The Retired Mans Meditations, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Wherein is ſhewed, that the foundation and firſt Rule of all true and right knowledge of God is ſeated in Chriſt, the living WORD, as the bleſſed Trinity by their own immediate operations do make themſelves perſonally viſible therein.
THe full knowledge of this WORD is indeed too wonderful and high to attain unto, and is therefore with much difficulty, if not impoſſibility, to be expreſſed by a ſound of words, and the weakneſs of language, incident to the beſt of our Pens.
But although we cannot reach this WORD, nor have wherewith to deſcribe his glory, he is pleaſed in great mercy to reach us, and become neer unto us, even in our hearts and in our mouthes, declaring his uſefulneſs to deſcribe and make known unto us Gods name, and his Sons name. For this living WORD of God is that whereby God ſpeaks forth himſelf perfectly and diſtinctly, to the underſtanding both of himſelf and of the creature. By it he ſpeaks and deſcribes the riches and fulneſs of his own glory, giving the perfect repreſentation thereof to his own liking and delight. In it he brings to light the inviſible things of his eternal power and Godhead; ſhewing as in a three-fold face, the incomprehenſible properties and vertues of the bleſſed Trinity, who are herein the three that bear witneſs, 1 John 5. 7. ſeverally as well as joyntly; through whoſe firſt operation God is from all eternity the object of his own fruition and converſe; and through the other two is given forth a two-fold diſtinct appearance of God, wherein he becomes the proper and adaequate object of converſe and fruition to the creature, upon the terms of the firſt and ſecond Covenant. The WORD in the firſt ſenſe is the ſimilitude of God that is immanent and eternally abiding in him, and as ſo, is unexpoſed to any creature-diſcerning: The WORD in the ſecond ſenſe, is the ſimilitude of God that proceeds and goes out of his mouth, to tabernacle in the creature, in a temporary miniſtration. And in the third ſenſe, the WORD is that ſimilitude of God which is the creatures Reſt and final ſtate of abode for ever.
The WORD as thus conſidered, is not then to be taken for the ſecond perſon (as it is 1 Joh. 5. 7. where the three that are ſaid to bear witneſs, are the Father, the WORD, and the Holy Ghoſt) but for the witneſs it ſelf, which is born by all the three, in the manner before expreſſed.
The Word in this latter ſenſe, is the brightneſs and expreſs character of the Godhead, wherein all three are comprehended, and do ſeat themſelves, to be ſeen and known, as in their own temple and viſibility, appointed and prepared by them for that purpoſe. In which ſtate of preparation, in order to creature-converſe, the Trinity (as having brought forth themſelves in Chriſt) are the ſubject principally treated of in this Chapter: And in this conſideration Chriſt hath been a myſterie lying hid in God before the foundation of the world, and hath had the place and office of a Mediator, in reference as well to the works of Creation as of Redemption, Epheſ. 3. 9, 10.
When therefore the WORD, in this common relation, which it hath to all the three, as their Temple and Sanctuary, is called Col. 1. 15. The image of the inviſible God, we find ſubjoyned thereunto (as a further explication of the nature and kinds of perfection ſeated in it) theſe names, firſt-born of every creature, and firſt begotten from the dead, having in all things the preheminence, ver. 18. and prae-exiſtence, being he that was before all things, ver. 17. and without whom was not any thing made that was made, Joh. 1. 3. containing in him the principles and life of a three-fold communion, which the bleſſed Trinity by their own immediate operations, are the authors and eſtabliſhers of in Chriſt, as he is the WORD.
The firſt is that which is eternally wrought and begotten by the Father, between all the three perſons and their own image or witneſs, ſet up within the Divine nature, ſingly and ſimply conſidered (before the actual being of any creature, though in order to creature-converſe by him eternally purpoſed and decreed) in which they do ſee and are ſeen with common delight and ſatisfaction to one another: having Chriſt, this image of the inviſible God, as one by them, that is brought up with them, and is no other then themſelves in image and name, being daily their delight, Prov. 8. 30. In the exerciſe of this communion between the Trinity and their own image, the WORD, they are pleaſed with all their own excellencies and perfections, as they are brought forth therein, putting honour and glory upon them there.
