Duration past present and to come Besides that the Attribute of Almighty is also a part of this Description which is so peculiar a Property of God I mean of Him who is God by Nature that the Scripture never gives it to any other II. I shall in the next place produce those Texts which do expresly affirm that the World and all Creatures whatsoever were made by him And this will not only infer his existence before his Incarnation but from all Eternity And for this besides this Passage of St. John we have the Apostle to the Hebrews most express who says that by him God made the Worlds And St. Paul likewise says the same more fully and particularly calling Jesus Christ who was the Son of God the first born of every Creature that is as I have shewn in my former Discourse the Heir and Lord of the whole Creation For by him says he were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible Whether they be Thrones or Dominions Principalities or Powers for so he calls the several Orders of Angels all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things Or as he is described in St. John's Vision he is the beginning of the Creation of God that is the Principle and Efficient Cause of the Creation or else he was when all things began to be made and therefore must be before any thing was created and for that reason could not be a Creature himself and consequently must of necessity have been from all Eternity Now these Texts must necessarily be understood of the old Creation and of the natural World and not of the moral World and the Renovation and Reformation of the minds and manners of men by the Gospel For that was only the World here below which was reform'd by him and not things in Heaven not the invisible World not the several Orders of good Angels which kept their first station and have no need to be reform'd and made anew Nor the Devil and his evil Angels for though since the preaching of the Gospel they have been under greater restraint and kept more within bounds yet we have no reason to think that they are at all reform'd but are Devils still and have the same malice and mind to do all the mischief to Mankind that God will suffer them to do So that these Texts seem at first view to be very plain and pressing of themselves but they appear to be much more convincing when we consider the groundless interpretations whereby they endeavour to evade the dint and force of them For can any man that seriously attends to the perpetual style and Phrase of the New Testament and to the plain scope and drift of the Apostle's reasoning in these Texts be induc'd to believe that when St. Paul tells us that all things were created by him that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible whether they be Thrones or Dominions or Principalities or Powers I say can any man of good sense persuade himself that by all this the Apostle means no more than the moral Renovation of the World here below and the Reformation of Mankind by Jesus Christ and his Gospel which was preach'd unto them But there is yet one Text more to this purpose which I have reserv'd to the last place because I find Schlictingius and Crellius in their joint Comment upon it to be put to their last shifts to avoid the force of it It is in the Epistle to the Hebrews at the beginning of it Where the Apostle thus describes the Son of God God says he hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son whom he hath constituted heir of all things by whom also he made the Worlds From whence he argues the excellency of the Gospel above the Law For the Law was given by Angels but the Gospel by the Son of God whose preheminence above the Angels he shews at large in the two first Chapters of this Epistle And to this end he proves the two parts of the Description which had been given of him namely that God had constituted him heir of all things and that by Him he made the Worlds First That God had constituted him heir of all things which is nowhere said of the Angels But of him it is said that was made so much better than the Angels as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they The Angels are only called God's Ministers for which the Apostle cites the words of the Psalmist but to Christ he gives the Title of his Son and his first begotten by virtue whereof he is heir of all things For to which of the Angels said he at any time thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And this I will agree with them to be spoken of Christ with respect to his Resurrection by which as St. Paul tells us he was powerfully declared to be the Son of God This is the first Prerogative of Christ above the Angels But there is a far greater yet behind for he proves Secondly That he had not only the Title of God given him but that he was truly and really God because he made the World That the Title of God was given him he proves by a citation out of the Psalmist But unto the Son he saith Thy Throne O God is for ever and ever c. And that he was truly and really God because he made the World he proves by a citation out of another Psalm where it is said of him Thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the Earth and the Heavens are the works of they hands They shall perish c. Let us now see how Schlictingius and Crellius interpret this Text cited out of the Psalmist by the Apostle as spoken of Christ They say that the Author of this Epistle could not have referr'd to Christ the former words of this Citation which speak of the Creation of Heaven and Earth unless he had taken it for granted that Christ is the most high God especially if they be understood as they must necessarily be by those who take this for granted to be spoken in the first place and directly to or concerning Christ For since all the words of the Psalm are manifestly spoken of the most High God but that Christ is that God is not signified no not so much as by one word in that Psalm it is necessary that if you will have these words to be directed to Christ you must take it for granted that Christ is that most High God of whom the Psalmist there speaks Now we will join issue with these Interpreters upon this Concession viz. that the Author of this Epistle could not have referr'd these words which speak of the Creation of Heaven and Earth to Christ without taking it for granted that Christ is truly that God who made the
