Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

it may not be in him which willeth, nor in him which runneth, "but in God which showeth mercy; " that the service, cooperation, and help of the church's joy might be ours, but the dominion over men's faith, and the teaching of their inner man might be Christ's. Very bold therefore, and desperate is the contumacy of those men, who stand at defiance with the power of Christ, speaking in his servants. The apostle saith, there is no escape left for those, "who neglect so great salvation." And yet this is the constant folly and cry of natural men, "We will not have this man to reign over us: let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."

But, first, Every man must be subject to some king, either Christ or sin; for they two divide the world, and their kingdoms will not consist. And the subjects of sin are all slaves and servants, no liberty amongst them ; whereas Christ makes all his subjects kings, like himself; and his is a kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy. Secondly, If men, by being the subjects of sin, could keep quite out from the judgment and sceptre of Christ, it were something: but all men must, one way or other, be subdued unto him, either as sons, or as captives; either under his grace, or under his wrath. "As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me."h He must either be a savour of life, or of death; either for the rising, or the fall of many in Israel; either for a sanctuary, or for a stumbling-block; all must either be saved by him, or judged by him. There is no refuge nor shelter of escape in any angle of the world; for his kingdom reacheth to the uttermost corners of the earth, and will find out and fetch in all his enemies. Thirdly, The matter were not great, if a man could hold out in the opposition. But "can thine heart endure, or thine hands be strong," saith the Lord, "in the day that I shall deal with thee?" i What will ye do in the desolation which shall come from far? when you are spoiled, what will you do? where will you leave your glory? what will become of the king whom you served before?-It may be, thy money is thine

a Rom. i. 16.

b2 Cor. i. 24. Ephes. iv. 20. 21.

d John viii. 34. e Rev. i. 6. f Rom. xiv. 17.

c Heb. ii. 3.

g Eris sub pedibus, aut

adoptatus aut victus; locum habebis vel gratiæ vel pœnæ. Aug. i Ezek. xxii. 14. k Isai. x. 3.

xiv. 10, 11.

VOL. II.

C

h Rom.

idol, and thou art held in thraldom under thine own possessions. But what will remain of a man's silver and gold to carry him through the wrath to come, but only the rust thereof, to join in judgment against him?-It may be, thou servest the times, and fashions of the world, rejoicest in thy youth, in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but thou must not rise out of thy grave in thy best clothes', nor appear before Christ, like Agag, gorgeously apparelled, Thou must not rise to play, but to be judged.It may be, thou servest thine own lust, and another's beauty. But what pleasure will there be in the fire of lust, when it shall be turned into the fire of Hell? or what beauty wilt thou find on the left hand of Christ, where the characters of every man's hellish conscience shall be written in his face ?-Thou servest thine own vain glory, and affectations: but what good will it be to be admired by thy fellow-prisoners, and condemned by thy judge? In one word, thou servest any of thine own evil desires:-foolish man, here they command thee, and there they will condemn thee; they are here thy god, and they will be there thy devils.

The second particular in the description of Christ's kingdom is the greatness, and nearness of his person unto David: -My Lord. David calleth him "my Lord " upon a double reason; by a spirit of prophecy, as foreseeing his incarnation and nativity out of the tribe of Judah, and stock of Jesse; and so he was David's 'son;' and by a spirit of faith, as believing him to be his redeemer and salvation; and so he was David's 'Lord'-"A virgin shall conceive and bear a son ;"-there we see his incarnation and descent from David; "and shall call his name Immanuel, God with us;" there we see his dominion over David. As man, so he was his son; and as mediator, so he was his Lord. As man, so he was subject unto Mary his mother; and as mediator, so he was the Lord and Saviour of his mother". As man, he was made for a little while lower than the angels, that he might suffer death; but as mediator, God and man, in one person, so he was made much better than the angels, all the angels of God were his subjects to worship him, and his ministers to wait upon him". So then the pronoun mine

1 Jer. iv. 30. m Luke ii. 51. Luke i. 46, 47.

n Heb. ii. 7, 9. Heb. i. 4, 6, 7.

leads us to the consideration of Christ's consanguinity with David, as he was his son; and of his dignity above David, as he was his Lord.

From hence we learn, that though Christ was man, yet he was more than a bare man. For, jure naturæ,' no son is Lord to his father; domination doth never ascend. There must be something above nature in him to make him his father's sovereign, as our Saviour himself argueth from these words. Christ then is a Lord to his people; he had domi nion, and was the salvation of his own forefathers.

"A Lord." First, By right of the creation. For he is before all things, and by him all things consist P; which the apostle makes the argument of his sovereignty; "To us there is but one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

Secondly, By a right of sonship and primogeniture, as the chief, the first-born, the heir of all things. He is not in the house as Moses was, a servant, but a son over his own house; that is, he was not a servant, but Lord in the church;-as the apostle elsewhere gives us the same distinction; "We preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves servants." For, in the Scripture-phrase, the first-born' notes principality, excellency, and dominion. "I will make him," saith God, "my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth." So in Job, the first-born of death is the same with the king of terrors": and so the apostle saith, that the heir is the Lord of all. And therefore from his primogeniture y and designation to the inheritance of all things, he inferreth his pre-eminence and honour even above the angels".

