that at length they may acquiesce in the injoyment of one that is God as their chiefest good Alass without this union with the head and among themselves in necessary things what can they expect but wrath and the curse and Everlasting destruction 2. With respect to dependance on one head Rom. 12.5 We being many are one body in Christ and every one members of one another that is all things make up one body of which Christ is the Head and are fellow members in respect of one another As necessary and as desirable as it is to be united to God to Life and Glory Everlasting so necessary and desirable it is to depend upon Christ the Head for no man after the entrance of sin can return to God or enjoy God without Christ the Mediator Iohn 14.6 I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me Acts 4.12 There is no other name under Heaven by which we can be saved but only Iesus Christ 1 Cor. 3.11 Other foundation can no man lay but that which is layed Iesus Christ 1 Iohn 5.12 He that hath the son hath Life and he that hath not the son hath not Life God proclaimed from Heaven Matth. 3.17 This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased he being one God with the Father and the Spirit of the same substance and essence he only can procure merit and effect our union with God He first assumed our nature and united it to his own Person and so became one flesh with us but then all those that belong to that nature if they believe in him and enter into his Covenant are not onely literally one flesh but Mystically one body and so also one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 That is by the bond of the spirit he hath brought them into the state and relation of a body to himself To gather up all Mans return to God is necessary to his blessedness that he may be inseparably conjoyned to him as his chiefest good to this purpose the son of God assumed our nature in the unity of his person and thereby bringeth about the union of the Church with himself as our Head and our communion with one another in Faith and charity if we desire to be blessed and so is according to Christs Prayer Iohn 17.21 That they may be all one as thou Father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us verse 23. I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one so that as there is one God and one Mediator between God and Men and one Church united to Christ as his body to this Church we must every one of us be united if we mean to be saved and in the Church with Christ and by Christ with God therefore out of this Mysticall body there is no Salvation 2. How is Christ an Head to this Body This must be explained by answering two question 1. What are the parts of his headship 2. According to what nature doth this office belong to him divine or humane 1. The parts and branches of this headship he is our head with respect to Government and sovereignty and in regard of causality and influence he governeth he quickneth 1. It implyes his Authority to Govern as is manifest by Eph. 5.22 23. Wives submit your selves to your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is the head of the Wife even as Christ is the head of the Church So that to be the Churches Head implies superiority or right to govern 2. For the other notion in regard of influence that is evident in Scripture also Col. 2.19 Not holding the head from which all the body by joynts and bands having nourishment ministred and knit together increases with the increase of God the head is the root from whence the vital faculty is disfused to all the members We use to say 〈◊〉 arbor inversa a Tree turned upsided 〈…〉 if this be so the Head is the 〈…〉 Tree So doth Life flow from 〈…〉 the Church the spirit is from 〈…〉 begin the union or to conâ—â—nue the 〈…〉 But let us speak of these branches apart 1. His Authority and power to govern his excellency gives him fitness but his Office right to rule and govern the Church When he sent abroad his Officers and Embassadors to Proselyte the World in his name he pleadeth his right Math. 28.18 All power is given to me both in heaven and in Earth Now the acts which belong to Christ as a Governour may be reduced to these heads 1. To make Laws that shall universally bind all his people 2. To institute Ordinances for Worship 3. To appoint Officers 4. To maintain them in the exercise of these things 1. The first power that belongeth to a governing head is Legislation or making Laws now Christs Headship and Empire being novum jus Imperii a new right which he hath as Mediator for the recovery of lapsed mankind his Law is accordingly It is lex remedians a Law of grace which is given us in the Gospel of our Salvation The sum of his own proper remedial Laws are Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and Repentance towards God Acts 20.21 Without Repentance our case is not compassionable without Faith we do not own our Redeemer by whom we have so great a benefit yet because this new right of Empire is accumulative not privative beneficial to us indeed but not destructive of our duty to God therefore the whole Law of God as purely moral hath still a binding force upon the consciences as it is explained in the Word of God Now to these Laws of Christ none can add none diminish and therefore Christ will take an account of our fidelity at the last day 2 Thess. 1.8 2. He hath instituted Ordinances for the continual exercise and regulation of our worship and the Government of his people that they may be kept in the due acknowledgement and obedience to him such as the preaching of the Word Sacraments and the exercise of some Government now all the Rules and Statutes which Christ hath made for the ordering of his people must be kept pure until his coming his institutions do best preserve his honour in the World great charges are left 1 Tim. 5.21 I charge thee before God and our Lord Iesus Christ and his Elect Angels that thou observe these things where he speaketh of Ecclesiastical Censures and Disciplines he conjureth him by all that is sacred and holy that it be rightly used 1 Tim. 6.14 Keep this commandment without spot and unrebukaâ—le unto the appearing of Iesus Christ. The Doctrines are so determined by Christ that they cannot be changed the Worship not corrupted the Discipline not abused to serve partial Humors and private or worldly Interests 3. God hath appointed Officers who have all their ministries and services under Christ and for Christ Eph. 4.11 He gave some apostles some prophets and some evangelists and some
therefore we should often revive the considerations that may represent his worth and excellency Fourthly That we may place all hope of Salvation in him and may make use of him to the ends which he came to accomplish We can hardly consider the work of Redemption but some base thoughts arise in our minds nor entertain this mistery with due respects to the truth and greatness and admirableness of it whithout raising our thoughts to the consideration of the dignity of the person who is to accomplish it Heb. 3.1 Therefore brethren consider the Lord Iesus the great High Priest and Apostle of our profession Fifthly That we may the better understand two things 1. The Humiliation of the Son of God 2. The way how we may recover the lost Image of God 1. The humiliation of the Son of God certainly he that came to Redeem us was the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of this Person now how did he humble himself was he not still the Image of God in our nature yes but the divine glory and Majesty was hidden under the vail of our flesh little of it did appear and that only to those who narrowly did observe him the brightness of his glory did not conspicuously shine forth was this all no his dignity was lessened there was capitis diminutio the lessening of a mans estate or condition As of a man degraded from the Senatorian Order to the Degree of Knight thence to the Plebian Thus was the Eternal Son of God lessened less then God as Mediator Iohn 14.28 My Father is greater then I. As God incarnate he took an office