are wonders indeed But that I may speak a little particularly to shew the dimensions of Christs love to shew what are the heights breadths lengths and depths of Christs love in the work of Incarnation I shall propound several things Oh let us consider the wonders that are in this Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears 1. That God should chuse to manifest his love to man this way When God would manifest his love to man to the uttermost he himself would become man 1 Tim. 3.3 Great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh Here is the Mystery of mysteries the Wonder of wonders that God should take flesh So great was this Mystery that it drew the admiration of Angels therefore the Apostle after he had declared the sum of this Mystery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that God was manifested in the flesh he adds this he was seen of Angels or he appeared to Angels What is the meaning of that The meaning is he appeared visibly in flesh to Angels He was seen in his simple naked Divinity of Angels before his Incarnation but God was never seen as made visible in the flesh Quod Angelis visum esse dicit intelligit tale spectaculum fuisse quod tam novitate suâ quà m praestantiâ Angelos in se converterit Calvin Non potuit magnificentiùs praedicari augusta hujus mysterii majestas until after the Son of God was incarnate and made man the Angels beheld this sight God made visible in flesh with wonder and astonishment Whereas it is said he was seen of Angels The meaning is says Calvin it was such a spectacle to see God incarnate God made visible in flesh that it drew the Angels to look upon it with admiration by reason of the novelty and excellency of it And another Learned man hath this expression concerning it He was seen of Angels the most august Majesty of this great Mystery could not be set forth more magnificently than by this that it is said He was seen of Angels for no doubt it was an incredible delight to the Angels to see God made flesh as appears from that Song of theirs Luk. 2.14 Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world He loved the world and he so loved it God might have loved the world and not have so loved it God might have manifested his love to man in some other way and not so as to send his Son into the nature of man It was great love for God to create man at first after his own image and if God had confirmed man in his first estate as the elect Angels were so that man had never sinned and fallen this had been great love but when man was fallen for God to send his Son into the nature of man to recover man this was greater love This is illustrated by that Scripture Heb. 2.16 Verily he took not on him the nature of Angels It is the observation of a Learned man the Apostle speaks here of the good Angels The good Angels we know are confirmed in grace so that they never fell but the Son of God took not on him the nature of Angels this was an honour cast upon poor man more than on the Angels that the Son of God came into the nature of man not into the nature of Angels But here the observation of Calvin must be taken in That the Son of God hath preferred us above the Angels this is not to be understood in respect of the dignity or excellency of our nature but in respect of our misery Look upon angelical nature simply and that is superiour to humane nature and therefore it is said of man that he was made a little lower than the Angels Therefore there is no cause as Calvin goes on that we should glory as being superiour to Angels unless it be in this respect that God hath shewed greater mercy to us which was that we needed so that the Angels themselves have reason to stand and admire from on high that goodness that is bestowed upon poor man here on earth However this is clear that it is the highest demonstration of Gods love that God should take the nature of man and in this respect there is an honour cast upon humane nature more than upon Angelical nature God did not come into the nature of Angels but into the nature of man 2. The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in this That so great a person should come into our nature Isa 9.7 Vnto us a Son is born But who and what is this Son His name is Wonderful the mighty God the everlasting God He is so the Son as that he is also the mighty God He is so the Son of the everlasting Father as that he himself is also the everlasting Father of all creatures He is the Son yet the mighty God the everlasting Father therefore is it said concerning him In the beginning was the Word the Word was with God and the Word was God by him all things were made and without him was not any thing made that was made Joh. 1.12 13. This Son had not his existence first of all when he took flesh from the Virgin he was the Son before and God before Prov. 8.24 25 26. When there was no depths was I brought forth Micah 5.2 His goings forth were from everlasting Now that this great person this eternal person should be incarnate and take to himself a created nature in time this sets forth the greatness of his love Si personam venientis intueor non capto excellentiam Majestatis stupent Angeli de novo videntes infra se quem suprà semper adorant Hence is that of one of the Ancients If I behold the person of him who comes I cannot comprehend the excellency of his Majesty the Angels are amazed to see him stooping all of a sudden into a nature below themselves whom they always worshipped and adored above The Son of God was the object of the adoration of Angels before his Incarnation Now that he who was known and worshipped by the Angels in Heaven as God before his Incarnation that he should come into the nature of man and be reputed and taken for a man and but a man by the generality of men O the heights and depths and breadths and lengths of this love Isa 53.10 He was despised and rejected of men Joh. 10.33 Thou being a man makest thy self God Here the Jews account him to be a man and but a man who was true God as well as man Now that so great a person should come into our nature this is another thing doth commend to us the love of Christ in his Incarnation 3. The love of Christ in his Incarnation appears in the great condescension of that person who assumed our nature Here we must inquire wherein did the condescension of Christ appear in his Incarnation or in his assumption of our nature I
which is in the Divine nature is the fountain and spring of all the love that is in the humane nature and it was meet we should contemplate a little the love that was in Christs humane nature that by this consideration we might rise up to contemplate the love of the Divine nature which is the fountain and head-spring Now to help us a little to conceive of the love which is in the Divine nature of Christ I shall propound you three considerations to illustrate it 1. All the love of the Father resides and is to be found in the Divine nature of the Son The Scripture when it speaks of the love of God doth all along commend and set forth the love of God the Father Behold what manner of love the Father hath shewed us 1 Joh. 3.1 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God c. 2 Cor. 16.14 The love of God that is the love of the Father for when Christ and God are set in distinction by God we are to understand the first person of the Trinity the Father So Joh. 3.16 God so loved the world that is God the Father Still we see the Scripture describes the Father to us as the fountain of love As the Father is the Fountain of the Deity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so he is the fountain of love Now then if all the love of the Father resides and is to be found in the Son then certainly the Divine nature of the Son must needs be full of love but so it is the whole intire love of the Father is to be found in the Divine nature of the Son and the reason is because there is but one and the same Divine nature in the Father and in the Son Non 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father and the Son are not of alike Essence but they are of the same Essence and because of the sameness of the Essence in the Father and in the Son there is the same love in the Father and in the Son Love is an essential property belonging to the Essence of God there being the same Essence both in the Father and the Son there must needs be the same love in both The Father communicates all he is and hath to the Son in the eternal Generation Joh. 16.15 All that the Father hath is mine therefore the Son receiving all from the Father in the eternal Generation the whole intire love of the Father is communicated to him and resides in him Therefore he is called the express image of his person the brightness of his glory Heb. 1.3 The whole nature of the Father is to be seen and is made conspicuous in the person of the Son Therefore if we conclude that there is the highest and most immense love in the Father we must necessarily conclude there is the same love in the Son who is the express image of his person Hence is that expression of our Saviour Joh. 14.21 If any man love me he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him Observe it my Father will love him and I will love him We may not conceive there is a twofold love one of the Father and another of the Son but both Father and Son do love with the same love There is but one and the same Divine love in the Father and the Son It is true if we understand it as some do of the love that is in Christs humane nature then we may suppose a twofold love and so there is a Learned man that gives this sense My Father will love him and I will love him i. e. I will love him not as God only for so the Father and the Son love with one love but I will love him as man also Quomodo Pater sine Filio aut Filius sine Patre diligeret quomodo cùm inseparabiliter operentur separabiliter diligant Aug. But I incline rather to understand it as Austin of the Divine Love there is but one and the same Divine love in the Father and the Son It is Austins Exposition upon the Text How is it possible the Father should love without the Son or the Son without the Father How is it possible when the Father and the Son work inseparably their love should be divided and separated The Son having all the Fathers love in him and the Scripture describing the Father to be the fountain of all love the Divine nature of the Son must needs be full of love We come now to make a little Use of what hath been opened Vse We have heard a little of the sweetness of Christs love not only in the properties of it but as this love is to be found in both his natures Behold here matter for new wonder Well may we cry out with the Apostle O the heights and depths and breadths and lengths of the love of Christ Here is love the most glorious love in both the natures of the Lord Jesus in his humane and in his Divine nature 1. Great was his love in his humane nature his humane nature was filled with that love that no creature was filled with great are the affections that are seated in his humane heart never so much sweetness kindness tenderness compassionateness to be found in any heart as his Never any thing so sweet so lovely so amiable in the whole Creation of God as the Humanity of Jesus Christ Thou art fairer than the sons of men Psal 45.2 The humane soul of Christ was composed and made up all of love and sweetness yea the humane nature was the receptacle as it were into which the Divinity poured forth all its love In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily Col. 2.9 It is not a particle or some small portion of the Divinity but the fulness of the Godhead and if all the fulness of the Godhead then all the fulness of Divine love dwells in the humane nature assumed Not that the love of the Humanity is formally and essentially the same with the Divine love or that the love which immediately flows from his humane will and affections is simply infinite as the Divine love is although it is a far greater love than ever was found in the heart of any creature but thus we may conceive of it The Humanity is as it were the seat of the Divine person in this humane nature that person who is love it self dwells Gods nature is love now in the humane nature assumed that very person who is love it self dwells and takes up his abode how sweet how full of love must the heart of Christ be that hath love it self dwelling and inhabiting in it 2. Here is the love of the Divine nature and how great that love is no heart can conceive no tongue can express A few words from hence to Sinners and to the Saints of God O that poor Sinners would be perswaded to look after a share in this love
Vse 1 Never will you find any love to match this love you may go from creature to creature but never find any love like the love of Christ Look upon the love of Christ-man it is the sweetest love that ever was never any created love like to his but then look to his Divine love and where will you find a parallel What are a few drops to the Ocean All the love that is scattered among the creatures is but as a drop the Godhead that is the Sea and Ocean of love Here are you drawn by a double cord of love by the love of his humanity and his Divinity When Christ would win upon souls how doth he do it He sets his love before them I love them that love me Prov. 8.17 If any man love me he shall be loved of my Father and I will love him Joh. 14.21 Love is the thing which is most naturally loved who can withstand the power of love Can you hear of all this love in the heart of this amiable person the Lord Jesus and not find it in your hearts to love him Never will you find so much love and sweetness any where else as in the Lord Jesus The things that have been set before you are the greatest realities and not meer notions of words or love We hear much of love in this world men speak much of love but the love that is spoken of in the world is for the most part nothing but words and air there is little reality in it but the love of Christ is the most real solid substantial love Here is the love of God himself the love of the Divinity here is love lodged in a part of your own nature lodged in that nature which is akin to you here is the love of your own flesh and blood should not the consideration of this sweet matchless love of Christ joyned with the consideration of your extreme misery and necessity make up the most powerful argument to draw souls to Christ Here you have the sweetest and most glorious love in the world to invite you on the one hand and on the other you have the necessity of your own misery Vnless you believe that I am he you shall dye in your sins Joh. 8.24 He that believes not on the Son the wrath of God abideth on him Joh. 3. ult As many as are under the law are under the â—erse Gal. 3.10 If you despise and reject this Lord Jesus do you know where to find another Saviour If ever you be saved Divine Justice must be satisfied an angry God must be pacified your debts must be discharged otherwise your â—â—ns will be all charged upon you another day If you neglect such a Saviour whose love is most sweet and your need of him so great your condemnation will be most just If any man love not the Lord Jesus let him be anathema maranatha You that are the Saints of God Vse 2 learn from hence to study and contemplate the love of Christ more and more Ye complain your hearts are cold and frozen ye cannot get them inflamed with love to Christ warm your cold and frozen hearts by the fire of Christs love Love is the Load-stone of love Consider well the love that â—s in both his natures consider the sweetness of his humane nature consider the sweet kind compassionate sympathizing heart of Christ as man consider that love is lodged in the heart of one that is your elder Brother that it is seatâ—d in that nature that is near akin to you and â—s in all things made like to you sin only exceptâ—d and then consider the fulness and perfection â—f his Divinity consider well the infinite treaâ—ures of love and kindness that are lodged in his Divine nature let us ponder and consider these things surely our hearts are hard frozen indeed if they will not melt under these considerations The end of the second Sermon SERMON III. Eph. 3. vers 17 18 19. