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
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
bare the sins of many saith the Prophet Isai 53. Isai 53. last Of many id est of his Elect. He bare them as a Surety They being charged upon him he bare the penalty of them He bare our sins in his Body upon the tree 1 Pet. 2.24 And thus bearing them he expiated them took them away Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world John 1.29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ferens auferens Bearing them and bearing them away Even as that Leviticall Scape-goat having the sins of the people put upon it by the Priest it bare them and bare them away carried them into the wildernesse out of sight Even thus did the Lord Jesus having the sins of his Elect layed upon him by God his Father he bare them and bare them away taking them out of the sight of God This hee hath done this hee hath suffered for his people 3. To which I might adde what hee yet continueth to do for them viz. to make Intercession 3. His effectuall Intercession Isai 53. last for them He bare the sins of many and made Intercession for the Transgressours saith the Prophet in the place fore-named This he did upon the Crosse There he prayed for his Persecutors Father forgive them And this he still doth being in Heaven It is Christ who dyed ye rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh intercession for us Rom. 8.34 By which means he becometh a compleat and perfect Saviour to his people daily applying to them what by the once offering up of himselfe he impetrated and obtained for them Wherefore saith the Apostle he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Heb. 7.25 And thus you see the first of these Branches opened unto you viz. That Christ is a Saviour to lost mankind and How he cometh to be so I might here for further Illustration shew you yet more fully Quest Quest What Christ hath done for the healing and saving of his people What Christ hath done for his people in order to their salvation for the healing and saving of them Ans Answ 1. He was made the son of man 1. For answer hereunto I shall not need to go out of the Text He was made the Son of Man and being so he was lift up for that purpose Even as the Brasen serpent it was first made in the forme and fashion of other Serpents and being so made then it was lift up on high even thus the Lord Jesus Christ he was first made the Son of Man a man like unto us In shape and fashion as a man as the Apostle hath it Phil. 2.6 Vid Muscul ad loc Not that he was not a True man as the Manichees and some other Hereticks would have it who bring in the Type here in the Text for countenance of this their error The Brasen serpent say they was not a true Serpent only it had the shape and fashion of a Serpent So Christ say they he was not a true man only he was in shape and fashion as a man Not so Our Saviour himselfe here sufficiently refutes this error calling himselfe the Son of Man A phrase importing the verity of his humane nature He took a true humane nature upon him being made like unto us in all things sin only excepted 2. And being thus made the Son of Man 2 He was lift up he was then in the second place lift up Lift up upon the Crosse suffering dying for the sake of his people Humbling himselfe and becoming obedient unto the death even the death of the Crosse Of which more anon Passe wee to the second Branch of this maine Conclusion Prop. 2. Prop. 2. Christ the only Saviour Christ is the onely Saviour of lost mankind Mark the Text Like as Moses lift up the Serpent c. so must the Son of Man be lift up The Israelites in the wildernesse had no means of cure against the stinging of those Fiery Serpents but the Brasen serpent and that not many but one Brasen Serpent Christians have but one Jesus To us saith the Apostle there is but one God and one Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 8.6 One Saviour True Temporall saviours we have read of many whom God occasionally and successively raised up unto his people as Moses and Joshuah and Gideon 2 King 13.5 last Nehem. 9.27 c. Instruments imployed by God for the working of temporall salvation and deliverance unto his people and in that respect sometimes called Saviours But these were all but Types of this true Saviour the Lord Jesus who is the onely Eternall Saviour to the sons of men That of Saint Peter as it is full so it is very Emphaticall specially as some and most Greek Copies read it Act. 4 12. Neither is there salvation in any other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non est in alic in nemine Salvation is not in another in any other For there is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved No other Name i. e. no other power or vertue by which salvation can be hoped or looked for By this Name were the Fathers before Christ saved and by the same Name must we be saved We beleeve saith Peter that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they Act. 15.11 Even as it was in the Camp of Israel there was but one Brasen serpent which they looking upon from all quarters were all cured by it Thus but one Jesus one Saviour in and for the whole world whom the Fathers looked upon forwards we backwards both alike saved by him Christ the alone Saviour Ministers how called saviours and how men said to save themselves Object Here a triviall Objection meeteth us which I should not have taken up did not I find the Type in the Text so fully meeting with it How then are Ministers said to be Saviours How are men said to save themselves It is Pauls charge to Timothy 1 Tim. 4. 