TIs common when speaking of the Divine happiness to say that God is Infinitely Happy in the Enjoyment of himself, in Perfectly beholding & Infinitely loving, & Rejoicing in, his own Essence & Perfections, and accordingly it must be supposed that God Perpetually and Eternally has a most Perfect Idea of himself, as it were an exact Image and Representation of himself ever before him and in actual view, & from hence arises a most pure and Perfect act or energy in the God-head, which is the divine Love, Complacence and Joy.

Tho we cannot concieve of the manner of the divine understanding, yet if it be understanding or any thing that can be any way signified by that word of ours, it is by Idea. Tho the divine nature be vastly different from that of created sprits, yet our souls are made in the Image of God, we have understanding & will, Idea & Love as God hath, and the difference is only in the Perfection of degree and manner. The Perfection of the manner will Indeed Infer this that there is no distinction to be made in God between Power or habit and act, & with Respect to Gods understanding that there are no such distinctions to be admitted as in ours between Perception or Idea, and Reasoning & Judgment, (excepting what the will has to do in Judgment), but that the whole of the divine understanding or wisdom consists in the meer Perception or unvaried Presence of his Infinitely Perfect Idea., & with Respect to the other faculty as it is in God there are no distinctions to be admitted of faculty, habit, and act, between m=ill, Inclination, & love, But that it is all one simple act. But the divine Perfection will not Infer [i. e., imply] that his understanding is not by Idea and that there is not Indeed such a thing as Inclination & Love in God.

[That in John God is Love skews that there are more persons than one in the deity, for it shews Love to be essential & necessary to the deity so that his nature consists in it, & this supposes that there is an Eternal & necessary object, because all Love respects another that is the beloved. By Love here the Apostle certainly means something beside that which is commonly called self-love: that is very improperly called Love & is a thing of an exceeding diverse nature from the affection or virtue of Love the Apostle is speaking of.]

The sum of the divine understanding and wisdom consists in his having a Perfect Idea of himself, he being Indeed the all: the all-comprehending being—he that is, and there is none else. So the sum of his Inclination, Love, & Joy is his love to & delight in himself. Gods Love to himself, & complacency & delight in himself—they are not to be distinguished, they are the very same thing in God; which will easily be allowed, Love in man being scarcely distinguishable from the Complacence he has in any Idea: if there be any difference it is meerly modal, & circumstantial.

The knowledge or view which God has of himself must necessarily be concieved to be some thing distinct from his meer direct existence. There must be something that answers to our Reflection. The Reflection as we Reflect on our own minds carries some thing of Imperfection in it. However, if God beholds himself so as thence to have delight & Joy in himself he must become his own Object. There must be a duplicity. There is God and the Idea of God, if it be Proper to call a conception of that that is Purely spiritual an Idea.

And I do suppose the deity to be truly & Properly Repeated by Gods thus having an Idea, of himself & that this Idea of God is truly God, to all Intents and Purposes, & that by this means the Godhead is Really Generated and Repeated.

1. Gods Idea, of himself is absolutely Perfect and therefore is an express and perfect Image of him, exactly like him in every Respect; there is nothing in the Pattern but what is in the Representation—substance, life, power nor any thing else, & that in a most absolute Perfection of similitude, otherwise it is not a Perfect Idea. But that which is the express, Perfect Image of God & in every respect like him is G. to all Intents & Purposes, because there is nothing wanting: there is nothing in the deity that Renders it the Deity but what has some thing exactly answering it in this Image, which will therefore also Render that the Deity.

2. But this will more clearly appear if we consider the nature of spiritual Ideas or Ideas of things Purely spiritual, these that we call Ideas of Reflection, such as our Ideas of thought, Love, fear &c. If we diligently attend to them we shall find they are Repetitions of these very things either more fully or faintly, or else they are only Ideas of some external Circumstances that attend them, with a supposition of something like what we have in our own minds, that is, attended with like Circumstances. Thus tis easy to Percieve that if we have an Ilea of thought tis only a Repetition of the same thought with the attention of the mind to that Repetition. So if we think of Love either of our [illegible] Love or of the Love of others that we have not, we either so frame things in our Imagination that eve have for a moment a Love to that thin,, or to something we make to Represent it & stand fur it, or we excite for a moment the love that we have to something else & suppose something like it there, or we only have an Idea of the name with some of the concomitants & effects & suppose something unseen that [is] used to be signified by that name & such kind of Ideas very Commonly serve us, tho they are not Indeed Deal Ideas of the thing it self. But we have Learn'd by experience & it has become habitual to us to govern our thoughts, Judgment & actions about it as tho we concieved of the thing it self. But if a person has truly & properly an Idea of any act of Love, of fear or anger or any other act or motion of tire mind, things must be so ordered and framed in his mind that he must for that moment have something of a consciousness of the same motions either to the same thing, or to something else that is made to Represent it in the mind, or towards something else that is pro re nata thither Referd and as it were transposed, and this consciousness of the same motions, with a design to Represent the other by them, is the Idea it self we have of them, & if it be perfectly clear & full it will be in all Respects the very same act of mind of which it is the Idea, with this only difference that the being of the Latter is to Represent the former.

[If a man could have an absolutely Perfect Idea of all that Pass'd in his mind, all the series of Ideas and exercises in every Respect perfect as to order, degree, circumstance &c for any particular space of tune past, suppose the last hour, lie would Really to all Intents and purpose be over again what he was that last hour. And if it were possible for a man by Deflection perfectly to contemplate all that is in his own mind in an hour, as it is and at the same time that it is there in its first & direct existence; if a man, that is, had a perfect Reflex or Contemplative Idea of every thought at the same moment or moments that that thought was and of every Exercise at & during tire same time that that Exercise was, and so through a whole hour, a man would Really be two during that time, be world be indeed double, he world be twice at once. The Idea he has of himself would be himself again.

Note, by having a Reflex or Contemplative Ilea of what Passes in our own minds I dont mean Consciousness only. There is a Great difference between a mans having a view of himself, Reflex or Contemplative Idea of himself so as to delight in his own beauty or Excellency, and a meer direct Consciousness. Or if we mean by Consciousness of what is in our own minds any thin] besides the meer simple Existence in our minds of what is there, it is nothing but a Power by Reflection to view or contemplate what passes.

But the foregoing position, about a mans being twofold or twice at once, is most evident by what has been said of the nature of spiritual Ideas, for every thing that a man is in that hour he is twice fully & Perfectly. For all the Ideas or thoughts that he has are twice Perfectly & every Judgmt [Judgment] made and every exercise of Inclination or affection, every act of the mind.]

Therefore as G. with Perfect Clearness, fullness & strength, understands himself, views his own essence (in which there is no Distinction of substance & act but which is wholly substance & wholly act), that Idea which G. hath of himself is absolutely himself. This Representation of the divine nature & essence is the divine nature & essence again: so that by Gods thinking of the Deity must certainly be generated. Hereby there is another Person begotten, there is another Infinite Eternal Almighty & most holy & the same G., the very same divine nature.

And this Person is the second Person in the Trinity, the Only begotten & dearly beloved Son of G.; he is the Eternal, necessary, Perfect, substantial & Personal Idea which G. bath of him self ; & that it is so seems to me to be abundantly confirmed by the word of G.

