bodily Weakness for many Years together yea even all the days of their Life Here is a poor Man for eight and thirty Years together under the Discipline of God's Rod by bodily Weakness Observe 2. That it is the Duty of the Afflicted to wait upon God in a diligent use of all Means which God has appointed for their Help and Healing As to trust to Means is to neglect God so to neglect the Means is to tempt God This poor Man no doubt had made use of the Means before yet waits at the Pool now Observe 3. Tho' Christ well knew the Case of this afflicted Person and wanted no Information yet he asks him If he were willing to be made whole to make him sensible of his Misery to quicken his Desires after healing and to raise his Expectations of Help from him Tho' Christ knows our Wants yet he takes no notice of them till we make them known to him by Prayer Observe 4. The time when Christ wrought this Miracle of healing upon the impotent Man it was on the Sabbath-day and as an Evidence of the certainty of the Cure Christ bids him take up his Bed and walk Our Saviour's Miracles were real and beneficial they were obvious to Sense and would bear the Examination of all Persons The Miracles which the Church of Rome boast of will not bear the Examination of our Senses Their great Miracle Transubstantiation is so far from being obvious to Sense that it contradicts the Sense and Reason of Mankind and is the greatest Affront to humane Nature that ever the World was acquainted with And our Saviour's working this and many other Miracles on the Sabbath-day was for the Testification of the Miracles to all Persons that would take notice of them Observe 5. How unjustly the Jews tax the Cripple that was healed with the breach of the Sabbath for taking up his Bed and walking on the sabbath-Sabbath-day whereas the Law only forbad carrying Burthens on the sabbath-Sabbath-day for Profit in a way of Trade But this Man's carrying his Bed was a Testimony of God's Goodness and Mercy towards him and of his Gratitude and Thankfulness towards God Hypocritical and superstitious Persons oft-times pretend much Zeal for observing the Letter of the Law little respecting the Moral Sense and Signification of it Besides our Saviour had a mind to let the Jews know that he was Lord of the Sabbath that he had a Power over it and could dispense with it as he thought good Observe Lastly The great Modesty and Humility of our blessed Saviour how hateful all Ostentation and Vain-glory was unto him for having wrought this famous Miracle before the People at a Publick Time the Feast of the Passover to shun all Applause from the Multitude he conveys himself privately away from them Jesus conveyed himself away a multitude being in that place Our Saviour's Business was to do much Good and make but little Noise He sought not his own Glory 14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee These words are our Saviour's seasonable Advice and Counsel to the poor impotent Cripple whom he had miraculously restored to Health and Soundness Where Observe 1. The Person admonishing Jesus he that had been his Physician before is his Monitor and Teacher now Behold thou art whole sin no more Oh how much is it the Duty but how seldom the Practice of those whom God makes Instruments for recovering bodily Health to put their Patients in mind of their Obligations to Thankfulness and new Obedience Thus did our Saviour here The Recovered Mans Physician gave him Instruction his Healer became his Monitor Sin no more Obs 2. The Person admonished the recovered Cripple Thou art made whole But what was he Not a Disciple not a Believer For he that was healed wist not who Jesus was v. 13. he knew not Christ therefore believed not on him and yet was healed by him Thence Learn That there are many outward Mercies and common Blessings which Christ bestows upon those that have no spiritual Knowledge of him or saving Acquaintance with him The Man that was healed wist not who he was that had healed him Observe 3. The Place where Christ meets this his recovered Patient not at the Tavern but in the Temple returning Thanks to God for his recovered Health When God sends forth his Word and healeth us it is our Duty to make our first Visit to God's House and to pay our Vows in the great Congregation and found forth the Praises of our great and gracious Deliverer Observe 4. The Circumstance of Time when Christ found him in the Temple soon after his recovery Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the Temple We must not be clamorous and importunate to receive Mercies and dumb and tongue-tied in returning Thanks but make haste and not delay the time to pay our Acknowledgments to him that healeth us Observe 5. The Admonition it self Behold thou art made whole sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee where our Saviour admonishes him of the greatness of the Mercy Behold thou art made whole and subjoyns a cautionary Direction Sin no more Where it is necessarily implyed that sin is always the deserving and oft times the procuring Cause of a Person 's Afflictions and Calamities and that the best and surest way to prevent the Return of Judgments and Calamities to a Person is for a Person to return no more to sin Sin no more lest a worse thing come unto thee where it is farther implied that Almighty God has sorer Plagues and severer Judgments in store for those Sinners who go on obstinately in a Course of Sin and Rebellion against God notwithstanding all the signal Rebukes of his avenging Anger From the whole Note That when the Lord doth graciously heal a Person or a People it is a Mercy to be much observed and thankfully acknowledged 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the sabbath day After the Man understood who his Healer and Benefactor was he went and told the Jewish Magistrates it was Christ that had healed him This he did not with any evil Design no doubt to inform against him and stir up the Jews to persecute him but desirous to publish what Christ had done to his Honour and to direct others to make use of him Learn thence That it is the Duty of all those that have experienced the Power and Pity of Christ themselves to proclaim and publish it to others to the intent that all that need him may experience Help and Healing from him This seems to be the poor Man's Design But behold the Blindness Obstinacy and Malice of the Jews who persecuted Christ and sought to kill him for doing good and healing a Cripple that had been
when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities Our Blessed Saviour having sent forth his Twelve Apostles in the foregoing Chapter to Plant and Propagate the Gospel we find him in this Chapter following them himself in that great and necessary Work He departed to Teach and to Preach in their Cities CHRIST the Great Bishop and Shepherd of Souls sent not forth the Apostles as his Curates to labour and sweat in the Vineyard whilst he took his Ease at Home but he followed them himself His Word of Command to them was Praeite Sequar Go ye before I will follow after Note 1. That Preaching of the Gospel is a great and necessary Work incumbent upon all the Ministers of Christ let their Dignity and Preheminency in the Church be what it will None of the Servants are above their Lord. 2. That if there be a Distinction betwixt Teaching and Preaching as some apprehend they are both the Work of Christ's Ministers who are obliged from their Master's Example to perform both Teaching is in order to the Conversion of Sinners and Preaching in order to the Edification of Saints 2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ he sent two of his disciples 3 And said unto him Art thou he that should come or do we look for another It was not for John's Information that he sent his Disciples to Christ but for their Satisfaction that he was the true and promised Messias John was assured of it himself by a Sign from Heaven at our Saviour's Baptism Matth. 