with the consumptive operation of the fire as touching their bodies Against this Suarez in tert part Thomae tom 2. disp 48. sect 3. p. 530. objects that this is not so agreeable unto that of Paul 1 Cor. 15.53 This corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortall must put on immortality For to put on incorruption and immortality in rigour of speech signifies more then extrinsecall protection of God hindering extrinsecall Agents Besides saith he Christs body was impassible otherwise after his resurrection then it was while it lay in the sepulcher But in the grave it was incorruptible by the outward providence of God which would not suffer it to see Corruption to be resolved into dust and ashes or into the foure elements or into any such thing Hereupon Suarez himselfe concludes that the bodies of the blessed shall be made impassible by some supernaturall quality infused into them and inherent in them rendering them uncapable of all corruptive alteration For it is of such perfection that it is able to resist and hinder the Agency of all the efficient causes of corruptive passion pag. 531. Thus you see with what confidence these subtile disputers determine of a point that I am perswaded can never be determined but by the event As for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that our glorified bodies shall be impassible this the scripture clearely asserts but as for the quomodo the manner how and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the cause by which it is it speakes hereof very sparingly and therefore I shall not adventure to determine peremptorily concerning it but leave the decision of it unto the great day of revelation when all the secrets riddles and mysteries of Divinity shall be fully and distinctly unfolded A second prerogative of glorified bodies that our Apostle specifies is glory which is the same with that which the Schoolmen tearme clarity It is sowen in dishonour it is raised in glory 1 Cor. 15.43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sunne in the kingdome of their father Math. 13.43 Of this the miraculous and extraordinary majesty of the countenance of Stephen might be a glance and presage Acts 6.15 All that sate in the councell looking stedfastly on him saw his face as it had beene the face of an Angell that is bright and glorious And unto it we may adde the lustre of Moses his face which shone so gloriously that the Children of Israel were afraid to come neare him and he forced to put a veile upon it till he had done speaking with them Exod. 34.29,30,33,35 If such was the glory of the countenance of Stephen Moses whilest they were mortall and fraile men here on earth then how will the Countenance of glorified saints glitter when they shall communicate in the glory of Christs owne body for unto this the glory of Moses and Stephen's faces doth not bare so much proportion as the light of the smallest starre hath unto the splendour of the sunne It is well observed by d Claritas quae postrema dos est glorificati corporis ex eo proveniet quod gloria animae fic redundabit in corpus ut quod animae spiritualitèr competit in corpore corporaliter appareat Nam tale quiddam licet imperfecte conting it nobis etiam in hâc vita Hominis enim laeti ac benè conscii vultus serenus quodammodo lucidus est atque omniuo secundum affectus animi facies corporis mutari solet Erit igitur in corporibus sanctorum splendor quidam oculis conspicuus qui index erit gloriae spiritualis exislentis in anima in 4. Sentent dist 48. sect 15. pag. 266. Estius that the joy of the soule hath even here in this life an unperfect impression upon the body making the countenance serene and cheerefull and hereupon he inferreth the redundancy of glory and happinesse from the soule unto the body The spirituall glory of their soules shall be conspicuous by the bodily brightnesse of their countenances What the Schoolmen speake concerning the flowing of the Clarity of a glorious body from the soule is to be understood warily and if I be not mistaken Suarez giveth a very good interpretation of it The truer exposition saith e Verior expositio est hujusmodi claritatem dici redundare à beatitudine animae non physicè sed proportione quadam quia animae existenti in statu ita perfecto debita est similis seu proportionalis corporis perfectio Suarez in tert part Thomae tom 2. disp 48. sect 2 pag. 528. he is that this clarity of the body is said to redound unto it from the soule not physically but by a kind of proportion Because unto the soule existing in so perfect a state there is due the like or a proportionable perfection of the body A third priviledge of glorified bodies mentioned by the Apostle is power It is sowen in weaknesse it is raised in power vers 43. that is endewed with a strength that is above the reach of inward infirmities or outward dangers This strength