As to the First, we must first observe, that the glory and power which is here attributed to our blessed Saviour, is declared to be given Him by God, after He was raised from the dead; and therefore it cannot be understood of His Godhead for as God, He never died nor rose again; as God, He was never set, but always was at the right hand of the Father; as God, He was not only far, as it is here said, but infinitely "above all principalities and powers;" as God, [ver. 21.] He could not have any thing put under His feet, for all things were always there; much less could He be given to be the Head over all things, for as God, He was so in Himself, in His own nature: and therefore all this must of necessity be understood of His manhood, as distinct, though not divided from His Godhead, (for so it never was since it was first united) so that as where the Apostle, speaking of Christ's sacerdotal power in Heaven, saith, "There is one 1 Tim. 2. 5. Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" so speaking here of the regal power which He there exerciseth, He useth such terms, as plainly shew that He meaneth the man Christ Jesus, the man that died, the man that rose again, the man that ascended up to Heaven; the same man hath this power conferred upon Him there, as He is man, or the Son of Man, as He often calls Himself upon this and the like occasions.

This being premised, we may next observe, that the Apostle here saith, "That God raised Christ from the dead, ver. 20. 21. and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion ;" that is, above all the orders and degrees of Angels, both good and bad, and likewise of men: He is set above them all, yea far above them; the highest Angel in Heaven being more inferior to Him, than the poorest beggar is to the highest prince upon earth. Neither is He only thus far above them, but above all things else, above every name that is named, above every thing that hath a name, above every thing that is, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; not only in the world where we now are, but also in the other, where the Angels are; nor in this only, which is at present, but in that which shall be here

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He is far above all things that ever were, or are, or shall be made in the whole world; and that too, not only in degree and honour, but likewise in authority and power: for it follows in the next words, the words of my text, "And He hath put all things under His feet;" not only into His hand, to handle and order them as He pleaseth, but under His feet, to trample upon them, and keep them in perpetual subjection. And He hath given, or constituted Him to be Head over all things; the Supreme Lord, Governor, Orderer and Disposer of all things: so that He may do what He will with every thing that is, there being nothing in the world, but what is entire at His command, and under His dominion, as Lord paramount of the whole creation.

This was foreshewn and typified long ago in Joseph, who having been sold and put into prison, He was no sooner delivered from thence, but He was made ruler over all the Gen. 41. 40, land of Egypt, "Only in the throne," said Pharaoh to him, "will I be greater than thou;" though the regal authority was still in Pharaoh, yet the exercise of it was committed wholly unto Joseph, over all the affairs and persons in the whole kingdom. So here, Christ was no sooner raised from Matt.28.18. the grave, but as He Himself saith, "All power was given to Him, both in Heaven and earth," or the whole Kingdom of God. It was committed to Him by God the Father, in whom therefore it originally was, and so continued; but He committed the exercise of it to the Son, only in the throne the Father is greater than He: but He is Ruler over all the Kingdom, and manageth all the affairs of it under the Father, as He sees good; and therefore hath His throne Apoc. 22. 1, too. For we read of the throne of God, and of the Lamb. Matt.19.28. And He Himself saith, "That the Son of Man shall sit in Heb. 4. 16. the throne of His glory," which is elsewhere called also," The

3.

throne of grace;" because all grace proceeds from thence. But this is still the same throne on which the Father sits: Apoc. 3. 21. "I am set down," saith He, "with My Father in His

throne;" though the Father therefore is greater in the throne than the Son, yet the throne itself, on which the Son sits, is no way inferior to the Father's, but one and the same with it. And so, though all power be committed to the

Son by the Father; yet it is the same power that is in the Father, and is exercised by the Son, in His Name, over all things that are in Heaven and earth.

This is that which is meant by Christ's sitting or standing,

Acts 7. 55,

Rom. 8. 34.

." 1 Pet. 3. 22. Heb. 1. 3.

