Exposition of the Apostles Creed, Part 2 · Sermon 23
Of Christs Ascension.
LUKE 24.50, 51.
And he led them out as farre as to Bethany, and he lift up his hands, and blessed them.
And it came to pass while he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up to heaven.
ALL the works of God have their fit time, their opportunity. Among the chief of these is the Redemption of the World by Christ; which because it is perfected by successive Acts, that these might be the better remembred, the Church assigned several dayes to his honour. All the rest are gone before, this is present; and it ought to be a day of Jubile, Psa. 47.5.for that God went up with a merry noyse, and the Lord with the sound of the Trump.
For after our Saviour had fought the battel, and gotten the Victory on the Cross, after he had repaired by his Resurge that Temple of his body, which the malicious Jews had digg'd down, he ascended up on high,Greg. hom. 4. in Ezek. far above all heavens, even the highest of them. St. Gregory compares our Saviour to Ezekiels Vision. The Prophet saw foure Cherubins, whose likeness was that of a man, and every one had four faces: The first had the face of a Lyon, the second of an Oxe, the third of an Eagle, the fourth was of a man. Christ saith he, lively opens this Vision to us; A man in his birth, an Oxe sacrificed at his death, a Lion on the day of his Resurrection, and an Eagle in his Ascension to heaven. A better sight it is to see him an Eagle in the clouds, than an Oxe upon the Altar, as on Good-friday we beheld him. Better to behold a cloud to receive him, than a grave-stone to cover him. Better to see him preparing for his Triumph on Mount Olivet, than upon his Cross in Golgotha.
To this Mount he came, after the 40. dayes of his return from the grave were expired. For so long he conversed with them from his Resurrection,Act. 1.3. being not willing presently to withdraw and absent himself from his Disciples, but delay his own honour for their good, In that time he inform'd their ignorance, and confirm'd their Faith: Their want of knowledge, which formerly made them doubt: Their fear, which when time was, made them fly; his bitter Cross that before put them in a maze; their diffidence which brought them near despair, is by this his gracious presence in that length of time dispell'd. Conclude they must and did, that it was no Spirit which they saw; no phantastick body suddenly appearing, and as suddenly vanishing: but a true substance consisting of flesh and bones, which their very hands handled, and their eyes saw to eat and drink before them: Thus of weak they became strong; of faithless faithful.
Well now, suppose the 40. days are ended. Our Evangelist Relates what then succeeded to Christ and his Disciples; for these two take up the close of his Gospel. In which consider
1. His Manudiction, He led them out as far as Bethany.
2. His Benediction, He lift up his hands, and blessed them.
3. His Ascension, He parted from them, and was carried to heaven
All this concern'd him; but as for his Disciples, observe
1. Their Religion, They worshipped him.
2. Their full satisfaction, They r…turn'd with joy to Hierusalem.
3. Their piety, They were continually in the Temple.
4. Their thankfulness, They praised, they blessed God.
1. He led them out as farre as Bethany.
Bethany was a little Town about two Miles from Hierusalem, and it signifieth the house of affliction, near to which was the Garden, where being in an Agony, Christ sweat blood. It is not without a mystery, that the same place was destin'd to the beginning of his passion, and to his Ascension; to his pain, to his glory. This shews where we must reckon to begin, if we mean to be happy. To Bethany he leads all his, before they ascend to heaven; shew he would that sorrows and afflictions attend his followers.
If then you mean to be happy, be content to go with Christ as far as Bethany, the house of affliction; attend on him in Olivet, the Garden of his Passion, if you mean to live with him in glory. Suffer with him, and for him, if ever you mean to wear a Crown. But I go on;
2. He lift up his hands and blessed them.
He omitted not so much as the Ceremony which might honor the action. With us Ceremonies are scoffed at as vain and empty; but Christ would not give his blessing without it.Psal. 119.48. & 134.2. 1 Tim. 2.8. Let men deride as they please these external rites, yet I know they have their use and signification also. The hands lifted up in prayer, in blessing, shews that we are not able to help, to bless our selves; but that supply we expect must come from above; and that blessing which we bestow, descends from the Father of blessings; to him we lift up our hands to receive it; and from him being receiv'd, we bestow it. This is the reason that Aaron being to bless the people, Lev. 9.22.lifted up his hands.
