A Century of Sermons, Sermon 12
THE TWELFTH SERMON UPON THE INCARNATION.
LUKE i. 69.
And hath raiſed up an horn of Salvation for us in the houſe of his ſervant David.
THe Spirit of God is ſo conſtant to the ſame matter, to the ſame phraſe of ſpeech in Holy Scripture, that there is no Text of prime Doctrine in the New Teſtament, but likely you may fit it as it were verbatim out of the Old. I put you in mind of it at this time, becauſe David hath not only comprized my Text, but all this Song of Zachary into one verſe. Zachary having been dumb for nine months, his unſpeakable joy at laſt burſt out, like a River which hath been ſtopt, and flows forth in a full guſh when the Sluce is open. Now whereas when he found his tongue, and began likewiſe to Propheſie, his Wife and Kindred who were the Aſſembly that heard him, expected, no doubt, that in the firſt inſtance, after he broke ſilence, he would ſpeak of John the Baptiſt, a child of much wonder and expectation, whom the Lord had ſent unto him in his old age, yet he did not ſo, but he took the riſe of his Propheſie from a mightier work by far; he begins with the Bridegroom, and then proceeds to the friend of the Bridegroom: He begins with the Saviour, and then ſpeaks of the Servant; he begins with the bread of life, and then goes on to the voice of the Crier; he was ſent unto the Jews to invite them to eat of it: He begins with the glorius King ſprung out of the houſe of David, and concludes with his own Son, that was the torch-bearer to carry the light before him. Of both theſe, thus the Pſalmiſt with moſt admirable brevity, Pſal. cxxxii. 18. There will I make the horn of David to bud, I have ordained a lanthorn for mine Anointed. The horn, or excellency of David is Chriſt Incarnate; the Lamp ordained for that mighty King was John the Forerunner, whom the Evangeliſt of his own name calls a burning and a ſhining light. 'Tis St. Auſtins Expoſition, and ſo natural to the ſenſe of the Pſalm, that it hath gained upon me to follow it. Yet there is great odds between Faith in ſpe, & in re, between the prenuntion and the event of theſe myſteries; between the promiſe of the Sun riſing, and the light which ſhines viſibly upon the world; between the knowledge of Salvation, which was drawn nearer to the Church in Zacharies days than it was in Davids when it was further off. In the one it is faciam, I will make the horn of David to bud, in the other it is feci, the counſel of God is actuated, he hath raiſed up an horn. David was bold to ſing it forth, that God would perform his Promiſe. Zachary was more bold to ſpeak in the Preter-tenſe, that he had performed, when it was but in fieri, when the Web was yet upon the Loom. Chriſtmas day was not yet come, it was half a year off, before the time was appointed that a Virgin ſhould be delivered: but Zachary knowing the certain execution of Gods Word hath made Chriſtmaſs day in the Text. He doth not only bear witneſs to our Saviour, though yet an imperfect feture after three months conception, as if the Child were born, but as if he were in his moſt able growth, in perfect ſtrength of years, in perfect execution of his power, in the perfect glory of his Kingdom; And hath raiſed up an horn of Salvation for us in the houſe of his ſervant David.
Now to prepare you to receive the diviſion of the words, you may eaſily mark, that whereas the former verſe contains a general profeſſion of Gods mercy to his Church, he hath viſited and redeemed his People, this verſe contracts it to the particular inſtrument through whom we are all bleſſed; as who ſhould ſay, God hath given Redemption to his People, yet there is no redemption to be lookt for but in Jeſus Chriſt, he hath raiſed up an horn of ſalvation for us in the houſe of his ſervant David. The principal word of the Text therefore is that which is in the midſt, An horn of ſalvation; it is the Periphraſis of Chriſt, I will begin from thence. 2. I will declare how God did raiſe up this horn of ſalvation when Chriſt was born. 3. Here is the Lineage of our Saviour according to the Fleſh, he was raiſed up in the houſe of David, in the houſe of David his Servant. Laſtly, Here is the uſe and fruit of his birth, which belongs to us, that is, to as many as have the ſame faith in him that Zachary had, when he opened his mouth to utter this Prophetical Song, And hath raiſed up, &c.
