out Thus the words of the Text have been in a Theological manner divided and opened When the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman In the words this great Evangelical Truth lyeth clear viz. That Doctr. Dominus noster in novissimus temporibus venit ad nos non quemadmodum ipse poterat sed quomodo illum videre nos poteramus Iren. advers haereses lib. 4. The Son of God was in the fulness of the time viz. sixteen hundred and sixty yeers ago according to the determinate and infallible counsel of God's Will made of a woman In the prosecution of my intended Discourse this shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be my method 1. I shall first discover what is comprehended under that viz. That the Son of God was made of a woman 2. I shall next prove That the Son of God was made of a woman and that in the fulness of the time 3. I shall in the third place alleadge the principal Reasons why the Son of God was made of a woman And 4. Lastly I shall endeavour to bring this down to Use and Application 1. As touching the first The import of that viz. That the Son of God was made of a woman is very comprehensive for this is the great Gospel-Mysterie of the Incarnation wherein the Son of God did assume to himself the Humane Nature and so became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-man in one Person This Assumption of our Nature considered in a full Extent and Latitude may be understood to comprehend under it two memorable things viz. 1. Vnion 2. Communion 1. Vnion There is a Hypostatical and Personal Vnion between the Divine and Humane Natures in Christ The Son of God though for Nature Co-essential for Dignity Co-equal for Time Co-eternal with the Father did notwithstanding assume the Human Nature into a Personal Vnion with the God head This Personal Vnion is the most intimate Conjunction of the Man-hood with the God-head in * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dam. lib. 3. cap. 2. Christ wherein those two whole perfect and distinct Natures are without 1. Conversion of the one into the other Or 2. Composition of a Third by both Or 3. Confusion and mixture inseparably conjoyned in one Person which Person is * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id Cum legitur Verbum caro factum est in verbo intelligo verum Dei filium in carne agnosco verum hominis filium utrumque simul unam personam c. Aug. de Trin. lib. 13. very God and very Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet but one Christ the only Mediatour between God and Man The two Natures of Christ are united 1. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without any change or mutation in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dam. Assumpsit filius carnem non se conversit in carnem Aug. Verbum caro factum est non in carnem mutatum ut non desisteret esse quod erat sed caperit esse quod non erat Id. Dial. ad Orosium Divine Nature or conversion of the one Nature into the other and therefore damnable was the opinion of Apollinaris who stuck not to affirm a kinde of alteration in the Divine Nature 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without Division contrary to Nestorius Accessit Deo hum ana substantia non persona Fulg. who alledged not a distinction but a division between the two Natures of Christ attributing to each Nature its proper hypostasis and so obtruded to the world an Union of Persons instead of a Personal Union 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Social not a Personal Conjunction This Nestorian heresie was anathematized by the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Imper. contess Rectae Fidei Ephesin Council under Theodosius the younger and Celestine the first whereof Cyril was President anno Christi 430. There is in Christ Aliud Aliud but not Alius Alius two Natures but one Individual Person 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without confusion and mixture or a composition of a Third Nature by both Christ's two Natures remain still distinct by their several Essential Proprieties contrary to Eutyches and after him Dioscorus who alleadged a mixture in the two Natures so that according to them Christ is a compound made up of the Divine and Humane Natures intermixed This Eutychian heresie was anathematized by the Council of Chalcedon which was the fourth cecumenical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Dam. lib. 3. cap. 3. vid. Dam lib. 3. cap. 2. Council Act. 5. under Martian and Leo the first anno Dom. 451. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Inseparably Christ's two Natures are indissolubly conjoyned The Personal Vnion is a Perpetual Vnion That Nature Christians which the Son of God did sixteen hundred yeers ago assume into Hypostatical Union with the God-head is by an everlasting conjunction united to him And certainly this will be matter of everlasting joy and wonder to the consanguinal Saints in Heaven This is the Nature of the Personal Vnion of the Deity and Humanity in Christ Super hac re vid. Symb. Antioch Nicen. Constantinop Athan. Chaleed Act. 5. Dam. lib. 3. cap. 2. From this Personal Vnion of the Humane with the Divine Nature in Christ follows 1. A Mutual Communion of Proprieties wherein what is proper to either of the Natures is attributed to the whole Person as in these Scriptures No man hath ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven John 3. 13. The Church hath God purchased with his own blood Acts 20. 28. God will judge the world by that man whom he hath ordained Acts 17. 31. and such like 2. The Excellency of the Humane Nature both in respect of the gifts as Wisdome Knowledge Power c. with which he was qualified for his Mediatorship and the honour and adoration due unto it by vertue of its Union with the God-head 3. The Concurrence of both Natures in operibus Theandricis in the works which Christ produceth as God-Man wherein both Natures cooperate each Nature contributing its own 2. Communion There is a threefold Communion between Christ and Mankinde viz. 1. A Communion of Natures 2. A Communion of Properties 3. A Communion of Infirmities 1. There is a Mutual Communion of Natures and Essential Parts between Christ and Man The Son of God did assume to himself the true Essentials of Man viz. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symb. Chalced. Act. 5. The Entire substance of a Real Body and a Reasonable Soul the very Humane Nature so that Christ is Consubstantial with Vs as well as with the Father * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symb. Chalced. ibid. This is a Communion of Essential Parts 2. There is between Christ and Mankinde a Communion of Essential Properties the Son of God did assume the Powers of Life Sense Motion the Faculties of Reason Will and