designed to him by God and obeyed him in all things They were one in essence Iohn 10.30 yet with respect to his Office to save Souls he was lessened nay not only less than God but lesser than the Angels Heb. 2.7 He was made a little lower then the Angels Not born so but made so Man is inferiour to an Angel as a Man in the rank and order of beings the Angels dye not therefore his Incarnation and liableness to death is a great lessening of his dignity so not in respect of Office only but humane nature assumed 2. It sheweth us how the Image of God may be recovered If we be changed into the likeness of Christ for he is the Image of God his merit should not onely be precious to us but his example it is a great advantage not only to have a rule but an example because man is so prone to imitate that an example in our nature maketh it the more operative his execuse is ready at hand we are Flesh and Blood what would you have us do therefore Christ came incarnate to be an example of Holiness he had the interests of Flesh and Blood to mind as well as we and so would shew that a holy Life is possible to those that are renewed by his Grace he obeyed God in our nature therefore in the same nature we may obey please and glorifie God though still in a self-denying manner the foundation of it is layed in the new birth the Spirit that formed Christ out of the substance of the virgin the same Spirit is ready to form Christ in you he maketh new creatures so that there is not onely Christs example but Christs power Use 1. then let the excellency and dignity of Christs Person be more upon your minds and hearts think often of those two notions in the Text that he is the Image of the invisible God that therein you may be like him You cannot be the Image of God so as he was but you must be in your measure the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily but you must be partakers of the divine nature He shewed himself to be the Son of God by his works when the Jews said he blasphemed when he said he was the Son of God Ioh. 10.27 If I do not the works of my Father believe me not he allowed them to doubt of them if he did not those works which were proper to one sent from God certainly this is the glory of man to be the Image of God there is no greater perfection then to live in the nearest resemblance to his Creator Christ is more excellent because he hath more of the Image of God upon him 2. Consider again that he is Lord of the whole creation and therefore calleâ— the first-born of every creature Well thâ—n we should he subject to him and with greater diligence apply our selves to the obedience of his Holy Laws and use the means appointed by him to obtain the blessedness offered to us There is in us a natural sentiment of the authority of God and we have a dread upon our hearts if we do what he hath forbidden but we have not so deep a sense of the authority of Christ and play fast and loose with Religion as fancy and humour and interest lead us Now from this argument you see we should honour the Son as we honour the Father and be as tender of his Institutions as we are of the Commandements evident by natural light for he is not onely the messenger of God but his express Image and the first-born of every creature Not to believe him and obey him and love him is to sin not only against our duty but our remedy and the Law of our recovery SERMON III. COL 1. 16. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers all things were created by him and for him THE Apostle had told us in the former Verse that Jesus Christ is the first-born of every Creature The Arrians thence concluded that he himself was created out of nothing in order of time before the World But it is not the first created of any creature but the first-born which noteth a precedency not only in point of Antiquity but Dignity and is as much as to say Lord of every creature For the first-born was the Lord of the rest and the Title may be given either Relatively or comparatively 1. Relatively when the rest are of the same stock or have the relation of Brethren to him that hath the preheminence So it is given to Christ with respect to new Creatures Rom. 8.29 That he might be the first-born among many brethren 2. Comparatively onely When several persons or things be compared though there be no relation between them So David is called the first-born of the Kings of the earth Psal. 89.27 That is superior in Dignity and Honour So here it is taken not relatively for so Christ is primogenitus the first-born that he is also unigenitus the onely begotten none went before or come after him that are so begotten of God What he asserteth in that verse he now proveth by the creation of all things in this 16th verse and the conservation of all things verse 17. We are now
upon the first proof Surely he that created all things is supream Lord of all things or hath the right of the first-born over them Two ways is Christ said to have a right to the Creatures As God and as Mediator His Right as God is natural and perpetual his Right as Mediator is by grant and donation It is a power acquired and obtained his natural right is Antecedent to his actual susception of the office of Mediator for it comes to him by Creation He made all and it is fit that he should be soveraign and Lord of all but the other power and soverainty is granted to him as a part of his Reward and recompense for the sorrows of his Humiliation Phil. 2.9 10. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and â—hings in earth and things under the earth The Apostle speaks not of this latter now but of the former his right as the onely begotten Son of God he is the first-born that is Lord of the whole Creation And good reason for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in Earth c. In the words the Creation of the World is ascribed to Christ Take notice 1. Of the Object of this Creation 2. Christs Efficiency about it 1. The Object of Creation is spoken Collectively and Distributively 1 Collectively By him were all things created 2 Distributively They are many ways distinguished 1. By their place Things in heaven and things in earth 2. By their Nature Things visible and invisible 3. By their Dignity and Office Thrones dominions principalities and powers Words often used in Scripture to signifie the Angels whether good or bad The good Angels Eph. 1.21 Far above all principality and power and might and dominion Epâ— 3.10 That unto principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God Sometimes this Term is given to the bad Angels We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers Eph. 6.12 And Rom. 8.38 Nor angels nor principalities nor powers So that the meaning is the Angelical Creatures together with their degree and dignity as well among themselves as over the lower World of what rank and degree soever they are they are all created by him he insisteth more on them then on the other branches because some cryed up the dignity of the Angels to the lessening of the Honour and office of Christ and because they were the noblest and most powerful Creatures and if the most glorious Creatures were created by him surely all others had their being and life from him Well then there is a gradation notable in setting forth the object of the Creation Christ made not onely things in Earth but things in Heaven not onely the visible things of heaven the Sun Moon and Stars but the invisible the Angels Not the lower sort of Angels onely but the most noble and most potent Thrones Dominions Principalities and Powers 2. Christs Efficiency about them in these words they were created by him and for him 1 By him as an equal co-operating cause or co-worker with God the Father Ioh. 5.19 Whatsoever things the fâ—ther doth those doth the son likewise To bring a thing out of nothing belongeth unto God The distance of the Terms is Infinite so must the Agent be Creation is an act of Divine Power 2 They are for him They are by him as their first cause they are for him as their last end God is often represented in Scripture