In the former verſe Zachary ſays that he would bleſs, that is, praiſe and Magnifie the Lord God of Iſrael. And hath he not made good his word? Yes ſurely; for the praiſe of the moſt high cannot be exalted in the tongue of a ſinner more than in this attribute, to call him an horn of ſalvation. There was more obedience and faith in it, (I will not call it merit) but I ſay it expreſt more obedience and faith, that this devout Prieſt ſhould call a Child, nay, a feture but of three months conception, as yet curdled like milk, as Job ſays, in his mothers womb, the horn the ſtrength of our ſalvation, than for the Angels and Seraphins to ſing continually before the Throne of heaven, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hoſts; the Angels extol that infinite Majeſty which they behold in glory: This perſon confeſt all that his tongue could utter to the honour of his Redeemer, when nothing was actuated, nothing yet in being to be ſeen; and when the time came that it ſhould be ſeen, nothing could be more infirm in appearance. Yet neither the inevidence of the object before he was incarnate, nor the parvity and outward meanneſs of the object when he was to be incarnate do ſtumble his faith, but he makes as great a noiſe to advance his dignity, as words would give him leave, an horn of ſalvation. Salvation, ſalvation is our tree of life, reſtore the Church to that O Lord, and there is Paradiſe enough in it, though we be ſhut out of Paradiſe. It is one beam, and the very principal of that inward light in holy Scripture, which ſhines in the Meridian of us Chriſtians, and makes us reſolve by a ſecret contract between us and faith that it is the the Word of God, becauſe it treats conſtantly and in every part of it touching the means of ſalvation. But the Volumes of heathen men (they are to be ſeen, and teſtifie what I ſay) do never aſpire to that ſublimity: nay, they that referred every thing they had to the gift and goodneſs of their Idols; Riches to Plutus, joyful Marriage to Juno, Victory to Mars, proſperous Navigation to Neptune, all theſe, and the very breath of their life to Jupiter, yet the Devil was not ſuffered to fool them with this groſs opinion, that any of their adulterate Deities was worth the name of a Saviour. Salvation belongeth to our God, and his goodneſs upon his people, ſays the Pſalmiſt. Salvation had never been known upon earth unleſs this day heaven had faln down upon the earth. But though all comfort in this world were forgotten, nothing but darkneſs, and weeping, and captivity over all the Univerſe, yet this one word is enough to turn all the ſorrow into gladneſs, nay, to turn hell into heaven. Where art thou O Lord that we may find thee? Wherein ſhall we enquire for thee that we may ſee thy love and glory? If I look for thee in the work of Creation, thou art Omnipotent; if I conſider thee in the work of Preſervation, thou art moſt vigilant; if I ſeek thee in the ſtore of all things wherewith thou haſt filled Sea and Land, thou art moſt indulgent; but when the incarnation of my Lord Jeſus, and the myſtery of Salvation comes into my thoughts, then▪ O God thou art moſt tranſcendent, and I am loſt in the Abyſſus of thy goodneſs. When I call him the Glaſs in which I ſee all truth, the Fountain in which we taſte all ſweetneſs, the Ark in which all precious things are laid up, the Pearl which is worth all other Riches, the Flower of Jeſſai which hath the ſavour of life unto life, the Bread that ſatisfies all hunger, the Medicine that healeth all ſickneſs, the Light that diſpelleth all darkneſs; when I have run over all theſe, and as many more glorious Titles, as I can lay on, this deſcription is above them, and you may pick them all out of theſe Syllables, our ſalvation; much more when he is exalted with this adjunct in my Text, an horn of ſalvation.
And can ſo great a thing as Salvation be amplified through ſo mean an Epithet? Beſide, that it is a badg of a beaſt, it is not of the choiceſt ſubſtance of nature; for what is an horn but the excrement of the Nerves in the outward parts, as Teeth proceed out of our gums within? But as God did not abhor to be made man for our deliverance, ſo he recoiles not from having his goodneſs compared to the groſſeſt things for our better intelligence: And yet to ſee the perverſeneſs of the moſt learned Wits, likely they intangle thoſe Similitudes with intricate difficulties, to which God hath mightily condeſcended, and even abaſed himſelf for our better perſpicuity. Did not he intend to ſet up a plain and a ſenſible Sacrament before our eyes when his Evangeliſt hath thus deſcribed him, an horn of ſalvation? And yet what abſtruce miſtakes are ſome faln into, that would be more ſubtil than the Spirit of God? Abulenſis ſays, that this phraſe is originally derived from the horn that ſhined upon the head of Moſes when he came down from the Mount, and had talkt with God forty days. And there being this ample reſemblance between Chriſt and Moſes, the one brought the Children of Iſrael out of Egypt, the other acquits us from the bondage of ſin and hell: Therefore Chriſt ſhould take this character from Moſes that was his Type, and be called an horn of ſalvation. I like not this opinion for many reaſons: Firſt, Moſes had no ſuch disfigurement in his face, as the appearance of horns when he came from God. Ignorant Painters make us ridiculous to the Jews with their childiſh errors. They know he put a vail on when his face ſhined, and can they tell how horns branching out would admit of ſuch a vail? Some Limners conceived that the ſplendour of his face ſent forth beams of light, (which indeed Rabby Solomon calls by a figure cornua magnificentiae) others that were bunglers in the Art, took theſe beams to be horns, and with the help of the Vulgar Latine Tranſlation, they have made him of an holy Saint a prodigious monſter. Their error ſtops not here; for this character doth ſo little agree with Moſes, that the Scriptuce is very wary never to call Moſes the ſalvation of the people. Why? For ſalvation comes not by the Law, but by Faith. If eternal life could be attained by the works of the Law, there had been no need of Chriſtmas day, our Mediator had been born in vain, he had died in vain; therefore mark it in Mat. xxii. when the Phariſees askt our Saviour which was the great Commandment of the Law, as if all their ſtudy, all their hope and confidence were in the Law, he anſwers them fully; but immediately he calls them to another queſtion, What think ye of Chriſt, whoſe Son is he? As who ſhould ſay, by the works of the Law ſhall no Fleſh be juſtified; it were better for you to know and believe in Chriſt, there is no other name under heaven through which you can be ſaved. So I caſt off this firſt opinion, to impute horns unto Moſes is a vanity, to impute ſalvation to him is an Hereſie.
