Eighty Sermons, Christmas · Sermon 3
SERMON III. Preached upon Chriſtmas day, at S. Pauls, 1625.
GALAT. 4.4. & 5.
But when the fulneſſe of time was come, God ſent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of Sonnes.
WEE are met here to celebrate the generation of Chriſt Jeſus;Eſay 53.8. but Generationem ejus quis enarrabit, ſayes the Prophet, who ſhall declare his generation, his age? For, for his eſſentiall generation, be which he is the Son of God, the Angels, who are almoſt 6000. yeares elder then we, are no nearer to that generation of his, then if they had been made but yeſterday: Eternity hath no ſuch diſtinctions, no limits, no periods, no ſeaſons, no moneths, no yeares, no dayes; Methuſalem, who was ſo long lived, was no elder in reſpect of eternity, then Davids ſon by Berſeba, that dyed the firſt week. The firſt Fiat in the Creation of Adam, and the laſt note of the blowing of the Trumpets to judgement, (though there be between theſe (as it is ordinarily received) 2000. yeares of nature, between the Creation, and the giving of the Law by Moſes, and 2000. yeares of the Law between that, and the comming of Chriſt, and 2000. yeares of Grace and Goſpell between Chriſt firſt, and his ſecond comming) yet this Creation and this Judgement are not a minute aſunder in reſpect of eternity, which hath no minutes. Whence then ariſes all our vexation and labour, all our anxieties and anguiſhes, all our ſuits and pleadings, for long leaſes, for many lives, for many yeares purchaſe in this world, when, if we be in our way to the eternall King of the eternall kingdome, Chriſt Jeſus, all we are not yet, all the world ſhall never be a minute old; Generationem ejus quis enarrabit, what tongue can declare, what heart can conceive his generation which was ſo long before any heart or tongue was made? But we come not now to conſider that eternall generation, not Chriſt meerly as the Son of God, but the Son of Mary too: And that generation the Holy Ghoſt hath told us, was in the fulneſſe of time: When the fulneſſe of time was come, God ſent forth, &c.
In which words,Diviſio. we have theſe three conſiderations; Firſt, the time of Chriſts comming, and that was the fulneſſe of time; And then, the maner of his comming, which is expreſſed in two degrees of humiliation, one, that he was made of a woman, the other, that he was made under the Law; And then, the third part is the purpoſe of his comming, which alſo was twofold; for firſt, he came to redeem them who were under the Law, All; And ſecondly he came, that we (we the elect of God in him) might receive adoption; When the fulneſſe of time was come, &c.
For the full conſideration of this fulneſſe of time, ….we ſhall firſt conſider this fulneſſe in reſpect of the Jews, and then in reſpect of all Nations, and laſtly in reſpect of our ſelves: The Jews might have ſeen the fulneſſe of time, the Gentiles did (in ſome meaſure) ſee it, and we muſt (if we will have any benefit by it) ſee it too. It is an obſervation of S. Cyril, That none of the Saints of God, nor ſuch as were noted to be exemplarily religious, and ſanctified men did ever celebrate with any feſtivall ſolemnity, their own birth-day. Pharaoh celebrated his own Nativity,… 40.22. but who would make Pharaoh his example? and beſides, he polluted that feſtivall with the bloud of one of his ſervants. Herod celebrated his Nativity, but who would think it an honor to be like Herod? and beſides, he polluted that feſtivall with the blood of Iohn Baptiſt. But the juſt contemplation of the miſeries and calamities of this life, into which our birth-day is the doore, and the entrance, is ſo far from giving any juſt occaſion of a feſtivall, as it hath often tranſported the beſt diſpoſed Saints and ſervants of God to a diſtemper, to a malediction, and curſing of their birth-day.… Curſed be the day wherein I was born, and let not that day wherein my mother bare me be bleſſed. Let the day periſh wherein I was born, let that day be darkneſſe, Job 3.and let not God regard it from above. How much miſery is preſaged to us, when we come ſo generally weeping into the world, that, perchance, in the whole body of hiſtory we reade but of one childe, Zoroaſter, that laughed at his birth: What miſerable revolutions and changes, what downfals, what break-necks, and precipitations may we juſtly think our ſelves ordained to, if we conſider, that in our comming into this world out of our mothers womb, we doe not make account that a childe comes right, except it come with the head forward, and thereby prefigure that headlong falling into calamities which it muſt ſuffer after? Though therefore the dayes of the Martyrs, which are for our example celebrated in the Chriſtian Church, be ordinarily called natalitia Martyrum, the birth-day of the Martyrs, yet that is not intended of their birth in this world, but of their birth in the next; when, by death their ſoules were new delivered of their priſons here, and they newly born into the kingdome of heaven; that day, upon that reaſon, the day of their death was called their birth-day, and celebrated in the Church by that name. OnelyOnly to Chriſt Jeſus, the fulneſſe of time was at his birth; not becauſe he alſo had not a painfull life to paſſe through, but becauſe the work of our redemption was an intire work, and all that Chriſt ſaid, or did, or ſuffered, concurred to our ſalvation, as well his mothers ſwathing him in little clouts, as Ioſephs ſhrowding him in a funerall ſheete; as well his cold lying in the Manger, as his cold dying upon the Croſſe; as well the puer natus, as the conſummatum eſt; as well his birth, as his death is ſaid to have been the fulneſſe of time.