Again, Chriſt (who in this communion is one with God, and is God) being the brightneſs of Gods glory, and expreſs character of his ſubſtance, values and delights in the ſame divine excellencies and perfections, as they are in his head, or in the inviſible God, of whom Chriſt is the image; for God is in this ſenſe the head of Chriſt, or of his own eſſential image, 1 Cor. 11. 3. (otherwiſe Chriſt were not God of God, very God of very God) and his deſire is, to unveil his head. This Communion, as it is the higheſt, ſo is it the fountain of all other communions, and the original pattern and rule to them.
In this communion, Chriſt, or the WORD was with God, before all beginning, (when the Godhead was only and alone, without and before the being of any creature) dwelling together in the unity and ſimplicity of the divine nature, mutually enjoying and delighting in each other, both being but one and the ſame incomprehenſible God, in the brightneſs of which glory they are not to be beheld immediatly by any creature: as it is written, Ye have not ſeen his ſhape at any time, nor heard his voice. In this communion is the love of God the Father.
The ſecond ſort of communion is wrought by the ſecond in the Trinity, as he bears his witneſs; wherein he exhibits alſo the image of the Godhead, but in a viſibility to the creatures natural diſcerning. And by the means of Gods image thus exhibited, there is the beginning of the creatures natural life, motion and being ſet up, called Col. 1. The firſt-born of every creature, which is that beginning wherein the WORD was, Joh. 1. 1. For no ſooner did this WORD of Gods power enter upon the exerciſe of this his miniſtry, but he did produce this ſutable creature-reception unto the witneſs which he bears of God.
And though this witneſs, which is proper to the ſecond perſon in the Trinity to give forth, were in its vertue and power from all eternity: yet it comes not into execution as to Creature-converſe, but in purſuance of Gods decree for the producing of that ſort of communion, fore-purpoſed of God, according to the tenor of the firſt covenant: And ſo doth lay the foundation, and is the author and rule of the Communion which is required between God and the creature, by that Covenant, which Chriſt is the head and miniſter of from the foundation of the world. In which ſtate he alſo is the compleat meaſure of all time, called therefore, Rev. 1. 8. he that is, by way of diſtinction from himſelf, conſidered as he that was, in the witneſs of the Father, and he that is to come, in the witneſs of the holy Ghoſt, being the ſame WORD or image of the inviſible God, in all the three.
This ſecond image of God, which is miniſtred by the Operation of the ſecond in the Trinity, is that wherein God accommodates himſelf, and condeſcends to creature-capacity, abaſing and humbling himſelf to be beheld, and as tis ſaid, Pſal. 113. to behold all things that are in heaven and in the earth. In which ſenſe, Exod. 23. 20, 21. Chriſt is called the Angel in whom God had put his name, whom he ſends before as the Meſſenger of his Covenant, Mal. 3. 1. to prepare the way unto the true Reſt; whoſe voice, being the voice of God, is accordingly to be obeyed; he is not to be Provoked, for he will not pardon trangreſsions, if he be. This is the Angel that ſpake to Moſes on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers in the Church in the Wilderneſs, Acts 7. 38. and who, Iſay 63. was afflicted, in all the afflictions of Gods people, and is the Angel of Gods preſence, that ſaved and redeemed them: he is the Lord that was among them in Sinai: in the giving of the firſt Covenant, in the holy place, having the chariots of God about him, twenty thouſand, even thouſands of Angels, Pſal. 68. 17.
By this meſſenger of God, that name or ſimilitude of God that is ſuited to creature-underſtanding, is Miniſtred and conveyed, and the foundation and means is laid therein, of all communion between God and the Creatures natural being: by which the ſecond perſon in his witneſs goes forth (as it were) from God, and comes into the firſt creation, or into the head and root of it, the firſt-born of every creature, and there pitches his tent and dwelling place, ſetting up the firſt worldly ſanctuary, wherein divine ſervice and worſhip is performed by the creature unto God, according to Gods will, declared in the firſt covenant.