Secondly, Some would draw the Phraſe from an heathen Proverb. Delrio the Jeſuit is not againſt it. The heathen Jupiter, as their Poets tell us in their raptures, was nouriſht by a Goat in his Infancy, and for the memory of it, that horn was endued with vertue to bring forth plenty of all things for the life of man, and conſtantly they call that which exceeds with all abundance, the horn of Amalthea. Now Chriſt repliniſhing us with all good things, ſupplying us with more than we can deſire or deſerve, in whom we are complete, as St. Paul ſays, Col. ii. 10. he is this celeſtial horn, about which prophane Authors puzzled themſelves, and knew not what they ſaid. And ſhall I ever be perſwaded that the Scripture hath borrowed terms of honour out of their Fables to give to the Son of God? It ſounds not well to my judgment; yet I ſubſcribe it was an eximious Title of great antiquity; for when God raiſed up the fortunes of Job again, he had three Daughters, the name of the firſt was Jemima, which is by interpretation, day; The ſecond Keſia, Job xlii. 14that is, ſweet Caſſia; The third Keren happuch, that is, the horn of plenty, and the beſt Editions of the Septuagint have it, foreign. the horn of Amalthea. Yet to ſtrike off that opinion, that horn in the old Addage betokened an inexhauſt Fountain of earthly felicity; this horn in my Text is the ſtaff and ſtay of heavenly ſalvation: Therefore they differ as much in effect as finite and infinite. Barradius obſerving that Chriſt accompliſht the work of our ſalvation upon his Croſs, would deduce that from thence he ſhould be called the horn of ſalvation, becauſe the two ſidepieces of the tree do reſemble horns; he might as well have ſaid, that the Metaphor was taken from the Altar in the Old Law, upon which the Sacrifices were preſented, becauſe the Pſalmiſt ſays, bind the Sacrifice with cords unto the horns,Super Pſal. cxxxii. or extremities of the Altar. Into the number of theſe that are more elegant than litteral in their alluſions let me caſt in Lombard, thus he, an horn is an altitude above the fleſh; and becauſe it grows higher than the fleſh, therefore Chriſt is called an horn rather than a buckler of ſalvation, becauſe our hope in him is not carnal, but ſpiritual: and it is he that gives us grace and power to overcome the fleſh. Theſe, and ſuch like ſubtilties I think it fit rather to name than to proſecute.
But Theophylact hath collected the ſolid reaſons of this Appellation into few words, foreign. it betokens either the mighty power, or the Kingdom of ſalvation. An horn is the weapon and ſtrength of that Creature out of which it brancheth, and therefore it is uſual almoſt in every book of Scripture to borrow a Metaphor from it, as the Lord ſhall give ſtrength to his King, and exalt the horn, that is, the power of his Anointed, 1 Sam. ii. 10, and Pſal. lxxxviii. In my name ſhall his horn, that is, his ſtrength and fortitude be exalted; and to break the horns of ſinners is to pull down their pride and dominion, Pſal. lxxiv. I ſpare to recite innumerous quotations which are extant every where in Scripture; but in this phraſe the Holy Ghoſt intends, that according to the tranſlation which is in our Morning Service, God hath raiſed up a mighty ſalvation in the houſe of his ſervant David. O puiſſant Lord and Saviour! who is able to comprehend what infinite power did concur to this effect, that the everlaſting God ſhould be incarnate, and become man? This birth may ſeem to the outward man to be nothing but a ſpectacle of weakneſs and miſery. Look upon an Infant laid in a Manger, wrapt in ſwadling clouts, the Son of a poor Maid eſpouſed to a Carpenter; and from theſe circumſtances the queſtion might be askt, Where is this horn? Where is this ſtrength which Zachary hath laboured to expreſs ſo emphatically? I anſwer, That the Nativity of Jeſus was the greateſt demonſtration of the power of God that ever the world received. The Virgin Mary hath commended it to be very true in her Song, verſe 49 of this Chapter, He that is mighty hath done unto me great things. And St. Baſil ſays that the Incarnation was foreign, the evidence of the Divine Omnipotency. It is a ſtrange efficacy of nature to conjoyn repugnant Elements in the compoſition of our fleſh, as fire and water. It is yet more ſtrange to put an Elementary body and an immaterial ſoul into one compoſition; but to joyn an increated and eternal God in one union of perſon with theſe things, it exceeds all other marvels. Neque Adami de limo terrae formatio, neque Evae de viri carne plaſmatio, Ieſu Chriſti poteſt ortui comparari, ſays Leo, the creation of Adam from the duſt of the earth, the efformation of Eve from the