1. Nothing can more agree with the account the Scripture hives us of the Son of G., his being in the form of G. and his express & Perfect Image & Representation: 2 Cor. 4, 4, Lest the Light of the glorious Gosp. of X who is the Image of G. should shine unto them. Philip. 2, 6, who being in the form of G. Colos. 1. 15, who is the Image of the Invisible G. Heb. 1. 3, who being the brightness of his Glory & the express Image of his Person. [In the original it is.  carakth.r th/j u,posta,sewj avutou/ which denotes one Person as like another as the Impression on the wax is to the engraving on the seal. (Hurrion, "of X Crucified," vol. 1, p. 189, 190.); & what can more agree with this that I suppose, that the Son of God is the divine Idea of Himself.] What [can] be more properly called the Image of a thing than the Idea. The end of other Images is to beget an Idea of the things they Represent in us, but the Idea is the most Immediate Representation, & seems therefore to be a more primary sort of Image, & we know of no other spiritual Images nor Images of spiritual things but Ideas. An Idea of a thing seems more properly to be called an Image or Representation of that thing than any distinct being can be. However exactly one being—suppose one human body—be like another, yet I think one is not in the most Proper sense the Image of the other, but more properly in the Image of the other. Adam did not beget a son that was his Image Properly, but in his Image; but the Son of G—he is not only in the Image of the F., but be is the Image itself in the most Proper sense. The design of an Idea is to Represent, & the very being of an Idea consists in similitude & Representation: if it dont actually Represent to the beholder, it ceases to be. And the being of it is Immediately dependent on its Pattern: its Reference to that ceasing, it ceases to be its Idea.

That X is this most Immediate Representation of the Godhead, viz. the idea of G., is in my apprehension confirmed by Joh. 12, 45, he that seeth me seeth him that sent me, and Joh. 14, 7, 8, 9,), if ye had known me ye should have known my F. also and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, L. shew us the F. and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not seen me Philip. he that hath seen me hath seen the F. and how saist [sayest] thou shew us the F. See also John 15, 22, 23, 24. Seeing the Perfect Idea of a thing is to all Intents and purposes the same as seeing the thing: it is not only equivalent to the seeing of it but it is the seeing it: for there is no other seeing but having the Idea. Now by seeing a Perfect Idea, so far as we see it, we have it. But it cant be said of any thing else that in the seeing of it we see another, strictly speaking, except it be the very Idea of the other.

2. This well agrees with what the SS. teach us ever was Gods Love to and delight in his Son. For the Idea of G. is that Image of G. that is the object of Gods eternal and Infinite Love & in which he hath perfect Joy & happiness. God undoubtedly Infinitely loves & delights in himself & is Infinitely happy in the understanding & view of his own glorious essence: this is commonly said. The same the Scripture teaches us concerning that Image of G. that is his Son. The Son of G—he is the true David or beloved. Joh. 3, 35 & 5, 20. The F. loveth the Son. So it was declared at Xs Baptism and transfiguration, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well Pleased. So the Father calls him his elect in whom his soul delighteth. The Infinite happiness of the F. consists in the enjoymt. [enjoyment] of his Son: Prov. 8, 30, I was daily his delight i.e. before the world was. It seems to me most Probable that G. has his Infinite happiness but one way, & that the Infinite Joy he has in his own Idea &, that which he has in his Son are but one & the same.

3. X is called the face of G., Exod. 33, 14: the word in the original signifies face, looks, form or appearance. Now what can be so Properly & fitly called so with Respect to G. as Gods own Perfect Idea of himself whereby he has every moment a view of his own essence: this Idea is that face of God which G. sees as a man sees his own face in a looking glass. Tis of such form or appearance whereby G. eternally appears to himself. The Root that the original word comes from signifies to look upon or behold: now what is that which G. looks upon or beholds in so Emminent a manner as he doth on his own Idea or that perfect Image of himself which he has in view. This is what is eminently in Gods Presence & is therefore called the angel of Gods Presence or face. Isai. 63, 9.

4. This seems also well to agree with X being called the brightness, effulgence or shining forth of Gods Glory upon two accounts: 1, because tis by Gods Idea that his Glory shines forth & appears to himself. G. may be concieved of as Glorious antecedent to his Idea of himself, but then his Glory is Latent; but tis the Idea by which it shines forth and appears to Gods view so that he can delight in it. 2. God is well Represented by the Luminary & His Idea by the Light, for what is so Properly the Light of a mind or spirit as its knowledge or understanding? The understanding or knowledge of G. is much more properly Represented by Light in a Luminary than the understanding of a created mind, for knowledge is light Rather let into a created mind than shining from it, but the understanding of the divine mind originally Proceeds from this mind it self & is derived from no other.

5. But That the Son of G. is Gods own eternal and Perfect Idea is a thing we have yet much more expressly Revealed in Gods word. First, in that X is called the wisdom of G. If we are taught in the Scripture that X is the same with Gods wisdom or knowledge, then it teaches us that he is the same with Gods perfect and eternal Idea. They are the same as we have already observed and I suppose none will deny. Put X is said to be the wisdom of G.: 1 Cor. 1, 24, Luke 11, 49, compare with Matt. 23, 34; and how much doth X speak in Prov. under the name of wisdom especially in the 8 chap. We there have Wisdom thus declaring, 22 v., The L. Possessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting or ever the earth was, when there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, 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 depth. When he established the clouds &c. 30 v. Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight, Rejoicing alwaies before him, Rejoicing in the habitable part of his Earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. It has been usual to say that he that G. Possessed & set up from Everlasting & that was brought forth before the world was, that was by G. as his Companion and as one brought up with him, that was daily his delight, was the Personal wisdom of G. and if so it was Gods Personal Idea of himself.

Secondly, in That the SS. teaches us that X is the Logos of G. It will appear that this Logos is the same with the Idea of G., whether we Interpret it of the Reason of G. or the word of G. If it signifies the Reason & understanding of G., I suppose it wont be denied that tis the same thing with God's Idea. If we translate it the word of G., he is either the outward word of G., or his Inward. None will say he is his outward. Now the outward word is speech whereby Ideas are outwardly expressed. The Inward word is thought or Idea it self. The SS. being its own Interpreter see how often is thinking in SS. Called saying or speaking, when applied to both G. & men. The Inward word is the Pattern or original of which the outward word by which G. has Revealed himself is the copy. Now that which is the original from whence the Revelation which G. bath made of himself is taken & the Pattern to which it is conformed, is Gods Idea of himself. When G. declares himself it is doubtless from & according to the Idea he hath of himself.

Thirdly, to the same purpose is another name by which X is called, viz. the AMEN, which is a Hebrew word that signifies truth. Now what is that which is the Prime, original & universal truth but that which is in the divine mind, viz. his Eternal or Infinite knowledge or Idea.

& joining this with what was observed before, I think we may be bold to say that that which is the form, face &, express & perfect Image of G., in beholding -which is his eternal delight, & is also the wisdom & knowledge, Logos & truth of G., is Gods Idea of himself. What other knowledge of G. is there that is the form, appearance & perfect Image and Representation of G. but Gods Idea of himself.

