before his Incarnation he appeared in the Heavens invested with all the Glory and Majesty proper and peculiar to God as Creating the World Upholding and Governing it receiving Worship and Adoration from Angels and the like I might confirm this by several other Texts but I shall only mention two The First is Heb. i. 3. Where it is said that he is the brightness of God's glory the express image of his person and upholdeth all things by the word of his power The other is Iohn 17. 5. Where Jesus Christ maketh mention of a Glory which he had with the Father before the Foundation of the World Now that we may know that he held all this of right and by vertue of his Nature and not otherwise the Apostle adds that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God that is he did not reckon it Usurpation Arrogancy or Presumption to hold an Equality with God and consequently he is truly God For if Jesus Christ was not by Nature God if he was a mere Creature though never so excellent it would be great Robbery and the highest Presumption and Usurpation for him to entertain the least thought of an Equality with God And it would be no less than Blasphemy for St. Paul or any other to talk so of him But seeing not only here but every where throughout the Scripture we find such high Speeches of Christ which exalt him above all Creatures even to an Equality with God therefore it is an evident Demonstration that he is God in the strictest Propriety of Speech For it is contrary to the Scope and Tenour of the Scripture to magnifie Men or Angels or any other Creature above what they are in their own Nature whatever Excellency God hath bestowed upon them The Scriptures teach to set all Creatures even the highest at an infinite Distance from God It representeth as Idolatry the exalting Creatures to a Partnership of the Divinity the conferring on them the Names Titles Attributes and Worship which belong to God It sheweth That God will not give his Glory unto another and is Jealous of others doing it that he cannot endure the Appearance of it Therefore the Doctrine and Purpose of the Scripture is thwarted and contradicted by those Expressions we find concerning Jesus Christ if they be not founded upon his Nature that is if he be not God Consider I pray you that all the Revelations which God hath made were design'd to reclaim the World from Idolatry one great Instance of which was the Deifying of Men. If therefore Jesus be not God if he be only Man as the Socinians hold then there is ground to impeach this last and greatest Revelation as destroying the Design of the former at least of not being so wisely managed as to serve the common end of all For in the other Dispensations the Men whom God used as his Instruments were carefully represented to the People to be Men of like Passions and Infirmities with themselves nay their Sins and Failings are put upon Record that none might be ensnared to conceit them Gods But as to Jesus there are such Representations of him such Speeches concerning him as may perswade and incline both learned and unlearned to think him God and every Scruple removed which may obstruct such a Belief Either therefore the Design of the Gospel is That we should receive him as God and consequently he is such or it doth not sufficiently prevent the falling into this Error if it be one but on the contrary layeth a Snare for it and tempteth to the Belief of it and so doth not suit with its own Design it is not adapted to its own end for it ensnareth to the committing of Idolatry in the Person of Jesus which is very absurd To conclude this Point I would fain know of any who call this Truth in Question what would satisfie them Supposing Jesus is God what Evidence would they have of it What Proofs or Demonstrations Could Reason ask more than plain and simple Assertions the ascribing to him the Name Titles Attributes and Works peculiar to the true God and finally the enjoining all the Worship of the outward and inward Man which is only due to him and therefore let us conclude That Jesus is God blessed for ever Having thus fully evinced the Deity of Jesus I proceed to speak of his Humanity or Incarnation which is declared in the 7th and 8th Verses He whom we have declared to have been in the Form of God and to be equal with God was pleased to become Man not by ceasing to be God but by taking to himself the Nature of Man a Body and a Soul as other Men with the common natural Qualities and Properties of both He did not exchange the Nature of God for that of Man but he assumed to the God-head the humane Nature and became strictly united with it so that in the Person of Jesus Christ there was an Union of two Natures the divine and humane In him dwelt the fullness of the God-head bodily Col. ii 9. The word saith St. Iohn was made flesh and dwelt among us In former times this same Son of God assumed to himself a visible Shape by means of which he appeared to Abraham and the Prophets which he also laid aside again when he left off talking with them But now he has taken the humane Nature to him in Reality and Truth and is become so personally united to it that he is never more to lay it aside but is to abide so for ever and ever This is a stupendous and incomprehensible Mystery but the Truth of it is as evident as Scripture can make it For as St. Paul in this place doth evidently assert the Deity and God-head of Jesus so he sets forth the Reality of his humane Nature He took saith he the form of a servant that is the Nature of Man and all that is essential to it And lest any should imagine a Difference betwixt him and others he adds he was made in the likeness of man and found in fashion as a man that is he was in all things just as other Men except Sin which is an adventitious Quality and not essential to our Natures And because he would be as other Men and demonstrate the Reality of his humane Nature as others therefore he came not to the World by immediate Creation as Adam but derived his Being from others He was conceived in the Womb of a Woman and shut up in that dark and narrow Cell all the time which Nature has prescribed to others He was brought forth after the ordinary manner and treated like the Children of Men swadled in Cloaths laid in a Cradle and put to suckle at the Breast He did not grow up hastily and ripen after an extraordinary manner but arrived at the Stature of a Man after the usual Years of Infancy Childhood and Youth He was not nourished by Miracles nor was his Body exempt from the Frailties and Sufferings