should hope through strength from the Almighty to urge this Argument with good success not only Prophesies concerning Christ but Christ's own Prophesies and Personal Predictions are accomplished What Did he not in the dayes of his Matth. 24. 2. Luk. 19. 43 44. flesh prophesie concerning the Temple That there should not be left one stone upon another which should not be thrown down And did he not foretel with tears in his eyes the future desolation and depopulation of Jerusalem O Jerusalem Jerusalem c. Behold your house is left unto you desolate And was not this accordingly fulfilled not long after It was accomplished some forty yeers after Christ's Ascention by Vespasian the Emperour and his Son Titus say Eusebius and Josephus It is a strange thing to me but that Vnbelief is become Penal a curse as well as a sin that the Jewes are not convinced from the very vocally-silent Ruines of their Temple and Metropolis Oh Lord convince them 3. As touching the third thing proposed viz. The Reasons why the Son of God did take upon him our Nature 1. The Prime Impulsive cause hereof was a Principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of free and infinite Love That Intrinsecal Motive and Primum Mobile of all Evangelical Contrivances The Assumption of our Nature into Personal Vnion with the God-head was the prime piece of God's gracious designe and Love-plot concerning sinners The Son of God was induced thereunto ab intra from an impulse of Omnipotent Love By this the whole Trinity was as it were over-powered God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. John 3. 16. Love was Mightier then the All-mighty Here God was his own Captive be it spoken with reverence Sure there was a strange Omnipotency in Love O wonderful Love The most powerful Motive with God in God! The Project of Man's salvation was a Love-plot It was laid in Love It was carried on in Love It was accomplished in Love The Son of God did out of Love to our Persons assume our Natures The Incarnation was purely the Product of Infinite Affection That then which moved the Son of God to cloath the Deity with flesh and blood as I may express it and to take upon him our Nature was not 1. Any Meritorious Qualification in Man O no! We could as soon have merited Salvation as a Saviour and so there had been no need of God-Incarnate Nor was it 2. Any Created Excellency O no! So Angels had been Gainers and Men irrecoverably Losers whereas admired be rich Grace God took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the Seed of Abraham Heb. 2. 16. But it was purely an Internal Principle of free boundless and illimited Love This Beloved is a Reason far above Reason 2. A second Reason why the Son of God was made of a woman may be drawn from The Nature of Christ's Mediatory Office It was proper and requisite that the Son of God undertaking the Office of Surety and Mediatorship between God and Man should partake of both Natures the Humane as well as the Divine and so become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-Man else he had not been duely qualified thereunto Hence Christ is a Mediator not only qua Medians in respect of Office but also qua Medius in respect of the Concurrence of the Divine and Humane Natures in Him Christ as he is God bears a Proportion to his Fathers Majesty In Christ as he is Man there is a propinquity to our Meanness In a word Nota Ter Medius est Christus viz. 1. In S. Trinitate est Media Persona 2. Inter Deum Hominem Medians ex parâ— Officii 3. Respectu Naturarum est Medius The Mediator between God and Man must be both for Nature and Condition a Middle-Person Ergo c. 3. A third Reason why the Son of God became Man may be taken from The Order of Divine Justice As the Nature of Divine Justice is such that God cannot salva justitia gratifie sin with impunity or suffer the least guilt to go unpunished for that were Partiality contrary to Socinus his soul-deceiving-fancy so it requires satisfaction to be made in the same Nature wherein the offence is committed and accordingly God doth punish sin in the sinners Nature True it is God might have given a Commission to an Angel to assume our Nature yea and that Angel might have suffered in our Nature But an Incarnate Angel could never have satisfied wronged Justice Therefore the Son of God interposing as Surety and Mediator between a just God and sinful Mankinde condescended to become Man that he might answer and satisfie the strictest demands of Impartial Justice in the same Nature that he came to save Had not Christ been God his sufferings could never have been by condignity meritoricus had he not been Man they could never have been satisfactory to Justice Therefore he became 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-Man 4. Lastly The Attributes of God viz. The Love of God The Goodness and Mercy of God His Power His Wisdome c. shine clear in the Incarnation as in a Glass Here they concur by way of Eminency as in the Trinity's Master-piece so to speak and the very Flower of the Evangelical Oeconomy O how gloriously conspicuous are they here not only for kinde but even for Degrees Now one thing that the Son of God designed in taking upon him our Natures was the Illustration of the Glory of his Attributes For these Reasons was the Son of God made of a woman If any should enquire What is the Reason why the Son of God was made of a woman in the fulness of the time viz. sixteen hundred and sixty yeers ago rather then at any other time sooner or later This is answered before Thus I have fully opened and demonstrated that Evangelical Conclusion viz. That The Son of God was in the fulness of the time according to the infallible and determinate counsel of God's will made of a woman Come we now to the last thing proposed viz. The Application Vse 1. Here is matter of Wonder and Admiration and that fourfold viz. 1. An Evangelical Mystery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Incarnation of the Son of God That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Great Mystery of Godliness What That God should be made of a woman Is not that a Mysterie That God should become Man The Immortal God Mortal That the Maker of all things should be made That God should be made what He made God sent forth his Son made of a woman Here God was made of her whome He made Here Isa 9. 6. Maries Everlasting Father became Maries Son These are Râ—ddles to flesh and blood Beloved God sent forth his Son made of a Virgin Here is Miraculum in miraculo a Mysterie in a Mysterie That the Son of God should become the Son of Man David's Lord David's Son This was a great Mysterie a case so intricate that it plunged and non-plusd the greatest
Nature is by vertue of its Personal Vnion with the God-head promoted as I may say to Regal Authority over the Angels 2. Upon their Persons for Men may be said to be of the Blood-Royal of Heaven and are so to speak more neerly related to the Imperial Crown of Heaven then Angels Now Beloved what is this other then the fruit of a Distinguishing Love This Distinguishing Love of God may be further illustrated from this consideration namely That Angels are Spiritual and men Corporeal Substances so that there was a greater conformity in Nature between God and Angels for both are Spirits then between God and Men Now that God should condescend to assume to himself a Body rather then a Spirit was meerly from the discriminating Love of God What And must Clay be encircled with the Rayes of Divine Majesty Would not the Angelical Nature have been a more proper Receptacle for the Deity Alienum erat a Natura Divinitate Dei sanguinem carnem suscipere propter nos autem ea quae sibi erant aliena suscepit vt domesticos sibi saceret qui sueromus alioni per peccatum Origen in Esaium Hom. 7. then Dust and Ashes that inferiour piece of the Creation Such was the Love of God to Mankinde that he * Illos neglexit Illos dilexit passed by the fallen Angels and took upon him the Nature of fallen Man being made of a woman Hence Angels and not Men are Divels to day O what an Impression should this make upon us What That Man by the Order of Creation Satan's Inferiour should be honoured with Consanguinity to the Son of God and neer Relation to the B. Irinity And that Satan once an Angel of Light should be the first Inhabitant of outer darkness That the Angels which kept not their first estate should be left irrecoverably in their lost and accursed estate and be reserved in everlasting chains under darkness Iude 6. Whereas the Son of God hath graciously condescended to unite to Himself the Nature of fallen Man that Man might be recovered out of a miserable estate