Sermon 29

Isaiah 53:8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Every step of Christ's way to sinners, and every word whereby it is expressed, is wonderful; and therefore it is no marvel that the Prophet does by way of admiration cast in this word, And who shall declare his generation? We show you that we conceive these words to be these that express the Prophet's turning of himself from Christ's humiliation to his exaltation; He has insisted long in setting out his wonderful abasement, exinanition, and humiliation, which these words import, He was brought from prison and from judgment; Which look not only to his external imprisonment, to his coming to judgment before men, but also, and mainly and principally, to the pinches and straits that he was brought into, and his arraignment before God's tribunal, and so to the cause of his suffering, to wit, for the transgression of his people, as the words following hold out, which was not the cause of his censure before men, but the procuring cause of what he met with from, and before God.

But though he was brought to prison and to judgment, to death and to the grave, yet they did not, they could not detain him; He was taken, or as the word signifies, he was lifted up from prison and from judgment, being the same word that follows, He was cut off out of the land of the living, which supposes a turn and change from his humiliation to his exaltation, and these words, Who shall declare his generation? set out the inconceivable and inexpressible glory that Christ is exalted to, so (Acts 8:33, 35), where these words are cited, it's said, In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; That is in his lowest step of his humiliation, his judgment, or that to which he was adjudged, was taken from him, and he was declared free; However, since in these words our Lord's humiliation is implied, and his exaltation expressed as following on it, we think it safest to understand them so. The words put together hold out the high degree of Christ's glorious exaltation, so as his generation cannot be declared; He was taken from prison and from judgment, and gloriously exalted in another manner, and to another degree of glory than either angels or believers are, or are capable to be; For he that is exalted is God, whose generation cannot be declared; Death having no more dominion over him, and he having the keys of hell and of death; In a word, we take this, Who shall declare his generation? most immediately to relate to Christ's exaltation as Mediator, and to the glory with which he was invested, and to the dominion that he has over all creatures: yet considering that the Prophet's scope is to set out this as wonderful, and considering that the first step of his exaltation is his resurrection, whereby (as the Apostle speaks, (Romans 1:4)) he was declared to be the Son of God with power; His resurrection being singular in this respect that he rose by his own power, and considering that (Acts 8:35) Philip began to preach to the Eunuch Jesus Christ as the object of faith; We think it reasonable to conceive, that he preached Christ to be God, from this text, so as the Eunuch might have a solid foundation for his faith; And this subserving the scope, which is to set out the wonderfulness of Christ's love to elect sinners, who being God, yet condescended to come thus low for saving of them; We may take in his Godhead mediately from which as the former steps of his humiliation received worth and efficacy, so he was thereby sustained and born up under all these sufferings whereby his people are saved.

From the first and second expressions put together, we shall draw three doctrines relating to three main articles of our faith.

The first of which is this: that our Lord Jesus had an out-gate from, and victory over the lowest and most pinching pieces of His humiliation and suffering; so that though he was at prison and judgment, yet he was lifted up from both, and had a glorious out-gate. This takes in three things which the same grounds will confirm. 1. That in his lowest state and step of humiliation he was sustained and carried through, so that all the assaults which he was put to endure and encounter with from all his enemies, wicked men and devils, did not overcome him. 2. That as he in himself was borne through and sustained; so in respect of God's bar at which he was arraigned, he was absolved and set free; he so came through by paying of the debt, that he had an Absolviture, as it is (1 Timothy 3, last verse): Great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit; our blessed Lord Jesus being sustained by the power of his Godhead, was carried through in his sufferings, paid the elect's debt, and received the sentence of absolution, even as a person (to speak with reverence in such a subject) having paid the debt for which he was imprisoned, is absolved and set free. 3. It takes in our Lord's actual delivery — he not only received the sentence of absolution, but was actually set free; so that as he was pleased to put himself in prison and in straits for us, so he was brought from every step of his humiliation, from prison and from judgment, from death and from the grave. He nailed the handwriting which was against us to his cross, as the Apostle says (Colossians 2:14-15): and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. And as it is (1 Corinthians 15, at the close), he took the sting from death, disarmed it, and trod upon it. And there was necessity for this, even such necessity that it was impossible it could be otherwise, as we have it (Acts 2:24): it was not possible that he could be held of death. This will be clear if we consider these things. 1. The person that suffered — he was not an ordinary, or rather not a mere man, but God-man; as is clear (Acts 2:27), cited out of (Psalm 16), where it is said, You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will you suffer your Holy One to see corruption. 2. The end of Christ's sufferings; which was to satisfy for the debt of his people, there having been no reckoning on his own score or account, he being still in God's favor and his Holy One in whom his soul delighted all along his sufferings; his sufferings being for the sins of his elect, and he being to make application of his satisfaction, and of the purchase made thereby to the elect for whom he suffered and purchased these things, by his intercession; there was a necessity that he should come through; otherwise he should not have been a perfect and complete Savior, able to save to the uttermost these that come to God by him, as the Apostle speaks (Hebrews 7:25): but such a High Priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. 3. It is clear also if we consider the nature of the covenant, and of the promises made to him therein, upon his engaging and undertaking for the elect, as particularly verse 10 of this chapter: he shall see his seed, and prolong his days, his duration shall be for ever, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand, and I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Our Lord's exaltation and victory over death being on the Lord's side conditioned to him the Mediator, as well as he engaged to suffer, hence it is said (Psalm 110): he shall drink of the brook in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head.

