memorable speech of one of the Ancients which may clear the matter in hand By that nature which is seen Per naturam quae cernitur adoretur quae non cernitur Divinitas the Divinity which cannot be seen may be worshipped We worship God in and by the humane nature of Jesus Christ but this cannot be said of any of the Saints we cannot worship God in and by any of the Saints as we do in and by the humane nature of Jesus Christ 3. Consider Christ-man hath Dominion and Soveraignty over all creatures as hath been shewed at large This cannot be said of Angels or men that they have this Soveraignty over all creatures So that we see Christ hath the preheminence in all things as the Apostles expression is Col. 1.18 These things are necessary to establish our judgments when many have been so injurious to the honour of the Lord Jesus as to level his person and dignity with the persons of the Saints Learn to admire the great Love of God in Christ Vse 2 We have heard how our nature is advanced in the Head of the Church now what God hath done for Christ he hath in some measure done for us therefore is it said Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly things in Christ Eph. 1.3 And in another place He hath made us to sit together in heavenly places with him Christs advancement in some sort is our advancement his exaltation is our exaltation God hath honoured our nature in advancing Christ-man so high the Divine nature in Christ needed nothing it was capable of receiving nothing as he was the Eternal Son so he was coequal and coessential with the Father all the glory that comes to him in time is cast upon the humane nature Now that God should advance our nature so much as he hath done in our Head this should affect our hearts greatly What is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou shouldst magnifie him Psal 8.4 That the Divinity should shew it self in and by a part of our nature that a part of our nature should stand and continue in personal union with the second person in Trinity that a part of our nature should be advanced above Angels set in authority above all creatures this should astonish us Chrysostome saith he was swallowed up by this consideration It is a great thing saith he a thing full of wonder and amazement that our flesh should sit at the right hand of God and be adored by Angels and Archangels When I think of this says he I find my self put into an ecstasie Learn from what hath been opened Vse 3 where to seek for God how we ought to come to God Would we know where to seek for God and where we may expect to find him We must seek for God in and by the humanity of Jesus Christ the humanity of Jesus Christ is the Temple of the Divinity here therefore it is we must seek for God and here may we hope to find him It is an expression that Luther hath Deus nec vult nec pocest inventri nisi in hac humanitate per hanc humanitatem Luther God neither will nor can be found but by the humanity of Jesus Christ which says he God hath lifted up as a Standard that by it he may gather to himself all his children out of the world Christ himself hath told us He is the way to the Father Joh. 14 6. How is he the way to the Father The Son incarnate the Son become man is the way to the Father Joh. 1.18 No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath revealed him How doth the Son reveal him In and by the humane nature assumed He that hath seen me hath seen the Father Joh. 14.9 How is it that he that hath seen Christ hath seen the Father The meaning is the Divinity lay hid in that humanity of his and the Divinity was to be seen and apprehended by that humanity of his This is notably set forth by the Apostle Heb. 10.19 20. Having boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us thorough the veil that is to say his flesh It is an observation which Calvin hath upon this Text The flesh of Christ is not be despised because it is as a veil that doth cover the Majesty of God and yet directs us the way to injoy all that is in God Look as the veil in the Temple did cover all those things that lay hid and secret in the Sanctuary Nec quisquam Deum inveniet nisi cui via ostium erit Christus homo Calv. and yet withal was the way that opened unto all so the Divinity that lay hid in the flesh of Jesus Christ brings us to Heaven No man shall ever find God unto whom Christ-man is not the way and the door This is that our Saviour means when he says Ye believe in God believe also in me Joh. 14.1 The naked absolute Divinity is at too great a distance from us and we know not where to find God in his naked simple Essence therefore our Saviour directs us to look to God manifest in his flesh By the Son incarnate there is a fair way opened for us to the Father Vse 4 This may inform us whence the Church hath had all its preservations and what may be a ground to our faith that the Church shall still be preserved in all Ages Eph. 1.22 And hath put all things under his feet That is he hath put all things under Christs feet God the Father hath subjected all things to Christ-man the Head of the Church the government is upon his shoulders Now saith the Apostle No man ever hated his own flesh c. Eph 5.29 The Church is near akin to Christ flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone no wonder therefore that Christ takes care of the Church which is so nearly related to himself The Church is as it were a part of Christ the head and members make up Christ mystical so also is Christ 1 Cor. 12.12 The Apostle speaks there of Believers As the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ All Believers together with Christ their Head make up Christ mystical Christ may be considered personally and he may be considered mystically Christ personally considered is that person who was born of the Virgin dyed on the Cross rose again the third day ascended up into Heaven and sits on the right hand of God Christ mystical is Christ and all Believers the head and members in conjunction The Church is said to be the Body of Christ the fulness of him who filleth all in all Eph. 1.22 Now then the Church