3.17 But John's Disciples out of a great Zeal to him their Master envied Christ himself and were unwilling to believe any Person greater than their Master Therefore John out of a Pious Design to confirm his Disciples in the Belief of Christ's being the true Messias sends them to our Saviour to hear the Doctrine which he taught and to see the Miracles which he wrought Learn hence What a Pious Desire there is in such as know Christ experimentally themselves to bring all that belong to them to a Saving Acquaintance with him 4 Jesus answered and said unto them Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see 5 The blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them Observe here 1. The Way and Means which our Saviour takes for the Conviction and Satisfaction of John's Disciples that he was the true Messias he appeals to the Miracles wrought by himself and submits the Miracles wrought by him to the Judgment of their Senses Go and shew John the Miracles which you hear and see Obs 2. The Miracles themselves The Blind receive their sight the Lame walk the Deaf hear c. Christ was all this in a Literal Sence and in a Mystical Sence also he was an Eye of Understanding to the Ignorant a Foot of Power to the Weak He opened an Ear in deaf Hearts to receive the Word of Life And the Poor are Evangelized that is turned into the Spirit and Temper of the Gospel the Rich hear the Gospel but the Poor receive it that is they feel the powerful Impressions of it As we say such a one is Italianized when his Carriage is such as if he were a Natural Italian The Passive Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes Non Actum Praedicationis sed Effectum Evangelii Praedicati the Good Effect which the Gospel had upon the Hearts and Lives of the Poor transforming them into the likeness of it self Learn It is a Blessed Thing when the Preaching of the Gospel has such a powerful Influence upon the Minds of Men that the Temper of their Minds and the Actions of their Lives are a lively Transcript of the Spirit and Temper of the Holy JESUS 6 And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me Our Saviour here by pronouncing them Blessed that are not offended in him doth intimate the Misery of those who stumble at him and to whom he is a Rock of Offence Some are offended at the Poverty of his Person others are offended at the Sublimity and Sanctity of his Doctrine Some are offended at his Cross others are offended at his Free Grace But such as instead of being Offended at CHRIST Believe in him and bottom their Expectations of Heaven and Salvation upon him are in a Happy and Blessed Condition Blessed is he that shall not be offended in me 7 And as they departed Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John What went ye out into the wilderness to see A reed shaken with with the wind 8 But what went ye out for to see A man cloathed in soft raiment behold they that wear soft cloathing are in king's houses 9 But what went ye out for to see A prophet yea I say unto you and more than a prophet 10 For this is he of whom it is written Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee Our Saviour having given Satisfaction to John's Disciples next enters upon a large Commendation of John himself Where Observe 1. The Persons whom he commended him before not John's own Disciples for they had too high an Opinion of their Master already and were so much addicted to John that they envied Christ for his sake See Joh. 3.26 Behold Christ Baptizeth and all Men come unto him It was a great Eye-sore that Christ had more Hearers and Followers than John therefore not before John's Disciples but before the Multitude Christ commends John For as John's Disciples had too high so the Multitude had too low an Opinion of him possibly because of his Imprisonment and Sufferings There was a time when the People had high Thoughts of John but now they undervalued him Learn thence The great uncertainty of Popular Applause the People contemn to day whom they admired yesterday he who to day is cried up to morrow is troden down The Word and the Ministers are the same but this proceeds from the Fickleness and Inconstancy of the People nothing is so mutable as the Mind of Man nothing so variable as the Opinion of the Multitude Observe 2. The Time when our Saviour thus commended John not in the time of his Prosperity and Greatness when the People flockt after him and Herod got him to Court and reverenced him but when the giddy Multitude had forsaken him and he was faln into Disgrace at Court and had Preacht himself into a Prison Now Christ vindicates his Innocency maintains his Honour proclaims his Worth and tells the People that the World was not worthy of such a Preacher as John was Learn thence That Christ will stand by and stick fast to his Faithful Ministers when all the World forsakes them Let the World slight and despise them at their pleasue yet Christ will maintain their Honour
Works of the Law only must keep the whole Law or Covenant of Works perfectly and exactly Learn 2. That the best way to prâ—pare Men for Jesus Christ is to let them see their own Impotency to keep and fulfil the Covenant of Works 18 He saith unto him Which Jesus said Thou shalt do no murder Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not bear false witness 19 Honour thy father and thy mother and Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self 20 The young man saith unto him All these things have I kept from my youth up what lack I yet Observe here That the Duties our Saviour instances in are the Duties of the second Table which Hypocrites are most failing in but the sincere Practice of our Duty to our Neighbour is a singular Evidence of our Love to God These Duties of the second Table the young Man says he had kept from his Youth and perhaps might say it truly according to the Pharisees Interpretation which condemned only the gross outward Act not the inward Lust and Motion of the Heart Learn hence How apt Men are to think well of themselves and to have too high an Opinion of their own Goodness and Righteousness before God All these have I kept from my Youth 21 Jesus said unto him If thou wilt be perfect go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven and come and follow me That is Thou that hast been all thy Days a Pharisee if now thou wilt be a Christian thou must maintain a Readiness and Disposition of Mind to part with all that thou hast in this World at my Call and at my Command and follow after me Learn That such as enter themselves Disciples of Christ must be ready at Christ's Call to part with all for Christ's sake that they have in this World 2. All that profess themselves to be Christ's Disciples must be his Followers that is They must obey his Doctrine and imitate his Example his Holiness his Humility his Heavenly mindedness his Patience and Meekness his Readiness to forgive Injuries and the same Mind must be in us which was in Christ Jesus 22 But when the young man heard that saying he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions This parting with all for Christ seemed so hard a Condition to the young Man that he went away sorrowful from Christ Whence Learn 1. That a Man wedded to the World will renounce Christ rather than the World when both stand in Competition 2. That Unregenerate and Carnal Men are exceeding sorrowful and sadly concern'd when they cannot have Heaven upon their own Terms and win it in their own way The young Man went away sorrowful 23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples Verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven Our Blessed Saviour takes occasion from what had past to discourse with his Disciples concerning the Danger of Riches and the Difficulty that attends rich Men in their way to Salvation A rich Man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of God Whence Note 1. That rich Men do certainly meet with more Difficulties in their Way to Heaven than other Men 'T is difficult to withdraw their Affections from Riches to place their Supreme Love upon God in the midst of their Abundance 'T is difficult to depend upon God in a rich Condition The Poor committeth himself to God but a Rich Man's Wealth is his strong Tower 2. That yet the Fault lyes not in Riches but in Rich Men who by placing their Trust and putting their Confidence in Riches do render themselves uncapable of the Kingdom of God 24 And again I say unto you It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God These Words were a Proverbial Speech among the Jews to signifie a thing of great Difficulty next to an Impossibility And they import thus much that it is not only a very great Difficulty but an Impossibility for such as abound in Worldly Wealth to be saved without an extraordinary Grace and Assistance from God 'T is hard for God to make a Rich Man happy because he thinks himself happy without God 25 When his disciples heard it they were exceedingly amazed saying Who then can be saved The Disciples understanding how naturally and strongly Men love the World and how Idolatrously and Inordinately their Hearts run out upon it they say unto Christ Lord who can be saved Learn 1. That when the general Difficulties which lye in the Way of Salvation are laid forth and sufficiently understood we may justly wonder that any are or shall be saved 2. That such are the special and peculiar Difficulties in the rich Man's Way to Heaven that his Salvation is Matter of Wonder and great Admiration to the Disciples of Christ When the Disciples heard this they were exceedingly amazed saying Who then can be saved 26 But Jesus beheld them and said unto them With men this is unpossible but with God all things are possible As if Christ had said Were all Men left to themselves no Man either Poor or Rich would be saved but God can bring Men to Heaven by the mighty Power of his Grace he can make the Rich in Estate Poor in Spirit and them that are Poor in this World Rich in Grace Learn 1. That it is impossible for any Man Rich or Poor by his own natural Strength to get to Heaven 2. That when we are discouraged with the Sense of our own Impotency we should consider the Power of God and act our Faith upon it With God all things are possible 27 Then answered Peter and said unto him Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee what shall we have therefore 28 And Jesus said unto them Verily I say unto you that ye which have followed me in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel The Apostles having heard our Saviour's Command to the young Man to sell all and give to the Poor St. Peter in the Name of the rest tells Christ that they had left all and followed him Behold we have forsaken all Where Note how Peter magnifies that little which he had left for Christ and ushers it in with a Note of Observation and Admiration also Behold we have forsaken all what shall we have then Learn thence That altho' it be very little that we suffer for Christ and less that we have to forsake upon his Account yet we are apt to magnifie and extol it as if it were some great matter Lord we have left all What all His tatter'd Fisher-Boat and his ragged Nets a great all next to nothing at all scarce worthy to be mentioned Yet how is it magnified Behold Lord we have left all But observe our Lord 's
