That which you add from the third verse of this Chapter will finde elsewhere a fitter place to receive an Answer in NOw I come to Matth. 28.20 Matth. 28.20 Lo I am with you always to the end of the world Answ Sir from the scope of your Paper it is easily seen what you would inferr hence but as yet the Reason of your inference lies in the dark the meaning of this phrase I am with you always unto the end of the World is no more then this I will do you good whilest ye remain imploy'd in my work My Authour in this Exposition is old Jacob no bad Interpreter Gen. 31.3 the Lord commanded Jacob to return into the Land of his Fathers and to his kindred and for his encouragement adds to the promise thus I will be with thee which Jacob in chap. 32.9 thus expounds I will deal well with thee or I will do thee good Jesus Christ is present with his Messengers or deals well with them when he doth instruct comfort strengthen or protect them and all these works he doth in his absence by his spirit whom the Father hath sent in his Name Joh. 14.26 Let me only for brevity sake instance in the work of instruction Christ instructed his Apostles but not immediately for the spirit which came in Christs Name and received of his was the Instrument by which Jesus Christ did the work John 16.13 14 15. When he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will shew you things things to come He shall glorifie me for he shall receive of mine and shall shew it unto you all things that the Father hath are mine therefore said I Hic locus de modo praeseutiae spiritus quo se suaque nobis communicat caeterum corpore abest Beza in loc he shall take of mine and shall shew it unto you Christ is now in Heaven sitting at the right hand of God and is present with the Saints in Earth by the spirit and glorious influences of grace and mercy John 14.16 17 18. This kinde of presence by the spirit Beza and others understand to be intended in Matth. 28.20 REv. 2.2 is now to be minded Rev. 2.2 whether it doth joyn with the fore-going Texts in speaking any thing by way of Justification to your Assertion or not Answ Christ could not say you at so great a distance know all the works of the Churches as meer man What could he not Is any thing too hard for the Lord What could the Prophet Elisha know at a very great distance what the King of Syria said in his bed-chamber And yet cannot Christ know at a distance He hath the spirit to wit wisedom power c. given him without measure John 3.34 And therefore can know beyond what we can conceive And yet is not the most high God for his knowledge is of another John 5.30 I can of mine own self do nothing as I hear I judge and my judgement is just because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath sent me Though he always knew all things necessary for the perfect discharge of his Offices yet there was a time when he was excluded from the knowledge of the hour and day of judgement Mark 13.32 The words from the Greek are these But of that day and hour no one knoweth neither the Angels which are in Heaven Nor the Son unless the Father Hence it is plain that the Father onely knew the day and hour of Judgement and that the Son himself was at that time excluded from the knowledge of it therefore this knowledge was not originally of himself nor always perfect COl 1.15 Col. 1.15 I finde next in your Paper but have already spoken to it yet was willing here to mention it least you should think I had forgot it Sir this Text you say holds forth the Eternal Generation of Jesus Christ I pray consider it again and by your next let me hear what part thereof it is in which Christs Eternal Generation may be seen THe next Scripture is Col. 1.16 Col. 1.16 with John 1.3 To which I shall add John 1.3 being reserv'd for this place Answ Sir here you harp upon two other strings and think they sound that alowd in your ears which you have entertained in your thoughts to wit that Jesus Christ is the most high God But pray Sir consider whether your Conclusion be the Eccho of those Texts or else of your own thoughts onely But you seem to gather this Argument from the words to manifest the verity of your thoughts He by whom all things were made is the most high God But all things were made by Jesus Christ Therefore Iesus Christ is the most High God I shall answer to your Major by distinguishing betwixt the Agent Principall and Instrumental That there may be in one and the same work one Principal and another Instrumentall Agent none will deny But whether there were in the work of Creation one Principall and another Instrumentall is a thing to be proved That the Father was Principall therein and so the most high God comes not under debate But whether the Son was onely Instrumental in that great work of Creation is the Controversie and must be the subject of our present inquiry I affirm that Iesus Christ was onely an Instrumentall Agent in the Creation of the worlds The Reasons by which I shall at this time guard mine assertion from suspition of errour are these that follow The first is drawn from the silence of all creatures The book of the Creatures as well as the book of the Scriptures Ex Creatioue agnoscitur Deus sed non Deus pater fil spir si quoni im vis illa efficiens quia mundus fuit creatus pertinet ad Essentiam Dei non ad subsistentiam ejus personalem Amesius speak forth with open mouth this sacred truth that there is one first cause and Principall Agent of all things Of a Trinity of Persons in Unity of Essence as Principal Agents in the work of Creation the whole Creation is wholly silent Wherefore our Divines acknowledg that God is known from the Creation but not God the Father Son and Holy Spirit because that efficient power by which the world was created belongs to the Essence of God not to his personall subsistence Yet by their leave God is a Person all actions being proper unto persons and therefore by their grant the works of Creation hold forth but one Agent who must needs be the Principall if not the only Agent therein for it is not imaginable that if there were then one Principall Agent they should not all be equally discovered by the work being equally concerned in it Therefore if Christ were an Agent he was but an instrumental one The Second Reason proceeds from the verdict of pure
