The Excellency of Christ, a sermon by Jonathan
Edwards, Revelation chapter 5 verses 5 and 6.
And one of the elders saith unto me,
Weep not.
Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals
thereof.
And I beheld, and lo, in the midst
of the throne, and of the four beasts,
and in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb, as it had been slain.
The visions and revelations that the Apostle John
had of the future events of God's providence
are here introduced with a vision of the
book of God's decrees by which those events
were foreordained, which is represented in the first
verse of this chapter as a book in
the right hand of him that sat on
the throne, written within, and on the back
side, and sealed with seven seals.
Books, in the form in which they were
wont of old to be made, were broad
leaves of parchment, or paper, or something of
that nature, joined together at one edge, and
so rolled up together, and then sealed, or
some way fastened together, to prevent their unfolding
and opening.
Hence we read of the role of a
book, Jeremiah chapter 36 verse 2.
It seems to have been such a book
that John had a vision of here, and
therefore to said to be written within, and
on the back side, that is, on the
inside pages, and also on one of the
outside pages, that is, that that was rolled
in, in rolling the book up together.
And it is said to be sealed with
seven seals, to signify that what was written
in it was perfectly hidden and secret, or
that God's decrees of future events are sealed,
and shut up from all possibility of being
discovered by creatures, till God is pleased to
make them known.
We find that seven is often used in
Scripture as the number of perfection, to signify
the superlative, or most perfect degree of anything,
which probably came from that, that on the
seventh day God beheld the works of creation
finished, and rested and rejoiced in them, as
being complete and perfect.
When John saw this book, he tells us
he saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a
loud voice, who is worthy to open the
book, and to loose the seals thereof.
And no man in heaven, nor in earth,
neither under the earth, was able to open
the book, neither to look thereon.
And that he wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and read the
book, neither to look thereon.
And then tells us how his tears were
dried up, that is, that one of the
elders said unto him, Weep not, behold, the
lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed,
etc., as in the text.
Though no man, nor angel, nor any mere
creature, was found either able to loose the
seals, or worthy to be admitted to the
privilege of reading the book, yet this was
declared for the comfort of this beloved disciple,
that Christ was found both able and worthy.
And we have an account in the succeeding
chapters how he actually did it, opening the
seals in order, first one, and then another,
revealing what God had decreed should come to
pass hereafter.
And we have an account in this chapter
of his coming and taking the book out
of the right hand of him that sat
on the throne, and of the joyful praises
that were sung to him in heaven and
earth on that occasion.
Many things might be observed in the words
of the text, but tis to my present
purpose only to take notice of the two
distinct appellations here given to Christ.
One, he is called a lion.
Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah.
He seems to be called the lion of
the tribe of Judah in allusion to what
Jacob said in Blessing of the Tribes on
his deathbed, who, when he came to bless
Judah, compares him to a lion.
Genesis chapter 49 verse 9.
Judah is a lion's whelp, from the prey
my son art gone up.
He stooped down, he couched as a lion,
and as an old lion, who shall raise
him up?
And also to the standard of the camp
of Judah in the wilderness, on which was
displayed a lion according to the ancient tradition
of the Jews.
Tis much on account of the valiant act
of David that the tribe of Judah, of
which David was, is in Jacob's prophetical blessing
compared to a lion, but more especially with
an eye to Jesus Christ, who also was
of that tribe and was descended of David,
and is in our text called the root
of David, and therefore Christ is here called
the lion of the tribe of Judah.
Two, he is called a lamb.
John was told of a lion that had
prevailed to open the book and probably expected
to see a lion in his vision, but
while he is expecting, behold, a lamb appears
to open the book, an exceeding diverse kind
of creature from a lion.
A lion is a devourer, one who is
wont to make terrible slaughter of others, and
no creature more easily falls a prey to
him than a lamb, and Christ is here
represented not only as a lamb, a creature
very liable to be slain, but a lamb
as it had been slain, that is, with
the marks of its deadly wounds appearing on
it.
That which I would observe from the words
for the subject of my present discourse is
this.
The doctrine is this.
There is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies
in Jesus Christ.
The lion and the lamb, though very diverse
kinds of creatures, yet have each their peculiar
excellencies.
The lion excels in strength, and in the
majesty of his appearance and voice.
The lamb excels in meekness and patience, besides
the excellent nature of the creature as good
for food, and yielding that which is fit
for our clothing, and being suitable to be
offered in sacrifice to God.
But we see that Christ is in the
text compared to both, because the diverse excellencies
of both wonderfully meet in him.
In handling the subject, I would, one, show
wherein there is an admirable conjunction of diverse
excellencies in Christ.
Two, how this admirable conjunction of excellencies appears
in Christ's acts, and then make application.
One, I would show wherein there is an
admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ,
which appears in three things.
First, there is a conjunction of such excellencies
in Christ as, in our manner of conceiving,
are very diverse one from another.
Second, there is in him a conjunction of
such really diverse excellencies as otherwise would have
seemed to us utterly incompatible in the same
subject.
And third, such diverse excellencies are exercised in
him towards men that otherwise would have seemed
impossible to be exercised towards the same object.
First, there is a conjunction of such excellencies
in Christ as, in our manner of conceiving,
are very diverse from one another.
Such are the various divine perfections and excellencies
that Christ is possessed of.
Christ is a divine person, or one that
is God, and therefore has all the attributes
of God.
The difference there is between these is chiefly
relative, and in our manner of conceiving them.
And those that in this sense are most
diverse do meet in the person of Christ.
I shall mention two instances.
One, there do meet in Jesus Christ infinite
highness and infinite condescension.
Christ, as he is God, is infinitely great
and high above all.
He is higher than the kings of the
earth, for he is King of kings and
Lord of lords.
He is higher than the heavens and higher
than the highest angels of heaven.
So great is he that all men, all
kings and princes, are as worms of the
dust before him.
All nations are as the drop of the
bucket, and the light dust of the balance.
Yea, and angels themselves are as nothing before
him.
He is so high that he is infinitely
above any need of us, above our reach,
that we cannot be profitable to him, and
above our conceptions that we cannot comprehend him.
Proverbs chapter 30 verse 4.
What is his name, and what is his
son's name, if thou canst tell?
Our understandings, if we stretch them never so
far, can't reach up to his divine glory.
Job chapter 11 verse 8.
It is high as heaven, what canst thou
do?
Christ is the creator and great possessor of
heaven and earth.
He is sovereign Lord of all.
He rules over the whole universe, and doth
whatsoever pleaseth him.
His knowledge is without bound, his wisdom is
perfect, and what none can circumvent.
His power is infinite, and none can resist
him.
His riches are immense and inexhaustible, his majesty
is infinitely awful.
And yet he is one of infinite condescension.
None are so low or inferior, but Christ's
condescension is sufficient to take a gracious notice
of them.
He condescends not only to the angels, humbling
himself to behold the things that are done
in heaven, but he also condescends to such
poor creatures as men, and that not only
so as to take notice of princes and
great men, but of those that are of
meanest rank and degree.
The poor of the world, James 2.5,
such as are commonly despised by their fellow
creatures, Christ does not despise.
First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 28, base things
of the world and things that are despised
hath God chosen.
Christ condescends to take notice of beggars, Luke
chapter 16 verse 22, and of servants and
people of the most despised nations.
In Christ Jesus is neither barbarian, Scythian bond
nor free.
Colossians chapter 3 verse 11.
He that is thus high condescends to take
a gracious notice of little children.
Matthew chapter 19 verse 14.
Suffer little children to come unto me.
Yea, which is much more, his condescension is
sufficient to take a gracious notice of the
most unworthy sinful creatures, those that have no
good deservings, and those that have infinite ill
deservings.
Yea, so great is his condescension that it
is not only sufficient to take some gracious
notice of such as these, but sufficient for
everything that is an act of condescension.
His condescension is great enough to become their
friend.
It is great enough to become their companion,
to unite their souls to him in spiritual
marriage.
It is great enough to take their nature
upon him, to become one of them, that
he may be one with them.
Yea, it is great enough to abase himself
yet lower for them, even to expose himself
to shame and spitting.
Yea, to yield up himself to an ignominious
death for them.
And what act of condescension can be conceived
of greater?
Yet such an act as this has his
condescension yielded to for those that are so
low and mean, despicable and unworthy.
Such a conjunction of such infinite highness and
low condescension in the same person is admirable.
We see by manifold instances what a tendency
and high station has in men to make
them to be of a quite contrary disposition.
If one worm be a little exalted above
another by having more dust or a bigger
dunghill, how much does he make of himself?
What a distance does he keep from those
that are below him?
And a little condescension is what he expects
should be made much of and greatly acknowledged.
Christ condescends to wash our feet, but how
would great men, or rather the bigger worms,
account themselves debased by acts of far less
condescension?
