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
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
he came So is Christ as God without Mother as Man without Father As God without beginning as God Man without ending of Life 2. Another Type of him was Iacobs Ladder The top of which reached Heaven and the bottom reached Earth Gen. 28.12 And the Angels of God were ascending and descending upon it This Ladder represented Christ the Son of Man upon whom the Angels of God ascend and descend Iohn 1.51 The bottom which reached the earth represented Christs humane nature and conversing with Men The top which reached Heaven his heavenly and divine nature and in both his mediaation with God for Men Ascende per hominem per venies ad Deum Christ reaches to Heaven in his divine original to Earth in his Manhood and him the Angels serve By his dwelling in our nature this commerce between Earth and Heaven is brought about The third Type is the Fiery cloudy pillar Exod. 13.21 And the Lord went before them in the day in a pillar of a cloud and by night in a pillar of Fire to give them light to go by day and night this figured Christs guidance and protection of his Church travelling through this World to his heavenly rest The cloud signified his humanity the fire his divinity There were two different substances the fire and the cloud yet but one pillar So there are two different natures in Christ his divinity shining as fire his humanity darkning as a cloud yet but one Person That pillar departed not from them all the while they travelled in the Wilderness so while the Churches pilgrimage lasteth Christ will conduct us and comfort and shelter us by his presence His Mediatory conduct ceaseth not The fourth Type is the Tabernacle wherein God dwelt symbolically as in Christ bodily There God sat on the mercy seat which is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 9.5 so Christ Rom. 3.25 A propitiation He there dwelt between the Cherubims and did exhibit himself graciously to his people as now he doth to us by Christ. The next shall be of the Scape Goat on the day of expiation Lev. 16.10 One Goat was to be slain the other kept alive The slain Goat signified 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Flesh or humane nature suffering the Live Goat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Immortal Deity or as the Apostle expresseth it 2 Cor. 13.4 That Christ was to be crucified through weakness yet to live by the power of God or as we heard before 1 Pet. 3.18 Put to death in the Flesh and quickned by the Spirit Because these two things could not be shadowed by any one Beast which the Priest having killed could not make alive again and it was not fit that God should work mirâ—cles about Types therefore he appointed â—wo that in the slain Beast his death might be represented in the Live Beast his immortality The like mystery was represented also in the two birds for the cleansing of the Leper Lev. 14.6 7. Thirdly I prove it by Reasons taken from his office which may be considered in the general And so it is expressed by one Word Mediator or in particular according to the several functions of it expressed by the terms of King Priest and Prophet or with respect to the persons that are to be considered and concerned in Christs Mediation 1. His Office considered in the General so he is called Iesus the Mediator of the New Testament Heb. 12.24 It was agreeable that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Mediator should 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a middle person of the same essence with both parties and that his operative Mediation should presuppose his substantial Mediation that being God Man in the same person he should make an atonement between God and Man Sin hath made such a breach and distance between us and God that it raiseth our fears and causeth backwardness to draw nigh unto him and so hindreth our love and confidence in him How can we depend upon one so far above us and out of the reach of our commerce therefore a Mediator is necessary one that will pity us and is more near and dear to God then we are One in whom God doth condescend to man and by whom Man may be encouraged to ascend to God now who is so fit for this as Jesus Christ God manifested in our flesh The two natures met together in his person and so God is nearer to Man then he was before 〈◊〉 the pure Deity for he is come down to us in our flesh and hath assumed it into the unity of his person and man is nearer to God for our nature dwelleth with him so closely united that we may have more familiar thoughts of God and a confidence that he will look after us and concern himself in our affairs and shew us his grace and savour for surely he will not hide himself from his own flesh Isa. 58.7 This wonderfully reconcileth the heart of Man to God and maketh our thoughts of him more comfortable and doth encourage us to free access to God 2. Come we now to the particular offices by which he performeth the work of a Mediator and they all shew the necessity of both natures these offices and functions are those of Prophet Priest and King 1. Our Mediator hath a Prophetical office belonging to his Administration that he may be made Wisdom to us and therefore he must be both God and Man God that he may not onely teach us outwardly as an ordinary Messenger or Minister but inwardly putting his Law into our minds and writing it upon our hearts Heb. 8.10 and 2 Cor. 3.3 Ye are manifestly declared to be the Epistle of Christ ministred by us written not with Ink but with the spirit of the living God not in Tables of stone but