& how well doth this agree with his office of being the Great Prophet & teacher of mankind, the Light of the World and the Revealer of G. to creatures: John 8, 12, I am the Light of the world. Matt., 11, 27, no man knoweth the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will Reveal him. Joh. 1, 18, no man hath seen G. at any time, the only begotten Son which is in the Bosom of the F., he hath declared him. Who can be so Properly appointed to be Revealer of G. to the world as that Person who is Gods own Perfect Idea or understanding of himself. Who can be so Properly generated to be the light by which Gods Glory shall appear to creatures, as he is[--]that effulgence of his Glory by which he appears to himself. & this is Intimated to us in the SS. to be the Reason why X is the Light of the world & the Revealer of G. to men because he is the Image of G., 2 Cor. 4, 4, Least Lest] the Light of the Glorious Gosp. of X. who is the Image of G. should shine unto them. Joh. 12, 45, 46, and he that seeth me seeth him that sent me, I am come a light into the world that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

The Godhead being thus begotten by Gods loving an Idea of himself & skewing forth in a distinct subsistence or Person in that Idea,, there Proceeds a most Pure act, & an Infinitely holy & sacred energy arises between the F. & Son in mutually Loving & delighting in each other, for their love & Joy is mutual, Prov. 8, 30, I was daily his delight Rejoicing alwaies before him. This is the eternal & most Perfect & essential act of the divine nature, wherin the Godhead acts to an Infinite degree and in the most Perfect manner Possible. The deity becomes all act, the divine essence it self flows out & is as it were breathed forth in Love & Joy. So that the Godhead therin stands forth in yet another manner of subsistence, & there Proceeds the 3d Person in the Trinity, the holy spirit, viz. the Deity in act, for there is no other act but the act of the will.

1. We may learn by the word of G. that the Godhead or the divine nature & essence does subsist in love. 1 Joh. 4, 8, he that loveth not knoweth not G. for G. is Love. In the context of which Place I think it is Plainly Intimated to us that the holy spirit is that Love, as in the 12 & 13 v. If we love one another, G. dwelleth in us and his Love is perfected in us; hereby know we that we dwell in him because lie hath given us of his spirit. Tis the same argument in Both verses. In the 12 v. the apostle argues that if we have love dwelling in us we have G. dwelling in us, and in the 13 v. he clears the force of the argument by this that love is God's Spirit. Seeing we have Gods spirit dwelling in us, we have G. dwelling in [in us], supposing it as a thing granted & allowed that Gods spirit is G. Tis evident also by this that Gods dwelling in us & his Love or the Love that he hath or exerciseth, being in us, are the same thing. The same is intimated in the same manner in the Last verse of the foregoing chap. The apostle was, in the foregoing verses, speaking of Love as a sure sign of sincerity & our acceptance with G., beginning with the 18 v., & he sums up the argument thus in the last verse, & hereby do we know that he abideth in us by the spirit that he hath given us.

Again in the 16 v. of this 4 chap., the Apostle tells us that G. is Love & he that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in G. & G. in him, which confirms not only that the divine nature subsists in love, but also that this love is the Sp., for it is the Spirit of G. by which G. dwells in his saints, as the apostle had observed in the 13 verse and as we are abundantly taught in the New Test.

2. The name of the third Person in the Trinity, viz. the Holy Sp. confirms it: it naturally expresses the divine nature as subsisting in pure act & Perfect Energy, & as flowing out & breathing forth in Infinitely sweet and vigorous affection. It is confirmed both by his being called the Spirit & by his being denominated holy. 1. By his being called the Sp. of G.: the word Sp. in SS. when used concerning minds, when it is not put for the spiritual substance or mind it self, is put for the disposition, Inclination or temper of the mind Numb. 14, 24, Caleb was of another Sp. Ps. 51, 10, Renew in me a Right Sp. Luke 9, 55, Ye know not what manner of Sp. ye are of. S. 1 Thes. 5, 23, I Pray G. your whole Sp. soul & body, 1 Pet. 3, 4, The ornament of a meek & quiet Sp. When we Read of the spirit of a spirit or mind it is to be thus understood. Eph. 4, 27, be Renewed in the spirit of your mind. So I suppose when we Read of the Sp. of G. who we are told is a Sp., it is to be understood of the disposition or temper or affection of the divine mind. If we Read or hear of the meek spirit or kind spirit or pious & holy spirit of a man we understand it of his temper: so I suppose we Read of the Good Sp. & holy Sp. of G., it is likewise to be understood of Gods temper. Now the sum of God's temper or disposition is love, for he is Infinite love &, as I observed before, here is no distinction to be made between habit & act, between temper or disposition & exercise. This is the divine disposition or nature that we are made partakers of, 2 Pet. 1, 4. for our partaking or communion with G. consists in the Communion or partaking of the H. G.

& It is further confirmed by his being Peculiarly denominated holy. The Father & the Son are both Infinitely holy & the holy Gh. [Ghost] can be no holier. But yet the Spirit is especially called holy, which doubtless denotes some Peculiarity in the manner in which holiness is attributed to him. But upon this supposition the matter is easily & clearly explicable. For 1st, it is in the temper or disposition of a mind & its exercise that holiness is Immediately seated. A mind is said to be holy from the holiness of its temper & disposition. 2. Tis in Gods Infinite love to himself that his holiness consists. As all Creature holiness is to be Resolved into love, as the SS. teaches us, so doth the holiness of G. himself consist in Infinite love to himself. Gods holiness is the Infinite beauty & excellence of his nature, & Gods excellency consists in his Love to himself as we have observed in

[That the Sp. of God is the very same with Holiness (as tis in God, tis the Holiness of God, and as tis in the Creature, tis the holiness of the creature), appears by John 3, 6, That which is born of the flesh is Flesh & that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Here tis very manifest that flesh & spirit are opposed to one anther as true contraries, and tis also acknowledged by orthodox divines in general that by the flesh is meant sin or corruption and, therefore by the spirit is meant its contrary, viz. Holiness, &, that is evidently X’s meaning, that which is horn of the flesh is corrupt & filthy, but that which is born of the spirit is holy.

3. This is very consonant to the office of the holy Ghost or his work with Respect to Creatures, which is threefold, viz. to quicken, enliven & beautify all things, to sanctify Intelligent [beings] & to comfort & delight them. 1. he quickens & beautifies all things. So we Read that the Sp. of G. moved upon the face of the waters or of the Chaos to bring it out of its Contusion into harmony & beauty. So we read, Job 26, 13, That G. by his Spirit garnished the heavens. Now whose office can it he so Properly to actuate & enliven all things as his who is the Eternal & essential act & energy of G. & whose office can it he so Properly to give all things their sweetness & beauty as he who is himself the beauty & Joy of the Creator. 2. Tis he that sanctifies created Sp., that is, he gives them divine Love, for the SS. teaches us that all holiness & true Grace &; virtue is Resolvable into that as its universal spring & Principle. As it is the office of the Person that is Gods Idea & understanding to be the light of the world, to communicate understanding, so tis the office of the Person that is Gods Love to communicate divine love to the Creature. In so doing, Gods spirit or love doth but communicate of it self. Tis the same love so far as a Creature is capable of being made partaker of it. Gods Sp. or his love doth but, as it were, come and dwell in our hearts and act there as a vital Principle, and we become the living temples of the holy Gh., & when men are Regenerated & sanctified, G. Pours forth of his Sp. upon them and they have fellowship or, which is the same thing, are made partakers with the F. & Son of their love, i.e. of their Joy & beauty. Thus the matter is Represented in the Gospel—and this agreable to what was taken notice of before—of the Apostle John, his making love dwelling in us & Gods Spirit dwelling in us the same thing, and the explaining of them one by another, 1 Joh. 4, 1 2, 13.

