things—FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour. SECOND. How it appears that
God in all ages gave his people a promise that he would one day send
them a Saviour. THIRD. That this was ground for believing remembrance
that a Saviour should one day come.
FIRST. What it is to be a Saviour.
First. This word ‘Saviour’ is easy to be understood, it being all one
with Deliverer, Redeemer, &c. ‘A Saviour, Jesus,’ both words are of the
same signification, and are doubled, perhaps to teach us that the
person mentioned in the text is not called ‘Jesus’ only to distinguish
him from other men—for names are given to distinguish—but also and
especially to specify his office; his name is Saviour, because it was
to be his work, his office, his business in the world. His name shall
be called Jesus, ‘for he shall save his people from their sins’ (Matt
1:21).
Second. This word ‘Saviour’ is a word so large that it hath place in
all the undertakings of Christ: for whatever he doth in his mediation
he doth as a Saviour. He interposeth between God and man as a Saviour;
he engageth against sin, the devil, death, and hell, as a Saviour, and
triumphed over them by himself as a Saviour.
Third. The word ‘Saviour,’ as I said, is all one with Redeemer,
Deliverer, Reconciler, Peace-maker, or the like; for though there be
variation in the terms, yet Saviour is the intendment of them all. By
redeeming he becomes a Saviour, by delivering he becomes a Saviour, by
reconciling he becomes a Saviour, and by making peace he becometh a
Saviour. But I pass this now, intending to speak more to the same
question afterwards.
SECOND. How it appears that God in all ages gave his people a promise
that he would one day send them a Saviour.
It appears evidently; for so soon as man had sinned, God came to him
with a heart full of promise, and continued to renew, and renew, till
the time of the promised Messiah to be revealed was come.
[First.] He promised him under the name of ‘the seed of the women,’
after our first father had sinned—‘I will also put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel’ (Gen 3:15).[1] This the apostle
hath his eye upon when he saith, ‘When the fulness of the time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to
redeem them that were under the law’ (Gal 4:4,5).
Second. God renewed this promise to Abraham, and there tells him Christ
should be his seed, saying, ‘In thy seed shall all families of the
earth be blessed’ (Gen 12:3). ‘Now,’ saith Paul, ‘to Abraham and his
seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many;
but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ’ (Gal 3:16).
Third. He was promised in the time of Moses under the name of a
‘prophet’—‘I will raise them up,’ saith God to him, ‘a prophet from
among their brethren like unto thee’ (Deut 18:18). This Peter expounds
of Christ, ‘For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the
Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him
shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you’ (Acts
3:22).
Fourth. He promised him to David under the title of a ‘son,’ saying, ‘I
will be his Father, and he shall be my Son’ (2 Sam 7:14). For this the
apostle expounded of the Saviour, saying, ‘Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee’; and again, ‘I will be to him a Father, and he
shall be to me a Son’ (Heb 1:5).
Fifth. He was promised in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah—
1. By the name of a ‘branch’—‘In that day shall the branch of the Lord
be beautiful and glorious’ (Isa 4:2).
2. Under the name of the ‘son of a virgin’—‘Therefore the Lord himself
shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel.’ This Matthew expounds of Christ (Isa
7:14; Matt 1:23).
3. He was promised under the name of a ‘rod’—‘There shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots,
and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.’ This answereth the
text, David was the son of Jesse, and Christ the Son of David (Isa
11:1,2).
4. He is promised under the title of a ‘king’—‘Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness,—and a man shall be as an hiding-place from the
wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place,
as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’ (Isa 32:1,2).
5. He was promised under the name of an ‘elect servant’—‘Behold my
servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have
put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall
he not quench’ (Isa 42:1-3; Matt 12:17-20).
6. He was promised to Jeremiah under the name of ‘the Lord our
Righteousness’—‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper; and shall execute judgment—in the earth. In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name
whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ (Jer 23:5,6).
7. He was promised by the prophet Ezekiel under the name of ‘David, a
shepherd’—‘And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed
them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their
shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a
prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it’ (Eze 24:23; John 10:1-3).
