account with God than ignorance unless it be to aggravate their sins and their condemnation SECT II. Of acquaintance with the Person of Christ. AFter this plain account wherein the Knowledge of Christ consists the sum of which is that to know Christ is to understand his Gospel which contains all those revelations he made of God's will it will be necessary to examine another notion of the Knowledge of Christ very distinct from this which contains a greater secret than at first one would imagine and that is an acquaintance with the Person of Christ which if we will believe some men is the only fountain of saving knowledge I shall not envy the Author the glory of this discovery and therefore shall honestly confess where I had it viz. in a Book Entitled Communion with God the Father Son and Holy Ghost each Person distinctly Written by Iohn Owen D. D. And that I may not do this Author wrong I must tell you what he means by acquaintance with Christ's Person an account of which we have in digression 2. pag. 87. of the excellency of Christ Iesus Where he tells us that Christ is not only the Wisdom of God but made wisdom to us not only by teaching us wisdom that is by the Doctrines he preached and those revelations he hath made of God's will as he is the great Prophet of the Church but also because by the knowing of him we become acquainted with the wisdom of God which is our wisdom To which purpose he applies that Text which speaks of the Doctrines and Revelations of Christ to his Person Coll. 2. 3. For in him dwell all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge So that our acquaintance with Christ's Person in this man's Divinity signifies such a knowledge of what Christ is hath done and suffered for us from whence we may learn those greater deeper and more saving Mysteries of the Gospel which Christ hath not expresly revealed to us for so he adds soon after that these properties of God his pardoning mercy c. Christ hath revealed in his Doctrine in that revelation he hath made of God and his will but the life of this knowledge lies in an acquaintance with his Person wherein the express image and beams of this glory of his Father doth shine forth that is that these things are clearly eminently and savingly only to be discovered in Iesus Christ as he explains himself So that it seems the Gospel of Christ makes a very imperfect and obscure discovery of the nature and Attributes and will of God and the methods of our recovery we may thoroughly understand whatever is revealed in the Gospel and yet not have a clear and saving knowledge of these things unless we gain a more intimate acquaintance with the Person of Christ. This indeed advances the Person of Christ very much but is no great commendation of his Gospel and prophetick office It sets up a new rule of Faith above the Gospel viz. an acquaintance with Christ's Person in whom dwell all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge But that you may better understand the whole mystery of this Acquaintance with the Person of Christ I shall first show you what additions these men make to the Gospel of Christ from an acquaintance with his Person and secondly show you what an unsafe way of arguing this is and how prejudicial to the Christian Religion First to show you what additions these men make to the Gospel of Christ from an acquaintance with his Person And I confess I am very much beholden to this Author for acknowledging whence they fetch all their Orthodoxy and Gospel Mysteries for I had almost pored my eyes out with seeking for them in the Gospel and could never find them but I learn now that indeed they are not to be found there unless we be first acquainted with the Person of Christ. This is an argument well worth considering and if this discourse should prove long as I fear it will I doubt not but the usefulness of it will be a sufficient reward both to the Writer and Reader And since I owe this discovery to Dr. Iohn Owen I shall confine my self to his method who in the place above-mentioned tells us that the sum of all true wisdom and knowledge may be reduced to these three heads First The knowledge of God his nature and properties Secondly The knowledge of our selves with reference to the will of God concerning us Thirdly Skill to walk in Communion with God In these three is summed up all true wisdom and knowledge and not any of them is to any purpose to be obtained or is manifested but only in and by the Lord Christ. Where By is fallaciously added to include the Revelations Christ hath made whereas his first undertaking was to show how impossible it is to understand these things savingly and clearly notwithstanding all those Revelations God hath made of himself and his will by Moses and the Prophets and by Christ himself without an acquaintance with his Person But to let that pass I shall begin with the knowledge of God his nature and properties and I shall not particularly examine every thing he says but principally take notice of those peculiar discoveries of the nature of God which the World was ignorant of before and of which Revelation is wholly silent but are now clearly and savingly learnt from an Acquaintance with Christ's Person The light of nature and the works of Creation and Providence and those manifold Revelations God hath made of himself to the World especially that last and most perfect Revelation by Iesus Christ our Lord assure us that God is infinite in all perfections that he is so powerful that he can do whatever he pleases so wise that he knows how to order every thing for the best so good that he desires and designs the happiness of all his Creatures according to the capacity of their natures so holy that he hath a natural love for all good men and will not fail to reward them but hates all sin and wickedness and will as certainly punish all obstinate and incorrigible Sinners but yet that he is very patient and long-suffering towards the worst of men and uses various methods of kindness and severity to reclaim them and is as ready to pardon them when they return to their duty as a kind Father is to receive an humble and penitent Prodigal These properties of God are plainly revealed in the Scripture without any further acquaintance with the Person of Christ And had Christ never appeared in the World yet we had reason to believe that God is thus wise and good and holy and merciful because not only the works of Nature and Providence but the word of God assure us that he is so the Appearance of Christ did not first discover the nature of God to us but only gave us a greater expression of God's goodness than ever we had before confirms us in the belief of what we had
Golden Bucket whereas at other times they tell us that Faith may be a sore and blear-eyed Leah a shaking and Palsie hand weak and bending Legs and have all the infirmities that may be and be never the worse neither as to the purpose of justification so that Faith had need be a very humble Grace else it would take such language very ill from them Thus to give you but one instance more when these men are prest with those Scriptures that urge the necessity of good works and a holy life that without holiness no man shall see God that the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men That our acceptation with God depends upon a holy and vertuous life that God is no respector of Persons but in every Nation he that feareth God and worketh Righteousness is accepted with him That except our Righteousness exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees those Immoral Hypocrites who plac't all their Righteousness in observing the Ceremonies of the Law without the purity of their hearts and lives we shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven That he who breaks one of the least of these Commandments and teacheth men so shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven that is shall have no Inheritance there and he that doth and teacheth them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven that is shall be greatly rewarded with many more of the like nature which assert the absolute necessity of a holy life and keeping the Commandments of God to entitle us to his love and favour and the rewards of the next life which perfectly overthrow their fundamental notion of justification by the righteousness of Christ the merits of whose death they say free us from the guilt of sin and that punishment which is due to it make us as perfectly Innocent as if we had never offended and the righteousness of his life imputed to us makes us righteous so as to deserve a reward gives us an actual title to glory Now any one who is not mightily acquainted with the Person of Christ would think it a very hard task to reconcile this Doctrine of Justification by the imputation of Christs Righteousness without any thing of our own with the necessity of a holy life which the Scripture doth so expresly assert But these men defie you if you charge them with destroying the necessity of a holy life And I wish with all my heart that whatever the consequence of their Doctrines is it may have no bad influence upon their lives For they tell us that this Universal Obedience and good works a very suspicious word which methinks these men should be afraid to name are indispensably necessary from the Soveraign appointment and will of God this is the will of God even our Sanctification It is the will of the Father and it is the will of the Son I have ordained you that you bring forth fruit John 15. 16. and the appointment of the Holy Ghost And then Holiness is one eminent and special end of the peculiar dispensation of Father Son and Spirit in the business of exalting the glory of God in our Salvation It is the end of the Fathers electing love he hath chosen us that we should be holy Eph. 1. 