John knew neither Jewes nor Gentiles would indure the tearm of the Son of God They could not indure to hear of a sonship in the Deity and Godhead but with this tearm Word applied to the Godhead they were well acquainted both Jewes and Gentiles But John had often met with it in the Old Testament in this sense for the second person in the Trinity I shall shew you a place or two Psal 33. 6. By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the hosts of them by the breath of his Mouth Here is JEHOVAH the Lord and the Word of the Lord for the Second Person and the Spirit of his Mouth for the Third The Creation is ascribed to the whole Trinity So here is Word In the same sense ye shall find Jesus Christ is called the Word 2 Sam. 7. 21. in that speech of David For thy VVord's sake and according to thine own Heart hast thou done all these great things What is that For thy VVord's sake 1 Chron. 17. 19. Compare these two places O Lord for thy Servant's sake and according to thine own Heart hast Thou done all these things Thou hast done them for thy VVord's sake saith Samuel Thou hast done them for thy Servants sake in the Chronicles And who is that Servant but Christ My servant whom I have Chosen and in whom I delight c. There is a place in Haggai that calleth Christ the VVord Haggai 2. 4 5. Yea now be strong Oh Zerobbabel saith the Lord and be strong Oh Joshua son of Josedeck the High Priest and be strong all ye people of the Land-saith the Lord and work for I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts according to the VVord that I Covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt so my Spirit remaineth amongst you fear ye not Here is JEHOVAH and VVord and Spirit according to ye may see by the Character is not in the Originall it is in another Letter in our Translation of it Therefore thus according to the Originall or more neerly I am with you saith the Lord of Hosts with that VVord in whom I covenanted with you In quo vobiscum pepegi I am with you together with that VVord in whom I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt So that God promiseth the Church deliverance in the Name of God the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost Well then the Jewes you see were well acquainted with this tearm of VVord applied to the second Person in the Trinity They had it in the beginning and in the Chaldee Paraphrase which is applied to JEHOVAH it is rendred the VVord of God What JEHOVAH is said to do they translate it The Word of God did it applying the Word of God to Christ Yea the very Heathens whom John would likewise take and therefore baiteth his hook accordingly the Heathens had a strong notion of the Word They said There was an eternall Mind from which proceeded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Word which was the Creator of all things Ye have it in Plato Trismegistus and divers of the Philosophers yea the very Oracle Pheuros the King of Egypt sendeth to the Oracle to know Who should be the greatest in the World hoping the Oracle would have named him But he received this answer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expressing the whole Trinity clearly and expresly First God saith the Oracle then the Word and together with them the Spirit So then this tearm Word being known and applied to God both by Jewes and Heathens and St. John knowing that Ebion and Cerinthus were better versed in this Philosophy than in the Scriptures of God he to win them baits his hook with this expression of the Word whereas the expression of the Son of God would have angred them In this sense John practiseth what St. Paul confesseth to become all things to all men He setteth forth Christ under the term of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word which they would better receive Whence the third Quaerie doth arise which is the main How doth it appear that Christ is fitly called by this Quaerie 3 term The Word We must distinguish There is a two-fold Word There Respons is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A word conceived in the mind I pray you set you selves to understand it As when ye read The fool hath said in his heart There is no God Here is what the fool thought He said that is within himself When the mind speaketh to a man's self that is a word conceived Secondly there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word delivered that is two-fold either verbum quod or verbum quo The word delivered is either that word which is one's mind expressed that is the thing which he hath spoken Then it is said he keepeth his word when he hath done the thing uttered And then there is the verbum quo that is that thing by which a man's mind is expressed Yet more plainly take it thus There is a three-fold word Verbum mentale A word conceived Verbum reale A word uttered Verbum orale A word uttering The word conceived verbum mentale is the Apprehension that a man hath in himself which we call a Notion or a Conception The word uttered verbum reale is the thing that is spoken In the Originall see Luk. 1. 37. With God nothing can be impossible 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with God no word shall be impossible So in the Originall There is nothing that God hath spoken but it shall come to passe Ye have a very clear place for that Matth. 4. 4. Man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God As I take it the most proper meaning of that place is By every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God we understand every creature which God hath ordained for food And ye will be of that mind too if you see Deuter. 8. 3. He humbled thee and suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with Manna which thou knewest not nor thy fathers before thee that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread onely but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God Whatsoever the word of God maketh food whatsoever God appointeth to be instrumentall as he did Manna here There is verbum reale Then verbum orale the word uttering is the expression by which that thing is delivered That is the end why God hath given us speech If we were to deal onely with God we should need no tongue or speech because God knoweth the thoughts of our hearts If we were to deal onely with our selves we should need no speech for every man knoweth Why the use of Speech is given to man what himself thinketh But because we are to deal one with another therefore God giveth us the use of speech that there might be a word uttering and declaring to one another what one another thinks Psal 139. 4. There
man but by Jesus Christ and God the Father 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who was the principall Efficient not Paul the Apostle then certainly Jesus Christ and God the Father he is said to be an Apostle by Them So then Christ is the principall Efficient of the Creation And in this sense it is said By him were all things made not as by an Instrument but as by the chief Efficient No more of the Proposition By him till I come to make Use of it I come now to the Illustration of this And without him was not any thing made that was made These words are considerable three waies First as an Hebraism a manner of speech borrowed from the course of the Hebrews in their Writings Secondly As an Addition to what Moses had said concerning the works of Creation Thirdly As an Explication of the former Clause By him were all things made First Look at them as an Hebraism which this Evangelist is full of Ye must know that amongst the Hebrews there was nothing more usuall for the heightning of an expression then to joyn an Affirmative and Negative together in one sentence when they had first affirmed a thing positively then to joyn another clause that should deny the contrary I will give you an instance or two to make it clear that in Isa 39. 4. Hezekiah answered All that is in mine house have they seen there is the Affirmative There is nothing in my treasures that I have not shewed them there is the Negative and both make up one compleat sense Jer. 42. 4. And it shall come to passe that whatsoeever thing the Lord shall answer you I will declare it to you there is the Affirmative I will keep nothing back from you here is the Negative And the sense is inforced by it Just as it is here All things were made by Him and without Him was not made any thing that was made Secondly If ye look at them as an Addition to what Moses had mentioned concerning the Creation He had made an expresse mention of all things visible Our Evangelist All things visible and invisible created by Christ intending to carry the Efficiency of Christ to the making of all things that receive a being whether visible of which Moses speaks or invisible therefore he contenteth not himselfe by saying By Him were all things made but addeth further without Him was not made any thing that was made The former clause hath reference to what Moses said The latter carrieth it further All things visible and invisible Colos 1. 16. By him speaking of Christ who is the Image of the invisible God by Him were all things created that are in Heaven and Earth visible and invisible whether Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers All things were created by Him Thirdly These words are considerable especially as an Explication of the former clause By him were all things made wherein are two things to be noted The Efficient and the Effect Here is something to explain both The Effect first These words without him was not any thing made that was made Any thing that was made helpeth to explain That these words limit All things in the former clause to all created things all things that receive a being whereas otherwise God himselfe God the Father the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost these are in the number of all things The three Persons in the Trinity God the Father Son and Spirit have the most excellent beeing have the most excellent Beeing But some have brought desperate arguments from this Text That Christ is a Creature because in the number of all things Now say the next words without him was not any thing made that was made Ye must limit the first words All things that receive a being not that have a being As the Apostle argueth in another Case so we may reason in this 1 Cor. 15. 