Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 3
CHAP. III.
Chap. 3 Holineſs the glory of the Deity: By it God acts like himſelf, and doth all for his own Glory. It imports an hatred of ſin, and love of Holineſs in man. In all theſe reſpects it was manifeſt in Chriſt. It was not indecent for God to come in the fleſh and die; the Glory of God breaks forth therein. His hatred of fin, and deſign to extirpute it; His love to Holineſs, in doing ſo much to recover it, and linking it with Salvation. We ſhould be followers of God therein.
HAVING ſeen the Attribute of Wiſdom in God, I proceed to that of Holineſs, which is the glory of the Deity. He is called the Hoty One above thirty times in Scripture: the Seraphims in an Extaſie cry out Holy, Holy, Holy; denoting by that repetition the ſuperlative Eminency of his Holineſs. This is an univerſal Attribute, which runs through all the other. Hence we find in Scripture that His Power or Arm is Holy, Iſa. 52.10. His Truth or Promiſe Holy, Pſalm 105.42. His Mercy Holy, Acts 13.34. A vein of Purity runs through His whole Name. Without Holineſs his Wiſdom would be Subtilty, His Juſtice Cruelty, His Soveraignty Tyranny, His Mercy fooliſh Pity; all would degenerate into ſomething unworthy of God. Holineſs is the infinite Purity and Rectitude of his Eſſence; and it may be conſidered either reſpectively to himſelf, or to the creature. Reſpectively to himſelf it includes two things:
1. That God, in all that he doth, acts like himſelf, in a juſt decorum to his excellent Being and Attributes, having no Law without or above himſelf. He conforms to his Eſſence, and carries himſelf ſo fitly to himſelf, that no ſpot, no darkneſs, no ſhadow of turning, no indecency or irregularity can poſſibly happen to him. He cannot deny himſelf, or do any thing unworthy of his Being or Attributes. He doth whatever he doth, in ſuch a manner as becomes Him. Hence Anſelm obſerves, That when God ſpares and is merciful towards ſinners,Juſtus es ſecundum te, miſericors es ſecundum nos. Proſol. cap. 10. he is juſt to Himſelf, and that becauſe he acts condecently to his infinite Goodneſs. This is the firſt and prime part of his Holineſs, to be juſt and true to Himſelf, to do all congruouſly to his own Excellency.
2. That God doth all things for Himſelf, his own Glory. He that is Alpha, the firſt Principle of all things, muſt of neceſſity be Omoga, the laſt End of them: his Sanctity requires, that all his works ſhould return and give glory to their Original; he ſhould not be true or juſt to Himſelf, if he ſhould have any Center beſides himſelf; his Holineſs is a Tranſcendent above that in Man. Supreme Self-love, which in man is a Belial thing, is a Perfection in Him: To do all for one's ſelf, which in man is Idolatry, it is true Sanctity in Him. It is moſt proper for him, the ſupreme Cauſe and Eſſence, to make all things for Himſelf; as of and through him, ſo to him are all things.
Again, Gods Holineſs taken reſpectively to the Greature, imports two things:
1. It imports an hatred of ſin: His pure Eyes cannot not look upon it with approbation; His righteous hands will not let it go unpuniſhed. Sin is a very vile thing, it deſpiſes Gods Authority, caſts off his Soveraignty, contradicts his Purity, provokes his Juſtice; nay, it ſtrikes at his very Being: it ſays, Who is Lord, that he ſhould be obeyed? It is the moſt prodigious. Rebel that ever was; weakneſs, folly, corruption riſing up in arms againſt Power, Wiſdom, and infinite Perfection. The Holy One, becauſe he is ſuch, muſt needs hate ſuch a filthy abominable thing: He can no more ceaſe to hate it, than he can ceaſe to be Holy. His antipathy againſt it is ſo great, that he can no more admit one drop of it into himſelf, than he can ſuffer an extinction of his Eſſence.
2. It imports a love of Holineſs in the creature. Holineſs is a very choice thing; 'tis a pure breath from God, a participation of the Divine Nature: an Image or reſemblance of the Deity; more of the beauty and glory of God ſhines forth in it, than in all the world beſides. The other creatures are but a dark ſhadow to it; nay, it is a thouſand times more divine than the Soul it ſelf. The Holy One, who loves himſelf, muſt needs love ſo excellent a Picture of his own Sanctity. The righteous Lord loveth righteouſneſs, Pſalm 11.7; becauſe he is righteous in himſelf, therefore he loves righteouſneſs in the creature.