is that glorious endowment of the body which the Schoolmen tearme agilitie whereby the body is most perfectly subjected unto the soule in regard of Motion ut mobile principio motivo By it it is inabled to move wheresoever the soule will have it to the right hand or to the left upwards or downwards and that without wearinesse and though not in an instant yet with uncredible celerity For it they quote out of the old testament Esay 40. vers 31. They that waite upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as Eagles they shall runne and not be wearie and they shall walke and not faint Out of the new Testament they alleadge f Quomodo rapientur illi quorum corporibus in erit virtus agilitatis quâ seipsapossint ad nutum animae in omnem partem facillimè movere cum raptus motum significet violentum Respondeo motum quo sancti ferentur in subâ—ime obviam Christo raptum ob vocari non violentiam quae ibi nulla futura est sed vel propter celeritatem qucmodo dicit Poeta Quo nunc se proripit ille quâ ratione etiam de Christo intelligi potest illud Apocalyps duodecimo Et raptuâ— est filius ejus ad Deum ad throuum ejus id est celerâ—imè sublatus nam quae celeritèr fiunt raptim fieri dicuntur vel quia motus ille quamvis non contra raturam futurus sit utpotè procedeus ab internâ virtute seu dote agilitatis Erit tamen supra naturam quemadmodum ipsados futura est supernaturalis vel deniquè raptus idoircò vocatur quia non ita fiet ab internâ virtute quinetiam magnum momentum adferat externum illud objectum quodam modo trahens rapiens ad se Beatos ipse nimirum Christus ad quem in sublimi conspicuum gloriosum tanquam ad caput suum omnia membra
to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them Indeed the Church before Christ as our Saviour said of Abraham John 8.56 saw the day of Christ his comming in the flesh afar off through a vail or cloud of ceremonies and by the faith of prophesy Heb. 11.13 But we see it by the faith of History Unto them Christ was as a Kernel hidden in the ground as contained within God's promises Unto us he is as a branch grown forth Isai 4.2 Diodati Hence it is that the ceremonies of the old Testament were Prophetical prenunciative of things to come the Sacraments of the new Testament Historical commemorative of what is past As therefore the truth of History is held to be more real then the trurh of prophesy because it is a declaration of a real performance of that which was promised So the Christian administration of the Covenant of grace may be said to containe in it a fulness of truth that is a more real verity then the Levetical or Mosaical According to the which difference as is observed by the reverend Morton in his book of the institution of the Lord's Supper pag. 213. St. John the Baptist was called by Christ a Prophet in that he foretold Christ as now to come but he was called more then a Prophet as demonstrating and pointing him out to be now come Math. 11.9 Joh. 1.15,29 The ceremonial law saith the Apostle had a shadow of good things to come and not the very Image of the things Hebr. 10.1 In which words Calvin Pareus Cornelius Alapide and others conceive that there is an allusion unto the custome of Painters whose first rude or imperfect draught is termed a shadow or adumbration upon which they lay afterwards the lively colours so draw the Image unto the life with all its lineaments The rites of the old Law were but a rough draught but obscure and confused shadowes in respect of the ordinances of the Gospel which are a lively and express Image a distinct and perfect picture of Christ and his benefits Thus you see Beloved that God hath respited us to live in a time of greater light and fuller revelation then the Patriarks lived under O let us not receive so great a grace of God in vain but walke suitably thereunto let us improve this priviledge unto the best advantage of our soules by making use of it as an engagement unto a greater eminency in knowledge and piety then was in those dayes O! it were a shameful and ungrateful part that the Saints of the old Testament should see farther better and more distinctly through the cloud of ceremonies a light that shone in a dark place 2 Pet. 1.20 then we through the cleere mirror of the Gospel in which we may with open face behold the glory of Christ shining 2 Cor. 3.18 that their soules should thrive grow fat and full with the shadowes of the Law and ours be lanke and leane with the more solid and substantial ordinances of the Gospel 2. Christ may be considered under the relation of an head unto his Church and so the Church belongeth unto him as his fulness The Church which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Ephes 1.23 This assertion at the first blush seemeth very strange For if in Christ dwell all fulness all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Col. 2.9 If he be