Thomas Manton · 23 of 67

Verse 4. · Part 5

2. Are you the worse sensibly for the knowledge of the gospel?

First, Do you grow more careless and neglectful of duties, as if now there were not so much required of you? The gospel never taught you that, but your own corrupt hearts. It is true, the more Christ is preached, the more evangelical a man is in his duties; his heart is taken off more from resting in them, he doth not pitch his hopes upon the tale or number of his duties, and he doth not perform them out of bondage, but more clearly, knowingly, comfortably, as upon gospel grounds; but still he will be performing, as knowing that duties can never have too much of our care, and too little of our trust: in the gospel we have more help, therefore, in all reason, we should perform more work. Well, then, to grow more lazy and less frequent in the worship of God, and the use of the means of grace, the more we are acquainted with God’s grace in Christ, is to abuse grace, which was given us to make us more cheerful, not more slack and negligent.

Secondly, Less circumspect and wary in your conversations; loose walking is an ill sign. Christ himself taught us to ‘enter in at the strait gate, and to walk in the narrow way,’ Mat. vii. 13, 14. When men seek more room and breadth for their lusts, they pervert the end of the gospel, for the gospel only showeth that the greatest sin is pardonable, but the least is not allowable. The world is much for a shorter cut to heaven; but when you have done all, you will find that the good, old, long way is the nearest way home. Still we must ‘make straight steps to our feet;’ mortify lusts, bridle vile affections, and keep close to rule. Sin is the same that ever it was; and the law is the same; and God is as holy, and as much delights in holiness, as ever he did; we therefore must be as strict as ever. It is but a carnal liberty to have leave to be wanton, to be free to sin. Nature is very apt to hear in that ear, see 2 Peter ii. 18, 19, but grace counts it no privilege.

Thirdly, If less humble, still you are guilty. A man committeth sin and findeth no remorse, upon the pretence of God’s free grace in pardoning; this is still the wantonness which ariseth from the abuse of the gospel God’s children never loathe themselves more than upon the remembrance of mercy, Ezek. xxxvi. 31, never melted for sin more than when the warm beams of God’s love thaw their hearts, that they should sin against a pardoning God, a gracious Father, a good Master, &c. Every mercy is a new stab at heart. Christ’s look made Peter weep bitterly; nothing affects them so much as grace.

Obs. 3. The third point is taken from that particle our, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν. He mentioneth their interest in God to provoke them so much the more to zeal against errors that were so scandalous to his grace. Note that sense of interest in God begets the best zeal for the truths and glory of God. The point consists of two branches:—

1. That interest in God will beget a zeal for God. It troubleth a good man to see any one wronged, much more to see his own relations wronged, most of all to see his God wronged. Can a man profess love to God, and not espouse his quarrel? Friends have all things common, common love and common hatred, wrong the one and the other is not well at ease; so it is in the spiritual friendship between us and God: Ps. lxix. 9, ‘The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.’ Injuries done to God and religion will as nearly affect us as those done to our persons. Certainly they that can be silent in the cause of God have little affection to him, and they who are so tender of worldly interests do little value an interest in God: ‘Wisdom is justified of her children,’ Mat. xi. 19. They are bastards and not children that are afraid or ashamed to own their mother’s defence, or can hug those in their bosoms that are enemies to God and his grace: Ps. cxxxix. 21, ‘Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? am not I grieved with them that rise up against thee?’ It is an argument of his sincerity that God and he had the same enemies, that he could find no room in his heart for affection to them that had no affection to God. When we came into covenant with God, we made a league with him offensive and defensive, to count his friends ours and his enemies ours, to hate what he hateth and to love what he loveth; therefore, without breach of covenant we cannot be silent in God’s cause, and friends to the enemies and abusers of his grace.

2. The next branch is, that their zeal who have an interest in God is the best zeal. Now it is the best, partly because it is hottest. They that contest merely for an opinion are not so earnest as they that contend out of affection; as a stranger, seeing a man oppressed, may chide him that did the wrong, but a near relation he will interpose and venture himself in the quarrel; so will one that loveth God sacrifice all his interests for God’s sake. Partly because it is purest. Carnal men may engage in religious controversies, out of passion they may stickle for their own opinion, but this fire is taken from a common hearth, not from the altar; it doth not arise from any love to God, from any inward relish and taste of the sweetness of grace, but only from humour and obstinacy and worldly interest; we may as well be afraid of some men’s zeal against error as of others’ proneness to it. Carnal persons keep a great coil, and fill the world with clamour and rage; but their hearts do not flame with zeal upon a proper interest, and do not carry on things in God’s way.