Firſt we conſider it to have been ſo to the Jews; for this was that fulneſſe, Indeic.in which all the prophecies concerning the Meſſias, were exactly fulfilled;Dan. 2. Hagg. 2. Mich. 5. Eſay 7. That he muſt come whileſt the Monarchy of Rome flouriſhed; And before the Temple of Jeruſalem was deſtroyed; That he muſt be born in Bethlem; That he muſt be born of a Virgin; His perſon, his actions, his paſſion ſo diſtinctly prophecyed, ſo exactly accompliſhed, as no word being left unfulfilled, this muſt neceſſarily be a fulneſſe of time. So fully was the time of the Meſſias comming, come, that though ſome of the Jews ſay now, that there is no certain time revealed in the Scriptures when the Meſſias ſhall come, and others of them ſay, that there was a time determined, and revealed, and that this time was the time, but by reaſon of their great ſins he did not come at his time, yet when they examine their own ſupputations, they are ſo convinced with that evidence, that this was that fulneſſe of time, that now they expreſſe a kinde of conditionall acknowledgement of it, by this barbarous and inhumane cuſtome of theirs, that they alwayes keep in readineſſe the blood of ſome Chriſtian, with which they anoint the body of any that dyes amongſt them, with theſe words, if Jeſus Chriſt were the Meſſias, then may the blood of this Chriſtian availe thee to ſalvation: So that by their doubt, and their implyed conſent, in this action, this was the fulneſſe of time, when Chriſt Jeſus did come, that the Meſſias ſhould come.
It was ſo to the Jews, and it was ſo to the Gentiles too;Gontibus. It filled thoſe wiſe men which dwelt ſo far in the Eaſt, that they followed the ſtar from thence to Jeruſalem. Herod was ſo full of it, that he filled the Countrey with ſtreames of innocent bloud, and leſt he ſhould ſpare that one innocent childe, killed all. The two Emperours of Rome, Veſpaſian and Domitian were ſo full of it, that in jealouſie of a Meſſias to come then, from that race, they took ſpeciall care for the deſtruction of all, of the poſterity of David. All the whole people were ſo full of it, that divers falſe-Meſſiahs, Barcocab, and Moſes of Crete, and others roſe up, and drew, and deceived the people, as if they had been the Meſſiah, becauſe that was ordinarily knowne, and received to be the time of his comming. And the Devill himſelf was ſo full of it, as that in his Oracles he gave that anſwer, That an Hebrew childe ſhould be God over all gods, and brought the Emperour to erect an Altar, to this Meſſiah Chriſt Jeſus, though he knew not what he did. This was the fulneſſe that filled Jew and Gentile, Kings and Philoſophers, ſtrangers and inhabitants, counterfaits and devils to the expectation of a Meſſiah; and when comes this fulneſſe of time to us, that we feele this Meſſiah born in our ſelves?
In this fulneſſe, in this comming of our Saviour into us,Nobis. we ſhould finde a threefold fullneſſe in our ſelves; we ſhould finde a fulneſſe of nature (becauſe not only of ſpirituall, but of naturall and temporall things, all the right which we have in this world, is in, and for, and by Chriſt, for ſo we end all our prayers of all ſorts, with that clauſe, per Dominum noſtrum Ieſum Chriſtum, Grant this O Lord, for our Lord and Saviour Chriſt Ieſus ſake.) And we ſhould finde a fulneſſe of grace, a daily ſenſe of improvement growth in grace, a filling of all former vacuities, a ſupplying of all emptineſſes in our ſoules, till we came to Stephens fulneſſe,Acts 6.3. ver. 5. & 8. Full of the holy Ghoſt and wiſdome, and full of the holy Ghoſt and Faith, and full of faith and power: And ſo we ſhould come to finde a fulneſſe of glory, that is an apprehenſion and inchoation of heaven in this life; for the glory of the next world, is not in the meaſure of that glory, but in the meaſure of my capacity; it is not that I ſhall have as much as any ſoule hath, but that I ſhall have as much as my ſoul can receive; it is not in an equality with the reſt, but in a fulneſſe in my ſelf; And ſo, as I ſhall have a fulneſſe of nature, that is, ſuch an ability and ſuch a uſe of naturall faculties, and ſuch a portion of the naturall things of this world as ſhall ſerve to fill up Gods purpoſe in me: And as I ſhall have a fulneſſe of grace, that is, ſuch a meaſure of grace as ſhall make me diſcern a tentation, and reſiſt a tentation, or at leaſt repent it, if I have not effectually reſiſted it, ſo even here, I ſhall have a fulneſſe of glory, that is, as much of that glory as a way-faring ſoul is capable of in this world; All theſe fulneſſes I ſhall have, if I can finde and feele in my ſelfe this birth of Chriſt. His eternall birth in heaven is unexpreſſible, where he was born without a mother; His birth on earth is unexpreſſible too, where he was born without a father; but thou ſhalt feele the joy of his third birth in thy ſoul, moſt inexpreſſible this day, where he is born this day (if thou wilt) without father or mother; that is, without any former, or any other reaſon then his own meere goodneſſe that ſhould beget that love in him towards thee, and without any matter or merit in thee which ſhould enable thee to conceive him. He had a heavenly birth, by which he was the eternall Son of God, and without that he had not been a perſon able to redeem thee; He had a humane birth, by which he was the Son of Mary, and without that he had not been ſenſible in himſelf of thine infirmities, and neceſſities; but, this day (if thou wilt) he hath a ſpirituall birth in thy ſoul, without which, both his divine, and his humane birth are utterly unprofitable to thee, and thou art no better then if there had never been Son of God in heaven, nor Son of Mary upon earth. Even the Stork in the aire knoweth her appointed time, Jer. 8.and the Turtle, and the Crane, and the Swallow obſerve the time of their comming, but my people knoweth not the judgements of the Lord. For, if you doe know your time, you know that now is your fulneſſe of time; This is your particular Chriſtmas-day; when, if you be but as carefull to cleanſe your ſoules, as you are your houſes, if you will but follow that counſell of S. Auguſtine, Quicquid non vis inveniri in domo tua, non inveniat Deus in anima tua, That uncleanneſſe which you would be loth your neighbour ſhould finde in your houſes, let not God nor his Angels finde in your ſoules, Chriſt Jeſus is certainly born. and will as certainly grow up in your ſoules.
