45. 6. Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever applyed unto Christ Hâ—b 1. 8. But unto thy Son he saith thy Throne O God is for ever and ever Psalm 68. 17 18 19. The Chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels the Lord is among them as in Sinai in the holy place thou hast ascended on high thou hast lead Captivity Captive thou hast received gifts for Men yea for the Rebellious also that the Lord God may dwell among them applyed unto the Son Ephes. 4. 8. Wherefore he saith when he ascended up on high he led Captivity captive and gave gifts unto Men. Now that he ascended what is it but that be also descended first into the lower parts of the Earth He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all Heavens that he might fill all things Psalm 110. 1. The Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand applyed unto Christ by himself Mat. 22. 44. Psalm 102. 15 16 17. Of old thâ—u hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the work of thy hands they shall perish but thou shalt endure yea all of them shall wax old like a garment as a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall have no end Declared by the Apostle to be meant of the Son Heb. 1. 10. Prov. 8. 22. to the 31. The Lord possest Me in the beginning of his wayes before his works of old I was set up from everlasting in the beginning or ever the Earth was when there were no depths I was brought forth when there were no Fountains abounding with waters before the Mountains were setled before the Hills was I brought forth while as yet he had not made the Earth nor the Fields nor the highest part of the dust of the World When he prepared the Heavens I was there when he set a compass upon the face of the Earth when he established the clouds above and the fountains of the deep when he gave to the Sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment when he appointed the foundations of the Earth then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing alwayes before him rejoycing in the habitable parts of his Earth and my delights were with the Sons of Men. Isa. 6. 1 2 3. I saw also the Lord sitting upon a Throne high and lifted up and his train filled the Temple above it stood the Seraphims each one had six wings with twain he covered his face with twain he covered his feet and with twain he did flye and one cryed unto another and said Holy Holy Holy is the Lord of Hosts the whole earth is full of his Glory applyed unto the Son John 12. 41 42. Isa 8. 13 14. Sanctifie the Lord of Hosts himself and let him be your dread let him be your fear and he shall be for a Sanctuary but for a stone of Stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the Houses of Israel for a gin and for a snare to the Inhabitants of Jerusalem applyed unto the Son Luk. 2. 34. Rom. 9. 33. 1 Pet. 2. 8. Isa. 9. 6. For unto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace of the increase of his Government and peace there shall be no end Jer. 23. 5 6. Behold the day is come saith the Lord that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and this is his name whereby he shall be called Jehovah our Righteousness Hos. 12. 3 4 5. He took his Brother by the heel in the womb and by his strength he had power with God yea he had power over the Angel and prevailed he wept and made supplications unto him he found him in Bethel and there he spake with us even the Lord God of Hosts the Lord is his memorial Zach. 2. 8 9. For thus saith the Lord of Hosts after the glory hath he sent me unto the Nations which spoiled ye and ye shall know that the Lord of Hosts hath sent Me. Mat. 16. 16. Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Luk. 1. 35. The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee the power of the most High shall overshaddew thee therefore also shall that Holy thing which shall be born of thee be called the Son of God John 1. 1 2 3. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Ver. 14. And we beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father John 3. 3. And no Man hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven John 8. 56 57 58. Then said the Jews unto him thou art not fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham Jesus saith unto them verily I say unto you before Abraham was I am John 10. 30. I and my Father are one John 17. 3. And now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was John 20. 28. And Thomas answered and said unto him my Lord and my God Acts 20. 28. Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood Rom 1. 3 4. Concerning his Son Jesus our Lord which was made of the â—eed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead Rom. 9. 5. Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Rom. 14. 10 11 12. For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ as it is written as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God 1 Cor. 8. 6. And one Lord Jesus by whom are all things and we by him 1 Cor. 10. 9. Neither let us also tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of Serpents compared with Numb 21. 6. Phil. 2. 5 6. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God Col. 1. 15 16 17. Who is the Image of the invisible God the first born of every Creature for by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth Visible and Invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all
in and may peculiarly be sinned against the great Author of all Grace in Believers and order in the Church This is the summ of what we believe of what is revealed in the Scripture concerning the Holy Ghost As in the consideration of the preceding head we vindicated one Testimony in particular from the exceptions of the adversaries of the truth so on this we may briefly summ up the evidence that is given us in the testimonies before produced that the Reader may the more easily understand their intendment and what in particular they bear witnesse unto The summ is that the Holy Ghost is a divine distinct person and neither meerly the power or vertue of God nor any created Spirit whatever This plainly appears from what is revealed concerning him For he who is placed in the same series or order with other divine persons without the least note of difference or distinction from them as to an Interest in personality who hath the names proper to a divine person only and is frequently and directly called by them who also hath personal properties and is the voluntary Author of personal divine Operations and the proper Objâ—ct of Divine Worship he is a distinct divine person And if these things be not a sufficient evidence and demonstration of a divine intelligent substance I shall as was said before despair to understand any thing that is expressed and declared by words But now thus it is with the Holy Ghost according to the Revelation made concerning him in the Scripture For First He is placed in the same rank and order without any note of difference or distinction as to a distinct interest in the Divine Nature that is as we shall see personality with other Divine persons Matth. 28. 19. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost 1 John 5. 7. There be three that bear witness in Heaven the Father the Son and the Spirit and these three are one 1 Cor. 12. 3 4 5 6. No man can say the Lord Jesus Christ is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost now there are diversities of gifts but the same Spirit and there are differences of administrations but the same Lord and there are diversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all Neither doth a denyal of his divine being and distinct existence leave any tolerable sense unto these Expressions For read the words of the first place from the mind of the Socinians and see what is it can be gathered from them Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the vertue or efficacy of the Father Can any thing be more absonant from Faith and Reason than this absurd expression And yet is it the direct sense if it be any that these men put upon the words To joyn a quality with acknowledged persons and that in such things and cases as wherein they are proposed under a personal consideration is a strange kind of Mysterie And the like may be manifested concerning the other places Secondly He also hath the Names proper to a divine person only For he is expresly called God Acts 5. He who is termed the Holy Ghost ver 3. And the Spirit of the Lord verse 9. Is called also God ver 4. Now this is the name of a divine Person on one Account or other The Socinians would not allow Christ to be called God were he not a divine person though not by nature yet by â—ffice and authority And I suppose they will not find out an office for the Holy Ghost whereunto he might be exalted on the account whereof he might become God seeing this would acknowledge him to be a person which they deny So he is called the Comforter John 16. 7. A personal Appellation this is also and because he is the Comforter of all Gods people it can be the name of none but a divine person In the 〈…〉 it is frequently 〈…〉 come that he shall and will do such and such things all of them declaring him to be a person Thirdly He hath personal properties assigned unto him as a Will 1 Cor. 12. 11. He divideth to every man severally as he will and understanding 1 Cor. 2. 10. The Spirit searcheth all things yea the deep things of God As also all the actings that are ascribed unto him are all of them such as undeniably affirm personal properties in their principle and Agent For Fourthly He is the voluntary Author of Divine operations He of old cherished the creation Gen. 1. 3. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters He formed and garnished the Heavens He inspired acted and spake in and by the Prophets Acts 28. 25 26. Well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the Prophet unto our Fathers 2 Pet. 1. 21. The Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost He regenerateth enlightneth sanctifieth comforteth instructeth leadeth guideth all the Disciples of Christ as the Scriptures every where testifie Now all these are personal Operations and cannot with any pretence of sobriety or consistency with Reason be constantly and uniformly assigned unto a quality or vertue He is as the Father and Son God with the properties of Omniscience and Omnipotency of Life Understanding and Will and by these properties works acts and produceth effects according to Wisdom Choice and Power Fifthly The same regard is had to him in Faith Worship and Obedience as unto the other persons of the Father and Son For our being baptized into his name is our solemn engagement to believe in him to yield obedience to him and to worship him as it puts the same obligation upon us to the Father and the Son So also in reference unto the Worship of the Church He commands that the Ministers of it be separated unto himself Acts 13. 2. The Holy Ghost said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them Ver. 4. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed which is comprehensive of all the religious Worship of the Church And on the same account is he sinned against as Acts 5. 3 4 9. For there is the same Reason of Sin and Obedience Against whom a man may sin formally and ultimately him he is bound to obey worship and believe in And this can be no quality but God himself For what may be the sense of this expression Thou hast lyed to the efficacy of God in his operations Or how can we be formally obliged unto obedience to a quality There must then an antecedent Obligation unto Faith Trust and Religious Obedience be supposed as the ground of rendring a person capable of being guilty of sin towards wards any For sin is but a â—ailure in Faith Obedience or Worship These therefore are due unto the Holy Ghost or a man could not sin against him so signally and fatally as some are
said to do in the foregoing testimonies I say therefore unto this part of our Cause as unto the other that unless we will cast off all Reverence of God and in a king of Atheism which as I suppose the prevailing wickedness of this Age hath not yet arrived unto say that the Scriptures were written on purpose to deceive us and to lead us into mistakes about and misapprehensions of what it proposeth unto us we must acknowledge the Holy Ghost to be a substance a person God yet distinct from the Father and the Son For to tell us that he will come unto us that he will be our Comforter that he will teach us lead us guide us that he spake of old in and by the Prophets that they were moved by him acted by him that he searcheth the deep things of God works as he will that he appointeth to himself Ministers in the Church In a word to declare in places innumerable what he hath done what he doth what he will do what he sayes and speaks how he acts and proceeds what his will is and to warn us that we grieve him not sin not against him with things innumerable of the like nature and all this while to oblige us to believe that he is not a person an helper a comforter a searcher a willer but a quality in some especial operations of God or his power and vertue in them were to distract men not to instruct them and leave them no certain conclusion but this that there is nothing certain in the whole Book of God And of no other tendency are these and the like imaginations of our Adversaries in this matter But let us briefly consider what is objected in general unto the truth we have confirmed First They say the Holy Spirit is said to be given to be sent to be bestowed on men and to be promised unto them and therefore it cannot be that he should be God for how can any of these things be spoken of God I answer As these Expressions do not prove him to be God nor did ever any produce them to that purpose yet they undeniably prove him to be a person or an intellingent voluntary Agent concerning whom they are spoken and affirmed For how can the power of God or a quality as they speak be said to be sent to be given to be bestowed on men so that these very Expressions are destructive to their imaginations Secondly He who is God equal in nature and being with the Father may be promised sent and given with respect unto the holy dispensation and condescension wherein he hath undertaken the Office of being our Comforter and Sanctifier Thirdly The communications distributions impartings divisions of the spirit which they mention as they respect the Object of them Or those on whom they were or are bestowed denote only works gifts operations and effects of the spirit the rule whereof is expressed 1 Cor. 12. 