Sermon Concerning the Divinity and Incarnation of our Blessed Savior, Sermon 3
SERMON III. Concerning the Incarnation of CHRIST.
Preached in the Church of St. Lawrence Jewry, December 21. 1680.
JOHN I. 14.
The Word was made fleſh.
THE laſt Year about this Time, and upon the ſame Occaſion of the Annual Commemoration of the Incarnation and Nativity of our B. Lord and Saviour, I began to diſcourſe to you upon theſe Words: In which I told you were contained three great Points concerning our Saviour the Author and Founder of our Religion.
Firſt, His Incarnation, the Word was made, or became fleſh.
Secondly, His Life and converſation here amongſt us; and dwelt among us, foreign, he pitched his Tabernacle among us, he lived here below in this World, and for ſome time made his reſidence and abode with us.
Thirdly, That in this ſtate of his Humiliation he gave great and clear evidence of his Divinity: Whilſt he appear'd as a Man and lived amongſt us, there were great and glorious Teſtimonies given of Him that he was the Son of God; and that in ſo peculiar a manner as no Creature can be ſaid to be: And we beheld his Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
I began with the firſt of theſe, namely his Incarnation, the Word was made fleſh: For the full and clear explication of which words I propoſed to conſider theſe two things.
I. The Perſon here ſpoken of and who it is that is here ſaid to be incarnate, or made fleſh, namely the Word. And this I have handled at large in my two former Diſcourſes upon this Text. I ſhall now proceed in the
II. Second place to give ſome account of the nature and manner of this Incarnation, ſo far as the Scripture hath thought fit to reveal and declare this Myſtery to us. The Word was made fleſh, that is, He who is perſonally called the Word, and whom the Evangeliſt hath ſo fully and clearly deſcribed in the beginning of his Goſpel, he became fleſh, that is, aſſumed our Nature and became man; for ſo the word fleſh is frequently uſed in Scripture, for Man or Human Nature.
So that by the Word's becoming fleſh, that is, Man, the Evangeliſt did not only intend to expreſs to us that he aſſumed a human Body without a Soul, but that he became a perfect Man, conſiſting of Soul and Body united. It is very probable indeed that the Evangeliſt did purpoſely chuſe the word fleſh, which ſignifies the frail and mortal part of Humanity, to denote to us the great condeſcenſion of the Son of God in aſſuming our Nature with all its infirmities, and becoming ſubject to frailty and mortality for our ſake.
Having thus explain'd the meaning of this Propoſition, the Word was made fleſh, I ſhall in a further proſecution of this Argument take into conſideration theſe three things.
Firſt, I ſhall conſider more diſtinctly what may reaſonably be ſuppos'd to be implied in this expreſſion of the Word's being made fleſh.
Secondly, I ſhall conſider the Objections which are commonly brought againſt this Incarnation of the Son of God from the ſeeming impoſſibility, or incongruity of the thing.
Thirdly, And becauſe, after all that can be ſaid in anſwer to thoſe Objections, it may ſtill appear to us very ſtrange that God who could without all this circumſtance, and condeſcenſion even almoſt beneath the Majeſty of the Great God, at leaſt as we are apt to think, have given Laws to Mankind, and have offer'd forgiveneſs of Sins and eternal life upon their Repentance for ſins paſt, and ſincere tho imperfect obedience for the future; I ſay, it may ſeem ſtrange, that notwithſtanding this God ſhould yet make choice of this way and method of our Salvation: I ſhall therefore in the laſt place endeavour to give ſome probable account of this ſtrange and wonderful Diſpenſation, and ſhew that it was done in great condeſcenſion to the weakneſs and common prejudices of Mankind; and that when it is throughly conſider'd it will appear to be much more for our comfort and advantage than any other way which the wiſdom of this World would have been apt to deviſe and pitch upon. And in all this I ſhall, all along take either the plain declarations of Scripture, or the pregnant intimations of it for my ground and guide.
I. I ſhall conſider more diſtinctly what may reaſonably be ſuppoſed to be implied in this expreſſion of the Word's being made fleſh, namely, theſe five things.
