by Men or Angels There was in it so much love to man so much self-denyal humility and patience so much resignation of himself to God who had appointed him to be our Redeemer that it cannot be parallel'd The great and most remarkable thing in Christs death was obedience Rom. 5.18 Phil. 2.7 8. God delighted not in more blood but blood offered in obedience as the best way to impress upon man a sense of his duty and to teach him to serve and please God at the dearest rate 5. This death commendeth the love of God to us for it is the great demonstration of it Many draw a quite contrary conclusion as if he were with much a do brought to have mercy on us but they forget that he is first and chief in the design 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ Reconciling the World unto himself Christ came from heaven to declare to us the greatness of Gods love God thought nothing too dear for us not the Son of his love nor his death ignominy and shame Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love in that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us When we had alienated our hearts from God refused his service and could expect nothing but the rigour of his Law and vindictive Justice then he spared not his own Son to bring about this Reconciliation for us 6. As God is pacifyed so it gives us hopes our business lyeth not with a God offended but with a God Reconciled if we had not to do with a pacifyed God who could lifâ— up his face to hâ—â— or think a comfortable thought of him but this gives us hope Rom. 5.10 For iâ— when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life We were enemies by sin in us which God hateth and declareth his wrath against it in the Law Then by the satisfaction wrought by Christ we were restored to his favour so far that free and easie conditions were procured in the Gospel and his spirit is offered to prepare and fit us for a Life of Glory We have heard what Christ hath done Thirdly What assurance have we that this peace is obtained Consciences are not easily settled therefore some visible evidences are necessary that God is pacifyed I shall name three or four 1. Christ Resurrection and Ascension into glory this shews that God was propitiated and hath accepted the ransom that was given for Souls We read Rom. 4.25 that he dyed for our offeâ—ces and rose again for our Justification his dying noteth his satisfaction his rising again the acceptance of it God by raising him up from the dead shewed that he had received the death of his Son as a sufficient ransom for our sins for he dyed in the quality of a surety and in that quality was raised up again By his death he made the payment by his Resurrection the satifaction of it was witnessed to the World for then our surety was let out of prison Isa. 53.8 He shall be taken from prison and from judgment in his death he was in effect a prisoner under the arrest of divine vengeance but when he rose again he was discharged therefore there is great weight layed upon it as to our acquittance Rom. 8.34 yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God There is some special thing in his Resurrection comparatively above his death which hath influence on our Justification that is it was a visible evidence given to the World that enough was done for the expiation of sins and to assure us of our deliverance if we be capable and his ascension into glory doth further witness it he being exalted to the greatest dignity is able to defend and protect his people and hath the advantage of interceding with his father for the supply of all our wants 2. The grant of the New Covenant which is therefore called the Covenant of his peace Isa. 54.10 The Covenant of my peace shall not be removed Ezek. 37.26 I will make a Covenant of peace with them it is so called not only because thereby this peace and Reconciliation is offered to us but the terms are stated and the conditions required are far more equitable gracious and commodious for us then the terms of the Law Covenant Man as a sinful creature is obnoxious 〈◊〉 Gods wrath for the violation of the Law of nature and so might perish without remedy and no impeachment to Gods goodness can happen thereby but when God will give bounds to his soveraignty over him and câ—ter into terms of Covenant witâ— him and give him a bottom to stand upon whereon to expect good things from him upon the account of his faithfulness and righteousness this is a condescension and so far condescended in the first Covenant that after that man hath cast away the mercies of his creation and his capacity to fulfill that covenant this was mere mercy and grace that God would enter into a second Covenant it is not from any mutableness in God but from the merit and satisfaction of a Redeemer Surely there must be some great and important cause to change alter and abrogate a covenant so solemnly made and established to lay aside one covenant and to enter into an other especially since the former was so Holy Righteous and Equal fit for God to give and us in the state we then were in to receive Now what was the important reason Christ came to salve Gods honour in the first covenant and to secure the ends of his Government though a second covenant should be set up the blood of his cross hath made this Covenant everlasting Heb. 13.20 and upon gracious terms doth convey great and precious priviledges to us 3dly The pouring out of the spirit which certainly was the fruit and effect of Christs death and also an evidence of the worth and value of it The Apostle telleth us That Christ was made a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles by faith in Iesus Christ. And what blessing was that the gift of the Spirit Gal. 5.13 14. And in another place when he interpreteth the Types of the Law He telleth us that the Fathers did all eat of the same spiritual meat that we do and did all drink of the same spiritual drink for they drank of the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. If the Rock was Christ the water that gâ—shed out of the Rock was the spirit often compared to waters in Scripture Iohn 4.14 And Iohn 7.38 39. And the Rock yielded not this water till it was smitten with the Rod of Moses a figure of the curses of the Law Christ was stricken and smitten of God and so procured the spirit for us Iohn 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given for Iesus was not yet glorifyed That is had not finished his passion and the acceptance of it was not yet attested to
this Relation bindeth us unto As obedience and self-denial 1. Obedience to his Laws and the motions of his Spirit His Laws Luke 6.46 Why call you me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say The motions of his Spirit Rom. 8.14 As many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God 2. Self-denial Christ spared not his natural body to promote the good of his mystical Body he exposed his life for our Salvation we should hazzard all for his Glory Nature teaches us to lift up the hands to save the head 4. There must be sutableness and imitation 1 Ioh. 2.6 He that abideth in him ought to walk as he walketh 5. If you be planted into his Mystical body you will make conscience of Love and Tenderness IV. Vse Let us Triumph in this Head depend on him There are two Arguments his Ability and his Sympathy 1. His Ability He can give us Life Strength Health Eph. 3.16 That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned with might by his spirit in the inner man Col. 1.15 Strengthned with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness 2. His Sympathy He is touched with the feeling of our Infirmities Heb. 4.15 We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points â—empted like as we are yet without sin The Head is concerned for the Members SERMON VI. COL 1.18 Who is the beginning the first born from the dead I Come now to consider the first particular Title which is given to Christ There are two other Titles given to Christ the one respects the state of Grace the other the state of Glory And First With respect to the state of Grace he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the beginning that is Origo mundi meliâ—ris the beginning of the new Creature as well as the Old for the same place and dignity which Christ hath in the order of Nature he hath in the order of Grace also Therefore he is called the beginning of the creation of God Rev. 3.14 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not taken there passively as if it were the first thing that was created but actively that he giveth a being and beginuing to all things that are created and by the Creation of God is meant the new Creation So that the Point is Doctrine That Iesus Christ is the Author and beginning of the new Creatiâ—â— I shall briefly explain this and pass to the next branch Christ is the beginning two wayes I. In a way of Order and Dignity II. In a way of Causality 1. In a way of Order As first and chief of the renewed state This is many ways set forth in Scripture Two things I shall take notice of 1. That he is the builder of the Church 2. The Lord and Governour of it 1. As Founder and Builder of the Church Matth. 