fitly joined together here a proud Man can never be meek and he who is lowly in Heart cannot be of another Temper So if we would learn Meekness we must study Humility And we may soon be perswaded into this if we but hearken unto Reason for that demonstrates that we have nothing to be proud of because we have no good but what we have received and therefore if we glory we should glory in the Lord. Humility is not to undervalue ones self but not to think above what we ought to think And if the Thoughts of our selves be just not higher than they ought they will not be high nor lofty nor will they shew others at the distance of Contempt and Scorn for we all stand upon the same Level have the same Original Nature Frame Constitution and End And as this makes the Condition of every Man much the same so it does not afford Matter of boasting to any our Extract and Original is from the Dust and to it we must return our Frame and Constitution is frail and easily disordered our Strength and Beauty like the Flower of the Field is withered before Noon We carry our Breath in our Nostrils and it goes out as a Vapour We are Children a Third part of our time and the other Two parts are consumed in Sin and Vanity all our Actions are either grossly Evil or to little Purpose our Righteousness is as the Morning Cloud and as the early Dew that passeth away not being able to endure the Heat of the Sun Men of low Degree are Vanity and Men of high Degree are a lye lay both the one and the other in the Balance and they will be found altogether lighter than Vanity Surely every Man even the best of Men in their best State is nothing but Vanity and Emptiness when set in the Sight of God Sin is indeed Matter of true Humiliation but the deepest and truest Humility arises from the Contemplation of the Infinite Nature and Perfections of God He who proposes himself as a Pattern of Humility and Lowliness here knew no Sin he had all the Weakness of Flesh and Blood he was surrounded with the Infirmities of our Nature but he was altogether free from the Corruption of it and never did any thing amiss and yet he was lowly in Heart because of his intimate Union with God and did bear about with him a full Idea of his glorious Attributes For as the Glory of the Sun extinguishes the Glory of the Stars so all created Excellencies must disappear upon a View of the uncreated Glory of God whose Perfections can never be found out When even the most perfect and upright Iob does see this with his Eye he abhorreth himself and doth repent in Dust and Ashes Iob xlii 5 6. If we have these two Vertues Meekness and Humility we will not murmur at the Commands of Christ as if any of them were grievous then we shall be sensible of the Reasonableness and Equity of them then we shall find his Yoke easy and his Burthen light For besides the new Strength and Vigour that we shall receive from above for the bearing of it we shall then clearly discern that it is most just and reasonable admirably adapted to our Nature and well accommodated to our Interest wisely contrived to give us all Peace and Satisfaction at present and to prepare us for perfect and Eternal Happiness hereafter Now the God of Peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ that great Shepherd of the Sheep through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well pleasing in his Sight through Iesus Christ to whom be Glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON III. ON Christmass-Day PHIL. II. 6 7 8. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the Cross. THERE are in our holy Religion two Sublime Mysteries which as they can never be fully comprehended so they can never be too much or too frequently thought upon For nothing can make more for the Glory of God nothing can be of more Comfort and Profit to our selves they enlighten the Understanding warm the Heart add vigour to all the rational Faculties and so cherish and strengthen the Spiritual Life that by these means we may become able to walk straight and to run with Patience without fainting the Race that is set before us By these I mean the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God and that of his Passion and Death both which are jointly spoken of in the Text as the Day and the Action we intend to set about call us to consider both the Day being by the Appointment of the Catholick Church the Anniversary of our Lord Jesus his Birth therefore the Incarnation is a proper Subject for it But some of us intending at this time and others against the next day to make that solemn Address to God by the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this also makes it fit to think upon his Death Nor is it Unsuitable to commemorate his Death upon the Festival of his Nativity for the one was the End and Reason of the other His Birth was in order to his Death and if he had not died his Birth could not have profited us This Sacrament is a proper Christmass Feast to feast devoutly by Faith upon the Sacrifice which Christ offered upon the Cross is the best Entertainment we can give unto God or make for our selves This will put more Joy into our Hearts than either Wine or Oil or any of the Delicacies of richest Banquets By this it appears that the Text is suitable but before I enter upon the Explication of it it will be fit to shew you the scope of the Apostle in this place and upon what occasion he utters these words In this place the Apostle sets himself to perswade the Philippians to Humility and a generous Charity or such a mutual concernedness for each other as might make every Man ambitious to serve his Neighbour as himself and even to prefer others to himself This is an excellent temper of Mind and the very height of Vertue but withal the Practice of it is hard and the Attainment very difficult This gives a true resemblance and conformity to the Divine Nature and therefore is not easily arrived at seeing now by the corruption of our Natures we are removed to a great distance from God The things which St. Paul requires here are directly opposite to the Nature of Man in his present Natural or Corrupt state for in this state the Soul of Man hath no generous Expansion or Enlargement towards others but is almost altogether pent up