us to himself by Jesus Christ And that passage of our Saviour is most remarkable to this purpose Joh. 17.7 where he makes this to be the property of the Elect They have known that all things that thou hast given me are of thee The Saints do know that whatever Christ is that God himself is to them by Christ so that as God hath brought himself near to us in that way in the first place to make himself more facile and easie to be apprehended by us and to render himself more sweet and kind for us to approach to him so God in Christ doth actually communicate and give himself to us and God in Christ is the Author of our salvation and doth all that is done in the business of our salvation 13. The thirteenth Proposition for the clearing of this great Mystery is the love of Christ in his Incarnation is seen in this In that by means of the Incarnation of the Son of God as God is brought near to us so we are brought near to him Christ is the bond of our union unto God Nexus unionis nostrae ad Deum Christus est Cyril Quod homo est Christus esse voluit ut homo posset esse quod Christus est Cyprian Christ is he that ties the knot between God and us Christ as man is united unto us Christ as God so he is naturally united to the Father It was a good speech of Cyprian Christ would be that which man is that man might be that which Christ is This will be illustrated by considering that great Scripture Joh. 14.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you These words are some of the most mysterious words in all the Book of God and I remember Cyril saith of this Text It is a difficult Text and prays for Divine grace to help him to understand it I shall modestly give as I am able the interpretation of this Text here are three great Vnions insinuated in this Text. 1. The essential Union 2. The Incarnation of the Son of God the Vnion of the two Natures in the person of Christ 3. The mystical Union All these three great Unions are held forth to us in this Text. 1. The essential Union the Union of the Son and Father in the self-same Essence In those words In that day you shall know I am in my Father that is you shall know that I am the natural Son of God and that the Father hath communicated all his perfections unto me by eternal Generation Joh. 16.15 All that the Father hath is mine You shall know that I am in the Father by the unity of the Divine Essence Inspecto Christo videtur illa unitas essentiae ac gloriae Patris ac Filii Or else as another Learned Divine expounds this Phrase You shall know that I am in the Father Christ being once looked upon and beheld by the eye of faith the unity of the Essence and the glory of the Father and the Son is seen both at once You shall know that I am in the Father that is you shall know me to be the Son of God true God of one and the same Substance Essence and Divinity with the Father 2. There is the Union of the two Natures in Christ implied in these words You shall know that you are in me Percipietis Divinae meae incarnationis mysterium that is as a Learned man expounds those words You shall perceive the Mystery of my Divine Incarnation by means of which the humane nature is united to my Divinity and taken into unity of person with the Son of God by means of which you also after a sort may be said to be in me To understand this we must know although it be true that the Son of God assumed humane nature not the whole mass or lump of it but in a certain part and particle of it and hereupon that part of humane nature which is taken into personal union with the Son of God hath a nearer relation to the Trinity than any creature whatsoever yet the Son of God assuming a part of our nature into personal union with himself all the Elect being united to Christ by faith are included in Christ as Members relating to the Head and so injoy the benefit of his Incarnation Heb. 2.14 For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself took part of the same So that although the union be personally made in one part of humane nature viz. that part which was personally united to the Son of God yet all the seed have benefit by Christs Incarnation and being implanted into Christ by faith are made members of his body Sicut membra in capite sicut contentum in continente sicut palmes in vite sicut effectus in fontali principio of his flesh and of his bone and are comprehended in him as in their Head You shall know that you are in me that is as one explains this Phrase As the members are in the head as the thing contained in the thing containing as the branches in the Vine as the effect is in its fontal Principle This interpretation is further confirmed by that Scripture Eph. 1.10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of time he might gather together in one in Christ The word in the Original is an emphatical word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Chrysostome interprets thus To reduce all things under one head All the Elect are reduced and brought under Christ as their common Head and thus we are said to be in him You in me We are