To their meet in Jesus Christ infinite justice
and infinite grace.
As Christ is a divine person, he is
infinitely holy and just, infinitely hating sin and
disposed to execute condign punishment for sin.
He is the judge of the world and
is the infinitely just judge of it and
will not at all acquit the wicked or
by any means clear the guilty.
And yet he is one that is infinitely
gracious and merciful.
Though his justice be so strict with respect
to all sin and every breach of the
law, yet he has grace sufficient for every
sinner and even the chief of sinners.
And it is not only sufficient for the
most unworthy to show them mercy and bestow
some good upon them, but to bestow the
greatest good, yea, to sufficient to bestow all
good upon them and to do all things
for them.
There is no benefit or blessing that they
can receive so great, but the grace of
Christ is sufficient to bestow it on the
greatest sinner that ever lived.
And not only so, but so great is
his grace that nothing is too much as
the means of this good.
Tis sufficient not only to do great things,
but also to suffer in order to it.
And not only to suffer, but to suffer
most extremely, even unto death, the most terrible
of natural evils.
And not only death, but the most ignominious
and tormenting and every way the most terrible
death that men could inflict, yea, and greater
sufferings than men could inflict who could only
torment the body, but also those sufferings in
his soul that were the more immediate fruits
of the wrath of God against the sins
of those he undertakes for.
Second, there do meet in the person of
Christ such really diverse excellencies which otherwise would
have been thought utterly incompatible in the same
subject, such as are conjoined in no other
person whatever, either divine, human, or angelical, and
such as neither men nor angels would ever
have imagined could have met together in the
same person had it not been seen in
the person of Christ.
I would give some instances.
One, in the person of Christ do meet
together infinite glory and lowest humility.
Infinite glory and the virtue of humility meet
in no other person but Christ.
They meet in no created person, for no
created person has infinite glory, and they meet
in no other divine person but Christ.
For though the divine nature be infinitely abhorrent
to pride, yet humility is not properly predicable
of God the Father and the Holy Ghost
that exist only in the divine nature, because
it is a proper excellency only of a
created nature, for it consists radically in a
sense of a comparative lowness and littleness before
God, or the great distance between God and
the subject of his virtue.
But it would be a contradiction to suppose
any such thing in God.
But in Jesus Christ, who is both God
and man, these two diverse excellencies are sweetly
united.
He is a person infinitely exalted in glory
and dignity.
Philippians chapter 2 verse 6, being in the
form of God he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God.
There is equal honor due to him with
the Father.
John chapter 5 verse 23, that all men
should honor the Son even as they honor
the Father.
God himself says to him, Thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever.
Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, and there is
the same supreme respect and divine worship paid
to him by the angels of heaven as
to God the Father as there.
Verse 6, let all the angels of God
worship him.
But however he is thus above all, yet
he is lowest of all in humility.
There never was so great an instance of
this virtue among either men or angels as
Jesus.
None ever was so sensible of the distance
between God and him, or had a heart
so lowly before God as the man Christ
Jesus.
Matthew chapter 11 verse 29, what a wonderful
spirit of humility appeared in him when he
was here upon earth in all his behavior,
in his contentment, in his mean outward condition,
contentedly living in the family of Joseph the
carpenter, and marry his mother for thirty years
together, and afterwards choosing outward meanness, poverty, and
contempt rather than earthly greatness, in his washing
his disciples' feet, and in all his speeches
and deportment towards them, in his cheerfully sustaining
the form of a servant through his whole
life, and submitting to such immense humiliation at
death.
Two, in the person of Christ do meet
together infinite majesty and transcendent meekness.
These again are two qualifications that meet together
in no other person but Christ.
Meekness, properly so-called, is a virtue proper
only to the creature.
We scarcely ever find meekness mentioned as a
divine attribute in Scripture, at least not in
the New Testament, for thereby seems to be
signified a calmness and quietness of spirit arising
from humility in mutable beings that are naturally
liable to be put in a ruffle by
the assault of a tempestuous and injurious world.
But Christ, being both God and man, hath
both infinite majesty and superlative meekness.
Christ was a person of infinite majesty.
It is he that is spoken of.
Psalm 45.3 Gird thy sword upon thy
thigh, O most mighty, in thy glory and
thy majesty.
Tis he that is mighty, that rideth on
the heavens, and in his excellency on the
sky.
Tis he that is terrible out of his
holy places, who is mightier than the noise
of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves
of the sea, before whom a fire goeth
and burneth up his enemies round about, at
whose presence the earth doth quake, and the
hills do melt, who sitteth on the circle
of the earth, and all the inhabitants thereof
are as grasshoppers, who rebukes the sea, and
maketh it dry, and dryeth up the rivers,
whose eyes are as a flame of fire,
from whose presence, and from the glory of
whose power, the wicked shall be punished with
everlasting destruction, who is the blessed and only
potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, that hath heaven for his throne, and
the earth for his footstool, and is the
high and lofty one, who inhabits eternity, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and of whose
dominion there is no end.
And yet he was the most marvellous instance
of meekness, and humble quietness of spirit, that
ever was, agreeable to the prophecies of him.
Matthew chapter 21, verses 4 and 5.
All this was done, that it might be
fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy
king cometh unto thee meek, and sitting upon
an ass, and a colt the foal of
an ass.
And agreeable to what Christ declares of himself,
Matthew chapter 21, verse 29, I am meek
and lowly of heart.
And agreeable to what was manifest in his
behaviour here in this world.
For there never was such an instance seen
on earth, of a meek behaviour, under injuries
and reproaches and toward enemies, who when he
was reviled, reviled not again, who was of
a wonderful spirit of forgiveness, was ready to
forgive his worst enemies, and prayed for them
with fervent and effectual prayers.
With what meekness did he appear, when in
the ring of soldiers that were condemning and
mocking him, when he was silent, and opened
not his mouth, but went as a lamb
to the slaughter?
Thus is Christ a lion in majesty, and
a lamb in meekness.
3.
There meet, in the person of Christ, the
deepest reverence toward God, and equality with God.
Christ, when he was here on earth, appeared
full of holy reverence towards the Father.
He paid the most reverential worship to him,
praying to him with postures of reverence.
Thus we read of his kneeling down and
praying, Luke chapter 22, verse 41.
This became Christ as he was one that
had taken on him the human nature.
But at the same time he existed in
the divine nature, whereby his person was in
all respects equal to the person of the
Father.
God the Father hath no attribute or perfection
that the Son hath not, in equal degree
and equal glory.
These things meet in no other person but
Jesus Christ.
4.
There are conjoined, in the person of Christ,
infinite worthiness of good, and the greatest patience
under sufferings of evil.
He was perfectly innocent, and deserved no suffering.
He deserved nothing from God by any guilt
of his own, and he deserved no ill
from men, yea?
He was not only harmless and undeserving of
suffering, but he was infinitely worthy, worthy of
the infinite love of the Father, worthy of
infinite and eternal happiness, and infinitely worthy of
all possible esteem, love, and service from all
men.
And yet, he was perfectly patient under the
greatest sufferings that ever were endured in this
world.
Hebrews chapter 6, verse 15.
After he had patiently endured, he obtained the
promise.
He suffered not from his Father for his
faults, but ours.
And he suffered from men not for his
faults, but for those things on account of
which he was infinitely worthy of their love
and honor, which made his patience the more
wonderful and the more glorious.
1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 20-24.
For what glory is it, if when ye
be buffeted for your faults ye shall take
it patiently?
But if when ye do well and suffer
for it ye take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God.
For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that we should follow his steps.
Who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth.
Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again.
When he suffered he threatened not, but committed
himself to him that judgeth righteously.
Who his own self bear our sins in
his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sin, should live unto righteousness,
by whose stripes ye were healed.
There is no such conjunction of innocence, worthiness,
and patience under sufferings as in the person
of Christ.
5.
In the person of Christ are conjoined an
exceeding spirit of obedience with supreme dominion over
heaven and earth.
Christ is the Lord of all things in
two respects.
He is so, as he is God-man
and mediator.
And so his dominion is appointed and given
of the Father, and is by delegation from
God, and he is, as it were, the
Father's vicegerent.
But he is the Lord of all things
in another respect, that is, as he is,
by his original nature, God.
And so he is, by natural right, the
Lord of all, and supreme over all, as
much as the Father.
Thus he has dominion over the world, not
by delegation, but in his own right.
He is not an under-God, as the
Arians suppose, but to all intents and purposes,
supreme God.
And yet, in the same person is found
the greatest spirit of obedience to the commands
and law of God that ever was in
the universe, which was manifest in his obedience
here in this world.
John 14.31. As the Father gave me
commandment, even so I do.
John 15.10. Even as I have commanded
kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love.
The greatness of his spirit of obedience appears
in the perfection of his obedience, and in
his obeying commands of such exceeding difficulty.