diseases and cast out many devils and suffered not the devils to speak because they knew him The Evangelist here declares sundry other Miracles wrought by our Saviour before the Door of Peter's House where he now was He healed all the Diseased that were brought unto him and cast out Devils out of them that were possessed with them But how comes it to pass that we read of so many possessed with Devils in our Saviour's time and so few either before or since Answ 1. Probably Satan perceiving that the Messiah was come in the Flesh to destroy his Kingdom did rage the more and discover greater Malice and Enmity against Mankind 2. Perhaps Almighty God permitted Satan at that time to possess so many that Christ might have Occasion to manifest his Divine Power by casting Satan out And accordingly we find our Saviour dispossessing all that were possess'd by Satan It is added That he suffered not the Devils to speak because they knew him That is Christ would not be made known to be the Son of God by the preaching of the Devil to whom it belonged not to publish the Gospel lest the World should take from thence an Occasion to think that our Saviour held a Correspondency with those wicked Spirits and that the Miracles he wrought were performed by the Devil's Assistance as being one in Combination with him possibly from the Devil 's owning Christ to be the Holy One of God the Pharisees concluded that there was a Compact and Agreement betwixt them and thereupon their Affirmation was grounded he casteth out Devils by Beelzebub c. 35 And in the morning rising up a great while before day he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed Observe here 1. The Duty performed by our Saviour namely Prayer solitary and private Prayer He went by himself alone out of the hearing of his Disciples The Company of our best Friends is not always seasonable nor acceptable there are Times and Cases when a Christian would not be willing that his dearest Relations upon Earth should hear that Intercourse which passes betwixt him and his God Obs 2. Christ chuses the Opportunity of the Morning for Prayer He rises a great while before Day to set about this Work Teaching us that the Morning is a fit Season yea the best Season for private Duties Now our Spirits are freshest and our Minds freest before the Distractions of the Day break in upon us it is better to go from Prayer to Business than from Business to Prayer 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him 37 And when they had found him they said unto him All men seek for thee 38 And he said unto them Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also for therefore came I forth 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee and cast out devils Observe here Two Things First The great End of Christ in his Incarnation and coming into the World namely as a Prophet sent from God to reveal his Will and to publish the Doctrine of the Gospel Therefore came I forth that is to preach and plant the Gospel Secondly It being Christ's Design not only to plant but propagate the Gospel he would not confine his Ministry to any particular Place no not to the great City of Capernaum but resolves to preach the Word in the smallest Towns and Villages Leaving his Ministers herein an instructive Example to be as willing to preach the Gospel in the smallest Villages as in the largest Cities if God calls them thereunto Let the Place be never so obscure and mean and the Congregation never so small and little if God sends us thither the greatest of us must not think it beneath us to go and instruct an handful of People 40 And there came a leper to him beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him If thou wilt thou canst make me clean 41 And Jesus moved with compassion put forth his hand and touched him and saith unto him I will be thou clean 42 And as soon as he had spoken immediately the leprosie departed from him and he was cleansed 43 And he straightly charged him and forthwith sent him away 44 And saith unto him See thou say nothing to any man but go thy way shew thy self to the Priest and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them 45 But he went out and began to publish it much and to blaze abroad the matter insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city but was without in desert places and they came to him from every quarter The last Miracle of our Saviour's recorded in this Chapter is his healing of a leper he came beseeching Christ to heal him Saying If thou wilt thou canst make me clean Where Obs 1. He doth not question Christ's Power but distrusts Christ's Willingness to heal him Lord if thou wilt thou canst Christ's Divine Power must be fully assented to and firmly believed by all those that expect Benefit by him and healing from him Obs 2. The great Readiness of Christ to help and heal this distressed Person Jesus touched him saying I will be thou clean By the Ceremonial Law the Leper was forbidden to be touch'd therefore Christ's touching this Leper shewed him to be above the Law and that he was the Lord of it and might dispence with it and his healing the Leper by the Word of his Mouth and Touch of his Hand shew'd him to be truly and really God Leprosie amongst the Jews was an incurable Distemper called the Finger of God a Disease of his sending and of his removing Our Saviour therefore as a Proof of his being the true Messiah tells John's Disciples Matth. 11.5 That the Lepers were cleansed and the Dead raised by him which two being joined together do imply that the cleansing of Lepers is as much an Act of Divine Power as the raising of the Dead And accordingly 2 Kin. 5.8 't is said Am I a God that this Man sends to me to cure a Man of his Leprosie Obs 3. The Certainty and Suddenness of the Cure was a Proof of Christ's Divine Power immediately his Leprosie was cleansed Christ not only cured him without Means but without the ordinary Time required for such a Cure Thus Christ shew'd both Power and Will to cure him miraculously who believed his Power but questioned his Willingness Obs 4. The Cause moving our Saviour to cure this Leper his Bowels were moved with tender Pity and Compassion towards him Christ's exercising Acts of Mercy and Compassion with such Condolency and Sympathizing Pity should by way of Example teach us to be inwardly moved with tender Compassion and Mercy towards such as are in Misery We are not only to draw out our Bread but to draw out our Soul to the Hungry Obs 5. A twofold Charge and Command given by Christ to the Leper after his Cure 1. To
