One-Hundred Forty-Five Sermons Upon John 17, Sermon 48
SERMON XLVIII. The Deity of Jeſus Chriſt cleared and defended against the Socinians.
JOH. 17.10.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
THeſe words are an Argument to prove that though the Apoſtles, and in them all beleevers were the Fathers, yet the Son was not excluded from a propriety in them; Therefore to put more force in the Argument he preſſeth the ſameneſſe or Identity of Nature, and ageeement with one another, as if he ſhould have ſaid, Let not any praier put up in their behalf be rejected, for they are fit Subjects both for me to pray for and thou to hear, we both have an Intereſt in them; We muſt deny our own if we deny them, This is the ſence of the words, and in them we may obſerve,
1. The argumentative particle.
2. The argument it ſelf.
The argumentative particle in'the word foreign, which is not conjunctive but ratiocinative, It's not ſo well tranſlated and as for, ſo foreign is often uſed for foreign in the Scripture, Even as the Hebrew is ſometimes conjunctive and ſometime a Note of Inference, as Give help from trouble and Vain is the help of man, Pſa. 60.11. that is for; We have ſinned and thou art angry, i. e. for that, &c. So here, They are thine, for all mine is thine:
In the next place we have the argument it ſelf, and that is from the homoouſiall conſideration of the Father and the Sonne, All mine are thine, and thine are mine, which words are not ſpoken quoad fruitionem only, or foreign, but quoad eſſentiam, all that Wiſedom, power, Majeſty thou haſt, I have, we have all in common: Therefore this place is very ſtrong againſt the blasphemous Socinians, and uſed by the Ancients againſt the Arians; The Socinians have nothing to evade but only that our Saviour doth not ſpeak of the Fathers Eſſence but of his dominion and propriety; The Apoſtles were the Fathers by propriety, and ſo they were Chriſts alſo; But this will not ſtand, for although we muſt grant that before; The Apoſtles were ſaid to be the Fathers yet he proveth this by an Argument from the generall to the particular; No wonder they are thine and mine, for all mine are thine, Note the Univerſality, all mine are thine, all thine are mine, If all then the Eſſence, Nature and Majeſty of God, otherwiſe it was not all, and if Chriſt were a meer Creature he could not ſay thus, for although the former part every creature may ſay, all mine are thine, in reſpect of dominion and efficiency, becauſe there is no good, natural, moral, or divine but it's the Lords, and although in ſome ſence a godly man may by the Covenant of grace ſay to God, all thine are mine becauſe now made his God, in which ſence the Apoſtle ſaid, all things are yours, 1 Cor. 1. and I have all things, Phil. 4. yet in regard of Gods eſſentiall Attributes, his Omniſciency, Omnipotency, &c. None but the Sonne and the holy Ghoſt who are God can truly ſay ſo; Now that our Saviour meaneth all in this ſence appeareth by a parallell place, Joh 16 15. all things that the Father hath are mine; Mark the aggravation, he doth not ſay ſome things but all things, then that the Father hath in the preſent tenſe; Now God hath nothing but eſſentially, he hath wiſedom, he hath life, but he hath it eſſentially not as creatures who have it accidentally; Therefore notable is that expreſſion Joh. 5.26. As the Father hath life in himſelf ſo hath he given the Son to have life in himſelf; No creature hath life in that ſence.
3. He ſaith, All things are mine, he doth not ſay ſhall be mine, when I am glorified, when aſcended into Heaven, but even in that very ſtate of humiliation.
Laſtly, He ſaith, All that the Father hath, In calling him a Father he acknowledgeth a perſonal diſtinction, which cuts off the Sophiſtry of the Socinians; If Chriſt hath all things the Father hath, then he is the Father: No, the very compellation ſuppoſeth a relative diſtinction, though there be an eſſential Ʋnity:
Thus you ſee the Text vindicated, and it's our duty diligently to vindicate thoſe Texts that aſſert Chriſts Deity ſo much oppugned, for if Tertullian ſaid, Omnis ſermo adaptandus eſt contra Idololatriam, much more againſt this blaſphemous hereſie.