and restored to a better estate then that from which he had fallen Is not that a distinguishing Love Though I could speak with the Tongues of Men and of Angels yet should I fail in this so amazing an inquisation This is Soraphical Divinity Christians Eternity it self is little enough to admire and with praise to Comment upon this Theam of God's superlative and distinguishing love to Mankinde in 3. Evangelical Humility That the Son of the living God should be made of a woman was the greatest Instance of Humility that is imaginable Christ's Humiliation was gradual there were these two steps in it viz. 1. The Assumption of our Nature 2. Obedience Active and Passive in that Nature These were the two gradual parts of the Lord Christ's Self-denyal but the former was the greater of the two That God should become Man was a greater argument of Self-denyal in Christ then that God-Man should become Obedient even unto death in that there is an infinitely greater distance between God and man in respect of Being then there is between Man and death for God is of an Infinite Being and Man but of a finite and limited capacity whereas in a sense it is as Natural for Man to die as to live That He who for Nature was co-essential with God should become co-essential with man That He who for Dignity was co-equal with God should become a * Isa 53. 11. Mat. 12. 28. Phil. 2. 7. servant That He who for Time and Duration was co-eternal with God should condescend in the fulness of the time to be made of a woman That Christ should be made of Her whose Maker he was Is not that Humility That the Incomprehensible Majesty of Heaven * whom 1 Kings 8. 27. the Heaven of heavens cannot contain should stoop to nine moneths confinement in the wombe of a poor Virgin That the Glory of God should fill a Tabernacle of Clay That * the High and Lofty One should pitch in dust and Isa 57. 15. ashes That the Sun of Divine Glory should suffer an Eclipse by the Interposition of Earth O what a stupendious condescention was that Beloved Heaven seemed in this to have been wholly devoted to Man The whole Trinity ever admired be Free Grace seems to have been Self-denied here The Father was in a manner denyed to his Dear and only Begotten Son and the Son to Himself to his Connatural Glory which he suffered to be clouded for a time in condescending to become Man as he was to life it self in condescending to die like a Man though he thought it not robbery to be equal with God yet he made himself of no reputation he degraded himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men c. Phil. 2. 6 7. * Quo nate Dei Quo tua descendit humilitas c. Aug. lib. Med. cap. 7. pag. 698. Tom. 9. Basil 1569. Whither O Son of God! Whither descended thy Humility I have been proud and thou bast been humbled c. 4. Evangelical Wisdome That the Saviour of mankinde should be the Son of God made of a woman is an Instance of astonishing Wisdome What 1. That God should contrive such a method of salvation as that he could punish sin and yet spare the sinner What is that other then the plot of infinite Wisdome God did punish sin in the Nature of sinners and yet did spare the persons of sinners Justice received satisfaction in our Nature and yet Mercy was glorified in the salvation of our Nature and which is a glorious soul-refreshing truth the same Justice which obliged God to punish sin in our Nature doth now oblige him to pardon sin in our Persons 2. That God should at once glorifie both Justice and Mercy in a Saviour is the memorable product of Divine Wisdome Those two Attributes viz. Justice and Mercy are both at once glorified in Christ Justice In that God did indispensably require satisfaction in order to the sinners salvation Mercy In that God did from an impulse of free Love to sinners provide a Surety and Mediatour in order to satisfaction God satisfied Himself in Himself So that here is a sweet Attemperation so to speak of Justice and Mercy Those two Attributes however they may seem to represent God with a contrary Aspect yet are as it were reconciled in Christ Here Mercy is acted in the severest piece of Justice never was there a more severe Act of Justice then that God's own Son should become a sacrifice rather then Justice should not be satisfied Again Never was there a more signal Act of Mercy then that God's own Son should become a sacrifice rather then Mercy should not be glorified O the Wonder-working Wisdome of God! Had God called a General Assembly of the Peers of Heaven those Celestial Intelligences they could never have devised such
Jewish Policy 2. The second was his subjection to the Ceremonial Law and thus Christ was Circumcised Luke 2. 21. It was in pursuance of this Law that Christ went up three times in the year to Jerusalem to wit at Festival Solemnities according to that in Exod. 23. v. 14. Deut. 16. v. 16. c. 3. The third was Christ's Obediential Conformity to the Moral Law which was two-fold viz. 1. Original 2. Actual 1. The former was the Native Righteousness of Christ's Person Christ is the only Person that was born holy Adam was created holy every Believer is in sanctification made holy but Christ the immaculate Lamb of God was born holy 2. The latter was Christ's Actual Obedience which again was two-fold viz. 1. Active 2. Passive 1. That was the Legal Righteousness and Obedience of his Life answering to the Active condition of the Law Do this and Live 2. This was Christ's Passive Undertakings in behalf of Mankinde it implies his voluntary submission to the Curse and Malediction of the Law to a miserable life and an accursed death to a Cross and a Curse at once not only nostro bono but even nostro loco in our room which the Socinians deny in answer to the poenal demands of a violated Law and the Threats and Comminations annexed In a word the Apostle in saying Christ was made under the Law doth intimate the Quality and Nature of his Estate of Humiliation Vse This should stir us all up to thankful admiration O the wonderful condescention of God Christians What That He who made the Law should be made under the Law That the Scepter Royal and Legislative Power of Heaven should stoop to Obedience Here the Law-maker was made under the Law Here God was subject to his Subjects Law This is the only case wherein be it spoken with reverence * In forma fervi scipso minor est Aug. de Trin. lib. 1. cap. 7. God was subject to Himself O Beloved This is at once matter both of Thankfulness and wonder 2. Christ's Portion lyeth in these words To redeem them that were under the Law that we might receive the Adoption of sons This was the great designe and Love-plot of the Son of God in assuming to himself our Nature here are specified two great Captial Priviledges accrewing to Believers from and by the Son of God Incarnate viz. 1. Redemption 2. Adoption Of which hereafter The Theam that I intend to pitch upon and prosecute is the Incarnation of the Son of God That great Mysterie 1 Tim. 3. 