people who being ignorant of his Extraction look upon his Breeding as well as his Calling to be Divine This good use ought to be made of our Saviour's Observation that his Ministers be very wise and discreet in Conversation with their People not making themselves cheap and common in every Company nor light and vain in any Company for such Familiarity will breed contempt both of their Persons and their Doctrine But our Duty is by strictness and gravity of deportment to keep up an awe and esteem in the Consciences of our People always tempering our Gravity with Courtesy and a Condescending Affability that Minister which prostitutes his Authority frustrates the end of his Ministry and is the occasion of his own Contempt 25 But I tell you of a truth many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias when the heavens were shut up three years and six months when great Famine was throughout all the Land 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta a city of Sidon unto a woman that was a widow 27 And many Lepers were in Israel in the time of Elizeas the Prophet and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian Here our Saviour by a double instance confirms what he had last told his Country-men at Nazareth namely that Prophets are most despised by their own Country men and Acquaintance and that Strangers oft-times have more Advantage by a Prophet than his own People The first instance of this which our Saviour gives them is in the days of Elias tho' there were many Widows then in his own Nation yet none of them were qualified to receive his Miracles but a Stranger a Widow of Sareptha The second instance was in the days of Elisha when tho' there were many Lepers in and about his Neighbourhood yet they being his Country-men despised him and none were qualified for a Cure but Naaman the Syrian a man of another Country Thus the Prophets of God like some Fishermen catch least in their own Pond and do more good by their Ministry among strangers then amongst their own Country-men Kinsfolk and near Relations No Prophet is accepted in his own Country 28 And all they in the Synagogue when they heard these things were filled with wrath 29 And rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the Brow of the Hill whereon their city was built that they might cast him down headlong 30 But he passing thro' the midst of them went his way Observe here 1. The horrid Impiety of the People of Nazareth in thrusting their Saviour out of their City and their barbarous and bloody Cruelty in bringing him to the Brow of the Hill with full intent to cast him down headlong But Christ was to dye a clean contrary way not by throwing down but by lifting up Oh ungrateful and unhappy Nazareth is this the Return you make that Divine Guest which for Thirty Years had sojourned in your Coasts No wonder that the ablest Preaching and most exemplary Living of the Holiest and best of Christ's Ministers obtain no greater success at this day amongst a people when the presence of Christ at Nazareth for thirty Years together had no better influence upon the Minds and Manners of that People but instead of Receiving his Message they rage at the Messenger Neither let any of the Ministers of Christ think it strange that they are ignominiously despised when our Master before us was in danger of being barbarously Murthered and that for his plain Preaching to his own People the Men of Nazareth But Obs 2. The miraculous escape of our Blessed Lord from the murdering hands of the wicked Nazarites he passing through the midst of them went his way How and after what manner he escaped is not declared and therefore cannot without presumption be determined Altho' the Rhemists to make way for their Doctrine of Transubstantiation positively affirm that contrary to the nature of a Body he penetrated thorough the Breasts of the People But whether he struck them with Blindness that they did not see or smote them with fear that they durst not hold him or whether by a greater strength then theirs which his Godhead could easily supply his Humane Nature with he escaped from them it is neither prudent to inquire nor possible to determine we know it was an easy thing for him who was God as well as Man to quit himself of any Mortal Enemies and at the same time when he rescued himself could have ruin'd them by frowning them into Hell or looking them into nothing 31 And came down to Capernaum a city of Galilee and taught them on the Sabbath-days 32 And they were astonished at his Doctrine for his word was with power 33 And in the Synagogue there was a man which had a Spirit of an unclean Devil and he cryed out with a loud voice 34. Saying let us alone What have we to do with thee thou Jesus of Nazareth art thou come to destroy us I know thee who thou art the holy one of God 35 And Jesus rebuked him saying hold thy peace and come out of him and when the Devil had thrown him in the midst he came out of him and hurt him not 36 And they were all amazed and spake among themselves saying what a word is this for with Authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits and they come out 37 And the same of him went out into every place of the Country round about Our Blessed Saviour being driven out of Nazareth by the fury of his Country-men departs to Capernaum where he enters into their Synagogues and taught Who can declare the pains that our Saviour took and the hazards which he ran in preaching the Everlasting Gospel to lost Sinners But observe the smalness of his Success the People were astonished but not believed his Doctrine produced Admiration but not faith his Auditors were Admirers but not Believers the People were astonished at his Doctrine the reason of which Astonishment is added for his word was with power that is there was Majesty in his Person Spirituality in his Preaching and powerful Miracles accompanying both and confirming Both of which the Evangelist here gives us an account namely the casting out of a Devil in one possessed v. 33. There was a man which had a Spirit of an unclean Devil and he cryed out that is the Devil that unclean Spirit did enter into him and bodily possess him Amongst many other Calamities which sin has brought upon our Bodies this is one to be Bodily possest by Satan The Devil has an inveterate Malice against Mankind seeking to ruine our Souls by his Suggestions and Temptations and to destroy our Bodies by some means or other Oh how much is it our Interest as well as our Duty by Prayer to put our selves morning and evening under the Divine care and Protection that we may be preserved from the power and malice of Evil Spirits Obs 2. The Title here given
our Best friends is not always seasonable nor acceptable There are Times and Seasons when a Christian would not be willing that his Dearest Relations upon Earth should hear that Intercourse which passes betwixt him and his God Observe 3. The place our Lord withdraws to for private Prayer it is the desert he withdrew into the Wilderness and Prayed both to avoid Ostentation and also to enjoy Communion with his Father The modest Bridegroom of his Church says St. Bernard will not impart himself so freely to his Spouse before Company St. Mark 1.35 adds That our Saviour rose up a great while before day and went into this desert place to pray Teaching us that the Morning is the fit Season yea the best of Seasons for private Duties now are our Spirits freshest and our minds freest before the Distractions of the day break in upon us It is certainly much better to go from Prayer to business then from business to Prayer Note lastly that our Blessed Saviour had no idle hours here in the World his time did not lye upon his hand as ours do he was always either Preaching or Praying or working Miracles either paying Homage to God or doing good to man Lord help us to imitate this thy instructive Example by imbracing all opportunities of Glorifying God and doing good to one another 17 And it came to pass on a certain day as he was teaching that there were Pharisees and Doctors of the Law sitting by which were come out of every Town of Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and the power of the Lord was present to heal them 18 And behold men brought in a Bed a man which was taken with the palsey and they sought means to bring him in and to lay him before them 19 And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude they went upon the house-top and let him down through the Tiling with his Couch into the midst before Jesus 20 And when he saw their faith he said unto him Man thy sins are forgiven thee 21 And the Scribes and the Pharisees began to reason saying Who is this which speaketh Blasphemies who can forgive Sins but God alone 22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts he answering said unto them what reason ye in your hearts 23 Whither is easier to say Thy sins be forgiven thee or to say Rise up and walk 24 But that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive Sins he said unto the sick of the Palsy I say unto thee Arise and take up thy Couch and go into thy house 25 And immediately he rose up before them and took up that whereon he lay and departed to his own house glorifying God 26 And they were all amazed and they glorified God and were filled with fear saying We have seen strange things this day As the great End of our Saviours Miracles was to confirm his Doctrine so commonly after his Preaching he wrought his Miracles The Scribes and Pharisees tho' they had no love for our Saviour's person nor value for his Ministry yet they frequently accompanied him wherever he went partly to cavil at his Doctrine and partly out of Curiosity to see his Miracles but Observe the gracious Condescension of our Saviour altho' he well knew that the Pharisees at this time attended upon him with no good intention yet he puts forth his Divine Power in working Miracles before them the power of the Lord was present to heal Not that Christ's Power was at any time absent but it is said now to be present because it was now exerted and put forth at his Will and Pleasure