Use 1. For confutation of the Jews, and to show their obstinacy in not receiving Christ as the Messiah. God had told Moses, Deut. xviii. 18, ' I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren like unto thee ; and will put my words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him ; and whosoever will not hearken unto him, I will require it of him ; ' which cannot be under- stood of any other prophet but Christ the Messiah ; for it is said, Deut. xxxiv. 10, 11, 'There arose not a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, who knew the Lord face to face, in all the miracles and won- ders which the Lord sent him to do.' But the Messias doth match and overmatch him. He was a man as Moses was ; for the promise was made on that occasion, ' Let me hear the voice of the Lord God no more, nor see this great fire, that we die not.' Saith God, ' They have well spoken : I will raise up a prophet like unto thee from among their brethren.' He must be a lawgiver as Moses, but of a more perfect law ; he must be such an one as should see God face to face ; he is of a divine nature, approved to the world by miracles, signs, and wonders. As Moses was, so Christ. Moses divided the sea as dry land, Christ walked upon it ; Moses healed the bitter waters that were sick, Christ raised the dead. All the prejudice is, that he changed the law of Moses into the rites and institutes of the Christian religion. Ans. That was necessary, the substance being once come, that the shadows and ceremonies should be abolished ; and besides, these were proper and peculiar to one nation in the world, namely, Judea ; the exercise permitted but in one only place of that country, namely, Jerusalem, whither they were all to repair three times each year. But the Messiah's law was to be common to all men — serves for all countries, times, places, persons, for he was to be the light of the
366 Christ's transfiguration. [Ser. III.
Gentiles, as well as the glory of his people Israel. How should nations so far distant from Jerusalem repair thrice every year ? or a woman dwelling in England or America repair thither for pm-ification after every childbirth ? Lev. xii. When Moses delivered the law to them : Deut. xviii. 15, ' The Lord thy God will raise thee up a pro- phet like unto me, unto him shalt thou hearken.' And the prophets, when they prophesy of his law : Isa, ii. 3, ' The law shall go forth out of Zion, and the word of God from Jerusalem.' Moses's law was pub- lished from Sinai, not from Sion ; but the preaching of the gospel began at Jerusalem, and from thence was spread over all the world. Again it is said, Isa. xlii. 4, ' The isles shall wait for his law ;' that is, the maritime countries. I pursue it no farther now.
2. To us Christians. Our religion is true: oh, let us be true in the profession of it ; otherwise it will little help us in the day of our ac- counts : 2 Thes. i. 8, ' Taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' You stand upon the vantage-ground, but are not taller in stature than heathens and Jews. Disciples in name, not in deed : John viii. 31, ' If ye con- tinue in my words, then are ye my disciples indeed : ' Christians of letter, not of the spirit. Oh, reverence Christ, if Moses and Elias did him homage. When we have found truth, let us look after life ; and having owned the true religion, express the power of it.
II. The next thing we learn is the necessity and value of Christ's death. For Moses and Elias insist upon ' his decease at Jerusalem ; which quite contradicteth the Jewish deceit, and establisheth the Christian hope. The death of Christ for our redemption is the great article of the Christian faith, the thing foretold and prefigured by law and prophets, Luke xxiv. 44 ; and the ground of our comfort and peace : Isa. liii. 4, 5, ' Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities : the chastisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are healed.'
Let us consider : —
1. The notions by which Christ's death is set forth.
2. The necessity of it.
First, The notions by which Christ's death is set forth. Two solemn ones : a ransom, and a mediatorial sacrifice.
1. A ransom, Xvrpov dvrl ttoWmv, Mat. xx. 28 ; avriXvTpov, 1 Tim. ii. 6, 'Who gave himself a ransom for all.' A ransom is a price given to a judge, or one that hath power of life and death, for to save the life of one capitally guilty, or by law bound to sufier death, or some other evil and punishment. This was our case : God was the supreme judge, before whose tribunal man standeth guilty, and liable to death ; but Christ interposed that we might be spared, Job xxxiii. 24, ' Deliver him from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.' There is a price or recompense given in our stead.