3. Benedixit, He blessed them.
Aaron was but a type, Christ the true High Priest, and with his hands he gave his blessing,Gen. 21.17. Benedixit. Now his dicere is facere; His Word and Deed go together. We may wish well, but we cannot make the party the better by our wishes: Let him but say the word, and the thing is done. Doth he bless them? Num. 22.2. & 6.27.then they shall be blessed.
I am not able to tell you to how many things this blessing extended. It brought peace to their souls; never were there such quiet and contented hearts, even in the midst of troubles; beaten they were for their Masters sake, but they went away rejoycing; Acts 5.41. Mat. 5.11.They had then the effect of his promise, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, &c. This his blessing brought unity and peace to their Colledge; 'twas the blessing of God that they remain'd all together in one place, of one heart and one soul. This gave success to their labours; that three thousand at St. Peters first Sermon were converted;Acts 2.41.46. Act. 4.4. Acts 5.14. Act. 3.26. that the number on a sudden encreased to five thousand; that multitudes both of men and women were added to the Lord, was from hence. And I dare say, that the whole society of S…ints from that day to this, is the better for this blessing. For God having raised up his Son, sent him to bless us, in turning away every one of us from our iniquities. In a word, it made them, and will make us happy in our deaths; for as they lived piously, so they ended in a cheerful and a blessed hope; which blessing will befall all that live as they did.
Such was the confidence that Balaac had in Balaam, that he professeth, I wot well, that whom thou cursest is cursed; Num. 22.6.and he whom thou blessest is blessed. In his judgement then the blessing of a Prophet is somewhat. Pharaoh, even stubborn Pharaoh desired that of Moses, Exod. 12.32.Go and blesse me also. How passionate would these two Kings have been, had they seen the Son of God blessing his little Flock on Mount Olivet? They would out of doubt, been assured of the effect, when there is not one over whom he lifts a hand to bless, but is Benedictus.Psa. 115.12, 13
The blessings of such, who either ex officio bless the people as the Priest: or ex authoritate, bless the family as the father, ought not to be slighted, contemned, since without question, the less is bless'd of the greater;Heb. 7.7. a…d for it there be examples good store in Scripture. But the Bl…ssi…g of o… Father in heaven, and of our High Priest who sits on the right hand of God, is with prayer, and zeal, and teares to be implored, since without his blessing we can expect no happy success. Which our Saviour well knowing, blessed his Disciples before he departed; assuring them of that, whatsoever should befall them. And foreign.
3. As he blessed them, he parted from them.
For it so fell out, that in giving this blessing he took his leave. If any man be desirous to know in what posture our Saviour ascended, he may finde it here, dum benedictienem nondum absolvisset, before he had ended his blessing. The blessing which he began upon them, and with them, with words and gesture he continued ascending, that is, with his hands lifted up; not so much perhaps upright to heaven, whither his heart, hands, and eyes were sent up in prayer before; but his hands lifted up over his Apostles, as if he were dispersing his grace, and pouring out a blessing. So Simon, the son of Onias, used a most Solem form of benediction,Ecclus. 50.20. He lift up his hands over the whole Congregation of Israel, to give the blessing, &c.
'Tis the property of good men to depart with a blessing in their mouths.Gen. 27.4, 7, 10 Gen. 48.15, 9. & cap. 49. Isaac calls his two sonnes; and Jacob the twelve Patriarchs, to bless them before they dyed. For the words of a good man at the last breath, as they are more weighty, so also they are more hearty, more affectionate; and though they cannot effect, yet they may be Intercessors for a blessing. And if those examples cannot move, yet this may, this of our Saviour, who with a blessing in his mouth departed.
4. foreign, Departed from them.
From them he parted, but not with his Spirit and Grace, but in his bodily presence. With his Spirit he was with them,Mat. 28.20. and will be with his unto the end of the world; but in his body he took his leave; neither ought any man expect him any more, till the houre he hath promised to appeare.
