and out-shone by him and all the Philosophy that ever succeeded him hath been forced to derive and borrow Light from him And accordingly we find his Gospel in which his Doctrines are contained stiled by the Name of the glorious Gospel 2 Cor. 4. 4. which in Comparison with those dark and confused Discoveries which the World had formerly made the Apostle resembles to the first breaking forth of the Light out of the rude and obscure Chaos 2 Cor. 4. 6. For God saith he who commanded the Light to shine out of Darkness hath shined into our Hearts to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the Face of Iesus Christ where by the Face of-Iesus Christ the Apostle seems plainly to allude to that Divine Glory and Luster with which Moses's Face shone when he came down from seeing the Glory of God Exod. 33. 29. So that his Meaning is this that as the Children of Israel with their bodily Eyes saw the Glory of God shining upon the Face of Moses so they the Disciples and Apostles of our Saviour had far more clearly beheld with the Eyes of their Minds the Divine Glory displayed in his Doctrine and Ministry 4thly And lastly This Glory of the Eternal Word which they saw consisted also in the incomparable Sanctity and Purity of his Life semblably to that Expression of his glorious Presence in the Old Tabernacle viz. the sensible Significations he gave of the immaculate Purity and Holiness of his Nature For by those outward Cleansings of all Things and Persons that did any ways belong to the Tabernacle or did at any time approach it he did openly represent and signify the Purity and Sanctity of his own Nature which being infinitely separated from all manner of Impurity and Vncleanness cannot endure that any thing that is filthy or impure should approach it For thus we read that the Tabernacle it self and all the Vtensils of it were to be purified and sanctified with Oyl before the Entrance of the Shechinah or Divine Presence So also the High Priest the Priests and the People were to be cleansed and purified before they were suffered to approach the Holy Habitation and if at any time they had contracted any of those legal Uncleannesses that are specified in the Law of Moses they were to be excluded from the Communion of the Congregation and from all the Exercises of Publick Worship and Devotion till they were cleansed and purified again The Intent of all which was to signify to that People how irreconcilable his Nature was to all Impurity and Wickedness that it could not admit of the Neighbourhood of any Evil nor dwell within any Lines of Communication with it for this is expressed in the very Reason why these Legal Purifications are so strictly required For I the Lord your God am holy Levit. 19. 2. For I the Lord which sanctify you am holy Levit. 21. 8. Plainly intimating that the Intent and Reason of all those Ceremonial Purifications was to signify to that dull and stupid People the immaculate Holiness and Purity of his own Nature which is so infinitely removed from any thing that is impure and unholy that he could neither communicate with nor endure the Approaches of it And in this 't is evident he placed a great Part of the Glory of his Majestatical Presence in the Tabernacle since a great part of that Religion which he there instituted was intended to signify the Glory of his Holiness to them and accordingly he is described to be glorious in Holiness Exod. 15. 11. And agreeably hereunto did the Eternal Word when he tabernacled in our Natures signify to the World the unspotted Purity of his Nature by that incomparable Example of Holiness which he gave in his Life and Conversation among us For whereas before he express'd his Holiness by Mystical Types and Ceremonial Observances he hath now signified it by a Life full of Virtue and Goodness and a Conversation exactly conformable to the eternal Rules of Righteousness For as a Creature in respect of his Humanity he never failed in the least Punctilio of that Duty Homage and Devotion which he owed to the most High God his Creator as a Man he never swerved either in his Passions or Appetites from the strictest Rules of Sobriety and Temperance as a Member of Humane Society he never was guilty of an unrighteous Action either towards his Superiors Inferiors or Equals but all his Life was a walking Monument of Goodness and his whole Conversation a most perfect Transcript of those Divine and Heavenly Laws which he gave to the World So that he was all glorious without as well as within his Practice being a living Comment and Paraphrase upon that immaculate Purity and Holiness which is the Glory of his Divine Nature This therefore was doubtless a Part of that Glory which the Apostles beheld in the Eternal Word even that immaculate Sanctity and Holiness of which he gave so many glorious Significations in the whole Course of his Conversation And accordingly we find this his Purity and Holiness described by the Name of the Glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. But we all with open face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord Where it 's plain that by the Glory of the Lord must be meant his Holiness because it is into the Image of that that we are transformed So that the meaning of the Words is this we all beholding the Holiness of Christ which is his Glory in the Glass of his Doctrine and incomparable Example are transformed into the Likeness of it and do gradually pass on from one Degree of this Glory of his Holiness to another under the Conduct and Assistance of the Spirit of Christ. And so I have done with the first thing proposed which was to shew you what that Glory of Christ was which the Apostle here tells us they beheld 2. I now proceed to the second Branch of my Discourse which was to shew you that this was the Glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father But before we proceed to the Proof of it it will be necessary to explain this Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Glory as of the only begotten Son Which Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as is in Scripture taken two Ways sometimes as a Note of Similitude or Comparison so Mat. 6. 