Never anyone received commands from God of such
difficulty, and that were so great a trial
of obedience as Jesus Christ.
One of God's commands to him was that
he should yield himself to those dreadful sufferings
that he underwent.
See John 10.18. No man taketh it
from me, but I lay it down of
myself.
This commandment received I of my Father.
And Christ was thoroughly obedient to this command
of God.
Hebrews 5.8. Though he were a son,
yet learned he obedience by the things that
he suffered.
Philippians 2.8. He humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.
Never was there such an instance of obedience
in man nor angel as this, though he
that obeyed was at the same time supreme
Lord of both angels and men.
6.
In the person of Christ are conjoined absolute
sovereignty and perfect resignation.
This is another unparalleled conjunction.
Christ, as he is God, is the absolute
sovereign of the world.
He is the sovereign disposer of all events.
The decrees of God are all his sovereign
decrees, and the work of creation and all
God's works of providence are his sovereign works.
Tis he that worketh all things according to
the counsel of his own will.
Colossians 1.16.17. By him, and through
him, and to him are all things.
John 5.17. The Father worketh hitherto, and
I work.
Matthew 8.3. I will, be thou clean.
But yet I will not.
Christ was the most wonderful instance of resignation
that ever appeared in the world.
He was absolutely and perfectly resigned when he
had a near and immediate prospect of his
terrible sufferings, and the dreadful cup that he
was to drink, the idea and expectation of
which made his soul exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death, and put him into such an agony,
that his sweat was, as it were, great
drops or clots of blood, falling down to
the ground.
But in such circumstances he was wholly resigned
to the will of God.
Matthew chapter 26 verse 39.
O my Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as
I will, but as thou wilt.
Verse 42.
O my Father, if this cup may not
pass from me, except I drink it, thy
will be done.
7.
In Christ do meet together self-sufficiency and
an entire trust and reliance on God, which
is another conjunction peculiar to the person of
Christ.
As he is a divine person, he is
self-sufficient, standing in need of nothing.
All creatures are dependent on him, but he
is dependent on none, but is absolutely independent.
His proceeding from the Father in his eternal
generation or affiliation argues no proper dependence on
the will of the Father, for that proceeding
was natural and necessary, and not arbitrary.
But yet Christ entirely trusted in God.
His enemies say that of him.
He trusted in God that he would deliver
him.
Matthew chapter 27 verse 43.
And the apostle testifies, first Peter chapter 2
verse 23, that he committed himself to God.
Third, such diverse excellencies are expressed in him
towards men that otherwise would have seemed impossible
to be exercised toward the same object as
particularly these three—justice, mercy, and truth.
The same that are mentioned, Psalm 85.10,
mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and
peace have kissed each other.
The strict justice of God, and even his
revenging justice, and that against the sins of
men, was never so gloriously manifested as in
Christ.
He manifested an infinite regard to the attribute
of God's justice, in that when he had
a mind to save sinners, he was willing
to undergo such extreme sufferings rather than that
their salvation should be to the injury of
the honor of that attribute.
And, as he is the judge of the
world, he doth himself exercise strict justice.
He will not clear the guilty, nor at
all acquit the wicked in judgment.
And yet, how wonderfully is infinite mercy towards
sinners displayed in him!
And what glorious and ineffable grace and love
have been, and are exercised by him towards
sinful men!
Though he be the just judge of a
sinful world, yet he is also the Savior
of the world.
Though he be a consuming fire to sin,
yet he is the light and life of
sinners.
Romans 3.25,26 Whom God hath set
forth to be a propitiation through faith in
his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are passed through the
forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be
just and the justifier of him which believeth
in Jesus.
So the immutable truth of God, in the
threatenings of his law against the sins of
men, was never so manifested as it is
in Jesus Christ.
For there never was any other so great
a trial of the unalterableness of the truth
of God in those threatenings as when sin
came to be imputed to his own Son.
And then in Christ has been seen already
an actual complete accomplishment of those threatenings, which
never has been nor will be seen in
any other instance, because the eternity that will
be taken up in fulfilling those threatenings on
others never will be finished.
Christ manifested an infinite regard to this truth
of God in his sufferings, and in his
judging the world he makes the covenant of
works that contains those dreadful threatenings his rule
of judgment.
He will see to it that it is
not infringed in the least jot or tittle.
He will do nothing contrary to the threatenings
of the law and their complete fulfillment.
And yet in him we have many great
and precious promises, promises of perfect deliverance from
the penalty of the law.
And this is the promise that he hath
promised us, even eternal life.
And in him are all the promises of
God, yea, and amen.
Having thus shown wherein there is an admirable
conjunction of excellencies in Christ, I now proceed.
Secondly, to show how this admirable conjunction of
excellencies appears in Christ's acts.
First, it appears in what Christ did in
taking on our nature.
In this act his infinite condescension wonderfully appeared,
that he that was God should become man,
that the word should be made flesh, and
should take on him a nature infinite below
his original nature.
And it appears yet more remarkably in the
low circumstances of his incarnation.
He was conceived in the womb of a
poor young woman, whose poverty appeared in that
when she came to offer sacrifices of her
purification, she brought what was allowed in the
law only in case of poverty, as Luke
chapter 2 verse 24, according to what is
said in the law of the Lord, a
pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
This was allowed only in case the person
was so poor that she was not able
to offer a lamb.
Leviticus chapter 12 verse 8.
And though his infinite condescension thus appeared in
the manner of his incarnation, yet his divine
dignity also appeared in it.
For though he was conceived in the womb
of a poor virgin, yet he was there
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost.
And his divine dignity also appeared in the
holiness of his conception and birth.
Though he was conceived in the womb of
one of the corrupt race of mankind, yet
he was conceived and born without sin.
As the angel said to the blessed virgin,
Luke chapter 1 verse 35, the Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of
the highest shall overshadow thee.
Therefore also that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son
of God.
His infinite condescension marvelously appeared in the manner
of his birth.
He was brought forth in a stable because
there was no room for them in the
inn.
The inn was taken up by others that
were looked upon as persons of greater account.
The blessed virgin, being poor and despised, was
turned or shut out.
Though she was in necessitous circumstances, yet those
that counted themselves her betters would not give
place to her, and therefore in the time
of her travail she was forced to betake
herself to a stable.
And when the child was born, it was
wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a
manger, and there Christ lay a little infant,
and there he eminently appeared as a lamb.
But yet this feeble infant that was born
thus in a stable, and laid in a
manger, was born to conquer and triumph over
Satan, that roaring lion.
He came to subdue the mighty powers of
darkness, and make a show of them openly,
and so to restore peace on earth, and
to manifest God's good will towards men, and
to bring glory to God in the highest,
according as the end of his birth was
declared by the joyful songs of the glorious
hosts of angels, appearing to the shepherds at
the same time that the infant lay in
the manger, whereby his divine dignity was manifested.
Second, this admirable conjunction of excellencies appears in
the acts and various passages of Christ's life.
Though Christ dwelt on the earth in mean
outward circumstances, whereby his condescension and humility especially
appeared, and his majesty was veiled, yet his
divine dignity and glory did in many of
his acts shine through the veil, and it
illustriously appeared that he was not only the
Son of Man, but the great God.
Thus, in the circumstances of his infancy, his
outward meanness appeared, yet there was something then
to show forth his divine dignity, in the
wise men's being stirred up to come from
the east to give honor to him.
They are being led by a miraculous star,
and coming and falling down and worshiping him,
and presenting him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
His humility and meekness wonderfully appeared in his
subjection to his mother and reputed father when
he was a child.
He herein appeared as a lamb.
But his divine glory broke forth and shone
when, at twelve years old, he disputed with
the doctors in the temple, in that he
appeared, in some measure, as the lion of
the tribe of Judah.
And so, after he entered on his public
ministry, his marvelous humility and meekness was manifested
in his choosing to appear in such mean
outward circumstances, and in being so contented in
them when he was so poor that he
had not where to lay his head, and
depended on the charity of some of his
followers for his subsistence, as appears by Luke
8 at the beginning.
As also in his meek condescending and familiar
treatment of his disciples, in his discourses with
them, treating them as a father his children,
yea, as friends and companions, and in his
patient bearing such affliction and reproach, and so
many injuries from the scribes and Pharisees and
others, in these things he appeared as a
lamb.
And yet he at the same time did
many ways show forth his divine majesty and
glory, particularly in the miracles that he wrought,
which were evidently divine works, and manifested omnipotent
power, and so declared him to be the
lion of the tribe of Judah.
His wonderful and miraculous works plainly showed him
to be the God of nature, in that
it appeared by them that he had all
nature in his hands, and could lay an
arrest upon it, and stop and change its
course as he pleased, in healing the sick,
and opening the eyes of the blind, and
unstopping the ears of the deaf, and healing
the lame, he showed that he was the
God that framed the eye, and created the
air, and was the author of the frame
of man's body.