16.18 Thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church Christ challenges it to himself as his own peculiar prerogative to build the Church More fully the Apostle Heb. 3.3 4 5. For this man was â—â—unted worthy of more glory than Moses in as much as he that builded the house hath more honour than the house for every house is built by some man but he that buildeth all things is God And again Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant but Christ as a Son over his own house The scope of the Apostle is to prove that Christ must have the preheminence above all others that have been imployed in and about Gods House Moses was one of the chief of that sort that had greater familiarity with God than others and intrusted by him in very great and weighty matters yet Christ was not onely equal to Moses but far above him he proveth it by a comparison taken from a Builder and an House and from a Lord of the House and a Servant in the House but Christ is the builder of the House and Moses but a part of the House Christ is the Lord and Moses but the servant therefore Christ is more excellent and worthy of greater honour One of the Noblâ—st works of God is the Church of the First-born none could build frame and constitute this but the Son of God coming down in our flesh and so recovering the lost world into an holy society which might be dedicated to God For the materials of this house are men sinful and guilty neither Men nor Angels could raise them up into an holy Temple to God none but the Eternal word or the Son of God Incarnate â—e that buildeth all things is God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all these things the things treated of he doth not speak of the first creation but the second the restoring of the lapsed World to God 2. The other Honour is that Christ is Lord of the new creation as well as the founder and builder of it for the World to come is put in subjection to him not to the Angels Heb. 2.7 By the World to come is not meant the state of Glory but the state of the Church under the times of the Gospel It is made subject to God the Redeemer it is solely and immediately in his Power and under his Authority and cast into a dependance upon him II. In a way of Causality So he is the beginning either as a Moral or efficient cause 1. As a moral Meritorious cause We are renewed by Gods creating power but through the intervening Mediation of Christ Or Gods creating power is put forth with respect to his Merit The life of Grace is purchased by his death 1 Ioh. 4.9 God sent his onely begotten son into the world that we might live by him Here spiritually hereafter eternally For life is opposite to death incurred by sin We were dead legally as sentenced to death by the Law and spiritually as disabled for the service of our Creator And how by him that he speaketh of verse 10. by his being a propitiation We were in the state of death when the doors of Mercy were first opened to us under the guilt and power of sin but we live when the guilt of sin is pardoned and the power of sin broken but this life we have not without Christs being a propitiation for our sins or doing that which was necessary whereby God without impeachment of honour might shew himself placable and propitious to Mankind 2. As an efficient cause by the efficacy of his Spirit who worketh in us as Members of Christs Mystical Body Wherefore it is said 2 Cor. 5.17 If any man be in Christ he is a new creature And Eph. 2.10 We are his workmanship created in Christ Iesus unto good works Whatever Grace we have cometh from God through Christ as Mediator and from him we have it by virtue of our union with him It is first applied by the converting
the pains and throws of a woman in Travel Acts 2.24 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God having loosed the pains of death for it was not possible that he should be holden of it But which is not onely a Metaphor but an higher Mistery St. Paul referreth that Prophesie Psal. 2.7 Thou art my son this day have I begotten thee in Acts 13.33 to the Resurrection of Christ God hath raised up Iesus from the dead as it is also written thou art my son this day have I begotten thee Things are said to be done when they are manifested to be done Compare Rom. 1.4 Declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead So the Adoption of Believers shall appear by their Resurrection Rom. 8.19 The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God Verse 23. And not onely they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body 1 Joh. 3.2 It doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is This for the Title of First-born from the dead Doctrine That Christs rising from the dead is the evidence and assurance of a Christians happy Resurrection 1. Let me open the Terms 2. Vindicate the Notion 3. Shew you how this is an Evidence and Assurance to all good Christians of their happy and joyful Resurrection 1. For the Terms He is here called The first-born from the dead If the Grave was as the Womb to him and his Resurrection as a Birth then Christ was in a manner born when he rose again Onely he hath the precedency he is the first-born he rises first and surely others will follow after him So we read Acts 26.23 That he should be the first-born that should rise from the dead as he saith elsewhere first Christ then they that are Christs Christ hath the primacy of Order and the principality of influence So again he is said to be the first fruits of them that slept 1 Cor. 15.20 As in the consecrating of the first-fruits the whole harvest is also consecrated so Christ by rising himself raises all others with him to Eternal Glory and Happiness And so his Resurrection is a certain proof that others shall have a Resurrection also 2. Let us vindicate the Notion here used by the Apostle How was he the first-born the first-fruits the first-raised from the Dead Two Objections lye against it 1. That many were raised from the dead before Christ. 2. Concerning the Resurrection of the Wicked They are not parts of his Mistical body and in respect of them how could Christ rise as the first-born and the first-fruits 1. For the first objection how was Christ the first since many were raised before him As the Widow of Sarepta's Son that was raised to Life by Elijah 1 Kings 17. The Shunamites son by Elisha 2 Kings 4. A dead man by the touch of Elisha's bones 1 Kings 13.21 Our Saviour in his Life time raised the Widow of Nains only Son Luk. 7.15 Iairus's daughter Luke 8.55 Lazarus Iohn 11.44 Some others at his death Matth. 27.52 how was he then the first I answer we must distinguish of a proper and an improper Resurrection Christ was the first-born from the dead because he arose from the dead by a proper Resurrection which is to arise again to a life immortal others were raised again to a mortal estate and so the great disease was rather removed then cured Christs Resurrection is a Resurrection to immortality not to dye any more as the Apostle saith death hath no more power over him they onely returned to their natural Life they were raised from the dead but still mortal but he whom God raised again shall see no corruption Acts 13.34 2. Others are raised by the power and vertue of his Resurrection but he hath risen again by his own power Ioh. 10.18 I have power to lay down my life and power to take it up again raising the dead is a work of divine power for it belongs to him to restore life who gave it at first Therefore Christ is said not only to be raised again but to rise from the dead Rom. 4.25 He dyed for our offences and rose again for our Iustification as the Sun sets and rises by his own motion 3. All those that rose again before Christ arose onely by special dispensation to lay down their bodies once more when God should see fit and rose only as private and single persons but Christ rose as a publick person His Resurrection is the cause and pattern of ours for head and members do not rise by a different power he rose ato gain shew the vertue that should quicken our mortal bodies and raise them at length 2. The second objection is concerning the raising of the wicked Christ cannot be the first-born or the first-fruits to them they belong not to his mystical body the first-born implyeth a relation to the rest of the Family and offering of the first-fruits did not sanctifie the Tares the Cockle or the Darnel or the Weeds that grow amongst the Corn but only the Corn it self I answer 1. Certain it is that the wicked shall rise again there is no question of that Act. 24.15 I believe a Resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust all that have lived whether they have done good or evil Matth. 