When X says to his F., Joh. 1 7, 26, and I have declared unto them thy name & will declare it, that the Love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them, I cant think of any way that this will appear so Easy and Intelligible as upon this hypothesis, viz. that the love with which the F. loveth the Son is the H. Sp., that X here concludeth & sums up his Prayer for his disciples with the Request that the holy Sp. might be in his disciples & so he might be in them thereby, for X dwells in his disciples by his Sp., as X teaches in Joh. 14, 16, 17, 18, I will give you another Comforter—even the Spirit of truth—he shall be in you. I will not leave you Comfortless, I will come unto you. And the apostle, Rom. 8, 9, 10, If so be the Sp. of G. dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Sp. of X he is none of his, & if X be in you the body is dead.

[Mr. Howes observation from the 5 Chap. of Gal. is here pertinent: Of [from] his Sermons on the Prosperous State of the Xtian Interest before the End of Time, Published by Mr. Evans p. 185. His words are, Walking in the Spirit is directed with a special Eye & Reference unto the exercise of this love, as you see in Gal. 5, 14, 15, 16, [in the] verses compared together. All the law is fulfilled in one word (he means the whole law of the second Table) even in this thou shalt love thy neighb. as thy self. But if ye bite and devour one another (the opposite to this Love or that which follows upon the want of it, or from the opposite principle) take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then (observe the inference) walk in the Spirit & ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. To walk in the Spirit is to walk in the Exercise of this Love.

The SS. seems in many Places to speak of Love in Xtians as if it were the same with the Sp. of G. in them, or at Least as the Prime and most natural breathing & acting of the Sp. in the soul. Philip 2, 1, if there be therefore any Consolation in X, any Comfort of Love, any fellowship of the Sp., any bowels & mercies, fulfill ye my Joy that ye be likeminded having the same love being of one accord, of one mind. 2 Cor. 6, 6, by kindness, by the H. Gh., by Love unfeigned. Rom. 15, 30: Now I beseech you brethren for the L. J. X sake and for the love of the Sp. Coloss. 1, 8, who declared unto us your love in the Sp. Rom. 5, 5, having the love of G. shed abroad in our hearts by the H. Gh. which is Given to us. (See notes on this Text.) Gal. 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But by love serve one another, for all the law is fulfilled in one word even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self. But if ye Bite & devour one another take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk in the Sp. & ye shall not fulfill the Lusts of the flesh. The Apostle argues that Xtian liberty dont make way for fulfilling the lusts of the flesh in biting & devouring one another & the like, because a principle of Love which was the fulfilling of the Law would Prevent it, & in the 16 v. he asserts the same thing in other words: This I say then walk. in the Sp. & ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

The third & last office of the H. Spirit is to comfort &, delight the souls of Gds People, & thus one of his names is the Comforter, & thus we have the phrase of Joy in the H. Gh. 1 Thes. 1, 6: having Received the word in much affliction with Joy of the H. Gh. Rom. 14, 17, the kingdom of G. is Righ. & Peace & Joy in the H. Gh. Act 9, 31, walking in the fear of the Lord & comfort of the holy Ghost. but how well doth this agree with the H. Gh. being God's Joy & delight: Acts 13, 52, and the disciples were filled with Joy & with the holy Gh.—meaning as I suppose that they were filled with spiritual joy.

4. This is confirmed By the symbol of the H. Gh., viz. a dove, which is the Emblem of Love or a lover and is so used in SS. and especially often so in Solomons Song, Cant. 1, 15, Behold thou art fair, my Love, behold thou art fair, thou hast Doves Eyes: i.e. Eyes of love, & again 4, 1, the same words, & 5, 12, his Eyes are as the eyes of doves, & 5, 2, my Love, my dove, & 2, 14, & 6, 9; and this I believe to be the Reason that the dove alone of all birds (except the sparrow in the single case of the Leprosy) was appointed to be offered in sacrifice because of its Innocency and because it is the emblem of love, love being the most acceptable sacrifice to God. it was under this similitude that the Holy Ghost descended from the F. on X at his Baptism, signifying the Infinite love of the F. to the So, who is the true David, or beloved, as we said before. The same was signified by what was exhibited to the Eye in the appearance there was of the holy Gh. descending from the F. to the S. in the shape of a dove, as was signified by what was exhibited to the eye in the voice there was at the same time, viz., This is my well beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

[Holy Ghost, Love, represented by the Symbol of a dove. In the beginning of Genesis it is said the spirit of God moved upon the Face of the waters. The word translated moved in the original is tp,h,r;m., which as Buxtorf & Grotius observe, properly signifies the Brooding of a dove upon her Eggs. See Buxtorf on the Radix ph;r] & Grotius's truth of the Xtian R. B. 1, Sect. 16, notes, where Grotius observes that the Meracheth also signifies Love. See my notes on Gen. 1, 2]

5. This is confirmed from the types of the H. Gh., and especially from that type of oil which is often used as a type of the Holy Gh. & may well. Represent divine [love] from its soft, smooth, flowing & diffusive nature. Oil is from the Olive Tree which was of old used to betoken Love, Peace & friendship. That was signified by the olive branch with which the dove Returned to Noah. It was a token for and a sign of God's love and favour, after so terrible a manifestation of his displeasure as the deluge. The olive branch & the dove that brought it were both the Emblems of the same, viz., the Love of God. But especially did the holy anointing oil, the Principal type of the H. Gh., Represent the divine love & delight, by Reason of its excellent sweetness & fragrancy. Love is expressly said to be like it in Scripture in the 133 Ps. 20, Behold how Good…

[That God's Love or his Loving kindness is the same with the Holy Ghost seems to be plain by Ps. 36, 7, 8, 9: How excellent (or how precious, as 'tis in the Hebrew) is thy loving kindness O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings, they shall be abundantly satisfied (in the Hebrew watered) with the fatness of thy house & thou shalt make them to drink of the river of thy pleasures, for with thee is the fountain of Life & in thy light shall we see light. Doubtless that precious Loving kindness & that fatness of God's House & River of his pleasures & the water of the fountain of Life & Gods light here spoken [of] are the same thing: by which we learn that the Holy anointing oil that was kept in the House of God, which was a type of the Holy Ghost, represented Gods Love, & that the River of water of Life, spoken of in the 22. of Revelation, which proceeds out of the throne of God & of the Lamb, which is the same with Ezekiel's vision of Living and life-giving water, which is here called the fountain of Life & river of Gods pleasures, is Gods Loving-kindness.