4. the end of the Sons redeeming love who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Titus 2. 14. and of the Spirits sanctifying love as any one would easily guess It is necessary to the glory of God to the glory of the Father to the glory of the Son and to the glory of the Holy Ghost whose Temple we are and are not these men now mightily injured in being charged with denying the necessity of a Holy Life who make it necessary upon so many accounts Is it not great pity they should be so abused But the truth is all this is not one syllable to the purpose for the question was about its necessity to Salvation and if we be justified and saved without it all this cannot prove any necessary obligation on us to the practice of it God hath appointed and commanded obedience but where is the sanction of this Law will he damn those who do not obey for their disobedience and will he save and reward those who do obey for their obedience not a word of this for this destroys our justification by the Righteousness of Christ only And if after all these commands God hath left it indifferent whether we obey or not I hope such commands cannot make obedience necessary The Father hath elected us to be holy and the Son redeemed us to be holy but will the Father elect and the Son redeem none but those who are holy and reject and reprobate all others doth this Election and Redemption suppose Holiness in us or is it without any regard to it For if we be elected and redeemed without any regard to our own being holy our Election and Redemption is secure whether we be holy or not and so this cannot make holiness necessary on our parts though it may be necessary on Gods part to make us holy but that is not our care Obedience and a holy life is for the glory of the Father the Son and holy Spirit how so when the necessity of Holiness is so destructive to free Grace which is the only glory God designs to advance by Christ. If this will not do yet Holiness is necessary to our honour for it makes us like to God Prophane men that they are as if the perfect Righteousness of Christ his beautiful Robes were not much more for our honour and did not make us more like to God than the rags and patches of our own Righteousness however if men prefer their lusts and interests before their honour the necessity of holiness ceases But it is for Peace What Peace I pray you Peace of Conscience Why then must we at last fetch our Peace and security from our own duties and graces Is not this to renounce Christ Miserable men that we are must we then set about correcting our lives amending our ways performing duties required and so follow after righteousness according to the Prescript of the law Why this is the course wherein many men continue long with much perplexity sometimes hoping oftner fearing sometimes ready to give quite over sometimes vowing to continue their Consciences being no ways satisfied nor righteousness in any measure obtained all their days After they have tired themselves perhaps in the largeness of their ways they come at length with fear and trembling and disappointment to the conclusion of the Apostle by the works of the Law no man is justified and with David cry that if God marks what is done amiss there is no standing before him And is this the way in which we must seek for Peace is this the way to enjoy Communion with
but one Christian Society which is the One Body of Christ. Thus Brethren in Christ i. e. Christian Brethren 1 Colossians 2. Verse And if any man be in Christ he is a new Creature 2. Ep. to the Corinthians 5. Chapter 17. v. i. e. every sincere Christian is a new Creature or whoever professeth the Faith of Christ and lives in Society with the Christian Church hath obliged himself to live a new life but of this more in its proper place Thus variously is the name Christ used in the Writings of the Apostles which hath occasioned very great mistakes in some mens Divinity who are very zealous to advance Christs Person to the prejudice and reproach of his Religion Who instead of those substantial duties of the love of God and men and an universal holiness of life have introduced a fanciful application of Christ to our selves and Union to him set off with all those choice Phrases of closing with Christ and embracing Christ and getting into Christ and getting an interest in Christ and trusting and relying and rowling our Souls on Christ And instead of obedience to the Gospel and the Laws of Christ have advanced a kind of Amorous and Enthusiastick devotion which consists in a passionate love to the Person of Christ in admiring his Personal excellencies and perfections fulness beauty loveliness riches c. The Foundation of all which Riddles and Mysteries is that these men make the Person of Christ almost the sole object of the Christian Religion and whatever is spoken of Christ with respect to his Offices his Laws and his Religion they understand of his Person and personal excellencies And therefore the design of this discourse is to reconcile the Person of Christ with his Religion that men may not abuse themselves with a pretended devotion to our Saviour while they contemn his Laws and purposely defeat the great end of his coming into the World And to that end I shall discourse on these following Arguments First Of what use the consideration of Christs person is in the Christian Religion Secondly What the Knowledge of Christ is Thirdly Wherein our Union to Christ and Communion with him consists Fourthly Christs love to us and our love to Christ. CHAP. II. Of what use the consideration of Christs Person is in the Christian Religion THE first thing to be stated is of what use the consideration of Christs Person is in the Christian Religion For those men who talk so much of the Person and Personal excellencies of Christ frequently without any sense and generally without any just ground from Reason or Scripture are very clamorous and alarm the World with strange jealousies and fears as if there were a party of men started up who design to make Christ useless and to reduce Religion to its first Natural State which knew no Priest nor Sacrifice nor Mediator A design which I profess I am wholly a stranger to as I believe all those are who are so much charged with it The Foundation of my hope is that which is the Foundation of the Christian Religion the Sacrifice and Intercession of our Lord Iesus Christ. But I doubt not it will appear in the Sequel what the ground of these calumnies are viz. that we are charged with making Christ useless only because we dare not make his Laws and Religion so And to prevent such scandals for the future I shall lay the Foundation of all in this inquiry of what use the consideration of Christs Person is in the Christian Religion By the Person of Christ I mean what all men ought to mean who talk of Christs Person viz. Christ himself as every mans Person is himself and the only proper consideration here is the greatness of his Person who is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or God man the Son of God in whom his Soul was well pleased who left the glories of an Eternal Throne to undertake the work of mans redemption and this suggests many useful considerations which have a great influence upon Religion As first This is a plain demonstration of Gods love to Mankind that he sent so great and so dear a Person as his only begotten Son into the World to save Sinners All Religion is founded on a belief of Gods Goodness He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Hebr. 11. 6. that is must believe his Being and his Providence that he loves and takes care of good men for no man will serve God who does not hope to be the better by it And therefore every Religion had its proper demonstrations of Gods Goodness Natural Religion was founded on those natural evidences of the Divine bounty and goodness in making and governing the World the Mosaick Religion on those miraculous deliverances God wrought for Israel and that particular providence which watched over them the Christian Religion on the Incarnation Death and Resurrection of the Son of God a work of such stupendious love that it is the wonder of Angels and the astonishment as well as praise of men No man can doubt of Gods good will to Sinners who sees the Son of God cloathed with our flesh and dying as a Sacrifice for our sins this gives relief to our guilty fears and does encourage us to retrieve our past follies by new obedience that we have so great an assurance of God's goodness for he had nothing greater to bestow on us than his Son And he that spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things 8 Rom. 32. Secondly This gives great reverence and authority to the Gospel that it was preached by so great a Person as the Son of God Laws always partake of the fate and condition of the Law-giver the greater opinion we have of his Wisdom and Reverence for his Person the more sacred regard have we for his Laws and therefore Numa pretended that he received his Laws from the Goddess Aegeria to procure a greater veneration for them which was imitated by Lycurgus and other Law-givers thus God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son whom he appointed Heir of all things by whom also he made the Worlds 1 Hebr. 1. 2. And his greatness and Authority gives an inviolable sanction and just reverence to his Laws Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip for if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation which at first began to be spoken by the Lord 2. Hebr. 1. 2 3. To the same purpose is that Parable in Luke 20. 9. c. Thirdly The greatness of his Person gives