5.45 He makes his Sun to rise on the evil and the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust and it is said Iohn 5.28 29. All that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have done good to the Resurrection of Life and they that have done evil to the Resurrection of damnation both must rise that both may receive a full recompence according to their several wayes and though it be said Psal. 1.6 The ungodly shall not stand in the judgement nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous it doth not infringe this truth the sense is those unhappy miscreants shall not be able to abide the tryal as being self condemned To stand in the judgment is to make a bold defence and whereas it is said also they shall not stand in the congregation of the righteous you must know that at the day of doom there is a congregation or a gathering together of all men then a segregation a separating the Sheep from the Goats then an aggregation he shall set the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left so that they make up two distinct bodies one of the good which is there called the congregation of the righteous the other of the wicked who are to be judged by Christ as a just and righteous Judge assisted with his Holy Angels and the great Assembly
and Council of Saints Not one of the sinners shall remain in the company of the righteous nor appear in their Society 2. The wicked are raised ex officio Iudicis not beneficio Mediatoris they are raised by Christ as a Judge but not by him as a Redeemer The one sort are raised by the power of his vindicative Justice the other by the Holy Ghost by vertue of his Covenant Rom. 8.11 He shall quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you The one by Christs power from without put forth by him as Judge of dead and living The other by an inward quickning influence that flows from him as their proper head When the Reaper gathers the Wheat into his Barn the Tares are bound in bundles and cast into unquenchable Fire Matth. 15.30 3. The wicked are forced to appear and cannot shift that dreadful Tribunal the other go joyfully forth to meet the Bridegroom and when the sentence of condemnation shall be executed upon the one the other by vertue of Christs Life and Resurrection shall enter into the possession of a blessed and Eternal Life wherein they shall injoy God and Christ and the company of Saints and Angels and sing Hallelujahs for ever and ever Thirdly How is this an evidence and assurance to all good Christians of their happy and glorious Resurrection 1. The Resurrection of Christ doth prove that there shall be a Resurrection 2. That to the faithful it shall be a blessed and glorious Resurrection 1. There shall be a Resurrection it is necessary to prove that partly because it is the foundation of all Godliness if there were not another Life after this there were some ground for that saying of the Atheists Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye 2 Cor. 15.32 If there be no future estate nor being after this Life let us enjoy the good things of the World whilst we can for with in a little while death cometh and then there is an end of all These Atheistical discourses and temptations to sensuality were more justifiable if men were annihilated by death no the soul is immortal and the body shall rise again and come into the judgment and unless we live Holily a terrible judgement it will be to us Partly because we cannot easily believe that the same body shall be placed in heaven which we see committed to the Grave to rot there Of all Articles of Religion this is most difficultly assented unto now there is relief for us in this business in hand Christ is the first-born from the dead There were many praeludia resurrectionis foretokens and pledges of the Resurrection given to the old World in the Translation of Enoch the Rapture of Elijah the reviving of these few dead ones which I spake of before but the great and publick evidence that is given for the assurance of the World is Christs rising from the Grave this makes our Resurrection 1. Possible 2. Easie. 3. Certain and Necessary 1. Possible the least that we can gather from it is this that it is not impossible for dead men to rise for that which hath been may be We have the proof and instance of it in Christ see how the Apostle reasoneth 1 Cor. 15.13 If there be no Resurrection from the dead then Christ is not risen and then our whole Faith falleth to the ground For all Religion is bottomed on the Resurrection of Christ if therefore Christ be risen why should it seem an incredible thing to us that others should be raised also 2. It is Easie for by rising from the dead he hath conquered death and gotten the victory of it 1 Cor. 15.57 A separation there will be of the soul from the body but it is not such as shall last for ever The victory over sin is the victory over death and the conquest of sin makes death an entrance into immortality The Scriptures often speak of Christs destroying the power of death Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death The devils design was by tempting men to sin to keep them for ever under the power of death but Christ came to rescue men from that power by a Resurrection from Death to Life Again it is said he hath abolished death and brought Life and Immortality to light in the Gospel He hath voided the power of death by taking a course for the destruction of sin and made a clear Revelation of that Life and Immortality which was not so certainly known before We look to the natural impossibilities how what is turned to dust may be raised again because we do not consider the power of God but the moral impossibility is the greater for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law that which makes sin able to do us hurt is the guilt of sin otherwise it would be but as a calm sleep and this guilt is bound upon us by the Law of the righteous God which threatneth eternal Death to the sinner Now get free from sin and it is easie to believe the conquest of death I will prove two things that Christs Râ—surrection shews both his victory over sin and his victory over death 1 His victory over sin That he hath perfectly satisfyed for sin and appeased the wrath of God who is willing to be reconciled with all those that come to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel which could not be if Christ had remained under the power of death for the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.17 If Christ had not risen ye are yet in your sins that is God is not pacifyed there is no sufficient means of atonement or foundation layed for our Reconciliation with him but his Resurrection declareth that he is fully satisfyed with the ransom paid for sinners by Jesus Christ for it was in effect the releasing of our Surety out of Prison so it is said Rom. 4.15 He was delivered for our offences and raised up for our Iustification he dyed to expiate and do away sin and his Resurrection sheweth it was a sufficient Ransom and therefore he can apply the vertue of it to us 2. His victory over death For he got out of it which not only shews there is a possibility for a man by the power of God to be raised from Death to Life but a facility as a second Adam he brought Resurrection into the World there were two Adams the one Man brought Death and another brought Resurrection into the World The sentence of death is gone out against all the children of Adam as such and the Regenerate Believers that are recovered by Christ shall be raised to immortal Life he hath gotten out of the power of death so shall we 3. Certain and necessary For several Reasons 1. Our relation to Christ he is the head of the body now the head will not live gloriously in Heaven and leave his members behind him under the power of death Believers are called the