as first and last Isa. 41.4 I the Lord the first and the last I am â—e Isa. 44.6 I am the first and the last there is no God besides me So Isa. 48.2 I am the first I am also the last Now all this is repeated and applied to Christ Rev. 1.17 He said unto me fear not I am the first and the last I have the keyes of death and hell Rev. 2.8 These things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive Rev. 22.13 I am alpha and omega the beginning and the end the first and the last Now these Expressions do imply his Eternal Power and Godhead He hath been before all things were made and shall be when all things in the world are ended He is the first Being from whom all things are and the last end to whom all things are to be referred He is the Efficient and final cause of all the creatures Doct. That all Creatures Angels not excepted oâ—e their very Being to Christ the Son of God our Blessed and Glorious Redeemer I shall take the method offered in the Text and shew you First That all things were created by him Secondly Why the Creation of Angels is so particularly mentioned and insisted upon Thirdly That all things were created for him First For Creation by him This is often asserted in Scripture Ioh. 1.3 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made Iohn begins his Gospel with the dignity of Christs Person and how doth he set it forth by the Creation of the World by the Eternal Word and what he saith is an answer to these questions When was the Word In the beginning where was the Word with God what was the Word He was God What did he then do All things were made by him What all without exception Yes Without him nothing was made that was made be it never so small never so great from the highest Angel to the smallest worm they had all their Being from him Two things are to be explained 1. How he made all things 2. When he made the Angels 1. How he made all things Freely and of his own will Rev. 4.11 Thou art worthy O Lord to receive honour and glory and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created They use three words to set forth the honour that is due to Christ for creating the World Glory because of his Excellencies discovered Honour which is the ascription or acknowledgement of those Excellencies and Power because the invisible things of his Godhead and power are seen by the things that are made Rom. 1.20 For in the creating of the World he exercised his Omnipotency and this they do not express their Affection but his own due desert Thou art worthy O Lord The reason they give is because he hath created all things for his own pleasure or according to his own Will not out of necessity there was no tye upon him to make them but onely he of his good pleasure thought fit to do so He might have done it in another manner or at another time or in another order There is nothing in the World that hath a necessary connexion with the Divine Essence so as if God be that must be nothing external commeth from God by necessity of Nature but
him like Princes God never made any of them universal and eternal King for he set Christ at his right hand not the Angels To sit at Gods right hand is not only to be blessed and happy in enjoying those pleasures which are there for evermore not onely to be advanced to the highest place of Dignity and Honour next to God but to be invested with a supream and universal Power above all Men and Angels Take these or any one of these and he is above the Angels though they be the most noble and excellent creatures that ever God made 3. Because Christ hath a ministry and service to do by them He makes use of them partly to exercise their obedience without which they forsake the Law of their creation and swerve from the end for which they were made Psal. 103.20 They do his commandments hearkening to the voice of his word They do whatsoever he commandeth them with all readiness and speed immaginable and therein they are an example to us Matth. 6.10 Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven They are our fellow-servants now in the Work hereafter in the Recompence when we are admitted into one Society under one common Head and Lord Heb. 12.27 who shall for ever rejoyce in the contemplation of Gods infinite Excellencies Well then if these Excellent creatures so great in power be alwayes so ready and watchful to do the Will of God and count it their honour to assist in so glorious a work as the saving of Souls or do any other business he sendeth them about how should we that hope to be like the Angels in happiness be like them in obedience also 2. Because the Churches safety dependeth upon it We stand in need of this Ministry of Angels The service of the Angels is protection to the people of God vengeance on their Enemies 1. For protection Christ hath the heavenly host at his command and sendeth them forth for the good of his People Psal. 68.17 The chariots of the Lord are twenty thousand even thousands of Angels the Lord is among them in Sinai in the holy place Mark that thousands of Angels are his Chariots conveying him from Heaven to Earth and from Earth to Heaven and mark the Lord is among them that is God incarnate for he presently speaketh of his ascending up on high Thou hast ascended up on high and led captivity captive thou hast received gifts for men ver 18. Among them in his Holy place that is in heaven It is added as in Mount Sinai that is as at the giving of the Law they were then there and still attend on the propagation of the Gospel For more particular Cases see Heb. 1.14 Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation So Psal. 34.7 The angel of the Lord incampeth round about them that fear him and delivereth them All that obediently serve and wait on God have the promise of his protection 2. The other part of this Ministry and Service is to restrain and destroy the Devil and his Instruments The Scripture often speaks of Gods executing Judgements by the Angels Their influence doth not always personally appear yet it is great and powerful Though the Powers and Authorities on Earth and their Messengers and Forces be ofâ—en imployed against the Saints yet the Captain of our Salvation is in Heaven and all the mighty Angels are subject to him and at his disposal By this means the Prophet Elisha confirmed himself and his servant when the King of Syria sent Chariots and Horses a great host to attacque him in Dothan â— King 6.14 15. And when his servaâ—t saw it early in the morning he said Alas my master what shall we do The Prophet answered Verse 16. They that â—e with us are more than they that be against us And then Verse 17. he prayed Lord open his eyes that he may see And the Lord opened his eyes and behold the mountain was full of chariots and â—orses of fire round about Elisha These fiery Horses and Chariots were nothing else but the Angels of God Here is force against force chariots against chariots horse against horse if we could open the eye of Faith and shut that of Sense We read Acts 12.23 that an Angel smote Herod in the midst of his Pride and Persecution The Angel of the Lord smote him VSES I. Let us more deeply be possessed with the Majesty of our Redeemer He is the Creator of all things of Angels as well as Men and so more excellent than all the Men in the World whether they excel in power or holiness which the Psalmist expresseth thus fairer than the children of men Psal. 45.29 But also then the most excellent and glorious Angels he is their Creator as well as ours head of principalities and powers as well as of poor worms here upon Earth Surely the representing and apprehending of Christ in his glorious Majesty is a point of great consequence 1. Partly to give us matter for praise and admiration that we may not have mean thoughts of his Person and Office he is a most glorious Lord and King that holdeth the most powerful Creatures in subjection to himself If Christians did know and consider how much of true Religion consists in admiring and praising their Redeemer they would more busie their minds in this work 2. Partly To