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

1. That we may conceive of a two-fold giving, that which is natural and necessary, 2. that which is free and voluntary, so that it might or might not be given, for a natural and necessary giving, So Christ as God hath his divine Essence from the Father, for the Father communicateth the God-head to his Son by necessary generation, So that it was not free to him whether he would have this Son or no, as it was whether he would create the world or no; It's true, there are some Learned men that say, Pater liberè genuit filium, because in all that the Father doth, he doth it with understanding and will, which they make to be the formal cause of liberty; But those that do so, take not liberty for that which may be or may not be, but for that which is immutably so, only there is understanding and will concurring to it; In this sense the expression may be admitted, otherwise it would be blasphemy to say the Father did so freely communicate the divine nature to the Son, that he might have chosen whether he would have done it or no; Therefore indeed if we speak strictly it is not a giving of the Son of his Godhead unless we take gift in a large sense for that which is communicating, yet the Scripture calls it so, To this ⟨p. 613⟩purpose some bring that Joh. 5.26. As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; Where to have life in himself is the highest perfection that can be, and proper only to the supreme deity, yet this is given to the Son to have, and to have it so as the Father hath it, and therefore he is called the Son because he hath his being of the Father eternally, and the Fathers giving of this, or the Sons receiving of it argueth no imperfection but perfection in both.

1. That we may conceive of a two-fold giving, that which is natural and necessary, 2. that which is free and voluntary, so that it might or might not be given, for a naturall and necessary giving, So Christ as God hath his divine Essence from the Father, for the Father communicateth the God-head to his Son by necessary generation, So that it was not free to him whether he would have this Son or no, as it was whether he would create the world or no; It's true, there are some Learned men that say, Pater liberè genuit filium, because in all that the Father doth, he doth it with understanding and will, which they make to be the formal cause of liberty; But those that do so, take not liberty for that which may be or may not be, but for that which is immutably so, onely there is understanding and will concurring to it; In this sence the expression may be admitted, otherwise it would be blasphemy to say the Father did so freely communicate the divine nature to the Sonne, that he might have chosen whether he would have done it or no; Therefore indeed if we speak strictly it is not a giving of the Son of his Godhead unlesse we take gift in a large sence for that which is communicating, yet the Scripture cals it so, To this