him as he is we shall be like him but as unto the Degrees and Measures of it his Glory is above all that we can be made Partakers of There is one Glory of the Sun another of the Moon and Stars and one Star differeth from another in Glory As the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 15. 45. And if there be a difference in Glory among the Stars themselves as to some degrees of the same Glory How much more is there between the Glory of the Sun and that of any Star whatever Such is the difference that is and will be unto Eternity between the Human Nature of Christ and what glorified Believers do attain unto But yet this is not that properly wherein the Glory of Christ in his Exaltation after his Humiliation and Death doth consist The Things that belong unto it may be reduced unto the ensuing Heads 1. IT consisteth in the Exaltation of the Human Nature as subsisting in the Divine Person above the whole Creation of God in Power Dignity Authority and Rule with all things that the Wisdom of God hath appointed to render the Glory of it illustrious I have so largely insisted on the Explication and Confirmation of this Part of the present Glory of Christ in the Exposition of Heb. 1. ver 2 3. that I have nothing more to add thereunto 2. IT doth so in the Evidence given of the Infinite Love of God the Father unto him and his delight in him with the Eternal Approbation of his Discharge of the Office committed unto him Hence he is said to sit at the right hand of God or at the right hand of the Majesty on high That the Glory and Dignity of Christ in his Exaltation is singular the highest that can be given to a Creature incomprehensible that he is with respect unto the Discharge of his Office under the eternal Approbation of God that as so gloriously exalted he is proclaimed unto the whole Creation are all contained in this Expression 3. HEREUNTO is added the full Manifestation of his own Divine Wisdom Love and Grace in the Work of Mediation and Redemption of the Church This Glory is absolutely singular and peculiar unto him Neither Angels or Men have the least Interest in it Here we see it darkly as in a Glass above it shines forth in its brightness to the eternal Joy of them who behold him THIS is that Glory which our Lord Jesus Christ in an especial manner prayed that his Disciples might behold This is that whereof we ought to endeavor a Prospect by Faith By Faith I say and not by Imagination Vain and foolish Men having general Notions of this Glory of Christ knowing nothing of the real Nature of it have endeavored to represent it in Pictures and Images with all that Lustre and Beauty with the Art of Painting with the Ornaments of Gold and Jewels can give them This is that Representation of the present Glory of Christ which being made and proposed unto the Imagination and carnal Affections of superstitious Persons carrieth such a shew of Devotion and Veneration in the Papal Church But they err not knowing the Scripture nor the eternal Glory of the Son of God THIS is the sole Foundation of all our Meditations herein The Glory that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the real actual Possession of in Heaven can be no otherwise seen or apprehended in this World but in the Light of Faith fixing it self on Divine Revelation To behold this Glory of Christ is not an Act of Fancy or Imagination It doth not consist in framing unto our selves the Shape of a glorious Person in Heaven But the steady Exercise of Faith on the Revelation and Description made of this Glory of Christ in the Scripture is the Ground Rule and Measure of all Divine Meditations thereon HEREON our Duty it is to call our selves to an Account as unto our Endeavor after a gracious View of this Glory of Christ When did we stedfastly behold it When had we such a View of it as wherein our Souls have been satisfied and refreshed It is declared and represented unto us as one of the chief Props of our Faith as an Help of our Joy as an Object of our Hope as a Ground of our Consolation as our greatest Encouragement unto Obedience and Suffering Are our Minds every day conversant with Thoughts hereof Or do we think our selves not much concerned herein Do we look upon it as that which is without us and above us as that which we shall have time enough to consider when we come to Heaven So is it with many They care neither where Christ is nor what he is so that one way or other they may be saved by him They hope as they pretend that they shall see him and his Glory in Heaven and that they suppose to be time enough But in vain do they pretend a Desire thereof in vain are their Expectations of any such thing They who endeavor not to behold the Glory of Christ in this World as hath been often said shall never behold him in glory hereafter unto their Satisfaction nor do they desire so to do Only they suppose it a part of that Relief which they would have when they