1 Mia -rpofficvv/iTii, koa /^lav at/TU tmv ^c^^oXoyieev ccvaTifiTiuv. — SyQOd. Eph. Anath. viii,
Cyril.
» 'H lyup dyarn rov Xpierrou truvix^' V^'- — ^ Cor. V. 14.
OF Christ's kingly office. S89
Egypt the reason of that eternally Indispensable moral worship which he requires in the first commandment: not that that was the formal cause of that worship, for God is to be worshipped as the first, sovereign, independent good, as the absolute Lord of all and foun- tain of all good, whether he gives any such benefits or no; but yet all his mercies, all his benefits, every thing he doth for us in his provi- dence and in his grace, as to the things of this life or of another, are all arguments and motives to press us to the performance of all that Avorship and service which we owe unto him as our God and Creator. " Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits," saith David, Ps. ciii. 1, 2, So is it in the case of our mediator. For the work of his mediation we are eternally obliged to render all glory, honour, and thanksgiving to him; but yet his mediation is not the formal cause thereof, but only an invincible motive thereunto. Let this, therefore, be our fourth and last observation : —
4. Though Jesus Christ, who is our mediator, God and man, is to be worshipped with divine worship, even as we honour the Father, yet this is not as he is mediator, but as he is God, blessed for evermore. He is not to be worshipped under this reduplication as mediator, though he who is mediator is to be worshipped, and he is to be worshipped because he is mediator. That is, his mediatory office is not the formal cause and reason of yielding divine worship to him, nor under that consideration is that woi'ship ultimately terminated in him. The formal reason of any thing, strictly taken, is but one, and it is that from the concession whereof that thing or effect where- of it is the cause or reason, without any other help, doth arise or result from it. Now, the formal cause or reason of all divine wor- ship is the deiti/ or divine nature; — that being granted, divine wor- ship necessarily follows to be due; that being denied, that worship also is, and is to be for ever, denied. We may not worship them who by nature are not God. If it could be supposed that we might have had a mediator that should not have been God (which was impos- sible), religious worship would not have been yielded to him ; and if the Son of God had never been our mediator, yet he was to be wor- shipped.
It is the deity of Christ, then, which is the fundamental, formal cause and reason, and the proper object, of our worship:^ for that being granted, though we had no other reason or argument for it, yet we ought to worship him ; and that being denied, all other rea- sons and motives whatever would not be a sufficient cause or warrant for any such proceeding.
It is true, Christ hath a power given hiin of his Father above all angels, principalities, and powers, called " All power in heaven and
' rivaxrxiriiffav on roy KVpiov iv a'apici vrftTxvvtuvTts, th KTifffiei ri frftffxvvevfiiv dXXa 'rot KTia-rr.v It'ijirxu.ivov to Krifrov trufta. — AthaD. Ep. ad Adelpll. Episc.
390 VINDICI^ EVANGELIC^.
in eartli/' Matt, xxviii. 18, and "a name above every name," Phil, ii. 9, giving him an excellency, an d^/'a, as he is fiiolrrig ixsrrig, as he is the king and head of his church, which is to be acknowledged, owned, ascribed to him; and the consideration whereof, with his abihty and willingness therein to succour, relieve, and save us to the uttermost, in a way of mediation, is a powerful, effectual motive (as was said before) to his worship : but yet this is an excellency which is distinct from that which is purely and properly divine, and so can- not be the formal reason of religious worship. Excellency is the cause of honour ; every distinct excellency and eminence is the cause of honour; every distinct excellency and eminence is the cause of distinct honour and worship. Now, what excellency or dignity so- ever is communicated by a way of delegation is distinct and of another kind from that which is original, infinite, and communicat- ing, and therefore cannot be the formal cause of the same honour and worship.
I shall briefly give the reasons of the assertion insisted on, and so pass on to what remains.
1. The first is taken from the nature of divine or religious worship. It is that whereby we ascribe the honour and glory of all infinite perfections to him whom we so worship, — to be the first cause, the fountain of all good, independent, infinitely wise, powerful, all-suffi- cient, almighty, all-seeing, omnipotent, eternal, the only rewarder; as such we submit ourselves to him religiously, in faith, love, obedi- ence, adoration, and invocation. But now we cannot ascribe these divine excellencies and perfections unto Christ as mediator, for then his mediation should be the reason why he is all this, which it is not; but it is from his divine nature alone that so he is, and there- fore thence alone is it that he is so worshipped.