BEFORE I speak to the Doctrine contain'd in these Words, it will be necessary to say something towards the removing an Objection that hath been made against them, as if they were not a Genuine Part of this Chapter; because they are omitted in some Greek Copies. In Answer to which, It might be enough to satisfie unpre­judic'd Men, to say that they are in the Best and most Anci­ent Greek Manuscripts, and have been constantly retain'd in the Vulgar Latin, (as several worthy Authors assure us;) and they might more easily be left out in some Copies by an Over­sight in the Transcribers, than fraudulently inserted into others: Yet because it hath been said by some (who would have the World think so,) that this Verse was added in Op­position to the Arians, I must say farther, that this could not be,De Ʋnit. Eccles. because we find it quoted by St. Cyprian before [...]rius his Time. And indeed the Orthodox, as they had no need to do this, having the Scripture so plainly and fully on their side, in many other Places; so they must have ventur'd such an Hazard in it as no wise Men would expose themselves to. For the Detection of such a Forgery, which they would have Reason enough to fear, would have done a great Inju­ry to their Reputation, and to a Cause which they valued more than their Lives.

It is therefore more Reasonable to suppose that the Arians raz'd this Verse out of such Copies as they could come by; for their desperate Cause did more need the miserable Supports of Fraud and Sacrilege, and the Men were fitter for the Practice of them.Socr. Hist. Eccl. l. 7. c. 32. And some of the Ancients complain of their corrupting several Places of Scripture, and particularly of this Epistle; and there is no Expression in it they could take more Offence at than this,Hist. Tri­part. l. 12. c. 4. though there are several others that plainly condemn them and their impious Doctrines. Besides these Testimonies, the Verse it self doth, I think, sufficiently assert its Right to this Place, by the Agreement it hath with the foregoing and fol­lowing Verses.

The Apostle's main Design in this Chapter is to prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; that is, the Eternal Son of God, of the same Nature with the Father, as well as Man; (as I shall prove in the following Discourse) and this he doth by the Witnesses mention'd at the 6, 7, and 8 Verses. But the Water and the Blood in two of those Ver­ses, whether we understand them literally, as they came out of our Saviour's Side, when his Body was pierc'd upon the Cross; or in a figurative Sense, for his Holiness and Suf­ferings, can prove no more than the Truth of his Human Nature; nor the Spirit that is join'd with them, if it be meant of his Soul which he yielded up to the Father upon the Cross, as some understand it. And if we take it for the Spirit of God, as it was given to our Saviour in an ex­traordinary measure, it doth not necessarily prove any more than the Excellency of his Person as a Man, and that he was highly in Favour with God the Father. Though there are other Things to be said indeed concerning the Spirit, that infallibly prove the Divinity of Christ, which will more properly be spoken of him, as he is mentioned in my Text.

Now if nothing more had been said by the Apostle in this Place than what is asserted concerning these Three Wit­nesses in the 6 and 8 Verses, they would have afforded us but a dark Proof at the best of what he mainly intends; but his adding Three more at the 7th. Verse, puts the Mat­ter out of all doubt. I might further shew the Agreement between this and the other two Verses, and how Defective the Sense of this Place will be without it; but I hope what hath been said already is sufficient to prove the Di­vine Authority of these Words; and I am so far from thinking the worse of them for the Violence done to them by sacrilegious Hands in some ancient Copies, that I can­not but have a greater Veneration for them, in that they have suffer'd a kind of Martyrdom in that Glorious Cause which they assert.

In speaking to these Words, I shall

• I. Endeavour to shew you what these Three are that are here mentioned.
• II. Give some Account of the Record they bear concern­ing the Messias.

I. I shall endeavour to shew you what these Three are in the following Particulars:

• 1. Every One of these is the Great and Most High God.
• 2. They are not so many different Names of the same Person, but Three Subsistences, or Persons really distinct from one another.
• 3. I shall shew what Relation they have to each other.
• 4. I shall prove that these Three are One God.

1. Every One of these is the Great and Most High God.

• 1. The Father is so; but I need not say any thing to prove this, because it is acknowledged by those who deny the [Page 10]Trinity, that all the Glorious Titles, Perfections and Works of the Deity are attributed to him, and that to him belongs Divine Honour and Worship from his Creatures: That he is an Infinite and Eternal Being, Glorious in Holiness and Fearful in Praises; a God of all Power and Might, Truth and Righteousness, Wisdom and Goodness; in a word, that of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all Things. Therefore I proceed,
• 2. To speak of the Word, or the Son, who also is God, in the same Sense with the Father, as will abundantly appear to all unprejudiced Men from the Names by which he is call'd, the Perfections ascrib'd to him, the Works he is said to do, and the Honour and Worship which all Intelligent Creatures are requir'd to give him, in the Holy Scriptures.