are gone out of this World For what should beget such a Desire in them Nothing can do it but some View of it here by Faith which they despise or totally neglect Every Pretence of a Desire of Heaven and of the Presence of Christ therein that doth not arise from that is not resolved into that Prospect which we have of the Glory of Christin this World by Faith is mere Fancy and Imagination OUR constant Exercise in Meditation on this Glory of Christ will fill us with Joy on his Account which is an effectual Motive unto the Duty it self We are for the most part Selfish and look no farther than our own Concernments So we may be pardoned and saved by him we care not much how it is with himself but only presume it is well enough We find not any Concernment of our own therein But this Frame is directly opposite unto the Genius of Divine Faith and Love For their principal Actings consist in preferring Christ above our selves and our Concerns in him above all our own Let this then stir us up unto the Contemplation of this Glory Who is it that is thus exalted over all Who is thus encompassed with Glory Majesty and Power Who is it that sits down at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high all his Enemies being made his Foot-stool Is it not he who in this World was poor despised persecuted and slain all for our Sakes Is it not the same Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us and washed us in his own Blood So the Apostle told the Jews that the same Jesus whom they slew and hanged on a Tree God had exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance unto Israel and the forgiveness
truths that are branched from it I have at large declared in my Discourse concerning the whole dispensation of the Holy Spirit Here therefore it must have no place amongst those many other things which offer themselves unto our centemplation as part of this Glory or intimately belonging thereunto I shall insist briefly on Three only which cannot be reduced directly unto the former heads AND the first of these is That intimate Conjunction that is between Christ and the Church whence it is just and equal in the sight of God according unto the Rules of his Eternal Righteousness that what he did and suffered in the Discharge of his Office should be esteemed reckoned and imputed unto us as unto all the fruits and benefits of it as if we had done and suffered the same things our selves For this conjunction of his with us was an act of his own Mind and Will wherein he is ineffably glorious THE Enemies of the glory of Christ and of his Cross do take this for granted That there ought to be such a conjunction between the guilty person and him that suffers for him as that in him the guilty person may be said in some sense to undergo the punishment himself But then they affirm on the other hand That there was no such conjunction between Christ and sinners none at all but that he was a man as they were men and otherwise that he was at the greatest distance from them all as it is possible for one man to be from another Socin de Servat lib. 3. cap. 3. The falseness of this latter Assertion and the gross ignorance of the Scripture under a pretence of subtilty in them that make it will evidently appear in our ensuing Discourse THE Apostle tells us 1 Pet. 2. 24. That in his own self he bare our sins in his own body on the tree and chap. 3. 18. That he suffered for sin the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God But this seems somewhat strange unto Reason where is the Justice where is the Equity that the just should suffer for the unjust Where is Divine Righteousness herein For it was an act of God The Lord hath laid on him the iniquites of us all Isa. 53. 6. The Equity hereof with the grounds of it must be here a little enquired into FIRST of all it is certain that all the Elect the whole Church of God fell in Adam under the curse due to the transgression of the Law It is so also that in this curse Death both Temporal and Eternal was contained This curse none could undergo and be sayed Nor was it consistent with the Righteousness or Holiness or Truth of God that sin should go unpunished Wherefore there was a necessity upon a supposition of Gods Decree to save his Church of a Translation of punishment namely from them who had deserved it and could not bear it unto one who had not deserved it but could bear it A SUPPOSITION of this Translation of punishment by Divine dispensation is the foundation of Christian Religion yea of all supernatural Revelation contained in the Scripture This was first intimated in the first promise and afterwards explained and confirmed in all the institutions of the Old Testament For although in the Sacrifices of the Law there was a revival of the greatest and most fundamental principal of the Law of Nature namely That God is to be worshipped with our best yet the principal end and use of them was to represent this translation of punishment from the offender unto another who was to be a Sacrifice in his stead THE reasons of the equity hereof and the unspeakable glory of Christ herein is what we now enquire into And I shall reduce what ought to be spoken hereunto to the ensuing Heads 1. IT is not contrary unto the nature of Divine Justice it doth not interfere with the principles of natural light in man that in sundry cases some persons should suffer punishment for the sins and offences of others I SHALL at present give this Assertion no other confirmation but only that God hath often done so who will who can do no iniquity SO he affirms that he will do Exod. 20. 5. Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation It is no exception of weight that they also are sinners continuing in their Fathers sins for the worst of sinners must not be dealt unjustly withal but they must be so if they are punished for their fathers sins and it be absolutely unlawful that any one should be punished for the sin of another SO the Church affirms Our fathers have sinned and are not and we have born their iniquities Lam. 5. 11. And so it was For in the Babylonish captivity God punished the sins of their fore-fathers especially those committed in the days of Manasses 2 King 23. 26 27. As afterwards in the final destruction of that Church and Nation God punished in them the guilt of all bloody persecutions from the beginning of the world Luke 11. 50 51. SO Canaan was cursed for the sin of his Father Gen. 9. 25. Saul's seven Sons were put to death for their Fathers bloody Cruelty 2 Sam. 21. 8. 14. For the Sin of David seventy thousand of the People were destroyed by an Angel concerning whom he said It is I that have sinned and done evil these sheep what have they done 2 Sam. 24. 15 17. See also 1 King 21. 29. So was it with all the Children or Infants that perished in the Flood or in the Conflagration of Sodom and Gomorrah And other instances of the like nature may be assigned IT is therefore evident That there is no inconsistency with the nature of Divine Justice nor the Rules of Reason among Men that in sundry Cases the Sins of some may be punished on others 2. IT is to be observed that this Administration of Justice is not promiscuous that any whatever may be punished for the sins of any others There is always a special Cause and Reason of it and this is a peculiar conjunction between them who sin and those who are punished for their sins And two Things belong unto this Conjunction 1. Especial Relation 2. Especial mutual Interest 1. THERE is an especial Relation required unto this Translation of Punishment Such as that between Parents and Children as in most of the Instances before given or between a King and Subjects as in the Case of David Hereby the Persons sinning and those suffering are constituted one Body wherein if one Member offend anonother may justly suffer The back may answer for what the hands takes away 2. IT consists in mutual Interest Those whose sins are punished in others have such an Interest in them as that their being so is a punishment unto themselves Therefore are such sinners threatned with the punishment and evils that shall befall their Posterity or Children for their sakes which is highly poenal unto themselves Numb 14. 33.
in him Col. 1. 17 18 19. And this was the first Egress of divine Wisdom for the Manifestation of the Glory of God in these holy Properties of his Nature For 3. THIS Communication was made unto him as a Repository and Treasury of all that Goodness Grace Life Light Power and Mercy which were necessary for the Constitution and Preservation of the New Creation They were to be laid up in him to be hid in him to dwell in him and from him to be communicated unto the whole Mystical Body designed unto him that is the Church And this is the first Emanation of divine Power and Wisdom for the Manifestation of his Glory in the New Creation This Constitution of Christ as the Head of it and the Treasuring up in him all that was necessary for its Production and Preservation wherein the Church is chosen and preordained in him unto Grace and Glory is the Spring and Fountain of divine Glory in the Communications that ensue thereon 4. THIS Communication unto Christ is 1. Unto his Person and then 2. With respect unto this Office It is in the Person of Christ that all Fulness doth originally dwell On the Assumption of human Nature into personal Union with the Son of God all Fulness dwells in him bodily Col. 2. 9. And thereon receiving the Spirit in all Fulness and not by Measure all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge were hid in him Col. 2. 3. and he was filled with the unsearchable Riches of Divine Grace Ephes. 3. 