This firſt Miniſtry of God, executed by the ſecond in the Trinity, is the beginning of that Myſterie, which Rev. 10. 6, 7. is ſaid to be finiſhed, when time ſhall be no more, being the Myſtical and veyl'd appearance of God, the firſt view he gives of himſelf to the creatures natural diſcerning: whereby the knowledge of God is had as by report, & by the hearing of the ear, as deſcribed by ſomething that is not the very image and firſt ſimilitude of him: but ſecondary figures and ſhadows, types and veils, aptly repreſenting him to the creatures natural capacity; by which, the full, compleat and immediate ſight of him, as he is, is not to be attained; but is reſerved to be enjoyed in the end, upon the finiſhing of the myſterie, by the operation of the holy-Ghoſt.
Of this myſtical diſpenſation, the ſecond Perſon in the Trinity is the author and Miniſter, from beginning to ending, forming and bringing forth the firſt Rule of it in Chriſt, as he makes him the firſt-born of every creature, the Mother of all living, and womb unto the whole firſt creation.
This living creature in the perſon of Chriſt the Mediator, Ezekiel ſaw, Chap. 10. 20. under the God of Iſrael: in which chapter the ſame living creature, ver. 11. is deſcribed, as head to the Angels that are his chariots, and ſo ſignified (as before) Pſal 68. 17. and here, by the wheels, ver. 9, 10, 12. unto which Chriſt in this his firſt creature-being, is the ſpirit of life, Chap. 1. 21. the life that was in the WORD from the beginning, in which was the light of men, and without which was not any thing made that was made: who in this capacity, was as a Lamb, prepared to be ſlain and offered up, upon the finiſhing of the works from the foundation of the world.
The third ſort of communion is that which is the ending and finiſhing of the ſecond, (according to the holy and righteous counſels of God, for the offering up of the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world:) and is the beginner and bringer forth (upon the diſanulling of the former) of a more excellent way of converſe between God and the creature, then ever it was capable to have had, or attained, in the firſt building, and whilſt the firſt Tabernacle was yet ſtanding.
In the exerciſe of this third ſort of communion, God is ſaid to reſt from his works, and doth put that end and finiſhing hand unto them, which by him was fore-purpoſed and deſigned, upon the diſanulling of the firſt Covenant, with which he found fault, holding it needful to introduce in the place thereof, his new and everlaſting Covenant, conſiſting in the Communion of the holy Ghoſt. In which diſpenſation, the Sons witneſs is not to be conſidered ſingle as before, when he ſhined forth as the Bridegroom and comforter under the firſt covenant: but becomes the engraffed WORD, wherein both the names and miniſtries of the ſecond and third perſons, are joyned and knit together in everlaſting agreement, love and peace, through the blood of the Lamb ſlain; ſo as the Sons miniſtry by the ceſſation thereof, as ſingly conſidered, leaves not the Creature for ever orphan or fatherleſs, but in this return of glory, viſits it again with more abundant joy and conſolation, never to be taken away more.
This end Paul makes mention of, 1 Cor. 15. 24. whereby the Son delivers up all his kingdom and rule unto the Father, as willingly ſubjecting the exerciſe of his Miniſtry, in a ſubſerviency and uſefulneſs to the very Image it ſelf, that God may be all in all, in the communion which is maintained between him and the creature, through the operation of the holy Ghoſt.
This kind of communion between God and the creature, is the laſt, and that which is to continue without change: unto which all things under the Miniſtry of the firſt covenant muſt work, as to their end, and will haſten faſt, the neerer this end approaches, which hath been witneſſed unto from the beginning, and in its firſt fruits and dawnings partaken of.