in the fleshly Tables of the heart Men may be the instruments but Christ is the Author of this Grace and therefore he must be God To convince mens understandings of their duty and to incline their hearts to perform it requireth no less then a divine power If such an infinite vertue be necessary to cure the blindness of the body how much more to cure the natural blindness and darkness of the mind And man he must also be for the great Prophet of the Church was to be raised up among his brethren like unto Moses Deut. 18.15 Till such an one came into the World they were to hear Moses but then they were to hearken to him he that was to come was to be a Lawgiver as Moses was but of a far more absolute and perfect Law a Lawgiver that must match and overmatch Moses every way He was to be a man as Moses was in respect of our infirmities such an one as Moses was whom the Lord had known face to face but of a far more divine nature and approved to the World by Miracles Signs and Wonders as Moses was Again 't was prophesied of him that as the great Prophet of the World he should be anointed that he might
all is done according to the Counsel of his own Will Some thought all created things did come forth from the Creator by way of emanation as Rivers flow out of their Fountain but there is no stream floweth out of any fountain but it was before a part of that fountain while it was in it but that cannot be said of any Creature in respect of God that it was any part of God before it came out from him Others say the Creatures came out from God by way of representation as an Image in the glass from him that passeth by or looketh on it bâ—t before the world was made there was no such glass to represent God others would express it thus that the world cometh out from God as a shadow from the body but yet this will not fit the turn neither for the shadow doth not come out from the body but follows it because of the deprivation of light from the interposition of another body Others say all cometh from God as a foot-print or tract in Clay or Sand from one that passeth over it but there was nothing on which God by passing might make such an impression What ever good intention they might have by setting forth the Creation by these expressions yet you see they are not proper and accurate These expressions may have their use to raise mans understanding to contemplate the excellency and Majesty of the Creator for they all shew his incomparable Excellency and Perfection together with the vanity nothingness or smallness of the Creature if compared with him as great a bulk as it beareth in our eye They are but as a Ray from the Sun a stream from the fountain or a drop to the Ocean an Image in the Glass or a shadow to the substance or like a foot-print of a maâ— in the Clay or Sand and so are but certain signs leading up to the thing signified or Letters and Syllables out of which we may spell God As the streams lead us to the fountain the image to the man the shadow to the body or the track to the foot that made it But the Scripture leaving those comparisons sheweth us that the World came out from the Creator as the Workmanship from the Artificer the building from the Architect Heb. 11.10 Now every Artificer and builder worketh merely out of the Counsel of his own Will and herein they resemble God but onely what they do with great labour God doth with the beck of his own Will and Word Psal. 33.6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth A bare word of his immediately created all the World the Heavens and Earth and all that is in them 2. When did he make the angels For in the History of Moses there seemeth to be a great silence of it I Answer We read Gen. 1.1 that in the beginning that is when God did first set himself to create that then he created the Heaven and the Earth but we read again in the 20th Verse that in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is I argue that if within that compass of time the Lord made Heaven and Earth and all things that are in them Angels are included in that number being the inhabitants of Heaven as Men and Beasts are of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea As here by things in Heaven the Apostle principally understands the Angels and by things on earth Men Therefore as things on earth were not made but after the earth so things in heaven were not created but after the heavens were created The heavens were not created till the second day nor perfected and fitted till the fourth Therefore as God did furnish the Earth with Plants and Beasts before men so did he adorn the Heaven with stars before he filled it with Angels for he first framed the House and adorned it before he brought in the inhabitants Therefore probably they were made the fourth day Is this seemeth too short a time before the fall of the Apostate Angels you must remember how soon man degenerated some think he did not sleep in innocency quoting that Psal. 49.12 Man being in honour abides not but is like the beaâ—ts that perish The word signifies a nights Lodging in an Inne shall noâ— Lodge or stay a Night others make his fall on the next day the Sabbath For at the end of the sixth day all was good very good The Angels fell from their first state as soon as they were Created so short and uncertain is all created Glory Secondly All things were created for him that is for the honour of the Son as well as for the honour of the Father and the Holy Ghost Now this is necessary to be thought of by us because there is a Justice in the case that we should return and imploy all in his service from whom we have received all