The Christian Life Volume 5, Discourse 2 (2 of 2)
3dly. He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of that full Pardon and Remission which he hath granted to Sinners in his Gospel, in Contradistinction to that partial and incompleat Pardon which he gave when he tabernacled among the Iews. For whilst the Eternal Word as his Father's Representative reigned over the Nation of Israel, he gave no other Pardon but temporal by the Law of Moses, which was the Rule and Instrument of his Government. And I'm sure that from the 20th of Exod. to the 27th of Deut. in which compass that whole Law is comprized, there is not the least mention of any other Pardon or Forgiveness allowed to Offenders, but only what respects their temporal Punishment; nay in some Cases this was not allowed, as particularly in the Cases of Blasphemy, Idolatry, and Murther, no not though they heartily repented of it. For all that Pardon which the Mosaick Law allowed, was indulged to them upon their offering up Propitiatory Sacrifices, which in these exempted Cases were not allowed of; but yet the Apostle tells us of all these Sacrifices in general, that the Blood of Bulls and of Goats could not take away Sin, Heb. 10. 4. that they did sanctify only to the purifying of the flesh, Heb. 7. 13. that they could not make him that did the Service perfect, as pertaining to the Conscience, Heb. 9. 9. that is, that they only released Offenders from the Obligation to Civil and Ecclesiastical Punishments, but could by no means free them from the eternal Punishments of the other Life. Not that I make the least Doubt but that truly penitent Offenders were forgiven the eternal Punishment then as well as now, and forgiven too for the sake of Iesus Christ, the Lamb that was intentionally slain from the Beginning of the World; but by what hath been said it's plain they were not forgiven by Virtue of that Law whereby the Eternal Word reigned over the House of Israel, but rather by Virtue of that Gospel which was first preached to Adam, and afterwards to the Patriarchs; wherein Christ the Seed of the Woman, and the Seed of Abraham, is promised, in whom all Nations of the Earth should be blessed. 'Tis true, the Sacrifices of the Law were typical of the Sacrifice of Christ, and so consequently was that temporal Pardon obtained by them typical of that eternal Pardon which we do obtain by the great Propitiation of our Saviour; for so the Apostle tells us, that the Law had in it a shadow of good things to come, Heb. 10. 1. But we must not imagine that eternal Remission, which is the Effect of Christ's real Sacrifice, could ever be obtained by those Sacrifices which were only the Shadows and Resemblances of it. So that that Remission of Sins which the Eternal Word gave whilst he tabernacled among the Iews, was nothing near so perfect and compleat as that which he afterwards proclaimed in the Tabernacle of our Flesh, because it neither extended to all Kinds of Sins, nor yet to all Kinds of Punishments; it left some unforgiven as to the Punishments of this Life, and it left all unforgiven as to the Punishments of the Life to come. But having pitched his Tabernacle in our Flesh, he did by the meritorious Sacrifice of himself obtain of his Father this publick Act of Grace, this free Charter of Mercy for all Mankind, That whosoever would repent and amend, whatsoever Sins he is guilty of, whatsoever Punishments he is obliged to, he shall certainly be forgiven them all, and be as freely received into God's Grace and Favour, as if he never had offended him; for he is the Propitiation for the Sins of the World; And by him, saith the Apostle, all that believe are justified from all things, from which they could not be justified by the Law of Moses, Acts 13. 39. In this respect therefore the Eternal Word dwelt among us full of Grace, in that he proclaimed such a full and perfect Pardon of all Sins, and of all Punishments to all that with a true Faith and hearty Repentance, should turn unto him; and accordingly this Pardon is frequently called by the Name of Grace, or of the Grace of God, and of our Lord Iesus Christ, Acts 15. 11. Heb. 12. 15. & Rom. 3. 24.
4thly. He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of the internal Grace and Assistance, which he so abundantly afforded us above what he did to the Iews under the Law of Moses when he tabernacled among them. I make no doubt but God in all Ages hath been always ready to assist good Men in their Duty. This the very Heathens themselves believed, that foreign, that God did concur with all good Men, and that no Man did ever arrive to any eminent Degree of Virtue without a Divine Afflatus, or Assistance. And had the good Men among the Iews been ignorant of this, what should move them to pray, as we find they often do, that God would wash and cleanse, and quicken and strengthen, and inliven them? For so, in the Book of the Psalms, you find good David very often praying that God would teach him his Commandments, and incline his Heart to keep them, and keep him back from presumptuous Sin. By which Prayers it's evident they had good Encouragment to hope that God would be ready to concur with them, and to bless their pious Endeavours with the internal Assistance of his Grace and Spirit. And this Encouragement I suppose they might have partly from their natural Notions of God, which must needs suggest to them that He being infinitely good, as he is, will never be wanting to his Creatures in any thing that is necessary to the obtaining those noble Ends for which he created them, and consequently that he will be assistant to them in their Duty, which is the way to that End, and not leave them to contend with Difficulties which are insuperable to their natural Power and Ability; and partly from those general Evangelical Promises which God made to them by the Patriarchs and Prophets, from whence they might fairly infer that he who had promised to do so much for them, upon Condition they persisted in their Duty and Allegiance to him, would never be wanting on his Part to strengthen and enable them to it. But I can by no means allow that they were encouraged to hope for any such Assistance from any Promise of that Law which the Eternal Word gave them when he tabernacled among them, and by which in his Father's stead he ruled and governed them; and that both because there is no such Promise found in all that Law, and because the Apostle tells us that the Law was weak through the flesh, Rom. 8. 3. and calls it the Ministration of Death written and engraven in stones, in opposition to the Ministration of the Spirit that is not written in Tables of stone, but in fleshly Tables of the heart, 2 Cor. 3. 7, 8. comp. with v. 3. And, Galat. 3. 13, 14. you find the Apostle opposes to the Curse of the Law, the Blessing of Abraham, and the Blessing of Abraham he tells us is the Promise of the Spirit through Faith, that is, by the Gospel. And thus under the Law there was doubtless an internal Grace and Assistance vouchsafed to good Men, though not promised by it; yet after the Eternal Word forsook the Tabernacle of Moses, and came to tabernacle in our Flesh, it's evident that then he did more plentifully communicate this his Grace to the World than ever; for then the Spirit was said to be shed upon us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Lord; and in the 16th ver. of this 1st. of Iohn, we are said of his fulness to receive foreign, Grace upon Grace, that is, Grace heaped upon Grace, and a vast overflowing Abundance; according to that of Theognis, foreign, that is, thou givest me Calamities upon Calamities. So that unless we will our selves, it is now impossible we should fall short either of our Duty, or the blessed Reward of it, since our Saviour is become such an overflowing Fountain of Grace to us, and hath promised to communicate it to us in such plentiful Effusions if we will sincerely ask, and honestly endeavour after it; and therefore in this respect also he may well be said to dwell among us full of Grace, in that while he dwelt among us he obtained for, and promised to us such an accumulated Plenty of inward Grace and Assistance to encourage and enable us to do his Commandments.
