Deprived of life that life which the Text speaketh of viz. Eternall life which is begun in Grace perfected in Glory of this life are all men naturally deprived Being destitute of the Life of Grace so saith S. Paul of the Gentiles before conversion Eph. 4 18. They were alienated estranged from the life of God That life whereby God liveth in his Saints the life of grace they were strangers to it they knew not what it meant destitute of this Spirituall life and shut out from the life of glory Rom. 3.23 All have sinned saith S. Paul speaking of the universality of man-kind and are deprived of the glory of God They come short of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deficiuntur they are cast behind A Metaphor saith Beza taken from runners in a Race Beza Gr. Ann. who through naturall weaknesse or by a fall or some like impediment are so far cast behind as that it is not possible they should ever fetch it up again so as to win the prize So fareth it with all men naturally through the fall of Adam in whose loyns then they were and through their own naturall weaknesse thereby contracted they are so far cast behind that do what they can improve the power of nature to the uttermost they can never of themselves come up to the goal so as to win the prize never attain eternal life All deprived of life And 2. All subjected unto death 2. Subjected unto death Gen. 3.17 and that by vertue of that first threatning The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death Gen. 3. All subjected to a threefold death Temporall Spirituall and Eternall Temporall of the Body Spirituall of the Soul Eternall both of Soul and Body Being all inevitably subject to the first lying under the power of the second and under the sentence of the third Having their Bodies mortall their Souls dead Dead in trespasses and sins Eph. 2.1 Souls and Bodies bound over unto Eternall death which consisteth in an eternall separation from the presence of God in whose presence is life an eternall confinement to that place and state of torment prepared for the divel and his angels all which if need were might be made good in particulars And herein is the forlorn perishing state and condition of all men by nature that it is so it cannot be denyed But how cometh it to be so See the ground and cause of it in the Type This hath the Serpent done Reas This hath the Serpent done The Israelites being stung or bitten by those fiery serpents though both strong and healthfull before they were now but dead men carrying death in their bosomes and so fareth it with the sons of men however created in a blessed state and condition in a healthfull constitution as I may say with a posse non mori a possibility of being immortall yet upon the stinging of the serpent the old serpent fastning his sting in Adam through him transfusing his poyson the deadly poyson of sin to all his posterity hereby they are become so wretched so miserable all dead men in a perishing condition so the Apostle layeth it down clearly and plainly in that knowne Text Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin so death passed upon all for that all have sinned Mark it Here is the head and spring of all that evill of sin and misery which hath broken in upon mankind Adam sinned and sinning died being thereupon subjected to that threefold death Now Adam thus dying and perishing all his posterity perished in him and with him even as it is with a tree the Root dying all the Branches die in it and with it So standeth the case betwixt Adam and his posterity Adam was the common Root of mankind all others of the sons of men were in him Tanquam in radice as Branches in the Root and so consequently he dying they all die in him and with him Thus briefly you see both the truth of this first Conclusion and the ground of it As briefly bring we it home by way of Application and so passe to the other Conclusions which are here more expresly layd down in the Text. 1. By way of Conviction Vse 1. Conviction See this to be our state Is this the state of all men by nature Be we then convinced that this is our estate in particular An easie matter it is to beleeve confesse and acknowledge this truth in the gross in the generall that all men by nature are in a perishing state lost men and women children of perdition to bring it home to a mans selfe in particular to be convinced and made sensible that this is my estate thy estate here is a difficulty a thing which few do or endeavour to do and hence it is that men being in the state of nature are so little or nothing affected with the dangerousnesse of that condition They can lie and continue in that estate wherein they were born and yet never be troubled at it never affected with it What is the reason hereof Why they look upon this truth only in the grosse in the generall notion of it Now Generalities doe not affect Genera nec agunt nec patiuntur Certainly were men but once throughly convinced and perswaded that this is their estate in particular they would not so quietly and contentedly sit downe in it they would never be at rest untill they have got some evidence some assurance unto their own souls that they are gotten out of that estate brought out of this state of nature into a state of grace And therefore in the fear of God as many of you as were never yet throughly convinced of the truth hereof now let it into your souls and do not suffer vain thoughts to lodge within you as viz. that you shall do as well as others so you may and yet be miserable enough or that whatever become of others yet it shall go well with you what saith our Saviour to the Jews flattering themselves with the like thoughts viz. That however the judgements of God might light upon others yet they should escape Not so saith he Except ye repent Luke 13.3 ye shall all likewise perish Let it be spoken to every secure sinner that stands before me this day that lieth sleeping in his naturall state and condition flattering himselfe with a selfe conceited apprehension that he is not as some others as the Pharisee said of himself no Swearer no Drunkard no profane no scandalous person and hereupon speaks peace to his own soul promising to himself immunity from that wrath of God which shall fall upon others I tell you nay but except ye repent except ye be renewed changed brought out of that estate of nature and brought home unto God by Christ ye shall likewise perish Your estate being for the present that estate wherein you were born it is a perishing state a state of perdition so as living
man is a sinner say the Pharisees to the blind man John 9. Joh. 9.24 that is a great and notorious sinner Mark 15.28 Isai 53.12 He was numbred among the transgressors saith the Evangelist citing that of the Prophet Esay Nay more having as a surety taken upon him the sins of the world the world of his Elect he was now a sinner by imputation and the greatest sinner in the world 2 Cor. 5. last He was made sin for us saith the Apostle viz. by Imputation having the iniquities of many Isai 53. ver 6. and 12. of us all laid upon him And herein fitly answering the Type wherein we have a Serpent stinging and a Serpent healing Rom. 5.19 Ex serpente morbi per serpente medicinae Per hominem peccatum mors per hominem justificatio resurrectio H. Gâ—oti in Text. Even thus by a man came sin and death and by a man cometh righteousness and life The first Adam woundeth being a man like unto us the second Adam healeth being a man like unto us also God could have found out many other Antidotes and remedies against the poysonous stingings of these Serpents but he makes choise of this A Serpent stings and a Serpent must heale Even so possibly he could have found out many other wayes and means for the Redeeming and saving of his people but his Wisdom puts it upon this way as most congruous and convenient 1 Cor. 15.21 that as by a man came death so by a man should come the Resurrection of the dead that as in Adam all die so in Christ should all be made alive as the Apostle goeth on 1 Cor. 15. 