chariot-wheels—‘When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive’
(Eph 4:8). That is, he led death, devils, and hell, and the grave, and
the curse, captive, for these things were our captivity. And thus did
Deborah prophesy of him when she cried, ‘Arise, Barak, and lead thy
captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam’ (Judg 5:12). This David also
foresaw when he said, ‘Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led
captivity captive’ (Psa 68:18).
4. The apostles must be the beholders of his going up, and must see the
cloud receive him out of their sight (Acts 1:9-12).
The consideration of these things strongly enforceth this conclusion,
that he hath spoiled what would have spoiled us, had he not by his
blood shed taken them away. And I say, for God to adorn him with all
this glory in his ascension, thus to make him ride conqueror up into
the clouds, thus to go up with sound of trumpet, with shout of angels,
and with songs of praises, and, let me add, to be accompanied also with
those that rose from the dead after his resurrection, who were the very
price of his blood; this doth greatly demonstrate that Jesus Christ, by
what he hath done, hath paid full price to God for the souls of
sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them; he had not else rode
thus in triumph to heaven.
Second. I come now to his being received—‘He was received up into
heaven.’ The high-priest under the law, when he ascended into the
holiest, he was there to offer the blood, which holiest was the type of
heaven (Exo 19:10,11; Heb 9:24). But because the sacrifices under the
law could not make them that did the service perfect as pertaining to
the conscience, therefore they were to stand, not to sit; to come out
again, not tarry there. ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls
and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into the
world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body
hast thou prepared me: in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou
hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the
book it is written of me), to do thy will, O God’ (Heb 10:4-6).
Christ, therefore, in his entering into heaven, did it as high-priest
of the church of God; therefore neither did he go in without blood.
Wherefore, when he came to be ‘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; neither by the blood of goats and calves,
but by his own blood; he entered in once into the holy place, having
obtained eternal redemption for us’ (Heb 9:12-14). He entered in,
having obtained, or because he obtained, eternal redemption for us. But
to pass that.
[Glorious circumstances attending his entrance into heaven.]
Consider ye now also those glorious circumstances that accompany his
approach to the gates of the everlasting habitation.
First. The everlasting gates are set, yea, bid stand open—Be ye open,
‘ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.’ This King
of glory is Jesus Christ, and the words are a prophecy of his glorious
ascending into the heavens, when he went up as the high-priest of the
church, to carry the price of his blood into the holiest of all. ‘Lift
up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and
the King of glory shall come in’ (Psa 24:7,9).
Second. At his entrance he was received, and the price accepted which
he paid for our souls. Hence it is said, he entered in by his
blood—that is, by the merit of it. ‘To receive’ is an act of
complacency and delight, and includeth well-pleasedness in the person
receiving, who is God the Father; and considering that this Jesus now
received is to be received upon our account, or as undertaking the
salvation of sinners—for he entered into the heavens for us—it is
apparent that he entered thither by virtue of his infinite
righteousness, which he accomplished for us upon the earth.
Third. At his reception he received glory, and that also for our
encouragement—‘God raised him up, and gave him glory, that your faith
and hope might be in God’ (1 Peter 1:19-21). He gave him glory, as a
testimony that his undertaking the work of our redemption was accepted
of him.
1. He gave glory to his person, in granting him to sit at his own right
hand; and this he had, I say, for or upon the account of the work he
accomplished for us in the world. When he had offered up one sacrifice
for sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God, and this by
God’s appointment—‘Sit thou at my right hand’ (Heb 10:12,13). This
glory is the highest; it is above all kings, princes, and potentates in
this world; it is above all angels, principalities, and powers in
heaven. ‘He is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God,
angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him’ (1 Peter
3:32).
2. He gave glory to his name, to his name Jesus, that name being
exalted above every name—‘He hath given him a name above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father’ (Phil 2:9-11).
This name is said, in another place, to be a name above every name that
is named, ‘not only in this world, but also in that which is to come’
(Eph 1:21).