5thly. He dwelt among us full of Grace in respect of the Vastness of the Recompence which he promised to us, and which infinitely exceeds whatsoever he promised when he dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses. For when the Eternal Word reigned over Israel as the Vice-Roy and Substitute of his Father, he only acted the Part of their Civil Sovereign or Governour; which Part he continued till they chose another King, and then he resigned his Title to the succeeding Heirs of David. And accordingly we find, that when the Israelites first desired a King of Samuel, God bids him hearken to their Cry; For, saith he, they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them, 1 Sam. 8. 7. Which is a plain Argument that before he only acted as their Political Prince in that he interprets their desiring another King, to be a rejecting of him from reigning over them. For had he been no otherwise King over Israel, than as he is over other Nations where the true Religion is owned and professed, his Dominion might have fairly consisted with that of another King or Sovereign; and it would have been no more a rejecting God's Rule for Israel to desire a King, than it is for France, or Spain, or England. For it's plain the Israelites did not reject God's Divine Dominion, which he claims over the World as the Omnipotent Creator of all things; for then their Desire of a King had been Idolatry, and the Kings whom they desired had been Idols, or false Gods. It is plain therefore, that it was his Political Dominion only which they rejected by desiring another King to reign in his stead, which he interprets as their Intention to rob and divest him of that Civil Authority which till then he had claimed and exercised among them. So that the plain Sense of their Desire was this, God shall no longer be our Civil Sovereign, but for the future we are resolved to have a King from among our selves, even as other Nations round about us, whom we will invest with the same Civil Authority which hitherto he hath challenged and exercised among us. God the Eternal Word therefore being their Civil Prince or Ruler, as such he gave them the Mosaick Law, which he only designed to be the Rule or Instrument of his Civil Government and Dominion; which is the Reason why in that Law he only promised civil or temporal Blessings, because it was only a Law of Civil Government, and as such could design no further than the civil or temporal Happiness of those who were to be ruled and governed by it. And accordingly if you peruse the Promises of that Law, you will find that they all consist of outward and temporal Blessings; such as Health of Body, and Victory over their Enemies, Peace among themselves, and with their Neighbouring Nations, Plenty of Bread, and the Conveniences of Life, and Success and Prosperity in all their Affairs; and therefore the Author to the Hebrews calls the Gospel the bringing in of a better Hope, and upon this Account opposes it to the Law of Moses, Heb. 7. 19. which plainly implies that that Law brought in no better Hope than that of a temporal Happiness; and those Words of the Apostle, Gal. 3. 12. The Law is not of Faith; but, The Man that doth them, shall live in them, do plainly seem to imply this Sense, The Law proposing only present and sensible Blessings to such as do it such as that Thou shalt live a happy and prosperous Life in this World, doth not require Faith properly so called, which is the Evidence of things not seen; that is, of the invisible Blessings of the other Life; and v. 21. he plainly asserts, that if there had been any other Law besides the Gospel that could have given that promised Life, Righteousness would have been by that Law; and therefore since, as he asserts, Righteousness was by no other Law but the Gospel, it follows that no other Law, no not that of Moses, could give or promise Life eternal. Not that I make the least Doubt, but good Men under the Law of Moses did firmly believe a future Happiness; for this the very Heathens themselves had very great Hopes and Expectations of, though they never had so much Reason as the Iews to induce them to believe: For, besides all those weighty Arguments which were common to them with the Heathens, they had those general Evangelical Promises which God made to the Patriarchs of being their God, and their exceeding great Reward; the Histories of the Translations of Enoch and Elijah, and of sundry most eminent Examples of God's exceeding Love to Goodness and good Men, from whence they might easily infer, that sure he had better Rewards in store for them than any of the transitory Blessings of this Life, especially when they saw how many good Men were deprived of these, and left naked and destitute of all worldly Comforts: Besides all which, in every Age they had Prophets that were divinely inspired, and who, among all the Secrets that were revealed to them, cannot be supposed to have been wholly unacquainted with the typical Meaning of their Ceremonies and Polity, which among other things presignified the glorious Recompences of the Life to come. But however they came by it, I think it is very apparent from sundry Passages in the Book of the Psalms, Ezekiel and Daniel, that they were far from being Strangers to the Doctrine of a blessed Immortality hereafter; though I think it is very apparent from what hath been said, that they did not derive their Belief of this Doctrine from any express Promise of their Law. But yet it is very apparent, that though they were not altogether unacquainted with it, yet 'twas never so clearly discovered to them by the Eternal Word as it was afterwards to us by the Word Incarnate, since, as the Apostle tells us, He brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel: For therein he hath most clearly promised it to us, and as far as humane Language can express, explained and unfolded its Nature; and by his own Resurrection, and Ascension into Heaven, hath given us a clear and visible Demonstration of its Truth and Reality; so that now the Existence of it is become as certain to us, as it's possible for a Matter of Fact to be; and we cannot be more infallibly assured of it than we are, unless we had been personally in Heaven, and had there surveyed its Glories with our own Eyes. Well therefore may He be said to have dwelt among us full of Grace, since he was graciously pleased to make us such express Promises of future Happiness, and give us such ample Assurance of its Reality and Existence. And so I have done with the first Note of Distinction between Christ's dwelling among us, and his dwelling in the Mosaick Tabernacle: He dwelt among us full of Grace.
2. The other Character by which his dwelling among us is distinguished from his dwelling in the Mosaick Tabernacle, is this, that he dwelt among us full of Truth. It's plain that Truth here is not to be understood as opposed to Falshood, because in that Sense it is no Note of Distinction between these two Dwellings or Tabernaclings of Christ, unless we suppose that he did falsly dwell, or act, and represent God in the Tabernacle of Moses, which would be to blaspheme his Truth and Veracity. Truth therefore must here be understood as opposed to Obscurity and Shadow, and so must denote Clearness and Reality, as it very commonly doth. As when we say a Picture is not a true Man, we do not charge the Picture with a Lye; if it could speak indeed, and should call it self a Man, we should then say it were a lying Picture for pretending to be what it is not, being only a silent Resemblance of him. Thus when the Apostle saith, He dwelt among us full of Truth, and thereby distinguishes his tabernacling among us from the manner of his dwelling among the Iews, it is not so to be understood as if he had dwelt among them in a false or lying manner, or that that Representation which he made to them of God and Divine Things were false and imposturous; no, God forbid: But thus, whereas when He inhabited the Tabernacle, he was full of Hieroglyphicks, or mystical Representations, which though they were true Pictures or Shadows of Divine Things, yet have not the Truth and Reality of the Things themselves in them, and consequently would be Lies and Cheats should they pretend to be what they only represent; but now he is come to dwell among us, he is full of the Things themselves, of those Realities which formerly he only gave us the Types and Shadows of; now he hath removed all that Scene of Pictures and mystical Representations, and brought the Things themselves upon the Stage, and exposed them naked to the View of the World. So that now he doth not entertain us, as heretofore he did the Iews, with Emblems and Shadows, but with Truth, and the real Substances of Things. And thus the Word is very frequently taken in the New Testament: Thus, Heb. 8. 2. the Christian Church is called the true Tabernacle, in Contradistinction to the Tabernacle of Moses; not as if that were a false Tabernacle, but a typical one, it being designed only as a Shadow of the Christian Church, which is the true Reality and Substance which was pictured and represented in it; for so the Apostle himself explains it, Heb. 9. 24. For Christ, saith he, is not entred into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into Heaven it self: From whence it's plain, that therefore those Holy Places are opposed to true Places, because they were only Figures, or mystical Representations of something that is real and substantial. So, Dan. 7. 16. when Daniel desired to know the Truth of that Prophetick Scene, it is said, that One stood by, and made him know the Interpretation of the things; that is, what was the Reality and Substance that was represented in those Types and Figures. So here, He dwelt among us full of Truth, that is, when he dwelt among us he was full of the Substance and Reality of those Things which before he was wont to represent by obscure Emblems and Shadows; now he presents to us the Things themselves, and not the mystical Types and Figures of them as formerly he was wont to do. For I think it's very evident, that the whole Model of the Iewish Polity was purposely contrived to be an Emblem and Representation of the Gospel, and that the main Reason of those numerous Rites and Ceremonies, was to delineate and shadow out the glorious Mysteries of Christianity: For the Apostle plainly tells us, that they were all a shadow of things to come, and that the Body, or Substance of that Shadow, was Iesus Christ, Col. 2. 