rib of Adam, both are things to aſtoniſh our weak underſtanding, but neither of theſe are comparable to his Nativity, that was the Son of God, and the Son of Mary, this is the very firmitude of the horn whereof I am to ſpeak, there are other rights and branches of it: For as Gods power doth aſtoniſh us that the Word ſhould be made Fleſh, ſo it brings our admiration to more exceſs that he ſhould become a Saviour, he did overcome his own juſtice in that act, and an Orator would ſay, he grew mightier than himſelf, if it were poſſible, by ſparing us. Certainly, there is good reaſon in that Axiom of the School, that it was more to ſave a ſinner than to create a world. The heathen had their Saviours from waſteful diſeaſes and peſtilentious contagions, as Pandion and Eſculapius: the Iſraelites had their Saviours from thraldom and the peril of the Sword, as Moſes and Joſhuah: But he that delivers us from the wrath of God, and from the pit of hell, he is the ſtrong deliverer, he is the horn of ſalvation. Finally, The Salvation which he hath brought us hath not only ſet us free, but it hath put vigour and animoſity in us to ſubdue our Adverſaries that held us in thraldom. What the Heathen ſpake of another thing I may fitly apply to Chriſt, Tu ſpem reducis mentibus anxiis, vireſque & addis cornua pauperi; ſuch as were poor and in miſery, being faſt bound in the fetters of their ſins, thou haſt refreſht them with joy, and given them horns to puſh down their enemies. The dominion of ſin is abated, the edge of infernal tentations is rebated; Death is ſwallowed up in victory, the Devil cries out in the Goſpel that he is tormented, the gates of hell cannot prevail againſt the Church; this is ſalvation obtained for us, not by compounding with our Foes, and asking their leave, but by ſtrong force, and puiſſant victory; Cornu ſalutare nobis, ſed impiis terrificum. It is a ſoveraign horn to us, but an inſtrument of offence againſt the wicked. His horns are the horns of an Ʋnicorn, with them ſhall he ſmite the heathen, even the ends of the world, Deut. xxxiii. 17. the falſe flattering Prophet Zedekiah the ſon of Chenaanah put on horns to ſooth up Ahab: Antichriſt is deſcribed with ten horns, and ſeven heads, Revel. xvii. 3. to denote that he is armed to bring deſtruction upon thoſe that cleave in ſincerity of truth unto the Lord. The Goat and the Ram which Daniel ſaw in his Viſion, chap. viii. had terrible horns riſing up between their eyes: Theſe were outragious tyrants, whom God permitted to goar the innocent like mad Oxen; but here's an horn in my Text to break their malice, as if it were but a ſlender reed: The Judge that trieth the cauſe of the helpleſs againſt oppreſſors, and caſts them down for ever, but our horn of ſalvation. Indeed that's his proper work to ſave and help his choſen; it is by accident that for their ſakes he wounds and offends their enemies: he came not to deſtroy, but to ſeek and to ſave that which is loſt; he would not the death of a ſinner, but that he ſhould repent and be ſaved: therefore it is due to be called not an horn of miſchief, but an horn of ſalvation.
Nor doth this word betoken his power only, but his kingdom likewiſe; as if Zachary had ſaid, God hath raiſed up a King of ſalvation to us in the houſe of his ſervant David. So ſaid St. Peter before the Council of the Scribes, Acts v. 31. Him hath God lift up with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour. The Chaldee Paraphraſt who is very ancient, agrees greatly with this, for what the Pſalm hath, I will make the horn of David to flouriſh, it renders thus, I will make the kingdom of Davids glory to ſprout forth. Euthymius pleaſeth me, who gives the analogy thus, the oil was poured out of an horn with which Kings were anointed (you can inſtruct your ſelves that it was ſo both in David and Solomon) and from thence an horn, though an evacuation of nature, and a mean thing, became an enſign of Kingly Majeſty. Neither was this known only to the Jews, but to the Heathen alſo; ſo that their Kings did wear it among the honours, and ornaments of their head: as ours are painted with a mund, and a Scepter in their hand. Pyrrhus in Plutarch was known in the battail from all his ſubjects by wearing a Goats horn in his Helm: and Villalpandus reports of an ancient piece of coin, which had the image of Tryphon the Egyptian Monarch on the face, and on the reverſe it had his Creſt with a Goats horn riſing up before it. Nay, the ſame Author ſays, that it was the faſhion of David to wear the like thing in his head-piece: And all this I have alledged, becauſe I would not want proofs, that an horn was the repreſentation of Kingly Sovereignty.
