bloods in the plural number That is not of the kindred descent or continued Pedegree from the Patriarchal line or the blood of Abraham Isaac Jacob and successively For John the Evangelist speaketh much to the same tenor here that John the Baptist doth Mat. 3. 9. That Christ would adopt the Heathen for the Sons of God as the Jews had been though they had no relation at all to the Jewish blood or stock Nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man The Evangelist hath traced Moses all along from the beginning of the Chapter and so he doth here He used the Phrase of the Sons of God in the Verse preceding from Gen. 6. 2. And this Clause that we have in hand he seemeth to take from the very next Verse after My Spirit shall no more strive with man because he also is flesh Where as Moses by flesh understandeth the brood of Cain men that followed the swing of lust sensuality and their own corruption and by Man the Family of Seth or Adam that was regulated by Religion and reason till that Family grew also fleshly like the other so doth John here the like For having in the next foregoing words excluded one main thing that was much stood upon from any claim or challenge towards the adopting of the Sons of God or forwarding of the new birth and that is descent from Abraham and from those holy men successively that had the promise So doth he here as much for two other which only can put in for title to the same and those are first the will of the flesh or ability of nature Secondly the will of man or power of morality Ver. 14. And the word became Flesh Now hath the Evangelist brought us to the Apollinaris from this clause the word became flesh would wickedly conclude that the word assumed not an humane soul but only humane flesh and that the Godhead served that flesh instead of a reasonable soul Conâ—uted Luke 5. 52. Mat. 26. 38. great Mystery of the Incarnation in the description of which may be observed First the two terms the word and Flesh expressing Christs two natures and the word was made or became their hypostatical union Secondly the word flesh is rather used by the Evangelist then the word man though oftentimes they signifie but the same thing as Gen. 6. 12. Psal. 65. 2. Isa. 40. 5 6. First to make the difference and distinction of the two natures in Christ the more conspicuous and that according to the common speech of the Jews who set flesh and blood in opposition to God as Matth. 16. 17. Gal. 1. 16. Secondly to magnifie the mercy of God in Christs incarnation the more in that flesh being in its own nature so far distant from the nature of God yet that he thus brought these two natures together as of them to make but one person for the reconciling of man and himself together Thirdly to confirm the truth of Christs humanity against future Heresies which have held that he had not a true and real humane body but only Fantastical or of the air Fourthly to explain what he said before that Believers became the Sons of God that is not by any change of their bodily substances but by participation of divine grace for Christ on the contrary became the Son of Man by assuming of flesh and not by changing into it Fifthly to shew the Plaister fitly applyed unto the Sore and the Physick to the Disease for whereas in us that is in our flesh there dwelleth no good but sin death and corruption he took upon him this very nature which we have so corrupted sequestring only the corruption from it that in the nature he might heal the corruption Sixthly he saith he was made or became flesh and not he was made man lest it should be conceived that Christ assumed a person for he took not the person of any man in particular but the nature of man in general Was made flesh Not by alteration but assumption not by turning of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the Manhood into God not by leaving what he was before that is to be God but by taking on him what he was not before that is to bo man And the Evangelist saith rather He was made flesh then he assumed it i. e. that he might set out the truth and mystery of the Incarnation to the life both for the hypostatical union of the two natures and their inseparablity being so united For first whereas Nestorius said that the word was not that man that was conceived and born of the Virgin Mary but that the Virgin indeed brought forth a man and he having obtained grace in all kind of vertue had the word of God united unto him which gave him power against unclean Spirits And so he made two several Sons and two several persons of the two natures his Heresie is plainly and strongly confuted by this phrase he was made flesh which by the other he assumed it might have had more pretext and colour Secondly whereas Eutyches Valentius and others averred that Christ had not a true humane body but only a body in appearance This also confuteth them home and taketh away all probability of any such thing which the word assumed might have left more doubtful since we know that Angels assumed bodies and those bodies were not truly humane So that in this manner of speech The word was made flesh is evidently taught First that there are two distinct natures in Christ the God-head and the Man-hood for he saith not the word was turned into but was made or became flesh Secondly that these two natures do not constitute two persons but only one Christ for he saith he was made flesh and not assumed it Thirdly that this union is hypostatical or personal for he saith the word was made flesh and not joyned to it And lastly that this union is indissoluble and never to be separated For Angels in assumed bodies laid them by again and were parted from them but the word being made flesh the union is personal and not to be dissolved And dwelt among us c. That is among us his Disciples for so the next clause we saw his glory importeth And this Evangelist speaketh the same thing more at large 1 Joh. 1. 1. Full of grace and truth For these words follow next in Grammatical construction and connection lying thus And the word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth The reason of the Parenthesis and we saw his glory may seem to be First because he would explain what he meant by Us before he left it viz. us Disciples that saw his glory Secondly because the Apostles beheld not the very fulness of his grace and truth till they had beheld the fulness of that glory which he shewed on earth Grace and truth As the Soul hath tow noble faculties the understanding and the will the objects of which are
Captain of our Salvation and such an one is he held out in this story and such an one is he offered to this combate by the Holy Ghost 1. That the work of the Redemption might begin to parallel the fall for both of them were with temptations 2. That Christ from the very first entrance into his function might be looked on as the subject of the promise Gen. 3. 15. That seed of the woman that shoul break the head of the Serpent in the end when he thus bruised him in the beginning 3. That this beginning of his Ministry might vindicate and glorifie his Ministry all along when the Prince of this world had come and found nothing in him And 4. that a greater than Adam in innocency might be acknowledged here for he by temptation had been overcom but this in temptation overcame Other reasons of Christ being tempted referring to men may be given diverse As 1. to shew that even the holiest of men cannot expect to be free from temptations 2. That Christ might teach us how to combate against the temptations of Satan namely with fasting prayer and the Word of God 3. To shew that we are to overcom through him who overcame temptations for us as he overcame death for us 4. For our assurance of help and succour in our trials since our Redeemer was tempted like unto us as Heb. 4. 15. See Aquin. part 3. quest 41. Art 1. Luke IV. ver 1. And Iesus being full of the Holy Ghost For the better understanding of these words there are two things very material to take into consideration The first is what need there was of Christs being now filled with the Holy Ghost when all the fulnese of the Godhead had dwelt in him hitherto And secondly in what the fulness of the Holy Ghost that was in Christ these gifts that were in him did differ from that fulness and from those that were in other men For the first it is to be observed 1. That by the term the Holy Ghost is to be understood the Prophetick gifts wherewithal Christ was filled for the preaching and publishing of the Gospel as the revealing of the will of God and working miracles The expression 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Holy Ghost is a phrase and manner of speech used by the Jews in their writings and very common and frequent there and from them must the sense of it be explained for from them it is taken and most commonly and constantly used in their sense in the New Testament Now the Jewish Authors do constantly mean by it the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit which he bestowed upon Prophets and Prophetick men enabling them for that employment unto which they were called As if we should go about to multiply examples from them to this purpose we might do it infinitely The Holy Ghost say they was one of the five things that were wanting in the second Temple Massecheth Ioma cap. 1. cited by R. Sol. and Kimchi on Hag. 1. 8. Thou hast shewed that the Holy Ghost dwelleth not on thee to know that I am not drunk Rasi on 1 Sam. 1. 13. The Holy Ghost was gone from Eli therefore prophecy came to Samuel D. Kimch on 1 Sam. 3. 2. The Holy Ghost was born in him from that day and forward and he uttered Psalms and Songs by the Holy Ghost that was born in him for under this general term the Spirit of the Lord is the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of power or strength understood Idem on 1 Sam. 16. 