strengthen our Trust and to fortifie us against all fears and discouragements in our service When we think of the great Creator of Heaven and Earth and all things visible and invisible Angels Men Principalities c. Surely the brightness of all creature-glory should wax dim in our eyes Our God is able to deliver us Dan. 18. and will as he did by his Angel This was that which fortified Stephen Acts 5.55 56. He saw Iesus standing at the right hand of God It is easie for him who made all things out of nothing to help us See Psal. 121.2 My help standeth in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth The Almighty Creator Ruler and Governour of the World what cannot he do As long as I see those glorious monuments of his power standing I will not distrust he can afford me seasonable help by his Holy Angels through the intercession of his Son who hath assumed my Nature 3. Partly To bind our duty all Creatures were made by him and for him therefore we should give up our selves to him and say with Paul Acts 27.23 His I am and him I serve His by Creation and redemption therefore every thing we have and do ought to have a respect to his glory service There is â— variety of Creatures in the World of different kinds and different excellencies In the whole and every kind there is somewhat of the glory of God and Christ set forth Now this should strike our hearts shall we onely who are the persons most obliged be a disgrace to our Lord both Creator and
13.33 To the Resurrection of Christ. Things are said to be when they are manifested to be compare Rom. 1.4 Declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the dead He was declared to be the true and Everlasting Son of God and Head of the Church so the Adoption of Believers shall appear by their Resurrection Rom. 8.19 and 23. The earnest expectation of the Creature waiteth for the manifestation of the Sons of God verse 23. We our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of the body 2. The sequel and consequent of these things That in all things he might have the preheminence that is as well in the Spiritual estate of the Church as in the creation and natural estate of the World Rom. 8.29 That he might be the first-born among many Brethren I begin with the first Doct. I. That this is the honour appropriate and peculiar to Iesus Christ to be head of the Church 1. Here I shall shew what the Church is to which Christ is an Head 2. How is he an Head to this body 3. The Reasons why this body must have such an Head 1. What the Church is A Society of men called out of the World by Gods effectual Grace according to the purpose of his Election and united to Christ by Faith and the participation of his Spirit and to one another by the band of Charity that after Remission of sins obtained in this World together with Regenerating grace they may at length be brought to eternal Life Let us a little open this description by Effectual Calling God worketh Faith which uniteth us to Christ and that Effectual calling is the fruit of Election and the effect of this union is Remission of sins and the necessary consequence of this Communion is Salvation or Eternal Life This Society of Men is called a Church in the Text The word Church is taken in divers acceptations First and most properly it signifies these whom I have now described the universal collection of all and every one of those who according to the good pleasure of God are or may be called out of a state of Sin into a state of grace to obtain eternal Glory by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Church of the First-born whose names are written in heaven Heb. 12.22 That chosen Generation that Royal Priesthood that Holy Nation that peculiar People whom to shew forth his praises God hath called out of darkness into his marvelous light 1 Pet. 2.9 This Church most generally and properly taken is the Kingdom of God the Body and Spouse of Christ Cant. 6.9 My dove my undefiled one is but one This is that one fold under one Shepherd Ioh. 10.16 And it was Prophesied of Christ that he should dye to gather together in one the Children of God that were scattered abroad Iohn 11.5 Secondly Of this universal Church there are two parts one of Travellers the other of Comprehensors or the Church Militant and Triumphant they both belong to Gods Family Eph. 3.15 Of whom the whole Family whether in Heaven and Earth is named so Col. 1.10 That part of the Family which is in Heaven triumpheth with God there that which is in Earth is yet Warring against sin satan and the World Thirdly This part which is the Military comes in the 2d place to be called by the name of the universal Church because being scattered dispersed throughout the whole World it comprehendeth all and every one that belongeth to Christs flock which are found in several Folds known to God they are and to themselves and do indeed belong to Christs Body and his Kingdom this is often and not undeservedly called the invisible Church because so far as it is the Church of God their reality and sincerity is rather believed by Faith then seen by the eyes of the body This Church This Kingdom of God though it be yet in this World yet it is not of the World neither doth it come with observation for the Faithful have this Kingdom of God within them Luke 17.20 The World knows them not other believers know them not but God knoweth those that are his 2 Tim. 2.19 Fourthly The universal visible Church While they are in the way and in the midst of their conflicts it is possible many hypocrites may take up the profession as in the great house are many vessels some to honour some to dishonour from these ariseth an external promiscuous multitude who also are called the Catholick Church for the sake and with respect to those Holy ones among them who truly belong to Christs Mystical Body We read often the Kingdom is like to a net wherein are good and bad Fishes Matth. 13. To a Threshing floor wherein is chaff and Wheat To a Field wherein groweth good Corn and also Tares Matth. 13.24 25. Now all these wayes is the universal Church taken Fifthly There are particular Churches wherein the Ordinances and means of Grace are dispensed as the Church of Corinth Cenchrea Galatia Greek Roman None of these particular Churches contain all believers or the Elect of God that out of them or any of them there should be no Salvation Again the universal Church may remain in the World total and intire though these particular Churches are or other of them may successively be destroyed as it hath often faln out And it is a great sin so to cry up a particular Church as to exclude all the rest from saving Communion with Christ and for any one particular Church to arrogate power over the others they being but members 2. This Church is called a Body in two respects 1. In regard of the union of all the parts 2. Dependance upon one and the same head 1. With respect to union as in man all the members make but one Body quickned by the same soul so in the Mystical body of Christ all the parts make up but one body animated by the same vital principle which is the spirit of Christ and are joyned together by certain bonds and ligaments Faith and Love and all is covered with the same skin the profession of the Faith of Christ. Look what the soul is in man the form in the subject life in the body and proportion in the building that in the universal Church of God is the Union and Communion of the several and single parts with the head among themselves Take away the Soul from man the form from the subject life from the body proportion and conjunction from the parts of the building and what will man be but a Carkass and the building but ruine confusion So take away union and communion from the universal Church then Ierusalem will become a Babel and Bethel a Beâ—haven and for Life there will be death and for Salvation eternal destruction How else shall all that come out from one return again to one and all and every one have all things in one