The meaning then of Zachary is this, that Chriſt hath abaſed himſelf to be incarnate, and to become our ſalvation; yet he hath reſerved this glory to himſelf in his humiliation, that he will be a Saviour unto none, but unto them that accept of him for their King, and obey him in all things. In almoſt all books of Scripture he is called a King. I will not take ſo wide a ſcope to expatiate in, but ſtrictly I will touch at a little: In Geneſis he is reſembled in Melchiſedech the High Prieſt, but he was alſo King of Salem. In the Pſalms, yet have I ſet my King upon my holy hill of Sion: In one of the Leſſons for the day, he ſhall ſit upon the Throne of David, and upon his Kingdom, Iſa. ix. 7, At his Birth the wiſe men did inaugurate him in that honour, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? At his triumph when he rode into Jeruſalem, Bleſſed is the Kingdom that cometh in the name of the Lord of our Father David, Mark xi. 10. At his arraignment when Pilate askt him if he were a King, he left him in ſuſpence with this anſwer, thou ſayeſt it: Finally upon his Croſs he would not let the title be altered, but there it ſtood, Jeſus of Nazareth the King of the Jews. The right of this Kingdom was given him in his Incarnation, promulged by the preaching of the Apoſtles, perfected after his Reſurrection and Aſcenſion into Heaven, and ſhall be conſummated in the end of the world. He is ſo fully conſtituted a King by being called the Chriſt, that ever ſince it is the Dignity of all Kings to be called the Lords Chriſts, Him hath the Lord anointed with the Holy Ghoſt and with power, Acts x. 38. in which words St. Peter hath expreſt both his Sacred, and his Kingly Sovereignty: and to match him, for the Texts ſake, with David in this point, you muſt call to mind that David was thrice anointed; firſt at his Fathers houſe by Samuel, the next time at Hebron after the death of Saul, and finally anointed at Jeruſalem, a King over all Iſrael. So Chriſt was anointed by ſhedding of blood in Circumciſion, by blood again at his Agony in the Garden, and thirdly by the great effuſion of his deareſt blood upon the Croſs: Or will you lay it thus? He was anointed by his Father from heaven, anointed by Mary with her box of Spikenard upon earth, and laſtly his dead body was anointed by the women, when it was laid in the Sepulchre. So in proportion there is a three-fold Unction to make us Kings and Prieſts for ever: the firſt of Regeneration in Baptiſm, the ſecond with the blood of Jeſus in the participation of the holy Communion, and the third of glorification in the Kingdom of heaven; but nihil dat quod non habet, he that crowns us in glory had title to a crown himſelf; he that makes us Kings, was the horn, or prince of our Salvation.
This is the ſtone of offence againſt which the Jews ſtumble, that the Kingdom promiſed ſo expreſly and literally to the Meſſias was not verified in the perſon of Chriſt our Saviour: had he ſate upon the throne of David with Power and Majeſty, reaſon would that they ſhould believe; but this is it as they plead which enervates their faith, that he who is ſet forth ſo often in the name of a King, ſhould be born ſo meanly, die ſo ignominiouſly, and be acquainted in all his life with nothing but weakneſs and poverty. 1. Remember this for the ground of my anſwer, that Jeſus Chriſt was God's only Son, and our Lord, that is our King, is an Article of our Belief, and therefore his Kingdom appears only to the eye of Faith, and is not to be diſcerned after an earthly manner, in outward pomp and viſible glory; for then it were no Article of the Creed. 2. No humane Kingdom came to him by deſcent; for ought we know he was of the houſe and lineage of David, but it appears not that he was the true and lawful ſucceſſor in the right line to the Crown of David. Armacanus makes much ado to no purpoſe, to derive his pedigree; ſo that the Kingdom of David might truly be hereditary in him: I ſay to no purpoſe; for ſince the right ſhould come to him by his Mother, and ſhe out-lived him, that temporal Kingdom had been in her, and never deſcended upon him, unleſs he had ſurvived her, 3. Note it, that the Prophets who propheſied of the Kingdom of the Meſſias, muſt not be underſtood literally, that's not the faſhion of Propheſies. How then? why, with Evangelical qualifications, and they are clear that his Kingdom is not of this world, that he was no King to the prejudice of Caeſar; his laws pertained to the ſpirit and conſcience: he rules over his Church, and yet was obedient to Rulers: but he had not the temporal ſeat of David, even as David had not the ſpiritual ſeat of Chriſt: In a regal Throne he did not ſit, for he came not to be miniſtred unto, but to miniſter, although he was made heir of all things by virtue of the Hypoſtatical Ʋnion: Juſt as David after he was anointed by Samuel, was debaſed a while as the meaneſt ſervant. But Chriſt being of the line of David, and having an heavenly Dominion given him, which had influence into the ſoul and conſcience, commanding things in heaven and earth, making all things in the world ſtoop to the word of his truth, converting ſinners to ſalvation, drawing all the Gentiles to take up his Croſs, ruling thus for ever, and to the worlds end. I hope you will ſay (O that the Jews would heed it!) that this is a more excellent Sovereignty than ever David had; therefore God hath made good his promiſe, and tranſcended it, that God had given him the Kingdom of his Father David. I lay the point now with all evidence and perſpicuity againſt the infidelity of the Jews, 1. God did promiſe the Scepter unto Judah, Gen. xlix. 2. Judah had it in David, and Solomon. 3. It was threatned to be taken away; and never reſtored again; and ſo it was in Jeconiah. 4. Whereas the family droopt and decayed, the promiſe was that it ſhould reflouriſh in Chriſt. 5. That it ſhould be a Kingdom greater than ever was before, extended from the flood unto the worlds end. Laſtly, that it ſhould ſtand and dure for ever: In all things the Goſpel conſents with Moſes and the Prophets, and the blind Jews that will contradict it, even Judah ſhall be ſcattered with this horn, Zach. i. 21. and be broken in pieces with the Scepter of this Kingdom; but as the Prophet infers well, if I be Lord, where is mine honour; and if Chriſt be a King, where is our obedience? God hath anointed him with his horn of power to be a King, O that the unction of his Grace may diſtil upon our hearts, that we may ſerve and fear him. Concupiſcence ſays, I will reign; Ambition ſays, I will reign; the Devil ſays, I will reign; the world ſays, I will reign; but a good Chriſtian will ſay, Non habeo regem niſi Dominum Jeſum. There is no King that ſhall command my conſcience, but Jeſus Chriſt, he is the horn of my ſalvation.