Firſt, The truth and reality of the thing: That the Son of God did not only appear in the form of human fleſh, but did really aſſume it: the Word was made fleſh, as the Evangeliſt expreſly declares: For if this had been only a Phantaſme and Apparition, as ſome Hereticks of old did fancy, it would in all probability have been like the appearance of Angels mentioned in the old Teſtament, ſudden and of ſhort continuance, and would after a little while have vaniſh'd and diſappear'd. But he dwelt among us and convers'd familiarly with us a long time, and for many years together; and the Scripture uſeth all the expreſſions which are proper to ſignify a real Man, and a real Human Body, and there were all the ſigns and evidences of reality that could be: For the Word is ſaid to be made fleſh, and Chriſt is ſaid to be of the ſeed of David according to the fleſh, and to be made of a Woman; and all this to ſhew that he was a real Man, and had a real and ſubſtantial Body: For he was born, and by degrees grew up to be a Man, and did perform all ſuch actions as are natural and proper to Men: He continued a great while in the World, and at laſt ſuffer'd and dy'd, and was laid in the grave; He did not vaniſh and diſappear like a Phantaſme or Spirit, but he dyed like other Men: And his Body was raiſed again out of the grave; and after he was riſen, he converſed forty days upon Earth, and permitted his body to be handled, and laſt of all was viſibly taken up into Heaven.
So that either we muſt grant Him to have had a real Body, or we have cauſe to doubt whether all Mankind be not mere Phantaſms and Apparitions. For greater evidence no man can give that he is really clothed with and carries about him a true and ſubſtantial Body, than the Son of God did in the days of his fleſh. It is to me very wonderful upon what ground, or indeed to what end, the Hereticks of old, Marcion and others, did deny the reality of Chriſt's fleſh. Surely they had a great mind to be Hereticks who took up ſo ſenſleſs an Opinion for no reaſon, and to no purpoſe.
Secondly, Another thing implyed in the Word's being made fleſh, is, that this was done peculiarly for the benefit and advantage of Men: The Word was made fleſh, that is, became Man; for ſo I have ſhewn the word fleſh to be often uſed in Scripture. And this the Author of the Epiſtle to the Hebrews takes very ſpecial notice of as a great grace and favour of God to Mankind, that his Son appear'd in our Nature, and conſequently for our Salvation; as it is ſaid in the Nicene Creed, who for us Men and for our Salvation came down from Heaven, and was incarnate, &c. For verily, ſays the Apoſtle, Hebr. 2. 16.He took not on him the nature of Angels, but of the ſeed of Abraham, foreign, he did not aſſume the Angelical Nature, ſo our Translators underſtood the phraſe; but the word alſo ſignifies to take hold of a thing which is falling, as well as to aſſume or take on him: He did not take hold of the Angels when they were falling, but ſuffered them to lapſe irrecoverably into miſery and ruine: But he took hold of Human Nature when it was falling, and particularly of the Seed of Abraham, and by the Seed of Abraham, that is, by himſelf, in whom all the Nations of the Earth were bleſſed, he brought Salvation firſt to the Jews, and then to the reſt of Mankind. The Apoſtle chuſes to derive this Bleſſing from Abraham, that ſo he might bring it nearer to the Jews to whom he wrote this Epiſtle, and might thereby more effectually recommend the Goſpel to them, and the glad tidings of that great Salvation in which they had ſo peculiar an intereſt.
And it is ſome confirmation of the interpretation I have given of that expreſſion he took not on him, &c. that the Evangeliſt uſes the very ſame word for taking hold of one that was ready to ſink: For ſo it is ſaid of St. Peter when he was ready to ſink, that Chriſt put forth his hand foreign and caught hold of him, Matth. 14. 31.and ſaved him from drowning: And thus the Son of God caught hold of Mankind which was ready to ſink into eternal perdition: He laid hold of our Nature, or as it is expreſs'd in the ſame Chapter, he took part of fleſh and blood, that in our Nature he might be capable of effecting our Redemption and Deliverance.
But it is no where ſaid in Scripture, not the leaſt intimation given there, that the Son of God ever ſhew'd ſuch grace and favour to the Angels: But the Word became fleſh, that is, became Man: He did not aſſume the Angelical Nature, but was contented to be cloathed with the Rags of Humanity, and to be made in the likeneſs of ſinful fleſh, that is, of ſinful Man.