of the Gospel if they understand any thing more by them than expecting to be saved according to the terms of the Gospel Covenant that is by believing and obeying the Gospel of Christ And certainly they must mean something more than this or else they raise a great noise and clamour in the World and confound mens minds with obscure and unscriptural phrases to no purpose as will appear more in what follows CHAP. III. Of the Knowledge of Christ. SECT I. THE happiness of Mankind consists in the Knowledge and Love of God who is the greatest and the best Being and therefore our good God who is never wanting to his own glory and the happiness of his Creatures hath taken care in all Ages by one means or other to make known himself and his will to the World In the first Creation of all things he left such visible impresses of his own Divine Wisdom and Power on the works of Nature and planted in the mind of man such a natural knowledge of himself that it was as easie to discover the first Author of all things as it is now for a well disposed eye to see the Sun when it shines And while man preserved his innocence God himself did not disdain to converse with him and to give him very present and sensible demonstrations of his Power and Providence In after Ages as Mankind grew more corrupt and declined to Idolatry God afforded good men the frequent apparitions of Angels who were the great Ministers of his Providence and to instruct the more degenerate part of Mankind he raised up some great examples and Preachers of Righteousness such as Enoch and Noah and Abraham and gave such plain and undeniable proofs of his acceptance of these men as might reasonably incourage others to imitate their examples He translated Enoch immediately to Heaven and preserved Noah and his Family in the Ark when he destroyed the rest of the World by a deluge of Waters which was a signal warning to that corrupt Generation while the Ark was preparing and a great example to Posterity he sent Lot out of the ruins of Sodom and made Abraham the Father of a great Nation which was a convincing argument how dear these good men were to God and what others might expect from him who would worship and fear him as they did But when the World would not be reformed by these single Examples God chose the Posterity of Abraham to be a publick and constant demonstration of his Power and Providence and care of good men For when God chose the Posterity of Abraham to be his peculiar people he did not design to exclude the rest of the World from his care and providence and all possible means of Salvation as the Apostle argues in Rom. 3. 29. Is he the God of the Iews only Is he not also of the Gentiles Yes of the Gentiles also which argument if it have any force in it must prove Gods respect to the Gentiles before the preaching of the Gospel as well as since because it is founded on that natural relation God owns to all Mankind as their merciful Creator and Governour which gives the Gentiles as well as Jews an intrest in his care and providence This plainly evinces that all those particular favours which God bestowed on Israel were not owing to any partial fondness and respect to that people but the design of all was to encourage the whole World to worship the God of Israel who gave so many demonstrations of his power and providence For this reason God brought Israel out of Aegypt with great signs and wonders and a mighty hand when he could have done it with less noise and observation that he might the more gloriously triumph over the numerous Gods of Aegypt and all their enchantments and divinations and that he might be honoured on Pharoah and all his Host. For this reason he maintained them in the Wilderness at the constant expence of miracles fought all their Battles for them and many times by weak and contemptible means overthrew great and puissant Armies drove out the Inhabitants of Canaan and gave them possession of that good land I say one great and principal design of all this was to convince the World of the Majesty and Power of the God of Israel that they might renounce their foolish Idolatries and Country Gods and consent in the worship of that One God who alone doth wondrous things this account the Psalmist gives of it that God wrought such visible and miraculous deliverances for Israel to make his glory and his power known among the Heathen The Lord hath made known his Salvation his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the Heathen Psalm 98. 2. That the Heathen might fear the name of the Lord and all the Kings of the Earth his glory i. e. that all Nations might worship God and all Kings submit their Crowns and Scepters to him Psal. 102. 15. that by this means they might be instructed in that important truth That the Lord is great and greatly to be praised that he is to be feared above all Gods for all the Gods of the Nations are Idols but he made the Heavens Psal. 96. 4 5. And as God set up the people of Israel as a visible demonstration to all the World of his power and providence so he committed his Laws and Oracles to them from whence the rest of the World when they pleased might fetch the best rules of life and the most certain notices of the divine will In such ways God instructed the World in former Ages by the light of Nature and the examples of good men and the Sermons of the Prophets and the publick example of a whole Nation which God chose for that very purpose But when long and sad experience had proved all these ways ineffectual to reform the World at last God sent his own Son into the World to make a full and perfect Declaration of his will to give the best rules of life and to encourage our obedience by the most express promises of a blessed Immortality This was one great design of Christ's appearing in the World to reveal and declare God to us Iohn 1. 18. No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him and in Math. 11. 27. All things are delivered unto me of my Father no man knoweth the Son but the Father neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him That is God hath now committed unto Christ all the secret purposes of his Counsel concerning the Salvation of Mankind which were concealed from Ages None of the Prophets which lived before did so fully understand it nor have we any other certain way of knowing this but by the Revelation Christ hath made to us Thus in Iohn 14. 6 7. Iesus saith unto him I am the way the truth and the life no man
such but as they are members of his body for he is the Saviour of the body and Redeemed his Church with his own blood Hence St. Iohn tells us in his first Ep. Ch. 1. Ver. 3. That which we have seen and heard the whole Doctrine and History of the Gospel declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. First that ye may have fellowship with us become members of the Church of Christ by which means you have fellowship and Communion with God and Christ. And therefore those publick censures whereby rotten or dead members are cut of from the body of Christ consist in casting such persons out of the Society of Christian people in debarring them from the Communion of Prayers and Sacraments and all Religious offices which is a plain demonstration that our Union to Christ is not an Union to his Person of which more hereafter but consists in a sincere and spiritual Communion with the Christian Church otherwise this external Communion with the Church could be no visible signification of our Union to Christ nor could our excision from the visible Church signifie our separation from him But thirdly It will be requisite now to explain more particularly the nature of this Union between Christ and the Christian Church which is not a natural but a Political Union that is such an Union as is between a Prince and his Subjects Christ is a spiritual King and all Christians are his Subjects and our Union to Christ consists in our belief of his Revelations obedience to his Laws and subjection to his Authority Hence our Saviour tells the Jews if you continue in my words then are ye my Disciples indeed John 8. 31. which is the same thing with being in him and by keeping his Commandments we abide in his love Iohn 15. 10. 14. 21. and to have his word abide in us is a description of the closest and firmest Union to him Iohn 15. 7. As obedience to our Prince is the strongest bond of a Political Union which is dissolved and broken by disobedience and Rebellion Thus our Saviour calls himself a Shepherd and Christians his Sheep Iohn 10. to signifie that Authority he hath over his Church which bears some Analogy to the government of a Shepherd which is oft-times used as a name of power and Authority as God is styled the Shepherd of Israel Psalm 80. 1. and Kings are frequently called Shepherds both by prophane and sacred Writers Though this name is most commonly given to Prophets who feed and instruct the Church which includes power and Authority and so does very properly belong to our Saviour who erected this spiritual Kingdom on the Foundation of his Doctrine and Laws and by the exercise of his prophetical office for which Reason he is called the Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls Thus he is called a Head and the Church his Body a Husband and the Church his Spouse which two metaphors signifie the same thing and are both of them names of power and Authority as appears from Eph. 5. 23. c. For Husbands are said to be the head of their Wives as Christ is the head of the Church and are commanded to love their Wives as their own bodies as Christ loves his Church so that a Husband as a Husband represents the head and the Wife the body and what the meaning of all this is the Apostle plainly tells us that Christ is called the Head and Husband because he hath the Rule and Government of us and therefore exhorts Wives to be subject to their Husbands as the Church is subject unto Christ the Spiritual Head v. 24. For because the Head in the natural body hath the command and government of all the members hence Head is a common name for Princes and Governours Deutr. 