Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
Chap. 2 Chriſt conſidered as a Prophet and a ſpeculum. The Divine Attributes ſhine in him, particularly Wiſdom. The obſtacles of Redemption to be removed. The Son of God fit for the work: many admirable conjunctions of God and Man, of Juſtice and Mercy, of Puniſhment and Obedience in Chriſts ſufferings; of Satisfaction and a kind of execution of the Law; of Satisfaction and Merit; of Merit and Example; all tending to our Salvation. The rare conqueſt of Sin, Satan, the World, Death; Humility of mind neceſſary. The deſperate iſſue of the pride of humane Reaſon; need of Humility from the threefold ſtate of Reaſon, in Integrity, after the Fall, after Faith.
JESUS CHRIST, as he is the eternal Son of God, is the brightneſs of his glory, and the expreſs Image of his perſon, Heb. 1.3. But becauſe our weakneſs could not bear ſo excellent a Glory without being ſwallowed up by it, he veiled himſelf in our fleſh, that he, who was light of light in the eternal Generation, might become the light of the World in an admirable Incarnation; and ſuch he was under a double notion. He may be conſidered either as revealing the Goſpel, and thus he is the great Prophet, who from his Fathers boſom brought down ſo many pretious truths and myſteries to the World; or elſe as ſet forth in the Goſpel in his conception, birth, life, death, reſurrection and exaltation at Gods right hand; and thus he is ſpeculum Theologiae, a pure glaſs of Divinity. Hence the Apoſtle tells us, that the light of the knowledg of the glory of God is in the face of Jeſus Chriſt, 2 Cor. 4.6. This latter Notion is that which this diſcourſe aims at, to contemplate thoſe many Truths which are either lively expreſſed in the Incarnate Word, or may be reaſonably drawn from that incomparable Diſpenſation.
God, that he might help our weakneſs, and attract our faith to himſelf, hath been pleaſed to come, as it were, out of his unapproachable light, and manifeſt himſelf in Attributes, ſuch as Wiſdom, Holineſs, Juſtice, Grace, Mercy, Power, with the like. Theſe Rays of the divine Perfection are let down on purpoſe, that we might ſanctifie him in our hearts, that our ſouls might be in a poſture of holy humility, faith, fear, love, joy, and obedience, ſuitable to thoſe Excellencies in him. My firſt work therefore muſt be, to ſhew how theſe Attributes are diſplayed in Jeſus Chriſt: We all with open face behold as in a glaſs the glory of the Lord, ſaith the Apoſtle, 2 Cor. 3.18. Jeſus Chriſt is that pure Glaſs wherein the glory of God, that is, the divine Attributes, ſo eminently ſhine forth to us, that we may contemplate them with open face.
To begin firſt with the Attribute of Wiſdom; this is the great Diſpoſer, which in all things places the Center and draws the lines, fixes the end and harmonizes the means thereunto. There is a fair impreſs of it in the work of Creation, much more in that of Redemption: a Nobler end there cannot be than Gods glory in the Salvation of loſt man, nor a more admirable means than God manifeſt in the fleſh. This is the Wiſdom of God in a Myſtery, 1 Cor. 2.7; a thing more ſublime than all the ſecrets in the Creation. Humane reaſon may by its own innate light go into the outward Temple of Nature, but into the Sanctuary of Evangelical myſteries it cannot, unleſs ſupernaturally illuminated, ever enter; and when it is there, it is capable but of a little portion thereof: nay, the very Angels, who ſtoop down to pry into it, are not able to ſearch it to the bottom, nor to tell over the treaſures of Wiſdom which are in it. This is foreign, the manifold wiſdom of God, Epheſ. 3.10. Never was ſuch a conſtellation of Attributes as there is here: that Power, Wiſdom, and Goodneſs which appeared in Creation, are here in greater luſtre; and over and above Holineſs, Juſtice and Mercy ſhine forth in their orient Excellencies: never did the glory of God ſo break forth, as it doth in this wonderful Diſpenſation.
