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be pretended or ascribed unto him, he is capable of no other rule or power. But indeed no one act of his kingly office can be aright conceived or acknowledged, without a respect had unto his divine person. I shall instance only unto this purpose in two things in general.

[1.] The extent of his power and rule gives evidence hereunto. It is over the whole creation of God. All power is given him in heaven and earth;' Matt. xxviii. 18. All things are put under his feet, he only excepted who put all things under him;' 1 Cor. xv. 27. And he is made 'head over all things unto the church;' Eph. i. 22. Not only those who are above the rule of external law, as the holy angels; and those who have cast off all such rule, as the devils themselves; but all things that in their own nature are not capable of obedience to an external law or rule, as the whole inanimate creation, heaven, and earth, and the sea, with all things in them and under them, Phil. ii. 10. with the dead bodies of men which he shall raise at the last day.

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For this power over the whole creation is not only a moral right to rule and govern it; but it is also accompanied with virtue, force, or almighty power to act, order, and dispose of it at his pleasure. So is it described by the apostle from the psalmist, Heb. i. 10-12. Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thine hands: they shall perish, but thou remainest and they shall all wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shall thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.' That power is required unto his kingly office, whereby he created all things in the beginning; and shall change them all as a man folds up a vesture, in the end. Omnipotency, accompanied with eternity and immutability, are required hereunto.

It is a vain imagination to suppose that this power can reside in a mere creature, however glorified and exalted. All essential divine properties are concurrent with it, and inseparable from it. And where are the properties of God, there is the nature of God; for his being and his properties are one and the same.

If the Lord Christ as king of the church be only a mere man, and be as such only to be considered, however he may

be exalted and glorified, however he may be endowed with honour, dignity, and authority, yet he cannot put forth or act any real physical power immediately and directly, but where he is present. But this is in heaven only; for 'the heavens must receive him until the time of the restitution of all things;' Acts iii. 21. And hereon his rule and power would be the greatest disadvantage unto the church that could befall it. For suppose it immediately under the rule of God even the Father; his omnipotency and omnipresence, his omniscience and infinite wisdom, whereby he could be always present with every one of them, know all their wants, and give immediate relief according to the counsel of his will, was a stable foundation for faith to rest upon, and an everlasting spring of consolation. But now whereas all power, all judgment, all rule is committed unto the Son, and the Father doth nothing towards the church but in and by him, if he have not the same divine power and properties with him, the foundation of the church's faith is cast down, and the spring of its consolation utterly stopped up.

I cannot believe in him as my heavenly king, who is not able by himself, and by the virtue of his presence with me, to make what changes and alterations he pleaseth in the minds of men, and in the whole creation of God, to relieve, preserve, and deliver me, and to raise my body at the last day.

To suppose that the Lord Christ, as the king and head of the church, hath not an infinite, divine power, whereby he is able always to relieve, succour, save, and deliver it; if it were to be done by the alteration of the whole, or any part of God's creation, so as that the fire should not burn, nor the water overwhelm them, nor men be able to retain their thoughts or ability one moment to afflict them; and that their distresses are not always effects of his wisdom, and never from the defect of his power, is utterly to overthrow all faith, hope, and the whole of religion itself.

Ascribe therefore unto the Lord Christ in the exercise of his kingly office, only a moral power, operative by rules and laws, with the help of external instruments; deprive him of omnipresence and omniscience, with infinite, divine power and virtue, to be acted at his pleasure in and over the whole

his Spirit, whatever benefit we believe, expect, and receive by his sacrifice and intercession on our behalf; our faith in them all, and concerning them all, is terminated on his divine person. The church is saved by his offices, because they are his. This is the substance of the testimony given concerning him, by God even the Father, 1 John v. 10, 11. This is the witness that God hath testified concerning his Son, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.' Eternal life is given unto us, as it was wrought out and procured by the mediation of Christ on our behalf. But yet in him it was originally, and from him do we receive it in the discharge of his office; for this life is in the Son of God.

Hence it is that all those by whom the divine person of Christ is denied, are forced to give such a description of his offices, as that it is utterly impossible that the church should be saved by the discharge of them,

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The faith of the church under the Old Testament in and concerning the person of Christ.