United to Christ every true member of his body is; but to make this union, it is not needful that his humane Nature should be drawn down from h… ven. Not that his body be everywhere, as the Ʋbiquitaries affirm; nor that in the Sacrament there be a Transubstantiation, as the Romanists imagine.Rom. 8.11. 1 Cor. 3.16. 2 Tim. 1.14. His dwelling is by his Spirit, and our union with him wholly spiritual. Neither in thus saying do we divide his two Natures, for they are inseperably joyn'd in one personal union; But the property of both Natures must be prese…ved. As God, he is in all places; but as God united to man, he can no more be in many places at once, than one and the self-same natural body can be here and elsewhere. Most true it is, that his body is glorified, but yet a body it is still, and therefore must have the same essential properties of another body, the same dimensions, and consequently the same Ʋbi, and circumscription of parts, and therefore cannot in the same moment infinitely diffuse it self. The Scripture speaks reservedly, He departed; then no… bodily to be longer present;Act. 3.21. Col. 3.1. 1 Thes. 1.10. and that after his departure the heaven must contain him; he was not then to be more on earth. In heaven he must sit, thence he must come; whereas were he in all or divers places, the heaven did no more containe him than other places. He should no more sit there, than in other places; neither could he be said at the last day to come from thence, more than from other places. Therefore Noli dubitare ibi esse hominem Christum unde venturus est, put it out of doubt, and keep faithfully that Christian confession: Christ is risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits on the right hand of the Father, and that he shall come from no other place than from heaven, to judge both the quick and the dead.
5. foreign. He was carried up to Heaven.
But now I come to the main point of the Text, His Ascension: foreign, He was carried up. Christ was taken up, not as birds fly, or men move, but so as if he had been carried in mens hands, and by little and little mounted upward,Brugens. Cajetan. Barrad. Aquin. with an upright posture of body leasurely ascending. He was mounted not by any other power, but by his own; either as God, or by an agility proper to humane glorified bodies. Yet Aquinas well observes, That as Christ is said to rise by his own power, and yet to be raised by the Father, because their powers are one; so may he be said to ascend by his own power, and yet be elevated and assisted by the Father. He moved not leg after leg, or seemed to go or climb, but in all parts alike, and wholly together he was lifted up.
And for the greater Majesty a cloud was under him, descending even to his feet in the form of a Throne, on which he sate. As the Royal Chariot declares the King; so there was sent down to Christ, Regale Vehiculum, a Royal Chariot; which rather yet was carried by him, than he by it. For this was not vehiculum necessarium, a necessary support and stay; for such he needed not; yet it might be adminiculum solemne, a solemn free assistance, which he pleased to assume as a sign of Majesty.
As he is to come, so he was to go. But he shall come in the clouds of heaven; Act. 1.11. Mat. 24.30.and therefore he was in the same manner taken away with the clouds about him. One perhaps more Eminent, on which he sate, and on which he ascended, as a Testimonial that he was the Lord of the clouds. A Cloud then was the Triumphal Chariot in which he rode; and this Cloud left him not till he was mounted to heaven.
6. foreign, To Heaven.
To that pitch he came, and that was foreign above, and foreign aloft;Eph. 4.10. foreign, above all the heavens, even the highest of them, by which he went and took possession, and shew'd himself Lord of all.
His Lord appear'd in the Sea, when he walk'd upon the water without a ship.Mat. 14.25, 26. & 27.52. Athanas. His Lordship appear'd on the Land, when he caused the graves to split, and deliver up their dead. His Lordship appear'd in hell, when foreign, when the Devil trembled and startled; when he broke those gates, and brought away the keys and shewed them; his Lordship appeared in the air, when he led captivity captive, drew powers and principalities after him,Ephes. 2.8. Col. 2.15. and triumphed over them in himself; there was but one place in which his dominion and power was not apparent. Heaven it was, and thither now he went,Act. 10.36. that he might shew himself Lord of all.