2. Christ was like unto us Men Christ like unto us sinful men Serpentem hunc aeneum in eo Christi gessisse imaginem quòd alius erat quà m videbatur rectè notavit adversus Tryphonem Justinus de eo serpente sic loquens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 H. Grot. ibid. us sinful men but himself not sinful Even as that Serpent was like unto other Serpents but without the sting and poyson that was in them Thus our blessed Saviour how ever he carried the similitude of sinful flesh yet he was no wayes infected or tainted with sin whether Original or Actual Free from the poyson of Original sin which had infected the nature of all other men Being sanctified in his conception by the supernatural work of the Spirit he was born holy That holy thing which shall be born of thee Luke 1. Luke 1.35 Free from Actual sin He did no sin neither was there guile found in his mouth 1 Pet. 2. 1 Pet. 2.22 And here again behold the Truth answering to the Type The stinging of those poysonous Serpents cured by a Serpent that had neither sting nor poyson The sting and poyson guilt and power of sin taken away by him that was free from both Christ hath suffered for sins saith St. Peter the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God 1 Pet. 3. 1 Pet. 3.18 He was made sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. last Here is a second resemblance in the form of this Serpent 3. 3. The occasion of making and setting it up Vpon what occasion was this Serpent made and set up Why upon the deadly biting and stinging of the Israelites by those fiery Serpents whereof some were dead already others in eminent danger of death Behold here what it was that occasioned the making and lifting up of this true Brasen Serpent what occasioned the Eternal Son of God to take our nature upon him in that nature to suffer to die It was our Misery that called for this Mercy we were all stung and mortally stung by the old Serpent who fastning upon our first Parents through them transfused his poyson unto all their posterity Even as one of those fiery serpents fastning upon one member the poyson thereof ran through the whole body inflaming and infecting the blood and spirits in every part Even thus that old serpent the divel fastning the sting of his Tentation in the heart of our first Parents bringing them to transgress the Command and so to break the Covenant of their God he thereby not only wounded them to the death but through them trasmitted that deadly poyson to the whole mass of mankind being then in their loyns Rom. 5.12 so Death passed upon all men saith the Apostle For that all have sinned All the sons of men being in Adam tanquà m in radice as in the common stock and root they sinned in him and so death which had seazed upon him passed upon them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pervasit a Metaphor taken from poyson say some Instar occulti veneni penetravit Pareus Com. ad loc which being received into the stomack it passeth through the whole body secretly dispersing it self through all the veines Thus did the poyson of the old Serpent being taken in by our first Parents it presently passed through the whole body of mankinde transfusing it self into our veynes so as we are all by nature no better then dead men As Mephibosheth once said to David All of my fathers house were but dead men before my Lord the King 2 Sam. 19.28 Such are all the posterity of Adam through his transgression and rebellion against the God of heaven Dead men Anshei Maveth Men of death not only subject to natural but under the power of a spiritual and bound over unto eternal death And here is the occasion of bringing in this true Brasen Serpent of sending a Saviour into the world Had not the Israelites sinned and upon their sin been punished after that manner that Brasen Serpent had never been made Had not Adam sinned and sinning died and all his posterity in him we should not have needed a Saviour The Son of God should not have needed to take our nature upon him in that nature to suffer to die It was our sin and misery that occasioned this Mercy And let the one ever put us in minde of the other The Cross of Christ mindeth us of our sin and misery The Brasen serpent standing in the midst of the Campe it could not but be a memorial to the Israelites to put them in minde of what misery they had brought upon themselves by provoking the anger of God against them The like use make we of the beholding of Christ crucified When he is held forth unto us by the Ministers of the Gospel in the Word and Sacraments Gal. 3.1 there crucified before our eyes when we consider what he hath done what he hath suffered for us and reflect upon our selves and there take notice of the occasion of this abasement What was it that should draw the Son of God from heaven to earth to become the son of man to take our nature upon him in that nature to do and suffer what he
in them which heard it The same may we say of the Sacraments God's Sealing Ordinances so they are to the Beleever sealing up unto him his Interest in Christ and all his Benefits but meeting with a Faithlesse heart they are but like Seals to the Blank assuring nothing conveying nothing And what wee say of Word and Sacraments holding forth Christ wee may say it of Christ himselfe Him hath God the Father set forth to bee a Prince and a Saviour induring him with vertue enough to heal and save the world of mankind yet without Faith this vertue cannot reach cannot extend to us The vertue of the Brasen Serpent extended only to those who having eyes made use of them in looking upon it as for those who either could not or would not look upon it they had no Benefit by it There is in Jesus Christ an All-sufficiency of Merit and Vertue for the healing and saving of all poor lost sinners but as for those who either cannot or will not beleeve on him that cannot as Pagans and Paynims who never so much as heard of the name of Christ Rom. 10. How shall they beleeve on him of whom they have not heard that will not as profane and secure Christians how should they have any benefit by him How should that Vertue extend to them this is the Office of Faith to apply Christ Now a Plaister be it never so soveraign and sanative yet if not applyed to the sore it will do a man no good No more will the Blood of Jesus Christ if not applyed to the soul by faith And therefore to draw to a close of this Conclusion whatever other graces we have or want seek after Faith Faith will do that to us which no other grace either will or can Were it possible that all other Graces could bee severed from Faith yet could they not advantage us in the great businesse of Justification and Salvation In this case a weak faith will be of more use to us then any then all other Graces Even as a dim weak eye was of more use to an Israelite being stung then any then all the other members of his body It was not a quick ear an eloquent tongue a strong arme an active hand a nimble foot that could stand him in any stead It was his eye which next to the Brasen Serpent healed him It is not knowledge though Angelicall it is not repentance sorrow for sin though never so deep aversion from sin though never so serious it is not patience humility not any inward qualification or outward performance that can justifie can save us Onely Faith Faith looking up unto Jesus Christ Here is the necessity of our beleeving 6. To this in the last place Adde the great utility the great benefit accruing from 6. The Benefit accruing from it this our believing on Christ Faith though in it selfe it may bee weak yet great matters depend upon it even as great estates are somtimes held by small acknowledgements hundreds a year by a pepper kernell Upon this depends our eternall happinesse and salvation Believing wee shall not perish Believing wee shall have eternall life So runs the insurance in the Text. The Son of man must be lift up that whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish but have eternall life And so I am fallen upon the fourth and last Conclusion which I shall dispatch with all convenient brevity Whosoever believeth on Jesus Christ shall have full and perfect salvation by him Conclus 4. Whoso beleeveth on Christ shall have perfect salvation by him where consider he shall not perish but have eternall life For the opening and prosecuting of this Conclusion two things here may be taken notice of 1. The benefit insured And 2. The Extent of that benefit The benefit it selfe is partly Privative partly Positive Privative deliverance from death He shall not perish Positive fruition of life and that eternall life He shall have eternall life The Extent of it is Indefinite Universall to all that performe the condition Whosoever beleeveth c. Of each of these severally and briefly by way of Explication Illustration joyntly by way of Application The Benefit it selfe accruing to the true beleever is Hee shall not perish 1. The Benefit it selfe which is 1. Privative They shall not perish There is the privative part of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non pereat May not perish The phrase alludeth to the Israelites who being stung by the fiery Serpents in the wildernesse before the Brasen Serpent was set up in an ordinary course they perished They were destroyed of the Serpents 1 Cor. 10.9 saith the Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is the same with that in the Text They perished by those Serpents that is they died upon their stinging So the story maketh it out Numb 21.6 Much people of Israel died Quest But what do men then perish in death Whether men do perish in death Ans I answer properly they do not To perish properly it imports a cessation of being when a thing ceaseth to be what it was so as never to return to that state again Thus the bruit creature perisheth Psal 49.12.20 The bruit beast that perisheth saith the Psalmist Being resolved into its principles it ceaseth to be what it was so as never to live never to be againe This is properly to perish but thus men do not perish no not wicked men they die indeed but they perish not well were it for them that they might do so that death might put an end as to their Life so to their Being but this it shall not do Their souls being immortall they cannot die and their Bodies though they die and bee turned to the dust from whence they came yet they shall be raised up again at the last day Joh. 5.28 29. All that are in the graves shall come forth Properly men do not perish in death I but they seem so to do though they do not perish as the bruit Beasts yet they seem so to perish Man is become like the beast that perisheth Like it as in other things Psal 49. so in his perishing That which befalleth the sons of men saith the Preacher befalleth beasts Eccl. 3.19 even one thing befalleth them as the one dieth so dyeth the other Eccles 3.19 In the outward appearance there is no difference between the one and the other Ibid. They have all one breath so that a man hath no preheminence above a beast much less a wicked man as the bruit beast dieth so dieth he both dying without hope without hope of a better life Thus dyeth the bruit beast and thus dyeth the Wicked man As he lived without hope so he dyeth without hope Having no hope Eph. 2.12 and so he perisheth his Hopes perish When a wicked man dieth his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth Pro. 11.7 I and himselfe perisheth Hee so dieth as never to
him 175 T. Type why made use of by our Saviour 4 W. Liberty of Will in the work of conversion decryed 160 Will not forced in the work of Conversion 192 Men drawn out of the World how 166 The Word Christs Instrument in drawing men to himself 171 The Word being the Drawing Ordinance is to be submitted to 191 ERRATA P. 2. l. 27. r. represented p. 8. l. 9. r. Handkerchiefes ibid. marg r. Fernelius p. 18. marg r. per Serpentem p. 21. l. ult dele And. p. 23. l. 30. for where r. whence p. 29. marg r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 30. l. 11. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 33. l. 8. for hear r. here p. 41. l. 9. for grace r. cure p. 70. l. 32. dele up p. 7. 6. l. 7. r. quovis p. 107. l. last r. turned to dust p. 145. marg r. salvet p. 149. marg r. ex Gentibus p. 160. marg for decayed r. decryed p. 162. l. 29. r. not all THE MYSTICALL BRASEN SERPENT JOHN 3. Ver. 14.15 14. And as Moses lift up the Serpent in the Wildernesse even so must the Son of Man be lifted up 15. That whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternall life THE former part of this Chapter spends it selfe in the report of a usefull conference betwixt our Blessed Saviour and Nicodemus Coherence Wherin we may hear a gracious Master teaching and instructing an untoward and ignorant Scholer insome of the chiefest principles of Christian Religion as viz. The Mystery and Necessity of Spirituall Regeneration that he doth in the verses before the Text. The Meritorious and Instrumentall cause of Man's salvation The meritorious cause of it his owne Death and Passion The Instrumentall cause of it Faith in himselfe Both these you have in the words which I have now read unto you And as Moses c. Division In which two verses our Blessed Saviour informes this his Scholer and us of two things 1. The manner of his owne Death 2. The end and use of it The manner of his death ver 14. As Moses c. The end and use of it ver 15. That whosoever beleeveth c. The manner of Christs death set forth by a Typicall expression Begin with the former of these which our Saviour sets forth as you see not in plaine and open termes but under a covert expression making use of one of the Types and figures of the old Testament for the confirming and illustrating of what he would have Nichodemus and us to know and beleeve concerning his own death as viz. That he should die How he should die To what end he should die What benefit should redound from his death and By what means it should be conveyed all lively presented and held forth in this Type of the Brasen Serpent which Moses lift up in the Wildernesse Even as Moses c. So must the Son of Man be lift up Here two things considerable the Type Truth Here then two things mainly considerable the Type and the Truth the Shadow and the Substance The Type or Shadow the Brasen Serpent lift up The Truth or Substance of that Type that shadow The Son of Man lift up These two I shall look upon first severally then joyntly Severally 1. The Type the Brasen Serpent Beginning with the former of them the Type For so I look upon this Brasen Serpent as having in the first institution of it a double use to the Israelites the one Corporall the other Spirituall A Corporall use for the healing of their Bodies A Spirituall use directing them to Christ for the healing of their Souls Of such double use was the Mannah to them both Corporall and Spirituall food Corporall food given them for the present refreshing and nourishing of their bodies Spirituall food as being a Sacrament of the Body of Christ and of the nourishment which they might receive from him And of like use was the water which issued out of the Rock Usefull as water for the quenching of their bodily thirst as a Sacrament representing the Blood of Christ and so was to them not only Corporall but Spirituall drink so saith the Apostle himselfe expresly concerning both these 1 Cor. 10.3.4 Our fathers did all eat the same Spirituall meat and did all drink of the same Spirituall drink c. The same not only with themselves but with us Christians viz. the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ represented by those Sacraments And the like we may say of this Brasen Serpent The Brasen Serpent both a Medicine and a Mystery It was to the Israelites both a Medicine and a Mystery Having in it a Medicinall use for the curing of their Bodies a Mysticall use for the representing of Christ to them by whom their Souls might be cured saved And of such use our Saviour here maketh it bringing it in not barely by way of Similitude and resemblance but as a Type and Figure purposely destinated and appointed to point at himself So taking it here premise we these two enquiries concerning it the one more Generall the other more Particular 1. Why