3. The person, ' By that man whom he hath ordained ; ' meaning thereby Ghrist. But why doth he call Christ mem, rather than God ?
[1.] Partly with respect to the gentiles' incapacity to apprehend the mystery of the Trinity, or the incarnation of the Son of God ; and it concerneth us to dispense truths as people are able to bear them ; as Christ taught Kadoo^ rjhvvavTo ukovuv, ' As they were able to bear it,' Mark iv. 33. Therefore Paul would not offend them by doctrines which they could not yet understand.
You will say the resurrection was as offensive.
A71S. That was ev Trpcoroi^ one of the first points of the apostolical catechism: Heb. vi. 1, 2, 'Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection ; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God ; of the doctrine of baptism, and of laying on of hands, and of the resur- rection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.' So that the apostle could not preach the very rudiments of Christianity if he had not men- tioned that.
[2.] Christ is to discharge this office in the visible appearance of man. As the judgment was to be visible, so the judge. The judg- ment is not to be acted by the Father or the Spirit, but by Christ in the human nature ; therefore his coming is called ' an appearance ; ' Titus ii. 13, ' Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appear- ing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ ; ' and 2 Tim. iv. 8, ' Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
VOL. xvi. 2 c
402 SERMON UrON ACTS XVII. 30, 31.
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, i)ut to all them that love his appearance.' And when the judg- ment is spoken of, Christ is often designed by this expression, the Son of man : Mat. xxiv. 30, ' They sliall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory ; ' and Mat. xvi. 27, ' For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels ; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.' He is the visible actor in the judgment, sitting on a visible throne, that he may be seen and heard of all, and the godhead doth most gloriously manifest itself by the perfections of his human nature.
3. This power is given to Christ as a recompense of his humiliation. For therefore hath ' God highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth,' Phil, ii. 9, 10, which is at the day of judgment : Kom. xiv. 10, 11, ' We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ ; for it is written. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me.' Then all creatures in heaven, earth, and hell are to own the sovereign power and empire of the crucified Saviour. Some do it willingly, as the elect angels, and men ; others do it by constraint, as the reprobate and evil angels, when they are forced to stand before the tribunal of Christ to receive their final doom and sentence. This is the last act of his kingly office, and the fruit and consequent of his humiliation. Therefore this Christ spake of when he stood before the tribunals of men : Mat. xxvi. 64, ' Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.' The despised man, Avho was before them as a criminal in their repute, summoneth them to answer before his tribunal at that day, when his shame shall be turned into glory, and the scandal of his first estate shall be fully taken off, and those that despised him as man shall be forced to acknowledge him as Grod.
Secondly, The subsequent proof : * Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.' That is a suffi- cient testimony to convince the whole world. The resurrection is a certain proof and argument of the dignity both of Christ's person and office. It is an attestation to his person : Kom. i. 4, ' Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.' To his office and doctrine : John v. 27-29, ' And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this ; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done well, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.' How doth this make faith to all the world ? for that is the word, ttlo-tiv irapaa'^iov. Ans. God hath not given faith to all men, but he hath given an argument to all men that is a ground of faitli, from whence faith may evidently conclude that Christ is our judge, for he hath raised him from the dead. Where is the force of this demonstration ? Others were raised from the dead, as Lazarus and the like, and yet they are not judges of the world. I answer — Christ died in the repute of men as a malefactor, but God justified him when he would not leave him under the power