was represented without a bloody sacrifice Partly from the nature of the thing and the fulness of the satisfaction required untill all that was finished Iohn 8.20 death was that which was threatned to sin death was that which was feared by the sinner Many ignorant people will say the least drop of Christs blood was enough to save a thousand Worlds if so his circumcision had been enough without his death but Christ is not glorified but lessened by such expressions Surely his death was necessary or God would never have appointed it his bloody death suited with Gods design Gods design was to carry on our recovery in such a way as might make sin more hateful and obedience more acceptable to us 1. Sin more hateful by his Agonies Blood Shame death no less remedy would serve the turn to procure the pardon and destruction of it Rom. 8.3 By sin he condemned sin in the flesh that is by a sin offering God shewed a great example of his wrath against all sin by punishing sin in the flesh of Christ his design was for ever to leave a brand upon it and to furnish us with a powerful mortifying argument against it by the sin-offering and ransom for souls Surely it is no small matter for which the Son of God must dye At Golgotha sin was seen in its own colours There he shewed how much he hateth it and loveth purity Secondly To commend obedience Christs suffering death for the sin of man at the command of his Father was the noblest piece of Service and the highest degree of Obedience that ever could be performed to God beyond any thing that can be done by Men or Angels There was in it so much love to God Pity to Man so much Self-denial so much Humility and Patience and so much Resignation of himself to God who appointed him to be the Redeemer and Surety of Man to do this office for him as cannot be parallel'd The great thing in it was obedience Rom. 5.14 By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous So ' Phil. 2.7 God was not delighted in mere blood but in blood offered in obedience All his former actions together with his Death and Sufferings make but one intire Act of eminent obedience but his painful and cursed death so willingly and readily undergone was the crowning Act. The formal reason of the merit was that Christ came to fulfil the will of God by which will we are sanctified Heb. 10.10 therefore his death was necessary Fifthly From this Ransom and act of Obedience there is a Liberty resulting unto us for the redeemed are let go when the ransom is paid Now this Liberty is a freedom from sin that we may become the Servants of God Rom. 6.22 Being made free from sin ye became servants of righteousness Christ came not to free us from the duty of the Law but the penalty and Curse thereof to free us from the duty of the Law is to promote the Devils Interest No he freed us from the Wrath of God that we may serve him chearfully to establish Gods Interest upon surer and more comfortable Terms to restore us to Gods favour and service To Gods favour by the pardon of sin to his service by writing his Laws on our Hearts and Minds Sometimes our Redemption from the Curse is spoken of Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us Sometimes our Redemption from Sin Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity And so by consequence from the power of the devil which is built on the curse of the Law and reign of Sin Satans power over us doth flow from the sentence of the condemnation pronounced by the Law against sinners and consists in that dominion sin hath obtained over them If the curse of the Law be disanulled and the power of sin broken he is spoiled of his Power Col. 2.14 15. Blotting out the hand-writing of ordinances that was against us which was contrary to us and took it out of the way nailing it to his cross And having spoiled principalities and powers he made a shew of them openly triumphing over them Sixthly That we are not partakers of this Liberty nor of the benefit of this Ransom till we are in him and united to him by Faith for the Text saith in whom we have redemption by his blood Certainly we must be turned from Satan to God before we are capable of receiving the forgiveness of sins Acts 26.18 We do not actually partake of the priviledges of Christs Kingdom till we be first his Subjects Who hath delivered us from the power of Satan and hath translated us in the kingdom of his dear Son in whom we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins Christ and his people are an opposite state to the Devil and his Instruments while we are under the opposite power we belong not to Christ and the priviledges of his Kingdom belong not to us but as soon as we are translated and put into another estate then we have the first priviledge remission of sins Look as in the fall there was sin before guilt so in our reparation there must be conversion Renovation or Repentance before Remission We are first effectually called or sanctified and then justified and glorified Mans recovery to God is in the same method in which he fell from him It is first brought about by a new nature and communication of life from Christ. He regenerateth that he may pardon and he pardoneth that he may farther sanctifie and make us everlastingly happy Thirdly That remission of sins is a part and a principal part of Redemption I. How is it a part or fruit of Redemption I Answer Redemption is taken either for the Impetration or Application 1. The Impetration or laying down the price that was done by Christ upon the Cross. So it is said Heb. 9.12 Christ by his own blood obtained eternal redemption for us Then was God propitiated the deadly blow given to the Kingdom and Power of the Devil and the Merit and Ransom interposed by the virtue of which we are pardoned the obtained redemption and remission of sins is a fruit flowing from it and depending upon it as an effect upon the cause 2. The Scripture considers Redemption in its Application Besides laying down the price there is an actual deliverance and freedom by virtue of that price This is either begun or compleat The compleat redemption or freedom from sin and misery is that which the Godly shall enjoy at the last day Rom. 8.23 We which have the first fruits of the spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the holy spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption Eph. 1.14 In whom also after ye believed ye were sealed with that spirit of promise which is the earnest of our
inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession The inchoate or begun deliverance is that measure of deliverance which believers enjoy now by Faith which consists of two parts Iustification and Sanctification Sanctification 1. Pet. 1.18 Tit. 2.14 Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works When we are free from the power and weight of sin Iustification so it is in the Text and Eph. 1.7 When sin is freely pardoned and our debt cancelled and we are delivered from evil and wrath to come II. As it is a part so it is a principal part This will appear if you consider the evil we are freed from As 1. The power of the Devil is destroyed All the advantage which he hath against us is as we are sinners guilty sinners before God For we are put into his hands when we have forfeited the protection of our righteous Lord but forgiveness of sins gives us a release from him Acts 26.18 When Christ came to procure it he destroyed the devils Power when we are converted we are interessed in the priviledge 2. The reign of sin is broken for sanctifying Grace is inseparable from pardoning Grace yea I will venture to say that the gift of the sanctifying Spirit is a part of our pardon executed and applyed for a part of the punishment of sin was spiritual death or the loss of Gods Image Col. 2.13 He hath quickned you together with Christ having forgiven all your trespasses When God pardoneth he sanctifieth and createth us anew that we may be fit for his service so that we are renewed by the Spirit as well as recovered out of the sâ—ares of the devil 3. We are eased of tormenting fears in a great measure Man can have no firm peace and comfort in his own soul while sin remaineth upon him our case is dangerous whether we be sensible of it or no because our condition is not to be valued by our sense and feeling but by the sentence of the Law of God which we have broken and violated if there be any difference in the case the more insensible we are the more miserable The generality of men indeed are senseless and careless put far away the evil day from them and so make light work of reconciling themselves to God but are they the more safe for this No if they will dance about the brink of Hell and go merrily to their execution it argues not their safety but their stupidness The thoughts of danger is put off when the thing it self is not put away but if they be serious they cannot be without trouble Rom. 1.32 Knowing the judgement of God they conclude that they that do such things are worthy of death The very light of Nature will revive many unquiet thoughts within them The justice of the supream Governour of the World will still be dreadful to them whose law they have broken and whose wrath they have justly deserved They may lull the soul asleep by the stupifying potion of carnal Delights and while Conscience is asleep please themselves with stoln waters and bread eaten in secret which is soon disturbed by a few serious and sober thoughts of the world to come God is offended and what peace can they have 4. Death is unstinged That 's the usual time when Convictions grow to the height and the stings of an awakened Conscience begin to be felt 1 Cor. 15.28 Then the thoughts of Death and Judgement to come are very terrible to them and men begin to see what it is to bear their own sins and how happy they are who are sure of a pardon 5. The obligation to Eternal punishment ceases Pardon is dissolving and loosing that obligation Now the punishment is exceeding great Hell and damnation are no vain Scare-crows Eternity makes every thing truly great the poena damni an everlasting separation from the comfortable presence of the Lord Matth. 