enriched to be stedfast unmoveable abundant in the worke of the Lord to doe his will as the Angels in heaven doe it yet in many things they faile and have daily experience of their owne defects But here is all the comfort though I am not able to doe any of my duties as I should yet Christ hath finished all his to the full and therefore though I am compassed with infirmities so that I cannot doe the things which I would yet I have a compassionate advocate with the Father who both giveth and craveth pardon for every one that prepareth his heart to seeke the Lord though he be not perfectly cleansed 1 Ioh. 2.2 2 Chron. 30.18 19. Secondly Against the pertinacie and close adherence of our corruptions which cleave as fast unto us as the very powers and faculties of our soule as heat unto fire or light unto the Sunne Yet sure we are that he who forbad the fire to burne and put blacknesse upon the face of the Sunne at midday is able likewise to remove our corruptions as farre from us as he hath removed them from his owne sight And the ground of our expectation hereof is this Christ when he was upon the earth in the forme of a servant accomplished all the Offices of suffering and obedience for us Therefore being now exalted farre above all heavens at the right hand of Majestie and glory he will much more fulfill those Offices of Power which he hath there to doe Which are by the supplies of his Spirit to purge us from sinne by the sufficiencie of his grace to strengthen us by his word to sanctifie and cleanse us and to present us to himselfe a glorious Church without spot or wrinckle He that brought from the dead the Lord Iesus and suffered not death to hold the head is able by that power and for that reason to make us perfect in every good worke to doe his will and not to suffer corruption for ever to hold the members It is the frequent argument of the Scripture Heb. 13.20 21. Col. 2.12 Eph. 1.19 20. Rom. 6.5 6. Rom. 8.11 Thirdly against all those firie darts of Satan wherby he tempteth us to despaire and to forsake our mercie If he could have held Christ under when he was in the grave then indeed our faith would have been vaine we should be yet in our sinnes 1 Cor. 15. 17. But he who himselfe suffered being tempted and overcame both the sufferings and the temptation is able to succor those that are tempted and to shew them mercie and grace to helpe in time of need Heb. 2.17 18. Heb. 4. 15 16. Lastly against death it selfe For the Accomplishment of Christs Office of redemption in his resurrection from the dead was both the Merit the Seale and the first fruits of ours 1 Cor. 15.20 22. Thirdly The sitting of Christ on the right hand of his Father noteth unto us the actuall Administration of his Kingdome Therefore that which is here said sit at my right hand untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole the Apostle thus expoundeth He must raigne till he hath put all enemies vnder his feete 1 Cor. 15.25 And he therefore died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of dead and living namely by being exalted unto Gods right hand Rom. 14.9 Now this Administration of Christs Kingdome implies severall particulars First 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The publication of established Lawes For that which is in this Psalme called the sending forth of the rod of Christs strength out of Sion is thus by the Prophets expounded Out of Sion shall goe forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Ierusalem Esai 2.3 Mich. 4.2 Secondly The conquering and subduing of subjects to himselfe by converting the hearts of men and bringing their thoughts into the obedience of his Kingdome Ministerially by the word of reconciliation and effectually by the power of his Spirit writing his Lawes in their hearts and transforming them into the image of his word from glorie to glorie Thirdly Ruling and leading those whom he hath thus converted in his way continuing unto their hearts his heavenly voice never utterly depriving them of the exciting assisting cooperating grace of his holy Spirit but by his divine power giving unto them all things which pertaine unto life and godlinesse after he had once called them by his glorious power Esai 2.2 Ioh. 10.3 4. 1 Cor. 1.4 8. Esai 30.21 1 Pet. 2.9 2 Pet. 1.3 Fourthly Protecting upholding succouring them against all temptations and discouragements By his compassion pittying them by his power and promises helping them by his care and wisedome proportioning their strength to their trials By his peace recompencing their conflicts by patience and experience establishing their hearts in the hope of deliverance Heb. 2.17 Ioh. 16.33 1 Cor. 10.13 2 Cor. 1.5 Phil. 4.7 19. Rom. 15.4 Fifthy Confounding all his enemies First Their projects holding up his Kingdome in the midst of their malice and making his truth like a tree settle the faster and like a torch shine the brighter for the shaking Secondly Their Persons Whom he doth here gall and torment by the Scepter of his word constraining them by the evidence thereof to subscribe to the Iustice of his wrath and whom he reserveth for the day of his appearing till they shall be put all under his feete In which respect he is said to stand at the right hand of God as a man of warre ready armed for the defence of his Church Act. 7.56 Fourthly the sitting of Christ on the right hand of God noteth unto us his giving of gifts and sending downe of the Holy Ghost upon men It hath been an universall custome both in the Church and elsewhere in dayes of great joy and solemnitie to give gifts and send presents unto men Thus after the wall of Ierusalem was built and the worship of God restored and the Law read and expounded by Ezra to the people after their captivitie it is said that the people did eate and drinke and send portions Nehem. 8. 10 12. The like forme was by the people of the Iewes observed in their feast of Purim Ester 9.22 And the same custome hath bin observed amongst heathen Princes upon solemne and great occasions to distribute donations and congiaries amongst the people Thus Christ in the day of his Majestie and Inauguration in that great and solemne triumph when he ascended up on high and led captivity captive he did withall give gifts unto men Eph. 4.10 Christ was notably typified in the Ark of the Testament In it were the Tables of the Law to shew that the whole Law was in Christ fulfilled and that he was the end of the Law for Righteousnesse to those that beleeve in him There was the golden pot which had Manna to signifie that heavenly and abiding nourishment which from him the Church receiveth There was the Rod of Aaron which budded Signifying either the miraculous incarnation of Christ in a Virgin or