men the Man Christ Jesus by whom we are to offer up our Prayers to God And that we need not look out for any other since the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us that he is able to save to the uttermost all those that come to God by him seeing he lives for ever to make intercession for us And for this reason the Church of Rome is altogether inexcusable in this Point for introducing more Mediators and Intercessors more Patrons and Advocates in Heaven for us And this not only without any necessity for who can add any vertue and efficacy to the powerful and prevalent intercession of the Son of God but likewise in direct contradiction to the express Constitution and appointment of God himself who says there is but one Mediator between God and men and they say there ought to be many more not only the B. Virgin but all the Saints and Angels in Heaven Besides that by this very thing they revive one notorious Piece of the old Pagan Idolatry which God so plainly design'd to extinguish by appointing One only Mediator between God and Men. By this Condescension likewise God hath given us the comfortable assurance of a most powerful and a perpetual Intercessor at the right hand of God in our behalf For if we consider Christ as Man and of the same Nature with us bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh so very nearly allied and related to us we may easily believe that he hath a most tender care and concernment for us That he sincerely wisheth our happiness and will by all means seek to procure it if we our selves by our own willful obstinacy do not hinder it and resist the kindness and the counsel of God against our selves For if we be resolv'd to continue impenitent there is no help for us we must die in our Sins and Salvation it self cannot save us But to proceed it cannot surely but be matter of greatest consolation to us that the Man Christ Jesus who is now so highly exalted at the right hand of God and who hath all power in Heaven and Earth committed to him is our Patron and Advocate in Heaven to plead our Cause with God Since we cannot but think that He who was pleased to become Brother to us all does bear a true affection and good will to us And that He who assumed our Nature will heartily espouse our Cause and plead it powerfully for us and will with all possible advantage recommend our Petitions and Requests to God But then if we consider further that He did not only take our Nature but likewise took our infirmities and bore them many years in which he had long and continual experience of the saddest sufferings to which human Nature is subject in this World and was tempted in all things like as we are This gives us still greater assurance that he who suffer'd and was tempted himself cannot but be touched with a lively sense of our infirmities and must have learn'd by his own Sufferings to compassionate ours and to be ready to succour us when we are tempted and to afford us grace and help suitable to all our wants and infirmities For nothing gives us so just a sense of the Sufferings of others as the remembrance of our own and the bitter experience of the like Sufferings and Temptations in our selves And this the Apostle to the Hebrews doth very particularly insist upon as matter of greatest comfort and encouragement to us that the Son of God did not only assume our Nature but was made in all things like unto us and during his abode here upon Earth did suffer and was tempted like as we are For verily says the Apostle he took not on him the nature of Angels but of the seed of Abraham Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his Brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest in things pertaining to God For in that he himself suffered being tempted he is able to succour them that are tempted And again exhorting the Jews who were newly converted to Christianity to continue stedfact in their Profession notwithstanding all the sufferings to which upon that account they were exposed he comforts them with this consideration that we have at the right hand of God so powerful an Advocate and Intercessor for us as the Son of God who is sensible of our Case having suffered the same things Himself and therefore we cannot doubt of his compassion to us and readiness to support us in the like Sufferings Seeing then says he that we have a great High Priest that is passed into the Heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our Profession For we have not an High-Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without Sin From whence he concludes that having such an Intercessor we may with great confidence and assurance address our Supplications to God for his mercy and help in all our wants and weakness to supply the one and to assist the other Let us therefore says he come boldly to the throne of Grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 grace for seasonable relief So that our B. Saviour and Redeemer now that he is advanced to Heaven and exalted to the right hand of God is not unmindful of us in this height of his Glory and Greatness but with the tenderest affection and compassion to Mankind doth still prosecute the Design of our Salvation and in vertue of his meritorious Obedience and Sufferings which he presents to God continually he offers up our Prayers to Him and pleads our Cause with Him and represents to Him all our wants and necessities and procures for us a favourable answer of our Prayers and supplies of grace and strength proportionable to our temptations and infirmities And thus by vertue of this prevalent intercession of his with God for us our Sins are forgiven and our Wants supplied and our Requests granted and the gracious assistance and supports of God's H. Spirit are seasonably afforded to us and we are kept by the mighty power of God through Faith unto Salvation In a word all those Blessings and Benefits are procured for us by his Intercession in Heaven which he purchased for us by his Blood upon Earth So that in this Method of our Salvation besides many other gracious Condescensions which God hath made to the weakness and prejudices of Mankind our B. Saviour hath perfectly supplied the two great Wants concerning which Mankind was at so great a loss before namely the Want of an effectual Expiatory Sacrifice for Sin upon Earth and of a prevalent Mediator and Intercessor with God in Heaven And he hath in great Goodness and Condescension to our inveterate Prejudices concerning these things taken effectual care fully to supply both these Wants having appeared in the