28. 13. The Lord shall make thee the Head and not the Tayl and thou shalt be above only and thou shalt not be beneath that is thou shalt rule and govern Psalm 18. 43. Thou hast made me the Head of the Heathen and a people whom I have not known shall serve me And therefore the Apostles always expound this metaphor of Christ's being a Head by power and Authority Eph. 1. 20 21 22. Hath set him at his own right hand in Heavenly places far above all Principalities and Powers and hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be Head over all things to the Church which is his body Col. 1. 18. And he is the Head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is that he might not only excel other things but that he might rule and govern them for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies him who hath the first place of Authority because government is naturally entailed on the greatest excellency and perfection Thus Christ is the Head of all Principalities and powers that is their Lord and Governour Col. 2. 10. This is the true explication of this relation betwixt Christ and his Church He is the Head and Husband because he is invested with Authority to govern and the Church is his body and Spouse because it must be obedient to his Laws and subject to his Government as we know it is very familiar to call a Society of men who live under the same Laws and Civil Government a body Politic which signifies their subjection to the same Authority as a body hath but one Head and that regard they must have to the preservation of the whole and their mutual care of each other as members of the same body Now the true Reason why this spiritual Kingdom of Christ is described by the Authority of a Shepherd over his Sheep and of a Head and Husband over his body and Spouse is to signifie the mildness and gentleness of his government and that great and near concern he hath for the welfare of his Church that he governs his Church with the care and tenderness of a Shepherd that he defends and ransoms his Church with his own blood as a good Shepherd lays down his life in defence of his Sheep Iohn 10. That he loves his Church with the natural kindness of a Head or Husband that his Government is only for the good of his Church not for his own private advantage as a kind Husband exerciseth no other Authority over his Wife but what is for her good as well as his own or as the Head hath no other concern but that all his members be preserved in their natural State and vigour and perform their proper and natural offices and therefore we may be secure that his yoak is easie and his burden light that he will be gentle in his Discipline and favourable in his censures especially when we consider how dearly he hath purchast this relation to his Church
that he gave himself for it that he might sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word Eph. 5. 25 26. Upon which account we may well be called the Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones vers 30. the Church being as it were taken out of his crucified Body as the Woman was taken out of the Man as Christ is said to have reconciled the Gentiles that is taken them into his Church in the body of his flesh through death Col. 1. 21 22. because the Covenant of Grace which is the Foundation of the Christian Church and receives Gentiles as well as Jews was sealed with the blood of Christ so that the Church is taken out of the crucified body of Christ which in the mystical sense answers to the Womans being taken out of the Man which seems to be the Apostles meaning in that place For the same reason Christ ownes himself our Friend Ioh. 15. 14. Ye are my friends if you do what soever I command you which does not signifie such an equality betwixt Christ and us as there is betwixt friends nor encourage any rudeness and unbecoming familiarity in our addresses to him but acquaints us with the nature of his government that he will rule his Church with the same care and tenderness which one friend expresseth to another So that all this is a description of the state of the Gospel in which our Lord and Master is our Shepherd our Head and Husband our Friend and Saviour who hath redeemed and purchased us with his own blood who laid the Foundation of his spiritual Kingdom in the most surprising and astonishing goodness and exerciseth his authority in all the methods of love and compassion Upon which account God also hath now laid aside in a great measure that severe name of a King and calls himself our Father to assure us of his fatherly care and government and to signifie that liberty of Sons we now enjoy under the Gospel in opposition to the bondage and servitude of the Law of Moses But then we must observe farther that though Christ be our Lord and Governour he doth not govern us immediately by himself for He is ascended up into Heaven where he powerfully intercedes for his Church and by a vigilant Providence superintends all the affairs of it but hath left the visible and external conduct and government of his Church to Bishops and Pastors who preside in his name and by his authority in the first Ages of Christianity Christ conferred such extraordinary gifts on men as qualified them for so great an office Eph. 4. 8. c. But though these miraculous gifts ceased when the Gospel was fully published and sufficiently confirmed yet the offices still continue for the instruction and government of the Church though managed in more ordinary and humane ways Christ now governs his Church by men who are invested with his authority which is a plain demonstration of what I discoursed above that the Union of particular Christians to Christ is by their Union with the Christian Church which consists in their regular subjection to their spiritual Guides and Rulers and in concord and unity among themselves For if our Union to Christ consists in our subjection to him as our Lord and Master our Head and Husband and this authority is not immediately exercised by Christ himself but by the Bishops and Pastors of the Church it necessarily follows that we cannot be united to Christ that is cannot owne his authority and government till we unite our selves to the publick Societies of Christians and submit to the publick Instructions Authority and Discipline of the Church as no man can be said to submit himself to his Prince who denies subjection to those subordinate Magistrates who act by his Princes Commission for the Union of Bodies Politick such as the Christian Church is consists in Order and Government when all the Members keep their proper places and are knit to each other by a faithful discharge of their several offices and trusts Schismaticks are in the Church just as Rebels are in the Kingdom not as part of it but as open and profest Enemies but the Apostle tells us wherein the Unity of the Church consists in Eph. 4. 16. Christ is the Head from whom the whole body fitly joyned together and compacted by that which every joynt supplieth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body to the edifying of it self in love That is the supreme power is invested in Christ as Head to whom the Church is obedient and subject but to make this Union firm and lasting there must be a regular subordination of the several Members and a mutual discharge of all Christian offices which is the most effectual way to advance their spiritual growth in all Christian graces and especially to increase that love and friendship which is the very life and soul of the Church This indeed supposes a visible Society of Christians professing the Faith of Christ and living in communion with each other for if there be no such visible Society as it may happen in times of persecution or some great degeneracy of the Church it must of necessity alter the case our Union to Christ then consists in an acknowledgment of his Authority and Subjection to his Laws which makes us Members of the Universal Church though there be no particular Church to communicate with but when there is a visible Church we are under the necessary obligations of a visible Communion because herein our subjection to the Authority of Christ and consequently our Union to him consists And this by the way gives a plain account of the only cause that can justifie our separation from any Society of Christians for our Union with the Christian Church being the Medium of our Union to Christ while the Church we live in acknowledges the Authority and submits to the Laws of Christ we are bound to live in Communion with it because this unites us to Christ. When nothing is made the condition of our Communion which is expresly forbid by the Laws of our supreme Lord we acknowledge his Authority in our subjection to our spiritual Guides and we disowne his Authority in disowning and affronting theirs as our Saviour tells his Apostles He that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me Luk. 10. 16. But when any Church prevaricates in the Laws of Christ corrupts his Religion and undermines the fundamental design of it which is to make men good and vertuous when we cannot obey our spiritual Rulers without disobeying the express Laws of Christ the reason of our Communion with such a Church ceases because it doth not answer nay contradicts the end of Christian Society which is to have fellâ—wship with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ. For in this case we cannot owne their authority but we must
