from plural expressions used by God when speaking of him. self, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, Gen. i. 25. the pronouns us and our, manifestly express a plurality of persons. That there were more than one concerned in the creation of man, is clear from Job xxxv. 10. Psal. cxlix. 2. Eccles. xii. 1. Isai. liv. 5. in all which places, in the original text, it is, my Makers, his Makers, thy Creators, thy Makers; for which no other reason can be given, than that more persons than one had an hand herein; as for the angels, they are creatures themselves; nor can it be reasonably thought that God held a consultation with them about it; for with whom took he council? Isai. xl. 14. Nor is it to be thought that God, in the above passage, speaks regio more, after the manner of kings; who, in their edicts and proclamations, use the plural number, to express their honour and majesty; this courtly way of speaking, was not so ancient as the times of Moses; none of the kings of Israel use it; nor even any of those proud and haughty monarchs, Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar; the first appearance of it is in the letters of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, Ezra iv. 18. and vii. 23. which might take its rise from the conjunction of Darius and Cyrus, in the Persian empire. "It is a very extravagant fancy, to suppose that Moses alludes to a custom that was not (for what appears) in being at that time, nor a great while after." A like way of speaking is used concerning men, in Gen. iii. 22. And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us.

God sometimes uses the plural number when speaking of himself, with respect to some particular affairs of providence, as the confusion of languages; Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language; none but God could confound it. In another affair of providence, this plural way of speaking is used; I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Isai. vi. 8. In Isai. xli. 21-23, Jehovah, the King of Jacob, challenges the heathens, and their gods, to bring proof of their Deity, by prediction of future events; and all along uses the plural number; show us what

shall happen, that we may consider them; declare unto us things for to come, that we may know that ye are gods, and that we may be dismayed; see also Isai. xlii. 9. And as in the affairs of creation and providence, so in those of grace; If a man love me, he will keep my words; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him, John xiv. 23. 111. A plurality of the Deity may be proved from those passages of scripture which speak of the angel of Jehovah, who also is Jehovah; now if there is a Jehovah that is sent, and therefore called an angel, and a Jehovah that sends there must be more persons than one, who are Jehovah. The first instance of this kind is in Gen, xvi. 7. In Gen. xviii. 2. we read of three men who stood by Abraham in the plains of Mamre, who were angels in an human form, as two of them are expressly said to be, chap. xix. 1. Dr. Lightfoot is of opinion, that they were the three divine persons; and scruples not to say, that at such a time the Trinity dined with Abraham; but the Father, and the holy Spirit, never assumed an human form; nor are they ever called angels: one was undoubtedly a divine person, the Son of God in an human form; who is expressly called Jehovah, the Judge of all the earth 13-26. and to whom omnipotence and omniscience are ascribed, 14-19. Now he is distinguished, being Jehovah in human form on earth, from Jehovah in heaven, from whom he is said to rain brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, chap, xix. 24. see also Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. Exod. iii. 2. Isai. Ixiii. 9. 1 Cor. x. 9. and Zech. iii. 1. To these may be added, all such scriptures which speak of two, as distinct from each other, under the same name of Jehovah; as in Jer. xxiii 5, 6. and in Hos. i. 7. where Jehovah resolves he would save his people by Jehovah their God,

II. That this plurality in the Godhead, is neither more nor fewer than three; or, that there is a Trinity of persons in the unity of the divine essence; this I have before taken for granted, and now I shall prove it. And not to take notice of the same Jehovah being used three times, and three times only,

in the blessings of the priest, Numb. vi. 24-26. and in the prayer of Daniel, chap. ix. 19. and in the church's declaration of her faith in God, Isai. xxxiii. 22.

I shall begin with the famous text in 1 John v. 7. as giving full proof and evidence of this doctrine; For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. This text is so glaring a proof of the doctrine of the Trinity, that the enemies of it have done all they can to weaken its authority, and have pushed hard to extirpate it from a place in the sacred writings, but it is to be traced up within a hundred years, or less, to the writing of the epistle; which is enough to satisfy any one of the genuineness of this text. And there never was any dispute