even though it be with the denial of our nearest and dearest Inteâ—est He is worthy of this Glory and Honour from us and that we should trust upon him as a faithful Creator in the midst of all dangers 1. I will prove that the greâ—tâ—st Glory the Creature is capable of is to serve the Will and set forth the Praise of its Creator for every thing that attaineth not its end is vain What matter is it whether I be a Dog or a Man a Beast or an Angel if I serve not the end for which I was made and that is not the personal and particular benefit of any Creature but the glory of the Creator for God made all things for himself Prov. 16.4 whether he made Beasts or Man or Angels it was still with a respect to his own glory and service God is independent and self-sufficient of himself and for himself Self-seeking in the creature is monstrous and incongruous 'T is as absurd and unbâ—seeming to seek its own Glory as to attribute to its self it s own being Rom. 11.36 Of him and through him and to him are all things Gods glory is the end of our being and doing for being and doing are both from him and therefore for him alone Above all it concerneth man to consider this who can glorifie God not onely objectively by the impressions of God upon him and passively as God will overule all his actions to his own Glory but actively as he is the mouth of the Creation not onely to honour God himself but to give him the praise which resulteth from all his works It was well sâ—id of a Heathen si essem lusâ—inia If I were a Nightingal I would sing as a Nightingal si alauda If I were a Lark I would pere as a Lark When I am a man what should I do but know love and praise God without ceasing and glorifie my Creator Things are unprofitable or mis-placed when they do not seek or serve their end therefore for what use are we meet
preserve and sustain all things In this verse two things are ascribed to Christ. First His precedency in point of Time or his Antiquity before all creatures And he is before all things that is he had an Eternal being before any thing that now is Created Secondly His sustaining all things by his Almighty Power and by him all things do consist All creatures owe their continuaâ—ce and preservation to him The first point is his Precedency and Pre-existence before all creatures whatsoever Doct. That Iesus Christ had a being before any of the creatures were made 1. That he had a being long before he was born of the Virgin for he was in the time of the Patriarchs as Ioh. 8.48 Before Abraham was I am to say nothing of that Godlike way speaking I am not I was but I am that which I now plead for is that he was before Abraham the words are occasioned by Christs saying that Abraham saw his day and was glad which the Jews understood not of a Prophetical but of a real vision and therefore objected the impossibility that he was not yet fifty years old and how could he see Abraham or Abraham see him Christ doth not answer to their ill interpretation but sheweth that their very objection contained no absurdity if taken in their own sense for he was not onely in the time of Abraham but long before and so affirmeth more then that objection required The Jews thought it absurd that Christ should be in the time of Abraham but Christ affirmeth more and that with a strong asseveration he was not only by the constitution of God but really existing before Abraham For the Predestination not only of Christ but of Abraham and all the Elect was before the foundation of the World If in respect of special prediction mark then what must follow then Cyrus must be in the time of Isaiah Iosiah must be in the time of Ieroboam The calling of the Gentiles must be in the time of Moses for they Prophesied of these things 2. That he had a being at the time of the creation that is also clear for it is said in the beginning was the word Iohn 1.1 that is when Christ set himself to create all things the word beginning signifies many things but chiefly the beginning of all time especially when it is put absolutely without any limitation to the matter in hand So Iohn 8.44 The Devil was a murderer from the beginning that is almost as soon as created Matth. 19.4 He that made them at the beginning made them male and female So Heb. 1.10 And Thou in the beginning hast layed the foundations of the Earth and in many other places Therefore Christ had a being when the World and all creatures were made visible and invisible So Prov. 8.22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31. The Lord pâ—ssessed me in the beginning of his way before his works of old I was set up from everlasting from the beginning or ever the Earth was When there was no depths I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding with water Before the mountains were settled before the hills was I brought forth While as yet he had not made the Earth nor the fields nor the highest part of the dust of the World When he prepared the heavens I was there when he set a compass upon the face of the depth When he established the clouds above when he strengthned the founâ—ains of the deep When he gave to the Sea his degree that the waters should not pass his commandement when he appointed the foundation of the earth Then I was by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoycing always before him Rejoycing in the habitable parts of his earth and my delights were with the sons of men There the wisedom of God or the eternal Word describeth the Antiquity of his person all the question is what this wisdom is that is there spoken of 1. It is not humane but divine for the wisdom there spoken of was before