them that so vainely handle the Text but in the duty can be no superstition For the Apostle saith it is done at the Name unto the glory of the Father From whom it hath beginning in him it ends Where it is so done is no vaine honoring of that which should not be honoured and therefore no superstition But grant there hath beene superstition used in it as Zanchius saith there was in bowing of the head and many other godly constitutions Suppose there hath must therefore the divine institution be cast away In running after Sermons is there not superstition among a great many now What will you doe then will you abandon hearing God forbid Remove saith Bishop Andrewes the superstition and retaine Sermons still Doe but even so here and all is at an end We may be in fault the duty can be in none If the fault be in us we ought to amend Gods prescription may not be annihilated for our miscarriage It is excellent to sweepe superstition out of the Church but chiefe wisdome not to sweepe any of Gods Religion out with it Reverence begins to abate on all hands I pray God that we by this guile of the devill may never lose our Religion It is not the crying superstition and damnable superstition that can make it such Stop we our eares at such foule blasphemy Looke to the Text follow it and pay as God requireth a reverent carriage even to his Sonnes Name What God hath exalted exalt we and feare not For God being honoured by it we at the generall day shall when all knees must bow at once find comfort that we on earth have so bowed at the Name of Jesus What the Name signifies and why at this name rather then any other was in the former Verse If any insinuate the minde that thus exalting the Name I preferre one person before another in the Trinity It is answered that cannot be For God will have us this way declare that we acknowledge Jesus to be Lord equall with the Father and the Holy Ghost and that he received this Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to his humane nature which he ever possessed in himselfe according to the divine The Text therefore is not simply at the name but at the Name of Jesus Which is the Name of one person consisting of two natures divine and humane as before At the Name then of Jesus inferres that the whole person is to be adored the word and the flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one and the same honour as the Fathers in the Councell of Ephesus defined The worship may not be divided because undivided is the person Yet true it is that the Godhead by and of it selfe simply ought to be worshipped and not the flesh save in the person and for the Godhead But seeing the Apostle directs the worship to the whole person Non est cur ab adoratione deitatis separetur caro there is no reason why the flesh should be separated from the honour of the Deity saith Zanchius And if it be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honorificall for the Father to have his owne Sonne 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord of all Who can doubt saith Cyrillus Alexandrinus but that he kept for him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the free and superexcellent dignity of power and domination above all In this adoration then is nothing taken from the Father or from the Holy Ghost and given to the Sonne nor any thing given to the Son which is not equally to the honour of the three
bow the knee To this I answer that the Aristotelians hold the Angels simple and abstracted intelligences and the Platoniks say they have bodies Those the Schoolemen follow after these the Fathers go though not after these in the matter Tertullian saith Omne quod est corpus est sui generis whatsoever is is a body of its kind And of the Angels he writes thus Invisibilia illa quaecunque sunt habeat apud Deum suum corpus suam formam per quae soli Deo visibilia sunt those visibles whatsoever they are have before God their owne body and their owne forme by which they are visible to God alone They have their bodies that is other then we have and their formes as we also have ours It is onely peculiar to God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost if we may beleeve Origen sine materia i substantia absque ulla corporcae adjectionis societate subsistere to subsist without materiall substance and any alliance of corporall adjection Saint Augustine doth not onely attribute bodies to the Angels but cals them acrea animalia airy animals He followed Origen Lactantius Basil and that was the consent of Writers in his time as Lodovicus Vives noteth And in his Notes he induceth Michael Psellus saying Oporret ut divinus asserit Paulus Spiritus ministros qui mittuntur corpus habere c. Spirits ministers as Saint Paul affirmes ought to have a body wherein they may move stand still and openly appeare In this sense Gregory the Great termes an Angel rationale animal a reasonable living creature such a one as is composed of body and soule Saint Bernard also on the words of the Apostle Heb. 1.14 Are they not all ministring spirits reasoneth thus How can they fulfill their ministry without a body praesertim apud viventes in corpare especially with those which live in a body If in Scriptures we read they are incorporeall I answer that we usually call the more grosse bodies and the more subtile which come not under our sense Spirits With Saint Gregory therefore I determine Comparatione nostrorum corporum spiritus sunt sed comparatione summi Spiritus sunt corpora that in respect of our bodies they are Spirits but in respect of the incircumscribed Spirit they are bodies Conferred with us