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love May be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height And to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge WE are yet under the consideration of the Love that is in Christs Divine Nature we have mentioned one consideration about it the second follows 2. The second Consideration about the love that is in Christs Divine nature To help us to conceive of the love that is in the Divine nature of Christ consider That love is most natural to God We have heard in the first consideration That the Divine nature of the Father is in the Son As the Father hath the whole nature of God in him so the Son hath the whole nature of God in him therefore doth John say of the Son This is the true God 1 Joh. 5.20 The Father and the Son are but one and the same true God Now love is most natural to God love is his very Essence hence it is said God is love 1 Joh. 4.7 I do not remember in all the Scripture that God is called anger wrath or hatred It is true anger wrath hatred are attributed to God but I do not remember that it is formally or categorically expressed thus that God is wrath anger hatred but God is love his very nature and essence is love In some sense we may say Had it not been for sin there had been no such thing as hatred in God Not that we do or can suppose that there are or can be any new immanent acts in God for then it could not be said that God was without variableness or shadow of change Jam. 1.17 God always was what now he is God was from Eternity that which now he is all the change is from the creatures part there is no change in God what God is once he is for ever there is no manner of change in him But thus we ought to conceive of it That property in God whereby he is inclined to hate sin which is natural and essential to him as the Psalmist tells us Thou lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity had never had an object to work upon had not sin entred into the world But now God had himself and his own goodness to love had there been no such thing as sin for him to hate therefore love is most natural to God it is most natural to God to love yea it were a wonder he should not love Austin observes it is as natural for God to love as it is for him to be and live God is an intellectual Being and being so he must needs know understand and love himself and God being a pure Act he cannot sometimes love and sometimes not love but as he knows himself always so he loves himself always It is true Gods love to the creature is not necessary as it is to himself God loves himself necessarily but he loves the creatures freely and arbitrarily but
yet thus we ought to conceive of it God being love love being his very nature and essence God loves the creatures freely indeed but yet he loves according to the condecency or becomingness of his own goodness What so proper to Love as to love God is love Bonum est sui ipsius diffusivum and therefore he loveth us The more good any thing is the more diffusive it is of it self God is good by nature and essence there is no one good but God Mat. 19.17 Creatures are good by participation but they are not originally essentially good but the Essence of God is goodness therefore God being goodness it self it is most agreeable to his nature to impart and communicate good to the creature 3. The third Consideration The love that is in the Godhead or Divine nature in Christ is the cause of all the love that is to be found in his humane nature The humane nature indeed is the glass in which the perfections of the Divine nature do shine forth but the Godhead is the source and spring of all Gods love is most visible to us in the effects of it that God should be incarnate and become man that the Law should be fulfilled for us that the pains and torments of Hell should be suffered and undergone for us that our nature should be carried into Heaven and filled with glory there these are the effects of Divine love and these effects of love are made visible and conspicuous in the humane nature but the Divine nature is the principal Efficient in all these For mark it it is the Divine nature in the person of the Son which sanctifies the humanity and assumes it into unity of person that carries forth the humanity as to all actions and sufferings so that if these be demonstrations of the highest love for God to dwell in our nature to see the Law fulfilled for us to see the torments and pains of Hell undergone for us to see Divine Justice satisfied for us we ought to behold and contemplate the love of the Divine nature as the first root of these things for it is the Divine nature that is the principal efficient cause of all God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son c. 1 Joh. 3.16 There was the love of the humanity which did concur in Christs laying down his life for us That the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment even so I do Joh. 14.31 Christ as man loved the Father and having received a commandment from the Father he laid down his life for the sheep He was willing even as man out of love to the Father and to the sheep to lay down his life but notwithstanding this the love that was in his Divine nature was the principal therefore doth John say Hereby we perceive the love of God that he laid down his life for us 1 Joh. 3.16 Therefore we ought not to terminate our thoughts or to stick meerly in the consideration of the actions and sufferings of Christ-man but we ought to contemplate the love of the Divine nature in all these things for it was the Godhead was the primary and principal cause Habuit rationem causae minùs principalis ministrae and the humane nature is to be considered as the less principal cause and as the servant to the Divinity So that whatsoever is sweet or amiable in Christ as man consider all his actions and sufferings in the humane nature and whatsoever may make him amiable in that respect we ought to look to the Divine nature as the principal cause and to the humanity as acted by the Divinity the humanity is the Organ of the Divinity in all these things Thus have we passed over the second Consideration there are heights and lengths and depths and breadths in the love of Christ if we consider the love of Christ distinctly as it is to be found in both his natures in his Divine and humane nature 3. I proceed in the third place to speak something of the effects of Christs love As the love of Christ hath heights depths lengths and breadths and all manner of dimensions in it if we consider it in the properties of it and as it is to be found in both his natures so it hath the same dimensions in it if we consider the effects of his love The effects of Christs love are most admirable 1. The first effect of Christs love is his Incarnation O that God would give us an heart to listen to the great Mysteries of God that are contained herein as the weight of these things requires that the Word should be made flesh that God should assume a part of humane nature and become true man here are heights breadths lengths Opus mirabile opus singulare inter omnia super omnia opera sua and depths of love indeed Bernard calls the Incarnation of Christ a wonderful work a singular work among all the rest of Gods works yea above all the rest of his other works The work of Incarnation is the greatest of all the works of God it is a greater work than the creation of Heaven and Earth for God to make all creatures out of nothing this is a work suitable to the Majesty of God but for God to come into the nature of his own creature after he hath made it this is more wonderful Quid potentius quà m conjungere Creatorem creaturam Creator ac Dominus omnium unus voluit esse mortalium qui manens in forma Dei fecit hominem idem in formaservi factus est homo Leo. Non miror miracula mundi miror Deum in utero Virginis What greater Argument of power than to joyn the Creator and the creature in one Phil. 2.7 8. Made in the likeness of men and found in fashion as a man They are melting expressions to any one that weighs them and considers what the meaning of them is For the God of Heaven to be made in the likeness of men and to be found in fashion as a man this will overcome and swallow him up that understands a little what the meaning of that is Heb. 4.15 This work of Christs Incarnation is a stupendious work the greatest work that ever was done the greatest that ever shall be done The glorification of all the Saints in Heaven is not so much as this for the Godhead to dwell personally in our nature This was that made Cyprian to say I do not wonder at the other miracles that are in the world I wonder at this that God should be in the womb of a Virgin that God who is incorporeal should cover himself with the covering of our flesh that he who is invisible should after a sort make himself visible that he who is the immortal God should become a mortal man that he who is infinite and uncircumscribed should take to himself a finite nature these
is apparent in those words of Thomas My Lord and my God Joh. 20.28 First he saith My Lord Dominum propter humanam Deum propter Divinam dicit naturam then my God He calls him Lord in respect of his humane nature God in respect of the Divine nature Now Thomas saith first My Lord then my God it is one and the same person that is Thomas his Lord and his God but faith could more easily apprehend Christ in his humane nature than it could in the Divine nature and therefore Thomas his faith begins there my Lord and from thence climbs up and ascends to the Divinity my God Hence is that expression 1 Pet. 1.21 By him we believe in God 2. As by means of the Incarnation God hath brought himself down to us and rendred himself more facile and easie to be apprehended and conceived of by us so by means of the Incarnation God hath rendred himself more sweet for us to approach unto him We may now approach to God as dwelling in our nature and God dwelling in our nature must needs be sweet kind benign propitious to them that draw nigh to him Hence is that expression 2 Cor. 5.19 God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself God having brought himself down to us in Christ is full of grace and compassion to poor sinners It is an expression I have met with in Luther Christ is nothing else but meer and infinite mercy giving it self Christus nihil aliud est quà m mera infinita misericordia donans donata Luther and being given to poor sinners This is a true description of Christ When Divine love and grace would put forth it self and manifest it self to the uttermost then it manifests it self in the gift of Christ Hence Christ is called the gift of God Joh. 4.10 If thou knewest the gift of God The Mystery of Christ the Incarnation of the Son of God is the greatest instance and demonstration of Divine love that ever was Hence God is called Love upon this account 1 Joh. 4.8 God is love why so The next words tell us In this was the love of God manifested because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him As much as if it had been said Here was the great demonstration of Divine love that God sent his Son God in Christ is God manifesting himself all love all grace all kindness and compassion to poor Sinners Hence is that expression Tit. 3.4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour had appeared to mankind The words are emphatical first we have here the kindness of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Criticks in the Greek Tongue tell us this word properly signifies the study of doing good to another that is kindness when a man studies to the uttermost how he may do good to another God to speak after the manner of men studied how he might recommend his love to man 1 Joh. 4.10 Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Here is the kindness of God the study that was in God to express his good will to the sons of men And then there is another word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Philanthropy of God God took an affection to our race to our kind as it were God took that affection to our nature as he did not to Angelical nature if we may so speak Heb. 2.16 Verily he took not on him the nature of Angels as much as if he should say He did not take such an affection to Angelical nature so as to cloath himself with a part of their nature but it was his affection to our nature that he would cloath himself with it Now God taking such affection to us to come into our nature and cloath himself with it he must needs be most sweet most benign and kind for man to approach unto for as much as God himself now dwells in the nature of man It is a notable Scripture to illustrate this Heb. 12.18 19 20 21 22 23 24. There are two things which the Apostle here designs to set forth 1. The greatness and excellency of Gospel-grace above the Legal Dispensation and that he doth in the 22 and 23 verses 2. The sweetness of Gospel-grace Tandem subjicit Jesum Mediatorem quoniam is solus est per quem nobis placatur Pater qui serenum atque amabilem ejus vultum nobis reddit Calv. this is described to us at the 24. verse And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant Calvin observes Last of all the Apostle speaks of Christ the Mediator because it is by him only that the Father is pacified and it is he that renders the countenance of the Father sweet and amiable to us by Jesus the Mediator is the Father become sweet propitious and benign to poor sinners 3. By means of the Incarnation God doth actually give and communicate himself to his people The flesh of Christ as Luthers expression is is the covering as it were of the Divine Majesty Involucrum Divinae Majestatis God by means of this flesh of his Son communicates and gives himself to his people the humanity of Christ is the Medium by which God exhibits offers and gives himself to be injoyed by his people Acts 20.28 God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood Though it was the flesh only that was capable of suffering and dying yet God was he who was in that flesh and it was he that did all in that flesh So in that other place God is in Christ reconciling the world Faith ought to apprehend God in Christ as giving himself to the soul and as doing all for the soul though we ought to contemplate Christ-man yet faith ought not to rest or terminate it self in Christs humanity but faith ought to apprehend God in Christ as giving himself to the soul and doing all for the soul He hath loved me and given himself for me saith Paul Gal. 2.20 And that passage of the Church in that triumphant Song of hers is most remarkable to illustrate this point Isa 12.2 Behold God is my salvation c. This Prophecy hath a manifest relation to the days of the Messias and it speaks clearly of Christ and his Kingdom Now what shall be the thanksgiving Song of the people of God in the days of the Messias This shall be the Song Behold God is my salvation c. The faith of the Saints looks to God in Christ they see God in Christ doing all for them and giving himself to them Though God hath sent his Son to take up the humanity and is pleased to make use of that Medium yet they see it is God himself that is the Author of their salvation and that it is God who doth all for them by his Son 2 Cor. 5.18 All things are of God who hath reconciled