1. The Names he is called by; as, the Name of God, Jehovah, the Son of God, and the Word.

The Name of God is very frequently given to Christ both in the Old and New Testament. The Psalmist speaking of him,Ps. 49.6. says, Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever; and the Prophet Isaiah calls him the mighty God. Isa. 9.6. St. Thomas plainly owns his Divinity in these Words,Joh. 20.28 My Lord and my God. When St. Luke says of the Jews, they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, Acts 7.59. and saying, Lord Jesus receive my spirit; he teaches us, that Jesus is the God he prayed to. And St. Paul in exhorting the Elders of Ephesus to feed the Church of God,Acts 20.28. which he hath purchased with his own Blood, doth assure us, that the same Person who shed his Blood for us upon the Cross is the God of the Church.Rom. 9.5.1 Tim. 3.16.1 Joh. 5.20. This Apostle tells us also of Christ, that he is over all, God blessed for ever; and that God was manifest in the Flesh: And St. John affirms of him, that he is the true God. Now if it be said of one or two of these Places, that the word [God] is not in some an­cient Copy or Version, this Omission might easily happen through the Mistake of a Transcriber, and ought not to be accounted any Prejudice to those Places, seeing they are en­tire [Page 11]in all other Copies. And tho' some object, that the Name of God is given to Magistrates in the Scripture, and therefore doth not prove the Divinity of Christ, they ought to see that it is applied to him, after a very different man­ner, and with such Distinctions as cannot belong to any Creature: For what Christian durst ever call a Magistrate, my God, as St. Thomas calls our Saviour? or say, he is God blessed for ever, or the true and mighty God, as the Scripture terms him?

The Name Jehovah, which is the incommunicable Name of the Great God, is also given to him. Those Words, Psal. 102.25. Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands; are applied to Christ, Heb. 1.10. and yet the same Person, of whom they are spoken, is called Jehovah no less than seven or eight times in that Psalm. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of Christ and his Forerunner, saith, Chap. 40.3. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make strait in the desart a high-way for our God. There is no que­stion but the Person, whose Way John the Baptist (who is here meant by him that cries in the wilderness) was to pre­pare, was Christ the Son of God; therefore it is he whom the Prophet calls, not only our God, but the Lord, (that is Jehovah,) in the 2d. and 5th. Verses of that Chapter. But the Prophet Jeremiab is yet more express, when speaking of the Messias, as a righteous branch, and a King that should de­scend from David, Chap. 23. he says, Ver. 6. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness. A Place sufficient, one would think, of it self, to satisfie any that Christ is the True and Eternal God, were it not obscur'd a little by the Repetition of it with some difference, Chap. 33.16. where it is in our Translation, This is the name wherewith she shall be called. The Lord our Righteousness. And some Interpreters understand it in the same Sense, as if [Page 12]this Name was applied here to Jerusalem, or the Church; and from hence some conclude it is not the incommunicable Name of God, and that nothing more is said of Christ in the Place before-mentioned than of the Church in this. Now how well the Words in the Original will bear that In­terpretation, I shall not determine; but I think they are very capable of another, (which hath been also given them by some Learned Men,) namely this, And he who shall call her, (that is, Jerusalem before-mention'd,) is the Lord our Righ­teousness. And tho' there is some difference in the Hebrew, between this and the other Place, yet the Authors of the se­veral Learned Versions taking the Sense to be the same in both, do not only apply this to the Messias, but render it in the same Words as they do the other, with very little Alte­ration in any of them. And if we allow of that Interpre­tation which applies this Name to Jerusalem, yet it can be­long to it no otherwise than as the Church hath a Relation to him, and is Interested in his Righteousness who is pro­perly call'd by it.

The Name of the Son of God, as it is given to Christ, and is to be understood of his Only-begotten Son, as he is sometimes call'd, is a further Proof of his Divinity: For this denotes a more Eminent Relation than that which be­longs to his Human Nature, either from his Conception, or his Resurrection from the Dead: For tho' he was conceiv'd by the immediate Power and Operation of the Holy Ghost, and for this Reason is sometimes call'd the Son of God, yet we cannot say he had much the Advantage of Adam in this, who by the same efficient Cause was formd out of the Dust of the Ground, as Christ was of the Substance of the Vir­gin; and therefore Adam is call'd the Son of God in a pecu­liar Sense, distinct from that Relation which other good Men have to him.Luke. 3.38. The Holy Angels have also the same Re­lation to God, for this Reason, who made them eminently [Page 13]Partakers of his own Nature, and constituted them in a State of Happiness and Immortality.