all in all if he fill all in all how then can either the Church triumphant all whose members owe all their perfection unto his influence or the Church militant which alas is but a company of poore creatures and sinners empty of all good save what floweth from him be possibly imagined to be his fulness any wayes to fill and perfect him why the very proposal of the doubt in some sort cleares it That which in the text seemingly contradicts the Churches being Christs fulness he filleth all in all insinuates after what manner it must be understood for from Christ's being of himselfe so full as that he filleth all in all the inference is not only easy but necessary that the Church is not his inward fulness serving to supply his defects and inwardly to fill and perfect him but only his outward fulness serving to magnify his mercy and outwardly to fill and honour him and from her he hath indeed an external filling glory and perfection Even as a King receiveth glory from his subjects in the multitude of the people is the Kings honour Prov. 14.28 or as a husband is honoured by a vertuous wife She is a crowne to him Prov. 12.4 A Father credited by his off-spring Childrens Children are the crowne of old men Prov. 17.6 Or as a Gentleman is graced by his numerous retinue Aquinas upon the place saith that the Church is Christ's fulness even as the body may be said to be the fulness of the soule And the body may be so termed because it is for the service of the soule because the soule workes in and by it and without it cannot put forth many of it's operations So the Church is for the service praise and glory of Christ Isai 43.21 Christ exerciseth and manifesteth the power and efficacy of his spirit in her She is as it were a vessel into which he poureth his gifts and graces Without a body how can the operations of the soule be visible And if it were not for the Church how could the power and efficacy of Christ's grace be discernable As a general or Commander may be said to be filled when his army is encreased his conquests enlarged so Christ when Believers are added unto the Church Acts. 2.47 The illustration is not mine but Hierom's The expression will not seem harsh if we consider the titles of the Church in the old Testament She is the glory of God Isai 4.5 Even as the woman is the glory of the man 1 Cor. 11.7 a crowne of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal Diademe in the hand of God Isa 62.3 the throne of his glory Jer. 14.21 that is unto him a name of joy a prayse a glory and an honour before all the nations of the earth Jer. 13.11 and 33.9 For the further clearing of this text we will consider Christ personally essentially mystically 1 Personally as he is Sonne the second Person in the Trinity having in the Godhead a subsistence distinct both from that of the father and Holy Ghost and so he is full of himselfe 2. Essentially according to his natures both Divine and humane as he is God as he is man and so also he is full by himselfe full and perfect God full and perfect man So then the Church is not his fulness 3 Mystically as he is head of his Church and so he is not perfect without her being his body mystical So then the Church is his fulness Can the head saith the Apostle say to the feet I have no need of thee 1 Cor. 12.21 Christ hath deigned
is the brightnesse of his fathers glory Hebr. 1.3 the Prince of life Acts. 3.15 the Lord of glory 1 Cor. 2.8 But in a second place in the exaltation of Christ besides this externall declaration of the glory of his Godhead there was farther a reall collation of an all-fulnesse of glory upon his manhood It is generally resolved by the Schoolmen and for ought I know not gainesaid by Protestants that Christ in regard of his soule was from the very first instant of his conception comprehensor blessed full of glory and injoyed the happinesse of heaven for the substance of it This Aquinas proveth part 3. quaest 34. art 4. Because even then he received grace not by measure But now if his grace should fall short of that of comprehensors the saints and Angels in heaven If he should not have enjoyed the light of glory If his graces had not beene alwaies acted in the vision fruition and comprehension of God there had been a measure in his grace The spirit had beene given unto him by measure Unto Aquinas I shall adde Becanus who upon the same argument thus reasoneth Sum. The. par 3 tract 1. c. 9. quaest 2. Christ according unto his humanity had the cleare vision of God from the very instant of his conception The reason is because it is manifested that he had this vision before his death But the reason and ground of his having of it before his death was the hypostaticall union Therefore seeing this reason or ground of the beatificall vision agreed unto him from the very instant of his conception therefore we must say that he had the vision