25.41 Go ye cursed Luk. 13.27 Depart ye workers of iniquity When God turned Adam out of Paradise his case was very sad but God took care of him in his Exile made him Coats of skin gave him a day of Patience afterwards promised the seed of the woman who should recover the lapsed estate of mankind intimated hopes of a better Paradise That estate therefore is nothing comparable to this for now man is stripped of all his comforts sent into an endless state of Misery whence there is no hopes of ever changing his condition So for the poena sensus the pain Mark 9.44 Where their worm never dieth and their fire is never quenched The worm is the worm of Conscience reflecting on past folly and disobedience See here a man may run away from the rebukes of Conscience by many shifts sleeping sporting distracting his Mind with a clutter of business but there not a thought free but is always thinking of slighted means abused mercies wasted time the offenses done to a merciful God and the curse wherein they have involved themselves the fire is the wrath of God or these unknown pains that shall be inflicted on body and soul which must needs be great when we fall into the hands of the living God! If a little mitigation a drop to cool your Tongue be thought a great matter oh what a blessedness is it to be freed from so great an evil Perhaps you coldly entertain the offer of a pardon now but then to be freed from wrath to come oh blessed Jesus 1 Thes. 1.10 2. The good depending on it Luk. 1.77 To give us the knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins Eternal life dependeth on it for you are not capable of enjoying God till his wrath be appeased As all evil was introduced by sin so all happiness by pardon This is an initial blessing which maketh way for the rest VSE Of Exhortation To perswade you to seek after this benefit All of us once needed it and the best of us till we are wholly freed from sin still need it 1. We all of us once needed it for we are not onely criminal persons liable to condemnation but actually condemned in the sentence of Gods law Ioh. 3.18 He that believeth not is condemned already Now should not a condemned man make means to be pardoned and should not we accept of Gods terms especially when there is but the slender thred of a frail life between us and execution He that securely continues in his sins despiseth both the curse of the Law and the grace of the Gospel Oh consider nothing but a pardon will serve the turn not forbearance on Gods part not forgetfulness on yours 1. Not forbearance of the punishment on Gods part God may be angry with us while he doth not actually strike as the Psalmist saith Psal. 7.11 12 13. God is angry with the wicked every day if he turn not he will whet his sword He hath bent his bow and will make it ready
fullness of him that filleth all things Eph. 1.23 Head and Members make up one perfect Man or mystical Body which is called the fullness of Christ Eph. 4.13 Otherwise it would be a maimed Christ or a Head without a Body and therefore we should not doubt but he will raise us up with him Secondly The charge and office of Christ which he will attend upon and see that it be carefully performed Iohn 6.39 This is the Fathers will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last day as none so nothing in the Prophets expression concerning the good Shepherd not so much as a leg or a piece of an ear that he should be carefull to preserve every one who belongs to his charge and what ever befalls them here he is to see them forth coming at the last day and to give a particular account of them to God Now certainly Christ will be very careful to fulfill his charge and make good his office Thirdly There is the Mercy of God through the Merits of Christ towards his faithful ones who have hazarded their bodies and their bodily interests for his sake 1 Thess. 4.14 If we believe that Iesus dyed and rose again even those also which sleep in Iesus will God bring with him Upon the belief of Christs death and Resurrection depends also the raising of their bodies that dye for the Testimony of Christ or by occasion of Faith in Christ and that so certainly and speedily that they that dye not at all shall at the day of Judgment have no advantage of those that have layen in the Grave so many years the raising of the one being in the same twinkling of an eye with the change of the other for the Apostle saith they that are alive shall not prevent them that are a sleep So 2 Cor. 4.14 Knowing that he that raised up the Lord Iesus shall raise us up also with Iesus and present us with you He gives it as the reason why he had the same spirit of Faith with David who in his sore afflictions professed his confidence in God because he believed he spake So they do profess the Faith of Christ though imminent death and danger is always represented to them as before their eyes because they stedfastly believed that God would raise them to a glorious estate through Christ therefore did they openly proclaim what they did Believe concerning him To the same purpose to confirm Timothy against all danger of death 1 Tim. 6.13 I give thee charge in the sight of God who quickneth all things that is as thou believest that God is able and will raise thee from the dead that thou hold out constantly unto the death and do not shrink for persecution 2. It proveth that to the faithful it shall be a blessed and a glorious Resurrection 1. Because Christs Resurrection is not only a cause but a pattern of ours there is not onely a Communion between the Head and Members in the Mystical Body but a conformity The members were appointed to be conformed to their Head as in obedience and sufferings so in happiness and glory here in the one hereafter in the other Rom. 8.29 He hath predestinated us to be conformed to the Image of his Son As Christ was raised from the dead so we shall be raised from the dead God raised him from the dead and gave him glory and honour that your Faith and hope might be in God 1 Pet. 1.21 So God will raise us from the dead and put glory and honour upon us There is indeed a glory put upon Christ far surpassing the glory of all created things but our glory is like his for quality and kind though not for quantity degree and measure as to those prerogatives and priviledges which his body in his Exaltation is endowed withall Such a glory it is that Christ shall be admired in his Saints the World shall stand gazing at what he means to do 2. By the grant of God They have a right and title to this glorious estate being admitted into his family they may hereafter expect to be admitted into his presence The Holy Spirit abideth in them as an earnest till it be accomplished Eph. 1.14 Ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession The Spirit of Holiness marketh and distinguisheth them as Heirs of Promise from all others The mark or seal is the impression of Christ's Image on the soul this seal becomes an earnest or part of payment which is a security or assurance to us that more will follow a fuller conformity to Christ in the glorious estate and this earnest doth continue till the redemption of the purchased possession the purchased possession is the Church and their redemption is their final deliverance Eph. 4.30 when their bodies are redeemed from the hands of the grave See Rom. 8.28 VSES I. Vse Is to perswade you to the belief of two grand Articles of Faith the Resurrection of Christ and your own Resurrection 1. The Resurrection of Christ. The raising of Christ from the dead is the great prop and foundation of our Faith 1 Cor. 15.14 If Christ be not risen then is our preaching vain and your faith also is vain All the Apostles preaching was built upon this supposition that Christ died and rose again Partly because this is the great evidence of the truth of the Christian Religion for hereby Christ was evidenced to be what he gave out himself to be the eternal Son of God and the Saviour of the World whereof he hath given assurance to all men in that he raised him from the dead Acts 23.31 that is the ground of Faith and Assurance So Acts 13.33 God hath raised Iesus from the dead for it is written Thou art my son c. Partly to shew that he is in a capacity to convey life to others both spiritual and eternal which if he had remained under the state of death could not be The life of Believers is derived from the life of Christ Ioh. 14.19 Because I live c. If he had been holden of death he had neither been a fountain of Grace nor Glory to us 1 Pet. 1.3 He hath begotten us unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead Partly because the raising of Christ is the pledge of Gods omnipotency which is our relief in all difficult cases the power which raised Christ exceedeth all contrary powers Eph. 1.20 21. Now the resurrection of Christ besides the veritableness of the report manifested by the circumstances when a great stone was rolled at the mouth of the Sepulchre a guard of Souldiers set to watch against all fraud and impostures yet he brake thorow his frequent Apparitions to the Apostles yea to 500 disciples at once 1 Cor. 15.6 a great part of which were alive to testifie the truth of