8. He was promised by the prophet Daniel under the name of ‘Messiah, or
Christ, the most holy’—‘And after threescore and two weeks shall the
Messiah be cut off, but not for himself’ (Dan 9:26).
9. He was promised by the prophet Micah under the name of the ‘ruler in
Israel’—‘But thou, Bethlehem-Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come—that is to be ruler
in Israel’ (Micah 5:2; Matt 2:6).
10. He was promised to Haggai as ‘the desire of all nations’—‘I will
shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will
fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Hagg 2:7).
11. He was promised by Zechariah under the name of ‘servant and
branch’—‘For, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.’ And
again, ‘Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; and he shall grow up
out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he
shall bear the glory’ (Zech 3:8, 6:12,13).
12. He was promised by Malachi under the name of ‘the Lord, and the
messenger of the covenant’—‘Behold, I will send my messenger, and he
shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom
ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts’ (Mal
3:1).
Indeed, the Scriptures of the Old Testament are filled with promises of
the Messias to come, prophetical promises, typical promises; for all
the types and shadows of the Saviour are virtually so many promises.
Sixth. Having therefore touched upon the prophetical, I will briefly
touch the typical promises also; for as God spake at sundry times to
the fathers, so also in diverse manners, prophetically, providentially,
typically, and all of the Messias (Heb 1:1). The types of the Saviour
were various—1. Sometimes he was typed out by men; 2. Sometimes by
beasts; 3. Sometimes by insensible creatures.
1. He was typed forth sometimes by men. Adam was his type in many
things, especially as he was the head and father of the first world. He
was ‘the figure of him that was to come’ (Rom 5:14). Moses was his type
as Mediator, and as builder of the tabernacle (Heb 3:2,3). Aaron was
his type as he was high-priest, and so was Melchisedec before him (Heb
5:4,5, 7:1,21). Samson was his type in the effects of his death; for as
Samson gave his life for the deliverance of Israel from the
Philistines, Christ gave his life to deliver us from sin and devils.
Joshua was his type in giving the land of Canaan to Israel, as Jesus
will give the kingdom of heaven to the elect (Heb 4:8). David was his
type in many things, especially in his subduing of Israel’s enemies,
and feeding them [Israel]: hence he is sometimes called David their
king, and David their shepherd (Eze 34:23,24). Solomon was his type in
his building the temple, and in his peaceable kingdom. Hence it is
said, ‘He shall build the temple of the Lord’; and again, ‘Of his
government and peace there shall be no end.’
2. Beasts were his types. To instance some—
(1.) The paschal lamb was his type (Exo 12). In its spotlessness;
Christ was ‘a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:18,19).
In its being roasted it was a figure of the cursed death of Christ; for
to be roasted bespake one accursed (Jer 29:22; Gal 3:13). In that it
was to be eaten—‘Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood,’ saith
Christ, ‘hath eternal life’ (John 6:54). In that its blood was to be
sprinkled upon the doors of their houses, for the destroying angel to
look on; the blood of Christ is sprinkled upon the elect for the
justice of God to look on (Heb 9; 1 Peter 1:2). By eating the paschal
lamb, the people went out of Egypt; by feeding upon Christ by faith we
come from under the Egyptian darkness, tyranny of Satan, &c.
(2.) The red cow was his type (Num 19:2, &c.).[2] In that she was to be
without blemish. In that she was to be slain without the camp—‘Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate’ (Heb 13:12). In that her flesh was to be burnt; a
type of the grievous death of Christ. Her ashes were to be carried into
a clean place without the camp; a type of the clean sepulchre where the
body of Jesus was laid (John 19:38-41).
There were also divers other sacrifices, as bulls, goats, and birds,
which were types of him, which I here omit.
3. Insensible creatures were his types. As,
(1.) The man in the wilderness (Exo 16). And that as it came down from
heaven, for so did Christ—‘I came down from heaven,’ saith he; and
again, ‘I am the living bread which came down from heaven’ (John 6:51).