the Law and the stinging sense of Gods Threatnings which are so absolute universal and every way true and evident unless we know a sufficient satisfaction hath been made for us If you think the promises of the Gospel are enough alass when the threatnings of the Law are so just and built upon such evident Reason the soul is exposed to doubtfulness And if the threatnings of the Law seem altogether in vain the promises of the Gospel will seem less â—irm and valid The Truth and Honour of Gods Government must one way or other be kept up and that will not be unless there be a fair passage from Covenant to Covenant and that the former be not repealed or relaxed but upon valuable consideration as it is when our Mediatour and surety beareth our sorrows and griefs and satisfieth for us But now if he were mere Man it would not have that esteem and value as to be sufficient for so many men and so many sins as are committed against an holy God Therefore he needeth to be God also 3. His Kingly Office How can that be exercised without an Infinite Power Because by our King and Judge all our Enemies are to be overcome the World Sin Death and the Devil And what is necessary to do this every man may soon understand And as an Infinite Power is necessary so an Infinite Knowledge that all things in Heaven and Earth may be naked and open to him and that he search the heart and try the Reins and then that he may subject all things to himself raise all the dead to life govern and protect the faithful in all the parts of the world that he may be present with them in every Age and Place to help and relieve them In short to do all things both in Heaven and in Earth that fall within the compass of his office Now what is a divine and infinite Power if this be not What can the Father do which the Son cannot do also yea what doth the Father do which the Son doth not likewise Ioh. 5.19 Is there any work which the one doth but the other cannot do Besides there needeth infinite Authority and Majesty therefore the King of the Church must be infinite But how is he infinite if he hath onely a finite Nature such as a mere Creature hath Or how could his finite Nature without change and conversion into another Nature be made infinite For without doubt that nature is infinite which hath an infinite power of Understanding Willing and Acting Well then Christ cannot be truly owned unless he be owned as Lord and God 5. Those that are rightly conversant about Christ and the Misteries of his Death and Resurrection should take Christ for their Lord and their God Every one of them should say my God on whom I depend my Lord to whose use I resign my self I shall 1. Explain in what sense these words may and ought to be used 2. Give you the Reasons why it becomes Christians to be able to say My Lord my God 1. In what sense these words may and ought to be used My Lord and my God There are two things considerable in those words 1. An Appropriation or a claim and challenge of Interest in him 2. A Resignation or Dedication of our selves to his Use and Service Both are implyed in these Titles My Lord my God Christ was his God or Benefactor and also his Lord and Master However that be in the mutual stipulation of the Covenant 't is evident Cant. 2.16 I am my beloved and my beloved is mine There is the appropriation of Faith and the resignation of Obedience Ezek. 36.28 Ye shall be my people and I will be your God Zech. 13.9 I will say 't is my people and they shall say the Lord is my God 1. The one is the fruit and effect of the other God saith I am thy God and the Soul answereth I am thy servant As when Christ said Mary she presently said Rabboni God awakeneth us by the offer of himself and all his Grace to do us good and then we devote our selves to his Service and profess subjection to him If he will be our God we may well allow him a dominion and Lordship over us to rule us at his pleasure We choose him because he chooseth us for all Gods works leave their impression upon our hearts He cometh with Terms of Peace and we with Profession of Duty God loveth first and most and purest and therefore his love is the cause of all 2. The one is the Evidence of the other If God be yours you are his He is yours by gift of himself to you and you are his by gift of your selves to him The Covenant bindeth mutually Many will be ready to apply and call God their God that do not dedicate and devote themselves to God If you be not the Lords the Lord is not yours He refuseth their claim that say Hosea 8.2 Israel shall cry unto me my God we know thee Israel hath cast off the thing that is good In their distress they pleaded their Interest in the Covenant but God would not allow the claim because they denied obedience 3. The one is more sensible and known to us than the other A believer cannot always say God 〈◊〉 mine but he will always say I am his Psal. 119.94 I am thine save me I am thine and will be thine onely thine wholly thine and always thine Appropriation hath more of a Priviledge in it Resignation is onely a Duty We have leave and allowance to say God is my God but we cannot alwayes say it without doubt and hesitancy because our Interest is not alwayes alike evident and clear When you cannot say my God yet be sure to say my Lord. We know God to be ours by giving up ouâ— selves to be his His choice and election of us is a secret till it be evidenced by our choice of him for our God and Portion our Act is more sensible to the Conscience Be more full and serious in the resignation of your selves to him and in time that will shew you your Interest in God 4. Gods Propriety in us by Contract and Resignation speaketh Comfort as well as our Propriety and Interest in God You are his own and therefoe he will provide for you and care for you 1 Tim. 5.8 If any provide not for his own he hath denied the faith and is worse than an Infidel Interest doth strangely endear things to us The world will love its own Iob. 5.19 and will not God love his own and Christ love his own Iob. 13.1 you may trust him and depend upon him and serve him chearfully for you are his own So that if we had no Interest in God established by the Covenant if God had not said to us I am yours yet our becoming his would make it comfortable For every one taketh himself to be bound to love his own provide for his own and to defend his own and do
doth not consider here so much what Christ doth as a Mediator as what de doth as God It is true Christ as Mediator hath reprieved the World from that ruine which might come upon it for mans sin but here his merit is not considered but his power Heb. 1.3 He upholdeth all things by the word of his power The weight of the whole creation lyeth upon his hands as Daniel telleth Belshazzar that his breath and his wayes were in the hand of God Dan. 5.23 so is the being life and operation of all the creatures If he should withdraw his withholding hand they would quickly return to their first nothing which sheweth the great power of our Redeemer Moses complaineth Numb 11.11 12. Thou hast layed the burden of all this people upon me have I conceived this people have I begotten them that thou shouldst say unto me carry them in thy bosom but Christ hath the care and charge of all the world not to rule them only but to sustain them A King or a Governour hath a moral rule over his subjects but Christ giveth them being and existence and doth preserve and keep them in their present state and condition from dissolution 2. Not only indirectly but directly Indirectly Christ may be said to sustain and preserve the creatures as he keepeth off evil or removeth those things that may be destructive to them As he preserveth a Town that repelleth their enemies but directly he preserveth them as he continueth his providential influence Acts 17.28 For in him we live and move and have our being As the root feedeth the fruit or the breath of the musician maintains the sound Psal. 104.29 Thou takest away thy breath and they dye and return to their duâ—t Life and all the joyes and comforts of it every minute depend upon God It is by his providential influence and supportation we subsist The