seek after reconciliation with God and to labour that we may be made friends with God Christ laid down his life for us not because we were made friends before but to make us friends Since therefore the end of Christs death was to reconcile us to God we should seek after reconciliation with him This is the Apostles Argument 2 Cor. 5.19 20. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God It is as much as if the Apostle had said God is willing to be reconciled to us and he hath testified his willingness in giving his Son to dye for our sins and making satisfaction to his Justice Now since God hath expressed himself to be so willing to be reconciled to us we ought to be willing to be reconciled to him We pray you in Christs stead be ye reconciled to God Here it may be inquired But what is it for us to be reconciled to God When the Apostle prays us here with so much earnestness in Christs stead to be reconciled to God what is the reconciliation he aimeth at how ought we to be reconciled to God Two or three things I conceive are here intended 1. We ought to seek after reconciliation with God Isa 55.6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found that is seek his face and favour seek reconciliation with him Secure sinners are not aware of the difference that is between God and them although the sinner thinks little of it sin makes a vast breach an hostile difference between God and him God is angry with the wicked every day saith the Psalmist Psal 7.11 And The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1.18 God doth maintain his controversie against thee whilst thou goest on in the ways of sin therefore seek reconciliation with him Agree with thy adversary quickly whilst he is in the way Mat. 5.25 Labour to take up all differences between God and thee 2. To be reconciled to God is to accept of the reconciliation which God tenders humbly to embrace that grace which God offers God is in Christ reconciling the world and hath committed to us the word of reconciliation As much as if he should say God hath put himself into Christ on purpose to exhibit and give forth grace and mercy to sinners and he sends his Ministers and Ambassadors on purpose to make a tender of grace and mercy to him Now then are we reconciled to God when we do humbly embrace this grace and mercy offered to us Rom. 10.10 With the heart man believeth unto righteousness We ought with the full bent of our affections to embrace the grace of God offered to us in the Gospel 3. If we would be reconciled to God we ought to pray for renewing grace that we may lay aside the old enmity that lurks in our hearts against God It is sin that first of all made the quarrel and difference between God and us and how can we expect in reason that ever we should be brought into perfect reconciliation with God so long as that which first bred the quarrel and made the difference between God and us is retained and kept by us Isa 59.2 Your iniquities saith the Prophet have separated between you and your God Sin is that which sets us at a distance from God If therefore we would have the breach made up and the difference reconciled we must pray for that grace from God whereby we may lay aside that which first made the quarrel The Apostle tells us we are enemies in our minds by evil works Col. 1.21 So long as our minds are set upon sin so long as we continue in the love and practice of any thing that God hates Amicorum est idem velle nolle how is it possible we should be friends with God It is the property of friends to will the same thing and nill the same thing If we would be the friends of God we must will what God wills hate what God hates and love what God loves You that love the Lord hate evil Psal 97.10 This therefore is the second Use an Use of Exhortation to exhort us to seek after reconciliation with God In the third and last place Vse 3 Learn from what hath been opened to admire the greatness of Christs love to us who in some sense accounts us friends whereas indeed we are enemies Greater love than this hath no man that a man lay down his life for his friends We are all by nature enemies so we have heard and yet in some sense Christ accounts us friends Christ had a purpose of good will to us even when we were enemies towards him It was from his love that God sent his Son to dye for us when we were enemies Herein God commended his love towards us in that whilst we were yet enemies Christ dyed for us Rom. 5.8 So that God had a purpose of good will in his heart towards us when we were full of enmity in our hearts towards him Only that none may abuse this Doctrine take this caution No man can conclude that God hath a purpose of good will to him that remains an enemy to God and persists in his enmity but he hath reason on the contrary to think that he being an enemy to God by nature and continuing still to be so God remains so to him But however this was the love of God to the world in general that when the whole world were enemies and all were found in a state of enmity against God God loved the world so far as to find out and prepare a means of Salvation for the world God loved the world so far as that he gave his only begotten Son to deliver the world from its perishing condition and to bring it eternal life this was the love of God to us and this commends and sets forth the greatness of Gods love to us that when we were enemies to him he had a kindness for us and so great was his kindness to us that he sent his Son to bring us unto life Joh. 4.9 In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him The end of the second Sermon SERMON III. Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends THE general Proposition that I have laid down as the foundation of our Discourse from these words hath been this That our Lord Jesus Christ hath laid down his life for his people In speaking to this Doctrine I have propounded to speak to these four Heads 1. To open the import of this Phrase what it is to lay down a mans life
nature to lay down his life and dye for our sins Certainly he that believes this will find no reason to doubt of the love of God If God sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins if he had no other end in sending of him and if the Son of God did freely lay down his life for us then there is no reason that we should retain suspicious and jealous thoughts of the Father or the Son We know and believe the love that God hath to us How so Because God hath sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins If we can realize the sufferings of Christ to our minds by the eye of faith this will confirm our souls in the love of God towards us 2. Another effect of our studying the love of Christ in his sufferings for us is This will be a means to beget much love in us to Christ What more powerful argument to inflame our love to Christ than to consider what Christ hath done and suffered for us Can we behold the Son of God the second Person in Trinity God equal with the Father Emmanuel God with us God come down into our nature can we behold this great and excellent Person giving himself to suffer and dye for us taking the whole curse and punishment upon himself that we deserve and not love this person who hath so loved us and hath done and suffered such things for us The Apostle tells us 2 Cor. 5.14 The love of Christ constrains us The love of Christ that is Christs love to us the apprehension of Christs love to us constrains us why so Because saith the Apostle we thus judge That if one dyed for all then were all dead If Christ had not dyed we must all have dyed If Christ had not suffered the wrath of God we must have suffered it to Eternity If Christ had not been deserted we must have been deserted If he had not undergone dereliction and the hiding of Gods face the face of God must have been turned away from us for ever If Christ had not conflicted with the Divine displeasure we must have conflicted with the wrath of God for ever If Christ had not been cast into that Agony wherein he sweat drops of blood we must have been cast into those inexpressible horrours and torments of soul and body which would have pressed us down to all Eternity The deep and serious consideration of these things cannot but constrain us to love Christ The love of Christ constrains us saith the Apostle because we thus judge That if one dyed for all then were all dead The consideration of this That Christ hath freed us from that by his death which otherwise we must necessarily have undergone must needs be a strong ingagement upon us to love Christ We love him because he first loved us Learn how great the sin and ingratitude of the world is in slighting and abusing all this love Vse 2 and also how just that revenge is which God takes upon the world for slighting and abusing all this love If the love of Christ be so eminently seen in his suffering and dying for sinful men for the sinful world then how great is the sin and ingratitude of the world in slighting and abusing all this love God hath sent his Son from Heaven to save the world he hath sent his Son from Heaven to dye for the world but all this love is little thought of little regarded or esteemed by the generality of men this is the cause of the Lords great indignation against the world The world is guilty of many other sins it is guilty of great immoralities and many abominations in point of practice and these may have their influence and no doubt have as to the bringing down Gods displeasure upon the sinful world but that which is the fundamental sin the root sin of all it is the contempt of Christ and the Gospel the slighting and rejecting gospel-Gospel-love Gospel-grace This is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men love darkness rather than light And we may say This is the condemnation that love is come into the world that the Son of God who is love it self the Son of God who hath all the love of the Father in him and God is love that he is come into the nature of man and hath dyed for men that they might be saved and this is not at all regarded by them When all this love of his hath been published and made known to men the generality of men have taken no notice of Christ and his love so they may have their honours pleasures and profits take Christ and his grace who will for them for this so great contempt of Christ and his grace when God hath offered his love and the grace of his Gospel to the world and men have slighted it taken no notice of it hath God come to revenge himself upon the ingrateful world and I speak it with a bleeding heart I fear will yet revenge it more sorely The end of the sixteenth Sermon SERMON XVII Job 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends I Come now to other Particulars that set forth the greatness of Christs suffering for us 5. The greatness of Christs love in laying down his life for us appears in this That there was no one else that could have satisfied for us If men or Angels had attempted this work their sufferings had been but the sufferings of finite creatures there would not have been infinite worth and value in them to have satisfied for the sins of the whole world The expiation of sin requires a price of infinite value and the reason is because every sin is committed against an infinite Majesty an infinite Majesty being offended there must be a price of infinite value to expiate the offence Now whoever had been but a meer man could not have offered a price of infinite value but Christs sufferings were of infinite value because he was God as well as man and this is that which enhanceth the price of Christs love that none else could have suffered for us but Christ so as to have satisfied Gods Justice this Christ himself sets before us Isa 63.3 I have trod the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me So vers 5. I looked and there was none to help and I wondered there was none to uphold therefore mine own arm brought salvation This commends the greatness of Christs love in his sufferings That when none was able to suffer for us so as to satisfie Gods Justice Christ undertook the work The sixth Consideration is The greatness of Christs love in his sufferings appears in this That so great and excellent a person should come to suffer for us 1 Joh. 3.16 Hereby perceive we the love of God that he laid down his life for us that is that he who was the Son of God and God that
