66 ly signify, "Thy Makers are thy Husbands." Again, "Let Israel rejoice in him that made him;" literally, “in his Makers." i Man is enjoined to attend to this, and even in early years, to engrave it on his mind; Remember, now, thy Creator, Creators, in the days " of thy youth." It is represented as criminal in man to neglect this, and not to say, "Where is God my “Maker, Makers, who giveth songs in the night ?"k Unless these expressions be referred to the Trinity, they might seem dangerous. It is absurd, too, to think that Adam was ignorant of a truth respecting his Creator, (I say Creator, because this is the character now pressed on our attention,) about which his posterity are not permitted to be ignorant. The absurdity is the more apparent, when it is considered that God created man to be a herald to proclaim himself and his attributes in the new-formed world; for unquestionably it tends to the glory of God, that man should particularly celebrate not only the Divine perfections, but also the manner in which these perfections are displayed in the distinct Persons of the Godhead, and in the mode and order of their operation. XVIII. Hence it appears that the economy of the Trinity ought not to be so restricted to the plan of the redemption of mankind, as not to be observed in the first creation of the world and of man. The Gospel itself, while it unfolds this admirable economy as it respects the method of our salvation, leads back our thoughts at the same time to that economy, as it was discovered in the first formation of the world. It shows us, that in the old creation there was a certain type and figure of the new; and that the Son of God our Saviour is "the Beginning" (viz. in the active sense of the term)" of the creation of God;"m by whom were made thrones, and dominions, things visible and invisible, "that in all things he might have the pre-emi"nence;" that is, that he might hold the pre-eminence as well in the works of nature, as in those of grace. It is, therefore, wrong to conclude that Adam had no knowledge of the Trinity, from the supposition that the economy of the Trinity is principally concerned in the work of redeeming sinners; since this work of redemption, which is a new creation, was shadowed forth by the first creation, in which the economy of the Three persons no less manifested itself.34 66 XIX. It is rashly asserted, too," that in the state of "innocence there was no room for salvation* or redemption." This, indeed, is true with regard to redemption, but with respect to salvation, it is false. The same salvation, the same eternal life, which we obtain through Christ, (as we have shown at large elsewhere,) was promised to Adam upon condition of his persisting in holiness.35 We have an evidence of this in the tree of life, which was, then, a symbol, though not of the Mediator as such, yet of the Son of God; for " In him was "life." This symbol would have been nugatory, if its meaning had been unknown to Adam. * The Latin word salus cannot, perhaps, be well rendered here by any other English term than salvation. Let it be observed, however, that though salvation is commonly understood as necessarily including deliverance from evil, salus signifies, in general, health, life, safety. T. 1 2 Cor. iv. 6. n Col. i. 16, 18. m Αρχη της κτίσεως 9ε8. Rev. iii. 14. • John i. 4. 34 See NOTE XXXIV. 35 See NOTE XXXV. xx. Thus far respecting the KNOWLEDGE of this mystery. An ASSENT to the doctrine, and an ACKNOWLEDGMENT of it, after it has been explained to one from the word of God, are no less necessary. The condition of one who denies and impugns a fundamental truth which he knows, is evidently far worse than that of one who is simply ignorant of it. They who oppose the doctrine of the Trinity, I do not hesitate to declare with confidence, have no part in eternal salvation. The Apostle John expressly warns us, that "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the "Father." Now, that man denies the Son, who denies his Divinity, and who denies the Spirit of the Son, -who is of the same substance with the Son, and, without whom, no man can say that Jesus is Lord. any XXI. When, therefore, men deny, oppose, and blaspheme the doctrine of the Trinity, as the modern Socinians do, we cannot acknowledge them as Christians and Brethren; we cannot offer them Church communion, nor accept of it, if offered by them. How much soever they may attempt to recommend themselves by a specious appearance of piety, we boldly pronounce them perverters of Christianity, fighters against God, and gross idolaters; with whom we wish to have no fellowship in our Churches, and to whom, according to the injunction of an Apostle, we will not say, "God speed." We applaud the zeal of Christopher Krainscius, who, when Smalcius, a Socinian leader, with his followers, troubled the Orthodox with an unreasonable demand of union, first in the Synod of Lublin, in the year 1612, and afterwards in the Synod P 1 John ii. 23. Θεομαχείν 11 Cor. xii. 3. 66 of Belzo, honestly replied, Sirs, begone, give us "no trouble; for sooner may heaven enter into an 66 66 agreement with hell, than we, the Evangelical, with you. Let the man who fears God, go out from this "Church ;" and instantly he himself went out. When the adversaries complained of Krainscius, as having by this conduct and language pronounced them unworthy of his company, Count Leszczinius rejoined, "I also fear God, and therefore, I will remove;" and no sooner did he utter the word than he went out, mounted his carriage, and departed. Thus the union demanded was refused.* Whoever wishes to see more on this topic, may consult the learned Theses of the venerable Voet, on the necessity and utility of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity."+ XXII. But what would a naked and merely speculative knowledge and acknowledgment of this mystery avail, unless to these were added the pious DEPENDANCE OF THE SOUL UPON A THREE-ONE GOD? No sooner is the believer divinely instructed in this truth than he delights in it; rejoicing that now he knows and believes those mysteries relating to his God, which transcend all sense, all language, all understanding;— which are worthy of his incomprehensible infinitude;and by which, in fine, he is distinguished from all the idols of the nations, and from those false Gods which every one, by his own perverse conceptions, has formed for himself. "I have found thee," says Faith, "I have "found, and I recognise thee, O my God, the Rock of 66 my salvation, of whom the rest of the world are ignorant; and whom the Athenians, the wisest of mortals, 66 * Lætus in Compendio Hist. Univers. cap. xxxv. p. mihi 508. + De necessitate et utilitate Dogmatis de SS. Trinitatc. "confessed to be to them UNKNOWN. Thou art He;* "in the most absolute unity Three; in a distinct Tri 66 nity, One; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Thou "alone art the true God and eternal life.' 66 66 XXIII. Nor does faith stop here. But, acknowledging the Father as God, she confidently commits herself to his omnipotent power, his unsearchable wisdom, his unbounded goodness, and the inexhaustible riches of his all-sufficiency. Acknowledging the Son as God, she rests securely on his satisfaction as most ample, and as deriving infinite value from the dignity of his godhead. Surely shall one say, In JEHOVAH "have I righteousness and strength; even to him shall men come. - - - In JEHOVAH shall all the seed of "Israel be justified, and shall glory."s Acknowledging the Holy Ghost as God, she firmly relies on his wise and holy guidance, and reposes an unsuspecting confidence in his testimony as infallible, and infinitely worthy of credit. Knowing, too, that these three are One, faith is not distracted in her operations, but devolves her whole weight on this Tri-une God ;-assured from their unity of will, as well as of essence, that all the three persons harmoniously concur in promoting her salvation. XXIV. Nothing is more false than that calumny of the Remonstrants, by which they deny that the article of the Holy Trinity has any practical use. Every doctrine of "the truth, is according to godliness:" and shall this character not apply to a doctrine so conspicuous, so fundamental? This article is even the source of all nuine faith, of all true religion. He cannot have Christian faith, who doth not believe that a person in ge |