greatest creature cannot preserve it self by its power and greatness and the lest is not neglected both would sink into nothing without this continued influence Thirdly He doth this not only mediately by means appointed but immediately as his efficacy pierceth through all God preserveth the creatures by means for he giveth them those supplyes which are proper for them as to man food and rayment for other creatures what may relieve them And the wise dispensing these supplies without any care and solicitude of the creatures is a notable part of his Providence But here we consider his intimate presence with all things by which he upholdeth their beings which all the means of the World cannot do without him God doth as it were hold the creatures in his own hand that it may not sink into its old nothing as a man holdeth a weighty thing This is supposed to be alluded unto Iob 6.9 Let him loose his hand and cut me off If he doth but loose his Almighty grasp all the creatures fall down Fourthly Christ doth this so as that he doth not overturn their nature he worketh by natural and necessary causes necessarily with voluntary causes voluntarily he that inlightneth the World by the Sun causes man to discourse and reason the Sun would not shine if Christ were not the light of it nor man discourse if he did not continue the faculty Ioh. 1.4 In him was Life and this Life was the light of man It is man seeth man heareth man talketh man acteth but yet the seeing eye and hearing ear is of the Lord Prov. 20.12 as God hath made both so he sustaineth both in their operation and exercise All that we do naturally and spiritually we have from Christ. Fifthly He is not the bare instrument of God in sustaining the creature but as a coequal Agent As he made the World and with the father created all things so he doth support and order all things It is as well the work of the Son as of the Father for he is God equal with him in glory and power Iohn 5.17 My Father worketh hitherto and I work and he hath a command of all the creatures that they can do nothing without him how much soever they attempt to do against him 2. Let me give you the reasons of this why all things must subsist by him 1. Because preservation is but a kind of continued creation or a continuance of the being which God hath caused Gods will in creation maketh a thing to be his will in preservation maketh it continue to be the same omnipotency and efficacy of God is necessary to sustain our beings as at first to create them Therefore it is said Psal. 104.2 Thou stretchest out the Heavens like a curtain which noteth a continued act God erected them at first and still sustaineth them by his secret power in this posture so that with respect to God it is the same action to conserve as to create That the creature may have a being the influence of God is necessary to produce it that the creature may continue its being it is necessary that God should not break off that influence or forsake the creature so made for the being of the creature doth so wholly depend on the will of God that it cannot subsist without him Nothing can be without the will of God which is the cause both of the being and existence of all creatures Therefore their being cannot be continued unless God will therefore it belongeth to the same power to make any thing out of nothing and to keep any thing that is made from returning to its first nothing 2. It is impossible to cut off the dependance of the creature upon the first cause for no creature hath a self sufficiency to maintain and support it self Things of Art may subsist without the Artificer as a Carpenter maketh a House and then leaveth it to stand of it self the Shipwright maketh a Ship and then leaveth it to the Pilot to guide it but all things of Nature depend upon God that made them because they have their whole being from him matter and form which be continueth no longer then he pleaseth whether they be things in Earth or things in Heaven visible or invisible No impression of the Agent remaineth in the effect when his action ceaseth when the effect wholly dependeth on the cause as when the Air is inlightned which receiveth light from the Sun but when the Sun is gone the light ceases So when God withdraws the creature vanishes for they have no other being then God is pleased to bestow upon them 3. If it were not so many absurdities would follow as for instance 1. If things do subsist by themselves then they would allwayes be for nothing would destroy it self 2. Then the creature would be independent and whether God will or no they would conserve their being and then how should God Govern the World therefore it undenyably followeth thou hast made all things and thou preservest them all 4. It would destroy all Worship and our Piety and respect to God would be cold and languid The
cause of all our misery when he sees fit all the Creatures soon return to the Elements of which they are compounded all the strokes and judgements which light upon them are dispensed according to his pleasure In a way of Grace we are nothing can do nothing without him Iohn 15.5 He must have all the praise Luke 16.14.1 Cor. 15.10 Gal. 2.20 The more perfections we have the more prone we are to fall if he sustain us not witness the faln Angels and Adam in innocency 3. It teaches us a lesson of reverence and Obedience if God be so near let us observe him and take notice of his presence He knoweth what he doth when he sustaineth such a creature as thou art This thought should continually affect us that God is with us still by us not onely without us but within us preserving our Life upholding our Being It should be a check to our sluggishness and mispense of Time doth God now continue me to what end and purpose If God were absent or gone it were more justifiable to loiter or indulge the ease of the flesh but to spend my time vainly and foolishly which he continueth for service what have we to say SERMON V. 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 THE Context is spent in representing the Dignity and Excellency of Christ He is set forth by three things 1. By the excellency of the Benefits we have by him the greatest the faln Creature is capable of for the present verse 14. 2. By the excellency of his Person so he is set forth as the eternal and only begotten Son of God verse 15. and proved by his being the Creator and Preserver of all things The Creator verse 16. The Preserver verse 17. Now the Apostle cometh to the third thing 3. The excellency of his Office This is done in the Text where observe that next after the Son of God there is nothing more venerable August then Christs being Head of the Church And again that Christ hath another title to us then that of Creator he is Redeemer also the same God that created us by his power hath Redeemed us by his Mercy By the one he drew us out of nothing by the other he recovered us out of Sin Therefore after he had declared what Christ is to the World and the Church too he sheweth what Christ is particularly to the Church He hath a superiority over Angels and all creatures but he is our head Eph. 1.22 He hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the Church Christ is the Sovereign of the World but by a special relation to his people he is the Head of the Body the Church who is the beginning the first-born from the dead c. In which words Observe 1. The Titles which are given to Christ with respect to the Church he is the Head the Beginning The First-born from the dead 2. The consequence of it That in all things he might have the Preheminence 1. The Titles ascribed to Christ they are three The first is the Head of the Body the Church Where observe two correlates the Head and the Body the head is Christ the Body is the Church the Head is the most eminent part of the Body the noblest both as to nature and place or situation As to nature the Head is the most illustrious Throne of the Soul as being the seat not only of the Nerves and Senses but of the Memory and Understanding In place as nearest Heaven The very situation