Heaven is a very doubtful term, were it but a little above the earth it might be heaven; the birds that flutter above our heads, are called the birds of heaven, and the canopy of clouds, the clouds of heaven. Again, had it been higher, as to the Orbs of the plants, or fixed stars, heaven it had been also. But besides these we read of the highest heavens, the throne, seat, and habitation of God, where there is the perpetual revelation of Gods holiness, glory, majesty, where there is fulness of joy, stability, and security; and to this place it is that Christ ascended with his body, having under him all other corporeal and visible sphears as his footstool.
This is well expressed to us by the Apostle, under the type of the High Priest,Heb. 4.14. who entred once a year into the Holiest of Holies, but not without blood; and so have we, saith he, an High Priest that hath passed into the heavens.Godw. Ant. lib. 2. cap. 1. The Temple of Solomon was a type of the world; in it were three parts, the atrium apertum, the open Court, or Court of the people, where the multitude were assembled and the sacrifices offered; the lower part of the world is very like to it where beasts and men do live. The second part was called Sanctuarium, in which was the golden Candlestick with the lamps, this resembled the heavenly Orbs, in which are the greater Luminaries and less lights. The third part was that same Sanctum Sanctorum, into which the High Priest onelyonly might enter.
In this there was the propiatory on the Mercy seat;Heb. 9.24. and this will answer to that place Christ called in Scripture, the City of God, or Hierusalem which is above.
Into this sacrarium the High Priest might alone enter, and into that above our High Priest is entred; that the highest part of the Temple, this of heaven,Heb. 9.7. in that was foreign, the Propiatory, in this Christ, who is the sole foreign, or propitiation for our sins.1 Joh. 2.2. Now that thither Christ is ascended the Scriptures are so clear an evidence, that he that runs may read it.
One thing onelyonly give me leave to add, that being exalted thither, God said unto him, Sit thou on my right hand, which he never said to any of the Angels,Heb. 1.13. how glorious soever.
In God there is neither eye, nor ear, nor foot, nor hand properly, for he is a Spirit, and therefore not composed of such material parts; when the Scriptures speaks in such terms of God, Humanum dicit, it speaks after the manner of men, that men by what is done among them, might conceive what is done in heaven.
1. Whom Kings will chiefly honor, those they place in the chief seat above them, even on their right hand. It was the place,1 King. 2.19. Psal. 45.9. where Solomon set his mothers throne; it was the place on which the King sets his Queen. On the right hand did stand the Queen in a vesture of Gold, Thus it is done to those whom the King will honor.
2. And as the right hand is a place of Honor, so 'tis a place of power and authority too; those who are at the Kings right hand have commonly most power and command in a state, Solomon having set his mother on his right hand, said, Ask on my mother, for I will not say thee nay. Vers. 20. Mat. 20.21.That was the place that the Mother of Zebedees children asked for her sons for that end.
That then Christ was set at the right hand of God, intimates, that all Honor and Glory, all power and authority in heaven and in earth was delivered unto him; and Christ God and man receives this in his whole person, but collated upon him in regard of his manhood, his Godhead being uncapable of any new accession of power or glory. Sedere ad dextram patris est assumptae carnis mysterium.
His humane body assumed here below was despised and placed (ashamed I am to tell you where, had not he despised the shame) 'twas upon the cross betwixt two theives; in heaven 'tis advanced to an honorable place; there he hung like a poor creature, scorned by all, abused by all; here he is exalted above all, seated in a chair or throne next his Father. In this world he was poor, weary, hungry, thirsty, harberless; he found no rest for the sole of his foot; here he sits at ease, full of riches, and hath abundance of Mansions to bestow upon those who shall sue for them.Joh. 14.2. This world afforded him nor Robe, nor Crown, nor Scepter, or if any, such as reeds and thorns could make, and scorners put on: But heaven yeelded him all these with advantage, took him up, and made him King of kings, and Lord of lords; a King at whose feet all Kings must cast down their crowns, and a Lord in whose presence all their dominion and jurisdiction ceaseth.Mat. 28.18. Omnis potestas, All power was given to him in heaven and in earth; power given and granted in the largest terms, and the greatest extent. Power, and all power; the power of the King, and power of the Priest; for now he was declared to be King of Saints, and Bishop of our souls. Power of a large extent, as ample as heaven and earth; and if that be not wide enough,Rev. 15.3. 1 Pet. 2.25. you may take in the territory of hell too; For he had all power given into his hands over all men on earth, all Angels and Saints in heaven,Rev. 1.18. all devils and reprobates in Hell; the keys of hell and death being delivered unto him.