We paſſe from this,2 Part. to our ſecond part, The manner of his comming; where we propoſed two degrees of Chriſts humiliation, That he was made of a woman, and made under the Law. In the firſt alone, are two degrees too, that he takes the name of the Son of a woman, and wanes the glorious name of the Son of God; And then, that he takes the name of the ſon of a woman,Mulieris non Dei. and wanes the miraculous name of the ſon of a Virgin. For the firſt; Chriſt ever refers himſelf to his Father; As he ſayes, The Father which ſent me, Joh. 12.gave me a commandement what I ſhould ſay, and what I ſhould ſpeak, ſo, for all that which he did or ſuffered,Joh. 4. Joh. 16. he ſayes, My meate is to doe his will that ſent me, and to finiſh his work: And ſo, though he ſay, I am come out from the Father, and am come into the world; yet, be where he will, ſtill, Ego & pater unum ſumus, He and his Father were all one. But deveſting that glory, or ſlumbring it in his fleſh, till the Father glorifie him againe with that glory, which he had with him from the beginning, in his Aſcenſion, he humbles himſelfe here to that addition, The Son of a woman, made of a woman.
Chriſt waned the glorious Name of Son of God,Non Virginis. and the miraculous Name of Son of a Virgin to; which is not omitted to draw into doubt, the perpetuall Virginity of the Bleſſed Virgin, the Mother of Chriſt; ſhe is not called a woman, as though ſhe were not a Maid; when it is ſaid, Joſeph knew her not, donec peperit, till ſhe brought forth her Son, this did not imply his knowledge of her after, no more, then when God ſayes to Chriſt, donec ponam, ſit at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footſtoole, that imports, that Chriſt ſhould remove from his right hand after: For, here is a perpetuall donec in both places; for evermore the ancient Expoſitors have underſtood that place of Ezekiel, Ezek. 44.2.to be intended of the perpetuall Virginitie of Mary, This gate ſhall be ſhut, and ſhall not be opened, and no man ſhall enter by it. Solomon hath an exclamation, Is there any thing whereof a man may ſay, Behold this is new? and he anſwers himſelfe immediately before, There is no new thing under the Sun. But behold here is a greater then Solomon, and he ſayes now in action, by being borne of a Virgin, as he had ſaid, long before, in Propheſie, The Lord hath created a new thing upon earth, a woman ſhall compaſſe a man. Jer. 31.If this had been ſpoken of ſuch a woman, as were no Maid, this had been no new thing: As it was, it was without example, and without naturall reaſon; ſi ratio reddi poſſet, (ſayes St. Bernard) non eſſet mirabile, ſi exempla haberemus, non eſſet ſingulare; If there were reaſon for it, it were no miracle, if there were precedents for it, it were not ſingular; and God intended both, that it ſhould be a miracle, and that it ſhould be done but once; we ſee in Nature, trees do bud out, and there is an emiſſion, and emanation of flowers, and fruits, without any help of man, or any act done by him, to that tree; we reade in Geneſis, That the earth had produced all plants and herbs, before eyther any raine fell upon it, or any man tilled it. And theſe are good helps, and illuſtrations to us, after we have beleeved that a Virgin brought forth a Son; but nothing deduced out of nature, could prove this at firſt, to any man, except he beleeved it before. And therefore bleſſed be God, that hath given us that ſtrength, which the Egyptian Mid-wives ſaid the women of Iſrael had, that they brought forth children, without the help of Mid-wives: That we can humbly beleeve theſe myſteries of our religion, by faith, without the hand, and help of Reaſon; Si nondum mens idonea, abſtruſa inveſtigare, ſine haeſitatione credantur, ſayes St. Auguſtine, In things which are not ſubject to any faculty of ours, to be diſcerned by reaſon, there is a preſent exerciſe of our faith. As we know it to be true, that the buſh, in which God ſpake to Moſes, was full of fire, and did burne, but not conſume, becauſe God hath ſaid ſo, in his booke, but yet we doe not know, how that was done: ſo we know, (by the ſame evidence) that the Mother of our Saviour, was a Virgin; but for the manner of this Myſtery, we reſt upon Epiphanius Rule, Quaecunque dicit Deus, credamus quòd ſint; quomodo, Soli Deo cognitum: whatſoever God, in his word, ſayes, was done, let us beleeve it to be done; how it was done, as we know that God knowes, ſo we are content not to inquire more then it hath been his pleaſure to communicate to us.