Fathers love that he should give so excellent a person as his own Son his only begotten Son to suffer and to dye for us God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son Joh. 3.16 How did he give him He gave him to be incarnate and to become man that was one way of his giving of him and secondly he gave him to suffer and dye for us that is another way of his giving of him Rom. 8.32 He spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all That the Father should give such a Son so great a Son a Son that was equal with himself as we have heard that he should give him to become man to suffer and dye for man how great was the Fathers love 2. Learn to admire the Sons love that he that was in the form of God and counted it no robbery to be equal with God should yet come to suffer and dye for men Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it Eph. 5.25 The love of Christ in giving himself for us is exceeding admirable for Christ as we have heard as he was God willed his own sufferings as he was man yea he ordered and disposed of his own sufferings and that which is more admirable he inflicted sufferings on himself for our sakes This is wonderful indeed No man saith the Apostle ever hated his own flesh and yet Christ after a sort might seem to hate his own flesh that is he afflicted himself for our sakes Isa 53.10 It pleased the Lord to bruise him he put him to grief the hand of the Father was upon Christ It pleased the Lord to bruise him he put him to grief It was not only the hand of the Jews that was upon him but the hand of the Father was upon him Now the Father had not only a hand in Christs sufferings but Christ himself as God had a hand in his own sufferings as he was man The Lord that is the Father bruised him saith the Prophet the Father put him to grief the Son also bruâ—sed himself he put himself to grief for all the actions of the Trinity towards the creature are inseparable and undivided what one of the Persons doth the other doth If the Father bruised the Son and put him to grief as he was man the Son also as he was God bruised himself and put himself to grief as he was man Now who ever was known to be cruel to himself And yet the Son of Son to express his love to us after a sort was cruel to himself he afflicted his own flesh and put it to grief for our sakes therefore is it said By his stripes we are healed Christ gave stripes and wounds to himself that so we might escape stripes and wounds Vse 2 This shews us our great stupidity and dulness that we should be no more affected with this stupendious and amazing love of God Hath Christ loved us as we have heard in such a manner was Christ so excellent a person had he his existence and subsistence with the Father from Eternity Did he know himself to be equal with God so that he should do no wrong or injury if he had kept to himself the same honour always which the Father did without abasing himself by his Incarnation and sufferings Hath he ordered his own sufferings willed them permitted them upheld his Humanity in them was he united to his own flesh in suffering Hath the Son of God done all this for us O let us be ashamed at our own stupidity and dulness that we should be no more affected with these things That God should become man for our sakes and being man give himself to suffer and dye for us and we no more affected with this O what strange stupidity is it The holiest and the best hearts have too snallow thoughts of these things and I for my part who am not worthy to be numbered among the Saints upon the slender consideration I have had of these things cannot but wonder at my self that I am no more affected with them SERMON XVIII Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends 3. THE third Consideration arising from the Dignity of Christs Person to shew the greatness of his love in his sufferings is this It was the Deity the Divine nature in Christ that gave virtue and efficacy to the sufferings of the humane nature Chemnitius It is the observation of a Judicious Divine That it is one thing to speak of the Passion and death of Christ as it is the property of the humane nature and another thing to speak of the Passion and death of Christ as by that Passion and death of his the wrath of God is pacified the head of the Serpent broken death destroyed and life restored these are the operations of the Divine power although not without the humane nature The humane nature could never have done this without the virtue of the Deity Therefore we must consider that although it was in the humane nature that Christ obeyed and kept the Law and though it was in the humane nature that he suffered and dyed yet it was by the power and virtue of the Deity that these actions and sufferings of the humane nature were meritorious and satisfactory as to God and salutary as to men that is that they had an influence upon our salvation Had not Christ been God as well as man neither would his actions and sufferings been satisfactory and meritorious with God neither would they have brought salvation unto us Who but God could have conquered death hell and the grave Who but God could have wrought out redemption and salvation for us Hence is it that the Church in her triumphant Song when she declares how it was that her salvation was wrought out for her she attributes it wholly unto God Isa 12.2 Behold God is my salvation the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song he also is become my salvation The Church looks upon all her salvation to be from God in Christ God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself 2 Cor. 5.19 It was God in Christ that gave the ranson and laid down the price for the Churches redemption Act. 20.28 Feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood The fourth Particular to set forth the greatness of Christs love in the work of his sufferings from the consideration of the dignity of his person That in the sufferings of Christ there was the humiliation of the whole person of the Mediator who was God as well as man This is a great thing to set forth the love of Christ in his sufferings to consider how great a person he was that humbled himself Phil. 2.8 He humbled himself and became obedient to the death Who was he that humbled himself that very person which the Apostle had spoken of before Now the person which he had spoken of before was he
the creature are undivided What the Father doth the Son doth and the Spirit doth what the Father purposeth the Son purposeth and the Spirit purposeth It is true Election is in a peculiar manner attributed to the Father Eph. 1.3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according as he hath chosen us in him Here we see Election is in a peculiar manner attributed to the Father but when Election is attributed to the Father the Son and the Spirit are not to be excluded from electing for Election being an act of Gods will there is but one and the same essential will in Father Son and Spirit what the Father wills the Son must needs will and the Spirit wills also and the reason is As there is but one and the same Essence so but one and the same Will in the three persons Therefore the Father willing to bestow grace and glory upon such a number of men the Son must needs will it too Therefore Christ saith All thine are mine and mine are thine Joh. 17.10 All the Elect are common to the Father and the Son they are both the Father's and Christ's As the Father hath chosen them so the Son hath chosen them and as the Father is glorified in their salvation so is the Son therefore are the Elect said to be Christs own Joh. 13.1 and they are called his sheep and these sheep he knows Joh. 10.14 How doth he know his sheep he knows them from Eternity and loves them from Eternity So that there is the love of Benevolence or good-will in Christ Therefore he saith in Joh. 10.28 I give unto them eternal life It is in the present Tense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I do give unto them eternal life How can Christ be said to give to his sheep eternal life they are not as yet perfectly and compleatly possessed of eternal life The meaning is Christ from Eternity hath decreed to bestow eternal life upon them he gives them the beginnings of it in this world in their Justification and Sanctification and they shall as certainly have the complement and perfection of it in Glorification at last as if they had it already 2. There is the Love of Beneficence in Christ Christ doth not only will good to his people but he bestows good upon his people As he did from Eternity intend to bestow grace and glory upon them so he doth in time actually conser grace and glory upon them This is exprest by the Apostle to the full Rom. 8.30 Whom he did predestinate them he also called whom he called them he also justified whom he justified them he also glorified The creatures love is oftentimes a barren love men may wish well to others they may have a purpose and desire to do good to them but ostentimes they want that power and ability to do the good they would but Christs love is a fruitful love he actually bestows that good upon his people he intends Vocation Justification Sanctification Glorification are all the fruits of this eternal Love of his Christs Love is such a love as brings all manner of spiritual blessings along with it Eph. 1.3 not only Election which is the Decree of God to bestow good things upon us but also Adoption the forgiveness of sin the acceptation of our persons all which the Apostle speaks of in the same place and these things are actually conferred on Believers and they are brought into the possession of them 3. There is the love of Complacency in Christ which is that love whereby he takes delight in the persons and graces of his Saints 1. Christ takes delight in the persons of his Saints Isa 43.2 I have called thee by name thou art mine The Lord tells Moses Thou hast found grace in my sight and I know thee by name Exod. 34.17 What is it for God to know Moses by name It was to take special delight in Moses to know him so as he did not know other men to take that delight in him which he did not in other men Isa 43.4 Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been honourable Zeph. 3.17 The Lord thy God will rejoyce over thee with singing he will rest in his love Isa 62.5 As the bridegroom rejoyceth over his bride so shall thy God rejoyce over thee 2. Christ takes delight in the graces of his people He first bestows grace upon his people and then he delights in his own graces Psal 147.11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him Prov. 8.17 I love them that love me God is Love and he loves the love of his people If any man love me he shall be beloved of me and I will manifest my self to him Joh. 14.21 Thus we have seen what the nature of Christs love is in general We come now to the second particular and that is to speak of the dimensions of Christs love The love of Christ is such a love as hath breadths and lengths heights and depths in it What are these dimensions of Christs love We are now lanching into the vast Ocean the love of Christ is such an Ocean as hath no bounds nor bottom in it We may as soon think to comprehend the Ocean in the hollow of our hands as comprehend his love the Apostle tells us it passeth knowledge and if so then it is in vain for us to think to comprehend it but though we cannot comprehend it yet there is something we may know of it otherwise the Apostle would not have prayed as he doth in the Text that ye may comprehend with all Saints what are the heights c. We may gather in some drops of the Ocean though we may not think to drain the Ocean and all that we can hope for is to make known some drops of the infinite love of Christ And that we may be able a little to conceive of it we shall consider the love of Christ these three ways 1. In the properties of it 2. As it is to be found in both his Natures the love that is in his humane and that is in his Divine nature 3. In the effects of it 1. The love of Christ will appear to be a furpassing love to have all manner of dimensions in it if we consider the properties of Christs Love 1. Christs love is an ancient love Christs love is more ancient and of longer standing than the world Eph. 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world The effects of Christs love are seen in time but the love it self was before all time Gods love to his people is as ancient as his love to himself Gods love to himself is from Eternity and his love to us is from Eternity therefore doth he say I have loved thee with an ever lasting love Jer. 31.3 It is a saying of one of the Ancients Mirus profecto amor hominum unà cum Deo aeternus Cyril Wonderful indeed is the love
of God to man which is together with God eternal that is eternal as God is eternal Where can we place the beginning of this love The Scripture teacheth us expresly that it was before the foundation of the world and therefore consequently before all time and if before all time then it must needs be from Eternity Christ loved us before we had a being yea it was his love that first of all gave us a being and he therefore gave us a being that he might demonstrate and set forth the riches of that grace and love he had in his heart towards us Rom. 9.23 That he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy which he had before prepared unto glory The Lord had prepared glory in his thoughts and purpose for the vessels of mercy from Eternity and he therefore gave them being that he might bestow that glory on them which he had prepared for them from Eternity Christs delights were with the sons of men from Eternity Prov. 8.31 Christs delight from Eternity was to think what he should do for us before ever we had a being even then when he was the object of the Fathers delight as it is in the verse immediately preceding I was daily his delight Even then when the eternal Son who lay in the bosom of the eternal Father was the Fathers delight yet if we may so speak he had another delight that took him up and that was to think what he should do for us It is the property of love not to be pleased in its own happiness only but have desires of the happiness of the person whom it loves Christ was infinitely happy in the Fathers bosom in being his delight but he loved us and therefore was not satisfied with his own happiness but pleased himself with the thoughts of making us happy 2. Christs love is a free love The freeness of Christs love appears in three respects 1. Christs love is free because it was not necessary Christ was not drawn from any necessity of nature to love us as if he could not chuse but love us he might have chosen whether he would have loved us God indeed loves himself necessarily he loves himself and cannot but love himself but God loves the creature freely and arbitrarily he might have chosen whether he would have set his love upon it yea or no Rom. 9.15 I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy Gods will is the reason of his own love to the creature God was under no constraint to shew mercy but he therefore shews mercy because mercy pleases him he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy Gods goodness and perfections were sufficient for himself and if he had needed any thing the creature could have given him nothing for the creature had nothing to give him but what God had first given to it and therefore Gods love was most free God was not necessitated to have made the creature or to have given it a being much less was he necessitated to have given it such a supernatural good as grace and glory was God might have made man and never ordained him to the glory of Heaven he was not necessitated to make man at all to give him so much as a natural being much less was he necessitated to give the happiness and glory of Heaven to him 2. Christs love is free for as much as there is no advantage or profit that comes to him by loving us Rom. 11.35 Who hath first given to him and it shall be given to him again God did not stand