7. He workeeth them in whom he will and as he will And whether these and the like exceptions taken from Actings and operations which are plainly interpreted and explained in sundry places of Scripture and evidently enough in the particular places where they are used are sufficient to impeach the truth of the Revelation before declared all who have a due reverence of God his word and truths will easily understand and discern These things being declared in the Scripture concerning the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost it is moreover Revealed and these three are one that is one God joyntly to be worshipped feared adored believed in and obeyed in order unto eternal life For although this doth absolutely and necessarily follow from what is declared and hath been spoken concerning the one God or onenesâ— of the Derty yet for the confirmation of our faith and that we may not by the distinct consideration of the three be taken off from the one it is particularly declared that these three are one that one the one and same God But whereas as was said before this can no otherwise be the testimonies given thereunto are not so frequently multiplyed as they are unto those other heads of this truth which through the craft of Satan and the pride of men might be more lyable to exceptions But yet they are clear full and distinctly sufficient for faith to acquiesce in immediately without any other expositions interpretations or arguments beyond our understanding of the naked importance of the words Such are they of the Father the Son John 10. 30. I and my Father are one Father Son and Spirit Joh. 5. 7. three that bare witness in Heaven Father Son and Spirit and these three are one Mat. 28. 19. Baptizing them in the name of the Father Son and Spirit For if those into whose name we are Baptized be not one in nature we are by our Baptism engaged into the Service and Worship of more Gods than one For as being Baptized or sacredly initiated into or in the name of any one doth Sacramentally bind us unto a holy and Religious obedience unto him and in all things to the avowing of him as the God whose we are and whom we serve as here we are in the Name of the Father Son and Spirit so if they are not one God the Blasphemous consequence before mentioned must unavoidably be admitted which it also doth upon the Socinian principle who whilest of all others they seem to contend most for one God are indeed direct polutheists by owning others with Religious respect due to God alone which are not so Once more it is revealed also that these three are distinct among themselves by certain peculiar Relative properties if I may yet use these terms So that they are distinct living divine intelligent voluntary principles of operation or working and that in and by internal acts one towards another and in acts that outwardly respect the Creation and the several parts of it Now this distinction originally lyeth in this that the Father begetteth the Son and the Son is begotten of the Father and the Holy Spirit proceedeth from both of them The manner of these things so far as they may be expressed unto our Edification shall afterwards be spoken to At present it sufficeth for the satisfaction and confirmation of our faith that the distinctions named are clearly revealed in the Scripture and are proposed to be its proper object in this matter Psalm 2. 7. Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Matth. 16. 16. Thou art Christ the Son of the living God Joh. 1. 14. We saw his Glory the glory of the only begotten of the Father Ver. 18. No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father he hath revealed him John 5. 26. For as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself 1 Joh. 5. 20. The Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding Joh. 14. 26.
asserted to be eternal would be to their cause they contend that the meaning of the words is that Christ was to be the light of the world before Abraham was made the Father of many Nations An interpretation so absurd and sottish as never any man not infatuated by the God of this world could once admit and give countenance unto But in the Beginning as absolutely used is the same with From Everlasting as it is expounded Prov. 8. 23. and denoteth an eternal existence which is here affirmed of the Word the Son of God But let the Word beginning be restrained unto the subject matter treated of which is the Creation of all things and the praeexistence of Christ in his divine nature unto the Creation of all things is plainly revealed and inevitably asserted And indeed not only the Word but the discourse of these verses doth plainly relate unto and is expository of the first verse in the Bible Gen. 1. 1. In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth There it is asserted that in the beginning God created all things here that the Word was in the beginning and made all things This then is the least that we have obtained from this first word of our Testimony namely that the Word or Son of God had a personal praeexistence unto the whole Creation In what nature this must be let these men of Reason satisfie themselves who know that Creator and Creatures take up the whole nature of Beings one of them he must be and it may be well supposed that he was not a Creature before the Creation of any But Secondly Where or with whom was this Word in the beginning it was saith the Holy Ghost with God There being no creature then existing he could be no where but with God that is the Father as it is expressed in one of the testimonies before going Prov. 8. 22. The Lord possest me in the beginning of his wayes before his works of old ver 30. Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing alwayes before him that is in the beginning this Word or Wisdom of God was with God And this is the same which our Lord Jesus asserts concerning himself John 3. 13. And no man saith he hath ascended up to Heaven but he that came down from Heaven even the Son of man which is in Heaven And so in other places He affirms his being in Heaven that is with God at the same time when he was in the earth whereby He declares the immensity of his Nature and the distinction of his person and his coming down from Heaven before he was Incarnate on the earth declaring his preexistence by both manifesting the meaning of this Expression that in the beginning he was with God But hereunto they have invented a notable evasion For although they know not well what to make of the last clause of the words that say then he was in Heaven when he spake on Earth the Son of man which is in Heaven answerable to the description of Gods Immensity do not I fill Heaven and Earth saith the Lord Jer. 23. 