The Application.
All this while I have followed the thred of the Text, and with much brevity and perspicuity acquainted you with the story of our Saviours ascension; It remains now that we examine the causes and effects of it; for till we understand them, tis but a bare relation, by which the hearer may be a little the wiser, but not much the better. That then he went up on high, was for himself, and for us;Joh. 16.17. for his Honour, for our Benefit, comfort, and instruction; It is expedient for you, saith he, that I go away.
1. This first was for his Honor; while he was below, no man more contemptible; now he is above no name more Honorable; the cloud that carried him, the Angels that attend him, the heavens that received him, the right hand of his Father assigned him,Rev. 19.16. proclaim to all the world, that he is Rex regum, Dux dominantium.
The Jews, Jews as they were, did what they could against him; they endeavored to bring down his name, person, power; they vilified his person by making him ascend up to the cross; they disgraced his name by putting over his head,Joh. 19.19. Mat. 27.29. I. N. R. I. They derided his power by the crown of thornes they put on his head, and the scepter of a reed they thrust into his hand; for were not these goodly ensigns of Regal power? But God hath righted him in all these, exalted him in all these, honoured him again in his Name, Person, Power.
There he hung like a poor creature, scorned by all, disgraced by all; God now hath exalted this contemptible person, raised him above all, and seated him in a chair of state next himself. From the Father he proceeded, and into the world he came;Joh. 16.28. Marc. 16.19. the world he left, and to the Father he went; his course you see was circular, and the period or the joyning was Dextra patris, The Fathers right hand.
On his Cross you may read his Name, and on a lower place it could not be put. This Name so humbled, so debased, God takes, and makes more honorable than any name, requiring the greatest Monarchs to stoop to it,Phil. 2.10. all nations to fall low before it; Angels to adore it, Saints to worship it, and the devils themselves to tremble and fly at the mention of it.Joh. 19.10, 11. On earth his power seemed to be confined, or at least it pleased him to submit to an humane power; but now all power is given to him; he hath no superior,Mat. 28.18. Gal. 4.6. Psal. 2.9. but rules in the Church by his laws, in the hearts of men by his Spirit, over his enemies with a rod of Iron.
And this kingdom was the just reward of his great humility; It is the acknowledgement of many Angels, and many Elders about the throne,Rev. 5.12. Tu Domine dignus, Thou Lord art worthy, to receive blessing and glory, and honour, and power; and why all this? but because he was the Lambe that was slain; as if they had sung, This Jesus is ascended, because he descended to the womb, descended to the manger, descended to the cross, descended to the grave: It being usual to settle the eminency of his power and glory upon the foreign of his infirmity and humility, He shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up his head, Psal. 110.7. See also, Isa. 53.11, 12. Phil. 2.9, 10. Heb. 2.5. Claritas humilitatis praemium.
2. Thus it was done to the man, whom the King of heaven would honour; and that it was done to him as a man, it is also beneficial to us; for as Christ was not incarnate for his own good, but for us; nor subject to the law for himself but for us; nor crucified, dead, and buried for his own sake, but for ours; nor rose again onelyonly for himself, but for us; so also he ascended into heaven for us also, honoring thereby the Nature of man. When Jesus was taken to heaven, our Nature united to his person was mounted thither with him.
Weigh but what Nature this was upon which God bestowed this blessing, and you must wonder at the advancement; that nature it was which God had said, Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return; Gen. 3.19.whose principles were but dust and ashes, and whose resolution must be by the order of nature into dust and ashes: that nature which we made inglorious, and vilified,Isa. 40.6. vanishing as a flower, corruptible like other creatures. Behold and wonder, man that was compared to the beasts that perish, is again become in Honor; that Nature which in corruption is like other things, is taken up, and seated above all things, and being one with Christ made superior to the Angels;Psal. 49.20. Ephes. 1.21. Heb. 1.13. for cui Angelorum, for to which of the Angels did God ever say, Sit thou on my right hand!