By the dead's rising at his command, it
appeared that he was the author and fountain
of life, and that God the Lord to
whom belong the issues from death.
By his walking on the sea in a
storm, when the waves were raised, he showed
himself to be that God spoken of in
Job 9.8, that treaded on the waves
of the sea.
By his stilling the storm, and calming the
rage of the sea, by his powerful command
saying, Peace, be still, he showed himself to
be he that has the command of the
universe, and to be that God that brings
things to pass by the word of his
power, that speaks, and is done, that commands,
and it stands fast, and he that is
spoken of, Psalm 65, 7, who stilleth the
noise of the seas, the noise of their
waves, and Psalm 107, verse 29, that maketh
the storm a calm, so that the waves
thereof are still, and Psalm 89, 8 and
9.
O Lord God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy
faithfulness round about thee?
Thou rebukest the raging of the sea, when
the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Christ, by casting out devils, remarkably appeared as
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and
showed that he was stronger than the roaring
lion that seeks whom he may devour.
He commanded them to come out, and they
were forced to obey.
They were terribly afraid of him.
They fall down before him and beseech him
not to torment them.
He forces a whole legion of them to
forsake their old hold by his powerful word,
and they could not so much as enter
into the swine without his leave.
He showed the glory of his omniscience by
telling the thoughts of men.
As we have often an account, herein he
appeared to be that God spoken of, Amos
4.13, that declareth unto man what is
his thought.
Thus, in the midst of his meanness and
humiliation, his divine glory appeared in miracles, John
2, verse 11.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana
of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory.
And though Christ ordinarily appeared without outward glory,
and in great obscurity, yet at a certain
time he threw off the veil and appeared
in his divine majesty, so far as it
could be outwardly manifested to men in this
frail state, when he was transfigured in the
mount.
The apostle Peter speaks of it, 2 Peter
1, verses 16 and 17, speaking there of
himself as one that was an eyewitness of
his majesty, when he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such
a voice to him, from the excellent glory,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I
am well pleased, which voice that came from
heaven they heard, when they were with him
in the holy mount.
And at the same time that Christ was
wont to appear in such meekness, condescension, and
humility, in his familiar discourses with his disciples,
appearing therein as the Lamb of God, he
was also wont to appear as the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, with divine authority
and majesty, in his so sharply rebuking the
scribes and Pharisees, and other hypocrites.
Third, this admirable conjunction of excellencies remarkably appears
in his offering up himself a sacrifice for
sinners in his last sufferings, as this was
the greatest thing in all the work of
redemption, the greatest act of Christ in that
work.
So in this act especially does there appear
that admirable conjunction of excellencies that has been
spoken of.
Christ never so much appeared as a lamb
as when he was slain.
He came like a lamb to the slaughter.
Isaiah chapter 53 verse 7.
Then he was offered up to God as
a lamb without blemish, and without spot.
Then especially did he appear to be the
antitype of the Lamb of the Passover.
First Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7.
Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed for us.
And yet in that act he did in
an especial manner appear as the Lion of
the tribe of Judah.
Yea, in this above all other acts in
many respects as may appear in the following
things.
One, then was Christ in the greatest degree
of his humiliation, and yet by that above
all things his divine glory appears.
Christ's humiliation was great in being born in
such a low condition of a poor virgin
and in a stable.
His humiliation was great in being subject to
Joseph the carpenter and Mary his mother, and
afterward in living in poverty so as not
to have where to lay his head, and
in suffering such manifold and bitter reproaches as
he suffered while he went about preaching and
working miracles.
But his humiliation was never so great as
it was in his last sufferings, beginning with
his agony in the garden till he expired
on the cross.
Never was he subject to such ignominy as
then.
Never did he suffer so much pain in
his body, or so much sorrow in his
soul.
Never was he in so great an exercise
of his condescension, humility, meekness and patience as
he was in these last sufferings.
Never was his divine glory and majesty covered
with so thick and dark a veil.
Never did he so empty himself and make
himself of no reputation as at this same
time, and yet never was his divine glory
so manifested by any act of his as
in that act of yielding himself up to
these sufferings.
When the fruit of it came to appear,
and the mystery and ends of it to
be unfolded in the issue of it, then
did the glory of it appear.
Then did it appear as the most glorious
act of Christ that ever he exercised toward
the creature.
This act of his is celebrated by the
angels and hosts of heaven with peculiar praises
as that which is above all others glorious,
as you may see in the context.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book, and to
open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, and hast made us to
our God kings and priests, and we shall
reign on earth.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and
the beasts and the elders, and the number
of them was ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands, saying with a power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor
and glory and blessing.
2.
He never in any act gave so great
a manifestation of love to God, and yet
never so manifested his love to those that
were enemies to God as in that act.
Christ never did anything whereby his love to
the Father was so eminently manifested as in
his laying down his life under such inexpressible
sufferings, in obedience to his command, and for
the vindication of the honor of his authority
and majesty, nor did ever any mere creature
give such a testimony of love to God
as that was.
And yet this was the greatest expression of
all, of his love to sinful men that
were enemies to God.
Romans 5.10. While we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son.
The greatness of Christ's love to such appears
in nothing so much as in its being
dying love.
That blood of Christ that was sweat out
and fell in great drops to the ground
in his agony was shed from love to
God's enemies and his own.
That shame and spitting, that torment of body,
and that exceeding sorrow even unto death that
he endured in his soul was what he
underwent from love to rebels against God to
save them from hell and to purchase for
them eternal glory.
Never did Christ so eminently show his regard
to God's honor as in offering up himself
a victim to revenging justice to vindicate God's
honor, and yet in this above all he
manifested his love to them that dishonored God
so as to bring such guilt on themselves
that nothing less than his blood could atone
for it.
Three, Christ never so eminently appeared for divine
justice and yet never suffered so much from
divine justice as when he offered up himself
a sacrifice for our sins.
In Christ's great sufferings did his infinite regard
to the honor of God's justice distinguishingly appear,
for it was from regard to that that
he thus humbled himself, and yet in these
sufferings Christ was the mark of the vindictive
expressions of that very justice of God.
Revenging justice then spent all its force upon
him on the account of our guilt that
was laid upon him.
He was not spared at all, but God
spent the arrows of his vengeance upon him,
which made him sweat blood and cry out
upon the cross, and probably rent his vitals,
broke his heart, the fountain of blood, or
some other internal blood vessels, and by the
violent fermentation turned his blood to water.
For the blood and water that issued out
of his side when pierced by the spear
seems to have been extravastated blood, and so
there might be a kind of literal fulfillment
of that in Psalm 22.14, I am
poured out like water, and all my bones
are out of joint, my heart is like
wax, it is melted in the midst of
my bowels.
And this was the way and means by
which Christ stood up for the honor of
God's justice, that is, by thus suffering its
terrible executions.
For when he had undertaken for sinners, and
had substituted himself in their room, divine justice
could have its due honor no other way
than by his suffering its revenges.
In this the diverse excellencies that met in
the person of Christ appeared, that is, his
infinite regard to God's justice, and such love
to those that have exposed themselves to it,
as induced him thus to yield himself a
sacrifice to it.
For Christ's holiness never so illustriously shone forth
as it did in his last sufferings, and
yet he never was to such a degree
treated as guilty.
Christ's holiness never had such a trial as
it had then, and therefore never had so
great a manifestation.
When it was tried in this furnace, it
came forth as gold, or as silver purified
seven times.
His holiness then, above all, appeared in his
steadfast pursuit of the honor of God, and
in his obedience to Him.
For his yielding himself unto death was transcendently
the greatest act of obedience that ever was
paid to God, by anyone since the foundation
of the world, and yet then Christ was
in the greatest degree treated as a wicked
person.
He was apprehended and bound as a malefactor,
his accusers represented him as a most wicked
wretch.
In his sufferings before his crucifixion he was
treated as if he had been the worst
and vilest of mankind, and then he was
put to a kind of death that none
but the worst sort of malefactors were wont
to suffer, those that were most abject in
their persons and guilty of the blackest crimes.
And he suffered as though guilty from God
himself, by reason of our guilt imputed to
him, for he was made sin for us
who knew no sin, he was made subject
to wrath as if he had been sinful
himself, he was made a curse for us.
Christ never so greatly manifested his hatred of
sin as against God, as in his dying
to take away the dishonor that sin had
done to God, and yet never was he
to such a degree subject to the terrible
effects of God's hatred of sin and wrath
against it as he was then.
In this appears those diverse excellencies meeting in
Christ, that is, love to God and grace
to sinners.
He never was so dealt with as unworthy
as in his last sufferings, and yet it
is chiefly on account of them that he
is accounted worthy.
He was therein dealt with as if he
had not been worthy to live.
They cry out, Away with him, away with
him, crucify him!