sent into the world may without blasphemy be called God or the Son of GOD. That this might be applyed to Christ Christ himself appeals to his works sending the Pharisees thither to satisfy themselves that he was sent of the Father If I doe not saith he the works of My Father beleeve me not But if I doe though ye beleeve not me beleeve the works that ye may know and beleeve that the Father is in me and I in him verse 37 38. Thirdly he declares his inferiority to God in that he saith that the Father sanctified and sent him into the world that is prepared and gave him a Commandement for the exercise of a very great authority ver 36. Hence may be easily seen by a judicious ey that Christ intended not by this saying of his I and my Father are one to hold himself equall to the Father or one in Essence with him But how are we then to understand the words This sentence I and my Father are one admits of this meaning I and my Father are one in work the same work that I doe my Father he doth also The like phrase by the consent of all is taken in the like sense 1 Cor. 3.8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one How one unless in work The context will constrain us if we consider it well to baptize Christs expression into the same acceptation For the words in dispute close up a glorious discovery of that gracious protection which Christ affords to the sheep of his Pasture which also he affirms to be the work of his Father and so in work they are one Now who can hinder the drawing up of this conclusion That whole Christ is a Creature The second Argument contributing something to this Position That whole Christ is a Creature now follows Argum. 2 He that lives by another is a Creature But whole Christ lives by another Therefore whole Christ is a Creature That God lives of himself is a generall and undeniable Maxime Wherefore I should but waste time if I should spend time in the confirmation of this that he is a creature who lives not by himself but by another But for the Minor That whole Christ lives of another there is need of proof That scripture which without stammering doth speak it forth is John 6.57 As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father so he that eateth me even he shall live by me Here Christ speaks no parable but plainly shews us that life is originally in the Father and that he himself is sent by and so subject to the Father and that he lives not by the God-head as united in one person with the Man hood but by the Father even as beleevers live by him in that they doe not immediately derive their life from the Father but mediately through the Son Therefore whole Christ is a Creature The third Argument which takes part with the foregoing appears clothed with these expressions Argum. 3 He that hath what he hath from another is a Creature But whole Christ hath what he hath from another Therefore whole Christ is a creature The Major is as clear as the Sun shining at noon day the truth whereof men need not put on spectacles to see wherefore I shall pass by it as needless to be spoken to and hasten to the Minor which doubtless some will deny That what Christ hath what he hath received from another the Scripture doth abundantly speak and bear witness to Christ confesseth that all things are delivered to him of the Father Luke 10.22 The Father saith John the Baptist loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand John 3.35 That this may be more evident I shall instance in a few particulars and therein confine my self to the Authority and sufficiency of Jesus Christ which are the main and things including in them all the rest 1. I shall begin with Christs Authority which though it be exceeding great and glorious Christ being a God a King of Kings and Lord of Lords and having a name or authority above every name that is named not onely in this world but also in that which is to come yet it is derived from and subjected to the power and authority of another He is a Lord but Peter tells us that he is a made Lord Acts 2.36 Therefore let the house of Israel saith he Know assuredly that God hath made that same Iesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ He was appointed and anointed by the Father both for the having and exercising of Soveraign Authority and power Heb. 1.2 with the ninth of the same chap. both which places as all confess speak of Christ in the highest consideration Paul Ephes 1.20 21 22. doth plainly informus that the Father of Glory whom he calls v. 17. the God of our Lord Iesus Christ having raised up Christ from the dead did set him at his own right hand in the Heavenly places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every name that is named not onely in this world but in that which is to come and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the Head over all things to the Church That his Name Power or Authority was by gift doth with the greatest evidence shine forth from Matth. 