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AN EXPOSITION OF

ART. the refolution of those various expreffions that occur in the Scriptures concerning Chrift.

II.

it

The defign of the definition that was made by the Church concerning Chrift's having one perfon, was chiefly to diftinguish the nature of the indwelling of the Godhead in him, from all prophetical infpirations. The Mofaical degree of prophecy was in many refpects fuperior to that of all the fubfequent prophets: yet the difference is ftated between Chrift and Mofes, in terms that import things quite of another nature; the one being mentioned as a fervant, the other as the Son that built the house. It is not faid that God appeared to Chrift, or that he spoke to him; but God was ever with him, and in him; and Joh. i. 14. while the Word was made flesh, yet ftill bis glory was as the glory of the only begotten Son of God. The glory that Ifaiah faw, was called his glory; and on the other hand, God is faid to have purchased his Church with his own blood. If Neftorius, in oppofing this, meant only, as fome think appears by many citations out of him, that the blessed Virgin was not to be called fimply the Mother of God, but the Mother of him that was God; and if that of making two perfons in Chrift was only faftened on him as a confequence, we are not at all concerned in the matter of fact, whether Neftorius was misunderstood and hardly used, or not; but the doctrine here afferted is plain in the Scriptures, that though the human nature in Christ acted ftill according to its proper character, and had a peculiar will; yet there was fuch a conftant prefence, indwelling, and actuation on it from the eternal Word, as did conftitute both human and divine nature one Perfon. As thefe are thus fo entirely united, fo they are never to be feparated. Chrift is now exalted to the highest degrees of glory and honour; and the characters of Bleffing, Honour, and Glory, are reRev. v. 13. prefented in St. John's vifions, as offered to the Lamb for ever and ever. It is true, St. Paul speaks as if Christ's mediatory office and kingdom were to ceafe after the Day of Judgment, and that then he was to deliver up all to the Father. But though, when the full number of the elect fhall be gathered, the full end of his death will be attained; and when thefe faints fhall be glorified with him and by him, his office as Mediator will naturally come to an end; yet his own perfonal glory fhall never ceafe: and if every faint fhall inherit an everlafting kingdom, much more thall he who has merited all that to them, and has conferred it on them, be for ever poffeffed of his glory. The fourth branch of the Article is concerning the truth of Chrift's crucifixion, his death and burial. The matter

of

of fact concerning the death of Christ is denied by no
Chriftian; the Jews do all acknowledge it; the firft ene-
mies to Chriftianity did all believe this, and reproached
his followers with it. This was that which all Chriftians
gloried in and avowed; fo that no question was made of
his death, except by a fmall number called Docetæ, who
were not esteemed Chriftians, till Mahomet denied it in
his Alcoran, who pretends that he was withdrawn, and
that a Jew was crucified in his ftead. But this corruption.
of the hiftory of the Gofpel came too late afterwards, to
have any fhadow of credit due to it; nor was there
fort of proof offered to fupport it. So this doctrine con-
cerning the death of Chrift is to be received as an un-
queftionable truth. There is no part of the Gospel writ
with fo copious a particularity, as the hiftory of his fuffer-
ings and death; as there was indeed no part of the Gospel
fo important as this is.

any

ART.

The fifth branch of the Article is, That he was a true facrifice to reconcile the Father to us, and that not only for original, but for actual fins. The notion of an expiatory facrifice, which was then, when the New Testament was writ, well understood all the world over, both by Jew and Gentile, was this, that the fin of one perfon was tranfferred on a man or beaft, who was upon that devoted and offered up to God, and fuffered in the room of the offending perfon; and by this oblation the punishment of the fin being laid on the facrifice, an expiation was made for fin, and the finner was believed to be reconciled to God. This, as appears through the whole book of Leviticus, was the defign and effect of the fin and trefpafs-offerings among the Jews, and more particularly of the goat that was of fered up for the fins of the whole people on the day of atonement. This was a piece of religion well known both to Jew and Gentile, that had a great many phrafes belonging to it, fuch as the facrifices being offered for, or inflead of, fin, and in the name, or on the account, of the finner; its bearing of fin, and becoming fin, or the fin-offering; its being the reconciliation, the atonement, and the redemption of the finner, by which the fin was no more imputed, but forgiven, and for which the finner was accepted. When therefore this whole fet of phrafes, in its utmost extent, is very often, and in a great variety, applied to the death of Chrift, it is not poffible for us to preferve any reverence for the New Teftament, or the writers of it, fo far as to think them even honeft men, not to fay infpired men, if we can imagine, that in fo facred and important a matter they could exceed so much as to reprefent that to be our facrifice

P 3

II.

II.

/John i. 29. 21 Pet. ii. 24.

32 Cor. v.

21.

28.

5 Rom. iii.

25.

9 20, 21,42.

Heb.

17 29.
Heb. xiii.
18 12,20.

20 1 Pet. i. 19.

1 Pet. ii. 24. 2/1 Pet. iii.

18.