The use is to inform us of the reason why the spirits of godly men are so keen against such errors as intrench upon the grace of God; why errors about Christ are horrible to them, a very abomination to their thoughts; because thereupon are built all their hopes; and in such matters they have most experiences; therefore their hearts sparkle within them; others feel a cold indifferency, but they a mighty pressure upon their spirits.

I now come to the last part of their description, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Observe their sin, denying. The object, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is here described three ways:—(1.) By his absolute rule and supremacy, δεσπότην μόνον, the only Lord. (2.) By his essence, θεὸν, God. (3.) By his headship over the church, κύριον ἡμῶν, our Lord Jesus Christ.

I shall first vindicate, and then open the words. Divers take the words disjunctively, applying the first clause to the Father, the second to the Son. So Erasmus translateth it, ‘God, who is that only Lord,’ and ‘our Lord Jesus Christ.’ But, as Beza observeth, this is not the first time that he is taken tripping in those places which seem manifestly to assert the Godhead of Christ. Briefly, then, that the whole clause is to be understood of Christ may be proved by these arguments:—(1.) Because the parallel place in Peter, from whence this seemeth to be taken, maketh mention only of Jesus Christ, where δεσπότης, the word of absolute sovereignty, is ascribed to him, denying τὸν δεσπότην, the ‘master that bought them,’ 2 Peter ii. 1. (2.) Because to me it seemeth that Jude would lay down all the prerogatives of Christ in his natures, as God, as man; in his relation to the world, so a master; to the church, so a Lord. (3.) By the tenor of the words in the original, where there is no new article to divide them, and therefore all these titles belong to the same person, τὸν μόνον δεσπότην, τὸν θεὸν κύριον ἡμῶν, ἀρνούμενοι. (4.) Many old copies, as Calvin saith, read thus, ‘Denying Christ, who is only God and only Lord,’ (5.) Because the heresy of these times struck at Christ more than God the Father, and only at the Father for Christ’s sake; and therefore John, in his epistles, speaketh often of those that denied Christ. See 1 John ii. 22, and 1 John iv. 3. It is true the school of Simon and some other sects held forth many fabulous things of God, and introduced multitudes of rulers by whom the world was governed; but this was to exclude Christ, and to make void that sovereignty which the scriptures assert to be committed into his hands. The most ancient heresies were those of the Simonians, Menandrians, Saturninians, who denied the person of Christ, affirming Simon Magus to be Christ; and the Valentinians, who denied his human nature, affirming that he brought his substance from heaven, and only passed through the Virgin Mary like water through a conduit. There is but one objection against this exposition, and that is, if it be meant of Christ, then the Father will be excluded from being God, for Christ, according to the sense alleged, is said to be only master, only God, and only Lord. I answer—The expression doth not exclude either of the persons of the Godhead, the Father or the Son, but only the creatures and feigned gods, especially those feigned rulers and governors of the world which the school of Simon and the Nicolaitans introduced under the horrid names of Barbel, Abrakan, and Kavlakan, &c. And indeed such kind of expressions are frequent in scripture, as Isa. xliv. 8, ‘Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God, I know not any.’ So Isa. xlv. 5, ‘I am the Lord, there is none else, there is none besides me.’ All which expressions are meant of Christ, as appeareth not only by the titles of Saviour and Redeemer, given to the God that there speaketh, but also by divers passages therein proper to him, yea, by a quotation of the apostle’s. Compare Isa. xlv. 22, 23, with Rom. xiv, 11, and Phil. ii. 10. Again, you shall find like pas sages of God the Father, where he is said to be only true God: John xvii. 3, ‘This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent;’ which is not exclusive of other persons, but of other gods; and the scriptures speak thus because of the unity of the divine essence, which all the persons communicate one with another.