Doct. Chriſt hath all things the Father hath.Obſ. That our Lord Chriſt hath all things the Father hath; Even the things he praieth for, viz. glory, he ſaith He had it with the Father before the world began.
Let us unfold this Doctrine for it will be of great uſe both doctrinally and practically.
1. The ſame Name and Titles.And 1. The Lord Chriſt hath the ſame Name and Titles that God the Father hath, Even that Name which they call the incommunicable Name Jehovah, and that is never given directly to any creature, yet that is attributed to Chriſt, Heb. 1.10. Thou O Jehovah haſt founded the Heavens and the Earth; That ſpoken by the Pſalmiſt the Apoſtle doth expreſly apply to Chriſt himſelf, and although ſome obſerve that in the New commonly the Father is called foreign, and the Son foreign, as 1 Cor. 8. We have one God the Father of all, and we have one Lord, yet Chriſt is often called God. Rom. 9.11. He is called God bleſſed for evermore; And 2 John This is the true God. And 1 Tim. 3.26. God manifeſted in the fleſh, So that he is called God as well as Lord; Now then this argueth Chriſts Deity, that he hath the ſame Titles with God; Magiſtrates indeed are called gods, and Moſes is ſaid to be a God to Pharaoh, but not abſolutely as Chriſt is, but reſpectively for ſuch an end and purpoſe, viz. to direct and govern: For the Name of God is God, as Rabbins ſay, God is his Name and his Name is God; If it be a capitall crime amongſt men, to give the Titles of the Supream power to thoſe that have it not, or to deny it to thoſe to whom it belong…; Take heed then thou beeſt not found in the number of thoſe that thinkeſt it robbery what Chriſt himſelf did not to make him equall with God.
2. The ſame nature and eſſence2. He hath the nature and eſſence of God the Father, ſo that he is equall with him; Mark that reaſon Ioh. 16.15. He ſhall receive of mine and ſhew you all things; For all the Father hath is mine; The holy Ghoſt was to receive of his wiſedom and power, becauſe all the Father had was his, which as it neceſſarily proveth the holy Spirit to be God, that doth ſearch the deep things of God, ſo alſo Chriſt to be of the ſame divine nature, and thus the Jews underſtood him when they charged him with blaſphemy, that he being man ſhould make himſelf God or equal to God.
3. He hath all the eſſential properties of God, he is immortal, eternal, infinite, 3. All the eſſential properties of God.omniſcient, omnipotent; For he knew what was in mens hearts and needed none ſhould tell him, 1 Joh. 2. ult. Eternal, for he created all things, and in the beginning was with God, 1 Ioh. 1. called therefore Alpha and Omega; Omnipotent in that the Creation of all things out of nothing is attributed to him, and the wonderful Miracles he wrought not as the Apoſtles in a Petitionary manner but mandatory and authoritatively in his own Name, do fully evince this, ſo that there is no glorious attribute of God but the Lord Chriſt hath the ſame, and that not in kinde but in number: The very ſame numericall wiſedom and holineſſe.
4. Christ doth all the works the Father doth; I and my Father work hitherto, 4. Chriſt doth all the works the Father doth.Joh. 5.17. The Son doth nothing but what he ſeeth the Father doth, Joh. 5.19. Doth the Father create? ſo doth Chriſt? Doth the Father conſerve and govern all things? ſo doth Chriſt bear up all things by the power of his word, Heb. 1. Did the Father ſend the Prophets in the Old Teſtament? ſo (which i… greatly to be conſidered) did Chriſt, 1 Pet. 1.11. The Spirit of Chriſt is ſaid to be in the Prophets which yet were long befere Chriſt was born of the Virgin; Therefore Chriſt had a ſubſiſtency as God before and did work as God; Therefore the Iſraelites 1 Cor. 10. are ſaid to tempt Chriſt in the Wilderneſſe, And Moſes preferred the reproaches of Chriſt before Egypts Treaſures, Heb. 11. ſo alſo doth the Father regenerate, give the holy Spirit, ſanctifie our natures, all theſe things Chriſt alſo doth.