3. To see our nature thus exalted, may give great content; and yet there is in it that which may please us better; every man wisheth well to his body, and by his good will would have it immortal, and raised to the greatest honor. In the world it cannot be so; Tabernacles they are, and they must be taken down,2 Cor. 5.1. Heb. 13.14. Joh. 14.2. for they are set up in a City that cannot continue; the foreign, the mansions are above, among which that they should remain, Christ is gone up to prepare a place for them. As then they must have to our grief their descent, so shall they have to our joy their ascent also; as taken down to the earth, so taken up to heaven; for if Christs body, then ours also, when raised, must be in that happy place; otherwise the head and members should be parted. He left behind him his pawn or earnest, his spirit by which he did descend to us;2 Cor. 1.22. & 5.5. and he took our pawn, our flesh, that we should one day ascend to him; at his rising he took to himself the keys of hell and death, unlocked the doors,Rev. 1.18. and let himself our and all his; and so now at his taking up, he took to himself the keys of heaven, and opened that kingdom to all believers. This feast then is festum dedicationis, Mat. 16.19.the feast of dedication, in which dedicatum est hominibus coelum, Heb. 10.20.heaven by a new and a living way was consecrated for us, a way not known to any, nor passable for any, but by the vail of Christs flesh. After the vail was rent, the way was revealed,Bern. Levit. 23.10. 1 Cor. 15.23. & dedicata ascensionis nostrae primordia. His body in the nature of a first fruit out of the field of men being lift up, consecrated the whold field, by vertue whereof all the sheafs, the bodies I mean of men that were hallowed with it, shall be lifted up and advanced to the place where he is.
4. This is a benefit which we shall reap at the last day; but in the mean time he is not wanting to us; whether we consider him Lord, or Christ; whether as the High Priest of our profession,Act. 2.36. Heb. 3.1. Rev. 15.3. or a great King seated on Gods right hand with all power and authority.
1. His Priesthood after the order of Aaron ended at his death, for he was to offer no more sacrifice for sin;Heb. 9.26. Heb. 7.17. but after the order of Melchizedech he was to continue a Priest for ever; and this his Priesthood is yet very beneficial unto us.
Rev. 12.10.We have a very slanderous adversary, and would I could say all he had to lay to our charge were meer slanders; but God help us, it is otherwise; the most part of that he hath to say is too true; besides many a petition we have to deliver, many a suite to make at the throne of Grace, and so much out of favor for our disobedience we are, that we need a Mediator, one to make way and speak for us.
For our comfort then, let the divel clogg his bill either with slanders or Truths, all penitent and believing sinners have in that high Court an Advocate, an agent to plead for them, a Sollicitor to follow their whole business, an intercessor to step in upon every dislike,1 Joh. 1.2. Heb. 7.25. and make an atonement, nay one to do that which no Advocate is able, facere causam, to make our case good, which in it self is starke naught. Again, if at any time in an humble manner we bring a petition,Joh. 14.13. Rom. 8.26. and present it in his Name, as our High Priest he takes it, offers it to God his Father, and makes request for us.
The sum is, when Almighty God is displeased, he turns his Fathers eye from us upon himself, presents his wounds, his blood, his Cross, his death; at which aspect Gods anger is pacified, his indignation asswaged, his goodwill recovered; and our infirm petitions sent up with sighs, with groans and a zealous heart, are accepted and granted; without him that throne were full of amazement and horror;Heb. 4.15, 16. that he is upon it, gives us boldness to have access to the throne of Grace, and to present our requests with confidence, because he speaks for us,Mat. 3.16. Joh. 11.42. with whom God is well-pleased; he pleads for us, whom God always hears. Let those seduced souls of Rome find out other Advocates, Saints or Angels, and engage them to promote their requests in the Court of heaven; to us Christ is in stead of all, being assured that a prayer conceived with a faithful heart, and offered upon the Altar of a contrite soul through Jesus Christ our Lord, cannot miscarry.
2. Well then it was for us that ever he became High Priest, and well again that ever he was set at Gods right hand, and made a King, since his power he will also use for our good, and that many ways.