John 19.15. And they prefer Barabbas before
him.
And he suffered from the Father as one
whose demerits were infinite by reason of our
demerits that were laid upon him.
And yet it was especially by that act
of his subjecting himself to those sufferings that
he merited, and on the account of which
chiefly he was accounted worthy, the glory of
his exaltation.
Philippians 2.8.9. He humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, wherefore God hath highly
exalted him.
And we see that it is on this
account chiefly that he is extolled as worthy
by saints and angels in the context.
Worthy, say they, is the Lamb that was
slain.
This shows an admirable conjunction in him of
infinite dignity and infinite condescension and love to
the infinitely unworthy.
6.
Christ in his last sufferings suffered most extremely
from those that he was than in his
greatest act of love too.
He never suffered so much from his Father,
though not from any hatred to him, but
from hatred to our sins.
For he then forsook him, as Christ on
the cross expresses it, or took away the
comforts of his presence, and then it pleased
the Lord to bruise him and put him
to grief, as Isaiah 53.10. And yet
never gave so great a manifestation of love
to God as then, as has been already
observed.
So Christ never suffered so much from the
hands of men as he did then, and
yet never was in so high an exercise
of love to men.
He never was so ill-treated by his
disciples, who were so unconcerned about his sufferings
that they would not watch with him one
hour in his agony.
And when he was apprehended, all forsook him
and fled, except Peter, who denied him with
oaths and curses.
And yet, when he was suffering, shedding his
blood and pouring out his soul unto death
for them.
Yea, he probably was then shedding his blood
for some of them that shed his blood.
He was dying for some that killed him,
whom he prayed for, while they were crucifying
him, and were probably afterwards brought home to
Christ by Peter's preaching.
Compare Luke 23.34, Acts 2.23, 36,
37, 41, 3.17, 4.4. This shows
an admirable meeting of justice and grace in
the redemption of Christ.
7.
It was in Christ's last sufferings, above all,
that he was delivered up to the power
of his enemies.
And yet by these, above all, he obtained
victory over his enemies.
Christ never was so in his enemies' hands
as in the time of his last sufferings.
They sought his life before, but from time
to time they were restrained, and Christ escaped
out of their hands, and this reason is
given for it that his time was not
yet come.
But now they were suffered to work their
will upon him.
He was in great degree delivered up to
the malice and cruelty of both wicked men
and devils, and therefore when Christ's enemies came
to apprehend him, he says to them, Luke
22.53, When I was daily with you
in the temple, ye stretched forth no hand
against me.
But this is your hour and the power
of darkness.
Yet it was principally by means of those
sufferings that he conquered and overthrew his enemies.
Christ never so effectually bruised Satan's head as
when he bruised his heel.
The weapon with which Christ warred against the
devil and obtained a most complete victory and
glorious triumph over him was the cross, the
instrument and weapon with which he thought he
had overthrown Christ and brought on him shameful
destruction.
Colossians 2.14 and 15, blotting out the
handwriting of ordinances, nailing it to his cross,
and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made
a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it.
In his last sufferings, Christ sapped the very
foundations of Satan's kingdom.
He conquered his enemies in their own territories
and beat them with their own weapons, as
David cut off Goliath's head with his own
sword.
The devil had, as it were, swallowed up
Christ, as the whale did Jonah, but it
was deadly poison to him.
He gave him a mortal wound in his
own bowels.
He was soon sick of his morsel and
forced to vomit him up again, and is
to this day heartsick of what he then
swallowed as his prey.
In those sufferings of Christ was laid the
foundation of all that glorious victory that he
has already obtained over Satan, in the overthrow
of his heathenish kingdom, in the Roman Empire,
and all the success the gospel has had
since, and also of all his future and
still more glorious victory that is to be
obtained in all the earth.
Thus Samson's riddle is most eminently fulfilled, Judges
14.14, out of the eater came forth
meat, and out of the strong came forth
sweetness.
And thus the true Samson does more towards
the destruction of his enemies at his death
than in his life.
In yielding up himself to death, he pulls
down the temple of Dagon and destroys many
thousands of his enemies, even while they are
making themselves sport in his sufferings.
And so he whose type was the ark
pulls down Dagon and breaks off his head
and hands in his own temple, even while
he is brought in there as Dagon's captive.
Thus Christ appeared at the same time and
in the same act as both a lion
and a lamb.
He appeared as a lamb in the hands
of his cruel enemies, as a lamb in
the paws and between the devouring jaws of
a roaring lion.
Yea, he was a lamb actually slain by
this lion, and yet at the same time
as the lion of the tribe of Judah,
he conquers and triumphs over Satan, destroying his
own devourer, as Samson did the lion that
roared upon him when he rent him as
he would a kid.
And in nothing has Christ appeared so much
as a lion in glorious strength, destroying his
enemies as when he was brought as a
lamb to the slaughter in his greatest weakness,
he was most strong, and when he suffered
most from his enemies, he brought the greatest
confusion on his enemies.
Thus this admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies was
manifest in Christ in his offering up himself
to God in his last sufferings.
Fourth, it is still manifest in his acts,
in his present state of exaltation in heaven.
Indeed, in his exalted state he most eminently
appears in a manifestation of those excellencies, on
the account of which he is compared to
a lion, but still appears as a lamb.
Revelation 14.1 And I looked, and lo,
a lion stood on Mount Zion.
As in his state of humiliation he chiefly
appeared as a lamb, and yet did not
appear without manifestation of his divine majesty and
power, as the lion of the tribe of
Judah.
Though Christ be now at the right hand
of God, exalted as King of heaven and
Lord of the universe, yet as he still
is in the human nature, he still excels
in humility.
Though the man Christ Jesus be the highest
of all creatures in heaven, yet he as
much excels them all in humility as he
doth in glory and dignity, for none sees
so much of the distance between God and
him as he does.
And though he now appears in such glorious
majesty and dominion in heaven, yet he appears
as a lamb in his condescending, mild, and
sweet treatment of his saints there.
For he is a lamb still, even amidst
the throne of his exaltation, and he that
is the shepherd of the whole flock is
himself a lamb, and goes before them in
heaven as such.
Revelation 7.17 For the lamb, which is
in the midst of the throne, shall feed
them, and shall lead them into living fountains
of waters, and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.
Though in heaven every knee bows to him,
and though the angels fall down before him,
adoring him, yet he treats his saints with
infinite condescension, mildness, and endearment.
And in his acts towards the saints on
the earth, he still appears as a lamb,
manifesting exceeding love and tenderness in his intercession
for them, as one that has had experience
of affliction and temptation.
He has not forgot what these things are,
nor has he forgot how to pity those
that are subject to them.
And he still manifests his lamb-like excellencies
in his dealings with his saints on earth,
in admirable forbearance, love, gentleness, and compassion, instructing,
supplying, supporting, and comforting them, often coming to
them and manifesting himself to them by his
Spirit, that he may sup with them, and
they with him, admitting them to sweet communion
with him, enabling them with boldness and confidence
to come to him, and soulless their hearts
in him.
And in heaven Christ still appears, as it
were with the marks of his wounds upon
him, and so appears as a lamb as
it had been slain, as he was represented
in vision to St. John in the text,
when he appeared to open the book sealed
with seven seals, which is part of the
glory of his exaltation.
Fifth and lastly, this admirable conjunction of excellencies
will be manifest in Christ's acts at the
last judgment.
He then, above all other times, will appear
as the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
in infinite greatness and majesty, when he shall
come in the glory of his Father, with
all the holy angels, and the earth shall
tremble before him, and the hills shall melt.
This is he spoken of, Revelation chapter 20,
verse 11, that shall sit on a great
white throne, before whose face the earth and
heaven shall flee away.
He will then appear in the most dreadful
and amazing manner to the wicked.
The devils tremble at the thoughts of that
appearance, and when it shall be, the kings
and the great men and the rich men
and the chief captains and the mighty men
and every bondman and every freeman shall hide
themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains, and shall cry to the
mountains and rocks to fall on them, to
hide them from the face and wrath of
the Lamb.
And none can declare or conceive of the
amazing manifestations of wrath in which he will
then appear towards these, or the trembling and
astonishment, the shrieking and gnashing of teeth, with
which they shall stand before his judgment seat
and receive the terrible sentence of his wrath.
And yet he will at the same time
appear as a lamb to his saints.
He will receive them as friends and brethren,
treating them with infinite mildness and love.
There shall be nothing in him terrible to
them, but towards them he will clothe himself
wholly with sweetness and endearment.
The church shall then be admitted to him
as his bride.
That shall be her wedding day.
The saints shall all be sweetly invited to
come with him, to inherit the kingdom, and
reign in it with him to all eternity.
Application 1.
From this doctrine we may learn one reason
why Christ is called by such a variety
of names, and held forth under such a
variety of representations in Scripture.