27. He hath put all things under his feet but when he saith All things are put under him it is manifest That he is excepted that put all things under him So all things are created by Him But when He saith All things are Created by Him it is manifest that he is excepted by whom all things are Created Secondly Here is something to explain the Efficient from these words without him was not any thing made It implieth a kind of Co-partenership in the work of Creation Christ alone doth not make all things But Christ together with the Father and the Holy Ghost yet so as without the Word without Christ was nothing made by any of the other Persons This wisdome challengeth as the Prerogative of the Son of God Prov. 8. from the 27 vers to the 31. When He prepared the Heavens I was there when He set a compasse upon the face of the deep and stablished the Clouds above when He gave to the Sea his decree then I was by Him as one brought up with Him and was daily His delight rejoycing alwayes before Him It excludeth onely Creatures not the Co-operation of the other Persons in the Trinity to what was made without Him was not any thing made It is an usuall distinction amongst Divines God hath two sorts of works some Opera ad intra works terminated upon some Person in the Trinity works within And these are done by some one person not by another So the Father begetteth That work is terminated upon the Son he is begotten the son begetteth not The Holy Ghost proceedeth the Father doth not That is a proper work Adintra But works Adextra Works without God And these are all common to all the three Persons The Father createth and the Son createth and the Holy Ghost createth and yet but one Creator because it is a work that proceedeth from the Will of God and the will of God is the same in all the three Persons and accordingly though the work be ascribed to every Person yet they make but one Creator because all Three have but one Essence But because they have different Subsistencies the Father a distinct Person from the Son and the Son from the Holy Ghost therefore they have a distinct manner of working even in this businesse of the Creation In all things the Father works All matters of Inchoations are ascribed to the Father of Dispensations to the Sonne of Consummations to the Holy Ghost But I will no longer dwell upon that you see the meaning of these words Let us now come to apply them All things were made by him that is by Christ and without him was not any thing Vse Of Instruction made that was made To passe from more knotty difficult matter to what may I hope come home to the conscience Here are both Instructions and Consolations and Directions to be borrowed from hence Three Instructions four Consolations and five Directions I shall give you from this truth That Christ is the Creator of all things and without him was made nothing that was made First It instructeth
occasioned John as they say to write this Gospell wherein he asserteth the Godhead of Christ And so by the way occasionally yee see what use even Heriticks are made of to the Church of God We had lost this Gospell if Ebion and Cerinthus had not broached their heresies God suffereth desperate opinions to be vented for the purging of his owne Truth The Truth of God is compared to Silver The words of the Lord are pure yea as Silver tried in a furnace of Earth purified seven times Every corrupt opinion that cometh to be vented against any Truth of God that is a new furnace and the truth being cast into that furnace it cometh out the purer for it Purified seven times As it is with Passengers of quality and note were it not for some evill inveterate Currs in the street they might passe and never be observed the very barking of the Dogs maketh them to be noted So these evill inveterate Corrupt Hereticks by their barking have occasioned the taking notice of that truth of the Divinity of Christ Had not they barked John had not Written This was the occasion And this should incourage you to attention because the same Hereticks are with us now we have our owne Ebions and Cerinthusses to this day that deny the Divinity of Christ and say He had no being till he took it from the Virgin Mary Fourthly we come to the Scope of this Book which is to hold out the Divine nature of Christ as the object of our Faith to set forth Christ as the Sonne of God that we believe in Him so as to have Salvation by Him And This St. John telleth you to have been his aime Joh. 20. 31. These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Sonne of God and that believing you might have Life through Him He desires to set forth Christ to us as our Redeemer and therefore laboureth so much both in the beginning of his Gospell and throughout to hold forth the Godhead and Divine nature of Christ That so it might appear that he is a sufficient Redeemer If He had not been God He could not have gon through with the purchase As the Eagle trieth her young ones by holding them against the beams of the Sun and if they be able to look upon them with a stedfast eye she owneth such So John bringeth his Readers to the Sun of the Divinity of Christ and such as will not acknowledge that are bastard-Christians and not Saints Fifthly One thing yet remaineth by way of preface which is the difference between this and the other Gospells which lieth especially in two things First whereas the three former Evangelists insist especially upon things done by Christ after John was cast into Prison and so principally relate the acts of Christ in the last year of his Ministry St. John taketh in here the acts of his two former years what Christ did and what Christ said before John was cast into Prison which the other touch but sparingly upon Secondly whereas the other Evangelists insist mainly upon what Christ did Saint John relateth especially what Christ said They are much more large in recording his Miracles John in recording his Sermons and Prayers as Chap. 15. Some Miracles indeed he relateth to us but they are such as wake may either for his Discourse with the Disciples or for his disputation with his Adversaries So still he seemed more to take notice of what Christ said then what he did I now prepare you to be attentive for I begin to close with the first Chapter and with these first words of the Chapter which are of so great importance That as I told you before they had a most extraordinary force upon Junius his spirit and besides upon one Numenius a Heathen Philosopher That falling upon this Gospell cried out in a kind of indignation This Barbarian saith he for so the Greeks call the Jews hath concluded more in a few lines than our great Philosophers have in all their Books He was so taken with the mystery of these words For they are words which the most quick-sighted Christian can be hardly able to see through And throughout I shall indeavour to make it as plain as God shall inable me Onely ye must not take it amisse if some things shall be left obscure Augustine saith I will not defraud those that are able to understand for fear of being irksome to them that are not able Do but think your selves at a feast When many guests are invited to a feast They are of severall Constitutions and like severall dishes But now Shall a man that seeth such a dish before him to which he hath no stomack presently rise from the Table No he will perhaps think with himselfe Other men may like this dish So it should be taken here Suppose something be too hard for thee it may perhaps be clear to another Paul is a debtor to the wise and to the unwise therefore let none arise and goe away but let every man expect his portion Do you hope that whatsoever difficult passages there are in the Scriptures yet there will be some full of Light and Comfort To close then with the first verse In the beginning was the Word and the Word was Text. with God and the Word was God YE have here the Subject and the Predicate which are laid down in three Propositions The subject in every proposition is the same the Word And there are in these three propositions three things predicated of this Word First an eternall existency and that in the first Proposition The Word was in the beginning Secondly a Personall Co-exsistency of Christ with the Father The Word was with God namely as a distinct person from God That is the second Proposition Thirdly a divine Essence The Word was God a distinct Person indeed therefore said to be with God but of the same Nature therefore said to be God Mysteries have more need of Adoration than Locution The first thing we are to understand is a discourse of the Subject of these three Propositions The Word And for the clearing of that three Quaeries we shall resolve First what Person is here meant by the Word Quarie 1 I answer clearly The second Person in the Trinity Of Respon whom ye shall find him called not onely by St. John Christ is called the Word by Iohn but by St. Luke and Paul too Jesus Christ is called by St. John The Word 1 John 5. 7. There are three that beare record in Heaven The Father the WORD the Holy Ghost Here the Word cometh in in the second place between the Father and the Holy Ghost to denote the second Person Revel 19. 13. He was cloathed in a vesture dipt in Blood and His Name is called the Word of God Neither is John the onely man that calleth Him so though by the way St. John himselfe above all the Apostles got the name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 John the
is there is a farther thing then restraining grace there is holinesse of life Ephes 4. 24. That ye put on that new man which after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse Now holinesse goeth farther than to the abstaining from some evill and doing of some good Holinesse reacheth to the mortification of lust where there is a new man created after holinesse lust will be pursued not onely to imprisonment but to death The Woolf is not onely tied up but turned into a Lamb the Sow is not onely put into a pasture but changed into a Sheep A woolf tyed up doth not so much mischief as before a Sow in a pasture is not so swinish and filthy as when it walloweth in the mire but their natures still remain So it is in restraining grace their natures are the same if not some change in their conversation Where the new-birth is there is a change of the heart and a new nature wrought therefore men do duties with delight and constantly Men look at lusts now not as David did at Absolom but as Joab did at Absolom that I may use that comparison Asolom he rebelled ye know David and Joab they both set themselves against him but so as David though he could not but be displeased with Absolom's rebellion yet he carrieth affection towards him and desireth that the young man may be dealt gently withall On the other side Joab when he getteth an opportunity throweth dart upon dart and never 2 Sam. 18. 14. leaveth till he hath slain him So ye have many a man that hath some work of grace upon his heart that yet hath a months mind and longing after sin he would have his sin supprest as David would have Absolom but yet Absolom must live though a rebellious son Many would have sin supprest that it may not expose them to hell and damnation but all this while their sins must live But the new creature is carried out with hatred against sin therefore it is not content without its destruction Mortifie your earthly members saith the Apostle Such a sin saith the regenerate soul will have my death therefore I will have its death I will not be content till it be crucified with the lusts and affections thereof I shall now proceed to the 14 Verse Vers 14. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld the glory thereof as the glory of the onely begotten Son of the Father full of Grace and Truth Heretofore the Evangelist having proved the Divinity of Christ's manifestation in the flesh and the glory of his Person in both Natures Jesus Christ he commeth now to tell us of his manifestation in the flesh and of the glory of his Person consisting of both Natures So as this Verse calleth to us for attention because it holdeth forth the Object of our faith the Person of Christ in both his Natures And certainly every soul that is married to Christ will be affected with his Person and therefore desirous to hear of that The difference between a wife and a harlot is The wife desires and loveth the husband's person therefore careth not for his tokens unlesse his person be enjoyed The harlot loveth the token and careth not for the person It is the property of the Spouse not to be content with the Love-tokens of Christ but with the Person of Christ And concerning him ye have four things laid down here First The Incarnation of Jesus Christ The Word was made flesh Secondly His Conversation on earth And dwelt amongst us Thirdly Here is a speciall manifestation of his glory And we behold his glory as the glory of the onely begotten of the Father Fourthly The singular Qualifications of his Person Full of grace and truth First I shall begin with the Incarnation of Christ in these words And the Word was made flesh A Clause out of which Bees may suck hony and Spiders may gather poison These words have been a stumbling-block to many Hereticks and on the other side a sure and strong hold to many Saints Some think that when the children of Israel were in the land of Goshen and had some Egyptians mixed with them at the same time the Scriptures are light to Saints darknesse to unbelievers Hebrewes drew wholesome waters out of the fountains and the Egyptians bloody water at the same springs and that it was dark to the Egyptians in the same house and light to the Hebrewes If so me-thinks It affordeth that which may lead us into the Consideration of this and the like places of Scripture Hereticks have darknesse and Believers light The one draweth bloody waters and the other wholesome waters out of the same Text of Scripture as ye shall hear in the application what use may be made of this Clause Apollinarius saith That because the Word was made flesh Therefore Christ took upon his flesh the body but not the soul of a man Three things are here to be declared to you First Who is meant by the Word Secondly What is meant by the Flesh Thirdly In what sense the word was made Flesh First The divine nature of Christ is in the Word Secondly The human nature of Christ The Flesh Thirdly The personall union The Word made Flesh These are mysteries by some more spoken of and lesse understood Things that we cannot be ignorant of without danger nor discourse of without all Reverence Things that no Eloquence of man can reach no soul of man apprehend in the full latitude of them Yet some thing we shall speak hereof by God's assistance First Who is here meant by the Word I answer the 1. By the Word is meant the second Person in the Trinity second person in the Trinity so called in that known place There are three that bear witnesse in Heaven the Father and the Word and the Spirit and these three are one 1 Joh. 5. 8. The same person that is called the word in the beginning of this Chapter is said to be with God I shall not speak of that because heretofore I have been large in it but come to the second Secondly What is here meant by Flesh Flesh signifieth 2. By Flesh is meant the whole man the whole man in diverse places of Scripture Man ye know consisteth of two parts which are sometimes called flesh and spirit and sometimes called soul and body Now by a Synecdoche either of these parts may be put for the whole sometimes the soul is put for the whole man As when it is said there were so many souls in the Act. 27. 37. Gen. 46. 27. ship with Paul And seventy souls went down into Egypt with Jacob sometimes flesh or body is put for the whole man Rom. 12. 1. I beseech you brethren by the Mercies of God offer up your bodies a living sacrifice That is offer up your selves And sometimes flesh which is the word in the Text Rom. 3. 20. Therefore by the deeds of the Law shall
and Manhood make such a mixture as to produce a Third thing Here they are confuted by the right understanding of the Hypostaticall Union I will not perplex your understandings with these things onely see the care of the Church of God of old It met with all these sorts of Hereticks in four Adverbs the old Councills brought in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Truly to oppose the Arians that implyeth that Christ was true God The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perfectly to oppose the Sine Naturarum convulsione Apollinarians to shew he was perfectly Man consisting of a Soul and of a Body The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Undividedly to oppose the Nestorians to shew that his Natures were not divided And then the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Unmixtly to Inconfusè oppose the Eutychians who so mingled the Natures as to make a third thing out of both We now come to what remaineth in the Particulars See what they will afford us First That which concerneth the Divinity of Christ the 1. The Wisdom and the Love of God to be admired Word what hath been said of that may serve to fill us all with admiration of the love and wisdom of our God in ordering so that his own Son the Second Person in the Trinity the Word should be made flesh for our salvation God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son Here is love indeed Hardly will a man part with an onely son yet God doth He spared not his own Son but gave him to death for us all And yet haply a man may have such a son that he careth not for But what saith the voice from Heaven This is my beloved Son And yet he so loved the world as to part with his beloved Son One may have a son that he loveth and yet be displeased with him as David was with Absolom but this Son did please the Father and yet this Son is given to die O the admirable love of God shining in this that the Second Person in the Trinity is set on work to procure our Redemption Though Reason could never have found out such a way yet when God hath revealed it Reason though but shallow can see a fitnesse in it because there being a necessity that the Saviour of man should be Man and an impossibility that any but God should save him and one Person in the Trinity being to be Incarnate It suiteth to reason that the first Person in the Trinity should not be the Mediator For who should send him He is of none and therefore could not be sent There must be one sent to reconcile the Enmity and another to give gifts to friends two proceeding Persons the Son from the Father and the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son accordingly the second Person which is the Son he is sent upon the first errand to reconcile man to God and the third Person the Holy Ghost he is sent to give gifts to men so reconciled So as to Reason it is a suitable and a very great congruity That God having made all things by his Word should now repair all things by his Word That as the word of the serpent deceived man and brought him to ruine so the Word of God should restore him and bring him to happinesse That he that was the middle person in the Trinity should become the Mediator between God and man That he that was the expresse Image of the Father's person should restore the Image of God defaced in man by his sins Men may be too curious in such Quaeries but where there is a bottom in the love of God we may safely lose our selves in the admiration of the wisdome of God in the Contrivance of the work of our Redemption That for the first Secondly From what hath been said of the word flesh 2. Here is both matter of Comfort and matter of Duty here as importing the human nature and the human nature cloathed with infirmities we may gather both matter of Comfort and matter of Duty First Matter of Comfort from each of the two branches from flesh as it importeth man-hood from flesh as it importeth infirmity of man-hood The Son of God hath taken our nature upon him that may Comfort men It is matter of Rejoycing to any man when he heareth his friend is preferred What is so neer to us as our owne nature Behold our nature is preferred by Jesus Christ to a union Our nature preferr'd by Christ to union in the Godhead in the Godhead Christ sitteth in Heaven with our nature and the same flesh that we have upon us onely glorified It is that which all the World cannot give a sufficient reason of why the same word in the Hebrew Rashar should signifie both flesh and good Tydings Divinity will give you a reason though Grammar cannot Christ's taking of flesh upon him was good Tydings to all the whole World therefore no wonder if one word signifie both Aboundance of comfort may be taken from hence to poor souls when they think God hath forgotten them To consider Is it likely that Christ that is man should forget Man now He is at the right hand of the Father cloathed in that nature that we have When we are troubled to think it is impossible God and man should ever be reconciled Let us consider that God and man did meet in Christ therefore it is possible we may meet What hath been may be again The two natures met in Christ therefore God may be reconciled to man yea they therefore met that God might be reconciled to man He was made Emanuell God with us that he might bring God and us together When a man is troubled to think of the Corruptions of his nature that is so full of defilement that it cannot be sanctified let him withall think that his nature is capable of sanctification to the full Christ received human nature which was not polluted his nature is the same Therefore that nature is capable of sanctification to the uttermost Many more comforts may be raised from this Consideration That he assumed flesh with the sorrows of it and the nature of it penall infirmities The consideration of that in generall may give some comfort to men because it letteth us see that Christ is able and willing to help us because he hath taken our infirmities Both these the Apostle holdeth out Hebr. 2. ult It is said In that he himself had suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted He is therefore able because himselfe hath been tempted As a Physitian that trieth the vertue of some soveraign Composition upon his owne body he is the better able to cure another with that Receit because he himselfe hath tried it Christ hath born our infirmities therefore he knoweth better how to support us under them I but is he willing yes His willingnesse may be collected from this That he hath taken our infirmities
