He himself is the first promise that runs along in all the Scripture ; and all the promises of Christ are ' yea ; ' for whatsoever was promised of Christ before he came, it was fulfilled when he came. For all types were ful- filled in him, and all prophecies, and all promises, they were all accom- plished in him.
I. All types, jchelher personal or real.
1. Fov jJersoual types, he was the * second Adam.' Adam was a type of him. He is the true Adam. He was the true Isaac, the ground of laughter.-- He is the true Joseph, advanced now to the kingdom, to the right hand of God. He is the steward of his church, to feed his church here, and bring her to heaven with himself afterward. He is the true Joshua, that brought Israel out of the wilderness to Canaan. He brings us from Moses, from the law, to heaven. He is the true Joshua, that brings us through Jordan, from death and miseries in this world to heaven. He is the true Solomon, the prince of peace. f So all personal types of kings and priests, as Aaron was a type of him, &c., they were yea in him, they were fulfilled in him.
2. And all real types.l He is the true ' mercy- seat' wherein God would be heard and prayed unto, for he covers the law, the curse of it, as the mercy- seat did. He is the tnie ' brazen serpent,' that whosoever looks on him with the eye of faith, ' shall not perish, but have everlasting life,' John iii. 15. He is the true ' manna,' the bread of life. That tji^e had its ' yea' in Christ. He is the true sacrifice, ' the passover lamb,' the lamb of God * that takes away the sins of the world,' John i. 29. If oui* hearts be sprinkled with his blood, the destroying angel hath nothing to do with us. The passover hath its ' yea ' in him. Therefore that which is afiinned of the passover is affirmed of him, ' Not a bone of it shall be broken,' Ps. xxxiv. 20. That is attributed to Christ that was performed in the type. That is applied to Christ that was spoken of the passover ; to signify the identity of the type, and the thing signified. He was the yea of that, and of all comfortable types that were real, and personal, all have their 'yea' in him.
Therefore saith our Saviour Christ, the last words of his almost upon the cross, ' All is finished,' John xix. 30, all the types real and personal.
II. And all •promises and prophecies have their ' yea ' in Christ. The first
* That is, the name Isaac means ' laughter.' — G. t That is, the name Solomon means ' peace.' — G. X That is, 'typical things.' — Ed.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 20. 389
promise, what was it but Christ? ' The seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head,' Gren. iii. 15. It was nothing but Christ, it was ' yea' when he was born ; and when he died he crushed the serpent's head. * By death he overcame'him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,' Heb. ii. 14. So the promise that was renewed to Abraham, ' In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed,' G-en. xii. 3, that is, in Christ. And so to David, that he should come out of his family. And that particular promise of Isaiah, * that a virgin should conceive,' Isa. vii. 14. And the Baptist points him out, ' Behold the Lamb of Grod,' John i. 29. All the particular things that befell Christ in time, they were prophesied of before, and Christ was the ' yea' of all, that is, all had their determinate truth in Christ when he came. This is one reason why St Paul saith, ' All the promises in Christ are yea.' Whatsoever was promised concerning Christ, or foretold, it was 'yea' in him, concerning his birth, and the place of it; concerning his death, and the manner of it ; concerning his resurrection and ascension ; concerning his offices, all was foretold. As we see in Scripture, in the New Testament, it is the foot of divers verses, that ' it might be fulfilled;' so this that was foretold in the Old, it was fulfilled in the New. So Christ is the first promise, and whatsoever was said of him is ' yea and amen.' Whatsoever was spoken of Christ, it was ' yea ' in the Old Testament and ' amen ' in the New ; it was made to them in the Old Testament and per- formed in the New.
And what is the Old and New Testament but this syllogism ? He is the blessed seed, that is, the Son of the Virgin Mary, bom in Bethlehem, that shall come in the end of Daniel's weeks, that shall come when the sceptre shall be departed from Judah, &c. He is the true Messiah, the true Christ, saith the Old Testament. Here is the ' yea.' ' Amen,' saith the New Testa- ment to this. But Christ is the Son of the Virgin Mary, he suffered these things that it might be fulfilled. So all is ' amen' in the New Testament. I say, this is the main reason that all is built on. He in whom all these agree is the true Messiah. But, saith the New Testament, all these are ' amen ' in Christ. Therefore Christ, the Son of the Virgin Mary, he is the true Messiah. We see whatsoever was prophesied concerning Christ himself, was ' yea.'