That we may the better view it, it will be requiſite to conſider, firſt, the obſtacles in the way, and then how admirably the divine Wiſdom did paſs through them and accompliſh the great Work.
The Obſtacles were ſuch as theſe:
1. Man turning apoſtate from his God and primitive Integrity, juſtly ſunk himſelf into an horrible gulf of ſin and miſery. Sin lay upon him, and wrath for ſin; the broken Law pronounced Death, an eternal curſe againſt him; divine Juſtice appeared through the threatning like devouring fire, ready to catch hold on him as fit fuel for eternal flames; unleſs Satiſfaction were made, he muſt have gone into Hell, the proper place for irremediable ſinners: in this forlorn eſtate, what may he, can he, do? Shall he melt himſelf into repentant tears, or conſecrate himſelf unto perpetual Holineſs? Alas! depraved Nature cannot elevate it ſelf unto theſe, nor will Grace diſpenſe them to an unatoned ſinner: nay, could they be had, they would be as finite nothings in compariſon of that infinite Satisfaction which Juſtice calls for. Sin is an infinite evil, objectively infinite, a kind of deicidium, a ſtriking at the Majeſty, Holineſs, Juſtice, nay, the very Life and Being of God, and without another deicidium, a crucifying the Lord of glory, which is a Sacrifice of infinite value, not to be expiated. Which conſideration alſo tells us, that all the Angels in Heaven, though creatures without ſpot, could not have been able to have ſatisfied for the ſin of man; all that they have is but finite, the burden of Gods wrath was much too heavy for them: one ſin ſunk their fellow-Angels into chains of darkneſs, and how could they ſtand under a world of iniquity? The titles of Saviour and Redeemer, which equal, if not exceed that of Creator, were too high for them: and how could they who knew their own ſtation, and were confirmed therein, attempt or ſo much as caſt an aſpiring glance after them? Upon the whole matter, we ſee this firſt Obſtacle is ſuch, as no creature in Heaven and Earth was able to remove out of the way.
2. Ex parte creaturae, the impoſſibility is apparent: may we look up to Heaven? There ſeems to be a diviſion above, a kind of variance among the divine Attributes: On the one hand Mercy, that tender indulgent Attribute, ſeems to melt and cry out over fallen man; What! ſhall man, made after the divine Image; a poor ſeduced creature, ſhall he, nay, his whole race Eternally periſh! ſhall I have never a Monument among the ſons of men, nay, nor in the whole Creation? ſhall nothing of the humane nature ſerve God or enjoy him? On the other, Juſtice pleaded, That every one muſt have his due, the wages of ſin is death; the Majeſty of Heaven muſt not be offended, nor his ſacred Law violated without a juſt recompence. Holineſs, which cannot but abhor ſin, could do no leſs than ſtand on the ſame ſide. Truth remembred, that that threatning, moriendo morieris, Thou ſhalt ſurely die, was too ſacred a thing to be made nothing of; ſome way or other it ought to be ſatisfied. Thus the Attributes themſelves ſeem to be at a diſtance.