in him as members in the head And it is observed further by a Learned man That the Elect are said to be in Christ in respect of both his natures 1. As Christ is man Per communionem naturae ut in causa servante conservante sicut in ultimo fine so we are said to be in him by communion of nature 2. As Christ is God so we are in him as in the saving and conserving cause and as in the last end Hence are those expressions Preserved in Jesus Christ Jude 1. Col. 1.16 All things were created by him and for him 3. Here is the Mystical or Spiritual Union set down and I in you As Christ is in the Father by Vnity of Essence we in Christ as being taken in to be members of his body and standing related to him as a Head so Christ is in us by his Spirit 1 Cor. 6.16 He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit This is another part of the love of Christ in his Incarnation that by this means we are brought near to God as one of the Ancients expression is Consummati sumus reductique ad unionem Dei Patris mediatione Salvatoris Cyril We are consummated and brought back again into union with God the Father by the mediation of Christ our Saviour This
with the Divine must always partake of the power virtue and efficacy of the Divine 2. If the spring of grace which is in the Divine nature do never fail or be dryed up then the grace in the humane nature which is always fed and maintained by this spring can never cease 3. Believers standing in union and conjunction with their Head as members of his body must needs partake of the virtue and influence of their Head 1 Cor. 6.17 Eph. 5.30 1.23 I shall conclude this particular with a passage of one of the Ancients Those things which a meer man received might be taken away from him as they were from Adam that therefore grace and the gifts of God may remain firm therefore Christ who is God and man received power as he was man which he had always as he was God that his humanity receiving all things those things might be delivered over to us out of his humanity to be firmly and surely possessed by us Learn from what hath been spoken Vse 1 what it is that must comfort us in reference to the ruines of the Fall Man was a glorious creature an excellent piece as first he came out of the hand of God but what ruine what deformity hath sin brought upon this glorious and excellent creature Who is there that turns his eyes in and upon himself and hath not cause to lament the sad and miserable ruines sin hath made there The understanding is full of darkness the will perverse and wholly carried off from God the chief good the affections wholly bent and set upon sensible objects the whole man depraved and out of order lying under the sad effects of original sin What is it that may comfort us in reference to these ruines and this sad deformity sin hath brought but only the consideration of the Incarnation of the Son of God By the Incarnation of the Son of God our nature is restored to its ancient beauty and perfection let us turn our eyes upon the Head of the Church and there we may see Holiness shining forth in its greatest beauty and perfection there we may see our nature without sin a mind full of Divine light and knowledge a will exactly conformed to the Divine will affections most pure and regular Now our nature being thus repaired and restored to its ancient purity in our Head we have this assurance it shall be repaired in us We have in Christ an instance what we may expect if we be his members for God hath predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son and he is the first-born among many brethren Rom. 8.29 Vse 2 By way of Exhortation to poor Sinners that are in a natural condition O labour to get into Christ You are by nature children of wrath unlovely unacceptable in the sight of God if ever you be taken from being children of wrath to be children of God if ever you be made sons and daughters of God you must first of all be implanted by faith into him who is the natural Son of God if ever your persons be made lovely and acceptable in the sight of God you must be accepted in him who is the beloved Son of God This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased There is not one drop of Gods love runs out of Christ all the love of the Father descends upon the Son incarnate and it is conveyed and let down by him upon the sons of men If you be found out of Christ you cannot expect to see or taste one drop of the love of God towards you O labour to get into Christ Is it not sad to lye under Divine wrath to be alienated and estranged from God to be able to lay no claim to God as your God and your Father to have no ground for the acceptation of your persons Till you get into Christ and be implanted into him this is your condition you are under Divine wrath you are alienated and estranged to God you are able to lay no claim to God as your God and Father you have no ground for the acceptation of your persons For this is the beloved Son in whom the Father is well pleased The Father looks upon none with a favourable eye but whom he looks upon in the beloved Son if you have nothing to do with the beloved Son you have nothing to do with the Fathers love Let this press such as are yet strangers to Christ to give themselves no rest day nor night till they get into Christ By way of Exhortation to Believers Vse 3 to exhort them to keep close to Christ It is the interest and concernment of Believers to labour to keep close to Christ and to see that Christ dwell in their hearts by faith yet more and more The Apostle prays for the Ephesians Eph. 3.17 that