28.18 and Phil. 2.9 2. Now let us come to the next thing the Sufficiency of Jesus Christ which though it be All-sufficient in reference to his Work and Offices yet is not Originally his but from another as the Fountain thereof I shall illustrate this in some few particulars First Christs sufficiency to instruct in Doctrine was from another All the treasures of wisdome and knowledge are hid in Jesus Christ Col. 2.3 And his lips have abundantly yea sufficiently dropt the honey and the honey comb I mean the doctrine of the Gospel This Doctrine was not Originally his he enjoyed it being conveighed from another to him and did by the assistance of another teach and publish the same Christ himself affirms that the Doctrine he taught was not his own but his that sent him that it was of God and that he spake not of himself Joh. 7.16 17. He received what he hath delivered unto us Grace was poured into his lips Psal 45.2 He testifies what he hath seen and heard as in John 3.32 What he hath seen and heard that he testifieth and no man receiveth his testimony said Iohn the Baptist This was spoken of Christ who came from Heaven as is evident from the precedent verse To this Christ bears witness in that saying of his to his Disciples Iohn 15.15 Henceforth I call you not servants for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doth But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you That which Christ by the Angel signified to Iohn God gave him Rev. 1.1 He also in the work was assisted by
Reason If Reason may obtain credit she will tell us that there could be in the work of Creation but one Principall Agent because there is by nature and in way of eminency but one God For if there were two Principall Agents there must be two Gods in way of eminency the terms being convertible which to affirm would be absurd and easily disproved And therefore if Jesus Christ were any he was but an Instrumentall Agent in that work of Creation The Third Reason issues from the nature of Christs being That whole Christ is a creature hath been already proved yet let me adde a word from Col. 1.15 which doth immediately precede the Text now in question Christ is there called the image of the invisible God and so is distinguished from God because the image and the thing whereof it is an image are not the same in that nothing can be the image of its self Now he is called the image of the invisible God in that God through him did principally manifest and declare his Divine Glory and in that the chiefest Dominion of the creature was by the Father committed to him in this sense man is called the image and glory of God 1 Cor. 11.7 He is also called the first-born of every creature whereby he is ranked among the creatures yet so as that he is the Head of them Now if whole Christ be a creature then will it unavoidably follow that he was but an Instrument in the work of Creation for God and creatures are contradistinct and he could not be unless he were God a Principall Agent The fourth Reason doth spring from the manner of Christs working 1. Though he had an hand in the Creation of the world yet was it not originally of him 1 Cor. 8.6 where the Apostle doth plainly shew us that all things are of God even the Father and that all things are by not of Jesus Christ and so the Son is distinguished from the Father in the work of Creation the Father being the first cause and originall of all things and Christ the instrument of the Father by whom he did manifest his Divine Glory in producing creatures 2. Instrumentum Minist Ter. In that in the work of Creation the Scripture tells us that God acted by him Ephes 3.9 where 't is said That God created all things by Jesus Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theoph. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Origin So in Heb. 1.2 which openly hold forth Jesus Christ as Gods instrument in creating the world He is frequently called by the Fathers the Instrument and Servant of God But you endeavour to strengthen your Proposition by a Reason such as 't is drawn from impossibility God could say you make use of no instrument in the work of Creation But Sir this assertion derogates from Gods All-sufficiency Is any thing impossible with God Is any thing too hard for the Lord 2. It contradicts your own testimony I remember that in a Conference where I exercised both silence and patience to the Glory of God since I received your paper you did affirm in the hearing of not a few that God might at first have made an Angel or some other creature and by it have made all things How to reconcile one with the other is a thing unfeasible and therefore you must confess that you are not always infallible yea that sometimes you differ from your self and so 't is no wonder if you disagree with others But what shall I take from your present judgement Must your last words stand If so then you have weakned your cause and I may save a labour in returning an answer to that which follows in your paper If the former then you must recant what you last said and I must not here make an end of my Reply to your Major The truth is I honour Reason so much that I should rather prostrate my self to its shadow and appearance then to the best mans testimony and