ΘΕἈÎΘΡΩΠΟΣ OR God-Man BEING AN EXPOSITION Upon the first Eighteen verses of the first chapter of the Gospel according to St JOHN Wherein is most Accurately and Divinely handled the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ proving him to be God and Man Coequall and Coeternall with the Father To the confutation of severall Heresies both Ancient and Modern By that Eminently Learned and Reverend Divine JOHN ARROWSMITH D. D. Late Master of Trinity-Colledge in Cambridge and Professor of Divinity there The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way before the works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the earth was Prov. 8. 22 23. Quid est Deus Mens universi Quid est Deus Quod vides totum et quod non vides totum Sic demum Magnitudo sua illi redditur quia nihil majus excogitari potest Si solus est omnia opus suum extrà et intrà tenet Seneca London Printed for Humphrey Moseley and William Wilson and are to be sold at the Prince's Armes in St Paul's Church-yard and in Well-yard neer St Bartholomew's Hospitall 1660. TO THE READER WHat was said to the highest praise and Commendations out of the mouth of Truth it selfe concerning John the Baptist John 5. 35. may not unfitly be spoken of the Learned Authour of this mysterious Treatise That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He was a burning and a shining Light who by his indefatigable and unwearied studie in the sublime mysteries of the Gospel did spend and waste himself to the socket and utmost end of his last breath to explicate the darkest places of the sacred Scriptures that he might give light to others in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And though this Piece be a Posthumus yet it speaketh the living praise of its departed Authour And cannot but discover its selfe to be the product of so holy and learned a Divine as the Author was The matter it selfe declareth the excellencie of his worth and the largenesse of his capacity in the right apprehending and dividing of the word of truth to the confuting of heresies and damnable errors It may well be said of him as of Athanasius of old Maluit sedem quà m fidei syllabam mutare He had while he was rather have lost whatsoever profits and preferments were cast upon him than to have altered or forsaken the least syllable or Iota of his Christian-faith who after he had fought a good fight kept the faith and finished his course with joy is accepted into glory Our losse and the Churches deprivation of him became his gain his advantage For the Prophets doe not live for ever Zach. 1. 5. which may give us just occasion to wish Jeremiah's wish Oh that our heads were full of water and our eyes fountaines of teares that we might weep day and night for the Prophets that are taken away from us And amongst them for this Prophet of whom I may say the Poets words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That he was one of a Thousand With what diligence and with what studie and paines with what good conscience with what integrity and uprightnesse he did carry himselfe in the constant course of his life those that were most intimate with him cannot but testifie All that knew any thing of him knew the truth of all His manner of Preaching did shew indefatigable great pains and labour being one of the most hard courses that could be undergone which was by way of Paraphrase and Explication of the most mysterious and obscure Texts of the Sacred Scriptures Great dexterity good judgement and profound and admirable learning were everywhere manifested in his Ministry He was noted in the Vniversity for one of prime wit and sharp conceipt plain in the delivery of the word yet so that any one might discern there was both judgement much learning and wisdome mixt therewith He had a soul that aspired after much more than so weak and sickly a body was able to undergoe He put forth his strength beyond his strength to doe good Even as a Taper that doth wast it self to give light to others so did he exhaust himself strengh and vitall parts to give light to all Nothing made him for some time before his death to give off his Ministry but weakness disability of body So that he must have this testimony that he did service to God and his Church as long as God would have him to do service to him on earth And many have cause to weep though not for him who is now translated to glory yet for themselves in the loss of so faithfull and carefull a dispencer of the word of God I dare say no more lest while I indeavour to declare his worth and dignity I should do him wrong Had he lived to have supervised this work no question but it would have passed his hand with more politenesse and authority I now desire thee not only to read but throughly to weigh and consider the worth and excellency of the heavenly matter contained therein That that God that causeth light to shine out of darknesse may cause the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to shine in all our hearts more more to the perfect day Which at the Throne of grace shall be continually prayed for by him that is Thine in the Lord T. A. ΘΕἈÎΘΡΩΠΟΣ OR GOD made MAN JOHN 1. ver 1. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God ANcient Records tell us That before the first Writing of this Book The Churches of God set upon the Work of Fasting and Prayer by the Appointment of St. John That so they might seek Divine assistance How much more need have I at this time to beg your Prayers before I begin and all the while I shall continue to expound this Glorious Gospell It is therefore my hearty and humble request to you all that your Prayers may neither be denied nor sparingly put up for me That as Augustine pray'd for himselfe in reference to the whole Scriptures Domine sint Castae deliciae meae Scripturae Sanctae Lord let thy holy Scriptures be my chast delight Nec fallar in iis nec fallam alios ex iis Let me neither be deceived in them nor let me deceive others out of them So that you would pray on my behalfe That I may neither my selfe be deceived in the mis-understanding of the sublime places of this Book not mis-guide you by giving you either false or impertinent Interpretations of them What progresse I shall make herein God onely knoweth But in the Confidence of His assistance not in mine owne strength which I acknowledge to be farre below many others I shall enter upon this first Chapter after I have premised by way of preface something concerning The Title of this sublime book The Writer The Occasion The Scope And likewise something concerning the Difference
lusts before the embracing of and yielding obedience to our blessed Saviour We are ready to defie the Jewes for crying Not him but Barabbas and yet our actions cry as loud Not Him but the world not Him but the flesh Rather imitate good Tremelius who was himself a Jew born and after when he turned Christian in reference to what his Country-men the Jews had once said Not him but Barabbas he made this his Motto Non Barabbam sed Christum Not Barabbas Tremelius his Motto after his Conversion but Christ to intimate his having renounced all for the Lord Jesus Christ Let it be thine Not the world but Christ not the creature but Christ not the flesh but Christ He was before all and shall be before all in my esteem Whom have I in heaven but thee Psal 73. 25. That is one Duty we are to learn from hence Secondly Seeing Christ is Eternall trust him for Eternall things expect such from him that is an everlasting Father Isa 9. 6. Do you think an everlasting Father will lay up none but temporall blessings for his children He that was from the beginning hath provided something that shall be after the end for everlasting for you if ye will seek after him Remember what the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 4. ult While we look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporall but the things which are not seen are eternall Oh! look at those eternall things trust in an eternall Saviour who hath purchased them first and since provided them for you He is gone before to provide heavenly things for you Grace is a thing which hath something of eternity in it The way of holinesse the Scripture calleth it the everlasting way Psal 139. ult Lead me in the way everlasting Seek to Christ for that For your everlasting Saviour will give you that which Grace begets Glory hath an influence into eternity so Grace hath It is an immortall seed that begets its glory and that is everlasting too Ye have a Promise Isa 45. 17. Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation He that was before the world hath happinesse world without end for all that believe in him So much for the first Proposition namely In the beginning was the word The second is that that concerneth the Personall Coexistency Propositi ∣ on 2d of the Word with the Father and it lyeth in these words The word was with God By the Word we still understand the same Person Jesus Christ By God in this Proposition ye are to understand the Father For you must know this tearm God is taken two manner of waies in this Verse Sometimes the term God is taken essentially and so it is appliable to all the Persons in the Trinity as when it is said God is a Spirit God there is taken so as to signifie the Nature of God and the Essence of God which is common to all the three Persons And so it is taken in the last clause of this Verse The word was God But otherwhile it is taken Personally and so it signifieth not the whole Essence but some one Person in the Trinity As when it is said God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself The Father in the Son When it is said Joh. 3. 16. God so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son Here is God loving the world and giving Christ So in the second Proposition The word was with God that is with God the first Person This implyeth at once a Nearnesse and a Distinction A Nearnesse to God The word was God and yet a Distinction from him for it was but with him Now that which is with another doth imply a person distinct We do not say a man is with himself but Peter is with Paul or Paul with Peter So here The word was with God Take two or three places to help you to understand this Joh. 1. 18. No man hath seen God at any time the onely begotten Son which is in the bosome of the Father c. Here is the Son in the bosom of the Father that is the Word with God Here is a nearnesse and yet a Personall Christ near to and yet distinct from the Father distinction Nearnesse for it is in the bosom and yet a Personall distinction it is the Son in the Father's bosom One more clear that is fully parallel with the Text that is 1 Joh. 1. 2. The life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witnesse and shew to you that eternall life which was with the Father Eternall life is a Person here By Eternall life ye must understand the very self-same Person who is called the word of life in the first verse Eternall life is something that was seen and born witnesse to namely the Lord Jesus Christ of whom saith he vers 1. they have seen him and lookt upon him and have handled the word of life So that it is no new thing for John to call Christ the Eternall life He saith This is the true God and eternall life What doth he say of this Eternal life Why that we have seen it and bear witnesse That is of that Eternall life which is with the Father Take another which is parallel to the Text Prov. 8. 29 30. where by Wisdom is understood Christ which saith of it self Then I was by him as one brought up with him and was daily his delight Rejoycing alwaies before him rejoycing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men Where Christ is spoken of as a son in the presence of the Father He is said to be with him as here in the Text. Take notice of two Praepositions there used in reference to Christ In and With 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is said Joh. 14. 10. Believest thou not saith Christ to Philip He that hath seen me hath seen the Father And then he saith I am in the Father and he in me Here Christ is said to be in the Father and in my Text with the Father with this difference in that noteth Unity with that importeth Distinction in that falls upon the Essence with that falleth upon the Person So as in plain tearms Christ is in the Father in regard of the Unity of the Essence which is the same with that of the Father Christ is with the Father in regard of the Distinction of his Person So as between the Son and the Father there is alius alius but not aliud aliud as Divines say That is The Son is another Person from the Father but not another thing from the Father The Father and the Son are Unum but not Unus the Father and the Son are one Thing but not one Person Ye may truly say The Son is with the Father as my Text hath it but ye cannot say The Son is