She was then, and ſhe was alwaies a Virgin; but becauſe this Text is of his Humiliation, he leaves that Name that proceeds from miracle, and deſcends to that lower name of nature, Made of a woman. The Spirit of God fore-ſaw, that the iſſue betweene the Church, and the Heretiques would not be Virgin or no Virgin, but whether Chriſt were made of a woman. Some Heretiques did queſtion the firſt; The Helvidians denied her perpetuall Virginitie: But that Hereſie, and ſome others that oppoſed her Virginitie, vaniſhed in a ſhort time. But the Manichees, that laſted long, and ſpred farre in the old times, and the Anabaptiſts, which abound yet, deny that Chriſt was made of a woman; They ſay, that Chriſt paſſed through her, as water through a Pipe, but tooke nothing of her ſubſtance; and then, if he took not the nature of mankinde, he hath not redeemed mankinde. And therefore in that Propheſie of Ieremy, that Chriſt ſhould be borne, and in this Goſpel, in our Text, that Chriſt was borne, the Holy Ghoſt mainttaines and continues that phraſe, Made of a woman: And where he begins to expreſſe his Divinitie in miracles,Joh. 2. at the marriage in Cana, there Chriſt himſelfe calls her, by no other name, Woman, what have I to doe with thee? And when he had drawne all his miracles to a glorious conſummatum eſt, upon the Croſſe, he cals her there, by that name too, Woman, behold thy Son. Joh. 19.Here then was no ſuch curious inſiſting upon Styles and Titles, and names of Dignities, no unkindneſſe, no diſpleaſure taken; if one ſhould leave out a Right Honourable, or Right Worſhipfull, or an addition of an Office or Dignity; The powerfulneſſe of Chriſts birth, conſiſts in this, That he is made of God; The miraculouſneſſe of Chriſts birth, conſiſted in this, that he was made of a Virgin, and yet the Prophet and the Apoſtle, two principall Secretaries of the Holy Ghoſt, preſent him with this addition, made of a woman. Chriſt had one priviledge in his birth, which never any Prince had, or ſhall have, that is, that he choſe what Mother he would have, and might have been borne of what woman he would have choſen. And in this large and univerſall chovce, though he choſe a woman full of grace to be his Mother, yet that he might give ſpirituall comfort to all ſorts of women, firſt to thoſe, who ſhould be unjuſtly ſuſpected, and inſimulated of ſin and incontinency, when indeed they were innocent, hee was content to come of a Mother, who ſhould be ſubject to that ſuſpicion, and whom her husband ſhould think to be with child, before he marryed her, and thereupon purpoſe to put her away; And then,Mat. 1. to fill thoſe women, who had been guilty of that ſinne, with reliefe in their conſciences againſt the wrath of God, and with reparation of their reputation and good name in the world, it was his unſearchable will and pleaſure, that in all that Genealogie, and pedigree, which he, and his ſpirit hath inſpired the Euangeliſts to record of his Anceſtors, there is not one woman named, of whom Chriſt is deſcended, who is not dangerouſly noted in the Scriptures, to have had ſome aſperſion of incontinence upon her; as both St. Hierome, and St. Ambroſe, and St. Chryſoſtome obſerves, of Thamar, of Berſeba, and of Ruth alſo.