ART. facrifice which is not truly fo: this is a point which will not bear figures and amplifications; it must be treated of ftrictly, and with a juft exactness of expreffion. Chrift is called the/Lamb of God that taketh away the fins of the world; he is faid to have borne our fins on his own body to bave been made fin for us; it is faid, that be gave his life a ransom for many; that he was the propitiation for the fins of the whole world; and that we have redemption through bis blood, even the remiffion of our fins. It is faid, that be bath 1 John ii. 2. reconciled us to bis Father in bis cross, and in the body of bis 7 Eph. i. 7. flesh through death: that he by his own blood entered in Col. i. 14, once into the boly place, having obtained eternal redemption Heb.ix. 11, for us: that once in the end of the world bath be appeared to // 12, 13, 14, put away fin, by the facrifice of himself: that he was once /2 26, 28. offered to bear the fins of many that we are fanctified by the 15 12, 14, 19, offering of the body of Christ once for all: and that, after be 10, *16 bad offered one facrifice for fin, be fat down for ever on the right band of God. It is faid, that we enter into the boliest by the blood of Christ, that is the blood of the new covenant, by which we are fanctified: that he bath fanctified the people with bis own blood and was the great fhepherd of bis people, through the blood of the everlafling covenant: that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Chrift, as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot; and, that Crift fuffered once for fins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. In thefe and in a great many more paffages that lie fpread in all the parts of the New Teftament, it is as plain as words can make any thing, that the death of Chrift is propofed to us as our facrifice and reconciliation, our atonement and redemption. So it is not poffible for any man that confiders all this, to imagine, that Chrift's death was only a confirmation of his Golpel, a pattern of a holy and patient fuffering of death, and a neceffary preparation to his refurrection; by which he gave us a clear proof of a refurrection, and by confequence of eternal life, as by his doctrine he had thewed us the way to it. By this all the high commendations of his death amount only to this, that he by dying has given a vaft credit and authority to his Gofpel, which was the powerfulleft mean poffible to redeem us from fin, and to reconcile us to God: but this is fo contrary to the whole defign of the New Teftament, and to the true importance of that great variety of phrafes, in which this matter is fet out, that, at this rate of expounding Scripture, we can never know what we may build upon, especially when the great importance of this thing, and of our having right notions concerning it, is well confidered. St. Paul does, in his Epiftle to the Ro

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mans, ftate an oppofition between the death of Christ, and ART. the fin of Adam; the ill effects of the one being removed by the other but he plainly carries the death of Chrift much further, than that it had only healed the wound Rom. v. 12. that was given by Adam's fin; for as the judgment was one (fin) to condemnation, the free gift is of many offences to juftification. But in the other places of the New Teftament, Chrift's death is fet forth fo fully, as a propitiation for the fins of the whole world, that it is a very falfe way of arguing to infer, that because in one place that is fet in oppofition to Adam's fin, that therefore the virtue of it was to go no farther, than to take away that fin. It has indeed removed that, but it has done a great deal more befides.

Thus it is plain, that Chrift's death was our facrifice: the meaning of which is this, that God, intending to reconcile the world to himself, and to encourage finners to repent and turn to him, thought fit to offer the pardon of fin, together with the other bleffings of his Gofpel, in fuch a way as fhould demonftrate both the guilt of fin, and his hatred of it; and yet with that, his love of finners, and his compaffions towards them. A free pardon without a facrifice had not been fo agreeable neither to the majesty of the great Governor of the world, nor the authority of his laws, nor fo proper a method to oblige men to that ftrictnefs and holiness of life that he defigned to bring them to: and therefore he thought fit to offer his pardon, and thofe other bleffings, through a Mediator, who was to deliver to the world this new and holy rule of life, and to confirm it by his own unblemished life and in conclufion, when the rage of wicked men, who hated him for the holiness both of his life and of his doctrine, did work them up into fuch a fury as to purfue him to a moft violent and ignominious death, he, in compliance with the fecret defign of his Father, did not only go through that dismal feries of fufferings, with the moft entire refignation to his Father's will, and with the highest charity poffible towards those who were his moft unjuft and malicious murderers; but he at the fame time underwent great agonies in his mind; which ftruck him with fuch an amazement and forrow even to the death, that upon it he did fweat great drops of blood, and on the crofs he felt a withdrawing of thofe comforts, that till then had ever fupported him, when he cried out, My God, my God, why hast thou forfaken me? It is not eafy for us to apprehend in what that agony confifted for we understand only the agonies of pain, or of confcience, which laft arife out of the horror of guilt,

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ART. or the apprehenfion of the wrath of God. It is indeed certain, that he who had no fin could have no fuch horror in him; and yet it is as certain, that he could not be put into fuch an agony only through the apprehenfion and fear of that violent death, which he was to fuffer next day: therefore we ought to conclude, that there was an inward fuffering in his mind, as well as an outward vifible one in his body. We cannot diftin&tly apprehend what that was, fince he was fure both of his own spotlefs innocence, and of his Father's unchangeable love to him. We can only imagine a vaft fenfe of the heinousness of fin, and a deep indignation at the difhonour done to God. by it, a melting apprehenfion of the corruption and miferies of mankind by reafon of fin, together with a neverbefore-felt withdrawing of those confolations that had always filled his foul. But what might be further in his agony, and in his laft dereliction, we cannot diftinctly apprehend; only this we perceive, that our minds are capable of great pain as well as our bodies are. Deep horror, with an inconfolable sharpness of thought, is a very intoJerable thing Notwithstanding the bodily or fubftantial indwelling of the fulness of the Godhead in him; yet he was capable of feeling vaft pain in his body: fo that he might become a complete facrifice, and that we might have from his fufferings a very full and amazing apprehenfion of the guilt of fin; all thofe emanations of joy, with which the indwelling of the eternal Word had ever till then filled his foul, might then when he needed them moft be quite withdrawn, and he be left merely to the firmness of his faith, to his patient refignation to the will of his heavenly Father, and to his willing readiness of drinking up that cup which his Father had put in his hand to drink.

There remains but one thing to be remembered here, though it will come to be more fpecially explained, when other Articles are to be opened; which is, that this reconciliation, which is made by the death of Chrift, between God and man, is not abfolute and without conditions. He has eftablished the covenant, and has performed all that was incumbent on him, as both the priest and the facrifice, to do and to fuffer; and he offers this to the world, that it may be closed with by them, on the terms on which it is propofed; and if they do not accept of it upon thefe conditions, and perform what is enjoined them, they can have no fhare in it.

ARTICLE

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