The exposition of the words, now they are vindicated, will be easy. And denying. This is done either openly or covertly: openly when Christ is clearly renounced and opposed; covertly, Christ is denied either by the filthy conversation of Christians, or else by heretical insinuations striking at his person and natures at a distance. Both are intended for these seducers. Though they denied Christ, yet they had their pretences and illusions. This Christ whom they denied is described by his relation in the world, the only master or ruler. This word is opposed to their doting conceit of many rulers, between whom the regimen of the world was divided. The next title is θεὸν, Gods. So Christ is called because of his divine nature; and then our Lord. He saith our partly to show that this was the title that he bore in relation to the church, they being his peculiar people by his father’s gift and his own purchase; partly to awaken their zeal by a consideration of the interest which they had in this Lord thus denied; and then the other word, Lord, is proper to Christ’s mediatorship. See 1 Cor. viii. 5. There remaineth but Christ’s name, Jesus Christ. The word Jesus is opened, Mat. i. 21: ‘Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins;’ and it implieth here that Christ’s Lordship shall be administered for the salvation of the church. The other word, Christ, signifieth anointed, which noteth his designation from God to be king, priest, and prophet. I do thus particularly open the terms, because I suppose the apostle’s scope is to give us a sum of the Christian doctrine concerning the person, natures, and offices of Jesus Christ, all which were one way or other impugned by the seducers of that age.

The points that might be drawn hence are many; for a taste take these:—

Obs. 1. That Jesus Christ is master and Lord, δεσπότης καὶ κύριος, ‘king of nations,’ Jer. x. 7; and ‘king of saints,’ Rev. xv. 3; or, as the apostle in one place, ‘Head over all things to the church,’ Eph. i. 22. He is over all things, supreme and absolute; but the Church’s head, from whom they receive all manner of influence. He hath a rod of iron to rule the nations, and a golden sceptre to guide the church. In the world he ruleth by his providences, in the church by his testimonies, Ps. xciii., per totum. In the world, the attribute manifested is power; in the church, grace. Well, then, here is comfort to God’s people, your Lord is the world’s master: ‘Let the waves roar, the Lord reigneth,’ Ps. xciii. You need not fear, he is not only Lord to protect you, but master of them that rise up against you. Again, who would not choose him to be a Lord, when, whether we will or no, he is our master, and bow the knee to him that will else break the back, and touch his golden sceptre lest we be broken with his rod of iron, and take hold of his strength by faith lest we feel it in displeasure? Lord, let me feel the efficacy of thy grace, rather than the power of thine anger!

Obs. 2. Observe again, that Christ is Lord and Jesus; he came to rule, and he came to save. I shall handle these two titles—(1.) Conjunctly; and then, (2.) Singly and apart.

1. Conjunctly: ‘Let all Israel know that God hath made this Jesus, whom ye have crucified, Lord and Christ,’ Acts ii. 36. It is usual to observe in Christ’s style and title a mixture of words of power and words of goodness and mercy: see Isa. ix. 6, et alibi passim. Now for what end? Partly to show that he is a desirable friend, and a dreadful adversary: partly to set forth the mystery of his person, in whom the two natures did meet: partly to show that he is not good out of impotency and weakness; if we pardon and do good it is out of need. God is strong enough to revenge, but gracious enough to save and pardon. Power maketh us cruel: ‘Who findeth his enemy and slayeth him not?’ If we forbear, it is out of policy, not out of pity. ‘The sons of Zeruiah’ may be ‘too hard for us,’ but Christ, who is the great Lord, he also is Jesus; he hath the greatest power, and the greatest mercy; mighty, but yet a Saviour. Partly to show how we should receive him; we should not only come to him for ease, but take his yoke, Mat. xi. 28, 29. Give him your hearts as well as your consciences; if Christ save, let not sin lord it. What a pitiful thing it is when men would have Christ to redeem them, and Satan to rule and govern them! Οὐ θέλομεν τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us,’ Luke xix. 14. There the business sticks: ‘The carnal mind is enmity to the law.’ Rom. viii. Lusts cannot endure to hear of a restraint, and therefore we oppose most Christ’s nomothetic power; like angry dogs we gnaw the chain. The language of every carnal heart is, ‘Our lips are our own; who is lord over us?’ Ps. xii. 4. To be controlled for every word, every thought, every action, we cannot endure it. Oh! consider Christ hath many enemies, but they are his chief enemies that do withstand his reigning: Luke xix. 27, ‘Those mine enemies, that would not that I should reign over them,’ &c.