27. But say that he was there by Heavenly meditation as another man may be yet they give a very clear Answer to what must of necessâ—â—y be included in his descending from Heaven namely his preexistence to his Incarnation For they tell us that before his publick Ministry he was in his humane nature which is all they allow unto him taken up into Heaven and there taught the Gospel as the great Impostor Mahomet pretended he was taught his Alcoran If you ask them who told them so they cannot tell but thâ—y can tell when it was namely when he was led by the spirit into the Wilderness for forty days after his baptism But yet this instance is subject to another her misadventure in that one of the Eâ—angelists plainly affirms that he was those forty dayes in the Wilderness with the wild beasts Mark 17. 13. And so surely not in Heaven in the same nature by his bodily presence with God and his holy Angels And let me add this by the way that the Interpretation of this place Joh. 1. 1. to be mentioned after wards and those of the two places before mentioned John 8. 58. chap. 3. 31. Faustus Socinâ—s learned out of his Uncle Laelius papers as he confesseth and doth more than intimate that he believed he had them as it were by Revelation and it may be so they are indeed so forced absurd and irrational that no man could ever fix upon them by any reasonable Investigation But the Author of this Revelation if we may judge of the Parent by the Child could be no other but the spirit of Error and darkness I suppose therefore that notwithstanding these exceptions Christians will believe that in the beginning the word was with God that is that the Son was with the Father as is frequently elsewhere declared But who was this Word saith the Apostle He was God He was so with God that is the Father as that he himself was God also God in that the notion of God which both nature and the Scripture doth represent Not a God by Office one exalted to that dignity which cannot well be pretended before the Creation of the world but as Thomas confessed him our Lord and our God John 20. 28. Or as Paul expresses it over all God blessed for ever or the most high God which these men love to deny Let not the infidelity of men excited by the craft and malice of Satan sâ—ek for blind occasions and this matter is determined if the Word and Testimony of God be able to umpire a difference amongst the Children of men Here is the sum of our Creed in this matter In the beginning the Word was God and so continues unto Eternity being Alpha and Omâ—ga the first and the last the Lord God Almighty And to shew that he was so God in the beginning as that he was distinct one in some thing from God the Father by whom afterwards he was sent into the world he adds ver 2. the same was in the beginning with God Father also to evince what he hath asserted and revealed for us to believe the Holy Ghost adds both as a firm declaration of his Eternal Deity and also his immediate care of the world which how he variously exercised both in a way of providence and grace he afterwards declares verse 3. All things were made by him He was so in the beginning before all things as that he made them all And that it may not be supposed that the All that he is said to make or create was to be limited unto any certain sort of things he adds that without him nothing was made that was made which gives the first Assertion an absolute universality as to its subject And this he farther describes v. 10. He was in the world and the world was made by him The world that was
made hath an usual distribution in the Scripture into the Heavens and the Earth and all things contained in them as Acts 4. 24. Lord thou art God which hast made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all that in them is that is the world the making whereof is expresly assigned unto the Son Heb. 1. 10. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the Earth and the Heavens are the works of thine hands And the Apostle Paul to secure our understandings in this matter instanceth in the most noble parts of the creation and which if any might seem to be excepted from being made by him Col. 1. 16. For by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers all things were created by him and for him The Socinians say indeed that he made Angels to be Thrones and Principalities that is he gave them their Order but not their Being which is expresly contrary to the words of the Text so that a man knows not well what to say to these persons who at their pleasure cast off the authority of God in his word By him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth What now can be required to secure our faith in this matter In what words possible could a divine Revelation of the Eternal Power and Godhead of the Son of God be made more plain and clear unto the Sons of men Or how could the truth of any thing more evidently be represented unto their minds If we understand not the mind of God and Intention of the Holy Ghost in this matter we may utterly despair ever to come to an acquaintance with any thing that God reveals unto us or indeed with any thing else that is expressed or is to be expressed by words It is directly said that the Word that is Christ as is acknowledged by all was with God distinct from him and was God one with him that he was so in the begining before the Creation that he made all things the world all things in Heaven and in Earth and if he be not God who is The summ is All the waies whereby we may know God are his Name his Properties and his works But they are all here ascribed by the Holy Ghost to the Son to the Word and he therefore is God or we know neither who nor what God is But say the Socinians these things are quite otherwise and the words have another sense in them than you imagine What is it I pray we bring none to them we impose no sense upon them we strain not any word in them from besides or beyond its native genuine signification its constant application in the Scripture and common use amongst men What then is this latent sense that is intended and is discoverable only by themselves let us hear them coyning and 〈◊〉 this sense of theirs First They say that by in the begining is not meant of the beginning of all things or the creation of them but the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel But why so I pray Where ever these words are else used in the Scripture they denote the beginning of all things or Eternity absolutely or an Existence preceding their creation In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth Gen. 1. 1. I was set up from everlasting from the begining ere ever the earth was Prov. 8. 23. Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth Heb. 1. 10. And besides these words are never used absolutely any where for the beginning of the Gospel There is mention made indeed of the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Mark 1. 