assertion wherefore I shall honour Reason so much as not to pass by without examination that which appears in your paper with Reasons dress on it Your Reason thus runs Now because Creation is a making of all things out of nothing and required an infinite power God can make use of no Instrument inasmuch as God cannot derive and give an infinite power to any creature because no creature is capable of such a Divine Attribute for it would make him God to be Almighty or to be infinite in power Answ I shall not answer to all in this Reason which seems not to be sound doctrine but only so far as the matter in hand requires 1. Though it be true that Gods infinite power was manifested in the work of Creation yet was not the Infinity of his Power manifested fully in that or any other work for he hath more power then ever yet he had need to use or then could in any work be fully declared 2. Your assertion plainly denies the man Christ Jesus to be God Almighty or Infinite in power for you say that God could not give or derive an infinite power to any creature and that a creature cannot be God Almighty c. The man Christ Jesus was a creature how then can that Person be God 3. The ground of your Argument is straw and stubble For infinite power may be manifested by them to whom 't is not communicated and so their proper power As is evident in those that wrought miracles and raised the dead in which infinite power was manifested and yet the instruments thereof were not in power infinite The like might be said of Gospel-Preachers whom God makes his Instruments in mens conversion as great a work as the worlds Creation The same might be said of Christ in his work of our Redemption But enough of this I shall now examine your Minor which was That all things were made by Iesus Christ. This is true Christ being excepted of whose Creatural being I have already spoken Obj. But you will say that in Iohn 1.3 it is said That all things were made by him and without him was nothing Made that was Made Sol. The words are to be restrained to all those things which by the use of an instrument were made and created In the first verse of this Chapter the creation of Jesus Christ is included and in this third verse he is spoken of as the instrument of God in creating all things and therefore is here to be excepted As when John the Baptist speaking of Christ John 3.32 said What he hath seen and heard that he testifieth and no man receiveth his testimony it is evident that Iohn was to be excepted Persons are sometimes segregated from others of the same kinde in way of eminency being chief amongst them Thus in Psal 18.1 where 't is said that David sang that song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul What was
doth assert and how reason will make out an Eternall Generation and whether the phrase Eternall Generation doth not contain in it a meer contradiction let him that can shew Now let it be asserted That Jesus Christ is the Son of God as he is a creature and then let us see whether a definition may not be made of his Generation His Generation is that act of Creation whereby the God of all beings did immediately and in the first place bring forth and produce him Generation and Creation to beget and create are sometimes in Scripture terms equivalent As is evident from the work of God in changing the creature which is sometimes called a new Creation sometimes Regeneration and the person changed is in one place said to be created in another to be begotten In the last place this title Son of God sets forth his superiority over all things We shall find that Son of God Christ are terms convertible if we compare Matth. 16.16 with Mark 8.29 when Christ asked his Disciples this quaery Whom think ye that I am Then Simon Peter answered and said Thou art Christ the Son of the living God So Matthew But Mark in relating the same answer gives it thus Thou art the Christ From which is evident that Christ and the Son of God are terms equivalent for one Evangelist useth both that one might expound the other but another leaves out one of the terms because either was sufficient both being Synonama's So likewise in Acts 9.20 compar'd with vers 22. of the same chap. And 't is as manifest in the scripture that Christ King of Israel and chosen of God are convertible terms noting out one and the same thing to wit Authority Dominion and Power It will appear to you as clear as the sunn if you compare these Texts together Matth. 27.42 Filij dicuntur qui aliqua exparte alicui sunt similes Mark 15.32 Luke 23.35 Magistrates and Princes by reason of that Dominion they have over others are called the the sons of the most High Ps 82.6 I have said ye are Gods and all of you are sons of the most High So David is called in Psal 2.7 which mystically and more properly belong to Christ Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee which sets forth the Kingly Office of Jesus Christ according to the confession of all Now Christ is named The son of God in way of Eminency as being King of Kings and Lord of Lords That this superiority which Christ hath over all things might be the more perspicuous he bears this name also The onely begotten Son of God Jo. 3.16 which title points at his Heirship Jesus Christ by whom God made the world was appointed to be heir of all things Heb. 1.2 now he that is an Heir is as the Apostle speaks Lord of all Gal. 4.1 In this sense Isaac is said to be Abrahams onely begotten son Heb. 11.17 not that Abraham had no other