dren are). Thou shalt have cause to thank me more for this woman, than thou now hast done; for the seed of the woman shall break the serpent's head;' and so doth God reprove him, and for his unthankfulness puts the honour upon the woman.

Obj. Yea, but now in the fourth place, you will say, this kindred is too nigh, he had better have married our nature further off, and at a greater distance; for thus he is in danger to be made sinful. Doth not the psalmist say, 'In sin my mother conceived me,' Ps. li. 5. Doth not the apostle say, 'And such an high priest became us as was separated from sinners"? Heb. vii. 26. Why, then, the work of our redemption will be spoiled by this way of conception of Christ, and he be unfitted for the work.

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But for answer, though there is a concipiet, yet not a genitus est; though there is a conception, yet not a generation. It is conception upon generation defiles. Man begets in his image, but Christ was not begotten, but conceived only. He comes so near, you see, that it is but the cutting of a hair keeps him from being infected; and so though he will have the same substance, yet separate from sinners, as there the separation means quantum ad culpam, as to sin; non naturam, as to nature. And therefore though he will be conceived in the same place we are, and be of the same substance with us, yet not after the same way; and it is not the substance that defiles, or the place, but the way of framing our natures. We are framed by generation of man and woman, he but by conception only of a woman, but made by the Holy Ghost; so in our Creed, conceived by the Holy Ghost;' so in Luke i. 25, The Holy Ghost shall overshadow thee;' and Mat. i. 20, That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.' Not σπερματικῶς, but dougyixas, as the builder framing and forming his body. Therefore it is not said he was begotten of a woman, but made of a woman, non genitus, sed factus, and therefore he is called The man from heaven,' though the matter of his body was from earth, 1 Cor. xv. 47, 48. And to this purpose it is observable, that Heb. x. 5 is with difference spoken of Christ's human nature and ours, 'A body hast thou prepared me;' that is, God did it, and not man by generation, which is the ordinary way of producing men, and the only way of conveying sin. The parents, they are therefore said to beget a man, not because they afford matter and stuff, but because there goes a forming power, vis plastica, as philosophers call it, that doth prepare the matter, form it, and, to use the word which is here, doth xaragris, articulate it for the soul, which is the utmost they do, and for which they are said to beget, and wherein the very formalis ratio of generation lies. Accurately therefore to distinguish this production of the human nature of Christ from the ordinary, though he useth the same word, that signifies the manner of making our bodies by way of articulation, yet he expresseth it as done by another hand, Thou hast prepared it,' the Holy Ghost performing that which the vis plastica, or forming power, in all other generations useth to do. Lake i. 35, ‹ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.' That though the matter is the same, and this formed by articulation, as ours is, yet it is done by the power of the Most High, and therefore exempted from sin; therefore he adds, That holy one that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' For because generation by men is the only way of conveying sin, and the formalis ratio of generation lies in that vis plastica, whereby a parent forms the birth (as philosophy

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teacheth), therefore his body, though made of the same matter, seed, that ours is, and that seed articulated into the same shape ours is, yet because by another hand, the power of the Most High,' therefore he is a holy one separate from sinners, his body being a tabernacle which God pitched, not man,' Heb. viii. 2. Not of this building, not built as man's is, not by the same hands, as Heb. ix. 11, ' But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building.' Man reared it not, nor jointed it, nor framed it, but A body hast thou (O God) prepared.' And therefore this body was of a virgin without a father, that as Melchisedec is said, Heb. vii. 3, to be without father and mother, so Christ as man was without father, and as God without a mother, who is therefore the stone cut out of the same quarry with us, but without hands,' Dan. ii. 45, that is, the help of nature, or by a man. And it was necesssary; for,

1. Otherwise his human nature had been a person (the inconvenience of which heard afore) for terminus generationis est persona. What is produced by generation is a person. And,