Christ might dwell in their hearts by faith The more Christ dwells in our hearts by faith the greater sense we shall have of our Adoption and the acceptation of our persons The Son of God taking our nature lays the foundation for our Adoption and the acceptation of our persons therefore the more firmly we embrace the Son of God cloathed with our nature in the arms of our faith the greater sense we shall have of our sonship and acceptation Christ is the natural Son of God if we embrace him and adhere to him by faith the greater evidence shall we have that we are the adopted sons of God by faith in him Gal. 3.26 Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus That which makes us sons at first will be the means to continue the sight and comfort of this sonship to us It is faith makes us the sons of God therefore if we would have the comfort of our sonship let us look to this that Christ dwell in our hearts by faith When Christ promises to manifest the Fathers love to us how is it that he will do it He saith I in them Joh. 17.26 Let us consider it well the way by which Christ manifests the Fathers love to the Elect is by his being in them If ever we expect the manifestation of the Fathers love Christ must be in us and we in him Let us take heed therefore how we let our eye go off from Christ we can expect no love from the Father but as he looks upon us through the Son and we cannot expect to have the sense of the Fathers love let in upon us through the Son but as we take hold of the Son The more possession we have of Christ in our hearts by faith the greater sense and manifestation of the Fathers love will be let in upon us Learn from what hath been opened Vse 4 where to go for all supplies of grace We have a fountain near at hand we have grace brought down into a part of our own nature grace is lodged in the Son of God incarnate as in its proper fountain there may we repair and
glorious Person Heb. 1.3 who having by himself purged our sins sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Rev. 1.5 He who is Alpha and Omega who is before Abraham was the first and the last who is was and is to come hath loved us and washed us from our sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God even his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever I shall not proceed by Arguments to evince this great Scripture-truth which hath been so oppugned both by ancient and modern Hereticks and so nobly vindicated by Primitive Councils and Fathers and by nervous and learned Pens of latter days Polyaenus in his Roman Stratagems is but a wrigling slow-worm to this old Serpent in his direful Arts who like a Revelation-Scorpion carries death both in head and tail to bite with the teeth of fiery lyes and with his persecuting tail to slash the third part of the Stars out of the Heaven of the Church This Hydra hath not only hissed but mortally stung many a Soul in the Polonian Hungarian Transylvanian and Belgick Churches and I could hearily wish had never swum after Pelagius through the British Seas with whole folio's tyed about its neck to lay its poisonous eggs in our Seminaries The Lord speedily crush them in pieces that they may never hatch into fiery flying Serpents to provoke the Lord to vengeance What Country in Europe hath sweltred under more tearing scourges bitter State-confusions and convulsions and dreadful shakings than Poland where it had first principal vent and patronage And how far the Belgian Lion hath had his nails pared and his teeth knockt out by that hammer of Gods wrath in Europe since the publication of those blasphemous Treatises I wish both they and we did seriously lay to heart Blessed be God for the many Champions sent out of Israels Camp against Goliah of Gath in the Reformed Churches abroad and at home It may prove some mitigation of Divine displeasure and a prolonging of our tranquillity and I heartily pray that godly Magistrates would stir up their strength against it and put to their seal and sanction I am glad to find thâ—â— holy man bending his searches into this subject I hope to the preservative convinction of many and the establishment of others in that grand point of Christs Satisfaction The Lord of the everlasting Covenant I pray to sprinkle both this Book and all the People with the precious Blood of the Cross Heb. 9.12 By which he is entred into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us Vers 26. Who as he did appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself so unto them that look for him he will appear the second time without sin unto salvation Lev. 16.4 Like as the High-Priest of old being cloathed only in linen went into the holy of Holies with the expiation-blood in a golden Bason but came out in all his gorgeous attire to bless the people Vers 23. so did the glorious High-Priest of our profession enter into the Heavens not in so conspicuous a manner being seen but of few when he ascended from Mount Olivet but when he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified by the presentment of his Blood and Intercession to the Father will come again in all his Royalty and receive us to the mansions purchased and prepared for them Zech. 6.13 and will sit down as King and Priest upon his Throne for ever But not to prevent your progress from the threshold into the lovely Building of this Treatise composed by a Person of great worth and approbation in the Churches of Christ pray give me leave in the Porch to point at some material things respecting this holy Author I confess I am not so furnisht with sufficient