17. And the Author to the Hebrews calls them the Patterns of the things in Heaven, or the heavenly Things; by which it's plain he means Christ, or the Subjects of the Kingdom of Christ, since he tells us that as it was necessary that those Patterns should be purified with Blood, so it was necessary that those Heavenly Things represented by them, should be purified by a better Sacrifice, Heb. 9. 23. And what other Heavenly Things are there but only Christians that are purified with this better Sacrifice of Christ? And in another place the same Author tells us, that the Law hath in it a Shadow of good things to come, Heb. 10. 1. And thus very frequently in the New Testament, the sacred Rites of the Mosaick Law are declared to be Types and Shadows of the Mysteries of the Gospel, as particularly in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is almost wholly spent upon this Argument. And this the Iews themselves seem to be acquainted with long before the Publication of the Gospel: For so the most ancient Iews look'd upon the Temple as a Type and Figure of the Heavenly State; and Philo the Iew, in his Allegories of the Law, and almost in all his other Writings, makes the Rites and Ceremonies of the Mosaick Law to be Types and Figures of some Divine or Moral Truth, and particularly the High Priest to be an Emblem of the Eternal Word, and his Crown and Vestments to be Representations of his Authority and Divine Perfections, wherein he exactly agrees with the Author to the Hebrews. And from sundry Passages in the Book of Psalms it seems evident, that the good Iews had a Prospect beyond the Outside and Letter of the Law, even into the typical Sense and Meaning of it; and that through its glimmering Shadows and Resemblances, they beheld very much of the Substance and Realities of the Gospel: For hence probably was that of David, Ps. 25. 14. The Secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; for certainly the Secret of the Lord here cannot be meant the Fore-knowledge of future Events, since under the Old Testament that was neither restrained to good Men, nor much less was it universally with them that feared God; and therefore it seems more probable, that by it we are to understand those then secret Mysteries of the Gospel, which were so obscurely represented in the Types and Figures of the Law; especially if we compare this with that Prayer of David, Ps. 119. 18. Open thou mine Eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of thy Law; which methinks plainly intimates that the good Man did believe there were some wondrous Mysteries contained under those dark and typical Representations: And afterwards, v. 27. make me to understand the way of thy Precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous Works; which implies that he believed that there were some Things very mystical, and hard to be understood contained within the Precepts of their Law, which in their literal Sense were easy and obvious, and had nothing of Depths or Mystery in them; and therefore certainly had he not seen something within them beyond their Rine and Outside, he would never have prayed so earnestly as he doth, that God would teach him his Laws, and that he would not hide from him his Commandments, as he doth, v. 19. much less would he have imagined that by understanding of them he should be enabled to talk of such wondrous Things. Afterwards, v. 69. he tells us, that he had seen an end of all Perfection, but God's Commandments are exceeding broad; which denotes that he who had seen an End of all Things else, had discovered so vast and boundless a Depth in the Commands of God, that he could see no End of it; whereas it's plain, that the literal Meaning of them was very narrow and contracted, and far from being so exceeding broad; which argues that the good Man had discovered under the Letter and Surface of them, a Mine of mystical Sense which he could not reach the Bottom of, and that God had given him a Glimps of those glorious Secrets of the Gospel which he had wrapt up, and involved in the typical Precepts of the Law. Thus the Eternal Word while he tabernacled among the Iews, revealed his Gospel to them by Types and Shadows, and mystical Representations of it, which, though it was very obscure and imperfect, yet seems to have been the best and clearest that the present State of that People could admit of. For it seems plain by the History of the Iews, that they were naturally a very rude and untractable People, and doubtless they were never worse than when they came out of the Land of Egypt, where their bad Temper was doubtless very much improved by those gross Idolatries in which they had been educated; so that being bad themselves, and also extreamly debauched by the wicked Manners of the Egyptians, it is not to be supposed that they were Subjects capable of the Heights and Purities of Religion; for if from the Depth of Immorality, whereinto they were sunk, God should have immediately strained them up to the highest▪ Pitch of Gospel-Purity, in all Probability they would never have born it; but like the Strings of a Musical Instrument, being wound too high, would have been apt to crack and fly in pieces, and wholly to revolt from God into those gross Idolatries which yet they were hardly weaned from, and which were still so suitable to their Genius and Temper. So that as yet there was so great a Gulph between them and the Gospel, that 'twas hardly possible either for them to go to that, or for that to come to them. And therefore as God in his own high Wisdom hath placed a Twi-light between the Night and the Morning to secure our Sight lest our weak Eyes should be dazled by a too sudden Irruption of the Broad-day's Glory; so did he deal with the Iews: He thought it not convenient immediately to post them out of utter Darkness into perfect Light, but first interposes a less pure Religion as a Medium or Twi-light between the Heathen and the Gospel State, that so by that he might prepare their Sight for the Reception of a more perfect Splendor, and make them fit to entertain the severer Purities of the Gospel without being offended or dazled with its Glory. But yet in Wisdom he hath so contrived and modeled this less perfect Religion, as to make it most instructive and useful, having so ordered its sacred Rites and Ceremonies as to make them Representative of the whole Method and Oeconomy of the Gospel; and though those typical Representations were very obscure and dark, so that the Gospel seemed to run under ground in the midst of those Ceremonial Observances, yet it frequently broke forth, and opened it self in the midst of them, and by degrees in the Prophetick Age did make it self a larger Channel, till by its Force and Violence it did overthrow these Banks, that stood in its way, and overspread the Face of the whole Earth. So that it's plain that the Obscurity of those typical Representations did not render them wholly useless, since they were not so obscure, but those who were good, and diligent, and serious in the Study of them might be, and were instructed by them in whatsoever was necessary to make them good and happy. For though those Types had not a Mouth to speak out the Gospel, yet they had a Hand to point to it, they being as it were rude Draughts of that which was afterwards to be drawn to the greatest Life and Exactness; and this it's plain was understood by all good Men whose Hearts were carried beyond the outward Letter of the Law, to the more inward and spiritual Meaning of it; wherein they discovered those Evangelical Mysteries that were vailed and hidden under the outward Ceremonies, which made up that true spiritual Cabala which seems constantly to have been preserved among the true Israelites, and which afterwards was more largely commented on by the Prophets of the succeeding Ages, whose Care it was to unlock this Cabala, or spiritual Sense of the Law, and to raise up the Hearts of that People to a higher Expectation of the great Things which were to come. So that you see the State and Condition of the Iews would not admit of a plain Discovery of the Gospel to them, but required an outward Ceremonial Religion, that being most accommodate to their Genius and Temper; and therefore though the Eternal Word for the present Exigence established such a Religion among them, yet He wisely framed and modelled it into a typical Representation of the Gospel, that so thereby he might prepare them for it, and so far instruct them in the Knowledge of it as was necessary to their Welfare and Happiness. And hence the Apostle tells the Iews, that the Law was their School-master to bring them unto Christ, that they might be justified by Faith, and that now after Faith was come, they were no longer under their School-master, Gal. 3. 4, 25. that is, while they were in their Infantine, Childish State, and incapable of a more perfect Institution, God set the Law as a School-master over them, that that by its Types, and Pictures, and Emblems, might gradually instruct them in the Mysteries of Christ, and the Gospel, that so when it was openly revealed they might be justified by the Belief of it; and therefore now since the Gospel was come, they were no longer under the Tutorage of that School-master, now they were no longer to learn Christ by Types and mystical Representations, since he himself was present with them, and had openly revealed those Divine Mysteries which under those Types were so obscurely adumbrated. So that you see the Eternal Word tabernacled among the Iews in a far different manner from what he did when he pitched his Tabernacle in our Natures; for when he tabernacled among them he was full of Types, and Shadows, and mystical Emblems; He instructed them in Divine Things by Symbols, and obscure Representations; but when he came to tabernacle among us, and in our Natures, he was full of Truth, that is, of Substance and Reality: For then instead of the Shadows and Pictures of them, he exhibited to us the Things themselves; then he brought down the Mysteries of the Gospel out of that Cloud of Types in which they were before involved, and set them before us in a clear and open Light.