you

2. He had otherwise had two fathers, which nature abhors, that one person should have two fathers.

And in preparing this nature of Christ, the Holy Ghost sanctified that matter, and purified it, as goldsmiths do gold from the dross. And his business being to part sin and our flesh, it was fit he should take such flesh as, though once sinful, yet now sin was parted from it. It is generation defiles, for that which is born of the flesh is flesh, John iii. 6, and that as from a man, by whom sin is conveyed; but it follows in the same place, that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Now, of Christ it is said that which is conceived in thee is of the Holy Ghost: Mat. i. 20, But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.' It is not the matter nor the place we are conceived in defiles, but the being begotten by a man in the ordinary way of nature, upon which the law of nature seizeth, by which a man is to beget in his own likeness. And therefore the difference of the phrase used here in Heb. ii. 11, of Christ and us; and that in Rom. v. 12, speaking of our coming from Adam, is observable. Here, in Heb. ii. 11, Christ and we are said to be ' of one,' that is, of one lump; but the phrase that is used, Rom. v. 12, when the apostle speaks of the propagation of original sin, runs thus, 'By one man sin entered,' because all came by and of that one man. And therefore though Christ be made a Son of Adam, Luke iii. 38, as made of that substance and matter derived from him, yet not in regard of the same way of conveying that matter, by fleshly generation of a man, which is the natural channel of conveying his image and original sin. And yet, Fifthly, To make up this disproportion, he will in all other respects be yet the more like to us; and seeing he must not take sinful flesh, yet he will take the likeness of sinful flesh, as Rom. viii. 3, For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh.' He partakes of flesh and blood, Heb. ii. 17; and by flesh and blood are meant infirmities of all sorts, he excepts sin only, a body passible; he might have had a body exempted from all sufferings or misery, but he would not. And this assumption of frail flesh was the first part of satisfaction for sin, and the condemning sin in our flesh is attributed to it,

Rom. viii. 3. He took not indeed personal infirmities, as sickness, but what were common to man's nature; he did bear dolores nostros, our griefs, not of John or Peter, not such evils as came from the particular sins of men, but such as flowed from the common sin of man; nor such as do spring from sin, as not despair, though fear; and those he took was to shew his love, and as they were part of the curse, that he might be able to pity us, and that he might suffer and die and feel the pains of death, in all which he was left to infirmity; as you have it, 2 Cor. xiii. 4, ‘For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God for we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.' And so in this text, he was 'partaker of flesh and blood,' that is, of the infirmities of man's nature, as well as of the nature; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. that is, the devil. If he had not taken this frail flesh, he could not have died.

Hitherto you have heard every way what manner of man he was, and such as in all respects was fittest for him to be, in all things. But there are two things yet to be added, and both such as will make him yet fitter. I add them that you may every way see a fulness in it. Therefore,

For

Sixthly, Man's nature, you know, was diversified into two sexes, male and female. Now, which of the two was the fittest for him to assume? And this is a distinct consideration from all the former. Of the two, a male was fittest; and such was he. It is not so directly in the text, and yet all that is spoken of him runs in the masculine gender, him and he; and so this is included: Mat. i. 21, Thou shalt bring forth a son,' and, ver. 25, she brought forth her first-born son;' and so Luke ii. 22. he was to be our high priest, and consecrated to God as holy, and so thereby to sanctify his brethren, as Heb. ii. 11 hath it; and so was the first male child by the law, which is on purpose noted, Luke ii. 23, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord.' And again, all his other offices required it. He was to be a prophet, and to teach God's will first, Heb. ii. 2, 3, and for ever to be in the great congregation; and a woman is not to teach in the church. He was to be a king, and to rule his church; and a woman is not to usurp authority over the man. He was to be a husband, and his church a spouse; and only a male could fitly bear that relation. And besides all this, there was this further harmony in it, that as by the male, the man, not the woman, sin is said to enter into the world, Rom. v. 19; so by the man we should be restored. And thus indeed both sexes came to share in this honour-the male, in that Christ himself is a man; the female, in that she yet was the instrument of bringing him forth into the world. He is of the woman's seed, but of man's sex, that so both male and female might be all one in Christ Jesus. There is now but one thing left, and that is, seeing God hath appointed several bounds to man's habitation, though all are made of one blood, of what country or kindred of men was it fittest for our Redeemer to be of? God pitched it on what of all was fittest, that he should be of the seed of Abraham.' This Heb. ii. 16 you see also hath it; and so I could not but take notice of it. As he took the nature of man, not of angels, so he took the seed of Abraham more eminently than of any other nation; although he had by some of his progenitors Gentiles' blood in him, yet he was of Abraham in a lineal descent: Rom. ix. 4, 5, 'Who are Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;' ver. 5, 'Whose are

the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.' I will not mention any other reason of this, but what is proper to set out his fitness the more for this work. It was well for us that he took Abraham's seed, for so in him all nations were blessed, as was the promise, Abraham being father of all the faithful. But especially he was thereby engaged to keep the whole law for us; for Abraham's seed were all to be circumcised, and he that was circumcised was a debtor to the whole law: Gal. v. 3, 'For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.' And so the law will take hold of him, and so hereby he was made under the law; and this was one reason why he was a male child also, for they only were circumcised. Thus you see Christ hereby engaged to keep the law for us, yea, to satisfy for sin; for the ceremonial law was a bond against us, which he must cancel and destroy.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Uses. Since God hath thus fitted us with a Mediator, we may be assured that he will fit us with all other things.-Let us choose Christ to be our only Saviour, and trust in none but him.-Is he God?-Let us not then fear or doubt.-Hath he taken our nature?-Let us admire his love in this, and consider our own privilege.—Let us endeavour to fit our natures all that we can for fellowship with him.