in need of any thing out of himself he had alsufficiency and perfection in himself within the compass of his own essence if we may so speak whatsoever is in the creature is first in God after an eminent manner before it is in the creature There is nothing in the effect but is first in the cause therefore the Ancients have this observation All created things are more perfectly in God than they are in themselves even as silver is more perfect in gold than in it self That virtue whereby the creatures were produced was first in God as the cause before it was drawn forth in the creature as the effect and therefore it is well observed by Austin God had a purpose from Eternity to make the creatures but he therefore made them in time that he might shew he did not stand in need of the creatures but had been perfect and happy without them from Eternity 3. Christs love is free for as much as it was without respect of merit in us Rom. 9.11 13. The children being yet unborn neither having done good or evil it was said Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated 2 Tim. 1.9 Who hath saved us and called us not according to our works c. Rom. 8.28 All things work together for good to them who love God to them who are the called according to his purpose It is true the Elect do love God yea but they are first called first loved of God It was not our love to God was the cause of Gods love to us but Gods love to us is the cause of our love to him God first elects and then calls us and then we love him God decrees to give to the Elect both faith and obedience Tit. 1.1.1 Pet. 1.2 therefore his love cannot possibly be grounded upon the foresight of our faith and obedience but is every way most free Sweet are the expressions which Bernard hath Amat Deus nec aliunde hoc habet sed ipse est unde amat ideò vehementiùs quia non amerem tam habet quà m hoc ipse est Bern. God saith he loves neither hath he his love from any thing out of himself but himself is the cause of his own love and therefore his love is most strong because he is not so properly said to have love as himself is love 1. It is a special peculiar love There is a common general love which God bears to all creatures but there is a special peculiar love which God bears to his people God loveth all his creatures with a general love but it is some only he loves with a special and peculiar love God Omnes quidem diligit sed non ad aequale honum Tolet as one observes loves all his creatures indeed but he doth not love them so as to will the same good or to bestow the same equal good upon them all God is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works He feeds the ravens cloaths the lilies gives life breath being to all creatures but then there is a special love which he bears to his people First he gives himself to them Heb. 8.10 This is the covenant I will make with them I will be their God Secondly he gives them his Son Having given us his Son Rom. 8.32 Joh. 3.16 Thirdly he gives Heaven Salvation and eternal life unto them Luk. 12.32 1
all the money he hath to purchase that inheritance it is a sign he loves that child well So is it in this case the things that God intends to bestow upon his people are the greatest things and he hath been at the greatest cost and charges to bring them to this inheritance 1. God bestows upon his people the greatest things and therein he shews how strong his love is to them What things are they no less than himself his own glory and blessedness all the riches of Heaven Heirs of God coheirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 Heirs of God what is that We shall inherit God himself for our portion we shall enjoy all that he is all that God hath so far as we are capable or according to the measure and capavity of creatures 2. As the things are great in themselves which God bestows upon his people so God hath been at great charge and expences to bring us to this inheritance He hath given us his Son his Spirit his Promises his Providences his Ordinances to bring us to this inheritance All things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose Rom. 8.28 Observe the last expression the called according to his purpose Those whom God hath a purpose to save those whom he hath laid out his eternal love upon all things are ordered to bring them to that happiness he hath purposed to bestow upon them God lays the train of all his providences so as to bring his Elect to that happiness he hath chosen them to 3. The love of Christ is constant unchangeable and everlasting The unchangeableness of Gods love ariseth from the unchangeableness of his nature Mal. 3.6 I am the Lord I change not therefore the sons of Jacob are not consumed As much as if God should have said My nature is unchangeable and that is the reason my love and mercy towards you is never changed The manifestation of Gods love may be changed towards us we may not apprehend the same effects of love at one time as at another therefore doth the Church complain Lam. 5. ult Thou hast utterly rejected us thou art very wroth against us but yet the root and fountain of Gods love is still the same Whom the Lord loves he rebukes and chastens Rev. 3.20 Gods correction of his people proceeds from his love Not but that God is truly displeased with the sins of his people when his people give way to such particular sins he disapproves of such particular acts of theirs and disapproves of them in relation to those acts therefore when David committed that sin in taking Vriah's wife the Text saith expresly but the thing which David did displeased the Lord 2 Sam. 11. ult It is contrary to the nature of God who is Holiness it self to approve of the sins of his people or of them with relation to such sinful acts nay God may be so far angry for particular miscarriages in his people as to take up the rod and correct them yet in this very case Gods original love remains The Scripture is very clear to this purpose Psal 89.30 31. If his children forsake my law c. then will I visit their transgression with the rood c nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him Here we see Gods paternal displeasure or his fatherly corrections may consist with his love yea in some sense Gods corrections are the Fruit of his love 1 Cor. 11.32 We are chastened of the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world he therefore chastens that he may not condemn Gods love to his people is a fixed unalterable thing Gods love is founded in his eternal purpose now there is no changing of Gods purpose It is a great expression that of the Apostle Rom. 9.11 That the purpose of God according to election might stand The purpose of God in election stands firm and this is matter of singular and unspeakable comfort to the Saints of God If thou canst once see a line of electing love drawn forth upon thee thou mayst conclude the purpose of God remains unalterable concerning thee Now it is possible a Saint may know his election 1 Thess 1.4 Knowing beloved your election of God A Saint may know his Election by his Vocation 2 Pet. 1.10 Give diligence to make your calling and election sure Now if thou canst find out thy election thou mayst conclude the purpose of God stands unalterable to thee Christs love is from Eternity and his love never ends Having loved his own he loved them to the end Joh. 13.1 2. Having spoken of the Properties of Christs love I come to speak of the love that is to be found in both his Natures in the Divine and in the humane nature The Love of Christ is a great love if we consider the love that is to be found in each of his Natures the Divine and humane nature Eph. 5.25 it is said Christ hath loved the Church and given himself for it Christ as God hath loved the Church from Eternity therefore is it said I have loved thee with an everlasting love Jer. 31.3 Now to this ancient and first love of his there was a new love added and that was the love of Christ as Man this love which is founded in his humane nature had a beginning even as the humanity it self had a beginning but yet it is such a love as never shall have an end Christ therefore loves his Church with a twofold love with a Divine and a humane love each of which is the most sincere the greatest the most perfect the most constant and abiding love I shall speak 1. Of the love that is in his humane nature because that will help us to conceive the better of the love that is in his Divine nature the love that is in the humane nature is the product or effect of the love that is in his Divine nature and if the love of his humane nature be so great the love of his Divine nature must needs be far greater as we shall hear The love which is in his humane nature is exceeding great To understand which we must consider as there are two natures in Christ the Divine and humane nature so there are two wills the Divine and humane will and as there are two wills in Christ so we must necessarily suppose a twofold operation of those wills and so by consequence a twofold love in Christ for love is nothing but the efflux of the will some motion in the will whereby some good is willed to another now the love that is in Christs humane nature is exceeding great It is true that which the School men call Habitual grace which is in the soul of Christ is not simply infinite and the reason that they give is this The humane soul of Christ being but a creature and not infinite the habits of grace which do inhere in his humane soul as the subject they
humane soul and body united to himself in the bond of personal Vnion The Divine person gives up the humane soul and body to be separated from each other at his death and yet holds them both to himself in the bond of personal Union Divines use an apt similitude to illustrate this by It is as if a man held a sword in his hand sheathed and should draw forth the sword out of the sheath the sword and sheath are separated one from the other yet the hand holds both Here then is the acting of the Divine will the Divine will in the person of the Son gives up the humane nature to suffer this is intimated in those expressions No man taketh away my life from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again Now the humane will knowing that it is the pleasure of the Divine will that the humanity should be given up to suffer submits unto and complies with the Divine will this is implied in that expression This commandment have I received of my Father Joh. 10.18 The Divine will of the Father and of the Son are all one Now the humane will knowing that it was the pleasure of the Divine will that the humane nature should be given up to suffering and death complies with the Divine will herein 3. The third consideration to set forth the love of Christ as he is Man or in his humane nature is this The love of Christ as he is Man may be seen in the Petitions he offered up to the Father for us whilst he was here on earth Much of that love which dwelt in his humane soul may be seen by the prayers and petitions he offered up to the Father for us It is true Christs Intercession is a work that belongs to him as Mediator now Christ is Mediator not according to one nature only but according to both natures and there is a communion of both natures in this action of his praying for us as well as in the rest of his Mediatory actions but yet although the person praying for us be God-man that very person who subsists in both natures yet that nature in which he is most properly said to pray is his humane nature as in his sufferings the person suffering is God-man yet the nature according to which he is said to suffer is the humane nature therefore he is said to be put to death in the flesh 1 Pet. 3.18 So in his praying for us the person praying is God-man but the nature in which he prays is the humane the whole action proceeds from the person but the proximate and immediate principle is the humane will Christs praying was the act or desire of his humane will though it be true that will was acted influenced and governed by the Divine will Hence is that saying of the Ancients Christus orat ut homo ut Deus adoratur ut homo orat Patrem Christ prays as he is man as he is God so he is prayed unto as he is man so he intercedes prays and supplicates to the Father for us Now we may consider the love of Christ in the desires that were in his humane will for us It is true it was the Godhead that directed and inclined his humane will to those desires and gave that virtue and efficacy to his prayers If they had been the prayers of a meer man they had not had such efficacy But yet we may consider the love that was in his humane soul when he prayed here on earth for us There was no small love in the Humane soul of Christ when he asked such great things for us a little before his going out of the world It is true his humane love is not all or the principal thing to be considered in the great things he asked for us If his love had not been more than the love of a man he could not have asked such great things for us as we read of in Joh. 17. yet certainly there was a great deal of love in his humane soul which was filled by the Divinity inhabiting in it His heart was brim-full of love when he came to make that last prayer of his to the Father for us Judge of his love by the things he asks for us Cujus Christiani cor non liquescit dum manifestè cognoscit Filium Dei aeternum pro se rogâsse Patrem ut unum sit cum ipsis What are the things Christ asks No less than Union with himself and the Father Joh. 17.21 23. It is a good speech of one of the Ancients What Christian heart is it that doth not melt when he doth clearly understand that the eternal Son of God did ask for him in particular that he might be one with him and the Father Can we desire a greater happiness than this to be one with the Father and the Son This is the happiness Christ asks for us that we might be one in the Father and the Son And as he prays for this Union the top of all so he prays for many other blessings as 1. That the Father would keep all that are his through his own Name vers 11. How would he have them kept He would have them kept unto this union So it follows That they may be one as we are one As the Father and the Son had intended the Elect unto this union so he prays that they may be preserved unto this union preserved unto eternal life preserved from miscarrying that they might come unto that union the Father and the Son had elected them unto What comfort is this that our Lord Jesus hath prayed we may be kept to our last happiness that God would be his own power keep us to Salvation The Salvation of the Elect must needs be secure when Christ hath prayed the Father that he would keep all his by his own power to Salvation 2. He prays that we might be kept from the evil of the world vers 15. You that fear to be overtaken with any scandalous sin you may know the worth of this prayer 3. He prays for our Sanctification vers 17. 4. He prays that we might be where he is vers 24. 5. He prays that we might have a share in his Glory not only that we might be with him but also behold the glory that the Father had given him What love must that heart needs be filled with that prays for such things It is true it was not the love of a meer man that could ask such things but it was the Divine love filling his humane soul and acting of it that carried him forth to ask such things And thus I have finished the consideration of the love that was in the humane nature of Christ 2. There is the love that is in Christs Divine nature The love which is in the humane nature is very great but the love of the Divine nature is infinitely greater The love