1. which is referred to the preaching of John Baptist. But in the beginning absolutely is never so used or applied And they must meet with men of no small inclination unto them who will upon their desire in a matter of so great importance forego the sense of words which is natural and proper fixed by its constant use in the Scripture when applyed in the same kind for that which is forced and strained and not once exemplified in the whole book of God But the words they say are to be restrained to the subject matter treated of Well what is that subject matter the new creation by the Preaching of the Gospel But this is plainly false nor will the words allow any such sense nor the context nor is any thing offered to give evidence unto this corrupt perverting of the words unless it be a farther perverting of other testimonies no less clear than this For what is according to this Interpretation the meaning of those words in the beginning was the Word that is when John Baptist preached and said this is the Lamb of God which was signally the beginning of the Gospel then he was That is he was when he was no doubt of it And is not this a notable way of interpreting of Scripture which these great pretenders to a Dictatorship in Reason indeed Hucksters in Sophistry do make use of But to go on with them in this supposition how was he then with God the Word was with God That is say they he was then known only to God before John Baptist preached him in the begining But what shall compell us to admit of this uncouth sense and Exposition He was with God that is he was known to God alone What is their singular herein concerning how many things may the same be affirmed Besides it is absolutely false He was known to the Angel Gabriel who came to his Mother with the Message of his Incarnation Luke 1. 35. He was known to the two Angels which appeared to the Shepherds upon his birth Luke 2. To all the Heavenly Host assembled to give praise and glory to God on the Account of his Nativity as those who came to worship him and to pay him the homage due unto him Luke 2. 10 13 14. He was known to his Mother the Blessed Virgin and to Joseph and Zachariah and to Elizabeth to Simeon and Anna to John Baptist and probably to many more to whom Simeon and Anna spake of him Luke 2. 38. So that the sense pretended to be wrung out and extorted from these words against their proper meaning and intendment is indeed false and frivolous and belongs not at all unto them But let this pass What shall we say to the next words And the word was God Give us leave without disturbance from you but to believe this expression which comprizeth a Revelation of God proposed to us on purpose that we should believe it and there will be as was said an end of this difference and debate Yea but say they these words have another sense also Strange I they seem to be so plain and positive that it is impossible any other sense should be fixed on them but only this that the Word was in the beginning and was God
whole Scripture as not grant unto him a preexistence in a divine nature antecedent to his Incarnation they framed a new Deity which God should make before the world in all things like to himself but not the same with him in Essence and substance but to be so like him that by the writings of some of them ye can scarce know one from the other and that this was the Son of God also who was afterwards Incarnate Others in the mean time had more monstrous imaginations some that he was an Angel some that he was the Sun some that he was the Soul of the World some the light within men Departing from their proper rest so have they hovered about and so have they continued to do until this day In the same manner it is come to pass with them who have denyed the Deity of the Holy Ghost They could never find where to stand or abide but one hath cryed up one thing another another At first they observed that such things were every where ascribed unto him in the Scripture as uncontroulably evidenced him to be an intelligent voluntary Agent This they found so plain and evident that they could not deny but that he was a person or an intelligent subsistence Wherefore seeing they were resolved not to assent unto the Revelation of his being God they made him a created spirit chief and above all others But still whatever else he were he was only a Creature And this course some of late also have steered The Socinians on the other hand observing that such things are assigned and ascribed unto him as that if they acknowledge him to be a person or a substance they must upon necessity admit him to be God though they seemed not at first at all agreed what to think or say concerning him positively yet they all coneurred peremptorily in denying his personality Hereon some of them said he was the Gospel which others of them have confuted some that he was Christ. Neither could they agree whether there was one Holy Ghost or more whether the spirit of God and the Good spirit of God and the holy spirit be the same or no. In general now they conclude that he is vis Dei or virtus Dei or efficacia Dei no substance but a quality that may be considered either as being in God and then they say it is the spirit of God or as sanctifying and conforming men unto God and then they say it is the Holy Ghost Whether these things do answer the Revelation made in the Scripture concerning the Eternal Spirit of God will be immediately manifested Our Quakers who have for a long season hovered up and down like a swarm of flies with a confused noise and humming begin now to settle in the opinions lately by them declared for But what their thoughts will fall into be concerning the Holy Ghost when they shall be contented to speak Intelligibly and according to the usage of other men or the pattern of Scripture the great rule of speaking or treating about spiritual things I know not and am uncertain whether they do so themselves or no. Whether he may be the light within them or an infallible afflatus is uncertain In the mean time what is revealed unto us in the Scripture to be believed concerning the Holy Ghost his Deity and personality may be seen in the ensuing testimonies The summ of this Revelation is that the Holy Spirit is an eternally divine existing substance the Author of Divine operations and the Object of Divine and Religious Worship that is over all God Blessed for ever as the ensuing testimonies evince Gen 1. 2. The spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters Psalm 33. 6. By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Host of them by the Spirit of his mouth Job 26. 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the Heavens Job 33. 4. The Spirit of God hath made me Psalm 104. 30. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are Created Mat. 28. 19. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Acts 1. 16. That Scripture must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake Acts 5. 3. Peter said to Ananias why hath Satan filled thy heart to lye to the Holy Ghost Vers. 4. Thou hast not lyed unto men but unto God Acts 28. 25 26. Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the Prophet unto our Fathers saying go unto this people and say 1 Cor. 3. 16. Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 12. 11. All these worketh that one and self-same spirit dividing to every man as he will 2. 