And therfore it is called the fulfilling of the Law True love unto Christ keepes the whole heart together and carries it all one way and so makes it universall uniforme and constant in all its affections unto God for unstedfastnesse of life proceeds from a divided or double heart Iam. 1.8 As in the motions of the heavens there is one common circumvolution which ex aequo carrieth the whole frame daily unto one point from east to west though each severall spheare hath a severall crosse way of its owne wherin some move with a swifter and others with a slower motion So though severall Saints may have their severall corruptions and those likewise in some stronger than in others yet being all animated by one and the same Spirit they all agree in a steddy and uniforme motion unto Christ. If a stone were placed under the concave of the moone though there bee fire and aire and water between yet through them all it would hasten to its owne place so bee the obstacles never so many or the conditions never so various through which a man must passe through evill report and good report through terrors and temptations through a sea and a wildernesse through firy Serpents and sons of Anak yet if the heart love Christ indeed and conclude that heaven is its home nothing shall bee able totally to discourage it from hastning thither whither Christ the forerunner is gone before Secondly the true Love of Christ is grounded upon the evidence of that Proprietie which the soule hath unto him And of that mutuall inhabitation and possession which is between them So that our love unto him in this regard is a kinde of selfe love and therefore very strong because Christ and a Christian are but one And the more perswasion the soule hath of this unity the more must it needs love Christ. For wee love him because hee loved us first 1 Ioh. 4.16.19 And therefore our Saviour from the womans apprehension of Gods more abundant love in the remission of her many and great sinnes concludeth the measure and proportion of her love to him But saith he To whom little is forgiven the same loveth little Luke 7.47 Now True Love of Christ and his Kingdome thus grounded will undoubtedly manifest it selfe first in an universall extent unto any thing wherin Christ is present unto his Church First the soule in this case will abundantly love and cherish the Spirit of Christ. Entertaine with dearest embraces as worthy of all acceptation the motions and dictates and secret illapses of him into the soule will bee carefull to heare his voice alwayes behinde him prompting and directing him in the way he should walke will endevour with all readinesse and pliablenesse of heart to receive the impression of his seale and the testimonie which hee giveth in the inner man unto all Gods promises will feare and suspect nothing more than the frowardnesse of his owne nature which daily endevoureth to quench grieve resist rebel against this Holy Spirit and to fling off from his conduct againe Secondly the soule in this case will abundantly love the Ordinances of God in which by his Spirit hee is still walking in the midst of the Churches for the Law is written in it by the finger of God so that there is a suteablenesse and coincidencie betweene the Law of God and the heart of such a man He will receive the word in the puritie thereof and not give way to those humane inventions which adulterate it to that spirituall treason of wit and fancie or of heresie and contradiction which would stampe the private image and superscription of a man upon Gods owne coine and torture the Scriptures to confesse that which was never in them Hee will receive the word in the power majestie and authority thereof suffering it like thunder to discover the forrest and to drive out all those secret corruptions which shelterd themselves in the corners or deceit of his heart He will delight to have his imaginations humbled and his fleshly reasonings non plus'd al his thoughts subdued unto the obedience of Christ. Hee will receive the word as a wholsome potion to that very end that it may search his secret places and purge out those tough and incorporated lusts which hitherto hee had not prevailed against Hee will take heed of hardning his heart that hee may not heare of rejecting the counsell of God against himselfe of thrusting away the word from him of setting up a resolved will of his owne against the call of Christ as of most dangerous down-fals to the soule Lastly he will receive the word in the spiritualnesse thereof subscribing to the closest precepts of the Law suffering it to clense his heart unto the bottome hee will let the consideration of Gods command preponderate and over-rule all respects of feare love profit pleasure credit compliancy or any other charme to disobedience hee will bee contented to bee led in the narrowest way to have his secretest corruption reveal'd and remov'd to expose his conscience with patience under the saving though severest blowes of this spirituall sword In one word hee will deny