3. Could a Ranſom be found out to the content of Juſtice, how ſhould man, depraved polluted man, be made capable of receiving ſuch a benefit? who ſhould unſcale his eyes, that he might look upon ſuch a myſtery? who ſhould break his iron-ſinewed will, that he might yield to ſuch terms, as Salvation was to be given upon? It is certain, that blind impenitent creatures cannot enter into Heaven; before they can arrive thither, their eyes muſt be opened upon the great Offer, their hearts muſt be diſſolved into the divine Will; and how this ſhall come to paſs, is another difficulty. Now after the difficulties, let us ſee the admirable ſolution of them: when all finite underſtandings were poſed and nonpluſt at the caſe of fal'n man, when neither men nor Angels could ſo much as ſtart a thought touching a remedy, infinite Wiſdom found out a way of Salvation for us. The incomparable contrivance was thus: A creature, a finite perſon could not ſatisfie Juſtice, but an infinite one ſhall do it. There are three perſons in the ſacred Trinity, but the Son of God ſhall do it; He ſhall aſſume an humane nature; in it He ſhall obey and die upon a Croſs, and thereby he ſhall ſatisfie divine Juſtice, and purchaſe Grace and Eternal life for us. That the Son ſhould do it rather than any other perſon, was very congruous many ways. Gods beloved One was fit to reconcile us, his eſſential Image was fit to repair the gracious one; none could be more meet to uſher in Adoption than Gods natural Son, nor to enlighten the World than the brightneſs of his glory: the Eternal Word Incarnate muſt needs be an excellent Prophet, the middle perſon in the ſacred Trinity a moſt congruous Mediator. The bleſſed Father ſhewed forth himſelf in a former work in Creation; the holy Spirit appears in a ſubſequent work, in Sanctification; it was therefore very meet that the Son, the ſecond perſon in the Trinity, ſhould manifeſt himſelf in the middle work, in Redemption. But that we may look a little further into this admirable Deſign, it will not be amiſs to fix our eyes upon thoſe rare Conjunctions, which the divine Wiſdom hath framed in order to our Salvation.
1. There is a Conjunction of Natures, God and Man in one perſon. Jeſus Chriſt, who was conſubſtantial with the Father as to his Divinity, was made conſubſtantial with us as to his Humanity; Heaven and Earth were united together in an ineffable manner: the diſtance between God and man was, as it were, filled up in this wonderful Incarnation, ſupremum inſimi did attingere infimum ſupremi, the creature came as near God as poſſibly could be. Admirable are the tendencies of this Union. He was Man, that he might be capable of ſuffering, and that by ſuffering he might ſatisfie in the ſame Nature which had ſinned. He was God, that he might ſtamp ſuch an infinite value upon his ſufferings; that thoſe, though but the ſufferings of one, might anſwer for a World, and, though but temporal ſufferings, might counterpoiſe Eternal. He was Man, that in condeſcenſion to our weakneſs he might ſpeak to us through a vail of fleſh. He was God, that he might ſpeak to our hearts in divine illuminations; in words of life and power. He was Man, that he might be touch'd with a feeling of our infirmities, and melt into tender compaſſions towards us. He was God, that he might break all the powers of darkneſs, and erect an holy Throne in our hearts. This was the firſt fundamental Conjunction, a thing worthy to attract from us a much higher admiration, than what is due to the Wonders in Nature.
2. There is a Conjunction of Juſtice and Mercy. Theſe in men do uſually, like the Sun and Moon, reign by turns; but in this wonderful Diſpenſation theſe are in exerciſe and glory both at once. Juſtice appears, in that Jeſus Chriſt our Sponſor was ſmitten and wounded to death, and that an accurſed one for our ſins: Mercy ſhines forth, in that Sinners repenting and believing are ſpared, nay, and advanced to glory. Juſtice did not ſpare the Surety, but exacted all; Mercy doth not exact ought from the believer, but forgive all. The ſufferings of Chriſt reſpect both Attributes, they ſatisfied the Law, and founded the Goſpel. Juſtice had a full compenſation, and Mercy ſprung up in promiſes of Grace and Life.
3. Holineſs in God, which hates ſin, is the fundamental root of that Juſtice, which puniſheth it. Puniſhment iſſues out of Juſtice; Juſtice ſprings out of Holineſs. Now that Holineſs may be contented, and ſo Juſtice ſatisfied, not only in it ſelf, but in its very foundation, there was in Chriſts Sufferings a Conjunction of puniſhment and obedience. It's true, the Socinians think theſe two altogether inconſiſtent,Si Chriſti paſſiones rationem obedientia habent, rationem poenae habere non poſſunt; obedientia enim virtus eſt, poena autem propter inobedientiam infligitur. Schlict. contr. Meiſn. 128. becauſe obedience is a Virtue, but puniſhment is inflicted for diſobedience. But in Scripture the thing is clear; there was a virtuous action in his Paſſion, a ſignal obedience in his Sufferings: he poured out his ſoul, he was obedient unto death. Pure entire obedience run through his whole life to the laſt gaſp upon the Croſs: it was not at all broken or interrupted by the bloody Agony, nor loſt or forſaken in that night of deſertion, when he cryed out, My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken me. His Sufferings were very penal in themſelves, and inflicted by Juſtice, yet freely undertaken, and obedientially undergone. Here therefore was an admirable work of Wiſdom; his Sufferings as penal ſatisfied Juſtice, and as obediential gratified Holineſs.