mere Critical skill in words without regard to the true Occasion upon which they were made and without any manner of knowledge and insight into the History of the Age in which they were written I should now proceed to the Second thing which I proposed to consider namely II. The Description here given of the Word by this Evangelist in his entrance into his History of the Gospel In the beginning says he was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made In which Passage of the Evangelist four things are said of the Word which will require a more particular Explication First That he was in the beginning Secondly That he was in the beginning with God Thirdly That he was God Fourthly That all were made by him 1st That he he was in the beginning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the beginning where speaking of Christ by the name of eternal life and of the Word of life That says he which was from the beginning Nonnus the ancient Paraphrast of St. John's Gospel by way of explication of what is meant by his being in the beginning adds that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without time that is before all time and if so then he was from all eternity In the beginning was the Word that is when things began to be made he was not then began to be but then already was and did exist before any thing was made and consequently is without beginning for that which was never made could have no beginning of its Being And so the Jews used to describe Eternity before the World was and before the foundation of the World as also in several places of the New Testament And so likewise Solomon describes the Eternity of Wisdom The Lord says he possessed 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 he prepared the Heavens I was there then I was with him as one brought up with him rejoicing always before him And so Justin Martyr explains this very expression of St. John that he was or had a Being before all Ages So likewise Athenagoras a most ancient Christian Writer God says he who is an invisible Mind had from the beginning the Word in himself 2ly That in the beginning the Word was with God And so Solomon when he would express the Eternity of Wisdom says it was with God And so likewise the Son of Sirach speaking of Wisdom says it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with God And so the ancient Jews often called the Word of God the Word which is before the Lord that is with him or in his presence In like manner the Evangelist says here that the Word was with God that is it was always together with him partaking of his Happiness and Glory To which our Saviour refers in his Prayer Glorify me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was And this being with God the Evangelist opposeth to his appearing and being manifested to the World v. 10. He was in the World and the World was made by him and the World knew him not that is he who from all eternity was with God appeared in the World and when he did so though he had made the World yet the World would not own him And this opposition between his being with God and his being manifested in the World the same St. John mentions elsewhere I shew unto you that eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us 3ly That he was God And so Justin Martyr says of him That he was God before the World that is from all Eternity But then the Evangelist adds by way of Explication the same was in the beginning with God that is though the Word was truly and really God yet he was not God the Father who is the Fountain of the Deity but an Emanation from him the only begotten Son of God from all eternity with him to denote to us that which is commonly called by Divines and for any thing I could ever see properly enough the distinction of Persons in the Deity at least we know not a fitter word whereby to express that great Mystery 4thly That all things were made by him This seems to refer to the description which Moses makes of the Creation where God is represented creating things by his Word God said Let there be light and there was light And so likewise the Psalmist By the Word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Host of them by the breath of his mouth And so St. Peter also expresseth the Creation of the World By the Word of the Lord the Heavens were of old and the Earth made out of Water And in the ancient Books of the Chaldeans and the verses ascribed to Orpheus the Maker of the World is called the Word and the Divine Word And so Tertullian tells the Pagans that by their Philosophers the Maker of the World was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Word or Reason And Philo the Jew following Plato who himself most probably had it from the Jews says that the World was created by the Word whom he calls the Name of God and the Image of God and the Son of God two of which glorious Titles are ascribed to him together with that of Maker of the World by the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews In these last days says he God hath spoken to us by his Son by whom also he made the Worlds Who is the brightness of his glory and the express Image of his person And to the same purpose St. Paul speaking of Christ calls him the Image of the invisible God the first-born of every Creature that is born before any thing was created as does evidently follow from the reason given in the next words why he call'd him the first-born of every Creature for by him were all things created that are in Heaven and in Earth visible and invisible all things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things subsist From whence it is plain that by his being the first-born of every Creature thus much at least is to be understood that he was before all Creatures and therefore he himself cannot be a Creature unless he could be before himself Nay the Apostle says it expresly in this very Text in which he is called the first-born of every Creature or of the whole Creation that he is before all things that is he had a Being before there was any created Being he was before all Creatures both in Duration and in Dignity for so must he of necessity be if all things were made by him for as
