THE HUMAN NATURL 0P CIHRIST. 99 I4. He returned i, vs Svvatea/ en'rooaav,s, in thepower of the Spirit into Galilee, that is powerfully enabled by the Holy Spirit unto the discharge of his work. And thence, in his first sermon at Nazareth, he took those words of the prophet for his text; The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, Luke iv. 18. The issue was, that they all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth, ver. 22. And as he thus began his ministry in the power of the Spirit, so having received him not by measure, he continually, on all occasions, put forth his wisdom, power, grace, and knowledge, to the astonishment of all, and the stopping of the mouths of his adversaries, shutting them up in their rage and unbelief. (4.) By him was he di- rected, strengthened and comforted in his whole course, jn all his temptations, troubles, and sufferings, from first to last. For we know that there was a confluence of all those upon him in his whole way and work, a great part of that whereunto he humbled himself for our sakes consisting hi these things. In and under them he stood in need of mighty supportment and strong con- solation.. This God promised unto him, and this he expected, Isa. 1. 7, 8. and xlii. 4, 6. and xlix. i, 6, 7, 8. Now, all the voluntary communications of the divine nature unto the human, were, as we have showed by the HolySpirit. Sect. 8.Seventhly; He offered isimsef up unto God through the eternal Spirit, Heb. ix. 14. I know many learned men iio judge that by theeternal Spirit in that place, not the third person is intended, but the divine nature of the Son himself. And there is no doubt but that also may properly be called the eternal Spirit. Thereis also a reason in the words themselves strongly inclining unto that sense and acceptation of them. For theapostle doth shew whence it was that the sacrifice of the Lord Christ had an efficacybeyond and above the sacrifices of the law; and whence it would certainly pro- duce that great effect of purging our consciences from dead works. And this was from the dignity of his per- son on the account of hisdivine nature. It arose, I say, from the dignity of his person, his Deity giving susten- tation unto his human nature iu the sacrifice of himself. For by reason of the indissoluble union of both his na- tures, his person became the.principle of all his media- tory acts, and from thence had they their dignity and Tab efficacy. Nor will I oppose this exposition of the words. But, on the other side, many learned persons, both of the anciet,t and modern divines, do judge that it is the person of the Holy Spirit that is intended. Sect. 9. And because this is a matter of great im- portance, namely how the Lord Christ offered up him- self unto God as a sacrifice by the eternal Spirit, I shall further explain it, though but briefly. 'those who look only on the outward part of the death of Christ can see nothing but suffering in it. The Jews took him, and they, with the soldiers, both scourged and slew him, hanging him on, the tree. But the principal considera- tion of it, is his own offering himself a sacrifice unto God as the great High Priest of the church, to make atonement and reconciliation for sinners, which was hid from the world by those outward acts of violence which were upon (flint and this he did by the eternal Spirit, wherein we may take notice of the ensuing instances. 1. He sanctified, consecrated, or dedicated himself unto God for to be an offering or sacrifice; John xvii. 19. For their sakes, that is the elect, I sanctì)ymyself. - The Lord Christ was before this perfectly sanctified as to all inherent holiness; so that he could not speak of sanctifying himself afresh in that sense. Neither was it . the consecration of himself unto his officeof a priest. For this was the act ofhim who called him; Heglorg_. ed not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, Heb. v. 6. He made him a priest by his death, after the power of an endless life, chap. vii. 16, 20, 21. Wherefore he consecrated himself to be a sacrifice, as the beast to be sacrificed of old was first devoted unto that purpose. Therefore it is said that he thus sanctified or consecrated himself, that we might be sanctified. Now we are sanctified by the offering of the body ofChrist once for all, Heb. x. 10. This was his first sacerdotal act. He dedicated himself to be an offering to God. And this he did through the effectual operation of the eternal Spirit in him. 2. He went voluntarily, and of his own accord, to the garden, which answered the adduction or bringing of thebeast to be sacrificed unto the door of the taber- nacle, according to the law; for there he did not only give up himself into the hands of those who were to shed his blood; but alsoactually entered upon the offering up 20
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=