IMMANVEL OR THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION OF THE SON OF GOD Unfolded by JAMES ARCHBISHOP of ARMAGH IOHN 1. 14. The Word was made flesh OXFORD Printed by LEONARD LICHFIELD Printer to the Vniversity 1643. THE MYSTERIE OF THE INCARNATION of the SON of GOD THe holy Prophet in the Book of the a Proverbs poseth all such as have not learned wisedome nor known the knowledge of the holy with this question Who hath ascended up into heaven or descended who hath gathered the wind in his fists who hath bound the waters in a garment who hath established all the ends of the earth What is his Name and what is his SONS name if thou canst tell To help us herein the SON Himselfe did tell us when he was here upon earth that b None hath ascended up to heaven but he that descended from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven And that we might not be ignorant of his name the prophet Esay did not long before foretell that c Vnto us a child is borne and unto us a Son is given whose name should be called Wonderfull Counsellour The mighty God The Everlasting Father The Prince of peace Where if it be demanded how these things can stand together that the Son of man speaking upon earth should yet at the same instant be in heaven that the Father of Eternity should be born in time and that the mighty God should become a Childe which is the weakest state of Man himselfe we must call to minde that the first letter of this great Name is WONDERFUL When he appeared of old to Manoah his name was Wonderfull and he did wonderously Judge 13. 18 19. But that and all the wonders that ever were must give place to the great mystery of his Jncarnation and in respect thereof cease to be wonderfull For of this work that may be verified which is spoken of those wonderfull judgements that God brought upon Egypt when he would d shew his power and have his name declared throughout all the earth e Before them were no such neither after them shall be the like Neither the creation of all things out of nothing which was the beginning of the works of God those six working dayes putting as it were an end to that long Sabbath that never had beginning wherein the Father Sonne and Holy Ghost did infinitely f glorifie themselves and g rejoyce in the fruition one of another without communicating the notice thereof unto any creature nor the resurrection from the dead and the restauration of all things the last workes that shall goe before that everlasting Sabbath which shall have a beginning but never shall have end neither that first I say nor these last though most admirable peeces of worke may be compared with this wherein the Lord was pleased to shew the highest pitch if any thing may be said to bee highest in that which is infinite and exempt from all measure and dimensions of his Wisedome Goodnesse Power and glory The Heathen Chaldeans to a question propounded by the King of Babel make answer h that it was a rare thing which hee required and that none other could shew it except the Gods whose dwelling is not with flesh But the raritie of this lyeth in the contrary to that which they imagined to be so plaine that hee i who is over all God blessed for ever should take our flesh and dwell or * pitch his Tabernacle with us That as k the glory of God filled the Tabernacle which was l a figure of the humane nature of the Lord with such a kinde of fullnesse that Moses himselfe was not able to aproach unto it therein comming short m as in all things of the Lord of the house and filled the Temple of Salomon a Type likewise n of the body of our Prince of Peace in o such sort that the Priests could not enter therein so p in him all the fulnesse of the Godhead should dwell bodily And therefore if of that temple built with hands Salomon could say with admiration q But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot containe thee how much lesse this house which I have built of the true temple that is not of this building we may with greater wonderment say with the Apostle r Without controversie great is the mystery of Religion God was manifested in the flesh Yea was made of a Woman and borne of a Virgine A thing so s wonderfull that it was given for a signe unto unbeleevers 740. yeeres before it was accomplished even a signe of God's own chusing among all the wonders in the depth or in the height above Therefore the Lord himselfe shall give you a signe Behold a Virgin shall conceive and beare a Son and shall call his name Immanuel Esai 7. 