Tis the better to signify and exhibit to
us that variety of excellencies that meet together
and are conjoined in him.
Many appellations are mentioned together in one verse,
Isaiah 9, 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 Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace.
It shows a wonderful conjunction of excellencies, that
the same person should be a son born
and given, and yet be the Everlasting Father,
without beginning or end, that he should be
a child, and yet be he whose name
is Counselor, and the Mighty God, and well
may his name, in whom such things are
conjoined, be called Wonderful.
By reason of the same wonderful conjunction, Christ
is represented by a great variety of sensible
things, that are on some account excellent.
Thus in some places he is called a
son, as Malachi 4.2, in others a
star, Numbers 24.17, and he is especially
represented by the morning star, as being that
which excels all other stars in brightness, and
is the forerunner of the day, Revelation 22
.16. And, as in our text, he is
compared to a lion, in one verse, and
a lamb in the next.
So sometimes he is compared to a roe,
or a young heart, another creature most diverse
from a lion.
So in some places he is called a
rock, in others he is compared to a
pearl, in some places he is called a
man of war, and the captain of our
salvation, in other places he is represented as
a bridegroom.
In the second chapter of Catechles, the first
verse, he is compared to a rose and
a lily, that are sweet and beautiful flowers.
In the next verse but one, he is
compared to a tree bearing sweet fruit.
In Isaiah 53.2, he is called a
root out of a dry ground, but elsewhere,
instead of that, he is called the tree
of life, that grows, not in a dry
or barren ground, but in the midst of
the paradise of God, Revelation 2.7. 2.
Let the consideration of this wonderful meeting of
diverse excellencies in Christ induce you to accept
of Him and close with Him as your
Savior.
As all manner of excellencies meet in Him,
so there are concurring in Him all manner
of arguments and motives to move you to
choose Him for your Savior, and everything that
tends to encourage poor sinners to come and
put their trust in Him, His fullness and
all sufficiency as a Savior, gloriously appears in
that variety of excellencies that has been spoken
of.
Fallen man is in a state of exceeding
great misery, and is helpless in it.
He is a poor weak creature, like an
infant cast out in its blood, in the
day that it is born.
But Christ is the Lion of the tribe
of Judah.
He is strong, though we are weak.
He hath prevailed to do that for us,
which no creature else could do.
Fallen man is a mean, despicable creature, a
contemptible worm, but Christ, who has undertaken for
us, is infinitely honorable and worthy.
Fallen man is polluted, but Christ is infinitely
holy.
Fallen man is hateful, but Christ is infinitely
lovely.
Fallen man is the object of God's indignation,
but Christ is infinitely dear to Him.
We have dreadfully provoked God, but Christ has
performed that righteousness that is infinitely precious in
God's eyes.
There is not only infinite strength and infinite
worthiness, but infinite condescension and love and mercy,
as great as power and dignity.
If you are a poor, distressed sinner, whose
heart is ready to sink for fear that
God will never have mercy upon you, you
need not be afraid to go to Christ
for fear that He is either unable or
unwilling to help you.
Here is a strong foundation and an inexhaustible
treasure to answer the necessities of your poor
soul, and here is infinite grace and gentleness
to invite and embolden a poor, unworthy, fearful
soul to come to it.
If Christ accepts of you, you need not
fear but that you will be safe, for
He is a strong lion for your defense.
And if you come, you need not fear
but that you shall be accepted, for He
is like a lamb to all that come
to Him, and receives them with infinite grace
and tenderness.
Tis true, He has awful majesty, but is
the great God and is infinitely high above
you.
But there is this to encourage and embolden
the poor sinner that Christ is man as
well as God, He is a creature as
well as the Creator, and is the most
humble and lowly in heart of any creature
in heaven or earth.
This may well make the poor, unworthy creature
bold in coming to Him.
You need not hesitate one moment, but may
run to Him and cast yourself upon Him.
You will certainly be graciously and meekly received
by Him.
Though He be a lion, He will only
be a lion to your enemies, but He
will be a lamb to you.
It could not have been conceived had it
not been so in the person of Christ
that there could have been so much in
any Savior that is inviting and tender to
encourage sinners to trust in Him.
Whatever your circumstances are, you need not be
afraid to come to such a Savior as
this.
Be you never so wicked a creature.
Here is worthiness enough.
Be you never so poor and mean and
ignorant a creature.
There is no danger of being despised, for
though He be so much greater than you,
He is also immensely more humble than you.
Any one of you that is a father
or mother won't despise one of your own
children that comes to you in distress.
Much less danger is there of Christ's despising
you if you in your heart come to
Him.
Here let me little expostulate with the poor,
burdened, distressed soul.
First, what are you afraid of, that you
dare not venture your soul upon Christ?
Are you afraid that He can't save you,
that He is not strong enough to conquer
the enemies of your soul?
But how can you desire one stronger than
the mighty God, as Christ is called in
Isaiah 9.6?
Is there need of greater than infinite strength?
Are you afraid that He won't be willing
to stoop so low as to take any
gracious notice of you?
But then look on Him as He stood
in the ring of soldiers, exposing His blessed
face to be buffeted and spit upon by
them.
Behold Him bound with His back uncovered to
those that smote Him, and behold Him hanging
on the cross.
Do you think that He that had condescension
enough to stoop to these things, and that
for His crucifiers, will be unwilling to accept
of you if you come to Him?
Or are you afraid that if He does
accept you, that God the Father won't accept
of Him for you?
But consider, will God reject His own Son,
in whom His infinite delight is, and has
been from all eternity, and that is so
united to Him, that if He should reject
Him, He would reject Himself?
Second, what is there that you can desire
should be in a Savior that is not
in Christ?
Or wherein should you desire a Savior that
should be otherwise than Christ is?
What excellency is there wanting?
What is there that is great or good?
What is there that is venerable or winning?
What is there that is adorable or endearing?
Or what can you think of that would
be encouraging that is not to be found
in the person of Christ?
Would you have your Savior to be great
and honorable because you are not willing to
be beholden to a mean person?
And is not Christ a person honorable enough
to be worthy that you should be dependent
on Him?
Is He not a person high enough to
be worthy to be appointed to so honorable
a work as your salvation?
Would you not only have a Savior that
is of high degree, but would you have
Him, notwithstanding His exaltation and dignity, to be
made also of low degree, that He might
have experience of afflictions and trials, that He
might learn by the things that He has
suffered to pity them that suffer and are
tempted?
And has not Christ been made low enough
for you, and has He not suffered enough?
Would you not only have Him have experience
of the afflictions you now suffer, but also
of that amazing wrath that you fear hereafter,
that He may know how to pity those
that are in danger of it and afraid
of it?
This Christ has had experience of, which experience
gave Him a greater sense of it a
thousand times than you have or any man
living has.
Would you have your Savior to be one
that is near to God, that so His
meditation might be prevalent with Him?
And can you desire Him to be nearer
to God than Christ is, who is His
only begotten Son of the same essence with
the Father?
And would you not only have Him near
to God, but also near to you, that
you may have free access to Him?
And would you have Him nearer to you
than to be in the same nature, not
only so, but united to you by a
spiritual union, so close as to be fitly
represented by the union of the wife to
the husband, of a branch to the vine,
of the member to the head, yea, so
as to be one and called one Spirit?
For so He will be united to you
if you accept of Him.
Would you have a Savior that is given
some great and extraordinary testimony of mercy and
love to sinners by something that He has
done, as well as by what He says?
And can you think or conceive of greater
things than Christ has done?
Was it not a great thing for Him,
who was God, to take upon Him human
nature, to be not only God, but man,
thenceforward to all eternity?
But would you look upon suffering for sinners
to be a yet greater testimony of love
to sinners than merely doing, though it be
never so extraordinary a thing that He has
done?
And would you desire that a Savior should
suffer more than Christ has suffered for sinners?
What is their wanting, or what would you
add, if you could, to make Him more
fit to be your Savior?
But further, to induce you to accept of
Christ as your Savior, consider two things particularly.
One, how much Christ appears as the Lamb
of God in His invitations to you to
come to Him and trust in Him?
With what sweet peace and kindness does He
from time to time call and invite you?
As Proverbs 8, 4, Unto you, O men,
I call, and my voice is to the
sons of men.
And Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 1 through 3,
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to
the waters, and he that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat.
Yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money
and without price.
How gracious is He here in inviting every
one that thirsts, and in so repeating His
invitation over and over, Come ye to the
waters, come, buy and eat.
Yea, come, and in declaring the excellency of
that entertainment which He invites you to accept
of, Come, buy wine and milk, and in
assuring you that your poverty, and having nothing
to pay for it, shall be no objection.
Come, ye that hath no money, come without
money and without price.
And in the gracious arguments and expostulations that
He uses with you, as it follows, Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is
not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not?
Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that
which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness.
As much as to say, Tis altogether needless
for you to continue laboring and toiling for
that which can never serve your turn, seeking
rest in the world and in your own
righteousness.
I have made abundant provision for you, of
that which is really good, and will fully
satisfy your desires, and answer your end, and
stand ready to accept of you.
You need not be afraid.
If you will come to Me, I will
engage to see all your wants supplied, and
you made an happy creature.
As He promises in the third verse incline
your ear, and come unto Me, and your
soul shall live, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies
of David.
And so, Proverbs 9, at the beginning, how
gracious and sweet is the invitation there!
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither.
Let you be never so poor, ignorant, and
blind a creature.
You shall be welcome.
And in the following words Christ sets forth
the provision that He has made for you.
Come, eat of My bread, and drink of
the wine which I have mingled.
You are in a poor, famishing state, and
have nothing wherewith to feed your perishing soul.
You have been seeking something, but yet remain
destitute.
Hearken, how Christ calls you to eat of
His bread, and to drink of the wine
that He hath mingled.
And how much like a lamb does Christ
appear in Matthew 11.28-30.
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of
Me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart, and ye shall find rest to your
souls.
For My yoke is easy, and My burden
is light.
O thou poor, distressed soul, whoever thou art,
that art afraid that you never shall be
saved, consider that this that Christ mentions is
your very case when He calls to them
that labour and are heavy laden.
And how He repeatedly promises you rest, if
you come to Him.
In the twenty-eighth verse He says, I
will give you rest.
And in the twenty-ninth verse, you shall
find rest to your souls.
This is what you want.
This is the thing you have been so
long in vain seeking after.
O how sweet would rest be to you,
if you could but obtain it.
Come to Christ, and you shall obtain it.
And hear how Christ, to encourage you, represents
Himself as a Lamb.
He tells you that He is meek and
lowly in heart.
And are you afraid to come to such
an one?
And again, Revelation 3.20, Behold, I stand
at the door, and knock.
If any man hear My voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him,
and I will sup with him, and he
with Me.
Christ condescends not only to call you to
Him, but He comes to you, He comes
to your door, and there knocks.
He might send an officer and seize you
as a rebel and a vile malefactor, but
instead of that, He comes and knocks at
your door, and seeks that you would receive
Him into your house as your friend and
Saviour.
And He not only knocks at your door,
but He stands there waiting while you are
backward and unwilling.
And not only so, but He makes promises
what He will do for you.
If you will admit Him, what privileges He
will admit to you, He will sup with
you, and you with Him.
And again, Revelation 22.16,17, I am
the root, and the offspring of David, the
bright and morning star.
And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come,
and let him that heareth say, Come, and
let him that is athirst come, and whosoever
will let him come, take of the water
of life freely.
How does Christ here graciously set before you
His own winning, attractive excellency?
And how does He condescend to declare to
you not only His own invitation, but the
invitation of the Spirit and the Bride, if
by any means He might encourage you to
come?
And how does He invite everyone that will,
that they may take of the waters of
life freely, that they may take it a
free gift, however precious it be, and though
it be the water of life?
2.
If you do come to Christ, He will
appear as a lion in His glorious power
and dominion to defend you.
All those excellencies of His in which He
appears as a lion shall be yours, and
shall be employed for you in your defense,
for your safety, and to promote your glory.
He will be as a lion to fight
against your enemies.
He that touches you or offends you will
provoke His wrath, as He that stirs up
a lion.
Unless your enemies can conquer this lion, they
shall not be able to destroy or hurt
you.
Unless they are stronger than He, they shall
not be able to hinder your happiness.
Isaiah 31.4 For thus hath the Lord
spoken unto me, like as the lion, and
the young lion, roaring on his prey, when
a multitude of shepherds is called forth against
him.
He will not be afraid of their voice,
nor abase himself for the noise of them.
So shall the Lord of hosts come down
to fight for Mount Zion, and for the
hill thereof.
3.
Let what has been said be improved to
induce you to love the Lord Jesus Christ,
and choose Him for your friend and portion.
As there is such an admirable meeting of
diverse excellencies in Christ, so there is everything
in Him to render Him worthy of your
love and choice, and to win and engage
it.
Whatsoever there is, or can be, that is
desirable to be in a friend is in
Christ, and that to the highest degree that
can be desired.
Would you choose a friend that is a
person of great dignity?
It is a thing taking with men to
have those for their friends that are much
above them, because they look upon themselves honored
by the friendship as such.
Thus how taking would it be with an
inferior maid to be the object of the
dear love of some great and excellent prince?
But Christ is infinitely above you and above
all the princes of the earth, for He
is the King of kings.
So honorable a person as this offers Himself
to you in the nearest and dearest friendship.
And would you choose to have a friend
not only great but good?
In Christ infinite greatness and infinite goodness meet
together and receive luster and glory one from
another.
His greatness is rendered lovely by His goodness.
The greater any one is without goodness, so
much the greater evil.
But when infinite goodness is joined with greatness,
it renders it a glorious and adorable greatness.
So on the other hand, His infinite goodness
receives luster from His greatness.
He that is of great understanding and ability,
and is with all of a good and
excellent disposition, is deservedly more esteemed than a
lower and lesser being, with the same kind
inclination and good will.
Indeed, goodness is excellent in whatever subject it
be found.
It is beauty and excellency itself, and renders
all excellent that are possessed of it, and
yet more excellent when joined with greatness, as
the very same excellent qualities of gold do
render the body in which they are inherent
more precious and of greater value when joined
with greater than when with lesser dimensions.
And how glorious is the sight to see
Him who is the great Creator and Supreme
Lord of heaven and earth, full of condescension
and tender pity and mercy towards the mean
and unworthy!
His almighty power and infinite majesty and self
-sufficiency render His exceeding love and grace the
more surprising!
And how do His condescension and compassions endear
His majesty, power and dominion, and render those
attributes pleasant that would otherwise be only terrible!
Would you not desire that your friend, though
great and honorable, should be of such condescension
and grace, and so to have the way
opened to free access to Him that His
exaltation above you might not hinder your free
enjoyment of His friendship?
And would you choose not only that the
infinite greatness and majesty of your friend should
be, as it were, mollified and sweetened with
condescension and grace, but would you also desire
to have your friend in your own nature,
that he might be brought nearer to you?
Would you choose a friend far above you,
and yet, as it were, upon a level
with you, too?
Though it be taking with men to have
a near and dear friend of superior dignity,
yet there is also an inclination in them
to have their friend a sharer with them
in circumstances.
Thus is Christ, though He be the great
God, yet He has, as it were, brought
Himself down to be upon a level with
you, so as to become man as you
are, that He might not only be your
Lord, but your brother, and that He might
be the more fit to be a companion
for such a worm of the dust.
This is one end of Christ's taking upon
Him man's nature, that His people might be
under advantages for a more familiar converse with
Him than the infinite distance of divine nature
would allow of.
And upon this account the church longed for
Christ's incarnation.
Canticles 8 verse 1 O thou that wert
my brother, that sucked the breasts of my
mother, when I should find thee without, I
would kiss thee, yea, I should not be
despised.
One design of God in the gospel is
to bring us to make God the object
of our undivided respect, that He may engross
our regard every way, that whatever natural inclination
there is in our souls, He may be
the center of it, that God may be
all in all.
But there is an inclination in the creature
not only to the adoration of a Lord
and Sovereign, but to complacence in someone as
a friend, to love and delight in someone
that may be conversed with as a companion.
And virtue and holiness don't destroy or weaken
this inclination of our nature.
But so hath God contrived in the affair
of our redemption, that a divine person may
be the object even of this inclination of
our nature.
And in order hereto such an one is
come down to us, and has taken our
nature, and is become one of us, and
calls himself our friend, brother, and companion.
Psalm 122 verse 8 For my brethren and
companions sake I will now say, Peace be
within thee.
But is it not enough, in order to
invite and encourage you to free access to
a friend so great and high, that he
is one of infinite condescending grace, and also
has taken your own nature, and is become
man?
But would you further to embolden and win
you, have him a man of wonderful meekness
and humility?
Why such an one is Christ!
He is not only become man for you,
but far the meekest and most humble of
all men, the greatest instance of these sweet
virtues that ever was or will be.
Besides these, he has all other human excellencies
in the highest perfection.
These indeed are no proper addition to his
divine excellencies.
Christ has no more excellency in his person
since his incarnation than he had before, for
divine excellency is infinite and can't be added
to, yet his human excellencies are additional manifestations
of his glory and excellency to us, and
are additional recommendations of him to our esteem
and love, who are of finite comprehension.
Though his human excellencies are but communications and
reflections of his divine, and though this light,
as reflected, falls infinitely short of the divine
fountain of light in its immediate glory, yet
the reflection shines, not without its proper advantages,
as presented to our view and affection.