And tho' our Saviour was made the Son of God, in ano­ther Respect, by his Resurrection from the Dead, as Saint Paul explains the Words of the Psalmist, when he saith, God hath rais'd up Jesus again; Acts 13.33. as it is also written in the Second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee; and he may from hence be fitly term'd (as he is) the first-born from the dead, and the first-fruits of them that slept; yet he can no more be call'd the Only-begotten Son of God for this Reason, than the First-born of a numerous Issue can be said to be all the Children, or the First-fruits the whole Crop: For it is evident, from many Places of Scripture, that the Church shall be also rais'd to a Glorious State, and those very Terms, the First-born and the First-fruits are us'd to assure us of it; and on this Account they are call'd the Children of God by our Blessed Saviour, who saith,Luke 20.35, 36. They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither can they die any more: For they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the chil­dren of the resurrection. Now what difference soever there was between the Perfections of Adam and Christ, as Man, or between the Glory he was rais'd to, and that which the Saints shall have hereafter, this cannot properly distinguish his Relation to God the Father from theirs: For tho' a First-born, who hath many Brethren, should have a greater Inheritance than all of them, and a Right of Dominion too (as the Ancient Patriarchs had) over the whole Family, yet he cannot justly be call'd the Only Son for these, or any other Advantages he might have above the rest.

Christ is therefore call'd the Son of God, chiefly in respect of his Divine Nature; and so the Ancient Jews understood this Term, as it was applied to the Messias. Therefore, upon Occasion of Christ's calling God his Father, it is said, [Page 14] The Jews sought the more to kill him, Joh. 5.18. because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also, that God was [...], his own, or his proper Father, making himself equal with God. Je­sus was now generally look'd upon as the profess'd Messias, because John the Baptist had given a Publick Testimony con­cerning him, which was confirm'd on all Occasions by his Disciples, and had been confess'd by himself: Therefore the Jews having a Notion of that Eminent Relation which the Messias had to God the Father, as his Eternal Son; when they heard our Saviour mention God as his Father, put a ve­ry different Sense upon these Words from what they would have done from another Person; and because they did not believe him to be the Christ, they interpreted them to his Disadvantage: For tho' they themselves were ready to say, upon Occasion,Joh 8.41. We have one Father, even God; yet they accounted such an Expression from our Saviour to be Blas­phemy, and attempted several times to put him to Death for it. And this was the pretended Crime for which he was at last condemn'd: For the High-Priest having not such Wit­ness against him as he desired,Mat. 26.63, &c. put an Oath upon him to tell him whether he were the Christ, the Son of God; to which, when our Saviour had intimated his Consent, the High-Priest rent his cloaths, saying, he hath spoken blasphemy; and asking the judgment of the council concerning it, they all pronounced him to be guilty of death.

But the Disciples believing that he was the Christ, did also acknowledge him to be the Son of God (in the Sense before-mention'd) in several Confessions which they made to him: But I shall now only take notice of such as were attended with some Remarkable Circumstances, which will help us to understand the Meaning of them. When our Lord had done two Miracles together, walking himself with Peter upon the Sea in a Tempest, and causing the Wind to cease on the sudden;Mat. 14.33. so soon as he was come into the ship, the disciples, and others that were with them, came and worshipped [Page 15]him, saying, of a truth thou art the son of God. By which Words, it appears they acknowledg'd him to be God, be­cause they gave him Divine Worship at the same time: And if they had committed a Mistake in these Things, there is no question but our Saviour would have corrected it in them. The like Adoration was also given to Christ by the Man who was born blind,Joh. 9.38. so soon as he understood from him that he was the Son of God.

But nothing is more Remarkable to this Purpose, than Martha her Confession, who, when our Saviour had ask'd her,Joh. 11.25, &c. whether she believ'd him to be the Resurrection and the Life, (that is, that he could by his own Power raise Men from the Dead to Life again) and that Faith in him would save them from Death, and make them Partakers of Everla­sting Life? she answers him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. So that this Confession did imply as much, in her Opinion, as that Christ was Omnipotent, and the Great Object of a Divine and Saving Faith: And in that she saith, the Son of God, which should come into the world; this suppo­ses it was formerly believ'd the Messias should be such a Per­son.

There are several other Testimonies in the Gospel to this Purpose, but I shall add but one more from St. John himself, which gives a great Confirmation to all the rest, who speak­ing of the Signs which Jesus did, saith, These are written, Joh. 20.31. that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name. These Words, Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, are certainly meant of his being God as well as Man, because many Signs done by him did plainly prove it. And in this Chapter the Apo­stle mentions two of them, namely, our Saviour's Appear­ing two several times in a miraculous manner to his Disci­ples; the latter of which Appearances drew that Confession from St. Thomas, My Lord, and my God. And it is Re­markable, [Page 16]that immediately after these Words, and Christ's Answer to them, the Apostle adds, many other signs did Je­sus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; which Words have, no doubt, a particular Respect to Thomas his Confession, as those which follow have to our Saviour's Answer to him: For Christ ha­ving said to Thomas, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast be­lieved; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. The Apostle tells us how far this Blessing goeth, even to Eter­nal Life, in these Words, and that believing, ye might have life through his name.