The uses are two, the first of which serves for clearing and confirming our faith in a fundamental article of Christianity, without which it were needless for us to preach, and needless for you to hear or believe, and that is, that our Lord Jesus suffered and also got the victory over suffering, that he was raised from the dead, and declared to be the Son of God with power; intimating that justice had gotten full satisfaction, in evidence and testimony of which he was declared free; which is a main thing that believers have to believe; even that we have an exalted Christ, a raised up Savior, who could not be detained by all the elect's guilt in prison. 2. It serves to be matter of strong consolation, it puts life in all Christ's offices and qualifications, and in all the promises made to believers; to wit, that our Lord Jesus is a living Christ, over whom death had no dominion, and he overcame it, now to die no more; so that, as it is (Hebrews 7:25), he is able to save to the uttermost those that come to God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them: there is nothing that a soul needs or can desire, but it is to be had in him. And if we would look to particular instances, much consolation will arise from this ground. For 1. Has a believing sinner to do with challenges at the bar of justice, is it not unspeakable consolation that their debt is paid? Hence it is said (Romans 8:33), Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies; who shall condemn? It is Christ that died, yes rather that is risen again; it is that which gives proof of complete payment of the elect's debt and defiance to any challenges and accusations to come against the believer to his prejudice, because Christ has not only died, but is also risen, justice being well pleased with his satisfaction, he is let out of the prison. 2. If the believer has to do with corruption, with the Devil and with many enemies; is it not strong consolation that our Lord is risen and up, that the prince of this world is judged, that Satan is trodden under foot, and that he shall and must reign till all his enemies be made his footstool? 3. Our Lord's resurrection has a twofold further consolation with it to believers, 1. It serves to be a ground for the exercising of faith on him, that as he is risen (so Romans 6) may we expect that being spiritually dead with him to sin, we shall be with him raised up to newness of life. 2. It is a pledge of believers' exaltation and complete victory over death and the grave, and over all enemies; for Christ being raised as the common head of all believers who are his members, they by virtue of his resurrection, and by that same efficacy shall be raised; and it is impossible that they can lie under corruption; this is our great consolation who are believers, and live under the gospel, that we have not these things as a prophecy of things to come, but as a plain history of things in part done, and by and by to be completely done. 4. It has also in it consolation in respect of temporal difficulties, what are they all? They are not surely such as Christ's were, and the day is coming when believers shall have a way out from them all; and therefore since our Lord is up, let not believers be afraid of any changes whatever.

Second, observe that our Lord Jesus being raised up from his state of humiliation, is invested and put in a most excellent and glorious condition, even such as the prophet cannot express, Who can declare his generation? Says he; who can declare how glorious he is now? Take two or three scriptures to confirm this. 1. That (Ephesians 1:20-21) he has set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principalities and powers, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in that which is to come, and has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church; our Lord's throne is exalted far above angels and archangels, even out of sight. The second is (Philippians 2:9), where having spoken of his humiliation, it follows, Therefore God has highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and, etc. His exaltation is such as has a dominion and supremacy with it over every name; he having as it is (Colossians 1:18) in all things the preeminence. The third place is (Hebrews 8:1), of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum, we have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of majesty in the heavens; where Christ's exaltation is set out to be such as has exalted him to the right hand of the majesty on high.