Thirdly, This expreſſion of the Word's being made fleſh may further imply his aſſuming the infirmities, and ſubmitting to the miſeries of Human Nature. This I collect from the word fleſh, by which the Scripture often uſeth to expreſs our frail and mortal Nature. The Son of God did not only condeſcend to be made Man, but alſo to become mortal and miſeraable for our ſakes: He ſubmitted to all thoſe things which are accounted moſt grievous and calamitous to human nature: To hunger and want, to ſhame and contempt, to bitter pains and agonies, and to a moſt cruel and diſgraceful death: So that in this ſenſe alſo he became fleſh, not only by being cloathed with human nature, but by becoming liable to all the frailties and ſufferings of it; of which he had a greater ſhare than any of the Sons of men ever had: for never was ſorrow like to his ſorrow, nor ſuffering like to his ſufferings, the weight and bitterneſs whereof was ſuch as to wring from him, the meekeſt and moſt patient endurer of ſufferings that ever was, that doleful complaint, My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken me?
Fourthly, In this expreſſion, the Word was made Fleſh, is likewiſe implyed the Union of the Divinity with Human Nature in one Perſon. And this the Text expreſſeth in ſuch words as ſeem to ſignifie a moſt perfect, and intimate, and vital Union of the Divine and human Natures of Chriſt in one Perſon: The Word was made, or became, fleſh: Which what elſe can it ſignify but one of theſe two things? Either that the eternal Word and only begotten Son of God was changed into a Man, which is not only impoſſible to be, but impious to imagin: Or elſe, that the Son of God did aſſume our Nature and became Man by his Divinity being united to human Nature as the Soul is vitally united to the Body; without either being changed into it, or confounded with it, or ſwallowed up by it, as the Eutychian Hereticks fancied the human Nature of Chriſt to be ſwallowed up of his Divinity: Which had it been ſo, St. John had expreſſed himſelf very untowardly when he ſays, The Word became fleſh; for it had been quite contrary, and fleſh had become the Word, being changed into it, and ſwallowed up by it, and loſt in it.
The only thing then that we can reaſonably imagine to be the meaning of this expreſſion is this, that the Son of God aſſumed our Nature, and united himſelf with it, as our Souls are united with our Bodies: And as the Soul and Body united make one Perſon, and yet retain their diſtinct Natures and Properties; ſo may we conceive the Divine and human Natures in Chriſt to be united into one Perſon: And this without any change or confuſion of the two Natures.
I ſay, the Divinity united it ſelf with human Nature: For though fleſh be only mentioned in the Text, yet he did not only aſſume a human Body, which was the Hereſie of Apollinaris and his Followers, upon a miſtake of this and ſome other Texts of Scripture: But he aſſumed the whole human Nature, that is, a human Soul united to a real and natural Body: for ſo I have ſhewn the word fleſh to be frequently uſed in Scripture, not only for the Body but for the whole Man, by an uſual Figure of ſpeech: As on the other hand, Soul is frequently uſed for the whole Man or Perſon: So many Souls are ſaid to have gone down with Jacob into Egypt, that is, ſo many Perſons.
But this I need not inſiſt longer upon, our Saviour being ſo frequently in Scripture, and ſo expreſly ſaid to be a Man; which could with no propriety of ſpeech have been ſaid, had he only aſſumed a human Body: Nor could he have been ſaid to have been made in all things like unto us, ſin only excepted, had he only had a human Body but not a Soul: For then the meaning muſt have been, that he had been made in all things like unto us, that is, like to a Man, that only excepted which chiefly makes the Man, that is, the Soul: And the addition of thoſe words, Sin only excepted, had been no leſs ſtrange; becauſe a human Body, without a Soul, is neither capable of being ſaid to have Sin, or to be without it.
And this may ſuffice to have been ſpoken in general concerning that great Myſtery of the Hypoſtatical, as they that love hard words love to call it, or Perſonal Union of the Divine and human Natures in the Perſon of our B. Saviour: In the more particular explication whereof it is not ſafe for our ſhallow underſtandings to wade further than the Scripture goes before us, for fear we go out of our depth and loſe our ſelves in the profound inquiry into the deep things of God, which he has not thought fit in this preſent ſtate of darkneſs and imperfection to reveal more plainly and fully to us. It ought to be thought ſufficient, that the Scripture ſpeaking of the ſame Perſon, Jeſus Chriſt our B. Saviour, doth frequently and expreſly call him both God and Man: Which how it can be ſo eaſily conceived upon any other Suppoſition than that of the Union of the Divine and human Natures in one Perſon, I muſt confeſs that I am not able to comprehend.