and copious matter as to digest a full description of his life but what I had from his gracious Son Mr. Thomas Row I shall succinctly contract and add somewhat of my own Observation and then recommend you to God and the Word of his Grace Let me cast all under these four Heads his Personage Qualifications Studies and Sayings His stature inclined to tallness his visage affable and somewhat smiling his gestures grave and decent his behaviour meek and courteous and what is very observable and much to be imitated 1 Thess 4.11 he medled with his own business not interposing much less imposing on other Churches being averse to ostentation and publick appearance of a quiet spirit and replenisht with the desires of Heaven as 't is observed by Naturalists that the dew never falls in a stormy or cloudy night As to his Studies letting pass the usual Cursus in the Arts and Sciences which he followed in the injoyment of the Methods of both Vniversities his skill in the copious and elegant Greek with its curious Criticisms deserves a remarkable accent Among the various Sects of ancient Philosophers he was most addicted to Plato and the shades of the Academick walks From the Grecian Schools he stept into the Roman Cloisters to hear what they had to say before the Reformation sprang The Civilians having found the Justinian Laws as I remember at Pisa and considered the Theodosian Codex began to digest them into some Method The Divines took example and collected a Body of Sentences Among whose numerous Gladiators he most fancied the fencings of Aquinas Bradwardin Suarez and Alvarez being pleased with their reason but not their subtilties their substantial Arguments but not their Quiddities finding some little Pearls in great Dunghils was wont to say They had great heads but little hearts And indeed when the original Fountains of Scripture were stopt up by the Philistins and little but rage and fury filled most places with the blood of the slain Professors of the Truth who could expect but the Owl which once should often fly in the Lateran Wherefore from the Papal Schools he went beyond Sea and stood under the Fathers Pulpits and delighted in hearing the African Wits Athanasius Cyril and Austin Athanasius he highly honoured for his notable Writings against the Arians and his strenuous Vindication of the Deity of Christ and the Doctrine of the three Persons by the holy Scriptures and was wont to say That he wrote so like an Apostle that he was even ravished with him Cyril he also greatly esteemed for his Ephesine conflicts on the same account Austin of the Latin Communion he passed from Alexandria to Hippo on purpose to see and discourse with him because of his shining holiness and especially his irresistible Defence of irresistible Grace And indeed I may add there 's no hearty Enemy of free Grace but such as want it and those that feel its power in the heart are its greatest Lovers His Book of the Trinity though he judged somewhat obscure yet not without some light He had a value also for Basil and the two Grecian Gregories and indeed in
standing in such near relation to Christ as to be his body a part of himself this is the reason that Christ hath preserved it and will preserve it to the end of the world Mat. 18. I will build my Church See here he calls it his Church he challengeth a peculiar interest in it Feed the Church of God which he hath redeemed with his own blood Act. 20.28 Therefore the Church standing so nearly related to Christ no wonder Christ takes such care of it Learn from hence to whom to attribute all the deliverances of the Church it is our faithful omnipotent sympathizing compassionate Head that hath been the Author of all the preservations and deliverances we have seen and upon him we must depend for the time to come Lastly Vse 5 This may serve as a ground to confirm our faith touching the certian glorification of the Saints A part of our nature is already in the Head of the Church Christ man who is the Head of the Church is exalted to the highest state of glory God hath highly exalted him c. Phil. 2.9 Now though it be true Christ must be allowed his preheminence the head hath a preheminence above the members yet the members shall follow the head they shall have their measure of glory though not the same degree of glory In Heb. 6. ult we read how Christ is entred into heaven as our fore-runner If Christ be in Heaven the Saints who are members of his body shall certainly follow after It is the last passage in that last prayer of our Saviour That the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them Joh. 17. ult It is the inestimable priviledge of the Saints saith Calvin upon this Text that Christ was beloved of the Father for our sakes that we might be partakers of the same love If the Father hath glorified Christ he will certainly glorifie us if we be his members Only we must consider what is spoken in the last clause of all and I in them As we expect to be comprehended in that love with which our Head is embraced we must be sure to be in him We must see that we be in Christ and Christ in us we must have true and real union with him and if we be thus united to him then the love wherewith the Father hath loved him shall be communicated to us therefore let us endeavour to make sure of our Union with Christ and in-being in him and then as the Father hath commended his love to him the Head of the Church in glorifying him he will also commend his love to us in glorifying us in like manner The end of the fifth Sermon SERMON VI. Eph. 3. vers 17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by