Of Fundamentals, Treatise · Chapter 6 – Chapter 7
CHAP. VI. Other Articles of Belief in Chriſt.
The Myſterie of Godlineſs, 1 Tim. 3.16.§. 1. BEſide theſe two, a whole calogue, and climax of Articles we have ſet down 1 Tim. 3.16. made manifeſt in or by the fleſh, juſtified by the Spirit, ſeen of Angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up with glory. And theſe altogether ſeem to be that foreign, truth, v 15. (as elſewhere Faith) of which the Church was foreign, a pillar and eſtabliſhment, to ſuſtain and keep it (as a pillar firmly ſet up on the baſis ſuſtains and upholds the fabrick laid upon it) from ſinking or falling; For ſo this truth depoſited in the Church, or with the Governours thereof (ſuch as Timothy there) was to be conſerved and upheld by that means. And it is farther obſervable in that place, that it is called foreign, the myſterie of Piety, and that a great one, ſignifying the price and value of theſe articles principally to conſiſt in this, that they tend mightily to the begetting of piety in our hearts, and ſo are the foreign, the articles of our initiation, or of our religion into which we are initiated by baptiſme, as the foundation on which all our Chriſtian practiſe (which alone deſerves the name of piety, and is oppoſed to foreign impiety) is ſuperſtructed and built afterward.
§. 2.God made manifeſt by the Fleſh. This will be more viſible by ſurveying the ſeverals [1. foreign, God manifeſt by the ſteſh.] God was ſo intent upon this work of revealing and declaring his will to men, in order to bringing home ſinners to repentance, ſo very deſirous that men ſhould reform and live, and not ſin and periſh eternally, that to inforce this on us at the greateſt poſſible advantage, he was pleaſed himſelf to aſſume, and manifeſt his will, in, or by our Fleſh, and ſo, not only God from heaven, but God viſible on earth, to preach reformation among us, and if this be not able to make impreſſion on us, it is not imaginable that all the preaching of men or Angels, that any inferior method ſhould be of force to doe it. From whence it was, that all the Devil's countermines in the firſt ages were deſigned purpoſely againſt this one Article, the Deity or Godhead of Chriſt incarnate, making all that he did and ſuffered here an appearance, no reality, in oppoſition to which is the [foreign] and [foreign] ſo oft repeated by Ignatius, the reality and verity of Chriſt's eating, and ſuffering, and riſing, &c. and every branch of ſuch hereſie took off (as farre as it was believed) from the neceſſity of Chriſtian life, not only by implying him to be an Impoſtor, if he were not truly what he oft affirmed himſelf, and was by the Apoſtles affirmed to be, the Meſſias, i. e. the eternal ſon of God, and God bleſſed forever, but by evacuating that great obligation, and engagement to reform our lives, taken from the authority and Godhead of him, that had ſought and ſollicited it ſo earneſtly, and came down from heaven and aſſumed our fleſh upon that one errand or embaſſie to reveal himſelf more convincingly among us.
§. 3. Had it been only a Prophet, though never ſo great and extraordinarily furniſhed with ſignes and wonders, he had been but a ſervant of God, and there were many experiences and precedents among their forefathers of the reſiſting of ſuch, but the perſonal deſcent of God himſelf, and his aſſumption of our fleſh to his divinity, more familiarly to inſinuate his pleaſure to us, to admoniſh, and invite, and denounce judgments, and even to weep over thoſe that would yet be obſtinate, was an enforcement beyond all the methods of wiſdome, that were ever made uſe of in the world.
§. 4. For God, I ſay, himſelf to doe all this, and to deſcend ſo low, to ſo mean an eſtate, and to a much meaner uſage, a ſhameful contumelious death, to work this work moſt effectually upon men, was a wonderful act of grace & wiſdome, a ſecret, a myſterie indeed beyond all former waies, infinitely conſiderable towards this of turning from every evil.
