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SERMON XLV.

CHRIST THE FOUNDATION OF ALL THE PROMISES.

SERM.

XLV.

[2 Tim. 3. 16.]

2 COR. i. 20.

In Him are Yea, and in Him Amen, unto the Glory of God by us.

ALL Scripture being given by inspiration of God, it must needs be of infinite advantage to mankind, to whom it is given; and so be sure it is in all points wherein it is possible for a writing to be of any real advantage to us: there we have the only infallible, as well as the most antient history that is extant in the world, an history of things spoke and done from the beginning of it; there we have a complete system of all such truths as are necessary for men to know and believe, in order to their being eternally happy, all revealed and attested by God, by Truth itself; there we have a body of laws made, enacted and published by the supreme Lawgiver of Heaven and earth, for all His creatures upon earth to observe and keep; there we have an impartial account of the punishments He hath heretofore inflicted upon those who transgressed His said laws, and such as He hath threatened against those who shall presume to do it hereafter; there also we have the great charter of all the privileges, immunities and favours which He hath granted and promised to all His faithful people and servants, which itself is a matter of such infinite advantage and consequence to us, that if there was nothing else in it, we could never sufficiently value and prize that writing in which it is recorded, even the Holy Scripture, the only Book that is in the world, where we have any promises that we can rely upon for grace

and favour in the sight of God, upon any account whatsoever; but there we have promises of all sorts made and confirmed by the Almighty Governor of the world; some to all His Saints and servants, as they are a body united under one Head, others to every single member of that Holy Communion; some in a manner absolute, others upon such conditions as may easily be performed by us, some for this life, others for that which is to come; in short we have there given us such" exceeding great and precious promises, that by them we may be partakers of the Divine Nature," in this 2 Pet. 1. 4. world, in the next of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I say, through Jesus Christ our Lord, for it is in Him that the promises are all made, or as the Apostle here expresseth it, "All the promises of God in Him are yea;" that is, they are all affirmed in Him, so that without Him, God would have denied us all manner of grace and favour, whereas in Him, or upon His account, He hath promised or affirmed, that He will give us all we can desire. This is a thing much to be observed, but not so commonly understood as I could wish it was; for it would be of great use towards the informing our judgments, and so to the exercising our faith aright in our blessed Saviour; and therefore I shall endeavour to make it as plain as I can, in these following propositions.

I. When God made man, He at first made only one person, whom He called Adam, that is, man in general, because all men were then contained in him, and afterwards were to proceed from him, and so altogether may be truly called Adam, as the first man and his wife were both Gen. 5. 2. called. And therefore when Adam eat of that fruit of which God had said, "In the day thou eatest thereof, thou ch. 2. 17. shalt surely die," all men thereby became guilty and obnoxious to the death then threatened, and so fell from their first estate, into the displeasure of Almighty God, and all the judgments and curses which attend it; according as it is written, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all Deut.27.26; things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them." But as all broke God's Commandment in their first parents, so no man in his own person continueth in

Gal. 3. 10.

XLV.

Eph. 2. 3.

SERM. all things which are there written, " and therefore all men by nature are under the curse of God, and the children of His wrath;" and have no ground in themselves ever to expect any favour at His hands, but rather that He should every day more and more manifest His displeasure against them, for that they offend Him every day more and more; so that if we look upon mankind as in their degenerate and corrupt estate, howsoever some may flatter themselves, no man hath so much as one real blessing in the world, nor can ever hope for any; for all things are accursed to all men, because He that made them, is angry with them all.

Gen. 3. 15.