And indeed, the Occasion of St. John's writing this Gos­pel, and the Arguments that are every where contain'd in it, do sufficiently prove this Truth: For this Gospel was writ­ten by him at the Request of the Elders of Ephesus, and other Christians, as we are assur'd from good Authority, in Opposition to the Ebeonites and Cerinthians, who denied the Divinity of our Saviour; and whosoever reads it, may see the Apostle makes it his main Business to assure the World that he is God. This he affirms at the very begin­ning of his Gospel, and records many of our Saviour's Sayings, by which he asserted it, and several of his chief Miracles, by which he prov'd it, that are omitted by the other Evangelists. And if this appears to have been his chief Design in this Gospel, (as certainly it was) who can doubt of his Meaning in the Place before-mention'd, (which is near the Conclusion of it,) where he saith, These are writ­ten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God? Now this, with the other Citations which I men­tion'd before, will clear the Sense of those Expressions in this Chapter of my Text;Ver. 1. Ver. 5. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God: And who is he that overcometh the World, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? that they assert him to be God as well as Man: And there­fore [Page 17]this is the Doctrine which the Apostle proves in the following Verses, as I said before, and I hope have now made it more evident to you.

The last Name which I shall mention, as given to Christ, is [...], render'd the Word; under which Name St. John saith, Chap. 1.1. that he was in the beginning, that is, be­fore the World was created, as appears not only from the same Expression us'd in that Sense in the first Chapter of Ge­nesis, but because all things are said to be made by him, ver. 3. which supposes he was before them; and because Time began with the Creation of the World, therefore the Word which was before it must be Eternal: And the Apostle here expresly affirms, that the Word was God, and that this Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and was the only-begotten of the father, v. 14. the same person whom John the Baptist bare witness of, namely, Jesus Christ, as in the following Verses. And the Notion of [...], as it is understood of a Divine Person, who, together with God the Father made the World, was well known amongst the Jews, as appears from many Places in the Chaldae Paraphrase, where the Word is added to explain the Sense more fully when there is only [God] or [Lord] in the Original; [...] Vid. Bi­shop of Worcest. Vindic. of Trin. p. 128. and it is render'd by such a Term as seve­ral Learned Men assure us is us'd there to signifie the Word only in the Sense of a Person. And I think any indifferent Reader would understand it of a Personal Word in many (if not all those) Places wherein it is found, and particu­larly in these. It is said in that Paraphrase,Gen. 6.6. It repented the Lord, with his word, that he had made man upon the earth. Then shall the word of the Lord be my God. Gen. 28.21. Ex. 19.17. Lev. 26.46. Deut. 1.30. Moses brought forth the People to meet the Word of God: These are the sta­tutes, and judgments, and laws, which the Lord made between his word and the children of Israel. The word of the Lord your God, which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, accord­ing to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. The [Page 18]word of the Lord the God is a consuming fire, Deut. 4.24. Chap. 31.6.8. Job 42.9, 10, 12. a jealous God. The word of the Lord thy God will go before thee, he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. The word of the Lord accepted the face of Job. And the word of the Lord turn'd the captivity of Job, &c. So the word of the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than the beginning.

Now to be chosen by Jacob as his God; to meet his People; to be a Party in a Covenant between himself and them; to conduct his People, and fight for them; to ac­cept of Job's Person, to turn his Captivity, to bless and en­rich him; and to be a consuming Fire, a jealous God; do all suppose a Person, and some of them plainly assert that he is God. The ancient Jews therefore, who had a great Ve­neration for this Paraphrase, and were oblig'd to read it constantly with the Hebrew Text, did believe, from these and many other Places in it, that there was a Divine Sub­stance called the Word, by whom God made the World.

So Philo the Jew, speaking of God the Father of all, mentions another Divine Person,Quaest. & Solut. De Agri­cult. whom he calls the Word, and his Only-begotten Son, by whom he made the World. From whence we may conclude, that St. John first received the Notion of [...] from the Jews; and he speaks so briefly of it at the Beginning of his Gospel, because it was commonly known to them. Tho' it is true also, that many of the Heathens had receiv'd the Doctrine of the Trinity, and the Notion of [...] the Second Person in it, either from ancient Tradition, or the Scriptures, which were read by several Learned Men amongst them. But Plato was especially noted for it; there­fore when Amelius, who was one of his Followers, read this Gospel of St. John, he challeng'd this Notion of the [...], as if it was taken from Plato. But there is no Reason to think he receiv'd a Notion from any Heathen, which he knew was better understood by the Jews, and was well ac­quainted with those Places of Scripture upon which it was grounded.

Now St. John doth not only call Christ the Word in that Place, and in my Text, but mentions him also as the Word of Life at the beginning of this Epistle; and speaking of him, Rev. 19.13. he saith, His name is called the word of God. Neither is St. John the only Writer of the New Testa­ment who applies this Name to Christ; but St. Luke seems to use it in the same Sense,Luke 1.2. when he speaks of the Apostles as eye-witnesses and ministers of the word; for that Word of which they were Eye-witnesses, was our Lord himself. And this Sense of that Place is more probable, because St. Peter uses the same Expression with respect to Christ, and saith (of himself and the other Apostles) that they were eye-witnes­ses of his majesty: 2 Pet. 1.16. And in the Epistle to the Hebrews this Di­vine Word is mention'd, and the Omniscience of God attri­buted to him; The word of God is quick, and powerful, Heb. 4.12. and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart: That is, he perfectly sees the State of our Souls, knows all our Thoughts, distinguishes between what is good and evil in them; he can awaken our Consciences to feel Remorse for Sin, and work what Change in us he pleases. And then it follows, Neither is there any Creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open'd unto the eyes of him, [...], concerning whom we speak, or with whom our present Business is, and that is Christ, who is the Subject of this latter part of the Chapter, and mention'd as well before as after these Verses I have read to you.