4. The Truth of God was concerned in that firſt Threatning, Thou ſhalt ſurely die; and in that other, which is a kind of Commentary upon it, Curſed is he that continueth not in all things. Theſe Threatnings, which were the ſanction of that eternal Law, touching which our Saviour aſſures us, that one jot or tittle of it ſhall not paſs away, are not to be confounded with thoſe conditional Threatnings which are extant in Scripture, and were by God uſed to induce men unto repentance. Now that Truth might be ſalved, there was in Chriſts Sufferings a conjunction of a Satisfaction, and a kind of execution of the Law. Indeed, an execution of it in the rigour or ſtrict letter of it there was not, neither could that be but upon the Sinner himſelf; yet there was a kind of execution of it in an equitable ſenſe in our Sponſor Jeſus Chriſt: his Satisfaction, though it was not the idem, the very ſame which the letter of the Law called for; yet in infinite Wiſdom it was accommodated to the terms of the Law, as far as the decorum of his Sacred Perſon could admit of; in the threatning there was Death and a Curſe, and both theſe were in the ſufferings of Chriſt: hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That ſin was ſo condemned in his fleſh, that the righteouſneſs of the Law was fulfilled, Rom. 8.3, 4. It was in a ſort executed in our Surety, that in the ſame ſufferings there might be a ſatisfaction to Juſtice, and a compliance with Truth. He that conſiders theſe Conjunctions will have cauſe to cry out with the Pſalmiſt, Mercy and truth are met together, righteouſneſs and peace have kiſſed each other, Pſalm 85.10.
5. That poor lapſed man with his blind eyes and hard heart, utterly uncapable in himſelf of Heaven, may be made meet for it; there was in Chriſts ſufferings a conjunction of Satisfaction and Merit; Juſtice was compenſated, and Grace impetrated. Indeed the Socinians, blind with their own corrupt reaſon, cannot ſee how theſe two ſhould ſtand together,ubi eſt ſatisfactlo, ibi non eſt meritum; Satisfactio eſt ſolutio debiti de jure, meritum autem opus indebitum. Soc. Satisfaction being the payment of a juſt debt, and Merit the doing of an undue work. To which I anſwer: It is true, that when one pays a finite ſum for his own debt, there is not, there cannot be a merit in it; but when Jeſus Chriſt paid down ſufferings of an infinite value for us, there cannot but be an immenſe merit in them. Infinity is an Ocean, and may run over in effects as far as it pleaſes; thoſe ſufferings had a kind of Infinity in them, enough to pay divine Juſtice, and over and above by a redundance of merit to purchaſe all grace for us. Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That the Holy Ghoſt is ſhed on us abundantly through Jeſus Chriſt, Tit. 3.6. Chriſt aſcended up to Heaven in the glory of his Merits, and from thence poured down the Holy Spirit on men, that their blind eyes might be opened upon the myſteries of the Goſpel, and their hard hearts might be melted into repentance. Thus a fair way is opened to make fal'n man capable of Eternal Life.
6. Becauſe the inward vital principles of Grace in men muſt needs flouriſh moſt, when there is an outward excellent pattern of Holineſs ſet before them; there was therefore in Chriſts ſufferings a conjunction of Merit and Example: the Merit procured the principles of Grace, and the Example by its divine beauty drew them out into imitation.Vix fieri poſſe videtur, ut unâ & eâdem re & ſatisfiat, & ſimul exemplum relinquatur, Socin. Prael. cap. 20. Socinus thinks, that a Satisfaction and an Example can very hardly meet together in the ſame thing; the like ſcruple may be made touching Merit and Example: and the very truth is, Satisfaction and Merit are a Cup which we cannot drink of, a Sea in which we cannot trace or follow our Saviour. Nevertheleſs, infinite Wiſdom laid one plot under another; and under inimitable Satisfaction and Merit, couch'd an incomparable pattern of Holineſs for us. We may clearly ſee in him, how we are to mortifie corruptions, bear afflictions, learn obedience by ſufferings, and obey unto the death. In theſe he hath left us an Example, that we might follow his ſteps, 1 Pet. 2.21.