the pride of his owne wit and if it bee the evident truth of God which is taught him though it come naked and without any dressings or contributions of humane fancie hee will distinguish betweene the author and the instrument betweene the treasure and the vessell in which it comes and from any hand receive it with such awefull submission of heart as becommeth Gods owne word Thirdly the soule in this case will most dearly love every member of Christ. For these two the love of Christ and of his members doe infallibly accompany one another For though there bee a farre higher proportion of love due unto Christ than unto men yet our love to our brethren is quoad nos and à posteriori not onely the evidences but even the measure of our love to Christ. He that loveth not his brother whom hee hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seene saith the Apostle 1 Ioh. 4.20 hee that hath not love enough in him for a man like himselfe how can hee love God whose goodnesse being above our knowledge requireth a transcendency in our love This then is a sure rule He that loveth not a member of Christ loveth not him and hee who groweth in his love to his brethren groweth likewise in his love to Christ. For as there is the same proportion of one to five as there is of twenty to an hundred though the numbers be farre lesse as the motion of the shadow upon the diall answereth exactly to that proportion of motion and distance which the Sunne hath in the firmament though the Sunne goeth many millions of miles when the shadow it may bee moveth not the breadth of a hand so though our love to Christ ought to be a far more abundant love than to any of his members yet certaine it is that the measure
unto obedience If he be grieved and made retire for he is of a delicate and jealous disposition if hee turne his wind from our sailes alas how slow and sluggish will our motion be How poore our progresse Vpon these and severall other the like grounds may the best of us bee possessed with feares discomforts and unwillingnesse in Gods service But yet Fifthly none of all this takes off the will a Toto though it doe a Tanto but that the faithfull in their greatest heavinesse and unfitnesse of spirit have yet a stronger by as towards God than any wicked man when he is at best for it is true of them in their lowest condition that they Desire to feare Gods name Nehem. 1.11 That the desire of their soule is towards the remembrance of him Esay 26.8 that they are seriously displeased with the distempers and uncomfortablenesse of their spirit Psal. 42.5 that they long to be enlarged that they may run the way of Gods Commandements Psal. 119.32 That they set their affection unto God and his service 1 Chron. 29.3 That they prepare their heart to seeke the Lord God 2 Chron. 30.19 That they strive grone wrestle and are unquiet in their dumpes and dulnesse earnestly contending for joy and freedome of Spirit Psal. 51.8.11.12 In one word that they dare not omit those duties which yet they have no readinesse and disposednesse of heart to performe but when they cannot doe them in alacrity yet they doe them in obedience and serve the Lord when he hideth his face from them I said I am cast out of thy sight yet I will looke againe towards thy holy Temple Ionah 2.4 He that feareth the Lord will obey his voice though he walke in darknesse and have no light Esay 50.10 So then the faithfull have still thus much ground of comfort that God hath their wils alwaies devoted and resign'd unto him though thus much likewise they have to humble them too the daily experience of a back-sliding and tired spirit in his service and should therefore be exhorted to stirre up the spirit of grace in themselves to keepe fresh and frequent their communion with Christ. The more acquaintance and experience the heart hath of him the more abundantly it will delight in him and make haste unto him that it may with Saint Paul apprehend him in fruition by whom it is already apprehended and carried up unto heavenly places in assurance and representation As long as wee are here there will be something lacking to our faith some mixture of unbeleefe and distrust with it 1 Thess. 3.10 Marke 9.24 corruptions temptations afflictions trials will be apt to beget some feares discomforts wearinesse and indisposednesse towards Gods service The sense whereof should make us long after our home with the Apostle grone and wait for the adoption even the redemption of our bodies for the manifestation of the sons of God for though we are now sonnes yet it doth not appeare what we shall be 1 Ioh. 3.2 should make us pray for the accomplishment of his promises for the hastening of his Kingdome where we shall be changed into an universall spiritualnesse or purity of nature where those relickes of corruption those strugglings of the law of the members against the law of the minde shall be ended those languishings decayes ebbes and blemishes of grace shall be removed where all deficiencies of grace shall be made up and that measure and first fruits of the Spirit which we here receive shall be crowned with fulnesse and everlasting perfection Here we are like the stones and other materials of Salomons Temple but in the act of fitting and preparation no marvell if we be here crooked knottie uneven and therefore subject to the hammer under blowes and buffets But when we shall be carried to the heavenly building which is above and there laid in there shall be nothing but smoothnesse and glory upon us no noise of hammers or axes no dispensation of Word or Sacraments no application of censures and severity but every man shall bee filled with the fulnesse of God Faith turned into sight Hope turned into fruition and Love everlastingly ravished with the presence of God with the face of Iesus Christ with the fulnesse of the holy Spirit and with the communion and societie of