2. The Perfections of God are ascrib'd to the Word, or the Son. Some of these I have occasionally mention'd in speaking to those Names which are given to him in Scrip­ture, and therefore shall now speak more briefly to them. His Eternity was hinted to under the Name of the Word, at the beginning of St. John's Gospel, and the Name Jehovah [Page 20]doth also imply it; but there are several Expressions more full and plain to this Purpose.Isa. 9.6. Rev. 1.8, 17. The Prophet Isaiah calls him the everlasting father; and he himself saith, I am Alpha and O­mega, the beginning and the ending; which is, and which was, and which is to come. And again, I am the first and the last; the same which God saith of himself, Isaiah 44.6. I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. So Christ asserts his Eternity,Joh. 8.58. when he saith, Before Abraham was, I am; where he uses the very Term by which God made himself known to the Israelites, Ex. 3.14. which denotes his Eternity. This appears also from those Places in the Gospel, where Christ saith, he came from God, from Heaven, &c.

The Infinity of Christ is also asserted by himself, when he saith,Mat. 18.20. Chap. 28.20. Joh. 3.13. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them; When he tells his Disciples, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world; and when he affirms, No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man which is in heaven; where we are plainly taught, that at the same time Christ was upon Earth, he was also in Heaven, and there­fore fill'd all Places. And it is remarkable, that he here calls himself the Son of Man, to assure us, that he who was Man, was also the Eternal and Infinite Son of God, and so was one and the same Person in two so distinct Natures.

The Omnipotence of God, which we had Occasion to take Notice of in our Saviour before, is attributed to him by the Apostle,Heb. 1.3. who saith, he upholds all things by the word of his power; and plainly intimated in that Promise of Christ, Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, Joh. 14.13 that will I do, that the fa­ther may be glorified in the son: For he must have all Power who can do whatsoever his People shall desire. Yea, he hath expresly told us,Rev. 1.8. that he is the Almighty.

His Omniscience, of which we had before a remarkable Proof out of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he is called the [Page 21]Word of God, is also attested by St. John, where he saith of some of our Saviour's Followers,Joh. 2.24, 25. that Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that any should testifie of man; for he knew what was in man. It is acknowledg'd by St. Peter, in these Words, Lord, Joh. 21.17. thou knowest all things. It is affirm'd by St. Paul, when he saith, In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; Col. 2.3. Rev. 2.23. and it is asserted by himself in these Words, I am he which search­eth the reins and hearts; and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

In a word, he hath all the Perfections of God the Father; for he saith, All things that the father hath are mine: Joh. 16.15. So that the Essence, the Attributes, and the Glory of God do be­long to him. And St. Paul assures us,Col. 2.9. that in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. None can deny that Christ is meant in this Place; for the Apostle is speaking of him here for many Verses together: He mentions his Name seve­ral times, and immediately before these Words. And it is evident that they ascribe all the Perfections of the Deity to Christ, as plainly as any can do. The Word [bodily] in­deed that is here added, is capable of different Interpreta­tions; but whether we take it for wholly and entirely (as it may well be meant) or essentially and personally, because it was usual with the Greeks (as it is with us) to call a Per­son, a Body; it doth not only confirm what was said be­fore, but denotes the hypostatical Union of the Divine and Human Nature in Christ. Or, if we will allow it to be on­ly meant, in the Body, or, together with it; though in this Sense it adds nothing to the Character of his Divinity before given, yet it can detract nothing from it. On the account of these Perfections in Christ,Col. 1.15. he is call'd the Image of the invisible God; the Brightness of his Father's Glory, Heb. 1.3. and the express Image of his Person; Phil. 2.6. he is said to be in the form of God, and equal with him.

3. The Works of God are also attributed to the Son. He tells us himself, that what things soever the father doth, these also doth the Son likewise. Joh 5.19. And as it is said in the beginning of St. John's Gospel, that he made all things; so the Apostle af­firms that God made the Worlds by him, Heb. 1.2. (not as an instrumen­tal, but a principal efficient Cause.) The word [...], there render'd the Worlds, properly signifies Ages; but because Time was created together with the World, and it is the Measure of all material things, therefore it is sometimes us'd siguratively for the World, the Creation of which is ascrib'd to Christ again,Ver. 10. in these Words, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. The Sense of which Place is express'd more fully and particularly by St. Paul, when he saith,Col. 1.16, 17. 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 things consist.

