Divine Truths in Jesus Christ, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
Chap. 7 The Truth of God manifeſted in Chriſt. The Promiſe of the Meſſiah. The Meſſiah is already come. Jeſus is the true Meſſiah. All the other Promiſes are built upon him. The truth of the Moral Law evidenced in him. The Mandatory part proved by his active Obedience; The Minatory by his Sufferings. He is the ſubſtance of the Types and Sacrifices. Somewhat in him anſwers to them; and ſomewhat in him infinitely tranſcends them. The truth of Worſhip ſet forth in him: He unclogged it from Rituals, opened the ſpiritual mode of it, communicates Grace for it, reveals the great Reward of Eternal Life.
HAving ſpoken of other Attributes, I proceed in the laſt place to conſider the TRUTH of God. It was a notable ſpeech of a Philoſopher, That Truth is ſo great a Perfection, that if God would render himſelf viſible unto men, he would chuſe Light for his Body, and Truth for his Soul. Indeed God is Ipſiſſima Veritas, very Truth it ſelf; and can no more ceaſe to be ſuch, than he can ceaſe to be Himſelf. He is true in his Eſſence: Others are only gods by fancy or fiction, but he is God by nature and eſſence. He is true in his Promiſes; he means what he promiſes, and he doth what he means. Promiſſa tua ſunt, Confeſ. l. 12. c. 1….quis falli timeat, cum promittit veritas? ſaith St. Auſtin. He is true in his Commands; theſe are the counterpanes of his Will: he approves what he commands, and rewards what he approves. He is true in all his Works: the Creatures have firſt an Ideal being in him, before they have a real one in themſelves; they are therefore true, becauſe congruous to the firſt Truth. He is ſo true, that it is impoſſible that he ſhould lye. A lye, which ariſes from weakneſs or wickedneſs, can no more be found in him, than Weakneſs can be found in Power, or Wickedneſs in Sanctity it ſelf.
The Truth of God doth in an excellent manner appear in Jeſus Chriſt; He is the Complement of the Law, the Pearl of the Goſpel. The Truths of the Old Teſtament run unto him as to an Ocean, to be ſwallowed up in his Perfection. The Truths of the New meet in him as in the Center, to receive all their ſtrength and ſtability from him. The Divine Truth is manifeſted in Jeſus Chriſt ſeveral ways.
Firſt, It is manifeſted in him, in that all the Promiſes and Predictions of a Meſſiah to come, are accompliſhed and compleated in him. Two things will clearly evidence this:
The one is this: It is plain that the promiſed-Meſſiah is already come: The Scepter ſhall not depart from Judah, nor a Law-giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him ſhall the gathering of the people be, ſaith Jacob, Gen. 49.10. Shiloh is the Name of the Meſſiah, the ancient Rabbins confeſs it: Meſſiah, ſaith one of them, ſhall not come till there be a clean riddance of Judges and Magiſtrates in Iſrael. The Jews had Kings in their own Land, Heads or Princes of the Captivity in Babylon; and after their return from thence, they had Governours and Judges: but now Government and Judiciary Power hath been for 1600 years departed from them. The Meſſiah therefore is already come. Again, within the compaſs of the Seventy weeks mentioned in Dan. 9, many things were to come to paſs; The re-edifying the City and Temple of Jeruſalem, the coming and cutting off the Meſſiah, the confirmation of the Covenant, the ceſſation of the Sacrifices; and after all theſe, the univerſal deſtruction was to enſue. However theſe weeks be computed, yet it evidently appears, that firſt the Meſſiah was to come and be cut off, ver. 26; and afterwards the Oblation and Sacrifice was to ceaſe, v. 27: this being the true order of things in the Text, the Meſſiah muſt needs come whilſt the Sacrifices were ſtanding. If the Sacrifices under this ſecond Temple have for theſe 1600 years ceaſed, as they have, then the Meſſiah muſt needs be come many Centuries ſince.Scho. Sacr. diſput. 10.72, 73, 74. Franzius uſed this argument to a learned Jew, who only returned this anſwer, Perhaps one week in Daniel might be one thouſand years. Franzius replied, If that were admitted, Yet, if he thought that Daniel's weeks were not expired, he would entreat him to ſhew where the Jews do now ſacrifice: ſeeing, according to Daniel, the Meſſiah was to come before the abrogation of the Sacrifices, it muſt needs be that the Sacrifices muſt ſtill ſtand in being, if the Meſſiah were not yet come. To this no anſwer at all was made, the knot being indeed too hard to be untied. Further, the Meſſiah was to come while the ſecond Temple was ſtanding; hence that of the Prophet, The glory of this latter Houſe ſhall be greater than of the former, Hag. 2.9. The firſt Temple had more of outward glory and magnificence than the ſecond. Under the firſt there were (as the Rabbins obſerve) five things, the Ark, the Fire from Heaven, the Majeſty, or Shecinah, the Spirit of Prophecy, the Ʋrim and the Thummim, which were wanting under the ſecond: From whence then came that greater glory in the ſecond? The Prophet tells us, God would ſhake the heavens and the earth, that is, do a very great work; the Meſſiah, the Deſire of all Nations ſhould come, v. 6, 7; His preſence ſhould put a greater glory upon the ſecond Temple, than was upon the firſt. In the firſt there was the types and ſymbols of Gods preſence, but into the ſecond the Lord himſelf came in our aſſumed nature, Mal. 3.1, and ſo filled it with glory. This is the only tolerable account can be given of that greater glory: This ſecond Temple being long ſince deſtroyed, it muſt needs be that the Meſſiah did come before the fall of it.
The other is this: Our Jeſus the Son of Mary, is the true Meſſiah; he is that ſeed of the woman who broke the Serpents head, Gen. 3.15; no other ſeed, no meer man could do it; but the Son of God, being made of a woman, did deſtroy the works of the devil, 1 Joh. 3.8. Partaking of fleſh and blood, he did through death deſtroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, Heb. 2.14. That firſt Promiſe made almoſt Four thouſand years before, was accompliſhed in him. He is that ſeed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth were to be bleſſed, Gen. 22.18. Never was it ſaid of any man but himſelf, That all Nations ſhould be bleſſed in him: Never was any man but he, who was God as well as man, able to turn that Curſe which lay upon the human nature, into a bleſſing. He is Jacob's Shiloh, Gen. 49.10; at his coming the Scepter departed: Herod an Edomite ruled over the Jews; and, to make himſelf the more abſolute, he ſlew the Sanhedrin; in a little time all government was taken away from the Jews: Hence that outery in the Talmud, Vae nobis, Wo to us, becauſe the Scepter is departed from Judah. The temporal Scepter vaniſhed, but our Saviour had a ſpiritual one; to him, as to the true Shiloh, was the gathering of the people, multitudes of Jews and Gentiles were converted to Chriſtianity. He is Moſes's Prophet, Deut. 18.15. never man ſpake as he ſpake; none but himſelf ever brought down ſacred myſteries from the boſome of God unto the world. He is the Star out of Jacob, Numb. 24.17. The Jews Barchochebas was but Barchozba, the ſon of a Lye, a falſe light, and ſoon extinct: But our JESUS is the bright and morningſtar, Rev. 22.16, who chaſes away darkneſs, and communicates a divine light to men. He is the Lords anointed, againſt whom the Heathen did rage, and the Kings ſet themſelves, Pſal. 2, but all in vain; God laughed at them, and ſet up his King upon Zion. The Jews cannot but confeſs that this Pſalm ſpeaks of the Meſſiah; but that the Minaei, the Chriſtians, with them eſteemed Hereticks, may be anſwered, they think it expedient to interpret it of David. He is the Child in Iſaiah, who was born of a Virgin, Iſa. 7.14, which never man was; who hath theſe high titles, Wonderful Counſellor, the Mighty God, the Everlaſting Father, the Prince of Peace, Iſa. 9.6, which are too great for a meer man. He is the righteous Branch, whoſe name is, The Lord our righteouſneſs, Jer. 23.5, 6. No other man ſince the fall had righteouſneſs enough for himſelf; but he had enough for himſelf and a World. He is the Meſſiah in Daniel; his blood made an end of ſin; his perfect Sacrifice put an end to all the legal ones. Under the Meſſiah there was only to be the Sacrifice of Thoda or Thankſgiving. He is the Ruler come out of Bethlehem Ephratah, Mic. 5.2. As God, his goings forth were of old, from everlaſting; as Man, he came in time out of Bethlehem: Never ſuch an one as he came from thence. He is the deſire of the nations, in Haggai, who filled the ſecond Temple with glory: The Man, Gods fellow, in Zachary; who was ſmitten for us, and in his wounds opened a fountain for ſin and for uncleanneſs. The Son of righteouſneſs, in Malachi, who with enlightning and healing-beams ſhines into the hearts of men. The Promiſes of the Meſſiah are all accompliſhed in him. What the old Teſtament foretold, the New exhibited. The reſpects and ſweet correſpondencies which are between the two Teſtaments, clearly and punctually ſhew that Jeſus is the Chriſt.