13. The Holy Ghost rested on the false Prophet Idem on 1 King 13. 20. Our Wisemen say before Elias was taken away the Holy Ghost was in Israel when he was taken away the Holy Ghost departed R. Sam. Lanjade on 2 Kings 2. In all which speeches and in divers others which might be produced it is apparent that the Jews by this phrase the Holy Ghost do constantly and continually intend Prophetick gifts wherewith men and women were indued either for the managing of some publique employment to which they were called or for the suiting to some singular and special occasion wherewithal they met And in this sense is the expression most constantly to be taken in the New Testament when it speaketh not of the third person in Trinity it self as Luke 1. 15 41 67. John 7. 3 9. Acts 2. 4. 8. 18. 10. 44. 13. 52. 19. 2. and in very many other places And so is it to be understood here that Christ being now to enter upon the publique Ministery of the Gospel and to act as the great Prophet of his Church and people he is at his baptism anointed and ever after filled with the gifts of the Holy Ghost befitting so great a work and befitting so great a Prophet Now 2. it is to be observed that these Prophetick gifts that the Holy Ghost bestowed upon some particular persons did really and very far differ from the grace of sanctification which he bestoweth upon all his Saints They might indeed sometimes be and very often they were in one and the same person but they were very far from being one and the same thing For 1. Prophetical gifts were sometimes in wicked and prophane men as in Balaam the false Prophet at Bethel Judas c. 2. These were given for the benefit of others rather than for his own that had them but sanctifying grace is given for his benefit chiefly that doth enjoy it 3. They did not make a man any whit the holier towards God but only the more able for some occasions amongst men So that by this expression Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost is not intended any addition of grace or sanctity which he had not before but the collation of Prophetick qualifications at the descent of the Holy Ghost upon him which he had not till then For though by the union of the humane nature to the Godhead that nature did partake of glorious and most excellent perfections arising and resulting from that union yet did it not partake of these gifts or perfections that we have in hand because these were not properly fruits of that union but of a donation And not things conducing to the satisfaction of God in the work of Redemption but to the satisfaction of men in his work of the Ministry The proper fruits of that union were the qualifying of the person of Christ so as that he should be absolutely without sin that he might exactly perform the Law and might be able to satisfie Gods justice and overcom death for these were the proper ends and reasons for which such an union was required but to work miracles to expound difficulties to heal diseases to teach divinity to foretel things to come and the like were not so properly the fruit of that union for even meer men have been enabled to do the same nor did they so directly tend to the most proper end of the incarnation namely the satisfaction of Gods justice
12. that is who shall ascend into Heaven to fetch the knowledge of the Word from thence or the Doctrine of the Gospel the Word of Faith Rom. 10. 6 7 8. And so upon the observation of these three things thus laid down the connexion of this verse that we have in hand with the former and the sense of it in its self doth easily and evidently arise to this sense Ye believe not when I speak to you but the familiar and visible things of the Kingdom of Heaven and how then will you believe if I should speak of the highest and most heavenly mysteries of it And yet from me alone are those things to be learned and known for none can go up to Heaven to fetch the knowledge of them from thence but I came down from Heaven to reveal the will of God and to declare the Doctrine and Mysteries of Salvation and therefore if you believe not what I speak unto you you will never attain to the knowledge of the things of the Kingdom of Heaven And thus doth Christ tax Nicodemus and the Jews for a double unbelief 1. As in reference to him the Teacher whom they believed not though he alone was he who could and who was come to teach and reveal the great mysteries of the Gospel 2. As in reference to the things now taught which they believed not though they were the most visible and facil things of the Kingdom of Heaven And withal he holdeth out unto them a double instruction 1. That they should believe him about these heavenly things because he came down from Heaven And 2. That if they would not believe him in these things they must never expect to know them for none could go up to Heaven to fetch them thence The very same thing in sense with that in Chap. 1. 18. §. But he that came down from Heaven Here doth Christ speak one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spoken of in the verse preceding a most heavenly point of the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven and that is about his own incarnation and he doth clearly shew the distinction of his two natures in one person his humane nature intimated in the title The Son of man the Divine Nature in that he saith he came down from Heaven and the union of these two when he saith that the Son of man is in Heaven Now Christ is said to come down from Heaven as Joh. 6. 51. first to intimate his Divine Nature and to shew that he was more than a meer man and so the Apostle interprets and applies the phrase 1 Cor. 15. 47. The first man is of the earth earthly The second man is the Lord from Heaven And so likewise when it is said of Christ that he was the Manna that came down from Heaven Joh. 6. 58. it sheweth and meaneth that he was a bread of a more high and eminent nature than the Manna that the Israelites eat in the wilderness and yet that was rained from Heaven too Neh. 9. 15. but Heaven here and in that place admitteth of a differing construction Secondly It is the usual speech of Scripture when it is relating the appearing of any of the persons in the Trinity in a visible evidence to say that God came down Exod. 3. 8. Exod. 19. 18. the Holy Ghost came down Luke 3. 22. c. And so may it be used of Christ in humane flesh when the Son of God appeared so visibly amongst men as that he conversed with them in their own nature it may very significantly be said of him that he came down from Heaven Not that the Godhead can change places which filleth all things nor that Christ brought his humane nature locally out of Heaven as hath been erred by some nor yet only because he was conceived by the Holy Ghost as it is construed by others but because he being the invisible God did appear visibly and in humane nature among the Sons of men §. The Son of man which is in Heaven Here is the truth and reality asserted both of his manhood and of his Godhead his manhood in that he is called The Son of man His Godhead in that he is said to be in Heaven And this doth not only confute those Heresies that have maintained that either Christ had not a real humane body or that he had not a real humane soul or that he consisted not of two distinct natures or that he was two distinct persons but this doth also set a plain and large difference detween the appearing of Angels in humane shapes and the appearing of Christ in humane flesh They were indeed in the shape of men but they were not the Sons of men but Christ was they when they were apparent upon earth in such shapes were not then in Heaven but he was Now how the Son of man may be said to be in Heaven whilest he was now speaking to Nicodemus on Earth may be resolved with a double answer 1. Because his conversation all the while he was upon the earth was intirely in Heaven For so is the conversation of the Saints of God on Earth said to be Phil. 3. 20. Et quanto magis Christi qui semper inspexerit Patris intima And how much more saith Grotius was the conversation of Christ there who always beheld the very bosom of the Father As Joh. 1. 18. And so doth Cajetan understand it that Christs humane soul did enjoy the beatifical vision of God continually and therefore he may well be said to be in Heaven even whilest he was on Earth But secondly this may properly be understood per communicationem idiomatum as Divines express it that is in such a sense as the Scripture intends when it applies the several properties of the two distinct natures in Christ indifferently to the whole person For the understanding of which and for the construing of this and divers other places of this nature these things may be taken into consideration 1. That as in the blessed Trinity there is distinction of persons but not distinction of natures so on the contrary in our blessed Saviour there is distinction of natures but not distinction of persons His Divine Nature one thing his Humane another but the person but one as in the constitution and being of our selves the soul is one thing and the body another and yet they constitute and make up but one man 2. That these two distinct natures in our Saviour had their distinct and several properties which were not communicable from the one to the other essentially as the manhood did not rise to infinity like the Godhead nor to those properties that are essential to infinity nor the Godhead descend to infirmity like the manhood nor to those properties that are essential to the infirmity of manhood 3. That though there were in Christ these really distinct natures and really distinct properties of these natures yet in regard of their union in his one person the Scripture doth not seldom