Matt.26.64.

or, which is the same, being at the right hand of God; Mark 16.19. which is elsewhere expressed by His "sitting on the right 56. hand of the Majesty on high;" by His being "set on the Col. 3.1. right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the Heavens;" and by "the Son of Man's sitting on the right hand of Heb. 8. 1. power." For all these expressions amount to the same thing, "even that all power is committed unto Him;" so that He reigns over all things that are. Thus St. Peter explains that phrase, where he saith, "That Christ is gone 1 Pet. 3. 22. into Heaven, and is on the right hand of God, Angels, and authorities, and powers being made subject unto Him.” And St. Paul, a little before my text, "God set Him at His own right hand, far above all principalities and powers," &c. ; plainly explaining, that He is therefore said to be" on the right hand of God, because He is far above all other things, other things are all subject unto Him. And whereas David, speaking of Christ, saith, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Ps. 110. 1. sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool:" St. Paul interprets it of His reigning, "till 1Cor.15.25. He hath put all enemies under His feet." And St. Peter having quoted the same words, draws this conclusion from them, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, Acts 2. 36. that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye crucified, both Lord and Christ." This is His "sitting on the right 1 Tim. 6. 15. Apoc. 17.14. hand of God," even His being made the Lord," the Lord of ch. 19. 16. all things, the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords." From all which we may conclude, that Christ our Saviour is the Supreme Governor of the world, and doth what He will with all and every thing that is in it; as He Himself also hath assured us with His own mouth, saying, "The Father judgeth no man, but hath John 5. 22. committed all judgment unto the Son."

Wherefore, that the man Christ Jesus is exalted far above, and vested with absolute authority over all creatures whatsoever, so as to be the Universal Monarch of the world, none can doubt, who believe what God Himself saith, it being

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so fully and clearly revealed and declared in His most Holy Word: neither can we wonder at it, if we do but consider what great reasons there are for it. I shall instance at present only in two, both drawn from the same Divine Oracles, upon which our belief of the truth itself is grounded: the first I shall take from the super-excellency of His person, the other from the extraordinary merits of His death and passion.

First therefore, we must know, that Jesus Christ, as He is truly man, of the same nature with us, so He is likewise truly God, of the same nature with the Father; both these natures being so united in Him, that He is both God and Man in one and the same person: insomuch that, as the Col. 2. 9. Apostle saith, "All the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth in Him bodily," all the fulness, the whole Godhead, the whole Divine Essence, with all the perfections of it, it doth not only sojourn for a while, but it inhabits, it dwells continually in Him, and that too, not typically, not figuratively, not symbolically, not accidentally, nor virtually only; but really, substantially, personally, bodily, in His very body, as He was made in the likeness of men, and found in fashion of a man, with a body and soul as other men have; the whole Godhead resides perpetually in both, and therefore in His whole manhood, and is so united to it, as never to be separated from it. But He always remains both perfect God, and perfect Man; "and yet not two, but one Christ: one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking the manhood into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person: for as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ."

From hence therefore we may see, what great reason there is, that the man Christ Jesus should be preferred above all other creatures; for He in Himself far excels all other: there being no creature in the world so near to God as He is, none united to God but only He. How excellent soever any of the Angels may be in themselves, they are still but creatures, subsisting in no other but their own finite nature, upheld by the power of God; and therefore not comparable to Him, who subsisteth in the very form or substance of God, and is personally united to Him, so as

to be God as well as man. By virtue of which union, His soul must needs excel all spirits, and His body all other matter in the world, as much, yea, far more than the sun exceeds a mere clod of earth. Hence His body is said to be "a glorious body," the most glorious, doubtless, that Phil. 3. 21. can be made of matter: though it be still of the same terrestrial matter which it was at first made of, and such as ours consist of; yet it is so modified, refined, sublimated and exalted, that there can be no comparison between that and all other bodies. It is true, ours at the last "shall be fashioned by Him like unto His own glorious body," as like as they can be made; but after all, they must needs come far short of His, in which all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth. And His soul being united, not only to such a body, but to God Himself, must needs exceed the purest spirits in Heaven, as much as they do the grossest matter upon earth, or rather there can be no comparison at all between them. And so His whole man having such an intimate relation unto God, as to make the same person with Him, although His manhood be really distinct from His Godhead, and may and ought to be so considered when we speak of His dying, His rising again, His sitting on the right hand of God, and the like; yet we must never look upon Him as a mere man, but as God also, the same by whom all things were created, and therefore ought to be subject to Him, and give Him the honour which is due to Him as God: and therefore He Himself saith, "That all John 5. 23. men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father." So that the same honour which is due to the Father, who is God only, and not man, is due to the Son too, who is man also as well as God; which, lest any of the Angels should omit to pay Him, when they saw Him at first incarnate, they had a particular charge given them by God to do it: for "when He bringeth in the First- Heb. 1. 6. begotten into the world, He saith, And let all the Angels of God worship Him."

Besides the super-excellency of His person, or together with it, the extraordinary merits and consequents of the death which the man Christ Jesus suffered, entitle Him to