spirituall with God corporeall as Damascene More probable therefore saith Zanchius is the opinion of the Fathers that the Angels be not simply without body then of the Schoolemen that they are simple and immateriall Spirits especially seeing the Schoolemen approve the distinction of Gregory that comparatively they are bodies and Spirits comparatively But what bodies they naturally have we are men and know not certainely more excellent then ours more subtile then the Heavens invisible to our blind eyes finite locall and the fittest for their ministry May we say the Angels have their bodies and can we not think they have their knees Saint Paul at 1 Cor. 13.1 gives them tongues and shall he not as well at Phil. 2.10 allow them knees They have one said the learned Bishop Andrewes as much as the other And in both places humanum dicit he speakes to us after the manner of men that we by our owne language might conceive what they doe They doe reverence and we finde in the Scriptures that they have expressions of what they doe Consider what is at Rev. 4.10 5.8.14 and in the 7. chapter 11 12. verses nothing can be more plaine All the Angels stood in the compasse of the Throne and of the Elders and of the foure beasts and fell before the Throne on their faces and worshipped God saying Amen Blessing and glory and wisdome and thankes and honour and power and might be unto our God for ever more Amen They stand and have they no legges they fall downe and may they not bow Having faces must they want knees speaking out are they without tongues They have theirs we ours Though not as carnally we they hold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with us whereby their obedience is set forth And it is confessed by all that genuflection is but an outward and some say any outward humble expression of that within Because therefore the Angels some way expresse it they are some way said to bow and that way too which is answerable to the knee Their obedientiall bowing power they yeeld in a supermorall perfection The doe so and going before in that practise we need not feare to follow after What ever some plead for themselves I am sure the Apostle hath left none of us out For to every knee of heavenly things he subjoynes every knee of things terrestriall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And of things in Earth The conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and shewes that all living men ought to performe the bowing at the Name verified in the Angels All ought and though all doe not yet good Christians beginne it now and will goe on with it unto perfection For they in Heaven bowing strongly inferre that there are no men in Earth priviledged not to bow I say not that every individuall man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is on earth doth or will now bow For Turkes Jewes Infidels out of the Church doe not and too many Christians in the Church will not But that every one voluntarily or involuntarily shall truly fulfill this Scripture at the last day Though therefore it be principally intended then it doth not follow that it may not be in practise now For the Apostle will have us be presently humble vers 5. And presently because our humility that reacheth goes not out but is perfected in glory Origen saith omne genu flectitur every knee doth bow Flectebatur flectetur every knee did bow and every knee shall bow so Athanasius J am incurvetur every knee ought now to bow so Cyrillus Alexandrinus Now to doe it and every one now will admit of no prorogation till the last day Christi regnum crescit indies Christs Kingdom hath a daily increase and is not at highest untill it be wholly triumphant So these propositions are both true All things are now subjected unto Christ All things are not in full subjection untill the Resurrection Proinde vaticinium hoc non absque ratione diversis temporibus varie accommodatur saith Master Calvin this prophesie therefore is not without reason diversly fitted to divers times as other prophesies doe not perfect Christs Kingdome in a moment but describe it unto us in the whole circuit And though it be a prophesie yet under this prophesie is a duty required of us For it is not a prophesie instantly fulfilled but by degrees A good Christian then will argue thus Must all knees bow at the Name of Jesus in the last day I ought therefore to bow now Pia civilitas est it is a pious civility so to doe in the time of grace saith Osiander Non interiore modo
And though I have called this the reward of our humility yet it may not be said that our humility merits this No it was purchased for us by the humiliation of Jesus In whom we have it without him we challenge nothing Hoping therefore to be glorified with him in Heaven to him we conforme on earth And because he hath taught no other way to the inheritance then he went in the purchase we seeke no other nor can we thinke there might be any other more glorious For in it we never doe saith Saint Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 descend from glory The lowest degree is ever an ascent unto the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the high is low the low high this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is made good in the contradiction that Christ indured against himselfe Heb. 12.2 3. And when we see his humble members despising the world yet despising no man contemning themselves and yet contemning that contempt which persecutes them doe we not behold the minde exalted above all things below Yea when we finde pride it selfe palliated with humility know we not that the