Again, here appears the truth of all the other Promiſes in the Goſpel, which are as ſo many ſuperſtructures upon the firſt fundamental promiſe of the Meſſiah.P. Gal. lib. 2. cap. 23. The earth (ſaith Rabbi Eliezer) ſtands upon Tſadich, upon the righteous one, that is, upon the Meſſiah. I may add, Heaven and all the Graces which lead thither, ſtand upon him too. In him all the promiſes are yea and amen, 2 Cor. 1.20: ſure and ſtable, as being founded upon his blood; hence his blood is called the blood of the Covenant, Heb. 13.20, as procuring it for us; and the New Teſtament is called the new teſtament in his blood, Luk. 22.20, as being founded upon it. God is now obliged to perform the Evangelical Promiſes, not meerly by his own infinite Veracity, but by his Contract with his Son, from whom he hath received a valuable conſideration in his blood for the doing of it. The Promiſes are ſecured by a double ſeal, God's Veracity and Chriſt's Blood; ſo they can no more fail, than the Truth of the one, and the Merit of the other. The Apoſtle argued thus: God ſpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how ſhall he not with him freely give us all things? Rom. 8.32. We may thus argue; If God would not go back, but perform the promiſe of the Meſſiah, which could not be done but at an expence ſo vaſt, that in the doing of it he muſt part with his Son out of his boſom, and his Son muſt part with his blood for us; how ſhall he not fulfil all other Promiſes? The Promiſe of the Meſſiah was the moſt difficult of all, either for God to perform, or for us to believe: the fooliſh builder lays the foundation, and is not able to finiſh; but the wiſe and true God, who laid the foundation of Promiſes in his Sons blood, will be ſure to accompliſh them; not one thing of them ſhall fail: upon what Promiſe ſoever we can regularly ſet our faith, we may take it as our own; all the bleſſings of it ſhall be made good to us.
Further, we ſee here the truth of the Moral Law, that is made up of two parts, a Mandatory part, and a Minatory. The Mandatory part ſtands in Precepts; the truth of theſe conſiſts in this, that they are the Counterpanes of Gods heart, real copies of his approving will; the matter of them is conſonant to his Sanctity and Rectitude, acceptable and well-pleaſing in his eyes: obedience to them is very grateful, and ſure of an Euge, an approbation from him. A notable evidence of this we have in our Saviour. It's true, the Law proves it ſelf to be divine, by its intrinſecal Rectitude and Juſtice; but the ſin of a World lying as a cloud upon that glory, God would have it proved ſuch by obedience: no man ſince the fall being able enough for this work, the Son of God came down from Heaven to do it. As God, he could not be under the Law, but he aſſumed humanity, and with it moral duty: he was made of a woman, and ſo made under the law, Gal. 4.4, which reflected a greater honour upon it, than the being of all men under it could do. He perfectly obeyed it, and in his obedience the Law had its end, and an higher proof of its Divinity than it would have had if all men had obeyed it: None can now doubt that the Law came from Heaven, from the Father's boſom, when the Son of God who came from thence, did ſubject himſelf, and obey it. Never was ſuch a ſeal ſet to the Law as here; never did ſuch a perſon as he obey it. Here the Lord did magnifie his Law, and make it honourable, and that after a long and dark eclipſe put upon it by the ſins of a World. Here the Antinomian, who oppoſes the Law, might ſatisfie himſelf: The Law doth not condemn believers, but it is and muſt be a Rule. Our Saviour's whole life was a proof of it, and Commentary upon it; and our lives ſhould imitate his, we ſhould tread in his ſteps, and walk as he walked; in both an homage is done to the Law. The Minatory part of the Law denounced a death and a curſe againſt the tranſgreſſor. It's true, here God acted by Prerogative, he relaxed the rigor and letter of the Law, that the death and curſe might not fall upon the ſinner himſelf; but was the threatning totally neglected? was ſin altogether unpuniſhed? No, our ſins were puniſhed in our Sponſor Jeſus Chriſt. It's true, Socinus will not admit this;De Servat. pars 3. c. 4. Quas nos dicitis Chriſti poenas, non vere & proprie ſunt poenae; Chriſts ſufferings, however we call them, were not ſuch as were properly and truly penal. He would not have them properly penal, leſt they ſhould be properly ſatisfactory. But I anſwer, Where ſin is not the impulſive cauſe, there ſufferings are not penal. Sin is the foundation of puniſhment; there cannot be poena ſine fundamento; a puniſhment without a why or a wherefore, is a puniſhment for nothing, that is, no puniſhment. But in Chriſts ſufferings there wanted not an impulſive, our ſins were laid upon him, Iſa. 53.6. they were condemned in his fleſh, Rom. 8.3. he bore them in his body, 1 Pet. 2.24. he was wounded and bruiſed for them, Iſa. 53.5. His ſufferings were for ſin, and therefore penal. Where meer Soveraignty inflicts, there ſufferings are not penal. What is penal is from Juſtice, not Power. What is from Power is meer ſuffering, not puniſhment. But our Saviours ſufferings were inflicted by Juſtice. Indeed the relaxation of the Law, the introduction of a Sponſor, were acts of Prerogative and Supreme Power; but the inflicting of ſufferings upon our Sponſor, the puniſhing of our ſins in him, were acts of Rectoral Juſtice. Jeſus Chriſt was ſet forth to be a propitiation, foreign, Rom. 3.25, to declare, not the Dominion, but Juſtice of God. His ſufferings were inflicted by Juſtice, and therefore penal. But if they were penal, might they not have been ſomewhat leſs than a death and a curſe? No, he bore both; God had a reſpect to his threatning: his ſufferings were, as much as might be, to comply with the terms of the Law. Though the threatning was not executed in a ſtrict rigorous manner in the firſt debtor, yet in an equitable way it was in a ſort executed in the Sponſor; he did undergo the eſſentials of puniſhment, though not the accidentals. Thus the truth of both parts of the Law was manifeſted in our Saviour.