This is the communion of the holy Ghoſt, 2 Cor. 13. 14. (which Paul wiſhes unto them, after the grace they had ſhared in from Jeſus Chriſt our Lord, as the common ſalvation, Jude. v. 3. and as the fruit of the love of God the Father) which in the new creatures being, begins with that of the Sons work: and like Jacob, treads upon the heels of it and ſupplants it, ſerving it ſelf of it throughout, to bring all things to this end; and to that purpoſe, makes the elder brother, or the miniſtry of Gods firſt appearance, ſerve to the bringing forth of this younger, or Miniſtry of Gods ſecond appearance, in the hand of the holy Ghoſt, as the glory which is to follow, and be abideding; whilſt the firſt, as ſingle, is to be done away, that it may receive its finiſhing, as it ſtands in agreement and conſiſtency with this latter. Which work of the holy Ghoſt, in the perſon of Chriſt, from the foundation of the world, was that which finiſhed all Gods works in the Mediator, Heb. 4. 3. or in the Lamb ſlain, who offered up himſelf, as the firſt-born of every creature, and Davids root, Rev. 5. becoming thereby, Col. 1. the beginning and firſt-born from the dead: (head unto the general aſſembly and Church of the firſt born, whoſe names are written in heaven) and is the ſame living creature, as before, which was ſeen under the God of Iſrael, changed and tranſlated out of the firſt ſort of communion with God, upon the terms of the firſt covenant, into this of the holy Ghoſt: loſing thereby nothing of the good of that communion he had before, but having it fulfilled, and far more abundance and exellency added unto it, being made to ſit down now, on the throne with God, at his right hand, and to poſſeſs all power in heaven and earth, as brought forth in a glory that is above the firmament, over the head of the Sons diſpenſation, Ezek. 1. 25, 26.
Through this witneſs of the holy Ghoſt is given the viſion of God in both the former Images and ſimilitudes, embracing and reteining each other, in mutual harmony and agreement, and ſo, enfolding themſelves as in one intelligible form and ſuitable appearance to the new creatures underſtanding, raiſed up and begotten from the moment of time wherein the holy Ghoſt in this his Miniſtry began to work and offer up the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world, becoming thereby the author and Rule of this third ſort of communion and converſe between God and the creature, under the new and everlaſting Covenant.
In theſe openings of light and glory, and iſſuings forth thereof upon the mind and underſtanding of Chriſt, (the Mediator and living WORD, or Sanctuary of the living God) by the operation of the Trinity, is he anointed with the name of God: and prepared (though a myſterie lying hid in God) to perform the office of a Mediator between him and his creatures in both worlds.
For by the firſt, he is one with God (the Mediator and God are one) the brightneſs of Gods glory and power: unto which no creature can have the firſt and immediate acceſs: where God ſeats himſelf too high, in name and ſimilitude, to be converſed with by any creature: being the glory ſhadowed out under the law, as ſpeaking from above the mercy ſeat, incommunicable to any but the Mediator himſelf, and that, as he is God.
By the ſecond, Chriſt is one alſo with the natural being of the creature, in a changeable and diſſoluble band of union: the ſpring and root of all creation & time the Author of all natural life, being, motion, and perfection: in whoſe face God beholds all the works of the firſt world, before he proceeds to the creation of them: and, as they anſwer the end and finiſhing by him appointed to them, liking and approving of them, notwithſtanding all the changes from beginning to ending they are ſubjected unto, in that diſpenſation. This is that we mean by Chriſts being the firſt-born of every creature, in whom the nature of the creature (as in its root and head) is united unto the Son of God and ſecond perſon in the Trinity: in order to the finiſhing of that which is to be accompliſhed upon it by the Holy Ghoſt.
Thirdly and laſtly, Chriſt is one with God, and one with the creature, in an indiſſoluble and unchangeable Band of union, mediating ſuch a unity and reconciliation between the two natures of God and the creature, as that the height of glory in the name of the Father, and the deſcent of glory in the name of the Son, may ſo peece up (as we may ſay) together, and become one, as to be one new name, wherein both meet as in a third, and ſo ſeat themſelves, as to be mutually ſerviceable to the deſign of this third ſort of communion, even the communion of the Holy Ghoſt, which ſome are everlaſtingly taken into, and others everlaſtingly excluded from: in which, God is at reſt with all the works of his hands, having brought upon them that finiſhing work (he before purpoſed and ordained in righteouſneſs and judgement) wherein he dwels & converſes with the creature, after a far better and more excellent manner then in the firſt building: even to his own hearts deſire and content, as well as to the content and deſire of all hearts, whether of men or angels, that love him & find favour in his eyes.