partly by his own consent 1. He was made a common person by the Divine appointment and ordination 1 Pet. 1.20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be the Head of the Elect. 2. Christ was made a common person by his own voluntary undertaking I lay down my life for my sheep Joh. 10.17 and vers 18. he saith No man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again So that by the Fathers appointment and by his own free and voluntary consent Christ became a common person The ninth Proposition is Christ by the Fathers appointment and by his own voluntary undertaking becoming a debtor to the Law stands obliged not only to perform the obedience which the Law requires but also to undergo and suffer the punishment the Law exacts for the breach and violation of it How it is that Christ stands obliged to give that obedience which the Law requires I have had occasion to open this heretofore when I spake of that subject how he was made under the Law the other part of the assertion is That Christ having taken upon him to be our Surety makes himself liable to bear the punishment of the Law that is that which I am now to speak to and to shew how Christ bears the punishment which we owe to the Law hence it is said That the chastisement of our peace was upon him Isa 53. that is the punishment which we deserved is laid upon Christ This must be opened in two Particulars to shew you how it is that the punishment that is due to us is laid upon Christ 1. That Christ becoming our Surety the guilt of our sins is laid upon Christ Christ saith a Learned man took our sins upon him as if so be they had been his own and presented himself before the Tribunal of God as being laden and burdened with the sins of all the Elect. The Scripture confirms this in that known Text 2 Cor. 5.21 He hath made him to be sin for us How is Christ made sin for us Not as if so be there were any sin in Christ in a way of inhesion for he was a Lamb without spot and without blemish and the Text it self doth sufficiently explain it self as to this for it tells us He was made sin that knew no sin Therefore when it is said that Christ was made sin it is plain it was not that he had any sin inhering in him as if there were any sin that did cleave to him How then was he made sin Certainly it was in a way of imputation for as much as the guilt of all our sins was imputed to him Christ had no sin of his own but the guilt of our sins was transferred upon Christ hence is it said That he bare our iniquities Isa 53. and in this sense that expression of Luther is to be understood Maximus peccatorum That Christ was the greatest of Sinners for as much as he that had no sin of his own took upon him the guilt of all the sins of the Elect and indeed we may well say with a Learned man If Christ did not take upon him the guilt of our sins then we our selves must of necessity be guilty before God to this very day Christ therefore took upon him the guilt of our sins in a way of imputation as our sins were imputed to him and stood charged upon him 2. The second Particular is The punishment it self which guilt obligeth unto was laid upon Christ Reatus est obligatio ad poenam Guilt is an obligation unto punishment Christ as he took upon him the guilt of our sins so he bare the punishment that guilt made him liable unto The chastisement of our peace was upon him by his stripes we are healed Isa 53. It is a speech of one of the Ancients In illo facta est punitio quae nobis debebatur That punishment was inflicted upon Christ that was due to us The tenth Proposition is That Christ taking upon him the guilt and punishment of our sins he suffered the substance of what we ought to have suffered This is a Proposition of great weight and moment and will bring us nearer the very heart and spirit of the Doctrine of Christs Satisfaction Christ did not undergo this or that punishment only but he underwent the substance of all the punishment that we were to suffer and as I shall shew you hereafter he suffered the substance of the torments of Hell for us It is true there are some circumstances and adjuncts in the punishment of the Damned which Christ did not undergo as namely Eternity of punishment the worm of conscience despair these Christ did not suffer he could not suffer these and yet Christ suffered the substance of the punishment that we should have suffered yea he suffered the substance of the torments of Hell for us Divines observe that Christ in some respect suffered idem the same that we should have suffered and in other respects he may be said to suffer tantundem that which was equivalent It was not necessary that Christ should undergo all the circumstances and adjuncts of punishment that the Damned undergo but yet he suffered the substance of what we ought to have suffered To speak a little to those three adjuncts that I named of the punishment of the Damned which Christ did not suffer I will shew first how Christ was exempted from those adjuncts of the punishment and yet how he suffered the substance of it 1. As for the Eternity of punishment It was not necessary that Christ should suffer that because the dignity of Christs Person was such that it was possible for him to satisfie the Justice of God and he did satisfie the Justice of God fully without suffering eternally The reason why eternal punishment is inflicted on the Damned is because they cannot suffer enough at once to satisfie Divine Justice therefore what is wanting in a present suffering must be made up by duration and continuance but now it was not thus with Christ Christ was able to satisfie the Justice of God at once therefore it is said That by one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified Heb. 10.14 What was wanting in the length and duration of Christs suffering was made up two ways 1. Partly in the greatness of his sorrows and sufferings Christ suffered more grief and sorrow as Divines observe than if all the sorrows and sufferings of all men had been put together 2. Partly by the dignity of his Person he being the Son of God and God by nature yet took upon him our flesh and gave that flesh for the life of the world Joh. 6.51 therefore it was not necessary that Christ should undergo that adjunct the Eternity of
who was in the form of God and counted it no robbery to be equal with God Now this was the person that humbled himself as this person emptied himself in his Incarnation so the Apostle tells us He made himself of no reputation he took upon him the form of a servant so the very same person humbled himself in his sufferings he humbled himself and became obedient to the death Christs humiliation both in his Incarnation and in his sufferings redounds to the whole person of the Mediator who is God as well as man Zanchy observes from that He was in the form of God and took upon him the form of a servant That as Christ is Mediator according to both natures so the whole person by reason of his taking on him the form of a servant is become a servant Now as the whole person of the Mediator God manifested in the flesh is humbled in his Incarnation humbled in his assumption of our nature so the whole person of the Mediator is humbled in his sufferings in his being obedient to the death the death of the cross It is true this humiliation of the Son of God both in his Incarnation and in his sufferings properly agrees and belongs to the humane nature and the reason is because the Deity simply and in it self considered is not capable of humiliation or abasement but yet we must know by the communion of Idioms as they call it that being attributed to the whole person which is proper to either of the natures the whole person of the Mediator is said to be humbled both in his Incarnation and in his sufferings so that it was the person of the Son of God who humbled himself taking on him the form of a servant and it was the person of the Son of God who humbled himself being obedient to the death even the death of the cross Now it is a contemplation worthy of our most serious thoughts to consider how in the death and sufferings of Jesus Christ there was the humiliation of the whole person and this I shall endeavour to open in a few Particulars 1. This is evident That Christ as God willed his own sufferings as man If Christ had not willed his own sufferings no one could have brought sufferings upon him for no man takes away my life saith our Saviour Joh. 10.18 No man takes away my life that is no one hath power to take it away unless I first give it This therefore we may take for granted That Christ as God willed his own sufferings as man Now consider what a condescension was this that that person who was in the form of God and was equal with God and knew himself to be so should yet will the taking up of our nature and also will his own sufferings in that nature This was the greatest condescension that he that knew the dignity of his own person his equality with the Father should yet in a voluntary way will his own abasement that he who was equal with the Father in respect of his Divine nature should yet by taking on him the nature of man and office of Mediator make himself inferiour to the Father for as he was man and Mediator so the Father was greater than he Joh. 14.28 Compare these two Texts together Phil. 2. and that of Joh. 14. In Phil. 2. it is said He was in the form of God and counted it no robbery to be equal with God and in Joh. 14. it is said The Father is greater than I. How is this to be understood He that was equal with the Father in respect of his Divine nature the same person becoming man and Mediator so he made himself inferiour to the Father and so the Father was greater than he This was the condescension and love of this great person that he that was in an equality with the Father in respect of the Divine nature becoming man and Mediator makes himself inferiour to him this will appear yet farther in the next Particular 2. Christ by taking on him the office of Mediator became subject to the Father therefore doth the Apostle fay 1 Cor. 11.3 That the head of Christ is God Christ as he is made man hath God for his head is subject unto him is under God as his head Hence also is it said Phil. 2. That he became obedient to the death Christ taking on him the office of Mediator became obedient to his Father and he underwent suffering and death in a way of obedience to him Now this was the great condescension of this excellent person who when he knew himself to be in a state of equality with the Father would yet put himself into a state of subjection to him and in obedience to the Fathers will expose himself to suffering and death This is that which our Saviour himself intimates to us Joh. 14.30 31. Hereafter I will not talk much with you for the Prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me But that the world may know that I love the Father and as the Father gave me commandment even so I do Satan or men had nothing to do with Christ they had no power over his life but Christ laid down his own life meerly in obedience to the Father and out of his love to us The Prince of this world comes and finds nothing in me Satan had no right or power to touch Christs life but Christ had the power to dispose of his own life as he pleased and having freely and of his own accord taken on him the office of Mediator he must be subject to the Father and dispose of his life as he pleased and his Father commanding him to dye he must give up his life in obedience to him Thus he that was the Author and Prince of life he that gives life to all others was content to give up his own life to be at the Fathers dispose and this speaks the humiliation of this great person that was in a state of equality with the Father that he would in a voluntary way of condescension make himself subject to him 3. To set forth the humiliation of the person how he humbled himself in the work of his Satisfaction let us consider that it is the person of the Divine Word or the second Person in Trinity subsisting in humane nature that tenders and offers the satisfaction by the operations of the humane nature To understand this we must consider that the operations and passions of the humane nature in Christ are not Non principium quod sed principium quo as the Schools call it the Principle that makes the satisfaction but they are the Principle by which satisfaction is made The Principle that as they call it which makes satisfaction is the person of the Word the second Person in Trinity which subsists in humane nature and the ground of it is founded upon this Logical Axiom That actions belong to persons Actiones sant suppose torum or actions