this whole passage in the beginning of St. John's Gospel quite to another sense never mention'd nor I believe thought of by any Christian Writer whatsoever before Socinus And it is not easie to imagin how any Opinion can be loaded with a greater and heavier prejudice than this is And this I should now take into consideration and shew besides the novelty of this interpretation and the great violence and unreasonableness of it the utter inconsistency of it with other plain Texts of New Testament But this is wholly matter of Controversy and will require a large Discourse by it self I shall therefore wave the further prosecution of it at present and apply my self to that which is more practical and proper for the Occasion of this Season So that at present I have done with the first thing contain'd in the First part of the Text viz. The Person here spoken of who is said to be incarnate namely the Word it was He that was made flesh I should then have proceeded to the Second thing which I proposed to consider viz. The Mystery it self or the nature of this Incarnation so far as the Scripture hath revealed and declared it to us namely by assuming our Nature in such a manner as that the Divinity became united to a human Soul and Body But this I have already endeavoured in some measure to explain and shall do it more fully in some of the following Discourses upon this Text. I shall now only make a short and useful reflection upon it with relation to the Solemnity of this Time And it shall be to stir us up to a thankful acknowledgment of the great love of God to Mankind in the Mystery of our Redemption by the Incarnation of the Word the only begotten Son of God That he should deign to have such a regard to us in our low condition and to take our Case so much to heart as to think of redeeming and saving Mankind from that depth of misery into which we had plunged our selves and to do this in so wonderful and astonishing a manner That God should employ his eternal and only begotten Son who had been with him from all Eternity partaker of his Happiness and Glory and was God of God to save the Sons of men by so infinite and amazing a condescention That God should vouchsafe to become man to reconcile man to God That he should come down from Heaven to Earth to raise us from Earth to Heaven That he should assume our vile and frail and mortal nature that he might cloath us with glory and honour and immortality That he should suffer Death to save us from Hell and shed his blood to purchase eternal Redemption for us For certainly the greater the Person is that was employed in this merciful Design so much the greater is the condescention and the love and goodness expressed in it so much the more admirable That the Son of God should stoop from the height of Glory and Happiness to the lowest degree of abasement and to the very depth of misery for our sakes who were so mean and inconsiderable so guilty and obnoxious to the severity of his Justice so altogether unworthy of his grace and favour and so very unwilling to receive it when it was so freely offer'd to us for as the Evangelist here tells us He came to his own and his own received him not To his own Creatures and they did not own and acknowledg their Maker to his own Nation and Kindred and they despised him and esteemed him not Lord what is man that God should be so mindful of him or the Son of man that the Son of God should come down from Heaven to visit him in so much humility and condescention and with so much kindness and compassion Blessed God and Saviour of Mankind What shall we render to thee for such mighty love for such inestimable benefits as thou hast purchas'd for us and art ready to confer upon us What shall we say to thee O thou preserver and lover of Souls so often as we approach thy H. Table there to commemorate this mighty love of thine to us and to partake of those invaluable blessings which by thy precious bloodshedding thou hast obtained for us So often as we there remember that thou wast pleased to assume our mortal Nature on purpose to live amongst us for our instruction and for our example and to lay down thy life for the redemption of our Souls and for the expiation of our Sins and to take part of flesh and blood that thou mightst shed it for our sakes What affections should these thoughts raise in us What Vows and resolutions should they engage us in of perpetual love and gratitude and obedience to thee the most gracious and most glorious Redeemer of Mankind And with what Religious Solemnity should we more especially at this Time celebrate the Incarnation and Birth of the Son of God by giving praise and glory to God in the highest and by all possible demonstration of charity and good-will to men And as he was pleased to assume our Nature so should we especially at this Season put on the Lord Jesus Christ that is sincerely embrace and practice his Religion making no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lUsts thereof And now that the Sun of Righteousness is risen upon the World we should walk as Children of the light and demean our selves decently as in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantonness not in strife and envy And should be very careful not to abuse our selves by Sin and Sensuality upon this very consideration that the Son hath put such an honour and dignity upon us We should reverence that Nature which God did not disdain to assume and to inhabit here on Earth and in which he now gloriously reigns in Heaven at the right hand of his Father to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen SERMON II. Concerning the Divinity of CHRIST Preached in the Church of St. Lawrence Jewry January 6. 1679. JOHN I. 14. The Word was made flesh I Proceed now to prosecute the third Corollary or Conclusion which does necessarily follow from the description which St. John in the beginning of his Gospel gives of the Word and which I have so largely explain'd in the foregoing Discourse And it was this That the Word here described by the Evangelist had an existence before his Incarnation and his being born of the B. Virgin This Assertion I told you is levelled directly against the Socinians who affirm our B. Saviour to be a mere man and deny that he had any existence before he was born of the Virgin Mary his Mother Which Position of theirs does perfectly contradict all the former Conclusions which have been so evidently drawn from the Description here given of the Word And not only so but hath forc'd them to interpret this whole passage in the beginning of St. John's Gospel in a very different sense from