6. And there are deversities of operations but it is the same God which worketh all in all 2 Cor. 13. 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all Acts 20. 28. Take heed to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers Matth. 12. 31. All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men Psal. 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy Spirit John 14. 26. But the Comforteâ— which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name he shall teach you all things Luke 12. 12. The Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say Acts 13. 3. And as they ministred to the Lord and fasted the Holy Ghost said separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them Vers. 4. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost departed into c. 2 Pet. 1. 21. For the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of men but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost It is evident upon the first consideration that there is not any thing which we believe concerning the Holy Ghost but that it is plainly revealed and declared in these testimonies He is directly affirmed to be and is called God Acts 5. 3 4. Which the Socinians will not say is by vertue of an Exaltation unto an Office or Authority as they say of the Son That he is an intelligent voluntary Divine Agent he knoweth he worketh as he will which things if in their frequent repetition they are not sufficient to evince an intelligent Agent a personal subsistence that hath Being Life and Will we must confess that the Scripture was written on purpose to lead us into mistakes and misapprehensions of what we are under penalty of eternal ruine rightly to apprehend and believe It declareth also that he is the Author and Worker of all sorts of Divine Operations requiring Immensity Omnipotency Omnisciency and all other Divine Excellencies unto their working and effecting Moreover it is revealed that he is peculiarly to be believed
multiplyed yet in respect of communication it is otherwise it is communicated unto more namely to the Father Son and Holy Ghost And therefore if any thing be intended to be concluded from hence the Proposition must be expressed according to what the subject requires as capable of communication or Attribution to more than one as thus who ever is the only true God is the Father which Proposition these Persons and their Masters shall never be able to prove I have given in particular these strictures thus briefly upon these empty Sophisms partly because they are well removed already and partly because they are meer exscriptions out of an Author not long since translated into English unto whom an entire answer may ere long be returned That which at present shall suffice is to give a general answer unto all these cavills with all of the same kind which the men of these principles do usually insist upon I. The things they say which we teach concerning the Trinity are contrary to Reason and thereof they endeavour to give sundry instances wherein the summ of the opposition which they make unto this truth doth consist But first I ask what Reason is it that they intend It is their own the carnal reason of men By that they will judge of these Divine Mysteries The Scripture tells us indeed that the Spirit of a man wâ—ich is in him knows the things of a man A mans Spirit by natural Reason may judge of natural things But the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God 1 Cor. 2. 11. So that what we know of these things we must receive upon the Râ—vâ—lation of the Spirit of God meerly if the Apostle may be believed And it is given unto men to know the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God To some and not to others and unless it be so given them they cannot know them In particular none can know the Father unless the Son reveal him Nor will or doth or can flesh and blood reveal or understand Jesus Christ to be the Son of the living God unless the Father reveal him and instruct us in the truth of it Matth. 16. 18. The way to come to the acknowledgement of these things is that described by the Apostle Ephes. 3. 14 15 16 17 18 19. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant ye according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his Spirit in the inner man that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all Saints c. As also Col. 2. 2. That ye might come unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the Mysterie of God and of the Father and of Christ. In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge It is by faith and prayer and through the Revelation of God that we may come to the acknowledgement of these things and not by the carnal reasonings of men of corrupt minds 2. What Reason do they intend If Reason absolutely the Reason of things we grant that nothing contrary unto it is to be admitted But Reason as it is in this or that man particularly in themselves we know to be weak maimed and imperfect and that they are and all other men extreamly remote from a just and full comprehension of the whole Reason of things Are they in such an estate as that their apprehension shall pass for the measure of the nature of all things we know they are far from it So that though we will not admit of any thing that is contrary to reason yet the least intimation of a Truth by Divine Revelation will make me embrace it although it should be contrary to the reason of all the Socinians in the world Reason in the abstract or the just measure of the answering of one thing unto another is of great moment But Reason that is what is pretended to be so or appears to be so unto this or that man especially in and about things of Divine Revelation is of very small importance of none at all where it riseth up against the express testimonies of Scripture and these multiplyed to their mutual confirmation and explanation 3. Many things are above Reason that is as considered in this or that subject as men which are not at all against it It is an easie thing to compel the most curious enquirers of these dayes to a ready confession hereof by multitudes of Instances in things finite and temporary And shall any dare to deny but it may be so in things Heavenly Divine and Spiritual Nay there is no concernment of the Being of God or his properties but is absolutely above the comprehension of our reason We cannot by searching find out God we cannot find out the Almighty to perfection 4. The very foundation of all their Objections and Cavils against this truth is destructive of as fundamental principles of reason as are in the world They are all at best reduced to this it cannot be thus in things finite the same Being cannot in one respect be one in another three and the like and therefore it is so in things Infinite All these reasonings are built upon this supposition that that which is finite can perfectly comprehend that which is Infinite An assertion absurd foolish and contradictory unto it self Again it is the highest reason in things of pure Revelation to captivate our understandings to the Authority of the Revealer which here is rejected So that by a loud specious pretence of Reason these