all the Saints And so much for the first observation out of the third particular concerning the willingnesse of Christs people There was further therein observed the Principle of this Willingnesse In the day of thy power or of thine armies that is when thou shalt send abroad Apostles and Prophets and Evangelists and Doctours and Teachers for evidencing the Word and Spirit unto the consciences of men Whence we may secondly observe that the Heart of Christs people is made willing to obey him by an act of Power or by the strength of the Word and Spirit It is not barely enticed but it is conquered by the Gospell of Christ 2 Cor. 10.4 5. And yet this is not a compulsory conquest which is utterly contrary to the nature of a reasonable will which would cease to be it selfe if it could be compell'd but it is an effectuall conquest The will as all other faculties is dead naturally in trespasses and sins And a dead man is not raised to life againe by any enticements nor yet compell'd unto a condition of such exact complacencie and suteablenesse to nature by any act of violence So then a man is made willingly subject unto Christ neither by meere morall perswasions nor by any violent impulsions but by a power in it selfe supernaturall spirituall or Divine and in its manner of working sweetly tempered to the disposition of the will which is never by grace destroyed but perfected Therefore the Apostle saith that it is God who worketh in us to will and to doe Phil. 2.13 first he frameth our will according to his owne as David was said to be a man after Gods owne heart and secondly by that will and the imperate acts thereof thus sanctified and still assisted by the Spirit of grace he setteth the other powers of nature on worke in further obedience unto his will And therefore the Prophet David praised God that had enabled him and his people to offer willingly unto the service of Gods house and prayeth him that he would ever keepe that willing disposition in the imaginations and thoughts of the hearts of his people 1 Chron. 29.14.18 Therefore the Apostle saith that Our faith standeth not in the wisdome of men but in the power of God 1 Cor. 4.5 Therefore likewise it is called The faith of the operation of God who raised Christ from the dead Col. 2.12 For the more distinct opening and evidencing this point how Christs people are made Willing by his power I will onely lay together some briefe positions which I conceive to be thereunto pertinent and proceed to that which is more plaine and profitable First let us consider the nature of the will which is to
and to love any of thy words Thy Law is my Counsellor I will bee ruled by it it is my Physitian I will bee patient under it it is my Schoolemaster I will bee obedient unto it But who am I that I should promise any service unto thee and who is thy Minister that hee should doe any good unto me without thy grace and heavenly call bee thou therefore pleased to reveale thine owne Spirit unto mee and to worke in mee that which thou requirest of mee I say if a man could come with such sweete preparations of heart unto the word and could thus open his soule when this spirituall Manna fals down from heaven he should finde the truth of that which the Apostle speaketh Ye are not straitned in us or in our ministerie wee come unto you with abundance of grace but yee are straitned onely in your owne bowels in the hardnesse unbeliefe incapacity and negligence of your owne hearts which receiveth that in drops which falleth downe in showres Note 3. As it is a divine so it is a secret and undiscerned Birth As the winde bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but caust not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth So saith our Savior is every one that is borne of God Ioh. 3 8. The voluntary breathings and accesses of the Spirit of God unto the soule whereby hee cometh mightily and as it were cloatheth a man with power and courage are of a very secret nature and notwithstanding the power thereof bee so great yet there is nothing in apparance but a voyce of all other one of the most empty and vanishing things As Dew fals in small and insensible drops and as a Childe is borne by slow and undiscerned progresses as the Prophet David saith Fearefully and wonderfully am I made Such is the birth of a Christian unto Christ by a secret hidden and inward call Vocatione Altâ as S. Austen calleth it by a deepe and intimate energie of the Spirit of grace is Christ formed and the soule organized unto a spirituall being A man heares a voyce but it is behinde him hee seeth no man hee feels a blow in that voyce which others take no notice of though externally they heare it too Therefore it is observable that the men which were with Paul at his miraculous conversion are in one place said to heare a voyce Act. 9.7 and in another place not to have heard the voyce of him that spake unto Paul Act. 22.9 They heard onely a voyce and so were but astonished but Paul heard it distinctly as the voyce of Christ and so was converted Note 4. As it is a Divine and secret so is it likewise a sudden birth In naturall generations the more vast the creature the more slow the production an Elephant ten years in the wombe In humane actions magnarum rerum tarda molimina great workes move like great engines slowly by leasure to their maturity but in spirituall generations Children are borne unto Christ like Dew which is exhaled conceived formed produced and all in one night Paul to day a Woolfe to morrow a Sheepe to day a Persecutor to morrow a Disciple and not long after an Apostle of Christ. The Nobleman of Samaria could see no possibility of turning a famine into a plentie within one night neither can the heart of a man who rightly understands the closenesse and intimate radication of sinne and guilt in the soule conceive it possible to remove either in a sudden