did our Saviour here make use of a Type a figure 2. Why of this Type this Figure Quest 1. Why our Saviour here maketh use of a Type Quest 1. For the former Why did our Saviour here make use of a Type Answer Ferus ad loc Answ For this we shall need no other reason but only to look upon the Scholer with whom he hath to deal Nichodemus a Pharisee ver 1. A Master in Israel ver 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Doctor a Teacher of the Law one well versed in the Law one that stood much upon the Law Joh. 9.28 one of Moses his Disciples And hereupon our Saviour being to deal with him deales with him in his owne Element fetching an Argument from the Old Testament from Moses to teach and convince him concerning that which should be accomplished under the New Testament in himselfe Quest 2. Why this Type Quest 2. But why doth he single out this Type rather then any other Many other Types and Figures there were in the Old Testament very lively representing and holding forth the Death and Passion of Christ As viz. the Paschall Lamb and the daily Sacrifices both which the Jews themselves do acknowledge to point at the Messiah Why doth our Saviour here make choice of this Answer 1. To this it may bee answered Answ 1. No Type more lively representing the thing typifyed 1. Amongst all those Types there was not any more lively more fully representing and setting forth the mystery of Christ then this of the Brasen Serpent A Type which contains in it a Sermon of the whole summ and Marrow of the Gospel Little or nothing necessary to be known and beleeved concerning Jesus Christ but wee may read it in this one Type 2. Besides in the second place amongst all the Types in the Old Testament
took not upon him the nature of Angels saith the Apostle but the seed of Abraham And so was he made the Son of Abraham the Son of David the Son of Man Here is the truth of his humane nature 2. The Meannesse of his condition 2. The meanness of his condition Thus the phrase is sometime used in Scripture carrying a Tapeinôsis with it The Son of Man that is mean man miserable man Man that is a worme and the Son of man that is a worm saith Bildad in Job chap. 25. Job 25.6 Lord what is man saith the Psalmist that thou art mindfull of him Psal 8.4 Isa 51.12 or the Son of Man that thou regardest him Poor man base man So our Translation renders that of the Psalmist Psal 49.2 Both Low and high rich and poor together And so again Psal 62 9. Surely men of low degree are vanity and men of high degree are a lie In both places the Originall hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Beni Adam Filii Hominis The Sons of man that is as the Septuagint renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Earth-born As the Latines were wont to call ignoble persons H. Grot. Annot. in Mat. 8.20 Terrae filios Sons of the earth so here Filii Adam Sons of earthie man base man opposed there to Beni Ish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Filii viri The sons of noble man The phrase there imports meanness of condition And so it doth in those places forenamed where this stile is given to Ezekiel and Daniel The Angel calls them Sons of Man to humble them by puting them in mind of their frail condition And in a like sense our Saviour applyeth it to himselfe importing his state of humiliation and abasement upon earth wherein he subjected himselfe to a meane and vulgar condition Being God blessed for ever and the Lord of all he emptied himselfe so the Originall hath it Phil. 2.7 Phil. 2.7 Descripsit hāc voce Christus suam illam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 de quae agitur Phil. 2.7 H. Grot. ibid. Quasi ex Omni Seipsum ad Nihil redegit Bez. Annot. Gr. Mat. 8.20 Nec aliud est hic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quà m apud Isaram cap. 53.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 H. Grot. Annot. in Matt. 8.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sese inanivit he evacuated himself made himselfe of no reputation saith our Translation devesting himselfe of his robes of Majesty and glory he brought himselfe as it were from all things to nothing And took upon him the form of a servant subjected himself to a servile mean condition so as not to be the owner of any thing And in this regard he calls himselfe the Son of man The Son of man hath not where to lay his head the phrase sounding as much as that of the Prophet Isaiah Isai 53.3 Contemptus abjectissimus virorum as Junius renders it a man despised and rejected of men 3. These reasons of the phrase are generall There is a third which is more peculiar to the Text Christ here stileth himselfe the Son of Man 3. The Nature which suffered shewing in what nature he was to bee lifted up to be crucifyed viz. in his humane nature Not as the Son of God but as the son of Man True indeed by reason of the union of the two Natures in one Person and by a communication of properties as Divines call it the Death and Passion of Christ is attributed to the whole Person which is denominated sometimes from one nature sometimes from another And thence it is the Apostle saith That Acts 20.28 God purchased the Church with his own blood that is that person who was truly God as well as man 1 Cor. 2.8 he shed his blood which he did not as God but as man Whole Christ was lift up suffered died but it was according to his humane Nature So St. Peter explaineth it 1 Pet. 3.18 Christ was put to death in the flesh So again Chap. 4.1 Christ suffered in the flesh that is in or according to his humane Nature As for the Godhead it was immortal impassible it could neither die nor suffer It was the Manhood that was the proper and immediate subject of this Passion And therefore saith our Saviour The Son of Man must be lift up The Type resembling the Truth the Brasen Serpent Christ in To dwell no longer upon the Phrase Come we now to bring these two together the Type and the Truth the Serpent and the Son of Man and see how the one resembles and answers to the other These Resemblances are many But I shall not take up every particular I shall onely reflect upon those few which I named already Beginning with 1. The Matter Isai 45.2 1. The Matter of the Serpent It was Brass Brass a strong and durable mettal enduring both the Hammer and the Fire a fit Emblem of strength Whence it is that strong impediments are called Gates of Brass Psal 107.16 And an imprignable strength is called a Wall of Brass Jer. 1.18 and Chap. 15.20 Dr. Taylour Christ revealed p. 308. Isai 9.6 And herein some observe a fit resemblance of Christ who was the Lord strong and mighty as he is called Psal 24.8 strong to stand against all the powers of Hell A brasen wall mighty to deliver his people Mighty to subdue and destroy his enemies And thence described by his feet of Brass Revel 2.15 Able to tread under foot all adverse power Mighty to suffer and undergo what ever the Justice of God should inflict The humame Nature of Christ in it self was weak but being supported by the power of the Godhead dwelling in it it was mightily enabled for the enduring of what ever sufferings Hereby the flesh of Christ became as Brass It was Jobs speech of himself Is my strength the strength of stones or is my flesh of Brass Job 6. Job 6.12 Truly such was the flesh of Christ in his sufferings made able to undergo that which all the men and Angels in the world must needs have sunk under 2. For the form or fashion 2. The Form It was a Serpent such in appearance not in truth having the shape of a Serpent but neither the sting nor poyson And herein again fitly representing this Son of man Heb. 4.15 who was a man like unto us in all things sin onely excepted Herein two particulars 1. Christ was like unto us To us Men Christ like unto us men He was made in the likeness of men saith the Apostle 2 Phil. Phil. 2.7 that is of us meer men I of us sinful men Rom. 8.3 God sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh Rom. 8. Even as that Brasen serpent carried the likeness of other poysonous and venomous Serpents so did Christ carry the similitude of sinful flesh being a sinner both by Reputation and Imputation In common repute a sinner a great sinner We know that this