Tent upon Earth as the word signifieth Joh. 1. 17. He dwelt amongst us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is as in a Tent or Tabernacle Do but consider the difference of these two states that which Christ left and that which Christ took The former was a state of incomprehensible glory In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God What was the state of the Word See Joh. 17. 5. Now O Father glorifie thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was I had with thee glory before the world was Here is the Word with God in the state of glory From this state of glory he is pleased to descend To what To take shame It is emphatically said for that is one half of Christ's sufferings Shame is Heb. 12. 2. Looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the crosse and despised the shame He came to Isa 53. 3 Luk. 23. 36 39 Luk. 17. 34. Matth. 9. 11 34. Matth. 12. 24. 10. 25. be buffeted and spit upon and reviled and called a friend of publicans and sinners a wine-bibber yea the prince of devills They called Christ Beelzebub Before he came into the world he was in a state of Joy as well as of Glory The Text saith He was with God and wheresoever God is there is joy as the Psalmist saith In thy presence is fulnesse of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore What is that Christ took instead of joy He came to sorrow sorrow and deadly sorrow surrounded his soul on every side From that eternall joy he is pleased to descend to those intolerable sorrows to be a man of sorrows acquainted with grief Blessed Saviour may we well say Isa 53. 3. What a change hast thou made for thy love to us of being with God to be with Man from the Father's Bosom to the Virgin 's Womb from Heaven to Earth from Glory as ye have heard to Shame and from Joy to Grief And all this for our sakes Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 2 Cor. 8. 9. Christ saith the Apostle who though he were rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might become rich How should this fir'e and inflame our hearts with love to Christ He who was the delight of his Father from all Eternity had his delight with the sons of men How should the sons of men have their delight in him Hath Christ left Heaven for me and shall not I leave the world for Christ Hath he thus emptyed himself for me of his Joy and Glory for a time and shall not I deny my self for him in my pleasures and profits and ease What a poor sorry joy is that which the world affordeth us to that which Christ hath first given us Let us love him who loved us so as that he was pleased to become Emmanuel God with us So The Word was with God This is that which concerneth the Personall Co-existency of Christ with God the Father In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God There is hardly any place of Scripture more abused in a way of superstition than the beginning of this Gospell It was a common thing in times of Popery and I would to God it were abolished wholly at this day to write these words in certain Characters and to tye the paper or parchment about people's necks as a Charm against Agues or as a Spell to prevent some other mischief We shall I hope make better use of them by how much this Scripture hath been wronged by others These words are a Charm indeed but it is against Hereticall Opinions and carnall discouragements The Deniers of Christ's Divinity never had such a Charm as this is Joh. 11. We have made some of them to that end and hope to make more as we do proceed The Fifth Use from hence is that this very Proposition Vse 5 that the Word was with God holdeth forth Comfort to us For he that was with God in the beginning is with him still and will be with him for everlasting with God then and with God now and with God to all eternity And that under the notion of our Advocate 1 Joh. 2. 1 2. If any man Christ our Advocate sin we have an Advocate with the Father So the phrase is here With the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sins He is there as an Advocate to plead a cause And what cause His own as well as ours We know when a Counsellor is employed in a Cause that concerneth himself as well as his Clyent he is wont to be exceeding active in that businesse more than in other he will neglect no opportunity in such a Cause So Christ is such an Advocate as to be a Propitiation for our sins And Christ should lose the price of his own Blood if our Cause should miscarry before God the Father with him where he appeareth for us Heb. 9. 24. Christ is not entred into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self to appear in the presence of God for us Observe that With God and For us He appeareth there as an Advocate appeareth for his Clyent when such a Cause is called upon he pleadeth that Cause as an Advocate So Christ appeareth for us as our Proctor He is God with us and for us and therefore able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him because he liveth to make intercession for them Heb. 7. 25. Never fear that any thing shall be wanting to thy salvation Christ will be sure to perfect it He will save to the uttermost because he liveth for ever Well may Satan's accusations trouble us on Earth they shall never trouble us in Heaven for Christ appeareth there for us He is ever with the Father I passe now to the third Clause of this first Verse which concerneth the Divine Essence of Christ The Word was God So with God a distinct Person from the Father as to be God of the same Essence with the Father The word God is taken essentially for the Father the First-Person in the Trinity This is a point of high concernment that Christ is God so high as whosoever buildeth not upon this buildeth upon the sands This is the Rock of our salvation The Word was God But there will be frequent occasion in this Gospell of meeting with it and therefore I shall speak now but briefly of it Take a few clear places such as our enemies know not how to evade that in Rom. 9. 5. Of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for evermore Christ is here himself called God blessed for ever So Tit. 2. 13. Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearance of
the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ Who is it that shall appear at the last Day in the Clouds but Christ who is called the great God and our Saviour God blessed for ever saith Paul to the Romans The great God saith Paul to Titus And lest any Heretick should hope to shift it off as they are as full of shifts as the Serpent is of turnings and windings and should say Why Angels are called gods and Magistrates are called gods To stop their mouths St. John telleth you He is the true God I and God properly so called The true God You know what they use to object against this as if the Object Father were onely called the true God And the place seemeth to have some colour in it Joh. 17. 13. This is life eternall that they know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ seemeth to be made a different Person from the true God I answer There is no necessity of limiting this phrase Answ The onely true God to the Person of the Father the First Person in the Trinity It is true indeed that the word Thee in the third Verse referreth to the word Father in the first Verse These words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven and said Father glorifie thy Son c. And this is eternall life that we know thee the onely true God Ye must know the word Father is taken two manner of waies in Scripture First Sometimes it is taken for the First-Person in the Trinity And Father is taken for the Divine Essence or rather for an Attribute that is common to all the Persons in the Trinity Every one is Father in this sense So Christ is Father as well as the First Person He is called The everlasting Father and The Prince of peace Isa 9. 6. Father in that sense is no more than God in his Essence Mal. 2. 10. Have we not all one Father hath not one God created us There is a concurrence of all the Persons in this great work of Creation and so in this Relation of Father That Jam. 1. 27. True religion and undefiled before God and the Father Father here belongeth to all the Persons 1 Pet. 1. 17. We know that all judgement is committed to Christ So that Father is taken here essentially and belongeth to all the Trinity If ye understand it so here then the Objection is of no force But Christ is conceived here as Mediator and as Man praying to the whole Trinity under the name of Father and saying This is eternall life to know thee onely true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent So that 1 Tim. 2. 5. is parallel There is one God and one Mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus Nothing is so familiar in Scripture as to distinguish Christ as Mediator from God taking the word essentially for all the Persons in the Trinity Secondly Suppose the word Father Joh. 17. be taken Personally for the First Person in the Trinity yet the word Onely is not here to be limited to the First Person I pray you observe that This is eternall life that they know thee the onely true God It is not Thee onely the true God as if the Father onely were the true God Indeed the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not to be tyed to the saying Thee onely but Thee God is to be tyed to the word Onely To know thee the onely true God So as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word Onely is not exclusive from the other two Persons the Son and God distinguished from Creatures and Idols not from the other Persons the holy Ghost but onely exclusive from the Creatures who are improperly called gods as sometimes Angels and sometimes Magistrates are called so and Idols so called falsly The onely true God excluding Idolls but not the Son and the holy Ghost You may as well argue from that place 1 Cor. 8. 5 6. that God the Father is not Lord as argue from this that Christ is not the true God for it is said there Though there be that are called gods both in heaven and in earth as there be gods many and lords many But to us there is but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things and we by him But one Lord Jesus Christ May men from hence argue and say The Father is not the Lord Jesus Christ But many argue and say That Christ is not God because he saith There is but one God the Father of whom are all things I will not hold you long upon this because I hope there are not many here that need solution in this point though the errour be spreading Consider that place Matth. 11. 