14. A notable wonder indeed and great beyond all comparison That the Son of God should be t made of a Woman even made of that Woman which was u made by himselfe That her Wombe then and the x heavens now should contain him whom y the Heaven of Heavens cannot containe Than he who had both Father and Mother whose pedigree is upon record even up unto Adam who in the fulnesse of time was brought forth in Bethlehem and when he had finished his course was cut off out of the land of the living at Jerusalem should yet notwithstanding be in truth that which his shadow Melchisedek was onely in the conceit of the men of his time z without Father without Mother without Pedigree having neither beginning of dayes nor end of life That his Father should be a greater than he and yet he his Fathers b equall That he c is before Abraham was and yet Abrahams birth preceded his well nigh the space of two thousand yeares And finally that he who was Davids Sonne should yet be Davids Lord d a case which plunged the greatest Rabbies among the Pharesies who had not yet learned this Wisedome nor known this knowledge of the holy The untying of this knot dependeth upon the right understanding of the wonderfull conjunction of the Divine and humane Nature in the unity of the Person of our Redeemer For by reason of the strictnesse of this Personall union whatsoever may be verified of either of those Natures the same may be truely spoken of the Whole Person from whether soever of the Natures it be denominated For the clearer conceiving whereof we may call to minde that which the Apostle hath taught us touching our Saviour e In him dwelleth all the fulnesse of the Godhead bodily that is to say by such a personall and reall union as doth unseparably everlastingly conjoyn that infinite Godhead with his finite Manhood in the unity of the selfe-same individuall Person He in whom that fulnesse dwelleth is the PERSON that
this wicked world he should be subject to fall as they were or if he should hold out as l the elect Angels did that must have been ascribed to the grace and favour of another whereas the giving of strict satisfaction to Gods justice was the thing required in this behalfe But now being God as well as Man he by his owne m eternall Spirit preserved himselfe without spot presenting a farre more satisfactory obedience unto God than could have possibly been performed by Adam in his integrity For beside the infinite difference that was betwixt both their Persons which maketh the actions of the one beyond all comparison to exceed the worth and value of the other we know that Adam was not able to make himselfe holy but what holinesse he had he received from him who created him according to his owne Image so that whatsoever obedience Adam had performed God should have n eaten but of the fruit of the Vineyard which himselfe had planted and o of his owne would all that have been which could be given unto him But Christ did himselfe sanctifie that humane nature which he assumed according to his owne saying John 17. 19. For their sakes I sanctifie my selfe and so out of his owne peculiar store did he bring forth those precious treasures of holy obedience which for the satisfaction of our debt he was pleased to tender unto his Father Again if Adam had p done all things which were commanded him he must for all that have said I am an unprofitable servant I have done that which was my duty to doe Whereas in the voluntary obedience which Christ subjected himselfe unto the case stood farre otherwise True it is that if we respect him in his humane nature q his Father is greater than he and he is his Fathers r servant yet in that he said and most truly said that God was his Father s the Jewes did rightly inferre from thence that he thereby made himselfe equall with God and t the Lord of hosts himselfe hath proclaimed him to be the man that is his fellow Being such a man therefore and so highly borne by the priviledge of his birth-right he might have claimed an exemption from the ordinary service whereunto all other men are tied and by being u the Kings Sonne have freed himselfe from the payment of that tribute which was to be exacted at the hands of Strangers When x the Father brought this his first-begotten into the world he said Let all the Angells of God worship him and at the very instant wherein the Sonne advanced our nature into the highest pitch of dignity by admitting it into the unity of his sacred person that nature so assumed was worthy to be crowned with all glory and honour and he in that nature might then have set himselfe downe y at the right hand of the throne of God tyed to no other subjection than now he is or hereafter shall be when after the end