such as I described unto you false Teachers that pretended to the Spirit and to preach and work Miracles by the Spirit And I shall discourse a little concerning the great delusion that is by pretence of the Spirit and this the rather that I may speak something like in subsequence to that I treated upon at our last Meeting Then I exhorted you to hold Communion by the example of Christ. For separation I then told you was the undoing of our Church Now I give caution against the pretence of those that Preach and Expound Scripture by the Spirit For that is the cause of Separation and hath proved the ruine of Religion And although this change of times doth seem to promise that this delusion in time will dye so that the present discourse may seem not so very pertinent yet doth that mischief now live move delude and captivate silly souls little less than it hath done all along Therefore give me leave a little to discover this delusion to you that you may not only be the better fenced against it that it do not deceive you but that you may be the better furnished to stop the mouths of those that pretend to it For the prosecuting this argument you must distinguish between the false pretence to the Spirit of Sanctification and to the Spirit of Revelation By the former men deceive themselves by the latter others They deceive themselves by conceiving they have the former because they have something like it but these deceive others by the pretence of the latter though they have nothing like it There is no grace but there is a false coin minted by the Devil to dissemble it As the Harlot takes the live-child from the unwitting mother and fosters the dead one in the room and so lyes the poor woman deceived and so the poor man is deceived and thinks he hath saving grace when t is but common and the Spirit of Sanctification when t is but the Spirit of Bondage But I shall not insist on this But proceed to the other pretence viz. to the Spirit of Revelation and Prophesie whereby these in the Text deceived others I shall not need to shew you how this hath been the great cheat in all times There were false Prophets before the captivity and false Prophets after it such pretenders almost in all times I shall strip this delusion naked and whip it before you by observing these four things I. No degree of holiness whatsoever doth necessarily beget and infer the Spirit of Revelation as the cause produceth the effect It is the first cheat that these men put upon themselves and others by concluding I am a Saint therefore I have the Spirit and I preach and expound Scripture by the Spirit whereas I say no degree of Sanctification doth necessarily beget and produce that of Revelation I clear this from the nature of the thing it self and by examples First From the nature of the thing The Spirit of Holiness and Revelation are far different therefore the one is not the cause of the other The cause and the effect have a parity and similitude one with another but these are far from being so 1. They are impartible to different subjects Holiness only to holy men the Spirit of Revelation sometimes to wicked men So it was imparted to Balaam Numb XXIII so likewise to Judas and Caiaphas 2. They are bestowed upon different ends Holiness for the good of him that hath it Revelation for the benefit of others 3. They are of different manners and operations The Spirit of Sanctification changeth the heart Paul is a Saul no more Revelation doth not Judas is Judas still 4. They are of different Diffusion in the Soul Sanctification is quite through I Thess. V. 23. Revelation only in the understanding 5. They are of different Effects Sanctification never produceth but what is good Revelation may produce what is evil Knowledge puffeth up Now see what a cheat they are in This to themselves if they believe it themselves and to others that believe it in this argumentation I am holy therefore I have the Spirit of Revelation To the further confuting of this add but two Examples 1. The first Adam He was as holy as created nature could be and yet had he the Spirit of Revelation Not the Spirit at all He was most holy yet had not the Spirit of Sanctification most full of knowledge yet had not the Spirit of Revelation but all his holiness was founded only in his nature as he was created God made him holy and left him to stand upon his own holiness and had not the assistance of the Spirit at all So he had great knowledge yet not the Spirit of Revelation either to know things to come or to know things beyond their natures and causes But 2. Consider the second Adam He was holiness it self yet had he not the Spirit of Revelation by that holiness In Christ there were two things The holiness of his person by union with the Godhead and the Indowment of the Spirit upon his person He was so holy that he was not only without sin but he was impeccable Rom. VIII 2. as we are a Law that cannot but sin so he contra Now this holiness of Christs person or nature is to a clean different end to what the guifts of the Spirit upon him were His person was so holy that he might perform the Law satisfie justice pay obedience conquer Satan But the guifts of the Spirit were to fit him for Mediatorship to cast out Devils to reveal the will of God to work Miracles to confirm that Doctrine As these differ in their ends so are they from different originals holiness from the purity of his nature indowments by extraordinary donation If he had the Spirit in extraordinary guifts of Revelation and Miracles by vertue of his holy nature why was that Spirit given so visible Matth. III. and given when he was to begin his Mediation Consider his own words Mark XIII 32. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man no not the Angels which are in Heaven neither the Son but the Father Some are ashamed to confess their ignorance of any thing yet he doth it plainly For the Divine Nature in Christ acted not to the utmost of its power T is clear from this passage of Christ that by his nature he had not the Spirit of Revelation but he had it by the immediate guift of God For it pleased not God so to reveal that day and hour to him while he was here on Earth So that by this example you may see much more the fallacy of that argument I am a Saint therefore I have the Spirit of Revelation Whereas Christ himself could not say so II. The Spirit of Revelation is given indeed to Saints but means little that sence that these men speak of but is of a clean different nature The Apostle prays Ephes. I. 17. That God would give unto them the Spirit of Wisdom
the Holy Ghost doth now reveal himself now when his sway of spirituality and dominion by sanctification is to begin Secondly The Holy Ghost was departed from Israel after the death of the last Prophets as was observed before and now he is to be restored again therefore himself cometh visibly and apparently at this his restoring and lighteth upon him to whom it belonged to give and distribute the gifts of the Spirit to whom he pleased For as John had told that Christ should baptize with the Holy Ghost so is that power and priviledge now sealed unto him in the sight of John when the Holy Ghost cometh down upon him and there abideth §. Descended in a bodily shape God is said to descend not that he moveth from place to place or cometh where he was not before for he is incircumscriptible and every where and filleth all places but in that he sheweth this his presence upon Earth in such or such a place by some external sign and visible appearance And so he is said to come down to see whether the wickedness of Sodome were according to the cry that was come up unto him because he revealed himself to Abraham Lot and the Sodomites in the visible and conspicuous representation of men So is he said to have come down upon Mount Sinai because of the outward revealing and expression of his presence there And so the Chaldee Paraphrast understandeth the Trinities descending Gen. 11. 5. for a conspicuous appearance of it for he translateth The Lord revealed himself to take vengeance c. And so is the Holy Ghost said to descend in this story and in that in Act. 2. not but that he was present in the same places before by his power and Godhead but that he revealed and expressed his presence by so sensible an evidence and by and in so revealed a work §. In a bodily shape First It was convenient that the Holy Ghost should reveal himself at this time First for the sake of John who was to have a sensible sign whereby to inform him which was the Messias as Joh. 1. Secondly In regard of the Holy Ghost himself whose work in the Church was now in a more special and frequent manner to be shewed under the Gospel namely that he might be expressed and revealed to be a personal substance and not an operation of the Godhead only or qualitative vertue For qualities operations and acts cannot assume bodily shapes nor ought but what is in it self substantial Thirdly That a full and clear yea even a sensible demonstration of the Trinity might be made at this beginning of the Gospel For it may be observed in Scripture that the Holy Ghost hath a special regard to express this mystery upon singular occasions that we might learn to acknowledge the three Persons in one Godhead as he also doth the two natures of Christ that we might acknowledge them in one person So the very first thing that is taught in all the Bible is this very mystery For when Moses beginneth the Story of the Creation he beginneth also to teach that the three Persons in the Trinity were co-workers in it God Created there is the Father God said there is the Word or the Son And the Spirit of God moved there is the Holy Ghost And the very same mystery is intimated by the Prophet treating upon the very same Subject Isa. 42. 