doth in a manner oblige the other parts to respect it these things agree to Christ who as to his essence is infinitely of much more worth then the Church as being the only begotten Son of God As to Office in him there is a fulness of perfection to perform the Office of an Head to such a crasie and necessitous body as the Church is All the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge are in our head for the use of the body Col. 2.3 and he is also the fountain of Life and Grace to every particular member Ioh. 1.16 and for place he Reigneth in Heaven with his Father and from thence he vieweth all the necessities of the Body and sendeth forth such influences of Grace as are needful to every particular member 2. For the other correlate The Church is the Body by the Church is meant the Church Mystical or all such as are called out of the World to be a peculiar people unto God Now these considered collectively or together they are a body but singlely and separately every Believer is a member of that body 1 Cor. 12.29 Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular all the parts and members joyned together are a spiritual body but the several Persons are members of that Body Yea though there be many particular Churches yet they are not many bodies but one body so it is said 1 Cor. 12.12 As the body is one and hath many members and all the members of that body being many are one body so also is Christ. He is the Head and the many and divers members of the universal Christian Church are but one Body The universal invisible Church of real Believers is one Mystical Body knit by Faith to Christ their Head and by love among themselves And the visible universal Church is one politick Body conjoyned with Christ their Head and among themselves by an external entring into Covenant with God and the serious profession of all saving Truths They have all the same King and Head the same Laws the Word of God the same Sacraments of admission and nutrition which visibly at least they subject themselves unto and have a grant of the same common priviledges in the Gospel but of this more anon 2. The next Title is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Beginning I understand it that he is the root and the beginning of the renewed estate the same degree which Christ hath in the order of nature he hath in the order of grace also he is the beginning both of Creation so also of Redemption he is origo mundi melioris still the beginning and ending of the New creature as well as the old Rev. 1.8 He is called in short the beginning with respect to the Life of Grace as in the next Title the First-born from the dead with respect to the Life of Glory 3. The third Title is the First-born from the dead he had before called him the first-born of every Creature now the first-born from the dead Rev. 1.5 The first begotten from the dead because those that arise from the dead are as it were new-born whence also the Resurrection from the dead is called a Regeneration Matth. 19.20 And St. Paul referreth that Prophesie Psal. 2.7 Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee In Acts
and Council of Saints Not one of the sinners shall remain in the company of the righteous nor appear in their Society 2. The wicked are raised ex officio Iudicis not beneficio Mediatoris they are raised by Christ as a Judge but not by him as a Redeemer The one sort are raised by the power of his vindicative Justice the other by the Holy Ghost by vertue of his Covenant Rom. 8.11 He shall quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you The one by Christs power from without put forth by him as Judge of dead and living The other by an inward quickning influence that flows from him as their proper head When the Reaper gathers the Wheat into his Barn the Tares are bound in bundles and cast into unquenchable Fire Matth. 15.30 3. The wicked are forced to appear and cannot shift that dreadful Tribunal the other go joyfully forth to meet the Bridegroom and when the sentence of condemnation shall be executed upon the one the other by vertue of Christs Life and Resurrection shall enter into the possession of a blessed and Eternal Life wherein they shall injoy God and Christ and the company of Saints and Angels and sing Hallelujahs for ever and ever Thirdly How is this an evidence and assurance to all good Christians of their happy and glorious Resurrection 1. The Resurrection of Christ doth prove that there shall be a Resurrection 2. That to the faithful it shall be a blessed and glorious Resurrection 1. There shall be a Resurrection it is necessary to prove that partly because it is the foundation of all Godliness if there were not another Life after this there were some ground for that saying of the Atheists Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall dye 2 Cor. 15.32 If there be no future estate nor being after this Life let us enjoy the good things of the World whilst we can for with in a little while death cometh and then there is an end of all These Atheistical discourses and temptations to sensuality were more justifiable if men were annihilated by death no the soul is immortal and the body shall rise again and come into the judgment and unless we live Holily a terrible judgement it will be to us Partly because we cannot easily believe that the same body shall be placed in heaven which we see committed to the Grave to rot there Of all Articles of Religion this is most difficultly assented unto now there is relief for us in this business in hand Christ is the first-born from the dead There were many praeludia resurrectionis foretokens and pledges of the Resurrection given to the old World in the Translation of Enoch the Rapture of Elijah the reviving of these few dead ones which I spake of before but the great and publick evidence that is given for the assurance of the World is Christs rising from the Grave this makes our Resurrection 1. Possible 2. Easie. 3. Certain and Necessary 1. Possible the least that we can gather from it is this that it is not impossible for dead men to rise for that which hath been may be We have the proof and instance of it in Christ see how the Apostle reasoneth 1 Cor. 15.13 If there be no Resurrection from the dead then Christ is not risen and then our whole Faith falleth to the ground For all Religion is bottomed on the Resurrection of Christ if therefore Christ be risen why should it seem an incredible thing to us that others should be raised also 2. It is Easie for by rising from the dead he hath conquered death and gotten the victory of it 1 Cor. 15.57 A separation there will be of the soul from the body but it is not such as shall last for ever The victory over sin is the victory over death and the conquest of sin makes death an entrance into immortality The Scriptures often speak of Christs destroying the power of death Heb. 2.14 That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death The devils design was by tempting men to sin to keep them for ever under the power of death but Christ came to rescue men from that power by a Resurrection from Death to Life Again it is said he hath abolished death and brought Life and Immortality to light in the Gospel He hath voided the power of death by taking a course for the destruction of sin and made a clear Revelation of that Life and Immortality which was not so certainly known before We look to the natural impossibilities how what is turned to dust may be raised again because we do not consider the power of God but the moral impossibility is the greater for the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the Law that which makes sin able to do us hurt is the guilt of sin otherwise it would be but as a calm sleep and this guilt is bound upon us by the Law of the righteous God which threatneth eternal Death to the sinner Now get free from sin and it is easie to believe the conquest of death I will prove two things that Christs Râ—surrection shews both his victory over sin and his victory over death 1 His victory over sin That he hath