men by a little captious Sophistry endeavour not only to countenance their unbelief but to evert the greatest principles of Reason it self 5. The Objections these men principally insist upon are meerly against the Explanations we use of this Doctrine not against the Primitive Revelation of it which is the principal object of our faith which how preposterous and irrational a course of proceeding it is hath been declared 6. It is a Rule among Philâ—sophers that if a man on just grounds and reasons have embraced any opinion or perswasion he is not to desert it meerly because he cannot answer every Objection against it For if the Objections wherewith we may be entangled be not of the same weight and importance with the reason on which we embraced the opinion it is a madness to forego it on the Account thereof And much more must this hold amongst the common sort of Christians in things spiritual and divine If they will let go and part with their faith in any truth because they are not able to answer distinctly some Objections that may be made against it they may quickly find themselves disputed into Atheism 7. There is so great an intimation made of such an expression and resemblance of a Trinity in Unity in the very
works of the Creation as learned men have manifested by various instances that it is most unreasonable to suppose that to be contrary to reason which many objects of rational consideration do more or less present unto our minds 8. To add no more considerations of this nature Let any of the Adversaries produce any one Argument or grounds of reason or those pretended to be such against that that hath been asserted that hath not already been bafflâ—d a thousand times and it shall receive an answer or a publick acknowledgement that it is Indissoluble Of the Person of Christ. THE next Head of Opposition made by the men of this conspiracy against this sacred truth is against the head of all truth the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Socinians indeed would willingly put a better face or colour upon their Error about the Person of Christ then it will bear or indure to lye on it For in their Catechism unto this Question Is the Lord Jesus Christ purus Homo a meer man they Answer by no means How then hath he a divine nature also which is their next question To this they say by no means for this is contrary to right reason How then will these pretended Masters of Reason reconcile these things For to us it seems that if Christ have no other nature but that of a man he is as to his nature purus Homo a meer man and no more Why they answer that he is not a meer man because he was born of a Virgin Strange that that should be an argument to prove him more than a man which the Scripture and all men in their right wits grant to be an invincible reason to prove him to be a man and as he was born of her no more Rom. 1. 3. Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh Rom. 9. 5. Whose are the Fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came Gal. 4. 4. God sent forth his Son made of a Woman made under the Law But say they he was endowed with the Spirit wrought Miracles was raised from the dead had all power given in Heaven and Earth for by these degrees he became to be God But all men see that the inquiry is about the nature of Christ and this Answer is about his state and condition Now this changeth not his nature on the one hand no more than his being humbled poor and dying did on the other This is the right reason we have to deal withall in these men If a man should have enquired of some of them of old whether Melchizedeck were purus Homo a meer man some of them would have said no because he was the Holy Ghost some no because he was the Son of God himself and some no because he was an Angel for such foolish opinions have men fallen into But how sottish soever their conceptions were their Answer to that enquiry would have been regular becaâ—se the Question and Answer respect the same subject in the same respect But never any was so stupid as to answer he was not a meer man that is by nature because he was a Priest of the high God which respects his Office and condition Yet such is the pretence of these men about the Person of Christ to incrustate and give some colour unto their soul mis-belief as supposing that it would be much to their disadvantage to own Christ only as a meer man though the most part of their disputes that they have troubled the Christian World withall have had no other design nor aim but to prove him so to be and nothing else I shall briefly according to the method insisted on first lay down what is the direct Revelation which is the object of our faith in this matter then express the Revelation it self in the Scripture testimonies wherein it is recorded and having vindicated some one or other of them from their exceptions manifest how the Doctrine hereof is farther explained unto the Edification of them that believe That there is a Second Person the Son of God in the holy Trin-Vnity of the God-head we have proved before That this Person did of his infinite Love and Grace take upon him our nature bumane nature so as that the divine and humane nature should be come one Person one Christ God and Man in one so that whatever he doth in and about our Salvation it is done by that one Person God and Man is revealed unto us in the Scripture as the Object of our Faith And this is that which we believe concerning the Person of Christ. Whatever acts are ascribâ—d unto him however immediately performed in or by the Humane Nature or in and by his Divine Nature they are all the acts of that one Person in whom are both these natures That this Christ God and Man is because he is God and on the account of what he hath done for us as Man to be believed in worshipped with worship Religious and Divine to be trusted and obeyed this also is asserted in the Scripture And these things are as it were the common notions of Christian Religion the common Principles of our Profession which the Scriptures also abundantly testifie unto Isa. 7. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bare a Son and shall call his name Emanuel that is he shall be God with us or God in our nature Not that that should be his name whereby he should be called in this World but that this should be the condition of his Person he should be God with us God in our nature So are the words expounded Mat. 1. 21 22 23. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a Son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his People from their sins Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet saying Behold a Virgin shall be with Child and shall bring forth a Son and they shall call his name Emanuel which being interpreted is God with us His name whereby he was to be called was Jesus that is a Saviour And thereby was accomplished the prediction of the Prophet that he should be Emanuel which being interpreted is God with us Now a Child born to be God with us is God in that Child taking our nature upon him and no otherwise can the words be understood Isa. 9. 6. Vnto us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and his name shall be called the mighâ—y God The Child that is born the Son that is given is the mighty God and as the mighâ—y God and a Child born or Son given he is the Prince of peace as he is there called or our Saviour John 1. 14. The Word was made flesh That the Word was God who made all things he had before declared Now he affirms that this Word was made flesh How converted into flesh