5. Thus saith God the Lord he that created the Heavens and they that stretched them out That we might learn that Of him through him and to him the Father Son and Holy Ghost are all things Rom. 11. 36. So Moses also when he is to teach concerning the creation of man he first teacheth that it was the Trinity that created him Gen. 1. 26. And God said Let us make man after our Image He saith Let us to shew the Trinity of persons and he saith In our Image not in our Images to shew the unity of essence That every man even from the reading of the story of his Creation might learn to remember his Creators in the days of his youth as Solomon with the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boraiecha answereth the same mystery Eccles. 12. 1. So likewise at the confusion of Tongues the Trinity is expressed Gen. 11. 7. Let us go down and confound their Language as it is also at the gift of Tongues I will send the Comforter from the Father Joh. 15. 26. Act. 1. 4. Such a one also was the blessing pronounced by the Priest upon the people when he dismissed them from the daily service of the Temple in the name of the Trinity Numb 6. 24 25 26. the name Jehovah or the Lord three times repeated for denotation of the three Persons as Paul explaineth it 2 Cor. 13. 13. When Moses also beginneth to rehearse the Law to Israel and to explain it the first thing he teacheth them is the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity Deut. 6. 4. Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one Three words answering the three Persons and the middle word our God deciphering fitly the second who assumed our nature as is well observed by Galatinus To these may be added the entrance of Moses his revelation with the Name of the Lord three times rehearsed Exod. 34. 6. The Vision of Esay with three Holies Isa. 6. 3. The beginning of Psal. 50. and of Psal. 136. and many of the like nature which the heedful reader will observe himself How fitting then was it that at the beginning of the new world and the new Law and the baptism of Christ the three Persons should be revealed especially since he ordained baptism to be administred in their Names Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Matth. 28. 19. §. Like a Dove It is thought by Austin and after him by Aquinas that this was a very living Dove not of the flock indeed of common Doves but immediately created by God for this purpose but created as true a living Dove as any of them and the reason they give for this their opinion is this Because it is not to be said that Christ alone had a true body and that the Holy Ghost appeared deceiveably to the eyes of men but that both those are to be said to be true bodies for as it was not fit that the Son of God should deceive men so was it not fit that the Holy Ghost should deceive them neither But it was no difficulty to the Creator of all things to make a true body of a Dove without the help of other Doves as it was not hard for him to frame a true body in the womb of the Virgin without the seed of man So they too punctual where there is no necessity nor indeed any great probability For First What needed there a real living Dove when an apparent only would serve the turn For the descending of the Dove was that there might be a visible
speak of these properties indifferently without restriction of them to the one nature or the other 4. That when it doth so speak of them it doth it not in abstracto as ascribing the properties of the Godhead to the manhood or of the manhood to the Godhead but in concreto and in reference to the whole person as ascribing the properties of the one nature not to the other but to him that carried the other nature and under the title that related to that nature As it is never said that the glorious Godhead was crucified for that is nothing short of blasphemy and that were to ascribe to the Divine Nature a property or infirmity of the Humane which it is utterly uncapable of but it is said that the Lord of Glory was crucified applying the property of the manhood not to the Godhead but to the person that was God and under that title that refers to the Godhead as meaning that he that was the Lord of Glory was crucified So it were meer blasphemous to say that the Godhead with its own blood did purchase the Church but it is divinely said that God with his own blood did purchase it Act. 20. 28. To have and to shed it blood was proper only to the manhood and not to the Godhead and yet it is ascribed not to the Godhead in the abstract but personally and in concreto to him that was God And according to this sense is this place in hand to be understood The Son of man which is in Heaven He saith not the manhood which is in Heaven for that was not there till Christ ascended bodily but he meaneth that he that was man or the Son of man was also in Heaven whilest he was talking with Nicodemus upon earth Vers. 14. And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness c. In the former verse Christ sheweth that he is to be believed because none could fetch the heavenly Doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven from Heaven but himself In this verse and forward he sheweth that he is to be believed in and that not only the believing him was to be the ground of knowledge but that believing in him is the only way of Salvation And this Doctrine he illustrates by that type of the brazen Serpent in the wilderness where the very looking upon the Serpent lifted up was healing to any that were stung nay as the Rabbins upon that story will have it to any that was wounded or hurt by any beast whatsoever The story is in Numb 21. and the occurrence was in the last year of their travail in the wilderness and the biting of the fiery Serpents was the last visible means that God used for the cutting off of the remnant of that Generation upon which he had passed a decree and sworn in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest For we have no more related of them till they be passed over the river Zared but only that they removed to Oboth to lie Abarim and so over that River Numb 21. 10 11 12. And by that time all the Generation of the men of War were consumed as the Lord had sworn Deut. 2. 14. And this miracle wrought in the matter of the Brazen Serpent was the last miracle that was done in the hand of Moses whilest he lived And so his first and last miracle was about serpents compare Exod. 4. 3. That Christ when he speaketh here of his lifting up intendeth his being lift up upon his cross is apparent not only out of Joh. 8. 28. and Joh. 12. 32 33. where the same expression is used clearly to that sense but also out of this very comparison that he doth propose from the Brazen Serpent for he saith as that was lift up so must he be lift up now that was lift up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which R. Sol. interprets 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon a pole or upon a post and so is Christs lifting up here to be understood upon his Cross. It is the general observation of the Jews upon that story 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they were plagued by Serpents because they had done the actions of the old Serpent in using an evil tongue against God and Moses and Manna R. Tanch and Baal Turim c. Let the Serpent come saith God who was cursed for an evil tongue and be avenged on them for their evil Tongue R. Solomon How ever there was such a parallel betwixt their present sin and the old sin of the Serpent certainly there is a most sweet Harmony and parallel between the manner of their cure and the fruit of Christ crucified The Brazen Serpent was lifted up so was Christ that was the likeness of a cursed creature so Christ in the likeness of sinful flesh was made a curse for us that by Faith in him we might be cured of the wounds given us of the spiritual Serpent as these by looking upon that were healed of the venemous bitings of those corporal ones what a Doctrine of Faith was in that story and occurrence The Talmud in Rosh hashanah applies it thus What Could that Serpent kill or recover But at what time Israel looked upward and humbled their hearts before their Father which is in Heaven they were healed but if not they were brought low Per. 3. Vers. 15. That whosoever believeth in him c. This is a new and strange doctrine to Nicodemus to hear of obtaining everlasting life by believing in another whereas he had been taught all his life to expect it by the works of the Law and by performances of his own But for this Christ giveth him so plain a demonstration and argument from that story and effect of looking upon the Brazen Serpent that he cannot find wherewithal to gainsay it And so is the other part of Christs Doctrine somewhat new to Nicodemus also to hear tell of whosoever believing should obtain Salvation and that God did so love the world that he gives his only Son c. For he had dreamed with the rest of the Nation of Salvation only belonging to the Jews and of the Messias only coming to the Jews and as for the rest of the world that it was utterly unregarded and neglected of God and the people of the Nations but dogs and swine Vers. 16. For God so loved the World Some Expositors are of a mind that these are the words of the Evangelist and not a continuation of the Speech of our Saviour which is not much material whether they be apprehended for the words of the one or of the other but they appear rather to be a continuation of our Saviours speech their connexion with the words before it so close and their sense so near and making up the sense of the former The verse calls for a hearty meditation upon it rather than for a verbal explication of it for as there is no difficulty in the words but their sense is easily understood so is there abundance of