Such, as I ſaid, is Gods Holineſs; The diſplay of it in Jeſus Chriſt ſucceeds.
1. The firſt part of his Holineſs, by which he does all in a juſt decorum to his excellent Being, ſeems to be contradicted in this Diſpenſation. May God be made fleſh? May Majeſty be humbled? May the immutable One be changed in an Incarnation? May the immortal One die in a bloudy Paſſion? Theſe things at the firſt bluſh look as if they could not be congruouſly done. But I anſwer, The corrupt Reaſon of Man, which would ſhape all things according to its own model and Idea, hath, under colour of avoiding indecencies and inconveniencies, made very ſtrange work about this Myſterie. In the Pagan Sophi, it looked upon a crucified God as meer folly and indecency. In the unbelieving Jews, it reproached Chriſt as a Talui, a poor hanged man, altogether incapable to be a Meſſiah or Saviour. In the Hereticks of the Church, it tore and mangled his ſacred Perſon all to pieces, and that under pretence of avoiding one inconvenience or other. Arius, that he might not fall into that Gentile-vanity, a plurality of Gods, took away Chriſts Deity. Apollinaris ſpared his Deity, but took away his humane Soul; the room of that being better ſupplied by the Deity. Saturninus and Baſilides took away his body, leaving only a Phantaſm, a meer Ʋmbra in the room of it: or if there muſt be a real Body, Apelles thought fit that it ſhould be a Sydereal one, which in his paſſage from Heaven he aſſumed, and after his Reſurrection reſtored again.Neſtorius, Noli gloriari, Judaee, non crucifixiſtl Deum. So Neſtorias.leſt the impaſſible Deity ſhould ſuffer, would have two Chriſts; one the Son of man who ſuffered, another the Son of God, who dwelt in the other as in his Temple. Eutyches, ſuppoſing that there could not be two Natures in Chriſt, without two Perſons, thought it convenient, that after the Union there ſhould be but one Nature in Chriſt; the humane Nature being ſwallowed up in the Divine. And the reaſon of all this is, becauſe, as an Ancient hath it touching the Eutychians, In hanc inſipientiam cadunt, qui, cum ad cognoſcendam veritatem aliquo impediuntur obſcuro, non ad propheticas voces, non ad Apoſtolicas literas, non ad Evangelicas authoritates, ſed ad ſemetipſos recurrunt: ideo magiſtri erroris exiſtunt, quia veritatis diſcipuli non ſuere. Leo primus, Epiſt. 10.they look not ſo much to the Sacred Scriptures, as to themſelves, being willing that their own Reaſon ſhould be Umpire in ſacred Myſteries; they become Maſters of Errour, who would not be Diſciples of Truth. By this heap of Experiments we may plainly ſee, that the decorum of this Myſterie is too great a thing to be judged by humane Reaſon: if we will know any thing of it, we muſt addreſs our ſelves to the divine Oracle, Jeſus Chriſt, the infinite increated Wiſdom of God, who never had ſo much as an indecorous thought, delighted in the ſons of men, Prov. 8.31. in the proſpect of a future Incarnation. It was foreign, a thing becoming him, to fulſil all righteouſneſs, Matth. 3.15; when yet it could not have become him in an unbocoming Nature. There was a foreign, a muſt, upon his Death and Sufferings, Mutth. 16.21; when yet it was utterly impoſſible, that my neceſſity ſhould preſs him into an indecency. There was therefore an excellent congruity in this Myſterie. God indeed was made fleſh, but how? Non mutando quod erat, ſed aſſumendo quod non erat, not by changing his Deity, but by aſſuming his Humanity. Majeſty was humbled, not in it ſelf, but in the aſſumed fleſh, which was as a Veil over all the Glory. The change and death was not in the Divine, but Humane nature, which was taken into his Sacred Perſon in the Incarnition, and ſuffered death in his Paſſion upon the Groſs. There was a juſt decorum in all: Nay, in this very Myſterie, at which humane Reaſon cries out of indecency, God hath hid ſuch an Abyſs of Wiſdom, as no created Underſtanding is able to fathom; a glimpſe of which appears in the next particular.