2. Let us handle these two titles singly and apart.

[1.] He is Lord: Acts x. 36, ‘Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all.’ As he is God he hath the same glory with the Father; as mediator there is a dominion that results from his office; for so he is the ‘heir of all things,’ the head of all creatures, and king of the church, and at the last day the judge of all men. But he is chiefly a Lord because of his heritage in the church; a Lord over his own people, who are ‘given to him for a possession’ by God the Father, Ps. ii. 8, and ‘bought with his own blood,’ Acts xx. 28; and taken into a marriage covenant with him, Eph. v. 25-27. And as Sarah called her husband lord, so must the church own Christ for Lord and husband. Well, then, let us acknowledge the dominion of Christ; let him be Lord alone in his own house; let us yield subjection and obedience to him; let us beware of depriving him of that honour to which he hath so good a right. You will say, Who are those that deny Christ his Lordship? I answer:—

(1.) They that will not hear his voice, that slight his calls. He inviteth them and prayeth them that they will look into their hearts, consider their eternal condition, but they quench the Spirit, smother light, resist all these motions; these will not hear Christ’s voice. He entreateth, prayeth, that we will come and put our souls under his government; and we in effect say, ‘We are lords, and will not come at thee,’ Jer. ii. 31. We are well enough, and shall do well enough without any such care and strictness.

(2.) They that cannot endure his restraints: Jer. xxxi. 18, ‘Thou art as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke.’ They cannot endure to hear of denying their fashions, their lusts, their pleasures, their vain thoughts, when every thought and every desire must be under a law; so much time spent in duties, such gravity in the conversation, such awe in their speeches; they break off like a wanton heifer. Vain and licentious spirits will not be yoked and clogged thus: Mal. i. 14, ‘What a weariness is it!’ Sacrifice upon sacrifice! such waiting upon God! they cannot endure it. Man is compared to ‘a wild ass’s colt,’ not only for grossness of conceit, but for untamedness and wildness, Job xi. 12. We would roam abroad without restraint.

(3.) They are given up to strong and inordinate desires of liberty; when men quarrel at duties rather than practise them, think it a kind of happiness to be free, and that there is no freedom but in sinning, and following the bent and sway of their own hearts, are all for breaking bands, and dissolving cords, Ps. ii. 4.

(4.) These are bewrayed by a proud contempt and obstinacy against instruction and reproof: Jer. v. 5, ‘I will go to the great men and speak to them; but these have altogether burst the yoke, and broken the bands.’ They had cast off all respect and obedience to God: Jer. xiii. 15, ‘Hear, give ear, be not proud,’ &c.; so Heb. xiii. 22, ‘Suffer the words of exhortation,’ &c. Some spirits are impatient, and recoil with the more violence upon a reproof, and storm and vex, which argueth much unsubjection of heart to Christ.

[2.] He is Jesus, which signifieth a Saviour. Now Christ is a Saviour positively as well as privately; he giveth us spiritual blessings, as well as freedom from misery; John iii. 17, that they should ‘not perish, but have everlasting life.’ Again he is a Saviour not only by way of deliverance, but by way of prevention; he doth not only break the snare, but keep our feet from falling; he is as a shepherd to lead the flock, as well as a physician to heal the diseased. We do not take notice of preventive mercies, and yet prevention is better than escape. Again, he is a Saviour by merit and by power; for he hath not only to do with God, but with Satan. God is to be satisfied, and Satan overcome; and therefore he rescueth us out of the hands of Satan, and redeemeth us out of the hands of God’s justice. To rescue a condemned malefactor, and take him by force out of the executioner’s hands, is not enough; the judge also must be satisfied, and pass a pardon, or the man is not safe: Christ ‘hath pulled us out of the power of darkness,’ Col. i. 13, and in him the Father is ‘well pleased,’ Mat. iii. 17. There needeth also power to work upon our hearts, as well as merit to satisfy God. Before his exaltation he redeemed us, then he deserved it; and therefore it is said, ‘We have salvation by his death,’ 1 Thes. v. 9. After his exaltation he worketh it, and so we are ‘saved by his life,’ Rom. v. 10. So that living and dying he is ours, that living and dying we may be his: we have the power of his exaltation as well as the merit of his humiliation. Once more, he saveth us not only for awhile, but for ever; and therefore it is called an ‘eternal salvation,’ Heb. v. 9; not only from temporal misery, but from hell and damnation; not only the body is saved, but the soul; and the soul not only from hell, but the fear of hell, Heb. ii. 14, from the fear as well as the hurt, from despair and want of hope as well as from the misery itself. Yet, again, he saveth us not only from the evils after sin, but the evil of sin: Mat. i. 21, ‘He shall save his people from their sins;’ there is the chiefest part of his salvation. He doth not only save us in part, but saves us ‘to the uttermost,’ Heb. vii. 25. He giveth us life, and all things necessary to life. Well, then:—

First, Bless God for Jesus Christ, that he took the cure of our salvation into his own hands; he would not trust an angel, none was fit for it: Isa. lix., ‘I looked and there was no Saviour, therefore mine own arm wrought out salvation.’ There are poor creatures like to perish for want of a Saviour; I will go down and help them; as Jonah, when he saw the tempest, ‘Cast me into the sea.’ So when we had raised a tempest, Cast me in, saith Christ, ‘Lo, I am come to do thy will.’