saith that ye being rooted and grounded in love May be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge 7. THE seventh Particular to demonstrate the greatness of the Love of Christ in the work of his Incarnation is this The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation of the Son of God our nature as it is in the Head of the Church is restored to its ancient purity integrity and perfection It is a good observation of one of the Ancients Filius Dei naturam nostram sibi conjunxit ut eam in se primò per seipsum ad pristinam pulchritudinem restitueret Cyril The Son of God hath joyned our nature to himself that first of all he might repair our nature in himself and by himself restore our nature to its ancient beauty To understand this we must know that Adam had lost original Righteousness infected and corrupted mans nature with the contagion and taint of Original sin Now the Son of God by his Incarnation hath repaired our nature and restored it to its primitive beauty and perfection The first Adam by his Fall left our nature under the contagion of Original sin the Son of God in his Incarnation took up our nature without sin and as the second Adam represents our nature in himself pure and spotless Such an High-Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled separate from sinners Heb. 9.26 So that this is the singular priviledge of Believers although they be poor sinful creatures in themselves groaning under the body of sin and death yet they have this to glory in that their Head the Lord Jesus is without sin and presents their nature pure and spotless before the Throne of God In him is no sin 1 Joh. 3.5 He doth not say In him was no sin that is true indeed for in him was no sin neither was there any guile found in his mouth But the Apostle saith here In him is no sin It is as much as if he should say As Christ was without sin here on Earth so he is without sin in Heaven he presents our nature pure and spotless before the Throne of God This is the singular priviledge of Believers that they may glory in Christ their Head when they have nothing to glory in of their own Hence is it that which the Apostle faith We glory in Christ Jesus or we boast in Christ Jesus c. Phil. 3.3 as much as to say We do not boast in our selves we do not glory in our own righteousness but we glory in the Righteousness of Christ we glory and boast in this that we have that righteousness and perfection in our Head which we have not in our selves 8. The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation of the Son of God there is a foundation laid for our acceptance with God This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased Mat. 3. ult This is spoken of the Son incarnate after he was made man God the Father delights in the Son when incarnate To understand this we must know as he was the eternal Son the express image of the Fathers person proceeding from the Father by eternal Generation so he was eternally his delight This is clear from Prov. 8.30 I was daily his delight Now that which we are farther to consider is As the Father delights in the Son as his eternal Son so he delights in the Son when incarnate when made man he delights in the Son when cloathed with our nature the eternal Son being the object of his Fathers delight and complacency and the Son taking our nature into personal Union with himself the love delight and complacency of the Father redounds and overflows if I may so express it unto the humane nature assumed Joh. 3.35 The Father loveth the Son And how doth he love him Not only as the Son simply considered but he loves him as the Son incarnate he loves him as the Son come into our nature he loves him as he is Mediator To open this a little
my God why hast thou forsaken me He was deprived of the sense and comfort of his Fathers love Secondly Christ suffered natural death his humane soul was truly separated from his body Now Christ having satisfied that Law In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death by suffering the penalty of that Law hath fully delivered his people from the curse Gal. 3.13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us A Learned man observes Because according to the sentence of the Divine Judgment in that day Adam fell and sinned humane nature ought to have been punished with eternal perdition therefore the Son of God offered himself to assume humane nature and afterwards did assume it that so man might not dye the death And the same Learned man hath another expression to the same purpose Because humane nature was depraved and lost so that it became the body of sin and death therefore the Son of God in lieu thereof was pleased in the humane nature assumed to condemn sin and abolish death and in his own person restore humane nature to righteousness life and happiness Christ having dyed for sin once dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him Rom. 6.9 10. Our nature as it is in Christ it is above death and the fear of death O let us think of these things these things are the most solid grounds of comfort Our nature in Christ is above death and the fear of death it is possessed of life and immortality and brought to perfect happiness Hence is that expression 2 Tim. 1.10 Christ who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel Christ hath already brought life and immortality into our nature Christ doth already stand possessed of immortality in his own person And this is the singular comfort of Believers that they may see a part of their own nature set above sorrow