Fifthly, Frame fit notions concerning the trinity, that there are three persons in one godhead. Now to direct jon, herein take these rules —
1. This mystery is to be believed, not disputed, and committed to the anxious traverses of our own reason. Silence reason, by what is revealed ; anxious inquiries do but distract the mind. We shall never know the full of this mystery till we come to heaven : John xiv. 20, ' At thatsday ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.' But though we know not how it is, it is enough for us to know that it is so.
2. The real and practical honour of the trinity is best. Then do we honour the trinity in unity, not when we conceive of the mystery, but when we make a religious use of this high advantage — to come to God, in the name of Christ, by the Spirit, and look for all from God in Christ through the Holy Ghost. Dii'ect your prayers to God the Father; Christ prayed to' the Father, Mat. xi. 25, 'I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,' &c. So the saints in their ad- dresses : Eph. iii. 14, ' For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father
152 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XL [SeR, XXXII.
of our Lord Jesus Christ.' In the name of Christ, John xiv. 13, ' Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do.' By the Spirit, Jude 20, 'Praying in tlie Holy Ghost;' Kom. viii. 26, 27, 'Likewise the Spirit itself also helpetli our infirmities,' &c., 'because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.' Christians need not puzzle themselves about conceiving of three in one, and one in three ; let them in this manner come to God, and it sufficeth ; make God the object, and Christ the means of access, and look for help from the Spirit.
3. If the thoughts be coldly and frigidly affected to any of the persons, you must use a cure. Many times there are many secret thoughts of atheism, which arise in us about the divine essence and subsistences ; and you must seek help against them, for when they are smothered they beget a rooted hypocrisy. Thus ignorant persons think altogether of God the Father ; they worship God Almighty wdth- out distinct reflections on the personal operations of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or the contrivance of salvation. Fond persons honour the Son, but neglect the Father ; they carry all their respects to the person of Jesus Christ. Most neglect to glorify the Spirit. In times of knowledge, God would have our thoughts more distinct and explicit. All persons are interested in the work of grace ; the love of the Father maketh way for the glory of the Son, and the glory of the Son for the power of the Spirit. No man cometh to the Son but by the Father : John vi. 44, ' No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.' No man can come to the Father but by the Son : John xiv, 6, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.' And no man is united to the Son, but by the Holy Ghost : 2 Thes. ii. 13, ' God hath from tlie Ijeginning chosen you to salvation, through the sanctification of the Spirit, and belief of the truth.' The inchoation is by the Father, the dispensation by the Son, and the consummation by the Holy Ghost ; it is God's choice, Christ's purchase, and the Spirit's application. More particularly, if you are coldly affected towards God the Father, consider he spared not his own Son : John iii. 16, 'For God so loved the world, that li gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.' His love brought Christ to you, and you to Christ, the Fathers pure elective love : John xvii. 6, ' Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word.' His love keepeth you in Christ: John xvi. 27, 'For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have be- lieved that I came out from God.* If you are coldly affected towards Christ, think that ' he loved j'ou, and gave himself for you,' Gal. ii. 20 ; if towards the Spirit, consider that it is God the Spirit that exhibits, applies, and seals all to us : Eph. iv. 30, ' Grieve not the Holy Spirit oi God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.' The persons in the trinity glorify one another: John xvi. 14, 'He shall glorify me ; for he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you ; ' there is the Spirit's glorifying Christ. John xiv. 13, •' Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be gloi'ified in the Son ; there is Christ's glorifying the Father. Phil. ii. 9, 10, ' God hath exalted him, and given him a name above every name : that
YeR. 6.] SERMON'S UPON HEBREWS XI. 153
at the name of Jesns every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father ; " there is the Father's glorifying Christ and an honour and and glory thence redounding to the Father.