where ever the Gospel is preached God's Ministers they are his Standard-bearers and their work is to lift up Christ for indeed what is the Gospel but a Doctrine concerning Christ concerning his one Person two Natures three Offices his Obedience Merits Benefits In all holding forth Christ that the people might behold look up to him beleeve on him Thus is Christ there lifted up A truth and a usefull one which I will not wholly exclude out of the Text. The first sense proper to the Text. But the stream of other Expositors Ancient and Modern and that for ought I know with one consent carry the sense another way understanding the phrase in the first sense of the Death and Passion of Christ There was the Son of Man lift up and that in a literall sense lift up upon the Crosse and of this I conceive our Saviour here to speak In this sense we find this phrase used by himselfe in two other places of this Gospel Joh. 8.28 and 12.32 in the former place he tells the Jewes When you have lifted up the Son of Man then you shall know that I am hee Now how did they lift him up Why by crucifying him lifting him up upon the Crosse The later Text is expresse and full And I saith our Saviour if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men after me Lifted up how why the next verse explains it This spake he saith the Evangelist signifying what death he should die Thus the people there understood him as appears by the 34. verse of that Chapter and I see no reason why we should not so understand him here in the Text as under this phrase notifying to Nichodemus and us both his owne death and the Manner of his Death Quest But here the Question may be why our Saviour should here make use of this dark and covert expression Quest Why our Saviour here maketh use of this expression why doth he not rather in plain and simple termes say So must the Son of Man be crucifyed but he must bee lifted up Ans Answ Not to insist upon what some collect from it though true and usefull 1. Our Saviour calleth his Death a lifting up because say they it was the way to his Exaltation 1. The Cross the way to his Exaltation He shall drink of the Brook in the way saith the Psalmist therefore shall he lift up the head Psal 110. Psal 110. last which some understand of the bitter Cup of the Passion making way to his glorious Exaltation Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory Luk. 24. Luke 24.26 He humbled himself c. Therefore God highly exalted him lifted him up Phil. 2. Phil. 2.8 9. His Humilintion was the way to his Exaltation 2. Nay more It was to him an Exaltation 2. The Crosse it self an Exaltation Christ in his death however he seemed to be depressed humbled yet he was even then exalted in as much as therein he triumphed over his and his Churches enemies overcoming even there where he seemed to be overcome Overcoming Death by dying Sin Satan Hell by suffering yeelding Even there in his Passion upon the Cross he spoyled Principalities and Powers Colos 2.15 triumphing over them as the Apostle hath it In it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. in his Passion upon the Crosse which was to him as a Chariot of Triumph Never did Conqueror triumph so gloriously in his Chariot as Christ upon his Crosse And in this regard the Death and Passion of Christ might here be called an Exaltation a lifting up 3 The phrase alluding to the Type the Brasen Serpent which was 3 But to let both these passe It is enough our Saviour here maketh use of this phrase being led to it by the Type which not onely shadowed out his Death but the manner or kind of his death and that most clearly and lively as I might show you in some particulars 1 The Brasen Serpent was lift up above the Earth 1 Lift up above the earth so was Christ in his death he was lift up from the earth as himselfe phraseth it Joh. 12.32 2 The Brasen Serpent was set upon a Pole 2 Upon a pole or perch and thus was Jesus Christ lift up upon the Tree He bare our sins saith Saint Peter 1 Pet. 2.23 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Apol. 2. in his own body upon the Tree 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super lignum illud upon that wood the wood of the Crosse The one typifying the other 3 The Brasen Serpent was lift up in the wildernesse 3. In the Wildernesse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In loco vasto pleno veneni in quo figura mundi Christi temporibus corruptissimi H. Grot. ad loc so saith the Text in a waste and solitary place full of venome and poyson and such saith Grotius was the world nay the Church in the time of Christ marvellously corrupted and impoysoned with all kind of Error and Superstition 4 The Brasen Serpent was so lifted up as that all the Camp of Israel might see it and to that end set up in the midst of the Camp 4. In the midst of the Camp that they might behold it from all quarters Thus was Christ lift up as it were in the midst of the world that the Elect of God in all ages in all places of the world might look up unto him 5 And lastly The Brasen Serpent was lift up that whoever beheld it might be healed 5. For a healing medicine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Simili effectu Grot. how mortally soever he was stung And to the same end was Christ lift up that whosoever looketh up to him by faith might be saved as the verse following explains the resemblance betwixt these two Thus was the Brasen Serpent lift up Christ lift up after the like manner and so was the Son of man lift up The death of Christ necessary And it was requisite he should be so so saith the Text So must the son of man be lifted up Must So our Saviour often layeth it down inculcating upon his Disciples the necessity of his death Matth. 16.21 From that time began Jesus to shew unto his Disciples how that he must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 24.26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oportet exaltari He must bee lift up The death of Christ was not a thing casual accidental much lesse needlesse no it was both needfull and necessary In a threefold respect Necessary How What in respect of Christ himself no. In him it was a free and voluntary act Phil. 2. 8. He humbled himselfe and became obedient to the death even the death of the crosse How then Why necessary in a threefold respect 1 In respect of
his creature That God bindeth some wicked and ungodly men over unto just condemnation for sin this he doth in justice yet is he not delighted in the destruction of his creature and thence is it that he hath provided a way and means of salvation for others Hee that lift up this brasen serpent in the wildernesse for those surviving Israelites he hath also lift up a Saviour for us delivering his own and onely Son to the death for us that he dying we might not die that believing on him we might not perish but have everlasting life Vse 3. And hath God done this for us Vse 3. Exhortation to make use of this remedy O let not this grace and mercy of his bee in vain to any of us When God had caused the brasen serpent to be set up in the wildernesse such as were stung with those fiery serpents I suppose they should not need to have been pressed to go out of their Tents to repaire and look up unto it for cure Such is our condition as you have heard All stung and that mortally by this old Serpent And such hath Gods mercy been he hath provided a brasen serpent for us caused his Son to bee lift up for us O let us not now neglect so great salvation but come forth of our Tents go we out of our selves and come unto Jesus Christ looking up to him that we may bee made partakers of the benefits of his death and passion To this end was the brasen serpent lift up that the people might look up to it And to this end was the Lord Jesus Christ lift up upon the Crosse that poor sinners might look unto him And this let us do I mean as many of us as feel the need wee have of him as feele the sting of sin sticking in our