1. The first of these is the collection of his Church, which is the translation of some men from that great Prince of darkness,Col. 1.13. and the plantation of them in his own kingdom of Grace; the means by which this is done, are his word and the power of his Spirit; for by preaching of the Word, he beates upon the ears outwardly, and by the secret operation of the Spirit he mollifies the heart inwardly to assent to what is heard, to lay up what is sowed, by the power whereof some men are singled out of the world and translated into the kingdom of God;1 Pet. 2.9. These are called the precious separated from the vile, a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people to shew forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvellous light.
By which you may judge of the collections made at this day; it seems to me to be such a gathering as the Israelites made in Egypt, Exod. 5.12.when they were sent over the whole land to gather straw; for what el…e have they got together, but an empty company, in which there is no solidity, little judgement, little Truth, less morality! And how was it possible it should be otherwise, since as often as they met with a heavy eare, they threw it aside! Christs gathering is other.
2. And when he hath by his Word and his Spirit gathered a select company, careful he is, that they be well ordered, guided, governed; for where no guidance and governance is, the collected body will quickly fall asunder. His laws then he hath to guide them, and his statutes to direct them, and his Prophets to publish these, and his foreign, Heralds to proclaim these,Marc. 16.15. Isa. 49.23. Act. 20.28. and his Kings and Bishops to look that men walk according to these, least those whom he hath collected do turn and start aside. In the wilderness, when God led the Israelites with a cloud by day, and fire by night, as the pillar moved they moved,Numb. 9.15. and when the cloud stood still, they stood still; as fire or cloud moved or stood, so also they went forward, or were at a stand. This prefigured how provident God is in guiding, and how orderly we should be in obeying his commands and directions. Where he moves before us in his word, or by his spirit, thar there we move to; but if he stand still, and shew us not the way, that there we pause and stay, not daring to proceed in the action, till we are sure we have an order from him.
3. But to collect a company is to no purpose, no nor yet to set down an order and rule by which they shall be governed, except there be power to secure those who observe his laws, and punish such as transgress them. To this end also it was that Christ sate down at the right of his Father, that he might have all power bestowed upon him; and his power he will use for both those ends.
1. He hath power to defend his Church, and he will and doth dayly use this power for the good of his people. Though he sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven, yet doth he not forget his poor Church on earth, but either limit, or annihilate the fury and power of her enemies,Mat. 16.18. so that she shall never be overthrown. 'Tis his promise, That the gates of hell shall never prevail against her.
The Tyrants of this world may, when Gods people grow too wanton,Isa. 10.5. be as that proud Assyrian, the rod of Gods anger; which yet is small comfort to them; for I never read any man put into that Office, to be Gods Rod to scourge his people, who was not himself a Reprobate. For they meane not so, neither doth their heart think so; Vers. 7.their intent is not to execute Gods anger: But it is in their heart to destroy and cut off this holy Nation, this royal Priest-hood; this Sacred people collected with so much sweat, and purchased with such precious blood. Howbeit, when the Lord hath perform'd his whole work upon Mount Zion, and upon Jerusalem, Vers. 12.then he will bring down the fruit of the stout heart, and punish the glory of their high looks, and he will take that Rod with which he hath chastised his people, and cast it into the fire.
What Sect hath ever been so opposed as the Christian Religion? against what sort of men hath the Devil and men so strongly confederated as against Christians? If persecutions, if politick inventions, if fire, if fagots, if the teeth of wilde beasts, if gredirons, sequestrations, barbarous usage, &c. if Wolves in sheeps cloath…ng could have raven'd and devoured this little flock, there had not been one man to present a prayer to Jesus Christ.Psal. 2.4. & 124.7. & 5.12. But he that sits in heaven, hath laugh'd these Tyrants to scorne; the snares of their inventions have been broken, and his are delivered; he hath protected, he hath compassed his dearly beloved Spouse with his loving-kindness as with a Shield.
