Light from Heaven, Part 33
Doct. 2.Christ became poore.
Christ became poore.The poverty of Christ reacheth from his incarnation to his resurrection, all the state of his humiliation, it goes under the name of his poverty; the resurrection was the first step or degree of his exaltation, he wrought our salvation, in the state of humiliation, but he applies it in the state of exaltation.1He tooke our natu…e. The incarnation of Christ it was an exaltation to our nature, to be united to God, to the second Person in Trinity; It was a humiliation of God, for the divine nature so stoope so low as to be vayled under our poore nature, so that God could stoope no lower then to become man, and man could bee advanced no higher then to bee united to God, so that in regard of God, the very taking upon him of our nature, it was the first degree and passage of his humiliation.
But when did he take upon him our nature?2Our nature fallen. He tooke it upon him after it was fallen, when it was passible, obnoxious to suffering, not as it was in innocency free from all misery, and calamity; but when it was at the worst. And he not onelyonly tooke our nature,3Our condition. but our condition, hee tooke upon him the forme of a servant, hee was not onelyonly a servant in regard of God, but in regard of us; for hee came into the world not to be ministered unto, but to minister, he tooke upon him our nature when it was most beggerly, and wth our nature he tooke our base condition.4Our misery. Nay that is not all, he tooke upon him our miseries, all that are naturall, not personall, he tooke not the Leprosie, and the Gout, &c. but hee tooke all the infirmities that are common to the nature of man, as hunger, and thirst, and wearinesse, he was sensible of griefe.
5Our sinnes.He tooke upon him likewise our sinnes, so farre as there is any thing penall in sin in respect of punishment. You know there is two things in guilt, there is the demerit, and desert of it, and there is an obligation to punishment; now the obligation to punishment hee tooke on him, though the merit, and desert hee tooke not, hee became sinne, How farre Christ tooke our sinnes.that is, by sinne he bec…me bound to the punishment for sinne, he tooke not the demerit; for in respect of himselfe he deserved no such death as he underwent. To cleare this a little further, hee tooke upon him our nature, that he might become sinne for us, he tooke upon him the guilt as farre as guilt is an obligation to punishment.Simile. The sonne of a Traytor, he looseth his fathers lands, not by any communion of fault, put by communion of nature, because hee is part of his father: so Christ tooke the communion of our nature, that hee might take the communion of our punishment, not of our fault; as the sonne is no Traytor, but because hee is part of his father, that was a Traytor, by his nearenesse, and communion with his father, he is wrapped in the same punishment.
SimileIn a City that is obnoxious to the Kings displeasure, perhaps there are some that are not guilty of the offence that the body of the City is, yet being all Citizens, they are all punished, by reason of their communion: so in this respect CHRIST became poore, hee tooke upon him our nature, and by communio… with that nature, hee tooke upon him whatsoever was penall, that belonged to sinne, though he tooke not, nor could take the demerit of sin.
Hie was made sinne for us; wee cannot have a greater argument of Christs poverty, then to bee made sinne for vsus, sinne is the poorest thing in the world, and the cause of all beggery, and poverty, and misery: hee was made under the law, and so became a curse for us, hee was made sinne, a sacrifice for our sinne. In particular, hee was borne of a poore Virgin, and instead of a better place, hee was laid in an Inne,Particulars of Christs poverty. and in the basest place in the Inne, in the manger, As soone as hee was borne, his birth was revealed to poore Shepheards, not to Emperours, and Kings, not to C…sar at Rome, Then presently after his birth hee was banished together with his mother into Aegypt. When hee came home againe, hee was faine to be beholding to a poore woman for a cup of water, Ioh. 4.Iohn. 4. when hee was thirsty. Againe, when he was to pay tribute, he had not wherewith to pay it, but was faine, (as it were) to be heholding to a fish for it. And though he made heaven, and earth, yet he had no habitation of his owne; The Foxes had holes, and the Birds of the ayre had nests, but the Sonne of man had not where to lay his head. When hee was to ride in pompe to Ierusalem, he had not a beast of his owne, hee was faine to send for, and ride upon another mans Asse, all his life it was a state of poverty.
He was poore in death especially: for when life is gone, all is gone, he gave himselfe to death for us: in death he was poore every way, they stripped him of all his cloathes, he had not so much as a garment to cover him: he was poore and destitute in regard of friends, they all for sooke him when hee had need of them most of all, as he foretold that they all should leave him. And as he was thus poore in respect of his body, and condition; so he was poore in soule (in some respects) and indeed the greatest poverty was there, for the greatest riches that Christ estemed, it was the blessed communion that hee had with his father, which was sweeter to him then all things in heaven, and earth, when his father hid his face from him, that he felt his displeasure (becomming our surety) in the garden before his death, the sense of Gods displeasure against sin affected him so deeply, that he sweate water and blood, he was so poore (wanting the comfort of his fathers love) that an Angell, his owne creature was faine to come, and comfort him. And at his death when he hung upon the Crosse (besides the want of all earthly comforts) wanting the sense of that sweet love that he alway enjoyed before, it made him cry out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? not that indeed God had forsaken him, in regard of protection, and support, or in regard of love, and favour; but in regard of solace, and comfort that he felt before, in regard of the sense of divine justice being then upon him that stood surety for sinne. When he was dead he had no Tombe of his own to lie in, hee was faine to lie in another mans Tombe, and then he was held under the captivity of the grave three dayes, so that from his birth to his death, there is nothing but a race of poverty.
And (which adds to this abasement of Christ) it was from an excellent condition to so low a state;Aggravation of Christs poverty. as we say, It is a miserable thing for a man to have beene happy, it makes him more sensible of his misery, then in other men: for Christ who was alway in the presence, and favour of heaven, to come into the Virgins wombe, for him to stand in neede of the necessities of this life, for life to die, for riches to become poore, for the glory of heaven, and earth to be abased, for the Lord of all to become a servant to his owne servants, it must needs been great abasement to him that was so highly advanced to become so poore.
But though Christ became thus poore,Christs riches vailed in his poverty. yet hee ceased not then to be rich, but that his riches was vayled with our flesh. The Sunne though he bee kept from our sight by clouds, he is the Sunne still,Simile. and hath his owne proper lustre still, hee is as glorious in himselfe as ever he was, though he be not so to us: so Christ vayled his divinity under our humane nature, and vnderunder our misery, hee became man, and a curse, therefore though hee were the Sonne of righteousnesse, glorious in himselfe, yet to appearance he was otherwise, he became poore.
The Papists would have him a begger.Christ no begger. Bellarmine. Bellarmine to countenance begging Fr…e…s, would have Christ to bee so; it is a disgracefull false conceit. If wee divide his life before hee was thirty yeares duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page duplicate page old that hee was invested into his office, he lived with his parents in that calling, and submitted to them, he was no begger; afterward he lived by ministring the Word of God, and this was not Eleemozinarie, but honour: it is not Charity that is given to Governours (especially Ministers) it is not aimes to receive temporall things for spirituall, but it is due: Besides, he had somewhat of his owne, hee had a bagge (and Iudas was good enough to carry it) hee gave to the poore, therefore he was not a begger: for he that came to fullfill the law would not breake the Law. The law forbids beggers, it was one of Moses Lawes. There shall not be a begger among you; so much breifly for that, Christ was rich and became poore.
The next point, is the parties for whom this was.