Because this is one of the great articles of our faith, to wit, that Christ rose from death the third day, and ascended into heaven, and is set down on the right hand of God; we shall add a little more to clear it. 1. We would know that this exaltation of our Lord is not to be understood of his exaltation properly as he is God, in which respect there is no up nor down in him, though his declarative glory was valid for a time during his humiliation, yet in himself as he was God, he was still glorious and blessed over all. 2. When we speak of Christ's exaltation as Mediator, and as man, we do not mean that his human nature has lost the essential properties of a creature, as if now when exalted he were wholly or only God, or as if the properties of the human nature were swallowed up in the Godhead; that were inconsistent with his being true man, and would mar and obstruct our consolation exceedingly; but his exaltation consists, 1. In the manifestation and [reconstructed: declaration] of the person that was humbled and brought low, to be God omnipotent, omnipresent, all-sufficient, infinitely wise, powerful, just, etc. For though these properties agree not to the human nature, yet they agree to his person, and they are manifested to be in him without question. 2. In the exaltation of the human nature of Christ, man, to an inconceivable height of glory, such as the human nature united to the divine nature is capable of, by very many degrees beyond anything that the elect whether angels or men are capable of; the personal union making him capable of far more glory, and his excellent offices calling for it. 3. This exaltation consists in his absolute dominion and kingly power, which is more observably, directly, and plainly manifested in the days of the gospel administration than it was under the law; so that now he is clearly known in respect of his kingly office to be God in our nature, clothed with our flesh, and to be Immanuel, [reconstructed: God with] us, and that this Immanuel has [reconstructed: all power] in heaven and earth committed to him; he has the keys of hell and of death, and is King of kings, and Lord of lords, is exalted far above all principalities and powers, and is given to be head over all things to the church; in which respect that is most properly to be understood when it is said, that he is set on the right hand of God; so that now Jesus Christ, God and man in one person is in highest glory, and in absolutest dominion, nearest to God, far above that which angels or saints are capable of; as kings use to set their greatest courtiers and favorites whom they would honor most on their right hand, and as Solomon set his mother on his right hand, so is our Lord set on the right hand of God in highest glory: it is true, that as God he has an absolutely sovereign and independent kingdom, yet as Mediator God-man, he has a dispensatory kingdom next to the Father in glory. 4. This exaltation consists in Christ's being furnished with qualifications suitable to that glorious condition wherein he is invested; and though these qualifications of the man Christ be not simply infinite, yet they are far above what we can conceive; and the qualifications of the person God-man are infinite, in which respect he is omnipotent, all-seeing, and infinitely wise to provide everything that may be for the good of his church and people, and to prevent what may tend to their hurt, omnipresent, etc.

The uses are three. 1. This would waken and rouse our spirits to a high, holy, and reverent esteem of Christ; he is God above all gods, King above all kings; he has gotten a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, not superstitiously when he is named, but holily and reverently to think of him, and to worship and serve him. We conceive among many faults and evils in believers, this is a root-evil, even low thoughts of glorious Christ, so that because he has become low to lift us up, we are ready to think the less of him, but, O! that we could behold the glorious condition he is exalted to, and could look upon [reconstructed: him] as ere long, coming in the clouds with [reconstructed: power] and great glory, in the glory of his Father, and all the holy angels with him, it would furnish reverent thoughts of him, though not to hurt faith and confidence, yet to breed holy awe and reverence in us toward him.

The second use serves to show what a formidable party they engage to top with them, who slight our Lord Jesus Christ, what loss they are at who lose him, and what a great aggravation their sin has who sin against him; you that slight, refuse and oppose him, do you know whom you refuse, and whose dominion you spurn against, and how hard it will be for you to kick against the pricks? Do you know your loss who lose him, and how it will aggravate your guilt who despise him? The more glorious Christ be, the greater will the sin of the unbeliever be; therefore be aware what you are doing, you have a mighty great and strong party to deal with; and when the great day of his wrath comes, and when he shall appear in his glory, how will you be able to abide the least touch of it? It will aggravate your sin and heighten your misery, that he whom the Father exalted was undervalued by you, that you scorned to take a direction from him, or to submit to a censure drawn forth in his name, and said, at least by your practice, Let us break his bands asunder, and cast away his cords from us, but he has set his king on his holy hill of Zion for all that, and he that sits in heaven will laugh, the Lord will have you in derision; think on it seriously, and know that he is no mean person whom you slight and despise; and though this may now seem less than other sins, yet it will one day lie heavy on your score and conscience, above many, indeed above all other sins.