In this riches and fulneſs of perfection, the WORD is both Lord and Chriſt, from the beginning, ſet down at the right hand of God, expecting till his foes be made his foot-ſtool, Pſal. 110. 1. And hath a government that ſhall never end, being King of righteouſneſs and King of peace.
Thus, in the face of the Mediator, doth God behold his works, as they are finiſhed, to his full liking and approbation looking upon all things in Chriſt, as through a propitiatory head, covering, and true mercy-ſeat, wherein he is ever rejoyceing over them, and well-pleaſed with them.
Through this knowledge of Chriſt we are furniſhed with a true meaſure of knowing God, and no other way: for who hath been Gods counſellour? And when we ſee things in God, as Chriſt ſees them, & things in Chriſt as God beholds them, we then come to know him that is true by the rule of all true knowledge, and that we are in him that is true: this is the true God and eternal life, 1 Joh 5. 20. little children, keep your ſelves from Idols.
This order of things, thus ſhining forth in the face of Chriſt, (the very image it ſelf, who in theſe laſt daies hath ſpoken to us by himſelf) we may find witneſſed by Moſes, and typed out under the Law, Exod. 25. 19. 21, 22. Compared with Numb. 7. 89. Where we find that God had his Oracle or ſpeaking place provided for him above the Mercy-ſeat, and at the two ends thereof were appointed the two Cherubims to be made, between whom God told Moſes, there wil I meet with thee & commune with thee, from above the mercy-ſeat, from between the two Cherubims, which are upon the Ark of the Teſtimony, of all things which I will give thee in command, unto the children of Iſrael; and Numb. 7. 89. when Moſes was gone into the Tabernacle of the congregation to ſpeak with the Lord, then he heard the voice of one ſpeaking to him from off the mercy ſeat, that was upon the Ark of the Teſtimony, from between the two Cherubims. Where firſt, we may take notice of the Lord, as God and the Mediator are one, ſpeaking from above the mercy-ſeat; then by the mercy ſeat, we may diſcern Chriſt, conſidered in his creature-nature, as the beginning and ending of the creation of God, the head and root to both creations, through whom (as a propitiatory-covering, which he is to all thoſe that are admitted into communion and converſe with God, either by the firſt or ſecond covenant) God doth behold and look down upon all the works of his hands. Thirdly, at the two ends of the mercy ſeat, as between two Cherubims, the word of God comes forth in converſe with Moſes, or with men, by the means of Chriſts man-hood, conſidered in his natural, and ſpiritual perfection, in his firſt and ſecond appearance, as he is the ſon of man, figured out by the two Cherubims of glory, ſhadowing the Mercy-ſeat.
Thus we ſee, that to receive the full viſion and ſimilitude of God, in his own form, abſtractedly and ſimply conſidered, is only the priviledge and incommunicable property of Chriſt the Mediator, as he and God are one: and, that God can only be known in and by his WORD: the WORD, that firſt is the writing of the bleſſed Trinity in Gods own nature. The WORD, that ſecondly ſhines forth in Chriſts firſt and ſecond appearance, as he is the firſt-born of every creature, and firſt begotten from the dead. The WORD, that thirdly in the fulneſs of time was made fleſh.
Theſe things are teſtified by the holy Scriptures, which are ample in the witneſs they bear hereunto, as we ſhall ſhew in the following Chapter.
And if it would pleaſe God by affording ſtill fuller and clearer light in this great myſterie, to enable his witneſſes to be declaring and teſtifying the ſame, it would ſuddenly put an end to thoſe diſputes and miſtakes which the world is full of, between thoſe that call themſelves Orthodox, on the one hand, and the Socinian, Antitrinitarian, &c. on the other; neither of them giving a full witneſs herein, but maintaining one part with denial of the other; ſo that by joyning together what they unwarrantably put aſunder, taking all that is affirmed and owned on both ſides (the two-fold witneſs of the Son and Holy Ghoſt granted by the one, and their Godhead or the divinity of their perſons aſſerted by the other) we have a compleat teſtimony in the preſent truth. For the one acknowledges them in the ſupreme exerciſe of a two-fold miniſtry of Gods appearance, in an eminency exalted above all creaturely perfection, as to their perſons, aſſigning them the next place to the Father (their buſineſs being to communicate his name, and render it a ſutable, intelligible object to creature-underſtanding) but denies them to be God. The other aſſerts their Godhead, but in effect, denies thoſe their operations in which they come forth and miniſter the two-fold witneſs and appearance of God to the creature. The reconciling of this difference doth give occaſion of further enquiry into this great myſterie.