16. of Godliness the very Sun-shine of the Gospel and all Evangelical contrivances in the Application whereof I may very pertinently take into consideration those signal Benefits viz. Redemption and Adoption But when the fulness of the time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman Here is asserted the Incarnation of the Son of God where we have four Observables viz. 1. The Subject Matter out of which Christ's Body was made 2. The Manner of the production of it 3. The Father's Commission 4. The Circumstance of Time when c. 1. The Subject Matter out of which Christ's Body was made was the very substance of the Virgin Mary its Material and Passive Principle she was the * Vox Hebr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notant Sexum aeque ac conditionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Procopius woman mentioned in the Text. In Virginem introducendum erat Dei Verbum exstructorium vitae ut quod per ejusmodi Sexum abierat in perditionem per eundem Sexum redigeretur in salutem Tertul. lib. de Carne Christi 2. The Manner of the production of Christ's Body is intimated in the word Made Made of a woman It is observable that the Son of God is here said to be * made and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Begotten of a woman Christ as God was not Made but Begotten Christ as Man was not Begotten but Made Nor 2 Born of a woman Valentinus Schwenckfeldius Marcion the primitive Anabaptists Familists c. did grant that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary but denied that his Body was made of the Real substance of the Virgin now saith our Apostle by the impulse of the holy Ghost The Son was not only born but made of a woman In a Word In that the Son of God is here said not to be begotten nor to be born but to be made of a woman we may gather That 1. Christ's Body was a Real Body and a true Corporeal substance and not a meer Phantasme or Imaginary Body as Marcion and after him the Manichees did affirm the first Author of which Heresie was Cerdo saith * Tom. 6. lib. de haeres S. Augustine 2. This Real Body was made of the very Matter and Corporeal substance of the Virgin Mary and not a Celestial Sydereal or Elementary substance conveyed into the world modo transmeatorio through the Virgins womb or Belly tanquam per canalem * Si Maria non filium sed hospitem in utero gestabat Iesum quomodo dixit Elizabetha Beatus fructus Uteri tui c. Tertul. lib. de Carne Christi vel hospitium as through a channel or hespitage per Virginem non ex Virgine as the Valentinians and Schwenckfeldians vainly conceit 3. Excluditur concursus Maris the concurrence of the Male Sex and by consequence Natural Generation and sinful propagation is excluded Christ was ab Adamo but not per Adamum As sin and misery came by a Woman made of a Man without a Mother so happiness and salvation came by a Man made of a Woman without a Father Eve was from Adam without a Mother Christ came of * Therefore Mary is truly defined to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Dei para Mary without a Natural Father So that damnable was the opinion of Ebion viz. That the Body of Christ was procreated of Joseph's Seed as also that of Helvidius viz. That Christ was not born of a Virgin he denyed the Virginity of the Mother of our Lord. The Son of God did assume to himself the Nature of Assumpsit Deus naturam peccatorum non naturam peccatricem Sinners but not a sinful Nature The Corporeal substance which he took to him was free from all impurity and corrupted Qualities by the omnipotent vertue of the holy Ghost the Active Principle as Aquinas and Efficient Cause thereof by the Preparatory Acts of whose purifying and sanctifying power the Bodily substance was fitted for Personal Vnion with the God-head for the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damascen lib. 3. Orthodoxa Fidei cap. 2. holy Ghost did come upon the blessed Virgin and the Power of the Highest did over-shaddow her Luke 1. 35. And thus we professedly believe that Christ was conceived of the holy Ghost viz. not as a Material cause but as a supernatural Effective and sanctifying Cause non
Rabbies among the Pharisees Matth. 22. 42 43 44 45 46. But That the Son of God should become the Son of a Virgin Here is a Mysterie in a Mysterie That a Virgin should become a Mother This was a Thing so Mysterious that Mary her self the Royal Mother of our Lord was a stranger to the manner of the accomplishment of it How shall this be * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 said she to the Angelical Angel Luke 1. 34. So strange that as worthy Bishop Vsher notes in his Emmanuel it was proposed as a signe and wonder to Unbelievers seven hundred and forty yeers before it was accomplished Isa 7. 14. Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son c. What For a Virgin to conceive and bear c. O! What Paradoxes be these Angels wonder Devils tremble at these astonishing Verities Finally The Personal Vnion of the Humane and Divine Natures in Christ is a stupendious Mysterie that which S. Augustine did so much admire and a thing which is able to plunge the Celestial Intelligences themselves There be two great Mysteries viz. 1. One Nature in Three Persons 2. Two Natures in One Person And I dare almost be bold to say That Three in One in the B. Trinity is not a greater Mysterie then Two in One in Christ O! Wonder Christians wonder at this great Mysterie of Godliness Wonder That the Word should be made flesh That the Son of God should be made of a woman I of a Virgin c. I am perswaded that This is and will be to all eternity matter of admiration and wonder in Heaven 2. Evangelical Love Here is the most signal Demonstration of the Love of God to Mankinde that is possible What That the Son of the Living God should be made of a woman c. This Love may be considered in a two-fold respect viz. As a 1. Superlative Love and in its Dimensions 2. Soparative and Distinguishing Love 1. This Love is superlative and for degrees transcendent Such are the Dimensions of the Love of God that it is like God Himself Incomprehensible it * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 3. 19. passeth knowledge O the height depth length and breadth of this Love It is the work of Angels and Glorified Saints to admire it That God should send forth his Son made of a woman was an unparallell'd instance of Love God SO loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son into the world c. John 3. 16. Note that particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 SO Thereby is intimated the very Maximum Quod Sic of Love and that may be termed without any Derogation from the Deity the very Maximum Quod Sic of Omnipotency The highest pitch and Degree of Love that God could possibly express to Angels or Men. Such was God's Love to Man that He gave the Son of his Love unto Him O what a Mirandum of Love did God exhibite in that Deed of Gift The Result of God's Love to Man was no less then the great Emmanuel * Isa 7. 14. Matth. 1. 23. God with us If ever God did as I may say excel Himself it was in this same Love Herein the B. Trinity is most Eminent Two of God's Holy Attributes were in this Evangelical Oeconomy extended to a non-ultra their Outmost be it spoken with reverence viz. 1. Love 2. Wisdome Of the latter of which hereafter A greater Love then that which God did express in the Assumption of Our Nature into Personal Vnion with the God-head is I dare say to the praise of rich grace ultra posse Divinum an utter Impossibility with God A thing Impossible to Omnipotency it self Hoc non potest Omnipotens There be two great and signal Loves of God to Man observable from Scripture viz. 1. The Love of God in making Man in his owne likeness 2. The Love of God in making Himself in Man's likeness God made Man like Himself in the first Man Adam God made Himself like Man in the second Adam Christ There God was the Pattern and Man the Pourtaicture Here Man was the Pattern and God the Pourtraicture Now Christians the latter is the greater Love In the former God communicates Himself to the Creature But it the latter God doth by an infinite condescention assume the Creature into Personal Vnion with the Deity That God should take upon Him the Humane Nature intimates greater Love then that Man should partake of the * 2 Pet 1. 