Having ſeen the contrivance in theſe rare Conjunctions, let us now conſider how the Divine Wiſdom ſet Ambuſhments for our ſpiritual Enemies: I mean, Sin, Satan, the World, and Death; all which are in a very admirable manner overcome by Jeſus Chriſt. Sin, which meritoriouſly was the bloody crucifier of the Son of God, was crucified together with him when he ſuffered; it was in his fleſh condemned as an accurſed thing worthy to die; no ſooner are we in him by Faith, but it loſes its kingdom, and by a divine Virtue from his Croſs, it droops and languiſhes away in us.
Satan the arch-enemy, at Chriſts death ſeemed to be a Conqueror; that God Incarnate ſhould be ſlain by his helliſh Inſtruments, that the whole Church ſhould die in its Head, looks like a mighty Victory: when the Head ſhall die, what ſhall the Members do? when the Sun, the great Globe of Light in the ſpiritual World, ſhall be turned into blood; what ſhould remain but that darkneſs, which Satan hath the power of? Upon the death of the Duke of Guiſe, Henry the Third broke out thus, Nunc demum Rex ſum. Now at laſt I am King. Upon the death of our Saviour, Satan might ſuppoſe himſelf abſolute Prince in the lower World; a greater Adam than the firſt being fallen, no man can probably ſtand before him. But here infinite Wiſdom ſhews forth it ſelf. Satan is taken in his own ſnare; by that very death of Chriſt, which was procured by his own Agents, is he utterly overthrown. Chriſt upon the Croſs did ſpoil Principalities and Powers, and triumph over them in it, Col. 2.15. The ſatisfaction in his ſufferings, paid off divine Juſtice, and the Merit in them procured that divine Spirit, which is able to bind and caſt out Satan from the hearts of men. The Croſs was now turned into a triumphant Chariot: and, as an Ancient hath it, there were two affixed to it;Du… in cruce affixi ſunt, Chriſtus viſibiliter, ſponte ad tempus, diabolus inviſibiliter, invitus in perpetuum. Orig. Chriſt viſibly, freely, for a time; the Devil inviſibly, coactively, for ever: that Croſs was a final Victory over him. He was overcome not by a man only, but by a man ſuffering, bleeding, dying upon a Croſs; the Lord reigneth foreign, from the Croſs (as ſome of the Ancients read that 10th verſe in the 96 Pſalm), through death he deſtroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, Heb. 2.14. The Devil was deſtroyed by Death his own weapon, and overcome in that which he had the power of.
The wicked World at the death of Chriſt triumphed and inſulted even to blaſphemy, He ſaved others, himſelf he cannot ſave, Matth. 27.42; as if all his miraculous power were now ſwallowed up in weakneſs; Let him come down from the Croſs, and we will believe him, Matth. 27.42; as if without a freſh Miracle all his holy Doctrines would vaniſh into nothing. The Jews, who were for Signs, ſtumbled and fell in the midſt of thoſe glorious Miracles which he wrought among them. The Greeks, who were for Wiſdom, ſaw nothing but fooliſhneſs in the midſt of the divine Myſteries, which he brought down out of his Fathers Boſom. A crucified Chriſt look'd like a ſpectacle of weakneſs and folly. But here the divine Wiſdom appears, in that, as the Apoſtle hath it, The fooliſhneſs of God is wiſer than men, and the weakneſs of God ſtronger than men. This crucified Chriſt ſhall attract a Church out of the corrupt Maſs of mankind; the fooliſhneſs of Preaching ſhall do it. The Plato's or Ariſtotles of the World ſhall not be employed in the work; no, there ſhall be only Piſcatoria ſimplicitas, a few Fiſhermen ſhall catch men, and draw them home unto God; to the effectually called, this deſpiſed Chriſt ſhall be the power and wiſdom of God. The divine Spirit, merited by him, ſhall endue them with a wiſdom much higher than that of Nature and Philoſophy, and cloathe them with a power to make them live above all the hopes and fears of this World.