By the Trinity then we are to underſtand the eſſential properties whereby one and the ſame divine being eternally puts forth its operation, each carrying their own ſelf-evidence in the witneſs which they bear. And though all the three, as well in the evidence that they give, as in their manner of ſubſiſting, be eternal; yet, to ſpeak as men, they are in order of nature to be conſidered in a priority to the evidence and witneſs which they give of themſelves, though both are in one pure act, the ſame, ſimple, abſolute and incomprehenſible God; whence it appears, that the Trinity are their own ſelf-evidencers, and muſt needs be ſo, (for who hath been their counſellour, or hath firſt given to them?) and the witneſs and evidence which they give, the Scripture cals Col. 1. The image of the inviſible God, even his eſſential image, in which the Trinity come forth, as by name, declaring their hidden diſtinguiſhing vertues, in the peculiarity of each of their operations. This eſſential image ſingly conſidered, is not properly the Trinity, but rather the perſonal appearance which all the three make in the WORD, by the witneſs which they bear of themſelves. For the Trinity, conſidered abſtractedly from their image, are as truly and diſtinctly three, as when they perſonally appear in and by their own image and witneſs which they ſet up of themſelves; but their perſonality, ſtrictly taken, conſiſts in the exhibition which each make of themſelves, as by name, in and by the image of the inviſible God; where coming forth as with a voice, and in the ſimilitude of God, peculiar to each of them, they ſhew themſelves in the diſtinction of their perſons and names of Father, Son and Holy Ghoſt. Nor are they in this any more then one Trinity, who, as abſtract from their own image, are God, ſimply and abſolutely conſidered; and as ſhining forth by their own image, are God the Mediator, as the Mediator and God are one; ſo as in the face of the Mediator, as he is God, the Trinity in a proper ſenſe ſhew themſelves perſonally, in their proper ſimilitudes, which they do not in the firſt conſideration of the Godhead, where nevertheleſs they are as truly and diſtinctly three, but in an abſolute inviſibility, or (as we may ſay) imperſonality.
If this then be all that the Antitrinitarians intend or mean, that perſonality is not properly applyed to the Trinity in the firſt and abſtract conſideration of God, their opinion were in that not to be faulted by their opponents, any more then the applying of divine perſonality unto them, in the ſecond conſideration of God, as he is God the Mediator, is to be blamed in them that acknowledge three individual perſons in the ſame Godhead.
Having thus occaſionally opened in what ſenſe the Trinity are three perſons, coming forth in diſtinct ſimilitudes, in which they are to be known (as it were) by name; we alſo affirm, that thus for them perſonally to appear and miniſter a diſtinct three-fold ſimilitude of God, is abſolutely neceſſary in God the Mediator, in order to the ſitting him for that his Office, and to render him the ſutable object of converſe with the creature, either in the life that now is, or in that which is to come.
If therefore the intent of the Antitrinitarians be, to aſſert that God comes forth but in one manner of operation and perſonality, miniſtring but one ſingle image of himſelf; they do thereby either exclude the creature from any converſe with him at all, as leaving no other way of converſe, but ſuch as is improper and impoſſible for any in the capacity of a creature to obtain (and which to enjoy, is the only incommunicable priviledge of the Mediator, and that only as he is God;) or elſe they do ſo far debaſe the Majeſty of God, as to rank him in an equality with the creature, confining his ſimilitude to what bears proportion only to the creatures underſtanding and converſe (as upon its firſt natural root) thus changing the glory of the incorruptible God into the image of a corruptible man.