The manna was to be eaten; so is Christ by faith—‘If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’ (John 6:51). The
manna was to be gathered daily; so is Christ to be daily eaten. The
manna was all the bread that Israel had in the wilderness; Christ is
all the bread that believers have in this life for their souls. The
manna came not by Moses’ law, neither comes Christ by our merits—‘Moses
gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true
bread from heaven’ (John 6:32).
(2.) Again; the rock that gave them out water for their thirst was a
type of him (Num 20). They ‘did all drink the same spiritual drink, for
they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was
Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4). This rock was his type in four things—
(a.) It gave drink to the people in the wilderness when they were come
out of Egypt; Christ gives drink to them that forsake the world for
him. (b.) The rock yielded water by being smitten by Moses’ rod; Christ
giveth drink, even his blood, by being stricken by Moses’ law (Num
20:11; Isa 53). (c.) The water out of this rock was given to the
thirsty—‘I will give unto him that is athirst,’ saith Christ, ‘of the
fountain of the water of life freely’ (Rev 21:6). (d.) The water of the
rock in the wilderness ran after the people; they drank of that rock
that followed them—‘He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out, they
ran in the dry places like a river’ (Psa 110:41). Christ also is said
by that type to follow us—‘They drank of that spiritual Rock that
followed them; and that Rock was Christ’ (1 Cor 10:4).
(3.) Again, the mount Moriah was his type. That mount stood in
Jerusalem; Christ also stands in his church. Upon that rock was built
the temple (2 Chron 3:1)—‘And upon this rock,’ said Christ, ‘I will
build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it’
(Matt 16:18).
Other things might be urged, but these being virtually of the force of
the promises, and also as a key to open them, therefore I thought good
to place them here with the promises; because, as they are standing
with them, so they are written to beget faith in the same Lord Jesus
Christ.
THIRD. I come now to the third thing—to wit, That these promises were
ground for a believing remembrance that a Saviour should one day come.
There is a remembering, and a believing remembering, or such a
remembering that begetteth and maintaineth faith in the heart. Jacob
had a believing remembrance when he said, ‘I have waited for thy
salvation, O Lord’ (Gen 49:18). And so had David when he cried, ‘O that
the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion’ (Psa 53:6). These, with
Simeon and Anna, had not a remembrance only, but a believing
remembrance that God would send them a Saviour. They had the promise
not in the book only, but in their hearts; this gospel was mixed in
them with faith; therefore they with their fellows remembered and
believed, or made the promise the ground of their believing that God
would one day send them a Saviour.
Let me make some
Use of this Doctrine.
Here we may see how much the heart of God was set upon the salvation of
sinners—he studied it, contrived it, set his heart on it, and promised,
and promised, and promised to complete it, by sending one day his Son
for a Saviour (2 Same 14:14; Eph 1:3; Titus 1:2). No marvel, therefore,
if when he treateth of the new covenant, in which the Lord Jesus is
wrapped, and presented in a word of promise to the world, that he
saith, I will do it ‘assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole
soul’ (Jer 32:41).
Now this is of singular comfort to sensible sinners; yea, what greater
ground of consolation to such than to hear that the God against whom
they have sinned should himself take care to provide them a Saviour.
There are some poor sinners in the world that have given such way to
discouragement, from the sense of the greatness of their sins, that
they dare not think upon God, nor the sins which they have committed;
but the reason is, because they are ignorant that God’s heart was wrapt
up in this good work of providing and sending a Saviour. Let such
hearken now to the call of God—‘Return unto me, for I have redeemed
thee’ (Isa 44:22). Ho! turn again, hearken; the heart of God is much
set upon mercy; from the beginning of the world he resolved and
promised, aye, and sware we should have a Saviour.
[OBSERVATION SECOND.]
I now proceed to the second observation—THAT WHEN JESUS WAS COME INTO
THE WORLD, THEN WAS THE PROMISE OF GOD FULFILLED—namely, THAT HE WOULD
ONE DAY SEND US A SAVIOUR.