5. The Son and the Father have the ſame will and the ſame purpoſes;5. The ſa…e will. This all the Socinians would have, But the ſameneſſe of will and minde floweth from the Identity of the nature; Indeed when he praieth for his Diſciples in this Chapter, that they may be one as thou and I are one; It's not a ſicut of equality but ſimilitude, not as if they were to be one eſſentially, as the Father and the Son is, but that intimate Union of the Father and Son, is made the Rule, as when it's ſaid, Be you perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect, Mat. 5. ult. that cannot be underſtood of an equality; The Rule hath alwaies more perfection in it then the thing regulated by it: Hence it is that Chriſt is called the expreſs character of the Father, Heb. 1. What Chriſt wils, what he purpoſeth we may conclude the Father doth ſo alſo, ſo that this conſideration may abundantly take away that doubt which may ariſe, That although Chriſt be thus ready to work out our redemption, yet will the Father accept of it, he is not obliged to take a Surety in our room, he will ſee the Law ſatisfied in our own perſons, but Chriſt removeth this when he ſaith, Therefore doth my Father love me becauſe I lay down my life for my Sheep, Joh. 10. The Father then and the Son have the ſame gracious will, have the ſame purpoſes of mercy, and whom Chriſt doth invite the Father inviteth, whom Ch…iſt cals the Father cals: So that in and by Chriſt we may ſee the gracious and glorious thoughts of mercy God the Father had from all Eternity to his people; Indeed as he was man though his humane will was not contrary, yet we ſee he ſpeaks conditionally, If it be poſſible let this Cup paſſe away, yet not my will but thy will be done, Matth. 26 39. Therefore his humane will if abſolutely conſidered, did deſire freedom from death, but if particularly conſidered in theſe circumſtances, then he emptied that particular ſtream of his humane nature in the Ocean of the divine.
6. The Son and the Father have the ſame propriety in all the godly;6. The ſame propriety in all the godly. Thoſe that belong to the Father belong alſo to the Son, This was the occaſion of this general Speech in the Text; The Apoſtles are thine, and all thine are mine; So that the Father doth not abdicate his right by the donation of them to Chriſt; Hence Joh. 20.17. I go to my Father and your Father, by way of comfort putting us into ſome co-partnerſhip with his propriety; Thoſe then that are Chriſts Sheep they have alſo Gods mark upon them, They do belong to the Father by grace, and to the Son by merit and purchaſe, ſo that the Children of God are to proceed by degrees, to evidence their propriety in Chriſt, and then in the Father; For ſaith Chriſt, If ye had known me ye would have known my Father, Joh. 8.16.
Laſtly, They have the ſame power and ſtrength, and that in reference to the defence and preſervation of his people, Joh. 10. None can pull them out of my Fathers hand, then he addeth, I and my Father are one, one as in nature ſo in that omnipotent power to govern and preſerve his Children to everlaſting happineſſe, ſo that this doctrine is not meerly ſpeculative but tends to much practical edification.
How all Chriſt hath is the Fathers.In the next place conſider how all that Chriſt hath is the Fathers, and ſo reciprocally,
1. By eternal generation.1. By eternal generation, The Socinians would grant the Son hath many tranſcendent prerogatives, but not by eternal generation, but by a temporal donation; This cannot be ſo, becauſe the Pſalmiſt long before Chriſt was born ſaid, This is my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Pſa. 2.7. And his out-goings are ſaid to be of old, Mic. 5.1. from the daies of Eternity: So that Chriſt hath theſe things of the Father by nature, even as the Sun beams had the light of the Sun, as ſoon as ever there was a Sun though there be a great diſſimilitude in this compariſon; The Son then is not of the Father as the world was by a voluntary Creation but by a natural generation.