So then, Chriſt Jeſus who came onelyonly for the reliefe of ſinners, is content to be known to have come, not onelyonly of poore parents, but of a ſinfull race; and though he exempted his Bleſſed Mother, more then any, from ſin, yet he is now content to be born again of ſinful Mothers: In that ſoul, that accuſes it ſelf moſt of ſin; In that ſoul, that cals now to mind, (with remorce, and not with delight) the ſeverall times, and places, and waies, wherein ſhe hath offended God; In that ſoul that acknowledgeth it ſelf to have bin a ſink of uncleanneſſe, a Tabernacle, a Synagogue of Satan; In that ſoul, that hath been as it were poſſeſſed with Mary Magdalens ſeven Devils, yea with him, whoſe name was Legion, with all Devils; In that ſinful ſoul would Chriſt Jeſus fain be born, this day, and make that ſoul, his Mother, that he might be a regeneration to that ſoul. We cannot afford Chriſt, ſuch a birth in us, as he had, to be born of a Virgin; for every one of us wel-nigh hath married himſelf to ſome particular ſin, ſome beloved ſin, that he can hardly divorce himſelfe from; nay, no man keepes his faith, to that one ſin, that he hath marryed himſelfe to, but mingles himſelfe with other ſins alſo. Though Covetouſneſſe, whom he loves, as the wife of his boſome, have made him rich, yet he will commit adultery with another ſin, with Ambition; and he will part, even with thoſe riches, for Honour: Though Ambition be his wife, his marryed ſin, yet he will commit adultery with another ſin, with Licentiouſneſſe, and he will endanger his Honour, to fulfill his Luſt; Ambition may be his wife, but Luſt is his Concubine. We abandon all ſpirituall chaſtity; all virginitie, we marry our particular ſinnes,Ezech. 16. and then we divide our loves with other ſins too: Thou haſt multiplyed thy fornications, and yet art not ſatisfied, is a complaint, that reaches us all, in ſpirituall fornications, and goes very farre, in carnall. And yet, for all this, we are capable of this Conception, Chriſt may be borne in us, for all this: As God ſaid unto the Prophet, Take thee a wife of fornications, and children of fornications; ſo is Chriſt Jeſus content to take our ſoules, though too often mothers of fornications: As long as we are united, and incorporated in his beloved Spouſe, the Church, conforme our ſelves to her, grow up in her, hearken to his word in her, feed upon his Sacraments in her, acknowledge a ſeale of reconciliation, by the abſolution of the Miniſter in her, ſo long, (how unclean ſoever we have bin, if wee abhorre and forſake our uncleanneſſe now) wee participate of the chaſtity of that Spouſe of his, the Church, and in her, are made capable of this conception of Chriſt Jeſus, and ſo, it is as true this houre of us, as it was when the Apoſtle ſpoke theſe words, This is the fulneſſe of time, when God ſent his Son, &c.
Now you remember,Sub lege. that in this ſecond part, (the manner of Chriſts comming) we propoſed two degrees of humiliation; One which we have handled, in a double reſpect, as he is made, filius mulieris, non Dei, the ſon of a woman, and not the Son of God; the other, as he is filius mulieris, non Virginis, The ſon of a woman, and not called the ſon of a Virgin.
The ſecond remaines, that he was ſub lege, under the law; now, this phraſe, to be under the law, is not alwayes ſo narrowly limited in the Scriptures, as to ſignifie onelyonly the law of Moſes; for, ſo, onelyonly the Jews were under the law, and ſo, Chriſts comming for them, who were under the law, his Death, and Merits ſhould belong onelyonly to the Jews. But St. Auguſtine obſerves, that when Chriſt ſent the meſſage of his birth, to the wiſe men, in the Eaſt, by a ſtarre, and to the ſhepheards, about Bethlem, by an Angel, In paſtoribus, Iudaei; in magis, Gentes vocatae; The Jews had their calling in that manifeſtation to the ſhepheards, and the Gentiles in that, to the wiſe men in the Eaſt. But beſides that Chriſt did ſubmit himſelfe, to all the waight even of the Ceremoniall law of Moſes, he was under a heavyer law, then that, under that lex decreti, the contract and covenant with God the Father, under that oportuit pati, This he ought to ſuffer, before he could enter into glory. So that his being under the law, may be accounted not a part of his Humiliation, as his being made of a woman was, but rather the whole hiſtory, and frame of his humiliation, All that concernes his obedience, even to that law, which the Father had laid upon him; for, the life and death of Chriſt, from the Ave Maria, to the conſummatum eſt, from his comming into this World, in his Conception, to his tranſmigration upon the Croſſe, was all under this law, heavier then any law, that any man is under, the law of the contract, and covenant between the Father, and him.