A brief view of the faith of the church under the Old Testament concerning the divine person of Christ, shall close these discourses, and make way for those that ensue, wherein our own duty with respect thereunto shall be declared.

That the faith of all believers from the foundation of the world had a respect unto him, I shall afterward demonstrate; and to deny it, is to renounce both the Old Testament and the New. But that this faith of theirs did principally respect his person, is what shall here be declared. Therein. they knew was laid the foundation of the counsels of God for their deliverance, sanctification, and salvation. Otherwise it was but little they clearly understood of his office, or the way whereby he would redeem the church.

The apostle Peter, in the confession he made of him, Matt. xvi. 16. exceeded the faith of the Old Testament in

opened unto his eyes;' Heb. iv. 13. And he says of himself, that he'searcheth,' that is, knoweth the hearts and reins of men;' Rev. ii. 23. And if these things are not the peculiar properties of the divine nature, I know nothing that may be so esteemed.

2dly. There is required hereunto, an influence of power into all the actings of the souls of believers; an intimate, efficacious operation with them in every duty, and under every temptation. These all of them, do look for, expect, and receive from him, as the king and head of the church. This also is an effect of divine and infinite power. And to deny these things unto the Lord Christ, is to rase the foundation of Christian religion. Neither faith in, nor love unto him, nor dependance on him, nor obedience unto his authority, can be preserved one moment, without a persuasion of his immediate intuition and inspection into the hearts, minds, and thoughts of all men, with a real influence into all the actings of the life of God in all them that believe. And the want of the faith hereof, is that which hath disjoined the minds of many from adherence unto him; and hath produced a lifeless carcase of Christian religion, instead of the saving power thereof.

(3.) The same may be said concerning his sacerdotal office, and all the acts of it. It was in and by the human nature that he offered himself a sacrifice for us. He had somewhat of his own to offer; Heb. viii. 3. and to this end a' body was prepared for him;' chap. x. 5. But it was not the work of a man by one offering, and that of himself, to expiate the sins of the whole church, and for ever to perfect them that are sanctified, which he did; Heb. x. 14. God was to purchase his church with his own blood;' Acts xx. 28. But this also I have spoken to at large elsewhere.

This is the sum of what we plead for. We can have no due consideration of the offices of Christ, can receive no benefit by them, nor perform any act of duty with respect unto them, or any of them, unless faith in his divine person be actually exercised as the foundation of the whole. For that is it whence all their glory, power, and efficacy are derived. Whatever therefore we do with respect unto his rule, whatever we receive by the communication of his Spirit and grace, whatever we learn from his word by the teachings of

his Spirit, whatever benefit we believe, expect, and receive by his sacrifice and intercession on our behalf; our faith in them all, and concerning them all, is terminated on his divine person. The church is saved by his offices, because they are his. This is the substance of the testimony given concerning him, by God even the Father, 1 John v. 10, 11. 'This is the witness that God hath testified concerning his Son, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.' Eternal life is given unto us, as it was wrought out and procured by the mediation of Christ on our behalf. But yet in him it was originally, and from him do we receive it in the discharge of his office; for this life is in the Son of God.

Hence it is that all those by whom the divine person of Christ is denied, are forced to give such a description of his offices, as that it is utterly impossible that the church should be saved by the discharge of them,

CHAP. VIII.

The faith of the church under the Old Testament in and concerning the person of Christ.

A brief view of the faith of the church under the Old Testament concerning the divine person of Christ, shall close these discourses, and make way for those that ensue, wherein our own duty with respect thereunto shall be declared.

That the faith of all believers from the foundation of the world had a respect unto him, I shall afterward demonstrate; and to deny it, is to renounce both the Old Testament and the New. But that this faith of theirs did principally respect his person, is what shall here be declared. Therein they knew was laid the foundation of the counsels of God. for their deliverance, sanctification, and salvation. Otherwise it was but little they clearly understood of his office, or the way whereby he would redeem the church.

The apostle Peter, in the confession he made of him, Matt. xvi. 16. exceeded the faith of the Old Testament in

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