souls and so desire to be freed not onely from the guilt and terrour but also from the power of it For such and onely such they are that shall have benefit by Christ The brasen serpent being lift up all Israel might look upon it but they only had benefit by it who feeling themselves stung looked up to it for cure Thus is it with our Brasen Serpent the Lord Jesus Others may look upon him and yet be never the better for him So did the Jews who saw him crucified yet had no benefit by him Ferus ad Text. Multi viderunt oderunt Many of them saw him and hated him and so had better never have seen him Thus do many Christians behold Christ in the history of the Gospel behold him crucified before their eyes in the preaching of the word and yet not feeling the neede they have of him they shall never have any benefit by him O then labour wee first to be sensible of this to feele our selves stung mortally stung Be we sensible of our condition So we are whether we feele it or no and the lesse we feele it the greater is our danger and the lesse hope of grace onely labour to bee thus sensible hereof that so wee may feele the need wee have of Jesus Christ that wee may see our selves dead men without him Now and not till now are we fit for him Other qualifications or predispositions hee requireth none onely that we be sensible of the need we have of him Being such now come we unto him and come with boldnesse and confidence being assured that wee shall finde a perfect cure in him and from him wee shall not die but live So much the verse following will assure us of wherein we shall meet with the two other particulars which I took notice of in the Type fully answered viz. the end and efficacy of this our Brasen Serpent To which I now come Ver. 15. That whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have Eternall life IN which words wee may see the Truth not onely Answering The Truth excelling the Type but Excelling the Type advanced above it and that in two particulars In the Effect of it and in the Extent of that effect For the Effect The brasen serpent was the means of a bodily cure of preserving a temporall life But Christ is the means of a spirituall cure of procuring an eternall life For the Extent of that effect The brasen serpent was erected for the use and benefit of the Jew Christ crucified is a Saviour both of Jew and Gentile the efficacy and vertue of his death extending to both alike That whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have eternall life Division Shall we devide the words we may take notice in them of two things a Condition and a Promise A condition the same with the condition of the new Covenant the Covenant of Grace viz. believing on Jesus Christ Whosoever believeth on him The Promise importing the great benefit accruing to them who shall rightly performe this condition They shall not perish c. Wherein wee may take notice first of the benefit it selfe then of the persons to whom it extends The Benefit it selfe which is partly Privative partly Positive Privative deliverance from death They shall not perish Positive fruition of life and that eternall life They shall not perish but have eternall life The Extent of which benefit is indefinite universall to all those that shall performe the condition That whosoever believeth c. It is not my purpose to insist precisely in the steps of this Division I shall rather for our better and more profitable proceeding draw forth the words into four distinct and plaine doctrinall Propositions or Conclusions The first whereof is necessarily implyed the rest plainly expressed 1. Four Doctrinall Conclusions All men by nature are in a perishing estate and condition 2. The onely way and means of deliverance out of that perishing state is by Jesus Christ and him crucified 3. The onely way and means of receiving benefit by and from Jesus Christ is to believe on him 4. Whosoever so believeth on him shall have perfect salvation by him Four main and usefull Conclusions each a Principle of Christian Religion a Head of Catechisme necessary even for children to know and understand and yet of soveraigne use for the most growne Christian I shall handle them distinctly and plainly still having an eye to the Type here set before us wherein as in a glasse we may read the truth of every of these perticulars and of the greatest part of what I shall say concerning them Begin with the first Conclusion 1. All men by nature in a perishing condition A truth though not directly expressed yet necessarily implyed All men by nature are in a perishing condition Mark it Christ the true Brasen Serpent was lift up that whosoever believeth on him should not perish c. A cleare intimation that without Christ and without faith in Christ all men are but dead men in a perishing state a state of perdition deprived of life subjected unto death 1 Deprived of life 1.
of the Gospel within the kenn of this Brasen serpent under the offers of Grace this shall be their condemnation that they will not come unto Jesus Christ And who but must needs acknowledge this a deserved condemnation Refusing of Christ a just condemnation When God had provided a Brasen serpent and caused it to be lift up in the Camp of Israel for a remedy against those fiery Serpents had there been any amongst them who feeling themselves stung yet out of a contempt or neglect of the ordinance of God had refused to repaire unto it who but would have adjudged him guilty of his own death and have accounted him worthy to perish and die This hath God done for us wee being all of us mortally stung by that Old serpent God himselfe of his infinite wisdome and mercy hath found out and laid out a means of cure for us He hath given his Son for us to be made like unto US to take our nature upon him in that nature to be lift up upon the Crosse to suffer to die for us Not only so but he causeth him also to be lift up in the Ministry of his word there to be held forth to be crucified as it were before our eyes daily nor yet only to bee set before us but to be offered to us with a Command and a Promise The one requiring us to look up unto him the other assuring us of a perfect cure upon our so doing Now what shall we slight and neglect so great salvation Shall we so far abuse this grace and mercy of God as not to make use of this means of salvation What shall now be said for us Our blood be upon our own heads we must perish in our sins and that deservedly And therefore to draw to a conclusion of this point be we all of us perswaded to look out for our selves Come we O come we unto Jesus Christ that we may be made partakers of this healing saving vertue which is to be found in and from him Motives Motives me thinks I should need none to set on such a motion to perswade all of us to come unto Jesus Christ 1. Do but consider our own misery 1. Our misery without Christ without him fitly as I have shewed you represented and shadowed out in the condition of a poor Israelite being stung with some of these Serpents We are by nature in a perishing state and there is no Medicine can cure us but this no name under Heaven by which we can have any probable or possible hopes of salvation but this Let our necessities then drive us unto Christ Without him we perish having no other means of cure but by him Had there been any other Salve or Medicine in the world that could have cured a stung Israelite he should not have needed to have made use of the Brasen serpent Were there any other way or meanes whereby salvation might possibly be attained there might be some plea for our not coming unto Christ But wee are here concluded and shut up unlesse hee save us wee perish Let our necessities drive us 2. Attractivenesse in Christ 2. And secondly there is that in him which may draw us viz His willingnesse to receive us and his Ability to help us Of the former of these our Saviour himself assures us Joh. 6.37 He that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The later wee may see in the Type in the Text The Brasen serpent was a present cure to all that came it matters not how mortally