Secondly, Get an interest in Christ: Luke i. 47, ‘My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,’ Interest is the true ground of comfort and rejoicing. What must we do to get this interest? I answer:—

1. Reject all other Saviours: Acts iv. 12, ‘There is salvation in no other.’ Nothing could save Noah and his family but the ark; if they had devised ships, they would not hold out against the deluge. Especially take heed of making Christ of self, setting up thy own merit, or thy own power; the one in effect renounceth his humiliation, the other his exaltation. Christ came to ‘save that which was lost;’ the sinking disciples cried out, ‘Master, save us, we perish.’ It is long ere God bringeth us to this: till you are lost, why should you make choice of a Saviour? Swimming is not a thing that can be practised ashore or on firm land: till we are brought into distress we will never look for a Saviour.

2. Be earnest with God for an interest, and for the manifestation of it: Ps. xxxv. 3, ‘Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.’ When the soul hath chosen God, Lam. iii. 24, ‘The Lord is my portion, saith my soul;’ I will have no other Saviour, but I will desire the Lord to ratify it by his consent: ‘I am thy salvation. 5 Those that would make use of Christ’s salvation in a temporal way pressed on him, untiled the house to come at him; so should we force ourselves upon him by a holy boldness.

Obs. 3. Again, from the words observe, the Son of God was Christ, that he might be Lord and Jesus; anointed of the Father that he might accomplish our salvations. This anointing signifieth two things:—

1. The quality and kind of his office.

2. The authority upon which it was founded.

First, It noteth the nature of his offices. Under the Old Testament three sort of persons were anointed—kings, priests, and prophets, and all these relations doth Christ sustain to the church. Men that were to be saved lay under a threefold necessity—ignorance, distance from God, and inability to return to him. Suitably Christ a prophet to show us our misery, a priest to provide a remedy, a king to instate us in that remedy; therefore according to these three offices doth the scripture use words in describing the benefits we have by Christ: John xiv. 6, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ Christ is the way as a priest, for by his oblation and intercession we have the boldness to come to God; the truth as a prophet, the life as a king: take life either for the royal donatives of grace or glory. So 1 Cor. i. 30, ‘He is made to use wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.’ We are ignorant foolish creatures, therefore Christ is made to us wisdom as a prophet; we are guilty creatures, and therefore righteousness as a priest; sinful creatures, therefore sanctification; miserable creatures, liable to death and hell, therefore redemption, and both these as a king. It was necessary that the way of our salvation should be opened, effected, and applied; therefore did Christ first come from heaven as a prophet to preach the gospel; and then offer up himself through the eternal Spirit as a priest; and, last of all, seize upon the mediatorial throne as king of the church. Well, then, if our blindness and ignorance troubleth us, let us make use of Christ’s prophetical office, that he may teach us the whole counsel of God; if we are haunted by troubles, and the accusations of our own conscience, let us sprinkle our hearts with the blood of our high priest, that they may be pacified; if we have any desire to be granted, let us make use of his intercession; if we be discouraged by our own weakness, and the power of our spiritual enemies, let us run for protection to our king, through whom the saints are more than conquerors.

Secondly, It noteth the authority upon which his office is founded; he was anointed thereto by God the Father, who in the work of redemption is represented as the offended party and supreme judge; and so it is a great comfort to us that Christ is a mediator of God’s choosing. When Moses interposed of his own accord, he was refused: ‘Blot me out of thy book;’ No, saith the Lord, ‘the soul that sinneth, him will I blot out of my book.’ But now Jesus Christ took not this honour upon him, but was called of God thereunto; it was the will of the Father: so that when we come to God, though we cannot say, He is mine, yet we can say, Lord, he is thine; a Saviour of thy setting up, thou hast authorised him, and wilt own thine own way, &c.