it for some competent space of time his pouring out of the Spirit the Apostles witnessing the truth of it in the teeth of opposition his appearing from Heaven to Paul the prophesies of the Old Testament foretelling of it the Miracles wrought to confirm it the holiness of the Persons who were employed as chosen Witnesses their unconcernedness in all temporal Interests their hazarding of all their success It would make a volum to give you the evidences 2. Your own Resurrection what may facilitate our belief and hope of it 1. Consider it is a work of Omnipotency We are apt to say how can it be that when our bodies are turned into dust and that dust mingled with other dust and hath undergone many transmutations that â—very one shall have his own body and flesh again Why consider the Infinite and Absolute Power of God and this will make it more reconcileable to your thoâ—ghts and this hard point will be of easier digestion to your Faith To an Infinite power there is no difficulty at all Phil. 3.21 According to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself He appeals to Gods power how much Gods power out-works our thoughts for he were not infinite if he might be comprehended We are not fit Judges of the extent of his power many things are marvellous in our eyes which are not so to his Zech. 8.6 Therefore we must not confine God to the limits of created bâ—ings or our finite understandings Alass our Cockel-â—hell cannot empty an Ocean we do no more know what God can do than a worm knoweth a man He that made the world out of nothing cannot he raise the dead He that brought such multitudes of creatures out of the dark Chaos hath he forgotten what is become of our dust He that gave Life and Being to that which before was not cannot he raise the dead He that turned Moses Rod into a Serpent and from a Serpent into a Rod again cannot he raise us out of dust into men and â—uâ—n us from men into dust and from the same dust 〈◊〉 us up into the same men and women â—â—ain 2. We have a releif from the Justice of God All will grant that God is and that God is a rewarder of good and bad Now in this Life he doth not dispense these rewards Many times here instruments of publick good are made a sacrifice to publick hatred and wicked men have the world at will therefore there is a Judgment when this life is ended and if there be a Judgment men must be capable to receive reward and punishment You will say so they are by having an immortal Soul I but the soul is not all of a man the body is a part it hath had its share in the work and therefore it is most equal to conceive it shall have its share in the reward and punishment It is the body which is gratified by the pleasure of sin for a season the body which hath endured the trouble and pain of Faithful obedience unto Christ therefore there shall be a Resurrection of just and unjust that men may receive according to what they have done in the body God made the whole man therefore glorifies and punishes the whole man The Apostle urgeth this as to the Godly 1 Cor. 15.29 3. Gods unchangeable Covenant-Love â—â—â—ch inclines him to seek the dust of his â—onfederates God hath taken a believer into Covenant with himself body and soul therefore Christ proveth the Resurrection from Gods Covenant-Title Matth. 22.31 To be a God is certainly to be a Benefactor Gen. 25.26 Not blessed be Shem but blessed be the Lord God of Sem. And to be a Benefactor becoming an Infinite Eternal Power If he had not Eternal Glory to bestow upon us he would not justifie his Covenant-Title Heb. 11.16 To whom God is a benefactor he is a Benefactor not to one part onely but to their whole Persons Their bodies had the mark of his Covenant upon them their dust is in Covenant with him and where-ever it is dispersed he will look after it Their death and rotting in the Grave doth not make void his Interest nor cause his Care and Affection towards them to cease 4. We have relief also from the Redemption of Christ which extendeth to the bodies of the Saints as it is often interpreted in Scripture as where Christ speaks of his fathers charge this was a special Article in the Eternal Covenant Ioh. 6.39 40. This is the will of my Father that of all that he hath given me I should lose nothing but raise it up at the last day Christ hath ingaged himself to this he is the Guardian of the Grave as Rispah kept the dead bodies of Sauls sons 2 Sam. 21.10 Christ hath the keyes of death and hell he hath a charge of the Elect to the very day of their Resurrection that he may make a good account of them and may not lose so much as their dust but gather it up again What shall I say when the intention of his death is spoken of 1 Thes. 5.10 That whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him that is whether dead or alive for they that are dead in the Lord are said to be fallen asleep Whether we live or die we should live a spiritual life here and eternal life in Glory hereafter So where the obligation 1 Cor. 6.20 Ye are bought with a price There would be no consequence if Christ had not purchased the body as well as the Soul and Christ will not lose one jot of his purchase if he expect duty from thâ— body you may expect glory for the body so redemption is particularly applyed to the body Rom. 8.23 Waiting for the Adoption the redemption of our bodies Then is Christs Redemption full when the body is exempted from all the penalties induced by sin 5. The honour which is put upon the bodies of the Saints 1. They are members of Christ 1 Cor. 6.15 Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ shall I then take the Members of Christ and make them members of an harlot God forbid No Members of Christ can for ever remain under death but shall certainly bâ— raised up again When a Godly Man â—â—eth the union between Soul and Body is dissolved but not the union between him and Christ as Christs own natural body in the grave was not separated from his Person and the Hypostatical Union was not dissolved it was the Lord of Glory which was crucified and the Lord of Glory which was lâ—yed in the Grave so the Mystical 〈◊〉 is not dissolved between Christ and 〈…〉 who are his Mystical Body 〈◊〉 they are dead 2. They are Temples of the holy Ghost therefore if they be destroyed they shall be built up again 1 Cor. 6.19 Know ye not that your bodies are temples of the holy Ghost As Christ redeemed not the soul onely but the whole man so the Spirit in Christs Name takes
Possession both of body and soul the body is cleansed and sanctified by the spirit as well as the soul and therefore it is quickned by the Spirit Rom. 8.11 If the spirit of him that raised Iesus from the dead dwell in you he shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit which dwelleth in you The Holy Ghost will not leave his Mansion or dwelling-place the dust of Believers belongs to them who were once his Temple So it is a pledge of the Resurrection Now therefore labour with your selves think often of it SERMON VII Col. 1.19 For it pleased the father that in him should all fulness dwell With Chap. 2.9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily THese words are produced to prove that there is no defect in the Evangelical Doctrine and therefore there needeth no Addition to it from the Rudiments of men That there is no defect he proveth from the Author of it Jesus Christ who was not onely Man but God and beyond the Will of God we need not look If God will come from heaven to teach us the way thither surely his Teaching is sufficient his doctrine containeth all things necessary to salvation This is the Argument of these words For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily In which words observe three things First The House In Him Secondly The Inhabitant All the fulness of the Godhead Thirdly The manner of dwelling in the Word Bodily First The House or place of Residence in Him In the Man Christ Jesus or in that Humane Nature in which he carried