4. Divine Nature O Matchless Instance of Affection Beloved Heaven it self could not answer the demands of a soul touching a greater Love then this is * Quò Nitè Dei Quo tua flagravit Charitas Quo crevit tua Benignitas c. Aug. lâ—b Med. cap. 7. pag. 698. Tom. 9. Basil 1569. Whither O Son of God! Whither flamed thy Charity Whither encreased thy Benignity Whither reached thy Love Whither amounted thy Compassion c. Here we may say much and speak but little 2. This Love of God is a Distinguishing Love Signal is that Discrimination which this Love hath made between Angels and Men in the favour of Mankinde The Son of God was made of a Woman so that God became Man but we do not read that God became an Angel God took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took upon him the Seed of Abraham Heb. 2. 16. Angels did eminently partake of the Divine Nature that is of God's Communicable Graces and Excellencies but God did not partake of the Angelical Nature But As God made Man like Himself in the first Creation so he made Himself like man in the Gospel-work of the Incarnation c. God sent forth his Son made of a woman The Personal Vnion of the Humane Nature with the Deity was a Capital and Distinguishing Honour conferr'd upon Mankinde O highly honoured Man Angels are not fit Competitors with thee I challenge the whole * nine Angels Archangels Vertues Powers Principalities Dominions Thrones Cherubims Seraphims Orders of them What Angel can plead Consanguinity to the Son of God This Man can do What Angel can say that of Christ which Adam said of Eve * Gen. 2. 23. This is Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh This Man can say Thy Nature O Man is Personally One with the God-head in Christ The Angelical Nature is not thus honoured There is a Royal Dignity conferr'd both upon the Natures and upon the Persons of Men. 1. Upon their Natures for Our Nature being Personally United to the Deity in Christ partakes of the Legislative Power of Heaven and is Entitled to the Crown Royal thereof The Deity and Humanity of Christ though distinct Natures yet wear not distinct Crowns but are as hath been often said Personally One in King Christ Now the Father and the Son divide neither Crowns nor Scepters but joyntly exercise one and the same Jurisdiction The Man Christ is the King of Angels O what a Pre-eminence of Nature is that The Humane
de substantia sed de potentia non generatione sed fussione benedictione Aug. Serm. 6. de Tempore So that Christ's Conception in the womb of the Virgin was without all exception pure and immaculate 3. The Father's Commission is specified in these words God sent forth his Son This is the Authority of the Son 's undertaking it is no less then that of Heaven and the blessed Trinity He did not assume our Nature without a special Commission Which may condemn those that run when they are not sent forth into the great work of the Ministery and irregular engaging therein The Son of God himself came not in the flesh without a Commission his undertaking was * Dispensatio authentica Musculus in locum Authentique God sent forth his Son c. which argues not an inferiority of Nature to the Father but only a Voluntary subjection in state and condition now an in-equality of condition and a co-equality of Nature a Natural Parity and a Voluntary Disparity are not inconsistent 4. The circumstance of Time when the Son of God came in the flesh is intimated in these words When the fulness of the time was come c. Where it may be enquired What are we to understand by the fulness of the time or the full time Answ Aquinas notes here a threefold fulness viz. Annus Incarnationis est Lambardo Annus benignitatu lib 3 Sent. Dist 1. 1. Of Grace 2. Of Promises 3. Of Types and Legal shaddows In a word By the fulness of the time we are to understand tempus praesinitum a Patre say the * Ambrose Carnel a lap Estius Luther Calvin Learned the time appointed of the Father as it is in v. 2. and * Divina ordinatione non fatali necessitate Aquin. infallibly destined for the manifestation of his Son in the flesh and the Redemption of his Church from the Legal yoke and bondage of Jewish Rites and Ceremonies by Him of whom these were Typical Shaddows and Adumbrations This fulness of time notes the accomplishment of all Prophetical Predictions and Promises of the coming of the Messias and the abrogation of all Legal shaddows and Figures whereby he was typified But more particularly for our more distinct knowledge of what is meant by the fulness of the time The Son of God did take upon him our Nature 1. A little before the end of Daniel's seventy weeks mentioned Dan. 9. 24 25. which contain from the end of the Babylonish Captivity till the death of Christ as is una voce granted by Chronologers four hundred and ninety years * De Incarnat lib 2. Quaest 6. Zanchy is of opinion that about the space of thirty and three years the time of Christ's bodily commoration in the world before the end of the seventy weeks the Son of God came in the flesh I confess it were the more remarkable if Christ and Daniel's seventy weeks did both expire together 2. Under the Roman Empire which was the fourth Monarchy mentioned Dan. 2. In the time of Augustus Caesar Christ was born in the 42d yeer of his Reigne say Epiphanius and Eusebius in the 41st say Tertullian and Irenaeus 3. Three thousand and nine hundred yeers from the Creation of the World this is undoubted but what the particular yeer of the Incarnation of the Son of God was is variously resolved upon by * Bullinger ann 3970. Funccius ann 3965. Melanchthon ann 3965. Luther ann 3960. c. Chronologers but * Chron. Genevae Edit Anno Christi 1575. lib. 3. cap. 7. 8. Notus Christus anno Mundi 2929. Aequinoct Autumnali ab Vrbe condita anno 752. anno 4. Olympiad 194. c. Beroaldus his computation is most received as the exactest of all According to his Calculation Christ was born in the yeer of the World 3929. in the yeer of Augustus Caesar his Reign 42. in the yeer of Herod's Reign 33. at or about the Autumnal Equinoctial c. This was according to him the fulness of the time mentioned in the Text even the set and predestinated time of the Manifestation of the Son of God in the flesh and the Churches Immunity and Exemption from a servile-state by and through him Quest But why did the Son of God come in the flesh at that time of all others Why not sooner Why not later Answ This is a curious Question Hidden things belong unto God but were we to resolve it we could assigne no other reason for it then To Velle Divinum the absolute good pleasure of the All-wise God who in his great wisdom pitched upon this season as most proper and convenient for the manifestation of his Son to the World in our Nature Men can but admire the Wisdome of God in this Circumstance as well as in the thing From Aquinas we may reverence the Wisdome of God in this in two respects 1. Christ was a great person though he came not in great State the King of Saints the Soveraigne Majesty of Heaven though he came not into the World in Majesty therefore it was fit that some preparation of some thousands of yeers should be made for his coming into the world especially in the hearts of the little World 2. Christ was a Physician the Physician of souls therefore it was fit that his coming should be deferr'd for some thousands of yeers after his Patients indispensable need of him that so though his Merits were of perfect vertue and efficacy for the salvation of believing sinners from the beginning of the world yet they might insatiably long after even his Bodily appearance and inestimably prize him when come The Old-Testament Saints might have come to this O that the Deliverer were come out of Zion O that our Physitian were once come When shall the promised Seed of the woman come O how acceptably did the Son of God appear in a Body in the * Heb. 1. 2. last dayes to the sinful undone captive sons of men * De Incarnat lib. 2. Quaest 6. Zanchy after many pious and solid reasons given for the conveniency and seasonableness of the fulness of the time for the Son's assumption of our Nature doth well observe That this was of all others the fittest season for God's producing to the world at once two most signal instances viz. of Justice and Mercy Of Justice towards the rebellious and unbelieving Jewes once God's peculiar people in rejecting of them Of Mercy towards the Gentiles in electing and making choice of them for his Christian Church and in * Gen. 9. 27. Hic Iesus in novissimis temporibus apparens lapis summus angularis in unum collegit univit eos qui longe eos qui prope hoc est circumcisionem praeputium dilatans Japhet constituens eum in domo Sem. Iren. adver Haeres lib. 1. perswading Japhet to dwell in the Tents of Shem. O the profound depth of the Wisdome of God! How unsearchable are his judgements His wayes past finding