misery and death and brought to the greatest happiness they can wish or long for and that they may be assured they shall be possessed of the same happiness in their measure which Christ their Head is possessed of This Christ assures them of Joh. 17.22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ had glory with the Father from Eternity as he was his natural and coessential Son this he speaks of vers 5. Glorifie me with thy self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was Now besides this there is a glory which is given to him the glory which thou gavest me I have given them Christ had a glory given to him as man and Mediator Now the glory which was given to Christ as man and Head of the Church is given to the Elect so that all the Elect do participate and share in it in their measure The glory which thou hast given me I have given them Calvin observes upon that Text The Samplar or pattern of perfect happiness is so exprest and set forth in Christ that nothing is confined to Christ only but Christ was therefore inriched that he might inrich Believers the glory which thou hast given me I have given them Christ and his Members share in glory in common only reserving the difference between Head and Members Christ hath the glory of the Head Believers have glory as Members Christs glorification is the surest pledge of our glorification for how is it possible that he who is our Head and is now in glory with the Father should leave us to those miseries we are now obnoxious to whenas we are so nearly related to him we being members of his body of his flesh and of his bones Eph. 5.30 and he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit The Church being so nearly related to Christ and Christ being in glory how is it possible Christ should leave them under those miseries they are now subject unto 17. The greatness of Christs love in his Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation all the Elect shall have a standing Monument before their eyes wherein they may see and behold the infiniteness and transcendency of the love of God to all Eternity And the reason of this Proposition is this Because the Hypostatical or personal Union shall not be dissolved in Heaven the humane nature shall remain and abide united to the Divinity to all Eternity As in Heaven we shall be admitted to the sight of God we shall see the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity we shall see the Unity of the Essence and the three persons Father Son and Spirit subsisting in this one Essence of God so in Heaven we shall see the great Mystery of the personal Union the Mystery of the two Natures in the person of Christ more than now we can And this will be one part of the happiness of Heaven that we shall see our nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son of God and by this means we shall come to understand the greatness of the love of God by seeing how near our nature is taken unto God in the person of our Head The Hypostatical or personal Union is the foundation of the mystical Union viz. of our union and communion with God God hath taken a part of our nature into personal union with himself and by means of this we have union and communion with him Now in Heaven we shall have a clear sight what that glory is which Christ our Head is advanced unto by the personal union And this I take to be carried in that great Text Joh. 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 The happiness of Heaven will be to gaze upon the glory of Christ as a Learned Divine expresseth it That they may behold my glory as if so be this would be Heaven enough for the Elect to see the glory their Head is possessed of And what glory is this That they may behold my glory certainly the glory of his Divinity Christ had glory with the Father before the foundation of the world Joh. 17.5 He was in the form of God saith the Apostle now all the Elect shall see and behold his glory that is they shall see the glory of his Divinity and how so They shall see and behold the glory of his Divinity shining forth through his humanity The humane nature is united to the Divinity in the person of the Son now the Elect in Heaven shall see that person who hath assumed their nature to be true God and to have all the glory of the Divinity in him As the second person in Trinity is true God and hath all the glory of the Divinity in him so the Elect in Heaven shall see the humane nature united to the Divinity in the person of the Son Therefore is it added in the close of the verse For
the Law hath no more to demand When there is a full payment made there is no more debt can be exacted Christs obedience was full and compleat there remained nothing more for him to suffer Therefore is it said That he hath brought in everlasting righteousness Dan. 9.24 By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 Who was delivered up for our offences and raised again for our justification Rom. 5. ult Christ was delivered up for our offences that is delivered up to death Christ in dying bare the guilt and punishment of our sins but he was raised again for our justification Now if Christ had not satisfied and discharged the debt to the utmost he could not have been raised for our justification for if there had been any part of the punishment not suffered the Law might have exacted part of us but saith the Text Christ was raised again for our justification Therefore it is plain and evident that Christ in dying bare the whole punishment that the Law would have inflicted upon us When the debt is paid the prisoner