10 Thy Will be done in Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Heaven that is like as it is in Heaven and if we take it in this Sense then the Meaning of the Words must be this And we beheld his Glory which was like unto the Glory of the only begotten Son of the Father that is like unto that Glory in which the only begotten Son was wont to appear when he dwelt in the Tabernacle and conversed with the ancient Patriarchs And in this Sense I have
shewed you already how it was as the Glory of the only begotten Son by shewing you the great Agreement and Similitude there was between the Glory of Christ when he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses and in the Tabernacle of our Nature And when I consider how plainly this Text doth allude to the Shechinah or Divine Presence of the Word in that ancient Tabernacle I am very much induced to think that we ought not to exclude this Sense of it namely that as he dwelt in the Tabernacle of our Nature like as he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses so that Glory of his which they beheld in the Tabernacle of our Nature was like unto that Glory in which he appeared in the ancient Tabernacle But then this Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes also taken for a Note of Confirmation So Psal. 73. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truly God is good to Israel And thus St. Chrysostome understands it here 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. It is not a Note of Similitude and Comparison but of Confirmation and unquestionable Distinction as if the Evangelist had said we saw his Glory such as became and was fit for the only begotten and truly natural Son of God For my Part I see no Reason why the Words may not be fairly understood in both Senses since they are no Ways opposite to nor inconsistent with one another and if so then this must be the Meaning of the Words We beheld his Glory which was like unto that Glory in which the only begotten Son appeared in the old Tabernacle and which was such as was every Way becoming the only begotten Son to appear in The first of which Senses I have proved to you already that the Glory of Christ in the Tabernacle of our Natures was like unto his Glory in the Tabernacle of Moses and therefore now I shall only prove the second that it was such as became and was every Way worthy of the only begotten Son of the Father and this I doubt not will plainly appear by considering the several Particulars of it 1st That visible Splendor and Brightness in which he appeared at his Baptism and Transfiguration was such as became him and was worthy of him For in all Probability that Splendor consisted of Angelical Beings clothed in bright and luminous Bodies because as I have formerly proved to you that Brightness in which he appeared upon the Mount and which he displayed from between the Cherubims was nothing else but those Angels of Light or ministring Spirits which he made to appear as Flames of Fire round about him and therefore that Train of Angels whom Esay saw filling the Temple Esay 6. 1. Our Saviour calls the Glory of the Lord Jo. 12. 41. that is that visible Glory in which the Lord appear'd from between the Cherubims And if that visible Glory consisted in a Train of Angels appearing in glorious Forms then there is no doubt but that visible Glory of our Saviour at his Baptism and Transfiguration was the same since as I have already shewed you it is described by the same Name and in the same Manner of Appearance and if so how well did it become the only begotten Son to be surrounded with the illustrious Guards of his Father's Court and attended on with those high-born Spirits whose Office it is to minister before the Throne of the most High For never was the most glorious Potentate upon Earth attended with such a splendid Train and Retinue the meanest of which was far more illustrious than the greatest and most high-born Monarch in the World So that as the most High God did by a Voice from Heaven both at his Baptism and Transfiguration declare him to be his beloved Son so by the glorious Train of Attendants he sent him he manifested the Truth of his Declaration for we must needs suppose him to be the Son of the most High when we see the most glorious Beings in all the Creation so willingly submit themselves to his Service and Attendance And when we see the most High adorning his Outside with the luminous Bodies of Angels we may reasonably conclude that there was a Divinity within and that the Iewel was God because the Casket was