Who was conceived by the Holy Ghoft. SERMON XXIII. THE INCARNATION OF OUR LORD. MATT. i. 20. For that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghoft. Toyagiva Tŷ youdir ἐκ πνεύματός WITHOUT any preface, or circumftance of speech, we in i. observe three particulars couched in these words. &c. I. Our Saviour Jefus was conceived and born; that is, the only Son of God, our Lord and Redeemer, the fame who was from the beginning, and did, as St. John in the John i. 1, entrance of his Gospel teacheth us, from all eternity exift John i. 3. with God, the eternal Word of God, by whom all things were made, was in the fulness of time conceived and born; that is, had a production agreeable to the nature of man, 16. 3. 16. Phil. ii. 7, 8. 31. vi. 33, x. 36. xvii. SERM. becoming thereby truly and really a man; which wonderXXIII. ful mystery is in Scripture by various phrases expreffed and implied; by the Word being incarnated, that is, being John. i. 14. made, or becoming, flesh; God being manifefted in the flesh; 1 Tim. iii. The Son of God being fent in the likeness of finful flesh; Rom. viii. partaking of flesh and blood; his taking the form of a ferHeb. ti. 14, vant, being made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man, affuming the feed of Abraham; his defcending from heaven, coming forth from the Father, being John iii. 13, fent, and coming into the world; The day-fpring from on 38, 50, 51, high vifiting us, eternal life being manifefted; the refult of 58. 17: what is fignified by these and the like expreffions, that, The bleffed and glorious perfon, who before from all eternity did fubfift in the form or nature of God, being the Son of God, one in nature with his Father, (the exprefs image, 27,28. or exact character of his fubftance,) did by a temporal 1 John 1. 2. generation truly become man, affuming human nature into Phil. ii. 7, the unity of his Perfon; by a real conjunction and union thereof to the divine nature, in a manner incomprehenfible and ineffable. He did, I fay, truly become man, like unto Col. i. 15. us in all things, as the Apostle faith, fin only excepted; 2 Cor. iv. 4. confifting, as fuch, of all the effential ingredients of our nature; endued with all our properties and faculties, fubject to all paffions, all infirmities, all needs, adherent or incident to our nature and condition here. 18. 1 John iv. 2, 3, 9. Gal. iv. John xvi. Luke i. 78. 8. John x. 30. xiv. 9. 1 John v. 7. Heb. i. 3. ii. 17. iv. 15. Vid. Athan. cont. Apol He was not only (as the Gnofticks and fome other in tract. heretics have conceited) in fhape and outward appearlinar. ance, (as a spectre, deluding men's fight and fancy,) Ev xar, but in most real truth, a very perfect man; having a sgss real body, figured and circumfcribed as ours, compacted Rom. viii. of flesh and blood, visible and tangible; which was nou Phil. ii. 8. ἄνθρωπος. 3. rifhed and did grow, which needed and received fuftenance, which was tender and fenfible, frail and paffible; which was bruised with stripes, torn with fcourges, pricked with thorns, pierced with nails, transfixed with a fpear; which was mortal, and underwent death by expiring its breath, and being disjoined from the foul that enlivened it. He had also a foul, endued with the fame faculties as ours; with an understanding, capable of learning Luke ii. 52. Luke xxii. John v. 30. and improvement; (for he was, as man, ignorant of some SERM. things which he might know; and he grew, it is faid, in XXIII. wisdom and in ftature:) with a will, fubject and fubmiffive Mark xiii. to the divine will; (for, Let this cup, faid he, if it be 32. poffible, pafs from me: but however let not my will, but thy Matt. xxvi. will be done : and, I feek not my own will, but the will of 39. the Father which hath fent me:) with several appetites, of 42. meat, of drink, of sleep and reft; (for we read that he was Matt. xxi. hungry, that he thirfted, that he was weary:) yea with 18. various paffions and affections, (quoixà xai ádiábaŋta wády, 7. mean, that is, natural and irreprehenfible paffions ;) and Matt. xvi. thefe of the most troublesome and afflictive fort, fuch as John ii. 17. zeal, pity, forrow; the which were fometime declared by Mark iii. 5. very pathetical fignifications, and are expreffed in high terms; as upon occafion of his friend Lazarus's death it I anx John iv. 6, 23. 5. Περίλυπος. and 38. Αδημονεῖν. ̓Αγωνία. Τετάρακται. 27. is faid, He groaned in spirit and was troubled; he then, John xi. 33, and upon other occafions, out of pity and forrow, did weep; and ye know what exceffes of forrow, what ieties and agonies, what tribulations, difturbances, amazements the Evangelifts, ufing thofe very terms, de- Matt. xxvi. fcribe him to have undergone at his paffion; fo that, as 37: the Apostle to the Hebrews fpeaketh, *We have not an Luke xxii. high priest that could not compaffionate (or sympathize 44. with) our infirmities, but who was in all points tempted John xii. (or exercised and proved) as we are, yet without fin. Εκθαμβεῖσε So it appeareth, that the Son of God (co-eternal and 9. Mark co-effential with his Father) became the Son of man; nugaros. truly and entirely partaking of the nature and substance Luke xxii. man, deficient in no effential part, devoid of no property * Heb. iv. belonging to us; exempt from no imperfection or incon- 15. venience confequent upon our nature, except only fin; the which is not a natural fo much as a moral evil; did not arife from man's original nature, but proceedeth from his abused will; doth rather corrupt than conftitute a man. of Now concerning this great dispensation several inquiries and confiderations may be made, concerning the mainer of it, how therein God did affume our nature; or hw therein God and man fubfift united; concerning the reabn of it, whence it proceeded, and why it was defigned; co xiv. 33. 