son for he had one by Hagar and diverse by Keturah but because Isaac was his heir To the rest he gave gifts but to Isaac all that he had The second Title is the word of God Rev. 19.13 And his name is called The Word of God This name is imposed on him for two Causes First because he is the Image of Gods invisibility God is invisible and dwels in unaccessible light and therefore in this life he cannot be known as he is notwithstanding because the knowledg of God is eternal life he hath reveal'd himself so farr as necessary and in a way suitable to our capacity This discovery of God is made in his son Jesus who is therefore called Col. 1.15 the Image of the invisible God and also the brightness of the Fathers glory character of his substance Heb. 1.3 And this Image Jesus Christ hath his Shadows whereby he reveals himself and so consequently the Father His shadows are the works of God Christ being Gods principall and immediate Instrument in all his works And also the words of God are a shadow of Christ for by them are the works of God made known or made more clear unto us and therefore Christ is fitly called The word of God in that a word or speech is the discoverer of mans invisibility The excellency or deformity of the minde the tongue makes evident Secondly because he was produced by God immediately This title declares not only that he was made but also that he was Gods immediate work Facere verba to make words is no unusuall phrase mens words are their creatures And for the producing or making of words no instrument distinct from the Agent intervenes but the Agent is the instrument Therefore a word is a lively shadow of Jesus Christ who was the first creature that ever God made and the instrument by which he made all things The third title is this The first-born of every Creature Coll. 1.15 It is evident from the Text that this title is appropriated to Jesus Christ by whom all things are made and it cannot be applyable to him any otherwise but as a creature and it holds him forth to be the first of Creatures A mans first-born is the first that he begets and is brought forth to him The same word is used to express the first-born among the Egyptians children Heb. 11.28 The fourth title is The beginning of the creation of God Rev. 3.14 The beginning of the creation of God that is the first of Gods creatures the words will bear this exposition for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beginning signifies the first part of any thing or the first of things in the same kinde so in Luke 1.2 Mat. 24.8 Joh. 2.11 But some will say that he is called the beginning because he is the Prince of the creation But where the word is used in the singular number to signifie a Prince I doe not at present minde True it is that Christ is the chief because he is the first of all the Creatures Others will affirm that he is thus called because he is the Author of the creation But this exposition is excluded in that the creation whereof he is the beginning is called the Creation of God who is the author of all created things Now for the third reason which doth confirm the third position That the Spirit of Christ according to which he is the Son of God is a Creature Reason 3 Because whole Christ is a creature If whole Christ be then doubtless every part of Christ is a creature That whole Christ is a creature these following Arguments will demonstrate Argum. 1 That which is distinct from GOD is a creature But whole CHRIST is distinct from GOD therefore whole CHRIST is a CREAIVRE The Major is evident to sense and Reason for God is but one and 't is absurd to imagine him distinct from himself But some peradventure will make use of the usuall distinction betwixt person and essence and so affirm that one may be distinguished from God
another The Spirit of the Lord was upon him because he had anointed him to preach the Gospel to the poor c. Luke 4.18 Secondly His sufficiency to effect Miracles was from another The testimony that Christ gives of himself we may without scruple receive The Son saith he can do nothing of himself John 5.19 he was Gods instrument in the Miracles wrought by him Acts 2.22 Yee men of Israel saith Peter hear these words Iesus of Nazareth a man approved of God among you by Miracles Wonders and Signes which God did by him in the midst of you as yee your selves also know c. So that God the Father was the Principall Agent in all these Miracles which Christ wrought or effected which is farther confirmed by Christs saying Iohn 14.10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me The words that I speak unto you I speak not of my self but the Father that dwelleth in me He doth the Work In that the power by which Christ did work was the power of God as is manifest from Matth. 