1 Tim. 4. last that he should take heed to his Doctrine c. adding this for a reason Because in so doing he should save both himself and others And it is Saint Peters exhortation to the Jews that they would save themselves from that untoward generation Act. 2. Act. 2.40 viz. from partaking in their sin and punishment Answ For answer Ministers save others and private persons save themselves How Why only as Gods Instruments in holding forth and working out of this salvation Thus do Ministers save others even as Moses saved the Israelites by lifting up the Brasen serpent amongst them This is all we can do to lift up the Brasen serpent to lift up and hold forth Christ crucified to crucifie him before your eyes in the preaching of the Word to set him before you to
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
him that is willing to follow not so but the clean contrary it is the difference as I have told you betwixt Drawing and Leading a man that is willing is led a man unwilling is drawn And such are all men before Christ comes to overpower their wills So as Grotius might well have spared his gloss upon the Text I will draw all men Sed eos intellige qui non reluctantur Grot. Annot. in Text. that is saith he Eos qui non reluctantur Such as are willing to follow But where are they I shall not dwell upon that More usefully for our selves Vse 2. The glory of Conversion to be given to Christ As many of us as have tasted of this grace of God in the great work of our Conversion in bringing us home unto Christ learn we hence whither to give the praise and glory of it Not unto our selves but unto Jesus Christ not unto our willing or running but unto his drawing It is not of him that willeth Rom. 9.16 nor of him that runneth saith the Apostle Alas of our selves we could neither run nor yet will to run before conversion being dead in trespasses and sins we could not so much as move towards Heaven no nor yet will to move no more then a dead man can will his own resurrection even this will is of God It is God that worketh in you both to will and to do Phil. 2.13 Had not Christ drawn us we had never come unto him And therefore not unto us not to the goodnesse of our natures not to the tractablenesse of our tempers the ingenuity and sequaciousnesse of our dispositions nor yet to the benefit of our education or what ever else but only to the free grace of God in Christ bee all the praise and glory of this work Vse 3. Be convinced of natural Impotency and Reluctancy For others who are as yet strangers to this work who never yet felt this attractive power working upon their souls let them be convinced of the truth of what hath been now delivered viz. that they cannot come unto Christ of themselves they cannot come except Christ himselfe draw them Whence is it that many neglect seeking after Christ and after faith in Christ and put off the work of their conversion from day to day why there is a false principle in their hearts They think that to beleeve is the easiest thing in the world that they can come unto Christ when they list Not so except Christ himself draw thee there is no coming unto him It is not in man to bring himself nay it is not in all the Men and Angels in the world that can draw a soul to Christ Except Christ himselfe put to his hand it neither can nor will come to him Be convinced of this And being convinced hereof now take heed of drawing back Vse 4. Take heed of drawing back when we feel Christ beginning to draw Our coming unto Christ depends upon his drawing And therefore doth he beginne to draw take heed how we hold off How know we whether ever hee will draw again which if he do not wee are men without hope But of this more hereafter in the next point to which I now come The second thing held forth to us in the Text is The effectuall working of Jesus Christ in bringing his Elect home to himselfe Observ 2. The effectuall work of Christ in bringing men home to himselfe I will draw them to me Those who in themselves are both unable and unwilling to come Christ over-powreth and causeth to come to himselfe A truth excellently shadowed out in that known parable of the lost sheep Luke 15.5 which the shepherd having found he layeth it upon his shoulders and bringeth it home This Shepherd is Christ the chiefe Shepherd the Shepherd and Bishop of souls 1 Pet. 5.4 1 Pet. 2.25 as Saint Peter cals him The lost sheep are his Elect before conversion who in regard of Gods Election are sheep Matth. 