And accordingly at this time before the Pharisees Eyes he Miraculously Cures a Person sick of the Palsy as the Paragraph before us does inform us Wherein Observe 1. The Diseased and Distressed Person one sick of the Palsy which being a Resolution and weakness of the Nerves enfeebles the Joynts and confines a Person to his Bed or Couch As a Demonstration of Christ's Divine Power he was pleased to single out the Palsy and Leprosy incurable Diseases to work a Cure upon Now this Person was so great a Cripple by reason of the Palsy that he could not go nor be led but was carried in his Bed or Couch Observe 2. As the grievousness of the Disease so the greatness of the Peoples Faith The Man and his friends had a firm and full perswasion that Christ was cloathed with a Divine Power and able to help him and they hope in his Goodness that he was willing as well as able And accordingly the Roof of the Jewish Houses being flat they uncover some part of it and let the Bed down with the sick Man in it and lay him at the foot of Christ in hopes of help and healing Observe 3. That no sooner did they exercise their Faith in Believing but Christ exerts his Divine Power in healing yet the Object of their Faith probably was not Christ's Divine Power as God but they look upon him as an extraordinary Prophet to whom God had Communicated such a Divine power as Elijah and Elisha had before him Yet see the marvellous efficacy even of this Faith which obtained not only what was desired but more then was expected They desired only the healing of the Body but Christ heals Body and Soul too saying Son be of good chear thy sins are forgiven thee Thereby our Saviour signifies to them that sin is the meritorious Cause of Sickness and consequently that in Sickness the best way to find ease and deliverance from pain is first to seek for pardon for the sense of pardon will in some degree take away the sense of pain Obs 4. The Exception which the Pharisees take against our Saviour for pronouncing that this Man's Sins were forgiven him they charge him with Blasphemy urging that it is God's peculiar Prerogative to pardon sin indeed their proposition was true but their application was false Nothing more true then that it is the highest Blasphemy for any meer Man to arrogate and assume to himself the incommunicable property of God absolutely and authoritatively to forgive sin But then their denying this power to Christ of Forgiving sins which he had as God from all Eternity and as Mediator GOD and Man in one Person when here on Earth this was Blasphemy in them but the assuming and challenging of it none in him Observe 5. To Cure if possible the obstinacy and blindness of the Pharisees our Saviour gives them a Two-fold Demonstration of his Godhead 1. By letting them understand that he knew their thoughts Jesus perceived their thoughts v. 22. to know the thoughts to search the Hearts and understand the reasonings of Men is not in the power of Angels or Men but the Prerogative of God only 2. By assuming to himself a power to forgive Sins for our Saviour here by taking upon him to forgive sins in his own name and by his own
the Meaness of his Extraction at the poverty of his Parents at the lowness of his Breeding at his Suffering Condition from their Traditions they expected the Messias should be a Temporal Prince whereas the Prophets declared he should be a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs be despised and put to Death Thus at this day many are offended at Christ Some are offended at the asserted Divinity of his Person and the meritoriousness of his Satisfaction Some are offended at the Sublimity of his Doctrine others at the Sanctity and strictness of his Laws some are offended at the free Dispensation of his Grace others that the Terms of Christianity are very hard and lay too great a Restraint upon humane Nature But blessed is he says Christ that shall not be offended in me intimating that such as instead of being offended at Christ do believe in him and ground their Expectations of Heaven and Salvation wholly upon him are in a happy and blessed Condition Blessed is he that shall not he offended in me 24 And when the Messengers of John were departed Jesus began to speak unto the people concerning John What went ye out into the Wilderness to see a Reed shaken with the wind 25 But what went ye our for to see a man cloathed in soft Raiment Behold they which are gorgeously apparelled and live delicately are in King's Courts 26 But what went ye out for to see a Prophet yea I say unto you and much more than a Prophet 27 This is he of whom it is written Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee Our Saviour having given as we may suppose full Satisfaction to John's Disciples and sent them away he enters upon a large Commendation of John himself Where we have Observable 1. The Persons whom he commended John before not his own Disciples but before the Multitude for John's Disciples had too high an Opinion of their Master already insomuch that they envied our Saviour for over-shadowing their Master John 7.26 Behold Christ baptizeth and all men come unto him It was a great Eye-sore to John's Disciples that Christ had more hearers and followers then their Master therefore not before John's Disciples but before the Multitude is John commended for as John's Disciples had too high so the Multitude had too low an Opinion of John possibly because of his Imprisonment and Sufferings There was a time when the people had high Thoughts of John's Person and Ministry but being now clouded with Sufferings they disesteem and under-value him Learn hence how vain it is for any men but especially for the Ministers of the Gospel to value themselves by popular applause The People contemn to day whom they admired yesterday he who to day is cry'd up to morrow is trodden down the Word and Ministers are the same but this proceeds from the fickleness and inconstancy of the People nothing is so mutable as the mind of Man nothing so variable as the Opinion of the Multitude Observe 2. The Time when our Saviour thus commended John when he was cast into Prison by Herod not when he was in Prosperity when the People flock'd after him when he preach'd at Court and was reverenced by Herod but when the giddy Maltitude had forsaken him when he was disgraced at Court and had preach'd himself into a Prison Now it is that Christ proclaims his worth maintains his honour and tells the People that the World was not worthy of such a Preacher Learn thence That Christ will ever-more stand by and stick fast unto his Faithful Ministers when all the World forsakes them Let the World slight and despise them at their pleasure yet Christ will maintain their Honour and support their Cause as they bear a faithful Witness to Christ so Christ will bear witness to their faithfulness for him Observe 3. The Commendation it self Our Saviour commends John for four Things for his Constancy for his Sobriety for his Humility for his Gospel-ministry 1. for his Constancy he was not a Reed shaken with the Wind that is a Man of an unstable and unsettled Judgment but fixt and steady 2. For his Sobriety Austerity and high Degrees of Mortification and Self-denial he was no delicate voluptuous Person but grave sober and severe he was mortified to the Glory and Honour to the Ease and Pleasures of the World John wrought no Miracles but his Conversation was almost Miraculous and as effectual as Miracles to prevail upon the People 3. For his Humility John might once have been what he would the People were ready to cry him up for the Messias the Christ of God but John's humble and lowly Spirit refuses all He confessed and denied not saying I am not the Christ but a poor Minister of his willing but not worthy to do him the meanest Service This will commend our Ministry to the Consciences of our People when we seek not our own Glory but the Glory of Christ 4. Our Saviour commends John for his clear Preaching the Gospel and for his making known the Coming of the Messiah to the People He was more than a Prophet because he pointed out Christ more clearly and fully then any of the Prophets before him The Ancient Prophets beheld Christ a far off but John saw him face to face They Prophesy'd of him he pointed at him saying This is he The clearer any Ministry is in Discovering of Christ the more excellent and useful it is 28 For I say unto you that amongst those that are born of women there is not a greater Prophet then John the Baptist but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater then he Our Saviour having highly commended John in the former Verses here he sets Bounds to the Honour of his Ministry adding that tho' John was greater then all the Prophets that went before him seeing more of Christ then all them yet he saw less then those that come after him The meanest Gospel-minister that Preaches Christ as come is to be preferred before all the old Prophets who Prophecy'd of Christ to come That Minister who sets forth the Life Death Resurrection and Ascension of Christ is greater in the Kingdom of Heaven that is has an higher Office in the Church and a more excellent Ministry then all the Prophets yea then John himself The excellency of a Ministry consists in the Light and clearness of it Now tho' John's Light did exceed all that went before him yet it fell short of them that came after him and thus he that was least in the Kingdom of Grace on Earth much more he that is least in the Kingdom of Glory in Heaven was greater then John 29 And all the people that heard him and the Publicans justified God being baptized with the Baptism of John 30 But the Pharisees and Lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves being not baptized of him These words are our Saviour's farther Commendation of John the Baptist he