ut it, until Erasmus left it out in the first edition of his translation of the New Testament: and yet he himself, upon the credit of the old British copy, before mentioned, put it into another edition of his translation. Yea the Socinians themselves have not dared to leave it out in their German Racovian version, A. C. 1630. To which may be added, that the context requires it. The doctrine of the Trinity, appears. I. In the works of creation: God the Father made the heavens, Acts iv. 24, 27. the divine Word, or Son of God, was concerned in all this, John i. 2. And the Holy Spirit, is said to move upon the face of the waters, Gen. i. 2. all three may be seen together in one text, Psal. xxxiii. 6. By the ward of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth; where mention is made of Jehovah, and his Word, the eternal Logos, and of his Spirit, the breath of his mouth, as all concerned in the making of the heavens, and all the host of them. 11. A Trinity of persons appears in the works of providence. My father, says Christ, worketh hitherto, and I work, John v. 17. and not to the exclusion of the holy Spirit, Isai. xl. 13, 14.. And particularly the three divine persons appear in that remarkable affair of providence, the deliverance of Israel. Whoever reads attentively Isai. Ixifi. 7—14. will easily observe, that mention is made

of Jehovah; and then of the Angel of his presence: and next of his holy Spirit, 111. The three divine persons are to be discerned most clearly in all the works of grace. The inspiration of the scriptures is a wonderful instance of the grace and goodness of God to men, we find all three dictating the writings David was the penman of; The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue; the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, 2 Sam, xxiii. 2, 3. where besides the Spirit of the Lord there is the Father, the God of Israel, and the Son, the Rock of Israel. In the sacred writings, the economy of man's salvation is clearly exhibited to us, in which we find the three di persons, by agreement and consent, take their distinct F and it may be observed, that the election of me salvation is usually ascribed to the Father; redemption or the impetration of salvation, to the Son; and sanctification, or the application of salvation, to the Spirit: and they are all to be met with in one passage, 1 Pet i, 2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through santification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus. The same may be observed in 2 Thess, ii. 13. 14. The doctrine of the Trinity is often represented as a speculative point, of no great moment; but, alas, it enters into the whole of our salvation, and all the parts of it; into all the doctrines of the gospel, and into the experience of the saints. IV. A Trinity of persons in the Godhead may be plainly discovered in all things relating to the office and work of Christ, as the Redeemer and Saviour; this is affirmed by himself, Isai. xlviii. 16. Now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me; even who says, 12, 13. I am the first and the last; the mighty God who is said to be sent by Jehovah the Lord God, and by his Spirit, in the message to the virgin, mention is made distinctly of all the three Persons; there is the highest, the Son of the highest ; and the Holy Ghost, or the power of the highest, to whose overshadowing influence, the mysterious incarnation is ascribed, Luke i. 32, 35. when he was thirty years of age he was baptized of John in Jordan, Matt. iii. 16, 17. it was a com

mon saying with the ancients, go to Jordan, and there learn the doctrine of the trinity; I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, John xiv. 16. Here is God the Father of Christ, who is prayed unto, who is one Person: and here is the Son in human nature, praying, a second Person, and then there is another Comforter prayed for, even the Spirit of truth, distinct from the Father and the son; the same may be observed in verse 26, and in chap. xv. 26, and xvi. 7. Christ by his sufferings and death, obtained eternal redemption for men. The price that was paid for it, was paid to God the Father: so it is said, thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, Rev. v. 9. What gave the price a sufficient value was, the dignity of his person, 1 John i. 7. and it was through the eternal Spirit, Heb. ix. 14. v. This truth of a Trinity in the Godhead, shines in all the acts of grace towards or in men: in the act of justification; hence they are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God, 1 Cor. vi. 11. in the act of adoption; all three appear in one text, respecting this blessing of grace; Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying Abba, Father, Gal. iv. 6. Regeneration is an evidence of adoption; all three are mentioned together in Tit. iii. 4—6. Once more, their unction, or anointing, which they receive from the holy One, is from God the Father, in and through Christ, and by the Spirit; Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our i earts, 2 Cor. i, 21, 22, vi. It plainly appears here is a irin ty of persons in the Godhead, from the worship and duties of religion enjoined on good men. The ordinance of baptism, is to be administered in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Matt. xxviii. 19. in Eph. i. 17. 18. the Father of Christ is prayed to; the Spirit of wisdom is prayed for; and that for an increase in the knowledge of Christ, distinct from them both; and whereas the saints need an increase of strength, prayer is made for them, that the Father of Christ would strengthen