27. All things are delivered to me of my Father saith Christ And None knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any the Father save the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him None knoweth the Son but the Father Why doth not the Son know himself doth not the holy Ghost know the Son Yes It is said The Spirit searcheth the deep things of God Neither knoweth any the Father save the Son Doth not the Father know himself and the holy Ghost both the Persons Yes But this none excludeth Creatures from the other Persons So the true God is distinguished from Creatures and Idolls not from the other Persons in the Trinity I will make Use of this to meet with such Hereticks as Vse 1 deny this Would to God I could say there were none in this City but mine ears have heard a man stifly to deny the Divinity of Christ and dispute against it and blaspheme that great truth without which I think a man may safely say there is no possibility of salvation I wonder that of all the old Errors swept down into this latter Age as into a sink of time this of the Socinians and Arians Beware of Heresies should be held forth amongst the rest Let us beware of their doctrines shun their meetings and persons that come to us with the denyall of the Divinity of Christ in their mouths This was John's doctrine and his practise Irenaeus tells us that after he was returned from his Banishment and came to Ephesus he came to bathe himself and in the Bath he found Cerinthus that said Christ had no beeing till he received it from the Virgin Mary Upon the sight of whom John skipped out of the Bath and called his companions from thence saying Let us go from this place lest the Bath should fall down upon us because Cerinthus is in it that is so great an enemy to God Ye see his Doctrine see his words too 2 Joh. 10 11. If any come to you having not this doctrine receive him not into your house neither bid him God-speed for he that biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evill deed What the Doctrine was ye may see
it is lame but yet it is of the Blood-Royall There is much in the light of Reason much more in the light of the Word and of Conscience and of Grace Do we want light as who doth not Seek to him that is the Father of light he is the Father of Supernaturall light as well as of Naturall Seek him but in a way of humility and sincerity otherwise little hope of finding him It is an excellent speech of Bernard saith he Superbo oculo non videtur veritas sincero patet Truth is not seen by a proud eye it openeth it self to a sincere one Humility sitteth lowest in the School Take out thy Lesson in the School of Christ seek it sincerely Painted Glasses hinder the light from comming into the room He that will too much paint that is play the hypocrite hinders the light from entring his soul It is the sincere heart that receiveth the light of the truth Thirdly Let us hence learn to serve him for all light tendeth to some work The Sun ariseth saith the Psalmist Use 3 Learn to Serve him Psal 104. 22 23. and man goeth forth to his work and labour till the evening God sheweth man light to work by and that is the end of the light that Christ scattereth abroad in the world not to loyter by but to do service with The spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord searching the inward parts of the bowells Christ hath set up a candle in every one of our hearts not to play by as children use to do to play by the candle that they should go to bed by and go to bed in the dark when they have done Many men mispend their time which God hath given them and so lie down in darknesse Some men God giveth wit to and they employ it to the dishonour of Christ and the reproach of the Gospell for the true end of the light is that we may do service If ye give light to your servants to work by ye expect they should do more and better work than they that go to work in the dark Fourthly Blesse him for he it is from whom we have all our light those four lights I told you of The light of Use 4 Reason is that that distinguisheth us from beasts it is that Learn to Bless him which though it cannot find out the deep things of God yet when they are revealed it may help to confirm them As when men go to plant a Vine first they take out the earth and make way for the root but when they have planted the Vine they put in the earth again and that better confirmeth the grouth of the Vine There are some kind of mysteries of faith that a man must take away his reason before he goeth to believe them he must not first dispute and then believe but when faith is once planted lay to it reason and it helpeth to confirm the excellency of faith it self If so much in the light of Reason how much more in the light of Conscience which God hath set as a Schoolmaster in every man's bosom to teach him what is good and what is evill It is said to be a bridle to keep from evill to restrain a man that is to commit evill from the evill And for the light of the Word it is the crown of a Nation The Church is represented to us Rev. 12. as a Woman with a Crown of twelve Stars upon her head the Doctrine of the twelve Apostles is the Crown of the Church And the light of Grace Peter telleth you what that is 1 Pet. 2. 9. It is a marvellous light Therefore may every true Convert say Blesse the Lord O my soul and all that is within me blesse his holy name I now proceed to the tenth Verse of this Chapter Vers 10. He was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not Let me give you first the Connection of these words and then the Explication of them and so come to some Observations Look back a little into the fourth and fifth Verses there ye shall find these three Assertions laid down by the Evangelist First That Light commeth from Christ Light was the life of men Secondly That this Light from Christ shineth in darknesse Thirdly That the darknesse comprehendeth it not Now the Verse that followeth serveth to make good all these three Assertions First That light commeth from Christ That is proved two waies First By the testimony of John the Baptist who was a man sent from God to bear witnesse of this light Secondly By the effects of generall Illumination That was the true light which lighteth every man that commeth into the world Our Evangelist goeth on to prove the two other Assertions namely these Light shineth in darkresse and it comprehended it not First in reference to the Gentiles Secondly in reference to the Jewes In reference to the Gentiles in this tenth verse He was in the World and the World was made by Him There is the light shining in the World And the world knew Him not There is the light not comprehended of darknesse In reference to the Jewes Light shined there in darknesse but the darknesse comprehended it not for his owne received him not For the meaning of the words let us take them as they lye He was in the World He was present in the World There is a threefold presence of Christ 1. A generall presence of Christ 2. A speciall presence 3. And a singular presence First a generall presence of Christ by which he is with 1. A generall presence of Christ in the world all the Creatures preserving them and upholding them according to what is said Hebr. 1. 3. Who being the brightnesse of his glory and expresse Image of his person hath upheld all things by the word of his power Which is likewise spoken to Col. 1. 17. He was before all things and by Him all things consist He was in the World which He himself made as a Carpenter is in a house which he himself hath built A Carpenter buildeth an house to dwell in and then keepeth it in repaire Christ so made the World not as to leave it but so as to keep in it and preserve it as well as to make it As suppose a man that were both a Ship-wright and a Ship-master He first maketh the ship then goeth to Sea in it himselfe Christ hath so made the World as to preserve the World which he made as to look after it and every thing in it He was in the World and the World was made by Him These words are added to shew that he was not in the World as part of the World but as the Maker of it He was not in the World as a Creature but as the Creator of all things According to what the Evangelist hath taught us before By Him were all things made and without Him was nothing made that was made He was in
ye compare these two places in the Galathians Gal. 5. 6. with Gal. 6. 15. In Jesus Christ neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth any thing but Faith which worketh by love What is that see the fifteenth Verse of the sixth Chapter Neither Circumcision nor uncircumcision but a new Creature New Creature and Faith is all one where faith is there is a new Creature So then All believers are new born and new born of God because as ye have heard already which will save me a labour to exemplifie this It requireth a Divine power to beget a man to Christ Jam. 1. 18. Of his owne will begot he us with the Word of Truth Of his owne will begot he us To make a man partaker of godlinesse there must go Divine power as Peter saith 2 Pet. 1. 3. According to his Divine power He hath given us all things pertaining to Life and Godlinesse Such a power as went to the Regeneration requireth a greater power then Creation Creation yea a greater power then went to the Creation if a greater can be God putteth forth a further act of power in Regeneration then in Creating men and the whole World at first because there was then nothing to resist God spake the Word and there was no opposition made Let there be light and there was light Let the waters be gathered together and they were gathered together into one Channell But when God cometh here to Convert all is up in arms Corrupt nature struggleth for it selfe and the Devill likely to be thrown out of his hold maketh the best of it that he can and musters all his forces to maintain his possession here is required a greater power because of resistance which was not in the former work Would not a man say if he should go into a Potters shop or Glasse-house that a man might sooner make a thousand pots or glasses then when a pot or glasse is broken all to pieces to make it whole again That is a much greater work This is the case here In the Creation God brought all things out of nothing Here is but one single work But when he comes now to regenerate he findeth men's hearts broken to pieces and he must make them sound again That is a further work a double work He must pull down the old building and set up a new frame none of the old not a stick will serve Old things are done away all things are Cor. 2. 5. 17. become new Therefore it is that all the works of the Creation though an Almighty work is but the finger as it were of God When I consider the Heavens the work of thy fingers The works of man's Redemption and Conversion require the whole arme So speaking of God after the manner of men for to him all things are alike easie Luk. 1. 