2. That part of Holineſs, by which God doth all things for himſelf, for his own Glory, eminently appears in Jeſus Chriſt.
In general it appears, that God is the great Center, the ultimate end of all; and all creatures, none excepted, are as ſo many Lines and Mediums tending thereunto. The Humane nature of Chriſt, a Creature above all creatures, lifted up above the higheſt pitch of Angels, elevated into an Union with an inſinite Perſon, was not yet a Center to it ſelf. It had no ſubſiſtence of its own, neither did it operate for it ſelf; I ſeek not mine own glory, ſaith Chriſt, Joh. 8.50. Nay, He adds, If I honour my ſelf, my honour is nothing; as much as to ſay, a creature referred to it ſelf is an unprofitable Nullity. In all his Doings and Sufferings, he did but miniſter to the Will and Glory of God; in the end he will deliver up the Kingdom to the Father, that God may be all in all, 1 Cor. 15.24, & 28. Hence it is demonſtratively evident, that no Creature, no, not the higheſt, is or can be an End or Center to it ſelf; all of them are but as Medium's to the glory of God: all muſt circulate into their firſt Fontal-principle, that it in all things may be glorified. In particutar, the Glory of God breaks forth in this Diſpenſation. Jeſus Chriſt, who in reſpect of the eternal genetation is the foreign, the ſplendor or glorious effulgence of his Fathers glory, is in the Incarnation the Glaſs or bright Evidence of the Divine. Excellencies. Never was there ſuch a Conſtellation of Attributes as here. Wiſdom in the deep of its unſearchable Counſels laid the great plot of our Salvation. Juſtice was paid to the full in Sufferings infinitely valuable, ſuch as did more than ballance the ſufferings of a World. Holineſs was abundantly gratified in the pure and ſpotleſs obedience of our Saviour, which was as a Gloſs and living Commentary upon the whole Law. Mercy and Love opened a boſom of infinite ſweetneſs to receive penitent ſouls into favour and a bleſſed Immortality. Power raiſed up an humane Nature in an extraordinary way, and then ſhewed forth it ſelf therein in the glory of innumerable Miracles. Truth triumphed, in that He who is the complement of the Law, the ſubſtance of the Shadows, and the Center of the Promiſes, was come into the World. Never did the brightneſs of Glory ſo excellently manifeſt it ſelf as upon the Theatre of Chriſts humane Nature. Hence Heaven and Earth ring with the high Praiſes of it. At his Nativity an Hoſt of Angels cry out, Glory to God in the Higheſt, Luke 2.14. In the Church there is glory to him by Jeſus Chriſt throughout all Ages, world without end, Epheſ. 3.21. Saints and Angels muſt now fall upon their faces, and ſay, Bleſſing, Glory, and Wiſdom, and Thanksgiving, and Honour, and Power, and Might be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen, Revel. 7.12. Eternity it ſelf will be little enough to ſpend in the praiſes of this incomparable Myſterie.