of God from the first moment of his conception The major is plaine from that in Joh. 3.13 No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the sonne of man which is in heaven Where the verbe ascendit is of the preterperfect tense whereby Christ signified that he had now already ascended into heaven which could not be true of a corporall ascent but of a spirituall by the beatificall vision The same thing may be gathered from that in John 12.26 If any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be And from Chap. 17.24 Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me From these and the like places it is evident that Christ when he spake these things was in the estate of blessednesse unto which he also wished and desired that the Apostles might come Whence I conclude that he was alwaies in that state from the very instant of his conception because there is no reason why he should be in it then and not before Of this heaven-happniesse in the soule of Christ from the beatificall vision there would alwaies without Gods miraculous restraint and prevention have beene two as it were connaturall sequels 1. a fulnesse of unspeakable and unconceivable joy solace delight pleasure and comfort in his soule 2. a redundancy of glory from his soule unto his body But by the speciall dispensation of God the resultancy of the former was suspended and withheld in the time of his passion and the latter the a Secundum naturalem habitudinem quae est inter animam corpus ex gloria animae redundat gloria ad corpus Sed haec naturalis habitudo in Christo subjacebit voluntati Divinitatis ipsius Ex quâ factum est quod beatitudo remaneret in anima non derivarâ—tur ad corpus sed care pateretur quae conveniunt naturae passibili secundum illud quod Damasc dicit quod beneplacito Divinae voluntatis permittebatur carni pati operari propria Aquinas part 3. quaest 14. ar 1. Anima Christi a principio suae conceptionis fuit gloriosa per fruitionem Divinitatis per fectam Est autem dispensativè ut ab anima gloria non redundaret incorpus ad hoc quod mysterium nostrae redemptionis suâ passione impleret Et ideo peracto hoc mysterio passionis mortis Christi statim anima in corpus in resurrectione resumptum suam gloriam derivavit Et ita factum est corpus illud gloriosum Aquinas par 3. quaest 54. ar 3. derivation of glory from his soule unto his body was totally deferred untill his Exaltation And then indeed the interruption of joy in his soule the interception of glory from his soule to his body was altogeather removed 1. His soule was filled with all that joy solace pleasure delight and consolation which can possibly flow from the sight of an object so infinitely pleasing as is the essence majesty and glory of God In the presence of God he had fulnesse of joye at his right hand pleasures for evermore Psal 16.11 God made him full of joy with his countenance Act. 2.28 2. His body was replenished with as much glory as was proportionable unto the most vast capacitie of the creature It was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a body of glory that is a most glorious body in it selfe and the spring of glory unto others Of this glory of Christs body Peter James and John had a glimpse in the transfiguration Math. 17.2 He was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sunne and his rayment was white as the light Glory was coevall unto his soule from it's first creation but the flowing of it unto his body was stope to qualifie him for the worke of our redemption for that was to be wrought by suffering and if his body had been glorified it would have beene impassible and could not have suffered But now here at the present by speciall dispensation God giveth way unto the redounding of glory from his soule unto his body and this transitory glory was such as that it changed the naturall darknesse of his flesh and made his face to shine as the sun nay it brake through the obscurity of his rayment and made it white as the light His rayment became shining exceeding white as snow so as no fuller on earth can white them Mark 9.3 Of the fulnesse of glory that was conferred upon Christ in his exaltation there were diverse prophecies and types in the old Testament most cleare and pregnant affirmations in the new Testament 1. Divers prophecies and types in the old Testament 1. Prophecies and the most remarkable prophecy hereof is in Psalm 16. v. 9 10 11. which is applied unto Christ by the Apostle Peter Acts. 2. vers 25. usque ad 32. Thou wilt not leave my soule in hell neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption Thou wilt shew me the path of life In thy presence is fulnesse of joy at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore In these words the Psalmist prophesieth of the resurrection of Christs body and the glorification of his soule 1. Of the resurrection of his body and that he