We will now come to uses of all this. And surely the doctrine of Christ will afford many; for his person is the most useful of any in heaven and earth. I deferred the uses until the last, that so you might view the frame of the doctrinal part, as set together without separation.

I. The first uses shall be from this, That God chose him to be mediator, because of his fitness above all other.

1. Hence learn and be assured, that that love which thus fitted thee with a Saviour, will much more fit thee with all other things which thou hast need of. Thou shalt have the fittest condition, the fittest calling, the fittest yoke-fellow, the fittest estate, food convenient,' as Agar speaks : God will fit thee in everything. Thus he sought out a meet help' for Adam, Gen. ii. 20. The fulness of fitness in Christ to be a saviour is a pawn for fitting and suiting thee with all things else; for he that gave Christ gives all besides: Rom. viii. 32, 'He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?' And believe that as all things do meet in Christ, and nothing is wanting that may make him a fit and meet saviour for thee, so all things shall conspire, all things shall suit and kiss each other; sins, afflictions, mercies, yea, all God's dealings shall work together for thy good. Be quiet therefore, and trust him in all; 'lean not,' as Solomon says, 'to thine own wisdom,' Prov. iii. 5. Thou knowest not what is fittest for thee, as the sons of Zebedee did not when they asked for a place that was not fit for them. The physician knows what is fit for his patient better than he himself does; and so does God. He takes measure of thy spirit, and knows the composition of it; and so orders his prescripts accordingly. We cannot judge what is fit for us, God only can. If thou hadst seen Christ in the flesh, poor and despised (as he was whilst on earth), thy carnal heart would have judged him as unlikely and as unfit a man to be

the saviour of the world as the Jews did; Isa. lii. 14, His countenance was so marred.' Thou wouldst never have thought that a carpenter's son should build God a church; that a man unlearned should be the prophet of God's people. The Jews refused him as an unfit stone to be laid in their building, whom God had yet hewn out on purpose, as being only fit to be made the head stone of the corner,' as a stone elect and precious: Isa. xxviii. 16, 'Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste;' 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7. And as much mistaken are men in judging of their own condition.

2. Is Christ every way so fit a saviour? Then choose him, and rest in him alone. It is necessary that a saviour you should have; for otherwise you perish; and it is as necessary that you should have Jesus Christ, or else you must have none : for there is, there can be, no other. But yet, suppose you should have your choice of many, nay, suppose there were as many saviours as men to be saved (as many as the papists would make), yet he so transcends, that if ye all knew him, you would all make choice of him, and refuse all others. As who is a god like to our God?' so, who is a saviour like to our Saviour? Isa. xliii. 11, There is none besides him.' What do you therefore mean, to stand demurring and deliberating whether you should take him or no for your Lord and King, as the most men do? Do you look for any more such Christs, or can you have a better, a fitter saviour? Let this encourage you also to be willingly subject to him. What greater motive can there be to this, than that of all princes he is the fittest to be thy king (and none fit to be king of saints but he), and of all husbands he is the fittest to rule over thee? It grieves no man, nor do any think much to be subject to such a governor as all men with one consent acknowledge to be most fit for them: The people rejoice,' says Solomon, 'when the righteous are in authority,' Prov. xxix. 2. Now that the Lord Christ is King, let the earth rejoice, and the multitudes of the isles be glad,' Ps. xcvii. 1.

II. The second sort of uses may be taken from this, that our saviour is God.

1. Is he who is thy saviour God? Then fear not to commit thyself to him. Thy God is thy saviour.' If God will justify' (though there were no mediator), 'who should lay anything to thy charge?' Rom. viii. 33. Surely none would open their mouths against you; The Lord that chooseth Jerusalem rebuke thee,' said the angel unto Satan, Zech. iii. 2; but if God will also be thy mediator, and die for thee, then much more art thou safe : Who shall condemn?' as the apostle says, It is Christ that died.' Do you know and consider who he is that died for you? It is even 'Christ that died,' Rom. viii. 34; who in the beginning of the next chapter, he tells them, is God over all, blessed for ever.' In his days Judah shall be saved,' Jer. xxiii. 6. It shall be so, says the prophet, for his name is Jehovah our righteousness.' Say to the feeble of heart, Fear not: for your God will save you,' Isa. xxxv. 4. When princes will themselves in person go into the field, how doth it encourage their subjects and soldiers? Now Jesus Christ, who is God, came down into the field himself: Who is this that comes from Bozrah ?' Isa. lxiii. 1. It is I,' says Christ, that am mighty to save.' The heathens thought that if their gods should but come down, they were sure of the victory. Now God came down, and was found amongst us as a man, and is become a Captain of salvation,' Heb. ii. 10; therefore let fear have no entertainment with you.