man hath the Witnesse in himselfe." In this Trinity on Earth the Unity
is not of the thing; for the Spirit, the Water, and the Bloud, are not
the same substance, though they give the same testimony: But in the
Trinity of Heaven, the Persons are the persons of one and the same God,
though Represented in three different times and occasions. To conclude,
the doctrine of the Trinity, as far as can be gathered directly from
the Scripture, is in substance this; that God who is alwaies One and the
same, was the Person Represented by Moses; the Person Represented by
his Son Incarnate; and the Person Represented by the Apostles. As
Represented by the Apostles, the Holy Spirit by which they spake, is
God; As Represented by his Son (that was God and Man), the Son is that
God; As represented by Moses, and the High Priests, the Father, that is
to say, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is that God: From whence
we may gather the reason why those names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in
the signification of the Godhead, are never used in the Old Testament:
For they are Persons, that is, they have their names from Representing;
which could not be, till divers men had Represented Gods Person in
ruling, or in directing under him.
Thus wee see how the Power Ecclesiasticall was left by our Saviour
to the Apostles; and how they were (to the end they might the better
exercise that Power,) endued with the Holy Spirit, which is therefore
called sometime in the New Testament Paracletus which signifieth an
Assister, or one called to for helpe, though it bee commonly translated
a Comforter. Let us now consider the Power it selfe, what it was, and
over whom.
The Power Ecclesiasticall Is But The Power To Teach
Cardinall Bellarmine in his third generall Controversie, hath handled a
great many questions concerning the Ecclesiasticall Power of the Pope
of Rome; and begins with this, Whether it ought to be Monarchicall,
Aristocraticall, or Democraticall. All which sorts of Power, are
Soveraign, and Coercive. If now it should appear, that there is no
Coercive Power left them by our Saviour; but onely a Power to proclaim
the Kingdom of Christ, and to perswade men to submit themselves
thereunto; and by precepts and good counsell, to teach them that have
submitted, what they are to do, that they may be received into the
Kingdom of God when it comes; and that the Apostles, and other Ministers
of the Gospel, are our Schoolemasters, and not our Commanders, and their
Precepts not Laws, but wholesome Counsells then were all that dispute in
vain.
An Argument Thereof, The Power Of Christ Himself