The third use serves to be a motive and encouragement to them that hear this Gospel to receive Christ, and for the consolation of believers who have received him. 1. It serves to encourage you all to receive him; He is no mean person that woos you, but King of kings, and Lord of lords; and if you think it a happiness to be forever with him, then let it move you to close with him; if you do so, you shall be made glorious as he is glorious, a due proportion between the Head and the Members being kept; you shall sit on the same throne with him and behold his glory; as he prays (John 17), I will that these whom you have given me may be with me to behold my glory; this is certainly a great bargain; if Christ be glorious, he calls you to share with him in the same glory. 2. It serves for the consolation of believers who have received him, you have an excellent Mediator, a most glorious Head and Husband, and a most excellent dowry, and you shall know it to your superabundant satisfaction and joy in that day, when (as it is in Psalm 45) you shall be brought to the king in raiment of needlework, and shall enter into the king's palace, and share of his glory, and see him face to face, and sit with him on his throne, even as he has overcome, and is set down with his Father on his throne; labor to be stayed in the faith and hope of this good, glorious, and desirable day that is coming, when we shall not only see but partake of, and be fully and forever possessed in that which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered in the heart of man to conceive of.

3. From the words as we expounded them, observe, that our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered, and was in suffering brought very low, is God. We find ordinarily in Scripture, especially through the New Testament, these three going together: 1. Christ's humiliation. 2. His exaltation on the back of that. And thirdly, his Godhead; his humiliation is not readily spoken of without his exaltation, nor his exaltation without his Godhead; because it's impossible to separate Christ's exaltation from his Godhead; his exaltation being the evidence of his Godhead; and the Prophet's scope here being to set out Christ's exaltation, and Philip preaching of it to the Eunuch from this text; it's doubtless the contemplation of Christ's Godhead that occasions this admiring exclamation, who shall declare his generation? which we apply not so much to the ineffableness of his generation, as to its being an evidence that he is God. There are three or four ways whereby the Scripture confirms this, let me desire you by the way not to look on this as a little momentous or but a common doctrine; and since there are many so ignorant, that we would be ashamed to tell what we hear from some of you concerning the Godhead of Jesus Christ, you would take the better heed to it, it being a main pillar of Christian religion, without which our preaching and your faith are vain, for he is not believed on at all if you rest not on him as God. But to pursue what we proposed, namely, these several ways whereby the Scripture confirms this truth, and to this purpose consider: 1. The express titles and names that are given to him in Scripture, and some Scripture sayings of him which hold it out; three of which we shall instance. The first is that of (Isaiah 9:6-7), where, when Christ is prophesied of, it's said, To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and what is he? He shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end; here we have these three, his humiliation, exaltation, and Godhead; his humiliation, To us a child is born, to us a son is given; his exaltation, Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice; and his Godhead is interjected and put in between these two, in the names and titles given to him, Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, not as personally taken, but (as the word signifies) The Father of Eternity, from whom all things have their being; and for the same reason (Isaiah 7:14) he is called Immanuel, God with us. A second place is that of (Philippians 2:6), Who being in the form of God, thought it no robbery (he did God no wrong) to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation; and took on him the form of a servant, etc. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name, etc. A third place is that of (Hebrews 1:2-3), God who at sundry times, and in diverse manners, spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, and what is he by whom he spoke to us? who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; there is here much of Christ's excellency held forth, he is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person; the beam of the sun is not more like to the sun's light, the impression of the seal on the wax is no more like to the seal, than the Son is to the Father, (nay, the liveliest resemblances fall infinitely short of a full and exact resemblance) the Father and he being the same God, and he being compared with the Father, not simply as God essentially taken, but as the second person of the Trinity compared with him who is the first person; O deep and adorable mystery!

A second way to clear and confirm it, is to consider his works often joined with his name — the works of creation, providence, redemption, and guiding of his church. So we have it (John 1:1): In the beginning was the Word, the substantial Word of the Father, the Son of his love, called the Word, either as expressing the Father's image as a man's word expresses his mind, or because as Prophet of the church he has revealed the Father's will. It is said that this Word was not only with God, but was God; and then follows in several verses together his works — the works of creation: all things were made by him, etc. The works of providence are attributed to him (John 5:17): My Father works until now, and I work. And the work of redemption and his glorious going through with it declare him to be the Son of God; for none but God could redeem his church.