Though therefore we may think, judging by the law of reaſon, that ſince Chriſt came to gather a Church, and to draw the world to him, it would more have advanced that purpoſe of his, to have been borne at Rome, where the ſeat of the Empire, and the confluence of all Nations, was, then in Iury, and (if he would offer the Goſpel firſt to the Jews) better to have been borne at Ieruſalem, where all the outward, publique, ſolemne worſhip of the Jews was, then at obſcure Bethlem, and in Bethlem, in ſome better place then in an Inne, in a Stable, in a Manger; though we may think thus, in the law of reaſon, yet, non cogitationes meae cogitationes veſtrae, ſayes God in the Prophet,Eſay 55. My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my lawes your lawes, for I am ſub lege decreti, under another manner of law, then falls within your reading, under an obedience to that covenant, which hath paſſed betweene my Father, and me, and by thoſe Degrees, and no other way, was my humiliation, for your Redemption, to be expreſſed. Though we may thinke in the law of Reaſon, that his work of propagating the Goſpel, would have gone better forward, if he had taken for his Apoſtles, ſome Tullies, or Hortenſii, or Senecaes, great, and perſwading Orators, in ſtead of his Peter, and Iohn, and Matthew, and thoſe Fiſhermen, and tent-makers, and toll-gatherers; Though we might think in reaſon, and in piety too, that when he would humble himſelfe to take our ſalvation into his care, it had beene enough, to have beene under the law of Moſes, to live innocently, and righteouſly, without ſhedding of his bloud; If he would ſhed bloud, it might have beene enough to have done ſo in the Circumciſion, and ſcourging, without dying; If he would die, it might have been enough to have dyed ſome leſſe accurſed, and leſſe ignominious death, then the death of the Croſſe; though we might reaſonably enough, and piouſly enough, think thus, yet, non cogitationes veſtrae, cogitationes meae, ſayes the Lord, your way is not my way, your law is not my law; for, Chriſt was ſub lege decreti, and thus, as he did, and no other way, it became him to fulfill all righteouſneſſe, that is, all that Decree of God, which he had accepted, and acknowledged as Righteous. He was ſo much under Moſes law, as he would be: ſo much under that law, as that he ſuffered that law, to be wreſted againſt him, and to bee pretended to be broken by him, and to be endited, and condemned by that law. The Jews preſſed that law, non ſines veneficū vivere, Thou ſhalt not ſuffer a witch to live, Exod. 22.when they attributed all his glorious miracles, to the power of the devil: and the Romans were incenſed againſt him, for treaſon, and ſedition, as though he aliened and withdrew the people from Caeſar. But he was under a heavyer law, then Jews or Romanes, the Law of his Father, and his owne eternall Decree, ſo farre, as that he came to that ſenſe of the waight thereof, Eli, Eli, My God, My God, why haſt thou forſaken me? and was never delivered from the burden of this law, till he pleaded the performance of all conditions between his Father, and him, and delivered up all the evidence thereof, in thoſe words, In manus tuas, Into thy hands, O Lord I give my ſpirit, and ſo preſented both the righteouſneſſe of his ſoule, which had fulfilled the law, and the ſoule it ſelfe, which was under the law. He dyed in Execution, and ſo diſcharged all; And ſo we have done with our ſecond part, The manner of his comming.
We are come now, in our Order, to our third part, The purpoſe of Chriſts comming;3. Part. and in that we conſider two objects, that Chriſt had, and two ſubjects to work upon, two kindes of work, and two kindes of perſons; Firſt, to Redeeme, and then to Adopt; Thoſe are his works, his objects; And then, To redeeme thoſe that were under the law, that is, all, but to Adopt thoſe whom he had choſen, us; And thoſe are the perſons, the ſubjects, that he works upon, by his comming.
Firſt then, (to begin with the perſons) thoſe of the firſt kinde,Sub lege. thoſe that were under the Law: for them, (as we told you before) the law muſt not be ſo narrowly reſtrained here, as to be intended onelyonly of Moſes Law, for Chriſts purpoſe was not onelyonly upon the Jews; for elſe, Naaman the Syrian, by whom God fought great battailes,2 Reg. 5. before he was cured of his leproſie, and who, when he was cured, was ſo zealous of the worſhip of the true God, that he would needs carry holy earth, to make Altars of, from the place, where the Prophet dwelt: And elſe, Iob, who though he were of the land of Hus, hath good teſtimony of being an upright and juſt man, and one that feared God; And elſe, the Widow of Sarepta,1. Reg. 17. whoſe meale, and oyle God preſerved unwaſted, and whoſe dead ſonne, God raiſed againe, at the prayer of Eliah; All theſe, and all others, whom the ſearching Spirit of God, ſeales to his ſervice, in all the corners of the earth, becauſe they are ſtrangers in the land of Iſrael, ſhould not be under the Law, and ſo ſhould have no profit by Chriſts being made under the Law, if the Law ſhould be underſtood, onelyonly of the Law of Moſes. And therefore to be under the Law, ſignifies here, thus much, To be a debter to the law of nature, to have a teſtimony in our hearts and conſciences, that there lyes a law upon us, which we have no power in our ſelves to performe; that to thoſe lawes, To love God with all our powers, and to love our neighbour as our ſelves, and to doe, as we would be done to, we finde our ſelves naturally bound, and yet wee finde our ſelves naturally unable to performe them, and ſo to need the aſſiſtance of another, which muſt be Chriſt Jeſus, to performe them for us; And ſo, all men, Jews and Gentiles are under the Law, becauſe naturally they feele a law upon them, which they breake. And therefore whereſoever our power becomes defective, in the performance of this law, if our will be not defective too, if we come not to ſay, God hath given us an impoſſible Law, and therefore it is loſt labour, to goe about to performe it, or God hath given us another to performe this Law for us, and therefore nothing is required at our hands; If we abſtaine from theſe quarrels to the law, and theſe murmurings at our owne infirmity, wee ſhall finde, that the fulneſſe of time is this day come, this day Chriſt is come to all that are under the Law, that is, to all mankinde; to all, becauſe all are unable to performe that Law, which they all ſee, by the light of nature to lye upon them.