change yet such is the birth of men unto Christ Before shee travelled shee brought forth before her paine came she was delivered of a man-Childe The earth bringeth forth in one day and a nation is borne at once It is spoken of Ierusalem the mother of us all Esai 66.7 8. VERSE 4. The Lord hath sworne and will not Repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck FRom the Regall Office of Christ and the Administration thereof by the Scepter of his Word and Spirit to the conquering of a willing people unto himselfe the Prophet now passeth to his sacerdotall office the vigor and merit whereof is by the two former applied unto the Church Therefore wee may observe that though the tribes were interdicted confusion with one another in their marriages Num. 36.7 Yet the Regall and Leviticall Tribes might interchange and mingle blouds to intimate as I conceive that the Messiah with relation unto whose lineage that confusion was avoided was to bee both a King and a Priest Thus wee finde Iehoiada the Priest married Iehoshabeath the Daughter of King Iehoram 2 Chron. 22.11 And Aaron of the Tribe of Levi tooke Elishâ—ba the Daughter of Amminadab who was of the tribe of Iuda Exod. 6.23 Numb 1.7 In which respect I suppose Mary and Elizabeth the Wife of Zatharie the Priest are called Cousins Luk. 1.36 In the Law indeed these two Offices were distinct Our Lord saith the Apostle sprang out of the Tribe of Iuda of which Tribe Moses spake nothing concerning Priesthood Heb. 7.14 And therefore when King Vzziah incroached on the Priests Office hee was smitten with a Leprosie 2 Chron. 26.18 21. But amongst the Gentiles amongst whom Melchizedek is thought to have beene a Priest it was usuall for the same person to have been both King and Priest The words containe the Doctrine of Christs Priesthood The Quality of it Eternall The Order not of Aaron but of Melchizedek The foundation of both Gods immutable decree and counsell hee cannot repent of it because hee hath confirmed it by an Oath I shall handle the words in the Order as they lie The Lord hath sworne Here two things are to bee enquired First how God is said to sweare Secondly why hee swears in this particular case of Christs Priesthood The former of these the Apostle resolves in one word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 6.17 Hee interposed in or by an oath namely himselfe for that is to bee supplied out of the thirteenth verse where it is said that bee sware by himselfe So elsewhere it is said that he sware by the excellency of Iacob that is by himselfe Amos 8.7.6.8 By my selfe have I sworne saith the Lord that in blessing I will blesse thee Gen. 22.16 The meaning is that God should denie himselfe which hee cannot doe 2 Tim. 2.13 and should cease to bee God if the word which hee hath sworne should not come to passe So that usuall forme as I live is to be understood let me not be esteemed a living God if my word come not to passe so elsewhere the Lord interposeth his holinesse I have sworne by my Holinesse that I will not lie unto David Psal. 89.35 As impossible for him to breake his word as to bee unholy For the second question why God swears in this particular I answer First and principally to shew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The immutable and irreversible certainty
fitted it to the manifestation of his glory and mercy to the reconciliation of him and his creature and to the exaltation of his Sonne secondly the Sonne is willing hee chearfully submitted unto it Heb. 10.9 and freely loved us and gave himselfe unto us Gal. 2.20 thirdly the sinner is willing and accepteth and relieth upon it as wee have seene at large before in the third verse so that there can bee no injury done to any party where all are willing and where all are glorified Fourthly that an innocent person may thus in Iustice and equity suffer for a nocent there is required besides these acts of ordination in the supreme of submission in the surety and of consent in the delinquent first an intimate and neere conjunction in him that suffereth with those that should have suffered Severall unions and conjunctions there are as Politike between the members and subjects in a state and thus is a commonwealth universally sinfull a few righteous men may as parts of that sinfull society be justly subject to those temporary evils which the sinnes of the society have contracted and the people may justly suffer for the sinnes of the Princes 2 Sam. 24.17 and hee for theirs 1 Sam. 12.25 secondly Naturall as betweene parents and children so the Lord visited the sinnes of Dathan upon his little ones Numb 16.27.33 thirdly Mysticall as betweene man and wife so the Lord punished the sinnes of Amaziah the priest of Bethel by giving over his wife unto whoredome Amos 7.17 and wee see in many cases the husband is liable to be charged and censured for the exorbitancies of his wife fourthly Stipulatory and by consent as in the case of fidejussores or obsides who are punished for the sinnes of others whom they represent and in whose place they stand as a caution and muniment against injuries which might be feared as we see in the parable of the prisoner committed to the custody of another person 1 King 20 39-42 fifthly Possessory as betweene a man and his goods and so wee finde that a man was to offer no beast for a sinne offering but that which was his owne Levit. 