And this is the issue of their attempt against this testimony ; which, being thus briefly vindicated, is sufficient alone of itself to consume with its brightness all the opposition which, from the darkness of hell or men, is made against the deity of Christ.
And 3^et we have one more to consider before this text be dis- missed. Grotius is nibbling at this testimony also. His words are: "Again, that which is spoken of God he applies to the Messiah; be- cause it was confessed among the Hebrews that this world was cre- ated for the Messiah's sake (whence I should think that sdifisXluaag is rightly to be understood, 'Thou wast the cause why it was founded;' — and, ' The heavens are the Avorks of thy hands;' that is, ' They were made for thee'), and that a new and better world should be made by him." ^ So he.
This is not the first time we have met with this conceit, and I wish that it had sufficed this learned man to have framed his Old Testament annotations to rabbinical traditions, that the New might have escaped. But jf'ac^a est alea. 1. I say, then, that the apostle doth not apply that to one person which was spoken of another, but asserts the words in the psalm to be spoken of him concerning whom he treats, and thence proves his excellency, which is the business he hath in hand. It is not to adorn Christ with titles which were not due to him (which to do were robbery), but to prove by testi- monies that were given of him that he is no less than he affirmed him to be, even " God, blessed for ever." 2. Let any man in his right wits consider this interpretation, and try Avhether he can per- suade himself to receive it : '^k^O.iueag cv Kupis, — " For thee, O Lord, were the foundations of the earth laid, and the heavens are the works of thy hands;" that is, "They were made for thee." Any man may thus make quidlihet ex quolihet ; but whether with due reverence to the word of God I question. 3. It is not about the sense of the Hebrew particles that we treat (and yet the learned man cannot give one clear instance of what he affirms), but of the design of the Holy Ghost in the psalm and in this place of the Hebrews, applying these words to Christ. 4. I marvel he saw not that this interpretation doth most desperately cut its own throat, the parts of it being at an irreconcilable difference among them- selves : for, in the first place, he says the words are spoken of God,
' " Rursum, quod de Deo dictum fuerat Mcssioe aptat ; quia constabat inter Hebneos, et Mundum hunc IMessite causii conditum (unde ififuXiuffa; recte intelligi putem, Cama fuisti cur fundareliir, et q/;ws inanuum tuarum ; id est, propter te factvm: ~^ Vs Hebraeis
et Chaldceis etiam propter significat), et fore, ut novus meliorque Mundus condatur per ipsum."
2 / 3 VINDICI.E EVANGELIC^.
and applied to the Messiah, and then proves the sense of them to be such that they cannot be spoken of God at all, but merely of the Messiah ; for to that sense doth he labour to wrest both the Hebrew and Greek texts. Methinks the words being spoken of God, and not of the Messiah, but only fitted to him by the apostle, there is no need to say that " Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth," is, '* It was laid for thy sake ;" and, " The heavens are the works of thy hands," that is, " They were made for thee," seeing they are properly spoken of God. This one rabbinical figment of the world's being made for the Messiah is the engine whereby the learned man turns about and perverts the sense of this whole chapter. In brief, if either the plain sense of the words or the intendment of the Holy Ghost in this place be of any account, yea, if the apostle deals honestly and sincerely, and speaks to what he doth propose, and urges that which is to his purpose, and doth not falsely apply that to Christ which was never spoken of him, this learned gloss is directly contrary to the text.
And these are the testimonies given to the creation of all things by Christ, which our catechists thought good to produce to exami- nation.
CHAPTER XII.
All-ruling and disposing providence assigned unto Christ, and his eternal Godhead thence farther confirmed, with other testimonies thereof.
That Christ is that God who made all things hath been proved by the undeniable testimonies in the last chapter insisted on. That, as the great and wise Creator of all things, he doth also govern, rule, and dispose of the things by liim created, is another evidence of his eternal power and Godhead, some testimonies whereof, in that order of procedure which by our catechists is allotted unto us, come now to be considered.
The first they propose is taken from Heb. i. 8, where the words spoken of Christ are, ^spuv ts ra caira tGj pTj/Man rra h\)van,%ug abrou — " Upholding all things by the word of his power."
He who " uphold eth all things by the Avord of his power" is God. This is ascribed to God as his property; and by none but by him who is God by nature can it be performed. Now, this is said expressly of Jesus Christ: " Who being the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins," etc.