the World was 2. Whatever it be it is not a divine attribute but a divine person for those things which are there ascribed to wisdom cannot properly belong to an Attribute to be begotten brought forth verse 23 24. To have the affections of love verse 27. Delight verse 31. all along the expressions agree onely to a person That wisdom which inviteth sinners promises the Spirit threatens eternal destruction to those which hearken not to him commendeth not the Lawes of Moses but requireth obedience to his own Laws what can this wisdom be but a person If the intent were only to express that God is wise what strange expressions would theâ—e be to what purpose were it to give us notice that he was wise from the beginning if there were no other mistery in it 3. This person was Christ who is the wisdom of God 1 Cor. 1.24 And in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col. â— 5 Thirdly That Christ was before the World was from all eternity Micah 5.2 His goings forth are from everlasting The Prophet there speaketh of his birth at Bethlehem and his eternal Generation and distinguishes the one from the other but thou Bethlehem Ephratah though thou be little among the many thousands of Iudah yet out of thee shall come forth to me he that is to be Ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from old from Everlasting or from the dayes of Eternity This last clause is added least any should look upon this Ruler as only man and beginâ—ing to be at his Incarnation he that was born at Bethlehem was also true God begotten of the Father from all Eternity Fourthly That Christ was God sâ—bsisting in the divine Nature I shall bring two places to prove that the first Phil. 2.6 Who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God but empted himself and made himself of no reputation he was first in the form of God before he appeared in the form of a Servant the form of God is his divine glory and blessedness every way equal to God The form of a Servant is either his coming in the similitude of sinful flesh or his subjecting himself to the curse of the Law or his humble and mean condition while he lived among men it consists in one of these or in all three now before he submitted to this he existed in the form of God that is was cloathed with divine Majesty and in all things equal with God the Father his being and existence which he then had was truly divine The form of God is the very divine essence as cloathed with Glory and Majesty this did justly and naturally belong to him and was not usurped by him the other place is Christs prayer Iohn 17.5 And now O Father glorifie thou me with thy own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was God is said to glorifie any
person when he giveth him glorious qualities and powers or by revealing and manifesting those glorious qualities which he hath or when he doth receive him and treat him agreeably to his Glory The meaning of Christs prayer then must be of one or other of all these senses when he prayeth that the father would glorifie him with that glory that he had with him before the world was if you take it in the first sense he dâ—sireth that God would bestow upon him as Mediator or God Incarnate a Glory sutable to that Glory he had with him from all Eternity If in the second sense he desireth his Glory may be revealed or become conspicucus in his humane nature If in the third that God would receive him honourably and agreeably to that Glory which sense is the chiefest for it containeth the other two The meaning then in short is that he might be received to the full enjoyment of that glory which he had before the World was Christ was from all Eternity the glorious God this Glory of his Godhead by his humiliation was not diminished and lessened but obscured and hidden and therefore prayeth that he may be received by the Father and openly declared to the World to be the Son of God Or that the Glory of his Godhead might shine forth in the person of Christ God-man Well then before any creature was Christ had a divine Glory how had it he The enemies of this Truth say by decree or designation not by possession but that cannot be he that is not hath nothing if he had not a divine being how could he have divine Glory before the World None can say Paul was an Apostle of Christ before the World was because he was appointed or designed to this work yea none can say he had Faith and brotherly love when he was yet an unbeliever and persecutor yet it pleased God to separate him from his Mothers Womb and predestinated him to have these things Again then all true believers may thus pray to God glorifie me with c. for they are thereunto appointed but this is absurd Besides if he had it then how could he want it now The decree is the same it remaineth then that Christ had a being and substance in the Godhead before any of the Creatures were made VSE 1. This serveth for the confutation of those Atheists that say Christ took upon him the appellation of a God to make his Doctrine more authentick and effectual they confess the morals of Christianity are most excellent for the establishment of Piety and Honesty but mens inclination carrying them more powerfully to vice then vertue this doctrine would not be received with any reverence if it came recommended to them by a mere man and therefore Christ assumed the glorious appellation of the Son of God or pretended to be God A blasphemy very derogatory both to the honour of Christ and Christianity and quite contrary to the drift of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament The Messiah promised in the Old Testament was to