51. He hath shewed strength with his arme speaking of the work of our Redemption by Christ Who hath believed our Report To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed That which is manifest in the Gospell that telleth us of our Redemption saying It is the arm of God At the first it was but a word Let there be light and it was so The work of our Redemption cost not onely words but tears and sweat and blood and the Life of our Saviour God breathed the breath of Life into man that he might revive him and become a new Creature So that this work considered one cannot be born again of any but of God I proceed now to the Application If believers are born Vse 1 of God then it calleth upon them to be thankfull to God This presseth thankfulnesse for our new birth for their new birth They have received that from the hands of God that the rest of the World are strangers to They are better born then others that is the word the Apostle useth Acts 17. 11. We stand ingaged to the whole Trinity for this blessing Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewed unto us We owe our new birth to God the Father And to the Son too Isai 9. 6. The name of Christ is the Everlasting Father And to God the Holy Ghost Joh. 3. 5. Except we be born again of Water and of the Spirit born of the Spirit To th end we may be the more 3. Graces and priviledges that accompany new birth sensible of this inestimable blessing consider the graces and priviledges that accompany this new birth I will name but three First Is likenesse to God We are so born of God as to 1. Is likenesse to God bear his Image to be righteous as he is righteous 1 Joh. 2. ult If ye know that he is righteous ye know that every one which doth righteousnesse is born of him It is true of all the Creatures They are made of God But it is true onely of Saints They are born of God Therefore though every Creature hath something of God in him yet a Saint hath more All have the foot-steps of God but Believers have his Image They represent him as a man's son represents his father There may be the Image of a man taken in a Picture that may shew something of him and his Image in a glasse that sheweth more that representeth his motion which the other doth not But his Image in his son that is the most lively of all that representeth his disposition Such an Image of God is in every Saint it represents the quality of God and the disposition of him He is made partaker of the Divine nature Secondly There is in him a love to God and to the Saints 2. Love to God and to the Saints which is another adjunct of the new birth of which 1 Joh. 4. 7. compared with 1 Joh. 5. 1. vers Beloved Let us love one another for love is of God and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God Chap. 5. 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God and every one that loveth him that begetteth loveth him that is begotten of him First here is love to God the Common father of all the Saints It is true in this Case Amor descendit sed non semper ascendit Love amongst men descendeth It goeth down from the Parent to the Child but it doth not alwayes ascend from the Child to the Parent But here as there is a love descending to us so from us ascending to God As the Iron that is touched with the Load-stone hath an inclination of following the Load-stone So when God hath touched the soul with Love it leaveth an instinct behind it of following after God As every one that is new born hath a love to God so hath he also to the Saints He that loveth him that begetteth loveth him also that is begotten of him Look as it is in nature Light ye know is the prime object of sight It is the principall visible object and the more of light in any thing the more visible
no flesh be justified in his sight Compare that with Psal 143. 2. where it is said In thy sight shall no man living be justified No flesh saith Paul No man saith David So flesh is the whole man To clear this some Quaeries would be resolved Quaeries First whether Christ assumed the nature of man or 1. Whether Christ assumed the nature or person of Man the person of a man the whole man He did assume the soul as well as the body both under the tearm flesh And indeed unlesse he had assumed the whole man the whole man could not have been saved saith Damazen That which was not taken could not be healed If Christ had not taken the whole man He could not have saved the soul To the first Quaery Whether the nature of man or the person of man I answer The nature of man and not a single person Respons It will be dangerous to mistake here If Christ had onely He assumed the nature and not a single person taken the person of a man then there must have been two persons in Christ a person assuming and a person assumed Yea then that onely person which Christ assumed should have been advanced and saved He should have saved that person and no other if he had assumed the person of a man With us the soul and body being united make a person But in Christ the soul and body were so united as to have their subsistence not of themselves as in us but in the Godhead No sooner was the soul united in the body but both soul and body had subsistence in the second person in the Trinity So not the assuming of a person but the nature of a man common to all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve Therefore he took not the nature of the Angels but the seed of Abraham Hebr. 2. 16. Seed the first element of our nature before our persons come to have any subsistence Secondly Why did Christ take the nature of man Quaery 2 I answer That he might be a fit Mediator That lesson Why the nature of Man the Apostle giveth you Hebr. 2. 14. Because the Children were partakers of flesh and blood he also took part Resp 2 of the same that through death he might destroy him that That he might be a fit Mediator had the power of death that is the Devill His taking the nature of man conduced to his being a Priest For if he had not been man he could not have died And that he might be a fit Prophet A Prophet will God raise up to you like to me saith Moses It was fit and convenient for them to have a man Prophet because they were not able to hear Angels unlesse they died And that he might be a fit King The head of one nature and members of another make a Monster Hebr. 2. 11. Both he that sanctifyeth and they that are sanctified are all of one nature Christ is of the same nature with those that are sanctified and governed by Him Thirdly The third Quaery is whether did Christ take Quaery 3 our nature in its Integrity and perfection as it was before Whether he took our nature as before the fall or as after the fall or our nature cloathed with infirmities as after the fall I answer He took our nature cloathed with infirmities as after the fall which is implied in the word Flesh There Respons 3 is a Reason certainly why the Holy Ghost rather chose to He took our nature as after the fall say Why the Word was made flesh then why the Word was made man because it is according to the phrase of Scripture when it would speak contemptibly of man and shew him to be the lowest Creature to call him flesh when it would set forth the weaknesse that man is subject to To give you one or two Instances instead of many Psal 56. 4. I will not fear what flesh can do unto me that is weak and infirm frail man what Flesh can do unto me And again Psal 78. 39. He remembreth that we are but flesh a wind that passeth away and cometh not again So then the word was made flesh that is took not onely man's nature but man's infirmities which are expressed in that word flesh And that he did take our nature with the infirmities thereof appeareth by Isai 53. 4. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows our infirmities 4. The fourth Querie is Whether Christ did take all the Quaer 4 infirmities of our flesh yea or no Whether Christ took all our Infirmities upon him I answer No. Our infirmities are of two sorts some penall and painfull infirmities others sinfull and culpable infirmities Those that are culpable and sinfull Christ did not take for the Prince of this world came and had nothing in Respons Ne ∣ gativè him But those that were penall infirmities those he took but not all of them neither for they are of two sorts either Sinfull infirmities Christ did not take nor Penall as Personall but Penall as Naturall Personall proper to some few men and women as to be inclined by birth to the Stone or Gout or Strangury or Leprosie or some other hereditary disease or Naturall common to all the sons and daughters of Adam as to be subject to pain and grief and sorrow and hunger and thirst and cold The former of these Christ did not take because they would have been impediments to him in his Function but the latter of these he did take 5. The fifth Querie is Why did Christ take these infirmities Quaer 5 implyed in the word flesh Why did Christ take these infirmities I answer For diverse ends which I will but name and have done He took these infirmities of our nature as well as the nature it self To shew the truth of his Humanity He Respons had a nature that could hunger and thirst even as other men 1. To shew the truth of his Humanity could He took them that he might sanctifie them to us Whatsoever Christ took that he sanctified Saith Luther Christ enriched poverty by becoming poor and glorified shame by enduring shame for us 2. He took our infirmities That he might set us an example of an holy life Had not 2. To give us an example of an holy life Christ been subject to passion he could never have set us an example of meeknesse or patience if he himself had not been liable to passion yet without sin Lastly He took 3. That we might have accesse to him with boldness these infirmities That we might confide the more in him and have accesse to him with boldnesse Consider him an High Priest that was subject to infirmities as well as our selves We have not an high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points touched as we are yet without sin Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace Thus ye see
