Secondly, Get an interest in Christ : Luke i. 47, ' My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.' Interest is the true ground of comfort and rejoicing. What must we do to get this interest? I answer : —
1. Eeject all other Saviours : Acts iv. 12, ' There is salvation in no other.' Nothing could save Noah and his family but the ark; if they had devised ships, they would not hold out against the deluge. Especially take heed of making Christ of self, setting up thy own merit, or thy own power ; the one in effect renounceth his humilia- tion, the other his exaltation. Christ came to ' save that which was lost ;' the sinking disciples cried out, ' Master, save us, we perish.' It is long ere God bringeth us to this : till you are lost, why should you make choice of a Saviour ? Swimming is not a thing that can be prac- tised ashore or on firm land : till we are brought into distress we will never look for a Saviour.
2. Be earnest with God for an interest, and for the manifesta- tion of it : Ps. XXXV. 3, ' Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.' When the soul hath chosen God, Lam. iii. 24, ' The Lord is my por- tion, saith my soul ;' I will have no other Saviour, but I will desire the Lord to ratify it by his consent : ' I am thy salvation.' Those that would make use of Christ's salvation in a temporal way pressed on him, untiled the house to come at him ; so should we force our- selves upon him by a holy boldness.
Obs. 3. Again, from the words observe, the Son of God was Christ, that he might be Lord and Jesus ; anointed of the Father that he might accomplish our salvations. This anointing signifieth two things : —
1. The quality and kind of his office.
2. The authority upon which it was founded.
First, It noteth the nature of his offices. Under the Old Testa- ment three sort of persons were anointed — kings, priests, and prophets, and all these relations doth Christ sustain to the church. Men that were to be saved lay under a threefold necessity — ignorance, distance from God, and inability to return to him. Suitably Christ a prophet to show us our misery, a priest to provide a remedy, a king to instate us in that remedy ; therefore according to these three offices doth the scripture use words in describing the benefits we have by Christ : John xiv. 6, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life.' Christ is the ivaT/ as a priest, for by his oblation and intercession we have the boldness to come to God; the truth as a prophet, the life as a king: take life either for the royal donatives of grace or glory. So 1 Cor. i. 30, ' He is made to use wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.'
VeR. 4.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. IGl
We are ignorant foolish creatures, therefore Christ is made to us ivisdom as a prophet ; we are guilty creatures, 0.^6. i\\QveiovQ righteous- ness as a priest ; sinful creatures, therefore sanctijication ; miserable creatures, liable to death and hell, therefore redemption, and both these as a king. It was necessary that the way of our salvation should be opened, effected, and applied ; therefore did Christ first come from heaven as a prophet to preach the gospel ; and then offer up himself through the eternal Spirit as a priest ; and, last of all, seize upon the mediatorial throne as king of the church. Well, then, if our blind- ness and ignorance troubleth us, let us make use of Christ's propheti- cal office, that he may teach us the whole counsel of God ; if we are haunted by troubles, and the accusations of our own conscience, let us sprinkle our hearts with the blood of our high priest, that they may be pacified ; if we have any desire to be granted, let us make use of his intercession ; if we be discouraged by our own weakness, and the power of our spiritual enemies, let us run for protection to our king, through whom the saints are more than conquerors.
Secondly, It noteth the authority upon which his office is founded ; he was anointed thereto by God the Father, who in the work of redemp- tion is represented as the oflended party and supreme judge ; and so it is a great comfort to us that Christ is a mediator of God's choosing. When Moses interposed of his own accord, he was refused : ' Blot me out of thy book ; ' No, saith the Lord, ' the soul that sinneth, him will I blot out of my book.' But now Jesus Chiist took not this honour upon him, but was called of God thereunto ; it was the will of the Father : so that when we come to God, though we cannot say, He is mine, yet we can say, Lord, he is thine ; a Saviour of thy setting up, thou hast authorised him, and wilt own thine own way, &c.
Ohs. 4. Once more, observe, which indeed is a point that lieth full in the eye of the text, that Jesus Christ, the master of the world and Lord of the church, is true God. For it is said here, denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. It would seem a strange thing that I should go about to prove the Godhead of Ciirist, were not blasphemy grown so common, and appearing abroad with so bold a forehead. Heretofore it was a grievous abomination to the children of God when such a thought rushed into their minds ; but now some promote it as a settled opinion. It is Satan's policy to loosen a corner- stone, though he cannot wholly pull it out ; he striveth all that he can to make the main articles of religion seem at least questionable. But Christians, be not shaken in mind ; the foundation of the Lord standeth sure. I confess I should wholly omit such disputes ; in fundamental articles, we should not allow a scrui)le : ' Thou shalt not inquire after their gods,' Deut. xii. 30. But when such conceits are not only satanical injections, but men's settled o^^inions, it is good to establish the heart in such principles as this is. That Christ is God appeareth by express scripture, where he is called ' the true God,' 1 John v. 20 ; 'the great God,' Titus ii. 13, to show that he is not a God inferior to the Father, but equal in power and glory, and that not by courtesy and grant, but by nature. So he is called ' the mighty God, the everlast- ing Father,' Isa. ix. 6, and ' God over all,' Eom. ix. 5 ; proofs so evi- dent and pregnant that they need no illustration. And that he is a