nothing when any Person or Party is concern'd to oppose any Doctrine contained in it and the plainest Texts for any Article of Faith how fundamental and necessary soever may by the same arts and ways of interpretation be eluded and render'd utterly ineffectual for the establishing of it For example If any man had a mind to call in question that Article of the Creed concerning the Creation of the World why might he not according to Socinus his way of interpreting St. John understand the first Chapter of Genesis concerning the beginning of the Mosaical Dispensation and interpret the Creation of the Heaven and the Earth to be the Institution of the Jewish Politie and Religion as by the new Heavens and the new Earth they pretend is to be understood the new State of things under the Gospel And why may not the Chaos signify that state of darkness and ignorance in which the World was before the giving of the Law by Moses And so on as a very learned Divine of our own hath ingeniously shewn more at large There is no end of Wit and Fancy which can turn any thing any way and can make whatever they please to be the meaning of any Book though never so contrary to the plain design of it and to that sense which at the first hearing and reading of it is obvious to every man of common sense And this in my opinion Socinus hath done in the Case now before us by imposing a new and odd and violent sense upon this Passage of St. John directly contrary to what any man would imagine to be the plain and obvious meaning of it and contrary likewise to the sense of the Christian Church in all Ages down to his Time who yet had as great or greater advantage of understanding St. John aright and as much integrity as any man can now modestly pretend to And all this only to serve and support an Opinion which he had entertain'd before and therefore was resolv'd one way or other to bring the Scripture to comply with it And if he could not have done it it is greatly to be feared that he would at last have called in question the Divine Authority of St. John's Gospel rather than have quitted his Opinion And to speak freely I must needs say that it seems to me a much fairer way to reject the Divine Authority of a Book than to use it so disingenuously and to wrest the plain expressions of it with so much straining and violence from their most natural and obvious sense For no Doctrine whatsever can have any certain foundation in any Book if this liberty be once admitted without regard to the plain Scope and Occasion of it to play upon the words and phrases with all the arts of Criticism and with all the variety of Allegory which a brisk and lively Imagination can devise which I am so far from admiring in the expounding of the Holy Scriptures that I am always jealous of an over-labour'd and far-fetch'd interpretation of any Author whatsoever I do readily grant that the Socinian Writers have managed the Cause of the Reformation against the Innovations and Corruptions of the Church of Rome both in Doctrine and Practice with great acuteness and advantage in many respects But I am sorry to have cause to say that they have likewise put into their hands better and sharper weapons than ever they had before for the weakning and undermining of the Authority of the H. Scriptures which Socinus indeed hath in the general strongly asserted had he not by a dangerous liberty of imposing a foreign and fore'd sense upon particular Texts brought the whole into uncertainty Thirdly Which is as considerable a prejudice against this new interpretation of this Passage of St. John as either of the former I shall endeavour to shew that this Point of the existence of the Word before his Incarnation does not rely only upon this single Passage of St. John but is likewise confirmed by many other Texts of the New Testament conspiring in the same sense and utterly incapable of the interpretation which Socinus gives of it I find he would be glad to have it taken for granted that this is the only Text in the New Testament to this purpose And therefore he says very cunningly that this Doctrine of the existence of the Son of God before his Incarnation is too great a Doctrine to be establish'd upon one single Text And this is is something if it were true that there is no other Text in the New Testament that does plainly deliver the same sense And yet this were not sufficient to bring in question the Doctrine delivered in this Passage of St. John That God is a Spirit will I hope be acknowledged to be a very weighty and fundamental Point of Religion and yet I am very much mistaken if there be any more than one Text in the whole Bible that says so and that Text is only in St. John's Gospel I know it may be said that from the light of natural Reason it may be sufficiently prov'd that God is a Spirit But surely Socinus of all men cannot say this with a good grace because he denies that the existence of a God can be known by natural light without Divine Revelation And if it cannot be known by natural light that there is a God much less can it be known by natural light what God is whether a Spirit or a Body And yet after all it is very far from being true that there is but one Text to this purpose which yet he thought fit to insinuate by way of excuse for the novelty and boldness of his interpretation of which any one that reads him may see that he was sufficiently conscious to himself and therefore was so wise as to endeavour by this sly insinuation to provide and lay in against it I have likewise another reason which very much inclines me to believe that Socinus was the first Author of this interpretation because it seems to me next to impossible that a man of so good an understanding as he was could ever have been so fond of so ill-favour'd a Child if it had not been his own And yet I do not at all wonder that his Followers came in to it so readily since they had him in so great a veneration it being natural to all Sects to admire their Master besides that I doubt not but they were very glad to have so great an Authority as they thought him to be to vouch for an interpretation which was so seasonably devis'd for the relief of their Cause in so much danger to be overthrown by a Text that was so plain and full against them And how little ground there is for this Insinuation that this is the only Text in the New Testament to this purpose I shall now shew from a multitude of other Texts to the same sense and purpose with this Passage of St. John And I shall rank them under