5.6 7. Now in all these respects there was in some manner conjunction betweene us and Christ He conversed amongst men and was a member of that Tribe and society amongst whom he lived and therefore was together with them under that Romane yoke which was then upon the people and in that relation paid tribute unto Caesar hee had the nature and seed of man and so was subject to all humane and naturall infirmities without sinne Hee was mystically married unto his Church and therefore was answerable for the debts and misdemeanours of the Church He entred into covenant and became suretie for man and therefore was liable to mans engagements Lastly hee became the possession in some sort of his Church whence it is that we are said to receive him and to have him 1 Ioh. 5.12 not by way of Dominion for so we are his 1 Cor. 6.19 but by way of communion and propriety and therefore though wee cannot offer him up unto God in sacrifice for our sinnes yet we may in our faith and prayers shew him unto his Father and hold him up as our owne armour and fence against the wrath of God Rom. 13.14 Secondly there is required in the innocent person suffering that he have a free and full dominion over that from which hee parteth in his suffering for another As in suretiship a man hath free dominion over his money and therefore in that respect he may engage himselfe to pay another mans debt but he hath not a free dominion over himselfe or his owne life and therefore he may not part with a member of his owne in commutation for anothers as Zaleucus did for his sonne nor be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to lay downe his owne life for the delivering of another from death except in such cases as the Word of God limiteth and alloweth But Christ was Lord of his owne life and had therefore power to lay it downe and to take it up And this power he had though he were in all points subject to the Law as we are not solely by vertue of the hypostaticall union which did not for the time exempt him from any of the obligations of the Law but by vertue of a particular command constitution and designation to that service of laying downe his life This commandement have I received of my Father Ioh. 10.18 Lastly it is required that this Power be ample enough to breake thorow the sufferings he undertaketh and to re-assume his life and former condition againe I have power to lay it downe and I have power to take it up So then the summe of all is this by the most just wise and mercifull will of God by his owne most obedient and voluntary susception Christ Jesus being one with us in a manifold and most secret union and having full power to lay downe and to take up his life againe by speciall command and allowance of his Father given him did most justly without injury to himselfe or dishonour to or injustice in his Father suffer the punishment of their sinnes with whom he had so neere an union and who could not themselves have suffred them with obedience in their owne persons or with so much glory to Gods justice mercy and wisdome If it be here againe objected that sin in the Scripture is said to be pardoned which seems contrary to this payment and satisfaction To answer this wee must note first that in the rigour of the Law Nâ—xa seqâ—itur caput the delinquent himselfe is in person to suffer the penaltie denounced for the Law is In the day that Thou eatest thou shalt dye and the soule that sinneth it shall die Every man shall beare his owne burthen Gal. 6.5 So that the Law as it stands in its owne rigour doth not admit of any commutation or substitution of one for another Secondly therefore that another person suffering may procure a discharge to the person guilty and be valide to free him the will consent and mercy of him to whom the infliction of the punishment belongeth must concurre and his over-ruling power must dispence though not with the substance of the Lawes demands yet with the manner of execution and with that rigour which bindes wrath peremptorily upon the head onely of him that hath deserved it So then wee see both these things doe sweetly concurre first a precedent satisfaction by paying the debt and yet secondly a true pardon and remission thereof to that partie which should have paid it and out of mercy towards him a dispencing with the rigor of that Law which in strictnesse would not admit any other to pay it for him Thus wee see how Christ hath suffered our punishment Secondly hee did all obedience and fulfilled all actions of righteousnesse for us for such an high Priest became us who is holy harmelesse undefiled
follow thee whithersoever thou leadest mee But these are but emptie velleities the wishings and wouldings of an evill heart Lord to me belongeth the shame of my failings but to thee belongeth the glory of thy mercy and forgivenesse Too true it is that I doe not all I should but doe I allow my selfe in any thing that I should not doe I make use of mine infirmities to justifie my selfe by them or shelter my selfe under them or dispence with my selfe in them though I doe not the things I should yet I love them and delight in them my heart and Spirit and all the desires of my soule are towards them I hate abhorre and fight with my selfe for not doing them I am ashamed of mine infirmities as the blemishes of my profession I am weary of them and groane under them as the burdens of my soule I have no lust but I am willing to know it and when I know to crucifie it I heare of no further measure of grace but I admire it and hunger after it and presse on to it I can take Christ and affliction Christ and persecution together I can take Christ without the world I can take Christ without my selfe I have no unjust gaine but I am ready to restore it No time have I lost by earthly businesse from Gods service but I am ready to redeeme it I have followed no sinfull pleasure but I am ready to abandon it no evill company but I mightily abhorre it I never sware an oath but I can remember it with a bleeding conscience I never neglected a duty but I can recount it with revenge and indignation I doe not in any man see the Image of Christ but I love him the more dearly for it and abhorre my selfe for being so much unlike it I know Satan I shall speed never the worse with God because I have thee for mine enemie I know I shall speed much the better because I have my