Third, for clearing and confirming of this truth, we may take the express confession of the saints in Scripture, on which there is much weight laid; and I shall name but five or six of their confessions, which to this purpose are expressly and fully recorded. The first is that of Matthew 16:16: Whom do men say that I am? Peter answered: You are the Son of the living God. And Christ says, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona — flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, but my Father who is in heaven — to let us know that it is not such a little thing to believe Christ's Godhead as many take it to be; and then he calls himself the rock on which his church is built; Christ's Godhead is the foundation of Christianity. A second is John 1:49, in Nathanael's words: Christ tells him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you; and he, having gotten this proof of Christ's omniscience, presently breaks out, Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel — and that is the first thing his faith evidences itself in. A third place is John 6:67-69, where, when Christ is saying to the twelve, Will you also leave me? Simon answers, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God — there is much in these words, we believe and are sure that it is so. A fourth place is John 11:27, and it is Martha's confession: Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who should come into the world. The fifth place is that of John 20:28, where, when Christ bids Thomas reach his hand and put it into his side, his glory shines so full in his face that he cries out, My Lord and my God — and his faith is summed up and comprehended in that. The last place that we shall name is that of Acts 8:37, and it is the eunuch's confession: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God — which is the sum of his faith.

The fourth and last way of confirmation of this great truth is drawn from the worship which is due to him, and has been given to him. He is the object of faith (John 14:11): You believe in God, believe also in me. He is the object of prayer (Acts 7:59): They stoned Stephen, calling upon God, saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit — and frequently elsewhere in Scripture he is prayed to, though these two are not too curiously to be separated.

Use 1. The first use serves to strengthen your faith in this: that our Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered for sinners and is made offer of to them in the gospel, is God equal with the Father, and so he is to be closed with and rested on as the brightness of the Father's glory. The reason why we would have you confirmed in the faith of this is not small, for it is a most necessary thing, and without the faith of it, all the work of our salvation will hang loose; neither can we have any claim to eternal life. And therefore we desire you particularly — you who are ignorant hearers, and who have the name of Christ often in your mouths, and yet know not what he is — to know, remember, and believe that he who is the Son of Mary is also the eternal Son of God, being God before he was incarnate, and before the world was made, and the maker of all that was made.

Use 2. The second use serves to let you know that, though it is a most necessary thing to be confirmed in the faith of this truth — that Christ is God — yet it is a greater difficulty to believe and be persuaded of it than most take it to be. Many sad proofs of this we have in folks' words, and more in their practice. Flesh and blood (says Christ (Matthew 16)) has not revealed this to you. It is a wonder where many folks' faith comes from, who never found any the least difficulty in this; and it is a wonder that so few are thorough in the faith of it, so that if they were called and put to it, they dare not swear that he is God. Yes, if we would look in a little further, we would find that the faith of this is but scarce among us — not to speak of the gross ignorance of many, who will say when asked that he is not equal with the Father, or that he was made God, and other such like expressions will they have, that are abominable to be once named among Christians — folks through their ignorance falling into damnable heresies on the matter, and yet not knowing that they do so. As if our blessed Lord were a made god, and not the same God with the Father — for the proving of him to be God proves him to be the same God, there being but one God.

You would consider for convincing you that it is thus with many of you, 1. The little fear that is in men and women of the Majesty of Christ as God, they dared not walk with so little fear of him if they believed indeed that he were God; What made the Jews with the Scribes and Pharisees to spit upon him and despise him? But because they wanted the faith of his Godhead; And have not you the same nature in you? You live in a place where the faith of Christ's Godhead is professed and is not questioned, but your practice says to beholders that you believe it not, because you fear him not. 2. That your souls do so little welcome the offer of the gospel, that tells that you believe him not to be God. 3. That you do not place your happiness in believing on him, and in the way of holiness; you say in effect, why serves Christ? you care not for him; Hence it is that so many live contentedly without him, and are not solicitous about the enjoying of him. 4. Even in believers there is much unbelief of this truth, which is sadly evidenced by this, that they do not so bless themselves in him, and that they do not so reckon themselves to have come well to, and to be made up in him, as David does (Psalm 16) where he says, and holily glories, The lines are fallen to me in a pleasant place, etc. And by the frequent discouragement that is incident to believers, as if Christ had not the guiding of them, and of what concerns them, or could not guide all well enough for their good; If he were believed to be God, it would quash temptations, banish discouragement, comfort under crosses, sweeten every condition, induce to holiness, restrain from sin; And in a word, it cannot be told what is in the bosom of this one truth when solidly believed; For what can possibly be wanting to the believer in him that is God? He has the fullness of the Godhead to supply whatever they want, and sustains the relation of a husband to the believer to make it forthcoming; And he is furnished with suitable qualifications to make the application thereof; What then could be wanting if this were thoroughly believed that he is God? Let me say it to you, the faith of this would provoke to more holiness, and to study more the power than the profession of religion, and would help to live a more comfortable life in every condition.