12.28 But if I saith Christ in Gods Spirit so in the Original cast out Devils Then is the kingdome of God come unto you By Gods Spirit we are not here to understand the Holy Ghost but the Power of God which was present with Christ for his assistance as will manifestly appear by comparing with this Text Luke 11.20 where the same speech is thus represented But if I in or by Gods finger cast out Devils doubtless the Kingdome of God is come unto you The finger of Gods power manifested in operation as in Exod. 8.19 the like phrase in the like sense is used And therefore Christ is said to do Miracles not because he was God but because God was with him Acts 10.38 He did his Miracles in his Fathers name John 10.25 When the Jews desired Christ to tell them plainly whether he were the Christ the text tells us that Jesus answered thus I told you and yee believed not The works that I do in my Fathers Name they bear witness of me Whereby Christ owned the Fathers Authority over him and acknowledged that his power to work was from him As the Apostles did in reference to Christ by doing miracles in his name Ast. 3.6 The works Christ did the Father gave him to finish that they might beare witness not that he was God but that the Father sent him Jo. 5.36 But I have greater witness saith Christ then that of John for the works which the Father hath given me to finish the same works that I do bear witnes of me that the Father hath sent me And the Rise of all was not his merits but the Fathers Love John 5.20 Thirdly His sufficiency to bestow the spirit was from another The spirit is principally from the Father wherefore Christ prayed to the Father for it Iohn 14.16 And the Father sent the Spirit in Christs name Iohn 14.26 And Christ having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost shed it forth upon his Disciples Acts 2.33 Fourthly and Lastly to name no more Christs sufficiency to quicken the dead is from another John 5.21 comp with the 26 v. The Son quickneth the dead but it is given to him to have life in himself Now why may not this Conclusion therefore whole Christ is a creature appear with boldness being usher'd in with so strong a guard as the precedent Argument is The fourth Argument which drives on the same designe now puts forth its hands to the work Argum. 4 He that acteth in obedience to another is a creature But whole Christ acteth in obedience to another Christ is the Head of the Church but God is the Head of Christ 1 Cor. 11.3 The Father is the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ Christ is called Gods Servant Esay 42.1 And is said to be sent of the Father Iohn 10.36 Now the Master is greater then the Servant and he that sends then he that is sent Iohn 13.16 He came in his Fathers name Iohn 5.43 He came into the world to do the will of God Heb. 10.7 Lo I come to do thy will O God He himself was not this God but the Father was this God whose will Christ came to do For he came not to do his will but the Fathers Iohn 6.38 39. I came down from Heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing c. The Authority and Directory of Jesus Christ was the Fathers Commandment Iohn 12.49 50. I have not saith Christ spoken of my self but the Father which hath sent me he gave me a Commandment what I should say and what I should speak and I know that his Command ment is life everlasting Whatsoever I speak therefore even as the Father said untome so I speak Therefore whole Christ is a creature The Argument which at this time is appointed to bring up the rear witnesseth what hath been said by the former to wit That whole Christ is a creature He that acteth with dependance on another is a creature But whole Christ acteth with dependance on another Therefore whole Christ is a creature No man is so Independant in respect of sense and reason as to deny the Major Wherefore let us see whether Scripture which in no part thereof is an enemy unto Reason will vote for the Minor Argum. 5 That whole Christ acteth with dependance on another is made evident from his Petitions and Professions of which the Scripture is not silent 1. Let us take a view of Christs Petitions Christ prays to another and thereby shews his dependance on another In the work of our Redemption we shall finde Christ busie in the work of Prayer See that Prophecy of Christ which you have in the 22 Psalm and you will presently see the truth of the thing asserted Reflect your eyes on the 11 verse and there shall you hear Christ praying thus Be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help and so on to the 19 ver where again he doth breath forth the requests of his heart Be not far from me ô Lord ô my strength hast thee to help mee c. Adde to this Prophecy the Authour to the Hebrews testimony concerning its fulfilling Heb. 5.7 Who that is Christ in the days of his flesh when he had offered up Prayers and Supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared So in his working of Miracles we finde him in the same work of Prayer Mark 7.34 and that to the Father as is clear from Iohn 11.41 42. 2. Now for Christs Professions Christ professeth that God is the object of his dependance Psal 16.1 Preserve me O God for in thee do I put my trust And he professeth that
personally and yet be one in essence with him To this distinction hear what a learned and godly man speaks His words are these As for this wretched distinctions to omit the mention of the Fathers is not onely unheard of in Scripture but is also disclaimed by Reason For 1. it is impossible for any man if he would but endevour to conceive the thing and not delude both himself and others with empty terms and words without understanding to distinguish the person from the essence of God and not to frame two beings or things in his minde and consequently two Gods Secondly if the Person be distinct from the Essence of God then it is either something or nothing If nothing how can it be distinguished seeing nothing hath no accidents If something then either some finite or infinite thing if finite then there will be something finite in God and consequently since by the confession of the Adversaries themselves every thing in God is God God will be finite which the Adversaries themselves