§. 5.The Arians doctrines againſt it. And upon this ſcore the doctrine of the antient and modern Arians and Photinians, which ſo induſtriouſly leſſens the divinity of Chriſt in pretenſe of zeal to God the Father, to whom they will not permit him to be equal, muſt conſequently take off extremely from this Myſterie of Piety, this foundation of a good life, laid in the eternal God's coming down to preach it to us; And as it is a direct contradiction to thoſe places, wherein Chriſt is called God, Act. 20.28. Tit. 2.13. wherein he and his Father are affirmed to be one, Joh. 10.30. & 1 Joh. 5.7. wherein the known title of the God of Iſrael (never named in their ſervices, but it was anſwered by all with foreign, God bleſſed forever) is by the Apoſtles attributed to Chriſt, Rom. 9.5. (as alſo Heb. 13.21. 1 Pet. 4.11. & 5.11. 2 Pet. 3.18. Rev. 1.6.) and which,De Fide p. 53. as Proclus ſaith, convinceth all the hereſies concerning Chriſt, foreign, and walls up the newly invented waies of injury and contumely againſt him, So it is a great diminution and abatement of the force of that fundamental argument, whereon God thought fit, that the renovation of the world ſhould be ſuperſtructed, and how much ſoever the contrary hereticks the modern Socinians have pretended to the maintenance of Piety, 'tis certain they have by this taken out one principal ſtone from the foundation of it, the foreign here, God made manifeſt by the fleſh, wch could not be affirmed of Chriſt, if he were not firſt God, before he was thus made manifeſt by the means of his incarnation.
§. 5. The next ſtone in this foundation is, foreign,God juſtified by the Spirit. God's having been juſtified by the Spirit] i. e. the ſeveral waies of conviction, which were uſed in the world by the Spirit of God, to give authority to all that was revealed by Chriſt, as the will and commands of God. Such was 1. the viſible deſcent of the Spirit of God upon him at his baptiſme, Mat. 3. which (as preparative to his entring on the exerciſe of his prophetick office, Mat. 5. &c.) was the divine atteſtation given from heaven (by voice) to all that he ſhould ever teach.
§. 6. 2dly. Such was the Spirit's leading him into the wilderneſs, Mat. ch. 4. to ſubject him to the Devil's examination, and thereby to give grounds of conviction to him and thoſe infernal powers, that he was the ſon of God.
§. 7. 3dly, Such was his power of doing miracles, works of that nature, as were by all acknowledged to be above the power of men or devils, and only works of the Spirit of God, Thus was his curing of Leproſie, of which the King of Iſrael ſaith, Am I a God, that this man ſends to me to recover a man of his Leproſie? 1 Kin. 5.7. and which the Jewes proverbially called the finger of God, and is therefore ſaid to be done foreign, for a teſtimony unto them, Mat. 8.4. an evidence of his divinity; Thus the giving ſight to him that was born blinde, which ſince the world began, had not been heard of to be done by any, Joh. 9.32. Thus the raiſing of Lazarus and others, and at laſt his own reſurrection from the grave; All which being wrought by the Spirit of God, and being not otherwiſe poſſible to be done by any, were the foreign or Judicial way of approving his Commiſſion from God, and his doctrine, againſt all gainſayers, and ſo moſt eminently tends to the impreſſing the neceſſity of that reformation, which he came to publiſh.
§. 8. 4thly, Such was the deſcent of the Spirit on the Apoſtles, authorizing them witneſſes of the reſurrection, and preachers of all that truth and will of God, which Chriſt had in his life revealed to them, which conſequently gave an atteſtation to all that the Apoſtles ſhould teach, being thus led by the Spirit into all truth, and ſo was of eſpeciall concernment to the planting of a Church, and enforcing that reformation of lives, which the Apoſtles preſſed on all that would not be ruined eternally.