of this world he shall have delivered up the kingdome to God the Father For then also in regard of his assumed nature he z shall be subject unto him that put all other things under him Thus the Sonne of God if he had minded only his owne things might at the very first have attained unto the joy that was set before him but a looking on the things of others he chose rather to come by a tedious way and wearisome journey unto it not challenging the priviledge of a Sonne but taking upon him the forme of a meane servant Whereupon in the dayes of his flesh he did not serve as an honourable Commander in the Lords host but as an ordinary souldier he made himselfe of no reputation for the time as it were * emptying himselfe of his high state and dignity he humbled himselfe and became obedient untill his death being content all his life long to be b made under the Law yea so farre that as he was sent c in the likenesse of sinfull flesh so he disdained not to subject himselfe unto that Law which properly did concerne sinfull flesh And therefore howsoever Circumcision was by right appliable only unto such as were d dead in their sinnes and the uncircumcision of their flesh yet he in whom there was no body of the sinnes of the flesh to be put off submitted himselfe notwithstanding thereunto not only to testifie his communion with the Fathers of the old Testament but also by this meanes to tender unto his Father a bond signed with his owne bloud whereby he made himselfe in our behalfe a debtour unto the whole Law For I testifie saith e the Apostle to every man that is circumcised that he is a debtour to the whole Law In like manner Baptisme appertained properly unto such as were defiled and had need to have their f sinnes washed away and therefore when all the land of Judea and they of Jerusalem went out unto John they g were all baptized of him in the river Jordan confessing their sinnes Among the rest came our Saviour also but the Baptist considering that he had need to be baptized by Christ and Christ no need at all to be baptized by him refused to give way unto that action as altogether unbefitting the state of that immaculat Lamb of God who was to take away the sinne of the World Yet did our Mediatour submit himselfe to that ordinance of God also not only to testifie his communion with the Christians of the new Testament but especially which is the reason yeelded by himselfe because h it became him thus to fulfill all righteousnesse And so having fulfilled all righteousnesse whereunto the meanest man was tied in the dayes of his pilgrimage which was more than he needed to have undergone if he had respected only himselfe the workes which he performed were truly works of supererogation which might be put upon the account of them whose debt he undertook to discharge and being performed by the person of the Sonne of God must in that respect not only be equivalent but infinitely overvalue the obedience of Adam and all his posterity although they had remained in their integrity continued untill this houre instantly serving God day night And thus for our maine and principall debt of Obedience hath our Mediator given satisfaction unto the Iustice of his Father with i good measure pressed down shaken together running over But beside this we were liable unto another debt which we have incurred by our default and drawn upon our selves by way of forfeiture and nomine poenae For as k Obedience is a due debt and Gods servants in regard thereof are truly debters so likewise is sinne a l debt and sinners m debters in regard of the penalty due for the default And as the payment of the debt which commeth nomine poenae dischargeth not the tenant afterwards from paying
knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Where as we must needs acknowledge that n it is GOD which worketh in us both to will and to doe and that it is o hee which sanctifieth us wholly so are wee taught likewise to believe that p both he who sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one namely of one and the selfe same nature that the sanctifier might not be ashamed to call those who are sanctified by him his brethren that as their nature was corrupted and their bloud tainted in the first Adam so it might be restored again in the second Adam and that as from the one a corrupt so from the other a pure and undefiled nature might be transmitted unto the heirs of salvation The same q God that giveth grace is he also that giveth glory yet so that the streams of both of them must runne to us through the golden pipe of our Saviours humanity r For since by man came