will confess to be absurd If infinite then there will be two infinites in God to wit the Person and the Essence of God and consequently two Gods which is more absurd then the former Thirdly to talk of God taken onely essentially is ridiculous not onely because there is no example thereof in Scripture but because God is the name of a Person and signifieth him that ruleth over others and when it is put for the most High God it denoteth him who with soveraign and absolute authority ruleth over all but none but a Person can rule over others all actions being proper to persons wherefore to take God otherwise then personally is to take him otherwise then he is and indeed to mistake him Thus much for the Major The Minor which is That whole Christ is distinct from God is now to be prov'd The Scripture being full and frequent in the demonstration of this I shall speak but a few words to it First Christ himself doth confess it John 8.42 Jesus said unto them to wit the Jews if God were your Father yee would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God neither came I of my self but he sent me In this Text we may note these few things 1. That God is a Person and that Father is his name If God were your Father ye would love me c. 2. That Christ doth plainly distinguish himself from God If God were your Father ye would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God c. Yea he affirms that of himself which denies him to be God to wit change of place I proceeded saith he and came forth from God And subjection to God I came not of my self but he that is God sent me Christ also distinguisheth himself from God Lu. 18.18 19. And a certain ruler asked him saying Good Master what shall I doe to inherit eternall life Jesus answered and said Why callest thou me good none is good save one that is GOD. Here Christ affirmeth that there is but one God to wit by way of eminency and excludes himself from being this one God Why callest thou me Good there is but one good even God Were Jesus Christ the most High GOD and were this a fundamentall as you assert it is imaginable that Jesus Christ who came not to condemn but to save the world should never say it and should in this place so much cloud it Secondly now let us hear some testimonies that the Apostles who were to speak nothing but what their Lord and Master Jesus Christ did command them have given to the thing in hand Let Paul as Peter was wont to doe speak for the rest In 1 Cor. 12.4 5 6. He tels us That there are diversity of gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of administrations but the same Lord and there are diver sity of operations but 't is the same God which worketh all in all Here the Apostle doth distinguish the Spirit and the Lord from GOD and shews that those gifts which were distributed to men by the Spirit that they might be fitted for severall ministrations in the Kingdome of the Lord Christ did all of them proceed from God The same Apostle in the same Epistle Chap. 8.5 6. doth as one designing the thing distinguish the Lord Jesus from God For though there be saith he that are called Gods whether in heaven or in earth as there be Gods many and Lords many but unte us there is one GOD even the Father of whom are all things and we unto him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him Here we have the Apostles and Primitive Christians Creed They beleeve that there is but one GOD in way of eminency to wit the Father of whom as the first cause are all things and unto whom as the ultimate end Saints are and so all things and that there is but one Lord in way of eminency amongst all made Lords even Iesus by whom as the great instrument of God are all things and we by him See Ephes 4.4 5 6. where a plain distinction is made betwixt the Spirit the Lord and GOD But enough of this Obj. But Christ doth say that he is one with the Father John 10.30 Sol. 'T is true Christ doth say that he and the Father are one But one what one Person that none will assert But are they one God one Essence Yea that 's the thing which many will subscribe to as Christs meaning here But did Christ intend to signifie that Doubtless no which appears not only from the absurdity of the thing but also evidently from Christs vindication of himself from the accusation of the Pharisees who misconstruing of this did mis-inferre from this saying of his I and my Father are one In this vindication we may observe First that Christ denies the Premise of their conclusion They concluded that he spake blasphemy and therefore went about to stone him because as they understood he made himself God to wit the most High God and so made more Gods then one Verse 33. This Christ denies affirming that his saying did amount to no more then this The sonne of God verse 36. that is Gods representative Secondly Christ asserts the lawfulness of his saying by an argument drawn à minori ad majus from the less to the greater If they to whom the Word of GOD came to wit the Judges of the great Synedrion who received a commandement from God to judge the people of Israel were without blasphemy called Gods then he whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world to have dominion over all mankinde may without blasphemy be called God or the Son of God But they to whom the word of God came were called Gods This Christ proves from Psalm 82.6 Jesus answered and said Is it not written in your Law I said ye are Gods verse 34. Therefore he that the Father hath sanctified and