Death, the laſt Enemy, which had devoured ſo much humane fleſh, did not ſpare that Sacred portion, which was aſſumed into the Son of God: but in his death, Death it ſelf was ſwallowed up in Victory. It paſſes indeed upon all men; but when it comes to a Believer, it lays by its ſting, and becomes only a paſſage into life Eternal.
To conclude: In all theſe Conqueſts, we may ſee one Contrary brought out of another: Life out of Death, Power out of Weakneſs, a Bleſſing out of a Curſe, and a Victory out of Sufferings, which ſpeaks no leſs than an admirable contrivance therein.
Theſe appearances of Divine Wiſdom naturally teach us humility of mind. Humane Reaſon is indeed in its own Orb an excellent Light; but a greater than it, the Reaſon of God himſelf, comes forth to us in ſupernatural Myſteries, to make us ſit down at his feet for Inſtruction. Nothing can be more juſt and purely rational, than for our Intellect being finite, to be ſubject to the infinite Truth; and being lighted up by God, to do homage to its great Original. It's true, ever ſince man taſted of the Tree of Knowledg, his Reaſon hath had a malignant pride in it: of a Miniſter it would be a Lord over our Faith; aſſuming the Magiſterial Chair, it would fall a-judging Divine Myſteries; it would comprehenſively ſpan them within it ſelf: and what could not be ſo comprized, it would out of enmity caſt away as ſpurious. This in the iſſue hath, ſo far as it hath prevailed, deſperately overturned all Faith, in the act and in the object: in the act, for to believe a thing, becauſe I can comprehend it, is not faith in God, but truſting in my own heart; not a ſealing to his Veracity, but a ſubſcribing to my own Sagacity. Hence the learned Mareſius ſaith of the Socinians, That they have manus oculatas, hands with eyes in them; that only do they believe which they ſee; they will truſt God no further than they ſee him. Alſo in the Object; this hath been very ſubverſive to the Goſpel. In the Pagan Philoſophers (whoſe Motto was, Soli rationi cedo), it caſt away Chriſt crucified as fooliſhneſs, and the Goſpel as an abſurd Fable; it reflected on Chriſtians as meer Simpletons, men of an eaſie and irrational faith; hence that jeer of Cato, Stultitia eſt morte alterius ſperare ſalutem; it's folly to hope for ſalvation in the death of another. In the Socinians, (whoſe Rule is, Nihil credi poteſt, quod a ratione nequeat capi, nothing can be believed, which cannot be comprehended by Reaſon); it hath blown up the fundamental Articles of Chriſtianity: the ſacred Trinity to them is a contradiction; the Hypoſtatical Union an irrational repugnancy; the Satisfaction of Chriſt a contumely to Gods grace: and in all this they do but build a Tower, a Name to their own Reaſon; and, as a juſt puniſhment, in the doing of it they fall into confuſion and inconſiſtencies.Mar. Hydra. Tom. 2.460. Sometimes they make the Law to exact a more perfect obedience than the Goſpel: Sometimes the Goſpel to call for a more accurate righteouſneſs than the Law. To evert Satiſfaction, they lift up Grace; but to elevate Free-will, they depreſs it. They own a God, yet deny his Preſcience; they ſay Chriſt is but a creature, yet they worſhip him. Thus that great thing, Reaſon, falling from the ſupreme Truth, becomes a forlorn ſpectacle of vanity. In a kind of ſelf-ſplendor it goes out in the darkneſs of errour and confuſion. But now to humble our minds, it is of excellent uſe to conſider the divine Wiſdom, which is ſo much above us. When our Reaſon ſtands by ſenſe, it hath a noble ſtature and greatneſs; but, as ſoon as it turns about to infinite Wiſdom, it perceives a greater Preſence than it ſelf, and muſt in all reaſon confeſs it ſelf a little ſpark, a very Nothing in compariſon. It cannot ſtep