sewed together were just so broad and so they covered only the top and sides but hung not down at the end which was Eastward but the most holy was but five yards long and the five Curtains over that did not only cover the top but also hung down at the West end to the silver bases Secondly the looping together of the Curtains five and five on a piece with a golden tye doth sweetly resemble the uniting of the two natures in Christ divinity and humanity into one person which two natures were not confounded as Curtains sewed together but were sweetly knit together by golden and ineffable union Thirdly this might also fully signify the two Churches of Jews and Gentiles knit together by Christ that so they make but one spiritual Tabernacle Now come and measure the Curtains again imagining them thrown length way over the Tabernacle they were fourteen yards long and twenty yards broad when they were all sewed and looped together This breadth covered the length of the building which was fiftéen yards and it hung down behind the West end even to the foundation The East end was still left open Of the length of them five yards were taken up in covering the flat top of the house which was five yards broad between wall and wall A quarter of a yard was taken up on either side with covering the thickness of the planks so that on either side they hung down four yards and one quarter which was three quarters of a yard short of the silver foundation or little less SECTION XXXVI Of the Goat-hair Curtains TO help this defect as also to shelter the rich Curtains from weather were made Curtains of Goates hair eleven in number in breadth each one two yards as was the breadth of other but being one Curtain more than the other they were two yards broader than the other when they were all coupled together Each Curtain was thirty cubits or fifteen yards long and consequently a yard longer than those spoken of before These were sewed six together on one piece and five on another These two main pieces were linked together with fifty claspes of brass as the other were with fifty of gold But when these curtains were laid upon the other over the Tabernacle they were not so laid as these brazen loops did light just upon the golden ones over the vail but three quarters of a yard more Westward so that the five curtains that went West did reach to the ground and half a Curtain to spare Exod. 26. 12. The other six that lay East reacht to the end covered the pillars whereon that vail hung and they hung half a curtain breadth or a yard over the entrance Their length of fifteen yards reacht half a yard lower on either side than the other Curtains did and yet they came not to the ground by a quarter of a yard so that the silver foundations were always plain to be seen every where but at the West end Thus had the Tabernacle two coverings of Curtains yet both these on the flat roof would not hold out rains and weather wherefore there was made for the top a covering of Rams skins dyed red signifying well the blood of Christ the shelter of the Church Above that was also another covering of Tahash skins a beast not perfectly known what he was but well Englished a Badger and guessed well because of his during hide Thus if you view this building erected and thus covered you see the silver foundation always open to view Half a yard above that hid only under one curtain all the side above that under two and the top with four SECTION XXXVII Of the most holy place THE Priests entred into the Tabernacle at the East end of it and so must we where pace up ten yards forward and you come to the vail which parted between the Holy place and the most Holy of all The Holiest place of all was filled and furnished before the vail was hung up and so it shall be first handled This place was five yards long five yards high and five yards broad a perfect square the figure of firmness herein fitly signifying Heaven In this place at the West end stood the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the world John 3. 11. typifying Christ by whom God is come into Covenant with Gentiles as well as Jews The Ark was made like a Chest hollow that it might receive things within it It was a yard and a quarter long and three quarters broad and three quarters high made of Shittim boards and it was gilded both within and without representing Christs purity both in inward thoughts and outward actions It had no feet but the bottom stood upon the ground a figure of Christs abasing himself upon the earth On the outside of the upermost brink was made a Golden Crown round about representing say the Jews the Crown of the Law but most fitly Christ Crowned with glory At each corner was struck in a staple or ring of Gold wherein were put two staves of Shittim wood gilded over to bear the Ark withall which staves were never to be taken out but there to stay continually teaching the Priests as some say to be ready prest for their service but rather shadowing out Christs Deity supporting his humanity never to be parted from it Now for the cover of this Chest or Ark it was made of pure Gold beaten or formed to the just length and breadth of the Ark that when it was laid on it touched the Golden Crown round about At either end was made a Cherub or the form of an Angel like a child standing bowed with wings reaching over the Ark so that the wings of one Cherub touched the wings of another They were of Gold beaten out of the same piece that the cover of the Ark was of Their faces were one to another and both toward the cover of the Ark. This cover both by the Old and New Testament is called the Propitiatory vulgarly in our English the Mercy-seat So called because from hence God mercifully spake to his People View this part well and you see Christ fully First the two Cherubims bowed toward the Mercy-seat So all Angels to Christ. Secondly They looked each at other but both toward the Mercy-seat So both Testaments Old and New look each at other and both at Christ. So do the two Churches of Jews and Gentiles Thirdly This covered the Law so doth Christ that it plead not against his people to condemn them Fourthly God speaks to Israel from hence so God by Christ to us Heb. 1. 2. SECTION XXXVIII Of the holy place without the vail THUS was the Sanctum Sanctorum or the most holy of all for fabrick and furniture To separate this from the holy place was hung up a vail of the same stuff and work that the rich curtains of the Tabernacle were The hanging up of this vail was thus Just under the golden claspes that linked the curtains
is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is the terrors and the sorrows which shall be in his days i i i i i i Shâ—aâ— fol. 118. 1. He that feasts thrice on the Sabbath day shall be delivered from three miseries 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 From the sorrows of Messiah from the judgment of Hell and from the War of Gog and Magog Where the Gloss is this From the sorrows of Messias For in that age wherein the Son of David shall come there will be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an accusation of the Scholars of the Wise men 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotes such pains as women in child birth endure VERS XXXII 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But of that day and hour knoweth no man OF what day and hour That the discourse is of the day of the destruction of Jerusalem is so evident both by the Disciples question and by the whole thread of Christs discourse that it is a wonder any should understand these words of the day and hour of the last judgment Two things are demanded of our Saviour ver 4. The one is When shall these things be that one stone shall not be left upon another And the second is What shall be the sign of this consummation To the latter he answereth throughout the whole Chapter hitherto To the former in the present words He had said indeed in the verse before Heaven and Earth shall pass away c. not for resolution to the question propounded for there was no enquiry at all concerning the dissolution of Heaven and Earth but for confirmation of the truth of thing which he had related As though he had said ye ask when such an overthrow of the Temple shall happen when it shall be and what shall be the signs of it I answer These and those and the other signs shall go before it and these my words of the thing it self to come to pass and of the signs going before are firmer than Heaven and Earth it self But whereas ye enquire of the precise time that is not to be enquired after For of that day and hour knoweth no man We cannot but remember here that even among the Beholders of the destruction of the Temple there is a difference concerning the Day of the destruction that that day and hour was so little known before the event that even after the event they who saw the flames disagreed among themselves concerning the Day Josephus an eye witness saw the burning of the Temple and he ascribed it to the Tenth day of the month Aâ— or Louâ— For thus he l l l l l l De Bell. lib. 6. cap. 26. The Temple perished the tenth day of the month Lous or August a day fatal to the Temple as having been on that day consumed in flames by the King of Babylon Rabban Jochanan ben Zaccai saw the same conflagration and he together with the whole Jewish Nation ascribes it to the ninth day of that month not the tenth yet so that he saith If I had not lived in that age I had not judged it but to have happened on the tenth day For as the Gloss upon Maimonides m m m m m m In Taanith cap. 5. writes It was the evening when they set fire to it and the Temple burnt until sun-set the tenth day In the Jerusalem Talmud therefore Rabbi and R. Josua ben Levi fasted the ninth and tenth days See also the Tract Bab. Taanith n n n n n n Fol. 29. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Neither the Angels For o o o o o o Bab. Sanhedr fol. 99. 1. the day of Vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed comâ—th Esai LXIII 4. What means The day of Vengeance is in my haert R. Jochanan saith I have revealed it to my heart to my members I have not revealed it R. Simeon ben Lachish saith I have revealed it to my heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but to the ministring Angels I have not revealed it And Jalkut on that place thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My heart reveals it not to my mouth to whom should my mouth reveal it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nor the Son 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is Neither the Angels nor the Messias For in that sense the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Son is to be taken in this place and elsewhere very often As in that passage Joh. V. 19. The Son that is The Messias can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do ver 20. The Father loveth the Messias c. ver 26. He hath given to the Messias to have life in himself c. And that the word Son is to be rendred in this sense appears from verse 27. He hath given him authority also to execute judgment because he is the Son of man Observe that Because he is the Son of man I. It is one thing to understand the Son of God barely and abstractly for the second person in the Holy Trinity another to understand him for the Messias or that second person incarnate To say that the second Person in the Trinity knows not something is blasphemous to say so of the Messias is not so who nevertheless was the same with the second Person in the Trinity For although the second Person abstractly considered according to his mere Diety was co-equal with the Father co-omnipotent co-omniscient co-eternal with him c. Yet Messias who was God-man considered as Messias was a servant and a messenger of the Father and received commands and authority from the Father And those expressions The Son can do nothing of himself c. will not in the least serve the Arians turn if you take them in this sense which you must necessarily do Messias can do nothing of himself because he is a Servant and a Deputy II. We must distinguish between the execellencies and perfections of Christ which flowed from the Hypostatical union of the two natures and those which flowed from the donation and anoynting of the Holy Spirit From the Hypostatical Union of the Natures flowed the infinite dignity of his Person his impeccability his infinite self-sufficiency to perform the Law and to satisfie the divine justice From the anoynting of the Spirit flowed his Power of miracles his fore-knowledg of things to come and all kind of knowledg of Evangelic Mysteries Those rendred him a fit and perfect Redeemer these a fit and perfect Minister of the Gospel Now therefore the fore-knowledg of things to come of which the discourse here is is to be numbred among those things which flowed from the anoynting of the Holy Spirit and from immediate revelation not from the Hypostatic Union of the Natures So that those things which were revealed by Christ to his Church he had them from the revelation of the Spirit not from that Union Nor is it any derogation or detraction from the Dignity of his Person
as to the instruction conviction benefit and advantage of men And therefore although the humane nature of Christ through the uniting of it to the Godhead did abound in all holiness and wisdom and graces as to the knowing of God and the best things to the enjoyment of the vision of God and communion with him to the being and persisting absolutely without the least corruption to the entire performing of the whole Law and to a non-possibility of committing sin all which capacities tended towards the satisfaction of Gods justice and mans redemption yet for the ministration of the Gospel and for his working upon the bodies minds and affections of men by teaching preaching and working miracles he is indued with the immediate gifts of the Spirit as it was the way of God to deal with Prophets and prophetick men which gifts did not so properly accrew from the union of the two natures as from the unction of the Spirit The result of the union of the two natures being more properly acceptance with God in the work of Redemption and the fruits of this unction being to the acceptance with men in the work of the Ministery And whereas it is not to be denied but that Christ before the Holy Ghost came upon him at his baptism had the power of miracles and Prophetick wisdom in him as appeareth by his disputing with the Doctors at twelve years old this was through the fulness of the Holy Ghost that was in him even from his mothers womb as it was and much more than it was with John the Baptist Luke 1. 15. and that with this difference from what it is now that it was then upon him as one to be ordained and now upon him as ordained already to the Ministery Now the difference of the fulness of the Holy Ghost in Christ from other men who are also said to have been filled with the Holy Ghost as Luke 1. 67. Acts 6. 5. may appear in these particulars 1. In the measure which may be measured by consideration of the difference of the persons and of their employments for Christ was more capable by infinite degrees of the fulness of the Holy Ghost than meer men were or could be and his employment being also so infinitely beyond the employment of men the measure of the Holy Ghosts fulness in him must needs be accordingly beyond all measure 2. In the manner and vigor of acting The power of the Prophets in working of miracles was exceeding great indeed and wondrous and their descrying and discovering the will of God and things to come was exceeding wonderful and sublime but they could neither do nor tell all things nor could they act upon all occasions but had always their bounds and had sometimes a recess of the Spirit or departure of it from them As Isaac can see what shall befal Jacob and Esau many hundred years after yet cannot know Jacob from Esau when he is in his arms And Jacob can tell what shall become of all his sons in the last time to come yet cannot tell what is become of his best son Joseph in his own time for 13 years together So Moses hath power over Egypt yet hath not power over his own stammering and the Prophet at Bethel can command the Altar that it rent it self but cannot command the Lion not to rent him Thus to this great gift of Prophecy on men as to the Ocean God set its bound which it might not pass and so far might the operating of it go and might go no further but with Christ it was not so He could work what miracles he would when he would how he would and on whom he would he could reveal all truths resolve all doubts clear all difficulties know all thoughts and had no limit of the vigor and acting of the Spirit upon him but his own will §. Was led by the Spirit into the wilderness Namely into the wilderness of Judea For 1. that was in mention in the story next preceding Matth. 3. 2 3. and a wilderness being here spoken of without any further mention what wilderness it was none can so properly be understood as that of Judea which was last named before 2. It is said by Luke that Jesus returned from Jordan by the word returned importing that he came back when he went to his temptation on the same side Jordan on which he was baptized Now that the wilderness of Judea lay on that side is more evident than needeth any demonstration Chemnitius indeed hath supposed this wilderness where our Saviour was tempted to have been the great desert of Horeb or Sinai and he giveth these three reasons for it 1. Because other wildernesses have their distinguishing titles as of Ziph 2 Sam. 23. 14. Shur Exod. 15. 22. Engedi 1 Sam. 24. 11. c. but this wilderness of Horeb is called the wilderness by a special emphasis without any other addition and so is the wilderness mentioned in this story But this is easily answered that it wants its distinctive title here because it was named by it a little before and called the wilderness of Judea 2. Because saith he Mark saith that Christ in this wilderness was with the wild beasts now in other wildernesses there are either dwellings of men here and there or they are not altogether remote from the converse of men but in the great desart of Horeb there were only wild beasts as there are mentioned to have been here Ans. Mark when he saith Christ was with wild beasts doth not therefore inforce that that wilderness was without either men or dwellings But first That Christ for that time avoided both the one and the other and kept himself in the wildest places and most retired from humane society And secondly the Evangelist seemeth to regard rather the state of Christ than the state of the place and to shew Christ to be the second Adam as in the temptation which he was now about so in his safety and security among the wild beasts as Adam in innocency had been and they hurt him not The wilderness of Judea had indeed both cities and villages and dwellings of men in it but withall it had some places wild in it without any such habitations and it had wild beasts in it in those places 1 Sam. 17. 28. 34. 2 Sam. 23. 20. Jer. 49. 19. 3. By this supposal he addeth that this wilderness where Christ was tempted was the great desart of Horeb there is a fair answerableness found out between this story and the story of Israel in that place and betwixt this fasting of Christ and of Moses and Elias in the same desart Answer it is true there would be so indeed but the being of the thing cannot be grounded upon this correspondency but this correspendency must be built upon the thing first found so to be and if this may argue for Horeb desart we may as well argue for Judea wilderness for there the sore tryals of David under the persecution