World And if the Author of this Epistle does affirm these words of the Psalmist to be spoken of Christ then they must acknowledge Christ to be the true God who made Heaven and Earth But the Author of this Epistle does as evidently affirm these words to be spoken to or of Christ as he does the words of any other Text cited in this Chapter And for this I appeal to the common sense of every man that reads them These Interpreters indeed are contented that the latter part of this Citation should be spoken of Christ but not the former But why not the former as well as the latter when they have so expresly told us that all the words of this Psalm are manifestly spoken of God What is the mystery of this Could they not as easily have interpreted the former part which speaks of the Creation of Heaven and Earth concerning the moral World and the new Creation or Reformation of Mankind by Jesus Christ and his Gospel as well as so many other plain Texts to the same purpose No doubt they could as well have done it and have set as good a face upon it when they had done it But why then did they not do it It was for a reason which they had no mind to tell but yet is not hard to be guessed at namely that if they had admitted the former words to have been spoken of Christ they knew not what to do with the latter part of this Citation They shall perish but thou remainest they shall wax old as agarment and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed What shall perish and wax old and be changed Why the Earth and the Heavens which the Son had made that is the moral World the Reformation of Mankind and the new Creation of things by the Gospel All these must have undergone the same fate with the natural World and must not only have been defaced but utterly destroy'd and brought to nothing This they would not say but they did see it tho they would not seem to see it And we may plainly see by this that they can interpret a Text right when necessity forceth them to it and they cannot without great inconvenience to their Cause avoid it But when men have once resolv'd to hold fast an Opinion they have taken up it then becomes not only convenient but necessary to understand nothing that makes against it And this is truly the present case But in the mean time where is ingenuity and love of Truth And thus I have with all the clearness and brevity I could search'd to the very foundations of this new Interpretation of this Passage of the Evangelist upon which the Divinity of the Son of God is so firmly established and likewise of the gross misinterpretations of several other Texts to the same purpose in this Evangelist and in other Books of the New Testament All which Interpretations I have endeavoured to shew to be not only contrary to the sense of all Antiquity of which as Socinus had but little knowledge so he seems to have made but little account but to be also evidently contrary to the perpetual tenour and style of the H. Scripture Before I go off from this Argument I cannot but take notice of one thing wherein our Adversaries in this Cause do perpetually glory as a mighty advantage which they think they have over us in this Point of the Divinity of the Son of God and consequently in that other Point of the B. Trinity namely that they have Reason clearly on their Side in this Controversy and that the Difficulties and Absurdities are much greater and plainer on our part than on theirs Here they are pleas'd to triumph without modesty and without measure And yet notwithstanding this I am not afraid here likewise to join issue with them and am contented to have this matter brought to a fair Trial at the Bar of Reason as well as of Scripture expounded by the general Tradition of the Christian Church I say by general Tradition which next to Scripture is the best and surest confirmation of this great Point now in question between us and that which gives us the greatest and truest light for the right understanding of the true sense and meaning of Scripture not only in this but in most other important Doctrines of the Christian Religion I am not without some good hopes I will not say confidence for I never thought that to be so great an advantage to any Cause as some men would be glad to make others believe it is hoping to help and support a weak Argument by a strong and mighty confidence But surely modesty never hurt any Cause and the confidence of man seems to me to be much like the wrath of man which St. James tells us worketh not the righteousness of God that is it never does any good it never serves any wise and real purpose of Religion I say I am not without some good hopes that I have in the foregoing Discourses clearly shewn that the tenour of Scripture and general Tradition are on our Side in this Argument and therefore I shall not need to give my self the trouble to examine this matter over again Now as to the Point of Reason the great Difficulty and Absurdity which they object to our Doctrine concerning this Mystery amounts to thus much that it is not only above Reason but plainly contrary to it As to its being above Reason which they are loth to admit any thing to be this I think will bear no great Dispute Because if they would be pleased to speak out they can mean no more by this but that our Reason is not able fully to comprehend it But what then Are there no Mysteries in Religion That I am sure they will not say because God whose infinite Nature and Perfections are the very Foundation of all Religion is certainly the greatest Mystery of all other and the most incomprehensible But we must not nay they will not for this reason deny that there is such a Being as God And therefore if there be Mysteries in Religion it is no reasonable Objection against them that we cannot fully comprehend them Because all Mysteries in what kind soever whether in Religion or in Nature so long and so far as they are Mysteries are for that very reason incomprehensible But they urge the matter much further that this particular Mystery now under debate is plainly contrary to Reason And if they can make this good I will confess that they have gained a great Point upon us But then they are to be put in mind that to make this good against us they must clearly shew some plain Contradiction in this Doctrine which I could never yet see done by any Great Difficulty I acknowledge there is in the explication of it in which the further we go beyond what God hath thought fit to reveal to us in Scripture concerning it the more we