But should JESUS have been such a name, since he undertook for sinners,
had this undertaker failed in his work, if his work had not been
accepted with God, even the work of our redemption by his blood? No,
verily; it would have stunk in the nostrils both of God and man; it
would have been the most abhorred name. But Jesus is the name; Jesus he
was called, in order to his work—‘His name shall be called JESUS, for
he shall save’; he was so named of the angel before he was conceived in
the womb; and he goeth by that name now he is in heaven; by the name
Jesus—‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ because he once dwelt there. This name, I
say, is the highest name, the everlasting name, the name that he is to
go by, to be known by, to be worshipped by, and to be glorified by;
yea, the name by which also most glory shall redound to God the Father.
Now, what is the signification of this name but SAVIOUR? This name he
hath, therefore, for his work’s sake; and because God delighted in his
undertaking, and was pleased with the price he had paid for us,
therefore the Divine Majesty hath given him it, hath made it high, and
hath commanded all angels to bow unto it; yea, it is the name in which
he resteth, and by which he hath magnified all his attributes.
(1.) This is the name by which sinners should go to God the Father.
(2.) This is the name through which they obtain forgiveness of sins,
and ‘anything’—‘If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it’
(John 14:14).
(3.) This is the name through which our spiritual services and
sacrifices are accepted, and by which an answer of peace is returned
into our bosoms (1 Peter 2). But more of this anon.
(4.) At this name devils tremble, at this name angels bow the head, at
this name God’s heart openeth, at this name the godly man’s heart is
comforted; this name, none but devils hate it, and none but those that
must be damned despise it. ‘No man speaking by the Spirit of God
calleth Jesus accursed,’ or accounteth him still dead, and his blood
ineffectual to save the world.
3. He hath also given him the glory of office.
(1.) He is there a priest for ever, intercepting betwixt the Divine
presence and all that hate us, by his blood; sin, Satan, death, hell,
the law, the grave, or the like, cannot be heard, if his blood be
presented to God as the atonement for us. This is called the blood of
sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel (Heb
12:24). By this blood he entered into heaven, by this blood he secureth
from wrath ‘all that come unto God by him.’ But should his blood have
had a voice in heaven to save withal, had it not merited first, even in
the shedding of it, the ransom and redemption of souls? It is true, a
man whose blood cannot save, may, with Abel’s, cry out for vengeance
and wrath on the head of him that shed it. But this blood speaks for
better things, this blood speaks for souls, for sinners, for pardon,
‘having obtained eternal redemption for us.’
(2.) He is there a forerunner for us—‘Whither the forerunner is for us
entered, even Jesus’ (Heb 6:20). This office of harbinger is distinct
from, though it comes by virtue of, his priestly office; therefore they
are both mentioned in the text—‘Whither the forerunner is for us
entered, even Jesus, made an high-priest for ever, after the order of
Melchisedec.’ He is therefore our forerunner by virtue of his
priesthood, his blood giving worth to all he does.
In this office of harbinger or forerunner, he prepareth for believers
their dwelling-places in the heavens; their dwelling-places according
to their place, state, calling, service, or work, in his body, the
church—‘In my Father’s house,’ saith he, ‘are many mansions; if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you’ (John
14:2).
This is that mentioned in the forty-seventh Psalm—‘He shall choose our
inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved.’ But should
he have had power to choose our inheritance for us, to prepare for us
our dwelling-places; should he have power to give even heaven itself to
a company of poor men, had he not in the first place obtained by his
blood the deliverance of our souls from death?