be God all the Prophets agree in that Jesus Christ proved himself to be God both by his Word and Works and the Apostles still assert it Could they that lived in so many several Ages as the Prophets and Apostles did lay their heads together and have intelligence one with another to convey this Imposture to the World Surely if Christ be the Messiah promised in the Old Testament as clearly he is then he is God for that describeth him to be such and if Christ usurped this honour how did God so highly favour him with such exâ—raordinary Graces by iâ—spiring him with the knowledge of the best Religion in the World to authorise him with miracles to raise him from the dead And must this Religion that condemneth all frauds and doing evil that good may come of it be supported by a lye or cannot God govern the World without countenancing such a deceit or is it possible that such Holy persons as our Lord Jesus and his Apostles were could be guilty of such an Imposture Did they do this by command of God No surely for God which is the God of Truth would not command them to teach a lye or to make use of one He hath power enough to cause the Truth to be embraced by some other means and a greater injury cannot be done him then to go about to gratifie him with what he hateth much less would God have commanded a mere man to call himself his Eternal Son and God equal to him which is a blasphemy and sacriledge as well as a lye the greatest of the kind for mortal man to take upon himself to be the eternal God If it were not by his express commandment would he suffer such an attempt to go unpunished would he witness from Heaven this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased would he have raised him from the dead and so ingaged the World to believe in him and adore him Acts 17.31 2. If Christ were before all things let us prefer him above all things This consideration is of great use to draw off our hearts from all created things and to lessen our respects to wordly vanities that they may be more earnestly fixed on what is eternal and glorious He that was before the world was will be when the world shall be no more Christ is from Everlasting to Everlasting Psal. 90.2 to him should we look after him should we seek he is first and last the beginning and ending It is for an Everlasting blessedness for the injoyment of an eternal God that our souls were made He that was from the beginning will be when all things shall have an end it is he that should take up our minds and thoughts How can we have room for so many thoughts about fading glories when we have an Eternal God and Christ to think of What light can we see in a Candle when the Sun shineth in his full strength All things in the World serve onely for a season and then wither and that season is but a short one You glory in your Riches and preeminence now but how long will you do so To day that House and Lands is thine but thou canst not say it will be thine tomorrow but a believer can say my God my Christ is mine to day and will be mine to all eternity Death taketh all from us honours and riches and strength and life but it cannot take God and Christ from us they are ours and everlastingly ours Secondly We come now to the second point his sustaining all things by his Almighty power and by â—im all things consist Doct. II. That as Christ made all things so he doth sustain them in being and working Let me explain this how the creatures are preserved by Christ. 1. This is to be understood not only meritoriously as a moral cause but efficiently as a natural cause of the creatures sustentation for the Apostle
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
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
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
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
as well as verbum oris This Covenant is carried on in soul Language Psal. 16.21 O my soul Thou hast said unto the Lord thou art my Lord. So Psal. 27.8 When thou saidst seek ye my face my heart said thy face Lord will I seek The Lord offereth or representeth himself as our Lord and we prosess our selves to be the Lords No eye seeth or ear heareth what passeth between God and the Soul Now without this Personal inward Covenanting all the priviledge of the Covenant will do us no good And this Personal inward covenanting amounts to full as much as My Lord my God Therefore it concerneth every one of us see whether we have thus particularly owned Christ if there hath been any Treaty between God and our Souls and whether it came to any conclusion and particular Soul engagement That you could thus own Christ. Not only as God and Lord but as your God and your Lord. SERMON VIII Col. 1.20 And having made peace by the blood of his Cross to reconcile all things to himself by him I say whether they be things in earth or things in heaven IN these words observe First What Christ was to do Secondly The manner how he did it Or First The End for which he was appointed To be our Mediator and Redeemer and accordingly promised and sent into the world to reconcile all things to God Whether they be things in heaven or things in earth Secondly The means by which he accomplished it Having made peace by the blood of his Cross that is by his bloody sacrifice on the Cross thereby answering the sacrifices of Attonement under the Law In the first branch take notice of 1. The Benefit Reconciliation with God 2. The person procuring it by him and it is repeated again I say by him 3. The persons to whom this Benefit is intended expressed 1. Collectively 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things 2. Distributively Whether they be things in earth or things in heaven As they are Collectively Expressed it teaches us that grace is revealed and offered in the most comprehensive expressions that none may be excluded or have just cause to exclude themselves As it is distributively expressed the latter clause is of a dubious Interpretation some by things on earth understand Men but by things in heaven the Angels Surely not the fallen Angels for they are not in Heaven neither was Christ sent to reconcile them nor relieve them in their Misery and reduce them to God Heb. 2.