Angels But whatsoever this glorious Splendor was in which he was clothed at his Baptism and Transfiguration it was apparently such as very well became the only begotten Son not only because as the Philosopher saith that if God would ever take upon him a Body it would be certainly Light which is a Vestment most suitable to his Glory and Majesty but also because that miraculous Splendor was an infallible Token of the Presence of the Divinity in him for it never was but where God was present and therefore it is called the Glory of God it being the inseparable Concomitant of his more peculiar Residence For thus as I have shewed you upon the Mount and in the Tabernacle it was a visible Demonstration of the special Presence of the invisible God and wheresoever in all the Old Testament any Mention is made of its Appearance you shall find that there God himself did peculiarly reside And therefore it is not to be imagined that God would have communicated to our Saviour this inseparable Token of his own Presence unless the Divinity had resided in him For Iesus Christ was the only Person upon whom this visible Glory descended never did the Hand of Heaven put such a Robe and Diadem of Glory upon any Person in the World as this which our Saviour wore at his Baptism and Transfiguration which plainly denotes that he was the only Person in whom the Divinity was substantially united and did essentially dwell So that as this visible Glory was a certain Token of God's peculiar Residence in the Tabernacle and Temple so it was also of his special Presence in Christ for the History of his Baptism tells us that it did not only make a transient Appearance but that it remained on him signifying that the Divinity whose Presence was denoted by it had made him his Habitation and Place of constant Abode For though that visible Glory after some Time disappeared and went off from him yet the Thing signified by it viz. the Divine Presence always remained in him for by that outward Glory he was clearly manifested to be the Holy One of God the Tabernacle and Sanctuary in which God was and where he had taken up his Residence for ever that his Humane Nature was that sacred Temple where the Divinity intended to dwell and from whence for the future he would deliver all his Oracles and communicate all his Blessings to Mankind So that in this Respect this visible Glory was such as highly became the only begotten Son because it plainly denoted that the Fulness of the God-head dwelt bodily in him and had chosen him for his Habitation for ever and therefore Iohn Baptist tells us that though he knew him not yet this God had revealed
those Sacrifices which were only the Shadows and Resemblances of it So that that Remission of Sins which the Eternal Word gave whilst he tabernacled among the Iews was nothing near so perfect and compleat as that which he afterwards proclaimed in the Tabernacle of our Flesh because it neither extended to all Kinds of Sins nor yet to all Kinds of Punishments it left some unforgiven as to the Punishments of this Life and it left all unforgiven as to the Punishments of the Life to come But having pitched his Tabernacle in our Flesh he did by the meritorious Sacrifice of himself obtain of his Father this publick Act of Grace this free Charter of Mercy for all Mankind That whosoever would repent and amend whatsoever Sins he is guilty of whatsoever Punishments he is obliged to he shall certainly be forgiven them all and be as freely received into God's Grace and Favour as if he never had offended him for he is the Propitiation for the Sins of the World And by him saith the Apostle all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13. 39. In this respect therefore the Eternal Word dwelt among us full of Grace in that he proclaimed such a full and perfect Pardon of all Sins and of all Punishments to all that with a true Faith and hearty Repentance should turn unto him and accordingly this Pardon is frequently called by the Name of Grace or of the Grace of God and of our Lord Iesus Christ Acts 15. 11. Heb. 12. 15. Rom. 3. 24. 4thly He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of the internal Grace and Assistance which he so abundantly afforded us above what he did to the Iews under the Law of Moses when he tabernacled among them I make no doubt but God in all Ages hath been always ready to assist good Men in their Duty This the very Heathens themselves believed that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God did concur with all good Men and that no Man did ever arrive to any eminent Degree of Virtue without a Divine Afflatus or Assistance And had the good Men among the Iews been ignorant of this what should move them to pray as we find they often do that God would wash and cleanse and quicken and strengthen and inliven them For so in the Book of the Psalms you find good David very often praying that God would teach him his Commandments and incline his Heart to keep them and keep him back from presumptuous Sin By which Prayers it's evident they had good Encouragment to hope that God would be ready to concur with them and to bless their pious Endeavours with the internal Assistance of his Grace and Spirit And this Encouragement I suppose they might have partly from their natural Notions of God which must needs suggest to them that He being infinitely good as he is