But that I may more fully demonstrate this to you, I shall briefly give you some particular Instances of his dwelling, or conversing among us full of Truth, in Contradistinction to that obscure typical Way of his conversing or tabernacling among the Iews; which I shall rank under these four Heads:
1. His Personal Transactions.
2. The Purity and Spirituality of his Laws.
3. The Condition and Quality of his Kingdom.
4. The Rewards and Recompences which he promises to his Subjects.
1. One great Instance of his conversing among us full of Truth, in Contradistinction to that obscure and typical Way of his conversing among the Iews, is his own Personal Transactions. The Eternal Word being to assume our Natures, thought fit to give the Iews whilst he tabernacled among them, a Specimen or Pattern of those glorious Things he was to transact in his Incarnate State; and this he did chiefly by the High Priest, and those Expiatory Sacrifices which he ordained and instituted among them, as you may find it demonstrated at large in the Epistle to the Hebrews. For as to the High Priest, he was to be called, and ordained of God, Heb. 5. 4. in which the Eternal Word represented to them his Commission from the Father, to descend into the World as his Embassador to Men. Secondly, He was to be born of a Woman that came a pure Virgin into the Arms of his Father, Levit. 21. 14. in which he seems to represent to them his own pure Nativity of a Virgin-Mother. Thirdly, He was to be washed with Water, and his Flesh and Loyns were to be covered with the whitest and the cleanest Linnen, Exod. 29. 7. and 28. 42. by which Christ typified to them the IMMACVLATE Sanctity and Innocence of his humane Life. Fourthly, He was to be clothed in the most glorious Garments that could possibly be made by the most excellent Workmen, Exod. 28. 2, 3. which seems to denote the Majesty of Christ's Person, and those glorious Works by which he render'd himself so illustrious in the World. Fifthly, The Colours of the Embroideries of his Garment being blue, purple, scarlet, and white, seem to denote the Truth of his Prophetick Office, the Majesty of his Royal, the Perfection of his Priestly, and his Innocence and Sanctity in the Execution of them all. Sixthly, He wore a holy Crown on his Head, and a Plate on his Forehead engraven with Holiness; which denotes the Divine Authority of Christ, and the Sacredness and Divinity of his Person. And, Seventhly, Upon his Breast he wore the Vrim and Thummim, in which was prefigured the Height and Purity of Christ's Doctrine, and the Holiness and Perfection of his Laws. In a word, the High Priest was to offer Sacrifice for the Sins of the People, on the great day of Expiation, which Sacrifice was to be a Beast without blemish voluntarily presented at the Door of the Tabernacle, whither the High Priest being come, he was to strip off his glorious Garment, to lay his Hand on the Head of the Beast, and to confess the Peoples Sins over it, and then to slay the Beast, and carry some of the Blood of it within the Vail, and sprinkle it upon, and before the Mercy-Seat, by which he is said to make an Attonement for their Sins; that is, to obtain Authority from God to bless and pardon: In which the Eternal Word gives us a plain Representation of his future Sacrifice upon Earth, and Intercession in Heaven; for he being both our Sacrifice and High Priest, did freely divest himself of the Glory and Dignity of his Humane Nature, and offer up himself to die for us; by which he laid his Hand as it were upon his own spotless and immaculate Head, did as our Representative acknowledge what we had deserved, that for our Sins we have justly merited to die for ever by the Hand of God, even as He for our sakes did submit to die by the Hand of Man: And having performed this bloody Sacrifice, he enters into Heaven, which is the true Holy of Holies, and there by the Oblation of his Blood and Obedience, makes an Atonement for our Sins, and obtains Authority from his Father to pardon and receive into Favour every truly penitent Offender in the World. Thus you see how the Personal Transactions of our Saviour were under the Law of Moses represented in mystical Types and Figures; but when he came to tabernacle among us, he did all that which before he only represented: He actually came down from the Father to us, was born of the Holy Virgin, lived a most holy and innocent Life, died a Sacrifice for our Sins, and is gone into Heaven to intercede for us: So that now instead of Types and Figures, we have the Substances and Realities that were obscurely shadowed and represented in them.
2. Another great Instance of his conversing among us full of Truth, is the Purity and Spirituality of his Laws. It's apparent that those which he gave to the Iews, according to the literal Sense of them, did only oblige them to an external Obedience; and therefore St. Paul calls the whole Law a carnal Commandment, Heb. 7. 16. and the Precepts of it he calls carnal Ordinances imposed upon them till the time of Reformation, Heb. 9. 10. But yet it is apparent that by these carnal Ordinances the Eternal Word did designedly typify and represent that internal Purity of Soul which the Evangelical Law doth exact: For he seeing that the Iews were not only a perverse, but also a dull and sottish People, as those generally are who are born and bred in Slavery, and that therefore they were incapable of sublime and spiritual Precepts, and would be apt to forget plain ones, He therefore thought it most proper and suitable to their Capacity and Genius to instruct them by sensible and material Signs, even as Parents do sometimes teach their Children by Pictures; for of this his Condescention to their Dulness and Capacity, the Prophet Isaiah takes notice, Chap. 28. 10, 11. where he saith, that he gave them Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little with a stammering tongue; that is, he look'd upon them as Children, and so condescended to their Weakness, and spoke to them in their own Dialect. And this Way of instructing them by outward and visible Signs was the most probable to take effect, because it was much in use in the Eastern Countries, but more especially in Egypt, whose Manners they were infinitely fond of, to wrap up their most excellent Precepts in Hieroglyphicks, which were nothing but Pictures and material Signs, by which they represented their Divine and Moral Institutions. Thus therefore by such visible Signs and Pictures, the Eternal Word instructed them in the Rules of internal Purity and Goodness; so by Circumcision he signified to them the Circumcision of their Hearts; and by their several Washings, Purity from Hypocrisy and Sensuality; yea this was probably the Intent of that Difference of Meats, as St. Barnabas in his Epistle tells us, that Swines Flesh was pronounc'd unclean, to instruct them not to live like Hoggs that clamour when they are hungry, and forget their Masters when they are full; that Eagles and such ravenous Birds were forbidden to be eat, to teach them that those who live not by Industry, but Rapine, are abominable; that Fish without Scales, which generally dwell in the Mud, were all pronounced unclean; to teach them the Evil of Sensuality, and Earthly-mindedness! Thus by these outward Signs his Intent was to insinuate into them internal Purity of Mind; and this was very well understood by those who were good and wise among them: Hence we find David gives very high Encomiums of the Law, Ps. 19. 7, 8. The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the Soul, making wise the simple; rejoycing the Heart, enlightning the Eyes, &c. which Characters are proper only to that inward and spiritual Sense of the Law that was decyphered upon those outward Signs and Ceremonies. Which Sense seems to have been very little taken notice of by the sottish Vulgar; for only the Ceremony it self was Matter of Law to them, which if they observed they were not punishable by that Law, though they never took notice of its spiritual Sense and Meaning, which made them neglect that inward Purity which was pictured on those outward Signs, and place the whole of their Righteousness in an outside ceremonious Pageantry. Hence is that of St. Paul, 2 Cor. 3. 13, 14, 15. I used, saith he, great plainness of Speech: And not as Moses, which put a Vail over his Face, that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly look unto the end of that which is abolished. But their Minds were blinded; for until this day remaineth the same Vail untaken away, in the reading the Old Testament; which Vail is done away in Christ: By which Vail he means those outward Shadows and Types in which the mystical Sense of the Law was wrapt and involved; and it seems they were so taken with the Pomp and Gaity of the outside, that they never minded that rich Treasure of Sense that was contained within it, and which the Apostle here calls the End of that which is abolished; yea, to this day, saith he, the Vail of outward Ceremonies stands so much in their Light that they cannot discern the internal Sense of the Old Testament; but now, saith he, it is done away by Christ. Now that the Eternal Word hath pitched his Tabernacle in our Nature, those outward Types wherein this inward Purity of Soul was so obscurely intimated, are vanished like Clouds before the Sun, and in their room are introduced the most pure and spiritual Laws of the Gospel, which are no longer couched in Types and Ceremonial Shadows, but in plain and naked Propositions. Now internal Holiness is palpably declared to be the great Design of Religion, that we should cleanse our selves from all Filthiness of Flesh and Spirit, and perfect Holiness in the fear of God. This therefore is another Instance of Christ's tabernacling among us full of Truth, viz. the Purity and Spirituality of his Laws, which heretofore he mystically represented to the Iews by outward Rites and Ceremonies.