stung they were in what part of the body whether with one or more Serpents of what continuance it was here they found a present remedy Even such vertue is there to be found in the Lord Jesus It matters not what our sins be what for number what for nature what for continuance how many how great how inveterate soever only come unto Jesus Christ we shall find it true by experience that he is an Alsufficient Saviour Quest The Question then will bee How shall a poor sinner come unto Jesus Christ so as he may obtaine salvation by him Answ To this the third Conclusion returns Conclus 3. answer Only by beleeving on him So you have it in the Text The Son of Man must be lift up That whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish Doct. Behold here the onely way whereby a poor perishing sinner may come to be made partaker of that saving vertue which is in Jesus Christ viz. By beleeving on him Beleeving on Christ the only means of receiving benefit by him A Truth lively shadowed out in the Text which still upon all occasions I shall have recourse unto What was the way and means whereby an Israelite being stung came to partake of healing vertue from the Brasen Serpent Num. 21.8 9. Why it was by looking up unto it When he looketh up upon it he shall live Even thus is the saving vertue derived from Christ unto sin-stung sinners viz. By looking upon him Looking upon him not with a bodily eye as Papists do upon their Crucifixes or as the Jewes did who beheld him hanging upon the Crosse who had better never have seen what they did but with a Spirituall eye the eye of the Soul the eye of Faith by beleeving on him This is the way and means which every where we are directed to This was John the Baptist's Doctrine he preached Faith as well as Repentance John Baptized with the Baptisme of Repentance saying unto the people that they should beleeve on him which should come after him that is on Jesus Christ Act. 19. Act. 19.4 This did our Saviour himselfe presse Ye believe on God believe also on me John 14. John 14.1 And the same did his Apostles after him When the Jaylour came to Paul and Silas putting the question unto them Acts 16.31 Sirs what shall I do to be saved They presently returne him this briefe answer Beleeve on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved Even as if a poor Israelite being stung had come unto Moses enquiring of him what he should do to be healed Moses could have returned him no answer but this Look up unto the Brasen Serpent and thou shalt be healed Thus when a wounded soule feeling the sting of sin sticking in the conscience cometh unto the Ministers of Christ and desireth direction from them what to do their answer is Go look up unto Christ Beleeve on the Lord Jesus thou shalt be saved Here is the way the onely way and meanes of obtaining benefit by Jesus Christ Heb. 2.4 Faith Justus ex fide The just shall live by faith Explic. For the opening and illustrating of this usefull Truth give me leave briefly to unfold unto you these three particulars 1. What this faith is which healeth and saveth 2. Three particulars unfolded How this faith healeth and saveth 3. Why this should be the onely way and means
live againe True indeed his dead body shall be raised up again but not to the Resurrection of Life This is the portion of Gods Saints John 5.29 They that have done good saith our Saviour shall come forth to the Resurrection of life that is to a Resurrection that hath an eternall life following it this is peculiar to them Luke 14.14 thence called the Resurrection of the Just Luk. 14. As for wicked men they have no share in it they shall also come forth of the Graves But how Why even as condemned malefactors are brought out of their Prisons and Dungeons to the place of Execution So shall they come forth of their graves not to the Resurrection of life but of Condemnation as it there followeth They shall be raised up not unto that blessed life but unto death even to that eternall death which shall be to them a dying life and a living death And here is their perishing But thus shal not the Beleever perish The Beleever shall not perish Die he may and die he must that as other men die so seeming to perish whence even righteous men are said to perish The righteous perisheth no man layeth it to heart Isai 57.1 that is he dieth and that seemingly as others do How dieth the wise man even as the fool saith the Preacher Eccl. 2.16 in the outward appearance no difference as it is said of our Saviour He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death Isai 53.9 So fareth it with Gods Saints they make their graves lie down in the dust with wicked men dying as they die their souls both separated from their bodies and their bodies to dust and who shall distinguish betwixt their ashes in the outward appearance no difference between the one and the other yet a grand difference there is the one perisheth not so the other The one dying dieth to die dyeth Temporally to die Eternally The other dying dyeth to live dyeth a Temporal death that he may live an eternall life so it followeth in the next words He shall not perish but have Eternall life 2. Possitive Eternall life Eternall life Here is the Positive part of the Benefit wherein our Saviour explains what he meant by not perishing viz. he shall not die but live eternally Behold here the Prerogative of Gods Saints even of all true Beleevers wherein they differ from all others Not only from the Bruit creature the bruit Creature perisheth in death so shall not they But even from wicked men Wicked men they do not properly perish in death but they die to die so as they shall never see life this true life They shall never see the face of God never injoy his presence in whose presence is life Being Separated from the presence of his grace here they shall be separated from the presence of his glory hereafter and to this punishment of losse shall be added the punishment of sense They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power 2 Thes 1.9 Being confined to that place of horror and darknesse they shall be subjected both in souls and bodies to endlesse and easelesse unsufferable unspeakable unconceivable torments and so shall for ever be in a perishing condition But as for God's Saints and faithfull ones even all true Beleevers they shall not only not perish as the bruit Creature doth but they shall be possessed of that life which all unbelevers shall be excluded from even Eternall life Eternall Life Eternall life what Under these two words the Spirit of God in Scripture frequently sets forth unto us the state and condition of Gods Saints in Heaven which being a most blessed state full of Glory and Happinesse is therefore called by the name of Life because of all things upon earth life is the most precious most set by And in as much as that state is immutable unchangeable therefore it is called Eternall Life 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 continuing the same to all ages to all Eternity This blessed life the Beleever enters into upon earth when he first beginneth to beleeve on Christ then is he translated from death to life then is this blessed life estated upon him and begun in him thence saith our Saviour This is life eternall to know thee the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ Joh. 17.3 To know God and Christ to know God in Christ this is life eternall It is so as in regard of assurance so in regard of Inchoation being the beginning of that blessed life which Gods Saints entering upon here in the kingdome of Grace shall have the full fruition of hereafter in the kingdom of glory He shall not perish but have eternall life The Type falling short of the Truth Eternall life Behold here the Truth in the Text advanced above and beyond the Type Those whom the Brasen Serpent cured they afterwards died Not so they who are cured and healed by Christ If a man keep my saying saith our Saviour he shall not see death Joh. 8.51 Joh. 8. They shall live Eternally never seeing tasting of that second death so laith our Saviour expresly unto