8 9 10 11. And the Office of Christ is nothing but the way appointed in the Wisdom of God for the Communication of the Treasures of Grace which were communicated unto his Person This is the end of the whole Office of Christ in all the parts of it as he is a Priest a Prophet and a King They are I say nothing but the Ways appointed by infinite Wisdom for the Communication of the Grace laid up in his Person unto the Church The transcendent Glory hereof we have in some weak measure enquired into 5. THE Decree of Election prepared if I may so say the Mass of the New Creation In the old Creation God first prepared and created the Mass or Matter of the whole which afterwards by the Power of the holy Spirit was formed into all the distinct Beings whereof the whole Creation was to consist and animated according to their distinct Kinds AND in order unto the Production and Perfecting of the Work of the new Creation God did from Eternity in the holy purpose of his Will prepare and in design set apart unto himself that Portion of Mankind whereof it was to consist Hereby they were only the peculiar Matter that was to be wrought upon by the Holy Ghost and the glorious Fabrick of the Church erected out of it What was said it may be of the Natural Body by the Psalmist is true of the Mystical Body of Christ which is principally intended Psal. 139. 15 16. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth Thine eyes did see my substance yet being imperfect and in thy Book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them The substance of the Church whereof it was to be formed was under the Eye of God as proposed in the Decree of Election yet was it as such imperfect It was not formed or shaped into Members of the Mystical Body But they were all written in the Book of Life And in pursuance of the Purpose of God there they are by the holy Spirit in the whole course and continuance of time in their several Generations fashioned into the Shape designed for them 6. THIS therefore is herein the glorious Order of divine Communications From the infinite eternal Spring of Wisdom Grace Goodness and Love in the Father all the Effects whereof unto his end were treasured up in the Person and Mediation of the Son the holy Spirit unto whom the actual Application of them is committed communicates Life Light Power Grace and Mercy unto all that are designed parts of the New Creation Hereon doth God glorifie both the essential Properties of his Nature his infinite Wisdom Power Goodness and Grace as the only eternal Spring of all these things and also his ineffable glorious Existence in three Persons by the Order of the Communication of these things unto the Church which are originally from his Nature And herein is the glorious Truth of the Blessed Trinity which by some is opposed by some neglected by most looked on as that which is so much above them as that it doth not belong unto them made precious unto them that believe and becomes the Foundation of their Faith and Hope In a View of the glorious Order of those divine Communications we are in a steady Contemplation of the ineffable Glory of the Existence of the Nature of God in the Three distinct Persons of Father Son and Holy Ghost 7. ACCORDING unto this Divine Order the Elect in all Ages are by the holy Spirit moving and acting on that Mass of the New Creation formed and animated with spiritual Life Light Grace and Power unto the Glory of God They are not called accidentally according unto the external Occasions and Causes of their Conversion unto God but in every Age at his own Time and Season the holy Spirit communicates these things unto them in the Order declared unto the Glory of God 8. AND in the same manner is the whole New Creation preserved every Day every moment there is vital Power and Strength Mercy and Grace communicated in this Divine Order to all Believers in the World There is a continual Influence from the Fountain from the Head into all the Members whereby they all consist in him are acted by him who worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure and the Apostle declares that the whole Constitution of Church-order is suited as an external Instrument to promote these Divine Communications unto all the Members of the Church it self Eph. 4. 13 14 15 16. THIS in general is the Order of Divine Communications which is for the Substance of it continued in Heaven and shall be so unto Eternity For God is and ever will be all and in all But at present it is invisible unto Eyes of Flesh yea the Reason of Men. Hence it is by the most despised they see no Glory in it But let us consider the Prayer of the Apostle that it may be otherwise with us Ephes. 1. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23. For the Revelation made of the Glory of God in the old Creation is exceeding inferior to that which he makes of himself in the New HAVING premised these things in general concerning the Glory of Divine Communications I shall proceed to declare in particular the Grounds and Way whereby the Lord Christ communicates himself and therewithal