is let out of prison Christ being our Surety was under an arrest by the Law and by Divine Justice but now Christ our Surety having fully paid the debt Christ is released out of prison having paid the debt which he owed in his sufferings he is raised again for our justification Christs Resurrection was an evidence that our debt was fully paid and discharged by our Surety Hence also is that of our Saviour himself Joh. 16.8 9. The Spirit shall convince the world of sin of righteousness and of judgment Why of righteousness Because I go to the Father Christs Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven was a certain evidence that Christ was a righteous person For if Christ had not fully answered the Law he had never been raised up from the dead and taken up into glory he had been detained and kept in prison still and the reason is plainly that which was intimated before that Christ was not born for himself nor dyed for himself but he was born a common person he was born for us and dyed for us therefore Christ being a common person and our Surety and so transacting our cause the Law would not have been satisfied neither would Divine Justice have been quieted till all that had been undergone that we deserved Therefore when it is said that Christ went to his Father after his suffering and when it is said He was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification it is plain and evident that the Law and Justice had taken their fill of Christ and had nothing more to demand of him The fourteenth Proposition is That Divine Justice being satisfied in what Christ hath suffered God acquits and discharges Believers from the guilt and punishment of their sins Rom. 8.33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth who is he that condemns it is Christ that dyed It is as much as if the Apostle should say A Believer is acquitted and discharged from the guilt of his sins no one can lay any thing to his charge because God hath justified him no one can condemn him because Christ hath born the punishment that he should have born who is he that condemns it is Christ that dyed A Believer is not liable to condemnation because Christ hath been condemned for him and the Law hath sate in Judgment upon Christ and hath arraigned and condemned him now the Law is not wont to punish the same crime twice The Justice of God having punished sin in Christ the Head and Surety of the Elect will not punish sin the second time in Believers themselves It is a good expression of one of the Ancients Caput corpus unus est Christus satisfecit ergo caput pro membris Christus pro visceribus suis Ambros The head and body are but one Christ Christ therefore being the head hath satisfied for his members Christ hath satisfied for Believers who are his own bowels The last Proposition is this That Christs Satisfaction hath merit in it though merit and satisfaction are near akin yet they are distinct notions Satisfaction doth properly signifie the turning away of some evil that is impending and Merit properly respects some good to be procured Now Christ by his Satisfaction doth not only turn away that evil from us that we deserve but he also merits and procures good for us 1. Christ by his Satisfaction turns away evil from us He turns away the wrath of God from us he turns away the curses of the Law and all the effects of Divine wrath Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Hence also is that expression Rom. 11.26 The Redeemer shall come from Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob that is he shall turn away the guilt and punishment of sin from Believers he shall turn away all the evils and miseries that sin would bring upon us His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Mat. 1. But this is not all Christ by his Satisfaction doth not only turn away evil but 2. He procures good for us he procures righteousness and the favour of God the Spirit the grace of the Spirit and eternal life for us The Sufferings of Christ have merit in them to purchase good things for us Hence is that expression of our Saviour in the Ordinance of the Supper This cup is the new Testament in my blood The meaning is that all the good things in the new Covenant all the blessings comprehended in the Covenant of Grace are purchased by the blood of Christ The Covenant of Grace is the Charter in which all good things are contained and all these things are the purchase of the blood of Christ The end of the eleventh Sermon SERMON XII Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends IT remains now that I should come to make some general Application of this great Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction Although there have been some particular Uses of this Doctrine all along in the several branches of it yet it may be meet in the close to annex some general Application as to the whole Doctrine about Christs Satisfaction The first Use shall be an Use of Confutation to confute the Adversaries of this Truth There are two great Adversaries to this Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction 1. The Socinians who deny the Satisfaction of Christ altogether 2. The Papists who bring in other Satisfactions besides that of Christ's 1. The Socinians they are the most professed Adversaries to the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction they tell us that the sufferings of Christ were only a kind of Martyrdom that Christ dyed to confirm the truth that he had preached also that his sufferings were for an example but they wholly deny that what Christ suffered