As the glory of Christ appears in the
qualifications of his human nature, it appears to
us in excellencies that are of our own
kind, and are exercised in our own way
and manner, and so, in some respects, are
peculiarly fitted to invite our acquaintance and draw
our affection.
The glory of Christ as it appears in
his divinity, though it be far brighter, yet
doth it also more dazzles our eyes and
exceeds the strength or comprehension of our sight.
But, as it shines in the human excellencies
of Christ, it is brought more to a
level with our conceptions and suitableness to our
nature and manner, yet retaining a semblance of
the same divine beauty and a savour of
the same divine sweetness.
But, as both divine and human excellencies meet
together in Christ, they set off and recommend
each other to us.
It is what tends to endear the divine
and infinite majesty and holiness of Christ to
us, that these are attributes of a person
that is in our nature, that is one
of us, that has become our brother, and
is the meekest and humblest of men.
It encourages us to look upon these divine
perfections, however high and great, yet as what
we have some near concern in, and more
of a right to, and liberty freely to
enjoy.
And, on the other hand, how much more
glorious and surprising do the meekness, the humility,
obedience, and resignation, and other human excellencies of
Christ appear when we consider that they are
in so great a person as the eternal
Son of God, the Lord of heaven and
earth.
By your choosing Christ for your friend and
portion, you will obtain these two infinite benefits.
First, Christ will give Himself to you, with
all those various excellencies that meet in Him,
to your full and everlasting enjoyment.
He will ever after treat you as His
dear friend, and you shall ere long be
where He is, and shall behold His glory,
and shall dwell with Him in most free
and intimate communion and enjoyment.
When the saints get to heaven, they shall
not merely see Christ, and have to do
with Him as subjects and servants with a
glorious and gracious Lord and Sovereign, but Christ
will entertain them as friends and brethren.
This we may learn from the manner of
Christ's conversing with His disciples here on earth.
Though He was their Sovereign Lord and did
not refuse but require their supreme respect and
adoration, yet He did not treat them as
earthly sovereigns or want to do their subjects.
He did not keep them at an awful
distance, but all along conversed with them with
the most friendly familiarity as a father amongst
a company of children, yea, as with brethren.
So He did with the twelve, and so
He did with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
He told His disciples that He did not
call them servants, but friends, and we read
of one of them that leaned on His
bosom.
And doubtless He will not treat His disciples
with less freedom and endearment in heaven.
He won't keep them at a greater distance
for His being in a state of exaltation,
but He will rather take them into a
state of exaltation with Him.
This will be the improvement Christ will make
of His own glory, to make His beloved
friends partakers with Him, to glorify them in
His own glory, as He says to His
Father, John 17, verses 22 and 23.
And the glory which thou hast given Me
have I given them, that they may be
one, even as We are one, I in
them, etc.
We are to consider that though Christ is
greatly exalted, yet He is exalted not as
a private person for Himself only, but as
His people's head, He is exalted in their
name, and upon their account, as the firstfruits,
and as representing the whole harvest.
He is not exalted that He may be
at a greater distance from them, but that
they may be exalted with Him.
The exaltation and honor of the head is
not to make a greater distance between the
head and the members, but the members have
the same relation and union with the head
they had before, and are honored with the
head, and instead of the distance being greater,
the union shall be nearer and more perfect.
When believers get to heaven, Christ will conform
them to Himself, as He is set down
in His Father's throne, so they shall sit
down with Him on His throne, and shall
in their measure be made like Him.
When Christ was going to heaven, He comforted
His disciples with that, that after a while
He would come again and take them to
Himself, that they might be with Him again.
And we are not to suppose that when
the disciples got to heaven they found Him
keeping a greater distance than He used to
do.
No, doubtless, He embraced them as friends, and
welcomed them to His and their Father's house,
and to His and their glory.
They that had been His friends in this
world, who had been together with Him here,
and had together partook of sorrows and troubles,
are now welcomed by Him to rest, and
to partake of glory with Him.
He took them and led them into His
chambers, and showed them all His glory, as
He prayed, John 17.24, Father, I will,
that they also whom Thou hast given Me,
be with Me, that they may behold the
glory which Thou hast given Me.
And He led them to His living fountains
of waters, and made them partake of His
delights, as He prays, John 17.13, that
My joy may be fulfilled in themselves.
And set them down with Him at His
table in His kingdom, and made them partake
with Him of His dainties, according to His
promise, Luke 22.30, and led them into
His banqueting house, and made them to drink
new wine with Him in the kingdom of
His heavenly Father, as He foretold them when
He instituted the Lord's Supper, Matthew 26.29.
Yea, the saints' conversation with Christ in heaven
shall not only be as intimate and their
access to Him as free as of the
disciples on earth, but in many respects much
more so.
For in heaven that vital union shall be
perfect, which is exceeding imperfect here.
While the saints are in this world, there
are great remains of sin and darkness to
separate or disunite them from Christ, which shall
then all be removed.
This is not a time for that full
acquaintance and those glorious manifestations of love which
Christ designs for His people hereafter, which seems
to be signified by Christ's speech to Mary
Magdalene.
When ready to embrace Him when she met
Him after His resurrection, John 20.17, Jesus
saith unto her, Touch me not, for I
am not yet ascended to my Father.
When the saints shall see Christ's glory and
exultation in heaven, it will indeed possess their
hearts with the greater admiration and adoring respect,
but will not all them into any separation,
but will serve only to heighten their surprise
and joy when they find Christ condescending to
admit them to such intimate access, and so
freely and fully communicating Himself to them.
So that if we choose Christ for our
friend and portion, we shall hereafter be so
received to Him that there shall be nothing
to hinder the fullest enjoyment of Him, to
the satisfying the utmost cravings of our souls.
We may take our full swing at gratifying
our spiritual appetite after these holy pleasures.
Christ will then say, as in Canticles 5
.1, Eat, O friends, drink ye, drink abundantly,
O beloved.
And this shall be our entertainment to all
eternity.
There shall never be any end of this
happiness, or anything to interrupt our enjoyment of
it, or in the least to molest us
in it.
Second, by your being united to Christ, you
will have a more glorious union with and
enjoyment of God the Father than otherwise could
be.
For hereby the saints' relation to God becomes
much nearer.
They are the children of God in an
higher manner than otherwise could be, for being
members of God's own natural Son, they are,
in a sort, partakers of His relation to
the Father.
They are not only sons of God by
regeneration, but by a kind of communion in
the sonship of the eternal Son.
This seems to be intended, Galatians 4.4
-6, God sent forth His Son, made of
a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that are receive the adoption of sons.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
The church is the daughter of God, not
only as He hath begotten her by His
word and Spirit, but as she is the
spouse of His eternal Son.
So we, being members of the Son, are
partakers in our measure of the Father's love
to the Son and complacence in Him.
John 17.23 I in them, and thou
in me.
Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me.
26 That the love wherewith thou hast loved
me may be in them.
16.27 The Father himself loveth you, because
ye loved me, and have believed that I
came out from God.
So we shall, according to our capacities, be
partakers of the Son's enjoyment of God and
have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.
John 17.13 And by this means we
shall come to an immensely higher, more intimate
and full enjoyment of God than otherwise could
have been.
For there is doubtless an infinite intimacy between
the Father and the Son, which is expressed
by His being in the bosom of the
Father.
And saints being in Him shall, in their
measure and manner, partake with Him in it,
and of the blessedness of it.
And thus is the affair of our redemption
ordered, that thereby we are brought to an
immensely more exalted kind of union with God
and enjoyment of Him, both the Father and
the Son, than otherwise could have been.
For Christ being united to the human nature,
we have advantage for a more free and
full enjoyment of Him than we could have
had if He had remained only in the
divine nature.
So again, we, being united to a divine
person as His members, can have a more
intimate union and intercourse with God the Father,
who is only in the divine nature than
otherwise could be.
Christ, who is a divine person, by taking
on Him our nature, descends from the infinite
distance and height above us, and is brought
nigh to us, whereby we have advantage for
the full enjoyment of Him.
And, on the other hand, we, by being
in Christ, a divine person, do, as it
were, ascend up to God through the infinite
distance, and have hereby advantage for the full
enjoyment of Him also.
This was the design of Christ, to bring
it to pass, that He and His Father
and His people might all be united in
one.
John 17, verses 21-23.
That they all may be one, as Thou,
Father, art in me, and I in Thee.
That they also may be one in us.
That the world may believe that Thou hast
sent me, and the glory which Thou hast
given me I have given them.
That they may be one, even as we
are one, I in them and Thou in
me.
That they may be made perfect in one.
Christ has brought it to pass that those
that the Father has given Him should be
brought into the household of God, that He
and His Father and His people should be,
as it were, one society, one family, that
the church should be, as it were, admitted
into the society of the blessed Trinity.
Amen.