will never be wanting to his Creatures in any thing that is necessary to the obtaining those noble Ends for which he created them and consequently that he will be assistant to them in their Duty which is the way to that End and not leave them to contend with Difficulties which are insuperable to their natural Power and Ability and partly from those general Evangelical Promises which God made to them by the Patriarchs and Prophets from whence they might fairly infer that he who had promised to do so much for them upon Condition they persisted in their Duty and Allegiance to him would never be wanting on his Part to strengthen and enable them to it But I can by no means allow that they were encouraged to hope for any such Assistance from any Promise of that Law which the Eternal Word gave them when he tabernacled among them and by which in his Father's stead he ruled and governed them and that both because there is no such Promise found in all that Law and because the Apostle tells us that the Law was weak through the flesh Rom. 8. 3. and calls it the Ministration of Death written and engraven in stones in opposition to the Ministration of the Spirit that is not written in Tables of stone but in fleshly Tables of the heart 2 Cor. 3. 7 8. comp with v. 3. And Galat. 3. 13 14. you find the Apostle opposes to the Curse of the Law the Blessing of Abraham and the Blessing of Abraham he tells us is the Promise of the Spirit through Faith that is by the Gospel And thus under the Law there was doubtless an internal Grace and Assistance vouchsafed to good Men though not promised by it yet after the Eternal Word forsook the Tabernacle of Moses and came to tabernacle in our Flesh it 's evident that then he did more plentifully communicate this his Grace to the World than ever for then the Spirit was said to be shed upon us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Lord and in the 16th ver of this 1st of Iohn we are said of his fulness to receive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace upon Grace that is Grace heaped upon Grace and a vast overflowing Abundance according to that of Theognis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is thou givest me Calamities upon Calamities So that unless we will our selves it is now impossible we should fall short either of our Duty or the blessed Reward of it since our Saviour is become such an overflowing Fountain of Grace to us and hath promised to communicate it to us in such plentiful Effusions if we will sincerely ask and honestly endeavour after it and therefore in this respect also he may well be said to dwell among us full of Grace in that while he dwelt among us he obtained for and promised to us such an accumulated Plenty of inward Grace and Assistance to encourage and enable us to do his Commandments 5thly He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of the Vastness of the Recompence which he promised to us and which infinitely exceeds whatsoever he promised when he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses For when the Eternal Word reigned over Israel as the Vice-Roy and Substitute of his Father he only acted the Part of their Civil Sovereign or Governour which Part he continued till they chose another King and then he resigned his Title to the succeeding Heirs of David And accordingly we find that when the Israelites first desired a King of Samuel God bids him hearken to their Cry For saith he they have not rejected thee but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them 1 Sam. 8. 7. Which is a plain Argument that before he only acted as their Political Prince in that he interprets their desiring another King to be a rejecting of him from reigning over them For had he been no otherwise King over Israel than as he is over other Nations where the true Religion is owned and professed his Dominion might have fairly consisted with that of another King or
he hath promised to us and prepared for us I confess were his Service all Work and no Wages there were some Reason to be disheartned but when he hath promised and so amply assured us that after we have spent a few Days or Years in his Service upon Earth he will receive us into the Participation of his own Joys where we shall commence as happy as it is possible for an everlasting Heaven to make us methinks we should kiss his Yoke and court his Service and think we can never do too much for such a bountiful Master who rewards all his Servants with such immortal Preferments For what is the Labour of a few Moments compared with that everlasting Rest and Pleasure wherein it shall shortly terminate And when once we are arrived to the Heavenly Canaan and have tasted those ravishing Delights with which it flows and abounds how light and inconsiderable will all these Difficulties in our Voyage appear to us which now do so startle and affright us How shall we wonder at our own Sloth and Faint-heartedness to think that ever we should be such wretched Cowards as to be afraid of any thing that hath Heaven at the End of it which is a Happiness so vast and unspeakable that the Hope of it is sufficient to turn Torments into Recreations How shall we be astonished at our selves to think that we could ever be such wretched Fools as to deliberate one Moment whether Heaven were preferable before all the Pleasures of Sin or whether it were