Theſe then be the perſons of the firſt kinde,Redemit. All, all the world; Dilexit mundum, God ſo loved the world, that he gave his Son for it, for all the world; And, accordingly, venit ſalvare mundum, the obedience of the Son, was as large as the love of the Father, Hee came to ſave all the world, and he did ſave all the world; God would have all men, and Chriſt did ſave all men. It is therefore fearefully (and ſcarce allowably ſaid) that Chriſt did contrary to his Fathers will, when he called thoſe to grace, of whom he knew his Fathers pleaſure to bee, that they ſhould have no grace; It is fearefully and dangerouſly ſaid, Abſurdum non eſſe, Deum interdum falſa loqui, & falſum loquenti credendum, that it is not abſurd to ſay, (that is, that it may truly be ſaid) that God does ſometimes ſpeake untruly, and that we are bound to beleeve God, when he does ſo: for, if we conſider the ſoveraigne balme of our ſoules, the blood of Chriſt Jeſus, there is enough for all the world, if we conſider the application of this phyſick, by the Miniſters of Chriſt Jeſus in the Church, hee hath given us that ſpreading Commiſſion, To goe and preach to every creature, we are bid to offer, to apply, to miniſter this to all the world: Chriſt hath excommunicated no Nation, no ſhire, no houſe, no man: Hee gives none of his Miniſters leave to ſay to any man, thou art not Redeemed, he gives no wounded nor afflicted conſcience leave, to ſay to it ſelfe, I am not Redeemed. There may be meat enough brought into the houſe, for all the houſe, though ſome be ſo weake, as they cannot, (which is the caſe of the Gentiles) ſome ſo ſtubborne, as they will not eate, (which is the caſe of the carnall man, though in the Chriſtian Church.)
He came to all, There are the perſons, and to Redeeme all, there is his errand; but how to Redeeme? S. Hierome ſaies, Gentes non Redimuntur, ſed emuntur: The Gentiles, ſaies hee, are not properly Chriſts, by way of Redeeming, but by an abſolute purchaſe: To which purpoſe thoſe words are alſo applied, which the Apoſtle ſaies to the Corinthians,1 Cor. 6.20. Ye are bought with a price, S. Hieroms meaning therein, is, that if we compare the Jews and the Gentiles, though God permitted the Jews, in puniſhment of their rebellions, to bee captivated by the devill in Idolatries, yet the Jews were but as in a mortgage, for they had beene Gods peculiar people before; But the Gentiles were as the devils inheritance, for God had never claimed them, nor owned them for his; and therefore God ſayes to Chriſt,Pſ. 2.8. Poſtula à me, Aske of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance; as though they were not his yet, or not his by that title, as the Jews were. So that, in S. Hieromes conſtruction, the Jewes, which were Gods people before, were properly Redeemed, the Gentiles, to whom God made no title before, are rather bought, then redeemed. But, Nullum tempus occurrit Regi, againſt the King of Kings there runnes no preſcription; no man can deveſt his Allegeance to his Prince, and ſay he will be ſubject no longer; And therefore, ſince the Gentiles, were his by his firſt title of Creation, (for, it is he that hath made us, and not we our ſelves, nor the devill neither) when all we, by our generall revolt, and prevarication, (as we were all collectively in Adams loynes) came to be under that law, morte morieris, Thou ſhalt dye the death, when Chriſt came in the fulneſſe of time, and delivered us from the ſharpeſt, and heavieſt clauſe of that Law, which is the ſecond death, then he Redeemed us properly, becauſe, (though not by the ſame title of Covenant, as the Jews were) yet we were his, and ſold over to his enemy. Theſe then were the perſons, All, (none can ſay that he did not need him, none can ſay, that he may not have him) And this was his firſt worke, to Redeeme, to vindicate them from the uſurper, to deliver them from the intruder, to emancipate them from the tyran, to cancell the covenant betweene hell, and them, and reſtore them ſo far to their liberty, as that they might come to their firſt Maſter, if they would; this was Redeeming.
But in his other worke, which is Adoption, and where the perſons were more particular,Adoptio. not all, but wee, Chriſt hath taken us to him, in a ſtraiter and more peculiar title, then Redeeming. For, A ſervando Servi, men who were, by another mans valour, ſaved and redeemed from the enemy, or from preſent death, they became thereby, ſervants to him that ſaved and redeemed them: Redemption makes us (who were but ſubjects before, for all are ſo, by creation) ſervants; but it is but ſervants; but Adoption makes us, who are thus made ſervants by Redemption, ſons … for, Adoption is verbum forenſe, though it be a word which the Holy Ghoſt takes, yet he takes it from a civill uſe, and ſignification, in which, it expreſſes in divers circumſtances, our Adoption into the ſtate of Gods children. Firſt, he that adopted another, muſt by that law, be a man, who had no children of his owne; And this was Gods caſe towards us; Hee had no children of his owne, wee were all filii irae, The children of wrath, not one of us could be ſaid to bee the child of God, by nature, if we had not had this Adoption in Chriſt. Secondly, he, who,Eph. …. by that law, might Adopt, muſt be a Man, who had had, or naturally might have had children; for an Infant under yeares, or a man, who by nature was diſabled from having children, could not Adopt another; And this was Gods caſe towards us too; for God had had children without Adoption; for by our creation in Innocence, we were the ſons of God till we died all in one