Fifthly and laſtly, All this which I have ſhewn to be implyed in this Propoſition, the Word was made fleſh, does ſignifie to us the wonderful and amazing condeſcenſion and love of God to Mankind in ſending his Son into the World, and ſubmitting him to this way and method for our Salvation and recovery. The Word was made fleſh: What a ſtep is here made in order to the reconciling of Men to God? From Heaven to Earth; from the top of Glory and Majeſty to the loweſt gulf of meanneſs and miſery: The Evangeliſt ſeems here to uſe the word fleſh, which ſignifies the meaneſt and vileſt part of Humanity, to expreſs to us how low the Son of God was contented to ſtoop for the Redemption of Man. The Word was made fleſh: Two terms, at the greateſt diſtance from one another, are here brought together: The Son of God is here expreſſed to us by one of his higheſt and moſt glorious Titles, the Word, which imports both Power and Wiſdom; Chriſt the Power of God, and the Wiſdom of God, as the Apoſtle calls him: And human Nature is here deſcribed by its vileſt part, fleſh; which imports frailty and infirmity: The Word became fleſh, that is, ſubmitted to that from which it was at the greateſt diſtance: He who was the Power of God, and the Wiſdom of God, 1 Cor. 1. 24.ſubmitted not only to be called, but really to become a frail and miſerable Man; not only to aſſume our Nature, but to put on all the infirmities, and which is the greateſt of all, the Mortality of it.
And this is the great Myſtery of godlineſs, that is, of the Chriſtian Religion, that God ſhould be manifeſted in the fleſh, and become man, with a moſt gracious and merciful deſign to bring man back again to God: That he ſhould become a miſerable, and a mortal man to ſave us from eternal death, and to make us partakers of everlaſting life: That the Son of God ſhould condeſcend to inhabit our vile Nature, to wear Rags and to become a beggar for our ſakes; and all this not only to repair thoſe diſmal Ruins which Sin had made in it, and to reſtore us to our former eſtate; but to better and advance our condition, and by degrees to bring us to a ſtate of much greater perfection and happineſs than that from which we fell.
And that he ſhould become man on purpoſe that he might dwell among us, and converſe with us, and thoroughly inſtruct us in our Duty, and ſhew us the way to eternal life by his heavenly Doctrine, and as it were take us by the hand and lead us in that way by the perfect and familiar Example of a moſt blameleſs and holy life; ſhewing us how God himſelf thought fit to live in this World, when he was pleaſed to become man.
That by converſing with us in the likeneſs and nature of man, he might become a human, and in ſome ſort an equal and familiar, an imitable and encouraging Example of innocency and goodneſs, of meekneſs and humility, of patience and ſubmiſſion to the Will of God under the foreſt afflictions and ſufferings, and in a word a moſt perfect Pattern of a Divine and Heavenly converſation upon Earth.
And that by this means we might for our greater encouragement in holineſs and vertue, ſee all that which the Law of God requires of us exemplified in our Nature, and really performed and practiſed by a Man like our ſelves.
And that likewiſe in our nature he might conquer and triumph over the two great Enemies of our Salvation, the World and the Devil: And by firſt ſuffering Death, and then overcoming it, and by reſcuing our nature from the power of it by his Reſurrection from the dead, he might deliver us from the fear of Death, and give us the glorious hopes of a bleſſed Immortality: For by aſſuming our frail and mortal Nature he became capable of ſuffering and of ſhedding his precious Blood for us, and by that means of purchaſing forgiveneſs of ſins and eternal Redemption for us.
And further yet, that by being ſubject to the miſeries and infirmities of Humanity, he might from his own Experience, the ſureſt and moſt ſenſible ſort of knowledge and inſtruction, learn to have a more compaſſionate ſenſe of our infirmities, and be more apt to commiſerate us in all our ſufferings and temptations, and more ready to ſuccour us labouring under them.
