fecond State will be no longer a State of Humiliation, nor Chrift any longer an Example of Humility: For, if he was not better than a Servant before he was a Servant, his being a Servant was his Lot and Condition, not his Choice; it was owing to the Order of Nature and Providence, and not to his Humility; and he was no more humble in being born to be a Servant, than others are who are born to the fame State; and often too without the Humility which proper and neceffary to their Condition.

is

Secondly, It is implied in the Argument, That he was in Poffeffion of whatever be longed to his State of Dignity and Excellence, before he underwent any thing that belonged to his State of Humiliation For his voluntarily defcending from his Dignity, to a lower and meaner Condition, is the very Act and real Ground and Foundation of his Humility; and therefore whatever is meant by his being in the Form of God, or whatever is meant by his being made in the Likeness of Men, thus much at least is evident, that he was in the Form of God, before he was made in the Likeness of Men; because his being made in the Likenefs of Men is given as one great Inftance

of

of his Humility: But his being in the Form of God was his very Dignity and Excel lence: And therefore, as it is neceffarily fuppofed that his Dignity was antecedent to his Humility, it is likewife neceffary to affert, that he was in the Form of God, before he was made in the Likeness of Man.

Thirdly, It is neceffarily implied in the Argument, That he underwent whatever be longed to his State of Humiliation, before he enjoyed any thing that belonged to his State of Exaltation; because his Exalta-i tion was the Effect and Reward of his Humility; and being purchased and obtained by his Humility, it could not be antecedent to it: Confequently it neceffarily follows, That his natural State of Dignity, and his acquired State of Exaltation, are two perfectly different and diftin&t States; fince one was evidently antecedent to, the other as evidently confequent to his Humiliation : From whence it follows, That his being in the Form of God, being the Dignity which he was poffeffed of before his Humiliation, does not belong to him in virtue of any thing he did or fuffered; nor is any Part of that Glory to which he was exalted, or B 4 which

which he received after or upon account of his Sufferings.

This ought to be the more particularly infifted on, because it is a common Mistake to think, that because Chrift was exalted to Glory at his Refurrection, and for the Suffering of Death crowned with Glory and Honour, as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaks, that therefore all Glory and Honour, and all Dignity and Excellence, which are ever afcribed to him, belong to him only. in confequence of his Suffering and Obedience. From hence it is, that some Men think it a fufficient Answer to all Arguments. drawn from the Attributes of Power and Knowledge, and the like, to prove the Eternity and Divinity of the Logos, to fay, that Christ received his Glory at his Refurrection, and was made perfect through Sufferings; and therefore the Glory and Power which are any where afcribed to him, are. not his natural Perfections, but his acquired. Honours, and of no antienter a Date than. the Redemption: But this is not to answer. the Arguments, but to confound the distinct States of Glory which belong to Chrift; the Glory which he had with the Father before

the

the Worlds, and the Glory which he received from the Father at the Redemption: One the Glory of Nature; the other the Glory of Office: One the Glory of the eternal Logos; the other the Glory of the Son of Man.

and for him;

Thus, for Inftance, we find the Glory which he had with the Father before the Worlds to be exprefly founded upon his creating the Worlds: Who is the Image of the invifible God, the First-born of every Creature; for by him were all Things created that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, vifible and invifible; whether they be Thrones, or Dominions, or Principalities, or Powers. All Things were created by him, and he is before all Things, and by him all Things confift. Coloff. i. 15, 16, 17. And in the very next Verse the Apostle mentions. an Honour belonging to his State of Exaltation, and founds it exprefly upon his Refurrection, as he has done what went before upon his Power of Creation: And he is, fays he, the Head of the Body, the Church; who is the Beginning, the First-born from the Dead. ver. 18. As Lord of all, he is styled the First-born of every Creature; as Head of

the

the Church, Firft-born from the Dead. Thefe then are different States, and founded in different Characters.

Thus in St. John we may often observe the fame Difference. To raife the Dead is a Power equivalent to that of Creation; and therefore St. John tells us, The Hour is coming, and now is, when the Dead fhall hear the Voice of the Son of God. John v. 25. v. 25. In the very next Verse but one, fpeaking of his being Judge of the World, which belongs to him in virtue of the Redemption, and is one of the Glories of his Exaltation, he fays, that the Father bath given him Authority to execute Judgment also, because he is the Son of Man. Surely it is not for nothing that St. John, in the Compass of four or five Lines, fpeaks of him under different Characters; and what can the Reason be, but that there are distinct Powers and Glories belonging to his distinct States? And therefore when the Evangelift méntions the Powers of one Kind, it was neceffary to mention the proper Character from whence they flowed; when he mentioned the Powers of the other Kind, it was neceflary to mention the other Character to which they belonged; and therefore it is

that