CXLV expository sermons upon the whole 17th chapter of the Gospel according to St.…

1. In that he is called the Father, and Christ the Son, it's implied, that he is the first Person in the holy Trinity, and the Son the second, only when he is called the first, you must not understand it in dignity and perfection, for the Father hath no absolute perfection, which the Son hath not; for seeing both have the nature of God, therefore one cannot have greater perfection then another; The Father is not more wise, more powerful, more holy then the Son; Nor is he the first Person in respect of duration, as if the Father was God before the Son; for seeing he was from all eternity Father, therefore he had also this Son from eternity, as the Sun was never without its beams. Indeed the Orthodox do well deride, and justly, the Socinians, That whereas they confess the Father from all eternity, and the Son, a made, or constituted God in time, that they thereby introduce an old God, and a young God, not indeed as these words denote infirmities, but as old is taken for ancient, and young for that which is new. And certainly, if there was a time, when Christ was not the Son of God, then he became to be so in time, but he is called the first Person in order: for so the Scripture represents an order to our conceptions in this glorious mystery, as appeareth by the form of Baptism, whereby we are baptized first into the name of the Father, and then of the Son; The Father then is the first Person, and the Son the second, not in respect of dignity or duration, but order.

1. In that he is called the Father, and Christ the Sonne, it's implied, that he is the first Person in the holy Trinity, and the Sonne the second, only when he is called the first, you must not understand it in dignity and perfection, for the Father hath no absolute perfection, which the Sonne hath not; for seeing both have the nature of God, therefore one cannot have greater perfection then another; The Father is not more wise, more powerfull, more holy then the Son; Nor is he the first Person in respect of duration, as if the Father was God before the Son; for seeing he was from all eternity Father, therefore he had also this Son from eternity, as the Sun was never without its beams. Indeed the Orthodox do well deride, and justly, the Socinians, That whereas they confess the Father from all eternity, and the Son, a made, or constituted God in time, that they thereby introduce an old God, and a young God, not indeed as these words denote infirmities, but as old is taken for ancient, and young for that which is new. And certainly, if there was a time, when Christ was not the Son of God, then he became to be so in time, but he is called the first Person in order: for so the Scripture represents an order to our conceptions in this glorious mystery, as appeareth by the form of Baptism, whereby we are baptized first into the name of the Father, and then of the Sonne; The Father then is the first Person, and the Son the second, not in respect of dignity or duration, but order.