Take three texts for the confirmation of this point—1. ‘This is of a
truth that prophet that should come into the world’ (John 6:14). These
words were spoken of them that were present at that miracle of Jesus,
when he fed five thousand with five barley loaves, which a lad had
about him in the company; for these men, when they had seen the marvel,
being amazed at it, made confession of him to be the Saviour. 2. ‘Lord,
I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come
into the world’ (John 11:27). 3. ‘This is a faithful saying, and worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners’ (1 Tim 1:15).
For the explaining of this observation I will briefly handle three
questions—FIRST. How this Jesus is to be distinguished from others of
that name. SECOND. What it was for this Jesus to come into the world.
THIRD. What it was for him to come to be a Saviour.
[HOW THIS JESUS IS TO BE DISTINGUISHED FROM OTHERS.]
QUEST. FIRST. For the first, the Jesus in the text is distinguished
from all others of that name.
First. By the manner of his birth; he was born of a virgin, a virgin
espoused to a man whose name was Joseph; but he ‘knew her not till she
had brought forth her first-born son, and he called his name JESUS’
(Matt 1:25).
Second. He is distinguished from others of that name by the place of
his birth—to wit, Bethlehem, the city of David; there he must be born,
there he was born (John 7:42; Matt 2:4-6).
Third. He is distinguished by his lineage—he came ‘of the house and
lineage of David’ (Luke 2:4-6).
Fourth. He is distinguished by the time of his birth—to wit, the time
of the prophets prefixed (Gal 4:4).
Fifth. But his common distinction is Jesus of Nazareth; by this name he
is distinguished one and twenty times in the New Testament—1. His
enemies called him ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ (Matt 26:71; Mark 14:67; John
18:5). 2. His disciples called him ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ (Matt 21:11;
Luke 24:19; John 1:45; Acts 2:22). 3. The angels called him ‘Jesus of
Nazareth’ (Mark 16:6). 4. And he calleth himself ‘Jesus of Nazareth’
(Acts 22:8). 5. Yea, and he goeth also by the name of ‘Jesus of
Nazareth’ among the devils (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34).
He was called ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ because he dwelt there with his
mother Mary and her husband. Nazareth was his city, where he had been
brought up, whither for shelter Joseph carried him when he came out of
Egypt with him; in Nazareth was his common abode until the time that
John was cast into prison; wherefore he might well say, ‘I am Jesus of
Nazareth’ (Luke 4:16; Matt 2:23, 4:12,13). Yea, though he was now in
heaven, for heaven shall not make us forget what countrymen we were
when we lived in the world. Jesus, you see here, though glorified in
heaven, yet forgets not what countryman he was when he dwelt in the
world. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ saith he; I am the Jesus that thou
persecutest; and that thou mayest know I am he, I tell thee I dwelt
once in the city of Nazareth in Galilee; Joseph and my mother Mary
brought me up there, and there I dwelt with them many years. ‘I am
Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest’ (Acts 22:8).
[WHAT IT WAS FOR JESUS TO COME INTO THE WORLD.]
QUEST. SECOND. What it was for Jesus to come into the world.
Answ. Not his coming in, or by his Spirit in his people; for so he was
never out of the world. Neither is it his appearance in his ordinances.
Nor that coming of his by which he destroyeth Antichrist. Nor his
appearing in his dreadful providences or judgments. But by the coming
of Jesus, according to the text, we are to understand that, or such a
coming, whereby he was manifest to be God-man in one person; God in our
flesh without us, or distinct in his own person by himself; such a
coming by which he was manifested to be in all points like as men are,
sin only excepted; such a coming wherein, or by which, the Son of God
became also the Son of man.
[First.] For the further clearing of this, you find it expressly said,
he was ‘born into the world’; Mary, ‘of whom was born Jesus.’ Now, when
Jesus was born, it is said, ‘Where is he that is born King of the
Jews?’ Herod ‘demanded of them where Christ should be born’ (Matt 1:16,
2:1,2,4; Luke 1:35, 2:11).
Now, that this was fulfilled according to the very word of the text,
without any juggle, evasion, or cunningly-devised fable, consider—
1. He is called the first-born of this woman; the male child that
opened her womb (Luke 2:7,23).