on the business of our Salvation As despicable and abject as it was in the eyes of men yet it was the temple and seat of the Godhead Secondly The Inhabitant The fulness of the Godhead Not a portion of God onely or his Gifts and Graces as we are made partakers of the Divine Nature 1 Pet. 1.4 but the whole Godhead Thirdly the Manner 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bodily The word may relate 1. To the shadows and figures of the Law and so it signifieth Essentially Substantially God dwelt in the Tabernacle Temple or Ark of the Covenant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of the figures of his Presence In Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bodily As his Humane Nature was the true Tabernacle or Temple in which he residâ—th Christ calls his Humane Nature a Temple Ioh. 2.19 Or else 2. With respect to the intimacy and closeness of the Union so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendred personally For body is often put for a person the two Natures were so united in him that he is one Christ. Doctrine That Iesus Christ is True God and True Man in one Person I shall prove the Point I. By Testimonies of Scripture II. By Types III. By Reasons taken from Christs Office I. By Testimonies of Scriptures I shall pass by those that speak of the reality of either nature apart and onely alledge those that speak of both together Now these do either belong to the Old Testament or the New I begin with the former the Tâ—stimonies of the old Testament because this union of the two Natures in the Person of Christ is indeed a Mystery but such as was foretold long before it came to pass and many of the places wherein it was foretold were so understood by the ancient Iews The controversie between them and Christians was not whether the Messiah were to be both God and man they agreed in that but whether this was fulfilled or might be applied to Jesus of Nazareth But the latâ—er Iews finding themselves not able to stand to the issue of that plea say that we attribute many things to Jesus of Nazareth which were not foretold of the Messiah to come as namely that he should be God-man in one person Therefore 't is necessary that this should be proved that the old Testament aboundeth with predictions of this kind Let us begin with the first Promise touching the Messiah which was made to Adam after his Fall for the restoring of Mankind Gen. 3.15 The seed of the woman should bruise the serpents Head That is to say one of her seed to be born in Time should conquer the Devil Death and Sin Now when he is called the seed of the woman 't is apparent he must be Man and made of a woman And when 't is said that he shall break the serpents head who can do this but onely God 'T is a work of Divine Omnipoâ—â—ncy for Satan hath much more power than any bare man Therefore 't is said Rom. 16.20 The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly Come we next to the Promise made to Abraham Gen. 12.3 In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed In thee that is in thy seed as it is often explained Gen. 22.18 In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed This seed was Christ the Messiah to come Now he was to be God-man He was to be Man for he is the seed of Abraham God because that blessedness is remission of sins or Justification For 't is said Gal. 3.8 The Scripture fore-seeing that God would justifie the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham saying In thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed Regeneration and the Renovation of our natures is also included in it as a part of this blessing Acts 3.25 26. Ye are children of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our fathers saying unto Abraham in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed Therefore unto you first God having raised up his son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities There is also Redemption from the curse of the Law and the gift of Eternal Life included in it Now all these are works proper to God alone Let us come to the Promise made to David 2 Sam. 7.12 13. I will set up thy seed after thee and I will establish the throne of thy kingdom for ever 'T is spoken in the Type of Solomon but in the Mystery of Christ who is true Man as Davids seed and true God for his Kingdom is everlasting And so David interpreteth it Psal. 45.6 Thy throne O God is for ever and ever The Kingdom of the Messiah is never to have an end And the Apostle affirmeth expresly that those words are spoken to Christ the son of God Heb. 1.7 Let me next alledge Iobs confession of Faith which was very Ancient Iob 19.25 26. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh I shall see God His Redeemer was true Man as appeareth by his Title Goel and because he shall stand on the Earth and be seen by his bodily eyes True God for he calleth him so I shall see God Go we on in the
made a curse for us for it is written cursed is every one that hangeth on a Tree Now we must see the reasons of this course or way of Reconciling the world that we may not mistake Gods design nor be possessed with any imaginations which are derogatory to Gods honour as suppose if we should hence conceit that God is all wrath and justice unwilling of himself to be Reconciled to man or that he delighteth in blood and is hardly drawn to give out grace Oh no these are false misprisions and misrepresentations of God Therefore let us a little inquire into the reasons why God took this way to Reconcile all things to himself and ordained Christ to bear the chastisement of our peace I answer That the Justice of God might be eminently demonstrated the Lawgiver vindicated and the breach that was made in the frame of Government repaired and God manifested to be a hater of sin and yet the sinner saved from destruction and that the love of God might be eminently and conspicuously discerned and our peace the better secured As let us a little see these things more particularly I begin 1. With the holyness of Gods nature who is of purer eyes then to behold iniquity Hab. 1.13 that is so as to approve of it or altogether connive at it so as to let it go without punishment or mark of his displeasure therefore some way must be found out to signifie his purest holiness and his hatred and detestation of sin and that it should not be pardoned without some testimony of his displeasure against it we are told God hateth the workers of iniquity Psal. 5.5 and the Righteous Lord loveth Righteousness Psalm 11.7 and therefore when God was to grant his universal pardon he would not do it without this propitiatory atonement 2. The honour of his governing Justice was to be secured and freed from any blemish that the awe of God might be kept up in the World In the mystery of our Redemption we must not look upon God onely as pars laesa the wronged party but as Rector Mundi God was to carry himself as the Governour of the World Now there is a difference between a private person and a governour private persons may pass by offences as they please but a governour must do right and what conduces to the publick good There is a twofold notion that we have of publick right Iustum est quod fieri debet and justum est quod fieri potest That which ought to be done or we are unjust as for instance to punish the righteous equally with the wicked that Abraham pleadeth Gen. 18.25 That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the Righteous with the wicked and that the Righteous should be as the wicked that be far from thee shall not the Iudge of all the earth do right Not that Abraham mindeth God of his Office but he was confidently assured of the nature of God that he could not do otherwise But now there is justum quod fieri poâ—est which if it be done or if it be not done the party is not unjust the first part of Justice is paying of debts the second exacting or requiring of debts Now the Judge of the World doth all things wisely and righteously the question is therefore whether God passing by the offences of the World without any satisfaction required doth deal justly As a free Lord he may make what Laws he pleases but as a just Judge with respect to the ends of government he doth that which is for publick good The right of passing by a wrong and the right of releasing a punishment are different things because punishment is a common interest and is referred to a common good to preserve order and government and for example to the future The Government of the world required it that God should stand on the satisfaction of Christ and the submission of the sinner that he may be owned and reverenced as the just and holy Governour of the World a valuable compensation is insisted on for this end Rom. 2.25 26. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through Faâ—th in his blood to declare his Righteousness for the Remiâ—â—ion of sins that are past through the forbearance of God To declare I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Iesus 3. To keep up the Authority of his Law God had made a former Covenant which was not to be quitted and wholly made void but upon valuable consideration therefore if it broken and no more ado made about it all respect and obedience to God would fall to the ground The Law may be considered either as to the precept or sanction the Authority of the precept is kept up by Christs submission to the Law and living by the same rules we are bound to live by and performing all manner of obedience to God for it behoved him to fulfill all Righteousness Matth. 3.15 being set up as a pattern of holiness in our nature to which we are to be conformed But that which is most considerable in this case is the sanction or penalty if this should be relaxed and no satisfaction required it might leave upon God the blemish of levity mutability and inconstancy the Law was not given in jest but in the greatest earnest that ever Law was given and so solemn a Transaction was not constituted to no purpose therefore God will not part with the Law upon light terms Gal. 4.4 5. When the fulness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the Law to Redeem them that were under the Law That men may kâ—ow that it is a dangerous thing to transgress his Law and that they may fear and do no more presumptuously pâ—rtly that it might not foster in us hopes of impunity which are very natural to us Gen. 3.5 The devil sâ—â—ks to weaken the truth of Gods threatningâ— Deut. 29.19 20. We are apt to look upon the threatnings of the Law as a vain scare-crow Therefore for the terror and warning of sinners for the future God would not release us from the punishment till our surety undertook our Reconciliation with God by bearing the chastisement of our peace 4. Christ death was necessary to make sin odious and obedience more acceptable to us 1. Sin more odiâ—us or hateful no other remedy would servé the turn to procure the pardon and destruction of it then the bloody death of thâ— cross Rom. 8.3 Surely it is no small thing for which the Son of God must dye when you read or hear of Christs sufferings you should never think an extenuating and favourable thought of it more 2. To commend obedience for Christs suffering death at the command of his Father was the noblest piece of service and highest act of obedience that ever could or can be performed unto God It is beyond any thing that can be done
Grace and then continually supplied by the confirming Grace of the Spirit The influence we have from him as our head is life and likeness 1. Life Gal. 2.20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh c. Christ is the beginning of the new life therefore he is called the Prince or Author of Life All life is derived from the head to the body so we derive life from Christ Ioh. 6.57 As I live by the father so he that eateth me shall live by me We derive life from Christ as he from the Father 2. Likeness Gal. 4.19 My little children of whom I travel in birth till Christ be formed in you And 2 Cor. 3.18 It is for the honour of Christ that his Image and superscription should be upon his Members to distinguish them from others In short as to Life he is the Root Ioh. 15.1 2. I am the true vine and c. As to Likeness he is the pattern Rom. 8.29 Whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the Image of his son that he might be the first-born among many brethren Secondly The Reasons of this 1. It is for the honour of the Son of God that he should be head of the New World In the Kingdom of Christ all things are new There is a new covenant which is the Gospel a new Paradise not that where Adam enjoyed God among the Beasts and Trees of the Garden but where the Blessed injoy God amongst the Angels A new Ministry not the Family of Aaron or Tribe of Levi but the Ministry of Reconciliation whom God hath qualified and fitted to be dispensers of these holy Mysteries New ordinances we serve God not in the oldness of the Letter but the newness of the Spirit new Members or new creatures that are made partakers of the benefits therefore also a new head or a second Adam that must be the beginning of this new Creation and that is the Lord Jesus Christ who is made a quickning spirit to all his members 1 Cor 15.45 The first Adam was made a living soul the second a quickning Spirit Adam communicated natural life to his posterity but from Christ we have the spirit 2. It is suited to our lost estate We were in a state of Apostasie and defection from God averse from all good prone to all evil Now that we might have a new being and life the Son of God came in our Nature to rectifie the disordered creation The scripture representeth man as blind in his Mind perverse in his Will rebellions in his Affections having no sound part left in him to mend the rest therefore we must be changed but by whom who shall make us of unclean to become pure and holy Not one amongst all the bare natural sons of Men Iob 14.4 of carnal to become spiritual We must be new made and new born Ioh. 3.6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit That we may mind the things of the spirit and not of the flesh of worldly to become heavenly he that formeth us for this very thing is God 2 Cor. 5.5 He that is the framer and maker of all things a God of infinite Wisdom Power and Love he frameth and createth us a-new VSES I. To shew us the Necessity of Regeneration II. The Excellency of it I. The Necessity We must have another beginning than we had as bare creatures it is one thing to make us men another to make us Saints or Christians We have Understanding Will Affections and Senses as Men but we have these sanâ—â—â—â—d as Christians The World thinketh Christianity puts strange names upon ordinary things but is it an ordinary thing to row against the stream of flesh and blood and to raise men to those inclinations and affections to which nature is an utter stranger to have a Divine Nature put into us 2 Pet. 1.4 the necessity is more bound upon us if we look upon our selves not onely as Men but Christians for whosoever is in Christ is a New Creature Some are in Christ by external Profession de jure they are bound to be new Creatures that they may not dishonour their Head Others by real internal Union they not onely ought to be but de facto are new creatures because they are made partakers of his Spirit and by that Spirit are renewed and sanctified Little can they make out their recovery to God and interest in Christ who are not sensible of any change wrought in them who have the old thoughts the old discourses the old passions and the old affections and their old conversations still The same deadness to holy things the same proneness to please the flesh the same carelessness to please or honour God and the drift and bent of their lives is as much for the world and as little for God and heaven as before II. The Excellency of Regeneration or renewing Grace What a benefit it is it appeareth in two things 1. That it is the fruit of Reconciling Grace 2 Cor. 5.18 All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Iesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation God gives Grace onely as the God of Peace as pacified by the death of Christ the holy Spirit is the gift of his Love and the fruit of this Peace and Reconciliation which Christ made for us Our Lord Jesus Christ merited this Grace by the value of his sacrifice and bloody sufferings Tit. 3.5 6. 2. It is applyed to us by the Almighty power of his Spirit Christ is first the Ransom for then the fountain of Life to our souls and so the honour of our intire and whole recovery is to be ascribed onely to our Redeemer who as he satisfied the Justice of God for our sins so he also purchased a power to change our hearts and he purchased this power into his own hands not into anothers and therefore doth accomplish it by his Spirit 2 Cor. 3.18 We should often think what a foundation God hath layed for the dispensation of his grace and how he would demonstrate his infinite love in giving us his son to be a propitiation for us and at the same time sheweth forth his infinite power in renewing and changing the heart of man and all to bring us back to him to make us capable of serving and pleasing him I come now to the other Title which respects the life of Glory The first-born from the dead The same appellation almost is given to Christ when he is called Rev. 1.5 The first begotten from the dead The reason of both is because those that arise from the dead are as it were new born and therefore the Resurrection from the dead is called a Regeneration Matth. 19.28 And as to Christ in particular the Grave when he was in it is represented as being under