456 SERMONS UPON JOHN XVII. [Ser. XXIX.
Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort ; ' Eph. i. 3, ' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath l)lessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ/ So for the mystery of redemption ; first it was revealed to Adam to be by ' the seed of the woman; ' Gen. iii. 15, ' I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel;' then to Abraham, by 'thy seed:' Gen. xii. 3, ' In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed ; ' which was repeated to Isaac to cut off Ishmael ; then to Jacob to cut off Esau. Then it was revealed out of Avhat tribe he should come, viz., out of Jndah : Gen. xlix. 10, ' The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come.' Then that ho should come of David's line : Isa. xi. 1, ' There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.' And that he should be born of a virgin : Isa. vii. 14, ' Behold a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.' There is a difference of manifestation, yet still a harmony, as there is a difference between a small ]irint and a great print, but the matter is the same. The mystery of God manifested in the flesh is set forth in a fairer edition.
[5.] There is one character more in the form and manner of these writ- ings, and that is impartiality. Kings and subjects are bound by the same laws, liable to the same punishments, encouraged by the same promises. If the scriptures were only a politic device to keep subjects in awe, there would be some exemption for potentates ; but they are alike obnoxious to God's judgment, and the same Tophet that is pro- vided for the peasant is provided for the prince : Isa. xxx. 33, ' For Tophet is ordained of old, yea, for tbe king it is prepared ; he hath made it deep and large,' &c. To]>het was a valley where the idolatrous Jews were wont to burn their chiUlren ; therefore, as a fit type of ever- lasting punishment, it is put for hell ; it is capacious enough to re- ceive all, king and subject. Now the scriptures, that threaten poten- tates as well as others, must needs be a law that cometh from a higher than the highest ; who would presume else to threaten those in power ? Eev. XX. 12, ' And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God : and the books were opened ; and another book was opened, which was the book of life : and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.' On this side the grave there is a distinction between man and man, but all are alike obnoxious to Christ's judgment, and all stand in dread of it. There is enough in the scriptures to astonish the heart of the mightiest jiotentate, and make it tremble.
2. Now from the matter of the scriptures. I am much prevented from what is published on James i. 18 ; but let me speak something now. All that is spoken in the scripture may be reduced to these five heads — Precepts, promises, doctrines, histories, prophecies. Now all these proclaim it to be, of God. I shall be brief in going over this enumeration.
[1.] For the precepts of the word : Ps. cxix. 96, ' I have seen an end of all perfection, but thy commandments are exceeding broad.' Here all matters of duty and morality are advanced to their highest
VeR. 17.] SERBIONS UPON JOHN XVII. 457
perfection. It is very broad, watching every thought, and the first motions of the heart. No precepts are so holy, just, and good. The light of nature seeth a necessity of holiness ; there are some fragments and remains of light in man's heart, that teach him what is good and right ; but these are much blurred : Rom. ii. 15, ' Which show epjov v6/jLov, the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts in the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another.' Now the word is the second edition of God's will, wherein duties are better known and set forth ; not only sins, but lusts are forbidden. Lust is adultery : Mat. v. 28, ' Whoso- ever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.' In worship and other duties, not only the act, but the frame of the heart is regarded : Mat. xxii. 37, ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' Yea, there are precepts that go against the bent and hair of nature ; man's heart could never have devised them, as to love our enemies : Mat. v. 44, 45, ' Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you ; that ye may be the children of your Father that is in heaven ; for he maketh his sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' To wean men from the world, that it is a sin to walk as men : 1 Cor, iii. 3, ' For ye are yet carnal ; for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? ' Chris- tians are trained up in a higher school. So to deny ourselves, a lesson proper to Christ's school : Mat. xvi. 24, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross and follow me.' To depend on God, renouncing our sufficiency, &c.