more eligible to dwell with Harlots and Drunkards for a Moment and wallow in their beastly Pleasures than to enjoy the Society of God and Saints and Angels to all Eternity The Odds will then appear so vast and the Disproportion so unspeakable that we shall wonder how we could ever be so senseless as to make a Comparison between them Sure Sirs we do not believe that Heaven is the Recompence of Christ's Service for if we did methinks we should more heartily engage in it For could we stand thus deliberating upon the Shore whether we shall bid adieu to our Lusts take Leave of all their fulsom Pleasures and imbark our selves in the Service of our Saviour Could we stand pausing thus as we do whether we shall venture into those petty Storms that are like to attend us in our spiritual Voyage did we verily believe that a few Leagues Distance lies that blessed Shore where we shall be crowned as soon as we are landed with all the Joys that an everlasting Heaven means Certainly the Belief of this is sufficient to put Life and Courage into the most crest-fallen Soul in the World and to give her Spirit and Vigour enough to carry her triumphantly through all the weary Stages of her Duty So that considering how in all Respects our blessed Lord abounds in Grace and Goodness to us we have the greatest Encouragement imaginable to engage us to his Service 3dly He was full of Truth From whence I infer that the Christian Religion is a very plain and intelligible thing For this as I have shewed you at large is one of the great Notes of Distinction between Christ's tabernacling among the Iews and among Christians that whereas among the Iews he was full of obscure Types and mystical Representations among us Christians he is full of Truth that is he is plain and open and clear without any dark Reserves or Mysteries now he hath plainly revealed that which before he did so obscurely decypher now he hath unriddled all those mystical Types and turned them as it were inside outwards and given us their hidden Sense and Meaning in plain and naked Propositions and of these our holy Religion is composed So that those Doctrines which before were all Mystery whilst they lay obscurely couched under the Types and Figures of the Law are now brought forth from behind the Curtain into the open View of the World and presented barefac'd to our Understandings in the most plain and easy and familiar Sense Not but that Christianity hath some Mysteries in it still whose Depths we are not able to fathom but 't is not because Christ hath not revealed them but because our Understandings are incapable of comprehending them such are the Doctrines of the Holy Trinity the Incarnation of our blessed Saviour and the Hypostatical Vnion of the Divine and Humane Nature in him Nor indeed is it much to be wonder'd at that we who with all our Wit and Reason are not able to explicate the Mysteries of a Mite or Flea of a Plant or a Stone or any of those innumerable things that are before us should not be able to understand such incomprehensible to order such infinite or define such ineffable things but though we cannot comprehend the Modes nor understand the strict Philosophy of them yet if we would but strip them out of their false Disguises into their original Plainness and Simplicity we might doubtless easily disintangle them from all Repugnancy and Contradiction which is sufficient to render them rationally credible they being contained in that excellent Religion whose Truth is demonstrated by such abundant Evidence But perhaps as God continued all the Doctrines of Christianity in a Mystery among the Iews and reserved the clear Revelation of them to the coming of the Messias so for the same Reason he hath still reserved the clear Discovery of those Doctrines which are still Mysteries to us Christians for the future State and then it may be we may as fully understand these as the believing Iews after the Coming of Christ did those other Doctrines of the Gospel which before were all Mysteries to them But God be praised whatsoever is necessary to make us good and happy is now so plainly discovered to us that we cannot be ignorant of it unless we wilfully shut our own Eyes We need not dive into mystical Senses nor grope after Truth among Shadows and Vmbrages as the good Iews were fain to do under the Mosaick Dispensation all that is necessary to our Salvation being written as it were upon the very Surface of our Religion and openly exposed to our View in plain and literal Proposals And yet not withstanding the Plainness and Simplicity of the Christian Religion there are too many both among our selves and in the Church of Rome who have industriously set themselves to resolve all its Doctrines again into Darkness and unintelligible Mysteries having instead of the plain Propositions of our Saviour introduced a new-fashioned Mystical Divinity made up of nothing but certain empty Schemes of effeminate Follies and wild Enthusiasms which are impossible for any Man to understand that cannot conjure for the Meaning of them And those Doctrines which our Saviour purposely delivered in the most plain and literal Sense that so the meanest Understanding might be instructed by them these Men have blown up like so many Bubbles into swelling Mysteries which being strip't of those glittering Allusions and pompous Metaphors wherein they are clothed