3. Holineſs, as it imports an hatred of ſin, ſignally demonſtrates it ſelf in this Diſpenſation. God hath many ways manifeſted his hatred of ſin. It appears in the Threatning, in which he ſpeaks, as it were, out of the fire, and breathes out a Death and a Curſe againſt it. It further appears, when the Threatning comes forth in actual Judgments, in which God falls upon his own creature, the work of his own hands. It more appears, when Wrath comes down, not upon this or that ſinner, but upon multitudes; and not upon the offending perſons only, but upon their Infant-relations; upon their fellowcreatures, upon the very places where they acted their iniquities. Adam ſinned, and Wrath fell upon the whole Race of mankind: nay, and a Blaſt and a Curſe fell upon the Creation; ſuch as makes it groan and travel in pain with an univerſal Vanity. The old World was drowned in ſenſualities, and a Deluge ſweeps away them and their fellowcreatures. The Sodomites burned in their unnatural luſts, and fire and brimſtone was rained down upon them. Korah, Dathan and Abiram turned Rebels, and the Earth opened her mouth and ſwallowed up them, and all that appertained to them. Theſe are notable Tokens of diſpleaſure, but a greater is yet behind. The Eternal Son of God cannot aſſume our fleſh, and ſtand as a Sponſor for us, but he muſt bear an infinite Wrath, ſuch as was due to the ſin of a World. Though he were the Wiſdom of God, he muſt be ſore amazed, and ready to faint away in a fit of horror; Though the Fathers joy, he muſt be foreign, ſurrounded with ſorrows even unto death. He bore up all things, yet now under the burden of Wrath he muſt fall and grovel upon the ground: He muſt pour out tears and ſtrong cryes to God, that the bitter Cup may paſs; He muſt be in an Agony, a diſmal conflict with the Wrath of God, and ſweat great dropt and clotters of blood under the preſſure of it. The bleſſed and beloved One of God he was, yet he muſt be made a Curſe, and upon a tormenting Croſs cry out, My God! My God! why huſt thou for ſuken me? The Sun muſt now withdraw his light, and the Earth quake in ſympathy with their Creator. Oh! What a ſpectacle of diſpleaſure was here! What is a Deluge, or the groans of a diſſolving World in compariſon? There meer creatures ſuffer, but here God in the fleſh. The Marks of divine Wrath were now ſet upon that humane Nature, which, as aſſumed into an infmite Perſon, is far above all the Greation. Never was there ſo high a demonſtration of Gods infinite hatred and antipathy againſt ſin, as there is here. No created Underſtanding of Men or Angels could ever have found out ſuch a wonderful Manifeſtation as this is, Infinite Wifdom did it, to make ſin look like it ſelf, infinitely odious.
Moreover, As it is the nature of Hatred to be a Murderer, to ſeek the not being of the thing hated; ſo it was the great Deſign of this Myſterie to extirpate ſin out of the hearts of men. For this purpoſe was the Son of God mantjeſted, that he might the ſtroy the works of the devil, 1 John 3.8. There are three things in ſin: the guilt, the power, and the being. The aim of a crucified Chriſt was to extirpate there all: Chriſt was made Sin and a Curſe for us. He did by his ſweet-ſinelling Satrifice fully fatisfie the Law and Juſtice of God: And why did he do it, but that the bonds of guilt might be broken off from us? The ſtrength of ſin, in binding us over to Death and Hell, is the Law; and the Law, in its threatning of a Curſe and Condemnation, is the voice of vindictive Juſtice: theſe two being fully ſatisfied in Chriſt, the guilt of ſin becomes powerleſs, and unable to hold ſuch ſinners, as by Faith and Repentance partake in that Satisfaction. There was in Chriſts Sufferings, not only a fulneſs of Satisfaction, but a redundance of Merit: Thereby he procured the Holy Spirit for us; and why ſo, but that the power of ſin might be diſſolved in us? Our own ſpirit of it ſelf could not, would not do this; but the divine Spirit, which Chriſt hath procured, doth in true Believers effect it. Sin is no longer a prevailing-Law in the heart; the Holy Spirit takes away its dominion, that the Throne of Chriſt may be ſet there. It is true, as Saint Bernard ſaith, Velis, nolis, infra fines tuos habitat Jebuſaeus. Sin hath a being in Believers; but even that doth the holy Spirit in the Article of Death remove from them, that their Souls may fly away into that pure Region, where are the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect. Thus God manireſts his hatred of ſin, in that he laid in the Sufferings of Chriſt a deſign for the extirpation of it.