who is meant by the Word and what is meant by Flesh I now proceed to shew you in what sense the Word is said to be made flesh First We must remove a false sense then assert the true The Word was made flesh Take it in the phrase of Athanasius The Word made flesh by taking the Manhood into God not by converting the Godhead into Man his Creed Not by conversion of the Godhead into Man but by the taking of the Manhood into God Quod erat permansit quod non erat assumpsit They were wont to sing so in an antient Liturgy Christ remaineth without any change in him as God I speak according to the meaning of that old Aenigmaticall Verse Sum quod eram quod eram non sum nunc dicor utrumque It is said in the Person of Christ I am what I was to wit God still I was not what I am to wit Man I am called both to wit God-Man To clear it by the application of the Text The Word was made flesh Christ is called the Word particularly in reference to that internall word and conceptions that are in a man's heart Now if a man manifest his own conceptions What doth he do He assumeth a voice as it were and by that voice makes men to hear what his conception is This Word was that that it was before yet it was manifested in the flesh without any change of what he was Here ye have the false sense removed Let the true sense now be asserted The Word was made flesh that is He assumed the Human Nature into By assuming the human nature into the union of his Person the union of his person He that was God before from everlasting doth now take man into the unity of his Person onely there is this difference in it The phrase seemeth to import something more because it is said The Word was made flesh And that some Hereticks catch at because they say One thing cannot be made another without some Object change As at the marriage in Canaan water was made wine and then it ceased to be water so say they If the Word be made flesh it must cease to be the Word for it is now made another thing For Answer to this first There is no necessity of translating Answ 1 it Made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Word became flesh So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 9. 20. Unto the Jews I became as a Jew saith Paul 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I became So the Word became flesh by a voluntary assumption of the Manhood So then the Objection is waved for it lyeth wholly in the Translation The Word was made flesh Secondly Let the Translation stand yet it will not overthrow Answ 2 what hath been said because every thing that is made another is not infallibly changed it self Let us therefore distinguish of a Naturall change and a Civill change a Physicall change and a Politicall change When one thing indeed is made another by a Physicall change then it ceaseth to be what it was before as when the water was made wine But one person may be made another in a way of Politicall change and yet continue what it was before As When one that is invested with Titles and Royalties of an higher nature is pleased out of condescention to assume some lower Title to himself as When a Soveraign Prince is pleased to be made or created Knight of the Garter when an English Earl is made a Gentleman of Venice Here is the King made a Knight and the Earl a Gentleman and yet continue what they were They have assumed a lower dignity without disparagement to what they were before And some of our Kings have been made free of this City of London in some Companies and it was an honour to the Company not a disparagement to the Prince So it is with Christ He honored that Nature he assumed and not lost that Nature which he had Thus you see the meaning of this Clause The Word was made flesh Let us now see what Use may be made of it First We shall apply the whole Clause and then draw Use 1 some instances from particulars The whole Clause may be of use for the confutation of For Confutation of Hereticks many Hereticks Our Evangelist here aimed at the confutation of Hereticks when he writ this Gospel and this one Clause knocketh many of them in the head It hath been the lot of the Church of Christ to be alwaies conflicting more or lesse with that kind of men For the first three hundred years after Christ the great thing then was by Persecution but after God had stirred up Constantine the Devil leaveth playing the Lion and turned to the Fox what he could not obtain by force he now seeks by fraud and instead of Persecution raiseth up Heresies And look as now adaies that which should unite all Christians together namely the Lord's Supper which we therefore call the Communion is made the greatest matter of Contention in the world The Lutherans and Caâ—vinists fall out about Consubstantiation Lutherans and Papists about Transubstantiation The Lord's Supper is made a meer matter of quarrell by the subtlety of Satan So of old this Personall Union of which I have spoken all this while the two Natures God and Man in one Person was the great matter of division in the Churches of Christ Many Hereticks struck at this and this Text meeteth with many of them I shall instance in four but not trouble you long about them but a little is fit to be said that we may know what was done in former ages Great use is of Evangelicall History There is the Heresie of The Arians All confuted by this Clause The Apollinarians The Nestorians The Eutychians The Arians held That Jesus Christ was not true God 1. The Arians opinion confuted This Text calleth him the Word and maketh him a Person in the Trinity It saith The Word was with God and the Word was God and that Word was made flesh The Apollinarians acknowledge him to be God yea and 2. The Apollinarians opinion confuted Man too but they held That he took onely the Body of a Man not the Soul of a Man but they say His Divinity supplied the room of a Soul We interpret the word Flesh rightly for the whole human nature Therefore the Apollinarians are confuted here too The Nestorians grant him to be both God and Man but 3. The Nestorians opinion confuted then they say The Godhead made one Person and the Manhood another Person We interpret the word Made rightly according as it holdeth forth an Hypostaticall Union and remember what was said of Christ's assuming not the person of man but the nature of man That Heresie is then confuted Here is God and Man two Natures but one Person 4. The Eutychians opinion confuted The Eutychians held but one Person in Christ then they confounded the Natures They say That the Godhead
of the Father implieth 2. It teacheth us to set our affections upon Christ the dearnesse of affection between the Father and the Son And this teacheth us who are bound to be followers of God as dear children to set our affections upon Christ because God doth so He who is the Son of God's love should be the object of our love God hath a bosome for Christ we should have a bosome for Christ too It is said of Ignatius that after his death his body being opened the name Jesus was found written in his heart That is a fable yet hath a good morall every soul should have Jesus written in the heart because the love of the heart should be bestowed upon Christ as the noblest object and best deserving it Again ye have an expression that comes home to that in the Text Cant. 1. 13. ye shall see where the Church laid Christ A bundle of myrrhe is my well-beloved to me He shall lie all night between my breasts Here the Church maketh a room for Christ to lie in her bosome This is a most significant expression This comparing Christ to a bundle of myrrhe which is of a bitter tast but a sweet smell And so fitter to represent Christ Crucified in whose death there was a concurrence of these two bitternesse and sweetnesse Nothing so bitter in it self as the passion of Christ the token of which was the paschall Lamb which was to be eaten with bitter herbs He indured more then we can comprehend His owne soul onely could know that bitternesse As there was a great deal of bitternesse in it so a great deal of sweetnesse too as in myrrhe He offered himselfe to God a sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour Ephes 5. 2. saith the Apostle Myrrhe they say is of speciall use to keep from putrefaction to dry up moist humours therefore they took myrrhe to inbalm Christ's body withall And such drieth up the superfluous humours of the soul As Physitians say That in nature a bundle of myrrhe between the breasts is Cordiall surely we have no such Cordialls as Christ in the bosome Therefore A bundle of myrrhe my beloved is to me He shall lie all night between my breasts Nothing so bitter as my sins were but the crucifying of Christ and yet nothing so sweet as that Christ was crucified for my sins to take them away Therefore let us find a bosome to lay Christ in for the time to come If we will be glad of his bosome when we die He will be content to lie in ours now if we will but receive him Certainly it concerneth us to know what we do with our affections How we bestow our love Loe here is an object to be beloved more then the wife of the bosome more then the husband of the bosome Here is the Mediator in the bosome If any thing will draw-out love from us it is the consideration of that love which he hath shewed to us Love is the Load-stone of love See how he Amor magnes amoris hath opened his bosome to us how he hath exceeded all the patterns of love We find in Scripture Rebecca loved Jacob better then Esau Therefore she put him into a way of getting the blessing And when Jacob was afraid of the event lest his father should curse him The curse be Gen. 27. 13. upon me my son saith she The Lord putteth us into a way of getting an eternall blessing from God the Father and for the procuring of this he himselfe is become a curse for us He was made sin for us and a curse that we might be made the righteousnesse of God in him Jacob loved Rachel better then Leah therefore was content to serve so many years For us the Lord took upon him the form of a servant and in that form served for us three and thirty years and more here in the flesh Jonathan loved David and to manifest his love he put his owne garment upon him Christ so loved us as to cloath us with his owne righteousnesse David loved Mephibosheth and therefore set him at his owne Table to eate bread continually though he were lame Christ so loveth us notwithstanding all our lamenesse and imperfections as to provide a Table for us where we shall one day sit down with Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdome of Heaven Beloved do you provide a room for Christ in your bosomes and he will provide a room for you in Abrahams bosome yea in his owne Thirdly This being in the Fathers bosome implieth Communication 3. It teacheth us to go to Christ for illumination of secrets Let us learn from hence to go to Christ for Illumination that he who knowes the secrets of the Father would discover them to us so farre as they are necessary for our salvation or the edification of our brethren Whither should we go but to the great Counsellour for advice The Disciples took this course Luk. 11. 1. One of the Disciples said to him Lord teach us to pray So Lord teach us to hear Lord teach us to meditate and Lord teach us to conferre to go to Christ for all teaching If any man want wisdome let him aske it of God Jam. 1. 5. Who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not we cannot be wise to Salvation unlesse Christ be made wisdome to us otherwise the Devill will be too hard for us he is so cunning and subtile as to make fools of us As soon as a subtile man will cheat a Child of what he hath so soon will the Devill cheat us There are wiâ—es of the Devill depths of Satan mysteries of Iniquity How shall we be able to shun these to avoid the danger of them if we be not instructed by Him who knoweth the secrets of the Father As there are mysteries of Iniquity so of Godlinesse too The Gospell it selfe Paul calleth it wisdome in a Mystery And that even amongst the perfect 1 Cor. 2. 6. Howbeit we speak wisdom amongst them that are perfect ver 7. We speak the wisdome of God in a mystery Which mystery wisdome in a mystery such is the Gospell So mysterious that one mystery is wrap't in another wisdome in a Mystery and that hid and that amongst the perfect How shall we come to find out this wisdome if the Lord Jesus the wisdome of God be not made wisdome to us As there are mysteries in every point of Doctrine so there are secrets in every point of Practice which without the help of Christ we cannot come to be made masters of Psal 25. 14. The secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him In every duty we can put our hands to there is a secret It is a Common thing to pray but to pray in the Holy Ghost is a great secret It is a Common thing to come to the Lords Table but to discern the Lords body that is a secret It is a Common thing to hear the word but so as it may be mixt