and suffer'd for us excites a just hatred of our sins sincere purposes and resolutions of a new life to live to him who died for us a great hope in God who hath provided such a Sacrifice and Atonement such a Mediator and Advocate for us and a stedfast expectation of a future reward This is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ when these visible figures of his Death and Sufferings affect our minds with such a strong and passionate sense of his love to us and excite in us such a firm hope in God as transforms us into a divine Nature and this is our real Union to Christ as you heard above Now I take it for granted that there can be no better way to understand the nature of our Union to Christ than to consider the nature of those Sacraments which were designed as the Instruments and signs of our Union to him and if we will take that account the Scripture gives of them all the Union they signifie is only a publick and visible profession of our Faith in Christ and subjection to him as our Lord and Saviour and a sincere conformity of our hearts and lives to the nature and life of Christ. Fourthly I observe further that fellowship and Communion with God according to the Scripture notion signifies what we call a Political Union that is that to be in fellowship with God and Christ signifies to be of that Society which puts us into a peculiar relation to God that God is our Father and we his Children that Christ is our head and Husband our Lord and Master we his Disciples and followers his Spouse and his body thus in Iohn 1. 1. 3. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Iesus Christ where I observe that our fellowship with the Father and Son is first founded on our fellowship with the Christian Church that is on our profession of the Faith of Christ obedience to his Laws subjection to his Government and Discipline which he now visibly exerciseth by the Bishops and Pastors of the Church this unites us into one Society and body politick and now by vertue of our fellowship with the Christian Church we have fellowship with Christ who is the supreme Head and Governour of his Church which is a plain argument that all the Apostle means by fellowship with God and Christ is such a Political Union as is between a Prince and his Subjects between Superiours and Inferiours in the same Society Now as you heard before if this profession be only external and visible without the conformity of our hearts and lives to the laws of Christ it gives us only an external fellowship or relation to God and Christ that is such men only appear to be in fellowship with Christ maintaining a visible fellowship with his Church when in truth they are perfect strangers to him such as Christ will not owne for his Disciples as the Apostle adds in Ver. 6. 7. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lye and do not the truth but if we walk in the light as God is in the light then have we fellowship one with another c. That is we abuse our selves if we hope that God will owne himself our Father and bestow the inheritance of Children on us while we live in sin but when we join the practice of real righteousness with the visible profession of Christianity then God will owne us for his Children and Christ for the true members of his body So that this fellowship with God and Christ is such a state and condition as we are put into by a visible profession and sincere practice of Christianity and that in short is that we are united to God as his Sons and Children and are united to Christ as his Disciples and members of his body which intitles us to the Inheritance of Children and all the blessings of the Gospel Thus in the 1 Cor. 1. 9. God is faithful by whom ye are called into the fellowship of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord where the fellowship of Christ can signifie no more than the fellowship of the Christian Church whereof Christ is Lord and Head and therefore the Apostle immediately adds in the next Verse Now I beseech you Brethren by the name of our Lord Iesus Christ for the honour and reputation of Christ and his Religion that you all speak the same thing that there be no divisions nor Schisms among you but that you be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and in the same judgment Where he argues from the nature of their Faith in Christ to the obligations of Peace and Unity which plainly evinces that this fellowship with Christ is that relation we stand in to him as Members of the Christian Church whereof he is Head And that the true notion of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render sometimes by Fellowship sometimes by Communion is as plain as we can wish in 2 Cor. 6. 14. where the Apostle disswades them from having any fellowship with Heathen Idolaters from eating of their Sacrifices c. Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers that is have no society with those men whose Religion is so contrary to yours that you will be as uneasie to each other as two Heifers in the same yoke which draw different ways For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is there common between them which they both alike partake of as a foundation of union and concord What communion hath light with darkness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies the same thing what is there common to them both What concord hath Christ with Belial 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what consent and harmony of mind to unite them into one fellowship What part hath he that believeth with an unbeliever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which seems to refer to those portions of Sacrifices which were distributed among them as a Symbol of their Union to each other and to the same God How can a Believer and Unbeliever a Christian and an Idolater have right to a part of the same Sacrifice What agreement hath the Temple of God with Idols 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what is there to unite them together in the same place to reconcile the Temple of God with the Worship of Idols All these expressions decypher to us the nature and foundation of fellowship the nature of it consists in the union of things which in rational Beings consists in mutual relations and common interests and the foundation of it is a likeness of nature and consent and harmony of wills and therefore the Apostle explains our fellowship with God by our being the Temple of God and that God dwells in us and walks in us Vers. 16. 18. Now because the Lords Supper is the only Act which the
it must be acknowledged that the Scripture doth attribute a Fulness to Christ and he is called Life and Righteousness the Power and Wisdom of God So that there is no dispute between us whether Christ have all fulness in him whether he be our Life and Righteousness the Wisdom and Power of God but the dispute is in what sense the Scripture attributes all this to Christ. They say that these are the Personal Graces of Christ as Mediator which are inherent in him and must be derived from his Person we say they signifie the Perfection and Excellency of his Religion as being the most compleat and perfect declaration of the will of God and the most powerful Method of the Divine Wisdom for the reforming the World as it prescribes the only Righteousness which is acceptable to God and directs us in the only way to Life and Immortality Now to bring this controversie to an issue there cannot be a more effectual way than to examine those places of Scripture which speak of this matter and to learn their sense of it for if men be allowed to take Scripture phrases and put what sense they please on them we may quickly have as many different Religions as there are different fancies among men To begin then with the fulness of Christ and the first place in which we meet with it is in Iohn 1. 16. And of his fulness we all received and Grace for Grace Now what is meant by this fulness we may learn from Verse 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we behâ—ld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of Grace and Truth So that this fulness which was in Christ is a fullness of Grace and truth and if we consult Ver. 17. we shall find that this Grace and Truth is opposed to the law of Moses The Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Iesus Christ. So that Grace and Truth signifie the Gospel which is a Covenant of Grace and is expresly called the Grace of God Titus 2. 