Affection a Body with its just Quantity and Trin-dimension even all the Natural Properties of Man considered as a Corporeal Animal Sensitive Reasonable Creature 3. There is between Christ and Mankinde a Communion of Infirmities The Son of God did assume not only our Natures and Essential Properties but also our Infirmities viz. 1. Natural Not Personal Infirmities Those were such as do generally accompany the Humane Nature as its common Attendants since Man's fall and prevarication from his Primitive Integrity and they were of two sorts viz. 1. Body-Infirmities as heat cold hunger thirst sleep c. 2. Soul-Infirmities as grief anguish and sorrow fear ignorance c. I mean * Ignorantia pura Negationis Non ignoravit aliquid privative quod tenebatur scire sed nescivit negative absque peccato quod aetati 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conditioni non competebat Dr. Prideaux Manuduct ad Theol. Polem loc 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dam. lib. 3. cap. 21. Negative Ignorance that was ignorance not of that which he ought ex officio to have known but of that which was not congruous for him quoad statum according to his condition to know and thus Christ is said to be ignorant of the particular day and hour wherein he himself is to come to judge the world Mark 13. 32. These and such like infirmities did the Son of God take upon him but not Mens Personal infirmities as blindness lameness dropsies gouts consumptions c. which are not universal or necessary concomitants of the Humane Nature but attend upon Persons rather then upon the Nature and proceed from some particular causes as the malignity of the Constitution the inequality of the Temperament the predominancy of some corrupted humour or such like not incident to Christ 2. * Christus similu suit carni nostra peccatrici nâ—n in culpa sed in pâ—na Lombar Sent. lib. 3. dist 3. lit D. Infirmitates miserabiles non damnabiles poenales non Peccatrices Dr. Prid. Montidust ad Theol. Polem loc 3. Infirmitates merae privationis non pravae dispositionis Penal Not sinful infirmities Christ's infirmities were miserable but not damnable the infirmities of sinners but not the infirmity of sin which is not only an imperfection but an infection now Christ was the holy and just One free from all both Natural and Personal guilt Christ was by way of Passion here on earth as he is now by way of compassion in heaven touched with the feeling of our infirmities yet * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Symb. Chalced. Inter Trinitatem hominum infirmitatem iniquitatem Mediator factus est homo non iniquus sed tamen infirmus ut ex eo quod non iniquus jungeret te Deo ex quod infirmus propinquaret tibi Aug. Praes in enarrat 2. Psal 29. without sin Heb. 4. 15. Christ did partake of our infirmities but not of our iniquities The Son of God was in all things made like unto his Brethren 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dam. lib. 3. cap. 20. but that wherein we his Brethren are like unto Satan In a word Christ's Infirmities were wholly inculpable 2. As to the second thing proposed That the Son of God was made of a woman and is already come in the flesh is a truth which runs clear in the veins of the Gospel as the great Theam thereof The * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Word was made flesh John 1. 14. He was made in the likeness of Men and found in fashion as a Man Phil. 2. 7 8. In him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily Col. 2. 9. For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same Heb. 2. 14. Verily he took upon him the seed of Abraham Heb. 2. 16. He was made of a woman Gal. 4. 4. c. From these and such like Scripture proofs it is evident that the Son of God was made of a woman he being the only true Messias who was promised from the beginning and prophesied to come in our Nature which yet the incredulous Jew will by no means admit of what is Gospel-testimony to him But 2. This Truth is also clear from the manifest accord and consent of the Evangelist St Luke his History of the Nativity of Christ with the Prophetical Predictions concerning 1. The particular Time of the Messias his coming Gen. 49. 10. 2. His Family and Pedegree Jer. 23. 5. 3. His Virgin-Mother Isa 7. 14. 4. His Country Mic. 5. 2. 5. His Condition Isa 53. 2. which is apparent to any that compare them together Yea 3. The 1. Prophesied places of the Messias 1. His Birth 2. Education 3. Teaching 4. Suffering are destroyed and 2. The prophesied time of his coming is elapsed Ergo c. It was prophesied 1. That Christ should be born in Bethlehem Mic. 5. 2. 2. That he should be brought up in Nazareth Isa 11. 1. 3. That he should enter into Jerusalem while the second Temple was yet standing Hag. 2. 7. 9. Zech. 9. 9. compared and in this sense it was said and verified that the glory of the second Temple should exceed the glory of the first Temple 4. And that under the fourth Monarchy Dan. 2. 44. That was the Roman Empire which together with the other three viz. the Syrian Persian and Grecian were subverted by him the King of Kings The Stone out out of the Mountain Dan. 2. 45. whose Kingdome is firm and everlasting and destructive to all Kingdoms contrary to it 5. That the Scepter should not depart from Judah nor a Law-giver from between his feet till Shiloh that is the Messias came Gen. 49. 10. But Bethlehem Nazareth Jerusalem and the Temple are razed and destroyed the fourth Monarchy is totally subverted The Scepter is wholly taken away and departed from Judah For the better understanding whereof we must know that the Scepter that is the Jewish Form of Government continued until the time of Herod the Ascalonite an Idumean Vid. Joseph Antiqu. lib. 14. a Proselyte-Jew who began to reigne in Judea about thirty and three yeers before the Nativity of our Saviour being created King of Jury by the Roman Senate He in the thirtieth yeer of his Reigne slew the Jewish Sanhedrin a Convocation in whom did reside the Legislative pre-eminence and so deprived the Jewes of the Scepter and Principality and defaced their Government which was afterwards at the destruction of Jerusalem with all their Fundamental Lawes and Civil Customes and Rites utterly abolished insomuch that there remained no form nor face of a Commonwealth at all among them as before Now near upon this time Shiloh that is the Messiah came being lineally descended of the Royal Tribe of Judah Ergo c. Nay 4. Not only Prophetical Predictions concerning the Messiah but even the Messiah his own Predictions are fulfilled O that the poor Jew would hearken to this Had I to do with a Jewish Synagogue I