And finally, that as a Reward of his Obedience and ſufferings in our Nature, he might in the ſame Nature be exalted to the right hand of the Majeſty on high, there to continue for ever to make interceſſion for us.
II. I ſhall in the next place conſider the Objections againſt the Incarnation of the Son of God, from the ſuppoſed impoſſibility and incongruity of the thing. I ſhall mention three, and endeavour in as few words as I can to give a clear and ſatisfactory Anſwer to them.
Firſt, It is objected, that the Incarnation of the Son of God as I have explained it, necceſſarily ſuppoſing an Union of the Divinity with human Nature is, if not altogether impoſſible, yet a very unintelligible thing.
Now that there is no impoſſibility in the thing ſeems to be very evident from the Inſtance whereby I have endeavoured to illuſtrate it, of the Union between the Soul and the Body of man, which we muſt acknowledge to be a thing poſſible, becauſe we are ſure that it is; and yet no man can explain, either to himſelf or to any one elſe, the manner how it is, or can be conceived to be; but for all that we are certain, as we can be of any thing, that it is ſo.
And is it not every whit as poſſible for God, if he ſo pleaſe, to unite himſelf to human Nature, as it is for the Soul to be united to the Body? And that we are not able to conceive the manner how this is or can be done, ought not in reaſon to be any prejudice againſt the truth and certainty of the thing: This indeed may make it ſeem ſtrange to us, but by no means incredible: Becauſe we do moſt firmly believe a great many things to be, the manner of whoſe Being we do not at all comprehend. And therefore I take it for an undoubted Principle which no Man can gainſay, That to aſſure us that a thing really is, it is not neceſſary for us to know the manner how it is, or can be: It is ſufficient for us to know, that the thing is not impoſſible; and of that we have the very beſt Demonſtration that can be, if we be ſure that it is.
Secondly, ſuppoſing this thing to be poſſible, and capable in any meaſure to be underſtood, which yet I have ſhewn not to be neceſſary to our firm belief of it: it is further objected, that it ſeems to be a thing very incongruous, and much beneath the Dignity of the Son of God, to be united to human Nature, and to ſubmit to ſo near an Allyance with that which is ſo very mean and deſpicable: Yea to be infinitely more below Him, than for the greateſt Prince in this World to match with the pooreſt and moſt contemptible Beggar.
But herein ſurely we meaſure God too much by our ſelves, and becauſe we who are evil have ſeldom ſo much goodneſs as to ſtoop beneath our ſelves for the benefit and good of others, we are apt to think that God hath not ſo much goodneſs neither: And becauſe our ill nature, and pride, and folly, as indeed all pride is folly, will not ſuffer us to do it, we preſently conclude that it does not become God. But what Pliny ſaid to the Emperour Trajan concerning earthly Kings and Potentates, is much more true of the Lord of Glory, the great King of Heaven and Earth; Cui nihil ad augendum faſtigium ſupereft, hoc uno modo creſcere poteſt, ſi ſe ipſe ſubmittat, ſecurus magnitudinis ſuae, He that is at the top, and can riſe no higher, hath yet this one way left to become greater, by ſtooping beneath himſelf; which he may very ſafely do, being ſecure of his own Greatneſs. The lower any Being, be he never ſo high, condeſcends to do good, the glory of his Goodneſs ſhines ſo much the brighter. Men are many times too proud and ſtiff to bend, too perverſe and ill natur'd to ſtoop beneath their own little Greatneſs for the good of others: But God, whoſe ways are not as our ways, and whoſe thoughts are as much above our low and narrow thoughts as the Heavens are high above the earth, did not diſdain nor think it below him to become Man for the good of Mankind; and as much as the Divinity is capable of being ſo, to become miſerable to make us happy. We may be afraid that if we humble our ſelves we ſhall be deſpis'd, that if we ſtoop others will get above us and trample upon us: But God, though he condeſcend never ſo low, is ſtill ſecure of his own Greatneſs, and that none can take it from him.