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what then shall we understand by things in heaven Some think the holy Angels others the glorified Saints 1. Those that assert the first argue thus that the Angels are properly inhabitants of Heaven and so fitly called things in Heaven and they are Enemies to Men whilst they are ungodly Idolatrous and Rebels to God as good Subjects hold with their Prince and have common Friends and Enemies with him but are reconciled to them as soon as they partake of the Benefits of Christs Death as we are told of joy in heaven among the angels of God at the conversion of one sinner Luk. â—5 10 Now if there be so much joy over one Sinner repenting how much more when many sinners are snatched out of the Jawes of Hell They make the sense to be thus before for the sins of men they weâ—â— aliâ—nated from them but then reconciled but this Scripture speaks not of the Reconciliation of Angels and Men but the Reconciliation of all things to God for so it is expresly in the Text to reconcile all things to himself Now the good Angels cannot be said to be reconciled to God for there was never a breach between them sâ— nunquam cum matre in gratiam rediisse 2. Therefore I interpret it of the glorified Saints See the like expression Eph. 1.10 To gather together in one all things to Christ which are in heaven and in earth And more clearly Eph. 3.15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named Meaning thereby the Faithful who are already in Heaven and those who are now remaining upon Earth This is a comfortable note and teaâ—hâ—s â—s 1. That the Apostle Paul knew no Purgatory or third place for Souls after Death 2. That the Saints departed are now in Heaven as to their Souls and gathered to the Rest of the Spirits of just men made perfect 3. The souls now in Heaven once needed the Merit of Christ even as we do None come thither but they were first reconciled to God By him their peace was made and they obtained Remission of sins by the blood of his Cross as ye do In short all that go to Heaven go thither by the Mediation Sacrifice and Meritorious Righteousness of the same Redeemer Doct. One great benefit we have by Christ is Peace and Reconciliation with God Here I shall shew 1. What this Reconciliation is 2. How it was obtained 3. What Assurance we have that it is obtained 4. How and upon what terms it is applied to us 1. What this Reconciliation is I Answer It is not an original Peace but a returning to Amity after some foregoing breach Now the breach by sin consisted in two things an aversion of the Creature from God and an aversion of God from the Creature so before Peace and Reconciliation can be made two things must be removed Gods Wrath and our sinful Nature God must be pacified and man Converted Gods Wrath is appeased by the blood of Christ and our Natures are changed and healed by the Spirit of Grace First Gods Wrath is appeased and then the Spirit is bestowed upon us for while God is angry and offended no saving benefit can be expected from him This Text speaks not how he took away our enmity but how he appeased God for us not so much of the Application as the impetration of this benefit The Application is spoken of verse the 21. how it is applied to us but here the Apostle more directly speaks of the impetration how it was procured and obtained for us namely by Christs satisfying Gods Justice for that wrong which caused the breach or the dying of the Son of God for a sinful World Now this hath an influence on Gods pardon and our Conversion for by vertue of this Reconciliation we are justified and pardoned Therefore we are said to be justified by his blood Rom. 8.9 that is the price is paid by Christ and accepted by God there needeth nothing more to be done on the Mediators part by virtue of the same peace made we are also sanctifyed and converted unto God 2 Cor. 5.18 The gift of the sanctifying spirit is given us as the fruit of Christs death 2. How it was obtained by the blood of his cross he made peace This implyeth death and such a death as in appearance was accursed for the death of the cross is the vilest and most cruel death Gal. 3.13 Christ hath Redeemed us from the curse of the Law being