(3.) He is there a prophet for us, by which office of his he hath
received to communicate the whole will of the eternal God, so far as is
fit for us to know in this world, or in that which is to come. Hence he
is called the prophet of the church—‘The Lord shall raise you up a
prophet,’ ‘and this is of a truth that prophet that should come into
the world.’ But this office he hath also now in heaven, by virtue of
the blood he shed for us upon earth. Hence the new testament is called,
‘the new testament in his blood’; and his blood is said to be ‘the
blood of the everlasting covenant’ or testament; yea, such virtue doth
his blood give to the new testament, or covenant of grace, as that
severed from that it is nothing worth; ‘for a testament is of force
after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the
testator liveth’ (Heb 9:17). So that every word of God which he hath by
Christ given to us for our everlasting consolation, is dipped in blood,
is founded in blood, and stands good to sinners purely—I mean with
respect to merit—upon the account of blood, or because his blood that
was shed for us on the cross prevailed for us for the remission of our
sins. Let not man think to receive any benefit by Christ’s prophetical
office, by any of the good words of grace, and forgiveness of sins that
are sprinkled up and down in the new testament; that looketh not for
that good to come to him for the sake of that blood by which this
testament is established; for ‘neither was the first testament
dedicated without blood; for when Moses had spoken every precept to all
the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of
goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the
book, and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament
which God hath enjoined unto you’ (Heb 9:18-20).
The prophetical office of Christ standeth of two parts—first, in
promises of grace: secondly, in directions of worship. But neither is
this last—to wit, the doctrine of worship, or our subjection to that
worship—of any value any further than as sprinkled also with his blood;
for as in the first testament, the tabernacle and all the vessels of
the ministry were sprinkled with blood, and it was necessary that so it
should be, so the heavenly things themselves must be also purified with
sacrifices, but yet ‘with better sacrifices than these’; for now, not
Moses, but Christ, doth sprinkle, not with blood of calves, but with
his own blood; neither as entered into places made with hands, but from
heaven doth Jesus sprinkle all that doctrine of worship, and subjection
of his saints thereto, which is of his own instituting and commanding
(Heb 9:23-26).
(4.) He hath received there the office of a king, by which he ruleth in
the church, and over all things for her sake. ‘The government shall be
upon his shoulder’; the Lord God hath given him the throne of his
father David. Hence it is that he saith, ‘All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth’; but now this kingly office, he hath it by his
blood, because he humbled himself to death, therefore God hath highly
exalted him, and given him the highest name. And hence, again, he is
called a Lamb upon the throne—‘In the midst of the throne, and of the
four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had
been slain, having seven horns’; a demonstration of kingly power. But
mark, he was a Lamb upon the throne, he had his horns as a lamb. Now by
‘Lamb’ we are to understand, not only his meek and sweet disposition,
but his sacrifice; for he was as a lamb to be slain and sacrificed; and
so his having a throne and seven horns, as a lamb, giveth us to
understand that he obtained this dignity of king by his blood (Rev 5).
‘When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand
of the Majesty on high’ (Heb 1:3). When ‘he had offered one sacrifice
for sins for ever, he sat down on the right hand of God’ (Heb 10:12).
Now, put all these together—to wit, his resurrection from the dead, his
ascension, and exaltation to office; and remember also that the person
thus exalted is the same Jesus of Nazareth that sometime was made
accursed of God for sin, and also that he obtained this glory by virtue
of the blood that was shed for us, and it must unavoidably follow that
Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid a full price to God for
sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them.
THE THIRD DEMONSTRATION.
THIRD. But to proceed. A third demonstration that Jesus Christ, by what
he hath done, hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained
eternal redemption for them, is, because he hath received for them the
Holy Spirit of God.
‘This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof,’ said Peter, ‘we all are
witnesses. Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and
having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath
shed forth this, which ye now see and hear’ (Acts 2:32,33).
The receiving of the Holy Ghost at the hand of the Father, who had
bruised him before for the transgressions of his people; the receiving
of it, I say, upon his resurrection, and that to give them for whom,
just before, he had spilt his blood to make an atonement for their
souls, argueth that the Divine Majesty found rest and content in that
precious blood, and found it full price for the sinners for whom he
shed it.
And if you consider the necessity of the giving of this good Spirit to
men, and the benefit that they receive by his coming upon them, you
will see yet more into the truth now contended for. First, then, Of the
necessity of giving this good Spirit; and then, Second, Of the benefit
which we receive at his coming.
First. Of the necessity of its being given.