The Works of Providence are also his; for he is said to uphold all things; Heb. 1.3. and this he could not do without infinite Wisdom and Power, to supply every Creature with what is necessary to maintain its Being. He forgives sins against God, Luk. 5.21. which none but God can do; as the Scribes and Phari­sees argued truly, tho' they misapplied it with respect to our Saviour. To these Things I might add the Miracles wrought by him, which did also attest his Divinity, because he did them by his own Power; the raising himself from the dead, sending the Holy Ghost upon his Disciples, and en­abling them to do the same miraculous Works as he him­self had done.

4. We are to give Divine Worship to the Son, the same that is due to the Father. Our Saviour, in saying to his Dis­ciples, Ye believe in God, Joh. 14.1. believe also in me, doth teach them [Page 23]that he is an Object of Faith and Worship equally with God the father; and tells them, that all men should honour the son, Chap. 5.23. as they honour the father. The same is requir'd of the Angels too,Heb. 1.6. in those Words which the Apostle quotes out of the Psalms, Let all the angels of God worship him. And yet that is an Eternal Law which our Saviour mentions,Mat. 4.10: Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. There­fore (to say nothing of the Apostles refusing Worship seve­ral times from others, because they were but Men) when St. John (through some Mistake) went about to worship an Angel that spake to him two several times,Rev. 19.10. Chap. 22.8, 9. he charges him strictly not to do it, because he was but the Servant of God, (and the best of Creatures, even Christ himself in his Hu­man Nature is no more,) and referrs him to the true and on­ly Object of Worship, which is God.

But we read of many worshipping our Saviour upon dif­ferent Occasions, without any Prohibition from him, and amongst others, his own Disciples did it, both before and after his Resurrection; yet they received not the least Check for it, neither did our Saviour at any other time caution them against it, or give them any Hint that he was displeas'd with it; tho' he did ever most freely instruct, warn, and reprove them, as there was Cause for it. And can it be said our Sa­viour was less zealous for the Honour of God than the An­gel that appeared to St. John? Or was there a Dispensation granted to the World to worship a Creature, during our Sa­viour's Ministry, which was not allow'd either before or af­ter it? No, the Adversaries to the Doctrine of the Trinity have a Fetch beyond this, That Christ was made God, and is therefore to be worshipp'd. But what is made, cannot be truly God, because Eternity doth necessarily belong to his Nature; and whatever is made, is a Creature, and Servant to him that made it, and therefore is not to receive Divine Worship, as the Angel argues. But our Saviour being the [Page 24]True and Eternal God, as well as Man, did not only suffer such Worship to be given to him, but hath taught us that it is a General Duty, (as was said before;) and therefore when St. Stephen had a Vision of him, a little before his Death,Acts 7.59, 60. he kneeled down and pray'd to him to receive his Spirit, and to forgive his Murderers.

I have now said what I thought necessary to prove the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour, and have been the larger and more particular upon it, because the Belief of the Trinity doth mainly depend upon this Proof. I shall therefore be very brief in speaking to what follows.

3. The Holy Ghost is also the Great and Most High God, as appears by the very same Arguments which prove the Divi­nity of the Word, or Son, before-mention'd, taken from the Names, Properties, Works, and Worship of God.

1. The Names of God are given to him. He is called God by St. Peter, Acts 5.3, 4. speaking to Ananias in these Words, Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lye to the Holy Ghost? Thou hast not lyed unto men, but unto God: And by St. Paul, when he saith,1 Cor. 3.16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you? Which Words plainly shew, that the Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, is that God which dwells in his People.

Yea, the incommunicable Name Jehovah is also given to him.Numb. 12.6. God saith, If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make my self known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. But this Lord (or Jehovah) is to be understood of the Holy Ghost, as appears from the Words of St. Peter, 2 Pet. 1.21. The prophecy came not in old times by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

2. The Properties or Perfections of God are ascrib'd to him; as his Eternity, Heb. 9.14. where it is said, Christ offered himself to God through the eternal spirit. His Infinity is suppos'd in those Words of the Apostle,Rom. 8.9. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his: For that Spirit which may be in all Men, must be every where present. And that the Holy Ghost is so, the Psalmist also intimates, when he says,Ps. 139.7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? His Om­niscience is asserted also by St. Paul, in these Words,1 Cor. 2.10. The spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God.

3. The Works of God are attributed to the Holy Ghost; for Job saith, by his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; Job 26.13. and the Psalmist, that by him he hath made all the host of them. Ps. 33.6. And our Saviour intimates,Mat. 12.28. that he cast out devils by his power as well as his own. To which I might add (if it were ne­cessary) his inspiring the Prophets, appointing Bishops and other Ministers in the Church, enduing many of them with miraculous Gifts, sanctifying our Souls, adopting us to be the Children of God, &c.

4. The Worship of God is also given to him. St. Paul calling him to witness what he is about to say, Rom. 9.1. doth acknowledge his Omniscience, and perform an Act of Divine Worship to him. And he prays to Him, together with the Father, and the Son, in that Blessing which con­cludes his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and so makes the Three Persons of the Trinity equally Objects of Divine Worship, as every Christian doth also by receiving Baptism in their Names.