restored again to the society of men and might come into any of their Cities but the disease was not yet cured I have observed elsewhere that the Priests could not make a Leper whole they could only pronounce him clean and that sentence did nothing at all restore him to his health but only restore him to the Congregation Such was the case of this man the Priest had done for him as much as he could he had pronounced him clean but the poor wretch was as Leprous as ever even scurvy all over and like enough so to have continued only the malady was so fully broken out that the venom was wrought out and his breath not infectious and so he was restored to the converse of men again His case thus stated and his character of Full of Leprosie thus understood it exceedingly cleareth the passages of his story afterward As when he saith Lord if thou wilt thou canst make me clean he meaneth If thou wilt meddle with this disease which is the Priests peculiar to look unto thou canst make me clean for the Priest could only so pronounce me And when it is said Jesus was moved with compassion towards him it referreth to his visible sad case who was Scurfie and Scabbed a woful creature all over and who had had as much done to him as man could do and yet was in this case still And when he chargeth him to tell no man but go and shew thy self to the Priest he doth it because he would put no disgrace upon the Priesthood but though he had meddled with something of their concernment and had taken where they had left and done what they could not do yet would he not vilifie that order and ordinance but reserve the honour due unto them and maintain the judging of Leprosie unto them still according to the institution that had assigned it to them And this was one reason why he injoined him silence because he would not prejudice but maintain the honour of the Priesthood And so his own words do construe it when he bids him go shew himself unto the the Priest So also Luke 17. 14. And offer the gift which Moses commanded this the man had done before at the pronouncing of him clean but must do it now again when he is made clean that there may no derogation accrew to the Priesthood and the Law about Leprosie but both of them might have their due honour both from the man and from Christ himself and this is meant also by the words for a testimony unto them Mark 1. vers 45. But he went out and began to publish c. He owned Christ for the Messias as appeareth both by his words and by his Gesture He had seen the tokens of the Messias in him when he so instantly removed his Leprosie with his word He had received a most strict charge to conceal the matter and get him to the Priest with his offering but for all this he begins to publish Mark hath used two special words to express the charge given him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He gave him a threatring câ—arge and sodainly packâ— him away Christ was so serious in his charge because he would avoid the suspition of sleighting or undermining the Priesthood about their office which concerned Lepers and would withal avoid the danger which might accrew unto him upon such a suspition Now whether the man did not rightly apprehend the depth and strictness of this charge that was laid upon him or if he did so apprehend it was transported with blind zeal so as he would publish this great work though he that had wrought it had commanded him silence or whether his boundless joy for his happy cure did make him forget himself certainly he is not excusable who having received so great a benefit from such a hand as he himself owned to be divine yet was so careless to observe that command that he had received also with his healing It was a rare cure that had been to heal a Leper see 2 King 5. 7. and Christ had not healed any till this very time therefore when this was published abroad it would not only gather people under other diseases to Christ for their recovery for they would conclude he could heal any when he could heal this but it would cause Lepers to break into the City where he was which was contrary to their Law and custom and so would breed troubles and confusion so that Jesus could no more openly enter into the City Luke 5. vers 16. And he withdrew himself into the Wilderness and prayed When Christ is amongst men he is doing them good and when he is from amongst them he is conversing with God And otherwise he could not do in regard of the holiness of his nature love to man and his Union with God It was but a harsh time of the year for him to betake himself to seek retiredness in the desert the winter being not yet over but the zeal of the Lords glory did so eat him up that in company he preferd that before his safety and in solitude he preferd that before accommodations What was the matter and subject of his prayers particularly were boldness to go to define It is undoubted the general tenour of them was for the advancement of Gods glory and gathering of his Church and prospering the work of himself for that end as he sheweth the subject of all his prayers John 17. and it is like the present conflux and great concourse of people unto him was looked upon by him in his prayers as a singular occasion offered in tendency to those purposes SECTION XXIII St. MARK Chap. II. AND again he entred into Capernaum after some days and it was noised that he was in the house 2. And straightway many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive them no not so much as about the door and he preached the word unto them 3. And they come unto him bringing one sick of the Palsie which was born of four 4. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press they uncovered the roof where he was and when they had broken it up they let down the bed wherein the sick of the Palsie lay 5. When Iesus saw their faith he said unto the sick of the Palsie son thy sins be forgiven thee 6. But there were certain of the Scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts 7. Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies Who can forgive sins but God only 8. And immediately when Iesus perceived in his Spirit that they so reasoned within themselves he said unto them Why reason ye these things in your hearts 9. Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the Palsie Thy sins be forgiven thee or to say Arise and take up thy bed and walk 10. But that ye may know that the son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins he saith to the sick of the Palsie 11. I
the ground and would not have been heard which to have missed had been death to Aaron this represented to the Priests that the sound of good doctrine and fruit of good living must always be about them as these Bells and Pomegranates This coat also did fitly resemble Christs humane Nature First as this was of one stuff without mixture so that without corruption Secondly as this was put on after an extraordinary manner so Christ put on humanity by an extraordinary conception and generation Thirdly as was the edge about the hole to keep it from renting such was the unseparable union of Christs two natures Fourthly as were the Bells and Pomegranates such were his life and doctrine SECTION XLVII High Priests Ephod ABove this he put the Ephod the materials of which were fine yarn or threds dyed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blew and purple and scarlet and with every thred of these was twisted a thred of gold fitly shewing the purity and holiness of the Priest in every action as also most fitly resembling the lustre of the diety shining in each of Christs humane actions The word Ephod doth generally signifie any thing that girdeth a man so the word originally signifies More particularly it betokens garments or other things used in divine service So Samuel ministred before Eli in a linnen Ephod or a linnen coat girded to him So David when he brought up the Ark to Jerusalent being desirous to be as Priest-like as he might he was cloathed with such a garment a linnen Ephod So the abomination which Gideon made Judg. 8. 27. is called an Ephod Because he made it to resemble that Ephod which he had seen upon the High Priest at Shiloh Most especially the Ephod signifies the upmost garment of the High Priest when he served at the Altar or Tabernacle The form of this was somewhat like the aprons which some workmen wear tyed over their shoulders and covering their breast Such was this a rich piece of stuff of the materials before named the breadth of the Priests breast at either side it had a shoulder piece of the same piece which went over the Priests shoulders and were fastned behind one to another Before his breast the piece came down to his paps and there was the lower edg of it upon which was woven a piece to gird it withall of the same stuff and piece so that it was girded over his paps or heart whence John speaketh when he saith he saw Christ girded about the Paps with a golden girdle Apoc. 1. 13. Upon the shoulder pieces were two precious stones set in ouches of gold one on the one side and another on the other The stones were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Beryl vulgarly Onyx the stone which among the twelve belonged to Joseph In these two stones were ingraven the names of the twelve Tribes of Israel six on one and six on another Thus when the Priest appeared before the Lord he bare the charge of all Israel upon his shoulders A full resemblance of Christ. Upon the shoulder pieces likewise were two bosses of gold near to these stones unto which the gold chains that tyed the Breast-plate to the Ephod were made so fast that they might not part one from another Thus was the curious work of the Ephod with its girdle and other apurtenances a full signification of the preciousness and yet heavy charge of the Priesthood SECTION XLVIII The Breast-plate UPON the Ephod was the Breast-plate fastned it was called the Breast-plate of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Judgement because from it God answered by Urim and Thummim Numb 27. 