1. Otherwise, Jesus could never have been proved to be the Saviour; for
the promise was, that Messias should have the Spirit given him; given
him to communicate—‘As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the
Lord, My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy
mouth,’ meaning the Redeemer, ‘shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor
out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed,
saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever’ (Isa 59:20,21).
Here is the promise of the Spirit to be given to Christ, and by him to
his seed for ever. And this was signified long before in the anointing
of Aaron and his sons—‘And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and
consecrate them’ (Exo 30:30).
This Spirit Jesus promised to send unto his at his exaltation on the
right hand of God; the Spirit, I say, in the plentiful pourings of it
out. True, the church in all ages had something of it by virtue of the
suretyship of the Lord Jesus; but this, in comparison of what was to
come into the church after his resurrection, is not reckoned a pouring
forth; therefore pourings forth are reserved to the time of the
ascension and exaltation of this Jesus. ‘I will pour out of my Spirit
in those days.’
Hence Jesus reserves it till his going away, and it is expressly said,
‘The Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet
glorified.’ Accordingly did the apostles wait after his resurrection
for the pouring forth of the Holy Ghost, and at the set time did
receive it; by the giving of which he declared himself to be the Son of
God and Saviour of the world (John 7:39, 14:26, 15:26, 16:7; Acts
1:4,5, 2:16,17; Joel 2:28; Rom 1:4).
2. Without the giving of the Holy Ghost, there had wanted a testimony
that his gospel was the gospel of Messias. Moses’ ministration was
confirmed by signs and wonders and mighty deeds, both in Egypt, in the
wilderness, and at the Red Sea; wherefore it was necessary that the
doctrine of redemption by blood, which is the doctrine of the gospel of
this Jesus, should be also ‘confirmed with signs following.’ Hence both
himself and apostles did as frequently work miracles and do mighty
deeds as his ministers now do preach; which signs and miracles and
wonders confirmed their doctrine, though themselves, both master and
scholar, were in appearance the most considerable mean [in outward show
the meanest of men]; yea, they by the means of the Holy Ghost have so
ratified, confirmed, and settled the gospel in the world, that no
philosopher, tyrant, or devil, hath been able hitherto to move it out
of its place. He confirmed ‘the word with signs following’ (Mark 16:20;
Heb 2:4).
3. As the giving of the Holy Ghost was necessary thus, so was it
necessary also to strengthen them that were intrusted with the gospel,
(1.) To preach it effectually; (2.) To stand to it boldly; and (3.) To
justify it to be the doctrine of Messias incontrollably. (1.) To preach
it effectually, in demonstration of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:4; John 16:8,9;
Acts 8:13). (2.) To stand to it boldly—‘Then Peter, filled with the
Holy Ghost, said.’ ‘And they saw the boldness of Peter and John’ (2 Cor
6:4-6; Acts 4:8,13). (3.) To justify the doctrine incontrollably—‘I
will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not
be able to gainsay nor resist’ (Luke 21:15). ‘And they were not able to
resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spake’ (Acts 6:10).
Now I say, that God should give the Holy Ghost to Jesus to confirm this
gospel, redemption from sin by his blood, what is it but that by his
blood he hath paid full price to God for sinners, and obtained eternal
redemption for them?
[Second.] But again; the benefit which we receive at the coming of the
Holy Ghost doth more demonstrate this truth; hath Christ purchased
sinners, and are they the price of his blood? Yes. But how doth that
appear? Why, because by the Holy Ghost which he hath received to give
us, we are fitted for the inheritance which by his blood is prepared
for us.
1. By the Spirit of God we are quickened and raised from a state of
sin, but that we could not be were it not that an atonement is made for
us first, by the blood of Christ our Saviour. This is true; for they
that are quickened by the Holy Ghost are quickened by it through the
word of the gospel, which offereth justification to sinners through
faith in his blood; yea, we are said to be quickened together with him,
dead and risen with him, yet so as by the Spirit of God.
2. We are not only quickened by the Holy Ghost, but possessed
therewith; it is given to dwell in our hearts—‘Because ye are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts’ (Gal 4:6).
