angels' acclamations. 827
but Christ appeared ; and when he appeared it was as if grace and love had been incarnate, and took a bod3\ So that grace and mercy most of all shines in the incarnation of Christ.
I need not clear the point further, but only make a little use of it, and so end. Doth the grace, and love, and mercy of God, those sweet attri- butes, now appear and shew themselves in Jesus Christ ? I beseech you, let us remember it — there is no point of divinity of more use and comfort — especially in the greatest plunges and extremities ; for it answereth all objections, the greatest and strongest that can be made.
The sinner will object. My sins are great, of long continuance and stand- ing ; they are of a deep dye.
Look then upon God in Christ, and consider his end in the incarnation of Christ. It was that his mercy, and goodness, and grace should be exalted, and triumph over all man's unworthiness. The greater thy sin, the greater will be the glory of his mercy ; and that is it God seeks for now, to be glorious in his mercy.
Again, Thy heart tells thee, that if there be any mercy shewed to such a wretch as thou art, it must be no ordinary mercy.
It is true. God's mercy is no ordinary thing. Of all attributes he will triumph in that. The glory of his mercy and goodness is that he seeks to have of men, by the incarnation and redemption wrought by Christ, above all things whatsoever.
Obj. Thou wouldst have infinite mercy.
Ans. Thou hast it in Christ.
Obj. Thy sins have abounded.
Ans. God's grace abounds much more.
Obj. Thy sins are mountains.
Ans, God's mercy is as the ocean, to cover those mountains.
Obj. But is it possible for God to forgive such a wretched sinner, that hath been a blasphemer, &c. ?
Ans. It were not with men ; but, saith God, ' My thoughts are not as your thoughts,' Isa. Iv. 8. You are vindictive in your dispositions, and will not pardon ; but my thoughts are as far above yours as the heavens are above the earth. Therefore bound not the infinite mercy of God, wherein he will triumph, with thy narrow thoughts, but let it have its scope, especially in plunges and assaults, and at such times as the best of us may be brought unto. In Hosea xi. 9, ' I am God, and not man,' implying that if he were man, we might have mean thoughts of him, confined thoughts; but ' I am God, and not man,' therefore comfort yourselves in this, consider how God sets himself to be glorious in his love and mercy to poor, miser- able, wretched man in Jesus Christ.
You see the mercy of God in Christ, even in the sacrament. He doth not only give Christ to us — ' So God loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,' John iii. 16, to be born and to die for us — but his mercy is a boundless mercy. We see he labours to strengthen our faith by these pledges, that we make use of this. What if God be merciful in Christ ! and what if Christ be gracious, and there is nothing but grace and mercy ! If there be not an application, if there be not an interest, what benefit have we by it ? We must interest ourselves in this glorious person, interest ourselves in Christ, for it is founded upon Christ. All the glorious mercy of God is grounded upon satisfaction of justice ; that is, in Christ. But this is nothing except we interest ourselves in Christ, and in the mercy of God ; for our approbation is the ground of all comfort. God out of Christ
328 angels' acclamations.
is a ' fountain sealed.' He is a fountain of mercy, but be is sealed up. He is a ' consuming fire,' but in Cbrist he is a cbecring, comforting fire- But this is nothing to us, unless we be in Christ. We must have interest in Christ. We must be ' bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.' He hath married our nature, that wo might be married to him. We have no benefit by his incarnation else. Now all our comfort is by this union and communion with Christ, by marrying ourselves to Christ, by strength- ening our faith in this union and communion, that so we may make use of the boundless mercy of God in Christ. Therefore how should we be encouraged to come to the sacrament, to enjoy this comfort !
You have heard, beloved, of the joy of the angels, of their manner of celebrating the birth of Christ ; and if the angels should leave heaven, and come down upon earth, and take upon them bodies, how would they cele- brate the incarnation of Christ !* You see here, ' Glory to God on high.' This would be the course wherein they would carry themselves to glorify God, answerable to their song. So should we do, if we will be like the blessed angels. We see how to celebrate the nativity of Christ. We need not go to fetch joy from hell to celebrate it. If the devil should be incar- nate, and come to live among men, how would he celebrate the incarnation of Christ otherwise than in many places it is ? If we do not love to have our portion with devils, surely we should not imitate those whose state and condition we are afraid of. The angels saw matter enough in the thing itself to make them sing, ' Glory to God on high, on earth peace, good will towards men.' What ! Hath God been so rich in love to us in Christ, so wondrous in mercy, as to take our miserable nature, not at the best, but at the worst, and to take our condition upon him ? Here is matter of joy ; and shall we be beholden to the devil for joy, when we should rejoice for Christ ? Will not the thing itself yield matter of rejoicing ? Oh base dispositions, that we should not content ourselves with homogencal, uniform joy to the thing itself. I desire repentance, and reformation of what hath been amiss. If there be any that have been guilty in this kind, that intend to come near God in these holy mysteries, let them Jinow, that God will be honoured of all that come near him ; let them take it to heart. As Ter- tullian said in his time. What ! shall we celebrate that which is a public matter of joy to all the church, for a public shame, in a disgraceful way ? (c)