the Name and Notion of Covetousness our Saviour doth not condemn a provident Care for the things of this Life nor a regular Industry and Diligence for obtaining of them nor every degree of Love and Affection to them but by Covetousness is to be understood an eager and insatiable desire after the things of this Life or using unjust ways and means to get or encrease an Estate seeking the things of this Life with the neglect of things infinitely better and placing their chief Happiness in Riches Observe 3. The Reason of this Caution Because mans Life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth Humane Life is sustained by a little therefore abundance is not necessary either to the Support or Comfort of it 'T is not a great Estate and vast Possessions that makes a Man happy in this World but a mind suited to our Condition whatever it be 16 And Jesus spake a Parable unto them saying the Ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully 17 And he thought within himself saying What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits 18 And he said this will I do I will pull down my Barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods 19 And I will say to my Soul Soul thou hast goods much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry 20 But God said unto him Thou fool This Night shall thy Soul be required of thee Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided 21 So is he that layeth up Treasure for himself and is not rich towards God The Design and Scope of our Saviour in this Parable is to shew Men the vileness and vanity of the Sin of Covetousness or an eager and insatiable desire after the things of this World When Men heap up Riches and lay up Treasures in this Life taking no care to be Rich towards God in Faith and good Works our Saviour illustrates this by the Parable of a Rich Man whom God had Blessed with great Plenty yet his desire of more wealth was never satisfied but he is projecting how he may lay up Goods in store for many Years Where Note 1. That the Parable doth not intimate any indirect and unjust ways of Gain which this Man used to encrease his Estate but condemns his insatiable desire and Thirst after more So that hence we may Learn That an eager and inordinate desire after the things of this World tho' it be free from injustice and doing wrong to others is one species or kind of the sin of Covetousness Observe 2. How this rich Man looked no farther than himself not looking upon himself as God's Steward but his own Carver he cries out What shall I do because I have no room where to lay my fruits not considering that the houses of the Poor should have been his Granaries for the Abundance of his Encrease Charity to the Necessitous is the best way of bestowing our Abundance God's extraordinary Bounty is to be laid out for the Relief of others Necessities not for the gratifying of our own Luxurious Desires Obs 3. The Brand of Infamy which the wise God fixes upon this Covetous Rich Man Thou fool says God Learn thence That it is an act and instance of the most egregious Folly imaginable for Persons to spend their time and strength in getting and laying up Treasure upon Earth in the mean time neglecting to be rich towards God in Faith and good Works Thou fool Observe 4. The doleful Tidings and threatning News brought unto him This Night shall thy soul be required of thee Learn hence 1. That all a Mans Wealth is not able to preserve his Life much less to save his Soul and if Wealth cannot save a Mans Life why should men endanger their Lives nay hazard their Souls to get or encrease Wealth Learn 2. That God takes away Mens Lives many times when they least suspect it This night says God many Years says he God will not have us think of Rest in a place of Disquiet nor of Certainty in a Condition of Inconstancy we are Dependant Creatures and our time is in God's Hand This night shall thy soul be taken away from thee Learn 3. That the Souls of ungodly Men are taken from them by force and compulsion Thy soul shall be required of thee good Men have the same reluctancies of Nature which others have yet they sweetly resign their Souls into the Hands of God in a dying Hour whereas a wicked Man tho' he sometimes dyes by his own hand yet never dyes with the consent of his own Will he chooses rather to eat Dust with the Serpent then to return to Dust Observe 5 The Expostulatory Question Whose then shall these things be which thou hast provided intimating 1. That they should not be his A Man's Wealth lasts no longer than his Life neither has he any longer the comfort of it lay up Gold and it perishes with thee but Treasure up Grace and it shall accompany thee whose shall these things be not thine undoubtedly 2. As these things shall not be thine when thou art gone so thou knowest not whose they shall be after thou art gone whether they shall fall into the hand of a Child or a Stranger of a wise Man or a Fool the Wealthiest Man cannot be certain who shall be his Heir and whose his Goods shall be Observe Lastly The Application which our Saviour makes of this Parable to his Disciples So is every one that layeth up Treasure for himself and is not rich towards God Learn hence That such as are not rich in Grace rich in good Works shall find no benefit by and take no comfort in all their Worldly Riches in the time of their greatest need at the hour of Death and in the Day of Judgment 22 And he said unto his Disciples therefore I say unto you Take no thought for your life what shall ye eat neither for the Body what ye shall put on 23 The Life is more than Meat and the Body is more than Raiment 24 Consider the Ravens for they neither sow nor reap which neither have store-house nor barn and God feedeth them how much more are ye better than the fowls 25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit 26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least why take ye thought for the rest 27 Consider the Lillies how they grow they toil not they spin not and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of these 28 If then God so cloth the grass which is to day in the field and to morrow is cast into the oven How much more will he cloath you O ye of little Faith 29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink neither be ye of doubtful mind 30 For all these things do
Person that Suffered three Days ago when his Death doth so well agree with the Predictions of the Prophets who fore-told that the Messias should be cut off but not for himself and be smitten for the iniquities of his People Here we may Observe The great Wisdom and Grace of God who makes sometimes the Diffidence of his People an occasion of farther clearing up the choicest Truths unto them Never did these Disciples hear so Excellent an Exposition of Moses and the Prophets concerning the Messiah as now when their sinful distrust had so far prevailed over them 2. Observe The Doctrines which Christ instructs his Disciples in namely in the Necessity of his Death and Passion and of his Glory and Exaltation Ought not Christ to Suffer and to enter into his Glory Learn 1. That with Respect to God's Decree and with Relation to Mans Guilt the Death of Christ was Necessary and Indispensable 2. That his Resurrection and Exaltation was as Necessary as his Passion 3. That there was a Meritorious Connexion between Christ's Sufferings and his Glory his Exaltation was Merited by his Passion He was to drink of the Brook in the way and then he should lift up his head Observe 4. Christ did not only put Light into these his Apostles Heads but Heat also into their Hearts which burned all the while he Communed with them Did not our Hearts burn within us while he opened to us the Scriptures Oh what an efficacious Power is there in the word of Christ when set home upon the Hearts of Men by the Spirit of Christ 33 And they rose up the same Hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the Eleven gathered together and them that were with them 34 Saying The Lord is Risen indeed and hath Appeared to Simon 35 And they told what things were done in the way and how he was known to them in Breaking of Bread 36 And as they thus spake Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them Peace be unto you 37 But they were Terrified and Affrighted and supposed that they had seen a Vision 38 And he said unto them Why are ye troubled and why do Thoughts arise in your Hearts 39 Behold my Hands and my Feet that it is I my self handle me and see For a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see me have 40 And when he had thus spoken he shewed them his Hands and his Feet 41 And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered he said unto them Have ye here any Meat 42 And they gave him a piece of a Broyled Fish and of an Honey-comb 43 And he took it and did eat before them 44 And he said unto them These are the words which I speak unto you whilst I was yet with you That all things must be Fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and of the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me Observe 1. That these Two Disciples at Emmaus being fully satisfied in the Truth of Christ's Resurrection by his Appearing to them in Breaking of Bread they arose presently and went from Emmaus to Jerusâ—lem It must needs be late at Night being after Supper and Seven Miles Distance Yet considering the Sorrow that the Disciples were under these Two leave all their Private Affairs and hasten to Comfort them with the glad Tidings of our Lord's Resurrection Teaching us That all Secular Affairs all private and particular Business must give place to the Glory of God and the Comfort and Salvation of Souls Observe 2. The great Endeavours which our Saviour used to confirm his Disciples Faith in the Doctrine of the Resurrection He comes and stands in the midst of them and says Peace be unto you Next he shews them h s pierced Hands Side and Feet with the Scars and Marks which he yet retained that they might see it was their Crucified Master After all this He eats before them a piece of broiled Fish and Honey-comb Not that he needed it his Body being now become Immortal but to assure them that it was his own Person and that he had still the same Body Yet so slack and backward were they to Believe that Christ was Risen that all the Predictions of the Scripture all the Assurances they had from our Saviour's Mouth and the several Appearings of Christ unto them were little enough to establish and confirm their Faith in the Resurrection of our Saviour Observe 3. The highest and fullest Evidence which our Saviour offers to Evince and Prove the Certainty of his Resurrection Namely by Appealing to their Senses Handle me and see Christ admits the Testimony of our Senses to assure it be his Real Body And if the Church of Rome will not allow us to believe our Senses we shall loose the best External Evidence we can have to prove the Truth of the Christian Religion Namely the Miracles of Christ For how can I know that those Miracles were True but by the Judgment of my Senses Now as our Senses tell us that Christ's Miracles were True so they assure us that the Doctrine of Transubstantiation is False 45 Then opened he their Understandings that they might understand the Scriptures 46 And he said unto them Thus it is Written and thus it behoveth Christ to Suffer and to Rise from the Dead the Third Day 47 And that Repentance and Remission of Sins should be Preached in his Name among all Natitions beginning at Jerusalem 48 And ye are Witnesses of these things Note here That the opening of the Mind and Heart effectually to Receive the Truths of God is the peculiar Prerogative and Office of Jesus Christ Then opened he their Vnderstandings Namely by the Illuminations of his Holy Spirit One of the greatest Miseries under which Lapsed Nature Labours is Spiritual Blindness Christ has the only Eye-salve which can Heal and Cure it Revel 3.18 And there is no worse Cloud to Obscure the Light of the Spirit than a proud Conceit of our own Knowledge Observe 2. The Special Charge given by our Saviour to his Apostles to Preach Repentance and Remission of Sin to Preach it in Christ's Name to Preach it to all Nations beginning first at Jerusalem Where Note The Astonishing Mercy of Jesus Christ Although Jerusalem was the Place where he lost his Life the City that Barbarously Butcher'd and Inhumanely Murthered him yet there he will have the Doctrine of Repentance Preach'd nay first Preached there the Gospel-Combination must first begin That Repentanâ—e and Remission of Sin be Preached beginning at Jerusalem Lord How unwilling art thou that any should Perish when thou not only prayedst for thy Murtherers and offeredst up thy Blood to God in the Behalf of them that shed it but Requiredst thy Ambassadors to make Jerusalem the first Tender of Remission upon Condition of Repentance That Repentance and Remission of Sin should be Preached among all Nations beginning at Jerusalem 49 And behold I send the Promise of my Father upon you but tarry ye
as is the Parent and Principle of Obedience to him Note 2dly That it is the high honourable Privilege of all such as receive Christ by Faith to become the Sons of God by Adoption This is a precious Privilege a free Privilege an honourable Privilege an abiding Privilege and calls for all possible Returns of Gratitude and Thankfulness of Love and Service of Duty and Obedience of Submission and Self-Resignation 13 Which were born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Because the bragging Jews did much boast of their Natural Birth and Descent from Abraham as being his Blood and Off-spring Therefore it is here asserted that Men become not the Children of God by Natural Propagation but by Spiritual Regeneration They are not born of Blood Grace runs not in a Blood Piety is not Hereditary Religious Parents propagate Corruption not Regeneration Were the Conveyances of Grace Natural good Parents would not be so ill suited with Children as sometimes they are No Person then whatsoever has the gracious Privilege of Adoption by the first Birth They are not born of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man that is no Man by the utmost Improvement of Nature can raise himself up to this Privilege of Adoption and be the Author and Efficient Cause of his own Regeneration Learn hence That Man in all his Capacities is too weak to produce the Work of Regeneration in himself They says Dr. Hammond who by the influence of the highest Rational Principles live most exactly according to the Rule of Rational Nature that is of unregenerate Morality are the Persons here described Learn 2. That God alone is the Prime Efficient Cause of Regeneration He works upon the Understanding by Illumination and upon the Will by Sanctification Which were born not of Blood nor of the Will of the Flesh nor of the Will of Man but of God 14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth The Evangelist having asserted the Divinity of Christ in the foregoing Verses comes now to speak of his Humanity and Manifestation in our Nature The Word was made Flesh Where Note 1. Our Saviour's Incarnation for us 2. His Life and Cenversation here among us He dwelt or tabernacled for a Season with us In the Incarnation or Assumption of our Nature Observe 1. The Person Assuming The Word that is the Second Person subsisting in the glorious God-Head Obs 2. The Nature Assumed Flesh that is the Humane Nature consisting of Soul and Body But why is it not said The Word was made Man but The Word was made Flesh Answ To denote and set forth the wonderful Abasement and Condescension of Christ there being more of Vileness and Weakness and Opposition to Spirit in the Word Flesh than in the Word Man Christ's taking Flesh implies that he did not only take upon him the Humane Nature but all the Weaknesses and Infirmities of that Nature also sinful Infirmities and personal Infirmities excepted he had nothing to do with our sinful Flesh Tho' Christ loved Souls with an infinite and insuperable Love yet he would not sin to save a Soul And he took no personal Infirmities upon him but such as are common to the whole Nature as Hunger Thirst Weariness c. Obs 3. The Assumption it self He was made Flesh that is he assumed the Humane Nature into an Union with his God-head and so became a True and Real Man by that Assumption Learn hence That Jesus Christ did really assume the true and perfect Nature of Man into a personal Union with his Divine Nature and still Remains True God and True Man in one Person for ever Oh blessed Union Oh thrice happy Conjunction As Man Christ has an experimental Sense of our Infirmities and Wants As God he can support and supply them All. Note farther 2. As our Saviour's Incarnation for us so his Life and Conversation among us He dwelt or tabernacled amongst us The Tabernacle was a Type of Christ's Humane Nature 1. As the out-side of the Tabernacle was mean made of ordinary Materials but it 's inside glorious so was the Son of God 2. God's special Presence was in the Tabernacle there he dwelt for he had a delight therein In like manner dwelt