have crucified the Lord of glory The Apostle here speaks of Christ crucified as the Wisdom of God this the Princes of the world knew not The Rabbies among the Jews the Philosophers among the Heathen knew not this Wisdom of God they were not acquainted with it they little knew the Lord of Glory was in that body that was crucified pierced and that hung upon the Cross they were ignorant of the Divinity of Christs person the Son of God containing and keeping in the rays of his Divinity and permitting his flesh his humane nature to suffer they thought him to be but as another man Hence was it that the spectators mockt him with those words If thou be the Son of God come down from the cross they took it for granted that he that was the Son of God and God would not have suffered in that manner Now this was the great the wonderful and stupendious humiliation of this great Person that the Divinity in Christ hid it self and withdrew its lustre as it were in the time of Christs suffering that so the Humanity might suffer It is true there were some rays of his Divinity let forth in the time of his suffering that the veil of the Temple was rent from the top to the bottom that the rocks clave in sunder that the Sun was darkened and the graves were opened and the bodies of the dead Saints arose Such prodigious things as these were manifest tokens that the person that suffered was more than an ordinary person therefore the Centurion and those that were with him said Truly this was the Son of God But yet these things had not such an influence upon the generality of men but that the Cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the Greeks foolishness the world hath not been able to bear the Doctrine of a crucified Saviour and as Luther hath observed There is no Doctrine of Faith that the world is so offended at as this That whereas the wisdom and love of God hath been laid out to the uttermost in this way namely to save men by the death of his Son this hath been the greatest offence to the world Such is the pride and ignorance of men that they cannot think of being saved by one that was crucified But what doth the Apostle say The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.20 24. Whatever the world thinks of it this is the way of God and the wisdom of God to save men by the death of his own Son And herein did the greatness of Christs love to us appear That he who was so great a Person would suffer the glory of his Divinity to be obscured and darkened by his death and sufferings whenas he knew what he did and suffered for man would expose him to the disesteem of men and minister an occasion to them to think the more contemptuously of him than ever they would have done had he not stooped so low to do and suffer such things as he did for their sakes Behold Vse how great the price of our Redemption was the Word the second Person in Trinity was united to the flesh that suffered as we have heard God incarnate is the price of mans Redemption God hath redeemed the Church with his own blood Act. 20. This is notably set forth by the Apostle Peter We were redeemed not with corruptible things as gold and silver from our vain conversation but with the precious blood of Christ 1 Pet. 1.18 Precious blood indeed which was the blood of that person that was God as well as man It is well observed by Cyril It was not the blood of Peter or Paul or some other particular Saint that was but a meer man that we were redeemed by but it was by the blood of Christ God-man whose name is Emmanuel God with us Tanta medicina salus requiritur Divinitas incarnata sanguis ipse Filii Dei Luther This should teach us to have high thoughts of the work of our Redemption and of the price that was laid down for it O that the work of our Redemption should cost the death of so excellent a person as the Son of God! So great aremedy so great salvation says Luther was required that Divinity it self must be incarnate and the very blood of the Son of God must be shed for us O let us labour to get our hearts more deeply affected with these things The end of the eighteenth Sermon SERMON XIX Joh. 15.13 Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends THE second Use is this Vse 2 Learn from what hath been opened how great a sin the contempt of Christs person and of his sufferings is If so excellent a person as the Son of God and God was the person that suffered for us and wrought out redemption for us how great a sin then must it be to contemn this person and his sufferings The Apostle joyns both these together Heb. 10.29 Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the Covenant by which he was sanctified an unholy thing The Apostle here speaks 1. Of the contempt of Christs person Who hath trodden under foot the Son of God 2. Of the contempt of his sufferings And counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing So that to be guilty of the contempt of Christs person and of his sufferings must needs be the most hainous sin 1. As for the contempt of Christs person the Apostle calls it a treading under foot the Son of God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Treading upon a thing is an argument of contempt and scorn we tread upon nothing but what is vile and of no esteem we tread upon a worm as upon a poor abject thing a thing of no account yea sometimes treading upon a thing is an argument of hatred thus we tread upon spiders and other venemous creatures Now that so excellent a person as the Son of God one and the same God with the Father that he should be contemned and looked upon as a vile person what an indignity is this which is offered to so excellent a person 2. The contempt of Christs sufferings is set forth in that other expression And hath counted the blood of the Covenant wherewith he is sanctified an unholy thing We may render it thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Who hath counted the blood of the Covenant a common thing To count the blood of the Covenant the blood of Christ as common blood to count the sufferings of Christ but as the sufferings of a common ordinary man this is great contempt The blood of Christ is the blood of that person who is God as well as man and therefore to reckon his sufferings but as the sufferings
Elders and chief Priests and Scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day Our Saviour was not ignorant of his own sufferings but had a perfect contemplation of them in his mind before-hand he knew how great and bitter and sore they would be and yet he was content to undergo them for our sakes Consid 8 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That so great a person should give himself to suffer such things to expiate so vile a thing as sin which yet he hated so much and had power to punish that the life of the best person should go to expiate the worst thing this is admirable Sin is the worst of evils the vilest thing in the world Now that the life of the most excellent person the life of the Son of God should be given to expiate so vile a thing as sin this is admirable indeed The Lord hath caused to meet on him the iniquity or perversness of us all Isa 53. Sin is the perversness of the creature it is the crookedness or depravation of a mans actions sin is a defection or turning aside from a right path and yet the Son of God gave himself to expiate so vile a thing as sin is Dedit tam inaestimabile pretium pro tam despecta odioque dignissima re Luther It is a speech of Luther He gave so inestimable a price for our sins for a thing so vile so despicable so worthy to be hated What more abominable what more odious in the sight of God than sin and yet the Son of God gave himself to expiate our sins Sin is most hareful to Christ Heb. 1.9 Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity it is spoken of Christ and yet though Christ hated sin so much he gave himself for our sins Gal. 1.4 Who gave himself for our sins and as Christ hated sin so had he power to punish and to be avenged for it and yet rather than we should undergo the punishment that was due to us he himself who had power to inflict the punishment and might justly have done it was content to suffer the punishment for us Well may we cry out with Luther O the condescension and love of God to wards man God was the person offended and yet God came to suffer the punishment that man deserved Consid 9 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That Christ had all the Elect before him at once and suffered for all the Elect. It was not for one or a few of the Elect only that he suffered or for some or a few of their sins that he suffered but it was for all the sins of all the Elect Eph. 5.25 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it It was the Church that Christ gave himself for Christ knew all his sheep by name and he laid down his life for his sheep Paul could say He hath loved me and given himself for me and every true Believer may say He hath loved me and given himself for me Why now what an insinite Sea and Ocean of love must there needs be in the heart of Christ when as Christ out of the greatness of his love gave himself as a Sacrifice to expiate the guilt of all the sins of all the Elect that ever had been committed or should be committed to the end of the world This is set forth by the Apostle 1 Joh. 2.2 He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world that is Christ is not only the propitiation for ours sins who do now live and believe on him but he is also the propitiation for the sins of all others who shall live after us and believe on him even to the end of the world The virtue of Christs death and the efficacy of his sufferings to the Elect of all Ages Consid 10 The love of Christ in his sufferings appears in this That Christ by his death and sufferings hath delivered us from that which was the greatest matter of fear to us The great thing which all the sons of men have feared hath been death and the consequence of death The great thing threatned for sin was death In the day that thou eatest thou shalt dye the death Death was the great punishment threatned for sin hence it comes to pass that all mankind ever since the Fall have been under a slavish fear of death and the consequence of death The great things which we do naturally dread are death and what follows death Hell and the wrath of God Now Christ by laying down his life hath taken away the fear of death and the consequences of death This is fully expressed by the Apostle Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life-time subject to bondage There are two things which the Apostle intimates are the great things that do keep men in bondage all their days the one is the fear of death and the other is the power that the Devil had over men That he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil The Devil hath not the power of death simply and absolutely but he is said to have the power of death as he is the Executioner of Gods wrath and drags men to the torments of Hell Now Christ by his death delivers us from both these he delivers us from the fear of death and from the power of the Devil 1. Christ by death delivers us from death the strength and venom of death is spent in the death of Christ Christ underwent death as it was the Curse that was denounced upon us for sin Now death is no more a part of the Curse to a Believer because Christ hath undergone it as a curse for us 2. Christ hath also undergone the pains and torments of Hell as formerly hath been shewed and therefore he hath enervated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 made void or frustrated the power of the Devil as the word signifies Christ by his death hath taken away Satans power The Devil after a sort as he was the Executioner of Gods wrath might be said to have the power of death that is of eternal death after a sort and in a sense he hath power over those torments which the damned feel But now Christ having born those pains and torments for his people the Devil hath nothing to do with them he hath no power over them Could we contemplate death as we ought to do in the death of Christ we might see death to have lost all its strength all its venom in the death of Christ It is the observation of Luther Could we believe so firmly as we ought to do that Christ dyed for our sins and rose again for our justification there would remain nothing of fear or terrour in us for saith he the
one of the persons of the Trinity the number of the persons was not increased but the same Trinity still remains But here we may observe the singular advancement of our nature which is all that I aim at in what hath been spoken By what we have heard we may see how by reason of the Incarnation a part of our nature stands in so near a relation to the Trinity The humane nature in Christ hath a nearer relation to the Trinity than any creature whatsoever Humanitas Christi licèt sit creatura tamen quia sola nulla alia ita adhaeret Deo ut una sit persona cum Divinitate oportet igitur tam altiorem supra extra omnes alias creaturas esse tamen sub solo Deo Luther whether Angels or men It is a speech of Ambrose Humane nature is not to be despised which is taken into so near society and fellowship with the holy Trinity And it is a great speech of Luther The humanity of Christ although it be a creature yet because this only and no other creature doth so adhere to God as that it is one person with the Divinity it is higher than all other creatures and above all other creatures yet under God alone 3. The third Consideration is this the advancement of our nature by the work of Christs Incarnation appears in this In that by means of the Incarnation a part of our nature is become the Temple as it were of the Divinity Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up but he spake of the Temple of his body Joh. 2.21 Here we see the body of Christ or the humanity of Christ is plainly called a Temple and whose Temple was it the Temple of the Divinity Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up He that could raise up the Temple of his body when it was destroyed by death must needs be God therefore the person dwelling in this Temple was God so that Christ calls his own humanity the Temple of his Divinity Col. 2.9 In him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily The fulness of the Godhead dwells in the humanity of Christ as in its proper seat or Temple It is a saying of one of the Ancients Totum ejus corpus implet tota Divinitas The whole Divinity fills his whole humanity Yet we must take this aright when we say that the humanity of Christ is the Temple of the Divinity we must not suppose that the God head is or can be circumscribed but thus we ought to conceive it that by means of the personal Union the Godhead dwells in the humane nature of Christ so as it dwells not in any other creature whatsoever Now what an advancement is this to our nature that a part of our nature should be as it were the proper seat and Temple of the Divinity That God should manifest himself in by and through our nature assumed that the Divinity should shine through our nature and shew it self to us by our nature A notable Scripture to illustrate this in Joh. 1.14 The word was made flesh and what follows We beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten Son of God The meaning is we beheld some rays and beams of the Divinity breaking forth through that flesh of his God was made visible to us in the person of his Son who had assumed a part of our nature Hence is it that the body of Christ or the humane nature of Christ is called a Tent or Tabernacle Heb. 8.2 9.11 Why is the body of Christ or the humane nature of Christ called a Tabernacle For this reason Look as the glory of God filled the Tabernacle of old so the glory of the Divinity hath filled his humane nature The body of Christ or his humane nature as Calvins expression is up on that place It is that Temple in which the whole Majesty of God dwells Templum in quo tota Dei Majestas habitavit Calvin 4. The fourth and last Consideration to shew how our nature is advanced by the Incarnation of the Son of God is this By means of the Incarnation Christ-man hath supreme Authority Jurisdiction and Dominion over all creatures and the Government of the World and the ordering of all the affairs of it are committed to him by the Father There are clear Texts of Scripture to prove this Joh. 5.22 27. The Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment to the Son And hath given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man Matth. 28.28 All power and authority is given to me in heaven and in earth Psal 110.2 The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou at my right hand Hence is that speech of Austin Est haec fiducia gloriatio nostra quòd nostrûm singulorum portio caâ—o sanguis sedeat in coelo ad dextram Dei Patris aeterni August This is our confidence and the matter of our rejoycing that a part of our nature flesh of our flesh bone of our bone sits at the right hand of God the eternal Father Christs sitting at the right hand of God imports two things 1. His advancement and preheminence above all creatures God hath given him a Name above every name Phil. 2.9 2. It imports his supreme Power Authority Jurisdiction and Dominion over all creatures Eph. 1.22 Psal 8.6 He hath put all things under his feet The Radix or root of this Power which Christ is said to have over all creatures lyeth primarily and originally in the Divine nature of the Son The Son the second person in Trinity as he is one and the same God with the Father and the Spirit hath power and dominion over all creatures and as he is the Son incarnate as he is made man so he hath all power in a way of Dispensation all power is committed to him and he exerciseth that power ministerially as the Delegate of the Father which yet is in him originally and essentially as he is one God with the Father Hence is it that Divines observe If the question be asked According to which nature it is that Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God The answer must be That it is according to both his natures for as Christ is appointed to be Mediator according to both natures so he is King of the Church according to both natures only there is this difference to be observed The Divine nature in Christ receives nothing new which it had not before When all Power and Authority is said to be given to Christ the Divine nature in Christ receives nothing new which it had not before only there is a new manifestation of the Divine power and glory by the humane nature as Christ prays Joh. 17.8 Glorifie me with the glory which I had with thee before the foundation of the world As he was the eternal Son so he was possessed of the