4. Gods Holineſs, as it imports a love of holineſs in man, is here, clearly ſeen, in that, when it was loſt, he did ſo much for the recovery of it. Holineſs, that divine Life (being by the Fall beaten out of the heart of man) ſtood without in the letter of the Law; but that it might be recovered into the heart of man again, that his heart might be made a Sanctuary, an holy Place for the divine Majeſty to dwell and take pleaſure in, God hath done very much, and been at a vaſt expence about it. He hath not only wiſhed for Holineſs; O that there were ſuch an heart in them! Deut. 5.29; but he hath ſent his own Son into the fleſh to be a rare Pattern and Samplar of it; nay, and to bleed and die upon a Croſs, that it might be revived in poor fallen man. It could not be revived there without the holy Spirit, and that could never have been had, unleſs Juſtice were ſatisfied; and Satisfaction could not be made without a Sacrifice of infinite value. Chriſt therefore was made ſuch an One, that the holy Spirit might come and re-imprint Holineſs in man again. God died in the fleſh, that man might live in the Spirit. One great end of Chriſts ſufferings, was Holineſs; He gave himſelf for us, that he might purifie to himſelf a peculiar people, Tit. 2.14; that he might have a glorious Church, not having ſpot or wrinkle, Epheſ. 5.27. Rather than loſe Holineſs, which is the Glory, He would humble himſelf to the ſhame of a Croſs; rather than we ſhould not be ſanctified, or conſecrated to God in Holineſs, he would ſanctifie and conſecrate himſelf to be a ſacrifice to Juſtice. Oh! What a rate or value doth God ſet upon Holineſs in man! How highly muſt he delight and take pleaſure in it, when he will come in the fleſh and die, rather than ſuffer it to be extinct in the World? a greater demonſtration of Love to it than this cannot poſſibly be imagined.
Further, Gods love to Holineſs appears in this, that he orders things ſo, that no man can partake of Jeſus Chriſt, unleſs he ſubject himſelf to the holy terms of the Goſpel: he that names the Name of Chriſt, muſt depart from iniquity. What if Chriſt be a moſt glorious Saviour and Redeemer? What though he fulfilled Righteouſneſs and made Satisfaction? What though he opened a way into the Holy of Holies, into the Glory and Immortality there? Notwithſtanding all this, without Repenting there is nothing but periſhing; without Holineſs there is no ſeeing of God. A life after the fleſh muſt end in death. The divine Juſtice and Law, which was fully ſatisfied in Chriſt, will ſeize upon rebellious ſinners, and ask a ſecond Satisfaction, as if there had been none before: the divine hatred of ſin, which was ſo ſignally evident in the ſufferings of Chriſt, will appear again in their utter ruin and deſtruction. Things are ſo knit together, that Holineſs muſt be neceſſary to make us happy. Chriſt is a Saviour and a Lord too; where he ſaves from Hell, there he rules in the pure ways towards Heaven. His blood and Spirit are ever in Conjunction: if the one deliver from Guilt and Wrath, the other ſubdues ſin, and implants Holineſs. Promiſes and Precepts, which are intermixed in the Word, muſt be both taken together into the heart; where the latter hath not obedience, the former can miniſter no comfort. True Faith receives an entire Chriſt; as it reſts upon his Merits and Righteouſneſs, ſo it ſubjects to his Spirit and Word in all things. That hope of Heaven, which purifies not, is indeed a Prefumption and not an Hope; a Cobweb hanging in a vain heart, and not an Anchor ſure and ſtedfaſt, entring into that within the Vail. God out of love to Holineſs hath linked it in with Chriſt, Promiſes, Faith, Heaven, and Salvation, that no man can or may enjoy the one without the other; till Chriſt can be divided, his Sacrifice from his Scepter; till Promiſes can be rent off from the holy Precepts, to which they are annexed; till a vital Faith can ceaſe to do its function in acts of obedience; till the holy Heavens can admit an unclean thing into them: till then, an unholy perſon cannot arrive at Happineſs. In all this we ſee, how high a reſpect God hath for Holineſs.