11. and contains the most clear and perspicuous revelation of the Divine will in opposition to the Types and Shadows of the Law is Truth in opposition to Types and Figures This is the fullness we receive from Christ a perfect revelation of the Divine Will concerning the Salvation of Mankind which contains so many excellent promises that it may well be called Grace and prescribes such a plain and simple Religion so agreeable to the natural notions of good and evil that it may well be called Truth This fulness dwelt only in Christ and from him alone we receive it for none of the Prophets who were before him did so perfectly understand the will of God as he did No man hath seen God at any time but the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him v. 18. That is no man ever before had so perfect a knowledge of the will of God which is here called seeing God because sight gives us the clearest evidence and the most perfect and particular knowledg but the Son of God who perfectly understood all his most secret Counsels hath perfectly declared the will of his Father to us And hence that fulness which we receive from Christ is explained by Grace for Grace And of his fulness we have received 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 viz. Grace for Grace 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the repetition of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a preposition signifies only that abundance of Grace which is now manifested by the Gospel of Christ. There is indeed some difference about the sense of the preposition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some of the ancient Fathers expound it by Vice as St. Austin pro Legis gratiâ quae praeteriit gratiam Evangelii accepimus permanentem pro umbris imaginibus veteris Instrumenti gratia veritas per Christum facta est That instead of the Grace of the law which is now past we receive the Grace of the Gospel which is constant and permanent and instead of the shadows and figures of the Old Testament we have Grace and Truth by Iesus Christ and thus Nonnas in his Paraphrase renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though this seems to be a forc'd sense for the Law is no where called Grace but Grace is expresly opposed to the Law in the next Verse but however this you see they agree in that by the fulness of Grace and truth they understand the Gospel that perfect Declaration which Christ hath made of Gods will to the World Now though every man in his wits must confess that this fulness was first in the Person of Christ as these men love to speak before he could communicate it to us that is that he first perfectly understood the will of God himself before he could declare it to others yet it is not this Personal fulness we are to attend to but the fulness and perfection of his Gospel from whence we must fetch the knowledge of the Divine Will for whatever fulness be in him the Revelations of the Gospel only communicate this fulness to us To the same purpose the Apostle discourses in the 2. Col. 9. 10. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily and ye are compleat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filled in him who is the Head of all principalities and powers For the understanding of which we must consider what is meant by that Phrase That in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Deity bodily which must be acknowledg'd to be an allusive and Metaphorical expression for God who is a Spirit cannot in a proper sense dwell bodily in any thing And therefore we must observe that the design of the Apostle in this Chapter is to perswade the Colosians to adhere to the Gospel of Christ not to be seduced either by Jews or Gnosticks who talkt very much in their canting phrase of the pleromata to corrupt the Religion of Christ with Jewish Ceremonies or Pagan Superstitions Ver. 16 17 18 19. and the principal argument he urges to this purpose is the perfection of the Gospel Revelation that in Christ that is the Gospel of Christ are hid all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge Ver. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is not in whom are hid as our translation renders it contrary to the sense of the place but in whom are all the hidden treasures 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Wisdom and Knowledge that is who hath now revealed to us all those treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge which in former Ages were hidden from the World upon this he exhorts them to be firm and stedfast in the belief of the Gospel of Christ and obedience to it Ver. 6 7. To beware lest any man spoil them through Philosophy and vain deceit after the traditions of men after the Rudiments of the World and not
after Christ. That is lest their minds be corrupted through Philosophical Speculations or Traditionary superstitions in worshiping Daemons and Angels c. which are inconsistent with the Gospel of Christ and owe their original only to the folly and superstition of Mankind And then he adds for in him that is in Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily so that this must refer to that compleat and perfect Revelation of the Gospel which needs not be supplyed by the Philosophy or Traditions of men And to understand the Reason of this Phrase and the force of the Apostles argument we must consider that this is an allusion to Gods dwelling in the Temple at Ierusalem by Types and figures which were the Symbols of his presence for the Tabernacle or Temple was Gods House wherein he dwelt and the mercy seat and Cherubims c. were the Emblems of Gods presence there and this Symbolical presence of God in the Temple was very agreeable to that Symbolical and Ceremonial worship which he then instituted and commanded He dwelt among them by Types and figures and fore instituted a Typical and figurative Religion and this was an imperfect and obscure Declaration of himself to the World But now God hath sent his Son to Tabernacle among us Iohn 1. 14. the Deity it self now dwells in the Temple of Christs body not by Types and figures as formerly he dwelt in the Temple at Ierusalem but by a real and immediate presence and Union and therefore those Revelations which are made by Christ are answerable to the Inhabitation of the Godhead in him contain a true and perfect Declaration of Gods will in opposition to the imperfect Rudiments and obscure Types and figures of the Law So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or bodily is opposed to figurative and Typical and this is a plain demonstration of the perfection of the Gospel Revelation that the fulness of the Deity dwelt substantially in Christ and we need not doubt but that so excellent a Prophet as he was in whom the Deity it self inhabited hath perfectly revealed Gods will to us All the figures of the Temple were accomplisht in Christ's Person he was that in truth and reality which the Temple was a figure of God dwelling among us and his Religion answers the greatness of his Person The Godhead dwelt in him bodily not by Types and figures and his Religion is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too all truth and substance The Law was but a shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ Ver. 17. his Religion is Body truth and substance So that this place is exactly parallel with Iohn 1. 14. The word was made flesh and dwelt among us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tabernacled among us herein the figure of the Tabernacle was fulfilled that God dwelt in our flesh and the Revelations he made of God's will did agree with the manner of his appearance were full of Grace and truth not a Typical and figurative but a plain and perfect Declaration of Gods will And as the Evangelist tells us That of his fulness we have all received that we are perfectly instructed by him in the will of God so our Apostle adds here and ye are compleat in him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 filled in him you need no other Instructor but Christ who hath revealed as much of Gods will as is necessary for us to know So that this fulness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ does ultimately resolve it self into the perfection of the Gospel-Revelation for since the fulness of the Deity did inhabit in Christs Person we need not question but he was able to acquaint us with the whole mind and will of God and that he would do so The force of which Reason our Saviour himself takes notice of Iohn 3. 34 35. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God that is declareth his whole will to us for God giveth not the Spirit by measure to him It is not with him as it was with meaner Prophets who had only some particular Revelations of the Divine will but the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hands Thus the fulness of Christ you see signifies the excellency and perfection of the Gospel and in other places this fulness signifies the Church of Christ. Eph. 1. 22 23. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church which is his body the fulness of him that filleth all in all Where the Church is called the fulness of Christ which makes him as it were compleat and perfect for he cannot be a perfect Head without a Body hence the Church is called Christ. 1 Cor. 12. 12. For as the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ that is the Christian Church as it immediately follows for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Iews or Gentiles whether we be bond or free and Beza tells us that this is the the reason of that phrase which so frequently occurs in the New Testament of being in Christ that is being members of the Christian Church Now the Church is called the Fulness of Christ with respect to its extent and universality that it is not confined to any particular Nation as the Jewish Church was but takes in Iews and Gentiles Bond and Free for this I take to be the meaning of Col. 1. 19. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell which words are commonly expounded to the same sense with Col. 2. 9. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily but if we consult the Context we shall see reason for a different sense and Beza observes that some Expositors by his fulness in this place understand the Church for Vers. 18. the Apostle tells us that He is the head of the body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead that in all things he might have the preheminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell where fulness must be expounded of the Church that it pleased God to unite his Church into Christ for the Apostle assigns this as the reason of Christs being the Head of the Church And if you would know why the Church is called Fulness and all fulness said to dwell in Christ the reason follows in 20 21. And having made peace through the blood of his Cross to reconcile all things by him I say whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven And you who were sometime alienated and enemies in your minds by wicked works yet now hath he reconciled This is that fulness that dwells in Christ that he is made the Head of the Universal Church both in Heaven and Earth that Jews and Gentiles are now united in one