2. By vertue of the hypoſtatical Union.2. If we conſider Chriſt as God and man, yet even then by vertue of the hypoſtatical Union all that the Father hath, is his; The infinite Majeſty of God, Chriſt nor only as God but as God-man hath, but how? not as if the properties of the divine nature were communicated to that, as the Lutherans hold, ſaying, the humane nature of Chriſt is infinite, omnipreſent, that is abſurd, for how can it be eternal when it's plain the humane nature had a being in a time, but only by vertue of the perſonal union, there is a communication of properties, not to the Natures but to the Perſon, Inſomuch that the Apoſtle cals it the blood of God, Act. 25. How can that be but by vertue of that perſonal Union, the divine nature hath no bloud, neither can it ſuffer, and thus Chriſt ſaid, The Son of man which i… in heaven, Joh. 3. that could not be becauſe of his humane nature but by the perſonal Union, ſo that although the Text doth principally intend Chriſts communion with the Father as God in the identity of his nature, yet this may in ſome ſence be extended to Chriſt both God and man.
Ʋſe. ThereforeThe Ʋſe of this Doctrine is very fruitfull, 1. By doctrinall Information of the deity of Chriſt, that he is truly God, having all things God the Father hath, therefore retain by a ſtrong Faith this Article of Religion,1. Chriſt is truly God. and the rather becauſe ſo many have brought in damnable aſſertions about this Point; Socinus doth impudently ſay, that this doctrine of Chriſts Deity is ſo abſurd, that the Chriſtian world will one day be ſo farre informed as to be aſhamed to beleeve ſuch a thing, yea, to hear ſuch a thing, and that the word Trinity may be in time as much abhorred as Tranſubſtantiation and the Maſs; Fly from ſuch perſons as thoſe that have a ſpiritual plague; This hath been ſo often cleared by the Church in all ages, that now there needs no more diſputation in it, we muſt not alwaies be proving but we muſt at laſt hold faſt that which is good; Remember your Baptiſm it was In the Name of the Father, the Sonne, and the holy Ghoſt; Theſe you are with the ſame faith to acknowledge, to theſe you are equally conſecrated.
2. The people of God are happyƲſe 2. Is all that the Father hath Chriſts? then how happy are the people of God who are admitted into ſome co-partnerſhip with all this bleſſedneſſe; For although though none but Chriſt (as you heard) can ſay, All mine are thine eſſentially, yet every godly man being made a co…heir with Chriſt, he may by fruition and enjoyment ſay ſo, Rom 8. Oh the infinite treaſure of that expreſſion, a Son and co-heir with Chriſt; Whatſoever Chriſt is heir to, we are alſo co-heirs with him, only here is the difference, Quod Chriſtus natura, nos gratia, what Chriſt is by nature that we are by grace; Why then are the people of God ſo often dejected and caſt down? They conſider not how rich, how honoured, how abounding they are; All that the Father hath, all that Chtiſt hath is theirs for their good and advantage, and this deed of gift God made when he entred into Covenant with them to be their God, and they to be his people; By this means Paul can triumph and ſay, I have all things, I can do all things, Phil. 4. The people of God are never eſtabliſhed and confirmed till they be anchored here; They are toſſed up and down as ſo many waves like the wicked men of the world who live by ſence, and have no bottom or rock to ſtand upon; For this end it is that God eithet takes away earthly comforts or caſteth in many roots of gall and wormwood in every condition, That you may know your treaſure is in God and Chriſt not in theſe earthly contents.
Ʋſe 3. Is Chriſt thus partaker eſſentially of all that God hath, then take we heed how we refuſe him ſpeaking, for God is not only with him but in him,3. Take heed of refuſing Chriſt ſpeoking. as God ſaid concerning the Angel that led the people of Iſrael which was Chriſt, that they ſhould take heed how they did provoke him, for his Name was in him, Exo. 23.21.
4. How compleat and full a Mediatour we have; We need not fear his inſufficiency, for all that the Father hath he hath; He is an infinite God as well as a finite man; Oh the unanſwerable arguments that the godly may fetch hence; O Lord though in thy ſight no fleſh can be juſtified, yet Chriſt was; Though I am imperfect Chriſt is not.
Laſty, Here is a dreadful doom to wicked men, they are excluded from this communion, what the devil hath they have or ſhall have.