§. 9.God ſeen of Angels. The third branch of this myſterious divine way of working piety on earth, is the foreign his being ſeen by Angels, i. e. his divine power diſcerned and acknowledged and adored by Angels themſelves, both good and bad; by the good 1. at his birth, Lu. 2.13. 2dly, when after his temptation and faſting they came and miniſtred unto him, Mat. 4.12. 3dly, in the trouble and agonie of his ſoul, before his death, Joh. 12.29. Lu. 22.43. 4thly, at, and after his reſurrection, Mat. 28.2. And by the bad, both when he was tempted, and when he caſt them out of their poſſeſſions, obeying his command, dreading his power, and believing and confeſſing him the ſon of God moſt high, and when immediately upon his birth, the oracles, which had before ſo flouriſhed among the heathens, began to droop and decay, and from giving reſponſes in Verſe, deſcended to Proſe, and within a while were utterly ſilenced. Which as it was a moſt regular means to bring all ſorts of men, heathens as well as Jewes, to reformation of all vices, thoſe eſpecially, which they were formerly taught in their Idolatrous worſhips, and were enſlaved to them unwillingly by the tyrannie of thoſe falſe Gods or devils, which required to be thus worſhipped, Rom. 8.20. and ſo continued to doe till they were caſt out of their Temples; ſo was it an huge obligation on all men to receive and obey him, whom the very devils believed and trembled at, and a teſtimonie of the greateſt force in the mouth of a whole Province of his greateſt enemies, that he was, what he aſſumed to be, the Meſſias of the world, who if he were not received by conſent and readily obeyed, would erect his kingdome in the deſtruction of thoſe enemies (an eſſay of which was thus ſhewn on the Prince of darkneſs) avenge and utterly conſume the adverſaries.
§. 10. The fourth is,Preached among the Gentiles. the foreign, his being preached among the Gentiles, or Idolatrous nations of the world; The meſſage brought by him from heaven was proclaimed not only to the Jewes, but (both by himſelf and by the Apoſtles) to all the Gentiles, thoſe that till then had lived in all villanie and impietie, and yet had now by Chriſt's mercy tendred them upon Reformation, and thereby is all encouragement afforded to the greateſt ſinners, to forſake, and amend their lives, and by God's mercifull pardon to the times of their ignorance, and forepaſs'd ſins, a paſſage opened to life, and eternitie, for all that will make uſe of it, and this is the greateſt engagement to doe ſo, and not to forfeit and loſe ſo pretious an opportunity.
§. 11.Believed on among men. The fift branch is the foreign, his being believed on in the world; the faith of Chriſt received by many both Jewes and Gentiles; Of that people of the Jewes (a moſt ſtubborn obdurate people, that had killed the prophets, and ſtoned them that were ſent) ſome conſiderable number repented and came in upon Chriſt's preaching,the Jewes; about three thouſand were added to the Faith at one ſermon, Act. 2.42. before the Apoſtles going out from Jeruſalem (which wants but a ſeventh part of being half the number of thoſe reſerved ones of the whole kingdome of the ten tribes, in Elijah's time, which had (ſecretly) kept out of that Idol-Baal-worſhip) and ſo proportionably at other ſermons, ſo that Act. 20.21. we hear of many myriads of believing Jewes, and (taking out of theſe the Gnoſtick heretical party) an hundred forty four thouſand ſealed out of the twelve tribes as faithful ſervants of God, which had received the faith of Chriſt, and brought forth fruit accordingly, Rev. 7. and that, though but a ſmall number in proportion to the greater that remained obſtinate, yet above twenty times as many as they in Elijah's time; And when the greater multitude was ſo terribly deſtroyed, then the believers of that nation were the onelyonly foreign or remnant of it, and in a manner that whole people, by the converſion of ſome, and ſlaughter of the reſt, were ſoon after, though not at the time of the Apoſtles reſolving on this depoſitum, reduced to the Faith, and became Chriſtian.