same glory as the Father had from Eternity now he prays that that glory which he had as the Son and as God might be manifested in and by the humane nature therefore we must remember the Divine nature received nothing but only a new manifestation of the glory it had before in and by the humane nature assumed but the humane nature is that which hath properly Power and Authority given to it Hence is that speech of one of the Ancients Vthomo accepit quod ut Deus habebat Theodor. Christ received that as he was man which he had always as he was God As he was God he always had Power and Authority invested in him now he received that as man which he had always in him as God The Son as he was God did always reign with the Father before his Incarnation And hence that speech of Christ My Father worketh hitherto and I work Joh. 5.17 But although the Son did reign before his Incarnation yet it was then as God nakedly and simply considered as God not as yet cloathed with our flesh Vt Deus sine carne but since his Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven he reigns as God manifested in the flesh Aâ—tè regnabat ut Deus nudus seu suâ tantùm gloriâ in latus at pòst ut Deus carne nostrâ etiam vestitus Before his Incarnation saith a Learned Divine he reigned with the Father as God nakedly and simply considered as cloathed with his essential glory but after his Incarnation he reigned as God cloathed with our nature That is says he God the Father did not account the Son unworthy of this Honour and Authority although covered with our vile flesh and admitted him as the Son incarnate into a Copartnership with him in his Kingdom casting this honour upon the humane nature because it was joyned to his own Son in personal Union Just as if a Kings Son had taken some old garments to himself and cloathed himself therewith far inferiour to the dignity of that Relation he bears unto his Father and his Father should admit him with those garments to sit down with him in his Throne so the Son of God though cloathed with our nature covered with our flesh is not divested of his Government but he together with the Father governs this World This was that which made one of the Ancients use this expression That he who is God should sit with God that he who is the Son should reign with the Father is no such wonderful thing for he that hath the sameness of nature may well have the same power and dominion but that a part of our nature should have the same honour with him that assumed it this is that which exceeds all wonder But when Divines say whole Christ that is Christ not only as God but as man hath power over all creatures or the humane nature in the person of the Son of God reigns over all creatures we must understand this aright We must not suppose that Christ considered as meer man without his Divinity or that the humanity separate and abstract from the Divinity hath this Soveraignty and supreme Dominion over all creatures for supreme Power Dominion and Soveraignty over all creatures is proper to God only it is such a Dignity as is proper to God only therefore is it said Isa 45.22 I am God and beside me there is no other and what follows To me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear He must needs be God to whom every knee must bow and every tongue must confess therefore it is not compatible to any creature simply and by it self considered to have dominion over all things But we ought thus to conceive of it The humanity of Christ is to be lookt upon as an Instrument that is conjoyned with the Deity the Son of God because he hath the humane nature united to him exercises all Rule Power and Authority by the humanity as by an instrument conjoyned with him The Power remains in the Divine nature primarily radically and fundamentally and this Power is exercised by the humane nature secondarily and ministerially that is to say whatsoever Christ wills by his Divine will the same doth he will by his humane will whatsoever he doth in the Church as God he doth it also as man Not that the humane nature is omnipotent but the person who subsists in the humane nature as well as in the Divine is omnipotent and there is a concourse of both natures in every action the person working by each nature what is proper to each nature We come now to make some use of what hath been opened there are several Uses will arise from the Doctrine that hath been delivered We may learn from what hath propounded Vse 1 that there is a vast difference between Christ and Believers Believers have Union with the Father and the Son yet the humane nature in Christ or Christ as he is man hath a preheminence above all Believers and that will appear by reflecting a little upon what hath been spoken 1. Consider this the humane nature in Christ hath that relation to the Trinity that no Believer in the world hath It is a Maxime with Divines The humanity of Christ belongs personally to the Trinity Humanitas Christi personaliter pertinet ad Trinitatem Now when Divines say That the Humanity of Christ belongs personally to the Trinity their meaning is not that the humanity of Christ brings in a new person for then there would be a Quaternity four persons instead of three but when they say the humanity of Christ belongs personally to the Trinity their meaning is the humanity of Christ belongs and hath relation unto the Word who is one of the persons in the Trinity and that it stands in personal Union with him so that the second person in Trinity subsists personally in the humane nature assumed which he doth not in any other creature whatsoever So that none of the Elect hath that kind of relation to the Trinity which the humane nature in Christ hath for the humane nature in Christ doth not subsist of it self out of the second person in Trinity but the second person in Trinity takes the humane nature into the subsistence of his own person so that the humane nature in Christ hath that relation to one of the persons in the Trinity to whom in person it is united and thereby to the whole Trinity that no other creature whether Angels or men ever had or shall have 2. The humane nature in Christ is the Temple of the Divinity God manifests himself to us in and by that humanity which the Son hath assumed This cannot be said of Believers For though it be said of Believers that they are the Temple of the Holy Ghost and that the Spirit of God dwells in them yet it is no where said of Believers Col. 2.9 that the fulness of the Godhead dwells in them bodily It is a
death and suffering in those words Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me Though Christ did discover the verity and truth of humane nature in him by those expressions yet his will was not absolutely bent and set against suffering and that appears from hence That knowing it to be his Fathers will that he should suffer he did readily and presently comply with the will of his Father but when he saith Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me he shews that the verity and truth of our nature was in him that the inclination of nature was not to suffer he shewed this that humane nature as humane nature had no delight in suffering But now seeing it was his Fathers will that he should suffer he puts off nature as it were lays aside the inclinations of it and saith Not my will but thy will be done His Father willing suffering he wills it too not as I will but as thou wilt as much as if he should say If thou wilt have me suffer I am willing I am content to suffer Christ therefore as man willed his own sufferings but still as I said at first his humane will was governed by his Divine will so that it was the Divine will that willed his sufferings primarily and the humane will was carried out by the Divine will to will them in conformity thereunto 2. It was the Divine nature in Christ that did permit the humane nature to suffer If the Divinity had exerted it self and put forth its power and efficacy it could and would have prevented all suffering and death in the humane nature No man saith our Saviour takes my life from me I lay it down of my self Joh. 10.18 Had not Christ freely and voluntarily laid down his own life no man could have taken away his life from him And hence is it that the Ancients do often use this expression That in the Sufferings and Passion of Christ the Divinity in Christ aid rest that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it did not put forth its virtue for if the Divinity which was personally united to the humane nature had exerted its virtue it had certainly prevented all sufferings in the Humanity therefore the Divinity did suspend its influence that so the humane nature might be in a capacity to suffer The Divine nature did not put forth its strength and efficacy to restrain the sufferings of the humane nature And this shews the love of Christ that the Divine nature suspended its influence that so the humane nature might be in a capacity to suffer 3. It was the Divine nature that did strengthen and uphold the humane nature in suffering so great was the burden of our sins and Gods wrath that was due to us for them that it was enough to have sunk a meer creature if there had not been infinite and almighty power to support it Now the Humanity of Christ considered in it self being but a creature could not of it self have stood under the weight and burden of our sins and Divine wrath therefore was it supported by the infinite and almighty power of the Deity therefore is it said That Christ by the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God Heb. 9.14 By the eternal Spirit that is Christ was supported by the power of the Deity in offering himself as a Sacrifice for our sins The second Consideration is this The Word the second Person in Trinity was united to the flesh when the flesh suffered the union between the two natures in Christ was not dissolved but it continued firm and inviolable in the time of Christs suffering Verbo inviolabili non sepâ—rato à carne passibili Hence is that of Leo The inviolable Word was not separated from his passible flesh therefore is it that our Saviour calls it his flesh his body The bread which I will give you is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world Joh. 6.5 So in the words of the Sacrament This is my body which is broken for you the flesh that was given upon the Cross was his flesh the flesh of the Word his own proper flesh not another mans but the flesh of the Word the flesh of him that came down from Heaven I am the bread that came down from heaven and the bread which I will give is my flesh so likewise it is said This is my body Hence is that expression of Athanasius Caro illa trat corpus Dei. That flesh which suffered was the body of God not that God hath a body but thus we must understand it God was personally present with personally united to that body that suffered Another of the Ancients hath this passage Dominus gloriae erat in corpore quod crucifigebatur Epiphan The Lord of Glory was in that body which was crucified which was struck through which did suffer that body of his being no other but the Temple of the Word the Temple of the Son of God it was full of the Deity And hence was it saith he that the Sun beholding its Maker in the assumed body withdrew its rays and was covered with darkness So we read that in the time of our Saviours Passion there was a darkness over all the earth from the sixth hour to the ninth hour O what an astonishing Mystery is this How great a spectacle must this needs be to the holy Angels to see the Son of God and God that person whom they were wont to worship and adore in Heaven personally united to that flesh which was now hanging on the Cross and suffering in that flesh which he had assumed If this must needs be matter of wonder and astonishment to the Angels well may it be to us This is one of the things the Apostle speaks of when he speaks of the great Mystery of Godliness Without controversie saith he great is the mystery of godliness God manifested in the flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 conspectus ab Angelis seen or beheld of Angels He appeared to the Angels How did he appear to them He appeared to them in such a way he never appeared before God was seen of Angels in mans nature he appeared to the Angels in humane nature this was such a sight as the Angels never saw before they never saw God in mans nature before the Son of God was incarnate therefore the Angels were struck with admiration at the novelty and excellency of this sight to see God made visible in flesh And as this was matter of great admiration to the Angels to see God come down into our nature so it ought to be to us and certainly as it was matter of wonder to the Angels to see God incarnate so it was matter of greater wonder to them to see God suffering and dying in the nature of man for man Vse 1 Learn to admire the infinite love of the Father and of the Son 1. Admire the