Thirdly, By the right of his unction, office, and mediatorship, unto which he was designed by his Father. He was to have in all things the pre-eminence, "For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell"." Where by fulness either we must understand fulness of the Godhead

q 1 Cor. viii. 6.
u Job xviii. 13, 14.

[ocr errors]

r Heb. iii. 5, 6. * Gal. iv. 1.

• Mat. xxii. 42, 45. P Col. i. 17. • 2 Cor. 4, 5. t Psalm lxxxix. 27. Christus vocatur Primogenitus omnis creaturæ,' hoc est, Dominus.' Schindler in voce -Solet in Scripturis Primogenitum' vocari quodcunque in suo genere excellens atque summum est-Ego primogenitum constituam eum,' hoc est, mirum in modum exaltabo et glorificabo eum. Glass. in 'Ovoμatoλoyla Messiæ. Clas. 8. Appel. 7. p. 308. z Col. i. 18. Heb. i. 2, 4. a Col. i. 18, 19.

bodily, as the apostle speaks, or fulness of the Spirit of Grace, which St. John speaks of. And, in both respects, he is a Lord over all in one, by the dignity of his hypostatical union; in the other, by the grace of his heavenly unction; and in both, as mediator, and head in the church. Therefore the apostle saith, "That God hath made him Lord and Christ," and by the accomplishment of his office, in dying, rising, and reviving, he became Lord both of the dead and living.

And thus he is Lord in two respects: First, a Lord in power and strength; power to forgive sins; power to quicken whom he wills; power to cleanse, justify, and sanctify; power to succour in temptations; power to raise from the dead; power to save to the uttermost 'all that come unto God by him; power to hold fast his sheep "; power to cast out the accuser of the brethren; power to put down all his enemies, and to subdue all things unto himself. Secondly, a Lord in authority; to judge, to anoint, to employ, to command whom and what he will. He only is Lord over our persons, over our faith, over our consciences: to him only we must say, "Lord, save us, lest we perish;" to him only we must say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?"

And such a Lord Christ was to his own forefathers. "They all did eat of the same spiritual meat, and all drank of the same spiritual drink, even of that rock which was Christ." He was the substance of the ceremonies, the doctrine of the prophets, the accomplishment of the promises, the joys and salvation of the patriarchs and princes, the desire and expectation of all flesh. The gospel is to us a history, and narration, and therefore delivered by the hand of witnesses; to them, a promise and prediction, and therefore delivered by the hand of prophets ". The apostles entered into the prophets' labours, and were servants in the same common salvation; these as sowers, and they as

[blocks in formation]

reapers: these as preachers of the seed hoped, and they as preachers of the same seed exhibited. The ancient Jews were not then saved by bare temporal promises, neither was their faith ultimately fixed upon ceremonies or earthly things; but as their preachers had the same spirit of Christ with ours, so the doctrine which they preached, the faith and obedience which they required, the salvation which they foretold, was the same with ours. As the same sun illightens the stars above, and the earth beneath; so the same Christ was the righteousness and salvation both of his forefathers, and of his seed. They without us could not be made perfect; that is, as I conceive, their faith had nothing actually extant amongst themselves to perfect it, but received all its form and accomplishment from that better thing which was provided for, and exhibited unto us. "For the law," that is, the carnal commandment, and outward ceremonies therein prescribed, "made nothing," no grace, no person, "perfect; but the bringing in of a better hope," that is, of Christ, (who as he is unto us the hope of glory, so he was unto them the hope of deliverance, for he alone it is by whom we draw nigh unto God)" doth perfect for ever those that are sanctified "."

If Christ then be our Lord, we must trust in him, and depend upon him for all our present subsistence, and our future expectations. For he never faileth those, that wait upon him. "He that believeth in him, shall not be ashamed." And indeed faith is necessary to call Christ, 'Lord:' no man can call Jesus Lord,' but by the Spirit; because other Lords are present with us, they do with their own eye over-see, and by their own visible power order and direct us in their service: But Christ is absent from our senses; "Though I have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth," saith the apostle, "know I him no more." Therefore to fear, and honour, and serve him with all fidelity, to yield more absolute and universal obedience to his commands, though absent, though tendered unto us by the ministry of mean and despicable persons, than to

* John iv. 38. y Aug. de Civ. Dei, 1. 10. c. 25. et epist. 157. ad Optat.-Et epist. 49. ad Deograt. de Cath. Rud. c. 3. et c. 19.-de Peccat. Merit. et Remiss. lib. 2. c. 29. de Peccat. Orig. c. 24. et 25.-de Nupt. et Concupisc. 1. 2. c. 11. Heb. vii. 19. Heb. x. 14.

« VorigeDoorgaan »