proud confesse there is glory both in and for the vertue How in seeming not mistaken is the world mistaken much men thinke humility and glory opposits as if of both in one could be no subsistence It is pride that refusing the one may never come at the other Quisquis enim nunc sponte se non humiliat nequaquam hunc sequens gloria exaltat for who doth not here willingly and truly humiliate himselfe following glory never exalts him saith Gregory My close is for Christ for the vertue for the glories sake learne we the Apostles counsell Keepe we our eyes fixed on the example of Jesus and in proceeding the nearer we come to our place like naturall bodies we shall move with the more celerity Our humility will carry us and with speed enough unto the same journies end it brought him Who drawes us in the way Cant. 1.4 will crowne us in the end Rev. 2.10 Doing what he commands we shall receive what he obtained life eternall in and to the glory of God the Father The Samosatenians and Socinians that hold Christs death neither satisfactory nor meritorious but onely exemplary for us The Jewes Turkes Pagans Infidels to whom Christ is a scorne and his Crosse an offence The Atheists Nullifidians Prophane that in dirision of Gods Religion call his Church Satans Synagogue the Communion Bacchus Sacrifice and his professours Solifidians The Libertines of our age that count us fooles for our Austerity The carelesse Professours that deeme us over pitifull to others too bitter to our selves Our Church Michals Catharists Brownists Separatists that deride us for our humiliation in the service of God The Anabaptists Monks Hypocrites that will be humble without submission poore without want and rich without labour The Sadduces Simonians Saturnians c. that hoping there is no punishment after this life for the bad will have no reward for the good The Cerinthians Pepuzians Mahumetans that place happinesse in the eternal fruition of fleshly delights on earth And the Montanists Enthysiasts Papists that in the argument of the glory put the merit on themselves are condemned by the Apostles counsell in the sixth verse and his inference at the ninth verse For there the fabrick of glory that Christ built up for us being founded on his merits in such humiliation we are taught to shew our gaines by following his example Whose redeemed we are his humble servants we If glory be the reward we have no cause to stand upon the worke Be it in what degree he please we need not be abashed at the humility For who was the lowest on earth we are sure our Saviour is the highest exalted in Heaven When we have done our part God will give us our right in him This and all we maintaine from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and still the argument is the Union and our salvation True Christians we finding how hard we are beset with and prone to evill looke alwayes on our Captaine and attend his word for feare we should mistake his discipline We know how great a Conquerour he is and that he can never faile in his direction if our actions vary from we have not well minded him And though he be taken out of our sight his life is left with us and reading it we have instruction store and sure Sure if we follow it close right be alwayes sure to it Nor is it infallible in one and not in all Whereof he hath given plenty there is no doubt of any one Nor is the number of his precepts either large beyond our memory or short to leave out any thing that might further us The example he hath given is most absolute It demonstrates all things that are to be contemned and sustained all In them is no felicity to be had in these no unhappinesse to be feared He bid us come and see and we most ambitious to enjoy what here we beleeve will goe no other way then himselfe went and appointed for us A low way Christ humble a perfect way Christ the truth and a comfortable way Christ the life Having truth we are sure to have cheere in and life by our humility It is not the similitude thereof but the vertue we meane That is it and nothing being more acceptable to God we doe in nothing more nor in any thing without it expect a blessing For nothing in us doth more exalt God and our innate evill is repressed by nothing more All the Lords commands are observed with it and the vertue which springs not from that roote withers Indeed love makes up all breaches but we have no other meanes to repaire charity save humility In whom all was made up all was done in humility and who partake of all we like him will be humble to all To God in the lowest degree to his Vice-gerent next we have no envie for our Superiours nor hatred to our equals nor contempt toward our inferiours Love for God and such as will permit nothing before him not our substance not our lives And love for our neighbour and such as will pray for every one and forgive every offence The true knowledge of our superexalted Head raiseth our conversation unto Heaven whilest we live on earth And well may For we behold the eternall glory prepared for the meeke incomprehensible in the object The faith whereof hath made our appetites so eager that they can leave the greatest allectives of the world with contempt Whose servants we are to him faithfull we may challenge of him our inheritance who purchased it for us And with boldnesse seeing in humility and according to his prescription we leave all to professe him our high exalted Lord in and to the glory of God the Father To whom with the Sonne and the Holy Ghost be the Kingdome and the power and the glory for ever and ever Amen Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