3. Another Instance of his tabernacling among us full of Truth, in Contradistinction to that obscure typical Way of his conversing among the Iews, is the Condition and Quality of his Church and Kingdom. The Eternal Word, designing to erect a glorious Kingdom in the World, drew as it were a rude Scheme or Draught of it in the Form and Model of the Iewish Polity. For first he erects a Kingdom among them of which himself was King, to typify that Spiritual Kingdom which afterwards he meant to establish in the World; then he adopts the Iews to be his Children by the external Sign of Circumcision, who are therefore called a Holy Seed, which was an Emblem of that holy Seed which afterwards he designed to beget to himself by spiritual Regeneration, which is therefore called the Circumcision of the Heart, whose Praise is not of Men, but of God. His delivering them from the Bondage of Egypt, and leading them through the Red-Sea and the Wilderness into Canaan, typified his delivering of his future Church from the Bondage of Sin and Satan, and leading it by his own gracious Presence through the Red-Sea of Blood, and Persecutions, and the Wilderness of the World to the Canaan of eternal Rest. His giving the Law on Mount Sinai in Fire, was a Figure of his delivering the Gospel by the Spirit, which came down in fiery cloven Tongues at the Feast of Pente…ost. Thus his erecting the Ark in the Wilderness was also another Type of that Spiritual Kingdom which afterwards he meant to erect in the World. The divers Ornaments and Instruments of that Tabernacle represented the Diversity of spiritual Gifts and Functions in the Christian Church; its being covered with Skins without, and adorned with Gold within, shadowed the mean and contemptible Form wherein the Christian Church first appeared to the World, notwithstanding the inward Glory and Purity with which it was adorned and embellished. The Glory of God appearing in the Tabernacle, denoted the Presence of Christ in his Church, which he hath promised to continue to the end of the World; its being removed from Place to Place, and finding no Rest till it was lodged in the Temple, prefigured the persecuted State of the Primitive Church, which was hunted up and down the World by the mighty Nimrods of the Earth, and could find no Rest till it was transported to the Heavenly Temple. By these and such like Types and Shadows did the Eternal Word prefigure the State and Condition of his future Church, that so when it came to be erected in the World, the Iews might know and own it, having seen it before-hand so exactly decyphered and adumbrated in the very Frame and Model of their own Polity. But when he came to tabernacle in our Nature he gave actual Being to those Things which before he only shadowed and represented; for then he erected this glorious Church, of which the Iewish was only a Model and Platform, delivered it from the Egyptian Bondage of Wickedness and Idolatry, and by his own glorious Presence conducted the Members of it through all the Persecutions of an enraged World, to the Canaan of eternal Rest; and therefore this also is another plain Instance of his tabernacling among us full of Truth, the State and Condition of his Church, which before was so obscurely represented.
4. And lastly, Another Instance of his tabernacling among us full of Truth, in Contradistinction to that obscure and typical Way of his conversing among the Iews, is the glorious Recompences which he hath so plainly and clearly promised to his Subjects. For this he also obscurely typified to the Iews; for, as I have already hinted, by that Canaan which he bestowed upon them after their tedious Travel through the Wilderness, he did darkly represent to them that Canaan above flowing with infinite Delights, which he hath promised to bestow upon his faithful Servants after they have pass'd through the Wilderness of this World. So also by their Sabbaoths, and especially their Year of Iubilee, wherein they were to rest from all their Labours, and keep a perpetual Festivity, He did obscurely decypher to them that Sabbaoth of Rest, and Iubilee of endless Pleasure which vertuous Souls shall enjoy in Heaven after they have finished their Labours here on Earth, as you may see at large Heb. 4. Now by these and such like Shadows of their Law, which possibly the Prophets by Divine Inspiration might expound to them, those who were wise and good among them, it is very probable, were instructed in the Article of eternal Life. Hence it may be might arise that famous Controversy among the Iews concerning the Written and Oral Law, which they call the Cabala, or the Law by Tradition; not that this traditional contained any thing that was not in the written Law, but because those things which were obscurely contained in the Types of the written Law were explained and interpreted in this their Traditional Law. But it is apparent that the Types of eternal Life were not fully explained in this traditional Law till after the Babylonish Captivity, after which the Prophet Daniel, and after him Ezekiel began to speak more plainly of the Resurrection of the Dead; and from that Time forwards the Doctrine of the Resurrection and eternal Life, began to be more openly taught among the Common People till about the Time of the Maccabees, when it was brought forth in the Light from under those Types in which it was so obscurely represented, and became a Principle even of the Popular Religion, and an Article of the Iewish Faith, as plainly appears from the Records of those Times, particularly 2. Macc. 7. 23, 26. Comp. with Heb. 11. …5. And indeed it was very necessary that then this Article should be more clearly revealed to fortify the Iews against those many Persecutions whereunto they were exposed for the sake of their Religion, that they might not be terrified to apostatize from it by those cruel Martyrdoms which in the Time of the Maccabees they many of them endured; and besides, now the Time of the Gospel was approaching, and consequently its Mysteries, like the Light of the rising Sun, began to break forth clearer and clearer from under that Cloud of Types wherein it was wrapt and involved, till at last the Sun of Righteousness himself arose and dispersed those Clouds, and brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel. But as for the Sadducees, who give no heed to the Cabala, or Traditional Law, in which this Doctrine was first discovered, and adhered only to the written Law of Moses, they still continued Infidels in this Point, and believed neither Angels nor Spirits, nor the Life to come: So very obscurely was it represented in the Types and Shadows of the Written Law. But when once the Eternal Word came to tabernacle in our Flesh, he revealed this great Article so plainly and clearly to the World, that 'tis impossible for any one not to believe it that believes him to be the Messias, or Incarnate Word.
And thus you see by all these Instances what a vast Difference there was in respect of Truth, between Christ's tabernacling in our Nature, and in the Tabernacle of Moses. And now I shall conclude this Argument with two or three practical Inferences.
1st. He dwelt or tabernacled among us.] From hence I infer the high Authority of Christ, and that holy Religion which he hath revealed to us. For to tabernacle among us, as I have already shewed you, signifies to dwell in the midst of, as the Shechinah, Presence, or Representative of the most High God, as one that acted in his Father's Person, and was vested with his Authority, and consequently as one who hath as great a Right to exact our Obedience as the Eternal Father himself, should he have come down from Heaven in his own Person to give Laws to Mankind. For so when the Eternal Word went before the Camp of Israel as the Shechinah, or Angel of God's Presence, God requires them that they should obey him as himself; Beware of him, and obey his Voice, saith God; provoke him not, for he will not pardon your Transgression, for my Name is in him, Exod. 23. 21. and v. 22. To obey the Voice of this Angel is interpreted to be the same thing, as to obey the Voice of the most High God himself; But if thou shalt indeed obey his Voice, saith God, and do all that I speak, then I will be an Enemy to thy Enemies, &c. So that for the Israelites to disobey this Angel (who, as I have proved to you, was the Eternal Word, or Representative of the most High God to them) was to all Intents and Purposes the same Thing as if they had disobeyed the most High himself. And accordingly our Saviour tells the Iews, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me but on the Father that sent me; that is, he doth not meerly believe on me, but on the Father too, whose Authority I have, and whose Person I represent; for so he explains himself in the following Verse, He that seeth me, seeth him that sent me; that is, I being my Father's Shechinah, or Representative, Ioh. 12. 44, 45. And therefore as every Contempt of the Deputy, or Vice-Governor, is an Affront to the Sovereign Prince whose Person he bears, and by whose Authority he acts; so every Rebellion against Christ is an open Defiance to the Sovereign God whose Person he represents, and by whose Authority he reigns. Hence our Saviour tells the Iews; Ioh. 5. 