Body that whereas in former Ages the Church of God seemed to be confined to the Iewish Nation now it pleased the Father that Christ should be the Universal Shepherd and Bishop of Souls by him to reconcile all things to himself and this too is the meaning of that Phrase The fulness of him who filleth all in all therefore the Church is called his Fulness because he filleth all in all that is doth not confine his care and providence and the influences of his Grace to any one Nation or People but extends it to the whole World Thus the fulness of Christ signifies in Eph. 4. 13. Till we all come in the Unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the explication of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a perfect man That is to that perfection of faith and knowledge which becomes the Christian Church For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifying the age and growth and stature of a man the fulness of Christ cannot so properly be understood of any thing as of the Christian Church This is all that I can find in Scripture concerning the fulness of Christ which either signifies the perfection of his Gospel or the Universality of his Church which is a plain demonstration of those mens skill in expounding Scripture who make this fulness a Personal Grace in Christ and apply it to every thing they can find or fancy in him All the furniture that he received from the Father by the Unction of the Spirit for the work of our Salvation The fulness of his Divine and Humane Nature the fulness of Love in Christ the fulness of habitual Grace fulness of Satisfaction fulness of Merit fulness of Power and Vertue a fulness of Iustification and a fulness of Sanctification which fulness I am sure hath confounded mens notions of Religion and made them look upon Christ only as a Fountain from whence they must drink grace and mercy and pardon justification and eternal life Let us now consider in what sense Christ is called our life and he is so called with respect to his Doctrine his Sacrifice and that Power he is invested with to raise us from the dead He is called Life with respect to his Doctrine because he preached the Word of Life and hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel hence in Ioh. 1. 4. the Evangelist tells us In him was life and the life was the light of men That is he preached the Word of Life which enlightned the dark minds of men for it is not imaginable how Life should be light in any other sense than as this Word of Life which Christ preached enlightned their minds and dispelled all the Mists of Errour and Ignorance hence Christ tells his Disciples I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Ioh. 14. 6. that is I declare the true and only way to life and happiness and no man can throughly understand the will of God nor consequently be a true Worshipper of him without learning of me thus he calls himself the Bread of life Ioh. 6. with respect to the Doctrine he preached Vers. 33. and with respect to that Sacrifice he offered for the life of the World Vers. 51. I am the living Bread which came down from Heaven if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the World Thus Christ is called our Life because he hath power and authority to bestow immortal life upon all his sincere Followers Ioh. 11. 26 27. I am the Resurrection and the Life he that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never dye That is he hath power to raise the dead and will actually raise all those who believe in him and reward them with eternal life To the same purpose our Saviour speaks in Ioh. 5. 25 26. The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live for as the Father hath life in himself so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself That is he first raises those who are dead in sin to a new spiritual life by the power of his Doctrine then hath Authority to raise them to an immortal life This is the meaning too of that expression in Col. 3. 3 4. You are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in glory That is you profess your selves to be dead to this World in conformity to the death of Christ and though that immortal life which you expect to enjoy with Christ who is now risen again from the dead be at present concealed from your view yet when Christ who is the Author of eternal life and hath power to raise us from the dead shall appear the second time to judge the World then shall ye appear with him in glory So that when Christ is called our Life the meaning is that he hath published the Word of Life to us which contains the most express promises of a blessed Immortality and the most plain and easie directions how to attain it and that by his death he hath expiated our sins and confirmed all these promises to us and being risen from the dead himself hath now power to raise us We must not dream of fetching life from the Person of Christ as we draw water out of a Fountain but if we would live for ever with Christ we must stedfastly believe and obey his Gospel which is a Principle of a Divine life in us and then we may joyfully expect that when our Lord and Saviour comes again to judge the World he will raise us from the dead and reward our Faith and Patience and Obedience with Immortal Life Thus to proceed Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God which these men call Personal Graces too But I have already shewed you at large that Christ is the Wisdom of God with respect to those Revelations he made of Gods will The Gospel of Christ is the Wisdom and Power of God 1 Cor. 1. 24. Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God that is the Doctrine of a crucified Christ as will appear from the verses before The Iews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified to the Iews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness but to them who are called both Iews and Greeks Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God The Jews were all for Signs and Miracles the Greeks were for curious Philosophical Speculations which might gratifie their inquisitive minds and therefore
I suppose no man will trouble himself to confute him Now if you would know what the Faith of Abraham and of all good men in ancient times was the Apostle to the Hebrews gives us a full account of it in Hebr. 11. That he discourses there of a justifying Faith that is such a Faith as renders men approved of God which he will count for Righteousness appears from the whole tenour of this Chapter In the 2. Verse he tells us That by this the Elders obtained a good report i. e. the Fathers of the Old Testament were approved and rewarded by God for the sake of this Faith as he shows particularly that Abel obtained witness that he was Righteous v. 4. that Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God v. 5. that Noah became the Heir of Righteousness which is by Faith v. 7. c. Now this justifying Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a firm and confident expectation of thâ—se things we hope for and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an argument of the being of those things which we do not see that is Faith is such a firm and stedfast perswasion of the truth of those things which are not evident to sense as makes us confidently hope for them The object of Faith must be unseen things as the Being or providence of God or a future state something past or to come the Creation of the World or the final dissolution of it or the accomplishment of any promises and predictions the nature of Faith consists in such a firm assent to these unseen things as produces some answerable effects in our lives This is the general notion of Faith by which the Elders obtained a good report and the different sorts of Faith result from the different objects and motives of it the Apostle takes notice of two kinds of Faith in this Chapter and Faith in Christ makes a third which are all the kinds of Faith the Scripture is acquainted with The first we may call a natural Faith i. e. a belief of the Principles of natural Religion which is founded upon natural demonstrations or moral arguments as that God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him which was the Faith of Abel and Enoch whereby they pleased God for there being no mention made of the Faith of Abel and Enoch in the old Testament the Apostle proves that they were true believers because they had this Testimony that they pleased God now it is impossible to be sincerely Religious or to do any acceptable service to God without the belief of his Being and Providence and care of good men These are the first Principles of all Religion and God required no more of those good men who had no other particular Revelations of his will Secondly There is a Faith in God or a belief of those particular Revelations which God made to the Fathers of the Old Testament of this the Apostle gives us many examples in this Chapter Thus Noah believed God when he fore-warned him of the Universal deluge and in obedience to him provided an Ark for the safety of himself and his Family and this was imputed to him for Righteousness He became the Heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith Thus Abraham in obedience to the Divine Revelation left his own Country and Fathers House and went into a strange Land thus Sarah by believing the promise of God received strength to conceive Seed and was deliver'd of a Child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised Thus Abraham in obedience to God offered his Son Isaac which was as Heroical an