Moreover the truth of all the types and ſhadows was ſet forth in our Saviour, who was the body and ſubſtance of them all: there was in him ſomewhat that did ſymbolize with them, and ſomewhat that did infinitely tranſcend them. Manna came down from Heaven, and ſo did Chriſt; but from the higheſt Heaven, the place of Gods glorious preſence, to give, not a temporal life, but a ſpiritual, an eternal one; not to one Nation only, but to a world: Ex hoc pane coeli ſancti reficiuntur & Angeli, With this bread of Heaven Saints and Angels are refreſhed, as an Ancient ſpeaks. The Rock ſmitten by Moſes's Rod, ſupplied the Iſraelites; and Chriſt ſmitten by the curſe of the Law, ſupplies the Church, not with earthly water, but with heavenly, with rivers of living graces and comforts; following believers not for a time, but indeficiently, and for ever. Hence the Jewiſh Rabbins ſay, that the turning the Rock into water, was the turning the property of Judgment into the property of Mercy. All Mercies iſſue out from this ſpiritual Rock. The brazen Serpent was lifted up upon a Pole, and Chriſt was lifted up upon the Croſs; that healed the wounds made by the outward Serpents in the body, and he heals the wounds made by ſin in the conſcience. The corporal cure came by the eye, by looking to the brazen Serpent; the ſpiritual one comes by faith, by looking to our Saviour for ſalvation. God dwelt in the Tabernacle and Temple, and in Chriſt he dwelt in the fleſh; not in types and ſymbols, but really and hypoſtatically; not for a time, but for ever. Chriſt is the true Tabernacle and Temple, who hath all the holy things in him. Here's the Shecinah, the Divine Majeſty appearing in our nature. Here's the Ark, where the Tables of the Law, broken by men, are kept inviolate. Here's the Mercy-ſeat, or Propitiatory, which covers our ſins, and from whence God communes with us in words of grace. Here's the vail, the fleſh of Chriſt, which hid his Deity, and through which there is a way into Heaven it ſelf. Here are the holy Lamps, the Spirit of Wiſdom and Grace derived from our Saviour. Here's the Altar of Burnt-offering, the Deity of Chriſt ſanctified his Humanity to be a ſufficient ſacrifice for a World: And the Altar of Incenſe, the odours of his Merit perfume all our ſervices, and render them acceptable unto God. Almoſt every thing did breathe forth Chriſt, and ſpeak to his Honour. He was, in one, all the Sacrifices, and more than all of them. Sacrifices began with the firſt promiſe of the Meſſiah, The ſeed of the woman ſhall break the Serpents head, Gen. 3.15: and after almoſt 4000 years ſtanding, they ended in his death: a ſingular reſpect they had to him, and a full complement in his perfect Sacrifice.De Sacrif. Diſp. 4. Adam and the ancient Patriarchs (as the learned Franzius obſerves) uſed at the ſacrifices to ſpeak of the Meſſiah and his ſufferings: theſe being the ſcope and ultimate mark of all the ſacrifices, were not altogether unknown to them: A hint of them we have in that firſt promiſe of the Meſſiah, the ſeed of the woman, Gen. 3.15, who was to ſuffer a bruiſe in his heel, his human nature, that the Serpents, that is, Satans head might be broken. Thoſe Ancients knowing ſomething of Chriſts ſufferings, though imperfectly, and at a diſtance, did in all probability at their ſacrifices ſpeak of them. The believing Jews did not hang upon the ſhadow, the outward ſacrifices only, but look at Chriſt the ſubſtance and marrow of them; elſe they did, as it ſeems, worſhip God in their ſacrifices in an ignorant manner, without knowing the ſpiritual meaning of them: nay, elſe they offered them up in a miſtake, in the belief of that falſe impoſſible thing, that the blood of Bulls and Goats could take away ſin: They knew that there was no remiſſion without expiation; they knew, that moral guilt did as much, nay more require it, than ceremonial; and if they knew nothing of an Expiating Meſſiah, they ſought no further for the expiation of moral guilt, than the blood of bulls and goats. Now touching the Sacrifices, two things are to be noted:
The one is this, there is ſomewhat in Chriſt which anſwers to the Expiatory Sacrifices. The ſacrifice was to be perfect and without blemiſh, that it might be accepted; the blind, or broken, or maimed, or corrupted thing, was not to be offered up to God: anſwerably, the human nature of Chriſt, which was the great Sacrifice, was without ſpot or guile; it was formed by the Holy Spirit, and breathed out nothing but ſanctity, that it might be a pure offering unto God. Had there been any blemiſh in it, it could not have been united to the Perſon of the Word, nor offered up as a ſacrifice to God for us. The Sacrifice, pure in it ſelf, was ſubſtituted in the room of ſinful defective men; there was foreign, the life of a Beaſt inſtead of that of a Man. Sutably, Chriſt the meek, patient, immaculate Lamb of God, ſtood in our room; he died for us, he gave his life a ranſom foreign, inſtead of many, Mat. 20.28. His Perſon was put in the room of ours, and his ſufferings too in the room of ours. Had he not ſtood in our ſtead, he could not have been capable either to bear the ſtroke of penal ſufferings, or to free us from the ſame; not to bear penal ſufferings, he being nothing but meer innocency in himſelf; nor to free us from them, he being in no conjunction with us. The ſacrifice being put in the ſinners room, had ſin imputed to it; they were to lay their hands upon the head of it, Lev. 1.4: a confeſſion of ſins was made over the Scape-goat, Lev. 16.21; their ſins were in a ſort transferred upon the ſacrifice, that it might bear them away. Thus it was with Chriſt, he was made ſin for us, 2 Cor. 5.21. The Lord laid on him the iniquities of us all, Iſa. 53.6. Our guilt, as it was fundamentum poenae, was imputed to him ſo far, as to render his ſufferings penal; and, as an Ancient hath it, he was delictorum ſuſceptor, non commiſſor; having no guilt of his own, he ſtood under ours, in order to a glorious expiation and abolition of it in his death and ſatiſfaction. Sin being charged upon the ſacrifice, there was deſtructio rei oblatae, a deſtroying of the thing offered: ſo it was with Chriſt, when our ſins were laid upon him; with the Corn he was bruiſed, with the Wine and Oyl poured out, with the Lamb ſlain and roaſted in the fire of Gods wrath, and with the Scape-goat driven into the wilderneſs of deſertion, crying out, My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken me? His ſufferings were very many and great for us. The ſacrifice being slain, its blood did expiate ſin, an atonement was made, remiſſion enſued upon it: Thus Chriſt dying on the croſs, his blood was expiatory, our fault was compenſated, Juſtice was ſatisfied, wrath was averted, and God appeaſed and reconciled towards us. In theſe things appears a fair analogy between thoſe ancient ſacrifices, and Chriſt the grea Sacrifice.
The other is this: There is that in Chriſt which infinitely tranſcends all the legal ſacrifices. In the ſacrifice there was only a brute in perfection, but in Chriſt there was an human nature in perfection; an human nature which had the Spirit above meaſure, and was as full of grace as the capacity of a creature could hold: there was in his humanity ſuch a beauty and unmatchable perfection of grace, as far ſurpaſſed the united and accumulated excellencies of all the Angels in Heaven. The ſacrifice ſtood and ſuffered in the room of offenders by conſtraint and compulſion, it was bound with cords to the horns of the Altar: but Chriſt ſtood and ſuffered in our room by choice and voluntary ſponſion; his ſoul was not ſnatched away, but poured out; his life was not meerly taken away, but laid down; he was under no conſtraint but that of his own compaſſion; he was tied with no cords but thoſe of his own love. In the private ſacrifice ſome particular ſin was charged upon it; in the publick one, the ſins of the Jewiſh Nation were charged upon it: But upon Chriſt were laid the ſins of a World, ſins of vaſt diſtances, as far remote in place as the quarters of the earth, and in time, as the morning and evening of the world, met all together upon him. In the ſacrifice there was a meer ſimple death, and the blood was but the blood of a brute: but Chriſts death was not a meer ſimple one, but a death with a ſting and a curſe in it; a death with as much wrath in it, as was due to the ſin of a world; nor was his blood the blood of a brute, but the blood of a man, nay of God himſelf: and what manner of Sacrifice was this! how compenſative for ſin! how ſatisfactory to Juſtice! how averſive of wrath! how impetrative of all good! In every reſpect it was infinitely valuable and ſufficient. The Sacrifice ſuo modo did expiate ſin, it took away civil guilt, by freeing the offender from that temporal death which in the ſtrict ſanction of the Law was due to him. It took away ceremonial guilt, by freeing him from thoſe legal impurities which excluded him from the publick Worſhip; hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That the blood of bulls and goats, and the aſhes of an heifer ſprinkling the unclean, did ſanctifie to the purifying of the fleſh, Heb. 9.13. Thus far went the ſacrifice, but it could go no further: the moral guilt was ſtill unremoved, Juſtice was ſtill unſatisfied, the wrath to come was ſtill unaverted, God as yet was unreconciled; there was ſomewhat done to the fleſh, nothing to the conſcience; ſomewhat in foro ſoli, in the Jewiſh Judicature, nothing in foro poli, in the Court of Heaven, to give a full ſatisfaction to Divine Juſtice. Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, that thoſe ſacrifices, though often repeated, could not make the comers thereunto perfect, Hebr. 10.1. The blood of bulls and goats could not take away ſin, v. 4. Still there was a conſcience of ſin, and a remembrance of it every year, v. 2, 3. Hence God reprobated all thoſe ſacrifices, and would have none of them; they were not rejected for the hypocriſie of the offerer, as they were Iſa. 1.12, 13; nor comparatively as being in the outward work leſs than mercy, Hoſ. 6.6: But they were rejected as not able to do the great work, to expiate ſin; they were to vaniſh as Clouds before the Sun, as Types before the ſubſtance. But when Chriſt gave himſelf an offering and a ſacrifice to God for a ſweet-ſmelling ſavour, Epheſ. 5.2, there was a penal, total expiation of ſin; not the fleſh but the Conſcience was purged, not ceremonial, but Moral guilt was done away. Thus the Apoſtle, comparing his Sacrifice with the legal ones, ſaith, The blood of Chriſt, who through the eternal ſpirit offered up himſelf without ſpot to God, ſhall purge your conſcience from dead works to ſerve the living God, Heb. 9.14. Emphatica omnia, & totidem pene cauſae, quot verba, aeternae foreign; per Chriſtum partae, ſaith the worthy Paraeus; all things in the Text are Emphatical, and there are almoſt as many cauſes, as words, of the eternal redemption obtained by Chriſt. He offered, not as the Gentiles to Devils, but to God; he offered, not as the Prieſt under that Law, a Sacrifice diſtinct from himſelf, but he offered himſelf: the thing offered and the Prieſt, beyond all parallel, were one and the ſame. He offered, not as the deceiver, a corrupt thing, Mal. 1.14; but his pure and innocent ſelf, in whom there was no ſpot or blemiſh. He offered up himſelf, not meerly through an human ſpirit, but through a Divine Eternal one; through his Divinity, which aſpired an eternal vigor and fragrancy into his Sacrifice, ſo that it needed not, as the legal ones, any reiteration: for, as the Apoſtle hath it, he hath by one offering perfected for ever them that are ſanctified, Heb. 10.14. This is that great Sacrifice, more than all other ſacrifices, which ſatisfied Juſtice, expiated moral guilt, averted the wrath of Heaven, and procured an eternal redemption for us.
Further, Chriſt was not only the ſubſtance of the ſacrifices, but of the High-Prieſts alſo. He hath the true holy garments, the graces of the Spirit: the true Ʋrim and Thummim, lights and perfections. His girdle is Truth, his golden bells pure Doctrine, his anointing the Spirit and Power. He entred not with the blood of Goats and Calves into the Holy of Holies here below, but with his own blood into Heaven, there to appear in the preſence of God, and bear the names of his people upon his heart. He is an High-Prieſt above all high-prieſts; not a meer man, but God, whoſe Deity poured out an infinite virtue upon his Sacrifice. He was not made an High-Prieſt only, but made ſuch by an oath; The Lord ſware, Thou art a Prieſt for ever after the order of Melchizedeck, Hebr. 7.21. The Aaronical Prieſthood was temporary and of leſs moment, but Chriſts was unchangeable and of far greater moment; hence God pawned his Holineſs, Life, Being it ſelf, to make it immutable for ever. Other high-prieſts died as men; but Chriſt, though he died as a Sacrifice, yet as an High-Prieſt he lives for ever: hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That he was a Prieſt after the power of an endleſs life, Heb. 7.16. His Deity made him an everliving Prieſt, and tranſfuſed an endleſs life of merit into his Sacrifice. He is conſecrated for evermore, Heb. 7.28. He is a perfect Prieſt, the efficacy of his Sacrifice is perpetual: the holy Unction on his head is indeficient, and ever running down upon believers. This is the great High-Prieſt, the ſubſtance of all thoſe under the Law.