15.24 in regard of their naturall condition are lost sheep wandring in the pathes of sin and death having no disposition of themselves to returne to the fold These sheep this great Shepherd seeketh Luke 19.10 The Son of man is come to seeke that which was lost And seeking he findeth them and finding them he bringeth them home causing them to return to the Shepherd and Bishop of their soules 1 Pet. 2.25 For the opening and illustrating Illustrat of this usefull truth viz. Christs drawing of poor sinners to himselfe give me leave to propound and resolve these two or three Questions 1. Whence they are drawn 2. Whither they are drawn 3. By what means Christ draweth them For the two former more briefly Whence and Whither they are drawn In drawing as in every motion there are two terms A quo and Ad quem Whence and Whither whatever is drawn is drawn from one place or thing to another Quest Whence Christ draweth men Qu 1. First then Whence doth Christ draw his Elect Answ In generall Out of the state of nature An. To this we might answer in the general Hee draweth them out of the state of nature which is a state of sin and death In this estate do all men naturally lie in a state of sin The whole world lieth in wickednesse 1 Joh. 5.19 And consequently in a state of death Death passed upon all for that all have sinned Rom. 5.12 Now out of this estate Christ draweth his Elect as so many Lots out of Sodom so many Lazaruses out of the grave Bringing them out of that state of sin and death into a state opposite to it a state of righteousnesse and life More particularly More particularly Christ draweth men 1. Out of Darknesse 1. Out of darknesse Jer. 38.9 12 13 Even as Jeremy was drawn by Ebedmelech out of the Dungeon where he was like to perish So are poor sinners drawn by Christ out of the Dungeon of ignorance In this Dungeon do all men naturally ly They all sit in darknesse Luke 1.19 and in the shadow of death being by nature no better then darkness it self Ye were somtimes darkness Ephes 5.8 destitute of heavenly light wholly ignorant of what belongs to their eternall peace and happinesse Now out of this dungeon doth Christ draw his Elect calling them out of darkness That you should shew forth the vertues of him who hath called you out of darknesse 1 Pet. 2.9 And this he doth by causing a light to shine forth unto them Luke 1.79 Matth. 11.25 Giving light to them that sit in darknesse revealing unto them those supernaturall mysteries which are hid from the wise and prudent of the world 2. He draweth them from under the power of Satan 2. From the power of Satan Acts 26.18 Under this power do all men naturally lie possessed and held captive by Satan Now from under this power Christ draweth his
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
God 2 In respect of the Scriptures 3. In respect of us In respect of God who had decreed it In respect of the Scriptures which had foretold it In respect of us who needed it had perished without it 1. Of God 1. In respect of God who had decreed it God in his eternall counsell had determined that his Son should suffer should die Thence he is said to be the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world Rev. 13.8 viz. as in regard of the vertue and efficacy of his death which extended to the first age of the world as well as the last so in regard of Gods Decree Now Gods Decree being immutable it imposeth a necessity upon that which in regard of secondary causes is contingent and accidentall His Decree is irreversible Isai 46.10 My counsel shall stand In this respect the son of man must die Must is for the King for the King of Heaven whose will is a law imposing a necessity upon the creature a necessity of obeying 2. Necessary in respect of the Scriptures 2. The Scriptures which had foretold it The Scriptures in the Old Testament they had foretold the death and passion of Christ and that both by word by signe By word fore-prophesied it by signes fore-typified it Fore prophesied it After sixty two weeks the Messiah shal be cut off slain but but not for himself saith Daniel Dan. 9.26 He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter saith the Prophet Esay Isai 53.7 Both foretelling the death and passion of Christ Foretipified it Isaak lifted up and laid upon the Altar by his father the Paschal Lamb the daily sacrifices all shadowed out the sacrifice of Christ none more clearly then that in the Text. The lifting up of the brasen Serpent in the wildernesse Now that all these these prophesies these tipes might be fulfilled therefore must the son of man be lift up suffer die For as our Saviour tels the Jewes The Scriptures cannot be broken John 10.35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non potest solvi It cannot be frustrated made void Rather then the Scripture shall be broken the son of man I the Son of God shall be broken He was broken for our iniquities Isai 53.5 3. Of mankind 3. Necessary in respect of us who needed it God needed not to have given his Sonne Christ needed not to have given himself but we needed it It was not the Fathers necessity nor the Sons necessity nor yet any advantage that could hereby accrue unto either but our necessities that brought the Sonne of God to the Crosse He must suffer and die otherwise we must have suffered and died and that eternally No other way to redeem us to save us the justice of God requiring that the same nature which had sinned should satisfie such was the cure which God prescribed to the Israelites