So that in truth, and according to right Reaſon, it was no real diminution or diſparagement to the Son of God to become Man for the Salvation of Mankind: But on the contrary, it was a moſt glorious Humility, and the greateſt Inſtance of the trueſt Goodneſs that ever was. And therefore the Apoſtle to the Hebrews, when he ſays that Chriſt glorifyed not himſelf to be made an High-Prieſt, Heb. 5. 5.but was appointed of God to this Office, as was Aaron…, does hereby ſeem to intimate that it was a glory to the Son of God to be made an High-Prieſt for the Sons of Men: For though it was a ſtrange condeſcention, yet was it likewiſe a moſt wonderful Argument of his Goodneſs, which is the higheſt Glory of the Divine Nature.
In ſhort, if God for our ſakes did ſubmit himſelf to a condition which we may think did leſs become him, here is great cauſe of thankfulneſs, but none ſurely of cavil and exception: We have infinite reaſon to acknowledge and admire his goodneſs, but none at all to upbraid him with his kindneſs, and to quarrel with him for having deſcended ſo much beneath himſelf to teſtifie his love to us and his tender concernment for our happineſs: Beſides, that when we have ſaid all we can about this matter, I hope we will allow God himſelf to be the beſt and moſt competent Judge what is fit for God to do; and that he needs not to take counſel of any of his Creatures, what will beſt become him in this or any other Caſe:Job 33. 12, 13. Behold in this thou art not juſt; I will anſwer thee, that God is greater than man: Why doſt thou diſpute againſt him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.
Thirdly, If our Reaſon could get over this Difficulty, and admit that God might become Man; yet it ſeems very unſuitable to the Son of God and to his great Deſign of inſtructing and reforming Mankind, to appear in ſo low and ſuffering a condition. This, to the Heathen Philoſophers, who as the Apoſtle tells us by Wiſdom knew not God, did not only ſeem unreaſonable but even ridiculous:1 Cor. 1. 21. So St. Paul tells us, We, ſays he, preach Chriſt crucified, to the Jews a ſtumbling block, and to the Greeks fooliſhneſs: To think that ſo poor and mean a Man was fit to give Laws to Mankind, and to awe the minds of men by the Authority of his Doctrine: That One who was put to Death himſelf ſhould be believed by others when he promiſed to them Life and Immortality in another World, could not but appear very ſtrange and unreaſonable.
For Anſwer to this; beſides other excellent Reaſons and Ends which the Scripture expreſly aſſigns of our B. Saviour's Humiliation, in his aſſuming our Nature with the frailties and miſeries of it: As that he might be a Teacher, and an Example to us: That by his bitter Paſſion he might make Expiation for sin, and …et us a pattern of the greateſt meekneſs and patience under the greateſt provocations and ſufferings: That having ſuffered ſo grievouſly himſelf, he might know how to commiſerate and pity us in all our temptations and ſufferings: That by death he might deſtroy him that had the power of Death, that is, the Devil; and might deliver thoſe who through fear of Death were all their Life-time ſubject to bondage: I ſay, beſides all this, it was of great uſe that the great Teacher and Reformer of Mankind ſhould live in ſo mean and afflicted a condition, to confront the pride and vanity of the World by this conſideration that the Son of God, and the very beſt man that ever was, was a Beggar, and had not where to lay his head: And likewiſe to convince Men of theſe two great Truths, That God may grievouſly afflict thoſe whom he dearly loves; and, That it is poſſible for men to be innocent and contented in the midſt of poverty, and reproach, and ſufferings.
Had our B. Saviour appeared in the Perſon and Pomp of a great temporal Prince, the influence of his Authority and Example would probably have made more Hypocrites and ſervile Converts, but not have perſuaded men one jot more to be inwardly holy and good. The great Arguments that muſt do that, muſt not be fetch'd from the Pomp and Proſperity of this World, but from the great and eternal Recompences of the other.
And it is very well worth our obſervation that nothing puzzled Ceſar Vaninus, who was perhaps the firſt, and the only Martyr for Atheiſm that ever was; I ſay, nothing puzzled him more, than that he could not from the Hiſtory of our Saviour's Life and Actions, written by the Evangeliſts with ſo native a ſimplicity, faſten upon him any probable imputation of a ſecular intereſt and deſign in any thing that he ſaid or did. No doubt but Vaninus, before he made this acknowledgment, had ſearched very narrowly into this matter; and could he have found any colour for ſuch an imputation, he would have thought it ſufficient to have blaſted both Him and his Religion.