The points remaining ſhall take up no long time: the next that I come to is the verb of action, how God did raiſe up this horn of ſalvation? you may know the meaning of this by our own vulgar phraſe; for it is our uſual ſaying, that God raiſeth up friends to a miſerable man, when his relief and deliverance come through thoſe means which he never expected. The houſe of David had ennobled the Kingdom of Iſrael more than any other tribe or kindred that came out of the loins of Jacob: is freed the Nation from the oppreſſion of the Philiſtines, expulſed the Jebuſites out of the Imperial City, reared up the ſtupendious fabrick of the Temple, contrived the ſervice of the Prieſts and Levites into admirable decency, brought them into great reſpect with Foreign Princes: All this came to them by the Son of Jeſſe, and Solomon that ſucceeded him. But in proceſs of time the lineage of David was quite eclipſed, that ſtately horn was broken, eſpecially when Herod ruffled it, the poor remnant of the kindred pluckt in their head, and durſt not with any ſafety own themſelves to be of that progeny. Loe the inconſtant ſtate of humane things, the ſons and daughters of David, who were the Princes of that Kingdom, were become poor artiſans and inmates in by-places; and nothing was ſo beneficial to them, as to be forlorn and deſpicable. Now chops in another alteration, more ſtrange than all that had been before, a Virgin of a moſt private fortune in that ſtock, not lookt upon, not thought upon to repair that decay, ſhe conceives a Son by the power of the Holy Ghoſt, in whom the honour of David's houſe was more exalted, than if he had ſubdued all thoſe Countrys which Cyrus and Alexander made tributary to their Empire. This is according to that Propheſie which James applied to our Saviour, Acts xv. 16. in that ſolemn Council of the Apoſtles, after this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down: and I will build again the ruines thereof, and will ſet it up. This kindred, in whom the Majeſty of Judah, did once reſt, nothing could be laid more flat than it in the revolution of a few ages: and of a ſuddain this diminution was repaired, no fleſh and blood was ever more advanced than that houſe (if they did not bid defiance to their own honor) that Jeſus Chriſt came from them according to the fleſh. This did David foreſee and preſageth it to his own generation, Pſal. cxxxii. I will make the horn of David to flouriſh: but the Verb decompoſit in the Septuagint is moſt ſignificant, foreign I will make it ſprout up again; as when a tree is cut down, and the ſtock appears to be dead, but a little branch ſprings out of the root, grows high and tall, and fills up a better room than the trunk which was felled. But the Jew complains to this day, that he can perceive no ſuch redintegration of the houſe of David. O who is ſo blind and ſenſleſs as that Nation? who would not receive him, that came to be their glory, and being plagued for their unbelief, they will not perceive their puniſhment and miſery; the horn is raiſed up, and the beaſt out of which it grew will not own it, or acknowledge it. But the promiſe of God cannot be made of none effect through their infidelity: There is room enough beſide in the world to receive him, though his own exclude him; the horn is raiſed up, though the Rebels of the houſe of David reject him. The condition of our humane nature was moſt innocent and Angelical in the firſt Creation; we ſinned, we fell, our boughs of glory were lopt away, our fruit of holineſs was ſhaken from it, our ſubſtance was involved in the general curſe of the earth to bring forth nothing but thorns and briars. Thus we continued a deſpiſed maſs of corruption, till our horn was exalted in the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour. Then was our nature advanced to one hypoſtaſis with God himſelf; as if a Giant ſhould bear up an Infant upon his ſhoulders: ſo we that paſs'd for no better than blood temper'd with dirt, are become as it were emulous with the thrones of heaven by this aſſumption of our manhood into his perſon, becauſe he took not upon him the ſeed of Angels, but the ſeed of Abraham. And as all that are born of women have ſome acceſs of dignity, becauſe Chriſt took the ſimilitude of our nature, ſo the Church ſuperabounds in two priviledges: firſt, as Gregory notes upon ſuch words as theſe, 1 Sam. 2. that it is ſaid to the Prieſts of the Goſpel, whoſe ſins ye remit they ſhall be remitted, &c. yet the like was never ſaid to the Prieſts of the Law; becauſe remiſſion of ſins was brought to paſs by him that was made man: therefore from that time forth men were made the Miniſters of Pardon and Abſolution: that's the horn of the Church, the power of the Keys. Secondly, God hath repleniſhed us that are called by his name with a great abundance of the Holy Ghoſt; and ſince Chriſt was made fleſh he hath poured out of his ſpirit upon all fleſh. Loe, theſe are the aſcenſions by which we climb up into heaven through this mercy, that the Lord God of Iſrael hath raiſed up unto us an horn of ſalvation.