They were stung by a serpent and they must be healed by a serpent and therefore the brasen serpent must be lift up otherwise they were but dead men And such was the way which the wisdome of God had found out for the redeeming of lost mankind Man sinneth and man must suffer the same nature though not the same person Mercy dispensed with the one but justice required the other And therefore the Son of man must be lift up otherwise all mankind had perished and that for ever so much the verse following clearly imports The Son of man must be lifted up that whosoever beleeveth on him should not perish Intimating that had not the Son of man been thus lift up had not Christ died we had been in a hopeless condition no way for us but we must needs have perished In regard of us then it was expedient It is expedient for us saith Caiphas speaking by a spirit of prophesie That one man should die for the people Joh. 11.50 51 and that the whole nation perish not And thus you see how and in what respects it is here said that The Son of man must be lift up Applic. To make some Application of this useful truth In the first place by way of Information Applic. By way of Information Behold we hear the depth of mans misery the height of Gods mercy Mans misery which required such a remedy Gods mercy in providing and reaching it forth Vse 1. Take wee notice here of the depth of our own misery our naturall misery Vse 1. Mans naturall misery by reason of sin fitly represented and shadowed out in the condition of these Israelites being stung or bitten by these serpents Touching which that the resemblance betwixt the one and the other may more clearly appear wee may in the Type consider and take notice of three particulars Three particulars notified in the Type 1. The Serpent it selfe 2 The sting of this serpent 3. The deadly effect of that sting where it fastened The Serpent it self a venemous and poisonfull creature such generally are all serpents but this more then other and thence called a fiery serpent both from the colour which through the abundance of poyson was shining and glistering like fire and also from the nature and quality of its poison which inflamed and burnt the body like unto fire The sting or teeth of this serpent the instrument whereby it conveyed that poison the effect of that stinging which was not onely painfull and dangerous but deadly Now I suppose your thoughts run before my meditations in applying of every of these All which read us a usefull lecture touching our naturall misery shadowing out unto us how wee are all stung by that old Serpent whose sting is sin and the fruit thereof death Briefly of each 1. The Serpent Satan Revel 12.9.20.2 1. Behold here the Serpent which hath stung us Sathan that old Serpent as he is sometimes called and that not unfitly 1. A Serpent in as much as in that shape he seduced our first parents 1. Seducing our first parents in that shape coming to the woman in the shape of a serpent speaking in and by the serpent making use of that creature as his instrument in conveying his suggestions 2 Cor. 11.3 whence it is said that the serpent bebeguiled Eve that is Satan in the Serpent 2. Resembling the serpent 2. Resembling the serpent and that in two prime qualities and properties of that creature viz. the subtilty and poysonous nature of it 1. In Subtilty 1. In subtilty Gen. 3 1. The serpent was more subtil then any beast of the field Gen. 3. Satan more subtil then any of the sons of men Crafty to deceive 2 Cor. 11.3 The Serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty Having his windings and turnings 2 Cor. 2.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 6.11 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and subtile insinuations his Devices his Methods as the Apostle calleth them whereby he winds himself in and out Even as that serpent was able to creep in and out of the Garden
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
his death be made effectuall Even as the Brasen Serpent was lift up for all those Israelites which feeling themselves stung looked up unto it and to those who did so look upon it it was effectuall and availeable for their cure and that to all of them Even thus was the Lord Jesus lift up upon the crosse for all those that shall believe on him For them Christ prayed I pray not for those alone saith our Saviour that is for his Apostles and Disciples onely but for them also which shall believe on me John 17.20 And for them he died I lay down my life for my sheep John 10.15 Such as being elected before time are in time called to believe on him And to all and every of these shall his death be made effectuall Whosoever c. Whosoever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omnis credens Whosoever the term explained all and every one that believeth Be they what they will what for Nation what for Sex what for Condition outward or inward c. For Nation whether Jew or Gentile Herein again the Type falls short of the truth The Type falling short of the Truth and is out-stripped by it The Brasen Serpent was lift up for the benefit of the Israelites one Nation onely but Christ the true Brasen Serpent is lift up as well for the Gentile