Of the l(,nor:Pled_v, of (jod the Father, . r~ Again 1 in the letting forth his Perfon ; my fcope is not h~rein to let forth the Bo o K IL Excellency and Glory of his Perlon, but the SubO:ance of hts Perfon. And in ~doing this, I £ball proceed, by degrees, a: our ~poO:le John alfo dtd, when he did fer himfelf to defcribe htm; he cloth 1t by ptece-meal, ::John r. r. In the be– ginning wa> the Word, that's his firO: O:ep ; and that Word wa>.with ?od, that's a fecond; A11d the Word in the begmnmg was wsth God, thats a thtrd; And the word was God, that's a fourth. He might have £but them all up in this Sentence, 1he Word was God, with God in the beginning. But he puts it into fo many feve– ral poiltive AJiertions; yea, and begim at ~he loweO:, namely, his having ex– ijl,d, The Word was, and that m the begmnmg. And then after that, tells us what he is, A 'Perfon d!flint1 from God ; He was with God, and yet was God. I £ball proceed in the like Method, and let him forth in fo many feveral AfTer– tions : Whereof each, or moO: of them, are dtrelled as oppofite to fome Er- · ror or other about his Perfon, which are now abroad in the World. And I will begin as John did, at his Exijlence; that is,_ his _having_ bem, whm, and how long. And ::John's firO: Affirmatton about htm, tS termtnated merely upon his ExiO:ence, he was, fays he. Addmg Withal the ctrcumflance of the Time ofhis Exijlwce, In the Beginning. t. Of his Bxijlence. When ? And How long ? Then of his Perfon ; Who, &c. And of his Exi(\ence; firfl, Becaufe the true under(\anding thereof will con– duce to the Knowledg of his Perfon, who he is. I. He is a Pcrfon who did actually eJtiO: before he can/C into the World, and was mt~de Flefh; and that had continued to exiO: all along the time of this World, both in the beginning of it, and before the World was, yea, from Eternity. 'TisO:range that the Sociniaus il10uld fo impudently, in the Light of this Go– fpel, and the Scriptures, fay, that Chrifl began but then to exi(\ aCl:ually, when he was firO: conceived by the Holy Ghofl in the Virgins Womb; and that be– fore he had exiO:ed but in Promifi. as the Day of Judgment doth now. As alfo fuch who hold ChriO: to be but the Manifel1ation of God in Man's Flelli: God . indeed, fay they, was afote; but ChriO:, as ChriO:, beeing but the Manifeflati– on of the Godhead in Man's Nature,exifled not until ChriO: the ManifeO:ation of Him : whereby they not only deny him to be a Perfon who did manifefl GOd ; but alfo neceflarily declare that ChriO:, as Chri(\, exiO:ed not until that Maoife– fiation of God in Man's Flelli. For the cxiflence of that which is only and barely a Manife(\ation, lies only in being the ManifeO:ation of fome thing that exifled afore, but it ftlf not till then. And this is, even as if a Man lliould fay, and affirm, that what all other Men call the Sun, is all one with what we term Day, and nothing elfe; which you know begins but in the Morning, and cealeth at Night, and is but the Shine and ManifeO:ation .of the Sun, when it rifetb and appears above our Hemifphere, or this part of the World. But look as the Sun is a Body of Light, that exiO:s alore itjs Day with us; and the ap– pearances of 1t ts that whtch maketh Day, yea, IS Day : So Chrifl ~he Son of I\ighteoulnefs, is not the bare ManifeO:ation of God, but a Perlon that exifled with God, yea, and was Qod afore tha.t !ylanife(\ation of.God made by him in tins World. And he IS not only.the brmgmg m, or mamfeO:ation of Life and Immortality which was in God; but himfelf was that eternal Life which was with the Father, as di(\intl: from him; and was manifefled to us 1 John r. 2 • R1 as Life and Immortality is made manifefl by his appearing, as ofa Perfon that brings it, and manifeO:s it, with the manifeflation of himfelf, 2 Tim.r.ro. And who alio is litid to manifejl himftlf 11nto 111, as well ?S the Father, John 14. 2 r. To confirm this our main Affertion, Let us trace his Exiflence punClually thro>~gh ill Times. The Pfalmil1 lays of him, Pfolm. ro2. 24. Thy Tears are thro118ho11t ,J!i Generatsons. \Vhtch Pfalm the Apoflle quoteth of him Heb.r. ro. Let •ts g.>fro'1l_Point t o Point,. and fee how in Particulars the Script~res accord With tt, T he hr(\ Jomt of T tme we wtll begm that Chronology of his Exi– O:encewithal, ts, that InO:ant afore he was to come into the World. Firfi;
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