PROPOSITION XIX. 179 perior character of a sovereign king, in the personof the Father, and may be said also to sustain these inferior characters of an ambassador, and a resident, and to fulfil these offices in the per- sons of the Son and Spirit. I confess these " similes" borrowed from earthly things, are very imperfect, and insufficient to represent things divineand heavenly ; but perhaps they may serve to strike some little light upon this sacred mystery. PROP. XIX.-Nor do these inferior Natures, Characters or Agencies, at all hinder our firm Belief of the Godhead of these Three Persons, which is so plainly expressed in Scripture, nor should it abate or diminish our Sacred Regards to them. Whatsoever inferior nature may be united to the godhead in any of the divine persons, or whatsoever inferior characters or offices they may sustain in the matters of our salvation, these do not at all take away, or diminish the nature or dignity of the godhead, subsisting in that person. The divine. nature must still maintain its own honour and eternal dignity ; for God must be God for ever, and cannot divest himself of his own real and essential glories, whatsoever condescending forms and offices he may assume, in order to fulfil his wondrous counsels, and designs of power or love, of creation or providence, or the greater work of redemption. To make this very plain, r would express myself here thus in imitation of Doctor Owen speaking of Christ. Each nature united in the person of Christ, is entire, and preserves to itself its own naturalproperties. For he is no less true-and perfect God, for being united to man ; nor is he less a true, perfect man, . consisting of soul and body, by being united to God. His di- vine nature still continues omniscient, omnipotent, infinite, &c. His human nature finite, or ]united, in knowledge and. power, and was, before its glorification, subject to all infirmities of life, and death, to which the same nature in others absolutely consi- dered, is obnoxious. In each of these natures, he acts suitably to the essen- tial properties and principles of that nature. As God, he made all things, upholds all things by the word of his power, fills heaven and earth, &c. As man, he lived, hungered, suffered, died, rose, ascended into heaven. Yet by reason of the union of both these natures in the same person sometimes the per- son Christ may be said to do all these things and sometimes the actions of one nature are attributed to the other ; so God is said to lay down his life for us, &c. as I have shewn before. So in the Holy Spirit, the dignity of divine nature is pre- served entire; and, thus it acts like itself, with sòvereign *Litho- ix 2
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