death it was fit that by man also should come the resurrection of the dead even by that man who hath said s Who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my bloud hath eternall life and I will raise him up at the last day Who then t shall come to bee glorified in his Saints and to be made marvellous in all them that beleeve and shall change this base body of ours that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himselfe Unto him therefore that hath thus loved us and washed us from our sinnes in his own bloud and hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever AMEN PHILIP 3 8. I COUNT ALL THINGS BUT LOSSE FOR THE EXCELLENCY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST IESUS MY LORD FINIS a Pro. 30. 3 4. b Ioh. 3. 13. c Esai 9. 6. d Exod. 9. 16. e Ibid. chap. 10 14. 11. 6. f Iohn 17. 5. g Prov. 8. 30. h Dan. 2. 11. i Rom. 9. 5. * {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Iohn 1. 14. k Exod. 40. 34 35. l Heb. 9. 9. 11. m Heb. 3. 3. 6. n Ioh. 2. 19. 21. o 2 Chron. 9. 1 2. p Colos. 2. 9. q 2 Chro. 6. 18. r 1. Tim. 3. 16. s Esai 7. 11. 4. t Gal. 4. 4. u Ioh. 1. 3. Coloss. 1. 16. x Act. 3. 11. y 1. King 8. 27. z Heb. 7. 3. with Esai 53. 8. Mica 5. 2. a John 14. 28. b Ioh. 5. 18. Phil. 1. 6. c Ioh. 8. 58. d Matth 22. 42 43 c. e Col. 2. 9. f Gal. 4. 4 5 7. g Ioh. 1. 14. 3. 16. h Ioh. 1. 12. * Propter quod unumquodque est tale illud ipsum est magis tale i Rom. 8. 29. k Exod. 4. 22 23. See Ierem. 31. 9. l Heb. 12. 23. m Rom. 8. 17. Gal. 4. 7. n 1. Iohn 5. 7. o Iohn 1. 14. p Gal. 4. 4. q Luke 1. 42. r {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Iam. 5. 17. s {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Act. 14 15 t Heb. 5 7. u 2 Cor. 13. 4. Heb. 2. 17 18. 4. 15. x Heb. 7. 3. y Rom. 5. 12. z Luk. 1. 35. a Gal. 4. 6. Rom. 8. 9. b Luk. 1. 38 48. c Luk. 1. 35. d Exod. 37. 〈◊〉 * {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 1. Pet. 1. 12. e Luk. 1. 34. f Ibid. ver. 35. g Ibid. ver. 37. h 1. Sam. 6. 19. * {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} i Exod. 3. 2 3 5 6. Act. 7. 31 32. k Heb. 12. 19. l Esay 33. 14. m Num. 12. 6 7 8. Exod. 33. 12. n Exod. 33. 18 20. o Esay 41. 8. 2 Chro. 20. 7. Iames 2. 23. p Rom. 4. 15 16. Gal. 3. 7. q Gen. 18. 27. r 2. Pet. 2. 11. s Esay 6. 2. t Levit. 26. 11 1◠Ezech. 37. 26 27. Revel. 21. 3. u Heb 3. 6. x Ephes. 2. 2 〈◊〉 y 2 Cor. 6. 16. z Iohn 17. 20 21 22 23. a Matth. 1. 21. 23. See Anselms Cur Deus Homo b 1 Tim. 2. 5. c Heb. 2 14. * Sic pax facta foedusque percussum secutaque res mira dectu ut relictis sedibus suis novam in Vrbem hostes demigrorent cum generis suis avitas opes pro dote sociarent L. Flor. histor. Rom. lib. 1. cap. 1. d Rom. 5. 10. e Ephes. 2. 14 16. f Ioh. 20. 17. g Heb. 2 11. h Heb. 11. 16. i Heb. 2. 13. k Deut. 32. 6. l 1 Pet. 1. 17 18 19. m 1 Sam 2 25. n Iob 9. 32 33. o Revel. 5. 3 4. p Ibid. vers. 5. q Ioh. 2 1 2. r 1 Tim. 2. 5 6. s Heb. 5. 1. 2. 17. t Rom. 9. 15 16. u Rom. 3. 26. x Heb. 9. 24. y Rom. 8. 34. Hebr. 7. 25. z Heb. 2. 17. a Iohn 11. 42. b Matth. 3. 17. c Heb. 4. 16. d Zach. 13. 7. e Phil. 2. 6. f {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Rom. 3. 25. 1 Iohn 2. 2. 4. 10. g {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Matt. 20. 28. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 1 Tim. 2. 6. See Iob 33. 24 h 1 Iohn 2. 1. i Heb. 7. 12. k Rom. 5. 19. l 1 Tim. 5. 21. m Heb. 9. 14. n 1 Cor. 9. 7. o 1 Chron. 29. 14 16. {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} p Luke 17. 10. q Ioh. 14. 28. r Esay 53. 11. Mar. 12. 18. s Iohn 5. 18. t Zach. 13. 7. u Matth. 17. 25 26. x Heb. 1. 6. y Heb. 12. 2. z 1 Cor. 15. 27. a Philip 2. v. 4 5 7 8. * {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Phil. 2. 7. b Gal. 4. 4. c Rom. 8. 3. d Coloss. 2. 11 13. e Gal. 5. 3. f Act. 22. 16. g Matth. 3. 6. Mark 1. 5. h Matth. 3. 15. i Luk. 6. 38. k Luk. 17. 10. Rom. 8. 12. Gal. 5. 3. l Matth. 6. 12. compared with Luk. 11. 4. m {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Luk. 14. 4. Matth. 13. 16. n Luk. 24. 26. o Heb. 2. 10. p Heb. 2. 14 15. q Rom. 8. 12. r Phil. 2. 8. s Heb 10. 5 7 t Ibid. vers. 9 10. u Revel. 7. 9. x Revel. 5. 9. y Esay 11. 2 z Mark 14. 33. Luk. 22. 44. a Heb. 5. 7. b Mar. 14. 35 36. c Heb. 10. 12. d Cantic. 8. 6. e Esay 33. 14. f Heb. 9. 14. g Ibid ver. 12. h Act. 20. 28. i 1 Cor. 2. 8. k Act. 3. 15. l Esay 53. 8. m Zach. 13. 7. with Matth. 26. 31. n 2 Sam. 18. 3. o Matth. 22. 43 44. p 1 Tim. 6. 15. Revel. 19. 16. q Rom. 9 5. r Matth. 5. 26. s 1 Cor. 13. 17. t Rom. 4. 25. u Ioh. 16. 10. x Dan. 9. 24. y Rom. 8. 33 34. z Ioh. 10. 17 18. a Ioh.