more for our comfort and advantage than any other way which the wisdom of this World would have been apt to devise and pitch upon And in all this I shall all along take either the plain declarations of Scripture or the pregnant intimations of it for my ground and guide I. I shall consider more distinctly what may reasonably be supposed to be implied in this expression of the Word 's being made flesh namely these five things First The truth and reality of the thing That the Son of God did not only appear in the form of human flesh but did really assume it the Word was made flesh as the Evangelist expresly declares For if this had been only a Phantasme and Apparition as some Hereticks of old did fancy it would in all probability have been like the appearance of Angels mentioned in the old Testament sudden and of short continuance and would after a little while have vanish'd and disappear'd But he dwelt among us and convers'd familiarly with us a long time and for many years together and the Scripture useth all the expressions which are proper to signify a real Man and a real Human Body and there were all the signs and evidences of reality that could be For the Word is said to be made flesh and Christ is said to be of the seed of David according to the flesh and to be made of a Woman and all this to shew that he was a real Man and had a real and substantial Body For he was born and by degrees grew up to be a Man and did perform all such actions as are natural and proper to Men He continued a great while in the World and at last suffer'd and dy'd and was laid in the grave He did not vanish and disappear like a Phantasme or Spirit but he dyed like other Men And his Body was raised again out of the grave and after he was risen he conversed forty days upon Earth and permitted his body to be handled and last of all was visibly taken up into Heaven So that either we must grant Him to have had a real Body or we have cause to doubt whether all Mankind be not mere Phantasms and Apparitions For greater evidence no man can give that he is really clothed with and carries about him a true and substantial Body than the Son of God did in the days of his flesh It is to me very wonderful upon what ground or indeed to what end the Hereticks of old Marcion and others did deny the reality of Christ's flesh Surely they had a great mind to be Hereticks who took up so sensless an Opinion for no reason and to no purpose Secondly Another thing implyed in the Word 's being made flesh is that this was done peculiarly for the benefit and advantage of Men The Word was made flesh that is became Man for so I have shewn the word flesh to be often used in Scripture And this the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews takes very special notice of as a great grace and favour of God to Mankind that his Son appear'd in our Nature and consequently for our Salvation as it is said in the Nicene Creed who for us Men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate c. For verily says the Apostle He took not on him the nature of Angels but of the seed of Abraham 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he did not assume the Angelical Nature so our Translators understood the phrase but the word also signifies to take hold of a thing which is falling as well as to assume or take on him He did not take hold of the Angels when they were falling but suffered them to lapse irrecoverably into misery and ruine But he took hold of Human Nature when it was falling and particularly of the Seed of Abraham and by the Seed of Abraham that is by himself in whom all the Nations of the Earth were blessed he brought Salvation first to the Jews and then to the rest of Mankind The Apostle chuses to derive this Blessing from Abraham that so he might bring it nearer to the Jews to whom he wrote this Epistle and might thereby more effectually recommend the Gospel to them and the glad tidings of that great Salvation in which they had so peculiar an interest And it is some confirmation of the interpretation I have given of that expression he took not on him c. that the Evangelist uses the very same word for taking hold of one that was ready to sink For so it is said of St. Peter when he was ready to sink that Christ put forth his hand 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and caught hold of him and saved him from drowning And thus the Son of God caught hold of Mankind which was ready to sink into eternal perdition He laid hold of our Nature or as it is express'd in the same Chapter he took part of flesh and blood that in our Nature he might be capable of effecting our Redemption and Deliverance But it is no where said in Scripture not the least intimation given there that the Son of God ever shew'd such grace and favour to the Angels But the Word became flesh that is became Man He did not assume the Angelical Nature but was contented to be cloathed with the Rags of Humanity and to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh that is of sinful Man Thirdly This expression of the Word 's being made flesh may further imply his assuming the infirmities and submitting to the miseries of Human Nature This I collect from the word flesh by which the Scripture often useth to express our frail and mortal Nature The Son of God did not only condescend to be made Man but also to become mortal and miseraable for our sakes He submitted to all those things which are accounted most grievous and calamitous to human nature To hunger and want to shame and contempt to bitter pains and agonies and to a most cruel and disgraceful death So that in this sense also he became flesh not only by being cloathed with human nature but by becoming liable to all the frailties and sufferings of it of which he had a greater share than any of the Sons of men ever had for never was sorrow like to his sorrow nor suffering like to his sufferings the weight and bitterness whereof was such as to wring from him the meekest and most patient endurer of sufferings that ever was that doleful complaint My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Fourthly In this expression the Word was made Flesh is likewise implyed the Union of the Divinity with Human Nature in one Person And this the Text expresseth in such words as seem to signifie a most perfect and intimate and vital Union of the Divine and human Natures of Christ in one Person The Word was made or became flesh Which what else can it signify but one of these two things Either that the eternal