II. All mankind being thus brought into this cursed state by the fall of the first man Adam, God, to shew forth His grace and truth, raised up another Adam, or man in general, upon whom the death which He had threatened might be accordingly executed, and so the curse taken off to as many as would not continue in the same sin of unbelief, by which they fell at first. This He did by promising, that "the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head, and the serpent should bruise his heel." For though this was not to be actually fulfilled till many years after, yet the promise being made by God Himself soon after the fall of the first Adam, it was from that time of full force and virtue, as if it had been already fulfilled; insomuch, that He who was then promised to be born of the seed of the woman, is 1 Cor.15.47. called the "second man," because He was promised before any other was born, as well as the last Adam, because He was the head and representative of all mankind, as the first was; but seeing the effect of this promise was to depend upon men's belief of it, therefore God was pleased often to renew it by His Prophets in all ages, till the time drawing near when it should be accomplished, the Prophet Jeremiah Jer. 33. 14. said expressly, "Behold, the day is come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing that I have promised to the house of Israel, and to the house of Judah." This was that good thing which He had promised, which is thereActs 13. 32. fore called in a peculiar manner, "The promise made unto the Fathers," as being the greatest of all the promises, and that in which all the rest were comprehended.

ver. 45.

Gal. 4. 4, 5.

III. Hence therefore, "when the fulness of the time was

come, God, according to His said promise, sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, to redeem them that were under the Law." His Son, His Onlybegotten Son therefore was made of a woman, born of her seed, and so took upon Him the nature, not of any one or more particular men, but the nature of man in general, so as to become another Adam, and as such He suffered the death which God hath threatened to the first, and He suffered it upon the Cross too, the only death that had a curse entailed upon it, and so " redeemed us from the curse of the Gal. 3. 13. Law, being made a curse for us." And seeing He who suffered this accursed death, was not only man as the first Adam was, but God also in the same person, His death was not only equivalent to that which was threatened to all men in the first, but it was of that infinite worth and value, that He thereby not only took off the curse, but merited all manner of blessings for those who are of that nature, in which He suffered it; He did not only redeem them that were under the Law from the curse which was due unto them from the said Law, but He did it so "that we might ch. 4. 5. receive the adoption of sons." And if sons, then heirs of [Rom. 8. God, and of all the blessings which He being now reconciled, and become our most loving and gracious Father, can

bestow upon us.

17.]

IV. Lastly, Almighty God being thus reconciled to mankind by the death of His Son Jesus Christ, He for His sake therefore hath promised them all the blessings which were merited for them by His said death, so that it is only in Him, and upon the account of His merits, that the promises were at first made, as the Holy Scriptures all along testify. Let us hear how that general promise made to Abraham runs, "In thy seed," said God, "shall all the nations of the Gen. 22. 18. earth be blessed." "In thy seed," that is, "in Christ," as Gal. 3. 16. the Apostle observes. It was in Him therefore that God promised all nations should be blessed, or that all blessings should be conferred upon them in and through Him, according to that of the Apostle, "Blessed be the God and Eph. 1. 3. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." It is still in Christ that we are blessed, according to the

XLV.

2 Tim. 1. 1.

Eph. 3. 6.

SERM. promise that God made in Him, as the same Apostle often teaches us, saying, "Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus." And again, "that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His Gal. 3. 17. promise in Christ." Elsewhere he saith, that "the covenant in which all the promises are contained, was confirmed

of God in Christ." And that Jesus Christ was "a Minister Rom. 15. 8. of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the Fathers."

16.

ver. 17.

To all which I shall only add, that to shew how this New Covenant or system of Divine promises is founded and confirmed in Christ, it is represented in Holy Writ under the name and notion also of a Testament; and the Apostle Heb. 9. 15, speaking of it under that notion, saith, That "Christ is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first Testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance; for where a Testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator." Here Christ is represented as the Testator. The eternal inheritance, and so all the blessings that are promised to mankind, are as so many legacies given them in His Testament. But a Testament supposeth the death of the Testator, without which, it is of no force, as the Apostle there argues. And therefore concludes, that it is by means of death, that death which He suffered for the redemption of transgressors, that the promise is received; which plainly shews, that the promises are all founded upon Him, and upon that death by which He suffered the curse which was threatened against the transgressors of God's Law, and merited the blessings which are promised in the Gospel: so that if the Son of God had not been born of a woman, and when He was born, if the serpent had not bruised His heel; that is, if He had John 13. 2. not been put to death by the instigation of the Devil, putting it into the heart of Judas to betray Him. If this, I say, had not been done, mankind could never have hoped for any mercy from God; for God would never have pro[Jude 6.] mised them any, no more than He did to "the Angels that kept not their first estate," whereas by means of His death

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