and hope if he had not been assured to be made conformable thereunto The life and glory of all believers is bound up in Christ's life and glory as Judah said the life of Jacob was bound up in Benjamins life Gen. 44.30 Our life is hid with Christ in God Col. 3.3 therefore if God did not leave his soule his person in sheol in the grave in the state of death neither will he leave there the persons of any that belong unto him Because God did not suffer his holy one to see Corruption therefore he will rescue and redeeme all his saints from corruption and not suffer them to be finally overwhelmed therewith He will deale with them as he did with Christ shew unto them the path of life make knowne unto them the waies of life c. Psalm 16.11 Cause them to have in his presence fulnesse of joy and at his right hand pleasures for evermore or make them full of joy with his countenance Acts 2.28 The glory which thou gavest me saith Christ I have given them Iohn 17.22 which words to omit other interpretations that are impertinent unto our purpose and lesse probable may be understood either of the reall glory of his exaltation by God or else of the glory of his relation unto God 1. Of The reall glory of his exaltation by God and then the meaning of the words is that heavenly felicitie unto which thou hast predestinated my humanity I have designed unto all those that believe in me I have promised it unto them and will purchase it for them and give them in way of earnest the first fruits and tast of it Gods gift of glory unto Christ is irreversible and therefore Christ's grant of it unto believers is irrevocable Or Secondly the words may be understood of the glory of Christ's relation unto God the dignity of his sonne-ship We beheld his glory the glory as of the onely begotten of the father Iohn 1.14 This glory was given unto Christ by eternall generation so that he is the naturall Sonne of God believers unto whom Christ giveth this priviledge by grace are sonnes by grace and adoption and yet even this adoptive filiation is such an unspeakable honour as that in comparison of it to be descended from the greatest Potentate that ever was in the world is but to be basely borne If we take this sence it will also fit our present purpose For what is the full glorification of the saints but the manifestation and consummation of their adoption 1 Ioh. 3.2 The fulnesse of glory is that inheritance unto which the faithfull are adopted and into the possession of which they shall enter at the end of the world And in this sence is it that their full glorification is stiled by the Apostle Paul their Adoption Rom. 8.23 In Iohn 17. vers 24,25 Christ intercedeth for the communication of his glory unto all the elect Father I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world O righteous father the world hath not knowne thee but I have knowne thee and these have knowne that thou hast sent me Here we have a description of the glory of believers and an amplification of it from the subjects and causes thereof 1. A description of it He makes it to stand in two things a coexistence with Christ in heaven a vision or intuition of his glory 1. A coexistence with him in heaven I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am As God he was in heaven even while he was upon the earth Ioh. 3.13 But he speakes of himselfe all along as man and Mediatour and he speakes of his being in heaven as a thing present because it was very shortly and certainely to come to passe Thus vers 4. he makes protestation that he had finished the worke which God gave him to doe and yet it was not finished untill he cried out upon the crosse it is finished John 19.30 Austin puts a difference between being where Christ is and being with Christ The damned in hell are where Christ is as God But those only are with him that have a fellowship with him in his glory As he said unto the good thiefe to day shalt thou be with me in paradise Luke 23.43 But Maldonate rightly noteth that no great stresse is to be laid upon this because that which he tearmeth here a being with Christ he stileth Chap. 12.26 a being where Christ is Where I am there shall also my servant be However yet the same Authour observeth that to be with Christ hath a greater force and emphasis then to be where he is because it more expressely signifieth a participation of his glory a communion in his inheritance and kingdome a reigning togeither with him 2 Timoth. 