end of the World to take away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself and in vertue of that Sacrifice appearing now in Heaven in the presence of God for us he is become our perpetual Advocate and a most prevalent Intercessor with God in our behalf For instead of the various and endless Sacrifices of the Jews and Heathen the Son of God hath by one Sacrifice for Sins perfected for ever them that are sanctified And instead of the Mediation of Daemons and Hero's to offer up our Prayers to God which were the Intercessors made use of among the Heathen we have one Mediator between God and men appointed by God himself even the Son of God who is entred into Heaven it self there to appear in the presence of God for us And to assure us that he commiserates our Case and hath a true and tender sense of our infirmities and sufferings the very manner of his Intercession for us as the Scripture represents it to us is a plain Demonstration of the thing For he intercedes for us in Heaven by representing to God his Father his sufferings upon Earth and pleading them in our behalf So that the very Argument which he useth to God for us cannot but stir up compassion in Him towards us and whilst he represents his Own sufferings in our behalf we cannot think that he is unmindful and insensible of Ours You see then that in this Dispensation of God for our Salvation by sending his Son in our Nature things are not only suited in great condescension to our apprehensions but are likewise in great compassion to us every way fitted for our comfort and encouragement God hath made him our great Patron and Advocate who was our Sacrifice and Propitiation And surely we have all the reason in the World to believe that he who in the days of his flesh humbled himself and became obedient to the death for our sakes will be ready to do us all good offices now that he is advanced to the right hand of God that he who dyed for us upon Earth now that he lives again will make intercession for us in Heaven and perfect that Salvation which he purchased for us upon the Cross And therefore we find in Scripture that as the purchasing of our Salvation is ascribed to the Death and Sufferings of Christ so the perfecting of it is attributed to his Intercession for us at the right hand of his Father Wherefore says the Apostle to the Hebrews he is able to save to the uttermost all those that come to God by him seeing he liveth for ever to make intercession for us He dyed once to purchase these benefits but he lives for ever to procure them for us and to apply them to us And now that he is in Heaven he is as intent upon our Concernments and lays our Happiness as much to heart as when he dwelt here among us on Earth and poured out his Blood a Sacrifice for Sin upon the Cross And that when he lived here below he suffer'd and was tempted as we are this very consideration gives us the greatest assurance possible that he is still touched with the feeling of our infirmities and hath a lively sense of our Sufferings and consequently that he doth compassionate our Case and will use all his power and interest for our advantage for our seasonable support and succour in all our trials and sufferings But besides the wonderful Gondescension of this Dispensation there is likewise in the Fifth and last place a great Congruity and fitness in the thing it self and this Method of our Salvation which the Wisdom of God hath pitched upon is in many other respects very much for our real benefit and comfort For by this means we have a perfect and familiar Example of holiness and obedience in our own Nature by which we plainly see that God requires nothing of us but what he himself when he submitted to become Man did think fit to do For being made of a Woman he was of necessity made under the Law and by assuming human Nature he became naturally subject to the Laws and conditions of his Being And here likewise is a provision made for the Expiation and Forgiveness of our Sins in a way not only very honourable to the Justice of God and the Authority of his Laws but likewise very effectual to discountenance Sin and to deter men from it since God did not think fit to forgive the Sins of men without great Sufferings and that in our Nature For though God was willing to save the Sinner yet rather than encouragement should be given to Sin by letting it go unpunish'd he was contented to give up the dearly beloved of his Soul to be a Sarcifice and Propitiation for the Sins of the whole World By the same means also we have a most powerful Antidote against the fear of Suffering and particularly against the fear of Death one of the greatest slaveries of human Nature So also the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us that for this cause Christ himself also took part of flesh and blood that by Death he might destroy him that had the power of Death that is the Devil and might deliver those who through fear of Death were all their life-time subject to bondage Again we have hereby full assurance of a blessed Immortality in another Life because in our Nature Death and all the Powers of Darkness were baffled and overcome The Death of Christ which could not have been without his Incarnation and so likewise his Resurrection from the dead and his Ascension into Heaven are sensible Demonstrations to all Mankind of a blessed Immortality after Death which is the most powerful motive in the world to Obedience and a holy Life And lastly we may upon this account promise to our selves a fair and equal Trial at the Judgment of the great Day because we shall then be judged by a Man like our selves Our Saviour and Judge himself hath told us that for this reason God hath committed all Judgment to the Son because he is the Son of man And this in human Judgments is accounted a great Privilege to be judged by those who are of the same Rank and condition with our selves and who are likely to understand best and most carefully to examine and consider all our circumstances and to render our Case as if it were their own So equitably doth God deal with us that we shall be acquitted or condemned by such a Judge as according to human measures we our selves should have chosen by One in our own Nature who was made in all things like unto us that only excepted which would have rendered him incapable of being our Judge because it would have made him a Criminal like our selves And therefore the Apostle offers this as a firm ground of assurance to us that God will judge the World in Righteousness because this Judgment shall be administred by a Man like our selves He hath saith he appointed a