I have now shew'd you, that every One of these Three, mention'd in my Text, is the Great and Most High God; and the Proofs I have cited for that Purpose, are so plain and [Page 26]convincing, that many who were not willing to own the Doctrine of the Trinity, and yet could not resist the Evi­dence of these and other Scriptures to the same Purpose, have thought that these Terms, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, were but so many several Names to signifie the same Person. Therefore, to remove this Mistake, and to give a farther Confirmation to the Truth I have been asserting,

2. I am come to shew, that these are not different Names of the same Person, but Three Subsistences or Persons really distinct from one another. And the very Design of the A­postle in this Place is enough to prove it; for he brings them in as Three Witnesses of the Messias, which Three Names cannot be, in the Sense which is here intended. So our Saviour speaking of the Father's Testimony concerning him,Joh. 5.32. faith, There is another that beareth witness of me; and he afterwards tells his Hearers who he is, in these Words, The father himself which hath sent me, Ver. 37. hath born witness of me. And again,Chap. 8.16, &c. If I judge, my judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I and the father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of my self, and the father that sent me beareth wit­ness of me. Chap. 16.32. And he further tells his Disciples, Behold the hour cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scatter'd every one to his own, and shall leave me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the father is with me.

We see therefore that the Father and the Son are Two di­stinct Persons; and that the Holy Ghost is a Person distinct from both of them, is evident from those Words of our Saviour,John 14.16, 17. I will pray the father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the spirit of truth, &c. where Three Persons are distinctly express'd, with different Actions belonging to each of them; the Son prays, the Father answers his Prayer, and gives his Disciples [Page 27]another Comforter who shall always abide with them. So these Three are express'd in the Form of Baptism, the Apo­stolical Benediction, and in several other Places of Scrip­ture. And it is absurd to think our Saviour requires us to be baptiz'd into Three Names, and that the Apostle in bles­sing the Church, would use Three Names, with particular Distinctions to each of them, if he intended but One Per­son.

3. I proceed therefore to shew what Relation these Three Persons have to each other. And as to the Father and the Son, their very Names suppose that the One hath his Being from the Other; not as if he were made by him, for then he could not be Eternal, and therefore not Truly God; but as proceeding from him by Eternal Generation: And hence he is called the Brightness of his Father's Glory, the Word of God, &c. The Holy Ghost hath his Being both from the Fa­ther and the Son, as eternally proceeding from them: For our Saviour tells his Disciples,Joh. 14.26. That he proceeds from the Father, that he himself will send him, and that the Father will send him in his Name.Chap. 15.26. And St. Paul calls him the Spirit of Christ, and of the Son. Rom. 8.9. Therefore we have the same Rea­son to believe the Spirit proceeds from the Son, Gal. 4.6. as from the Father. As the Relation therefore between the Father and the Son is founded upon that Eternal Generation by which the Son hath his Being from the Father; so the Relation of the Holy Ghost to them both, is founded upon that Eternal Spiration whereby he hath his Being from them. But what this Generation and this Spiration is, as also the manner of each Person's subsisting distinctly in the same Divine Nature, I may say with the Prophet Isaiah, who shall declare it? Isa. 53.8.

4. I am to prove, That these Three are One God. And this is evident from all those Places of Scripture where God [Page 28]is said to be but One:Deut. 6.4. Chap. 4.35. Isa. 45.5. As, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Ʋnto thee it was shew'd, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else besides him. I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me. There is one God and Father of all, Eph. 4.6. who is above all, and through all, and in you all, &c. To which we may add, that our Saviour several times affirms, that He and the Father are One; and that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. And as this Unity of the Godhead is so plainly asserted in Holy Scriptures, so it is also taught by the Law of Nature; for what is Infinite and Omnipotent can be but One, for it is against the Nature of Infinity to be in more; and if One can do all things, there is no need of any other. There­fore it was the Opinion of the wisest Heathens, that there is but One God, tho' they suffer'd the People, who were fond of Superstitions, to worship many.

Thus we see the Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the Divine Nature is plainly asserted in many Scriptures; so that it these Words of my Text had been quite lost, through the Malice of Hereticks, the Mistake of Transcribers, or any other Accident, the Doctrine contain'd in them would fully appear in the Places before-mention'd, and many others: For as often as the Scripture attributes to each of these Three the Names, Properties, Works, or Worship of God, it asserts them to be so many Divine Persons; and where ever it affirms there is but One God, it teaches us that these Three are One: And therefore we may justly wonder so much Offence hath been taken by some Men at several Expres­sions in the Athanasian Creed; as, The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God; and yet they are not Three Gods, but One God, &c. These Expressions they are bold to charge with Contradiction, and yet they cannot deny that the Scripture plainly asserts the same many times over; and therefore they would do well to consider upon whom this Charge of Contradictions must light.