2.12 A Second particular wherein the glory of believers is made to stand by Christ is their vision and intuition of his glory That they may behold my glory which thou hast given me Here they have but a glimpse of Christs glory It shineth as it were through a small chinke into a dungeon of darkenesse It is a light that shineth in a darke place 2 Pet. 1.19 But in heaven they shall have a full aspect of the splendour of his glory For they shall see him as he is Esay 1.32 face to face 1 Cor. 13.12 The sight of this glory shall be of a transforming nature for if the imperfect beholding of his glory in the glasse of his gospell change into the same image into a growing glory from glory to glory why then the full view of his glory in heaven will transforme into a fulnesse of glory The vision and intuition of his glory then doth amount unto a fruition of it They shall be not bare spectators but also partakers of it Thus to see the kingdome of God and life John 3.36 is to enjoy the kingdome of God and life Secondly We have an amplification of this glory and that from it's subjects and causes 1. From its subjects primary and secondary 1. Primary Christ May behold my glory Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory Lu. 24.26 Glory is said to be his in 4 regards 1 in respect of his fathers donation The glory which thou hast given me to wit by the decree of Predestination 2. By his owne purchase He humbled himselfe and became obedient unto death even the death of the crosse Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name Phil. 2.8,10 3. In regard of plenary participation 4. in respect of originall and primary possession Christ was possessed of a fulnesse of glory for to distribute it unto his members Christ the head is the primary his members are the secondary subjects of this glory unto whom it is diffused from him I will that
shall not be confounded v. 6 that is shall not be disappointed of his hope all other foundations will faile men and prove but as a Spiders web Job 8.14 so that whosoever relieth on them shall be covered with shame and confusion of face In the words I believe there is a litotes by deniall of Confusion and shame is understood the affirmation of extraordinary comfort and confidence He that believeth on him shall not be ashamed or confounded that is he shall lift up his head with a full joy triumph and unshaken confidence whereas others shall hide their heads and not be able to looke the lambe in the face as being utterly abashed at the vanity and deceitfulnesse of those foundations upon which they have built and relied From this in the third place the Apostle inferreth the honour and glory of those that by faith leane upon him as a foundation He that believeth on him shall not be confounded unto you therefore which believe he is an honour v. 6 7. indeed for a man to have his expectation concerning the eternall happinesse of his soule fully answered at the last day when the hopes of the great and wise men of the world shall be utterly frustrate must needs make much for a mans honour in the sight of men and Angels Vnto you which believe he is an honour because you have honoured him received his testimony set your seale as it were to his veracity therefore he will honour you derive unto you his honour and glory make you in together with him the Sons of God heires of Heaven spirituall Kings and priests Revel 1.6 To conclude what I have to say at present touching this fulnesse of Christs office over the Church Submission unto it is a thing from which we are of our selves averse The resolve of the Jewes is the naturall language of every carnall mans heart We will not have this man to reigne over us Luk. 19.14 Well therefore let us humbly implore the over-ruling influence of heaven to worke us unto an unfeigned acknowledgment of and sincere obedience unto the full authority of Christ for no man saith the Apostle can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the holy Ghost 1 Cor. 12.3 It is an easy matter formally and verbally to professe it but to acknowledge it cordially and affectionately out of a true faith and full perswasion of heart impossible unlesse we be taught swayed and acted by the Holy spirit 2. I shall proceed to that use and application which may be made of the fulnesse of Christs authority in generall over the whole universe wherein I shall not wholly exclude his fulnesse of authority over his Church but shall sometimes have reference thereunto 1. Then for information we may hence inferre the dignity of the members and ministers of Christ 1. The dignity of the members of Christ they are the servants subjects friends favourites brethren nay spouse of him that hath all power in heaven and in earth and to be so neerely and intimately related unto a person of such power and authority is in heavens Herauldry a farre greater honour then to be absolute and universall monarch of the whole earth This is an unspeakable comfort unto all true believers in their lowest condition and should be a strong engagement to walke suitably unto the height of such relations as becommeth the servants of so great a master the subjects nay friends and favourites of so redoubted a king the spouse of so powerfull and glorious a husband 2. We may hence