Act of Faith as was ever done by Man for besides that great and passionate kindness he had for his only Son which made this a very difficult tryal this command of offering his Son seem'd to thwart that former promise In Isaac shall thy Seed be called i. e. that from Isaac should proceed that numerous Ofspring which God had promised to Abraham which was not very likely when this very Isaac must be offer'd in Sacrifice and die without leaving any Child to succeed him but yet Abraham was so well assured both of the faithfulness and power of God that whatever impossibilities humane reason suggested he would neither disobey Gods command nor distrust his promise but did believe in hope against hope the like examples we have of the Faith of Isaac and Iacob and Ioseph and Moses c. who firmly believed all those particular Revelations God made to them and confidently expected the performance of all his promises how unlikely soever they appear'd to be This is that Faith whereby Abraham and all the good men in those days were justified viz. Such a firm belief of the Being and Providence of God and all those particular Revelations God made to them as made them careful in all things to please God and to obey him From hence we learn thirdly What Faith in Christ is which is now imputed to us for Righteousness as Abrahams Faith was to him for to make our Faith in Christ answer to the Faith of Abraham and all good men in former Ages without which the Apostles argument from Abrahams being justified by Faith to our justification by Faith is of no force our Faith in Christ must signifie such a stedfast belief of all those Revelations which Christ hath made to the World as governs our lives and Actions Abraham was justified by believing those Revelations which God made to him and we are justified by believing those Revelations which Christ hath made of Gods will to us for if by the Righteousness of Faith you understand the Righteousness of Christ apprehended by Faith and imputed to us you utterly destroy the Apostles argument for our justification by Faith for Abraham and all the good men of old were not justified by such a Faith as this they never hear'd of the Righteousness of Christ imputed to us Noah was made Heir of Righteousness that is was accounted a Righteous Person because he believed that the World should be drown'd and prepared an Ark at Gods command for himself and his Family Abrahams Faith was imputed to him for Righteousness because he left his own Country and followed God into a strange land and believed that God would give him a Son and make him the Father of many Nations when he and his Wife were so old that according to the course of nature they could not expect any Child and when Sarah by Faith had conceived and brought forth this Son of the Promise he offers this Son at Gods command without distrusting the performance of the Promise Now what hath all this to do with an Imputation of Christs Righteousness how does it follow that because Abraham was justified by such noble and generous Acts of Faith therefore we shall be justified by the imputation of Christs Righteousness by rowling our Souls on
Christ for Salvation These two Faiths are of as different kinds as can well be imagined and therefore we cannot reason from one to the other and St. Paul certainly understood himself better than to argue at this weak rate And therefore to bring this discourse to an Head the difference between the Faith of Abraham and the Faith of Christians is this that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for Righteousness and we believe in Christ and this is counted unto us for Righteousness Abraham believed those Revelations God made to him either immediately by himself or by the Ministry of Angels we believe all those Revelations God hath made to us by his own Son for God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the Fathers by the Prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son Hebr. 1. 1. So that the first notion of Faith in Christ is a firm belief of his Divine Authority which necessarily draws after it a belief of the whole Doctrine of the Gospel thus in Iohn 20. 31. The Christian Faith is described by believing that Iesus is the Christ the Son of God and 1 Iohn 5. 5. Who is he that overcometh the World but he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God That is that he came from God with full power and Authority to declare his will and confirm and ratifie the new Covenant So that the difference between the Faith of Abraham and Faith in Christ is that Abrahams Faith was founded on the immediate inspirations of God or the Revelations of Angels but a Faith in Christ is founded on the Authority of Christ which is the first object of the Christian Faith and the reason and foundation of all other Acts of Faith Abraham had only some particular Revelations as the object of his Faith but now Christ hath made a perfect Revelation of the whole will of God which is the object of our Faith and thus the Christian Faith excells all other kinds of Faith as much as the Revelations of the Gospel excel all other Revelations made to Abraham and other good men but still the end of all Faith is the same to govern our lives and make us obedient in all things to God as Abraham was without which no Faith can justifie And the same difference there is between the Righteousness of Faith in a general notion as it is applyed to Noah and Abraham and those worthies of old and the Righteousness of God by the Faith of Iesus Christ Rom. 3. 22. and that Righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith Phil. 3. 9. The first signifies that Righteousness which is owing to an hearty belief of the Being and Providence of God and those particular Revelations which they received from God the latter is the effect of a sincere belief and obedience to the Gospel which is the most perfect Revelation which God ever made of his will to mankind This is so plain and easie an account of the rise and use of these phrases and of the force of the Apostles reasoning from the Faith of Abraham to the Faith of Christ which is unintelligible in any other way that could men be reconciled to plain sense it would need no other confirmation but the natural evidence of naked and simple truth But not to be wanting to a good cause let us now examine those Texts of Scripture which are abused by these men to set up the Personal Righteousness of Christ as the only formal cause of our justification as that alone which can make us righteous before God I shall begin and end with that famous place Phil. 3. 8 9. for the explication of this will give us occasion to consider all the material passages of Scripture which are applyed to this purpose yea doubtless and I account all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Iesus my Lord for whom I have suffer'd the loss of all things and I do account them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having my own righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ the Righteousness which is of God by Faith by my own righteousness these men understand inherent righteousness whatever good St. Paul had done either while he was a Jew or after his Conversion to Christianity this he rejects and therefore the righteousness which is through the Faith of Christ must needs be an imputed Righteousness the Personal Righteousness of Christ apprehended by Faith and imputed to us This is fairly offer'd but what proof have they for it That I confess I cannot learn only it is taken for granted that my Righteousness signifies inherent Righteousness and the Righteousness of Faith imputed Righteousness and it is a sufficient answer to this to say they need not signifie so My own Righteousness can signifie no more than that in which he placed his Righteousness whatever it was and what necessity is there to understand this of Inherent Holiness an external Righteousness serves most mens turn very well and this is the righteousness by which the Pharisees and amongst the rest St. Paul while he was a Pharisee expected to be justified for what his Righteousness was he tells us in Ver. 6 7. Circumcised the eight day of the stock of Israel of the Tribe of Benjamin an Hebrew of the Hebrews as touching the Law a Pharisee who were mighty strict and punctual in observing all external Ceremonies and he exprest his zeal for the law of Moses by persecuting the Christian Church and touching the Righteousness which is in the Law he was blameless which last phrase touching the Righteousness of the law blameless signifies only an external blamelessness of Conversation as Mr. Calvin himself acknowledges for this was the Pharisees notion even of the moral law that the obligation of it did reach no farther than the outward man and Trypho the Iew in Iustin Martyr quarrels with the Gospel of our Saviour for this very reason that it requires the government of our thoughts and passions which he says is impossible for a man to do and thus we must understand this blamelessness here unless we will say that St. Paul while he was a Pharisee did perfectly observe the moral law was blameless before God as well as before men which I suppose those who talk so much of the impossibility of keeping Gods laws will be loath to owne So that my own Righteousness which is of the law is so far from signifying an inherent Righteousness an inward and vital principle of holiness that it signifies only an external Righteousness which consisted in some external Rites as Circumcision and Sacrifices c. or external priviledges as being of the Seed of Abraham and stock of Israel or an external Civility and blamelessness of Conversation and this Righteousness he had reason to reject because God will reject it This