perfectly satisfyed for sin and appeased the wrath of God who is willing to be reconciled with all those that come to the Faith and Obedience of the Gospel which could not be if Christ had remained under the power of death for the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 15.17 If Christ had not risen ye are yet in your sins that is God is not pacifyed there is no sufficient means of atonement or foundation layed for our Reconciliation with him but his Resurrection declareth that he is fully satisfyed with the ransom paid for sinners by Jesus Christ for it was in effect the releasing of our Surety out of Prison so it is said Rom. 4.15 He was delivered for our offences and raised up for our Iustification he dyed to expiate and do away sin and his Resurrection sheweth it was a sufficient Ransom and therefore he can apply the vertue of it to us 2. His victory over death For he got out of it which not only shews there is a possibility for a man by the power of God to be raised from Death to Life but a facility as a second Adam he brought Resurrection into the World there were two Adams the one Man brought Death and another brought Resurrection into the World The sentence of death is gone out against all the children of Adam as such and the Regenerate Believers that are recovered by Christ shall be raised to immortal Life he hath gotten out of the power of death so shall we 3. Certain and necessary For several Reasons 1. Our relation to Christ he is the head of the body now the head will not live gloriously in Heaven and leave his members behind him under the power of death Believers are called the
the World till he was advanced at the right hand of God and then this effect declared it The spirit was given before but more sparingly because it was given upon trust and with respect to the satisfaction that was afterwards to be made and accepted And then it was witnessed to the World by a more copious and plentiful effusion of the spirit Therefore 't is said Acts 2.33 Therefore Iesus being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear The merit and value of the sacrifice is thus visibly attested therefore this is one of the witnesses Acts 5.30 31 32. The God of our Fathers raised up Iesus whom ye slew and hanged on a Tree him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour for to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins And we are his witnesses of these things and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him And what was the evidence given to the Church in general is the evidence given also to every particular believer 4thly Some have obtained the effects and fruits of Christs death this peace begun here hath been perfected in heaven The Text saith he hath Reconciled all things to himself whether they be things in Heaven or things in Earth Here many are pardoned and accepted with God and have the comfort of it in their own Souls Others are gone home to God and have the full of this peace All were by nature children of wrath under the curse as well as others Now if some in all generations have injoyed the love favour and friendship of God in this World and upon their departure out of it have entered into glory upon this account it is evident that Christ is accepted to the ends for which God sent him thus Abraham the Father of the faithful and all the blessed souls who are gathered into his bosom and are alive with God in Heaven Certain it is they were all sinners by nature for there is no difference between any of the children of men and yet God admits them into his peace Was it a personal priviledge peculiar to them only No the Apostle tells us Rom. 4.23 It was not written for his sake alone and Paul obtained mercy for them that should hereafter believe on Christ for life everlasting 1 Tim. 1.16 Therefore all penitent believers may be assured that this sacrifice is sufficient and will avail for their acceptance with God We take it for a good token of a healing Water when we see the Crutches of Criples that had been cured all the blessed Saints in Heaven are witness to a sincere soul they all obtained this blessed condition through the blood of his Cross Reconciling them to God There is none in glory but had his pardon sealed through the blood of Christ. 4. How and upon what terms is it applyed to us for we have considered hitherto onely how Christ hath made peace or made the atonement Yet if we receive not the atonement we may perish for ever for all that besides the work done on the Cross by Christ alone there is a work to be done in our hearts the work of making peace is sufficiently done by Christ there needeth nothing to be added to it no other ransom nor sacrifice nor propitiation Christ hath so fully satisfyed divine Justice that he hath obtained the new Covenant but we are not actually admitted 〈◊〉 this peace till we have personally accepted the Covenant Now here it sticketh God hath been in Christ Reconciling the World unto himself there was the foundation layed but therefore we pray you to be Reconciled 2 Cor. 5.20 There is our Title Claim actual Right security But how do we receive this atonement or how are we interessed in it the conditions and terms are gracious such as the nature of the business calleth for as to our entrance into this peace no more is required but Faith and Repentance The Gospel is offered to all but the penitent Believer as being onely capable is possessed of it 1. Faith is required that we Believe what the Son of God hath done and purchased for us Rom. 5.1 Being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Iesus Christ. If we sincerely embrace the Gospel we are Reconciled to God and accepted with him The Faith that justifieth is partly an assent to the Truth of the Christian Religion especially the fundamental Truth that Jesus is the Son of God and Saviour of the World And partly an acceptance of Christ as God offers him a serious thankful broken hearted acceptance of Christ as your Lord and Saviour serious because of the weight of the business broken hearted because of the condition of the person accepting a self-condemning sinner or one that hath an awakening sense of his sin and misery Thankful because Reconciliation with God and fruition of them in Glory is so great a benefit and you take him as Lord for every knee must bow to Christ he is a Saviour by merit and efficacy By his meritorious Righteousness you obtain all benefits by the efficacy of his spirit you perform all duties the last thing is trust and dependance Eph. 1.13 Trust is such an expectation of the benefits offered by Christ that forsaking all other things you entirely give up your selves to the conduct of his Word and Spirit 2. The next thing is Repentance which is a turning from sin to God we turn from sin by hatred and we turn to God by Love We turn from sin by hatred hatred of sin is the ground of all mortification there is a twofold hatred of abomination and of enmity We turn to God by Love which is the great principle to incline us to God and is the bottom of vivification or living to God Now all this is necessary to actual peace for our refreshing begins in conversion Acts 3.19 there is no peace allowed to the wicked we must take Christs yoke or we shall find no rest for our souls Matth. 11.29 we are not reconciled to God till our enmity be broken and overcome then of enemies we become Friends of Strangers intimates then we are reconciled This then is required of you onely let me add this caution what is at first Vows and Purposes must be afterwards Deeds and Practises and having ingaged your selves to God to live to him to keep your selves from sin and to follow after Holiness This must be your business all the dayes of your lives For so you continue your peace and interest in God Gal. 6.16 And as many as walk according to this rule peace be on them and mercy and on the Israel of God VSE 1. To Exhort you to enter into this peace that you may be partakers of the fruit of Christs Blood and the virtue of his cross may be effectual in you 1. Let me reason a