2. He was not born till nourished in her womb the full time, according
to the time of life: ‘And so it was, that while they were there [at
Bethlehem], the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped him in
swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a manger’ (Luke 2:6,7).
3. She also continued in her separation at the birth of Jesus, as other
women at the birth of their children, until ‘the days of her
purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished’ (Luke
2:22).
4. Himself also, as other Hebrew children, was brought to Jerusalem to
present him unto the Lord—‘As it is written in the law of the Lord,
Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’
(Luke 2:23,24).
5. Thus Jesus also, as other Hebrew children, when the set day was
come, was circumcised—‘And when eight days were accomplished for the
circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so
named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb’ (Luke 2:21).
6. After this he is often called the young child, the child Jesus; and
further, it is said of him, that he grew, that he increased in wisdom
and stature (Matt 2:20,21; Luke 2:40,52).
Behold with what diligence, even to a circumstance, the Holy Ghost sets
forth the birth of the Lord Jesus, and all to convince the incredulous
world of the true manner of the coming of the Saviour into the world.
Second. The reality of the manhood of this Lord Jesus is yet further
manifest, and that, 1. By those natural infirmities that attend human
flesh; 2. By the names the prophets gave him in the days of the Old
Testament and the New.
1. By those natural infirmities that attend human flesh. As, at his
birth he could not go but as carried by his parents. He was sensible of
hunger (Luke 4:2). He was sensible of thirst (John 19:28). He was
sensible of weariness (John 4:6). He was nourished by sleep (Mark
4:38). He was subject to grief (Mark 3:5). He was subject to anger
(Mark 3:5). He was subject to weep (John 11:35; Luke 19:41). He had joy
as a man, and rejoiced (Matt 11:25; Luke 10:21). These things, I say,
Jesus was subject to as a man, as the son of the Virgin.
2. The reality of his manhood is yet made manifest by the names the
prophets gave him, both in the Old Testament and in the New. As,
(1.) He is called the ‘seed’—the seed of the woman, the seed of
Abraham, the seed of David, by which is meant he was to come of their
children (Gen 3:15, 12, 22; Gal 3:16,17; Rom 1:3).
(2.) Therefore it is added (where mention is made of the fathers), ‘of
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came.’ He was made of the seed of
David according to the flesh; and hence again he calleth himself the
offspring of David; therefore, I say, he is said to be of their flesh,
their loins, and is called their Son (Rom 1:3, 4:5; Acts 2:30; Rev
22:16).
(3.) He therefore is frequently called ‘a man, and the Son of
man’—‘Then shall you see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven.’ ‘When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him.’ ‘This man, because he continueth ever, hath an
unchangeable priesthood.’ ‘Wherefore, it is necessary that this man
have somewhat also to offer’ (Matt 25:31, 26:64; Heb 7:24, 8:3, 10:12).
(4.) What shall I say? He himself gave undeniable demonstration of all
this when he said he ‘was dead’; when he called to Thomas to put his
finger to, and behold his hands, to reach to him his hand and thrust it
into his side, and bid him he should not be faithless, but believing.
At another time, when he stood in the midst of the eleven, as they were
troubled with the thoughts of unbelief, he said, ‘Behold my hands and
my feet, that it is I myself; handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as ye see me have’ (John 20:27; Luke 24:39).
Thus have I showed you what it was for Jesus to come into the
world—namely, to be born of a woman, to take flesh, and to become
God-man in one person. I come now to the third question; but before I
speak particularly to that, I will produce further testimony that we
find upon record concerning the truth of all this.
Particular testimonies that this coming of Jesus is his coming to save
us.
The Testimony of Simeon.—Simeon the Just gives testimony of him: ‘And
the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy
Ghost that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s
Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents
brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now
lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,—for mine eyes have seen thy
salvation’ (Luke 2:25-32).
The Testimony of Anna.—Anna, a prophetess, one ‘of a great age,—which
departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers
night and day. And she, coming in at that instant, gave thanks likewise
unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption
in Jerusalem’ (Luke 2:36-38).