4. And yet more, by this his incarnation he was greatly hum- bled, inasmuch as this so vailed, clouded, and disguised him, that during the time he lived here, he looked not like himself, as God ; but as a poor, sorry, contemptible sinner, in the eyes of the world ; they scorned him. This fellow said, Matth. xxvi. 61. Hereby " he made himself of no reputation," Phil. ii. 6. It blotted his honour and reputation. By reason hereof he lost all esteem and honour from those that saw him, Matth. xiii. 55. "Is not this the carpenter's son ?" To see a poor man travelling up and down the country, in hunger, thirst, weariness, attended with a company of poor men ; one of his company bearing the bag, and that which was put therein, John xiii. 29- Who that had seen him, would ever have thought this had been the Creator of the world, the Prince of the kings of the earth ? " He was des- " pised, and we estsemed him not."" Now which of you is there that would not rather chuse to endure much misery as a man, than to be degraded into a contemptible worm, that every body treads
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upon, and no man regards it ? Christ looked so unlike a God in this habit, that he was scarce allowed the name of a man ; a worm rather than a man.
And think with yourselves now, was not this astonishing self- denial ? That he, who from eternity, had his Father's smiles and honours, he that from the creation was adored, and worshipped by angels, as their God, must now become a footstool for every miscreant to tread on ; and not to have the respects due to a man ; sure this was a deep abasement. It was a black cloud that for so many years darkened, and shut up his manifestative glory, that it could not shine out to the world; only some weak rays of the Godhead shone to some few eyes, through the chinks of his hu- manity ; as the clouded sun sometimes opens a little, and casts some faint beams, and is muffled up again. '•' We saw his glory, " as of the only begotten Son :" but the world knew him not, John i. 14. If a prince walk up and down in a disguise, he must expect no more honour than a mean subject. This was the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, this disguise made him contemptible, and an object of scorn.
5 Again, Christ was greatly humbled by his incarnation, inas- much as thereby he was put at a distance from his Father, and that ineffable joy and pleasure he eternally had with him. Think not, reader, but the Lord Jesus lived at a high and unimitable rate of communion with God while he walked here in the flesh : but yet to live by faith, as Christ here did, is one thing ; and to be in the bosom of God, as he was before, is another. To have the ineffable delights of God perpetuated and continued to him, without one moment's interruption from eternity, is one thing; and to have his soul sometimes filled with the joy of the Lord, and then all overcast with clouds of wrath again ; to cry, and God not hear, as he complains, Psal. xxxii. 2. nay, to be reduced to such a low ebb of spiritual comforts, as to be forced to cry out so bit- terly, as he did, Psal. xxii. 1. " My God, my God, why hast " thou forsaken me?1' This was a thing Christ was very unac- quainted with, till he was found in habit as a man.
6. And lastly, It was a great stoop and condescension of Christ if he would become a man, to take his nature from such obscure parents, and chuse such a low and contemptible state in this world as he did. He will be born, but not of the blood of nobles, but of a poor woman in Israel, espoused to a carpenter : yea, and that too, under all the disadvantages imaginable; not in his mother's house, but an inn ; yea, in the stable too. He suited all to that abased state he was designed for ; and came among us under all the humbling circumstances imaginable : " You know the grace of " our Lord Jesus Christ (saith the apostle) how that though he
230 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. XVIII.
'* was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor," 2 Cor. viii. 9. And thus I have shewn you some few particulars of Christ's humi- liation in his incarnation. Next we shall infer some things from it that are practical.
Inference 1. Hence we gather the fulness and completeness of Chrisfs satisfaction, as the sweet first-fruits of his incarnation. Did man offend and violate the law of God ? Behold, God himself is be- come man to repair that breach, and satisfy for the wrong done. The highest honour that ever the law of God received, was to have such a person as the man Christ Jesus is, to stand before its bar, and make reparation to it. This is more than if it had poured out all our blood, and built up its honour upon the ruins of the whole creation.
It is not so much to see all the stars in heaven overcast, as to see one sun eclipsed. The greater Christ was, the greater was his hu- miliation ; and the greater his humiliation was, the more full and complete was his satisfaction ; and the more completeness there is in Christ's satisfaction, the more perfect and steady is the believer's consolation. If he had not stooped so low, our joy and comfort could not be exalted so high. The depth of the foundation is the strength of the superstructure.
Inf. 2. Did Christ for our sakes stoop from the majesty, glory and dignity he was possessed of in heaven, to the mean and contemptible state of a man P What a pattern of self-denial is here presented to Christians ? What objection against, or excuses to shift off this duty, can remain, after such an example as is here propounded ? Brethren, let me tell you, the pagan world was never acquainted with such an argument as this, to press them to self-denial. Did Christ stoop, and cannot vou stoop ? did Christ stoop so much, and cannot you stoop at the least ? Was he content to become any thing, a worm, a reproach, a curse ; and cannot you digest any abasement ? Do the least slights and neglects rankle your hearts, and poison them with discontent, malice and revenge ; O how unlike Christ are you ! Hear ; and blush in hearing, what your Lord saith in John xiii. 14. " If I then your Lord and Master, wash your feet; ye " ought also to wash one another's feet." " The example obliges u not, (as * a learned man Avell observes) to the same individual " act, but it obliges us to follow the reason of the example ;" i. e. after Christ's example, we must be ready to perform the lowest and meanest offices of love and service to one another. And in- deed to this it obliges most forcibly ; for it is as if a master, seeing a proud, sturdy servant, that grudges at the work he is em-
* Obh'gat nos ad rationem exempli, magis quam ad individuum actum. Chamier. Tom. 5.1. 19. c. 7.V
SERM. XVIII. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 231