inferre the dignity of the ministers of Christ They have their office and commission from him that hath a commission from the father to governe all creatures in heaven and in earth They are the only Embassadours of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords the keepers of his great seales the sacraments the stewards and rulers of his house 1 Cor. 4.1 Heb. 13.17 And from this dignity of the ministeriall function we may presse both ministers and people unto their severall and respective duties 1. The Dignity of ministers should mind them of and move them unto their duty not to walke beneath the eminency of that relation which they have unto their great Lord and master the prince of all the Kings of the earth His name is above every name and therefore they who are chosen vessels to beare his name Act. 9.15 should be very carefull not to cast any reproach or dishonour upon his name not to occasion the blasphemie thereof by any either indiscretion or scandall in their conversation It would be a very great and foule incongruence if whereas Christ who hath a fulnesse of all authority hath given them an office worthy of double honour yet notwithstanding they should render their persons vile and contemptible 2. The dignity of ministers should be a powerfull incentive unto their people to give them all due respect double honour as the Apostle phraseth it 1 Timoth. 5.17 I cannot enforce this use better then in the words of one of the best of our English Prelates Bishop Lake He that looketh upon the persons of ministers only will not much esteeme either them or their words but adde whose ministers they are and that requireth reverence to be yeelded to their persons and obedience to their doctrine Especially if we consider that all those to whom they come are at his mercy from whom they come for he hath power over them all and such power he must have that sends so it is not a message sent by a King to a neighbour King but by a King to his vassals the more are they to be respected and their words heeded States and Princes in all ages have had a very deep resentment of injuries done unto their Embassadours How severely did David revenge the disgrace that Hanun put upon his messengers 2 Sam. Chapters 10 11 12. And the Romans extinguished Corinth though the eye of Greece for violating their Embassadours and yet the violation was so small as that Florus could not tell whether it were voce or manu What severity then may they expect in the day of retribution the greatest part of whose religion is to heap indignities upon the messengers of Christ Jesus whom he hath sent with the offer of peace and pardon unto the sonnes of men For if earthly Potentates be so tender and touchy in the point of their Embassadours honour and safety can they dreame that Christ who hath all power given unto him in heaven earth should be so tamely insensible of the affronts that are offered unto his Embassadours as without repentance to suffer them to passe unpunished and unrevenged Doth not he himselfe tell us that a bare contempt of his ministers much more all violent and other injurious treatings of them reflect in the upshot upon himselfe and his father He that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luk. 10.16 They have their commission from him and he hath
and gracious unto them for Christ Psalm 34.8 1 Pet. 2.3 A practicall and experimentall full knowledge then and assurance of Gods love of Christ implieth in the result knowledge and assurance of Gods love of us so that they who are doubtfull and distrustfull of Gods love of themselves fall short in a due apprehension of Gods love of Christ The reason for this coherence of these two assurances is the connexion betwixt their objects Gods love of Christ and Gods love of us For 1. If wee looke upon the act of each as considered in God so they are one and the same decree of election Gods election of Christ and his members are not different acts à parte rei à parte rationis in our manner or way of conceiving they are as Dr Twisse often sheweth coordinate and simultaneous as being parts of one formall compleat decree de mediis 2. If we compare the fruites of each love so the fruits or effects of God's love of us all the good we enjoy for the present or expect for the future depend upon the effects of Gods love of Christ the habituall grace of his humane nature the satisfaction and merit of his obedience c. This assurance and feeling that believers have of Gods love of Christ and of themselves for Christ is amplified here from the cause and from a concomitant of it 1. From the cause of it manifestation of the name and revelation of the arme of the Lord Isai 53.1 I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it that the love wherewith thou hast loved mee may be in them By the name of God is meant the x Cyrilli interpretationem magis probo