23. that He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him; which plainly intimates that God the Father resents those Indignities which we offer to Christ and his Laws, as if they were done to his own Person, and that if himself should speak to us from the Battlements of Heaven, or proclaim his Law to us in a Voice of Thunder, he would not be more displeased to hear us openly declare that we will not obey him, than he is to see us trample upon the Laws of his Son which he hath stamp'd with his own Sovereign Authority. So that if we were not infinitely fool-hardy, methinks we should never dare to violate our Religion, in which the Authority of the most High God is so immediately concerned▪ For whatsoever our Religion requires of us, it requires in his Name who hath an undoubted Right and Authority to command us; for from all Eternity he was invested with an absolute and unlimited Power of doing any thing that is not unbecoming his Divine Perfections, and in this the Right of his Dominion over us is originally founded. For he that hath Power must needs have a Right to exercise it so far as it is just and becoming his Nature, otherwise his Power would be altogether in vain; and therefore since God from all Eternity hath a Power of doing whatsoever he pleases so far as is consistent with his Holiness and Goodness, there is nothing can be pretended against the Right of his Dominion and Authority over us: For God cannot but have an eternal Right to exercise his own Power, and he cannot but have an immutable Right to exercise it over his own Creatures. And as from all Eternity he had Power to do whatsoever was just and becoming him, so from his creating of us it became most just and becoming that he should rule and govern us; for we became his as soon as we were created by him; all our Powers of Action were from him, and by that he hath acquired an unalienable Right in whatsoever we are able to do. We have nothing but what is his Gift, and therefore can do nothing but what is his Debt; we received all from him, and therefore must owe all to him; for by Right of Creation he is the supream Proprietor of all our Powers and Faculties, and as such hath a just Claim to all the Homage and Obedience that we are able to render him. So that as God's Dominion over us is originally founded in his most absolute Power to do whatsoever is just and becoming him; so the Justice and Becomingness of his Dominion over us doth immediately result from his creating of us, by which he hath for ever intitled himself to all the Obedience we can render him. And by Virtue of this immutable Title doth he claim our Obedience to the Laws of Iesus Christ, whom next to himself he hath made our Prince and Ruler, having vested him with his own Sovereign Authority, and constituted him his supream Representative in the Church. So that by disobeying his Laws we incur the Guilt of the most monstrous Injustice in the World; we resume our selves from him to whom we owe our Being, and refuse to own our selves to be his Creatures from whose Bounty we receive even the Power of rebelling against him; we alienate our Faculties from those sacred Uses whereunto they were designed and consecrated, and turn these living Temples of God into Dens of impure Thoughts and filthy Lusts; In a word, we fight against God with his own Gifts, and arm the Effects of his Bounty against his Sovereign Authority. And what do we think will be the Consequence of these Things? Can we be so sottish as to imagine that the Almighty Father will sit above in the Heavens, and see how his Laws are trampled upon, his Authority contemned, and exposed to Scorn and Derision by a Company of impious Wretches that owe their very Beings to him, and never be concerned at it? Do we think him so stupid a Being as that no Provocations will awake his Vengeance, that he will for ever sit unconcerned with his Hands in his Bosom whilst his violated Laws, like the Souls under the Altar, are continually crying out to him, How long, O Lord, holy and true! dost thou not avenge our Quarrel upon the Heads of these audacious Rebels that every day trample us under foot, and have no more regard for our Authority than they have for the Whistling of the Wind! For God's sake, Sirs, let us consider before it be too late what is like to become of us, what probable Hopes of Security we can propose to our selves if we persist in this unjust Rebellion. Gird up your Loins like Men, and I will demand of you in the Name of God, do you think that the wise Governor of the World will be for ever insensible of all the rude Affronts and Provocations you offer him? If so, pray where is his Wisdom, or in what Sense doth he govern the World, if he takes no care to secure his Laws by punishing Offenders, and lets his Subjects alone to do as they list? Or have you an Arm as strong as God's? Can you grapple with his Almighty Vengeance, or withstand the Stroke of his Thunderbolts? Sure such a ridiculous Conceit can never enter into any reasonable Breast? and if not, in the Name of God what do you propose to your selves when you can neither hope for Favour from God, nor Security from your selves? Are you so abandoned of all your Reason as wilfully to shut your Eyes against your Danger, and run the desperate Venture of falling into the Hands of the living God? Hath not our blessed Lord most fairly warn'd us what we are to trust to? Hath he not told us how he values his Laws, and how dreadfully he will punish the Transgression of them? Hath he not most seriously protested to us that unless we do repent and amend, he will never forgive us either in this Life, or that to come; and that if we still persist in our Rebellions, he will at last banish us from his Presence for ever, and assign us our Portion with Devils and damned Ghosts in that Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone? And hath he not taken it upon his Death that all this is true, when he so freely sealed his Doctrines with his Blood? And now after all this, is it possible we should be so sensless as to think we can be safe in our Wickedness, when God the Father is engaged both in Wisdom and Honour to avenge it as an Affront to his Authority, and God the Son hath revealed his Father's Wrath from Heaven against all Unrighteousness and Ungodliness of Men? and therefore as we value our own Safety, it concerns us either to submit to that Divine Authority which is stamp'd upon the Laws of our Saviour, or else to secure our selves of some Retreat or Sanctuary from that Almighty Vengeance which our Rebellion will certainly arm against us.
2dly. He dwelt among us full of Grace.] Hence I infer what mighty Encouragement we have to serve and obey our blessed Master who in his dwelling among us was full of every thing that can render his Service lovely or desireable, and abounded in all those amiable Graces that can oblige us to love and obey him. For what was there wanting in our blessed Master that any reasonable Subject can desire in his Prince and Sovereign? Would he desire a Prince of a sweet and gracious Temper, one that is full of Love and Tenderness to his Subjects? Such a one in the most eminent degree is our blessed Lord; for how doth the History of his Conversation upon Earth abound with the Expressions of a most sweet and loving Temper? For Love was the Principle of all his Actions, the Life and Soul of his Conversation, and in all that he did or spoke he made some new Discovery of his unfeigned Affection to the World; for he went about doing good, and his whole Life was nothing but one continued Act of Charity to Mankind. For still you find him either instructing the Ignorant, or reproving the Erroneous, or comforting the Dejected, or feeding the Hungry, or curing the Sick and Diseased. From Morning to Night he was constantly engaged in one good Action or other, and the whole Race of his Life, like that of the Sun, was spent in enlivening or inlightning the World. So endearing was his Behaviour that he obliged his very Enemies, and, when he had won them, treated them with all the Tenderness and Affection of a most loving Father towards his dearest Children. From all he conversed with he extorted Respect and Veneration, and none were able to resist the Charms of his victorious Love, but those whose Hearts were harder than the nether Milstone. But that I may convince you of the infinite Goodness and Tenderness of his Nature, I will give you but that one Instance Luke 19. 41. And when he was come near, he beheld the City, and wept over it; which, as you will see afterwards, was occasioned by the Fore-sight of its approaching Ruin and Destruction; and yet at the same time he foresaw the Cruelties which those barbarous Villains were about to practise upon him, how they would scourge his Body with knotty Whips, and nail his Hands and Feet to the Cross, and thrust a Spear into his Heart; he saw how they would triumph over his Misery, mock at his Calamity, and dance to the Musick of his dying Grones. And now one would have thought such a Prospect as this would have for ever enraged his Soul against them, and made him rejoyce to see that sweeping Destruction that was coming upon them; but such was the incomparable Sweetness of his Temper, that while he foresaw them plotting his Ruin, he could not but sigh over theirs, and while he beheld their Malice all reeking in his Blood, and sporting it self with his Torments and Agonies, yet at the Sense of their approaching Destruction his very Bowels earned, and his Heart melted with Commiseration, and he could not forbear weeping to think that those cursed Instruments of all his Miseries must e're long be so wretched and miserable themselves, earnestly wishing that they who so greedily thirsted for his Blood had known in that their day the things which belong to their Peace. And though one would have thought the barbarous Entertainment he met with here upon Earth would have for ever quenched all his Affections to Mankind, yet still it lives, and in despite of all the Affronts and Outrages he endured, burns as vigorously in his Breast as ever. So unconquerable was his Love to his Subjects, that all the bloody Cruelties they practised upon him, when they chased him out of the World, were never able to alienate his Heart and Affections from them; but after all their Cruelties he still retained his Fatherly Bowels towards them, and when he could endure their Torments no longer, breathed out his loving Soul in an earnest Prayer for their Pardon, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. And now that he is in Heaven among Angels and glorified Spirits, where he cannot but remember how unkindly we treated him when he was upon Earth, and perhaps doth still bear upon his glorified Body those very Wounds which he received from our Hands, which one would think were sufficient to incense him against us for ever; yet his Heart is the same towards us, full of all those kind and tender Resentments that first brought him down from Heaven, and render'd his Conversation among us so full of Sweetness and Endearments. And now being so infinitely kind as he is, why should we be disheartned from serving him? Methinks the Sense of his Love to us, if there were no other Argument in the World, should be sufficient to bind us to his Service for ever. For, O my Soul, how can I do too much for so kind a Friend! How can I be too submissive to so good a Master! That is so infinitely tender of all his Servants, and loves them a thousand times more than they love themselves! Sure if we had any Spark of Ingenuity in us, the Sense of his matchless Kindness towards us, would be sufficient to turn all our Duty to him into Recreation, to make us thirst after his Service, and catch at all Opportunities of expressing our Loyalty and Obedience to him: We should embrace his Commands as Preferments to us, and wear them as the greatest Favours, and think our selves more honoured in being the Servants of Iesus Christ, than in being made mighty Kings and Potentates.