by Men or Angels There was in it so much love to man so much self-denyal humility and patience so much resignation of himself to God who had appointed him to be our Redeemer that it cannot be parallel'd The great and most remarkable thing in Christs death was obedience Rom. 5.18 Phil. 2.7 8. God delighted not in more blood but blood offered in obedience as the best way to impress upon man a sense of his duty and to teach him to serve and please God at the dearest rate 5. This death commendeth the love of God to us for it is the great demonstration of it Many draw a quite contrary conclusion as if he were with much a do brought to have mercy on us but they forget that he is first and chief in the design 2 Cor. 5.19 God was in Christ Reconciling the World unto himself Christ came from heaven to declare to us the greatness of Gods love God thought nothing too dear for us not the Son of his love nor his death ignominy and shame Rom. 5.8 God commendeth his love in that while we were yet sinners Christ dyed for us When we had alienated our hearts from God refused his service and could expect nothing but the rigour of his Law and vindictive Justice then he spared not his own Son to bring about this Reconciliation for us 6. As God is pacifyed so it gives us hopes our business lyeth not with a God offended but with a God Reconciled if we had not to do with a pacifyed God who could lifâ— up his face to hâ—â— or think a comfortable thought of him but this gives us hope Rom. 5.10 For iâ— when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his Life We were enemies by sin in us which God hateth and declareth his wrath against it in the Law Then by the satisfaction wrought by Christ we were restored to his favour so far that free and easie conditions were procured in the Gospel and his spirit is offered to prepare and fit us for a Life of Glory We have heard what Christ hath done Thirdly What assurance have we that this peace is obtained Consciences are not easily settled therefore some visible evidences are necessary that God is pacifyed I shall name three or four 1. Christ Resurrection and Ascension into glory this shews that God was propitiated and hath accepted the ransom that was given for Souls We read Rom. 4.25 that he dyed for our offeâ—ces and rose again for our Justification his dying noteth his satisfaction his rising again the acceptance of it God by raising him up from the dead shewed that he had received the death of his Son as a sufficient ransom for our sins for he dyed in the quality of a surety and in that quality was raised up again By his death he made the payment by his Resurrection the satifaction of it was witnessed to the World for then our surety was let out of prison Isa. 53.8 He shall be taken from prison and from judgment in his death he was in effect a prisoner under the arrest of divine vengeance but when he rose again he was discharged therefore there is great weight layed upon it as to our acquittance Rom. 8.34 yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God There is some special thing in his Resurrection comparatively above his death which hath influence on our Justification that is it was a visible evidence given to the World that enough was done for the expiation of sins and to assure us of our deliverance if we be capable and his ascension into glory doth further witness it he being exalted to the greatest dignity is able to defend and protect his people and hath the advantage of interceding with his father for the supply of all our wants 2. The grant of the New Covenant which is therefore called the Covenant of his peace Isa. 54.10 The Covenant of my peace shall not be removed Ezek. 37.26 I will make a Covenant of peace with them it is so called not only because thereby this peace and Reconciliation is offered to us but the terms are stated and the conditions required are far more equitable gracious and commodious for us then the terms of the Law Covenant Man as a sinful creature is obnoxious 〈◊〉 Gods wrath for the violation of the Law of nature and so might perish without remedy and no impeachment to Gods goodness can happen thereby but when God will give bounds to his soveraignty over him and câ—ter into terms of Covenant witâ— him and give him a bottom to stand upon whereon to expect good things from him upon the account of his faithfulness and righteousness this is a condescension and so far condescended in the first Covenant that after that man hath cast away the mercies of his creation and his capacity to fulfill that covenant this was mere mercy and grace that God would enter into a second Covenant it is not from any mutableness in God but from the merit and satisfaction of a Redeemer Surely there must be some great and important cause to change alter and abrogate a covenant so solemnly made and established to lay aside one covenant and to enter into an other especially since the former was so Holy Righteous and Equal fit for God to give and us in the state we then were in to receive Now what was the important reason Christ came to salve Gods honour in the first covenant and to secure the ends of his Government though a second covenant should be set up the blood of his cross hath made this Covenant everlasting Heb. 13.20 and upon gracious terms doth convey great and precious priviledges to us 3dly The pouring out of the spirit which certainly was the fruit and effect of Christs death and also an evidence of the worth and value of it The Apostle telleth us That Christ was made a curse for us that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles by faith in Iesus Christ. And what blessing was that the gift of the Spirit Gal. 5.13 14. And in another place when he interpreteth the Types of the Law He telleth us that the Fathers did all eat of the same spiritual meat that we do and did all drink of the same spiritual drink for they drank of the Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. If the Rock was Christ the water that gâ—shed out of the Rock was the spirit often compared to waters in Scripture Iohn 4.14 And Iohn 7.38 39. And the Rock yielded not this water till it was smitten with the Rod of Moses a figure of the curses of the Law Christ was stricken and smitten of God and so procured the spirit for us Iohn 7.39 The Holy Ghost was not yet given for Iesus was not yet glorifyed That is had not finished his passion and the acceptance of it was not yet attested to