You may be pleaſed to conſider further, that it was the opinion of the Wiſeſt Jews, that the beſt men, the Children of God who called God their Father, were many times expoſed to the greateſt ſufferings and reproaches for the trial of their faith, and meekneſs, and patience, as we may ſee at large in the Wiſdom of Solomon, where ſpeaking of the malice and enmity of the wicked to one that was eminently righteous, he brings them in ſaying after this manner,Chap. I. v. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Let us lie in wait for the righteous, becauſe he is not for our turn; he is clean contrary to our doings: He upbraideth us with our offending the Law, and objecteth to our infamy the tranſgreſſions of our youth: He profeſſeth to have the knowledge of God, and he calleth himſelf the Child of the Lord: He is grievous unto us even to behold; for his life is not like other mens, his ways are of another faſhion: We are eſteemed of him as counterfeits, he abſtaineth from our ways as from filthineſs: He pronounceth the end of the juſt to be bleſſed, and maketh his boaſt that God is his Father: Let us ſee if his words be true, and what ſhall happen in the end of him: For if the juſt man be the Son of God, he will help him, and deliver him from the hands of his Enemies: Let us examine him with deſpitefulneſs and torture, that we may know his meekneſs and prove his patience: Let us condemn him to a ſhameful Death, &c.
This is ſo exact a Character of our B. Saviour, both in reſpect of the holineſs and innocency of his Life, and of the reproaches and ſufferings which he met with from the wicked and malicious Jews, who perſecuted him all his life, and at laſt conſpir'd his death, that whoever reads this Paſſage can hardly forbear to think it a Prophetical Deſcription of the innocency and ſufferings of the B. Jeſus: For He certainly in the moſt eminent manner was the Son of God, being called by the Evangeliſt, the only begotten of the Father.
Or if this was not a Prediction concerning our B. Saviour, yet thus much at leaſt may be concluded from it, that in the judgment of the Wiſeſt among the Jews, it was not unworthy of the Goodneſs and Wiſdom of the Divine Providence to permit the beſt Man to be ſo ill treated by wicked men: And further, that in their judgment the innocency and vertues of an eminently righteous man are then ſet off to the beſt advantage, and do ſhine forth with the greateſt luſtre, when he is under the hardeſt circumſtances of ſuffering and perſecution from an evil World.
Add to this likewiſe, that the beſt and wiſeſt of the Heathen Philoſophers do frequently inculcate ſuch Doctrines as theſe: That Worldly Greatneſs and Power are not to be admir'd, but rather to be deſpis'd by a wiſe man: That men may be very good, and dear to the Gods, and yet liable to the greateſt miſeries and ſufferings in this World. That whoever ſuffers unjuſtly, and bears it patiently, gives the greateſt teſtimony to Goodneſs, and does moſt effectually recommend Piety and Vertue, as things of greater value than the eaſe and pleaſure of this preſent Life: Nay further, that a good man caſt into the hardeſt circumſtances of poverty and miſery, of reproach and ſuffering, is the fitteſt perſon of all other to be the Miniſter, and Apoſtle and Preacher of God to Mankind; Which are the very words of Arian a Heathen Philoſopher, in his Diſcourſes of Epictetus. Now ſurely they who ſay ſuch things have no reaſon to object to our B. Saviour his low and ſuffering condition, as misbecoming one that was to be the great Teacher and Reformer of the World.
And as to that part of the Objection, that He who ſo freely promiſed Immortality to others could not, or however did not ſave himſelf from Death: This vaniſheth into nothing when we conſider, that he reſcued himſelf from the power of the Grave: And it is ſo far from being ridiculous to rely upon his Promiſe of raiſing us up from the dead, that the Objection it ſelf is really ſo. For can any thing be more reaſonable than to rely upon Him for our hopes of Immortality, who by riſing from the Grave himſelf, and by conquering the Powers of Death and Darkneſs, and triumphing openly over them by his viſible Aſcenſion into Heaven, hath given ſo plain and ſenſible a Demonſtration to all Mankind that he is able to make good to the uttermoſt all the glorious Promiſes which he hath made to us of a bleſſed Reſurrection to eternal Life and Happineſs in another World? To Him be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. Amen.