selfe for mine enemie Certainly hee that can take Christ offer'd that can in all points admit him as well to purifie as to justifie as well to rule as save as well his grace as his mercie neede not feare all the powers of darknesse nor all the armies of the foulest sinnes which Satan can charge his conscience withall The second great vertue and fruit of the Priesthood of Christ was ex redundantia meriti from the redundancy and overflowing of his merit First hee doth merit to have a Church for the very being of the Church is the effect of that great price which he payed therefore the Church is called a purchased people 1 Pet. 2.9 Ask of mee and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance Psal. 2.8 when hee made his soule an offering for sinne hee did by that meanes see his seed and divide a portion with the great Esai 53.10 11 12. The delivering and selecting of the Saints out of this present evill world was the end of Christs Sacrifice Gal. 1.4 Secondly hee did merit all such good things for the Church as the great love of himselfe and his Father towards the Church did resolve to conferre upon it They may I conceive be reduced to two heads First Immunitie from evill whatsoever is left to bee removed after the payment of our debt or taking off from us the guilt and obligation unto punishment Such are the Dominion of Sinne. Sinne shall not have dominion over you Rom. 6.14 The Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Iesus hath made mee free from the Law of Sinne and of Death Rom. 8.2 He that committeth sinne is the servant of sinne but if the Sonne shall make you free you shall bee free indeed Ioh. 8 34-36 Hee that is borne of God doth not commit sinne 1 Ioh. 3.9 That is he is not an artificer of sinne one that maketh it his trade and profession and therefore bringeth it to any perfection Hee hath received a Spirit of Iudgement that chaineth up his lusts and a Spirit of burning which worketh out his drosse Esai 4.4 Mal. 3.2 3. Matth. 3.2 Such is The Vanity of our Minde whereby wee are naturally unable to thinke or to cherish a good thought 2 Cor. 3.5 Eph. 4.17 The Ignorance and hardnesse of our hearts unable to perceive or delight in any spirituall thing Eph. 4.18 Ioh. 1.5 Luk. 24 25.45 The Spirit of disobedience and habituall strangenesse and aversenesse from God Eph. 4.18 Iob 20.14 Such are also all those slavish affrightfull and contumacious effects of the Law in terrifying the conscience irritating the concupiscence and compelling the froward heart to an unwilling and unwelcome conformitie The Law is now made our counseller a delight to the inner man that which was a lion before hath now food and sweetnesse in it Secondly Many Priviledges and dignities in the vertue of that principall and generall one which is our unitie unto Christ from whence by the fellowship of his holy and quickning Spirit wee have an unction which teacheth us his wayes and his voyce which sanctifieth our nature by the participation of the divine nature that is by the renewing of Gods most holy and righteous Image in us Which sanctifieth our Persons that they may bee spirituall Kings and Priests Kings to order our owne thoughts affections desires studies towards him to fight with principalities powers corruptions and spirituall enemies Priests to offer up our bodies soules prayers thanksgivings almes spirituall services upon that Altar which is before his mercy-seate and to slay and mortifie our lusts and earthly members which sanctifieth all our actions that they may bee services to him and his Church acceptable to him and profitable to others Secondly from this unity with him growes our adoption which is another fruit of his Sacrifice Hee was made of a woman made under the Law that wee might receive The Adoption of Sonnes Gal. 4.5 By which wee have free accesse to call upon God in the vertue of his Sacrifice sure supplies in all our wants because our heavenly Father knoweth all our needs a most certaine inheritance and salvation in hope for we are already saved by hope Rom. 8.24 and Christ is to us the Hope of Glory Col. 1.27 Lastly there is from hence our exaltation in our finall victory and resurrection by the fellowship and vertue of his victory over death as the first fruits of ours 1 Cor. 15.20.49 Phil. 3.21 And in our complete salvation being carried in our soules and bodies to be presented to himselfe without spot and blamelesse Eph. 5.26 27. and to bee brought unto God 1 Pet. 3.18 Now to take all in one view what a summe of mercy is here together Remission of all sinnes discharge of all debts deliverance from all curses joy peace triumph security exaltation above all evils enemies or feares a peculiar purchased roiall seed the gift of God the Father to his Sonne deliverance from the dominion and service of all sinne vanity ignorance hardnesse disobedience bondage coaction terror sanctification
Lords death till hee come 1 Cor. 11.26 For in the ordinances hee is crucified before our eyes Gal. 3.1 Therefore the Apostle more than once inferres from the consideration of this Sacrifice and office of Christ our dutie of not forsaking the assemblies of the Saints and of exhorting and provoking one another Heb. 3.13.10.24 25. Now I proceed to the last thing mentioned in the words concerning the Priest-hood of Christ and that is about the Order of it Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedek Secundum verbum or secundum morem rationem the Apostle readeth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Order of Melchisedeks Priesthood Of this Melchisedek wee finde mention made but in two places onely of the whole Old Testament and in both very briefly the first in the History of Abraham returning from the slaughter of the Kings when Melchisedek being the Priest of the most high God brought forth bread and wine and blessed him Gen. 14.18 19 20. and