Now follows the third part of the Text, to the end the Jews might know that this was the Meſſias which they expected: here's his lineage expreſt according to the words of the Prophets, he was raiſed up in the houſe of his ſervant David. This the Phariſees had learnt by rote, and very truly, when our Saviour askt them, what think you of Chriſt? whoſe Son is he? and they ſay unto him Davids. Till thoſe days the Pedigrees of the Tribe of Judah were kept unconfuſed; eſpecially the pedigrees that deſcended directly from David, and thoſe things which the providence of man would never have kept from darkneſs and intricacy through long tract of time, the wiſdom of God kept them clear and uncontroverted: ſo that Joſeph and Mary were taxed as belonging to the houſe of David. 'Tis much that St. Matthew would not give Abraham the precedency in the generation of Chriſt, (he deſerved it for antiquity) but ſets David in the front, The Book of the generation of Jeſus Chriſt the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. The cauſe is not to be diſputed, but the thing to be granted, that the promiſes made to David were ſo comfortable and notorious, that they exceeded the promiſes which were made to Abraham. Or thus, God did firſt engage himſelf to Abraham in theſe words, In thy ſeed ſhall all the Nations of the world be bleſsed: and the laſt man to whom he confirm'd that promiſe was David, Of the fruit of thy body will I ſet upon thy ſeat. To amplifie it further, our bleſſed Lord and Redeemer is not only ſaluted by the Prophets in the name of the Son of David, but by an interchangeable nature, or ſuppoſition of identity is called David. They ſhall ſerve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will raiſe up unto them, Jer. xxx. 9. and I the Lord will be their God, and my ſervant David a Prince among them, Ezech. xxxiv. 4. I conjecture that the Jews did rather pleaſe themſelves to call him the Son of David, then the Son of Abraham, becauſe they did rather expect a temporal victorious Monarch out of the line of David. The one was the root of the people, the other the root of the Kingdom: therefore when God ſays he will not deſtroy the people, he ſays he will not do it for Abrahams ſake: When he ſays he will not deſtroy the Kingdom he ſays he will not do it for Davids ſake. And the groſs minds of the Jews were ſet upon the reflouriſhing of their viſible and outward Kingdom: therefore from the High-Prieſt in his chair, to the poor blind man that ſate by the high-way ſide, all of them had one name for the Meſſias, the Son of David. Yet David was a more perfect type of Chriſt in thoſe words, where he is ſaid to be a man after Gods own heart, than by poſſeſſing the Monarchy of all Canaan; for Chriſt, and he only, is a man after Gods own heart, and in whom he is well pleaſed: David was obnoxious to great Rebellions, for which the Lord was much offended. But I mark it further, that in all the New Teſtament Chriſt never calls himſelf the Son of David, but the Son of Man; as Moſes, &c. and that for two reaſons: Firſt, Referring to the primitive promiſe of all wherein Chriſt is firſt mention'd, The ſeed of the woman ſhall bruiſe the Serpents head: he points as it were with his finger to that Scripture, that he is the ſeed of the woman, when he reiterates that periphraſis ſo often, that he is the Son of man. Secondly, To let us know that not only the houſe of Iſrael, but all the Gentiles that came out of the loins of Adam, even all the ſons of men that make not themſelves unworthy of the promiſe, do belong to the City of God; all that believe have intereſt in his Merits and Paſſion: But becauſe it is impoſſible that one man ſhould be of the Progeny of all Families, therefore he is ſever'd out to a moſt noble kindred, the houſe of his ſervant David.