2. And as he makes use of his power to protect; so also he stretcheth out his arme to the confusion and destruction of his Churches enemies.Exod. 7, &c. Exod. 14 Exod. 17.14. Josh. 10.11. Act. 12.13. Act. 1.18. Psal. 110.1. He that reads of the plagues of Egypt, and the overthrow of Pharaoh, of the destruction of Amalech, and the five Kings by those hailestones sent from heaven; of the utter subversion of the Cananitish Kings, of the rejection of the Jews, of the lousie death of Herod, of the bowels of Judas, Arrius, Julian; in a word, of the fearful ends of the persecutors of his people; must needs confess with David, that God hath made Christs enemies his footstool, and hath set his foot upon the necks of those proud Kings,Josh. 10.24. and forced them to confess, though they were on high, yet that there is one that is higher than they, even on high at the right hand of God.
I have now done with the Comforts which the ascension and Session of our Saviour at Gods right hand affords; comfort to our dead bodies, comfort that he sits in heaven to plead for us, comfort that he makes our case good, comfort that he guides us and governs us here in this world, and comfort against the fury of our enemies. For as a Priest in heaven he doth intercede for us; and as a King in heaven he doth guide, govern and protect us.
Psal. 68.18. Ephes. 4.8.5. And yet his goodness stays not here; the Psalmist hath thus expressed what I mean, and the Apostle after him, that being gone up on high, he received and gave gifts to men: In which you may behold the magnificence of this King. As other Conquerors in their Triumphs, so he scatters his Missilia also. The height of his place, the Glory of his Triumph makes him not forget his poor little flock below, for his love comes down with a handful of gifts.
See whether he made not his word good, It is expedient for you that I go away; Joh. 16.7.for had he not departed, the Comforter had not come; These gifts had not been poured down. I express it right; for it was effusio; not a gift given with a sparing hand,Psal. 72.6. but a gift descending as rain into a Fleece of Wooll, and like the drops that water the earth. But, what, a single gift? Nay Dona, gifts; for they were many, a plurality of them; Languages, Graces, Miracles, governments: men to use them, Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Doctors, every thing in some measure, of which the Holy Ghost was owner. I shall say no more of them now, because I am to give you a full accompt shortly of them, in a fit time and place. For the present let us enter into a serious consideration of the Donors bounty, that being not moved by any thing in us, except our want and necessity, yet would bestow.
Into his houshold he took us, when we were Aliens, this one Gift; and in that he provides for us Apostles to teach us, Prophets to inform us, Pastors to guide us,Ephes. 2.17, 19, 20. Eph. 4.11. Isa. 50.4. 2 Tim. 4.2. 2 Tim. 2.15. this another gift, though in these days not much set by, and to these he gives the tongue of the learned (still his gifts do overflow) that they speak a word in due season. And by their lips, as officers under him, he divides to us what by his death he purchased, what by his Ascent he is seized on.
Wisdom he is, and he divides to us wisdom, To make us wise to salvation; Holiness he is,1 Cor. 1.30. and divides to us of his holiness to make us better. Righteousness he is, and he divides to us of his righteousness to make us just: The Redeemer of the world he is, and he divides to us of his Redemption to set us free. The Lord and Heir of all he is, and he divides to us of his inheritance to make us rich;1 Pet. 1.4. being gone up on high, he received gifts, and ever since he is upon the giving hand.
Methinks then, 'tis a shame for us always to be poring upon the earth, and never turn an eye upward to him from whom these, and all other good gifts come. Can Saint Pauls exhortation wing your thoughts?Jam. 1.17. Then listen to his counsel, Seek those things that are above, where Christ sits on the right hand of God: Your hope is to ascend to heaven whether he is gone,Col. 3.1. and therefore see your conversation be in heaven. This I know is summa voti, the short, the scope of all your desires, to be where he is; at rest in heaven as he is;Phil. 3.20. at rest on high as he is; as therefore he is gone to prepare a place for you,Joh. 14.3. so do you prepare your selves for the place.
To which place he that is gone up to heaven, vouchsafe to bring us, that with Saints and Angels, we may enjoy the clear light of his countenance, and with them sing the song of Moses and the Lambe, Blessing, glory, Rev. 15.honor and power be unto him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lambe for ever and ever. Amen.