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402 SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN II. 12-14. [SER. III.
(2.) The benefit of this meditation.
(1st.) To further the joy of our faith, in that we see the infinite worth that is in his sufferings to satisfy justice and to expiate sin. He that is from the beginning, who is the eternal Son of God, he offereth to pay a ransom for us. Mere man would not have been of sufficient dignity to interpose between God and man, and to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Man was grown hateful to God by reason of sin, but Christ reconciled him by offering up himself : Heb. ix. 14, ' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your consciences from dead works to serve the living God ? ' Acts xx. 28, ' To feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.'
(2d.) To increase the strength of our confidence against all assaults of the enemies of our salvation : 1 John v. 5, ' Who is he tnat over- cometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God ? ' What cannot the Son of God do ? He is able to maintain the elect against all the temptations of Satan, frowns of the world, and all the opposition we undergo from the rebellions of the flesh. The mighty God will be a prince of peace, Isa. ix. 6. So John xiv. 1, ' Let not your hearts be troubled ; ye believe in God, believe also in me.' Faith gets sure footing in his essence and attributes ; no creature can stand out against God.
(3c?.) That we may be more apprehensive of the greatness of his love, which we shall never be till we consider the dignity of his person. He that was ' God over all, blessed for ever,' Kom. ix. 5, that had little need of the sons of men, for what can God want ? yet he came to seek and to save them for their own good ; not to receive from them, but to give to them. He was happy and glorious from all eternity : ' Who being in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God,' Phil. ii. 6. He was not thrust down, but came down. The angels that exalted themselves were degraded : 2 Peter ii. 4, ' For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell.' We can never understand the depth of Christ's condescension, nor the merit of his sacrifice, but by reflection upon the height wherein he stood when he undertook our cause and business. That he that was in the form of God should appear in the form of a servant ; that the great God should come as an infant into the world, wrapped up in swaddling clothes, laid in a cratch, walking up and down, partaking of all the miseries incident to mankind, and at length hang and die upon a cross; are these small matters to you ? That the Almighty God should be debased to the weakness of a child and feeble infant, and the fountain of life should die !
(4th.) To show the readiness of our obedience, that we may receive his doctrine, and obey his laws ; that we may not be ashamed of his truth, and the profession of his name. He was from the beginning, while yet the world and all the glory of it lay in the womb of nothing ; and shall not we give up ourselves to love, and serve, and obey him ? Shall things in time frighten or entice us from the duty which we owe to him who was before all time ? He can crush his enemies and protect his friends, supply your wants, relieve you in distress ; for in him the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily, Col. ii. 9 ; Heb. il
Vm 13, 14.] SERMONS UPON 1 JOHN II. 12-14. 403
1-3, ' Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation ? which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard lum ; ' Heb. xii. 25, ' See that ye refuse not him that speaketh ; for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.' Let us be willing to do anything and suffer anything for so excellent a Lord.
(5th.) To increase our reverence, and that the ignominy of his cross may not obscure his glory, nor lessen his respect in our hearts, but that we may have high and honourable thoughts of our humbled Lord in his lowest estate. When we are meditating only upon his humilia- tion, the natural atheism which is in our hearts is apt to turn those thoughts into a snare, and our respects to the majesty of Christ are abated. Therefore we ought again and again to consider his divine nature, and that glorious estate wherein he was from the beginning, so to balance our thoughts of his humiliation. These are compounded : Isa. ix. 6, ' For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given ; and the government shall be upon his shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' Mary's child, yet God's son ; a counsellor, yet the mighty God ; the prince of peace, but the everlasting father. If we despise him as the carpenter's son, let us remember he is the great architect who hath built the whole world : Heb. xi. 10, ' For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' If we stumble at his being a child, let us remember also that he is the everlasting Father. If we are offended at his being on the cross, let us think of him as sitting on the throne, and coming to judge the world.