Martha Joh. 11. He that beleeveth on me John 11.25 though he were dead yet hee shall live and he that liveth and beleveth on mee shall never die Though he were dead Dead Spiritually saith Calvin Dead in trespasses and sins as all men naturally are yet upon this beleeving he shall live viz. live the life of grace here and so living and beleeving he shall never die never die Eternally Or if we take it as Arctius and others expound it of a Naturall Temporall death Whosoever beleeveth though he be dead that is dead as Lazarus was yet dying in the faith he shall live he shall be raised up again to life And he that liveth and beleeveth on me that is say some such as shall be found alive at the coming of Christ they shall never die only be changed Or He that liveth and beleeveth shall never die that is eternally so the words in the Originall may bee construed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non morietur in aeternum though he die Temporally yet not eternally And here is the Benefit it selfe which Beleevers have by beleeving on Christ The Extent of this Benefit followeth 2. The Exte of the Benefit which is as I said as large as may be indefinite universall reaching to all those who performe the condition So you have it in the first word Whosoever Of which but a word The Benefit of Christs death extends to all true believers Doct. To all believers As onely to them so to all and every of them Whether Christ died intentionally for all men as Arminians would have it I shall not stand now to discusse it Sure we are he died for all those that believe on him and to them all and every of them shall
up that whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life The Magneticall Vertue OF THE CROSSE OF JESUS CHRIST JOHN 12.32 And I if I be lifted up from the Earth will draw all men unto me I Have already spent some time in opening unto you the manner and end of our Saviours Death both laid down in those two verses ver 14 15 of the third Chapter of this Gospel As Moses lift up the Brasen Serpent in the Wildernesse so must the Son of Man be lift up That whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish but have Eternall Life Now taking hold of that phrase there redoubled viz. Lifting up I have singled out this portion of Scripture wherein our Saviour sets forth as the Manner so the Fruit and Consequent of his Death The former fore-prophesied the later fore-promised both by our Saviour himselfe The Manner of his death fore-prophesied If I shall be lifted up The Fruit of his Death fore-promised I wil draw all men unto me Upon the former of these I have insisted already viz. the Manner The manner of Christs death of our Saviours death set forth here again as you see by the same Periphrasis the same expression If I be lifted up Lifted up how Why in his Passion upon the Crosse where he was lifted up from the earth So the Evangelist explains the phrase in the verse following This spake he ver 33. signifying what death he should die viz. the death of the Crosse where he was to be lifted up Quest The d ath of Christ not dubious as the Brasen Serpent was in the wildernesse If I be lift up If What doth our Saviour make a doubt a question of his Death was it a thing contingent and uncertaine Answ Answ Carthus ad loc Si exaltatus c. Hoc refertur ad illud quod superius ait Si autem mortuum fuerit granum c. August ad loc Not so The Particle If here must be understood and taken non dubitativè sed assertivè certitudinaliter as Carthusian well notes upon it not by way of doubting or questioning but by way of asserting and supposing even as in the 24 verse of this Chapter our Saviour speaking of the grain of wheat or other Corn being cast into the ground ver 24. If it die saith he it bringeth forth much fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If it dye that is Dying being cast into the ground it dieth seemeth so to do and so dying it fructifieth So here If I be lift up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is being lift up or when I shall be lift up or after that I am lift up so the Evangelist St. John elsewhere useth the word Epist 3. v. 10. writing to Gaius concerning Diotrephes he tels him If I come I will remember his deeds that is when I come so here If I bee lift up saith our Saviour that is when I shall be lift up so the Syriack here renders it Si exaltatus h. e. Cum exaltatus fuero Non enim dubitat futurum esse quod venit implere August As for our Saviours death it was not a thing contingent and uncertain whether in it selfe or to him His Father had determined it himselfe had submitted to it the Prophets had foretold it his peoples necessities required it in all which respects our Saviour himselfe layeth it down in the Text last insisted upon as a thing necessary So must the Son of Man be lifted up Not may but must Joh. 3.14 And afterwards he inculcates the same upon his Disciples Mat. 16.21 where he sheweth them how he must go up to Jerusalem and suffer many things and be killed c. Neither his death nor the manner of his death was a thing dubious and uncertain The Son of Man must be lift up and so lift up as the Brasen Serpent was in the Wildernesse That our Saviour saith here If I be lifted up he speaks it not as doubting but supposing what ere long was to come to passe That being cleared The fruit of Christs death Come we now to that which the Text chiefly looketh upon viz. the Fruit of our Saviours death A Blessed Fruit never did tree bear better viz. the drawing of the world to himself When I shall be lift up from the earth I will draw all men unto me Thus did the Brasen Serpent being lift up it drew the eyes of the whole Camp to it selfe specially such as felt themselves stung by those fiery Serpents And thus saith our Saviour being lift up upon the Cross he would draw the world to himself to look unto him to beleeve on him Even as the Sun being risen above the earth it attracteth and draweth up from it those foggy vapours which before were in or upon it draweth them up towards it selfe Even thus doth Christ the Son of Righteousnesse being lift up from the earth he attracts and draws up the world of mankind those terrae filios sons of the earth who being cleaved to the earth minding nothing but earthly things he draweth up their Eyes and Hearts to himself this he fore promised that he would do And wee shall see it accordingly accomplished But before we come to close with the words themselves looking upon them afar off take we notice of one thing in the generall and that from the connexion of the parts of the Text the Prophecie and the Promise the putting them together If I be lifted up I will draw all men c. See here how wonderfully the Scribes and Pharisees A Generall Observation and other enemies of Christ who plotted his death were disappointed and deceived in their intendments and expectations Wherefore was it that they contrived this evill against him to bring him to the Crosse The Enemies of Christ disappointed that shamefull and accursed death Why this they did that they might thereby not onely take him out of the way but withall render him odious and infamous unto the world so as from thenceforth none should ever look after him any more This it was which galled and vexed the Scribes and Pharisees viz. the successe of his Ministery that so many were taken with him believed on him followed after him and that notwithstanding whatever they could do to the contrary So much we may learn from their own mouthes in the 19th verse of this Chapter The Pharisees said among themselves Perceive ye how ye prevaile nothing Behold the world is gone after him Many there were who hearing of the great miracles which hee had wrought specially that recorded in the fore going Chapter the raising of Lazarus from the dead thereupon as the 18th verse of this Chapter informes us they flocked after him and became his Disciples Now this to the Pharisees who could not endure that any should be preferred before themselves it was no small corrosive it went to the heart of them they could not brook it and therefore they