tranſgreſſion, and loſt all right, and all life, and all meanes of regaining it, but by this way of Adoption in Chriſt Jeſus. Againe, no man might adopt an elder man then himſelfe; and ſo, our Father by Adoption, is not onelyonly Antiquus dierum, The ancient of Daies, but Antiquior diebus ancienter then any Daies, before Time was; he is (as Damaſcene forces himſelfe to expreſſe it) Super-principale principium, the Beginning, and the firſt Beginning, and before the firſt beginning; He is, ſaies he, aeternus, and prae-aeternus, Eternall, and elder then any eternity, that we can take into our imagination. So likewiſe no man might adopt a man of better quality then himſelfe, and here, we are ſo far from comparing, as that we cannot comprehend his greatneſſe, and his goodneſſe, of whom, and to whom, S. Auguſtin ſaies well, Quid mihi es? If I ſhall goe about to declare thy goodneſſe, not to the world in generall, but Quid mihi es, how good thou art to me, Miſerere ut loquar, ſaies he, I muſt have more of thy goodneſſe, to be able to tell thy former goodneſſe, Be mercifull unto me againe, that I may bee thereby able to declare how mercifull thou waſt to me before, except thou ſpeake in me, I cannot declare what thou haſt done for me. Laſtly, no man might be adopted, into any other degree of kindred, but into the name, and right of a ſon; he could not be an adopted Brother, nor coſin, nor nephew: And this is eſpecially our dignity; wee have the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. So that, as here is a fulneſſe of time in the text, ſo there is a fulneſſe of perſons, All, and a fulneſſe of the worke belonging to them, Redeeming, Emancipation, delivering from the chaines of Satan, (we were his by Creation, we ſold our ſelves for nothing, and he redeemed us, without money, that is,Eſa. 52. without any coſt of ours) but becauſe for all this generall Redemption, we may turne from him, and ſubmit our ſelves to other ſervices, therefore he hath Adopted us, drawne into his family and into his more eſpeciall care, thoſe who are choſen by him, to be his. Now that Redemption reached to all, there was enough for all; this diſpenſation of that Redemption, this Adoption reaches onelyonly to us, all this is done, That wee might receive the Adoption of Sonnes.
But who are this Wee? why, they are the elect of God. But who are they,Nos. who are theſe elect? Qui timidè rogat, docet negare: If a man aske me with a diffidence, Can I be the adopted ſon of God, that have rebelled againſt him, in all my affections, that have troden upon his Commandements, in all mine actions, that have divorced my ſelfe from him, in preferring the love of his creatures before himſelfe, that have murmured at his corrections, and thought them too much, that have undervalued his benefits, and thought them too little, that have abandoned, and proſtituted my body, his Temple, to all uncleanneſſe, and my ſpirit to indevotion, and contempt of his Ordinances; can I be the adopted ſon of God, that have done this? Ne timidè roges, aske me not this, with a diffidence and diſtruſt in Gods mercy, as if thou thoughtſt with Cain thy iniquities were greater then could be forgiven; But aske me with that holy confidence, which belongs to a true convert, Am not I, who, though I am never without ſinne, yet am never without hearty remorce and repentance for my ſinnes; though the weakneſſe of my fleſh ſometimes betray mee, the ſtrength of his Spirit ſtill recovers me; though my body be under the paw of that lion, that ſeekes whom hee may devoure, yet the lion of Judah raiſes againe and upholds my ſoule; though I wound my Saviour with many ſinnes, yet all theſe, bee they never ſo many, I ſtrive againſt, I lament, confeſſe, and forſake as farre as I am able. Am not I the child of God, and his adopted ſon in this ſtate? Roga fidenter, aske me with a holy confidence in thine and my God, & doces affirmare, thy very queſtion gives me mine anſwer to thee, thou teacheſt me to ſay, thou art; God himſelfe teaches me to ſay ſo, by his Apoſtle, The foundation of God is ſure, and this is the Seale, God knoweth who are his, and let them that call upon his name, depart from all iniquity: He that departs ſo far, as to repent former ſinnes, and ſhut up the wayes, which he knows in his conſcience, doe lead him into tentations, he is of this quorum, one of us, one of them, who are adopted by Chriſt, to be the ſonnes of God. I am of this quorum, if I preach the Goſpell ſincerely, and live thereafter, (for hee preaches twice a day, that followes his owne doctrine, and does as he ſaies) And you are of this quorum, if you preach over the Sermons which you heare, to your owne ſoules in your meditation, to your families in your relation, to the world in your converſation. If you come to this place, to meet the Spirit of God, and not to meet one another, If you have ſate in this place, with a delight in the Word of God, and not in the words of any ſpeaker, If you goe out of this place, in ſuch a diſpoſition, as that, if you ſhould meet the laſt Trumpets at the gates, and Chriſt Jeſus in the clouds, you would not intreat him to goe back, and ſtay another yeare: To enwrap all in one, if you have a religious and ſober aſſurance, that you are his, and walke according to your beleefe, you are his, and, as the fulneſſe of time, ſo the fulneſſe of grace is come upon you, and you are not onelyonly within the firſt commiſſion, of thoſe who were under the Law, and ſo Redeemed, but of this quorum who are ſelected out of them, the adopted ſons of that God, who never diſinherits thoſe that forſake not him.