Which Spirit is also our earnest for heaven, until the redemption of
the purchased possession—that is, until our body, which is the
purchased possession, be redeemed also out of the grave by the power of
the same mighty Spirit of God (Eph 1:13,14).
3. By this Holy Spirit we are made to believe (Rom 15:13).
4. By this Holy Spirit we are helped to pray and call God Father.
5. By this Holy Spirit we are helped to understand and apply the
promises.
6. By this Holy Spirit the joy of heaven and the love of God is shed
abroad in the heart of the saved.
7. By this Holy Spirit we are made to wait for the hope of
righteousness by faith; that is, to stand fast through our Lord Jesus
in the day when he shall judge the world.
And all this is the fruit of redemption by blood, of redemption by the
blood of Christ.
This is yet further evident, (1.) Because the work of the Spirit is to
lead us into the sayings of Christ, which, as to our redemption from
death, are such as these—‘I lay down my life, that you may have life’;
‘I give my life a ransom for many’; and, ‘The bread that I will give is
my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world’ (John 6:51).
(2.) Because the Spirit, in the wisdom of heaven, is not counted a
sufficient testimony on earth, but as joined with the blood of
Christ—‘There are three that bear witness on earth, the Spirit, the
water, and the blood’; these are the witnesses of God. The Spirit,
because it quickeneth; the blood, because it hath merited; and the
water—to wit, the word—because by that we are clean as to life and
conversation (1 John 5:8; Eph 5:26; Rom 8:16; Psa 119:9). (3.) Because,
as by the Spirit, so we are sanctified by faith in the blood of Jesus
(Heb 13:12). (4.) Because, when most full of the Spirit, and when that
doth work most mightily in us, we are then most in the belief and
admiring apprehensions of our deliverance from death by the blood of
Jesus (Rev 5:9, 15). (5.) The Holy Ghost breatheth nowhere so as in the
ministry of this doctrine, this doctrine is sent with the Holy Ghost
from heaven; yea, as I have hinted, one of the great works of the Holy
Ghost, under the Old Testament, was to testify ‘of the sufferings of
Christ, and the glory that should follow’ (1 Peter 1:11,12).
Put all these things together, and see if Jesus Christ, by what he hath
done, hath not paid full price to God for sinners, if he ‘hath not
obtained eternal redemption for them?’
THE FOURTH DEMONSTRATION.
FOURTH. That Jesus Christ, by what he hath done, hath paid full price
to God for sinners, and obtained eternal redemption for them, is
evident, if you consider how the preaching thereof hath been, from that
time to this, a mighty conqueror over all kinds of sinners. What
nation, what people, what kind of sinners have not been subdued by the
preaching of a crucified Christ? He upon the white horse with his bow
and his crown hath conquered, doth conquer, and goeth forth yet
‘conquering and to conquer’ (Rev 6:2). ‘And I,’ saith he, ‘if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me’ (John 12:32). But
what was it to be lifted up from the earth? Why, it may be expounded by
that saying, ‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life’ (John 3:14,15).
He was then lifted up when he was hanged upon a tree between the
heavens and the earth, as the accursed of God for us. The revelation of
this, it conquers all nations, tongues, and people. ‘And they sung a
new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy
blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation’ (Rev
5:9). Hence the apostle Paul chose above all doctrines to preach up a
crucified Christ, and resolved so to do; ‘for I determined,’ saith he,
‘not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified’
(1 Cor 2:2).
First. The doctrine of forgiveness of sin conquered his very murderers;
they could not withstand the grace; those bloody ones that would kill
him, whatever it cost them, could stand no longer, but received his
doctrine, fell into his bosom, and obtained the salvation which is in
Christ Jesus—‘They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they
shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born’
(Zech 12:10). Now was this scripture eminently fulfilled, when the
kindness of a crucified Christ broke to pieces the hearts of them that
had before been his betrayers and murderers. Now was there a great
mourning in Jerusalem; now was there wailing and lamentation, mixed
with joy and rejoicing.