21. The materials of this were the same that the Ephods were viz. Fine yarn or thread of various colours and a thread of gold twisted with each which thread woven together made as it were cloath of gold This Breast-plate was of this cloath of such a piece as when it was foulded double was a just square of a span every way Thus as the best part of all the Tabernacle viz. the most holy was a perfect square so is the best piece of Aarons garments This piece was double because of the weight of the stones in it which required that it should be strong In this piece were twelve precious stones set in four rows three in a row every stone bearing upon it the Name of a Tribe First 1. Ruben 2. Simeon 3. Levi. Second 1. Judah 2. Issachar 3. Zebulun Third 1. Dan 2. Naphthali 3. Gad. Fourth 1. Asher 2. Joseph 3. Benjamin SECTION XLIX Of the Urim and Thummim THat Urim and Thummim should be nothing but the name Jehovah written and put into the Breast-plate as some have held savours more of exorcism than a divine Oracle Or that the lustre or dimness of the twelve stones should be the Oracle as others is as strange a fancy as the former if we consider the particulars of Answers that have been given As among others that of Davids Whither shall I go the Urim answered to Hebron This impossibility others having espyed have averred that the Urim consisted of the names of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the Twelve Tribes and that when a question was asked the letters that served to give the answer either rose up above the others or else met strangely together and made words to give an answer But if the letter Teth were to be spelled in the answer where was it to be had Leaving then these and other conjectures let us see what light the Scripture will give us concerning these things First Urim and Thummim were not two things but one and the same thing and for this reason they are called sometime by a single name Num. 27 21. 1 Sam. 28. 6. c. Secondly the stones in the High Priests Breast-plate are called the Urim and Thummim Exod. 28. 30. Thirdly when God answered by Urim and Thummim the answer was not given by any appearance in these stones but by the mouth of the Priest Numb 27. 21. Fourthly the Priest when he was to receive his answer was to have the Ephod on 1 Sam. 23. 9. Lastly the Priest when he was to receive an answer stood before the Ark Judg. 20. 27 28. The manner then of inquiring of the Lord by Urim and Thummim was thus The things to be inquired of must be of weight and generalty for the stones represented the Judgment of all the people Exod. 28. 30. therefore the inquiry by them must concern the general Such was the general question at Shiloh Judg. 1. 2. Who shall first set upon the Canaanites Such was that of all Israel Shall I shall go up against my Brother Benjamin Judg. 20. 23. and divers others When such a scruple was to be resolved it was told to the High Priest what he should ask So did David wish Abimelech the High Priest at Nob to enquire whether his journey should prosper 1 Sam. 22. 10. So did the Danites to the fained Idolatrous High Priests Judg. 18. 5. The Priest knowing
they would argue from this reason God finished creating in Principio in the beginning therefore he creates not a Soul now I answer He finished creating genere specierum the kinds of all species but not Species generum the Species of all kinds When he brought Frogs and Lice on Egypt it was a creation of the things but the kind was created from the beginning The same must be said of Souls Let Christs Soul be the instance Was the Soul of the Messias created at the beginning If so what did it all the while till it was united to the Body Where was it What did it Was Christs Soul ever not acting for the good of his people As soon as ever it was put into the Body it began the work of Redemption viz. Christ there sanctifying our Nature by the Union of the humane nature to the Divine His Soul is now in Heaven in the work of mediation for his people It is hard to think that his Soul should be almost four thousand years in being and doing nothing for mens Salvation And we cannot call Christ Christ till he be compleated in our nature Soul and Body So that Christs Soul as ours was infused by immediate Creation in the Body which Body was prepared in the womb for the receiving of it So that though he was not like to us in regard of his begetting in the womb yet he was like in the Union of his Soul to his Body there For II. Christ had a Soul like ours in all things sin excepted It is a question Whether all Souls are equal There is some colour for it Psal. XXXIII 15. Hesashioneth their hearts alike And thence some argue the equality of Souls But I answer 1. That place may be taken thus That God alike is the Creator of all Souls rich and poor wise and foolish 2. It is undoubted all Souls are alike in regard of the ' Essentials of Souls they are all intellectual Spiritual immortal and in regard of their Essential faculties Whether they are alike as to the use and excellency of those faculties I shall not dispute Doubtless Christs Soul was the most excellent and yet like ours in all things that simply relate to the Essence of Souls or the humane nature I need not speak of the Essentials of a Soul he had the Infirmities of a humane Soul viz. those that in themselves are sinless I might so apply that Matth. VIII 17. Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses He was subject to grief in Soul Matth. XXVI 38. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Soul is exceeding sorrowful To fear Heb. V. 7. In that he feared Joh. XI 33. He groned in spirit and was troubled These are natural infirmities or affections to humane Souls Adam might have had these in innocency if occasion offered The Apostle makes comfortable use of this likeness of Christs Soul to ours Heb. IV. 15. For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin And so may a Christian in sadness fear hunger persecution he may refuge to a High Priest that himself was sensible what these things were Non ignara mali c. Oh! what access hath God given to sinners Not only to one in their own nature but that partook of the very infirmities of nature Except sin Name but one that he had not A poor man dying assaulted with Satan fearing pains How comfortably may he refuge to Christ who by experience knew all these III. He was like other Souls in the manner of his departure out of the body and going to another World And this I shall speak to in three Particulars I. Although the reason of Christs death was different from the reason of the death of all other men yet the nature and definition of Christs death agrees withal Though the conception and birth of Christ was different from all others yet the nature of his death was not different the manner of dying indeed differed That in Heb. IX penult reacht Christ as well as others it was appointed for him to dye though upon a far different reason from what other men dye It is worth observing that Christs death was published and pronounced of before the death of Adam was denounced against him In Gen. III. 15. the death of Christ is mentioned in vers 19. the Death of Adam Which speaks that Christ died not of the Plague of mortality of which Adam and all his posterity dye but that his death was upon another kind of account Though Christ the second Adam was incomparably above the first in his innocence in regard of the Perfection of his nature and Person yet in regard of the certainty of Death as I may say he was beneath him For the excellency of his nature so far beyond him that whereas Adam was without sin Christ was without possibility of sinning But for certainty of dying so far otherwise that whereas Adam might not have dyed Christ could not but dye Socinians say Adam was created mortal because he was in a possibility to dye and because he died whereas indeed actually he was created immortal not as yet having any seeds or principles of mortality in his nature sin not being yet come there Christ was so much more without principles of mortality in him as that whereas Adam was sinless He could not sin and yet as I may say he had the principles of dying in him but not so much in his body as mind not in any failing of nature but in the holy bent of his own Will Death was not to him the wages of sin as it is to others nor to end sinning as it is to others but from clear contrary principles viz. Love to Man and Obedience to God The Death of Adam and of all other Men proceeded from disobedience the Death of Christ only from obedience The Death of Adam because he loved not himself nor his seed the death of Christ because he loved his people more than himself So that as to the reason of the death of Christ Jordan was driven back the stream ran a clean contrary way to the reason why other men dye and yet as to the nature and definition of his dying it agreed with the nature of the dying of other men For II. Define death What is it It is the separation of Soul from Body Mortal thou must once find this definition to be most true The Soul that that inliveneth the Body that gives it freshness of colour warmth life and motion when the Soul is departed all these are gone and the Body dead Here is the difference twixt death and a swoon or trance God shewed in Enoch and Elias what he would have done if man had continued innocent viz. Have translated Body and Soul to glory But when sin came in death came in and Soul and Body must be parted the Body to corruption the Soul into the World of