and Body of the same Nature Qualities Properties and Passions with others liable to the same things and standing in need of the same Support And in a word like to others in all things except Sin so that he may be justly and in strict propriety of Speech stiled the man Christ Iesus and well deserves that Epithet which is often given him in Scripture viz. the Son of man As also his Actions and Sufferings are to be considered as the Actions and Sufferings of a Man We must not with the Ancient Hereticks deny the Humanity of Jesus or Fancy that all his Actions and Sufferings were only in appearance and no wise real for he did partake of the Humane Nature as much as any of us and was of the like innocent Passions and Infirmities with our selves But then again least we think meanly of this man Christ Jesus least we reckon no more of him than of other ordinary Men we must remember all his Character and consider that he who was at this time found in the fashion as a Man was formerly in the form of God and thought it not Robbery to be equal with God This Son of Man was also the Son of God the God-head dwelt in him and both the Divine and Humane Nature were personally united in him and that too after such an intimate manner as we see Soul and Body for composing the Person of a Man Therefore as in respect of his God-head he is called the eternal Son of God the only begotten of God the Father over all God blessed for ever And as in respect of his Man-hood or Humane Nature he is called the Son of Man the Son of David the seed of Abraham and the seed of the Woman So because of the intimate Union and Conjunction of these two Natures into the one Person of Jesus Christ he is said to be God manifested in the flesh the word made flesh When the fulness of time was come saith our Apostle God sent forth his Son made of a woman made under the Law Hence also it is that the Attributes and Works peculiar to the one true God are ascribed to Jesus thus he is said to have created the World to uphold all things by the Word of his Power to know the secret Thoughts c. And what was done by him is attributed to God tho' it was only proper to the Humane Nature Thus Act. XX. 28. St. Paul saith God purchased the Church with his own blood Upon this account all the Prophecies which went before pointed at both his Divinity and Humanity As for instance the very first calling him the seed of the woman shews his Humane Nature and his Divinity is declared by the other Clause which saith that he should bruise the serpents head Behold saith Isaiah a virgin shall conceive and bear a son that is a Man but it being added and shall call his name Immanuel which signifies God with us this imports that he was also to be God So his Humane Nature is set forth in these words Unto us a child is born unto us a Son is given But his God-head no less by what follows viz. His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the Everlasting Father the Prince of Peace For this cause also the Divine Oeconomy towards him after his appearance in the World was so ordered as to attest both his Humanity and Divinity He was conceived in the Womb of the Virgin but by the Power of the Holy Ghost that this Holy One which was Born might be called the Son of God After his Birth he was swadled and laid in a Manger to hold forth the quality of a Man but at the same time Angels were sent from Heaven to declare his Birth who sung Divine Hymns for it that thereby might be represented his quality as God In his Baptism like a Man he is dipt into Water by Iohn the Baptist but to bear Witness of his Divinity the Heavens open and a voice crieth This is my beloved Son When he is in the Desart as a Man he suffers Hunger and Thirst but as a God the Angels minister unto him And as his Death shewed him to be Man so the darkening of the Sun the rending of the Veil the trembling of the Earth the opening of the Graves the rising of the Dead and his bestowing Paradise upon the Thief who died with him were Signs that he was God Moreover the Truth of his Divine and Human Nature is declared and set forth by most of his Actions especially his Miracles as the Blessing the five Loaves and two Fishes and by that making them to multiply to the feeding of Five Thousand The bidding the Sick take up his Bed and walk the weeping over Lazarus's Grave and yet raising him after he had been Four Days in it the sleeping in a Tempest and Storm and the making it Calm when he was awakened By these and many other instances it is evident that the Person our Text speaks of Jesus Christ is both God and Man that in him both the God-head and Humane Nature were personally united Which as St. Paul saith is without Controversy a great Mystery 1 Tim. iii. that is a wonderful and an ineffable thing which passeth the understanding of Man either to explain or fully to comprehend We shall never be able to comprehend this fully till we come to the other World where all Mysteries will end in clear Visions and where we shall not see as it were through a Glass darkly as at present But yet if at present we take a view of this Mystery with a reference to the end to which it was adapted we shall discover convincing Instances of the admirable and unsearchable Wisdom of God The Design was to save lost Mankind by the means of a Mediator who was to make an Atonement for their Sins and so to make up the breach betwixt God and Man as that Man might be saved and yet neither the Honour Justice or Authority of God or his Laws impaired so that it might be thought there was any force or necessity upon God to be reconciled to Man as the Kings of the Earth are obliged to make Peace with their Rebellious Subjects It were a little too bold to say that God had no other way to compass the Salvation of Men But sure this way is admirably contrived both for the Glory of God and the good of Mankind Man could not desire or devise a better a more equal a more easie Method and it is every way honourable for God it is made Effectual for Man and not only the Mercy and Goodness of God do hereby abundantly appear but also his Wisdom Power and Justice and all those Attributes which may excite Fear and Reverence or procure Love or oblige to Obedience Who so proper to ransom Mankind as one of the Race who did participate of the Humane Nature and who was descended from the same Parents Who but Man could