2. Consider, as he is full of Grace, in Respect of his own Personal Disposition, so he is also in Respect of his Laws, in which, as I have already shewed you, he requires nothing of us but what is for our Good, nothing but what tends to the Perfection of our Natures, and the Consummation of our Happiness. All that our Saviour requires at our Hands, is only that we should act according to the Laws of a Reasonable Nature, and constantly pursue the great End of our Creation, which can never be obtained by us, unless we regulate our Actions by those wise and excellent Rules which he hath prescribed us, and which he hath prescribed us upon no other Inducement, but only to oblige us to be happy. For as to any Advantage that will accrue to him from our Actions, 'tis altogether indifferent to him whether we obey him or no; for he was always infinitely happy within himself, and would have always been so, though we had never had a Being; so that his Felicity depends not upon us; and were it not that the superabundant Goodness of his Nature doth for ever incline him to make us happy as well as himself, he would never have concerned himself about us, but would have let us alone to do as we list, and abandoned us to the Fate of our own Actions. He therefore being infinitely happy within himself, can have no self-Ends to serve upon his Creatures; because within the Circle of his own divine Being, he hath all that he needs, and all that he desires; but being infinitely good, as he is infinitely happy, we are sure that our Good must be the only End of his intermedling with our Actions, and his giving Laws to direct them. And if we consult the particular Lawss which he hath given us, we shall find they all of them most naturally tend to perfect and recti…ie our disordered Natures, to exalt and spiritualize our Affections, and inspire us with all those divine Dispositions that are requisite to qualify us for the Happiness of the World to come. And now methinks, if we had any Sense of our own Interest, this Consideration should mightily encourage us to Obedience, to think that while we are serving our blessed Master, we are serving our selves to the best Purposes, and that his Service, and our Interest are so combined and united, that by the same Actions we may gratify him, and do our selves the greatest Kindness in the World; that he exacts nothing from us, but what he was obliged to do by the infinite Care and Concern he hath for us; and that he had been less kind, should he have required less, and must necessarily have subtracted from us some Degree of our Happiness, should he have abated us any Part of our Duty. O Blessed Iesus, who can complain of thy Service, when thy very Commands are Tokens of thy Love; when all the Duty thou requirest of us, is only to be kind to our selves in doing those things, which, if thou hadst never commanded, our own Interest would have obliged us to, had we but understood it as well, or regarded it as much as thou dost?
3. But then consider again, as He is full of Grace to us in his own personal Temper, and in those mild and gentle Laws which he hath given us; so Thirdly, He is full of Grace to us also in respect of that gracious Pardon and Forgiveness which he hath procured for, and promised to us if we will heartily repent and amend. I confess, though his Personal Temper should be never so sweet, and his Laws never so gentle, yet if he should, upon every wilful Offence, exclude us from all Hope of Pardon, it might justly discourage the Generality of Men from engaging any farther in his Service; because more or less, we have all sinned, and fallen short of the Glory of God. So that if upon every wilful Act of Rebellion, we should stand for ever excluded from his Favour; we should generally be left in a desperate Condition, and then to what Purpose should we serve him any longer, when by all our future Loyalty and Submissions, we must never hope to be readmitted into his Grace and Favour? To remove this great Discouragement therefore, the blessed Iesus hath obtained for us this publick Grant and Charter of Mercy from his Father, that if now at last we will repent and amend our Ways, notwithstanding all our past Rebellions, we shall find Mercy, and be as freely received into his Grace and Favour, as if we never had offended him; and this merciful Grant he hath published to us in the Promises of his Gospel: So that now we cannot make the least Doubt of our Pardon and Acceptance with him, upon our unfeigned Repentance, without calling his Truth and Veracity into Question. And now what reasonable Cause of Discouragement have we from returning to the Service of our blessed Master, when we are so amply assured that our past Disobediences to him shall, upon our Return, be forgotten for ever? For, in the Name of God, what can we desire more? Is it reasonable that the wise Governour of the World should pardon Offenders, whether they repent or no; that he should let them take their Swing in Wickedness, and never take any Cognizance of their Actions? Let us speak plainly; would we have him govern us or no? If not, we are infinitely besotted, that for the Sake of a few paltry Lusts that are our Plague and Shame would deprive our selves of all the Blessings and Benefits of his Government. But whatsoever we would have, it is by no means fit that he should surrender up his just Authority over us, because we are Fools and Mad-men; and if we think it fit that he should govern us, we cannot be so senseless as to think it reasonable that he should pardon our Sins till we repent of them; because by so doing he would give up all, and leave us absolute Masters of our selves. So that if we our selves had been called to the Privy Council of Heaven, to give our Vote to those Laws by which we were to be ruled and governed, doubtless we could not have had the Confidence to ask either gentler Laws or greater Indulgences than the blessed Iesus hath freely granted us in his Gospel. If God should have told us, that he would impose nothing on us without our own Consent, and bid us ask for our selves any thing that is fit and modest, doubtless the utmost that any modest Man could have craved, would have been only this; Lord, if thou will be but so merciful as to give us such Laws as are suited to our Natures, and are conducive to our Happiness, and so far to consider our Weakness and Instability, as not cast us away from thy Favour for ever upon every wilful Transgression, but to pardon and receive us again upon our unfeigned Repentance, this is all the Favour we would ask, and for this we would praise and adore thy Goodness for ever and ever. Since God therefore, out of his own Grace and Goodness, hath granted this Indulgence to us, why should we be discouraged from returning to our Duty, though we have never so notoriously violated and neglected it? For now we are fully assured that we can never be excluded from all Hope of Pardon, till we are past all Possibility of Repentance.
4. He is full of Grace to us also, in respect of that abundant Assistance which he hath promised and vouchsafed to us. I do confess, though notwithstanding our former Rebellions, he should be never so ready to receive us into Favour again upon our unfeigned Repentance; yet unless he will also assist us in our Repentance, and enable us to conquer the Difficulties of it, we have still very great Reason to be discouraged from his Service: For, by our own evil Habits, we have so disabled our selves from returning to our Duty, that without the Concurrence of a supernatural Grace, it will be in vain for us to attempt it: For he that from a State of habitual Sin, enters into a Course of Repentance, must strive all along against the Current of his Nature, which at first especially, and when he is weakest, will be so swift and impetuous, that by his own single Strength, it will be impossible for him to stem or conquer it, and unless he be assisted by a greater Strength than his own, he will be inevitably born down and carried away with it, though he struggle never so vigorously against it; so that it is no Encouragement at all to the Service of Christ, that he will receive us to Pardon when we heartily repent, unless he will also inable us to repent by the Concurrence of his Grace with our honest Endeavors. But this Discouragement also he hath removed out of our Way, by making us a publick Grant and Promise of his Grace and Assistance; for he hath assured us that he will give his holy Spirit to every one that asks it, Luk. 11. 13. that if we will work out our own Salvation, he will work in us to will and to do, Phil. 2. 12, 13. and that to him that hath, that is, improves that Grace which he hath, it shall be given more abundantly, Mat. 13. 12. so that though we cannot do all by our own single Strength, yet we can do so much as will oblige our blessed Master to enable us to do all; and therefore that we do not do all, is as much our Fault as if we could, because we are able to do all through Christ, who will strengthen us if we will but do what we can; so that this, methinks, should be sufficient to encourage any reasonable Man in the World to undertake his Service, to consider that he who is my Master, will co-operate with me, and proportion my Strength to the Work he enjoyns me; that he will not stand still with his Arms in his Bosom, and see me struggle in vain under an insupportable Burthen of Duties, but that he will set too his own Shoulders, and contribute his own Strength, and enable me, by degrees, to undergo it with Ease and Alacrity; so that though thro' the Weakness and Impotency which I have voluntarily contracted, my Duty is become too heavy for my Shoulders, yet I will never be disheartened so long as I am sure it is not too heavy for my Saviour's, for if I heartily endeavour, I am confident I shall undergo it, if it be in the Power of an Almighty Grace to enable me.