all the fulness of the God-head bodily in Christ and the glory of his Divinity shined forth to the Eye and view of his Disciples for they beheld his Glory the Glory as of the only Begotten of the Father that is whilst Christ appeared as a Man amongst us he gave great and glorious Testimonies of his Being the Son of God Learn hence That in the Day of our Saviour's Incarnation the Divinity of his Person did shine forth through the Vail of his Flesh and was seen by all them that had a Spiritual Eye to behold it and a mind disposed to consider it We beheld his Glory as the Glory of the only Begotten of the Father ¶ 15 John bare witness of him and cried saying This was he of whom I spake He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me 16 And of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace 17 For the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ 18 No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he hath declared him Here we have John Baptist's first Testimony concerning Christ the promised Messiah And it consists of four Parts 1. John prefers Christ before himself as being surpassingly above himself He that cometh after me is preferred before me that is in the Dignity of his Person and in the Eminency of his Office as being the eternal God Now amongst them that were born of Women there was not a greater than John the Baptist If Christ then was greater than John it was in regard of his being God He is therefore preferred before him because he was before him as being God from all Eternity Learn hence That the Dignity and Eternity of Christ's Person as God sets him up above all his Ministers yea above all Creatures how excellent soever He that cometh after me in Time is preferred before me in Dignity for he was before me even from all Eternity 2. John prefers Christ before all Believers in Point of Fulness and Sufficiency of Divine Grace Of his Fulness do they receive They have their Fillings Christ has his Fulness theirs is the fulness of a Vessel his is the Fulness of a Fountain their fulness is Derivative his Fulness is Original yet also Ministerial on purpose in him to give out to us that we may receive Grace for Grace that is Grace answerable for Kind and Quality though not for Measure and Degree As a Child in Generation receives from its Parents Member for
order to our Improvement in Faith and Holiness If then after all the Revelation and Discovery which God has made of his Son Christ Jesus and of the Way that leads to eternal Salvation by him Persons remain willingly ignorant of him and their Duty to him Where shall they appear And how shall they escape Revel 1. Verse 5 6. Now unto him that loved us and washed us from our Sins in his own Blood and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father To Him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever Amen The CLOSE THE design of the foregoing Notes upon the Holy Evangelists being to recommend the Instructive Life of our blessed Redeemer to our Observation and Imitation Altho' I have upon all occasions propounded his Example to be followed by us in all the steps of an Imitable Vertue as the matter every where occur'd yet adjudging it may be profitable to sum up together the several Graces and Vertues which were so Orient in the Life of Christ that having them daily before our Eyes we may be continually correcting and reforming of our Lives by that blessed Pattern I shall therefore briefly offer at it Because Nothing is so proper to form us to Holiness as the Example of the Mediatour it being absolutely perfect and thoroughly Accommodate to our present state there is no Example of any meer Man that is to be followed without limitation But the Life of Christ was as the purest Gold without the least Allay His conversation was a living Law and Christianity which is the Best and Holiest Institution in the World is nothing else but a Conformity to his Precepts and Pattern The Universal Command of the whole Gospel is this To walk as Christ walked This denotes a sincere intention design and endeavour to imitate and follow him in all the paths of Holiness and Obedience Particularly let us imitate Jesus I. IN his early Piety We find him at Twelve Years Old about his Father's Business sitting in the midst of the Doctors both hearing and asking them Questions See on St. Luke 2.46.47 An early Piety gives both the Person and the Service a peculiar preheminency no Comfort in Life no Happiness in Death like the Happiness and Comfort of being good betimes II. In his Obedience to his Earthly Parents See on St. Luke 2.51 He went down to Nazareth and was subject to them He paid Homage to the Womb that bare him and to his supposed and reputed Father that provided for him let a Person be never so high above others he is still below his Parents if the Highest upon Earth think their Parents beneath them and themselves above their Parents Commands Our Saviour did not so what shall we think of those Monsters of Ingratitude the Reproach of Humane Nature who are ashamed to own their Parents because of their Poverty or despise them because of the Infirmities of their Age. Prov. 23.22 Hearken to thy Father that begat thee and despise not thy Mother when she is old III. In his unwearied Diligence in doing Good Acts 10.38 Who went about doing good This was his Meat and Drink by Day his Rest and Sleep by Night He fed the Hungry cloathed the naked visited the Sick was Eyes to the Blind Feet to the Lame and Administred to such as were in Necessities and Streights And he has declared that he will Judg us at the great Day according to our imitation of him in doing good to all Mankind See the Notes on S. Math. 25. Ten last Verses IV. In his Humility and lowliness of Mind Math. 11.29 Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in Heart witness his stooping to the meanest Office even that of washing his Disciples Feet S. John 13.5 He that came in the form of a Servant performs the Office of the meanest Servant to his Disciples And all this was to set us an Example of mutual Condescension each to other if I your Lord and Master have washed your Feet you ought also to wash one anothers Feet which Precept tho' it doth not bind us to the same Action yet it obliges us to the same Condescension Namely to think no Office of Love beneath us which the necessities of our Brother call for from us V. In the Vnblameableness and Inoffensiveness of his Life and Actions He injured none and justly offended none but was Harmless as well as Holy he wrought a Miracle to pay Tribute Money rather than give occasion of Offence to the Government See on Math. 19.27 Accordingly let us be Harmless and Blameless Wise as Serpents and Innocent as Doves Piety without Policy is too simple to be safe Policy without Piety is too subtile to be good VI. In his Eminent Self-Denial He emptied himself and became poor when he was Rich as God from all Eternity He impoverish'd himself by becoming Man Oh! what did he not deny when he left the Bosom of his Father with the ineffable Delights and Pleasures which he there enjoyed from all Eternity And instead thereof to Drink the Cup the Bitter Cup of his Father's wrath for our sake Lord how can we enough abase our selves for thee who thus deniedst thy self for us VII In his contentment in a low and mean Condition in this World Yea in a Suffering and Afflicted Condition he would not honour the World so far as to have any part of it in his own hand was therefore of himself less provided of comfortable accommodations than the Birds of the Air or the Beasts of the Field See Luke 9.58 The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the Air have nests but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head Let us learn from him to manage an afflicted Condition with a contented Spirit let there be no murmurings complaints or foolish chargings of God heard from us whatever straits or Troubles we may be brought into but in whatsoever state we are let us be therewith content Phil. 4.11 VIII In his frequent performance of the Duty of private Prayer and Fasting he sometimes spent a whole Night in Prayer Luke 6.12 He went into a Mountain to Pray and continued all Night in Prayer to God And Mark 1.35 In the morning rising up a great while before Day he went into a solitary place and prayed It is certain we have much more business with Almighty God in Prayer than Christ had he had no Sins to Confess no wants of Grace to make known yet did he delight with frequency and fervency to perform this Homage to his Heavenly Father Lord how doth thy Zeal and forwardness condemn our remisness and lukewarmness in praying to our heavenly Father IX In his Affectionate performance of the Duty of Praise and Thanksgiving Our blessed Saviour was a great Pattern of Thankfulness Matth. 11.25 I thank thee Oh Father Lord of Heaven and Earth c. John 11.41 Father I thank thee that thou hast heard me when he was to eat common Bread he received it with Thanksgiving What