Obs. 4. Once more, observe, which indeed is a point that lieth full in the eye of the text, that Jesus Christ, the master of the world and Lord of the church, is true God. For it is said here, denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. It would seem a strange thing that I should go about to prove the Godhead of Christ, were not blasphemy grown so common, and appearing abroad with so bold a forehead. Heretofore it was a grievous abomination to the children of God when such a thought rushed into their minds; but now some promote it as a settled opinion. It is Satan’s policy to loosen a corner stone, though he cannot wholly pull it out; he striveth all that he can to make the main articles of religion seem at least questionable. But Christians, be not shaken in mind; the foundation of the Lord standeth sure. I confess I should wholly omit such disputes; in fundamental articles, we should not allow a scruple: ‘Thou shalt not inquire after their gods,’ Deut. xii. 30. But when such conceits are not only satanical injections, but men’s settled opinions, it is good to establish the heart in such principles as this is. That Christ is God appeareth by express scripture, where he is called ‘the true God,’ 1 John v. 20; ‘the great God,’ Titus ii, 13, to show that he is not a God inferior to the Father, but equal in power and glory, and that not by courtesy and grant, but by nature. So he is called ‘the mighty God, the everlasting Father,’ Isa. ix. 6, and ‘God over all.’ Rom. ix. 5; proofs so evident and pregnant that they need no illustration. And that he is a God equal to the Father appeareth also by express texts of scripture: Phil. ii. 6, ‘He was in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God;’ and Col. ii. 9, ‘In him dwelleth the fulness of the Godhead bodily.’ The saints are ‘made partakers of the divine nature,’ 2 Peter i. 4, but in him the whole Godhead dwelt personally, and all this was no usurpation of another’s right. The Jews would have stoned him ‘because he said God was his father, making himself equal with God;’ therefore he meant it not in an ordinary sense, and indeed if he be a God, he is a God by nature, for ‘God will not give his glory to another.’ Again, God he must needs be, if you consider the work he ought to do. The work of the mediator could be dispatched by no inferior agent. As prophet, he was to be greater than all other prophets and apostles; for the great doctor of the church ought to be authentic, a lawgiver from whose sentence there is no ap peal: ‘A lord in his own house,’ Heb. iii. 6; one to whom Moses was but a servant, for to him he gave the law, Heb. xii. 26. One that is to be a fountain of wisdom to all the elect, 1 Cor. i. 30; one that must not only teach, but give eyes to see, and ears to hear, and a heart to learn. Consider him as a king; a finite power cannot break the force of enemies, pour out the Spirit, raise the dead, bestow grace and glory, and become an original fountain of life to all the elect. All these things are proper to God, the glory which he will not give to another. Consider him as a priest; and there are two acts, oblation and intercession, and still you will find that he must be God. For his oblation, he must be one that could offer up himself, Heb. ix. 14, and therefore must have ‘power’ over his own life, John x. 28, ‘to lay it down and take it up;’ which no creature hath. And he must offer himself ‘one for all,’ 2 Cor. v. 15; the person that suffered was to be infinite, as good and better than all theirs that should have suffered; as they said to David, ‘thou art better than a thousand of us;’ and this suffering was to be but once. Now, the wages of sin are eternal death; some thing there must be to compensate the eternity of the punishment, and nothing could counterpoise eternity but the infiniteness and excellency of Christ’s person, as a payment in gold taketh up less room than a payment in silver, but the value is as much. It was necessary that he should overcome the punishment, for if we were always suffering, we could have no assurance that God were satisfied. And the end was to expiate sin; nothing but an infinite good could remedy so great an evil. The person wronged is infinite, so is the person suffering. And then his death was not only to be a ransom, but a price; not only ἀντίλυτρον, but ἀντάλλαγμα. A surety to an ordinary creditor payeth the debt, and freeth the debtor from bonds. Christ was to bring us into grace and favour with God, and to merit heaven for us. Now for the other act of his priesthood, his intercession: so he was to know our persons and our wants and necessities, as the high priest had the names of the twelve tribes on his breast and shoulders, Exod. xxviii. 12, 29. And then he is to negotiate with God in the behalf of all believers, and to dispatch blessings suitable to their state: and who can do this but God, who knoweth the heart and trieth the reins? In short, to be a fit intercessor for all the elect, he is to know our needs, thoughts, sins, prayers, desires, purposes, and to wait on our business day and night, that wrath may not break out upon us; so that his work as mediator showeth him to be God.