Hence then we conclude the neceſſity of three perſons in unity of eſſence; The firſt miniſtring that ſimilitude and operation which is commenſurate to Gods own infinite comprehenſion. The ſecond, that which is proportioned to the creatures finite, natural diſcerning, ſpringing up in the Mediator, as he is the firſt-born of every creature, the root and meaſure to all inferiour natural beings. The third, that which is adaequate to the new creatures capacity, formed alſo in the Mediator, through the offering up of the Lamb ſlain from the foundation of the world, in which he is the beginning and firſt-begotten from the dead, the root and meaſure unto the whole ſpiritual ſeed or general Aſſembly and Church of the firſt-born, whoſe names are written in heaven.
In all theſe three ſimilitudes of God, or perſonal appearances of the Trinity, conſidered in themſelves, the Mediator is truly and perfectly God, able to give them forth in himſelf, who therein is the image of the inviſible God, in which ſenſe he is frequently called in the Scriptures the WORD, the WORD of Life, the WORD of God.
Now ſince the effects of this three-fold operation, (at leaſt in what concerns the Mediators being made thereby a meet object of converſe unto the Creature, in its creature-capacity, in any ſort) muſt needs he owned by the Antitrinitarians themſelves; why ſhould they be unwilling to be led by theſe, to the acknowledgement of the ſprings whence they flow, which are the three eſſential properties in God, that in the ſenſe we have ſhewed, do very well agree and conſiſt with the unity and ſimplicity of his eſſence?
But as theſe are ſhort-ſighted in this great myſterie, ſo is it but too evident, that their oppoſers alſo are in other reſpects overſeen; who by confounding theſe two together, which ought to be kept diſtinct, do little leſs then deny Gods eſſential image, under pretence of aſſerting the three perſons or at leaſt, entertain very miſtaken notions thereof, wholly praetermitting the proper witneſs which the ſecond and third perſons bear in the eſſential image, in order to cauſe their own reception in Chriſt, as he is the firſt-born of every creature, and firſt begotten from the dead.
And having thus ſingled out the Fathers witneſs from the other two, they rank it under the notion of a perſon, between the firſt and the third, looking upon the ſecond perſon, only as Gods eſſential image, making it his proper diſtinguiſhing character from the Father and the Holy Ghoſt; excluding him thereby out of the number of the three that bear witneſs, and confining the eſſential image to the Fathers operation only, as that which is peculiar unto him.
They may be ſuppoſed to have been led into this miſtake by that common deſcription of the Trinity, in theſe expreſſions, the Father begets, the Son is begotten, the Holy Ghoſt proceeds, underſtood by them in an improper and differing ſenſe from what the Scrpiture holds forth, 1 Joh. 5. 7. where it is ſaid that there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, and theſe three are one. So that here we find the three that are their own ſelf-evidencers, or the head & cauſe of their own manifeſtation or witneſs, each of whom in this ſenſe do beget & are begotten (each hidden property producing its own image) & ſo come forth in their diſtinct perſonal appearances & peculiarity of witneſs wch all three bear in the face of the Mediator: which argues, that thoſe who deny the Trinity in theſe their diſtinct operations & ſimilitudes wherein only they are to be beheld as in a glaſs by the creature) and yet pretend to own their perſons, hidden vertues and properties, do ſeem rather to pleaſe themſelves in an implicit faith and formal confeſſion of this high myſterie, then to have a due regard to the teachings and witneſs which the Trinity themſelves give, as laying open the inward reaſon and nature of their three-fold operation.
The firſt of which bears the name of Father; becauſe the ſimilitude of God, as it is witneſſed by him, unto the increated and unbegotten underſtanding of God alone, is the firſt and the original glory.
The ſecond bears the name of Son; becauſe the ſimilitude of God, as it is witneſſed by him, is proportioned to the natutural mind of the creature, and as ſuch, is begotten, as a ſecondary and figurative repreſentation of the firſt.
The third bears the name of the Holy Ghoſt; becauſe the ſimilitude of God, as it is witneſſed by him, is the union and proceed of the other two, retaining themſelves in perfect harmony and love, as the ſutable object to the new creatures underſtanding. In this ſenſe, we ſay, the witneſs of the Father is unbegotten: The witneſs of the Son is begotten: The witneſs of the Holy Ghoſt is proceeding; as the record which the three in heaven are ſaid to bear, which three are one, and their witneſs one, as well as three.