Will you not be a weary with nice points of Genealogies, if I give an anſwer to an objection which Julian the Apoſtate made againſt the kindred of Chriſt from the houſe of David? no, it ſhall not be weariſom, becauſe I will be very brief. That renegado from the Faith did thus argue, that Joſeph was but the reputed Father of our Saviour; but his pedigree drawn up to Abraham in St. Matthew, drawn up to Adam in St. Luke, concur both in Joſeph: but ſince the parentage of the Bleſſed Virgin Mary is not expreſt, whoſe very Son the Lord Jeſus was according to the fleſh, how doth it appear that he was the Son of David? Take theſe grounds in order to ſatisfie you, Firſt, That the Phariſees in the Goſpel labouring by all means not to acknowledge him for the Meſſias, yet never made any doubt but that he came out of the houſe of David. Secondly, The Goſpels of Saint Matthew and Saint Luke were publiſht while the Phariſees domineered and had great authority; yet they never quarrelled at the Evangeliſts, as if their Genealogies had not ſufficiently demonſtrated Chriſt to be the Son of David. Thirdly, Although you find Joſeph to be as it were the ground of both Genealogies, marvail not at it; for St. Hierom ſays, it is not the cuſtom of the Scripture to context a Pedigree by the Mother: if he means that Pedigrees of long deſcent, ſuch as theſe, be not deduced from the female ſtem, it is very true But fourthly, I anſwer, That in all likelihood the pedigree of Chriſt in the third of St. Luke riſes up from the holy Virgin his Mother. Thus I make it evident in the firſt of Matthew, Joſeph the Carpenter is called the Son of Jacob: now certainly he was the Son of Jacob; for there it is ſaid Jacob begat Joſeph. In St. Luke after our reading he is called the Son of Heli: how can it be that Heli was his Father if Jacob begat him? not by Nature, but by Law three ways. 1. By Adoption; ſo Eſther was Mordecai his adopted Daughter: and St. Auſtin did once opine that Joſeph was the natural Son of Jacob, and the adopted Son of Heli: This may reconcile the ſeeming contradiction of the two Evangeliſts, yet it is no anſwer to Julians objection. 2. There was a legal way peculiar to the Jews, you ſhall find it, Deut. xxv. if a man died without iſſue his Brother was tied to marry his Relict, and to raiſe up ſeed unto him: and the child that ſhould be born, was the legal Son of the Brother that died without iſſue; the natural Son of him that begat him.Ruth iv. 10. So Booz married Ruth the Wife of his Brother Mahlon to raiſe up the name of the dead upon his Inheritance. Affricanus a very ancient Author, as Euſebius reports him, affirmed that he had it by tradition from the Jews, the kinſmen of our Saviour, that Heli and Jacob were brethren. Heli dying childleſs, Jacob married his Wife, by whom he had Joſeph; ſo Joſeph was the legal Son of Heli, the natural Son of Jacob. And St. Auſtin meeting with this report of Affricanus retracted his former opinion, and ſubſcribed to Affricanus. It is a wonder how many learned men did acquieſce in this opinion, as if none were like it. Whereas, cui bono? to what end ſhould two Evangeliſts ſpend ſuch pains to deſcribe both the legal, and the natural line of Joſeph? and in the mean time the family of Mary ſhould be forgotten, by whom only it may be demonſtrated, that according to the Scripture Chriſt was of the houſe of David. 3. The ſafeſt opinion, and without any intricacy, is, that Joſeph was the true Son of Jacob, but the Son-in-law of Heli, by the marriage of the Virgin Mary: ſo the Virgin being the Daughter of Heli, and Heli being of the ſtock of Nathan, the Son of David, the truth lifts up its head againſt all adverſaries, that Chriſt was of the lineage of David. If any one diſlike this, as Calvin doth, becauſe Sons-in-law are called Sons, I reply, why not as well as Daughters-in-law, Daughters, Ruth xviii. And if you will admit of the acuteneſs of Gomaras all is ſalved: he doth enlarge the parentheſis, Luke iii. 23. Jeſus began to be about thirty years of age, being the Son of Heli: For that which comes between is a parentheſis, being as was ſuppoſed the Son of Joſeph, but being the Son of Heli, &c. This reading hath my great approbation, Heli being Chriſts Grand-father by the Mothers ſide: and by this reading, it is as clear as the light of the Sun that Chriſt was of the houſe of David.
Pardon me if I have troubled you with a genealogy, at other times I will forbear; but it is proper to this day. Now I will end all with the uſe and fruit of his birth, all this ſalvation, this mighty ſalvation, raiſed up to the admiration of heaven and earth; all is for us, and hath, &c. But for this word all the reſt were looſe, this girds about us, nay it fills our boſoms with it. The Devils renounced his coming into the world, What have we to do with thee, ſays Satan, Mat. viii. 29. The good Angels had joy derived unto them through his Birth, but neither glory nor ſalvation; they were ours, becauſe he is ours; becauſe he is our horn of ſalvation. But in what capacity doth Zachary take him to be his? firſt, as a Jew; for it was fit that ſalvation ſhould firſt be offered to them that were the natural branches. Secondly, As a Prieſt, ſalvation came to the Prieſthood out of the houſe of David; that is, the protection of the Church by God and the King. Thirdly, and principally, as a man who is a ſinner, that had need of a Mediator: For God is foreign a lover of all mankind. He excludes only thoſe that include not themſelves. Want of Faith cauſeth that he that is born to all is not born to all. Unto us a child is born, ſays Iſaiah, c. 9. and he directs his meſſage to King Ahaz, a man of great iniquity: but Chriſt was born for him; as likewiſe he was born unto Zachary a juſt man, and one that lived moſt unblamably. The ſinner that hath done very wickedly by faith in him, and by repentance, he may be ſaved: the good man that lives obediently and devoutly without him, he cannot be ſaved. Finally, ſince this horn of ſalvation is raiſed up unto us, let us lay hold of it, and faſten upon it. Ʋtamur noſtro in utilitatem noſtram, let us uſe him for our beſt behoof, and draw the proper extract out of him, I mean ſalvation. He is ours by being made fleſh and blood, we ſhall be his by renouncing fleſh and blood: he is ours by his natural generation, we are his by ſpiritual regeneration: he is ours, his Body and Blood are ours in the Holy Sacrament; we ſhall be his both body and ſoul by receiving thoſe myſteries worthily, that is, faithfully, thankfully, charitably, penitently, devoutly. Amen.