Ceremonies may be called Worship of God not only ratione modi but even ratione medii not only as additional things belonging to the reverend use of God's prescribed Worship but also as a mean though not by vertue of any thing in it self but by vertue of somwhat else If so with what face can they blame Papists who place worship indeed in their Cross Crucifix but not by vertue of any thing in it self but in respect of Christ crucified whom say they it represents Once more 4. A thing pertains to the Worship of God say the * Ad cultum Dei pertinet aliquid dupliciter uno modo cum cum aliquid Deo offertur alio modo cum aliquid Divinum assumitur Aquin. 2. 2. Quaest 95. Art 2. Schoolmen two manner of ways viz. vel quoad oblationem vel quoad assumptionem either when we offer to God any thing in point of Worship or when we add and receive any thing into his Worship Hence they are guilty of a superstitious and Ceremonial Worship not only who offer to God for Worship but also who assume in God's worship as sacred what God himself hath not ordained Such are Jewish-Popish Ceremonies Ergo c. Thus I have pursued at large the Vse of Reprehension having respect to my Text O that the Lord would second it with the powerful convictions of his Spirit Vse 3 Here is matter of Consolation Beloved Here is a Summary of Evangelical Comfort here is the choicest thing that is displayed in Gospel What A Redeemer for undone Mankinde A Saviour for sinners And that one of their own flesh and blood too viz. The Son of God made of a woman Here is Semen Mulicris the * Seed of the Woman which was five thousand Gen. 3. 15. yeers ago promised and preached by God Himself the first Evangelist and Preacher of Christ and Gospel I will put enmity said he between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed and IT shall bruise thy head c. This was the first Gospel that ever was preached The second Evangelist was an Angel who made a comfortable Sermon upon the same Text Fear not said he to the Shepherds for behold I bring you good tydings of great joy for unto you is born this day in the City of David a SAVIOVR c. Luke 2. 10 11. This Angelical was a truly Evangelical Sermon It is well worthy of our observation that an Angel was imployed in the first publication of the Nativity of our Lord and Gospel-comfort redounding from thence to sinful undone Man But I would not I must not be too prolix here The comfort that doth accrue to poor broken captive sinners from God-Incarnate may appear from an inspection into the capital benefits mentioned v. 5. viz. 1. Redemption 2. Adoption God's great designe in assuming to himself our Nature was saith our Apostle That he might 1. Redeem them that were under the Law 2. That we might receive the Adoption of Sons These be priviledges of the first magnitude and they are gradual In the one we are exempted from a Servile In the other we are dignified with a Filial condition By the one we cease to be Slaves by the other we become Sons I shall through mercy speak to both but to the latter more briefly for displaying to the Saints Gospel-comfort which divides it self here as it were into two streams or channels Of Christian Liberty 1. The first is Redemption This is a Believers Christian Liberty that great Evangelical Priviledge wherein he is freed from his Native Bondage and Captivity intimated while he is said to be under the Law Now Christian Liberty considered in its full Extent and Latitude hath in it these eight steps 1. The first is Exemption from the Curse and Condemning power of the Moral Law There is a twofold Power in the Law viz. 1. Mandatory 2. Damnatory A Commanding and a Condemning Power And accordingly the Legal Obligation is two-fold viz. 1. Active 2. Penal That is an Obligation to Duty This is an Obligation to a Penalty 1. The Mandatory and Directive Power of the Law is ever in force for the Law is a standing and Irreversible Rule of Life and Obedience But 2. The Damnatory and Maledictive Power of the Law by vertue whereof sinful Delinquents are bound over to death to a curse and condigne punishment on the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die said God to Adam concerning the Probational Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil Gen. 2. 17. is fully answered and disanull'd for Believers by Christ for he hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us Gal. 3. 13. Christ hath redeemed the Saints from the curse though not from the command of the Law And in this sense it is said that the Law is not made for a righteous person 1 Tim. 1. 9. which therefore we must not understand in the Antinomians and loose Libertines sense as if the Law were not at all Obligatory to a righteous person binding him to holiness and obedience O no! The Law is ever recti-dica but never male-dica to Believers In a word Believers are by Christ exempted from the Penal curse malediction and condemnatory sentence of the Law So that Though temporal death is inevitably common both to the Redeemed and to Reprobates for it is by an old infallible Statute appointed unto all men once to die Heb. 9. 27. yet the Redeemed of the Lord are not lyable to death nor indeed to any affliction whatsoever by vertue of any maledictive influence of the Law upon them Mors illis nec abest nec obest though death is inevitable yet it is not hurtful Death is necessary in the Saints not by way of satisfaction to injured Justice for Christ hath performed that and Justice were not Justice if it should require sarisfaction twice but as I may say by way of Introduction into Glory they are by a blessed exchange possessed of Eternal Life with the loss of a Natural life Death is not a Penal or Judicial thing in the Saints for Inane est delirium illud Papisticum de exemptione a poeno aeterna sed non a poena temporali the curse and sting is taken away The same may be said of all the Saints afflictions they are not properly penal but rather probational or castigatory chastisements rather then punishments they are crosses not curses Medicinal not Maledictory Physick not poyson for instruction not for destruction O! What comfort is that There is not now mors in olla the deadly pottage are healed though I die yet I shall not be damned c. 2. The second is exemption from the Rigour of the Law and its Exaction of Inherent Righteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Law in its strictness and first constitution did require of us perfect and personal Obedience and that upon pain of death according to its Active condition Do this and live Now
Then ours is a Limited Liberty 3. Charity By this we are restrained from the use of any thing from whence scandall and just offence might accrue to weak Brethren Take heed saith our Apostle lest by any meanes this Liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak 1 Cor. 8. 9. It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink Wine nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth or is offended or made weak Rom. 14. 21. Hence said S. Paul If meat make my Brother to offend or stumble I will eat no flesh while the World stands 1 Cor. 8. 13. Cum charitas semper sit colenda scandala semper sunt vitanda said * Synt. part 2 disp 27. Thess 31. Tilenus Since Charity is ever to be entertained Scandal is ever to be avoyded By vertue of this Law of Charity we are tyed not only from the use of what might prove Scandalous and Offensive to weak Brethren but also to the use and pursuance of such things as are †Vid. Par. in 1 Cor. 10. 23. Vid. Calvin Instit lib. 3. cap. 19. sect 12. Expedient and Edisicatory Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may edifie another Rom. 14. 