But X himself expressly teaches us that By spiritual fountains & rivers of water of Life is meant the holy Ghost. Joh. 4, 14 & 7, 38, 39. That by the River of Gods Pleasures here is meant the same thing with that pure River of water of Life spoken of in Rev. 22. I will be much confirmed if we compare those verses with Rev. 21. 23, 24 & Chap. 22. 1, 5. (see the note on Chap. 21, 23, 24.) I think if we compare these places & weigh them we cannot doubt but that it is the same Happiness that is meant in this Psalm which is spoken of there.]

6. So this well agrees with the similitudes and metaphors that are used about the holy Gh. in SS., such as water, fire, breath, wind, oil, wine, a spring, a River, a being Poured out & shed forth, a being breathed forth. Can there any spirituall thing be thought, or any thing belonging to any spiritual being to which such kind of metaphors so naturally agree, as to the affection of a Sp. The affection, Love or Joy, may be said to flow out as water or to be breathed forth as breath or wind. But it would [not] sound so well to say that an Idea or Judgmt. flows out or is Breathed forth. It is no way different to say of the affection that it is warm, or to compare love to fire, but it would not seem natural to say the same of Perception or Reason. It seems natural Enough to say that the soul is Poured out in affection or that Love or delight are shed abroad: Tit. 3, 5, 6, the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, but it suits with nothing else belonging to a spiritual being.

This is that River of water of life spoken of in the 22 of Rev., which Proceeds from the throne of the Father & the Son, for the Rivers of Living water or water of Life are the H. Gh., by the same apostles own Interpretation, Joh. 7, 38, 39; & the Holy Gh. being the Infinite Delight & Pleasure of G., the River is called the River of Gods Pleasures, Ps. 36, 8, not Gods River of Pleasures, which I suppose signifies the same as the fatness of Gods house, which they that trust in God shall be watered with, by which fatness of Gods house I suppose is signified the same thing which oil typifies.

7. It is a Confirmation that the holy Gh. is Gods Love & Delight, Because the saints Communion with G. consists in their Partaking of the H. Gh. The Communion of saints is twofold: tis their Communion with G. & Communion with one another : 1 Joh. 1, 3, That ye also may have fellowship with us & truly our fellowship is with the F. & with his son J. X. Communion is a Common Partaking of Good, either of excellency or happiness, so that when it is said the saints have Communion or fellowship with the F. & with the Son, the meaning of it is that they Partake with the F. & the Son of their Good, which is either their excellency & glory, (2 Pet. 1, 4, ye are made Partakers of the divine nature; Heb. 12, 4, that we might be Partakers of his holiness; Joh. 17, 22, 23, & the Glory which thou hast given me I have given them that they may be one even as we are one I in them & thou in me) ; or of their Joy & happiness : Joh. 17, 13, that they may have my Joy fulfilled in themselves. But the Holy Gh., Being the Love & Joy of G., is his beauty & happiness, & it is in our partaking of the same holy Sp. that our Communion with G. consists: 2 Cor. 13, 14, The Grace of the L. J. X &, the love of G. & the Communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all, Amen. They are not different benefits but the same that the Apostle here wisheth, viz. the Holy Ghost: in partaking of the holy Ghost, we possess & enjoy the Love & Grace of the F. & the Son, for the Holy Gh. Is that love and Grace, & therefore I suppose it is that in that forementioned Place, 1 Joh. 1, 3, we are said to have fellowship with the Son & not with the H. Gh., because therein consists our fellowship with the Father & the Son, even in partaking with them of the H. Gh. In this also eminently consists our Communion with the Son that we drink into the same Sp. This is the common Excellency & Joy & happines in which they all are united; tis the bond of Perfectness by which they are one in the F. & the Son as the F. is in the Son . . .

8. I can think of no other good account that can be given of the apostle Pauls wishing Grace and Peace from G. the F. & the L. J. X. in the Beginning of his Epistles, without ever mentioning the H. Gh., as we find it thirteen times in his salutations in the beginnings of his Epistles, But [i.e., except] that the Holy Gh. is himself Love and Grace of G. the F. & the L. J. 1. ; & in his blessing at the End of his second Epistle to the Corinthians where all three Persons are mentioned he wishes Grace and love from the Son and the F [except that, in the Communion or the Partaking of the holy Gh., the blessing is from the F. & the Son is the H. Gh. But the blessing from the holy Gh. Is himself, the communication of himself. John 14, 2l, 23, X Promises that he and the Father will Love believers, but no mention is made of the holy Ghost, and the Love of X and the Love of the Father are often distinctly mentioned, but never any mention of the Holy Ghosts Love.

[This I suppose to be tile reason why we have never any account of the Holy Ghosts Loving either the Father or the Son, or of the Sons or the Fathers Loving the Holy Ghost, or of the Holy Ghosts Loving the saints, tho these things are so often Predicated of Both the other Persons.]

& This I suppose to be that Blessed Trinity that we Read of In the Holy SS. The F. is the Deity subsisting in the Prime, unoriginated most absolute manner, or the deity in its direct existence. The Son is the deity generated by Gods understanding, or having an Idea of himself & subsisting in that Idea. The Holy Gh. is the Deity subsisting in act, or the divine essence flowing out and Breathed forth in Gods Infinite love to & delight in himself. & I believe the whole divine Essence does Truly & distinctly subsist both in the divine Idea &, divine Love, and that each of them are Properly distinct Persons.

& It confirms me in it that this is the True Trinity because Reason is sufficient to tell us that there must be these distinctions In the deity, viz., of G. (absolutely considered), & the Idea of G., & Love & delight, & there are no other Real distinctions in G. that can be thought. There are but these three distinct Real things in G. Whatsoever else can be mentioned in G. are nothing but meer modes or Relations of Existence. There are his attributes of Infinity, Eternity and Immortality; they are meer modes of existence. There is Gods understanding, his wisdom & omniscience that we Have shewn to be the same with his Idea. There is Gods will, But this is not Really distinguished from his love, But is the same but only with a different Relation. As the sum of Gods understanding consists in his having an Idea of himself, so the sum of his will or Inclination consists in his loving himself, as we have already observed. There is Gods Power or Ability to bring things to Pass. But this is not really distinct from his understanding & will: it is the same but only with the Relation they have to those effects that are, or are to be Produced. There is Gods holiness, but this is the same, as we have shewn in what we have said of the nature of excellency, with his love to himself. There is Gods Justice, which is not Really distinct from his holiness. There are the attributes of Goodness, mercy and Grace, but these are but the overflowing of Gods Infinite love. The sum of all Gods Love is his Love to himself. These three, G., and the Idea of G., & the Inclination, affection &, love of G., must be conceived as Really distinct. But as for all these other things of extent, duration, being with or without change, ability to do, they are not distinct Real things even in created spirits but only meer modes and Relations. So that our natural Reason is sufficient to tell us that there are these three in G., and we can think of no more.

It is a maxim amongst divines that everything that is in G. is G. which must, be understood of Real attributes and not of meer modalities. If a man should tell me that the Immutability of G. is G. or that the omnipresence of G. & authority of G., is God, I should not be able to think of any Rational meaning of what he said. It hardly sounds to me Proper to say that Gods being without change is G., or that Gods being Every where is God, or that Gods having a Right of Government over Creatures is G. But if it be meant that the Real attributes of G., viz. his understanding & love are G., then what we have said may in some measure explain how it is so, for deity subsists in them distinctly; so they are distinct divine persons. We find no other attributes of which it is said that they are G. in SS. or that G. is they, but Logoj & Agaph, the Reason & the Love of G. Joh. 1, 1, &, 1 Joh. 4, 8, 16. Indeed it is said that G. is Light, 1 Joh. 1, 5, But what can we understand by divine light different from the divine Reason or understanding? The same apostle tells us that X is the True Light, Joh. 1, 9, & the apostle Paul tells us that he is the effulgence of the Fathers Glory, Heb. 1, 3.

[This is that Light that the Holy Ghost in the Prophet Daniel says dwells with God, Dan. 2, 22, & the Light dwelleth with him, the same with that word or Reason that the apostle John says, 1 Chap. of his Gospel, was with God & was God, that he there says is the true Light, and speaks much of, vide that Chapter, v. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9. This is that Wisdom that says in the 8 of Prov., 30 v, that he was by God as one brought up with him. This is the Light with respect to which especially God the Father may be called the Father of Lights.]

One of the Principal Objections that, I can think of against what has been supposed is concerning the Personality of the holy Gh.—that this scheme of things dont seem well to consist with [the fact] that a person is that which hath understanding & will. If the three in the Godhead are Persons they doubtless each of them have understanding, but this makes the understanding one distinct person & Love another. How therefore can this Love be said to have understanding? (Here I would observe that divines have not been wont to suppose that these three had three distinct understandings, but all one and the same understanding.) In order to clear up this matter Let it he considered that the whole divine office is supposed truly & Properly to subsist in Each of these three, viz., G. & his understanding & love, & that there is such a wonderfull union between them that they are, after as Ineffable & Inconcievable manner, one in another, so that one hath another & they have communion in one another & are as it were Predicable one of another ; as X said of himself & the F., I am in the F &- the F. in me, so may it be said concerning all the Persons in the Trinity, the F. is in the Son & the S. in the F., the H. Gh. is in the F., & the F. in the H. Gh., the H. Gh. is in the S. & the Son in the H. Gh., & the F. understands because the Son who is the divine understanding is in him, the F. loves because the H. Gh. is in him, so the Son loves because the H. Gh. is in him & proceeds from him, so the H. Gh. or the divine essence subsisting is divine, but understands because the Son the divine Idea is in him. Understanding may be Predicated of this Love because it is the love of the understanding both objectively & subjectively. G. loves the understanding & that understanding also flows out in love so that the divine understanding is in the deity subsisting in love. It is not a blind love. Even in Creatures there is Consciousness Included in the very nature of the will or act of the soul, & tho perhaps not so that it can so Properly be said that it is a seeing or understanding will, yet it may truly & properly be said so in G., by Reason of Gods Infinitely more perfect manner of acting so that the whole divine essence flows out & subsists in this act., & the Son is in the holy Sp, tho it dont Proceed from him by Reason [of the fact] that the understanding must be considered as Prior in the order of nature to the will or love or act, both in Creatures & in the Creator. The understanding is so in the Sp. that the Sp. may be said to know, as the Sp. of G. is truly & Perfectly said to know & to search all things, even the deep things of G.

[All the three are persons for they all have understanding & will. There is understanding & will in the F., as the Son & the holy Gh. are in him & proceed from him. There is understanding & will in the Son, as he is understanding & as the Holy Gh. is in him & proceeds from him. There is understanding & will in the Holy Gh. as he is the divine will & as the Son is in him. Nor is it to be looked upon as a strange & unreasonable figment that the Persons should be said to have an understanding or Love by another Persons being in them, for we have scripture ground to conclude so concerning the Fathers having wisd. & understanding or Reason that it is by the Sons being in him; because we are there Informed that he is the wisd. & Reason & Truth of G. & hereby G. is wise by his own wisdom being in him. Understanding & wisdom is in the F. as the Son is in him & Proceeds from him. Understanding is in the H. Gh. because the Son is in him, not as proceeding from him but as flowing out in him.]

But I dont Pretend fully to explain how these thins are & I am sensible a hundred other objections may be made & puzzling doubts & questions Raised that I cant solve. I am far from Pretending to explaining the Trinity so as to Render it no Longer a mystery. I think it to be the highest & deepest of all divine mysteries still, notwithstanding anything that I have said or conceived about it. I dont Intend to explain the Trinity. But Scripture with Reason may Lead to say something further of it than has been wont to be said, tho there are still Left many things Pertaining to it Incomprehensible. It seems to me that what I have here supposed concerning the Trinity is exceeding analogous to the Gospel scheme and agreeable to the Tenour of the whole N. T. & abundantly Illustrative of Gospel doctrines, as might be Particularly shewn, would it not exceedingly Lengthen out this discourse.

I shall only now Briefly observe that many things that have been wont to be said by orthodox divines about the Trinity are hereby Illustrated. Hereby we see how the F'. is the fountion of the Godhead, & why when he is spoken of in SS. he is so often, without any addition or distinction, called G., which has led some to think that he only was truly & properly G. Hereby we may see why in the Economy of the Persons of the Trinity the F. should sustain the dignity of the deity, that the F. should have it as his office to uphold & maintain the Rights of the Godhead & should be God not only by essence but, as it were, by his economical office. Hereby is illustrated the doc. [doctrine] of the H. Gh. Proceeding [from] both the F. & the Son. Hereby we see how that it is possible for the Son to be begotten by the F. & the H. Gh. to Proceed from the F. & Son, & yet that all the persons should be Coeternal. Hereby we may more clearly understand the Equality of the Persons among themselves, & that they are every way equal in the society or Family of the three. They are equal in honour: besides the honour which is common to 'em all, viz. that they are all God, each has his peculiar honour in the society or family. They are equal not only in essence, but the Fathers honour is that he is, as it were, the author of Perfect & Infinite wisdom. The son's honour is that he is that perfect & divine wisdom itself the excellency of which is that from whence arises the honour of being the author or Generator of it. The honour of the F. & the Son is that they are Infinitely Excellent, or that from them Infinite Excellency Proceeds; but the honour of the H. Gh. is equal for he is that divine excellency & beauty itself. Tis the Honour of the F. & the Son that they are Infinitely holy and are the fountain of holiness, but the honour of the H. Gh. is that holiness itself. The honour of the F. & the Son is [that] they are Infinitely happy & are the original & fountain of happiness, & the honour of the holy Gh. is Equal for he is Infinite happiness & Joy itself. The Honour of the F. is that he is the fountain of the deity as he from whom proceed both the divine wisdom & also excellency & happiness. The honour of the Son is Equal for he is himself the divine wisd. & is he from whom proceeds the divine excellency & happiness, & the honour of the Holy Gh. is equal for he is the beauty & happiness of both the other Persons.

By this also we may fully understand the Equality of Each Person's Concern in the W[ork] of Redemption, & the equality of the Redeemeds' Concern with them & dependence upon them, & the Equality & honour & Praise due to Each of them. Glory belongs to the F. & the Son that they so greatly Loved the world: to the F, that he so Loved that he gave his only begotten Son: to the son that he so loved the world as to give up himself. But there is Equal Glory due to the H. Gh., for he is that Love of the F. & the Son to the world. Just so much as the two first Persons glorify themselves by showing the astonishing greatness of their Love & Grace, Just so much is that wonderful Love & Grace glorified who is the H. Gh. It shows the Infinite dignity and excellency of the Father that the Son so delighted & prized his honour & glory that he stooped infinitely Low Rather than [that] men's salvation should be to the Injury of that honour & glory. It showed the Infinite excellency & worth of the Son that the F. so delighted in him that for his sake he was Ready to quit his anger & Receive into favour those that had [deserved?] Infinitely ill at his hands. & what was done shews how great the excellency & worth of the H. Gh. who is that delight which the F. & the Son Have in Each other: it shows it to be Infinite. So great as the worth of a thing delighted in is to any one, so great is the worth of that delight & Joy itself which he hay in it.

Our dependence is equally upon each in this office. The F. appoints & Provides the Redeemer, & himself accepts the Price and grants the thing purchased; the Son is the Redeemer by offering himself & is the Price; & the H. Gh. Immediately communicates to us the thing Purchased by communicating himself, & he is the thing Purchased. The sum of all that X Purchased for men was the H. Gh.: Gal. 3, 13, 14, he was made a Curse for us that we might Recieve the Promise of the Sp. through Faith. What X Purchased for us was that we have Communion. with G. [which] is his Good, which consists in Partaking of the holy Ghost: as we have shown, all the blessedness of the Redeemed consists in their Partaking of X's fullness, which consists in Partaking of that Spirit which is given not by measure unto him: the oil that is Poured on the head of the Church Runs down to the members of his body and to the shirt of his Garment, Ps. 133, 2. X Purchased for us that we should have the favour of G. & might Enjoy his Love, but this Love is the H. Gh. Purchased for us True spiritual excellency, grace & holiness, the sum of which is Love to God, which is [nothing] but the Indwelling of the Holy Gh. in the heart. X purchased for us spiritual Joy & comfort, which is in a participation of God's Joy & happiness, which Joy & happiness is the H. Gh., as we have shewn. The Holy Gh. is the sum of all good things. Good things & the Holy Sp. Are synonymous expressions in SS.: Matt. 7, 11, how much more shall your heavenly F. give the Holy Sp. to them that ask him. The sum of all spiritual good which the finite have in this world is that spring of living water within them which we Read of, Joh. 4, 10, &c., & those Rivers of living water flowing out of them which we Read of, Joh. 7, 38, 39, which we are there told means the H. Gh.; & the sum of all happiness in the other world is that River of water of Life which Proceeds out of the throne of G. & the Lamb, which we Read of, Rev. 22, 1, which is the River of Gods Pleasures & is the H. Gh. & therefore the sum of the Gospel Invitation to come & take the water of life, verse 17. The H. Gh. is the Purchased Possession & Inheritance of the saints, as appears because that little of it which the saints have in this world is said to be the Ernest of that Purchased Inheritance, Eph. 1, 14. 2 Cor. 1, 22 & 5, 5: tis an Ernest of that which we are to have a fullness of hereafter. The Holy Gh. is the great subject of all gosp. [el] Promises & Therefore is called the Sp. of Promise, Eph. 1, 13. This is called the Promise of the F, Luke 24, 49, & the like in other Places. [If the Holy Gh. be a Comprehension of all Good things Promised in the Gospel, we may easily see the force of the Apostle's arguing, Gal. 3. 2, This only would I know, Recieved ye the Sp. by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith?] So that Tis G. of whom our good is purchased & tis G. that Purchases it & tis G. also that is the thing Purchased. Thus all our Good things are of G. & through God & in G., as we read in Rom. 11, 36: "for of him & through him & to him (or in him as eis is Rendered, 1 Cor. 8, 6.) are all things." To whom be Glory forever. All our Good is of G. the F., tis all through G. the Son, & all is in the H. Gh., as he is himself all our Good. G. is himself the Portion & purchased Inheritance of his People. Thus G. is the Alpha & the Omega in this affair of Redemption. If we suppose no more than used to be supposed about the H. Gh. the Concern of the Holy Gh. in the work of Redemption is not Equal with the Father's & the Son's, nor is there an equal part of the Glory of this work belonging to him: meerly to apply to us or Immediately to give or hand to us the blessing purchased, after it was purchased, as subservient to the other two persons, is but a little thing (compared] to the Purchasing of it by the Paying an Infinite Price, by X offering up himself in sacrifice to procure it, & tis but a little thing to God the Fathers giving his Infinitely dear Son to be a sacrifice for us & upon his purchase to afford to us all the blessings of his purchased. But according to this there is an Equality. To be the Love of G. to the world is as much as for the F. & the Son to do so much from Love to the world, & to be the thing Purchased was as much as to be the Price. The Price & the thing bought with that Price are equal. And tis as much as to afford the thing purchased, for the glory that belongs to him that affords the thing Purchased arises from the worth of that thing that he affords & therefore tis the same Glory & an Equal Glory; the Glory of the thing itself is its worth & that is also the Glory of him that affords it.

There are two more Eminent & Remarkable Images of the Trinity among the Creatures. The one is in the spiritual Creation, the soul of man. There is the mind, & the understanding or Idea, & the spirit of the mind as it is called in SS. i.e. the disp[osition], the will or affection. The other is in the visible Creation viz. the Sun. The father is as the substance of the Sun. (By substance I dont mean in a philosophical sense, but the Sun as to its Internal Constitution.) The Son is as the Brightness & Glory of the disk of the Sun or that bright & glorious form under which it appears to our Eyes. The Holy Gh. is the action of the Sun which is within the Sun in its Intestine Heat, &, being diffusive, enlightens, warms, enlivens & comforts the world. The Sp., as it is Gods Infinite love to himself & happiness in himself, is as the internal heat of the Sun, but, as it is that by which G. communicates himself, it is as the Emanation of the suns action, or the Emitted Beams of the sun.

The various sorts of Rays of the Sun & their beautiful Colours do well Represent the Sp. They well [Represent the love & grace of G. and were made use of for this purpose in the Rainbow after the flood & I suppose also in that Rainbow that was seen Round about the throne by Ezek[iel]: Ezek. 1, 28, Rev. 4, 3, & Round the head of X by John, Rev. 10, 1.] or the amiable excellency of G. and the various beautiful Graces & virtues of the Sp. These beautiful Colours of the sunbeams we find made use of in SS. for this purpose, viz. to Represent the Graces of the Sp., as Ps. 68, v. 13: Tho Ye have lien among the Pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove Covered with silver & her feathers with yellow gold, i.e. like the Light Reflected in various beautiful Colours from the Feathers of a dove, which Colours Represent the Graces of the Heavenly Dove. The same I suppose is signified by the various beautiful colours Reflected from the Precious stones of the breastplate, & that these spiritual ornaments of the Chh are what are Represented by the various Colours of the foundation & gates of the new Jerusalem, Rev. 21 & Isaiah 54, 11 &c.--& the stones of the Temple, 1 Chron. 29, 2; & I believe the variety there is in the Rays of the Sun & their beautiful Colours was designed by the Creator for this very purpose, & Indeed that the whole visible Creation which is but the shadow of being is so made and ordered by G. as to typify & Represent spiritual things, for which I could give many reasons. [I dont propose this meerly as an hypothesis but as a part of divine truth sufficiently & fully ascertained by the Revelation God has made in the Holy Scriptures.]

[I am sensible what kind of objections many will be ready to make against what has been said, what difficulties will be immediately found, How can this be? & how can that be?

I am far from affording this as any explication of this mystery, that unfolds & renews the mysteriousness & incomprehensibleness of it, for I am sensible that however by what has been said some difficulties are lessened, others that are new appear, and the number of those things that appear mysterious, wonderful & incomprehensible, is increased by it. I offer it only as a farther manifestation of what of divine Truth the word of G. exhibits to the view of our minds concerning this great mystery. I think the word of G. teaches us more things concerning it to be believed by us than have been generally believed, & that it exhibits many things concerning it exceeding [i.e., more] glorious & wonderful than have been taken notice of; yea, that it reveals or exhibits many more wonderful mysteries than those which have been taken notice of; which mysteries that have been overvalued are incomprehensible things & yet have been exhibited in the word of G., tho they are an addition to the number of mysteries that are in it. No wonder that the more things we are told concerning that which is so Infinitely above our reach, the number of visible mysteries increases. When we tell a child a little concerning God he has not an hundreth part so many mysteries in view on the nature & attributes of G. & his works of Creation & Providence as one that is told much concerning God in a divinity school; & yet he knows much more about God & has a much clearer understanding of things of Divinity & is able more clearly to explicate some things that were dark and very unintelligible to him. I humbly apprehend that the things that have been observed increase the number of visible mysteries in the Godhead in no other manner than as by them we perceive that G. has told us much more about it then was before generally observed. Under the Old Testament the Chh. of G. were not told near so much about the Trinity as they are now. But what the N. T. has revealed, tho it has more opened to our view the nature of God, yet it has increased the number of visible mysteries & they thus appear to us exceeding wonderfull & incomprehensible. & so also it has come to pass in the Chh., being told [i. e., that the Churches are told] more about the Incarnation & the Satisfaction of X & other Gospel doctrines. Tis so not only in divine things but natural things. He that looks on a plant, or the Parts of the bodies of animals, or any other works of nature, at a great distance where he has but an obscure sight of it, may see something in it wonderfull & beyond his Comprehension, but he that is near to it & views them narrowly indeed understands more about them, has a clearer and distinct sight of them, yet the number of things that are wonderfull & mysterious in them that appear to him are much more than before, &, if he views them with a microscope, the number of the wonders that he sees will be much increased still, but yet the microscope gives him more of a true knowledge concerning them.]

God is never said to love the Holy Gh., nor are any Epithets that betoken Love any where given to him, tho' so many are ascribed to the Son, as Gods Elect, The beloved, he in whom Gods soul delighteth, he in whom he is well pleased &c. Yea such Epithets seem to be ascribed to the Son as tho he were the object of Love exclusive of all other Persons, as tho there were no Person whatsoever to share the Love of the Father with the Son. To this purpose evidently he is called Gods only begotten Son, at the time that it is added, In whom he is well pleased. There is nothing in SS. that speaks of any acceptance of the Holy Gh., or any Reward or any mutual Friendship between the H. Gh. and either of the other Persons, or any Command to Love the Holy Ghost or to delight in or have any Complacence in [the H. G.], tho such commands are so frequent with respect to the other Persons.

The Son of God] Agreable to the Son of Gods being the wisdom or Understanding of God is that Zech. 3, 9, read, For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven Eyes. This stone is the Messiah (See Observations on the Place in my discourse on the Prophecies of the Messiah: Miscel. B. 6.) By these Eyes is represented Gods understanding, [as shewn] by the explanation which God himself gives of it in the next Chap. v. 10. These seven are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole Earth. The seven Eyes, being by a wonderfull work of God Graven on the stone, a thing in itself very far from sight, represents the incarnation of X in uniteing the Logos or wisdom of God to that which is in it self so weak & blind & infinitely far from divinity as the human Nature. The same again is represented, Rev. 5, 6, And I beheld & Lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four Beasts and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns & seven Eyes which are the seven spirits of God. The plain allusion here to that other place in Zechary shews that the stone there spoken of, with seven Eyes, is the Messiah, that elsewhere is often called a stone. And whereas [i.e., with reason] these seven Eyes are said to be the seven spirits of God i.e. the Perfect & alsufficient spirit of God, for tis by the Holy Spirit that the divine nature & the divine Logos or understanding or wisdom is united to the human nature.

That in Rom. 5, 5, The Love of God is shed abroad in our Hearts by the Holy Ghost &c. in the original is The Love of God is poured out into our Hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us; So that the same representation is made of the manner of communicating it that is made from time to time to signify the manner of communicating the Spirit of God himself & the same expression used to signify it. The Love of God is not said to be poured out into our Hearts, in any propriety [of speech], any other way than as the Holy Spirit which is the Love of God is poured out into our Hearts, & it seems to be intimated that it is this way that the Love of God is poured out into our Hearts by the words annexed, by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.

Holy Ghost. These two Texts illustrate one the other: Cant. 1, 4, we will Remember thy Love more than Wine, Eph. 5, 18, Be not drunk with wine but be ye filled with the Spirit.

That Knowledge or understanding in God which we must conceive of as first is his Knowledge of every Thing possible. That Love which must be This Knowledge is what we must conceive of as belonging to the Essence of the Godhead in its first subsistence. Then comes a Reflex act of Knowledge & his viewing Himself & knowing himself & so knowing his own Knowledge & so the Son is begotten. There is such a Thing in God as knowledge of knowledge, an Idea of an Idea. Which can be nothing else than the Idea or Knowledge repeated.

The World was made for the Son of God especially. For God made the world for himself from Love to Himself; but God loves himself only in a reflex act. He views Himself & so loves Himself, so he makes the world for Himself viewed & Reflected on, & that is the same with Himself repeated or begotten in his own Idea, & that is his Son. When God considers of making any thing for Himself He presents Himself before Himself & views Himself as his End, and that viewing Himself is the same as Reflecting on himself or having an Idea of Himself, and to make the world for the Godhead thus viewd & understood is to make the world for the Godhead begotten & that is to make the world for the Son of God.

The Love of God as it flows forth ad extra is wholly determined and directed by divine wisdom, so that those only are the Objects of it that divine wisdom chuses, so that the Creation of the world is to gratify divine Love as that is exercised by divine wisdom. But X is divine wisdom, so that the world is made to gratify Divine Love as exercised by Christ or to gratify the Love that is in Xs Heart, or to provide a spouse for X. Those creatures which Wisdom chuses for the Object of divine Love are Xs Elect spouse and especially those elect creatures that Wisdom chiefly pitches upon & makes the End of the Rest of creatures.