nomen hoc loco pro gloria positum esse ut apud Solomonem cùm dicit melius est nomen bonum quam divitiae multae Hoc ita esse ex eo perspicuum est quod pro eodē accipiat glorificare Patrem id est ejus declarare apud homines gloriam nomen ejus hominibus manifestare Continet ergò hoc loco nomē Dei quicquid in Deo gloriosum quicquid beneficum quicquid hominibus salutare est quale imprimis fuit quod ita mundum dilexerit ut filium suum unigenitum daret ut omnis qui credit in eum non pereat sed habeat vitam aeternam Maldonate glory of God even as the name of men is taken for that credit estimation and regard which they are in There is a glory of God which the very creatures declare Psal 19.1 Rom. 1.20 The glory of his power wisdome and generall love as he is the creatour preserver governour of the world But now the glory which is the name of the Lord of which Christ here is the revealer is that of especiall saving and redeeming love and mercy which shineth in the Gospell covenant of grace The heavens and firmament declare not so much glory as the crosse of Christ What glory of God can be cōparable unto his so loving the world that lieth in wickednesse as to give for it his only begotten son Joh. 3.16 And therefore this glory doth most eminently merit to be intitled his name Well you see the knowledge sence of Gods love of Christ and of us in Christ is the maine end and drift of Christs manifesting this name this glory of God by his word and Spirit And therefore we should give all diligence to make this love sure to have a due and deep taste and feeling of it to have it shed abroad in our hearts If believers have not attained hitherto they walke as yet below the revelation of Gods name and arme in the Gospell But now the first manifestation of Gods name at our first conversion will not serve the turne I have declared unto them thy name and will declare it c. I have manifested it in their first illumination and I will manifest it in the further growth and progresse of their knowledge Hence then we may observe that to raise believers unto such an height as the due assurance of this love there will be continuall need of new fresh farther and fuller discoveries or manifestations of Gods name in the Gospell And therefore let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisedome Col. 3.16 Watch daily at the gates of wisdome waiting at the posts of her doores Prov. 8.34 Narrownesse in the manifestations of Gods name is ever followed with weaknesse and feeblenesse in our assurance of his love They to whom the arme of the Lord is revealed but in a small measure may presume much but they know but little of the love wherewith God loveth Christ and his members 2. We have this assurance of believers amplified from the concomitant of it growth in their union with Christ That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them The meaning of those last words and I in them is that I may dwell more and more in their hearts by faith The increase of our union with Christ is inseparably connexed with our assurance of Gods love of us for Christ as a necessary effect thereof And this may serve both for comfort and triall 1. For Comfort For what an unspeakable Comfort and advantage doe believers reape by their assurance in that it thus promoteth their union with Christ by knowledge and assent by love and adherence It begets more clearenesse and evidence in their knowledge of more certainty in their assent unto the promises of the Gospell It workes fulnesse in their love of and firmnesse in their adherence unto Christ and so every way in every regard it knits and unites more closely unto him and increase of our union with him enlargeth our communion with him in all the blessings flowing therefrom and depending thereon 2. This may serve for tryall of the soundnesse and sincerity of believers assurance of Gods love wheresoever it is there is a progresse in their union with Christ he dwelleth more and more in their hearts by faith He doth not onely knock at the doores of their hearts as a passenger but he comes in unto them and makes his abode with them Joh. 14.23 He dwels in them He doth not onely dwell in their tongues and in their understandings but he dwelleth in their hearts Ephes 3.17 He hath his throne in their wills and affections Those that grow in such an union as this with Christ they have fruitfulnesse for their character assigned by Christ himselfe Joh. 15.5 He that abideth in mee and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit He in whom Christ hath his abode is no barren professour but is filled with the fruits of righteousnesse which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God Phil. 1.11 2. Christ as a man was the subject of a fulnesse of grace He had a twofold grace the grace of his favour towards us the grace of his spirit in himselfe and of both there was