to be the case as to the sufferings of Christ is as far as I can understand to subvert the whole Gospel Moreover as was said this harh been variously exemplified among the Nations of the world whose actings in such cases because they excellently shadow out the general notion of the death of Christ for others for sinners and are appealed unto directly by the Apostle to this purpose Rom. 5. 7 8. I shall in a few Instances reflect upon Not to insist on the voluntary surrogations of private Persons one into the Room of another mutually to undergo dangers and death for one another as before mentioned I shall only remember some publick Transactions in reference unto communities in Nations Cities or Armies Nothing is more celebrated amongst the Ancients than this that when they supposed themselves in Danger from the Anger and displeasure of their Gods by reason of any guilt or crimes among them some one person should either devote himself or be devoted by the people to dye for them and therein to be made as it were an expiatory Sacrifice For where sin is the cause and God is the object respected the making of satisfaction by undergoing punishment and expiating of sin by a propitiatory Sacrifice are but various expressions of the same thing Now those whoso devoted themselves as was said to dye in the stead of others or to expiate their sins and turn away the Anger of the God they feared by their death designed two things in what they did First That the Evils which were impendent on the people and feared might fall on themselves so that the people might go free Secondly That all good things which themselves desired might be conferred on the People which things have a notable shaddow in them of the great expiatory Sacrifice concerning which we treat and expound the Expressions wherein it is declared The Instance of the Decii is known of whom the Poet Plebeiae Deciorum animae plebeia fuerunt Nomina pro totis legionibuâ— hitamâ—n pro Omnibus auxiliis atque omni plehe Latins Sufficiunt Diis infernis The two Decii Father and Son in imminent dangers of the people devoted themselves at several times unto Death and Destruction And saith he sufficiunt Diis infernis they satisfied for the whole people adding the Reason whence so it might be Pluris enim Decii quam qui servantur ab illis They were more to be valued than all that were saved by them And the great Historian doth excellently describe both the Actions and Expectations of the one and the other in what they did The Father when the Roman Army commanded by himself and Titus Mâ—nlius was near a total ruine by the Latines called for the publick Priest and caused him with the usual solemn Ceremonies to devote him to death for the deliverance and safety of the Army after which making his requests to his Gods dii quorum est potestas nostrorum hostiumque the gods that had power over them and their Adversaries as he supposed he cast himself into death by the swords of the Enemy Conspectus ab utraque acie aliquanto augustior humano visu sicut coelo missus piaculum omnis Deorum irae qui pestem ab suis aversam in hostes ferret He was looked on by both Armies as one more August than a man as one sent from Heaven to be a piacular Sacrifice to appease the Anger of the gods and to transferre destruction from their own Army to the Enemies Liv. Hist. 8. His Son in like manner in a great and dangerous battel against the Galls and Samnites wherein he commanded in Chief devoting himself as his Father had done added unto the former solemn deprecations prae se agere sese formidinem ac fugam caedemque ac cruorem coel stium infernorum iras lib. 11. That he carryed away before him from those for whom he devoted himself fear and flight slaughter and blood the anger of the Coelestial and Infernal gods And as they did in this devoting of themselves design averuncare malum deûm iras lustrare pâ—pulum aut exercitum piaculum fieri or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expiare crimina scelus reatum or to remove all evil from others by taking it on themselves in their stead so also they thought they might and intended in what did to covenant and contract for the good things they desired So did these Decii and so is Menaeceus reported to have done when he devoted himself for the City of Thebes in danger to be destroyed by the Argives So Papinius introduceth him treating his gods Armorum superi tuque ô quifunere tanto Indulges mihi Phoebe mori date gaudia Thebis Quae pepegi toto quae sanguine prodi gus emi He reckoned that he had not only repelled all death and danger from Thebes by his own but that he had purchased joy in peace and liberty for the people And where there was none in publick calamities that did voluntarily devote themselves the people were wont to take some obnoxious person to make him exercraâ—le and to lay on him according to their superstition all the wrath of their Gods and so give him up to Destruction Such the Apostle alludes unto Rom. 9. 3. 1 Cor. 4. 9 13. So the Massilians were wont to explate their City by taking a Person devoted imprecating on his head all the evil that the City was obnoxious unto casting him into the Sea with thâ—se words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be thou our expiatory Sacrifice To which purpose were the solemn words that many used in their expiatory Sacrifices as Herodotus testâ—fieth of the Aegyptians bringing their Offerings saith he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they laid these imprecations on their heads that if any Evil were happening towards the Sacrificer or all Egypt let it be all turned and laid on this devoted head And the persons whom they thus dealt withall and made execrate were commonly of the vilest of the people or such as had rendred themselves detestable by their own crimes whence was the complaint of the Mother of Mâ—naeceus upon her Sons devoting himself Lustralemne feris ego te puer inclyte Thebis Dâ—votumque caput vilis seu mater alebam I have recounted these Instances to evince the common intention sense and understanding of that expression of one dying for another and to manifest by Examples what is the sense of mankind about any ones being devoted and substituted in the Room of others to deliver them from death and danger the consideration whereof added to the constant use of the words mentioned in the Scripture is sufficient to fâ—â—nd and confirm this conclusion That whereas it is frâ—quently affirmed in the Scripture thâ—ir Christ dyed for us and for our sins c. to deny that he dyed and suffered in our stead undergoing the death whereunto we were obnoxious and the punishment due to our sins is if we respect in what we say or believe the constant use of those