Now what remains, but that Chriſtians, who have this glorious Attribute ſet before them, ſhould bethink themſelves, what manner of perſons they ought to be. God acts like himſelf; Should not they do ſo? their decorum ſtands in an holy Aſſimilation to him. Chriſtianity is, as an Ancient hath it, foreign, a likeneſs to God, to be after him in his imitable Perfections: to be loving, merciful, holy, patient, as He is, is to be, and act like themſelves. One Virtue of God or other ſhould be ſtill breaking forth from them, to tell the World that they are Chriſtians: Their finite love and mercy to fellow-creatures, ſhould ſpeak their ſenſe of that infinite love and mercy which they have taſted of: Their patience under injuries ſhould carry a reſemblance of thoſe Riches of goodneſs and forbearance, which God hath ſpent upon themſelves: All their holy Graces ſhould appear as ſo many Rays and little Images of Him, who is the great Fountain and pattern of Holineſs. For them to walk worthy of God, and in imitation of him, is to walk condecently to themſelves, and in correſpondence to Chriſtianity. Again, God doth all things for Himſelf, his own Glory, and this muſt be the aim of Chriſtians: To be a Center to themſelves, they muſt not do it; an higher and nobler End than God himſelf cannot be. It is naturally juſt, that He, who is the firſt Principle of all things, ſhould be the laſt End. That Axiom, That God in all things muſt be glorified, is fundamental Divinity; that is the very thing, which they muſt look to as their ultimate ſcope. They ſhould put away the by-glances at Self, and the unbecoming Squints at baſe and falſe Ends; that they may have a ſingle Eye, and a pure Intention to the true and great End of all things. This is the very life and marrow of Religion: it ſanctifies holy Duties; it ſpiritualizes civil and natural Actions; it elevates the life unto the great Center of all things, and by conſecrating the Actions unto God, gives them a kind of Immortality. It transforms the Soul into a deiformity or divine Nature, that it becomes one ſpirit with the Lord, and falls in with the ſame Will and End with him. If we will be like Chriſtians, the frame of our heart muſt be above the intereſts of fleſh and ſelf. All thoſe things, which are off from the true End and Center, muſt be in our eyes as ſo many impertinent follies: the whole of our hearts and lives muſt be under a conſecration to that Eternal Deſign, The Glory of God bleſſed for ever. Moreover, God hath an hatred of ſin, and a love of Holineſs; and what is the work of Chriſtians, but to follow him? Sin is ſo vile an evil, that it cannot but be worthy of hatred. To the holy God and his Attributes it is meer enmity and rebellion; to the World it is a Gurſe, a blaſt of Vanity; to the Soul an Ataxy, turpitude, and corruption; to the Lord Chriſt as Nails, a bloody Croſs, and Cup of Wrath. A horrible evil it is, and to be hated accordingly; a meer evil without mixture of good, and to be hated with a pure hatred without mixture of Love. An All-evil oppoſite to God the All-goodneſs, and to be hated with all-hatred: not a drop or degree of hatred ſhould be let out upon any thing elſe. All of it in the moſt intenſe degree and meaſure ſhould be poured out upon it; in what place or time ſoever it be, ſtill it is evil, and upon that account to be hated perpetually and in all places. And indeed, if we do bethink our ſelves, the groans of the poor creatures, which are conſtant and everywhere round about us, do very ſtrongly move us hereunto; the blots and turpitudes upon our own Souls tell us, that we muſt hate it, as much as we love the beauty and glory of our immortal Spirits. The bloud and wounds of our dear Saviour, cry out for Juſtice and Vengeance to be executed upon it. And, if we have any love for him, we muſt crucifie it and caſt it away as an accurſed thing. On the other hand, Holineſs cannot but be a fit Object for our love. It is a pure thing let down from Heaven; and, if our love be there, it can do no leſs than embrace ſo divine an off-ſpring as that is. It is the very rectitude and true temper of Souls, that which ſets them in a right poſture towards God and all holy things: and for that reaſon, more love is to be ſet upon it, than that which is due to our own Souls. Though in man it be but a little Ray or ſpark; yet, becauſe of its divine Nature, it doth in little reſemble him, who is all Holineſs and Purity; and upon that account, our love, which in its higheſt meaſures aſcends up to Him, muſt in proportion be due to it. The amiableneſs of it in the Letter, made the Holy man cry out, Oh how I love thy Law! Pſalm 119.97; and how illuſtrious and attractive muſt it be, when it is in its proper Ʋbi, living and breathing in the ſpirits of men? Rather than it ſhould not revive there, God would be manifeſt in the fleſh, and die in it. And how ſhould we die to our ſelves and the World, that it may live in us? Which, when it doth, we live indeed, and that a life more divine and of higher Excellency, than is the life of meer Senſe or Reaſon; nay, this life is complicated with Happineſs, and makes us meet for life Eternal. If we would live for ever in Bliſs and Glory, we muſt follow after Holineſs; heart and life muſt be conſecrated unto God, elſe Heaven will not be capable to receive us, nor ſhall we be fit to enter in there.