And their Boldness is the greater, not only for the Plain­ness of Revelation in this Case, and the Greatness and Ex­cellency of the Subject so treated by them; but because it is far above the Judgment of their Reason: For a Man must understand the Nature of an Infinite Mind, or Spirit, and what is the true Notion of different Hypostases or Persons in that Nature, before he can say it is a Contradiction to as­sert them. Therefore they would better employ their Rea­son in finding out such Contradictions they are sit to judge of, and I will put them in mind what looks very like one, and that is, to acknowledge the Divine Authority of the Scriptures, and yet deny some Doctrines plainly deliver'd in them, because they cannot understand the manner of those things that are asserted by them; and tho' they say they do understand it, yet this shews their Boldness and Ignorance the more, when we know the wisest of them will be easily puzzl'd about the meanest Production in Nature, and may find a thousand things in themselves to baffle their Reason; and therefore it must be very unfit to judge of the Divine Nature and Sibsseveral timesstence. And if we observe what ways they take to evade those plain Scriptures before-mention'd, we shall quickly see their Reason is not very formidable in Mat­ters of Faith, whatsoever it may be in other things: For some of them they deny to be Scripture (as they do these Words of my Text,) others they put such strain'd and fo­reign Interpretations upon, and use such miserable Shifts to escape the Force of them, that one would think they are passionately in love with Heresie that defend it at this rate. But these Things have been answer'd, to their Shame, by several worthy Authors, and I hope also to the Conviction of some of them.

Their Exception against the Word Person, as applied to these Three in my Text, is also impertinent: For he to whom those Names, Actions, and Prerogatives, before-mention'd, [Page 30]do belong, must be a Person, tho' he were not call'd so in Holy Scripture.Heb. 1.3 But the Father is there term'd a Person, when the Son is call'd the express Image ( [...]) of his Person; and it's hard if a Son, who hath all the Perfections of his Father, may not be call'd a Person too. But whether these captious Men will, or no, the Scripture hath given him that Denomination, with respect to his Divinity, 2 Cor. 2.10. If I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it ( [...]) in the Person of Christ: Where the Apostle affirms, that when he forgave or absolv'd a Penitent, he did it in the Person of Christ, that is, in his Name, as his Deputy and Represen­tative, who, as God, hath Power to forgive Sins. From these Places there is Warrant for those Terms, [...] and [...], which the Greek Fathers commonly us'd to signifie a Person in the Trinity. And when we find them thus applied to the Father and the Son, who can deny them to the Holy Ghost, since the Glorious Properties and Works of the Deity are also ascrib'd to him?

Thus have I given you some Account of the Doctrine of the Trinity, as it is discover'd to us in Holy Scriptures, which hath been constantly believ'd and defended by the Churches of Christ in all Ages. And seeing we have such Evidence from Scripture, and so General a Consent for the Truth of this Doctrine, we may with great Satisfaction believe and confess it. And because our Faith in the Trinity is of the greatest moment to us (as we are assur'd also from the Scrip­ture) and very much for the Honour of our Religion, and the Author of it, we ought zealously to defend it against those Antichrists in our Days (as St. John calls them) who deny the Father and the Son. 1 John 2.22.

2. I should now say something of the Record that these Three bear, that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God. But this will not require much Proof after that which hath been gi­ven o [...]ly concerning his Divine Nature, and doth consist [Page 31]of Testimonies from the Three several Persons of the Trinity. Therefore to these I shall only add, That this is witnessed by them to the Saints and Angels in Heaven, who have the Bea­tisick Vision of the Glorious Trinity, and particularly of the Divinity of Christ united with his Human Nature. It hath been attested from Heaven, by the Voice of God the Fa­ther, at our Saviour's Baptism and Transfiguration; asserted by Christ himself several times, who said also, that he came from God, and was one with him; and manifested by the Ho­ly Ghost, when he descended upon Christ in a visible Shape at his Baptism, and upon the Disciples in a miraculous man­ner, according to our Saviour's Promise. From whence it appears, that as these Three are One in their Essence or Na­ture, so also in their Testimony concerning the Messias, which some think is only meant by those Words, These Three are One. But because they are true in an higher Sense (as I have prov'd to you) and the Words are in a General Form, they ought chiefly to be understood of that, and from hence an Unity in their Record or Testimony will necessarily follow.

The Holy Ghost doth also constantly give this Testimony in the Holy Scriptures, and in his Effects upon the Hearts of his People: Which may probably be meant of that Witness which he is said to bear in Earth at the 8th. Verse of this Chapter; and one of these Effects is afterwards mention'd, Ver. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself. Let us therefore daily pray to God for this excel­lent Grace, which will assure us of the Truth of such Do­ctrines as we cannot comprehend. And that we may receive it, together with an Improvement in all Divine Knowledge, let us sincerely do all those Duties God requires of us, and then he will certainly discover himself, and the Mysteries of Salvation more to us.

Now to the Ever-blessed and Glorious Trinity, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, Three Persons, and One Eternal and Only Wise God, be all Honour, Praise, and Dominion, both now and for ever. Amen.