28. SERM. cerning the ufe and influence of it, which it should have XXIII. upon our practice. fit hæc communi 1. As for the first point, the manner of this mystery, we may well, in difcretion and modefty, answer with the Cujufmodi Schoolman; It is not in man to define what manner of communication this is, whereby the human nature is comcatio, qua municated to the Word; we cannot indeed otherwife than mana com- by negation determine, not otherwise than by comparison municatur explain it. No words perhaps, which we do ufe to fignify eft hominis our conceptions about these material and inferior things, will natura hu verbo, non definire. Alenf. perfectly and adequately fuit to a mystery so much remote from the common objects of our knowledge, fo far tranfcending our capacity; to affirm pofitively, that this wonderful incarnation did come to pafs, that this incomprehenfible and ineffable union doth perfift in this or that manner, may be rash and dangerous; it would cease to be admirable, if we could fully conceive or express it: but this justly and safely we may affert, that whatever manner of conception or expreffion about it doth plainly derogate from the divine perfections, or is irreconcileably repugnant to the nature of things, or disagreeth with the tenor of revealed truths evidently connected unto or depending on this mystery; or which (either directly and immediately, or obliquely and by manifeft confequence) doth contradi& the language and doctrine of the holy Scriptures, is to be rejected by us: whence we may for exclufion of errors and mistakes about this point, with the holy Fathers, and Syn. Chale, particularly with the great council of Chalcedon, affert, A&t. v. (fin.) that in the incarnation of our Lord the two natures, divine (pag. 340.) and human, were united ἀσυγχύτως, ἀτρέπτως, ἀδιαιρέτως, ἀχωρίςως. 1. The natures were, I say, united arvyxuras, that is, without any confufion or commixtion; for fuch a way of blending would induce a third nature different from both, fuch as refulteth from the compofition and contemperation of the elements into a mixed body; fuch a commixtion being fuppofed, our Lord would be neither God nor man, but another third kind of fubftance, fuch as muft not without any ground or authority be supposed; that would destroy, diminish, or alter the properties of each; which is unfound SERM. to say, and impoffible to be; for the divine nature is not XXIII. capable of any diminution or alteration: wherefore both natures in this mystery do fubfift entire, distinct, and unconfufed, each retaining its effential and natural properties. 2. The incarnation was performed årgers, that is, without converfion or tranfmutation of one nature into another: the divinity could not be turned into humanity; for how could God, (the eternal, felf-fubfiftent, moft fimple, and immutable Jehovah,) as fuch, be anywife changed or made, become infirm and paffible, confift of body and foul, fuffer and die? Nor could the humanity be turned into divinity; for how could that which did not fubfift at all before the incarnation be therein converted into another thing? why should our Saviour ever be called man, when his humanity was by tranflation into divinity deftroyed why is it faid, the Word was made flesh, if the flesh was changed into the Word? to omit, how impoffible it is, that one fubftance fhould be tranfmuted into another, efpecially a corporeal into a spiritual, a finite into an infinite; to omit likewife the many dangerous confequences of this pofition, and its inconfiftency with many principal and plain doctrines of our religion, particularly the real paffion and death of our Lord, which could not be incident to him otherwife than as retaining the true nature of man. 3. The natures were also joined adiapéτws, undividedly; that is, fo as they have not diftin&t fubfiftences, or do not conftitute two perfons: for there is but one Chrift, one Perfon, to whom, being God, and being man, are truly and properly attributed, 4. We muft alfo understand the natures to be united axwpisus, infeparably; fo that they never are fevered, the union is never diffolved; the fame perfon never ceafing to be both God and man; not even then, when our Lord, as man, did undergo death; for he raised himself from the dead, he reared the temple of his own body, being fallen: as being God, he was able to raise himself; as being man, he was capable to be raised by himfelf; the union be |