Laſtly: The truth of Gods Worſhip is ſet forth in and by Chriſt. Though the truth and ſincerity of Worſhip were required under the Law; though external Worſhip as well as internal, be due under the Goſpel; yet the truth of Worſhip was never ſo excellently ſet forth, as it is in and by Chriſt. This appears in three or four things.
1. The matter of Worſhip is now more free and pure than it was; the clog of Ceremonies and ritual obſervances, is now removed. Under the Law there was abundance of Corn, Ordinances, a great number of Sacrifices, Circumciſions, Waſhings, Purifyings, Fringes, Feſtivals, Travels to the Temple, and diſtinctions of meats; but in and by Chriſt the yoke is broken, the carnal Ordinances ceaſe, and all is turned into ſpirituality. Our Sacrifice is to preſent and conſecrate our ſelves to God, which is a ſervice highly reaſonable, and indeed no other than the right poſture of the ſoul towards him. Our Circumciſion is in the ſpirit, and a cutting off the corrupt fleſh of it. Our Waſhing is that of Regeneration and Reformation. Our Purifying is that of Faith, which purifies the heart by the Blood and Spirit of Chriſt apprehended by it. Our Fringes are no outward ones, thoſe being ſupplied by the Law in the heart. Chriſt is our Paſsover; the Holy Spirit poured out, our Pentecoſt. Our Feaſt is foreign, to do our duty, as one ſaith: To delight in works of Virtue, as another hath it. There is now no tye to this or that place: Omnis locus viro bono templum, Every place is a Temple to a good man; Every-where we may lift up holy hands to God. Nor any diſtinctions of meat; To the pure all things are pure. The Levitical uncleanneſs in beaſts, did ſhadow out the moral uncleanneſs in men: Quod Judaei vitabant in pecore, id nos vitare oportet in more; What the Jews avoided in the beaſt, that we are to avoid in our converſation. If there be no diſcretion of things in us, the beaſt doth not part the hoof; if no heavenly rumination, it doth not chew the cud. An idle perſon is a fiſh without fins or ſcales, ſeldom in motion. An earthly man is a creeping thing, that goes upon his belly, and feeds on duſt. Thus in and by Chriſt Religion is refined, the load of carnal and ritual obſervations is caſt off, and Worſhip is brought forth in its pure and ſpiritual glory.
2. The mode of Worſhip is excellently ſet forth in the Goſpel. God, who is a Spirit, muſt be ſerved as becomes him, in ſpirit and truth: There muſt be a lowlineſs and humility of mind, a reverence and godly fear, an elevation and devotional aſcenſion of the ſoul to God, a filial love and obedience to his command, a ſingle eye, a pure intention at his glory, a divine fervour and freedom of ſpirit in the work, a faith in the great Mediator for acceptance, a waiting and holy expectancy upon God, that he would bleſs his own Ordinance, and irradiate the duty with the light of his countenance. It's true, this mode of Worſhip was known under the Old Teſtament; but it was never ſo illuſtriouſly ſet forth as by our Saviour Jeſus Chriſt. As a Painter, ſaith Theophylact, doth not deſtroy the old lineaments, but only make them more glorious and beautiful; ſo did Chriſt about the Law, by his pure diſcoveries he put a gloſs and glory upon the Divine Worſhip.
3. The help to Worſhip is communicated in and by Jeſus Chriſt. The Holy Spirit, which firſt newframes the heart for pure ſpiritual Worſhip, and then ſtirs up and actuates the holy Graces in it, is more largely afforded under the Goſpel than ever it was before. Under the Law there were ſome dews and droppings of it in the Jewiſh Church; but under the Goſpel it is poured out upon all fleſh. It was a Judaical axiom, The Divine Majeſty dwells in none without the Land of Iſrael. But after Jeſus Chriſt had by his ſweet-ſmelling Sacrifice purchaſed the Spirit, and in the glory of his Merits had aſcended into Heaven, he ſhed forth the Spirit in a rich and abundant meaſure upon all ſorts of men, Jews and Gentiles: Into what place ſoever the Goſpel comes, there the Spirit is at work to frame new creatures, and ſet them in motion, that God may be ſerved, not in the oldneſs of the letter, but in the newneſs of the ſpirit; that his Worſhip under the gales and ſweet influences of the Spirit may come forth, as it ought, in its life and pure ſpirituality.