out into the ſphere of Nature, but it finds matter of humility; being true to it ſelf, it can do no leſs than ſay, that it is everywhere poſed and nonpluſt. It is not able rationally to ſtand under the ſecrets of Nature, much more muſt it ſtoop and do reverence before ſuch a Myſtery as that is, God manifeſt in the fleſh; in which the tranſcendent Myſtery amazes us, and the unparallel'd Pattern draws us into humility. Thither muſt we come, or elſe turn Infidels, and allow Reaſon for a Deity; ſaying with Seneca, Quid aliud voces animam, quàm Deum in humano corpore hoſpitantem? What is the rational Soul but God dwelling in fleſh, a kind of Chriſt, or rather Antichriſt? This, I am ſure Chriſtian ears cannot bear. But a little more to demonſtrate how neceſſary a thing humility of mind is; let us conſider Reaſon in a three-fold ſtate: then it will appear, that Reaſon in its Integrity could not find out ſupernatural Myſteries; in its Fall cannot ſpiritually know them; and laſtly, in the irradiations of Faith cannot comprehend them.
1. Reaſon in its Integrity could not find them out. The pure primitive light in Adam could dive into the ſecrets of Nature, but it could not reach ſuch a Myſterie as that of the ſacred Trinity, which is the fundamental center of Chriſtian Religion. He could name the creatures, and that ſignificantly to their natures, but that Queſtion, What is his ſons name, Prov. 30.4, would have been too hard for him. There are, ſay the School-men, ſome obſcure Images of the Trinity in the Volume of Nature, but they were found out à poſteriori, and not to be read till after Revelation; and how ſhould humane Reaſon dictate in thoſe things which it could not find out? or know any thing from it ſelf, when it hath all from Revelation? Nothing can be more abſurd than ſuch a preſumption.
2. Reaſon in its Fall could not ſpiritually know them. Evangelical Myſteries being propoſed, it can go as far as its own line, unto letters, and words, and ſentences: it can gather in a Notion, a form of knowledg, but it wants a congruous light; it cannot ſpiritually diſcern them, there being no alliance or reſemblance between an unregenerate mind and ſupernatural Myſteries. Were it not thus, the new creature would be new only ex parte, there would need no renovation in the ſpirit of the mind; God, who propoſes the Object, need not ſhine into the heart; the Spirit of Wiſdom which reveals the Goſpel, need not open the eyes. We muſt either affirm ſuch things as theſe, or elſe confeſs that Reaſon of it ſelf hath not light enough to be Umpire in ſupernatural Myſteries. It doth not ſpiritually diſcern them, and for that cauſe cannot be an Umpire; and, as ſoon as by ſupernatural Illumination it diſcerns them, it will not, dares not be ſuch, but with all reverence acquieſces and repoſes it ſelf in the divine Teſtimony: Deus dixit then is enough.
3. Reaſon in the irradiations of Faith cannot comprehend them: a diſcerning there is, but no comprehenſion; let the Believer ſail as far as he can in the purſuit of holy Truths, ſtill there will be a Plus ultrà, an Abyſs, a vaſt Ocean, ſuch as the humane underſtanding can never paſs through. Faith ſeals to Gods Veracity, but it offers not to meaſure the Myſterie; it believes the thing ſo to be, but it pryes not into the Modus, nor ſaith, How can theſe things be? that is the voice of depraved Reaſon, not of Faith, whoſe excellent genius is to crucifie How's and Why's, and to ſubject the mind to the Word and Authority of God.
Theſe things being ſo, we ſhould be all over cloathed with Humility, Underſtanding and all. The higher the faculty is, the more excellent is the Humility; then is God honoured indeed, when foreign, all the Intellect, the higheſt thing in man, is ſubjected unto Him.