the other in this place And for this cause the things concerning him and his Order are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hard to bee understood Heb. 5.11 It was so then and so it would bee still if S. Paul had not cleered the difficulties and shewed wherin the Type and the Antitype did fully answere which hee hath largely done in Heb. 7. For understanding and cleering the particulars which are herein considerable here are some questions which offer themselves First who Melchisedek was Secondly what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Order Thirdly why Christ was to bee a Priest after his Order and not after Aarons Fourthly why hee brought forth bread and wine Fifthly what kinde of blessing it was with which hee blessed Abraham Sixthly in what manner he received Tithes Lastly in what sense hee was without Father and without Mother without beginning of dayes or end of life First for Melchisedek who hee was much hath been said by many men and with much confidence Some hereticks of old affirmed that hee was the Holy Ghost Others that hee was an Angell Others that hee was Sem the Sonne of Noah Others that hee was a Canaanite extraordinarily raised up by God to be a Priest of the Gentiles Others that hee was Christ himselfe manifest by a speciall dispensation and priviledge unto Abraham in the flesh who is said to have seen his day and rejoyced Ioh. 8.56 Difference also there is about Salem the place of which hee was King Some take it for Ierusalem as Iosephus and most of the ancients Others for a citie in the halfe tribe of Manasse within the River Iordan where Hierom reports that some â—uines of the palace of Melchisedek were in his dayes conceived to remaine Tedious I might be in insisting on this point who Melchisedek was But when I finde the Holy Ghost purposely concealing his name genealogie beginning ending and descent and that to speciall purpose I cannot but wonder that men should toile themselves in the darke to finde out that of which they have not the least ground of solide conjecture and the inevidence whereof is expressely recorded to make Melchisedek thereby the fitter type of Christs everlasting Priesthood Secondly what is meant by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is as much as the state condition or prescribed Rule of Melchisedek and that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 After the power of an endlesse life Heb. 7.16 Not by a corporeall unction legall ceremony or the intervening act of a humane ordination but by a heavenly institution and immediate unction of the Spirit of Life by that extraordinary manner whereby hee was to bee both King and Priest unto God as Melchisedek was Thirdly Why was hee not a Priest after the order of Aaron The Apostle giveth us an answere Because the Law made nothing perfect but was weake and unprofitable and therefore was to bee abolished and to give place to another Priesthood Men were not to rest in it but by it to bee led to him who was to abolish it Heb. 7.11 12. as the morning-starre leadeth to the sunne and at the rising thereof vanisheth The ministery and promises of Christ were better than those of the Law and therefore his Priest-hood which was the office of dispencing them was to be more excellent likewise Heb. 8 6. For when the Law and covenant were to bee abolished the Priesthood in which they were established was to die likewise Fourthly Why Melchisedek brought forth bread and wine The Papists that they may have something to build the idolatry of their masse upon make Melchisedek to Sacrifice bread and wine as a Type of the Eucharist I will not fall into so tedious a controversie as no way tending to edification and infinite litigations there have been between the parts already about it In one word Wee grant that the Ancients doe frequently make it a Type of the Eucharist but onely by way of allusion not of literall prediction or strict prefiguration as that out of Egypt have I called my Sonne and in Rama was there a voyce heard which were literally and historically true in another sense are yet by way of allusion applied by the Evangelist unto the History of Christ Matth. 2.15.18 But wee may note first it is not Sacrificavit but Protulit hee brought it forth he did not offer it up Secondly he brought it forth to Abraham as a Prince to entertaine him after his conquest as Iosephus and from him Cajetan understand it not as a Priest to God Thirdly hee if hee did offer he offered bread and wine truely these men onely the lying shapes thereof and not bread and wine it selfe which they say are transubstantiated into another thing Fourthly the Priest-hood of Melchisedek as Type and of Christ as the substance was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Priesthood which could not passe unto any other either as successor or vicar to one or the other and it was onely by divine and immediate unction but the Papists make themselves Priests by humane and ecclesiasticall ordination to offer that which they say Melchisedek offered and by that meanes most insolently make themselves either successors or vicars or sharers and co-partners and workers together with him and his Antitype Christ Iesus in the offices of such a Priesthood as was totally uncommunicable and intransient Heb. 7.24 and so most sacrilâ—giously rob him of that honor which hee hath assumed to himselfe as his peculiar office Fifthly what kinde of blessing it was wherewith Melchisedek blessed Abraham To this I answer that there is a twofold Benediction The one Charitativa oâ—t of love and so any man may blesse another by way of euprecation or well wishing The blessing of the Lord bee upon you we blesse you in the name of the Lord Psal. 129.8 the other Autoritativa as a King a Priest an extraordinary superiour and publike person by a way of office and to the purpose of effecting