5. And lastly, He was full of Grace to us also, in Respect of that glorious Recompence which he hath promised to us, and prepared for us. I confess, were his Service all Work, and no Wages, there were some Reason to be disheartned; but when he hath promised, and so amply assured us, that after we have spent a few Days or Years in his Service upon Earth, he will receive us into the Participation of his own Joys, where we shall commence as happy as it is possible for an everlasting Heaven to make us, methinks we should kiss his Yoke, and court his Service, and think we can never do too much for such a bountiful Master, who rewards all his Servants with such immortal Preferments: For what is the Labour of a few Moments, compared with that everlasting Rest and Pleasure wherein it shall shortly terminate? And when once we are arrived to the Heavenly Canaan, and have tasted those ravishing Delights with which it flows and abounds, how light and inconsiderable will all these Difficulties in our Voyage appear to us, which now do so startle and affright us? How shall we wonder at our own Sloth and Faint-heartedness, to think that ever we should be such wretched Cowards as to be afraid of any thing that hath Heaven at the End of it, which is a Happiness so vast and unspeakable, that the Hope of it is sufficient to turn Torments into Recreations? How shall we be astonished at our selves, to think that we could ever be such wretched Fools as to deliberate one Moment, whether Heaven were preferable before all the Pleasures of Sin, or whether it were more eligible to dwell with Harlots and Drunkards for a Moment, and wallow in their beastly Pleasures, than to enjoy the Society of God, and Saints, and Angels, to all Eternity? The Odds will then appear so vast, and the Disproportion so unspeakable, that we shall wonder how we could ever be so senseless as to make a Comparison between them. Sure Sirs we do not believe that Heaven is the Recompence of Christ's Service; for if we did, methinks we should more heartily engage in it. For could we stand thus deliberating upon the Shore, whether we shall bid adieu to our Lusts, take Leave of all their fulsom Pleasures, and imbark our selves in the Service of our Saviour? Could we stand pausing thus as we do, whether we shall venture into those petty Storms that are like to attend us in our spiritual Voyage, did we verily believe that a few Leagues Distance lies that blessed Shore where we shall be crowned as soon as we are landed with all the Joys that an everlasting Heaven means? Certainly the Belief of this is sufficient to put Life and Courage into the most crest-fallen Soul in the World, and to give her Spirit and Vigour enough to carry her triumphantly through all the weary Stages of her Duty. So that considering how, in all Respects, our blessed Lord abounds in Grace and Goodness to us, we have the greatest Encouragement imaginable to engage us to his Service.
3dly. He was full of Truth.] From whence I infer, that the Christian Religion is a very plain and intelligible thing. For this, as I have shewed you at large, is one of the great Notes of Distinction between Christ's tabernacling among the Iews and among Christians, that whereas among the Iews, he was full of obscure Types and mystical Representations; among us Christians, he is full of Truth; that is, he is plain, and open, and clear, without any dark Reserves or Mysteries; now he hath plainly revealed that which before he did so obscurely decypher; now he hath unriddled all those mystical Types, and turned them as it were inside outwards, and given us their hidden Sense and Meaning in plain and naked Propositions; and of these our holy Religion is composed. So that those Doctrines which before were all Mystery, whilst they lay obscurely couched under the Types and Figures of the Law, are now brought forth from behind the Curtain into the open View of the World, and presented barefac'd to our Understandings in the most plain, and easy, and familiar Sense: Not but that Christianity hath some Mysteries in it still, whose Depths we are not able to fathom; but 'tis not because Christ hath not revealed them, but because our Understandings are incapable of comprehending them; such are the Doctrines of the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation of our blessed Saviour, and the Hypostatical Vnion of the Divine and Humane Nature in him: Nor indeed is it much to be wonder'd at, that we, who with all our Wit and Reason, are not able to explicate the Mysteries of a Mite or Flea, of a Plant or a Stone, or any of those innumerable things that are before us, should not be able to understand such incomprehensible, to order such infinite, or define such ineffable things; but though we cannot comprehend the Modes, nor understand the strict Philosophy of them, yet if we would but strip them out of their false Disguises into their original Plainness and Simplicity, we might doubtless easily disintangle them from all Repugnancy and Contradiction, which is sufficient to render them rationally credible, they being contained in that excellent Religion, whose Truth is demonstrated by such abundant Evidence. But perhaps, as God continued all the Doctrines of Christianity in a Mystery among the Iews, and reserved the clear Revelation of them to the coming of the Messias; so for the same Reason he hath still reserved the clear Discovery of those Doctrines which are still Mysteries to us Christians, for the future State, and then it may be we may as fully understand these, as the believing Iews (after the Coming of Christ) did those other Doctrines of the Gospel, which before were all Mysteries to them. But, God be praised, whatsoever is necessary to make us good and happy, is now so plainly discovered to us, that we cannot be ignorant of it unless we wilfully shut our own Eyes. We need not dive into mystical Senses, nor grope after Truth among Shadows and Vmbrages, as the good Iews were fain to do under the Mosaick Dispensation, all that is necessary to our Salvation being written as it were upon the very Surface of our Religion, and openly exposed to our View in plain and literal Proposals. And yet not withstanding the Plainness and Simplicity of the Christian Religion, there are too many, both among our selves, and in the Church of Rome, who have industriously set themselves to resolve all its Doctrines again into Darkness and unintelligible Mysteries, having, instead of the plain Propositions of our Saviour, introduced a new-fashioned Mystical Divinity, made up of nothing but certain empty Schemes of effeminate Follies and wild Enthusiasms, which are impossible for any Man to understand that cannot conjure for the Meaning of them. And those Doctrines which our Saviour purposely delivered in the most plain and literal Sense, that so the meanest Understanding might be instructed by them; these Men have blown up like so many Bubbles into swelling Mysteries, which, being strip't of those glittering Allusions, and pompous Metaphors, wherein they are clothed, vanish immediately into Air, or sink into flat and empty Nonsense. For thus the Doctrine of Faith, and Repentance, and Iustification, which lye as plain in the Scripture as Words can make them, are by their Divinity render'd more obscure and mysterious than ever they were whilst they were couched under the Types and Figures of the Law, more of the true Nature being discovered in Circumcision, and the legal Washings and Attonements, than in a hundred Volumes of modern Systems of Divinity. For, whatsoever is intelligible, they look upon as carnal, and till they have subtilized it into some unaccountable Mystery, it is not spiritual enough to be admitted into their System of Divinity, as if they thought it below the Majesty of Religion to expose it self to the View of the World, and there was no Way to secure it from Contempt, but to lock it up in Mysteries and Obscurities; for else to what Purpose should they wrap it round with Clouds as they do, unless they design to make a Trade of it, and so draw a Curtain before it, as Men do before their Puppet-Plays, that so they may get Money by shewing it: For 'tis apparent that Religion it self suffers extremely by it; for whilst they thus spiritualize it into Air, and do, as it were, juggle it out of Sight in the Clouds of their mystical Nonsense, they render it extreamly suspicious to all that are wise and inquisitive, and will not suffer themselves to be imposed upon by the Trains of their mysterious Gibberish. And as for their more credulous Followers, whilst they thus lead them by the Nose through a Vally of Shades and Darkness, they utterly deprive them of the vigorous Warmth and Comforts of Religion; for how should they know how to make use of the Arguments and Motives of Christianity, when those excellent Doctrines from whence they are deduced, are wrap'd in unintelligible Mysteries? For how should they draw forth from the Articles of their Faith, those Practical Principles that are lodged in them, when those Articles are converted into Riddles, which they do not, nor cannot understand? Thus, by turning Christianity into a Mystery, they do not only thwart the Design of our Saviour, which was to bring it forth from under the mysterious Representations of the Law, and propose it to the World in the most plain and intelligible manner; but they also dispirit Religion it self, whose Life and Energy consists in being understood, and expose it to the Contempt and Scorn of those that have Wit enough to detect the Follies of their Enthusiastical Mysteries.
4thly. And lastly, He dwelt among us full of Grace and Truth.] From hence I infer the Inexcusableness of those Men that persist in their Disobedience to the Gospel now that our blessed Lord hath expressed so much Grace towards, and so clearly made known his Mind and Will to us. What Excuse can we urge to palliate our wretched Disobedience? If you will but imagine your selves for a little while to be standing before the Tribunal of your Saviour, where e're it be long you must all appear, I will briefly draw up what in Probability will be your Plea, and what may be reasonably presumed will be his Answer.