as for the Jew as well for all Nations as for one Nation In that day saith the Prophet Esay there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensigne of the people to it shall the Gentiles seek Isai 11. Isai 11.10 This Root of Jesse is Jesus Christ the Son of David the Son of Jesse So the Apostle himselfe expounds it Rom. 15.12 He being lift up upon the Cross is made an Ensign a Standard to the people and that not onely to Jews but to Gentiles In him shall the Gentiles trust saith the Apostle And so doing both Jews and Gentiles having a like interest in him shall have a like benefit by him So saith the same Apostle expresly Rom. 1.16 where speaking of the Gospel he tels us that it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Grecian To Jews and Gentiles no difference betwixt Nation and Nation no nor yet betwixt Condition and Condition or Sex and Sex Bond and free rich and poor noble ignoble male female all alike in Christ Jesus Gal 3.28 So Paul tels his Galatians There is neither Jew nor Greek neither bond nor free there is neither male nor female for ye are all one in Christ Jesus Upon their coming to him and believing on him all alike justified and saved by him Even as the Israelites coming and looking to the Brasen Serpent they were all a like cured Young and old Masters and servants Princes and Peasants no difference betwixt the one and the other Even so is it with all that come unto Jesus Christ Rom. 3.27 The righteousnesse of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ is unto all and upon all that believe saith the same Apostle for there is no difference Whosoever believeth on him shall have alike benefit by him But I must not dwell upon illustration That which now remains for the closing up of this point and this Text is a word of Application which I shall direct only two wayes By way of Consolation Exhortation 1. By way of Comfort and Encouragement to Vse 1. Comfort to penitent sinners all poor penitent sinners such as feeling the sting of sin in their souls and being made sensible of the need they have of Jesus Christ desire to come and look up unto him to believe on him Let them know and know it to their everlasting comfort that for their sakes was this Brasen Serpent lift up for their sakes was the Lord Jesus by his Fathers Ordination and appointment lift up upon the Crosse so as they coming unto him shall not misse of benefit by him It matters not what you have been what you are Onely believe God who required no more at the Israelites hands but to look up to the Brasen Serpent requires no more from penitent sinners but to look up unto Jesus Christ by faith So doing whoever thou art thou shalt not perish And what a sweet incouragement is this take it to your selves you to whom it belongeth Are you in the number of those whose eyes God hath opened and whose hearts he hath inclined thus to look up unto the Lord Jesus thus to believe on him To you be it spoken to all and every of you you shall not perish but have everlasting life Whosoever Gaude hic meum tuum omnìum credentium nomen scriptum est Scultetus Now rejoyce and be glad saith one writing upon it Here is my name and thy name and the name of every believer written All written in this promise and so in the Book of life So saith Paul of his fellow-labourers naming some of them by name Whose names are in the book of life Phil. 4.3 And who is there but would be glad to read his name written there no such ground of rejoycing as this Luke 10.20 In this rejoyce not saith our Saviour to his Disciples that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoyce because your names are written in heaven Now this may all true believers do Do but evidence to thine own soule the truth of thy faith and then here read thy name written whosoever what is this generall this universall but as if God had said to every man and woman in particular and by name Believe thou and thou shalt not perish Believe thou and thou shalt have everlasting life Do wee but see to the condition he that hath made it will make good the promise Onely believe Let that be the word of Exhortation Vse 2. Exhortation Onely believe which let me presse upon every soul which is in measure prepared for the receiving of it I mean such as do feel the sting of sin and desire to be cured let them look up let them raise up their hearts to beleeve on the Lord Jesus And let nothing discourage or dismay them from or in so doing I know discouragements there are many which poor doubting soules will bee ready to take up and make use of against themselves Discouragements answered from the Type either to keep them from believing on Christ or at least from apprehending the comfort which belongeth to them upon their believing Give me leave to meet with some of them some of the most obvious And therein I shall still have recourse to the Type which methinks gives a very apt and full resolution to the most of the scruples and objections which a sin-stung soule can take up and make use of against it selfe in this way Object 1. O in the first place I am a Object 1. Unworthinesse of the person sinner a great sinner one that
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