3. It is an invitation to press us to come to Christ, and by Christ to God. The great work of the ministers is like that of Eliezer, Abra- ham's servant, to seek a match for our master's son. Our way to win you is to tell you what he is ; he is God-man in one person ; he is man, that you may not be afraid of him ; God, that he may be sufficient to do you good ; ' the Lord of lords,' ' King of kings,' the ' heir of all things,' the ' Saviour of the world ; ' ' this is your beloved, ye daughters of Jerusalem.' He knoweth your wants, is able to supply them, though you are unworthy. Come, he needeth no portion with you ; we can bring nothing to him, he hath enough in himself ; as Esther, the poor virgin, had garments out of the king's wardrobe, Esther ii. 12, and the perfumes and odours given her on the king's cost. Therefore come to him ; it is danger to neglect him : ' See that ye refuse not him that speaketh from heaven,' Heb. xii. 2.5. It is God wooeth you ; he will take you with nothing, he is all-sufficient ; you bringing him nothing but all -necessity, he will protect you, maintain you, give you a dowry as large as heart can wish. Therefore leave not till you come to ' I am my beloved's, and he is mine.'
Ohs. 5. I come now to the word implying their guilt, apvov[ievoi, denying. Observe, that it is a horrible impiety to deny the Lord
164 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 4.
Jesus ; when lie would make these seducers odious, he giveth them this character. Now Christ is many ways denied. I shall refer them to two heads — in opinion and practice.
1. In opinion : so Christ is denied when men deny his natures or offices. (1.) His natures, his deity or humanity, — as those ancient and wicked heretics, Ebion and Cerinthus ; and that is the reason why John beginneth his Gospel (which was last written) with a description of his Godhead, and is so zealous against them in his epistles ; as also Jude and Peter. Ebion, Cerinthus, and Carpocrates, and others, held he was begotten as others are, by the help of a man. Manes held the Son of God to be a part of his Father's substance. Saturnius, Basilides, Cordion, with others, denied the humanity of Christ, saying- he only appeared in the shape of a man. Samosatanus held God was not otherwise in Christ than in the prophets. Eutyches held there was in Christ but one nature, which was made up of the commixture of his flesh with his divinity, as water is mixed with wine. Nestorius would give him two personalities, because he had two natures. The Marcionites affirmed Christ suffered not really, but in show. Thus you see how busy the devil hath been, and always is, about this main article. (2.) His offices of king, priest, and prophet have been denied by none, as I remember, but yet often made void and of none effect. Antichristianism is perfectly the evacuating of Christ's offices. The Papists set up head against head, which is the spirit of antichristianism. They make void his priestly office by indul- gences, purgatory, doctrine of merit ; his prophetical office by doc- trines of men and unwritten traditions. So Socinians make void his priesthood by denying his satisfaction ; and Papists make void the other act of his priesthood by setting up mediators of interces- sion, &G.
2. Christ is denied in practice ; and so — (1.) By apostasy and total revolt from him : Mat. x. 33, * Whosoever shall deny me before men,' &c. None sin as apostates do ; for they do as it were, after trial, and upon deliberate judgment, acknowledge the devil the better master ; they first forsook Satan, and then came to Christ, and then they go back again from Christ to Satan ; and so do, as it were, tell the world, that with him is the best service ; and therefore it ' were better they had never known the way of righteousness,' &c., 2 Peter ii. 21. (2.) By not professing Christ in evil times, for not to profess is to deny : see J\Iat. x. 32, 33, and Mark viii, 38, in an age when men prove dis- loyal in the duty of the covenant, called there an ' adulterous genera- tion.' Some are ashamed for fear of disgrace, as well as afraid for fear of danger to own Christ, and the ways best pleasing to him ; this is to deny him. (3.) Men deny Christ when they profess him, and walk unworthily and dishonourably to their profession. Actions are the best image of men's thoughts. Now their actions give their profession the lie : Titus, i. 16, ' They pi'ofess they know God, and in works they deny him.' So 1 Tim. v. 8, ' If any provide not for his own house, he hath denied the faith ; ' that is, done an act incompatible with the Chris- tian faith, of which he maketli profession ; w^hi.ch is interpretative — a denying the faith. For the more clear opening of this, consider these propositions : —