§. 12. And for the Gentiles, the Gentiles.they were contained in the number of thoſe which were preſent at that ſermon, Act. 2.11. and no doubt ſome of them were wrought on by it, as even in Chriſt's time, the Gentiles faith is magnified for great, and above the ſize of what he had found in Iſrael, and they were peculiarly the violent that took the kingdome of heaven by force, whileſt the children of the Kingdome neglected, and were caſt out of it; And ſoon after the Apoſtles going out and preaching to all nations, they willingly received the Faith, and forſook their Idols, and within a while all Aſia, Act. 19. by St Paul's preaching, and other whole nations by each of the other Apoſtles, and at length the whole Roman Empire became Chriſtian, and the kingdomes of the world became the kingdomes of our Lord and of his Chriſt, Revel. 11.15. and the Kings of the earth and of the Nations brought their glory to the Lamb, Rev. 21.24, 26. and to the ſame purpoſe Rev. 17.14. & 19.6. and as among the Jewes, ſo all the world over, thoſe that received not the commands of Chriſt, and his doctrines of purity and perſeverance, were ſignally deſtroyed, and they that did, were preſerved as a peculiar people unto him, to live, and continue in his obedience.
§. 13. And this great ſucceſſe on both ſides, among Jewes and Gentiles over all the world, (part of it hiſtorically true at the compiling of theſe articles, and part of it prophetically true then, and fulfilled afterward, the ſubduing them either by the word of his mouth, the preaching of the Goſpel, or by the word of his power, the deſtructions which he ſent among them) was a moſt effectual argument, a ſoveraign method to give authority to this faith, which was thus prevailing, and becomes the greateſt inſtance of reproach to all libertine profeſſors, that they ſhould not purifie their hearts by the faith, when the moſt impure Idolaters were wrought on to doe ſo, and a ſad certain aboad to all ſuch (after the example of obſtinate Infidels and impure Gnoſticks) of both preſent and future deſtructions.
§. 14.Received up into glory. The ſixt and laſt ſtone in this foundation is the foreign, his being received up in, or with, or into glory, Chriſt's aſcenſion or aſſumption to heaven being an irrefragable argument of conviction to the world, that he died an innocent perſon. Joh. 16.10. and conſequently that what he taught was the will of God and 2truth of heaven, to which he was aſſumed after his teſtification of it; To which when theſe two circumſtances are ſuperadded, firſt, that his aſſumption being in the ſight of many, was alſo ſolemnized by the preſence of Angels, and a voice from heaven, Act. 1.9, 10, 11. (and ſo foreign in or with glory, after a glorious manner) and ſecondly, that it was attended with the exerciſe of divine power, both in the Church by the hands of the Apoſtles, and their ſucceſſors, whom Chriſt had authorized to ſucceed him on the earth, and in the world by executing viſible judgments on his crucifiers &c. (and ſo foreign into glory or regal power) this will be an article of great energie for the planting of Chriſtian faith, and purity in the world.
CHAP. VII. The Faith in Baptiſme.
The Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt.§. 1. WHat hath thus been ſet down as ſo many branches of fundamental belief, and ſo of the myſterie of Godlineſs, the ground of initiating or entring men into Chriſtian life, is more ſummarily compriz'd in the form of baptiſm, the ceremony of this initiation inſtituted by Chriſt, wherein all that were to be baptized, were (if of age, firſt inſtructed in the doctrine, and then) received, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghoſt. Which are the abbreviature of the larger Catalogue of doctrinals formerly taught, and explained by the Catechiſt, and thoſe, on which they that adminiſtred baptiſme, are commanded to ſuperſtruct all the duties of Chriſtian life, Mat. 28.20. teaching them to obſerve all things which I have commanded you; the authority of all and each the perſons of the Trinity being purpoſely engaged on this one great intereſt, and the gathering diſciples and receiving of Proſelytes over the world, being deſign'd to this one grand end, of introducing the practiſe of Chriſtian virtues among men, who doe therefore in baptiſme, ſacramentally and federally, i. e. under oath and ſolemneſt vow (as they believe any thing of theſe fundamental doctrines of God the Father, Son, and holy Ghoſt) undertake the performance thereof, and if they fail therein, are the moſt faithleſſe, perjured perſons in the world. And certainly this method is in the deſigne as probable, (how improſperous ſoever the wickedneſs of men hath rendred the ſucceſſe of it) as any could have been invented to this end.