4. The great motive to Worſhip, the reward of eternal life, was never ſo manifeſted as it was by Jeſus Chriſt. It's true, holy men of old had ſome glimmerings of it; Abraham ſought after an heavenly Country; Jacob waited for Gods ſalvation; Moſes had reſpect to the recompence of Reward; Job ſpeaks of ſeeing God in his fleſh; the believing-Jews could ſee eternal things in temporal, and meaſure Heaven by an Aſtrolabe of Earth. In their Ikkarim, in the Articles of their Creed, there is one touching the Reſurrection of the dead. Thoſe Ancients had ſome obſcure knowledg of life eternal: but in and by Chriſt it is ſet forth plainly and clearly, in lively and orient colours. Heaven, as it were, opens it ſelf, and in pure diſcoveries comes down and approaches near unto our faith. It is now plain that the true worſhippers ſhall ever be with the Lord, ſhall ſee him and be like him; ſhall enter into his joy, and be ſwallowed up there; ſhall have a Crown of life, a weight of glory, and that to all eternity. All this is as clear as if it were writ with a Sun-beam: Hence the Apoſtle ſaith, That Chriſt brought life and immortality to light, 2 Tim. 1.10: and again, That befor, the way into the holieſt of all was not made manifeſt, Heb. 9.8; that is, That light or manifeſtation of this Reward which was under the Law, was as none at all in compariſon of the pure and great diſcovery of it which is under the Goſpel. The ſervants of God need not ſay, What ſhall we have? The Reward is before them, the Celeſtial Paradiſe is in plain view, to attract their hearts into the holy ways which lead thither.
In this diſplay of Truth, we have a notable proof of the truth of our Religion. Admirable are the harmonies and compliances between the two Teſtaments; the Subſtance, though but one, correſponds to the Types and Shadows, though very many. The Meſſiah in the fleſh, notwithſtanding the vaſt diſtance in time, fully anſwers to the Meſſiah in Promiſes and Predictions. All things concur and conſpire together to evidence the truth of our Religion. It was the obſervation of ſome of the ancient Fathers, That there is umbra in lege, imago in Evangelio, veritas in coelo, a ſhadow in the Law, an image in the Goſpel, the Truth in Heaven. Hence we may thus conclude, That Religion, which was in the Law in ſhadow, in a darker repreſentation; which is in the Goſpel in the image, in a more lively repreſentation; and which leads to Heaven, where is perfection of light, and eternal life in the thing it ſelf; That Religion muſt needs be true. Or we may go higher than the Moſaical Law, and conclude thus: That Religion which in the morning of the World, immediately after the fall of man, appeared in the firſt Promiſe of the Meſſiah; which afterwards appeared in types and more Promiſes; which after theſe, ſhone out illuſtriously in Jeſus Chriſt; which at laſt introduces into the perfect day in Heaven; That muſt needs be true. The ſucceſſion and harmony which is in theſe things, tell us, that infinite wiſdom did order and diſpoſe the ſame. Now after the Evangelical light is clearly revealed to us, what manner of perſons ought we to be? How thankful ſhould we be that we live in the ſhining days of the Son of man? The Pagans are in groſs darkneſs, but we have the Divine light ſhining round about us. The Jews had ſome dawnings and ſtrictures of light; but we have the Sun, the full Globe of light: We need not now grope in the dark after happineſs, Chriſt the true light is come, the glory of the Lord is riſen upon us in the pure light of the Goſpel. How ſhould we believe and adhere to the Promiſes! God hath performed the great Promiſe of the Meſſiah, and it is not imaginable that he ſhould fail in the other, which are but appendants to that great Promiſe. The Promiſes now have a double ſeal, Gods Veracity, and Chriſts Blood; and in all reaſon we ſhould ſeal them up by our faith; not to do ſo, is practically to ſay, that God may lye, or Chriſts Merits fail. In what truth and obedience ſhould we walk! No luſt ſhould now be indulged, no duty ſhould now be baulked. Every holy beam muſt be welcome, as coming from Heaven to guide us thither. Every Command of God muſt be precious, as being the Counterpane of his heart, and proved to be ſuch by the obedience of his own Son in the fleſh. Now to walk in darkneſs, is to reproach the holy light which ſhines round about us. To be falſe to God who is ſo true to us, is no leſs than horrible ingratitude to him, and in the end will prove utter ruine to our ſouls; it being utterly impoſſible for us, while we are falſe to him, to be true to our ſelves or our own happineſs. How ſpiritual ſhould we be in worſhip! With what holy fear, faith, zeal, devotion, ſhould we ſerve him! Our ſpirits ſhould be conſecrated and offered up to God; our duties ſhould have warmth and life from the inward parts; the infinite Spirit muſt not be mocked with a ſhell, a meer body of Worſhip. Jeſus Chriſt the Subſtance being come, we muſt not reſt in the ſhadows and rituals of Religion. God is real in promiſes, and we ſhould be ſo in ſervices. He will give us the beſt Reward, even Heaven it ſelf; and we ſhould give him the beſt we have, even our hearts, that he may dwell there till he take us up into the bleſſed Region, to dwell with him in glory; in ſo doing we ſhall at once be true to him, and to our own happineſs.