19. c. Quest Is there not sometimes a repugnancy between the Law of Charity and the Law of Loyalty as when the Magistrate commands That which if we should observe we should offend and scandalize the weak Let us suppose the Magistrate to enjoyne a Common-Prayer to be read If I should read it I should scandalize weak Christians if I should not read it I should seem to disobey the Magistrate what shall I doe in such a case I must not scandalize him for whom Christ dyed I but neither must I disobey the Magistrate Answ * Doctrine of Christian Liberty Dr. Downame presents us with This as an expedient in this case of seeming Antinomy namely That if we answer or obey the Superiour Law viz. that concerning the Magistrate the Inferiour viz. that concerning the weak Brethren which giveth place to the other is not broken or disobeyed c. And I must confesse there is much in it and I can but commend the Drs Invention but yet under favour 2. There had been more in it if this had been supposed namely That not only the Magistrates Command but also his Conscience comes in competition with the weak Brothers Conscience that is If the Magistrate himself had been supposed to be of a tender Conscience For then we should seem by gratifying others not only to disobey the Magistrate but also to offend and scandalize his tender Conscience However 3. Since I am so weak as not to pick satisfaction here I should betake my self to Passive Obedience I dare not conforme by Active Obedience for then I should with my Rom. 14. 15. meat destroy him for whom Christ dyed I dare not out of a respect to the Consciences of Inferiour Christians oppose or contemne Authority God forbid Rebellion and Religion my principles could never yet reconcile and I have ever thought that it is not only sinne but even a misery Quod ad scandalum atimet Vid. Magdeburg Cent. 1. lib. 2. cap. 4. col 441. Aug. Epist 36. ad Casul Zanch. de Imag. Pag. 390. Chemnit exam part 1. pag. 179. Par. in Rom. 14. dub 1. Calv. Instit lib. 3. cap. 19. sect 11 12 13. c. to labour with Anti-Magistraticall Principles Therefore I would chuse that which I am perswaded in Conscience to be the pars tutior the safer way namely to Submit this is Passive Obedience whereby I shall hope to eshun both the one and the other evill 4. Purity This is another Rule and Boundary of Liberty of Conscience which is mentioned Rom. 14. 14. I am perswaded that there is nothing uncleane * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it self there is Liberty but to him that esteemeth any thing to be uncleane to him it is uncleane there is a Limitation He that doubteth is damned if he eateth because he eateth not of faith for what is not of faith is sinne Rom. 14. 23. That In this case the Magistrate may Command lawfully and yet the Subject obey sin fully is if a man be not fully perswaded of the Lawfullness of what he doth he sins Hence saith the Apostle Let every man be fully perswaded in his own mind Rom. 14. 5. This is that Plerophory of Conscience without which a thing is Vnclean and Vnlawfull to us though it be Lawfull in its own Nature Hence saith * In Rom. 14. 7 8. Vid. Calv. in v. 14. Calvin Nefas omnino est quipptam aggredi quod putes Domino displicere imo quod non persuasus fis illi placere It is unlawfull for thee to attempt any thing which thou thinkest may displease God yea which thou dost not perswade thy self to be a thing that will please God Thus If a thing should be enjoyn'd whereof though I could question neither the Composition nor the Imposition yet if I should use or attempt it against or with a Reluctancy of Conscience I should sin For * Vid. Calv. in Rom. 14. 5. Alsted Theol. Cas cap. 2. Quicquid fit repugnante Conscientia peccatum est whatever is done contrary to the Voyce Dictates and Testimony of Conscience that Bosome-Guide is a sin yea The †Vid. Hemming Enchyr. Class 2. cap. 7. Aquin. 1. 2. Quest 19. Art 5. Tanner Jesuit to 2 in 12. disp 2. q. 4. dub 2. n. 21. Baldwin de Cons Cas lib. 1. cap. 7. Ames de Cons lib. 1. cap. 4. c. Learned tell us that in things Indifferent at least even an Erroneous Conscience ligat though non obligat It binds by a Negative tye that is though we are not obliged to do what it prescribeth yet we are bound not to do what it condemneth or forbiddeth The reason whereof must be the Representation of the Will of God therein for an Erroneous Conscience judgeth it self to act by Rule 5. Sobriety This is another Boundary of Liberty of Conscience Brethren saith the Apostle ye are called to liberty only use not your liberty as an occasion to the flesh Gal. 5. 13. That were to passe the bounds of Sobriety Temperance Humility Frugality Modesty c. That were not a holy Liberty but a sinfull Licentiousnesse That were not the Vse but the Abuse of our Liberty These are the Bounds of our Liberty of Conscience And thus I have dispatched the last step of Christian Liberty and the first Capitall Priviledge viz. Redemption O how doth it concerne us to contend for what Christ hath procured Periculosum est in divinis rebus ut quis cedat jure suo said Cyprian de Haeret. baptiz vid. Par. Comment in 1 Cor. 7. 23. Tilen Synt. part 2. disp 44. Thes 33. The other great Evangelicall Priviledge is Adoption One great designe of the Son of God in assuming to himself our Nature was That we might * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 receive the Adoption of Sons Here is noted the filial state of the Church not but that all the Saints in the Jewish Church were Sons but because the condition of the Jewish Church considered as a Collective Body was by reason of the Legall Non dixit Apostolus accipiamus sed recipiamus ut significaret hoc nos amisisse in Adam ex quo mortales sumus Aug. in loc YOKE of Rites and Ceremonies more servile then that of the Christian Church Adoption is that Evangelicall Priviledge wherein the Naturall Sons of sinfull Men become the Adoptive Sons of the Living God It is peculiar to Beleevers the Lords Redeemed ones Christ is the Son of God by Naturall Eternall and Ineffable Generation Angels are Sons of God by Creation but Men viz. Believers are Sons of God by Adoption There be two great and admirable truths in the Text. 1. Here The Son of God became the Son of Man God sent forth his Son made of a Woman 2. Here The Sons of Men became the Sons of God That we might receive the Adoption of Sons * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in Joh. cap 1. The Son of God became the Son of Man that the Sons of Men might become the Sons of God O what Comfort is this to Redeemed Ones what that Slaves should become Sons that such as are by Nature the children of wrath should through Grace become Eph. 2. 3. the Children of the Most High God! c. This Theame doth well deserve another Treatise but I must conclude Vse 4. Here is a Motive to Thankfullnesse Here is the most quickening Motive to Gratitude Praise and Thanksgiving that Heaven can afford to Mankind What That the Son of God should be made of a woman for the Redemption Adoption Salvation of Sinners Angels payed a Tribute of Praise for this Contrivance Glory to God in the highest said they Surely Men are much Luk. 2. 14. more concerned since God took not upon him the Nature of Angells but the Seed of Abraham O Let Men henceforth Heb. 2. 16. become Tributaries to the most High God! blesse God Christians write a Law of thankfullness upon your hearts and Copy it out in your Lives Blesse God Captives here is a Redeemer Blesse God Sinners here is a Saviour One of your own flesh and blood O let us begin our eternall work where I end I dare say this is a Theame which ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands Rev. 5. 11. of thousands even the whole Host of Heaven will with praises Celebrate and Comment upon to all Eternity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS